During World War II EAMs ruled – Electrical Accounting Machines – of which IBM made the most and were used extensively during the war. Here is a story of how a statistician flew combat missions out of Italy to help win the war.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/my-grandfather-business-analytics-in-wartime-1942/19396?tag=nl.e539
An interesting article that ties in all of the above to the current economic problems in the Euro Zone of countries back to the goals – twice failed – that Germany would had created if it had won in WW I or II – of having a single united Europe.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/grossman131211.html
The son of Canadian Hugh Reilley, who has been reported as being American in every reference since the war, emailed me about this case of mistaken nationality - he is Canadian. A web site talking about his role in the Battle of Britain and how it was initially stated he was an American since he father was is at:
http://hughwreilley.blogspot.com/
A bronze pried off the memorial at Christ Church, Willaston, Wirral in the UK, has not been recovered – but the their was.
Richard Simpson was a seaman on the ship that was heading to Russia during WW I but was sunk by a mine – and out of the 650 aboard he and 10 others survived. The ship was also carrying Lord Kitchener.
He continued on to serve during the war but was again sunk in 1917 – and this time did not survive.
The Cambuslang Volunteers Flute Band was on tour in Belgium when Billy Wilson found out a relative of his was buried in one of the cemeteries he was able to visit.
The ship’s mast is on the West Virginia campus. Winning the Navy Cross that was, while on the West Virginia, was “Dorie” Miller – later killed in action in 1943.
http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=23108
People have seen (or heard of) the anti-Hilter movies made during the war (seldom seen now) but not many people know that the US firms also made anti-Hitler items and sold them during the war. Thomas Wittmann has some of them and when people on a tour of homes saw them in a display case they did not know what they were looking at.
He buys and sells military collectables at his web site. http://www.wwiidaggers.com/welcome.htm
Story at:
While on a technical dive – going deeper than 130 feet – Randy Jordan saw a school of fish swim 90 degrees to the current – rare and they usually only do that when going to some protected place. He followed them and found a WW II Helldiver on the sand.
However, the rules for Navy a/c are different than other a/c wrecks:
"Any disturbance to a sunken Navy ship or aircraft wreck requires a permit under the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004," per Robert S. Neyland, head of the underwater archaeology branch for the Naval History.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/fish-lead-florida-diver-to-rare-world-war-ii-aircraft/
Related story with a photo is at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/mystery-of-downed-ww-ii-era-plane-partially-2071629.html
Lost on 17 November 1942, one of the first transport aircraft lost shipping supplies into China, as part of the China National Aviation Corp (CNA). Cousin Bob Willett, a retired banker, was able to get into there and find his a/c. Crew was pilot John J. Dean, co-pilot , Jimmy Browne, and Chinese radioman K.L. Yang.
FAA issued the permit for the a/c to get to Alaska on December 16, 2011 -- however the event was held two months ago in October 2011. It seems people need to plan at least two years ahead to get proper permits now.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017113201_apaklateapproval1stldwritethru.html
One of the most famous B-17 photos snapped, the pilot’s son only discovered that it was his father’s plane in 2002.
Other stories on the site also.
“'Well, we had our mortar behind some houses and the Germans had their mortar across the street. We were lobbing shells at each other until they stopped lobbing them at us.'”
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/12/world_war_ii_veterans_leave_le.html
Almost as many aircraft were lost / damaged in training in the US as there were lost in combat during World War II. This Nevada training base lost crew of both fighters and bombers during and after the war in accidents.
On the early Bell Aircroba P-39s: “the machine guns would vibrate loose causing bullet to ricochet into the propeller gear-boxes causing some of the planes to shoot themselves down.”
Joseph Daniel Scarpello died at the age of 95 in December 2011 was on the USS San Janinto at the same time President Bush was on the carrier. He was awarded a Bronze Star. He also was qualified to fly blimps.
http://articles.philly.com/2011-12-25/news/30556818_1_uss-san-jacinto-aviator-piano
As a pilot in the 772 Squadron of the 463rd Heavy Bombardment Group -- the "Swoose" Group – in the 15th Air Force flying out of Italy he had the distinction of being involved in five crash landings – including a ditching in the Adriatic. Out of a total of 43 missions.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20111217/ARTICLES/111219734?p=1&tc=pg
Tillman Jurgens joined up as a mechanic in the Army Air Forces after Pearl Harbor and was assigned to the 11th Bombardment Group (H) in the Pacific. The groups’ original a/c – B-17s – were all destroyed at Pearl Harbor. In 1943 the group turned in B-17s for B-24s which were better suited for long overwater flights than the B-17s.
http://fremonttribune.com/news/local/article_61f1a872-20f7-11e1-b540-001871e3ce6c.html
However, being on the north end of Oahu, with mountains in-between them and Pearl Harbor – when the attack started no one knew why training was happening on Sunday near the harbor.
"It was commonplace to hear loud explosions every day of the week," explained Rossi, an artillery gunnery corporal for the 11th Field Artillery Battery A of the 25th Infantry Regiment. "We shot shells into the ocean, infantry or engineers were usually doing something. Seven days a week, everyone was practicing their jobs."
http://www.tallmadgeexpress.com/news/article/5133650
Amos Nicholson was a B-24 mechanic in the 343rd Bomb Squadron and has accumulated a lot of items from his time working and painting nose art on B-24s.
His first assignment as an artist had him paint the noses of the squadron’s B-24s; which had been named Snow White with the other seven a/c the Seven Dwarfs when they were at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. And so, working with camel hair brushes and quick-drying paint that gave him little room for error, the would-be artist transformed these bombers — starting with Dopey — into a Disney parade of colorful characters.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/9247975-418/treasure-of-wwii-mementoes-needs-a-home.html
Wounded over Japan while flying out the Aleutians, Jack Olson did not get his medals during the war since he knew it would upset his mom that he was wounded. He kept all his military records though, and even with the fire that destroyed 40% of the WW II service records, he had enough records of his own, along with some research, to prove he was entitled to the Purple Heart and other medals earned during the war.
Bob Kerr & Bob Schmutzler are two of maybe 24 Georgians still living who were at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
In 1992 he met with some of the pilots who attacked Pearl Harbor. He asked them about their perspective on the attack. “They were surprised at seeing people run in so many directions. They expected to see more opposition. They never believed it would be so easy.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/two-georgia-men-recall-1250159.html
Bangalore is a device that was created to clear barbed wire entaglements – but it is also a city in India that has a rich military history – noted by the names of its older roads. At the junction of two stands a Sherman.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/216223/a-walk-down-bangalores-roads.html
Not calling out for help on a bugle, but monetary notes used to pay locals and by use of service personnel during WW II both in some US possessions and overseas.
http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=24532
When the US started setting up camps it had at its disposal a vast variety of training areas – mountains, swamps, plains, rain forests and deserts. And it set up training camps in all of these areas (some places had all 5 into one place). Camp Laguna had the perfect setup to train people for North Africa.
http://www.yumasun.com/news/hardrath-75320-soldiers-desert.html
Sometimes you take a shot and get a shot - Air Force Flight Engineer Paul L. Tuck Jr. ; 767th Bombardment Squadron of the 461st; was shooting a picture of Augsburg with a camera when the Germans shot back with a piece of flak. Both were successful in hitting their target.
http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20111229/NEWS01/312290020
Belgium citizens “adopt” the graves of US Servicemen who are buried in their country. They know that relatives cannot visit so they adopt a grave and put flowers on them. In the Henri-Chapelle cemetery two brothers from Durant – one killed during the Battle of the Bulge and the other while flying a B-17 over Germany get flags and flowers every year.
The C-109 was the purpose built cargo version of the B-24. For 10 years a C-109 was at the Gaston Ohio before it was sold. Now Paul Quinn is trying to find out what happened to that aircraft.
http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/world-65223-old-year.html
Now that Libya is somewhat free, maybe we can get back our B-24 that crashed in 1943 that has been stored in a Tobruk police station for years. This article from the Salem Oregon newspaper provides a good chronicle of the aircraft.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/december132011/lady-b-good-tk.php
She was assigned to class 44-4 and became of the few WASP pilots during the war. Her husband was KIA flying B-17s over Germany.
The WASP unit was formed so that women could take over the routine ferry duties of moving aircraft around the US so that the men could be assigned to combat duties. By mid-1944 there were so many male pilots being trained, and coming back from combat, there was no longer a need to have the WASP perform this function.
The WASP program was disbanded on December 20, 1944.
http://themoderatevoice.com/132050/those-intrepid-women-airforce-service-pilots-wasp/
When the Second World War started there were not enough nurses in the military and so many civilian nurses were commissioned and inducted into the services. Maria was a Red Cross nurse who was so commissioned into the military in 1940.
http://blogs.ocmetro.com/2011/12/08/world-war-ii-nurse-maria-dolores-hernandez/
Unlike flight crews who flew a certain number of missions and then could go home, ground crews stayed until the war was won. Gaylord L. Whiting was such a ground crew who from July of 1942 till the end served was assigned to the 15th Air Force, 5th Wing, 49th Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group, 352 Bomb Squad, 301 G.R. earning 12 Battle Stars and 4 Presidential Citations in the process. He died on December 18, 2011.
http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/544657/GAYLORD-L--WHITING.html?nav=5011