I heard that the US, during the latter half of the Vietnam war started running out of bombs from Germany and other allies. Is there any truth in that statement and if possible may I see a source?
May I know a source where the US was using WWII bombs from Germany?
As far as I remember from various memoirs and the like- Jack Broughton's and Robin Olds' in particular, as well as the collections edited by Tommy Towery- the US used up the last of it's Korean War era stocks in Vietnam, the 750lb M117 and 3,000lb M118 in particular frequently mentioned early on, extinct by war's end, most of them having fallen off of B52's in the meantime.
Earlier, it had used up most of the WWII stocks in Korea.
The last of the mark 110 series' time in service overlapped with, and they were replaced by, the familiar mark 80- series, still in service today- much more streamlined and suitable for high speed aircraft.
What did happen was an underestimate of bomb usage that led to a temporary shortage in late 1966 about which there was much bitching and some outrageous Pentagon lies- McNamara's claim, made personally, that the bombs were in theater therefore they were available.
They were on ammunition ships in Vung Tau harbour. They had yet to be unloaded, transported, uncrated, fused, and delivered to squadron bomb dumps- two month backlog. They were in theater, therefore there was no shortage.
(Olds' comments on SAC and it's ability to screw up by the numbers make interesting reading, incidentally. Between that and Broughton's comment that "We never met the MiG first team", one is left with the impression that at least one leg of the American strategic triad was at least badly sprained.)
Actually, according to the book I read, Air Force managed to get the West Germans to sell their stock (Which shows how much we appreciated themI'm pretty sure the only states who still had WW2 munitions in bulk by the 1960s were Communist bloc countries, given the Russians fetish for not throwing away any sort of weapons system.
Although Americans purchasing Soviet munitions to bomb North Vietnamese troops has all sorts of ironic overtones.
Actually, according to the book I read, Air Force managed to get the West Germans to sell their stock (Which shows how much we appreciated them)
I'm pretty sure the only states who still had WW2 munitions in bulk by the 1960s were Communist bloc countries, given the Russians fetish for not throwing away any sort of weapons system.
During the Falklands Conflict, the Belgrano was sunk using Mark VIII torpedoes, which were WWII vintage. So Britain was still using some WWII munitions in the 1980s.
Cheers,
Nigel
During the Falklands Conflict, the Belgrano was sunk using Mark VIII torpedoes, which were WWII vintage. So Britain was still using some WWII munitions in the 1980s.
Cheers,
Nigel