History Guy

Dorothea Crewdson – VAD NurseNo. 16 Stationary Hospital, Le Tréport, BEF FranceDiary Entry – Wednesday, 29 September 1915 There is a most awful gale raging after a wet and wild night. The Mess anteroom tent collapsed again at breakfast time. We helped to do a hurried moving of furniture out into the Mess tent – made it only just in time. Orderlies and a troupe of volunteers did the rest of the tidying up. There was no attempt this time to save the tent as there was no use struggling with it. No other occupied tents have gone yet but if the wind gets worse tonight it will probably cause wholesale havoc. [...]  Such a time last night. Came on to find a convoy occupying half the beds in the ward and the otherhalf left empty by a departure in afternoon.Then at 4 a.m. we took in another convoy thatfilled every bed in all the huts and we were on thego all night long. Six operations, five of them head cases, were done last night. Rind came over fromthe enterics ward to help till 4. I was so pleased tosee her. The men are all in very poor spirits aboutthe fighting. There are a lot of very bad cases amongthe new arrivals, several on DI and SI lists. The day people will have a job. They already look very worn, hardly having had any off-duty time. I have no time at present for writing at night. Not much in the day either.

29 September 1915; No. 16 Stationary Hospital, Le Tréport, BEF France – as related by one VAD nurse.

"[...] we took in another convoy thatfilled every bed in all the huts and we were on thego all night long."

'Dorothea's War', Dorothea Crewdson, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013

#Loos
#WW1

Dorothea Crewdson – VAD NurseNo. 16 Stationary Hospital, Le Tréport, BEF FranceDiary Entry – Tuesday, 28 September 1915 Well, here we are in the thick of it. I have always been told that one day we shall be busy and the time seems to have come at last but oh! the suffering and misery it means is heart-rending! There seems to be a tremendous battle raging. The general attack is from our side [...] it means a tremendous rush of work in all the hospitals tonight. We have had 20 extra beds put into the ward, brought in before midnight by crowds of orderlies and already we have 21 patients. Thereis hardly room to turn in the ward for all the beds. The great rush began on Sunday morning.Now we are to have convoy after convoy andevacuations every day. What a life! [...] We havetwo or three really bad cases here and anothermight haemorrhage which is rather agitating. I amnot looking forward to the arrival of the next contingent of wounded soldiers. [...] I went to bed as soon as possible to prepare for tonight. I find it very difficult to get to bed in spite of all my good intentions. Going to bed in the daytime is not the same as night, but I am very thankful to be able to sleep so well. It really is a great blessing. 

28 September 1915; No. 16 Stationary Hospital, Le Tréport, BEF France – as related by one VAD nurse.

"[...]oh! the suffering and misery it means is heart-rending! There seems to be a tremendous battle raging."

'Dorothea's War', Dorothea Crewdson, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013

#Loos
#WW1

Captain Walter JJ Coats MC1/9 Highland Light Infantry, 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division, I CorpsLetter to his mother – 25 September 1915 (from Givenchy sector) My dear Mother,What promises to be the biggest battle in history began exactly 24 minutes ago to be precise at 5.50 AM this morning. I knew there was going to be a show several weeks ago and would have liked to tell you but of course could not. Our Battalion is going to make for the Germans in about a quarter of an hour but I am in charge of two guns which are Brigaded, so I stay with the Battalion headquarters for the time being. I may of course be called on to go over at any time but meantime I am sitting in a very comfortable dugout smoking a very fine cheroot.[...]Our men have just started across and I am rather anxious to know how they’re getting on. We cannot see them from where we are. It is beastly to have to sit and listen to the rifle fire and know that one’s friends are up against it. I would rather go and take my chance with them but being the junior Machine Gun Officer I had no say in the matter. The rifle fire is now I think not quite so heavy so either we are across or are driven back. Which? I must stop. [...]

25 September 1915; Loos Battle – as seen by one officer.

"Dear Mother,
What promises to be the biggest battle in history began exactly 24 minutes ago[...]"

'WE ARE ALL FLOURISHING – The Letters and Diary of Captain Walter JJ Coats MC, 1914–1919', Goldcrest Books International Ltd, 2022
#Loos
#WW1

An anxious night – wondering what the wind would be in the morning. The greatest battle in the world’s history begins today – some 800,000 French and British troops will actually attack today. General Sir Douglas Haig Commander, BEF First Army Diary Entry – 25 September 1915

110 years ago today:
Large-scale British and French offensive(s) across Champagne, Artois and Loos.
First British use of poison gas.
The [first] Big Push....

I think it's really (or overwhelmingly) those still clinging to (their own) Brexit-advocacy and Leave-vote – and fanatically awaiting its vindication – that really need to "learn".

The real (cult-driven) division in the UK is between those who bought into the Brexit-prospectus and everyone else.

Our grandparents knew titanic warfare, genocide, economic dislocation, smashed cities & hideous disease. They clung to the ideals of liberal democracy as if their lives depended on it

These people have known only peace, prosperity, safety and it has blown their minds. They hunger for dislocation.

Today in 1916 Vaux fortress fell to the Germans outside Verdun.
I don’t think I've never studied a grimmer battle. Men fought in pitch darkness in 5 foot tunnels. Dead & wounded trampled underfoot. Flame throwers incinerated enemies & operators alike. Water ran out. Nearly 3000 Germans were killed.

Brexit=Enfeeblement
A notable feature of MAGA/Brexiter (forms of) nationalism is how hopelessly they confuse structuralised, diplomatic, economic, institutional ISOLATION with national prosperity-enhancement and empowerment.
Why belligerents blockade foes in war must be mystifying to such a mindset.

The assigned role of the Trump-Musk putschists in the endeavour looks to be to assign blame for (the unceasing continuation of) Russia's war of Ukraine-destruction on Ukraine itself – for offending Russia, financially victimising and being ungrateful to the US, and not wanting peace enough (somehow)

Opinion | Trump Is Hiding Something on Ukraine When you don’t call things by their real name, there is usually a reason.

Tom Friedman on point here, though he understated the case. Either Trump is the worse negotiator in all the universes of truth and fiction, or he is beginning an alliance with Russia with a joint attempt to subjugate Ukraine (and then much else).
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/o...

It's not just Donald Trump though. It really is the entirety of the MAGA movement: One of ever-greater (online-fuelled) radicalisation, scapegoating and enemy-seeking sado-populist destruction – all in the name of the new MAGA volksgemeinschaft, and in unthinking fealty to the MAGA-leader.

Russia’s leaders have said nothing about peace. They have made a list of demands on the US, the fulfillment of which allows them to broaden the war against Ukraine. And the US simply fulfills all of these Russian demands without question. That is only a peace process in the Orwellian sense.

The simplistic MAGA anti-Ukraine axis wilfully ignores a basic concept: deterrence profile. It's vital for any SUSTAINED truce as Ukrainian security depends on deterring Russian attack. No leader of Ukraine can indulge such shortsighted ignorance on national security but Trumpists in US are happy to

The US has proved to be a MUCH softer and weaker target for the Kremlin than Ukraine.

It was ALWAYS an extraordinarily daft, parochial, and grossly irresponsible indulgence – full of make-believe and truck-loads of ignorance. Many may have struggled (or been reluctant) to see it for what self-immolating foolishness it truly was – but to call the project daft is to put it very mildly.

Five Failures in the Oval Office (video) America hurt itself badly today.

Here I react to the shameful encounter between American leaders and media and the Ukrainian president. No doubt there were more, but I saw five failures on our side: of hospitality, decency, democracy, strategy, and independence. Please watch and share.
snyder.substack.com/p/five-failu...

There is no movie for this.

All through my life American culture has conjured up images of its own demise.

But no Dr Strangelove, Fatal Impact, Manchurian Candidate et al imagined a portion of the US electorate gleefully welcoming oblivion in the arms of its enemy.

There is no movie for this

YouTube video by Robert Hranitzky Introducing Adobe Photoshop 1.0 in 2025 - Photoshop 35th Anniversary

Introduced 35 years ago this week...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tEs...

If Trump wants to see elections in Ukraine, all he has to do is use the power he keeps talking about to get the Russian invaders off Ukrainian soil. Then martial law in Ukraine ends, and elections will follow.

It's all an obvious pretence.

To try and boost the chances of far-right, blood-and-soil nationalist nihilism/fascism (of the MAGA variety) – getting more power, at the expense of democracy, prosperity and security in developed, parliamentary polities – as desired by Elon Musk and the Kremlin.

Stunning (John Alton) chiaroscuro cinematography in Big Combo.

I love T-Men (1947) personally. Although Border Incident (1949) (concerning a black market in cross-border migrants working in Californian agriculture) might feel more contemporary/topical in some ways. (Both Mann/Alton collaborations)

Yes – got past the Hays Code censorship.

Although, at the time, the (mid-level) censor might be just too embarrassed (or worried about wider questions) to reveal he understood what certain scenes implied to say anything and get them censored. Eddie Muller has spoken about this sort of thing before.

The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) ⭐ 5.8 | Crime, Drama, Thriller 1h 29m | Not Rated

There's also The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) – if a Steve McQueen connection might be of interest...

www.imdb.com/title/tt0052...

GREAT selection. (And I'm guessing you mean Asphalt Jungle.)

I love The Killing in particular. Great heist noir, innovatively done.

I think The Killers (1946), Criss Cross (1949) and Armored Car Robbery (1950) are all well worth (re-)visiting if you enjoy this kind of flick...

They don't seek functional, pluralist, parliamentary democracies.

They want more dysfunctional, autocratic Magastans – that mirror their own hyper-ignorance and simple-minded urges to scapegoat, rage, self-deceive and self-destroy.

Something that will help them feel a bit less lonely and insecure.

YouTube video by BBC Newsnight Viewpoint: What can Plato teach us about Donald Trump? - BBC Newsnight

A reminder.

Democracy-to-demagoguery-to-tyranny.

A warning from Plato (as related by BBC, 2017):
youtu.be/cnzo9qXLFUo?...

The Magastan People's Republic

Of course it’s a coup Miss the obvious, lose your republic

Of course it’s a coup. Miss the obvious, lose your republic.
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

Truly deranged. But unsurprising. The man has not so much dropped down a conspiracist rabbit hole as a gigantic, planet-sized rabbit warren of (internet-focused) conspiracist engorgement.

Referring to a "need" for (his) "strange ideas" is the closest this article comes to (self-)enlightenment.

It's a turbo-charged Johnson-Cummings story on fast-forward, transplanted on to a MAGA US...