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November 1993 Vol. 2 Number 2 Published by the World War Two Roundtable Edited by Joe Grant and Jim Gerber Welcome to the November World War Two Roundtable meeting and the November issue of the Round Tablette. This month Dr. Deutsch will be speaking on the conspiracies to kill Adolph Hitler. This topic is one of special interest to Dr. Deutsch, especially some of the early plots. Saturday, November 20th is the World War Two Roundtable Symposium. Mr. Ron Reimann will be speaking on submarine tactics in the Pacific. This topic will lead into a discussion of whether or not we should have dropped the atomic bomb. There is bound to be very strong feelings on both sides of the issue. The doors will open at 12 noon for you to view the displays and the lectures will begin at 1:00 P.M. One of the questions that I have been asked is why have a WW II Roundtable? They wonder if we just tell war stories here. I think that it goes much further than just telling “war stories”. World War II shaped our lives today like no other event in modern history. Whole nations and peoples practically disappeared from the face of the earth. Cities were gutted by fire and steel. Terrible new weapons were introduced that continue to threaten the very existence of the human race. The reason for the World War Two Roundtable is to preserve the memories and the history so our young people know that this is not ancient history but something that was real and that it could happen again. Preserving this history may help to keep us from making the same mistakes again. If you question whether or not history can repeat itself consider: Again? Nation after nation was defeated by Hitler’s Germany. Most fought gamely. But when France’s turn came, she surrendered quickly. That was in June of 1940. Within five days she signed an “occupation agreement”. The Arc de Triumphe was left intact. Many Frenchmen and women resisted but some collaborated. To curry favor with their conquerors, the collaborators fingered their own Jewish friends and neighbors. These people were herded into the cattlecars and shipped east to the death camps. One of these stations, at Drancy, was destroyed by Allied bombers. The Nazis moved the operation to the Bobigny railroad station from which 22,400 people embarked. Last month, a thousand Bobigny townsfolk turned out to dedicate its train station to honor the memory of those who fought and died. Within days, a dispatch was received form Paris: the station’s walls had, apparently in haste and in the dead of the night, been smeared with dripping swastikas. Fake Cities? In an effort to thwart Allied bombing raids on Germany, reproductions of Berlin, Hamburg and other areas were built near enough to actual sites to confuse aircraft. However, they were built far enough away to provide safety for the inhabitants. There were no less than five copies of Berlin alone sprinkled across the German landscape in giant scale. Fireworks One of the most unusual devices for identification used by any nation was the employing of fireworks by the U.S. Regimental Combat Team during the North African invasion. In an effort to convince the Vichy French at Oran that the invasion force was U.S., not British, the Americans shot fireworks bombs that exploded into 100-foot-wide U.S. flags overhead. (The French were hostile to the British, who had recently attacked their fleet in the harbor.) The U.S. troops also used loudspeakers which identified the American troops as not being British. Air Raid Japan The most destructive single bombing mission of the war took place March 9-19, 1945, when 334 B-29’s raided Tokyo and left 1.25 million people homeless. This raid caused more damage than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Six Japanese cities were destroyed by a single 855 plane B29 raid on August 2,1945, that dropped several tons of jellied gasoline and magnesium bombs. This was four days before the first atomic bomb was dropped. Devices of Death A new book published in France by the National Center For Scientific Research describes how a dozen private German companies competed for lucrative contracts to build and outfit gas chambers and crematoriums in WW II. The Crematoria of Auschwitz: The Machinery of Mass Murder tells how engineers, contractors, technicians and bricklayers constantly sought to increase the destructive capacities of these facilities. The first oven could burn two corpses per hour and by the end of the war a single crematorium could burn more than 1000 corpses per day. Papers documenting these activities were taken to Russia by triumphant Soviet troops and put into the archives of the KGB. Holocaust experts say that the 100-page analysis of these papers will provide irrefutable proof to combat those who claim that the Holocaust didn’t happen. The Nazi SS began using ovens to burn bodies on a large scale after epidemics of typhus in the late 1930’s. November 1943 European Air Operations - RAF Bomber Command dropped 14,500 tons of bombs in various raids. Berlin is raided three nights in a row and is hit by more than 4000 tons of bombs. The “Battle of Berlin” begins on November 18th. American heavy bombers dropped 6300 tons of bombs on a range of targets in Norway and Germany. Pacific - Japanese shipping loses reach a new high this month with the sinking of 265,000 tons, mostly by U.S. submarines. Japan began the war with a merchant fleet of almost 6,000,000 tons capacity( not counting very small vessels). This has now been reduced, despite new construction, to less than 5,000,000 tons. November 1, 1943 President Roosevelt orders Ickes and his Solid Fuels Administration to take over the running of the country’s coal mines. There are 530,000 men out on strike. There have been a number of disputes throughout October but from 28 October the strike gains momentum. The problem is resolved, for the moment, on 3 November. Roosevelt also urged Congress to continue food subsidies to encourage production and as a measure against inflation. miles long and is nowhere more than half a mile wide. The highest ground is only nine feet above sea level but the Japanese have added a formidable complex of bunkers and gun emplacements. The supporting warships bombard the island with more than 3000 shells. However, the sandy ground absorbs much of the blast and many of the Japanese bunkers are left intact. The reef around the island is also shallower in places than had been expected and many of the landing craft run aground, leaving the marines to run through a vicious crossfire to the beach. Many of the landing force do not reach the beaches and those who do are pinned down at the water’s edge. Of the 5000 who attempt to land, 1500 become casualties. Because of the tide and confusion in the chain of command, reserves are not sent at first and later cannot be sent. November 21,1943 November 13, 1943 Flying fortresses bomb Tarawa Atoll in the first attack in preparation for the coming landings. These attacks are repeated daily for the next week. November 20,1943 The American landing operations in the Gilbert Islands begins. The Americans, with 18,600 men from the 2nd Marine Division, land on Tarawa Atoll. The Japanese garrison comprises 4800 men, 50 artillery weapons and 7 light tanks. The landings are made on Betio island which is little more than two The Americans send in new waves of marines to land on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll. The first group takes heavy casualties but at noon there is a significant change in the battle and the marines begin to flow ashore. November 22,1943 There is now no question of the outcome of the battle on Tarawa although the Japanese are fighting fiercely for every inch of ground. During the night there are fanatical counterattacks by the Japanese at the east end of the island but they achieve nothing. November 23, 1943 By noon the battle on Tarawa is over. The Americans have lost 1000 killed and 2000 wounded. The Japanese garrison has been annihilated. The only prisoners are 17 wounded soldiers and 129 Korean laborers. There have been important lessons learned for the organization of future attacks, particularly of the need for precise bombardment. German Planning - The prototype of the ME 262 jet airplane is demonstrated before Hitler. He hails it as the ideal light bomber - a decision which is believed to have hindered its development and production for its true role as a fighter. The aircraft first flew in July of 1942 and became operational in June 1944. November 28,1943 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin and their staffs meet for the first time at Teheran. The decision to invade western Europe in May 1944 is confirmed and a now more definite plan for the invasion of southern France (Anvil) is agreed upon. This has been an American plan up till now but Stalin’s support gives it increased weight. Perhaps the most important decision to emerge from the conference is Stalin’s promise to join the war against Japan when Germany has been defeated. There were problems with security at the conference and there is reason to believe that the American’s accommodation was bugged. The Americans were careful throughout the proceedings not to appear to be with Britain and against the Soviet Union and in doing so perhaps gave too much ground. Tapes Available If any of you have missed a Roundtable program, tapes are available and may be rented for $3.00 by calling Don Patton at 8357600. Roundtable Symposium Don’t forget the Roundtable Symposium on November 20, 1993. It begins at 12 noon at the Fort Snelling lecture hall. There will be exhibits and presentations concerning the dropping of the atomic bomb. There is not cost to attend but donations are requested. See you there!