February 1996



March 1997

Vol. 5 Number 6

Published by the WW II History Roundtable

Edited by Jim and Jon Gerber

Welcome to the March meeting of the Harold C. Deutsch WW II History Roundtable. Our program this evening is special because it is about one of the major contributions of Minnesota to the war effort namely the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division. We are privileged to have with us many members of the 34th both past and present and look forward to their presentation.

The Whole Nine Yards

The term “the whole 9 yards” came from WW II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got “the whole 9 yards.”

The Air War

On August 25, 1940, the Germans dropped the first bomb on the city of London proper. It landed in the financial center of the city. Previously the Luftwaffe bombed the docks and areas where war production was being carried out. There is evidence that the bomb was a stray hit, not intentional. The British retaliated by bombing Berlin. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during WW II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

Allied Weapons

General Eisenhower said that four things won the war for the Allies: the bazooka, the jeep, the DC - 3 and the A-bomb.

Seabees

During WW II there were thousands of plumbers, carpenters, electricians, power equipment operators and other civilian craftsmen who became Navy ‘engineers’ in the Construction Battalions. They were called Seabees and were involved in every operation in the Pacific during the war. They were said to be soldiers in sailor uniforms, with Marine training, doing civilian work at WPA wages.

Karinhall

Karinhall was Herman Goering’s palatial estate. Before leaving for Hitler’s birthday celebration on April 20, 1945, and only after a convoy of no fewer than twenty-four trucks had departed with his antiques, furniture, paintings, etc., the Reichsmarschall himself pushed the plunger that destroyed the estate. “Well, that’s what you have to do sometimes when you’re a crown prince,” he told those around him. The Russians were expected to capture the area at any time.

Patton

General George S. Patton became commander of the US II Army Corps on the same day, March 6, 1943, that German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel began his last battle in North Africa. However, Patton turned command of the II Corps over to General Omar Bradley less than six weeks later. Patton was assigned to plan the Sicily invasion. Rommel had returned to Germany to defend against the expected Allied invasion of France.

Himmler

General Heinrici replaced Riechsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler as commander of Army Group Vistula. Himmler, who proved to be inept as a military commander, permitted himself to relinquish the post because of his many other jobs and his poor health. Himmler was also Minister of the Interior, chief of the Gestapo, head of the SS and commander of the Training Army.

Red Tape

General Joseph Stilwell served as chief of staff to Supreme Commander Chaing Kai-shek in China, commander of US forces in the China-Burma-India theater, and subordinate to the British commander in India, all at the same time. This made him responsible to Washington, China and London simultaneously.

Nazis against Hitler

Albert Speer claimed that he told Hitler to end the war three times and even considered murdering Hitler. He said that he brought up the subject in October 1944 and again in January and March of 1945. He told General Gothard Heinrici, commander of Army Group Vistula, that he had considered introducing poison gas into the ventilating system of the Fuehrerbunker. During the meeting with Heinrici, Speer produced a pistol, saying ‘it was the only way to stop Hitler.’ But Speer never attempted the assassination.

Destruction of Paris

On August 23, 1944, Hitler ordered that Paris was to be destroyed. General Dietrich von Choltitz, commandant of Festung Paris, delayed giving the order that would have set off explosions in a number of architectural treasures, including the Eiffel Tower, because he didn’t want to be remembered in history with that stigma. Because the city was liberated without the destruction Hitler wished, Choltitz was tried in absentia for treason by a Nazi court in April 1945.

Spies

In May 1982, ABC News broadcast evidence that a Soviet code book found on a Finnish battlefield after WW II permitted the US to break Soviet spy codes. It was information gained from this effort that led the FBI to put Ethel and Julius Rosenberg under surveillance, but this fact was not revealed, since the US didn’t want the Soviets to know it had broken the codes. The Rosenbergs were convicted and executed in 1951 for espionage.

The Power of Prayer

While Patton was preparing to move units of the Third Army toward Bastogne to relieve the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, he ordered Chaplain James H. O’Neill to write a prayer so that the weather would improve and he could make rapid progress. The prayer was written, Patton read it, the weather improved and the chaplain was given a Bronze Star by the general.

Fatherly Love

During the war Soviet leader Joseph Stalin rejected a German offer for a prisoner exchange that included the return of his own son. Stalin’s son Jacob eventually died in a German prison camp.

Sad Sack

George Baker created the cartoon character Sad Sack while on the staff of Yank magazine. He had worked for Walt Disney prior to being drafted. His better-known Disney animated films include Bambi, Dumbo and Pinocchio.

The following is a list of next year’s programs:

September - The 8th Air Force

October - Huertgen Forest

November - The Marshall Plan

December - The USS Ward

January - Military Railroads

February - The Fall of the Philippines

March - The Battle of Midway

April - The Battle of Slapton Sands

May - -The Flying Tigers

Further reading on tonight’s topic:

Dogfaces Who Smiled Through Tears

by Homer Ankrum

Graphic Publishing, Iowa 1987

The Gopher Gunners

by Francis Vojta

1985

Cassino

by John Ellis

McGraw - Hill 1984

Cassino

by Dominick Graham

Ballantine, New York 1970

See You Next Month

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