We're not lost, Sergeant, We're in … France

A thought I’d see a lot of the posts this week concerning Christmas at war, but sadly not yet.

• We start with a story from Time magazine about a British officer Lieutenant Michael Heming, who wished to learn to conduct after the war…
• Lichanos posted an interesting bit on racism in War and Peace. Despite my interest in military history and time spent as an aspiring Sovietologist (back when that was political science and not history), I’ve never read Tolstoy. Maybe I can get it on Kindle after I finish The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After….
• Sometimes, one person out-performs everyone else in an organization. One of the best cryptanalysts of the first half of the twentieth century worked for the Navy as a civilian and as a Yeoman Chief Petty Officer, was without peer among cryptanalysts and was credited with making breaks into most of the Japanese naval codes. It’s not surprising that you’d find that person buried in Arlington Cemetery, but it is surprising that she was known as “Miss Aggie”.
• Today’s best Christmas present is The Best Picture Project, which is blogging about every Best Picture nominee from the Oscars. The review of Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion is intriguing enough that I recommend you try tracking it down (Netflix even has it on their ‘instant’ viewer). It’s about two French officers captured during World War I and sounds very interesting. Read that review for more information….
• I found a woman who’s working on a WWII graphic novel and she has some great sketches. Make sure to check the comments on her About page, as there is an interesting rant on re-enacting authenticity.
• More on the French resistance, this time on film AND made during the war. Sadly, it’s not available on Netflix.