Offshore where sea and skyline blend In rain, the daylight dies; The sullen, shouldering swells attend Night and our sacrifice — The Destroyers, by Rudyard Kipling In 1988 I was invited to give a lecture on AIDS and surgery in the city of Örebro, Sweden. I knew that my grandfather, Chief Petty Officer 1st…
Category: Historical Study
World War II History: Dutch Resistance Fighter Reminisces About Killing Nazi’s as a Teenager
Ninety-year-old Freddie Oversteegen was one of the few women who were active in the Dutch resistance during World War II—along with her sister Truus and Hannie Schaft, who was killed just before the end of the war. When Freddie was 14 years old, a gentleman visited her family home to ask her mother if she…
World War Two History: The Nazi’s Plan To Grab Gibraltar
“Even before France had fallen, Hitler’s generals lobbied the German leader for permission to roll on into Spain and wrest control of Gibraltar from the British.” SHORTLY AFTER THE defeat of France in 1940, Adolf Hitler directed his generals to begin preparations for Nazi Germany’s next bold plan — the seizure of Gibraltar. Few in…
World War II History: The Hunt for Poland’s Buried Nazi Gold Trains
Last summer, explorers in Poland claimed to have discovered tunnels built for trains carrying plundered Nazi gold, only to be debunked a few months later. But for the true believers who’ve been hunting for this treasure for decades, this merely proved what they’ve thought all along: Inside these mountains are secrets and stories that some…
World War I History: The Battles That Remade Europe
From the Balkans to Britain, these battles 100 years ago transformed a continent The centenary commemorations of World War I will undoubtedly concentrate on a trio of well-known battles; Verdun, the Somme and Jutland. All three ended inconclusively, and all witnessed tremendous bloodshed. Verdun and the Somme etched themselves into the national consciousness of France…
Holocaust History: Mapping the Holocaust
JERUSALEM — Nini Ungar clearly recalled that Friday in February 1942 when the Nazis loaded her, her husband and her parents on a cattle cart and transferred them, standing upright, to the railway station in Vienna. She was in her mid-20s and did not yet know that she was pregnant. The family had already spent…
Holocaust History: 1940’s Political Cartoons Warned U.S. of Holocaust
Proof of America’s awareness of genocide against European Jews lay in the funny papers, where cartoonists used pens to eviscerate US politicians’ apathy NEW YORK — Long before becoming a beloved children’s author, Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel wielded his pen for more sober reasons: He wanted to alert the American public to the horrors of…
Middle Ages History: The Battle of Bouvines
Although not as famous as Hastings, Crécy or Agincourt, the 1214 Battle of Bouvines would have far-reaching consequences. In fact, the little-known clash indirectly contributed to the rise of modern-day constitutional democracy. A fighting bishop unhorses and captures a royal bastard in an obscure medieval battle and in one swift blow changes European history for centuries. The event leads…
Ancient Military History: Caractacus, The Powerful Celtic King Who Defied Rome
This is One of the earlier accounts of Guerilla Warfare used against the Romans during their time in early Britain. Here is a really good timeline of this period for those that are interested. -SF Caractacus was a king and tribal leader of the ancient Britons during the Iron Age and ruler of the Catuvellaunui,…
World War Two History: Hitler’s Foreign Legions
For those of you that enjoy WW2 Historical Fiction, check out the book ‘The Last Citadel’ by David L. Robbins. It is about a Spanish Tiger Tank Unit that fought for the Nazi’s on the Eastern Front during the famous Battle of Kursk. -SF “Hundreds of thousands of foreign troops flocked to Nazi Germany to…