Talk:Verlaine Message Museum

Translation of page

I noticed there was no English article about this potentially interesting museum. Here are the notes from translation:

I have changed the order in which information is presented. The original article discusses the museum's present work before it discusses its historical importance. In English Wikipedia, it seems that the norm is to discuss the historical significance of a site and then discuss its condition today. It is also more relevant to someone outside France to include details about the operating museum in a later section.

The museum's name in French is Le Musée du 5 juin 1944 «Message Verlaine» which makes the best title for English Wikipedia somewhat ambiguous. While naming streets, museums, etc. after historical dates is common in other languages, it is hardly ever done in English. So I think "Verlaine Message Museum" is the best name for now.

I've translated "allemande" as "Nazi", "Nazi German" or "German", depending on what seemed appropriate. People are still sensitive about these terms; I have used "German" to refer to the Wehrmacht, but I have used "Nazi Germany" to refer to the country headed by Adolf Hitler, and "Nazi" for anything directly connected with the Nazi party.

I discovered the lack of an English article on 2 June 2014 and I wanted it ready well before 5 June 2014. So, most of what is here is simply translation from the French, with some changes. There may be inconsistencies with historical details. And there is important missing information. For example, there's nothing about what the Germans did with the message, and I didn't want to speculate.

Also, the French article specifically discusses the relevance to the Departement du Nord. I opted instead to say the city is near Lille to provide a geographical reference.

There are no references in the French article, so I made one to the website just to get something in the references section, and I flagged the article as requiring more citations.

Request I can't modify the Languages list in the left panel. The French article is http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_du_5_juin_1944 and French is the only other language.

Roches (talk) 21:29, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

Two things left out of the English article

I didn't mention the fact that the 15th Army was part of Army Group B, which is in the French article. This is because the 15th Army was not part of the Army Group B that invaded France; rather, it was attached to a different Army Group B in May 1944. The 15th Army was formed up on 15 January 1941 and headquartered at Tourcoing. When some of the armies facing the English Channel were placed into a group called Army Group B, the 15th Army was one of these.

Also, the French article uses a term that is not found in English: "souris grise", literally "gray mouse", about the telephone exchange operator. "Souris grise" was a French term for any female member of the German occupying force (see this blog (in French)). They were called "gray" because of their uniforms and "mice" because they were undesirable occupants of the French homeland.

Roches (talk) 13:16, 3 June 2014 (UTC)