Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 88

Today in World War II History—June 30, 1943

US Marines landing on Rendova, 30 June 1943 (US National Archives: 80-G-52573)

80 Years Ago—June 30, 1943: US Sixth Army, in its first operation, lands main force on unoccupied Kiriwina and Woodlark in Trobriand Islands (Southwest Pacific).

US Army and Marines land on Rendova in the Solomon Islands.

Depression-Era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) are officially disbanded.

US Civilian Conservation Corps poster, 1935 (Library of Congress: ppmsca.12896)

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Today in World War II History—June 29, 1943

US aircraft national insignia, 29 June 1943

80 Years Ago—June 29, 1943: US national insignia for aircraft is changed to “stars and bars,” with a red border around bar.

Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi about the church as the mystical body of Christ.

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower asks Coca-Cola to send 3 million bottles and build 10 bottling plants in North Africa to supply troops in the Mediterranean.

Congress authorizes $20 million for child care for mothers in war industry; 3102 centers will be established, serving 600,000 children.

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Embers in the London Sky Cover Reveal

To find her child, she’ll stop at nothing.To report the truth will take him deep into the flames.

Today I’m pleased to reveal the cover for my upcoming novel, Embers in the London Sky, which is scheduled to release from Revell Books on February 6, 2024. This is the first of three standalone novels, following three Dutch cousins who come to the United Kingdom in World War II.

I’m afraid preorders are NOT yet available for Embers in the London Sky but I’ll post the links when the book does become available.

Today I’m giving away TEN paperback copies of Embers in the London Sky, to be mailed in late January 2024.

Embers in the London Sky

As she flees the German army invading the Netherlands in 1940, Aleida van der Zee Martens escapes to London to wait out the occupation. Separated from her three-year-old son, Theo, in the process, the young widow desperately searches for her little boy even as she works for an agency responsible for evacuating children to the countryside.

When German bombs set London ablaze, BBC radio correspondent Hugh Collingwood reports on the Blitz, eager to boost morale while walking the fine line between truth and censorship. But the Germans are not the only ones Londoners have to fear as a series of murders flame up amid the ashes.

The deaths hit close to home for Hugh, and Aleida needs his help to locate her missing son. As they work together, they grow closer and closer, both to each other and the answers they seek. But with bombs falling and continued killings, they may be running out of time.

Cover Reveal Video

Today, June 28, at 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern, I’ll be on Facebook Live video on my author page sharing more about the story and the history behind it. The video will be available for viewing afterward too.

Giveaway

To enter the giveaway, please make sure you’ve subscribed to my email newsletter, then enter the Rafflecopter below (US mailing addresses only, please). Giveaway ends Sunday, July 2, 2023, at 11 pm Pacific Time. I’ll announce the ten winners here on Monday, July 3, 2023, and by email. Winners must respond to the email within one week to receive the book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Today in World War II History—June 28, 1943

Lancaster B Mark Is of No. 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 29 September 1942 (Imperial War Museum: TR 197)

80 Years Ago—June 28, 1943: Royal Air Force bombs Cologne, Germany, heavily damaging the cathedral and ending the Battle of the Ruhr—total of 872 British bombers have been lost.

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Today in World War II History—June 27, 1943

Flag used by the Free French in WWII, with the Cross of Lorraine, symbol of the French Resistance (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—June 27, 1943: French Resistance attacks Ateliers des Fives locomotive works at Lille.

P-38 Lightning fighter plane crashes on Huntington Beach in CA, killing 4 children.

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Today in World War II History—June 26, 1943

Map of Operation Overlord area, 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, 1944 (Imperial War Museum: TR 2625)

80 Years Ago—June 26, 1943: Allied commanders choose Normandy over Pas de Calais for invasion of France in 1944 and appoint Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory to prepare air plans for D-day (Read more: “D-Day in the Air”).

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Today in World War II History—June 25, 1943

“Bob Hope Entertaining Troops Somewhere in England” by Floyd Davis, 1942 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—June 25, 1943: Bob Hope begins his first major USO tour; he will spend 11 weeks touring England, North Africa, and Sicily.

The flight nurse school at Bowman Field, Kentucky, is named the Army Air Force School of Air Evacuation (Read more: “Medical Air Evacuation in World War II—The Flight Nurse”)

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Today in World War II History—June 24, 1943

Poster for the 1943 film, Stage Door Canteen (Sol Lesser Productions, United Artists, public domain)

80 Years Ago—June 24, 1943: US Lt. Col. W.R. Lovelace makes a record parachute jump from 42,200 feet.

From Japan, Subhash Chandra Bose, leader of the Indian National Army, implores Indians to turn against the British.

Germans capture three SOE agents in Paris and “roll up” the Prosper resistance network within days, arresting hundreds of members.

Movie premiere of Stage Door Canteen, with an all-star cast.

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Today in World War II History—June 23, 1943

GIs hand-carry paintings in Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany, under the supervision of Captain James Rorimer, 1945 (US National Archives)

80 Years Ago—June 23, 1943: Germans order the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in the General Government of Poland and begin to deport 400,000 to concentration camps.

President Roosevelt establishes American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (“Monuments Men”) or The Roberts Commission.

Coal strike in Appalachia is settled; President Roosevelt warns if the miners strike again, they will be drafted and forced to work.

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Today in World War II History—June 22, 1943

White rioters during Detroit race riot, June 1943 (Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University)

80 Years Ago—June 22, 1943: In the Detroit race riot, 24 Blacks and 9 whites are killed, 800 wounded (75% of the wounded are Black), 1800 arrested (80% Black); governor requests federal troops.

W.E.B. Du Bois becomes the first Black member of the National Institute of Letters.

Movie premiere of So Proudly We Hail, about nurses on Bataan, starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, and Veronica Lake.

The post Today in World War II History—June 22, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.