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

January 1997
Volume 5 Number 4
Published by the WW II History Roundtable
Edited by Jim and Jon Gerber
Welcome to 1997 and the January meeting of the Dr. Harold C. Deutsch WW II History
Roundtable. Tonight’s program is on a little known group called the “Carpetbaggers”. They were a
group of the Eighth Air Force that regularly delivered supplies and agents to underground
agencies in western Europe. According to Roger Freeman’s book on the Eighth Air Force, one of
the groups, the 801st, was created from two squadrons of a disbanded anti-submarine group.
While this work was highly secret, the aircraft of the 801st stood out from the other aircraft on the
base. The normal camouflage paint was replaced by a coat of gloss black. The nose and waist
guns as well as the ball turrets were removed. Tear-drop shaped perspex blisters were added to
both of the cockpit side windows to allow the pilots to have better visibility in searching for
landmarks and signals. Operating individually in the darkness, the “carpetbaggers” had
undertaken 792 sorties during their first six months of which 465 had resulted in successful
delivery to French patriots. The rest of the story is tonight’s program.
You Saw What?
On June 24, 1947, a Boise, Idaho, businessman Kenneth Arnold sighted what he described as
unidentified flying objects that looked like”pie plates skipping over the water” near Mount Rainier,
Washington. Newspaper reporters coined the term “flying saucers”. However, Allied pilots
reported similar sightings during the war, and these UFO’s were known as foo-fighters. Pilots
reporting them were often removed from flight duty.
The Home Guard
By August 1940, Britain’s Home Guard contained one million volunteers. However, it was nearly
impossible to arm them. Guns, swords and ammunition were taken from military museums and
war memorials, and unlikely sources such as the Drury Lane Theater contributed a dozen old,
rusty rifles. The task of arming the Home Guard was so difficult for a time that cutlasses from the
days of Admiral Nelson were actually given out.
Pearl Harbor
After Pearl Harbor, critics repeatedly asked why the US fleet was in port rather than out at sea.
The simple answer was a critical fuel shortage. Admiral Kimmel wanted to keep two task forces at
sea at all times while only one remained in port at a time. However, all fuel for the fleet had to be
brought to Hawaii from the US mainland, and only four of the Pacific fleet’s tankers were capable
of fueling ships at sea. As an example of fuel consumption, it is noted that a single destroyer at
sea was capable of consuming its entire fuel supply in thirty hours.
General Hein Ter Poorten, commander of the Netherlands East Indies Army, advised the US
military observer in Java in early December 1941 that his intelligence staff had intercepted a
Japanese code which stated that Japan would attack Hawaii, the Phillipines, Malaya and
Thailand shortly. He further noted that the signal for hostilities against the US would be the
message “East wind, rain”. The military observer in Java, General Thorpe sent this information to
Washington along with three others on the same subject, but Washington’s reply requested he
send no further information on the subject.
The city of Honolulu sustained approximately $500,000 worth of damage during the attack on
Pearl Harbor. Upwards of forty explosions rocked the city. These, however, were the result of US
anti-aircraft fire, not Japanese bombs.
Two leading air officers in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor wore red underwear and red
shirts in order to conceal any injuries they might sustain during the raid. Flight Leader Mitsuo
Fuchida, the overall attack commander, and Lieutenant Commander Shigemaru Murata, leader of
the torpedo bombers in the first wave, reasoned that if they became wounded their blood would
not show up against the red. Their intention was to prevent demoralizing other flying officers.
Michelin To The Rescue
Major Cyril Barclay of the British Expeditionary Forces purchased several Michelin road maps in
France to assist in moving his troops to Dunkirk for the evacuation. He had been unsuccessful in
obtaining regulation maps from the Army. However, he was refused compensation for the
expenditure inasmuch as the Army had no provisions for the retail purchase of maps.
Marines in Europe
The United States Marine Corps is almost always thought of with regard to the campaigns in the
Pacific. Marines were also involved in the war in Europe with individuals assigned to special
missions with underground units and Resistance fighters. On August 29,1944, Marines from two
US cruisers landed on a trio of islands near Marseilles, France, and captured German
installations. Marines also served on US Navy staffs and as seagoing troops on ships during the
landings in North Africa, Italy, Southern France and Normandy.
POW
Axis prisoners of war were, for the most part, treated in accordance with the provisions of the
Geneva Convention in British and US prison camps. However, prisoners of war in Russian camps
experienced an 85% mortality rate.
The Second Choice
General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first choice to command the 21st Army Group for Operation
Overlord, the Normandy invasion, was British General Sir Harold Alexander. Prime Minister
Winston Churchill had other plans for the able general and overruled Ike. Churchill hoped that
Alexander, as commander of the 15th Army Group in Italy, could take Rome and eventually open
the way to the Balkans. As a result, the 21st Army Group command was given to none other than
Bernard Law Montgomery.
Hitler The Millionaire
Adolf Hitler became a millionaire as a result of the royalties he earned from his book Mein Kampf.
The first part of the book was written while he was in Landsberg Prison in 1925, but he added
considerably more afterward. Once he came to power, Hitler arranged for copies to be given to
newlyweds in the Reich, and it was this widespread distribution that increased his wealth.
Panzers
Nazi Germany built two giant tanks called Mammoths that they tested in June 1944. These
vehicles were thirty feet long, weighed 185 tons and had steel plating 9.5 inches thick.
Unfortunately they ruined any roads they were driven on, crushing cobblestone into powder.
When they traveled on dirt roads they sank deep into the earth. Designed by automaker Dr.
Ferdinand Porsche, they were destroyed by the Germans at Kummersdorf in late 1944 so they
would not fall into the hands of the Allies.
The German panzer’s swift victories over the French in 1940 were partially due to the tactical
planning and refueling techniques they employed. French tanks were slowly refueled by tankers
while the Germans accomplished the same results using handier “jericans”. During the battle for
the Muese, for instance, the French 1st Armored Division(156 tanks) was virtually wiped out as it
refueled. It was surprised and attacked by the XV Panzer Corps.
Keep Trying Until You Get It
German rocket expert Wernher von Braun failed mathematics and physics while attending school
at the French Gymnasium.
However, he subsequently mastered both subjects in later years.
General Winter
Much is made of the harsh winter the Germans faced in their Russian campaign in 1941.
“General Winter” was considered a Soviet secret weapon. It was the coldest winter in 140 years.
Further reading on tonight’s subject:
Carpetbaggers,
by Ben Parnell
Eakin Press, Austin 1993
Secret Squadrons of the Eighth ,
by Pat Carty
Specialty Press, Stillwater, MN 1990
See you in February.