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Posted on 07/23/2003 12:00:55 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.
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.
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"War Diary" of John Kline, a nineteen year old Squad Leader, Heavy Machine guns, 2nd squad, 1st Platoon, M Company, 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division. We left the woods near St Vith for front line positions. Our destination was a defense line in the Ardennes forest atop the Schnee Eifel (Snow Mountain). The positions were 12 miles east of St. Vith and were in Germany. A name we would learn to remember, Schönberg, was 9 miles east of St Vith and 3 miles west of our positions. We were facing the German troops from emplacements on the East slopes [reverse slopes] of the German Siegfried Line, known as "The German West Wall." We took over positions held by the 2nd Infantry Division and exchanged much of our new equipment for their old. The exchange was to be made as quickly and quietly as possible. The 2nd Division was being transferred to Aachen to participate in an attack on the Roer Dam area. My machine gun position was a log bunker with field of fire obstructed by dense forest. Conditions were quiet. Excellent chow was served twice a day. Historians and military strategists, argue that the Schnee Eifel positions should never have been occupied. They say that it was impossible to launch an offensive from there. They argued that the positions presented no defense against an assault from the east. This the Germans proved, on Dec 16, as they cut off our positions by attacking around the north and south ends of the Schnee Eifel. They, the crystal gazers, were right. A static defense line was not the answer for a thinly spread force. Any penetration through our lines would result in disaster.  M Company, 423rd Regiment, was assigned positions along the front line to support the rifle companies. An Infantry heavy weapons company, like ours, is equipped with 81 mm mortars and water cooled 30 caliber machine guns. A rifle company, is equipped with automatic weapons and mortars, but they are 60 mm mortars and air cooled machine guns. Our duty is to support the various rifle companies of the 3rd Battalion, 423rd Regiment. They are, I, K and L Companies. Such was our deployment along the tree covered ridge atop the Schnee Eifel. The Ardennes forest is, for the most part, heavily wooded. It is interlaced with many small logging trails, fire fighting lanes and streams. We slept in rough, but warm dugouts and enjoyed solid gun bunkers. Built by the 2nd Division, they were built of logs, with a log and earth roof. We completed our changeover with the 2nd Division as darkness came. We had no time to become acquainted with the territory around our new positions. Because of that, and since were fresh and inexperienced troops, our first night was unforgettable. We were facing, for the first time, an enemy that we only knew from newsreels and training films. It was a sleepless and anxiety filled night. I can personally confirm that a snow covered tree stump will actually move. That is, if you stare at it long enough - and if you are a young, nineteen year old machine gun squad leader peering, into the darkness, towards the enemy through a slit in a machine gun bunker. Every sound is amplified, every bush could be an enemy crawling towards you. Your eyes grow bleary from staring into the darkness. You are happy when the relieve crew shows up. The next day, you take a good long look at the stump that moved during the night. You take note of all unusual objects, and then things start to settle down.  There were two gun emplacements (bunkers) for my machine gun squad. One was higher on the hill, and the other a couple of hundred yards down the slope. When we first moved in, our gun position was in the lower bunker. After the first night we were asked to move back up the slope, to the alternate bunker. For what reason, I don't know. We did appreciate the move, for the alternate bunker was much warmer and drier. As in the lower bunker, there were "trip lines" running from the bunker down into the forest and through the barbed wire. The lines were attached to hand grenades and flares that were placed in their shipping containers attached to the trees. If we detected movement in the area beyond the barbed wire we could pull a trip line. This would cause a grenade to explode, after it was pulled from its container. A flare could be ignited to light up the area in the same manner. Our field of fire was good, but very limited. The 2nd Division had cut down a lot of trees and cleaned out the brush. However, the forest still offered the enemy excellent cover. I remember one day being convinced that I could see a vehicle, in the woods, several hundred yards down the hill. The contours of the hill and the thick forest were playing games with my imagination. When I looked at it from another vantage point, the illusion disappeared. There was one rifleman to the left of my bunker. He was entrenched in a log covered foxhole. According to members of the patrols, this rifleman was the last person between my machine gun emplacement and the 422nd Regiment. The 422nd Regiment was reported to be five miles across a valley. The two regiments sent alternate patrols across the unoccupied space each half hour. They reported very little German activity.  The first days passed without incident. The most excitement we had in my bunker area was when a nearby 50 caliber machine gun started blasting away. The gunner had become bored and decided to kill a deer. We left the bunker area twice daily to eat our meals in a mess tent. It was back of us, to the West, on the opposite side of the hill. To get to it we had to walk along a trail, through a clearing, and down the other side. The Germans had the clearing zeroed in. As we crossed the clearing, we had to be prepared to hit the ground in case they decided to harass us. The 2nd Division's squad leader that I relieved, said two men had been killed crossing the clearing a few days ago. Our daily trips to the mess tent were something to look forward too. The food was good and the Mess Sergeant seemed to be friendlier since we have moved up to the front lines. I did enjoy those meals, there were generous portions and we could chat with the others and get brought up to date on the local news. History shows "The Battle of the Bulge" started at 0530 on the morning of December 16, 1944. Because we were high atop the Schnee Eifel and out of the mainstream of the German Offensive, we were probably the last to know that it had been launched. I cannot remember any evidence or any sounds that would have indicated to us the size of the battle that was to take place. A battle that was to become one of the largest battles in the history of World War II. The 40 days that battle raged were the coldest and snowiest weather remembered in the Ardennes Forest area. More than one million men, 600,000 Americans and 500,000 Germans and 55,000 Englishmen fought in this battle. 32 American, 3 British and 29 German Divisions were in the battle before it ended. The Germans suffered 100,000 killed, wounded or captured. There were over 81,00 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed. The British suffered 1,400 casualties and 200 killed. Each side lost 800 tanks and the Germans lost 1,000 aircraft. The Malmedy Massacre where nearly 90 American Soldiers were slaughtered was the worst atrocity, against the Americans, during the European Campaign.  My division, the 106th Infantry Division suffered 416 killed in action, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 men missing in action. Most of these casualties occurred within the first three days of battle when two of the three regiments were forced to surrender. In losses - the German Ardennes Offensive, later to become known as "The Battle of the Bulge," was the worst battle for the Americans in World War II. Our company commander set up his headquarters in one of the enormous Siegfried Line bunkers. The bunker was not completely demolished, as they usually were. The underground rooms were intact and accessible. He had taken a room several flights down. The command bunker was on a crest of a hill. The firing apertures faced west towards Belgium, the backside towards the present German lines. There were steep slopes on either side, with signs and white caution tape warning of "Mine Fields." There was a pistol belt and canteen hanging in one of the trees on the slope. Apparently, some GI had wandered into the mine field. German activity was reported along our front on the 17th (remember the Bulge started on the 16th). The commander called me back to the command post. He informed me that I should be prepared to move my gun to his area to protect the commandpost. While visiting with him, I noticed that he was very nervous. His 45 Colt pistol was on the table, ready for action. Our Master Sergeant who was also present, seemed equally concerned. Later I was to learn the reason for their anxiety. I suspect, in retrospect, that they had been made aware of the German breakthrough. Yet did not yet know the importance of the news.  While in the vicinity of the command post bunker, I watched a U.S. Army Air Corps P-47 Thunderbolt chase a German Messerschmitt (ME 109) through the sky. They passed directly in front of us. Our area being one of the highest on the Schnee Eifel, gave us a clear view of the surrounding valleys. The P-47 was about two hundred yards behind the ME-109 and was pouring machine gun fire into the German plane. They left our sight as they passed over the edge of the forest. We were told later, that the P-47 downed the German ME-109 in the valley. As it turned out, my machine gun was not moved to the command post. During the night of the 17th we heard gunfire, small arms, mortars and artillery. We also could hear and see German rocket fire to the South. The German rocket launcher was five barreled and of large caliber. The rocket launcher is called a "Nebelwerfer." Due to their design, the rockets make a screaming sound as they fly through the air. Using high explosives, but not very accurate, they can be demoralizing if you are in their path of flight.  On the morning of the 18th I was instructed to report to the mess tent for a briefing. As I was walking to the tent I noticed two German prisoners being guarded by an American GI. They were setting under a tree near the mess tent. During the briefing we were told that the Germans had broken through our supply lines. This turned out to be true, however, we were not informed of how grave the situation was. The facts were ,as you will read later, that we were cut off from the rest of the division early in the morning of the 17th. The artillery and rockets that we had heard to the South, were sounds of the battle that was taking place at Bleialf, a small village on the road between Prüm and Schönberg. The 423rd Anti-Tank Company who had that defensive area had been thrown out of Bleialf on the 16th. They used all available troops in the area and pushed the Germans out of Bleialf, only to be overrun again on the morning of the 17th. They were overpowered by the tremendous numbers of German troops heading northwest up the Bleialf-Schönberg road. The Germans had closed the pincers behind us, at Schönberg. We were like a boulder protruding from the middle of a stream. This proved the military strategists to be correct. A mountain is not the place to be when you have no support. But, I am getting ahead of my story....
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Air Power |
History: When World War I ended, the German Air Force was disbanded under the Treaty of Versailles, which required the German government to abandon all military aviation by October 1, 1919. However, by 1922, it was legal for Germany to design and manufacture commercial aircraft, and one of the first modern medium bombers to emerge from this process was the Heinkel He 111, the first prototype of which an enlarged, twin-engine version of the single-engine mail-liaison He 70, which set 8 world speed records in 1933 flew in February of 1935. The second prototype, the He 111 V2, had shorter wings and was the first civil transport prototype, capable of carrying 10 passengers and mail. The third prototype, He 111 V3 also had shorter wings and was the first true bomber prototype. Six He 111 C series airliners were derived from the fourth prototype, the He 111 V4, and went into service with Lufthansa in 1936, powered by a variety of engines, including BMW 132 radials. The first production models had the classic stepped windshield and an elliptical wing, which the designers, Siegfried and Walter Gunter, favored.
As a military aircraft, it took longer to gain favor, because military load requirements and underpowered engines kept its cruising speed down to less than 170 mph. However, in early 1936, the plane was given 1,000 hp Daimler Benz DB 600A engines which improved performance dramatically enough to bring in substantial orders. The first two mass-production versions, He 111 E and He 111 F experienced great success during the Spanish Civil War, where they served with the Condor Legion as fast bombers, able to outrun many of the fighters sent against them.
In fact, the experience in Spain generated a false sense of security in which the Germans thought that the He 111's light armament and speed would be sufficient in the coming war. Thus, although it was out of date, the large numbers in which it had been produced made the He 111 the Luftwaffe's primary bomber for far too long in the war, availability being more persuasive than practicality for this serviceable, but highly vulnerable, aircraft. Modern fighters like the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane proved the He 111's inadequacy during the Battle of Britain. As soon as possible, the Luftwaffe replaced the Heinkel with the Junkers Ju 88, reassigning the Heinkel to night operations and other specialized tasks until, by war's end, it was being used primarily as a transport.
More than 7,300 had been built for the Luftwaffe by autumn, 1944, with another 236 (He 111H) being built by the Spanish manufacturer, CASA, during and after the war (as the CASA 2.111), some with the traditional Jumo 211 engines, some with Rolls-Royce Merlins. In service with the Luftwaffe from 1937 to 1945, the Heinkels remained in Spanish service until 1965.
One of the more bizarre adaptations of the Heinkel by the Luftwaffe was the He 111 Z-1, in which two He 111s were joined at the wing with a special section containing a fifth engine. Two prototypes and 10 production models were manufactured, their purpose being to provide the power to haul the huge Messerschmitt Me 321 transport gliders.
The sole remaining He 111 in regular use was owned by the Arizona wing of the Commemorative Air Force in the USA. It was a Spanish-built CASA 2.111D that was used to transport VIPs during the Franco regime. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a crash in July 2003. [History by Kevin Murphy]
Specifications:(He 111H-16)
Manufacturer: Heinkel
Primary Function: Medium Bomber
Variants: He 111 B Series, E Series, H Series and P Series
Engines: Two 1,350-hp Jumo 211F-2 inverted V-12 piston engines
Crew: Four to Six (depending on variant)
Number Built: 7,300+
Number Still Airworthy: None (CASA 2.111D destroyed July 2003) *bummer!!*
Dimensions:
Weight: Empty 19,136 lbs., Max Takeoff 30,865 lbs.
Wing Span: 74ft. 1.75in.
Length: 53ft. 9.5in.
Height: 13ft. 1.25in.
Performance :
Maximum Speed at Sea Level: 227 mph
Ceiling: 21,980 ft.
Range: 745 miles
Armaments:
One 20-mm MG FF cannon;
One 13-mm (0.51-inch) MG 131 machine gun;
Three 7.92-mm (0.31-inch) MG 81Z machine guns;
Internal bomb-load of 2,205 pounds.
Images of the HE-111Z "Zwilling". This was a merging of two HE-111's with an added fifth engine in the
center of the middle wing spar. This was designed and used as a transport glider tug.
All photos Copyright of Rod's Luftwaffe Pics
The Heinkel He-111's sleek lines mask the plane's capability and versatility as a medium bomber. This aircraft, sometimes called the "Flying Spade", was classified as a passenger/mail plane to circumvent limits imposed on German rearmament by the Treaty of Versailles. The Heinkel He-111, a rugged and dependable bomber, saw combat in support of Franco's Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War and later during World War II. Produced in large numbers, the He-111 operated extensively around the world for more than two decades.
The He-111 was well liked by its crews and despite its relatively light defensive armament, the He-111 was able to fend off enemy fighter attacks and return to base with heavy damage. The He-111 was also very adaptable. He-111s were used to launch V-1 "Buzz Bombs", drop paratroopers and a massive five engined variant, the He-111Z, was used to tow combat gliders.
Wednesday's weird warship, HMS Scorpion
Scorpion class ironclad turret ram
Displacement. 2750 t.
Length. 230'
Beam. 42'
Draft. 15'
Speed. 10.5 K.
Armament. 4 300pdrs
HMS Scorpion, a 2750-ton ironclad turret ship built at Birkenhead, England, was one of two sisters secretely ordered from the Laird shipyard by the Confederate government in 1862. Her true ownership was concealed by the fiction that she was being constructed as the Egyptian warship El Tousson. To have been named North Carolina upon delivery to the Confederates, she would have been superior for offshore warfare to all but one of the United States' Navy warships, and thus represented a most serious danger to the Union's control of the seas.
However, effective Federal diplomacy prevented the emergence of this threat. The British government seized the ironclad in October 1863, a few months after its launch and before it could be completed. In early 1864, she was purchased for the Royal Navy, receiving the new name Scorpion. (Part of the money received for her went into the Confederate Treasury, and helped to pay for the CSS Shenandoah.)
Commissioned in July 1865, Scorpion was assigned to the Channel Fleet until 1869, with time out for a refit that reduced her sailing rig from a bark to a schooner. In late 1869, the ironclad was sent to Bermuda for coast and harbor defense service. Scorpion remained there for over three decades before being removed from the effective list. She was sunk as a target in 1901 but raised the next year and sold in February 1903. The former HMS Scorpion was lost at sea while under tow to the United States, where she was to be scrapped.
What could have been.
I figured that halving the recipe in half the size pot would do. Guess it was just more concentrated!
I didn't tell anyone where I got it. And since the pot was in my office, no one needed to know. :)
She definately had a weird ending to her career.
But ten of the best hours I've ever seen on television. The guys who surprised me the most were David Schwimmer as Herbert Sobel and Donnie Wahlberg as Carwood Lipton. What acting!
"Breaking Point" was the most gripping hour of television I've seen in years. What these men went through in the Bulge and the Bois Jacques was amazing.
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