Subject: WWII-L Digest - 9 Mar 1995 to 10 Mar 1995

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 00:01:57 -0500

There are 34 messages totalling 2089 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. Aggressive Warfare
  2. CARLISLE BARRACKS ONLINE
  3. Last Japan appendix-- the battlewagon war (2)
  4. INF: USN Chronology 03-10-95
  5. Obersalzberg (part 1) (2)
  6. WEAP: What do they cost (3)
  7. Draft US Nurses
  8. Airshow Sked
  9. Generals (2)
 10. INF: _A Soldier's Story_ ... Breaching the Rhine
 11. Japan biblio
 12. WEAP: Kamikazes (2)
 13. New User Intro (2)
 14. [      WEAP: What do they cost ]: Outbound mail text body lost
 15. [      Airshow Sked ]: Outbound mail text body lost
 16. [      Draft US Nurses ]: Outbound mail text body lost
 17. [      Re: Generals ]: Outbound mail text body lost
 18. Re2: endlossung/Germans or Nazis?
 19. MEDIA:VE Day Plans
 20. Japanese-Russian peace talks
 21. Russia Enters the Pacific
 22. [INF] USAAF 11 MAR 45
 23. [INF] USAAF 12 MAR 45
 24. [INF] 13 MAR 45
 25. USSR in the Pacific Theater
 26. INF: USN Chronology 02-26-95
 27. INF: 50 Years Ago - 11-MAR-1945

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 00:50:36 -0500
From:    Jodi Berls <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Aggressive Warfare

William Lippert wrote:

> Anyway, aggressive warfare is rather subjective in its definition.
Well, goodness, yes.  I'd have said it's subjective *by* definition. But
presumably there's some specific legalese meaning to it.

> As for Doenitz, I do not believe that he was guilty of waging agressive
war.

But this is where the concept throws me -- was it not in fact his job to wage
aggressive war? He didn't start the thing, but was he not duty bound to
conduct it aggressively once it started? Again, I suspect there's some legal
meaning to this term that's escaping me -- my natural inclination is to
assume that, once war is declared, military men pursue it, uh, aggressively.

> If the
tribunal came to their decision on this basis, that he was CINC, I wonder
why they would think he was guilty of waging an aggressive war three years
after it had started.

Exactly. This goes right to the heart of my confusion, I think. It's kind of
like saying, he's an admiral and he's good at it, and for that he should go
to prison. As I said in other messages, I'm not sure I think he shouldn't
have gone to prison -- only that I have some questions about the specific
charges that were levied against him. A bit like Al Capone going to jail for
tax fraud because that was only the charge that could be proved, I guess.

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

Date:    Thu, 9 Mar 1995 16:32:11 +0100
From:    JOHN AUSLAND <[email-masked]>
Subject: CARLISLE BARRACKS ONLINE

FOR WARREN THOMPSON
I have not used these addresses for awhile, but you might try:
  [email-masked]  (Reference Branch)
If this doesn't work, try using just info before the @
Regards, John Ausland, Oslo

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

Date:    Thu, 9 Mar 1995 22:53:21 -1000
From:    John DeVirgilio <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Last Japan appendix-- the battlewagon war

Dear Mr. Yaklich,

I found your posts very interesting, please keep typing.   Here is my two
cents...

Snip...Snip...Snip
>On Tue, 7 Mar 1995, Mike Yaklich wrote:
>
>         Appendix 3: The Last Battlewagon War
>

> powerful WEST VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, and COLORADO (32,000 tons; eight 16-inch
> guns; belt armor up to 16 inches thick; 21 knots).  These latter three reveal

The thickness of the armor belt for this BB class was 13.5" of class A armor.

> B5N's still usefull, in that they could serve as either level or torpedo
> bombers.  One important Japanese technical breakthrough, just in time for the
> Pearl Harbor operation, was the development of an air-dropped torpedo that
> could run in Pearl's shallow water-- in many places no more than 35 feet
> deep-- without hitting bottom.

The Japanese did report at least two torpedoes to be no-run drops.

> Another, more primitive but nonetheless ingenious expedient was the creation
> of special armor-piercing bombs, made by essentially welding fins on to
> standard 16-inch armor-piercing naval shells, to penetrate the armored
> decks of the ships moored in "Battleship Row" at Pearl.

The fin assembly was attached to the base of the 800kg AP bomb by a
collar ring and large screws.  However, it is true that the fins were
welded on to the aft body attachment.   Although the Type 99  No.80 Mk5
bomb was created from IJN 16.1" shells it was extensively modified.  The butt
of the no.80 bomb was machine tapered and the shoulders shaved back to create a
more pointed nose.  The no.80 bomb was capable of penetrating 5.9" of
steel plate when dropped from a height of 2,500 meters.  The No.80 AP bomb
was the heaviest carrier borne AP bomb in the world from 1939-1942.

> The B5N's in the attack carried either a torpedo, the special AP bombs made
> from shells, or the Japanese Navy's standard 551-lb anti-ship bomb.

The B5N2 Kanko carried four different types of ordnance during the Pearl
Harbor raid.  The ordnance types were:

a.  Type 91  Mod.2  Torpedo
b.  Type 99  No.80  Mk5  800kg AP Bomb
c.  Type 98  No.25  250kg Land Bomb
d.  Type 99? No.6   60kg  Land Bomb

> Japanese aircraft in the attack (besides the covering Zero fighters) was the
> Aichi D3A dive-bomber.  Like the Army's later Ki-51, the D3A lived by its
> superb maneuverability-- when not carrying bombs it could dogfight with most
> contemporary American fighters-- but it lacked the Ki-51's armor protection,
> and these aircraft too would prove increasingly vulnerable when confronted

Although highly maneuverable, the Japanese never used the Aichi D3A as
CAP.

> enemy fighter defenses.  The D3A was limited as a means of shipping attack by
> its inability (normally) to carry bombs heavier than 220 lbs.  However, a
> compensating factor was the accuracy of its form of attack, honed to an art
> form by the Japanese carrier pilots through constant practice (and through
> learning to dive to lowest possible altitude before releasing their bombs and
> pulling out-- this was how they acheived hits with a reported 80% of their
> bombs dropped against British cruisers in the Indian Ocean a few months later.

The D3A usually carried a single 250kg (551 pound) bomb as you stated in your
earlier posts.  The close release doctrine of 450-600 meters  at a 55 degree
angle of attack proved to be a fatal flaw in IJN tactics.  Against heavily AA
armed vessels, numerous IJN dive bombers were destroyed attempting the ill
conceived slow and close IJN dive bombing doctrine.

As far as rating IJN dive bombing accuracy, it varied widely.  Accuracy
is closely tied to AAA fire from defending warships.  Under moderately heavy
AAA fire at Pearl Harbor, IJN dive bomber s score only 5 bomb hits out of
23 bombs dropped on the U.S.S. Nevada.

>       It was the torpedos which proved the most devastating to the ships at
> Battleship Row.  OKLAHOMA and WEST VIRGINIA were hit by nine torpedoes each.
> CALIFORNIA-- its watertight doors below deck open for a routine inspection at
> the time of the attack-- was sunk by two.  The OKLAHOMA capsized, taking 400
> men down with it.

Total loos on the U.S.S. Oklahoma was actually 429 sailors and marines.

> It was hits by two of the special 16-inch shell bombs,
> however, that caused the spectacular explosion of the ARIZONA, which killed

Wowww...You are one of the few people to get the number of No.80 bomb hits
correct on the U.S.S. Arizona!  I just published this information in
Maru, Japan last year.

> Japanese pilots took their time-- Fuchida led his flight around for two "dry
> runs" over Battleship Row before finally dropping his bombs on the third pass.

Although smoke obsured accurate spotting of the battleships along BB row, at
least one bomb group managed to drop their bombs on their first run. The
last Soryu group led by lt. Sadoa Yamamoto had to make three runs before
releasing their 800kg bombs.  The Japanese scored six No.80 AP bomb hits on
American battleships.  The smoke effectively reduced the expected number
of bomb hits on the USN battleships by approx. 50%.

> The accuracy of the attacks, especially from the torpedo bombers (who also put
> several torpedoes into the target ship UTAH, an old battleship, in a case of

Two torpedoes struck the Utah.  The Utah and the U.S.S. Helena were
hit at the same time by Soryu torpedo bombers.   Both the Utah and the
Helena were the first two ships torpedoed during the Pearl Harbor attack.

>the ships of "Force Z" were set upon by a strong force of Japanese Navy
> G3M land-based two-engined bombers.  Despite the heavy antiaircraft armament

There also G4M Twin engined bombers carrying the new Type 91 Mod2 aerial
torpedo.  The G3M aircraft carried the older Type 91 torpedoes, No.25
250kg bombs, and the No.50 500kg SAP bombs.  Three IJN aircraft were shot
down.

> ships were sunk, the PRINCE OF WALES taking five torpedoes and one bomb, the
> REPULSE hit by four torpedoes and a bomb.  Of about 3,000 crewmen on the two

Both BB's were hit with more torpedoes.  I believe that there were 10+(?)
torpedo hits and one 250kg bomb hit on the Repulse and 7(?) torpedo hits
and one 500kg bomb hit on the Prince of Whales.

Good night all...

John F. De Virgilio

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 04:00:14 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 03-10-95

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

1945
03/10 Sat. Naval attack group (Rear Adm. F. B. Royal) lands Army
           troops near Zamboanga, Mindanao, P. I.; landing is
           supported by naval gunfire and Army aircraft.

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, 10 Mar 1995 10:36:52 CET
From:    "COL Donnell, Doug" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Obersalzberg (part 1)

A month or so ago I posted several items about the buildings at Obersalzberg,
now in the hands of the US Army, which were "leftovers" from the Nazi days.
Little has changed in the last month.  The US is still going through with
its plan to close the recreation facilities there and the entire complex
is likely to be handed over to the German government in late 1995.

When I made the postings I also indicated that I had more info if anyone was
interested and since several of you expressed interest, here goes (apologies
for taking so long to get around to this).

The Obersalzberg is a hilltop area located above the village of Bertchesgaden
in Bavaria close to the Austrian border (and close, as you might guess to
the town of Salzberg).  It's a stunningly beautiful area nestled in the
Bavarian Alps.

Following his abortive plot to sieze power on 9 Nov 23, Hitler was sent
to Landsberg prison, and upon his release, sought refuge in the quiet
surroundings of Bertchesgaden.  He rented a small house on the Obersalberg,
winning friends and benefactors in the local area.  While living there
he wrote a major portion of "Mein Kampf".

By 1928 royalties from his book permitted Hitler to purchase a house on
the Obersalzberg which he named the "Berghof", which roughly translated
means mountain cottage.  Despite major rennovations and additions in the
ensuring years, the name "Berghof" was kept, to portray an image of
a modest dwelling for Germany's leader.  As we'll see, it was anything
but.

The transformation of the Obersalzberg area from a quiet mountain hideaway
to a major complex for the Nazi elite began in earnest in 1933.  Rudolf
Hess began negotiations with local homeowners and farmers to obtain more
land for the Nazi area.  With Hitler's rise to power more and more
people were showing up in the area to see where the Fuehrer lived and it
was obvious that something had to be done to bring some sort of order to
what was fast becoming total chaos.

Although Hess had started the negotiations, it was Martin Bormann who
took over the process soon after and began what could best be termed a
personal crusade to completely rework the entire Obersalzberg area.
In 1936 and 37, he negotiated the "purchase" of 27 farms, and various
boarding houses and private homes to bring a full 10 square Km area
under his control.  Owners were given little, if any, choice to sell --
a great deal of pressure was placed on those who balked -- and soon
a seven foot high, 27 km long fence enclosed the "fuhrer area".  Large
barracks were erected to accommodate the many laborers that would be
needed for the various construction projects.  The road from
Berchtesgaden was widened and a new road from Oberau, another neighboring
town, was built.

Work began on enlarging the Berghof. Quoting from "After the Battle, no 9",
The Berghof received another floor, and wide steps were constructed leading
up to the front of the building.  A 'gothic' type hall with heavy
marble pillars formed the lobby to the famous conference foom, where the
large picture window gave a gbeautiful view of the Untersalzberg mountain.
In addition the ground floor contained the hall, vestibule, dining room,
guard room, a day room for the staff, a large kitchen, two rooms for
adjutants, and an outdoor terrace.  Hitler's living room, bedroom,
study and rooms for his permanent bodyguard occupied the first floor
with the second floor for more personal guests.  The garage was situated
immediately beneath the picture window -- when this was lowered, visitors
have recorded that petrol fumes could be smelt in the conference room.
This room was also used for film shows.  Store room, the heating system
and bowling alley were all below ground.  It was in these store rooms
that Hitler kept the many gifts he received.  Reconstructions and alterations
to the Berghof continued even during the latter years of the war, when
building materials were in short supply."

Bormann had a house built for himself that was even more grandiose than
Hitler's.  The simple wood exterior belied an extravagant interior which
included every modern amenity and luxury.

The Platterhof was a modest hotel/boarding house that had originally
opened in 1877.  Bormann had it reconstructed, beginning in 1938 to
accommodate the many visitors who daily came to see the fuehrer (this
number had grown to a high as 5000 each day), obviously a number far
in excess of what any hotel could accomodate.  Nontheless, construction
on the Platterhof under the guise of offering a room for the common
citizen for 1 Reichsmark per night.  What, in fact, was being built
was another lavish facility for the use of Nazi officials.

Members of the "inner circle" also had homes built on the Obersalzberg
and, to house support activities, Bormann also had built barracks,
and underground rifle and pistol range, garages, a communications
center and various other facilities.

Time to get to work. . .stay tuned for the next installment.

                      Doug Donnell

Ruppertsweiler, Germany
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 13:02:51 +0100
From:    Robert Martensson <[email-masked]>
Subject: WEAP: What do they cost

Hello Folks

  I am a Swede with a hopeless love for the most boring parts of WW2 -
That is War Economics! As it is a rather obscure subject I have some trouble
to find sources among the more readily available litterature (it's easy to find
information about how many B24 that were produced with tail-fin type E, and
if the Mustangs of the 234:th squadron had yellow markings on the propeller,
but try to find out how much a Mustang did cost, or how many man hours they
took to build...). Thus I now stand forth and give you some of my most boring
questions :-)

What was the cost per airframe of the more common aircraft of WW2?
What was the development cost of the models?
How many man hours did it take to build them?

The same questions may of course be put concerning tanks, guns, ships etc.

If anybody out there sits on information like that, or has any good pointers,
I would be very grateful if he/she would share them with me.

        Thanks in advance
        Robert Maartensson, Uppsala, Sweden
        [email-masked]

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:06:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Draft US Nurses

In the 50YA post for 7 Mar 45, John Davis reported that a bill to draft all
nurses aged 20 through 44 had passed the US House of Representatives.
Off-line, I asked John if this bill had passed the Senate and he was not
sure.  So I asked one of the feminists here at work and she checked AMERICAN
WOMEN'S HISTORY by Doris Weatherford and found the following:

1. The Nurses Selective Service Act passed the House of Representatives in
early Mar 45 by a vote of 347-42.

2. In early Apr 45, the bill was reported out favorable by the US Senate
Military Affairs Committee.  The Senate bill included an amendment to
strike the exemption for married women which was in the House bill.

3. VE-Day was in May and the demand for nurses decreased and the bill died.

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

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:32:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Airshow Sked

          NORTH AMERICAN MILITARY AEROBATIC TEAM SCHEDULE, 1995
                           ISSUE 4, MARCH 10, 1995

The following is the combined schedules for the North American military
aerobatic teams for the 1995 show season and includes schedules for shows
in Canada and the United States.

This list is sorted by country and Province and State.  The four teams
covered in this post are:

  Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds
  U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds
  U.S. Army Golden Knights
  U.S. Navy Blue Angels

Any additions, corrections, etc. would be appreciated.  Please e-mail them
to me at [email-masked].

REASON FOR REISSUE:  Bart ([email-masked]) reports the following changes
to the schedules.  He asks that I "tell everyone that you found this schedule
on America Online in the Aviation Forum."

 1. The Snowbirds show at Port Hardy, BC on 1 May is cancelled
 2. The Snowbirds show at Ottawa, Ont on 8 May is cancelled.
 3. The Snowbirds show at Riviere du Loup, Que is cancelled.
 4. The Snowbirds show at Juneau, Alaska has been extended to 2 days.
 5. There is an UNCONFIRMED report that the Blue Angels will be appearing at
    McConnell AFB, Kansas.
 6. Change the date for the show at Benton Harbor, Michigan.
 7. Add a show at Duluth, Minnesota.
 8. Add a show at Mankato, Minnesota.
 9. Add one date to the Columbia, Missouri show.
10. Change the date for the Bozeman, Montana show.
11. Cancel the Plattsburgh AFB, New York show.
12. Add a show at Salisbury, North Carolina.
13. Cancel the show at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
14. Cancel the show at Sheppard AFB, Texas
15. There is an UNCONFIRMED report that the Blue Angels will be appearing
    at Bergstrom AFB, Texas.
16. Add a show at Hill AFB, Utah.

I. CANADA
---------

ALBERTA
-------
Calgary: Snowbirds, Jul 15 and 16
Grande Prairie: Snowbirds, Aug 7
Red Deer: Snowbirds, Aug 5 and 6
Slave Lake: Snowbirds, Jul 17

BRITISH COLUMBIA
----------------
Abbotsford: Snowbirds, Aug 11 thru 13
Cranbrook: Snowbirds, Jul 27
Kamloops: Snowbirds, Aug 9
Kelowna: Snowbirds, May 13 and 14
Penticton: Snowbirds, May 3
Prince George: Snowbirds, Jul 22 and 23
Prince Rupert: Snowbirds, Jul 19
Victoria: Snowbirds, Jul 29 and 30

MANITOBA
--------
Brandon: Snowbirds, May 5
Grand Beach: Snowbirds, Jul 5
Portage la Prairie: Sep 9 and 10

NEW BRUNSWICK
-------------
St John: Snowbirds, May 30
Shediac: Snowbirds, Jun 29

NEWFOUNDLAND
------------
CFB Gander: Snowbirds, Jun 18
CFB Goose Bay: Snowbirds, Jun 16

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
---------------------
Hay River: Snowbirds, Apr 27

NOVA SCOTIA
-----------
CFB Shearwater: Snowbirds, Aug 26 and 27
Yarmouth: Snowbirds, Aug 29

ONTARIO
-------
Chapleau: Snowbirds, May 22
CFB Borden: Snowbirds, Jul 2 and 3
Grand Bend: Snowbirds, Jun 8
Hamilton: Thunderbirds, Jun 17 and 18
Leamington: Snowbirds, Jun 10
London: Snowbirds, Jun 3 and 4
Ottawa: Snowbirds, May 7, Jun 24 and 25 and Jul 1
Sault St. Marie: Snowbirds, May 20 and 21
Thunder Bay: Snowbirds, Sep 6
Toronto: Snowbirds, Sep 2 thru 4
Windsor: Snowbirds, Jun 11

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
--------------------
Summerside: Snowbirds, Jun 20

QUEBEC
------
Bromont: Snowbirds, Jun 6
Charlevoix: Snowbirds, Jun 27
La Tuque: Snowbirds, Aug 23
Mirabel: Snowbirds, May 27 and 28
Mont Laurier: Snowbirds, Jun 1
Quebec City: Snowbirds, Aug 19 and 20
Sept-Iles: Snowbirds, Jun 22

SASKATCHEWAN
------------
CFB Moose Jaw:
  Jul 8 and 9: Blue Angels and Snowbirds
  Oct 14: Snowbirds
Lloydminster: Snowbirds, May 11
Prince Albert: Snowbirds, Aug 2

YUKON TERRITORY
---------------
Whitehorse: Snowbirds, Jul 25

II. UNITED STATES
-----------------

ALABAMA
-------

ALASKA
------
Juneau: Snowbirds, Apr 29 and 30

ARIZONA
-------
Luke AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Apr 8
MCAS Yuma: Golden Knights, Feb 25
Mesa: Blue Angels, Mar 25 and 26
Page: Snowbirds, Oct 7 and 8

ARKANSAS
--------
Fort Smith: Blue Angels, May 20 and 21 and Golden Knights, May 20

CALIFORNIA
----------
Fresno: Golden Knights, Sep 23 and 24
March AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Oct 14 and 15
MCAS El Toro: Blue Angels, Apr 28 thru 30
NAF El Centro: Blue Angels, Mar 18
NAS LeMoore: Blue Angels, May 6 and 7
NAS Miramar: Blue Angels, Aug 25 thru 27
NAWS Point Mugu: Snowbirds, Sep 23 and 24
Redding: Blue Angels, Jul 1 and 2
Salinas: Thunderbirds, Sep 30 and Oct 1
San Francisco: Blue Angels, Oct 7 and 8
Travis AFB: Golden Knights, Oct 7
Vandenburg AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Apr 9
Van Nuys: Golden Knights, Jul 15 and 16

COLORADO
--------
Durango: Thunderbirds, Jun 4
Grand Junction: Snowbirds and Golden Knights, Sep 27
Loveland: Thunderbirds, Apr 22 and 23
Peterson AFB: Snowbirds, Sep 20
USAF Academy: Thunderbirds, May 31

CONNECTICUT
-----------

DELAWARE
--------

FLORIDA
-------
Daytona Beach: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Nov 4 and 5
Eglin AFB; Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Apr 1
Fort Lauderdale: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, May 6 and 7
Homestead AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Nov 11 and 12
MacDill AFB: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Apr 22 and 23
NAS Cecil Field: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Nov 4 and 5
NAS Pensacola: Blue Angels, Nov 10 and 11
Patrick AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Apr 2
Pensacola Beach: Blue Angels, Jul 22
Sanford: Blue Angels, Apr 1 and 2

GEORGIA
-------
Athens: Golden Knights, Sep 30

HAWAII
------
NAS Barbers Point: Blue Angels, Sep 2 and 3
Schofield Barracks: Golden Knights, Aug 31 thru Sep 4

IDAHO
-----

ILLINOIS
--------
Chicago: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Aug 5 and 6
Scott AFB: Thunderbirds, Jul 29 and 30
Springfield: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Jul 15 and 16

INDIANA
-------
Evansville: Golden Knights, Aug 28
North Webster: Golden Knights, Jun 17 thru 19

IOWA
----
Davenport: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Jun 24 and 25
Dubuque: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Aug 12 and 13

KANSAS
------
Liberal: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Sep 23 and 24
McConnell AFB: Blue Angels, Jun 24 to 25  (unconfirmed)

KENTUCKY
--------
Louisville: Golden Knights, Sep 2 thru 4

LOUISIANA
---------
Alexandira: Blue Angels, Sep 30 and Oct 1
Barksdale AFB: Golden Knights, Apr 9
Monroe: Golden Knights, Apr 23
NAS New Orleans: Thunderbirds, Oct 28 and 29

MAINE
-----
NAS Brunswick: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Jul 22 and 23

MARYLAND
--------
Andrews AFB: Thunderbirds, May 20 and 21 and Golden Knights, May 19 to 21
Fort Meade: Golden Knights, May 18
Frederick: Thunderbirds, Aug 26 and 27
NAS Patuxent River: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, May 27
US Naval Academny, Anapolis: Blue Angels, May 29 and 31

MASSACHUSETTS
-------------
Andover: Golden Knights, May 29
Hanscom AFB: Thunderbirds, Jun 10 and 11

MICHIGAN
--------
Battle Creek: Thunderbirds, Jul 2 thru 4
Benton Harbor: Golden Knights, May 7
Detroit: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Jun 3 and 4
Grand Rapids: Golden Knights, Jun 20
Kalmazoo: Golden Knights, Jun 10 and 11

MINNESOTA
---------
Duluth: Snowbirds, May 9
Mankato: Snowbirds, May 25

MISSISSIPPI
-----------
Keesler AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Oct 25
NAS Meridian: Blue Angels, May 13 and 14

MISSOURI
--------
Columbia: Golden Knights (May 26-28) and Thunderbirds (May 27 and 28)
Kansas City: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Jul 29 and 30
Whiteman AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Jun 14

MONTANA
-------
Bozeman: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Aug 20
Malmstrom AFB: Golden Knights, Jul 8

NEBRASKA
--------
Offutt AFB: Thunderbirds, Sep 3 and 4

NEVADA
------
NAS Fallon: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Oct 14
Reno: Snowbirds, Sep 15 thru 17

NEW HAMPSHIRE
-------------

NEW JERSEY
----------

NEW MEXICO
----------
Holloman AFB: Thunderbirds, Jun 3
Roswell: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Sep 16 and 17

NEW YORK
--------
Niagara Falls: Golden Knights, Jun 24 and 25
White Lake: Golden Knights, Jul 8 thru 10

NORTH CAROLINA
--------------
Ft Bragg: Golden Knights, Jul 4
MCAS Cherry Point: Blue Angels, Apr 8 and 9
Salisbury: Golden Knights, May 13 and 14

NORTH DAKOTA
------------
Fargo: Golden Knights, Aug 12 and 13
Grand Forks AFB: Thunderbirds, Jul 8
Minot AFB: Golden Knights, Jul 30

OHIO
----
Columbus: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Aug 5 and 6
Dayton: Golden Knights, Jul 22 and 23
Toledo: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Sep 9 and 10

OKLAHOMA
--------
Oklahoma City: Blue Angels, Jun 17 and 18

OREGON
------
Hillsboro: Blue Angels, Jul 15 and 16
Medford: Golden Knights, Aug 26 and 27

PENNSYLVANIA
------------
Reading: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Aug 19 and 20

RHODE ISLAND
------------
North Kingston: Blue Angels, Jun 10 and 11

SOUTH CAROLINA
--------------
Charleston AFB: Thunderbirds, Oct 8
Myrtle Beach: Golden Knights, Jun 3 and 4

SOUTH DAKOTA
------------
Ellsworth AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Jul 9

TENNESSEE
---------
Gray: Golden Knights, Aug 21 thru 24
Knoxville: Golden Knights, Apr 29 and 30
McGhee Tyson ANGB: Thunderbirds, Apr 29 and 30
Smyrna: Blue Angels, Sep 16 and 17

TEXAS
-----
Bergstrom AFB: Blue Angels, Oct 28 and 29 (Not confirmed)
Dallas: Golden Knights, Sep 16 and 17 and Sep 29 thru Oct 2
El Paso: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Oct 21 and 22
Ft Worth: Golden Knights, Oct 7 and 8
Houston: Blue Angels, Oct 21 and 22
Midland: Snowbirds, Sep 30 and Oct 1
Randolph AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, May 13
Reese AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, May 14
San Angelo: Snowbirds, Oct 3

UTAH
----
Hill AFB: Thunderbirds and Golden Knights, Aug 19

VERMONT
-------

VIRGINIA
--------
Ft. Eustis: Golden Knights, Aug 4
Langley AFB: Thunderbirds, Oct 7
Manassas: Golden Knights, May 23
NAS Oceana: Blue Angels, Sep 23 and 24

WASHINGTON
----------
NAS Whidbey Island: Blue Angels and Golden Knights, Sep 9 and 10

WEST VIRGINIA
-------------

WISCONSIN
---------

WYOMING
-------
Cheyenne: Thunderbirds, Jul 26

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

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:16:43 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Generals

Underrated? Probably not, but here's more of what Bradley thought of Patton:

At Namur my staff waited nervously for George to push that thin column
beyond Bad Kreuznach to the Rhine only 25 miles farther east. "Hell's
bells", one of them said, "why doesn't tyhat old boy push on?"

I trusted, however, in George's uncanny feel for the front. "Patton knows
what he's doing", I said. "Just keep your shirt on and you'll see."

Within 24 hours the 4th Armored was hit by enemy counterattack in that
sector. But because Patton had consolidated his spearhead with reinforcements
from the rear, he bounced the enemy off and went on with scarcely a shug
of his shoulders. Intelligence had not indicated the imminence of that attack
but George had anticipated it with the curious intuition that helped make him
a great field commander.

_A Soldier's Story_ by Gen. of the Army Omar Bradley  (pp519)

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

American Legion, Post 102
I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:58:15 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: _A Soldier's Story_ ... Breaching the Rhine

I had just finished my second cup of coffee when Patton telephoned from
LUCKY. "Brad, don't tell anyone but I'm across."

"Well I'll be,... you mean across the Rhine?"

"Sure am", he replied. "I sneaked a division over last night. But there
are so few krauts around there they don't know it yet. So don't make
any announcement-we'll keep it a secret until we see how it goes."

Confirmation came with the morning's briefing with Lieutenant Colonel
Richard R. Stillman, of Paris, Kentucky, Patton's young liason officer
to 12th Army group, submitted his report. Stillman showed the delight
Third Army felt in having slipped quietly across the Rhine under cover
of darkness while Monty flexed his muscles ostentatiously farther north.
With a smiling allusion to Monty's elaborate preparations, Stillman made
his report, "Without benefit of aerial bombing, ground smoke, artillery
preparation, and airborne assistance, the Third Army at 2200 hours,
Thursday evening, March 22, crossed the Rhine River." With the aid of
rafts and engineer assault boats, the 5th Infantry Division had ferried
across from the small farming village of Oppenheim to the opposite shore.
In this first assault crossing of that river bastion by a modern army,
the division suffered a total of 34 dead and wounded.

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

American Legion, Post 102
I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 09:10:40 -0400
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Japan biblio

        I remembered one more source too important not to mention:

Matome Ugaki, "Fading Victory"

also, I got the description of the action that won Neal Kearby the
Congressional Medal of Honor from the 1944 "Official Guide to the Army Air
Force," a gem I picked up for a quarter at a used book sale when I was a kid
and have cherished ever since (its great, planes like the B-29 and P-61 are
still "restricted" and there's not even a mention of the P-59; on the chart
giving specs and performance you get entries for the B-29 like "effective
speed" or "heavy armor and armament" instead of the actual speed, armament,
etc).

        Since I'm on-line, and since I talked so much about fighter aces of
both sides, my vote for one of the most unusual is Paul Bruneau of the US Navy.
He was credited with five victories while flying a multi-engined patrol bomber
(in aircraft with crews of more than one the pilot usually got credit for any
"kills" registered by the plane).  On one of his missions Bruneau's aircraft
was attacking a merchantman and two small escorts about 15 miles outside of
Truk, when he found his own plane the target of four Zeros.  Bruneau's crew
shot down one of the Zeros and got back safely, although with one crew member
badly wounded.
        Another Pacific ace deserving of mention is Bob Hansen of the Marine
Corps.  Flying a Corsair in the Solomons, Hansen shot down 25 Japanese planes,
including 20 in six consecutive missions (on one of those missions he took on
four Zeros single-handed over New Britain and downed all four).  However,
Hansen lost his life on a mission over Rabaul in Feb '44.
        Also, in terms of outstanding pairs, I should mention "Pappy" Boyington
and his wingman Bob McClurg, an ace with seven victories.

        Regards

        Mike Yaklich

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 11:37:46 -0500
From:    Barone <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Obersalzberg (part 1)

COL Donnell, Doug <[email-masked]> writes:
> ... Store room, the heating system
> and bowling alley were all below ground.  It was in these store rooms
> that Hitler kept the many gifts he received.

        Can anyone picture Hitler bowling and not find the image ludicrous?
Try to conjure an image of a chubby Goring wearing a bowling shirt and ill-
fitting bowling shoes cursing as he bowls a field goal when he tried to
take out the 7 and 10 pins split.   This could be a scene from a Monty
Python skit!  :-)
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
Oh, man, don't hit me with those negative waves so early in the morning.

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 10:51:01 CCS
From:    Jorge Merino <[email-masked]>
Subject: WEAP: Kamikazes

Jorge Balam asked:

> Does anybody know which aircrafts were chosen for the Kamikazes pilots?
> Is there a source where I can find how many Kamikazes were in the WWII?

Many types were used, including A6M "Zero", D3A "Val", "Kikka", etc
(sorry, sources are at home, and I'm working from memory). There were
also some aircraft designed specifically for Kamikaze missions,
including the "Ohka" bomb.
Don't forget also the midget submarines....

About sources, I have "Divine Thunder - The life and death of the Kamikazes",
(Don't remember the author). It is an excellent book which analizes the
origin of the Kamikaze missions, and also describes most of the aircraft
and submarines used for suicide missions. Drawings and B/W photos are also
included. I recommend you to have a look at this book.

> Which target they preferred?, A diary of their missions etc?....

Mainly aircraft carriers. BBs, CAs, CLs, DDs, and even PT boats were also
attacked, but they preferred to plunge into the carrier decks.

Jorge Merino

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 11:53:04 -0500
From:    Barone <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WEAP: What do they cost

Robert Martensson <[email-masked]> writes:
> What was the cost per airframe of the more common aircraft of WW2?
> What was the development cost of the models?
> How many man hours did it take to build them?
>
> The same questions may of course be put concerning tanks, guns, ships etc.

There is a book by Correlli Barnett, a British military historian, entitled
in the US, "The Audit of War".  This book deals with the economic aspects of
WWII.  One example cited in a review of this book is that it took 13,000
man-hours to build a Spitfire Mark V, whereas the Germans could build in
Bf-109G in just 4000 man-hours.

>From June, 1994, a fellow list-member, William Huber
<[email-masked]>, posted these facts:

> While looking in _Kraftfahrzeuge und Panzer_ by Werner Oswald I came
> across a table that is germane to discussions earlier on costs of
> panzers to build.  I'll summarize it here for your interest.
>
> Preise deutscher Panzerfahrzeuge  - Prices of German Armored Vehicles
> (ohne Waffen und Funkausruestung) (without weapons and radio gear)
>
> Vierrad-Panzer-Spaehwagen (4 wheel armor recce)   Reich Marks 20,000
> Mittl. Halbketten-Schutzenpzw. (halftrack)               RM   23,000
> Panzer II                                                RM   50,000
> Achtrad-Panzer-Spaehwagen (8 wheel armor recce)          RM   53,000
> Geschuetzwagen 38(t)  (Czechoslovak mfg - Marder III)    RM   53,000
> Sturmgeschuetz III (Assault Gun)                         RM   85,000
> Panzer III                                               RM  100,000
> Panzer IV                                                RM  110,000
> Panzer V (Panther)                                       RM  120,000
> Panzer VI (Tiger 1)                                      RM  260,000
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
He may be nuts, but he's not crazy enough to put Shermans up against Tigers!

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 12:49:40 -0400
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: New User Intro

        To Joseph Feld:
        The Soviet Union declared war on Japan (or, to be specific, broadcast
its declaration of war) and commenced military operations in the early hours of
August 9th, 1945, the same day the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
In fact, the Soviets were right on schedule-- Stalin had promised (at the Yalta
Conference) to commence hostilities with Japan within three months of the
surrender of Germany (generally accepted as May 8, 1945).  Prior to the Soviet
declaration there was in existence a mutual non-aggression pact with the
Japanese which both sides basically honored, as it had advantages for both
parties.  Thus Lend-Lease goods carried to Siberian Pacific ports in ships
flying the Soviet flag were not attacked as they passed through Japanese
controlled waters, while the Japanese tried to use the USSR as intermediary in
tentative peace negotiations with the west (finding the Russians increasingly
cool to these overtures after Yalta).

        Regards

        Mike Yaklich

PS  Japan's neutrality in regards to the USSR proved extremely helpful in the
winter of 1941-42, as Stalin was able to withdraw huge reserves of men, planes,
tanks, etc from the far east to use against the Germans in front of Moscow.
Neither side really trusted the other in this regard, though.  The Soviets only
undertook the wholesale transfers after their intelligence (primarily the Sorge
organization) revealed the Japanese preoccupation with their southern offensive
against the western Allies, while the Japanese in mid-1942 sent the first and
only "Mechanized Army" (roughly equivalent to a German panzer corps) they
created during the war to the Russian frontier in Manchuria, and in September
refused to withdraw air units from Manchuria to use on Guadalcanal, citing the
Soviet danger.

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:04:00 EST
From:    Russell Folsom <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Generals

Mentioning General Anders and Monte Cassino, it occurs to me that another
General of that Campaign - Lucien Truscott, has also gotten short shrift when it
comes to accolades. He was in Command of the 3rd Infantry from N.Africa thru
Sicily and the Peninsula Campaign. I don't know many details about him, but I do
remember something written by Ernie Pyle about a speech he gave to his troops on
Memorial Day 1944 - Instead of a rousing "fight for flag and glory" type speech
to the assembled ranks, The General turned to face row upon row of freshly dug
graves from the recent Anzio battles and simply said: "I'm sorry boys..."

Russ Folsom
<[email-masked]>

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:28:00 -0500
From:    Belenus the SUN God <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [      WEAP: What do they cost ]: Outbound mail text body lost

We're sorry, but due to a disk error on the outbound
mail server at Software Tool & Die, the text body for
message
        <[email-masked]>
sent by
        Robert Martensson <[email-masked]>
to
        Multiple recipients of list WWII-L <[email-masked]>
on
                Fri, 10 Mar 1995 13:02:51 +0100
with the subject:
             WEAP: What do they cost
was lost.  You will need to resend the message.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

If you need further information or assistance,
please contact [email-masked].

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:30:39 -0500
From:    Belenus the SUN God <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [      Airshow Sked ]: Outbound mail text body lost

We're sorry, but due to a disk error on the outbound
mail server at Software Tool & Die, the text body for
message
        <[email-masked]>
sent by
        mc killop <[email-masked]>
to
        Multiple recipients of list WWII-L <[email-masked]>
on
                Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:32:00 EST
with the subject:
             Airshow Sked
was lost.  You will need to resend the message.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

If you need further information or assistance,
please contact [email-masked].

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:28:09 -0500
From:    Belenus the SUN God <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [      Draft US Nurses ]: Outbound mail text body lost

We're sorry, but due to a disk error on the outbound
mail server at Software Tool & Die, the text body for
message
        <[email-masked]>
sent by
        mc killop <[email-masked]>
to
        Multiple recipients of list WWII-L <[email-masked]>
on
                Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:06:00 EST
with the subject:
             Draft US Nurses
was lost.  You will need to resend the message.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

If you need further information or assistance,
please contact [email-masked].

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:51:53 -0500
From:    Belenus the SUN God <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [      Re: Generals ]: Outbound mail text body lost

We're sorry, but due to a disk error on the outbound
mail server at Software Tool & Die, the text body for
message
        <[email-masked]>
sent by
        <[email-masked]>
to
        Multiple recipients of list WWII-L <[email-masked]>
on
                Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:16:43 EST
with the subject:
             Re: Generals
was lost.  You will need to resend the message.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

If you need further information or assistance,
please contact [email-masked].

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:10:16 -0600
From:    Kelvin Brent Luther <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Re2: endlossung/Germans or Nazis?

On Thu, 9 Mar 1995, Alex Bielakowski wrote:
>
> Kelvin,
>      Firstly, I did not mean to insult the Bulgarians or to claim that
> they were no better than the Germans in their conduct during the war.
> I wished to point out that if the Poles, who fought the Germans and
> Russians and who did not "officially" collaborate (I don't want to start
> that arguement again) can be accused of playing a part in the Holocaust,
> then nobody else in Europe can claim to be innocent on that issue
> either.  I realize that the Bulgarians, like the Finns, were forced to
> ally themselves with the Germans in order to protect themselves from
> the Russians.  I also agree that the Russians were only considered the
> ally of the Western powers, because the West needed the Russians.
> The Allied nations of Eastern Europe, however, never considerd the
> Russians their ally.  I can understand your having greater resentment
> toward the Russians than the Finns or Bulgarians.  After all, both the
> Finns and Bulgarians had the choice of being allied with the world's
> greatest mass-murderer (Stalin) or the world's second greatest mass-
> murderer (Hitler).  It boggles the mind, doesn't it?
>
> Alex Bielakowski
>
        I appreciate your reply.  I have been thinking about my previous
post and have come to the conclusion that I have more resentment against
the Russians and the French collaborators simply because they were at
some point our allies.  I don't know if others would agree with this line
of thinking but it is never the less how I feel.  Perhaps it is simply
that not enough attention is paid to their misdeeds as Germany bears the
brunt of guilt for all Europe.  The actions of the French I think show the
danger of the Germans not remembering their guilt.  The vast majority of
the French populace collaborated in some manner yet they have
conveniently ignored any guilt for their actions.  Do you or anyone on
the list know of any good resources to research the Vichy collaboration
as well as that of occupied France.  I would like to get a clear picture
of the situation.  I once read that if all the Frenchmen who later on
claimed to be part of the resistance had actually participated Normandy
would not have been necessary.
                                Kelvin Luther

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:16:21 -0600
From:    Kelvin Brent Luther <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: New User Intro

On Thu, 9 Mar 1995, Joseph Feld wrote:

> Since I have been "lurking" about this discussion for several days I
> suppose this is a little late for a true intro.  But, truth to tell, being
> just an amateur historian I have found myself rather intimidated by the
> level of information being passed around this group.  I'm afraid my
> contributions to this area will be mainly in the form of questions.
>
> Huge thanks to Mike Yaklich.  Mike, your "Tactical Afterthoughts on Japan"
> and other posts have been both entertaining and educational.
>
> Well, I suppose I should ask my first question.  Does anyone know exactly
> when in 1945 the Soviet Union offically entered the war in the Pacific?
> And, why did it take them so long to declare war against Japan?
>
> Thanks to everyone in this group for some fascinating reading.
>
> Joseph Feld
> [email-masked]
> Ferndale, MI
>
        Officially it was Aug. 9.   How very convenient don't you think.
As for the reasons for their belated entry I believe they had agreed to
join the war after Germany was defeated.  It was accepted that no
invasion of Japan could go forward without the Russians engaging the
Japanese in Manchuria, the Chinese certainly weren't going to do it.  The
Russians had signed a similar nonagression pact with Japan as they had
with Germany and without a Japanese invasion there would be no Russian
involvement in Asia until the European situation was finished.
                                Kelvin Luther

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 15:39:26 -0400
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WEAP: Kamikazes

        Virtually any type of plane that would fly, but especially older combat
types now relegated to training or other second-line roles, were employed in
the kamikaze attacks.  Even planes like the Mitsubishi K3M Navy trainer were
pressed into the role.  There were also at least two types of purpose-built
kamikaze planes, the Navy's rocket-powered Okha piloted glider bomb (the engine
was only switched on for the last 30 seconds of the one-way trip) and the
Army's propellor-driven Ki-115 Tsurugi (some of which also had rocket boosters
attached to the wings for the final dive).  The latter was designed, basically,
to be cheap and easy to build since it was basically a disposable weapons
system.
        A total of about 2,000 kamikaze aircraft were actually employed on
suicide missions during the war.  The first organized attack was by four Army
Ki-45 two-engined fighter planes off the north coast of New Guinea, May 27,
1944, but the first large-scale use of kamikazes came during the Phillipines
campaign, starting at the end of October during the last stage of the naval
battle of Leyte Gulf.  The biggest kamikaze campaign of the war was Operation
Ten-Go, against the Allied invasion fleet off Okinawa, April-June 1945.  On the
first day of this operation, April 6, the Japanese employed 700 aircraft, and
there were at least ten more assaults involving 50-300 kamikazes before June
22nd.  The Japanese would have used more than 5,000 kamikaze aircraft to oppose
an invasion of their home islands (almost 4,900 planes earmarked for suicide
attacks were already available in August 1945).  Operation Ten-Go resulted in
the sinking of 34 Allied ships, and damaged over 300 more.  Pilots in this
operation were instructed (in the first attack, anyway) to make loaded
transports their priority targets, but the destroyers on picket duty were the
ships that actually suffered the worst.
        A couple books I know of which deal specifically with this subject are
Edwin Hoyt, "Kamikazes" (which I haven't read but have seen referenced) and
A.J. Barker, "Suicide Weapon."  There is also here at Pitt in the main library
a book by a man trained as a kamikaze pilot who survived the war, but the name
escapes me at the moment and I couldn't pull it up on my computer using keyword
search.  I'll try to check it out next time I'm down there.

        Hope this helps

        Regards

        Mike yaklich

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 16:46:28 -0400
From:    Mike Yaklich <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Last Japan appendix-- the battlewagon war

        I knew I was drifting into a minefield and inviting a few salvos from
the Hawaii contingent when I started talking about Pearl Harbor.  Thank you to
John DeVirgilio for the illuminating additional details.  A few comments on
your comments:
        1. I caught myself in the embarrassing error regarding the D3A's normal
bomb load (rookie mistake) and corrected it in my next post.  Also, I never
meant to imply that the D3A was employed on CAP duties when I said it could
dogfight with Allied fighters-- only to point out that after losing its bomb
load this aircraft eluded faster, better-armed enemy aircraft on a number of
occasions in 1942, due to its maneuverability (and, no doubt, pilots who knew
how to take advantage of that).  Now that you mention it though, the much less
capable Mitsubishi F1M observer floatplane WAS used as a surrogate fighter for
defensive patrols on occassion.
        2. I found your comments on Japanese divebomber tactics particularly
interesting.  That's one of several points you made that I'd be interested in
getting a source for (so I can read more myself).  I used the example of the
action against the British cruisers in the Indian Ocean because, if the
Japanese reports were correct, it seemed to me to be an exceptional case of
dive-bombing accuracy.  I certainly would have expected the norm to be a far
lower percentage, especially in shipping attack, regardless of how well the
pilots were trained.  I'm in total agreement about the effects of antiaircraft
fire on bombing accuracy (a no-brainer connection, I guess), but that brings up
another question.  Doesn't it strike you as also a bit exceptional that the
aircraft which sank the REPULSE and PRINCE OF WALES scored such a high
percentage of torpedo hits yet lost only three planes (I mentioned that figure
in my post, too) against moving targets, especially given the heavy AA armament
of the PRINCE OF WALES (particularly against close-in attack, which it seems
would have had to be the case to score so many hits, given, for example, the
difficulty the British usually experienced in scoring torpedo hits against
Italian warships in the Mediterranean).
        3.  Speaking of the REPULSE etc, could I ask where you got your numbers
for the number of hits scored?  I'm not disputing your post at all-- quite the
contrary, I'd like to read a more up-to-date account which might be more
accurate.  I think I took those numbers for torpedo hits from Toland's "Rising
Sun" because I had it handy, but I don't recall reading higher numbers in other
(admittedly older) sources like Roskill (of course, my memory plays tricks at
times-- I'll admit I was too lazy to run down to the main campus library and
double-check "The War At Sea.")
        4.  Thanks for the additional details on the No.80 bomb.  I'd love to
take a bow for getting the part about the ARIZONA right, but---
I said I used this list as one of my sources.  Well, the topic of those AP
shells-cum-bombs came up, I believe about a month before you signed on, and I
got the info from a post by Jim Adams so I might have been quoting you in the
first place.  BTW, I'd love to have you drop me a line about your own
publications, it seems your expertise on Japanese naval aircraft armament is
considerable.
        5.  Lastly, on an unrelated subject, in an earlier message to me you
mentioned a Zero pilots' association.  Would you know if a similar organization
exists for Japanese Army fighter pilots (Hayabusa pilots assoc?), or, frankly,
any good English-language source on Japanese Army fighter aces?  This is a
topic which represents a real gap in my knowledge of the Japanese air effort.
Any help would be appreciated, most of what I have is from correllating
scattered individual references on the subject.

        I would also like to ask if any of the naval experts out there could
tell me a little more about shipborne radar in the Japanese Navy-- particularly
about when (and on what ships) it was deployed operationally.  I have searched
in vain for the one specific reference I remember reading on this topic.

        Finally, John, my final exam on Pearl Harbor came back with a lot of
red ink on it, so I was wondering....did I pass?

        Regards (and thanks for the comments, critical and otherwise)

        Mike Yaklich

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 16:27:16 -0500
From:    James E Irwin <[email-masked]>
Subject: MEDIA:VE Day Plans

>From the DoD Newswire 9 March 1995

:VE DAY TO BRING 50 LEADERS TO LONDON

    LONDON, March 8 - The biggest assembly of heads of state
and government to come to London since Queen Elizabeth's 1953
coronation will mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two
in Europe in May.
     Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday that leaders from more
than 50 countries, including German Chancellor Hemlut Kohl, will
attend the Victory in Europe commemorations from May 6-8. Japan, the
other defeated World War Two power, will be represented by its
ambassador.
     The Prince and Princess of Wales, who separated two years ago,
are to make a rare appearance together in public for the ceremonies.
The Duchess of York, who separated from Prince Andrew in 1992, will
not be taking part.
     The Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles are to attend a joint
session of the two houses of parliament on May 5.
     The first major set-piece event on May 6 will be a dinner at the
ornate Guildhall for visiting heads of state. There will also be a
memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral on May 7.

======

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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, 10 Mar 1995 17:40:45 -0500
From:    Joseph Feld <[email-masked]>
Subject: Japanese-Russian peace talks

Mike Yaklich wrote the following:
>Thus Lend-Lease goods carried to Siberian Pacific ports in ships
>flying the Soviet flag were not attacked as they passed through Japanese
>controlled waters, while the Japanese tried to use the USSR as intermediary in
>tentative peace negotiations with the west (finding the Russians increasingly
>cool to these overtures after Yalta).

I'm curious, just how serious were the Japanese in conducting these
negotiations, and did either the British or the Americans participate
actively?

Joseph Feld
[email-masked]
Ferndale, MI

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 18:05:15 -0500
From:    Joseph Feld <[email-masked]>
Subject: Russia Enters the Pacific

On 3/10/95, Kelvin Brent Luther wrote the following:
>It was accepted that no invasion of Japan could go forward without the
>Russians >engaging the Japanese in Manchuria, the Chinese certainly weren't
>going to do it.

With so little time left in the war, did the Soviet Union actually engage
in any major action against Japan?  And, how exectly did they come into
possesion of the Kurile Islands?

Joseph Feld
[email-masked]
Ferndale, MI

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 19:41:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 11 MAR 45

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
SUNDAY, 11 MARCH 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
  A-26, Douglas Invader
  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  B-29, Boeing Superfortress
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  F-5, Lockheed Lightning
  F-6, North American Mustang
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-47, Republic Thunderbolt
  P-51, North American Mustang
  Spitfire, Vickers Supermarine

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

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER

  CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 4 B-25s knock
out 1 bridge and hit numerous boxcars at Kep and near Don Met. In China, 5
B-24s over the S China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin claim 1 freighter sunk and
another damaged; 10 P-40s and P-51s blast locomotives on the Tsinpu railroad
and demolish 3 villages E of Lohochai; the 1st Combat Cargo Group, 1st Combat
Cargo Group, based at Hsinching with C-47s, sends a detachment to operate
from Liangshan.

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 14 B-25s pound stores,
troops, vehicles, and ammunition dumps at Konghsa, Kwai-Kong, Man Kat, and
Mong Yai; 4 P-38s knock out a bridge at Mong Tong; 8 P-47s hit troop
concentration at Kyaukme; 30+ P-47s hit targets of opportunity during a road
sweeps behind enemy lines. Transports fly 547 sorties to forward areas.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
  Mission 881: 1,256 bombers and 814 fighters are dispatched to make H2X
radar attacks on U-boat yards at Kiel and Bremen and the shipyard and
refinery area at Hamburg, Germany; 1 B-17 and 4 P-51s are lost:
  1. 344 of 352 B-24s attack the Krupp Germania U-boat yard at Kiel; 2
B-24s are damaged. 232 P-47s and P-51s escort; 1 P-51 is lost.
  2. 469 of 485 B-17s hit the Wilhelmsburg oil refinery at Hamburg; 1 other
hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 41 damaged; 3 airmen are
WIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 252 of 265 P-51s; 2 are lost.
  3. 406 of 413 B-17s hit the Deschimag U-boat yard at Bremen; 9 B-17s are
damaged. 237 of 255 P-51s escort; 1 is lost.
  4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission.
  5. 18 P-51s escort 6 F-5s and a Spitfire on photo reconnaissance missions
over Germany.
  6. 27 of 29 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
  Mission 882: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany
during the night without loss.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 696 A-20s, A-26s, and
B-26s, hit 4 airfields, 3 communications centers, 2 ammunition filling
plants, and several city areas and other casual targets; these attacks are to
obstruct air operations and supply and troop movements in general; fighters
fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, escort the bombers, support the US 9th
Infantry Division push at the Remagen bridgehead and fly cover over the area,
and support the XX Corps E of Trier and Saarburg. HQ 363d Tactical
Reconnaissance Group and the 160th and 161st Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadrons (with F-6s) and HQ 373d Fighter Group move from Le Culot, Belgium
to Venlo, the Netherlands; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to
Sixth Army Group), moves from Epinal to Buhl, France with L-5s.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather limits operations
to reconnaissance and supply missions.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s of the 57th
Bombardment Wing score damaging hits on a bridge and fills at San Michele
all'Adige, Volargne, and Ossenigo, and, attacking a target in Austria for
first time, bomb a bridge at Drauburg; fighters and fighter-bombers of the
XXII Tactical Air Command hit rail lines and dumps in the C Po Valley and in
the Brenner area; during the night of 10/11 Mar A-20s hit several Po River
crossings, Ghedi and Pavia Airfields, road junctions, and other targets in
the Po Valley.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA
    Seventh Air Force: 11 B-24s from Guam Island again hit Susaki Airfield on
Chichi Jima Island, while 8 more during the night of 11/12 Mar, pound the
airfield individually.
    VII Fighter Command: Iwo Jima-based P-51s also bomb Susaki Airfield and
strafe Okimura and Kitamura on Haha Jima Island.

  HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 41: Attacking at altitudes ranging
from 5,100 to 8,500 feet (1,554 to 2,591 m), 285 of 310 B-29s bomb the
Nagoya, Japan urban area with incendiaries during the night of 11/12 Mar
destroying 2.05 square miles (5.31 square km); 6 others hit a secondary
target; 1 B-29 is lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao
Island, B-24s bomb the Zamboanga area, Mercedes village, and San Roque
Airfield and B-25s hit Mercedes, support ground forces near Zamboanga, and in
conjunction with PT boats, hit Isabela, Barlak, Taluksangay, and a HQ N of
Zamboanga. On Luzon Island, B-24s hit the Aparri area and support ground
forces at Wawa; A-20s and fighter-bombers fly ground support missions and
attack supply dumps and numerous targets of opportunity throughout Luzon.
On Formosa, fighter-bombers hit Takao and B-24s bomb Mako.

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

11/0139Z MAR

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 19:49:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 12 MAR 45

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
MONDAY, 12 MARCH 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
  A-26, Douglas Invader
  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  B-29, Boeing Superfortress
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  UC-64, Noorduyn Norseman
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  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): 4 B-25s knock out the Song Rang
bridge in French Indochina; 6 P-51s hit road communications at Hwayuan,
China and bomb a building at Ha Coi, French Indochina.

  HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 42: 44 of 49 B-29s hit oil storage
facilities on Bukum Island, Malayan States, and Samboe and Sebarok Islands,
Sumatra; 1 other B-29 bombs Arang Hill, Malayan States; they claim 0-0-1
Japanese aircraft; results are poor.

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 13 B-25s and 35 P-47s hit
troop concentrations, supplies, vehicles, and AA guns along the battlefront
and behind enemy lines; 66 P-47s hit transportation targets and a bridge
during several road sweeps in C Burma; 12 others damage a bypass bridge at
Hay-ti. Transports complete 677 sorties delivering men and supplies to
advanced bases and dropping supplies to frontline forces. The 164th Liaison
Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Shwebo to Ondaw,
Burma with UC-64s and L-5s.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
  Mission 883: 1,355 bombers and 797 fighters are dispatched to hit
marshalling yards in Germany by PFF; they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1
B-17 and 4 fighters are lost:
  1. 220 of 227 B-24s and 441 of 450 B-17s attack the marshalling yard at
Swinemunde; 1 other hit the marshalling yard at Husum, a target of
opportunity; all attacks are made with H2X radar; 1 B-17 is lost, 6 B-17s are
damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 412 of 452 P-51s; they
claim 4-0-1 aircraft in the air; 4 P-51s are lost (3 pilots MIA).
  2. 154 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yards at Friedberg (75) and
Wetzlar (74) using Gee-H; 2 airmen are WIA.
  3. 298 B-17s are dispatched to attack the marshalling yards at Siegen (141)
and Marburg (113); 24 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at
Frankfurt using Micro H; 4 B-17s are damaged.
  4. 226 B-17s are sent to bomb the marshalling yards at Betzdorf (116) and
Dillenburg (110) using Gee-H without loss.
  5. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th forces above are escorted by 192 P-47s and P-51s
without loss.
  6. 97 of 108 P-51s fly a sweep to support the bombers without loss.
  7. 10 P-51s escort 5 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions
over Germany.
  8. 23 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
  Mission 884: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany
during the night and 4 of 10 B-24s fly a CARPETBAGGER mission.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 9th Bombardment Division A-20s,
A-26s and B-26s attack 8 marshalling yards, an ammunition-filling plant, city
areas and targets of opportunity; the attacks on the marshalling yards are
aimed at blocking troop movements by rail into the Ruhr and Remagen areas;
fighters escort the bombers, bomb special targets, fly armed reconnaissance,
cover the Remagen area, and support the US 9th Infantry Division in the
Kalenborn and Hargarten areas and the XX Corps in the Saarburg bridgehead
area. The 387th and 388th Fighter Squadrons, 365th Fighter Group, move from
Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium to Aachen, Germany with P-47s; and the
412th Fighter Squadron, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Le Culot, Belgium to
Venlo, the Netherlands with P-47s.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 790 B-24s and B-17s
bomb the Floridsdorf oil refinery at Vienna and alternate targets, the
marshalling yards at Graz, Zeltweg, and Wiener-Neustadt; 98 P-38s bomb the
Knittelfeld railroad bridge (2 others hit nearby targets of opportunity) and
strafe communications in the Wiener-Neustadt-Graz-Klagenfurt areas. 12 P-38s
sweep the Zagreb, Yugoslavia area.  Bad weather forces 60 P-51s sent against
Austrian communications to abort; a supply mission to Yugoslavia and
reconnaissance operations are successful.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s hit 7 railroad
bridges, cutting two, and fills--severely damaging one and a train--in the
Brenner area and in NE Italy as far E as the Yugoslav border area; fighter-
bombers blast communications in N Italy, making 36 rail cuts, 19 of them on
the Brenner line; P-47s also bomb and severely damage a munitions factory NW
of Zagreb, Yugoslavia; during the night of 11/12 Mar, A-20s on intruder
missions hit Po River crossings, a sugar refinery, vehicles, and trains.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 16 P-51s bomb and strafe Okimura on Haha Jima
Island. 13 B-24s fly daylight strike against Susaki Airfield on Chichi Jima
Island; during the night of 12/13 Mar, 8 B-24s hit Susaki Airfield and
Okimura. 24 B-24s from Angaur Island hit a Saragani Bay storage area on
Mindanao Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s hit Mercedes
and Malabang on Mindanao Island. On Luzon Island, other B-24s bomb Japanese
troops near Ipo, B-25s hit supply area at Bangued and troops at Pattao, A-20s
and fighter-bombers fly ground forces support missions. fighter-bombers also
bomb Calallo Island. On Formosa B-24s, with P-38 support bomb Takao and
Tainan and P-51s also hit Tainan and bomb Jitsugetsu power plants. The 6th
Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Biak Island to
Tacloban, Leyte Island with C-47s; the 33d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22d
Bombardment Group (Heavy), moves from Samar Island to Clark Field, Luzon with
B-24s; the 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d Bombardment Group
(Medium), moves from Sansapor, New Guinea to Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island
with B-25s (the 69th is operating from Morotai Island).

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

11/0047Z MAR

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 19:56:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] 13 MAR 45

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
TUESDAY, 13 MARCH 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
  A-26, Douglas Invader
  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-26, Martin Marauder
  B-29, Boeing Superfortress
  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): 7 B-24s over the Gulf of Tonkin and
the S China Sea claim a cargo vessel and a large junk destroyed. 13 P-40s,
P-38s, and P-51s destroy a storehouse and damage a compound at
Chinchengchiang, China and knock out a bridge and hit machinegun positions
and other targets of opportunity at Lang Son, French Indochina.

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-47s support forces of
the Chinese 50th Division, hitting Japanese positions along the Namtu River
in the Namhsan area; 26 P-38s hit road targets S of the bomb line in C Burma;
12 B-25s attack troop concentrations, supplies, and gun positions behind
enemy lines; 4 P-47s hit a wooded area in the British 36 Division battle
sector; other fighter-bombers make ineffective bridge strikes. Transports
complete 500+ sorties to forward areas.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 61st Troop Carrier Group
and the 14th and 15th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Barkston, England to
Abbeville, France with C-47s.

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 16 P-51s based at Chievres,
Belgium fly an uneventful aircraft sweep in the Remagen-Koblenz, Germany
area; 17 F-5s fly photo reconnaissance missions over Germany.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 450+ A-26s, A-20s, and
B-26s, bomb 3 marshalling yards, 2 airfields, rail sidings, and several
targets of opportunity in the continuing interdiction campaign; fighters fly
escort, patrols, and armed reconnaissance, attack assigned targets, cover the
US First Army area in general along the Rhine River from Dusseldorf to
Linz/Rhine, support the US 9th Infantry Division around Hargarten, cover the
Remagen bridgehead, and support the XX Corps as it opens an offensive SE from
the Saarburg bridgehead.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): In Germany, 569 B-24s and B-17s
bomb the marshalling yard at Regensburg; 3 other bombers bomb the Landshut
marshalling yard and targets of opportunity; 280+ P-38s and P-51s provide
escort and several strafe rail traffic in Germany and Austria during the
return flight; 41 P-51s on a strafing mission attack rail traffic in the
Munich-Landshut-Regensburg and Ingolstadt, Germany areas and between Vienna
and Wiener-Neustadt, Austria. Photo reconnaissance is particularly extensive,
with 18 F-5s covering areas of Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia,
Hungary, and N Italy; 41 fighters escort the photo missions.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s bomb railroad
bridges and fills at Perca, Vo Sinistro, Pizzighetone, Salorno, and Sacile;
fighters and fighter-bombers attack bridges, flak positions, ammunition and a
supply dump, rail lines, various other targets, and fly close support to the
US Fifth Army force as the XXII Tactical Air Command operates over wide areas
of N Italy from the N Apennines through the Po Valley, and into NE Italy; on
the night of 12/13 Mar, A-20s hit railroads, Po River crossings, dumps, and
movement, mainly in the Po Valley.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 6 B-24s from Guam Island hit Woleai Atoll in
the Caroline Islands while 10 others bomb Susaki Airfield on Chichi Jima
Island; during the night of 13/14 Mar, 8 B-24s, flying individual strikes
pound Susaki Airfield. 24 B-24s from Angaur Island bomb a storage area at
Saragani Bay, Mindanao Island.

  HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 42: In the third of the Twentieth
AF's great fire raids, 274 of 301 B-29s begin bombing Osaka, Japan shortly
after 2400 hours local on the night of 13/14 Mar; because of 8/10 cloud
cover, bombing is by radar; the heart of the city, an area of 8.1 square
miles (21.0 square km), is wiped out during 3 hours of bombing from altitudes
of 5,000 to 9,600 feet (1,524 to 2,926 m); 134,744 houses are destroyed,
1,363 houses damaged and Japanese casualties are 3,988 dead, 678 missing and
8,463 dead; 5 other B-29s bomb other targets; the B-29s claim 1-0-0 Japanese
aircraft; 2 B-29s are lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Mindanao Island,
B-24s hit targets in the Saragani Bay area and effectively hit the town of
Lagao and B-25s support ground operations in the Zamboanga area. B-25s,
A-20s, and fighters support ground forces hitting forces and positions in the
Cagayan Valley on Luzon Island. B-25s hit sampans off Hainan Island, China
while P-51s sweep Samah Airfield on the island. B-24s hit installations in WC
Formosa and at Mako. The 408th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22d Bombardment
Group (Heavy), moves from Samar Island to Clark Field, Luzon with B-24s.

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, 10 Mar 1995 20:00:29 -0500
From:    Joseph Feld <[email-masked]>
Subject: USSR in the Pacific Theater

On 3/10/95 Mike Yaklich wrote:
>        The Soviet Union declared war on Japan (or, to be specific, broadcast
>its declaration of war) and commenced military operations in the early hours of
>August 9th, 1945, the same day the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

A question, if I may, was this declaration and commencement *before* the
Nagasaki detonation?  Since I can't believe that the USSR was privy to
detailed information concerning American atomic weapons development and
deployment, and since I assume that Russia would not have started such an
action without extensive prior planning, I'm forced to conclude that the
convergence of dates is merely a coincidence.  The more so since Stalin
assumed the US was actually going to invade Japan.  Does anyone else
concur?

Joseph Feld
[email-masked]
Ferndale, MI

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 20:26:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WEAP: What do they cost

 >Hello Folks
 >
 >  I am a Swede with a hopeless love for the most boring parts of WW2 -
 >That is War Economics! As it is a rather obscure subject I have some trouble
 >to find sources among the more readily available litterature (it's easy to find
 >information about how many B24 that were produced with tail-fin type E, and
 >if the Mustangs of the 234:th squadron had yellow markings on the propeller,
 >but try to find out how much a Mustang did cost, or how many man hours they
 >took to build...). Thus I now stand forth and give you some of my most boring
 >questions :-)
 >
 >What was the cost per airframe of the more common aircraft of WW2?
 >What was the development cost of the models?
 >How many man hours did it take to build them?

SNIP    SNIP    SNIP
 >
 >        Thanks in advance
 >        Robert Maartensson, Uppsala, Sweden
 >        [email-masked]

The unit costs of some USAAF aircraft are listed beloy.  The unit cost for
the first year usually included the experimental and test models which were
far more costly than the production models which followed, and therefore,
heavily weighted the unit cost for the initial year.  The blank spaces in
the talbe indicate that official figures are not available for those years.

   MODEL         1939-41       1942        1943        1944        1945

A-20            $136,813    $124,253    $110,324    $100,800
A-26             224,498                 254,624     192,457    $175,892
AT-6              29,423      25,672                  22,952
AT-7 series       76,827      85,688      68,441
B-17             301,221     258,949                 204,370     187,742
B-24             379,162     304,391                 215,516
B-25             180,031     153,396     151,894     142,194     116,752
B-26             261,062     239,655     212,932     192,427
B-29                         893,730                 605,360     509,465
BT-13 series      25,035      23,068
C-46             341,831     314,700     259,268     233,377     221,550
C-47             128,761     109,696      92,417      88,574      85,035
C-54             516,553     370,492     400,831     285,113     259,816
L-4                            2,432       2,437       2,620       2,701
L-5                           10,165                   9,704       8,323
P-38             134,284     120,407     105,567      97,147
P-39              77,159      69,534                  50,666
P-40              60,562      59,444      49,449      44,892
P-47             113,246     105,594     104,258      85,578      83,001
P-51                          58,698      58,824      51,572      50,985
PT-13 series      10,002       9,896
PT-19 series       9,710      12,911      11,000      15,052

One of the reasons that aircraft unit costs went down was that mass
production reduced the man-hours required to manufacture aircraft, e.g., in
1942, it took 54,800 hours to build a B-17 but this had been reduced to
18,600 hours by 1944.  By mid-1944 the labor cost per pound of airplane was
only about a third of what it had been early in 1941, even though hourly
earnings had risen by more than 50%.

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

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 20:34:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: INF: USN Chronology 02-26-95

 >        Theron Keller's daily post for 2-26-45 states that PASADENA (CL-65) AND
 >PORTERFIELD (DD-682) were damaged by naval gunfire south of Honshu, Japan.  I
 >assume they were not damaged by friendly fire; presumably there was a surface
 >engagement with the Japanese.  Can anyone provide additional detail on this enco
 >unter?
 >
 >------------------------------------------------------------
 >|    Skip Wilder               |                           |
 >|    [email-masked]       |"The road to hell is paved |
 >|    FAX (703)528-2103         | with good intentions."    |
 >|    McLean, Virginia, U.S.A.  |                           |
 >------------------------------------------------------------

I cannot find anything for the PASADENA but I found the following for the
PORTERFIELD in Volume V of the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NAVAL FIGHTING
SHIPS:

Early on the morning of 26 February, PORTERFIELD picked up a Japanese
picket boat on her radar screen, and promply engaged her.  The 150 foot
(45.7 m) boat put up a stiff fight, aided by rough seas which made fire
control difficult, but PORTERFIELD sank here within 15 minutes.

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

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

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 1995 20:36:41 EST
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 11-MAR-1945

On 11-MAR-1945, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - In the U.S. 9th Army sector, the 35th Division reaches
Wesel. In the 1st Army sector, the 78th Division is responsible for the
northern flank of the Remagen bridgehead. The 9th Division continues its
offensive in the Hargarten area. The 99th Division is attacking southeast
and reaches Leubsdorf and Ariendorf. The 2nd Division strengthens its
positions on the Rhine. In the 3rd Army sector, the XII and VIII Crops
continue to mop-up on the West bank of the Rhine and between the Rhine and
Moselle in preparation for crossing the Moselle. The 10th Armoured Division
is also attacking towards the Moselle.

Eastern Front - Soviet troops press from the south towards Danzig and
Gdynia. Berlin reports slight penetrations of the German positions in the
Kuestrin area as the Russians expand the Oder bridgeheads. The Germans
persist in their offensive in Hungary, but their losses are growing and the
Russian resistance is stiffening.

Philippines - In the XIV Corps area, the 43rd Division begins relieving the
1st Cavalry Division. In I Corps area, the 33rd Division consolidates and
patrols toward Galiano. In the 8th Army sector, elements of the 41st
Division secure the airfield and Zamboanga City on Mindanao and pushes
toward Pasananca. The east entrance of the Visayan Passage is now secure
and Filipino guerrillas take over the occupation of the Burias and Ticao
Islands.

Iwo Jima - The 4th Marine Division overcomes organized resistance within
its zone on the right flank of the VAC except for one stubborn pocket on
the division's right. In the center the 3rd Marine Division mops up and
protects the right flank of the 5th Marine Division. Terrain, as well as
the enemy, make slow progress for the 5th, despite close artillery support.

Burma - The Indian 19th Division continues to battle for Mandalay.

The Homefront
-------------
1,200 U.S. Prisoners Sail Home - Dispatches from Moscow say that 1,200 U.S.
servicemen, escaped or liberated from German prison camps, embarked for
American bases from Odessa March 7-8.

Best Selling Books - "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck, "The Green Years" by
A.J. Cronin, "Great Son" by Edna Ferber, "Immortal Wife" by Irving Stone.
Non-fiction - "Brave Men" by Ernie Pyle, "Try And Stop Me" by Bennett Cerf.

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

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/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 9 Mar 1995 to 10 Mar 1995
************************************************