lesser known details of WW2 part two

True Story of The Patton Prayer ( Dec 1944 )
by Msgr. James H. O'Neill

http://www.apostolic.edu/patton/text.htm

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.



As the Chief Chaplain of the Third Army throughout the five campaigns on the Staff of General Patton, I should have some knowledge of the event because at the direction of General Patton I composed the now world-famous prayer, and wrote Training Letter No. 5, which constitutes an integral, but untold part, of the prayer story. These incidents, narrated in sequence, should serve to enhance the memory of the man himself, and cause him to be enshrined by generations to come as one of the greatest of our soldiers. He had all the traits of military leadership, fortified by genuine trust in God, intense love of country, and high faith in the American soldier. He had no use for half-measures. He wrote this line a few days before his death: "Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and to American tradition."

The incident of the now famous Patton Prayer commenced with a telephone call to the Third Army Chaplain on the morning of December 8, 1944, when the Third Army Headquarters were located in the Casene Molfir, in Nancy, France: "This is General Patton; do you have a good prayer for weather? We must do something about these rains if we are to win this war." My reply was that I knew where to look for such a prayer, that I would locate, and report within the hour.

This done, I donned my heavy trench coat, crossed the quadrangle of the old French military barracks, and reported to General Patton. He read the prayer copy, returned it to me with a very casual directive, "Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it every man in the Third Army gets one."
---------------

Later on Patton:

"I wish you would put out a Training Letter on this subject of Prayer to all the chaplains; write about nothing else, just the importance of prayer. Let me see if before you send it. We've got to get not only the chaplains but every man in the Third Army to pray. We must ask God to stop these rains. These rains are that margin that holds defeat or victory. If we all pray, it will be like what Dr. Carrel said [the allusions was to a press quotes some days previously when Dr. Alexis Carrel, one of the foremost scientists, described prayer "as one of the most powerful forms of energy man can generate"], it will be like plugging in on a current who source is in Heaven. I believe that prayer completes that circuit. It is power.

The General read it, and without change directed that it be circulated to the 486 chaplains, but to every organization commander down to and including the regimental level. Three thousand two hundred copies were distributed to every unit in the Third Army over my signature as Third Army Chaplain. Strictly speaking, it was the Army Commander's letter, not mine.

Titled "Training Letter No. 5," with the salutary "Chaplains of the Third Army," the letter continued: "At this stage of the operations I would call upon the chaplains and the men of the Third United States Army to focus their attention on the importance of prayer.

"Our glorious march from the Normandy Beach across France to where we stand, before and beyond the Siegfried Line, with the wreckage of the German Army behind us, should convince the most skeptical soldier that God has ridden with our banner. Pestilence and famine have not touched us. We have had no quitters; and our leadership has been masterful. The Third Army has no roster of Retreats. None of Defeats. We have no memory of a lost battle to hand on to our children from this great campaign.

"But we are not stopping at the Siegfried Line. Tough days may be ahead of us before we eat our rations in the Chancellory of the Deutsches Reich.

"As chaplains it is our business to pray. We preach its importance. We urge its practice. But the time is now to intensify our faith in prayer, not alone with ourselves, but with every believing man, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or Christian, in the ranks of the Third United States Army.


"Those who pray do more for the world than those who fight; and if the world goes from bad to worse, it is because there are more battles than prayers. 'Hands lifted up,' said Bossuet, 'smash more battalions than hands that strike.' Gideon of Bible fame was least in his father's house. He came from Israel's smallest tribe. But he was a mighty man of valor. His strength lay not in his military might, but in his recognition of God's proper claims upon his life. He reduced his Army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred men lest the people of Israel would think that their valor had saved them. We have no intention to reduce our striking force. But we must urge, instruct, and indoctrinate every fighting man to pray as well as fight. In Gideon's day, and in our own, spiritually alert minorities carry the burdens and bring the victories.

"Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for Victory, Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace.

"We must march together, all out for God. The soldier who 'cracks' up does not need sympathy or comfort as much as he needs strength. We are not trying to make the best these days. It is our job to make the most of them. Now is not the time to follow God from 'afar off.' This Army needs the assurance and faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail.

"Be assured that this message on prayer has the approval, the encouragement, and the enthusiastic support of the Third United States Army Commander.

"With every good wish to each of you for a very Happy Christmas, and my personal congratulations for your splendid and courageous work since landing on the beach, I am, " etc., etc., signed The Third Army Chaplain.

It was late in January of 1945 when I saw the Army Commander again. This was in the city of Luxembourg. He stood directly in front of me, smiled: "Well, Padre, our prayers worked. I knew they would." Then he cracked me on the side of my steel helmet with his riding crop. That was his way of saying, "Well done."

This article appeared as a government document in 1950.

 

Junkers Ju 88

http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/junkers_388.htm



The Junkers Ju-88 was truly the backbone of the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, in World War II. The Ju-88 and its Ju-188 and Ju-388 derivatives served in multiple roles -- as night and day fighters, for reconnaissance, and as dive and level bombers -- wherever German forces were committed. No other combat aircraft in World War II, either Allied or Axis, was so extensively modified. This Junkers design exemplified the German philosophy of using a good basic airframe for many tasks to simplify production and combat operation.

The Ju-88 design originated in 1935, as part of the Luftwaffe's goal of equipping its growing inventory with a fast medium bomber. The original design was by W.H. Evers and Alfred Gassner, who was an American citizen. Both men had experience in the U.S. aviation industry. The aircraft's first flight was December 21, 1936, and its operational debut was in September 1939, as World War II began.

Junkers opened plants at Bernberg, Aschersleben, and Halberstadt and more than 3,000 Ju-88s were built in each year 1942 through 1944. Approximately 15,000 were built between 1939 and 1945.

More than 9,000 were bombers, a total equal to the production of all other German bombers. Production was increased to compensate for the failure of two four-engined bomber designs - the Heinkel He-177 and Junkers Ju-288. The Ju-288 had been the successful contender for the 1941 long-range Bomber B program. But both it and the medium-range He-177 were powered by the unsuccessful Junker Jumo 222 coupled piston engine. Problems with the engine, plus vacillation over long-range bombing strategy, caused the Ju-288 program to be terminated in 1943. In 1943, the versatile Ju-88 was also converted to a ground-attack fighter following failure of the Henschel Hs-129 design. The ground attack version saw wide service against Russian tanks.

As a night fighter, the Ju-88 proved very effective when fitted with the first German aerial radar, the Telefunken FuG-212 ("FuG" for "funkgerat" or "radio equipment") "Lichenstein" C-1. At the height of the battle for the night skies over Germany, virtually the entire Luftwaffe night fighter force was Ju-88Cs and Gs and the bulk of Ju-88 production was night fighters.

The original Ju-88A bomber was replaced in production by the lightened, streamlined Ju-88S and T bomber and reconnaissance variants. These had more power and were fast enough to operate without fighter escort in an increasingly adverse combat environment. As Allied defenses strengthened, however, the Ju-88 became more vulnerable, and by 1944 the Luftwaffe had little effective tactical and strategic reconnaissance in Europe. This was a significant factor on June 6, 1944, when the D-Day invasion came as a "surprise".

By the end of the war the Ju-88 had been built in some 60 versions involving more than 100 prototypes. The Ju-88S and T were in turn superceded in 1944 by the much-improved Ju-188, with increased bomb load, higher speed, and higher ceilings using pressurization. In August 1943, following the fire bombing of Hamburg, the Ju-188 night fighter was the first German aircraft to receive the jam-proof Lichenstein SN-2 radar. However, only 1036 of the Ju-188 were produced, in 14 variants, before this aircraft was supplanted towards the end of the war by the Ju-388.

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/airplane/museum/cl-pln4/images6/29Ju88A-4.JPG

http://www.btinternet.com/~lee_mail/Ju88gallery.html

 

corrections Kai !

The Hs 129 was not a failure and is recorded to have destroyed over 1500 Soviet tanks confirmed ! There were only maybe two dozen Ju 88's fitted with the 37 and 50mm cannon for ground attack work and the a/c was not suited for this. Only in the medium bombing role, recon and night fighter duties.

With the FuG 212 there were only two NJG's that had the Ju 88C's on hand and they were NJG 2 and NJG 3. All other NJG's were still outfitted with the Bf 110G-4 and the Do 217 such as NJG 4 and 5.

Also there was never a Ju 188 night fighter, only used in the recon and bombing roles.

these web-sites need a little history clarification......

E

 

Thanx Erich!

I had some kinda idea the Hs 129 did some great work at Kursk but I never thought that so many Russian tanks were destroyed by it...

Anyway, do you know if there were more than the often mentioned 879 planes ( incl prototypes ) built?

 

On Das Reich:

Logically, this division should have been numbered 1, because it was the first SS division to be created. But when the Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" regiment became a division, that bodyguard formation took the premier number.



The divisions emblem was based on the "wolfshook" or "wolfsangel" which was also adopted by the Landstorm Nederland Division and was a Nordic rune which was said to posses magical powers which could ward off wolves. It was adopted in the 15th century by peasants in their revolt against the mercenaries employed by the German princes, therefore representing liberty and independence although it was also known as the 'Zeichen der Willkür' or 'badge of wanton tyranny' during the Thirty Years' War
It then became a heraldic symbol representing a wolf trap, and as such appeared, and still features, on the coat-of-arms of the city of Wolfstein.

http://www.eliteforces.freewire.co.uk/Waffen%20SS%20Text+Images/2nd%20SS.htm

 

Kai, not sure really, the Hs 129 was a tank killer. The usual armament was a single 30 mm Mk 103 with turngsten cored ammo. It also had a 4 mg's for strafing work, sometimes replcad by 20mm's.

a little something and hopefully of interest on the Ju 88 clip.

for night fighters on April 9th 1945, the war was creeping slowly to an end and the German night fighter force spent it's remaining days simplifying it's forces with many ground crews going to the infantry. Fuel was at a premium and it seems only the most skilled (aces) were allowed to fly missions. The bf 110G-4 still remained but was being overshadowed by the superior Ju 88G-6 variant.

Bf 110G-4's on strength:

Stab, 1,4 and 7./NJG 1, alhtough the 1 staffel composition was mostly made up of the He 219A/
NJG 2......0
NJG 3......0
Stab./NJG 4
Stab, 4 and 7./NJG 5
Stab, and 7./NJG 6

Ju 88G-6 strengths in:

Stab, I, II and III./NJG 2
Stab, I , 7 and 10./NJG 3
Stab, I, 4 and 7./NJG 4
Stab, I, 4,7 and 10./NJG 5
Stab, I, 4 and 10./NJG 6
I./NJG 100

Nachtjagdstaffel Norwegen which turned into 4./NJG 3.

E

 

Another pretty picture for Erich to tear apart

http://www.btinternet.com/~jj_b/vaw/html/henschel129.htm

I've always been vaguely interested in this aircraft - must buy a good book about it one day and do some reading....

 

Thanks, Kai! Really interesting information on him:



Martin, that is a digital photo of a He-129. Imagine how it'd look if it was a real-colour shot!

 

Sorry, I posted it twice...

 

Hermann Göring units


http://www.ww2.dk/ground/goering.html


German Army Unit Glossary

http://home.clara.net/percy/glossary.htm

[ 02. March 2003, 07:33 AM: Message edited by: Kai-Petri ]

 

Horrible historical facts:

http://home.swipnet.se/~w-49276/docs/auschwitz/historic.htm

1933

March 20 . Dachau, the first concentration camp is erected some 16 km northwest of Munich. It’s first inmates are Communists, Social Democrats and trade unionists, most of whom will later be released. The brutal practices perfected here by the commander Theodor Eicke became the model for the camps that followed.

April 1-3. Boycott of Jewish lawyers, doctors, shops and businesses.

April. Jews banned from civil service.

July 14. The National Socialist Workers’ Party (NSDAP) is the only political party allowed in Germany. Laws are passed allowing compulsory sterilization on Gypsies, handicapped and colored Germans.

1934

July 3. Laws are constituted that forbid marriages between Germans and persons of foreign races and defective people of German blood.


1935

September 15. The Nuremberg laws are proclaimed at a Nazi Party meeting. Jews are no longer permitted to enter into marriage with persons of German blood or have sexual relations with them. During the 30’s, over 400 laws were enacted in Germany restricting Jewish rights.

November 26. The Nuremberg laws are extended. Gypsies and colored people are no longer permitted to enter into marriage between persons of German blood.

1938

August 17. Jewish women in Nazi Germany must add the name «Sara» to their names and all Jewish men «Israel».

October 5. All Jewish passports are stamped with a big red «J» for «Jew».

November 5. Jewish children are no longer allowed to attend German schools. After the Kristallnacht, Sweden allows in 500 German Jewish children.

1939

February 21. Jews are to hand over jewelry and precious metals.

September 20. Jews are no longer allowed to possess radios.

November 20. Heinrich Himmler gives the order to imprison all Gypsy women fortune-tellers.

1940

January. The first trial to gas mental patients — Jews and others — takes place in German asylums.

1941

March 22. Gypsies and colored children are no longer allowed to attend German schools.

December 8. The first gassing of Jews in Chelmno death camp on the Ner River, Chelmno, Poland.

December 12. German Jews are not allowed to use public telephones.

1942

February 15. The first trainloads of Jews are killed using the gas Zyklon B in Auschwitz. German Jews are no longer allowed to keep pets.

May 12. German Jews are not allowed to visit “Aryan” hairdressers.

June 12. German Jews now have to hand in their radios, binoculars, bicycles and typewriters

July 1. Jewish children in Germany are no longer allowed to attend Jewish schools.

July 30-September 12. Jewish congregations in Germany have to hand over cultural objects made of precious metal.

October 9. German Jews are no longer allowed to buy from “Aryan” book shops.

December 17. The Allies declare that those guilty of killing Jews will be punished after the war.

1944

June. Quick massmurders
In Auschwitz-Birkenau the extermination rate is accelerated. Now as many as 9.000 die each day in the gas chambers.

1945

January. The death marches
The retreating Germans forced all remaining prisoners able to walk to go on death marches toward the German border. Tens of thousands of survivors were now forced on these long marches. A large percentage of these prisoners died during these marches. Prisoners that tripped or stumbled were immediately shot. Approximately 20.000 of 58.000 prisoners died en route, from exhaustion, starvation, cold, beatings, and executions by guards.



[ 02. March 2003, 08:01 AM: Message edited by: Kai-Petri ]

 

Thank you again Kai....ive missed two days of "class" while moving--much to assimilate...........much to assimilate........need a ice cold and very large glass of Liptons Tea.

 

The Abwehr Enigma machine differed from the Army and Navy models, in that the mechanism that stepped the rotors used a different approach. (All images courtesy of David Hamer, whose site is located at: http://www.eclipse.net/~dhamer/). The machine had a serious design flaw. Frequently all four wheels turned at once, which the codebreakers termed a "Lobster". When this occurred, the scrambler assembly stayed in the same configuration, except shifted by one position.

http://home.earthlink.net/~nbrass1/abwehr.htm

 

You think you´re lucky? Well, try this...

http://www.octa4.net.au/tcosgrove/raaf.html

By far one of the luckiest escapes of the war occured on the night of 4/5th November when a 466 Halifax piloted by Pilot Officer J. Herman was hit by anti-aircraft fire. After ordering his crew to bale out, the captain was about to attach his 'silken thread' when the crippled aircraft exploded. F/O Herman was blown clean out of the aircraft minus his parachute. As he headed for the ground he bumped into 'something' and instinctively grabbed on. Remarkably, the 'something' was his mid-upper gunners legs. The two descended to earth and survived the war as prisoners.

 

Really interesting facts, as always, Kai!

But speaking about amazing scapes, I remember have seen some nice documentary about Hauptmann Von Werra, a Luftwaffe pilot, shot down during autumn 1940. He and other pilots dug a tunnel and got out of the British prison camp during a bombing-raid by his fellow countrymen and walked to a British air field, where he disguised as an auxiliar RAF Dutch pilot and tried to borrow an Spitfire. He had the engine already started and while he was solving the mess of converting galons into litres, miles to kilometres and feet to metres he was arrested... Why? Because he had said that he was captain Van Eyck (that rank didn't exist in the RAF) and said that he came from a base that didn't exist... He was captured and sent to a POW camp in Canada. He escaped from there, crossed the frontier, went to the German ambassy in Washington and was sent back to Germany in mid 1941...

 

Actually your version isn't quite true about von Werra. After he was captured in Canada he flew to the USA, went to Mexico, south America and Spain and on April 18 1941 he was back to the German homeland. He received the RK for 8 kills in the air and 5 destroyed on the ground. On July 1, 1941 he was Gruppenkommanduer of I./JG 53 on the Ost front shooting down 13 Soviet a/c and one July 31, 1941 was engaged in aerial combat with Allied fighters scoring his 20th and 21st kills. Transfer to western front and on October 25, 1941 north of Vlissingen Netherlands he had a motor failure in his Bf 109F-4, werke nummer 7285 and crashed over the ocean to his death.

21 kills, 8 in the west, 5 a/c on the ground claimed.

 

Thank you very much, Erich! I watched the programme on the telly some two years ago... I was not sure about some details... Thanks for clearifying! Don't you know his name? What Von Werra?

 

Hauptmann Franz von Werra born July 13, 1914 at Lenk in the Berner Oberland, Switzerland

Ritterkreuz as an Oberleutnant.

E

 

Thank you very much, Erich! That is what I call efficiency! No longer than five minutes have passed since I posted the question...

 

http://www.animatedsoftware.com/misc/theworld/vonwerra/fw410127.htm