Lesser known details of WW2 part four

Paul Ferdonnet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Ferdonnet (1901 – 1945), dubbed "the Stuttgart traitor" (le traître de Stuttgart) by the French press, was a French journalist.

A Nazi sympathizer, Ferdonnet was known for having published an anti-semitic book, La Guerre juive (The Jewish War). He relocated to Germany in the 1930s and was an employee of Radio-Stuttgart where he worked on propaganda broadcast in French and aimed at promoting the Nazi regime and demoralizing French troops and civilians.He was arrested after the fall of Nazi Germany and executed for treason in 1945. During his trial, Ferdonnet asserted in vain that he had not been the speaker. Some historians consider that he might have merely worked for Radio-Stuttgart as a translator of the scripts submitted by the Germans, his translations being read by another Frenchman.

 

During the desert campaign, Long Range Desert Group patrols sent behind enemy lines in Libya to scout the coast road would use the Arco dei fileni, a monument from the days of Italian colonisation, as a landmark for rendezvous. It became so familiar that British troops nicknamed it Marble Arch-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Arch_(Libya)
Gaddafi's new regime ordered it destroyed in 1970.

 

Will Lang Jr. of Life magazine said "The thing I most admire about Omar Bradley is his gentleness. He was never known to issue an order to anybody of any rank without saying 'Please' first."

While Patton is often viewed today as the prototype of the intolerant, impulsive commander, Bradley actually sacked far more generals and senior commanders during World War II, whereas Patton relieved only one general from his command - Orlando Ward - for cause during the entire war (and only after giving General Ward two warnings).

Omar Bradley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

" The shortage of building steel was such that by the end of 1939, 300 infantry battalions were without proper barracks or garages. Germany´s army had grown so large it could be accommodated only under canvas. By July 1939 there were cuts even to the army´s weapons programmes. The original plan for 1939-40 had called for the production of 61,000 Model 34 machine guns, but after he reduction in the army´s steel contingent this target was reduced to only 13,000. Similarly, targets for the 10.5 cm light field Howitzer were cut from 840 to 460. Production of the standard infantry carbine 98k was to cease altogether from the autumn of 1939. Perhaps most dramatically in light of later events, the tank programme,which aimed for the production of 1,200 medium battle tanks and command vehicles between October 1939 and October 1940, was now to be cut in half. In total, 34 of Germany´s wartime force of 105 divisions would be seriously under-equipped. Of the replacement units responsible for training new recruits, only 10 percent would have any weapons at all. Furthermore, specialist armaments manufacturers would be forced to cut more than 100,000 skilled workers from their rolls. The ammunition stockpiles of the Wehrmacht were sufficient to cover only fourteen days of heavy fighting."

From "Wages of destruction" by Tooze

 

Substances administered to Hitler

Theodor Morell - Wikipedia

Morell kept a medical diary of the drugs, tonics, vitamins and other substances he administered to Hitler, usually by injection (up to 20 times per day) or in pill form. Most were commercial preparations, some were Morell's own mixes.

1. Brom-Nervacit: bromide, Sodium diethylbarbiturate, Pyramidon, since August 1941 a spoonful of this tranquilizer almost every night, to counteract stimulation from methamphetamine and to allow sleep.[7]
2. Cardiazol and Coramine: since 1941 for leg oedema.
3. Chineurin: Quinine-containing preparation for common colds and flu.
4. Cocaine and adrenaline (via eye drops)[15]
5. Coramine: Nikethamide injected when unduly sedated with barbiturates. In addition, Morell would use Coramine as part of an all-purpose "tonic".
6. Cortiron: Desoxycorticosterone Acetate IM injections for muscle weaknesses, influencing carbon hydrate metabolism.
7. Doktor Koster's Antigaspills: 2–4 pills before every meal, for a total of 8-16 tablets a day,[16] since 1936 Belladonna extractum and Strychnos nux vomica in high doses, for meteorism.[17][18]
8. Enbasin: Sulfonamide, intragluteal 5cc, for diverse infections.
9. Euflat: Bile extract, Radix Angelica, Aloes, Papaverine, Caffeine, Pancreatine, Fel tauri - pills, for meteorism, and treatment of digestion disorders
10. Eukodal: heavy doses Oxycodone, for intestinal spasms, painkiller[19]
11. Eupaverin: Moxaverine, an isoquinoline derivative for intestinal spasms and colics.
12. Glucose: 1938 till 1940 every third day Glucose injections 5 and 10%, for potentialisation of the Strophanthus effect
13. Glyconorm: metformin,[7] Metabolism Enzymes (Cozymase I and II), Amino acids, Vitamins - injectable solution as a strengthener tonic
14. Homatropin: Homatropine.HBr 0.1g, NaCl 0.08g ; Distilled water added 10 ml. Eye drops for right eye problems.
15. Intelan: twice a day Vitamins A, D3 and B12 - tablets as a strengthener, tonic.
16. Camomilla Officinale: chamomile - intestinal enemata, on the patient's personal request
17. Luitzym: after each meal Enzymes with Cellulase, Hemicellulases, Amylase, Proteases for intestinal problems, meteorism.
18. Mutaflor: Emulsion of Escherichia coli-strains - enteric coated tablets for improvement of intestinal flora. They were prescribed to Hitler for flatulence in 1936, the first unorthodox drug treatment from Morell; bacteria cultured from human feces, see: "E. coli")[20]
19. Omnadin: Mixture of protein compounds, biliar lipids and animal fat, taken at the onset of infections (together with Vitamultin).
20. Optalidon: Caffeine, Propyphenazone - tablets at the beginning of infections (together with Vitamultin)
21. Orchikrin: an extract of bovine testosterone, pituitary gland, and glycerophosphate, as a tonic, strengthener. Marketed also as an aphrodisiac.[18]
22. Penicilline-Hamma: Penicillin - powder Topical antibiotic. After the attempted assassination of July 20, 1944 to treat his right arm.
23. Pervitin: methamphetamine injections for mental depression and fatigue[7][18]
24. Progynon B-Oleosum: Estradiol Valerate, Benzoic ester of follicle hormone, for Improvement of the circulation in the gastric mucosa.
25. Prostacrinum: two ampoules every second day for a short period in '43, extract of seminal vesicles and prostate - injected IM for mental depression[18]
26. Prostophanta: Strophantine 0.3 mg, Glucose, Vitamin B, Nicotinic acid - IM heart glycoside, strengthener.
27. Septoid: intravenous injections of 10 cc of 3% iodine (in potassium iodide form) with 10 cc of 20% glucose, two or three times a day, to improve heart's condition and the altered Second Sound.[1]
28. Strophantin: '41 to '44 - cycle of 2 weeks of homeopathic Strophanthus gratus glycoside 0.2 mg per day for coronary sclerosis.
29. Sympatol: oxedrine tartrate since '42, 10 drops daily for increasing the cardiac minute volume
30. Testoviron: Testosterone propionate as a tonic, strengthener.
31. Tonophosphan: '42 to '44, Phosphoric preparation - SC tonic, strengthener
32. Ultraseptyl: Sulfonamide for respiratory infections
33. Veritol: since march '44 Hydroxyphenyl-2-methylamino-propane - eyedrops for left eye treatment
34. Vitamultin-Calcium: Caffeine, Vitamins.

 

I don't get why he was so unstable

 

I really must learn to read things properly. Saw the bottom half of your post Kai, and instantly thought "spammer".

 

Incredible yes. But blaming Göring for the cocaine usage seems a bit funny By Hitler.

 

In the ten raids Bomber Command launched against Berlin between June and November 1941, 133 Germans were killed compared with casualties in British aircrews of about three times that figure. At the same time British aircraft losses in 1941 were more than double those in 1940 ( 1,034 vs 492 ).

Kiev 1941 by David Stahel.

 

Strategy for Defeat: The Luftwaffe 1933-1945

 

" In 1944, despite the increased bombing, the Germans began to withdraw guns from air defence. Remarkably,by Nov 1944 fully 45% of the Luftwaffe´s 88-mm Flak guns were located in the occupied western territories,in Italy, or on the Eastern front, with a great number of these used for ground combat suppoort instead of AA protection. In Dec 1944 100 heavy Flak batteries were moved to support the Ardennes offensive;in January and February 1945 over 300 heavy flak batteries were diverted to the Eastern front, primarily as anti-tank and artillery weapons. During the last week of january 1945 the Luftwaffe transferred 110 heavy and 58 medium and light flak batteries to the German army defence against the Soviet offensive on Berlin.Transfers stripped entire areas of Flak defences."

"Britain´s war machine" by David Edgerton

 

Posted a long time ago. Wonder how true this is.

 

From Caygill "Spitfire V in action"

" Most pilots were keen to remove the invasion stripes from their aircraft as soon as possible as the paint had been applied in a very rough and ready manner which resulted in a marked detoriation in the aircraft´s top speed."

 

Ah, now that's interesting. I remember reading about the need for smooth paintwork on Spitfires for the aerodynamic qualities a lot of years ago, and often wondered just how they achieved it. Did they have paint guns in the '40s, or was all done by hand?

 

On allied pilots:

"As was customary after completing a "tour", followed a period of "rest", although the term does not have quite the connotations one might think. "Rest" could mean serving on headquaters staff, it might mean an adminstrative job elsewhere, or it might mean a period of instructing. This was a crucial element of aircrew training. Tour-expired officers and NCOs were imported to OTUs ( operational training unit ) to impart as much knowledge as they could to their fledgling students. It was probably the job they feared most. The "chop rate" whilst training was alarming-in one class, more than 25% of the trainees were killed in accidents before making it to a frontline squadron."

From Master Bombers by Sean Feast

 

Earlier experiments had shown that the roof should be smooth ( the effect of a bomb ), without a camouflaging layer of earth. Such a cover would only add substantial protection if the concrete was buried deep enough in the ground. It was known that a thin layer of earth would help to increase the blast effect of bombs, the reason being that the soft striata helped to reflect the force of the explosion downwards, rather than allowing it to escape harmlessly up into the air. However, flat roofs created a particular problem of bombs bouncing off before they exploded, demolishing any features around the sides of the fortification. In many ways it was far safer for the bombs to explode on top of the thick roof, where the blast would pass harmlessly over surrounding obstacles.
Hitler's U-boat bases By Jak P. Mallman Showell

 

This makes sense. Heavy AA guns were in fact mostly a waste of resources when it came to air defense, and in fact could only shoot down B-17s that had been already damaged. Personally, I think that Wehrmacht might have fared better had they moved these flak batteries earlier.

 

The Germans had in 1944 the problem that many City AA 88's were moved to the front to fight the. Russian tanks.. the front was more important. Kph