Beach Haven

Mauldin, Bill. 1944. Up Front. New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
 
Review by Michael Beach

The author severed in the US Army during WWII. In that time, he was assigned to the army periodical Stars and Stripes as a cartoonist. The focus of his cartoons was the war experience as seen through the lens of the ‘doggies’ meaning the average front line infantryman. His two consistent characters are Willie and Joe. They are referred to as doggies because of their constant dog face expression from the weariness of war. The book shares some of his more notable cartoons and the stories behind them.

Along with the experiences that inspired his drawings, Mauldin explains many of the attitudes and perceptions of the enlisted soldiers, officers, Italian and French citizens, the partisans, and German soldiers taken prisoner. Mauldin directly interacted with all of these groups. His wit is at times stinging, at times good natured. His editors seemed to always support him, but ‘the brass’ sometimes took umbrage.

My favorite comes near the end of the book. The troops he was with had advanced into the Alps. One soldier sits on a rock near a very attractive local girl. Another soldier stands nearby. The seated soldier has his head in his hands and laments, “I ast her to teach me to yodel. She taught me to yodel.” He was obviously hoping for something else.

Mauldin does a good job of explaining differences between the frontline ‘doggies’ and so many others he encountered who didn’t face the daily stress of direct warfare. He is fair, though. Not all the frontline heroes are heroes, and not all those serving behind the fighting are villains. As you might guess there are plenty of humorous anecdotes throughout. The last few pages seem more serious. He walks the reader through a time when he was ready to rotate statewide. In the interim, he spends time at a field hospital. He notes several characters from doctors, to medics, their wry humor and dedication to treating wounded soldiers over extended periods.
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I found the work both entertaining and insightful. I think it fair to say the sort of experiences Bill Mauldin documents are probably not unique to the particular war he was involved in. 

Payne, Stanley G., and Jesus Palacios. 2014. Franco: A Personal and Political Biography. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Francisco Franco rose to power just prior to World War II. He became a de facto dictator in Spain until his death in 1975. His rule was nationalist, and took on the trappings of Hitler’s Nazi party, but instead of exterminating Jews, Spain under Franco protected them. Spain did not become engaged in Hitler’s European war at any scale. Hitler sent little help to Spain, and Spain committed few troops to Hitler’s campaigns. In a way, the two nationalist governments kept out of each other’s way.
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Franco came up through the military ranks quicker than his peers. When political strife that led to the Spanish civil war intensified, his extended family were on both sides. His brother was a famous military pilot but became anti-regal or pro-socialist during the civil war. Francisco Franco remained loyal to the traditional government, then the republican leadership until it began to crumble just before the civil war began.

As the title implies, there is much of the public biographical history shared by the authors. In addition, they include many details documented by various Franco family members and associates. At times, he drives history. At other times he is driven by the greater society and events surrounding him. Like many national leaders, his ideas and actions are both enigmatic, and change over time. 

O'Brian, Patrick. 1970. Master and Commander. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company.
 
A friend of mine gave me this book a few Christmas seasons ago. When I saw the title, I assumed this was the book that inspired the movie starring Russell Crowe. As it turns out there is an entire series of these books by Patrick O’Brian. The movie was an adaptation of the sixth book in the series. The book I read this time is the first book in the series. The volumes are all called Master and Commander, except after this first in the series (this one I read) the rest have a subtitle. For example, the sixth book the movie was made from is Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

In this first book, Jack Aubrey is made captain of a small English naval ship called the Sophie. He meets Stephen Maturin on shore. Maturin is a medical doctor. They become friends and Aubrey talks Maturin into joining him as the ship’s doctor. Most of the book depicts a series of military exploits around the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar, generally against French shipping. On a few occasions they go up against man-o-war vessels and conquer. They manage to rescue British and ally prisoners on some of these ships. They also attack a shore-based enemy fort.

Eventually the tide of war shifts for the Sophie when she is attacked by a larger, faster, and better armed French Frigate. The crew is captured, ransomed back to the British navy, and stand before a court-martial on Gibraltar for losing their ship to the enemy. The captain and crew are eventually found not to be responsible, but Aubrey and Maturin are left without a ship. While on Gibraltar they witness a definitive battle in the strait between British and French ships. England wins, and not long after, Napoleon loses in his land campaign in the first Napoleonic War. Suddenly many navy officers are shore-bound with an unsure future. That’s where this first book in the Aubrey saga ends.

My friend who made this book a gift to me gave me the second as well. She jokingly called the series a ‘man’s romance novel’ since they are written in a similar style, but focus on wartime action. To be sure there is some romancing by Captain Aubrey, but this is minimized. Aubrey has a fling with an old love who it turns out is the wife of a member of the admiralty. This indiscretion comes back to haunt him. He is not penalized in the court-martial toward the end of the story, but finding a new ship to command becomes elusive in the post-war era. Despite all the enemy ships he captures as prizes, his loss of the Sophie in battle becomes enough reason for him to become a former master and commander.

Hemingway, Ernest. 1940. For Whom the Bell Tolls. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
 
​It’s the Civil War, but not the one most Americans think about. Just prior to World War II the country of Spain spiraled into a civil war pitting nationalistic fascists against a republic mostly comprised of anti-monarchy socialists. The story follows a group of socialist republicans just before an attack by their armies against the city of Segovia. Among the guerillas is an American, Robert Jordan, with demolition skills. The group is assigned to blow up a bridge just as the fighting starts in order to hold off some of the fascist forces from assisting.

Along the way Jordan falls in love and has a brief affair with a young fighter, Maria, who had earlier been raped by Falangists, a faction within the nationalist movement. The small band share stories of atrocities they either suffered, witnessed, or perpetrated.

It’s clear from the story that one of the themes Ernest Hemingway is sharing is how there are no ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ in war, rather all sides feel justified in both their cause and their actions. Likewise, none of the survivors of incidents or episodes within war are unchanged. Like other works I’ve read by Hemingway, his storytelling is masterful.