Subject: WWII-L Digest - 18 Aug 1994 to 19 Aug 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 20 Aug 1994 00:01:25 -0400

There are 7 messages totalling 370 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. GEN: FOOTNOTE ABOUT RAILWAY IN CHINA
  2. MEDIA:Smithsonian Exhibit
  3. MEDIA: Smithsonian Exhibit
  4. INF: USN Chronology 08-19-94
  5. INF: 50 Years Ago - 20-AUG-1944
  6. Small European countries in WWII
  7. [INF] USAAF 20 AUG 44

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Date:    Fri, 19 Aug 1994 14:07:56 +0200
From:    JOHN AUSLAND <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: FOOTNOTE ABOUT RAILWAY IN CHINA

  August 19, 1994

  Since the lead up to Pearl Harbor has come up, I might mention what a
little known footnote to the history of this period.

  During the summer of 1941, my father, John E. Ausland, was given a commission
as a major in the US Army, in order to go to China to give the Chinese advice on
construction of a railway from Lashio, Burma to Kunming, China.  (He was at that
time a civil engineer with the Burlington Railroad.)

  He was part of a military mission headed by a Brig. Gen. Magruder.

  When going through Hawaii on his way to China, he wrote a letter home in which
he noted that there was too much Saturday night there.

  The Chinese put over a hundred thousand men to work on the grading for the
railroad.  Since the railroad went through malaria area, many Chinese died.

  By Pearl Harbor, a great deal of the grading was done.  However, when Burma
fell, the railroad project was abandoned, and my father returned to the US to
take up other duties.

  Circumstances brought him back to China, where he became seriously ill.  The
day I landed on Utah Beach, he was in a hospital plane, on his way to India and
back to the US.

  Regards, John Ausland/Oslo Norway

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Date:    Fri, 19 Aug 1994 10:19:55 -0400
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA:Smithsonian Exhibit

>From the DoD Newswire 18 August 1994

:ENOLA GAY PRESSURE REMAINS

   WASHINGTON  -- A member of Congress stepped up pressure
Wednesday on the Smithsonian Institution to revise its exhibit on the
airplane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
   Rep. Tom Lewis, R-Fla., in a statement said the National Air and
Space Museum had agreed to make changes, but warned that the
alternations must be more than "window dressing."
   Last week, two dozen lawmakers sent the museum a letter complaining
that the exhibit, still being developed, wrongly portrays Japan as an
innocent victim of the atomic bomb dropped by the B-29 bomber known as
the Enola Gay.
   The lawmakers were concerned that the exhibit, scheduled to open
next year, includes 84 pages of text and 97 photographs on Japanese
suffering but less than one page and only eight photographs on the
suffering inflicted by the Japanese from 1930 to 1945.
   Museum spokeswoman Kathleen Brooks said Wednesday that exhibits are
always revised until they open, but did not detail any planned
changes.
   "I hope this is not simply a delaying tactic by the Smithsonian,
because we are not going away," Lewis, noting that museum officials
have met with individuals and groups concerned about the exhibit.
   The Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6,
1945. A second atomic raid on Nagasaki three days later led to Japan's
surrender and the end of World War II.

======

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 James E. Irwin (Jim)                  Internet address:
 Defense Personnel Support Center        [email-masked]
 2800 S. 20th Street                   215-737-3678
 Philadelphia PA  19101-8419           Autovon 444-3678

                     "Never in the field of human conflict
                     was so much owed by so many to so few."
                               Winston S. Churchill
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Date:    Fri, 19 Aug 1994 10:21:42 -0400
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA: Smithsonian Exhibit

>From the DoD Newswire 19 August 1994

:CONGRESS MULLS A BOMB EXHIBIT

   WASHINGTON  -- The head of the Smithsonian Institution is
assuring members of Congress a coming exhibit on the atomic bombing of
Japan will balance the destructiveness of the bomb and the need to use
it.
   "The world was forever changed by the release of (the) bomb, and
the proper task of the Smithsonian is neither to apologize for nor to
celebrate this change but to account for it," Smithsonian Secretary
Robert McC. Adams wrote in a letter to two dozen members of Congress.
   His letter, dated Tuesday, was in response to their complaint that
the exhibit, still in development for its scheduled opening next year,
wrongly portrays Japan as an innocent victim of the atomic bomb
dropped by the B-29 bomber known as the Enola Gay.
   The lawmakers were concerned by reports the exhibit would include
84 pages of text and 97 photographs on Japanese suffering but less
than one page and only eight photographs on suffering inflicted by
Japan from 1930 to 1945.
   The Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6,
1945, killing or injuring 160,000 people and destroying more than four
square miles. A second atomic raid, on Nagasaki three days later, led
to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II.
   Adams said Smithsonian exhibits undergo constant revision during
development and many of the congressional concerns were based on early
versions of the script.
   Indeed, he added, planning material for exhibits is circulated to
interested groups in hopes of getting comments and finding errors
before exhibits open.
   "The development of the atomic bomb took place in a hugely
destructive war that the United States had no part in initiating,"
Adams said.
   The exhibit marking the end of the war includes the Enola Gay
because the plane and the bomb it dropped were decisive.
   The wisdom of using the weapon will be debated indefinitely, Adams
said. "But it would never fall within the province of the Smithsonian
to sit in judgment on what was a great political as well as military
turning point for our entire nation."
   Adams said the Smithsonian must find the "inherently controversial
balance between the emphasis given to what led to the use of the bomb
and the visual evidence of its destructiveness. Clearly, we need to
work further on achieving the proper balance."

=======

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 James E. Irwin (Jim)                  Internet address:
 Defense Personnel Support Center        [email-masked]
 2800 S. 20th Street                   215-737-3678
 Philadelphia PA  19101-8419           Autovon 444-3678

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

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Date:    Fri, 19 Aug 1994 09:47:08 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 08-19-94

UNITED STATES NAVY CHRONOLOGY
from:
//byrd.mu.wvnet.edu/pub/history/military/wwii/naval_chronology/chr4(4,5).txt

1944
08/19 Sat. Submarine REDFIN (SS-272) lays mines off Sarawak, Borneo

Theron P. Keller
Logicon, Inc.
Dahlgren, VA  22448 USA
[email-masked]

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Date:    Fri, 19 Aug 1994 10:01:26 -0700
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 20-AUG-1944

On 20-AUG-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Northern France - The last units of the German 7th and 5th Armies cross the
Dives opposite St Lambert, avoiding encirclement by the Allies. American
troops reach the Seine south of Paris, where the 7th Armoured Division and 5th
Division (XV Corps) try to establish a bridgehead at Melun and Montereau.
Other Allied troops reach the outskirts of Fontainebleau.

Southern France - The US 3rd Division (VI Corps, 7th Army) reaches the
outskirts of Aix-en-Provence. The French II Corps continue their advance
towards Marseilles and Toulon.

New Guinea - General Kruegar announces that operations on Biak Island are
officially at an end. The Americans have lost 2,555 men killed, wounded and
missing; while the Japanese have lost 4,700 dead and 220 men have been taken
prisoner.

Burma/China - On the Salween front, the Chinese blow up the Japanese
fortifications at Sung Shan with mines. After a bloody assault with
flame-throwers and bayonets, they succeed in seizing the position.

Naval Dispatches
----------------
German submarine U-1229 sunk by aircraft from escort carrier BOGUE (CVE-9),
North Atlantic area.

Foreign Affairs
---------------
Marshal Petain Arrested - At Vichy, the Germans arrest Marshal Petain, who
refuses to leave the seat of government, and transfer him to Belfort.

De Gaulle In Cherbourg - General Charles de Gaulle has arrived in Cherbourg
from Algiers and says he will go to Paris as soon as it is liberated.

The Homefront
-------------
Four Warships Launched - The 27,000 ton aircraft carrier Anteitam and the
13,000 ton cruisers Chicago and Los Angeles are launched in a single ceremony
at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Kimmel Disputes Truman - Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, Navy commander at Pearl
Harbor during the Japanese attack, disputes statements of Sen. Harry S. Truman
in a magazine article that Kimmel had refused to cooperate with the Army and
was not on speaking terms with Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short. He suggests that no
more "false charges be made against me until a complete disclosure is made of
the Pearl Harbor facts."

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

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:    Fri, 19 Aug 1994 15:01:45 -0700
From:    Jim Benn <[email-masked]>
Subject: Small European countries in WWII

I have no idea what prompted this thought, but does anyone know what
role, if any, the very small European countries such as Andorra, Monaco,
Liechenstein (any others?) played in WWII?  Were they neutral, overrun
or just ignored?  Did Italy and Germany respect the neutrality of the
Vatican City?

Just wondering...

Jim Benn.

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Date:    Fri, 19 Aug 1994 21:03:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 20 AUG 44

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
SUNDAY, 20 AUGUST 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-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  B-29, Boeing Superfortress
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  F-5, Lockheed Lightning
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-39, Bell Airacobra
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Aleutian Islands, 4 B-25s fly a
negative shipping sweep.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 24 P-47s and P-51s fly close
support strikes for ground forces immediately S of Thaikwagon; 4 P-51s hit
targets of opportunity at Myintha and Aledaw; and the detachment of the 88th
Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, operating from Myitkyina with P-47s
returns to base at Shingbwiyang.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25s and 7 P-40s damage
buildings and a pontoon bridge and strafe about 30 sampans in the Hengyang
area; 13 P-40s hit buildings, trucks, and river shipping in the Hengshan
area; and 60+ P-40s and P-51s attack numerous trucks, rivercraft, and general
targets of opportunity at Tingka, Anjen, Yangtien, S of Yoyang, between
Hankow and Chinchiang, and between Sinshih and Changsha.

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Twentieth Air Force): 61 Chengtu, China-based B-29s
bomb the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata, Japan during the day,
followed by 10 more during the night of 20/21 Aug, 5 hitting targets other
than the primary; 14 B-29s are lost, including 1 to AA and 4 to enemy
aircraft (1 by air-to-air bombing and 1 by ramming); B-29 gunners claim 17
air victories.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 61 B-26s bomb troop and
equipment concentrations waiting at Foret de la Lande to be ferried across the
Seine River; fighters fly armed reconnaissance along the Seine River, support
ground troops in the battle area, and fly an escort mission to 100+ C-47s on
a supply and evacuation run; HQ 71st Fighter Wing moves from Ecrammeville to
Rennes; the 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to
Third Army), moves from La Bozoge to Dampierre with L-5s; the 410th, 411th
and 412th Fighter Squadrons, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Tour-en-Bassin to
St-James with P-47s; and the 584th and 585th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium),
394th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Holmsley, England to Tour-en-
Bassin with B-26s.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): 460+ B-24s and B-17s, some
fighter-escorted, bomb the airfield and marshalling yard at Szolnok, Hungary
and oil refineries at Dubova, Czechoslovakia, and Czechowice and Auschwitz,
Poland.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In France during the night of
19/20 Aug A-20s attack lights and motor transport from the battleline NW to
the Rhone River; B-26s, joined by fighter-bombers and fighters, hit coastal
defense guns in the Toulon area, while B-25s bomb Rhone Valley bridges and
airfields achieving especially good results at the airfield near Valence; and
the 23d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 5th Photographic Reconnaissance
Group, based at Borgo, Corsica with F-5s, sends a detachment to Le Luc,
France.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): Saipan Island-based B-24s hit
Yap Island for the first time. A B-24 bombs Alamagan Island, Mariana Islands
while P-47s pound Pagan Island. Marshall Islands-based B-24s bomb Truk Atoll.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb the town
and airfield at Namlea, Buru Island and others pound personnel areas and
warehouses at Tobelo, Halmahara Island. In New Guinea, B-25s bomb Langgoer
Airfield; P-39s hit Windissi and enemy shipping off Manokwari while P-40s
pound gun positions, buildings and stores at Manokwari; other P-40s support
ground forces by hitting troop concentrations at Napido; A-20s and fighter-
bombers hit a personnel center near Marubian, supplies at Wom, and numerous
targets during coastal sweeps in the Wewak general area; and the 23d and 31st
Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 5th Bombardment Group (Heavy), move from
Momote Airfield, Los Negros Island to Wakde Island with B-24s. The 528th
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 380th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from
Fenton 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              |
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20/0106Z AUG

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End of WWII-L Digest - 18 Aug 1994 to 19 Aug 1994
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