Unions exposed as war saboteurs

Sunday Telegraph (Sydney) ^ | 2nd November 2013 | Miranda Devine

[naturalman1975]

AS the Abbott government begins to take on union power and corruption, a timely new book reveals the union movement's role in one of the most shameful periods of Australian history.

What the wharfies did to Australian troops - and their nation's war effort - between 1939 and 1945 is nothing short of an abomination.

.....

One of the most obscene acts occurred in October, 1945, at the end of the war, after Australian soldiers were released from Japanese prison camps. They were half dead, starving and desperate for home. But when the British aircraft-carrier HMS Speaker brought them into Sydney Harbour, the wharfies went on strike. For 36 hours, the soldiers were forced to remain on-board, tantalisingly close to home. This final act of cruelty from their countrymen was their thanks for all the sacrifice.

.....

So when American dive bombers returning from a raid on a Japanese base were caught in an electrical storm and lost their bearings, there was no radio station to guide them to safety. Lost, they ran out of fuel and crashed, killing all 32 airmen.

.....

This is a tale of the worst of Australia amid the best, the valour and courage of our soldiers in New Guinea providing our last line of defence against Japanese, only to be forced onto starvation rations and to "go easy on the ammo" because strikes by the wharfies back home prevented supplies from reaching them.

.....

In Adelaide, American soldiers fired sub-machine guns at wharfies deliberately destroying their aircraft engines by dropping them from great heights.

.....

This story has been largely suppressed for 70 years because Labor and the Left have successfully controlled the narrative of history.

No more, thanks to Colebatch.

[Army Air Corps]

Thanks for sharing this.

[IYAS9YAS]

American unions did their fair share of crap during the war, as well.

[MeganC]

Wow! That story makes me wonder what American unions did to subvert our country during the war.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Then there was this problem which soon spread around the world, even to New Zeeland and Australia.

[forgotten man]

In his autobiographical book “Goodbye Darkness” William Manchester wrote that in August 1942 at Guadalcanal there were
some merchant marine ships carrying cargo for the Marines. The ships with union crew members bugged out and did not off load supplies for the Marines. the only food the marines had was rice captured from the Japanese. Manchester blamed the unions.

[DeFault User]

How about the Longshoremen under the leadership of Harry Bridges who struck the docks on the West Coast, delaying shipments of arms and munitions to our troops in the Pacific. Bridges was a self-declared Communist.

I knew a Marine Captain who participated in several invasions. He told me that he and his men went into battle with just one round apiece. One round!

He told me that after the war he had a good mind to kill Harry Bridges. But as he was a good Christian, I think that was a momentary, idle threat.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Another problem I read about years ago was that quite a few service men were pro-Nazi. Instead of arresting them, the US Army put them in charge of security at US POW Camps.

After several escapes the problem was found to be in the political orientation of the guards, who looked the other way, and they were removed from duty.

[Gene Eric]

Unions are Marxist in nature.

[bert]

The truth is that the whole US Navy, supply ships and all men of war left, deserting the Marines and taking all their supplies.

Union sailors had nothing to do with it

” Shockingly, those who have never read the history of Guadalcanal will discover that with only a small portion of supplies and equipment ashore, the Navy, fearing Japanese bombardment and air attacks, abandoned the Marines and sailed away with much of the division’s food, ammunition, equipment and other supplies.” - See more at: http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/bookreview/guadalcanal-us-marines-world-war-ii-pictorial-tribute#sthash.aZdw5QNM.dpuf

[lapsus calami]

 

 

Oh yes they did. Sabotage was a very tenacious problem in our defense industries from the 1930s and into the 40's. Communist and Nazi influences on bluecollar Americans played a huge part in that. After the Hitler/Stalin pact of 1939 the communists declared open season on our defense projects. Shipyards had to have heavy security to dampen down the mischief but even so all sorts of things would still happen - sand and metal grit in hydraulic lines, necessitating it all getting ripped out and replaced, scrap metal being tossed under gun turret mounts thus having to pull main turrets back out, replace the rollers and resurface/remachine the bearing area. Holes drilled where they should not have been any or no holes where some should have been - stuff like that. After Hitler attacked the Soviet Union there was a decent drop-off in incidents though there still were Nazi infiltrators and disgruntled workers to contend with.

 

 

[Jewbacca]

Should have sent them to the Pacific theatre.

I had a number of relatives that came to the USA from Germany, France and Poland during the late 30s. They were immediately drafted at the start of the war — being native speakers, but Jewish -— because they were deemed anti-Nazi.

In fact, they have been visited by what-is-now selective service prior to Pearl Harbor, to make sure they were ready to go whent the time came.

Pretty logical, actually.

[dfwgator]

At least on the East Coast the US Government enlisted the Mafia to help keep the ports open.

[yarddog]

They did the same thing in the U.S. They were either Communist or just as likely part of the Mafia.

The government eventually was forced to make a deal with them. We basically looked the other way on their crimes and they did the work.

[donmeaker]

Some of the communist unions sought to sabotage the war against Japan, so more effort would be be committed against the Nazis, who were at war with the Soviet Union.

We (the US) were never at war with the Nazis before the Nazis were at war with the Soviets.

The Soviets finally joined the war against Japan after Hiroshima bombing.

[jumpingcholla34]

The Brits had similar problems during the war.

On a related note, one historian states that although the Soviets were as culpable as the Germans re the invasion of Poland, British politicians knew that any reprisals against the USSR were impossible. The Commie sympathizer unions would have shut Britain down.

[tanknetter]

Yeah, one of the coolest rebuttals on a military topic I’ve ever seen went like this:

“What can the Marines really do without the Navy?”

“Win on Guadalcanal.”

[lapsus calami]

 

 

Some of the communist unions sought to sabotage the war against Japan, so more effort would be be committed against the Nazis, who were at war with the Soviet Union.

 

I don't know about all that - the first I've heard of it. All I can do is relate the first-hand experiences of someone who guarded the Brooklyn Naval Yard and had to deal with the incidents there. They had Marines on-site in barracks, about 150 of them, who manned the entry ways, walked post and coordinated with Naval Intelligence, the FBI and et al. Those guys were fully equipped, carried live ammo in their weapons at all times - they weren't playing around and couldn't because the enemy, whomever or whatever they might be, certainly wasn't.

 

 

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

There was an upturn in train derailments during the war years. “Accidents” the government said. Others still believe it was Nazi sabotage.

The US Government refused to put guards on all overpasses and bridges, except for the major ones.

[pfflier]

I think Manchester, who was there, may have had more real information than we do now. Many facts about WWII were distorted then as well as revised now. All one has to do is look at the bombing of Hiroshima to see the contrast.