LIFE1936-1948

The March 31, 1941, cover of LIFE shows a Curtiss Helldiver and calls it the world’s best dive bomber. The aircraft carrier Enterprise is depicted with Douglas TBD torpedo bombers taking off from it’s deck practicing a mock attack. LIFE says, “they might be enemy bombers from an alien aircraft carrier coming in to attack the great Pearl Harbor base.” We know that just over eight months later this is exactly what happened on December 7,1941. The Enterprise was away from Hawaii on December 7th so it never got to defend the base. The Douglas TBD topedo bombers probably wouldn’t have done much good if they had been there. Three squadrons of the TBD’s totaling 41 planes were used against the Japanese fleet in mid 1942 during the Battle of Midway and only six survived. TBD torpedos that hit Japanese ships during the battle were often duds. The Douglas TBD was very susceptible to enemy flak and saw little action after this battle. The Curtiss Helldiver suffered many delays and modifications in it’s development and didn’t see action until November, 1943, at Rabual north of New Guinea. It was underpowered, had a short range, an unreliable electrical system and was often poorly manufactured. It spent most of the war as a trainer or pulling target tugs. LIFE rightly predicted that, “though it has little past to look back on, the aircraft carrier may have a history making future.”  LIFE could not have picked a better example of aircraft carrier effectiveness than the Enterprise.  The Enterprise collected 20 battle stars during WW II, more than any US War Ship.  The Enterprise is arguably the most honored ship in US naval history.

The May 8, 1944, edition of LIFE has a frank and pessimistic article about the failed raid on the town of Dieppe in August, 1942.   Six thousand men, mostly Canadians, walked into “an unmitigated disaster for the Allies.”  “The Germans turned out to be fantastically stronger than the British had expected.”  Even though the British had complete control of the air, “The plain fact was-and is-that direct assault upon a well-defended enemy coastline, is just about the most difficult undertaking in the books.”  Darkly, the article states that, “We have learned much from Dieppe.  But so have Nazis who have been strengthening their defenses ever since.”  Several pictures of captured or dead Allied soldiers are included.  We all know that less than one much later, June 6, 1944, D-Day, the Allies launched the invasion of Europe in Normandy.  The purpose of this article was to communicate to the Nazis that the Allies were plenty worried about the invasion and our resolve was shaky,  as we were about to confront Germany again on the beaches of Europe.  While we don’t know if the article influenced German behavior, we do know that  nearly 160,000  Allied stormed ashore  and began their successful liberation of Europe.  Taken in the context of previous WW II articles about Allied battles that appeared In LIFE, this was the first one that was overtly gloomy.  The US Government, in an effort to build morale on the home front, screened discouraging news and likely would not have permitted such an article unless they were trying to confuse the Germans.

Rita Hayworth graces the Sept. 6, 1941, cover of LIFE in the midst of becoming a triple threat singing, dancing and glamor star. Meanwhile, America’s greatest hero of the 20th Century, Charles Lindbergh, was causing big problems as America was about to tumble into WWII. Lindbergh’s admiration for Germany was palpable. And he revealed his racism as he “expressed the hope that eventually Britain, a Germanized Europe and the U.S. would find themselves co-operating in a mutual “White” front against the more numerous but less skilful races of the world-Yellow, Brown and Black.” Serving as an apologist for Germany, he stated dangerous ideas about might and right. “In periods of satisfaction, ‘right’ becomes associated with the law, while in periods of strife it becomes an ally of force…” “Germany, as a ’strong people dissatisfied with it’s position,’ had turned to that primeval ‘right’ of force.” He led the America First movement that preached isolation and drew adoring crowds. Pearl Harbor put an end to America First and Lindbergh tried to get in the fight. But Roosevelt was furious with him and would have none of it. Later in the war as a civilian in the Pacific front, he flew 50 combat missions and was credited with destroying an enemy plane. Lindbergh also gave valuable aeronautical advice that improved the effectiveness and range of US war planes in the Pacific. After the war Lindbergh was an aviation consultant and had his reputation restored when President Eisenhower made him a Brigadier General in the reserves. Following the death of his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh (a pioneering aviator in her own right…and author)in 2001, it was revealed that Lindbergh fathered at least five children with two sisters in Germany. The entire article  is included because Lindbergh’s story is so complex.