Subject: WWII-L Digest - 17 Feb 1995 to 18 Feb 1995

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 00:00:29 -0500

There are 28 messages totalling 911 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. INF: USN Chronology 02-18-95
  2. Indian Freikorps... (4)
  3. New WWII PC'ism
  4. REF: Tigers in combat, volume I (3)
  5. INF: 50 Years Ago - 19-FEB-1945
  6. Washington, D.C. (3)
  7. Order of Battle
  8. NON-WWII: Order of Battle (3)
  9. Army-Type Chaos (2)
 10. Query: Lt. Col. Leon Vance
 11. Japan's Grand Strategy
 12. MEDIA:Marines to Iwo
 13. And furthermore...(Japan, appendix)
 14. Holocaust and Germans
 15. Careers of Paul Hauser and Josef Dietrich
 16. TACT: Japanese tactics
 17. New WWII PC'ism - Dresden bombing
 18. ACORN UNIT INFO

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 00:00:20 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 02-18-95

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

1945
02/18 Sun.  United States naval vessels damaged, Iwo Jima area:
             Light minelayer GAMBLE (DM-15), by horizontal bomber,
              24 d. 55'N., 141 d. 08'E.
             High-speed transport BLESSMAN (APD-48),
              by horizontal bomber,
              25 d. 05'N., 141 d. 10'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, 17 Feb 1995 21:26:56 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Indian Freikorps...

Jitendra....
        I do not have any recollection of the Indian Friekorps "fighting
alongside the SS".  To my best knowledge, the unit was recruited by the
Germans from Indian troops captured in Greece and North Africa. They kept
their British Lee Enfields and Vickers Berthier s.m.s', but were issued a
uniform similar to the SS, while retaining the turban.
Howver, the Indian Friekorps seems to have been employed mainly as
occupation troops, and I have not come across accounts of them being used in
actual combat. There were Indian "SS" in Normandy, and in the Balkans. You
might be able to track down something about small scale actions involving them
there.
Good hunting -- Sidney.

--

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

Date:    Fri, 17 Feb 1995 17:15:49 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: New WWII PC'ism

In 1919, the German National Socialist Labour Party had seven members
                (Adolf Hitler was No. 7)
In 1932, the Nazi Party had 920,000 members.

Formal members, not "voters".

In 1933, the Nazi Party received 33 percent of the vote.

Largely irellevant of course, this solemn chat about whether or not
Adolf Hitler was "voted in"
You'd think the place was a democracy then.   :-)

--

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

Date:    Fri, 17 Feb 1995 21:35:38 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Indian Freikorps...

Jitendra...
        A possible lead for you.
        The Bengali nationalist, Subhas Chandra Bose, was a proponent
of encouraging soldiers of the Indian Army to change side and join the
german cause.
        He was notably afailure, because of the tremendously loyal and
proud Indian Army.  He made some recruiting efforts in Europe among
Indian PWs and made several propagandaa
broadcasts from Berlin. Howver, he next turned his attention the Far East,
and helped raise a similar force for the Japanese -- soething called the
Free India Army. Bose was killed in an air-crash before the end of WW2.

Maybe study of his "expolits" may lead you to the info you seek about those
few soldiers of India who were the exception and embraced Nazidom for sake
of expediency. They were a very small, and un-typical, minority.

Regards -- Sidney.

--

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 20:55:33 +0900
From:    Akira Takiguchi <[email-masked]>
Subject: REF: Tigers in combat, volume I

     Wolfgang Schneider / J.J.Fedorowicz Publishing Inc. (Canada) 1994
     ISBN 0-921991-21-5

     Today I received a copy of this book.  This week has been a really
great one :).  Overwhelming photographs and data.  All Panzer enthusiast
MUST get one.  Volume I covers army "numbered" troops (like 501, 502).
Volume II will cover "named" (like Grossdeutschland) and Waffen-SS troops.
This is the first time for me to see insignias of 503/504/508/510 painted
actually on Tigers.  A big present from a reliable author (those who read
his books in Podzun Waffen-Arsenal series will agree).

Akira Takiguchi  ATSON Inc./ASAHI Net

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 07:11:43 -0500
From:    Ira Krakow <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Indian Freikorps...

>         The Bengali nationalist, Subhas Chandra Bose, was a proponent
> of encouraging soldiers of the Indian Army to change side and join the
> German cause.

  The Nazis were adept at exploiting local nationalist sentiment to
recruit adherents to their cause.  In my opinion, Bose did this because
of differences with other Indian nationalists such as Gandhi and Nehru,
not because of some deep pro-Nazi sentiment.

  In Europe, more relevant examples are in Croatia, Slovakia, and
Vichy France, where popular, pro-Nazi governments were set up for
local nationalist reasons.  P.S.:  one should condemn the ethnic
cleansing actions of the Serbs in former Yugoslavia, but they *do*
have a point that the Croat collaborationist government of Pavelic
massacred many Serbs during the war.

Ira

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 22:26:25 +0900
From:    Akira Takiguchi <[email-masked]>
Subject: REF: Tigers in combat, volume I

     Having read further this book, I can now provide you an amazing
information.

     Top scorers (minumum account) [in sPzAbt 502]

          Oberleutnant Carius    150 tanks
          Hauptmann Boelter      144 tanks
          :

     Top scorers [in sPzAbt 503]

          Feldwebel Knispel      162 tanks
          Oberfaehnrich Rondorf  106 tanks

     Three of them surpass Wittmann's record.  I called my friend Mr
Kikuchi who have just completed Japanese translation of Mr Carius's
classic _Tiger in Schlamm_, and told him about this.  He said he will
ask Mr Carius immediately to find if these figures [or at least his
own] are true.  I will let you know the outcome [it will take some
time because neither of them use the Internet! :)]
     Rondorf's record has been known for a long time because it is on
the classic _Tiger_ by Kleine/Kuehn.  Some Japanese researchers think
the record is questionable because Rondorf didn't receive a Knight's
Cross.  [Neither Knispel did receive a Knight's Cross - strange, isn't
it? - what do you think?]

      I have found a couple of small flaws and a major mistake (on
the numbering system of sPzAbt 505).  No one is free from errors! :)

Akira Takiguchi  ATSON Inc./ASAHI Net

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 08:39:16 -0500
From:    chris garcia <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: REF: Tigers in combat, volume I

On Sat, 18 Feb 1995, Akira Takiguchi wrote:

>      Wolfgang Schneider / J.J.Fedorowicz Publishing Inc. (Canada) 1994
>      ISBN 0-921991-21-5
>
>      Today I received a copy of this book.  This week has been a really
> great one :).  Overwhelming photographs and data.  All Panzer enthusiast
> MUST get one.  Volume I covers army "numbered" troops (like 501, 502).
> Volume II will cover "named" (like Grossdeutschland) and Waffen-SS troops.
> This is the first time for me to see insignias of 503/504/508/510 painted
> actually on Tigers.  A big present from a reliable author (those who read
> his books in Podzun Waffen-Arsenal series will agree).
>
> Akira Takiguchi  ATSON Inc./ASAHI Net
>
There's a book publisher here you would definately love, called Schiffer
Publications.  I have some of their Luftwaffe books.  They publish books
on the military but they speicialise on wehrmacht and Luftwaffe
subjects.  They have a gazillion books on german tanks.  You can get
their catalog by calling or writing to:
   Schiffer Publishing Ltd
   1469 Morstein Rd
   West Chester Pennsylvania 19380
The catalog is free but the postage is $2.00

Good luck.

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 10:47:56 EST
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 19-FEB-1945

On 19-FEB-1945, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - The British XXX Corps continues the battle for Goch, where
the Germans are resisting street to street. In the U.S. 3rd Army sector,
the 90th Division takes Masthorn, Ober and Nieder Uttfeld. The 11th
Armoured Division captures Herzfeld and mops up in the Leidenborn area. The
XX Corps opens an attack to clear the Saar-Moselle Triangle. In the 7th
Army secotr, the 70th Division breaks into Forbach and begins street
fighting there.

Eastern Front - Heavy fighting is taking place on the Samland Peninsula in
Prussia as the Germans attempt to escape westward from Koenigsberg. In
northwest Poland, Russian troops are pressing northward toward Danzig and
have encircled Grudziadz. Soviet troops in Silesia continue attacks against
the Breslau garrison and in the region northwest of Breslau.

Italian Front - The 10th Mountain Division maintains positions on the
Sarassiccia-Campania ridge against counterattacks.

Philippines - The intensive bombardment of Intramuros continues. Rock Force
repels Japanese counterattacks on Corregidor.

South Philippines - The 8th Army begins a series of amphibious operations
to clear the shipping route through San Bernardino Strait to Manila.
Elements of the Americal Division land at Allen, on the northwest tip of
Samar. Elements of the 182nd Infantry land on Capul Island at the west
entrance to the strait.

Leyte - Americal Division units are eliminating pockets of resistance in
the Villaba area.

Iwo Jima - After very heavy preparatory bombardment by warships and carrier
and land-based aircraft, the V Amphibious Corps Landing Force goes ashore
on the southeast coast of Iwo Jima, beginning at 0900. Elements of the 4th
and 5th Marine Divisions land abreast against light resistance initially.
As the attack moves inland, the Japanese fire becomes increasingly heavy,
particularly on the right and the marines incur heavy casualties. The left
flank elements turn south toward Mt. Suribachi, the highest point of the
island and located on the south tip. The right flank elements start north.
Tanks and artillery go into action, as soon as they are landed.

The Homefront
-------------
Midnight Curfew - War Mobilization Director James Byrnes has "requested"
that all places of entertainment in the country observe a midnight curfew
beginning Feb. 26th and continuing indefinitely as a means of conserving
coal, electricity and manpower.

Sam Snead Wins - Sam Snead has won the Gulfport, Miss. open golf
tournament, defeating Byron Nelson by one stroke after a 19-hole playoff.

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

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                           | [email-masked]
Cary, North Carolina                 | http://www.webcom.com/~jbd/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 10:58:03 -0500
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: Washington, D.C.

For our vacation this summer, my wife and I have decided to spend 4 or 5 days
in Washington, site-seeing. Are there any "must see" places that are related
to World War II that you can recommend? I know about the Air and Space Museum
of course and also the Holocaust Museum and the Iwo Jima monument. What is at
the Washington Navy Yard??

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Davis                           | [email-masked]
Cary, North Carolina                 | http://www.webcom.com/~jbd/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 11:16:03 EST
From:    "SGM Robert S. Rush" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Order of Battle

Dick,

Will try to answer your questions on Regimental affiliations to divisions.

Regiments were assigned to Divisions and not normally chopped from one to
another.  After World War II there was some change to division organizations
with the regular army regiments assigned to the organized reserve divisions
(i.e., 5th Infantry Regiment) either deactivating or becoming Regimental
Combat Teams.  Divisional structure in RA divisions remained the same as
for WWII.  I believe remained the same for NG divisions also, but not
sure.
Some changes were made during Korea, for operational reasons.  The 24th
ID picked up the 5th RCT after the 34th Regiment was for all intents and
purposes wiped out.  I believe this occured in other divisions as well.

But the get back to your question, for the most part regiments who fought
in X divisions during WWII were still a part of that division in the 1950s.

Hope this helps
Rob Rush
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 12:04:36 -0600
From:    Chuck Johnson <[email-masked]>
Subject: NON-WWII: Order of Battle

A Quick question on a non-WWII related subject:  I understand that in the
modern U.S. Army, regiments are a thing of the past -- Brigades are used
now instead.  Is this correct?  Where would one find information about the
current U.S. force structure?

Thanks.

Yours,
  Chuck Johnson -- [email-masked]
___________________________________________________________________________
> Dick,
>
> Will try to answer your questions on Regimental affiliations to divisions.
>
> Regiments were assigned to Divisions and not normally chopped from one to
> another.  After World War II there was some change to division organizations
> with the regular army regiments assigned to the organized reserve divisions
> (i.e., 5th Infantry Regiment) either deactivating or becoming Regimental
> Combat Teams.  Divisional structure in RA divisions remained the same as
> for WWII.  I believe remained the same for NG divisions also, but not
> sure.
> Some changes were made during Korea, for operational reasons.  The 24th
> ID picked up the 5th RCT after the 34th Regiment was for all intents and
> purposes wiped out.  I believe this occured in other divisions as well.
>
> But the get back to your question, for the most part regiments who fought
> in X divisions during WWII were still a part of that division in the 1950s.
>
> Hope this helps
> Rob Rush
> [email-masked]
>

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 06:41:00 -0500
From:    Frank Scheidt <[email-masked]>
Subject: Army-Type Chaos

 >>>--->  Response written on Sat  02/18/95 at 06:37 Hours  <---<<<
 WWID> Jim O'Neil  From the interrogation of a German General at the end of
 WWID> WW II:
 WWID> "The reason the American Army does so well in War, is
 WWID> that War is Chaos, and the American Army practices it
 WWID> on a daily basis"

Interesting statement, as one of *my*, personal, favorite sayings
(made up by *me*) was that the only chance we have of winning this
war is if the German army is even *more* screwed-up than is our
own ... apparently it *was* ...

... Dandelion:  A large friendly cat.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 12:26:13 -0600
From:    Terrence Lindell <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Query: Lt. Col. Leon Vance

Mary,

The 8th Air Force Historical Society publishes a newsletter entitled the
8th AF News, which comes out quarterly.  They have a feature called "Mail
Call" in which they list queries for information and other such items.
You might try sending them a request.

The managing editor is James W. Hill, 125 Ramblewood Road, Pennsylvania
Furnace, PA  16865.

The historical society has an associate membership for people who were not
in the 8th AF.  Dues are $10 per year, which gets a person the newsletter
and news of wing and chapter gatherings.  I have found it a terrific way
to talk to veterans about their experiences.  Anyone who is interested in
membership should e-mail me privately and I will send information on joining.

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

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 13:25:28 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Washington, D.C.

For our vacation this summer, my wife and I have decided to spend 4 or 5 days
in Washington, site-seeing. Are there any "must see" places that are related
to World War II that you can recommend? I know about the Air and Space Museum
of course and also the Holocaust Museum and the Iwo Jima monument. What is at
the Washington Navy Yard??

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Davis                           | [email-masked]
Cary, North Carolina                 | http://www.webcom.com/~jbd/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you're in the area, I'd highly recommend a "day-trip" out to
Annapolis.  It's only about a half hour drive from the beltway.  They
have a museum there which could take several hours to pour through.  I
was there for only about 45 minutes before a wedding at the chapel a
few weeks ago, and was hard pressed to make it to the ceremony.
(Would have been a serious faux pas, since I was in charge of handing
out the programs!)

They have scores of ship models, and mementos from all eras of U.S.
Naval history.  John Paul Jones lies in state under the rotunda of the
chapel.  There is also the Naval Institute Press bookstore in the
basement of the museum, where you may browse through (or purchase --
leave your VISA card in the car! :-) many of the works referenced on
this list.  The "main" hallway in Bancroft Hall -- which does have a
proper name that I just can't remember -- has paintings, dioramas and
a big board with the names of all the Academy graduates who were
killed in service.  I found that when I was reading down the list it
was amazing how many of the WWII "heros" were USNA graduates.

There are also all sorts of pieces of equipment such as guns, a
torpedo, and things like that, that are on display throughout the
campus.  The Midshipmen usually have "parades" for marching into
mealtimes and etc, but I don't have any info on the schedules for
such.  Probably not good in the summer, since most of the Midis are on
a cruise or some other assignment during break.

Good Luck and have fun!

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

P.S.  The weather gets pretty miserable (very hot and humid) in late
July and August.  You may want to come early in the summer!

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 18:52:00 UTC
From:    "Edward S. Miller" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Japan's Grand Strategy

  I've been quietly pondering the discussion here.  Whether Japan could have
"won" WWII, depends on what you think its objectives were.
  Japanese thinking was confused--it wasn't even sure whether it would fight
the USSR or Anglo-Americans or indeed anybody at all--but its motivation was
essentially economic.  Japan emerged and prospered in a world of free trade
(not as free as today, but free enough) from 1853 through the 1920s.  The
Great Depression, which in Japan's case began in the mid/late 1920s, was
devastating.  Exports fell by two-thirds.  High tariffs and severe trade
restrictions were imposed worldwide.  Nationalistic leaders concluded that
great powers could survive only through controlling empires such as the
overseas empires of Britain and France or the continental "empires" of the
US and USSR.  Suffering was so bad--many Japanese farmers actually starved
to death--that imperialists and militarists gained the upper hand.  It is no
surprise that the annexation of Manchuria occurred in 1931 at the absolute
worst moment economically; Japan's economy actually began to revive in 1932,
well before the US.  There was no turning back after that.
  The problem was, Japan was pursuing am imperial strategy that was
acceptable in the 19th century but not in the 20th.  Isolationists
notwithstanding, the "have" states were not going to permit the "have nots"
to reorder the world as they themselves had done earlier.  The other "have
nots", Italy and Germany, followed similar expansionist policies at the same
time.  Thus the combined threat was correctly perceived by the "haves" as
global and extremely dangerous.  (In the Nazi case the march to war included
a violently racist agenda.  They intended to exterminate the inhabitants of
conquered lands in eastern Europe and resettle Germans there, a policy the
Japanese and Italians did not share.)
  Thus Japan's objective was a formal or informal trading empire in the Far
East, which required driving out or neutralizing the western powers. Japan's
war plan, insofar as it existed at all, was to conquer East Asia rapidly,
isolate and defeat China, then hunker down for a long attrition war in the
Pacific.  After some time, presumably after the US fleet was sunk in a great
battle, a negotiated peace would cede to Japan most of its conquests.  Pearl
Harbor was a late-blooming idea that facilitated the opening phase
militarily but of course was politically suicidal because the US would not
thereafter have accepted a negotiated peace.
  I think it is conceivable that Japan could have "won" a favorable
negotiated peace if it had behaved as follows: not allied itself with
Hitler, not attacked Pearl in peacetime, tried initially to avoid fighting
the US while moving on Singapore and the Indies (i.e., let the US fire the
first shot), avoided atrocities, and made sincere efforts to co-opt colonial
populations in a joint crusade (remember, FDR and US opinion was strongly
anticolonial).  It could have offered to demilitarize the Philippines which
were scheduled for independence in 1946 in any case.  It may sound
outlandish, but a Japanese offer to join the war against Germany might have
promoted a truce at some point.
  There is no way whatsoever that Japan could have invaded the U.S. It is
extremely unlikely it could have occupied Hawaii, and it certainly could not
have held it.  It is even dubious if it could have pulled off a second Pearl
Harbor raid in wartime.  I base these statements on logistics.
  In my "soft war" scenario Japan's armed forces and hardware would have
been adequate to the task.  Japan lost because of political idiocy, not
military inadequacy.
  The greatest objection to my own argument is that the American objective
in a Pacific war had been, for three decades, the total economic ruin of
Japan.  This was clearly set forth in War Plan Orange.  It would have taken
incredibly deft strategy for Japan to induce the United States not to pursue
this course.
  Joe Barone asked the sensible question of whether Japan sought a
settlement after its initial victories.  No, it did  not.  "Victory disease"
blinded its leaders.  It is interesting to speculate how such an overture
might have been received, especially if Japan had won at Midway, at the very
moment Hitler was rampaging through Russia and North Africa.  The peace
faction did not have an opening until the Tojo government fell in July 1944,
after Saipan, and even then it took another year of horror to end the matter.

Ed Miller   author of =War Plan Orange=    [email-masked]

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 14:25:57 -0500
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Army-Type Chaos

>Interesting statement, as one of *my*, personal, favorite sayings
>(made up by *me*) was that the only chance we have of winning this
>war is if the German army is even *more* screwed-up than is our
>own ... apparently it *was* ...

>... Dandelion:  A large friendly cat.
>___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Per the thread above: I once heard a WWII/Europe vet say that in late 1944
things looked bleak for him (a green PFC) and his unit. They'd taken horrendous
casualties, supplies were non-existent, and he was scared to death. He said to
his top sergeant, a grizzled Old Sweat, "How're we goin' to survive this war,
much less win it?" The sarge thought a while, spat out a thick stream of
tobacco juice, and replied, "Sheeeit, kid, don't sweat it. The Germans got an
army too!"

-- Warren Thompson

[email-masked]

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 12:57:29 -0800
From:    John Riegsecker <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Marines to Iwo

>From:         James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
>Subject:      MEDIA:Marines to Iwo

[...]
>   Sixty Marines this week began preparing for the return of more
>than 1,000 veterans of the battle for the small Pacific island, a
>fight that has come to symbolize the brutality of war.
>   The Marines have begun cleaning monuments, cutting back jungle
>undergrowth and pouring cement pedestals for flag-raising
>ceremonies.

Based on books I've read I always picture Iwo as a pretty barren place.
For example from _Iwo Jima_, B.D. Ross, we have "Where giant boulders
didn't dominate the landscape, steaming sulphur beds and shifting
volcanic ash left little chance for vegetation -- just a few scrub
trees, some dwarf brush, and no trace of fresh water anywhere."

I'm having a hard time reconciling that picture with cutting back jungle
undergrowth.

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

[email-masked]

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 16:03:10 EST
From:    "SGM Robert S. Rush" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NON-WWII: Order of Battle

Chuck Johnson wrote>
>A Quick question on a non-WWII related subject:  I understand that in the
>modern U.S. Army, regiments are a thing of the past -- Brigades are used
>now instead.  Is this correct?  Where would one find information about the
>current U.S. force structure?
>
>Thanks.

Chuck,
Outside the Armor Cavalry Regiments and Ranger Regiment, there are no tactical
regiments with subordinate organizations in the Army.  In a division there
are normally three ground maneuver brigades (infantry or armor, one aviation
brigade, one division artillery, one engineer brigade (new to heavy divisions)
and a division support command.  Within the ground maneuver brigades there
are from three to five battalions, in the light divisions (10, 82, 101, 25)
all of the battalions are infantry, with each battalion tracing its lineage
back to a regiment (i.e., 1-22 Infantry in the 1st Brigade 10th Mountain,
traces its lineage back to the 1st Battalion 22d Infantry Regiment, and
as the 1st Battalion also keeps the regimental colors.)  Heavy division
brigades are mixed with armor and mechanized infantry much as the Combat
commands of World War II.

Current Army Force Structure? Believe it or not that is a pretty hard one.
There's maybe ten field manuals that deal with organizations of different
components.  Your best bet might be the Association of the United
States Army. Every once and a while they publish a chart showing the
makeups of each active division.

Hope this helps, if not, send me a direct email to not clutter up the list.

Rob Rush
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 16:35:21 -0400
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: And furthermore...(Japan, appendix)

        Steve, I almost included that episode where Sakai outflew a whole
squadron of Hellcats singlehanded over Iwo in June '44, (the most amazing part
of which is that when he landed he foundnot a single bullet had hit his plane)
except that on the day (according to Sakai) the Japanese lost 40 Zeros-- half
of the Iwo-based force!  Since I was focusing on actions that caused the
enemy to respect the Zero-- not for individual piloting skills-- I didn't
think it fit the theme (also Muto also flew that day and shot down four
Hellcats, virtually the only Japanese success)

        Regards

        Mike Yaklich

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 14:11:34 -0800
From:    Jaimie Crafton <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Washington, D.C.

You wrote:

>
>For our vacation this summer, my wife and I have decided to spend 4 or
5 days
>in Washington, site-seeing. Are there any "must see" places that are
related
>to World War II that you can recommend? I know about the Air and Space
Museum
>of course and also the Holocaust Museum and the Iwo Jima monument. What
is at
>the Washington Navy Yard??
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
------
>John Davis                           | [email-masked]
>Cary, North Carolina                 | http://www.webcom.com/~jbd/
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
------
For John:

If your scheduling permits, try and visit the Iwo Jima memorial on a
TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING.  Every tuesday during the summer, at 7:00 in
the eve, the Marine Corp. Band and Silent Drill Team give a free concert
and exhibition.  If you have never seen the Silent Drill Team perform,
this is a MUST.  Sometimes there are also other visiting bands or drill
teams (Canadian was one I had seen).  I work just a couple of blocks
from the Iwo memorial and my wife and I try and see a couple shows a
summer.
If you think you would be interested in seeing the event at the memorial
on a , yes, hot and sticking tuesday evening, e-mail me with the date
and I'll see if there is anything else slated for that particular night.
Also, if you need tips on some good eats in the Arlington area, let me
know.  There are a couple of great places within walking distance of the
memorial.

Regards,

Jaimie Crafton

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 16:16:09 -600
From:    Lowell Rick Cox <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: NON-WWII: Order of Battle

>Chuck Johnson wrote>
>>A Quick question on a non-WWII related subject:  I understand that in the
>>modern U.S. Army, regiments are a thing of the past -- Brigades are used
>>now instead.  Is this correct?  Where would one find information about the
>>current U.S. force structure?
>>
>>Thanks.
>
>Chuck,
>Outside the Armor Cavalry Regiments and Ranger Regiment, there are no tactical
>regiments with subordinate organizations in the Army.  In a division there
>are normally three ground maneuver brigades (infantry or armor, one aviation
>brigade, one division artillery, one engineer brigade (new to heavy divisions)
>and a division support command.  Within the ground maneuver brigades there
>are from three to five battalions, in the light divisions (10, 82, 101, 25)
>all of the battalions are infantry, with each battalion tracing its lineage
>back to a regiment (i.e., 1-22 Infantry in the 1st Brigade 10th Mountain,
>traces its lineage back to the 1st Battalion 22d Infantry Regiment, and
>as the 1st Battalion also keeps the regimental colors.)  Heavy division
>brigades are mixed with armor and mechanized infantry much as the Combat
>commands of World War II.

I don't know if the army is still doing this, but when I was still on active
duty
the army had established a regimental structure within the army whereby
soldiers would spend most of their time in the service within a specific
regiment.  The idea being to build unit morale & esprit by making the
regiment more of an ongoing family instead of a group of faces and names
that change every 3-4 years.  What the army was doing was establishing
groups of battalions from a regiment in various divisions worldwide.  So a
soldier could start his career with a battalion at Ft Stewart (24th ID) and
then his or her next duty assignment might be to a battalion from the
same regiment in germany, say with the 3rd ID.  Thus the soldier would
know where they were likely to be stationed for most of their careers and
could expect to serve with many of the same people.

I haven't heard much about this program in the last few years.  If the army
hadn't already changed it's policy before, than the post desert storm draw-
down probably did the program in.  My brother-in-law, who is still on active
duty, is due in for a visit next week so I could try to find out more if you are
interested.  Let me know.

Toujours Pret!
Rick Cox    [email-masked]
Ameritech National Customer Service Center
Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Modification of an old Cav saying; If you ain't Cav, you got over!

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 15:35:17 -0700
From:    Jim O'Neil <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Holocaust and Germans

>I just returned from a trip through southern Germany this Fall, and saw
>not a single swastika.  I believe it is against German law to display
>them.  I did see many monuments to the German dead of WWII, with the
>traditional Iron Cross, but none of them were political.
>Jim Benn.
>

I was there in '78 thru '82 and saw them prominently displayed in small
villages & towns in the hills north and east of Regensburg [this is from
memory - the area is wooded and agricultural, and parrallels the Czheck
border. I forget the Highway number but will find it if you wish - I kept
most of my old maps.
>On Thu, 16 Feb 1995, Jim O'Neil wrote:
>
>> There are many little towns in Southern Germany where the Swastika is still
>> quite prominent and Americans were very cooly recieved. I had a jeep break
>> down in one on a very cold winter night, when the GIs asked for help, they
>> were pointed to a pay phone down the street and denied acccess to the
>> public room of the Gasthaus. When we arrived to fix the jeep we were asked
>> to tow it and fix it elsewhere... of course I did manage to road march my
>> tank company through the town a day or two later - didn't do anything bad,
>> just made sure I went right thru the middle and not around... a minor map
>> reading problem was my answer when the inevitable complaint came.
>>         I have heard of worse.
>>

Jim O'Neil  From the interrogation of a German General at the end of WW II:

               "The reason the American Army does so well in War, is that War
                is Chaos, and the American Army practices it on a daily basis"

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 18:24:37 -0500
From:    Henry Sirotin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Indian Freikorps...

There is a book titled, I think, SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE AND THE INDIAN NATIONAL
ARMY, by a woman Southeast Asian specialist whose name slips my mind at the     moment (Sorry to be so unhelpful today- will try to get the details next week.)
It is a good book, and has details on Bose in Europe. It may have data
on the Freikorps.

Henry Sirotin

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 20:27:41 EST
From:    Charles Mattocks <[email-masked]>
Subject: Careers of Paul Hauser and Josef Dietrich

Sorry for posting to list seems I mislaid Terry Moore's address:

Terry,

You reckon you given me some or all the specific details to the careers of Paul
Hauser, Josef Dietrich and would be interested in specifics on Michael Wittmann
to maybe fill in gaps that I don't have.

Thanks in advance!

Chip Mattocks
[email-masked]

PS-I also have a small? list of folks, that have the Knights Cross in various
degrees, but can't find any specifics as to when and what for, reckon you might
help? I have books with photo's of them in it but no specifics other than
identifying them, about 20 or so. Seems to much to ask though...

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 20:45:17 EST
From:    "Carl Wernke - [email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: TACT: Japanese tactics

 On 16-17 Feb, Mike Yaklich indicated that only one US cruiser sank instead of
 three, as he previously reported, during the Battle of Tassafaronga,
 29-30 November 1942.

 During the Battle of Lunga Point (USN Title: Battle of Tassafaronga), five
 cruisers were involved in the action: RADM C.H.Wright in his flagship
 MINNEAPOLIS (CA-36), NEW ORLEANS (CA-32), PENSACOLA (CA-24), NORTHAMPTON
 (CA-26), and HONOLULU (CL-48). PENSACOLA was hit at 2338 and NORTHAMPTON
 sank at 0304. The destroyer screen included FLETCHER, DRAYTON, MAURY, and
 PERKINS. The casualties were caused by RADM Tanaka's eight destroyers
 launching torpedo salvos, south of Savo Island.

 Mike, continue the outstanding writing !
 Carl Wernke

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 21:37:13 EST
From:    Henry Sirotin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: New WWII PC'ism - Dresden bombing

Dear Kelvin,

Regarding the question with which you ended your 17 Feb piece: The
American public (and presumably the British) knew about the Holocaust,
at least in outline, by the spring of 1943. I think the NY Post (a very
different paper in those days) had the first reports in the fall of
1942, and a thick Black Book of Polish Jewry was published in 1943.
The problem was twofold: first was the very "baby killing Hun"
propaganda of WW I that you mention- when this proved false after the
war it tended to discredit such reports, so few really took similar
stories at face value in 1943, when in fact they understated the case.
Second were the Americans and Brits who really share the blame for
the Holocaust- those officials and officers who deliberately kept out
those who could have been saved with more liberal immigration policies
in 1938-1941 or whose deaths could have been at least delayed with air          raids on the crematoria in 1944. David Wynan has done two excellent
books on the non-military American side of the story, and there is at
least one (AUSCHWITZ AND THE ALLIES) and possibly a second equally good         one on the Brits. No one has really done the military side in either
country, especially since the proof of US raids in the vicinity of
the crematoria as early as the spring of 1944 has now emerged.
Lastly, the Palestinian Jewish agents (how odd that construction seems
now) is a nice idea, but I doubt they could have done much except die
there. It would have taken a reinforced battalion at a minimum to seize
and hold the gas chambers and the crematoria long enough to blow them.

Regards,

Henry Sirotin

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

Date:    Sat, 18 Feb 1995 22:33:34 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: ACORN UNIT INFO

Matthew, the ACORNS were separate units, set up for the purposes I noted, but
were not formed from Seabee units, insofar as I know. Ben Frank

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 17 Feb 1995 to 18 Feb 1995
*************************************************