Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 18h

Film books on the shelf: Burt Lancaster by Kate Bufod.

Always loved Burt since I first saw his cheesy smile in The Crimson Pirate one rainy afternoon.

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 20h

During the liberation of Chartres, a Life magazine photographer spotted Simone Segouin and snapped a photograph, turning Simone into an icon of the Resistance and the Liberation.
#History #Resistance #antifascist

1

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 20h

Luftwaffe intelligence officer Harro Schulze-Boysen, who told the Soviet Union that Hitler was about to attack, and his wife, Libertas, who worked for a Nazi film unit & secretly collected evidence of Nazi atrocities. Libertas whispered to her executioner: “Let me keep my young life.” #antifa

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 21h

The B-17 saved by a “miracle”

In the summer of 1978 two former members of a B-17 crew met to discuss their escape from death in a raid on Kassel in Germany in 1943. Sitting on a porch in Tarrytown, New York, co-pilot Bohn Fawkes turned to his navigator Elmer “Benny” Bendiner and said: “You…

The B-17 saved by a “miracle”

In the summer of 1978 two former members of a B-17 crew met to discuss their escape from death in a raid on Kassel in Germany in 1943. Sitting on a porch in Tarrytown, New York, co-pilot Bohn Fawkes turned to his navigator Elmer “Benny” Bendiner and said: “You remember that we were hit with 20-mm shells?” Benny said that of course he did but that was not unusual.

greglewisinfo.com

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 1d

The B-17 saved by a “miracle”

In the summer of 1978 two former members of a B-17 crew met to discuss their escape from death in a raid on Kassel in Germany in 1943. Sitting on a porch in Tarrytown, New York, co-pilot Bohn Fawkes turned to his navigator Elmer “Benny” Bendiner and said: “You…

The B-17 saved by a “miracle”

In the summer of 1978 two former members of a B-17 crew met to discuss their escape from death in a raid on Kassel in Germany in 1943. Sitting on a porch in Tarrytown, New York, co-pilot Bohn Fawkes turned to his navigator Elmer “Benny” Bendiner and said: “You remember that we were hit with 20-mm shells?” Benny said that of course he did but that was not unusual.

greglewisinfo.com

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 1d

The memorial in Copenhagen to Anders Lassen, the only non-Commonwealth recipient of the VC in WW2. A veteran of the Commandos, SOE, the SAS & the SBS. A man of tremendous courage. #antifa #antifascist

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 1d

Arvid & Mildred Harnack, who developed an anti-Nazi organisation in Berlin. Both were executed. Mildred, an American, escaped the death sentence in her first trial – but Hitler insisted on it. #antifascist #antifa #WW2

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 2d

Diane Keaton in Reds.

Such a great film. One to revisit now.

#cinema

2

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 10d

I loved Philip Larkin when I was a miserable, depressed youngster.

I’m less miserable now but I still love Larkin for this:

“…we should be careful
Of each other, we should be kind
While there is still time.”

#poetry #humanity

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 11d

Love Godfather 2 and a load of De Niro #films but if I had to choose two of his films to take to a desert island it would be these:

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 16d

"Theirs was a moral & ideological #resistance, & not the resistance to a foreign occupier. (They) were pursued most fervently by the regime."
Many thanks to Tyler Wolanin for this article on Defying Hitler.
Books seems as relevant as ever.
tylerwolanin.com/blog/2019/9/...

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 16d

Cricket fans can enjoy dozens of interviews & features on the Museum of Welsh #Cricket podcast which has been produced for several years by Steve Hedges.
I've just joined Steve to help out. My first is live: a fan celebration of #Glamorgan men's promotion season.
www.cricketmuseum.wales/podcast/

www.cricketmuseum.wales

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 20d

Excellent work, Nancy!

1 1

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 20d

Driving this afternoon, I listened to the new series of #LifeLines by Al Smith, which really put me through the mill. Brilliant radio drama.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Life Lines - Series 8: Part One - BBC Sounds

Award-winning drama set in an ambulance control centre.

www.bbc.co.uk

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 20d

The families and friends of two #POWs have shared their archives with me over the past week for my current book.
Amazing photos and stories, taking me down new research routes. Always a pleasure to be shining a light on great untold life stories.
#WW2 #writing

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 24d

That's some pretty smart old folks accommodation in Thursday Murder Club, isn't it?

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 24d

Hammertime.

#films

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · Oct 20

Had huge fun talking to two guys who worked for Hammer during the heady days of the late 60s/early 70s, rubbing shoulders with Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee &, of course, younger stars such as Maddy Smith and Ingrid Pitt. Do have a listen, horror/British film fans!
open.spotify.com/episode/5g3X...

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 24d

I still haven't edited and put out this interview. Slow coach.

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · Jan 16

Happy birthday to Caroline Munro - star of Bond, Hammer and more lately Talking Pictures TV. Spent day with her once - she was absolutely lovely. My recorder dropped off the table during our interview & she offered to do it all again!

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 24d

To be honest, I think you see this in public debate in both the US and the UK.

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · Feb 16

One of the things foreign observers noted during the early months of Nazi power was the way fascism seeks to suck compassion out of society.

Quote from 'Defying Hitler: The Germans Who Resisted Nazi Rule' by Gordon Thomas & Greg Lewis

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 25d

When I see a 'notification' on Blue Sky.

a man sits in a chair with a bag of chips on his lap

ALT: a man sits in a chair with a bag of chips on his lap

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Greg Lewis

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · Jun 27

"A terrifying and timely account of resistance in the face of the greatest of evils.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family’s Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris
greglewisinfo.com/defying-hitl...

1

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 25d

#Substack: a good choice for writers or not?

#writingcommunity #writers

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 25d

Bloomin' heck! Mention of that film takes me right back to what was my local video rental shop in Swansea. Please remember to rewind your tapes before returning.

2

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 25d

A favourite Shackleton story relates to Endurance stowaway Perce Blackborow.

‘Do you know that on these expeditions we often get very hungry, and if there is a stowaway he is the first to be eaten?’ Shackleton growled.

To which young Perce replied: ‘They’d get a lot more meat off you, sir.’

2 2 4

Greg Lewis @gregjlewis.bsky.social · 26d

“...And another soldier, a medic, he put himself between me and the officer – and I swear blind, that German soldier saved my life.”

That was a moment which still brought a lump to his throat decades later. There was a stranger somewhere – an enemy – to whom he owed another 70 years of life.

ends