TODAY’S WAR MAP… if today was June 19, 1944. Clipped from the Sweetwater Reporter, courtesy of the archives of the University of North Texas. (For the record, the Allies captured Elba quickly and decisively, forcing the surprised German garrison to flee Napoleon’s former home after two days of fighting.)
German propaganda photo shows Adolf Hitler visiting anti-aircraft positions in the “Western Air Defense Zone,” where a gunner presents him with a hand-carved eagle. December 1939, photo by Heinrich Hoffmann. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
MAN OF MEAL — It’s World War II. People are dying by the millions, everywhere. But Superman has time to sit down for a home-cooked meal. (Panel from Superman comic strip, August 22, 1943.)
A tool of genocide used in Croatia during World War II. From the Holocaust Memorial Museum: “A special knife that is worn over the hand that was used by the Ustasa militia for the quick slaughter of inmates in concentration camps.”
War rages across the planet. Millions are dying. And Superman is playing Cupid.
(From the comic strip, June 11, 1944.)
Superman watches a display of American air power in the Pacific during World War II. From a 1943 comic strip appearing in the Sweetwater Reporter of Sweetwater, Texas.
“TO OUR GALLANT RUSSIA” — Hollywood Canteen, Los Angeles, California. February 25, 1944. Bette Davis cuts the cake with sailors from the Soviet navy and representatives of the United States armed forces. The occasion is the 26th anniversary of the Red Army. From the Herald-Examiner Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.
The Man of Steel takes on the Empire of Japan over the Solomon Islands in a Superman comic strip from October 1943. (I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about the fairly, um, archaic depiction of the Japanese pilot.)
(University of North Texas)
The Fort Kept Changing Hands — June 17, 1940. On this day in history, the British Army’s 11th Hussars captured the Italian-held Fort Capuzzo in Libya. A few days later, the Italians retook the fortress in a counterattack. In December 1940, the Allies regained the fort during Operation Compass. Then Rommel-led Axis forces took it back in April 1941. Then again in May, Fort Capuzzo briefly changed hands during Operation Brevity but remained under German-Italian control following the battle. In November 1941, forces of New Zealand recaptured the fort during Operation Crusader. Yet again, Axis forces retook the fort after the Battle of Gazala. It finally (FINALLY!) came under Allied possession in the aftermath of the Second Battle of El Alamein.
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A Marine gets a Dear John letter in a 1943 Superman comic strip.
(via)
Superman watches the fighting in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War.
In a Superman comic strip from September 26, 1943, the Man of Steel teams with Lois Lane to fix the romantic troubles of a Women’s Army Corps volunteer and her G.I. boyfriend. Yet again, Superman puts the personal issues of a two people ahead of wider national security interests.
SUPERMAN GOES TO WAR… Does he punch Hitler through the face? No, he plays matchmaker and couples therapist for the average soldier. From a Superman comic strip in the Sweetwater Reporter, June 11, 1944.
From the comic strip Captain Swift, December 3, 1944.
DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? — World War II-era training poster from the Bureau of Naval Personnel, courtesy of the Washington State University Libraries.
