Subject: WWII-L Digest - 21 Oct 1994 to 22 Oct 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 1994 00:02:45 -0400

There are 13 messages totalling 613 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. GEN: QUERY OF BORIS RAYMOND (2)
  2. INF: 50 Years Ago - 23-OCT-1944
  3. HIST: von Braun and V2
  4. HIST: Fat collections
  5. Untold Stories f/ABTF, Pt. 9
  6. Home Front - Waste Fats
  7. HOME FRONT
  8. MIDWAY & LUCK
  9. Martha Raye
 10. [INF] USAAF 23 OCT 44
 11. George Gay
 12. Russian data on WWII

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 10:13:12 +0200
From:    JOHN AUSLAND <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: QUERY OF BORIS RAYMOND

>Date:    Fri, 21 Oct 1994 15:04:02 -0300
>From:    Boris Raymond <[email-masked]>
>Subject: Re: GEN: QUERY OF BORIS RAYMOND
>
>Co. "D", 2dn battalion, 424th Infantry Reg. 106th Infantry Division
>with Hq. @ St. Vith.

If you were with the 106th at the time of the German attack in December, you
have a story to tell.  I, and I am sure others, would like to hear it.

Let me add that the 4th Infantry Division, which I was with, originally took the
area in the Schnee Eiffel mountains that the 106th later occupied in September -
with no resistance. It later caught the left flank of the German attack in
December, in Luxembourg. When pushing the Germans back in early 1945, the 4th
again took the same area, this time against resistance.  (I plan to say more
about this when we get to the anniversaries of these events.)

When we drove through St. Vith in September, it was a charming village.  When we
went through it again in early 1945, it was in ruins.

I revisited St. Vith last year and saw the memorial there to the 106th.  It is
my understanding that a new one was to be erected, but I do not know what
happened about this.

Over to you.

  Regards, John Ausland/Oslo Norway

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 10:24:21 -0300
From:    Boris Raymond <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: GEN: QUERY OF BORIS RAYMOND

How very interesting that you should end up in Norway and I
in Canada.  My "story to tell" is slim indeed.  The 424th was
the only one of the three reegiments that managed to escape through
a gap in the German lines.  the other 2, 422 and 423 surrendered
after a couple of days, as I am sure you know.
        There's a detailed book on the history of the 106th Div.
published in 1949 which I once read. It's an official army
history document, I seem to remember.  If absolutely
necessary, I could try and fid the reference for you.
        Also there is still a 106th Infantry Association, to
which I never belonged, butwhich plans to have its
"Last Hurrah!" convention in the Ardennes on the 50th
anniversary, Dec 16th, 1994.  I'm not going, since I
would have almost nothing in common with those guys

unfortunately.
        On a totally different matter.  Can you help
me with this LISTSERV.  I just joined, for obvious
reasons of interest, but now find myself totally
flooded with hourly postings that interrupt my
writing (historical fiction).  I've tried to
contact the owner, but no luck.  Is it possible
to get oneself placed on a daily Digest/
cumulated

posting, so as to get all the messages in one
daily package?  And if so, who & how?
        Many thanks for your help.
P.S. I also re-visited St. Vith. Twice, once
in 1980 and once in 1992.  It is now a charming
vacation/resort town in the Ardennes.  In 1944
it was a wreck.
P.P.S. Have you ever played any of the "Bulge"
war games?  They are fun.

Boris Raymond

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 06:26:08 -0700
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 23-OCT-1944

On 23-OCT-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - The British 4th Armoured Division is attacking at the east end
of the Beveland Isthmus. The US 7th Army is still engaged around Bruyeres and
St Die.

Eastern Front - The Russians complete the occupation of the Petsamo region.

Italian Front - In the US 5th Army sector the Allied positions stay
unchanged. In the east in the British 8th Army sector the bridgeheads over the
river Savio are reinforced.

Philippines - The fighting on Leyte continues. The 1st Cavalry Division is
attacking northwest from Tacloban. In the XXIV Corps sector a tank unit with
the 7th Division takes Burauen. In a solemn ceremony at Tacloban, MacArthur
re-installs the legitimate government of the Philippines under the presidency
of Sergio Osmena.

Battle of Leyte Gulf - The Japanese fleet attempts a major attack to cripple
the invasion of the Philippines. The engagement, which breaks down into three
separate battles, ends disastrously for the Imperial Fleet. The main units of
the Japanese fleet (Kurita and Nishimura) are approaching from Brunei. The
other two squadrons are approaching from the north (Shima and Ozawa). The
American naval forces are composed of Halsey's Task Force 38 (under Nimitz's
command) and Kinkaid's 7th Fleet (under MacArthur's command). Kurita's force
is sighted off Palawan in the early hours by two US submarines, the Darter and
the Dace. Two heavy cruisers are sunk in the subsequent attack and one more
damaged and forced to retire. On receiving word from the submarines TF 38
prepares to attack.

The Homefront
-------------
Martial Law Ends In Hawaii - President Roosevelt announces the suspension of
martial law in Hawaii and the restoration of habeas corpus.

Battleship Decommissioned - The battleship Oklahoma, sunk during the Pearl
Harbor attack and then salvaged, has been decommissioned.

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

Sources: "2194 Days of War" by Cesare Salmaggi and Alfredo Pallavisimi, "The
World Almanac Book Of WW II" by Peter Young, "Facts On File Yearbook 1944,
Person's Index Of World Events" edited by R.L. Lapica.

Previous articles are archived at ftp.netcom.com in directory /pub/jbd and can
be accessed via the WWW by URL: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/jbd/ww2.html. If you
have difficulty accessing the Netcom FTP server, please keep trying because it
stays very busy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Davis     [email-masked]
Cary, N.C.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 10:37:56 -0400
From:    Warren Thompson <[email-masked]>
Subject: HIST: von Braun and V2

To Terry at al.: vB was likely an Ehrenfuehrer (in the Allgemeine-SS). I'll
get back to all of you with my source.

Good to know that comments trigger challanging responses.

-- Warren

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 10:52:47 -0400
From:    Warren Thompson <[email-masked]>
Subject: HIST: Fat collections

I seem to remember that it was desired for its glycerin content and to be used
for making nitroglycerin. Or perhaps  my childhood homefront memories fail me
here. BTW I understand that much of what was collected -- scrap metal included
-- was never used ... collections were thought to be good for civilian morale.

-- Warren Thompson

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 11:35:27 EDT
From:    Doug McCabe <[email-masked]>
Subject: Untold Stories f/ABTF, Pt. 9

                   Ohio University Electronic Communication

   Date:  19-Oct-1994 08:58am EST

     To:  Remote Addressee                     ( _MX%"[email-masked]" )

   From:  Doug McCabe                                Dept:  Library
          MCCABE                                   Tel No:  (614) 593-2715

Subject:  Untold Stories f/ABTF, Pt. 9

    [While Frost and his men fought for the Arnhem bridge, most of the
    British AB and most of the fighting was actually in Oosterbeek since
    the Germans succeeded in blocking any reinforcements trying to get to
    the bridge.  So, the British and Dutch were caught in a small perimeter
    which the Germans were determined to destroy.  The only way out for the
    AB was death, capture, or escape across the Neder Rijn.  For the
    civilians there would be no way out.]

         "We withdrew to the Vredehof - the peace House.  The door was
    barricaded by two pianos, so we went in through the window.  The owner
    of the house, Frans de Soet, wanted a rifle to shoot Germans.  We
    sniped away together from the skylight in the roof of the house."
                                  - RQMS Dave Morris, 1st British AB Div.
    [We have before and after photos of the Peace House: only the outer
    shell was left after the battle.]

         "Well on in the week General Urquhart came out and replaced the
    Division penant in an upright position.  The flag was continually being
    knocked over by morter blast.  I could tell from the defiant way in
    which he righted the flag that General Urquhart was very argry and the
    way he stuck it in the ground seemed to say, 'It's there to stay.'"
                             - Sgt. John Rate, Signals, 1st British AB Div.

         "I was helped out of the building after we were captured and I was
    laid on the grass.  I looked back at the building, it was balzing from
    end to end.  We were taken to a church for the rest of the night.  Then
    we were made to start marching out of Arnhem.  The civilains lined up
    the roads with glum looks.  We didn't feel so hot: 95% were wounded.
    Then somebody up front started singing "Roll Out the Barrel."  It swept
    right through the ranks until everyone was giving it a go.  We even
    went through "Hanging Out Our Wash on the Sigfreid Line."  It seemed to
    buck up the civilians."
                                  - Sgt. Robert Jones, 1st British AB Div.

         "On Monday I received a call from underground headquarters.  Did I
    see a large German army moving towards Arnhem from the direction of
    Velp?  Carefully I looked and reported, 'The road is empty.'  Just
    twenty minutes later I remember tanks, trucks carrying clean, good
    soldiers, sitting straight up, then more tanks and more soldiers on
    trucks in a seemingly endless stream.  I knew the British troops
    couldn't fight against this army with its heavy weapons.
         I knew the Germans were coming only one way - from Dieren to
    Arnhem - and they were an easy target from the air.  I rang through to
    underground headquarters: Piet Kruyff took the call.  I said, 'Planes
    are needed to stop them.  I think you should call the British
    headquarters and ask them to send planes.'  Hanging up I remember
    sitting in my room literally praying that planes would be sent.
         About an hour later Piet called back.  The moment I heard his
    voice I knew something was wrong.  Unbelieving, I heard Kruyff say, 'We
    asked for them and they said bombers are for cities, not roads.'  I
    knew then for certain it was all over."
                        -Electrical technician PTT Niek de Bode, Arnhem

         "On the first or second day when we were being pushed back towards
    the Hartenstein I suddenly saw a little Dutch girl, about 8 years old,
    come running out of a house.  Two British soldiers called out to her to
    go back, but too late - she was shot.  Someone picked her up and
    carried her to the opposite side of the road.
         After we were captured I saw a Dutch girl on the arm of one German
    soldier and, as we approached, she spat on us and said something.  The
    German whose arm she was holding obviously didn't like what she said
    because he knocked her over and sent her sprawling on the roadway.
         Later, on the road towards Apeldorn, we were marched through a
    small hamlet and some Dutch people came out of their houses and gave us
    prisoners some water.  The Germans in charge didn't seem to mind the
    Dutch giving us water, but then an officer appeared and ordered all the
    Dutch to go back into their houses.  One girl defied him and continued
    to give water to some wounded.  I saw the girl shot and badly wounded.
    I didn't see what else happened to her because we were forced to march
    on."
                             - Pvt. William Albert, 1st British AB Div.

    Next, the winners get their say.

    Doug

Received:  22-Oct-1994 11:35am

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 14:49:07 -0500
From:    Terrence Lindell <[email-masked]>
Subject: Home Front - Waste Fats

The glycerine from waste fats was used in the
production of explosives.  Wartime ads sometimes
told consumers what their waste fats could produce.
A single pound, according to Richard R. Lingeman's
DON'T YOU KNOW THERE'S A WAR ON?  THE AMERICAN HOME
FRONT, 1941-1945, would help produce "a pound of
black powder--enough for six 74-mm shells or fifty
30-caliber bullets." (p. 248)

In mid-1944 (I have been doing research on the Iowa
home front), a person could redeem a pound of waste
fat for two ration points and four cents.  Some civic
groups like the Boy Scouts held scrap drives for fat
and other products as fundraisers.

As to whether or not these efforts made a material
difference in the war effort, I can't say.  I know that
many of the scrap metal drives early in the war yielded
only junk but that they helped make people feel like
they were contributing.  Perhaps by late in the war the
recycling system had gotten far enough along that it
could make use of the materials being collected.

I remember seeing one WWII cartoon showing a woman
turning waste fat molded into the shape of an
artillery shell.  She explained to the butcher that
she had heard that the fat was being turned into
ammunition and that she wanted to do her part!

Terry Lindell
Department of History
Wartburg College
Waverly, Iowa  50677
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 17:12:41 -0400
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: HOME FRONT

George, insofar as I recall/know, I believe fat and fat items were used in the
manufacture of explosives. I'm not a chemist and I'm picking this out of my
back pocket, but I think that this is the answer. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 18:47:50 -0400
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MIDWAY & LUCK

I would also be interested in your opinions of Fletcher and Spruance.

Regards

Mike Yaklich

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 21:28:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Martha Raye

Someone reported that Martha Raye was made an honorary Green Beret in the
past.  I was watching the new tonights and they had a story about Martha
Raye being buried at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina with six Green Berets as
pall bearers.  I think she would have like that.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
|  Jack McKillop              |  Those who have long enjoyed such |
|  Bellcore                   |  privileges as we enjoy forget in |
|  Piscataway, NJ USA         |  time that men have died to win   |
|  [email-masked]  |  them.                     FDR    |
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 21:37:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 23 OCT 44

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
MONDAY, 23 OCTOBER 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
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang

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

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile Islands, 3 B-24s hit Kashiwabara
targets on Paramushiru Island; 3 more B-24s bomb Otomari and fly a photo
mission over Onnekotan Island; and 5 B-25s bomb the Asahi Bay area.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20 P-47s hit Japanese
concentrations at Nanhlaing and Kyungyi; 16 support ground forces at Mawlu
and Henu and in nearby areas; a bivouac area S of Indaw is pounded by 4
fighter-bombers while 7 knock out a bypass bridge at Panghkam; 3 B-25s blast
train cars and sidings at Kyaukme, 3 hit a nearby motor pool, 2 hit a motor
pool at Namhsim, and 1 blasts a rail line at Nawngpeng.  Transports fly 270+
sorties in the CBI.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 3 B-25s knock out a bridge at
Lobochai while 7 P-40s hit trucks and locomotives nearby; 6 B-25s and 11
P-51s pound the town area of Menghsu; 50+ P-40s and P-51s hit small towns and
other targets of opportunity in the Menghsu area; 40+ others attack shipping,
bridges, and general targets of opportunity around Anfu, Kweiping, Shepchung,
Kuanyang, Ssuwangshu, Mangshih, Chefang, Panghkam, Takhing, Tanchuk, Dosing,
Wuchou, and Tengyun and Wanling, Burma.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 686: 6 B-24s and 3 B-17s
drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents all commands,
including the 9th Bombardment Division, from flight operations. In Belgium,
HQ 36th Fighter Group moves from Juvincourt, France to Le Culot. In France,
HQ 71st Fighter Wing moves from Versailles to Vittel.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): Around 500 B-24s and B-17s bomb
the Skoda armament works at Plzen, Czechoslovakia, and in Germany, a
marshalling yard at Rosenheim, industrial area at Plauen, aircraft engine
plant at Munich, diesel engine factory at Augsburg, and oil storage depot
at Regensburg, and communications targets in N Italy including a
marshalling yard at Bressanone, bridges at or near Casarsa della Delizia,
Pordenone, Santo Stino di Livenza, and Maniago, and rail line running N to
the Brenner area; fighters escort missions to Germany and Czechoslovakia.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather grounds
medium bombers; fighters and fighter-bombers, although cancelling many
operations, cause much damage to transportation, destroying or damaging
numerous locomotives, railroad cars, and motor transport, and damaging
vessels in the Savona, Turin, Padua, and Genoa areas; HQ 86th Fighter Group
and the 526th Fighter Squadron move from Grosseto to Pisa with P-47s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 8 B-24s from Guam Island bomb Yap Island, 2
from Saipan Island hit Pagan Island and, during the night of 23/24 Oct, 1
bombs Iwo Jima Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s and P-38s
maintain shipping sweeps in the Makassar area on Celebes Island. B-25s,
A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit oil storage at Boela on Ceram Island, Amboina
town on Ambon Island, 2 airfields and other targets in the Amboina Ceram
Island-Boeroe Island area. In New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Sagan while
A-20s support ground forces further E in the Sawar River-Orai River area.
In the Philippines, vehicles and small vessels in the Mindanao area are
attacked by fighter-bombers while B-25s attack small shipping in the Sulu
Archipelago. Fighter-bombers over Halmahera Island hit scattered bivouacs. In
New Guinea, the detachment of the 17th Photographic Reconnaissance
Squadron, 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), ceases operating from
Noemfoor Island with F-5s (the ground echelon is enroute from Guadalcanal
Island, Solomon Islands to Morotai Island and other detachment are
operating from Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands and Sansapor, New
Guinea). The 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, moves from Owi,
Schouten Islands to Morotai Island with P-47s.

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

23/0140Z OCT

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 22:39:00 EDT
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: George Gay

George H. Gay, Jr., the only survivor of the Torpedo Squadron 8
attack during the Battle of Midway died of a heart attack at Marietta,
Georgia on Friday, October 21.  He was 77.

Gay was the pilot of a VT-8 Douglas TBD Devastator during the
attack on Japanese carriers in Jun 42.  He was the only one of 30
men of VT-8 to survive.  He was wounded and wearing a life jacket,
he had a ring side seat for the attack of the Douglas SBD Daunltess
divebombers that sank the Japanese carriers and found himself
"cheering and hollering with every hit."

Gay made personal appearances for the Navy retelling the story of
the victory at Midway.  After the war, he flew for TWA for 30 years
often speaking at civic groups around the country calling for more
and better military preparedness.

In 1975, Gay was a consultant for the film MIDWAY; Kevin Dobson
played the role of Gay.  After completeing the film, Gay toured the
country with Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda to promote the film.

Requiescat in pace.

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

Date:    Sat, 22 Oct 1994 23:49:01 -0400
From:    John Sloan <[email-masked]>
Subject: Russian data on WWII

Greetings all,

     Last year I bought in Russia several copies of a new book on
WWII. Now, before I expend the considerable effort to translate
the whole thing, I am wondering if anyone on the net knows if a
translation has already been done, perhaps by an official agency
or someone?  I would love to save myself some considerable grief.

     The title is Grif Sekretnosti Snyat - poteri vooruzhennikh
sil SSSR v voinakh, boevikh dyeistviyakh i boyennikh konfliktakh
(NO Longer Classified - losses of the armed forces of the USSR in
wars, military operations and military conflicts). It was
published by Voyennoye isdatyel'stvo, Moscow, 1993. 410 pages.
The lead editor in the collective was General-colonel G. F.
Krivoshyeyev.
     Some tidbits of information to wet your appetites:

Table of contents
Chapter 1. Personnel losses of the Red Army during the Civil War
and foreign intervention
Chapter 2. Personnel losses of Red Army in military actions and
military conflicts in the interwar period.
Chapter 3. Losses of Armed Forces of USSR in the Great Fatherland
war 1941-45.  (by far the longest chapter of course)
Chapter 4. Losses of Soviet military service personnel
participating in rendering their international, military-
technical assistance to other countries; and also in liquidation
of foreign military conflicts. (This included Korea, local wars
in Asia, middleeast and Africa, intervention in Hungary, entrance
of forces into Czechoslovakia, border conflicts in Far East and
Kazakhstan in 1969, rendering military assistance to the
government of Afghanistan 25 Dec 1979 to 15 Feb 1989, and other
data on personnel losses.

     In addition to personnel losses, there is a complete listing
of losses of naval vessels by name, location and date, during
WWII. This includes for instance 102 submarines.

     Personnel losses are tabulated by period, location, major
formation and type. Turning to the general discussion of losses
in WWII we find the following:
Total permanent losses of armed forces including the frontier and
interior troops was 8,668,400. Of this the army and navy lost
8,509,300, interior troops 97,700 and border troops and organs of
the KGB (NKVD) 61,400.
The permanent losses include 1,783,300 who did not return from
being POW (which in turn includes some who simply remained
abroad).
But they do not include losses classified as temporary because
they did return from being POW or were recovered from liberated
territories during the war - 2,775,700.
Adding these temporaries and classifying the losses by type we
get.
killed in action or died of wounds during evacuation - 5,226,800
died from wounds in hospitals    - 1,102,800
died from sickness, accidents, (nonbattle losses) 555,500
missing in action, POW    - 3,396,400
uncounted (undocumented?) losses during first months of war when
records were not clear, including from German records  -
1,162,600
so this gives a total including those who returned of
11,444,100 lost to all causes.

     There is an interesting section on medical casualties (who
lived). The data from front and unit records do not correspond
with the data from the medical unit statistics. According to
military unit figures the total loss (not killed) was 18,344,148.
According to medical records it was 22,326,905. Of these
14,685,593 were wounded and 7,641,312 were sick. Of the total 22
million, 17,157,243 were returned to duty and the rest were
discharged or died. An elaborate discussion follows in which it
is pointed out that individuals suffered up to 7 times being
wounded (3,978 of them) who would then translate into 27,846
wounded in the medical records. The total of those multiple
wounded individuals comes to 1,191,298, who generate a statistic
of 3,035,936 wounded.
     The rest of the book goes on at length in similar vein,
massaging the data forward and backward and inside out. It
includes type of wound or cause of death by location on body.

     The operations are discussed one by one including the
forces, their strength, and then the various losses. Also
included is a brief summary of the accomplishments of the
operation.  For instance - for the Budapest Strategic Offensive
Operation of 29 Oct 1944 to 13 Feb 1945 we find the 2nd Ukrainian
Front participated for the entire period. It had 39 rifle
divisions, 4 airborne divisions, 9 cavalry divisions, 3 tank
corps, 4 mechanized corps, 1 separate tank brigade, and some
other units for a strength of 712,000. Permanent losses were
35,027, medical loss 130,156, total of 165,182, for average daily
loss of 1,529.      The total width of the operation was 420 km
and depth of penetration 250 -400 km for average rate of advance
of 2.5 to 4 km per day.
     There is also a breakdown of losses by branch and service
including also the totals serving and percent losses.

     I don't know if such a book of military statistics for the
American army exists.
     Once we get this translated and double-checked, a friend of
mine, who is a major military publisher will publish it. So any
one wanting to get to the top of the distribution list is welcome
to send in his/her name.
     Meanwhile, I might entertain requests for selected data on
specific operations etc.  :)

Cheers to all

john sloan
[email-masked]

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 21 Oct 1994 to 22 Oct 1994
*************************************************