Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 30 of 42

Thread: The World War II Thread

  1. #1
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
    Posts
    17,726

    The World War II Thread

    I don't think we have a WWII thread. Now and then the history buffs among us see something worth sharing; this will be a place for that. (Summon USS Utah!). Here's a start:

    "Days after Hitler’s suicide a group of American soldiers, French prisoners, and, yes, German soldiers defended an Austrian castle against an SS division—the only time Germans and Allies fought together in World War II. Andrew Roberts on a story so wild that it has to be made into a movie.

    "The most extraordinary things about this truly incredible tale of World War II are that it hasn’t been told before in English, and that it hasn’t already been made into a blockbuster Hollywood movie. Here are the basic facts: on 5 May 1945—five days after Hitler’s suicide—three Sherman tanks from the 23rd Tank Battalion of the U.S. 12th Armored Division under the command of Capt. John C. ‘Jack’ Lee Jr., liberated an Austrian castle called Schloss Itter in the Tyrol, a special prison that housed various French VIPs, including the ex-prime ministers Paul Reynaud and Eduard Daladier and former commanders-in-chief Generals Maxime Weygand and Paul Gamelin, amongst several others. Yet when the units of the veteran 17th Waffen-SS Panzer Grenadier Division arrived to recapture the castle and execute the prisoners, Lee’s beleaguered and outnumbered men were joined by anti-Nazi German soldiers of the Wehrmacht, as well as some of the extremely feisty wives and girlfriends of the (needless-to-say hitherto bickering) French VIPs, and together they fought off some of the best crack troops of the Third Reich. Steven Spielberg, how did you miss this story?"

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-together.html

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  2. #2
    On May 13, 1943, the Axis forces in Tunisia surrendered to the allies, thus ending the Desert War in North Africa. Victory in North Africa set the stage for upcoming campaigns in Italy.

    Link:

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UZU0cEp9OE4
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  3. #3
    In a short campaign in May 1943 the US Army sought to retake the island of Attu.

    Link:

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UZU5F0p9OE4
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  4. #4
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
    Posts
    17,726
    I have never seen the movie "Cabaret," but today ran into this clip. It's a fine bit of movie making. You need to watch until the end.


    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  5. #5

    Kursk/Sicily

    On July 5, 1943, the Germans launched Operation Citadel on the Russian Front; the operation was designed to capture the Kursk salient, a bulge in the front lines. The Soviets had been tipped off to the German plan and launched effective counter-moves in what would become the biggest tank battle in history. Just five days into the battle, and thousands of miles away in the Mediterranean Sea, the Americans and British landed troops on the island of Sicily to open the Italian Campaign.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...h#.UeBON6zJqE4
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  6. #6

    The Night Hamburg Died

    The bombing raids on Hamburg during the last week of July 1943 were part of Operation Gomorrah, as it was known to the Royal and United States Army Air Forces. The raid on the night of July 27-28 resulted in a firestorm, turning it into one of the most devastating of the war.

    Link:

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...d#.UfV3nqzJqE4
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  7. #7
    Operation Tidal Wave, the low level raid on Ploesti.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UfsqhazJqE4
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  8. #8
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
    Posts
    17,726
    Quote Originally Posted by USS Utah View Post
    Operation Tidal Wave, the low level raid on Ploesti.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UfsqhazJqE4
    Wasn't that the one "Utah Man" was in?

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    Wasn't that the one "Utah Man" was in?
    Yes, and a link to "Wing and a Prayer" is in the last post in that thread.
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  10. #10
    He who dares, wins. Damage U's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Boise, aka Paradise...I wish that was true.
    Posts
    173
    PBS has been showing a series called Nazi Mega Weapons. One show was about the U-boat program and the other one I've seen was about their missle program. Both were very intersting and made me think we were very lucky to win the war. What I got out of the one about the Nazi missle program was that if their missle program had not been set back 6 months because of various allied attacks and Hitlers "genius", D-day would not have been a possibility for the allied forces and London would have been turn to dust.

  11. #11
    August 15, 1943.

    South Pacific Forces leapfrog over Kolombangara to land on Vella Lavella.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.Ug0ZxqzJqE4

    Fighting was continuing on New Georgia as part of a campaign that began on June 20, 1943. Munda fell on August 5.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...h#.Ug0aA6zJqE4
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  12. #12
    Dangit, I'm kicking myself because I failed to post this yesterday, but Aug. 14, 1945 was the most significant day of the war. That was the day WWII ended.
    "Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection." - Red Smith

  13. #13
    September 3, 1943.

    British forces cross the strait of Messina to land on the toe of the Italian boot in Operation Baytown.
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  14. #14
    On September 9, 1943, the U.S. Fifth Army launched Operation Avalanche by landing at Salerno, at the same time British forces landed at Taranto in Operation Slapstick. The British faced little resistance, while the German counterattack at Salerno came close to throwing the Americans back into the sea.

    Link:

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UjNJfn8o9oM
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  15. #15
    On the 6th October the Japanese sent a significant force in to pick up their troops from the island of Vella Lavella. The U.S. Navy warned of the move by patrol planes but had limited forces to respond with – two groups of three destroyers, one of which was travelling from some distance away. The first group consisted of the USS Chevalier, USS O’Bannon and USS Selfridge.

    Link:

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...6#.UlG4VlM0_kY
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  16. #16
    South Pacific forces under Admiral William F. Halsey landed on the island of Bougainville on November 1, 1943, beginning Operation Cherry Blossom.

    Link:

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...h#.UnP1vVOp-Bk
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  17. #17
    The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay -- USAAF Strikes Rabual

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...th#reply-21807
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  18. #18
    http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...-of-auschwitz/

    Thomas Harding: 10 minutes alone with the butcher of Auschwitz

  19. #19
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
    Posts
    17,726
    Quote Originally Posted by tooblue View Post
    http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...-of-auschwitz/

    Thomas Harding: 10 minutes alone with the butcher of Auschwitz
    Wow.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  20. #20
    Saratoga and Princeton hit Rabaul on November 5, 1943, and six days later it was the turn of Essex, Bunker Hill and Independence.

    Link:

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...th#reply-21828
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  21. #21
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  22. #22
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  23. #23
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  24. #24
    Tarawa Secured, Makin Taken, Liscome Bay Lost.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...th#reply-22027
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  25. #25
    "Little Pearl Harbor": The German Air Raid on Bari Harbor.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UpzLHSep-Bk
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  26. #26
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  27. #27
    The Fast Carriers Strike Kwajalein.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...2#.Up9-0Sep-Bk
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  28. #28
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  29. #29
    "It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant

  30. #30
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Mormon Mecca (North)
    Posts
    1,136
    Quote Originally Posted by USS Utah View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by USS Utah View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by USS Utah View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by USS Utah View Post
    Tarawa Secured, Makin Taken, Liscome Bay Lost.

    http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...th#reply-22027
    Thanks for posting. Fascinating read. This is perspective that few in our society understand at all. The sacrifice that these forces sustained defies description... simply amazing. Of course my main interest lies in the naval engagements... however all of your posts on these battles are epic and interesting. Thank you.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •