Tuesday, May 18, 2021

May 18, 1941. Airy Matters.

Flag of the Soviet Air Force.

On this day in 1941, Stalin's government began a purge of Soviet air force officers, which I'm aware of only due to this item:

Today in World War II History—May 18, 1941

By this point in 1941 the signs were there that Germany was getting set to invade the Soviet Union. Eliminating air force officers was a bizarre thing to do, given the risk of impending war. But much about Stalin's reign was bizarre.

Speaking of things airborne, the RAF inserted a company of British troops on the Baghdad road in Iraq by air, using Vickers Valentia's to do so.

If you've never heard of Valentia's, that's because its one of a collection of obsolete aircraft the British were still using in more remote areas at the time.

The German Navy commenced Operation Rheinübung with the Bismarck. It would prove to be a short sortie.

It's mission was to raid British convoys.

Petty Officer Alfred Sephton would receive the Victoria Cross posthumously for his actions in directing anti aircraft fire on the HMS Coventry on this day in 1941. The Coventry was aiding the Aba, a hospital ship under attack by German dive bombers.

More about that can be found here:

Petty Officer Sephton wins the Victoria Cross

Prince Aimone, the Duke of Aosta, was crowned the King of the Independent State of Croatia. He never went there, however, and refused to do so over the issue of Italian annexation of Dalmatian land, making him a particular odd character in that he was an Italian and an officer in the Italian navy. Following Italy switching sides, he resigned his presumptive kingship and served again in the Italian Navy. He resigned his ducal title upon the fall of the Italian monarchy.

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Lex Anteinternet?

This blog has been around since 2009. In the very first post, we asked the question: "What the heck is this blog about?"

Our answer to the question was: "The intent of this blog is to try to explore and learn a few things about the practice of law prior to the current era. That is, prior to the internet, prior to easy roads, and the like. How did it work, how regional was it, how did lawyers perceive their roles, and how were they perceived?"

We also noted: "Part of the reason for this, quite frankly, has something to do with minor research for a very slow moving book."

All of this is still true, but the focus of the blog has changed somewhat. It now focuses on the era from 1890 to 1920 in general, rather than on the law and lawyers specifically, although that may be far from obvious. It's also become the location where we comment on anything we feel moved to comment on.

We hope you'll feel moved to comment as well. While we moderate every comment, so as to weed out Spam, we greatly appreciate the comments where they are offered, and hope to see more.

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