The World War II Thread

[LA Ute]

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

[USS Utah]

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

[USS Utah]

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

Link:

http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UZU5F0p9OE4

[LA Ute]

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.

[USS Utah]

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

[USS Utah]

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

[USS Utah]

Operation Tidal Wave, the low level raid on Ploesti.

http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UfsqhazJqE4

[LA Ute]

Operation Tidal Wave, the low level raid on Ploesti.

http://flattopshistorywarpolitics.yu...1#.UfsqhazJqE4

Wasn't that the one "Utah Man" was in?