Subject: WWII-L Digest - 10 Jul 1994 to 11 Jul 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 00:17:45 -0400

There are 12 messages totalling 865 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. [INF] USAAF 8-10 JUL 44
  2. [INF] USAAF 11 JUL 44
  3. Bong revisited
  4. INF: 50 Years Ago - 11-JUL-1944
  5. ADMIN: Introduction to WWII-L
  6. A-bomb/Smithsonian
  7. WWII-L Digest - 8 Jul 1994 to 9 Jul 1994
  8. GEN: GERMAN AND JAPANESE VIEWS OF WWII
  9. Beginning of the Age of Military Aviation (2)
 10. help
 11. Truman/Atom Bomb

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 06:52:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 8-10 JUL 44

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
8 - 10 JULY 1944
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
  A-36, North American Apache
  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  B-29, Boeing Superfortress
  Beaufighter, Bristol
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  F-7, Consolidated Liberator
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang

SATURDAY, 8 JULY 1944

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 30+ A-36s and P-40s hit a bridge
at Myitkyina and support ground forces in the area; 12 B-25s also pound
Myitkyina.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, B-25s and fighter-bombers fly
nearly 100 sorties against targets in the Tungting Lake area; river shipping
is hit hard throughout the whole lake area; trucks, bridges, warehouses,
supply dumps, troop concentrations, Japanese posts, and targets of
opportunity are attacked at Sinshih, Sinyang, Leiyang, Liling, Chuchou,
Puchi, Siangsiang, and Yuhsien; 18 B-24s bomb military area near Canton, and
37 P-40s attack Japanese-held villages and river shipping NW of Canton; 20
Japanese aircraft bomb Suichwan Airfield, rendering it temporarily unusable;
enemy aircraft also damage Kanchou Airfield. In French Indochina 10 P-40s hit
shipping all along the coast while 5 B-25s knock out 2 bridges at Cam Lo.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 460: 1,029 bombers and 714
fighters, in four forces, are dispatched to hit bridges, tunnels, rail
targets and NOBALL (V-weapon) sites in France; only 462 aircraft bomb due to
bad weather; 9 bombers and 1 fighter are lost:
  1. Of 331 B-24s, 14 hit Schore Bridge, 9 hit Welle Bridge, 1 hits Orsel
Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 20 B-24s are damaged; escort is
provided by 266 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 20-0-19 Luftwaffe aircraft on the
ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
  2. Of 304 B-17s, 61 hit Poix Airfield, 49 hit V-1 sites, 37 hit Etaples
Bridge, 13 hit a road junction, 12 hit Abbeville Airfield and 11 hit Etaples
choke point; 4 B-17s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 90 damaged; 2
airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 32 MIA. Escort is provided by 36 of 39 P-47s.
  3. Of 130 B-24s, 71 hit V-1 sites, 13 hit St Vallery en Caux Airfield and
11 hit Abbeville railroad junction; 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 27
are damaged.
  4. Of 264 B-17s, 21 hit Jaigle, 20 hit Barenton and 10 hit Chandai rail
junctions, 11 hit Nantes/Gassicourt Bridge, 11 hit Nantes railroad bridge, 9
hit railroad tracks at Yvetot, 11 hit Nogent and 6 hit Rouen marshalling
yards, 24 hit Conches and 11 hit St Andre de l'Eure Airfields and 25 hit
targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 98
damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 16 WIA and 51 MIA.
  Forces 3 and 4 are escorted by 286 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-1
Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.
  86 of 91 P-47s bomb St Andre de l'Eure Airfield without loss.
  Mission 461: 4 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
  17 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, about 280 A-20s and B-26s
bomb V-weapon HQ at Chateau-de-Ribeaucourt, numerous strongpoints in the Caen
battle area, rail bridges at Mantes-La-Jolie, Saumur, Nogent-le-Roi, and Caen
and (late in evening) fuel dumps in Rennes and a bridge at Nantes; fighters
escort the bombers and fly armed reconnaissance throughout wide areas of
France, concentrating on the frontline area; targets hit include marshalling
yards, bridges, ammunition and supply dumps, troop concentrations and tanks.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 520+ B-17s and
B-24s attack targets in the Vienna, Austria area bombing refineries at
Vosendorf and Korneuburg, the airfield at Zwolfaxing, Markersdorf, and
Munchendorf, and marshalling yard and oil storage at Vienna/Floridsdorf, and
the airfield at Veszprem; fighters fly 200+ sorties in support of the bomber
missions which are opposed by 100+ fighters; 14 US aircraft are lost; heavy
bombers and fighters claim 50+ fighters shot down.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 7/8
Jul A-20s bomb areas in or near Empoli, Agliana, and Lucca, and hit fuel
dumps the following day; medium bombers pound marshalling yards at Novi
Ligure, Piacenza, Mantua, and Ferrara and tracks near Parma; fighter-bombers
again blast railroads, roads, and bridges N of battleline, which is advancing
N from above Cecina toward Leghorn; the 17th and 35th Troop Carrier
Squadrons, 64th Troop Carrier Group, move from Comiso, Sicily to Ciampino
with C-47s; and the detachment of the 416th Night Fighter Squadron, 62d
Fighter Wing [attached to 6505th Fighter Control Area (Provisional)] moves
from Tre Cancello Landing Strip to Tarquinia with Beaufighters (squadron is
based at Pomigliano).

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-47s fly fighter-bomber
operations against troops on Saipan, Pagan, and Tinian Islands, Marianas
Islands. During the night of 7/8 Jul B-24s stage through Eniwetok Atoll and
bomb Truk Atoll; more B-24s follow with another raid during the day.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In New Guinea,
medium bombers and fighter-bombers hit fuel dumps, barges, villages, and
various other targets at Babo, Fak Fak, Sagan, Kokas, at the mouth of the
Maroe River, along Cape Kariensore, and W of Namber; B-25s, A-20s, fighter-
bombers and a few B-24s attack Wewak, hitting barges, gun positions, and
communication targets.

SUNDAY, 9 JULY 1944

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 60+ A-36s, P-51s, P-47s, and P-40s
support ground forces and hit a bridge in the Myitkyina area, strafe gun
positions at Shwebo and targets along the Irrawaddy River in the Katha area,
and attack targets of opportunity in areas around Loilaw, Hopin, Mohnyin,
Maingna, Anisakan, and Onbauk; 19 B-25s hit storage sheds at Waingmaw and
railroads and bridges at Mohnyin, Naba, and Hopin. In India, HQ 443d Troop
Carrier Group moves from Sookerating to Dinjan.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 40 P-40s and 8 B-25s hit the town
area, trucks, and supply sampans at Shayang and damage tunnel entrances and a
highway bridge at Sinyang. 5 B-25s bomb a power plant and building area at
Tinh Soc, French Indochina.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 462: during a morning
mission 150 B-17s are dispatched to bomb bridges and airfields in France but
cloud cover causes the bombers to hit targets of opportunity; 68 hit
Chalonnes Bridge, 36 hit Chateaudun Airfield, 12 hit Bouchemaine Bridge, 12
hit Chalonnes highway bridge and 12 hit Le Creusot Bridge; 1 B-17 is lost and
10 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 155 P-47s and P-51s; 1
P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (1 pilot is MIA).
  Mission 463: 104 B-24s and 77 B-17s are dispatched to hit CROSSBOW
(V-weapon) sites in France but encounters poor weather; Only 37 B-24s bomb
V-weapon sites; 12 B-17s hit St Omber Longuenesse Airfield and 3 hit targets
of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 60 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is
provided by 158 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft.
  90 of 96 P-38s strafe the Moulin-Nevers-Tour area claiming 1-0-1 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA).
  Mission 464: During the night, 5 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France.
  37 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, of 250+B-26s and A-20s
dispatched, about 60 bomb targets; bad weather prevents others from bombing;
targets hit are a rail bridge, crossing, overpass and a highway bridge at
Ablis, Orleans, Vendome, and Montfort-sur-Risle; fighters escort IX Bomber
Command bombers, provide area cover over the battle area, and bomb and strafe
gun positions, vehicles, rail cars, bridges, and tanks. In England, the 125th
Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached to HQ Command, ETO), moves from
Chedworth to Erlestokes with L-5s.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): In the Fifteenth's first
Pathfinder-led mission, 222 B-17s and B-24s bomb Xenia and Concordia Vega oil
refineries at Ploesti, Rumania; P-38s and P-51s fly escort; other P-51s sweep
the Ploesti area during the attacks; the bombers and fighters claim
destruction of 14 of the 40-50 opposing fighters; 6 AAF aircraft are shot
down.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather greatly curtails
operations; fighter-bombers attack rail lines between Empoli and Montelupo
Fiorentino with good results; other targets include roads, bridges and gun
positions; and the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, 64th Fighter Wing (attached
to 87th Fighter Wing), moves from Valtone to Solonzara, Corsica with
Beaufighters.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-47s hit the remnants of
Japanese forces on Saipan and Tinian Islands, as organized resistance on
Saipan ends; Saipan will become a base from which B-29s will bomb Japan.
Makin Island-based B-25s bomb Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In New Guinea,
A-20s and fighter-bombers pound shipping, airfields, troops, and other
targets at Babo, Manokwari, Efman, Biak and various points along the
coastline of Geelvink Bay; B-25s and fighter-bombers sink a 3,000-ton vessel
and several barges around Halmahera Island, Moluccas Islands; dumps at
Marubian, Kairiru, and Niap and a bridge at But are bombed by B-25s, A-20s,
and fighter-bombers; B-24s bomb Namlea Airfield and attack Yap Island and
Woleai Atoll.

MONDAY, 10 JULY 1944

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 24 P-40s and P-51s support ground
forces at Myitkyina; 20+ A-36s P-51s, P-47s, and P-40s hit Mogaung, buildings
and boxcars at Mohnyin, trucks at Sahmaw, a factory at Loiwing, and Punga
pagoda; the railroad supply area at Mohnyin is bombed by 6 B-25s; a
detachment of the 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 8th Photographic
Reconnaissance Group, begins operating from Myitkyina with P-40s (the
squadron is based at Kisselbari, India).

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 70 P-40s and 6 B-25s hit river
shipping between Siangtan and Siangsiang, between Changsha and Chuchou, and N
of Hengyang; strafe and bomb posts and trucks in the Pingkiang, Tungcheng,
and Tsungyang areas and in the Changsha-Kweilin area; and bomb airfields at
Hankow and Wuchang; the 24th Combat Mapping Squadron, 8th Photographic
Reconnaissance Group, based at Guskhara, sends a detachment to operate from
Liuchow with F-7s; and the detachment of the 491st Bombardment Squadron
(Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), operating from Kweilin and
Liuchow with B-25s return to base at Yangkai.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 465: 6 of 6 B-17s drop
leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night.
  12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, fighters bomb and strafe
gun positions, bridges, a rail overpass, infantry concentrations, and highway
junctions, and cover the battle area; HQ 71st Fighter Wing arrives at
Ecrammeville from England; and HQ 100th Fighter Wing moves from Criqueville
to St-Pierre-Eglise.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers
successfully hit marshalling yards, railroad bridges, and viaducts in NC
Italy; weather restricts fighter-bombers and fighters but several targets are
hit, including airfield at Modena and scattered gun positions, rail lines,
and roads; HQ 27th Fighter Group and 522d and 523d Fighter Squadrons move
from Voltone to Serragia, Corsica with P-47s; and HQ 64th Troop Carrier Group
and 16th and 18th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Comiso, Sicily to
Ciampino with C-47s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-47s hit troops and gun
positions on Tinian Island. B-24s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll, pound Truk
Atoll during the night of 9/10 Jul and again during the day.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In New Guinea,
B-24s attack Laha, Namlea, and targets of opportunity in the Boeroe Island,
Sunda Islands-Ceram Island-Ambon Island area; A-20s, fighter-bombers, and a
B-25 hit troops, villages, and barges in the Wewak area; the 64th Bombardment
Squadron (Heavy), 43d Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Nadzab to Owi,
Schouten Islands with B-24s; and the 67th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d
Troop Carrier Group, and 387th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 312th
Bombardment Group (Light), move from Nadzab to Hollandia with C-47s and
A-20s respectively. B-24s bomb airfields and town areas at Yap Island, Gagil-
Tomil Island, Yap Islands and Sorol Atoll. Operations also include small-
scale strikes in the Wakde area and snooper and armed reconnaissance missions
over the Caroline Islands. The 529th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 380th
Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Long Strip to Darwin, Australia with
B-24s.

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:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 07:01:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 11 JUL 44

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
TUESDAY, 11 JULY 1944
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
  F-5, Lockheed Lightning
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang
  P-61, Northrop Black Widow

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 70+ fighter-bombers pound barracks
at Myitkyina, bridges at Namkwin and Mohnyin, the airfield at Lashio, and
targets of opportunity at several other locations, including Nanyinbya,
Indaw, Katha, Bhamo, and the Anisakan-Shwebo area; and 11 B-25s hit bridges
at Hsenwi.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 28 B-24s bomb a storage base at
Sinshih; 24 P-40s hit river traffic at Hengyang and E of Siangsiang; 22 other
P-40s attack the town of Hengyang, hitting Japanese-occupied buildings and a
bridge; 33 more P-40s attack villages, road traffic, and targets of
opportunity at Leiyang and from Chuchou to Hengyang to Yungfengshih; 3 B-25s
bomb Liling and Yuhsien; 14 P-51s bomb the town of Pakmoi Hu and hit gun
positions at Lupao; 8 B-25s pound railroad yards at Sinyang; 12 B-25s and 14
fighter-bombers bomb Mangshih on the Burma Road and support Chinese ground
forces between Tengchung and Lungling; and the 93d Fighter Squadron, 81st
Fighter Group, moves from Karachi, India to Kwanghan with P-47s.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 466: 1,176 bombers and 795
fighters attack targets in Germany; 20 bombers and 4 fighters are lost:
  1. Of 401 B-17s, 371 hit the Munich marshalling yard, Passing electrical
station and a tire factory and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost,
1 damaged beyond repair and 42 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 10 MIA.
Escort is provide by 209 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s without loss.
  2. Of 340 B-17s, 183 hit the BMW factory at Munich and 106 hit the Munich
marshalling yard; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 89 damaged; 1
airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 30 MIA. Escort is provided by 166 P-38s, P-47s and
P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
  3. Of 435 B-24s, 291 hit Munich, 55 hit Munich/Riem Airfield, 29 hit
Augsburg, 8 hit Eppingen and 1 hits a bridge on the Autobahn; 16 B-24s are
lost and 2 damaged beyond repair; 8 airmen are KIA, 14 WIA and 149 MIA.
Escort is provided by 324 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe
aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47 and 2 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA) and 1
P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
  Mission 467: During the night, 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France.
  29 of 30 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, A-20s and B-26s strike
fuel dumps at Foret d'Andaine, Chateau-de-Tertu, Flers, and Foret d'Ecouves;
NOBALL (V-weapon) sites at Chateau d'Helicourt and Chateau d'Ansenne; and a
rail bridge at Bourth; fighters escort the bombers, patrol the battle area,
and attack trains, gun positions, ammunition dumps, and other targets in the
areas around Lessay, Periers, Saint-Lo, Lonrai, Tours and Folligny. In
England, the detachment of the 422d Night Fighter Squadron, 71st Fighter
Wing, operating from Hurn with P-61s returns to base at Scorton.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  AAF, MTO: The 72d Liaison Squadron, AAF, MTO (attached to Seventh Army),
arrives at Santa Maria, Italy from Oran, Algeria with L-5s (first mission is
in Aug 44).

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather curtails the bomber
effort; the only target attacked is the harbor at Toulon, France, where 87
B-24s hit jetties, oil stores, a nearby telegraph cable factory, barracks,
repair shops, an adjoining marshalling yard, and submarines in drydock.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather again hampers
operations; medium bombers attack a marshalling yard at Alessandria, hit an
approach to a railroad bridge at Chiavari, and score near misses on other
bridges; fighter-bombers hit an airfield at Rimini and attack fuel dumps,
rail lines, gun positions, bridges, and targets of opportunity N of the
battleline as the US Fifth Army engages in hard fighting in the Pastina and
Laiatico area; the 5th Combat Mapping Squadron, 3d Photographic Group
(Reconnaissance), moves from Viterbo to Borgo, Corsica with F-5s; and the
526th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group, moves from Orbetello to Poretta,
Corsica with P-47s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): P-47s pound forces on Tinian and
Pagan Islands. The 28th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Seventh Air
Force (attached to VII Fighter Command), based at Kipapa Airfield, Territory
of Hawaii, sends a detachment to operate on Saipan Island with F-5s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In New Guinea,
B-24s pound airfield at Babo while A-20s hit supply dumps at Kokas; B-25s
bomb airfields at Manokwari, Waren, and Moemi during the night; A-20s, B-25s,
and fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Sarmi-Sawar area and bomb
airfields, shipping, and various occupied areas and installations on
Halmahera Island, in the Schouten Islands, on Boeroe Island, and the Palau
Islands, and in Woleai Atoll; and the 65th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 43d
Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Nadzab to Owi, Schouten Islands with
B-24s.

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:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 07:09:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Bong revisited

 >I believe it was in Jablonski's AIRWAR where I read that
 >Bong was not killed 'testing' the F-80, but was actually
 >hot-dogging with a low-level barrel roll when the plane
 >hit the ground.  It would not be a surprise, since Bong
 >also was one of the folks who 'looped' the Golden Gate
 >Bridge while at Hamilton Field.
 >
 >Can anybody verify the cause of the crash?
 >
 >Bill
 >[email-masked]

I have read that General George Kenney was CG of the Fourth Air Force when
Bong looped the bridge.  He also buzzed around the area and one woman
complained that he blew her laundry off the clothes line.  So as one of
his punishments, Kenney made Bong go out to the woman's house and wash her
clothes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
|  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   |
|  [email-masked]  |  them.                     FDR    |
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 07:30:47 -0500
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 11-JUL-1944

On 11-JUL-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - The US 1st Army front now stretches from the west coast of the
     Cotentin peninsula to Caumont, about 13 miles east of St Lo. All four
     corps, the VIII, VII, XIX and V, are deployed on the front. Units of
     the VIII Corps make good progress south of La Haye-du-Puits. A
     counter-attack by the German panzers succeed in breaking through the line
     of the 9th Division in the Le-Desert sector. The Germans are driven back
     with a considerable loss of tanks by a combined infantry, artillery and
     air action. The XIX Corps opens an offensive against St Lo with its 30th
     and 35th Division. Units of the V Corps renew their attacks northeast of
     St Lo. In the British sector, the 50th Division of the XXX Corps improves
     upon its positions near Hottot-les-Bagues, 13 miles west of Caen.

Eastern Front - The 2nd Baltic Front begins an offensive on a 90-mile front
     east of Idritsa. The German pocket of resistance east of Minsk is wiped
     out.

Italian Front - Orders are issued for Operation Mallory Major, the destruction
     of bridges over the river Po. The US IV Corps is making a little progress
     northwards. In the British sector, the New Zealand 2nd Division gets
     ready to support the final attack on Arezzo.

New Guinea - On Numfoor Island, the US 158th Infantry and 503rd Parachute
     Regiment begins mopping up the island. In the Aitape sector, the
     Americans withdraw from the river Driniumor line, due to the strong
     Japanese attack.

China - In central China, the Japanese 11th Army renews attacking Hengyang,
     but is repulsed by the Chinese.

The Homefront
-------------
Roosevelt Will Run If Nominated - President Roosevelt tells a Press Conference
     that if he is nominated he will run. He says "If the people command me to
     continue in office, I will ... I have as little right as a soldier to
     leave his position in the line".

French Provisional Government Recognized - President Roosevelt has announced
     that the US recognizes de Gaulle's French Provisional Government as the
     de facto authority for the civil administration of the liberated
     territory in France.

Plan Crash Kills 16 - A twin-engined Army bomber has crashed into a trailer
     camp in South Portland, Maine killing 16 people.

National League Wins All-Star Game - The National League All-Stars have
     defeated the American League team 7-1 before 29,589 fans in Pittsburg.

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

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.
----------

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 08:06:42 EDT
From:    Ken Koester <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: ADMIN: Introduction to WWII-L

The usual good job on the intro message, Joe.  However, didn't you forget
to tell the newbies about the pop quiz? (-:

ken koester
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 08:02:00 EST
From:    Daniel Malepart <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: A-bomb/Smithsonian

From:   NAME: Daniel Malipart
        FUNC: PARI/CPA/Montreal
        TEL: (514) 283-0348                   <MALEPART@A1@ATMONT>
To:     in%"[email-masked]"@nrc@outside

    Dan Ford wrote:

    > A couple weeks earlier, Truman was begging Stalin to join the war
    > against the Japanese. Am I talking about Yalta or Teheran?

    If memory serves right, I think Truman asked Stalin to join the was
    against Japan at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945.  If I remember
    well, Potsdam is a suburb (district?) of Berlin.

    Daniel Malepart, Computer specialist | "Il faut detester la guerre et
    Montreal, Quebec, Canada             | respecter ceux qui l'ont faite."
    [email-masked]            | - Antoine de St-Exupery

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 10:04:45 -0500
From:    "WILLIAM L. HUBER - SAA" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WWII-L Digest - 8 Jul 1994 to 9 Jul 1994

> Date:    Sat, 9 Jul 1994 16:09:50 -0500
> >From:    Anita Louise Sybesma <[email-masked]>
> Subject: Red Cross Records/Conc.Camp
>
> After the fall of the Berlin Wall, we read a newspaper article saying
> that the Red Cross now had access to the files from the Concentration
> Camps from WWII. We wrote the RC, but did not get a response.  Do any of
> you know about this? My husbands uncle ,Pieter Sybesma, was killed at
> Auswich in March of 1945, just days before liberation.
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated,
> Anita

Hi Anita,

You might write to:

International Tracing Service
Grosse Allee 5-9
34444 Arolsen
Germany

or

Comite International de la Croix-Rouge
Agence Centrale de Recherches
19, Avenue de la Paix
CH-1202 Geneve
Switzerland

or

Tbhe Jewish Agency - Jerusalem
Search Bureau for Missing Relatives
PO Box 92
Jerusalem, Israel

or

Zydowski Instytut Historyczny
ul. Tlomackie 3\5
00-090 Warsaw, Poland

These agencies may be able to get you some information.  Good luck
with your search.  Responce times vary so be patient.  They get lots
of correspondence.  Provide them with everything you know so they can
approach the search from different angles.  Full name, date of birth,
place of birth, place of capture, place of death are all very helpful
for them.

Again, best of luck,

Bill Huber
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 22:57:53 +0200
From:    John Ausland <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: GERMAN AND JAPANESE VIEWS OF WWII

  Oslo, July 11, 1994

  The July 14 issue of THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS carries a review by Gordon
A. Craig of Ian Buruma's THE WAGES OF GUILT: MEMORIES OF WAR IN GERMANY AND
JAPAN.
  Judging by the review, this is a useful book for anyone to read who, like I
am, is interested in (and puzzled by) German and Japanese reactions to the war.
As Craig points out, the Germans have been exposed to considerable information
about the Nazi era.  The Japanese, on the other hand, have only begun to face up
to what happened during the 1930s and 1940s.
  In seeking an explanation for this difference, Craig says Buruma comes up with
nothing better than Ruth Benedict's view that Japanese are more preoccupied with
shame than guilt.  (I have discussed this with an EMAIL contact in Tokyo, and he
supports the Benedict view.)
  The Craig review recites a number of recent cases in both Germany and Japan
which can be cause for concern.
  I ran into one the other day in a report about German Foreign Minister
Kinkel's comments on recent charges that his predecessor, Genscher, had joined
the Nazi youth.  Kinkel said, in effect, that no one should criticize a young
boy for risking his life defending his fatherland.  If Kinkel had said that
Genscher THOUGHT he was defending his fatherland, it would be another matter.
Otherwise, his statement leaves the impression he does not understand that many
of us believe the German Army was defending the Nazi regime.
  Regards, John Ausland/Oslo Norway

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 14:19:19 -0500
From:    GEORGE BAUER <[email-masked]>
Subject: Beginning of the Age of Military Aviation

Can anybody tell me if there is a commonly accepted time when it can be
said the age of military aviation began?  Is there a particular event
that is commonly referred to?

Thanks.

  =========================================================================
  | DR.  GEORGE R. BAUER             | INTERESTS:                         |
  |                                  | Computers in Business & Education. |
  | Recently returned from my second | Education:  Curriculum development.|
  |   extended stay in Prague.       |    International Education, TEFL.  |
  | Working on second book about     | Central Europe:  Post revolution   |
  |   Prague and new Czech Republic  |    economic, social, political     |
  |   and a book about the B-25      |    problems and opportunities.     |
  |   in WWII.                       | B-25 in WWII.                      |
  | E-Mail:                          | Free lance writing and editing.    |
  |   USA:  [email-masked]    | Stamp collecting.                  |
  =========================================================================

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 15:23:14 -0500
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: help

For Bill Huber:
        Sorry to send this out over the list but I deleted your msg
after printing it out and didn't get the part with your e-mail address.
Anyway, thanks for the great lead on the Italian Marines!!

        Gratefully yours

        Mike Yaklich ([email-masked])

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 16:35:37 EDT
From:    Alex M Spencer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Beginning of the Age of Military Aviation

     On March 29, 1794 the French formed the Aerostatic Corp of the Artillery
Service. Charles Coutelle was the Corps first field commander. The new group
consisted of a lieutenant, sub-lieutenant, a sargent major, four non-coms, and
twenty-six soldiers. The balloon, "L'Entreprenant" was used successfully in
the battle of Maubeuge to report the disposition of Austrian and Dutch troops.
The use of the balloon was considered "unsporting." The first true success for
the balloon came during the battle of Fleurus on June 26, 1794. Coutelle kept
the balloon aloft for over ten hours providing up to date field information to
General Morlot. The information provided by Coutelle resulted in a complete
victory for the French over their Austrian opponent.
     Balloons of course did see some success during the American Civil.
During McClellen's Peninsula Campaign, field dispositions provided by the
Union balloons, commanded by Thadeus Lowe, saved the Union Army twice from
being destroyed.
     The balloon also recieved recognition during the siege of Paris,
transporting people and messages out of the city.
     The first heavier than aircraft to be purchased for the military was the
Wright 1909 Military Fligher.  U.S. Signal Corps Specification Number 486
issued on December 23, 1907 called for a aircraft that could fly at 40 m.p.h.,
carry two passengers with a combined weight of 350 lbs., and travel at least
125 miles. The Wright brothers delivered the aircraft to the Signal Corps
and made the first test flight on September 3, 1908 at Fort Myer, VA. During a
test flight on September 17, 1908 the aircraft crashed injuring Orville Wright
and killing Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge.
     The Wrights returned to Fort Myer in June of 1909 with a modified
aircraft. Lt. Frank Lahm and Lt. Benjamin Foulois were the first passengers
in the new aircraft.  Flight testing continued in College Park, MD.  One of the
pilots trained by the Wrights was a young Lt. H. H. Arnold.

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

Date:    Mon, 11 Jul 1994 20:36:50 -0500
From:    "Danny G. Cox" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Truman/Atom Bomb

Yesterday I UNINTENTIONALY posted a message to this list in the MIME
form.  Please accept my apology for any inconvenience this may have caused.
I would like to now post my original message.

While we're theorizing why we dropped the bombs, this is what Harry Truman
said about it. Taken from "Where The Buck Stops : the Private and
Personal Writings of Harry S. Truman" by Harry S. Truman; edited by
Margaret Truman, published by Warner Communications Co., 1989.  Following
his request, it was not published until after he and his wife, Bess were
both deceased.

--If I live to be a hundred years old, I'll never forget the day that I
was first told about the atomic bomb.  It was about 7:30 P.M. on the
evening of April 12, 1945, just hours after Franklin Roosevelt had died
at 3:35 P.M., and no more than half an hour after I was sworn in as
president at 7:09 P.M.  Henry L. Stimson, who was Roosevelt's secretary
of war and then mine, took me aside and reminded me that Roosevelt had
authorized the development of a sort of superbomb and that that bomb was
almost ready.  I was still stunned by Roosevelt's death and by the fact
that I was now president, and I didn't think much more about it at the
time.  But then, on April 26, Stimson asked for a meeting in my office,
at which he was joined by Major General Leslie Groves, who was in charge
of the operation that was developing the bomb, the Manhattan Project.
The meeting was so secret that Groves came into the White House by the
back door.  And at the meeting, Stimson handed me a memorandum that said,
"Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most
terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb which could destroy
a whole city."

Stimson said very gravely that he didn't know whether we could or should
use the bomb because he was afraid that it was so powerful that it could
end up destroying the whole world.  I felt the same fear as he and Groves
continued to talk about it , and when I read Groves's twenty-four-page
report.  The report said that the first bomb would probably be ready by
July and have the strength of about five hundred tons of TNT, and even
more frighteningly, it went on to say that a second bomb would probably
be ready by August and have the strength of as much as twelve hundred
tons of TNT.  We weren't aware then that that was just the tip of the
iceberg.  That second bomb turned out to have the power of twenty
thousand tons of TNT, and the hydrogen bomb that eventually followed it
had the explosive power of twenty million tons of TNT.

Stimson's memo suggested the formation of a committee to assist me in
deciding whether or not to use the bomb on Japan, and I agreed
completely.  The committee, which we called the Interim Committee, was
formed at once and consisted of Stimson as chairman, James F. Byrnes, who
later became my secretary of state, as my representative on the
committee, James B Conant, who was the president of Harvard, Karl T
Compton, who was the president of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and Vannevar Bush, who was the head of our Office of
Scientific Research and Development.  The Interim Committee in turn
called in, for advice and information, the scientists who developed the
bomb: Arthur H Compton, who was Karl Compton's brother, Enrico Fermi,
Ernest O. Lawrence, and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Then, on May 8, my sixty-first birthday, the Germans surrendered, and I
had to remind our country that the war was only half over, that we still
had to face the war with Japan.  The winning of that war, we all knew,
might even be more difficult to accomplish, because the Japanese were
self-proclaimed fanatic warriors who made it all too clear that they
preferred death to defeat in battle.  Just a month before, after our
soldiers and Marines landed on Okinawa, the Japanese lost 100,000 men out
of the 120,000 in their garrison, and yet, though they were defeated
without any question in the world, thousands more Japanese soldiers fell
on their own grenades and died rather than surrender.

Nevertheless, I pleaded with the Japanese in my speech announcing
Germany's surrender, begging them to surrender, too, but was not too
surprised when they refused.  And on June 18, I met with the Joint Chiefs
of Staff to discuss what I hoped would be our final push against the
Japanese.  We still hadn't decided whether or not to use the atomic bomb,
and the chiefs of staff suggested that we plan an attack on Kyushu, the
Japanese island on their extreme west, around the beginning of November,
and follow up with an attack on the more important island of Honshu.  But
the statistics that the generals gave me were as frightening as the news
of the big bomb.  The chiefs of staff estimated that the Japanese still
had five thousand attack planes, seventeen garrisons on the island of
Kyushu alone, and a total of more than two million men on all of the
islands of Japan.  General Marshall then estimated that, since the
Japanese would unquestionably fight even more fiercely than ever on their
own homeland, we would probably lose a quarter of a million men and
possibly as many as a half million in taking the two islands.  I could
not bear this thought, and it led to the decision to use the atomic bomb.

We talked first about blockading Japan and trying to blast them into
surrender with conventional weaponry; but Marshall and others made it
clear that this would never work, pointing out that we'd hit Germany in
this way and they hadn't surrendered until we got troops into Germany
itself.  Another general also pointed out that Germany's munitions
industries were more or less centralized and that our constant bombings
of these facilities never made them quit, and Japan's industries were
much more spread apart and harder to hit.  Then, when we finally talked
about the atomic bomb, on July 21, coming to the awful conclusion that it
would probably be the only way the Japanese might be made to surrender
quickly, we talked first about hitting some isolated area, some
low-population area where there would not be too many casualties but
where the Japanese could see the power of the new weapon.  Reluctantly, we
decided against that as well, feeling that that just wouldn't be enough
to convince the fanatic Japanese.  And we finally selected four possible
target areas, all heavy military-manufacturing areas: Hiroshima, Kokura,
Nagasaki, and Niigata.

I know the world will never forget that the first bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima on August 5, at 7:15 P.M. Washington time, and the second on
Nagasaki on August 9.  One more plea for surrender had been made to the
Japanese on July 29, and was rejected immediately.  Then I gave the final
order, saying I had no qualms "if millions of lives could be saved."  I meant
both American and Japanese lives.

The Japanese surrendered five days after the bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki, and a number of major Japanese military men and diplomats later
confirmed publicly that there would have been no quick surrender without it.
For this reason, I made what I believed to be the only possible decision.
I said something to this effect in a letter to my sister, Mary: "It was a
terrible decision.  But I made it.  And I made it to save 250,000 boys
from the United States, and I'd make it again under similar circumstances."
I said the same thing at somewhat greater length in a speech at a university
in 1965:

"It was a question of saving hundreds of thousands of American lives. . .
You don't feel normal when you have to plan hundreds of thousands of . . .
deaths of American boys who are alive and joking and having fun while
you're doing your planning. You break your heart and your head trying to
figure out a way to save one life. . . The name given to our invasion
plan was Olympic, but I saw nothing godly about the killing of all the people
that would be necessary to make that invasion.  The casualty estimates
called for seven hundred and fifty thousand killed, five hundred thousand
maimed for life. . . I couldn't worry about what history would say about
my personal morality.  I made the only decision I ever knew how to make.
I did what I thought was right."

I still think that. But God knows it underlines the need for an
organization like the United Nations to prevent another and probably final
world war.

+==================================+
|   DAN COX                        |
|   REPUBLIC, MO                   |
|   [email-masked]   |
+==================================+

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 10 Jul 1994 to 11 Jul 1994
*************************************************