Viva Ze Bool! Ferdinand Went to War for Australia

The flower-sniffing bull was the inspiration for a wartime surveillance group in the land down under.

by Rich Watson

The Story of Ferdinand was a 1936 book by Munro Leaf, with illustrations by Robert Lawson. Life magazine called it “the greatest juvenile classic since Winnie the Pooh.” At one point it outsold Gone With the Wind.

It came out during the Spanish Civil War and on the verge of World War 2. Some interpreted the children’s book within those contexts.

The book’s success, however, inspired Allied forces in Australia in the battle against fascism.

The Military Connections to the Game Battleship

 

The popular board game and its initial manufacturer both had ties to real-life wars.

by Rich Watson 

Battleship was always fun. I had the game itself but I also remember playing a pen-and-paper version that worked similarly. It was good for when the teacher was absent and we goofed around in the back of the classroom while the substitute filled out delaney cards or whatever.

Given its military trappings, it should come as no surprise that its roots sprung during wartime.

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