Tom Philo - History News on selected Topics in 2011

Martin Swift’s grandfather Thomas Raeburn (WO) flew in Avro Lancasters during WW II and he is trying to locate the artwork that adorned his grandfathers’ a/c “Dantes Daughter”. Thomas was a tail gunner and survived the war earning a DFO from Bomber Command.

The tail gunner was often the person who determined if the bomber would survive a Luftwaffe night fighter attack – if a tail gunner saw the German fighter they often survived.

If you have a photo, or know how to obtain a photo contact Martin Swift at martincswift@yahoo.com .

Join filmmaker Vance Day and "Band of Brothers" veterans 1st. Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton and Tech. Sgt. Donald Malarkey for the Seattle premiere of Day's film about the Brecourt Manor Assault on June 6, 1944. Compton and Malarkey will answer questions and sign autographs after the film.

Hitler and the Germans – At the Berlin Museum a Big Hit

Through February 6, 2011 at the Berlin Historical Museum an exhibit about Hitler and his relationship with the German people is on display. In the one month it has been out over 100,000 have paid to view it.

“Red Tail” Star Has Oregon Roots

Over in England there is star of the upcoming movie “Red Tail” which is about the Tuskegee Airmen. The star is a P-40M painted up as USAAF 42-10855 – which when initially build was used by RCAF during WW II under lend lease in 1943; then used at Oregon State University as a training tool for aircraft repair; and then left at the Troutdale airport for extended storage and then $Description: Description: E:\TAPhilo\Temp\2011-01-01-Milk-Run_files\image002.jpg$ “discovered” as to the most intact 1943 P-40M in the world.

The Tuskegee Airmen were flying P-40s in Italy in 1944 as ground support squadron.

The P-40M Kittyhawk III (depending on model they are also called Warhawk, Tomahawk – all names created by the British) is now owned by Peter Teichman as part of the Hanger 11 Collection at North Weald, Essex, England.

Five Veteran Stories of Combat in Europe – Air and Ground

One served late in the war as a replacement infantry after the Battle of The Bulge, one served from the beginning, and the others from the mid-point.

Never Before Seen photos of Adolph Hitler

Stored in a closet for the past 70+ years these photos go to auction January 18^th in England.

Some 900 negatives and 600 slides taken by Heinrich Hoffmann, the personal photographer of Hitler, from 1934 onwards, are to be sold at JP Humbert Auctioneers in Towcester, Northmamptonshire.

Who Saved Moscow in 1941? – Even the Soviets Don’t Agree

History books often state that the Siberian divisions are what saved the capital of Moscow from being captured. The Soviets launched the winter offensive that pushed the Wehrmacht forces back, who had gotten within 12 miles of outskirts of Moscow in November of 1941, is now being debated in Russia. The Siberian troops were brought in after USSR learned from their spy in Japan that Japan was going south when they start their war so the troops could be moved to the west; or was it local troops raised in the USSR and sent into battle (mainly untrained); or that the Germans units who were just plain worn out. The men and their equipment had fought for five months and no unit had not received enough replacements to bring them back up to full strength; or maybe the supplies from Britain and the USA under lend lease tipped the balance – or some combination.

Jews in the Red Army

The USSR was big. It stretched over 8 time zones and had the largest population of people asides from China and India. As a result, even when 120 divisions had been destroyed in the first 5 months of the war it could build 200 new divisions to replace them by 1942. That men, and women, who increased the size of the Red army included lots of Jews. Some 1.5 million served in the forces of the U.S.S.R during World War II – known in east as “The Great Patriotic War”.

A Book of Deadly Statistics of World War II in Eastern Europe - Bloodlands

"Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder, is a book about the intentional mass murder of over 14 million people between 1930 and 1947 in a general area that encompasses what is now Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, and western Russia.” The breakup of the Soviet Empire and the re-creation of independent nations has allowed files in hundreds of archives to actually be looked at now. This has resulted in lots of additional information being added to previous works, or assumptions that had been made before proven true – or flat out wrong.

Blown Off a PT Boat in the Mediterranean

PT are often overlooked at being in Mediterranean and are often thought of just in the Pacific. Frank J. Dublikar Jr. was in the Med on his PT working with another PT boat off the coast of North Africa when the one in front blew up. Going to the rescue one of the sailors his boat blew up – and he lived due to being on the bow rescuing that other sailor.

What do you do in Scotland as a POW?

Well if you are a bunch of Italian POWs on an island off of Scotland you build something like home – and to get out of the rain.

This is what a lot of Italian POWs did on the island of Holm in Orkney, Scotland.

A novel has been written around this WW II fact. “The Chapel at the Edge of the World”.

The Guns of San Francisco

Around many coastal cities in the US there were forts built to protect them. CNET did a photo spread of the forts built around SFO. Included is a intact 6” disappearing coastal defense gun – that still goes up and down.

I visited Fort DeSoto in Florida this past July which was built to protect Tampa.

The “Flak Vest” Gets an Update

Ceramic, re-active armor, fibers – all get updated to protect soldiers and vehicles from Honeywell.

Preserving Crystal City Internment Camp in Texas

Historians are working to preserve the best of the 7 camps that were known to be located in Texas for German, Italian and Japanese civilians held under guard in the USA during the war years.

Shoah – a movie but not? 9 ½ hours long and not sure what it is

Created in 1985 by Claude Lanzmann, who was a French Resistance fighter during the war, it is being released in the USA again. It has something do about the campaign to kill all the Jews of Europe but cannot tell at all from the article what the movie is about.

“Mr. Spielberg’s underwriting of 105,000 hours of videotaped testimonies from concentration camp survivors and others in 56 countries, asking, “Who will see this?” (The testimonials are currently not widely available to the public, but are in the process of being digitized, with index, and being made accessible as a study collection.)”

The quote above is why our local 8^th AFHS chapter started digitizing and putting onto our chapter’s website all the stories, photographs and other material we had. Stored in a museum that no on has access to makes them just as useful as being in a landfill – which where many stories and documents end up.

Memorial Coliseum Veterans Wall in Portland Oregon Inspires a Story

Steve Duin, a local newspaper columnist with the Oregonian, wrote an article and this got our local RCAF Nightfighter pilot who flew out of England in 1942 then later as a USAAF B-24 “Snooper” night radar bomber pilot in the Pacific, Roland Fisher, to write him back and Steve Duin published Roland’s tribute online about a name etched on the wall at Memorial Coliseum.

A Doughboy Comes Home

French explorers found Army Private Henry A. Weikel grave in 2006 and notified JPAC – the military unit that goes around the world to identify remains of soldiers still shown as MIA. The difference was that he was killed in WW I during an artillery barrage at Bois de Bonvaux and buried, then his grave location was not accurately recorded and thus lost. He was buried back in Pennsylvania in December of 2010.

Last issue a request from JPAC was published to help identify some aircraft parts in Poland which would help identify the aircraft and remains just found there. If anyone has a parts manual / NSN references for B-17s and B-24s that would help.

Forced Down Four Times - Alvin "Buddy" Rothstein

Flying as part of the 487^th Bomb Group (H), and he actually ended up flying both B-17s and B-24s – B-24s in training and B-17s in combat! He was shot down over the North Sea, Poland (luckily in the part Russian had already liberated).

There is a painting of his crew in a single life raft being tossed about in the North Sea.

Siegfried Line, Battle of the Bulge and Into Germany – on Foot

A “replacement” infantry man in Patton’s Third Army in Company L, 11^th Infantry Regiment of the Fifth Infantry Division – right after the Battle of the Bulge.

“Another surprise occurred that night. After darkness set in and there was no moon, The night sky was lit by a search light beaming light off the clouds about a mile away gave illumination for us to operate with. It was called artificial moonlight. I tell you these things to illustrate how green I was (we were) and how poor our basic training was in preparing us for combat.”

“The 5th Infantry Division had three regiments. In turn each regiment had three battalions and each battalion had three Rifle Companies. Each rifle company had three platoons and each platoon had three squads. Each of these units could be augmented with specialized units depending upon the mission such as artillery weapons, truck companies, engineer bridge companies etc. When so augmented the regiment was referred to as a RCT, Regimental Combat Team.”

He talks about the river crossings under fire, combat tactics used, how things were organized, the food they ate, and the people they met from Belgium to Czechoslovakia where they were when the war ended.

“Top Shot” in America – Lives in Sherwood Oregon

Iain Harrison grew up in Britain, went through the British Army, but left the UK for the USA and moved to Sherwood Oregon. A self- taught shooter he was one of 50 people selected to compete in the TV show and then won the title “America’s Top Shot” against the other 49 other contestants. Most appropriate that this person lives in “Sherwood” .

{Editor’s commentary: A show like this could never be filmed in the UK or Australia since no one is allowed to own and experience a variety of weapons – and thus learn any firearms. Same is true in most other nations of the world. Many nations only the military or police are allowed to have any firearms or they are so heavily restricted as to be effectively outlawed. One of the most popular destinations of Australians in Las Vegas is “The Gun Store” since there you can rent a firearm, some fully automatic, and actually fire it, which is impossible to do unless you are in the military – and then they do not have any historical guns they let you fire.}

From a Lake to a Museum – A B-25C Finds a Home

“I was flying it until the instructor pilot decided to demonstrate what low-level flying was going to be like once we got into combat. That's how we wound up at about 4:30 in the afternoon coming down Lake Greenwood. It's hard to gauge your altitude over water. We were too low."

South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation will pay Celebrate Freedom Foundation $15,000 for the B-25C Mitchell bomber.

WW II Sea Mine found at Nigata

Found in August at a planned housing area, the mine had been there since WW II when US planes were going to every port and dropping sea mines to block the ports from being used and to ensure that Japanese shipping would be destroyed.

Prisoner of the Japanese for 1,219 Days

Captured on Corregidor on May 6, 1942 Bill Colls endured three plus years under Japanese military POW camps before being liberated on 4 September, 1945.

“After the surrender, Colls and others spent weeks disposing of the bodies of fallen soldiers. At Japanese direction, they burned them in barrels, on a spit of land called Monkey Point, Colls said.”

Government’s Lake City Ammo Plant Still turning out Ammo

Like the three other plants built near Kansas City for WW II, of which two are still in use, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant runs 24/6 to create 5.56 MM, .5 Cal and .3o Cal ammo for the military.

1. Lake City Army Ammunition Plant: Began operations in late 1941; peak wartime employment, 21,000; still in use.

2. North American Aviation Fairfax B-25 bomber plant (later General Motors auto plant): Began operations in late 1941; peak wartime employment, 23,500; closed in 1986.

3. Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant: Began operations in early 1943; peak employment, 12,000; closed in 1992.

4. Pratt & Whitney airplane engine factory (now Honeywell): Began operations in late 1943; peak wartime employment, 22,000; still in use.

Things You Take To War

There are things all soldiers seem to do when in combat. You repeat habits that you know will keep you safe and of course carry with you items that have meaning to you. They still do that today.

“Warriors and Wizards” – Book on the Remote Controlled Bombs of The Third Reich

From the naval Institute Press comes a book on the development by the Germans and eventual neutralization by the Allies of the German made radio controlled bombs that sank Allied shipping in the Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans during WW II. (A recent past Milk Run had a story from a survivor of one ship sunk off of Africa, the transport Rhona).

A Book on the Luftwaffe Order of Battle

Written by Chris McNabb Order of Battle: German Luftwaffe in WWII is a handy reference as to what units where and when during World War II. There was already a book out on the Wehrmacht Order of Battle.

Camp Rupert of Idaho – Ex POW Looking for Photos

Werner Schulz was part of the Herman Goering Division and was a tanker captured in Tunisia by the British. After a year in French POW camp he was sent to the USA and ended up at Camp Rupert in Idaho – along with some 15,000 other German and Italian POWS.

The POWs were being harshly by the guards and some went on strike protesting the very harsh (even by US standards) working conditions and beatings they were being given – after the War in Europe was over.

Werner ended up in England in a British POW camp for another three years and ended up staying in the UK marrying a local woman. He, along with Telford historian Phil Fairclough, are now looking for others who were there and records. 2 Arrow Road, Shawbirch, Telford TF5 0LF, United Kingdom.

Widow of Polish General Wladyslaw Anders Dies at Age of 90

An actress she married the gernal after the war and they stayed in England, him refusing to return to Poland since it was now a communist country (and would likely have been imprisoned or executed like other famous Polish officers.) The General formed the unit after being released by the Soviets in 1941 and the unit fought under British control in the Med.

90 years Old and Still Flying

Wilton Little started flying at 15 years of age and since then he has never stopped. Too tall for a fighter pilot during World war II he shuttled B-24s around the USA before being assigned to fly “The Hump” into China – somewhat more dangerous than flying combat since over 500 aircraft were lost flying supplies into China.

Choctaw Indians – Code Talkers of World War I

The WW II movie about the Code Talkers of World War II (a completely made up story) made more people aware of the Native Americans contribution to fighting in the Pacific, but the Choctaws were recruited during World War I as code talkers since they could speak over phone lines and transmit Morse Code without having to encrypt it first without worrying about the Germans ever understanding them.

“Rose of York” B-17 Christened by then Princess Elizabeth

Flying in the 306^th BG Sgt Watson Vaughn was a tail turret gunner in B-17s during 1944. The Princess had come to the base for a visit and it was suggested that their plane be renamed from “Princess Elizabeth” to “Rose of York” after King George VI suggested it.

Richard “Dick” Gaffaney – Diary of a Bombardier

After both him and his wife had died, the kids were going through their things and found the diary he had kept while flying out of England with the 8^th Air Force in B-24s.\

“June 18 – Stadt, Germany. I flew tail turret and do not recall ever being so cold (minus 34 degrees C.)”

“July 19 – Our 35th and last combat mission. Our target was near Munich, four hours over enemy territory. It was a comparably warm day (minus 15 C.) Our formation was excellent at 18,000 feet and we had a very good bomb pattern. (The only flak encountered was) an hour from the coast.”

Estel James – Aircraft Technician – Enola Gay

Taking out equipment to lighten up the B-29 – due to the weight of the atomic bomb – was one of this man’s jobs during the war.

History Detectives Going to Boeing

A future episode about leaflet droppings on Japan by B-29 Superfortresses takes them to visit the restored B-29 that Boeing has.

Our local 8^th AFHS chapter helped in research in a previous History Detective story about a drawing made in Stalag 17B. They donated two books used in the research to the chapter.

A log book goes to Hendon

Richard Larcombe was a pilot from 1940 thru 1948 and his whole log book – over an inch thick – was donated to the Hendon museum in England there when he died and left no known heirs.

He was a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain and flew mainly in the Middle East during the war.

As to if the museum will scan it and post it online for others to access, or only allow certain people to look at only in person, is not known.

Book “The Retreat” about the 1^st Big German Defeat in USSR

by Michael Jones is a book about the USSR counterattack and subsequent retreat of the German forces outside of Moscow in the winter of 1941/42. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, $27.99. Lots of research and detail of units in combat during that winter in Russia.

“Peace” – A novel of WW II Set in Italy

A completely different view of war exists in this novel written by Richard Bausch about US soldiers trapped behind the lines in Italy and makes them question what is right and what is wrong.

Lithuania – Ally and Enemy at the same time to all sides in WW II

The Baltic states have a unique problem with the Second World War. They were given to the USSR, who effectively annexed them into the USSR, without any outcry at all in the west in 1940, “liberated” by the Germans in 1941 and who integrated their forces into the German military (some of them get pensions from Germany now), and some of them fought against Germany, some fought for Germany, and then fought against USSR in the 1940s and 1950s.

Add to this the problems they faced when under Soviet Control the USSR also killed people on a mass scale in the Baltic states as well as in all other parts of the USSR (estimated 20 to 25 million from 1920s thru 1950s). Now with archives being open people are starting to rewrite – and sometimes actually correct – the history books – but not always the way others want them to be written concerning the “double genocide” that occurred before and during the Second World War.

The Soviet Union at War 1941-1945

David Stone is a Professor at Kansas State University and published a new book “The Soviet Union At War: 1941-1945” about the USSR in WW II. Unlike other books, this deals more with the economy and production efforts – some truly astounding efforts – that the USSR achieved in 1941–1945 to produce war goods that overwhelmed the German Army in the East.

Also new is Deathride: Hitler vs. Stalin - The Eastern Front, 1941-1945 with also an eye of learning more of how the war was fought. "the evidence suggests not only that Hitler came much closer to an outright victory than is often supposed, but that much of what we think is true about this conflict is, if not completely false, very nearly so." It has 85 pages of sources and endnotes.

New WW II Memorial Unveiled in Moscow

The memorial, based on the movie reel photo showing Georgian soldier Meliton Kantaria and Russian Mikhail Yegorov raising the USSR Flag over the Reichstag in Berlin in April 1945 was unveiled by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The newsreels that have been seen for decades showing this event was actually a restaged scripted scene a few days after the actual event occurred. There were no camera personnel with the unit when the Reichstag was initially captured. The event was simply recreated – but from a very photographic point of view using the two original people who raised the USSR flag over it.

There was a memorial already of this same scene in Georgia but it was demolished to make way for a new Parliament building there so this one replaces that one – but in Moscow.

Anne Frank’s Diary Savior

Miep Gies died at the age of 100 on January 11, 2010. This is the person, a Dutch office secretary, who risked her life - and those of her family - to hide Anne Frank and her family for two years – and is the person who found and saved the teenager's diary.

A Football Player Becomes a B-17

The football lineman who made the 75 yard kickoff return was compared to a Boeing B-17 by this writer.

"It kind of makes sense. Why use the fastest guy on the team who can outrun all of his blocks? Why not use the fast guys to block for the slower guy that can defend himself?" That's when it hit me that Dan Connolly was a B-17, and our special teams players were P-51s clearing the way for the guy that's carrying the payload.”

Chelsea Pensioner Make Album and Sing for Renovations

What is smaller than a standard modern bathroom but without any features of it? The rooms that the Chelsea Pensioners live in at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

“On the corridor there are 36 other old soldiers in “berths” that haven’t changed since they were built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1692. There are just four toilets on the floor and two bathrooms.”

An article about how schoolbooks being written and what they put in, leave out, and how they present facts can alter the future.

One interesting item I saw was that in 2002 Latter-Day History of Our Fatherland was published which provided statistics naming every recipient of the Order of Lenin during WW II and specifying the recipient’s ethnic origin.

Arizona & USS Juneau Sinking Changed Policies

“The U.S.S. Arizona carried 36 sets of brothers (33 pairs and three sets of three) and one father-son pair. When she was bombed on December 7, 1941, 24 of those sets and the father-son pair died.”

The Name is Commando, 30 Commando

The British unit changes its name from a rather long winded “United Kingdom Landing Force Command Support Group” to a more appropriately named 30 Commando IX Group at Stonehouse Barracks in Plymouth, England.

The original 30 Commando Assault Unit was created by Ian Fleming of James Bond fame.

From Anzio to the Wolf’s Lair

Thomas J Hurley joined the7^th Regiment of the 3^rd Infantry Division in the Anzio beachhead in 1943 and fought till they had captured the “Wolf’s Lair” at Berchtesgaden in Bravaria in 1945.

"Guys were going through everything. One had the silverware with Hitler's name on it. He offered me some but I knew it would be taken away when we went home, so I never took any."

South Louisiana POW Chapter Disbands

The dwindling number of ex-POWs has forced the closure of the chapter. At its peak it has 125 members – it was down to 4. The chapter started in 1982 – at the same time when most WW II veterans started to retire.

Quick stats of POWS: 3,973 World War I; 143,374 in WW II, 4,714 Korea (reported, but only 4,439 confirmed), 591 Vietnam, and 23 Iraq (Desert Storm) and 8 (1 still POW) since 2001.

Ohio Honor Flight Gets an Airbus 320

Honor Flight is an organization that funds the visit of WW II veterans to see the WW II Memorial in Washington DC. Before only 25 veterans from Ohio could go at a time, with the new aircraft which seats 160 people it will now allow 60 veterans and their attendants to go for only $15,000 more per charter flight than the old aircraft operating cost so the cost per person goes down from $1,400 a veteran to $833 each.

Just this week (December 2010) his Baton was auctioned off for $762,000 dollars. Originally the auctioneer thought that the most it would go for was $10-15,000.

It does pay to be a German Field Marshal – or a WW II soldier who found it. FM Albert Kesselring died in 1960 on July 20^th at the age of 74.

Band of Brothers Loses Two Members

On January 2, 2011 Major Richard “Dick” Winters died at the age of 92 and on January 18 Ed Mauser died at the age of 94. Stephan Ambrose wrote the book “Band of Brothers” and interviewed the men of Easy Company in order to document a unit of World War II. That in turn inspired the HBO series and actually let the people of the world know about the extraordinary exploits of just one unit of the 101^st Airborne Division and its impact during World War II. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/army-obituaries/8253502/Major-Dick-Winters.html

Ed Mauser was part of Easy Company, but due to movie making needs, he was not portrayed in the HBO series and actually never told his own family about his role in the unit till after the HBO series came out. He was the oldest member of “Easy Company”.

Don Malarkey and Lt “Buck” Compton at Seattle Museum of Flight in January

These two members of the “Band of Brothers” were at the Museum of Flight on January 8^th to host the Seattle premier of a documentary about the “Battle at Brecourt Manor” in which 12 men of Easy Company and one member of D company – all that could be found – made the assault on Brecourt manor where a battery of German 105mm howitzers were shelling Utah beach (around 100 men). This was made by private producers when no major companies would produce it. Is intended to be given to schools for free and others can purchase the one hour long feature. They used animation, interviews, re-creators and on site video to depict the day long action. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion with these two men. The tactics that Dick Winters used with Easy Company in the attack is still taught to cadets at West Point.

Sandy Air Corp

There are many firms out there finding and recovering aircraft around the world. I came across Sandy Air Corp http://www.sandyair.com/ when I got a question about a B-17 that was shot down on October 23, 1944. They recovered all they could of the aircraft in 2009 from the Tyrolean Alps. Boeing B-17G-60-BO Fortress 42-102841 Construction Number: 8343 483rd Bomb Group 840st Bomb Sqn MACR 9319 – part of the 15^th Air Force.

They have also recovered parts of a P-47, Ju-52 and a Halifax prior to the B-17 recovery.

Escaping to Russia from Poland and Being at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941

Herman Snyder was living in a Jewish ghetto in Poland when one night he decided that it was better to take a chance over the wall than staying where he was. At 91 he is still telling his story of survival walking east to the USSR during the middle of World War II.

Ray Stehle was in the Army at Pearl Harbor working at an airfield on December 7^th so he never had to enlist – but he did volunteer for flight training as a Navigator and then flew in a B-24 in the Pacific. Flying in the Pacific was a much more difficult place to navigate due to long over-water flights.

Paul Cannedy Pilot, 99^th BG 15^th Air Force

Flying 53 missions out of Italy during World War II starting in November 16, 1943 with an unescorted mission to France, later he flew into Germany to hit the Regensburg Messerschmitt plant (that was originally bombed on August 17, 1943), and finished his final mission in the summer of 1944.

One time the whole 15^th Air Force went to northern Italy escorted by all 15^th AF fighters available - all 72.

January 26, 1944

2^nd Lt Audie Murphy was awarded The Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on this date on the outskirts of Holtzwihr, France.

“With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2nd Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer [the tank destroyer located behind Murphy which had just taken a direct hit], which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver.”

The fighting continues for at least an hour. Murphy is wounded. At one point the Germans close to within 10 yards of his position. When his ammunition is exhausted, Murphy leaps off the tank destroyer (the vehicle explodes shortly thereafter), limps and crawls back to his company, organizes a counterattack, and drives the remaining enemy from the field.

January 28, 1942

Richard Ryrholm Jr – P-38 Pilot

At the age of 19 the P-38 he was flying was reported lost in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and he was only recently identified after the plane was discovered in February of 2005. JPAC went to the site a few times before a detailed excavation was done in January and February of 2010 after which he was positively identified.

An engagement against Japanese planes began, and Ryrholm Jr.'s Lightning last was seen about 900 feet above the tree tops, looking as if it would crash.

But the enemy hadn't shot him down. First reports made it clear it was “highly improbable" that Japanese planes had damaged the P-38.

Instead, officials surmised that "falling parts from other planes damaged the Lightning, thus causing it to crash."

Saving Aircraft Nose Art

“Right after World War II, the military realized the country didn’t need and couldn’t support all those aircraft,” the museum’s director explains. Decommissioned planes were sent to five different military bases, and bids were accepted for salvage rights.

Pratt was general manager at the Aircraft Conversion Company owned by George R. and Herman Brown in Walnut Ridge, and he had his crews chop out and save 34 pieces of nose art, thinking he’d mount them on a fence along the highway. His son, Tully Pratt III, donated them to the Commemorative Air Force in the 1960s.

Stored in a hanger since then, there were finally recognized as needing to be preserved and properly stored and were restored and are now part of the Midland museum.

Born to Navigate

Gordon H. Tresch wanted to be a combat navigator – but the Army kept trying to put him into other fields. He eventually got into combat flying in B-29s – after two years!

He flew on the final mission to Japan – the longest bomber combat mission of the war – which lasted just short of 17 hours in the air.

Kenneth Wall Bombardier 485^th BG(H)

"The nose turret is a fine place from which to see the show; but there were times, like going down the run at Vienna, that I would have gladly traded places with the tail gunner. He sees only the flak behind you. I see it as we started into it."

Wounded when the Plexiglas nose was shot away while on this mission over Vienna, Austria, the crew thought he was dead so called ahead and told the field they had a dead man in the nose. Instead, he was wounded, slightly frozen and was very much alive when they landed at the base.

He completed 35 missions during World War II and also served during the Korean war.

B-17 “Chuckie” (N3701G) Leaves Fort Worth for Virginia Beach

The B-17 AT Meacham airport was flown out to its new home at Virginia Beach, Va Military Aviation Museum.

It was sold in part due to “. . . it is expensive to operate -- 200 gallons of fuel for every hour of flight -- and to insure, at a cost of more than $50,000 a year.”

Pryor Field is named an Historic Location

Southeast Air Forces Training Center, now known as Pryor Field, is where US Army cadets went through training till it was shut down in December of 1944 was named as a historic location in Alabama.

Bombardier Dan Stern – 483 BG (H)

Not wanting to be a pilot after some flight training, he never-the-less was a QUAT – Qualified for All Three officer positions: Pilot, Navigator and Bombardier. He chose to become a bombardier.

His first combat mission was January 19, 1945 and finished the war with 32 combat missions.

He also flew “lone wolf” missions – in order to get his 35 missions in faster in order to go home and ensure that he would not be assigned to units going to Japan.

Planes, on takeoff, would launch 30 seconds apart. There was little room for error. “There was one day, we were racing down that runway and we got a flat tire; there was another plane bearing down on us, going to smash into us. Fortunately, we had enough speed that the pilot was able to raise the tail and take off. That would’ve been the end of us,” he said.

Air Raid Pearl Harbor!

Ed Chlapowsi was a sailor on duty who sent out over the radio that Pearl Harbor was under attack – but there are also reports stating that others also sent out the famous message:

"This is no drill, Pearl Harbor is being attacked by the Japanese. This is no drill."

Ed Chlapowsi died in Billings Montana on January 18, 2010 and the Associated Press wrote up a story saying that he is the one who tapped out that “in the clear” message from Pearl Harbor.

However, others credit Rear Admiral Patrick Bellinger, Lt Commander Logan C Ramsey, and Buzz Boyer.

Minard Willson – A Marine on Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan battles

Willson, 91, was wounded on Guadalcanal and on Saipan – but came through unscathed when he landed on Tarawa in November of 1943.

The air and sea bombardment by 17 carriers and numerous capital ships had stopped by the time they landed on Betio atoll in the belief that everything had been destroyed and the Japanese Marines defending it were incapable of defending the island: "Were they ever wrong," said Willson.

978 U.S. Marines and 4,690 Japanese defenders were killed during the 72 hours of combat. One Japanese officer, 18 enlisted Japanese Marines and 129 Korean forced laborers survived the battle.

A 20 minute documentary of the battle, "With the Marines at Tarawa", won the Academy award in 1945.

Delivering Fuel to General Patton in a B-24

During the late summer of 1944 Patton’s Third Army was racing across France – and out-running the supply line. The 8^th and 9^th Air Forces had destroyed lots of bridges and rail lines and all had to be rebuilt in order to properly supply the field armies - and that took time. Thus, the military took B-24s and B-17s from the strategic bombing task and had them haul fuel to the third Army. In 13 days in September 1944, 327 bombers transported 462,844 gallons of gasoline to Patton’s forces.

Frank Spurlock was a radio operator in a B-24 crew that was tasked to fly the fuel – and they almost did not make it.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Paul Picerni was a bombardier in the CBI – China Burma India – theatre where the River Kwai is located. In the movie the bridge is blown up by people on the ground, but in real life Paul was in the squadron that actually bombed the bridge and knocked it down. The bridge of the River Kwai has long since been rebuilt and is still in use.

Life Aboard A Mine Sweeper

George Oliver went into the Navy in 1943 and applied to become an officer – qualified for everything but in his height – you had to be 5’ 6” in order to get into the Naval Academy. He instead spent the war on the minesweeper USS Signet. After the war ended they had to stay and sweep all the area around Okinawa – they cleared around 4,000 in the three months after the war. He kept a diary of his life aboard the ship.

The Laconia Incident

In the summer of 1942 a German U-Boat sinks a British cruiser – but which had been converted into a passenger ship without markings - that is now carrying Italian POWs, civilians, and their Polish Guards. The U-Boat Captain realized it was NOT a warship but carrying non-combatants and surfaced and ordered a rescue – and notified the allies. An American airplane came upon the scene of the U-Boat towing the lifeboats and was ordered to attack the U-Boat anyway – killing some of the people in the lifeboats which forced the U-Boat to leave the people in the boats to escape.

After this event, because the allies attacked a red-cross flag draped U-Boat towing lifeboats, Adolph Hitler ordered that no U-Boats were allowed to rescue any crew of any ship anymore.

Mrs Pratchett, who was on the ship when it was sunk, stated in an interview: "I don't do cruises now. I'd rather stick pins in my eyes!"

Australian Pilot Recovered in his Spitfire

Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Henry Lacy Smith, from 653 Squadron, was lost in action on 11 June 1944 over the coast of Normandy. Local museum curators found the Spitfire in the Orne Estuary, near Ouistrehain, Normandy in December.

Flying OSS Operatives Into France on a B-24

George Coleman was a tail-gunner on a B-24 flying in the Mediterranean theatre and was detailed to be on a night mission into France to drop French agents. Part of his duties was to ensure enough parachutes were on board for all.

There were 15 passengers and only 14 parachutes. "The captain told me that if the plane went I was the one that counted them and I'd be the one without."

“Aircraft Bridge” to be Torn Down

Moving aircraft parts around in San Diego from the Consolidated Aircraft factory required a bridge to be built – now 70 years later it is being torn down.

Tuskegee Airman at the Fantasy of Flight in Florida

February 11-12 at the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City Florida they are going to have several of the Tuskegee Airman at the their museum. They have a P-51C painted up in the colors of Col Archer. They usually fly 1 or 2 of their aircraft every weekend.

A Radioman on the USS Texas

George Dudek thought about joining the Marines – but the line was too long so he joined the Navy instead. Trained as a radio operator he spent the war in the Atlanic and Mediterranean participating in both D-Day off Normandy and D-Day in southern France on August 15, 1944.

The First Naval Aircraft Carrier - George Washington Parke Custis - built in 1861

Course the aircraft was a balloon and it was used to just observe and report on the Confederate positons – but it was still the first “aircraft” carrier.

John T. Hoops Chief Yeoman and Flag Writer for the Fleet Adm. William F. (Bull) Halsey dead at 89

A “plank owner” – commissioning crew – of the destroyer USS Walke (DD-723) was off the coast of Normandy on D-Day and then into the Pacific participating in invasions and in the sinking of a Japanese destroyer Wakaba by gunfire. During action in the Phillipines he was awarded a Bronze Star for actions during a Kamikaze attack.

The Man Who Torpedoed the Bismarck

John Moffat was the last plane in the attack when he was separated from the rest – and his torpedo struck the ship which jammed the rudder of the German Battleship. He wrote a book and the publisher changed the title from “I Sunk the Bismarck” to “We Sunk the Bismarck”.

Lynn Gear Plant Closing – built massive gears for ships from WW II onwards

General Electric's Lynn Gear Plant, which started being constructed in June of 1941 before the beginning of WW II by the US Government, was shut down permanently in January, 2011. This plant created the gears that went into the Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class guided-missile destroyers.

Former Laotian general Vang Pao Dead at 81

He went from fighting the Japanese in World War II to fighting the Communists in Laos and Vietnam. Educated by the French and commissioned an officer in the Laos army he led the Hmong during the “secret” was under with advice from the CIA. He has been written about in various books including one concerning pilots flying called: "The Ravens -- Pilots of the Secret War in Laos"

Evergreen Museum’s Me-262 “Swallow”

Last year the Evergreen aviation museum in McMinnville Oregon acquired a new production Messerschmitt Me-262 – built in the USA. It is actually a lot smaller than I thought it was, about the size of a P-47 with tricycle gear. An interesting aspect is that they have wooden launch rails for the 12 rockets under each of the wings.

DC-3 “Gooney Bird” “Dakota” Stats

The prototype was first flown Dec 17, 1935. By the middle of 1936 is was being use by airlines. By December of 1941 only 507 had been built with 434 to the airlines and 95% of all passengers were being flown in DC-2s or DC-3s. By the end of WW II 10,654 had been delivered to the military. At the peak of production Douglas completed a DC-3 every 34 minutes.

Research Site Footnote.com

When looking up some records about MACR 2366 (Missing Aircrew Reports) of a B-24 shot down on 7 January 1944 of the 93 BG at the National Archives site I saw that they have a contracted out an agreement with Footnote.com – who have scanned all the MACR records from WW II and have them online. A year’s access costs $79.95. All are scanned, searchable on their site. You can download the individual pages in JPG format. Course after you download them they are no longer searchable unless you convert them into a PDF file. Each MACR record can be anywhere from 1 to 50 pages long. I went ahead and joined since this way the members of our local chapter’s whose records we have I can complete the whole file with their MACR of those whose a/c was lost in combat or in accidents.

Also noted is that they just now have posted 21% of the “war diaries” - the daily operational journals created by various naval commands throughout the Navy during WWII.

THE UNKNOWN WAR: WWII AND THE EPIC BATTLES OF THE RUSSIAN FRONT DVD set

On May 24, 2011, Shout! Factory will start selling a 5-DVD box set includes all 20 episodes about the war on the Eastern Front first broadcast in 1978. It is being released just one month shy of the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union of June 22, 1941. The 5-DVD box set includes all 20 episodes as well as some bonus content. Featuring rare and stunning footage recorded by Soviet camera crews on the front lines . . . most of it unseen since the series' original broadcast on public television 30 years ago.

Remember Stalingrad?

Here is a good writeup about the battle, both militarily and the view of the Allied leaders at the time, from the English version of Pravda.

“The King of Great Britain was of much higher opinion of the Battle of Stalingrad than his Prime Minister. He sent to Stalingrad an endowment sword with an inscription on the blade in Russian and English that read: "To the steel-hearted citizens of Stalingrad - the gift of from King George VI - in a token of the homage of the British people".

It was a year later that Leningrad area was completely freed of German & Finnish ground units – they had survived a partial encirclement for 900 days.

Tuskegee Materials Go into a Vault

Temple University (Pa) was given a collection of photographs, writings, and papers from the local Tuskegee Airman Association chapter. The material includes items from the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (which never made it into combat before the war ended).

Exploring you Family Tree – and what you do when one of them was in the Wehrmacht

A granddaughter does a school project about her family tree and uses the only symbol she knows from Germany to include her grandfather in the family history – a swastika in the newly created family crest art project.

Modern Skis – All Thanks to the 10^th Mountain Division

The 10^th Mountain Division was trained here in the Pacific NW – skiing on Mt Hood year round while training – and was sent to Italy in 1944. (Lt. Dick Pressey was part of the 10^th originally, he decided he hated mules and transferred into the 8^th AF and flew B-17s – his friend stayed in and the mules were used in Italy. Still stubborn.)

But due to all the skis built for them during the war - they became surplus and sparked the modern Ski Industry.

X-Craft CO Rear-Admiral Godfrey Place, VC - who attacked The Tirpitz

The Telegraph (out of the UK ) is posting old news articles onto their web site – and they showing up as new “news” in search engines. This is his obituary when he died in 1994 but still a good read about his experience in attacking The Tirpitz in the X-Craft midget submarine.

Modern Italy Turns 150 – But Parts still Resent Being “Given” to Italy after WW I

South Tyrol was removed from Austria and given to Italy as part of the peace agreement that ended World War I – but it remains a lot more German than Italian still.

Brothers William F. Carey, James E. Carey & Raymond Carey

William was in the 8^th AF, James was in an 78^th Airdrome Service Squadron in the South Pacific, and Raymond who was killed during the Normandy D-Day Invasion timeframe was a Glider Infantryman.

B-17 Gunner Donald Polen – 30 Missions in 4 Months

Drafted as a pilot but reassigned as a gunner when the Army found out that they had too many in the pipeline already in 1944, he started flying combat in 1945 when Flak was more deadly than German Aircraft.

B-17 Pilot Truman Smith – author of “The Wrong Stuff” Died at 87

B-17 Pilot Roger Weber – 390 Bomb Group

Instead of a baseball career he went into the Army pilot program and as a B-17 pilot flew 29 missions and was awarded the Bronze Star four times. He died at the age of 92.

Navy Pilot George H. W. Bush awarded the Medal of Freedom – by President Obama

Mixed in with 12 other people who were awarded this honor, former President G H W Bush was presented with this award on 17 February 2011.

Lt Bush was shot down in his Avenger Torpedo bomber during WW II. He was rescued from his life raft by a Navy submarine – who happenned to have an officer with a camera on board who filmed his rescue.

Bill Pounds – Love of Flying

Too late for the war, he became part of the CAF and flew a BT-13 – Vultee Vibrator – on the airshow circuit.

His friend, Peggy Vaught, is one of 14 siblings three of which who flew in the 8^th AF – including brother Charles "Chuck" Borchert who was a waist gunner on “Shoo Shoo Baby”.

WW II Signalman Richard Kanter

Richard had the job of cryptographer in Algiers as part of the 2677 OSS Regiment. Their job was to take the field agent messages and then decode them, reassemble the information, and then transmit it to London – all with IBM Electromatic typewriters.

Australian Pilot to be Buried in April

The Spitfire pilot who was discovered in his almost intact spitfire off the coast of Normandy last November will be buried in April, in Normandy.

Staff Sgt. Berthold Chastain Buried With Honors after 67 Years

Part of a crew of 11 that went missing on October 27, 1943 he was buried in February, 2011.

500 Pound General Purpose Bomb defused in Paris Suburb

On a former Renault car factory site, which was bombed multiple times by the 8^th Air Force, this demolition bomb was discovered during routine excavation work.

Dud rates during world war II of US bombs is estimated to be around 5% - even though aerial bombs had nose and tail fuses on them.

On Board the Hornet CV-12 During WW II

George Godfrey earned 11 battle stars as a deck crewman handing aircraft on the deck of the USS Hornet.

"The World War II radar wasn't the best in the world," he said. "Japanese planes would come early in the morning or late in the day, flying low above the water, trying to damage our fleet. Our radar system wouldn't always detect these planes."

Raising a Devastator off San Diego

A&T recovery discovered and is using video cameras to plan the raising of it – it is in 600+ feet of water.

The National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla., is trying to raise the $300,000 needed to raise the plane.

Japanese Air Raids in Northern Australia

One of the reasons for the Guadalcanal campaign was the bombing of Australia – and the new airfield being built on Guadalcanal which would be just over 1,000 miles from Eastern Australia which allow another direction of raids into Australia to be launched. The G4M “Betty” bomber could fly 3,700 miles.

Luftwaffe Raids Parnell Aircraft Factory in 1941

During the “Blitz” the Luftwaffe attacked strategic targets, and sometimes actually hit them at night.

B-24 Bombardier Joseph J. Pribula – 51 Missions

He too flew as part of the 15^th Air Force. He was also a 25 year member of the Collings Foundation who flies around the B-17, B-24, B-25, and P-51 on tour around the USA .

B-24 Crash Remembered

The British initially used the B-24 as a long range anti-submarine hunter due to the time in air it had compared to the exiting British bombers in 1942. However, training in them was just as deadly to some British crews as it was to US crews in the States.

57 out of 200

Flying the Navy Version of the B-24 – PB4Y-1 – men of the Patrol Bombing Squadron 104 lost their lives between 1943 and 1945.

Ben Johnson was part of the 143 who made it through. He was originally flying in PBYs in the South Pacific as a radioman-gunner.

Japanese PM Vows to Find Missing WW II Japanese Soldiers on Iwo Jima

The Japanese renamed the island back to its long ago pre-war name of Io To in 1997 and only after the Clint Eastwood movie of 2006 did the Japanese government even thing about looking for the remains of soldiers who were known to have been buried in mass graves on the island by the US Military after the battle was over in March of 1945.

Sunk a Sub Or Not – Credit Stands But No One Really Knows

The Coast Guard Cutter McLane is credited with sinking a Japanese submarine off of Prince of Wales Island in July of 1942. Assumed to be the RO-32 the US found out that it was still afloat at the end of the War. But the claim still stands but no one is sure what actually happenned back then after an oil slick was discovered after multiple depth charge attacks.

Restoring the Sub that sank the carrier Shokaku

The US submarine USS Cavalla was damaged by Hurricane Ike and is now in desperate need of restoration in Houston, Texas. The Navy donated the vessel to the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II, who in turn gave it to Galveston to become the basis for Seawolf Park where a destroyer is also based.

Battle of Midway and “Moby Dick”

Researchers in the coral atoll chain that Includes Midway were doing some underwater inventory when they found some whaling artifacts and think they have found the wreck of the “The Two Brothers” whaling ship.

National 8^th Air Force Historical Society “You Tube” Page

The national 8^th AFHS organization now has a ”You Tube” page where it will post videos. Joseph P. Keeley, who is on the board of directors of the 8^th, posted the first video introducing the web page.

In order to be automatically notified of new posts you have to create an account on you tube and then subscribe to the channel.

“Liberty Belle” Coming to Hillsboro Airport April 23-24

It will be stationed at Aero Air FBO at Hillsboro; 2050 NE 25th Ave. If you, or someone else you know, want to go flying in this Flying Fortress call 918-340-0243 to schedule a ride. Their web site is: http://libertyfoundation.org/index.html

The escort for this trip is a newly restored Curtiss P-40E "Warhawk" painted up in Flying Tiger colors of Col. Scott.

They do not publish the cost on the web site for flying in either the B-17 or P-40 – so you have to call to find out the price.

EAA’s B-17G “Aluminum Overcast” Comes In May

We are hosting the Salute to Veterans' tour of EAA's flying B-17, Aluminum Overcast. This B-17 is one of only 14 B-17s still flying. The event is to honor, educate, and preserve aviation history. The B-17 will arrive about noon on May 19th at the Hillsboro Airport and be available for flights and tours thru the weekend.

We are looking for WWII Aircorp Veterans that would like to participate in a media event promoting the event and cause. The objective is to have a small group of WWII veterans present to greet the plane's arrival with local press, answer some questions and take also take a complementary flight on the B-17.

Lt Col Clint Gruber Dead at Age of 90

As a young 2^nd Lt co-piloting “Iron Ass” on the way to Solingen, Germany, on 1 November 1943 he was shot down while co-piloting his B-24 “Liberator” by a Bf-109 and became a POW. Before that, as part of “Ted’s Traveling Circus” , the nickname of the 93^rd Bomb Group (Heavy); he flew missions out of North Africa to Italy and France before the unit rejoined the 8^th Air Force in England.

He was not on the Ploesti raid (another person was assigned in his place) but went down to his unit after that mission when the 93^rd was not immediately returned to the UK after the “Tidal Wave” mission.

Clint was a long time member of the local 8^th Air Force Historical Society chapter in Oregon.

After the war he stayed in the Air Force and retired in the mid-1960s. After he retired he became a long time talk show host on the radio in Portland, Oregon.

In our May 2005 meeting Clint recited a poem that was created while he was at Stalag Luft 1 – the “Rest Haven on the Baltic”:

He stated that this had been "written by a kriegie, POW, who had been in the bag a long time, so long that he started talking like a German."

Now I've traveled this Deutschland wide over
And I've stopped at all the Gefängnislager Lufts
Some were good, some were bad, some were different
And others were the best that they had

Now this last one I stopped at was a lulu
So pretty and fine and neat
But all of us got rotes Kreuz parcels
But wait till you hear what we had to eat

And asked him for something instead
So on Samstag and Sonntag by via the change
We had gravy without any bread!

“Mission To Berlin”

Robert F Dorr’s latest book, “Mission to Berlin”, is being published on April 15, 2011. “This is a general-interest World War II history that focuses on the B-17 Flying Fortress crews who attacked Berlin on February 3, 1945 in the largest mission ever flown against a single target. The book also includes a new look at the entire bombing campaign in Europe.”

“If you would like to get a first-edition signed copy directly from me, the author, send me a check for $ 35.00 to cover book, signature, packaging and shipping. Very important: be sure that any communication includes your ADDRESS. If I hear from you before the book is available, I'll cash your check and send you the book when it appears -- expected to be between April 15 and May 2.” Robert F. Dorr 3411 Valewood Drive Oakton VA 22124 robert.f.dorr@cox.net

“Flying For Her Country”

An article by Amy Strebe, who wrote the book “Flying for her Country”, was just published in the “WW II Quarterly” magazine about the American and Soviet military pilots of WW II.

Gen Marcel Bigeard

During WW II he escaped from a German POW camp and became part of the Free French Forces. After the war he was in charge of the French Campaign to hold onto Indochina – and was captured again at Dien Bien Phu in May of 1954. He then led the paratroopers in Algeria during that uprising. He died in June of 2010 at the age of 94 in Toul.

Ralph McDonald KIA 29 April 1944 Buried 25 March 2011

Shot down on a mission to the Berlin rail yards near Hannover with the rest of the crew, his remains were only recently positively identified by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory.

Highest Ranking US Officer from WW II still MIA

General Charles "Bull" Keerans was shot down by friendly naval fire – no one told the navy that C-47s carrying the 2^nd wave of airborne troops of the 504 PIR into Sicily during the night of July 11/12 into battle were to overfly the fleet. 23 planes were shot down. Keerans plane ditched offshore but after being seen on the beach – he headed inland and was never seen again.

Harold R. “Red” Timm Tail Gunner 360 Sqd 303 BG(H)

Harold was a B-17 tail gunner in the 360th Squadron of the 303rd Bomb Group, Army Air Corps (8th Air Force), during World War II. Based in Molesworth, England, he flew 10 missions, including the Schweinfurt Raid over Nazi Germany, before being grounded due to a ruptured eardrum. On a mission to Kassel, Germany, Harold’s plane, the Upstairs Maid, ditched in the North Sea, making him a member of the Goldfish Club; the crew was picked up by the UK Air-Sea Rescue and all survived.

Medals due to A Nephew - 66 years later

Samuel D. Banz fought as part of E Company, 242nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division across France into Germany then was discharged – never asking for any of his medals he was due – since he was in a hurry to get out and asking for the medals would have delayed his separation.

Like others before him, service records were destroyed by the St Louis warehouse fire. They VA did not install sprinklers into the building since it would increase the cost AND some other government archive stated that water damage was worse for THEIR records than a fire. So 16 to 18 million records were burned up. An estimated 80 percent of Army personnel discharge records from November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960 were destroyed in the 1973 fire. There’s a 75 percent loss to records of U.S. Air Force personnel discharged between Sept. 25, 1947 and Jan. 1, 1964, with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.

Swapping Stories at the Primrose Pub

A real mix of different veterans – WAVES, SeeBees, Army Air Force, Artillery, Medics from all over the globe gather every Wednesday to talk.

Last WW I US Veteran Dead at 110

Frank Buckles lied about his age and joined at 16 and made it overseas. He enlisted Aug. 14, 1917 and was assigned serial number 15577. He was also overseas in the Philippines during WW II and was interned by the Japanese as a civilian. He died February 28, 2011. He was buried near “Blackjack” Pershing in Arlington National Cemetery who the commanding officer of all US forces in Europe World War I.

18 Spits Left in the UK

Included in that group are just two two-seater versions including one owned an flown by Carolyn Grace. She flew it as part of the re-enactment of the very first Spitfire test flight performed in Southampton in 1936.

Malta Aviation Museum’s Spitfire Mk IX

It has in the museum a Spitfire Mk IX coded EN199 – in its Air Battle of Malta memorial hangar.

If in Ashland Nebraska April 14-17 you can meet some of the Doolittle Raiders

Five survivors from the famed Doolittle raid on Tokyo during World War II will be feted during events at the Strategic Air & Space Museum near Ashland in eastern Nebraska.

The “Blitz” in Northern Ireland

The German He-111 bomber had a very good range for its type and could, along with the Ju-88, reach the full length of the British Isles. On April 15, 1941 the Luftwaffe visited Belfast’s targeted the harbor and aircraft factories in the night bombing campaign known as “The Blitz”.

FAA Bans the issuance of new operating WW II era a/c for Hire

“The agency this week banned the issuance of new exemptions that allow vintage warbirds such as World War II aircraft to carry passengers.” What this means if someone restores a multi-passenger aircraft and wants to take it on tour, selling rides to offset the cost, they cannot. The FAA is on a safety push to cut General Aviation accidents and they think banning the issuance of operating certificates it will cut the GA accident rate.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/26/20110326mesa-falcon-field-FAA-ruling.html#ixzz1JA965o00

Sharing Stories with Students

Kenneth Goodwin, Philip Lawrence, Norman Phillips – Army Infantry, Marine Infantry and P-47 Pilot, talked and brought to school items from their WW II experiences. Norman is writing a book about his flying experiences.

C-124 A/C 49-0244 still missing since 23 March, 1951

Brig. Gen. Paul Thomas Cullen, along with some 50+ others, were on that plane flying to the British Isles when it ditched in the Atlantic.

Fate of Aviation Museum up in the Air

The South St. Paul museum has been told that to meet fire and safety codes – mandated by the City / State / Federal– in the hanger they have rented from the city– may force the Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force to close up the only WW II museum in the State.

Wanna Buy an Aircraft Carrier?

For sale – 1 used British Aircraft carrier – HMS Ark Royal – good for Harrier Jump Jets or other STOL aircraft. Bids must be in by April 27.

This leaves 1 aircraft carrier in service till it retires in 2014. Then the British will have to depend on US carriers for all ship borne aircraft needs.

B-29 Engine Plant Location will be converted into Apartment Buildings

The Curtiss-Wright engine plant location will be converted into an upscale apartment / business complex. Unlike the Boeing plant which had to be torn down due to it being over a river, this plant shell will be converted and the building itself will be left intact.

Military Drones, GPS Mortar Rounds and other new Military Devices

CNET.Com has a “Military Tech Blog” where it reports on interesting new military items.

Also, they are now fielding individual personnel gunshot detectors for soldiers.

95 BG(H) Reunion in Seattle

The 95^th Bomb Group (Heavy) who flew B-17s out of Horham in the UK as part of the 8^th Air Force are having their reunion in Seattle this year. You can get more information at: http://95thbg.org/95th_joomla/

The 95^th had the distinction, among many others, to be the first B-17 unit to fly into the city limits of Berlin.

Pennsylvania Chapter 8^th AFHS Annual Reunion

This information came from their Keystone Tail Winds newsletter; PA Chapter 8^th AFHS; PO Box 102, Warminster, PA 18974-0511.

The Pennsylvania chapter will be holding their 20^th annual reunion from the 18 thru 21 of June 2011 at the Days Inn State College. Reunion cost is $135.

To make reservations at the hotel call 800-258-3297 or via email at sales@centralhotel.com booking code is CGAIFO.

They also have a fund raising raffle of three tickets for $5 and the top award is a $500 savings bond or $250 in cash; plus three other prizes.

Combat Mission of the 448^th

From Carroll Wikander: “ my father was a pilot in the 8th AF during WWII 448th BG 713th SQ. I am current trying to track down information on his combat missions with the 448th.”

Finding WW II Production Information

A good source for US ac production (both AAF and Navy) is Problems of Accelerating Aircraft Production During World War II by Tom Lilley dated January 30, 1946: it should be fairly easy to get a copy at any decent college library (in my case, U of Oregon). German Tanks Of World War II by Dr. S. Hart and Dr. R. Hart has a wealth of information with quarterly production of tanks and assault guns with tables showing losses and AFV strengths at selected dates on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Of course, the best overall source has to be World War II: The Encyclopedia of Facts and Figures by John Ellis (2nd edition published 1995).

VJ Day in Hawaii

Modern Warfare Understanding in Modern Russia

The article states that there are some 11,200 Officers from the rank of General on down studying WW II within the military – and that the lessons that could be learned from combat in WW II cannot be applied to the current modern battlefield.

Desert Rats of Tobruk – and Fresh Baked Bread

On April 11, 1941, German forces cut off Tobruk from the rest of the British 8^th Army and started a siege. Rommel expected it to be over quickly – however the Australians (and others) held out till the siege was broken 242 days later.

Soviet Police Chief Lavrenthi Beria

In the movie “Enemy At The Gates” there is a scene where wounded Russian soldiers are moving back to their lines after they attacked the Germans in Stalingrad and they are shot by NKVD – the Soviet secret police unit - as they come back – it was this man’s idea to treat their own soldiers this way regardless of the situation both during and after the war. It is also been rumored that Beria killed Stalin in order to avoid being killed himself.

Drinking Rum during Gallipoli

They may have loved beer, but it seems that the Australian troops at Gallipoli were only given rum – and the Turkish soldiers had the beer.

Experiencing D-Day – over 5 Times

If you were in the Pacific you may have had gone through 3 D-Days as an infantryman, however the crews of many ships went through multiple D-Day assaults and David M. Stavely who lived aboard the USS Arcturus (AKA-1) for three years went through five of them.

Political Judgments of The Soviets Before June 22, 1941

In 1939 the Soviets attacked Poland from the East after Germany had already been in Poland for a few weeks – then the two nations divided up Poland into their own control. This was after the two nations had signed a 10 year non-aggression treaty known as the Moscow Pack. Then in 1941 NAZI Germany attacked the USSR in a deliberate betrayal of the treaty. This article talks about how the political mindset of the USSR ignored reality.

The Balkans – 1941

Germany infantry and armored units went into the Balkans in the spring of 1941 to help Italy avoid defeat at the hands of the British. The late spring, and the 6 week diversion of infantry and armored units that were to be used in “Operation Barbarossa” pushed the invasion of the USSR back to 22 June, 1941.

Nisei World War II veteran Genro Kashiwa to get Legion of Honor from France

Kashiwa will be the second member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team to be honored by France with the medal and rank of chevalier (knight). Previous awardee was Medal Of Honor awardee Barney Hajiro. He is one of 21 members of the 442d who were awarded the MOH during World War II. Kashiwa earned two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart during his time in combat in Italy, France and Germany.

Fighting The War with the 38^th EVAC Hospital

Nurse Pauline Bell White joined the Army in 1942 and took part in “Operation Torch” when the allies invaded North Africa – climbing down ropes just like combat troops and equipped almost like them on D-Day. Then for the next three years, she followed the invasions and troops into Italy.

“Nearly eight years ago, she put together an account of her service in World War II, calling it "Angels Watching Over Me" and her unit was detailed in a documentary called "If They Could See Us Now: The Story of Charlotte’s 38th Evacuation Hospital," which aired on WTVI in 2007. She attended the premiere of the documentary on Sept. 16, 2007.”

Reneau Breard – 82^nd Airborne

Salerno, Anzio, Market Garden, Battle of the Bulge and Huertgen Forest he fought in all these battles winning the Silver Star. He wrote the foreword to Brothers in Arms, the history of A Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

From Building Them to Finally Flying in a B-17

Billie Piercy was one of thousands of “Rosie the Riveter” who worked for Boeing in Seattle during WW II. Now retired, she finally got a ride in one in Arizona.

"The boss kept telling us every day, 'X number of planes were shot down yesterday. We have to replace them.’ “

She worked on a variety of projects on the tail, but mainly as a rivet bucker. Rivet buckers were women who worked on the inside of the plane. They held a metal tool against the skin of the plane to flatten the rivets as they were shot through the skin of the plane from the other side.

"You didn't talk, there was so much noise you couldn't, you just waved your hands at someone to get their attention.”

“Texas Raider” Flying again

After almost a half million dollar overhaul, the B-17 Texas Raider is on tour for this year after getting an airworthy certificate in 2009.

C.S. Needham – B-17 Pilot of the 388 BG(H)

He died in March at the age of 91. When the required number of missions was only 25 he volunteered to fly 10 more and finished his tour at 35.

A Yank in the RAF – Who Stayed in the RAF after US Entry

John T. Bradshaw was assigned to No 41 Squadron of the RAF and was in action with the RAF from the fall of 1941 till August of 1944.

"I went into the RAF as a sergeant pilot making 60 bucks a month, and when I left, I was a warrant officer making 98 bucks a month. I transferred into the Army Air Corps as a first lieutenant making about 375 a month. My wife was real happy." He then flew P-47s in the 63 Fighter Squadron.

Radio Operator on the Longest B-24 Mission of the War

John G. Shine died at the age of 89. As a radio operator on a B-24 in the South Pacific he flew on the longer recognized bomber mission by B-24s in World War II: From Northern Australia to Balikpapan, Borneo on a mission that lasted over 16 hours.

Submarine Memorial in Olathe Kansas

65 US submarines have been lost since the first modern type of submarine was launched in the 20^th century. Over 4,000 died on those 65 different submarines (both war and in peace). The first was the USS Skate that sank off the coast of Honolulu in 1915. The 65th was the USS Scorpion which sank in 1968.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/04/09/2789067/memorial-held-for-submariners.html#ixzz1JBDB2PnZ

Operational WW II PT Boat in Portland, Oregon

Restored to full operation condition (except for the torpedoes and operating machine guns) PT 658 cruises up and down the Willamette River in search of ?

MIA Status after WW II

The 1946 War Department casualty records classify all people with a "FOD" Finding of Death. The procedure after WW2 was that unless an active search was being pursued ALL Missing in Action were declared dead one year after the end of hostilities.

Restoring a DC-3

In North Carolina a DC-3 – built during WW II – and once owned by Piedmont Airlines is slowly being restored. At the current project rate it will be 5 to 7 years before it is finished.

No Casino at Gettysburg

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board rejected for the second time a proposal to allow a casino gambling complex to be built within ½ mile of the north edge of the Gettysburg National Park.

The Mason-Dixon Gaming Resort is again outmaneuvered by 150 year old Generals of both the North and South – this time fighting together.

Violet Cowden Dies at 94 -- WASP Aviator

Violet was a pre-war civilian pilot who joined the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) organization after the start of WW II. She was qualified to fly at least 19 different types of military aircraft during the war.

Former POW Capt. Merlin R. Kehrer Awarded POW Medal

Capt Kehrer died in 1951 in a plane accident but a historian during research asked his family about his POW medal – and they stated he never had one. He was shot down in February over Germany 1944. Prior to 1943 he has flown in the RCAF in North Africa.

Bob Dole Gets a Plaque in DC

On April 13 Former Sen. Bob Dole (R., Kan.) was honored with a bronze plaque to be placed on the entrance path to the World War II Memorial. Former Senate colleagues, including Vice President Biden, gathered to dedicate the plaque. Dole, 87, was gravely wounded while fighting in Italy in 1945.

An FW 190 Flies in Seattle

The Flying heritage Foundation has reassembled the only original flying Focke-Wulf 190 A-5 aircraft in the world. It was restored in Arizona and trucked up to Seattle and reassembled. They started restoring it in 1999 after pulling it out of a forest outside Leningrad.

Town of Bridgend, England Remembers HMS Urge

In 1942 this British submarine was sunk with all hands in the Mediterranean in 1942. The HMS Urge damaged an Italian battleship, sunk a cruiser and sunk the largest Italian tanker they had.

ANZAC Day 25 April

ANZAC stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps – and “down under” they remember the men from all the wars at their memorial.

Korean War POW Remains Come Home

Captured by the Koreans, his picture appeared on the cover of Newsweek in 1951 when North Korea gave out photos of US prisoners – he subsequently died due to the brutal treatment all UN prisoners were subject as a matter of policy of the North Korean state. He was finally identified by DNA last year.

Clarence Dart – Tuskegee Airman – honored at Saratoga County NY

Historical Fiction Novel “Field Gray”

Part of a series of 7 books covering a German from 1933 till after the war. This seventh book by Scottish author Phillip Kerr covers the Eastern Front where the main character is fighting Partisans.

Cliches Of War

Stories of Combat in North Africa and Italy

Ray Wittich was a tank driver and Remo Spagnoli was a combat engineer from 1942 till the end of the war. Ray commented that only 31 guys of the original 135 in his outfit were left to celebrate when the war ended.

Four Myths about the Crusades

What is taught in schools and told by politicians who tell and pass along stories all tend to skip the centuries of history before the Crusades begin – they just start at the 1^st Crusade.

With the 10^th Mountain Division in Italy

Bill Osgood was in Italy with the 10^th Mountain Division and took part in the night assault against mount Belvedere. “We were finding our way by feel. The only light was German flares. The mountain was covered with minefields and barbed wire. The only way to find the minefields was to step on one.” In four months, 992 mountaineers were dead, more than 4,000 wounded. Six of the 12 men in Osgood’s squad were killed or wounded by the end of the war.

Atrillery Observer Alan Pantall

Leaving Hereford England for the 8^th Army in 1939 he spent his whole time in the front lines spotting and plotting artillery missions – including Monte Cassino.

Restoring Military Vehicles in Bakersfield California

The “Olive Drab Drivers” find and restore military vehicles back to factory new condition. They will be at the Minter Field Air Museum on May 14^th.

Women Journalists in World War II

MI5 – Secrets from WW II and Coffee

As the NAZI state lost control of land to the Allies wild plots came about to spread alarm and kill rear area troops by NAZI agents using poisoned coffee, chocolate and cigarettes.

Photo of Reading Glasses Returned From Crash Site

“Miss Cheyenne” was a B-17 Flying Fortress that took off from Bury St. Edmunds and was shot down on April 22, 1944 near Werl, Germany. A 13 year old boy went through the crash site collecting items from the aircraft and only recently wrote to the tail-gunner’s wife that he found his glasses.

After 20 Missions – Stalag Luft I

Robert T. Peterson, 91, of Sinclairville, died Thursday, April 14, 2011, at the V.A. Medical Center, Erie, Pa. He flew in the 829 Squadron of the 485^th Bomb Group (H) in B-24s as part of the 15^th Air Force flying out of Italy. On July 8, 1944 he was shot down during the mission to Vienna, Austria and spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I on the Baltic Coast.

The Mail Got Through – Just a Really long Delivery Time

Baltimore had a two digit zip code of 21 before the 5 digit zip code system was instituted in 1963 and code 21 was on the package – but since it came from Farragut Naval Training Station in Idaho – and the only time someone they knew was there was in 1944 – it was being delivered at least 67 years after it was mailed.

Henry M. Bailey 467th BG

Mr Baily died April 15, 2011 in Roseburg Oregon. He was part of the 467th bombardment group, flying aboard the B-24 "Pappy Yokum" as the tail gunner out of Station 145, Rackheath, England during WW II. This unit has the distinction of having the highest bombing accuracy rate of a group for the mission on April 15, 45.

Crewman of a C-87 Identified

Flying over "The Hump" on April 24, 1943 this C-87 - the cargo version of the B-24 "Liberator" never made it from Yangkai China to Chabua, India. The crash site was discovered in 2003. Thus Army Air Forces PFC. Mervyn E. Sims, 23, of Petaluma, Calif finally comes home. It was also used as a flight engineer trainer aircraft called the AT-22.

287 C-87s were built by Consolidated in Fort Worth Texas during the war. It was based on a crashed / rebuilt B-24D SN 42-40355.

Flying B-26s as Pilot at the Age of 19

Don Block flew his first combat mission in a B-26 "Marauder" on June 20, 1944 with the 558th Squadron of the 387 Bomb Group (Medium) into France. Two days later he turned 20 and flew 2 more missions on his birthday.

“Normally we flew in formations of 36 B-26's, six to a section, and bombed from an altitude of 9,000-11,000 feet. Occasionally we flew at 8,000 feet but we didn't like that altitude as the Germans could throw everything but the kitchen sink at us. We always flew level bombing missions and dropped our bomb loads in flights of six.”

B-29 with A Watermelon Special Delivery

In 1949 herb Billington read a story about a dying boy's wish for some watermelon in California while he was stationed at MacDill AFB in Florida - and then arranged for and flew a B-29 training mission to deliver the watermelons.

Josephine Hinman - US Army Nurse

Forgoing a full college scholarship, she enlisted as a Nurse and after training the unit was assigned to the Philippines. "Our first night there, a monsoon hit off Manila Bay and everything was soaked – mattresses were dripping wet, lizards and snakes were swimming through the barracks."

American Indians in the Military

Did you know that "Pappy" Boyington was part of the Coeur d'Alene Indian tribe? 28 American Indians have been awarded the Medal of Honor (MOH) by Congress and have served in every war since the Revolutionary War - even though they were not recognized as US Citizens till 1923!

Wilfred Billey was a Navajo who served in World War II. “With much pride and satisfaction, in the prime of my life, I served my country in the United States Marine Corps.”

An upcoming book from Praeger Publishers by author Dean Chavers (CTD4DeanChavers@aol.com) will be called: “American Indians and Popular Culture” .

113 Combat Missions in a B-24

"Taffy" Hill died in Ipswich Mass in April. During WW II he flew as a crew chief in B-24s completing 113 combat missions and was awarded a Bronze Star.

Flying Missions off the USS Langley

In order to get the DFC - Distinguished Flying Cross - you had to fly 20 combat missions. Walter Lemiska flew 21 missions but he was told that two of his missions did not count since they were considered "hazardous."

An Aeronautical Engineer View of WW II Aircraft

Retired Aeronautical Engineer Tom Brinkman wrote a book about the 2nd Generation fighters of WW II comparing them from an engineer's point of view.

Five "Black Sheep" Still Alive

Jim Hill, Ed Harper and Harry Johnson traveled to to Yuma Arizona where Marine Attack Squadron 214 is stationed April 14. Greg Boyington, son of "Pappy" also attended. In two 6 week combat tours VMF 214 was officially credited with destroying 97 enemy aircraft, 35 probable, 50 damaged, 27 enemy ships (various types) and nine pilots obtain "Ace" status.

A Woman Coast Watcher

Ruby Boyce stayed on Vanikoro, taught herself Morse code and was known by name by the Japanese - who never could catch her. To avoid being executed as a spy if captured, she was commissioned into the WRANS.

How Many Horses Died in World War I?

A movie about World War One, "War Horse", which will be a Steven Spielberg film, is about a boy who joins the British Army to find and get back his horse that his father sold off at the beginning of the war. Out of the 1,000,000+ horses sent to fight in the British Army in WW I, only 100,000 were left at the end of the war. The counts for French, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Austria-Hungary are likely similar.

WWII Nurse Coaralie Wilks Worked in Hospital Named for WW I Nurse

During WW II Mrs. Wilks worked in the Edith Cavell Hospital tending the wounded. The hospital was named after a WW I nurse who helped British escape to the Netherlands (Holland) during the First World War. She was executed by the Germans in 1915 due her helping over 2000 capture.

GPS At Gallipoli

Using the GPS system, the battlefield at Gallipoli Turkey is now undergoing detailed mapping. ANZAC day exists since that is the day Gallipoli was invaded using ANZAC units under British command.

DNA Helps ID WW I Soldiers

At the Battle of Fromelles many soldiers "disappeared". However, as development occurs remains of those killed are found. The UK Defense Department recently ID'd 14 more sets of remains from that battle.

Bailing Out Over The Pacific

With his hydraulics shot out and unable to land due to a stuck drop tank - the only thing to do was bail out offshore. "It's perfectly simple if you know what you're doing."

RNZFC - Numbers 14 to 26

Flight sergeant Norman Ryder flew Tiger Moths in training then P-40s "Kittyhawks" and F4Us "Corsairs" later on.

President Roosevelt's Foreign Policy in the 1930s

A short recap by a panel of three on the basic principals and actions taken by the US President in the 1930s. Both MP3 and transcripts.

American Fighter Aces Reunion

51st Annual Reunion in Orlando, Florida Thursday September 29th - Sunday October 2^nd.

Restoring a P-40 – One Rivet at a Time

Ken Hake, 78, had been restoring aircraft most of his life – and now is in the process or restoring his 2^nd Curtiss P-40.

Three Wellingtons in the UK

In addition to the aircraft you mention [July “Milk Run”], there is a Mk X (10) on display in the RAF Museum at Hendon. This is the actual aircraft which appeared in the 1955 film The Dambusters.

There is also a fully restored Mk IA, N2980 "R-Robert" at the Brooklands museum in Surrey. This aircraft was recovered from Loch Ness in 1985 and completely refurbished to a superb standard.

A Research Request Example: 306^th 2LT William J. Gise

306 BG (H) 2LT William J. Gise, believed to have been a POW Bailed out of TN 41-24510 on 9-Oct-42 on mission to Lille, France. MACR 6706. I looked up that MACR and it has his serial number as O-660491. When I searched the POW records, nothing came up for William J. Gise, so I put in the serial number and came up with a 1LT Robert B. Hermann, 306BG/367BS, captured 6-Mar-43.

Looked up planes lost on that date from 306th and found that 1LT Robert B. HERMAN (one "n") was on TN 42-5130 MACR 939 which lists him with serial number O-660491.

So I'm thinking the Germans spelled his name with two "n",s instead of one, and the serial number O-660491 really is his, BUT the serial number for William L. Gise is in error.

Then five days later I received a phone call asking if I could create a higher quality crew photo of the Ben Olsen crew so it could be given as a gift of the daughter of Lt Olsen – Lt Gise was on the Olsen ship as a substitute when it was shot down.

I saw in a comment on Footnote.com in the MACR record that he bailed out but evaded and returned to the UK. Then via the NARA site I found the escape and evasion report #15 about how he evaded capture and on it he signed his real SN. I posted the correct one back into footnote MACR as a comment so others would have the correct one now and sent to Lee both compete set of MACRs that I downloaded along with the E&E report.

I also sent the complete MACR to the future husband of the daughter of Lt Olsen along with a cleaned up higher quality Olsen crew photo via email. It took me an hour and a half to do all this download and emailing. It took around 30 minutes of photo editing to rescan and clean up as much as possible the Olsen crew photo.

This shows that even official US Army Air Force Records can sometimes be wrong. In this case the Adjutant of the 306^th put down the wrong SN – because Lt Gise was a substitute on the a/c shot down and used the original navigator’s SN likely because he was supposed to be on the mission mission but Gise was substituted and the mission list was not updated.

Looking for A Fighter Pilot at Malta

Looking for Information on a pilot. Person’s name is Carl Lee Johnson from Banks, Oregon. He was a RAF Beaufighter Pilot and was KIA Malta - Date unknown.

Want to Be Interviewed about your WW II Service? (Oregon / WA locals)

Joan Hamilton is part of the Association of Personal Historians and at the Oregon Historical Society she wants to interview three veterans as part of the Veterans History Project interviews again this year.

It's on September 10th from 11 am-3 pm at the Oregon Historical Society; 1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97205.

Preregistered veterans receive free OHS admission and a guaranteed interview time. Private 30-45 minute Veterans History Project interviews will be conducted by a personal historian between 11-3 pm. Contact Joan at JHami828@aol.com .

Joan is a member of the Oregon 8^th AFHS and she has been doing this for the past few years and is quite good.

This project is part of the Library of Congress’s Veteran project. Other locations for interviews are always going on. Check LOC web site. http://www.Loc.gov

Australian WW I Soldiers Identified and Buried in France.

A mass grave of over 250 Australian soldiers was discovered in 2009 on the battlefield of Frommelles from July 1916 – Battle of the Somme - and they have identified 14 so far. Pvt Leslie Gordon Walsh was buried with honors at Frommelles on 27 July 2011. He was Killed 20 July 1916.

Ambition and Hooking onto those in Power

When just starting out and want to get ahead in the world you use the contacts you have around and associate with those who can allow you to get ahead in life. Martin Davidson found out that sometimes the association is not what you expect.

" . . . his grandfather had used the Nazis like any other major organization, the way an ambitious executive might view his company -- as a way to get ahead."

Documented in his book: "The Perfect Nazi, Uncovering My Grandfather's Secret Past".

SS Reunion in Latvia

The Latvian Division, 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division, was incorporated into the German Army during World War II and thus all the men were considered German soldiers with the attendant benefits. They are actually paid as such from Germany. They had a reunion in Latvia this July. Not much of a write up in the Russian newspapers.

The photo is from the Battle of Kursk that took place in July of 1943. This was the last major offensive by the German Army against the Russians where they had an opportunity to win a major battle.

Notebooks of Josef Mengele to be auctioned off

Josef Mengele was the doctor who not only did the a lot of initial selection of who would live and who would go direct to the gas chambers at Auschwitz starting in late 1943, he also did experiments on prisoners – the vast majority of them died as a result of medical experimentation. One prisoner who survived was dressed in a full flight uniform, put into ice water for a ½ hour and they tried a method of warming him back up. He survived that test. It was also the one they started using on all pilots (Allied and German) who were picked up out of cold water and were in hyperthermia.

All the books are from the immediate post war timeframe after he escaped and made it to South America. His diary auctioned off last year.

Part of the “Atlantic Wall” now in New Orleans

Three large sections taken from the Normandy area were given to the National WW II Museum in New Orleans by the local museum in France. Three sections of 5 ½ feet high, 18 inches thick by 12 feet long were delivered. This is just a sample of the construction of beach defenses that existed from Norway to Spain – and in the vast majority of locations still exist. There was no way to effectively destroy them – so they are still there. The slabs came from Utah Beach.

“Red Tails” Movie to come out January 2012

Directed by George Lucas, this is the third movie about the Tuskegee airman that has been made. The visuals are said to much way more historically accurate than the last two that were made. The last two did not use correct a/c in the timeframes they were pretending to b set in. (P51s in North Africa, no P-39, P-40s etc).

Tuskegee Airman Lt Col Brown

"The reason why older generals sent younger men off to war is that young men are just silly enough to think that they are invincible," Lt. Col. Brown said. "And we thought we were invincible. We thought we were the greatest thing to say good morning to another plane."

“Upon reaching the village, an angry mob greeted him and took him over to a tree to be hanged. "They took me down to a tree, which was a perfect lynching tree," Brown recalled. "I assumed they were going to hang me. I was 20 years old at the time and I was trying to make myself grasp the dire situation I was in. ... It was hard to accept what was really happening to me."

"He saved my life. He wasn't obligated to. ... I regret to this day the biggest mistake was that after the war was over I did not go back and did not look him up."

In Middle of Libyan Civil War – WW II Graves still Attended

The British buried their dead where they died and did not ship them back home during any of their wars. At the Benghazi War Cemetery Fatour gets up every day to tend to the cemetery where 1,214 Commonwealth solders are buried.

"One old British man, in his 90s, a colonel from the war, he couldn't stop crying when he found his friend," Fatour says.

The cemetery is one of four in Libya maintained by the British-based Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In neighboring Tunisia, 2,841 Americans are buried at the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial.

150^th Anniversary of the US Civil War – 75^th of the Spanish

The US Civil War is still fought in some manner by Political Correctness all over the nation – but in Spain it is still fresh in a lot of people’s mind and daily actions of their civil war in which 500,000 or so died in three years. The US had 660,000 die in four years – of which around 300,000 was actually from disease and not combat.

Finally a formal Presentation of his Bronze Star

Warren Melvin was awarded his star during the 1944 Battle of the Bulge while serving in the Air Corps in support of the ground troops. His son, who is stationed in Afghanistan with the State Department, arranged it as a surprise.

In the Navy in Casablanca

Capt. Edward Winter had a commercial license in 1939 – when the war started the Navy got him and sent him to North Africa for three years.

"Mon Cher Camarade" Documentary of French Speaking American Spies

Sam Broussard of Breaux Bridge and Lt. Colonial Robert LeBlanc from Abbeville and many others from southern USA and were spies and they operated behind enemy lines.

“Historian Carl Brasseaux says Cajun translators were as important to the American War effort as the now much acclaimed Native American Code Talkers, yet the Cajun translator's contributions have been entirely ignored.”

The Ritchie Boys

Knowing German got you into this outfit – since you were going to go to Europe and fight them after a lot of training on the Germany Army in order to get information from captured servicemen.

Stern recalls that Corporal Walter Midener single-handedly got 340 German soldiers to surrender to him.

Marching Though Europe

Ray B. Taylor was a Technical Sergeant in the 3^rd Infantry Division – and they marched (with a few sea hops) from North Africa to Germany.

“We walked at a fast pace for several hours at a time. We walked from one end of Sicily to the other in 14 days. There was fighting along the way.”

B-17 to B-17 Radio Communication

Using original WW II radios the Barksdale AFB B-17 talked via their radio to the Mighty 8th AF museum in Savannah.

Wolf Pack Hero – Robin Olds

He started off his combat career flying Lockheed P-38 “Lightnings” before converting to P-51s ending WW II with 13 air to air kills and 11.5 on the ground.

Old’s Wolf Pack was not the P-47s of Zemke’s 56 FG – it was the F4-Phantom II of the Vietnam War when it got that name – mainly due to Col Olds and Operation Bolo.

Retired Brig. Gen. Charles E. Getz

From a long line of military men – both US and German – Charles flew missions into Iran in the 1960s – the Seals jumped near the shoreline and his unit jumped into the mountains. Later in Vietnam leading combat missions then after military retirement he worked for the CIA.

George Caselli gets French Legion of Honor

The 95 year old ex-Navigator of the 450 BG “Cottontails” was awarded this medal by the Consulate of France in July.

The 450^th flew from Bari, Italy as part of the 15^th Air Force. He flew three missions over France out of the 34 missions that he flew.

Aerial Photographer in the 15^th Air Force

Wayne White’s was a photographer in the 15th Air Force. He just published a book: “It Wasn’t My Time” about his experiences taking photos while in combat. He flew 37 missions taking pictures with a K-20 handheld aerial camera.

Members of his unit thought he was dead after the plane he was scheduled to fly on went down. In reality, a change of plans put him on a different plane - one that did not crash. He was also wounded by enemy flack, losing an index finger.

[Editor: This is my K-20 Aerial camera with a red filter on. I am missing the other two filters that normally came with it. It uses 5” roll film. The biggest back on the camera was 50’ length from what I can find out. Usually it was 15’ of film.]

Combat Artist Painting Solves Mystery

Herman Spoede was a member of Hellhawks Squadron who failed to return from his mission 3 July 1943 in the Solomons. It just happens that a artist was painting on the flight line that day and helped close part of the mystery.

British Bomber found off coast of Turkey

A local person who actually saw it crash still lives there. It is in 100’ or so of water so easy for them to dive to it and start the identification process.

Skull found during dredging in Pearl Harbor may be Japanese Pilot

During routine cleanup of the harbor it was found along with lots of other routine WW II era items. Jeff Fong, an archeologist at NAVFAC, earlier told the Associated Press that early analysis made him "75 percent sure" that the skull was that of a Japanese pilot.

Iwo Jima may no longer be a Training Base

The Navy has been using Iwo as a training base for their carrier pilots for over 20 years – initially it was to be a “temporary” thing until a different location could be found. They still have not found a permanent training home.

Ditched then Shot Down

Chief Master Sgt. Charles Henry "Brother" Brown was at Bury St. Edmonds flying in B-17s in the 331st Squadron, 94th Bomb Group when after a mission to Berlin they had to ditch in the North Sea due to damage. Later, on August 5, 1944 they had to bail out of their B-17 “Our Baby” and was captured.

Boeing’s Virtual Walk-around of the Boeing 737

Oregon 8^th AFHS at the Hillsboro International Air Show

The Oregon Chapter of the Eight Air Force Historical Society again set up a booth at the annual August airshow. This year on Saturday T/Sgt Charlie Gallagher, a 95^th Bombardment Group (Heavy) 336 Squadron as a B-17 top turret Gunner/Engineer along (left) with T/Sgt Don Millar (right), who also flew in B-17s as a tail gunner in the 379 Bombardment Group (Heavy) 526 Bombardment Squadron. They both manned the desk to greet and educate people after the 8^th Air Force.

On Sunday Captain Bill Seitz (below right) manned the front desk instead of the left seat of a B-24 where he was for 85 missions when he flew with the 98^th Bomb Group (Heavy) 15^th Air Force. He first joined his B-24 unit as a replacement pilot after Ploesti (Operation Tidal Wave, 1 August 1943). He completed his tour and was assigned to train new pilots in the NW. After doing that for a short time he again volunteered for combat and went back to the 15^th. For his final mission, and that of the 15^th Air Force, he was the lead pilot of the lead plane of them all into the Reich.

Sitting with Bill is Sam Barber, a B-24 pilot with the 44 BG(H) “Flying 8 Balls” who sat and talked plane to plane at the airshow.

A partial view of the 8^th AFHS booth area. Bob Dean is standing behind Bill Seitz who is talking with relatives of an 8^th AF veteran. Tom Davis, current President of the Oregon 8^th AFHS (back to camera) is standing under a practice bomb dedicated to Reichmasshall Herman “Meier” Goering. The VFW booth was next to ours and Dignity Memorial, who paid for our insurance, as well as that of the Association of Naval Aviators (ANA). Every group is required to insurance in order to put up a booth at the airshow. Dignity Memorial also provided us lunch. Their booth was the Green tent behind the VFW tent.

On the west side of Portland Skyline Memorial Gardens, where Col. Clint Gruber (Ret) 93 BG (H), was buried earlier this year, is part of their network.

A view from behind Don Keller’s (left standing, in grey shirt) B-17 Flying Fortress Cockpit simulator. He is slowly rebuilding it from parts he has collected over the years. Eventually it will be fully operational just like the ones Boeing built to train pilots and maintenance personnel.

B-17 Aluminum Overcast Still on Tour

Lt. Col. Joseph Busick, a B-17 pilot who also flew with the 15^th out of Foggia, Italy, and others greeted the Flying Fortress in new Jersey.

442nd Regimental Combat Has a new Video: "Valor with Honor"

This is a new video that was produced after interviews with at least 35 Nisei who were in the unit. For it’s size, it was the most decorated unit in the US Army. The men in the unit were awarded 7 Presidential Unit Citations, 21 Medals of Honor (upgraded from DSC), over 500 Silver Stars, and over 9000 Purple Hearts.

A member of the unit is set to be the speaker at the next 8^th AFHS meeting in Beaverton on November, 5, 2011.

www.valorwithhonor.com $23 plus S&H. Torasan Films, PO BOX 640831, San Jose, California, 95164

How the West Financed Hitler’s Rise to Power

Interesting read from a person’s blog on how international bankers - and the west - loaned money to the NAZI party in order to ensure the WW I debt was repaid to the Western Allies (and the banks who loaned money to the Allies).

First World War project

The Tynemouth World War One Commemoration Project is about documenting WW I and its impact of the town of Tynemouth in the UK who lost 1,700 killed in the war.

Turkey to Return Some Properties Sized after WW I

After WW I, and the resulting breakup of the Ottoman Empire , and various laws were passed in Turkey (legally) to take away property from minorities in 1936 has been ruled illegal and will be returned – in order for Turkey to remain part of the EU.

Joining the RFC in Canada

Like “The Few” Americans who flew during the Battle of Britain before the USA was in WW II, some Americans went overseas not to work in the Red Cross but fought in combat. Henry Leavitt was one of them who went to Canada and joined and flew in combat during WW I.

He was also shot down and taken prisoner in 1918. Surviving being shot down and surviving in WW I is actually a low percentage – no parachutes so you stayed with the plane till it came back to earth. If the plane is on fire or major parts are gone then the pilot / crew perished.

Care Packages and Europe after WW II

After WW I the Western allies kept the naval and land blockade against Germany after the Armistice in order to force Germany into signing the Treaty of Versailles – the signatures in Paris they knew that starvation was starting to happen in Germany and if they did not wholesale death to millions would happen in the coming winter.

In 1946 the same situation was again happening in Germany – mainly due to the wholesale firing of all the middle and low end German bureaucrats who actually ran Germany’s local cities / towns due to the de-NAZIification policy the Allies imposed – that anyone who was a NAZI member or had close ties were fired until proven they could hold their old job again – and thus all the normal day to day running of German society broke down. (Thus same policy was imposed against the BAATH party in Iraq by the USA and the same breakdown happenned there after the UN forced out Saddam Hussein. However instead of just trying to survive, the Iraqs had arms and still had loyalties to local leaders (not like the NAZI German top down style) and thus it lead to nationwide but mostly locally styled combat).

In 1946 CARE packages started being delivered to Europe based on the meal boxes designed to feed 10 soldiers for a day.

Remembering the “Murmansk” Run in Archangel

The first convoy to Russia came out of England and arrived at Archangel on August 31, 1941. One of the most dangerous convoys routes to be on (going to Malta in 1941 is just as bad, but there you have warm water to swim in and no the 10 minute survival in Arctic waters). Russians, Norwegians, Americans and Canadians were among the guests.

Two books were published concerning the convoys to the USSR – both named the same: “Arctic Convoys”.

“Night Witches” Talk in Colorado

At the Estes Park Aviation International Club in early August Irrina Johnson (born and raised in Russia but now a permanent US resident) talked about Night Bomber Regiment 588 .

From a Wehrmacht Soldier on the Eastern Front to a Comedian

“Loriot – real name Bernhard Victor Christoph-Carl von Bülow, better known as Vicco von Bülow – was a national treasure who combined the eloquence and linguistic dexterity of a Stephen Fry with a Peter Sellers-style sense of the absurd. Pretty much every German newspaper on Wednesday carried a picture of him on the front page, or one of his cartoons.”

Ian Kershaw‘s Book “The End” – German’s final year 1944-1945

A book looking at why Germany fought on after the D-Day invasion of 6 June; the massive Russian offensive in 1944 which resulted in the destruction of Army Group Center; the ANVIL invasion in Southern France – all pointed to the eventual battlefield defeat of Germany – yet the military and people of Germany continued to fight. This book attempts to answer those questions as to why.

“In Deadly Combat” – A Soldier on the Eastern Front

This book review gives it a somewhat passing grade since it was written so long after the war, it cannot be ascertained what was written as it happened and what was reconstructed from faulty memories.

Desert Fox Soldier’s POW Camp Reveals Africa Corp Secrets

In Manitoba Canada, POWs captured by the 8^th Army were sent (truly a punishment going from desert to snow, must not have known about Canada’s winter) after they VOLUNTEERED to be sent there.

Now archaeologists are digging at the old camp and finding some interesting items.

“Sacrifice on the Steppe“ – A book about Italy in the Stalingrad Campaign

Written by Hope Hamilton it deals with the Italian Alpine Corps battles in the USSR till 1943. Italy, Hungary & Romania all had troops involved in the battle, and were mainly on the flanks of Stalingrad city battle. They bore the brunt of the Russian counter-offensive and were overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Philadelphia & Newbury: Casemate/Havertown PA and Newbury, Berkshire, 2011. Pp. ix, 366. Illus., maps, notes, biblio., index. $32.95. ISBN: 1612000029.

Volunteered for Navy -- Ended Up in Infantry

Tido Holtkamp was 16 in 1943 and his mother gave him some advice before his draft notice arrived: “the smallest bunk on a ship is better than the biggest fox hole”. The difference was that he was living in Germany and he suspected that Germany was going to lose the war.

Now living in New London he gets to see his old German Navy training vessel the Horst Wessel – now owned by the Coast Guard and named Eagle.

Billy Drake, British Ace, Dead at 93

Starting out in combat in 1940 in France where he scored his first two kills, he went on to fly recon missions during the Battle of Britain and then commanded squadrons in the Mediterranean in both North Africa and Malta. He finished the war with 24.5 aerial victories and is known to have destroyed at least a dozen aircraft on the ground.

“You accepted that they could be shot down, and if they were, bad bloody luck. That’s war. You’d go up to their room and see if there was anything you could borrow.”

NAZI’s on the Run – how they escaped from Europe

A new book by Gerald Steinacher explores how after the war thousands of dedicated NAZIs escaped from Europe via Italy – and wanted to find out how and why they were able to do so.

A movie called “The Odessa File”, based on the Frederick Forsyth’s novel, fictionalized this. “Recent research shows that the ODESSA organization was a myth that said this organization operated worldwide with endless financial support—Swiss bank accounts, gold here and there—and centrally organized. All of these things are not true. There’s no evidence whatsoever that such a centrally-organized group with these funding possibilities ever existed.”

Robin Lindley: Some people may be surprised that the ICRC helped prisoners of war but not concentration camp victims.

Gerald Steinacher: The ICRC’s work is based on the Geneva Convention, and the Geneva Convention of 1929 was designed for prisoners of war. With civilian nationals of all kinds, such as German Jews in concentration camps, the Red Cross had no legal authority to intervene. These prisoners would be considered an internal affair of Germany.

Bailing Out of a Ball Turret at 28,000 Feet

“We got hit on engine No. 1 and it started vibrating our wing. The wing was coming off between the one and two engines, and I noticed it was popping rivets. I said, 'We've got to get out of here. We're going to lose a wing.”

That is how Richard C. "Dick" Miller described part of his thought process at 28,000 feet over Frankfurt Germany in early 1944.

Two Merchant Marines and the U-Boat War

Two men, who knew each other for years, only found out in 1982 that they were on the same ship at the same time – which was sunk by a U-Boat off of Liverpool, England.

The Allies lost 175 warships, 3,500 merchant ships, and 72,200 sailors to U-Boats. Half of those killed were in the merchant navy.

“Two Gold Coins and a Prayer”

This self-published book written by James Keefe III about the experiences of his father, Jim Keefe Jr., during WW II.

Fort Monmouth Puts on a 3 hour World War II Symposium

Visiting Your Brother In Rome – and thus not becoming a POW

When his brother, also a pilot, showed up by in Italy, Stephen Cushner got a 3-Day pass from his CO of the 451st bomb group out of Castelluccia, Italy to go visit with him in Rome. The substitute pilot and his normal crew were then shot down on the mission he missed.

GE- Keeping you Warm at 30,000 Feet

During WW II GE developed electrically heated suits – but how do you test them to see if they actually work? GE made a “copper man” in order to do just that. Less heralded, then or now, but still in use, is GE’s “Copper Man,” a quarter-inch-thick, electroplated copper mannequin from the early ’40s that the Army used to evaluate the thermal-insulating quality of protective clothing issued to B-17 and B-24 airmen.

Proposed on the First Date Then Off to War

Hal Wilder went out on a blind date while stationed at Mira Loma Flight Academy, and proposed to her that same night. They were married for 56 years before she died.

After training he went to England as part of the 458^th BG (H). It was the last heavy bomb group deployed to Italy.

Kessler Air Force Base Mississippi

During WW II a total of 336,000 recruits and 142,000 aircraft mechanics were trained at Kessler. Most B-24 mechanics stationed throughout the several theaters of war - Europe, Africa, the Far East and Pacific. The base is named after 2nd Lt. Samuel Keesler who was killed in action in World War I against four German fighters.

In 1947 the radar school moved from Boca Raton, Fla. (Which Dick Klein talked about at last Oregon 8^th AFHS meeting – he was an instructor there during WW II), to Keesler, and then elements of its communications and electronics courses from Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

James Des Jardins P-51 Found

His brother Eark Des Hardin was KIA flying a B-24 over France two months earlier but his remains were known. James’ P-51 was discovered during a dredging operation in a field near Einhausen earlier this year.

The Fate of Rosalie Ann(s) of the 452 Bombardment Group (Heavy)

From the daughter of Frederick Popielski I got an email request on finding out about the aircraft named Rosalie Ann. In about an hour of searching (Web plus using Fold3.com, which used to be called Footnote.com) to find the MACRs I came up with this info on the two a/c.

Rosalie Ann: A joint name honoring two of the crew members’ wives. The lead navigator was Marvin Byer whose wife's name was Rosalie. The pilot was Ed Hartman whose wife's name was Ann. B-17 F #42-38145.

42-38145 collided with a B-17 of 288th BG and crashed at New Buckenham May 19, 1944. 2 of the crew were killed, 8 bailed out. The other B-17 landed safely.

Another plane was now named Rosalie Ann II, in the 452^nd 729 Sqd which was a B-17G #44-8201.

Shortly after bombs away (1114 hrs) A/C 201 received a direct flak hit between #3 and #4 engines, setting the #3 engine on fire eventually. The A/C went into a spiral and as it neared the ground it leveled off and crashed into woods at approximately 4950N-0650E, setting the woods on fire. 5 to 9 chutes were reported as seen to open at 10 – 12,000 feet.

In Page 7 of the MACR it stated that he reported he was hit over the intercom before he bailed out.

Boeing’s Virtual Walk-around of the Boeing 737

Eaker Cups Update

Sir, Per your article in the Milk Run newsletter of September 2010 on General Eaker and the silver cups. Currently the “Eaker Bowl” display – consisting of the engraved silver punch bowl, ladle, and five of the nine cups – are on display at Headquarters, Eighth Air Force at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. Together this display constitutes our heraldic device and provides today’s Eighth Air Force a physical link to its storied past, heritage, achievements and sacrifices.

Once a year the entire display is carefully packed and shipped to CORONA where the senior Air Force leadership and commanders meet and where the Eaker Bowl is displayed at the formal CORONA banquet.

Beyond this exception, the Eaker Bowl is respectively displayed in its own cabinet in the Command Section where dignitaries and VIPs visiting the Eighth view it and where the Eighth’s top leaders pass by it when beginning their duty day. Next to the cabinet is a picture of General Ira C. Eaker and the picture of the entire nine cup set (attached). Attached also is a picture of the current five-cup display of the Eaker Bowl out of its cabinet.

Training plane used by Tuskegee Airmen given to Smithsonian

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/training-plane-used-by-tuskegee-airmen-given-to-smithsonian/2011/08/03/gIQAaalcsI_blog.html

Ross W. Young - 15th AF Bombardier

Buck Tape

Permacel, formerly a division of Johnson & Johnson, originally developed duct tape in 1942 during World War II as a rubber-based adhesive tape with a durable fabric backing that resisted water for use as sealing tape on ammunition cases. J&J plant managers simply took their existing cloth medical adhesive tape, added a waterproof plastic layer with a more aggressive adhesive, and produced it in olive drab (OD) green to match the ammunition cans. Because of these properties, it was also used to repair military equipment quickly, including jeeps, firearms, and aircraft. The slang name "duck tape" was created by the military personnel due to its ability to repel moisture like water off a duck's back.

There is a picture of a Navy F4U Corsair with white outlines around the cowl and for years they thought it was a paint job – not! It is “duck tape” on the cowl to keep the oil from the radial engine from getting onto the canopy. The dyes used in the OD tape quickly faded in the tropical sun and thus it LOOKED white to the camera due to the fading. Early camouflaged uniforms of the Marines also quickly faded from green to lightened green color after a few months and they stopped using them till that problem was fixed - you do not want a bright light green / tan uniform in a green jungle!

Other slang names for it are now “100 Mile an Hour tape”, MacGyvver tape, and likely others.

Author of “Through Hell For Hitler” Dead at 88

British Military Maneuvers Before WW I

A book published in Towcester covers the 1913 military maneuvers that were held in Northamptonshire which allowed the British to fight a maneuver war that they had trained for in the opening months of the First World War.

Unlike desk games which only tested command and control, this put real forces on the move in the field – like what we did in 1941 in the Louisiana maneuvers.

Two Wars, Two Sons, Two Deaths

One was killed in August of 1918, then a grandson was killed over Burma in 1944. Both named George.

Germany’s WW I Battle Plan – Never Really a Plan

A new book out “The Real German War Plan, 1904-1914” delves into the history of the famous “Schlieffen Plan” that never was. Terence Zuber, a retired US Army Officer, wrote this book.

Part of German change in strategy was due to the French “75” quick firing field gun – and the German’s lack of an equivalent. In the open terrain of France a battery of these could annihilate a German Division when caught in the open without any artillery support in a mobile battle.

Stroud, Gloucester/Charleston, SC.: The History Press, 2011. Pp. ii, 190. Maps, notes, index. $19.95 paper. ISBN: 0752456644.

Capturing Doodlebugs in World War II

As part of the British Signal Corps working with the artillery and sending out dispatch riders to other units, Bill Merritt captured a few of these in the Netherlands.

New book about the siege of Leningrad in WW II

Anna Reid has written a 491 page book detailing the 900 days that Leningrad was under “siege”. The full title is Leningrad: The Epic Siege Of World War II and how it unfolded, and how the Soviet Government reacted to it.

“And there is the matter of cannibalism. Soviet authorities made a nice distinction between corpse-eating, which was frowned upon, and murder for food, which was viewed like any other murder. By December 1942, about 2,015 people had been arrested on cannibalism charges.”

(Due to Lake Lakota there never was a FULL siege of the city – supplies got across the lake throughout the battle.)

Russian WW II Epic – Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel

Not released outside of Russia part two of an epic has been selected to be nominated to be the Best Foreign Film category for the Oscars.

Between Hitler and a Hard Place

A new book written by a Russian Front veteran Rolf Panny, who served at the front from mid-1943 until he was wounded in early 1944, as an signal corps / infantryman with the 30th Division, Regiment 26, near Staraya Russia.

To the Bitter End – Why Germany fought On To Total Defeat

Ian Kershaw new book covers the last 10 months of the war in Europe and explains why the German Army and people fought on even when they knew that they were going to lose.

A Beer Stein Returns

Bought for a pittance after the war by a veteran, the stein was just something on the mantle for many years till curiosity got the WW II veteran’s son into finding out more about it.

WW II Wreck Worth $200 Million

Sunk by a U-Boat in February of 1941, the SS Gairsoppa, which might have been carrying up to 7 million ounces of silver, was discovered by Odyssey Marine exploration around 300 miles off the coast of Ireland.

SAS WW II Operational Log / Diary to Be Published

A member of the SAS created and kept a 500 page+ diary of the SAS during WW II – and then kept it in his house for over 50 years before donating it to the regiment history collection – then it was also unknown for many years thereafter.

Bengal Famine 1943:-1945 - When More People live there than Food

During WW II shipping losses from 1939 thru 1945 stopped the worldwide movement of food and required that military goods often had a higher priority than moving food around. Add a growing India population who did not grow enough food on their own to this and you get a famine.

Unlike the deliberate Japanese caused one in Vietnam, this was caused by shipping shortages and allowing local governments in India to manage their own affairs.

Staff Sgt. Meceslaus T. Miaskiewicz – KIA May 1944 – Returned Home 2011

Shot down over Yugoslavia in their B-17 “Daisy Mae” of the 347 Bomb Squadron was hit by flak with three bailing out and the rest killed when the plane hit the ground. 7 crew members were removed in 1947 – but likely a language barriers with the 1947 recovery team did not realize that another member of the crew was buried elsewhere.

“Bombs Away” – Coffee Table Book Published

Written by John R Bruning is primarily a 250+ photographic book about the Allied bombing campaign against Germany in World War Two.

Boeing’s Plant #2 Gone

The last big piece of Plant #2, where 6,981 B-17 Flying Fortresses were produced, was taken down on September 24, 2011.

“Naughty But Nice” Crew buried at Arlington National Cemetery

Shot down in 1943 over New Guinea, only 1 crewman bailed out and survived being a POW of the Japanese. After he found parts of the plane in 1985, more remains were recovered in 2001 but could not be further identified – so all the four that were identified in 2001 were buried in the same casket. Some had previously been buried as “Unknown” in Hawaii and were positively identified via DNA.

“Gionet, 68, who lives in Portland, Ore., said it was about a year ago that he learned his father’s remains had been recovered. Somewhat amazingly, he said he received a knock on the door from an Army colonel and sergeant just after he had finished watching a movie called “The Messenger” where the main character is an officer assigned to notify family members when their loved ones have been killed in action.”

A POW Tail

William "Bill" Giambrone was shot down over Romania on his 25^th mission and captured. When Romania switched sides they told all the POWs to leave.

Fred Fiske and the Castle Mission of 27 September 1944

Fred is a radio commentator in Washington at station WAMU – and in 1944 he was a radio operator in a B-24. In 6 minutes 31 of 34 B-24s in his combat group were shot down by Fw-190s.

Last Reunion of the 780 BG (H)

Two members of the 780^th get together for the last reunion in Abilene. The 780^th flew out of Italy as part of the 15^th Air Force.

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/sep/17/for-the-last-time-780th-bomb-squadron-reunites/

39^th FS Reunion in Bellingham

Stationed in Bellingham at the start of WW II to patrol the West Coast , later on members were assigned to various units throughout the military as time wore on and the unit itself was sent to the 5^th Air Force in the South Pacific flying P-38s.

B-29 Missions over Japan – At night

Chuck Chauncey flew a B-29 named "Goin' Jessie" out of Tinian for 35 missions. Plane # 704.

Pratt & Whitney Donates Engine to WW II Museum

A P&W Twin Wasp R-1830-90D will be donated to the National WW II Museum in New Orleans. It will eventually end up in a Chance-Vought F4U Corsair.

USS Nevada Ships’ Bell again Owned by Nevada

It was given to the local Kiwanis Club of Las Vegas by Senator Pat McCarran in 1950.

It will be placed into the Nevada State Museum in Carson City. [Likely never to be rung or touched ever again. Editor]

A Destroyer Named “Spruance”

On October 1, 2011 the US Navy will commission DDG 111, an Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Cruiser, The USS Spruance.

Rebuilding a C-47 “Gooney Bird” in Florida

At Zephyrhills Municipal Airport they are starting to rebuild a C-47 transport (British name “Dakota”) they have the large assemblies of the C-47 and are working to assemble it into a complete machine – but major pieces are missing: doors, propellers, engines and flaps.

Weather Missions and the Bombing Campaign in Europe

Weather forecasting was precarious during WW II – limited data and lots of guessing was the rule in deciding what target would be attacked the next day.

One of the ways to solve that was to have a dedicated weather scouting force recon the route and report back the weather conditions on the day of the mission.

Spirit of Flight Center air museum, located at the Erie, CO Municipal airport, honored Capt. Bill Getz with a ceremony and induction of a giant ¼ scale P-51 Mustang which is painted in the colors of his P-51 Mustang : “Saucy Shirley”.

C-47 Arrives in Portland – Tennessee

Flown to Portland, the wings were removed and it was hauled through the city to its new home: Days Gone By Tractor and Antique Museum.

"You don't see a DC-3 coming down Highway 52 everyday that is for sure," Portland resident Terry Durham said.

A Ferry Pilot Then a Transport Pilot

Robert Haswell started out in the Navy, then an aircraft mechanic, then a pilot. He ended up flying “The Hump” in the CBI (China, Burma, India) Theater.

New Aces of Aces for Canada

Billy Bishop (72 planes shot down) is about to share the top spot with Colonel William G. Barker, VC. Barker is credited with 50 enemy planes shot down.

In WW I in order to confirm a plane was shot down it normally had to be seen by ground forces on found on the Allied side of the lines.

1991 Gulf War POW Stories

22 Americans were captured in the First Gulf War, 20 by being shot down and two on the ground.

The Star salutes our Women of Steel: The girls who kept the foundry fires burning

A book about the women working in the steel works in Yorkshire, UK during the war.

Ground Broken For Memorial of a 1952 Crash Near Larson Air Base

In 1952 a C-124A Globemaster crashed after taking off from Larson Air Base (Moses Lake) killing 87 servicemen. Now a memorial is being built upon the site.

Finback Crewman who helped save George H W Bush in 1944

Alerted to a plane being shot down the USS Finback rescued LT JG Bush near Japanese held islands. After becoming president Christmas cards started to arrive.

“His proudest possession was a large certificate signed by Bush and honoring him and his crewmates on Bush's inauguration day in January 1989. It said: "With Grateful Appreciation, Vernon Marvin Barrington, 10th War Patrol, Crew of USS Finback SS230." “

Bolt Buyer of the Boeing Bee

Velva Maye was a purchasing agent for Boeing starting in 1942 and the B-17F Flying Fortress “Boeing Bee”, now completely restored, rolled out of the factory on February 13, 1943. So the bolts she bought are in there somewhere.

Andy Rooney Retires – Flew as a War Correspondent in the 8^th AF

Long known for his commentary on 60 Minutes, he was one of the few newspaper people authorized to fly combat missions in the early part of the war. All of them also went to gunnery training on the waist guns before going on a mission.

He was one of six correspondents flew on the first 8^th AF B-17 bombing mission into Germany on 27 January 1943 to Wilhelmshaven navy base. This was 8^th AF Mission 31 which dispatched 64 B-17s and 27 B-24s. 1 B-17 and 2 B-24s are shot down. The only war correspondent who flew with the B-24s was killed when the B-24 he was in was shot down.

Stars and Stripes Celebrates 150 years of publication

Calling in Artillery onto Yourself

Major Tony Eeles was in a precarious situation: the enemy had infiltrated the lines around his position at the Salerno beachhead – so he called in artillery onto his own position.

“He saw action in Greece towards the end of the war and subsequently trained as a pilot, flying Austers. A report noted that he was “over-confident to a dangerous degree” and he was encouraged to employ his talents elsewhere.”

Soviet Storm - WW2 in The East

Is a TV show that is being shown in the UK. It uses Russian archival film to show the war in the USSR from their perspective. Unknown if it will be shown in the USA or elsewhere.

War And Peace – the Soviet made movie of the 1812 Invasion

Made by Sergei Bondarchuk for around $100 million (in the 1950s) it had a cast of around 100,000.

Find the DVD with Russian dialog with English subtitles – and a weekend. It is over 6 hours long.

449 BG (H) Reunion Held in Reno in September

Likely for the last time this Bomb Group which was part of the 15^th Air Force based in Italy held a reunion. 41 combat veterans attended.

The 449^th is in the process of doing a video history and has completed video interviews with 65 members of the unit so far. Copies have been sent to the Smithsonian Oral History Project.

The Sandborn Brothers – Stan and Glenn

Stan was drafted in 1944 and reported to Fort Snelling. “Stan and his fellow soldiers lined up and, one by one, were told where they would be sent. It was a regular rotation — Army, Navy, Air Corps, Marine, Coast Guard and then back to Army.” He was then selected to be put into the Army Air Forces and spent months training to repair aircraft.

A Short History of the 11 BG (H) – “Grey Geese”

This was the unit that was stationed at Hickam Field on December 7, 1941. The famous picture of a burned out B-17 is one of theirs.

Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame

14 Comanche “Code Talkers”, B-17 Pilot 1^st Lt Donald J Gott (MOH), Major Fed A Hancock (C Company, 1^st Battalion, 502^nd PIR, 101 Airborne) and others were inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame in September of 2011.

No one knows where the Hall of Fame is really located since none of the news articles or reporters mentioned the location – only where it took place and who was inducted.

Six into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame

A P-51, B-25, two Helicopter pilots, a space shuttle crew member and an instructor were put onto this honor roll.

Like the above HOF in Oklahoma, no one knows where the Hall Of Fame is located when writing the article but there is a web site for the Delaware version: http://www.dahf.org/ - but web site has no idea where it is located either.

Only 1 Off

George William Cannon, Jr. died in September in Florida. You would have heard of him more if he had been assigned a different boat. He commanded PT-108 in the South Pacific.

A Nurse in The South Pacific – and lots of other Places

Min Coburn decorates her place in McMinnville Oregon with items she has collected from around the world and especially items from The South Pacific.

Having served in the Pacific shortly after the wary she went back in the late 1980s and visited Pacific sites where American military forces had fought during World War II. She went "the full circle," stopping in New Zealand, Tahiti, the Philippines, Bali, Samoa, Guadalcanal, New Caledonia and many other islands with names from history books.

"In the Solomons, we met a man with his own World War II museum. When he found out we were from America, he got down on his knees and kissed our feet and said, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' "

Recovering the Honolulu Clipper

It sank in 1945 north of Hawaii in 18,000 feet of water – and now a firm wants to try and raise it up.

The B-314 had 22 square feet per passenger, compared with 6 feet per passenger in coach seats in commercial jets today, according to the UAS team.

Escaping Germany and Spying for Germany at the same Time

Walther Rauff left Germany at the end of World War Two due to him being a very high ranking NAZI SS security officer and went to South America – where he was then recruited to work for Germany’s version of the CIA – the BND. But he was not a fugitive or wanted for any possible crimes till his name came up in the trial of Adolph Eichmann in 1962.

North Sea Battleground: The War at Sea 1914-18

A new book out about the battles fought between England and Germany over this stretch of ocean was published in England.

On December 16, 1914 the first German warships started shelling Harlepool and thus began 4 years of intermittent naval surface warfare.

Published by Pen & Sword has a hardback cover price of £19.99. ISBN 184884450-6. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Touring France and Germany as a Foot Soldier

Drafed in July of 1942 he never got to a combat unit until August of 1944 when “Operation Anvil” began – which was the invasion of France along its southern coast.

He was stationed for a few months at Fort Des Moines: “There were 10,000 women there and 250 men. That was something.”

Max Hastings’ book “All Hell Let Loose” Published

A global look at World War II with more emphasis on the foot soldier but also looking at the abilities of the Generals of all sides on how they performed given the knowledge and equipment they had.

“While 17,000 American combat casualties lost limbs, during the war years 100,000 workers became amputees as a result of industrial accidents.”

All Hell Let Loose: The World at War 1939-1945, by Max Hastings, HarperPress, RRP £30, 748 pages

Alconbury – Only Birds will be Flying There Soon

Shut down as an airport in 1995, parts of Alconbury will be turned into a housing and enterprise zone.

During WW II it was known as Station 102 and was home to the 92, 93, 95, 482, and 801 Bomb Groups at one time or another.

A Secret Wartime Diary by a Mid-Level German Bureaucrat

August Friedrich Kellner of Lauback Germany started a diary on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Throughout the war he made entries into it about what he saw, what he knew through his work, and had been told by others.

His grandson, Robert Scott Kellner was born and raised in the USA, had known about his grandparents lived in Germany but that was all. After finding him while in transit from one duty station to another in Germany, he was given the 10 volume diary before his grandparents died and published it in July of 2011.

The Fate of Rosalie Ann(s) of the 452 Bombardment Group (Heavy) – Cont’d

The story of this mid-air collision is one of the incidents featured in Ian McLachlan's book "8th Air Force Bomber Stories" (PSL, 1991). There are pictures of the crash-site, the crew involved, and the damage to the second B-17 involved, which landed at Watton. There are also two colour frames from some cine-film shot from the waist position of a 93rd BG B-24 of the 388th BG B-17 exploding on the ground in the late Roger Freeman's Mighty 8th In Colour (British spelling!) (Arms & Armour Press, 1992).

Fred Fiske and the Kassel Mission of 27 September 1944 – Cont’d

For "Castle" should have been “KASSEL” Germany. The actual target was the Henschel AFV (tank) plant.

The actual number of MIA 445BG B-24s on this mission was 28 out of 37 aircraft dispatched. The rest “lost” were those written off after landing due to battle damage.

Living in a 747

One person wanted to recycle a 747 in a different way – he turned it into a house!

Back in the 1950s / 1960s some people turned old a/c into restaurants – there used to be a C-54 like that in McMinnville.

A “White Lightning” becomes a “Red Bull”

The P-38 Lockheed “Lightning” that Lefty Gardner flew for years at the Reno air races S/N 44-53254 (originally a F5G photo recon plane) until an engine fire and subsequent emergency landing which caused extensive damage, is now flying for the “Red Bull” racing team – in Austria. It was last flown at Reno Air Races by Steve Hinton in 2008 before being sold. It is now owned by the Red Bull Racing Team and is in their hanger at Salzburg, Austria.

Robert “Jerry” Lundell Sr. Dies at 91

Born, raised and died in Oregon, he was a B-17 pilot and flew 50 combat missions in the ETO during World War II.

An interesting aspect is that his relatives videotaped his experiences and posted it onto YouTube.com in 5 parts. He was in the 301 BG(H).

A Slow Boat to China – Especially if you were in the Amphibious Forces

WW II for the Allies was a LOT of amphibious landings – in the Mediterranean was five major assaults, plus countless raids while in the Pacific there were at least 10 times more major assaults. (On some days 3 different assaults took place hundreds of mile apart and each was a division level assault.) And of course this required lots of assault ships.

One of ships restored is the LCI 713 in Portland, Oregon. 951 LCIs were built in 2½ years.

Lt Col Claire P. Chennault – Dead at 90

The son of General Claire Chennault, who convinced President Roosevelt to allow military pilots to resign with the understanding that they could come back at their previous rank if the US got into the war and thus started the AVG – The Flying Tigers, died October 3 in Mississippi. He was the last surviving son of General Chennault.

He flew over 300 combat hours as a fighter pilot in the ETO as part of the 86^th Fighter Wing in the 376 Fighter Squadron. Photo via Ed Kozicki from http://www.littlefriends.co.uk.

Izaak Walton league Trees

After the end of WW II in 1946 Elgin (outside Chicago) they took a plot of land and planted 60 evergreen trees to honor each of the locals who went to serve in WW II. Now 65 years later, it looks like a forest in the middle of town.

USS Cassin Young – Still in Dry Dock

What started out as a 6 month overhaul of this WW II destroyer in Charleston Navy Yard has turned into someone far more intricate than originally expected. 30 years in salt water without any bottom paint or maintenance has caused the ship to rust out.

Sunk By a Japanese Submarine – off the Coast of California

The SS Montebello was sunk on December 22, 1941 while sailing north to a refinery in Canada. This tanker was one if the first ships sunk off the US coast. The German U-Boats had yet to arrive off the east coast (Operation Drumbeat).

Lying upright in 900 feet of water they are going to examine it not for any historical reasons but to find out what the 3 million gallons of crude oil might do if the ship deteriorates more.

Of the 38 crewman on board, all of whom survived, one 92 year old Richard Quincy is still alive to tell his tale.

Jim Neumann – Navigator, 384th Bomb Group, Grafton-Underwood

Jim flew his first combat mission on December 18, 1944 to Koblenz. He kept a detailed diary of all his 35 missions when he flew his last one on April 16, 1945. His daughter took all his notes and typed it up so now it is in a pamphlet.

“My first mission was quite a surprise. None of us knew we were flying in the morning. I was up late and wrote some letters and didn’t get much sleep.”

American Shermans at El Alamein

The success of the British at the winter battle of El Alamein was due in part to 300 Shermans and 100 mobile artillery pieces ordered to be sent to the British in North Africa by President Roosevelt after the fall of Tobruk.

Bells Back to the Philippines

These are not being returned due to anything concerning WW II, but these bells were taken from a destroyed church at Meycauayan (just north of Manila) during the Philippine Insurrection that lasted from 1899 through 1902.

Other bells that were brought home from various damaged churches are being requested by the Philippine Government where they will be put into museums there rather than in the museums in the USA.

Smelling for Chemicals in WW II

Unlike modern equipment that detects chemical agents, during WW II people were trained to SMELL for them, then put on their masks, and then sound the alarm. Oliver “Les” Earhart was one of those men from the time he went ashore in Africa.

With the 455 Bomb Group in Italy

Guy Proie was a tail gunner in the 455 BG (H) flying B-24 missions as part of the 15^th Air Force. Mario Capocefalo was a local kid who did odd jobs on the airbase during the war for 10 cents a day. Today Mario is an authority on the 455^th BG and came to the USA to visit Guy.

As to what Mario knew of the 455^th: "They stayed at the base night and day. It was mud in the winter and dust in the summer."

Shot Down on Mission 35

Andrew G. Klopchin was shot down by fighters over Bulgaria when flying in a B-24 as part of the 743 Squadron. If you were in the 8^th that would have been your last mission – but in the 15^th AF you still had 15 more to go before completing your combat tour – he spent the rest of the war as a POW.

“Klopchin said the worst part of his POW experience was when he and his crew mates were first captured by Bulgarian soldiers, who executed their pilot and put the remaining nine servicemen through a brutal, weeklong interrogation before sending them to a prison camp in Shumen.”

Book: Two Gold Coins and a Prayer

Published by Jim Keeffe of Issaquah Washington, the book is about his father James Keeffe Jr. experience in World War II as a B-24 pilot and POW experience.

Working a Water Tender in the Navy

One of the most important items on any ship is the desalination plant – you need to make fresh water in the middle of an ocean. Emery Suber was already in his 30s when he joined the Navy in 1942 but he went in as a Chief and was quickly promoted even more since he had done similar work at power plants. He died at the age of 102.

He went to give a two week notice to his boss but his boss told him to leave right now since he could easily be replaced. He was wrong. His boss asked him back and he told him: “I’d rather go other there knowing that I was going to get killed than come back and work for you.”

Replicas

Aircraft replicas are around – but usually WW I types. The firm in Washington makes Me-262s and a firm in Germany make FW 190s but here is a replica of a Panzer VI: aka a Tiger I .

Fantasy Of Flight

Time for their annual racing machines gathering – but you better live around Polk City Florida.

National 8^th Air Force Historical Society YouTube Channel

Pat Keeley has posted new videos from the national reunion meeting. The link below is to the main feed and from there you can get to the other videos including those from the 2011 reunion.

Luftschacht Uber Buchenberg : Air Battle Over Buchenberg

Is a book written in German about the 15^th Air Force Raid on July 18, 1944 from Italy to Memmingen Airfield in southern Germany. 167 B-17s were dispatched but were weather recalled – except for the 483 BG (H) which went on by itself and its 26 aircraft to the target. They lost 14 aircraft. In Kempten Germany there is a memorial plaque listing the 29 Americans killed on the raid.

The book contains 1944 and 1998 photos of WILLI UNGER and HANS WEIK, and their “After Action” reports each describing shooting down one B-17.

In Munich a military researcher has a database of 3000 crash sites in Germany and in it they have the serial numbers of all the machine guns – which allows them to trace to gun to the aircraft it was found on.

On every mission names of the crew and their SN were recorded but also the SN of the machine guns, engines, Norden bomb sight and other critical items was kept at the base where the plane flew from. Thus each plane can be identified if any one of those hardware items are found and can be read.

Bombing Campaigns and Strategic Thinking

This year has seen the publishing of various books about the American and British bombing campaigns against Germany during WW II. Three years ago there was an article written about how political pressure forced the USA to change, in a few cases, their stated mission of strategic bombing of military target and instead on a few select missions to target civilians. The US commanders objected but were forced to carry it out the mission as stated anyway.

I’ve read and talked to a few who flew on these missions and in some cases the pilots / bombardiers of the lead groups ignored the order and dropped on military targets (usually rail yards) within the target city and not the designated aiming point – which was the housing area.

91^st BG “Dailies”

The 91^st BG (H), the group that the “Memphis Belle” was part of, has a museum – in the control tower at Bassingbourn, and a nice web site. Merle Choffel transcribed the “dailies” for 1944 and it is on their site. It is a good way to see what was actually recorded for a group on a regular basis.

(Note: the formatting of the info is messed due to a HTML conversion, but the info is all there just hard to read!)

Me-262s On The Move

One of the 262s built at Paine Field was flown over to it’s new home in Virginia – by a German Pilot.

Rear Adm. John H Benson dead at 99

A pre-war Naval Academy officer in the class of 1935 he was a Lt in charge of a destroyer during one of the 1942 battles of Savo Sound (4^th battle, known as Tassafaronga) which his ship, the USS Pensacola, was hit with a “long lance” Japanese torpedo and nearly sunk. Around 1/3 of the crew was killed in the night engagement when the ship was set afire.

Malin Oregon Airport to be named after 303 BG (H) Lt. Ehle H. Reber

At the July Malin City Council meeting, Pence brought the motion before the other council members. Mayor Zieg recognized Councilman Pence and gave him the floor. After proposing the name change, Councilman Pence read a short biography of Reber who died at 23 over Lorient France in his B-17.

Lt Ferris Suttle Memorial at Dombasle-sur-Meurthe

Flying in the 359 Fighter Group 369 Fighter Squadron Lt Suttle was killed while strafing a German convoy at the town of Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, which is near the Swiss / French boarder.

Seminar On Pearl Harbor – if you happen to be in Springfield Ohio

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Cooper will host a discussion on November 5 at the Clark County Historical Society’s World War II Conference.

Michael F. Pungercars’ Book – Due around Thanksgiving

Mike has found out how hard it is to get a self-published book created! Latest information is that before Thanksgiving Day This year it will be out (he originally planned it for Veterans’ day 2010!).

Dog Handler & His Dog Buried Together

Cpl. Kory Wiens, who came from Oregon, and his bomb sniffing dog Cooper were killed in 2007 while on patrol in Iraq. This month a park was named in their honor at Fort Carson Colorado.

A kennel and a veterinary facility at Fort Leonard Wood were already named after the two.

Warhawk Museum in Idaho

If you happen to going through Idaho near Nampa you should stop in at their museum. See their web site http://www.warhawkairmuseum.org/ for details. You can do a “virtual” tour via their web site.

In Oregon along the cost there is the Tillamook Air Museum. There were I think 4 blimp bases built during WW II and Tillamook was one of them. http://www/tillamookair.com

Sons of Confederate Veterans

The US Civil War Ended in 1865 – yet organizations exist to remember the men, and women, who served during the conflict (on both sides). This one is for the Confederate States of America.

There is a local chapter in Oregon, S.C.V Camp #458, www.scvportland.org .Oregon has a large number of Civil War re-enactment groups – even though no battle was ever fought in the Pacific Northwest – but we do have a few Civil War Era forts around.

8^th AF Type Organization in Utah?

Corbin Willis moved from here in Oregon to Idaho and he knows of no 8^th AFHS Chapter there – anyone know a good organization locally in Brigham City Utah that would fit in with people who flew in combat, or directly with the 8^th AF?

“The Promise Kept”

My two year project in writing the book about my Dad's WWII experiences is finally completed. A 12 page transcript of a tape he left me, ended up taking me on this journey which included meeting some other men from the "Greatest Generation", men who also served in the Eighth Air Force like Dad, and who allowed me to include their stories in this book. The "The Promise Kept" is 330 pages long in a 9x6 size, and is illustrated with over 200 photos, most from 65 years back and photographed by men who served with the 91st BG in Bassingbourn, England with Dad. The book was published by Outskirts Press out of Denver.

In another two or three months it will be available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

For now anyone interested in purchasing a copy needs to go through me. The book sells for $17.95 + $4 S&H. I have 50 books ordered and due here by Nov. 30. Please let me know if you would like to order a book. I wish we could give copies to each of you, but the cost of publishing a book was a lot more than we ever anticipated, so we are trying to recoup our investment and also want to repay a couple of private investors who helped make the book a reality. The feedback from those who have read the book, and those who helped with proofing, has been very positive. Some of you have already placed orders, but I wanted to get you a photo of the book's cover.

To see a photo of the cover, and to read more about the book, log onto http://www.outskirtspress.com/thepromisekept . This is the web page where orders will be placed once Amazon and Barnes & Noble get through their backlog of books to get on line, and get to my book. I can let everyone know when they become available online, but for now, we appreciate every order received. Any book that we mail out will be signed by the author. Oh, that's me!

Pilot Officer Roland "Bud'' Wolfe – Irish Peat Bog Story Cont’d

[Editor’s Note: in a previous issue RAF Pilot Officer Wolfe was interned in Ireland after being forced to bail out of his aircraft in a common camp – with German pilot internees. Now his a/c has been excavated.]

“Public interest in Wolfe's story spread across Britain when aviation archeologists recovered the crumpled wreckage — the best-preserved Spitfire excavated in Europe — last summer. Interest intensified earlier this month when the test-firing of one the aircraft's restored Browning .303-caliber machine guns — the sound of the Battle of Britain — was aired on a BBC webcast.”

A Jeep in Iowa

“It’s a little too shiny, like jeeps used to be,” he said with a laugh. “I get razzing from people when I take it to shows of the 8th Air Force. I tell them it was (Gen.) Jimmy Doolittle’s jeep. They never had ugly-looking jeeps. They kept them shined up.”

A Machine Gunner in the 8^th Infantry Division

William Allen was drafted in 1944 and arrived in France long after the D-Day invasion – but was there long enough to be awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He was assigned to the 13^th Regiment.

“Co. D is the one used to protect the other three companies — A, B and C — so they can move ahead,” he noted. “The fourth company is always the heavy weapons company.”

98 BG (H) Reunion at Barksdale Air Force Base La

The 98^th Bombardment Group (Heavy), which flew Consolidated B-24 “Liberators” during World War Two, held their reunion over the weekend of October 17 thru the 21^st.

The 98^th was one of the groups that flew the “Operation Tidal Wave”-- the tree-top mission to Ploesti oil fields in Rumania on August 1, 1943. The others were the 376, already in North Africa, the 44^th and 93^rd which were loaned out from the 8^th Air Force, and the newly arrived 389^th which was also assigned to the 8^th.

Two Tours in a B-17 – But only Completed One

After finishing a 25 mission tour in 1944 Captain Robert G Reeder went home on leave, then came back to the 8^th Air Force for a second tour. On his 10^th mission he was shot down and became a “Kriege”.

Reeder said that when he was shot down, the Germans allowed him to keep his watch, only to have it taken away later by the Russians when they took over the city.

A Lead Navigator of the 493 BG (H) Gordon W. Weir

Flying in both B-17s and B-24s as part of the 8^th Air Force he was quickly assigned to be a lead navigator for his bomb group. He was also lucky in that in one mission his aircraft along with one other were the only two to return to base out of the 12 that went on the mission.

Honoring WW II Veterans

A short listing of various WW II veterans around Chicago including one on duty on the Arizona, an ace, a Navy doctor, and a B-17 Gunner.

RAAF Pilot Sgt William Smith Identified

Shot down on May 9, 1942 over northern France, crews excavating what they though was a Czech flown a/c discovered his remains – along with an identification disk making the task a lot easier.

His unit was escorting a “Circus” mission – a small group of bombers (sometimes just a single bomber) with a large force of fighters in order to draw up German fighters who would ignore fighter sweeps but come up to attack bombers.

Severing on the Aircraft Carrier USS Bataan

Seeing a lot of the earth– mainly ocean – James H. "Jimmy" Morris was on this aircraft carrier during World War II. In one 88 day stretch the USS Bataan had steamed a total 38,773 miles in the Pacific.

"We were fortunate our ship was never hit by a Kamikaze pilot, but one came very close," he recalled. "I did see five or six of the ships in our fleet get hit, including the U.S.S. Enterprise."

From the Heat of Burma to the Ice of Alaska

Walter Eberhart was a parts supply sergeant in Chabua, India keeping aircraft ready to move goods in the air. The CBI – China Burma India – theatre was next to the farthest place in the supply chain of WW II – only being in China itself put you at the very end of everything you needed.

“We were out in the boonies, out in the jungle, no recreation of any kind,” he said. “It wasn’t a picnic.”

Pilot Rescue transfer betwen ships Mid-Atlantic

Rescuing a Pilot in the Mid-Atlantic

A plane and pilot went over the side of a carrier in mid-Atlantic and the destroyer USS Charles R. Ware, which Dan Allen served on, came up to help rescue the pilot and get back onto the carrier.

"As a reward for saving the pilot, we got 16 gallons of ice cream from the aircraft carrier," Allen said.

Turning Shrapnel into A Ring

Slightly wounded in the leg after a Kamikaze stuck his ship just 30 feet from where he was standing, James Wesley Reach had a machinist on the ship make it into a ring.

“‘When I got home, I gave it to a girl. If I want anyone to know who that was, I’ll be the one to tell them.’ In other words, it wasn’t Aunt Beth,”

Wichita May Lose Boeing Plant

The plant, which started out being owned by Stearman in 1927 and which built the ubiquitous trainer a/c and B-29s during World War II with up to 40,000 employed at the peak, may now lose the 2,100 or so people still working at the factory.

Visiting the Front Lines on Turkey Day

Since World War I commanders have often worked hard to ensure that the troops on the front line get a hot meal. That still has not changed even in far off Afganistan.

Keeping the 90^th BG “Jolly Rogers” in the Air

Alvia “Alvie” Leighton was drafted in 1941 in the 4^th round and in order to have some choice in his military service joined the Army Air Forces and became a mechanic. The year long planned training was cut to 9 months after the war started.

Assigned to Australia and the 90^th BG (H) flying B-24s he only found out recently why one a/c that he worked on - which the crew though might not make it back due to mission length- was lost to icing and not anything mechanical.

Taking St Elmos’ Fire In the Pacific

After being shot up over Kwajalen Atoll, Bill Treewater and the rest of the crew in the B-24 they were “lite up” with St Elmos’ fire while flying back through a thunderstorm.

Being a member of the “Caterpillar Club”

Flying in the RAF Bomber Command was a lot more risky than flying in the 8^th Air Force. Bob Frost was a crewmember of an RAF Wellington bomber when he was shot down over Belgium after bombing Essen.

"It wasn't [a question of] if you got shot down, it was when you got shot down. Most crews never got beyond 14 ops, we were on our 22nd."

Libya – 100 years of Airpower

On November 1, 1911, the first documented use of an air to ground attack took place. Now 100 years later, still in Libya, the precision attack idea from 100 years ago seems to be routinely attainable.

A Short History of the Higgins Boat Plant

Fighting Navy government resistance to his idea Andrew Jackson Higgins took a long time to convince the Navy that his landing boat was what was needed.

WW II Aircraft Recognition Models

Saved by John Fraser Hart at the end of WW II from being thrown away, he still has the all black scale plastic models that were used to teach aircraft recognition to sailors.

Keeping a Combat Diary aboard the USS Tuscaloosa

Bon Lovingood was on the USS Tuscaloosa for over two years and he kept an informal journal diary of the goings on of the ship during that time.

“June 5, 1944 — Our captain (of the USS Tuscaloosa) passed the word that with the exception of an emergency, we would not open fire until 5:50 a.m. and only then at our designated target. At 11:15 p.m. Allied planes begin flying over us in force toward the coast of France, and then get anti-aircraft fire (from the Germans) as they begin to hit their targets. The hour will be 0630 on same day which is 40 minutes after we open fire.”

“Right on time we open fire on the enemy, and there’s plenty of action. The Tuscaloosa silenced Target 15 and was then assigned to Target 14-A. The USS Carey is sunk by enemy fire, but lost only five of its crew who had engine room watch. The Tuscaloosa almost hit by Target 14-A, then engaged in a four-hour battle with this target, which was an 11-inch gun on a freight car moving continuously back and forth upon a hill. Around 8 a.m. American troops landed on the coast without much loss as we know of at present.”

Last vet of the B-17 “Dirty Deuce”

Bill Nopar was the navigator and is the last man alive of the crew who flew this B-17 over Germany after his pilot died a few month ago. He was able to keep almost all of his navigation maps and turned his notes and items into a book.

“He’s able to put all his photos, maps and letters online at 1000memories.com, a website that allows people to easily upload and tag old photos and share stories about them. The veteran’s component launched Nov. 4. A gallery featuring WWII war photos goes live today.[November 11, 2011]”

Rudy Adler, 30 stated: “We found there was a storytelling gap in the digital genealogy space. Sites like Ancestry.com are not great at allowing users to tell stories … and social media (Facebook and Twitter) is bad at talking in the past tense. We set out to build a past tense on the Internet.”

The special page, www.1000memories.com/wwii , features video and photos collected with the goal of preserving memories of WWII.

A Job, a Hobby, Now a Museum

Jerome O. Oxman came home from WW II but liked the gadgets so he signed up on a mailing list to get an R-2800 for $300 – and got it. Now it, and many other items that were sold for a pittance after the war – is in the museum he built.

B-24 Crew Laid To Rest at Arlington National Cemetery

Shot down during a raid to Berlin on April 29, 1944 and crashing near Hannover Germany, additional remains were discovered in 2003 and complete identification was finished this year. Two had been identified after the war, 1 was unknown, the other 7 were identified after being rediscovered.

Coming Home on a Trim Tab and 1 Engine

Bill Fort flew the Martin B-26 “Marauder” twin engine medium bomber during WW II. The B-26 had the lowest loss rate due to enemy action in the ETO – due to its speed and the fact that it often flew tactical and not strategic bombing missions and thus never went very deep into enemy territory.

During a mission in December of 1944 Bill’s B-26 was hit, knocking out an engine, caught fire but he made flew it back to base using the trim tab when the controls were shot up.

A TBF Comes Home

After decades of fighting fires and bugs a TFB Avenger Torpedo Bomber comes home to the Museum of Mountain Flying's hangar in Missoula, Montana.

Stalin’s Daughter Dies at 85 in the USA

Joseph Stalin had two sons and a daughter – one son was caught on the battlefield and after Stalin turned down an offer to swap him for a captured German General, he ended up dying in a POW camp. His other son died of natural causes, mainly alcohol, but his daughter defected to the USA in the 1960s.

Navy Tests another XB-47 Drone

This joins the previous test model but will also be used for carrier take-off and landings.

A British “Cookie” is found at Koblenz

This cookie, however, packs a big burst of blast. A British 4000 pound "cookie" is an air-blast bomb designed to blow off the tile roofs of buildings so that the incendiaries in a following wave would have items to burn and destroy a city by burning it out – aka: carpet bombing a city to create a firestorm - was discovered in the river at Koblenz.

In September a phosphorous bomb was discovered by the train station of Schopp and in May a 250 GP bomb was found at Pulaski Barracks in Kaiserslautern.

More confusions prior to December 7, 1941

A Memo on possible Japanese military operations, based on what info Japanese people and possible spies were gathering, was sent to FDR on Dec 4, 1941 was published in a new book by Craig Shirley's: "December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World". (Amazon Link)

However - like lots of alerts and prior warnings – there was nothing saying that on “day X this military base of the USA was going to be attacked”.

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All text and photographs © 1976-2012 Tom Philo, 17502 SW Kimmel Ct, Beaverton, Or 97007-6877. Phone / Fax: 503-591-3227. See permitted uses of photos on the copyright and disclosure statement page.
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Oregon Local and Selected International History News for 2011

Dantes Daughter