Subject: WWII-L Digest - 14 Sep 1994 to 15 Sep 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 00:00:40 -0400

There are 61 messages totalling 1961 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. 50TH: PACIFIC ANNI
  2. Wargames and acadaemia
  3. Frequent Flier Miles? MoH
  4. INF: USN Chronology 09-15-94
  5. V-1, Hs 293, and other... (5)
  6. Resource:  Naval History Museums
  7. Purple Code & Battle of Midway (2)
  8. MIA
  9. WEAP: Air launched anti-ship missile
 10. "Stalin wanted to ... maintain peace in urban centers ..."  ?!
 11. Addr: Rommel and/or "The Grief"
 12. NYC TV (8)
 13. Addr: Wargames and Academia
 14. Intrepid Museum
 15. Guided Weapons (Was V-1s)
 16. 50TH:  Operation Market Garden (3)
 17. aphrodite Aircraft
 18. Dictionary of Operation Names (3)
 19. HIST -- Speer and the Final Solution
 20. Japanese sailors
 21. ROMMEL and/or "The Grief"
 22. 50TH: A BRIDGE TOO FAR COLLECTION
 23. Sub Memorial
 24. MEDIA: Hero Gets His Medal
 25. SCI Ultra, Churchill, and the Coventry Raid
 26. SCI Monty and Ultra
 27. INF: 50 Years Ago - 16-SEP-1944
 28. Sakai's account of training standards in SAMURAI (2)
 29. "Stalin wanted to ... maintain peace in urban centers ..." ?!
 30. V-1s (piloted)
 31. INF- WWI list
 32. $'s for heroism (was:ROMMEL and/or "The Grief") (2)
 33. MIAs ... Right.
 34. PELELIU (3)
 35. WEAP: Manned V-1 bombs
 36. DICTIONARY OF OPERATIO
 37. PERSONAL ATACK!!  ??
 38. Conference correction (apologies)
 39. New book + two conferences on WWII
 40. [INF] USAAF 16 SEP 44
 41. $'S FOR HEROISM (W

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 00:37:38 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: 50TH: PACIFIC ANNI

To start with, Steve, I recommend that you read Harry Gailey's "Peleliu, 1944,"
the best book on the operation. Spector's "Eagle Against the Sun" is a good
broadbrush history of the war in the Pacific; then you have the Army's
green-back series, and the Marine Corps' five-volume "History of U.S. Marine
Corps Operations in World War II," and then go on from there. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 00:46:41 EDT
From:    Cassady Craft <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Wargames and acadaemia

Lou,
If you have any luck in getting the info on libraries and wargames/simulations,

please forward it on to me.  I'm involved in a research project that will use
some simulation techniques and I need the bib.  Thanks,
Cassady Craft
Department of Political Science
University of Georgia
e-mail [email-masked]
or
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 00:48:20 -0800
From:    Ron Skinner <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Frequent Flier Miles? MoH

David Rising wrote:

>"Apart from the great honor which it conveys, there are certain small
>privileges which accompany the Medal of Honor. Its recipiants can, under
>certain conditions, obtain free air transportation on military aircraft
>within the continental United States on a "space available" basis. A
>veteran who has been awarded the medal for combat in any waris eligible
>for a special pension of $200/month, starting from the date he applies
>for the pension"

Good post, David. I'm sure you're familiar with some of the more
interesting historical anecdotes concerning the medal. Particularly amusing
is the often repeated fact that Lincoln gave the medal to an entire
regiment as a reward not for their bravery, but simply for reenlisting.
These awards were later rescinded--along with Buffalo Bill's--but such
awards certainly did tend to trivialize the medal.

Ron Skinner

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 01:11:14 PDT
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 09-15-94

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

1944
09/15 Fri. 1st Marine  Division (Maj. Gen. W. H. Rupertus) lands
           at Peleliu, Palau Islands. The operation is commanded
           by Vice Adm. T. S. Wilkinson, and the landing is
           preceded by several days of intensive carrier-based
           aircraft bombing and ship gunfire bombardment.
           Naval task force (Rear Adm. D. E. Barbey) lands Army
           troops (Maj. Gen. J. C. Persons) on Morotai Island,
           Netherlands East Indies; assault is supported by
           cruisers and destroyers (Rear Adm. R. S. Berkey) and
           aircraft from escort carriers (Rear Adm. T. L.
           Sprague).
           Submarine STINGRAY (SS-186) lands men and stores on
           Majoe Island, Molucca Sea.
           Carrier SHANGRI LA (CV-38) is commissioned at
           Norfolk, Va.
            Japanese naval vessel sunk:
             Transport NO. 3, by submarine GUAVINA (SS-362),
              Philippine Islands area,
              05 d. 34'N., 125 d. 23'E.

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

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 11:49:45 +0200
From:    Emmanuel Gustin <[email-masked]>
Subject: V-1, Hs 293, and other...

The version of the He 111 that was intended to air-launch V-1 missiles
was the He 111H-22. These aircraft were He 111H-21's that were converted
on the production line; at that time, the production of the He 111 was
already decreasing. (The last version of the He 111 was the H-23.)
There was also a modification centre at Oschatz that converted earlier
H-16s and H-20s to V-1 carriers.

The V-1 was carried under the starboard wing (port wing on early trials)
between the fuselage and the engine nacelle. The wing of the V-1 was
behind the main landing gear doors; so about half of the missile
was aft of the wing trailing edge. The engine intake of the V-1 was
at the same height as the wing trailing edge.

III./KG 3 became operational as V-1 missile carrier in July 1944.
Later KG 53 was retired from the Eastern front, and reorganized,
in which operation III./KG 3 became I./KG 53. The original crews
of KG 53 formed then its II. and III. Group. In September, the
aircraft from KG 27 were modified and given as reinforcements
to III./KG 53. Last operations were on 14 January 1945. 77 aircraft
were lost, some shot down by Allied nightfighters, some also
when the V-1 exploded prematurely.

Mention has been made also of a German-developed anti-shipping missile.
Besides the Fritz-X guided bomb, the Hs 293 missile became operational.
The first victim of the Hs 293 was the sloop HMS Egret, sunk on
27 August 1943. Later Hs 293A-1 missiles sank more ships, including
five destroyers. The Hs 293 was of aeroplane configuration; the
Walter rocket engine was in an underslung pod and burned for ten seconds.
The operator in the launch aircraft (Do 217, He 111, Fw 200, He 177)
used radio control to align a flare in the tail of the Hs 293 with
the target. It weighed 1045kg, with a 500kg warhead. It is reported that
over 2300 were fired.

Another German weapon worth mentioning was 'Rheinbote'. This was a
four-stage solid-propellant rocket with a 220km range. Rheinbote
was unguided; it was just aimed at the traget and fired (the three
first stages of course fell down somewhere on the way to the
target.) More than 200 of this missile were fired at Antwerp.

Emmanuel Gustin

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:40:26 EDT
From:    "Steve L. New" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Resource:  Naval History Museums

     On the current topic of Ship restoration and Naval Museums:

          There is a super listing of Maritime Museum locations (worldwide)
     available by anonymous FTP from byrd.mu.wvnet.edu (129.71.32.152).

     The file (MARITIME.NEW) is located in the directory
     /pub/history/maritime

     I recommend the files in /pub/history... to all interested in WWII,
     there is a lot of information there.

        Steve L. New                     .............................
        Weapon System Manager            .............................
        Battalion Countermine Set        ............ /\ .............
        U.S. Army TACOM AMSTA-FR1D       ............/  \.............
        DSN: 786-5403  FAX: 786-7788     ............    .............
        EMAIL  [email-masked]   ............    .............

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:55:50 EDT
From:    "Steve L. New" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Purple Code & Battle of Midway

     After watching the Public TV special on codebreaking during WWII, I
     began to wonder just how the Navy explained their ability to be at
     just the right place to catch the Japanese at Midway, without
     revealing their codebreaking ability.

     The following should be informative:

     ... After the Coral Sea action, we lost touch with the heavy
     Japanese forces engaged.  They disappeared beyond the radius of our
     immediate means of reconnaissance.  But as you know and as the
     Japanese know, we have considerable numbers of submarines sprinkled
     about the Western Pacific, and they were able to give us a good
     deal of at least negative information."

     "It was apparent shortly after the Coral Sea action that the
     Japs would have to go somewhere and do something.  Looking at the
     map, almost anybody could see that among our various important
     outposts, Dutch Harbor and Midway offered them the best chance of
     an action either in the nature of a raid or an invasion with some
     hope of success, or of a nature that in case of a reverse would
     allow them to retire without too great loss or complete
     annihilation.  At the same time, we were fully aware that they
     might renew the actions in the Coral Sea -- even though they had
     recently been 'stung' there."

     "So to this extent we were prepared for the assault upon
     Midway, and recognized that Alaska might also be attacked."

          -- Admiral E. J. King, statement at press conference,
          June 7, 1942, in Navy Department Press Release.
          Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center.

        Steve L. New                     .............................
        Weapon System Manager            .............................
        Battalion Countermine Set        ............ /\ .............
        U.S. Army TACOM AMSTA-FR1D       ............/  \.............
        DSN: 786-5403  FAX: 786-7788     ............    .............
        EMAIL  [email-masked]   ............    .............

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 09:00:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: MIA

I know this does not pertain to WWII but I found it on a Usenet group and
thought some might be interested since MIA Day is coming up.

Remains of Cold War Victim Found
   MOSCOW--Investigators searching a remote Pacific island off Russia's
eastern coast have found the remains of a US serviceman shot down during the
Cold War, authorities said Wednesday.
   The discovery was linked to a gold class ring given to US investigators
last December by a former Soviet sailor who told about finding the body of
an American Air Force pilot more than 40 years ago.
   The US Embassy announced plans for a ceremony Thursday to accept the
remains from Russia and transfer them to the US.
   The Soviet Union shot down dozens of American fliers on reconnaissance
flights during the Cold War, the most famous being Francis Gary Powers in
1960.
   Few artifacts, however, have been returned, and intensive searching for
remains or survivors began only after the Soviet Union collapsed 2 years ago.
   Investigators concluded there was no hope of finding any American POWs
alive in the former Soviet Union and confined their mission to locating
remains of servicemen and clarifying circumstances of their deaths.
   Last December, a former Soviet sailor gave investigators the class ring
of an Air Force pilot, Captain John Robertson Dunham, shot down on a spy
mission over the Soviet Far East October 7, 1952.
   The ring, from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, had the letter
"D" engraved in script on the top, and had Dunham's full name written inside.
Officials said Dunham, of Easton, Maryland, joined the Air Force after
graduating from Annapolis.
   The former Soviet sailor, Vasily Syko, told investigators he was among
those who found the body amid floating wreckage from the RB-29 reconnaissance
plane. Syko said Dunham was dead when he found him and that there was no sign
of the other 7 American crew members.
   US officials said only that the remains were believed to be those of an
American serviceman.  The remains are to be positively identified in the
US.
   They were found this month near the Kuril Islands north of Japan's
Hokkaido Island, said a spokesman for a joint US-Russian commission on
prisoners of war. The Russian official spoke on condition of anonymity.

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 09:05:25 -0400
From:    Barone <[email-masked]>
Subject: WEAP: Air launched anti-ship missile

[This is from one of my Italian Navy installments.  --Joe]

        On July 25, 1943, Mussolini's government fell and a new government
was installed headed by Marshal Pietro Badoglio.  Badoglio played a dangerous
game of conducting secret negotiations with the Allies while appeasing his
German allies' fears that Italy would drop out of the Axis.  Because Badoglio
indicated that Italian forces would not support an Allied airborne assault
around Rome, Eisenhower announced Italy's surrender on September 8, a day
before the agreed upon date.  Badoglio's government was caught completely
flat-footed as were the armed services.  As a result, Italian contingency
plans were ruined and the attendant German response were swift.

        At this time, the Italian Navy's main battle force was stationed
in ports of the northern Tyrrhenian, including La Spezia and Genoa.  Instead
of receiving the anticipated order to intervene against an Allied invasion,
the ships were ordered to sail south to ports under Allied control.  In
conformity with the armistice agreement, the ships were to be disarmed,
but would retain their crews and remain under the Italian flag.  The order
to sail applied to all units except those under repair or otherwise
incapacitated.  If threatened with capture by the Germans, these ships
were to be sabotaged, scuttled, or abandoned.

        The main battle force, at this time, was made up of "Roma", which
had recently become flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini, the fleet commander,
"Vittorio Veneto", and "Italia" (this was the "Littorio" which had been
renamed with the fall of Mussolini's government).  These three ships made
up the 9th Division.  Leaving La Spezia on the night of September 8-9,
accompanied by the other ships in port capable of sailing, they were joined
by the light cruisers, "Avoia", "D'Acosta", "Abruzzi", "Garibaldi", "Regolo",
and "Montecuccoi" and a destroyer escort from Genoa.  The total force
included three battleships, six light cruisers, eight destroyers, and six
destroyer escorts.  Because of the secret nature of the move, neither the
Italian nor Allied air forces had been asked to provide air cover.

        At 3:37 PM on September 9, the force was off the island of Asinara,
near the La Maddalena Naval Base in Sardinia.  German Dornier Do-217 bombers
of Kampfgeschwader 100, based out of Marseilles, France, began attacking.
These aircraft were equipped with a new type of radio-controlled, anti-ship
bomb, the FX-1400 (Fritz-X).  This missile had a mass of over 1,800 kg,
including the 350 kg warhead, and was designed for use against armored
warships.  Each plane carried two such missiles.

        Without protective air cover, the Luftwaffe pilots were able to fly
what was little more than a training exercise.  To make matters easier for
the Germans, the Italians mistakingly thought that the approaching aircraft
were British.  When they realized their error, they began evasive maneuvers
and raised anti-aircraft fire which proved to be less-than-effective.
Shortly after their attack began, the Germans started registering hits.
At 3:42PM, the "Roma" was hit amidships on the starboard side.  After
penetrating the hull, the bomb exploded, opening a large gash in the
ship's side, forcing the after engines to shut down.  A second bomb hit
a few minutes later, on the port side, between the number two main turret
and the forward secondary turret, near the forward magazine.  The ensuing
explosion caused the remaining engines to shut down.  The ship was
immobilized and a furious fire broke out between the bow and the midship
section.  The forward magazine caught fire and the powder charges within
ignited, causing a massive explosion, blowing turret number two into the
sea.  She took on large amounts of water, listed, and at 4:11 PM broke in
two, forward of the bridge, and sank.  She took 1,167 crewmen and 86
officers with her, including Admiral Bergamini and his staff.  Only 622
crew members were rescued by the escorts.  Most were burned or wounded
and they were landed in the Balaeric Islands (Spanish territory) for
treatment.  The "Italia" was hit once, causing minor damage.  She took
on 800 tons of water, but her performance was unhindered.
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
These tanks are faster than any other tanks in the European theater
of operations, forwards or backwards.  See, man, we like to feel that
we can get out of trouble quicker than we got into it.

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:39:55 -0500
From:    "Tim J. Watts" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: "Stalin wanted to ... maintain peace in urban centers ..."  ?!

Our Government Documents department just passed on a 3 volume set entitled
INVESTIGATION OF THE UKRANIAN FAMINE 1932-1933: ORAL HISTORY PROJECT OF
THE COMMISSION ON THE UKRAINE FAMINE.  It seems to consist of recollections
of people who were there.  Unfortunately, except for a few brief summaries
of testimony in English, the entire thing is printed in Cyrilic script.
I'm not sure why the U.S. government would print it in that form.  Other
than that, I'm sure it's wonderful and would give many insights into
this question.
Tim J. Watts
Valparaiso University

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:44:47 EDT
From:    RICHARD KING <[email-masked]>
Subject: Addr: Rommel and/or "The Grief"

Bill:
Keep rambling, I really enjoyed your post.
Say, were those photos of Patton's and Clark's uniforms
of any interest?

Richard King ([email-masked])

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:48:09 -0500
From:    Drew Halevy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NYC TV

>
> I wonder, do the Japanese have shows on the American Navajo code talkers?
>
Good question. Do WE have a show on the code talkers? -Drew

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:46:50 EDT
From:    RICHARD KING <[email-masked]>
Subject: Addr: Wargames and Academia

Lou:
I haven't heard about any library collecting wargames, but
I'll check around and let you know if I come up with any thing.

Can I have that list of games, too?

Richard King ([email-masked])

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 09:50:34 EDT
From:    Brian Nicklas <[email-masked]>
Subject: Intrepid Museum

The Blackbird on the Intrepid is an A-12, not an SR-71.  First member
of the Blackbird family (A-12/YF-12/SR-71).  Intrepid's bird is
the number 2 A-12 built.  A-12s were CIA funded and single seat,
as opposed to SR-71 two seats.
Off the WWII topic, but I had to make the correction.

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:29:00 -0500
From:    "Tim J. Watts" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Guided Weapons (Was V-1s)

Wasn't an HS 293 responsible for sinking the Italian battleship Roma when
the Italian fleet escaped to Malta in Sept. 1943, following the Armistice?
Tim J. Watts
Valparaiso University

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:30:46 -0500
From:    "Tim J. Watts" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: 50TH:  Operation Market Garden

Cassady,
I remember that also.  Was it in Ryan's A BRIDGE TOO FAR?
Tim Watts
Valparaiso University

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:27:02 -0500
From:    "Tim J. Watts" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: aphrodite Aircraft

Thanks to Jack McKillop for answering my question about whether any
Aphrodite missions were successful.  As always, the people on this list
come through with authoritative answers to almost any question.  I would
like to thank everyone who contributes to the list, for the time and
effort it takes.  I know that there is no reward other than the good
feeling you get.  Thanks a lot!
Tim J. Watts
Valparaiso University

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:20:00 PDT
From:    "Pass, Eric" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Dictionary of Operation Names

The discussion of Operation Market Garden and mention of a couple of others
has me wondering if there is a dictionary or other resource material out
there that
lists Operation names alphabetically with some sort of description.

It would be nice if it included planned but unactivated operations such as
Seelowe,
Felix, Olympic etc.

Thanks for any pointers.  Feel free to Email me directly at [email-masked]
or
direct your responses to the list whichever you think is appropriate.

Eric ([email-masked])

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 10:10:37 -0400
From:    Warren Thompson <[email-masked]>
Subject: HIST -- Speer and the Final Solution

F Y I to interested parties: I have read the article by Erich Goldhagen
("Albert Speer, Himmler, and the Secrecy of the Final Solution," MIDSTREAM,
17, #8, Oct 71, pp.43-40). Goldhagen says, contrary to what Speer alleged
after the war, that he (Speer) was aware of the Final Solution while it was
taking place. Speer's memoirs place him in the audience in Posen for a meeting
on 6 Oct 43, but he omits to say that at this meeting Himmler spoke of the
killing of Jews.

Goldhagen is also the author of THE GENOCIDAL MIND -- THE IDEOLOGICAL ROOTS OF
NAZI GENOCIDE.

-- Warren Thompson

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 10:28:31 -0400
From:    Ron Babuka <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Japanese sailors

>As Emmanuel said, some of the great IJN aces did not choose to wear their
>chutes--I believe Saburo Sakai used his for a seat cushion!
>
>Incidentally, after mentioning Sakai, I must make a recommendation.  If you
>are interested in reading a fantastic story which happens to be an autobio,
>read _Samurai_ by Saburo Sakai and Martin Caido.  Sakai goes into great

At the Wings of Eagle airshow, the pilot of the CAF's Mitsubishi A6M2 told
a story rgarding Saburo Sakai.  It seems that approx. 8 years ago when the
CAF unveiled the restored A6M2, they made arrangements for Mr. Sakai to be
in attendance.  The CAF asked Mr. Sakai to inspect their work and he
unflinchingly spung onto the footholds, lept onto the wing, and lifted
himself with the speed and grace of a 20 year-old into the cockpit.  Once
in the seat, he promptly adjusted the seat in one movement to the proper
height and then placed his hands  in the correct position to start the
aircraft.  It was remarkable considering that Mr. Sakai was near 70 and had
not been near a A6M2 for near 40 years.  The CAF members who were present
said that they felt positive that Mr. Sakai could have had her in the air
within minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Babuka
Cornell University
CIT - Information Resources
Ithaca, New York 14850
(607) 254-6492

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 10:06:51 -0500
From:    "William L. Huber - SAA" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: ROMMEL and/or "The Grief"

> Bill Huber's comments obviously weren't intended to demean anyone's heroes
> but rather to illustrate a long tradtion of rewarding heroes by grateful
> nations of all stripes.
>
> Ron Skinner
>

Hello All,

Ron has hit it on the button.  This is the spirit in which my comment
was entered onto this record.  Medals for heroism and all the
entitlements that accompany them are tributes paid by grateful nations
to its sons who have gone "beyond the call of duty", often at the
most supreme cost to themselves (their death).

The appalling thing about it is not that cash compensation accompanies
these awards but that it is so meager.  When the $200 benefit
accompanying award of the CMoH was established $200 could almost buy a
new car.  Imagine the car you could buy with $200 now.  No attempt has
been made to keep up with inflation and to my mind this is absolutely
unconscionable in view of the sacrifices these men have made for their
country.

Anyway, to take my comment about subsidizing hired killers in any
other vein than derisive satire is entirely inappropriate.  I'd
sooner cut off my right arm than risk offending a combat vet.

Cheers, Bill Huber / [email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 14:29:53 +0200
From:    JOHN AUSLAND <[email-masked]>
Subject: 50TH: A BRIDGE TOO FAR COLLECTION

  September 15, 1994

  The following is a posting from the Military Forum on Compuserve:

#: 273756 S4/WWII/Commemorative  [MILITARY]
    14-Sep-94  15:31:09
Sb: A Bridge Too Far 50th
Fm: Bryan McNulty 73534,3463
To: sysop (X)

        50TH ANNIVERSARY OF  'A BRIDGE TOO FAR'

        "Untold Stories from 'A Bridge Too Far,'" exhibits from Ohio
University's Cornelius Ryan Collection, will be featured this month at three
historic commemorations in the Netherlands.

        Photo displays, personal letters and other exhibits from the Ryan
Collection will be featured in Nijmegen City Hall (the site of the fourth
major bridge in Operation Market-Garden); Liberation Museum, Groesbeek (82nd
and 101st Airborne exhibits); and Hartenstein Museum, Oosterbeek (former
headquarters for British and Polish troops outside Arnhem).

        On Sept. 9, members of  the international press and Dutch national
television and print media attended the opening of the Ryan Collection at the
Liberation Museum in Groesbeek and opening ceremony for the collection by the
Mayor of Nijmegen at City Hall.

        BACKGROUND

        Exactly 50 years ago this September 17, the morning sky over southern
England became blanketed with troop transports, gliders, bombers and fighters
heading for Holland in the largest airborne invasion in history .

        It was the 263rd week of World War II. The Supreme Allied Commander,
Dwight Eisenhower, had unleashed Operation Market-Garden: a daring and
imaginative combined airborne and ground offensive authored by the most
cautious of Allied Commanders, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

        The plan: Sprint through Holland by taking five major bridges and
springboard across the Rhine River into Germany itself with tanks and troops
-- and hopefully, end the war in 1944.

        Unfortunately, the fifth and crucial bridge over the Rhine into
Germany proved to be "a bridge too far" -- a prescient observation made before
the invasion to Montgomery by  Lieutenant General Frederick Browning of the
British 1st Allied Airborne Army.

        The internationally famous book on that heroic effort, A Bridge Too
Far, was written by the late Cornelius Ryan, a World War II correspondent who
also authored The Longest Day, the classic account of the D-Day invasion of
Normandy; and The Last Battle, about the fall of Berlin.

        Ryan's extensive interviews with everyone from royalty and generals to
foot soldiers and civilians fill 12,000 folders in Ohio University's library
archives.

        ALSO PLEASE NOTE:

        Veterans from all armies, civilians, members of resistance movements
and others should note that Ohio University is interested in adding to the
Ryan Collection and preserving other personal diaries and letters from World
War II, and published works after 1974 on these events and the overall war in
Europe.

Contact:
-- through Compuserve:  Bryan McNulty  73534,3463
-- through Internet: [email-masked]

PRESS CONTACTS FOR RYAN COLLECTION: Curator, others available in the
Netherlands until Sept. 19.

Can arrange interview in English, Dutch, French or German with Adrie Nab, an
Ohio University vice president who survived Market-Garden battles as a young
boy, had life saved by a British soldier who covered him with his body during
German shelling. Nazis arrested Nab's father. Father was presumed killed, but
returned from a camp after war.

* The only member of the 82nd Airborne division to receive the Congressional
Medial of Honor was Pvt. John R. Towle of Cleveland, Ohio. He was killed
breaking up an enemy counterattack at Nimegen bridgehead. At Nab's request,
the same engraver who carved names in stone monument of Americans who lost
lives taking the bridge at Nijmegen added "CMOH" next to John Towle's name.
Personal letters from John to his mother will be read during a Sept. 18
ceremony at monument.

OF VISUAL INTEREST AND LIKELY TO BE SHOT SEPT. 18 BY WIRE SERVICES: WWII-era
American amphibious vehicles will once again cross the Waal River, as they did
50 years ago this date.

Arrange interviews through Ohio University News Services, 614-593-1043.

END TEXT

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 11:35:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Sub Memorial

Theron Keller found this one because my brain and eyes were in the
OFF position today!

Jack McKillop

                                  -USN-
NNS614.  World War II Subvets Dedicate Site for Wall of Honor
GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II
broke ground this month for a "Wall of Honor" at the National
Submarine Memorial in Groton, Conn.  The black, polished granite
memorial will include the names of nearly 3,600 known submariners
whose lives were lost during World War II.  The construction is
targeted for completion on Sept. 2, 1995, the 50th anniversary of
the end of World War II.
     For more information, contact Mr. Bob Moore at (203) 446-8255
or write, U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II, P.O. Box 1024,
Groton, CT  06340.

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 12:01:47 -0400
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA: Hero Gets His Medal

SUBJ:  AIR FORCE NEWS SERVICE FEATURES
ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD FILENAME:  94sep12
THIS PACKAGE CONTAINS 07 FEATURES
     This electronic features package is published semi-monthly by
the Air Force News Agency, 203 Norton St., Kelly AFB, TX,
78241-6105.
     Information in AFNS Features is for use by Air Force base
newspaper editors and editors of other Air Force publications.
Please credit AFNS Features and individual authors for material
used.
     Call TSgt. David P. Masko, Air Force News Service Features
editor, at 210-925-7564 (DSN 945-7564), or fax -7219, for
editorial, graphic and distribution questions or comments.  Feature
ideas and stories are welcome.
                             &    &    &
106.  Hero finally gets medal ceremony
by TSgt. Louis A. Arana-Barradas
     WASHINGTON (AFNS Features) -- Darwin Kelly and his
buddies were having
their usual Saturday-morning get-together over coffee and donuts.
It's a ritual he and his friends from several Chicago-area Veterans
of Foreign Wars posts have taken part in at a Barrington, Ill., donut
restaurant for years.
     "Solving the world's problems" is one reason they meet and on
that cold February morning that philosophy was put to the test.
Kelly had a Chicago Tribune newspaper clipping to share with his
pals.  It recounted how Kelly, a former lieutenant and Army Air
Corps Eight Air Force navigator during World War II, earned the
Distinguished Flying Cross.  It also told how almost 50 years after
earning it in the skies over Germany, he received his medal in the
mail.
     His friend and fellow airman, Bill Conner, said he marveled at
the way Kelly sort of took what had happened in stride.  Not so
Conner, who said he got angry.  "I couldn't believe the way this
man, a true hero, got his medal."
     There and then, Conner vowed to "rattle some cages" and have
his friend presented his medal the way it should have been
presented, with dignity and at a formal ceremony.
     Thus began the story that ended with Kelly finally having his
medal pinned on at a formal ceremony in front of his family,
friends and the stars and stripes -- by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen.
Merrill A. McPeak.  Conner, a retired 20-year Air Force veteran,
was originally going to "send a courtesy letter" -- as he put it -- to
the Air Force chief of staff, "strongly pointing out the mistake."
But before writing it, he called the Air Force Sergeants Association
for the address.
     Conner spoke with Jim Lokovic, a retired chief master sergeant
who works at AFSA's main office in Suitland, Md.  After hearing
the story, he too agreed a mistake had been made.  But he
suggested Conner give AFSA a shot at resolving the problem
before he sent the letter.
     Though AFSA is an organization for the enlisted corps, Lokovic
said it wanted help in this unique case.  "Kelly is still part of our
Air Force and our heritage.  This was an opportunity to make
something right for one of our own."
     After planning a course of action with his boss, retired CMSgt.
James D. Stanton, Lokovic called CMSAF Gary Pfingston and
explained what happened.  The Air Force's top enlisted man took
the matter to the Air Force chief of staff.
     "The next thing I know, Pfingston called me back and told me
General McPeak was interested in making the presentation
himself,"  Lokovic said.  He, in turn, informed Conner of the good
news, but told him to keep it in close hold until everything was
firmed up.
     Coincidentally, McPeak was going to be at a function at the
Cantigny Estate museum in Wheaton, Ill., in early August.  After
several months of coordination, planning, schedule juggling and
logistics preparations with museum and Air Force officials, the
Kelly ceremony started taking shape.  Even members of 928th
     Airlift Group at O'Hare IAP ARS got involved, providing flags
and other support.  When the ceremony was finalized and set for
Aug. 4, Lokovic notified Kelly and Conner.  "I was ecstatic,"
Conner said.
     As it turned out, it was exactly 50 years to the day after he flew
his first combat mission over Germany that "Dar" Kelly stood in
front of his three daughters, fellow veterans and friends to receive
his medal.
     At the ceremony, McPeak said Charles Lindbergh was the first
airman to receive the DFC and that Commander Richard Byrd was
also a recipient.  "You know immediately that this is a tribute
reserved for some special aviators.  And Dar Kelly rightly deserves
to be included in this distinguished group.
     "After hearing Dar's story," McPeak said, "I felt that an Air
Force general, not the postmaster general, should present this
award.  Even though this may be late, I want the Kelly family to
know that the Air Force and nation appreciate the skill and
airmanship Dar displayed 50 years ago."
     The former B-17 crew member said it wasn't until the medal
was pinned on his chest by the Air Force chief of staff and he was
getting his picture taken, that the reality of the event hit him.
     "It blew my mind," the 75-year old said.  "I was flying pretty
high."
     Kelly, who was born in Kirkland, Ill., entered the Army Air
Corps in August 1942 and left the servvice after the war.  "Maybe I
did have this coming, though, frankly, I never looked at it as such a
big deal.  We were just doing our jobs," he said.
     But after the event, Kelly reflected on what had happened.
"They weren't kidding when they said they were going to do this
ceremony up.  It was very military -- that's what I'll remember
most.  I was truly impressed.  I felt good, proud.  It took me a week
to come down off cloud nine."  (Arana-Barradas is assigned to Air
Force News Service Pentagon)

--
--------------------------
AFNEWS/IICX
--------------------------

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

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 11:10:14 -0500
From:    "Sidney W. Kitchel" <[email-masked]>
Subject: SCI Ultra, Churchill, and the Coventry Raid

        A little while ago I promised a couple of interesting
quotations from the insiders view of Bletchley Park found in the book:
F.H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, eds., _Codebreakers: The Inside Story of
Bletchley Park_. This excellent book is a series of autobiographical
accounts that tell how Bletchley Park was organized and worked as well
as a lot of technical detail on how Ultra was produced.

        First, the matter of did Churchill know about the big Coventry
raid and did he intentionally fail to fully defend the city in order
to protect the Ultra source? Some accounts claim that Churchill knew
and sacrificed Coventry for intelligence security. Here is what
Stuart Milner-Barry has to say about it. (Milner-Barry was a Cambridge
mathematician who was on the British chess team at the time he was
recruited for Bletchley Park. He worked in "Hut 6", which was
responsible for German Army and Air Force Enigma cryptanalysis.)
        In the following passage Milner-Barry is describing the daily
problem of determining the variable settings on the Enigma machine.

        "In theory, of course, it could be done by running through all
possible settings of the machine until, as by a miracle, the tapping
of ACDOULMNRS etc. produced KEINE BESONDEREN EREIGNISSE. But in
practice this was completely impossible. It might have taken years to
run through all the possible permutations and combinations, and the
war might well have been over before we had succeeded with even one
key for one day. However, given that we were confident that somewhere
in a jumble of consecutive five-letter groups was concealed a text of
intelligible German -- twenty-five letters such as in keine besonderen
Ereignisse should normally be quite sufficient -- that would put us
well on the road to success. So long a stretch would enormously cut
down the number of machine settings that would have to be tried; and
modern technology had, in fact, provided a machine (known as the
bombe) which would normally provide the correct setting of the Enigma
within a few hours or so.
        "In fact, the Germans used a number of keys every day. Some we
were able to break and some not. As I explained earlier, the Red [Hut
6's codename for the general Luftwaffe daily key] was
the great standby, but at times others were of even greater
operational importance. There was, for example, the Brown. The Brown
was the key used by Kampf Gruppe 100, which was responsible for the
so-called Baedeker raids on key targets such as Bristol, Birmingham,
Coventry, and so on. My recollection is that the Brown was a
relatively easy key to break, and that we often broke it fairly early
in the day. Obviously, the earlier the better, so that countermeasures
could be put in hand: sometimes even squadrons in the air, or at least
such anti-aircraft ground measures as were possible. Unfortunately,
the Germans did not tell us what the targets were. They simply
referred to them by numbers (Ziel so-and-so), and we might or might
not be able to guess what town was intended. There was an obvious risk
that, if we took countermeasures, we should give away that we knew
from Enigma that X was the target that day. There is a story, which
can still be heard from time to time, that it was known that Coventry
was to be the target for a devastating raid, and that Churchill
forbade any special precautions for fear of giving away the all
important secret that we were reading the Enigma. What Churchill would
have done had he been confronted with this terrible dilemma I have, of
course, no idea. But it so happens that we did not know the target for
that night until too late; in fact, as I remember, we were expecting a
very heavy raid on London."

        The facts are often too hard on good stories!!

                                                --Sid
--
Sidney W. Kitchel           [email-masked], [email-masked]
Data Parallel Systems, Inc.  ============||  DPSI  ||===============
4617 E. Morningside Drive                             (812) 334-8100
Bloomington, Indiana,  47408  USA               FAX:  (812) 334-8121

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:09:43 -0800
From:    John Riegsecker <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Purple Code & Battle of Midway

Steve L. New wrote

>     After watching the Public TV special on codebreaking during WWII, I
>     began to wonder just how the Navy explained their ability to be at
>     just the right place to catch the Japanese at Midway, without
>     revealing their codebreaking ability.
>
>     The following should be informative:
>
>     ... After the Coral Sea action, we lost touch with the heavy
>     Japanese forces engaged.  They disappeared beyond the radius of our
>     immediate means of reconnaissance.  But as you know and as the
>     Japanese know, we have considerable numbers of submarines sprinkled
>     about the Western Pacific, and they were able to give us a good
>     deal of at least negative information."
>
>     "It was apparent shortly after the Coral Sea action that the
>     Japs would have to go somewhere and do something.  Looking at the
>     map, almost anybody could see that among our various important
>     outposts, Dutch Harbor and Midway offered them the best chance of
>     an action either in the nature of a raid or an invasion with some
>     hope of success, or of a nature that in case of a reverse would
>     allow them to retire without too great loss or complete
>     annihilation.  At the same time, we were fully aware that they
>     might renew the actions in the Coral Sea -- even though they had
>     recently been 'stung' there."
>
>     "So to this extent we were prepared for the assault upon
>     Midway, and recognized that Alaska might also be attacked."
>
>          -- Admiral E. J. King, statement at press conference,
>          June 7, 1942, in Navy Department Press Release.
>          Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center.
>
>
Interesting.  However, the real facts made it in the headlines of the
Chicago Tribune (I think).  This is from memory, and I may have some
details wrong, but the story goes something like this.  A newspaperman
named Stanley Johnson was on Lexington(?) at Coral Sea.  After she was
sunk, he was with its executive officer as they went back to Pearl.  For
some reason I've never understood, he (the exec) saw secret reports of the
battle and learned that Nimitz knew what was going to happen and knew the
ships that were going to be there.  He passed this information on to
Johnson.  Johnson's story ran in the Chicago Tribune under a big headline
that said we knew the attack was coming and gave such a detailed account of
the ships that could only have come from intercepts.  Luckily the Japanese
did not catch this.

That we had broken the Japanese codes was evidently a badly kept secret
during the war.

I've mentioned the book "And I was there", by Layton several times.  One of
the best I've ever seen about Purple and how it was used.  It is one of the
things that got me interested in WWII in the first place.

John Riegsecker                                 (206) 756-3566
Dept of Math and Computer Science               [email-masked]
University of Puget Sound

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 11:30:16 -0500
From:    "Sidney W. Kitchel" <[email-masked]>
Subject: SCI Monty and Ultra

        A little while ago I promised a couple of interesting
quotations from the insiders view of Bletchley Park found in the book:
F.H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, eds., _Codebreakers: The Inside Story of
Bletchley Park_. This excellent book is a series of autobiographical
accounts that tell how Bletchley Park was organized and worked as well
as a lot of technical detail on how Ultra was produced.

        Second, the matter of Monty's misuse of Ultra in the North
African Campaign. On this issue we'll hear from Ralph Bennett who
acted as a duty officer in "Hut 3" which did German Army and Air Force
translation of messages, preliminary analysis, and processing. Here's
what Bennett says:

        "A new Army-Air Force co-operation key, Scorpion, came into
use when Rommel began his great drive eastwards from Gazala through
Tobruk towards the Nile in May 1942. It contained much 'hot'
operational news; it was easy to break, for the daily settings could
be predictied in advance. It was decided to radio them from Hut 6 to
Cairo and to send an experienced officer out to compose signals on the
spot. I was the officer from October 1942 until March 1943; the work
was interesting and presumably useful at first, but Rommel's retreat
eventually carried the transmissions too far away to be intercepted.
My temporary absence meant that among much else I missed the fierce
indignation and dismay felt throughout the hut at Montgomery's
painfully slow advance from Alamein to Tripoli, incomprehensible in
the light of the mass of Ultra intelligence showing that throughout
his retreat Rommel was too weak to withstand serious pressure. He ahd
only eleven tanks on 9 November and still no more than fifty-four a
month later, so that Montgomery, with 270 tanks in X Corps, including
fifty-two Grants and Shermans in 7 Armoured Division alone, might have
annihilated him either before he reached the Libyan frontier or when
he took refuge behind the Mersa Brega defences in December, instead of
delaying outside the Brega position on the pretext that Rommel had a
hundred tanks and might mount a counter-offensive just as he had done
in the same place a year earlier. His delay seemed to cast doubt on
the whole point of our work."

        Anyone want to defend Monty's aggressive carefulness??

                                                        --Sid
--
Sidney W. Kitchel           [email-masked], [email-masked]
Data Parallel Systems, Inc.  ============||  DPSI  ||===============
4617 E. Morningside Drive                             (812) 334-8100
Bloomington, Indiana,  47408  USA               FAX:  (812) 334-8121

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 09:36:01 -0700
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 16-SEP-1944

On 16-SEP-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - Hitler outlines his plans for an offensive in the Ardennes to
his generals.

Eastern Front - The Leningrad Front and the three Baltic Fronts open a new
offensive towards the Baltic in the direction of Tallinn in Estonia and Riga
in Lithuania. In Bulgaria, the 3rd Ukraine Front enters Sofia. Fighting
continues between the South Ukraine Army Group and the 2nd Ukraine Front.

Palau Islands - On Peleliu, the 7th Marine Regiment occupies the south point
of the island and begins mopping up. The beachhead now reaches a depth of 1.25
miles, despite heavy resistance by the Japanese. The island's airfield is
captured by the 5th Marines.

Morotai - The 31st Division extends its beachhead by about 4 miles. The
Japanese begin a series of not very powerful air raids.

The Homefront
-------------
Ration Values Increased - Sharp increases in the point values for processed
foods are ordered on the Sept. 17 ration list. In most cases the values are
approximately doubled.

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

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:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 10:07:52 -0800
From:    John Riegsecker <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NYC TV

Drew,

>>
>> I wonder, do the Japanese have shows on the American Navajo code talkers?
>>
>Good question. Do WE have a show on the code talkers? -Drew

There was an article in the Smithsonian Magazine about the code talkers
within the last year or two.

John Riegsecker                                 (206) 756-3566
Dept of Math and Computer Science               [email-masked]
University of Puget Sound

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 13:31:47 EDT
From:    Patrick D Marsden <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Dictionary of Operation Names

>
> The discussion of Operation Market Garden and mention of a couple of others
> has me wondering if there is a dictionary or other resource material out
> there that
> lists Operation names alphabetically with some sort of description.

> Eric ([email-masked])

For WWII there is a nice little paperback that contains over
thirty pages of operation names in dictionary form.  The book
itself is a trivia book written in dictionary format -

        "World War II Super Facts"
        Don McCombs and Fred L. Worth
        Warner Books, 1983

It's a handy general reference to have on hand; I use it quite
often just to keep up with the discussions on the list

patrick
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 10:39:59 -0800
From:    Ron Skinner <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: V-1, Hs 293, and other...

Emmanuel, if anyone can help with this, I'm sure you can: Several years ago
I saw a television program concerning the WWII German missile program. I
recall an interview with a diminutive female test pilot who actually *flew*
V-1 prototypes during their development.

I'm likely running the risk of being hooted right off the list by
mentioning this, so please substantiate if you can. :-)

Ron Skinner

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 13:37:53 EDT
From:    Cassady Craft <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NYC TV

I am familiar with the code talkers and aware that other tribes besides the
Navajo were utilized in this manner.  About a year ago, someone told me that
they knew of a Cherokee code talker.  I was puzzeled by this because I knew
that one of the primary reasons the Navajo were used on such a large scale
was that they had no written alphabet and that German Anthropologists that
came to the U.S. in the 1930s did not have any contact with the tribe.  Thus,
using the Cherokee would seem odd--they have had a written alphabet since,
what, the 1830s?  Surely it is common knowledge in anthropological literature,
and they have been well studied.  Anyone have any insight?  Nay, facts?

Cassady Craft
Department of Political Science
University of Georgia
e-mail [email-masked]
or
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 13:42:18 EDT
From:    Cassady Craft <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: 50TH:  Operation Market Garden

Thanks for the help on the Market Garden memory lapse.  I will once again
page through the book, since none of you were so kind as to provide a page
number!  Just kidding.  Thanks also for the Eastern front books.  I would
really post obulations if someone could cite a translated Russian work.
Come on, the Cold War is over--let's get the translators to work, god knows,
the Russians can't write their history!

Cassady Craft
Department of Political Science
University of Georgia
e-mail [email-masked]
or
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 12:45:39 -0500
From:    "Louis R. Coatney" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Sakai's account of training standards in SAMURAI

Training their eyes to see stars in the daytime, training their
  relexes to catch flies on the wing in their bare hands, training
  their reaction-and-balance reflexes to do acrobatics from a high
  platform down onto a hard surface, ...

And these guys *lost*?  :-)

Lou Coatney

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 13:53:06 -0400
From:    "Benjamin B. Weber" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: "Stalin wanted to ... maintain peace in urban centers ..." ?!

On Wed, 14 Sep 1994, Louis R. Coatney wrote:

> Yes, this *sounds* like the Julie Jenkins I know.  :-) >

This *sounds* like a personal attack.  Is this appropriate?  I would
appreciate clarification or input from other members of the list.
        IMHO, I think that we should keep our debates above the belt.

Benjamin B. Weber
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 12:59:34 EST
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Re: NYC TV

In reply to Cassady Craft and the question of using Cherokee for code
talking.  There has been some recent interest in this area in the
linguistic literature over the last few years.  I don't have the
references in front of me but you might look in _International Journal
of American Linguistics_ where I seem to recall an article from several
years ago.  Several other languages were used, including Choctaw.  It
partly seems to have been a matter of having native speakers available.
Granted Cherokee was known through a fairly extensive literature in
the United States but it would still have been a fairly safe language
to use.  The big problem for eavesdroppers would have been recognizing
the language in the first place, then finding someone to translate a
very difficult language.
Some clue as how difficult that might have been may be indicated by
my personal experience.  The sig file that I used for a long time
included a Nahuatl (Aztec) phrase.  This language is treated by a
literature that dwarfs that available for Cherokee but the only
person who ever guessed the right language, let alone the meaning,
was himself a Nahuatlist.  Even experienced linguists were always
wide of the mark.  Trying to guess the identity of a strange language
by listening can be all but impossible.
*****************************************************
(Roger) Brad Coon             The right to defend
[email-masked]          one's self and one's
[email-masked]    family against harm and
                              injustice is the most
                              basic civil right.

Proud to be a member of America's largest civil rights
group, the National Rifle Association.
******************************************************

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 20:04:45 +0200
From:    Emmanuel Gustin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: V-1, Hs 293, and other...

> Emmanuel, if anyone can help with this, I'm sure you can: Several years ago
> I saw a television program concerning the WWII German missile program. I
> recall an interview with a diminutive female test pilot who actually *flew*
> V-1 prototypes during their development.
>
> I'm likely running the risk of being hooted right off the list by
> mentioning this, so please substantiate if you can. :-)

No danger at all, Ron. She is very well known, and you could except an
answer from several members of this list.

Hanna Reitsch gained fame as a glider pilot before WWII. During WWII she
acted as a test pilot, and one of the aircraft she flew was the Fi 103
'Reichenberg', a manned version of the V-1. This was not destined to
remain purely experimental. The manned version was intended for combat
use; the pilot was supposed to bale out before impact...

Other famous actions of Reitsch are the flying of the Fa 61 twin-rotor
helicopter (one of the first controllable helicopters) *inside* the
'Deutschlandhalle' before WWII. She also, during the last fights in Berlin
in 1945, flew general von Greim to the city and back out, because Hitler
insisted on making him commander of the remains of the Luftwaffe.

Emmanuel Gustin

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 13:14:09 -0700
From:    John Holtz <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: 50TH:  Operation Market Garden

(Segments snipped)

> kicker for me:  do I remember an account of how launching an operation aimed
> at taking the bridge at Arnhem from Nijmegen was a staff exercise for the
> Dutch Army in the 1930s?!?!?!  If I remember correctly (and for the life of
> me, I cannot find the source), the Dutch had already come to the conclusion
> that you could not use the road that Monty selected--the exercise was "solved"
> by taking another route, longer, but without the drawbacks.  Someone please
> tell me I'm either crazy, or look in so-and-so's book.

You are not crazy (as far as I can judge :-) ) and the book in question
is Ryan's "A Bridge Too Far."  And, I believe this story crops up in the
101st Airborne's history (whose title has just fled my mind).

For the German perspective, try to find "It Never Snows in September" by
Robert Kershaw (1990).

>
> Cassady Craft
> Department of Political Science
> University of Georgia
> e-mail [email-masked]
> or
> [email-masked]
>

Tschuss.

jwh
--
John W. Holtz, Asst. Professor       INTERNET: [email-masked]
Sangamon State University Library       PHONE: (217) 786-6633
Springfield, IL  62794-9243               FAX: (217) 786-6208

 < I am not responsible for words spoken or actions taken before 11 am >

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 14:36:41 EDT
From:    Brian Nicklas <[email-masked]>
Subject: V-1s (piloted)

The lady in question is Hanna Reitsch.  She flew several of the
"Reichenberg" Fi 103s, including the two-seat version.  In one case of
flying the latter, she crash-landed after ballast in the front seat jammed the
controls.  Neat lady, was competivly flying sailplanes in the late 70s
when I met her.  She still wore her Iron Crosses on her blouse.
Ms. Reitsch died in the early 80s.  She has written several books,
I'll look up the titles if anyone's interested.  (But she doesn't
cover the war much.)
Brian Nicklas

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 14:53:02 EDT
From:    Burt Knight <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF- WWI list

I am in the process of serializing my grandfather's WWI diary and posting it on
the WWI list, 77 years to the day after the entry was made.  Not a lot of drama
but a good demo of what life was like for the men who fought in WW1.  None of
this material has been published and I will also be scanning personal photos
taken in France to accompany the manuscript.  the WWI list is at
[email-masked]'.

I know it's not quite WW2 related but I thought it may be of interest to some
members of the list.   Thanks,
Burt Knight
ZiffNet Shareware Library
Cambridge, Ma.

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 14:51:55 -0400
From:    David Rising <[email-masked]>
Subject: $'s for heroism (was:ROMMEL and/or "The Grief")

On Thu, 15 Sep 1994, William L. Huber - SAA wrote:
>
> The appalling thing about it is not that cash compensation accompanies
> these awards but that it is so meager.  When the $200 benefit
> accompanying award of the CMoH was established $200 could almost buy a
> new car.  Imagine the car you could buy with $200 now.  No attempt has
> been made to keep up with inflation and to my mind this is absolutely
> unconscionable in view of the sacrifices these men have made for their
> country.

Bill, I agree with your premise that it's not very much cash, but it was
always small from what I can tell. It originally started out as a
$2.00/month bonus in 1918 (see my previous post) which could not even
come close to buying a car (perhaps a matchbox). That's an increase of
100x in 76 years which, I imagine, more than compensates for inflation.
Still, the amount is a pittance for the deeds. Then again, I don't think
anyone was in the medal getting business for the money.
David Rising

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 15:14:46 -0400
From:    David Rising <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: V-1, Hs 293, and other...

On Thu, 15 Sep 1994, Emmanuel Gustin wrote:
> Hanna Reitsch gained fame as a glider pilot before WWII. During WWII she
> acted as a test pilot, and one of the aircraft she flew was the Fi 103
> 'Reichenberg', a manned version of the V-1. This was not destined to
> remain purely experimental. The manned version was intended for combat
> use; the pilot was supposed to bale out before impact...

Given the specifics in this case Emmanuel, wouldn't that be a "personed
version of the V-1? ;-)
David Rising

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 14:38:44 GMT-6
From:    "Robert T. Moore" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MIAs ... Right.

Hello, Lou!

To answer your question.

> Has anyone (else) seen the classic Russian film "The Ballad
>   of a Soldier"?

    Yes, I saw this film many years ago on PBS during a membership
drive and haven't seen it since. I still marvel at the quality of it.
Not much dialog but much was communicated. Do you know if it is out
on video?

    Thanks.

    Terry

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 16:18:52 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: PELELIU

50 years ago today, young American warriors of the 1st Marine Division stormed
the shores of Peleliu opening what was to become one of the bloodiest battles
in the Pacific. We, of those who survived, are grateful that we made it and we
constantly remember those of our buddies who didn't and will always remain
young in our memories. By the way, The Washington Post didn't see fit to
commemorate this day with even a two-liner. Did the newspapers in the cities of
the members on the list also forget/neglect to commemorate this day? Ben Frank

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 16:12:57 -0400
From:    Mike Bechthold <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Dictionary of Operation Names

Hi Eric,

I have a book that I picked up used a while ago called "Code Names
Dictionary: A Guide to Code Names, Slang, Nicknames, Journalese, and
Similar Terms: Aviation, Rockets and Missiles, Military, Aerospace,
Meteorology, Atomic Energy, Communications and Others."  It was edited by
Frederick Ruffner and Robert Thomas.

It is an excellent source providing thumbnail sketches for thousands of
different codenames (including the ones you mentioned).

Unfortunately the book was published in 1963 and is no doubt out of
print.  I have no idea if it has been published in a revised edition more
recently.

Maybe you can get lucky and dig it out of a used book store somewhere. :-)

Cheers,

Mike Bechthold
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 16:55:00 CCS
From:    Jorge Merino <[email-masked]>
Subject: WEAP: Manned V-1 bombs

Ron Skinner wrote:

> Emmanuel, if anyone can help with this, I'm sure you can: Several years ago
> I saw a television program concerning the WWII German missile program. I
> recall an interview with a diminutive female test pilot who actually *flew*
> V-1 prototypes during their development.

Yes, it's true. I don't remember her name, but she was a famed test pilot.

The manned versions of the V-1 were designated R (Reichemberg), and were as
follows:

Fi-103 R.I   - Glider version
Fi-103 R.II  - Basic trainer
Fi-103 R.III - Advanced trainer
Fi-103 R.IV  - Operational version

The purpose of the Fi-103 R series was to reduce the inaccuracy of the bomb
(I mean, the unmanned bomb). So, the pilot had to fly it to the target, and
eject when he was "sure" that the bomb will hit the target. I think these
missions were quite suicide, because the ejection system wasn't too reliable
at all (the cockpit located just in front of the engine intake!!), and to
ensure the accuracy, the pilot had to eject over enemy territory....
Over 150 were built, but I think they weren't used operationally.

Jorge Merino

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 17:21:43 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NYC TV

I have read that Smithsonian article and found that it had some errors. Ben
Frank

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 17:21:57 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: DICTIONARY OF OPERATIO

A good source for names of opertions is the "Simon and Schuster Encyclopedia of
World War II," which is probably out of print but available at any good
library. It has good citations and entries. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 17:22:04 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NYC TV

There has been no show or somesuch about the Marine Corps Navajo Code Talkers.
The subject is too vast to post here, but if anybody wants information about
them, they can e-mail me privately. I have done considerable research about the
code talkers and interviewed a number of them in Window Rock for the Marine
Corps Oral History Program when they formed the Code Talkers Association. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 17:30:49 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NYC TV

You are absolutely right about the Navajo language, Cassady. It wasn't written
and very few people outside of the Navajo Nation were able to speak it. One who
did was Philip Johnston, a missionary's son who grew up in the Navajo Nation
and played with Navajo youths, and spent so much time on the reservation, that
he was what might be considered a native speajer. speaker. It was he who
recommended to Marine Corps authorities that they Navajos be brought into the
Corps for voice communications because no one outside the Nation would be able
to break their code/language. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 17:49:06 -0400
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: PELELIU

In reply to the mail from <[email-masked]>...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>50 years ago today, young American warriors of the 1st Marine Division stormed
>the shores of Peleliu opening what was to become one of the bloodiest battles
>in the Pacific. We, of those who survived, are grateful that we made it and we
>constantly remember those of our buddies who didn't and will always remain
>young in our memories. By the way, The Washington Post didn't see fit to
>commemorate this day with even a two-liner. Did the newspapers in the cities of
>the members on the list also forget/neglect to commemorate this day? Ben Frank
>
 Ben,

The Philadelphia Inquirer today has a box on Page 3, another in
the series World War II 50th Anniversary.

        Sept. 15, 1944
        Fifty years ago today, in one of the bloodier battles of
the Pacific War, U.S. forces attacked the Japanese-held island
of Peleliu in preparation for the October 1944 invasion of the
Philippines.
        The task of taking the island was given to the men of
the First Marine Division, veterans of Guadalcanal, Eastern New
Guinea and New Britain.  Maj. Gen. William Rupertus predicted
that the job could be done in four days.  Thus was his name
added to a long list of overly optimistic military commanders in
the war.
        The thick island foliage concealed a vast network of
coral caves, which the Japanese had heavily fortified.  The
Marines made it ashore OK, but then struggled to root out the
defenders.  The battle would go on until November, with elements
of the Army's 81st Infantry Division joining the fight.
        Taking Peleliu cost the United States more than 1,000
men killed and 5,000 wounded, for little benefit.  The capture
played almost no role in the U.S. assault on the Philippines.

The box also contains a picture of wounded marines being
transported to a hospital ship.

Jim

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

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 17:32:09 -0500
From:    "William L. Huber - SAA" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: $'s for heroism (was:ROMMEL and/or "The Grief")

> Bill, I agree with your premise that it's not very much cash, but it was
> always small from what I can tell.

I had heard that it was always $200.  I could be wrong.  I thought I
was wrong once but I was mistaken :-)

> Still, the amount is a pittance for the deeds. Then again, I don't think
> anyone was in the medal getting business for the money.
> David Rising

Interesting thought but I spoke with a 45th Division vet who claimed
that Audie Murphy (3rd Division but also in Italy) was trying to
commit suicide by his heroics so that his family back home would get
his GI insurance.  They were desperately poor and according to this
fellow, Audie's solution was to cash in his insurance policy the hard
way.  His point was that a lot of other guys cashed theirs in trying
to cover his ass.  He was pretty bitter about it.

So to our resident vets, John Ausland and Ben Frank, in your
experiences have you come across anything similar where a fellow
would do some dangerously heroic things trying to get killed?

Cheers, Bill Huber / [email-masked]

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 18:39:42 -0400
From:    Christopher Morton <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Sakai's account of training standards in SAMURAI

>
> Training their eyes to see stars in the daytime, training their
>   relexes to catch flies on the wing in their bare hands, training
>   their reaction-and-balance reflexes to do acrobatics from a high
>   platform down onto a hard surface, ...
>
> And these guys *lost*?  :-)

Yes of course they lost.

Alvin York was a good shot and a good soldier.  In the long run, I wouldn't
have put odds on his prevailing against the ENTIRE German army, all at
once.

Just as were the Germans, the Japanese were drowned in men and materiel, only
for the Japanese, the technological disparity was much worse.

Even when they could develop an up to date design, they couldn't produce it
in either satisfactory quantity or quality.  Witness the Kawasaki Hien, which
was plagued with engine troubles.  It's radial engined followon could never
be produced in sufficient quantities to make a difference, nor could enough
pilots be trained in sufficient time to fly them.

The Japanese lost strategically.  Their only hope for victory was immediate
U.S. capitulation, an irrational premise, as Yamamoto well knew.

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 16:47:17 PDT
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NYC TV

The Navaho code-talkers have received wide publicity. Rightly so,
of course.
However, it's too bad that other "code-talkers" -- who were not in American units -- have been ignored or forgotten.
For insatnce, the British army used Welsh-speaking telephone operators in
the front line as long ago as 1916.  In 1943, Maori troops in the New
Zealand army were radio and telephone code-talkers in Italy.

--

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 16:56:18 PDT
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: V-1, Hs 293, and other...

Ron, that female pilot sounds like Hanna Reisch.

--

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 19:06:59 -0500
From:    "Louis R. Coatney" <[email-masked]>
Subject: PERSONAL ATACK!!  ??

Relax, Benjamin.  Chiding, yes.  Personal attack, no.

That's why I put the little :-) there, you see.

:-)

Lou Coatney

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 19:07:13 -0230
From:    OLAF <[email-masked]>
Subject: Conference correction (apologies)

A correction to my previous post about the WORLD WAR II IN THE
PACIFIC conference in Arlington, Virginia. The date should read
August 1995, not 1994 as originally posted. Sorry about that...

Olaf Janzen                      Tel: (709) 637-6282
Department of History            FAX: (709) 639-8125
Sir Wilfred Grenfell College     e-mail: [email-masked]
Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Canada
A2H 6P9

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 18:52:02 -0230
From:    OLAF <[email-masked]>
Subject: New book + two conferences on WWII

Folks might be interested in a new book that has just been
released by Greenwood Press of Westport, CT; the book is WORLD
WAR II IN THE NORTH PACIFIC: CHRONOLOGY AND FACT BOOK by Kevin
Don Hutchison (xviii + 288 pp., maps, photographs, figures,
appendices, bibliography, index. US $65, cloth; ISBN 0-313-29130-
6). The book is exactly what the sub-title suggests, a
chronological, day-by-day account of facts, events, developments
in the North Pacific during the war. The appendices include
graphs describing US submarine victories in the North Pacific
throughout the war, attacks by the Eleventh Air Force and Fleet
Air Wing Four on the Kurile Island from 1943 to the war's end,
the composition of US army air force and naval units, Japanese
forces, and Soviet forces serving in the region, etc., a list of
key US and Japanese personnel, and other stuff. If you're
interested in the Aleutian and Kurile campaigns, this looks like
a "must have" reference work.

I'm also including some news about forthcoming conferences that I
picked up here and there; apologies in advance if folks already
know about them.

Olaf Janzen                      Tel: (709) 637-6282
Department of History            FAX: (709) 639-8125
Sir Wilfred Grenfell College     e-mail: [email-masked]
Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Canada
A2H 6P9

*****************************************************************

                 WORLD WAR II IN THE PACIFIC

The victorious Allied campaign against Japan from August 1942
through August 1945 will be the focus of a three-day conference
in Arlington, Virginia, August 10-12, 1994. The conference is
jointly sponsored by the US Naval Historical Center, the Marine
Corps Historical Center, the US Naval Institute, the American
Society of Naval Engineers, and the Naval Order of the United
States. It will be held at the Crystal City Hyatt Regency Hotel,
and will feature the remembrances of veterans, historical
discussions, contemporary films, artifact displays, and book
exhibits. Special tours, receptions, luncheons and a banquet are
also planned. For additional information and registration forms,
write: ASNE, 1452 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3458 USA.

     CALL FOR PAPERS: 1995 SOCIETY FOR MILITARY HISTORY

The 1995 annual meeting of the Society for Military History
(formerly the American Military History Institute) will be held
11-14 May, 1995, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The US Army War
College will serve as the host institution. The theme of the
meeting will be "War Termination and Transitions to New Eras,"
and was chosen with an eye to the fiftieth anniversary of the end
of World War II. Prospective presentations could include such
topics as concluding campaigns, political-military efforts to end
hostilities, efforts to glean doctrinal lessons, wars of
succession, military occupation and interim governments, the
status of veterans, and the reorientation and reconfiguration of
military establishments. Apart from the focal period of
1944-1950, panels which compare similar phenomena among different
eras are also welcome, as are other stimulating papers on
military affairs. Proposals for individual papers or complete
sessions are solicited. Please note that abstracts of proposals,
no more than one page in length, were to have been sent by 1
November, 1994 to the meeting coordinator, Mr. David A. Keough,
SMH 1995 Meeting, U.S.Army Military History Institute, Carlisle
Barracks, PA 17013-5008. Questions and requests for additional
information can be sent to Mr. Keough (tel.: 717-245-3189; e-
mail: [email-masked]).

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 20:54:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 16 SEP 44

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
SATURDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 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
  F-5, Lockheed Lightning
  F-6, North American Mustang
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang
  P-61, Northrop Black Widow

NOTE: A number in parenthesis after a target name indicates the number of
bombers attacking.

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 3 B-24s bomb Kataoka naval base on Shimushu
Island; 4 B-25s abort a shipping sweep due to weather and mechanical
difficulties.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 19 B-24s haul fuel to Liuchow, China. In
spite of bad weather in Burma, 4 P-47s sweep the Lungling, China-Wanling-
Loiwing road and 5 damage a bridge approach at Manyut. A detachment of the 3d
Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, based at Sylhet, India, begins
operating from Yunnani, China with C-47s.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 20 B-24s bomb Hengyang; 12 B-25s
bomb Kutkai; 28 B-25s hit targets in China, including the Yuangshaho ferry,
Pakmushih, Chuanhsien, and Lengshuitang; 130+ P-40s and P-51s on armed
reconnaissance hit targets of opportunity in the Mangshih and Lungling area
and from N of Tangyang and along the Yangtze River southward including areas
around Changsha, Kiyang, Samshui, Chuanhsien, Lingling, and Kwongning;
flights of the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF,
based at Kunming, begin operating from Nanning and Yunnani with F-5s.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
  Mission 635: 178 P-47s and 149 P-51s are dispatched to bomb and strafe the
Hannover-Bremen-Osnabruck areas and bomb Ahlhorn Airfield and the Mannheim-
Kaiserslautern area, all in Germany; they claim 6-0-1 aircraft on the ground;
1 P-51 is lost and 10 damaged; 1 pilot is MIA.
  Mission 636: 7 of 9 B-17s drop leaflets in France, Germany and the
Netherlands during the night.
  32 B-24s and C-47s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; 1 B-24 is lost.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In the Netherlands, 150+ B-26s and
A-20s, escorted by fighters, attack the Bath dike and Arnemuiden road and
rail embankment. In France, fighters fly sweeps, and armed reconnaissance
over Rastatt, Germany and Haguenau, and support the US Third Army's XII and
XV Corps in repelling counterattacks in NE France; HQ IX Bomber Command is
redesignated 9th Bombardment Division (Medium); the 353d Fighter Squadron,
354th Fighter Group, moves from Gael to Orconte with P-47s; the 404th Fighter
Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, moves from Beuzeville to Perthes with P-47s;
the 493d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, moves from Villacoublay to
Cambrai/Niergnies with P-47s; and the 596th Bombardment Squadron (Medium),
397th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Gorges to Dreux with B-26s. In
Belgium, HQ 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and the 107th Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron move from Toussus le Noble, France to Gosselies with
F-6s; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to First
Army), moves from Ham to Stree with L-5s; and the 422d Night Fighter
Squadron, IX Air Defense Command, moves from Chateaudun, France to Florennes
with P-61s;

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather cancels bombing
operations. 2 P-38s fly weather reconnaissance and 54 B-24s fly supplies to S
France.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers attack
fuel and supply dumps and defensive positions in the Bologna and Rimini areas
while fighter-bombers and fighters bomb and strafe rail and road targets N of
the battle areas in the N Apennine Mountains as US Fifth Army forces struggle
to break through strong enemy defenses in the hills N of Prato, along the
main Monte Altuzzo ridge, on Monte Veruca, Monte Monticelli, and other
mountain positions; the 85th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 47th Bombardment
Group (Light), moves from Salon, France to Follonica with A-20s; and the
526th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group, moves from Poretta, Corsica to
Grosseto with P-47s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 17 Saipan Island-based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima
Island; 3 others on training and armed reconnaissance missions bomb Pagan and
Marcus Islands. P-47s pound enemy positions on Pagan Island. B-24s in the
Marshall Islands bomb Emidj Island, Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands. The 548th
Night Fighter Squadron, 7th Fighter Wing, arrives at Hickam Field, Hawaii
from the US with P-61s and begins flying patrols over the Pacific.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Celebes Island,
B-24s bomb Kendari air depot and Ambesia Airfield while B-25s attack a large
warehouse at Gorontalo and B-24s and B-25s hit Kairatoe and Kamarian. B-25s
and B-24s pound Namlea on Buru Island, Liang on Ambon Island, Haroekoe on
Haroekoe Island, and Laha on Amboina Island. In New Guinea, fighter-bombers
hit Manokwari, Sagan, Moemi, and Warren airstrips; HQ 42d Bombardment Group
(Medium) moves from Hollandia to Sansapor; the 64th Troop Carrier Squadron,
403d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island,
Solomon Islands, to Biak Island with C-47s; and the 418th Night Fighter
Squadron, 310th Bombardment Wing (Medium), moves from Hollandia to Owi,
Schouten Islands with P-61s.

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

16/0056Z SEP

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 20:54:14 EDT
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: PELELIU

Hi Ben,  A while ago I had picked up McMillan's _The Old Breed_ A History
of the First Marine Division in WWII. An inscription in the front reads
"6-29-87" To my Son - Whom I love with my whole heart - We did this for
you !! Love, Dad, Sgt. James C. Wilbur, Sr."

Chapter 18 is Peleliu. The maps are excellent; photos astounding. Let me
know if you don't have this text in your collection; I'm willing to lend
it to you for a season or so.

One photo is of 3 burnt Jap tanks on the airfield. They tried to penetrate
the Marine lines to the S.West toward the "Orange" beaches, but they were
stopped. This was on the afternoon of D-Day. Then there is a photo look-
ing South I guess, along the beach at the amtraks that were hit and smoking.
The smoke is travelling inland.

There is a photo of drums of gasoline being rolled through the water over
the reef for some 500 yards. I'll start reading it tomorrow during breaks.
There is a passage copied from a 2nd Bn Cpl's diary at a hospital shortly
after he was evacuated. I'll try to get this posted.

Which beach did you land at and where was your CP? -Al

By the way,... Gen. Vandegrift looks like he could beat Patton in a staring
contest with one eye closed. ;-)

Alan G. Wild
Admin. Computing
University of Rhode Island
Kingston, R.I.  02881

I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Thu, 15 Sep 1994 23:22:21 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: $'S FOR HEROISM (W

No, I never have heard of someone trying to get himself killed. Which brings up
another point. People speak of other people "winning" the Medal of Honor, or
the Navy Cross. I don't believe that anyone is in competition for a posthumous
award. The correct terminology is that "so-and-so was decorated...." or
"earned" whatever medal you want to indicate. I don't think that anyone who
threw himself on a grenade--which is the most common way of earning the
MOH--purposely does so with a view toward getting killed. There are cases of
individuals becoming berserk and dashing forward in the face of certain death,
but that was a happenstance or momentary lapse in judgement and good sense. Ben Frank

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 14 Sep 1994 to 15 Sep 1994
*************************************************