Journey Among Warriors
Encyclopedia
Journey Among Warriors is a book of war reportage by the French-American journalist and writer Ève Curie
, first published in 1943, in which the author described her experiences during her trip to Africa
, the Near East
, Soviet Union
, China
, Burma and India
, where she traveled from November 1941 to April 1942.
and Pierre Curie
), fled after the surrender of France in June 1940 to the United Kingdom
, where she joined the Free French Forces
and General Charles de Gaulle
. She fought Nazism
mainly as a journalist, publishing articles and giving lectures. She spent the war years mostly in Britain and the United States, writing articles for New York Herald Tribune
.
In November 1941, her employers – Herald Tribune Syndicate from New York City
and Allied Newspapers Limited from London
– decided to send Ève Curie as a reporter on a journey to the countries in which warfare had already been waging. Ève was to visit Africa, the Near East, the Soviet Union, China and to return via Singapore
, the Pacific Ocean
and San Francisco to the East Coast of the USA, her planned journey being, in fact, a trip around the world.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941 resulted in modifying these plans. After Ève Curie had reached China, she could not continue her journey to Singapore, which had already been taken by the Japanese, so she returned, also via Asia and Africa, to the US. She systematically wrote reports from the journey to the newspapers which employed her, and on the basis of these reports, the book Journey Among Warriors was published in 1943.
Ève Curie's journey started on November 10, 1941 when she set off from New York to Africa on board a Boeing 314
Clipper. This was the first, experimental flight of this huge flying boat
from America to the west coast of the African continent, which was why it was kept secret both by Pan American World Airways
, which operated the airline, and the American government. Ève was the only woman and the only journalist among the 40 passengers or so of the flying boat; most of her travel companions being members of the staff of Pan Am who were flying to Africa to prepare the infrastructure for the planned flight service on which war supplies (including military planes) were to be transported from the US to the Middle East (even though the United States was a non-belligerent country at that time, it actively supported the Allies
with supplies of war equipment).
Via Bermuda
, Puerto Rico
, Trinidad
and the Brazil
ian coast Ève Curie reached Bathurst
in The Gambia
and then Lagos
in Nigeria
(which were British colonies then). Even though there was no warfare waged on the West African coast at that time, the threat from the Axis powers
was felt everywhere in the region, and everybody worked at full steam to provide supplies to the front. In Nigeria, Ève also first met her Polish half-compatriots – a Captain Izicki told her how Polish and British pilots ferried the planes assembled in West Africa in convoys over the jungles and deserts to Sudan
and later to Egypt
.
From Nigeria, Ève Curie flew to Khartoum
in Sudan
, with stopovers, among others, in Kano
, where she met the local emir
, and Fort-Lamy
in Chad
, which was controlled by the Free French. In Khartoum she learned about the offensive the British had started in Cyrenaica
, and she left for Egypt to write a report about the fights.
Despite the initial reservations of the military, who opposed to a woman being so close to the front line, Ève, thanks to the help of Randolph Churchill
(Winston Churchill
's son), managed to come near the places in Libya
where the British fought the German and Italian troops in desert areas, in very unfavorable climatic conditions.
Having returned to Egypt, Ève also visited a harbor on the Red Sea
where American ships with supplies for the fighting British were being unloaded, and on December 8 she was shocked to learn about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. When she later heard about further conquests of the Japanese in the Far East, she realized that she might not fulfill her plans to reach Singapore.
where she met General Georges Catroux
, who had been appointed by de Gaulle High Commissioner to the Levant
. The reporter also made herself acquainted with the situation in Syria
and Palestine
. Even though the Free French controlled these territories, they still had to cope with the problem of political sabotage
operations conducted by the Germans and the Italians, who were broadcasting radio programs aimed at the local Arab population. These acts of sabotage also took on graver forms – anti-British feeling in nearby Iraq
, which had been growing for some time, resulted in breaking out of the Anglo-Iraqi War
in 1941.
After several days, Ève flew from Lydda Airport
farther to the east, to Teheran
, the capital of Iran. Formally, during the World War II, Iran was an independent and neutral country; in fact, since August 1941, it had been under common British-Soviet occupation. The concern about the growing German influence in Iran, the willingness to secure the local oil deposits and, first of all, the importance of Iran as a transit country for supplies of war equipment to the Soviet Union resulted in an Anglo-Soviet intervention. The British and Soviet troops occupied the country, forced Reza Shah
Pahlavi to abdicate and brought his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
to the throne. Since then to the end of the war, Iran was a very important communication hub – a transit country via which Western militaries and diplomats were traveling to the Soviet Union and one of the channels through which American war equipment was sent to the USSR under the Lend-Lease
Act.
In Teheran, Ève Curie had to wait for several weeks for an opportunity to leave for the Soviet Union. She spent this time, meeting politicians and soldiers, including the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland in exile and the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army Władysław Sikorski, who, despite his country's negative experiences with the USSR (in September 1939, Poland had been invaded both by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and many Poles were deported by the Soviets to Siberia
, Kazakhstan
and other regions of the interior of the USSR), still hoped for a common fight of Polish soldiers on the side of the Soviets against the Germans. In Teheran, Curie also had a meeting with Shah Reza Pahlavi, who, probably because of his young age (he was only 22 years old), did not feel fully comfortable on the throne yet.
to Kuybyshev
(now Samara), where the embassies and many Soviet central offices had been evacuated to from Moscow because of the threatening German offensive at the end of 1941. Already on board the plane she could observe the frozen Caspian Sea
; biting frost and snow were to accompany her during her whole stay in the USSR. In Kuybyshev she met wounded soldiers in the local hospital, visited a bearings factory evacuated from Moscow where workers labored and lived in extremely difficult conditions, she also attended a service in an Orthodox church and talked to its priest (after the outbreak of the war, Joseph Stalin
had slightly alleviated his policy of persecutions of religion). Both in Baku, Kuybyshew and later in Moscow, Ève could see how important culture, even though much ideologized, was for the fighting Soviet Union – she watched theatrical and opera performances and went to other cultural events, in Kuybyshew she also interviewed Olga Lepeshinskaya
, an outstanding Soviet ballerina
of that time.
During her stay in the USSR Ève Curie was constantly "looked after" by Lieutenant Liuba Mieston, who was officially her translator, but in fact, as Curie was guessing, worked for NKVD
and supervised her contacts with the inhabitants of the Soviet Union. Despite this, both women became friends, Ève wrote very warmly about Liuba in her memoirs.
After several days of efforts, Ève succeeded in obtaining a permission to visit the front line. On January 12 (before other foreign correspondents, who stayed in Kuybyshev) she flew on a military plane with Liuba to Moscow, and on January 15 she could leave the capital for the places where fights were going on. In December 1941, as a result of the so-called Battle of Moscow
, the Soviets had managed to repel the Germans from the capital; the hostilities were now going on around 60 miles from the borders of the city. On her way to the front, Curie could see many examples of atrocities the Germans committed on civilians – burnt down villages and towns; their inhabitants who were now coming back told her about robberies and mass executions conducted by the Nazis. Now, the German troops were withdrawing, and their defeat was also the result of harsh climatic conditions – this was the first winter for the Germans on the east front for which they were not prepared either in terms of clothing or military equipment. Many times, Ève saw corpses of German soldiers on the snow.
After they had arrived in Volokolamsk
, Ève and Liuba also had an interesting meeting with General Andrey Vlasov
, the commander of the Soviet troops fighting at Moscow. Vlasov appeared to her as a faithful soldier and Soviet patriot; she did not know yet that after a few months he would be taken prisoner by the Germans and defect to the Nazis as the commander of the Russian Liberation Army
.
On January 18, Ève again left Moscow to visit just relieved Tula
(it had been besieged by the Germans from October to December 1941) and Lev Tolstoy's house in Yasnaya Polyana
. In Tula, the local secretary of the Communist party Zhavoronkov told her about the hardships of the three-month siege; in the town, Ève also met one of local Soviet partisans
(guerillas) – Esipov, a carpenter, who had fought the Germans behind the frontline. On the next day (January 19), Ève and Liuba, accompanied by Sophia Andreyevna Tolstoy (Lev Tolstoy's grandniece), who supervised all Tolstoy's museums in the USSR, visited Tolstoy's family house in Yasnaya Polyana, which the Germans had converted into a mess for Wehrmacht
officers and tried to burn down when they were withdrawing.
Ève also wanted to see the siege of Leningrad
but was refused a permit to fly to the city, so she stayed in the capital for some time, observing the daily life of its inhabitants, taking part in Moscow's cultural life (she saw for example the opera Eugene Onegin
by Tchaikovsky
) and meeting scientists at the Geological Institute and the Academy of Sciences of the USSR
, where she learnt about huge losses (running into millions) of the Soviet army on the front.
The last trip to the areas where hostilities were going on was a short visit to Mozhaysk
, where she went on January 23, just one day after the Germans had been driven from it. Again, she could hear about the atrocities of the Nazis, who had buried 200 people alive in the blown-up cathedral and tried to burn down the town. Ève also had the opportunity to talk to German soldiers who were taken prisoner and see how much their morale had lowered, because of the severe winter and defeats on the front.
On January 26, Ève flew back from Moscow to Kuybyshev to catch the return plane to Iran. She spent the time of waiting for the plane mostly in the Polish embassy where she met the ambassador Stanisław Kot and many Polish soldiers who had just been released from Gulag
labor camp
s and wanted to join the Polish army which was just being formed under the command of General Władysław Sikorski. She learnt from an officer named Grzybowski (who was also a pianist, like Ève) about the life in an officers' camp in Vologda
in northern Russia; an unnamed aristocrat, who was arrested in 1939 and also spent a long time in a Soviet prison, told her about the comfort religion gave him during that time. Ève also learnt about the tragic fate of many other Poles who were deported to remote regions of the country and about the difficulties the Polish authorities had to cope with to find them in the depths of Russia. She could also see how determined both the Polish military and the civilians were to get out of the USSR and return to Poland. In a conversation with her, General Anders gave voice to this desire saying: "We will get to Poland. Not all of us, of course, But Poland will live."
Ève Curie's description of her stay in the Soviet Union took up most space in her book; this was also the stage of her journey which most impressed her. Ève's attitude towards the Soviet reality was ambivalent. On the one hand, she perceived the authoritarian character of the Soviet political system, the political and religious persecutions, she realized that many of the people she talked to (for example the priest in the Orthodox church in Kuybyshev) were afraid to tell even her – a Western correspondent – openly what they thought about the life in the USSR; meeting Polish exiles in the USSR, she also learned the truth (or at least part of it) about Communist crimes in the Soviet Union. On the other hand, she was full of admiration for the sacrifice of ordinary soldiers and civilians fighting the invaders; her fascination for the Soviet system, which was so different from the systems in other countries which were known to her, can be seen in many places of the book. Ève Curie certainly was not one of the "fellow travelers", who sympathized with Communist ideology and the Soviet Union, but she was not their fierce critic either. The description of the USSR in Curie's book is one of the most interesting presentations of hostilities on the Eastern Front
which was ever written by a Western journalist.
; nevertheless she made an attempt to reach Singapore. She went by train to Abadan, the seat of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
, then by plane to Basra
, where she again heard about the pro-German sympathies of the Iraqis, finally from Basra by flying boat to Calcutta
in India
, which she reached on February 8. The journey to Singapore was no longer possible (the Japanese conquered the city on February 15, after a week's siege), so instead Ève flew to Burma, which was also a British colony then.
In Burma, Curie was staying in Lashio
, in the north-eastern part of the country, at the house of Arthur Porter, the British Commissioner for the Northern Shan State
s. She also visited Rangoon
and other places; throughout the country she could feel tension because of the attacking Japanese. In Burma, for the third time during her journey, Ève was also in close proximity of the front. On the 15th of February she drove in a station wagon forward of the British positions at the Bilin River with the intention of traveling to Thaton
which was in the process of being evacuated. She was eventually ordered to turn around by British officers at an outpost along the road as she was approaching the no mans land between the British and Japanese armies. The British army was commanded in this area by General John George Smyth, who told her about the difficult situation of his troops – the Japanese had better equipment than the British, they also fought fanatically and ruthlessly in the jungle. Because of these factors, all the bravery and dedication to fight of the British and Indian soldiers were in vain: Ève witnessed the chaotic evacuation of the British and other foreigners from Rangoon, who were escaping the approaching Japanese.
In her book, Ève Curie also described in detail the Burma Road
, running through mountainous areas from Lashio to the Chinese province of Yunnan
. This was the main road on which Chinese drivers, in difficult terrain conditions, often at the risk of their lives, transported war supplies for their country, which had been warring with Japan since 1937.
The next stage in Ève Curie' journey was her visit to China, where to she flew by plane from Lashio. She spent most of the time in this country in Chungking
, which was the provisional capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War
in the years 1937-1945 and the seat of the government of Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek
, which was the reason why it was often bombed by Japanese planes. China had been in a grave political crisis since the 1920s; the war with the external aggressor overlapped with the Chinese Civil War
against Mao Zedong
s Communists, which started in 1927. Ève also visited the Province of Sichuan
with its capital Chengtu
, where she could see the difficult living condition (often extreme poverty) of the local population and where she also visited Chinese military schools.
Back in Chungking, Ève also met the Communist General Zhou Enlai
, who was a sort of envoy of the Communists to Chiang Kai-shek' central government, the widow of Sun Yat-sen
(the Father of the Republic of China), finally Chiang Kai-shek himself and his Americanized wife Soong May-ling
, known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
On her way back from China to India, Ève Curie also met one of the so-called Flying Tigers
, and during a stopover in Kunming
she could interview their commander – Claire Lee Chennault
. The Flying Tigers were American pilots who had been fighting the Japanese voluntarily in the ranks of the Chinese air force since 1941; they were known as daring, even though often undisciplined soldiers.
Having returned from China to Calcutta, Ève could observe the growing fear of the Japanese invasion which could be felt in the city and the whole of Bengal
. India's economy had already been mobilized for war production since 1939; the Indians themselves, however, were not fully convinced of the necessity of this war effort and sacrificing their lives for Britain. Already flying from Basra to Calcutta in February, during a stopover in Karachi
, Ève Curie had first met sympathizers of the Indian National Congress
; now she could talk to more and more nationalists demanding independence for their country. Going by train from Calcutta to Delhi, Curie also made a short visit to Allahabad
, where she met Jawaharlal Nehru
, a prominent member of the Congress, representing its left wing, and his daughter Indira Gandhi
(the future Prime Minister of India), who was just getting ready for her wedding (on the following day she was to marry Feroze Gandhi
). Nehru explained to Curie his views on India's independence, which was becoming a more and more urgent issue in the British Empire. Curie's stay in India coincided with the visit of Stafford Cripps
, Lord Privy Seal
, who came from Britain to present some new proposals of the British government aiming at increasing India's autonomy (Ève also had a meeting with him in New Delhi
). The British proposals, however, were received rather coolly by the Indians, who demanded "independence now", as their slogan went.
After arriving in New Delhi, Ève was staying in the residence of General Archibald Wavell
, commander of the British forces in the Far East. There she also met Governor-General of India
Victor Hope
; the most important event on this stage of her journey was, however, her meeting with Mahatma Gandhi on March 28. During that meeting, which greatly impressed her, Gandhi presented her his philosophy of nonviolent resistance
and non-opposing the evil, even facing the German and Japanese threat and the danger of physical elimination by the enemy.
Soon after this conversation, Ève also met Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, the leader of the Muslim League and the future founder of Pakistan
. As a result of the meeting, she became aware of how great the scale of religious conflicts between the Hinduists
and the Muslim
s is and realized that the country may disintegrate after regaining independence.
, in the Soviet Union and in Burma. Nevertheless, the book is an important document showing the events of the Second World War, not only in the direct combat zone but also in the hinterland. Ève Curie wrote not only about military operations but also logistic processes supporting them (for example Lend-Lease
supplies of American equipment), problems connected with equipping of millions of soldiers etc. During her journey, Ève often met high military commanders and politicians, which gives the reader insight into the behind-the-scenes of World War II. Some of Curie's interlocutors became widely-known already after the publication of the book, for example the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, the commander of the Russian Liberation Army
Andrey Vlasov
, or the Chinese military and politician Zhou Enlai
, which only increases the value of the book as a historical source quoting their opinions.
Another value of Journey Among Warriors is its documentary character – the book depicts the life of civilians in the warring countries, their sacrifice, daily toil, joys and hardships. The descriptions of the life in the Soviet Union and China are especially valuable here. Admittedly, the author does not always remain objective (which is visible especially in her fascination for the Soviet Union); however, also in this respect, her book is an interesting historical source.
; eventually, it was not awarded the prize, which went to Ernest Taylor Pyle
, also for war correspondence. After the war, the book was not reissued and it was largely forgotten.
Ève Curie
Ève Denise Curie Labouisse was a French-American writer, journalist and pianist. Ève Curie was the younger daughter of Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. Her sister was Irène Joliot-Curie and her brother-in-law Frédéric Joliot-Curie...
, first published in 1943, in which the author described her experiences during her trip to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Burma and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, where she traveled from November 1941 to April 1942.
Origin of the book
The author of Journey Among Warriors, French pianist, journalist and writer Ève Curie (daughter of MarieMarie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
and Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity and radioactivity, and Nobel laureate. He was the son of Dr. Eugène Curie and Sophie-Claire Depouilly Curie ...
), fled after the surrender of France in June 1940 to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where she joined the Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
and General Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
. She fought Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
mainly as a journalist, publishing articles and giving lectures. She spent the war years mostly in Britain and the United States, writing articles for New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
.
In November 1941, her employers – Herald Tribune Syndicate from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Allied Newspapers Limited from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
– decided to send Ève Curie as a reporter on a journey to the countries in which warfare had already been waging. Ève was to visit Africa, the Near East, the Soviet Union, China and to return via Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and San Francisco to the East Coast of the USA, her planned journey being, in fact, a trip around the world.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on December 7, 1941 resulted in modifying these plans. After Ève Curie had reached China, she could not continue her journey to Singapore, which had already been taken by the Japanese, so she returned, also via Asia and Africa, to the US. She systematically wrote reports from the journey to the newspapers which employed her, and on the basis of these reports, the book Journey Among Warriors was published in 1943.
Synopis
Journey Among Warriors consists of five parts, each describing one stage in the author's journey.Part I – Africa
Boeing 314
The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941 and is comparable to the British Short S.26. One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary...
Clipper. This was the first, experimental flight of this huge flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
from America to the west coast of the African continent, which was why it was kept secret both by Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
, which operated the airline, and the American government. Ève was the only woman and the only journalist among the 40 passengers or so of the flying boat; most of her travel companions being members of the staff of Pan Am who were flying to Africa to prepare the infrastructure for the planned flight service on which war supplies (including military planes) were to be transported from the US to the Middle East (even though the United States was a non-belligerent country at that time, it actively supported the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
with supplies of war equipment).
Via Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian coast Ève Curie reached Bathurst
Banjul
-Transport:Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of ECOWAS.Banjul International Airport...
in The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
and then Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
(which were British colonies then). Even though there was no warfare waged on the West African coast at that time, the threat from the Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
was felt everywhere in the region, and everybody worked at full steam to provide supplies to the front. In Nigeria, Ève also first met her Polish half-compatriots – a Captain Izicki told her how Polish and British pilots ferried the planes assembled in West Africa in convoys over the jungles and deserts to Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and later to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
From Nigeria, Ève Curie flew to Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, with stopovers, among others, in Kano
Kano
Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
, where she met the local emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
, and Fort-Lamy
N'Djamena
N'Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arrondissements. It is a...
in Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, which was controlled by the Free French. In Khartoum she learned about the offensive the British had started in Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
, and she left for Egypt to write a report about the fights.
Despite the initial reservations of the military, who opposed to a woman being so close to the front line, Ève, thanks to the help of Randolph Churchill
Randolph Churchill
Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill, MBE was the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston from 1940 to 1945....
(Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's son), managed to come near the places in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
where the British fought the German and Italian troops in desert areas, in very unfavorable climatic conditions.
Having returned to Egypt, Ève also visited a harbor on the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
where American ships with supplies for the fighting British were being unloaded, and on December 8 she was shocked to learn about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. When she later heard about further conquests of the Japanese in the Far East, she realized that she might not fulfill her plans to reach Singapore.
Part II – The Near East
From Cairo, Ève Curie flew first to BeirutBeirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
where she met General Georges Catroux
Georges Catroux
Georges Catroux was a French Army general and diplomat who served in both World War I and World War II, and served as Grand Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur from 1954 to 1969.-Biography:...
, who had been appointed by de Gaulle High Commissioner to the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
. The reporter also made herself acquainted with the situation in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. Even though the Free French controlled these territories, they still had to cope with the problem of political sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
operations conducted by the Germans and the Italians, who were broadcasting radio programs aimed at the local Arab population. These acts of sabotage also took on graver forms – anti-British feeling in nearby Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, which had been growing for some time, resulted in breaking out of the Anglo-Iraqi War
Anglo-Iraqi War
The Anglo-Iraqi War was the name of the British campaign against the rebel government of Rashid Ali in the Kingdom of Iraq during the Second World War. The war lasted from 2 May to 31 May 1941. The campaign resulted in the re-occupation of Iraq by British armed forces and the return to power of the...
in 1941.
After several days, Ève flew from Lydda Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
farther to the east, to Teheran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, the capital of Iran. Formally, during the World War II, Iran was an independent and neutral country; in fact, since August 1941, it had been under common British-Soviet occupation. The concern about the growing German influence in Iran, the willingness to secure the local oil deposits and, first of all, the importance of Iran as a transit country for supplies of war equipment to the Soviet Union resulted in an Anglo-Soviet intervention. The British and Soviet troops occupied the country, forced Reza Shah
Reza Shah
Rezā Shāh, also known as Rezā Shāh Pahlavi and Rezā Shāh Kabir , , was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from December 15, 1925, until he was forced to abdicate by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran on September 16, 1941.In 1925, Reza Shah overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar...
Pahlavi to abdicate and brought his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
to the throne. Since then to the end of the war, Iran was a very important communication hub – a transit country via which Western militaries and diplomats were traveling to the Soviet Union and one of the channels through which American war equipment was sent to the USSR under the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
Act.
In Teheran, Ève Curie had to wait for several weeks for an opportunity to leave for the Soviet Union. She spent this time, meeting politicians and soldiers, including the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland in exile and the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army Władysław Sikorski, who, despite his country's negative experiences with the USSR (in September 1939, Poland had been invaded both by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and many Poles were deported by the Soviets to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
and other regions of the interior of the USSR), still hoped for a common fight of Polish soldiers on the side of the Soviets against the Germans. In Teheran, Curie also had a meeting with Shah Reza Pahlavi, who, probably because of his young age (he was only 22 years old), did not feel fully comfortable on the throne yet.
Part III – Russia
Ève left Teheran on January 6, 1942, flying via BakuBaku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
to Kuybyshev
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
(now Samara), where the embassies and many Soviet central offices had been evacuated to from Moscow because of the threatening German offensive at the end of 1941. Already on board the plane she could observe the frozen Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
; biting frost and snow were to accompany her during her whole stay in the USSR. In Kuybyshev she met wounded soldiers in the local hospital, visited a bearings factory evacuated from Moscow where workers labored and lived in extremely difficult conditions, she also attended a service in an Orthodox church and talked to its priest (after the outbreak of the war, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
had slightly alleviated his policy of persecutions of religion). Both in Baku, Kuybyshew and later in Moscow, Ève could see how important culture, even though much ideologized, was for the fighting Soviet Union – she watched theatrical and opera performances and went to other cultural events, in Kuybyshew she also interviewed Olga Lepeshinskaya
Olga Lepeshinskaya
Olga Vasiliyevna Lepeshinskaya was a Soviet ballerina. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1951.-Childhood:Lepeshinskaya was born to an old Polish noble family in Kiev, Russian Empire . Her grandfather, Vasily Pavlovich Lepeshinsky, was arrested as a member of the revolutionary...
, an outstanding Soviet ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
of that time.
During her stay in the USSR Ève Curie was constantly "looked after" by Lieutenant Liuba Mieston, who was officially her translator, but in fact, as Curie was guessing, worked for NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and supervised her contacts with the inhabitants of the Soviet Union. Despite this, both women became friends, Ève wrote very warmly about Liuba in her memoirs.
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
, the Soviets had managed to repel the Germans from the capital; the hostilities were now going on around 60 miles from the borders of the city. On her way to the front, Curie could see many examples of atrocities the Germans committed on civilians – burnt down villages and towns; their inhabitants who were now coming back told her about robberies and mass executions conducted by the Nazis. Now, the German troops were withdrawing, and their defeat was also the result of harsh climatic conditions – this was the first winter for the Germans on the east front for which they were not prepared either in terms of clothing or military equipment. Many times, Ève saw corpses of German soldiers on the snow.
After they had arrived in Volokolamsk
Volokolamsk
Volokolamsk is a town and the administrative center of Volokolamsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Gorodenka River, not far from its confluence with the Lama River, northwest of Moscow. Population: -History:...
, Ève and Liuba also had an interesting meeting with General Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov or Wlassow was a Russian Red Army general who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early career:...
, the commander of the Soviet troops fighting at Moscow. Vlasov appeared to her as a faithful soldier and Soviet patriot; she did not know yet that after a few months he would be taken prisoner by the Germans and defect to the Nazis as the commander of the Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
.
On January 18, Ève again left Moscow to visit just relieved Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
(it had been besieged by the Germans from October to December 1941) and Lev Tolstoy's house in Yasnaya Polyana
Yasnaya Polyana
Yasnaya Polyana was the home of the writer Leo Tolstoy, where he was born, wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina, and is buried. Tolstoy called Yasnaya Polyana his "inaccessible literary stronghold". It is located southwest of Tula, Russia and from Moscow.In 1921, the estate formally became his...
. In Tula, the local secretary of the Communist party Zhavoronkov told her about the hardships of the three-month siege; in the town, Ève also met one of local Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
(guerillas) – Esipov, a carpenter, who had fought the Germans behind the frontline. On the next day (January 19), Ève and Liuba, accompanied by Sophia Andreyevna Tolstoy (Lev Tolstoy's grandniece), who supervised all Tolstoy's museums in the USSR, visited Tolstoy's family house in Yasnaya Polyana, which the Germans had converted into a mess for Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
officers and tried to burn down when they were withdrawing.
Ève also wanted to see the siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
but was refused a permit to fly to the city, so she stayed in the capital for some time, observing the daily life of its inhabitants, taking part in Moscow's cultural life (she saw for example the opera Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin (opera)
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts , by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest, and is based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin....
by Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
) and meeting scientists at the Geological Institute and the Academy of Sciences of the USSR
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
, where she learnt about huge losses (running into millions) of the Soviet army on the front.
The last trip to the areas where hostilities were going on was a short visit to Mozhaysk
Mozhaysk
Mozhaysk is a town and the administrative center of Mozhaysky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to the west from the Russian capital, on the historic road leading to Smolensk and then to Poland. Population:...
, where she went on January 23, just one day after the Germans had been driven from it. Again, she could hear about the atrocities of the Nazis, who had buried 200 people alive in the blown-up cathedral and tried to burn down the town. Ève also had the opportunity to talk to German soldiers who were taken prisoner and see how much their morale had lowered, because of the severe winter and defeats on the front.
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
s and wanted to join the Polish army which was just being formed under the command of General Władysław Sikorski. She learnt from an officer named Grzybowski (who was also a pianist, like Ève) about the life in an officers' camp in Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...
in northern Russia; an unnamed aristocrat, who was arrested in 1939 and also spent a long time in a Soviet prison, told her about the comfort religion gave him during that time. Ève also learnt about the tragic fate of many other Poles who were deported to remote regions of the country and about the difficulties the Polish authorities had to cope with to find them in the depths of Russia. She could also see how determined both the Polish military and the civilians were to get out of the USSR and return to Poland. In a conversation with her, General Anders gave voice to this desire saying: "We will get to Poland. Not all of us, of course, But Poland will live."
Ève Curie's description of her stay in the Soviet Union took up most space in her book; this was also the stage of her journey which most impressed her. Ève's attitude towards the Soviet reality was ambivalent. On the one hand, she perceived the authoritarian character of the Soviet political system, the political and religious persecutions, she realized that many of the people she talked to (for example the priest in the Orthodox church in Kuybyshev) were afraid to tell even her – a Western correspondent – openly what they thought about the life in the USSR; meeting Polish exiles in the USSR, she also learned the truth (or at least part of it) about Communist crimes in the Soviet Union. On the other hand, she was full of admiration for the sacrifice of ordinary soldiers and civilians fighting the invaders; her fascination for the Soviet system, which was so different from the systems in other countries which were known to her, can be seen in many places of the book. Ève Curie certainly was not one of the "fellow travelers", who sympathized with Communist ideology and the Soviet Union, but she was not their fierce critic either. The description of the USSR in Curie's book is one of the most interesting presentations of hostilities on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
which was ever written by a Western journalist.
Part IV – Asia
Ève Curie flew back from Kuybyshev to Iran o January 29, 1942. In Teheran, she learnt about furthers conquests of the Japanese in the Far EastFar East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
; nevertheless she made an attempt to reach Singapore. She went by train to Abadan, the seat of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was founded in 1908 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company to extract petroleum from the Middle East...
, then by plane to Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, where she again heard about the pro-German sympathies of the Iraqis, finally from Basra by flying boat to Calcutta
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, which she reached on February 8. The journey to Singapore was no longer possible (the Japanese conquered the city on February 15, after a week's siege), so instead Ève flew to Burma, which was also a British colony then.
In Burma, Curie was staying in Lashio
Lashio
Lashio is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about northeast of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Nam Yao river. The population grew from around 5000 in 1960 to 88,590 in 1983. It is currently estimated at around 130,000.Lashio is the...
, in the north-eastern part of the country, at the house of Arthur Porter, the British Commissioner for the Northern Shan State
Shan State
Shan State is a state of Burma . Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma in the west. Largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total...
s. She also visited Rangoon
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
and other places; throughout the country she could feel tension because of the attacking Japanese. In Burma, for the third time during her journey, Ève was also in close proximity of the front. On the 15th of February she drove in a station wagon forward of the British positions at the Bilin River with the intention of traveling to Thaton
Thaton
Thaton is a town in Mon State, in southern Myanmar on the Tenasserim plains. Thaton lies along the National Highway 8 and is also connected by the National Road 85.-Etymology:...
which was in the process of being evacuated. She was eventually ordered to turn around by British officers at an outpost along the road as she was approaching the no mans land between the British and Japanese armies. The British army was commanded in this area by General John George Smyth, who told her about the difficult situation of his troops – the Japanese had better equipment than the British, they also fought fanatically and ruthlessly in the jungle. Because of these factors, all the bravery and dedication to fight of the British and Indian soldiers were in vain: Ève witnessed the chaotic evacuation of the British and other foreigners from Rangoon, who were escaping the approaching Japanese.
Burma Road
The Burma Road is a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals are Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony.The road is long and runs through rough mountain country...
, running through mountainous areas from Lashio to the Chinese province of Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
. This was the main road on which Chinese drivers, in difficult terrain conditions, often at the risk of their lives, transported war supplies for their country, which had been warring with Japan since 1937.
The next stage in Ève Curie' journey was her visit to China, where to she flew by plane from Lashio. She spent most of the time in this country in Chungking
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, which was the provisional capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
in the years 1937-1945 and the seat of the government of Generalissimo
Generalissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
, which was the reason why it was often bombed by Japanese planes. China had been in a grave political crisis since the 1920s; the war with the external aggressor overlapped with the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
against Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
s Communists, which started in 1927. Ève also visited the Province of Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
with its capital Chengtu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
, where she could see the difficult living condition (often extreme poverty) of the local population and where she also visited Chinese military schools.
Back in Chungking, Ève also met the Communist General Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, who was a sort of envoy of the Communists to Chiang Kai-shek' central government, the widow of Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
(the Father of the Republic of China), finally Chiang Kai-shek himself and his Americanized wife Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang was a First Lady of the Republic of China , the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter...
, known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
On her way back from China to India, Ève Curie also met one of the so-called Flying Tigers
Flying Tigers
The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, famously nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army , Navy , and Marine Corps , recruited under presidential sanction and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The ground crew and headquarters...
, and during a stopover in Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
she could interview their commander – Claire Lee Chennault
Claire Lee Chennault
Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault , was an American military aviator. A contentious officer, he was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fight-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the U.S. Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment...
. The Flying Tigers were American pilots who had been fighting the Japanese voluntarily in the ranks of the Chinese air force since 1941; they were known as daring, even though often undisciplined soldiers.
Having returned from China to Calcutta, Ève could observe the growing fear of the Japanese invasion which could be felt in the city and the whole of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
. India's economy had already been mobilized for war production since 1939; the Indians themselves, however, were not fully convinced of the necessity of this war effort and sacrificing their lives for Britain. Already flying from Basra to Calcutta in February, during a stopover in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Ève Curie had first met sympathizers of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
; now she could talk to more and more nationalists demanding independence for their country. Going by train from Calcutta to Delhi, Curie also made a short visit to Allahabad
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
, where she met Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, a prominent member of the Congress, representing its left wing, and his daughter Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
(the future Prime Minister of India), who was just getting ready for her wedding (on the following day she was to marry Feroze Gandhi
Feroze Gandhi
Feroze Jehangir Gandhi was an Indian politician and journalist, and publisher of the The National Herald and The Navjivan newspapers from Lucknow....
). Nehru explained to Curie his views on India's independence, which was becoming a more and more urgent issue in the British Empire. Curie's stay in India coincided with the visit of Stafford Cripps
Stafford Cripps
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century. During World War II he served in a number of positions in the wartime coalition, including Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Minister of Aircraft Production...
, Lord Privy Seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
, who came from Britain to present some new proposals of the British government aiming at increasing India's autonomy (Ève also had a meeting with him in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
). The British proposals, however, were received rather coolly by the Indians, who demanded "independence now", as their slogan went.
After arriving in New Delhi, Ève was staying in the residence of General Archibald Wavell
Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell GCB, GCSI, GCIE, CMG, MC, PC was a British field marshal and the commander of British Army forces in the Middle East during the Second World War. He led British forces to victory over the Italians, only to be defeated by the German army...
, commander of the British forces in the Far East. There she also met Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
Victor Hope
Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow
Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow KG, KT, GCSI, GCIE, OBE, PC was a British statesman who served as Governor-General and Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943.-Early life and family:...
; the most important event on this stage of her journey was, however, her meeting with Mahatma Gandhi on March 28. During that meeting, which greatly impressed her, Gandhi presented her his philosophy of nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, and other methods, without using violence. It is largely synonymous with civil resistance...
and non-opposing the evil, even facing the German and Japanese threat and the danger of physical elimination by the enemy.
Soon after this conversation, Ève also met Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, the leader of the Muslim League and the future founder of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. As a result of the meeting, she became aware of how great the scale of religious conflicts between the Hinduists
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s is and realized that the country may disintegrate after regaining independence.
Part V – Back to America
Ève Curie set off on her return journey from New Delhi to America on April 4, 1942, on a flying boat traveling via the Near Fast, Africa and South America. The United States was already openly taking part in the war, so everywhere she met American soldiers, pilots and technicians, in service along with the British, Free French and soldiers from other countries. The last pages of the book are a hymn praising the cooperation of the Allies, American values, freedom and democracy in the fight with the German and Japanese invaders.Significance of Journey Among Warriors
Journey Among Warriors is not a piece of war reportage in the strict sense of the word. During her 5-month journey Ève Curie was only three times in the immediate vicinity of the front line: during the fights in the Libyan DesertLibyan Desert
The Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...
, in the Soviet Union and in Burma. Nevertheless, the book is an important document showing the events of the Second World War, not only in the direct combat zone but also in the hinterland. Ève Curie wrote not only about military operations but also logistic processes supporting them (for example Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
supplies of American equipment), problems connected with equipping of millions of soldiers etc. During her journey, Ève often met high military commanders and politicians, which gives the reader insight into the behind-the-scenes of World War II. Some of Curie's interlocutors became widely-known already after the publication of the book, for example the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
, the commander of the Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov or Wlassow was a Russian Red Army general who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early career:...
, or the Chinese military and politician Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, which only increases the value of the book as a historical source quoting their opinions.
Another value of Journey Among Warriors is its documentary character – the book depicts the life of civilians in the warring countries, their sacrifice, daily toil, joys and hardships. The descriptions of the life in the Soviet Union and China are especially valuable here. Admittedly, the author does not always remain objective (which is visible especially in her fascination for the Soviet Union); however, also in this respect, her book is an interesting historical source.
Reception of Journey Among Warriors
Journey Among Warriors, which was published in 1943 (the war was still going on then), received a favorable reception by the public and critics, even though it was sometimes criticized for its excessive length (the book is over 500 pages long). In 1944, Journey Among Warriors was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for CorrespondencePulitzer Prize for Correspondence
The Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence was awarded from 1929 to 1947.-Winners:*1929: Paul Scott Mowrer of the Chicago Daily News, for his coverage of international affairs including the Franco-British Naval Pact and Germany's campaign for revision of the Dawes Plan.*1930: Leland Stowe of New York...
; eventually, it was not awarded the prize, which went to Ernest Taylor Pyle
Ernie Pyle
Ernest Taylor Pyle was an American journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in combat during World War II. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944...
, also for war correspondence. After the war, the book was not reissued and it was largely forgotten.