The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Ruhr Pocket (April-1945) - Apr. 15th, 2004

The Gray Bonnet - Combat History of the 121st Infantry Reg. ^ | Daniel M. Burns

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The Ruhr Pocket
121st Infantry Regiment

In tracing the final breakdown of the Wehrmacht, most military tacticians will point to the operations of General Courtney Hodges’ First Army in forming a death-like grip on the Ruhr industrial sector as the beginning of the end.

Once the lifeline of guns and ammunition for the Nazi war machine had been cut off, it was a matter of time before the final collapse. The 121st Infantry added much to the role of the hangman tightening the noose.

The operations of the regiment in this engagement from March 30 to April 17 encompassed extremes of battle. At first the slow, dogged push of the foot soldier through woods against superior armor; the break before an offensive that would not be denied; and finally, the chase of a beaten and disorganized enemy. The regiment witnessed scenes that few will forget; scenes filled with humor and pathos of a once mighty military power crumbling before a civilian army hardened by a desire for an end to long months of war. The goal was in sight and no enemy could withstand the driving spirit it engendered.



The Gray Bonnets vacated their defensive positions at Longerich on March 30 for the move across the Rhine in the vicinity of Bonn. The main body passed over the historic waters shortly before noon:

“If ever we weakened in our resolution not to think the war was coming to a close it was then. We had read so much about what the Krauts would do when we attempted to cross the Rhine. We had been keyed up since winter for a terrific struggle. Here we were moving across that ‘watery grave’ like home folks on a Sunday excursion.”

“On the east bank we saw Jerry tanks knocked out all along the road. There were a few of ours, too. The fighting ahead seemed a cinch. We renewed our resolution to doubt all signs of a quick armistice shortly after we hit the town of Netphen. The krauts still had some fight left in them.”



The 8th Division, as part of the First Army’s VII Corps, had been assigned a mission to drive north in the Sieg River sector, swing northwest and contact the Ninth Army forces driving south in the Ruhr industrial district.

After relieving elements of the 1st Infantry Division late on March 30, the regiment with the 2nd and 3rd battalions committed initially, attacked early the following morning for objectives on the north and east banks of the Sieg River. The immediate mission of the division was to push across the river and establish a bridgehead protecting a road running east and west along the river line.

The bulk of pressure was necessary against the natural defenses of the town of Siegen, a German Ground Force Training base on the left flank of the regimental attack. The 1st battalion which had been held in reserve initially in the vicinity of Hainchen was pushed into the breach to the left of the 2nd battalion the day following the jump off. The battalion now had a new leader, Major Willis J. Adams, former Regimental S-2 and Executive Officer of the 3rd battalion. The small, wiry leader from Barnesville, Ga., seemed to have the touch of a military Midas.


Shermans continue the advance

“Take a peek at the record of our (the 1st) battalion in the Ruhr pocket. I never saw anything click so perfectly as the football plays that Major Adams began calling shortly after we jumped off for Flammersbach. Don’t forget, we jumped off on the right flank, shifted to the left flank, and finally attacked through the center. We suffered the lightest losses and gained the most ground.”

Lt. Col. Kunzig’s 2nd battalion pushing to the northwest had taken the towns of Gernsdorf, Irmgateichen, Salchendorf, Deuz and Grissenbach. With the possible exception of Deuz, the objectives provided weak resistance to the rapidly moving doughs. It was in the 3rd battalion sector that the bitterest fighting was encountered.

Terrain reminiscent of the Huertgen Forest faced Lt. Col. Hogan’s battalion as it drove towards the town of Lanhof. A series of road blocks guarded the narrow passes through the hills in the Sayn Forest. Devastating fire from earthwards aimed 20-mm. ack-ack guns peppered the avenues of approach. A cold penetrating rain soaked the foot soldiers who waited in vain for reinforcement by heavy armor.


Entering the ruins of Gehlinkirchen

Spearheading the attack of the battalion was Company K under Lt. Francis D. Linse. The 3rd platoon led by Lt. Robert Lazarie with S/Sgt. Charles Carroll was halted after a few hundred yards advance by machine gun fire covering a road block of felled trees. Lazarie quickly moved his men to cover and sent sleepers to the flanks of the road block. Sergeants Frank Voccaturo and Simon Lutz dispatched the defenders with a few well-aimed hand grenades. The company was thrown back as it reached the edges of town by fire from three enemy tanks. Friendly artillery pounded the town and the infantry moved in doggedly on the objective.

Pfc. Henry Whittle scored a hit on the lead Mark IV which turned in flight. Heavy house to house fighting brought the town under control late March 31. The drive of the 2nd battalion in this sector was marked by similar trying conditions.

Major Adams speedily led his forces through the towns of Flammersbach and Feursbach on the initial drive to Siegen.


9th Armored moves through Bendorf

During the tussle for the town of Hermulheim in the Roer-Rhine drive, Pfc. Felix Hill, Jr., of Company C had helped to break up a German counterattack with a direct hit on a Mark IV tank. Evidently, Hill did not believe this was a sporting thing. He desired a more difficult target.

In the attack on Feursbach, Hill spotted an enemy motorcycle scooting hell-ben down the main thoroughfare in a desperate attempt to escape the onrushing infantry. The dough took up a position about 50 yards from the motorcycle and let go with a round from his bazooka. The round hit dead center, mangling the motorcycle and killing the two occupants.

Company C headed by Captain Durward. M. Kelton pushed on the right flank from Feursbach to capture Breitenbach. To the left Capt. Ethel S. Kinard’s charges of Company B disposed of light small arms opposition to take Kaan. When the pressure relieved on the flanks, Company A under Capt. Howard T. Guyer moved swiftly through the center to take Volnesberg. The latter company received much heavier small arms resistance as it proceeded to high ground west of Volnesberg. Company C encountered similar increasing resistance directly west of the town of Weidenau.


Troops are wary of snipers

Colonel Cross now ordered the 1st battalion to coordinate an attack on Siegen with elements of the 13th Infantry on the left flank.

Company B jumped off at 1115 hours from Kaan-Marienborn and by 1300 hours had reached the outskirts of Siegen. Companies B and C delayed a concerted attack until early evening. Supported by fire from Company C positioned on high ground to the northeast, the two companies advanced 700 yards against moderate resistance consisting of small arms fire combined with rocket and artillery fire.

During the early morning hours of April 2, Captain Kinard attempted to move his men across the bridged sectors of the Sieg River. Enemy artillery and mortar fire increased in intensity with this move. Three platoons of Company A moved, under supporting fires from the stalled Company B, to cross the river farther north on foot bridges. Some were forced to wade the shallow waters as enemy artillery shifted its striking forces against the new penetration.


Infantrymen of the 8th Division, enter the town of Wurdinghausen, Germany. The pass was under enemy fire, and part of the bridge shown fell on passing soldiers

By 0720 hours, the battalion had made a crossing in force. A platoon of Company B carefully guarded bridges to assure a safe retreat in the event of an enemy armored counterattack.

At the moment the most exacting struggle of the Ruhr pocket engagement was developing for the regiment before the town of Netphen. It was a battle of regimental proportions shouldered by a battalion minus the aid of adequate armor.



Company E had encountered only scattered opposition in taking the centrally located town of Breitenbach early April 1. As the battalion moved towards Netphen, three companies were committed to the attack: G, E, and F, from left to right. Heavy enemy armor retreating to the northwest from the town of Siegen sought refuge from the quickly encircling forces in the pocket. It was in the natural defilade before Netphen that the enemy decided to make a last stand.

The companies butted against the town defenses with little success. Heavy flak, mortar and artillery fire was added to the continual poundings from huge SP guns. Tank-stalking teams were called into play as the few available tank destroyers proved no match for superior armament located in more favored positions. Companies G and E were shaken with heavy enemy counterattacks on April 3.


An infantryman moves cautiously past burning vehicles knocked out when a 8th reconnaissance column was ambushed near Oberbrugge, Germany. The reconnaissance troops quickly organized and returned the fire with Mortar, machine gun and 75-mm. anti-tank fire.

Early the following morning, the battalion made a successful breach in the defenses. Company E moved around the high ground near a church clearing out a dozen houses and capturing 20 prisoners. The momentum of the attack abated as quickly as it had begun. The enemy hurled a counter attack of seven tanks at the attacking force. Company G quickly came to the aid of the besieged company as Company F prepared for further assaults against its position in the southeastern sector of town.

The enemy hurled four more counterattacks at the battalion during the day. Only two of a complement of four attached destroyers were able to support the infantry now savagely protecting their gains in town. Late in the afternoon members of Capt. Cliett’s Company F kept vigil in the cellars of Netphen as several huge enemy self-propelled guns moved down the main street methodically reducing homes and blasting cellars with H-E rounds.

The “fifth platoon,” a unit composed of negro replacements which had joined the regiment shortly before the jump-off in the “pocket, “ was aroused by the rumbling approach of one of the armored monsters.


"Volkssturmes" with Panzerfaust.

Pfc. Rudolph Prophet, on guard on the second floor of the building in which the platoon had taken refuge, gave the alarm to his mates below. German civilians moved alongside the mobile artillery piece pointing out houses in which they had seen the Americans hide.

Prophet dangerously exposed himself in the window frame, took aim with a bazooka, and fired a round that hit atop the turret and momentarily halted the charging vehicle. He then ran to the floor below. Pfc. Ralph W. Dunlap and Pfc. Lacey W. Cox alerted by Prophet’s call hurried to the first floor armed with Panzerfaust (German anti-tank weapons). Bracing themselves in the windows, the two let go with the powerful charges. Both rounds tore through the bogie wheels and crippled the ambling giant. Their mates now moved to their aid and deftly picked off crew members attempting to escape. Ordnance men examined the knocked out armored monster after the battle of Netphen had cleared. After much consternation, they decided the vehicle was a “Jagdtiger,” the enemy’s newest and most formidable armored assault gun.


Brig. General Bryant E. Moore awards the Silver Star to Pfc. Lacey Cox, Jamaica, New York, for knocking out an 80-ton tank in Netphen, Germany.

The 76-ton monster mounted a 22-foot long, 128-mm. gun on a Tiger II chassis. It had succumbed to the daring and courage of three doughboys. Brigadier General Bryant E. Moore, 8th Division Commander, decorated the three men with Silver Stars and Colonel Cross elevated them to buck sergeants.

[SAMWolf]

Enemy resistance continued to increase in the 3rd battalion sector on April 2. To lessen the pressure, Major Adams’ battalion was pulled out of Siegen after being relieved by elements of the 13th Infantry to take up the attack on the right flank of Lt. Col. Hogan’s stalled forces.



As the 1st battalion sped to a jump-off position for its new phase of operations, the enemy struck at the 3rd battalion with a force of four tanks, three half-tracks and several companies of infantrymen. Company L moved to the left of its objective, Company K to the right as friendly artillery crept up on the enemy form the rear. Company L was heavily hit with return SP fire form the enemy.

Infantrymen of Company L grew disheartened as their risks went for naught. Bazooka and A-T rounds bounced harmlessly off the heavy skinned German armor.

Sgt. James Delucas, Cpl. Layton D. Diehl and Sgt. Frank Voccaturo saved Company K from severe losses with their courageous attack against a Tiger Royal tank. The two moved within 25 yards of the tank and scored a hit with Panzerfausts on the heavy armor. Delucas was: knocked unconscious by a grenade thrown by enemy infantry but recovered in time to aid Diehl in holding off an attack against their position. The duo again scored hits on the Tiger Royal and broke up the enemy attack.

The Volksturm - The old

In short order the first battalion assault cavalcade was on its way. Capt. Guyer’s Company A squashed enemy resistance in Benfe with marching fire that completely disorganized the enemy. The towns of Ludwigseck and Mad Alteneich fell shortly thereafter.

Information gained from prisoners taken by the 3rd battalion accounted for the bitter resistance to the drive on the town of Lutzel. Field Marshal Ernest Model, leader of the German Group B Army, had stationed his headquarters there. When our artillery hit an ammunition dump in the town, the leader pulled up stakes and took off to the north, the prisoners revealed.

US tank crashes through ruins of a German town

Enemy armor surprised a regimental mine-laying platoon in the town of Brauersdorf. A friendly reconnaissance car was put out of action and the platoon was temporarily disorganized. Late in the afternoon of April 4, Colonel Cross was evacuated through medical channels.

The new Regimental Commander was Lt. Col. Earle L. Lerette. It was no baptism of fire or initial adventure in leading doughs for the short, stocky leader from Massachusetts. Lerette’s fearless leadership of the 3rd battalion, 13th Infantry, had gained him recognition as one of the outstanding combat leaders in the 8th Division. He had been awarded the Silver Star and the Bronze Star before joining the Bonnets. They were soon to learn of his mettle in combat.

The Volksturm - The young

If one had not known the new leader, they would soon have sworn that he was a platoon leader instead of a regimental commander. Throughout every engagement that followed, he was up front much of the time with the leading infantry elements.

“I’ve driven for quite a few regimental commanders but it was nothing like this. In the ‘pocket’ he used to pioneer roads for an attack to follow. Sometimes I swear I could have read the serial numbers on the Kraut rifles we were so close.”

The new leader’s tactics were based on speed and deception. His double envelopment tactics had the enemy outguessed most of the time. Regimental headquarters was a mobile unit that moved right on the heels of the attacking elements. Closer communication lessened the strain on the front line units. The Colonel’s policy was sound:

“They are the men who are actually fighting and winning the war. They suffer the casualties. If they run such risks why shouldn’t all run similar risks if their movement closer to the line facilitates the attack.”

A machine gun crew of the 8th Infantry Division fire cover for advancing troops street fighting their way into Schwel

On April 6, the 2nd and 3rd battalions began to move against an enemy that gave ground for the first time since opening attack. As Capt. Cliett’s Company F cleared Eschenbach to relieve the pressure on Netphen, Companies E and G moved against tank resistance in the western portion of town. Companies K and L hit Lutzel form both flanks with marching fire and penetrated the town at 0830 hours. The 1st battalion moved back prepared to take over regimental reserve.

Netphen was cleared late in the day and the 2nd battalion pushed Company F through Frohnhausen.

It was to be only a momentary reprieve for Major Adams’ 1st battalion . The companies jumped off for Musen and Dahlbruch. It was a move that was to mark the breakthrough for the Gray Bonnets in the Ruhr. Both towns fell and the regiment was on its way.

Battalions moved in a column headed by two platoons of medium tanks and four tank destroyers. Foot elements followed protected by an A-T platoon. Reconnaissance elements moved forward checking routes and bridges along the way. Town after town fell without organized resistance: Littfeld, Stachelau, Listernohl.

There was concrete evidence the Wehrmacht was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Several hundred members of the Hitler “Jugend” were rounded up by the 2nd battalion. Then followed the deluge.

An American soldier guards german prisoners captured in the Ruhr Pocket.

The town of Valbert fell leaving the bewildered men of Lt. Col. Kunzig with new problems. Two thousand enemy were herded into a large field. Scores of knocked out enemy vehicles lined the road. Horses freed of their military loads ran wildly through the fields. The only resistance to the attack of the Gray Bonnets came from a local source- lack of transportation. The drive was on all along the Ruhr front. Trucks to transport the infantry were soon at a premium.

The Division forces had reached the Ruhr River where contact was made with elements of the 79th Infantry Division. The noose on the Wehrmacht in the Ruhr pocket had been tightened. Armor from the 13th Armored Division was now added to the pulverizing power of the infantrymen. The regiment caught its breath on April 13-14 as the 13th Infantry moved to the front and took up the chase.

The following day the Bonnets passed through the rear elements of the 28th Infantry and attacked towards the west with the 2nd and 3rd battalions in assault. The 1st battalion supported the attack of the other two as they jumped off from the vicinity of Schwelm. Again the list of objectives read like a page listing of towns in a gazetteer: Landringhausen, Haslinghausen, Flockenhausen, Blumenhaus, Duellenberg. The list seemed endless: Sauerbruch, Linderhausen, Heide.

Town names differed but the over-all scene was much alike: the white sheets hanging frm windows, the worried faces of the inhabitants half crying, half laughing, and waving weakly at the thundering cavalcade of tanks and trucks as it moved through villages they had promised Nazi leaders to defend to the death.

Men of the 8th watch as thousands of Nazis are brought into a prisoner of war enclosure near Remscheid, Germany.

There was the familiar thud of German boots hitting the road...hundreds of Wehrmacht stretched in columns along the road. A few G.I.’s moved to the rear, growing quite accustomed and frequently bored with marching enemy companies to the PW enclosures.

The whereabouts of the once vaunted Luftwaffe had soon become evident. Company K uncovered 90 enemy ME109 planes in an underground tunnel near the town of Sauerbruch early in the afternoon of April 15. Numerous similar hideouts were discovered along the route of advance in the Baltic drive of early May.

Infantry take shelter, Dortmund

Lt. Col. Kunzig split his elongated forces into two sections: the battalion commander an Capt. William S. Freeman led a medium tank force while Major Frederick J. Baum led a light tank force to the rear. An enemy SP gun scored a direct hit on Capt. Freeman’s tank but he escaped injury to continue the attack into Haslinghausen.

The following morning the 1st battalion moved out of Schwelm to relieve the 2nd battalion on its final objective, Herzkamp. Lt. Col. Adams’ men encountered only light opposition as they moved through the turbulent streets of Neviges and Tonischeide. Company B led the convoy on tanks, followed by the doughs of Companies A and C on foot. The battalion rolled into the final objective, Rohdenhaus, in early evening.

The 3rd battalion likewise outsped all schedules of operation to reach its final objective. The town of Wulfrath presented only a crumbling resistance. Lt. Col. Hogan accepted the surrender of 1,700 enemy troops plus two regimental staffs at 2100 hours.

The battle of the Ruhr pocket had gone into history for the Gray Bonnets. It had been a remarkable demonstration of lightning-like tactics that continually and completely caught the enemy off guard. Much of the actual bitterness of the early fighting might be overlooked in a glance at the record of overwhelming victories after April 6. The 2nd and 3rd battalion doughs, who wore down enemy armor near Netphen and Lutzel, can recall it as high on their list of hard-won victories. The speed and deceptiveness of the 1st battalion was unmatched.

Resistence was locally fierce

On April 17, the 8th Division received a new mission of security and military government from the XVIII Airborne Corps. The regiment was assigned the area in the vicinity of Ludenscheid in the Ruhr district as its zone of occupation. The following day a revision of orders changed the boundaries. The Division zone was extended farther east. The 1st battalion moved to Solingen, the 2nd battalion to Ruppichteroth and the 3rd battalion to Ohligs. Regimental headquarters moved to the centrally located town of Mulheim to the north of Cologne on the eastern banks of the Rhine.

A new offensive action was brewing for the Division. On April 24 General Bryant E. Moore received advance information of a new mission for his unit as part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Following the success of the Ruhr pocket offensive, the division was accorded this last mission to protect the right flank of the 2nd British Army in an attack across the Elbe River to seize Hamburg and cut off the Danish peninsula.

A soldier watches for snipers in Hamm

The final attack of the 121st Infantry was at hand. A Russian ally pushing from the East would soon join hands with the Gray Bonnets.

[SAMWolf]

The Story Of Thr "Ruhr Pocket"
78th Infantry Division

Toward the end of March, while the 78th continued to hold and strengthen its position along the Sieg River line, First and Ninth Army units began to pour across the Rhine. Two prongs shot out across the map in a giant pincer aimed at the complete encirclement of the vital Ruhr industrial area. The 78th guarded the left flank of the First Army Drive as it pushed eastward, lobbing artillery and mortar fire into the German defenses across the Sieg. 78th patrols, on spine-chilling missions deep into enemy territory, travelled back and forth across the river.



On April 1st, units of the Ninth Army, driving around from the north, established contact with units of the First Army, coming up from the south. The entire Ruhr area was thus encircled. The two Armies then pushed on to the Elbe River, leaving behind a huge pocket, covering an area of over 5,000 square miles, in which over 300,000 German troops were completely cut off. Included in this pocket, were the large industrial cities of Dusseldorf Dortmund, Hamm, Essen, and Wuppertal.


Another truckload of German troops swells the ranks of those who have surrendered

On April 6th from its position along the southern lining of the pocket, the Division crossed the Sieg and drove into the Ruhr area. It was a coordinated squeeze, the 78th pushing northward; other First and Ninth Army units pressing in from the east and north. Throughout the next eleven days, while Allied spearheads probed to within 50 miles of Berlin, the 78th smashed up into the Ruhr in daily gains that varied from 6000 yards up to 11 miles over rough, hilly terrain.

blitz . . .

The pocket was heavily defended by SS, Panzer, Parachute and Infantry troops, together with numerous flak batteries and miscellaneous units of all descriptions, pressed into service as Infantry. The Germans employed everything they could lay their hands on -- tanks, self-propelled guns, anti-aircraft, rockets -- to hold back the advancing doughs. But the Lightning men would not be stopped.


The town of Ahlem displays white flags as 9th Army tanks advance to Lippestadt

Cut off and demoralized by the relentless Lightning advances, rear guard forces threw down their arms and gave themselves up. Whole garrisons were overrun. Prisoners were herded to the rear by the thousands, and the PW count soared to a record high of 9,186 for a single day.

This was blitzhreig - Yankee fashion.

The 78th doughboys pushed forward from one town to the next, leaving a trail of white surrender fags in their wake. German soldiers in civilian clothes were ferretted out and sent to the cage to share the fate of their Kamerads. A steady stream of 6x6's, their bows bulging with the weight of countless disillusioned supermen, poured out of the ever-diminishing pocket.


Onward through Munster

Thousands of slave-workers - Russians, French, Czechs, Dutch, Poles - liberated by the 78th, roamed the streets and trudged along the roadsides still dazed by the sudden turn of events that had set them free after five years of slavery.

On the 15th of April the Mayor of Wuppertal received a phone call. At the other end of the wire was a Lightning officer, demanding the immediate surrender of the city. Within a few hours, Wuppertal, which had boasted a pre-war population of 400,000, surrendered to the 78th Division.

finis . . .



Two days later the Pocket had virtually ceased to exist. General Parker summed up the action in a message to the troops. ". . . In eleven days you advanced more than 50 miles against the enemy. You captured 47,581 prisoners, including 7 General Officers. You captured some 120 towns and villages. You cleared over 300 square miles of enemy territory... The courage, fighting heart, and aggressive spirit which broke the Seigfried Line, wrested Schwammenauel Dam from the enemy, and secured the now famous Remagen bridgehead, are still with you."


Troops by-pass a roadblock, Hamm

On April 17th, after 128 days of continuous front-line duty, the Lightning Division was taken off the line and put into reserve for a well-earned rest.

The story of the Ruhr Pocket (since named the "Rose" Pocket in memory of Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose) will go down as one of the dramatic highlights of this war - one of the great milestones on the road to victory in Europe.

Additional Sources:

www.techwarrior.cx
www.hco.hagen.de
www.29thdivision.org
history.searchbeat.com
www.nrw2000.de
www.army.mil
www.coulthart.com
www.lonesentry.com
Battle of the Ruhr Pocket, Charles Whiting

[SAMWolf]

'TO EVERY MEMBER OF THE AEF: The battle of the Ruhr has ended with complete success... The rapidity and determination with which this brilliant action was executed tore asunder the divisions of Field Marshal Model and enabled all Army Groups without pause to continue their drive eastward into the heart of Germany. This victory of Allied aims is a fitting prelude to the final battles to crush the remnants of Hitler's armies of the west, now tottering on the threshold of defeat.'

General Dwight D. Eisenhower
20 April 1945

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

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[snippy_about_it]

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Good Thursday Morning Everyone.


If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Good night Sam.

[Iris7]

Heh heh, first again!

About this time or maybe January, February, or March there was a systematic clearing of a strongly held German city by American troops. Can't remember any details. You? Make a good Foxhole, Faluja and all that.

[bulldogs]

Good Morning Sam.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

Rockwell XFV-12A

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[Samwise]

G'morning guys!

I'm up early. The newspaper guy woke me up again with his noisy muffler. :^(

I am starting to feel human hobbity again.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Daiquiri (SP-1285)

Herreshoff class patrol boat

Daiquiri, 62'4" motor boat, was constructed in 1917 at Bristol, Rhode Island, as Herreshoff Hull # 317. She was one of a group of identical craft built in the expectation that they would be needed by the Navy should the United States enter World War I. Purchased by the Navy in mid-September 1917, she was commissioned in early October as USS Daiquiri (SP-1285) and performed patrol service in New England waters for the rest of the conflict. Inactivated in April 1919, the boat was sold in March 1920.

[The Mayor]

He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction. —Proverbs 13:3

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on April 15:
1452 Leonardo da Vinci Italy, painter/sculptor/scientist/visionary
1469 Nanak 1st guru of Sikhs
1651 Domenico Gabrielli composer
1682 John van Huysum Dutch painter (flowers/fruit)
1684 Catherine I empress of Russia (1725-27)
1707 Leonhard Euler Bassle Sweden, mathematician (Euler's Constant)
1800 Sir James Clark Ross explorer (British Antarctic)
1820 Evander McNair Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1902
1821 Emerson Brown Joseph (Confederacy), died in 1894
1822 Napolean Jackson Tecumseh Dana Major General (Union volunteers)
1829 Mary Harris Thompson 1st American woman surgeon
1837 Horace Porter Brevet Brigadier General (Union Army), died in 1921
1843 Henry James New York NY, US/British writer/critic (Turn of the Screw, Bostonians)
1850 John Munroe Longyear US, capitalist/bank president
1874 Johannes Stark Germany, physicist (Stark effect) (Nobel 1919)
1889 Thomas Hart Benton Neosho MO, painter/muralist (Lonesome Road)
1891 Alvin P[leasant Delaney] Carter Maces Springs VA, vocalist (Carter Family)
1894 Elizabeth Mae "Bessie" Smith Empress of Blues (over 200 songs)
1901 Joe Davis English snooker/billiards-world champion (1927-46)
1912 Kim II Sung "President" of North Korea (1945-94)
1917 Hans Conried Baltimore MD, actor (Bullwinkle Show, Make Room for Daddy)
1921 Georgi Timofeyevich Beregovoi USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 3)
1924 Neville Marriner Lincoln England, conductor (Minnesota Orchestra 1978)
1929 Adrian Cadbury candy manufacturer (Cadbury, Schweppes)
1932 Nikolai Stepanovich Porvatkin Russian cosmonaut
1933 Elizabeth Montgomery Los Angeles CA, actress (Samantha/Serena-Bewitched)
1933 Roy Clark Meherrin VA, country singer (Hee Haw)
1939 Claudia Cardinale Tunis, actress (Blindfold, 8½, Pink Panther)
1940 Phil Lesh Berkeley CA, bassist (Grateful Dead-Truckin')
1942 Kim Il Jong son of Kim Il Sung, North Korean "President"/sawed-off little twerp/world class fruitloop
1947 DeDe Lind Los Angeles CA, playmate (August 1967)
1947 Linda Bloodworth-Thomason TV producer (Designing Women, Murphy Brown)/FOB
1951 Marsha S Ivins Baltimore MD, astronaut (STS 32, 46, 62, 81)
1951 John L Phillips Fort Belvoir VA, PhD/astronaut
1956 Gregory J Harbaugh Cleveland OH, astronaut (STS 39, 54, 71, 82)
1957 Evelyn Ashford Shreveport LA, 100 meter runner (Olympics-4 gold-1976, 84)
1960 Marvin Clyde Goodwin New Orleans LA, murderer (FBI Most Wanted List)
1965 Soichi Noguchi Yokohama Japan, astronaut

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Deaths which occurred on April 15:
1415 Manuel Chrysoloras Byzantine leader/diplomat (Erotèmata), dies
1472 Leon B Alberti Italian humanist/architect (Philodoxis), dies at 68
1605 Boris Godunov tsar of Russia (1598-1605), dies
1765 Michail von Lomonosov Russian scholar/poet, dies at 53

1865 President Abraham Lincoln dies, at 7:22 am, morning after being shot by John Wilkes Booth

1888 Matthew Arnold English poet, dies at 65
1925 John Singer Sargent US portrait painter, dies at 69
1949 Wallace Beery US actor (The Champ), dies at 64
1975 John B McKay US test pilot (X-15), dies
1980 Jean-Paul Sartre existentialist philosopher/writer (Nobel 1964), dies in Paris at 74
1980 Raymond Bailey actor (Mr Drysdale-Beverly Hillbillies), dies at 75
1982 5 Muslim extremist murderers of Egyptian President Sadat executed
1986 Sergei Nikolayevich Anokhin cosmonaut, dies at 76
1989 Hu Yaobang General Secretary of Chinese Commnist Party, dies
1990 Greta Garbo actress (Anna Karenina, Camille), dies at 84
1993 George Ives, composer dies at 111
1993 Leslie Charteris British mystery writer (Saint), dies at 85

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 ZERBE MICHAEL R.---JULIAN CA.
1968 METZ JAMES H.---POPLAR BLUFF MO.
[03/18/77 SRV RETURNED REMAINS TO PCOM]
1970 BIVENS HERNDON A.---JAMICA NY.
[DIED 2 HOURS AFTER CAPTURE]
1970 MILLER ROGER A.---HOPEWELL JUNCTION NY.
[03/05/73 RELEASED BY PRG INJURED. ALIVE IN 98]
1972 DESPIEGLER GALE A.---BROWNS VALLEY MN.
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 TRIMBLE LARRY A.---FARMINGTON WA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/89 ID 09/89]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0069 Battle at Bedriacum, North-Italy
1205 Battle at Adrianople Visigoths beats Emperor Boudouin of Constantinople
1250 Pope Innoncent III refuses Jews of Cordova Spain to build a synagogue
1450 French defeat English at Battle of Formigny in 100 Years' War
1493 Columbus meets with King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella
1632 Swedish & Saxon army beat Earl Tilly
1715 Uprising of Yamasse-Indians in South Carolina
1729 Johann S Bachs "Matthäus Passion" premieres in Leipzig

1738 Bottle opener invented

1776 Duchess of Kingston found guilty of bigamy
1784 1st balloon flight in Ireland
1800 James Ross discovers North Magnetic pole
1817 1st American school for the deaf opens (Hartford CT)
1850 City of San Francisco incorporated
1858 Battle of Azimghur, Mexicans defeat Spanish loyalists
1861 Federal army (75,000 volunteers) mobilized by President Abraham Lincoln
1864 General Steeles' Union troops occupies Camden AR
1874 New York legislature passes compulsory education law
1877 1st telephone installed Boston-Somerville MA
1878 Harley Procter introduces Ivory Soap
1892 General Electric Company forms & is incorporated in New York
1896 1st Olympic games close at Athens, Greece
1900 International Exposition opens in Paris France
1901 1st British motorized burial
1902 Pope Leo XIII encyclical "On the Church in the US"
1912 Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM in North Atlantic as the band plays on
1922 Frederick Banting, John MacLeod & Charles Best discover insulin
1923 1st sound on film public performance shown at Rialto Theater (NYC)
1927 Babe Ruth hits 1st of 60 homeruns of season (off A's Howard Ehmke)
1927 Switzerland & USSR agree to diplomatic relations
1931 The 1st walk across America backwards began
1940 British troops land at Narvik Norway
1941 1st helicopter flight of 1 hour duration, Stratford CT
1942 George VI awards the George Cross to the people of Malta
1945 FDR buried on grounds of Hyde Park home
1945 British & Canadian troops liberate Nazi camp of Bergen-Belsen
1945 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Communium interpretes dolorum
1945 US troops occupy concentration camp Colditz
1948 1st Jewish-Arab military battle, Arabs defeated (Shock!)
1949 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Redemptoris nostri
1952 1st B-52 prototype test flight
1955 Ray Kroc starts the McDonald's chain of fast food restaurants (Illinois)
1957 Saturday mail delivery restored after Congress givs Post Office $41 million
1959 Fidel Castro begins US goodwill tour
1959 US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles resigns
1960 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), organizes at Shaw University
1961 "Music Man" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 1375 performances
1964 Chesapeake Bay Bridge opens (Bridge-Tunnel measures 17.6 miles (28.4 km) and is considered the world's largest bridge-tunnel complex)
1964 Ian Smith becomes premier of Rhodesia
1969 North Korea shoots at US airplane above Japanese sea
1970 Libyan leader Qadhafi launches "Green Revolution"
1972 Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, Carole King & Quincy Jones perform at a benefit for George McGovern for President
1974 Military coup in Niger, President Diori Hamani deposed
1975 1st appearance of the San Diego Chicken
1981 Janet Cooke says her Pulitzer award 8-year-old heroin addict story is a lie, Washington Post relinquishes Pulitzer Prize on fabricated story
1983 Tokyo Disneyland opens
1984 Extremist Sikhs plunder 40 stations in Punjab India
1986 US air raids Libya, responding to La Belle disco, Berlin bombing
1988 Meteorite explode above Indonesia
1989 95 crushed to death at Sheffield Soccer Stadium in England
1989 Students in Beijing pro-democracy protests
1990 "In Living Color" premieres on FOX-TV
1991 Europe foreign ministers lift most remaining sanctions against South Africa
1992 Billionaire Leona Helmsley is sent to jail for tax evasion
1992 Jay Leno's final appearance as permanent guest host of Tonight Show
1992 William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy & DeForest Kelley inducted into National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame
1994 Indians lose 1st game at Jacobs Field, Kansas City wins 2-1
1994 Robert F Kennedy Jr (21 days after his divorce) weds Mary Richardson
1996 Tokyo and Washington agreed on a gradual return of U.S. military bases on Okinawa to Japan.
1997 The Justice Department inspector general reported that FBI crime lab agents produced flawed scientific work or inaccurate testimony in major cases such as the Oklahoma City bombing.
1997 In Saudi Arabia, fire destroyed a tent city outside Mecca, killing at least 343 Muslim pilgrims.
1997 Baseball honors Jackie Robinson by retiring #42 for all teams
1999 Astronomers announced they had discovered evidence of a solar system in the constellation Andromeda. It was the only known solar system other than our own.
2001 U.N. investigators arrested Bosnian Serb army officer Dragan Obrenovic in connection with the Serbian Army's slaughter of as many as 7,000 Muslim men and boys.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Africa : African Freedom Day
Massachusetts, Maine : Patriots Day-Boston Marathon run (1775) (Monday)
US : National Garden Week Week (Day 5)
US : Hostility Day
US : Rubber Eraser Day
Zoo and Aquarium Month.

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Religious Observances
Ancient Rome : Fordicidia a d xvij Kal Maias
Buddhist : New Year (Bangladesh)

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Religious History
1746 Colonial missionary to the American Indians David Brainerd wrote in his journal: 'Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose. Oh, that God would make me more fruitful and spiritual.'
1817 In Hartford, CT, American clergyman Thomas H. Gallaudet, 30, and deaf Frenchman Laurent Clerc opened the first American school for the deaf, called the American Asylum.
1872 In deciding the legal case "Watson v. Jones," the U.S. Supreme Court declared that a member of a religious organization may not appeal to secular courts against a decision made by a church tribunal within the area of its competence.
1892 Birth of Corrie ten Boom, Dutch devotional author whose family was arrested by the Gestapo during WWII for hiding Jewish refugees in their home. (Corrie's experience with the Nazis was depicted in the 1971 film, "The Hiding Place.")
1958 British apologist C. S. Lewis wrote in "Letters to an American Lady": 'I had been a Christian for many years before I really believed in the forgiveness of sins, or more strictly, before my theoretical belief became a reality to me.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"I can understand why mankind hasn't given up war. During a war you get to drive tanks through the sides of buildings and shoot foreigners - two things that are usually frowned on during peacetime."

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What a Difference 30 Years Makes...
1970: Killer weed.
2000: Weed killer.

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New State Slogans...
Pennsylvania: Stop at One of Our Highway Exits

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Male Language Patterns...
"Do you love me?" REALLY MEANS,
"I've done something stupid and you might find out."

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Female Language Patterns...
"No, pizza's fine." REALLY MEANS,
"You cheap slob!"

[SAMWolf]

Heh heh, first again!

:-) Morning Iris7.

IIRC, Aachen was the first German city to fall. I believe in November 44.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning, Bulldogs.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning aeronaut

The Rockwell International XFV-12A, a thrust-augmented wing prototype supersonic fighter/attack aircraft, was designed to operate from small ships. The single engine, single seat prototype aircraft used parts from the A-4 and F-4; the fuselage was 44 ft long with a 28.5 ft wingspan and a 12 ft canard span. Operational vertical take-off weight was expected to be 19,500 lb, with a maximum speed of over Mach 2 anticipated by Rockwell.

[SAMWolf]

I am starting to feel human hobbity again.

Morning Samwise. That's good to hear, I hope you keep improving quickly.