mostly by patriotic civilian yachts, fishing boats, etc.
Later, they returned to France,
to liberate western Europe.
(Hitler might have been overconfident that this huge troop was well locked down at Dunkirk and would be a huge ransom to bend UK to his knees.
Meanwhile the Nazi troops were busy heading towards Paris.)
(L) The inspirational leader whose speeches motivated the Britains during the war.
(R) The mathematical genius and his team who broke down the Nazi code, aided by his electro-mechanical computer. "It is estimated that breaking Enigma shortened the war by several years, and that around 14 to 21 million lives were saved due to Alan Turing's work."
"Since it was difficult for the USA to wage an effective fight on both the European and Pacific fronts simultaneously, Eisenhower proposed a defensive strategy on the Pacific front until the war in Europe was won."
* To the Color - a bugle call to render honors to the United States. It is used when no band is available to render honors, or in ceremonies requiring honors more than once. It commands all the same courtesies as the National Anthem. * Taps - time for bed (or RIP)
Mainly because of the Cold War and stealing merits, the West belittled the effort and sacrifice made by USSR during WW2: 34 million Soviets were in services.
Further, 12 million Soviet servicemen and 15 million Soviet citizens (all included 1/3 of its male population) died, fighting against 200 German divisions. Hitler started Operation Barbarossa (see illustration) with 5.5M servicemen, 5000 aircrafts, and 4300 tanks. The stubborn and high-casualty resistance in Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad had bogged down and severely damaged the Nazi German corps. The Allies' landing (125,000) in Normandy faced much less resistance. The Allies found themselves fighting against 10 German divisions, sometimes with older men and teenage boys (Hitler Youngun).
Four out of five Germans killed in the war were killed on the Eastern Front.
The Sacred War (or the Great Patriotic War) against the Nazi invasion was bitter and passionate:
It was said that before its invasion of USSR, Nazi Germany leaked a long list of 'pro-Germany' Soviet commanders, for the highly-suspicious Stalin to finish them off. In addition, to make Stalin think that the main German force was still preparing to invade the British Isles, messages were broadcast asking for English speakers, and lots of handbooks were published about the British way of life. When the invasion (Operation Barbarossa) then broke out by surprise, Stalin was unprepared and had not many good commanders at his disposal. The Nazi armies rapidly got close to Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad.
Excerpts from 'Stalingrad' (2013 movie) and 'Enemy at the Gates' (2001 movie) (highly recommended):
Now, whenever any one of the three defending cities was about to collapse, Stalin dispatched Zhukov to turn the situation around. Zhukov built faith and fame among the servicemen and the civilians, all to Stalin’s love and envy.
At Tokyo, Soviet agent Richard Sorge (with Germany background) became a trusted friend of the Germany ambassador to Japan. Sorge provided Stalin with the crucial information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Dec 1941. This enabled Stalin to move troops (34 Siberian regiments and around 100 Far East regiments) from the East to the West. (About 45,000 Korean refugees were recruited to the Red Army in the East to monitor any Japanese movements inside south-eastern Siberia.)
The Great Depression crippled USA and rippled to Germany (by recalling US debts which Germany needed to recover from WW-I) and other countries. Many unemployed engineers and technicians moved from USA and Germany to USSR to build and run steel mills, and factories for tractors and airplanes. The latter were transformed to roll out tanks and warplanes when the war broke out.
During the war, the US was shipping thousands of tons of food to Great Britain and to the Soviet Union, along with military supplies.
(c.f. the huge 'banjo' / 'balalaika') The Leningrad Cowboys are from Finland! Most Finns speak the Mongolian language, just as those Russians living next to the Ural Mountainsthat divide Europe and Asia.
From Aug 1943, the Soviets changed from defense to attack, and started to push the German invaders back. Famous for their bravery, the Cossacks inflicted fatal damages to the retreating Napoleonic Armêe then, and the Nazi-deutschen Korps now:
(L) The Cossacks Ride over Duna(River) --- far flung!
(R) The Cossacks -- Swell!
* Dovator's Cossacks
-- with tens of paintings on the tough war in USSR
Conquest of Berlin
In 1945, Stalin ordered Marshal Zhukov to take Berlin before May 1 at all costs, so that victory could be celebrated in the Labor Day parade in the Moscow Red Square. In Berlin, the Soviet soldiers fought toughly and roughly, alleys by alleys, whilst the Allies stood by in the outskirts in attempt to capture any fleeing Nazis. 200,000 Russians died taking Berlin. The Soviets spotted Hitler's dead body and smuggled it home, so that the Am GIs could not see it. - Berlin surrendered to USSR on May 2, 1945 - Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies at Reims of France on May 7, to the Allies and USSR at Berlin on May 8.
Finally, the Soviet Victory Parade on Jun 24, 1945:
* Zhukov appeared on a white stallion, to be cheered. (Initially, Stalin planned to do it himself; but during rehearsal he fell from the horse and got hurt.) * Captured Nazi German standards were thrown at the feet of Zhukov, not Stalin!.
So, Zhukov got the greatest honor then, but a humble life afterwards.
Despite the Cold War, top generals from the Allies insisted on visiting him in person, in hope to ensure their highly respected counterpart lived in reasonable shape.
What if
he stayed on duty on 6 June 1944, instead of celebrating his wife's birthday by her side?
* Panzerlied (the tank song, Rommel's favorite, with bilingual lyrics) *Panzerlied (in the Battle of the Bulge movie )
[那首曲子原是教堂音乐《弥撒》，第三帝国时期，纳粹把它改编为《第一装甲师军歌》、《党卫军军歌》。希特勒的装甲部队发起攻势前，常奏此曲鼓舞士气。]
American losses were so high (19,000 killed)
in the Battle of the Bulge (lasting 6 weeks)
that replacements were needed quickly.
Black American soldiers were finally accepted as front line fighting troops.
* 軍艦行進曲 - the marines going through Malaysia to take Singapore
* 步兵の本領 - the infantry march * 君が代行進曲 - The Kimigayo March
* 大東亜決戦の歌 - Battle Song of the Greater East Asia * 嗚呼神風特別攻撃隊 - final farewell to Kamikaze (flying human bombs - following enemy bombers back to their carriers) * Bicycle Corps Theme Song
* 日本軍の勝利は1937年南京行進 - Victory Procession in Nanking 1937 from the "Nanjing Nanjing" (南京 南京) movie (2009)
Isoroku Yamamoto (山本五十六) shot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was the mastermind of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Before he was shot down, his itinerary was radioed in plain text (on purpose!?), and intercepted by US Navy. Isoroku means 56 in Japanese: he was thus named because when he was born as the 6th son, his father (a samurai) was 56 years old.
Haka means “Maori dance”, one that was traditionally performed at the onset of war to unite the people in anger and courage.
They try to scare away enemies by widely opening up their eyes, sticking out their tongues long, howling hostile words, stomping their own chests, and stamping their feet on the ground, etc.
There are several types of haka, but Ka Mate is the most popular.
(L) adopted in rugby games
(R) voluntary army in NZ
The use of ancient full facial tattoos has recently become an art form, many men now tattooing their faces and bodies.
* Water Margins (2011) - A classic novel about a bunch of outlaws turned militia, which was later incorporated into regular services. It was customary for Song Dynasty soldiers to be sworn brothers-in-arms. The word brother ('xiong-di') is a refrain in the bromance lyrics. To the band of brothers:
'.....As brothers in this life, we'd have different surnames.....
As brothers in the next life, we'll have the same mother.'
- still different surnames!
* Three Kingdoms (2010) - the war cries put together in this TV series on a classic novel. 關羽斬華雄
Modern China
* China Men 中國男兒: a song of Japanese origin, plugged in Chinese lyrics in 1901
_01.jpg)
