James Holland who is an historian of WWII has conducted what might prove to be some very interesting interviews with German and Austrian pilots that took part in the battle over Britain.

The transcripts are at his oral history archive as well as interviews with air force veterans from all the other countries involved.

I really recommend reading at least some of them as they are very important source of history and these people might not be with us in a few years time.

You might recognize this Tarawa Atoll from the historical fight that took place there during WWII.

The place that was the location of the famous battle is probably giving away to the ocean.

I came across a post in the tangled web blog that deals with the gradual sinking of these atolls as a result of the climate changes and it just made me think of the battle so I linked it here.

65 years have past from the victory day in Europe and it feels as if a small celebration is in order.

If you’re sentimental fool as I am you’ll probably want to listen the radio clip that was broadcasted from London. Just click here.

Reading about the legal aspects of the the Japanese-American Internment I came across a reminder in a form of Haiku songs brought by David Giacalone from May Sky: There Is Always Tomorrow. I thought it would be nice to avoid all the discussions and just bring the stories of the people as they were expressed in their songs. Rhododemdron blooms about to leave this house where my child was born ………………………………….. by Yotenchi Agari Migrating birds chirp this morning blooming flowers are scarce …………………….. by Konan Ouchida Living in barracks front and back sunflowers blooming ……………………………. by Shonan Suzuki Frosty morning handed a hatchet today I become a woodcutter ……………………………. by Senbinshi Takaoka between the pages I flip back to – a hair from my head between the rocks water the ocean didn’t take

If you too feel that the study of WWII is biased toward the European battles then such each opportunity to set the record straight is welcomed. Important attempt to educate people about this war is in the film that documents the rape of Nanking as a tribute to the best seller book of Iris Chang The Rape of Nanking.

On December 10, 1937, Japanese troops arrived at gates of Nanjing (current spelling), then the capital of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government, in a bid to incorporate China into Japan’s “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.” Many expected the Japanese would take the city peacefully, but instead the soldiers went on a two-month rampage of mutilation, rape and murder that left only 300,000 alive in a city once home to more than twice that number.

This side of the pacific seems to have forgotten all about the terrible war between the Chinese and the Japanese maybe because the Chinese are not very popular in the West now. I know that such a selective memory is sad but I do believe that beside the natural ethnocentrism that leads to focus on the European side of the war the fact of the victim not being perceived as friendly, close or significant to the west is the reason that the study of this war is neglected. It feels as if one way people can familiarize themselves with the war between Japan and china is to play the war either as a Japanese or as Chinese using games as HOI2. Going through the stages thinking as someone from each nation is great to learn historical perspective. Unfortunately there are not enough games for this war and it can be a very good idea to create some more games to ease the learning and the understanding of the period.