Posted on 06/24/2013 4:49:45 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/jun1943/f24jun43.htm
American reinforcements for Woodlark
Thursday, June 24, 1943 www.onwar.com
US supplies and support arrive on the island of Woodlark [photo at link]
In New Guinea... American landings on Woodlark Island continue.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
June 24th, 1943 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: Lancasters of No. 5 Group Bomber Command have returned to base after a remarkable mission which took them to the shores of Lake Constance to bomb the Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen on the night of 20-21 June, then to Bilda, in Algeria from whence, after a day’s rest, almost all of the original force of 60 went on to attack the Italian naval base at La Spezia on the way home. Eight remained in Algeria awaiting repair.
The specially-picked crews carried out Operation Bellicose perfectly, doing great damage to the Zeppelin works which now build Wurzburg ground-based radars.
Stangely enough, the German fighters did not put in an appearance, despite a brilliant moon. It can only be assumed that they planned to ambush the bombers on their long flight home. But the Lancasters flew on to Bilda without loss.
Among the special tactics developed for the attack on Friedrichshafen is that of “offset” marking, which entails the Pathfinder aircraft putting down their guides at a set distance from the target so that they are not obscured by smoke.
This tactic worked well on the German target, but La Spezia had to be bombed blind as its defenders covered the harbour with a dense smokescreen. “Shuttle” bombing is an interesting development and certainly confuses the enemy’s defences, but it is unlikely to be used regularly because of the difficulties of servicing Lancasters in North Africa.
Sloop HMS Redpole commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
ITALY: 2nd Lt. Louis Curdes, USAAF, 82nd FG, 95th FS shoots down an Italian Mc.202 over Golfo Aranci, Sardinia. (Stuart Kohn)
NORTH AFRICA: King George VI of Great Britain and Ireland has been touring North Africa for the past 12 days. The tour will end tomorrow. (Glenn Steinberg)
JAPAN: Tokyo: Subhas Chandra Bose broadcasts an appeal for Indians to rise up against the British.
SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC: US Marines land on Woodlark Island.
AUSTRALIA: Canberra: The Australian Federal parliament is to be dissolved and a general election will take place in August. The decision to go to the people follows a no-confidence motion in the House of Representatives which was defeated by one vote yesterday. Having denounced the government for failing to reach a national agreement, the opposition now faces the task of defeating the government that will stand on its record in a national crisis. Before deciding on the election John Curtin, the prime minister, has said that the defensive phase of the war was over, and that Australia “could be held as a base from which to launch both limited and major offensives.”
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Operation KE-TO (Phase I), the attempted evacuation of all Japanese personnel on Kiska Island, Aleutian Islands by submarine, is ended. The Japanese submarines were not equipped with radar and they suffered heavy losses to American warships and accidents in the fog.
The weather finally breaks after two weeks of adverse conditions. Sixteen Eleventh Air Force bombers fly armed reconnaissance over Kiska while two bombers attack ground targets. The USN also dispatches three flights of PV-1 Venturas to bomb the island. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Sault Ste Marie commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: Morton Air Academy, Blythe, California. Chuck Baisden solos from his class of 43K, flying a Ryan PT-22. Dual control. 1:42 solo : 30 min. “My own recollection was. “How the hell am I going to land this thing by myself”? and was elated to find I could.”. (Chuck Baisden)
Submarine USS Caiman laid down.
Minesweeper USS Reform laid down.
Frigate USS Van Buren laid down.
Submarine USS Crevalle commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-119 (Type XB) is sunk in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, at position 44.59N, 12.24W by ramming and depth charges from the British sloop HMS Starling ( CO was the famous Commander Walker RN). 57 dead (all hands lost).
U-194 (Type IXC/40) is sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Iceland at position 59.00N, 26.18W by a homing torpedo from an American Catalina aircraft (VP-84/G). 54 dead (all crew lost).
Previously it had been recorded that U-194 was sunk south of Iceland, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/H). This attack, however, resulted in the sinking of U-200.
U-200 (Type IXD2) is sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 58.15N, 25.25W, by 2 depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/H). 67 dead (all crew lost). The dead included 7 members from the German special force “Brandenburg” unit.
U-449 (Type VIIC) is sunk at 1600hrs on 24 June, 1943 in the North Atlantic, northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, at position 45.00N, 11.59W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Wren, Woodpecker, Kite and Wild Goose. 49 dead (all crew lost).
(Alex Gordon)
A number of years back, I did a google search of my grandfathers who were both born in the mid 1890s. I was connected to ancestry.com where I got some freebees... I was surprised to see that their names were registered with Selective Service. I thought, that cant be....they do not draft guys their age. But now I see the reason. my dad and uncles, all in their 20s were either inducted, or like dad, joined up. Granpas were both in non defense industries, so this was a non issue for either of them.
My grandfather was well into his 40’s when he got drafted late in the war. They sent him off so serve as a guard at a POW camp. Sort of our answer to Sgt. Schultz.
"Transition to life inside a Nazi concentration camp was a jarring and disorienting experience.
From the moment one entered the Lager, life's every routine had to be renegotiated. Failure to adapt was lethal.
"Deprived of food, water, and sanitary facilities for days on end, new arrivals were momentarily relieved when the doors to their rail wagons were thrown open and they were ordered to disembark.
Their relief, however, was short-lived.
"At some camps, SS officers dressed in crisply pressed black uniforms ordered new arrivals to move left or right, toward life or death.
Guards welcomed prisoners with blows from their rifle butts and truncheons, while emaciated figures in striped uniforms herded the new prisoners to their destinations.
"Once inside the camp, new arrivals were shaved, tattooed (in some camps), and discarded into a completely alien environment.
To survive, prisoners had to forget that they had ever lived in a civilized society, and learn the ways of the Lager.
They had to move with the crowd, avoid being singled out, and, whenever possible, secure an extra ration of food.
Inmates had precious little time to learn the routines of their new surroundings.
Within days they were transformed from human beings to nameless victims of the Nazi regime "
Read all about it in:
WW2 was fought to the end...we gave the axis an ultimatum, unconditional surrender, and we bombed them ‘back to the stone age’, as Curtis Lemay would have said. It ended....we WON. Japan and Germany were in ruin...(as was much of Europe and Asia )
Korea, Vietnam, the 1st and 2nd gulf wars/Afghanistan?
seems we fought them,just to fight them. No end point, not sure who the enemy is...now under the current occupant of the White Hut, we appear to be switching allegiances. The Taliban and al Qaeda are being courted by the _resident and his actions in Libya (before during and after 9/11/12) prove we are in a world of hurt where. We may lose Israel.
the reason most of the vets in Vietnam were volunteers was probably because many people of draft age saw the writing on the wall and found a way around a war not being fought to an end...fought to WIN.
I wouldn’t suggest to anyone to join the military at this point in time...not with the White Hut running things.
My uncle was drafted when he was 44 in WW2.
If I understand some past news correctly voluntary enlistment ended in 1942 when McNutt became the manpower czar for the whole country. All work assignments related to the war were decided by McNutt's office, whether in industry or the military. I am a little skeptical about whether this plan was carried out in practice but if so then that would explain, in part, the proportion of draftees to volunteers.
Regarding Viet Nam, there are also a number of revisionists who falsely claim that that war was fought entirely by reluctant draftees who were disproportinately minorities. That was not the case.
If I understand correctly, the military is downsizing and so its need for new recruits is less than before.
That means they will need to accept only the best of the volunteers, and those after four years will be in positions of leadership when the next Republican administration takes office.
Just like anything else, the best time to "buy" is when a market is down.
So I'd say this is a great time for a young person to join the military -- if they're good enough to make it... ;-)
I am not confident we will get a non Marxist regime in 2016.
I do not want zer0 to have the best.
The past few years zer0 has found was to remove our best general officers and often in embarrassing, humiliating ways.
During Vietnam the recruiter’s ploy was to say: join for 3 years and pick what you want to do. If we draft you, we will put a rifle in your hands and send you to Vietnam. So, many volunteered to stay out of the rice paddies and jungle. When I got to Vietnam in Jan of 1970, in a Brigade of 5000 men, only about 20% operated as Infantry. All others were support.
The 120 mm Gun M1 was the United States Army’s standard super-heavy anti-aircraft gun, complementing the smaller and more mobile 90 mm M2 in service. Its maximum altitude was about 60,000 ft (18,000 m), which garnered it the nickname the stratosphere gun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/120_mm_M1_gun
http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=446
not used in ww2 but for coastal defense until 1954.
And a little info on the bazooka mentioned:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_bazooka
Test question. Why did the GI’s call it bazooka?
The article says the troops named it bazooka because of its appearance. That doesn't make sense to me. I would have guessed it was because of the sound of the rocket taking off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazooka_(instrument)
Apparently a bazooka was a common concept in the 30’s. I’ve never seen one and couldn’t find a picture.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.