Wow, Chris! Amazing Story. Beevor’s writing confirms it —
(p.53) Replacements were “often shunned by the survivors of the platoon they were joining who had lost close buddies. And because replacements were seen as clumsy and doomed, the veterans kept their distance. This became almost a self-fulfilling prophecy as… platoons would use the new arrivals for the most dangerous tasks rather than risk an experienced soldier. Many (replacements) never survived the first forty-eight hours.”
(p.54) One replacement asked “if they were using live ammunition on the front.”
(p.54) Beevor writes the quality of replacement troops at this stage of the war was getting worse — “We actually had a master sergeant sent to us,’ one division reported. ‘All he had done since being in the Army was paint a mural in the Pentagon. He is a good man, but we have no job for him in grade.’”
As the Germans overran areas, quizzes at checkpoints slowed down everyone.
(p.176) This included a baseball quiz, the name of President Roosevelt’s dog (Fala), the name of the current husband of Betty Grable (famous bandleader Harry James) and 'What is Sinatra’s first name?’ (Frank). Brigadier General Bruce Clarke gave a wrong answer about the Chicago Cubs. 'Only a kraut would make a mistake like that, the MP declared. Having been told that he should look out ‘for a kraut posing as a one-star general’, (the MP) was convinced he had discovered his man, and Clarke found himself under arrest for half an hour. Even General Bradley was stopped and held for a short time, despite having given the right answer to the capital of Illinois. The MP thought differently.
“The actor David Niven, a Phantom reconnaissance officer in Rifle Brigade uniform, was challenged by one American sentry with the question: ‘Who won the World Series in 1940?’ ‘I haven’t the faintest idea,’ Niven claimed to have replied with characteristic insouciance. ‘But I do know that I made a picture with Ginger Rogers in 1938.’ (The MP replied) 'O.K. beat it, Dave’”
Band of Brothers might be my all time favorite TV watching. The Pacific was excellent also but much darker. A teaching buddy’s dad fought in Pelieu and Saipan with Cotton Speyrer’s dad.
If you’ve never read the prodigious writing of Chesterton, highly recommend it. Remarkable mind.
G.K. Chesterton viewed early feminism critically, arguing it misunderstood women’s true power, which he located in the home and family, seeing feminism as an attempt to make women imitate men and adopt a system of wage slavery (office work) rather than embracing their distinct, powerful role as domestic despots and creators, championing women’s influence within the private sphere while opposing suffrage and women entering the public workforce because he felt it diminished them and corrupted politics. He believed women were already powerful and free in the home, contrasting this with the perceived servitude of office work, and famously quipped that feminism wanted women to be free to serve employers instead of husbands, leading to a loss of traditional feminine strengths and societal balance.
Key aspects of Chesterton’s views:
Home as Power Center: Chesterton saw the home as the most important domain, where women held significant authority and made crucial decisions, a power he felt feminism would shift to the state.
Critique of “Freedom”: He argued that women seeking careers were duped into accepting a form of “wage slavery,” serving employers rather than nurturing their own creative domestic life, which he saw as a higher calling.
Idealization of Womanhood: He believed women possessed unique strengths, particularly in nurturing and maintaining the home, and that feminism sought to destroy these essential feminine qualities, ironically making women less themselves.
Opposition to Suffrage: Chesterton opposed women’s vote because he considered politics corrupt and beneath the dignity of women, preferring to keep them elevated and shielded from its ills, rather than making them imitate men in that sphere.
“Woman” vs. “Women”: He distinguished between “Woman” (the universal, essential feminine) and “women” (individuals), suggesting men talked about “men” (the whole) but only about “women” (parts), implying a misunderstanding of female essence.
Chivalry & Consequences: He suggested that by abandoning traditional roles, feminism led to a loss of chivalry and that women, no longer seen as wives and mothers, became mere objects for male self-gratification.
In essence, Chesterton saw feminism as a misguided movement that paradoxically sought freedom for women by pushing them into the very masculine, materialistic world that he believed was damaging to both sexes, preferring instead to empower women in their distinct domestic realm
So, essentially stay in the kitchen and no real agency of your own. Silly women, don’t bother yourself with the men’s realm of politics, etc. That’s man stuff.
Too funny looking back on his beliefs 100 years ago. Notice the perspective of women serving men in either home or office ? Guess he couldn’t conceive women
being managers, business owners, or even presidents.
Did he forget to mention to keep them barefoot and pregnant in the home ?
He may have been a deep thinker, intellectual, and worthy of a read ; but some
things he got embarrassingly wrong. Feminism being one it would seem. But take heart , even greater thinkers (euler, newton, einstein, …) had gotten a few things badly wrong.
I thought he hit his stride during the decade of the 1920’s. It’s also when he converted to Catholicism.
I guess, The New Jerusalem. It’s a travelogue and includes his opinion of religions including Muslims. Considering it’s now 100 years old, it’s pretty current.
Chesterton wrote fiction (Father Brown), poetry but his commentary & philosphy I enjoyed most.
wow, i am actually reading the same book as someone in this thread; also reading 1929. would have thought i would have read one in the list before as i aim to read 25 or more books yearly and i read a lot of war and history books(next up is the role of pan am airlines in ww2) but when over one million books are published yearly; it’s not suprising how few mentioned here i have read.
