Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will", "documentary" of the NSDAP Rally at Nuremberg, September, 1934 was a landmark movie in several respects.  Many of the prints in current circulation do her less than justice - she had to address a huge range of technical problems new to the movie industry at the time.  Among these were matters as basic as outdoor filming, night filming, the whole question of sound ("Triumph" was not a true sound movie, but one might strain to know this), filming of large masses of unexperienced extras ... the list goes on.  On an artistic level, there are also many detailed motifs worthy of attention, and largely (if not totally) absent from early cinema.  The general purpose of these touches seems to have been to integrate the grandiose pantomime of the Rally with the normal life of the participants, and of the city of Nuremberg.  This image, captured from the movie, falls into this cat-egory - a very brief view of a cat apparently watching from  a window ledge as the Fuhrer's triumphal entry into the city passes by.  Not sure that this was the wisest choice.  Did Leni know cats ?  Don't really know - but the impression I get from the movie, however brief the take may have been, is that the Furry Friend was not particularly impressed.  Probably hated the noise ...  Of course, this scenelet may have been post-staged.  Again, I do not know.  "Triumph of the Will" is a movie that suggests very substantial research, even allowing the degree of attention it has received already ... Best regards, JR.

What do you mean, "Fuhrer" ? That's me ! ...

Poster exhorting the men of Britain to join the Royal Tank Regiment, Territorial Army.  Technically, the RTR/TA was the formation succeeding the old Yeomanry - the earlier territorial home defence cavalry units usually formed, in long-gone times, by local gentlemen and well-to-do farmers who owned their own horses.  

The Yeomanry and Militia (infantry version) of Jane Austen's period had the reassurance of being able to swan around in their nice uniforms without any question of involuntary service outside Great Britain and Ireland (although English and Scottish Militia units in particular did play a vital part in the suppression of the United Irishmen rising in 1798).  By 1939, however, the yeoman cavalry had been converted into a true reserve for the regular army "cavalry".  By this time, all of these units had been mechanized to some extent.  At about the time of the production of this poster, the Royal Tank Regiment consisted of three Regular Brigades, backed up by four Territorial brigades.  While, at the outset, the intention appears to have been to confine less-well trained Territorial armoured units to scouting and secondary functions generally, as the war advanced, Territorial units were increasingly drawn into front-line functions, not only in terms of supplying replacements to Regular units, but in their own right.  Territorial units, under their own designations, took a substantial part in Operation Overlord and, on the whole, performed well in the latter part of the war.

One problem that had to be overcome in the design of this poster is that the official artist does not seem to have known what a suitable tank for inclusion in the poster might be.  The poster suggests that he was shown the Vickers A1E1 Independent heavy tank/land cruiser, Britain's pioneering multi-turret tank, and told to paint away.  There are inaccuracies in the portrayal; nonetheless, the A1E1 is the closest match to the tank in the poster.  This was, in reality, a bit fanciful, even to the point of showing two A1E1s in the poster.  Only one prototype of the A1E1 was ever produced.  Noting the various limitations of the vehicle, the War Office had abandoned the A1E1 programme as far back as 1929.  Still, it looked impressive and that, presumably, was the point.  The A1E1's innovative technology was important for the development of later British tanks, and was quite influential in influencing the short-lived multi-turret tank programmes of other nations, notably the Soviet Union.  However, the possibility of making the A1E1 a major British combat tank, by 1939, had long passed.  Best regards, JR.

Join the Tanks !

Russian postage stamp honoring one of the leading Soviet fighter aces and fighter tacticians of WW2, Alexandr Pokryshkin.  Pokryshkin's official score was 59 Axis aircraft outright kills with 6 shared kills.  His actual score was probably much higher, since Soviet attribution of kills tended to be awarded only if the kill could be confirmed by examination of physical remains - often not possible where the kill took place over established enemy-occupied areas.

Pokryshkin revolutionized Soviet fighter tactics, encouraging his comrades to ignore the inappropriate engagement tactics used by the Soviet air force early in the war.  Typically, this seems to have been interpreted by his superiors as something like "disobeying orders".  He was slated from a (probably terminal) court martial, until his comrades pointed out the increasingly obvious fact that his tactical innovations actually worked.  All being forgiven, Pokryshkin went on to be awarded the Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union three times (with Stars),  four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvarov twice, and the Orders of the Patriotic War and of the Red Star twice each.  He continued in the service postwar, and rose to the rank of Marshal of Aviation.

Pokryshkin was an absolute devotee of the Bell Aircobra, and of its successor, the Kingcobra.  He resisted a number of attempts to convert his commands to alternative fighters, and was not alone among Soviet aces in this.  The Aircobra was lousy ?  Well, depended on where you were, and what were your requirements.  Best regards, JR.