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Post by Pumba on Sept 4, 2012 15:23:53 GMT 8
August 9, 1940 George Orwell: "I would dodge tax if I could. Yet I would give my life for England. No one is patriotic about taxes." orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/9-8-40/-------------------- Reichsmarshal Göring, believing RAF almost beaten, ordering Luftwaffe to "finish them off"- bomb airfields, control centres & radar towers. ------------------- Göring: "Do not be complacent- the British will not surrender easily. An Englishman is like a wounded bull: most dangerous when injured." ------------------ USA has won men's 400m relay race- giving Jesse Owens an amazing 4th gold medal. -------------------- Goebbels: "Americans should be ashamed, letting niggers win medals for them. Still, what does it matter in that country without culture?" ------------------- US relay team changed at last minute to include Owens, kicking out Sam Stoller & Marty Glickman: only 2 Jewish athletes ---------------- Former Polish citizens living in the German Reich must now pay an extra 15% on top of their income tax, to pay for costs of Nazi occupation. --------------------- US Senate debating drafting all Americans 21-31. Letter in a Chicago paper today: "Fred, to Gladys: fight the draft, or lose me for a year" -------------------- Reply letter, in evening paper: "Fred: are you a man or a mouse? A country worth living in is worth fighting for. Don't be a panty waist!" --------------------- Sohn Kee-chung has won gold in Olympic marathon for Japan- but he's Korean, forced to compete for a country not his own --------------------- Japan conquered Korea 26 years ago, outlawing Korean culture. Son stands on medallists' podium with head bowed, weeping  ----------------- German propaganda radio New British Broadcasting Station announcing 100,000 Nazi parachutists about to land in UK, wearing British uniforms. ----------------- Britain is withdrawing all troops from Shanghai & northern China- to reinforce bases in India/Singapore (& appease Japan.) |
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Post by Pumba on Sept 4, 2012 15:27:05 GMT 8
August 10, 1940 Germany announces nation's aim is spartan fitness, abolition of tobacco & alchohol, to make "a race fit to rule Europe"  -------------------- Romania- reluctant client state of Germany- bans marriage between Christians & Jews- even converted or secular Jews- "Jewishness" now racial ------------------- Romania has also followed Germany by banning Jews from state schools. Now "mixed-race" children also banned: they've inherited "Jewishness". ----------------- Romanian Mira Rinzler: "There's only 2 Jewish girls in my class. Teachers don't use our names; they call us blonde kike (me) & dark kike." --------------- French Premier Pierre Laval has offered 200 French pilots to help the Luftwaffe bomb Britain. Göring: "I neither need nor trust the French." ----------------- Quiet day for RAF & Luftwaffe- bad weather. UK pilot DH Wissler: "Off to Cambridge to see a flick, then to an Indian restaurant- fine curry" |
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 11:53:32 GMT 8
August 11, 1940 In preparation for Adlertag, German bombing raids erupting across southern Britain, for 1st time directly targeting airfields & radar masts. -------------------- Göring has declared August 13th will be "Adlertag"- Eagle Day- all out Luftwaffe strike to demolish Britain's air defences. -------------------- After the 1st day of brutal dogfights over British air defences, both sides have been mauled: 38 Luftwaffe planes down, 27 RAF pilots dead. ------------------- British now desperately short of experienced pilots: they've reduced training period from 90 days to 4 weeks; all combat training cut. ------------------ RAF pilot "Ginger" Lacey: "We get pilots who've never seen a dogfight every morning & they're in the air by noon. Most don't come back." ------------------ Some new pilots kill other Brits too. "Ginger": "In fights with 100+ planes it takes a tiny lapse in concentration to shoot down a friend." ------------------- Nazi officials in Paris have formed Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg- special taskforce to "confiscate" valuable cultural items from Jews.  ----------------- Einsatzstab's 1st job is to loot paintings; they're advising other Nazi ministries to sell their artworks before the market becomes flooded. www.errproject.org/jeudepaume/photo/ |
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 11:56:25 GMT 8
August 12, 1940
Overnight, RAF bombed & "razzled" Black Forest, dropping razzles: "leaves" of phosphorus & celluloid meant to ignite & burn hidden bases.
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Some razzles, caught in slipstream, landed back on UK bombers & set fire to them. 7 planes damaged by German flak, 8 by razzle friendly fire
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The Somaliland Camel Corps are making a stand against Italian invaders at Tug Argan Gap- a mountain pass en route to vital port of Berbera.
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4000 Somalians (& 14 UK officers) with rifles & machine-guns facing 20,000+ Italians with tanks & artillery. Only advantage: high ground.
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Capt. Eric Wilson commands a hill at Tug Aran; his machine-gunners are killing so many Italians, they're using point-blank artillery on him.
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Firing from just 700m away, Italian guns at Tug Argan have blown off Capt. Wilson's arm & 1 eye, demolishing the fort. He & his men fight on
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Former US President Herbert Hoover is campaigning to send 400,000 tons of food to Nazi-occupied Europe, to ward off prophesied famine.
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 11:59:38 GMT 8
August 13, 1940 Today is Adlertag- Eagle Day. Luftwaffe intend to fly vast bombing missions against Britain, with close fighter support  ------------------ Pilot Karl Hoffmann: "At last, large bomber missions with fighter escort! This will draw out the British fighters- I've not even seen 1 yet" -------------------- Busy day over Britain; Germans have flown 1500+ sorties, 1000 by fighters, but bad weather has kept them & RAF from a decisive battle. ------------------- 37 German planes have been shot down today, at a cost of 15 British ones; Luftwaffe's Eagle Day has failed to wipe out RAF, as they hoped. ------------------- UK radio reports 1 shot-down German pilot surrendered to UK troops by saying: "You got me, well done. Cigarette & cup of tea, please." -------------------- UK announces that all winter it patrolled North Sea with "scarecrow airforce"- unarmed civilian aircraft, fooling German ships into fleeing. ------------------- Nazi-allied Vichy France assuring citizens that no anti-Semitic laws are planned, & French Jews "will forever enjoy state's full protection" |
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 14:08:30 GMT 8
August 14, 1940
Italian invaders of Somalialand almost breaking through British lines; UK Commander Godwin-Austen requesting permission to abandon country.
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Italians still trying to storm Tug Argan, hilltop forts overlooking only road to capital of Berbera. British-Somali troops almost surrounded
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1 fort's commanded by Capt. Eric Wilson, arm & eye blown off. He's also suffering from malaria. His men have fought off 6 Italian charges.
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Italians, tired of charging up-hill against machine guns, are blowing Capt. Wilson's fort to bits. His men have left him for dead in rubble.
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German occupiers of Luxembourg have suspended the Grand Duchy's constitution; it will now be ruled directly from Berlin.
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Britain claims to be using an innovative weapon on German planes: a "spaghetti shell" that launches wire nets to snare Luftwaffe raiders.
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 14:13:32 GMT 8
August 15, 1940
To intimidate UK-friendly Greece, Italian bombers are attacking the Greek Navy near the tiny Aegean islands of Tinos & Syros.
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Today's a Feast Day of Mary- Greek holiday. Greeks have no warning- no declaration of war, Italian Foreign Ministry not even told of bombing
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For the 1st time, the Luftwaffe have attacked London, bombing South Croydon airfield, in centre of a crowded suburb; 60 civilians are dead.
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 14:18:36 GMT 8
August 16, 1940 Germany has again banned dancing- wartime "austerity ban" was relaxed after France fell to allow 2 nights of dancing/week in celebration. ---------------- British forces have been ordered to abandon Somalialand, leaving the colony to invading Italian troops. Native troops are to be left behind. ----------------- Flight Lt. James Nicolson, plane in flames, just spotted another German Me 109- he's stopped trying to bale out so he can shoot it down. ----------------- Lt. Nicolson has shot down the German fighter & ejected from his burning cockpit- now shot in eye & foot & badly burned  ------------------- Nicolson's landed, hands so badly burnt he can't release his parachute straps- to be shot in the leg by a Home Guard, mistaken for a German. -------------------- Luftwaffe, thinking RAF almost destroyed, have sent vast bomber flights over last 2 days & suffered terrible losses- German "Black Thursday" ------------------ Billy Fiske, 1st US citizen to volunteer to fight in the RAF, has been shot down by the Luftwaffe- not expected to live  |
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 14:20:24 GMT 8
August 17, 1940
Greece is partially mobilizing its armed forces & militarizing its border posts; Italian threats are causing Greek nervousness.
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An Italian torpedo has been discovered in the wreckage of Greek submarine Helle, sunk 2 days ago by unidentified raiders; Italy claims fraud
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UK troops are being evacuated from Somaliland port of Berbera. Italians ordered not to attack- Mussolini still hopes for negotiated peace.
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Churchill complaining UK didn't fight for Somililand. Gen. Wavell retorts: "A bloody butcher's bill is not the mark of a good tactician."
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France has ordered all boat-owners to "donate" their watercraft to German occupiers- probably to carry invasion troops to Britain.
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Post by Pumba on Sept 5, 2012 14:35:17 GMT 8
August 18, 1940 After 4 weeks of trying to knock out RAF- a task predicted to take 6 days- Luftwaffe growing desperate. Today they plan largest attack yet. --------------- Both sides of air battles over UK exaggerate enemy losses; but Germans taking almost 2x as many casualties as British- Luftwaffe are losing. --------------- Staff at RAF Fighter Command watching as 100s of black flags appear on their huge map of UK- enemy planes approaching.  --------------- Dover woman Betty McNab: "Huge, terrifying black shapes- Nazi bombers- appear suddenly over the cliffs, as if they sprang from out the sea." ----------------- Luftwaffe bombers are headed for Kenley & Biggin Hill airfields- not knowing they're also key command stations for Fighter Command. ------------------ Lillias Barr, Women's Auxiliary Air Force officer at Kenley: "The sick bay's taken a direct hit, so I ran over- doctor's dead, nurses hurt." ------------------- Barr: "Mary, a nurse, was thrown onto a steel helmet, slicing into her leg. She's smiling though, so am I- I normally faint at a cut finger" ----------------- RAF fighters have caught the Germans from behind- wrecked Luftwaffe planes are scattered around Biggin Hill.  ------------------ The German-American Bund (US Nazis) & the Ku Klux Klan now holding a joint 1000-strong anti-war meeting in New Jersey.  ------------------ The pro-Fascist "Americanism" rally is being held at Camp Nordland, the Bund's Nazi summer camp, rented by the Klan.  -------------- The most brutal day of UK air battles so far has ended- 69 German planes shot down, to 34 British & 29 bombed on ground  ---------------- Aircraft easy to replace- trained pilots harder. With German pilots who bale out over UK captured, Britain is- barely- winning by attrition. ------------------ American Fascist meeting in New Jersey ends with Klan wedding under burning cross- hassled by locals singing "Star Spangled Banner" outside. ---------------- German-American Bund are playing military marches to drown out singing- insisting to watching reporters they're pro-America, just anti-war. ------------------ Britain announcing all-out manhunt for Nazi parachutists; it's feared German "suicide commandos" might be dropping in UK to spread terror. |
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Post by Pumba on Sept 13, 2012 14:27:44 GMT 8
August 19, 1940 480 UK children being evacuated to Australia- 1st of 1000s the Children's Overseas Reception Board plan to send from UK  ---------------------- Guardian paper reports: "Children mounted the gangway as if for a shilling trip to sea- with dolls, bears, a violin…" www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/aug/19/archive-children-evacuated-to-australia-1940------------------- Italian flag flies over ruined residence of British Governor of Somaliland- evacuated from colony with all UK troops.  ------------------ Italians have taken 16 days- & 2000+ casualties- to conquer British Somaliland. Read more (& watch a newsreel): www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1bIyDdWkXA&feature=player_embedded------------------- Hitler has personally telegrammed Mussolini congratulations on "great victory in East Africa, a foretaste of British ruin to come at home". ---------------- Due to brutal losses yesterday, Luftwaffe have cancelled all raids on UK by Ju-87 divebombers- too easy to shoot down.  ------------------ Göring loves Stuka bombers- partly for terrifying wail as they dive, from a siren named "Jericho Trumpet". Listen now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZZ504TGDpE----------------- Body of Sgt. Bruce Hancock, RAF pilot, recovered in wreck of his unarmed training plane. With suicidal bravery, he rammed a Luftwaffe bomber |
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Post by Pumba on Sept 13, 2012 14:35:30 GMT 8
August 20, 1940 A lost Luftwaffe plane crashes in Ireland- crew of 6 are 1st internees at new prison camp for German or UK troops breaching Irish neutrality ---------------- Italian conquerors of British Somaliland claim they fought only African tribesmen, Indians & Rhodesians: "Italians conquer their own empire" ------------------ Leon Trotsky, exiled arch-enemy of Stalin, has been stabbed in the back of his head with an icepick by an assassin.  ------------------- Trotsky, Red Army's founder & once Stalin's only rival for leadership of the USSR, lives in exile in Mexico. He's not expected to survive. ------------------ Trotsky's assassin, who claims to be a Canadian, Frank Jackson, denies any link to USSR. He's really a Spanish NKVD agent, Ramón Mercader. -------------------- US Ambassador to France William Bullitt says Hitler's a "megalomaniac" & predicts war between Germany & USA; Republicans call him a traitor. -------------------- A Welsh farmer has been acquitted of selling watered-down milk after arguing his cows are in shock from bombs falling near their field. ------------------ Churchill addressing House of Commons; "Hitler is now sprawled over Europe- few believed we could survive." Read more: www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/113-the-few----------------- Churchill: We rely on RAF. "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." Hear him now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y60xvkJ8ko---------------- Churchill also announcing shared military agreement between USA, UK, & Canada, over defending Western hemisphere from aggression- ie. Nazis. ------------------ Thanks to Croydon airport bombing last week, Londoners now less blasé at air-raid sirens. Some would run into street to see planes fly over. |
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