Subject: WWII-L Digest - 15 Jul 1994 to 16 Jul 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 00:01:20 -0400

There are 5 messages totalling 222 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. INF: 50 Years Ago - 16-JUL-1944
  2. Truman/Atom Bomb (2)
  3. REF: and LOGISTICS: Vladivostock?
  4. WEAP: USS Indianapolis

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Date:    Sat, 16 Jul 1994 08:34:43 -0500
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 16-JUL-1944

On 16-JUL-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - The US VI Corps continues its offensive; the 9th Division is
     on the right flank and the 30th Division is on the left flank in the
     direction of the road linking Periers and St Lo. The 29th Division, in
     the vacinity of La Madeleine, attempts to reach the units cut off after
     yesterday's attack, but fail. The 59th Division (XXX Corps) is attacking
     towards Noyers, while the 50th Division is reinforcing its positions near
     Hottot-les-Bagues. The 15th Division (British XII Corps) captures Gavrus,
     Bougy and Esquay. In a report to Army Group West headquarters, Rommel
     reports that since June 6th his units have lost nearly 100,000 men
     killed, wounded or missing. His message ends with this pessimistic note:
     "The enemy is on the point of smashing our weak front line and
     penetrating deep into the interior of France."

Eastern Front - Armoured units of the 3rd Belorussian Front and 1st
     Belorussian Front converge from the north and south and capture Grodno.
     In southern Poland, the 1st Ukraine Front are engaged with the German
     North Ukraine Army Group along a 300-mile front.

Italian Front - The US 34th Division captures Monte Maggiore, south east of
     Leghorn. Units of the 133rd Regiment capture Usigliano. In the British
     sector, the 6th Armoured Division takes Arezzo. Some units of the British
     XIII Corps push on as far as the Arno, seize a bridge and establish a
     bridgehead on the opposite bank.

New Guinea - On Numfoor Island, the parachutists lose contact with the main
     body of the Japanese forces. Kamiri airfield is ready to go into action.

The Homefront
-------------
Fuel Shortage Warning - The Office of War Information warns that coal, fuel
     oil and wood for domestic use will be in short supply this winter.

Congressional Medal Of Honor -  The Congressional Medal has been awarded to
     Private William J. Crawford of Pueblo, Colorado who was captured by the
     Germans near Alta Villa, Italy on Sept. 13, 1943 after he wiped out three
     German machine gun positions that had held up his company.

=============================================================================

Sources: "2194 Days of War" by Cesare Salmaggi and Alfredo Pallavisimi, "The
World Almanac Book Of WW II" by Peter Young, "United States Naval Chronology,
World War II" by Naval Historical Division - United States Navy, "Facts On
File Yearbook 1944, Person's Index Of World Events" edited by R.L. Lapica.

----------
John Davis  [email-masked]
Cary, N.C.
----------

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Date:    Sun, 17 Jul 1994 00:24:25 +0700
From:    "Peter E. Beal" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Truman/Atom Bomb

It was stated under this subject heading that Truman got the Cold War off
to a "rousing start" by insisting that West German currency be circulated
in West Berlin.  What was the alternative?  What was the currency being
circulated in East Berlin?

I don't understand why the second, i.e. Nagasaki, bomb was unnecessary.
Had the Japanese surrendered by the time the plane took off?  How long
should we have waited?  Fighting was going on elsewhere in the Pacific
while we did, e.g. the Philippines had not been completely liberated, nor
had Indonesia, to say nothing of the CBI.  How many lives were being lost
daily?  One was one too many.

Regarding Truman's sending an unprepared army to defend South Korea, do
you mean Truman was responsible for its state of unpreparedness or that,
in light of it being unprepared, he should not have sent it?

I think congress had more to do with the budget and thus state of the
U.S. Army after WWII (or during peacetime generally) than did the
president. If you accept this then you have to accept that Truman had to
use whatever was available.

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Date:    Sat, 16 Jul 1994 16:23:58 EDT
From:    Robert E George <[email-masked]>
Subject: REF: and LOGISTICS: Vladivostock?

Can anybody point me to some references to the use
of Vladivostock as a port by the Soviets during the
2nd World War?

Or provide any information directly?

My specific interest is weather-related: what months
could the port be used? When Vladivostock couldn't be
used, were there other Soviet Far Eastern ports through
which Lend-Lease material could be shipped?

Regards,
Rob George
[email-masked]

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Date:    Sat, 16 Jul 1994 16:38:01 -0400
From:    Dan Ford <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Truman/Atom Bomb

On Sun, 17 Jul 1994, Peter E. Beal wrote:
> It was stated under this subject heading that Truman got the Cold War off
> to a "rousing start" by insisting that West German currency be circulated
> in West Berlin.  What was the alternative?  What was the currency being
> circulated in East Berlin?

Occupation marks.

> I don't understand why the second, i.e. Nagasaki, bomb was unnecessary.
> Had the Japanese surrendered by the time the plane took off?  How long
> should we have waited?  Fighting was going on elsewhere in the Pacific

How about one week?

> while we did, e.g. the Philippines had not been completely liberated, nor
> had Indonesia, to say nothing of the CBI.  How many lives were being lost
> daily?  One was one too many.

Well, it would have had to be a thousand an hour to cancel out the deaths
at Nagasaki. Or don't you count Japanese deaths?

> Regarding Truman's sending an unprepared army to defend South Korea, do
> you mean Truman was responsible for its state of unpreparedness or that,
> in light of it being unprepared, he should not have sent it? >

Well, how about both? But Truman's stupidity was in declaring to the world
that Korea was not within the American zone of interest. That was an open
invitation to Kim to invade. Truman had just *told* him that the U.S.
would not intervene. Then Truman did just that, sending kids with six play
weeks of basic training into combat. A friend of mine was an MP traffic
cop in Japan; he got to Korea to find that the US army had no need of
his talents, since all the traffic was going in the one direction
(south), so they put him in a tank. The U.S. army at Pearl Harbor was
better prepared than the U.S. army in Korea.

> I think congress had more to do with the budget and thus state of the
> U.S. Army after WWII (or during peacetime generally) than did the
> president. If you accept this then you have to accept that Truman had to
> use whatever was available.

He was commander in chief. And David McCullogh loves him. If he couldn't
field an army, he should have stayed out of it. Better to lose Korea than
50,000 Americans. Are we any the worse off because we lost Vietnam (*and*
50,000 Americans)? Now American tourists are going to Vung Tau for the
surfing and Hue for the history.

What's so great about journalistic history is that Truman screwed up his
war and is lionized. Bush won his war with fewer American deaths than
might have occurred in a training exercise, and he is excoriated. Do you
suppose that David McCollough will ever write a biography of Bush? Nah.

            - Dan      <[email-masked]>

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Date:    Sat, 16 Jul 1994 21:26:54 -0500
From:    "Richard H. Miller" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WEAP: USS Indianapolis

On Jul 15, 14:18, Robert J. Granvin wrote: } Subject: Re: WEAP: USS
Indianapolis

>
>Although the bomb trip was top secret, the Indianapolis was scheduled
>to meet with the USS Iowa for gunnery practice the day after it was
>torpedoed.  This is all part of what makes the whole situation of the
>ship being "forgotten" for four days all that more strange and tragic.

The Indianapolis had completed her bomb missions and had been sent to thr
Phillipines to join the 3rd fleet. She was dispatched without escort and as
indicated sunk.

She was not discovered missing the failure of a capital ship to arrive was
not cause to query Guam about her. The commander of the Phillipine Sea
Fronter assumed she had joined  with the Iowa so did not query Guam until the
3rd fleet queried as to why she had not joined. The procedure was modified so
that an arriving warship had a positive date and action would be taken if
they did not check in,

There was an investigation and charges of a coverup since several high
ranking officers (up to Nimitz) could have been court-martialed because of
their negligence. I believe that the warships arrivals officer received
either a letter of reprimand or censure. He took it to the SECNAV and I
believe had it
overturned. There were many charges that the Annapolis version of the
'mythical' West Point Protective Society acted to protect the flag
officers.The offcier aluded to above was a reservist.

The captain of the Indianapolis was court-martialed for hazarding his command
because he was proceeding without zig-zaging. This trial was highlighted by
the fact the one of the prosecution witnesses was the commander of the
Japanese sub which sunk her. The captain was convicted by the verdict was
overturned. I believe he committed suicide in the sixties over the loss of
his ship.

The USNI (I think) published a book on the sinking. I can't remember the
title but it should be in their catalog. There was also a TV movies a few
years ago with Stacey Keach as the CO and included Richard Thomas as the
ship's doctor.

--
Richard H. Miller                 Email: [email-masked]
Asst. Dir. for Technical Support  Voice: (713)798-3532
Baylor College of Medicine        US Mail: One Baylor Plaza, 302H
                                           Houston, Texas 77030

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End of WWII-L Digest - 15 Jul 1994 to 16 Jul 1994
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