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Western front-interesting bits of information

Discussion in 'Western Europe 1943 - 1945' started by Kai-Petri, Jan 2, 2003.

  1. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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  2. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    Kai,
    As an aside on the Y service stations, these were usually manned by impressed radio Hams who had a special permit to keep their own equipment. All other hams had their sets confiscated on outbreak of war.The stations themselves were administered by MI6 (I think).
    Basically, the Y service stations operated in underground metal tanks (like petrol station tanks), to minimise interference from external sources as much as possible. Above ground, there would be an aerial tower and at least one hut for the relief operator, and cooking/sleeping etc.
    The equipment ran on battery power, due to most of these stations being built in the back of beyond! Operators were required to listen to a predetermined set of frequencies for a set period every day, and stations were usually grouped in threes in order to get a triangulation on interesting signals.This was achieved using a piece of equipment called a Goniometer, which was basically two metal loops connected to air spaced capacitors for tuning. When the dial was turned, the loops moved in opposite directions and nulled out interference to allow the desired signal to be pinpointed.
    About 15 years ago, there was an article in Shortwave Magazine about a farmer in England who decided to get rid of the underground obstruction which had interfered with ploughing on his land for decades.
    He hired a JCB and started digging.....and eventually he found this big metal tank which turned out to be a lost Y station. No-one even knew it was there.

    Regards,
    Gordon GM0RMT

    [ 06. March 2004, 01:16 PM: Message edited by: The_Historian ]
     
  3. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    The Hague and V-2 launching sites:

    Duindigt: from 13 September 1944 until mid March 1945, when the site was blown up by the Germans;

    Ockenburg Airfield: from October 1944

    Bloemendaal: from 3 October 1944

    Oude Scheveningseweg (Kerkhoflaan, De Bataaf park): from early November 1944

    Waterpartij (Van Stolkweg; Prof. P.S. Gerbrandyweg/Belvedèreweg, Kanaalweg, incl. Westbroekpark): from November 1944

    Zorgvliet (Jacob Catslaan, Johan de Wittlaan): from 1 November 1944

    Statenkwartier (Stadhouderslaan, Statenplein, Statenlaan, W. de Zwijgerlaan, Fred. Hendrikplein): from 1 November 1944

    Haagse Bos (near Château Bleu/Roomhuis): from early March 1945 to replace the Duindigt site

    Rijswijk (De Naald): from 23 to 27 October 1944.

    -----------

    From mid October 1944 launches were also conducted from the Staalduinse Bos near Hoek Van Holland, about 25 km from The Hague

    http://www.astronautix.com/articles/v2lhague.htm
     
  4. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    The book of Frederick the Great by Thomas Carlyle
    is the one that Hitler and Göbbels read all the time, if you wish to know what they read...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle

    His last major work was the epic life of Frederick the Great. In this Carlyle tried to show how an heroic leader can forge a state, and help create a new moral culture for a nation. For Carlyle, Frederick epitomised the transition from the liberal Enlightenment ideals of the eighteenth century to a new modern culture of spiritual dynamism: embodied by Germany, its thought and its polity. The book is most famous for its vivid portrayal of Frederick's battles, in which Carlyle communicated his vision of almost overwhelming chaos mastered by leadership of genius. However, the effort involved in the writing of the book took its toll on Carlyle, who became increasingly depressed, and subject to various probably psychosomatic ailments.
     
  5. Friedrich

    Friedrich Expert

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    But it seems that Hitler and Goebbels ignorned some facts about Friedrich 'der Große' like he was an enlightened monarch who believed in human rights and freedom —being personal friend of Voltaire, who the nazis despised along all the ideals of the French Revolution—, a man who relied on his subordinates, who liked, appreciated and expanded culture instead of destroying it. And of course they ignored the great King's weakness for tall and handsome lads... :rolleyes:
     
  6. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    And wasn´t it the same man Frederick the Great that said "He who defends everything defends nothing?" Hitler did´n think too much on that quote though...
     
  7. Friedrich

    Friedrich Expert

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    Indeed he was... :rolleyes: That's why the Third Reich is so fascinating and funny... contradictions to everything! :D

    And by the way, I forgot to mention this:

    You're completely right, Kai. If you compare 'Bagration' with Normandy then Normandy doesn't look that awesome. But if you put on the table that nearly 1/3 of the Wehrmacht was there and 2/3 in the east you can see that 80% of that 1/3 in Normandy was destroyed as well as 80% of those 2/3 in Russia.

    After those terrible annihilation battles —in proportion, of course— there remained almost nothing between the Allies and Germany.

    After Falaise there were no German forces between Normandy and the German border and after 'Bagration' there were almost no German forces between the Vistula and Germany... :eek: Fortunately for the Germans there is logistics to stop the enemy! :D
     
  8. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    http://www.goforbroke.org/history/history_historical_campaigns_champagne.asp

    One day, a Japanese-American soldier was on guard duty in the hills overlooking the harbor at Menton. He spotted what looked like a big fish stuck near a sandbar. He called down, and some other Nisei investigated. Everyone was hoping for some sashimi (raw fish). Instead, the “big fish” turned out to be a one-man German submarine. The driver had mistaken Menton for a harbor five miles away in Italy. The driver motioned for the Japanese American soldier to push him off the sandbar. The Nisei pointed his Tommy gun and motioned for the German to surrender. Eventually the 232nd Combat Engineer Company pulled the sub ashore and sent it to the Navy. It was the only time in military history that the Navy received a captured submarine from the Army.(?)
     
  9. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Vichy France facts:

    It takes its name from the government's capital in Vichy, south-east of Paris.

    The French Army was reduced to 100,000 men and the French prisoners of war would remain in captivity.

    The French had to pay the occupation costs of the German troops, and prevent any French people leaving the country.

    Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood), the French national motto, was replaced by Travail, Famille, Patrie (Labour, Family and Country).

    http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Vichy%20France
     
  10. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    [​IMG]

    That´s nice....

    :rolleyes:
     
  11. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Captain Eberhard von Breitenbuch and attempt to kill Hitler in March 1944

    Cavalry Captain in Army Group Center and aide to Field Marshals Erwin von Witzleben and Guenther von Kluge.

    March 11, 1944 - With a 7.65 mm Browning concealed in his trouser-pocket aide-de-camp Breitenbuch accompanies Field Marshal Ernst Busch to Hitler's Berghof residence to attend a fuehrer conference. But Breitenbuch is denied entry into the conference on the basis of a fuehrer directive issued earlier that same day prohibiting ADC's from attending fuehrer briefings.

    http://www.joric.com/Conspiracy/Breitenbuch.htm
     
  12. FramerT

    FramerT Ace

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    What if one of the attempts on Hitlers' life had succeeded?[Has this been done before?]Mercy by the Russians? Ideas? :rolleyes:
     
  13. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    [​IMG]

    The normal tour for a fighter pilot in the ETO was 250 combat hours. No one really knows how many hours Blakeslee finally totaled, because he would log the time when he led another group on their initial combat operations as "training," and would "forget" to enter missions in his logbook where nothing happened. The best estimate is that between his first operation on 15 May 1941 and his last combat flight on 11 October 1944, Don Blakeslee flew approximately 1,200 combat hours, the American record.

    http://www.acepilots.com/usaaf_blakeslee.html

    http://www.fourthfightergroup.com/resource/blakeslee.html

    http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/blake/blake.htm
     
  14. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    [​IMG]

    Bracken's great moment came in May 1940 when, following the fall of Norway, a large number of Conservatives failed to support the government on a confidence vote. A national government was imperative but the Labour party would not serve under Chamberlain. If, as was likely, Lord Halifax was called upon to form a government, Churchill felt that he would have to agree to serve under him. Chamberlain and David Margesson, the chief whip, called Halifax and Churchill to a meeting. Before this took place Bracken exacted from Churchill a promise that he would remain silent if it was proposed that Halifax should succeed . This he did when Chamberlain and Margesson put forward the name of Halifax. After two minutes Halifax broke the silence and said that he did not think that he, as a member of the House of Lords, was in the best position to form a government. It was, claimed Lord Beaverbrook who was closely involved, the great silence that saved England.

    [​IMG]

    http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=128
     
  15. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Luxembourg facts:

    The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Belgium's tiny southwestern neighbor, was invaded by the Germans on May 10th, 1940, and overrun in a mostly bloodless conquest. One militia-man and six Gendarmes were wounded but no one was reportedly killed.

    On June 28th, 1940, Luxemburg was formally linked to Gau Koblenz-Trier. Gau Koblenz-Trier was a political district of the German Reich, of which there were 42 total during WWII located throughtout Germany and parts of the occupied and annexed regions of Europe. The Gauleiter of Koblenz-Trier was Gustav Simon, he later became head of the Civil Administration in the former Grand Duchy. In February of 1941 Gau Koblenz-Trier was renamed Gau-Moselland. Of Luxembourg's population of 290,000 about 17,000 were known as Reichs-Deutsch.

    And a little detail from 1936:

    An eighteen year-old Luxemburger lad, Albert Kreins,in September 1936 founded an imitation Hitlerjugend movement known as the Luxemburger Volksjugend, or LVJ, whose emblem was a white lebens-rune on a black shield. Originally there had been only a handful of members, and its thirty founding fathers were each honored with an award of the Golden Hitler Youth Badge in June 1941 - presented by Artur Axmann, leader of the Hitlerjugned.

    http://www.feldgrau.com/a-lux.html
     
  16. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    The German Army placed a high reliance on mortars. As the British official historian, L.F. Ellis, states, "In the latter stages of the war German interest in conventional field and medium artillery seems to have been on the wane. Instead they were setting more store by mortars and nebelwerfers, of which they had large numbers in Normandy." (L.F. Ellis, Victory in the West Volume I, The Battle of Normandy, Appendix IV, "Notes on the Organization and Equipment of the Allied Armed Forces", pp. 521-551). It was estimated that upwards of 70% of all 21st Army Group infantry casualties in Normandy up to July 1944 were caused by mortars, which were particularly troublesome because of their high rates of fire, as well as the silent approach of the bomb.

    In addition to the physical damage they could cause, Nebelwerfers also had a significant psychological effect on the soldiers against whom they were used, which the Germans tried to use to their advantage. In The Guns of Normandy, George Blackburn relates an episode in which members of his Field Artillery regiment "capture" a Nebelwerfer intact and with projectiles. Deciding to put the weapon with which they have been often harassed by the enemy to their use for a change, they received a shock after firing an initial salvo. The Germans had registered the location of the abandoned mortar and waited until it was put into action, at which time they returned fire and killed a number of Canadian gunners.

    http://www.junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-art-ger-e.htm
     
  17. FramerT

    FramerT Ace

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    It should'nt come as a surprise.Mortars don't need gasoline to transport around like big guns do. Cheaper to produce also. :D
     
  18. Onthefield

    Onthefield Member

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    In all acounts I've read and everything I've ever heard, mortars are so much lighter to carry and better to use due to their accuracy with someone who knows what they're doing.
     
  19. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Yep,

    I´m sure there are people here who have had the possibility to shoot with mortar.

    During 1997 I was able to take part in one session playing all the different roles in firing one as we fired the 80 cm mortar, and I was truly "with my mouth open" as we fired a car wreck some 800 meters from us. Five shots as fast as we could and blam-blam-blam as they hit the target exactly the same spot. Simple and truly effective....

    :eek: :eek: :eek:
     
  20. 5-0-duce

    5-0-duce Member

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    yes a very good thing espessially for infantry, only draw back would be that it cant fire as far as a regular howitzer. other than that yes very good and effective
     

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