Monday, March 17, 2003

Our Friends, the Brits.

When the French surrendered on June 20th, 1940, Britain should have been filled with anquish and fear. They now stood alone against Hitler and Italy, with Russia serving as the handmaiden and supply depot of the Axis.

When the news of the surrender appeared in the papers, a London newsstand chalked the following on their sign

"FRENCH SIGN PEACE TREATY: WE'RE IN THE FINALS"

As Alister Horne wrote in TO LOSE A BATTLE:

Meanwhile, in England, once it was apparent that Hitler was not going to follow up Dunkirk with an immediate invasion, the shock of defeat turned into a kind of relief that, somehow, strangely enough, life had at least become simpler. King George VI spoke for many when he wrote to his mother: 'Personally, I feel happier now that we have no allies to be polite to and pamper.'

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