Tag: Battle of Britain

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Meyer’s Bugle

By 1944, the war wasn’t going well for Hitler and his military. In fact, a year earlier, people began reaching the conclusion that Germany might eventually lose the war. How was it that within less than five years after conquering almost all of Europe that Hitler’s armies, navy, and air force were on a downward spiral toward defeat? There were many reasons including what historians now chalk up to the Führer’s military decisions that were huge strategic mistakes. However, during the early years of World War II, it seemed as though the German juggernaut was invincible and leading the pack was Hermann Göring’s Luftwaffe (i.e., the German air force).

Göring was so confident of his pilots and planes and their supremacy in the sky that he vowed Germany would never be bombed. Addressing the Luftwaffe when the German air force was at the peak of its power, the antisemitic and future generalfeldmarschall and Hitler’s second-in-command made this promise to the German people:

“No enemy bomber can reach the Ruhr (valley). If one reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Göring. You may call me Meyer.”

⏤ Hermann Göring

      September 1939

As Allied air forces increased their bombing activities over Berlin and the Ruhr Valley in early 1944, air raid sirens in the city were going off on a nightly basis. It didn’t take long for Berliners to begin calling the sirens, “Meyer’s Bugle.”

Did You Know?

Did you know that the last surviving female agent of the British-led Special Operations Executive (SOE) passed away in October 2023? Phyllis “Pippa” Latour, MBE (1921−2023) was born in South Africa to a French father and British mother. She spoke fluent English and French along with Arabic, Swahili, and Kikuyu. After war broke out, Phyllis joined the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and became a balloon operator and mechanic. In 1943 she applied to and was accepted by the SOE’s F Section. Dropped into Normandy, France in early May 1944 as a wireless operator, Phyllis (nom de guerre: Geneviève) was part of the D-Day underground support forces behind enemy lines and she was responsible for gathering and transmitting intelligence on German positions as well as landing sites for equipment air drops. Read More Meyer’s Bugle

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Five Surprising Things I Learned Researching My World War II Novel–Guest Blog

I’m very pleased to present John Winn Miller’s guest blog for you today. John is the author of the recently published book, The Hunt for the Peggy C, a suspenseful novel set during World War II. His blog talks about five interesting topics he came across while researching the book. I was honored when John asked me to read an advance copy of the book and it turned out to be one of those books I couldn’t put down until finished. It was then that I asked him to consider writing a guest blog for us. John is a “Master of Research,” and I am confident you will not only enjoy this snapshot into his research but will learn some interesting facts. With that being said, I will now turn it over to John. (John’s bio can be found at the end of the blog as well as links to purchase his new book.)

Cover of John Winn Miller’s novel, “The Hunt for the Peggy C.”
Cover of John Winn Miller’s novel, “The Hunt for the Peggy C.”

Click here to see John’s book.

I have devoured countless World War II histories over the years. And I have been a fan of almost every documentary, movie, or television show about the era. So, naturally, I thought I knew a lot about the subject. That was until I started to write my debut novel, The Hunt for the Peggy C. The story is about an American smuggler who struggles to rescue a Jewish family on his rusty cargo ship, outraging his mutinous crew of misfits and provoking a hair-raising chase by an unstable U-boat captain bent on revenge. Read More Five Surprising Things I Learned Researching My World War II Novel–Guest Blog