Subject: WWII-L Digest - 25 Jul 1993 to 26 Jul 1993

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 00:00:30 -0400

There are 8 messages totalling 433 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. GEN: LIBRARIES
  2. USAAF 26 JUL 43
  3. Addr: gen (2)
  4. REF: ADVICE REGARDING LIBRARIES?
  5. BIO: Matthew Bunker Ridgway, RIP
  6. The Garry Owen
  7. KOHL VERSUS MITTERAND - a German view

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Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 05:37:50 -0400
From:    JOHN AUSLAND <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: LIBRARIES

FOR RICHARD KING

Thank you for posting your message on the list, so as to give others
a chance to comment.  Yes, I can understand that the problem is to
catch a busy librarian's attention.  My thought is to send the
following: a press release and a flyer, under cover of a short
letter.

My thought is for the letter to say:
  With the 50th anniversary of the events covered by this book
approaching, you may be interested in adding it to your
collection.
  This is what James Fallows, Washington editor for the Atlantic
Monthly, had to say about it:
  "John Ausland is known to many readers for his insightful essays about
international relations. 'Letters Home' shows the same sensibility and grace
of expression, applied to the daily reality of life during war. I found this
a vivid and revealing book.  It is very well written and engrossing."

I have noted your suggestion that I might address this to the "Military
History Librarian," but wonder if most libraries have such a person.

I would appreciate your, as well as others, comments.

On second thought, if agreeable with you, I will fax you my press
release and flyer, so as to give you a chance to comment on how you
think librarians might react.  I have the fax number of the university
as: 812 885-5868, but perhaps you use another number.

Regards, John Ausland

*******************************************************************
* John C. Ausland               Tel: +47 22 14 17 68              *
* Land Productions              Fax: +47 22 16 30 92              *
* Sondreveien 4, Entry 2        CIS: 73240,2704                   *
* 0378 Oslo, Norway             Internet: [email-masked] *
*******************************************************************

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Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 07:16:16 -0400
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: USAAF 26 JUL 43

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
MONDAY, 26 JULY 1943
FTP SITES
  1. ftp.rutgers.edu in directory pub/wwii/usaf
  2. byrd.mu.wvnet.edu (129.71.32.152) in pub/history/military/airforce/
     wwii_chronology

AIRCRAFT MENTIONED IN THIS REPORT:
  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  B-40, Boeing Flying Fortress
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  Fw 190, Focke Wulf (Luftwaffe)
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-39, Bell Airacobra

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force)
    In the Aleutian Islands, 3 bombers and 5 fighters fly 5 armored
reconnaissance missions to Kiska Island. 32 B-24's, 38 P-40's, and 24
P-38's fly 13 attack raids, bombing and scoring hits on numerous Kiska
Island and Little Kiska Island targets, including North Head, Main Camp,
the runway, Gertrude Cove, AA batteries, and on a suspected submarine in
Kiska Island harbor. A submarine is sighted near Rat Island. AA fire
claims 1 P-40 (pilot rescued), and damages 3 others. 1 B-25 and 15 P-38's
fly 2 air cover missions to Kiska Island for the US Navy. Over 1O4 tons
of bombs are dropped on Kiska Island this day, highest one-day bomb load
so far dropped by the Eleventh Air Force.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force)
  The last mission against Wake Island from Midway Island is flown. 8
B-24's bomb targets including oil storage area. 20+ fighters (including
an aircraft identified as a possible Fw 190) intercept the formation. The
B-24's claim 11 of the fighters shot down.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force)
    5 B-25's, escorted by 12 fighters, bomb Hankow Airfield, China. An
estimated 30-50 fighters intercept the force; the B-25's and fighters
claim 14 airplanes shot down and 17 probably destroyed; 1 P-40 is lost.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
  VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 77: Two targets in Germany and a
convoy are hit, i.e.:
    1. 119 B-17's and 2 YB-40's are dispatched against rubber factories
at Hannover; 96 hit the target at 1200-1243 hours; they claim 40-9-28
Luftwaffe aircraft; 16 B-17's are lost; casualties are 4 KIA, 22 WIA and
126 MIA.
    2. 49 of 61 B-17's dispatched against Hannover hit a convoy and other
targets of opportunity; they claim 15-1-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17's
are lost; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 51 MIA.
    3. 54 of 121 B-17's dispatched against Hannover hit the U-boat yards
at Hamburg at 1159-1200 hours; they claim 5-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2
B-17's are lost; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 20 MIA.
  A total of 3 B-17's are damaged beyond repair and 86 are damaged on
this mission. Mission results are good but costly; 24 aircraft are lost,
mostly to enemy fighters.
  VIII Air Support Command Mission Number 4: 18 B-26B's are dispatched
against the Saint-Omer/Longuenesse Airfield in France; 15 hit the target
at 1112 hours; 4 aircraft are damaged.
  HQ 41st Bombardment Wing (Heavy) arrives at Brampton Grange, England
from the US. This unit will be redesignated 41st Combat Bombardment Wing
(Heavy) on 13 Sep 43.
  HQ 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 568th, 569th, 570th and
571st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) arrive at Framlingham, England from
the US with B-17's. The group will fly it's first mission on 12 Aug and
remain at this station until Aug 45.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Ninth Air Force)
    In Sicily,  B-25's bomb Milazzo, Paterno, and Adrano; and P-40's
strafe and bomb Catania and shipping at Riposto harbor.

  WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Northwest African Air Force)
    In Sicily during the night of 25/26 Jul, Northwest African Tactical
Air Force (NATAF) medium bombers attack Milazzo, Adrano, and Paterno;
throughout the day light bombers hit Regalbuto at intervals, and fighter-
bombers harass shipping, rail, and road movements. Northwest African
Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26's bomb the Marina di Paola, Italy
marshalling yard.
    HQ 64th Troop Carrier Group and it's 16th, 17th, 18th and 35th Troop
Carrier Squadrons transfer from Kairouan, Tunisia to El Djem, Tunisia
with C-47's.
    The 7th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group, transfers
from El Djem, Tunisia to Gourbrine, Tunisia with C-47's.
    The 37th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, transfers from El
Bathan, Tunisia to Ste-Marie-du-Zit, Tunisia with P-38's.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force)
  In the Solomon Islands, B-24's, P-38's, P-40's, and Navy aircraft hit a
bivouac area and the runway at Kahili on Bougainville Island. B-25's,
P-40's, and US Navy fighters over S Kolombangara Island hit the E shore
of Webster Cove and bivouac area and buildings on Simbo Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force)
  In New Guinea 40+ B-24's and B-17's bomb Salamaua, Malolo Mission,
Komiatum, Komiatum Ridge, and Lae Airfield.
  The 65th Troop Carrier Squadron, Fifth Air Force, arrives at Port
Moresby, New Guinea from the US with C-47's. The squadron flies it's
first mission upon arrival.

SOURCES:
AIR FORCE COMBAT UNITS OF WORLD WAR II, Office of Air Force History,
  Headquarters USAF, 1961, ISBN 0-912799-02-1
COMBAT SQUADRONS OF THE AIR FORCE, WORLD WAR II, Office of Air Force
  History, Headquarters USAF 1982
THE ARMY AIR FORCES IN WORLD WAR II: COMBAT CHRONOLOGY, 1941-1945 by the
  Office of Air Force History, Headquarters USAF, 1973
THE MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY by Roger A. Freeman, ISBN 1-85409-071-2

Jack McKillop
USAF (Airways and Air Communications Service)
1955-59

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Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 08:06:10 EDT
From:    "William B. Thacker" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Addr: gen

RICHARD KING writes:

> I am submitting the following commentary that was posted
> on the new American Studies list (H-AMSTDY).
> ...it just
> doesn't seem accurate to me.
>     The posting in question concerns concentration camps:
>         "The 'liberation' label is problematic...American troops
>          did not 'liberate' concentration/death camp prisoners
>          who were gay, but in fact committed them to new,
>          Americanized institutions like mental hospitals,
>          new prisons etc. Liberation was on U.S. terms that
>          sometimes echoed Nazi ideology (as in this case)."

Essentially correct.  In 1945 male homosexuality was illegal in the United
States, though obviously not so severely penalized as in Germany.
(Lesbianism was not illegal in Germany, and very few women were imprisoned
because they were lesbians).   Gay men were arrested and convicted under
Paragraph 175 of the German legal code, which until 1942, called for
imprisonment.  (From 1942, the penalty was death.)  In addition,

When American forces liberated the camps, the policy on gay prisoners
(marked with pink triangles in the same fashion that Jews wore Stars of
David (made by overlapping two yellow triangles) appears to have been
inconsistent.  I'm uncertain whether an official policy was ever issued or
if the matter was left to the commander of the liberating forces.

It is a matter of record, though, that in many cases the American ruled
that

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Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 08:49:39 EDT
From:    "William B. Thacker" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Addr: gen

(Apologies for the incomplete response I accidentally sent earlier.
Despite the repetition, I'm making this version complete.  )

RICHARD KING writes:

> I really don't feel qualified to comment myself, but it just
> doesn't seem accurate to me.

>         "The 'liberation' label is problematic...American troops
>          did not 'liberate' concentration/death camp prisoners
>          who were gay, but in fact committed them to new,
>          Americanized institutions like mental hospitals,
>          new prisons etc. Liberation was on U.S. terms that
>          sometimes echoed Nazi ideology (as in this case)."

Male homosexuality was illegal in both Germany and the United States.  In
Germany, it was a violation of Paragraph 175 of the German legal code;
until 1942, that was punishable by imprisonment, but from 1942 onward, by
death.  In the US, each state had somewhat different laws, though, of
course, none specified the death penalty.

(Lesbianism, interestingly, was not illegal in Germany, and it appears that
only a handful of lesbian women were sent to the camps because of their
sexuality.)

In any case, most of the gay men in the death camps had been arrested and
sentenced to prison, then transferred to the death camps.  These men were
marked with a pink triangle, in the same manner that Jews were marked with
the Star of David (made from two overlapping yellow triangles.)   They were
never a large percentage of the camp inmates, in part because few were
arrested (as compared to Jews, Gypsies, and criminals), but also because
they were usually the worst abused and suffered the highest mortality
rates.

When US (and British) forces liberated the prisons, there seems to have
been uncertainty over what to do with the gay prisoners.  Unlike the
anti-Jewish laws and other laws prohibiting Gypsies, Jehova's Witnesses,
etc, Paragraph 175 was not repealed by the occupation authorities.  The
US psychological profession still considered homosexuality a mental
illness.  So by both domestic and occupation standards, male homosexuals
were still guilty of a crime punishable by imprisonment.

I don't know whether an official policy was issued or the matter was left
to the commander of the liberating forces.  But it is documented that many
of these "rescued" gay men were returned to prison to serve out the
remainder of the sentence handed down by Nazi courts.  And in some cases,
the Allied officers who remanded them to prison specified that the time
they had spent in the labor camps was not to be counted toward service of
that sentence.

So while I suspect that many of the gay prisoners were liberated, it is
documented that many were not.  I've no knowledge of these men being sent
to mental hospitals, but that doesn't seem far-fetched.  I also have no
knowledge of how those prisoners in camps liberated by the Soviets fared;
Stalin had outlawed homosexuality, too, and had concentration camps of his
own.

Reference:  Richard Plant, _The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against
Homosexuals_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bill Thacker             AT&T Network Systems       attmail!att!cbemf!wbt
Quality Engineer            Columbus, Ohio              [email-masked]
          "Giving money and power to government is like giving
         whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P.J. O'Rourke

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 11:31:41 EDT
From:    Michael Cotter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: REF: ADVICE REGARDING LIBRARIES?

John, RE: Buying books through agents.  Many libraries do buy books
though agents, but may select them from advertisements, book reviews, and
other sources that are available to them.  If a library were to have no
other source than a notice from Compuserve or other electronic medium, it
would still judge a book on the merits of the topic and the authoritative
treatment of the subject matter.   It then would be the library's choice
whether to purchase directly from the author or through an agent (or vendor).
Our library buys many of its current books through Yankee Book Peddler, in
Contoocoock (sp?) New Hampshire.

Hope this helps.

Michael Cotter
Documents Librarian
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville NC 27858
919/757-6533

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Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 13:48:58 EST
From:    Larry & Kim Jewell <[email-masked]>
Subject: BIO: Matthew Bunker Ridgway, RIP

Matthew Bunker Ridgway was born at Fort Monroe, Virginia, on 3
March 1895

*** graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1917

*** was commissioned a second lieutenant in April, a first
lieutenant in May, and a temporary captain in August 1917

*** was a company commander and adjutant of the 3d Infantry,
1917-1918

*** was instructor in Spanish and athletics executive at West
Point, 1918-1924

*** was promoted to permanent captain, 1919

*** graduated from the Infantry School at Fort Benning and
served with the 15th Infantry in China and the 9th Infantry in
Texas, 1925-1927

*** served on the American Electoral Commission in Nicaragua and
the Bolivia-Paraguay Commission of Inquiry and Conciliation,
1927-1929

*** married Margaret Wilcox, 1930 (divorced 1946)

*** served with the 33d Infantry in the Canal Zone, 1931-1932

*** was technical adviser to the governor general of the
Philippines, 1932-1933

*** was promoted to major, October 1932

*** graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort
Leavenworth, 1935, and the Army War College, 1937

*** was assistant chief of staff, G-3, of Sixth Corps Area,
Second Army, and Fourth Army between 1935 and 1939

*** served in the War Plans Division of the General Staff, 1939-
1942

*** was promoted to lieutenant colonel, July 1940, and to
temporary ranks of colonel, December 1941, brigadier general,
January 1942, and major general August 1942

*** commanded the 82d Airborne Division in operations against
Axis forces in Sicily Italy, and France, 1942-1944, and the
XVIII Airborne Corps in European operations, leading to
Germany's surrender, 1944-1945

*** was promoted to temporary lieutenant general, June 1945

*** commanded the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and was
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander there, 1945-1946

*** married Mary Anthony, 1947

*** was representative of the United States to the United
Nations Military Staff Committee and chairman of the Inter-
American Defense Board, 1946-1948

*** was commander in chief, Caribbean Command, 1948-1949

*** was deputy chief of staff for administration, 1949-1950

*** commanded the Eighth Army against Communist forces in Korea,
1950-1951

*** was promoted to general, May 1951

*** was American and Supreme Allied Commander in the Far East,
1951-1952

*** was Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, 1952-1953

*** was chief of staff of the United States Army 16 August 1953-
30 June 1955

*** dealt with postwar demobilization, training of the South
Korean Army, strengthening of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, establishment of a NATO line of communications,
potential crises in Indochina and Formosa, and the effects of
budget cuts upon the Army's capability to carry out its mission

*** retired from active service, June 1955

*** resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania until death, 26 July
1993.

From: COMMANDING GENERALS AND CHIEFS OF STAFF, 1775-1982,
William Gardner Bell, Center of Military History, United States
Army, Washington, D.C., 1983

Transcribed and edited by:
Larry W. Jewell
[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 20:18:26 CDT
From:    Lou Coatney <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: The Garry Owen

Tom?/Roger?

     "Garry Owen" is sung in the "Son of the Morning Star" movie about
Custer, as I remember.

Lou Coatney
Western Illinois University Library

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1993 20:31:58 CDT
From:    Lou Coatney <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: KOHL VERSUS MITTERAND - a German view

Mike Hoffman (and other Germans),

     'Good to see you speak up on the net about this topic -- and, I/we
hope -- others as well.

Lou Coatney

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End of WWII-L Digest - 25 Jul 1993 to 26 Jul 1993
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