Lesser known facts...a history

Yes, Stevin,

I live now in Kotka, in the south-east of Finland...close to the USSR and Leningrad...

Turku, where I used to live is in the south-west of Finland.

I moved after getting a new job...

 

'Friendly Fire' is an absolutely despicable act. Not only is it death that shouldn't have happened, but it also leads to breakdowns, as witnessed so strongly by tensions during the war in Vietnam.

I read an account of a US Bomber crewman who said that the lead plane of his flight dropped its bombs-and without hesitation, that signals the rest of the formation to drop theirs. However, the lead planes bombs were dropped by accident, and most of the bombs hit a truck carrying US troops to the line!!!

 

I mean 'friendly fire' by bullets causes carnage, but I can only imagine the destruction wrought by heavy bombing-concentrated on a small point...

 

As Kai has said in another posting-"NO FIRE IS FRIENDLY"

 

I found this one just a sec ago...goodness me....

...the great mistake of a year earlier when U.S. forces in Sicily shot down transport aircraft carrying paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne.

Some 410 American soldiers died that night, victims of their countrymen's conviction the transports were enemy bombers.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2002/020728-war.htm

On 29 April, 1943 the 3rd Battalion left for Casablanca, North Africa. It was here that they conducted training in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. Then on 9 July 1943 while attached to the 505th PIR the Blue Devils helped spearhead the airborne invasion of Sicily.
The aluminum skins of C-47's vibrated like drawn snare drums and as paratroopers heaved themselves up into the planes and sought their redesigned seats, they wrinkled their noses at the smell of gasoline and lacquer that flooded the planes' interiors.
Spearheading the airborne invasion of Sicily, 3rd Battalino,504th Parachute Infantry, crossed the North African coast as the sun flared briefly, then plummeted into the Mediterranean. Flak rose into the dusky sky ahead - probably Malta, the paratroopers grimly thought.
Detached from the regiment for tactical requirements, the 3rd Battalion crossed over the Sicilian coast on schedule and jumped on its assigned drop zone, July 9, 1943 - the first Allied troops to land in the invasion that Prime Minister Winston Churchill termed, "not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning."
For two days the men of the 3rd Battalion fought an enemy superior in numbers and equipment. By D+3, it had achieved its initial mission and was returned to the regimental control.
The remainder of the regiment, lead by COL. R. H. Tucker, loaded into planes and took off from the dusty airstrips around K, Tunisia. As the planes cruised over the churning sea, all was quiet; some closed their eyes and prayed that it would remain quiet, while others anxiously craned their necks to peer ahead or to look down at the white capped waves which tossed fifteen feet below the planes.
Nearing the Sicilian coast the formation of C-47's were fired upon by a navy vessel. Immediately, as though upon a prearranged signal, other vessels fired. Planes dropped out of formation and crazed into the sea. Others, like clumsy whales, wheeled and attempted to get beyond the flak which rose in fountains of fire, lighting the stricken faces of men as they stared through the windows.
More planes dived into the sea and those that escaped broke formation and raced like a convoy of quail for what they thought was the protection of the beach. But they were wrong. Over the beach they were hit again-this time by American ground units, who, having seen the naval barrage, believed the planes to be German. More planes fell and from some of them, men jumped and escaped alive, the less fortunate were riddled by flak before reaching the ground.
Fired upon by our own Navy and the shore troops, in one of the greatest tragedies of World War II, the 504th Parachute Infantry, less the 3rd Battalion, was scattered like chaff in the wind over the length and breadth of Sicily Island. COL Tucker's plane, after twice flying the length of the Sicilian coast and with over 2,000 flak holes through the fuselage, reached the DZ near Gela, however, few others were as fortunate and by morning only 400 of the regiment's 1600 men (excluding the 3rd Battalion) had reached the regimental area.
Other plane loads of 504 men dropped in isolated groups on all parts of the island, and although unable to join the regiment, carried out demolition, cut lines of communication, established inland road-blocks, ambushed German and Italian motorized columns, and caused confusion over such extensive areas behind enemy lines that initial German radio reports estimated that the number of American parachutists dropped to be over ten times the number actually participating.



http://www.bragg.army.mil/3-504PIR/History/Sicily.htm

 

Picture collection on how the V2 was launched:

http://www.v2rocket.com/start/deployment/procedure.html



A very rare glimpse or the V2 is falling?

 

Is the picture actually of a V-2 being launched from an Ar-234 'MOTHERSHIP' bomber in mid-air?

 

Actually the picture text claims the V2 is on a normal attack flight. Because it is downwards it either is going towards its goal at the end of its flight, or its a faulty piece flying its own route. Or the picture could be the wrong way...

Anyway, a rare picture of a V2.

 

Medical-personnel awarded the Knight´s cross

Dr. Rudolf Jäger, Oberarzt, Truppenarzt i. d. Fallschirmjäger‑Sturmabteilung"Koch" (Einsatz Eben‑Emael), RK (Ritterkreuz) am 15. Mai 1940.

Dr. Werner Wischhausen, Oberfeldarzt, Divisionsarzt der 22. ID u. Kdr. der Sanitätsabt. 22, RK am 26. Mai 1940.

Dr. Heinrich Neumann, Oberstabsarzt, Truppenarzt in einem Fallschirmjäger‑Sturmregiment, RK am 21. August 1941.

Dr. Horst Wilke, Oberarzt d. Res., Truppenarzt im III./I.R 120 (mot), RK am 25. Juli 1942.

Willi Pieper, Sanitätsunteroffizier in der Stabskompanie (Pionierzug) Grenadierregiment (GR) 478, RK am 8. April 1943; gefallen am 13. Juli 1943 als Sanitätsfeldwebel im Raum Kursk-Orel.

Franz Schmitz, Sanitäts‑Uffz. i. d. 3./GR 279, RK am 13. September 1943.

Rudolf Bäcker, Sanitätsfeldwebel i. Stab d. II./GR 36, RK am 18. September 1943.

Dr. Hans Joachim Schulz‑Merkel, Stabsarzt, Truppenarzt i. d. I./Panzerregiment 35, RK am 23. Dezember 1943.

Manfred Jordan, Sanitäts‑Uffz., Zugführer i.d. 4./Panzergrenadierregiment 66, RK am 11. Januar 1944; gefallen am 10. Mai 1944 als Sanitätsfeldwebel im Osten.

Karl Nowotnik, Sanitätsfeldwebel i. Stab/Füsilierbataillon 212, RK am 15.März 1944.

Dr. Walter Keup, Assistenzarzt, Bataillonsarzt im I./GR 202, RK am 21. März 1944.

Dr. Friedrich Salamon, Stabsarzt, Abteilungsarzt im II./Panzergrenadierregiment 26, RK am 20. Juli 1944.

Dr. Ernst Gadermann, Stabsarzt, Truppenarzt im III./Stukageschwader 2 „Immelmann", RK am 3. September 1944.

Dr. Heinrich Hüls, Oberarzt, Hilfsarzt im II./Panzerregiment 11, RK am 21. September 1944 (posthum); gefallen am 16. August 1944 bei Raseinen.

Dr. Carl Langemeyer, Stabsarzt, Kdr. der 1. Fallschirm‑Sanitätsabteilung, RK am 18. November 1944.



http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/medic/medicsrk.htm

 

Dear Kai
I'm so glad you have found this forum to give your story telling skills an outlet. I enjoy them! When I get some time I also will write something. But not as many as you post, your the Michael Wittmann of lesser known facts!

 

Thanx SeaWolf!And welcome!

I do think the minor details are often the greatest, as they add to the soup like spice...

And this is the best Forum, thanx to many experts over here.

Nice to hear you like it, and there´s alot of stuff around waiting to be read that we´ve been discussing during the autumn.

 

Heinz Rökker was born on October 20th, 1920. He started his service in Nachtjagdschule 1 before transferring into1./NJG 2. He joined I./NJG2 in May, 1942.

He was also one of the pilots who was involved with the long range night intruder missions over British soil, hoping to disrupt RAF bomber formations that were headed over to Germany. The feeling was that if they could attack the RAF over their own soil, while they were still assembling, enough havoc could have been wrought to lesson the effect of the RAF bombing on the German cities and industry.

He comments " At the latest by early 1943, the German long range intruding over Great Britain should have been built up again, because it was a well known fact that the British operational aerodromes were fully lit up during take-off and landing procedures. Furthermore, during the assembling process of the bomber stream, the bomber crews, against regulation, often switched on their navigational lights for fear of collision.

To hunt them under these conditions would have been the ultimate dream of the German long-range intruders. "

His best night as a pilot may have been February 21/22, 1945 when he shot down six RAF bombers.

Rökker was awarded the Knights Cross on July 27th, 1944 as a Oberleutnant with 35 victories.

He was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross on March 12th, 1945 after his 61st victory.

His victories include fifty five RAF four engined bombers, shot down between August, 1943 and March, 1945.

On the night of March 3/4, 1945, Rökker and his crew were also involved with Operation Gisela, which would be the last large scale Luftwaffe night fighter intrusion over Great Britain of the war. They would not score a victory that evening.

From Ju-88G pilot Leutnant Arnold Döring - " It was to be a long range night fighting and bombing raid over England. With a British night bombing raid in progress, our night fighters and bombers should cross the North Sea at very low level and intrude on the British over their aerodromes while landing."

For this mission, 142 Ju-88G's of NJG2,NJG3 and NJG4 were committed to Gisela. Seventy to eighty crews operated over England in several waves. They were to intercept 234 RAF bombers returning from a raid on Kamen, and another 222 bombers returning from a raid on Ladbergen. However, the High Command did not commit enough fighters to the operation and only minimal damage was inflicted upon the RAF. Never again would the Nachtjagd operate in such numbers.

http://www.luftwaffe-experten.com/pilots_night/H_Rokker.html

Yes, almost forgot.That is an interesting part of the Nachtjagd, the missions over England.

 

Thanks Kai for posting about Heinz Rökker.
I interviewed his rear gunner last year and a letter goes off to Heinz next week. He has some interesting views on Unterhehmen Gisela so I am anxious to hear what he has to say. This is in conjunction for one of my books covering the raid in brief details. Actually NJG 5 was also involved beside 2,3 and 4. What a mess and several bombers will never be officially accounted as claimed by German night fighters since several were brought down or were lost mia over the north sea on return through inclement weather on this March date. Also there was another attack of 18 German night fighters over the English mainland and another one of smaller numbers later in the spring. More on that later.....Heinz was one of the best night fighter pilots the Luftwaffe produced.

E

 

thanx Erich!

Hope to return to this later on as I find this type of approach to the allied bomber question quite fascinating, yet very dangerous. Just like the "rat cathcing" with Me-262´s. To think how near the end of the war was I think they did fly to England for these missions for a VERY long time! Would think the planes were of more help in the air space of Germany.

 

The Gisela peration was a good idea and it may well have worked if there had been twice to three times the number of German a/c. The problem was that the German crews never really knew where they were going even with drawn up maps sitting in their laps. Also the returning RAF bombers did not appear over their bases as planned on time. Many did go to other bases and am not sure why. The German weather forecasters made a huge error as the returning German a/c ran into a huge weather front causing extreme concern for the crews, many got lost and bailed out over the north sea due to lack of fuel, while others made it to other bases on their last few gallons of petrol. It was hoped that the raid would of put a real dent into the RAF bomber stream with some 100 bombers shot down. Not to be so.....

more on this later.

E

 

WW2 axis codenames:

http://marina.fortunecity.com/reach/77/codeax.html


German Codenames


Achse (Axis): Disarmament of the Italian armed forces on the Allied invasion of Italy (September, 1943). Also known as Alarich and Konstantin.
Aida: The advance into Egypt (Jan., 1942).
Alrich: See Achse.
Anton: Occupation of the unoccupied zone of France, formerly called Attila (11 November, 1942).
Barbarossa: The invasion of Russia (22 June, 1941).
Birke (Birch Tree): The evacuation of Finland (Aug., 1944).
Birkhahn (Blackcock): The evacuation of Norway (1945).
Blau (Blue): Offensive launched by the northern wing of Army Group South of Voronezh (1942). See Maus & Siegfried.
Blume (Flower): The alarm for an Allied invasion of France from the Channel or the South.
Bodenplatte (Base Plate): The Luftwaffe attack against Allied airfields in the Low Countries (1945).
Braunschweig (Brunswick): The offensive towards Stalingrad and the Caucusus (July, 1942).
Buffel-Bewegung (Buffalo Stampede): Operation on the Russian central front (1943).
Donnerschlag (Thunderbolt): The planned breakout of the 6th Army from Stalingrad (Dec., 1942). See also Wintergewitter.
Felix: The plan to occupy Gibraltar (1940).
Fritz: Early codename for the invasion of Russia. See Barbarossa.
Fall Blau (Case Blue): Planned Lufwaffe operation against Britain (1938-9).
Fall Gelb (Case Yellow):The plan for the invasion of France, Belgium and Holland (1939).
Fall Weis (Case White): The invasion of Poland (1939).
Gertrud: The plan to invade Turkey should she decide to join the Allies.
Gisela: Plan for the occupation of Spain and Portugal (1942).
Haifisch (Shark): The deception plan for Barbarossa.
Herbstnebel: Evacuation of the Po Plain (1944) and also early name for Wacht am Rhein.
Herkules: The operations against Malta (1942).
Isabella: The extension of Felix.
Kamelie: The occupation of Corsica (1942).
Margarethe: Occupation plan for Hungary (1944).
Margarethe II: Occupation plan for occupy Rumania.
Marita: Occupation of Greece as planned in 1940-1.
Maus (Mouse): Offensive by the southern wing of Army Group South into the Caucasus (July, 1942). See also Blau and Siegfried.
Merkur (Mercury): The airborne and sea landings on Crete (May, 1941).
Mittelmeer (Mediterranean): The air operations in that theatre (Dec., 1940 to January, 1941).
Morgenrote (Dawn): Counteroffensive against the Anzio beachhead, Italy (Jan., 1944).
Nord (North): The first code for the invasion of Norway. See Weserubung.
Nordlicht (Northern Lights): The offensive against Leningrad (1942).
Nordwind (North Wind): Attack in North Alsace (1944). See Wacht am Rhein.
Operation Rot (Operation Red): Second half of the Battle for France (June 1940).
Regenbogen (Rainbow): The attack by the Lutzow and the Hipper on the Allied Northern Convoy, (Dec., 1942).
Rheinubung (Rhine Exercise): The Atlantic raid by the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen (May, 1941).
Rosselsprung (Knight's Move): Attack on the Allied Murmansk to Archangel convoy (July, 1942).
Schwarz: Military take-over of Italy (1943).
Seelowe (Sealion): Plan for the invasion of England (1940).
Siegfried: Advance by the centre Army Group South from Kharkov to Stalingrad (July, 1942). See Blau and Maus.
Silberfuchs (Silver Fox): The concentration of troops in Finland for the invasion of Russia (May-June, 1941).
Sonnenblume (Sunflower): The deployment of German troops to Africa (early 1941).
Taifun (Typhoon): The offensive against Moscow (1941).
Trojanisches Pferd (Trojan Horse): The occupation of Budapest as a part of Margarethe.
Wacht am Rhein (Gaurd on the Rhine): Ardennes offensive (1944).
Weserubung (Weser Exercise): Invasion of Denmark and Norway. See also Nord.
Wintergewitter (Winter Storm): The attack to relieve Stalingrad (Dec., 1942). See Donnerschlag.
Zitadelle (Citadel): Attack on the Kursk salient (July, 1943).


Japanese Codenames


A-Go: The plan to bring the US fleet to battle East of the Philippines, the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June, 1944).
Ha-Go: A divisionary offensive in Arakan, Burma, as a preliminary to U-Go.
I: An air offensive from Rabaul, Philippines, against the US fleet in Papua New Guinea and the Solomons (April, 1943).
Ichi-Go: The offensive in China (April, 1944).
Ketsu-Go: The plan for the defense of Japan in case of an invasion (1945).
Kon: The reinforcement of Japanese troops at Biak, New Guinea (May-June, 1944).
Mo: The Port Moresby and Coral Sea offensive (May, 1942).
Ro: The defense of Rabaul (Nov., 1943).
Sho-Go: Battle of the Leyte Gulf (Oct., 1944).
Ta: Offensive at Bougainville, Solomon Is. (Nov., 1943).
Ten-Go: The naval offensive off Okinawa and Iwo Jima (April-July, 1945).
U-Go: The Imphal Offensive (March-July, 1944).

 

SAINTE-MERE-L’EGLISE, one of the symbols of the June 6 landing, enormously popularised by the motion picture "The Longest Day". Who doesn't remember the adventure of John Steel, the American parachutist, who earned eternal glory by being hooked with his parachute on the bell tower of the church! For two hours, John Steele hung in the air, dangling helplessly, his parachute wrapped around the steeple, feigning he was dead before being taken prisoner. In the town a dummy paratrooper still hangs from the church’s spire and the landings are commemorated in its stained glass: one of the U.S. parachutists with the coat of arms, symbol of the Airborne troops, and saint-Michael, patron of the paratroopers. The other honours the Landing (probably the only one in the world with a Virgin and Child surrounded by planes and paratroopers).

http://www.jack-travel.com/Normandy/Saint_mere_eglise.htm

 

Crimea shield in Gold ( special version of the standard Bronze shield ) worn only by von Manstein and Romanian Marshall Ion Antonescu!

http://www.bridgend-powcamp.fsnet.co.uk/Generalfeldmarschall%20Erich%20von%20Manstein2.htm

 

The Pilots Badge with Diamonds that Himmler wore was not actually a denotion of Himmler's f;ying abilities, but was instead a present from Reichmarschall Goering!!!

 

Pilot´s Badge with Diamonds for a chicken farmer...sounds like an insult to me by Goering..maybe Himmler didn´t get it...