This is the place to come if you need some help with the period that defined "the greatest generation." Want to know what happened when? Need a sense of what it was like to live where the war actually happened? Need to verify who did what to whom?
Was WWII just the continuation of WWI? Would it have happened without Hitler? What did Stalin say shortly after the Germans attacked? (It's very revealing, and his language was anything but diplomatic)
Here is a great place to ask those questions, or volunteer your own knowledge. Ask away, 'cuz somebody knows, or knows where you can find out.
GP
----------
GP
--------------
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 -
26,096 / 50,000
Okt 4, 2009 - 07 48
Hiya Craig! You know I'll be visiting you and this thread often!!!
Thanks for the offer of help! Lord knows I'll need it =)
----------998 / 50,000
Okt 4, 2009 - 09 58
Wonderful! I'm sure I'll be visiting here often.
----------NaNo '09: The Unfortunate Misadventures of Dr. Adam R. Pryce
20,040 / 50,000
Okt 4, 2009 - 12 46
Oh boy, I'm going to be here a looot.
----------Looking forward to it!
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. - Ray Bradbury
27,260 / 50,000
Okt 5, 2009 - 16 23
Hooray! I am looking forward to seeing posts in this thread once November starts! My characters will be muddling around in Paris just before the Germans get there so I'm sure I'll have some questions, and probably will excitedly overshare random facts I happen across while researching ;)
----------2007 - Cloudless Climes - War Games book 1 (won)
2008 - Of Dark and Bright - War Games book 2 (won)
2009 - In Her Aspect - War Games book 3
12,437 / 50,000
Okt 5, 2009 - 20 52
Eee, this is my place.
<3 World War II. Except the death. But it does make for good storytelling.
----------- Stephen Cope
http://stephencope.net
83,420 / 50,000
Okt 6, 2009 - 10 46
Thanks for starting this topic! I'm a huge WWII fan, specializing in the London Blitz, the RAF, and general WWII medical history. This year's NaNo novel will be set during the war, so I'm sure I'll be over here to ask questions!
----------36,833 / 50,000
Okt 7, 2009 - 09 03
thanks for the thread. Mine's either set in WWII or there will be lots of flashbacks. I'm sure i'll be here a lot
10,922 / 50,000
Okt 7, 2009 - 15 54
Hi all! I expect I'll be popping in here every now and then, as I expect my story to go to the end or near to the end of WWII. I am especially interested in aviation during that period, as well as attitudes on the homefront and living stateside.
looking forward--
paula
998 / 50,000
Okt 7, 2009 - 21 37
The London Blitz and the RAF are my areas of interest, too!
----------NaNo '09: The Unfortunate Misadventures of Dr. Adam R. Pryce
27,260 / 50,000
Okt 7, 2009 - 22 34
looking forward--
paula
The US homefront aspect was something I used to love doing research on in school...if you ever need a war-time ad or article to draw from, Paula, I inherited a number of National Geographics from the early 40s with such interesting sections! Plenty of pages of victory gardens and new types of non-rubber car tires to save material for the war effort.
----------2007 - Cloudless Climes - War Games book 1 (won)
2008 - Of Dark and Bright - War Games book 2 (won)
2009 - In Her Aspect - War Games book 3
16,277 / 50,000
Okt 9, 2009 - 04 49
Here's one to get you started... A rather difficult one too, or at least difficult for me (though perhaps my research skills are just lacking)...
What can you tell me about life for Japanese civilians near the end of WWII? What was life like on the main islands in the wake of months of fire bombing, deprivation due to the Allied blockade, etc.?
All the info I've been able to find on the subject has been almost exclusively written in Japanese, and I have absolutely zero fluency in Japanese. :o
TYIA :)
----------2009: Coronet (working title)
2008: Ghosts of Rosemont - 54,808
10,922 / 50,000
Okt 9, 2009 - 05 47
Thank you, Anna! That's great advice -- maybe it's time to put my lonely library card to use -- if it's not too much trouble, do you happen to know the best issue numbers?
And many thanks for 'oversharing' as you delve into Paris -- I hope you find exciting things there.
I just got my copy of 'No Plot? No Problem!' in the mail -- here's to a busy November!
paula
ps: big fan of Lord Byron, Anna? He's such interesting material....
27,260 / 50,000
Okt 9, 2009 - 10 52
heya publiushjm! Depending on your access to libraries, there might be a couple of helpful books available, like "Among the dead cities : the history and moral legacy of the WWII bombing of civilians in Germany and Japan" by A.C. Grayling, or "Cries for peace : experiences of Japanese victims of World War II" compiled by the Youth Division of Soka Gakkai, or "Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies: Selections from the Wartime Diaries of Ordinary Japanese" by Samuel Hideo. In terms of things online though, I am also having a difficult time finding anything in English.
Paula, I will have to send you a nanomail with the National Geographic issue numbers as I am at work and the magazines are at home :) It might be difficult for you to find them that far back at a library though! And yes I do like Byron's poetry, it's very lyrical and evocative (and makes great titles, haha).
I've discovered the perfect event to kill off some of my characters...has anyone else heard of the HMT Lancastria disaster? More people died in the bombing and sinking of that ship during Operation Ariel (evacuation of civilians/personnel from France) than in the Titanic and Lusitania sinkings COMBINED. Possibly over 5000. The ship went down in just 20 minutes and was grossly overcrowded above the maximum limit. I mean, I was a history major in college and I never heard zip about this...apparently, the British government hushed it up extremely well so as not to affect morale, and they are STILL refusing to call the site a war grave or commemorate the victims. The whole incident was a huge, huge surprise to me, despite it being the worst British maritime disaster ever. That's what I learned today in WWII history!
----------2007 - Cloudless Climes - War Games book 1 (won)
2008 - Of Dark and Bright - War Games book 2 (won)
2009 - In Her Aspect - War Games book 3
83,420 / 50,000
Okt 9, 2009 - 12 59
You're kidding! How fascinating! I've never met anyone who was interested (much) in the Blitz! Have you written/read on it extensively?
----------16,277 / 50,000
Okt 9, 2009 - 18 39
Thanks Anna, I'll definitely check and see if the local libraries have any of those books! :)
----------2009: Coronet (working title)
2008: Ghosts of Rosemont - 54,808
51,046 / 50,000
Okt 10, 2009 - 20 53
pucliushjm....
The book you want is The Fall of Japan, by William Craig. You will not find a more complete or accurate accounting of Japan in the final days of the war. He also wrote Enemy at the Gates, about the siege of Stalingrad.
It may be a bit hard to find, but it will tell you everything you want to know.
I know of three others, but they are all in Japanese, and in addition to being really hard to find (at least outside of Japan) they would require language skills you indicate you don't possess.
I checked just now on ebay and there were several copies for a few bucks each. It will most likely be in paperback.
----------GP
--------------
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 -
51,046 / 50,000
Okt 10, 2009 - 21 01
Anna....
There are actually several of these, well hidden amongst the dusty archives where they keep the stuff that "never happened."
Near the end of the war, there was a ship evacuating German refugees from East Prussia that went down, and the loss of life was terrible. The sinking wasn't unknown, but the circumstances were concealed for years. There are two in the Pacific theatre of a similar nature.
Even ships of various navies weren't exempt, and the sinking of the Indianapolis was largely concealed, both that it happened and then in the way the military completely screwed up the potential rescue. It resulted in the only court martial of a commanding officer for the loss of his ship during wartime, and his trial even included testimony from the Japanese submarine commander who sank it.
Yup, the files are full of such things.
----------GP
--------------
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 -
51,046 / 50,000
Okt 10, 2009 - 21 07
Senorita.....
A great place for the Blitz is Life magazine. If you can find a library that has bound copies back that far you'll find wonderful stuff...both the official things and the effects on everyday people.
----------GP
--------------
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 -
5,619 / 50,000
Okt 11, 2009 - 09 13
I'm looking for information regarding German civilians towards the end of WWII and in the months following, specifically in Western Germany.
Most of my information comes from the view of the American soldier - but I'd like to know the feelings and life of a German civilian at the time.
If anyone can send me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it!
998 / 50,000
Okt 11, 2009 - 15 11
Not nearly enough! I recently read one of Peter Townsend's memoirs about being a night fighter (I can't recall the name at the moment). Every couple of chapters was about the Blitz. I also read a couple of the Time-Life books about WWII, one about the Battle of Britain. Roughly half of this book was about the Blitz. Everything interlinks, so my interest in the RAF drew me to this. :)
----------NaNo '09: The Unfortunate Misadventures of Dr. Adam R. Pryce
20,040 / 50,000
Okt 11, 2009 - 19 59
Hmm. I had a thought. Does anyone know any good places to look for information on the postal service during WWII? The majority of my story is told through letters, and I'd like to find out when/where the soldiers (especially on the European front) would be able to send and receive mail. I don't know nearly enough about how that all worked. Any help on that topic would be much appreciated! I'll probably go lurk in the library for a bit. :P
----------You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. - Ray Bradbury
51,046 / 50,000
Okt 11, 2009 - 22 24
ohtrouble
I have just the book for you. Jungvolk, written by Wilhelm Gehlen. He does an excellent job of describing daily life as the war makes its way into Germany and envelops his home town. He doesn't live in a big city, so his descriptions aren't going to be accurate for a major urban area such as Köln, but he does give you a flavor of how the ordinary people lived during the 1944 - 1945 period. Almost everything else from that period is either written from the victor's perspective, or else focuses on Berlin and the political big picture.
If you need anything more, let me know. Feel free to IM if you want to.
----------GP
--------------
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 -
51,046 / 50,000
Okt 11, 2009 - 22 38
kwinchester
Your best source will be a pair of articles in Life magazine. I can't put my fingers on the specific dates right now, but as I recall they will be in the issues of late 1944, perhaps early 45. There is a series of pictures and text that detail the process...the operation of an APO, the censorship process, and some rather strange "staged" pictures of soldiers reading letters from home.
If I can find the exact dates of the issues, I'll send them along.
----------GP
--------------
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 -
20,040 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2009 - 07 03
Your best source will be a pair of articles in Life magazine. I can't put my fingers on the specific dates right now, but as I recall they will be in the issues of late 1944, perhaps early 45. There is a series of pictures and text that detail the process...the operation of an APO, the censorship process, and some rather strange "staged" pictures of soldiers reading letters from home.
If I can find the exact dates of the issues, I'll send them along.
Oh, awesome. Thanks for the lead! :) I'll check that out for sure.
----------You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. - Ray Bradbury
83,420 / 50,000
Okt 14, 2009 - 11 17
Not nearly enough! I recently read one of Peter Townsend's memoirs about being a night fighter (I can't recall the name at the moment). Every couple of chapters was about the Blitz. I also read a couple of the Time-Life books about WWII, one about the Battle of Britain. Roughly half of this book was about the Blitz. Everything interlinks, so my interest in the RAF drew me to this. :)
I believe I've read the Townsend book! Good stuff!! Have you read "Shot Down In Flames" by Geoffry Page?
The Time-Life books were some of the first I read during researching! They are definitely excellent!
Are you doing WW2 this year?
----------8,019 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2009 - 17 20
Hi! Newbie here - and so glad that I found this! My novel's a time-travel kind of thing back to World War II in France. I've been very curious about Occupied France/Vichy France and whatnot for a while now, and my idea just kind of popped up into my head one day in the shower (I should post something about people getting ideas in the shower; normal or strange?). So if anyone knows some really nice books, magazines, or websites with any information about France/Vichy Regime and so on, let me know! (:
----------998 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2009 - 18 54
Not nearly enough! I recently read one of Peter Townsend's memoirs about being a night fighter (I can't recall the name at the moment). Every couple of chapters was about the Blitz. I also read a couple of the Time-Life books about WWII, one about the Battle of Britain. Roughly half of this book was about the Blitz. Everything interlinks, so my interest in the RAF drew me to this. :)
I believe I've read the Townsend book! Good stuff!! Have you read "Shot Down In Flames" by Geoffry Page?
The Time-Life books were some of the first I read during researching! They are definitely excellent!
Are you doing WW2 this year?
Not this year--I'm not comfortable enough with the material to write a novel yet. I'm just very interested in it!
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to check it out. ----------
NaNo '09: The Unfortunate Misadventures of Dr. Adam R. Pryce
51,046 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2009 - 20 00
Well, there are two different answers to this one. Actually three.
Answer #1: If you're talking about Paris, it's a special case all by itself. I can't immediately put my finger on any one specific source that would be the best, but I'll think about it.
Answer #2: If you're not talking about Paris, but more about rural France, the best book dealing with confrontations, especially right around the time of the Normandy invasion (June, 1944) would be a book entitled Das Reich. It covers the movement of the Second SS Panzer Division from southern France to the invasion area. Although it is largely about the resistance fighting during that trip, it also gives you a great deal of information about life under the occupation in the smaller towns, and it's reasonably balanced.
Answer #3: In my experience, and hopefully I'm not offending anyone here, if you find materials written by the French themselves, they tend to glorify the French and suggest that they didn't really "lose" the first part of the war, etc. Some of them are so darn self-serving that it's hard to believe much of anything in them. I've seen a couple books that speak of the vast number of French soldiers who voluntarily left France, went to England, and heroically landed on the beaches to free their native land. Whoops. There were virtually no French soldiers directly involved in the invasion at the beginning, most who left France were picked up during the Dunkirk evacuation, and simply got scooped up with everyone else (although for the most part they were evacuated last) and the "French Division" which liberated Paris was actually a bunch of French soldiers hand-picked so they all appeared to be "French" and not from the French colonies. "No blacks or moors from French Africa were allowed."
There are many books about Vichy, but most are written with an ax to grind, either showing how terribly corrupt it was (and essentially a Hitler puppet) or trying to make it sound like a valiant resistance effort. In reality, the truth was somewhere in the middle. Vichy couldn't do much of anything that Hitler didn't want them to, but they did have their moments.
I'll see if I can think of any other books that would be good. I'm sure Life magazine, especially the issues from the second half of 1944, should have a little bit. I also think DeGaulle wrote something, but I've not read it personally, and given his record, I suspect it's pretty "I am great" focused.
----------GP
--------------
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 -
8,019 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2009 - 22 25
Well, there are two different answers to this one. Actually three.
Answer #1: If you're talking about Paris, it's a special case all by itself. I can't immediately put my finger on any one specific source that would be the best, but I'll think about it.
Answer #2: If you're not talking about Paris, but more about rural France, the best book dealing with confrontations, especially right around the time of the Normandy invasion (June, 1944) would be a book entitled Das Reich. It covers the movement of the Second SS Panzer Division from southern France to the invasion area. Although it is largely about the resistance fighting during that trip, it also gives you a great deal of information about life under the occupation in the smaller towns, and it's reasonably balanced.
Answer #3: In my experience, and hopefully I'm not offending anyone here, if you find materials written by the French themselves, they tend to glorify the French and suggest that they didn't really "lose" the first part of the war, etc. Some of them are so darn self-serving that it's hard to believe much of anything in them. I've seen a couple books that speak of the vast number of French soldiers who voluntarily left France, went to England, and heroically landed on the beaches to free their native land. Whoops. There were virtually no French soldiers directly involved in the invasion at the beginning, most who left France were picked up during the Dunkirk evacuation, and simply got scooped up with everyone else (although for the most part they were evacuated last) and the "French Division" which liberated Paris was actually a bunch of French soldiers hand-picked so they all appeared to be "French" and not from the French colonies. "No blacks or moors from French Africa were allowed."
There are many books about Vichy, but most are written with an ax to grind, either showing how terribly corrupt it was (and essentially a Hitler puppet) or trying to make it sound like a valiant resistance effort. In reality, the truth was somewhere in the middle. Vichy couldn't do much of anything that Hitler didn't want them to, but they did have their moments.
I'll see if I can think of any other books that would be good. I'm sure Life magazine, especially the issues from the second half of 1944, should have a little bit. I also think DeGaulle wrote something, but I've not read it personally, and given his record, I suspect it's pretty "I am great" focused.
Thanks for answering this! (:
It's probably going to be more focused on the more rural parts of France - somewhere outside of Paris, I'm thinking, haven't exactly thought *too* in-depth about this - so I'll definitely see if I can find Das Reich to help up with the rural information. But anything else would be absolutely great for references and random ideas that may pop into my head that could work. Totally saving this right now in a document for future quick-referencing.
----------60,082 / 50,000
Okt 19, 2009 - 15 54
Okay, so if you're an American woman on the homefront, and your husband goes missing, how would they notify you of this?
----------