quinta-feira, 15 de setembro de 2011

Das Boot!

Das Boot: Uma jornada ao fim da mente

Comecei a rever dia desses o filme Das Boot. Esse é, sem dúvida alguma, um dos melhores filmes sobre segunda guerra que já assisti.

Este é um filme épico de guerra, dirigido por Wolfgang Petersen, sendo uma adaptação de um livro de mesmo nome lançado em 1973, de Lothar-Günther Buchheim.

O filme conta uma história fictícia do U-96 e sua tripulação, em outubro de 1941. Apesar da história ser fictícia, a embarcação existiu.

U-96 real


O filme se inicia com a confrartenização da tripulação, na véspera de zarparem, em um prostíbulo na cidade portuária de La Rochele, França. Interessante notar a forma em que os personagens são apresentados, tendo como narrador da história o personagem de um correspondente de guerra, Lt. Werner, da própria Kriegsmarine, que embarca na missão para documentar uma história de um U-Boat.

O filme deixa claro a posição anti-nazista da tripulação, especialmente com as confrontações do capitão com um oficial novato à bordo. De fato, na Kriegsmarine, tão como em outras Waffen, chega-se dizer que a maioria dispunha de antipatia contra o regime nazista, situação que se agravou nos últimos anos de guerra.

A história percorre várias situações da luta submarina da época, mostrando as condições sanitárias e psicológicas da viagem. Impossível não notar a quantidade de comida, principalmente imbutidos, que é pendurada por toda a embarcação, incluindo o descomissionamento de um banheiro, transformado em dispensa. Vale lembrar que estas embarcações navegavam meses sem se reabastecer.

Quase todo o filme se passa no interior do submarino, demonstrando bem a atmosfera fechada, claustofóbrica, esfumaçada, mal-cheirosa, oleosa e barulhenta de um U-boat.





Este ambiente é algumas vezes quebrado em curtas sequências de ação, quando o submarino sofre ataques aéreos ou quando vislumbra possíveis alvos. Entre momentos de monotonia e de ação, cenas de festas e piadas da tripulação se misturam, criando uma atmosfera tensa e psicodélica ao filme, justificando o seu subtítulo: uma jornada ao fim da mente.



Dentre várias cenas interessantes, temos a que o maquinista sofre um surto nervoso após um ataque de um destroyer com cargas de profundidade.

Mecânico Chefe Johann

Mecânico Chefe Johann, após o colapso.


O Capitão, também chamado de KaLeu (Kapitänleutnant), ou Der Alte (o velho) pela tripulação.

Capitão Thomsen, um dos capitães "das antigas" (Alt Gang), cheio de brios do passado, agora um bêbado

O filme se inicia em um prostíbulo. A cantora ataca o Lt. Werner, e o seu amigo responde "Deixe-o viver, o Führer precisa dele".


Insignica do U-96

Cena da saída do submarino  em La Rochele.

La Rochele (real)


Os principais oficiais


Cenas do set de filmagem:

Sala das máquinas

Dormitório

Ponte, ou centro de comando

Ponte, com destaque a mesa de navegação

Ponte

Sala dos torpedos







Trailer do filme, na nova versão em Blu-ray,.



O filme, no Youtube (qualidade baixa, sem legendas...)



Verdunkeln!


Este é um dos pôsteres*, que acho mais interessante e sombrio.

Der Feind sieht Dein Licht! : O inimigo vê a sua luz!
Verdunkeln! : Escureça!

Temos a morte, montada nas asas de um bombardeiro aliado (veja o simbolo da RAF), que vem da escuridão da noite, alijando uma bomba em uma casa iluminada. Destaque para a casa, com um homem solitário à porta.

Além da interpretação literal, onde a casa com luzes acessas ajuda o bombardeiro inimigo a acertar o seu alvo, creio que podemos ter uma outra interpretação, mais subliminar. Talvez, na visão de Goebbels, Ministro da Propaganda Nazista e amigo pessoal de Hitler, o inimigo vê a luz do renascimento alemão, o fulgor do avanço tecnológico, e por isso tenta destruí-lo. Daí o imperativo, "Escureça!", pois este avanço , a evolução cultural, tecnologica e racial, tem o seu preço: as privações pessoais para o bem comum, a política do "trabalho e pão" (arbeit und brot), e "trabalho vence" (arbeit sieg), dizeres comuns em outros pôsteres. 


Vale também lembrar os dizeres escritos em vários Campos de Concentração nazistas: "O trabalho liberta" (Arbeit mach Frei).



* Sim, poster tem plural em português.

terça-feira, 13 de setembro de 2011

Churchill e Stalin

A relação entre Winston Churchill e Stalin, sempre muito tensas, traçou uma relação diplomática entre os dois impérios que beirava continuamente uma quebra, cabendo ao presidente Roosevelt conter estas diferenças. De fato, Hitler contava com isso, esperando que os aliados caíssem "de podre", tamanha as suas diferenças e ambições.

A tensão, que é observável entre as correspondências destes dois chefes de Estado, muitas vezes passou dos limites e ritos diplomáticos, chegando a situações quase que inimagináveis. De fato, esta troca de correspondência é uma das últimas chances em que chefes de Estado puderam se expressar, de certo modo, livremente e abertamente. Na Guerra Fria, por exemplo, muito se analisava se as cartas e comunicados, vindos pela hotline, eram de fato escritos pessoalmente pelo Premie russo, ou por uma junta do Partido.

Abaixo, transcrevo uma pérola dessas correspondências entre Churchill e Stalin (clique em Google Translate para traduzir o conteúdo das cartas).

Prime minister to Premier Stalin, November 4, 1941

In order to clear things up and to plan for the future I am ready to send General Wavell, Commande-in-Chief in India, Persia and Iraq, to meet you in Moscow, Kuibyshev, Tiflis or wherever you will. Besides this, General Paget, our new Commander-in-Chief, secretly desigated to the Far East, will come with General Wavell. General Paget has been on the centre of things here, and will have with him the latest and best opinions of our High Command. These two officers will be able to tell you exactly how we stand, what is possible and what we think is wise. They can reach you in about a fortnight. Do you want them?

2. We told you in my message of September 6 that we were wiling to declare war on Finland. Will you however consider whether it is really good business that Great Britain should declare war on Finland, Hungary, and Roumania at this moment?It is only a formality, because our extreme blockade is already in force against them. My judgment is against it, because first, Finland has many friends in the United States and is prudent to take account of this fact. Secondly, Roumania and Hungary: these countries are full of our friends; they have been overpowered by Hitler and used as a cat's-paw, but if fortune turns against that ruffian they might easily come back to our side. A British declaration of war would only freeze them all and make it look as if Hitler were the head of a grand European alliance solid against us. Do not, pray, suppose it is any want of zeal or comradeship that makes us doubt the advantage of this step. Our Dominions, except Australia, are reluctant. Nevertheless, if you think it will be a real help to you and worth while, I will put it to the Cabinet again.

3. I hope our supplies are being cleared from Archangel as far as they come in. A trickle is now beginning through Persia. We shall pump both ways to our utmost. Please make sure that our technicians who are going with the tanks and aircraft have full opportunity to hand these weapons over to you men under the best condition. At present our Mission at Kuibyshev is out of touch with all these affairs. They only want to help. These weapons are sent at our peril, and we are anxious they shall have the best chance. An order from you is necessary.

4. I cannot tell you about our immediate military plans, any more than you can tell me about yours, but rest assured we are not going to be idle.

5. With the object of keeping Japan quiet we are sending our latest battleship, Prince of Wales, which can catch and kill any Japanese ship, into the Indian Ocean, and are building up a powerful battle squadron there. I am urging President Roosevelt to increase his pressure on the Japanese and keep them frightened so that the Vladivostok route will not be blocked.

6. I will not waste words in compliments, because you know already from Beaverbrook and Harriman what we feel about your splendid fight. Have confidence in our untiring support.

7. I should be glad to hear from you direct that you have received this telegram.

Em 11 de novembro, Stalin responde:

M. Stalin to the Prime Minister, November 8, 1941.

Your message received on November 7.

I fully agree with you that clarity should be established in the relations between the U. S. S. R. and Great Britain. Such a clarity does not exist at present. The lack of clarity is consequence of two circunstances:

(a) There is no definite understanding between our two countries on war aims and on plans for the post-war organizations of peace.

(b) There is no agreement between the U. S. S. R. and Great Britain on mutual military assistance against Hitler in Europe.

As long as there is no accord on both these questions there can be no clarity in the Anglo-Soviet relations. More than that: to be frank, as long the present situation exists there will be difficulty in securing mutual confidence. Of course the agreement on military supplies to the U. S. S. R. has a great positive value, but is does not settle, neither does it exhaust, the whole problem of relations between out two countries. If the General Wavell and the General Paget whom you mention in your message will come to Moscow with a view to concluding agreement on the two fundamental questions referred to above, I naturally would be happy to meet them and to discuss with them these questions. If however the mission of the Generals is confined to the questions of information, and to the consideration of secondary matters,it would no be, I think, worth while to intrude upon the Generals. In such a case it would also be very difficult for me to find the time for the conversations.

2. It seems to me that an intolerable situation has been created in the question of the declaration of war by Great Britain on Finland, Hungary, and Roumania. The Soviet Government raised the question with the British Government through the secret diplomatic channels. Quite unexpected for the U. S. S. R.,the whole problem, beginning with the request of the Soviet Government to the British Government and ending with the consideration of this question by the U. S. A. Government, received wide publicity. The whole problem is now being discussed at random in the Press - friendly as well as enemy. And after all that the British Government informs us of its negative attitude to our proposal. Why is all this being done? To demonstrate the lak of unity between the U. S. S. R. and Great Britain?

You can rest assured that we are talking all the necessary measures for speedy transportation to the right place of all the arms coming from great Britain to Archangel. The same will be done with regard ti the route through Persia. In this connection may I call your attention to the fact (although this is a minor matter) that tanks, planes, and artillery are arriving inefficiently packed, that sometimes parts of he same vehicle area loaded in different ships, [and] that planes, because of the imperfect packing, reach us broken?

domingo, 11 de setembro de 2011

O Incidente Greer


USS Greer, DD-145


Em 4 de setembro de 1941, o USS Greer, um destróier da classe Wickes, navegava em águas próximas a Noruega, quando recebeu um sinal de um bombardeiro britânico, avisando que um submarino alemão estava por perto (identificado posteriormente como o U-652).
U-652
U-652


O Greer conseguiu localizar o submarino pelo sonar, e começou a persegui-lo. O bombardeiro disparou cargas de profundidade, e o submarino respondeu atacando o Greer, disparando um torpedo, provavelmente achando que este havia feito o primeiro ataque.

O incidente durou cerca de duas horas, com o Greer tendo disparado 19 cargas de profundidade, e o submarino tendo disparado mais um torpedo, sem resultados.

Em reação ao incidemte, o presidente americano Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ordena a marinha americana a atirar ao ver qualquer navio inimigo que ameaçe navios ou comboios em ajuda, em um pronunciamento no rádio, no dia 11 de setembro de 1941.

Acompanhe o pronunciamento (com áudio, estou fazendo alguns testes com o Google Tradutor..., clique em Google Tradutor para traduzir o discurso :-)


My fellow Americans:

The Navy Department of the United States has reported to me that on the morning of September fourth the United States destroyer GREER, proceeding in full daylight towards Iceland, had reached a point southeast of Greenland. She was carrying American mail to Iceland. She was flying the American flag. Her identity as an American ship was unmistakable.

She was then and there attacked by a submarine. Germany admits that it was a German submarine. The submarine deliberately fired a torpedo at the GREER, followed later by another torpedo attack. In spite of what Hitler's propaganda bureau has invented, and in spite of what any American obstructionist organization may prefer to believe, I tell you the blunt fact that the German submarine fired first upon this American destroyer without warning, and with deliberate design to sink her.

Our destroyer, at the time, was in waters which the Government of the United States had declared to be waters of self-defense -- surrounding outposts of American protection in the Atlantic.

In the North of the Atlantic, outposts have been established by us in Iceland, in Greenland, in Labrador and in Newfoundland. Through these waters there pass many ships of many flags. They bear food and other supplies to civilians; and they bear material of war, for which the people of the United States are spending billions of dollars, and which, by Congressional action, they have declared to be essential for the defense of (their) our own land.

The United States destroyer, when attacked, was proceeding on a legitimate mission.

If the destroyer was visible to the submarine when the torpedo was fired, then the attack was a deliberate attempt by the Nazis to sink a clearly identified American warship. On the other hand, if the submarine was beneath the surface of the sea and, with the aid of its listening devices, fired in the direction of the sound of the American destroyer without even taking the trouble to learn its identity -- as the official German communique would indicate -- then the attack was even more outrageous. For it indicates a policy of indiscriminate violence against any vessel sailing the seas --belligerent or non-belligerent.

This was piracy -- piracy legally and morally. It was not the first nor the last act of piracy which the Nazi Government has committed against the American flag in this war. For attack has followed attack.

A few months ago an American flag merchant ship, the ROBIN MOOR, was sunk by a Nazi submarine in the middle of the South Atlantic, under circumstances violating long-established international law and violating every principle of humanity. The passengers and the crew were forced into open boats hundreds of miles from land, in direct violation of international agreements signed by nearly all nations including the Government of Germany. No apology, no allegation of mistake, no offer of reparations has come from the Nazi Government.

In July, 1941, nearly two months ago an American battleship in North American waters was followed by a submarine which for a long time sought to maneuver itself into a position of attack upon the battleship. The periscope of the submarine was clearly seen. No British or American submarines were within hundreds of miles of this spot at the time, so the nationality of the submarine is clear.

Five days ago a United States Navy ship on patrol picked up three survivors of an American-owned ship operating under the flag of our sister Republic of Panama -- the S. S. SESSA. On August seventeenth, she had been first torpedoed without warning, and then shelled, near Greenland, while carrying civilian supplies to Iceland. It is feared that the other members of her crew have been drowned. In view of the established presence of German submarines in this vicinity, there can be no reasonable doubt as to the identity of the flag of the attacker.

Five days ago, another United States merchant ship, the STEEL SEAFARER, was sunk by a German aircraft in the Red Sea two hundred and twenty miles south of Suez. She was bound for an Egyptian port.

So four of the vessels sunk or attacked flew the American flag and were clearly identifiable. Two of these ships were warships of the American Navy. In the fifth case, the vessel sunk clearly carried the flag of our sister Republic of Panama.

In the face of all this, we Americans are keeping our feet on the ground. Our type of democratic civilization has outgrown the thought of feeling compelled to fight some other nation by reason of any single piratical attack on one of our ships. We are not becoming hysterical or losing our sense of proportion. Therefore, what I am thinking and saying tonight does not relate to any isolated episode.

Instead, we Americans are taking a long-range point of view in regard to certain fundamentals (and) -- a point of view in regard to a series of events on land and on sea which must be considered as a whole -- as a part of a world pattern.

It would be unworthy of a great nation to exaggerate an isolated incident, or to become inflamed by some one act of violence. But it would be inexcusable folly to minimize such incidents in the face of evidence which makes it clear that the incident is not isolated, but is part of a general plan.

The important truth is that these acts of international lawlessness are a manifestation of a design (which) -- a design that has been made clear to the American people for a long time. It is the Nazi design to abolish the freedom of the seas, and to acquire absolute control and domination of (the) these seas for themselves.

For with control of the seas in their own hands, the way can obviously become clear for their next step -- domination of the United States (and the) -- domination of the Western Hemisphere by force of arms. Under Nazi control of the seas, no merchant ship of the United States or of any other American Republic would be free to carry on any peaceful commerce, except by the condescending grace of this foreign and tyrannical power. The Atlantic Ocean which has been, and which should always be, a free and friendly highway for us would then become a deadly menace to the commerce of the United States, to the coasts of the United States, and even to the inland cities of the United States.

The Hitler Government, in defiance of the laws of the sea, (and) in defiance of the recognized rights of all other nations, has presumed to declare, on paper, that great areas of the seas -- even including a vast expanse lying in the Western Hemisphere -- are to be closed, and that no ships may enter them for any purpose, except at peril of being sunk. Actually they are sinking ships at will and without warning in widely separated areas both within and far outside of these far-flung pretended zones.

This Nazi attempt to seize control of the oceans is but a counterpart of the Nazi plots now being carried on throughout the Western Hemisphere -- all designed toward the same end. For Hitler's advance guards -- not only his avowed agents but also his dupes among us -- have sought to make ready for him footholds, (and) bridgeheads in the New World, to be used as soon as he has gained control of the oceans.

His intrigues, his plots, his machinations, his sabotage in this New World are all known to the Government of the United States. Conspiracy has followed conspiracy. For example, last year a plot to seize the Government of Uruguay was smashed by the prompt action of that country, which was supported in full by her American neighbors. A like plot was then hatching in Argentina, and that government has carefully and wisely blocked it at every point. More recently, an endeavor was made to subvert the government of Bolivia. And within the past few weeks the discovery was made of secret air-landing fields in Colombia, within easy range of the Panama Canal. I could multiply instance(s) upon instance.

To be ultimately successful in world mastery, Hitler knows that he must get control of the seas. He must first destroy the bridge of ships which we are building across the Atlantic and over which we shall continue to roll the implements of war to help destroy him, (and)to destroy all his works in the end. He must wipe out our patrol on sea and in the air if he is to do it. He must silence the British Navy.

I think it must be explained (again and) over and over again to people who like to think of the United States Navy as an invincible protection, that this can be true only if the British Navy survives. And that, my friends, is simple arithmetic.

For if the world outside of the Americas falls under Axis domination, the shipbuilding facilities which the Axis powers would then possess in all of Europe, in the British Isles and in the Far East would be much greater than all the shipbuilding facilities and potentialities of all of the Americas -- not only greater, but two or three times greater, enough to win. Even if the United States threw all its resources into such a situation, seeking to double and even redouble the size of our Navy, the Axis powers, in control of the rest of the world, would have the manpower and the physical resources to outbuild us several times over.

It is time for all Americans, Americans of all the Americas to stop being deluded by the romantic notion that the Americas can go on living happily and peacefully in a Nazi-dominated world.

Generation after generation, America has battled for the general policy of the freedom of the seas. And that policy is a very simple one, but a basic, a fundamental one. It means that no nation has the right to make the broad oceans of the world at great distances from the actual theatre of land war, unsafe for the commerce of others.

That has been our policy, proved time and (time) again, in all of our history. Our policy has applied from (time immemorial) the earliest days of the Republic -- and still applies -- not merely to the Atlantic but to the Pacific and to all other oceans as well.

Unrestricted submarine warfare in 1941 constitutes defiance -- an act of aggression -- against that historic American policy.

It is now clear that Hitler has begun his campaign to control the seas by ruthless force and by wiping out every vestige of international law, (and) every vestige of humanity.

His intention has been made clear. The American people can have no further illusions about it.

No tender whisperings of appeasers that Hitler is not interested in the Western Hemisphere, no soporific lullabies that a wide ocean protects us from him -- can long have any effect on the hard-headed, far-sighted and realistic American people.

Because of these episodes, because of the movements and operations of German warships, and because of the clear, repeated proof that the present government of Germany has no respect for treaties or for international law, that it has no decent attitude toward neutral nations or human life -- we Americans are now face to face not with abstract theories but with cruel, relentless facts.

This attack on the GREER was no localized military operation in the North Atlantic. This was no mere episode in a struggle between two nations. This was one determined step towards creating a permanent world system based on force, on terror and on murder.

And I am sure that even now the Nazis are waiting, waiting to see whether the United States will by silence give them the green light to go ahead on this path of destruction.

The Nazi danger to our Western world has long ceased to be a mere possibility. The danger is here now -- not only from a military enemy but from an enemy of all law, all liberty, all morality, all religion.

There has now come a time when you and I must see the cold inexorable necessity of saying to these inhuman, unrestrained seekers of world conquest and permanent world domination by the sword: "You seek to throw our children and our children's children into your form of terrorism and slavery. You have now attacked our own safety. You shall go no further."

Normal practices of diplomacy -- note writing -- are of no possible use in dealing with international outlaws who sink our ships and kill our citizens.

One peaceful nation after another has met disaster because each refused to look the Nazi danger squarely in the eye until it had actually had them by the throat.

The United States will not make that fatal mistake.

No act of violence, (or) no act of intimidation will keep us from maintaining intact two bulwarks of American defense: First, our line of supply of material to the enemies of Hitler; and second, the freedom of our shipping on the high seas.

No matter what it takes, no matter what it costs, we will keep open the line of legitimate commerce in these defensive water of ours.

We have sought no shooting war with Hitler. We do not seek it now. But neither do we want peace so much, that we are willing to pay for it by permitting him to attack our naval and merchant ships while they are on legitimate business.

I assume that the German leaders are not deeply concerned, tonight or any other time, by what we Americans or the American Government say or publish about them. We cannot bring about the downfall of Nazi-ism by the use of long-range invective.

But when you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him.

These Nazi submarines and raiders are the rattlesnakes of the Atlantic. They are a menace to the free pathways of the high seas. They are a challenge to our own sovereignty. They hammer at our most precious rights when they attack ships of the American flag -- symbols of our independence, our freedom, our very life.

It is clear to all Americans that the time has come when the Americas themselves must now be defended. A continuation of attacks in our own waters or in waters (which) that could be used for further and greater attacks on us, will inevitably weaken our American ability to repel Hitlerism.

Do not let us (split hairs) be hair-splitters. Let us not ask ourselves whether the Americas should begin to defend themselves after the (fifth) first attack, or the (tenth) fifth attack, or the tenth attack, or the twentieth attack.

The time for active defense is now.

Do not let us split hairs. Let us not say : "We will only defend ourselves if the torpedo succeeds in getting home, or if the crew and the passengers are drowned".

This is the time for prevention of attack.

If submarines or raiders attack in distant waters, they can attack equally well within sight of our own shores. Their very presence in any waters which America deems vital to its defense constitutes an attack.

In the waters which we deem necessary for our defense, American naval vessels and American planes will no longer wait until Axis submarines lurking under the water, or Axis raiders on the surface of the sea, strike their deadly blow -- first.

Upon our naval and air patrol -- now operating in large number over a vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean -- falls the duty of maintaining the American policy of freedom of the seas -- now. That means, very simply, (and) very clearly, that our patrolling vessels and planes will protect all merchant ships -- not only American ships but ships of any flag -- engaged in commerce in our defensive waters. They will protect them from submarines; they will protect them from surface raiders.

This situation is not new. The second President of the United States, John Adams, ordered the United States Navy to clean out European privateers and European ships of war which were infesting the Caribbean and South American waters, destroying American commerce.

The third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, ordered the United States Navy to end the attacks being made upon American and other ships by the corsairs of the nations of North Africa.

My obligation as President is historic; it is clear. Yes, it is inescapable.

It is no act of war on our part when we decide to protect the seas (which) that are vital to American defense. The aggression is not ours. Ours is solely defense.

But let this warning be clear. From now on, if German or Italian vessels of war enter the waters, the protection of which is necessary for American defense, they do so at their own peril.

The orders which I have given as Commander-in-Chief (to) of the United States Army and Navy are to carry out that policy -- at once.

The sole responsibility rests upon Germany. There will be no shooting unless Germany continues to seek it.

That is my obvious duty in this crisis. That is the clear right of this sovereign nation. (That) This is the only step possible, if we would keep tight the wall of defense which we are pledged to maintain around this Western Hemisphere.

I have no illusions about the gravity of this step. I have not taken it hurriedly or lightly. It is the result of months and months of constant thought and anxiety and prayer. In the protection of your nation and mine it cannot be avoided.

The American people have faced other grave crises in their history -- with American courage, (and) with American resolution. They will do no less today.
They know the actualities of the attacks upon us. They know the necessities of a bold defense against these attacks. They know that the times call for clear heads and fearless hearts.

And with that inner strength that comes to a free people conscious of their duty, (and) conscious of the righteousness of what they do, they will -- with Divine help and guidance -- stand their ground against this latest assault upon their democracy, their sovereignty, and their freedom.


Fontes consultadas:
  • http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/paw/235.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Greer_%28DD-145%29#The_Greer_Incident.2C_Sept._1941
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-652
  • http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/7-2-188/188-29.html
  • http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3323

Segunda Guerra Hoje: 11 de setembro 1939

11 de setembro de 1939: O vice-rei da Índia, Lord Linlithgow, anuncia para o Conselho de Estado e Assembléia Legislativa da Índia que, devido a participação deles na guerra, os planos para a Federação Indiana dentro do Ato do Governo da Índia de 1935 serão indefinidamente postergados.

sábado, 10 de setembro de 2011

Piadinha suja

P: Como se diz "olá" em Francês?
R: Eu me rendo!
Marechal Pétain e Hitler, 17 de junho de 1940.

Segunda Guerra Hoje: 10 de setembro de 1942

  • RAF bombardeia pesadamente Düsseldorf com bombas incendiárias.
  • Batalha de Blood Ridge, em Guadalcanal: americanos enfrentam os japoneses em tentativa para recuperar o campo de pouso de Henderson.

sexta-feira, 9 de setembro de 2011

Seguna Guerra Hoje: 9 de setembro de 1942

Um avião japones, lançado de um submarino próximo a costa dos Estados Unidos, lança bombas incendiárias em Brookings - Oregon, causando um pequeno incêndio florestal.

Este foi o primeiro e único bombardeiro feito por avião nos Estados Unidos continental durante a guerra.

quinta-feira, 8 de setembro de 2011

Me BF-109

Me BF-109 G-6


Um dos mais impressionantes caças da Segunda Guerra é, sem dúvida, o Messerschmitt BF-109, tendo rivalizado diretamente com o Supermarine Spitfire da Inglaterra.

Spitfire LF Mk IX

Com seu primeiro voo em 1935, mais de 30.000 aparelhos foram produzidos, tendo sido empregado desde a Guerra Civil Espanhola. Foi ultrapassado posteriormente pelo impressionante Fock-Wulf Fw 190.

Fw-190

O seu projeto começou, de certa forma, em 1920, quando a Deutsch Lufthansa (DLH) encomendou ao projetista Willy Messershmitt um monoplano de aço capaz de carregar 10 pessoas.

Sua construção foi inicialmente feita pela Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW), uma parceira da Messershmitt.

Seu primeiro protótipo, o M-20, se acidentou em 26 de fevereiro de 1928, matando seu piloto ao tentar pular de 250 metros de altitude. Imediatamente após o acidente, o diretor da DHL suspendeu o projeto.

O protótipo M-20


Em agosto, um segundo protótipo alçou voo provando-se seguro, o que garantiu  a compra de duas aeronaves pela DHL e a encomenda de mais 10.

Antes do término das entregas, dois M-20 cairam seguidamente, sendo que em um dos voos, oito oficiais do Reichwehr morreram, garantindo uma apelo  extremamente negativo a este aparelho. Desta forma, a DHL cancelou todos os contratos e se negou a receber as outras unidades. Em Junho de 1931 a Messershmitt declarou falência, e se recuperou um parcialmente após a venda de algumas aeronaves para a Lufthansa.

Nesta época, o programa de rearmamento conduzido pelos nazistas começava a avançar, encorajando diversas fábricas como a BFW, Messershmitt, Junkers, Arado, Heinkel e Fock-Wulf, a produzirem blocos de peças aparentemente disconexos de todos os tipos de aeronaves, para o emparelhamento da, ainda clandestina, Luftwaffe.

Contudo, Willy Messershmitt foi proibido de ser responsável pelo design de aviões, sendo autorizado a produzir somente aeronaves desenhadas pelas outras fábricas.

Para manter a equipe de sua fábrica unida, Willy fechou um contrato com a Romania, para a produção de um avião de transporte.

Com a intenção de perserguir Willy Messershmitt, o diretor técnico da Luftwaffe criticou abertamente a requisição de Willy para a produção deste avião para uma nação estrangeira, "em um momento em que a nação alemã precisa largamente de fábricas de aviões".

Desta forma, a Messershmitt ganhou um contrato de design para um avião. Superando as expectativas, o BF-108 Taifun, construido como um "avião esportivo", foi muito bem recebido, se mostrando moderno e altamente manobrável. (Nesta época, a ainda sob a égide do Tratado de Versailles, a Luftwaffe se escondia através de Clubes de Voo, onde os pilotos eram treinados em aeronaves "esportivas").

O desempenho do BF-108 garantiu a encomenda de um novo modelo de aeronave, para substituir o Heinkel He 51. Apesar de pressões dos outros construtores para que Willy Messershmitt não aceitasse o projeto, ele decidiu a iniciar o design BF-109, apresentando seus primeiros protótipos em 1934. Apersar de alguns problemas no motor e falhas estruturais no começo, o BF-109 se mostrou um impressionante avião em combate.

He-51W


BF-108 Taifun






A alguns dias me iniciei na arte do plastimodelismo. Procurei um hobby onde pudesse me distrair, e afirma com toda a certeza, que a montagem de aeronaves com aquelas pequenas peças de plástico é uma atividade extremamente relaxante. Comecei com o BF-109 na escala 1:72. Daí a idéia para a postagem :-)


Mudanças

Pensei esses dias sobre o blog, e vou fazer algumas mudanças. Como vocês estão vendo, irei voltar a escrever em português. A mudança de língua se dá por eu querer aprofundar mais os posts, o que não consigo com tanta liberdade com o inglês.

As transcrições irei disponibilizar no original e com uma tradução automática. Assim, acho que conseguirei atingir um público maior.

Peço que vocês comentem as postagens, façam sugestões e pedidos.

Um grande abraço!

segunda-feira, 5 de setembro de 2011

Les réserves, c'est zéro!

In the heated days that herald the beginning of the WWI, much was discussed about the best strategy that the French should hold, considering mainly an German advance through Belgium - a neutral state. 

Quoting Barbara Tuchman, on The Guns of August,

(...) To match numbers he believed the Germans would send through Belgium, General Michel proposed to double French front-line effectives by attaching a regiment of reserves to every active regiment. Had he proposed to admit Mistinguette to the Immortals of the French Academy, he could hardly have raised more clamor and disgust.

"Les resérves, c'ést zéro!" was the classic dogma of the French officer corps.
The reserves of France were "considered fit to only rear duty or for use as fortress trops". The attach of this reserves "would be to put a drag on the army's fighting thrust."

Some years later, on the beginning of the WWII, the "classic dogma" was to be remembered one more time, when France was surrounded by Germany. Quoting Winston Churchill, in Their Finest Hour,

The General [Gamelin] talked perhaps for five minutes without anyone saying a word. When he stopped there was a considerable silence. I then asked: "Where is the strategic reserve?" and, breaking to French, which I used indifferently (in every sense): "Où est la masse de manoeuvre?" General Gamelin turned to me and, with a shake of the head and shrug, said: "Aucune."

There was another long pause. Outside in the garden of the Quai d'Orsay clouds of smoke arose from large bonfires, and I saw from the window venerable officials pushing wheel-barrows of archives on to the. Already therefore the evacuation of Paris was being prepared.

Unter den Linden

A nice post from Charles McCain Blog.

Here we have Unter den Linden Strasse,

Before:

Berlin's Unter den Linden in the 1930's
After:

Berlin's Unter den Linden in 1945


More pictures here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=74826379

Le pantalon rouge c'est la France!

Some weeks ago, I started to read Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August. It is a very good book, and deserving his Pullitzer Prize.

Below, I highlight a passage about the colors of the French army.

Messimy having fervently stamped out Michel's heresy of the defensive, did his best, as War Minister, to equip the army to fight a successful offensive but was in his turn frustated in his most-cherished prospect - the need to reform the French uniform. The British had adopted khaki after the Boer War, and the Germans were about to make the change from Prussian blue to field-gray. But in 1912 French soldiers still wore the same blue coats, red kepi, and red trousers they had worn in 1830 when rifle fire carried only two hundred paces and when armies, fighting at these close quarters, had no need for concealment. Visiting the Balkan front in 1912, Messimy saw the advantages gained by the dull-colored Bulgarians and came home determined to make the French soldier less visible. His project to clothe him in gray-blue or gray-green raised a howl of protest. Army pride was as intransigent about about giving up its red trousers as it was about adopting heavy guns. Army prestige was once again felt to be at stake. To clothe the French soldier in some muddy, inglorious color, declared the army's champions, would be to realize the fondest hopes of Dreyfusards and Freemansons. To banish "all that is colorful, all that gives the soldier his vivid aspect", wrote the Echo de Paris, "is to go contrary both to French taste and military function." Messimy pointed out that the two might no longer be synonymous, but his opponents proved immovable. At a parliamentary hearing a former War Minister, M. Etienne, spoke for the France.
"Eliminate the red trousers?" he cried, "Never! Le pantalon rouge c'est la France!"
"That blind and imbecile attachment to the most visible of all colors," wrote Messimy afterward, "was to have cruel consequences."
 

Just remembering, the button's of Napoleonic uniforms are cited as one of the causes of the failure on the Russian campaign in 1812: the buttons that equipped almost every uniform on this time, had small buttons made with tin, and when the temperatures drop below 52° F, tin crumbles into powder!