Subject: WWII-L Digest - 4 Aug 1994 to 5 Aug 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 00:01:12 -0400

There are 19 messages totalling 826 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. Wild Colonial Boys in the RAF
  2. INF: USN Chronology 08-05-94
  3. GEN: Info on Chiemsee
  4. Navy News
  5. INF: Fessin' Up (2)
  6. Privateer
  7. GEN: Questions re. aviation
  8. [GEN] Questions re. aviation
  9. gen: chem warfare in ww2
 10. GEN:83rd CMB (2)
 11. INF: 50 Years Ago - 06-AUG-1944
 12. Pogroms in Poland
 13. Jews, Poles -- and Soviets
 14. INF: Thompsons for sale
 15. Sergeant-pilots
 16. MODELS:  Progress.  :-)
 17. [INF] USAAF 6 AUG 44

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

Date:    Thu, 4 Aug 1994 23:11:08 PDT
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Wild Colonial Boys in the RAF

Don...
Please... Do not put words into my mouth.
Contrary to what you posted, I did *not* say that "colonial air forces
handed out commissions right and left". Nor did I say that "while RAF
pilots had to be content with sergeant's stripes".
I did not say thay. You chose to infer that from what I actually did
say, that Dominion (not "colonial") air forces were were more generous
with commissions proportionally than the RAF.
Clearly, it would be inaccurate for anyone to say that "RAF pilots had
to be content with sergeants stripes" with the implication that *all*
RAF pilots had only Sgt stripes. Obviously, a great number, by war's end,
*most* RAF pilots were being commissioned.
Though that Burma example obviously has caught your imagination, and is
of course interesting in itself, it by no means can be extrapolated as
"typical" of the entire policy of the RAF and Dominion air forces throughout
1939-1945.
Just by the way, I am not likely to mistake this issue, having had a certain
amount of first hand experience with it.
        This threatens to become one of those tiresome wrangles. Let's leave
it there and press on.
Cheers -- Sidney.

--

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 01:41:11 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 08-05-94

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

1944
08/05 Sat. Aircraft from two carrier task groups (Rear Adm. J. J. Clark
           and Rear Adm. A. E. Montgomery) and cruisers and destroyers
           (Rear Adm. L. T. DuBose) bomb and bombard enemy installa-
           tions on Chichi Jima and Haha Jima, Bonin Islands.
           Fast Carrier Task Force is reorganized into First Fast
Carrier
           Task Force, Pacific Fleet (Vice Adm. M. A. Mitscher) and
           Second Fast Carrier Task Force, Pacific Fleet (Vice Adm. J.
S.
           McCain).
            Japanese naval vessel sunk:
             Transport NO. 2, by carrier-based aircraft,
              27 d. 05'N., 142 09'E.

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

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 12:01:10 CET
From:    "LTC Donnell, Doug" <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: Info on Chiemsee

Hello everyone -

I'm back on line after about 2 1/2 weeks of trying to show my in-laws
"Europe in 2 weeks".  I'm *almost* glad to be back at the office to get
some rest.  We visited several places that might be of interest to the
list, so I'll post some info on them over the next few days.

We stayed three nights at the Armed Forces Rec Center hotel at Chiemsee,
located on the Autobahn between Munich and Salzburg.  While I knew that
the facility was built in the 30's and was used by the Nazi's I never
really knew it's history.

The following is extracted from a small book they sell at the hotel
called "The Chiemsee Hotels" by John Provan.

The creation of this hotel is first and foremost tied to the construction
of the German Autobahns by Hitler early during his dictatorship.  In a
speech given on May 1, 1933 (labor day), he introduced his road construction
plan.  On June 30, Hitler appointed the competent and talented Dr Fritz
Todt (1891-1942) to organize and construct a system of fast roads to
connect all parts of Germany.  Todt would later use this experience
when creating the "Organization Todt"  which began fortifying Germany
in 1938 via the "West Wall".

Work officially began on this network of highways with ceremonies near
Frankfurt on Sept 23, 1933.  The Reichautobahn Co. betan with a capital of
50 million RM;  200 million RM were later added.  With these funds, the
Reichautobahn Co began erecting roads, bridges, gasoline stations,
tunnels; and later, the only Rasthaus (autobahn hotel), at Chiemsee.

The program commenced in 1933 with a crew of 1000 workers.  Within one year
this figure increased to 85,000.  Later, an average of 130,000 men worked
on the Autobahn construction.   One of the most important section of this
roadway for Hitler was the one between Munich and Salzburg.  Although
Berlin was the capital of Germany, Hitler wanted his home in Berchtesgarden
to impress visiting dignitaries.  The construction of these roads, along
with airports such as Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Tempelhof in Berlin, were
intended to demonstrated to the world how far advanced Germany was
becoming under the rule of the Nazis.  Hitler would fly into Munich and
travel via car to his home on the Obersalzberg on these newly built roads.
He observed the constuction of this section during a visit on Nov 7, 1934.
The road was dedicated in jan 1936 in time for the olympic Games in
nearby Garmisch.

The lack of hotels along the highway forced the creation of rest stops with
running water, as most travelers had to stay overnight in tents along the
roadside.  The Hotel Chiemsee was intended to increase hotel space as
well as locate a hotel directly on this part of the highway.  The
plans for the Chiemsee Hotel were created in 1936.  The site selected
for constuction was fixed on the southern edge of Lake Chiemsee, right
along the Munich-Salzburg Autobahn.

Hitler himself had several apparent reasons for wanting this hotel.  As
mentioned earlier, this hotel fits into a general scheme to impress
dignitaries traveling to Obersalzberg.  He had one large round room
reserved for his personal use at all times.

The Chiemsee Hotel definitely was to play a role in the huge "Hohe Schule
am Chiemsee", (School of Higher Learning) intended to be built on the
north eastern side of the lake about 9 miles from the hotel.  This
institution was to be the center of higher learning in Nazi Germany.  The
well known Professor Hermann Giesler was entrusted by Hitler with it's
design.  The structure was to have been over one mile long with a single
large lofty central building.  Plans and a model were finalized in 1938,
but the construction never began.

The Cheimsee Hotel was officially opened on Sept 1, 1938 with a grand open
house, during which some 10,000 cars are reported to have parked on the
grounds.

With the outbreakof WWII, the Chiemsee Hotel was turned into a convalescent
hospital.  Dr Todt turned the hotel over the the German Army on April 28,
1940, thus ending it's short history as a hotel.

WWII passed by the Chiemsee Hotel without any destruction or damage.  US
forces occupied the area during the Spring of 1945 and continued to use it
as a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers.  The Armed Forces
Recreation Center (AFRC) was created by general order on Dec 5, 1945 to
provide inexpensive vacation resorts for US soldiers overseas.  Former
hotels and Nazi facilties were rebuilt or repaired and turned over to AFRC.

         Typos are mine - I apologize - also I've edited the original
text to some extent.  BTW, AFRC Chiemsee will close on 5 Sept and the
facility in its entirety will be turned over to the German government.

Sorry for the length, but thought this might be of interest to the list.

                        Doug Donnell
                        Ruppertsweiler, Germany

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 07:13:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Navy News

FROM THE NAVY NEWS SERVICE

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Navy News Service - NAVNEWS BY EMAIL
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NAVY NEWS SERVICE - 03 AUG 94 - NAVNEWS 047/94
     TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR NAVNEWS 047/94
NNS506.  This Week in the Navy:  Aug. 9, 1942
                                  -USN-
NNS506.  This Week in the Navy: Aug. 9, 1942 -- U.S. Marines landed
on Guadalcanal in the Solomons Islands, in the first American
offensive action in the Pacific.

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

Date:    Tue, 2 Aug 1994 18:49:00 +0000
From:    Daniel =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Mal=E9part_=28514=29?= 283-0348
         <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: INF: Fessin' Up

    >This, gentlemen, is my counterpart, General Vogel.  When I look at his
    >face, I see a loser.  I'm sitting in his headquarters; I'm drinking
    >his wine; hell, I even have one of his broads hanging around here
    >somewhere.  Yet you, gentlemen, have not buried him and I want to know
    >why!

    ... all this while holding a picture of Hasso von Manteuffel! (sp?)

    Quoted from Kelly's Heroes...  yes, the one with Clint Eastwood, Telly
    Savalas, Donald Sutherland, etc. etc.

    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:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 09:38:34 -0400
From:    John Meierhoffer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Privateer

>    Question 1: I remember reading years ago about an aircraft called the
>    Consolidated Privateer.  If memory serves, this was a modification of
>    the classic Liberator bomber, but with a single tail.  Anybody has
>    info. on this one?  Was it used operationally during WWII?
>

This aircraft was a PB4Y.  It was produced in two versions, the -1 was similar to the Air
Force B-24s that is they had the twin tail.  The Navy used 977 of this type.  The tall-tail
version was the  PB4Y-2; its development began in May 1943. and a production order
was placed in October of that year.  Eventually 736 were built.

First combat mission for the PB4Y-2 was in January 1945.  One squadron (VP-24) had
Privateers equipped with an ASM-N-2 Bat anti-shipping glide bomb with radar homing.
By the end of the war, seven Navy squadrons had  been equipped with the Privateer and
one time or another.

The Privateer was used in a maritime patrol role in the post-war period by the Navy and
ended up being used as target drone in the late 50's and early 60's.  As of 1979, some
examples were being used as fire bombers.

There was another tall tail version used as a cargo plane, with the Navy designation RY-3
(39 built)

Books

_Bombers in Blue: PB4Y Privateers and  PB4Y-1 Liberators_   Frederick A. Johnson
(1979)

_The B24 Liberator, 1938-1945_   Martin Bowman (1980)

_United States Navy Aircraft since 1911_  Gordon, Swanborough, Peter M. Bowers
(1968)

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 08:35:41 PDT
From:    Ben Schapiro <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: GEN: Questions re. aviation

>    Good morning, gentlepersons!
>
>    I'd have two questions for the more aviation-inclined...
>
>    Question 1: I remember reading years ago about an aircraft called the
>    Consolidated Privateer.  If memory serves, this was a modification of
>    the classic Liberator bomber, but with a single tail.  Anybody has
>    info. on this one?  Was it used operationally during WWII?
>
>
>    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
>
Dan,

Did I say PB2Y? That's what I get for not having my library at work! The PB4Y
is covered in Martin Bowman's book "The B-24 Liberator 1939-1945" Rand
McNally ISBN 528-81538-5 1979 or 1980. The PB4Y-1 was a standard twin tailed
airframe while the PB4Y-2 had the single tail and a seven foot 7 inch
fuselage extension. The last two chapters cover PB4Y operations.

More later.

Ben Schapiro
Customer Support Coordinator
NOTIS Systems, Inc.

[email-masked]
[email-masked]
708-866-1100

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 09:41:19 EDT
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: INF: Fessin' Up

What unit was O'Connor supposed to have been commanding?
What German unit would it have been facing at Nancy?

Dan writes,...
>    >This, gentlemen, is my counterpart, General Vogel.  When I look at his
>    >face, I see a loser.  I'm sitting in his headquarters; I'm drinking
>    >his wine; hell, I even have one of his broads hanging around here
>    >somewhere.  Yet you, gentlemen, have not buried him and I want to know
>    >why!
>
>    ... all this while holding a picture of Hasso von Manteuffel! (sp?)

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

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 09:19:50 CDT
From:    Robert Hohlt <[email-masked]>
Subject: [GEN] Questions re. aviation

On Thursday Aug 4, Daniel Malepart wrote:

>Question 1: I remember reading years ago about an aircraft called the
>Consolidated Privateer.  If memory serves, this was a modification of
>the classic Liberator bomber, but with a single tail.  Anybody has
>info. on this one?  Was it used operationally during WWII?

Daniel:

The LONE STAR Flight museum in Galveston, Texas. has one of these on
display.  Not sure if it is just static or flyable.  Many of their
aircraft are flyable.  However,... really did several triple takes
when I first looked at this thing.

regards,

Robert Hohlt, Jr.

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 10:32:46 -0500
From:    "Tim J. Watts" <[email-masked]>
Subject: gen: chem warfare in ww2

Emery Ford quoted several paragraphs from A WORLD AT ARMS on the topic
of chemical (gas) warfare.  Ironically, on Wednesday, there was a report
on the Reuters wire service and the Kyodo News Service about a recently
re-discovered report on Japanese poison gas production in WWII.

        The report was produced by the US Army shortly after the war and
was filed in the National Archives.  History Professor Yoshiaki Yoshimi,
Chuo University discovered it.  According to the report, between 1931 and
1944, the Japanese Imperial Army produced 6,600 tons of poison gas at a
factory on Okunoshima island in Hiroshima prefecture, western Japan.  The
total included 4,400 tons of mustard gas and lewisite.  From the gas,
5.78 million shells were produced at that factory, with a further 1.61
million shells produced at another factory on Kyushu.  Previous reports
by the Japanese admitted to only about 2 million shells.

        Experimental production began in 1928.  The apparatus to produce
the gas originally came from France.  Production began in earnest when
war broke out with China.  Most of the poison gas shells were left in
China and apparently remain there today (apparently buried and lost).
Yoshino said the production corresponds to the period when Japan staged
a large-scale poison gas attack in China.

        The Japanese Imperial Navy separately produced about 700 tons of
poison gas after 1941, according to Yoshino.

Just thought you all would be interested.
Tim J. Watts
Valparaiso University
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 10:56:30 CST
From:    "ROBERT ROY(Southern Illinois University)" <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN:83rd CMB

    I HAVE A QUESTION SOMEONE ON THE LIST MIGHT BE OF HELP.  I HAVE A
FRIEND WHO SERVED IN WW II WITH THE 83RD CHEMICAL MORTER BATT. IN
NORTH AFRICA,ITALY,AND GERMANY. I HAVE HEARD THIS UNIT HAD MORE COMBAT
DAYS ON THE LINE THAN ANY OTHER UNIT IN ETO, THEY DID MAKE ALL THE
CAMPAIGNS UP THROUGH SICILY,ITALY,AND SOUTHERN FRANCE/GERMANY.  WHAT
WAS THE MAIN FUNCTION OF A CMB, AND DOES ANYONE HAVE MORE INFO IN THE
83RD CMB, AND/OR BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT ?

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 09:33:25 -0700
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 06-AUG-1944

On 06-AUG-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - The VIII Corps (3rd Army) continues its offensive in Brittany.
     Units of the 8th and 83rd Divisions attack the north coast of the Dinard
     peninsula, to the west of St Malo. The 4th Armoured Division is advancing
     on Lorient. Further east, the XV Corps is making good progress towards Le
     Mans; while the 79th Division captures Laval, south of Mayenne. The 3rd
     Armoured Division of the VII Corps (1st Army) also reaches Mayenne from
     the north. The 29th Division takes Vire.

Italian Front - The Allied forces in Florence begin to cross the Arno into the
     northern half of the city.

Marianas - On Guam, the Marines and Infantry now occupy two-thirds of the
     island. The Japanese send in tanks against the 305th Regiment of the 77th
     Infantry Division, inflicting serious losses on the Americans.

New Guinea - In the Aitape sector, hard fighting is occuring between the
     Americans and the Japanese rearguards.

Burma - The British and Indian XXXIII Corps are ordered to advance to the
     Chindwin and to occupy Sittaung and Kalewa.

Naval Dispatches
----------------
German submarines U-471, U-642, U-952 and U-969 sunk by Army aircraft, Toulon,
     France.

Foreign Affairs
---------------
Hitler Pledges To Finish Fight - Berlin says that Hitler addressed Nazi Party
     leaders on August 4th and pledged "a fight to the finish with confidence
     in victory." He is also quoted as saying the July 20th bomb plot was the
     work of "a criminal clique limited in numbers but important in influence"
     and that "I believe I am necessary to the nation which needs a man who
     will under no circumstances capitulate."

Regugee Ship Sinks - Ankara reports that the Turkish steamer Mefkure, carrying
     240 Jewish refugees from Constnta, Rumania to Turkey was torpedoed in the
     Black Sea with loss of all by four of the passengers.

The Homefront
-------------
Philadelphia Strikers Return - Transit service has been restored in
     Philadelphia as most of the 6,000 striking transit workers have returned
     to work after Maj. Gen. Philip Hayes yesterday orderd the arrest of the
     leaders of the unauthorized walkout under provisions of the
     Smith-Connally anti-strike act.

Troop Carrier Launched - The 20,000 ton troopship Gen. W.P. Richardson, eighth
     of a series, has been launched at the Federal Shipyards of the U.S. Steel
     Corp. in Kearney, N.J.

Mathematical Robot - Harvard University has disclosed that Commander Howard S.
     Aiken, USNR, associate professor of applied mathematics in collaboration
     with the Internation Business Machines Corp. has developed an automatic
     calculator capable of solving any mathematical problem. The machine, six
     years in development, will be presented to Harvard by IBM but for the
     war's duration will be used by the Navy.

Best Selling Books - "Strange Fruit" by Lillian Smith, "The Razor's Edge" by
     W. Somerset Maugham, "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas, "A Tree Grows In
     Brooklyn" by Betty Smith.

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

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.
----------

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 10:16:00 PDT
From:    Julie Jenkins <[email-masked]>
Subject: Pogroms in Poland

This may bore everyone else, but I think Lou should reconsider distinguishing
between "indigenous" people in Eastern Europe and Jews.  Last time I checked
people who lived there who happened to be Jewish were just as indigenous as any
one else.  Groups had been moving in and out for 1500 yrs by the 1940s.  In my
own posting I felt terrible about falling into the trap of talking about Jewish
and Polish writers--especially after I read Tadeus Konwicki and realised how
close in tone he is Isaac Bashevis Singer, Konwicki is modern Catholic/Agnostic
who-knows-what, post war and Singer is Singer, but they're both Polish.

I think fixing on the NKVD sounds pretty unneccessary.  Jewish escapees from
the roundups who made it to the forest had to be very careful which partisan
groups they connected with.  Home Army groups killed Jews right along w/Germans
--Jewish escapees could really only trust themselves and formed stricly Jewish
partisan groups for safety's sake.

There's a very interesting run down on present day Hungarian politics in the
most recent NY Review of Books, the Aug. 11 issue.  This article also describes
the status of the largest extant Jewish community left in Eastern Europe--100,
000 whole people who have a Jewish parent in their background, which 50 years
ago this August was all it needed.  This is the month that the Hungarian Jews
started to arrive in Auschwitz, selections to make space had been going on all
summer.  This is the month when the machine was working at peak efficiency--dou
ble digits in the thousands per day.  Julie

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 13:41:04 -0400
From:    "Mr. Scott Hannon" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: GEN:83rd CMB

>WHAT WAS THE MAIN FUNCTION OF A [Chemical Mortar Battalion], AND DOES
>ANYONE HAVE MORE INFO IN THE 83RD CMB, AND/OR BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT ?

Chemical Mortar Battalions were independent heavy (4.2" I think) mortar
battalions which, in practice, were used as fire support in a manner
similar to artillery. Due to their much shorter range, they had to
deploy closer to the front than artillery, but otherwise they seem to
have done much the same job. I think there were only a dozen or so of
these mortar bns active in combat in the ETO...many with Dever's
6th Army Group in the south (instead of extra artillery).

One of the US Army in WW2 "Green" series books covers the Chemical
Corps. And as very little chemical warfare occured in WW2, a fair
amount of this book is devoted to these mortar bns...about the only
Chemical units in combat.

I think one or more Chem Mortar bn unit histories were published soon
after the war, but I'm not certain. As for something easily available,
apart from the "green" book mentioned above there probably isn't much.
Perhaps there is a 83rd CMB veterans group...I wouldn't be surprised.

Scott.
Scott Hannon, Fri Aug 5 1994 ([email-masked])

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 13:10:13 -0500
From:    "Louis R. Coatney" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Jews, Poles -- and Soviets

I should have added that the most popular fellow in the Kozielsk
  internment camp -- most of whose members ended up mass-tombed
  at Katyn -- was the Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army.  Apparently,
  he had a tremendous sense of humor and helped keep up everyone's
  spirits.

He was taken away by the NKVD well before the extermination
  shipments began.

You see, Julie, the Soviets were trying to drive a wedge between
  the Christian and Jewish Poles.  Alter and Ehrlich -- the two
  Jewish socialist labor activists of the "Bund" -- were executed
  openly by the Soviets just before the April 1943 German
  revelation of the Katyn discovery.

Apparently, their mortal offense was working loyally with the
  Polish Government-in-Exile in London.  The Soviets didn't want
  Polish Jews to be Polish.

The Soviets were very skilled at exterminating national/ethnic
  identities.  Bob Conquest's book, STALIN:  BREAKER OF NATIONS,
  is aptly titled.

The Soviets could play the Jews, Ukrainians, and Poles off
  against each other as skillfully as the Nazis.

As to the Home Army exterminating Jews on sight, I find that
  dubious, considering how a Home Army unit was fighting to
  break into the Warsaw Ghetto to support the Jews.  (MAYbe in
  the countryside it was different, with more peasants and
  prejudice?)

Incidentally, there is a little 16-page book available from
  Yeshiva Univ. on the (utterly loyal) Polish-Jewish officers
  who died at Katyn.  I strongly recommend it.

Lou Coatney

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 14:31:05 EDT
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: Thompsons for sale

I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this, so here goes,...

Ohio Ordinance Works, Inc.   (216) 285-3481

... is selling Thompsons with dummy receivers for $225.00 This is
the M1A1 with the side bolt and the front blade sight. They also sell
the "dummied" 1928A1 with the top bolt. They've got other stuff too:
M2 50 cals. (expensive), MP40's, Sten guns,... etc...

I ran across this in Shotgun News.

Here's one: British "Ferrit" Armors Car completely restored (with grenade
launchers, etc) $12,000  (sounds like what I need for the friday commute!)

;-)  Have a day! -Al

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

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 16:47:15 -0400
From:    Dan Ford <[email-masked]>
Subject: Sergeant-pilots

I just re-read the chapters of *Yeager* about his Air Corps
service. He enlisted to train as a "Flying Sergeant." By the time
he got his wings in March 1943, however, the classification had
been abolished and the enlisted cadets became "non-commissioned
flight officers, wearing blue bars instead of gold." I gather
from earlier posts that that was equivalent to warrant officer.
Yeager went to Britain in 1944 and in the summer of 1944 was
commissioned as a 2nd Lt. Was that the end of the "flight
officer" rank?

In the navy, VF 2 in Dec 1941 had 6 officers and 16 enlisted men
who held the general rating of NAP (naval aviation pilot--an odd
combination of words when you think about them). "Fighting Two"
was organized as a petty officer squadron in 1927 but apparently
never fought as such, for its personnel were dispersed to other
squadrons before it went into combat. At that time, the CPOs were
commissioned as Lt JG (a nice jump, skipping ensign!) while most
of the others became warrant officers. Their average age was
about 30.

So it would seem that there were no, or virtually no, sergeant-
pilots in U.S. service during the combat years of WWII.

The Japanese navy, by contrast, kept the grade to the end, and I
think non-commissioned pilots outnumbered the officers. Indeed,
the most famous Zero pilot (famous in the U.S., anyhow) was CPO
Saburo Sakai. In the army, some sergeant-pilots with combat
experience in China were commissioned just before the move south
in December 1941.

Sydney, did the RAF have sergeant-pilots to the end of the war?

- dan

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 16:47:11 -0500
From:    "Louis R. Coatney" <[email-masked]>
Subject: MODELS:  Progress.  :-)

I am just about to finish the HOBART/PERTH/SYDNEY class of
  Australian light cruiser.

I did the prototype at 1:600 -- 50 ft. per inch.  There was that
  moment of doubt, and then! ....  It all came together.

I'm about to finish the TROMP, and I only got started.  Of
  course, I *have* been putting in 20-hour days -- and *this*
  is "pre-RETIREMENT"?!

I'm going to do and take a 1:720 PERTH (and HOUSTON and
  MOGAMI and MIKUMA and ...) with me to GenCon.  After the
  1:1200 Mers El Kebir on Sunday, ... :-)

SYDNEY was a clean design, and it makes a beautiful model.
  It is something to watch it grow from the (waterline) keel
  up ... and sail off to war(games).

Lou Coatney, Naval (Model) Architect at Large  :-)

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

Date:    Fri, 5 Aug 1994 22:11:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 6 AUG 44

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
SUNDAY, 6 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
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 6 B-25s bomb the town area of
Mohnyin while 2 others destroy a bridge at Hsenwi; 21 P-51s hit 4 railroad
bridges in the Naba-Pinbaw area, destroying 2 of them; P-51s and P-47s hit
numerous targets of opportunity at Mohnyin, Hopin, Bhamo, Myothit, Katha,
Indaw, and other points in N Burma; and a few P-40s strafe targets of
opportunity in the Myitkyina area.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 28 P-40s again pound Tengchung; 47
P-40s and P-51s hit trucks, troop compounds, and gun positions in the
Hengyang area; 19 P-40s attack sampans and trucks around Changsha; 20 others
hit supplies, trucks, barracks, and targets of opportunity at Chefang and
Mangshih, between Changsha and Hengyang, and between Siangyin and Siangtan.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 524: 1,186 bombers and
740 fighters are dispatched to attack oil refineries, aircraft, ordnance and
other factories in Germany and V-weapon sites in France; 24 bombers and 8
fighters are lost:
  1. Of 414 B-17s, 126 hit Brandenburg assembly plants, 74 hit Genshagen, 69
hit Brandenburg munitions industry, 12 hit Stendal Airfield and 8 hit targets
of opportunity; they claim 0-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 B-17s are lost and
106 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 4 WIA and 105 MIA. Escort is provided by 168 of
195 P-51s; they claim 19-0-2 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged beyond
repair; 1 pilot is KIA and 2 MIA.
  2. Of 154 B-17s, 83 hit Berlin aircraft engine factories, 45 hit Berlin
diesel factories, 7 hit targets of opportunity and 4 hit Nordholz Airfield;
they claim 0-2-3 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 103
damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 6 WIA and 45 MIA. Escort is provided by 107 of 144
P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft in the air and 2-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51
is lost and 3 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 1 MIA.
  3. In an Operation FRANTIC mission, 75 of 78 B-17s hit Gdynia/Rahmel
aircraft factories in Poland and proceeds to bases in the USSR; they claim
0-2-2 aircraft; 23 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 154 of 160 P-51s;
they claim 7-2-3 aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost and 1 is damaged beyond repair; 1
pilot is KIA and 5 MIA.
  4. Of 445 B-24s, 72 hit Hamburg/Schulau oil refinery, 62 hit Hamburg/
Rhenania-Ossag oil refinery, 61 hit Hamburg/Rhenania oil refinery, 58 hit
Kiel naval installation, 54 hit Hamburg/Deutsche oil refinery, 33 hit
Hamburg/Eband oil refinery, 32 hit Hamburg/Schlieman oil refinery, 23 hit
Hemmingstedt and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged
beyond repair and 290 damaged; 13 airmen are KIA, 16 WIA and 83 MIA. Escort
is provided by 196 P-38s and P-47s; they claim 1-0-2 aircraft; 1 P-47 is lost
(pilot is MIA).
  5. 24 of 91 B-24s hit 2 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; 9 B-24s
are damaged. Escort is provided by 24 P-47s.
  Mission 526: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
  36 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France; 1 B-24 is MIA.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, A-20s and B-26s hit
bridges, fuel and ammunition dumps, and a locomotive depot at Beauvais,
Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, Courtalain, Foret de Perseigne, and Blois; fighters
escort IX Bomber Command and furnish cover to ground troops in the Vire,
Rennes, and Redon areas; HQ 474th Fighter Group and 428th, 429th and 430th
Fighter Squadrons move from Moreton, England to Neuilly with P-38s; a
detachment of the 112th Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force, based at Heston,
England begins operating from Valognes with L-5s; and the 153d Liaison
Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command, moves from Vouilly to Canisy with L-5s. In
England, the 90th Troop Carrier Squadron, 438th Troop Carrier Group, based at
Greenham Common, begins operating from Welford Park with C-47s.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): 60 fighters take off from
Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR, attack Craiova marshalling yard and
other railroad targets in the Bucharest-Ploesti, Rumania area, and land at
Italian bases. Close to 700 B-17s and B-24s, operating against targets in SE
France, attack oil storage at Le Pouzin, Le Pontet, and Lyon, railroad
bridges at Le Pouzin, Avignon, Tarascon, Rambert, and Givors, marshalling
yards at Portes-les-Valences and Miramas, and submarine pens at Toulon; 43
P-38s dive-bomb airfields at Orange/Plan de Dieu, and Valence; P-38s and
P-51s fly about 200 sorties in support of bombing missions.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): Medium bombers strike bridges in
SE France in the Rhone Valley and areas to the E, in or near Tarascon and
Arles, and alone the Var River; fighter-bombers enjoy a successful day
against targets in NW Italy and SE France, including bridges, railroad lines,
motor transport, trains, roads, airfields, and town areas, plus shipping at
Imperia, Genoa, and La Spezia, Italy.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Saipan Island strike
Guam Island twice; B-25s flying out of the Marshall Islands hit Ponape
Island, and others from the Gilbert Islands hit Nauru Island, Gilbert
Islands; and B-24s from Kwajalein Atoll bomb Wotje Atoll, Marshall Islands.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The Yap Island
supply area is bombed by B-24s; heavy frontal weather activities over the
Vogelkop Peninsula and the Moluccas Islands cancels strikes in that area.
In New Guinea, B-25s and fighters, though restricted by the weather, support
ground operations near Sarmi, hit gun positions at Dagua, and strafe fuel
dumps and targets of opportunity at Cape Djeruen; the 100th Bombardment
Squadron (Medium), Thirteenth Air Force [attached to 42d Bombardment Group
(Medium)] based on Stirling Island with B-25s, begins operating from
Hollandia.

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

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|  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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06/0213Z AUG

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End of WWII-L Digest - 4 Aug 1994 to 5 Aug 1994
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