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| # | Post Title | Result Info | Date | User | Forum |
| 373rd Engineers | 75 Relevance | 15 years ago | SonofaMP | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| Hi Terry, welcome to the forum. A book, The Safekeepers: Memoir of the Arts at the End of World War II by former Capt. Walter I. Farmer has a brief account in Chapter Two, pages 17 & 18 of the 373rd GS Reg. from when they arrived in England and where they were. "In mid-January, `44, one of the two battalions of the 373rd went to Sully Camp on the Bristol Channel east of Barry, Wales, where the troops would construct a shipping depot. they built open storage facilities, railroads, access roads, and a winter tented camp for 250." The book is s ... | |||||
| ABMC website | 58 Relevance | 17 years ago | Walts Daughter | ALL VETS NEWS | |
| Received this exhaustive email from my friend Ray Merriam. Very informative! Thanks Ray! =========== I just spent over an hour examining the ABMC web site and it is an impressive site, well designed, with an amazing amount of information. Until now I was unaware of much of what the ABMC does, or the number of cemeteries and other sites they maintain. This site is well worth a visit this Memorial Day weekend--or any day for that matter. Ray The American Battle Monuments Commission, established by the Congress in 1923, is an agency of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. The Commission—guardian of America’s overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials—honors the service, achievements and sacrifice of United States Armed Forces. The Commission’s commemorative mission includes: * Designing, constructing, operating and maintaining permanent American cemeteries in foreign countries. * Establishing and maintaining U.S. military memorials, monuments and markers where American armed forces have served overseas since April 6, 1917, and within the U.S. when directed by public law. * Controlling the design and construction of permanent U.S. military monuments and markers by other U.S. citizens and organizations, both public and private, and encouraging their maintenance. ABMC Commissioners The authorizing legislation for the American Battle Monuments Commission (36 U.S.C., Chapter 21) specifies that the president will appoint 11 members to the commission and an officer of the regular Army to serve as the secretary. President George W. Bush appointed BG (Ret) Nicholson to serve as secretary in January 2005. There currently are no appointed commissioners. Brigadier General John W. Nicholson, USA (Ret) -- Secretary General Nicholson was appointed secretary of ABMC by President George W. Bush in January 2005. Prior to this appointment, he served as Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs in the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he directed the National Cemetery Administration. He is a 1956 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he received the General MacArthur Leadership Award for his class, and holds a master’s degree in public administration. He is an airborne ranger combat infantryman and served two and one-half years with infantry units in Vietnam. Other overseas assignments during his 30-year Army career included duty in Germany, Korea, Lebanon and Switzerland. History Recognizing the need for a federal agency to be responsible for honoring American armed forces where they have served and for controlling the construction of military monuments and markers on foreign soil by others, Congress enacted legislation in 1923 establishing the American Battle Monuments Commission. In performing its functions, the Commission administers, operates and maintains on foreign soil 24 permanent American burial grounds, and 25 separate memorials, monuments and markers, including three memorials in the United States. Presently there are 124,909 American war dead interred in these cemeteries, of which 30,921 are from World War I, 93,238 are from World War II and 750 from the Mexican War. Additionally, 6,177 American veterans and others are interred at the Mexico City National Cemetery and the Corozal American Cemetery. Commemorated individually by name on stone tablets are 94,135 American servicemen and women who were Missing in Action or buried at sea in their regions during the World Wars and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Final disposition of World War I and World War II remains was carried out under the provisions of Public Law 389, 66th Congress and Public Law 368, 80th Congress, respectively. These laws entitled the next of kin to select permanent interment of a loved one's remains on foreign soil in an American military cemetery designed, constructed and maintained specifically to honor in perpetuity the dead of those wars, or to repatriate the loved ones remains to the United States for interment in a National or private cemetery. The programs for final disposition of remains were carried out by the War Department's American Graves Registration Service under the Quartermaster General. From time to time, requests are received from relatives asking that the instructions of the next of kin at the time of interment be disregarded. Those making such requests are informed that the decision made by the next of kin at the time of interment is final. Often, on seeing the beauty and immaculate care of the Commission's cemetery memorials, these same individuals tell us later that they are now pleased that the remains of their loved ones have been interred in these overseas shrines. World War I Commemorative Program The Commission's World War I commemorative program consisted of four major engineering programs: * erecting a nonsectarian chapel in each of the eight burial grounds on foreign soil that were established by the War Department for the dead of that war; * landscaping each of the cemeteries; * erecting 11 separate monuments and two tablets elsewhere in Europe; and * constructing the Allied Expeditionary Forces World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. In 1934, a Presidential Executive Order transferred the eight World War I cemeteries to the Commission and made it responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of future permanent American military burial grounds located in foreign countries. World War II By the end of World War II, several hundred temporary burial grounds had been established by the U.S. Army on battlefields around the world. In 1947, 14 sites in foreign countries were selected to become permanent burial sites by the Secretary of the Army and the American Battle Monuments Commission. The location of these sites correspond closely with the course of military operations. These permanent sites were turned over to the Commission after the interments had been made by the American Graves Registration Service in the configuration proposed by the cemetery architect and approved by the Commission. After the war, all temporary cemeteries were disestablished by the War Department and the remains were permanently interred in accordance with the directions of the next of kin. In a few instances, the next of kin directed that isolated burials be left undisturbed. When doing so, the next of kin assumed complete responsibility for the care of the grave. Like World War I cemeteries, the use of the World War II sites as permanent military burial grounds was granted in perpetuity by each host country free of charge or taxation. Except in the Philippines, burial in these cemeteries is limited by agreements with the host country to members of the U.S. armed forces who died overseas during the war. American civilian technicians, Red Cross workers and entertainers serving the military were treated as members of the armed forces in determining burial entitlement. The agreement with the Republic of the Philippines permitted members of the Philippine Scouts and the Philippine Army units that fought with the U.S. armed forces in the Philippines to be interred in the Manila American Cemetery. All of the Commission's World War I and World War II cemeteries are closed to burials except for remains of American war dead still found from time to time in the battle areas. This policy is dictated by agreements with the host countries concerned. World War II Commemorative Program The Commission's World War II commemorative program consisted of: * constructing 14 permanent American military cemeteries on foreign soil; * constructing several monuments on foreign soil; and * constructing four memorials in the United States. In addition to their landscaped graves area and nonsectarian chapels, the World War II cemeteries contain sculpture, an area with battle maps and narratives depicting the course of the war in the region, and a visitors reception area. Each grave site in the permanent American World War I and II cemeteries on foreign soil is marked by a headstone of pristine white marble. Headstones of those of the Jewish faith are tapered marble shafts surmounted by a Star of David. Stylized marble Latin crosses mark all others. Annotated on the headstones of the World War I servicemen who could not be identified is: "HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD." The words "AMERICAN SOLDIER" were changed to "COMRADE IN ARMS" on the headstones of the unidentified of World War II. Commission Structure The policy making body of the Commission consists of 11 commissioners who are appointed by the President of the United States for an indefinite term and serve without compensation. They meet with the professional staff of the Commission twice annually. The Commission has 391 full time civilian employees. Sixty-nine full time civilian employees are U.S. citizens; all but 18 of them are located overseas. The remaining civilian employees are foreign nationals from the countries where the Commission installations are located. There are two regional offices that oversee operations in Europe and the Mediterranean, one in Paris, France and one in Rome, Italy. The superintendents of the Mexico City, Corozal, and Manila cemeteries report directly to the ABMC headquarters. Superintendents and their assistants are selected for their administrative ability; knowledge of horticulture; knowledge of vehicle, equipment and structural maintenance; knowledge of construction; and their ability to show compassion and tact when dealing with the public. Chairmen General of the Armies John J. Pershing was appointed to the newly-formed Commission in 1923 by President Warren G. Harding and was elected chairman by the other members. He served as chairman until his death in 1948, at which time he was succeeded by General George C. Marshall. Following General Marshall's death in 1959, General Jacob L. Devers became chairman. He was succeeded by General Mark W. Clark in 1969. General Clark died in 1984 and General Andrew J. Goodpaster was elected the following year. General P. X. Kelley succeeded General Goodpaster in 1991. General Frederick F. Woerner became chairman in 1994. General Kelley returned to the Commission in August 2001, succeeding General Woerner. Upon General Kelley's resignation from the Commission in 2005, General Frederick M. Franks, Jr., assumed the chairmanship. Cemeteries The Commission administers, operates, and maintains 24 permanent American burial grounds on foreign soil. Presently there are 124,909 U.S. war dead interred at these cemeteries, 30,921 of World War I, 93,238 of World War II and 750 of the Mexican War. Additionally 6,177 American veterans and others are interred in the Mexico City and Corozal American Cemeteries. Aisne-Marne, France Ardennes, Belgium Brittany, France Brookwood, England Cambridge, England Corozal, Panama Epinal, France Flanders Field, Belgium Florence, Italy Henri-Chapelle, Belgium Lorraine, France Luxembourg, Luxembourg Manila, Philippines Meuse-Argonne, France Mexico City, Mexico Netherlands, Netherlands Normandy, France North Africa, Tunisia Oise-Aisne, France Rhone, France Sicily-Rome, Italy Somme, France St. Mihiel, France Suresnes, France The cemeteries listed above are links to info about that cemetery as foundon the American Battle Mountments Commission web site, from which all of the material in this message has been taken. There are also videos and PDFs of booklets that provide more info about the cemeteries. In particular check out the Normandy cemetery link--in addition to the cemetery video, there is one with footage of the D-Day invasion, some of it in color, plus a very impressive interactive map of the Normandy invasion and campaign (you have to see this one for yourself--I can't even begin to describe it). Memorials The Commission administers, operates and maintains 25 memorials, monuments or markers. To learn more about them, click on the Memorials link. Three memorials in Washington, D. C., also were established by the Commission, but are now administered by the National Park Service. To learn more about these three memorials, click on AEF Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and World War II Memorial. This video presents a brief narrated tour of some of the monuments and memorials maintained worldwide by the Commission. monuments.wmv - windows media video ( 28.27 MB ) Audenarde Monument Belleau Wood Monument Bellicourt Monument Cabanatuan Memorial Cantigny Monument Chateau-Thierry Monument Chaumont Marker East Coast Memorial Guadalcanal Memorial Honolulu Memorial Kemmel Monument Montfaucon Monument Montsec Monument Naval Brest Monument Naval Gibraltar Monument Pointe du Hoc Monument Papua Marker Saipan Memorial Santiago Surrender Tree Sommepy Monument Souilly Marker Tours Monument Utah Beach Monument West Coast Memorial Western Task Force Marker The following maps are available: Eastern France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg Western France and England Italy and Southern France Central Pacific - Hawaii and Guadalcanal Western Pacific - Philippines and New Guinea Services Each year millions of American and foreign citizens visit ABMC cemeteries and memorials. The commission receives thousands of inquiries yearly, many seeking to facilitate visits or locate individual grave sites. ABMC provides the following Services to requestors: * Name, location, and information on cemeteries and memorials. * Plot, row and grave number or memorialization location of Honored War Dead. * Best in-country routes and modes of travel to cemeteries or memorials. * Information on accommodations near cemeteries or memorials. * Escort service for relatives to grave and memorial sites within the cemeteries. * Letters authorizing fee-free passports for members of the immediate family traveling overseas to visit a grave or memorialization site. * Black and white photographs of headstones and Tablets of the Missing on which the names of dead or missing are engraved. * Arrangements for floral decorations placed at graves and memorialization sites. * An Honor Roll Certificate containing data on a Korean War casualty suitable for framing. * Digital color photographs of donated floral decorations in place. The Andrews Project The commission also provides friends and relatives of those interred in its cemeteries or memorialized on its Tablets of the Missing with color lithographs of the cemetery or memorial on which is mounted a photograph of the headstone or commemorative inscription. The Andrews Project, named in honor of its sponsor, the late Congressman George W. Andrews, is ABMC’s most popular service. We can assist you in your planned visit to any of our sites, can arrange for the placement of floral decorations at an individual's grave or marker, and can give you information on any individual buried or honored at our cemeteries or memorials. For More Information 1. You may contact us by e-mail at info@abmc.gov 2. You may write to: American Battle Monuments Commission Courthouse Plaza II, Suite 500 2300 Clarendon Boulevard Arlington, VA 22201 3. You may call: (703) 696-6900 Memorial Day Activities Memorial Day programs are held at each ABMC Cemetery. Each gravesite is decorated with the flag of the United States and that of the host country. Programs usually include participation by the U.S. Ambassador to the host country, a reading of the President's Memorial Day Proclamation, speakers, the presentation of the National Colors, wreath laying ceremonies, and military bands and units. A picture of people at a Memorial Day ceremony 2009 Memorial Day Ceremony Schedule To see the 2009 schedule of Memorial Day ceremonies at ABMC cemeteries overseas, click here. D-Day Commemorative Ceremonies - June 6 President Obama will participate in the Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of D-Day at Normandy American Cemetery on June 6. Admission to the cemetery will be by invitation only. Applications for invitations are being handled by the U.S. Embassy staff in Paris, France. For more information and to request invitations, please visit and click on the box that says "D-Day Commemoration-For American Citizens: Request for Invitations." It will provide an email address and a format. Requests must be received by May 28 to be considered. Information on D-Day Commemorative Events planned by the Comite du Debarquement can be found through the link below. D-Day commemorative events are planned annually by the French Comite du Debarquement (D-Day Landing Committee). To see the schedule of events commemorating this year's 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings, click here. You may contact the Comite du Debarquement at: Email: debarquement2@wanadoo.fr Address: 4 rue du Bienvenu, B.P. 43402, F.14404 BAYEUX CEDEX Phone: (33) 02 31 92 00 26 Fax: (33) 02 31 22 11 35 Are the remains of the war dead actually buried at the overseas American military cemeteries? Yes, the remains of American war dead are buried at these cemeteries. The interment of remains of World War I and II war dead at permanent overseas American military cemeteries was made by the American Graves Registration Service, Quartermaster General of the War Department. When the interment program was completed the cemeteries were turned over to the American Battle Monuments Commission for maintenance and administration. Do host countries charge rent or tax to use the land on which ABMC cemeteries are located? No, use of the land was granted in perpetuity by the host country free of charge or taxation. Who was eligible for interment at the overseas American military cemeteries? Except for Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, burial in ABMC cemeteries is limited by the agreements with host countries to members of the U.S. armed forces who died overseas during the wars. U.S. civilians serving with our armed forces and Red Cross workers and entertainers serving the military were treated as members of the armed forces for burial entitlement. The agreement with the Philippine government permitted members of the Philippine Scouts and Philippine Army units that fought with U.S. forces in the Philippines to be interred at Manila American Cemetery. Can discharged veterans of the World Wars be interred at the overseas American military cemeteries? No, ABMC does not provide veterans’ interment benefits. Unlike the national cemeteries administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, all permanent American military cemeteries on foreign soil are “closed” except for the remains of servicemen and women lost during the World Wars that may be found on the battlefields. What information is inscribed on grave markers at these cemeteries? The decedent’s full name, rank, date of death, unit, and state of entry into military service. How can I locate the interment site of a decedent interred at an overseas American military cemetery? This web site contains databases of the names of those interred or memorialized at the overseas American military cemeteries and memorials. The databases can be searched through the “Search ABMC Databases” links in the navigation bar to the left. Inquiries also can be sent to info@abmc.gov. Why were the remains of some war dead repatriated to the U.S. for permanent interment and the remains of other war dead interred overseas? Following World War I and II, the interment of the remains of war dead was carried out by the American Graves Registration Service, Quartermaster General of the War Department. At that time, the next of kin authorized to make the decision regarding their loved one’s interment was given the option of having the remains returned to the U.S. for permanent interment at a national or private cemetery, or permanently interred at the overseas American military cemetery in the region where the death occurred. Can the remains of war dead interred at the overseas American military cemeteries be disinterred and repatriated to the U.S. for reburial? The interments of World War I and World War II remains at the overseas American military cemeteries are permanent. It is no longer possible to repatriate the remains of those interred at these American military cemeteries. The program of final disposition of these remains was carried out by the American Graves Registration Service, Quartermaster General of the War Department under the provisions of Public Law 389, 66th Congress and Public Law 368, 80th Congress. It entitled the next of kin authorized to make disposition of the remains to select one of the following alternatives: * Permanent interment in an American military cemetery on foreign soil specifically designed, constructed, and maintained in perpetuity as a memorial to American war dead. * Repatriation of the remains to U.S. soil for interment in a national cemetery. * Repatriation of the remains to the individual’s homeland or that of their next of kin for interment in a private cemetery. A provision of the law terminated authority to make further disposition of remains on December 31, 1951, when the decision of the next of kin became final. The program of final disposition of war dead established the moral and legal obligation of the United States government to honor the expressed wishes of the next of kin authorized to make the decision regarding the permanent interment of their loved one’s remains. How are war dead whose remains were non-recoverable or unidentifiable commemorated at overseas American military cemeteries? War dead listed as missing in action, lost or buried at sea, or non-recoverable or unidentifiable are commemorated individually on Tablets of the Missing at the overseas American military cemetery closest to the region where death occurred, and on three memorials in the U.S. What information about the decedent is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing? The individual branches of the U.S. armed forces provided us with rosters of missing in action and lost or buried at sea. The data inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing includes the decedent’s full name, rank, branch of service or unit, date of death, and state from which the decedent entered military service. Why is the inscribed date of death of the missing in action frequently different than the date on which the decedent was declared missing? Without confirmed information to the contrary, a War Department Review Board established the official date of death of those missing as one year and a day from the date on which the individual was placed in missing status. How can I determine if someone is interred or memorialized on Tablets of the Missing at an overseas American military cemetery? Grave and memorialization information for those interred or memorialized at the overseas military cemeteries can be found in the World War I and II databases available on this web site. These Honor Roll databases can be searched by name, unit or state of entry into military service. If the information in the database or inscribed on a grave or memorialization site is incorrect, how can I submit the correct information? Send the information you believe to be correct, along with copies of verifying documentation, to the American Battle Monuments Commission, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22201. We can also be reached by email at info@abmc.gov . Will the government provide a grave marker for those listed as missing in action or lost or buried at sea for placement at the family cemetery? The Department of Veterans Affairs administers the memorial marker program for those listed as missing in action, or lost or buried at sea. Upon request by a family member, and at no expense to the family, a memorial marker can be placed at any national cemetery, including Arlington National Cemetery, provided space is available. Memorial markers can also be placed at private cemeteries. However, when markers are placed in a private cemetery, the family must pay site and installation costs. Information about the memorial marker program is available from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Attn: Memorial Programs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20420 or at www.va.gov. Why can’t I locate certain names of war dead in your database? Our databases contain only the names of those interred or memorialized at the overseas American military cemeteries and memorials under our care. These databases do not contain the names of war dead returned to the U.S. for permanent interment at national or private cemeteries. How can I find interment information for a decedent whose remains were returned to the U.S. for permanent interment in a national cemetery administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs? Information is available from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration at . Additional information may be available from the following organizations: * For casualties of World War I, information may be available from the National Archives at inquire@nara.gov or by mail at the National Archives, Modern Military Records Branch, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. * For casualties of World War II, information may be available from the Department of the Army, U.S. Human Resources Command, Attn: Public Affairs, 200 Stovall Ave., Alexandria, VA 22332, which administers the individual deceased personnel files for all U.S. World War II dead regardless of the branch of service in which the decedent was serving at the time of death. The U.S. Army Human Resources Command can be reached by email at foia.hrc@conus.army.mil. Where can I find information regarding domestic cemeteries? Lists of cemetery interments by country, state and region—including military cemeteries—are available online at . Where can I find information regarding a veteran who did not die during the war in which he or she served? The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration holds the records of all discharged military personnel. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans can order copies of records online at www.archives.gov/research_room/obtain_copies/veterans_service_records.html. Inquiries from other than veterans and family members must be submitted in writing to the National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63132. How can I locate a veteran? We do not maintain records relating to discharged veterans of the U.S. armed forces. You might find the information you are seeking by placing an advertisement in veterans magazines that have special reunion columns, or by using “People Finders” search engines through the internet. Where can I find listings of the casualties of a particular war? The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration maintains online listings of casualties from various conflicts, sorted alphabetically by state and location. NARA also has listings related to prisoners of war. You can access the information online at Where can I find casualty statistics for all U.S. wars? The Department of Defense Statistical Information Analysis Division, online at . How can I find information about awards and decorations? For personnel who served in the U.S. Army or Air Force (including the Army Air Forces), the National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO can verify awards to which a veteran is entitled and forward the request with verification to the appropriate service department for issuance of medals. Mail your request to the National Personnel Records Center, Medals Section (NRPMA-M), 9700 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. Additional information is available at The National Archives web site. How do I find out what my relative did while in military service? You should start by identifying the unit with which your relative served. If you already have that information, then you should check for unit histories or look into the official records created by the unit. If you do not know the unit, try to obtain a copy of your relative’s military personnel records to determine that information. Where can I find information about a particular military unit? An extensive unit history library is maintained by the U.S. Military Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, PA 17013. Some unit histories can be obtained through the inter-library loan system. However, many of the unit histories are not available for inter-library loan due to their rarity or condition. You may also wish to investigate out-of-print or used military book dealers. The Institute’s web site is . [Many of the Merriam Press veteran memoirs are in this collection, purchased by the USMI for inclusion. --Ray] The Department of the Army, Center of Military History also has information regarding Army units. The Center of Military History website is www.army.mil/cmh. Although the web site contains much information, it is not interactive, so inquiries from the public must be made in writing. The address is Department of the Army, Center of Military History, DAMH-HSO, 103 Third Ave., Ft. McNair, Washington, DC 20319-5058. Where can I find official Army unit morning reports and other records? The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63132, is the official custodian of the records that have been retired by the U.S. Army. General information about records can be found on that agency’s web site at . Records are at two different physical locations depending on the time period in question. * Prior to 1939: Military Reference Branch, National Archives, 8 th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20408. * From 1939 onward, including units that served in Southeast Asia: National Archives, Textual Reference Branch, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740. Where can I find information about the recipients of the Medal of Honor? Visit the Center of Military History web site at: . Where can I find historical information about the armed Services? Each branch of the armed forces has a historical center at the following addresses: * U.S. Army, Center of Military History, DAMH-HSO, 103 Third Avenue, Ft. McNair, Washington, DC 20319-5058, . * U.S. Air Force History Support Office, AFHSO/HOS, 200 McChord St, Box 94, Bolling AFB, Washington, DC 20332-1111, . * U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, 600 Chennault Circle, Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6424, . * U.S. Air Force Museum, 1100 Spaatz St., Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433-7102, www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/. * U.S. Marine Corps Historical Center, Bldg 58, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC 20374, . * U.S. Navy Historical Center, Building 57, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC 20374, . * U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office, . Where can I find information on unit patches and insignia? For information on all heraldic items, flags, patches, insignia, etc., contact the Institute of Hearaldry, 9325 Gunston Road, Room S-112, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060. the Institute’s web site is at . Where can I obtain court martial records? Contact the Office of the Clerk of the Court, U.S. Army Judiciary, Attn: JALS-CCO, 901 North Stuart Street, Suite 1200, Arlington, VA 22202-1837. Are there any permanent overseas American military cemeteries from the Korean or Vietnam Wars? No, all recoverable remains from the Korean and Vietnam Wars were returned to the U.S. for interment at national or private cemeteries. How can I locate the burial site of Korean War dead whose remains were returned to the U.S. for interment? The Department of the Army, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Public Affairs, 200 Stovall St., Alexandria, VA 22332; email at foia.hrc@conus.army.mil; telephone 703-325-4053 can provide the interment sites of Korean War dead. Are the war dead of the Korean and Vietnam Wars that are listed as missing in action, lost or buried at sea, or unidentified memorialized at an ABMC site? Yes, the names and other personal data of the Korean and Vietnam War missing in action or lost or buried at sea are commemorated individually by name on Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial co-located with the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl) in Hawaii. Can names of discharged Korean War veterans be included in the Korean War Honor Roll database at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC? The Korean War Veterans Memorial honors all members of the U.S. military that served during the period of the Korean War, but the Honor Roll database contains only the names of those who died world-wide during the war. How can I provide an additional name or other information and a photograph for inclusion in the Korean War Veterans Memorial Honor Roll? Send information and photographs to the American Battle Monuments Commission, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22201, or to info@abmc.gov. What government agency is responsible for accounting for U.S. POWs and MIAs? The best resource for researching American POWs and MIAs is the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. You can search a variety of databases related to these issues on their web site at , or you can call (703) 699-1155 or (703) 699-1199. My family member was a prisoner of war or among those of World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War that are listed as missing in action. Is the Department of Defense attempting to reach family members? Yes, the Department of Defense is requesting that family members contact the casualty office for the branch of service in which the decedent was serving at the time of being placed in POW or MIA status. The service casualty offices are compiling family member databases for use if remains of missing are located. The military casualty offices can be reached at: * U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Attn: LTC Jay R. Schuneman, AG, Chief, Repatriation and Family Affairs, 200 Stovall St., Room 4S15, Alexandria, VA 22332-0482; email: Jay.Schuneman@hoffman.army.mil; telephone: 703-325-5305. * U.S. Air Force Casualty Matters Division, Air Force Personnel Center, 550 C Street West, Suite 14, Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4716; email at pow-mia@randolph.af.mil; telephone: toll free at 800-531-5501. * U.S. Marine Corps Casualty Office, 3280 Russell Road, Quantico, VA 22134; email: hattie.y.Johnson@usmc.mil; telephone: toll free 800-847-1597. * U.S. Navy Casualty Office, 5720 Integrity Drive, Millington, TN 38055-6210; email: Kenneth.terry@navy.mil; telephone: toll free 800-443-9298. Is ABMC involved with private memorials? We control the design and construction of U.S. military monuments and markers in foreign countries by other U.S. citizens and organizations, both public and private, and encourage the maintenance of such monuments and markers by their sponsors. What are private memorials? For most ABMC purposes, a private memorial is a permanent war monument or marker commemorating the sacrifices of the American armed forces erected by any American person or entity. For purposes of the Memorial Trust Fund Program it does not include any memorial or marker erected by any agency of the United States Government. A private monument Generally has some architectural significance (structure, sculpture, window, etc), while a marker is Generally a plaque attached to a building or other monument, or a simple object that marks a road, route, boundary, or site. What are isolated graves? After each World War, the next of kin of Americans who were killed overseas were given the choice of what to do with the remains of their loved ones. The remains could be repatriated for burial in a cemetery in the U.S., they could be buried in a permanent ABMC cemetery overseas, or they could remain where they lay. While about 61 percent of the remains were returned to the U.S. and 39 percent were buried in ABMC cemeteries, several hundred families chose not to disturb the remains. These isolated graves can be found in town cemeteries, the war cemeteries of our allies, or even in the fields where they fell throughout Europe. Why are many private memorials so run down? ABMC receives no funds to maintain private memorials; we can only encourage sponsoring organizations or local towns to maintain them. In many cases private memorials are beautifully maintained. However, if there is no sponsoring organization or if the local town does not take an interest, these monuments can fall into disrepair. What can ABMC do to help maintain private memorials? We have several programs to help maintain private memorials: * The Private Memorials Trust Fund Program allows a sponsoring organization to set up a trust fund with us and we then maintain the memorial for as long as there are funds available in the trust. * We can hire a caretaker for a sponsoring organization, using the sponsor’s funds, and supervise the caretaker’s work. * We can provide technical advice regarding the maintenance of the memorial. * We maintain a database of private memorials that includes locations, sponsors, local contacts, and maintenance status. And, as a last resort, we have the authority to destroy private memorials that fall into such disrepair that they become a safety issue or an eyesore. Searchable databases for WWI, WWI, Korean War and Other Burial Listings are available at the ABMC web site. From: | |||||
| Famous citations | 57 Relevance | 17 years ago | Walts Daughter | ANYTHING WWII | |
| Here are some good sites which have gathered famous quotes from WWII: Famous British quotes: "My good friends this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace in our time." - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (after he signed the Munich Pact with Germany) "Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "Today we may say aloud before an awe-struck world: We are still masters of our fate. We are still captain of our souls." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (about the Royal Air Force) "We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (after the fall of France) "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "I want to warn against underestimating. There will be bloody battles once the Allied forces run against Axis fortifications. Europe will not be conquered quickly. We must not make the mistake of underestimating the fortifications in France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Italy and in the Southeast. We must realize that attacking them will cost us much in blood and tears." - Cyrill Falls, British Military Observer "You are the forefront of the army that we will use in the course of the summer to cleanse Norway of the dreadful filth of Nazi tyranny." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (a speech to the survivors of the British destroyers "Hardy" and "Ellipse") "We would fight not for the political future of a distant city [Danzig], rather for principles whose destruction would ruin the possibility of peace and security for the peoples of the earth." - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain "India is not ready to take part in the present war, which would endanger its own freedom. The governments of France and England declared that they are waging war for democracy and freedom, yet they themselves betray the principles they espouse." - Executive Committee of the Indian National Congress (September 23, 1939) "We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea and air--war with all our might and with all the strength God has given us--and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1940) "Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terrors. Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "One man and one man alone has ranged the Italian people in deadly struggle against the British Empire and has deprived Italy of the sympathy and intimacy of the United States of America...One man has arrayed the trustees and inheritors of ancient Rome upon the side of the ferocious pagan barbarians...There lies the tragedy of Italian history and there stands the criminal who has wrought the deed of folly and of shame." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire last for a thousand years, men will still say 'This was their finest hour!'" - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "The German Chancellor and others gave the impression that they were not likely to embark on adventures involving force or at least war." - Lord Halifax (1937) "I am sure that the crossing of the frontier of Czechoslovakia by German armies or aviation in force will bring about the renewal of the World War. I am as certain as I was at the end of July, 1914, that England will march with France... Do not, I pray you, be misled upon this point..." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (before he became Prime Minister; speaking days before the Munich Agreement, 1938) "In spite of the hardness and ruthlessness I thought I saw in his face, I got the impression that here was a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word." - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1938, days prior to the Munich Agreement, speaking about Herr Hitler) "However much we may sympathize with a small nation confronted by a big and powerful neighbor, we cannot in all circumstances undertake to involve the whole British Empire in a war simply on her account. If we have to fight it must be on larger issues than that..." - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1938, about the conflict between Germany and Czechoslavkia) "We have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat... we are in the midst of a disaster of the first magnitude. The road down the Danube... the road to the Black Sea has been open... All the countries of Mittel Europa and the Danube valley, one after another, will be drawn in the vast system of Nazi politics... radiating from Berlin... And do not suppose that this is the end. It is only the beginning..." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (before he became Prime Minister; after the signing of the Munich Agreement) "In the event of any action which clearly threatened Polish independence and which the Polish Government accordingly considered it vital to resist with their national forces, His Majesty's Government would feel themselves bound at once to lend the Polish Government all support in thier power. They have given the Polish Government as assurance to this effect. I may add that the French Government have authorized me to make it plain that they stand in the same position in this matter." - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (March 31, 1939) "This is a sad day for all of us, and to none is it sadder than to me. Everything that I have worked for, everthing that I have believed in during my public life, has crashed into ruins. There is only one thing left for me to do: That is, to devote what strength and powers I have to forwarding the victory of the cause for which we have to sacrifice so much... I trust I may live to see the day when Hitlerism has been destroyed and a liberated Europe has been re-established." - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (September 3, 1938 on the BBC) "The strongest army in the world [the French] facing no more than twenty-six [German] divisions, sitting still and sheltering behind steel and concrete while a quixotically valiant ally was being exterminated!" - General J. F. C. Fuller (speaking of the "Phony War" between France and Germany) "To have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. Now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all!...Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor) "Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill [summitted by Julie] "I like a man who grins when he fights." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "We are having shock after shock out here. The damage to the battleships at this time is a disaster... One cannot but admire the cold-blooded bravery and enterprise of these Italians." - Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Commander in Chief of Britain's Mediterranean Fleet (speaking of the Italian Navy Frogmen) "Everyone has the jitters, seeing objects swimming about at night and hearing movements on ships' bottoms. It must stop." - Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Commander in Chief of Britain's Mediterranean Fleet (speaking of the Italian Navy Frogmen) "Before Alamein, we had no victories. After Alamein, we had no defeats." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill ====================== France "I make to France the gift of my person, to attenuate her suffering... The combat must cease"... - Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain, Premier of France and later Chief of State at Vichy France (on a radio broadcast before he signed the armistice between France and Germany) "If the blood of France and of Germany flows again, as it did twenty-five years ago, in a longer and even more murderous war, each of the two peoples will fight with confidence in its own victory, but the most certain victors will be the forces of destruction and barbarism." - Édouard Daladier, French Premier (1939) "I declare that the French Government has ordered me to sign these terms of armistice... Forced by the fate of arms to cease the struggle in which we were engaged on the side of the Allies, France sees imposed on her very hard conditions. France has the right to expect in the future negotiations that Germany show a spirit which will permit the two great neighboring countries to live and work in peace." - General Huntziger (1940, after the signing of the armistice) "The Axis Powers and France have an identical interest in seeing the defeat of England accomplished as soon as possible. Consequently, the French Government will support, within the limits of its ability, the measures which the Axis Powers may take to this end." - Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain, Chief of State of Vichy France "When dealing with a force as corrupt and evil as Hitler's Germany that there was no middle ground -- to be "neutral" in that type of conflict was to in fact support the side of Hitler's Reich." - Albert Camus, one of the leading writers of the French Resistance and editor of Combat, then an important underground newspaper "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war. A makeshift government may have capitulated, giving way to panic, forgetting honour, delivering their country into slavery. Yet nothing is lost! Nothing is lost because this war is a world war. In the free universe, immense forces have not yet been brought into play. Some day these forces will crush the enemy. On that day France must be present at the victory. She will then regain her liberty an her greatness. That is why I ask all Frenchmen, wherever they may be, to unite with me in action, in sacrifice and in hope. Our country is in danger of death. Let us fight to save it." - General Charles de Gaulle, Leader of the Free French Forces (1940) "It is your last chance. If you do not stop Germany now, all is over." - Foreign Minister Pierre-Etienne Flandin (1936, speaking to the British after Germany advanced into the Rhineland) ========================= Pre-war Germany "Hitler was the fate of Germany and this fate could not be stayed." - Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, Commander in Chief of the German Army 1938-41 "Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "Mankind has grown strong in eternal struggles and it will only perish though eternal peace." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "Struggle is the father of all things. It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "My motto is, 'Destroy by all and any means. National Socialism will reshape the world." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "Today we rule Germany, tomorrow, the world". - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "The acquisition of new soil was to be obtained only in the east." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (Mein Kampf) "Poland's existence is intolerable, incompatible with the essential conditions of Germany's life . Poland must go and will go... must be one of the fundamental drives of German policy... With the disappearance of Poland will fall one of the strongest pillars of the Versailles Peace, the hegemony of France." - General von Seeckt (1922) "I swear by God this sacred oath, that I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Fuehrer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath." - German Armed Forces Oath of Loyality "There will be a class of subject alien races; we need not hesitate to call them slaves." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "A single blow must destroy the enemy... without regard of losses... a gigantic all-destroying blow." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "The Berlin-Rome-Tokyo alliance is a world-wide spiritual program of the young peoples of the world. It is defeating the international alliance of convenience of Anglo-Saxon imperialist monopolists and unlimited Bolshevist internationalism. It is showing the world the way to a better future." - Albrecht Fürst von Urach "The aim of German policy was to make secure and to preserve the racial community and to enlarge it. It was therefore a question of space [Lebensraum]... the right to a greater living space than other peoples... Germany's future was therefore wholly conditional upon the solving of the need for space." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1937) What puffs and patters? What clicks and clatters? I know what, O, what fun! It's a lovely Gatling-gun! - Excerpt from picturebook for young children "Close your hearts to pity! Act brutally! Eighty million people must obtain what is their right... The stronger man is right... Be harsh and remorseless! Be steeled against all signs of compassion!... Whoever has pondered over this world order knows that its meaning lies in the success of the best by means of force..." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1939, speaking to his military chiefs about starting the war) "Two worlds are in conflict... two philosophies of life... one of these two worlds must break asunder". - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "Do you want total war? If necessary, do you want a war more total and radical than anything that we can even imagine today?" - Josef Goebbel, Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda "We have no intention of rebuilding Poland... Not to be a model state by German standards. Polish intelligentsia must be prevented from establishing itself as a governing class. Low standard of living must be conserved. Cheap slaves... Total disorganization must be created! The Reich will give the Governor General the means to carry out this devilish plan." - Colonel-General Franz Halder "Danzig is German, will always remain German, and will sooner or later become part of Germany... no fait accompli would be engineered in Danzig." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1939) "Strength lies not in defense but in attack." - Adolf Hitler Prelude to war "The assertion that it is the intention of the German Reich to coerce the Austrian State is absurd"... - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (January 30, 1934) "The battle we are now approaching demands a colossal measure of production capacity. No limit on rearmament can be visualized. The only alternatives are victory or destruction... We live in a time when the final battle is in sight. We are ready on the threshold of mobilization and we are already at war. All that is lacking is the actual shooting." - Reich Marshal Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe (1936) "The forty-eight hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most nerve-racking in my life. If the French had then marched into the Rhineland, we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs, for the military resources at our disposal would have been wholly inadequate for even moderate resistance." - Dr. Paul Schmidt, Hitler's interpreter "Germany neither intends nor wishes to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, to annex Austria, or to conclude an Anschluss." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (May 21, 1935) "I have no further interest in the Czecho-Slovakian State, that is guaranteed. We want no Czechs"... - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (September 26, 1938) "Germany has concluded a Non-Aggression Pact with Poland... We shall adhere to it unconditionally... we recognize Poland as the home of a great and nationally conscious people." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (May 21, 1935) "Germany is prepared to agree to any solemn pact of non-aggression, because she does not think of attacking but only acquiring security." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1933) "We have concluded a non-aggression pact with Denmark." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (before the conquest of Denmark) "Germany never had any conflict with the Northern States and has none today." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (before the conquest of Norway) "Ther German government has further given the assurance to Belgium and Holland that it is prepared to recognize and to guarantee the inviolability and neutrality of these territories." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1937) "National Socialist Germany wants peace because of its fundamental convictions. And it wants peace also owing to the realization of the simple primitive fact that no war would be likely essentially to alter the distress in Europe... The principal effect of every war is to destroy the flower of the nation... Germany needs peace and desires peace!" - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (May 21, 1935) "Germany has solemnly recognized and guaranteed France her frontiers as determined after te Saar plebiscite... We thereby finally renounced all claims to Alsace-Lorraine, a land for which we have fought two great wars." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (May 21, 1935) "I speak in the name of the entire German people when I assure the world that we all share the honest wish to eliminate the enmity that brings far more costs than any possible benefits... It would be a wonderful thing for all of humanity if both peoples would renounce force against each other forever. The German people are ready to make such a pledge." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (October 14, 1933) "First, we swear to yield to no force whatever in restoration of the honor of our people... Secondly, we pledge that now, more than ever, we shall strive for an understanding between the European peoples, especially for one with our Western neighbor nations... We have no territorial demands to make in Europe!... Germany will never break the peace!" - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (after Nazi troops had marched in the Rhinelandin 1936) "The Ruhr will not be subjected to a single bomb. if an enemy bomber reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Hermann Göring: you can call me Meier!" - Reich Marshal Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe (1939) "There are two possibilities for me: To win through with all my plans, or to fail. If I win, I shall be one of the greatest men in history. If I fail, I shall be condemned, despised and damned." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator War Years "The spirit of the great men of our history must hearten us all. Fate demands from us no more than from the great men of German history. As long as I live I shall think only of the victory of my people. I shall shrink from nothing and shall annihilate everyone who is opposed to me... I want to annihilate the enemy!" - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "Where Napoleon failed, I shall succeed. I shall land on the shores of Britain". - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "Night gangsters! For this crime I will exact a thousand fold revenge!" - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (after the RAF's first attack on Nazi shipyard at Bremen) "Democracy has no convictions for which people would be willing to stake their lives." - Dr. Ernst Hanftstaengl "Mr. Churchill tells his people that England will win, but I tell you that victory will beling to Germany." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (after the first initial battles in the Battle of England) "The issue in the east has already been settled. Smolensk is the last halt on the road to Moscow." - German High Command "I declare today, and I declare it without any reservation that the enemy in the East has been struck down and will never rise again... Behind our troops there already lies a territory twice the size of the German Reich when I came to power in 1933." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (a speech about the current condition of the Soviet Union on October 3, 1941) "The Soviet Government would not fight against us... the Soviets would not repeat the Czar's mistake and bleed to death for Britain. They would, however, try to enrich themselves, possibly at the expense of the Baltic States or Poland, without engaging in military action themselves." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1939) "England, unlike in 1914, will not allow herself to blunder into a war lasting for years.... Such is the fate of rich countries.. .Not even England has the money nowadays to fight a world war. What should England fight for? You don't get yourself killed over an ally." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1939) "England should do well to realize that as a front-line soldier knew what war was and would utilize every means available. It was surely quite clear to everyone that the World War [i.e., 1914-1918] would not have been lost if had been Chancellor at the time." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1939) "If England wants to fight for a year, I shall fight for a year; if England wants to fight for two years, I shall fight two years... And if necessary, I will fight for ten years!" - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1939) "My decision is unchangeable. I shall attack France and England at the most favorable and earliest moment. Breach of the neutrality of Belgium and Holland is of no importance. No one will question that when we have won. We shall not justify the breach of neutrality as idiotically as in 1914." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "When Barbarossa commences, the world will hold its breath and make no comments!" - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1941) [NOTE: Barbarossa is the name of the operation for the invasion of the USSR] "The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1941) "The infantryman slithers in the mud, while many teams of horses are needed to drag each gun forward. All wheeled vehicles sink up to their axles in the slime. Even tractors can only move with great difficulty. A large portion of our heavy artillery was soon stuck fast... The strain tht all this caused our already exhausted troops can perhaps be imagined." - General Blumentritt, chief of staff of the Fourth Army (about the situation in Russia at the winter of 1941) "Ice was causing a lot of trouble since the calks for the tank tracks had not yet arrived. The cold made the telescopic sights useless. In order to start the engines of the tanks fires had to be lit beneath them. Fuel was freezing on occasions and the oil became viscous... Each regiment [of the 112th Infantry Division] had already lost some 500 men from frostbite. As a result of the cold the machine guns were no longer able to fire and our 37-mm. antitank guns had proved ineffective against the [Russian] T-34 tank." - General Heinz Guderian (about the situation in Russia at the winter of 1941) "With amazement and disappointment, we discovered in late October and early November that the beaten Russians seemed quite unaware that as a military force they had almost ceased to exist." - General Blumentritt "President Roosevelt has ordered his ships to shoot the moment they sight German ships. I have ordered German ships not to shoot when they sight American vessels, but to defend themselves when attacked. I will have any German officer court-martialed who fails to defend himself." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1941) "With the Ariete we have lost our oldest Italian comrades to whom, we must admit, we always asked more than they, considering their modest armament, could actually give us." - Field Marshall Erwin Rommel "I am asking of no German man more than I myself was ready throughout four years to do... I am from now on just the first soldier of the German Reich. I have once more put on that coat that was most sacred and dear to me. I will not take it off again until victory is secured, or I will not survive the outcome." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1939) "As far as the Navy is concerned, obviously it is in no way very adequately equipped for the great struggle with Great Britain... the submarine arm is still much too weak to have any decisive effect on the war. The surface forces, moreover, are so inferior in number and strength to those of the British Fleet that, even at full strength, they can do no more than show that they know how to die gallantly..." - Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy (1939) "United within the country, economically prepared and militarily armed to the highest degree, we enter this most decisive year in German history... May the year 1940 bring the decision. It will be, whatever happens, our victor." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (Christmas, 1939) "Under the deeply moving impression of the capitulation of France I congratulate you and the whole German Wehrmacht on the mighty victory granted by God, in the words of Emperor Wilhelm the Great in 1870: 'What a turn of events brought about by divine dispensation.' In all German hearts there echoes the Leuthen chorale sung by the victor of Leuthen, the soldiers of the Great King: 'Now thank we all our God!'" - Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1940 (on a letter to Hitler after the conquest of France) "Troops without ammunition or food… Effective command no longer possible… 18,000 wounded without any supplies or dressings or drugs… Further defense senseless. Collapse inevitable. Army requests immediate permission to surrender in order to save lives of remaining troops." - Field Marshall Paulus, Commander of the 6th Army (a message to Hitler about the situation at Stalingrad) "Surrender is forbidden. Sixth Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution toward the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (replying to Paulus' request for surrender at Stalingrad) "A thousand years hence Germans will speak of this battle [of Stalingrad] with reverence and awe, and will remember that in spite of everything Germany's ultimate victory was decided there… In years to come it will be said of the heroic battle on the Volga: When you come to Germany, say that you have seen us lying at Stalingrad, as our honor and our leaders ordained that we should, for the greater glory of Germany." - Reich Marshall Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe (1942) "They have surrendered there [stalingrad] there - formally and absolutely. Otherwise they would have closed ranks, formed a hedgehog, and shot themselves with their last bullet… The man [Paulus] should have shot himself just as the old commanders who threw themselves on their swords when they saw that the cause was lost… Even Varus gave his slave the order: 'Now kill me!'" - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1942) "The enemy holds every trump card, covering all areas with long-range air patrols and using location methods against which we still have no warning... The enemy knows all our secrets and we know none of his." - Grand Admiral Doenitz, Commander in Chief of the German Navy (1943) "The work of a thousand years is nothing but rubble." - Dr. Carl Goerdeler (1943) "I beg you to accept my sincerest congratulations on your 60th birthday, I enclose with them my best wishes for your personal welfare as well as for a happy future for the peoples of the friendly Soviet Union." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (birthday greeting to Josef Stalin in 1939) "We are fighting for our most valuable possession: our freedom. We are fighting for our land and our skies. We are fighting so that our children will not be slaves of foreign rulers. That is in no way an exaggeration or empty phrases." - Dr. F (Die Wehrmacht 1939) "England and France began the war in 1939 because they feared that in two or three years Germany would be militarily stronger and harder to defeat. The deepest roots of this war are in England's old claim to rule the world, and Europe in particular." - Dr. F (Die Wehrmacht 1939) ". . . the basic principles of the military Services are unchangeable. Courage and candor, obedience and comradeship, love of fatherland and loyalty to the State: these are ever the distinguishing characteristics of the soldier and sailor. Building character through intelligent training and education is always the first and greatest goal." - Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy The Fall of the Reich "We shall go down in history as the greatest statesmen of all time, or as the greatest criminals." - Josef Goebbel, Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (before he committed suicide) "When we depart, let the earth tremble!" - Josef Goebbel, Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda "A thousand years will pass and the guilt of Germany will not be erased." - Hans Frank, Governor General of Poland (before he was hanged for war crimes) "It is my first task to save Germany from destruction by the advancing Bolshevik enemy. For this aim alone the military struggle continues. As far and as long as the achievement of this aim is impeded by the British and Americans, we shall be forced to carry on our defensive fight against them as well. Under such conditions, however, the Anglo-Americans will continue the war not for their own peoples but solely for the spreading of Bolshevism in Europe. - Grand Admiral Doenitz (as President of the Reich after the death of Hitler, 1945) "With this signature the German people and the German Armed Forces are, for better or worse, delivered into the hands of the victors… In this hour I can only express the hope that the victor will treat them with generosity." - General Jodl (during the signing of the unconditional surrender, 1945) "If the war is lost, the nation will also perish. This fate is inevitable. There is no necessity to take into consideration the basis which the people will need to continue a most primitive existence. On the contrary, it will be the weaker one and the future will belong solely to the stronger eastern nation [Russia]. Besides, those who will remain after the battle are only the inferior ones, for the good ones have been killed." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator "The Eastern front is like a house of cards. If the front is broken through at one point all the rest will collapse." - General Heinz Guderian "If necessary we'll fight on the Rhine. It doesn't make any difference. Under all circumstances we will continue this battle until, as Frederick the Great said, one of our damned enemies gets too tired to fight any more. We'll fight until we get a peace which secures the life of the German nation for the next fifty or a hundred years and which, above all does not besmirch our honor a second time, as happened in 1918… I live only for the purpose of leading this fight because I know that if there is not an iron will behind it, this battle cannot be won." - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Dictator (1944) "If, in spite of enemy's air superiority, we succeed in getting a large part of our mobile force into action in the threatened coast defense sectors in the first hours, I am convinced that the enemy attack on the coast will collapse completely on its first day." - Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (about the Allies' invasion at Normandy, 1944) "It is on this beautiful day that we celebrate the fuhrers birthday and thank him for he is the only reason why Germany is still alive today" - Josef Goebbel, Minister of Popular Enlightenment (April 26, 1945) ============================ Italy "Peace is absurd: Fascism does not believe in it". - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator "Blood alone moves the wheels of history." - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator "Three cheers for war, noble and beautiful above all." - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator "[The Fuehrer] is one of those lonely men of the ages on whom history is not tested, but who themselves are the makers of history." - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator (1937) "These men are not made of the same stuff as the Francis Drakes and the other magnificent adventurers who created the Empire. These, after all, are the tired sons of a long line of rich men, and they will lose their Empire." - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator (speaking about the British in a private conversation after the Munich Agreement) "The army is in a pitiful state. Even the defense of our frontier is insufficient. He has made thirty-two inspctions and is convinced that the French can go through it with great ease. The officers of the Italian Army are not qualified for the job, and our equipment is old and obsolete." - Count Galeazzo Ciano, Foreign Minister (quoting Victor Emmanuel III, the King of Italy) "War between the plutocratic, self-seeking conservative nations [was] inevitable. [but] Italy requires a period of preparation which may extend until the end of 1942... Only from 1943 onward will an effort by war have the greatest prospects of success. Italy needs a period of peace... For all these reasons Italy does not wish to hasten a European war, although she is convinced of the inevitability of such a war." - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator (1939) "...war alone brings up to their highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon a people who have the courage to meet it. War is to man what maternity is to woman. I do not believe in peace, but I find it depressing and a negation of all human virtues of man". - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator "Mussolini is quite humiliated because our troops have not moved a step forward. Even today they have not succeeded in advancing and have halted in front of the first French fortification which put up some resistance." - Count Galeazzo Ciano, Foreign Minister (written in his diary on June 21, 1940) "Fuehrer, we are on the march! Victorious Italian troops crossed the Greco-Albanian frontier at dawn today!" - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator (October 28, 1941) "My dear Duce, it's no longer any good. Italy has gone to bits... The soldiers don't want to fight any more... At this moment you are the most hated man in Italy..." - King Victor Emmanuel III (1943) "I've had my fill of Hitler. These conferences called by a ringing of a bell are not to my liking; the bell is rung when people call their servants. And besides, what kind of conferences are these? For five hours I am forced to listen to a monologue which is quite fruitless and boring." - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator (To his son in law on June 10th, 1941) [summitted by J. Stout] "The war goes on, but against Germany. For this war there is one means - popular insurrection." - Tancredi Galimberti, a member of the underground Action Party in Italy "Blackshirts of the revolution, Italian men and women, at home and throughout the world, hear me... Italy has at last her Empire... a Fascist Empire." - Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator (1935, after the conquest of Ethiopia) ================ Japan "In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success." - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Navy (1940) "We have resolved to endure the unendurable and suffer what is insufferable." - Emperor Hirohito "In order to conquer the world, we must first conquer China." -Baron Tanaka, Foreign Minister (Tanaka Memorial) "To die for the Emperor is to live forever." - Japanese Army Slogan "When war comes between Japan and the United States, I shall not be content to merely occupying Guam, the Philipines, Hawaii, and San Francisco. I look forward to dictating the piece of United States in the White House at Washington." - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Navy "In blossom today, then scattered: Life is so like a delicate flower. How can one expect the fragrance To last for ever?" - Admiral Onishi Takijiro (a poem about Kamikaze pilots) "If they (the young pilots) are on land, they would be bombed down, and if they are in the air, they would be shot down. That's sad...Too sad...To let the young men die beautifully, that's what Tokko is. To give beautiful death, that's called sympathy." - Admiral Takijiro Onishi (Note: Tokko means suicidal attack in Japanese) "You must let me do it." - Captain Yukio Seki (when asked if he desired to participate in the first Kamikaze attack) "To let this beautiful Japan keep growing, to be released from the wicked hands of the Americans and British, and to build a 'freed Asia' was our goal from the Gakuto Shutsujin year before last; yet nothing has changed." - Second Lieutenant Shigeyuki Suzuki (member of a Kamikaze squadron) "A military man can scarcely pride himself on having 'smitten a sleeping enemy'; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten." - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Navy (about Pearl Harbor, 1942) "Tora, tora, tora!" - Captain Fuchida Mitsuo (at the attack on Pearl Harbor, 1940) [Note: Tora means tiger in Japanese] "All men are brothers, like the seas throughout the world; So why do winds and waves clash so fiercely everywhere?" - Emperor Hirohito (1940) "Blood for the Emperor! Marine, you die!" - English slogan for the Japanese soldiers at Guadalcanal (1942) "The fate of the Empire rests on this enterprise every man must devote himself totally to the task in hand." - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Navy (December 7, 1940) "The mindless rejoicing at home is really appalling; it makes me fear that the first blow against Tokyo will make them wilt at once...I only wish that [the Americans] had also had, say, three carriers at Hawaii..." - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Navy (1942) "The fruits of victory are tumbling into our mouths too quickly." - Emperor Hirohito (April 29, 1942; his forty-first birthday) ================= Union of Soviet Socialist Republics "Our aim is not to destroy all armed force in Germany, because any intelligent man will understand that this is as impossible in the case of Germany as in the case of Russia. It would be unreasonable on the part of the victor to do so. To destroy Hitler's army is possible and necessary." -Josef Stalin, Soviet Dictator "The League of Nations is still strong enough by its collective actions to avert or arrest aggression... There is no room for bargaining or compromise." - Foreign Commissar Litvinoff (September 21, 1938) "This war is not an ordinary war. It is the war of the entire Russian people. Not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our heads, but to aid all people groaning under the yoke of Fascism." - Josef Stalin, Soviet Dictator (June 22, 1941) "Oh merciful lord… crown our effort with victory… and give us faith in the inevitable power of light over darkness, of justice over evil and brutal force… Of the cross of Christ over the Fascist swastika… so be it, amen." - Sergei, Archbishop of Moscow (November 27, 1941) "For the burned cities and villages; for the deaths of our children and our mothers; for the torture and humiliation of our people; I swear revenge upon the enemy… I swear that I would rather die in battle with the enemy then surrender myself my people and my country to the Fascist invaders. Blood for blood! Death for death!" - Russian War Oath "We secured peace for our country for one and a half years, as well as an opportunity of preparing our forces for defense if fascist Germany risked attacking our country in defiance of the pact. This was a definite gain to our country and a loss for fascist Germany." - Josef Stalin, Soviet Dictator (July 3, 1941, speaking about the non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany made on 1939) "The friendship of the peoples of Germany and the Soviet Union, cemented by blood, has every reason to be lasting and firm." - Josef Stalin, Soviet Dictator (Christmas greeting to Hitler, 1939) "The situation of your troops is desperate. They are suffering from hunger, sickness and cold. The cruel winter has scarcely begun. Hard frosts, cold winds and blizzards still lie ahead. Your soldiers are unprovided with winter clothing and are living in appalling sanitary conditions. Your situation is hopeless, and any further resistance senseless." - General Rokossovski (on a note to the 6th Army trapped in Stalingrad) "All that the Great Lenin created we have lost forever!" - Josef Stalin, Soviet Dictator (1941, after the Nazi armies' early victories in USSR) [summitted by J. Stout] ======================= United States "The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' . . . It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness." -President Harry Truman "[Mariners] have written one of its most brilliant chapters. They have delivered the goods when and where needed in every theater of operations and across every ocean in the biggest, the most difficult and dangerous job ever undertaken. As time goes on, there will be greater public understanding of our merchant's fleet record during this war [World War II]." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt [summitted by Harold "BUD" Schmidt Sr., check out his page on the Merchant Marines in the links section] "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt "History knows no greater display of courage than that shown by the people of the Soviet Union". - Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War "We and our allies owe and acknowledge an ever-lasting debt of gratitude to the armies and people of the Soviet Union". - Frank Knox, secretary of the Navy "The gallantry and aggressive fighting spirit of the Russian soldiers command the American army's admiration". - George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army "The scale and grandeur of the Russian effort mark it as the greatest military achievement in all history". - General Douglas Macarthur, Supreme Allied Commander of South-West Pacific "We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand, of overwhelming power on the other." - G.C. Marshall, Chief of Staff "No compromise is possible and the victory of the democracies can only be complete with the utter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan." - G.C. Marshall, Chief of Staff "This is a fight between a free world and a slave world." - Vice President Henry A. Wallace "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." - General George S. Patton, Jr "Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle." -General George S. Patton, Jr. "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -Albert Einstein "On the European Front the most important development of the past year has been the crushing offensive of the Great Armies of Russia"... - President Franklin D. Roosevelt (April 29, 1942) "I shall return." - General Douglas Macarthur, Supreme Allied Commander of South-West Pacific (speaking about the Philippines, when he was forced to retreat to Austrailia, 1942) "I have returned." - General Douglas Macarthur, Supreme Allied Commander of South-West Pacific (at the Philippines, 1944) "Nuts" - General MacAuliffe (when asked to surrender during the Battle of the Bulge, 1944) "The American forces have suffered terrible losses. The losses are far more than what Eisenhower has admitted, and worse is ahead. Tunis is only a foretaste of what is waiting for us in Europe." - Roane Waring, Commander of the American Legion (after the victory at North Africa) "A bright light filled the plane. The first shock-wave hit us. We were eleven and a half miles slant range from the atomic explosion but the whole airplane cracked and crinkled from the blast... We turned back to look at Hiroshima. The city was hidden by that awful cloud... mushrooming, terrible and incredibly tall." - Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the B-29 Enola Gay History - in every century, records an act that lives forevermore. We'll recall - as in to line we fall, the thing that happened on Hawaii's shore. Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR - As we go to meet the foe - Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR As we did the Alamo. We will always remember - how they died for liberty, Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR and go on to victory. - The "Remember Pearl Harbor" song "United in this determination and with unshakable faith in the cause for which we fight, we will, with God's help, go forward to our greatest victory." - General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1944) "The Bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives." - Admiral William Daniel Leahy (advising President Truman on the U.S. atom bomb project, 1945) "Don't fire until you can see the whites of their eyes." - Major Devereux (the battle of Wake Island, 1941) "It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it will not be fought on U.S. soil." - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet "We must not again underestimate the Japanese." - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet (after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941) "They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines." - Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb (1943) "Goddam it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!" - Captain Henry P. "Jim" Crowe (Guadalcanal, January 13, 1943) "Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning." - Colonel David M. Shoup (Tarawa, November 21, 1943) "The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years." - James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy (February 23, 1945) "Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." - Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (March 16, 1945) "The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat." - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet "By their victory, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the American who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue." - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet "Kill Japs, kills Japs, kill more Japs!" - Vice-Admiral "Bull" Halsey "It is my earnest hope - indeed the hope of all mankind - that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world found upon faith and understanding, a worl dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice." - General Douglas Macarthur, Supreme Allied Commander of South-West Pacific (1945) "Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world, and that God will preserve it always." - General Douglas Macarthur, Supreme Allied Commander of South-West Pacific (1945) "No other island received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo Jima." - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet "Nothing would please me better than if they would give me three months and then attack here." - General Douglas Macarthur, Supreme Allied Commander of South-West Pacific (speaking of the Philippines, December 5, 1940) "Rangers, Lead The Way!" - Colonel Francis W. Dawson (D-Day Invasion, 1944) "When this war is over, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell." - Admiral Bill Halsey (December 7, 1941) "The hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt (speaking of when Italy invaded her neighboring country, France) [summitted by Diane] "All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time." - Lieutenant General Lewis B."Chesty" Puller (when surrounded by 8 enemy divisions) "We want to get the hell over there. The quicker we clean up this Goddamned mess, the quicker we can take a little jaunt against the purple pissing Japs and clean out their nest, too. Before the Goddamned Marines get all of the credit." - General George S. Patton, Jr (addressing to his troops before Operation Overlord, June 5, 1944) "Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler. Just like I'd shoot a snake!" - Ge | |||||
| 373rd Engineers | 53 Relevance | 15 years ago | G40Sully | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| Welcome Terry to the 'UK branch' of this great website. I have been here with Marion for around six years (I left and rejoined) and I've made some great friends across the pond. I looked up our 'bible' in reference to the 373rd, but no mention of what they did in the UK, only later under the command of Col Frank F. Bell around Le Havre, Rouen and Brest where they undertook limited rehabilitation of these towns. In 1942 BOLERO was the plan that set the US Engineer Machine in motion to deal with the arrival of our allies from across the Atlantic. The 373rd w ... | |||||
| World War II Army European Theater History Vols | 49 Relevance | 19 years ago | Walts Daughter | WWII BOOKS & MAGAZINES | |
| This is description of what I just got on EBAY for $16.00. This is on a set of disks. Great for my collection, and nice because I can copy and paste info from them make them available to my readers on the site in the future. ======================================== World War II Army European Theater History Volumes 9,560 pages of official World War II Army history including 254 maps, 1,143 photographs, and 33 charts in 15 volumes written by Army historians covering the United States Army in the European, Mediterranean, Middle-East, and African Theaters of operation during World War II, archived on 3 CD-ROMS. Each page of the volumes are graphically reproduced on the discs. The discs contain a text transcript of all text embedded into the graphic image of each page of each document, creating a searchable finding aid. Text searches can be done across all files on each disc. Color fold-out plate maps have been reproduced in full-color. To produce these volumes Army historians had access to one of the largest masses of records and recollections ever produced dealing with World War II. These documents, including those of the enemy, have been explored by professional historians, with the cooperation of a host of participants and with all the facilities and assistance that the Office of the Chief of Military History. The volumes include ten covering the European Theater of Operation, one volume on the Middle East Theater, and four volumes covering the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The European Theater of Operations What and how three and one-half to four million Americans contributed to victory in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II is told in the ten volumes of the European subseries of the United States Army in World War II. These volumes are histories of units, commanders, headquarters, planning, decisions, strategy, tactics, and logistics. Though an individual volume may deal with one or more armies in a given area at a given time, each contain adequate background and corollary information for understanding the place of these particular operations in the larger context. The influence of theater strategy, logistics, and adjacent combat operations is integrated into each story. Thus, each volume is an entity that can be read separately with profit; at the same time each takes a natural place in the framework of the whole. The volumes include: THE SUPREME COMMAND "The Supreme Command", by Forrest C. Pogue, originally completed in 1954, contains the history of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force. The volume is focused on the decisions of the Supreme Commander rather than the machinery of command. It is primarily a history of the decisions of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower. To present these decisions in the round, it includes their background: the situations, military and political, that confronted the Supreme Commander; the discussions leading to his decisions; and the controversies—inter-Allied, interservice, personal, or purely military—which he had to resolve. It also includes an account of the reactions to his decisions and their effect on the course of the war. Since the author drew his information and impressions from interviews with more than a hundred of the leading participants as well as from public and personal records, he has been able to assess and illustrate, in many cases, the weight of personality as a factor influencing Eisenhower's final decisions and their effect. To give further perspective, the author has drawn on German records and interrogations to present the enemy's views, plans, and positions, not always known to the Supreme Commander at the time. The period covered runs from December 1943 to 14 July 1945. The author reaches back to review the origins of SHAEF and to summarize the evolution of General Eisenhower's strategic mission as embodied in the OVERLORD plan. The volume deals with the most complex combined (Allied) and joint (Army, Navy, Air) command that had appeared in the history of war, a headquarters founded on the principle of Allied "integration," first applied by General Eisenhower in his organization of the Allied headquarters in the Mediterranean in 1942 (AFHQ). It was the culminating expression of the principle of unity of command which the Allies applied in World War II with varying degrees of success in all theaters of operations. Recognizing this, the author has included the facts and references necessary for a study not only of the antecedents, machinery, and activities of SHAEF, but also of its relations, on the one hand, with the Combined Chiefs of Staff, the supreme instrument of the Allied governments for the military direction of the war, and, on the other, with the principal subordinate commands that directed operations in northwestern Europe on land and sea and in the air, from 6 June 1944 until 7 May 1945. The Supreme Commander's primary responsibility was military, and after 2 September 1944 he assumed direct command of the operations of the ground forces of the Allies. In order to furnish the setting and trace the consequences of General Eisenhower's military decisions, the book includes a full account of the campaigns of the Allied Expeditionary Force. The scale of this account is determined by the outlook of SHAEF. In General, it follows at army and army group level operations that are being recounted in greater detail in the campaign volumes of the United States Army in World War II and in the British and Canadian official histories. Since the present account is necessarily based chiefly on American records, it gives a more complete and authoritative history of American than of British operations. Although the Supreme Commander's primary responsibility was military, the scope of his command repeatedly put him astride the traditional line between military and political considerations which modern war tends to obliterate. This line presented a problem in his relations with the British and French commanders, particularly with Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, and in the recommendations he had to make on relations with the Soviets in the last phase of the war. The volume also discusses in detail the difficulties of making politico-military decisions without timely, clear, or positive directives from higher authorities. Key topics: 1. The planning and preparations for a vast inter-Allied surprise assault on a strongly defended coast and for pursuit and defeat of the enemy. The plans and preparations here sketched are treated in more detail in Cross-Channel Attack 2. Command decisions at the highest level of Allied authority below the Combined and Joint Chiefs of Staff . 3. The interplay between the views and decisions of the Joint and Combined Chiefs of Staff and those of the Supreme Allied Commander in the field, a treatment which supplements that given in the strategy and logistics volumes of the United States Army in World War II 4. Unity of command, combined and joint. 5. The mechanism and operations of a headquarters based on the principles of command unity and integration. The tendency to create the large and complex headquarters characteristic of American military organization in World War II. 7. The interplay of military and political considerations in directing a command of this type. 8. The campaigns of 1944–45 in France, the Low Countries, and Germany, at army group and army level, including the plans and operations of the enemy. 9. Military government and the military administration of civil affairs, in military operations involving relations with a number of liberated countries and the occupationof enemy territory on the basis of unconditional surrender. 10. The controversies of General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery over strategy and command. 11. The surprise achieved by the Germans when they attacked in the Ardennes on 16 December 1944, and the countermeasures by which General Eisenhower and his principal commanders contained the attack and regained the initiative. 12. The decision of General Eisenhower to halt his forces short of Berlin. 13. Psychological warfare. 14. Public relations of SHAEF. CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK. "Cross-channel Attack" by Gordon A. Harrison, originally written in 1951. The cross-Channel attack launched on 6 June 1944 under the direction of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, is a subject that reappears in many volumes of the United States Army in World War II, since it involved the U.S. Army in its most important and largest single undertaking in the war. This basic account of the attack is focused on the Army's participation in it, both as a plan and as an operation. It relates the project of the assault from its inception in 1942 to the strategic and logistical planning of the United States and the Allies and to the plans, strength, and position of the enemy in 1944; it describes the complex plans and preparations for the assault, then narrates the fighting of the First Army to establish a lodgment up to 1 July 1944. Cross-Channel Attack focuses on the division as the basic fighting unit, although it often describes in considerable detail the experiences of battalions and companies on the fragmented fields of Normandy. So far as enemy records permit, it tells the story of German action at the same level. The Supreme Command, on the other hand, deals with D-day and the campaign to establish the Normandy beachhead and capture Cherbourg, from the point of view of General Eisenhower and Supreme Headquarters. Key topics: 1. An amphibious assault on a defended shore by a coalition force. 2. The bolero concep. 3. Early plans for the invasion of Europe from England: SLEDGEHAMMER (1942) and ROUNDUP). 4. The Anglo-American debate over a cross-Channel attack.. 5. General Morgan's COSSAC and the evolution of the OVERLORD plan. 6. The conversion of overlord into a dated plan of operations. 7. The contribution of enemy weakness to Allied success. 8. German command organization in the West. 9. Hitler and the German defense against the invasion of Normandy. 10. D-day on sea and land and in the air. 11. Securing a beachhead and lodgment area. 12. Debate on the anvil plan. 13. Organized cooperation of the French Resistance with the Allies. 14. Effect on strategy of shortage in a critical item, landing craft. 15. Effect of a scattered airdrop. 16. Assault and capture of a fortified city, Cherbourg. 17. Use of mass air-bombing and artillery in this assault. 18. Amphibious assault: Naval fire support, Air-bombing of coastal defenses, Mass use of airborne forces to effect "vertical envelopment" of a beachhead, Weather as a factor in planning an amphibious assault, Defense at the beach line versus use of mobile reserves in meeting an amphibious assault, Use and effect of communications bombing in isolating the battle area, Capabilities and limitations of underwater obstacles in defending a coast against assault, Use of swimming tanks in the assault of a defended beach. BREAKOUT AND PURSUIT "Breakout and Pursuit," by Martin Blumenson, originally produced in 1961 and updated in 1984 and 1990 follows the U.S. First and Third Armies from 1 July 1944 in the Allied sweep across France to the German border. By 1 July the Allies had consolidated a firm beachhead which included Cherbourg and left no doubt that their armies had come to stay. The theme of the book is their subsequent efforts to acquire the "lodgment area" projected in the OVERLORD plan; the effort of the Germans to contain them; the breakthrough beginning on 25 July; its conversion into the breakout; the encirclement of German forces; and the ensuing sweep across France that outran all plans and anticipations. After an explanation of Allied and German situations, the battle narrative opens with an examination of the hedgerow fighting—the costly and disheartening battles in the compartmentalized fields of Normandy which, combined with rain, mud, and inexperience, deprived the Americans of the advantages of numbers and mechanization in the offensive and assisted the Germans in their stubborn defense. The volume gives special attention to the methods by which the Americans overcame the unexpected difficulties that beset them and became experienced veterans. The next phase of the narrative includes an account of the genesis and evolution of General Bradley's breakthrough plan (COBRA) and follows in detail the measures and events that marked its conversion into a triumphant breakout into Brittany. The author then recounts the swiftly changing plans of the Allies as they seized the opportunity to break out toward the east; describes Hitler's counterattack toward Avranches and its defeat. The battle narrative in this volume is, in General, pitched at corps level, but the focus of attention moves up and down the chain of command to illuminate decisions, both Allied and German, at critical moments of the campaign. The action is carefully related to the declared or postulated intentions of the responsible commanders, and success or failure is examined with reference to these and the opposing moves of the contestants. The access of the author to abundant enemy sources has made it possible for him to represent fully the strength, intentions, and tactics of the enemy. Key topics: 1. Multiple crossings of a defended river line on a division front. 2. Assault of a fortified city. 3. Problems of coalition warfare on tactical levels 4. Infantry in compartmentalized hedgerow terrain, In mobile warfare, In achieving a breakthrough, In defense. 5. Armor: In hedgerow terrain. In a breakthrough. In mobile warfare. The armored division as an independent striking force. 6. Air support: Use of heavy (strategic) bombers in direct support of ground troops. Tactical air support of ground operations. 7. Artillery in special situations: Under infantry attack.. Against fortress defenses. 8. Commitment of inexperienced units and their errors. 9. Logistics of mobile warfare. 10. Effect of weather on tactical air. 11. Traffic congestion and its effect on operations. 12. Personnel replacements. 13. Use of task forces for unusual missions. 14. Artillery support. 15. German command problems. LOGISTICAL SUPPORT OF THE ARMIES, VOLUME I: MAY 1941–SEPTEMBER1944. "Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume I: May 1941–September1944," By Roland G. Ruppenthal, originally completed in 1953 and updated in 1985 and 1989.This volume is the history of the logistical operations in the European Theater of Operations in support of the U.S. Army forces in that theater from 1941 to mid-September 1944. The operations described and analyzed were under the direction of the headquarters of the combined command known as ETOUSA Communications Zone. But the focus throughout is on the relation of logistics to combat and the influence of adequate or inadequate logistical support on the planning and conduct of tactical operations by the field armies. Two major problems of supply that had important effects on these operations are treated in detail: the shortage of gasoline in the period of pursuit and the developing shortage of field artillery ammunition, which became critical in the fall of 1944. Key topics: 1. Logistical (OVERLORD) planning for large-scale offensive operations. 2. Theater command and territorial organization, particularly where an Allied command is superimposed on a national command and a single commander holds positions in both. 3. The influence of logistical considerations on tactical planning and decisions. 4. Manpower problems, particularly with respect to economical use of personnel, and the variance of casualty experience of the first months from estimated replacement needs. 5. The logistics of rapid movement and its effects on future capabilities. 6. Competition between global and theater strategy and priorities in the buildup of supplies and forces. 7. Supply over beaches in support of a large invasion force, including the use of artificial ports. 8. The influence of personalities in the development of theater organization and in the relationship of theater commands to each other. 9. The results of inadequate planning and staff coordination in meeting urgent calls for logistical support. 10. The development of a theater troop basis. 11. Early struggles attending the establishment of a U.S. Army command in the United Kingdom.12. Relations with an ally which serves as "host" nation and on which U.S. forces must depend heavily for locally procured Services and supplies. 13. Effect of the North African invasion on the preparation of a force in the United Kingdom for the cross-Channel invasion. 14. Training and rehearsing for the cross-Channel attack.. LOGISTICAL SUPPORT OF THE ARMIES, VOLUME II: SEPTEMBER 1944-MAY 1945. Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume Ii: September 1944-May 1945 by Roland G. Ruppenthal originally produced in 1959 and updated in 1983. This volume moves from mid-September 1944 to the end of hostilities in May 1945 along the same General lines as Volume I described above. As in that volume the focus is on the influence of adequate or inadequate logistical support on the planning and conduct of tactical operations by the field armies, in short, the relation of logistics to combat. Considerable space is given to theater organization and command because of the influence that these exerted on effective administration and support. The main divisions of the volume correspond to the two broad phases of tactical operations in the period covered: the period of relatively static warfare from mid-September 1944 to early February 1945 and the period of offensives leading to the surrender of Germany in May 1945. The main topics examined within each period are organization and command; port discharge; transportation; supply and manpower. THE LORRAINE CAMPAIGN "The Lorraine Campaign," completed by Hugh M. Cole in 1950, and updated in 1984. This volume narrates the operations of the U.S. Third Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., during the autumn of 1944 when that army was weakened by a lengthy pursuit and taut supply lines and faced an enemy who was rapidly recovering behind strong natural and artificial barriers. The iron hand which logistics sometimes imposes on tactical operations is in evidence throughout the narrative. Like other operational volumes dealing with the European theater, The Lorraine Campaign is organized into chapters at corps level and written primarily at division level. When action at a lower level was decisive or particularly illustrative, the narrative descends to regiment, battalion, company, and sometimes to platoon and squad level. Concurrent operations of Allied and of other U.S. armies are sketched in as necessary for a complete understanding of the Third Army's story. Companion volumes recount in full the concurrent campaigns of the First and Ninth Armies (The Siegfried Line Campaign) and of the Seventh Army (Riviera to the Rhine). The story of command and decision at levels higher than army headquarters is told only where it had a direct bearing on the fighting in Lorraine, as, for example, General Eisenhower's decision to halt the Third Army at the Meuse River at the start of September while he concentrated his strained resources in support of the First Army on another axis of advance. Despite General Patton's long-lived optimism that he could gain the Rhine in one quick thrust, this volume indicates that even in early September the Germans were amassing strength sufficient to delay an overextended attacker for a long time behind such barriers as the flooded Moselle River; the historic forts ringing Metz, capital of Lorraine; and the Maginot and Siegfried Lines. This is the story of the slow, plodding operations that developed in the forests and among the rolling hills of Lorraine from early September until George Patton's Third Army on 18 December was turned north to assist the First Army in the Ardennes. A parallel account from the enemy side puts the American operations in proper perspective. The volume also contains an analytical description of the decisions of commanders at army, corps, and division levels that provided the framework of the tactical operations. Historical perspective is enhanced by frequent reference to earlier campaigning over this same terrain in 1870, 1914–18, and 1940. Key topics: 1. Multiple crossings of a defended river line on an army front. 2. Assault of a fortified city, Metz. 3. Assaults of strongly fortified lines, Maginot and Siegfried, in the latter case a line behind a river. 4. Tank fighting: Against a counterattack in force, In an army offensive, In the assault of a fortified line. 5. Street fighting. 6. Air support of ground operations. 7. German armor versus American. 8. Armored task forces in limited objective attacks. 9. Artillery support. 10. Engineer and smoke generator units in support of river crossings. 11. Operations in adverse conditions of weather, soil, mud, cold, rain, and floods. 12. Forest fighting. 13. German command problems. THE SIEGFRIED LINE CAMPAIGN "The Siegfried Line Campaign," written by Charles B. MacDonald in 1963 and updated in 1984 and 1990. Optimism ran high when the first American patrols crossed the German frontier on 11 September 1944. With the enemy defeated in Normandy and pursued across northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, who could doubt that the war in Europe would soon be over? As events were to prove, and as this volume relates, buoyant spirits were premature. Aided by the concrete of the Siegfried Line (the so-called West Wall) and the forbidding terrain along the frontier, the Germans were able to stabilize the front against an Allied force weakened by the excesses of a long pursuit. The Siegfried Line Campaign is primarily a history of tactical operations in northwestern Europe from early September to mid-December 1944. It covers in detail the campaigns of the U.S. First and Ninth Armies and the First Allied Airborne Army and in sketchy outline the concurrent operations of the Second British and First Canadian Armies. Organized into chapters at the corps level, the story is told primarily at division level with numerous descents to regiment and battalion and even at times to lower units. Logistics and high-level planning (for example, the controversy over single thrust versus broad front strategy) are treated where they affected the campaign. Discussion of staff operations at army or corps level is limited to the development of tactical plans and operations. Although the First Army's V and VII Corps both penetrated the Siegfried Line in September, ragtail German formations were able to blunt these spearheads. They did the same when the Allies sought to outflank the West Wall by crossing three major water barriers. The last of these, an assault on the lower Rhine, was a major coalition operation that combined the First Allied Airborne Army attack in southeastern Netherlands (Operation MARKET) with a ground attack (Operation GARDEN) by the Second British Army. From this point, late September, stiff in-fighting developed. Into November the Allies in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands conducted a series of small-scale operations to tidy the front in preparation for another major attempt to break through to the Rhine River and encircle the Ruhr industrial area. They focused on several specific missions: capture of Aachen, which sits astride the invasion route to the Ruhr; a drive on the Huertgen Forest southeast of Aachen to protect the forces before Aachen and to capture the dams on the upper Roer threatened by the retreating Germans; and reduction of the German bridgehead west of the Maas River in southeastern Netherlands. The Allies also sought to clear the seaward approaches to Antwerp, whose port remained the key to the logistical problems that had plagued them since the Normandy breakout. By mid-November Allied commanders could report considerable success in these missions. Greater strength had been added with the introduction of the Ninth Army into the line between the First Army and the British. The logistical situation was gradually improving, and in conjunction with the Third Army to the south, the First and Ninth Armies were preparing a new offensive designed to carry all three to the Rhine. Operation QUEEN was launched on 16 November, but by taking advantage of their strong artillery reserves, the inclement weather, and rough terrain, the Germans slowed the advance significantly. By mid-December some Allied troops had not traversed the seven miles to the intermediate objective of the Roer River, and the threat of the Roer Dams still existed. Coincidentally, the Germans used the time to mobilize behind the front an army group that would launch a counteroffensive in the Ardennes, bringing a halt to the Siegfried Line campaign. Key topics: 1. Attack and defense of a fortified line. 2. Forest, city, and village fighting. 3. American units under foreign command. 4. Armor operations. 5. Airborne operations. 6. Air support of ground troops. 7. Success and failure in intelligence estimates. 8. Fighting in inclement weather. 9. Comparison of American and German tanks. 10. Use of smoke, searchlights, flail and flamethrowing tanks, M–29 cargo carriers, tank track, and connectors. THE ARDENNES: BATTLE OF THE BULGE "The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge," was written by Hugh M. Cole in 1965 and was updated in 1983. This volume deals with the great German offensive in the Ardennes and Schnee Eiffel during December 1944; the armored drive to isolate the Anglo-Saxon Allies by the seizure of Antwerp; and the defensive battles fought by units of the U.S. First, Third, and Ninth Armies reinforced by troops from the British 21 Army Group. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge opens with the detailed planning and preparations in the German headquarters and follows the development of the campaign from the surprise attack initiated on 16 December to the point where, in the first days of January 1945, the Allies regained the initiative and resumed the offensive to cross the Rhine. The discussion parallels that given in the latter sections of Riviera to the Rhine, covering the southern Allied Army Group, and sets the scene for The Last Offensive. The Ardennes, as in other volumes of this subseries, is structured on the division as the chief tactical and administrative unit. However, in the early hours and first days the battle mandates that the story be told at platoon and company level with cross reference to battalions, regimental combat teams, and armored combat commands. Command and control exercised by the army corps Generally appears in the allocation of reserves rather than in tactical direction of the battle. Higher command efforts come into the narrative in a few specific instances, such as the gross failure of Allied intelligence; the geographic division of command between Montgomery and Bradley; the decisions to hold the American linch-pins on the Elsenborn ridge, St. Vith, and Bastogne, at the shoulders of the German salient; and the initial large-scale counterattack mounted by the Third Army. The history of German command and troop operations is told in considerable detail. At the close of World War II, German officers were brought together so as to re-create the commands and General staffs of the major units taking part in the Ardennes campaign. As a result of this exercise in collective memory The Ardennes has an unmatched wealth of precise and parallel information on "the other side of the hill." Much attention is also given to the role played by the Allied air forces, particularly the tactical air commands, and to the effect of weather on air-ground cooperation and on German logistics. The story begins with the irruption of enemy assault units in force against the green 99th and 106th Infantry Divisions and throughout the breadth of the thinly held VIII Corps front. The German breakthrough in the Schnee Eiffel is given detailed attention. There follows the American attempt to narrow the rapidly evolving enemy salient by hard fighting at the shoulders of the bulge and by piecemeal tactical reinforcement at these critical points. The exploitation phase of the German offensive sees early armored successes interspersed with delays and halts inflicted by isolated and lone American combined arms detachments plus the vagaries of weather and terrain. This combination of adverse weather and difficult terrain is analyzed as it influenced German armored operations and conditioned the assault or the defense at barrier lines, roadblocks, and timbered patches. The tactics of perimeter defense are shown in the record of battles at Bastogne and those in the ring around St. Vith. This volume concludes with the final desperate effort of German armor to reach and cross the Meuse River; with the stiffening American defense at the leading edge of the salient, coupled with the German failure to widen it at the shoulders; with the commencement of the enemy withdrawal; and with the counterattacks of the Third and First Armies. The final episodes of the Ardennes battle are recounted in The Last Offensive. Throughout this volume the strictures imposed on German maneuver by logistical failures are evident as are the superior American capability to reinforce and resupply the defense. Nonetheless, the German campaign to keep rail and road transport functioning, here described in detail, merits close study. Key topics: 1. Elementary tactics as shown in the many episodes of "the starkness of small unit combat." 2. Mobile operations under adverse conditions of weather, terrain, and short daylight hours. 3. Organization, tactics, control, and communications in delaying actions. 4. Failure of Allied intelligence. 5. Ad hoc air resupply. 6. The employment of combat engineers. 7. Tactical surprise by maneuver, through operations at night and in the fog, and by the use of smoke and deceptive lighting. 8. Examples of a double envelopment. 9. Detailed description of the employment of "the combined arms." 10. Tanks; antitank combat. 11. Tactical air support. RIVIERA TO THE RHINE "Riviera to the Rhine," written by Jeffrey J.Clarke and Robert Ross Smith in 1992. On 15 August 1944, the Allies finally launched Operation anvil, code name for the amphibious assault against southern France. Long in the planning as an adjunct to the main effort in Normandy, the effort represented a victory for U.S. strategists seeking to focus Allied military strength against western Germany. The successful assault was rapidly followed up by the seizure of the important French Mediterranean ports of Marseille and Toulon and a concerted drive north up the Rhone River valley to Lyon. There the Franco-American Riviera Force, consisting of the U.S. Seventh and the French First Armies, was combined into the Sixth Army Group under Lt. Gen. Jacob Devers as the southern element of General Eisenhower's northern European command. From September to November 1944 the Sixth Army Group struggled east through the Vosges mountains and through the Saverne and Belfort gaps to the north and south, respectively. Inclement weather, rugged terrain, and stiffening defense by the German Nineteenth Army slowed the army group's progress toward the German border to a crawl. During the well-planned November offensive, however, Devers' forces surged through the German lines, rapidly advancing to the Rhine and destroying the cohesiveness of the defenders in the process. But rather than move directly into Germany, Eisenhower ordered the bulk of the Seventh Army to strike northward in support of the U.S. Third Army's less successful offensive in Lorraine. In the process the Army group lost its momentum, allowing the Germans to retain a foothold in the Vosges around the city of Colmar and in the north to conduct a more orderly withdrawal to the German border. In December the German Ardennes offensive forced the Sixth Army Group to halt all offensive operations and extend its front northward. As a result, the German High Command launched Operation NORDWIND in January 1945, a major armor and infantry offensive against the extended Seventh Army. A stubborn but flexible defense finally wore the German forces thin, but both sides suffered heavily from the bitterly cold weather. In February, Devers' forces resumed the offensive, eliminating the Colmar Pocket and the Nineteenth Army and setting the stage for the final drive into Germany. This volume links the U.S. Army's Mediterranean and northern European operational series together and provides an important counterpoint for those works dealing with Eisenhower's two more well-known army groups commanded by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley. The opening section treats the Southern France Campaign as part of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations; a middle section covers the fighting in the Vosges; and the final section takes up the battle of Alsace. Joint operations are highlighted in the treatment of anvil, perhaps the most successful amphibious operation during the war, while the problems of combined (multinational) command are discussed throughout. A full account of German plans, organization, and actions is included for perspective, and the operations of the First French Army, a major component of the American army group, are also treated in detail. Key topics: 1. Combined and joint politico-military war planning. 2. Partisan guerrillas. 3. Amphibious loading for logistics. 4. Air-sea-land interdiction operations. 5. Armored warfare. 6. Civil affairs. 7. Close air support.. 8. River crossings. 9. Morale and discipline. 10. Special and airborne operations. 11. Winter and mountain fighting. 12. Intelligence derived from communications intercepts and human sources, ULTRA and the OSS. THE LAST OFFENSIVE "The Last Offensive," was written by Charles B. MacDonald and published in 1973 and updated in 1984 and 1990. The Last Offensive is the final volume of the United States Army in World War II subseries The European Theater of Operations. It recounts the closing battles in which the American forces cross the Rhine River, historic boundary of German power, and, with the Western Allies, defeat and destroy Hitler's armies deployed on the Western Front. The story in these final chapters follows those told in The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge and in Riviera to the Rhine; the time frame extends from the first days of January 1945 to V–E Day (8 May). The massive force under Elsenhower's command had attained the battle experience of a professional army; it was superior to the Wehrmacht both in manpower and materiel. On VE Day Eisenhower would have under his command more than four and a half million troops: 91 divisions (61 of which were American), 6 tactical air commands, and 2 strategic air forces. In this volume appears a reckoning of the total Allied effort in the West and the human cost accumulated between D-day and VE Day. In these months a total of 5,412,219 Allied troops had entered the European Theater of Operations, along with 970,044 vehicles and 18,292,310 tons of supplies. Allied casualties for the period of combat are estimated at a figure of 766,294. American losses are carried as 586,628, of which 135,576 are listed as dead. The Last Offensive is a dramatic piece of military history and offers a varied array of ground force operations. In these final months the U.S. First, Third, Seventh, and Ninth Armies, reinforced by British and Canadian armies on the northern flank and a French army on the southern wing, erased the two German salients west of the Rhine (in the Ardennes and around Colmar) and drove to the long-time Allied objective, the Rhine. The powerful assaults to force the Rhine crossings were accompanied by a prime example of "luck" in battle, the seizure of the Remagen bridge, and abetted by a spectacular air-drop assault Operation VARSITY, the last of the war. Beyond the Rhine there follows a series of the most massive sweeps and wide turning movements in World War II, engulfing and destroying the German armies in the Ruhr Pocket. The end of the Wehrmacht comes when the Americans join the Soviets at the Elbe while the Seventh U.S. Army races to and crosses the Danube. The gigantic size of these operations requires that this volume be structured with emphasis on the army but with close scrutiny of important engagements by divisional organizations. The detailed story of the Allied command in this period will be found in The Supreme Command. Nonetheless, The Last Offensive analyzes the controversy between Eisenhower and Montgomery over the competing strategies based on an advance all along the front versus a narrow, deep, and powerful thrust on a very constricted front. Here it is shown that the Allied front expands from 450 miles in January to twice that width at VE Day. Also, explanation is given herein regarding Eisenhower's decision to halt the advance of the Western Allies on the Leipzig axis, short of Berlin. Despite the great Allied superiority on the ground and in the air, the war weary and weakened German troops fought stubbornly in these last battles; The Last Offensive gives credit to these veteran troops fighting in a hopeless and meaningless cause. Key topics: 1. The "grand tactics" of wide encircling sweeps and deep penetrations. 2. Tactical and technical problems in the crossing of defended rivers and the consolidation of bridgeheads. 3. Effect of varied combinations of terrain and weather on mechanical operations. 4. Management of logistics in support of rapid movement by large forces. 5. Organization for combat at the division level during operations of deep penetration and rapid exploitation. 6. Tactics and techniques of bridging and assault craft operations at large water barrier. 7. Tactical use of smoke, fog, and weather. 8. Airborne transport and vertical encirclement by air. 9. Air interdiction in support of Allied ground operations. The Middle East Theater This one-volume subseries tells the little-known story of the U.S. Army's mission of assisting the British in their efforts to deliver supplies to the Soviet Union through the Persian Corridor. Initially, the primary American missions involved base construction and the operation of assembly points. This assignment was soon enlarged to include the transportation of materiel to its new ally over a 400-mile network of primitive railroads and highways. From 1942 until the last Soviet soldier left the corridor in 1946, Iran was the silent and little-consulted partner in its destiny, as Britain and the United States struggled to keep the Soviet Union supplied with the military essentials of war. The story thus chronicles the beginnings of an involvement that would culminate in Operation desert storm almost fifty years later. THE PERSIAN CORRIDOR AND AID TO RUSSIA "The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia," written by T. H. Vail Motter, published in 1952 and updated in 1985 and 1989. The "Persian Corridor" was one of two major theaters of operations in World War II whose paramount mission was supply. (The other was China-Burma-India.) The Army's mission in Iran was to accelerate the delivery of lend-lease supplies to the Soviet Union. The operation involved delicate and complex relations with three cooperating powers: Great Britain, the USSR, and Iran. These relations transcended logistics and military administration and entered the diplomatic sphere. This volume was written with an awareness of this difficult experiment in cooperation. It is therefore a book for the statesman, administrator, and historian, as well as for officers responsible for future planning in the realm of logistics and strategy. More specifically the book is indispensable to the study of Anglo-American aid to the USSR after the breakdown of the Murmansk route in 1942 and the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa. The point of view is that of top command responsibility; but all aspects of planning and operations from Washington and London to the "theater" itself are illustrated. The study emphasizes organization and administration as well as achievement in terms of operational results. In addition to the task of moving supplies through Iran to the Soviet Union, the Army was charged with responsibility for rendering economic and military aid to Iran. This was accomplished by advisory missions to the Iranian Army and the Iranian Gendarmerie and by the broadening of the commander's directive to include economic assistance to Iran. The volume therefore describes precedents of importance to readers interested in the development of the policy of containment and military assistance, adopted by the United States in the post–World War II era. Key topics: 1. The use of civilian contractors versus militarization of a large effort of supply in wartime. 2. Procurement of materiel and manpower (American and Iranian) for construction and the operation of theater Services . 3. Changes in organization required by changes in Allied policy and theater mission. 4. The problem of overlapping functions and the rivalries between military and civilian (Army, State Department, War Shipping Administration, and Lend-Lease Administration) agencies in an overseas area. 5. Anglo-American command relationships in Iran. 6. Difficulties of cooperation with the USSR. 7. Rivalries between Great Britain and the Soviet Union in Iran and their continued efforts to exclude each other from their respective zones. 8. Anglo-American-Soviet negotiations directed toward legalization of the status of American troops in Iran and the relation of these to the Declaration of the Three Powers regarding Iran, 1 December 1943. 9. Anglo-American-Iranian negotiations regarding payment for the use of the Iranian State Railway. 10. Diplomatic background of the U.S. advisory missions to Iran. 11. Employment of native labor. 12. Security arrangements in tribal areas. 13. Planning for expansion of the oil pipeline net in Iran and of the refinery capacity at Bahrein and Abadan. 14. The role of the Army Service Forces in organizing and administering a supply theater. 15. Command relations between the Middle East Theater and the administration of the Army's responsibilities in Iran. 16. Shipping—the conflict between global and local interests. 17. The tendency to overexpand staff and organize beyond the demands of function. The Mediterranean Theater of Operations This four-volume subseries begins with American troops, part of the Allied Expeditionary Force, wading through the surf on the beaches of Northwest Africa on 8 November 1942 and ends in the Italian Alps some 31 months later with the German surrender in May 1945. With supply lines always stretched to the breaking point, American and Allied soldiers faced a determined and resourceful enemy, harsh weather, inhospitable terrain, and indefinite goals in what many would later consider as little more than a sideshow to the "real" war in northern Europe. Nevertheless, as these volumes trace the slow but steady advance of the Allies from North Africa, through Sicily, and up the Italian boot, the role that these campaigns played in wearing down the Axis powers and contributing to the final victory becomes evident. The authors also devote considerable attention to the politico-military negotiations leading to the surrender of the Italian Army, where military men were required to double as diplomats. NORTHWEST AFRICA: SEIZING THE INITIATIVE IN THE WEST "Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West," was written by George F. Howe, published in 1957 and updated in 1985 and 1991. This volume is the history of the campaigns in World War II in which U.S. Army forces were first extensively engaged. It covers Operation TORCH, a massive amphibious, surprise assault in November 1942, after which the Allies speedily gained control of French Morocco and Algeria and obtained a toehold in Tunisia. It then describes the campaign in Tunisia which, beginning with stalemate in December 1942, involved broadening fronts, a buildup on both sides, concentration in Tunisia of Allied and Axis forces previously engaged in western Egypt and Libya, seesawing combat, and finally constriction of all Axis forces within northeastern Tunisia, where they surrendered en masse on 13 May 1943. The author has drawn on abundant German sources to illuminate the strategy and tactics of the enemy and produce a two-sided picture. Although primarily concerned with the role of U.S. ground forces, the narrative relates their efforts to the operations of sea and air forces of the several nations in both coalitions and takes into account the plans and operations by which the Allies wrested air superiority from the Axis. The inexperienced ground forces of the United States were assigned holding or diversionary missions throughout the campaign in Tunisia. But they learned from experience, and in the final Allied drive in the spring of 1943 General Bradley's II Corps broke out of the mountains and occupied Bizerte at the same time that the British took Tunis. Northwest Africa is a study of the trial-and-error process that characterized America's first large-scale campaign. It has unique interest as the narrative of the first invasion in World War II of territory held by a friendly nation, in which one objective of the Allies was to revive the military resistance of the French to the Axis conquerors. The planning and execution of torch were deeply conditioned by political considerations, and throughout both of the campaigns recounted in this volume the Allied command was ceaselessly confronted by difficult political issues along with those of a more strictly military nature. Key topics: 1. Allied and Axis command structures compared. 2. Tactical planning of joint task forces. 3. Problems of a successful command occupying colonial territory of a friendly nation. 4. Large-scale amphibious surprise assault on lightly defended shores. 5. Offensive and defensive tactics along a broad front. 6. Establishing an integrated coalition headquarters. 7. Organized cooperation with the French on a clandestine basis. 8. Defense of a mountain pass. 9. Uncoordinated attacks and piecemeal commitment of forces. 10. Rearmament of the French.. SICILY AND THE SURRENDER OF ITALY "Sicily and the Surrender of Italy," written by Albert N. Garland and Howard McGaw Smyth, published in 1965 and updated in 1986 and 1991. This volume describes the events surrounding the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and the subsequent surrender of the Italian government. The book is divided into three sections. The first part sets the strategic stage by describing the debate between American and British strategists over the course of Allied operations in the Mediterranean theater during 1943. In recounting how the Allies came to agree upon the invasion of Sicily at the Casablanca Conference, the authors illustrate the difficulties of Grafting grand strategy in coalition warfare. The problems of coalition warfare were not limited to the Allied side, however, and the book relates the difficulties the Axis experienced in formulating strategic plans and in defining command relationships. Part One of Sicily and the Surrender of Italy concludes with an analysis of Allied plans for the invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation HUSKY, and Axis defensive measures. In doing so, the volume highlights the challenges Allied planners faced in designing what was at that time the largest amphibious landing of World War II. The second section describes the invasion and conquest of Sicily, a rugged island bastion whose mountainous terrain greatly assisted the Axis defenders. The narrative fully examines the key Allied operational decisions of the campaign, including General Sir Harold Alexander's decision to shift the direction of the U.S. Seventh Army's advance, General George Patton's sweep to Palermo, and Anglo-American rivalry in the race for Messina. Axis actions on the island are also well documented. The book focuses, however, on the operations of the American Seventh Army. The combat narrative is written largely at the division and regimental level but occasionally dips down to individual companies in key combat actions. The type of operations described in the book include airborne and amphibious assaults, establishment and defense of a beachhead, mountain combat, and German rear guard tactics. Part Two of the volume culminates in the final Allied drive to Messina and the evacuation of Axis forces to Italy. The invasion of Sicily sent shock waves through war-weary Italy and set in motion a movement that eventually toppled Mussolini from power. Part Three of Sicily and the Surrender of Italy returns to the strategic level, detailing the secret negotiations that eventually led to Italy's capitulation to the Allies, as well as Germany's countermeasures to seize control of the country. A discussion of the Allied decision to exploit the demise of fascism in Italy serves as a prologue for the next volume in The Mediterranean Theater of Operations subseries, Salerno to Cassino. Key topics: 1. Strategic planning in coalition warfare, including the debate between the advocates of a "peripheral" strategy and a cross-Channel attack; the decision to invade Sicily; the Casablanca, TRIDENT, and Quebec conferences; and the question of how to exploit the collapse of Italy. 2. The erosion and ultimate dissolution of the Rome-Berlin Axis. 3. Planning and organizing a large-scale, joint and combined invasion against a defended coast (Operation husky). 4. Negotiations for the surrender of Italy. 5. Evolution of invasion plans. 6. The first major Allied airborne operation of World War II. 7. Allied amphibious operations. 8. Modifying a campaign plan during the course of operations. 9. Challenges posed to U.S. forces by mountain warfare and German defensive techniques. 10. The successful Axis evacuation of Sicily. 11. Difficulties in strategic and tactical surface-air coordination. 12. Efforts to deceive the Axis about Allied invasion plans. 13. Patton and the slapping incident. SALERNO TO CASSINO "Salerno to Cassino," written by Martin Blumenson, published in 1969 and updated in 1988. In September 1943 a combined British and American amphibious force finally made the first Allied landing on the continent of Europe. After campaigns which began with amphibious assaults in both Africa and Sicily, the Allies were hoping that the invasion of Italy would be an equally successful endeavor. Although the Italian capitulation on the eve of the invasion filled the troops with confidence that enemy resistance would rapidly collapse, the Allied campaign in Italy was as tough as any fought in World War II; if anything, the Italian surrender hardened German resistance. Salerno to Cassino begins the story of the Allied effort to wrest control of Italy from its German occupiers, while Cassino to the Alps provides the conclusion. The confrontation in Italy was the first time Allied armies faced the German Army in a sustained campaign on the European mainland. During the first eight months covered by this volume the fighting was brutal and the situation on both sides was anything but optimistic. The opponents faced the same difficult terrain and bad weather and shared similar supply problems. The Germans, defending in the south, had their long supply lines subjected to the ever-increasing Allied air power, and the Allies had a chronic shortage of practically all types of shipping. Although the author focuses on the tactical activities of the Allies with special emphasis on the U.S. Fifth Army, he also provides the strategic framework within which those activities took place. The account includes the German point of view and sketches of air and naval activities pertinent to understanding the ground situation. Highlights of the volume include the problems faced by American forces in the initial landings at Salerno, the difficulties encountered while attempting to force a crossing of the flooded Rapido River, the controversial decision to bomb the historical Benedictine abbey on Monte Cassino, and the stalemate at the Anzio beachhead. Key topics: 1. Amphibious assaults. 2. River crossings. 3. Assaulting fortified towns. 4. Mountain warfare. 5. Small-unit tactics. 6. Use of air power. 7. German command problem. 8. Strategic decision making in coalition warfare. 9. German defensive tactics. 10. Use of airborne troops. 11. Coalition command considerations. CASSINO TO THE ALPS "Cassino to the Alps," written by Ernest F. Fisher, Jr., published in 1977 and updated in 1989. This volume continues the story of the Italian campaign with the Allied spring offensive in May 1944 which carried two Allied armies, the U.S. Fifth and the British Eighth, to Rome by 4 June and to the final German capitulation in May 1945. Represented in these armies were Americans, Belgians, Brazilians, British, Canadians, Cypriots, French (including mountain troops from Algeria and Morocco), Palestinian Jews, East Indians, Italians, Nepalese, New Zealanders, Poles, South Africans, Syro-Lebanese, and Yugoslavians. The Fifth Army also included the U.S. Army's only specialized mountain division, one of its two segregated all-black divisions, and a regimental combat team composed solely of Americans of Japanese descent. The campaign involved one ponderous attack after another against fortified positions: the Winter Line, the Gustav Line (including Monte Cassino), and the Gothic Line. It called for ingenuity in employing tanks and tank destroyers over terrain that severely restricted the use of mobile forces. In addition the Allied attackers constantly had to devise new methods to supply forces fighting through dangerous mountain terrain in central Italy or those fighting in flooded lowlands along the Adriatic coast. It was also a campaign replete with controversy, as might have been expected in a theater where the presence of many nationalities and two fairly equal partners imposed considerable strain on the process of coalition command. Among the most troublesome questions was the judgment of American commander, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, to focus on the capture of Rome rather than conforming with the wishes of his British superior who was more concerned with trapping the retreating German forces. Other issues have proved equally controversial. Did Allied commanders conduct the pursuit north of Rome with sufficient vigor? Indeed, should the campaign have been pursued all the way to the Alps when the Allies might have halted at some readily defensible line and awaited the outcome of the decisive campaign in northwestern Europe? Just as the campaign began on a note of covert politico-military maneuvering to achieve the surrender of the Italian forces, so it ended in intrigue and secret negotiations for a separate surrender of the Germans in Italy. Nevertheless, the 570 days which the Allies battled in Italy made it the longest sustained Allied campaign of World War II. The narrative ranges from detailed descriptions of company-level tactics up through division, corps, and army with considerable tactical detail at each level of command. Key topics: 1. Grand strategy from both Allied and German points of view, including opposing command structures, and operational planning at army, corps, and division level, both Allied and German. 2. Corps operations in mountainous terrain. 3. Planning for and breakout from a beachhead under enemy observation. 4. Mountain warfare, including classic stratagem for breaking through mountain defenses, the use of trained mountain infantry in a flanking maneuver, and the penetration of mountain passes. 5. Pursuit operations on a two-army front. 6. Armor in rugged terrain. 7. River crossings on a broad front. 8. Surrender negotiations. 9. Artillery support. 10. Operations in adverse conditions of weather and soil, mud, cold, rain, and floods. Requires Windows or MAC From publisher on generic CD-ROM | |||||
| 373rd Engineers | 46 Relevance | 16 years ago | dal7910 | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| Father was Joseph Hardy, he was in the 373rd General Services Regiment, Company E. Time frame was from formation (circa 1943 to 1946) Looking to find, share any info with others I came across this posting the other day and I was wondering if you are still looking for info on the 373rd Engineers. My grandfather was a captain in the 373rd Engineers, H&S company. Feel free to contact me if you are still researching. Sincerely, dal7910 | |||||
| Thumbnail sketch - Battle of the Bulge | 45 Relevance | 20 years ago | Walts Daughter | ANYTHING WWII | |
| Sent to me by James Hennessey: Thumbnail sketch of "The Battle of the Bulge" (title attributed to Winston Churchill) German General Von Rundstedt started the attack against the First Army's VII and VIII Corps on the 16th of December. Von Rundstedt's forces hit quickly and gained the element of surprise. Because of this, his soldiers were making excellent progress. Eisenhower and his staff at SHAEF began to worry that they had underestimated the ability of the Germans. They feared that the Germans might be able to use this massive offensive to go to the north and west to capture the cities of Liege and Antwerp. Liege was extremely important because the Allies had large supply dumps there. If the Germans managed to seize those supplies, they could possibly push the Allies back to the coastline, causing them to lose all the ground they had gained. Antwerp was important because it was a port city. If captured, the Germans could use it to bring in badly needed supplies. At a special meeting of all the highest ranking Generals in the American, British, and Canadian armies,it was decided that the toughest job would go to General Patton and his Third Army. They would have to relieve the soldiers who had been surrounded by the Germans at the Belgian City of Bastogne. After the meeting, Eisenhower, who had just been promoted to the five-star rank of General of the Army,was talking with General Patton. He remarked, "George, everytime I get promoted I get attacked." Patton shot back with the comment, "And every time you get attacked, I pull you out!" The 101st Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, was holding out and fighting off the fierce attempts by the Germans to overrun Bastogne. The Third Army had to stop a full scale attack they had started to the east, pull back the entire army, swing around ninety degrees to the north, and then begin another full scale attack on the southern flank of the German forces. Nothing like that had ever been done in the history of warfare. Everyone thought it was impossible except General Patton. He knew his men could do the impossible. It only took three days for the Third Army to perform that massive maneuver. Today, military historians readily admit that only Patton's Third Army could have accomplished a maneuver like that and make it look easy. Patton always demanded more from his soldiers than other commanders did and they never let him down. One of the reasons the Third Army performed so well is because they expected the German attack. While Eisenhower and his friends were playing cards in London and the First Army turned part of their area into a R & R (Rest and Recuperation) area, Patton's intelligence officers were hard at work. The events leading up to the Battle of the Bulge have, like the Falaise Gap and Operation Market-Garden, become controversial issues. Many people believe that Eisenhower's staff at SHAEF made poor decisions when they ignored Third Army reports about a possible German offensive in the Ardennes. Colonel Oscar Koch, head of Third Army's G-2 Intelligence department, had sent intelligence reports warning SHAEF that the Germans were probably planning a major attack against the First Army's R&R area. His report was ignored. They refused to believe the Germans could collect the mass of weapons, men, and material to launch a large attack. It was a classic case of underestimating the enemy. At Colonel Koch's suggestion, General Patton gave the order for his staff to design two separate plans in the event of a German attack. General Patton believed Colonel Koch and considered him to be the best G-2 in the European Theater of Operations. When Patton attended the meeting with the other Allied commanders he told them he could attack in two days with at least two divisions. Everyone thought he was crazy, but he told them that he had already set plans in motion before he left his headquarters. All he had to was place a phone call. When it was finally decided that he should attack as soon as possible, he phoned his headquarters and said, "Nickel." The attack was on. The General never returned to his headquarters. Instead, he and his driver, Sergeant Mims, began traveling along the roads where he knew he would meet his soldiers heading north. He gave orders on the spot and told everyone he met to head north and kill Germans. Sergeant Mims once said to Patton, "General, the army is wasting a lot of money on your staff officers. You and I can run the whole war from your jeep." While watching his men heading toward the Germans surrounding Bastogne, he said, "No other army in the world could do this. No other soldiers could do what these men are doing. By God, I'm proud of them." On the 26th of December a 4th Armored Division Task Force, commanded by Major General H.J. Gaffey, made contact with the soldiers at Bastogne. By this time, urgently needed snow camouflage for both troops and vehicles was being quickly supplied. Because of the problem of tanks slipping on the icy terrain, supply troops had installed special cleats on the treads of the tanks, much like the cleats on athlete's shoes. The Germans threw everything they had into the attack against Bastogne. It was their last chance against the Allies. They made every attempt to smash and close the corridor the 4th Armored Division had opened to Bastogne. When failure was certain they began to withdraw their armor behind the Siegfried line for the second and final time. Badly hurt by the beating they had taken, the Germans used what was left of their infantry to screen their movements. Although they were handicapped by bitterly cold weather, ice, and snow, the Third Army continued it's pressure on the south flank of the enemy penetration. By the end of December, the enemy had succeeded in saving what armor had not been destroyed. The bulge slowly became a wedge and the wedge finally disappeared. Finally, another bulge appeared except this time it was on the German side of the front lines. Officially, on the 28th of January, the "Battle of the Bulge" was over -- but that date continues to be bitterly contested by those who fought during the Battle of the Bulge who maintain that the Bulge was not over until the Germans had been driven back to their starting point and Von Rundstedt's "Ardennes Offensive" (as the Germans called it) had lost, by late February 1945, all of the ground that it had originally won. The enemy was now completely pushed back into German territory. The soldiers of the First Army had fought gallantly and bravely throughout the entire Battle of the Bulge. Although they were to be commended for their courage and fighting ability, the truth is that they would have lost the battle without the help of the Third Army. It was General Patton's Third Army that performed the most crucial role in stopping the Germans. Without their quick and decisive maneuver and attack, the Battle of the Bulge would have been a massive disaster for the Allies. What cannot be understood was General Eisenhower's attitude toward General Patton and the Third Army. General Bradley, 12th Army Group Commander, and General Hodges, First Army commander, received Distinguished Service Medals for their poor leadership. It was also partly due to their lack of discipline among their soldiers that the Germans were able to get so far in their attack. Yet, General Patton, whose Third Army was mostly responsible for saving they day, was never even thanked by Eisenhower. Patton, however, didn't have time to worry about such small things. He was getting ready for another drive into Germany. After The Bulge became history, the Third Army began a powerful advance to the Kyll River in Germany. George Smith Patton, Jr. Omar Nelson Bradley Promoted to Brigadier General October, 1940 February, 1941 Promoted to Major General April, 1941 February, 1942 Promoted to Lieutenant General March, 1943 June, 1943 Promoted to Full General April, 1945 March, 1945 Promoted to General of the Army ---------- September, 1950 | |||||
| RE: 373rd General Services anyu information | 38 Relevance | 1 month ago | Walts Daughter | INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESEARCH | |
| Christmas under the gun | 35 Relevance | 18 years ago | Walts Daughter | THE HOME FRONT | |
| Christmas under the gun World War II changed the way Americans celebrate their winter holidays. But those holidays of light also changed the dark experience of war. by Terry W. Burger It’s October, and Christmas is coming fast to America. On one shelf there’s a rubber George W. Bush mask next to a few stacks of plastic vampire teeth and some packages of so-called baldhead wigs. Just across the aisle, a giant, inflatable Rudolph and Santa lawn ornament stands next to a skinny plastic Christmas tree with built-in rainbow-colored lights... Some social critics believe that the holiday shopping madness that now begins months before Christmas—as well as the emphasis on gifts rather than religious observance—had its origin in World War II. It took a long time for packages to reach servicemen scattered across the globe, the theory goes, and merchants were only too happy to urge people to shop early for the season. While the war may have brought some changes to the winter holidays, those holidays also brought some changes to the war. Christmas and Hanukkah gave a sense of hope and home to American GIs immersed in the vast horrors of the war. Jack Gingrich of Easton, Maryland, now 79, was a signalman on the USS Chikaskia, an oil tanker in the Pacific during World War II. He served on the ship from its commissioning in 1942 through the end of the war. Gingrich says the officers on the Chikaskia made sure the holiday season was celebrated right. "We had Christmas dinner, on the deck," he remembers. "We always had religious Services. We made a Christmas tree out of stuff the deck crew put together. We made do with what we had. We sang carols. I can’t remember if we had a chaplain, but we had religious Services. I remember that." Charlie McCue, 79, also served on the Chikaskia in the Pacific, as a bosun’s mate. He doesn’t remember any Christmas trees. "We were out in the South Pacific," he says. "Christmas just came and went. Of course we had a good meal. That’s about it. I believe it was turkey. We probably got them the last time we were in port. It was a Christmas meal, but like I say, no Christmas trees, nothing like that. We didn’t have any priest or minister at sea, no special Services, but if we were in port, yeah, we’d have Services." Paul Meistrich, now 85, served in the navy, as did his brother Saul. His brother Jerry served in Europe with the army. All three survived the war, but Paul, who lives in the New York City area, is the only one of the three still living. "Saul served on an oil tanker in the Pacific," Meistrich says. "He was one of only two Jews on the ship. They were considered lucky, because they prayed every morning after strapping Tefillin (two small leather cases containing Hebrew scriptures that Jewish men traditionally wear on the forehead and the left arm during morning prayer). One day when the ship was under attack and everything was in chaos, the captain came running up to Saul and yelled, ‘Meistrich, have you put on those Tefillin yet?’" Meistrich spent the war stateside, mostly on the west coast. The holiday season became important as a chance for Jewish soldiers and sailors to visit home. "For servicemen, it was either a chance to go home or to go out and have a good time," Meistrich says. "If you were near a synagogue..., they gave you the day off for religious observance. If you were on a ship or in the field, they were careful to have Passover and Yom Kippur. You always got time off for those two major holidays. I was fortunate to be 40 miles east of Los Angeles, and many homes were open to us." Both Christmas and Hanukkah had been relatively minor holidays in American history. David Greenberg wrote for the magazine Slate in December 1998 that the Puritans who settled Massachusetts made it a crime to celebrate Christmas. The punishment for offenders was a fine of five shillings. Even just before World War II, Christmas was an important religious and family event, but was Generally held close to the bosom of the family and community. It was not a major commercial opportunity. The idea of exchanging gifts for the holiday came from a blend of German, Dutch, and English customs. The Christmas tree itself is a pagan custom that originated with the Germans and was Christianized in the early years of the church in Europe. German settlers introduced it to America, where it became popular after the Civil War. Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, is close enough to Christmas on the calendar to get caught up in its social and economic currents. It is a celebration of an event that occurred about 2,100 years ago after a battle between the Jews and Syrian Greeks. The Jews won the battle, but their temple had been reduced to rubble. "As the Jews set about to rebuild and rededicate the holy place, they searched for the specially prepared, pure olive oil they needed to light the flame of the menorah, or candelabrum, which is supposed to burn day and night," wrote Greenberg. "Sadly, they found only enough oil for one day, but, amazingly, the oil lasted eight days, long enough for the Jews to prepare a new supply of oil—the miracle of Hanukah. " Gift-giving, not originally a part of the Hanukkah celebration, has become a tradition for children, Greenberg wrote, adding that American Jews were not altogether comfortable with their traditional celebration evolving into something "fundamentally Christian. But parents couldn’t very well deprive their kids of gifts or seasonal merriment, and Hanukkah benefited from convenient timing." Charles H. Glatfelter, professor emeritus of history at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, has written extensively on the history of south-central Pennsylvania and its social and religious customs. He said that during his youth, in the decade of the Great Depression before World War II, Christmas was an important, if intimate, celebration. "I think if you look at Gettysburg newspapers leading up to Christmas, you’ll find churches had special Services for the holiday," he explains. "The church where my wife grew up...had Services on Christmas morning. The church was usually full on that day. In fact, it was one of the best attended Services of the year." Although the war ended in 1945, the extended shopping season it helped establish did not. In the space of a few years, Christmas, and to an extent Hanukkah, had evolved from homey religious observances to retail extravaganzas with a thin religious veneer. "It is possible that much of what Christmas is today is a byproduct of the unprecedented prosperity that followed World War II," says Glatfelter. "The view of a lot of people toward the end of the war was that we were going to relapse into the Great Depression. "It was difficult to imagine the prosperity that was coming. Nobody realized the purchasing power that veterans and veterans’ families had, and the GI Bill of Rights provided means to go to college and easy terms for purchasing homes." Hanukkah had changed, too. "It’s a post-Biblical holiday, and more of a family holiday," Meistrich says. "It was mostly for the children, because you gave out gifts, like Christmas. We used to taunt the Catholic kids by telling them that we got presents for eight days, not just one. Hanukkah is mostly social, unless you’re very committed." Besides changing the materialistic element of the winter holidays, the war also gave those holidays a new depth of meaning. America had wanted no part in the war that had been spreading across the globe for years. Polls taken in 1940 suggested that 85 percent of Americans wanted to stay out the fighting. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed that. By the end of the war, more than 400,000 American military men and women were dead, and nearly twice that many had been wounded. Almost every American knew someone who had been killed or wounded. The hardest time was in the early months of the war, before American forces got traction, and when advances were few and losses heavy. Even so, World War II was a so-called good war, if there is such a thing—a war where the distinction between good and evil was clear. The United States, perhaps for the last time, was acting united. It was an era of sacrifice—for those in the military, certainly, but also for the civilians. America’s dawning post-Depression consumerism, just beginning to flower when the war erupted, had to be put on hold. Rubber was in short supply because of the war effort and because Japan cut off sources of raw rubber from Southeast Asia. The average American could get only enough gas to drive 60 miles a week, and a Victory Speed Limit of 35 mph was introduced to save gas. People were urged to stay home. Autos became scarce, because none were built after early 1942. Everything that could be used to make materiel for the war effort was used, and at a feverish pitch. Even shoes and food and nylon stockings were rationed. Despite the hardships, or perhaps because of them, Christmas and the Festival of Lights became stronger. John Otto, 84, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was serving the 82nd Airborne in December 1944, when the Germans launched their last big offensive, later known as the Battle of the Bulge. "We were supposed to be getting ready to jump into Berlin," Otto remembers. "That was the big plan. We weren’t ready for the Battle of the Bulge. I was just out of the hospital, after getting shot up in Holland." As Christmas loomed, Otto, a company executive officer, says he wanted to get something special together for the guys under his command. "My guys didn’t have enough of anything, shoes, clothes, etc.," he says. "We had a medical guy," he continues. "Every morning he would run from a house we were in to a small barn, where there was a goat. "He would milk the goat into his helmet and then run back to the house. The Germans would shoot at him, but they never hit him. Our radio man was a baker and knew where to find some flour. Another fellow found some apples. I said I’d get the sugar. At the time, we were getting C rations. So, when the rations were being broken down at company headquarters, I took all the sugar from the rations. The guys squawked, but I blamed it all on battalion headquarters. "The baker got everything together and made apple pies. When they were ready, we took them out to all the strong points, to the machine gun crews, that sort of thing. It was their Christmas present. It worked real nice. I told them, ‘Here’s the damned sugar you were bitching about!’" John Fague of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, has his own recollection of Christmas during the Battle of the Bulge. Now 80, Fague served as a staff sergeant in the 11th Armored Division, 21st Armored Infantry Battalion. "My division hadn’t been committed yet," he recalls. "We came up from southern France, and spent the night, Christmas Eve, in some French barracks. We had Christmas Services and the next day headed for the front. We had a nice Christmas dinner in the field, though not exactly in combat." After the war, Glatfelter says, Christmas remained an important time for families to gather together. All those Christmases apart during the war can only have made the holiday more important upon the GIs’ return. "My family had a store," Glatfelter says. "We were open 364 days a year. The only day we were closed was Christmas Day. We always had a meal for all of the family who were available. As far as the significance of Christmas was concerned, it was one of the key days in the year." In the rural hills of south-central Pennsylvania where he grew up, in fact, Christmas as a season of religious significance—if not as a reason to shop—had been woven fast into the culture since at least a century before World War II. "I grew up in Glen Rock, a town which since 1848, without a break, has had a band of singers go through the streets singing Christmas carols, some of which were brought over from England," says Glatfelter. "The story is that the caroling was started by two men recently moved there from England. I believe the motive behind the creation of the caroling group was homesickness. The practice continued through the war. "The singers during the war were very much aware that some of their number was in service. I remember...the case of one soldier still in the country [who] called by telephone Christmas Eve and heard some of the carols from wherever he was. It was obviously important to him. Everyone was aware that there was a war going on, but they [the carolers] didn’t stop. They thought they should carry on." Perhaps the real legacy of the Christmases and Hanukkahs of the World War II years could be the hopeful lesson of those persistent carolers: whatever your worries and plights and heartaches, carry on. ............................................................... Terry W. Burger writes for the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This article originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of America in WWII. | |||||
| 373rd Engineers | 30 Relevance | 15 years ago | P.R. Patzer | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| Attached is the Barry Depot section of the official history of the 373rd. My father, PFC Roger J. Patzer, was in the thiord platoon of 'D' Company; he served with the 373rd from Camp Claiborne until 3/1/45. | |||||
| 373rd Engineers | 30 Relevance | 16 years ago | GriffeysGirl | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| I came across this posting the other day and I was wondering if you are still looking for info on the 373rd Engineers. My grandfather was a captain in the 373rd Engineers, H&S company. Feel free to contact me if you are still researching. Sincerely, dal7910 | |||||
| 373rd Engineers | 30 Relevance | 16 years ago | walkerstoo | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| I came across this posting the other day and I was wondering if you are still looking for info on the 373rd Engineers. My grandfather was a captain in the 373rd Engineers, H&S company. Feel free to contact me if you are still researching. Sincerely, dal7910 I would appreciateany info u can share | |||||
| 358th Engineers, Company "C" | 45 Relevance | 8 years ago | Eric | LOOKING FOR... | |
| Pthompson38, I apologize for causing confusion about the different units mentioned in this discussion. While this site is clearly concerned with the combat engineers, some of the links posted above by "Walt's Daughter" point to information about the 358th Engineer General Services Regiment. It is not a unit of the combat engineers. I am not sure which link you are referring to in your post above. I did not mention nor reference the combat engineers anywhere in my post. The photograph I included with my post is not linked from another source. It is a lower resolution scan (to keep the size down) from the original in my files. It was taken by my father of members of Company A of the 358th Engineer General Services Regiment while they were in England prior to D-Day engaged in building airfield infrastructure for the 8th Bomber Command. (I have their names and even the name of their dog! Check the lower right hand corner.) I read the following posted above... On 9/10/2017 at 7:52 AM, Walt's Daughter said: your friend that is doing further research for you, needs to tell NARA in Maryland (they have all the declassified records for units) that he needs the records for the 358th General Service Regiment in Europe, My father was in Company A of the 358th Engineer General Services Regiment in Europe. Not the combat engineers. I was just wondering if anyone had information on the 358th Engineer General Services Regiment that could enhance the history that I already have compiled from my father's photos and recollections and the records of the unit found in United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services, The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany by Alfred M. Beck, Abe Bortz, Charles W. Lynch, Lida Mayo, and Ralph F. Weld 1985 and the Unit History of the 1st Battalion 358th Engineer General Services Regiment by C. Hanburger Lt. Colonel, C. E. Commanding - 24 May 1945 and correspondence and reports of the company clerk S/Sgt. Russel F. Wampler during the movements of the 358th Engineer General Services Regiment from Antwerp into Germany in 1945. A google search led me to this site, perhaps this was the wrong place to seek information on a unit that is not the main concern of the site. I apologize again for confusing the issue. | |||||
| 373rd Engineers | 44 Relevance | 16 years ago | Walts Daughter | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| Saw this entry in a newsletter I receive. It was posted in the Normandy Allies AMITIE - Spring 2010 Volume 1 I am trying to find anyone who was in the 373rd Engineer General Service Regiment under Colonel Frank F Bell II. My father was in this unit and was offered a book of the work history of the 373rd when he got out of the service around 1947, and refused the offer. Now he wants a copy. Can you help? Please email me. Linda Well I wrote to her in care of the Normandy Allies, and received an email back, stating they would put me in touch. A cou ... | |||||
| 373rd Engineers | 26 Relevance | 19 years ago | awj5343 | INTRODUCE YOURSELF | |
| Father was Joseph Hardy, he was in the 373rd General Services Regiment, Company E. Time frame was from formation (circa 1943 to 1946) Looking to find, share any info with others | |||||
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