[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles and the occasional radio broadcast delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Battle for Northern Entrance to Ormoc Valley, 16 November-14 December 1944 (from 32d Infantry Division website)
The Philippine Islands: Leyte Island and the Visayas, 1944 – Sixth Army Operations on Leyte and Samar, 17 October-30 December 1944
Northwestern Europe, 1944: 6th and 12th Army Group Operations, 8 November-15 December 1944
Northwestern Europe, 1944: 21st Army Group Operations, 15 September-15 December 1944
Eastern Europe, 1941: Russian Balkan and Baltic Campaigns – Operations, 19 August-31 December 1944
Northern Italy 1944: Allied Advance to Gothic Line, 5 June-25 August and Gains 29 August-31 December
China, 1941: Operation Ichigo, April-December 1944 and Situation 31 December
China-Burma, 1941: Third Burma Campaign – Slim’s Offensive, June 1944-March 1945

[Hebrews 11:6]

Minutiae, regarding the page 4 article on the impossible Saipan B-29 airfield: the article refused to give the runway’s length, but Google Earth satisfied my curiosity and shows it today at 9,000 feet, as is neighboring Tinian’s.

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm

[PeterPrinciple]

An interesting relationship between Iwo Jima and the B-29’s at Saipan. In fact Nimitz made an order today the 24th to focus on Iwo Jima to protect the B-29’s.

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Ops-XIV/USN-XIV-1.html

The first B-29 from the United States landed on Saipan on 12 October, and by the end of November there were enough to launch the first strike against Japan.12 Before that happened the Japanese, realizing what they were in for, counterattacked the Saipan fields twice, and ineffectively; but after the first B-29 raid against the Japanese homeland, on 24 November, they hit back hard. Early on the 27th, as the Superforts were loading bombs for a second strike, two twin-engined Japanese bombers came in low, destroyed on B-29 and damaged eleven others. Around noon the same day 10 to 15 single-engined fighters evaded the radar screen, destroyed three more B-29s and severely damaged two. These raids, which continued intermittently until 2 January, succeeded in damaging six and destroying eleven B-29s.

Since the loss of a B-29 was serious, strenuous efforts were made to intercept or stop these raids. Vice Admiral John H. Hoover, Commander Forward Area, stationed two destroyers 100 miles northwest of Saipan as early warning pickets. They detected some raids, but not all. Since it was rightly suspected that the Japanese bombers staged through Iwo Jima, Admiral Nimitz gave that island top priority on 24 November. He ordered the curtailment of VII A.A.F. strikes on bypassed islands and shipping in order to concentrate a joint aerial bombing and naval bombardment on Iwo, 8 December.