Rest in Peace Sweet Lady - how one woman became a cultural icon

I spent the best part of last year working on the book, Cardiff and the Valleys at War 1939-1945, which will be published later this year from Pen and Sword Books. The book, like the previous volume Cardiff and the Valleys During the Great War, concentrates on the Home Front during those dark wartime years.

WWII was very much a people's war - with both Britain and Germany waging total war - in other words every man, woman and child did their bit for the war effort. Those not serving in the military carried out essential war work, raised funds for the war effort. And make no mistake about it - World War II was indeed a total war - The conduct of WWII by both sides provides many examples of mass mobilization of industry and civilians into the war effort, and the deliberate infliction of civilian casualties, targeted destruction of civilian property, infrastructure, food, supplies, etc.

Now in one section of the book I look at the way the government used posters to encourage not only recruitment into the armed services but also into many of the civilian organisations needed to ensure the country was able to sustain itself during the long war. There are many examples of these posters in the book, but one that is now particular poignant is an American poster, designed to urge women into the factories during the conflict.

Known as Rose the Riveter, it became a cultural icon of the war years and continues to be so into the modern day. The reason for its poignancy is that the woman who inspired the poster, a California waitress named Naomi Parker Fraley, passed away in January of this year at the age of 96.

Rosie the Riveter became the subject and title of a song and a Hollywood movie during WWII.

Over the years, a welter of American women have been wrongly identified as the model for Rosie, the war worker of 1940s popular culture who became a feminist touchstone in the late 20th century, but it was Mrs. Fraley who staked the most legitimate claim of all. But because her claim was eclipsed by another woman’s, she went unrecognized for more than 70 years. And it wasn't until 2016 that she was officialy recognised as the woman behind the iconic image.

“I didn’t want fame or fortune,” Mrs. Fraley told People magazine in 2016, when her connection to Rosie first became public. “But I did want my own identity.”

Mrs. Fraley, right, in September 2016 with her younger sister, Ada Wyn Parker Loy

The article, published in the People magazine,  brought journalists to Mrs. Fraley’s door at long last.

“The women of this country these days need some icons,” Mrs. Fraley said in the People magazine interview. “If they think I’m one, I’m happy.”

Interviewing Mrs. Fraley in 2016, The World-Herald asked her how it felt to be known publicly as Rosie the Riveter.

“Victory!” she cried. “Victory! Victory!”

Victory indeed for even today the poster continues to inspire and is reproduced over and over- used to promote cause after cause - maybe feminism being the most obvious, but it is heartening to think that in these days of instant fame, quite often underserved, that people like Naomi will eventually be recognised for the role they played. The cultural importance of Rose the Riveter can not be overstated.


THE STORY OF THE SEARCH FOR THE REAL ROSE

Below are more iconic wartime posters.

 

Garth Ennis presents Battle Classics

Physically Titan Books have thrown everything into producing a highly quality deluxe hardback book that will take pride of place on the shelves of anyone interested in not only 1970's UK comic culture but anyone who likes intelligently told war stories. When I first heard this book was coming out I'd assumed it would be another anthology like the recent Best of Battle and collect together several episodes from the best known Battle strips but this is not the case. It is an anthology but it collects together the complete runs of both HMS Nightshade and The General Dies at Dawn as well as a several one off stories.For that latter think Tharg's Future Shocks from 2000AD but in a war setting.

 This is a far better idea than the 2009 Best of Battle collection (which I felt was a missed opportunity) since by collecting together the complete runs of each story the book really does these classic tales justice.

There's an introduction by comic books superstar Garth Ennis and this is not the standard couple of hundred words liberally sprinkled with a few 'Greats' a lot of 'Cors' and several 'Wows', but a full scale in depth essay that looks at what the original writers and artists achieved with the story.

And Battle often achieved great things - personally I think that Battle is the best British comic of all time and

easily eclipses 2000AD, which came from the same publishing house and shared many creators, but war stories fell out of vogue while Sci-Fi continues to prosper. Hence 2000AD is still here while sadly Battle is not. To my mind Battle was better at telling stories and in their very best stories such as Charley's War, Hellman, HMS Nightshade, Johnny Red or even Major Easy the strips had characters that defied the conventional comic book stereotypes and were presented as very real people with very real concerns. 2000AD has been very much influenced by Battle and over the years has tried to retell Battle stories in a SF setting but I don't think they've ever been truly successful at this. Battle at its best seemed real...very real indeed.

HMS Nightshade then, the lead story in this collection, originally ran in Battle for about a year and told the story of the HMS Nightshade, a Corvette class (a small easily maneuverable warship) warship which is assigned to protect the convoys taking supplies across the U Boat infested seas.

The modern corvette appeared during World War II as an easily built patrol and convoy escort vessel. The British naval designer William Reed drew up a small ship based on the single-shaft Smiths Dock Company whale catcher Southern Pride, whose simple design and mercantile construction standards lent itself to rapid production in large numbers in small yards unused to naval work. First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, later Prime Minister, had a hand in reviving the name "corvette". Wiki

The story uses a device similar to that used in Charley's War but where that classic World War 1 story was narrated largely by letters home from serving soldier Charley Bourne, Nightshade is told by aging George Dunn who is telling his grandson all about his adventures in the second world war as a member of the Nightshade's crew.

There are some stunning secondary characters and all are capable of surprising us. Take for instance the character of Parsons - at first this bullish man who delights in making the lives of weaker crew members a misery seems to be the stereotypical school bully placed in a war situation, but he grows over the space of several issues and even dies a deeply touching and incredibly heroic death. This unexpected act of Parsons throws the reader a curve ball and is as powerful as anything ever seen in the best war movies. In fact I'm going to use a 1970's comic bookism here - WOW!

Other characters were equally well flushed out and by the time the reader reaches the last story he is left exhausted though all the better for it. This story really is a fitting tribute to the brave men who served on ships like the Nightshade.

The General Dies at Dawn in another classic story and unusual in that the protagonist is a German character. Battle did several stories from the German point of view, most notable Hellman but The General Dies at Dawn is easily the best. It originally ran for eleven issues, the complete run is collected here, and also uses the device of one character relating the story.

 This time the narrator is Otto Von Margen who has been condemmned to death for cowardice and treason. He is the holder of the Knight's Cross and as he relates his story to his jailer we learn how this great man has fallen so  low. Again Garth Ennis precedes the story with a detailed essay and here's another comic bookism - COR!


This book then is a must have for anyone who enjoys stortelling in a graphic medium, and comic book fans brought up on Superman, Batman and others could give this book a try and discover that there is far more to comic books than brightly coloured lycra and unusual muscle development.

Second World War Timeline in movies 2 - 1939 to Dunkirk

The series which provides a time-line of the second world war in movies can not be complete and list every aspect of what was a truly global war. However by selecting key movies we can provide the viewer with a list of films that when watched in order will give a good grounding of the sequence of events during this terrible period of history. It will also point you towards some great movies.

The Lion has Wings - This docu-drama was made and rush released in 1939 and convinced the British government of the use of film as a propaganda tool. The film stars Michael Powell and Ralph Richardson and is worth watching for its historical importance.

The Lion Has Wings, intended to reassure the public of the might of the British Air Force, was already well on the way to completion by the time war broke out. In the end, shooting took just twelve days. The Ministry of Information assigned an Air Force advisor to the production and several sites were identified for filming. This is the reason why the film has three directors - film was shot simultaneously in various locations, including Mildenhall in Suffolk for the preparations for the first bomber raid and Hornchurch in Essex for Fighter Operations. The film was completed in five weeks and was released in early November. The all-star cast were all paid a flat fee of £5, although all were compensated by Korda once the film started to do well.



1939 saw a period of relative peace - a time that has become to be known as the phony war - The Winter War (1989) tells of late November of that year when Russia attacked Finland. The film is available on DVD as a part of a double pack with Ambush. Both movies are absolute classics.  The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939—three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland—and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty.

Defiance (2008) is set during Germany's occupation of Poland and gives Daniel Craig one of his finest roles - he is excellent as Tuvia Bielski, the eldest of four Jewish brothers and the eventual leader of the Bielski partisans. The film is both action packed and thoughtful and when watched as pure entertainment it is faultless. It also offers a graphic reminder of the horror of the times in which it is set, and of how the Jewish people faced the horror that befell them with dignity and courage. A great film with great performances and telling a story that needs to be told.

Dunkirk (1958) tells of events that are still celebrated today by the British, of how the country turned a defeat into a triumph and bravery and strength. That Dunkirk spirit is still evoked today in times of trouble.


The movie stars John Mills and Richard Attenborough and is told in a captivating fashion. It still works when viewed today, even if some of its patriotism seems simplistic by today's standards. The film relates the story of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of surrounded British and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It does so principally from the viewpoints of two people: a newspaper reporter and a soldier. n May 1940, during the Battle of France, the British Expeditionary Force in France aiding the French, was cut off from the rest of the French Army by the German advance. Encircled by the Germans they retreated to the area around the port of Dunkirk. The German land forces could have easily destroyed the British Expeditionary Force, especially when many of the British troops, in their haste to withdraw, had left behind their heavy equipment.

Winston Churchill ordered any ship or boat available, large or small, to pick up the stranded soldiers, and 338,226 men (including 123,000 French soldiers) were evacuated – the miracle of Dunkirk, as Churchill called it. It took over 900 vessels to evacuate the Allied forces.

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Second World War Timeline in movies - 1 - towards global warfare

All this week the Archive will be presenting a timeline of the second world war as told in the movies - that's the entire story of the conflict which lasted from 1939 to 1945 and resulted in between 50 - 70 million fatalites. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. The global conflict remains the most global war the world has ever seem, resulting in both the holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in a warfare.

Of course this series of articles is not intended to be a history of the conflict, but rather to highlight some of the better war movies which strive for both historical accuracy and viewer excitement.

To start the series the Archive points the interested reader towards Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) which depicts the rise of Hitler, from impoverished child to leader of the National Socialist Party and instigator of the war in Europe which would eventually go global. The movie was originally made as a TV mini-series and shown on television, before being released as a theatrical movie. Reviews at the time were mostly negative but the production was nominted for several Emmys and did in fact win two.

Robert Carlyle in the role of Hitler is nothing short of remarkable with virtually every possible character trait of the Nazi dictator being captured and portrayed in an incredibly convincing manner. It does resort to stereotype on times and can not be said to be totally historically accurate but it does contain most of the important elements of the storyl. And although it only takes us upto Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany, it provides a useful introduction to the start of our World War II timline.

Next - 1939 - Dunkirk.

WORLD WAR II IN FACT AND FICTION: Tobruk

THE DESERT RATS
1953 Directed by Robert Wise
Starring Richard Burton
84 minutes

The film is based on the Australian 9th Division, the Anzacs, who were charged with the defence of Tobruk under the command of General Leslie Morshead. Hoping to survive against overwhelming odds for two months, the garrison held off the best of Rommel's Afrika Korps for over eight months. The film's title is a little misleading as The Desert Rats were actually the British 7th Armoured division, whilst this Australian division were known as the Rats of Torbruk after German propaganda said they were trapped like rats by the advancing Rommel.

Richard Burton plays Captain McRoberts, a British soldier put in charge of the Australian unit which immediately brings him into conflict with several of the men under his command. James Mason, who had played Rommel in the 1951 movie, The Desert Fox reprises the role here though his performance is really several cameos.

The film was made in black and white in order that actual footage from the real battles could be depicted and this adds considerably to the documentary feel of the picture. The fact that the scenes with the Germans and Italians are in their native tongue, without subtitles also heightens the sense that we are watching real events. There are some stunning shots - the bit where the beleaguered commandos advance across the harsh desert landscape with flashes in the horizon is eerie in the extreme. And the film cranks up the tension. All in all it's an excellent film that depicts both the horror of war and the incredible acts of individual heroism that sheer terror can inspire.


COMMANDO: ANZACS AT WAR
THE BEST 12 ANZAC STORIES
Carlton Books

This book collects together the twelve best Anzac stories from the long running comic book's history. The stories were selected by the then Commando editor, George Low who also provides an introduction.
The twelve stories collected here take place in all the theatres of war, most are World War II based but there is one story involving an ANZAC soldier set during the Veitnam war and another set in the immediate post-war period.

The book is a great collection of the best in British comic book storytelling.




And in reality: Tobruk

The siege of Tobruk was no different to the sieges of ancient castles and forts in that the major issue was supply. A besieging army need do nothing strenuous in the way of attacking if they know the people within the walls only have enough water for a few days. It was lucky for the Allies that supplies could reach Tobruk by sea, with the strategically vital island of Malta sending support to help the ships get through.

TIMELINE

JAN 21-22 1941 - Australians assault and take Tobruk. 27,000 Italians surrender
Feb 12 1941- Rommel arrives in tripoli
Nov 18th 1941 - Beginning of Operation Crusader
Nov 20th 1941- Heavy fighting around Rezegh. Tobruk garrison begins breakout
Nov 28th - 30 1941- German armour attempts to break up Allied Link-up. Casualties are heavy on both sides.
Dec 8th 1941 -Rommel abandons the fight with only 40 tanks left. Tobruk relieved.

Below is the front page from the Daily Telegraph (click for a fill size readable version) Sat Nov 29 1941.

DOWNFALL (2004)

Downfall
Directed by Oliver Hirschibiegel
If the war is lost. Then it is of no concern to me if the people perish in it. I still would not shed a single tear for them. Because they did not deserve any better - Adolph Hitler.

Downfall is one of the finest war movies I've ever seen. Filmed in the German language with a German director - the Nazi regime and World War II are certainly the darkest days in German history and this film, depicting the last ten days in Hitler's bunker was a difficult undertaking.

My generation was born after the war but it is our history too and we must deal with it - Director, Oliver Hirschibiegel.

Swiss actor,Bruno Ganz plays Hitler and, although the actor admits to having initial troubles with the character who is seen by history, and rightly so, as one of the most evil men who ever lived. But by approaching the role with the detached air of an actor, after all Hitler didn't believe himself to be evil, he becomes the leader of the Nazi movement. His performance is so intense, so believable that at times the monster that was Hitler almost becomes a figure of pity. After all it is far to0 simplistic to dismiss Hitler merely as a monster - he was that but he could also be a charming charismatic man, someone with such all powerful charisma that he seduced a civilised people towards barbarism.

One of the most harrowing scenes comes late in the movie when Goebbels, realising all is lost, poisons his angelic children. The film is so realistic, so well acted, that the viewer is sucked into the world of the movie and the scene is genuinely painful to watch.

I watched the film twice - once with English subtitles and then again without the subtitles and like all truly great films it drags you into the film. The distance between film and viewer vanishes and you actually feel the emotions as if you are part of the action. This is an excellent film - based on the diaries of Hitler's personal secretary - that depicts events as they must have been.

The Momentum DVD release is a two disc set with a great transfer of the film, even the dark scenes within the bunker are free from digital artefacts. The second disc contains a hour long look at the making of the film, a virtual tour of the bunker and many historical features.

Mesmerising and magnificent, this films should be in the top ten of anyone's list of war movies and the fact that it is presented in the German language makes it all the more authentic. You really need to see this one.

Ian Kershaw, the Guardian's respected film critic said of Downfall:

"Knowing what I did of the bunker story, I found it hard to imagine that anyone (other than the usual neo-Nazi fringe) could possibly find Hitler a sympathetic figure during his bizarre last days. And to presume that it might be somehow dangerous to see him as a human being — well, what does that thought imply about the self-confidence of a stable, liberal democracy ? Hitler was, after all, a human being, even if an especially obnoxious, detestable specimen. We well know that he could be kind and considerate to his secretaries, and with the next breath show cold ruthlessness, dispassionate brutality, in determining the deaths of millions.Of all the screen depictions of the Führer, even by famous actors, such as Alec Guinness or Anthony Hopkins , this is the only one which to me is compelling. Part of this is the voice. Ganz has Hitler's voice to near perfection. It is chillingly authentic."

Once again then - a brilliant powerful and harrowing film.

WAR IN THE AIR

The Daily Mail are this week giving away a set of six DVD's featuring the 1954 BBC production, War in the Air. The first disc was in last Saturday's paper and the second is in the paper today. The Remaining four discs will be given away daily this week. It is also nice to hear that for every newspaper sold on Saturday Nov 7th they will be donating 10p to the British Legion Poppy fund



The series is in 15 parts and the entire series is split across these six discs.


This from the Press release:

Taking two years to make, and compiled from nearly 12 million feet of Allied and enemy film footage, there had been little to compare with it in terms of scale, depth and content.

This landmark series represents an important piece of television history and will give every viewer an honest telling of the development of airpower.

Some of the highlights include; amazing footage taken from the nose of a Mosquito during low level attacks, camera's placed on the wings of various aircraft and a dozen other earth grazing operations.

This series will make your hair stand up on end!

WORLD WAR II - the dark days begin

70 years ago this week, Europe was thrown into conflict when the British PM, announced on September 3rd 1939 that Britain was at war with Germany.




At 11:15 AM The Prime Minister interrupted the regular radio broadcasts to announce that Britain and Germany were at war. At 11:27 AM London's air raid sirens began to wail. It was only a test, but unlike the many tests that had been conducted before, this one struck home - the country really was at war. Sandbags were hastily filled to protect important buildings, gas masks became required equipment for civilians, the nightly blackout became a way of life and children were herded aboard evacuation trains to escape the danger of the city.



The conflict, initially expected to be over by Christmas would escalate and involve virtually the entire world.











Yesterday the UK'S Daily Mirror reproduced an issue of the newspaper from Monday Sept 4th 1939. I thought Archive readers would be interested in seeing some of the pages of this historic issue and so, with permission, I have reproduced several pages from the Sept 4th 1939 issue.







The actual 3 minute radio broadcast announcing the war is also presented in the audio/video file below. The actual declaration made by Neville Chamberlin is followed by Churchill's historic, "we shall fight them on the beaches" speech.




THOUGH BE WARNED the audio/video presentation contains some disturbing images from these dark days.


World War RELATED

Recently I helped a friend do a house clearance after the death of a relative and among the family mementos he wanted to keep we came across the old gas mask. He was going to throw it away I asked if I could have it - he gave it to me, And although I don't think it's got any historic worth it holds a definite historic worth.




I placed the mask on and couldn't imagine having to wear it for any length of time. It have been absolutely terrifying to have to sit in an air raid shelter all night with one of these things on.

An amazing find

In a box with several copies of the illustrated newspaper, War Illustrated from 1941 was a military map of Amsterdam - Hamburg. There is some handwriting in the right hand margin that reads Yesterdays bomber attacks indicated. And on the map itself someone has charted where the bombing occurred with lines in a red ink. The map is held together by sticky tape that is itself now brown and fragile.

Across the top of the map it is marked, this time by an ink stamp - ARMY/AIR STYLE .


There is no date anywhere on the map - the red/Orange ink in the pic covers Colmar to Dollard - there are many places in between with names I have never heard of.

THE WAR ILLUSTRATED NEWPAPERS ARE JUST AS INTERESTING - picking a random issue - this is dated feb 28th 1942

The opening article is called Are we winning the War and it is written by the editor John Hammond. Here's a taster -

"In the first week of the war this writer was asked by a young journalist, who has since done admirable work for British propaganda, if he thought the allies would win. So indignant did I feel that any Briton should ask such a question that I fear my answer was a rude one. The shock of doubt implied by the question sounded little short of treason."

There are reports of Singapore's fall.

The centre pages are made of of stunning photographs of enemy attacks against a trawler in the Mediterranean.