LETTER OF THE MONTH
Initial velocity
Your interview with Jonathan Dimbleby in the May issue (Books) reminded me that, when I worked in London in the 1960s, a colleague had a German friend who had been involved in the Second World War Barbarossa campaign. This friend had told my colleague that, when they attacked Russia, his unit first advanced 20, 30 or 40 miles a day. This went on for weeks. In the end, they paused and were called into the commandant’s HQ for a briefing.
The commandant had a map of the whole of Russia spread out. He pointed at it and said: “We are here.” It
