5th September 1944

Published by Wehrkreiskommando VI in Müster, with artwork by Hugo v. Orthegraven, this postcard no doubt dates from 1940/41 when the thought of invasion and defeat of Great Briain was a considered possibility.

(The iron fist may be in reference to 'Götz von Berlichingen', a drama by Goethe about an imperial knight in the Holy Roman Empire who had his lost right hand replaced with an iron prosthesis.)

However, with the D-day landings having taken place nearly three months prior, the world was looking a different place. The timeline for September 1944 up to the sending of this postcard included the capture of Dieppe, Allied troops into Belgium and the liberation of Brussels, the liberation of Lyons, ana the ceasefire between Finland and the USSR.

By the time this mail had been received the first Allied troops would be entering Germany and the city of Aachen.

On the 8th September the first successful operational use of V-2 Rockets took place, one aimed at Paris and two others at London (resulting in the death of a woman when it exploded near Chiswick).

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