The Language of World War II

[AmateisGal]

An archivist at the US National Archives scanned this book called The Language of World War II and I thought you'd all enjoy it!

Here's the link: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/v...quotations-titles-and-other-terms-and-phrases

 

[Tiki Tom]

That’s a treasure trove for anyone who might be thinking about writing a WWII novel.

 

[MikeKardec]

Fan - freaking - tastic!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

"Banana Dollar"

 

[scotrace]

Wonderful resource!

 

[Tiki Tom]

A bit of a side-track (apologies): I recently wrote the first chapter of a WWII novel. However, in chapter two a young woman is supposed to be called into Winston Churchill’s office in the war rooms to learn that her boyfriends plane has gone missing in the Battle of Britain. My writing came to a screeching halt. How on earth am I to believably capture the legend that is Churchill? Any tips on portraying god himself? I have set it aside. I plan to do some fresh reading on the man, but it is a challenge.

 

[Skyhawk]

Really cool! Thanks for posting this up.

 

[GHT]

A bit of a side-track (apologies): I recently wrote the first chapter of a WWII novel. However, in chapter two a young woman is supposed to be called into Winston Churchill’s office in the war rooms to learn that her boyfriends plane has gone missing in the Battle of Britain. My writing came to a screeching halt. How on earth am I to believably capture the legend that is Churchill? Any tips on portraying god himself? I have set it aside. I plan to do some fresh reading on the man, but it is a challenge.

Try William Manchester's book: The Last Lion. Winston Spencer Churchill. Alone.
And, Christopher Catherwood: Churchill. The Greatest Briton.
From a different angle you might find these two books very interesting:
Winston Churchill by his personal secretary, Elizabeth Nel.
First Lady, The Life & Wars of Clementine Churchill by Sonia Purnell.
My missus bought me a number of books while I was recovering from my recent hip replacement operation, one of which is: The Churchill Factor, by Boris Johnson. It's by a current serving British politician, but other than giving the sleeve notes a cursory glance, I haven't, as yet, had time to read it.

 

[MikeKardec]

A bit of a side-track (apologies): I recently wrote the first chapter of a WWII novel. However, in chapter two a young woman is supposed to be called into Winston Churchill’s office in the war rooms to learn that her boyfriends plane has gone missing in the Battle of Britain. My writing came to a screeching halt. How on earth am I to believably capture the legend that is Churchill? Any tips on portraying god himself? I have set it aside. I plan to do some fresh reading on the man, but it is a challenge.

Just do some research, I think you'll find that the character writes himself. I think I remember a moment early in The Last Lion where Churchill is playing with some kids and an electric train set at Christmas and he delights in setting up the trains to crash into one and other. If you find that is right and accurate I'm betting you could simply run with that particular detail. Underneath, "god himself" was just a big kid. I'm sure you've seen the photo of him with the Tommy Gun. They put him out to pasture but he was able to sneak back in. He was as adult a man as there has ever been but given the level of his responsibilities and the graveness of the situation he was having the time of his life.

That is obviously NOT the take of a recent movie. It may not be historically accurate. But it is a take and it is a FUN one and if you don't have fun you'll never write. You have to entertain yourself!

I had a brief experience writing the character of Doc Halliday some years ago. Incredibly fun. NO one writes Halliday poorly. Irony oozes from everyone's version of that character.

Don't be afraid. Let Churchill rip!

 

[GHT]

Don't be afraid. Let Churchill rip!

He was certainly famous for his pithy wit and sharp retort. Once standing at the urinals in the House of Commons when the Labour Prime Minister, Clement Attlee walked in. Churchill turned his back on him. “Feeling stand-offish today, Winston?” asked Attlee. “No,” Churchill replied, “scared. Every time you see something big, you want to nationalise it.”

And of course the famous clash with Labour MP Bessie Braddock when she said: "Sir, you are drunk." "Yes Madam," he replied, "and you are ugly, but in the morning I shall be sober."

 

[Tiki Tom]

Great comments and advice. Thanks! (already read the Manchester book, but it was YEARS ago. Quite enjoyed it.)

I just want to avoid writing a hackneyed or cliche' version of Churchill; Rottund, witty guy with a cigar in one hand, a drink in the other, and a twinkle in his eye who ---by the way--- embodied British resolve against Hitler before the British fully knew it themselves.

if I decide to plunge into the novel again, I'm going to try to work the following Churchill quote into the scene:

She: "I met him when we were both fighting Franco in Spain. Not a popular stance back home at the time."
Churchill: "Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right than to be responsible and wrong."​

First I'd better figure out where WC stood on the Loyalists in Spain, in general, and the International Brigades specifically. Might have to completely re-imagine the exchange! Today it has all been romanticized to the hilt, back then it was poison to a lot of people.

 

[HanauMan]

Interesting, for sure.

Many of the army words and terms, especially, were still being used in the 1960s / 70s when I grew up in an military family and many of these had crossed over into everyday usage by the army kids too. However, by that time many were going out of general use and were being supplemented by newer terms.

 

[Harp]

During Vietnam we were instructed to use the cooks for perimeter defense if necessary.
"Put them on an M60 and tell them they better shoot like they mean business, and I mean business,"
I recall a sergeant barking. Henceforth "and I mean business," became a favored end-tag hung on an order.

 

[Seth Byrnes]

Any idea where the book went?

The link is sadly dead now.