At this point in the narrative, it looks like the Brits are actually starting to do quite well, even though they are pretty much going it alone. They have pretty much kicked Italy's ass, and are now heading up into Greece. It doesn't seem that the Germans have made much of a dent in Africa yet, though, so I suppose that will be in the near future. In fact, I just checked the index, and it looks like in about 100 pages Rommel is going to be heading off to Africa, so that will definitely be a different story. And the U.S. of A.? Still sitting in the kitchen with Dinah, plucking on the old banjo.
Day Five (DDRD 1,187): January 31, 2021
Read to page 90.
A bit of a backtrack to let us see how the Brits kicked Italy's ass out of Africa took up 3/4ths of today's reading. Interesting that there were folks who who advocating waiting until May 1941 to take action, but when Churchill and company pushed for earlier movements it went swimmingly, and they were pretty much finished up by February 1941. So much for faint hearts.
There were more then / now cities mentioned: Mogadishu, Addis Ababa, & Djibouti (aka Jibuti).
Day Six (DDRD 1,188): February 1, 2021
Read to page 110. At one point, Churchill was talking about German naval attacks, and he tells of The Hipper which, "in a savage attack lasting an hour...destroyed seven out of nineteen ships, making no attempt to rescue survivors, and regained Brest two days later." (105)
 |
| Public Domain |
And after I'd read that, I just kept thinking about the "making no attempt to rescue survivors," and what that actually meant. How many men (presumably they were all men) went into the Atlantic Ocean after those attacks? What a horrible way to die. And the complete randomness of it. You didn't die this horrible death because you were a bad person or because you did something risky. You died because you were in the wrong fucking place at the wrong fucking time. That's how precious life is on this bitch of an Earth.Fuck.
Day Seven (DDRD 1,189): February 2, 2021
Read to page130.
Funny how things cross over. After stumbling into some Greenland Noir books by Christoffer Petersen (I gulped down 4 novels and 4 novellas in short order), I got slightly obsessed with Greenland and did some other reading (like my first book of this year, First Light by Rebecca Stead) and watched some stuff (like the first episode of a documentary series called Through Greenland starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of Game of Thrones). And today I bumped into Greenland in this book. First, the rather uncomplimentary (but hey, truth is truth) "Greenland was entirely devoid of resources....(120) And then a bit bit later Churchill talks about FDR establishing an air base in Greenland. This would have been 1941, and I would bet that that is when Thule air base was established. Let's just have a quick look. 🥁🥁🥁 Our friends at Wikipedia say...
"Beginning in the summer of 1941, the US Coast Guard and the War Department established weather and radio stations at Narsarsuaq Airport (Bluie West-1), Sondrestrom Air Base (Bluie West-8), Ikateq (Bluie East Two), and Gronnedal (Bluie West-9). In 1943 the Army Air Forces set up weather stations Scoresbysund (Bluie East-3) on the east coast around the southern tip of Greenland, and Thule (Bluie West-6) to be operated by Danish personnel. Many other sites were set up, but BW-6, isolated in the far North, was then of very minor importance." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Air_Base)
Ooops. I guess I would have lost that bet, wouldn't I? Well, anyway...it was nice to see Greenland here.
Day Eight (DDRD 1,190): February 3, 2021
Read to page 150.
Hey, check out what I just saw on Yahoo!'s news page: Angelina Jolie is selling Winston Churchill's only wartime painting. Short version: AJ is expecting to get $3.4 million for it. I for one am relieved: I was worried she might be running short of cash what with the pandemic and all of that. 😓 One less thing to worry about now.
Day Nine (DDRD 1,191): February 4, 2021
Read to page 170.
"The mistakes of years cannot be remedied in hours." (153)
And...it is now March 1941, and Rommel has finally been sent to Africa (Tripoli). So some shit is about to go down there, foe shoah. Also, the first hints that Japan might be eyeing the idea of attacking the U.S. of A. In fact, there's even a mention of Pearl Harbour. Mmm-hmmm.
Day Ten (DDRD 1,192): February 5, 2021
Read to page 190.
Rommel hit the ground running, and he is kicking big ass in Africa now. Funny, Churchill talks about how he gave a public nod of the head to Rommel for his soldierly skills, and how there was a great uproar because he had praised The Enemy. Churchill to the end, he closes the anecdote by saying he wasn't sorry then and still isn't now. (Though he does add that Rommel parted ways with Hitler and was even involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler near the end...which ended up costing him his life.)
Day Eleven (DDRD 1,193): February 6, 2021
Read to page 210.
Day Twelve (DDRD 1,194): February 7, 2021
Read to page 230.
Churchill relates a story about the bombardment of Tripoli by three battleships, a cruiser, and "some" destroyers. They bombarded the town for 40 minutes. He notes that large fires ensued due to the fact that a fuel depot had been hit, and that fires then spread to buildings in the area. The bombardment commenced at 5:00 a.m. Astonishing to me is the fact that the ships were at a range of between 11,000 and 14,000 yards. That's 6.25 to 8 miles! (214) It also made me think, I wonder if there was somebody...some early morning walker or a milkman or someone...who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was blown to pieces because of that. Death in wartime just seems so random...and it's hard not to conclude that life is meaningless if death is random, y'know?
Day Thirteen (DDRD 1,195): February 8, 2021
Read to page 250.
Churchill tells a story about meeting with Bernard Freyberg after the first World War, and asking Bernard to show him his wounds. He says that when Bernard stripped himself to show that he had 27 separate scars and gashes. (Churchill also said that he added another three in the Second World War.) That's quite an image, isn't it? If I were a sculptor...but then again, no...no, really, if I were a sculptor, I would have to create this. I'm thinking that I'd have young (-ish...he would have been in his mid to late forties) Churchill actually putting his finger into one of the wounds, evoking the St. Thomas thing. And thinking that, it also made me wonder if maybe Thomas got a bad rap. What if it wasn't doubt that prompted him to touch the risen Jesus' wounds, but a desire to honor those wounds...which I presume is why Churchill wanted to see Freyberg's wounds. Just sayin', sir.
Day Fourteen (DDRD 1,196): February 9, 2021
Read to page 270.
The bad news: the Brits got blown out of Crete, which was seen as a must-hold place. According to Churchill, it was something of a Pyrrhic victory, though, as the Germans expended so many resources (including man-power) to take the island that they pretty much lost their chances to engage in the Balkan theater.
Also...it's now mid-May 1941 and the Americans are beginning to help out a bit by patrolling the Atlantic ocean. Churchill notes, "I feel they are being drawn near and nearer to their great decision." But then he adds the rather ominous, "It is better however not to count too much on this." Which sounds like a more dismal version of "...you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing — after they've exhausted every other possibility.”
Day Fifteen (DDRD 1,197): February 10, 2021
Read to page 290. Much of it focused on battles with The Bismarck, a mighty German ship which finally met its match in the North Atlantic. Pretty exciting story, actually.
Day Sixteen (DDRD 1,198): February 11, 2021
Read to page 310.
Reference action in North Africa, Churchill writes to General Wavell to congratulate him, noting that the loss of 20 tanks and "1,000 or 1,500 casualties do not seem to be at all too heavy a cost." (302) Well...that's a little chilling in and of itself, of course, even if it is inevitable that there will be lives lost in battle. But the "1,000 or 1,500," the casual lack of distinction implicit there, is just horrifying. I don't hold it against Churchill per se, but still...I wouldn't have minded if he'd decided to leave that line out of the book.
Speaking of General Wavell...not only did I see his dismissal for the Middle East Command coming for a hundred or so pages...Churchill even makes an oblique reference to the fact that the reader should have seen it...something along the lines of, "readers will not be surprised" inserted before moving to the story of how Wavell was sent off to a command in India. There were previous references to Wavell seeming tired and, though the word was not used, timid / conservative in battle.
Public Domain
Day Seventeen (DDRD 1,199): February 12, 2021
Read to page 330.
Of trying to convince Stalin that the U.S.S.R. was in great danger of being attacked by Germany, Churchill said, "Nothing that any of us could do pierced the purblind prejudice and fixed ideas which Stalin had raised between himself and the terrible truth." (328)
For some reason, this makes me think of Trump's first impeachment trial. And the second.
Day Eighteen (DDRD 1,200): February 13, 2021
Read to page 350. Getting pretty close to the midway point of this book.
Also heading into two subjects which interest me mightily: Stalingrad and Pearl Harbor.
At one point in Today's Twenty, Churchill is questioned about supporting Russia when Germany invades (since he had always been an opponent of communism). Churchill responds by saying, "If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons." He so funny.
In other news, I was listening to a bit from The Dick Cavett Show which featured Orson Welles. Turns out Orson knew Churchill a little bit, and he told a story that was pretty funny. Welles was somewhere trying to convince a guy to invest in his film, and as they passed through a hotel lobby Churchill nodded to Welles. That instantly sealed the deal for the film financing. The next day, Welles told Churchill about what had happened. And later on, Welles and the financier again passed Churchill in the hotel lobby, and this time Churchill stood up and bowed to Welles. Is that funny or what?
Much to my surprise I finished Book One of this volume (Germany Drives East), and started Book Two, War Comes to America. This stuff just keeps getting better, too. I'm already beginning to think, "I'm not going to be ready to stop reading Churchill when I get to the end of the sixth volume of this series." Well, if I still feel that when then (about four months from now, I'd wager), there is plenty more Churchill out there...but access to it might be a little dicey. (And how absurd is that?)
Day Nineteen (DDRD 1,201): 💗February 14, 2021💗
Read to page 370.
Funny...after many pages of thinking that General Wavell was a pain in the ass who regularly frustrated Churchill's plans, Wavell's successor, General Claude Auchinleck--
Public Domain
--proves to be an even bigger pain in the ass.
Kind of like marriage. You think the first one was fucked up? Wait until you see how the second one goes. Mmm-hmmm.
Day Twenty (DDRD 1,202): February 15, 2021
Read to page 395. (I wanted to get past the halfway point in the text.)
Churchill tells a story about how he was making a secret journey to meet with FDR, and because of bad weather in the Atlantic, his ship had to go ahead of its escort. This meant that they also could not communicate very often (since transmissions put the ship at risk). He said that this gave him for the first time in months a chance to read for pleasure, and he read Captain Hornblower, R. N. When he had a chance he sent a message to the man in a Middle Eastern post who had given the book to him, which said "I find Hornblower admirable." He then notes, " this caused perturbation in the Middle East headquarters, where it was imagined that 'Hornblower' was the code-word for some special operation of which they had not been told." (382)
Churchill also talks about a worship service that was held on board his ship with American and British soldiers and leaders. He comments on it by saying "Every word seemed to stir the heart. It was a great hour to live. Nearly half those who sang were soon to die." (384) That one stings as much as the prior one amused.
Last but not least:
Lying about. Heh, those Brits.
Day Twenty-One (DDRD 1,203): February 16, 2021
Read to page 410. Didn't write up the things I wanted to remember right away, though, and now (24 hours later) I've forgotten what they were. Ummm...Go, Churchill!
Day Twenty-Two (DDRD 1,204): February 17, 2021
Read to page 430. Wow, those Russians...what a bunch of bitch dogs they were. Churchill kept it clean on the official record (as indicated by the messages reproduced here), but his comments about it indicate that he was really biting down on his tongue. With good reason, since Hitler's attack on the U.S.S.R. took some of the heat off of the British forces, so he didn't want to tell Stalin to fuck off.
Day Twenty-Three (DDRD 1,205): February 18, 2021
Read to page 450.
Day Twenty-Four (DDRD 1,206): February 19, 2021
Read to page 470.
Interesting bit in a letter from Churchill to Stalin dated 4 November 1941: "I am urging President Roosevelt to increase his pressure on the Japanese and keep them frightened so that the Vladivostok route will not be blocked." Which makes me wonder what other moves preceded (and perhaps led to?) the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not that that would justify it in any way, just that we (or at least I) were (was) taught that the attack came out of nowhere as we were discussing peace in D.C. with the "perfidious Japs."
Day Twenty-Five (DDRD 1,207): February 20, 2021
Read to page 490.
Less than a month until Pearl Harbor now. There have been occasional mentions of the Japanese in the letters / communiques of this time, but nothing to indicate that there was any idea that they were going to be a problem.
Day Twenty-Six (DDRD 1,208): February 21, 2021
Read to page 510. And yes, it has been a shitty day. Thanks for asking.
Day Twenty-Seven (DDRD 1,209): February 22, 2021
Read to page 530.
And here's another reason to love Churchill:
Nothing like a little "Kubla Khan" to set things right.Meanwhile...
Churchill makes reference to economic sanctions applied against Japan in July 1941. Embargoes put in place by the US, Great Britain, and Holland "cut off from Japan all supplies of oil, on which the Navy, and indeed the whole war-power of Japan, depended. The Japanese Navy was at once forced to live on its oil reserves, and at the outbreak of the Pacific War had in fact consumed four out of eighteen months supply." (521-522)
So that might be another reason for the whole Pearl Harbor thing, hmmm?
In the news today, seems that Biden has decided to move a bust of Churchill out of the Oval Office. Well. There it is.
Day Twenty-Eight (DDRD 1,210): February 23, 2021
Read to page 554.
"However sincerely we try to put ourselves in another person's position, we cannot allow for processes of the human mind and imagination to which reason offers no key." (536) Which is Churchill summing up the behavior of Japan in World War II...and which sums up my relationship with pretty much every woman I have ever known.
Meanwhile...
Yep. It was a pretty intense chapter. So much so that I kept reading until the end of it, hence the "extra" pages read today.
At one point, Churchill gives the text of a letter he writes to the Japanese ambassador reference Britain declaring war on Japan. (Which, I thought it worth noting, they actually did BEFORE the United States did, since FDR had to go to Congress to ask permission.) It is a an extremely polite letter, beginning with the salutation "Sir" and ending with the closing "Your obedient servant, Winston S. Churchill." Churchill then comments, "Some people did not like this ceremonial style. But after all when you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."
I was also stunned by two facts: (1) According to WSC, 40 volumes of information about the attack on Pearl Harbor(u)r were compiled in the years following the attack. 聖なるたわごと! I also started wondering how long the attack lasted...and ATWSC the attack began at 7:55 am and was over with by 10 am. 聖なるたわごと!!
There were more little details which made it seem kind of suspicious that the Japanese were able to successfully make this attack, but the fact that there were almost no American battleships left in the Pacific Theater afterwards kind of moots those points for me. I mean, I can see FDR being willing to kill a few thousand sailors to shoehorn the USA into the war, but I can't imagine him allowing the Japanese to take pretty much complete control of the Pacific Ocean in order to accomplish that...especially not in a time when it would take a month or more to get other ships into the Pacific.
And yes, I did just put in a request for Pearl Harbor to the Louisville Free Public Library. Like you couldn't see that one coming.
Day Twenty-Nine (DDRD 1,211): February 24, 2021
Read to page 571.
Day Thirty (DDRD 1,212): February 25, 2021
Read to page 590.
Day Thirty-One (DDRD 1,213): February 26, 2021
Read to page 610.
Reference attending a Christmas Eve Church service, Churchill says, "Certainly there was much to fortify the faith of all who believe in the moral governance of the universe." (594) I thought that was an interesting way to refer to God.
And surprise, surprise, surprise...the text of this volume ends on page 629, so I'll be finishing that up tomorrow...and then there are 153 pages of Appendices. So 8 or 9 more days before I start Volume IV. Woot.
Day Thirty-Two (DDRD 1,214): February 27, 2021
Read to page 632, which is the end of the text pages for Volume III.
With respect to the war against Japan, Churchill makes the comment that "the vast distances in the Pacific and the advantageous forward key points already seized or likely to be seized by the Japanese will make the serious invasion of the homelands of Japan a very lengthy business." (622) That made me think about how the justification for the use of the two atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki was basically that it would save the horrific cost of defeating the Japanese on the ground. And that made me think about the comic book about an alternate WWII history wherein the bombs weren't dropped, and the ground war had to be fought. And that made me want to read that comic book. There was a big problem with that, though. I couldn't remember the name of the comic book. I tried Googling "comic book World War II alternate history Japan" and several variations on those terms, and got nothing. So I thought harder. I was reasonably sure that this comic book had been written by Chuck Dixon, and suspicioned that it had been produced under the WildStorm banner. So I Wikipediaed Chuck Dixon and then searched for WildStorm. And there it was: Storming Paradise. A six issue series which appeared under the WildStorm logo. And due to the fact that the one thing in my life that I am organized about is my comic book collection, I was able to pull those six issues out of a box a few minutes later. Going to cozy up with them later on.
Meanwhile...
The last few pages of the book were taken up with Churchill's very interesting story about flying from Norfolk to Bermuda after his visit to the States, where a ship was waiting for him to travel back to England. Churchill recounts how he traveled in a Boeing flying boat to Bermuda, which he liked very much. He even mentions talking to the pilot, and taking the controls of the ship for a bit. He then asked the captain could this plane fly from Bermuda to England? The pilot responded that she could. He tells Churchill that they could make the trip in 20 hours since they had a good 40 mph wind behind them.
Hold it there for a moment. 20 hours??? That's a 7 1/2 hour flight nowadays. Kind of puts it into perspective, doesn't it?
Also, Churchill was so effusive in his praise for this Boeing Flying Boat that I wanted to have a look at it, so I Googled about and not only found some great pictures--
Public Domain
--but a story entitled "Winston's Wild Ride"
which included a newsreel about the journey. Good times.
My friend Pat has also caught the Churchill bug, and has started reading Erik Larson's The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. She told me a few days ago that she was mad about Biden moving the bust of Churchill out of the Oval Office, too!
Onward to the Appendices.
Day Thirty-Three (DDRD 1,215): February 28, 2021
Read to page 650.
Some advice for politicians:
Day Thirty-Four (DDRD 1,216): March 1, 2021
Read to page 670.
Day Thirty-Five (DDRD 1,217): March 2, 2021
Read to page 690.
Learned another new word courtesy of WSC:
in·ter·ca·late
/inˈtərkəˌlāt/
verb
1. interpolate (an intercalary period) in a calendar.
2. insert (something) between layers in a crystal lattice, geological formation, or other structure.
In other news...less than 100 pages to go in Volume III (so five days), and I just finished watching Pearl Harbor. It was pretty okay, actually. Made me think (again) of The Pacific Trilogy, which might have to happen after Churchill.
Day Thirty-Six (DDRD 1,218): March 3, 2021
Read to page 711.
Day Thirty-Seven (DDRD 1,219): March 4, 2021
Read to page 730.
Day Thirty-Eight (DDRD 1,220): March 5, 2021
Read to page 750. There was an interesting reference to women serving in the military:
Unless I'm misreading this, it seems very Feminist for 1942. I was impressed. I was also curious as to what A.T.S. was, and found out that it stood for Auxiliary Territorial Service.
Some interesting information on this can be found here: https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/131/auxiliary-territorial-service/ . Clearly women were needed for the military to function, and there's nothing that promotes equality like necessity.
Day Thirty-Nine (DDRD 1,221): March 6, 2021
Read to page 770...which puts me at less than 20 pages before the end of this book. I'm thinking about just pushing on so I can start in on Volume IV tomorrow. Once again I'm reminded that while the Appendices are interesting, it's just not the same as reading the text... and not nearly as compelling. Have to rethink that Read Them As They Are Mentioned approach I mentioned previously.
News as it happens.
Day 40 (DDRD 1,222): March 7, 2021
Fell short by about a dozen pages last night--for some reason I preferred whiskey to Churchill. (Tried to carry on with Churchill despite the, but had to admit that nothing was penetrating my liquid brain.) But I was up early this morning, and I put it to rest with my first cup of coffee. This was a most excellent book, and despite the fact that I've now spend three and a half months with Mr. Churchill (over the course of several thousand pages), I'm still ready for more. So onward to Volume IV: The Hinge of Fate.
Hasta que volvamos a leer.
DDR Day 1000 to Day 2000:
(1) Leviathan 63 days, 729 pages
(2) Stalingrad 27 days, 982 pages
(3) Life and Fate 26 days, 880 pages
(4) The Second World War 34 + 32 + __ days, 4,379 pages Total: 6,970 pages...more than 1/2 of my first 1,000 DDR days
