Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 454

Today in World War II History

US troops and equipment
Z Beach, Arzeu, Algeria
Source: National Archives70 Years Ago—Nov. 8, 1942: Operation Torch: 400,000 American and British troops land in Morocco and Algeria in three main forces. Nurses from 48thSurgical Hospital land with Torch forces, the first and last time women land with the assault during the war.

Hope Chronicles - Day Three

The Hope Chronicles is a blog hop and journal between 5 historical romance authors. Our desire is to bring you lasting hope through these letters, grounded in the hope of our Lord that does not disappoint, and written from the fictional viewpoints of each book’s heroine. We’re so glad to have you join the event. Each day this week, a new Hope Chronicles post will go live, complete with a journal entry and a new giveaway for that blog post.

To read more about the project and enter to win the one-of-a-kind, hand-inscribed Hope Chronicles journal, which bounced from state to state until all five of us had spent some time with it, click here.

Today's entry in the Hope Chronicles comes from author Amanda Dykes and her heroine Georgianna Wentworth from Upon the Waters . To read Georgianna's words of hope and enter to win Georgianna's prize bundle, please visit Amanda Dykes's blog.

Today in World War II History

70 Years Ago—Nov. 7, 1942: US Marine Corps approves establishment of women’s reserve. New song in Top Ten: “I Came Here to Talk for Joe.”

Hope Chronicles - Day Two

The Hope Chronicles is a blog hop and journal between 5 historical romance authors. Our desire is to bring you lasting hope through these letters, grounded in the hope of our Lord that does not disappoint, and written from the fictional viewpoints of each book’s heroine. We’re so glad to have you join the event. Each day this week, a new Hope Chronicles post will go live, complete with a journal entry and a new giveaway for that blog post.

To read more about the project and enter to win the one-of-a-kind, hand-inscribed Hope Chronicles journal, which bounced from state to state until all five of us had spent some time with it, click here.

Today's entry in the Hope Chronicles comes from author Joanne Bischof and her heroine Lonnie Sawyer from Be Still My Soul . To read Lonnie's words of hope and enter to win Lonnie's prize bundle, please visit Joanne Bischof 's blog.

Today in World War II History

European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign ribbon70 Years Ago—Nov. 6, 1942: Marines take Koli Point, Guadalcanal. US authorizes three Theater of Operation ribbons—US, Europe/Africa, Pacific/Asia. First WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) report for duty—shore duty.

Hope Chronicles - Day One

The Hope Chronicles is a blog hop and journal between 5 historical romance authors. Our desire is to bring you lasting hope through these letters, grounded in the hope of our Lord that does not disappoint, and written from the fictional viewpoints of each book’s heroine. We’re so glad to have you join the event. Each day this week, a new Hope Chronicles post will go live, complete with a journal entry and a new giveaway for that blog post. To read more about the project and enter to win the one-of-a-kind, hand-inscribed Hope Chronicles journal, which bounced from state to state until all five of us had spent some time with it, click here.

Today's entry in the Hope Chronicles comes from author Regina Jennings and her heroine Rosa Garner from Sixty Acres and a Bride . To read Rosa's words of hope and enter to win Rosa's prize bundle, please visit Regina Jennings 's blog.

Today in World War II History

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower70 Years Ago—Nov. 5, 1942: Vichy French governor of Madagascar officially surrenders to British. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower arrives in Gibraltar, his headquarters for Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa. Songwriter George M. Cohan dies.

Today in World War II History

Gen. Bernaard Montgomery,
commander of British Eighth Army70 Years Ago—Nov. 4, 1942: British Eighth Army is victorious at Second Battle of El Alamein—Rommel retreats to Fuka in defiance of Hitler’s order. Carlson’s Raiders land at Aola, Guadalcanal to harass Japanese behind lines.

Today in World War II History

70 Years Ago—Nov. 3, 1942: RAF flies first combat mission with Ventura aircraft, over the Netherlands. Hitler orders Rommel not to retreat at El Alamein. On Guadalcanal, Marines take Point Cruz and land at Koli Point.

Book Beat - Longshore Soldiers

One of the things that draws me to the World War II era is the sheer variety of stories. In Longshore Soldiers , Andrew J. Brozyna explores an aspect of wartime service that receives little attention - the port battalions.

For every soldier on the front lines, ten labored behind the lines. While they experienced less physical danger, they were still separated from home, family, and their ordinary lives. They still lived in the military world of orders and rations and restrictions. They labored hard for long hours in uncomfortable conditions. Most importantly, they served.

Longshore Soldiers tells the story of the American port battalions in Belgium and France in World War II. Using personal recollections of the author's grandfather, Cortland Hopkins, and a dozen other veterans, Brozyna draws an compelling picture of these unsung heroes, from their lives on the Home Front, to the draft, to training, to their service overseas. While these men hauled bombs from ships onto DUKWs, they ducked artillery, strafing aircraft, and the savage V-1 and V-2 flying bombs. A particularly fascinating story tells how Hopkins found himself on the wrong part of the ship on D-Day and ended up storming Utah Beach with the infantry!

Excellent research and plenty of details and appendices make this book essential for the serious historian, but Brozyna's engaging writing style and the colorful personal stories make it thoroughly enjoyable for anyone interested in World War II.