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Posted on 06/18/2004 12:00:34 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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One of America's greatest engineering feats of the modern era, the construction of the Alaska Highway, celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year. Compared in scale and logistical difficulty to the building of the Panama Canal, the highway was constructed in less than a year. Weather conditions reaching sixty below; short supplies; permafrost; muskeg; and swarms of mosquitoes, black flies, and no-seeums challenged the 11,000 army personnel and 7,500 civilians who blazed a pioneer trail through 1,600 miles of northern wilderness to create what we now call the Alaska Highway.  In the eighty years preceding the construction of the highway, ideas for a route connecting the territory with the lower forty-eight states ranged from a Western Union Telegraph line to William Gilpin's (first territorial governor of Colorado) grand vision of a cosmopolitan railway stretching from the U.S. to Alaska across the Bering Strait through Siberia and finally connecting with European railways. In 1938 President Roosevelt created the Alaskan International Highway Commission which developed two surveyed routes to Alaska. Despite years of debate, the highway project remained on hold until the shock of Pearl Harbor destroyed the American myth of isolationism and a panic-stricken nation and government rushed into action. Fearful that the Japanese Navy would seize control of the shipping lanes in the North Pacific and cut off supplies to Alaska, Roosevelt finally approved the building of a highway on 11 February 1942. Construction began the following March.  Dawson Creek, British Columbia, the beginning of the 1,522 mile road. The sign marks mile 0.0. Ignoring the Highway Commission's recommendations, U.S. Army engineers ran the Alaska Highway along an unsurveyed route from Dawson Creek in British Columbia to Fairbanks, Alaska. The primary purpose of the highway was the defense and resupply of the "Alaska Skyway," a string of WWII airfields. The army selected the route by connecting the dots on a map marking existing airfields. The highway was built under much protest from the Highway Commissioners who disapproved of the route chosen by the Army. Thomas Riggs, commission member, engineer, and former governor of Alaska, wrote that the route "is so absolutely out of the picture insofar as a highway to Alaska is concerned as to seem utterly absurd." The military justified their choice by pointing out that it was far enough inland to be safe from enemy attack and that pilots could follow the road to avoid getting lost.  Construction of the highway began simultaneously in five separate places with the goal of pushing through a pioneer road in a single season. Through the summer of 1942, engineers driving a fleet of twenty-ton bulldozers covered about six miles a day through the subarctic forest. Speed was the only measure of success. Crews attacked the trail, building without grades or curves, cutting a path wherever a bulldozer could go with reasonable ease and speed. The trail was not built for cars or trucks but for bulldozers. Surveyors using aerial photographs to mark a rough trail through forest and across muskeg (grassy bog) barely managed to keep ahead of bushwackers and bulldozers. The heavy machinery was followed by gangs of soldiers who widened the road, laid culverts, and built small bridges.  The greatest construction hazard occurred during the summer when surface vegetation was removed from the frozen earth. Exposed to the sun, the permafrost melted into a black sludge, turning dry trails into impassable ditches that swallowed trucks and bulldozers alike. The only way to pass over the permafrost was to lay down a road of timber and brush, thus insulating the frozen ground so it would not melt. When the formal completion of the pioneer road was celebrated on 20 November 1942, the road was all but impassable to any vehicle besides bulldozers. In 1943 the trail was developed into a standard highway by the U.S. Public Roads Administration and civilian contractors. Rebuilding nearly the entire trail, workers graded and blasted 25.4 million cubic yards of earth, straightening and shortening the route in the process by nearly 200 miles.  One of the original BSA motorcycles ridden over the proposed Highway route between Fairbanks and Seattle in 1939 to prove that it was a viable passage to the North It took two men seven months to complete the 2,000 mile trip. When the highway was built three years later it took a different route. University of Alaska, Fairbanks Highway repairs were almost nonexistent in 1946, and wartime travel restrictions remained in effect. Only travelers with legitimate business in Alaska or elsewhere along the road received permits to drive the highway. People who used the road were required to carry a supply of tools and spare parts including: two spare tires and tubes, tire chains, tire gauge, car tools, axe and shovel, spark plugs, distributor coil and points, condenser, brake fluid, tube repair kit, tire pump, jack, tow rope or cable, first aid kit, fan belt, light fuses, fuel pump kit, axle, generator brushes, and clutch parts. In 1948 travel restrictions were lifted, and scores of WWII veterans and their families traveled to Alaska to stake out homesteads in the northern frontier. Despite the influx of civilian traffic rugged conditions persisted, and the entire stretch of highway on Alaskan soil wasn't paved until 1960.  The highway forever altered the political, economic, social, and cultural life of America's northern frontier and its construction, linking Alaska with the lower forty-eight states, ended the isolation of the Territory and played an important part in helping transform Alaska into a state in 1959. 10,607 U.S. soldiers built a road 1,522 miles long in 8 months. 3,695 of these soldiers were Black men.  Back Row (l-r): Lt. Rives, Capt. Land, Lt. Rice, Lt. Lavelle Front Row: 1st Pt. Sgt.McGee, Mess Sgt. Salter, 1st Sgt. T.C. Barnes, 1st Pt. Sgt. Spretley, Sup. Sgt. James Smith, 2nd Pt. Sgt. Witmore Military policy during World War II decreed that Blacks would not be sent to northern climes or active duty, but after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the need for an inland route to Alaska appeared vital. Manpower was scarce, and segregated troops were shipped north under the leadership of white commanders... despite protest from the U.S. Army commander in Alaska, Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, son of a Confederate general whose negative attitude toward Blacks was legendary.  93rd Engineers: The first of the three black regiments, the 93rd were led by Colonel Frank Johnson. Beginning their work at Teslin, they helped Lyon's 340th Engineers on the road to Whitehorse.(Picture from Twichell) The construction of the 1,522 mile long road from Dawson Creek, British Colombia, to Fairbanks, Alaska through rugged, unmapped wilderness was heralded as a near impossible engineering feat. Many likened it to the building of the Panama Canal. There was much praise for soldiers who pushed it through in just eight months and twelve days. However, Black battalions were seldom mentioned in publicity releases, despite the fact that they numbered 3,695 in troop strength of 10,670.  Lt. Rice and Sgt. Barnes with Highway Platoon- Company A, 95th Engineers. According to the testimony of their commanders, these men did an exceptional job under duress. Ill housed, often living in tents with insufficient clothing and monotonous food, they worked 20 hour days through a punishing winter. Temperatures hovered at 40-below-zero for weeks at a time. A new record low of -79 was established. The majority of these troops were from the South; yet, they persevered. On the highway's completion, many were decorated for their efforts and then sent off to active duty in Europe and the South Pacific. The veterans of the Army's Black Corps of Engineers were members of the 93rd, 95th, 97th and 388th units.  97th Engineers: Colonel Stephen Whipple led the 97th, the last of three black regiments, who accounted for 10,607 of the workers on ALCAN. The 97th worked in the northern third, helping the PRA and the 18th between Whitehorse and Big Delta, Alaska. (Picture from Twichell) Due to the fine showing of these Black troops and others, the U.S. military integrated all units during the Korean Conflict, becoming the first government agency in the United States to do so.  Temperatures were often 30 or 40 degrees below freezing. A record -79 was set this year. "We wore three pairs of socks at times, with rubber galoshes instead of shoes, because the leather would freeze. We had adequate clothing-- lined parkas, pants, mittens and heavy underwear, but it was still might cold. But I was a young man who felt he had a job to do, and I did it." -Alexander Powel, Crane Operator, 97th Engineers The road, originally called the Alaskan-Canadian Highway quickly adopted the shortened name Alcan Highway. Today, this road, known as the Alaska Highway, still provides the only land route to Alaska. (Black Archives Research Center Museum, Florida A & M University)
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Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann (1883-1916) was Germany's first air ace of the First World War, scoring fifteen victories until his death in 1916.
Immelmann was actually born in South Africa but chose to renounce his British nationality while studying medicine in Germany. Having thereafter joined the German Army he resigned his commission in 1912 in order to work as an engineer.
With the outbreak of war in August 1914 Immelmann was (as he expected) recalled to active duty. He quickly requested a transfer to the Flying Corps, taking and passing his examination in March 1915. The following month he was promoted Lieutenant.
His initial experiences as an airman were not glamorous however, operating as a reconnaissance pilot near Lille in France. In short order however Immelmann established a reputation as an effective fighter pilot: in Germany (and France, but unlike Britain) successful fighter pilots gained wide public renown and acclaim.
Thus the 'Eagle of Lille' (as German newspapers dubbed him) achieved promotion to First Lieutenant in September 1915. He was responsible for developing a dogfight manoeuvre whose name - the Immelmann Turn - remains to this day, comprised of a simultaneous loop and roll design to allow him to dive back at a pursuing airman. It became standard practice during the remainder of the war. With seventeen (some attribute just fifteen) 'kills' to his name.
On 12th January 1916, Immelmann was awarded the Orsre Pour le Merite (Blue Max), Prussia's highest award for bravery. Immelmann was shot down by British pilot George McCubbin on 18 June 1916 near Lens.
Such was the shock of his death (which was at first attributed to other causes) that Kaiser Wilhelm II grounded his fellow airman (and rival) Oswald Boelcke for a month to avoid the loss of two aces in short order.
Engineer guys are behind everything our military does. Very important. :-)
The Union Brigade consisted of the 1st Royal Dragoons, the Royal Scots Greys and the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. The Irish were riding beside the Scots.
Great tagline today PE.
It's a scourge we must rid ourselves of or at minimum their effectiveness, imo.
There were never any Welsh cavalry units because we're too short for the cavalry.;-)
LOL. Hiya Light Speed.
Thanks CJ. The Welsh too short for riding huh. Just look how fast a jockey is. Did they need to ride tall in the saddle?
Yikes!
Mud, bogs, and permafrost PLUS corduroy roads!
Ohio had a few of them when I was little, and the logs had long since rotted under the pavement leaving great humps in the road that washboarded your car as you drove down them.
(I'm told that those roads ahve since been replaced, though I haven't been back there in a few years.)
Way to early for Blitkrieg tactics.
LOL! Him and Hillary. :-)
Afternoon GailA. Good luck with the Rally.
The minimum height for a heavy cavalryman was 70". They needed to have a long reach for the swordplay and ample strength to control a horse with one hand and a saber with the other.
Max Immelmann and his Fokker Eindecker. Max perfected the aerial maneuver that bore his name in this maneuverable fighter, one of the first whose guns could shoot through the propeller. This airplane ruled the skies over the Western Front for a time. Here, he takes down a DeHavilland DH-2.
I've used it since Flag Day. LOL
LOL!
Thanks for posting the aircraft threads Johnny.
A few days ago reflected on a conversation with a Family member who served with the RAF
Stumbled upon a BAC Lightning website...found some pics and info on his service record.
He flew several Lightning variants ...this prefixed kite below among some of the photos.
Info can be many things...your post inspired me to do some googling..a great return.
XN 726 1961
Afternoon Darksheare. Corduroy roads were also used in the Ardennes right before and during the Bulge.
Royal Dragoons 13 officers and 173 men killed and wounded
Royal Scots Greys 2nd Dragoons 11 officers and 185 men killed and wounded
6th Inniskilling Dragoons 6 officers and 183 men killed and wounded
Each regiment had a full combat strength of about 250-300 riders. So they were pretty beat up.
Less than two weeks. A lady from an e-mail group I'm in drove a couple hours across the state to get him. Now everyone is happy - except, I suppose, the original owner who lost him!
Evil...and that includes our Lousy Saudi Allies.
The terror rats nest in Lebanon and Syria has to go....the linkage to them teaching the Iraqi's IED's,ambush,intel gathering..along with how to fire Iranian built RPG-7's and the Leathel RPG-29 with its 105mm heat warhead.
So ya..anymore agressive activity by the U.S. in the region and the howling will be 24.
Darn....those grinnin terror orgs need to get pasted.
JDAM Time
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