Subject: WWII-L Digest - 11 Aug 1994 to 12 Aug 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 1994 00:01:07 -0400

There are 12 messages totalling 444 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. WOMEN IN JAPANESE
  2. ENOLA GAY
  3. INF: 50 Years Ago - 13-AUG-1944
  4. German squad vs. U.S. Squad (2)
  5. Re[2]: ENOLA GAY (2)
  6. HIST: Nisei troops at Dachau
  7. <No subject given>
  8. [INF] USAAF 13 AUG 44 (2)
  9. INF: 50 Years Ago - 14-AUG-1944

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Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 06:49:32 -0400
From:    Dan Ford <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WOMEN IN JAPANESE

On Thu, 11 Aug 1994, Ben Frank wrote:
> I am afraid that any scholar of WWII in the Pacific has to take this with a
> large portion of salt. In all the reading I have done about the various
> campaigns, and certainly Guadalcanal is one I have researched fairly deeply, no
> where is there any evidence of Japanese women with the troops, not even from
> the comfort brigade. Ben Frank

Well, I agree that it's extremely unlikely that the Japanese Imperial
forces every used women in a combat role, but many women died in combat.
On Okinawa, 2,000 high-school and normal-school students were mobilized,
both boys and girls, and 1,050 died. There is a first-person account by
one of the survivors in *Japan at War* (NY: New Press 1992) by Haruko Taya
Cook & Theodore Cook. She served in the Himeyuri (Lily) Student Corps as
a nurse at 15, and of her group she recalls that 219 of 300 were killed.

            - Dan      <[email-masked]>

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

Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 06:34:07 -0400
From:    Dan Ford <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: ENOLA GAY

On Thu, 11 Aug 1994, Ben Frank wrote:
> The man to write to is Martin Harwit.

And his address is NASM, Washington DC 20560

fax (not sure which office) 202 786 2835

            - Dan      <[email-masked]>

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Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 05:04:24 -0700
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 13-AUG-1944

On 13-AUG-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - The US XV Corps (3rd Army) reaches the Argentan sector. The XX
     Corps advances simultaneously from the Le Mans sector towards the
     northeast, reaching the outskirts of Chartres. Southwest of Le Mans, the
     4th Armoured Division and 35th Division are concentrated under the
     command of General Eddy (XII Corps); their first mission is to advance
     east towards Orleans. The VII Corps moves north towards the road
     connecting Vire with Argentan.

China - General Chennault sends a number of aircraft of the 14th Air Force on
     a mission over Manila, in the Philippines. His action is immediatly
     criticized by Stilwell and MacArthur, who insist, on political grounds,
     that the Philippines must not be bombed.

Naval Dispatches
----------------
US submarine FLIER (SS-250) sunk by external explosion, Balabac Straight,
     North Borneo.

Foreign Affairs
---------------
Churchill Sees Tito - Rome dispatches say Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
     whose arrival in Italy was announced yesterday, has soon Marshal Tito of
     Yugoslavia in Rome.

The Homefront
-------------
Three Fires - The third spectacular fire in the New York City area in three
     days sweeps the Palisades (N.J.) Amusement Park, routing 30,000 visitors
     and destroying 200 parked cars. Three persons have been killed and more
     than 100 injured. Yesterday a fire was started by a short circuit and
     destoyed half of Luna Park, Coney Island amusement center in Brooklyn.
     Thirty-five persons, including 12 firemen were injured. Fireboats
     continue to pour water on the smouldering ruins of the former
     Hamburg-American Line pier in Hoboken, N.J. The pier was swept by a fire
     that was set accidently. War supplies valued at several million dollars
     have been destroyed.

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

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]/[email-masked])
Cary, N.C.
----------

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Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 07:49:36 CDT
From:    Tim not Timothy Scherrer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: German squad vs. U.S. Squad

Having an MG-42 versus a BAR is a hell of an advantage--the German
squad's job was to fight as individuals AND feed the MG-42.  And
according to SLA Marshall, your crew served weapons are what makes the
difference, so I think there is a definate advantage in a German squad.
TAS

************************************************************************
*  Tim A. Scherrer          "You'll be fighting WWII for the rest of   *
*  Facilities Supervisor     your life", Ron Scherrer, 1971            *
*  WP:816-785-5253                                                     *
*  HP:816-665-6704                                                     *
*  ID# [email-masked]                             *
************************************************************************

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

Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 07:53:21 CDT
From:    Tim not Timothy Scherrer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re[2]: ENOLA GAY

Is the Smithsonian planning any extra security for the Enola Gay--I'm
sure there are some people out there wanting to throw blood on it, or
attack it with hammers as a symbolic attack against nuclear wars.
Anybody know if they have thought about this??  TAS

************************************************************************
*  Tim A. Scherrer          "You'll be fighting WWII for the rest of   *
*  Facilities Supervisor     your life", Ron Scherrer, 1971            *
*  WP:816-785-5253                                                     *
*  HP:816-665-6704                                                     *
*  ID# [email-masked]                             *
************************************************************************

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

Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 08:38:24 -0500
From:    Bill Smith <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Re[2]: ENOLA GAY

Probably, and at this pace, we'll need a perimeter exclusion zone, bullet
proof vests for curators, and police escort for docents.

On Fri, 12 Aug 1994, Tim not Timothy Scherrer wrote:

> Is the Smithsonian planning any extra security for the Enola Gay--I'm
> sure there are some people out there wanting to throw blood on it, or
> attack it with hammers as a symbolic attack against nuclear wars.
> Anybody know if they have thought about this??  TAS

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

Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 09:37:49 -0400
From:    Warren Thompson <[email-masked]>
Subject: HIST: Nisei troops at Dachau

The current issue of HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDE STUDIES [Vol 8, #2, Fall 94] has an
interesting article on Japanese-American troops at this camp: Linda K. Menton,
 "Research Report: Nisei Soldiers at Dachau, Spring 1945."

The abstract follows:

"This article describes the experiences of an American Army unit, the 522nd
Field Artillery Battalion, around Dachau in April-May 1945. The men of the
522nd were the only Japanese American soldiers to fight in Germany. This paper
draws on information from interviews conducted with twelve of these veterans
who were interviewed as part of an oral history project conducted by the
Hawaii Holocaust Project. The men's recollections of Dachau are recounted
along with several critical research issues that must be addressed before a
definitive history of this little-known unit can be written."

-- Warren Thompson
LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE
Annville PA 17003

[email-masked]

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

Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 12:31:00 -0500
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: German squad vs. U.S. Squad

Tough question to answer in that the German army had become a pretty
heterogenous force in terms of both weapons and trainig.  If you're talking
about an experienced eastern front panzergrenadier squad that may by this
time have been supplied with the MP44 (like, for example, certain units of
the Grossdeutschland) I'd say the US squad would be in a whole lot of trouble.
On the other hand, if you're talking a just-mobilized, high number regular
infantry division like those that fought in the Ardennes offensive (and I'm
not talking Volksgrenadieren here), the advantage of the M1 over the Mauser
98k as a personal weapon, coupled with a higher median standard of training
would probably give the edge to the Americans.  Of course, the question
specified 1944-45, by which time the losses of five years or more of war
had badly strained the German capacity to provide adequate, and especially
adequately-trained, replacements.  The German army was at any rate always
somewhat two-tiered in terms of combat proficiency-- a very good spearhead
of panzer and motorized divisions supported by a much larger tail of regular
marching infantry with horse transport, with the latter units tending to be
of more mediocre quality in terms of training.  If we were talking 1942,
I'd be inclined to give a big edge to the German unit of whatever type,
especially given the previously-mentioned superiority of the MG42 (or MG34)
to the BAR.  On the other hand, it seems our GI's didn't do too badly with
the old BAR, particularly where movement was more important than sustained
fire capabilities, and the clear-cut advantages of the M1 (when it wasn't
jamming) over the Mauser bolt-action in terms of firepower is a factor which
shouldn't be lightly discarded (however unwise it may be to argue with S.L.A.
Marshal)...since I've never actually "seen the elephant," as Civil War
soldiers used to say about combat experience, I'll leave it to the veterans
on the list to argue that one out....

Mike Yaklich

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

Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 15:59:25 -0500
From:    Stan Fure <[email-masked]>
Subject: <No subject given>

LISTSERV

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

Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 21:56:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 13 AUG 44

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
SUNDAY, 13 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-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  Mosquito, deHavilland
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  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 Kurile Islands, of 3 B-24s departing
Shemya Island, Aleutian Islands during the night of 12/13 Aug, 1 aborts while
the other 2 bomb the Kashiwabara staging area on Paramushiru Island; later 6
B-25s fly a shipping sweep E of the N Kurils during which a fighter is
downed.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20 fighter-bombers hit troops and
supplies at Mankwi, Myothit, and Tali; 7 others knock out a bridge at
Kyauktalon and damage another near Namkwin; 26 fighter-bombers attack the
village of Pinwe and hit targets of opportunity near Mawlu and Pinbaw; 9
B-25s strike a bomb storage area at Pinwe considerably damaging the village.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 30+ B-25s bomb Tungling, Sinsiang,
and Hengyang, Pailochi Airfield, shipping at Takao harbor and nearby coastal
areas; 3 cargo vessels are claimed sunk; 51 P-40s and P-51s attack trucks,
bridges, railroad yards, troops, and other targets of opportunity in the
Hengyang area; 18 P-40s and P-38s pound Tengchung; 50+ other P-40s, P-51s,
and P-38s attack troops, bridges, railroad tracks, shipping, trucks, and
other targets of opportunity at several locations including Lienhwa,
Siangsiang, Sinshih, Puchou, Tungyangtun, Hengshan, Weichow Island, Luichow
Peninsula, Tingka, Mangshih, Nanchang, Puchi, and along the Yunglo River.
R.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 4 missions are flown:
  Mission 548: 1,264 bombers and 131 fighters are dispatched to make visual
attacks in support of ground forces on coastal batteries and transportation
choke points between Le Havre and Paris; 12 bombers are lost:
  1. Of 798 B-17s, 634 hit battle area targets, 69 hit Le Manoir Bridge and
54 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and
484 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 63 MIA.
  2. Of 466 B-24s, 347 hit battle area targets, 69 hit Ile de Cezembre and 34
hit St Malo; 5 B-24s are lost; 1 airman is KIA, 4 WIA and 50 MIA.
  The 2 forces above are escorted by 131 of 136 P-51s.
  Mission 549: 1 APHRODITE B-17 with 2,000-pounds (907 kgs) of bombs is
launched against Le Havre; B-17, P-38 and Mosquito support aircraft assist;
the target is missed and the Mosquito is destroyed by the exploding bombs.
  Mission 550: 2 of 4 B-17s fly a Micro H test mission to La Chenaie rail
junction.
  Mission 551: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and
Belgium during the night.
  36 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
  844 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against
transportation targets in the Seine River area; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe
aircraft on the ground; 4 P-47s and 9 P-51s are lost, 4 P-47s are damaged
beyond repair and 1 P-47 is damaged; 1 pilot is KIA, 1 WIA and 13 MIA.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, around 575 B-26s and
A-20s with fighter escort bomb fuel storage at Les Buissons, points along
highways around Lisieux and SE to Rugles with the aim of containing the enemy
in the Falaise pocket, railroad targets at Peronne, Doullens, and Corbeil-
Essonnes; fighters cover ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance in the
Alencon, Le Mans, Domfront, and Chartres areas; about 125 C-47s fly ferry and
evacuation missions; during the night of 13/14 Aug, 28 B-26s bomb the Foret
de Halouze ammunition dump and bivouac area; and the 378th Fighter Squadron,
362d Fighter Group, moves from Ligneroller to Rennes with P-47s.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): Almost 500 B-17s and B-24s
attack gun positions around Genoa, Italy and Toulon, and Sete, France, and
strike at bridges at Pont-Saint-Esprit, Avignon, Orange, and Crest, France;
31 P-38s dive-bomb Montelimar Airfield; other fighters fly 180+ sorties in
support of the bombers; and 28 bombers hit military installations at Pec,
Yugoslavia.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In France, medium bombers blast
coastal defense guns in the Marseille area while A-20s during the night of
12/13 Aug attack targets along the Monaco-Toulon road, and fighter-bombers
hit guns and barracks in the area; and fighters strafe airfields at Les
Chanoines, Montreal, Avignon, La Jasse, Istres-Le-Tube, Valence, and Bergamo.
In Italy, A-20s attack explosive stores in the battle area in the Arno River
Valley.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Bad  weather in the
SWPA curtails operations. In New Guinea, B-24s bomb bivouacs and supply dumps
at Manokwari; bombers hit a Cape Wom storage area while P-39s cooperate with
PT boats to hit Dagua personnel areas and Suain coastal positions; P-47s and
P-39s hit Cape Wom, troops at Ulban, Matapau, and Suain, and support ground
forces at Sarmi; and C-47s complete nearly 90 missions to Owi Island and
other forward bases.

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              |
-------------------------------------------------------------------

13/0158Z AUG

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Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 22:45:05 EDT
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [INF] USAAF 13 AUG 44

'Blue skies to our comrades travelling tonite and tomorrow night. It's
Washington by Sunday morning.

Oh, Big Joe,... DRB says hey. I gave him your addr. Expect another game
prop of what-ever-it-was, Infamy or something like that.

God speed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Wild, LAN Mgr.  Father of 1.8815          Voice:          (401) 792-2611
ACC - Lippitt - URI  American Legion Post 102. FAX:            (401) 792-5479
Kingston, RI  02881  NRA Life Member           BITNET:           AWild@URIACC
                                               Internet: [email-masked]

"Duties and responsibilities were woven into the fabric of pre-D-Day living.
It was a self-disciplined, free society that those troops cherished, and they
fought a war for it.

The Woodstock celebrants won a cultural war eliminating both the standards
of, and the respect for, self-discipline.

The spoils of that victory are numerous and devastating.
                                                          -John A. Howard
                                                           Rockford Institute
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Date:    Fri, 12 Aug 1994 20:15:40 -0700
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 14-AUG-1944

On 14-AUG-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - In Brittany, the German resistance in St Malo and Dinard
     continues. The XV Corps (3rd Army) moves east from Argentan towards
     Dreux. The 7th Armoured Division and the 5th Division (XX Corps) moves
     toward Chartres. The XII Corps continues advancing towards Orleans. The
     Canadian 2nd Division gets within 5.5 miles of Falaise, which has been
     heavily bombed by the British (the RAF has dropped 4,000 tons of bombs on
     Falaise, which has been virtually leveled).

Eastern Front - In Warsaw, the RAF has begun dropping supplies and ammunition
     to the Polish patriots.

Mediterranean - The convoys for Operation Dragoon continue towards the south
     coast of France after a stopover in Corsica.

Naval Dispatches
----------------
US LST-921 sunk by submarine torpedo, English Channel.

The Homefront
-------------
Kennedy's Son Killed - Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., 29, son of the former U.S.
     ambassador to Great Britain, was lost in action on August 12th in the
     European war theater on a special air mission, the Navy announces.

Women Spy Sentenced - Mrs. Velvalee Dickinson, who pleaded guilty to violation
     of censorship regulations in sending military information to Japanese
     agents, received a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $10,000
     fine in Federal Court, New York.

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

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]/[email-masked])
Cary, N.C.
----------

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End of WWII-L Digest - 11 Aug 1994 to 12 Aug 1994
*************************************************