Posted on 05/08/2020 12:30:16 PM PDT by Winniesboy
Friday 8 May is the 75th anniversary of VE day- the end of the Second World War in Europe.
Few people realised that a British theatre actor and manager, turned soldier, drafted the historic document of surrender which ended the conflict.
For years, John Counsells twin daughters had no idea about the role he played.
Jenny and Elizabeth Counsell, who are now 77, have spoken of their pride at his part in helping to bring the Second World War to an end.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
This day, all those years ago is one of my FIRST memories ... I was about 3 or 4 years old. I remember the celebration on the courthouse square (Bluffton, Indiana) and I thought VE was something to eat, everybody kept talking about it. The memory was kept alive by my Mom always kidding me about it later. This was a big anniversary date back in “the day.”
What a great story! Can you imagine getting g top secret orders You have 90 minutes to write th eGerman surrender document?
I never would have gotten over the writers block and paralysis.
My mother remembers it well. She wouldve just turned 8 the other day, and her father took the family from the western edge of Baltimore into downtown and she said the celebration and euphoria was enormous, like the crowds you see in the famous New York photos. (Baltimore was a great city then.)
Well, certainly they could have Googled a blogger or two for some excerpted words. The Great NNettle Senior, or TheNextSirRush? Ah, yes, alas, they didn’t yet exist.
I dare say all American cities were great then.
Pretty much, yes.
Well be Called racist for pointing it out.
They said Dad did the next best thing. He DID find an old peace treaty in the records where he was working and borrowed the diplomatic language from it to get started.
Smart man! :-)
Was it really him, or just a committee meeting in the men's room?
FDR actually did a little more than that. Before the war erupted and Ike was appointed he was a busy guy. In September of 1940 he started the draft. He pushed and signed the Lend Lease act in March of 1941. He launched the prewar industrial buildup. For example, we broke ground on the famous Willow Run Bomber plant 6 months before Pearl Harbor. We were in a defacto war with Germany in the Atlantic for months before Pearl Harbor. When presented with the concept, he was fully behind the Manhattan Project.
And during the war, probably most important of all he made sure the Brits were second among equals. Ultimately he made sure we were the lead partner and he always diplomatically reminded the Brits of that in several small ways.
That mentality ensured we didn’t get an idiotic repeat of the British leadership in WWI.
Lots of things not to like about Roosevelt in the Depression, and in his handling of the Russians. But it’s a bit much to say all he did was appoint Ike. That’s just not historically accurate.
It'd cover up for his failed "New Deal" which was really just socialism.
Now that was fun. I love WW II history. Thank you.
The original surrender document was shorter.
“We won and you lost!”
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