Yep -- the brothers are in the following locations:
W. PAC --- AA gunner on a battleship
Southern California --- fighter pilot
Hawaii --- supply clerk after being wounded in the Dutch East Indies
Milan, Italy --- infantryman
Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
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W. PAC --- AA gunner on a battleship
Southern California --- fighter pilot
Hawaii --- supply clerk after being wounded in the Dutch East Indies
Milan, Italy --- infantryman
Milan being liberated is a big achievement. It would appear the German army is being pushed out of Northern Italy. Or at least up into the Alps. They'll make their defensive lines there similar to what has occurred in Greece. I would think at that point there is no major imperative for the Allies to pay the cost of advancing much further into the mountains.
Story 2455
Milan, March 11, 1944
The corporal slapped the private on the shoulder. A moment later, the bazooka trigger was pulled and the rocket erupted out of the end of the tube. As the shape charge was crossing the alley way, the rest of the squad threw smoke grenades even as the BAR team emptied a magazine in the direction of the German strong point. Four seconds later, every man had safely crossed six yards of open space and found new cover behind yet another stone building.
The corporal counted his men. He smiled for the first time in hours. It was a predatory smile, but a protective one as well. Everyone made it across without injury. The German response was slow and light, only a few rifle shots in the general direction of the smoke screen instead of dozens of machine gun bullets. He stopped smiling and started to fish for a cigarette. He really wanted a whiskey, but that was contra-indicated in the middle of street fighting. One of the riflemen, a replacement whose name he now needed to remember, pulled up a Zippo and lit the old man's smoke and then three others. He hunched over and gave instructions to a pair of riflemen, he needed them to scout the corner of the building to see if they were far enough around the German strongpoint to be out of their line of fire.
The two men pulled out mirrors on thin extensions and began to move forward. Ten minutes, neither had been shot.
One more alley to rush, and then they would assault a corner building where the bazooka could pour fire into the rear of the strong point that had held up the company since dawn. There could only be a few more strong points like this before the Pennsylvanians had cleared their section of the city.
The corporal slapped the private on the shoulder. A moment later, the bazooka trigger was pulled and the rocket erupted out of the end of the tube. As the shape charge was crossing the alley way, the rest of the squad threw smoke grenades even as the BAR team emptied a magazine in the direction of the German strong point. Four seconds later, every man had safely crossed six yards of open space and found new cover behind yet another stone building.
The corporal counted his men. He smiled for the first time in hours. It was a predatory smile, but a protective one as well. Everyone made it across without injury. The German response was slow and light, only a few rifle shots in the general direction of the smoke screen instead of dozens of machine gun bullets. He stopped smiling and started to fish for a cigarette. He really wanted a whiskey, but that was contra-indicated in the middle of street fighting. One of the riflemen, a replacement whose name he now needed to remember, pulled up a Zippo and lit the old man's smoke and then three others. He hunched over and gave instructions to a pair of riflemen, he needed them to scout the corner of the building to see if they were far enough around the German strongpoint to be out of their line of fire.
The two men pulled out mirrors on thin extensions and began to move forward. Ten minutes, neither had been shot.
One more alley to rush, and then they would assault a corner building where the bazooka could pour fire into the rear of the strong point that had held up the company since dawn. There could only be a few more strong points like this before the Pennsylvanians had cleared their section of the city.
Story 2456
Near Ushant, March 12, 1944
The destroyer twisted. Four shell splashes ripped open the water. Her guns slewed slightly and then six shells arced skyward. A few hundred yards behind the whirling dervish, her sister ship was steadily firing four and eight gun broadsides. The weight of British shells combined with an untold advantage in sea time soon became appararent. The first of the three German destroyers soon was afire from the bridge to the bow. The rear destroyer had half a dozen shells explode in one of her engine rooms minutes before a torpedo ripped open a seven meter hole just aft of amidships. The last destroyer was making smoke even before her sister was lamed and running for shoal water along the coast. Two Polish destroyers chased her. They would claim a kill as an unobserved reef ripped open an eleven meter gash and hung the ship up as she was trying to chase splashes.
By dawn, the combined Allied Squadron was heading home with over three hundred prisoners, and brooms tied to their masts as there were no now German warships that would have been defined and limited by the Washington Naval Treaty west of Ostend.
The destroyer twisted. Four shell splashes ripped open the water. Her guns slewed slightly and then six shells arced skyward. A few hundred yards behind the whirling dervish, her sister ship was steadily firing four and eight gun broadsides. The weight of British shells combined with an untold advantage in sea time soon became appararent. The first of the three German destroyers soon was afire from the bridge to the bow. The rear destroyer had half a dozen shells explode in one of her engine rooms minutes before a torpedo ripped open a seven meter hole just aft of amidships. The last destroyer was making smoke even before her sister was lamed and running for shoal water along the coast. Two Polish destroyers chased her. They would claim a kill as an unobserved reef ripped open an eleven meter gash and hung the ship up as she was trying to chase splashes.
By dawn, the combined Allied Squadron was heading home with over three hundred prisoners, and brooms tied to their masts as there were no now German warships that would have been defined and limited by the Washington Naval Treaty west of Ostend.
Germany is down to a few Uboats and E and S boats on the North Sea and Atlantic coast now?
Lots of mine warfare craft and patrol boats but yeah, the striking force is U-boats and fast torpedo boats.
The PA Guard has more than a few Italians from Philly. The squad/platoon/company mentioned above is mainly from the Mon Valley in Western PA which is primarily Slavic communities.
A general question - did US Division have recruits from a given region or were troops drawn from across the USA?
I know the Americal Division was formed from 'orphan' Regiments from 3 differnet NG Divisions when the NG transitioned from Square to trinary divisions.
But in practice would a given unit have the majority of its men from a given state?
National Guard divisions are generally all drawn from the same area and in some cases from a single state or even region within that state. Regular Army divisions have soldiers from all over the country.
Edit: until the NG divisions start taking casualties anyway. At that point, they'll get assigned whoever is in the replacement pool regardless of where they're from.
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Driftless
Donor
The National Guard was and is the replacement for local militias of old, based on the Militia Act of 1903. As ShySusan noted, their makeup is regional. Nominally, they also can be called up by state governors, almost always to help out in case of emergencies(natural and man-made) i.e. the National Guard unit in my area is an engineering company, with a fair amount of heavy earth moving gear. They've been called up several times to help with mitigating Mississippi River flooding in our area. In the final administrative oversight, the President and the Pentagon have the last word.
The RN ran frequent sweeps along the French Atlantic coast in OTL and the Germans were running frequent anti-minelaying sweeps and coastal convoys.
Story 2457
Barrow in Furness, Vickers-Armstrong Shipyard March 13, 1944
The hull of the light fleet carrier Pioneer was now in the water. Work gangs and the shipyard still would have her for almost another year, but progress was being made in building reinforcements for the fleet.
The hull of the light fleet carrier Pioneer was now in the water. Work gangs and the shipyard still would have her for almost another year, but progress was being made in building reinforcements for the fleet.
The forum's premier Sealionista used to argue that the invasion fleet would easily deter the cowardly drivers of RN destroyers by rifle fire, nailed-on 88s, etc.
He was not notably successful in this.
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