1942.03.21 “The First Robin of Spring” William (Bill) Crawford
Artist: Bill Crawford (All)
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Description“The First Robin of Spring” (March 21, 1942)William (Bill) Crawford (1913-1982) 17.5 x 19.5 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. On June 22, 1941, one year to the day after the fall of France, Hitler launched his attack on Russia in Operation Barbarossa. A fake build-up and saber-rattling at England was a deception and a way to surprise Stalin, and by mid-July the Nazis were within 200 miles of Moscow. On a few months later, the Japanese would attack the US at Pearl Harbor. The first day of spring, 1942. A severe rainy season slowed down the Germans that fall, and a severe winter for which they were ill-equipped held them in place. Unlike Napoleon in the face of a Soviet winter, who retreated, the Germans were ordered to stay, and probably only made the hardship worse. The signs and expectations were there, then, for what would happen in the spring. It was not until July 1942 that Hitler resumed his push to the east, into the upper middle-eastern oilfields of Baku, and towards the pipelines of Stalingrad in August. Social/Sharing |
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Brian Coppola 
Member Since 2009
Posted on 9/8/2019
steve staszower wrote:
Great piece and description!
Thanks. I had to make a few assumptions thanks to the inherit ambiguity. Is this the threat that Hitler seeks to continue, as he waits for his harbinger of spring and his threat against the Allies... or is it the threat to Hitler, as his fear of the spring is the further press by Russia, after the Winter, against the Wehrmacht?
I have another take on the exact same theme by Crawford ("Invasion Plans") that I'll post on Sept 10, 2019.
Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy
Member Since 2005
Posted on 9/8/2019
That is a really clever cartoon. We of course have the bnefit and hindsight of history but I can imagine so many people huddled and listening with outlawed radio's listening to the BBC broadcasting from Europe and hoping against hope that this would be the spring , this was the smallest sign of spring ,when the tides would turn and long awaited invasion begin
Brian Coppola
Member Since 2009
Posted on 9/8/2019
Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy wrote:
That is a really clever cartoon. We of course have the bnefit and hindsight of history but I can imagine so many people huddled and listening with outlawed radio's listening to the BBC broadcasting from Europe and hoping against hope that this would be the spring , this was the smallest sign of spring ,when the tides would turn and long awaited invasion begin
Hi. Yeah. See my reply to Steve. It is interesting how this can be interpreted from two different viewpoints. It would be neat (and a lot of work) to find its intended published context and see what was around it on its main editorial page.
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