All Purls. No Swine.
Eighty years ago, on May 16-17 1943, an elite group of airmen, mostly from the Royal Air Force, but also with contingents from Canada and Australia, took off in nineteen Lancaster bombers from the RAF station in Scampton, Lincolnshire. Their mission was clear: Destroy three dams in Germany’s Ruhr valley, thus taking out the hydroelectric… Continue reading Dam Busters +80
I first posted the following on Ricochet, on May 8, 2020. Sadly, darling Auntie Pat is no longer with us, having died shortly before Christmas 2022, at the grand old age of 99. But the humanity, gutsiness, and wisdom that she--and so many others of the 'greatest generation'--exemplified, resonates today. https://youtu.be/6AC2vzAA5N8 Ladies and gentlemen,… Continue reading Digging (and Cooking) For Victory–VE Day +78!
Oh, Gosh. Eighty years ago today, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra made their last live radio broadcast: https://youtu.be/xQY3Qc_CM7E I'm a bit younger than many who might remember this (I was 68 this past week). But I grew up in the British West African colonies, and we were a bit behind the eight-ball when it came… Continue reading Sweet-Sounding Saturday: Eighty Years Ago Today
One of the touchstones of my life has always been the story of how my dad met the Pope, in Rome, on June 5, 1944. Truth be told, my mother always pooh-poohed the whole thing a bit (not unusual for Mum to do something like that, especially for an event in which she wasn’t the main… Continue reading “His Holiness Will Receive You in a Few Moments. I could Have Dropped Dead!”
I learned that little Polish phrase from the late Mr. She, not very long after I met him, on a day when we were swapping stories about our eccentric and (in wholly different ways) exceptional families. It’s one of the few (SFW) bits of Polish I know, and I say it with great determination and… Continue reading Rosyjskie Diabły
President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks the United States Congress to declare that a state of war now exists between the United States of America and the Japanese Empire: https://youtu.be/lK8gYGg0dkE On this eightieth anniversary, then U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class David Russell, now 101 years old, revisits Pearl Harbor for the service commemorating those who… Continue reading December 7, 1941: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
The dreadnought battleship was an iconic technology in the first half of the twentieth century. Nations poured millions into their construction. Despite – or perhaps because of – the money spent building them, they were rarely used. Clash of the Capital Ships: From the Yorkshire Raids to Jutland, by Eric Dorn Brose, presents one period… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter–Dreadnoughts at War
I am inspired by Seawriter's recent review of a biography of Major Donald J. Humphrey, written by Humphrey's son, to brush-up and re-post this jaunt down memory lane from early last year: From Sapper to Spitfire Spy: The WWII Biography of David Greville-Heygate DFC, by Sally-Anne Greville-Heygate is an endearing memoir of a father’s military… Continue reading A Book Recommendation–From Sapper to Spitfire Spy–And Some Notes on Diving For Pearls
In January 1945 Major Donald J. Humphrey commanded a B-29 Superfortress. During a 1900-mile mission from India to bomb Singapore, his bomber was shot down over Malaya. Humphrey and four other members of the crew of Postville Express successfully parachuted out of the dying bomber. The rest of the crew failed to escape. 8 Miraculous Months… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: A Memoir of Endurance and Survival
This post is two years old--from June 6, 2019, but the sentiments, and the gratitude, to all those who served in the Allied armed forces, and to all those who endured the "miserable slog" on the home front--never grow old. Thank you. (Auntie Pat will be 98 years old next month; may she live forever.)… Continue reading Auntie Pat Weighs In On the 75th Anniversary of Operation Overlord–Two Years On