Saturday, May 28, 2016

Postblogging Technology, April 1946, II: British Turboencabulators Are Less Powerful Than American, And Not So Well Finished As German

Dear Dr. B:

Enclosed are family photographs sized as you suggested for my father-in-law's rooms. Thank you for letting me continue this correspondence. I doubt that I am as amsuing as I think I am, but I do not think I am wrong to think that it provides him with some connection with his sons and grandchildren.

I have no idea how to go about "not promoting the United Nations" as an "object of paranoia," but I do not have to pretend very hard to find its proceedings so far to be pretty pointless! I am sorry to hear that my father-in-law's symptoms are so entrenched this time around. Isn't mania supposed to subside with age, or is that just a layman's superstition? On the other hand, he has been through a great deal in the last few years, and perhaps a relapse was inevitable. Certainly my Uncle George expected it. (Don't worry; I haven't suddenly decided that electrical refrigeration causes mania as well as cancer!) 

"Cook."

Dear Father:

I have forwarded you pictures of the junior James and Grace, and of Victoria; as well as your youngest decked out in Navy whites; and of your oldest in his best Saville Row, courtesy of the Earl. Which, he tells me, was  utterly over-the-top at Eimac. For Stanford --er, I should probably say something like "the junior college," but what's the point-- they do not seem able to grasp the concept of getting dressed! Not that James is exactly a clotheshorse, as you often mention yourself.

On the bright side, the same outfit perfectly suited the Bank of America, and I think it looked smashing. We also gave the morning coat a tryout at the Easter service at the university chapel, where I had a chance to show off my new hat.

What? It's Easter! 

In other family news, Aunt Bessie has had an unexpected recovery. She is still bedridden, but the doctors now say that she has years left in her. Uncle George left for Boston last week, along with Wong Lee. Who is not bringing along his new prize, which will be described below, and which could prove quite handy for dealing with situations in which individuals won't come out into the light. (I will say no more, except that Uncle Henry has been coming under considerable pressure recently in regards to loose ends of the business of the dam.) They will be proceeding to Poughkeepsie by auto. I can't believe we have business in a town with such a ridiculous name, but no-one asked me what a good location for a college might be, and so I cannot judge. I had a brief conversation with "Miss V.C." on the phone by long distance last night, and it turns out that the school has quite a reputation for, well, that, amongst the younger set. 

Back home, you have heard that the labour difficulties in the movie industry continue. As you know, the Engineer's youngest is now a member of his union; the interesting thing is that he is vaguely associated with negotiations with Mr. Johnston. I am now wondering if there is a percentage for us here . . . 

Hmm. Well, all's best that ends well.



"GRACE."

Women like hats! That's why this is funny.



Saturday, May 21, 2016

Postblogging Technology, April 1946, I: Coming Home



My Dear Dr. B_:

I am told that my father-in-law is a returning patient, and that you have strict rules about the kind of communication he is to have with the outside world until he is on the mend. You will be relieved to hear that my Uncle George shared them with me long ago, and that I follow them as well as I am able.

I am to downplay the press's inevitable cycle of crisis followed by  imminent war/famine/plague/bust, as R_ tends towards the paranoid, and grasps on these as acceptable ways of indulging himself. I am to adopt Uncle George's rather cynical viewpoint both because Uncle George thinks it amuses his cousin, and because my father-in-law has been a man without a country since 1911, and needs to know that someone is "on his side." And, of course, I am to continue to update him on his cousin's relentless enthusiasm for investing in the next big thing. Especially when it actually works out!

And, of course, there is the language matter. Because of reasons of business secrecy, the document attached is in a code cipher based on Chinese, and so you will have to take my word, and my father-in-law's secretary's word, that the content would meet with your approval, for which I humbly apologise.

"Cook."


My Dear Father:

I hope this letter finds you settled in at your usual lodgings and resting comfortably. You need have no fears for your private matters. Your wife is understanding, and it has been arranged that your assailant attend Vassar College in America in the 1946/7 school year. It is quite a nice school --much nicer than her grades warrant, I understand. Uncle George is undertaking to settle the young lady's affairs on a more permanent basis, by arranging for her to room with a young woman with the right sort of young man for a brother/cousin/uncle/nephew, who will be strictly instructed to let nature take its course. 

Uncle George says that he even has a likely candidate in mind, one who is not only inclined to a marriage of convenience by his personal inclinations, but who has given a hostage to fortune by involving himself in espionage for a foreign power while at Yale. A communist, I asked? Better yet, Uncle said: "A Fascist"! The real kind of Fascist, that is, it being some kind of matter of sending oil to Spain. 

Speaking of old secrets, Fanny has been going through Great Uncle's American ledgers. It turns out that our hazy memories were accurate, and that Mr. Eric Johnston does have a defaulted debt to us, although it turns out that it was his mother, or, rather, his grandfather, who contracted it. Unfortunately, the old man died in 1928. and part of the arrangement was, yes, you guessed it, a "marriage of convenience." It would not be very gracious of us to go to Mr. Johnston and demand repayment after the husband we secured for his mother abandoned the family!

Your sons are gone as from yesterday, departing for the South Seas and the atomic testing. "Miss V.C." is in Chicago, visiting her parents, and will go from there to New Haven to visit "Lieutenant A.," who is probably Uncle George's source for the New Haven conspiracy. Fortunately, "Mrs. Fat Chow," in whom I have vastly more confidence, assures me that in this case the lieutenant is not being more enthusiastic than competent. 

And so I am left rattling around the house with no-one to keep me company but three children and Fanny, waiting for everyone to return from their adventures. I have even made a few lunch dates with the University faculty. I have not the slightest notion that Jimmy Chow comes over when I am out to lunch, by the way.

Oh! That reminds me. Your eldest had his first board meeting just before he left, at Eimac, up in San Francisco. He is very excited about this, because it seems as though the company might be in the market for a tape-recorder! We shall see: transforming the thing from a shadowy promise for the future to an actual, marketable product would do wonders for the bottom line.





"GRACE."





Friday, May 6, 2016

Shadow Pasts: Another Anti-Correllian 1940 With Meditations on the Debacle


"Posterity will hear of these Battles," said the most unfortunate Flight title ever.


The British Air Force in France, 10 May 1940*

Air ComponentThe 

Air Component Headquarters
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ Air Component-
-
-
Air Vice-Marshall C.H.B. Blount

No 14 Group

UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ No. 14 Group-
-
-
Group Captain P.F. Fullard
60 (Fighter) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ 60 Wing  Wing Commander J.A. Boret
85 SquadronHurricane Mk I  Lille-Seclin
87 SquadronHurricane Mk I  Senon
61 (Fighter) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ 61 Wing  Wing Commander R.Y. Eccles
607 SquadronHurricane Mk I
Gladiator
  Vitry-en-Artois
615 SquadronHurricane Mk I
Gladiator
  A flight : Le Touquet
B flight : Abbeville
63 (Fighter) Wing - created on 10 May 1940
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommanderNotes
HQ 63 Wing  ?only mentioned in source (2)
3 SquadronHurricane Mk I  Merville
79 SquadronHurricane Mk I  Merville
70 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ 70 Wing  Wing Commander W.A. Opie
18 SquadronBlenheim Mk V  
57 SquadronBlenheim Mk V  
52 (Bomber) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommanderNotes
HQ 52 Wing  Wing Commander A.F. Hutton
53 SquadronBlenheim Mk IV  
55 (?) Squadron  source (2) says 59 Squadron
50 (Army Co-operation) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ 50 Wing  Group Captain A.R. Churchman
4 SquadronLysander  
13 SquadronLysander  
16 SquadronLysander
51 (Army Co-operation) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommanderNotes
HQ 51 Wing  Wing Commander A.H. Flower
2 SquadronLysander  
26 SquadronLysander  
81 (C) SquadronDragonCommunications Squadron

Advanced Air Striking Force

Advanced Air Striking Force Headquarters
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ Air Component-
-
-
Air Vice-Marshall P.H.L. Playfair
67 (Fighter) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommanderNotes
HQ 67 Wing  Wing Co. C. Walter
1 SquadronHurricane Mk I
12
 Wassincourt
73 SquadronHurricane Mk I
12
 Rouvre
212 SquadronPhotographic Recce Squadron. Only mentioned in source (1)
501 SquadronHurricane Mk I
12
 BethenvilleArrived 10 May 1940. Only mentioned in source (2)
No. 71 (Bomber) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ 71 Wing  Air Commodore R.M. Field
105 SquadronFairey Battle
16
 Villeneuve
114 SquadronBlenheim Mk IV
16
 Condé
139 SquadronBlenheim Mk IV
16
Plivot
150 SquadronFairey Battle
16
Ecury
75 (Bomber) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommanderNotes
HQ 75 Wing  Group Captain A.H. Wann
88 SquadronFairey Battle
16
 Mourmelon
103 SquadronFairey Battle
16
 Betheniville
208 SquadronFairey Battle
16
Auberivesource (2) gives 218 Squadron instead
76 (Bomber) Wing
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommander
HQ 76 Wing  Group Captain H.S. Kerby
12 SquadronFairey Battle
16
 Amifontaine
142 SquadronFairey Battle
16
 Berry-au-Bac
226 SquadronFairey Battle
16
 Reims
UnitAircraftTotalAvail.BaseCommanderNotes
98 SquadronFairey Battle  Nantes Acted as a reserve for Fairey Battle squadrons. Only mentioned in source (2)

Sour

  • (1) The War in France and Flanders, L.F. ELLIS, London : Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1953. SO Code : No. 63-111-2-2*
  • (2) La campagne de France (1e partie) : La bataille du NordBatailles Aériennes no. 7 Jan-Feb-Mar 1999