BtZ42, 21: Slothrop backstory in UK

[Joseph Tracy]

I’m not sure that the timing is that clear from the sentence, though maybe that is the best assumption.Could Slothrop’s reference to the first Blitz  be just the first one he experienced.  Anyway, good to watch for more confirmation of that. It would certainly give him a lot more time to add stars.  
> On Apr 5, 2016, at 7:38 PM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> "A lot of stuff prior to 1944 is getting blurry now. He can remember the first Blitz only as a long spell of good luck."
> 
> So Slothrop was in London for the first Blitz, usually dated 7 Sep 1940 to 11 May 1941, heaviest for the first 2-3 months. That means a minimum of 3 1/2 years -- 4 yrs and 2 months if he witnessed the whole thing, which is closer to the feeling I get here.
> 
> Keep in mind that the US didn't enter WWII until Dec 1941... Lend-Lease cooperation began after Mar 1941... and even the dodgy swap of US destroyers for rights at UK bases in the Western Hemisphere was Sep 1940.
> 
> Compare also to "these three years" farther down the page, applied to Slothrop's friendship with Tantivy and the shared office at ACHTUNG. Which would take that back to Nov. 1941, again before US entry into the war and *long* before -- historically -- there was any special focus on "technical intelligence" re "Northern Germany," i.e. V-2s. 
> 
> No note on this discrepancy -- or at least loose end -- at the Pynchon Wiki or in Weisenburger's Companion. 
> 
> So... Does GR explain anywhere what US Army Lt. Slothrop was *doing* in London in 1940-1941? It's not necessarily a ***CLUE*** - even without formal alliance, even in peacetime, likely allies with shared strategic concerns often maintain small military missions in each other's capitals. 
> 
> But given what we'll later learn about plans for Slothrop going way back... maybe we're *supposed* to wonder about it, hmmm? 

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