Posted on 07/18/2015 5:41:44 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy
Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers
* Camp Stoneman was in the East Bay area near San Francisco. My father was there in August 1942 before he shipped out to Australia – HJS.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/6/18.htm
July 18th, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)
GERMANY: Potsdam: The leaders of the conquering Allies met for their second plenary session in the Cecilienhof, a pretty 18-century palace here, and their discussions were supposed to centre on the future peace of Europe and the future war against Japan.
For the Americans and the British the conference was dominated by the news that President Truman conveyed to the British prime minister in a cryptic note, “Babies satisfactorily born”. He meant that the atomic bomb test in New Mexico had been successful.
Churchill thought that Stalin did not know about the test; others thought that his spies had told him. But it made the Americans far less keen to hold the Soviet Union to its promise to enter the war against Japan.
GUAM: Headquarters, US Army Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF)] is established at Guam Island, Mariana Islands under General Carl Spaatz.
WAKE ISLAND Aircraft of Carrier Air Group Eighty Six (CVG-86) in USS Wasp (CV-18) attack Wake Island. The is the sixth Navy raid on Wake Island.
JAPAN: American and British carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 38 and Task Group 37.2 attack the Yokosuka naval shipyard and airfields near Tokyo damaging the battleship HIJMS Nagato and sinking a destroyer, a submarine, two escort ships and a patrol ship. Both groups then withdraw to refuel.
The US Fleet drops 2,000 tons of shells on Hitachi in fifty minutes.
USN Task Group 35.4 composed of four light curisers and escorting destroyers, bombard Japanese radar sites on Honshu.
Far East Air Forces P-47 Thunderbolts attack various targets of opportunity on Kyushu and P-51s attack communications lines, bridges, shipping, towns, and other targets throughout Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands.
HMS Formidable 184 RN Sqn Corsair aircraft #KD723 Lt(A) William Bell Asbridge RCNVR shot down during a raid on a airfield near Tokyo and killed.
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force flies 2 routine search and weather sorties.
CANADA: Fifteen people are killed when the naval arsenal at Bedford Basin, Halifax, Nova Scotia, explodes. These explosions carry on for 24 hours and cause the evacuation of half the city’s population and $4 million in damage.
Corvettes HMCS Battleford and Mimico paid off Sorel, Province of Quebec.
Corvette HMCS Lindsay paid off Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Frigate HMCS Runnymede arrived Esquimalt from Halifax.
From #16: “there are some—a dangerous few—who would keep Japan fairly strong to counter-balance Russia.”
Count me among the dangerous few, who within four years of this would become the sensible majority.
Ohio Republican Robert Taft was President Taft's son, served as US Senator from 1939 until his death (of cancer) in 1953.
He was an outspoken opponent of President Roosevelt's domestic policies, a non-interventionist abroad, noted for his conservatism, by 1950 he was called "Mr. Republican".
Many have said that the more conservative Taft should have been President, instead of Eisenhower in 1952.
But considering that Taft died in 1953, and the more likely outcome being Adlai Stevenson's victory over Taft in 1952, Senate Majority Leader was a very appropriate position for him.
By the way, it's interesting that: the only US politician since Taft (remember Taft-Hartley) to stand up so strongly to unions -- and still win! -- has been Wisconsin's Governor Scot Walker.
Anyway, the key point to note here is: the Grey Lady, who would become today's leftist organ, the New York Slimes, here publishes a column which is respectful, even complimentary toward the very conservative, Mr. Republican Senator Taft.
I have read that the only reason Ike decided to run for president was because he hated the Democrats domestic agenda as well as Taft’s isolationist foreign policy. If Taft had been less of an isolationist, Ike would have gladly stayed in private life. He really hated politics.
I'll bet the Americans felt the same way about the Japanese in Asia. A very different culture, to be sure. But all that you would say about the Germans you could also say about the Japanese. So it wasn't much of a stretch to want Japan to be strong, or let them be strong. Without a militaristic clique to sap their energies, Japan was going to build a strong economy no matter what.
When Eisenhower had been elected, outgoing President Truman is said to have predicted that former soldier Ike would issue orders to the bureaucrats and then nothing would happen.
The pan American hiway was shut down 6 months ago after spending $42 million on it.
At least one guy wrote a book about building it:
http://www.amazon.com/Road-Nowhere-Story-American-Highway/dp/1424185149
was looking for info on the communication line thru china being established to japan.
Found the following info on wwii radio gear. very interesting.
Information on the guns on the Iowa class that are shelling japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16%22/50_caliber_Mark_7_gun
Several years ago I read a “what if” matchup between Iowa class and Yamato class battleships. The author gave the edge to Iowa, mostly because the American 16/50 was considered superior to the Japanese 18.1/45. While the Yamato’s guns had greater range and throw weight, the American gun was considered as part of a total weapons system. The Iowa had a slightly higher rate of fire, and had better rangefinding, including radar plot. Not necessarily part of the gun system, the Iowa class was faster, more maneuverable, and a more stable gun platform. The greater range for Yamato was discounted as the effective range for a battleship duel was considered far less than maximum range.
It was a duel that could have happened at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
When brought into service during World War II the guns had a barrel life of roughly 290 rounds, limited in large part by the Nitrated-Cellulose (NC) propellant.[3]
As of "today" my Dad's 33rd Infantry Division is in Luzon, Philippines, preparing for Operation Olympic.
They are assigned to I Corps, will land on Kyushu's east coast.
Post-war analysis showed some US planners grossly underestimated opposing Japanese forces & capabilities, so the official 125,000 casualty number could just as easily have been more than a million US forces, with 20% killed.
Thank God, things went much differently, and my Dad had nothing but kind words for the way his division was treated by the Japanese.
The stars were aligning for the Republicans to take the White House after Truman. Ike believed it was essential for America to maintain an internationalist foreign policy. Heading off Taft and isolationism was his primary motivation for running.
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