296 replies to this topic

[Don Quixote]

[Mark Carver]

First flight after 23 years of restoration. The only remaining of 800 built, PBJ-1J Mitchell Bomber B-25. These were built for the Navy and Marines.

 

https://www.devildog....com/pages/PBJs

 

[RShack]

^^^^^

 

Some planes just look right... the B-25 is one of those... (which is harder to do for a bomber than a fighter...)

[Mark Carver]

The Pied Piper of Saipan - Guy Louis Gabaldon (March 22, 1926 – August 31, 2006) was a United States Marine who, at age 18, captured or persuaded to surrender Japanese soldiers and civilians during the battles for Saipan and Tinianislands in 1944 during World War II. Though Gabaldon was recommended for the Medal of Honor, he received the Silver Star, which was upgraded by the Marine Corps to the Navy Cross in 1960.

 

According to Gabaldon, he began taking and bringing in prisoners the night of the first day that he arrived on Saipan. According to Gabaldon: The first night I was on Saipan, I went out on my own...I always worked on my own, and brought back two prisoners using my backstreet Japanese.

 

Gabaldon was reprimanded by his superior officers, and threatened with a court-martial for leaving his post. However, according to him the next night he went out and did it again. He carefully approached a cave, shot the enemy guards outside, moved off to one side of the cave, and yelled in Japanese, "You're surrounded and have no choice but to surrender. Come out, and you will not be killed! I assure you will be well-treated. We do not want to kill you!"

 

The next morning he says he returned with 50 Japanese prisoners. As a result, Gabaldon was permitted by his commanding officer to act as a "lone wolf" operator. The next day, on July 8, Gabaldon captured two more enemy guards. He convinced one of them to return to his cave, with an offering of surrender. Shortly thereafter, a Japanese officer showed up. After speaking to Gabaldon, the officer accepted the conditions of surrender—and over eight hundred Japanese soldiers and civilians surrendered to Gabaldon, who turned them over to the U.S. military authorities. For his exploits, according to Gabaldon, he became known as The Pied Piper of Saipan.

 

Gabaldon continued to capture more Japanese people on Tinian. While back on Saipan fighting Japanese guerrillas still on the island, he was seriously wounded in an enemy machine gun ambush. Gabaldon claimed he was credited with the capture of approximately 1,500 Japanese soldiers and civilians on Saipan and Tinian and was recommended for the Medal of Honor by his commanding officer Captain John Schwabe, who noted that Gabaldon single-handedly captured more than ten times the number of prisoners taken by legendary Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. Alvin C. York, in World War I. Despite this recommendation, Gabaldon was awarded aSilver Star Medal.

 

https://en.wikipedia...ki/Guy_Gabaldon

[RShack]

70th anniversary of the surrender of the German U-Boat fleet....

 

http://ww2live.com/e...boat-fleet-1945

[Mark Carver]

Holocaust Escape Tunnel Discovered in Lithuania

 

On the evening of April 15, 1944—the final night of Passover—the prisoners cut their shackles with a nail file and squeezed through the 2-foot-square entrance to the hand-carved tunnel. Between 5 and9 feet below the forest floor, approximately 40 captives crawled through the 100-foot-long tunnel before the noise aroused the attention of the camp’s guards who pursued them with dogs and guns. A dozen prisoners managed to escape into the dark night, and 11 survived to join the partisan forces fighting the Nazis.

http://www.history.c...ed-in-lithuania

[Mark Carver]

A Veteran of D-Day, the Huertgen Forest, and the Bulge, Medal of Honor recipient Fighting George Mabry was a tough little hero of WWII by Gerald Astor

 

As a captain during World War II, George Mabry, with the 4th Infantry Division, slogged ashore on Utah Beach on D-Day and led troops through the Normandy Campaign. As a major he fought the bitter battle of the Huertgen Forest, and as a lieutenant colonel survived the Battle of the Bulge and eventually directed GIs into the heart of Germany. For valor in combat, Mabry earned a Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, plus other decorations. Only Audie Murphy may have collected more awards.

http://warfarehistor...t-george-mabry/

 

[glenn__davis]

Had a chance to visit Patriot's Point in Charleston, SC while on vacation.  Neat little spot.  Got to tour a WWII era aircraft carrier, destroyer and submarine.  Good stuff and they had a some nice videos to tell the stories of the ships as you went through.  Plus I spoke with a gentlemen's Charleston-style southern accent for most of the morning, which annoyed my wife and kids and gave me great joy.

[RShack]

Had a chance to visit Patriot's Point in Charleston, SC while on vacation.  Neat little spot.  Got to tour a WWII era aircraft carrier, destroyer and submarine.  Good stuff and they had a some nice videos to tell the stories of the ships as you went through.  Plus I spoke with a gentlemen's Charleston-style southern accent for most of the morning, which annoyed my wife and kids and gave me great joy.

 

Dude, that's not just "a WWII era aircraft carrier", that's the Yorktown... 10th USN carrier ever... mid-WW2 replacement for the original Yorktown (which was sunk in the Battle of Midway)... served from mid-WW2 thru Korea thru Vietnam... picked up some Apollo astronauts out of the drink... it's the last remaining example of a whole class of carriers built during WW2 to destroy the Imperial Japansese fleet...

[glenn__davis]

Dude, that's not just "a WWII era aircraft carrier", that's the Yorktown... 10th USN carrier ever... mid-WW2 replacement for the original Yorktown (which was sunk in the Battle of Midway)... served from mid-WW2 thru Korea thru Vietnam... picked up some Apollo astronauts out of the drink... it's the last remaining example of a whole class of carriers built during WW2 to destroy the Imperial Japansese fleet...

 

Yes indeed - "The Fighting Lady".  I had heard of her before but didn't realize just how active and involved she was.  They had the capsule from Apollo 8 on there, along with probably 15 or so other aircraft.  

[RShack]

Normandy tank museum close-out sale... (it's a shame...)

 

https://blog.hemming...ion/?refer=news

 

[RShack]

The Spitfire's fatal flaw... (and how a woman engineer fixed it with one little washer)...

 

[Mark Carver]

Taking Hill 400: Army Rangers vs Fallschirmjägers

 

(The U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion held Hill 400 in the embattled Hürtgen Forest against five fierce German counterattacks in December 1944.)

http://warfarehistor...llschirmjagers/

[Mark Carver]

Wreck of German U-boat found off coast of Stranraer Scotland

 

 

 

Remarkable sonar images show the missing World War One submarine is largely intact and lying off the Galloway coast.

Experts believe the vessel could be the UB-85, a sub that sank in 1918, according to official records.

However, naval folklore suggests it may have been attacked by a "sea monster"

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/n...otland-37691283

[Mark Carver]

Hitler's secret 'Treasure Hunter' Arctic base which was abandoned after its staff poisoned themselves eating polar bears is found by Russian scientists
 

A secret Nazi base in the Arctic abandoned after scientists ate infected polar bear meat has been unearthed.

 

The mysterious site, named ‘Schatzgraber’ or ‘Treasure Hunter’ by Hitler's underlings, was constructed in 1942 - a year after the Third Reich invaded Russia.

 

Russian researchers have now rediscovered the military base, which the former garrison evacuated by U-boat after eating infected polar bear meat.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz4NqD7HqZ5 
 

 

[Mark Carver]

Patton’s Last Command

 

Prior to his untimely death, General George S. Patton, Jr., commanded the Fifteenth Army.

 

http://warfarehistor...s-last-command/

[Mark Carver]

WAS THE RUSSIAN MILITARY A STEAMROLLER? FROM WORLD WAR II TO TODAY

 

http://warontherocks...ar-ii-to-today/

[Mark Carver]

Is this how Britain would have looked under the Nazis? Incredible pictures from occupied Jersey in 1943 show shop signs in GERMAN and Swastikas hanging from the windows

 

Shop signs in Jersey were replaced by ones written in German and Swastikas were displayed in the windows

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz4Oyqx0E00 
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[Mark Carver]

Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge (story about Desmond Doss) comes out this weekend. Back in 2004 their was a documentary on him and it's on YouTube,

 

[Mark Carver]

This could be really good if done right. The story itself is very good in what the remnants of the British 6th Airborne Division did to capture this vital bridge, to protect the left flank during D-Day. Pegasus Bridge, the book by Stephen E Ambrose is a favorite that go back to every now and than. Here's Q&A with the director.

 

 

 

A British Band Of Brothers? Pegasus Bridge the Movie Is Coming, The Director Tells Us more!

 

 

https://m.warhistory...-is-coming.html

 

http://pegasusbridgethemovie.com/