Subject: WWII-L Digest - 30 Nov 1993 to 1 Dec 1993

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1993 00:00:53 -0500

There are 12 messages totalling 647 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. USAAF 1 DEC 43
  2. Thunderbirds Schedule
  3. Photoflash
  4. Vichy France
  5. Proximity fuses
  6. Books on Italian Campaign (3)
  7. Addr: Ernie Pyle (3)
  8. QUERY: Nijmegen Bombing 2/44

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 07:14:46 -0500
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: USAAF 1 DEC 43

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
WEDNESDAY, 1 DECEMBER 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-39, Douglas
  C-45, Beechcraft Expeditor
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  C-49, Douglas
  F-7, Consolidated Liberator
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-39, Bell Airacobra
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang
  Spitfire, Vickers Supermarine

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Aleutian Islands during the month of
Dec 43, the detachment of the 344th Fighter Squadron, 343d Fighter Group,
operating from Attu Island with P-40's, returns to it's base at Shemya Island.

  ANTISUBMARINE OPERATIONS (First Air Force): During the month of Dec 43, the
detachment of the air echelon of the 23d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), I
Bomber Command, operating from Zandery Field, Surinam with B-25's returns
to base at Edinburgh Field, Trinidad.

  CARIBBEAN (Sixth Air Force): The two detachments of the 20th Troop
Carrier Squadron (Special), Sixth Air Force Service Command, operating from
Waller Field, Trinidad and Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico with C-39's, C-45's,
C-47's and C-49's, return to their base at Albrook Field, Canal Zone.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 4 B-24's, flying
out of Funafuti Atoll in the Ellice Islands, bomb Mille Atoll in the Caroline
Islands.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, B-24's bomb Insein; the B-24's and
escorting P-38's encounter a large number of Japanese fighters over the
targets; P-51's which failed to make rendezvous with the B-24's before the
attack join the formations on the return trip; US losses are high: 6 B-24's
and a P-51 shot down and 5 more B-24's are seriously damaged; B-25's hit the
newly repaired bridge at Myitnge rendering it temporarily unserviceable.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 19 B-25's, 24 P-40's, and 10 P-51's
pound Kowloon shipyards; 2 B-25's hit nearby Taikoo Docks in Hong Kong; 4
P-40's strafe a truck convoy near Lashio, Burma, 16 sink about 30 boats in
the area around Changte, and 8 bomb Bac Ninh, French Indochina and vicinity.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command Mission 145:
The industrial area at Solingen, Germany is the target.  206 of 215 B-17's,
69 of 78 B-24's and 5 of 6 B-17 PFF aircraft hit the target at 1159-1212
hours; they claim 4-5-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 B-17's and 5 B-24's are
lost, 2 B-17's and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair and 85 bombers are
damaged; casualties are 13 KIA, 23 WIA and 227 MIA.
  The mission is escorted by 42 P-38's and 374 P-47's; the P-47's claim
20-4-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38's and 5 P-47's are lost, 1 each are
damaged beyond repair and 3 P-47's are damaged; casualties are 7 MIA.
  HQ VIII Air Support Command is disbanded at Sunninghill, England.
  HQ 448th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Seething, England from the
US.
  The 362d, 363d and 364th Fighter Squadrons, 357th Fighter Group, arrive
at Raydon, England from the US with P-51B's. They will fly their first
mission on 11 Feb 44.
  The 708th, 709th, 710th and 711th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 447th
Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrive at Rattlesden, England from the US with
B-17G's. They will fly their first mission on 24 Dec.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 175+ B-26's bomb airfields at
Chievres, Belgium; and Cambrai/Epinoy, Lille/Yendeville, and Cambrai/Niergnies,
France. 28 P-51's execute a sweep over NW France, marking the first Ninth Air
Force fighter operation from the UK.
  HQ IX Troop Carrier Command transfers from Cottesmore to Grantham, England.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): In Italy, 100+ B-17's bomb the
Turin ball bearing works and marshalling yard; escorting P-38's battle enemy
fighters without either losses or victories; the B-17's claim 2 enemy fighters
shot down; B-24's and other P-38's are recalled because of weather; B-26's,
with fighter escort, attack bridges and railroad facilities at Aulla, Cecina,
and Sestri Levante.
  HQ Fifteenth Air Force and 5th Bombardment Wing transfer from Tunis,
Tunisia to Bari and Foggia, Italy, respectively.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): B-25's bomb gun positions in the
Sant' Ambrogio area; fighter-bombers, including some Royal Air Force (RAF),
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft,
hit trucks, gun positions, and other military targets E of Casoli, at Lanciano,
near Guardiagrele, W of Mignano, W of Minturno, and near Chieti. Several of
these missions are in support of the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies.
  During the month of Dec 43, HQ XII Bomber Command transfers from Tunis,
Tunisia to Bari, Italy.
  HQ 52d Fighter Group and it's 5th Fighter Squadron transfer from
Boccadifalco and Bo Rizzo, Sicily respectively to Corsica with Spitfires.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): On Bougainville
Island in the Solomon Islands, 18 B-25's and 8 P-38's attack Malai; P-39's
strafe Tonolai and support US Navy (USN) dive bombers in an attack on the
Jaba River area near Empress Augusta Bay; other Army Air Forces (AAF) and
USN fighters cover dive bomber strikes on Kara and Ballale Island supply areas
and strafe targets at Tenekow, Chabai, and Mutupina Point; 6 B-25's bomb Sarime
Plantation.
  A detachment of the 339th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group, ceases
operating from Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands with P-38's and
returns to it's base on New Caledonia Island.
  During the month of Dec 43:
    1. HQ XIII Fighter Command transfers from Espiritu Santo Island, New
       Hebrides Islands to Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.
    2. The 68th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group, based on Fiji Island
       ceases operating from Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands with
       P-39's.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, 40+
B-24's bomb Wewak, the B-24's and P-47 escorts claiming 11 enemy fighters shot
down out of interception force of about 50; 3 B-24's are lost. On New Britain
Island, 16 A-20's hit the Cape Gloucester area. 35 B-25's and B-26's bomb the
Borgen Bay, New Guinea area.
  The 20th Combat Mapping Squadron, 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance),
begins a movement from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to Port Moresby, New
Guinea with B-24's and F-7's. They will fly their first mission on 5 Apr 44.
  The 387th Bombardment Squadron (Dive), 312th Bombardment Group (Dive)
arrives at Port Moresby, New Guinea from the US with P-40's. The squadron
and group will be redesignated Bombardment Group/Squadron (Light) on 6 Dec.
  During the month of Dec 43:
    1. The 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 319th, 320th, 321st and
       400th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) transfer from Port Moresby to
       Dobodura, New Guinea with B-24's.
    2. The 82d Fighter Squadron (Reconnaissance), 71st Reconnaissance
       Group, based at Dobodura, New Guinea with P-39's sends a detachment
       to Finschhafen, 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      |
|  Bellcore              |  privileges as we enjoy forget in      |
|  Piscataway, NJ USA    |  time that men have died to win them.  |
|  [email-masked]  |                       FDR              |
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 07:45:45 -0500
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Thunderbirds Schedule

The following is from the Air Force News Agency at Kelly AFB, Texas.

878.  Thunderbirds' show schedule
     WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  The Air Force Thunderbirds Air Demonstration
Squadron will visit 24 states, tour the Western Pacific and fly at 46
different show sites next year, according to a Department of Defense
29 Nov news release.  The Thunderbirds will appear at the following
locations:

March 1994
  19-20 -- Mesa, Arizona
  22-27 -- MacDill AFB, Florida

April 1994
  9-10  -- Wilmington, North Carolina
  16    -- Tyndall AFB, Florida
  17    -- Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
  23-24 -- NAS Norfolk, Virginia
  30    -- Shaw AFB, South Carolina

May 1994
  1     -- McEntire ANGB, South Carolina
  7-8   -- Dover AFB, Delaware
  14-15 -- NAS Lemoore, California
  21    -- Kelly AFB, Texas
  22    -- Goodfellow AFB, Texas
  28-29 -- Avoca, Pennsylvania

June 1994
  1     -- Air Force Academy, Coloradoado Springs, Colorado
  5     -- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
  11-12 -- NAS South Weymouth, Massachusetts
  18-19 -- NAS Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
  25-26 -- Redding, California

July 1994
  2     -- K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan
  4     -- Battle Creek, Michigan
  16-17 -- Portland, Oregon
  23-24 -- Dayton, Ohio
  27    -- F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming
  30-31 -- Broomfield, Colorado

August 1994
  6     -- Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
  10    -- Misawa, Japan
  13    -- Osan AB, Korea
  14    -- Kadena AB, Japan
  18    -- Thailand
  20    -- Malaysia
  23    -- Singapore
  27    -- NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii

September 1994
  3-4   -- Latrobe, Pennsylvania
  10-11 -- Scotia, New York
  17    -- Sheppard AFB, Texas
  18    -- Laughlin AFB, Texas
  24-25 -- Bowling Green, Kentucky

October 1994
  1-2   -- Muskogee, Oklahoma
  8     -- Travis AFB, California
  9     -- Castle AFB, California
  15-16 -- Houston, Texas
  22-23 -- Robins AFB, Georgia
  29-30 -- Sanford, Florida

November 1994
  5-6   -- Glendale, Arizona
  12-13 -- Lake Charles, Louisiana
  20    -- Nellis AFB, Nevada

     The Thunderbirds have performed for more than 208 million people
in all 50 states and in 52 foreign countries.  The team performs 36
maneuvers during its 30-minute demonstration.

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 08:01:50 -0500
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Photoflash

        > Jack McKillop sends around the Chronology of the Air Force for us to all
        > look at.  While reading one of them today, it mentions VIII Air Force
        > Mission 142, where 1 bomber dropped two 2000 lb bombs and 1 photoflash.
        >
        >  My question is, "What is a photoflash?"
        >
        >
        >  Thanks,
        >
        >  Joe Pohlmann
        >  Monsanto Port Plastics
        >  Process Systems Engineer
        >  [email-masked]

        Photoflash cartridges and bombs are used for nighttime aerial photography.
        The old composition was 30% barium nitrate, 40% aluminum, and 30% potassium
        perchlorate. The bomb was used for high altitude photography and contained
        85 lbs. of the composition. This gave a peak intensity of 3 billion
        candles. This composition was very sensitive to spark and friction and has
        been replaced by far safer compositions.

        Bob

        Robert J. Doyle, Jr.
        Naval Research Laboratory
        Washington, DC
        [email-masked]

This is the third message I sent on the subject; I think the other
two either went off to the Twilight Zone or was intercepted by
Klingons.

The missions in question were Oboe tests at night and the aircraft were
dropping two 2K pound bombs.  As Robert states above, the photoflash
bombs were nothing more than giant flash bulbs that illuminate the
target and allow the aircraft to photograph where the bombs were
hitting to determine how accurate Oboe was.

I had a limited amount of time last night to check my references
about the size of these photoflash bombs but could not find
anything.  I will be busy every night this week and I was wondering
if anyone else has the time to dig into it?

-------------------------------------------------------------------
|  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:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 09:38:57 -0500
From:    "M. Joseph Barone" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Vichy France

From: Akira Takiguchi <[email-masked]>:
>      A minor correction to Joe's message.  Marder I is a Pak 40 (7.5 cm
> anti tank gun) on a Lorraine Schlepper.  A Pak 40 on a H-38 (and FCM)
> *might* have been called a Marder, but I have no reference which confirms
> it.

        The vehicle I was referring to was called 7.5 cm PAK 40 auf GW.39H(f).
(Catchy name, eh?).  Becker converted 24 Hotchkiss H-39s into Panzerjagers.
The superstructure and mantlet are similar to the Marder I which is what
led to my confusion.  My reference is "Deutsche Panzer, 1917-1945" by Uwe
Fiest.  Thanks for keeping me straight, Akira!
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
Crap Game: Have you tried to make a deal?
  Big Joe: A deal?  What kind of deal?
Crap Game: A deal deal.  Maybe the guy's a Republican.

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 10:31:37 EST
From:    Crane Conrad LTC <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Proximity fuses

>I got into an discussion with my father over the proximity fuses used by
>the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater during the later stages of the war
>(late 44-45).  We couldn't agree if the fuses worked by detonating as
>soon as the got within a set range OR if they did not detonate until the
>shell started moving away from its target (i.e. closer, closer, closer,
>farther, boom).  I don't have any other information such as models or
>designations.
>
>Thanks
>
>
>National Warplane Museum                             Ron Babuka
>Geneseo, New York                                    Cornell University
>

Ron,
     There is a book out there called THE DEADLY FUSE, and I believe the
author's name is Baldwin, that should answer your question.

                                             LTC Con Crane
                                             USMA

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 11:47:04 -0500
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Books on Italian Campaign

In reply to the mail from <[email-masked]>...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> 29 Nov 1993 23:41:24 -0500
>Date:         Mon, 29 Nov 1993 19:37:23 EST
>Reply-To: World War II Discussion List <[email-masked]>
>Sender: World War II Discussion List <[email-masked]>
>From: rod holmes <[email-masked]>
>Subject:      Books on Italian Campaign
>X-To:         [email-masked]
>To: Multiple recipients of list WWII-L <[email-masked]>
>Status: RO
>
>Hi All,
>
>I'm trying to start to build a library on book son the Italian Campaign.
>I was wondering what people out there would suggest?
>
>Rod Holmes
>[email-masked]
>
Rod,

Another book on the Italian campaign you might want to consider
is FATAL DECISION: ANZIO AND THE DRIVE FOR ROME by Carlo D'Este.
This book and another he wrote about Sicily have been well
received.  He is a retired Army lieutenant colonel.

Good reading!!!!

Jim

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 James E. Irwin (Jim)                  Internet address:
 Defense Personnel Support Center        [email-masked]
 2800 S. 20th Street                   215-737-8760
 Philadelphia PA  19101-8419           Autovon 444-8760

                     "Never in the field of human conflict
                     was so much owed by so many to so few."
                               Winston S. Churchill
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 11:56:08 EDT
From:    RICHARD KING <[email-masked]>
Subject: Addr: Ernie Pyle

For an article I am working on about Ernie Pyle, I wonder if
members of WWII-L can help me with comments, suggestions?
I am really looking for information about how Pyle has been viewed
in our culture more as an icon than the man himself. There are several
monuments to him, a few books about him (and lots by him); I myself
am a graduate of the School of Journalism at Indiana Univ. and spent
many an hour in Ernie Pyle Hall (the journalism building). There is
a tourist attraction in his home town of Dana, Indiana, too, and
at least a school or two named after him. So what is the problem?
 1. I was told by a scholar that there is a sort of urban legend
about how numerous veterans have said that "Ernie Pyle died in
my arms." He found out in one instance that a person who said that
wasn't even a veteran, just a drunk making up a story. I wonder why
people have been saying these things about Pyle. Why not Simon
Bolivar Buckner (the commanding general who was KIA on Okinawa)?
 2. In looking up information about Pyle, I've discovered that there
are different opinions about how Pyle met his death. I've seen
published that he died of a machine gun bullet, that he died in an
explosion, etc. Which is true and why the difference?
 3. Of course, he died on Ie Shima (near Okinawa). I've seen
published references that he went ashore with the Marines on a
certain date. Yet, I know Ie Shima was an Army operation starting on
a slightly different date. He was supposed to be with the Marines
when he died, yet with the Army when he died. Which was true, and why
all this difference of opinion? I know Army units would be routinely
attached to Marine divisions (maybe this is the problem), and perhaps
vice versa, in the Pacific.
 4. Also, WHY is Ernie Pyle's death so important (other than he
was famous as a correspondent who wrote about the common soldier
instead of the generals) to everyone? A quick database search shows
that, yes, Ernie Pyle is still being written about in the popular
press (and occasionally by scholars). Lots of soldiers were killed
on Ie Shima. By dying, did Pyle become an icon that gave us all a
chance to mourn for all the dead by focusing on him? Why, why, why?
Or am I getting too deep? Why is Pyle the one we remember?

I just find this all a little weird, and it might make an interesting
article if I can track down a large percentage of the divergent
opinions and discuss why they give different facts.

Also, if anyone knows of any sources about WWII icons, I would be
glad to know about them. I'm calling the term "icon" but maybe this
is the wrong term. I mean certain aspects of the war that live
outside the physical part as a great symbol that is not to be
questioned. There is an interesting book about Iwo Jima that the
authors have said got them in a lot of trouble. That they discovered
that for some reason people do not want to know certain truthful
troubling aspects about Iwo but prefer to keep their own images
about this campaign intact. This book is IWO JIMA: MONUMENTS,
MEMORIES, AND THE AMERICAN HERO (1991), by Karal Ann Marling
and John Wetenhall, and there is a very interesting article about
their problems with the book in the Sept. 29, 1993 CHRONICLE OF
HIGHER EDUCATION. I guess I need other books like this one, maybe.

If any of you know of any article already done about this, or have any
comments or ideas at all, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks.
***************************************************************
Richard L. King, Reference Librarian, Vincennes (IN) Univ.

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 12:19:28 EST
From:    Charles Reace <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Books on Italian Campaign

Another good book on the Italian Campaign is _Salerno_:_a_Military_Fiasco_
by Eric Morris (Stein and Day, 1983).

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

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 12:35:00 EST
From:    "W. C. (RUSTY) DIVENS" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Addr: Ernie Pyle

It could just be that Ernie Pyle was a visible example of the
sacrifices required to maintain a free and informative press.

Just as Glenn Miller is an icon.  A non-combatant who died
'in the line of duty' both to their country AND to their
profession.

Bill
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 14:13:18 LCL
From:    Tom Shirhall <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Addr: Ernie Pyle

Richard

I'm old enough to remember Ernie Pyle stories during the war, and to hear
stories about him from vets after the war. I think that you have a problem
with trying to treat him as an icon, not as a man. He was important because
the troops loved him, pure and simple. There were a lot of soldiers killed,
a few generals killed, but only one Ernie Pyle killed. He was like the
ubiquitous "Kilroy was here." He wasn't important for what he wrote, but for
who he was.

On the matter of unit assignments in battle, you can't trust the official
records. They are kept by administrative people in the rear. I had a friend
Capt. Nick Lucker who the official U.S. Navy order of battle for the Battle
of the Coral Sea (I think) had commanding an S boat during the battle.
Actually, he was on detached scout duty in the Aleutians. For those of you
not navy buffs, an S boat was an unheated 1920's design submarine. Nick said
that his crew froze their asses off because they only had tropical climate
clothing with them. (This discussion happened 25 years ago, so I may be
wrong about the S classification).

Why do people react to some one person's death? Just remember how the list
reacted to the death of Gen. Doolittle a few months ago. Not as an icon, I
believe.

Tom Shirhall                [email-masked]

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

Date:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 15:35:07 GMT-6
From:    Terry Moore <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Books on Italian Campaign

Rod,

The books listed so far are very good. I will add a few of my own.
Some of these deal with the campaign in North Africa in conjunction
with the German forces. I will include everything I have, and if you
want additional info, please let me know.

Disaster at Bari by Glenn Infield
Battles Lost and Won by Hanson W. Baldwin
Rommel by Ronald Lewin
The Battle of Cassino by Fred Majdalany
Commando Extraordinary by Charles Foley
With Rommel in the Desert by H. W. Schmidt
Who Dares, Wins by V. Cowles. A history of Stirling's Raiders
Massacre in Rome by Robert Katz
World War II by James Jones

I will send more tomorrow. There are many more.

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:    Wed, 1 Dec 1993 16:08:28 EST
From:    Doug McCabe <[email-masked]>
Subject: QUERY: Nijmegen Bombing 2/44

                   Ohio University Electronic Communication

   Date:  01-Dec-1993 04:08pm EST

     To:  Remote Addressee                     ( _MX%"[email-masked]" )

   From:  Doug McCabe                                Dept:  Library
          MCCABE                                   Tel No:  (614) 593-2715

Subject:  QUERY: Nijmegen Bombing 2/44

    First the situation, then the questions:

    Since Ohio University has made contact with the city of Nijmegen,
    Netherlands regarding the 50th commemoration of the liberation of
    Holland we have been asked to help try to settle a matter still being
    discussed.  On 22 February 1944 the city was bombed by the American
    Army Air Corps.  To this day there have been arguments whether these
    bombers were heavies bombing from high up or mediums coming in on the
    deck.  There also is argument over casulties: the Air Corps said only
    about 200 while the Dutch estimate around 900.  One would assume any
    heavies were from the Eighth Air Force and mediums from the Nineth.
    Civilian survivors estimated that 80 percent of the center-city was
    destroyed in this accidental bombing.

    In fact, in _The Mighty Eighth_, p. 109 admits, "A B-24 Group bombed
    Nijmegen in error for a German town and caused 200 Dutch civilian
    deaths."  This was on the third day of The Big Week (ARGUMENT).  Many
    of the bombers had been scattered by early German attacks on the run-in
    and had turned to targets of opportunity.

    An author, A. Brinkhuis, has been researching the incident and did make
    a trip to the National Archives in Washington.  He believes the bombing
    was done by the 446th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force.  This group
    had had its first combat run on 22 December 1943.

    Some people have claimed for years that the bombing of Nijmegen was
    actually done at low level by medium or light bombers, adding that
    these planes flew over with their bomb-bay doors open and crew members
    visible.  Mr. Brinkhuis believes these might have been B-26's from the
    Ninth Air Force and any information on this score would be housed at an
    archives in Montgomery, Alabama.  Through my own sources I believe
    these planes would have been from the 98th or 99th Wings which were the
    medium bombardment groups of the Ninth.

    So, here are the questions:  Does anyone know if the 446th Bomb Group
    or any other group of the Eighth Air Force bombed Nijmegen on 22
    February 1944?  What are the details?  Does anyone have information on
    the Ninth Air Force operations on that day?  Does anyone know what
    archives and what materials might be in Montgomery, AL, and who I might
    get in touch with?

    Any help or suggestions will be most appreciated and, to avoid boring
    the rest of the List, should be sent to me back channel.

    Doug McCabe
    [email-masked]

Received:  01-Dec-1993 04:08pm

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End of WWII-L Digest - 30 Nov 1993 to 1 Dec 1993
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