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: Vichy
This week in the War, 7–13 October 1940: Five reasons why Hitler did not invade Britain
This week in the war, on 12 October 1940, Hitler postponed his planned invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion, until the spring of 1941. (By then, of course, he would have a new enemy and a different country to invade). Despite … Continue reading
Posted in World War II
Tagged Bermuda, Bismarck, Dakar, Derek Robinson, Hess, Invasion 1940, lebensraum, Mein Kampf, Operation Sealion, Oran, Tirpitz, Vichy
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This week in the War, 30 Sept–6 Oct 1940: The statute of 3 October
On 3 October 1940, the first of the anti-Jewish laws was enacted by the Vichy government, which held authority in the Free Zone—that part of France that was not occupied by the German or Italian military. The statute of 3 … Continue reading
Posted in World War II
Tagged Auschwitz, Drancy, Free Zone, Occupied Zone, Vichy
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Vignette: Venus, Victory, and the Chateau de Valencay
A few years ago, my wife and I visited the Château de Valençay some kilometres south of France’s Loire Valley. We followed hordes of French school children bent on learning about their country’s history—or having a fun time, at least—and … Continue reading
Posted in Vignette
Tagged Carinhall, Chateau de Valencay, Hermann Goering, Louvre, Phryne, Talleyrand, Venus, Vichy, Winged Victory of Samothrace
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This week in the War, 23–29 September: Failure at Dakar
This week in the war, on 23 September 1940, the Free French leader, Charles de Gaulle, arrived with a Royal Navy task force at Dakar on the coast of the Vichy-controlled colony of French West Africa. He sailed on board … Continue reading
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Tagged Dakar, de Gaulle, Operation Sealion, Richelieu, Vichy
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Vignette: The art of Jean-Pierre Gibrat—The Reprieve
La bande dessinée—loosely translated as ‘comic strip’—is a veritable institution throughout French-speaking Europe. Everyone in France (and many in North America) are familiar with the illustrated tales of Asterix the Gaul. Belgian examples include Tintin, the boy detective, and the cowboy, … Continue reading
Posted in Book, Vignette, World War II
Tagged bande dessinee, Gibrat, Le Sursis, Le Vol du Corbeau, Milice, Vichy
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This week in the war, 1–7 July 1940: England’s Last War Against France
England’s last war against France—as recounted in Colin Smith’s book of that very title—was not fought in Napoleonic times. We are not talking Wellington versus Bonaparte at Waterloo. Rather: Winston Churchill versus Marshal Philip Petain, leader of Vichy France. Their war … Continue reading
Posted in Book, World War II
Tagged Churchill, England's Last War Against France, Mers-el-Kebir, Oran, Petain, Vichy
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