Download February 1996 - Dr. Harold C. Deutsch WWII History Roundtable

November 1996
Volume 5 Number 2
Published by the WW II History Roundtable
Edited by Jim and Jon Gerber
Welcome to the November meeting of the Dr. Harold C. Deutsch WW II History Roundtable.
Tonight’s program is another in our series of the Battle of the Bulge. The program “ Bustin’ the
Bulge - Changing the Tide of Hitler’s Last Offensive” will provide information on lesser known
aspects of the Bulge and will put into perspective this well-known battle.
Surviving in the Skies Above Japan
It is always the human touches that make war bearable, and unbearable. It is the story of the
ordinary fighting man that brings the realities of any conflict closer to home. In the B-29
Superfortresses above Japan this human experience was evident. The gunners of a B-29 named
Long Distance fought off 131 separate fighter attacks over their target. A Japanese fighter
rammed the no. 3 engine and tore it completely off of the wing. Despite that damage, the pilot,
Captain Donald Dufford, was able to nurse the plane home. A crew flying the plane Lassie Come
Home had smuggled bottles of whiskey from the States in the insulation of the fuselage. There
was no time to unload it when the men arrived at their base island so they had to take the
whiskey on the first mission. When nothing happened to them, the crew decided it was a good
luck charm and kept the whiskey on board. On the plane’s 13th mission, both the No. 1 and No. 4
engines were shot out. Japanese shells started a fire, knocked out the radio and oxygen systems,
set the No. 2 engine ablaze and wounded three men. Nevertheless, Lassie Come Home was
able to return to Isley Field a full hour behind the other planes. Among the undamaged equipment
in the plane was the good luck charm, the bottles of whiskey. Staff Sergeant James Krantz
served as a waist gunner on American Maid . A deep fear that one day he would be separated
from his aircraft caused Krantz to make himself a safety harness. Over Nagoya, his fears nearly
became reality when a fighter shot out the plexiglass blister and the decompression pulled Krantz
from the plane. Held by only his safety harness, Krantz was pounded by the 200 mph slipstream.
He lost his oxygen mask and soon lost consciousness, but his crewmates were able to drag him
back inside. Despite his dance with death miles above the earth, Krantz escaped with only
frostbite in his hands and one leg and a dislocated shoulder.
Surrender Ceremony Dispute
Although the Japanese surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri appeared to have gone
smoothly, an old rivalry between the Army and the Navy caused some moments of anxiety
among some of President Truman’s top politicians and threatened to disrupt the proceedings.
When Admiral Nimitz first heard that the Japanese surrender would be accepted by Army
General Douglas Mac Arthur, he erupted angrily. He felt that the Pacific Theater had been
dominated by the Navy and had involved large sea battles such as Coral Sea, Midway, the
Phillipine Sea and Leyte Gulf. He believed that naval strategy, led by the fast carrier forces, had
played the crucial role in defeating the enemy.
When he heard that an Army general would be placed in charge of the surrender, he protested,
since it looked as though Washington was handing most of the credit for defeating Japan to the
Army instead of the Navy. Nimitz had no desire to replace MacArthur as Allied supreme
commander. He simply felt that his Navy had carried most of the load and wanted it to receive
proper recognition. Nimitz’s cause was taken up by the Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal.
He suggested to the President that, since an Army general had been given the honor of accepting
the Japanese surrender, the ceremony should take place aboard a naval vessel. Forrestal then
cleverly suggested that the signing take place on Admiral William Halsey’s flagship, the battleship
Missouri . The ship had not only been named after Truman’s home state but had also been
christened by his daughter Margaret. Truman also asked Nimitz to sign the surrender document
as representative of the United States, since MacArthur would sign for the Allied powers.
Both Navy and Army interests were in this way diplomatically handled.
The Battle of Britain
For a time during the Battle of Britain, RAF pilots were ordered to destroy German air-sea rescue
seaplanes marked with the Red Cross, to prevent the rescued German pilots from fighting
another day. The order met with stiff resistance among RAF pilots.
The first British air raid of the war, on September 6, 1939, resulted from a disastrous false alarm.
British Spitfires mistakenly shot down two British Hurricanes. There were no German aircraft over
England.
Oops!
The first ship sunk as a result of German mines in the Thames estuary was a Japanese
passenger ship, the Terukuni Maru, on November 21, 1939.
Nazi Propaganda
Joseph Goebbels conceived the idea for Radio Werewolf which were propaganda broadcasts
intended to encourage last-ditch resistance in Germany. The program made its broadcasting
debut on April 1, 1945, and was responsible for the slogan that lived through the cold war years
into the 1950’s: “Besser tot als rot”, which translates to “Better dead than Red”.
Over There
When the British told the Americans: “You Yanks are overpaid, oversexed and over here”, the
Americans told the British that “You’re underpaid, undersexed and under Eisenhower.”
Famous Last Words
“It is assumed that there are no enemy aircraft carriers in waters adjacent to Midway.” Japanese
Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, June 4, 1942, prior to the start of the Battle of Midway.
“My Fuhrer, in view of your decision to remain in the fortress of Berlin do you agree that I take
over at once the total leadership of the Reich?” Hermann Goering, who was promptly arrested
by the SS for his grab at power.
“A million men cannot take Tarawa in a hundred years.” Japanese Admiral Keji Shibasaki. To his
boast 5600 Marines responded by taking Tarawa in seventy-two hours.
“I am insulted by the persistent assertion that I want war. Am I a fool? War! It would settle
nothing.” Adolf Hitler during an interview on November 10, 1933.
Further Reading on Tonight’s Subject
A Time For Trumpets
By Charles MacDonald
William Morrow & Co. ,N.Y. 1985
Spearhead(A History of the 3rd Armored Division
Battery Press
Nashville, Tn.
Battling Buzzards
by Gerald Astor
Donald Fine, Inc. NY, NY 1993
On To Berlin
by James Gavin
Viking Press, NY,NY 1978
The Ardennes:Battle of the Bulge
by Hugh M. Cole
Center of Military History
Washington, D.C. 1988
St. Vith: Lion in the Way
by Earnest Dupuy
Battery Press, Nashville, Tn 1986
Bloody Clash At Sadzot
by William Breur
Zeus Publishing, St. Louis 1981
Thank you for coming to this evening’s program. See you next month.