Authors:Rachel Chin Pages: 2 - 22 Abstract: In June 1940 the French metropolitan government signed an armistice with Hitler’s Germany, which effectively removed France from the conflict. At the same time, the little known French General Charles de Gaulle was in London establishing himself at the head of the Free French resistance movement. This set the stage for arguments over who represented the French nation and its interests. This article explores how the Vichy government and the Free French movement constructed their respective claims to legitimacy using legal, moral and historical arguments. And it considers how these claims were fought through armed clashes over French colonial territory. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1423 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Alex Henry Pages: 23 - 41 Abstract: Bordeaux remains marked by ‘l’occupation’. Huge U-boat pens dominate the maritime districts of the city, an imposing reminder of the city's painful history. While such monuments maintain the memory of the German occupation, the Italian wartime presence in the city has been overlooked. Yet the Italian naval garrison had a huge influence on Bordeaux life. This article explores these relationships from the words of captured Italians, whose private conversations reveal how their actions were defined by violence and exploitation. This is a view of Italian soldiery that undermines the myth of the 'brava gente' – a people untainted by the brutality of war. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1424 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Dan Ellin Pages: 42 - 65 Abstract: Royal Air Force aircrew endured mental and physical stresses during bombing operations. Their chances of completing a tour of operations unscathed were around one in four, and many were aware the chances were slim. Some who refused to fly were accused of ‘lacking moral fibre’ (LMF). Although this was not a medical diagnosis it is frequently viewed through the lens of mental health and reactions to trauma and it has become a powerful and important cultural phenomenon. This article re-examines LMF in the culture of the wartime Royal Air Force, before considering how and why LMF is remembered by veterans and in popular histories since the war. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1425 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Raphaële Balu Pages: 66 - 84 Abstract: This article explores gender relations within the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. To do so, it scrutinises the story of its agent Anne-Marie Walters. Although SOE was a trailblazer in recruiting women for military missions, this case study shows how gender prejudices could mark the experience of female agents. Walters’ story indeed shows that her gender involved not only a limitation of her actions in the field, but also how it diminished her credit within SOE’s headquarters and even how it was used against her when she reported serious misconduct by her senior officer. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1426 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:George Wilton Pages: 85 - 127 Abstract: In March 1944 Japan launched its Operation U Go offensive which resulted in the well documented battles of Kohima and Imphal in north east India. At the same time 23 British Infantry Brigade was finalising Long Range Penetration training before participation in Operation Thursday, the second Chindit campaign that was already underway in north eastern Burma. That plan was changed, and the brigade was diverted to operate in the mountainous Naga Hills to protect the eastern flank of Kohima and disrupt Japanese supply lines from Burma. Much has been written about Burma, Kohima, Imphal and the two Chindit operations, but surprisingly little on the activities of 23 British Infantry Brigade in 1944. This article seeks to redress some of that imbalance by considering: how the brigade prepared for the Long Range Penetration role; how it operated in the Naga Hills; how those operations differed to Operation Thursday; and finally, if this was an effective use of the brigade. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1427 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Janet S K Watson Pages: 128 - 140 Abstract: Commemorations are about the present more than the past, as they reveal how different groups of people believed historical events should be understood within their own modern context. Both Margaret Thatcher in 1984 and John Major in 1994 were aware of the complicated political implications of British commemorations of D-Day. While Thatcher managed the potential international diplomatic traps that were thrust upon her in 1984, Major’s intentional efforts to use public festivities to boost domestic political support in1994 were far less successful. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1428 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Rishika Yadav Pages: 141 - 147 Abstract: The expanding interest in the non-white experience of the World Wars is engaging a growing number of scholars within military history. However, the challenge of documenting the historically marginalised non-white voices remains. This Research Note specifically examines news-reporting of non-white soldiers from South Africa and examines the challenges of colonial and imperial reportage. For this, the Note critically analyses articles published by The Cape Standard (a non-white South African news weekly) on the experiences of non-white soldiers from South Africa who were captured during the Second World War. The Note considers the importance of wartime reporting to bridge the source-gap and to reconstruct subaltern histories of non-white military service. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1429 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Grace E Stephenson Pages: 148 - 154 Abstract: Subject to wartime restrictions, the five British commercial newsreel companies continued to produce cinema newsreels throughout the Second World War. This article summarises the voluntary and compulsory censorship arrangements for newsreel content and the rota system for filming to indicate how the Ministry of Information and the Services implicitly and explicitly controlled wartime newsreel production. As the unrivalled form of mass-communication of visual news media during the period, the newsreels contributed significantly to British wartime propaganda, and the purpose of the article is to argue for the value of the wartime newsreels as a source for scholars of the conflict. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1430 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Charlotte Faucher Pages: 155 - 162 Abstract: London was the first capital city of Free France, the French external resistance movement led by Charles de Gaulle. This city also hosted a dynamic French community and since 1910 a French Institute. This piece reviews the Second World War archives held at the French Institute, with a focus on the documents of its then director, Denis Saurat, who was one of the first London French to rally to de Gaulle. However, by 1942 Saurat had become a leading anti-Gaullist and the French Institute archives allow scholars to add nuance to the history of Free France and wartime Britain. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1431 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Valerie Deacon Pages: 163 - 167 Abstract: This Research Note gives a brief introduction to the series of Escape and Evasion reports held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Making up a rich source base, these documents can be used to explore the operational history of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), the history of MIS-X, escape and evasion planning during the Second World War, diplomatic history, and social history. In addition, they offer a very compelling story of the relationships that flourished between aircrews and European civilians during the war. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1432 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
Authors:Dayna Barnes Pages: 168 - 177 Abstract: This research note makes the case for further historical work comparing the military occupations of Japan and Iraq. Despite serious differences, a comparison of these two related events reveals long-term trends. These include Anglo-American strategic and economic thinking, questions of legitimacy in military occupations, how policy planning works, the problem of interagency rivalry in foreign policy making, and the limitations of advance planning. PubDate: 2020-11-10 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v6i3.1433 Issue No:Vol. 6, No. 3 (2020)
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