Review:
An interesting review of the second world war, with strong emphasis on the social history and numerous examples of individual experiences. Well recommended for those who already know the details of major events of the war.
Inspect the whole History Section -->
In an age when much local transport was still horse-drawn, city stables borrowed from country custom and acquired a goat, which horses would follow in an emergency. One night when the premises of a big City of London firm of carters were set ablaze by bombs, 200 of its horses were led to safety.
During Blitz a strand of traditional British silliness helped the afflicted: a London vicar once asked a fellow occupant of his basement shelter whether she prayed when she heard a bomb falling. “Yes,” she answered, “I pray, Oh God! Don’t let it fall here.” The vicar said, “But it’s a bit rough on other people, if your prayer is granted and the thing drops, not on you, but on them.” The woman replied, “I can’t help that. They must say their prayers and push it off further.”
There was a contemptuous joke in Nazi Party circles of Hitler’s lackey Wilhelm Keitel reporting, “My Fuhrer, Italy has entered the war!” Hitler answers, “Send two divisions. That should be enough to finish them.” Keitel says, “No, my Fuhrer, not against us, but with us.” Hitler says, That’s different. Send ten divisions.”
A U.S. Marine Corps Lieutant colonel in the South Pacific fantasised about his ambitions on returning home: “I’m going to start wearing pyjamas again… A few hot baths are also in order… But I’m saving the best for last – I’m going to spend a whole day flushing a toilet, just to hear the water run.”
The Russians eventually killed more than 4.5 million German soldiers, while American and British ground and air forces accounted for only about 500,000. These figures emphasise the disparity between respective battlefield contributions.
The records of Auschwitz-Birkenau show that a total of 1.1 million Jews arrived at the camp, of whom 100,000 survived; among 140,000 non-Jewish Poles, half survived; of 23,000 gypsies, all but 2,000 perished; all of the 15,000 Soviet POW died.
The closing sentence of the book: “All that seems certain is that Allied victory saved the world from a much worse fate that would have followed the triumph of Germany and Japan. With this knowledge, seekers after virtue and truth must be content.”
Inspect the whole History Section -->
Notes:
On 1st of September 1939 Germany attacked Poland with 1.5 million soldiers, 3,600 armoured vehicles, 1,929 modern planes. The defenders deployed 1.3 million men, 750 armoured vehicles, 900 obsolete planes.In an age when much local transport was still horse-drawn, city stables borrowed from country custom and acquired a goat, which horses would follow in an emergency. One night when the premises of a big City of London firm of carters were set ablaze by bombs, 200 of its horses were led to safety.
During Blitz a strand of traditional British silliness helped the afflicted: a London vicar once asked a fellow occupant of his basement shelter whether she prayed when she heard a bomb falling. “Yes,” she answered, “I pray, Oh God! Don’t let it fall here.” The vicar said, “But it’s a bit rough on other people, if your prayer is granted and the thing drops, not on you, but on them.” The woman replied, “I can’t help that. They must say their prayers and push it off further.”
There was a contemptuous joke in Nazi Party circles of Hitler’s lackey Wilhelm Keitel reporting, “My Fuhrer, Italy has entered the war!” Hitler answers, “Send two divisions. That should be enough to finish them.” Keitel says, “No, my Fuhrer, not against us, but with us.” Hitler says, That’s different. Send ten divisions.”
A U.S. Marine Corps Lieutant colonel in the South Pacific fantasised about his ambitions on returning home: “I’m going to start wearing pyjamas again… A few hot baths are also in order… But I’m saving the best for last – I’m going to spend a whole day flushing a toilet, just to hear the water run.”
The Russians eventually killed more than 4.5 million German soldiers, while American and British ground and air forces accounted for only about 500,000. These figures emphasise the disparity between respective battlefield contributions.
The records of Auschwitz-Birkenau show that a total of 1.1 million Jews arrived at the camp, of whom 100,000 survived; among 140,000 non-Jewish Poles, half survived; of 23,000 gypsies, all but 2,000 perished; all of the 15,000 Soviet POW died.
The closing sentence of the book: “All that seems certain is that Allied victory saved the world from a much worse fate that would have followed the triumph of Germany and Japan. With this knowledge, seekers after virtue and truth must be content.”
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