Subject: WWII-L Digest - 12 Jan 1995 to 13 Jan 1995

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 00:01:04 -0500

There are 58 messages totalling 1615 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. BATTLE OF THE BULG (2)
  2. FIX BAYONETS
  3. INF: USN Chronology 01-13-95
  4. [INF] USAAF 13 JAN 45
  5. 50TH: SMITHSONIAN AND HIROSHIMA (2)
  6. INF: 50 Years Ago - 14-JAN-1945
  7. Query:  Japan/US relations
  8. WEAP: British carriers (was trivia, decks) (3)
  9. German POWS in US cities
 10. Olympics (3)
 11. Olympic Games (2)
 12. 1944 Olympics
 13. JAPANESE MILITARY ATTEMPT AT COUP? (3)
 14. Query: Swastika (2)
 15. German Ocean Liners (Romanian Carriers)
 16. Query: Ahenerbe
 17. Anti-ship missiles (3)
 18. 50TH: ATTEMPTED JAPANESE COUP (2)
 19. GEN: EXECUTIONS OF US SOLDIERS DURING WWII
 20. MEDIA:MIAs Home at Last
 21. Faulty Torpedoes
 22. Hiroo Onoda
 23. Swastika (Webster definition)
 24. MEDIA:Luzon Remembers
 25. AWOL Fliers (2)
 26. Royal Romanian Navy
 27. MEDIA:Brussels WWII Museum
 28. TAC: Battle of the Bulge
 29. JAPANESE MILITARY
 30. 50TH: SMITHSONIAN
 31. QUERY:  JAPAN/US RELAT
 32. MEDIA:Operation Seal
 33. TRV: B-29 Auxiliary Power
 34. MEDIA:Britain Commemorative
 35. Torpedo MK 14
 36. INF: 3rd Army Chronology - 14Jan45
 37. INF: 3rd Army Chronology - 15Jan45
 38. 1936 Olympics
 39. INF: 3rd Army Chronology - 16Jan45
 40. OLYMPICS
 41. 50TH: SMITHSONIAN AND
 42. FAULTY TORPEDOES
 43. GEN: EXECUTIONS OF US
 44. Executions

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 00:47:54 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: BATTLE OF THE BULG

Many thanks, Terry, for your explanation of why Bastogne happened. I think that
I understand it now. All the best for '95. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 00:54:19 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: FIX BAYONETS

Hello, John. I thought that the Naval Institute was going to send the book to
you, but it sent it to me instead, and I received it last Monday. I haven't
been able to send it out because I have been out of the office all this week.
My mother-in-law died last Saturday and I have been up in Connecticut all week.
I'll send it next Monday when I get back to the office. I have about 350
messages to go through, so I thought I would piggy-back on your WWII chronicle
to contact you. Cheers, Ben

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 04:00:17 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 01-13-95

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

1945
01/13 Sat.  United States naval vessel damaged, Philippine Islands
             area:
             Escort carrier SALAMAUA (CVE-96), by suicide plane,
              17 d. 09'N., 119 d. 21'E.

Information compiled by U.S. Navy Historians.  For more information,
contact the Naval Historical Center at (202) 433-3940.
Archived by: "Larry W. Jewell" <[email-masked]>
Posted by:
Theron P. Keller
Logicon, Inc.
Dahlgren, VA  22448 USA
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 07:09:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 13 JAN 45

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
SATURDAY, 13 JANUARY 1945
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
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  F-5, Lockheed Lightning
  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.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER

  CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 6 B-25s blast 6 storage buildings at
Kengtung, China. 3 others damage a bridge at Hawng Luk, Burma. In China, 31
P-51s, P-38s, and P-40s hit targets of opportunity in the Wanting area; 16
P-51s hit targets of opportunity around Shanhsien, Chiatsochen, and Chaling.

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 10 fighter-bombers hit
Aungban Airfield while 4 others support ground forces along the Irrawaddy
River at Molo; 20+ fighter-bombers hit horses and vehicles at Hsa-ihkao,
buildings at Man Ping, and troops at Mankang and Man Sang. Transports fly
556 sorties to forward areas. The detachment of the 317th Troop Carrier
Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Dinjan, India with
C-47s, returns to base at Kalaikunda, India.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 791: 958 bombers and 469
fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards and Rhine rail bridges
mostly by PFF methods; they claim 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 bombers and 2
fighters are lost:
  1. 367 B-17s are sent to hit the Mainz rail bridge (31), the Gustavsburg
rail bridge at Mainz (95) and the Bischofsheim marshalling yard (119); 74 hit
the secondary target, the Mainz marshalling yard; targets of opportunity are
Euskirchen (13) and other (7); most attacks are made using Micro H but some
formations bomb visually; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 126
damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 4 WIA and 19 MIA. Escorting are 79 of 80 P-51s; 3
are damaged beyond repair.
  2. 276 B-24s are dispatched to hit rail bridges at Worms (86) and Rudesheim
(89) and the Kaiserslautern marshalling yard (87); 1 hits a target of
opportunity; most attacks are made using Gee-H but some formations bomb
visually; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 39 damaged; 2 airmen
are WIA and 10 MIA. The escort is 114 of 118 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost and 1
damaged beyond repair.
  3. 315 B-17s are sent to hit rail bridges at Germersheim (71, using Gee-H)
and Maximiliansau (159) and rail and highway bridges at Mannheim (76)
visually; 1 hits a target of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond
repair and 9 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 42 MIA. Escorting are 77 of
82 P-51s; 2 are damaged beyond repair.
  4. 102 P-47s and P-51s fly a freelance fighter sweep supporting the
bombers; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft in the air and 3-0-1 on the ground; 1 P-51
is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair.
  5. 45 of 45 P-51s fly a fighter-bomber mission against Mannheim, Trier, etc
without loss.
  6. 20 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss.
  7. 4 of 4 P-51s escort an F-5 on a photo reconnaissance mission over
Germany.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 95 9th Bombardment
Division bombers strike road and rail bridges at Dasburg, Steinebruck, and
Simmern to disrupt enemy movements; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment
Division, Eighth AF, and RAF bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols,
and bomb and strafe numerous ground targets. The IX Tactical Air Command
supports the US VII Corps near Houffalize, Belgium, the XIX Tactical Air
Command supports the US III, VIII, XII, and XX Corps elements in the Saint-
Hubert, Belgium-Bastogne, Belgium-Wiltz, Luxembourg areas and points E and S
near the Clerf River, Luxembourg and the Mosel River, Germany.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): For the fifth successive day no
bombing operations are flown. Weather permits only reconnaissance and escort
missions.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, Bad weather prohibits
all but weather reconnaissance and a scramble mission, all uneventful.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 14 Saipan Island-based B-24s hit an airfield on
Iwo Jima Island; 2 B-24s from Guam and Saipan Islands, again raid the
airfields on the night of 13/14 Jan.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Luzon Island,
Philippine Islands, B-24s hit the Tarlac barracks and storage area, Batangas
Airfield, and troop concentrations at San Juan, Del Monte, Muzon, and San
Vicente, P-47s fly a sweep from Laguna de Bay to Tarlac, destroying parked
aircraft and vehicles and A-20s hit the town of Batangas and nearby railroads
and highways, and bomb Lucena and Calingatan Airfields. Also the N Luzon area
is hit throughout the day by small raids. HQ 18th Fighter Group and the 12th
Fighter Squadron move from Sansapor, New Guinea to Lingayen, Luzon Island with
P-38s (the 12th has been operating from Morotai Island since Nov 44).

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

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 07:19:51 EST
From:    Mike Fetters <[email-masked]>
Subject: 50TH: SMITHSONIAN AND HIROSHIMA

FOR JOHN AUSLAND: Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the exhibition.
Your sentiments are echoed in the hundreds of letters we continue to
receive about the exhibition. I'm pleased when I hear from others who
recognize the sensitivity of this issue. When the Postal Service had
their "experience" last month, I received a lot of calls wanting to know
the Smithsonian's comments on the stamp flap. Of course we had nothing
to do with the concept/design/selection of the stamps, so we really
didn't have much of a comment. I hope that other organizations and
individuals will benefit from our experience and the Postal Service's
and exercise extreme care/sensitivity as they plan activities related to
the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 04:28:38 -0800
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 14-JAN-1945

On 14-JAN-1945, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - In the U.S. 1st Army sector, the 84th Division gains its
final objectives, taking Nadrin, Filly, Petite Mormont and Grande Mormonth.
The 2nd Armoured Division takes Wibrin, Cheveoumont, Wilogne and Dinwz. The
3rd Armoured Division takes Mont le Ban and Baclain. The 83rd Division
clears Honvelez. Units of the 106th Division take Henumont, Coulee and
Logbierme. Units of the 30th Division attack toward Hedomont and Thirimont
during the night and take Hedomont before dawn. Other units clear Villers
and Ligneuville and gain bridgeheads across the Ambleve River at these
points. In the 3rd Army sector, units of the 17th Airborne Division secures
Bertogne, which has already been vacated by the Germans. Units of the 11th
Armoured Division pushes along the Longchamps-Compogne highway until they
are stopped by heavy fire. Units of the 6th Armoured Division captures
Benonchamps and finishes clearing Mageret. In the 7th Army sector, the
German defenses continue to hold in the Bitche salient. The 14th Armoured
Division is in battle in Rittershoffen and Hatten.

Eastern Front - The Soviet offensive in Poland broadens as the 1st and 2nd
White Russian Fronts attack, from bridgeheads over the Vistula south of
Warsaw and over the Narew River north of the city. In southern Poland, the
1st Ukraine Front forces the Nida River. Heavy fighting continues in
Budapest but the German garrison is slowly giving ground. The Germans are
withdrawing from Yugoslavia at a steady pace.

Philippines - In the XIV Corps area, units of the 40th Division reach
Alaminos and Mangatarem. The 37th Division takes Bautista and Camiling. In
the I Corps area, the 43rd Division attacks toward Rosario but meets such
heavy fire near Amlang that it pulls back to its starting line. On Leyte,
the 96th Division relieves the 11th Airborne Division.

Burma - In the British XXX Corps area, the Indian 19th Division secures a
bridgehead across the Irrawaddy at Thabeikkyin, evoking a strong response
from the Japanese. Thinking the Division is actually the IV Corps the
Japanese rush reserves forward thus weakening other sectors.

The Homefront
-------------
Byron Nelson Wins - Byron Nelson has won the Phoenix Open golf tournament
with a 72 hole total of 274.

Army & Navy
-----------
Congressional Medal - The War Department has announced the posthumous award
of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Lt. Col. Leon R. Vance Jr., Garden
City, N.Y., for refusing to bail out of his stricken aircraft over the
English Channel last June because he believed a wounded crew member was
still aboard.

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

Sources: "United States Army in World War II, Chronology 1941-1945" compiled
by Mary H. Williams, Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of
the Army, "2194 Days of War" by Cesare Salmaggi and Alfredo Pallavisimi,
"Facts On File Yearbook 1945, Person's Index Of World Events" edited by R.L.
Lapica.

Copyright 1995 by John B Davis, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Previous articles are archived at ftp.webcom.com in directory /pub/jbd/www
and can be accessed via the WWW by URL: http://www.webcom.com/~jbd/ww2.html.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Davis                Cary, North Carolina                 [email-masked]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 07:00:40 EST
From:    Chris Morton <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Query:  Japan/US relations

Lee Windsor u <nshore!ncoast!usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu!MACH1.WLU.CA!wind6011> writes:

> Hello Ben!
>
> One of my classmates is currently working on a comparative review of John
> Dower's "War Without Mercy" and Akira Iriye's "Power and Culture".

Dower's book is a classic.  It's indispensible in a library of works on
the Pacific War.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 07:38:02 GMT-6
From:    "Robert T. Moore" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: BATTLE OF THE BULG

Hello, Ben!

Thank you for your note, and hope you are well.
I am sorry to learn of the death in your family. Please accept my
deepest sympathies.

All the best to you, too, for 1995.

Terry

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 08:38:39 EST
From:    Roger Coon <[email-masked]>
Subject: WEAP: British carriers (was trivia, decks)

I believe another reason for the the smaller number of aircraft
carried by British carriers was that unlike American practice,
they carried only as many aircraft as could be stored in the hangers.
Americans did and do, use deck storage to increase the number of
aircraft that can be carried by any one vessel.
Brad Coon

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 07:38:12 -0600
From:    Bruno Wroblewski <[email-masked]>
Subject: German POWS in US cities

        <COPIED>

>From [email-masked] Thu Jan 12 15:15:39 1995
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 1995 12:18:39 -0800
From: Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
To: Multiple recipients of list WWII-L <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MISC: Italian trivia

        <SNIP>

        Italian PXs were considered "low risk" and given a remarkable level
of freedom of movement, even while Italy was still an Axis enemy.
        [German PWs began to be allowed similar freedom of movement during
the last two years of the war, when they too were commonly seen strolling around
UK towns and going to the movies. Though there were no acts of violence towards
German PWs on pass, sight of them could be irritating to British civilians.]

____________________________________________________________________________

        The above brought back some memories of my own experiences during
WWII along with some questions I hope someone here can cast some light on.
        Before entering the US Army in 1945, I attended Central High School
in Philadelphia. Adjoining the high school was a national guard armory.
        About 1943 or 1944 we students noticed that there were German pows
at this armory. Since this was wartime and since many of the students at
Central were of Jewish background, some students started the practice of
baiting the pows whenever one of them ventured outside on the armory
grounds.
        Armory officials complained to our school authorities and the
students were ordered to stop the practice. Unfortunately, I never
learned what they were doing there or whether this was an instance of
a widespread pow housing policy. Also, I don't recall ever seeing any
guards in the vicinity.
        Can someone cast some light on this? Thank you.
                Bruno

******************************************************************************
               Bruno Wroblewski  <[email-masked]>
                          Illegitimi non carborundum
******************************************************************************

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 07:42:13 GMT-6
From:    "Robert T. Moore" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Olympics

Hello, Tim!

I doubt that. Goebbels was very quick to appreciate the value of
television, as he mentions in his diaries, but he never made
reference to its use in the context you describe below, and I would
think that he would have mentioned this somewhere within his lengthy
diaries.

The date for that diary entry was in 1943, to the best of my
knowledge.

Hope this helps.

Terry

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 08:57:45 CET
From:    "COL Donnell, Doug" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Olympic Games

Japan was to host the 1940 games.

                           Doug

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 07:44:23 GMT-6
From:    "Robert T. Moore" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: 50TH: SMITHSONIAN AND HIROSHIMA

Hello, Paul!

I have that information. Please let me know if you still need it. I
have corresponded with them all.

All the best.

Terry

> Having blabbed on about that,can any of you out there tell me the where-
> abouts of General Yeager, Sweeney, Tibbits, or Alan Sheppard? I assume they
> are all still extant, and would someday (being a book collector) oops- like
> to have them inscribe some books for me if I catch them at an airshow, talk,
> etc....
>
>
>
>                                            Thanks all for the info
>
>                                             Paul Gregor
>                                             Kent State
>
>                                          P S getting ready to post
>                                          another query
>

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 09:46:48 CET
From:    "COL Donnell, Doug" <[email-masked]>
Subject: 1944 Olympics

In my previous post I forgot to mention that the 1944 Olympics were
scheduled to be held in London.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:02:47 CET
From:    "COL Donnell, Doug" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Olympic Games

Here's an excerpt from "Olympiad 1936" by Judith Holmes which address the
question of Hitler's congratulations to winners:

[The high jump competition had just been completed and the first two places
were both black -- Cornelius Johnson of California set a new Olympic record
of 6 feet 8 inches]

The eyes of the newspapermen and everyone else in the stadium were glued
to Hitler's box.  Would he continue his policy of congratulating the winner
of each event and publicly shake hands with a black man who had just shown
himself superior to several whites?  He would not; at that moment he and
his retinue were hurriedly leaving the stadium while
down on the field Corny Johnson, crowned with the Olympic wreath of
victory, grinned.

There are as many versions of this incident as there are people to tell
them, but themost probably explanation received by this author comes from
K C Duncan, Secretary of the British Olympic Association:  after his
performacne with Wlellke and Salminen, says Mr Duncan, Hitler was approached
by members of the IOC [International Olympic Committee] who told him it
was not his place to publicly congratulate winners of any of the events and
due to an unfortunate coincidence this happened just before Johnson's
victory.  The official explanation at the time was that it looked like
rain.  But of course the incident was tailor-made for those who disapproved
of Hitler's racial policies; Herb Flemming, a Negro jazz musician attached
to the American team as interpreter, illustrates just what a bad impression
it made when he tells how, as Hitler left the stadium, an embarrassed
murmur rose from the huge, predominantly German, crowd.  And so the first
day of track and field competition closed with the story of Hitler's walk-
out echoing around the world.

End of quote

                             Doug

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 10:12:05 CET
From:    "COL Donnell, Doug" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Olympics

More on the Olympics (and yes, it's off the original thread, but something
I'm nonetheless interested in). . .

I'm not aware of the use of television at the 1936 Olympics.  The Olympics
did, of course, receive widespread coverage in all the German media --
and there's little doubt that the games were exploited by the propaganda
machine

Eleanor Holm Jarrett was the world record holder in the 100 meter backstroke.
She was a night club singer and film actress who "trained on champagne and
caviar".  Brundage dropped her from the team for partying on  the voyage
over.  I agree with Henry Sirotin -- Brundage was something of a kook and
it appears he had some sort of vindetta against Jarrett.  After he kicked
her off the team, she stayed on in Europe to cover the Games for US
newspapers.  Brundage then declaired her ineligible to compete in any
European amateur swimming meets (without giving a reason).

                               Doug

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 09:25:26 -0600
From:    Mark Parillo <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: JAPANESE MILITARY ATTEMPT AT COUP?

On Wed, 11 Jan 1995, Steven Pudlo, Dept. Computer Svcs. wrote:

> I seem to recall back in the 60's of the emergance of a lone Japanese
> soldier from some obscure pacific isle who didn't beleive the war was
> over. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that this was not the
> first such incident. Perhaps some of the more qualified members can pick
> up on this.
>                                                         Steve

   There were numerous cases of soldiers who fought on long after the
official surrender. Probably the most well known is Hiro Onoda, who did
not surrender until 1974. He was a young lieutenant assigned to lead the
defense of a small island in the Philippines, and he refused to give up
until his former commanding officer personally came to the island and
ordered him to do so. He started out with a group of several dozen men,
but after 1949 all but three had been caught or had surrendered. One of
the remaining three died about 1959, and another was killed in a shootout
with the police in 1972 (probably the last military casualty of World War
II). They survived by raiding farmers' fields and killing game in the
forests. Onoda believed that the war had moved into an economic phase and
that all newspapers and other information left out for him to read were
doctored to say the war was over. He even ignored amplified announcements
from members of his immediate family, because he believed he was serving
his country by providing an excuse for various Japanese nationals to
travel to "enemy" territory (and spy) to try to persuade him to give up.

   Incredibly, another Japanese soldier was captured two years after
Onoda surrendered. He was living in dense jungle on Guam and his presence
was unknown, unlike Onoda (the Filipinos knew he was around, but they
couldn't catch him). Also in contrast to Onoda, the soldier on Guam
(whose name escapes me) was in poor physical and mental health. He was
caught when a young Chamorro tackled him as he ran from a chance
encounter in the jungle. At first, no one even knew he was a
soldier or that he was Japanese.

   The exploits of the bypassed soldiers have inspired at least one novel
and Disney movie.

    - Mark Parillo
      Department of History
      Kansas State University

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 11:30:54 -0500
From:    "Matthew R. Burchette" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Query: Swastika

The swastika was adapted from an American Indian symbol for the four winds.
The original is backwards and is not canted at an angle. It is also neat to
note that this sign "as is" was used in the thirties as a unit patch by the
45th Division based out of Oklahoma. They soon changed to the thunderbird
design after 1939, I won't explain why for obvious reasons.
Just some more cocktail party knowledge for you all.
Enjoy,
Matthew
Museum Studies Graduate Student Geek at Large

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 11:16:14 -0600
From:    Greg Kelley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: German Ocean Liners (Romanian Carriers)

No, no, no, Henry-- it was King Zog of Albania who elected not to send a
delegate to the World Naval Disarmament Conference, thereby laying the
groundwork for an unrestricted naval program of enormous magnitude.
Sadly, unseasonal frost conditions decimated the Albanian kumquat crop,
resulting in a massive devaluation of the lek that brought Albania's
visionary dream of ruling the Adriatic with fleets of SKANDERBEG class
dreadnoughts, TOSK class battlecruisers, and the supersized GHEG class
aircraft carriers, designed to contain greater hanger space than Tirana
International Airport itself, to a sudden-- some might say
self-scuttling-- halt, before it could ever be considered to have begun.

Tragic, is it not?  (excuse me while I go weep for navaldom's loss....)

                                          Glad To Be Of Service!

                                          Greg Kelley
                                          St. Paul Public Library
                                          [email-masked]

On Thu, 12 Jan 1995, Henry Sirotin wrote:

> Dear Greg,
>
> Didn't the Royal Romanian Navy cancel a twenty carrier program in
> 1936 because of the limitations of the Treaty of Montreaux?
>
> Henry Sirotin
>

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 11:59:12 -0600
From:    "Tim J. Watts" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WEAP: British carriers (was trivia, decks)

Brad:
This is my understanding also.  Do you know if American carriers did/do have
a routine of rotating the aircraft parked on deck, so all weather equally?
Or is it just a matter of the last aircraft landed are the ones who have
to stay outside?

Tim J. Watts
Valparaiso University

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 12:35:02 EST
From:    Paul Gregor <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Query: Ahenerbe

Mary:

The Ahnenerbe was an agency designed to deal with among other things,
ascertaining the Aryan heritage of Nazi party members and others...
I haven't as yet found a good book on it in english and am afraid I cant
read German.  This posting and the swastika one are both subjects of great
interest to me as I also enjoy archaeology, mythology etc. As for the
swastika - Harry is correct - it is most often identified as an
Indo-European cross or Sun symbol, but both of these are much older, or
they are just archetypical figures which have arisen worldwide. On such
topics, one can read on the early history of the Nazis to find out about
the Swastika.  It was used by a group of German nationalists in their
secret society called the Thule Gesselschaft (thule society).  They
combined with another group called the Germanen Orden. 3 men were major
players in presenting a package of Pseudo history and occultism through
these organizations: Guido Von List, Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels, and Baron
Rudolf von Sebottendorf....This and further info is available in:

Dusty Slar's  Gods and Beasts: the Nazis and the Occult
 George L. Mosse writes on Racism, History, and the Volkisch Movement in:
               The Crisis of German Ideology:Intellectual Origins of the
               Third REich
What made Hitler tick can be found in a well documented and referenced book
called:The Psychopathic God Adolf Hitler (and i never went in much for
Psychohistory before) by Robert Waite

Much of the occult stuff has become intertwined with popular works by
enthusiasts and devotees.  Himmler was far more into this stuff than
Hitler....It was he who began the Lehbensborn program under the
Ahnenerbe to father pure Aryan children.  He also played at being
Frederick Barbarossa, complete with his own round table...When you
begin to research this stuff beware, some writings arent all that critical
of the power of occultist beleif.  One readily available is The Spear of
Destiny by Trevor Ravenscroft.  When you read  this stuff you invariably
cross paths with references to Theosophy and Helena Blavatsky, Crowley,
Gardner (of new age Wicca fame) and sometimes Gurdjieff.

                                           Hope this helps

                                            Paul Gregor
                                            Kent State
                 P.S. I,d be interested in other X-references myself

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 12:27:35 EST
From:    "H. Emery Ford" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Anti-ship missiles

On Fri, 13 Jan 95, Emmanuel Gustin wrote:

[much stuff snipped]

>I don't know a specialized reference work for WWII missiles. Most of this
>is from the 'Encyclopedia of Rockets and Missiles' by Bill Gunston.

Where can I find this book?

Thanks.

Emery

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 08:33:39 +0100
From:    JOHN AUSLAND <[email-masked]>
Subject: 50TH: ATTEMPTED JAPANESE COUP

  FOR MIKE YAKLICH
  Unfortunately, John Toland's book Rising Sun is not to be found in
any Norwegian library.  I would be grateful if, therefore, you could
post here the text of the portion related to the attempted coup.  I
would imagine others would be interested also.  No hurry.
  Regards, John Ausland/Oslo Norway

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 08:45:49 +0100
From:    JOHN AUSLAND <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: EXECUTIONS OF US SOLDIERS DURING WWII

  FOR SIDNEY ALLINSON
  I was interested in your data on executions of US servicemen in the
ETO during WWII.  This is a little told story.
  When I was doing research for my book LETTERS HOME, I learned of the
Slovik case when reading David Eisenhower's book about his
grandfather.  This led me to see if there were similar cases.  I did
not find it easy to get data but finally got from the US Army Military
History Institute in Carlisle an excerpt from a report by Lt. Gen.
Lee, commander of the Service Forces, covering July 30, 1943 to
February 25, 1945.  At that time, 35 had been executed, all but one
(presumably Slovik) for rape or murder.  19 were awaiting execution.
  Since I never heard anything about these executions while in the
Army, the number came as a shock.  My only experience was to defend a
soldier after the VE-Day for rape, and he got only fifteen years.  I
do not recall the death sentence even being discussed.
  After reading the Lee report, I checked a number of memoirs by Army
commanders and found no reference to executions.  In fact, I found no
reference even to such words as discipline in the indexes.  One would
think there were no disciplinary problems.
  Since your data goes beyond what I have, could you tell me the
source or sources for it?
  Regards, John Ausland/Oslo Norway
  PS  This leads me to wonder about the Pacific Theater.  Perhaps Ben
Frank could throw some light on this.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 12:41:13 GMT-6
From:    "Robert T. Moore" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:MIAs Home at Last

Hello, Jim!

Thank you very much for that post. I am so happy that the families of
those downed fliers were able to see them come home. Very touching!

Thanks again.

Terry

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 13:38:40 -0500
From:    QUACK <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Query: Swastika

Thought I read in the biography of Dolphy by Toland that the swastika symbol
was used by the Teutonic knights back in the eleven hundreds.
Ron

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 13:48:20 EST
From:    Brian Nicklas <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Anti-ship missiles

Also look for _The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament_
by Bill Gunston, New York, Orion Books, 1988.  Not in any current
book catalogs, but can still be found.
The ever-popular Putnam book, _German Aircraft of the Second World War_
by Smith and Kay has a nice section on all the German missiles.
This one is still available (Nautical & Aviation Publishing in the US)

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 11:04:15 -0800
From:    Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal <[email-masked]>
Subject: Faulty Torpedoes

        I'm a soon-to-be doctoral candidate at Marquette looking for any
unique, obscure, or first-person documentation regarding the Mark XIV
torpedo and it's less than stellar performance during the early months of
the Pacific War. I believe I have touched upon the major authors & works
(Lockwood, Beach, Roscoe, etc.) and read most general submarine histories
of the campaign. Also, if anyone is aware of a good source for
photographs of said ordnance, or of any photo histories of the Newport
Torpedo Station, please let me know. Thanks!

        Doug Shireman

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 13:48:12 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Hiroo Onoda

These was some discussion about Onoda on the list some time ago. Please
check the archives, and read his book:

_No Surrender_ published by Harper & Row '74. It's an English translation of
Waga Rubanto no sanjunen senso. 'His survival on Lubang in the Philippines.
I read the night life in China was something. ;-)

-Al

Alan Wild, Sr. Prog/Analyst
ACC - Lippitt - URI
Kingston, RI  02881

I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 19:13:53 +0000
From:    Gudmundur Helgason <[email-masked]>
Subject: Swastika (Webster definition)

Here is what Websters HUGE dictionary says on the Swastika:

1. a figure used as a symbol or an ornament in the Old World and in
America since prehistoric times ... [describing the look of it]
2. (this we knew :) this figure with clockwise arms as the official
emblem of the Nazi party and the Third Reich.

It also has a diagram of the two versions, one reversed (A) and Nazi (B)

a) Amrican and Oriental     b) Nazi

[ < Skt swastika - good luck sign, equiv. to su- good ]

Hope this helps

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gudmundur J. Helgason                              e-mail: [email-masked]
Olduslod 41
220 Hafnarfjordur                                   Maintainer of ICELAND.FAQ
ICELAND
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:04:33 -0500
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA:Luzon Remembers

>From the DoD Newswire 10 January 995

: 1945 LUZON LANDING REMEMBERED

   LINGAYEN, Philippines  -- Mock Japanese warplanes swooped
overhead and Filipino marines stormed ashore today to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the U.S. landing on the main Philippine
island of Luzon in World War II.
   On Jan. 9, 1945, the U.S. Sixth Army under Gen. Douglas MacArthur
landed at this town about 140 miles north of Manila. The capital,
which had been under Japanese control, fell a month later.
   President Fidel Ramos and a small group of American veterans were
among about 10,000 people who turned out on the wide, sandy beach to
watch the mock landing.
   Explosive charges buried in the sand simulated the naval
bombardment which preceeded the landing. The program also featured
actors in Japanese uniforms beating and mistreating civilians and
battling Filipino guerrillas.
   The ceremony was a scaled-down version of a lavish production
Oct. 20 that marked the 50th anniversary of MacArthur's return to
the Philippines at Leyte Island, 350 miles south of Manila.
   After pinning down the Japanese on Leyte, the American forces
took the central island of Mindoro, setting the stage for the main
attack on Luzon.
   The Japanese defeated a U.S.-Filipino force on the Bataan
peninsula and Corregidor island in 1942 to gain control of the
Philippines.
   MacArthur escaped to Australia, vowing, "I shall return."

====

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:37:22 EST
From:    Roger Coon <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WEAP: British carriers (was trivia, decks)

Tim,
        It is my impression that it largely a matter of what needed
maintenance at the time, but I will stress that is an impression only.
Brad Coon

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:56:42 EST
From:    Roger Coon <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Anti-ship missiles

There is also a slim little volume entitle _German Guided Missiles of
World War 2_  Sorry, its at home and I don't have the author.
Brad Coon

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:39:41 EST
From:    Mary Hricko <[email-masked]>
Subject: AWOL Fliers

Hello everyone,

        I have been following the discussion regarding the number of
ETO officers charged with criminal acts. I recall my father mentioning
that during one of his missions, a B-24 purposely flew out of formation
and proceeded to Switzerland. The crew chose not to respond to radio
calls and when the rest of the group returned to base, it was learned
that these men had planned this escape for some time.

       I am curious if anyone has heard about this incident and if any
of the ETO officers executed were among this crew. My father said that
the "AWOL" crew was charged with desertion and theft of an aircraft
and claimed that an extensive investigation took place. However, from
the materials I have read, there seems to be no mention of this incident.
Would the Air Force have elected to "cover it up"? If anyone can shed
some light, please do.

                      Regards,

                              Mary

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 12:30:28 CST
From:    Michael P LaForge <[email-masked]>
Subject: Royal Romanian Navy

The entire debacle which led to the cancellation of the
Royal Romanian Navy's planned 20 carrier fleet is detailed
in  Julia Childs' Memoir, "The Chef Wore Red".

                  :)

******************************************************************************
* Mike LaForge                                                               *
* U.S. Army Technical Center for Explosives Safety (USATCES)                 *
* Explosives Safety Logistics Division (ESL)                                 *
* Defense Environmental Restoration Program - Formerly Used Defense Sites    *
* (DERP-FUDS)                                                                *
* DSN: 585-8762  FAX: 585-6009  COMM: 815-273-8762                           *
******************************************************************************

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:10:58 -0500
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA:Brussels WWII Museum

>From the DoD Newswire 10 January 1995

:WWII EXHIBIT TRACES NAZISM

   BRUSSELS, Belgium  -- The battle for Hitler's headquarters at
the end of World War II left its own mark on Hitler's world: a
series of bullet holes in the Nazi leader's huge globe.
   The globe, on display for the first time in 50 years, is the
centerpiece of a new exhibit that traces the rise and consequences
of Nazism. Its memorabilia furnish full-scale, lifelike scenes from
the Nazi era, including a 1930s Berlin cabaret smeared with
anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic slogans, a London subway shelter
during the Battle of Britain and a German bunker looking out on the
Normandy beaches of France.
   Also shown are artifacts ranging from the authentic 1938 Munich
Agreement to Josef Stalin's handgun, Hitler's "Mein Politisches
Testament" and a yellow cloth with stars and "Jude" printed on it.
   Many of the items in the show, called "I Was 20 Years Old In
'45," have been taken out of storage for the first time since the
war. The show at the Royal Army Museum runs through May 14 and is
well on its way to meeting a target of 200,000 visitors.
   "This is great education for the new generation," said Guy
DeSwert of Sarnia, Ontario, relaxing after trekking more than a mile
through the exhibit.
   Among the sobering items on display is the original protocol of
the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which put Hitler's program of genocide
into practice. "Sometimes it is too cruel, but that is the message
we have to get across," said Rene Schyns, head of the exhibition.
   Few items grab visitors like Hitler's office globe.
   "It is truly a symbolic object," said Schyns. "It shows his
vision of an empire that was to last 1,000 years."
   Three holes tell another story. When Russian troops took Berlin
in 1945, they met with a last pocket of resistance around the
Chancellory, where the globe still stood in one of the offices.
   Nearby is the Fuhrer's white coat, stained with burns as it was
when discovered by the Russians in a Berlin bunker where Hitler saw
the last remnants of his empire crumble before committing suicide.
   "It epitomizes the destruction of his regime," said Schyns.
   The coat was taken to Moscow by the conquering troops, and is on
display here for the first time.
   The historical material was culled from several German museums
and archives, Moscow's Army Museum, London's Imperial War Museum,
the Auschwitz National Museum in Poland and Washington's National
Archives.
   "The toughest was to get documents from the so-called enemies --
Germany and Russia," said Schyns.
   "In Germany, the old curators didn't like what we were doing and
tried to hold back," he said. "The young wanted to show it."
Chancellor Helmut Kohl's office had to intervene to get some of the
material released, he said.
   Some of the reconstructions vividly convey to visitors
gut-wrenching feelings about the war and its times.
   A scene from a Berlin cabaret raided by Hitler's brownshirts
illustrates the first signs of repression: swastikas on the walls
and smashed chairs and beer glasses.
   The Holborn subway station, where Londoners took shelter from
Luftwaffe raids, is recreated down to the era's white tiles.
Visitors emerging from a period subway car bump into bunks where
frightened citizens spent nights under bomb attacks.
   Faithful to the war's chronology, visitors then enter a German
bunker on the Normandy coast, with a view onto the beaches that
would be taken by the Allied forces on June 6, 1944.
   Another bunker, ofn Berlin where Hitler spent his last hours
writing his political testament, is further down the walkway.

=====

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:32:14 -0600
From:    Mark Parillo <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: JAPANESE MILITARY ATTEMPT AT COUP?

   I am resending the following message because I keep getting messages
that it has been bounced. Please excuse me if you have already seen a
copy of this.
       - Mark Parillo

On Wed, 11 Jan 1995, Steven Pudlo, Dept. Computer Svcs. wrote:

> I seem to recall back in the 60's of the emergance of a lone Japanese
> soldier from some obscure pacific isle who didn't beleive the war was
> over. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that this was not the
> first such incident. Perhaps some of the more qualified members can pick
> up on this.
>                                                         Steve

   There were numerous cases of soldiers who fought on long after the
official surrender. Probably the most well known is Hiro Onoda, who did
not surrender until 1974. He was a young lieutenant assigned to lead the
defense of a small island in the Philippines, and he refused to give up
until his former commanding officer personally came to the island and
ordered him to do so. He started out with a group of several dozen men,
but after 1949 all but three had been caught or had surrendered. One of
the remaining three died about 1959, and another was killed in a shootout
with the police in 1972 (probably the last military casualty of World War
II). They survived by raiding farmers' fields and killing game in the
forests. Onoda believed that the war had moved into an economic phase and
that all newspapers and other information left out for him to read were
doctored to say the war was over. He even ignored amplified announcements
from members of his immediate family, because he believed he was serving
his country by providing an excuse for various Japanese nationals to
travel to "enemy" territory (and spy) to try to persuade him to give up.

   Incredibly, another Japanese soldier was captured two years after
Onoda surrendered. He was living in dense jungle on Guam and his presence
was unknown, unlike Onoda (the Filipinos knew he was around, but they
couldn't catch him). Also in contrast to Onoda, the soldier on Guam
(whose name escapes me) was in poor physical and mental health. He was
caught when a young Chamorro tackled him as he ran from a chance
encounter in the jungle. At first, no one even knew he was a
soldier or that he was Japanese.

   The exploits of the bypassed soldiers have inspired at least one novel
and Disney movie.

    - Mark Parillo
      Department of History
      Kansas State University

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:47:09 GMT-6
From:    "Robert T. Moore" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: TAC: Battle of the Bulge

Hello, John!

> I have a book on my to read list called _Hitler's Last Gamble, The
> Battle of the Bulge_, by Jacques Nobecourt (accent on the e).  Are Dupuy
> and Nobecurt one and the same or do we have two authors and identical
> book titles?

    They are the same title, but different people entirely.

    Hope this helps.

    Terry

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 15:49:44 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: JAPANESE MILITARY

That's they way I remember it also, Jack. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 15:51:38 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: 50TH: SMITHSONIAN

With respect to your statement that the fire bombings were doing more damage
than the A-bomb, please provide your sources, citations. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 15:51:48 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: QUERY:  JAPAN/US RELAT

Sorry, Lee, but I can't help you there. I've been too busy editing/reviewing
WWII manuscripts. Perhaps someone else on the list who is more familiar with
the bibliography of the subject can respond. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:14:20 -0500
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA:Operation Seal

>From the DoD Newswire 12 January 1995

:WWII TIDAL WAVE PLAN DETAILED

   CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand  -- It was a classic Catch-22.
Physicists could have told the military that its plan to end World
War II by washing Japanese troops off Pacific atolls with manmade
tidal waves wouldn't work.
   The problem was, it was a top-secret project they weren't
supposed to know about, so they couldn't tell any officers it was
doomed to failure.
   Unaware of America's Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb,
New Zealanders fast-tracked Project Seal -- their tidal wave weapon
of mass destruction.
   Prof. Thomas Leech, the mastermind behind Project Seal, boasted
it was of "tremendous importance, chosen to administer the coup de
grace to Japan."
   "By comparison, the atom bomb is a clumsy method of making an
attack," New Zealand's Embassy in Washington quoted Leech as telling
the Washington Evening Star in 1947, after Project Seal flopped.
   "It was a bit of a pie-in-the-sky idea," Jim Penman, an army
captain who worked on Project Seal, said Sunday. "He was a charlatan
in some ways. We were a bit suspicious of the whole situation."
   But Leech convinced U.S. Adm. William F. Halsey, commander of
American naval forces in the Pacific. Halsey asked New Zealand's
Cabinet to fund development: "Inundation in amphibious warfare has
definite and far-reaching possibilities as an offensive weapon."
   Tests on small models could not be duplicated in the field, and
the project sank without leaving a ripple -- except for some
recently declassified National Archive files found by peace activist
and researcher Owen Wilkes.
   Wilkes said he heard about Project Seal from a retired professor.
"Leech was blabbing about it to everybody," the man told Wilkes, so
the whole university in Auckland knew about it -- and knew it was
"world-class quackery."
   "They knew it wouldn't work, but they couldn't warn anyone
because they weren't supposed to know about it," Wilkes said.
   The National Archive files that Wilkes found tell a tale of
farcical scientific intrigue and bureaucratic empire-building:
   In the dark days of late 1943, American forces suffered appalling
casualties attempting to take Tarawa Atoll from a smaller, but well
dug-in, Japanese garrison. Massive bombardment of the atoll had
little effect, and officers started looking at better ways of
routing the Japanese.
   One suggestion came from New Zealand Wing Cmdr. Esmond Gibson,
who had witnessed the damage to atolls caused by tidal waves during
cyclones. As a civil engineer before the war, he had been involved
in blasting passages through coral atolls and had observed there
seemed to be critical depth at which underwater explosions generated
surface waves much larger than usual.
   If these explosions were scaled up, it might be possible to
generate "artificial tidal waves" for "clearing coral atolls" of
Japanese troops, he wrote in a memo.
   Leech, then the government's acting director of Scientific
Developments and a professor at Auckland University's Engineering
School, thought the idea had promise. Halsey agreed a trial would be
carried out.
   Leech, Gibson, U.S. scientific adviser James Snodgrass and a
squad of demolition experts flew to New Caledonia for tests that
produced only ripples, no matter what the depth of the explosion.
   Leech later came up with a new idea, based on the principle that
one of the best ways of making waves in a pond was to drop a heavy
flat object, such as a brick, onto the surface. How about a
flat-bottomed barge or a large raft?
   An encouraging wave was produced using a small explosive on a
small raft, but results were "superficially disappointing" when
scaling up was attempted, Leech noted. But he wrote an enthusiastic
report anyway.
   Leech, commissioned as a lieutenant colonel, commanded a team of
31 scientists and technicians that built an experimental pond 1,300
feet long and conducted some 3,700 explosive tests between June 6,
1944, and Jan. 8, 1945.
   Six weeks after tests began, the U.S. Navy withdrew all support,
when Halsey was replaced. Wilkes believes the U.S. commander in
chief of the Pacific fleet canceled U.S. support knowing the atom
bomb had been successfully tested.
   But Leech became even more exuberant in his claims, Wilkes said.
   In March he had predicted making 33-foot waves a mile offshore;
by July he said 40-foot waves three miles offshore using 2,000 tons
of high explosive. He claimed he could flood New Zealand's coastal
cities.
   But these were projections based on wavelets achieved by setting
off eight-ounce charges floating on six-inch plywood squares.
   New Zealand's Combined Operations Headquarters issued a scathing
assessment of Project Seal, calling Leech's projections
"fictitious." They predicted a 2,000-ton to 2,500-ton explosion
would make 18-foot waves a half-mile offshore.
   "Did the New Zealand experiments on tiny rafts bear any
resemblance to the practical problem of conveying 2,500 tons to the
required site?" asked the chief scientific adviser, J.D. Bernal.
   The War Cabinet ordered the project shut down in January 1945.
   "I did a survey of a beach in Auckland where they were going to
have a final test, a beach that was supposedly similar to Tokyo
Bay," said Penman, now 74. The test never took place.
   But the unlikely saga continued. In March 1945, the U.S. Pentagon
Office of Scientific Research and Development made an urgent request
for Seal data, Wilkes' research found.
   Sir Ernest Marsden, head of New Zealand's Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research, believed the Americans were
using Seal data in planning their nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll, the
files showed.
   In 1947, Leech won a British honor just below knighthood,
Commander of the British Empire, for his wartime work, which was
still classified. That led newspapers to seek out him and Snodgrass,
who dropped tantalizing -- if misleading -- clues about the
significance of their project.
   Wilkes says the Cold War kept Project Seal lingering on in "a
sort of half life" as New Zealand periodically reviewed the concept.
The file was closed in 1961. Leech has also died.
   "It seems clear that the data from these tests was of at least
peripheral value to the American and British scientists carrying out
nuclear tests," Wilkes said.

====

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 12:11:00 -0500
From:    Colin Brace <[email-masked]>
Subject: TRV: B-29 Auxiliary Power

          I've been asked to post this by another group. We had a discussion
          about the Crosley car (same manufacturer as the radios) and it was
          mentioned that the Crosley engine that eventually found its way
          into the Crosley car started life as an auxiliary power source for
          B-29. The story went that a Crosley engine was in each wing of a B-
          29, in case power failed to such things as hydraulic or electrical
          systems, this engine would be a backup.

          Maybe Jack McKillop or someone else can shed some light on this, or
          is it just an urban legend?

          Also, this was answered a few months ago, but has escaped my
          memory: There was one B-29 sent to England, to be "seen". What were
          the specifics, if available, of this plane, i.e. number, name,
          where in England it was deployed, etc.

          Thank you for your patience with my admittedly trivial questions.

          Colin Brace     WA1KWA

          [email-masked]

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 13:58:44 -0500
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA:Britain Commemorative

>From the DoD Newswire 11 January 1995

:BRITAIN BEGINS WORLD WAR TWO COMMEMORATIONS

    LONDON, Jan 10  - Britain kicked off a year of
celebrations marking the end of World War Two by issuing a
commemorative coin on Tuesday.
     Roger Holmes, head of the Royal Mint, said the coin symbolised
peace and reconciliation half a century after the fighting ended in
Europe and Japan. It portrays Queen Elizabeth on one side, a dove of
peace on the other.
     The coin is legal tender and worth two pounds ($3.13).
     It was launched by Dame Vera Lynn, whose war-time singing
transformed her into a sweetheart for scores of homesick British
troops and a symbol of the nation's spirit.

=====

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 15:59:00 -0400
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: 50TH: ATTEMPTED JAPANESE COUP

        No problem, John.  I'll get something together within the next week.

        Regards

        Mike

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 15:11:53 CST
From:    Michael P LaForge <[email-masked]>
Subject: Torpedo MK 14

How About Norm Friedman's US Naval e Weapons?

nice picture of a MK14 on page 116. there is a short discussion of the
"torpedo scandal" on page 117.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 18:36:12 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 3rd Army Chronology - 14Jan45

January 14, 1945
D-Day + 222

-III Corps west flank, Senonchamps was cleared by 6th Armored.

-XX Corps, 94 Inf Div repulsed a heavy counter attack, and continued to
 capture Borg.

-XIX TAC flew 633 sorties, claiming 7 enemy aitcraft, 410 vehicles,
 52 armored vehicles/tanks, 74 railroad cars, and 10 locomotives.

-Patton attends a supply conference with Gen. Bradley and others. Gen
 Lee wore a special helmet with his rank painted on front and back,
 unorthodox. Lee is in charge of ComZ, supply.

-104 tons of medical supplies arrive from ComZ, relieving critical
 shortages.

***********

Alan Wild, Sr. Prog/Analyst
ACC - Lippitt - URI
Kingston, RI  02881

I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 19:34:10 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 3rd Army Chronology - 15Jan45

January 15, 1945
D-Day +223

-90th Inf Div, 358th Rgmt overtook Nieder Wampach, capturing 300 Germans,
 losing 2 casualties.

-XIX TAC flew 472 sorties, this time railroads... They cut 41 lines, then
 started after tunnels, blocked 7 and caught one train in a tunnel, sealing
 it off completely. (can you hear the hoots on the radio? -Al)

-Extreeme cold forced the local production of specialized gloves for firing
 small arms.

-Supply channel problems prompted a local bid for steel cable of 1-inch.
 This was used as towing cable for vehicles stuck in snow, ice, and mud.
 Esch and Luxembourg factories supplied the demand.

*** Source: _Patton's 3rd Army, A Chronology_ by Charles Province.
    Typos: mine; 'sorry

Alan Wild, Sr. Prog/Analyst
ACC - Lippitt - URI
Kingston, RI  02881

I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 21:20:09 AST
From:    GERI-LYNN KENNEDY <[email-masked]>
Subject: 1936 Olympics

I am currently writing a major research paper on the 1936 Olympics.
I've been following the recent discussion on the list concerning the
Olympics and I'd like to throw out a topic.  Does anyone want to
comment on the development of sport during the Nazi era -
specifically in preparation for the '36 Games.  I'm interested in
exploring the relationship between sport and the military in Nazi
Germany.  Or maybe someone can recommend some sources or book titles
that deal with this topic.  Thanks.

Geri-Lynn

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 20:07:45 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 3rd Army Chronology - 16Jan45

January 16, 1945
D-Day +224

-3rd Army G-2 estimates Germans are more determined to continue their
 delay/defend ativity. This was gleaned from artillery around Houfflaize.
 G-2 confirms eastern front activity building.

-504 XIX TAC sorties were flown against heavy air defense from the Germans.
 14 German planes were shot down, 5 American.

-Captured were Ober Wampach, Schimpach, Longvilly, Mabompre, Wicourt,
 Rachamps, Hardigny, and Bourcy.

-Ice caused problems with 3rd Army tracked vuhicles. Steel lugs on alternate
 5th lugs assisted in relief.

-Refugees increased in a weeks time 10,300.

*********

Alan Wild, Sr. Prog/Analyst
ACC - Lippitt - URI
Kingston, RI  02881

I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 21:47:27 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: OLYMPICS

If you remember, Henry, he made Jim Thorpe give back all his medals because
Thorpe had played on a semi-pro baseball or football team. I will never forget
the son of a bitch for his attitude and decisions during the Munich olympics
after the massacre of the Israeli athletes. Thank God he's not around anymore.
He is probably turning in his grave because of the way professionalism has
crept into the current olympic games. Cheers, Ben

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 21:47:32 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: 50TH: SMITHSONIAN AND

Mike, I second the thoughts John Ausland posted to you. I have had an
opportunity to read all five scripts of the exhibit and I think that the last
one answers a lot of the questions and doubts raised earlier. Martin sent me a
copy of the pre-exhibit script and I will give Tom Allison my comments next
week. I think that your coming on line with statements, explanations, etc. is a
good thing and has opened a line of communications for many interested in the
Enola Gay exhibit. Keep it coming. Ben Frank

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 22:06:08 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: FAULTY TORPEDOES

If you haven't already, you ought to check the material in the Naval Historical
Center in the Washington Navy Yard to see what it has on your subject. I feel
certain that the Center's files on torpedos in WWII are bulging. Another good
source are the Navy oral history interviews with submarine officers. Also, Ned
Beach is alive and well in Washington, DC and he would be a good first-person
source. Ben Frank, always willing to help a researcher in naval and Marine
Corps history.

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 22:06:15 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: GEN: EXECUTIONS OF US

John, I have never read about or heard of any executions in the Pacific
theater, probably because, except for Saipan, Guam, the Philippines, and
Okinawa, all of the other operations were at places which had no civilian
populations. I know that when the 1st Marine Division went to China after
Okinawa, there were a couple of incidents, such as the rape of a Chinese
university student and the shooting of Chinese who were raiding supply dumps in
Tientsin and possibly also Tsingtao. But I have never seen any reports of any
kind relating to courts martial or disciplinary problems. In China, we were
just too happy to be out of the jungles and in civilization after all our time
in the Pacific. By the way, I'll xerox that portion of the Toland book which
tells of the attempted coup at the time of the Emperor's radio broadcast. Ben

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 20:30:35 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Olympics

Television was developing well in Germany, France, and Britain (and
yes, in the USA) during the late 1930s.
Germany was particularly well ahead with a "television telephone" system.
AS early as 1936, there was regular TVphone service between Berlin and
four other german cities.[So much for excitement about teleconferencing
in the 1990s.)
Three European countries were discussing the possibility of televising
limited coverage of the planned 1940 Olympic Games. "Cancelled due to
a slight war."

--

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 20:33:11 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: JAPANESE MILITARY ATTEMPT AT COUP?

There also was a Laurel & Hardy movie in the 1930s on a similar theme.
Stanley carries on in his trench for years, unaware that the First World
War has been over for years...

--

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 20:33:56 -0800
From:    John Riegsecker <[email-masked]>
Subject: Executions

Here is what _World War II: America at War 1941 -1945 has to say about
Americans executed during WWII.  These are supposed to be official JAG
figures.

                RAPE/           MURDER/
        RAPE    MURDER  MURDER  MUTINY  DESERTION
WWII     51     18      72      0       1
WWI      11     3       2       19      0

This comes to 142 and it says there were 140 executions in the European
theater so there were two in the Pacific.  I don't recall if these
figures match previously given ones.

It also says some executed soldiers (including Slovick) were buried in
a dishonored plot ("Plot E") at Fere-en-Tardenois France.

John Riegsecker
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
University of Puget Sound

[email-masked]

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

Date:    Fri, 13 Jan 1995 20:42:23 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: AWOL Fliers

There was no American airman executed for desertion during the Second
World War.
In fact, there was no American *officer* executed for any reason in WW2.

It was always night impossible to prove that a pilot force-landed intentionally
-- whether in neutral Switzerland or anywhere else for that matter. As well,
by the time interned US airmen were repatriated, the war was over, and
even proven deserters were given amnesty, without punishment.

Other than Pvt. Eddie Slovik, executed for repeated desertion, all US
soldiers executed in the ETO had committed the crimes of rape or muder.

(murder)

--

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 12 Jan 1995 to 13 Jan 1995
*************************************************