I'm working on a piece set during WWII in the European theatre. I am wondering if anybody knows how the major Holidays, such as Christmas, would have affected the day to day combat in Europe. Right now I am most worried about Christmas, My characters are less than ten days away and I have no idea how to write the Christmas and Christmas Eve days.
I don't want to cop out and say "the weather is bad". I'm going to have my share of those days as is.
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"Bearing ourselves humbly before God ... we await undismayed the impending assault ... be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parlay; we may show mercy – we shall ask for none." ~ Winston Churchill, July 1940
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Nov 3, 2009 - 08 02
It depends on the year. By and large, fighting did not cease during the sacred holidays, but the men "in the rear", those taking a break from the battles, found ways to celebrate in their own little way. Sometimes they'd break out into Christmas carols (there's one story about a group of them singing "Silent Night" while artillery fire exploded in the distance), or hold Mass, or eat "special" rations.
Christmas 1943 was particularly brutal for Allied regiments fighting in Italy. The Battle of Ortona took place Christmas Eve/Day of that year, resulting in heavy casualties for both sides.
So where in Europe are your characters?
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Nov 3, 2009 - 10 06
Two are in England, one is in Northern Germany. They are all fighter pilots, so the rules might be different for them. Unlike the men serving on the front later on, they would have a measure of downtime between sorties.
----------"Bearing ourselves humbly before God ... we await undismayed the impending assault ... be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parlay; we may show mercy – we shall ask for none." ~ Winston Churchill, July 1940
51,046 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 23 39
While there was no "official stand down" it was not uncommon for commanders to try to accommodate the holidays.
There are two answers here. First, especially in England, the pilots would have had some decorations around the barracks and mess hall, and might even have been granted leave for a day or two...which might include a quick trip to London or home. Not sure if you said if these were Americans or English pilots, so the answer might be a bit different. They would have had a "celebration" in the mess at some point, "special food", and some signing of carols and such. Doubtful there would have been much in the way of presents, but maybe an extra ration of stout or rum.
In Germany it would have been the same, with obvious cultural differences. The celebration of Christmas in Germany is different in many ways, and you can Google that pretty easily. They probably would not get leave, since the bomber offensive was going full steam at the time. There was a heavy night raid on Berlin on the night of December 23/24, 1943. There had been no night raids for several nights before primarily because of some issues with the raid of December 16/17. There were no additional night raids until December 29/30, so your German flyer would have had the nights off during that time. By that, I mean he wouldn't have had to fly. He was always on standby unless he was granted leave for some reason, or his plane was out of service.
The record for daytime raids is a little more vague, and it appears the the Americans flew on a small raid over Hamburg on December 24. It's unclear how many bombers were involved. The next raid noted in the log of the Eight AF was December 17, when three different raids were dispatched to various targets. The raid to Dortmund was aborted due to weather, although one box (9 B17-G's) missed the abort signal and bombed anyway. It's unknown what, if anything, they hit due to the heavy undercast.
So...it appears that your flyers would have had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day "off" even if they were on standby for general purposes.
If you need more, let me know. If you have them located at specific bases, or flying specific plane types, I can probably tell you exactly what happened.
----------GP
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2006 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book I
2007 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book II
2008 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book III
2009 -
24,011 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 03 35
I guess I should have been more specific and said "one is Austrian, one is American, and One is English", but the info that flights didn't occur does help immensely. I am not overly worried about what was done, mostly just when.
In the end, I managed to write in my Austrian staffelkapitän bringing in some casks of Bavarian beer (definitely some pulled strings here) for his staffel's gruppe, and the American sharing a bit of a drink with some of the Brits on station. The primary British character mostly just putzed about on his own, the anti-social bugger.
However, if you can get me a site listing the German aerodromes and British Air Stations, that too would be immensely helpful.
----------"Bearing ourselves humbly before God ... we await undismayed the impending assault ... be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parlay; we may show mercy – we shall ask for none." ~ Winston Churchill, July 1940
51,046 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 16 28
However, if you can get me a site listing the German aerodromes and British Air Stations, that too would be immensely helpful.
That's doable, but I need more info.
Is your German flying a night fighter or something else. Knowing what kind of plane would be helpful also, but not absolutely necessary.
For the British, the question is roughly where is he stationed? Midlands, around London, somewhere else?
----------GP
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2006 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book I
2007 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book II
2008 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book III
2009 -
24,011 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 01 50
Herr Vogel, my Austrian Pilot, is a part of Luftflotte 1 for now and is primarily flying day missions. His staffel flies Messerschmitt Bf-109s. Going to have his entire gruppe get switched over to Focke-Wulf Fw-190s. High caliber gruppe.
FO Kelvin, the Brit, and Lt. Carpenter, the American, are both stationed on the south England coast along the English Channel. Kelvin is at a main station and Carpenter is at one of said station's satellite stations.
----------"Bearing ourselves humbly before God ... we await undismayed the impending assault ... be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parlay; we may show mercy – we shall ask for none." ~ Winston Churchill, July 1940
51,046 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 22 37
FO Kelvin, the Brit, and Lt. Carpenter, the American, are both stationed on the south England coast along the English Channel. Kelvin is at a main station and Carpenter is at one of said station's satellite stations.
Okay, I'll take a quick look. Could you send this info to me in an IM? It's easier to find it that way, and I won't forget to give you an answer.
----------GP
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2006 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book I
2007 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book II
2008 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book III
2009 -