Hello and welcome to this edition of Between the Lines, the podcast that desiphers the

handwriting, unfolds faded pages and dips into the details of Diaries, log books and letters

written during this same week, there or thereabouts, in 1943, some 80 years ago.

Let's start with a quick recap of the situation.

It's the second week of May 1943 and on the 12th General Hans Jarkin von Armin personally

surrenders his forces in Tunisia to General Francis Tuker in Capbon. The following day, the

13th, the Allies announced their complete victory in North Africa. It's a big moment in the

war, although in Spain, General Osimo Francesco Franco is unimpressed. The present worldwide

conflict, he tells the press, has reached a dead point and neither side now has the power

to destroy the other. Indeed, this is the week Adolf Hitler

signs a decree with the intention to extend his dictatorship indefinitely. However, President

Roosevelt and Winston Churchill have a much shorter time frame in mind. This is also the

week they meet for the latest round of joint staff talks, and for the first time, the

conference, codenamed Trident, is taking place in Washington, D.C. There is much for them

to discuss. It'll take time for details of their decisions to reach the Allied forces

that are now being deployed worldwide. But the news about a shift in the balance of power

in North Africa is spreading much faster. Let's rejoin Captain Bertie Packer, commanding

the mighty battleship HMS Warspite, as he's bringing his ship and crew back to Britain

for a short refit.

Saturday 8th of May. Northwestern Gail Force 8. Shipping a lot of water. Ships company

in great heart with leave ahead and don't give a damn for the weather. I hear whistling

and singing everywhere. Great news at 0615. Tunis and Bizzerta are ours, but no details.

...