Subject: WWII-L Digest - 8 Nov 1993 to 9 Nov 1993

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 00:00:58 -0500

There are 16 messages totalling 465 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. USAAF 9 NOV 43
  2. German plans for attacking Sweden during WW2
  3. INF: Combat! (3)
  4. US tank naming (3)
  5. GEN/EDU: WWII and Japanese/Japanese Americans
  6. British and names
  7. USAAF 5 NOV 43
  8. West Point Library On-Line (repeat)
  9. GEN: "Crystal Night" (2)
 10. CAP - question
 11. <No subject given>

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Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 07:03:13 -0500
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: USAAF 9 NOV 43

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
TUESDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 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-20, Douglas Havoc
  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-39, Bell Airacobra
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): HQ 11th Bombardment
Group (Heavy) transfers from Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii to Funafuti
Atoll in the Ellice Islands.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): In Italy, B-24's attack the
Villarperosa ball-bearing works at Turin and B-17's hit the Genoa-Ansaldo
steel works. P-38's provide escort.
  The 441st, 442d, 443d and 444th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 320th
Bombardment Group (Medium), transfer from El Bathan, Tunisia to Decimomannu,
Sardinia with B-26's.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, the Northwest African
Tactical Bomber Force (NATBF) bombs Formia and Itri as a diversion to the
naval bombardment of Formia and Gaeta. XlI Air Support Command fighter-bombers
attack roads and bridges in the Mignano-Ceprano area while other Northwest
African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighter-bombers hit shipping in the harbor
at Split, Yugoslavia and rail targets in the Rome-La Spezia area and vessels,
radio stations, and gun emplacements off the coast of Albania.
  The 12th Troop Carrier Squadron, 60th Troop Carrier Group, transfers from
Gela to Gerbini, Sicly with C-47's. The squadron has been operating from
Comiso since 22 Oct.
  The 379th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 310th Bombardment Group (Medium),
transfers from Menzel Temime, Tunisia to Philippeville, Algeria with B-25's.
The squadron is operating from El Adem, Libya.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon
Islands, B-25's hit the airfield on Buka Island.  On Bougainville Island,
B-25's bomb Kieta and 20+ B-24's pound Kara and Kahili airfields. P-39's join
US Navy aircraft in strikes on Kara airfield and the airfield on Ballale
Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea,40+
B-25's and A-20's, escorted by P-38's and P-47's, pound the airfield at
Alexishafen, destroying at least 12 enemy airplanes; US fighters claim
destruction of 10-15 interceptors in combat; other fighters claim 20+ aircraft
shot down over Sek Harbor, the Markham River Valley, and Lae. On New Britain
Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, B-25's bomb a fuel dump and shipping in
the Rein Bay area, and P-40's bomb dumps on Gasmata Island. B-24's on patrol
claim sinking of a destroyer near Kavieng, New Ireland Island.

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      |
|  Bellcore              |  privileges as we enjoy forget in      |
|  Piscataway, NJ USA    |  time that men have died to win them.  |
|  [email-masked]  |                       FDR              |
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 07:09:59 GMT-6
From:    Terry Moore <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: German plans for attacking Sweden during WW2

Asad,

One other question, where did you hear or read of the recent
discovery of the invasion plans of Sweden?

Terry

Terry Moore, Professor of German and French, Amarillo College
P.O. Box 447, Amarillo, Texas 79178, voice 806-371-5077
fax 806-371-5370

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 09:43:24 -0500
From:    "M. Joseph Barone" <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: Combat!

While cable surfing last night, am image of Lt. Hanley flickered past
my TV screen.  I backed up and discovered that Combat! was on.  Anyway,
I searched through the TVGuide and found that Combat! is on Nostalgia
Channel every night at 10PM Eastern.  This is probably only useful to
the US and Canadian members of this list (Sorry, Mick!).  I plan on
buying some videotapes and archiving tonight!  Enjoy!
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
   Kelly: Odd Ball! Just how the hell do you figure on moving
          through enemy terrain with a column a mile long?
Odd Ball: Easy! We can fight! We have an army!
 Big Joe: Those freaks?! That's not an army -- it's a circus!
Odd Ball: Take it easy, Big Joe!  Some of them are sensitive people.

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 10:11:35 EST
From:    Charles Reace <[email-masked]>
Subject: US tank naming

Terry,

Regarding the naming of US AFV's in WWII:

In _British_and_American_Tanks_of_World_War_II_ by Peter Chamberlain
and Chris Ellis (1969, Arco Publ. Co.), they at least imply that US
tanks in British service were named by the British.  For one quote
(pg.112):

   BRITISH SERVICE
   Issued to the British, the M4 medium tank was named the "General
   Sherman", more often called the "Sherman", by which name it also
   became popularly known by other nations. . . ."

The same sort of comment is made for the Stuart, Grant/Lee, and
others.  In each case, no mention is made of a nickname for US
vehicles until you get to the "British Service" section at the end of
each vehicle's section.

It's not 100% clear here whether the authors are saying that the
British coined these names, or the fact that they used existing
nicknames as the official names.  But the above quote leads me to
believe that the British were doing the coining.  Anyone know any more
about this?

  __|  __|  __|  |  Charles Reace <[email-masked]>
_|   _|   _|     |
 |       | |     |  Computer Sciences Corp., Integrated Systems Div.
 ___|____/ ___|  |  304 W. Rte. 38, Moorestown, NJ 08057

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

Date:    Mon, 8 Nov 1993 14:55:00 CDT
From:    Roger Safian <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: GEN/EDU: WWII and Japanese/Japanese Americans

Terry,

    "Go for Broke" is out on video.  Should be no problem to find.
Great movie.  Try the Van Heflin (sp) double feature, by watching
"Battleground" as well.  (Yes it's on video as well)

                                                Roger

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 12:32:45 -0700
From:    Doug Cahoon <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: INF: Combat!

>I searched through the TVGuide and found that Combat! is on Nostalgia
>Channel every night at 10PM Eastern.  This is probably only useful to

I hope you allow dumb questions... what is "Combat!"
I am also interested in what some of you believe to be the
best movie dealing with WWII in the pacific. I am especially
interested in carriers and fighting squadrons.

Also and particular book that is a must to look in for information
on this. I am trying to write a bio of my uncle who was shot down
on a strike that was made on Naha Airfield (Okinawa) on March 1,
1945. He was a fighter pilot (VF4) on the Essex.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. You may just want
to send it to me, then the list is not bothered.

Doug Cahoon
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 14:44:01 EST
From:    "William B. Thacker" <[email-masked]>
Subject: British and names

Emmanuel Gustin writes:

> The 'naming' of bought equipment was a necessity, because the British did
> not have a 'numeric' designation system.

I'll leave the aircraft to more knowledgable folks.  I know tanks.

The British did in fact have numeric designations for their home-grown
tanks, the "A Series".  When one of these went into production, it
generally got a name.  This became standard practice with the A14
"Covenanter," the previous A13 cruiser never got a name.  On the other
hand, the A11 was named "Matilda," but I get the impression this began an
an unofficial joke.

After the A14, anything that made production, and few things that didn't,
seem to have got names.  A15 was the Crusader, for instance, and to quote
Winston Churchill, "I believe the A22 has a name." 8-)  Officially, though,
a Churchill might still be referred to as "Infantry Tank A22, Mark VI."
That would be entirely equivalent to the US designation, "Medium Tank M4A1
(76mm)".

When American armor was purchased, it appears that our M-series
designations were dropped.  Instead, that M4A1(76mm) might be called a
"Sherman Mark V" (just guessing at the mark) or simply a "Sherman V."
Here, what Emmanuel says is right on the button, there was no numeric
designator.

In reference to another posting, it appears that most, but not all,
American tanks were named by the British.  Certainly that's true for the M3
Stuart, the M3 (medium) Grant, and the M4 Sherman.  (I've heard claimed that
the British named the Lee as well, but that sounds suspicious to me since
I'm not aware that they ever bought any.  More likely, it seems, that *we*
gave it that name after the British named the Grant.)  I believe the M36
Jackson was likewise named.

With the M24 Chaffee and M26 Pershing, we began naming tanks ourselves, and
perhaps to signify the break, stopped using Civil War generals.

I'm uncertain of the M10 Wolverine and M22 Locust, whose names don't fit
the pattern.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bill Thacker             AT&T Network Systems       attmail!att!cbemf!wbt
(614) 860-5294           Columbus, Ohio              [email-masked]
                      Humpty Dumpty was pushed!

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 09:42:02 LCL
From:    Tom Shirhall <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: USAAF 5 NOV 43

> Robert,
>      The last mission may have been a milk run, but William Wyler's movie
of
> it (WWII one, not the modern one by his daughter) is not dull or boring.
In
> fact,
> it has some terrific pictures of damaged B-17s coming in to land, even
from a
> milk run.  I recommend it over the recent version.  It gets shown every
once i
n
> a while on educational channels.

Wyler's 1944 version of Memphis Belle will be broadcast on TDC (The
Discovery Channel)  on Thursday at 7:00PM and 11:00PM. A&E is broadcasting
Victory at Sea throughout the day.

Tom Shirhall                [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 14:53:27 EST
From:    Lowe Barrett MAJ <[email-masked]>
Subject: West Point Library On-Line (repeat)

Fellow list members:

(I think the last message may have got garbled leaving here).

The card catalog at the West Point Library is available on line.

Use the following address:

telnet 129.29.90.100

The program has a menu with instructions.  It is not the easiest to use,
but after a few tries, it's pretty straight forward. I hope this helps
those who are interested in finding out what is here (especially Bill Huber,
Terry Moore, Bob Granvin, and Larry J).

See ya,

Bear

Barrett F. Lowe                    RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!
MAJ, IN
Dept of Physics, US Military Academy, West Point, NY 10996

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 16:08:54 EST
From:    Larry & Kim Jewell <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: US tank naming

TWIHI (The Way I Heard It) was that a British tanker drove a recently arrived
Stuart around for a while, and pronounced that it was a "real honey" so they
named them Honey tanks. I've always thought the nicknames had more recognition
value than the "official" names.

(Of course, I'm no tank fanatic, unless it's for target practice, such as
in Sicily [flame suit on!])

Larry J

[email-masked]; Listowner: WWII-L; Moderator: BYRD.MU.WVNET.EDU
"Sunday's horoscope is note worthy because of its strange, sudden and wholly
unpredictable and inexplicable occurrences, affecting all phases of life."
Your Horoscope" L.A. Evening Herald Express, Sat, 12/06/41

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 23:00:17 +0100
From:    Richard Harold Cummings <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: "Crystal Night"

Bavarian TV is running a very interesting documentary film on
the background and events of the start on Crystal Night,
especially what happened in Munich 55 years ago.  While not
quite WWII, it was one of the major events on the march to
the beginning of the War.  Regards from Munich.  Richard.

--==oo00oo==--
[email-masked]
RFE/RL Inc
Munich,Germany

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 15:47:23 -0700
From:    Doug Cahoon <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: CAP - question

A question about Navy lingo.
I have a log book for a fighter pilot and in the "Character of Flight" column
it has such things as:
CAP
Z
JACK
CL
FCLP
GB
RCAP
Is there a translation for these somewhere?

Doug Cahoon

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 17:49:48 -0400
From:    "Steven C. Salina" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: GEN: "Crystal Night"

Richard,  I would be very interested in seeing that program.  Is there some
way that copies could be obtained once the program airs?  I'm sure others are
interested as well, so any information you could provide would be most
appreciated.

Thanx,
Steve Salina
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 17:28:56 -0500
From:    "M. Joseph Barone" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: US tank naming

>    Issued to the British, the M4 medium tank was named the "General
>    Sherman", more often called the "Sherman", by which name it also
>    became popularly known by other nations. . . ."
>
> The same sort of comment is made for the Stuart, Grant/Lee, and
> others.  In each case, no mention is made of a nickname for US

        So why did the British have such a fixation on the American
Civil War?  Another ACW name comes to mind: M36 Jackson.  I guess
Stuart rated two tanks: the M3 and M5!  Any others?

        Thinking about it some more, though, I thought the Brits
called the M3 "Honey" and that they renamed the M3 Lee to Grant
when they replaced the turret.
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
Did you ever hear enthusiasm like that in all your life?  They even
have the damn grave diggers in there!  Now that's fighting spirit!

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

Date:    Wed, 10 Nov 1993 12:31:29 +1100
From:    Mick Fauchon <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: INF: Combat!

        Doug,

            By now somebody else has probably told you this, but "Combat!"
was a television programme in the "50s (early 60s?) : I can remember
watching it as a kid ---- we even got it here in Australia.

                                                Hope that helps,

                                                Regards,

                                                Mick.

--                                                                          --
Mick Fauchon                          | Internet: [email-masked]
Reference Section, Auchmuty Library   | Ph  (intl+61+49) 215861
University of Newcastle, AUSTRALIA    | Fax (intl+61+49) 215833

On Tue, 9 Nov 1993, Doug Cahoon wrote:

> >I searched through the TVGuide and found that Combat! is on Nostalgia
> >Channel every night at 10PM Eastern.  This is probably only useful to
>
> I hope you allow dumb questions... what is "Combat!"
> I am also interested in what some of you believe to be the
> best movie dealing with WWII in the pacific. I am especially
> interested in carriers and fighting squadrons.
>
> Also and particular book that is a must to look in for information
> on this. I am trying to write a bio of my uncle who was shot down
> on a strike that was made on Naha Airfield (Okinawa) on March 1,
> 1945. He was a fighter pilot (VF4) on the Essex.
>
> Any information would be greatly appreciated. You may just want
> to send it to me, then the list is not bothered.
>
> Doug Cahoon
> [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 1993 20:32:05 -0800
From:    Marjorie Fulmer <[email-masked]>
Subject: <No subject given>

Please tell me how to unsubscribe to this list
Thank you
Marjorie Fulmer
UCSD 0639
(619) 597-2620
(619) 550-0277

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 8 Nov 1993 to 9 Nov 1993
***********************************************