Brian Coppola :: WW2 Era

1944.12.20 “It Can’t Happen There” by William (Bill) Crawford

Artist: Bill Crawford (All)

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1944.12.20 “It Can’t Happen There” by William (Bill) Crawford Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	1944.12.20 “It Can’t Happen There” by William (Bill) Crawford
Artist:	Bill Crawford (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	613
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	9/4/2019
Comic Art Archive:

Description

“It Can’t Happen There” (December 20, 1944)
William (Bill) Crawford (1913-1982)
18.5 x 22 in., ink and crayon on heavy paper

Crawford worked as a sports cartoonist and for the Washington Daily News and the Washington Post from 1936-38. He joined the Newark News as an editorial cartoonist and his cartoons were distributed to more than 700 daily newspapers by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He was an active member of the National Cartoonists Society, serving as its president and vice-president. In 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1963 he was awarded "Best Editorial Cartoon" by the National Cartoonist Society, and in 1973 he received their Silver T-Square Award. Crawford retired in 1977.

In WW2, there was no Christmas truce as there was during WW1. On December 7, 1941, Pope Benedict XV suggested the idea of a truce. The countries and their commanders disagreed, but on December 24, 1914, after 5 hard months of conflict, British, French and German soldiers left their trenches and exchanged gifts, food, and stories, and playing soccer. Afraid of future fraternization and sympathies, any such suggestion of truce was threatened with disciplinary action. Robert Kennedy called for a Christmas truce in 1965, during the Vietnam War, which lasted 30 hours. The Tét Truce, celebrating the lunar new year, had typically been observed by the North and South Vietnamese during that war, although that was broken in 1968 (Tét Offensive).

The Battle of the Bulge began on December 16, 1944. The Germans called this “Operation Watch on the Rhine.” The US Press dubbed this “the battle of the bulge” because of the way the troop advancements appeared on the maps.

This was to be the last major German western offensive, and lasted 5 weeks, in the Ardennes forests of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. On December 24, the winter weather broke and the Allied air raids against this surprise attack halted the advance of the Nazis. Patton reached the front on the 26th, and the offensive was considered broken by the next day.

There is a great story known about a meeting that took place in a hunting cabin in the woods located near Monschau, Germany, on the border of Germany and Belgium, just south of Aachen.

Driven from Aachen because their home and business, a bakery, were bombed, Elizabeth Vincken and her son, 12-year-old Fritz, were alone in their family cabin about four miles outside Monschau on Christmas eve. Hubert Vincken, the baker, was tending to business obligations in Aachen, and had not yet rejoined his family.

A knock at the door; Elizabeth and her son were surprised to see two lost and bedraggled young American soldiers with their wounded comrade, who could have burst in and taken the cabin, but did not. She invited them in. The soldiers spoke no German, and the Vinckens no English, but they shared enough French words to communicate. Seeing their condition, she decided to fix a meal. She sent Fritz to get potatoes and the turkey (named “Hermann” out of Elizabeth’s distaste of Goering), which was being saved for their meal when her husband returned.

As Hermann was roasting, there was another knock at the door. Fritz opened it to another set of (polite) soldiers, but this time four lost armed Germans, three of them also very young, in their mid-teens. Elizabeth, fearful of the penalty for harboring the enemy, pushed past Fritz and met them outside. She said they were welcome to come in, get warm, and share a good meal, but that there were others inside whom they would not much like to see.

The German corporal (a seasoned 23 years old) asked, severely, if there were Americans in the cabins. Holding his stare, she said yes, they are as lost as you are, and one is wounded.

“It is the Holy Night,” she continued. “And there will be no shooting here.” She required them to disarm and leave their weapons outside, and went back inside, demanding the same of the Americans.

After some tense moments, the Germans produced a bottle of wine and some bread. One of the Germans, who spoke English, was also an ex-medical student. He examined the wounded soldier, whom he said needed food and rest.

The Christmas truce lasted through the morning.

The young corporal looked at the Americans’ map and gave them directions back to the front, along with his compass, telling them to avoid Monschau, which was being held by the Germans. The soldiers shook hands, retrieved their weapons, and parted in opposite directions.

The story might have been lost to history except for a speech given by President Reagan, in Germany, on May 5, 1985, at the time of the G7 Meeting.

For that story, go to the cartoon by Phillip Bissell (05/07/1985) titled “Laid to Rest, Finally.”

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	Brian Coppola Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	March 2009
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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steve staszower
Member Since 2005

Posted on 9/4/2019

If only it did happen, and they had some reprieve...

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