Brian C. Thompson (aka BT)

Author of A Date with Infamy | WWII alternate history | My great-uncle was a real WWII fighter ace; his story inspired the novel | SMU History | DFW Sports

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

My great-uncle flew P-38 Lightnings, P-51 Mustangs, and P-39 Airacobras in the Pacific.
Bronze Star. Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. Ground combat credit at Iwo Jima. Rose to Lieutenant Colonel. The family called him Uncle Gibby.
I spent five years researching one question: What if America broke Japan’s naval codes before December 7, 1941? What if Pearl Harbor was a trap instead of a surprise?
That became A Date with Infamy. No publisher. No agent. Just fifty years of family stories and five years of research.
Book 1 is out now. Book 2, The Gathering Storm, is coming.
https://t.co/bDB0ZY6K9I

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

Looks like I am going to have to write another book in The Pacific War. I have too much content.

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 29, 1940

Peak day at Dunkirk. 47,310 men rescued under constant Luftwaffe bombardment.

Destroyers, trawlers, yachts, fishing boats. Some make four trips in a day.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Dunkirk

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 28, 1940

King Leopold III surrenders Belgium. Dunkirk's left flank is wide open.

The evacuation enters its most desperate phase.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Dunkirk

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 27, 1941

The Royal Navy corners Bismarck. A Swordfish torpedo jams her rudder.

Rodney and King George V pound her into scrap. 2,000+ dead. 114 survive.

Hood is avenged.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Bismarck

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 26, 1940

Operation Dynamo begins. The evacuation of Dunkirk.

338,226 soldiers rescued over nine days. Warships, ferries, fishing boats, civilian yachts.

The miracle starts today.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Dunkirk #OperationDynamo

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 25, 1940

Lord Gort orders retreat to Dunkirk. Operation Dynamo activated.

If it floats, the Royal Navy wants it.

The miracle is about to begin.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Dunkirk

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 24, 1941

Bismarck's salvo penetrates HMS Hood's magazine. The pride of the Royal Navy sinks in three minutes.

1,415 crew. 3 survivors.

The hunt for Bismarck begins.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Bismarck #HMSHood

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 23, 1940

Hitler orders his Panzers to halt outside Dunkirk. The BEF is trapped.

Goring promises the Luftwaffe can finish them. The halt lasts two critical days.

It saves the BEF.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Dunkirk

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 22, 1939

Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel. Full military alliance.

Three months before Poland. The Axis is taking shape.

#ThisDayInWW2 #PactOfSteel

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 21, 1941

A U-boat sinks the SS Robin Moor, an American merchant ship. The U.S. is still neutral.

Roosevelt calls it "piracy." The road to war gets shorter.

#ThisDayInWW2

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 20, 1941

Germany drops 15,000 paratroopers on Crete. The first major airborne invasion in history.

Losses are so catastrophic Hitler never uses paratroopers en masse again.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Crete

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 19, 1940

Guderian's Panzers close on the Channel. The BEF is being cut off.

Nine days in. The fall of France is a catastrophe. Dunkirk is a week away.

#ThisDayInWW2 #FallOfFrance

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 18, 1944

After four brutal battles, Allied forces capture Monte Cassino. Polish troops raise their flag over the ruins.

One of the hardest-fought victories of the war.

#ThisDayInWW2 #MonteCassino

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 17, 1940

German forces capture Brussels. One week of fighting.

The Panzers are headed for the Channel.

#ThisDayInWW2 #FallOfFrance

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 16, 1943

RAF 617 Squadron attacks the Ruhr dams with bouncing bombs. Two dams breached.

8 of 19 aircraft lost. 53 aircrew killed. One of the most daring raids of the war.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Dambusters

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 15, 1940

German Panzers break through at Sedan. The French line is shattered.

France's PM calls Churchill: "We are beaten. We have lost the battle."

It has been five days.

#ThisDayInWW2 #FallOfFrance

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 14, 1940

The Luftwaffe bombs Rotterdam. Nearly 900 civilians killed. The Netherlands surrenders the same day.

Total war has arrived.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Rotterdam

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 13, 1940

Churchill's first speech as PM:

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

Three days in. The Germans are pouring through France.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Churchill

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 12, 1943

The last Axis forces in North Africa surrender. 230,000 prisoners.

The Allies call it "Tunisgrad." Next stop: Sicily.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Tunisia

[Brian C. Thompson (aka BT) @eagl70]

This Day in WW2 — May 11, 1943

U.S. forces land on Attu in the Aleutians to recapture American soil occupied by Japan.

The forgotten battle. Fog, mud, freezing cold. American territory.

#ThisDayInWW2 #Attu