What Are You Reading

[jamespowers]

The Hawaiian commanders were unjustly treated and endured scorn for the remainder of their lives.
Others, such as Joseph Rochefort, despite his phenomenal contribution during Midway, remained haunted by Pearl Harbor.
Edwin Layton, one suspects, carried a similar quiet guilt. And there is the thunder of silence. George Marshall (as Short himself predicted)
never penned his Second World War memoirs, and much of the official record-American and British-noted by Layton remains sealed.
And still, an advocatus diabolli scribbled by Stimson's bag boy Clausen finds the light.

And History herself remains taciturn and jealously guards her secrets.

I would love to see the British records if for nothing else than to see if they had the Earth Rain message. That would blow all the cover up away in nearly one stroke.
Being denied Rochefort’s genius probably extended the war by at least 6 months and countless lives as he would have likely gotten into the Japanese code MUCH faster than the Redman brother’s machine. :doh:

 

[Harp]

East Wind Rain

I would love to see the British records if for nothing else than to see if they had the Earth Rain message. That would blow all the cover up away in nearly one stroke.

Ironically, Layton and Rochefort disagreed on the issue of EWR's radio receipt; Rochefort affirmed.
Gordon Prange touched on the intercept issue in his opus At Dawn We Slept; an east coast Navy station apparently
made the catch and the operator later(circa 1960)revisited the log book and found his fielding documentation missing....

But Layton hit the proverbial nail head in his memoir: too much remains locked down.

 

[jamespowers]

Ironically, Layton and Rochefort disagreed on the issue of EWR's radio receipt; Rochefort affirmed.
Gordon Prange touched on the intercept issue in his opus At Dawn We Slept; an east coast Navy station apparently
made the catch and the operator later(circa 1960)revisited the log book and found his fielding documentation missing....

But Layton hit the proverbial nail head in his memoir: too much remains locked down.

Prange didn't live long enough to know how much he didn't know. He was too busy kissing MacArthur behind.
With a blank page in the activity book for that day, something is definitely missing. :doh:

 

[Harp]

Prange didn't live long enough to know how much he didn't know.

The ivory tower "publish or perish" dictum fatefully reversed; however, his luck held sufficiently for postwar interview of IJN officers.

 

[jamespowers]

The ivory tower "publish or perish" dictum fatefully reversed; however, his luck held sufficiently for postwar interview of IJN officers.

Some other authors were not so lucky. They had to get special permission first or were denied after a time of access and then they had to get special permission to continue. :doh:

 

[Harp]

Gabriella Fiori, Simone Weil; An Intellectual Biography

 

[1mach1]

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run.

 

[Renault]

Started Enid Mallory's bio on Poet Robert Service today. "Under The Spell Of The Yukon".
ISBN 978-1-894384-95-7

Wow what tough subject to have to write about. Guy never let the truth stand in the way of a great story. Even in his own auto bio! He had a habit of changing locations, dates and names in the interest of anonymity. Especially after the true story behind the plot of the famous Sam Magee episode!

Also didn't know one of his younger brothers (Alexander) was captured with Churchill during the Boer war.

So far a very interesting read!!! Most enjoyable story of a very complex character!

 

[jamespowers]

 

[Harp]

Started Enid Mallory's bio on Poet Robert Service today. "Under The Spell Of The Yukon".


Also didn't know one of his younger brothers (Alexander) was captured with Churchill during the Boer war.

Visited a wonderful bookshop the other day, a classics collection but not a single volume of Service to be found.

Off topic:...WSC carried a Mauser pistol during the Boer War; doubt that he wore a wooden holster.
And he once bested Eisenhower and Bradley with the M1 Carbine.

 

[Renault]

WSC had special pockets made on his service tunic right above his breast pockets to hold the 10 round stripper clips for his Mauser. When he was captured he had to get rid of those two clips ASAP as he was a "non-combatant" at the time (correspondent). He managed to drop one on the ground out of sight of his captors. The next one he snook out of his pocket and was about to drop it when one of his Boer Captors grabbed his wrist! Asking "what do you have there?!?!" Winnie, thinking fast says " I found this laying on the ground, what is it????" The old Boer simply grumbled and took the stripper away from him. Throwing it away.

 

[Renault]

I also learned the story behind the sourdough on the cover here!



His name was Solomon Albert. He lost the toes and a portion of both feet To frostbite. So he manufacture "new" feet from those of a grizzly bear, to assist him while walking. This copy is from my very meagre collection.

 

[Blackthorn]

WSC had special pockets made on his service tunic right above his breast pockets to hold the 10 round stripper clips for his Mauser. When he was captured he had to get rid of those two clips ASAP as he was a "non-combatant" at the time (correspondent). He managed to drop one on the ground out of sight of his captors. The next one he snook out of his pocket and was about to drop it when one of his Boer Captors grabbed his wrist! Asking "what do you have there?!?!" Winnie, thinking fast says " I found this laying on the ground, what is it????" The old Boer simply grumbled and took the stripper away from him. Throwing it away.

Fascinating, Renault. Is that story in the Service biography?

 

[Renault]

No Darvis! I read that when I was a boy in a story about WSC.

The only mention in the Service bio, was a quote from another brother Stanley. He stated that the family was really more concerned with Alick's safety that that of Churchill's!

 

[Harp]

Virgil, The Aeneid

 

[Hercule]

Einstein: A Life / Denis Brian

 

[Feraud]

Trevor Howard: A Gentleman and a Player by V. Knight.

 

[1mach1]

Amazing Spider-Man #238. Love this one.

 

[Fading Fast]

Trevor Howard: A Gentleman and a Player by V. Knight.

He's one of my favorite actors - what do you think of the biography?

 

[Feraud]

I''m only 60 pages in and at the point where Trevor was cast in Brief Encounter but am enjoying the biography.