W-LibertyShip FP Apr2016.qxp_FP 1/26/16 3:34 PM Page 1 Q-CaseCutlery FP Winter2016.qxp_FP 11/12/15 10:45 AM Page 1 Q-Spr16 TOC_WW-Mar04 Ordnance 18, 20-23 2/19/16 10:29 AM Page 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Features WWII QUARTERLY 12 Brittany: Too High a Price? As Allied troops dashed eastward after breaking out from the Normandy beachhead, the VIII U.S. Corps was bogged down in a bloody attempt to take the Brittany ports. NATHAN N. PREFER 26 Death by Torpedo The 1939 sinking of the HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow by U-47 caused grave concern within the British Admiralty and changes in the anchorage. CHUCK LYONS 33 Rising Sun, Descending Darkness When the Japanese decided to invade America’s important Pacific outpost in the Philippines, thousands of U.S. troops and their brave Filipino allies were doomed from the start. WILLIAM STROOCK 42 Incomplete Victory at Falaise The Allies’ pounding of the German army trapped at Falaise in the summer of 1944 was unmerciful, but the victory could have been much more complete. JON DIAMOND 56 Combat and Fear: A Replacement’s Story As a “newby” machine gunner in the 104th Infantry Division, Robert Creamer experienced both the horror and the elation of combat in the European Theater. ALLYN VANNOY WITH MATERIAL PROVIDED BY THE CREAMER FAMILY 66 A Death in San Pietro In one of the Italian campaign’s toughest battles, Captain Henry Waskow Departments of the 36th “Texas” Division performed with quiet heroism—until he was killed. TIM BRADY 06 Editorial Stumbling over history. 78 Baptism of Fire: The SS in Poland Hitler’s elite Bodyguard Regiment and other SS units were transformed FLINT WHITLOCK during the Polish campaign into real fighting men—and became responsible for committing atrocities. BLAINE TAYLOR 08 Armament Nazi Germany’s ally Hungary worked hard to develop a tank that could stand up to Soviet armor, but 88 Liberating the Camps to no avail. Leon Tulper, a Jewish American soldier in the 65th Infantry Division, JOHN E. SPINDLER recalls the harrowing final days of the war in Europe and the liberation 3 1 023 is of the Ohrdruf and Mauthausen concentration camps. t r Cu German CHRISTOPHER MISKIMON Slaughter AT FALAISE EYEWITNESS Liberating Nazi COVER: Private Ralph Terry of Death Camps WWII Quarterly (ISSN 2151-3678) is published four times yearly by Sovereign Media, 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite A-100, McLean, VA Kansas City, MO, serving in an BAPTISM OF FIRE 22101-4554. (703) 964-0361. WWII Quarterly, Volume 7, Number 4 © 2016 by Sovereign Media Company, Inc., all rights reserved. SS in Poland Copyrights to stories and illustrations are the property of their creators. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole unidentified unit in General CROSSING GERMANY or in part without consent of the copyright owner. Subscription services, back issues, and information: (800) 219-1187 or write to WWII George Patton’s Third Army, was Life & Death AT THE FRONT Quarterly Circulation, WWII Quarterly, P.O. Box 1644, Williamsport, PA 17703. Hardbound single copies: $19.99, plus $3 for postage. Yearly subscription in U.S.A.: $39.95; Canada and Overseas: $79.95 (U.S.). Editorial Office: Send editorial mail to WWII Quarterly, 6731 photographed during the Falaise PHILIPPINE DISASTER SPRING 2016 campaign. See story page 42. MacArthur’s RETAILER DISPLAY UNTIL JUNE 20 Whittier Avenue, Suite A-100, McLean, VA 22101-4554. WWII Quarterly welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility Bataan Blunder for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. Material to be returned should be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. We Photograph: National Archives. DEADLY U-BOAT ATTACK suggest that you send a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a copy of our author’s guidelines. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WWII Quarterly, P.O. Box 1644, Williamsport, PA 17703. Q-1stSTREET_PCHD_FP Spring2016.qxp_FP 2/15/16 2:33 PM Page 1 Q-Spr16 Editorial_WW-Mar04 Ordnance 18, 20-23 2/19/16 12:19 PM Page 6 EDITORIAL FLINT WHITLOCK I must confess that I had never heard of Stumbling Over History Camp Tarawa, but a memorial to the 2nd and 5th Marine Divisions who trained there told me all about it. AS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU? You’re on vacation or taking a trip Before the war, the land on which the and unexpectedly you stumble across a piece of history you didn’t even know camp existed was one of the largest cattle Hexisted. ranches in the United States. When it was A few years back—at least 20—while vacationing with the family in southeast Eng- decided that the Marines needed a training land (East Anglia), we got hopelessly lost in the countryside. Driving around through facility that replicated some of the Pacific farmers’ fields on the out- islands where future battles would proba- skirts of Framlingham, we bly take place, the government leased suddenly came upon an old 137,000 acres of the 250,000-acre Parker control tower that looked Ranch from Richard Smart, the owner, for exactly like the one I had seen $1.00 a year and turned it into a major in 12 O’Clock High, the great Marine Corps camp. movie about the Eighth Air The camp was constructed by the 2nd Force starring Gregory Peck. Marine Division in December 1943 after As we got closer, we saw the division returned from its battle at that the control tower had Tarawa and used by the 2nd as a training been converted into a ground for their upcoming battle at museum dedicated to 390th Saipan. After they departed, the 5th Bombardment Group that ABOVE: A derelict, rusting Quonset hut is all that remains of the Marine Division moved in to prepare for sprawling Camp Tarawa on the Big Island of Hawaii. BELOW: The had been based there at Parham Airfield Museum as it is today and during World War II. the invasion of Iwo Jima. The Marines Parham Airfield. It had not practiced amphibious landings at nearby been on our list of places to Hapuna Beach, now a state park. see, but we spent several One of the stipulations of the lease was hours there with the curator that the land would be restored to its pre- who, because of our intense military state at the end of the lease. In interest in World War II (and November 1945, Camp Tarawa was closed probably because we were and reverted to its civilian owners. Nothing Yanks), showed us places that is left of the sprawling Marine base now but the usual visitors never get to a single Quonset hut and the memorial. see. It became one of the high- These “happy accidents” just go to lights of the trip. prove that, practically everywhere you go, The same thing sort of Author photo chances are there is something that has a serendipitous discovery happened last winter while my wife and I were vacationing direct connection to World War II. You on the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii. We were driving around the island and, at the just have to keep your eyes open and be northern end outside the town of Waimea (also known as Kamuela), we accidently ready for it. came across the site of Camp Tarawa. Flint Whitlock, Editor WWII Quarterly Volume 7 • Number 3 CARL A. GNAM, JR. CONTRIBUTORS: MARK HINTZ SOVEREIGN MEDIA COMPANY, INC. Editorial Director, Founder Tim Brady, Jon Diamond, Vice President & Publisher 6731 Whittier Ave., Suite A-100 Chuck Lyons, Christopher McLean, VA 22101-4554 FLINT WHITLOCK Miskimon, Nathan Prefer, TERRI COATES Editor John E. Spindler, William Strook, Subscription Customer Services www.WarfareHistoryNetwork.com [email protected] [email protected] Blaine Taylor, Allyn Vannoy SUBSCRIPTION CUSTOMER SAMANTHA DETULLEO PUBLISHERS SERVICE SERVICE AND BUSINESS OFFICE: Art Director ADVERTISING OFFICE: ASSOCIATES 2406 Reach Road KEVIN M. HYMEL BEN BOYLES Circulation Fulfillment Williamsport, PA 17701 Research Director Advertising Manager (800) 219-1187 (570) 322-7848, ext. 110 CURTIS CIRCULATION COMPANY [email protected] WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION PRINTED IN THE USA. Q-1stSTREET_PSC_FP Spring2016.qxp_FP 2/15/16 2:36 PM Page 1 Q-Spr16 Turan Tank-cut_WW-Mar04 Ordnance 18, 20-23 2/19/16 10:36 AM Page 8 ARMAMENT JOHN E. SPINDLER Nazi Germany’s ally Hungary worked hard to the manufacture license, a few modifica- tions were requested: increase the armor to develop a tank that could stand up to Soviet 35mm, replace the rotating command cupola with a fixed one, replace the elec- armor, but to no avail. trical equipment with Bosch-built items, and exchange the 47mm main gun for a 40mm gun. y mid-January 1945 Germany was being pressured on all sides by Allied forces. The reason behind the reduction in main Hitler’s much-vaunted Ardennes Offense had been thrown back with appalling gun caliber was that the Hungarians Blosses, the Soviet Red Army had invaded German soil, and the Hungarian capital already had a 40mm cannon that possessed of Budapest had been besieged for weeks. Alongside German troops fought soldiers and a significantly higher muzzle velocity—820 airmen from Hungary, Germany’s sole remaining ally in Europe. meters per second (m/s) compared to the Like all combatants, the Royal Hungarian Army, known as the Honved in its native Škoda’s 47mm gun’s 590 m/s—and used tongue, possessed an armored force. But, by this time, all Hungarian units with armored the same shell as the common Bofors components had been severely depleted by constant fighting against a numerically and 40mm antiaircraft gun.