MANILA FALLS, 1,350 FREED FROM SECOND PRISON; PATTON CLEARS WESTWALL; COLMAR TRAP SET (2/6/45)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 2/6/45 | Lindesay Parrott, Ford Wilkins, George E. Jones, Frank Hewlett, Robert Crabb, Gene Currivan, more

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[henkster]

Something to note about the Royal Navy flattops; armored flight decks. The United States Navy used wooden flight decks on the Essex class, while the main deck armor was under the hangar deck. Sure, it didn’t provide much protection for the hangar, but was capable of being repaired quickly. The armored deck limited the number of aircraft that could be carried, and the Illustrious class only carried 35-45 aircraft, while Indefatigable carried 54. The British tended to (literally) give more weight to defensive armor protection and less to offensive capability. American fleet doctine was that the best defense is a good offense, and the Essex class carried 90-100 aircraft.

Who was right? Well, we both won the war. But for comparison puposes, the Japanese flattops were built similar to the British, if that’s any indication.

[colorado tanker]

Himmler’s attempt, under the influence of his masseur Felix Kersten, to transfer some Jews from German camps to Switzerland is foiled when Hitler bans all evacuations.

I did some googling and this is a fascinating story. Himmler was a longtime friend of Dr. Jean-Marie Musy, former President of the Swiss Confederation. Musy was a conservative Catholic and very anticommunist, but unknown to Himmler he had become anti-Nazi. Musy worked with Zionists in Switzerland to try to negotiate the transfer of the remaining Jews in the camps. Money was to be paid, but Himmler's main motivation seemed to be to spare his own neck.

Himmler had earlier countermanded a Hitler order that all remaining inmates were to be killed and the camps destroyed. We know, however, that there were still shootings and marches in the chaos of advancing Russian troops. Plus many, if not most, Germans were of Hitler's view what should be done.

He tried to carry out this new plan without Hitler's knowledge. One train arrived from Theresienstadt to Switzerland. Hitler, however, found out about the train and ordered no further deportations. Himmler must have known he had not done anything that would atone for his crimes as in the end, he committed suicide.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/deal-with-the-devil/

[untenured]

You know I have to confess when I post those columns, I just open the HTML on the IU website and copy and paste at what looks like about the right place. And then whatever shows up in the preview box shows up. In other words, I didn’t know Mr. Wells nor did I go out of my way to post his picture, but I’m certainly glad you liked it.

My dad was actually an IU professor from 1966-1969. I was born two years before that, and only remember it a little.

[Peter W. Kessler]

Ken Burns’ “The War” highlights a woman who, as a young girl, was interned at Santo Thomas.

Also, reading the ever-lengthening casualty lists is gut wrenching. As the dead, wounded, and missing lived within an hour or two from where I’m typing this (I read them all, and make a mental note of the towns and cities), I often wonder “what if he’d lived?”

So many shattered families with permanently empty chairs...

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Also, reading the ever-lengthening casualty lists is gut wrenching.

I had to start limiting the casualty lists to one a month or so because of the time involved in preparing them for posting (and checking the names against the 381st Bomb Group roster, but that's another story). But you should know that there is a list like the one in today's post every day in the Times. Some are shorter and some are longer but they are in every issue.