Soldier: Ed Ramsey, 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts)
by Bob Seals
This meeting engagement on Bataan at the village of Morong, led by then First Lieutenant Ed Ramsey on 16 January 1942, was to be the last horse mounted charge by U.S. Army Cavalry in military history. Surviving early days of defeat and disaster, Ed Ramsey was destined to have one of the most challenging and interesting wartime careers of the Pacific theater during the Second World War. His action packed four years of combat, mostly spent behind Japanese lines, reads like a pulp fiction novel written by a Hollywood screen writer. An illustrative example of an interwar generation of hard-charging Cavalry Army Officers, who worked hard and played hard, Ramsey rose to the occasion after the 8th of December 1941. Refusing to surrender on Bataan in April of 1942, he led tens of thousands guerrillas on Luzon in one of the most successful resistance campaigns of the war against ruthless Imperial Japanese Army occupation forces. His remarkable career in the Second World War encompassed the end of several storied American military institutions, to include the Philippine Scouts and Army horse cavalry, while helping to lay the doctrinal foundation of an Army branch not born until after the war, the U.S. Army Special Forces.
The U.S. Army in Czechoslovakia 1945: An Operational Overview
by Bryan J. Dickerson
From April to December of 1945, the Third U.S. Army conducted operations in and
around the western region of Czechoslovakia. Altogether, three of its corps (XII,
V and XXII) and nine infantry and four armored divisions and two cavalry groups
participated in these operations.
The Czechoslovak operations fell into three distinct phases: Border Operations,
Liberation and Occupation. The Border Operations Phase occurred from 15 April until
5 May. During this time, the 90th and 97th Infantry Division and 2nd Cavalry Group
screened the Czechoslovak border and conducted several limited offensive operations
across the border to protect Third U.S. Army’s left flank as Third Army drove south-eastward
into rumored Alpine Festung (National Redoubt) area of southern Germany / western
Austria.
During the Liberation Phase (5-8 May 1945), V Corps and XII Corps conducted a major
offensive to liberate western Czechoslovakia from Nazi German occupation. The 1st,
2nd, 5th, 26th, 90th and 97th Infantry Divisions, 4th, 9th and 16th Armored Divisions
and the 2nd and 102nd Cavalry Groups all participated in liberating over 3,400 square
miles of Czechoslovakia. Their irresistible drive was only halted by the orders
of Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower approximately on the line
Karlovy Vary – Plzen – Ceske Budejovice. Having been oppressed by the Nazis for
six long years, Czechs in small villages, towns and the large city of Plzen greeted
their liberators with exuberant public celebrations. The phase ended with the German
High Command surrender and the termination of all hostilities.
The Strategic Culture of the Imperial Japanese Navy
by Gary A. Gustafson
With the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Japan entered into a war against the two most powerful navies in the world, the United States and Britain. An Imperial Liaison Conference on 6 September 1941 approved the “Outline Plan for the Execution of the Empire’s National Policy.” The plan called for three phases. The first phase required the destruction of the US battle line at Pearl Harbor and the capture of resource-rich Southeast Asia. Phase 2 required the consolidation of a defensive perimeter from Burma to Sumatra to the Gilbert Islands to the North Pacific. Phase 3 looked to exploit the natural resources of the captured territory while the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) exhausted American attempts to retake the newly formed Empire of Japan.[3] At a Cabinet Liaison Conference on 1 November 1941, Admiral Nagano Osami, Naval Chief of Staff (NCS), echoed Yamamoto’s earlier thoughts, “We can fight effectively for about two years, but no prediction can be made for after that.” [4] Despite unprecedented success in the first phase of the plan, within ten months the IJN had lost two thirds of its fleet carriers, was quickly losing an attritional campaign in the Solomon Islands, and had completely relinquished the initiative to the enemy.
The Battles of Luneville: September 1944
by Bryan J. Dickerson
The catalyst for this paper was Jenna Carpenter Smith. On Veterans Day 2012, she
contacted me seeking information about her late grandfather, Staff Sergeant Joseph
Carpenter, who had served in the 2nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Group [Mechanized] in
World War Two. Jenna had contacted me after reading about her grandfather in my
article “The Liberation of Western Czechoslovakia 1945” which is also posted on
Military History Online. I knew Joe Carpenter and his wife Ellin for several years
before their deaths. Joe was one of the many World War Two veterans who have assisted
me with my research on World War Two in Europe and the liberation of Czechoslovakia.
That night, Jenna and I spoke by phone, during which time I shared my memories of
her grandfather and grandmother. I explained to her the role that her grandfather
and the 2nd Cavalry Group played in the European Campaign and share with her some
of the stories that Joe had told me a number of years ago.
Member Article: Military History Online - World War II Game
by Ed Druback
This “After Action Report” (AAR) was intended to be written for a dual audience even though it is a review of one game played of the infinite variety of possible outcomes. First and foremost this AAR was written for someone who has never played a table top war game. If you are interested in the early stages of WWII (through the fall of France) whether you have ever played a war game or not, I hope I have made this AAR an enjoyable read.
Visual Guide to the U.S. Fleet Submarines: Part 1
by David L. Johnston
A cursory review of photographs of the U.S. fleet submarines of World War II often
leaves the reader with the impression that the boats were nearly identical in appearance.
Indeed, the fleet boats from the Porpoise class all the way to the late war Tench
class were all similar enough in appearance that it is easy to see how this impression
is justified. However, a more detailed examination of the boats will reveal a bewildering
array of differences, some of them quite distinct, that allow the separation of
the boats into their respective classes. Ironically, the rapidly changing configuration
of the boats’ appearances often makes it difficult to get down to a specific boat
identification. However being familiar with all of the wartime changes will allow
you to narrow down the date of the photo and when combined with other data will
sometimes get you the specific name.
Lodge Act Soldier: Henryk "Frenchy" Szarek
by Bob Seals
No nation of the world suffered more during World War II than Poland. Having the
geographical misfortune to exist between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Poland
sustained more losses as a percentage than any other belligerent; an estimated twenty
percent of every man, woman or child in the nation, some 6 million or so by best
estimate.[2] Enduring six hellish years of occupation, partition, deportations,
slave labor and mass executions, the Polish suffering did not end with the unconditional
surrender of the Third Reich on May 7, 1945. Thousands of Polish nationals, to include
soldiers who had faithfully served the Allied cause on various fronts, faced an
uncertain future, part of the enormous 14 million refugee population of Europe displaced
by war.[3] With the Iron Curtain stretching from “…Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste
in the Adriatic,” in the words of Winston S. Churchill, individuals displaced by
the war faced the agonizing choice of remaining in the west or returning eastward
to live in their Stalinist dominated communist homelands.[4]
Air Reconnaissance in the Second World War
by Del C. Kostka
In 1919, the great arsenals of the world lay in ruins. After four years of bitter
conflict, weary governments eagerly scrapped the instruments of war that spread
so much carnage and destruction across the continent of Europe. A global peace movement
and tight fiscal budgets conspired to keep military development to a minimum during
the post-war era, and in almost every nation’s air service the discipline that suffered
the most was aerial reconnaissance. It would be a shortsighted policy. Just twenty
years after “the war to end all wars," an even greater global crisis would once
again prove the indispensable nature of strategic aerial reconnaissance in modern,
mechanized warfare. Without question, air reconnaissance had an enormous impact
on military operations during the First World War. Airborne observers provided clarity
and situational awareness for battlefield commanders (Tactical Intelligence), and
air photo interpreters provided information about the enemy’s strength, logistics
and capabilities (Strategic Intelligence). But the intelligence value of air reconnaissance
in the First World War was considered secondary to the role that aviation played
in guiding artillery fire. Airborne artillery spotting, when combined with new wireless
communication and artillery technologies, constituted the most lethal weapon system
of the war. In fact, airborne artillery spotting was so effective that most post-war
military strategists considered air reconnaissance simply an extension of ground
operations.
Interview with WWII Veteran Walter Holy
Interview by Tony Welch
 An astounding number of American teenagers, both male
and female, altered their birth dates in order to serve their country during World
War 11. The practice reached its peak in 1943. Over time, nearly 50,000 were detected
and sent home. Among the many who eventually managed to enlist, a handful was discovered
– court martialed – and then stripped of any valor awards they might have earned.
But the great majority – some 200,000 -- went unnoticed and served honorably for
the duration. Among those sworn in was Walter Holy (rhymes with ‘moly,’ as in ‘holy
moly’). Walter and his wife Frances reside in Vancouver, Washington, just over the
Columbia River from Portland. There’s a possibility that Walt’s combat boots are
still stashed in the hall closet, just in case. What might Walter be thinking? If
you’re never too young, then you’re also never too old…?
Member Article: Turning East: Hitler's only option
by Thomas Tripp
The invasion of the Soviet Union arguably was the most important military decision
Adolf Hitler made in his life. In just a little under four years, it destroyed the
Thousand Year Reich along with tens of millions of innocent lives. Did this
fatal decision go against his belief of avoiding a two-front war or did Hitler feel
he had a small window of opportunity to win a campaign in the East, provided it
was swift, while the British remained isolated on their island? He felt this would
bring about a settlement with Great Britain without the risk of a cross channel
invasion. Hitler in one of his last recorded conversations in the Reich Chancellery
Bunker in April 1945, stated:
Member Article: The Club Runs: Allied Aircraft Resupply Operations
to Malta, 1942
by Brick Billing
By early 1942 the tiny island of Malta, approximately 100 km south of Sicily, was
effectively under siege. German and Italian advances in North Africa had transformed
the Mediterranean an Axis-held lake, with the nearest Allied bases in Gibraltar
on the eastern end and Egypt on the west. The Axis, realizing Malta’s strategic
position, subjected the tiny island to daily aerial bombardments. Over the course
of two years Malta became one of the most heavily bombed places on Earth as the
German Luftwaffe, and the Italian Regia Aeronautica flew over 3,000
bombing raids in an attempt to neutralize the island .[1] For as long as Malta remained
in Allied hands, British air and sea forces could mount attacks against Axis shipping,
threatening General Erwin Rommel’s supply lines in North Africa. As early as May
1941, Rommel had warned his superiors that: "without Malta the Axis will end
by losing control of North Africa."[2] Standing against this Axis threat were
a series of fighter, bomber, and torpedo squadrons based at Malta’s three airfields;
Luqa, Hal Far, and Takali.[3]
Interview with a World War II Veteran
by Robert C. Daniels
In preparation for writing a book, tentatively entitled “World War II in Mid-America,”
I have conducted oral interviews on 33 people of a small mid-western American community
that had lived during and through the war. These people represent a wide and diverse
range of those living in that area at the time: male, female, military, civilian,
adult, children, farmer, factory worker, etc. These interviews were designed to
gather information on how World War II affected the interviewees’ lives. As such,
questions were asked during the interviews about their lives prior to, during, and
after the war.
Why Arnhem?
by Thomas Leckwold
Operation Market-Garden, the largest airborne operation in history, is a
well known failure because of the inability to capture a bridge over the Rhine River,
and the resulting destruction of the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. Many
opinions of the Battle of Arnhem were established by Cornelius Ryan in his book
A Bridge Too Far which became an epic 1977 movie by Joseph Levine and Richard
Attenborough. These works provided readers and movie goers an understanding of the
defeat that Allies suffered. However, these works fail in answering the basic question
of how events on the Western Front influenced the decision of choosing Arnhem as
the objective for such a daring and risky operation to force a crossing of the Rhine?
Hell Ship - From the Philippines to Japan
by Robert C. Daniels
U.S. Marine Edmond Babler was forced to surrender to the Japanese Imperial Army
in April 1942 with the fall of the Island fortress of Corregidor in the Philippines.
Like many of his fellow POWs, after spending two years of hard labor under what
can only be described as horrendous and savage slave labor conditions in the Philippine
Islands of Luzon and Palawan, he was transported to the Japanese main islands in
what would be known to the prisoners as a Hell Ship. What follows comprises Chapter
7 of 1220 Days: The story of U.S. Marine Edmond Babler and his experiences in Japanese
Prisoner of War Camps during World War II, and is his personal account of
that trip using his vernacular and colloquialisms whenever possible, including the
phonetic form in which Ed originally wrote and remembered several Japanese phrases.
It is his views and memories, with no apologies made nor intended to conform to
the modern concept of political correctness. The author has sparingly inserted clarifications
and corroborating information in encapsulated brackets where deemed necessary to
give the reader a better understanding of the ‘overall picture’ of the war in relation
to what Ed was experiencing.
“She Hastens Onward Still”: The Battleship USS Oregon And its
Place in National Memory
by Dr. Christopher M. Jannings
Ship breakers claimed the vast majority of 19th Pre-dreadnought and 20th century
United States battleships like the USS Oregon upon decommission.[1] Masts,
guns, anchors, smoke stacks, and other elements of the most famous remain on public
display at historic sites, serving as substitutes for full-sized memorials that
require private donations or taxpayer dollars to maintain. The USS Oregon
was the centerpiece for the State of Oregon Marine Park from 1927 to 1942, and seemed
destined for honorable retirement until the outbreak of World War II, but was sacrificed
because of misguided patriotism in the State of Oregon and misappropriation of war
materials and building contracts, particularly involving the use of steel, within
the highest levels of government and industry.[2]
From Liberation to Confrontation: The U.S. Army and Czechoslovakia
1945 to 1948
by Bryan J. Dickerson
In the closing days of World War II in Europe, soldiers of the U.S. Army were welcomed
as Liberators by crowds of Czech civilians exuberant at being freed from six long
years of Nazi tyranny and occupation. Just three short years later, the relation-ship
between the U.S. Army and Czechoslovakia was dramatically different. Instead of
allies, they were now adversaries. Due to the rapidly changing political situation
in central Europe and the emergence of a Cold War between the United States and
the Soviet Union, the U.S. Army in Europe underwent a series of major changes in
mission and structure which culminated with it being forced to assume a combat posture
against the very same country and ally that it had helped liberate from the Nazi
Germany in the spring of 1945. In just three and a half years, the U.S. Army performed
the roles of a combat force / liberator, an occupation force / rebuilder, a police
or constabulary force and ultimately, a combat force again in rapid succession.
Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust: Fact or Fiction?
by Abigail Pfeiffer
For close to fifteen years after the Holocaust there was little written about the
resistance of the European Jewish population against the Nazis and their collaborators.
According to Michael Marrus in his article “Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust”
the reason for this is “…most Jews had little stomach for myth-making of any kind
about Jewish resistance in the immediate shock of the war. It was all Jews could
do in the first postwar years to absorb the reality of mass murder on an unimagined
scale…”[2] Only after the shock of the attempted liquidation of the whole population
of European Jews wore off did some solid historiography emerge about Jewish resistance.
The trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel also prompted more historians to examine Jewish
resistance, especially outside of Israel and Yiddish speaking populations. Two historians
emerged during this time, Hannah Arendt and Raul Hilberg, with views that the Jews
did not resist, at least not on a scale that would have made their resistance successful.
Member Article: Battle for the Seaports
by Ruud Bruyns
On January 30 1945 there was a remarkable movie premiere in the French seaport of
La Rochelle. The latest German war movie ‘Kolberg’ was displayed for the first time
to an audience which consisted of more than 20.000 soldiers, who were besieged by
Allied forces since August 1944. This movie, which was shot in full color, was meant
to boost morale among the German garrison by setting the siege of Kolberg by the
French in 1806 as an example. This was necessary because the Germans were trapped
there for almost half year, as were ten of thousands other German soldiers in the
ports of France, Belgium and Holland during the autumn of 1944. How was it possible
that approximately 200.000 German soldiers were locked up in these ports while the
German homeland was bound to be attacked by the Allies? Was it coincidence, or was
there a plan behind this set-up?
Member Article: A Turn Too Far: Reconstructing the End of the Battle
of the Java Sea
by Del C. Kostksa
Attu rises like a jagged stone from the churning waters of the North Pacific. Barren,
wind-swept, and shrouded in perpetual fog, the island has little relevance to a
world that is barely aware of its existence. Yet in 1943, this obscure wilderness
was the scene of an epic battle between resilient Japanese occupiers and an American
invasion force who were equally determined to possess the island. It was a battle
fought as much against the elements as with an enemy, and where a small and ill-equipped
band of US Army combat engineers found themselves squarely in the path of one of
the largest Japanese Banzai attacks of World War Two.[1]
Member Article: A Turn Too Far: Reconstructing the End of the Battle
of the Java Sea
by Jeffrey R. Cox
The Java Sea campaign has gotten little in the way of analysis in the English-speaking
press, and what coverage it has gotten has largely focused on the role of the crews
of individual ships such as the US cruiser Houston, the Australian cruiser
Perth and the British cruiser Exeter, particularly in their futile
efforts to escape the Java Sea, James Hornfischer’s excellent book Ship of Ghosts
being a case in point. This relative silence is understandable for several reasons.
First of all, we lost. Unless the defeat can be used to bash the United States like
Vietnam is, defeats tend to get less play in the media. Furthermore, the territory
being defended was a Dutch colony, which, since the Dutch mainland was under Nazi
occupation, was effectively serving as their homeland, and thus meant much more
to the Dutch than the Anglos, who found the campaign small in comparison to their
overall war effort in the Pacific.
Member Article: How Arnhem was Lost around Eindhoven
by Landon McDuff
The Texas Army National Guard has a proud history that has not only influenced but,
has come to define its military culture. It is the purpose of this essay to discuss
some of those defining and controversial moments and remember the heroes that made
them so. Texas has traditionally been committed to the defense of its nation and
usually contributes more troops to the U.S. military than any other state.[i] The
Texas Army National Guard traces their beginnings to the fight for Texas’ independence
from Mexico. The spirit of the defenders of the Alamo, and the victorious men that
carried the day on the grounds of San Jacinto, is alive and well in the hearts of
every Texas National Guard soldier and airman. The TXARNG is a state military force
in local operation but trains and fights alongside the federal Army, daubed “Big
Army”. They call themselves “citizen soldiers” because although they have the same
training as “Big Army”, they only serve one weekend out of the month, unless called
into active duty.[1]
Member Article: How Arnhem was Lost around Eindhoven
by Ruud Bruyns
A lot of explanations have been written about the failure of Operation Market Garden,
better known as the Battle of Arnhem after the ultimate goal of the operation. In
the mainly English speaking literature there has been very few references to Dutch
sources, while there have been many detailed publications about Market Garden. The
most notable are ‘Een andere kijk op de slag om Arnhem’ (Another Perspective
on the Battle of Arnhem, 2009) by Peter Berends, and ‘Einddoel Maas’ (End
Goal Meuse, 1984) and ‘Brabant bevrijd’ (Brabant liberated, 1993) by Jack
Didden en Maarten Swarts. The latter argue that Market Garden was lost in Brabant.
I want underline their thesis and want to add some new perspectives to this in this
article.
Member Article: The Saga of Ormoc Bay - November 10, 1944
by Stuart Goldberg
The battle for Leyte had been raging since an Allied invasion force arrived off
the coast of this central Philippine island. From the 23rd of October to the 26th,
in a running battle on the sea and in the air, the Japanese attempted to repulse
the landing. This titanic military engagement, known as “The Battle of Leyte Gulf,”
proved to be the largest naval battle in history and decided the fate of not only
the Philippines, but also of the once mighty IJN Combined fleet. During the four-day
skirmish, Adm. Halsey’s Third Fleet and Adm. Kinkaid’s Seventh decimated four separate
Japanese naval task forces commanded by Admirals Ozawa, Kurita, Nishimura and Shima.
When the smoke had cleared, the surviving Japanese ships of Operation “SHO-GO” limped
back to Tokyo and the Americans secured the landing beaches. Consequently, despite
the stiff resistance by the Imperial Navy and Adm. Onishi’s newly instituted Kamikaze
tactics, American ground troops finally stormed ashore.
Member Article: Hunters of the Deep: A Brief Synopsis of the Contribution
of the Silent Service of the Pacific
by Bryan T. Hayes
The English dictionary refers to "Pacific" as an unaggressive or peaceful nature.
The Pacific theater in WWII was a direct antonym as American and Japanese forces
exercised immense human destruction across the islands and atolls in the central
and Southern theaters. American memories of the WWII Asian battles usually dwell
at Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Hiroshima. As such, the majority of Naval
dramatic action captured on film and in books occurred on the surface, on the beaches,
or in the air, as the era witnessed an incredible shift from the battleship force
to the aircraft carrier, its support units and amphibious operations of the Marines
and sustaining naval units.
Member Article: Mush Morton and the crew of the Wahoo, War Criminals?
by David Johnston
On 26 January 1943 the submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238), under the command of
the indomitable Lt. Commander Dudley W. "Mush" Morton, engaged in a running gun
and torpedo battle with a Japanese convoy consisting of four ships off the northern
coast of New Guinea. It would later prove to be a seminal moment in the history
of the famous Morton and his Wahoo, forever cementing their combined reputation
as ace ship hunters. At a time when the war news was almost universally bad, and
when the submarine force was struggling to hit its stride against the Japanese,
Morton and the fighting Wahoo provided a much needed shot in the arm and
morale boost to our Navy and country. Unfortunately, it also would prove to be one
of the most controversial acts committed by one of our submarines during the war,
and would later result in whispered back room (and sometimes open) charges of racism,
murder, and official cover-up.
Member Article: Polish Cavalry: A Military Myth Dispelled
by Alexander Zakrzewski
At 2:00 P.M. on September 1st, 1939, Colonel Kazimierz Mastelarz, commander of the
18th Regiment of the Pomorska Cavalry Brigade, spotted a badly exposed battalion
of German infantry in the woods near the Polish village of Krojanty. He hurriedly
assembled his troopers for a sabre charge and fell upon on the unsuspecting enemy,
easily overrunning them. For the Colonel, the short but brief action must have seemed
a fortuitous start to the war for he and his men. Their first encounter with Hitler’s
vaunted Wehrmacht had proven a tactical success at negligible cost. However, his
victory would prove short lived. Before the Poles could reorganize, a column of
German tanks and motorized troops appeared from around a bend and unleashed a devastating
hail of fire.
Excerpt from World's Bloodiest History: Massacre, Genocide, and the Scars
They Left on Civilization by Joseph Cummins
The Belgian farmer, whose name was Henri Lejoly, was surprised at the nonchalance
of the U.S. troops. Standing in the barren field outside of the town of Malmedy
on that cold early afternoon in the winter of 1944, they smoked and joked with each
other. Some of them had placed their hands on their helmets in a casual token of
surrender to the Waffen-SS troops of Kampfgruppe Peiper—the mechanized task
force commanded by the brilliant young German Colonel Jochen Peiper—as it passed
by, but beyond that they seemed remarkably unconcerned. The offhand behavior of
the roughly 115 U.S. prisoners may have been because the men came from Battery B
of the 285th Field Observation Battery. This was an outfit whose job was to spot
enemy artillery emplacements and transmit their location to other U.S. units. It
had seen relatively little frontline duty and was filled with numerous green replacements.
Member Article: The Predominance of Confucian Martial Culture over
Western Influence in the Far East
by Holly Senatore
Consider a society where equality among men is a foreign concept. Consider a state
where democracy is firstly established through removing a military threat through
war and reestablishing a viable working government. Lastly, consider a situation
where asking the post- war populace to embrace democracy is also asking them to
rid themselves of their own centuries long cultural values. This article does not
address the invasion of Iraq in 2003, an event in which the military goals were
readily accomplished yet the cultural goals of instilling democracy among a hostile
people are yet to be seen. Instead, this article examines a similar instance that
unfolded during the mid twentieth century when Japan surrendered to United States
military forces on September 2nd, 1945. This date marked the end of World War II
but established the beginning of a new chapter in Anglo-Japanese relations whereby
democracy was grafted upon a stratified and hierarchal civilization ruled by the
military class since the Yorimoto Shogunate in the 12th century A.D.
Member Article: Operation Market-Garden: British Ground Opeartions
on September 17, 1944
by Thomas Leckwold
Operation Market-Garden was the largest airborne operation ever executed that was
coordinated with a simultaneous ground operation. The operation ultimately failed
but it was largely not an airborne failure, but a ground force failure that was
attributed to a combination of the British operational doctrine and geography. The
British operational doctrine was ill suited for the operation that was envisioned
because, along with the geography, it emphasized the comparative weakness of the
British Army while simultaneously not denying the Wehrmacht many comparative advantages
in its defensive efforts. The result was the British Army’s ground forces inability
to gain momentum during the first day of the offensive and was a critical factor
for the failure of the entire operation.
Member Article: On the Shoulders of Giants: Innovation and Courage
- The Legacy of World War II Submarine Veterans
by Daniel T. Rean
The numbers tell a story. They do not lie. According to the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs, approximately 900 World War II veterans die every day. But
that number is not the whole story. We cannot simply consider statistical losses
when we look at that number. What we are really losing is a unique brand of warriors
who let nothing stand in the way of the march toward victory, and no group of World
War II veterans typified that never-say-die attitude better than that of America’s
submarine service.
Member Article: Lausdell Crossroads
by Allyn Vannoy and Jay Karamales
During December 17-19, 1944, the Belgian villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath, and
the surrounding countryside, provided a setting that would determine whether or
not the flank of the U.S. First Army would be rolled up and the German Ardennes
breakthrough widened, permitting the Germans to reach their objectives beyond the
Meuse.
Member Article: Baptism of Fire: Kasserine Pass, 1943
by Eric Niderost
In the winter of 1942-43 the Allies had every reason to believe that they were on
the verge of total victory in North Africa. It started that November, when Field
Marshal Erwin Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika was decisively defeated by the
British Eighth Army at the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Member Article: Momentum Lost: The Battle for the Arnhem Startline
by Thomas Leckwold
After the capture of Antwerp on September 4, 1944, the Second British Army commander,
Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey, ordered its spearhead, the XXX Corps, to halt
because it had outrun its "administrative resources."[1] The order was in response
to the supply issues that were constraining the Western Allies offensive, and though
not recognized at the time, the British Army offensive reached its culmination point
and was suffering the effects of strategic consumption.[2][3]
Member Article: Bushido: The Valor of Deceit
by Holly Senatore
As the historian Yuki Tanaka asserted, "The extreme ill-treatment of POWs by the
Japanese in World War II was a historically specific phenomenon that occurred between
the so-called 'China-Incident' and the end of World War II."[3] According to Tanaka,
the cruelty committed by Japanese soldiers during World War II towards Allied POWs
was an effect of the subordination and the corruption of the Code of Bushido
to the emperor ideology and the 'new' military ideology.[4]
Member Article: Strategic Consumption and British Offensive Operations
in Northwest Europe: August - September 1944
by Thomas Leckwold
The Western Allies launched Operation Market-Garden on September 17, 1944
under the overall command of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and his Twenty First
Army Group with the intended goal of ending the war in 1944. The decision to launch
Operation Market-Garden, like most military operations, had a causal relationship
to the events that had created the current military situation.
Member Article: Sir Winston Churchill: The Man Who Gave Britain Back
its Roar
by Carl J. Ciovacco
Never before has there been a leader as determined as Sir Winston Churchill. His
determination and perseverance helped to steer Britain through arguably its most
difficult time in history. How could a sickly, pudgy, outcast child, transform into
the "Savior of the Nation" by leading Britain against the epitome of evil?
Member Article: American Stubbornness at Rimling
by Allyn Vannoy
As the US Seventh Army shifted units to cover the gap created by the departing Third
Army divisions that were being moved into the Ardennes during December 1944, the
44th and 100th Divisions, on the western flank of the Seventh Army, were extended
to cover the front lines. Each division was assigned 17 to 18 kilometers of front.
The 44th (Cactus) Division, defending from Welferding to just west of of the village
of Rimling, covered ground that was mostly open, rolling hills, although the center
of its front provided shallow patches of dense vegetation.
Member Article: The Office of Strategic Services and Greece: The Missing
Link of the Mediterranean Campaign
by Panagiotis Dimitrakis
Greece entered the Second World War in October 1940. Fascist Italy invaded the Northwest
frontier but the Greek Army counterattacked reaching Albania. In April 1941 the
Wehrmacht invaded from the Greek-Bulgarian borders. By late May, Greek and Commonwealth
units fought fiercely in mainland Greece and Crete but eventually they withdrew
to Egypt.
Member Article: The True Strategy of Blitzkrieg
by Florian Waitl
The birth of Blitzkrieg is often explained as a direct result of the horrors of
static warfare experienced during World War I. The word Blitzkrieg, meaning lightning
war, is most of the time simply described as the doctrine employed by the German
Army in World War II. But this simple description does not do justice to the concept.
Member Article: Breaking the Seelow Heights: the Zenith of Combined
Arms Warfare
by Major James T. McGhee
Nearly four years after the commencement of Operation Barbarossa, the German Army
stood on the verge of annihilation. What Adolph Hitler expected in 1941 to be a
quick victory for National Socialism over its archenemy, "Jewish Bolshevism", had
become a brutal war of attrition. By April 1945, the remnants of the German war
machine had been pushed back into the Fatherland where they would fight a final
battle for survival against the endless masses of the Red Army.
Member Article: The Rape of Nanking: Reasons and Recrimination
by Walter Zapotoczny
The Japanese generals who took time out to toast the early success of their China
campaign in 1937 drew their jubilation not only from the quick rout of the numerically
superior enemy, but from deep cultural roots. By the very act of fighting they were
fulfilling the ancient role of the samurai – the medieval warrior whose fate was
conquest or death.[1] The Japanese warriors in China found plenty of both.
Member Article: Small Battle, Big Implications: Japan Lost the Upper
Hand When it Lost New Guinea
by Rob Dean
The Southwest Pacific proved to be Japan's undoing in World War II because the Imperial
Army overreached, stretching its manpower and its supply lines too far. But beyond
issues of men and equipment, the Imperial Army's failure exposed fundamental weaknesses
in military doctrine.
Member Article: Harris Class APA's
by Tom Wade
Military history often overlooks the contributions of those whose efforts are vital
to winning, but don't garner the headlines. World War II could not have been won
without the logistics tail, transporting and supplying the tip of the spear with
everything needed to win. The Harris or 535' Class of Attack Transports were one
of the contributors that have been largely in the background when the histories
of the great campaigns were first written.
Member Article: The Aerial Defense of the Netherlands East Indies
by Michael Gough
Japan and the United States emerged as world powers at the beginning of the 20th
Century, and soon challenged European Powers' dominance in Asia and the Pacific.
Japan's challenge was aimed at displacing European powers and inserting itself as
a colonial master.
Member Article: Why the Bulge Didn't Break: Green Troops Grew Up Fast
to Become Heroes of Hofen
by Rob Dean
The master story of the Battle of the Bulge is the German breakthrough that created
the bulge in American lines and the U.S. fight to restore the original line. Not
well known is the story of the U.S. infantry that held the northern flank. If not
for the stand by three rifle companies, the bulge may have become a break. This
study focuses on the defense of Hofen through the first-hand accounts of 12 soldiers
who fought there, the combat reports of units in the field, the analyses of two
infantry officers, and the detailed account of the battalion commander.
Member Article: American Forces in WWII
by Tom Wade
The entry of the United States into World War II was marked by constant setbacks
spanning the Western Pacific beginning December 7, 1941 and into early 1942. After
being defeated and pushed back for six months, the U.S. military machine began to
turn out victories that would push back every advancement of the Axis powers and
in 45 months lead to their total defeat.
Member Article: Shadow Warriors - Submarine Special Operations
in World War Two
by Daniel T. Rean
The submarine's ability to penetrate a hostile area independently, covertly and
for a long duration, provides a unique tactical advantage. Submarines operating
undetected near the enemy's coastline provide a complete picture of the undersea,
surface and near shore military conditions, including enemy force dispositions and
preparations.
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Polish
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