Behind Enemy Lines
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O C Moving on the Left, Along Secondary Roads. Entrenched German Paratroopers of the S.Fallschlrmjaeger-Diuision, Which The
moving on the left, along secondary roads. Entrenched German paratroopers of the S.Fallschlrmjaeger-Diuision, which the 4th Armored Division had met previously in Brittany, checked CCA's advance at Mzuielange for the rest of the day. In Bastogne, General McAuliffe, commander of the surrounded American troops, rejected a German surrender demand with the famous comment, "Nuts!" The CCA columns spent most of the day waiting at Marlenge while engineers spanned the wide chasm of the Sure River with a ninety-foot Bailey bridge. To the west, CCB reached Bumon, only seven miles from Bastogne the first day, but the head of the column was stopped by anti• tank fire in nearby Chaumont after midnight. CCB decided to take no chances and waited for daylight. Saturday dawned clear and bright, enabling Allied aircraft to intervene in the fighting for the first time. Tankers and crewmen of the 704th watched hundreds of C47 transports rumble overhead, bound for Bastogne to paradrop supplies. Soon afterwards, P38s now relieved of their escort duties, swooped down to bomb and sh-affe. After soften• ing Chaumont with an artillery barrage and airstrikes, CCB launched an attack at 1330 hours. At first everything seemed to go fine as the armored infantry and the twenty-two remaining Shermans of the 8th Tank Battalion swept into the village while M18 Hellcats of the 704th laid down a base of fire. But, the clear weather had thawed the fields, and the soft ground bogged down the American tanks. Then, a counterattack from the high ground beyond, led by the 26.Volks- Grenadier-Division's 11 .Sturmgescheutz-Brlgade, blasted eleven of the Shermans and the enemy reentered the village. -
BATTLE-SCARRED and DIRTY: US ARMY TACTICAL LEADERSHIP in the MEDITERRANEAN THEATER, 1942-1943 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial
BATTLE-SCARRED AND DIRTY: US ARMY TACTICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER, 1942-1943 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Steven Thomas Barry Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Allan R. Millett, Adviser Dr. John F. Guilmartin Dr. John L. Brooke Copyright by Steven T. Barry 2011 Abstract Throughout the North African and Sicilian campaigns of World War II, the battalion leadership exercised by United States regular army officers provided the essential component that contributed to battlefield success and combat effectiveness despite deficiencies in equipment, organization, mobilization, and inadequate operational leadership. Essentially, without the regular army battalion leaders, US units could not have functioned tactically early in the war. For both Operations TORCH and HUSKY, the US Army did not possess the leadership or staffs at the corps level to consistently coordinate combined arms maneuver with air and sea power. The battalion leadership brought discipline, maturity, experience, and the ability to translate common operational guidance into tactical reality. Many US officers shared the same ―Old Army‖ skill sets in their early career. Across the Army in the 1930s, these officers developed familiarity with the systems and doctrine that would prove crucial in the combined arms operations of the Second World War. The battalion tactical leadership overcame lackluster operational and strategic guidance and other significant handicaps to execute the first Mediterranean Theater of Operations campaigns. Three sets of factors shaped this pivotal group of men. First, all of these officers were shaped by pre-war experiences. -
Field-Marshal Albert Kesselring in Context
Field-Marshal Albert Kesselring in Context Andrew Sangster Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy University of East Anglia History School August 2014 Word Count: 99,919 © This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or abstract must include full attribution. Abstract This thesis explores the life and context of Kesselring the last living German Field Marshal. It examines his background, military experience during the Great War, his involvement in the Freikorps, in order to understand what moulded his attitudes. Kesselring's role in the clandestine re-organisation of the German war machine is studied; his role in the development of the Blitzkrieg; the growth of the Luftwaffe is looked at along with his command of Air Fleets from Poland to Barbarossa. His appointment to Southern Command is explored indicating his limited authority. His command in North Africa and Italy is examined to ascertain whether he deserved the accolade of being one of the finest defence generals of the war; the thesis suggests that the Allies found this an expedient description of him which in turn masked their own inadequacies. During the final months on the Western Front, the thesis asks why he fought so ruthlessly to the bitter end. His imprisonment and trial are examined from the legal and historical/political point of view, and the contentions which arose regarding his early release. -
ARMOR, November-December 1987 Edition
Technology has been both a boon and a bane to powered tanks. We go home at night to our satellite- commanders since someone organized the first transmitted newspaper and satellite TV. We might talk military unit. Each new development spawned reas- to the folks on a fiber-optic line about our new com- sessment and adaptation of thought, theory, and tac- pact laser disc player, video camera, or computer. If tics. For every technological advantage. there has al- we get sick, we can opt for orthoscopy, laser surgery, ways been and will continue to be a method or tech- or an artificial heart. nique to overcome it. This process has not always been quick, but eventual. How can leaders deal with or possibly keep up with what the microchip has done to our warfighting The Roman legionary's pilum and gladius capability? It seems that no sooner do we learn one dominated the world for centuries. But by the time of system, than another more advanced one takes its Hastings in 1066, the mailed rider rode supreme across place. While it took 20 years to go from the M4A3E8 Europe. The armored knight, in tum, proved vulnerable Sherman to the M60A1 Patton. some armored units to the crossbow in the next century. By 1346, English transitioned from the M60A1 to M60A3 to Mi to M1A1 longbowmen proved their weapons' superiority in ac- in only about five years. curacy, range, and penetration. At Crecy, they were able to dispatch six arrows for each one they received. The obvious answer is that we cannot keep up. -
Oflag XIII-B (13-B) Following Courtsey of Wikipedia
Oflag XIII-B (13-B) Following courtsey of Wikipedia Oflag XIII-B was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp for officers (Offizierslager), originally in the Langwasser district of Nuremberg. In 1943 it was moved to a site 3 km (1.9 mi) south of the town of Hammelburg in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. Lager Hammelburg ("Camp Hammelburg") was a large German Army training camp, opened in 1873. Part of this camp had been used as a POW camp for Allied army personnel during World War I. After 1935 it was a training camp and military training area for the newly reconstituted Army. In World War II the Army used parts of Camp Hammelburg for Oflag XIII-B. It consisted of stone buildings. Stalag XIII-C for other ranks and NCOs was located close by. In May 1941 part of Oflag XIII-A Langwasser, Nuremberg, was separated off, and a new camp, designated Oflag XIII- B, created for Yugoslavian officers, predominantly Serbs captured in the Balkans Campaign. In April 1943 at least 3,000 Serbian officers were moved from Langwasser to Hammelburg. Many were members of the Yugoslavian General Staff, some of whom had been POWs in Germany during the First World War. On 11 January 1945 American officers captured during the Battle of the Bulge arrived and were placed in a separate compound. One of these was Lt. Donald Prell, Anti-tank platoon, 422nd Infantry, 106th Division. By 25 January the total number of Americans was 453 officers, 12 non-commissioned officers and 18 privates. On 10 March 1945 American officers, captured in the North Africa Campaign in 1943 or the Battle of Normandy, arrived after an eight-week 400 mi (640 km) forced march from Oflag 64 in Szubin, Poland. -
Battle Analysis: the Hammelburg Incident – Patton's Last Controversy
Battle Analysis: The Hammelburg Incident – Patton’s Last Controversy by retired LTC Lee F. Kichen LTG George S. Patton Jr.’s reputation as one of America’s greatest battlefield commanders is virtually unquestioned. He was a brilliant tactician, audacious and flamboyant. The infamous slapping incidents and the ensuing publicity firestorm hardly tarnished his reputation as a fighting general. However, his decision to liberate 900 American prisoners of war (POWs) confined in Offizerslager (Oflag) XIIIB near Hammelburg, Germany, was more than an embarrassment, it was the most controversial and worst tactical decision of his career.1 Central to the controversy are lingering questions: Was the decision to raid Oflag XIIIB morally justifiable and tactically sound? What are the lessons for today’s mounted warriors when planning and conducting a deep raid? Did Patton order this raid based on credible intelligence that his son-in-law, LTC John K. Waters, was a prisoner in Oflag XIIIB? Would he have ordered the raid if he had not thought that Waters would likely be there? Or was it intended as a diversionary attack to deceive the enemy that Third Army was attacking east, not north? The answer to what truly motivated Patton to order the ill-fated raid on Hammelburg remains unsettled history. However, the evidence is inconvertible that the raid’s failure resulted from flawed planning by Patton and his subordinate commanders. Personal background Patton repeatedly avowed that he didn’t know for certain that Waters was in Oflag XIIIB. Yet the evidence is overwhelming that Patton knew that Waters was at Hammelburg. -
Frederick, Donald S
MINNESOTA MILITARY MUSEUM st 1 LIEUTENANT DONALD S. FREDERICK (1923-2010) A Featured Veteran from Richfield, Minnesota Joins the National Guard. Don Frederick was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and moved with his family to Minneapolis when he was 14. In 1939, while still a student at Minneapolis Central High School, he joined F Battery, 151st Field Artillery, 34th Infantry Division, of the Minnesota National Guard and drilled at the downtown Minneapolis Armory (he remembered being paid $1 for a four-hour weekly drill, which was a good wage for a 16 year old in 1939). With war looming on the horizon, the Minnesota National Guard was ordered to active duty in the fall of 1940 for a year of “precautionary training,” and Frederick departed with his unit on 10 February 1941 for Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. Don Frederick in Italy shortly after receiving his promotion to lieutenant World War Two begins. As the year of training neared its in Oct 1943. end, Pearl Harbor was attacked and the United States officially entered World War Two. All enlistments were extended for the war’s duration. The 34th Division was reorganized and Frederick was transferred into the division’s new 175th Field Artillery Battalion. In January 1942 he sailed with the 175th to Northern Ireland, becoming part of the first contingent of American soldiers to be sent overseas for the European Theater. Becomes one of the first Rangers. While training in Northern Ireland that spring, Frederick volunteered for—and was accepted into—a new U.S. Army unit.1 It was called the First Ranger Battalion and was patterned after the commando units of the British Army. -
World War Ii Veteran’S Committee, Washington, Dc Under a Generous Grant from the Dodge Jones Foundation 2
W WORLD WWAR IIII A TEACHING LESSON PLAN AND TOOL DESIGNED TO PRESERVE AND DOCUMENT THE WORLD’S GREATEST CONFLICT PREPARED BY THE WORLD WAR II VETERAN’S COMMITTEE, WASHINGTON, DC UNDER A GENEROUS GRANT FROM THE DODGE JONES FOUNDATION 2 INDEX Preface Organization of the World War II Veterans Committee . Tab 1 Educational Standards . Tab 2 National Council for History Standards State of Virginia Standards of Learning Primary Sources Overview . Tab 3 Background Background to European History . Tab 4 Instructors Overview . Tab 5 Pre – 1939 The War 1939 – 1945 Post War 1945 Chronology of World War II . Tab 6 Lesson Plans (Core Curriculum) Lesson Plan Day One: Prior to 1939 . Tab 7 Lesson Plan Day Two: 1939 – 1940 . Tab 8 Lesson Plan Day Three: 1941 – 1942 . Tab 9 Lesson Plan Day Four: 1943 – 1944 . Tab 10 Lesson Plan Day Five: 1944 – 1945 . Tab 11 Lesson Plan Day Six: 1945 . Tab 11.5 Lesson Plan Day Seven: 1945 – Post War . Tab 12 3 (Supplemental Curriculum/American Participation) Supplemental Plan Day One: American Leadership . Tab 13 Supplemental Plan Day Two: American Battlefields . Tab 14 Supplemental Plan Day Three: Unique Experiences . Tab 15 Appendixes A. Suggested Reading List . Tab 16 B. Suggested Video/DVD Sources . Tab 17 C. Suggested Internet Web Sites . Tab 18 D. Original and Primary Source Documents . Tab 19 for Supplemental Instruction United States British German E. Veterans Organizations . Tab 20 F. Military Museums in the United States . Tab 21 G. Glossary of Terms . Tab 22 H. Glossary of Code Names . Tab 23 I. World War II Veterans Questionnaire . -
The Bridge at Remagen
The Bridge at Remagen A key battle in WW2 Written by Andy Owen When Second Lieutenant Karl Timmermann woke up on the morning of 7 March 1945, he didn't know he was going to make history that day. The day before he had been made commander of A Company of of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 9th Armored Division. He was the latest of a string of replacements, thanks to the Germans. He was in Stadt Mechenheim, about ten miles west of Remagen on the west bank of the Rhine River. Remarkably, he was also less than 100 miles from the place where he was born, in Frankfurt am Main. His father had been on occupation duty in Germany following the end of the previous war and had gone over the hill, met a German girl, and had a son. After he got things straightened out with the army, Karl Timmermann's father brought his family back to Nebraska. Now the son was back in Germany as a conquerer, and the elder Timmerman's prospects for grandchildren were dim. 1 Second Lieutenant Timmermann was ordered to take his company and attack toward Remagen at a rate of ten miles per hour. This was before the days of modern roads. This was part of a military operation called Operation Lumberjack, with the goal to capture the west bank of the Rhine River and seize key German cities near the end of World War II. The First United States Army launched the operation in March 1945 to capture strategic cities in Germany and to give the Allies a foothold along the Rhine. -
Biplanes and Bombsights: British Bombing in Word War I
Biplanes and Bombsights British Bombing in World War I George K. WMiams Air University Press Maxell Air Force Base, Alabama May 1999 Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data Williams. George Kent, 1944- Biplanes and bombsights : British Bombing in World War I / George Kent Williams. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ' 1. World War, 1914-1918-Aerial operations, British. 2. Bombers-Great Britain. I. ' Title. D602.W48 1999 940 .4'4941-dc21 ~9-26205 CIP Disclaimer opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressedor implied within are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Air University, the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency. Cleared for public release : distribution unlimited. e il Contents Chapter Page DISCLAIMER . ii FOREWORD . v ABOUT THE AUTHOR . vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . .. ' , ix INTRODUCTION . : . 1 - NO. 3 WING ROYAL NAVAL AIR SERVICE (JULY 1916-MAY 1917) . .. ... 30f Notes . 2 BRITISH BOMBING BEGINS . 35 Notes . .. 67 3 41ST WING ROYAL FLYING CORPS (JUNE 1917-JANUARY 1918) . 73 Notes . .. 125 4 . EIGHTH BRIGADE AND INDEPENDENT FORCE (FEBRUARY-NOVEMBER 1918) . 133 Notes . 180 5 EIGHTH BRIGADE AND INDEPENDENT FORCE OPERATIONS . 189 Notes . 231 6 POSTWAR ASSESSMENTS . 239 Notes . 264 APPENDIX . 269 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 289 INDEX . 299 iii Illustrations Table Page 1 'Battle Casualties, Night Squadrons, June-November 1918 . 210 Photographs Handley Page . 9 DeHavilland 4B . 43 Me . 63 Foreword This study measures wartime claims against actual results of the British bombing campaign against Germany in the Great War. Components of the' Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), the Royal Flying Corps (RFC); and the Royal Air Force (RAF) conducted bombing raids between July 1916 and the Armistice. -
This Abbreviated History of the 70Th Infantry Division Is Taken from the 50Th Anniversary Program Book of the 70Th Division (Training)
This abbreviated history of the 70th Infantry Division is taken from the 50th Anniversary program book of the 70th Division (Training). The 70th Division (Training) has since been deactivated but the 70th's history and streamers are now carried by 70th RRC (Regional Readiness Command). "A brand new Infantry Division, the 70th Trailblazer, was revealed on February 23 to spearhead the Seventh Army's drive into Germany, south of Saarbrucken," the Stars and Stripes of February 25, 1945 reported. "The 70th, which first went into action on December 28 southeast of Haguenau, is fighting in Forbach, just inside the French border, six miles southwest of Saarbrucken, and was later reported in possession of most of the town," the famous Army newspaper concluded. Activated as the 70th Infantry Division at Camp Adair, Oregon in 1943, the Trailblazer Division served throughout World War II in the European Theater of Operations but was deactivated in October, 1945, following its return to the United States. The Division was reactivated as a combat unit in 1952, and in May, 1959, reorganized as the 70th Division (Training). Today the 70th Division (Training) is headquartered at the George A. Custer United States Army Reserve Center in Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The red, white, and green shoulder patch worn by the current 70th Division (Training) is symbolic of its history. The patch bears an axe in recognition of the pioneers who traveled to the Willamette Valley, the site of Camp Adair. The snowy mountain represents Mount Hood, and the green fir is in reference to the 91st Infantry Division (the Fir Tree Division) from which the officers and noncommissioned officers of the 70th were drawn. -
The Development of Combat Effective Divisions in the United States Army
THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMBAT EFFECTIVE DIVISIONS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by Peter R. Mansoor, B.S. * * * * * The Ohio State University 1992 Master's Examination Committee: Approved by Allan R. Millett Williamson Murray ~~~ Allan R. Millett Warren R. Van Tine Department of History ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express sincere appreciation to Dr. Allan R. Millett for his guidance in the preparation of this thesis. I also would like to thank Dr. Williamson Murray and Dr. John F. Guilmartin for their support and encouragement during my research. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Richard Sommers and Dr. David Keough at the United States Army Military History Institute in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, and Dr. Timothy Nenninger and Dr. Richard Boylan at the Modern Military Records Branch of the National Archives in Suitland, Maryland. Without their professional assistance, I would not have been able to complete the research for this thesis. As always, my wife Jana and daughter Kyle proved to be towers of support, even when daddy "played on the computer" for hours on end. ii VITA February 28, 1960 . Born - New Ulm, Minnesota 1982 . B.S., United States Military Academy, West Point, New York 1982-Present ......... Officer, United States Army PUBLICATIONS "The Defense of the Vienna Bridgehead," Armor 95, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1986): 26-32. "The Second Battle of Sedan, May 1940," Military Review 68, no. 6 (June 1988): 64-75. "The Ten Lean Years, 1930-1940," editor, Armor 96, no.