Posted on 05/17/2015 5:07:17 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
“Just In Time” has its advantages. Right up until the moment there is nothing in the pipeline.
I always have an interest in Iwo Jima. Hadn’t thought that Iwo extended the range of the b-29’s. from the B 29 mining article.
U Boats had toilets but your Dad is not wrong with his memories.
The Toilet that Sank the U-1206
http://www.neatorama.com/2014/04/28/The-Toilet-that-Sank-the-U-1206/
Clearing WWII aerial mines[edit]
Between 600,000 and 1,000,000 naval mines of all types were laid in World War II. Advancing military forces worked to clear mines from newly taken areas, but extensive minefields remained in place after the war. Air-dropped mines had an additional problem for mine sweeping operations: they were not meticulously charted. In Japan, much of the B-29 mine-laying work had been performed at high altitude, with the drifting on the wind of mines carried by parachute adding a randomizing factor to their placement. Generalized danger areas were identified, with only the quantity of mines given in detail. Mines used in Operation Starvation were supposed to be self-sterilizing, but the circuit did not always work. Clearing the mines from Japanese waters took so many years that the task was eventually given to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.[57]
For the purpose of clearing all types of naval mines, the Royal Navy employed German crews and minesweepers from June 1945 to January 1948,[58] organised in the German Mine Sweeping Administration (GMSA), which consisted of 27,000 members of the former Kriegsmarine and 300 vessels.[59] Mine clearing was not always successful: a number of ships were damaged or sunk by mines after the war. Two such examples were the liberty ships Pierre Gibault which was scrapped after hitting a mine in a previously cleared area off the Greek island of Kythira in June 1945,[60] and Nathaniel Bacon which hit a minefield off Civitavecchia, Italy in December 1945, caught fire, was beached, and broke in two.[61]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_mine
Its an important observation - but WWII just continued what WWI started.
Interesting how Eisenhower didn’t mind being photographed with “secretary” Kay Summersby on a night out at the theater.
Interesting perspective on post war car production here. Production equipment has been stored out side and deteriorated. problems with unions. Big Three tying up steel production?
http://www.studebaker-info.org/text3/pack-hist-1945.html
Here is a reference to the production of 200,000 autos by year end. It was a fed govt authorization.
http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h364proj/fall_97/sandoval/index.htm
With the collapse of Germany in 1945, the federal government authorized the production of 200,000 passenger cars. At the same time production limits were lifted, and the city of Detroit started to shift cars as quickly as possible in order to keep up with demand. Automobile manufacturers also ran into many problems. Technical problems specifically the retooling process led to delays in production and also labor problems were present. Despite all these problems assembly lines were moving at full speed. In 1947 the first post-war design was the Studebaker, this car made its dayview in many showrooms around the country.
and here is the 47 Studebaker
https://www.hagerty.com/price-guide/1947-Studebaker-Champion
This reference says only 70,000 were built in 1945
http://raycee1234.blogspot.com/2011/07/usa-post-war-car-production.html
Modern technology certainly has its negative aspects - but the ability to dig up images from our past and pass them around for a younger generation to see - that's nearly magical.
Regarding auto production, my Dad often told this story. He was a new car salesman at a Ford dealership in 1950 when the father of a friend walked in and offered several hundred dollars below list price for a new Ford. My Dad protested, but the gent insisted he take the offer to the general manager who, to my Dad’s astonishment, accepted it immediately as soon as he learned who had offered it. What had happened is that the man had paid a premium for a car several years earlier during wartime shortages, on condition that the premium would be rebated on a later sale.
Ping to Drango.
Not true, but typical of anti-Semites of his time and Holocaust deniers of ours.
In fact, the Nazis systematically murdered nearly two-thirds of Europe's civilian Jews, including:
Overall WWII population losses were approx:
To mention just a few of the worst cases...
Point is: while Japanese losses were significant, many countries, including their ally Germany suffered worse.
quoting Lindberg: "It is alarmingly possible that World War II marks the beginning of our Western civilization’s breakdown..."
PGR88: "WWII just continued what WWI started."
If by that you refer to the loss of European & American colonial empires, then yes, of course, since the country most responsible for their destruction was... that's right, the United States.
Roosevelt's basic deal with Churchill was: OK, we'll pull your bacon out of the fire again, but this time it will also cost Great Britain her empire.
Without American intervention, Germany would have won both world wars, the world's international language would today be German, and most of the world's countries would be either the keepers or subjects of a very few European empires.
We would not like that outcome.
Great photos, thanks for posting!
The Army Air Corps hated the Navy-directed mining missions, which they saw as diverting assets from the strategic bombing campaign. However, they grudgingly cooperated in order to deny the Navy justification in acquiring its own force of B-29s. The success of the mining did little to change their views.
You just can't make this stuff up.
Britain was bankrupt. Lend-Lease had become a euphemism in the latter stages of the war. American aid had kept the UK afloat and in the fight. The Island's people would go through some austere years after the War.
It was clear that after the emergency of the war India would have to be given independence.
The Boers were taking power and taking South Africa out of the British orbit.
Canada had developed a national identity during WWI and WWII. Canada would be a loyal ally but would no longer regard itself as part of an "empire."
The Brits held on a bit longer in Africa, but after the Kenya rebellion it was clear they did not have the resources to hold on there to what for the most part were money losing colonies.
The sun was setting on the British Empire.
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