 |
| Lech, Czech, and Rus oaks in Rogalin, Poland. (Source) |
... three brothers went hunting together but each of them followed a different prey and eventually they all traveled in different directions. Rus went to the east, Čech headed to the west to settle on the Říp Mountain rising up from the Bohemian hilly countryside, while Lech traveled north. There, while hunting, he followed his arrow and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a fierce, white eagle guarding its nest from intruders. Seeing the eagle against the red of the setting sun, Lech took this as a good omen and decided to settle there. He named his settlement Gniezno (Polish gniazdo - 'nest') in commemoration and adopted the White Eagle as his coat-of-arms. The white eagle remains a symbol of Poland to this day, and the colors of the eagle and the setting sun are depicted in Poland's coat of arms, as well as its flag, with a white stripe on top for the eagle, and a red stripe on the bottom for the sunset. (Source)
So yeah, history. I've decided to start another fictional tale of the Second World War, prior to really digging into that, some research is required. While I do know quite a bit about WWII in Europe, some of that knowledge is rather old and could stand some updating. While starting my research I came across that old legend mentioned above, I truly had no idea ...
So you might get the impression that I've decided to start the tale very early in the war, at least from a European standpoint, fighting in Asia had been going on since 1937 -
On July 7, 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War began with a conflict known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Japan was attacked by Chinese troops while carrying out military training—they didn't warn the Chinese they would be shooting gunpowder rounds at the bridge that led to Beijing. This amplified already tense relations in the region, leading to an all-out declaration of war. (Source)
I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like to live in that era, especially in Poland, where the war began at 0445 when the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at Polish defenses in the vicinity of Westerplatte. (An excellent movie which covers this is the film 1939 Battle of Westerplatte .Tajemnica Westerplatte is the original title, roughly "Westerplatte Mystery." You can watch it dubbed in English or in the original Polish with English subtitles, which I recommend.)
Though tensions in Europe had been rising ever since the Germans marched their army into the demilitarized Rhineland in 1936, the invasion of Poland on the 1st of September 1939 began a war which would see millions die, both combatant and civilian, which wouldn't end until the 8th of May 1945. For the Poles, the betrayal by the West, the Nazis, and the Communists wouldn't really end until 1990.
I did a lot of reading on Poland, the country has a fascinating history, bits of which I have written about numerous times here on The Chant. It's time, I think, to write about the early stages of World War II in Europe, at least up until the moment when Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps is turned back at the gates of Egypt at El Alamein. (Yes juvat, I'll try to end on a high note ...)
Some of the characters from my first novel will show up, at least among the Brits, Poles, and Germans, it's a bit early for the Yanks but you never know ...
It's going to be a few days before I get started, much research remains to be completed, or at least started. I'm looking forward to this, hope you enjoy it. Feel free to offer suggestions, complaints, corrections, etc., just like with the last book. This should be interesting! (Lord I hope so.)
