Post-blogging 1940

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Post-blogging 1940: final thoughts and conclusions

28 May 2011 in 1940s, Blogging and tweeting, Periodicals, Post-blogging 1940, Reprisals by Brett Holman | No comments

I've now finished my (somewhat piecemeal) post-blogging of the Blitz. It's time to step back and see if there is anything to made of the whole thing.

I'll start with the things I wish I'd done differently. I had intended to use a greater diversity of sources, especially the Popular Newspapers during World War II microfilm collection, which includes the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror along with some Sunday papers. I only managed to do this for the period around the bombing of Coventry. You can see from there that these papers were much more visceral, shall we say, in their reactions to German air raids than the more staid Times, Manchester Guardian or even the Daily Mail. My coverage of the Mail anyway ends after early October so that meant much of the last few rounds of post-blogging relied on the old standbys of The Times and the Guardian, and was less interesting because of it. (Though fewer sources did make them easier to write, not unimportant given I was trying to get each day's post up before midnight!) The exception was for the Clydeside blitz, where I used only a single source, the Glasgow Herald. My aim there was to try and see how the local press covered its own blitz, rather than just taking in the usual views from London (or Manchester). But I think it might have been more valuable had I contrasted the Herald's coverage with, say, The Times, to see if there were differences or whether they in fact were similar (whether because of censorship, the pressure of events or conformity to now-established stereotypes of how blitzes went).
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Wednesday, 21 May 1941

21 May 2011 in 1940s, Air defence, Civil defence, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940 by Brett Holman | No comments

Manchester Guardian, 21 May 1941, 5

Hitler is on the move again! Yesterday, German airborne forces attacked Crete. According to the Manchester Guardian (5), Churchill informed the House of Commons of this news last evening, but his information was dated 3pm. However, 'at noon the situation was reported to be in hand'.

The attack began early in the morning with intense bombardment of Suda Bay, where there is anchorage for the largest vessels, and on aerodromes in the neighbourhood. The parachute troops, brought in troop-carriers and gliders, began to land, apparently with the object of capturing Maleme, an aerodrome on the Bay of Canea. In this they have so far failed. A military hospital which was seized was retaken by our troops under General Freyberg. From time to time the Germans bombed and machine-gunned anti-aircraft defences. Heraklion (Candia) was bombed, but no landings have so far been reported there.

The size of Allied forces on Crete is unknown, but two weeks ago it was reported that two Greek divisions had arrived there following the German conquest of the mainland, and there are also British and New Zealand forces present. King George of the Hellenes and members of the Greek government also managed to evacuate to the island.
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Tuesday, 20 May 1941

20 May 2011 in 1940s, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940, Reprisals by Brett Holman | No comments

Manchester Guardian, 20 May 1941, 5

For the first time in a while, The Times and the Manchester Guardian differ in their lead stories. The latter (above, 5) focuses mainly on the surrender of seven thousand Italian soldiers in northern Abyssinia, but also notes a repulse of German armoured columns near Sollum and a new RAF attack on Vichy aerodromes in Syria. The Times deals only with Syria. There's surprisingly little crowing in either paper about this victory; perhaps because Gondar and Gimma are still holding out, or perhaps because, as a leading article in the Guardian says, 'As a nation [...] we are more disturbed by our defeats than excited by our victories' (4). But the The Times does rub salt into Italian wounds with a little article which points out that while it took the Italians 'seven months to march 425 miles' in their conquest of Abyssinia in 1935-6, 'Imperial Forces have covered a distance of 1,500 miles in 94 days' in order to free it (3).
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Monday, 19 May 1941

19 May 2011 in 1940s, Air defence, Australia, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940 by Brett Holman | 1 comment

The Times, 19 May 1941, 4

There is a lot going on in the Mediterranean and African theatres at the moment. The big news, as reported here by The Times, is that Italian forces in northern Abyssinia have asked for surrender terms (4). They, along with the Duke of Aosta, Viceroy of Abyssinia, are holed up in 'the mountain stronghold of Amba Alagi', where they are being battered by Indian and South African troops. According to the delayed dispatch of The Times's correspondent, Italian morale was very low nearly a week ago, and must be on the verge on breaking by now:

It is a strange twist of fortune that has made the caves where Haile Selassie once sheltered the refuge of the Duke of Aosta's Army. Its disintegration goes on constantly. Deserters at night time steal their own lorries to make a getaway. Many reach the security of our lines. Some are not so lucky.

Once Amba Alagi falls, there will be only two remaining centres of Italian resistance left in Abyssinia.
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Sunday, 18 May 1941

18 May 2011 in 1940s, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940 by Brett Holman | 2 comments

Observer, 18 May 1941, 5

It's Sunday, which means the Observer, which today leads with the situation in the Middle East (5). Vichy has said that it doesn't consider the British bombing of its aerodromes in Syria to be 'acts of aggression' (though it's hard to see what else it could be). In any case there are many things which Vichy could do which would indirectly harm Britain, as listed by the Observer's diplomatic correspondent:

There is the question of the use by Germany of France's naval bases in the Mediterranean. There is the right of passage of German troops through Vichy France to Spain [...] And there is the German infiltration into French Morocco, a danger of which the far-sighted warnings of President Roosevelt shows him to be acutely conscious.

Vichy might also obstruct Britain in a more material sense: there is a report that '800 tons of arms and munitions from the French stores in Syria have already been sent to the Iraqi rebels at Bagdad'. But there are limits to Vichy's value to the German '"pincers" technique in the attack on the British position in the Middle East'. A naval correspondent notes that Germany can currently only ferry troops to Iraq by air, which is extremely limiting. If they want to move substantial numbers in, they will have to do so by sea. Here Britain holds all the cards. Not only does it have naval superiority in the eastern Mediterranean, but even considering that the Axis now controls Greece and the Italian Dodecanese, 'Cyprus lies athwart' the route from Rhodes to Syria, and 'Cyprus is capable of accommodating much larger air forces that in Malta', another British island fortress which is doing its best to interrupt Axis sea routes.
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Saturday, 17 May 1941

17 May 2011 in 1940s, Civil defence, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940, Radio, Rumours by Brett Holman | 3 comments

The Times, 17 May 1941, 4

Without even waiting for a response to Eden's warning, on Thursday RAF aircraft bombed three Vichy aerodromes in Syria, as The Times reports (4). According to RAF HQ, Middle East Command:

At Palmyra three Ju90s, two other German aircraft, and one Cr42 were machine-gunned. At least three of these aircraft were severely damaged and one other was burnt out.

General Dentz, the French High Commissioner in Syria, protested these raids, saying that they had killed a French officer. He further claimed that the German aircraft were there due to 'forced landings' and that his officials, 'according to the terms of the Armistice, procured their most rapid departure'. The diplomatic correspondent to The Times comments that Syria 'must now be counted an important arena of war'.
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Friday, 16 May 1941

16 May 2011 in 1940s, Civil defence, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940, Radio by Brett Holman | 4 comments

Manchester Guardian, 16 May 1941, 5

There have been alarming developments in the Near East, reports the Manchester Guardian today (5). Syria, a Vichy French possession, is being used as a staging post for German aeroplanes on their way to Iraq, where an anti-British coup recently took place.

About thirty have already crossed Syria, it is authoritatively stated in Cairo. Their markings are believed to be French. It is understood that the 'planes are not troops-carriers but are transporting technicians.

According to the Associated Press most of the 'planes landing in Syria are understood to be bombers.

The paper's diplomatic correspondent says that

Germany is preparing to dominate Syria with a view to using it as a base for operations intended in the first instance to help Rashid Ali and the usurpers in Iraq who have made war on this country. At the same time Iran is being pressed to allow Germans to infiltrate there.

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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Thursday, 15 May 1941

15 May 2011 in 1940s, Aircraft, Civil defence, Nuclear, biological, chemical, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940 by Brett Holman | No comments

Manchester Guardian, 15 May 1941, 5

The remarkable flight to Scotland of Rudolf Hess still dominates the headlines today, though much more so in the Manchester Guardian (5) than in The Times, it must be said. More details are emerging. It now seems that Hess was trying to meet with one specific person, the Duke of Hamilton, whose seat is at Dungavel, just a few miles from where Hess landed by parachute.

The Duke is on active service, and was not at Dungavel on Saturday night. The Duke, who is the premier peer of Scotland, is 38, and succeeded to his title last year on the death of his father. He is best remembered for his boxing and flying achievements as Marquis of Douglas and Clydesdale, and he has met Hess through his sporting interests.

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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Wednesday, 14 May 1941

14 May 2011 in 1940s, Civil defence, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940 by Brett Holman | 2 comments

The Times, 14 May 1940, 4

If there was a surprising absence of speculation yesterday about the reasons behind Hess's flight to Britain, that omission has been handsomely rectified in today's newspapers. The Times even goes so far as to declare in its headlines that Hess, 'essentially an idealist', was 'disillusioned' (4).

Why? He is believed first to have become more and more disgusted by the trickery and shamelessness of Hitler's entourage. More than that he is believed to have become horrified by the bloodshed which he saw around him and by the prospect (held out in Hitler's last speech) of still further bloodshed "wherever and whenever I command the German soldiers to march." In all his speeches Hess has glorified the power of the German Army, but always (much more than any other German leader) he has insisted that the true aim should be a final peace.

A further report (from the German frontier, based on 'Current gossip in Germany'!) notes that during Hitler's speech in the Reichstag on 4 May, Hess 'appeared detached, expressionless, and almost bored, and contrasting this with his habitual and profoundly devotional attitude towards Hitler' (3).
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

Tuesday, 13 May 1941

13 May 2011 in 1940s, Books, Collective security, International air force, Periodicals, Pictures, Post-blogging 1940 by Brett Holman | 4 comments

The Times, 13 May 1941, 5

Today's big story must have caused quite a bit of consternation to readers: it's scarcely possible to credit it. Here is the full text of the statement issued by 10, Downing Street last night (as reproduced in The Times, 5):
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. See here for an introduction to the series.

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