Posted on 11/24/2013 6:16:05 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
And a week later:
The monstrous block of air, in its eagerness to get ahead, has definitely hampered the operations of the Army.
Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring
US Marines defeat Japanese attack
Wednesday, November 24, 1943 www.onwar.com
US Marine sniper near Bougainville [photo at link]
In the Solomon Islands... Japanese forces mount a small attack on the American divisions on Bougainville. The US marines hold.
On the Eastern Front... German forces around Korosten push back the Soviet forces.
In Egypt... The Cairo Conference continues. Roosevelt, Churchill and Chaing Kai-shek meet.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/24.htm
November 24th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
TheUSAAF”> USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 136: seven B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped 2.4 million leaflets over Lille, France; and Brussels, Antwerp, Charleroi and Ghent, Belgium between 2026-2111 hours.
Frigate HMS Ascension commissioned.
Destroyer HMS Sluys laid down.
FRANCE:USAAF”> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb Toulon harbor, sinking light cruiser Jeanne de Vienne, destroyer Aigle and sloop SG 21.
During the night of 24/25 November, fiveRAF”> RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos drop leaflets over the country.
GERMANY:
During the night of 24/25 November, fourRAF”> RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Berlin through cloud.
U-1226 commissioned.
ITALY: The U.S. Fifth Army outlines a final plan of attack to begin about 2 December. The first phase calls for the capture of the Mt. Camino-Mt. Ia Difensa-Mt. Maggiore area, to be preceded on 1 December by the capture of Calabritto. In the second phase, Mt. Sammucro is to be cleared in conjunction with a drive west along the Colli-Atina road. The third phase is to be an attack into the Liri Valley.
In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps captures Castel Alfedena. The corpsb bridgehead north of the Sangro River is now firmly established.
Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force bombers, along withRAF”> RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers, in close support of the British Eighth Army, hit gun positions and defended points in the Fossacesia area. TheUSAAF”> USAAF Twelfth Air Force XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches, in support of the U.S. Fifth Army, hit roads northwest of the battleline, and bomb the harbor at Civitavecchia.
During the night of 24/25 November,RAF”> RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group aircraft bomb four targets: Six bomb a ball bearing plant in Turin with the loss of one aircraft; and one each bomb a highway at Gallinaria, a railroad at Genoa and a highway at Savona.
BULGARIA: SeventeenUSAAF”> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lighting escorts, bomb the marshalling yard at Sofia with the loss of two aircraft.
U.S.S.R.: German attacks at Korosten increase, forces the Soviets to fall back. The Germans recapture Brussilov. (Jeff Chrisman)
ARCTIC OCEAN: Destroyers HMCS Haida, Huron and Iroquois arrived Kola Inlet with Convoy JW-54A.
CHINA: FiveUSAAF”> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 16 P-40 s bomb Hanshow and strafe 15-20 small boats north of the city; two other B-25 Mitchells attack the harbor and town of Amoy and two direct hits are scored on a docked freighter.
NETHERLAND EAST INDIES: EighteenUSAAF”> USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit shipping at Halmahera Island, Netherlands East Indies.
NEW GUINEA: Sgt Thomas Currie Derrick (1914-45), Australian Military Forces, made a lone advance on Japanese posts which led to the fall of a town. (Victoria Cross)
In Northeast New Guinea, over 30USAAF”> USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, B-26 Marauders, and A-20 Havocs bomb the village of Kalasa while 15 A-20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchells, with P-38 Lightnings escorting, hit stores and supplies in the Finschhafen area.
MARSHALL ISLANDS: TwentyUSAAF”> USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Ellice Islands bomb Maloelap Atoll, scoring hits on Taroa Airfield and a cargo vessel.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Over 20USAAF”> USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, supported by P-38 Lightnings, bomb Gasmata on southern New Britain Island.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Marines hold their positions against renewed Japanese attacks on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
On Bougainville, the 3d Marine Division makes substantial progress, gaining commanding ground in the Piva Forks area
A Marine SBD Dauntless makes a successful forced landing on the Torokina fighter strip, although strip has not yet been completed.
On Bougainville, 25USAAF”> USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Chabai and Buka Island; 20 B-25 Mitchells hit the airfield at Kahili and six others bomb and strafe a possible radio station at Mutupina Point; fighter patrols strafe Gazelle and Queen Carola Harbors, sinking a barge and damaging a schooner.
GILBERT ISLANDS: On Makin Atoll, Regimental Combat Team 165, less the 3d Battalion, leaves for Hawaii. The 3d Battalion and miscellaneous units are left behind to conduct minor mopping up operations and to support the construction forces. Command is turned over to Colonel Clesen H. Tenney, Garrison Force commander. The 27th Infantry Division casualties for Makin total 218, of whom eight are killed and eight die of wounds. Japanese casualties, aside from those subsequently inflicted during the mop-up, are estimated at 550, including 105 prisoners.
On Tarawa Atoll, two Marine Regimental Combat Teamb’s (the 8th and the 2d) leave for Hawaii. Embarking from Betio Island, the 2d Battalion of 6th Marine Regiment, guided by scouts of the 2d Tank Battalion, begins an uneventful search for the Japanese on islands up the long east side of Tarawa Atoll.
PACIFIC OCEAN: At 0510 hours local, the USN escort aircraft carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) is struck abaft the after engine room by a torpedo fired by the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-175 about 21 nautical miles (40 kilometers) west-southwest of Butaritari Island, Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, in position 02.54N, 172.30E. The aircraft bomb magazine detonates a few moments later and the entire interior bursts into flames. At 0533 hours Liscome Bay lists to starboard and sinks carrying Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinix, commander of Task Group 52.3, Liscome Bay’s skipper Captain I.D. Wiltsie, 53 other officers, and 591 enlisted men down with her; 272 of her crew are rescued. One of the enlisted men killed is black Ship’s Cook Third Class Doris “Dorie” Miller who was awarded the Navy Cross at Pearl Harbor by moving his mortally wounded captain to a place of greater safety and then manning a 50 calibre (12.7 millimeter) machine gun on the deck of the USS West Virginia (BB-40) until he ran out of ammunition and is ordered to abandon ship. Miller is commended by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked: “This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I’m sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts.”
CANADA:
Corvette HMCS Lachute laid down Quebec City, Province of Quebec.
Minesweeper HMS Coquette launched Toronto, Ontario.
U.S.A.: The aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-18) is commissioned. The USN now has ten aircraft carriers in commission.
Destroyer escort USS Earl V Johnson launched.
Destroyers USS Melvin and Albert W Grant commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Rampart, Quest and Install laid down.
Destroyer escort USS Metivier laid down.
Aircraft carrier USS Wasp commissioned.
Destroyers USS Albert W Grant and Melvin commissioned.
Frigate USS Belfast commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Swearer commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-516 sank SS Melville E Stone.
"Emaciated Gypsy boys selected for cruel surgery to remove their penises and testicles are catalogued by the Auschwitz camera.
Hitler was keenly interested in sterilization of "undesirables" as a way to control unwanted population growth.
A side benefit from Hitler's perspective was that sterilized subjects could be useful as laborers for the Reich.
Nazi camp physicians undertook the surgeries and other procedures with vigor.
Besides being profoundly unethical, medical experimentation of this sort was often clumsy and not even remotely grounded in legitimate science.
Instead, Auschwitz's Dr. Josef Mengele and other camp surgeons were motivated by an amoral "what if?" mentality; that is, by a deadly curiosity about what would happen to a human being if a particular procedure were performed.
To such doctors, human suffering was irrelevant."
This at a time when NCOs still earned their stripes by being the toughest men in their squads.
Interesting details on German landmines.
Note this:
He also has a first rate commander in "Smiling Albert" Kesselring.
But what's interesting to note is the respect for German soldiers expressed by this American analyst during the war.
I'm not certain if that sense of respect ever made it into, say, a Hollywood movie.
FWIW
Richard Frank’s “Downfall” contains an excerpt of an American publication for troops redeploying from Europe to the Pacific after the fall of Germany. Entitled “Battle Experience Against the Japanese,” Frank selected this portion:
“...the German was the professional heavy weight prizefighter - fighting was his business and he WAS good at it...the Jap is definitely a lightweight - not a professional but an alley fighter who is not above a thumb in they eye, a knee in the crotch or a brickbat when you’re not looking. Furthermore, he’s a left hander so to speak, with a style that’s hard to solve until you get on to it.”
Obviously, this piece appealed to a number of stereotypes, many of which survived the war. I recall watching “Championship Wrestling” on Channel 4 as a kid (mandatory viewing at Grandpa’s house; he thought the NFL was fake). One of the characters was “Mitsu Arakawa;” known for pulling that “sneaky Jap shit” by throwing salt in the opponent’s eyes, always when the ref had his back turned. Damned refs were never any good...
Great link here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9XhWxGR2VU
Mitsu Arakawa & Dr. Moto vs. Paul Christy & 330 pound Yukon Moose Cholak, narrated by Chuck Marlowe, who later hosted Bob Knight’s IU Sunday basketball show.
The Germans were absolutely dumbfounded at the press brouhaha over Patton slapping the soldier. In the Wehrmacht, physical punishment down the ranks was not uncommon. In the Japanese armed forces, physical abuse of the enlisted men was normal procedure.
775 bombers over Berlin.
Astonishing.
.
Imagine what an aerial armada of 775 heavy bombers looks like. But there will be more.
Patton did not lose the top US Overlord job because of this. Ike had already decided that the command would require someone with a more even temper and more deliberate planning style. So, Bradley got the job. But Ike was determined to keep Patton in Europe because he was one of his best field commanders. Thus, the plan to make Bradley the senior who would take over an Army Group when Patton's follow-on Army would be activated. The slapping incident(s), however, reinforced to Ike that he made the right decision. Once again, Ike got it right.
In the end, it made Patton the perfect decoy, as the Germans were still convinced he would lead the invasion in Europe.
Ike was never comfortable with Patton, mostly because Patton was a driver and Ike was more reserved. I think Ike was an excellent supreme commander but Patton rose to the level of his comptence as an army commander. They had very different styles but each was effective. It’s something of a myth that Patton was not a good planner. 3rd Army had a top notch staff, and it showed in the Battle of the Bulge when Patton did his 90 degree pivot in 48 hours. He had already ordered his staff to start working on the problem even before he left for the conference at Rheims.
Most think the Affair at Knutsford was part of this operation. Patton was assured there would be no press at his talk and he saw none. So, he made his comment to the "little old ladies" about the UK and US dominating the post-war world. Most think the leak to the press was done by British intelligence to let the Germans know Patton was traveling all about Britain to ready his invasion army. But it damn near got Patton fired.
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