What have you learned about WW2 recently?

Discussion in 'General' started by dbf, Oct 22, 2010.

  1. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

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  2. A-58

    A-58 Not so senior Member

    One tough B-25!

    The Mitchell was an exceptionally sturdy aircraft that could withstand tremendous punishment. One B-25C of the 321st Bomb Group was nicknamed "Patches" because its crew chief painted all the aircraft's flak hole patches with the bright yellow zinc chromate primer. By the end of the war, this aircraft had completed over 300 missions, had been belly-landed six times, and had over 400 patched holes. The airframe of "Patches" was so distorted from battle damage that straight-and-level flight required 8° of left aileron trim and 6° of right rudder, causing the aircraft to "crab" sideways across the sky.
     
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  3. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    I learned some things about the Indian Air Force - as I was previously completely ignorant of them - through listening to a podcast episode of History Hack.
     
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  4. A-58

    A-58 Not so senior Member

    I just learned that on this very day in 1940 the de Havilland Mosquito made it's first flight. I thought that this was the coolest plane in the RAF's inventory when I was a kid and saw it for the first time in the movie 633 Squadron, knocking the Spitfire out of my #1 spot after seeing it in The Battle of Britain.

    This is pretty cool too. Read it just now. Seems that on 30 Jan 43, the 10th anniversary of the Nazis' seizing power, a Mosquito attack knocked out the main broadcasting station in Berlin while Hermann Goring was making a speech regarding their acquisition of power. The attack took his speech right off the air. Dangdest thing.

    de Havilland Mosquito - Wikipedia
     
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  5. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    "If as much as a single enemy aircraft flies over German soil, my name is Meier!" :)
     
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  6. A-58

    A-58 Not so senior Member

    I’ve read in the past somewhere that Soviet Minister Molotov was in Berlin for some reason one day. The German he was speaking with (can’t remember the name right off) was saying that Britain was finished and no longer a threat to the Reich. This conversation was going on as they were walking into a bomb shelter during one of the RAFs raids. Molotov countered by saying something to the effect of “if England is good as beaten, then why are we retiring to a bomb shelter and who’s bombs are falling?” I thought that it was pretty cool regardless of the veracity of the statement.
     
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  7. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    You keep setting me up :)



    Patton with his .380

    upload_2020-11-27_18-22-54.png
     

    Attached Files:

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  8. chipm

    chipm Well-Known Member

    Was he known to carry a 380 on a regular basis.?
    Or did he pick that up during the war.?
    Thank You
     
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  9. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    He carried it regularly. It was a General Officer Model and it was issued to him when he got his first star.

    General officer models were often engraved with the officer's name. Recipients include generals Eisenhower, Bradley, Marshall, and Patton. Patton's Model 1908 was embellished with three (later four) stars on the grip panels to denote his rank. They were issued with a fine-grade leather holster, leather pistol belt with gold-metal clasp, rope pistol lanyard with gold-metal fittings, and leather two-pocket ammunition pouch with gold-metal fasteners.

    Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless - Wikipedia

    Another excuse to repost a thread about my favorite pistol.

    Colt Woodsman
     
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  10. chipm

    chipm Well-Known Member

    10-4..... Thanks Again :)
     
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  11. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

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  12. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    For me it was "The purple plain"/"Flammen über Fernost" :)

    In an interesting manner, the Finnish Air Force plannend an own version constructed of birch called VL Vihuri ("Gale")
    a project which never materialized: In 1943 the FiAF HQ asked VL if it would be possible to build a copy of the Mosquito with DB605 engines. Two crashed British aircraft would have been requested from Germany to serve as models. The primary attraction was the wooden construction, something that the VL was familiar with, also they were familiar with british aircraft as they built a licensed version of the Bristol Blenheim and, also important, had plenty of birch wood available
     
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  13. Orwell1984

    Orwell1984 Senior Member

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  14. JimHerriot

    JimHerriot Ready for Anything

    Hello Orwell,

    I posted the link below in the "Spaniards in the British Army" thread a little while ago.

    If it's a source you've not seen before it's worth a look. Here's the link:

    https://albavolunteer.org/author/bobcoale/

    Kind regards, always,

    Jim.
     
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  15. chipm

    chipm Well-Known Member

    Whenever Army Group-A, going for the Caspian Oil, on The Eastern Front is discussed,
    i frequently see one of these small artillery pieces Shown/Mentioned.
    So i took a shot at looking up 75mm guns of WW2...... and here it is .
    No doubt, like any other Tool/Weapon, if you need one, they are worth their weight.........

    Lexikon der Wehrmacht - Gebirgsgeschütze

    7.5 cm Gebirgsgeschütz 36 - Wikipedia
     
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  16. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Today's - well, yesterday's - little gem was that the US 1st Div received their initial amphibious training under the US Marines.

    I'm aware that it's sometimes claimed the OMAHA assault would have gone better if it had been more Marine, but not that there was a real basis for it. Not sure how sound that basis would have been, though. I don't think the USMC would have had that much actual experience to pass on to 1 US Div before they shipped out to North Africa.
     
  17. chipm

    chipm Well-Known Member

    The Yamato had Anti-Aircraft ammo for its main guns.?
    Did most big guns in most navies do that.?

    At 9:20 in the video.

     
  18. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I'm digging through my battleship books now looking for an entry I saw on HMS Rodney. I remember a picture of one of the 16" turrets and a line that said the mounting were modified during a refit to allow increased elevation and "that they could, and did, fire at aircraft." Hope I can find the passage.
     
  19. Ewen Scott

    Ewen Scott Well-Known Member

    Well that may be what the book said but it’s a myth.

    As built the turrets in the Nelrods were capable of elevating from -3 to +40 degrees. Even Yamato’s only elevated to 45 degrees. And there were no shells equivalent to the IJN AA shells.
    United Kingdom / Britain 16"/45 (40.6 cm) Mark I - NavWeaps

    Japan 40 cm/45 (15.7") Type 94 - NavWeaps
     
  20. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    You are probably right but I did find the book. It is on page 225 of Richard Hough's book titled Dreadnought (1964). Hough is pretty good so it may be true. A picture of A and X turrets pointing to port is captioned, "Six of Rodney's nine 16-inch guns at full 40 degrees of elevation at which they could - and did - fire against aircraft. The Times, London".

    Another interesting bit in the book, which is what I learned about WWII today, is that Rodney was undergoing a "much needed overhaul in the United States" on Dec 7, 1941. Anyone have any more info on that? Assume it was Brooklyn, Philly or Norfolk.
     

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