The New York Times edition on my Birthday

Last year on May 24th, my sister surprised me with a facsimile copy of the New York Times edition published about the time I was born at 3:30 AM.

It came bound in maroon leather binder with my name and birth date embossed in gold on the front cover.

There is so much history recorded in these 42 pages that after a few hours spent reading the issue, I feel that I have barely absorbed the news of the day or the two dozen articles on World War II.

Hitler was blitzkrieging his way across France, Holland and Belgium and actually had secured a beachhead at the English Channel. Indeed, the British under Prime Ministers Chamberlain (28 May 1937-10 May 1940) and Churchill (10 May 1940-27 July 1945, 16 October 1951-7 April 1955) spent May, 1940 agonizing over an imminent German invasion and were mobilizing for a full scale sea, air and land invasion by the Nazis. (only the air assaults materialized.)

Indeed less than 3 weeks after my birth--on June 13--German forces had occupied Paris and 9 days later Marshal Petain had signed an armistice with Hitler.

The Nazis march past the Arc de Triomphe on the

Champs Elysees on June 14, 1940. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The Front Page headline of the New York Times reads:

ALLIES PRESS DRIVE TO TRAP NAZIS IN SALIENT;

GERMANS ATTACK BOULOGNE, MOVE ON CALAIS;

BRITISH PLANES POUND REICH, BLOW UP TRAIN

To be continued.