Winkie Williamson
@palacestories.bsky.social
Writing fact-based stories about the d’Erlanger family at the Ennejma Ezzahra Palace in Sidi Bou Saïd. Currently in Tunisia, aiming to post daily about 'The Palace at War: Operation Torch and the Tunisian Campaign 1942 - 1944'.
This being Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Archive.org for this stunning publicity shot of Otis Skinner in 1920 film of Edward Knoblock's play 'Kismet'. Knoblock was inspired to write 'Kismet' while on a trip to Tunisia with the d'Erlangers in 1909. #orientalism source: tinyurl.com/bdhmfenn
November 27, 2025 at 6:37 AM
This being Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Archive.org for this stunning publicity shot of Otis Skinner in 1920 film of Edward Knoblock's play 'Kismet'. Knoblock was inspired to write 'Kismet' while on a trip to Tunisia with the d'Erlangers in 1909. #orientalism source: tinyurl.com/bdhmfenn
OTD 26 November 1942 it was THANKSGIVING THURSDAY. In North Africa, Roosevelt's proclamation has an added message. Psalm 23: 'The Lord is my shepherd..' which claims 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' #WW2 #Thanksgiving #Tunisia. #Medjez-El-Bab
November 26, 2025 at 6:07 AM
OTD 26 November 1942 it was THANKSGIVING THURSDAY. In North Africa, Roosevelt's proclamation has an added message. Psalm 23: 'The Lord is my shepherd..' which claims 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' #WW2 #Thanksgiving #Tunisia. #Medjez-El-Bab
OTD 1942.Philip Jordan reporting from near Medjez el Bab where the #Tunisian Campaign has truly started. Woken by the cold, at midnight he went to the Operations Room to file his report. Just before dawn the tanks had passed 'like a mass of leaves blown violently across loose gravel.'
November 26, 2025 at 4:02 AM
OTD 1942.Philip Jordan reporting from near Medjez el Bab where the #Tunisian Campaign has truly started. Woken by the cold, at midnight he went to the Operations Room to file his report. Just before dawn the tanks had passed 'like a mass of leaves blown violently across loose gravel.'
24 November 1942 Tunisia. Battles have begun, and the 1st Parachute Battalion have been deployed, along with Sappers from 1st Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers brought in to mine the roads to prevent enemy withdrawal. Things do not go to plan. paradata.org.uk/content/4663...
November 25, 2025 at 8:20 AM
24 November 1942 Tunisia. Battles have begun, and the 1st Parachute Battalion have been deployed, along with Sappers from 1st Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers brought in to mine the roads to prevent enemy withdrawal. Things do not go to plan. paradata.org.uk/content/4663...
1942: WW2 North Africa. Legend has it that 'as long as there are macaques on Gibraltar, the British will hold the territory.' By 1942 numbers had dwindled. Churchill ordered the transfer of macaques from Algeria and Morocco to Gibraltar. Budget £4 a month for fruit, veg & nuts. tinyurl.com/y9erc428
November 25, 2025 at 7:07 AM
1942: WW2 North Africa. Legend has it that 'as long as there are macaques on Gibraltar, the British will hold the territory.' By 1942 numbers had dwindled. Churchill ordered the transfer of macaques from Algeria and Morocco to Gibraltar. Budget £4 a month for fruit, veg & nuts. tinyurl.com/y9erc428
1942 Tunisian campaign. Para 'Bill' Bailey describes life waiting for the action to start. In most accounts of war, soldiers acquire a pet - usually a dog. But the paras have got a monkey. And this leads to an extraordinary story of macaques migration from North Africa to Gibraltar.
November 25, 2025 at 4:40 AM
1942 Tunisian campaign. Para 'Bill' Bailey describes life waiting for the action to start. In most accounts of war, soldiers acquire a pet - usually a dog. But the paras have got a monkey. And this leads to an extraordinary story of macaques migration from North Africa to Gibraltar.
1942. Late November #WW2 North Africa. Most troops are in Algeria waiting to move eastwards to Tunisia. Private Leonard Trevor 'Bill' Bailey 2nd Parachute Battalion introduces his experience. He survives North Africa, Italy and time as a POW. paradata.org.uk/content/4663...
November 25, 2025 at 4:11 AM
1942. Late November #WW2 North Africa. Most troops are in Algeria waiting to move eastwards to Tunisia. Private Leonard Trevor 'Bill' Bailey 2nd Parachute Battalion introduces his experience. He survives North Africa, Italy and time as a POW. paradata.org.uk/content/4663...
OTD 1942 the #Tunisia Campaign. Philip Jordan reporting from near Tabarka. It's good to see that even war correspondents have dreams in which they are called on to deliver lectures on subjects about which they know nothing. They are waiting for the fighting to start.
November 25, 2025 at 3:31 AM
OTD 1942 the #Tunisia Campaign. Philip Jordan reporting from near Tabarka. It's good to see that even war correspondents have dreams in which they are called on to deliver lectures on subjects about which they know nothing. They are waiting for the fighting to start.
November 23, 1942, Philip Jordan arrived in Tabarka, #Tunisia and reported on the beauty of the landscape. 'It was ravishing'. He's right: the northwest region of Tunisia is wild and rugged., the coast unspoilt. 'It has been raining all the time' he writes. It's about to get muddy.
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
November 23, 1942, Philip Jordan arrived in Tabarka, #Tunisia and reported on the beauty of the landscape. 'It was ravishing'. He's right: the northwest region of Tunisia is wild and rugged., the coast unspoilt. 'It has been raining all the time' he writes. It's about to get muddy.
#OTD 1942: The war in Tunisia commences in the village of Medjez-el-Bab. Barré has informed the British squadron nearby that an attack was imminent. He has phoned the French HQ in Algiers to signal his return to the Allied fold. Atkinson writes:
November 19, 2025 at 8:05 AM
#OTD 1942: The war in Tunisia commences in the village of Medjez-el-Bab. Barré has informed the British squadron nearby that an attack was imminent. He has phoned the French HQ in Algiers to signal his return to the Allied fold. Atkinson writes:
'Whoever holds Medjez-el-Bab has the key to the door, and is the master of all Tunisia', Hannibal supposedly said of the market town thirty miles from Tunis. Here, #OTD 1942 French Commander Barré makes his stand against Axis forces. Atkinson sets the scene. ['An Army at Dawn', pp 180-81]
November 19, 2025 at 7:53 AM
'Whoever holds Medjez-el-Bab has the key to the door, and is the master of all Tunisia', Hannibal supposedly said of the market town thirty miles from Tunis. Here, #OTD 1942 French Commander Barré makes his stand against Axis forces. Atkinson sets the scene. ['An Army at Dawn', pp 180-81]
The joy of creating these posts about #WW2,and #TunisianCampaign is the learning process. Today I read my print copy of @rboomhower.bsky.social's EXCELLENT biography of Ernie Pyle & found I have jumped the gun: Pyle only arrived in Oran on November 23. 'The Soldiers Friend' also on archive.org.
November 19, 2025 at 7:03 AM
The joy of creating these posts about #WW2,and #TunisianCampaign is the learning process. Today I read my print copy of @rboomhower.bsky.social's EXCELLENT biography of Ernie Pyle & found I have jumped the gun: Pyle only arrived in Oran on November 23. 'The Soldiers Friend' also on archive.org.
OTD 1942, Algeria: #TunisianCampaign: 21-year-old parachutist Peter Stainforth waiting to receive orders. The aircraft have landed successfully in Bone'. The aircraft in place, days of ‘uncertainly and hanging about’ ahead. 'Wings of the Wind' archive.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:55 AM
OTD 1942, Algeria: #TunisianCampaign: 21-year-old parachutist Peter Stainforth waiting to receive orders. The aircraft have landed successfully in Bone'. The aircraft in place, days of ‘uncertainly and hanging about’ ahead. 'Wings of the Wind' archive.org
I just discovered that in 1939, war reporter Philip Jordan had published a novel inspired by his time covering the Spanish Civil War. His description of the flight south will fit equally well in a couple of days when he finally flies to Tunisia. Read 'There is No Return' on archive.org.
November 19, 2025 at 5:05 AM
I just discovered that in 1939, war reporter Philip Jordan had published a novel inspired by his time covering the Spanish Civil War. His description of the flight south will fit equally well in a couple of days when he finally flies to Tunisia. Read 'There is No Return' on archive.org.
OTD 1942 #Tunisian Campaign. British reporter Philip Jordan with the Allied troops still stuck in Algeria. Jordan, I discover was labelled a 'communist' by 'Brass Hats' for actively supporting the 'legitimate government of Spain'. In 2025 we need impartial reporters like Jordan and Ernie Pyle.
November 19, 2025 at 4:49 AM
OTD 1942 #Tunisian Campaign. British reporter Philip Jordan with the Allied troops still stuck in Algeria. Jordan, I discover was labelled a 'communist' by 'Brass Hats' for actively supporting the 'legitimate government of Spain'. In 2025 we need impartial reporters like Jordan and Ernie Pyle.
18 November 1942 #TunisianCampaign. In Oran, Algeria, US reporter Ernie Pyle - always on message to promote a positive image of the 'average Joe' - describes a couple of US soldiers squatting by a roadside fire with two 'turbaned and bewhiskered Arabs 'like old pals'.
November 18, 2025 at 8:17 AM
18 November 1942 #TunisianCampaign. In Oran, Algeria, US reporter Ernie Pyle - always on message to promote a positive image of the 'average Joe' - describes a couple of US soldiers squatting by a roadside fire with two 'turbaned and bewhiskered Arabs 'like old pals'.
18 November 1942. The Germans control Tunisia. Walter Nehring, Commander of Afrika Corps has arrived in Tunis, where the abandoned US consulate has become the Axis command post. Rick Atkinson sets the scene, already his choice of words betraying his distaste for Tunisians. Of this, more later.
November 18, 2025 at 7:02 AM
18 November 1942. The Germans control Tunisia. Walter Nehring, Commander of Afrika Corps has arrived in Tunis, where the abandoned US consulate has become the Axis command post. Rick Atkinson sets the scene, already his choice of words betraying his distaste for Tunisians. Of this, more later.
18 November 1942 Tunisia now under German control. RG Admiral Esteva had capitulated with the comment ‘after 40 years of obedience, I cannot begin to disobey orders now’. In Bizerta, Admiral Derrien, a month away from retirement after 42 years service, received conflicting orders. Atkinson p.164
November 18, 2025 at 6:44 AM
18 November 1942 Tunisia now under German control. RG Admiral Esteva had capitulated with the comment ‘after 40 years of obedience, I cannot begin to disobey orders now’. In Bizerta, Admiral Derrien, a month away from retirement after 42 years service, received conflicting orders. Atkinson p.164
Algiers 14 Nov 1942: Eisenhower's political appointments: Admiral Darlan high commissioner French North Africa, Giraud chief of French armed forces, Juin army commander, Nogues governor Morocco. De Gaulle predicts: 'before long the retching will take place'. Atkinson p. 158
November 18, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Algiers 14 Nov 1942: Eisenhower's political appointments: Admiral Darlan high commissioner French North Africa, Giraud chief of French armed forces, Juin army commander, Nogues governor Morocco. De Gaulle predicts: 'before long the retching will take place'. Atkinson p. 158
#OTD 10/10/1942. A new voice in this #TORCH story: Peter Stainforth is on the convoy, still not yet past Gibraltar. Part of the second wave, the plan is of for them to 'jump on the El Aouina airfield near Tunis.' The operation is 'pure speculation' as 'the Germans may get there first'. They do.
November 10, 2025 at 2:45 AM
OTD 1942: #NorthAfrica. Private Ned Modica and Sgt Norman Harrington, army cameramen in the Signal Corps jumped into the assault boat, bags stuffed with extra film, not food. They chose their shots: a red fez, white bandages, bare African mountains, the curve of the beach. Ernie Pyle storytelling
November 9, 2025 at 7:28 AM
OTD 1942: #NorthAfrica. Private Ned Modica and Sgt Norman Harrington, army cameramen in the Signal Corps jumped into the assault boat, bags stuffed with extra film, not food. They chose their shots: a red fez, white bandages, bare African mountains, the curve of the beach. Ernie Pyle storytelling
#OTD 9 November 1942. The press have released images of Texan-born Eisenhower. Described as 'bald and of medium height', a 'good talker, studious' and in possession of a 'keen sense of humour'. Which he will need: #OperationTorch does not exactly go according to plan'.
November 9, 2025 at 5:06 AM
#OTD 9 November 1942. The press have released images of Texan-born Eisenhower. Described as 'bald and of medium height', a 'good talker, studious' and in possession of a 'keen sense of humour'. Which he will need: #OperationTorch does not exactly go according to plan'.
OTD 9 November 1942, Americans wake to more news of their war. Most important, the role of 'American agents' - i.e. SPIES posing as diplomats who already scoped the terrain. To inform their readers, the press included a useful map of NORTH AFRICA. From newspapers.com.
November 9, 2025 at 4:51 AM
OTD 9 November 1942, Americans wake to more news of their war. Most important, the role of 'American agents' - i.e. SPIES posing as diplomats who already scoped the terrain. To inform their readers, the press included a useful map of NORTH AFRICA. From newspapers.com.
8 November 1942. War! Allied soldiers have landed on beaches in Algeria and Morocco. Will they be welcomed? This remains to be seen. But thousands of men are eager to find out. US reporters Philip Jordan and Ernie Pyle capture the moment. Jordan Diary in white, Pyle on wartime issue beige paper.
November 8, 2025 at 4:39 AM
8 November 1942. War! Allied soldiers have landed on beaches in Algeria and Morocco. Will they be welcomed? This remains to be seen. But thousands of men are eager to find out. US reporters Philip Jordan and Ernie Pyle capture the moment. Jordan Diary in white, Pyle on wartime issue beige paper.
7 November the #OperationTorch convoy is getting closer to its destination in North Africa. Reporter Philip Jordan would have LOVED to have this map of the Roman roads. They will land far left and march along the coast to bottom right Carthago! itiner-e.org via @romanpalace.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 1:13 PM
7 November the #OperationTorch convoy is getting closer to its destination in North Africa. Reporter Philip Jordan would have LOVED to have this map of the Roman roads. They will land far left and march along the coast to bottom right Carthago! itiner-e.org via @romanpalace.bsky.social