Posted on 06/06/2013 4:12:34 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring
The News of the Week in Review
Twenty News Questions – 10
Axis Armies Mass for the Next Phase in the Battle for Russia (map) – 11
Russians Note Decline of Mighty Wehrmacht (Sulzberger) – 12
Trend of the Sea War Now Favors the Allies (Baldwin) – 13
China Strikes Back at Her Invaders (map) – 14
Chinese Give New Proof of Power in Offensive (Atkinson) – 15
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 16
The Best Selling Books, Here and Elsewhere (from Book Review) – 16
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/jun1943/f06jun43.htm
Italian held island continues to be hit
Sunday, June 6, 1943 www.onwar.com
Wellington bombers were used in the bombing of Pantelleria [photo at link].
In the Mediterranean... The bombardment of the Italian island of Pantelleria continues.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
June 6th, 1943 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: W. Jay Stone along with 16,000 other US servicemen arrive at Gourock, Scotland aboard the RMS Queen Mary, 5 days out of New York.
EASTERN EUROPE: SS units murder thirteen thousand Jewish men, women and children in five medium-sized “Aktions” throughout occupied Poland and the Ukraine.(Greg Kelley)
SPAIN: Madrid: General Franco proposes “no-bombing” zones in Europe; the Allies reject the idea as beneficial to the Axis.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: During the night of 5/6 June, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons hit the town and docks of Pantelleria Island. The following afternoon, Spitfires, P-40s, P-38s, B-26 Marauders, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, and B-25 Mitchells of the NASAF, Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) and USAAF Ninth Air Force continue pounding the island. The Allied air bombardment increases and is concentrated on coastal batteries and other gun emplacements as the second phase of air offensive against Pantelleria Island starts. (Jack McKillop)
ALGERIA: Algiers: General de Gaulle, in a controversial speech to the Free (Fighting) French here this morning, called for a fourth republic. His appeal for “national renovation” is being taken by observers here to mean that he does not intend France to return to the pre-war constitution of the Third Republic. De Gaulle also told his audience that “France does not want to be liberated by others, even by her best friends. She does not want gifts. We intend win our liberty ourselves.”
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-24 reports that it is approaching Kiska to land supplies and evacuate personnel. The sub is never heard from again. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: Less than two weeks after the home front riots in Los Angeles, California - Detroit, Michigan exploded in violence fed by rumours and resentment of blacks working in defence plants. At the end of this forgotten chapter of American history, 25 blacks and nine whites lay dead. Detroit citizens of all races called the awful event “bloody week.” While war raged abroad, war of a different kind raged at home. (Denis Peck)
And while they were printing the invasion force was off the coast of France.
wrong year. i need to read better...
If I’m in the German high command that map on pg. 11 doesn’t give me warm fuzzy feelings about Citadel.
The more he delayed, the more misgivings the Germans had about launching Citadel. They knew the Soviets were digging in, waiting for them. About this time, even Hitler was quoted as saying “Everytime I think about it (Citadell) my stomach turns.”
He should have listened to his stomach.
Speer has taken over the role of Armaments Minister, which he will perform quite capably. Up till now, German military production has lagged considerably and has not been near its potential. Speer is going to change all of that, although his production peaks are still over a year away.
Hitler will be dazzled by his production figures. However, despite Speer’s efforts, the military production of the military-economic bloc arrayed against Germany is going to make Speer’s figures look paltry. The wartime output of the USA, USSR and British Empire is simply mind-boggling; astronomical numbers that Hitler will refuse to accept as accurate.
Admiral Nagumo didn't detail an accurate battle report to the high command until the middle of June, after which the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to characterize the outcome of the Battle of Midway as a great victory. The Imperial Japanese Army still believed that the main IJN fleet still existed until at least July 1943. In the interim, the Japanese Navy was shuttling survivors of the battle off to distant and isolated island bases in the Eastern Pacific so that the story wouldn't leak out.
This is a first. One post that is a year too early (D-Day) and one that is a year too late (Midway). June 1943 is a dull month compared to the years preceding and following.
Just pretend I posted to this thread last year.
Nice to see favorable pub about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Too bad they didn't think about closing the camps down in light of the obvious loyalty of Japanese-Americans.
Has anyone read The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer? Sajer claimed to have been an Alsatian. Any thoughts on the book?
My other first thought was that I had read a book named "The Forgotten Soldier" about the Eastern front several decades ago, but that was a novel and not a memoir, as the book by Sajer appears to be. So I am no help on that one.
Correct.
My other first thought was that I had read a book named "The Forgotten Soldier" about the Eastern front several decades ago, but that was a novel and not a memoir, as the book by Sajer appears to be. So I am no help on that one.
The book's authenticity is hotly contested but I believe plausible explanations exist for every argument I've read against the book.
As those who have read the book know, Sajer's account becomes especially intense starting with Operation Citadel. With Operation Citadel set to commence on these threads, it would be interesting to hear any opinions about the book from thread followers.
Because the first section of the book dealing with boot camp and his service in a supply unit contrasts so sharply with his experience in a combat unit, I would not be surprised if the first part was Sajer's own account while the second part was the experience of someone else who Sajer was ghostwriting for.
That a portion of the book may have been ghostwritten whose cuff-title may have been worn on the left sleeve does not in my opinion take away from the account.
I think we’ve already had some discussions of “Forgotten Soldier.” Sajer did indeed purport to be an Alsatian with French as his primary language and a very limited German vocabulary. However, he apparently acquitted himself well enough in combat that his German comrades were more than willing to overlook that.
Assuming that the account is correct.
We have discussed the issue of authenticity of the account. The author may have experienced all, most or some of what took place. The balance may have been ghost written. The balance may have been based on the experiences of others. Whether the accounts in the book actually happened to one person, or whether the book is a compilation of the collective experiences of more than one person does not really matter to me. I accept the content as an accurate portrayal of life in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front.
When it comes to military memoirs, historical accuracy is always an issue. One example that comes to mind is Mitsuo Fuchida’s “Midway, the Battle that Doomed Japan.” Having been written by a key participant, for many years his book was accepted in the United States as gospel for the Japanese account of that battle. It was even the basis of that really bad Charleton Heston movie. In Japan, however, serious historians of the IJN debunked a lot of the statements he made in his book. For example, Fuchida states that the American dive bombing attack came as the strike planes were on the decks of the carriers, warming up and ready to take off. Historical analysis though shows that the Japanese planes were actually still in the hangars being serviced, and had not been spotted on the flight decks. The best recent work on this issue is Parshall & Tully’s “Shattered Sword; The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway.” I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to know a detailed account of this battle, and exactly why the Japanese lost.
So as for Sajer, I consider it as I would any other memoir. Compared to Fuchida, it may actually be more historically accurate, even if it didn’t actually happen. Try to digest that one for a while.
Yes. I know you (henkster) and I have discussed this book not long ago. I was hoping to get more discussion in order to raise awareness of the book and discuss opinions.
We have discussed the issue of authenticity of the account. The author may have experienced all, most or some of what took place. The balance may have been ghost written. The balance may have been based on the experiences of others. Whether the accounts in the book actually happened to one person, or whether the book is a compilation of the collective experiences of more than one person does not really matter to me. I accept the content as an accurate portrayal of life in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front.
That's pretty much my opinion as well. I have no problem with ghost writing because in the post war years, the Soviets had a long arm when it came to Germans believed to have been linked in some way to atrocities that managed to evade capture by the Red Army. Just consider the case of Jochen Peiper, what some call the last German soldier of WWII to fall...in June 1976. Actually, I have heard of other German veterans turning up missing and never seen nor heard from in the 1980s.
I can also understand how Sajer would intentionally fabricate details in order to protect not only himself but also any surviving buddies from vengeful Soviets.
When it comes to military memoirs, historical accuracy is always an issue. One example that comes to mind is Mitsuo Fuchida’s “Midway, the Battle that Doomed Japan.” Having been written by a key participant, for many years his book was accepted in the United States as gospel for the Japanese account of that battle. It was even the basis of that really bad Charleton Heston movie. In Japan, however, serious historians of the IJN debunked a lot of the statements he made in his book. For example, Fuchida states that the American dive bombing attack came as the strike planes were on the decks of the carriers, warming up and ready to take off. Historical analysis though shows that the Japanese planes were actually still in the hangars being serviced, and had not been spotted on the flight decks. The best recent work on this issue is Parshall & Tully’s “Shattered Sword; The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway.” I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to know a detailed account of this battle, and exactly why the Japanese lost.
Given the well known unreliability of eyewitness testimony in courts of law, I think it reasonable that a veteran can give an honest account yet have it wrong.
So as for Sajer, I consider it as I would any other memoir. Compared to Fuchida, it may actually be more historically accurate, even if it didn’t actually happen. Try to digest that one for a while.
I understand what you are getting at. I never have read Fujita's book. I'll have to make a note to do so.
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