The Washington Post: Library of Virginia seeks documents, diaries, mementos from World War II veterans, families
RICHMOND, Va. — All four Thomas brothers fought in World War II, leaving behind the coal mines of southwest Virginia for battlefields in the faraway Pacific: Fiji, the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. One left a leg behind and another survived the sinking of his ship, but all four came home.
For the Thomas family and many others, the extraordinary experiences of the Virginians who served in World War II have been preserved in photos and letters home, often stuffed in boxes packed with mementoes and stored in an attic.
The Library of Virginia is collecting those memories, asking veterans, their spouses and children to submit documents, diaries and photographs that will help keep alive the wartime experiences of those 300,000 Virginians. Some 11,000 never returned from the war.
“This ‘Greatest Generation’ is passing from the scene,” said Sandra Gioia Treadway, librarian of Virginia. “While people are still alive and their records — their letters, diaries, artifacts, medals — are still in family hands, we want to raise awareness that this is history and that this is the perfect place to bring those items.”
Michael Thomas, an attorney with the State Corporation Commission, heeded the call last week. He brought a panoramic photograph of his father, Charlie, taken on July 5, 1943, as his unit departed for the Pacific. He also brought stories of the remarkable Thomas brothers, all coal miners from the Wise County crossroads of Banner.
“My father always joked throughout the rest of his life that the best thing that ever happened to him was World War II because it got him out of the coal mines,” Thomas said.
All the Thomas men found adventure in the Pacific.
Charlie’s anti-aircraft unit was part of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Army “as it leapfrogged from New Guinea into the Philippines,” Thomas said.
Howard Thomas served on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, which lost more than 700 crew members in a Japanese attack. Ray served on the USS Laffey, a destroyer that suffered heavy casualties and sank after a fierce, close-quarters battle with several Japanese warships. John, a Marine lost a leg scrambling out of a foxhole in Guadalcanal.
“We’re probably losing 100 of the World War II vets a day across the United States,” Michael Thomas said. “They have important stories to tell. I felt compelled to come down and at least tell my father’s story.”
Robert C. “Clinker” Moss III felt the same tug to share the wartime experiences of his father, Robert C. Moss Jr. He came bearing stories, letters and even a map his father drew of Chef-du-Pont, Normandy, where he and other D-Day troops arrived by parachute in 1944. He crashed through the thatched roof of a stone barn.
As he swung from the rafters like a marionette and struggled to free himself from the nylon lines, Moss heard Germans approaching the barn. They fired through a window, missing Moss.
He pulled out his .45-caliber, fired an errant shot, then kept firing.
Moss caught one German with his frantic gunfire. “I did not see that man move again,” he wrote. He then sliced the suspension lines with his knife.
“I went down flat and crawled to the door,” Moss wrote. “I saw the other one standing about five or six feet away and shot him. He spun around and went backwards and fell and lay there.”
Moss, a Richmond native, had been working as a reporter in Waynesboro before he enlisted in 1942, leaving a wife and baby behind. He was a second lieutenant.
His map, drawn with great precision, depicts roads, a creamery, chicken house and trees.
Moss was so inspired by his father’s narrative, he led a family trip there in June 2000, with a stop in Paris. Two residents claimed his father had parachuted into their roofs.
“That was interesting,” Moss said. “It definitely was not their roofs.”
Moss, an engineer, said he began researching his father’s exploits a decade ago. “I realized how hungry I was for information on his experience,” he said of his father, a lawyer, who died in 1985. “I want others to have access to these details.”
The Library of Virginia has materials dating to the Revolutionary War and is in the midst of a statewide drive to collect and digitalize documents from the Civil War. Curators are mindful of the passing decades and of baby boomers who may be downsizing as they near retirement.
“We want to be sure that, if they don’t have space for that material, they know there is a historical repository and archives that would love to have them because it’s Virginia’s and America’s history,” Treadway said.
___
People interested in donating correspondence, documents, photographs and diaries can call the library 804-692-3795 or e-mail jessica.tyree(at)lva.virginia.gov.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Booklist: Catapult Aircraft, by Leo Marriott
Catapult Aircraft: Seaplanes that Flew from Ships Without Flight Decks, by Leo Marriott
Pen & Sword Aviation, 2006
157 pages plus Appendices, Bibliography and index
Library: 623.746 MAR
Description
During World War I, the navies of the opposing forces discovered the value of aerial reconnaissance and many experiments were made to allow larger warships to carry one or sometimes two aircraft aboard. In the early days these were float planes that were lowered by crane into the sea and then lifted back aboard upon their return. This was a length affair and when a speedy departure was necessary, time was of the essence. A new system was devised so that a powerful catapult system or a short ramp could, with the added speed of the ship, get an aircraft airborne in a fraction of the time previously required. Thus was born a highly specialized type of aircraft.
This book includes all the major designs that flew in the First and Second World Wars and includes aircraft used by all the combatants. It looks at how the aircraft evolved and how the warships were modified to accommodate the aircraft and the catapult system. Eventually these fixed-wing aircraft were superseded by the helicopter in the early post WW II years.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Glossary
1. British and Commonwealth Navies
2. United States Navy
3. Imperial Japanese Navy
4. Germany
5. Italy
6. France
7. Other Nations
Appendix 1: Aircraft and Submarines
Appendix 2: Aircraft Technical Data
Bibliography
Index
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Hidden WWII Report: Japanese Americans No Threat
Newser.com: Hidden WWII Report: Japanese Americans No Threat
(Newser) – Though widely condemned by scholars and judges, the World War II internment of Japanese Americans has never been formally denounced by the Justice Department—until yesterday. Acting Solicitor Gen. Neal Katyal, the top US government courtroom attorney, admitted US misconduct and harshly criticized the actions of one of his predecessors. Franklin D. Roosevelt appointee Charles Fahy deliberately hid a military report from the Supreme Court that stated Japanese Americans were not a threat, Katyal said. As a result, the court upheld the detention of more than 110,000 people, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Office of Naval Intelligence report concluded that there was no evidence Japanese Americans were acting as spies. But when Fahy defended Roosevelt’s executive order authorizing the forced removal of Japanese Americans from “military areas,” he kept that report from the high court—even though he was warned he was suppressing evidence by two of the government’s civilian lawyers. Katyal, the first Asian American to hold the Solicitor General post, says Fahy’s action "harmed the court, and it harmed Japanese Americans. It harmed our reputation as lawyers and as human beings, and it harmed our commitment to those words on the court's building: Equal Justice Under Law."
(Newser) – Though widely condemned by scholars and judges, the World War II internment of Japanese Americans has never been formally denounced by the Justice Department—until yesterday. Acting Solicitor Gen. Neal Katyal, the top US government courtroom attorney, admitted US misconduct and harshly criticized the actions of one of his predecessors. Franklin D. Roosevelt appointee Charles Fahy deliberately hid a military report from the Supreme Court that stated Japanese Americans were not a threat, Katyal said. As a result, the court upheld the detention of more than 110,000 people, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Office of Naval Intelligence report concluded that there was no evidence Japanese Americans were acting as spies. But when Fahy defended Roosevelt’s executive order authorizing the forced removal of Japanese Americans from “military areas,” he kept that report from the high court—even though he was warned he was suppressing evidence by two of the government’s civilian lawyers. Katyal, the first Asian American to hold the Solicitor General post, says Fahy’s action "harmed the court, and it harmed Japanese Americans. It harmed our reputation as lawyers and as human beings, and it harmed our commitment to those words on the court's building: Equal Justice Under Law."
Harlem Students preserve WWII veterans' stories
Wrex/com (Channel 13): Harlem Students preserve WWII veterans' stories
ROCKFORD (WREX) - As we get closer to Memorial Day, some Harlem High School students have a special project to help preserve veterans' war stories.
These students have been interviewing and filming World War II vets at River Bluff Nursing Home in Rockford. They'll put together documentaries on each one and submit them to the World War II Memorial Board and Library of Congress.
The war heroes get their stories told and the students learn valuable lessons.
"This is nothing you'll ever learn in a classroom," says Harlem Junior Jacob Genens. "It's a once in a lifetime chance to do and pretty soon these veterans won't be alive, they'll be passed away and it'll be gone forever."
The students have interviewed 24 veterans for the project.
ROCKFORD (WREX) - As we get closer to Memorial Day, some Harlem High School students have a special project to help preserve veterans' war stories.
These students have been interviewing and filming World War II vets at River Bluff Nursing Home in Rockford. They'll put together documentaries on each one and submit them to the World War II Memorial Board and Library of Congress.
The war heroes get their stories told and the students learn valuable lessons.
"This is nothing you'll ever learn in a classroom," says Harlem Junior Jacob Genens. "It's a once in a lifetime chance to do and pretty soon these veterans won't be alive, they'll be passed away and it'll be gone forever."
The students have interviewed 24 veterans for the project.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
1940 Chronology: 21 May
Western Front
British armored forces attack the German salient on the Arras heights, but after a favorable start they are forced back on to their start line.
A similar effort is made by two divisions of the French 1st Army in the direction of Cambrai, but with a similiar result.
[A salient is "an angle or part", as the central outward-projecting angle of a bastion or an outward projection in a battle line. ]
British armored forces attack the German salient on the Arras heights, but after a favorable start they are forced back on to their start line.
A similar effort is made by two divisions of the French 1st Army in the direction of Cambrai, but with a similiar result.
[A salient is "an angle or part", as the central outward-projecting angle of a bastion or an outward projection in a battle line. ]
Booklist: Captains Without Eyes, by Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, Jr.
Captains Without Eyes: Intelligence Faiures in World War II, by Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, Jr.
MacMillan Company, 1969
281 pages plus References, Index. No photos
Library: 940.548 K48
Description
This controversial and unprecedented book by the former executive director of the CIA reveals the alarming truth behind the most critical intelligence failures of WWII. Captains Without Eyes fascinates as it chills, focusing on five key battles of the Second World War-and the mistakes on both sides that changed the course of history.
Here is the inside story of the GErman invasion of Russia, the Japanese attack on Pear Harbor, Allied catastrophes at Dieppe and Arnhem, the Battle of the Bulge: all major conflicts, and each one a disaster of military intelligence.
Drawing heavily on previously unpublished records and personal experience, Lyman B. Kirkpatrick Jr. presents a privileged professional appraisal of intelligence breakdowns in each camp that determined the course of the war. To what extent were these failures due to inadequate data and misrepresentation of available information? How efficient were the total espionage operations of both Allied and Axis forces? How did the leaders themseves bring about their own defeat?
Captains Without Eyes tells of near fatal American innocence in Japananese diplomatic relations, of visionary and unheeded military leaders and diplomats, of internal communications casualties, poor timing, underestimation of the enemy, and calamitous overconfidence in the highest echelons (witness the egomania of Hitler, Stalin and Montgomery). Here are a series of crucial cables intercepted and decoded by Americans in the months before Pearl Harbor, as well as other vital and revealing documents. Montgomery's report dated the day of the GErman offensive in the Ardennes says positively of the GErman enemy, "...his situation is such that he cannot stage major offensive operations." And so it continues: an appalling picture of the misuse of and sometimes the over-reliance on intelligence systems, of lives needlessly lost because of intelligence failures, of human waste, of national tragedies.
Captains Without Eyes is one of the greatest true espionage stories of our time: a brilliant and incisive analysis of what went wrong-and why-behind the most important closed doors of the twentieth century.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. The Problems of Foresight
2. Case Barbarossa: The German Attack on Russia, June 22, 1941
3. Pearl Harbor: A lost battle vs a National Disaster, December 7, 1941
4. Dieppe: Prelude to D-Day, August 19, 1942
5. Arnheim,,: A Viper in the Market, September 17, 1944
6. The Bulge in the Ardennes: Hitler's Last Threat, December 16, 1944
7. The Brilliance of Hindsight
References
Bibliography
Index
Friday, May 20, 2011
1940 Chronology: 20 May
Western Front
Rommel occupies the heights around Arras.
9:00 am: Hans Guderian's 1st Armored Division takes Amiens.
7:00 pm: The German 2nd Armored Division occupies Abbeville.
8:00 pm: One of Guderian's battalions reaches the Channel at Noyelles. The German tanks have opened a breach in the Allied line, some 20 miles wide from east to west. North of this gap is the French 1st Army, the nine divisions of the British Expeditionary Force, and the Belgian army, yo the south, from west to east, four French armies, the 10th, 7th, 6th and 2nd.
Rommel occupies the heights around Arras.
9:00 am: Hans Guderian's 1st Armored Division takes Amiens.
7:00 pm: The German 2nd Armored Division occupies Abbeville.
8:00 pm: One of Guderian's battalions reaches the Channel at Noyelles. The German tanks have opened a breach in the Allied line, some 20 miles wide from east to west. North of this gap is the French 1st Army, the nine divisions of the British Expeditionary Force, and the Belgian army, yo the south, from west to east, four French armies, the 10th, 7th, 6th and 2nd.
Memories remain vivid for World War II flying "ace"
InsideBayArea.com: Memories remain vivid for World War II flying "ace"
CASTRO VALLEY -- John "Ted" Crosby has a boast few men can share.
As a U.S. Navy fighter pilot during World War II, Crosby downed five Japanese aircraft in a single dogfight, making him an "ace in a day."
It earned him handshakes from sailors, slaps on the back from fliers, and a Navy Cross from his superior officers. But the 90-year-old Crosby says the feat had little to do with lightning reflexes, an eagle eye or steel nerves.
"It's amazing what six .50 caliber machine guns will do," Crosby said, describing the firepower of his Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter. "Open up with them and you will blow away anything in sight."
Patrolling the skies
By April 1945 the Navy and U.S. Marines had reached Okinawa, an island 340 miles from mainland Japan that the Allies needed as an air base for the anticipated invasion of the enemy's homeland.
Fighting was fierce: The Allies suffered more than 50,000 casualties before the battle ended in June. More than 100,000 Japanese troops were killed or captured. Thousands of civilians died.
"We would respond to any request from the ground for help," said Crosby, who now lives in a retirement home in Castro Valley. "We were bombing and strafing the island. We were doing anything we could."
On April 16, 1945, Crosby and Lt. Millard "Fuzzy" Wooley and their two wingmen were flying protection for an American destroyer -- its code name "whiskey base" -- off
northeastern Okinawa when their radios announced that Japanese planes were approaching from the north.
Wooley and the others banked to intercept them, leaving the destroyer undefended.
"You could tell by the voice of the ship's skipper on the radio that he didn't like it," Crosby said. "But Fuzzy told him, 'Don't worry. We'll be back before they can get to you.'"
As Crosby and Wooley climbed, their wingmen each experienced mechanical problems and fell away. Then Crosby's "blower," or the supercharger the Hellcat needed for rapid ascent, would not stay engaged.
Crosby kept the handle pressed with his knee.
"Here they come, a whole troop of them," Crosby said about the Japanese. "There were about 20 planes, a mixture of anything that would fly and that they could get into the air."
Within seconds, Crosby and a Japanese fighter were racing toward each other, head-on.
The American fired. The enemy's engine exploded, showering debris like confetti over Crosby's cockpit canopy.
"We passed each other real quick -- zap, zap," Crosby said.
Crosby banked a hard 180 degrees just as another Japanese aircraft swept across his gunsight. He fired again.
"I got him," Crosby said. "He blew up. I pulled back and looked around. By then, the Japanese planes were breaking up as a unit."
Moments later, bullets streaked past Crosby's Hellcat. It was Wooley, who briefly thought Crosby was the enemy.
"He called over the radio, 'Did I get you?'" Crosby said with a chuckle. "I said, 'No, no, you didn't.'"
When the fight was over and the two fliers finally taxied to a halt on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, the news flashed among the sailors about what had just happened.
Crosby had single-handedly downed a Japanese Mitsubishi "Zero" fighter, a "Val" dive-bomber and three "Jack" fighters. The five victories made him an ace.
Wooley had shot down two enemy aircraft.
"Without a doubt, Ted was in the right place at the right time and made the most out of his skills while flying the deadly Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter that day," said Bob Fish, a trustee of the USS Hornet, now a floating museum in Alameda.
On Saturday, Crosby will return to the ship and give a talk with other veteran Navy pilots to mark 100 years of Naval aviation.
Thirty-four Allied vessels were sunk and 368 ships and other craft were damaged during the battle for Okinawa, making it the most deadly in the Pacific war, Fish said.
"The toll would have been much higher if Ted and his fellow courageous Naval aviators had not been patrolling the skies as aggressively as they did," he said.
Crosby grew up in Oakland and was attending junior college in Marin County -- paying tuition with money he earned working at the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco -- when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
After earning his wings, Crosby initially shipped out aboard the USS Bunker Hill.
During the cruise, he helped shoot down a Japanese "Betty" bomber with three other Hellcat pilots in November 1943 -- the first of the six enemy planes he eventually downed during the war.
The Japanese bomber was traveling without a fighter escort.
As the Americans closed in, the tail-gunner opened up. "He was giving us fits," Crosby said. "I thought to myself, 'He's got to go.'"
The burst from Crosby's guns shattered the aircraft's tail section, sending the gunner tumbling into the sea.
"I was going fast, about 400 mph," Crosby said. "I shot past him. All of a sudden I look around and I am out there all alone."
When Crosby banked back around, the Japanese bomber had vanished. Just a lone wheel from the aircraft was dipping and rising on the Pacific swells.
Not easy to forget
Along with the Navy Cross, Crosby was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and a host of other decorations.
After World War II, he remained in the Navy and flew photo reconnaissance missions during the Korean War. He retired as a commander in July 1969.
Crosby went on to make a living restoring Model A Fords. He met his second wife, Kay, because she owned one of the vintage cars. They married 10 years ago.
The veteran fighter pilot, who has a son in Florida and a granddaughter, said his memories from the war remain fresh, despite the passage of more than six decades.
Among them is circling over the capsized Japanese battleship Yamato as it was sinking off Okinawa on April 7, 1945. The vessel had been struck by multiple American bombs and torpedoes.
"You are watching this ship go down," Crosby said. "And you have to remind yourself, there's 3,000 men aboard that ship. That can be hard. Things like that are not easy to forget."
If you go
John "Ted" Crosby, and four other World War II Navy pilots, including Crosby's fellow ace Ralph Foltz, will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday aboard the USS Hornet aircraft carrier museum, 707 W. Hornet Ave., Pier 3, Alameda. Go to www.uss-hornet.org or call 510-521-8448 for information.
CASTRO VALLEY -- John "Ted" Crosby has a boast few men can share.
As a U.S. Navy fighter pilot during World War II, Crosby downed five Japanese aircraft in a single dogfight, making him an "ace in a day."
It earned him handshakes from sailors, slaps on the back from fliers, and a Navy Cross from his superior officers. But the 90-year-old Crosby says the feat had little to do with lightning reflexes, an eagle eye or steel nerves.
"It's amazing what six .50 caliber machine guns will do," Crosby said, describing the firepower of his Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter. "Open up with them and you will blow away anything in sight."
Patrolling the skies
By April 1945 the Navy and U.S. Marines had reached Okinawa, an island 340 miles from mainland Japan that the Allies needed as an air base for the anticipated invasion of the enemy's homeland.
Fighting was fierce: The Allies suffered more than 50,000 casualties before the battle ended in June. More than 100,000 Japanese troops were killed or captured. Thousands of civilians died.
"We would respond to any request from the ground for help," said Crosby, who now lives in a retirement home in Castro Valley. "We were bombing and strafing the island. We were doing anything we could."
On April 16, 1945, Crosby and Lt. Millard "Fuzzy" Wooley and their two wingmen were flying protection for an American destroyer -- its code name "whiskey base" -- off
northeastern Okinawa when their radios announced that Japanese planes were approaching from the north.
Wooley and the others banked to intercept them, leaving the destroyer undefended.
"You could tell by the voice of the ship's skipper on the radio that he didn't like it," Crosby said. "But Fuzzy told him, 'Don't worry. We'll be back before they can get to you.'"
As Crosby and Wooley climbed, their wingmen each experienced mechanical problems and fell away. Then Crosby's "blower," or the supercharger the Hellcat needed for rapid ascent, would not stay engaged.
Crosby kept the handle pressed with his knee.
"Here they come, a whole troop of them," Crosby said about the Japanese. "There were about 20 planes, a mixture of anything that would fly and that they could get into the air."
Within seconds, Crosby and a Japanese fighter were racing toward each other, head-on.
The American fired. The enemy's engine exploded, showering debris like confetti over Crosby's cockpit canopy.
"We passed each other real quick -- zap, zap," Crosby said.
Crosby banked a hard 180 degrees just as another Japanese aircraft swept across his gunsight. He fired again.
"I got him," Crosby said. "He blew up. I pulled back and looked around. By then, the Japanese planes were breaking up as a unit."
Moments later, bullets streaked past Crosby's Hellcat. It was Wooley, who briefly thought Crosby was the enemy.
"He called over the radio, 'Did I get you?'" Crosby said with a chuckle. "I said, 'No, no, you didn't.'"
When the fight was over and the two fliers finally taxied to a halt on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, the news flashed among the sailors about what had just happened.
Crosby had single-handedly downed a Japanese Mitsubishi "Zero" fighter, a "Val" dive-bomber and three "Jack" fighters. The five victories made him an ace.
Wooley had shot down two enemy aircraft.
"Without a doubt, Ted was in the right place at the right time and made the most out of his skills while flying the deadly Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter that day," said Bob Fish, a trustee of the USS Hornet, now a floating museum in Alameda.
On Saturday, Crosby will return to the ship and give a talk with other veteran Navy pilots to mark 100 years of Naval aviation.
Thirty-four Allied vessels were sunk and 368 ships and other craft were damaged during the battle for Okinawa, making it the most deadly in the Pacific war, Fish said.
"The toll would have been much higher if Ted and his fellow courageous Naval aviators had not been patrolling the skies as aggressively as they did," he said.
Crosby grew up in Oakland and was attending junior college in Marin County -- paying tuition with money he earned working at the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco -- when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
After earning his wings, Crosby initially shipped out aboard the USS Bunker Hill.
During the cruise, he helped shoot down a Japanese "Betty" bomber with three other Hellcat pilots in November 1943 -- the first of the six enemy planes he eventually downed during the war.
The Japanese bomber was traveling without a fighter escort.
As the Americans closed in, the tail-gunner opened up. "He was giving us fits," Crosby said. "I thought to myself, 'He's got to go.'"
The burst from Crosby's guns shattered the aircraft's tail section, sending the gunner tumbling into the sea.
"I was going fast, about 400 mph," Crosby said. "I shot past him. All of a sudden I look around and I am out there all alone."
When Crosby banked back around, the Japanese bomber had vanished. Just a lone wheel from the aircraft was dipping and rising on the Pacific swells.
Not easy to forget
Along with the Navy Cross, Crosby was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and a host of other decorations.
After World War II, he remained in the Navy and flew photo reconnaissance missions during the Korean War. He retired as a commander in July 1969.
Crosby went on to make a living restoring Model A Fords. He met his second wife, Kay, because she owned one of the vintage cars. They married 10 years ago.
The veteran fighter pilot, who has a son in Florida and a granddaughter, said his memories from the war remain fresh, despite the passage of more than six decades.
Among them is circling over the capsized Japanese battleship Yamato as it was sinking off Okinawa on April 7, 1945. The vessel had been struck by multiple American bombs and torpedoes.
"You are watching this ship go down," Crosby said. "And you have to remind yourself, there's 3,000 men aboard that ship. That can be hard. Things like that are not easy to forget."
If you go
John "Ted" Crosby, and four other World War II Navy pilots, including Crosby's fellow ace Ralph Foltz, will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday aboard the USS Hornet aircraft carrier museum, 707 W. Hornet Ave., Pier 3, Alameda. Go to www.uss-hornet.org or call 510-521-8448 for information.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
1940 Chronology: 19 May
Western Front
The nine GErman armoured divisions which breached the French line between Sedan and Namur regroup between Cambrai and Peronne.
Rommel, who had been ordered to halt the previous dayto allow his attacking troops to be regrouped, persuades his immediate superior, General Herman Hoth (Commander of the XV Armoured Corps) that his 7th Armoured Division was in a position to advance and occupy the dominating heights at Arras, about 12 miles west of CAmbrai.
In Paris, Marshall Petain is appointed Deputy Prime Minister. General Gamelin is replaced by the 73 year old GEneral Weygand, as Commander-in-Chief-of the French armed forces.
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
The nine GErman armoured divisions which breached the French line between Sedan and Namur regroup between Cambrai and Peronne.
Rommel, who had been ordered to halt the previous dayto allow his attacking troops to be regrouped, persuades his immediate superior, General Herman Hoth (Commander of the XV Armoured Corps) that his 7th Armoured Division was in a position to advance and occupy the dominating heights at Arras, about 12 miles west of CAmbrai.
In Paris, Marshall Petain is appointed Deputy Prime Minister. General Gamelin is replaced by the 73 year old GEneral Weygand, as Commander-in-Chief-of the French armed forces.
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
1940 Chronology: 18 May
Western Front
General Guderian occupies Saint-Quentin. General Rommel reaches Camrai.
General Henri-Honre Giraud and the remnants of the 9th Army (formerly under Corap) enter Le CAteau, a small town not far from Cambrai, and are captured by the Germans, who had arrived there some hours earlier.
The Germans take Antwerp.
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
1940 Chronology: 17 May
Western Front
Instead of continuing his advance on Paris, Guderian turns north-west, by mid-day his advance troops reach the river Oise, south of Guise, not far from Saint-Quentin.
Troops of General von Reichenau's 6th army enter Brussels, which is declared an open city.
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Monday, May 16, 2011
Family of World War II soldier found in Oklahoma
NewsOk: Family of World War II soldier found in Oklahoma
Jim Harkins last saw his older brother, Wilburn, in England as the two men prepared to take part in the Allied invasion of Nazi-held France on D-Day in 1944.
The two Oklahomans made plans to meet in Paris after the Allies liberated the French capital. Wilburn missed the meeting. He was wounded July 26, 1944. As two other soldiers took him to a field hospital, they were ambushed by a German sniper.
Wilburn was killed. Jim Harkins, who served in a different unit, got the news when he tried to send his brother a letter. It was returned with “deceased” written across it.
Sixty-seven years later, Jim Harkins was stunned to read in The Oklahoman earlier this month that a French woman had been tending to his brother’s grave in France and was looking for living family members.
Bill Harkins, Jim Harkins’ son, said his father is 91 years old. The two men live in Wheatland. The May 2 story mentioned Cathrine Meunier, a French woman who has put flowers on Wilburn Harkins’ grave each Memorial Day. Meunier hoped to see a picture of Wilburn Harkins and learn what he was like as a young man.
Search helpMeunier, who doesn’t speak English, was being helped in her search by Robert Stuard, president of the Lacey-Davis Foundation, an American organization that works with the families of soldiers killed in World War II. The group helps American families attend memorial services in France, but Stuard also works closely with like-minded French groups.
Meunier is involved with Flowers of Memory, a French group whose members do their best to honor Allied soldiers who died liberating their country from Nazi Germany during the war.
Bill Harkins said he sent Stuard a letter, which is being translated into French for Meunier. The letter details some of the family history and gives information about Wilburn Harkins. Most importantly, Bill Harkins said, the letter thanks Cathrine Meunier.
“We appreciated the French people remembering the men that didn’t make it home,” Bill Harkins said. “I was really happy to learn that someone was taking care of Wilburn.”
Great nephewWilburn Harkins didn’t have any children, but his name lives on. One of his great nephews is Michael Wilburn Harkins, who grew up in Oklahoma and now lives in Virginia.
Michael Harkins, 36, said he knew little about his great uncle other than a picture and a letter that hung in his grandparents’ home and the stories he heard about his service.
Michael Harkins said he is proud of Wilburn Harkins and has shared his great uncle’s story with many of his friends.
“My father gave me the middle name to provide me with the legacy of Wilburn,” he said. “I intend to have his legacy live on so everyone knows there was a Wilburn Harkins and that he served his country.”
Jim Harkins last saw his older brother, Wilburn, in England as the two men prepared to take part in the Allied invasion of Nazi-held France on D-Day in 1944.
The two Oklahomans made plans to meet in Paris after the Allies liberated the French capital. Wilburn missed the meeting. He was wounded July 26, 1944. As two other soldiers took him to a field hospital, they were ambushed by a German sniper.
Wilburn was killed. Jim Harkins, who served in a different unit, got the news when he tried to send his brother a letter. It was returned with “deceased” written across it.
Sixty-seven years later, Jim Harkins was stunned to read in The Oklahoman earlier this month that a French woman had been tending to his brother’s grave in France and was looking for living family members.
Bill Harkins, Jim Harkins’ son, said his father is 91 years old. The two men live in Wheatland. The May 2 story mentioned Cathrine Meunier, a French woman who has put flowers on Wilburn Harkins’ grave each Memorial Day. Meunier hoped to see a picture of Wilburn Harkins and learn what he was like as a young man.
Search helpMeunier, who doesn’t speak English, was being helped in her search by Robert Stuard, president of the Lacey-Davis Foundation, an American organization that works with the families of soldiers killed in World War II. The group helps American families attend memorial services in France, but Stuard also works closely with like-minded French groups.
Meunier is involved with Flowers of Memory, a French group whose members do their best to honor Allied soldiers who died liberating their country from Nazi Germany during the war.
Bill Harkins said he sent Stuard a letter, which is being translated into French for Meunier. The letter details some of the family history and gives information about Wilburn Harkins. Most importantly, Bill Harkins said, the letter thanks Cathrine Meunier.
“We appreciated the French people remembering the men that didn’t make it home,” Bill Harkins said. “I was really happy to learn that someone was taking care of Wilburn.”
Great nephewWilburn Harkins didn’t have any children, but his name lives on. One of his great nephews is Michael Wilburn Harkins, who grew up in Oklahoma and now lives in Virginia.
Michael Harkins, 36, said he knew little about his great uncle other than a picture and a letter that hung in his grandparents’ home and the stories he heard about his service.
Michael Harkins said he is proud of Wilburn Harkins and has shared his great uncle’s story with many of his friends.
“My father gave me the middle name to provide me with the legacy of Wilburn,” he said. “I intend to have his legacy live on so everyone knows there was a Wilburn Harkins and that he served his country.”
1940 Chronology: 16 May
Western Front
General Gamelin refuses to take responsibility for the defense of Paris and orders a general retreat of French forces out of Belgium.
The Belgian forces are ordered to retreat on the Schelde.
Lord Gort's British divisions also retire.
General Erwin Rommel's 7th Armoured Division has penetrated 50 miles into French terriotory in the direction of CAmbrai, capturing some 10,000 prisoners and 100 tanks.
Towards evening General Guderian's armoured divisions reach a point about 60 miles east of Sedan.
The French premier, Reynaud, tells Churchill by radio that the battle is lost and the road to Paris is wide open to the enemy.
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World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
General Gamelin refuses to take responsibility for the defense of Paris and orders a general retreat of French forces out of Belgium.
The Belgian forces are ordered to retreat on the Schelde.
Lord Gort's British divisions also retire.
General Erwin Rommel's 7th Armoured Division has penetrated 50 miles into French terriotory in the direction of CAmbrai, capturing some 10,000 prisoners and 100 tanks.
Towards evening General Guderian's armoured divisions reach a point about 60 miles east of Sedan.
The French premier, Reynaud, tells Churchill by radio that the battle is lost and the road to Paris is wide open to the enemy.
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Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Sunday, May 15, 2011
1940 Chronology: 15 May
Western Front
11am: Capitulation of the Dutch Army is signed.
The German 6th Armoured Division cuts off the retreat of General Corap's army, which is broken up and dispersed.
The GErman 6th Army breaches the enemy lines between Louvian and Namur.
Late in the evening it is reported that German tanks have reached Montcornet, only about 12 miles from Laon.
General Gamelin at once informs Daladier, Minister of National Defense, who orders an immediate counter-attack. Gamelin replies that he has no available reserves, the French army is about to collapse.
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
11am: Capitulation of the Dutch Army is signed.
The German 6th Armoured Division cuts off the retreat of General Corap's army, which is broken up and dispersed.
The GErman 6th Army breaches the enemy lines between Louvian and Namur.
Late in the evening it is reported that German tanks have reached Montcornet, only about 12 miles from Laon.
General Gamelin at once informs Daladier, Minister of National Defense, who orders an immediate counter-attack. Gamelin replies that he has no available reserves, the French army is about to collapse.
Maurice Gustave Gamelin (20 September 1872, Paris - 18 April 1958) was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values.
The generalissimo of the French armed forces in World War II, Gamelin was viewed as a man with significant intellectual ability. He was respected, even in Germany, for his intelligence and "subtle mind", though he was also viewed by some German generals as stiff and predictable. Despite this, and his competent service in World War I, his command of the French armies during the critical days of May 1940 proved to be disastrous. Historian and journalist William L. Shirer presented the view that Gamelin used World War I methods to fight World War II, but with less vigor and slower response.
Gamelin served with distinction under Joseph Joffre in World War I. He is often credited with being responsible for devising the outline of the French counter-attack in 1914 which led to victory during the First Battle of the Marne.
In 1933, Gamelin rose to command of the French Army and oversaw a modernization and mechanization program, as well as the completion of the Maginot Line defenses. Édouard Daladier supported Gamelin throughout his career due to his refusal to allow politics to play a part in military planning and promotion, and his commitment to the republican model of government—not a trivial concern at a time when Communists on the left, Royalists and Fascists on the right were openly advocating regime change in France.
Role in World War II
When war was declared in 1939 Gamelin was already 67 years old. A few French units crossed the German border in the Saar Offensive but only travelled 8 km (5.0 mi). not even penetrating Germany's unfinished Siegfried Line even though there were no German tanks on the western front. According to General Siegfried Westphal, German staff officer on the western front, if France had attacked in September 1939, German forces could not have held out for more than one or two weeks. However Gamelin ordered his troops back, but only after telling France's ally, Poland, that France had broken the Siegfried Line and that help was on its way. Gamelin preferred to wait until French and British could build up their forces and was not planning a major offensive until 1941. Bombing the industrial areas of the Ruhr was prohibited in case the Germans retaliated.
Gamelin's vision for France's defense was based upon a static defense along the Franco-German border, which was reinforced by the Maginot Line. The Maginot Line was only 87 mi (140 km) long and stopped 250 mi (400 km) short of the English Channel. During the cold winter of 1939/40 work on the extension to the Maginot Line was halted. Gamelin viewed the Ardennes as impenetrable and chose to defend it with ten of his weakest, least-well equipped and least well trained divisions. According to General von Manteuffel, the German Panzer commander, France had more and better tanks than Germany but chose to disperse them.
The defensive approach of the Maginot Line became out of step with Gamelin's own views and he favoured an aggressive advance northward into Belgium and the Netherlands to meet the attacking German forces as far removed from French territory as possible. This strategy fitted with Belgian defence plans and British objectives and was known as the Dyle Plan. Gamelin committed much of the motorized forces in the French Army and the entire BEF to this strategy.
Despite reports of the build-up of German forces and even knowing the date of the Germans attack, Gamelin did nothing, stating that he would "await events". When the Germans attacked, Gamelin insisted on moving 40 of his best divisions, including the British Expeditionary Force, northwards in conformity to the Dyle Plan. The French mobilisation had inadvertently called up many essential workers and this disrupted vital French industries in the first weeks of the campaign.
In the first few days of the campaign, much of the air force was attacked on the ground. The rest of the air support was concentrated on the French advance rather than attacking the exposed 150 km (93 mi) column supplying the German advance. Quickly, the French and the British became fearful of being outflanked and they withdrew from the defensive lines drawn up across Belgium. Even then they did not pull back fast enough to prevent them being outflanked by the German Panzer divisions.
The wing of the German attack that occurred further south was fortunate to be able to cross the River Meuse faster than anticipated, aided by heavy Luftwaffe aerial bombardment. Although almost all the crossings over the Meuse were destroyed by the French, one weir 60 km (37 mi) north of Sedan had been left intact and was only lightly defended. It was thus quickly captured and exploited by the Germans. Meanwhile, French guns were ordered to limit their firing in case they ran out of ammunition. On this front, Colonel-General Heinz Guderian disobeyed orders and forged ahead. Gamelin withdrew forces in this area so that they could defend Paris, thinking this was the German's objective, rather than the coast.
Believing that he had been betrayed rather than blaming his own tactics, Gamelin then sacked twenty of his front line commanders.
Further north, Major-General Erwin Rommel also kept advancing quickly, against the orders from his superiors. He reached the sea to the west of the BEF trapping the forces that had been sent into the Low Countries around Arras and Dunkirk. In moving from France to Belgium and then back to France, a substantial amount of the armour was lost simply due to mechanical failure. As such, the French and British could not launch a counterattack spearheaded by tanks, and thus break out of encirclement. The speed of this advance, German air supremacy, the inability of the British and French to successfully counter-attack and suspicions of complicity undermined the overall Allied position to such a degree that Britain abandoned the conflict on the continent. 338,226 men (including 120,000 French soldiers) withdrew across the English Channel at Dunkirk. A second BEF that had been due to land in Normandy in mid-June was cancelled.
The Dutch surrendered within five days of being attacked, the Belgians in a little over two weeks and the French were left with only a rump of their former army to defend their nation. Gamelin was removed from his post on 18 May 1940 by Paul Reynaud, who had replaced Édouard Daladier as Prime Minister earlier in the month. The 68 year-old Gamelin was replaced by the 73 year-old Maxime Weygand who crucially delayed planned counter-attacks prior to eventually launching them — but by then it was too late.
After the fall of France
Gamelin was both preceded and succeeded as generalissimo by Maxime Weygand. During the Vichy regime, Gamelin was arrested and unsuccessfully tried for treason along with other important political and military figures of the Third Republic (Édouard Daladier, Guy La Chambre, Léon Blum and Robert Jacomet) during the Riom Trial. At this trial, Gamelin refused to answer the charges against him, instead maintaining a dignified silence. Imprisoned by the Vichy regime in Fort du Portalet in the Pyrenees, he was later deported by Germans in the Itter Castle in North Tyrol with few others French high personalities. After the war, he published his memoirs titled Servir.
Gamelin died in April, 1958, in Paris, France.
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Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Saturday, May 14, 2011
1940 Chronology: 14 May
Western Front
1:30 pm: Rotterdam is subjected to air bombardment by the GErmans.
4:00 pm: French tanks, poised to stage a counter-attack against the German armoured formations in the area of the enemy penetration of the Meuse, are ordered to disperse over a front of 12 miles.
French General Corap's 9th Army retires to Rocroi.
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Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
1:30 pm: Rotterdam is subjected to air bombardment by the GErmans.
4:00 pm: French tanks, poised to stage a counter-attack against the German armoured formations in the area of the enemy penetration of the Meuse, are ordered to disperse over a front of 12 miles.
French General Corap's 9th Army retires to Rocroi.
André Georges Corap (born 15 January 1878 died 15 August 1953) was a General in the French Army who fought in World War II. He commanded the 9th Army during the battle of France in 1940.
Corap was born in Pont Audemer, Normandy. His father was a tailor. he graduated from École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1898 and joined the French Army. He commanded colonial troops in Algeria and Morocco. In 1905 he was admitted to the Collège interarmées de défense.
In 1914 he was a captain in the Zouaves. He spent most of World War I working as a staff officer for generals Foch and Petain.
He fought in the Rif war, capturing the leader of the insurgents, Abd el-Krim. (The Rif War of 1920, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought between Spain (later assisted by France) and the Moroccan Rif Berbers.)
Corap was promoted to Brigadier General in 1929 and Major General in 1933. He was promoted to Lietenant General in 1935 and given command of 2nd Military Division in 1937. In 1939 on the outbreak of war he was given command of the 9th Army.
The 9th Army was placed to cover the Ardennes forest during the German Blitzkrieg in 1940. Corap was held responsible for the German breakthrough by the French high command and relieved from his post on 19 May 1940. He was retired into the reserves on 1 July 1940.
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Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Friday, May 13, 2011
1940 Chronology: 13 May
Western Front
Hans Guderian's armoured divisions force the crossing of the Meuse on either side of Sedan.
In Belgium, the French 1st Army and Lord Gort's British divisions reach the bank of the Dyle. The British are deployed between Louvain and WAvre, the French between Wavre and Namur.
Germans take Liege. The Dutch army is collapsing, and the High Command orders a general retreat to defensive positions on what is called the "Dutch Fortress" an area taking in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. Queen Wilhelmina and her government take refuse in London.
Churchill declares to the House of Commons: "I have nothing to offer but blood and toil and tears and sweat."
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Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Hans Guderian's armoured divisions force the crossing of the Meuse on either side of Sedan.
In Belgium, the French 1st Army and Lord Gort's British divisions reach the bank of the Dyle. The British are deployed between Louvain and WAvre, the French between Wavre and Namur.
Germans take Liege. The Dutch army is collapsing, and the High Command orders a general retreat to defensive positions on what is called the "Dutch Fortress" an area taking in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. Queen Wilhelmina and her government take refuse in London.
Churchill declares to the House of Commons: "I have nothing to offer but blood and toil and tears and sweat."
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Iwo Jima vet on war souvenir mercy mission
CNNWorld: Iwo Jima vet on war souvenir mercy mission
Editor's Note: Veterans from both sides of World War II join forces to repatriate belongings taken from bodies on the battlefield. Watch CNN International's World's Untold Stories Saturday and Sunday.
Syracuse, New York (CNN) -- On the black sand beaches of Iwo Jima, 18-year-old Marty Connor stood over the body of a dead Japanese soldier. The young U.S. Marine figured it was only a matter of time before he suffered the same fate.
But he didn't dwell on it and he didn't ponder whether the enemy had a family, a hometown, or a name. Instead, he reached into the dead soldier's pack and grabbed his diary. Then he moved on to another body.
Little did he know then that this was a moment that would change his life; that he would spend 40 years reuniting such war souvenirs with surviving relatives of the dead enemy soldiers.
"A lull in the fighting, you scavenge around a little bit," said the now 85-year-old Connor at his home in upstate New York. "In the helmet, you'd find pictures of his family...so I took things like that, just stuck them in my pack."
Once the bloody 36-day battle on the remote Pacific island had ended, Connor had amassed a collection of items like Japanese bayonets, pay records and family photographs.
Picking up the personal effects of dead enemy soldiers was a common practice during World War II.
When he returned home after the war, Connor locked up his souvenirs in a trunk and rarely thought about them again.
But one phone call, a quarter-century later, would change that.
"Some of the Marines were getting back to have a reunion on the 25th anniversary of our landing," said Connor. "I had a call if I'd like to go, and I thought yes, I would like to go back."
Connor returned to Iwo Jima in 1970. On top of Mount Suribachi, he and other U.S. Marines shook hands with the Japanese veterans they had once fought against.
"They suffered, we suffered," said Connor. "We came to tell them what brave soldiers they were... and our people, our Marines, were just as brave."
The diary, photos and other items Connor had taken from Iwo Jima remained locked up at home. But one of his fellow Marines brought his souvenirs with him, and returned them to their owner's grateful and tearful family.
The emotional scene stuck with Connor. A Buddhist monk named Tsunezo Wachi explained to him the deep spiritual significance these items had for the families of the dead soldiers.
How Connor's story teaches forgiveness
As soon as Connor returned home, he opened the trunk for the first time in 25 years.
"I sent back whatever I had, and in most instances, [Wachi] found the families within two weeks after he received whatever I sent."
Among the grateful recipients of Connor's souvenirs was the widow of the soldier whose diary Connor had taken.
"I was pleased," Connor said of Wachi's efforts. "I was pleased because he brought closure to those families, and I helped out."
Connor figured that might be the end of it. But word of his efforts began spreading to other veterans, and soon, packages were arriving on his doorstep. For the last 40 years, he's made it his mission to send these spoils of war back overseas.
Recently, a new batch of souvenirs arrived at Connor's doorstep. He opened the boxes, and spread out the contents on his kitchen table: dog tags, some Japanese currency from the Philippines, and several Japanese battle flags. Among them was a very well-preserved flag picked up on Iwo Jima on February 22, 1945. Written on the flag were several Japanese names, perhaps relatives of the soldier who carried it into battle.
"We have high expectations that we'll be able to connect this with a family, hopefully of the person that was carrying this," Connor said, carefully picking up the flag.
"If we can determine that, and get it back to that family, it gives that family not only closure, but they no longer seem to have the grief that they had for not having heard for these many, many years... as to what happened to their soldier that they sent off to battle and never came back from Iwo Jima."
Connor put the items in a large envelope and shipped it to Japan.
Awaiting its arrival was Masataka Shiokawa, who stepped in to accept packages after Wachi, the Buddhist monk, passed away.
Shiokawa was only a baby when his father was killed while fighting the Americans in 1945. The only thing his family received was a small box with some stones inside -- meant to represent the remains of his father.
For Shiokawa, that wasn't enough. Years of longing for more information about what happened to his father inspired him to dedicate his life to searching for remains and artifacts, with the hope that he might one day find something that belonged to his father.
"In the beginning I was looking for my father's remains and personal effects very hard. But as I started returning things [to other families], I realized that it is not just me who is feeing this way," Shiokawa said.
When he returns something to a family member, "they get pleased as if the person actually came back. They cry and put the [item] at the family Buddhist altar and offer prayer."
At one such altar sits a white shirt, protected in a glass frame. It belonged to Sadaichi Nagamine, a Japanese soldier. But for 60 years, it sat in Marty Connor's home.
"I took it from a pack," Connor remembered. "There were three Japanese who were killed by naval gunfire and I had taken it from the backpack of one of them. And I just threw it in my knapsack and didn't think of it anymore."
Connor didn't think the shirt had any identification on it. So he never bothered sending it back, assuming its owner could never be found. Finally, in 2005, he decided on a whim to box it up with some other items. To his surprise, Shiokawa found small markings on the shirt, and was able to identify the soldier and return the shirt to his family.
"We wanted to have something to value," said the soldier's nephew, Masami Nagamine, kneeling to pray in front of the family altar. "All ancestors of the family are dedicated in here. I wanted him to rest in peace with the rest of the family."
Connor and Shiokawa are humble about their efforts. The two men, from two countries once engaged in a bitter war, don't speak the same language. But they have the same goal -- to bring closure, answers, and a connection to the relatives of Japan's war dead, who otherwise might never have known the true fate of their loved ones.
Shiokawa opened up Connor's latest shipment. Inside were the dog tags, currency and battle flags that Connor had spread out on his kitchen table. Along with Japanese government officials, Shiokawa researched the names on the most promising flag, and was able to identify its owner as Tadao Yamada, who was killed on Iwo Jima. He set out to find one of Yamada's living relatives.
"I think bereaved families appreciate anything that could commemorate the war dead. They have a special feeling towards it," Shiokawa said.
Gesturing to the latest batch of war souvenirs, he added, "I feel like these are gifts from a tragic history."
Editor's Note: Veterans from both sides of World War II join forces to repatriate belongings taken from bodies on the battlefield. Watch CNN International's World's Untold Stories Saturday and Sunday.
Syracuse, New York (CNN) -- On the black sand beaches of Iwo Jima, 18-year-old Marty Connor stood over the body of a dead Japanese soldier. The young U.S. Marine figured it was only a matter of time before he suffered the same fate.
But he didn't dwell on it and he didn't ponder whether the enemy had a family, a hometown, or a name. Instead, he reached into the dead soldier's pack and grabbed his diary. Then he moved on to another body.
Little did he know then that this was a moment that would change his life; that he would spend 40 years reuniting such war souvenirs with surviving relatives of the dead enemy soldiers.
"A lull in the fighting, you scavenge around a little bit," said the now 85-year-old Connor at his home in upstate New York. "In the helmet, you'd find pictures of his family...so I took things like that, just stuck them in my pack."
Once the bloody 36-day battle on the remote Pacific island had ended, Connor had amassed a collection of items like Japanese bayonets, pay records and family photographs.
Picking up the personal effects of dead enemy soldiers was a common practice during World War II.
When he returned home after the war, Connor locked up his souvenirs in a trunk and rarely thought about them again.
But one phone call, a quarter-century later, would change that.
"Some of the Marines were getting back to have a reunion on the 25th anniversary of our landing," said Connor. "I had a call if I'd like to go, and I thought yes, I would like to go back."
Connor returned to Iwo Jima in 1970. On top of Mount Suribachi, he and other U.S. Marines shook hands with the Japanese veterans they had once fought against.
"They suffered, we suffered," said Connor. "We came to tell them what brave soldiers they were... and our people, our Marines, were just as brave."
The diary, photos and other items Connor had taken from Iwo Jima remained locked up at home. But one of his fellow Marines brought his souvenirs with him, and returned them to their owner's grateful and tearful family.
The emotional scene stuck with Connor. A Buddhist monk named Tsunezo Wachi explained to him the deep spiritual significance these items had for the families of the dead soldiers.
How Connor's story teaches forgiveness
As soon as Connor returned home, he opened the trunk for the first time in 25 years.
"I sent back whatever I had, and in most instances, [Wachi] found the families within two weeks after he received whatever I sent."
Among the grateful recipients of Connor's souvenirs was the widow of the soldier whose diary Connor had taken.
"I was pleased," Connor said of Wachi's efforts. "I was pleased because he brought closure to those families, and I helped out."
Connor figured that might be the end of it. But word of his efforts began spreading to other veterans, and soon, packages were arriving on his doorstep. For the last 40 years, he's made it his mission to send these spoils of war back overseas.
Association of Peace and Mourning: War souvenir repatriation or contact Marty Connor direct at mconnor5@twcny.rr.com
Recently, a new batch of souvenirs arrived at Connor's doorstep. He opened the boxes, and spread out the contents on his kitchen table: dog tags, some Japanese currency from the Philippines, and several Japanese battle flags. Among them was a very well-preserved flag picked up on Iwo Jima on February 22, 1945. Written on the flag were several Japanese names, perhaps relatives of the soldier who carried it into battle.
"We have high expectations that we'll be able to connect this with a family, hopefully of the person that was carrying this," Connor said, carefully picking up the flag.
"If we can determine that, and get it back to that family, it gives that family not only closure, but they no longer seem to have the grief that they had for not having heard for these many, many years... as to what happened to their soldier that they sent off to battle and never came back from Iwo Jima."
Connor put the items in a large envelope and shipped it to Japan.
Awaiting its arrival was Masataka Shiokawa, who stepped in to accept packages after Wachi, the Buddhist monk, passed away.
Shiokawa was only a baby when his father was killed while fighting the Americans in 1945. The only thing his family received was a small box with some stones inside -- meant to represent the remains of his father.
For Shiokawa, that wasn't enough. Years of longing for more information about what happened to his father inspired him to dedicate his life to searching for remains and artifacts, with the hope that he might one day find something that belonged to his father.
"In the beginning I was looking for my father's remains and personal effects very hard. But as I started returning things [to other families], I realized that it is not just me who is feeing this way," Shiokawa said.
When he returns something to a family member, "they get pleased as if the person actually came back. They cry and put the [item] at the family Buddhist altar and offer prayer."
At one such altar sits a white shirt, protected in a glass frame. It belonged to Sadaichi Nagamine, a Japanese soldier. But for 60 years, it sat in Marty Connor's home.
"I took it from a pack," Connor remembered. "There were three Japanese who were killed by naval gunfire and I had taken it from the backpack of one of them. And I just threw it in my knapsack and didn't think of it anymore."
Connor didn't think the shirt had any identification on it. So he never bothered sending it back, assuming its owner could never be found. Finally, in 2005, he decided on a whim to box it up with some other items. To his surprise, Shiokawa found small markings on the shirt, and was able to identify the soldier and return the shirt to his family.
"We wanted to have something to value," said the soldier's nephew, Masami Nagamine, kneeling to pray in front of the family altar. "All ancestors of the family are dedicated in here. I wanted him to rest in peace with the rest of the family."
Connor and Shiokawa are humble about their efforts. The two men, from two countries once engaged in a bitter war, don't speak the same language. But they have the same goal -- to bring closure, answers, and a connection to the relatives of Japan's war dead, who otherwise might never have known the true fate of their loved ones.
Shiokawa opened up Connor's latest shipment. Inside were the dog tags, currency and battle flags that Connor had spread out on his kitchen table. Along with Japanese government officials, Shiokawa researched the names on the most promising flag, and was able to identify its owner as Tadao Yamada, who was killed on Iwo Jima. He set out to find one of Yamada's living relatives.
"I think bereaved families appreciate anything that could commemorate the war dead. They have a special feeling towards it," Shiokawa said.
Gesturing to the latest batch of war souvenirs, he added, "I feel like these are gifts from a tragic history."
Fly a World War II bomber
SummitDaily.com: Fly a World War II bomber
World War II veteran Wayne Whitlock settles into the back of the B-17 bomber's seats — metal benches, thinly padded and covered in army green canvas. He gazes at the interior of the door, where former vets have signed their names after flying on the same plane, recalling, just like he does, their war-hero buddies.
Whitlock turned 89 a week ago. He walks with a cane, but when he first set foot on a B-17 as the Flying Fortress pilot — headed to England with the 8th Airforce, 96th Bomb Group, 337th Bomb Squadron in 1945 — he was a young man, literally swinging himself into the cockpit.
Dutch officials estimate the food drops servicemen like Whitlock made in May of 1945 from the bombers saved 2 million people from starvation; the Germans still occupied part of Holland, blocking all railroad service, and the war had destroyed docks, which the Dutch depended upon to receive food and other supplies.
Whitlock flew his B-17 as part of the Dutch “Operation Chowhound.” He recalls placing the wheels and flaps down to go as slow as possible as the plane descended to only about 100-300 feet in elevation. He needed to position the plane as low as he could because they didn't use small parachutes for the food they dropped out of the bomb bay.
Whitlock flew two missions at the tail end of the war; “being at the end of the alphabet, you get left behind in a lot of things, but in this case, that's not a bad thing,” he said about his timing of service.
He flew all over Europe with his crew of nine men.
“We were together for a very short time — some of us were only together for six months — but we remained lifetime friends,” he said, adding that of the nine, only he and his navigator are still living.
Keeping history alive
The Liberty Foundation dedicates itself to restoring and maintaining historic aircraft. It is, in fact, a flying museum.
But, it's a very expensive museum to operate: The Liberty Foundation spent $3 million to restore its B-17, and it costs the nonprofit more than $1,500,000 a year to keep the aircraft operating safely. In fact, fuel adds up to more than $4,500 an hour to fly the B-17 during public rides. As a result, the foundation charges the public $430 ($395 for Liberty Foundation members) for a half-hour flight and 15 minute introduction.
Still, it's an experience of a lifetime. The foundation's B-17 “Liberty Belle” is one of only 14 B-17s that still fly. The 8th Airforce operated the majority of the B-17s during World War II in Europe, though some flew in later missions in Korea, Israel (1948) and Vietnam. Of the 12,732 B-17s produced between 1935 and 1945, 4,735 fell due to enemy fire. The government built Liberty Belle at the end of World War II, so it never went into combat. After going through two owners, it moved to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Society in 1968, but in 1979 a tornado damaged the aircraft. In 2000, Don Brooks, whose father flew B-17s during World War II, purchased the plane and founded the Liberty Foundation to preserve the United State's aviation heritage. He painted the B-17 as the Liberty Belle in tribute to his father, who was a tail gunner, as well as to honor all veterans.
As passengers board the B-17, it's hard not to notice the inside of the door, where veterans who have flown on the plane sign their names.
“It's a chance to reconnect with vets,” said pilot Ray Fowler. “Never pass up the opportunity to thank these guys.”
As the loud engines rev up, passengers buckle their seat belts, but once the aircraft takes flight, people can walk to various crew positions including the nose, cockpit, bomb bay, radio room and waist-gunner stations. A narrow bridge leads to areas where passengers can man the guns or crawl under the cockpit to the glass-encased nose, where a circular glass window opens up views toward the Rocky Mountains and small reservoirs along the western part of the Front Range. One of the most exhilarating experiences involves “the convertible,” an open ceiling on the plane that passengers can actually stick their heads out of during flight.
“It's the ultimate history lesson,” Fowler said. “We want to get these planes flying for years so we can honor these veterans.”
Landing
Since his last mission in May 1946, Whitlock has flown only once on a B-17, 10 years ago. After the flight on Monday, Whitlock comments on the soft landing, saying, “It's a good old airplane.” He lists every man he flew with by first and last name and state from which they originated.
While flying on a B-17 can stir up some sobering thoughts about the 300,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators who died throughout the 46 months of war — and about the fact that approximately 1,500 World War II vets die each day, so firsthand accounts are quickly fading away — Whitlock prefers to joke around, saying the wind is messing up his hair and looking for a “barf bag” to take home to his friend, who has a collection of 1,600 of the little receptacles passengers dread using.
“We remember the funny things,” he said. “You start to think about the bad things, and then you get in too deep.”
World War II veteran Wayne Whitlock settles into the back of the B-17 bomber's seats — metal benches, thinly padded and covered in army green canvas. He gazes at the interior of the door, where former vets have signed their names after flying on the same plane, recalling, just like he does, their war-hero buddies.
Whitlock turned 89 a week ago. He walks with a cane, but when he first set foot on a B-17 as the Flying Fortress pilot — headed to England with the 8th Airforce, 96th Bomb Group, 337th Bomb Squadron in 1945 — he was a young man, literally swinging himself into the cockpit.
Dutch officials estimate the food drops servicemen like Whitlock made in May of 1945 from the bombers saved 2 million people from starvation; the Germans still occupied part of Holland, blocking all railroad service, and the war had destroyed docks, which the Dutch depended upon to receive food and other supplies.
Whitlock flew his B-17 as part of the Dutch “Operation Chowhound.” He recalls placing the wheels and flaps down to go as slow as possible as the plane descended to only about 100-300 feet in elevation. He needed to position the plane as low as he could because they didn't use small parachutes for the food they dropped out of the bomb bay.
Whitlock flew two missions at the tail end of the war; “being at the end of the alphabet, you get left behind in a lot of things, but in this case, that's not a bad thing,” he said about his timing of service.
He flew all over Europe with his crew of nine men.
“We were together for a very short time — some of us were only together for six months — but we remained lifetime friends,” he said, adding that of the nine, only he and his navigator are still living.
Keeping history alive
The Liberty Foundation dedicates itself to restoring and maintaining historic aircraft. It is, in fact, a flying museum.
But, it's a very expensive museum to operate: The Liberty Foundation spent $3 million to restore its B-17, and it costs the nonprofit more than $1,500,000 a year to keep the aircraft operating safely. In fact, fuel adds up to more than $4,500 an hour to fly the B-17 during public rides. As a result, the foundation charges the public $430 ($395 for Liberty Foundation members) for a half-hour flight and 15 minute introduction.
Still, it's an experience of a lifetime. The foundation's B-17 “Liberty Belle” is one of only 14 B-17s that still fly. The 8th Airforce operated the majority of the B-17s during World War II in Europe, though some flew in later missions in Korea, Israel (1948) and Vietnam. Of the 12,732 B-17s produced between 1935 and 1945, 4,735 fell due to enemy fire. The government built Liberty Belle at the end of World War II, so it never went into combat. After going through two owners, it moved to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Society in 1968, but in 1979 a tornado damaged the aircraft. In 2000, Don Brooks, whose father flew B-17s during World War II, purchased the plane and founded the Liberty Foundation to preserve the United State's aviation heritage. He painted the B-17 as the Liberty Belle in tribute to his father, who was a tail gunner, as well as to honor all veterans.
As passengers board the B-17, it's hard not to notice the inside of the door, where veterans who have flown on the plane sign their names.
“It's a chance to reconnect with vets,” said pilot Ray Fowler. “Never pass up the opportunity to thank these guys.”
As the loud engines rev up, passengers buckle their seat belts, but once the aircraft takes flight, people can walk to various crew positions including the nose, cockpit, bomb bay, radio room and waist-gunner stations. A narrow bridge leads to areas where passengers can man the guns or crawl under the cockpit to the glass-encased nose, where a circular glass window opens up views toward the Rocky Mountains and small reservoirs along the western part of the Front Range. One of the most exhilarating experiences involves “the convertible,” an open ceiling on the plane that passengers can actually stick their heads out of during flight.
“It's the ultimate history lesson,” Fowler said. “We want to get these planes flying for years so we can honor these veterans.”
Landing
Since his last mission in May 1946, Whitlock has flown only once on a B-17, 10 years ago. After the flight on Monday, Whitlock comments on the soft landing, saying, “It's a good old airplane.” He lists every man he flew with by first and last name and state from which they originated.
While flying on a B-17 can stir up some sobering thoughts about the 300,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators who died throughout the 46 months of war — and about the fact that approximately 1,500 World War II vets die each day, so firsthand accounts are quickly fading away — Whitlock prefers to joke around, saying the wind is messing up his hair and looking for a “barf bag” to take home to his friend, who has a collection of 1,600 of the little receptacles passengers dread using.
“We remember the funny things,” he said. “You start to think about the bad things, and then you get in too deep.”
The Lost Squadron, by David Hayes
The Lost Squadron: A Fleet of Warplanes Locked in Ice for Fifty Years, a true story by David Hayes
Chartwell Books/Madison Press Book, Text 1994, book 2007
Oversize, 207 pages, plus acknowledgments, Picture and illustration credits, Bibliography and index. Several b&w and color photos scattered throughout book.
Library: 940.544973 HAY
Description
Pat Epps pointed downward at theglittering white icefields of southern Greenland. In August of 1980, after a week of buzzing around the Arctic in a single-engine plane, Epps and his friend Richard Taylor were flying home. The night before, in a bar at a remote airstrip, the talk turned to the legendary Lost Squadron. This squadron, so the story ran, was on a World WAr II mission when it ditched in Greenland in 1942. The crews had been rescued but but their brand-new warplanes were left on the icecap. Someone said they had been seen as recently as the sixties.
Epps and Taylor were intrigued. They returned to their jobs and families in Atlanta smitten with the allure of the Arctic and the notion that an intact squadron of World War II planes could be found there. For the next twelve years, this fascination would lead Epps and Taylor into an extraordinary adventure that would prove more challenging than either of them could have dreamed possible.
On July 15, 1942, a squadron of six P-38 Lightnings and two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers was flying from Greenland to Iceland when they ran into an Arctic blizzard. As conditions deteriorated, they decided to turn back, only to discover that the base was socked in. Running desperately low on fuel, the two bombers and six fighter planes crash-landed on the ice cap in the largest forced landing in history.
In August of 1981, almost forty years after the aircraft were abandoned, Patt Epps, Richard Taylor and two associates arrived at the site with winter camping gear and two magnetometers. Unable to locate the planes, they concluded that Greenland's winters had buried them in perhaps as much as forty feet of snow.
Many expeditions were to follow, with friends and family recruited as volunteers. It wasn't until 1988 with the help of subsurface radar, that they managed to locate the eight large objects beneath the ice. But a steam probe confirmed what they feared to hear. The planes lay 260 feet down - the equivalent of a 25 story building. And no machine in existence was capable of digging hundreds of feet into solid ice to retrieve a ten-ton plane with a fifty-two foot wingspan.
How a determined group of people overcame astonishing odds to finally rescue one of the P-38s of the Lost Squadron and bring it home to fly the skies again is a compelling modern adventure story. Here, it is grippingly told and lavishly illustrated with hundreds of fascinating photographs, paintings and diagrams.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Part One: The Legend
1. Squadron Down
Part Two: The Search
2. You haven't failed until you quit
3. Here lies Big Stoop
Part Three: The Recovery
4. Tar Baby
5. Dreamers of the Day
Epilogue
Appendix
Thursday, May 12, 2011
1940 Chronology: 12 May
Western Front
The Belgians reinforce their position on the line of the Dyle.
The French 7th Army, which has entered the Netherlands, is ordered to evacuate Breda and fall back on the Schelde.
French troops dig in on the left bank of the Meuse after abandoning the right flank to the enemy.
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
The Belgians reinforce their position on the line of the Dyle.
The French 7th Army, which has entered the Netherlands, is ordered to evacuate Breda and fall back on the Schelde.
French troops dig in on the left bank of the Meuse after abandoning the right flank to the enemy.
___________
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Sobibor victim's niece 'relieved' at Demjanjuk verdict
CNNWorld: Sobibor victim's niece 'relieved' at Demjanjuk verdict
(CNN) -- The niece of one of tens of thousands of Jews killed in the extermination camp where John Demjanjuk worked as a guard has spoken of her relief at his conviction for war crimes.
Helen Hyde's aunt, Helen Neuhaus, died alongside her young son and her husband at Sobibor in Poland in May 1943.
"I've spent most of my life, my thinking life, being haunted by my aunt. My name is Helen, her name was Helen; her nickname was Hel, my nickname is Hel.
"Everything about me is associated with her, but nobody would talk to me about it at home, my father certainly wouldn't, so over the years I've had to glean all this information for myself."
Hyde, 63, head teacher at Watford Grammar School for Girls, near London, England, was in court in Munich, southern Germany, on Thursday to see Demjanjuk, 91, found guilty of aiding and abetting the murder of almost 30,000 Jews.
Demjanjuk guilty of Nazi war crimes
2009: Demjanjuk's son speaks out "All my life I've been haunted by this, so I needed to be there: For myself, for her, for those that couldn't be there, for my father," she told CNN.
Demjanjuk, who moved to the U.S. after World War II, raised a family and worked in the auto industry in Ohio, had denied the charges. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but released pending an appeal.
Hyde said the the length of the jail term handed down by the court was irrelevant.
"The maximum he could have received was 15 years, because of age and sickness, but actually for me it's not the number of years he was given -- that wasn't important -- for me it was the fact he was found guilty of aiding and abetting mass murder at Sobibor.
"It's the principle: If you commit a crime or are involved in a crime, it doesn't matter how old you are, you must accept responsibility and the consequences of your actions. That was really the most important thing for me."
Hyde said Demjanjuk refused to comment when asked if he wanted to speak, and did not show any emotion as the verdict was delivered.
"He didn't react, I was watching him, he didn't react at all," she told CNN.
"I suppose I would have liked him to say 'I was in Sobibor' and explain he was following orders or whatever his solicitors have been saying, but it doesn't make any difference to me now. He's been found guilty."
Her aunt, Helen Neuhaus, uncle Justin Neuhaus and cousin Peter, aged just four -- all originally from Germany -- were seized by the Nazis in Amsterdam and transported to Sobibor, where they were killed within weeks of each other.
A second child, Judith, who was born while the family was in hiding, was smuggled to safety by the Dutch underground. She survived the war, grew up in Switzerland and now lives in Israel.
Hyde attended several days of hearings at the beginning and conclusion of the case, and praised the work of the court, which has been outlining the evidence against Demjanjuk for the past 18 months.
"They did it in such great detail and ensured that there were no mistakes, and that nobody was victimised, care was taken, both for Demjanjuk and for the plaintiffs."
But she said details of the horrors committed at Sobibor had been difficult to listen to.
"It saddens me so much that any human being could do that to anybody -- to women, children, old people. They knew they were doing wrong, they knew they were committing crimes, but I suppose they thought they would get away with it.
"It's been awful. When you hear in German something like 'Vernichtungslager' [extermination camp], and then very soon after you hear the name of your family it is a shock to the system, but I am glad I was there, I am very, very glad I was there."
(CNN) -- The niece of one of tens of thousands of Jews killed in the extermination camp where John Demjanjuk worked as a guard has spoken of her relief at his conviction for war crimes.
Helen Hyde's aunt, Helen Neuhaus, died alongside her young son and her husband at Sobibor in Poland in May 1943.
"I've spent most of my life, my thinking life, being haunted by my aunt. My name is Helen, her name was Helen; her nickname was Hel, my nickname is Hel.
"Everything about me is associated with her, but nobody would talk to me about it at home, my father certainly wouldn't, so over the years I've had to glean all this information for myself."
Hyde, 63, head teacher at Watford Grammar School for Girls, near London, England, was in court in Munich, southern Germany, on Thursday to see Demjanjuk, 91, found guilty of aiding and abetting the murder of almost 30,000 Jews.
Demjanjuk guilty of Nazi war crimes
2009: Demjanjuk's son speaks out "All my life I've been haunted by this, so I needed to be there: For myself, for her, for those that couldn't be there, for my father," she told CNN.
Demjanjuk, who moved to the U.S. after World War II, raised a family and worked in the auto industry in Ohio, had denied the charges. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but released pending an appeal.
Hyde said the the length of the jail term handed down by the court was irrelevant.
"The maximum he could have received was 15 years, because of age and sickness, but actually for me it's not the number of years he was given -- that wasn't important -- for me it was the fact he was found guilty of aiding and abetting mass murder at Sobibor.
"It's the principle: If you commit a crime or are involved in a crime, it doesn't matter how old you are, you must accept responsibility and the consequences of your actions. That was really the most important thing for me."
Hyde said Demjanjuk refused to comment when asked if he wanted to speak, and did not show any emotion as the verdict was delivered.
"He didn't react, I was watching him, he didn't react at all," she told CNN.
"I suppose I would have liked him to say 'I was in Sobibor' and explain he was following orders or whatever his solicitors have been saying, but it doesn't make any difference to me now. He's been found guilty."
Her aunt, Helen Neuhaus, uncle Justin Neuhaus and cousin Peter, aged just four -- all originally from Germany -- were seized by the Nazis in Amsterdam and transported to Sobibor, where they were killed within weeks of each other.
A second child, Judith, who was born while the family was in hiding, was smuggled to safety by the Dutch underground. She survived the war, grew up in Switzerland and now lives in Israel.
Hyde attended several days of hearings at the beginning and conclusion of the case, and praised the work of the court, which has been outlining the evidence against Demjanjuk for the past 18 months.
"They did it in such great detail and ensured that there were no mistakes, and that nobody was victimised, care was taken, both for Demjanjuk and for the plaintiffs."
But she said details of the horrors committed at Sobibor had been difficult to listen to.
"It saddens me so much that any human being could do that to anybody -- to women, children, old people. They knew they were doing wrong, they knew they were committing crimes, but I suppose they thought they would get away with it.
"It's been awful. When you hear in German something like 'Vernichtungslager' [extermination camp], and then very soon after you hear the name of your family it is a shock to the system, but I am glad I was there, I am very, very glad I was there."
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
1940 Chronology: 11 May
WESTERN FRONT
The GErmans employ parachutists and airborne formations to take the BElgian fortress of Eben Emael (which had been thought impregnable) and surround Liege.
Heavy bombing raids are carried out on many Belgian towns.
Three divisions of the British Expeditionary Force take up defensive positions on the left bank of the River Dyle between Wavre and Louvain.
Churchill authorizes Bomber Command to carry out raids on Germany.
The GErmans employ parachutists and airborne formations to take the BElgian fortress of Eben Emael (which had been thought impregnable) and surround Liege.
Heavy bombing raids are carried out on many Belgian towns.
Three divisions of the British Expeditionary Force take up defensive positions on the left bank of the River Dyle between Wavre and Louvain.
Churchill authorizes Bomber Command to carry out raids on Germany.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
1940 Chronology: 10 May
WESTERN FRONT
At 5.35 am, German airborne troops land on the bridges at Rotterdam, Dordrecht and Moerdijk in Holland and more parachutists drop on the fortress of Eben Emael, the key to the defense of Liege in Belgium, and the German armies of Army Groups A and B cross the frontiers of Belgium, Holland and Luxemborg.
7:30 am, Advance troops of the French 7th Army and the British Expeditionary Force enter Belgium. According to the Anglo-French plan, the "Dyle Plan," it would be possible to contain any GErman attack by basing the degense on Belgium and pivoting with the right flank on Sedan and the Ardennes plateau. That was the reason for the immediate advance into Belgian territory. However, the "Dyle Plan" did not foresee that the GErmans would attack across the Ardennes plateau, which was thought to be impassable, though just such an attack was key to von Manstein's Operation Sickle. By attacking in force in the Netherlands, the GErmans draw the Allies off to the northeast, breach their line on the Ardennes and quickly reach the sea near Calais. The Allied pivot at Sedan is thus destroyed at a blow, and the outcome is disasterous for the French and the British.
Neville Chamberlain resigns, and Winston Churchill forms a coalition government.
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Camera At Sea 1939-1945, Edited by staff of Warship
Camera At Sea 1939-1945, Edited by the staff of Warship
Naval Institute Press, 1978
Oversize, 192 pages, photos and captions on every page.
Library: 940.545 CAM
Description
Camera at Sea is a unique collection of the very best photography of the Second World War at sea. Gathered from official, commercial, and private sources, many of the photos have never been published, and of those which have, few have been since the war.
The collection touches upon all aspects of the naval conflict - rare photos of ships, close-upd of weapons and equipment, dramatic action shots, as well as the human side of the story. But the emphasis is on the quality of the photographs, which are chosen as much for their clairity as for their historical merit.
All illustrations are reproduced large, and to further enhance their value a detailed text has been prepared to accompany each photo. Written by a team of internationally famous authorities, the captions point out salient features and place the photographs in the wider context of the war.
Table of Contents
1. Warships
-Aircraft carriers
-Battleships
-Cruisers
-Destroyers
-Smaller ships
2. Weapons and Equipment
3. Personnel
4. Navies in Exile
-France
-Netherlands
-Poland
5. Colour section
6. Naval Air Power
-The Atlantic and Mediterranean
-The Pacific
7. Operations
-The Atlantic
-The Mediterranean
-Convoys
-U-boats
-The Pacific
-Kamikaze
8. Victory
-German surrender
-Masters of the Pacific
-VJ Day
-Aftermath
-Homecoming
Plenty of naval men in every section of the photos, none of them identified.
Monday, May 9, 2011
1940 Chronology: 9 May
The OKW (German High Command) issues the orders for their armies to attack the next morning.
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Sunday, May 8, 2011
1940 Chronology: 8 May
The Belgiam ambassador in Berlin, Jacques Davignon, reports that the Germans are drafting an ultimatum for the Belgian government.
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Hunting Warbirds, by Carl Hoffman
Hunting Warbirds: The Obsessive Quest for the Lost Aircraft of World War II, by Carl Hoffman
Ballantine Books, 2001
241 pages. No index. 16 pages of b&w photos.
Library: 623.746 HOF
Description
"Winged treasure" they call them-the lost remains of the great American fighter planes and bombers that won World War II. Hellcats and Supperfortresses, Corsairs and Dauntlesses. Produced by the thousands at the height of the war, and then cast off as scrap in the decades that followed, these warbirds are now worth literally anything-fortunes,families, even lives-to the peoplewho search for them. Like many men, writer Carl Hoffman was bitten by the warbird bug as a child. But he never imagined that he would one day witness and participate in a heroic adventure himself-the most audacious warbird rescue attempt of all time.
The crash of the Kee Bird B-29 Superfortress made banner headlines in 1947 when a team of Air Force pilots pulled off the near-miraculous feat of locating the wreck in Greenland and snatching its stranded crew from the teeth of the arctic winter.
For nearly half a century, the almost perfectly intact warbird lay abandoned on a lake of ice-but not forgotten. Fifty years later, with collectors paying upward of a million dollars for salvageable WWII planes, two intense fanatics, legendary test pilot Darryl Greenamyer and starry-eyed salvage wizard Gary Larkins, hatched the insane idea of launching an expedition to Greenland to find the Kee Bird, bring it back to life, and fly it out.
In this riveting adventure of man, machine and history, the quest for winged treasure ultimately extends far beyond the search for the Kee Bird. Hoffman literally crisscrosses the country to track down the key players in the high-stakes warbird game.
He meets a retired Midwestern carpenter who crammed every inch of his yard with now-precious warbirds during the lean years when they were considered junk; attends an air show where crowds go wild at the sight of four of the fourteen airworthy B-17s flying in formation, speaks to pilots and mechanics, millionaire businessmen and penniless kids-all of them ready to drop everything in pursuit of these fabled planes.
"These planes are a sickness, that's all there is to it," one warbird fan tells Hoffma as he lovingly polishes his vintage B-17. In this superbly crafted narrative, Hoffman turns the warbird craze into the stuff of high drama and awesome adventure. Hunting Warbirds takes us to the heart of one of the most fascinating obsessions of our time.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
1940 Chronology: 7 May
In a debate in the House of Commons, Neville Chamberlain makes a statement on Norway. The government is supported by 281 votes to 200, a sufficient opposition to make Chamberlain's resignation inevitable.
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
Quotes: General "Hap" Arnold
"As a nation we were not prepared for World War II. Yes, we won the war, but at a terrific cost in lives, human suffering, and material, and at times the margin was narrow. History alone can reveal how many turning points there were, how many times we were near losing, and how our enemies' mistakes often pulled us through. In the flush of victory, some like to forget unpalatable truths.."
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, the only Air Force general to hold five-star rank, and the only person to hold a five-star rank in two different U.S. military services.
Instructed in flying by the Wright Brothers, Arnold was one of the first military pilots worldwide, and the second rated pilot in the history of the United States Air Force. He overcame a fear of flying that resulted from his experiences with early flight, supervised the expansion of the Air Service during World War I, and became a protégé of Gen. Billy Mitchell.
He rose to command the Army Air Forces immediately prior to U.S. entry into World War II and directed its expansion into the largest and most powerful Air Force in the world. An advocate of technological research and development, Arnold's tenure saw the development of the intercontinental bomber, the jet fighter, the extensive use of radar, global airlift and atomic warfare as mainstays of modern air power.
Arnold's primary nickname, "Hap," was apparently short for "Happy," attributed variously to work associates when he moonlighted as a stunt pilot or to his wife, but he was called Harley by his family during his youth, and "Sunny" by his mother. He was known to his West Point classmates as "Pewt" or "Benny". To his immediate subordinates and headquarters staff he was referred to as "The Chief."
____________
"Preparation,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
1940 Chronology: 5 May
Norway
The GErmans advance north from Trondheim.
Norwegian Ministers arive in London.
The GErmans advance north from Trondheim.
Norwegian Ministers arive in London.
Quotes: George Patton
"Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforseeable and the unpredictable."
George Smith Patton, Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.
____________
"Preparation,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.
George Smith Patton, Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.
____________
"Preparation,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Greatest Stories of World War II on Land, edited by Robin Cross
Greatest Stories of World War II on Land, edited by Robin Cross
Castle Books, 1994
244 pages, no index, no photos
Originally published in England as True Stories of WWII.
Library: 940.53 GRE
Description
In World War II, mighty political and technical forces were harnessed but, at the end of the day, victory was secured and defeat suffered by the soldiers on the ground. Gathered here are their own stories in their own words-eyewitness accounts of the experience of battle.
These stories bear testimony to the many faces of soldiering in the greatest conflict in human history. The reality of war with its strange combination of tedium, tension and terror is vividly evoked from sniping duels in the ruins of Stalingrad to the bitter battles fought for specks in the Pacific Ocean and the clash of armor in Normandy.
The sights and sounds of war are described by those who fought on Crete, in the Western Desert, in the Pacific and at Arnhem. There is heroism under fire, the grim humor of endurance, the exhilaration of victory and the despair of defeat.
From generals to GIs, these are the true voices of men at war.
True sea stories and true air stories of World War II will be published in 1995.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Dunkirk to Wake Island
2. From Dieppe to Prokhorovvka
3. The Struggle for Italy
4. War in the Pacific
5. A Foothold in Europe
6. The Road to Victory
Castle Books, 1994
244 pages, no index, no photos
Originally published in England as True Stories of WWII.
Library: 940.53 GRE
Description
In World War II, mighty political and technical forces were harnessed but, at the end of the day, victory was secured and defeat suffered by the soldiers on the ground. Gathered here are their own stories in their own words-eyewitness accounts of the experience of battle.
These stories bear testimony to the many faces of soldiering in the greatest conflict in human history. The reality of war with its strange combination of tedium, tension and terror is vividly evoked from sniping duels in the ruins of Stalingrad to the bitter battles fought for specks in the Pacific Ocean and the clash of armor in Normandy.
The sights and sounds of war are described by those who fought on Crete, in the Western Desert, in the Pacific and at Arnhem. There is heroism under fire, the grim humor of endurance, the exhilaration of victory and the despair of defeat.
From generals to GIs, these are the true voices of men at war.
True sea stories and true air stories of World War II will be published in 1995.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Dunkirk to Wake Island
2. From Dieppe to Prokhorovvka
3. The Struggle for Italy
4. War in the Pacific
5. A Foothold in Europe
6. The Road to Victory
Quotes: Dwight Eisesnhower
"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961, and the last to be born in the 19th century. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45, from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
A Republican, Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race to counter the non-interventionism of Sen. Robert A. Taft, and to crusade against "Communism, Korea and corruption". He won by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition holding the White House. As President, Eisenhower concluded negotiations with China to end the Korean War.
His New Look, a policy of nuclear deterrence, gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for the other military forces to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits at the same time. He began NASA to compete against the Soviet Union in the space race. His intervention during the Suez Crisis was later acknowledged by Eisenhower himself as his greatest foreign policy mistake. Near the end of his term, the Eisenhower Administration was embarrassed by the U-2 incident and was planning the Bay of Pigs invasion.
On the domestic front, he covertly helped remove Joseph McCarthy from power but otherwise left most political actions to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. He was a moderate conservative who continued the New Deal policies, and in fact enlarged the scope of Social Security, and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Though passive on civil rights at first, he sent federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling to desegregate schools. He was the first term-limited president in accordance with the 22nd Amendment.
Eisenhower's two terms were mainly peaceful, and generally prosperous except for a sharp economic recession in 1958–59. Although public approval for his administration was comparatively low by the end of his term, his reputation improved over time and in recent surveys of historians, Eisenhower is often ranked as one of the top ten U.S. Presidents.
____________
"Preparation,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961, and the last to be born in the 19th century. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45, from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
A Republican, Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race to counter the non-interventionism of Sen. Robert A. Taft, and to crusade against "Communism, Korea and corruption". He won by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition holding the White House. As President, Eisenhower concluded negotiations with China to end the Korean War.
His New Look, a policy of nuclear deterrence, gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for the other military forces to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits at the same time. He began NASA to compete against the Soviet Union in the space race. His intervention during the Suez Crisis was later acknowledged by Eisenhower himself as his greatest foreign policy mistake. Near the end of his term, the Eisenhower Administration was embarrassed by the U-2 incident and was planning the Bay of Pigs invasion.
On the domestic front, he covertly helped remove Joseph McCarthy from power but otherwise left most political actions to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. He was a moderate conservative who continued the New Deal policies, and in fact enlarged the scope of Social Security, and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Though passive on civil rights at first, he sent federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling to desegregate schools. He was the first term-limited president in accordance with the 22nd Amendment.
Eisenhower's two terms were mainly peaceful, and generally prosperous except for a sharp economic recession in 1958–59. Although public approval for his administration was comparatively low by the end of his term, his reputation improved over time and in recent surveys of historians, Eisenhower is often ranked as one of the top ten U.S. Presidents.
____________
"Preparation,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Quotes: Winston Churchill
"We have never been likely to get into trouble by having an extra thousand or two up-to-date airplanes at our disposal. As the man whose mother-in-law had died in Brazil replied, when asked d how the remains should be disposed of, "Embalm, cremate, bury. Take no risks."
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. To date, he is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.
____________
"Preparation,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. To date, he is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.
____________
"Preparation,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.
Monday, May 2, 2011
The Ultra Secret, by F.W. Winterbotham
The Ultra Secret: The first account of the most astounding cryptoanalysis coup of World War II-how the British broke the German code and read most of hte signals between Hitler and his generals throughout the war, by F. W. Winterbotham
Harper & Row, 1974
191 pages plus index. No photos
Library: 940.548 WIN
Description
In 1939, just before the outbreak from World War II, British intelligence achieved, with the help of a Polish defector and the Polish Secret Service, an astounding cryptanalysis coup which enabled them to obtain a precise copy of the highly secret and complex German coding machine known as Enigma. After months of intensive effort by a team of Britain's top mathematicians and cryptanalysts, the supposedly unbreakable Enigma system was solved with the aid of another highly sophisticated machine. and the top-grade intercepted German signals were available to the Allied commanders. This special Intelligence was code-named Ultra.
During the fall of France and the Battle of Britain in the summer and fall of 1940, throughout the U-boat war, the North African and Italian campaigns, and the Allied invasion of France, the British were intercepting and decoding most of the secret wireless messages to and from Hitler and his generals.
As a result, with the exception of the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1945, when Hitler decreed radio silence, Allied leaders knew virtually all German intentions before they were carried out, and in some cases Allied leaders were reading Hitler's orders before German generals in the field received them.
This amazing fact has been kept under the strictest secrecy, on security grounds, for 35 years. Now, for the first time, the full story can be told: how Ultra occured; how it functioned; the secrets it revealed; and how its existence was kept from the GErmans.
Group Captain F. W. Winterbotham of the RAF was in charge of the security and dissemination of this highly secret information-which Churchill called "My most secret source". His firsthand account of this remarkable Intelligence coup is one of the most important stories of the war.
Table of Contents
Foreword
1. Introduction
2. Science to the rescue: The Birth of Ultra
3. The Plan
4. The Battle of France
5. Interlude
6. The Battle of Britain
7. Operation Sea Lion
8. The African Campaign
9. Alamein
10. Naval Affairs and Briefing the Americas
11. "Torch"
12. "Husky"
13. "Avalance"
14. Preparation for "Overlord"
15. The Battle of Normandy
16. Hitler's Miracles
17. The Beginning of the End
18. Arnhem
19. The Japanese War
20. Hitler's Ardennes Offensive
21. Gotterfammerung
22. Conclusion
Index
Sunday, May 1, 2011
1940 Chronology: 1 May
Norway
The Germans announce the surrender of 4,000 Norwegians in the Lillehammer sector.
USA
President Roosevelt sends a personal message to Mussolini strongly urging him not to enter the war.
Switzerland
The French military attache in Berne sends a report to Paris: the Germans will open a major offensive between 8 and 10 May with the main thrust toward Sedan.
The Germans announce the surrender of 4,000 Norwegians in the Lillehammer sector.
USA
President Roosevelt sends a personal message to Mussolini strongly urging him not to enter the war.
Switzerland
The French military attache in Berne sends a report to Paris: the Germans will open a major offensive between 8 and 10 May with the main thrust toward Sedan.
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