Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 130

Take the A Train – Duke Ellington 1941

“Take the ‘A’ Train” written by Billy Strayhorn was the signature tune   of the Duke Ellington orchestra. First recorded in January 1941, the title refers to a subway service in NYC that ran from Brooklyn to Harlem on an express track.

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner – Randall Jarrell

Inside B-17 ball turret; Wikimedia Commons

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,

And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,

I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.

When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

Randall Jarrell-1945

 

Snow Country – Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata‘s Snow Country about a love affair between a Tokyo dilettante and a provincial geisha was set in a remote northern Japanese hot-spring mountain town. Published in installments from 1935 through 1947, the novel established Kawabata as one of Japan’s foremost authors. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968.

Lend-Lease Act – March 1941

FDR signs the Lend-Lease Act March 1941; Wikimedia Commons

Diverging from a non-interventionist policy begun after WWI, in March 1941 the U.S. Congress  enacted Public Law 77-11, the Lend-Lease Act.

Formally titled : An Act to Further Promote the Defense of the United States, the law authorized a program that supplied the United Kingdom, USSR, Republic of China, Free France and other Allied nations with war materiel.

 

Russo-Japanese Treaty of Neutrality – April 1941

Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Agreement 1941; Wikimedia Commons

In April 1941 the Soviet Union and Imperial Japan signed a Treaty of Neutrality, which pledged that both countries would remain neutral in the event of a war with a third party.

ABC – 1Staff Agreement – March 1941

U.S. Navy Propaganda poster 1941; Wikimedia Commons

A series of secret meetings between representatives of the USA, Canada and Great Britain (ABC) took place in Washington D.C. during the winter of 1941. These meetings, regarding deployment plans for British, Canadian and American forces if the USA entered the war, culminated in the March 1941 ABC-1Staff Agreement.

 

Japan proposes a “commercial understanding” with the U.S. – Feb 1941

Dutch East Indies; Wikimedia.com

In February 1941, a Japanese proposal for a “commercial understanding” with the United States, asserting Japanese dominance over the Dutch East Indies was flatly rejected by FDR. The U.S. State Department warned Japan that the U.S. had guaranteed the freedom of the Dutch East Indies (provider of 97% raw rubber to the USA) and any movement south of China would be a provocation.

Admiral Kimmel Appointed U.S. Navy Pacific Commander – Feb 1941

Admiral Husband E. Kimmel; Wikimedia Commons

In February 1941 Admiral Husband E. Kimmel assumed command of the Pacific fleet that had recently been moved from San Diego to Pearl Harbor. In a message to the Chief of Naval Operations he stated:

“I feel that a surprise attack (submarine, air, or combined) on Pearl Harbor is a possibility, and we are taking immediate practical steps to minimize the damage inflicted and to ensure that the attacking force will pay.”

 

Singapore Falls – February 1941

British surrender Singapore Feb. 1941; Wikimedia.com

In February 1941, after only a week of fighting, Singapore, the British “Gibraltar of the East,” fell to the Japanese. The capitulation of ~ 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops was the largest surrender in British military history.

USO founded – February 1941

 

In response to a request from FDR, the Salvation Army, Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board formed the United Service Organizations in February 1941 to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel.