Posted on 12/18/2014 4:24:50 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
A couple of comments about today’s reporting of the War in the Pacific.
One article talked about how our soldiers were so superior to the Japanese. I enjoyed your posting of excerpts from Toland’s “The Rising Sun.” They seemed to show why our troops were so superior to the Japanese. Rested, well-fed and well-supplied soldiers are inherently superior to ones that aren’t.
The B-29 raid on the aircraft factory bragged about the 45 direct hits on the plant. Let’s see; 90 B-29s participated in that raid, 71 actually dropped bombs on the target, each B-29 carried 5000 pounds of bombs 1,500 miles at high altitude, so let’s say it held 10 500 pound bombs. That’s 710 bombs dropped on the plant. 45 hits, for an accuracy of about .063. Or roughly my batting average against a left-handed pitcher with an average slider.
Thanks!
So, what are you telling us?
That Nazis would deliberately stage photos for their propaganda value, rather than strict historical truth?
No!
Say it ain't so...
;-)
Bwaaa Haaa Haa Ha
The best of the Japanese tanks were almost equivalent to the United States's M3/M5 series. Finally a tank that the Army's 57mm antitank gun can handle:-)
I have a book titled Marine Tank Battles of WW-II and in the few cases where the M3s ran up against the Jap tanks even that was not much of a contest.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Brrrrrrrr...
But notice that as of "today" there's still no snow on the ground.
Skies are cloudy, foggy, planes can't fly, lots of mud, but not yet snow & ice.
I'd guess, that will soon change...
"Today":
"Coming soon...":
Thanks! It still looks cold “today.” My feet are cold sitting in my house, even though the thermometer on the wall in front of me says 72.5.
This and Guadalcanal have be in the top five for “World’s Worst Campout.”
When you watch the Band of Brothers episode that takes place during the Battle of the Bulge, you literally can feel the cold.
Germans who fought on the eastern front in the winter of '41-'42 might nominate that for the top spot.
Thanks for mentioning it - I just requested the DVD from Netflix.
Yes, that's definitely a contender ... along with Napoleon's retreat from Moscow.
With the wisdom of hindsight, we can see, in these first reports about the Ardennes attack, the signs of Fail. For example, it’s reported that the Luftwaffe flew around 450 sorties in the first 24 hours of the attack, and lost over 140 planes.
Somewhere, I read an analysis that said that, when the first day’s objectives weren’t all achieved, there was virtually no chance of the attack’s turning the course of the war.
The forecasting was inaccurate. I am certainly no naval expert, but the criticism of Halsey I've seen is twofold. He waited too long to begin fueling the fleet and had to discontinue as he sailed into the storm. Also, once it was clear what he was approaching he should have dispersed the fleet and ordered the captains to sail for calmer waters.
Once in the storm, Halsey ordered all ships not to stop for recovery operations but to sail directly for Ulithi. That order was ignored repeatedly by Captain Henry Page of the destroyer escort, USS Tabberer. Despite suffering severe damage herself, Tabberer rescued 55 of the 93 men saved. He will be awarded the Legion of Merit and the ship a Unit Commendation.
A naval board of inquiry was convened that faulted Halsey's judgment for sailing into the storm, but fell short of recommending replacement.
Incredibly, Halsey will later sail into another typhoon. This time the board will recommend reassignment, but Nimitz will decline in light of Halsey's overall record.
Very interesting, thanks!
It was ingenious how they did the snow effect. It is mostly paper. The Bastogne scenes were shot partly indoors so it requires the actors' ability to communicate how cold it is. I learned all that from the bonus disk of the series that has segment called The Making of Band of Brothers.
Oh boy. And that M-36 look like it does not even have the turret cover. It was open topped.
Every personal war story I've read about veterans of the Battle talks about the cold. Often with comments like, I swore I would never complain about a hot summer day again.
The kraut machine gunner with the cigarette(stolen) has “requisitioned” a .45 M1911 in his right hand.
A carbine and a grease gun. Not good.
Apparently turret covers weren't added until after the war.
Obviously paratroopers, right?
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