A different view on current affairs & history
World War Two black and white photos that are researched and colorized in detail by Doug and other artists from the ‘Colourisehistory Group.’ This is an example of their work.
Main picture:
A Finnish Brewster Buffalo 239 fighter (BW-352) of (Squadron) Lentolaivue/24 at Selänpää airfield. 24th June 1941. (Source – SA-Kuva. Colorized by Tommi Rossi from Finland)
Nazi Germany undoubtedly produced some of the most advanced and impressive tanks of WW2 but were they truly better than their opponents vehicles? Were the designs after the Panzerkampfwagen iv including the renowned Tiger 1 as excellent as was claimed or were they merely a vanity project of Adolf Hitler which was ultimately an evolutionary cul-de-sac or did their design presage the future of tank design?
Disregarding the fact that Hitler had been only a corporal in the Deutsche Wehrmacht during WW1, Hitler ever the indolent dreamer had never held a proper job before becoming leader of the Nazi Party. Instead he had been a dissolute layabout without an income apart from charity of family and friends.
Main picture: The 1,000 tonne Landkreuzer
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Nowadays most generals are extravagant in their use of ammunition but parsimonious with the lives of their troops. Not so during WW1. By the end of WW1, the British Commonwealth had suffered more than 1.1million deaths and countless millions more maimed and injured. Most of the deaths on the last day occurred between the Armistice being signed at 5:10am within a railway carriage in Compiegne Wood and the ceasefire coming into effect at 11am that same morning. How could 10 000 soldiers become casualties that day when the Deed of Cessation of hostilities had already been signed?
For those with a conspiratorial disposition, be assured that there was no significance in the fact that the time and date of the cessation of hostilities comprised the number eleven. This was pure happenstance. The German delegation led by a civilian Matthias Erzberger had arrived some days earlier to conclude a peace treaty. In spite of the Allies being aware that the German’s mandate was peace at any cost, the Allies under Marshal Ferdinand Foch was truculent and in no mood to make any concessions to the Germans. This truculence was to delay the peace by three days.
Main picture: Carriage in which the Deed of Armistice was signed
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Being born in Blenheim Castle, built by his ancestor the 1st Duke of Wellington, the victor at Waterloo, would leave an indelible imprint on the impressionable youngster. He believed that he was born to greatness. Another streak also drove the red haired youth; a deep desire to impress his parents both of whom, due to their social commitments, neglected the youngster who craved their affection.
Churchill’s humiliation during WW1 was unquestionably the folly and slaughter at Gallipoli but what was his ultimate redemption and what did it take to overcome the stigma?
Main picture: Churchill’s favourite pasttime – painting which he only discovered later in life
What possessed Britain to attempt to subordinate a primitive, desolate country that was trapped in the Middle Ages? How was it possible that a third rate force could massacre 17 000 British soldiers with only ten survivors – a surgeon and an officers wife amongst them? This defeat even exceeded that against the Zulus at Isandlwana in Natal.
The country in question is Afghanistan, a country wedged precariously between two expanding Empires – the Russian and the British. The Russians under the Tsars during the nineteenth century were rapidly expanding eastward towards Alaska whereas the British were initially content on the Indian subcontinent.
Main picture: Alexander Burnes – Scottish explorer and adventurers & fluent Persian speaker
The best known example is a 15 year old lad by the name of Wilhelm “Willi” Hubner in March 1945. Hubner, short for his age, possessed the visage of a 10 year old and the vocal register or pitch of a young child. With a naivety belying the deadly job that he was performing, he fixed his gaze on Hitler as he approached the squad of German youths about to be rewarded for their acts of valour.
Main picture: Adolf Hitler congratulating Hitlerjugend boys including Wilhelm Hubner
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Bureaucracy and discipline is what makes any organisation effective. Without it, nothing works. The men cannot be fed or ammunition will not be ordered. This applies to a myriad of other seemingly mundane aspects in any organisation which ultimately makes the army such a potent force.
These are merely an arbitrary selection of the litany of unanswered questions that I possessed regarding Hitler. Without any doubt, these issues have occupied my mind for at least four decades. Finally Ian Kershaw’s opus magnum entitled eponymously, Hitler, has finally shed light on all these aspects. As I did not have sufficient time to read the full unabridged 1550 page version, I will confess to reading to an abridged version which only comprises a modest 969 pages instead. The journey and wait was well worth it. Continue reading
Ask most citizens of South Africa about the situation in Homs and they will in all likelihood answer the question with a question of their own such as “Where the hell is that?” Moreover the same question posed of Gaza or the Palestinians would elicit an immediate response. Why is this so?
Firstly some background.
Hermann Goering, the morphine addict, who required 5 shots per day to remain functional, was the archetypal playboy or “The Renaissance Man”as he liked to refer to himself. Even when the Third Reich faced a catastrophic situation such as at Stalingrad, his focus was elsewhere: buttressing his image as the Reich’s foremost jaegermeister [Hunting Master], topping-up his art and diamond collection or having more medals and awards bestowed upon himself.