Subject: WWII-L Digest - 27 Mar 1995 to 28 Mar 1995

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 00:02:19 -0500

There are 33 messages totalling 1076 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. INF: USN Chronology 03-28-95
  2. Raid on Cabanatuan #4
  3. MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum (8)
  4. MEDIA:Victoria Cross For Sale
  5. Name that gun, Enfield No4 Mk1 (4)
  6. MEDIA:Victoria Cross For Sale redux (3)
  7. BATAAN DEATH MARCH (4)
  8. MEDAL OF HONOR/Old Breed
  9. THUNDERBOLT
 10. Mail List
 11. Bataan death march (2)
 12. Where was the queen?
 13. MEDAL OF HONOR
 14. USS Colorado (BB-45)
 15. INF: 50 Years Ago - 28-MAR-1945
 16. [INF] USAAF 29 MAR 45
 17. Glacier Girl Photographs

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 00:00:19 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 03-28-95

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

1945
03/28 Wed.  United States naval vessel sunk:
             Minesweeper SKYLARK (AM-63), by mine, Okinawa area,
              26 d. 20'N., 127 d. 41'E.
            United States naval vessels damaged:
             Attack cargo ship WYANDOT (AKA-92), by horizontal
              bomber, Okinawa area,
              26 d. 00'N., 127 d. 00'E.
             Repair ship AGENOR (ARL-3), by collision, Iwo Jima area,
              24 d. 46'N., 141 d. 19'E.
            Japanese naval vessels sunk:
             Coast defense vessel NO. 33, by carrier-based aircraft,
              off Kyushu, Japan,
              31 d. 45'N., 131 d. 45'E.
             Frigate MIKURA, by submarine THREADFIN (SS-410), off
              Kyushu, Japan,
              31 d. 49'N., 131 d. 44'E.
             Minesweeper NO. 11, by Army aircraft,
              Netherlands East Indies area,
              05 d. 06'S., 119 d. 18'E.
             Patrol boat No. 108, by Army aircraft,
              Netherlands East Indies area,
              04 d. 15'S., 119 d. 05'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:    Mon, 27 Mar 1995 21:53:20 -0800
From:    James Wilson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Raid on Cabanatuan #4

INSTALLMENT FOUR IN A SERIES

Raid on Cabanatuan
a scenario of the published book
"Raid on Cabanatuan"
by Forrest Bryant Johnson
(C) 1988 A Thousand Autumns Press
all rights reserved
REPRODUCED ELECTRONICALLY WITH PERMISSION
3/27/95

Late 1942.
-----------
The Filipino soldiers held at Camp O'Donnell are freed by the Japanese.
The surviving 6,000 Americans are moved by cattle (rail) car to
Cabanatuan City. Then, they are marched a few miles out of town to POW
Camp Cabanatuan.

This camp sits on flat land along the main road running northeast out of
the city. It is 600 by 800 yards in area, surrounded by three rows of
barbed wire fence, eight feet tall, four feet apart. The inside of this
compound is separated by single rows of barbed wire fending, six feet
tall.

There are three guard towers twenty feet in height and two machine gun
pits along the fence rows containing the POW's. A central dirt road
connects the main highway to the rear of the stockade. The camp is
sealed by two wire gates, twelve feet high. All the buildings in the
camp are constructed of wood, bamboo, and nipa-grass except for three
corrugated metal sheds on the opposite side of the POW area. These sheds
usually contain two trucks and one tank.

The POW's are used for a variety of work details. Many die from beatings
inflicted by the guards. A 300-acre farm is maintained by POW's.  It
must be cultivated by hand and watered by small containers carried in by
the POW's. When the crops come, the Japanese guards take most of it.

The POW's receive lengthy beatings and are shot for trying to escape.
Others die of starvation, beatings, and disease. By the end of 1942,
three thousand of the original 6,000 Americans lie buried in the camp
cemetery... in graves dug by hand and pieces of metal and wood.

General MacArthur's headquarters in Australia receives radio messages
from Major Lapham sent on salvaged parts from war-damaged equipment he
manages to piece together. HQ learns that full-scale guerrilla war is
underway in the Philippines. At first Lapham has difficulty convincing
them he is really an American and not part of a Japanese trick.

Guerrilla war continues while MacArthur begins his "leap frog" campaign
up the island of the Pacific to keep his promise to "return" to the
Philippines.

--- TO BE CONTINUED ---
(For info on obtaining a copy of the Book and/or scenario, E-Mail:
Jim Wilson :  [email-masked])

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

Date:    Mon, 27 Mar 1995 23:23:05 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

Jim Irwin...
        'Something not quite 'right' in that story about a tankful of
"1942 German jet-fuel" being discovered intact on a beach in Israel.
        It's probably just a case of an anachronism sneaking in by some
young reporter who equates "aircraft fuel" with "jet fuel". As there would
not be much fuel for jet planes (German or any other) rolling around the
mediterranean in 1942, the tank more likely contains simple gasoline
< Ger. "benzin">.

Sidney.

--

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

Date:    Mon, 27 Mar 1995 23:36:37 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Victoria Cross For Sale

More to the point, THE DESERT FOX was originally a b-o-o-k,
written by Brigadier Desmond Young, a British officer who
first met Rommel when Young was captured in Norther Afrika.
The movie was -- loosely -- based on the book.

--

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

Date:    Mon, 27 Mar 1995 23:39:32 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Name that gun, Enfield No4 Mk1

Alan...
        'Far as I remember, the LeeEnfield was sighted in yards.

Sidney.

--

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

Date:    Mon, 27 Mar 1995 23:53:13 -0800
From:    Sidney Allinson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Victoria Cross For Sale redux

Carlos...
        Very well said, sir.
Also profoundly sensible.

best regards -- Sidney.

--

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 07:04:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: BATAAN DEATH MARCH

 >I don't know how soon after the event the death march was known. The government
 >was between Scylla and Charibdis, if I may use a classic, and perhaps misspelt
 >names. I think that it feared that the POWs would be treated worse, if
 >possible, than they were should it appear that it knew about the event. In any
 >case, for an outstanding work on the death march, I suggest you read Stanley
 >Falk's book of the same name--The Bataan Death March. Ben Frank

Somewhere in ye olde gray matter is the fact that the U.S.
Government learned of the Bataan Death March sometime in 1943 but
did not make the information public.  I do not remember how the
government found out, i.e., from guerilla's in the Philippines,
POWs that escaped, POWs rescued after the Japanese ship they were
on was torpedoed, etc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
|  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:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 07:07:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

 >> :ISRAEL FINDS WWII FUEL BARREL

 >JET fuel in a 1942 container?  In the Med?  Does this sound funny?
 >
 >Jim Benn.

Jim,

You are assuming that the Associated Press got it right and it was
jet fuel.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
|  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:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 13:38:15 +0000
From:    "Isaiah W. Cox" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

Jet Fuel?

I doubt it highly. The Luftwaffe did not have a production jet until 1944,
with the Messerschmidt 242, right? Likewise, the Wehrmacht had no jets at
all...

A distinction has to be made. Avgas is high octane gasoline, used in
trucks, boats, propellor planes, etc. Jet fuel is a normal grade *diesel*
fuel (that is why is was so attractive to the Luftwaffe in 1944 -- more
plentiful). Now, diesel had plenty of uses, but not, as far as I know, for
jets in 1942. Isn't it more likely to have been for tanks or ships, and not
marked Jet Fuel but perhaps another phrase with similar meaning (i.e.
diesel)? The report shows it as marked "Wehrmacht" and "1942" -- it did
*not* say Jet fuel. Those were the words of the scientists who found diesel
and gave it its more exotic name, "Jet Fuel". The news report then went
ahead and called it "airplane fuel".

Isaiah Cox

>:ISRAEL FINDS WWII FUEL BARREL
>
>    JERUSALEM -- A barrel of airplane fuel from Nazi Germany has
> surfaced intact on a beach in northern Israel.
>   The 53-gallon metal container was discovered rolling in the surf
> Saturday by a man strolling the beach in Akhziv, a resort near the
> Lebanese border. It was stamped with the date 1942 and the word
> Wehrmacht, Germany's World War II army.
>    Scientists on Sunday found it still contained jet fuel and it was
> deposited in a nearby landfill, said Haim Shenhar, a local
> Environment Ministry official.
>    "It was completely whole after more than 50 years in the sea,"
> Shenhar said. "This is the first time we have found such a
> phenomenon."
> Environment Ministry spokesman Iftah Kramer said the barrel was
> probably carried over by currents from Italy or other Mediterranean
> countries.

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 08:16:37 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDAL OF HONOR/Old Breed

Hi Ben,...
>
>"The Old Breed" by my late friend, George McMillan, is considered to have been
>the finest WWII unit histories written.It certainly conveys why the 1st MarDiv
>is called The Old Breed. If you picked it up at a flea market for less that
>$125, you got yourself a bargain. One of the men in my outfit was James C.
>Wilbur. I never knew what happened to him after the war. Cherish the book; it
>deserves it. Ben Frank

I found Jim's daughter's significant other and had a short conversation.
She, I have not spoken to yet, but expect her to call me soon. The s/o says
Jim Jr. is in Greece. I assume he's in the service, but have no facts. I'll
print out your posting with your appraisal to let them know it's worth.
I also have a post you made a while back when you said you were on deck
when George came aboard your boat. The book is in great shape with a written
note Jim Sr. made to his son Jim Jr. saying, "we did this for you", "with
love"; I can't remember exactly how it goes off hand. I thought it would
certainly mean more to Jim Jr. than to me, if Jim Jr. only knew the facts.

'Thanks for your input, -Alan

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

American Legion, Post 102
I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 08:34:59 EST
From:    Alan Wild <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Name that gun, Enfield No4 Mk1

Hi Jim,

I suppose I'll just have to take it to the range and sight it in at
various ranges, 'see what happens. Even though I live in the woods,
the range of the weapon requires me to go down the road. :-/  New
Enfields are on the market these days. I believe they were found in
Scotland, still in the cosmoline. I bought mine for $100 in NRA good cond.
'Will let you know what I find. -Alan

>I understand that what you are talking about is an earlier version of the
>Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mark I, that was changed after reports from the field
>that the sights were inadequate.  I remember reading somewhere that it
>was a production short-cut.
>I checked my Lee-Enfield (gift from my sons this Christmas) and it has a
>dual sight with what I believe is called a "battlefield" sight for
>shortranges and a flip-up sight which can be set for up to 1200 yards.
>This Lee-Enfield was made at the U.S. Springfield armory, and is marked
>US Property.  It's also stamped "5 No. 4 Mk I*".  I read that many
>Lee-Enfield were produced in the US by contract for use by British
>troops.  I read somewhere that the US-made Lee-Enfields were made to
>higher production standards than British-made models, and were favored by
>British troops.  Does anyone know if this is true?
>Finally, just a comment that the bolt action of this rifle is remarkable.
>It's smooth and fast, and allows for much more accurate timed fire that
>the German Kar 98, in my opinion.  Any other opinions on how the
>Lee-Enfield stacks up against other WWII bolt-action rifles?
>Thanks,
>
>Jim Benn.
>
>On Mon, 27 Mar 1995, Alan Wild wrote:
>
>> The rear sight to the No.4, Mark I rocks front and back to produce 2 sight
>> pictures: one short and one long range. They are marked 300 & 600. Does
>> anyone know if that is yards or feet. It might sound like a dumb question,
>> but many weapons have trajectories that travel through the line of sight
>> twice, and it seems absurd that the first pass should be up through the
>> line of sight at 300 YARDS. :-/
>>
>> Anyone,... Sidney?
>>
>> Alan Wild, Sr. Prog/Analyst
>> ACC - Lippitt - URI
>> Kingston, RI  02881
>>
>> American Legion, Post 102
>> I am the NRA.
>>

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

American Legion, Post 102
I am the NRA.

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 06:12:52 -0800
From:    Larry Godek <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: THUNDERBOLT

You wrote:

>
>Well, it's official. I'm tasked with doing a manuscript for a P-47
photo
>book. I'm looking for good sources of the design and development of the
P-47.
>Also - I'd like (LOVE) to talk with anyone who flew, operated,
maintained, or
>built any of these big birds.
>
>
Paul... To bad you couldn't make it to the American Fighter Aces
Convention this weekend in MESA, AZ.  I'm sure that there will be some
sources there.  Call Ward Boyce at 602-830-4541.  He is kinda like the
operator of the Fighter AAces museum and may be able  to help you in
some way.

Larry Godek
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 06:45:10 -0800
From:    Larry Godek <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

You wrote:

>
>Jet Fuel?
>
>It seems to me that they didn't really have a "jet"fuel.  It was
different chemicals that were put in the acft before missions.  Highly
toxic and explosive if mixed  together incorectly and at the wrong
time.  How did they grade "jet fuel".  Was the container part of the
mixture?

Larry G.

I doubt it highly. The Luftwaffe did not have a production jet until
1944,
>with the Messerschmidt 242, right? Likewise, the Wehrmacht had no jets
at
>all...
>
>A distinction has to be made. Avgas is high octane gasoline, used in
>trucks, boats, propellor planes, etc. Jet fuel is a normal grade
*diesel*
>fuel (that is why is was so attractive to the Luftwaffe in 1944 -- more
>plentiful). Now, diesel had plenty of uses, but not, as far as I know,
for
>jets in 1942. Isn't it more likely to have been for tanks or ships, and
not
>marked Jet Fuel but perhaps another phrase with similar meaning (i.e.
>diesel)? The report shows it as marked "Wehrmacht" and "1942" -- it did
>*not* say Jet fuel. Those were the words of the scientists who found
diesel
>and gave it its more exotic name, "Jet Fuel". The news report then went
>ahead and called it "airplane fuel".
>
>Isaiah Cox
>
>>:ISRAEL FINDS WWII FUEL BARREL
>>
>>    JERUSALEM -- A barrel of airplane fuel from Nazi Germany has
>> surfaced intact on a beach in northern Israel.
>>   The 53-gallon metal container was discovered rolling in the surf
>> Saturday by a man strolling the beach in Akhziv, a resort near the
>> Lebanese border. It was stamped with the date 1942 and the word
>> Wehrmacht, Germany's World War II army.
>>    Scientists on Sunday found it still contained jet fuel and it was
>> deposited in a nearby landfill, said Haim Shenhar, a local
>> Environment Ministry official.
>>    "It was completely whole after more than 50 years in the sea,"
>> Shenhar said. "This is the first time we have found such a
>> phenomenon."
>> Environment Ministry spokesman Iftah Kramer said the barrel was
>> probably carried over by currents from Italy or other Mediterranean
>> countries.
>
>

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 07:54:39 -0700
From:    John Brewer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Name that gun, Enfield No4 Mk1

        There are indeed a ton of Enfields that have surfaced in the
surplus market. Number 4 mk 1's in used condition are selling for about
$59 in NRA good, while new, unissued, in armory gauze and cosmoline are
selling for about $250. The latter come from Ireland. Number I mk III's
(SMLE?) are selling for about 49$ in NRA good condition. Pick up a copy
of SHOTGUN NEWS for more pointers...

        The USA made versions are said to be of much better manufacture, and
from personal observation, the Mauser craftsmanship (german mausers) is
better than both of them.

        /john

 John M. Brewer   wb5oau
 [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 10:17:00 -0500
From:    Pat Marsden <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Name that gun, Enfield No4 Mk1

On Mar 27,  4:36pm, Jim Benn wrote:
> Finally, just a comment that the bolt action of this rifle is remarkable.
> It's smooth and fast, and allows for much more accurate timed fire that
> the German Kar 98, in my opinion.  Any other opinions on how the
> Lee-Enfield stacks up against other WWII bolt-action rifles?
> Thanks,
>
> Jim Benn.
>-- End of excerpt from Jim Benn

I picked up a No.4 Mk I and a No.4 Mk II last summer for about $90 each.
I agree that they have one of the smoothest actions that I've seen.  I
might have this backwards but I believe the Enfield is cocked when
closing the bolt and the Kar 98K cocks on opening.  That would make a
difference in the speed at which the bolt can be operated.  If I've got
that backwards, I trust someone will correct me. :)  I shot the Enfields
against my Russian Mosin Nagant M38 carbine.  Both had about the same
pain factor in terms of recoil (.303 vs. 7.62x54R cartridges) and I had
a nice bruise to prove it.  The trigger pull seemed to be a smoother on
the Nagant but the bolt action was definitely cruder.  I trusted the
safety on the Enfield a lot more than the Nagant - I don't like having
to cock a rifle in order to engage the safety.  One other comment, the
Enfield produced liitle to no muzzle flash while the Nagant put out a
ball of flame probably 3 feet in diameter.  This was the short-barreled
M38 version and I'm sure the longer M98's wouldn't do that but the carbine
would definitely have the disadvantage in a night fight. The Enfield sight is
graduated in yards I believe.  I haven't tried it out to 1200 yards yet
but I hope to this summer.  The only complaint I would have about the
sight is that the rear sight picture is huge.  But I'll just have to get
used to it.  For the cost, it's a great historical piece.

patrick

--
Patrick D. Marsden          | Naval Research Laboratory     | (202)-404-8229
Computational Physics, Inc  | Planetary Atmospheres Section | Opinions are mine
[email-masked] | Code 7641                     |  and mine alone.
http://power.nrl.navy.mil   | Washington, D.C.  20375       |      * NRA *

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 11:22:17 -0500
From:    David Rising <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

On Mon, 27 Mar 1995, Jim Benn wrote:

> JET fuel in a 1942 container?  In the Med?  Does this sound funny?
>
> Jim Benn.

Probably fell from the aircraft that Julia Child was piloting to the Club
Med. :-)
David Rising

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 12:45:24 -0500
From:    [email-masked]
Subject: Mail List

Please add me to your mailing list.

Regards,

[email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 11:51:08 -0600
From:    "William L. Huber - SAA" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Victoria Cross For Sale redux

> These medals, when no longer of value to a family (or perhaps no family to
> pass them on to) should find their way to museums.

Robert Granvin has touched the key point.  Its not the vet who hocks
his VC or CMoH to put beans on the table but the family who, for what
ever reason, no longer sees that the medal has any interest in the
family and the vet that earned the decoration has long since passed
on.  They come out in estate sales and are sometimes bought or given
to collectors.  The family of GFM von Kleist gave a collector in
Houston v. Kleist's Oakleaves to his Knights Cross and v Kleists
summer tunic that he wore in the Ukraine.  There is a collector here
in San Antonio who collects Congressional Medals of Honor (awarded)
and has several.

> But $12-$20K?  How many museums can really put out that kind of money for a
> single medal?  That money is raised through very hard work and good management
> and I hate to say it, but for nearly every museum, that kind of investment is
> beyond fiscal responsibility.

That is why museums can offer tax considerations to donors.
Otherwise, with most museum budgets (Indiana Jones not withstanding)
purchase of these items on the open market is most difficult when in
competition with collectors who can pay millions for items to suit
their fancy.

> If up for sale, it more often that not finds its way to a private collector,
> taking the artifact out of sight and mind of the public.  When it finds its
> way back into public display, the story of the owner may have been lost.

While true to a point remember 1) some collectors do public displays
of items in their collections :-)  2) some collectors write books
where these items find the light of day as illustrations  and 3) no
collector lives forever.  Collections fall into the hands of non
interested relatives and the items recycle through estate sales.

It is the responsibility of the collector to maintain the history of
items in their charge just as it is for museums.  Some are careful
some are not.  When items like VCs and Knights Crosses come up or sale
with known histories they demand prices that reflect those histories.
Anybody can buy a US Congressional Medal of Honor for $350.00 unissued
in the box.  To buy one issued the price can jump by an order of
magnitude.  It depends on what the medal was issued for.  Guys who
threw themselves on grenades seem to bring less money than the guys
who jump on burning tanks and hold off enemy regiments single handed
with machineguns.  Go figure.

> These are awards.  They should never become commodities.
>
> Robert J. Granvin

In my heart I agree 100% but the market directs otherwise.  There are
collectors who care little for the history but that is not true of all
collectors.  It can make one cynical to see how things that mean so
much to some of us be bought by the rich who treat them like baubles
but I'm one guy with limited resources - I do what I can.

Cheers, Bill Huber / [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 13:25:40 EST
From:    Ralph Fasano <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Victoria Cross For Sale redux

I'm new to this list, but all this talk about heirs who hock or sell our nation
's highest honors at garage or estate sales should think twice. They are
selling their deceased relative's cherished awards for gallantry on the battlef
ield.
Perhaps any heirs who come into posession of these medals might consider a
donation of them to their local community library along with a framed
photograph of their loved one. The library could then display these along with
a description of the action(s) in which the meadals were earned. Thus each
city and town across America would be able to display its own hero's
acheivements. History would be well served by these patriotic gestures!
Ralph Fasano   [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 13:39:43 -0600
From:    Terrence Lindell <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: BATAAN DEATH MARCH

Regarding the question of when news of the Bataan Death March first reached
US, I can't provide any definitive answer.  I have a copy of a book
by Lt. Col. William E. Dyess entitled _The Dyess Story:  The Eye-Witness
Account of the Death March from Bataan and the Narrative of Experiences
in Japanese Prison Camps and of Eventual Escape_ (NY:  G.P. Putnam's, 1944).

Dyess was an AAF pilot in the Philippines, survived the Bataan Death
March, and escaped from Davao prison in April 1943.  My copy ends rather
abruptly on p. 182 and may have had a last chapter pulled out of it.  It
does not explain how Dyess managed to return to American-controlled
territory (no surprise), but the introduction mentions that word of
his return was first announced in July 1943.  In September, 1944 the
_Chicago Tribune_ got permission to print his story, but the War Dept.
decided to stop it.  Ultimately, the paper was allowed to run series of
articles in early 1944.  The intro says only after "a four-and-a-half-
month battle for its release," so this apparently was about January
1944.  The story was later printed as the book I own.

Dyess didn't live to see it published.  He was killed in the crash of
a P-38 in December 1944.

Terry Lindell
Department of History

Wartburg College
Waverly, Iowa  50677
[email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 13:48:45 GMT-6
From:    "Robert T. Moore" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Bataan death march

Hello, Alan!

Just read your post and would like to respond.

> The blame for the thousands of lost men should go to MacArthur who, knowing
> the chances, should have decided to resist. Any way of dying seems to me
> would have been preferable to getting bayonneted in the back if you fell from
> exhaustion. I have a low regard for MacArthur and can not figure why he
> was regarded so highly, other than he was good at politics.

    Perhaps so, but hindsight is always 20/20. At least one is alive
even in captivity, no matter how cruel it may be. Even if death is a
result during the time, at least there is the hope that one will
survive no matter what.

    I can appreciate your feelings toward MacArthur, but don't forget
that he was West Point's most distinguished graduate and he was a
world-class strategist regardless of his shortcomings. His masterful
development of the island-hopping strategy in the Southwest Pacific
saved many many lives while inflicting the maximum casualties on the
enemy.

    These are my thoughts, and would like to hear yours or any one
else's.

    All the best.

    Terry

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 14:52:45 -0500
From:    Henry Sirotin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

Hmmmm. JET. _J_ulia's _E_xperimental _T_echnology?

HS

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 15:00:24 EST
From:    Roger Coon <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: BATAAN DEATH MARCH

Many thanks to all who answered my Bataan question.  I will see if I can
find the Dyess book, it sounds like it might be very helpful.
Brad Coon

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 14:37:12 -0600
From:    "William L. Huber - SAA" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Where was the queen?

>
> Does anybody know where the Queen of England was residing during World War
> II?

Buckingham Palace was her residence last I heard.  She was a truck
mechanic during the war though.  I wonder if I could get her to take a
look at my Datsun.... hmmmm. :-)

Of course she was not the Queen at that time but it is to her
everlasting credit that she did what she could for the war effort.

Long live the Queen!

Bill Huber / [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 16:04:31 -0500
From:    Barone <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Bataan death march

Alan Wild <[email-masked]> writes:
> The blame for the thousands of lost men should go to MacArthur who, knowing
> the chances, should have decided to resist. Any way of dying seems to me
> would have been preferable to getting bayonneted in the back if you fell from
> exhaustion. I have a low regard for MacArthur and can not figure why he
> was regarded so highly, other than he was good at politics.

        Actually, MacArthur *was* against surrender.  Ned King took it upon
himself to surrender.  In fact, MacArthur had ordered King to counterattack
on the day that he had surrendered.  This attack was a crackpot scheme that
could be compared to the crazy plans emanating from the Berlin bunker three
years later when German troops were in full retreat.  The troops of Bataan
had had little or no food for several days, were ravished by disease, were
low in ammunition, and had little in the way of artillery support (the guns
of Corregidor faced outward).  When King discussed terms with the Japanese
colonel Homma had sent, King asked for assurances that his men would be
treated properly.  The colonel responded, "The Imperial Japanese Army are
not barbarians."  With that statement, King surrendered his command.  After
the war, MacArthur denigrated King when he spoke of him at all and sought to
assign blame for the Philippine disaster on King and the other men he left
behind.
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
I thought I told you to get me a good-lookin'
kid -- not this fat, sausage-chewin' wino!

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 16:06:55 -0500
From:    Barone <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

Isaiah W. Cox <[email-masked]> writes:
> A distinction has to be made. Avgas is high octane gasoline, used in
> trucks, boats, propellor planes, etc. Jet fuel is a normal grade *diesel*
> fuel (that is why is was so attractive to the Luftwaffe in 1944 -- more
> plentiful). Now, diesel had plenty of uses, but not, as far as I know, for
> jets in 1942. Isn't it more likely to have been for tanks or ships, and not
> marked Jet Fuel but perhaps another phrase with similar meaning (i.e.
> diesel)?

        Just to muddy the waters further, German tanks used regular
gasoline.
--
Joe Barone
[email-masked]
A Sherman can give you a very nice edge.

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 15:26:17 -0600
From:    "William L. Huber - SAA" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDAL OF HONOR

> Insofar as I know, the sale of Medals of Honor is forbidden by Federal law. Ben
> Frank

Ben is right.  It is permissible to trade them though so what the
dealers do is trade you an Air Force Cross for a used postage stamp
and charge you $55.00 postage.  It's an unenforceable law given the
market demand.

Cheers, Bill Huber / [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 15:42:44 -0600
From:    "William L. Huber - SAA" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MEDIA:Axis Fuel Drum

> I read the article to a friend of mine, and the first thing he said was:
> "Jet fuel in a 1942 barrel, legibly stenciled Wehrmacht (and not Luftwaffe)
> floating in the Med still completely intact... I shoulda put money on that
> in Vegas."

My bet is that it was found to be aviation fuel.  When you tell the
press "aviation fuel" they think "jet fuel" not realizing the
historical facts.

As for it being stamped Wehrmacht, that's typical.  Their 5 gallon
size Jerry cans say that too except for the SS ones.  Wehrmacht means
armed forces rather than strictly army which is referred to as Das
Heere.  The word was stamped into the metal of the Jerry cans and
probably was on the drums too.  I dunno, I never saw a drum but I have
the Jerry cans in my collection.  Same style can was used for water
too but they marked the can with a white cross so they would not be
confused.

Cheers, Bill Huber / [email-masked]

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 14:53:35 -0700
From:    Jim O'Neil <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: USS Colorado (BB-45)

>
>USS Colorado (BB-45) was one of the two California class battleships,

Sorry to interrupt, but the California Class was California and Tennesse,
they had the 12 14" guns and were the last class to carry them. Most other
features are the same as on the Colorado Class [Colorado, Maryland and West
Virginia] except that the later Colorado's had 8 16" 45 Cal guns in the
main battery.
WV was badly hurt at Pearl Harbor and was not combat ready till late '43 or
early '44. The other two were involved from Jan '42 {CO} and Mar '42 [MD]
in defending Hawaii and later the sea lanes to Australia around New
Caledonia and the New Hebrides Is.

>About technical details, I believe they were about 33000 tons, with
>21 knots speed. I guess their armament was composed by 12 x 14 inch
>guns in four turrets (like the Pennsylvania class).
>
CONWAYS - ALL THE WORLDS SHIPS 1922-46 is a good source for information.
Siegfried Breyer's BATTLESHIPS [or close] is also good and has more detail
on deployment and reconstruction.

Jim O'Neil   Indecision is the cornerstone of Military Flexibility

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 17:49:27 EST
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 28-MAR-1945

On 28-MAR-1945, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - In the British 2nd Army sector, the Canadian II Corps meets
heavy resistance as it advances towards Emmerich. The British VIII Corps
advances towards Osnabruck. In the U.S. 1st Army sector, the III Corps
attacks north to cross the Eder. In the 3rd Army sector, the 5th Division
captures Frankfurt. In the 7th Army sector, the 44th Division enters
Mannheim.

Eastern Front - The 3rd Ukraine Front enters Austria. In East Prussia, the
3rd White Russian Front is attacking southwest of Konigsberg. Heavy
fighting continues in Danzig.

Philippines - In the XIV Corps area, the 1st Cavalry Division captures
Lipa. Heavy fighting is taking place on Cebu Island, where the Japanese
mine a mountain spur and blow it up, inflicting heavy losses on the
Americans.

Ryukyu Islands - The capture of the Kerama Islands is completed.

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

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:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 20:22:00 EST
From:    mc killop <[email-masked]>
Subject: [INF] USAAF 29 MAR 45

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
THURSDAY, 29 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
  B-24, Consolidated Liberator
  B-25, North American Mitchell
  B-29, Boeing Superfortress
  C-47, Douglas Skytrain
  UC-64, Noorduyn Norseman
  L-5, Stinson Sentinel
  P-38, Lockheed Lightning
  P-40, Curtiss
  P-51, North American Mustang

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

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 6 B-24s bomb Kataoka naval base on Shimushu
Island; 8 B-25s weatherabort a mission to Tomari Cape and 1 B-24 flies a
radar-ferret mission along the Paramushiru Island coast.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER

  CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 11 B-24s attack shipping in the S
China Sea, at Bakli and Samah Bays on Hainan Island, and at Haiphong, French
Indochina, heavily damaging a destroyer and a merchant vessel. In China, 18
B-25s, escorted by 12 P-40s, bomb railroad yards at Yoyang; 4 B-25s claim 6
small steamers sunk and several vessels damaged in the Liuchow area while 2
others hit the town area and railroad targets in the Dong Giao area of French
Indochina; single B-25s hit targets of opportunity at or near Loyang, Loning,
Neihsiang, Yiyang, and Hsuchang; 90+ fighter-bombers over S and E China and
French Indochina attack troops, supplies, transport, and communications
targets at several places, concentrating strikes around Hengyang, Chuchou,
Isuho, Nanking, and Namyung, and among many targets hit airfields at Amoy and
Kai Tek in Hong Kong; the 22d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st
Bombardment Group (Medium), based at Yangkai with B-25s, sends a detachment
to operate from Chihkiang.

  HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 49: 24 of 29 B-29s fly the last
mission under the XX Bomber Command, attacking oil storage facilities on
Bukum Island in the Malayan States during the night of 29/30 Mar; 2 other
B-29s bomb individual targets on the Malay Peninsula.

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): Bad weather curtails operations in C
Burma; 6 B-25s hit troop concentrations and 8 others attack unsuccessfully 2
bridges immediately behind the enemy lines. Transports complete 560 sorties
to forward areas. The 166th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando
Group, moves from Asansol, India to Ondaw, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): All combat operations cancelled
because of weather except for 2 fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command which
patrol the US Third Army front.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): Continued bad weather limits
operations to reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions by 23 P-38s.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, clear weather during the
night of 28/29 Mar, permits A-20s to hit rail loading points, trains,
vehicles, roads, and bridges at many places in the Po Valley as well as river
crossings at Borgoforte, Lodi, San Benedetto Po, Ostiglia, and Casalmaggiore,
a factory at Brescia, and motor transport movement in the Milan-Piacenza
area; bad morning weather cancels medium bomber operations except for a
pamphlet mission over Bologna; when the weather clears about 1200 hours, XXII
Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers hit dumps at La Spezia and other points
near the battle area, the Lavis viaduct, railroad bridges or approaches at
Ora, Santa Margherita d' Adige, Nervesa della Battaglia, Rovereto, Ala, and
other locations, and many vehicles and train cars and other targets of
opportunity throughout the Po Valley and NE Italy; the 16th Troop Carrier
Squadron, 64th Troop Carrier Group, based at Rosignano Airfield begins
operating from Brindisi with C-47s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA
    Seventh Air Force: 9 B-24s from Guam Island bomb Dublon Island in Truk
Atoll.
    VII Fighter Command: 31 Iwo-based P-51s bomb and strafe Haha Jima Island.

  HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): HQ 58th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) arrives
at West Field, Tinian Island from India.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s and B-25s
attack Toshien, Byoritsu, and Eiko, Formosa. On Luzon Island, B-24s bomb
Camalaniugan, B-24s and P-51s hit Legaspi and the surrounding area, and A-20s
and numerous fighters hit various targets in SW Luzon. Cebu Island is bombed
by B-25s in support of ground forces while A-20s support troops landing on
Negros Island. B-24s bomb Oelin Airfield in Borneo.

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

29/0121Z MAR

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 18:58:52 -0800
From:    Steve New <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Glacier Girl Photographs

Announcing another WWW site featuring Dennis Sparks' photographs of the
P-38F restoration.

Through the efforts of Wilber Williams, an expanded collection can be
found at:

        http://quokka.cc.uq.oz.au/www/glacier-girl/home.html

        Enjoy,

--

Steve L. New
[email-masked]
Just an armadillo on the shoulder of the information superhighway.

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

Date:    Tue, 28 Mar 1995 23:41:48 -0500
From:    Ben Frank <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: BATAAN DEATH MARCH

Dyess escaped from Davao, I believe, with three Marine officers of the 4th
Marines--Austin C. "Shifty" Shofner, Michael Dobervich, and Jack Hawkins--with
a couple of others, and finally made their way to the Filipino guerrillas and
finally to Col Fertig's Hq. They ran some guerrilla operations with him before
they were evacuated to Australia and freedom by submarine. Hawkins also wrote a
book, and an issue of Life magazine featured them in a story. Shofner joined
the 1st Marine Division as a battalion commander, was wounded and evacuated the
first day on Peleliu. He later got a battalion on Okinawa. He was one of the
former POWs at the recent Nimitz Museum meeting in San Antonio. Ben Frank

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

End of WWII-L Digest - 27 Mar 1995 to 28 Mar 1995
*************************************************