The remains of British airmen shot down by the Nazis over Dutch waters may have been discovered in a massive rescue operation.

With the help of a €15m national plane-wreck rescue fund, the Dutch have started to sift the wreckage of the British Lancaster ED603, which never returned from a mass bombing mission targeting Bochum in Germany on 13 June 1943.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/07/remains-found-in-search-for-crew-of-british-bomber-shot-down-by-nazis

#Netherlands #UK #WorldWar2 #WWII #Airmen #Aircraft #Nazis

#OnThisDay, 1 Sept 1942, Valentine Blanche Charlet arrives in occupied France as a Special Operations Executive agent. The SOE supported the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation.

Arrested a month later, she escaped in a mass prison break before hiding in a monastery. She got back to the UK in 1944.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2

#OnThisDay, 24 Aug 2018, Geneviève Callerot finally accepts the légion d'honneur for her and her family's wartime efforts in the French Resistance.

She and her family helped over 200 people escape occupied France. She had previously refused the honour until it included her family.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2 #FrenchHistory #ThrowbackThursday

#OnThisDay, 23 Aug 1941, American Virginia Hall arrives in France to work for the British Special Operations Executive for 15 months. The SOE supported the French Resistance to Nazi occupation.

Hall was on the “most wanted” list as 'the limping lady', as she had a false leg due to a shooting accident before the war. She escaped over the Pyrenees to Spain. She then returned to France with the American Office of Strategic Services.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2 #AmericanHistory

#OnThisDay, 22 Aug 1943, Yvonne Cormeau parachutes into France to be a radio operator for the British Special Operations Executive. The SOE supported the French Resistance to Nazi occupation.

She worked for 13 months and was never captured. You can hear her story on the Imperial War Museum site. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80007171

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2 #WomenAtWar #SOE #EuropeanHistory

Toevallig zei ik voor de vakantie tegen m'n man dat het lang geleden was dat een film of boek me echt geraakt had. Nu ik 't Hooge Nest een paar dagen uit heb kan ik zeggen dat die periode voorbij is. Wat een verhaal. Ik blijf nadenken over hoe geleidelijk het allemaal leek te gaan en waar het eindigde. En ik zie zoveel parallellen met nu #WorldWar2 #THoogeNest

‘The Holocaust happened on British soil’: Inquiry into​ Nazi camps creates bitter divide on Alderney.

An official investigation of claims that many more people than previously thought died during Nazi control of the Channel Island has pleased some, but dismayed others.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/13/the-holocaust-happened-on-british-soil-inquiry-into-nazi-camps-creates-bitter-divide-on-alderney

#UK #ChannelIslands #Alderney #Nazis #Holocaust #WWII #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #WorldWar2

Very early #OnThisDay, 7 Jul 1944 Krystyna Skarbek parachutes into France to work as a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent. The British SOE worked with resistance fighters across German-occupied Europe.

Skarbek had been the first woman to be an SOE agent when she'd previously been sent to Hungary and Poland in 1939-41.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2 #FlashbackFriday

How serious are Poland's demands for WWII reparations from Germany?

A team of 33 researchers, commissioned by the ruling right-wing government, calculated the cost of the damage at €1.3 trillion in today’s terms. That is almost one-third of Germany's current annual GDP.

Berlin says the case is closed, but the current Polish government is intent on pursuing the matter.

https://www.rte.ie/news/europe/2023/0701/1390448-poland-reparations-germany-ww2/

#Germany #Poland #Reparations #WWII #WorldWar2

A search has begun in France for the remains of dozens of German soldiers said to have been executed by French Resistance fighters during World War II.

Coming 79 years after the alleged killings, the search was sparked by statements from a 98-year-old former resistance fighter, Edmond Reveil, who has gone public with the allegation in recent years.

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2023/0627/1391465-france-search/

#Europe #France #Germany #WorldWar2 #WorldWarII #Resistance

Something from my wife's side of the family for today's #ThrowbackThursday and this clearly comes from the World War 2 period. Left-to-right in the photo are - according to the back of it - "Alan, Grandad, Digger". The truck is a British Bedford QL army truck, but you knew that already.

A story connected to these three is that they were once transporting a tank in England and lost it en route. No more details forthcoming, sadly.

#TBT #WorldWarII #WorldWar2 #History

Lucy Caldwell's #WalterScottPrize winning THESE DAYS (Faber Books) includes the story of the real Doreen Bates: listen to Lucy's fascinating chat with Doreen's daughter Dr. Margaret Esiri - with thanks to the podcast A Wee Bit of War @wartimeni
https://wartimeni.com/audio/episode-06-the-diaries-of-doreen-bates/

#war #worldwar2 #LucyCaldwell @histodons #history #books @bookstodon #TheseDays

Today in Labor History June 20, 1943: Striking African American auto workers were attacked by the National Workers League, KKK and armed white workers at Detroit's Bell Isle amusement park. 34 people were killed and 1,800 arrested in these race riots. 400,000 Southerners, black and white, had migrated to the Detroit area from 1941-1943 for work in the automotive industry, which had been converted to support the WWII effort, creating housing shortages and increasing pre-existing social tensions. Further exacerbating tensions were years of discrimination and police brutality against black workers. Earlier in 1943, there were race riots in Harlem, Los Angeles (Zoot Suit Riots), Texas and Alabama.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #race #racism #Riot #detroit #WorldWar2 #kkk #acab #PoliceBrutality #police #murder #massacre #BlackMastadon

The difficult reconciliation of the memory of World War II with mass tourism in the Netherlands.

Residents of the Dutch estate portrayed in the TV series ‘Band of Brothers’, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, will install a fence and charge for photos to stem the flow of tourists.

The residents of the area want to strike a balance between preserving the past and their privacy.

https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-06-18/the-difficult-reconciliation-of-the-memory-of-world-war-ii-with-mass-tourism-in-the-netherlands.html

#Netherlands #WW2 #WWII #WorldWar2 #BandOfBrothers #Travel #Tourism

#OnThisDay, 17 June 1943, Noor Inayat Khan, Diana Rowden and Cecily Lefort arrive in occupied France on their separate Special Operations Executive missions. The British SOE supported the French resistance.

None of the women survive the war.

Read more about their stories: https://carvehername.org.uk/?p=184

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2 #EuropeanHistory

#OnThisDay, 8 Jun 1944, Violette Szabo returns to occupied France by parachute for her second posting with the British Special Operations Executive. She is captured two days later after a gun battle, tortured and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. She is executed in Jan 1945.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2

#OnThisDay, 7 Jun 1944, Ginette Jullian parachutes into occupied France for the British Special Operations Executive. The SOE supported the French resistance.

She works as a radio operator for three months until the Allied forces overtake her unit.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #WorldWar2

"The Army Special Services published a handbook on how to produce these shows. The handbook referred to the productions as 'Girly Shows,' and even gave tips on how to make the GIs look good for the highly choreographed 'Pony Ballet.' The Pony Ballet was described as GIs wearing tutus along with army boots.

https://www.tmz.com/2023/06/02/drag-shows-banned-military-bases-world-war-2-embraced/

#DragShows #drag #ban #MilitaryBases #military #WorldWar2 #WWII #WW2

Today in Labor History June 2, 1945: World War II: The segregated, all-Nisei U.S. 522nd Field Artillery Battalion stopped a death march from Dachau to the Austrian border. As a result, they saved several hundred prisoners. Ironically (and criminally), back in the states, most Nisei (Japanese-Americans) were living in concentration camps.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #WorldWar2 #ConcentrationCamps #dachau #antisemitism #AntiAsianHate #racism #fascism #nazis #nisei

If you are in the market for a reliable paperweight or a sturdy doorstop, consider purchasing my new book. It may have the heft you are looking for. #histodons #SecondWorldWar #wwii #WorldWar2 #occupation #resistance #collaboration

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Occupied-by-Aviel-Roshwald/9781108790826