Subject: WWII-L Digest - 7 Jul 1993 to 8 Jul 1993

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1993 05:14:03 -0400

There are 6 messages totalling 380 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. USAAF 8 JUL 43
  2. "Stealth" 'chutes (was PARA WINGS)
  3. MISC: French goums, German kampfwert
  4. German combat worth catagories (2)
  5. New Acquisitions on byrd.mu.wvnet.edu history ftp site

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Date:    Thu, 8 Jul 1993 07:08:05 -0400
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: USAAF 8 JUL 43

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
THURSDAY, 8 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:
  A-36, North American Apache
  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  Wellington, Vickers (RAF)

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force)
    9 B-25's fly a special mission to Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force)
    22 B-24's, escorted by 13 P-40's, attack shipping, docks, and a cement
works at Haiphong, French Indochina.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ANTISUBMARINE WARFARE (AAF Antisubmarine Command)
    HQ 479th Antisubmarine Group is activated at St Eval, England  The
group is assigned to the AAF Antisubmarine Command and controls all
Antisubmarine Squadrons in England.

  COMBAT OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
    The 354th, 357th and 358th Fighter Squadrons, 355th Fighter Group,
arrive at Steeple Morden, England from the US with P-47D's. They will fly
their first combat mission on 14 Sep 43.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ANTISUBMARINE WARFARE (AAF Antisubmarine Command)
    German sub, U-232, is sunk off Portugal, 40-37N 13-41W, by a B-24 of
the 2d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy).

  EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Ninth Air Force)
    In Sicily, B-24's attack the Catania railway station, telegraph and
telephone buildings, and industrial area; B-25's hit the airfields at
Biscari and Comiso and nearby areas; and P-40's attack Biscari Airfield,
escort bombers over Sicily, and carry out sea patrols.

  WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Northwest African Air Force)
     In Sicily, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons
bomb airfields at Comiso and Catania during the night of 7/8 Jul. During
the day, B-17's, B-25's, and B-26's make several strikes against Gerbini
and its satellite fields; P-38's strafe radar installations in the E part
of Sicily; Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light bombers hit
Sciacca Airfield while medium bombers hit airfields at Biscari and Comiso;
and A-36's attack trucks, a train, railroads, highways, a sulphur plant,
and a marshalling yard at several points in Sicily.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force)
  In New Guinea, B-25's continue to pound enemy positions around Mubo and
along the coast of NE New Guinea, hitting Kela Point and village, Malolo,
Buigap Creek, and trails from Salamaua Airfield and Kennedy's Crossing to
Logui.
  The 319th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
transfers with B-24's from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia to Port
Moresby, New Guinea.

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
|  Jack McKillop      |  Those who have long enjoyed such privileges |
|  Bellcore           |  as we enjoy forget in time that men have    |
|  Piscataway, NJ     |  died to win them.     FDR                   |
|  USA                |  [email-masked]                        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Date:    Thu, 8 Jul 1993 08:14:22 -0400
From:    MAX HARE <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: "Stealth" 'chutes (was PARA WINGS)

   Alan,

Thanks.  Your reply did answer a lot of my questions.  At our DZ the
noise of the sliders of these "hot" chutes generated many jokes about
"noise abatement".  Im sure the military must have something that cuts
this down when they are using ram-airs.

Thanks again,

Max C. Calderwood
University of Southern Maine
Gorham, ME
[email-masked]

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Date:    Thu, 8 Jul 1993 10:15:22 -0400
From:    "Mr. Scott Hannon" <[email-masked]>
Subject: MISC: French goums, German kampfwert

>> Rather surprising when you consider that by the end of 1944 the French
>> army was a bit larger than the British!

>     Do you mean the French Army in some particular theatre was larger
>than the British Army in that theatre?

Here's a quote from: J. Lee Ready, _Forgotten Allies: volume 1, The European
Theater_, McFarland, 1985. (D743.R34)

---
   "By the end of the year [1944] on the Western Front, the French Army would
   have fifteen divisions and several brigades in line. The British would
   have twelve divisions and a few brigades. The French therefore not only
   outnumbered the British in fighting strength, but it would be the French
   transport system which sustained the Allies, albeit with American engineer
   aid. Yet the Anglo-Americans continued to control all facets of the war."
---

While the French had more men in line than the British, almost half of those
15 divisions were ex-FFI men, and of limited combat value (many were used to
screen the German troops trapped in their coastal forts). Most of the
remaining units were North African.

To answer Larry's question about 4e GTM (from _Rearming the French_, US
Army in WW2 "green series", pg 111-113) :

---
   "The 4th GTM entering the front line alongside 2d DIM was one of several
   smaller organizations which were not originally planned for under the
   rearmament program, but which the French had activated and made ready
   largely at the urging of AFHQ. These nonprogram units, most of which
   were earmarked for service in Italy, included 4 Moroccan tabor groups
   corresponding to 4 U.S. light infantry regiments, 8 mule pack companies
   corresponding to 16 U.S. mule pack companies, ..."

   "The four Moroccan tabor groups, each consisting of three tabors, or
   battalions, represented a total of approximately 13000 goumiers. The basic
   organization of these robust, fearless mountaineers, most of them Berbers
   from the Atlas region, was the goum, or company, of a strength of
   approximately 220 men including French cadres of 2 officiers and 12
   noncommisioned officiers. Because of its extreme mobility and lightness,
   the goum was regarded by the French military authorities as a sort of
   'foot cavalry' unit able to accomplish, over difficult terrain, some of
   the missions ordinarily assigned to mounted cavalry." ...
---

Anyone familiar with German WW2 sources?...I have questions.

The daily reports of Germany's AOK 19 lists a "Kampfwert" for most of the
divisions in its two Korps. I'm told "Kampfwert" translates to "combat value".
Values of "I" thru "IV" appear for the various divs. This is a bit ambiguous
to me...is this a rating of combat strength regardless of size (ie if two
units are rated the same, they have the same combat strength even if one is
a div and the other a brigade), or a scaled value (ie how close to its full
TOE establishment)?

Another questions. Each unit is rated for "bespannt" (horse drawn?) and
"motorisiert" (motorized). These values are given as a percentage. Fine.
Well in one case, the values add up to more than 100% (95% and 60%)!
Is this likely a typo, or have I misinterpreted what the two percentages
mean?

(Remember ex-list member Arnaud Bouis? He's the one who did the research. He
is now out of the French military and looking for a job. He'll be visiting
the USA in August.)

Scott.

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

Date:    Thu, 8 Jul 1993 09:50:00 CDT
From:    Shawn Robert Woodford <[email-masked]>
Subject: German combat worth catagories

Scott:  Toward the end of the war, OKH began catagorizing various combat
formations according a four level classification estimating their "combat
ability."  Catagory I units were those capable of serving in battle on the
Eastern Front.  The classifications ranged down to Catagory IV units, good only
for occupation and rear area duties.  Apparently it was a rule-of-thumb tool
for Staff Officers to use in keeping track of the 300+ divisions the German
Army had ballooned to by 1944-45, with many understrength, oddly organized and
combat-reduced formations.

Shawn Robert Woodford, Kansas State
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 8 Jul 1993 13:38:28 -0400
From:    "Michael J. McCarthy" <[email-masked]>
Subject: New Acquisitions on byrd.mu.wvnet.edu history ftp site

WHAT'S NEW on
HISTORY FTP SITE

BYRD.MU.WVNET.EDU
129.71.32.152
pub/history

Managers:
Mike McCarthy, Marshall Univ. ([email-masked])
Donna Spindel, Marshall Univ. ([email-masked])

Honorary Manager and Major Contributor:
Larry Jewell ([email-masked])

UPDATE: 8 July 1993

     We have obtained a large number of new files on byrd.mu.wvnet.edu
since the last update two months ago.  Below is a detailed listing,
by subdirectory.  For a comprehensive listing of all current files on
the FTP site, send me a request through email or retrieve the file
INDEX from the pub/history subdirectory.

Mike McCarthy
History Dept.
Marshall University
[email-masked]

======================ATTACHMENT======================================

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/diplomatic/coldwar:
berlin_brief.txt    JFK Briefing on Berlin Task Force
berlin_wall.txt     Article on Berlin Wall, John Ausland
jfk_berlin.txt      Article on JFK Briefing, John Ausland
us_fp_europe.txt    Honor's thesis, "From the Marshall Plan to
                    the Treaty of Rome:  US Foreign Policy and
                    European Integration" Richard P. Klau,
                    Lafayette College, April 1993

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/diplomatic/h-diplo:
bio                 Subdir: Subscriber bios, H-DIPLO list

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/general:
timeline.txt        A timeline of history

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/internet:
army_war_coll.txt   Guide to databases of Army War College
european.guide_2    Electronic sources for Western European history
                    and culture
hnserver.txt        Announcement of history gopher server
hypertext_sim       Subdir: Hypertext simulation of CICNet Electronic
                    journal archives
ipwin.txt           InfoPop Windows:  hypertext guide to Internet
ipwin.zip           BINARY: InfoPop Windows:  hypertext guide to Internet
nettools.memo       EARN Guide to Network Resource Tools
whatis.internet     Description of internet and its uses

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/maritime:
american_bat_dir    Subdir: Files from American Battleship Directory
american_naval_dic  Subdir: Files from Dictional of American Naval Ships
german_hclass.txt   Description of German H-Class Battleships

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military:
guerilla.txt        Paper:  Psych Operations in Guerilla Warfare,
                    Tayac n
gulf_war            Subdir: Gulf War, 1991

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military/airforce:
luftaces.txt        List of Luftwaffe ace fighter pilots
p_series_fighters   Subdir: Descriptions of US P-series fighter planes
swedish_air.txt     List of Swedish military aircraft types
usaf_descriptions   Subdir: Descriptions of US Air Force planes
usaf_fact_sheets    Subdir: Official US Air Force Fact Sheets

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military/airforce/wwii_chronology:
jun_43.txt          USAAF Chronology, June 1943

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military/civil_war_usa:
us_mem_day.txt      History of US Memorial Day Holiday
civ_war.bib_1       Civil War Bibliography (1)
civ_war.bib_2       Civil War Bibliography (2)
suggested.reading   Suggested reading on Civil War
units_file.txt      Civil War units file

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military/gulf_war:
navy.biblio         Bibliography of US Navy in the Gulf War

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military/united_states:
medals              Subdir: Commendations graphics files

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military/vietnam:
hanoi_hannah.txt    Article:  Voices from the Past, Don North
                    (_Vietnam Generation_, Vol. 3, No. 3)
nvet_archive        Subdir: _NAMVET:  International Newsletter for
                    Vietnam Veterans_ archive
vietnam_glos.txt    Glossary of Vietnam War era terms

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/military/wwii:
4307.txt            Chronology of events, July 1943
balkans.txt         Files re: German anti-guerilla operations in
                    the Balkans, 1941-44
d_day_letters.txt   _INF: Letters Home: D-Day_, John Ausland
dragoon.txt         Description of Operation Dragoon
japan_expand.txt    Japanese expansion, 1931-41
japan_mil_prep.txt  Japanese economic & military prep, 1931-41
national_arc.txt    National Archives Center for Electronic Records
                    Holdings on WWII
wwii-l_digests      Subdir: Digests of WWII-L@UBVM discussion list

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/political/united_states/presidency:
fdr.inaug           Text of Roosevelt's Inaugural Addresses
john_adams.inaug    Text of John Adams's Inaugural Address
lincoln.gif         BINARY: Graphic file of Lincoln

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/science:
host                Subdir: History of Science and Technology Journal
                    Archives

*DIRECTORY OF pub/history/utilities:
chrnos.txt          Chronology determination software
chrnos.zip          BINARY: Chronology determination software
inch_mm.txt         Inches-millimeter conversion table
maya36.txt          Mayan/modern calendar conversion software
maya36.zip          BINARY: Mayan/modern calendar conversion software
nugu93.txt          New User's Guide to Usenet, Windows 3.1
nugu93.zip          BINARY: New User's Guide to Usenet, Windows 3.1
vn_teach_tools.txt  Description of tools for teaching Vietnam
                    Geography (vnmyhome.zip & vnquetoi.zip)
vnmyhome.zip        BINARY: Vietnam Geography (English version)
vnquetoi.zip        BINARY: Vietnam Geography (Vietnamese version)
wtp.txt             We The People, Windows 3.1
wtp.zip             BINARY: We the People, Windows 3.1

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

Date:    Thu, 8 Jul 1993 11:18:02 -0700
From:    Thomas Cardoza <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: German combat worth catagories

Scott,
If Category I units were those capable of combat on the Eastern front, I
would be interested to know if OKH considered the Western Front (after 6
June 1944) to be "Category II."  In other words, does the Kampfwert system
reflect a German perception of the West as being significantly less
demanding or equally demanding to the East.  What did Categories II and
III signify?

Tom Cardoza

On Thu, 8 Jul 1993, Shawn Robert Woodford wrote:

> Scott:  Toward the end of the war, OKH began catagorizing various combat
> formations according a four level classification estimating their "combat
> ability."  Catagory I units were those capable of serving in battle on the
> Eastern Front.  The classifications ranged down to Catagory IV units, good onl
y
> for occupation and rear area duties.  Apparently it was a rule-of-thumb tool
> for Staff Officers to use in keeping track of the 300+ divisions the German
> Army had ballooned to by 1944-45, with many understrength, oddly organized and
> combat-reduced formations.
>
> Shawn Robert Woodford, Kansas State
> [email-masked]

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 7 Jul 1993 to 8 Jul 1993
***********************************************