Subscribe to Second by Second World War- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2021Thursday 11 November 2021 — Remembrance Day Once again, we gather to remember that eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the guns fell silent and the great war ended. It is time to honour and … Continue reading →
- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2020Wednesday 11 November 2020 — Remembrance Day Once again, we gather to remember that eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the guns fell silent and the great war ended. It is time to honour and … Continue reading →
- In the news: Memorial Day 2020We honour our troops and veterans on Memorial Day, Monday 25 May 2020. The photograph to the left shows working dog Army K-9 officer Daga, a Belgian Malinois. Daga is a member of the 793rd Military Police Battalion—a unit that … Continue reading →
- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2019Monday 11 November 2019 – Remembrance Day Once again, we gather to remember that eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the guns fell silent and the Great War ended. It is time to honour and … Continue reading →
- Book review: Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway: A Biography — by Mary V. Dearborn Only after visiting ‘Hemingway House’—Ernest Hemingway’s former home, now a museum, in Key West, Florida—did I become a keen fan of Ernest Hemingway, the writer. For me, the appeal came partly … Continue reading →
- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2021
Tag Archives: Paris
This week in the War, 21–27 August 1944: Liberation of Paris
The Free French 2nd Armoured Division of General Philippe Leclerc reached Paris this week in the war, on 24 August 1944. The next day, the German commandant of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, disobeyed the Fuehrer’s order to destroy the … Continue reading
Posted in World War II
Tagged de Gaulle, France, Paris, Philippe Leclerc
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This week in the War, 17–23 April 1944: Paris suffers heavy bombing
This week in the war, on 21 April 1944, Allied planes bombed north central Paris. The main target was the La Chapelle railway marshalling yards. Their destruction was part of an overall plan to destroy communications in northern France prior … Continue reading
Posted in World War II
Tagged Dans Paris occupe, Helene Pitrou, Paris, Paule du Bouchet
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This week in the War, 13–19 July 1942: La rafle du Vel d’Hiv—The roundup of the Velodrome d’Hiver
This week in the war, 16-17 July 1942, German troops aided by French police arrested 13,000 Parisian Jews that were without French citizenship and imprisoned them in the Vélodrome d’Hiver, the famous Paris cycling stadium near the Eiffel Tower. [‘Bicycle’ translates … Continue reading
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Tagged Jews, Paris, rafle, round-up, Vel d'Hiv, Velodrome d'Hiver
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Book review: Seducing Ingrid Bergman
‘Cast down, her lashes are so long, I notice, they almost touch her cheeks. When she looks up, her face lifts out of shadow. Her eyes are slices of paradise.’ Such is the evocative and wonderfully vivid prose that runs … Continue reading
Posted in Book review
Tagged Casablanca, Chris Greenhalgh, Ingrid Bergman, Paris, Robert Capa, Seducing Ingrid Bergman
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This week in the War, 27 Jan–2 Feb 1941: Occupied Paris
Hélène Pitrou was a child, growing up in Paris during the dark years, the years of German occupation. [Check the book by historian Julian Jackson, France–The Dark Years 1940-1944]. Hélène kept a diary, un journal, as one says in French. … Continue reading
Posted in Book, World War II
Tagged Dans Paris occupe, Drancy, Helene Berr, Helene Pitrou, Jewish children, Jews, Julian Jackson, Laval, Paris, Paule Bouchet
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This week in the War, 17–23 June 1940: Two tourists in Paris
Most visitors to Paris love the city—and I’m no exception; I adore it—and most come in July or August. It’s the time of year when Parisians flee to the countryside, abandoning their parks and boulevards to hordes of tourists. Paris … Continue reading
Posted in Book, World War II
Tagged Albert Speer, de Gaulle, Edmond Michelet, Hitler, Paris, Shirer
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