Saturday, August 12, 1922.

 

Friday, January 9, 1942. Umm. . .about that salute. . . . Appropriated and Inappropriate Symbols.

On this day in 1942 West Virginia mandated a salute to the flag as a regular part of school activities.

German children?  Nope, US children in May 1942 giving the flag the "Bellamy Salute" that was advocated by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy.  At the time, the association with Fascism and Nazism had not yet fully sunk in.

The measure was struck down by the US Supreme Court as unconstitutional the following year.

Until that summer, the salute would have been in the form advocated by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy, who was also the author of the Pledge of Allegiance.  Bellamy had died a decade prior, but the pledge and the salute were gaining popularity since the onset of the war.  Concern over its Nazi like appearance caused adoption of the palm over the heart form of the salute now used by civilians in this gesture, a measure urged by the Veteran's of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

Saluting by civilians is, frankly, in my view an odd deal.  Simply standing and taking off your hat makes more sense to me. But like a lot of things, things, this has really spread, and morphed, in our society.

Bellamy began advocating for it as early as 1892, when he wrote:

At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute – right hand lifted, palm downward, to align with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all." At the words, "to my Flag," the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side. 

The Youth's Companion, 65 (1892): 446.

Bellamy of course meant no fascist connotations by it, and fascism wasn't even a thing at the time.  It spread slowly but picked up speed as a school thing following World War One.

In the same period of time, however, fascism and Nazism adopted the same salute.  Distinctions are sometimes made between it and the Bellamy salute, but in reality the only difference is that the fascist weren't attempting to copy Bellamy.  At any rate, it spread like wildfire in the 20s and 30s amongst fascistic movements, making a change in the US necessary.

This wasn't the only thing to suffer such a fate.  As noted on our companion blog, Painted Bricks:

One you definately do not see anymore, brickwork, Thermopolis Wyoming

Here's one that you would not see done again, and you might also expect to have been changed since 1945. Swastika motif in brickwork.

This is not as sinister as it might seem. Swastikas showed up as ornamental designs in quite a few things prior to World War Two, and they bore no association at all with the Nazi Party. In the west, they were associated with Indians, and were regarded as an Indian good luck symbol. Chances are that the architect of this Thermopolis, Wyoming building had that in mind, as Thermopolis is not far from the Wind River Reservation.

Indeed, at the time we're speaking of, the 45th Infantry Division, a unit made up of National Guardsmen heavily featuring Native American Oklahoman's, was only two years out from the redesign of its unit patch adopted during World War One, which looked like this:

And it gets even odder yet.  Lord Baden Powell waxed about it in What Scouts  Can Do--More Yarns, in 1921, in which he stated.

On the stole of an ancient bishop of Winchester, Edyndon, who died in 1366, is the Swastika or Scouts' Thanks Badge. It was at that time called the " Fylfot," and was said to represent Obedience or Submission, the different arms of the cross being in reality legs in the attitude of kneeling.

But as you know from the account of the Swastika Thanks Badge which I have given you in Scouting for Boys, this symbol was used in almost every part of the world in ancient days, and therefore has various meanings given to it.

It has been found engraved on weapons belonging to the Norsemen. It was also engraved on the spindles used by the ancient Greeks in their- weaving at Troy.

In India rice is spread on the ground in the form of the Swastika at the baptism of a baby boy to bring him luck.

The Indians in North America use it as an ornament, and it has been found engraved on ancient pottery in Peru.

How it got from one country to another, separated as they are by oceans, it is difficult to guess, but some people who say they know all about these things, affirm that there was once a great continent where now there is the Atlantic Ocean, but it went under the sea in an earthquake.

This continent was called Atlantis, and joined up Europe with America.

It was supposed to have four vast rivers running from a central mountain in different directions—North, East, South, and West—and the Swastika is merely a map of Atlantis showing those four rivers rising from the same center.

The Thanks Badge

I want specially to remind Scouts to keep their eyes open and never fail to spot anyone wearing this badge. It is their duty then to go up to such person, make the Scout sign, and ask if they can be of any service to the wearer.Anyway, whatever its origin was the Swastika now stands for the Badge of Fellowship among Scouts all over the world, and when anyone has done a kindness to a Scout it is their privilege to present him—or her—with this token of their gratitude, which makes him a sort of member of the Brotherhood, and entitles him to the help of any other Scout at any time and at any place.

I have heard of several instances where Scouts have done this, and it has greatly increased the value of the Thanks Badge to the persons who were wearing it when they found that Scouts recognized it and were anxious to do a Good Turn to them.

All that is more than a little cringe worthy now, but prior to the rise of the Nazis, the symbol had a wide range of meanings and in fact was quite common in the US, derived from Native American usage.  Of course, that can take you into the conversation about European Americans appropriating Native American symbols and identities, but that's another topic (albeit one we've discussed before).

By 1939, when the 49th Infantry Division went to its new symbol. . .

it was already the case that the Nazis had claimed this one forever, although perhaps a final non fasicst use carried on, for quite awhile, by the Finns.

Finnish Me109s during the Continuation War.  Some below the radar use of the swastika goes on in Finland today, due to its wartime use, even though a turn away from it started in 1945 when the Finns ended up reluctantly declaring war on the Germans.

In Slovenia, partisans engaged the Germans in what would become the Battle of  Dražgoše.

Admiral Yamamoto made a statement to Taketora Ogata in which he stated:

A military man can scarcely pride himself on having 'smitten a sleeping enemy'; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack.

This is likely the origin of the claim that on December 7, he stated that he feared that all the attack had done was to "awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve".

Joe Louis regained the heavyweight boxing title by knocking out Buddy Baer in round one of a match at Madison Square Garden.

Back to saluting, I'm very glad, as I'm sure everyone is, that the Bellamy salute was dropped and I'm okay with the hand on the heart salute, although personally I think simply standing and uncovering the head would be enough, but since the First Gulf War, and dating back to the Reagan Administration really, saluting in the military style by civilians has really spread and I really don't like it.

This really started with President Reagan giving a snappy salute to the Marine Corps guards and other servicemen he routinely encountered. At the time, that was technically illegal, although probably unenforceable, as it was reserved for servicemen.  Reagan had served as a reserve cavalry officer before the war and during the war in the entertainment branch of the U.S. Army, which I do not wish to discount, but he was a civilian and should not have done that. Since then, however, every President has, encouraging the creeping militarization of our society.

At some point in the 90s or 00s, the law in this was officially changed to allow veterans to use the salute, and some really do.  I could, as I’m a veteran.  I don't, as I'm a civilian.  There's no need for it.

Thursday, November 24, 1921. Thanksgiving Day.

 

Today was Thanksgiving Day across the nation, the day falling on the same point in the calendar in 1921 which it now does.  As readers here know, during the Great Depression the day was moved, much to the consternation of some.

The news on the day included news of war and peace, with fears that negotiations to end the Anglo-Irish War, and grant Ireland independence, were about to collapse.

The day saw an inspection of Troop 2 of the Boy Scouts in Casper, with that troop having just received honors as noted.  This is of interest in that the newspaper didn't really bother to take much note that the troop was associated with St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  The association of the Boy Scouts with churches was so strong, it being part of the Muscular Christianity movement, that this was simply assumed.

I'm surprised, frankly, that this troop wasn't Troop 1, given that the Episcopal Church was very much a major American protestant denomination in an era in which protestant denominations were culturally dominant.

Interesting that gasoline prices were an issue.  As of January 2020, the price would be roughly equivalent to the current one, but with the current inflationary cycle the country is now in, that would be difficult to really determine now.

Disaster struck in Gillette:

Today In Wyoming's History: November 24: 1921

1921  A serious fire in Gillette, WY destroyed several of the towns landmark buildings.

Thursday September 11, 1941. The Buskø Affair.

The USCG Northland stopped the Norwegian sealer SS Buskø off of the coast of Greenland, impounded the ship, and arrested the crew.

Northland under sail, which was not the way it typically sailed.

Stopping a Norwegian ship?

Well, yes. . . 

Ownership of Greenland had been contested between the Scandinavian countries of Denmark and Norway prior to World War Two, with its status as a Danish possession finally resolved by way of a decision of the International Court of Justice in 1933.  After German occupation, the Quisling administration in Norway saw an opportunity to reverse this situation and sought to take advantage of German sponsorship and the fact that the Royal Navy was precluding Norwegian ships from resupplying small Norwegian hunting, meteorological, and radio stations that remained on Greenland. The Quisling government was urged in this direction by Adolf Hoel, a geologist with nationalist leanings, and Gustav Smedal, a lawyer with the same.

 In 1941, with German permission, the Norwegian government outfitted a party to essentially reclaim Norwegian control of Greenland, led by a Norwegian arctic explorer who had led a prior Norwegian expedition in 1931 for the same purpose.  Complicating it further, the Royal Navy's actions were putting Norwegian parties on Greenland in desperate straights, as they were not getting resupplied.

Just before the expedition set out, the Germans insisted that a radio operator, by the unlikely name of Jacob (Iacob) Bradley, but made part of the expedition with the purpose of setting up a German radio station.  The ship's captain protested the action as this crossed over a line in their view. While the mission of the ship was somewhat ambiguous, it was still Norwegian, up until that point.

Bradley, moreover, was a Norwegian Nazi, with ties to the Nazi organization in Norway that predated the war, although he'd ironically separated from it formally prior to the German invasion.

German insistence meant that Bradley was incorporated into the party against the ship's wishes.  He was dropped off at one of the Norwegian camps on September 2, but oddly didn't begin to broadcast anything.  He may never have set up the radio equipment.  The Norwegian trappers he was placed with refused to help him assemble his equipment, for that matter, apparently voting on his mission with inaction.

Several months prior Danish government had signed a treaty with the US seeking to have the US protect Greenland during the war.   This was well within the US's traditional Monroe Doctrine set of prerogatives.  

Upon reaching Greenland's water, Danish communities immediately noticed the ship and reported it to American authorities.  On this date in 1941 the USCG Northland raided it.  Bradley's camp was also raided, and his equipment destroyed. The ship was towed to Boston Harbor.

Bradley was arrested in the United States and held until 1947.  After the war he did not return to Norway until 1979, at which point the statute of limitations had expired on potential treason charges.  He was buried in a Jewish cemetery at the time of his death, as ironically his wife was Jewish.

Hallvard Devold, the Norwegian leader of the 1931 and 1941 expeditions, was turned over to the British who held him until the end of the war, upon which he returned to Norway.  Norwegian authorities did not prosecute him.  Hoel denied all knowledge of the Germans having co-opted the expedition, but he paid for his sympathy with Quisling by losing his academic and institutional positions after the war.

The SS Buskø was released by the United States in 1942 and leased by the Norwegian government in exile to the United States. After the war she was refitted, and already in 1941, upon her being seized by the Coast Guard, her condition had been noted as very dilapidated.  She sank in a terrible storm in 1950 which took several ships in sealing grounds, claiming their crews as well.

More on these events can be read here:

“A cursed affair”—how a Norwegian expedition to Greenland became the USA’s first maritime capture in World War II

Today in World War II History—September 12, 1941

Also involving the Quisling government, on this day that body banned the Boy Scouts and compelled its members to join the Nasjonal Samling's youth leagues, the equivalent of the Hitler Youth in Norway.

A German spokesman, on this day, declared that President Roosevelt "wanted war" while an Italian one declared that American actions required Axis ships to attack American naval vessels on sight.

The White House noted that there was a lot of similarity between Charles Lindbergh's recent comments in Des Moines, Iowa, and Nazi propaganda.  Lindbergh's recent remarks had been very poorly received by the American public.

And the Horsa glider, the large British gilder for airborne operations, flew for the first time.

British newspapers ran an interesting cartoon depicting Hitler's advance in Russia against Napoleon's, which had started within two days of each other in 1812 and 1941 respectively.

It noted that by this time in 1812, Napoleon had advanced further towards Moscow than Hitler, but it did also note that the French Empire (whose troops at that time included large numbers of conscripted Germans) had advanced with a single thrust rather than along a 1200-mile front, as Hitler's troops were doing.

May 29, 1921. Graduations, Memorials and Races

Boy Scouts decorating graves at Arlington National Cemetery, May 29, 1921.

Women were among Columbia's graduating medical students for the first time in its history.

It was racing season.

Ugo Sivocci in his Alfa Romeo 20-30 ES at the 1921 Targa Florio

Voters in the Austrian Salzburg province voted overwhelmingly to join Germany. The results weren't a surprise, as that was the dominant feeling in the German regions of Austria, which keenly felt the loss of Austria's Empire and which felt their fortunes were better secured by union with the German state, irrespective of Germany's economic and political woes at the time.  Be that as it may, such a union was specifically prohibited under the treaties bringing about the end of the Great War and the vote was unofficial and unrecognized by Austria in any event.

President Harding, standing on the lawn of the White House, with large group of newspapermen seated and standing around him.  President's dog, Laddie Boy, laying down in front of front row.

 

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist Part 7. One more won't hurt me. . .

or so conservatives must think.

Senator Joseph McCarthy.  McCarthy was actually largely correct in his accusations, once you see what they really were, and who they were actually made against.  He very clearly had an inside connection with somebody with intelligence inside the government.  My guess is that it was J. Edgar Hoover.  At any rate, while he was correct, he became personally so distasteful that he permanently damaged his cause and even later books that have shown the validity of his accusations have failed to repair his reputation or that of his cause.  He was loved at the time, of course, until he wasn't. There's a lesson here.

Donald Trump has been invited to speak at CPAC in Orlando, this Sunday.

Why would they do this? This will confirm Democrats and Independents, and traditional Republicans, in their choice not to go with the GOP this year, further decrease its influence, and make it harder for those who hold populist views seriously without it looking like simply Trump worship.

People like Victor David Hanson like to speak of "Trump Derangement Syndrome". While that may be worth talking about, the fact is that Trump didn't win the popular vote by any measure either time he ran.  He's not a popular man with the majority of Americans and by inviting him, the issues that concern populist Republicans are being fused to Trump in a way that will guaranty their electoral decimation in upcoming elections.

This is a serious matter.  Populists do have a collection of valid concerns and valid points about them. But Trump's effort at overturning the election and failure to distance himself from extremist are tarring all of them and the entire movement with the same brush.  The tighter the grip Trump has on any section of the GOP, the less likely it is to win anything at the national level going forward, and the more likely that the result will be a permanent shift of the American political center to the left.

McCarthy may have been right about most of the things he was complaining about in the 1950s.  But he was easy to dislike and has become permanently disliked. There's a lesson from history here and we all know what happens to people who fail to listen to history.

Nonetheless, what is clear at this point is that the traditional conservative wing of the party is now in full retreat.  Mitch McConnell, who only a couple of weeks ago sounded like he wanted to have Trump arrested, has stated he'd vote for him if he ran in 2024.  And right now, quite frankly, it looks like such a run is really likely, something that even a few weeks ago would have been regarded as highly unlikely.  As it remains unlikely that Joe Biden will run again, that would likely pit Trump against Kamala Harris, if . . . 

Doesn't anyone notice how old these people are?

If, that is, Trump hasn't passed on simply due to old age, or become mentally feeble due to the same reason.  

It's bizarre to see how even at this late state of the Baby Boom generation, people remain seriously entrenched in the seeming view that only they can lead the nation.  A person would have had good reason to believe that Joe Biden would have been the last Boomer President.  Now, that's not all that certain, as nothing in this political climate is very certain.

Restricting Balloting.

There's a lot of GOP effort being expended to address, proponents claim, chances of "election fraud", even though there's next to none of it occurring.

In Wyoming, legislators have a couple of bills floating on  the topic.  Senators Barrasso and Lummis have signed on to a Federal bill that will fail which will basically prevent States from making the reforms they did to address the still ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic.  The law proposes to eliminate unmonitored ballot collection boxes (one of which I saw in Rawlins just last week) and to require states to send absentee ballots only to those requesting them.

This is another issue that will come to haunt the GOP. There's no evidence of widespread ballot fraud at all, and this plays into the Democratic claim that the Republicans are seeking to restrict the vote.  While this will play to the Trumpite base, it won't play to the traditional wing of the party, which is now simply leaving it.

XX Chromosomes and Scouting

The first group of female Eagle Scouts received that status this week.

First of all, that's great for this group of young women. Achieving Eagle Scout status is hard to do, and they deserve praise for their accomplishments.

But it's also sad in a way in that its a further erosion of, well dare we say it, manliness.

Girls can be girls, but boys can't really be boys anymore, even virtuous boys, which was what the Boy Scouts were all about originally.

Let's be honest.  Because human nature remains human nature no matter how woke some may be and wish for everything to be, there are fundamental differences between men and women, and boys and girls, at every level.  Scouting recognized that, and hence that's why there was a Boy Scouts and a Girl Scouts.

While I note that I'm not an adherent every time I cite them, and then I go on to cite them, Strauss and How, in their generational theory (there's a category link to it below) argue that the character of men is different in different cycles as a whole (not necessarily individually) due to the views of women in any particular period.  So, for a lack of a better way to illustrate it, in some eras women want a bunch of touchy feely wimps such as featured on This Is Us.  In others, they want Ethan Edwards from The Searchers.

This makes sense from a evolutionary biology prospective, as women's role in elemental societies is, well, more societal than men's.  But rather crudely, if you live in a society that's about to be attacked, you want guys who are capable of handling that.  If you live in one where there's no risk of being attacked, you might now want guys who are looking for fights.

There's a lot more to this than that, but we live in an oddly emasculating era which has superseded a highly masculine one.  If Strauss and How are right, generational succession goes from Hero, Artist Prophet to Nomad.  They also figure the categories of generations by years a bit more differently, which is to their credit, as they would have the Baby Boom Generation ending earlier than some others do.   You can read all about that elsewhere, but they also have a concept of cyclical crises and periods of stability that impact generations, with women generally being the cultural influencers that impact male character patterns, if not necessarily individual males, at any one time.

Okay, so what?

Well, we are living in a very female influenced era culturally.  One that has even seen the intrusion of women into roles that are not only traditionally male, but arguably biologically male, from an evolutionary biological prospective and even attacks on the concept of gender itself, biologically unsounds though that may be.  And part of what occurs, when this occurs, is that men, and before that boys, really have no refuge in which they can be just guys.

This doesn't mean there's some previous era in which everything in regard to male/female roles was perfectly defined, although in a lot of ways that changes much less than people like to imagine, and perceptions of change have more to do with economic changes in broad economies at any one time then the do with actual changes in cultural views.  And it doesn't mean that there should be some sort of strict segregation between boys and girls at all times. Indeed, at least in my view, strict segregation at the primary school level actually tends to encourage vices, and the societies that practice that usually see the results later on in men and women who never learned about the others in their formative years with resulting permanent impacts on their characters.

But it does mean that there ought to be at least some places where boys can go just to be boys, and to learn, well, many things.  And the same is true in the opposite direction for girls. And indeed, for girls, it still is.  There's been no male penetration into deeply female roles or organizations in any meaningful sense.  Find a boy in the Girl Scouts and chances are high that you are going to find an odd storty behind it, and one that is probably vested in that person's parents.

Find a girl in the Boy Scouts, or now just the Scouts, and what you'll find is high achieving girls.  You'll also soon fine less manly boys in the same organizations, which have been having troubles recently anyhow, and soon just fewer boys in general.  Some will remain, but they won't be the same group that would have been there otherwise, and those who are there, aren't going to learn the same lessons they would have otherwise.  Overall, everyone will suffer for that.*

They forgot what society they lived in

People like Mike Lindell, that is.

Lindell is the founder of the My Pillow company. I don't know anything about the pillows and not that much about Lindell, other than his personal story is really a classic rags to riches type tale.  

In the U.S., that's enough to cause people to love and hate you, which is something to keep in mind.  He's also a vocal Evangelical Christian, which also will draw praise while drawing some dislike as well.  None of that, however, is what he's now in trouble for.

Lindell has been sued by Dominion Voting which is sick and tired of its voting machines being slammed.  Lindell made claims that Dominion rigged the election for Joe Biden, a statement for which not only is there no evidence, it's demonstrably false.  Dominion is a business and they don't like their product being hammered by falsehoods, no deeply believed by those who are asserting those falsehoods.

People like Victor David Hanson like to talk about Trump Derangement Syndrome which they claim causes people on the left to be completely irrational about Donald Trump. An argument can be made that some of that did in fact exist during the Trump Administration, particularly early on. The problem is that the same term can also apply to Trump's diehard supporters.

One of the things about Trump is, quite frankly, that while he had real accomplishments he has major character defects.  He's boorish, crude, and has had a history of questionable behavior with women.  He's also a prima donna and narcissist who simply can't stand the thought of public criticism or losing.  

In normal US politics that would doom a person, but it didn't with Trump.  A lot of his base supporters originally didn't care about any of that as long as he acted as a wrecker.  Over time, he's developed a personality cult that nearly worships him, in spite of all of his obvious faults.  People in that category suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome as well as they can't be objective at all about Trump.

This doesn't apply to every Trump supporter by any means.  But it applies to some.  Guys like Lindell and Patrick Coffin seem to have simply fallen off the reality wagon and are willing to endorse all sorts of conspiracy theories about one thing or another.  Coffin, who used to be an objective conservative religious voice now hosts people who see Bill Gates conspiring to create a pandemic in order to create a new world order.  Lindell boosted the Dominion nonsense.  

Lindell is now one of several figures getting sued by Dominion. Dominion no doubt doesn't hope to be reimbursed by them for their losses, whatever those may be, but is out to repair its reputation through litigation. The litigation will achieve that.

Dopey New Jersey

The Garden State has legalized weed.  Because that's what people in New Jersey really need to be, stoned.

Not that New Jersey is by any means alone in this, to be sure.  It's just following the pack.  

It does say something that in early 21st Century America, however, one of the biggest movements of the day is one that allows people to be oblivious.

Exit Franco

Francisco and Ramon Franco, 1925, in North Africa.

A statute honoring Francisco Franco's role as a commander in the Rif War, put up in 1978 was taken down this past week.  Apparently it was the last one, which is remarkable in part as it was put up in the 1970s.

Franco had his supporters in Spain during his long dictatorship, as well as his supporters elsewhere.  All that now seems definitively in the past.  Having said that, this has been a strange trip.  Franco had his supporters in the west during the civil war period that proceeded World War Two, and even had some after that.  Indeed, quite a few.  During much of the 30s he was, however, disdained by the American left including the popular media.  World War Two certainly increased that disdain, and for good reasons, as he crept up on joining Nazi Germany and fascist Italy in the war.  By war's end, however, he was courting the west.  His regime died with him, which he was aware would occur, but he retained sufficient support for a monument to his command in the Spain's colonist Rif campaign was still erected, which is pretty amazing really. And we just passed the 40th anniversary of the attempted 1981 Fracoist coup, which of course failed.

Nobody in Span is going to try a Francoist coup now.

Streaming

Paramount movies has announced it will provide movies for streaming 45 days after their initial release.

Sign of the times.

Footnotes

*And, no, I wasn't an Eagle Scout.

I was in Scouting so briefly that I usually say I was never a Boy Scout.  In actuality I was, but as noted, very briefly.

February 7, 1921. Refugees in Turkey, National Boy Scout Week, Army shrinks, Navy grows.

 Russian refugees on beach at Proti Island near Constantinople

It was the beginning of National Boy Scout Week.  In Sheridan Wyoming the Boy Scouts decorated the downtown windows on this Monday in honor of the week.

An issue of Boys' Life, the Scouting journal, from 1921, depicting a  Boy Scout and a Sea Scout.

Congress, earlier in 1920, had voted to reduce the size of the U.S. Army to 175,000 men.  President Wilson vetoed the measure.  Congress overrode the veto, and it became effective on this day in 1921 so the Army would accordingly shrink.

The Navy, however, gained a new ship, the USS Selfridge, a Clemson class destroyer that would serve a mere nine years.

USS Selfridge.

February 6, 1941. Previews and Maneuvers. Hitler issues Directive 23 and courts Franco. Italians retreat in, and Germans embark for, Libya. Will Bill visits Jerusalem. Boy Scouts listen to radio.

Wild Bill Donovan, envoy of FDR and future head of the OSS, in Jerusalem on this day in 1941.

A lot of behind the scenes and preview of coming attractions type events were going on, on this day in 1941.  

Wild Bill Donovan, the future head of the OSS, was in British occupied Palestine.  No doubt something sort of behind the scenes was going on if Wild Bill was there.

In North Africa, Operation Compass, the British Commonwealth advance in Italian Libya, continued with the Battle of Beda Fomm commencing.

The British also took Benghazi on this day.

The British had committed some tactical errors in their campaign in North Africa, but the Italians were sucking it up everywhere in Africa. They were going down in defeat in Libya and they were suffering the same fate in Eritrea.  They were in big trouble.

And big trouble not only in North Africa, but also in a war against their near neighbor, Greece.  

No, things were not going well for Mussolini at all. At this rate, he was going to see his new Roman Empire pushed out of Africa in short order and likely have to enter into a negotiated settlement with Greece.

And this is something to really consider.  

We're so used to the concept of England holding on by it knuckles at this point in the war that we fail to appreciate that, just about a year after the UK had been pushed out of France and France itself had surrendered to the Germans, the British were more than holding their own.  They were winning in North Africa and Greece, an ally by default, was winning in its war with Italy.  The Germans were engaged in a full scale air and naval war against the United Kingdom, but that war had shifted to being one on economic targets, in essence.  A fact that was reflected by a new directive issued on this day Hitler, which read:

Directive No. 23 -- Directions For Operations Against The English War Economy

1. The Effect Of Our Operations Against England To Date:

(a) Contrary to our former view, the heaviest effect of our operations against the English war economy has lain in the high losses in merchant shipping inflicted by sea and air warfare. This effect has been increased by the destruction of port installations, the elimination of large quantities of supplies, and by the diminished use of ships when compelled to sail in convoy. 

A further considerable increase is to be expected in the course of this year by the wider employment of submarines, and this can bring about the collapse of English resistance within the foreseeable future.

(b) The effect of direct air attacks against the English armaments industry is difficult to estimate. But the destruction of many factories and the consequent disorganisation of the armaments industry must lead to a considerable fall in production.

(c) The least effect of all (as far as we can see) has been made upon the morale and will to resist of the English people.

2. Consequences For Our Own Future Operations:

In the course of the next few months, the effectiveness of our naval operations against enemy merchant shipping may be expected to increase thanks to the wider use of submarines and surface ships. On the other hand, we are unable to maintain the scope of our air attacks, as the demands of other theatres of war compel us to withdraw increasingly large air forces from operations against the British Isles.

It will therefore be desirable in future to concentrate air attacks more closely and to deliver them chiefly against targets whose destruction supplements our naval war. Only by these means can we expect a decisive end to the war within the foreseeable future.

3. It must therefore be the aim of our further operations against the English homeland to concentrate all weapons of air and sea warfare against enemy imports, as well as to hold down the English aircraft industry and, where possible, to inflict still further damage on it.

For this purpose it will be necessary:

(a) To destroy the most important English harbours for imports, particularly port installations, and ships lying in them or being built.

(b) To attack shipping, especially when homeward bound, by all methods.

(c) Systematically to destroy the key points of the aircraft industry, including factories producing antiaircraft equipment and explosives.

These duties must still be carried out by such forces as remain available for operations against England, even should a large proportion of the Airforce and a smaller proportion of naval forces be withdrawn in the course of the year for employment in other theatres.

4. For the execution of these tasks, it should be noted:

(a) The sinking of merchantmen is more important than attack on enemy warships.

The same is true of the use of aerial torpedoes.

By reducing the available enemy tonnage, not only will the blockade, which is decisive to the war, be intensified, but enemy operations in Europe or Africa will be impeded.

(b) When attacks against ports or aircraft factories have obviously been successful, they will be repeated again and again.

(c) By continuous laying of minefields the enemy's feelings of uncertainty and loses will be increased.

(d) After attacking the large import harbors, efforts will be made, as far as the range of aircraft allows, to prevent the transfer of supplies to smaller ports.

Only when the weather or other conditions prevent attack on the targets designated in paragraph 3 will attacks be made on other armaments plants, towns of particular importance to the war economy, and dumps in the interior of the country, and transport centers.

No decisive success can be expected from terror attacks on residential areas or from attacks on coastal defenses.

5. Until the beginning of the regrouping of forces for Barbarossa, efforts will be made to intensify the effect of air and sea warfare, not only in order to inflict the heaviest possible losses on England, but also in order to give the impression that an attack on the British Isles is planned for this year.

6. Special orders will be issued for cooperation between naval and air forces in reconnaissance over the sea.

7. Directive Number 9 of 26th May, 1940, and Directive Number 17 of 1st August, 1940, are no longer valid.

Hitler's orders basically acknowledged what was already a fact.  The Germans knew at this point in the war that the British were not going to give up and the concept was to stare the island, literally and materially, out of the war.  

That strategy had been tried in 1914-18, of course, and failed.  

And that had also brought the US into the war in 1917.

Also on this day, the Germans commenced Operation Sonnenblume, their relief mission to the Italians in North Africa in the form of troops.  They were now diverting, therefore, men and material that would have soon been pointed east to a region of the globe that they'd shown no interest in since 1918.  Indeed, in 1914-18 Africa had been a men and material drain of no benefit to the Reich as well, and now they were doing it again.  This reflected a sense of desperation regarding the Italian cause.  If Italy lost to the UK and Greece, which it was now warning it might, that would mean that the German concept of having a secure southern flank when it invaded the USSR would have been defeated.  So Hitler was committing Erwin Rommel, and German men and material, to Libya.

On the same day, Hitler wrote Francisco Franco.

Dear Caudillo!

If I write this letter it is done in order to determine once again with extreme clarity the individual phases of the development of a situation which is not only important for Germany and Italy but could have been of decisive importance to Spain.

When we had our meeting, it was my aim to convince you, Caudillo, of the necessity of common action of those states whose interests in the final analysis are certainly tied up indissolubly with each other. For centuries, Spain has been persecuted by the same enemies against whom today Germany and Italy are forced to fight. In addition to the earlier imperial strivings inimical to our three nations there now arose, moreover, antitheses conditioned by world-outlook: The Jewish-international democracy, which reigns in these states, will not excuse any of us for having followed a course which seeks to secure the future of our peoples in accordance with fundamental principles determined by the people and not those imposed by capital. As concerns the German determination to follow this fight through to the final consequence, I need waste no word. The Duce thinks no differently. On the basis of this analysis, the Japanese people as well will not in the long run get by, unless it be by a submission sacrificing the future of the Japanese people. I am now convinced that Spain faces the same fate. Caudillo, if your struggle against the elements of destruction in Spain was successful, it was only because of the democratic opponents forced to be cautious by attitude of Germany and Italy. You will be forgiven, Caudillo, but never for this victory! Just as little does England think of letting you remain for a long period in North Africa opposite Gibraltar-as soon as she is once again in a position of power. The Spanish seizure of the Tangier zone would in such a case-and this is my deepest conviction, Caudillo-only be a passing intermezzo. England, and probably America too, will do everything, to render this entry into the Mediterranean in the future even more secure under their dominion than up to now. It is my most heartfelt conviction that the battle which Germany and Italy are now fighting out is thus determining the future destiny of Spain as well. Only in the case of our victory will the present regime continue to exist. Should Germany and Italy lose this war, however, then any future for a really national and independent Spain would be impossible.

I have thus been striving to convince you, Caudillo, of the necessity in the interests of your own country and the future of the Spanish people, of uniting yourself with those countries who formerly sent soldiers to support you, and who today of necessity, are also battling not only for their own existence, but indirectly for the national future of Spain as well.

Now at our meeting we agreed that Spain declare its readiness to sign the Three-Power Pact and to enter the war. In setting the date, periods in the far future were never considered or even mentioned, but instead the conversation always was concerned with a very short time-limit within which you, Caudillo, still believed that you could carry out various economic measures favorable for your country.

I personally have been skeptical from the beginning about the hope of receiving very soon more real economic benefits for Spain.

1. England indeed has no thought at all of really helping Spain! England is only endeavoring to postpone the Spanish entry into the war, to put it off in order in this way continually to increase her distress and thus to be able finally to overthrow the Spanish Government of that time.

2. But even if England were about to think otherwise, in an impulse toward some kind of sentimentality never present in British history up to now, she could not really help Spain under any conditions. She is absolutely not in the condition even in transportation alone to aid another country in a time in which she herself has already been forced to the most rigorous retrenchments in her standard of living. And the need for transport space will as the months go by not decrease but instead will get more and more serious.

In spite of the fact that I, therefore-as stated-have been thoroughly skeptical about this from the beginning, I nonetheless brought to bear every bit of appreciation for your efforts in at least trying, even before entering the war, to get shipments of foodstuffs into Spain from countries overseas as well.

Germany, however, has for her part, declared herself ready to deliver to Spain, immediately after undertaking entrance into the war, food, that is-grain-to as great an extent as possible! Furthermore, Germany has declared herself prepared to replace the 100,000 tons of grain which was waiting in Portugal destined for Switzerland in order that it might benefit Spain immediately. This of course remains contingent upon the final decision for Spain's entry into the war. For about one thing, Caudillo, there must be clarity: We are fighting a battle of life and death and cannot al this time make any gifts. If it should later be asserted that Spain could not enter the war because she received no supplies, that would not be true! For immediately after settling the entry into the war, a fixed date of which there has as yet been no outward indication at all, Spain would receive the first supplies, that is, 100,000 tons of grain. I doubt whether 100,000 tons of grain could really have reached Spain from abroad within the same period of time, even if such an inclination had existed. Thus, I also doubt that this is going to happen. The assertion, however, that-if our grain had been delivered immediately-the Spanish people could thus by propaganda have been prepared for entry into the war is self-contradictory for another reason.

You, yourself, Caudillo, have indeed personally indicated to me the importance of not yet consummating publicly the entrance into the Three-Power Pact, because you feared that this would have hurt your other efforts, for example in obtaining more grain, indeed would perhaps have wrecked them. How much less possible would it then have been to carry on open propaganda for entering the war? No, I am taking the liberty once more to confirm that:

1. During our conversation, it was never considered that Spain's entry into the war would perchance not take place until autumn or the coming winter, and that-

2. Germany was ready to furnish supplies to the Spanish Government at the moment when the final date for entering the war was determined.

When I had the request made to you, Caudillo, with the impression of urgency to bring relief to the Italian ally and to set this date in the middle or the end of January, that is, to permit the German march against Gibraltar to begin on or after January 10, in order to start attacking at the end of January, then for the first time our negotiators were unequivocally informed that such an early date could absolutely not be considered and this was again motivated by economic factors. However, when I thereupon let it be known again that Germany was indeed ready to begin at once with deliveries of grain, Admiral Canaris received the conclusive information that this delivery of grain would not be decisive at all, for via railway, it certainly could accomplish no practical effect. It was now further declared that since we had already made available batteries for the Canary Islands and moreover intended also to provide dive-bombers for additional security-even that was not decisive, since the Canary Islands from the point of view of food could no longer be held after six months.

That it is absolutely not a matter of economic factors but rather of others is apparent from the last statement in which it is stated that for climatic reasons to march in this season could not succeed, but on the contrary should only be considered at the earliest in the autumn or winter.

Under these conditions, of course, I do not understand why one should first want to declare an event impossible on economic grounds, which is now said to be impossible simply for climatic reasons. Now I do not believe that the German Army would be disturbed during its march in January by a climate which in itself is nothing out of the ordinary for us. In any case, we solved our problems in the Norwegian campaign under varied conditions and with severe climatic hindrances in the form of snow and ice, not to mention the fact that, from the participation of German soldiers and officers in your campaign, Caudillo, the climatic conditions of Spain are nothing unfamiliar to us. I regret most profoundly, Caudillo, this your opinion and your stand since:

1. I feel it my duty to bring relief to my Italian friend and ally and thus be of help to him indeed be of help at the moment when he experienced an unfortunate mishap. The attack on Gibraltar and the closing of the Straits would have changed the Mediterranean situation in one stroke.

2. I am of the conviction that in war, time is one of the most important factors. Months which one lets slip by are often never regained again!

3. Finally however it is clear that, on January 10 if we had been able to cross the Spanish border with the first formations, Gibraltar would today be in our hands. That means: Two months have been lost, which otherwise would have helped to decide world history.

4. I am further of the convictions that Spain's economic condition would have improved and not become worse because of what would in any case have come to Spain through us and that on the other hand the deliveries which since then actually came to Spain from abroad during this time can only amount to a fraction compared to that which would in any case have been delivered at once by us.

But quite aside from this, Caudillo, I should like now to mention the following:

The entrance of Spain into this struggle has certainly not been conceived of as exclusively to the benefit of the interests of Germany and Italy. Spain herself has advanced very great territorial claims for the fulfilment of which the Duce and I had declared ourselves ready in every degree which could at all be reconciled with an acceptable new arrangement of the African colonial possession for Europe and its countries. And I may point out in this regard that in this struggle up to now first Germany and then Italy, have suffered the most prodigious blood sacrifice, and that both, in spite of this, themselves made very modest claims.

In any case, however, the moment of military operations above all can only be proposed by the one who therewith assumes the main burden of the struggle and who must therefore calculate it into the total program of a military analysis which is after all of world-wide extent. That I myself have no other goal in mind than the common success is certainly understandable. Indeed in this case, Caudillo, my urging in and of itself only proves the strength of my consciousness of responsibility toward my ally as well. For wheresoever in the course of this war difficulties should arise, it will be my unbending will to help out with them; and my decision to make good in the final settlement whatever during one or another stage of this war can perhaps at first have miscarried. This affects Spain as well. Spain will never get other friends than those given [her] in the Germany and Italy of today, unless it becomes a different Spain. This different Spain however would only be the Spain of decline and of final collapse. Even for this reason alone, Caudillo, I believe that we three men, the Duce, you, and I, are bound to one another by the most rigorous compulsion of history that is possible, and that thus we in this historical analysis ought to obey as the supreme commandment the realization that in such difficult times, not so much an apparently wise caution as the bold heart, rather, can save nations.

Moreover, Caudillo, this war is decided regardless of what ephemeral successes the British believe they can achieve anywhere on the periphery. For independently thereof, the fact remains that the British power in Europe is broken and that the mightiest military machine in the world stands ready for every additional task which may be put to it to solve. And how good and reliable this instrument is, the future will prove.

Accept my cordial and comradely greetings.

Your ADOLF HITLER

Hitler was renewing his request of Franco to join the war, something Franco had refused to do on the basis that the country had not recovered from its civil war. The German thought was that Spain could seize Gibraltar, which it likely could have, and pinch of the Mediterranean.  It was a simple solution to a problem that, in their view, was now requiring them to commit troops to North Africa.

Franco has always been an enigma.  A strong man, a caudillo as Hitler termed it, he actually wasn't a fascist like Mussolini and Hitler, although he certainly wasn't a democrat.  A conservative monarchist at heart, he was better able to read the winds than his strong man contemporaries and was leery of entering into the war full scale, choosing instead to provide Germany with material support and submarine bases (and air bases early on).  Just enough to be doing something, but not more than that.

Franco's reluctance to join the Germans also can be attributed, in this instance, to what he conceived of Spain's territorial interests.  There was, at this time, a French Morocco and a Spanish Morocco.  Franco had actually crossed from Spanish Morocco into Spain when the Spanish army, or rather most of the Spanish army, went to war with the Spanish reds when the Spanish parliament had collapsed.  French Morocco, had it been offered to him, would likely have proved a sufficient inducement to cause him to throw in with Germany.  But that would have pitted Spanish interest against that of Vichy France, which would likely have attempted to fight Spain over it, and which would have ended the problematic cooperation of Vichy France with Germany.  That was an offer Hitler couldn't make.

All of which should have caused the Germans to pause.  They hadn't beaten the UK and the British Commonwealth forces were now in better shape than they had been some months prior.  Italy was proving to be of no value as an ally, and actually a net deficit, and Spain wasn't up for cooperating.

And yet they went on planning for Operation Barbarossa anyway.

The Germans captured a RAF Wellington on this day:

Wellington bomber captured on Boulogne raid

Convoy SC-20 suffered its third and final loss:

Ships hit from convoy SC-20

Boy Scouts were learning about radio:

Scouts Listening to the Radio, 1941

January 8, 1941. Death of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts.

January 8, 1941 date stamped on reverse.

Lord Robert-Baden Powell, 1st Baron Baden Powell, died on this day in 1941 in Kenya.  He was 83 years old at the time.

Baden Powell was a British cavalryman who founded the international "Scouting Movement" and who lived to see it rise to enormous popularity during the "Muscular Christianity" era. Creation of the movement was a result of his experiences in the Boer War in which he admired the scouting skills of troops raised in the region and those recruited or otherwise from North America.  

First issue of Scouting for Boys, 1908.

At the time of the movements founding Baden Powell, the son of a professor who was also an Anglican Priest who died when he was three  years old, had already served a long and distinguished military career, but its for the creation of Scouting that he is principally remembered.  The movement became enormously successful almost immediately and from its inception until some time into the 1960s it was a very significant youth organization for boys.

Illustration by Baden Powell form the Wolf Cub Handbook, 1916.

Baden Powell was also instrumental in the formation of the companion groups for girls, but he likely would have been  horrified by later developments in Scouting, including the scandals associated with the Boy Scouts USA in later years and the co-ed nature of the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts today.  Indeed, there's a lot of say for his original vision of the organization over its current form which sought to bring bushcraft to youth who were losing it and which was an outwardly Christian organization.

Lady Olave Baden Powell, widow of Robert Baden Powell.

Married late in life, he left a widow 36 years his junior and three children, ages 8, 6 and 4.

The RAF bombed Naples.  Thai forces advanced against Vichy French forces near Siem Reap.

Other events in World War Two, including Canada's decision not to enlist Japanese Canadian citizens into its armed forces, can be read here:

Today in World War II History—January 8, 1941

And also here:

Day 496 January 8, 1941

On this day, this old building in Morristown, New Jersey, was photographed.

And more employees of banks and trust companies were as well.