They believe in Christmas, a time of miracles and roscones. Because yes, after months of insistence, the magic has been worked and James Holland, the busiest historian on the other side of the English Channel, has granted an interview to a Spanish media… Ours, damn it! But we don’t resent him for waiting; It’s what ‘superstars’ have, and even more so when they love their job. During this time, the presenter of ‘Nazi Megastructures’ has recorded in the Pacific, has traveled throughout Europe and has brought to Spain his latest historical essay: ‘The Big Week’, an analysis of the importance of the air war between 1943 and 1944 which has been translated and edited by Ático de los Libros. As if to attend to anyone. The song still plays. Eight decades later, the conflict in Ukraine has once again demonstrated the importance of air warfare. Although Holland is skeptical: «As was the case in 1944, infantry and tanks will continue to be important. “Drones have had a dramatic effect on the battlefield, that is undeniable, but, as with any new technology, a response will be devised to counter it.” In his words, it will be many decades before soldiers are deprived of the sacred mission of “advancing and taking possession of the ground.” And, while that responsibility falls on them, the tanks will have to “offer them fire support.” Standard Related News Yes A lost painting rewrites the most epic battle of the Spanish Empire Manuel P. Villatoro The canvas, which recreates the reconquest of Salvador de Bahía to the Dutch, it is almost a comic that redeems the figure of Don Fadrique de Toledo. The historian is also skeptical when speaking about the end of a war, that of Ukraine, which, remember, has already taken a toll. million losses, figures reminiscent of those of 1945. -How is the war going, Mr. Holland? -It is a disaster. I don’t see Europe rushing to rearm. Britain is the worst, its government says it can’t afford it and has no stomach for it, but what if Ukraine loses? When Western democracies unite and fight for a common goal, they are unbeatable against autocracies. World War II demonstrated this. In return, they are weak when they lack firm leadership, determination and vision for the future. Rearmament does not have to lead to further economic decline, quite the opposite. Furthermore, the best way to ensure lasting peace is for the West to have a strong military deterrent. We must ensure that Russia and the other enemies of democracy know that if they challenge us, they will be defeated.Another ViewDon Holland resonates thanks to his television show, but he is much more than a typical presenter. Today, a quarter of a century after he published his first essay, the British writer has become one of the pillars that support the historiography of the Second World War. He follows in the footsteps of Antony Beevor, Max Hastings and Stephen Ambrose, although he blushes when it is emphasized. «Thank you very much for saying it. There are many wonderful historians of the conflict, so I’m not sure I deserve praise, but I’m proud of the way I’ve started to change some pretty deep-rooted opinions about this period,” he reveals. He’s right. In recent years, since he started what promises to be his colossal review of the Second World War – he has 16 essays on it, not counting his novels and non-fiction books for children – he has attacked the most widespread myths about the conflict. . And he defends his theses regardless of who he is. In ‘The Rise of Germany’, for example, he endured beatings for destroying the fallacy of mechanization of the ‘Wehrmacht’, and, shortly after, he swallowed insults after insisting that the Panzer VI – the mythical Tiger – was not the best tank fighter of his era. “I’ve always said, it was the Sherman!” he jokes. He is controversial, and he knows it, although he is also conscientious.Pilots of the 56th Fighter Group. In the center, Hub Zemke surrounded by two other aces: Robert Johnson and Walker H. Mahurina a. L.But his work has gone further. «The problem is that, for a long time, historians have focused on only two levels of war: the strategic and the tactical. The first refers to the high command, the general objectives; The second is the hardest side of the conflict, the fighting,” he asserts. He, on the other hand, has opted to analyze an overlooked area of the Second World War: «What was missing was the operational level: the economy, the supply chains, the different approaches of the nations in the fight. When you introduce it, everything changes drastically. To make matters worse, our Brit enjoys going down into the mud with the soldiers, and he does so through countless interviews with survivors that, by the way, he posts on his website. Because yes, it works for everyone, and not just for him. His penultimate adventure was a historic podcast by Al Murray: ‘WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk’. “It has already taken root,” he jokes. Curious metaphor to remember that there are almost nine hundred episodes. Air Battle But Holland has come today to talk about his new book; the one in which he analyzes one of the most unknown episodes of the Second World War. “The ‘Big Week’, the third of February 1944, was designed to become a concentrated and massive air assault against Germany,” he explains. For seven full days, day and night, night and day, the Allied command launched its bombers located in Great Britain and Italy against the heart of the Reich with a double objective: to hit the Nazi aeronautical industry – which had managed to manufacture at its peak of productivity – 2,200 fighters in a month – and force the ‘Luftwaffe’ to expose itself in the skies. “If they lined up their planes and entered into battle, their numbers, already in clear decline, would be reduced even more,” he adds. That is the zenith of the work, but also the excuse to scrutinize the birth and evolution of the bombing strategy. ally during the war. Because, contrary to what is believed – and the British return to destroy myths -, its ultimate goal was always the volatilization of the industrial heart of the Third Reich. «The previous June, in 1943, it had already been agreed in ‘Operation Pointblank’ that the priority of the strategic air forces should be the destruction of the ‘Luftwaffe’ factories. At that time they consisted of the Bomber Command of the British Royal Air Force (RAF), which operated at night, and the United States Eighth Air Force (USAF), which operated during the day. Both, from their bases in Great Britain,” he adds. Jim Howard, one of the most prominent fighter pilots of WWII. The author points out that the promised attacks occurred intermittently since the summer of 1943, and also that they had to wait. a couple of months for the ‘Big Week’ to be devised, baptized on paper as ‘Operation Argument’. The idea was that, with their arrival, the bombings would become more widespread. And all, with a curious backdrop in mind: the Normandy Landings. «The plan was vital to the success of D-Day. The allies knew that, when they set foot in northern France, a race would begin to see which side could muster the most men and material. “Would it be them, who had to cross the English Channel by boat, or the Germans, who were already positioned on the continent and had transport networks to resort to?” he adds. The question is rhetorical, well. The only way to deny this advantage to the Reich, Holland emphasizes, was by “destroying those continental transport networks” structured through “bridges such as those over the Seine and Loire rivers.” But the puzzle was complex. To destroy the railway lines ready to transport men and tanks throughout France, bombers that “operated at low altitude” were needed, and, for these to complete their task safely, it was necessary to deal a good blow to the ‘Luftwaffe’ before the Day. D. Hence ‘Operation Argument’. «The allies focused all their efforts on it. An example is that, as their fighter planes did not have enough range to reach the depths of the Reich and escort their bombers, they devised a new fighter: the P-51 Mustang. James Holland ABCHolland, a tank enthusiast, airplanes and anything mechanical with a tradition, he pauses to praise this fighter: “It was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and not only had incredible range, but a top speed that changed the rules of the game. Their arrival allowed the American daytime bombing raids to enter the Reich and return in a much safer way. Related news standard Yes Unpublished papers Vicente Aleixandre Documents reveal an error in his biography Manuel P. Villatoro standard No The atomic bomb The ‘damned bastards’ that prevented Hitler from crushing the world Manuel P. VillatoroWhen the ‘Big Week’ started, back on February 19, 1944, there were enough P-51s to crush the fighters that the enemy had at their disposal, the already ancient Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf. Despite everything, the British does not detract from the Allied aviators. «They participated in the largest aerial battle of the war, and they did so in freezing cold. Snow covered much of Europe and the weather was far from ideal, but they had no other choice,” he adds. It was time to fight. The epilogue was satisfactory. “Without ‘Big Week,’ D-Day would have ended in disaster,” Holland explains. And he adds that, thanks to constant bombing, “at the end of May 1944 the closest ‘Luftwaffe’ plane was 700 kilometers from Normandy.” From his mouth come an infinite number of locations whose factories were mercilessly destroyed by the RAF and the USAF: Leipzig, Sturttgart, Regensburg, Augsburg… A blow that well deserved a fat test.
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