Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 38

The Burning of Rosemont Abbey by Naomi Stephens

In 1956, Louisa Everly lives a pampered life in Wilbeth Green. Then one night the village’s beloved Rosemont Abbey goes up in flames, and all evidence points squarely to Louisa’s wayward, no-good twin brother, Paul. However, Louisa knows deep inside that Paul is innocent, because she felt Paul’s death an hour before the abbey burned.

Inspector Malcolm Sinclair, a former childhood friend of Paul’s, is willing to listen to Louisa’s theories and accept her assistance – to a point. However, Louisa enlists the help of feisty, driving-impaired octogenarian Mrs. Watson, and the two ladies set out to find the true culprit.

What an absolute delight of a novel! Deftly combining the quirky humor of Father Brown with the gravitas and shocking twists of more serious murder mysteries, The Burning of Rosemont Abbey kept me reading and laughing and pondering the culprit. Louisa Everly is a bright and insightful heroine with a penchant for amusing sayings and scrapes, who also shows a touching awareness of her own flaws and mistakes. Plus, romance! Naomi Stephens has a new fan in me!

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Today in World War II History—October 15, 1939 & 1944

Adm. Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary in WWII (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 15, 1939: Gen. Gerd von Rundstedt takes command of German Army Group A in the west.

Ferenc Szálasi at Sándor Palace, Budapest, Hungary, 16-18 Oct 1944 (German Federal Archives: Bild 101I-680-8284A-37A/Faupel)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 15, 1944: As Soviets cross Hungary, the Hungarian regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy, is deposed by German commandos and replaced with a fascist leader, Ferenc Szálasi, the next day. Szálasi will begin aggressive deportation of Hungarian Jews to concentration camps.

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Today in World War II History—October 14, 1939 & 1944

The bell of battleship HMS Royal Oak, St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney (Photo: Sarah Sundin, 7 May 2024)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 14, 1939: In a daring raid, German U-boat U-47 sneaks into Britain’s naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and sinks battleship HMS Royal Oak; 833 killed.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Commander of the German forces in North Africa, with his aides during the desert campaign, 1942 (German Federal Archive: Bild 101I-785-0287-08)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 14, 1944: German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, a suspect in the July 20 Hitler assassination plot, commits suicide to protect his family.

Greek Resistance and British troops secure Athens, Greece.

Ann Baumgartner becomes the first Wasp to fly an experimental jet aircraft.

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Today in World War II History—October 13, 1939 & 1944

MGM poster for the 1939 film Babes in Arms (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 13, 1939: In skirmishes along the Maginot Line, French destroy three bridges over the Rhine.

First BBC report from an observer with the British Expeditionary Force in France (Richard Dimbleby).

Movie premiere of Busby Berkeley musical Babes in Arms, starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.

Barber shop set up by a Marine on Peleliu, Palau Islands, 11 October 1944 (US Marine Corps photo 98027)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 13, 1944: Soviets take important naval base of Riga, Latvia, trapping Germans in the Courland Peninsula.

US secures Palau Islands in the Pacific.

Port of Le Havre, France opens for Allied ships, improving the supply situation.

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Today in World War II History—October 12, 1939 & 1944

Black troops of the US 92nd Infantry Division firing mortars, Massa, Italy, November 1944 (US National Archives: 535546)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 12, 1939: British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rejects Hitler’s “peace offer.”

Germany forms General Government of Poland with Hans Frank as Governor-General, for areas of Poland not directly annexed by Germany or USSR.

Lt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager of the 357th Fighter Group, with his P-51 Mustang “Glamorous Glen,” 17 October 1944 (Imperial War Museum, Roger Freeman Collection)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 12, 1944: First B-29 Superfortress arrives in the Mariana Islands, Joltin’ Josie, flown by Brig. Gen. Haywood Hansell, commander of US XXI Bomber Command.

In Italy, Buffalo Soldiers of US 92nd Infantry Division breach the Gothic Line, the only Black unit to see combat in Europe.

Lt. Chuck Yeager of the US 357th Fighter Group shoots down 5 German Bf 109 fighter planes in a single engagement, making the P-51 pilot an “ace in a day.”

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Today in World War II History—October 11, 1939 & 1944

Troops of US 26th Infantry Division in the streets of Aachen, Germany, 15 October 1944 (US Army photo)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 11, 1939: Albert Einstein delivers a letter to President Roosevelt warning of the possibility of Germany developing an atomic bomb.

NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund is organized to fight discrimination.

Warner Brothers theatrical release “insert” poster for the 1944 film To Have and Have Not, and Twentieth Century-Fox Theatrical release poster for the 1944 film Laura (both public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 11, 1944: US First Army begins battle for Aachen, Germany.

Movie premiere of To Have and Have Not, starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, and Lauren Bacall in her debut.

Movie premiere of film noir Laura, starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews.

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Today in World War II History—October 10, 1939 & 1944

F6F Hellcat fighter landing on light carrier USS Langley after raid on Okinawa, 10 Oct 1944 (US National Archives: 80-G-284074)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 10, 1939: Annual German Winter Relief drive begins, with mandatory charitable contributions from German civilians.

Chinese troops recapture all territory in Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi Provinces.

80 Years Ago—Oct. 10, 1944: British and Greek troops secure Corinth.

German Army Group E begins retreat from Greece.

US Navy Task Force 38, with 17 aircraft carriers, strikes Okinawa, sinking 34 vessels and destroying 75 Japanese planes.

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Today in World War II History—October 9, 1939 & 1944

Pete Gray, 1946 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 9, 1939: German battleship Deutschland captures neutral US freighter City of Flint, creating an international incident.

Winston Churchill, W. Averell Harriman, Joseph Stalin, and Vyacheslav Molotov at Fourth Moscow Conference, Russia, Oct 1944 (W. Averell Harriman Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, 179)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 9, 1944: Fourth Moscow Conference opens between Churchill and Stalin.

World Series concludes, with the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the St. Louis Browns in the “Streetcar Series”; one-armed player Pete Gray plays for the Browns.

Barbara Miller Finch of Reuters becomes the first female correspondent to file a story from the Pacific, having received Navy credentials a few days earlier; she covers Admiral Nimitz’s press conference at Pearl Harbor.

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Today in World War II History—October 8, 1939 & 1944

Wendell Willkie, 3 March 1940 (Library of Congress: cph.3a38684)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 8, 1939: Nazis establish their first Jewish ghetto—in Piotrkow, Poland.

The New York Yankees win a record fourth straight World Series, defeating the Cincinnati Reds in fourth game, four games to zero.

80 Years Ago—Oct. 8, 1944: Former GOP presidential candidate Wendell Willkie dies of a heart attack, age 52.

US Navy cancels Project Pigeon, Professor B.F. Skinner’s attempt to design pigeon-piloted missiles.

Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet premieres on CBS Radio.

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Today in World War II History—October 7, 1939 & 1944

French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier (right) and French ambassador to Germany André François-Poncet at the Munich Conference, Munich, Germany, 29 September 1938 (German Federal Archive: Bild 183-H12956)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 7, 1939: Commission for the Strengthening of German Nationhood is established under Heinrich Himmler, to eliminate “inferior” people from the Reich and to deport German Jews to Poland.

French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier rejects Hitler’s call for peace talks.

British poster, World War II

80 Years Ago—Oct. 7, 1944: US Third Army completes liberation of Luxembourg.

First German V-2 rocket hits Antwerp, Belgium.

British Cabinet decides to continue censorship of reporting on V-2 rocket attacks.

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