Posted on 06/27/2013 5:25:49 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
The News of the Week in Review
Twenty News Questions – 12
Ten Focal Points in the War of the World (map) – 13
Trend Toward Victory is Visible in All Theatres of the Global War (Baldwin) – 14-15
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 15
The Greatest Air Assault in History (map) – 16
The New York Times Magazine
Mammoth Cave, Washington, D.C. (by Sidney Shalett) – 17-21
* But MacArthur is a strong third.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/jun1943/f27jun43.htm
Americans advance on New Georgia
Sunday, June 27, 1943 www.onwar.com
Anti-aircraft position at Segi Point, New Georgia [photo at link]
In the Solomon Islands.. On New Georgia, the marines are ferried farther up the coast from Segi Point to begin an overland advance on Viru Harbor.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/27.htm
June 27th, 1943 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeper HMS Pylades launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
POLAND: Lwow: One of the last great Jewish ghettoes in Poland has now been destroyed. S Lt-Gen Fritz Katzmann has rounded up the remainder of this city’s Jews, an estimated 20,000, and shipped them off to camps, mainly to the extermination centres of Auschwitz and Belzec.
But the SS came up against stiff resistance from those Jews strong enough to fight: they fought back with smuggled Italian handguns, and in the end 500 of them took to the sewers. The Germans are unaware of the Jews’ secret weapon: in the last days, they released thousands of lice infected with deadly spotted fever, which they had saved up for the final reckoning.
BALTIC SEA: U-18 encountered a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea, but neither boat attacked. (Dave Shirlaw)
GREECE: USAAF bombers attack German airfields at Eleusis and Hassani, near Athens.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: RFA Abbeydale damaged by U-73 at 36.53N, 01.55E. (Dave Shirlaw)
U-73 was depth charged in the Mediterranean by escorts. Due to heavy damage, the boat had to return to base.
U-81 was attacked by shore-based guns in the Mediterranean off Latakia (Syria). (Dave Shirlaw)
INDIAN OCEAN: At 0942, the unescorted Sebastian Cermeno was hit on the port side by two torpedoes from U-511. The torpedoes struck the after part of the #5 hold and the forward part of the #4 hold and blew off the after two hatches, destroyed the quarters of the armed guards, buckled the gun deck, disabled the engines and killed one officer and two men on watch below. A sailor who had been asleep on the #4 hatch later died of injuries. The survivors among the eight officers, 34 crewmen, 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and five passengers on board abandoned ship in five lifeboats after five minutes. Ten minutes after the hits, the ship sank quickly by the stern. Then the U-boat surfaced and questioned the survivors before leaving the area. The first torpedo had smashed the radio but distress signals were sent daily from an emergency transmitter in one of the lifeboats. The boats became separated during the first night. On 14 July, the 19 survivors in the boat of the master were picked up by the American steam merchant Theodore Parker and landed at Durban the same day. The men in the second boat were picked up by a British corvette and landed at Durban on 23 July, while the 11 survivors in another boat were picked up by an Australian destroyer and landed in Durban on 27 July after being spotted by a patrol aircraft. One boat with 16 survivors made landfall in Madagascar on 5 July and the last was towed into Durban by an Allied ship after 16 days at sea. The first engineer died of exposure in one of the lifeboats on 13 July and was buried at sea. The master David Martin Nilsson took over the command of another Liberty ship, the Jean Nicolet, which was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-8 in the Indian Ocean on 2 Jul 1944. The Japanese crew massacred most of the survivors from the ship and the master was taken prisoner but did not survive the captivity. (Dave Shirlaw)
SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Marines leapfrog up the coast via a short sea lift before beginning an overland advance against Viru Harbor from Segi Point, New Georgia. These Marines landed on New Georgia on June 21.
In preparation for Operation TOENAILS, the invasion of New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands, Task Force 36 arrives in the area. TF 36 consists of two aircraft carriers:
USS Saratoga (CV-3) with Carrier Air Group Three (CVG-3) minus Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6). VF-6 has been replaced by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA) No. 832 Squadron equipped with Grumman TBF-1 Avengers.
HMS Victorious with the USN’s VF-6 with F4F-4s and FAA No. 882, 896 and 898 Squadrons with Grumman Martlet Mk IVs. This exchange put four squadrons of Wildcat fighters on the RN ship. (Jack McKillop and Massimiliano Stola)
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Eight US Eleventh Air Force B-24’s make a radar run on Kiska Island but return with their bombs due to weather. Later, 5 B-24’s and 7 B-25’s bomb the Main Camp area and vicinity north of Salmon Lagoon. 14 B-25’s bomb Gertrude Cove, camp areas, and North Head, while 7 others abort due to weather. 2 P-40’s fly reconnaissance over Segula Island but overcast prevents observations. A US Navy PV-1 Ventura on a weather reconnaissance flight bombs Kiska and later, two PV-1s bomb Gertrude Cove on Kiska.
The Japanese Navy issues a new order for the evacuation of personnel from Kiska. Known as Operation KE (Phase II), the evacuation will be carried out on one mission rather than by numerous submarine missions. The Rescue Force will consist of cruiser and destroyers and three groups of submarines that will search for American ships, report on weather and screen the surface forces. The submarine force will be divided into three groups; one group to operate between Kiska and Attu Islands and the other two groups deployed to the north and south of Amchitka Island. The operation is scheduled to begin in early July. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Trillium completed foc’sle extension refit Boston Massachusetts.
Corvette HMCS Algoma completed work-ups and returned St. John’s. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy PQ-17 leaves Reykjavik, Iceland for Archangel, Russia. It consists of 36 freighters and a tanker. It is escorted by 6 destroyers and 13 smaller ships. PQ-17 will pass convoy QP-13 returning from Russia.
At 1503, U-81 fired a spread of two torpedoes at the Michalios and hit her with one torpedo in the stern. The stern broke off, causing the ship to sink within two minutes three miles west of Latakia. The U-boat had missed the vessel, misidentified as the Greek steam merchant Livathos (1667 tons), at 1457 hours with a first spread of two torpedoes.
U-518 shot down an RAAF 10 Sqn Sunderland.
U-518 was attacked in the North Atlantic by an RAF 201 Sqn Sunderland with four bombs. The boat was damaged so badly that it had to return to base. (Dave Shirlaw)
How do you get access to archives like that? I’d love to read old newspapers but can not find a place on the web that gives me access to them.
The NY Times has on-line archives, but you have to pay. I get these articles from microfilm at the library.
It never occurred to me before, but were flame throwers used in the European Theater at all, or just in the Pacific? Were they used in the Pacific mainly because of the caves the Japanese built, thus they wouldn’t be useful in Europe?
Good question. I mainly think of them being used on Pacific islands, but come to think of it, I believe there was a scene in "Saving Private Ryan" where they used flamethrowers at Normandy. Not an unimpeachable source but could be true. So we know for sure they were used in the Pacific and Maryland. I'm sure one of our more knowledgeable war mongers will have the straight poop.
Random thoughts of the day:
“Butchers Shot by Thousand?” Man, this is a tough war, but those filthy butchers had it coming to them...oh, wait; “SHUT by Thousand.” Never mind.
What a huge construction project, the Pentagon. The guy who ran that job should get some time off. Can’t imagine him doing anything bigger than that in his career.
Anyone notice the legend on the map “Ten Focal Points in the War of the World?” It reads “Axis, Occupied territory, and Finland.” And Finland? Yes, there is a big difference. The Finns never considered themselves allies of the Germans, but instead “co-belligerents,” and we recognized that distinction in a very real and legal sense. The United States never declared war on Finland.
http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/Normandy/TS/CWS/CWS16.htm
The Flame Thrower in the War Against Germany
The Portable Flame Thrower in the ETO (excerpt)
“These preparations went for naught; there is no record that the flame thrower was used during the Normandy landings.”
“As the initial weeks of the campaign wore on and units moved inland, some flame thrower targets did appear. Cities and towns presented obstacles which occasionally called for flame thrower action, although the 1st and 2d Infantry Divisions reported that the weapon was not particularly useful in ordinary street fighting. “
Full book in PDF here:
http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/010/10-3/CMH_Pub_10-3.pdf
Siegfried line operations discussed at pages 600-602 (PDF pages 619-621) - mixed results.
The summary answer appears to be that there was some use, but it was generally not particularly effective. But I didn’t read the whole chapter.
So, artistic license in Saving Private Ryan. I always thought a flamethrower would be a handy tool to have in your kit for certain situations. Maybe it is more complicated than one would think. Plus the operator has a bulls eye on his front side once the intended targets see him coming. They have a special interest in preventing him from doing his thing.
In section 6 there is an article about a U-Boat mutiny involving 6 boats in Norway. I’ve never heard of such a mutiny and am unable to find any references of it via search engines or the usual U-Boat websites. Does anyone have any knowledge of this or of any references that discuss it?
One shot in the wrong place, and you go up in flames. You have to get in close to the pillbox to even use it, all the while getting shot at with weapons with a much longer range. And you have to get into a position where you can shoot into the opening. Which means a position where they can probably shoot you. And finally, you are lugging around those heavy tanks. I can see where someone would ditch them and grab a recently orphaned M-1 on the beach.
I’d much rather be the loader on a bazooka team.
"You're going to get me killed, Lieutenant!"
(From a memorable episode of 'Band of Brothers.')
Thanks for the info - that makes sense why they wouldn’t want to carry them around.
I had always heard the Pentagon was intended as a hospital but converted into an office building. Looks like it was planned to be the other way round. Silly author didn’t understand that bureaucracies once expanded don’t contract.
The Germans and Russians certainly used them in the east.
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