Lesser known details of WW2 part four

That Hess memorial stone (I take it that it's at Eaglesham?) is a new one. The original one was just an inscribed block lying almost flush with the ground. Members of the Anti-Nazi League smashed it live on national TV news about 15 years ago, in a protest about "Neo Nazis". Now, the stone had already been there for decades at that point.
Better still; the spokesman for the group- and guy who wielded the sledgehammer- is now a human rights lawyer, in the media daily for defending people's liberties.
Work that one out.........

 

In the First World War the Services had been widely accused of resistance on principle to all new ideas, but no such charge could be laid against them in 1940. Indeed, they proved willing to try almost anything. The P.A.C. apparatus had already shown what fantastic feats of ingenuity the Air Ministry was prepared to incorporate in our defensive system, but even this was overshadowed by the 'long aerial mine'. Under pressure from the Prime Minister and the Admiralty, much time and energy was expended on this weapon, which was nevertheless given tee somewhat discouraging code-name of 'Mutton'. It consisted of 2,000 feet of piano wire with a parachute at the top end and a small bomb at the bottom. The intention was to unspool a number of these contraptions from patrolling aircraft, so that they formed an apron in the predicted path of the enemy bombers. When a raider struck one of the wires the pull of the parachute would bring the bomb up against his wing where it would explode.

Many tedious hours, with occasional interlude of unpleasant excitement, were spent by the test pilots of the Royal Aircraft Establishment flying into practice weapons of this character.1 By October No. 420 Flight (later No. 93 Squadron), Middle Wallop, was detailed to employ 'Mutton' operationally. In spite of great efforts on the part of scientists and aircrew alike the project enjoyed singularly little success, and after the main enemy assault was over it was officially abandoned. A similar lack of success met the attempt to operate a free-balloon barrage—a curtain of bombs suspended by wire from balloons released in the path of the enemy. Both ideas failed, not from technical imperfection, but from the sheer immensity of space open to the attackers.

It was also during this period that Wing Commander W. Helmore's proposal for an airborne searchlight came to the fore. The scheme involved fitting a suitable light in an A.I. aircraft, and then operating this for the benefit of an accompanying fighter, which would carry out the actual attack. The technical problems involved were formidable, and though the device was developed with exceptional speed, it was not until the enemy's main offensive against this country had ended that 'Turbinlite' aircraft were ready for use. Ten flights were then rapidly fitted, but the difficulty of cooperating with the
attendant fighter and the inherent imperfections of searchlights in thick weather prevented any great success.

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar//UN/UK/UK-RAF-I/UK-RAF-I-7.html

 

The Luftwaffe made a feature film about the bombing of Warsaw, called "Baptism of fire", Göring himself introduced it....

From Derek Robinson "Invasion 1940"

 

From McCombs et al "World War II facts"

Michelin

French tire manufacturer who published road guides that were used by the British Expiditionary Forces to find their way to Dunkirk because the B.E.F. could not get adequate tactical maps from the War Department. One officer, Major Cyril Barclay, bought 80 maps in one of the small French villages and successfully led his unit to Dunkirk, but the War Office refused to reimburse him because " regulations offer no provision for an officer to buy maps on active service".

 

I read the same thing happened when the US invaided Grenada. The ground forces had to buy maps of the place at tourist shops. The Army did not provide any maps.

 

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1065

General Frank M. Andrews

In February 1943 Lt. Gen. Andrews became the commander of all United States forces in the European Theater of Operations. In his memoirs, Gen H.H. "Hap" Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces in WWII, expressed the belief that General Andrews would have been given the command of the Allied invasion of Europe -- the position that eventually went to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.


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Interesting....What if no Monty and no Ike in command...

 

I read from McCombs et al facts of WW2 book that FDR´s pistol that he kept under the pillow was called "His" and his wife´s "Hers"....

 

Hastings " Bomber Command"

The Germans put up nineteen aircraft in support of every German division attacking France in 1940, and twenty-six aircraft for every division invading Russia a year later. On D-day the Allies launched 260 aircraft for every division landing...

 

Great information. Keep it coming!

 

From McCombs et al "interesting facts of WW2..."

Klim

Name given to the powdered milk used by the American forces throughout WW2. ( Klim is milk spelled backwards)

 

Salon Kitty

Salon Kitty was a Berlin brothel used by the SD for espionage purposes before and during World War II.

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

The idea to use Salon Kitty for espionage purposes came from Reinhard Heydrich, but SD chief Walter Schellenberg did most of the work.

One of the customers was Count Galeazzo Ciano, Foreign Minister of Italy, whose forthright opinions about the Führer were not particularly positive. Another one, SS commander Sepp Dietrich, wanted all the 20 girls for an all-night orgy but he dropped no secrets. Additionally, Goebbels had been marked as a client by some. He, apparently, enjoyed the 'lesbian displays' that were otherwise considered anti-social acts outside of that context.

However, British agent Roger Wilson, under his cover identity of Romanian press secretary Ljubo Kolchev, noticed when the wires were rerouted to another listening position. He became a regular customer of Salon Kitty, with a regular girl, and later arranged a wiretap to three cables. Now British intelligence heard some of the same conversations SD did. Wilson was later captured and sent to a POW camp.

In 1976, these events were turned into the highly controversial film Salon Kitty, directed by Tinto Brass and starring Helmut Berger as Walter Schellenberg (re-named Helmut Wallenberg) and Ingrid Thulin as Kitty Schmidt (re-named Kitty Kellermann.)

 

Ted Knight

AKA Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka

Bronze Star (five times, service in WWII)

http://www.nndb.com/people/563/000049416/

 

What a cool site you found KP. They have a bunch I did not even know about such as Andy Rooney and Matt Dillion. I wish they would have given a short history of what they did to earn the metal.

http://www.nndb.com/honors/280/000043151/

Do they show the Mary Tyler Moore show dubed in Finnish ?

 

Hello TA152!

Over here we seldom dub the movies like many other countries do. We just have the Finnish text in the lower part of what people are saying. Recently some kids´ movies have been dubbed in Finnish though as many kids are too young to read fluently.

 

From Parssinen´s "Oster Conspiracy"

On Halifax´s first meeting with Hitler:

" After a ride up the mountain, Halifax narrowly averted an early disaster as he was getting out of the car. Hitler was decked out in local costume, which included black trousers, white silk socks, and pumps. Halifax assumed that he was a footman, and was about to hand him his hat and coat when Neurath , the German foreign minister , whispered hoarsely " Der Führer! Der Führer!" Halifax barely avoided mistaking the dictator of one of the world´s most powerful military powers for a servant in livery....

 

If Waffen-SS training was dangerous so was the training for Commandos:

More than forty men were killed under training at the Commando Training Centre at Achnacarry.

( Neillands: Dieppe )

 

This is believe-it-or-not territory, but actually true! In August 1944 four Italian prisoners escaped from Camp 243 at Amisfield Mains farm, Haddington, East Lothian and managed to get into nearby East Fortune airfield (now the Museum of Flight).
They boarded a Mosquito and the one pilot in the group managed to get the engines started. However, he couldn't fathom how to get the plane moving, and told his companions the fuel tanks were empty. The four gave themselves up.
Legend has it that when the tanks were later inspected by RAF groundcrew, they were found to be almost full!

 

What was "Pink Lady?"

Torpedo fluid that PT boat crews drained and distilled into 190 proof alcohol, which they then mixed with grapefruit juice to make a potent drink.

http://www.5ad.org/Answers1.htm

 

Generals

At the end of the war the US had 1,500 generals, the Germans almost 2,500 and the Red Army over 10,000.

The Germans´ losses 786 generals of whom 253 KIA, 44 died of wounds, 81 committed suicide, 23 executed by Hitler, 41 executed by Allies, 326 died of other causes.

From McCombs et al WW2 facts