The American World War: Hell on Earth

NoOneFamous

CHAPTER ONE

US GOVERNMENT NOTICE
TO ALL PERSONS OF JAPANESE DESCENT
APRIL 1, 1941
​

All persons of Japanese descent currently living in the United States are here by informed of the following:

1. You will, within the next 7-14 days, be transported to relocation camps for transport to the Mexican Occupied Territories for the duration of the war. You will be given 24 hours notice of where to report.

2. You will be allowed to take two pieces of luggage per adult and one per child.

3. If you own a house, you will be permitted to keep the house; however, you must have a friend or lawyer take possession of it for the duration of the war.

4. If you own a business, you will be permitted to turn it over to a friend or lawyer for the duration of the war. However, if you are unable to do so, the Federal Government will take over your business and run it for you for the duration of the war.

BRITISH EMPIRE ARMY FORCES
ORDER OF BATTLE
APRIL 1, 1941

AUSTRALIA​

Home Command

1st Australian Corps

1st Australian Infantry Division
3rd Australian Infantry Division (at sea, returning to Australia)
7th Australian Infantry Division (at sea, returning to Australia)
2nd Australian Motorized Brigade (at sea, returning to Australia)

II Australian Corps

1st Australian Motorized Division (forming)
4th Australian Militia Division
5th Australian Infantry Division (Training)

III Australian Corps

8th Australian Militia Division (-)
9th Australian Infantry Division (reforming)
1st Australian Armored Brigade

CANADA
​

III Corps (Canada)

1st Canadian Militia Division
2nd Canadian Militia Division
4th Canadian Armored Division (Forming)
5th Canadian Infantry Division (awaiting transport to the UK)

GHQ INDIA
​

Indian 1st Army

Indian IV Corps (at sea)

4th Indian Infantry Division (at sea, returning to India)
7th Indian Infantry Division (in Egypt awaiting transport)
12th Indian Infantry Division (in Egypt awaiting transport)

British VIII Corps

British 1st Cavalry Division (just arrived in India)
British 42nd Infantry (East Lancashire) Division (at sea, en route to India)
British 21st Infantry (East African) Brigade (at sea, en route to India)
British Guards Armored Brigade (-)

Indian XV Corps

1st Indian Infantry Division
2nd Indian Cavalry Division
4th Indian Infantry Division

Indian XVI Corps

14th Indian Infantry (Training) Division
1st Indian Airborne Brigade (forming)


British 5th Army

British 2nd Cavalry Division
British 3rd Commando Regiment (at sea, en route to India)

British IV Corps

British 36th Infantry Division
British 45th Infantry Division
British 46th (North Midland) Infantry Division

British X Corps (at sea, en route to India)

British 43rd Infantry (Wessex) Division (at sea, en route to India)
British 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division (awaiting transport to India)
British 56th Infantry (London) Division (awaiting transport to India)

British XI Corps

British 13th Infantry Division
British 61st Infantry (South Midland) Division (at sea, en route to India)
British 70th Infantry Division

MALAY COMMAND
​

British II Corps

2nd Australian Infantry Division (-)
British 66th Infantry (East Lancashire) Division (-)
British 1st (Malayan) Infantry Brigade

Indian III Corps

Indian 9th Infantry Division (effectively destroyed as a combat unit)
Indian 11th Infantry Division (-)
British 2nd (Malayan) Infantry Brigade

MIDDLE EAST COMMAND
​

British 8th Army (North Africa)

British 2nd SAS Regiment (forming)
British 4th Commando Regiment
South African 1st Armored Brigade

British III Corps

British 6th Armored Division (forming)
6th Australian Infantry Division
British 7th Armored Division
British 12th (Eastern) Division
Jewish Brigade

British XVI Corps

South African 1st Infantry Division
British 5th Infantry Division (at sea)
British 49th Infantry (West Riding) Division
British 80th Infantry Division

British XVII Corps (at sea en route to India)

British 2nd (London) Infantry Division
British 4th Infantry Division (at sea)
British 15th Infantry (Scottish) Division (awaiting transport)
British 48th Infantry (South Midlands) Division (awaiting transport

British 9th Army (East Africa)

British IX Corps

British 1st Infantry (African) Division
British 2nd Infantry (African) Division
South African 7th Motorized Brigade

NEW ZEALAND
​

1ST New Zealand Home Defense Brigade
2nd New Zealand Home Defense Brigade
2nd New Zealand Infantry Brigade (at sea)
3rd New Zealand Motorized Brigade (forming)
British 1st Army Tank Brigade (at sea)

PERSIA & IRAQ COMMAND
​

British 3rd Army (Persia)

British VII Corps

1st Indian Cavalry Division (Iraq)
British 2nd Infantry Division (Iraq)
British 59th Infantry (Staffordshire) Division (Persia)

SOUTH AFRICA
​

Home Command

3rd South African Infantry Division (training)
6th South African Armored Division (forming)
1st South African Militia Brigade
2nd South African Militia Brigade
1st South African Militia Commando Battalion

UNITED KINGDOM
​

Combined Special Operations Command

British 1st Commando Regiment (4 Commando battalions)
British 2nd Commando Regiment (5 Commando battalions)

British 21st Army Group

British 1st SAS Regiment

British 1st Army (England)

British 1st Armored Reconnaissance Brigade

British I Airborne Corps

British 1st Airborne Division
British 2nd Airborne Division
British 1st Air Landing Brigade
British 3rd Light Armored Brigade

Polish I Corps

1st Polish Infantry Division
2nd Polish Infantry Division
Polish Independent Armored Brigade

British V Corps

British 8th Infantry Division
British 36th Infantry (Welsh) Division
British 53rd Infantry (Welsh) Division
British 8th Armored Brigade

British XII Corps

British 1st Infantry Division
Norwegian 1st Division (+)
British 2nd Armored Division
British 15th Armored Brigade

British XIV Training Corps

British 6th Infantry (Training) Division
British 9th Armored (Training) Division

Canadian 1st Army (Northern England)

Canadian I Corps

1st Canadian Infantry Division
2nd Canadian Infantry Division
1st Dutch Motorized Brigade Group
1st Canadian Armored Brigade

Canadian II Corps

3rd Canadian Infantry Division
4th Canadian Infantry Division
9th Belgian Infantry Battalion

British 2nd Army (Southern England)

British 79th Armored Division (Experimental)

British VI Corps

British 3rd Infantry Division
British 51st Infantry (Lowland) Division
British 11th Armored Brigade
British 22nd Armored Brigade (Phantom)

British XIII Corps

1st Danish Infantry Division
British 9th (Highland) Infantry Division
British 23rd Infantry (Northumbrian) Division
British 52nd Infantry (Highland) Division
British 21st Armored Brigade
British 20th Guards Infantry Brigade

British XV Corps

British 1st Armored Division
British 49th Armored Division
British 50th Infantry (Northumbrian) Division
Czech Infantry Brigade Group

British 4th Army (Scotland)

British XXV Corps (Phantom)

British 40th Infantry Division (Phantom)
British 80th Infantry Division (Phantom)
British 10th Armored Brigade (Phantom)


British XXXV Corps (Phantom)

British 77th Infantry Division (Phantom)
British 78th Infantry Division (Phantom)
British 79th Infantry Division (Phantom)
British Guards Infantry Division (Phantom)

*Being transferred to US control

EXCERPT FROM
GERMAN MILITARY RESISTANCE TO HITLER
BY JOHANNES VON STAUFFENBERG
BAVARIAN PUBLICATIONS
1998
​

In 1941, the German Army had troops scattered from Norway to France to Italy to Yugoslavia to the Baltic States. German troops were fighting in Yugoslavia and Hitler was preparing to move into Russia. A number of German officers, led by retired Field Marshal Ludwig Beck, were convinced that Germany was going to over extend itself and lose the war. In addition, Beck had recently learned of the concentration camps and was opposed to the mass killings.

At this point in time, the German resistance had a limited number of objectives:

1. The overthrow of Hitler followed by a public trial if possible, assassination if not.
2. The closing down of the camps.
3. The withdraw of the German Army from France, Belgium and the Netherlands, but first said countries would be stripped of all useful materials to Germany, followed by a scorched earth withdrawal into Germany.
4. Peace with the Western Allies with the understanding that Germany had an open hand in Eastern Europe.

On March 25, 1941, the German Resistance learned that Hitler would be flying to Belgrade when that country surrendered. One of the resistance members was a pilot assigned to Hitler’s Headquarters and he was willing to crash the plane into the ground killing all onboard (his fiancée had recently been arrested for anti-Hitler comments and had been “shot while attempting to escape”). Hitler later changed his mind and didn’t go.

However, on April 2, 1941, the pilot Captain Hans Bahr decided not to wait any longer. Informed that Hitler would be flying to Warsaw to confer his and foreign generals, Bahr decided to shoot Hitler. As Hitler approached his plane, Bahr drew his pistol and opened fire on Hitler. Hitler, immediately hit the ground as his guards returned fire. Bahr and one of Hitler’s orderlies were killed in the short lived firefight.

EXCERPT FROM
SCOTTISH WARRIOR: THE LIFE OF
FIELD MARSHAL JAN NIEMCZYK, 1ST VISCOUNT NIEMCZYK OF CARACAS, KBE, DSO AND 2 BARS,
LEGION OF MERIT
BY
COLONEL SIR DAVID MILLER, KCMG, MC

CHAPTER XII - INDIA
​

After his court martial, Major Niemczyk wound up in Calcutta. There, not knowing exactly what to do with him, he was assigned as an Inspector General, and given the task of inspecting the part time militia units. He was responsible for the merging and inactivation of such units like the Calcutta Light Horse, the Punjab Light Horse, 4th Prince Albert Victor’s Rajputs and other infantry and cavalry units. (Prior to their closing down, the Calcutta Light Horse, with assistance from several members of the SOE performed a still classified mission.)

With the fall of Burma, someone in GHQ India remembered him and decided to put him to better use. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel he was assigned to command 6th Battalion, 9th Jat Regiment on April 8, 1941. He was given a welcoming feast, which unfortunately for him, included a very spicy Jat curry. Colonel Niemczyk became ill, but it was only through sheer Scottish determination that he did not show obvious signs of being ill. He stayed throughout the entire ceremony only to become very ill upon reaching his quarters. The English doctor assigned to the battalion was able to get him through his ordeal.

Assigned to the 4th Indian Division, they were ordered to defend Imphal at all costs. Fortunately, the Japanese did not advance beyond the border (They had out run their supply lines). Three weeks later, a patrol from No. 3 Company, 6th Battalion returned three days early from a two week long patrol in Burma. They brought with them a very haggard and very tired British Lieutenant General whose plane had been shot down and had almost reached the Indian border when he met up with the patrol.

Lieutenant General Montgomery immediately demanded transportation to Singapore where he could take up his assignment. He was rather put out when he was informed that London had assigned Lieutenant General Gordon Bennett as C-in-C Malaya Command and vented his spleen upon Colonel Niemczyk. Montgomery was ordered back to the United Kingdom.

JOINT MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
AND PRIME MINISTER CHURCHILL
APRIL 8, 1941
​

Dear Prime Minister Reynaud,

After conferring with our Chiefs of Staff, we have decided on the following.

1) In regards to the Allied invasion of Northern France – the Allies Armies will be under the Supreme Allied Commander, at this time Field Marshal Auchinleck. In accordance with his wishes, the French X Corps will be a component of one of the Allied Armies. If you and your government do not wish for this to happen, please inform Field Marshal Auchinleck and he will make arrangements to return the X Corps to North Africa.

2) In addition to the war materials already being supplied to the French, the Allies will transfer approximately 2 months worth of production of amphibious shipping sufficient to land your forces on the Mediterranean coast of France.

3) The Allied landings in southern France, will, as you have stated, be under French control during the invasion. They will fall under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander, who as you know with the death of Field Marshal Wavell in Singapore last week, is General Pierre Duchesne.

4) Once it has been determined (in both northern and southern France, as well as in Italy), which country has the preponderance of forces, that country’s senior general will become the Supreme Allied Commander. Once both the southern and northern armies link up in France, there will be one supreme commander.

Respectfully,

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Winston Churchill


EXCERPT FROM
CHAPTER 3 – SHUTDOWN
THE A-BOMB: A HISTORY
BY SONIA GROVES
TRINITY PRESS
2002
​

On April 10, 1941, while being interviewed by NBC Radio, FBI Director Hoover made the following statement:

“We in the FBI have incontrovertible evidence of Communist infiltration of the aircraft industry, unions, the Armed Forces and government. I have a list of 250 known communists working in these areas and these people are working against the best interests of our nation and they are aiding the Nazis. We must do all we can to root out these subversives from our midst.”

Almost immediately, Hoover was summoned to the White House by the President. Claiming that his duties were more important, Hoover sent his deputy, Clyde Tolson which infuriated the President. When Hoover showed up at the White House the next day, he presented a plan to the President which called for the arrest and detaining of all known communists and communist sympathizers in the US. They would be held in five internment camps spread throughout the US in California, Arkansas, Texas and New Mexico. These people would be questioned and then detained for the duration of the war. All foreign born communists would then be deported back to their countries of origin. Those suspected of sabotage would be tried by secret military courts martial. All that would be needed was Roosevelt’s approval. Roosevelt told Hoover that he would need time to think about it.

At 10pm, April 14th, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which would go into effect at Midnight. At dawn the next morning, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, David Bohm (who had only recently been granted a security clearance by General Groves), Philip Morrison (like Bohm, he had only recently joined) and others were arrested and whisked off. The President, at the urging of Hoover, temporarily shut down the Manhattan Project so that it could be “purged” of all communist elements. Brigadier General Leslie Groves was shocked by this turn of events. First the fire earlier that month and now this, the project was running further behind the Germans. Groves was outraged and he went to Hoover demanding that his people be released. Hoover refused and suggested to Groves that Groves should watch his step – sympathizing with a known communist could get him detained.

Naturally, the Manhattan Project was not the only workplace impacted by Hoover’s roundups (in all slightly more than 5,000 people would be detained, some of them genuine spies) – the Boeing plants where the B-17s were being produced were shut down for three days, Army, Navy, State and Justice Department officials were arrested and other vital war related projects were disrupted or shut down.

Once Oppenheimer was arrested (along with his wife), Groves went first to the FBI offices in San Francisco and then to the Tule Lake Detention Center where he would spend the next three months. Subjected to intense questioning (which included sleep deprivation), he admitted to cheating on his taxes, numerous affairs that he had and cheating on several tests while in college, but he never admitted to being a communist. As far as Groves, the Manhattan Project and the War Department knew, Dr. Oppenheimer had fallen off the planet. Inquiry after inquiry was met with silence.

In the meantime, the Project was effectively shut down. Hoover would not allow the project to proceed until his agents had checked everyone out as well as their duties in the project. Hoover was stalled because Groves would not grant Hoover’s agents access to the project. Things came to a boil on Jul 15, 1941. A day earlier, General Groves, accompanied by General Marshall, had visited the President with two pieces of intelligence. The first was that the Germans were in the process of transporting Norwegian heavy water to Germany (British commandos on the night of July 17 solved that problem for General Groves when they sank the ferry carrying the water). The second was that Germany would have an atomic pile up and running within the month (that intelligence turned out to be wrong). Later that day, Groves was arrested on suspicions of being a Communist sympathizer. Hoover had considered detaining Marshall as well, but Tolson was able to talk him out of it.

Hoover had gone too far. General Marshall protested to the President at once. President Roosevelt, having heard similar protests from other government officials and business leaders, had had enough. He ordered Hoover to release everyone arrested at once, especially all those involved with the A-Bomb project. At first Hoover denied that they had arrested Oppenheimer and effectively stalled both the President and Groves for another two weeks before admitting that the FBI had him – his paperwork had been “misfiled”. In all, close to 3,000 people would be released and all but 2 of the detention facilities would be shut down.

Oppenheimer and the others, once released were in no condition to begin working again. Due to the disruptions in both staff and materials, the Manhattan Project was effectively shut down until the beginning of September.

EXCERPTS FROM
BRANDENBURGER
MY LIFE IN THE GERMAN SPECIAL FORCES
BY SERGEANT MAJOR ALBERT BURKHALTER, GERMAN ARMY (RET)
CHAPTER X – RUSSIA
​

We knew were going into Russia and we would be going in soon. By late February, I was back in Russia. My team had originally been tasked with sorting out the Russian order of battle, but then we were given a new task – the Fuehrer had an agreement with a Russian Grand Duke to return the Ukraine to him and I was ordered into the Ukraine to see if I could form monarchist resistance groups. I was actually surprised when I found people willing to take up arms. After decades of terror and mismanagement from first the Communists and now the Moscow military government, they were willing to give the Russian monarchy another try.

We formed small groups and trained them in the very basics of guerilla warfare – stealing from local troops, killing and maiming of the local troops and government, taking nothing from the locals and so on. By early April, we had 100 local men and boys formed in to cells of ten fighters in and around Kiev and we sent them out to see what they could do. On April 15 we set them loose. When they launched their attacks at 6am, they were initially successful, and despite our best efforts grew over confident. Half of these cells were wiped out when they attacked heavily defended targets. The most successful attack was on the Kiev garrison’s command post where they were able to kill the commander and his staff.

On April 18, I was informed of a new mission. Another Branderburger team would be replacing us and we were informed that we had a new mission and the higher ups wanted us back in Poland yesterday. Our new mission was simple – find the headquarters of Marshal Budnney, find its weaknesses and be prepared to kill him when the invasion began.

EXCERPTS FROM
THE DIARY OF SERGEANT GEORGE WASHINGTON BOLLING,
9TH US CAVALRY
​

After I joined up, I was assigned to a thrown together unit of Americans and Filipinos. I was put in command of a Filipino infantry platoon. We were assigned to a cavalry squadron and we waited for the Japs to attack and attack they did.

They slowly drove us back into the city, and towards the end of April; it was obvious that the city would fall. On April 17, we fell back towards the port. Our company commander kept telling us that ships were waiting to take us off. We knew that was baloney – the Japs controlled the air and the water.

By midnight on the 18th, it was obvious that there were no ships waiting for us. We were fighting against a Thai cavalry unit and their lines were stretched pretty thin (so were ours of course) and once they broke through our lines at dawn on the 19th, it was every man for himself. I had about a dozen men with me, some of them wounded and we headed for the small town of Lobo. We were outside the town when we heard a noise of an engine, looked up and saw a very small airplane flying overhead, smoke pouring out of its engine. (1) The pilot was obviously trying to land his plane, he failed, seconds later it hit the ground hard, and we rushed over and pulled out the pilot and his passenger. The pilot was dead, and his passenger was Brigadier General Davis; he died a few minutes later. We didn’t want the Japs getting their bodies, so we buried them near a burnt out Catholic Church and moved on. (2)

We moved on into the town, hoping to get news of what was going on. We heard about the Battle of Manila and I was of course worried about my wife and girls. I told the men that I was heading home to see if my wife had come back and they should go home and see their families. If they were interested in fighting on, they should meet at my store in 30 days. I then started walking towards home.

1. The plane was an auto gyro.
2.Brigadier General Benjamin Davis was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his defense of Batanagas City, after the war, his remains were disinterred and reburied at the US Military Cemetery outside of Manila.
BRIEFING FOR GENERAL WAINWRIGHT ON MINDANAO

APRIL 20TH, 1941
​

Colonel Marcus Ramsey was the briefer.

Good morning General, here is the situation as of 0600 this morning.

Colonel Ramsey: Bataan is still holding out. They report minor skirmishes along the main line of resistance. Troop morale is low, a large number of the men have some form of malaria. There are severe shortages of food and medical supplies. Batangas City has finally fallen. At last report, General Davis was still in the city, he is missing believed to be captured. The Japanese have air superiority over the northern and central Philippines. We have one B-18, two P40s, and two B-17s here on Mindanao. In addition, we have four of those auto gyros scattered between here and Corregidor. We had five, but that one was sent to pick up General Davis has not been heard from and is presumed lost.

We are doing better here on Mindanao and have scattered weapon and supply caches all throughout the area in anticipation of a guerilla campaign. We are still getting a trickle of supplies from Australia and Washington keeps sending us confirmations that reinforcements are on the way.

General Wainwright: I’ll notify Washington about General Davis. He is a fine officer. Colonel, I want all available rations and supplies sent onwards to Bataan and Corregidor. General King is to be sent as much as we can send him; we are not sending him enough. If you have to, put the troops here on half rations and send the rest on. Is that understood? And the promises from Washington are worth the paper they are written on son, I suggest that you remember that.

It was at this point that Colonel Ramsey was interrupted by an aide who handed him new information.

Ramsey: Sir it appears that the Japanese have launched a major assault on Bataan. We have reports of Japanese artillery laying down massive barrages on the front lines, we have unconfirmed reports of Japanese paratroopers landing behind the lines and more reports of an amphibious landing. This appears to be the main Japanese assault.

NAVY DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE
APRIL 22, 1941
​

Earlier today, Task Force 30, under the command of Vice Admiral Halsey, struck at Japanese targets on and around Wake Island. Our pilots sank 3 Japanese freighters and destroyed a number of Japanese aircraft. All of our aircraft returned to their carriers safely.

WAR DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE
APRIL 25, 1941
​

US and Filipino forces were able to defeat several Japanese attacks along the Main Line of Resistance on the Bataan Peninsula. Japanese amphibious forces attempted to land on the Peninsula but were wiped out by strong counter attacks.

Today Lieutenant General Charles Whittlesey relieved General Omar N. Bradley of command of the Argentine Occupation Force. General Bradley, who led the successful campaign against the Argentines, is returning to Washington for reassignment.

MEXICAN OCUPPIED TERRITORIES
VOICE OF THE AMERICAS BROADCAST
APRIL 25, 1941

In anticipation of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo celebrations, the Military Governor has announced a general amnesty on that day. Any one turning over firearms, explosives or providing information on terror groups will be given amnesty and rewarded with a house and 50 acres.

4TH US ARMY MEMORANDUM
APRIL 27, 1941
​

Colonel Jonathan Grimm has relieved Colonel Rufus Bratton has Head of the Intelligence Section. Colonel Bratton is retiring because of ill health.

USN CARRIER AIR GROUPS
MAY 1, 1941
​

CAG-1 USS Langley
CAG-2 USS Bon Homme Richard
CAG-3 USS Saratoga
CAG-4 Reforming at Norfolk NAS (USS United States)
CAG-5 USS Constellation
CAG-6 Reforming in Australia from USS Alamo survivors
CAG-7 USS Ranger
CAG-8 USS Enterprise
CAG-9 USS Hornet
CAG-10 USS Essex
CATG-11 Pensacola NAS (Basic flight)
CATG-12 San Diego NAS (Advanced flight)
CAG-13 USS Intrepid
CAG-14 USS Independence
CAG-15 (Forming)
CAG-16 (Forming)
CAG-17 (Forming)
CAG-18(Forming)
CAG-19 (Forming)
CAG-20 (Forming)
CATG 21 Pensacola NAS (Advanced flight)
Patrol Wing One (Gitmo)
Patrol Wing Two (Norfolk NAS)
Patrol Wing Three (Sydney)
Patrol Wing Four (Pearl Harbor)
Patrol Wing Five (San Diego)
Patrol Wing Six (Bremerton)
Patrol Wing Seven (Boston)
Patrol Wing Eight (Miami)
Patrol (Training) Wing Nine (Norfolk)
Patrol Wing Ten (Alexandria Egypt)
Patrol Wing Eleven (Southampton, England)
Patrol Wing Twelve (Forming)

Principal USN aircraft

ASW/Patrol:
K-Class Blimp
M-Class Blimp
PBM Mariner
PBY Catalina
PB2Y Coronado
PB4Y Corregidor

Dive Bomber:
SBD Dauntless
Brewster SB2A (in final flight testing)

Fighter:
Grumman F4F Wildcat
Chance Vought F4U Corsair (in flight testing)

Observation/Scout:
OS2U Kingfisher
Grumman J2F
Platt-Le Page XR-1 Helicopter (in flight testing)
Sikorsky R-4 Helicopter (in flight testing)


Torpedo Bomber:
TBD Devastator (being phased out)
TBF Avenger (entering service)

Trainer:
AT-18 Hudson
F2A-3 Buffalo
G-Class blimp
L-Class blimp
N3N Canary
SB2U Vindicator
SBN-1
Spartan NP-1
TBD Devastator
T-6 Texan

Transport:
Beechcraft SNB-1/UC-45J
Douglas Dolphin
Douglas R2D (VIP)
Grumman G-21
Lockheed L-10 (VIP)

US MAJOR WARSHIPS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
MAY 1, 1941
​

USS Amsterdam (CL-64) Expected to be commissioned by June 5, 1941
USS Appomattox (CVL-20) Expected to be commissioned July 29, 1941
USS Austin (CL-70) Expected to be in commission by July, 1942
USS Biloxi (CL-70) Expected to be commissioned by July 1, 1941
USS Birmingham (CL-65) Expected to be commissioned May 28, 1941
USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) Expected to be commissioned by September 1, 1941
USS Cabot (CVL-19) Expected to be commissioned Jun 30, 1941
USS Columbia (CL-61) Expected to be commissioned May 23, 1941
USS Cowpens (CVL-18) Expected to be commissioned Jun 22, 1941
USS Dayton (CL-69) Expected to be commissioned June 29, 1941
USS Fairbanks (CL-71) Expected to be in commission by July 1942
USS Florida (BB-56) Expected to be commissioned by Jan 1942
USS Franklin (CV-14) Expected to be commissioned July 5, 1941
USS Huntingdon (CL-73) Expected to be commissioned by July, 1942
USS George Washington (CC-14) – expected to be commissioned by Jan 1943
USS Gettysburg (CVL-19) Expected to be commissioned by July 15, 1941
USS John Adams (CC-15) expected to be commissioned by Mar 1943
USS Kentucky (BB-58) Expected to be in commission by December, 1942
USS La Paz (CL- 72) Expected to be commissioned by July, 1942
USS Montpelier (CL-63) Expected to be commissioned by July 1, 1941
USS New Hampshire (BB-57) Expected to be commissioned by Jan 1943
USS Pasadena (CL-66) Expected to be commissioned by June 1, 1941
USS Randolph (CV-16) Expected to be commissioned by August 20, 1941
USS Santa Fe (CL-62) Expected to be commissioned by July 2, 1941
USS Springfield (CL-67) Expected to be commissioned by July 12, 1941
USS Ticonderoga (CV-15) Expected to be commissioned by August 7, 1941
USS Topeka (CL-68) Expected to be commissioned by July 5, 1941
USS Wisconsin (BB-55) Expected to be commissioned July 1, 1941

BEBC NEWS REPORT
MAY 4, 1941
​

Good evening, this is London.

German bombers paid visits to London, Portsmouth, Coventry, Manchester Sheffield, and Leeds today where they were met by strong resistance from the RAF and other Allied fighters. The RAF is reporting 100 German fighters and bombers shot down for the loss of 17 defending fighters.

In India, Japanese attacks along the Indian-Burmese border have been repelled in heavy fighting.

In Malaya, Japanese forces have been stopped cold in their advance towards Singapore. Empire forces, fighting a spirited defense have stopped the Japanese in front of the town of Gemas.

In the Mexican Occupied Territories, preparations are underway for Tuesday’s historic elections to determine the future of the territories.

EXCEPRT FROM
THEY DIDN'T LISTEN
BY COLONEL RUFUS S. BRATTON, USA (RETD)
RANDOM HOUSE 1966
​

THE CINCO DE MAYO ATTACKS

The signs were there and I was reading them, but my superiors weren’t listening to me. I was regarded as a naysayer and I wasn’t a team player. I strongly opposed the May 5 amnesty for a number of reasons including the fact that there was little or no reason for any die hard nationalist to accept any amnesty when they want us out of Mexico completely.

When I sent out a warning to the divisions about the possibility of major terrorist attacks, I was told that I was going too far and was ordered to “clarify” my message. When I refused I was told that I was tired and overworked and that I should go and see the Chief Medical Officer. I walked in and was told that I was being retired for reasons of ill health. He never even examined me. My warning was overruled by higher authorities. The only one who took me seriously was Major General Eichelberger, commanding general, US XXX Corps. His command was ready when the attacks came and they suffered the fewest losses.

The attacks were centered in six areas – Mexico City, Vera Cruz, La Paz, Durango, Hermosillo, and Monterrey; with small scale attacks in other areas. Thanks to General Eichelberger’s taking my warnings seriously, the attacks in and around La Paz were stopped just as they began. In Mexico City, the lower two floors of the six floor US Embassy were taken by the German led Mexican rebels. The Occupation Headquarters was attacked but the attacks were beaten off by the building defenders. The Mexican legislature was also attacked with most of the legislatures killed as collaborators. The worst atrocities happened in Hermosillo where for a short time, Mexican rebels were able to seize the town. They rounded up and executed all known collaborators and all the American citizens they could catch – men, women and children. In all they managed to kill some 985 people before US forces could regain control. Fighting continued for the next week in Mexico City, Durango and Vera Cruz before the US finally stamped out the rebels.

The Monterrey Internment Camp, which had just opened, was attacked by the rebels who had expected the internees to rise up and join them, instead the internees helped the camp guards drive off the attackers. Such acts later lead to the formation of the 442nd Japanese-American Infantry Regiment.

In all, 8,000 Mexicans died along with 2,200 American civilians and military personnel. All 22 captured Germans were treated as spies and executed without trials (such actions were condemned by the International Red Cross and the German Government. The US was able to provide evidence that all 22 men were captured in US uniforms and were thus considered spies under International law.) The uprising was portrayed as a success by the Germans and their allies. In reality, the uprising broke the back of the Mexican resistance and they were never a serious threat again.

The uprising also had an impact on the special elections which were scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, 1941. Because of the lack of violence in Baja, the elections went ahead as scheduled with an 88% voter turnout. When the votes were tallied, 92% of the votes were for statehood. The rest of the Territories held their elections after the uprising was crushed and numerous problems were encountered. Close to 400,000 Mexicans boycotted the elections in Chihuahua. Another 6,000 were turned away and denied the opportunity to vote. Another 1,800 reported being threatened with death if they did not vote for statehood. There was limited anti-Mexican violence (the Army cracked down hard on all instances of violence) with 12 Americans and 67 Mexican nationals dying. The Army tried and convicted six US citizens and nine Mexicans of murder. In the end, the results showed that 90% of the votes were for statehood.

With the elections complete (Alaska and Hawaii voted for statehood as well), the five new states were scheduled to be admitted to the union on July 4, 1941. I was of course watching this from the sidelines. I had proven the top brass wrong twice now and they were not going to put me in a position to do it again.

CLASSIFIED MEMO FROM
THE COMBINED
CHIEFS OF STAFF
MAY 8, 1941
​

To: Prime Minister Churchill, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Reynaud
From: The Combined Chiefs of Staff
Re: Invasion of Europe

Gentlemen, with the diversion of forces from the European Theater to the Indian and South Pacific Theaters, and the slow resupply of French forces, we recommend the following:

I. Invasion of Sicily on June 1, 1942, followed by landings in Italy.
II. Invasion of Norway by Jul 1, 1942.
III. Invasion of northern France in the spring of 1943.
IV. Invasion of southern France a month later.

In the event of a German withdrawal from Norway, the Low Countries or France, we can land units within days.

At this time, the invasion of Norway is expected to be primarily all American with limited British and Norwegian forces involved. Sicily and Italy will be a joint Allied effort as will be the invasions of France

THE UNWELCOMED:
THE HISTORY OF THE 112TH US INFANTRY DIVISION
BY DR. JUAN DAVILA
US ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
2022
​

They called themselves the Unwelcomed. The division was composed of Puerto Ricans, Japanese-Americans, and Mexican-Americans. The three infantry regiments were the 65th US Infantry (Puerto Ricans), 442nd Infantry (Japanese-Americans), and the 450th Infantry (Mexican-Americans), all the supporting units were composed of a mixture of Latinos and Nisei. All the senior officers (Colonel and above) were all white. The division was formed on May 10th, 1941 at Fort Benning, The division would train there for the next year.

The men of the division felt that they all had something to prove. The Nisei and Mexican-Americans wanted to prove their loyalty to the US. The Puerto-Ricans wanted to prove they were good enough to be citizens of the US. They had felt slighted that they were not able to vote for statehood and that if they fought in large numbers, they would earn that chance.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
T3h_shammy said:
A division should be made up of 3 brigades not 3 regiments :rolleyes:

Otherwise great update glad to see this!
Click to expand...

Nope, a US army division is only made of 3 regiments during WW2, each of three infantry battalions, plus a bunch of support troops. Each regiment IS a brigade; both formations tend to overlap. Before that the formation was only 2 brigades but each of 2 regiments with 8 battalions in the field and 4 as reserve - it's an effect of WW1, at some point through the war they realized just how little manpower they had left and tried to find ways to reorganize divisions, by ww2, everyone was using that basic 9 battalions in 3 regiments division type. With integrated cavalry as in the red army mechanized infantry divisions, each regiment would have a squadron of armoured vehicles with the three squadrons as a cavalry brigade; I'm not sure when, but pretty much every western power had removed their infantry's integrated cavalry units by the middle of the war with the exception of a token recon force.

Also, interesting update, subbed :)
 
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NoOneFamous

CHAPTER TWO

EXCERPTS FROM
A YEAR AT SEA WITH THE CARRIERS
BY KEVIN HOFFMAN
DETROIT BOOKS
1946


INTRODUCTION
​

Just after New Year’s Day 1941, I went to my boss, Royce Howes; then the Editor of the Detroit Free Press with an idea. I would go to sea with the Navy for a year. I would report on the day to day life of the sailors and send back regular stories. Mr. Howes then began his negotiations with the Navy. We came to a sticking point – when did operational security over ride Freedom of the Press? The compromise was simple – all articles that did not endanger the ship or the mission would be published, the rest would be published after the war. Finally, it was determined that I would not be a “useless mouth” – I would have to have an assigned duty while onboard ship. I would learn of my assignment after meeting the Executive Officer.

CHAPTER 1 – THRUST TOWARDS JAPAN
​

April 2, 1941

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Today I reported aboard the carrier in the US Navy, the USS Bon Homme Richard. I was met by the Officer of the Deck, Ensign Gerald Ford of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He assigned a sailor to show me to my bunk and then escort me to see the Executive Officer, Commander John Robertson of San Diego, CA. He welcomed me aboard on behalf of the Captain, Captain Forest Sherman. There he set the rules.


1) I was allowed to visit the crew’s quarters, officer’s quarters, the mess halls, general supply areas, sick bay, and all other open areas of the ship. I could visit the Bridge, Flight Deck, Hanger Deck, Flight Ops, gun mounts, and Engineering only with permission from the XO (and the officer on duty in those areas) and with an escort. The Magazines were completely off limits.

2) All of my articles would be submitted to the XO prior to me sending them to my editor.

3) My assigned duty was to be the Editor of the Bonnie News– the ship’s newspaper. During battle stations, I would be assigned to the Bridge as an observer. I would report (as Editor) to the Ship’s Communications Officer, Lt. Barney Wilson of Ottumwa, Iowa.

I spent the rest of the day exploring the ship (and getting lost more than once) and meeting the crew. I even managed to meet my roommate – Lieutenant Thomas Haney of Harrisburg, PA. He was the ship’s meteorologist.

We were supposed to sail the next morning, but towards dusk, we were informed that we would have a two day delay to allow late arriving personnel a chance to get on board.

April 3, 1941

This was the story that I submitted for the paper.

The Family

​
A carrier, like all other warships, is a family. The father is of course the ship’s captain; the executive officer is the mother. And today I had the chance to interview Mother and Father and some of their “older children”.

Captain Forrest Sherman is the commanding officer of the Bon Homme Richard. He is her first skipper, but he is a very experienced sailor. He has been in the Navy since 1917. He is a New Englander by birth being born in Merrimack, New Hampshire. His father was mayor and a business owner, his mother a homemaker. He saw service in the Caribbean during the 2nd and 3rd Mexican-American Wars. In-between the wars, he went to flight school and got his wings. Captain Forrest Sherman is married to the former Emma Sue Dahlgren of Biloxi, Mississippi and they have three children.

Commander John Robertson is the Executive Officer. He has been in the Navy since 1928 and served for years aboard submarines before going to flight school in 1938. He hails from San Diego. Commander Robertson is a Navy brat; his ancestors had served in the US Navy, the Continental Navy and the British Royal navy dating back 200 years. His father, Commander Eric Robertson, was the commander of the ill-fated USS Austin. Commander Robertson is a bachelor.

Commander James Thatch is the carrier’s “CAG”; he commands the carrier’s air group. Commander Thatch was born in Pine Bluff Arkansas and has been in the Navy since 1927 and a naval aviator since 1929. He saw extensive combat in the 3rd Mexican-American War. He is a fight pilot by training, but as the Air Group Commander, he commands fighters, torpedo bombers, dive bombers and scout planes. Commander Thatch is married to the former Madelyn Yerkes of Annapolis, Maryland and they have 2 daughters.

Commander Edward Bernstein heads the carrier’s “black gang” – in other words he is the Bonnie’s Chief Engineer. He too is a Navy brat, hailing from Norfolk Virginia. His father is a retired Chief Machinists Mate. Commander Bernstein has been in the Navy since 1921 and has served mainly in the Asiatic and Pacific Fleets. He is married to the former Elizabeth Banks of Erie, PA and they have one son.

Father (Lieutenant) Henry La Fay is the ship’s Chaplain. He is an Episcopal priest from New Orleans. He was ordained in 1935 and joined the Navy soon after his ordination. He has two other chaplains under his command.

These are some of the men that your husbands and sons will be following into battle. Over the next year, I plan on interviewing more of the officers and crew of the USS Bon Homme Richard.

April 5, 1941

We sailed at dawn along with the carrier USS Essex with Admiral Halsey in over all command. Once we cleared the port, we were informed that we would be raiding Wake Island. Of course, I was not allowed to send in the story that I wanted to send in. Instead, this is what I submitted to my editor:

My Day with the Cooks
​

So what does a sailor eat on board a navy carrier? That was the question I asked Lieutenant Ernest McCauley of Baltimore, Maryland; the Senior Mess Officer.

“Bonnie’s sailors work hard and need quality food to enable them to perform their duties. For breakfast we usually offer eggs, mainly scrambled; ham, bacon, pancakes, orange juice, coffee and milk.

Lunch is generally a rather simple affair, tends to be sandwiches, fruit, lemonade, coffee and milk.

Dinner varies of course. We can offer pork chops, steaks, baked and fried chicken, vegetables, and so on. We will serve the same types of meals that Mom serves back home.

We also offer what is known as midrats. Sailors getting off duty after dinner tend to be hungry, so we offer them dinner leftovers and sandwiches.

The mess halls are open 24 hours a day and only close down during battle stations.”

I decided that I wanted to see what the cooks did and how they did it. I was woken up at 2:30am to go to work. I don’t know about most folks, but 2:30 in the morning is way too early for me. I went into one of the kitchens serving the forward enlisted mess hall. My first task was making Navy coffee. Now I had assumed that I knew how to make coffee, but I was quickly disabused of that notion by my boss for the morning Ship’s Cook 2nd Class Richard Zankman of Chicago. I was shown how to make “real “coffee, not civilian coffee, but Navy coffee. Navy coffee is vastly different from what you and I call coffee. Coffee will wake you up in the morning. Navy coffee is like being hit with by a car. After I made several dozen gallons of coffee, I started making the toast; I was putting bread onto metal sheets and running them through an oven. For the next several hours I assisted the cooks and KP’s (sailors who are not cooks, but assisting the cooks are known as KP’s – short for Kitchen Police) prepare and serve the food for sailors about to go on duty. It was exhausting work. After I was done, I headed for the shower and then an hour or so of shut eye.

I wasn’t scheduled to assist in lunch, but I did work the dinner shift. Dinner was baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and apple pie for desert. Guess who peeled potatoes? After peeling several hundred potatoes, with help from some KPs, I was assigned to serving the food. After serving several hundred sailors, I got to bed at 11pm, and I was exhausted!

This is the story that I later submitted for publication after the Wake Raid:

Bull Halsey goes hunting
​

Task Force 30 sailed at dawn; the Bon Homme Richard joined Admiral Halsey’s flagship the USS Essex and her escorts. We are going out to hunt Japanese. Our targets are the Japanese on Wake Island and the hunting is expected to be good.

It will take us several days to get there, in the meantime, the planes will be looked over with a fine tooth comb and the pilots will be briefed on their targets and briefed again until they can do everything with their eyes closed.

This will be the Bonnie’s first taste of combat, but the Captain is not worried. He has a fine crew composed of the best America has to offer. The Air Group is led by a fine CAG and all the squadron leaders are experienced men who have seen combat and will lead their men with honor and courage. The weather was expected to be good with clear visibility over the target.

During our voyage out we have several anti-submarine scares. I am sorry to report that several whales died from being depth charged.
Before we were in range, the pilots went over their missions and the rest of the crew did their best to ensure that everything would go smoothly. Six hours before the launch at 2345 we went to battle stations – radar had picked up a bogey, possibly a Jap patrol plane, but it flew away from us without coming closer.

We launched the planes before dawn. We sent off strike groups from both carriers, but Admiral Halsey had given the Bonnie the additional duty of providing the air defense for the task group.

During the time our planes were on their way, I was up on the Bridge waiting with the rest of the crew. I watched the other ships talk to each other using signal lights (the whole task force was keeping radio silence in order to keep the element of surprise.) and I must say how impressed I was. I didn’t realize that you could say a lot using very few words.

Our planes struck at dawn and we achieved total surprise, the Japanese didn’t know we were coming. I could hear the pilots’ radio chatter as they hit their targets on the island, in the lagoon and in the air. From what I could hear, we had caught them with their pants down.

Several hours later, our planes came back to the carriers. Some of our planes came back full of holes but still flying – a tribute to the skills of the pilots and American workmanship.

The pilots came into their ready rooms full of excitement over what they had just done. When the final tallies were completed, the Bonnie’s pilots had sunk 1 freighter, 1 patrol boat, destroyed 20 enemy aircraft on the ground and in the air, cratered the runway and destroyed several buildings on the ground. In all, 1 patrol boat and 3 freighters were sunk, 4 other patrol boats damaged, 50 air planes destroyed or damaged, the runway cratered and buildings were damaged or destroyed. (1)

We returned to Pearl Harbor eager to go back out again and attack the enemy.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-----------------------------------------------------

We spent the next several weeks in and around Pearl Harbor exercising with other ships

Navy ships spend a lot of time at sea, but when they are in port, their crews get the chance to go into town. This was the story I submitted on April 20th, 1941.

Liberty
​

After several weeks at sea, the Bonnie came home to Pearl Harbor while the admirals decided how best to use her again. While we were in port, the captain granted the crew liberty. Those crewmen not on duty or being punished would be allowed to go into port and enjoy the sights of Hawaii.
The way it usually works is that one third of the crew is allowed to go ashore, which leaves another one third on duty and the final one third on ship ready to assist the men on duty. And of course this rotates, the next day, the men who were on duty now go ashore; the men who were on the ship are now on duty and those who had the liberty are now ready to assist those sailors on duty and so on.

Now about those men who get liberty, what can they do? There are plenty of activities for the men. The Navy regularly organizes sporting events like baseball and football for the men to participate in. The USO, Red Cross and other organizations host libraries and dances for the men at Pearl Harbor. If they want to get off the base, there is regular bus service between the base and Pearl City and Honolulu. In both cities, there is plenty to do from museums, dances at the YMCAs, USO shows and concerts, sporting events and much more to see and do. There are regular church services for all major denominations. The Navy is concerned for the spiritual well being of your sons, brothers, husbands and fathers. Finally there are the world famous beaches on Hawaii like Sunset, Waikiki, and Lanikai Beaches where they can swim, or if they are lucky, convince a native Hawaiian to teach them a local sport called surfing. Never having been to Hawaii and certainly never having heard of surfing, I decided to check it out. Surfing involves standing on a heavy wooden plank and “riding” the waves as they come into shore. I fell off quite a few times before I got the hang of it, but it is wholesome fun that I strongly recommend.

Our boys are doing their duty for their country and when they have liberty, you can rest assured folks, that they are having good clean fun.

---------------------------------------

The next day, we sailed with a convoy heading to Australia loaded with supplies for the Philippines. Task Force 30 was composed of the carriers USS Bon Homme Richard and USS Essex (Halsey’s flagship) USS Intrepid, the battle cruiser USS Baja, the cruisers USS Flint, USS New Orleans, USS Portland, and USS Wichita and twelve destroyers.

On April 30th, Halsey took a task group comprising of the Essex, Intrepid, the Flint, the Portland and four destroyers and conducted a quick raid on the Japanese base at Jaluit Atoll before rejoining the convoy. They inflicted some damage on the Japanese base (2), but nothing significant.

En route to Australia, we got word that Salamaua and Lae on Papua New Guinea had fallen to the Japanese. The mood on the ship was of anger, angry that the Japanese had taken more territory and that we were too far away to do anything about it.

We pulled into Melbourne 22 days after leaving Pearl Harbor. There we saw signs of a country at war - Blackouts, rationing, the battered battle cruiser HMAS Leviathan tied up at pier side, she was being slowly rebuilt (3), and heightened security everywhere. We got the bad news that Singapore had surrendered on May 10th. The Australians were very angry at Prime Minister Churchill; they believed that he had somehow setup General Bennett to fail. Almost immediately; we refueled and put back to sea. The Australians had informed Admiral Halsey of Japanese invasion force heading towards Port Moresby and we were needed in the area.

We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were about to take part in the first carrier vs. carrier naval battle of the Pacific War.

This was the short news article I filed from Melbourne before we sailed again.

May 12, 1941

Down Under
​

The Bonnie has done some serious sailing recently. Just last month, our ship joined Admiral Halsey and sailed to the Land Down Under. Along the way, Admiral Halsey’s forces paid a visit to the Japanese on Jaliut and inflicted some serious damage to them. Our forces shot down an estimated sixteen enemy aircraft and sank several ships.

After hitting the Japanese hard, we were paid a visit by King Neptune and his Royal Court as we crossed the Equator, in the Navy this is known as the Line Crossing Ceremony. As someone who had never crossed the Equator, your humble reporter was known as a “pollywog” and being a civilian did not spare me from the rites of Neptune’s Court. I shall spare you the full details of my ordeal (and I must admit that King Neptune’s assistant Davey Jones forbade me to reveal too much to the un-initiated.), but I can reveal that your intrepid reporter passed through his ordeal with flying colors and I am now proud to call myself a shellback, a bald shellback, but a shellback none the less.

The ships that we escorted down here have arrived safely and the forces we have brought to Australia will be used to relieve our brave fighting men in the Philippines. The Australians have seen plenty of war, fighting in France and Africa for King and Country and now that the Japanese are approaching Australia are now fighting for their homes and we are here to help them.

Rest assured America, your sons are doing their duty!

---------------------------------------

May 20, 1941

As all Americans now know, May 20, 1941 was the first day of the five day Battle of the Coral Sea. Halsey had split his force into two task groups:

Task Group 30.1 (Admiral Halsey)
USS Essex
USS Baja
USS Flint
4 destroyers

Task Group 30.2 (Rear Admiral Fitch)
USS Bon Homme Richard
USS Independence
USS New Orleans
USS Portland
USS Wichita
8 destroyers

There were other US and Australian forces in the area as well:

TG 31 (Rear Admiral Leary, USN)
8 S class submarines

And the Royal Australian Navy had units in the area as well:

Task Group 30.3 (Rear Admiral John Crace, RAN)
HMAS Hobart
HMAS Perth
4 destroyers

The Japanese had three goals – to land forces at Port Moresby, to land forces at Tulagi, and to destroy Allied warships, to clear the way for more raids and possibly amphibious raids on Australia. The Jap forces were all under the command of Vice Admiral Inoue’s 4th Fleet.

We knew roughly where the Japanese were, but did not have their exact location. The Japanese knew that our carriers were in Australian waters, but they did not know where. It was a case of the blind looking for the blind. The one who found the other and hit them would be in the lead. The Japanese struck first with an airstrike on Port Moresby. An incredibly brave RAAF pilot flying in a Catalina was able to follow the Japanese strike force back and was able to broadcast the location of the Port Moresby Invasion Group before being shot down. (4)

Admiral Halsey decided that hitting the invasion force would force the Japanese to commit their carriers, so he ordered air strikes against them. Our strike force cleared the deck just after 2pm local time. At this time we were about 350 nautical miles from the enemy. I, of course, was on the Bridge and heard everything that was reported, and later, I was fortunate to sit in on some of the debriefings. Due to a communications snafu, our fighters and dive bombers became separated from the slower moving torpedo bombers, and our air group became separated from the other 2 air groups but it turned out well. In addition 15 of the torpedo bombers became separated from the rest of the air group and returned to the carrier. The first planes from the Bonnie encountered the Jap gunboat Seikai Maru which was returning to Rear Admiral Marumo’s Close Support Force after investigating a false submarine sighting. The air group simply followed the gun boat. The Bonnie’s fighters lead the way, shooting down the 3 F1M Pete seaplanes that had been flying over the Japanese force. The Wildcats then strafed the decks of the Seikai Maru, the seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru and the light cruiser Tatsuta.

Right behind the Wildcats came the Dauntless dive bombers. The dive bombers concentrated on the Kamikawa Maru and the Tatsuta. The Kamikawa Maru was missed by the first two (of the six) Dauntless dive bombers. The final two laid their bombs on their target. The four year old seaplane tender was hit by four 500lb bombs which hit the ship between the fan tail and the superstructure. The bombs destroyed the cranes and catapults and the aft six inch gun and started a massive fire with the ship taking on a 5 degree list to port.

The remaining 18 dive bombers concentrated on the light cruisers Tatsuta and Tentyu (which almost immediately ducked into a rain squall). The 22 year old light cruiser fared a little better than the sea plane carrier. The Tatsuta’s AA gunners were able to bring down two of the dive bombers before being hit by other Dauntlasses. The bombs took out the main bridge killing everyone there. The helmsman, before he died had just put the ship into a starboard turn, which caught the crew of the gunboat Keijo Maru by surprise and they were unable to get out of the way of the light cruiser. The Keijo Maru, which had been racing towards the crippled sea plane carrier, had been sailing close to the light cruiser. Seconds later, with a sickening crunch, the gunboat was sliced in two. The Tatsuta herself did not live much longer as Bonnie’s dive bombers put their bombs through the forward 5.5inch guns and into the forward magazine. The resulting explosion gutted the Tatsuta which quickly sank. Flaming debris rained down on the area (bringing down a Wildcat in the process). Admiral Marumo on board his flagship the light cruiser Tenryu (the Tatsuta’s sister ship), did not know that he only had a few more minutes to live.

At this time, the Bonnie’s torpedo bombers arrived on the scene. While the vast majority (seven) of the ten torpedo planes concentrated on the Tenryu, the remaining three went after the Kamikawa Maru. The Devastator torpedo bombers split into two groups, one came in on the Tenryu’s port side, and the other (4 planes) came in on her starboard side. The Tenryu’s AA gunners were moderately successful in bringing down three of the attacking planes (including the squadron commander’s plane), but were unable to avoid the four torpedoes that were launched against the cruiser. The torpedoes struck the cruiser, crippling her and leaving her dead in the water; on fire from stem to stern. The three planes that attacked the sea plane carrier put all of their torpedoes into the barely moving ship; the Kamikawa Maru simply rolled over and went under in minutes.

By the time the Bonnie’s planes had left, Rear Admiral Marumo’s Close Support Force was all but wiped out and the Admiral dying (he had been cut down by shrapnel) – the Kamikawa Maru, Tatsuta, and Keijo Maru sunk, the Tenryu crippled (she would be sunk a short time later when the fires reached her magazines, which left two small gunboats left. The gunboats made no attempt to rescue survivors and steamed north to meet up with the Port Moresby Invasion Group. Meanwhile the Essex’s and Independence’s air groups were unable to locate Port Moresby Invasion Group and returned to their carriers.

The next round went to the Japanese. They had launched scouts looking for the Americans and found Task Group 30.4, the Fueling Group. TG 30.4 consisted of the oilers USS Neosho and USS Tippecanoe, and the destroyers USS Hammann, USS Sims, and USS Worden. At the time, the Neosho, Hammann, and Worden were sailing a few miles from the Tippecanoe and Sims. The Japanese mistook the Tippecanoe for a light carrier and launched several air strikes against her. The Tippecanoe, Sims, and Worden put up a fierce defense, bringing down eight of the attacking planes, but that was not enough. The Tippecanoe, after taking four torpedoes, two 500 lb bombs and one kamikaze (a Japanese torpedo plane hit the oiler), rolled over and sank, taking 60 sailors with her. The Sims, slightly damaged in the attack, along with the Worden, fished the survivors out of the water, before rejoining the Neosho and the Hammann.

Dusk brought an end to that day’s fighting.

The Second Day – May 21, 1941

Just about everyone on the carrier was up bright and early as both the Essex and Bonnie sent out scouts looking for the Japanese. Halsey was keeping the Independence back both as CAP and as reserves. To our surprise, it was the Army Air Force who found the Japanese Navy. A flight of B-18s (they had been pulled out of the Philippines) of the 18th Bombardment Group enroute to Port Moresby encountered the Covering Group based around the Shoho. The planes were able to get off a contact report before being shot down.

Halsey immediately ordered full strikes against the Covering Group, in his after action report, Halsey felt that the target was worth sending both air groups after. What he did not know what that Rear Admiral Goto, the Covering Group’s commander, had correctly guessed that Halsey would send most, if not all, of his forces after him. Goto radioed Admiral Takagai that his force had been discovered and he recommended that Takagai’s fighters supplement his and ambush the Americans.

Takagai took a chance and sent 24 of his available fighters, which combined with Goto’s 12 Zeros, gave the Japanese 36 fighters to combat Halsey’s strike force. When the Americans arrived they ran into a buzz saw. In spite of their best efforts, 29 of the 30 Devastator torpedo bombers were shot down by both Zeros and anti-aircraft fire. Their deaths were not in vain. The torpedo bombers had drawn off more than half of the defending Zeros, opening the way for the dive bombers. With Lt. Commander Wade McClusky’s Wildcats keeping the Zeros busy, the Dauntless dive bombers under Lt. Commander Max Leslie and his Essex squadron mates concentrated their attacks on the light carrier Shoho. Despite some serious turns to throw off the dive bombers, by the time they left, minus four Dauntlasses, the Shoho was a flaming wreck, incapable of flight operations for the near future. Meanwhile the Bonnie’s dive bombers damaged the cruisers Aboa, Kingusa and Kako. (Later that night, the Kako would be sunk by the submarine USS S-44). The Japanese lost 8 of their fighters.

It was not all one sided, while the Americans were dealing with Goto’s forces, Admiral Takagi had sent his squadrons after the Americans after a scout plane from the cruiser Haguro discovered the Essex and her task group. The Japanese sent 16 Zeros, 42 Val dive bombers, and 40 Kate torpedo bombers and they quickly blew through the Independence’s fighter screen and met up with the Essex’s remaining fighters. Those fighters were prevented from going after the Vals and Kates by the highly experienced Japanese fighters. The battle cruiser Baja and light cruiser Flint and the escorting destroyers immediately brought the attackers under fire. The Vals targeted the Essex and Baja as their primary targets. The majority of the Vals were able to drop their bombs, but were unable to hit their targets; twelve Vals were shot down by AA fire (another seven made it back to their carriers but were un-flyable). The Essex was slightly damaged by near misses, the Baja was hit twice, destroying two of her 5 inch mounts; and the Flint was hit hard by four bombs that hit her superstructure and stern, slowing her down to 12 knots. The Kates fared little better than their American counterparts, of the 40 Kates, 28 were brought down by the Wildcats and anti-aircraft fire (another 10 made it back to their carriers only to be jettisoned over the side as being unflyable.) They were able to put two torpedoes into the Essex and three into the Flint which sank two hours later. With the exception of scouts, both sides were finished for the day.

The Essex, still under her own power, was able to recover her air group two hours later when they returned from their strike. Reinforcements arrived just before nightfall in the form of Task Group 30.5 under the command of Rear Admiral Robert Ghormley from the Atlantic Fleet. His task group contained the following ships:

USS Alaska (TG Flag)
USS Astoria
USS Helena
6 destroyers

They were immediately put about 30 nautical miles out in front of the carriers to draw attention away from our flattops.

The Third Day – May 22, 1941

During the night, we received word that the Japanese had landed on Tulagi and Halsey ordered the Independence, Astoria and 2 destroyers to attack the Japanese anchorage and assist the Australian defenders. It would take them 24 hours to get into position to launch air strikes. In the meantime, we would be going after the rest of the Japanese fleet.
But we were not in the best shape – we had lost most of our torpedo bombers (5), the Essex was damaged (she could still make 22-25 knots), we had lost one cruiser, and one oiler. But the Japanese were in worse shape at least that was what we thought. (6)

Both sides set out their search planes and prepared for another day of fighting. The first encounter was between Task Group 30.3 and the bombers of the IJN’s 4th Air Group. Picked up by radar, the Australians were more than ready for when the six Mitsubishi G4M bombers (AKA Bettys) came screaming out of the sun aiming for the HMAS Hobart, fortunately the Hobart was able to maneuver her way out of trouble, with plenty of AA fire from the Perth and the escorting destroyers.
While planes were screaming through the air and ships were maneuvering on the surface of the water, it was now time for the submarines. Two of Admiral Leary’s old submarines, the USS –S-33 and the USS S-42 encountered the Japanese forces landing at Tulgai. The S-33 was able to sink the Japanese minesweepers Wa#1 & Wa#3, and damaging the transport Azumasan Maru badly enough that the ship had to be beached to prevent her from sinking. Two of the four Japanese sub chasers managed to drive off the S-33. Thirty minutes later, the S-42 came on the scene putting two torpedoes into the destroyer Yūzuki, breaking her back and sending her to the bottom along with 71 of her crew. The S-42 then tried to sink the flagship the minelayer Okinoshima, but she was sunk with all hands by the destroyer Kikuzuki.

The Japanese were not idle either. The Ro-33 encountered the Independence’s task group and after stalking her for three hours was able to fire four Long Lance torpedoes into the light carrier from 30,000 meters, the crippled Independence sank two hours later. But the Ro-33 never made it back to port; she was sunk two days later by the USS S-33. Astoria’s captain promptly turned his group around and returned to Halsey’s forces (One week after the battle, he was sent back to the US for “lack of aggressiveness”.). In addition, the poor Hobart found herself under attack from the I-28, which was able to slip past the escorting destroyers and fire four Long Lances at the Hobart. Alert lookouts enabled the Hobart’s captain to avoid all but one of the torpedoes. That torpedo took off 40 feet of Hobart’s bow, killing twelve sailors. (7).

While all this was going on, 4 Vickers Wellington bombers of the RAAF’s 20th Squadron discovered a portion of Rear Admiral Abe’s transportation group and attacked at 1400 hours. While the transports maneuvered wildly to avoid getting hit (and narrowly avoiding colliding with other ships), the light cruiser Yubari and Natori fired away at the Wellingtons. Neither side achieved any hits (although the Aussies claimed hits on several merchant ships). The Australians radioed the contact information, but it was not forwarded on to the Americans until later that night.
We did not know it, but Admiral Inoue had ordered the main invasion force to reverse course until they could destroy the American carriers which he expected to be the next day.

The Fourth Day – May 23, 1941

At 1am May 23, 1941, the submarine I-21 encountered TG 30.1 and trailed them for two hours. At 3am, she broke away, surfaced and made a contact report; the Americans were 255 nautical miles away. Staying on the surface, she caught up with the task group and trailed them for another hour and a half. Before diving again, she sent out another report. Several lookouts aboard the destroyer USS Morris spotted the I-21 and alerted the Bridge. The aft 5 inch guns opened up as the Morris alerted the other ships in the task group of the sub’s presence. Going to full speed, she turned back towards the sub, and in the process, avoiding the two torpedoes shot at her. She would spend the next three hours depth charging the I-21 before steaming away to rejoin her task group. Of the two Long Lances fired by the I-21, 1 missed the task group completely, the other hit the Baja along her armored belt, slightly damaging the battle cruiser, but the damage did not impact her speed or fighting ability. The I-21, badly damaged in the encounter, returned to port (claiming to have sunk the Baja.).

Just before dawn, Shōkaku and Zuikaku turned into the wind to launch their planes – 28 Zeros, 20 Kates and 40 Vals. At the same time, the Essex and Bon Homme Richard launched their scouts in search of the Japanese fleet. Just before 9:30am, a scout from the Essex found the Shōkaku and Zuikaku and radioed in their position before being chased away by the CAP. Within minutes both carriers were turning into the wind – all told (including Independence survivors) 24 Wildcats and 40 Dauntlesses lifted off from their carriers towards the Japanese carriers. As they were launching, radar aboard both carriers picked up the Japanese planes 50 nautical miles away and closing.

The two strike groups passed within 30 nautical miles of each other (with several fighters from each side getting into fights with the loss of 3 Zeros and 2 Wildcats) before continuing on to their respective targets. The Japanese arrived over the Alaska’s Task Group at 10:15am, a portion of them split off to attack the Alaska – 6 Zeros, 8 Kates and 16 Vals. The rest of the attack group continued on towards the main body of the US fleet.

The Japanese concentrated on the Alaska, Astoria, and the Helena and ignored the escorting destroyers. The Kates came in just feet above the water, four concentrating on the Alaska and the other four on the Helena. The anti-aircraft guns on every American ship that could bear on the enemy planes, opened up on the torpedo bombers which flew into the AA fire without missing a heartbeat. All eight of them were shot down, but they paved the way for the Val dive bombers. Six of the Vals picked out the Helena and went after her. Helena was rather busy trying to dodge the torpedo bombers when she was hit three times by bombs which penetrated her upper decks before exploding causing massive internal damage and slowing her speed to a crawl. (She would later be scuttled)

Four of the other Vals concentrated on the Astoria which was able to dodge all of the bombs; several exploded close enough to spray shrapnel on her upper decks. The final target of course was the Alaska. The Alaska was able to shoot t or dodge most of most of them. She was hit twice, but these bombs hit her main turrets and bounced off before exploding. Three of the Vals were shot down. Admiral Ghormley was slightly wounded in the attack.

The remaining Japanese planes flew onwards and spotted the Essex and the Bonnie, as the Essex was the closer of the two, the majority of the Japanese planes picked her as their primary target. The Wildcats had attempted to engage the Japanese planes a dozen or so miles from the carriers and for the loss of 4 Wildcats shot down, 5 Zeros, 5 Kates and 2 Vals were brought down before the Wildcats broke off their attacks to avoid being shot down by friendly AA fire. The Japanese pilots coordinated their attacks on the Essex, which made sharp turns to port and even sharper turns to starboard to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful. The Essex was hit by three torpedoes and 4 bombs at the cost of the remaining 7 Kates and 4 Vals. One of the Vals crashed in to the side of the carrier’s island, killing 15 officers and men; Admiral Halsey was wounded with severe 1st and 2nd degree burns. The Bonnie didn’t get off scot free though; she was hit twice, temporarily putting her flight deck out of commission. For the next eight hours, the damage control parties on both carriers worked hard to get the fires and damage under control.

On the other end of the battle field, the Americans were approaching their targets. The attackers split into three groups - One group (Bonnie’s air group led by Commander Thatch – 9 fighters & 20 dive bombers) went after the Shōkaku; the second group (Essex’s air group led by Lt. Commander McClusky – 8 fighters & 12 dive bombers) went after the Zuikaku; the final group (all that was left of the Independence’s air group,) led by Lieutenant John Q. Roberts – 4 fighters & 8 dive bombers) went after the cruiser Myoko and destroyer Shigure.

Commander Thatch led the way in his fighters, strafing the carrier Shōkaku to keep the AA gunners busy and their attention away from the dive bombers. Tatch’s nine fighters led the way, strafing the carrier from stem to stern before the dive bombers came in. Shōkaku was hit by eight bombs (one failed to explode) – her flight deck was destroyed, her hanger deck demolished and hundreds of her crew were simply incinerated. The Bonnie’s Air Group left the carrier a flaming wreck, but they did not sink her. (Her upper body was severely damaged, but she was still capable of maneuvering.)

The Zuikaku was not so lucky. McClusky’s air group pummeled the Japanese carrier into submission. In the space of less than 20 minutes, the Essex’s air group paid back the Japanese for the damage inflicted upon the Essex. Over half of the crew, including Rear Admiral Hara, died when bombs penetrated through the flight deck and into the main magazine before exploding and gutting the carrier. A dying Captain Yokokawa ordered his ship abandoned before staggering back on into his shattered Bridge. (8)

Lieutenant Roberts’ attack on the Myoko was not as successful as the other attacks. The destroyer Shigure, was able to avoid being hit until she was hit by several bombs meant for the Myoko. She suffered crippling damage before being scuttled. The Myoko, far more maneuverable than either carrier, was able to dodge her attackers, shooting down Lt. Roberts and 2 of his dive bombers. (9)

The Japanese and American survivors made their respective ways back to their own fleets. The Japanese air crews had a major problem, no place to land. Admiral Takagi, having transferred his flag to the lucky Myoko, ordered the air crews to ditch their planes alongside the first available ship and get rescued.

By the time the Americans got back to their carriers, the Bon Homme Richard’s flight deck was operational and all the American survivors landed on her, badly damaged planes were simply shoved over the side. Vice Admiral Halsey, on the orders of Essex’s CMO, turned tactical command of the American force over to Rear Admiral Fitch, until such time as Halsey would be declared fit for active duty. Admiral Halsey was transferred over to the battle cruiser USS Baja. Admiral Fitch decided against another strike (it was already late afternoon and the Bonnie’s mechanics would be up all night repairing the damage to the battered remains of the carrier’s air groups), so he ordered a 180 degree turn for all Task Groups 30.1, 30.2 and 30.5 for the night. Admiral Fitch did not want to risk a Japanese night time attack on his forces.

The Fifth Day – May 24, 1941

At 0300, fires broke out again on the Essex when two fuel lines ruptured. Shortly thereafter, other fires thought to be under control flared up again. By 0600, with fires raging out of control, Captain James C. Decker ordered his crew to abandon ship. With the crew abandoning ship, escorting destroyers came along side and began taking off the crew. Shortly before 0700, Captain Decker became the last man off the Essex. She sank an hour later.

With the coming of the dawn, scouts from both sides were aloft. During the night, on orders from Admiral Yamamoto, Vice Admiral Inoue called off the invasion of Port Moresby and ordered his fleet to reverse course and head for home. They would try again later.

Once again, the RAAF’s 20th Squadron, with six Wellingtons found the retreating Japanese forces. Dropping to 8,000 feet, the bombers unloaded their bomb loads on the transports China Maru, Daifuku Maru, Asakayama carrying several thousand troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Once again, the transports were able to dodge the attacking bombers, but this time, the Allies had a nasty surprise in store for the Japanese. The eight A-24 Dauntless dive bombers of the US 9th Bombardment Squadron (Light) dove from 20,000 feet at the transports. Most of the bombs missed; however, the China Maru was hit four times, killing close to 1,000 Imperial soldiers. The Japanese Navy quickly rescued about 400 sailors and soldiers before abandoning the freighter.(10) Allied air forces continued to harass the retreating Japanese forces, but did not inflict any more damage on the Japanese.

May 24 was also the day we heard about Admiral Kidd. I was on the Bridge when Admiral Fitch came in and told Captain Sherman that he had just received word from Pearl Harbor that Admiral Kidd had been badly injured in a car accident. There was no immediate word on who his replacement would be. There was speculation that Halsey would be his replacement.(11)

Two days later this is the article I submitted to my newspaper:

Battle in the Coral Sea
​

Over the better part of this week, warships from three nations – American and Australian navies fought to prevent a Japanese landing on New Guinea. The fighting has been fierce and there have been casualties on both sides. The good news is that the Japanese have been stopped.
The Bonnie has been in the thick of it. Her valiant air group, ably led by Commander Thatch has shot down dozens of enemy airplanes and with the assistance of other air groups managed to sink one Japanese battleship and three or four aircraft carriers (12) and kill many Japanese sailors and soldiers.

We paid a price for this victory, I am saddened to report that we lost several ships including the light carrier Independence and we lost many men in the fighting. The Bonnie and her crew performed well. The Bonnie was slightly damaged, but stayed in combat. When I am able, I will report in greater detail on the battle.

------------------------------------

Our battered forces returned to Australia to offload our dead and wounded (Admiral Halsey was flown back to Pearl Harbor). Admiral Fitch transferred his flag to the USS Alaska and the Bonnie headed back towards Pearl Harbor. It would take us 10 days to get back. The Navy immediately put us in to dry dock and we spent the next three weeks getting repaired. While we were getting repaired, I began hearing talk of an Operation Shangri-La….

1. Post war analysis determined that Task Force 30 sank 1 patrol boat, damaged 3 trawlers, destroyed 6 aircraft and damaged 18 more (there was no more than 30 aircraft on Wake at the time), the runway was cratered but back in service that night, the island HQ, water tower and barracks were damaged. There were Japanese and American causalities on the island. Six Japanese airmen died in the air, 10 more on the ground with another twenty-two wounded. Fifteen Japanese sailors and marines died, another twenty were wounded. On the island at the time were 100 Americans – 22 Marine POWs and 78 civilian contractors. After the attack, the Japanese lined up the Americans and picked 10 “volunteers” and executed them, the rest were savagely beaten, and four more Americans later died from their wounds.

2. They destroyed 2 seaplanes and damaged a tender, killing 10 Japanese sailors.

3. The Leviathan was never totally rebuilt, she ended her days as a barracks ship in Melbourne Harbor. She was sunk during 1956’s Cyclone Stephen. Her hulk was raised and later towed out to sea and sunk.

4. Flight Lieutenant Gordon Deitman survived the downing of his plane and retired in 1980 as the professional head of the RAAF.

5. The Battle of the Coral Sea would be the last time the Devastator would be used in combat.

6. The Japanese had up until this point, lost a seaplane carrier, 2 light cruisers, 1 destroyer, 2 minesweepers and 1 gunboat, plus 3 cruisers damaged.

7. Her skipper, John A. Collins, would retire as a Rear Admiral and Deputy Chief of the Navy.

8. He is believed to have died shortly before the carrier sank; several surviving crewmen reported seeing his lifeless body on the floor of the Bridge with his service pistol in his hand.

9. Lieutenant John Q. Roberts was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions. His twelve year old son, John Quincy Roberts II accepted his father’s Navy Cross from the President. Commanders Thatch and McClusky would also receive the Navy Cross.

10. In all 54 sailors and 988 soldiers were killed when the ship went down. Another 150 soldiers are believed to have drowned while awaiting rescue.

11. Vice Admiral Nimitz was promoted to Admiral and reassigned as Commander-in-Chief Pacific and Commander-in-Chief Pacific Theatre. Admiral Kidd would later be assigned as Commander-in-Chief US 6th Fleet, and become Acting Chief of Naval Operations after the retirement of Fleet Admiral King.

12. Truth be told, we did very well. We sank 1 first line carrier, 1 light carrier, 1 sea plane carrier, 1 heavy and 1 light cruiser, 1 gunboat, and 2 destroyers. We also damaged one first line carrier (the Shōkaku would spend the next 9 months being rebuilt from the hanger deck up), and 2 heavy cruisers.
 

NoOneFamous

CHAPTER THREE

MESSAGE TO GENERAL WAINWRIGHT
MAY 12, 1941
​

TO: General Wainwright
FROM: General GC Marshall, US Army Chief of Staff

By order of the President, you are hereby ordered to turn your command over to Major General King and you are to make your way to Australia. Once there, you will assume command of all US Army Forces in Australia and begin preparations for the relief of the Philippines.

MESSAGE TO GENERAL MARSHALL
MAY 15, 1941
​

To: General Marshall
From: Major General Krueger
Date May 15, 1941 1400 (Local time)

Sir,

I must report that General Wainwright’s plane is overdue and presumed missing. His plane was scheduled to arrive in Darwin at 0700 hours local time. His plane, a B-17, has not been spotted since it left Mindanao yesterday. The RAAF and US Army Air Forces have sent out search planes. I will keep you informed of their progress.

ROYAL NAVY COMMUNIQUE
MAY 12, 1941
​

The Admiralty regrets to announce that the light cruiser HMS Ripon is missing and presumed lost.

Admiral Lord Hornblower, having recovered from his injuries caused during last year’s Norway campaign, has been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Far Eastern Fleet.

IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY
MEMORANDUM
MAY 15, 1941
​

After consultations with his Imperial Majesty and the Naval High Command, our focus will be on southern China and the invasion of India. We are to begin immediate preparations for the capture of Imphal and Kohima within the next few months. Capturing India will cripple the British Empire and force their withdrawal from Asia.

The Indian Expeditionary Force is hereby established with its headquarters in Rangoon under the overall command of General Hata.

Signed,
General Sugiyama
Chief of Staff

BAJA TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT
PRESS RELEASE
MAY 16, 1941
​

Earlier this morning, the Territorial Election Commission officially presented the results of the election held ten days ago to the Speaker of the Territorial House and the Senate Majority Leader. They in turn, presented the results to the Territorial Governor, Simon Troutman. Governor Troutman will leave in the morning to go to Washington to present the results to the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes.

SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDERS DURING
WORLD WAR II
THE ENCYLOPEDIA OF WORLD WAR II
By Stephan Harris
Grand Publications
1990
​

May 15, 1941

Central Pacific Theater of Operations

Supreme Allied Commander & Naval Forces Commander: Admiral Chester Nimitz, USN
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander: Vice Admiral (Admiral designate) Raymond Spruance, USN
Air Forces Commander: Major General George Kenney, USAAF
Land Forces Commander: Lieutenant General Horace Fuller, USA

Chinese Theater of Operations

Supreme Allied Commander & Land Forces Commander: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander: Major General Joseph Stillwell, USA
Air Forces Commander: Lieutenant General Claire Chennault, USAAF
Naval Forces Commander: Vice Admiral James Hilton, RN

European Theater of Operations

Supreme Allied Commander: Field Marshal Sir Claude Auckinleck (1)
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander: Admiral Harold Stark, USN
Air Forces Commander: Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, RAF
Land Forces Commander: General Dwight Eisenhower, USA
Naval Forces Commander: Admiral Sir John Tovey, RN

Mediterranean Theater of Operations

Supreme Allied Commander: General Pierre Duchesne, French Army
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander: General Sir Richard O’Conner, British Army
Air Forces Commander: General Henri Closterman, French Air Force
Land Forces Commander: General Leonard Gerow USA
Naval Forces Commander: Admiral Royal Ingersoll, USN

South East Asia Theater of Operations

Supreme Allied Commander: Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, RN
Air Forces Commander: Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, RAF
Land Forces Commander: General Sir William Slim, British Indian Army
Naval Forces Commander: Admiral Sir James Sommerville, RN

South Western Pacific Theater of Operations

Supreme Allied Commander: General Thomas Blamey, Australian Army(2)
Air Forces Commander: Lieutenant General George Brett, USAAF
Land Forces Commander: Lieutenant General Sir Bernard Freyburg, New Zealand Army (3)
Naval Forces Commander: Vice Admiral (temporary) Robert Ghormley, USN

UBC RADIO BROADCAST
MAY 18, 1941
​

We have received unconfirmed reports that the Bataan garrison has surrendered, but this has not been confirmed by Washington.

Today, lawyers from five different Mexican independence groups filed suit in Federal Court in Mexicali to block the May 6 election results from going forward. It is believed that the court will not block the results and an appeal is expected.

VOICE OF THE AMERICAS BROADCAST
May 18, 1941
​

We regret to announce that the American-Filipino Garrison on the Bataan Peninsula was forced to surrender this afternoon to overwhelming Japanese forces.

American forces still hold the island fortress of Corregidor and the other Manila Bay forts plus the island of Mindanao.

GERMAN ARMY INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE
OF RUSSIAN & COMMUNIST FORCES
IN WESTERN RUSSIA
May 20, 1941

​
Chief of the General Staff & Minister of War: Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov

North-Western Front (HQ: St. Petersburg)
General M. Popov

Front Reserves:

200th Rifle Division ***
4th Artillery “Division”**

7th Army

X Tank Corps

11th Tank Division **
20th Tank Division ***
198th Motorized Division ***

XIX Rifle Corps

10th Rifle Division*
124th Rifle Division***
201st Rifle Division**

L Rifle Corps

131st Rifle Division***
139th Rifle Division**
144th Rifle Division*

8th Army

IX Rifle Corps

7th Rifle Division***
87th Rifle Division**
206th Rifle Division***

XI Mechanized Corps

6th Tank Division***
9th Tank Division*
90th Motorized Division**

XII Corps

5th Rifle Division***
91st Rifle Division**
211th Rifle Division***

North Western Air Force Command

1 Light Bomber Division (Neman R-10/Yakovlev Yak-4 light bombers) **
2 Fighter Divisions (Kochyerigin DI-6 Fighters)*
1 Transport Group (Savoia-Marchetti SM.82)*
1 Long Range Bomber Regiment (Yermolayev Yer-2 medium bombers) **
1 Reconnaissance Air Regiment (Chyetverikov MDR-9/ Neman R-10)*

Communist forces still fighting in North-Western Front’s area of operations, division strength ranges from several hundred to several thousand troops:

5th Shock Army
(Commander is believed to be a Major General D. Ryabeshev)

3rd Guards Rifle Division
20th Guards Rifle Division
99th Rifle Division

5th Shock Army is regarded by Russian headquarters as a nuisance and they are not very effective as North-Western Front is considered a mildly dangerous area, used for rebuilding and training of forces and rest.

Western Front (HQ: Minsk)
Field Marshal S. Budnney

Front Reserves

132nd Rifle Division*
1st Artillery “Division”*

3rd Army

I Rifle Corps

107th Rifle Division***
115th Rifle Division*

XL Rifle Corps

123rd Rifle Division*
141st Rifle Division**
221st Rifle Division*

LI Tank Corps

14th Tank Division***
16th Tank Division***
157th Motorized Division**

4th Army

XX Cavalry Corps

45th Cossack Cavalry Division*
62nd Cossack Cavalry Division*
226th Light Rifle Division*

XXV Rifle Corps

8th Rifle Division***
76th Rifle Division***
81st Rifle Division***

XXXIII Rifle Corps

1st Rifle Division**
35th Rifle Division***
231st Rifle Division**

10th Army

III Rifle Corps

108th Rifle Division**
120th Rifle Division***
129th Rifle Division***

VIII Rifle Corps

138th Rifle Division***
159th Rifle Division**
236th Rifle Division***

XV Rifle Corps

64th Rifle Division***
78th Rifle Division***
88th Rifle Division**

13th Army

XIV Tank Corps

5th Tank Division**
85th Motorized Division**
243rd Motorized Division**

XXI Rifle Corps

51st Rifle Division**
65th Rifle Division***
82nd Rifle Division***

XXXIX Rifle Corps

30th Rifle Division**
193rd Rifle Division**
248th Rifle Division*

Western Air Command

1 Light Bomber Division (Neman R-10 light bombers) **
2 Medium Bomber Divisions (Ilyushin IL-4 medium bombers/Newman R-10 reconnaissance planes) **
2 Fighter Divisions (Polikarpov I-16 fighters) **
1 Transport Air Regiment (Savoia-Marchetti SM.82)*

Communist forces still fighting in Western Front’s area of operations, division strength ranges from several hundred to several thousand troops:

1st Guards Army
(Commander is believed to be a Major General L. Dovator)

9th Red Banner Mountain Division
21st Guards Cavalry Division
37th Guards Rifle Division
92nd Rifle Division

This force is more active and causes more trouble for the Western Front. There is a 1,000,000 Ruble reward for Dovator.

South-Western Front (Odessa)
General D. Pavlov(4)

Front Reserves

203rd Rifle Division**
4th Artillery “Division”**

XLIV Rifle Corps

109th Rifle Division**
128th Rifle Division**
133rd Rifle Division***

6th Army

XXXV Rifle Corps

15th Tank Division***
22nd Cossack Cavalry Division***
142nd Rifle Division***

XLIX Rifle Corps

36th Rifle Division**
52nd Rifle Division**
77th Rifle Division**

LII Tank Corps

17th Tank Division*
154th Rifle Division*
237th Motorized Division**

12th Army

V Rifle Corps

13th Rifle Division**
110th Rifle Division**
168th Rifle Division**

XX Rifle Corps

31st Rifle Division**
45th Rifle Division**
66th Rifle Division**

14th Army

II Rifle Corps

16th Rifle Division*
153rd Rifle Division*
158th Rifle Division***

XVIII Rifle Corps

2nd Rifle Division**
34th Rifle Division*
216th Motorized Division**

26th Army

XXII Rifle Corps

3rd Tank Division***
79th Rifle Division***
98th Rifle Division***

XXX Tank Corps

1st Tank Division***
111th Motorized Division***
150th Motorized Division***

XXXVI Rifle Corps

18th Tank Division**
106th Rifle Division***
122nd Rifle Division**

South-Western Air Command *

1 Fighter Division (Polikarpov I-5/I-16 fighters) *
1 Ground Support Division (Yakovlev Yak-2 light bombers/Petyakov Pe-2 dive bombers) **
1 Transport Division (Lisunov Li-2 transports) **
1 Medium Bomber Division (Ilyushin DB-3 medium bombers) ***
2 Light Bomber Divisions (Tupolev SB light bombers) **
1 Heavy Bomber Regiment (Petyakov Pe-8 bombers) *

Communist forces still fighting in South-Western Front’s area of operations, division strength ranges from several hundred to several thousand troops:

3rd Shock Army
(Commander is believed to be a Lt. General N. Khrushchev) (5)

2nd Guards Cavalry Division
3rd Guards Rifle Division
24th Rifle Division
80th Guards Rifle Division
105th Rifle Division

This force is far more active and causes much trouble for the South-Western Front. There is a 3,000,000 Ruble reward for Khrushchev.

Volgograd Front
General I. Konev

Front Reserves

209th Rifle Division**
3rd Artillery “Division”**
7th Artillery “Division”**

2nd Army

VI Rifle Corps

32nd Rifle Division**
60th Rifle Division*
143rd Rifle Division*

XIII Rifle Corps

55th Rifle Division*
99th Rifle Division*
215th Rifle Division**

XXVII Rifle Corps

24th Tank Division*
80th Rifle Division*
100TH Rifle Division**

15th Army

VII Rifle Corps

222nd Rifle Division**
228th Rifle Division**
234th Rifle Division**

XVI Rifle Corps

39th Rifle Division**
240th Rifle Division**
246th Rifle Division**

XXVIII Rifle Corps

4th Rifle Division**
61st Rifle Division**
96th Rifle Division**

Volgograd Air Command

1 Fighter Division (Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters) **
2 Medium Bomber Division (Ilyushin DB-3 medium bombers) *
3 Ground Support Divisions (/Petyakov Pe-2 dive bombers) **
2 Heavy Bomber Regiments (Petyakov Pe-8 bombers) **

Communist forces still fighting in Volgograd Front’s area of operations, division strength ranges from 1,000 to 8,000 troops:

8th Shock Army

29th Cavalry Division
30th Guards Cavalry Division
71st Rifle Division
160th Guards Rifle Division

This is the most active of the communist resistance groups. Three months ago, Major General V. Chuikov seized control of the city and re-named it Stalingrad after the late dictator. His forces have been fighting a relatively successful guerrilla campaign against the Russian forces, aided in large part by the city’s inhabitants who appear to be pro-communist. General Konev was brought in with orders to destroy the city. General Chuikov’s wife and son were recently captured en route from Moscow to Volgograd to join Chuikov there. On Konev’s orders, the son was killed and the wife was raped and then murdered.

Moscow Military District
General R. Malinovsky

224th Rifle Division*
6th Artillery “Division”*

20th Army

I Airborne Rifle Corps

1st Airborne Rifle Division*
130th Airborne Rifle Division*
208th Air Landing Rifle Division*

XVII Tank Corps

2nd Tank Division*
6th Motorized Division**
7th Tank Division*

XXIV Tank Corps

3rd Motorized Division*
8th Tank Division**
12th Tank Division*

XXVI Rifle Corps (Moscow garrison)

232nd Motorized Division*
238th Rifle Division*
245th Rifle Division*

22nd Army

XXIX Rifle Corps

218th Rifle Division*
227th Rifle Division*
237th Rifle Division**

XXXIV Rifle Corps

25th Rifle Division*
33rd Rifle Division*
38th Rifle Division*

Moscow Air Command

1 Medium Bomber Division (Ilyushin DB-3 medium bombers) *
1 Transport Division (Lisunov Li-2 transports) *
2 Training Divisions (Yakovlev UT-1/UT-2) *
3 Fighter Divisions (Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3/Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters) *


Of the Communist forces that are still fighting in Moscow Front’s area of operations, division strength is believed to be several hundred strong, these forces are relatively ineffective.

The Communist commander of the Moscow Communist Forces is not known

2nd Moscow Rifle Division
8th Cavalry Division

Arkangel Garrison (includes Franz Josef Land & Novaya Zemlya); this is considered a quiet area, as well as a hardship post.

XXXVII Rifle Corps

50th Rifle Division**
63rd Rifle Division**

Arkangel Air District

1 Mixed Division (Polikarpov I-5 fighters, Yakovlev Yak-2 light bombers) **

There are no known significant communist forces in this area.

Kharkov’s garrison consists of the following:

54th Rifle Division**

Kharkov Air Corps (Kochyerigin DI-6 Fighters, Newman R-10 light bombers) **

Murmansk Garrison

97th Rifle Division*

Murmansk Air Group (Newman R-10 light bombers) **

We believe that there are more Communist uprisings beyond the Urals, but we have yet to confirm it. An invasion of Western Russia can only further demoralize the Russians and we should be able to over run their forward positions and take our primary and secondary objectives before taking Moscow. Casualties have been high in this fight between the Communists and Russian government. Prisoners are rarely taken and most high ranking Communists are tortured for information before being shot.

Russian armored forces use the following tanks:

BT-7
T-35C
KV-1 medium tank
T-37 reconnaissance tank
T-26 light tank
T-38 reconnaissance tank
T-35B Heavy tank

The Russian cavalry uses the BT Light Tank (The Cossacks ride into battle on horses).

*- Category 1 division – strength between 75% - 100% of authorized personnel & equipment
**-Category 2 division – strength between 50% - 75% of authorized personnel & equipment
***-Category 3 division – incapable of combat operations, reforming & rebuilding

EBS RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
MAY 21, 1941
​

The US Supreme Court declined to hear appeals from Mexican nationals in the Occupied Territories who had sued to prevent the election results from being accepted. They were contending that the elections were the result of an illegal occupation. With the Court’s refusal to hear the case, the lower court’s ruling means that statehood will go forward.

Representatives were on hand from Baja, Chihuahua, Jefferson and Pershing and they immediately presented the election results to Interior Secretary Ickes.

On July 4, the Union will welcome the states of Hawaii (49), Alaska (50), Baja (51), Pershing (52), Chihuahua (53) and Jefferson (54).

PRIORITY MESSAGE TO
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BRITISH FAR EASTERN FLEET
​

To: Commander-in-Chief, British Far Eastern Fleet
From: Naval Liaison Office, Madagascar
Date: May 24, 1941
Subject: HMS Ripon

Earlier this morning, a French patrol ship on anti-submarine duties 13 nautical miles off of Fenoarivo Atsinanana, encountered twelve British sailors from the sunken cruiser HMS Ripon. Lieutenant Eric Lilley, RNVR is the senior officer. According to Lt. Lilley, the Ripon was torpedoed 42 nautical miles east of Tromelin Island on May 10. Of the 802 sailors on the cruiser when she went down (according to the Lieutenant, the ship lost power after one of two torpedoes hit the engine room), only 620 made it into the water. By the time they were able to make land on Tromelin, they had lost another 32 men including Captain Fleet. After three days on the island, Commander Beatty ordered Lt. Lilley, the assistant navigator, to take a lifeboat and attempt to reach Madagascar.

At this time, two French patrol boats are steaming at high speed to rescue the survivors.

IKE TAKES OVER
DOGFACE NEWS
MAY 25, 1941

​
General Eisenhower took over today as The Supreme Allied Commander from Field Marshal Aukinleck. With the overall percentage of Allied troops in theater being American, Ike has been ordered to take over all command. Field Marshal Aukinleck will be heading to India.

BRITISH ARMY MEMORANDUM
MAY 28, 1941
​

TO: General Eisenhower
From: General Brooke
Subject: Chief of Staff

Ike,

As you requested, I am sending you an excellent British officer to be your chief of staff. He is Brigadier Francis de Guingand, formerly the Chief of Intelligence for the Scottish Command. Freddie has just gotten out of the hospital for appendicitis. I do hope he meets your criteria. If not, send him back to me, we can always send him to Australia or India.

Signed,

Brooke

TRANSCRIPT FROM PACIFIC
FLEET STAFF MEETING
MAY 30, 1941
(DECLASSIFIED MARCH 20, 1978)

​
In attendance were

Admiral Spruance, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet
Rear Admiral Richard Turner, Assistant Chief of Staff to Admiral Nimitz
Brigadier General Holland Smith, Assistant Divisional Commander, 2nd Marine Division
Commodore William Horning, Chief Operations Officer
Captain Bernard Parrish, Chief Intelligence Officer
Commander Joseph Rochefort, Special Cryptographic Officer

Spruance: Well gentlemen, we’ve been handed an interesting assignment. If you ask me, the folks in Washington need some fresh sea air. Apparently Jimmy Doolittle has convinced the President that he can, with the Navy’s help, attack Tokyo with land based bombers flying from carriers.

Turner: Obviously Doolittle’s been flying his planes too high without oxygen. So what does Washington want us to do? We are a little short on carriers.

Spruance: The Yard Commander has been ordered to speed up the repairs on the Bon Homme Richard. The Hornet is in San Diego on loading the B-25s; she will be sailing in 48 hours and will be here in a week. Plus we have the Task Force 40 from the Atlantic Fleet coming through the Panama Canal and they will join us here. They are bringing the Yorktown and Enterprise.

Task Force 30 will consist of Enterprise and the Hornet, they will be raiding Tokyo. Task Force 31 will consist of the Bon Homme Richard and the Yorktown. Washington wants TF 31 to hit several Japanese targets before TF 30 hits Tokyo. Ops, I need plans for hitting the Guadalcanal-Tulagi area, the Marshalls and anyplace else we can think of. Commodore Horning, you need to get together with your staff and Captain Parrish’s staff and find me some targets. General Smith, please put your division on alert. I understand that your division received some interesting reinforcements.

Smith: Sir, we have received the 1st Provisional Marine Special Regiment. They are composed of one battalion of Marine Parachutists and two battalions of Marine Commandos. They are chomping at the bit, ready to get into action.

Spruance: Commander Rochefort, do you have any news for me today?

Rochefort: A few items Sir. The Japanese Army has started construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal. And it looks like the Japanese are taking a good hard look at taking India away from our English cousins………

EXCERPTS FROM
THE DIARY OF SERGEANT GEORGE WASHINGTON BOLLING,
9TH US CAVALRY
MAY 30, 1941
​

I had made it home and found my wife and girls at home and they had the store up and running again. My son was OK too, at least that is what my wife was saying, according to her, he had made it to Mindanao and had joined up with the American forces there.

My wife, a Filipino, was able to run the store; I had to hide during the day. Over the following weeks, most of my men came back (nine out of the original 12 survivors of the platoon) and they brought some friends with them. I had thirty men under my command and we began harassing the local Japanese, first by slashing tires and destroying supplies that we couldn’t cart off. Then on May 27th, we hit pay dirt. We came across two captured US Army trucks parked by the side of the road. The first one’s hood was open and several Japs were trying to fix it. There were two other soldiers guarding them. I had one of my men appear that he had captured me and was turning me in. While the guards were distracted, my other men over powered the truck drivers and then killed the guards using hunting bows. The trucks were carrying US weapons – six Browning Automatic Rifles, four Model 1897 Winchester shotguns and a few dozen M1903A1 rifles, plus a few thousand rounds of ammunition. We were really in business now.

On May 28th we had found out about a Jap convoy passing through our area, we weren’t sure what it was carrying, but we decided it was worth hitting. It would come through on the 29th. We arranged ourselves along both sides of the road and at 10am, two Jap soldiers on motorcycles came through, and we let them go. Five minutes later, along came the convoy. The first vehicle was a captured jeep with a Japanese officer in the back. He was followed by five other trucks. When we opened up, that officer was the first to die. In less than ten minutes, the ambush was over. We killed the officer and eighteen other soldiers, unfortunately the motorcycle riders escaped so we couldn’t hang around for very long. Plus we had managed to destroy most of what was in the trucks. We were able to salvage some captured US radios, but most of what was in the trucks appeared to be files which we tossed back into the burning trucks to destroy (we really didn’t have time to read them all – they appeared to be personnel files.) Twenty minutes later, Japanese troops arrived at the scene. We had left two men behind to watch. They gathered up the bodies and sent them back to their base and sent out a patrol to look for us (they didn’t find us). The next day, posters went up demanding information on the bandits who attacked their patrol.(6)
 


1. With the transfer of much of the British military to the Far East; on May 25, 1941, the following changes took place: Supreme Allied Commander: General Eisenhower, USA
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander: Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, RAF
Land Forces Commander: General Jacob Devers, USA
Naval Forces Commander: Admiral Royal Ingersoll, USN

2. Promoted to Field Marshal June 1, 1941

3. Promoted to General June 1, 1941

4. Assassinated June 25, 1941

5. He had been a Colonel at the time of the coup and promoted himself to Lieutenant General after the Army commander announced his support of the coup.

6.Included among the files were the operating instructions for an M-94 cryptographic machine.
 

Scipio Africanus

Hey

NOF, I am really enjoying this timeline, especially since it all stems from such an interesting POD. I am very curious as to the nature of the new states made out of the territories annexed from mexico. Are the now totally resettled or do they have a significant remaining mexican population, and if so how do these people feel about U.S rule? Also, looking do the future, do you think these are going to be liberal (in the modern sense of the word) or conservative states when it comes to future elections?
Thanks,
Scipio Africanus
 

NoOneFamous

Yes there are more updates (wasn't sure if people wanted any).

As for the new states, there are still a few million Mexicans in these states. They have one year from the time the territory became a state to become a US citizen or they have to leave.
 

NoOneFamous

RADIO MESSAGE TO
THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
JUNE 1, 1941
​

Effective at 0800 local time, the 1st Provisional Transport Squadron was activated in theatre (using assets borrowed from Pan Am) with the mission of air lifting material from our supply depots in India to southern China.

If the Japanese attack India, we will have difficulties supplying China from India. I recommend approaching the Russians about supplying the Chinese through Vladivostok.

Chennault

JAPANESE INDIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
ORDER OF BATTLE
JUNE 1, 1941
​

Japanese Indian Expeditionary Force
General Shynroku

22nd Independent AA Brigade
35th Independent Artillery Brigade
19th Artillery Regiment(1)

Mobile Strike Group

1st Armored Division
3rd Armored Division (en route to Burma)
112th Motorized Division (en route to Burma)
2nd Thai Cavalry Brigade

1st Army

14th Infantry Division
Guards Infantry Division (In Japan awaiting transport to Burma)
4th Cavalry Brigade
14th Mixed Infantry Brigade (en route to Burma)

3rd Army

39th Infantry Division (en route to Burma)
79th Infantry Division
124th Infantry Division (en route to Burma)
15th Tank Brigade
132nd Independent Combined Brigade

7th Army

1st Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division
105th Infantry Division
39th Independent Mixed Brigade

43rd Army

31st Infantry Division (en route to Burma)
58th Infantry Division (en route to Burma
106th Infantry Division (en route to Burma)
53rd Independent Mixed Brigade (en route to Burma)
128th Indendent Mixed Brigade

44th Army

5th Thai Infantry Division
63rd Infantry Division
70th Infantry Division
120th Infantry Division
9th Independent Tank Brigade

EXCERPTED FROM
CHAPTER XXXIII JAPANESE PLANS FOR THE INVASION OF INDIA
JUNE 1, 1941
A MILITARY HISTORY OF INDIA
By Colonel Ralph Schneider, USA Retd
West Point Publications
2008
​

The initial Japanese plan was to take Imphal and Kohmia, reinforce their forces and then move on Guwahati. The Imphal attack force would consist of the 1st, 3rd, and 44th Armies, with the 7th and 43rd Armies attacking Kohmia. The Mobile Strike Group would lead the attack on Kohmia.

The Japanese also planned a nasty opening move – the “Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Unit (Unit 100) planned to release “volunteers” into the British lines in front of Imphal and Kohmia two weeks before the Japanese offensive was to begin. These “volunteers” would be infected with anthrax and bubonic plague spores.

In addition, the Japanese had a number (approximately 45 men) of Indian nationals who had either fled India (for various political and criminal reasons) or who had been captured by the Japanese and switched sides. These men would infiltrate behind the British lines and attempt to recruit willing Indian Army soldiers to help the Japanese overthrow the British. Closer to the time of the Japanese attacks; they would sabotage British vehicles and attempt to destroy ammunition and supply dumps and cause confusion behind the lines.

Because the use of biological weapons was forbidden under international law, the operation’s planners did not transmit their plans over the radio, everything was hand delivered, and thus the British did not suspect that the Japanese would begin their offensive like this.

GERMAN ARMY
ORDER OF BATTLE
June 1, 1941

THE GERMAN ARMY IN WORLD WAR II
By Dame Marilyn Carlisle
Tower Publications
2001
​

OB North
Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben

Army Group A
General Johannes Blaskowitz

Army Group Reserves

Security Division North

2nd Army (Denmark)

Army Reserves
2nd Light Infantry Division

XXXII Corps

3rd Infantry Division
106th Infantry Division
118th Infantry Division

XL Corps

10th Infantry Division
127th Infantry Division
136th Infantry Division

12th Army (Norway)

Army Reserves

17th Ski Infantry Division

IX Corps

24th Infantry Division
143rd Infantry Division
150th Infantry Division

XVII Corps

1st Light Infantry Division
27th Infantry Division
107th Infantry Division

OB West
Field Marshal Wilhelm List

Army Group B
Field Marshal Fedor von Bock

Army Group Reserves

Security Division West
1st Anti-Partisan (French Volunteers) Brigade

XXV Panzer Corps

8th Panzer Division
11th Panzer Grenadier Division
17th Panzer Division

1st Army (Southern France)

Army Reserves

3rd Light Infantry Division

XXXIV Corps

4th Naval Infantry Division
45th Infantry Division
122nd Infantry Division

XLIII Corps

12th Infantry Division
55th Infantry Division
115th Infantry Division

5th Army (Belgium & the Netherlands)

Army Reserves

137th Infantry Division

LI Corps

60th Infantry Division
68th Infantry Division
144th Infantry Division

LIII Corps

15th Infantry Division
72nd Infantry Division
80th Infantry Division

XLIV Corps

21st Infantry Division
89th Infantry Division
98th Infantry Division

7th Army (Channel coast)

Army Reserves

2nd Naval Infantry Division

XXXIII Corps

7th Infantry Division
37th Infantry Division
91st Infantry Division

XXIV Corps

43rd Infantry Division
63rd Infantry Division
70th Infantry Division

XIV Corps

4th Light Infantry Division
49th Infantry Division
57th Infantry Division

OB East
Adolph Hitler
​

I Airborne Corps

1st Parachute Division
2nd Parachute Division
56th Air Landing Division

Army Group North
Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb
(From left to right – 25th Army - 1st Finnish Army – 4th Panzer Army – 16th Army)

Army Group Reserves

1st Security Division
4th Finnish SS Infantry Regiment

1st Finnish Army

Army Reserves

2nd Cavalry Division

II Finnish Corps

1st Finnish Ski Infantry Division
5th Finnish Infantry Division
6th Finnish Ski Infantry Division

III Finnish Corps

2nd Finnish Infantry Division
3rd Finnish Infantry Division
7th Finnish Infantry Division

4th Panzer Army

Army Reserves

25th Panzer Division

V Panzer Corps

4th Panzer Grenadier Division
14th Panzer Division
22nd Panzer Division

XIX Panzer Corps

4th Panzer Division
7th Panzer Division
13th Panzer Grenadier Division
Herman Goring Panzer Brigade

XXVIII Panzer Corps

2nd SS Panzer Division
18th Panzer Grenadier Division
24th Panzer Division

16th Army

Army Reserves

61st Infantry Division

I Estonian Corps

1st Estonian Infantry Division
3rd Estonian Cavalry Division
11th German Infantry Division

XXXVIII Corps

2nd Lithuanian Infantry Division
69th Infantry Division
102nd Infantry Division
105th Infantry Division

XLVIII Corps

4th Latvian Infantry Division
75th Infantry Division
114th Infantry Division
123rd Infantry Division

XXXIII Corps

1st Lithuanian Infantry Division
82nd Infantry Division
128th Infantry Division
135th Infantry Division

25th Mountain Army (from Norway)

Army Reserves

8th Mountain Division

XXX Corps

5th Infantry Division
48th Infantry Division
53rd Infantry Division
78th Infantry Division

XX Mountain Corps

1st Mountain Division
3rd Mountain Division
4th Mountain Division

XII Mountain Corps

2nd Mountain Division
5th Mountain Division
7th Mountain Division

Army Group Center
General Georg von Kuchler
(From left to right: 4th Army – 2 Panzer Army – 9th Army – 18 Army)

Army Group Reserves

3rd Security Division

2nd Panzer Army

Army Reserves

1st Panzer Grenadier Division

I SS Panzer Corps

1st SS Panzer Division
3rd SS Panzer Grenadier Division
5th SS Panzer Division
1st Estonian SS Cavalry Brigade

XXI Panzer Corps

12th Panzer Grenadier Division
16th Panzer Division
23rd Panzer Division

XXXV Panzer Corps

3rd Panzer Grenadier Division
10th Panzer Division
13th Panzer Division

3rd Panzer Army

Army Reserves

27th Panzer Division

XLIX Panzer Corps

14th Panzer Grenadier Division
18th Panzer Division
20th Panzer Division

VII Panzer Corps

3rd Panzer Division
9th Panzer Division
17th Panzer Grenadier Division

XLV Panzer Corps

2nd Panzer Division
6th Panzer Division
7th Panzer Grenadier Division

4th Army

Army Reserves

108th Infantry Division

XXIX Corps

104th Infantry Division
110th Infantry Division
113th Infantry Division
117th Infantry Division

XV Corps

119th Infantry Division
121st Infantry Division
125th Infantry Division
126th Infantry Division

XVIII Panzer Corps

8th Panzer Grenadier Division
10th Panzer Division
19th Panzer Division

Spanish Expeditionary Corps

3rd Spanish Infantry Division
10th Spanish Infantry Division
2nd Regiment, Spanish Foreign Legion
45th Spanish Light Calvary Regiment

9th Army

Army Reserves

133rd Infantry Division

XXVII Corps

13th Infantry Division
130th Infantry Division
134th Infantry Division
141st Infantry Division

XXXIX Corps

14th Infantry Division
19th Infantry Division
145th Infantry Division
148th Infantry Division

IV Corps

20th Infantry Division
33rd Infantry Division
101st Infantry Division
111th Infantry Division

18th Army

Army Reserves

8th Infantry Division

II SS Corps

2nd Latvian Infantry Division
4th SS Infantry Division
5th Latvian Infantry Division
6th SS Infantry Division

VI Corps

16th Infantry Division
97th Infantry Division
140th Infantry Division
146th Infantry Division

L Corps

1st Infantry Division
25th Infantry Division
29th Infantry Division
94th Infantry Division

III Corps

34th Infantry Division
38th Infantry Division
42nd Infantry Division
86th Infantry Division

Army Group South
Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau
(From left to right: 1st Bulgarian – 1st Panzer Army – 6th Army - 17th Army)

Army Group Reserves

2nd Security Division

1st Bulgarian Army

Army Reserves

1st Bulgarian Cavalry Division

I Bulgarian Corps

1st Bulgarian Infantry Division
4th Bulgarian Infantry Division
5th Bulgarian Infantry Division
7th Bulgarian Infantry Division

II Bulgarian Corps

2nd Bulgarian Infantry Division
3rd Bulgarian Infantry Division
6th Bulgarian Infantry Division

1st Panzer Army

Army Reserves

28th Panzer Division

VIII Panzer Corps

9th Panzer Grenadier Division
12th Panzer Division
15th Panzer Division

XLVII Panzer Corps

16th Panzer Grenadier Division
21st Panzer Division
26th Panzer Division

XXXVI Panzer Corps

5th Panzer Division
10th Panzer Grenadier Division
31st Panzer Division

6th Army

Army Reserves

30th Infantry Division

I Corps

36th Infantry Division
41st Infantry Division
46th Infantry Division
47th Infantry Division

XXII Corps

22nd Infantry Division
28th Infantry Division
31st Infantry Division
39th Infantry Division

XXVI Corps

51st Infantry Division
52nd Infantry Division
59th Infantry Division
62nd Infantry Division

17th Army

Army Reserves

93rd Infantry Division

XLI Corps

9th Infantry Division
95th Infantry Division
96th Infantry Division
100th Infantry Division

II Corps

85th Infantry Division
103rd Infantry Division
109th Infantry Division
116th Infantry Division

XLVI Corps

73rd Infantry Division
112th Infantry Division
120th Infantry Division
124th Infantry Division

Italian Expeditionary Corps

Italian 2nd Cavalry Division Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro
Italian 3rd Blackshirt (April 23) Light Armored Division
Italian 21st Infantry Division Granatieri di Sardegna
Italian 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo

Army Group South West (Romania)
General Ernst Busch

Romanian 3rd Army

Army Reserves

1st Romanian Cavalry Division

I Romanian Corps

3rd Romanian Infantry Division
4th Romanian Infantry Division
5th Romanian Infantry Division

II Romanian Corps

1st Romanian Infantry Division
2nd Romanian Infantry Division
6th Romanian Motorized Division

11th Army

5th Light Infantry Division

XVI Corps

84th Infantry Division
88th Infantry Division
92nd Infantry Division
99th Infantry Division

XXXI Corps

6th Light Infantry Division
66th Infantry Division
67th Infantry Division
76th Infantry Division

XXIII Corps

74th Infantry Division
79th Infantry Division
83rd Infantry Division
88th Infantry Division

Army Group C (Yugoslavia)
General Kurt Zeitzler

Army Reserves

65th Infantry Division

3rd Army

58th Infantry Division

LIV Corps

4th Infantry Division
44th Infantry Division
50th Infantry Division
129th Infantry Division

XXXVII Corps

3rd Naval Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
50th Infantry Division
132nd Infantry Division

13th Army

1st SS Cavalry Brigade

LVI Corps

35th Infantry Division
54th Infantry Division
138th Infantry Division

X Corps

2nd Infantry Division
5th Naval Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division
147th Infantry Division

OB South
General Albert Kesselring
​

8th Army (Austria/Italy)

Army Reserves

23rd Infantry Division

XI Panzer Corps (Austria)

1st Panzer Division
15th Panzer Grenadier Division
30th Panzer Division

XLII Corps (Italy)

18th Infantry Division
26th Infantry Division
64th Infantry Division
149th Infantry Division

Reserve Army (Germany)

77th Infantry Division

XIII Reserve Corps

1st Naval Infantry Division
6th Reserve Infantry Division
71st Reserve Infantry Division
139th Reserve Infantry Division

XVI Reserve Corps

81st Reserve Infantry Division
87th Reserve Infantry Division
90th Reserve Infantry Division
131st Infantry Division

II Panzer Corps

2nd Panzer Grenadier Division
5th Panzer Grenadier Brigade
Panzer Lehr Brigade

German Tanks

Panzer Mark I – used primarily for training and reconnaissance
Panzer Mark IIC
Panzer Mark IIF – reconnaissance
Panzer Mark III
Panzer Mark IV – entering service
SdKfz 265 Panzerbefehlswagen – Command tank

The Germans also used a number of foreign tanks including Belgian, British, Czech and French tanks.


FOREIGN OFFICE MEMORANDUM
JUNE 2, 1941
​

To: Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
From: Sir Mark Sandstone, Ambassador to the Hellenes
Subject: Greek nationals

Sir,

The Greek Foreign Minister called in on me today to lodge a formal protest with His Majesty’s government. It seems that several thousand Greek nationals have left Greece, and traveled by way of Crete, to Egypt. There they have applied to join the British Army in its fight against the Nazis. Apparently Middle Eastern Command has signed them up and has formed them into several light infantry battalions.

The Greeks want the units disbanded and their nationals sent back to Greece as this is a violation of Greek neutrality. The Greek Foreign Minister made it clear that their ambassador will be paying a visit on the Foreign Office to lodge a formal complaint.

GERMAN RADIO ADDRESS
JUNE 3, 1941
​

“"Jairmany calling, Jairmany calling. Good evening England. Has Prime Minister Churchill told you the bad news? I’m willing to bet he hasn’t. During yesterday’s visit to Portsmouth, the Luftwaffe managed to sink the Royal Navy’s newest battle cruiser HMS Merlin while she was in harbor. Her crew didn’t even fire back at the bombers as she was being attacked. Morale must be low with the loss of Singapore and now this. Toss Churchill and his gang out now while you can.”

RAF INTELLIGENCE REPORT
JUNE 4, 1941
​

Last night’s bombing raids on the United Kingdom included a raid on Cardiff. Two of the enemy’s bombers were shot down and they have been identified as Junkers Ju 89 heavy bombers. This is the first indication that we have of the Germans using heavy bombers.

We have received intelligence indicating that the Germans have pulled out slightly over 60% of their Air Force and has transferred it elsewhere.

NBC RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
JUNE 4, 1941
​

In thirty days from today, the United States will welcome six new states to the Union. In Mexicali, the Territorial House & Senate passed joint resolutions changing the name of the new state capital from Mexicali to Independence. There was a small anti-American protest from local troublemakers which was quickly broken up by the police.

In London, Prime Minister Churchill, speaking before Parliament informed that body that despite Germany’s propaganda claims, the Fleet Air Arm base HMS Merlin has not fallen into the sea. He did state that regretfully the pre-dreadnought museum ship HMS Lord Nelson has been sunk at her moorings; fortunately none of the museum staff was killed or wounded.

FRENCH LIAISON TEAM ARRIVES
IN WASHINGTON
NEW YORK TIMES
JUNE 8, 1941
​

The French Government’s Military Liaison & Purchasing Commission arrived in Washington DC yesterday and met briefly with President Roosevelt before meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Headed by Fleet Admiral Francois Darlan, the team is expected to coordinate military affairs with their American and British allies as well as arrange for the purchase of much needed supplies.


EXCERPTS FROM BRANDENBURGER
MY LIFE IN THE GERMAN SPECIAL FORCES
BY SERGEANT MAJOR ALBERT BURKHALTER, GERMAN ARMY (RET)
CHAPTER X – RUSSIA
​

JUNE 10, 1941

Warsaw, Brandenburger HQ. We got the final word from the Major; Fall Barbarossa would begin on July 1, 1941. We had to return to Kiev and scout out Marshal Budnney’s HQ once again to see if any changes had occurred in the defenses. At 0100 hours on July 1, Operation Tanenbaum would go into operation – we were to go in and kill everyone we could find. We had an assault platoon of 45 men, and I would be leading one of the assault squads, we would go in wearing Russian uniforms and open the defenses for the rest of the platoon. We were transported to the border and slipped across that night….

FOREIGN OFFICE MEMORANDUM
JUNE 15, 1941
​

To: Prime Minister Churchill
From: Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Subject: Greece
Date June 15, 1941

Prime Minister,

Greece is becoming something of a problem. The Greek Ambassador paid me a visit this morning to protest the actions of the Army in Egypt.

As you may recall, the Army has been getting a number of Greek volunteers who wish to fight against the Nazis. The Army has formed them into an all Greek unit along the lines of the Free Czech and Free Polish units. The Greek Government has requested that we disband the unit and send their citizens packing.

I had an interesting briefing from MI6. It looks like the Greeks are playing both sides of this war. We are getting Greek volunteers, many of them of military age and most have “some” military experience. Now it appears that the Greeks are also assisting the Germans. Not only are there Greek “volunteers” enlisting in the German Army (although not in similar numbers), Greece is allowing the Germans to bring in vital materials through their ports. This appears to be a secret condition of the peace treaty brokered by the Germans.

The Greek Ambassador renewed his demand that we disband the Greek Regiment or that his Government would have to take a sterner line in regard to His Majesty’s Government. I was able to point out that those Greeks in the Greek Regiment have volunteered and are willing to give up their Greek citizenship. This seemed to mollify him, but he would have to consult with his Government.

EXCERPTS FROM THE DIARY OF SERGEANT GEORGE WASHINGTON BOLLING,
9TH US CAVALRY

June 20, 1941
​

We are now a part of USFIP (United States Forces in the Philippines) - Luzon Division. A few days ago, we were coming back from a raid when we met up with a group of armed Filipinos. We didn’t know if these were bandits or Huks or Japanese collaborators. We didn’t know them and they didn’t know us and we had a Mexican standoff. It was a good thing that a couple of their fellows knew one of mine. They started talking to each other and it turns out they were part of Brigadier General Fertig’s guerilla force. They invited me to come with them. I said no, but agreed to meet up with them a few days later. I would meet them plus an American from their group. Two days later, I showed up at the agreed meeting place. I had ordered my wife and kids to go into hiding and if I wasn’t back the next day to never go back to the store, I also ordered my men to disperse and find other groups if I didn’t come back.

I was met by the two Filipinos’ and Captain Samuel Trautman, US Army. He was a guerilla company commander and he reported to Fertig. He told me that Fertig had a few thousand men under arms and many more who needed weapons. Was I interested in joining? If I joined, and since I was an American NCO who had seen combat, General Fertig would make me a temporary 2nd Lieutenant. I told him me and my men would join up but I declined the promotion – I said no offense, but I was a sergeant and I worked for a living!! The Captain explained that he had graduated from West Point the year before and the Philippines were his first posting. He was promoted by General Fertig when he joined the guerillas. The only problem was we would have to leave our area and join the rest of Fertig’s command. I told my wife that I would come back as often as I could.

CLASSIFIED MEMORANDUM
TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
​

To: President Roosevelt
From: Major General Donovan, Director US Foreign Intelligence Service
Date: Jun 22, 1941
Subject: Russia

Mr. President, the signs are unmistakable. Germany and her allies are going to invade Russia soon. Non essential travel in Eastern Germany, Poland and the Baltic Republics are all but restricted, Germany has increased the number of over flights of Russian territory.

We, along with the British, have had discussions with our Russian counterparts. For the most part, they feel that we trying to cause trouble between Russia and Germany. They all feel that Russia can handle the Germans without too much trouble.


(1) This was the Japanese bio-warfare unit
 

NoOneFamous

EXCERPT OF TESTIMONY BEFORE THE
TRUMAN COMMITTEE
June 27, 1941

​
Senator Harry Truman (D-MO): Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Will the witness please identify himself and his current position?

Lieutenant Commander Morrison: Sir, I am Lieutenant Commander M. Mitchell Morrison, US Navy and I am the Naval Liaison Officer to the Brewster Aeronautical plant in Newark, New Jersey.

Senator Truman: How long have you been at that plant and what was your assignment prior to his one?

Commander Morrison: I have been there for the past 6 months. I was injured in a flight deck accident last year on board the USS Enterprise where I was the Navigator. I hope to be cleared to return to sea duty soon.

Senator Truman: Will you please tell this committee what you observed?

Commander Morrison: Yes, sir. I saw outright bribery, intimidation, fraud, theft and sabotage.

Senator Henry Bridges (R-NH): And did you report this Commander or did you turn a blind eye until someone turned you in?

Commander Morrison: Senator, with all due respect, go and f…….

Senator Truman (interrupting): Senator Bridges, Commander Morrison tried several times to inform his chain of command of the events going on there, before sending me notification of what was going on and I invited him to testify before this committee. Commander, whom did you notify?

Commander Morrison: Sir, I notified my immediate supervisor, Captain Bogutsky on two separate occasions. On both occasions, he told me to mind my own business and just do my job and I would get back to the Fleet as soon as possible. When it became obvious to me that Captain Bogutsky was not going to do anything, I sent a report to the District Commander and heard nothing. That was when I sent a report to you sir.

Senator Truman: Thank you for your patriotism and honesty Commander. For the record, I have spoken to the Chief of Naval Operations and told him that if you are punished for your honesty, then I would have something to say to him. Who’s the next to testify?

Majority Counsel: Captain Henry Bogutsky.

EXCERPTS FROM
DOOLITTLE’S DISASTER -
THE RAID ON TOKYO
JUNE 29, 1941

​
Jimmy Doolittle, the pre-war aviation hero had convinced President Roosevelt that a bombing raid on Tokyo would boost the morale of the American public. After the victory at Coral Sea, both Admiral King and General Arnold had convinced Roosevelt that Doolittle’s raid was no longer needed. Doolittle, with the help of a few influential newsmen, Congressmen and Senators was able to change the President’s mind.

The Navy was not willing to send their precious carriers that close to Japan without at least attempting to divert Japan’s attention elsewhere. Most of early to mid June, Task Force 31, consisting of the carriers Bon Homme Richard and Yorktown, successfully hit Japanese positions on Truk, Guadalcanal and the Marshall Islands sinking a number of ships, including the light cruiser Naka.

Operation Shangri-La was not successful. During the run in towards Japan, the USS Enterprise was damaged when she was hit by a Japanese submarine (the sub was sunk before she could radio a contact report) three days before the B-25s were to be launched. Unable to keep up with the Hornet, Rear Admiral Felix Lauer, ordered the battle cruiser Baja, the heavy cruiser Quincy and the destroyers Gridley, Jarvis and McCall to fall back with the Enterprise and cover the retirement of the Hornet and her escorts. (The official Congressional investigation blamed Lauer for not canceling the raid once surprise had been lost with the torpedoing of the Enterprise.). Bad luck continued to be with Lauer and his ships when the one of the Alaska’s propeller’s became damaged (later determined to have been normal wear and tear on the blade) reducing her speed to 23 knots. The Alaska was ordered to join the Enterprise and her group.

The plan was for Doolittle’s planes to be launched at dawn on June 29, when they were 480 miles from Japan (after the task force evaded the Japanese patrol boats known to be in the area), bomb their targets (Kobe, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Yokohama) and crash land in China and return to the US with help from the Chinese government.

The departure of the Enterprise had left the task force without air cover or the ability to launch scouts, and (on Lauer’s orders) none of the ships in the Task Force had their radars turned on. This was, according to both the Navy’s and the Congressional investigation, a recipe for disaster.

Fifteen minutes after the last bomber had taken off, lookouts aboard the cruiser Astoria reported three unidentified surface ships closing in on the task force, followed a minute later by the Astoria being bracketed by shellfire from 16nm away. The Japanese battleship Aki, a Yamato class battleship, on her shakedown cruise with an escort of two destroyers had stumbled upon the Americans. The Aki’s commander, Captain Masahiko Arata, was eager to test his new ship and guns on the Americans. He ordered his ships to attack at once. Lauer ordered Hornet to escape. He then ordered the battle cruiser USS Chihuahua, his flagship, and the destroyers Laffey, Mayo & Madison to attack the Japanese while the Hornet, the light cruisers Helena and Saint Louis, and the destroyers Benson, Blue, and Mugford attempted to escape. Meanwhile on the Hornet, her crew was rapidly trying to get their planes in the air. They failed.

Captain Arata, recognizing the USS Chihuahua as an American battle cruiser, ordered his destroyers to make a torpedo attack on the Americans. He also knew something that the Americans did not – approximately 100 nautical miles to the North West, the aircraft carrier Junyo was also out at sea in the final stages of training her air group. Breaking radio silence, the Aki notified the Junyo and the Japanese Naval High Command of the presence of Americans and they had just launched an air strike.

On board the Junyo, Captain Saimei Kokura summoned his air group commander, Lieutenant Commander Keiji Furuta, an experienced dive bomber pilot and informed him of Arata’s contact report and ordering a strike against the Americans.

As 18 inch shells began coming their way, the Americans made rapid and violent course corrections to throw off the Japanese 18 inch shells coming their way. The Hornet had a problem; she couldn’t make such rapid course corrections and launch her planes at the same time. Hornet’s captain made the fateful decision and ordered his carrier to hold a steady course to launch his planes. The first two planes brought up were Dauntless dive bombers and the first, being piloted by Lieutenant Zachary Heldt, was just lifting off when the first 18 inch shell exploded 15 feet off the port side of the carrier sending shrapnel into the dive bomber, killing Heldt (he had tried to take off without his radio operator/rear gunner). The plane hit the forward flight deck, ripping a gaping hole in the wooded deck before going over the side. Seconds later, the ship shuddered as the bombs exploded, causing hull damage. The next plane, piloted by Ensign George L. Rockford, was able to get into the air. That was the only plane to successfully launch from the doomed carrier. Seconds after he launched, the Hornet was hit by an 18 shell, the resulting explosion set off the bombs being brought up from the magazines. Within seconds, Hornets’ Flight and Hanger decks were raging infernos.

Back on the Chihuahua, the battle cruiser was returning fire and trying to put herself between the Hornet and the approaching Japanese ships. She was able to hit the destroyer Shiratsuyu twice with 16 inch shells which destroyed the ship which went down with all hands. The Harusame was attacked by the USS Mayo. The two small pit bulls went after each other, ignoring the other ships. On Commander Sutezo Tomita’s orders, the Harusame fired 4 Long Lance torpedoes at the Mayo just as she opened up on the Japanese destroyer with her forward 5 inch guns. Both ships raced towards each other firing away. The Mayo hit Harusame’s bow causing minor damage. Three Long Lances, not spotted until it was too late, ripped the Mayo in half killing or wounding over half of the crew.

USS Chihuahua was not a battleship, she may have had a battleship’s guns (16 inch), but she did not have a battleships’ armor. She was going up against one of the most heavily armed and armored battleships in the world and Rear Admiral Lauer knew this and sent her forward anyway to give the Hornet and the other ships time to escape. The destroyers Laffey & Madison surged forward and launched their torpedoes when they had a decent firing solution. One of the last messages from Lauer was for both destroyers to retire.

The Chihuahua managed to land the first blow when she hit the Aki’s forward 18 inch turret. The explosion scorched the paint; the turret crew barely noticed that they had been hit. The Aki was not so gentle in her treatment of the American battle cruiser. Over the next sixty-five minutes, the Aki pounded the Chihuahua until she finally sank, with her colors still flying.

With fumes and smoke pouring into the engine rooms and with the fires out of control, Captain Jonathan Chambers, Hornet’s skipper, ordered his ship abandoned and scuttling charges set. The Helena and Benson were able to pull off 900 of the crew. Captain Chambers ordered the rescue stopped once it became apparent that the battle cruiser was doomed. The Saint Louis was able to sink the Harusame before falling back on the Hornet; she was able to pull off another 100 sailors before being forced to leave the area. Hornet had sailed from Pearl Harbor with 2,950 souls on board (not including the B-25 crews); 263 were killed or fatally injured in the hanger and flight deck fires; 1,000 were rescued by other US ships. When Hornet sank, almost 1800 men were still on board. The Japanese later rescued about half before stopping all rescue operations. Captain Chambers was not among those who were rescued.

Ensign Rockford made a single pass at the Aki firing his machine guns and dropping his bombs (which caused minor damage) before changing course and flying back to the Enterprise.

The remaining ships were able to link up with the Enterprise (but not before losing the Saint Louis to Commander Furuta’s air group) and escape the pursing Japanese (the Aki was too slow to catch up to the fleeing Americans) and other than patrol ships – those that encountered the Americans were quickly sunk – no other Japanese ships were in a position to attack the Americans (Patrol planes sent out from Japan failed to locate the Americans)

And what happened to Doolittle’s Raiders? The planners had decided to send the planes after targets in 4 major Japanese cities - Kobe, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Yokohama.

Kobe: All 4 aircraft hit their assigned targets – the Kawanishi aircraft plants. The factories were out of service for three months. All four aircraft made it to China, but only two of the crews made back to the US. The others were captured and executed by the Japanese.

Nagoya: Four aircraft were assigned; their targets included the Mitsubishi Aircraft Engine Works and Nagoya Castle. Here the bombers ran into unexpectedly heavy anti-aircraft fire (three days earlier, 2 Heavy AA batteries became operational.) Two of the bombers were shot down (of their crews only 2 men survived); the others jettisoned their loads over the city (the resulting fires took 32 hours to bring under control). The three bombers made it to China and their crews were rescued.

Yokohama: Four aircraft were assigned; their targets included the port and manufacturing plants. One aircraft had an engine malfunction and aborted their mission, flying to Vladivostok, where the crew was interned. The other three planes hit their targets, including the battleship Fuso tied up alongside the pier for minor repairs. The bombs didn’t do much damage to the battleship, but they killed 42 Fuso crew members who were on the piers when the bombs hit, including her Captain and Executive Officer. One plane went down over Yokohama, one plane made it to China where the crew was rescued, the other plane simply disappeared.

Tokyo: Four aircraft were assigned to targets in the city, including aircraft factories and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. All their targets were hit; General Sugiyama was slightly injured in the attack. Doolittle’s plane was damaged severely; he ordered his crew to bail out and aimed his stricken bomber at the Imperial Palace. He made no attempt to bail out and his plane crashed on the grounds of the Palace, but the Emperor was not injured. His crew was captured, tortured and executed after a mock trial (They were charged with the attempted assassination of the Emperor). Their remains were thrown into Tokyo Bay. The remaining three planes crash landed in China and their crews were rescued.

The Japanese regarded the affair as a complete victory for them. For the loss of 2 destroyers and a few hundred deaths (the official death toll was listed as 688), they had sunk an American aircraft carrier, two battle cruisers (they had misidentified the St. Louis), a heavy cruiser and four destroyers (Commander Furuta’s pilots had vastly over estimated their reports), plus 16 American bombers (they claimed that all the bombers were shot down.)

The Americans regarded it as a total failure and it would be decades before the US Navy would allow any US Army or Air Force pilot near one of their carriers. President Roosevelt went before Congress and apologized to the American public for allowing the raid to go forward.
 

NoOneFamous

EXCERPT FROM


ACTORS & ACTRESSES WHO
SERVED THEIR COUNTRY IN WARTIME
By Wes Zumwalt
2003

​
DeForest Kelley

Corporal DeForest Kelley, USAAF, had served, involuntary, with the French Resistance Forces (after being shot down during the Dieppe Raid) and had finally managed to get back to the UK in mid May 1941. Sent back to the US on leave before his next assignment, he had gone back home to Tacoma, Georgia. On June 29, his leave was interrupted by a quiet talking major who introduced himself as Major John Smith of the FIS. The FIS was interested in Corporal Kelley, after all, he was a trained radio operator, he had served behind the lines with guerrillas, he spoke French, and he was single. When he asked the major informed what he would be doing in the FIS (a reasonable question, or so he thought), the major informed him that he had to join first. Kelley was many things, but foolish was not one of them. He said no and the major simply left. A week later, he received his new orders. He was to report to the FIS Training Facility in Bethesda Maryland. He had been “volunteered”.

Jack Lord

Ensign Jack Lord, USNR had originally joined the Merchant Marine, but after the US entered the war, he transferred to the Navy as a supply officer. Based on recommendations from his superiors, he was quietly transferred to the FIS at the same time as DeForest Kelley.

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER VIII
OPERATION BARBAROSSA

THE GERMAN ARMY IN WORLD WAR II
BY DAME MARILYN CARLISLE
JULY 1, 1941
​

ARMY GROUP NORTH

Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb’s Army Group North was facing the Russian North Western Front under General Popov. Facing Army Group North’s 2 Panzer Grenadier, 3 Cavalry, 5 Panzer, 7 Mountain and 24 Infantry Divisions were General Popov’s 2 Motorized, 4 Armored, and 13 Infantry Divisions, however, only 3 of those divisions were fully manned and equipped, The Russians were using the area to rest and rebuild divisions used up in combat against the Communist rebels and they were not prepared to resist an invasion.

The 25th Mountain Army, attacking from Norway was facing the Russian 8th Army’s IX Rifle Corps, a woefully undermanned and under equipped formation. Normally, a Russian Rifle Corps with 3 rifle divisions would number over 40,000 troops, however, this formation numbered around 14,000 troops; most of them were support personnel or raw recruits. Their objectives were Murmansk, Severomorsk, and Polyarny, and ultimately Arkhangelsk.

The 1st Finnish Army was facing the Russian XII Rifle Corps, which was in almost the same condition of its sister corps; however, this corps had 16,000 troops. Their ultimate objective was the town of Belomorsk on the White Sea.

Attacking from Finland, the 4th Panzer Army’s primary objective was the destruction of the 8th Army’s XI Mechanized Corps, which had the only fully manned and equipped division in the 8th Army (the 9th Tank Division, primarily equipped with the T-34.) Once the XI Corps was rendered ineffective or destroyed, 4th Panzer Army was to raise havoc in the 8th Army’s rear areas and take Saint Petersburg quickly, if not then besiege the city

The 16th Army, in Estonia, on the right flank of the Army Group was to protect the flank of Army Group Center and attack Saint Petersburg from the south.

ARMY GROUP CENTER

General Georg von Kuchler’s Army Group Center was facing the Russian Western Front under Marshal Budnney. Facing Army Group Center’s 8 Panzer Grenadier, 13 Panzer, & 41 Infantry (including 5 SS divisions) were Budnney’s 2 Cossack Cavalry Divisions, 3 Motorized, 3 Armored, and 28 Infantry Divisions. The Western Front did however, have 8 fully manned and equipped divisions and was better prepared to defend against an invasion.

The 4th Army, attacking from Estonia, was hitting the right flank of the Russian Western Front, with Veliky Novgorod as their ultimate objective. Unfortunately for the Russian 4th Army, the attack would be hitting their weakest formation – the XXV Rifle Corps, numbering just 11,000 troops.

The 2nd Panzer Army, attacking from Lithuania, was attacking the Russian 4th Army’s 24,000 strong XXXIII Rifle Corps. Their objective was Smolensk.

The XX Cavalry Corps and Minsk were the prime targets of the 3rd Panzer Army attacking from Lithuania. The fully manned and equipped XX Cavalry Corps was the most dangerous formation of the Russian 4th Army. With most of their troops mounted on horseback, they were not road bound and very experienced soldiers.

The German 9th Army, attacking from Poland, was attacking towards Salihorsk, headquarters of the Russian 10th Army’s III Rifle Corps. Like many Russian corps stationed along Russia’s Western border, this corps was under manned and under equipped. While they had just received 8,000 more troops, bringing their strength up to 20,000; these were raw, not even fully trained infantrymen, most of whom had only fired their rifle a few times.

Rivne, the Headquarters of the Russian 10th Army, was defended by the Russian XV Rifle Corps. Rivne was in the path of the German 18thArmy on its way to Kiev.

ARMY GROUP SOUTH

Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau’s Army Group South was also facing off against the Russian Western Front

The Bulgarian 1st Army was attacking towards L’Viv which was defended by the Russian VIII Rifle Corps (with the battered Communist 37th Rifle Division between the advancing Germans and the Russians).

The 6th Army was facing off against the Russian 13th Army which had only 1 combat ready rifle division. The Army’s objective was Ternopil.

The German XXII (German 6th Army) and the German II Corps (German 17th Army) were to breach the Russian 5th Army’s (South Western Front) lines and take Stanislav Oblast. The Russian 5th Army consisted of one fully manned and equipped cavalry division and eight rifle divisions of varying strength and combat value.

The remainder of the German 17th Army’s mission was to destroy the Russian 6th Army and then take Chernivtsi.

ARMY GROUP SOUTH WEST

General Ernst Busch’s German-Romanian Army Group was taking on the General Vladislav Bogdanov’s South West Front.

The Romanian 3rd Army was taking on the small Russian 12th Army and the II Rifle Corps of the Russian 14th Army. Their objective was the city of Vinnytsia.

The German 11th Army was taking on the XVIII Rifle Corps (14th Army) and the Russian 26th Army (a collection of badly abused and almost worthless units) with the goal of taking Odessa.

The German I Airborne Corps was classified as the Strategic Reserve deployed only on Hitler’s personal orders.

The ultimate goal was the seizure of all Russian territory west of a line running from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan.

At 11pm; June 28, 1941; Adolph Hitler gave the final order to invade Russia on July 1, 1941. The troops would cross the border at 4am.

CLASSIFIED PRELIMINARY ORAL REPORT REGARDING
THE JUNE 25, 1941 INCIDENT
SS HEADQUARTERS WARSAW
JUNE 29, 1941
​

Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler: Well, Heydrich what happened?

SS Gruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich: Herr Reichsfurher, We do not know, the radiation levels are still too high. Every Jew we have sent in to clear rubble away has died within an hour. Removing the rubble is taking far longer than what we had planned for.

Himmler: What caused the initial explosion? Can you tell me that?

Heydrich: The only survivor was Dr. Fritz Hahn; he was Dr. Heisenberg’s Principal Assistant. He stated that they had gotten the pile up and running when there was a problem with the control rods and an explosion resulted. He says he saw Dr. Heisenberg get impaled by one of the rods. Hahn claimed that he ran to get help and as he was running there was another explosion. Dr. Hahn died two hours later from acute radiation poisoning. His body was burnt in one of camp’s ovens.

Himmler: How many died?

Heydrich: We lost 22 people – 18 scientists and 4 guards, plus of course the 12 Jews who were “assisting” in the experiment. According to Dr. Diebner, the pile may still be producing enough radiation to be a hazard. Dr. Diebner feels that using explosives to bring down the entrance should seal the cavern and prevent any further radiation leakage. I ordered the entrance to the complex sealed.

Himmler: Heydrich, this is what I want you to do: 1) Confirm with your own eyes that the cavern is sealed. 2) Eliminate every inmate in Gross-Rosen, they know too much, 3) destroy the camp and 4) swear every guard to secrecy and reassign them. Eliminate the guards that you feel are untrustworthy.

Heydrich: And what of the town? They know that something has happened and they will know something is up when we start cleaning up.

Himmler: What town Herr Heydrich? And Heydrich, the Fuhrer does not need to know the details, he is distracted right now with Fall Barbarossa.

Heydrich; By your command!

EXCERPT FROM
THE DEATH OF GROSS-ROSEN

NAZI ATROCITIES OF WORLD WAR II
BY PROFESSOR NOAH ELDESKI
​

The total destruction of the Polish town of Gross-Rosen is not well known in the West as it was overshadowed by events on the Polish-Russian border, namely the invasion of Russia by Germany and her allies.

The town died to prevent knowledge of an atomic accident in the nearby concentration camp of the same name. The town died because the townspeople and the town were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Of the 4,305 men, women and children known to be in the town on July 1, 1941; only 205 were still alive one week later, having escaped into the surrounding countryside. Two regiments of the 4th SS Infantry Division was pulled (much to the disgust of the German Army) from the II SS Corps from the invasion and used for this task. By the time the SS was done with the village, there was not a single building standing. The townspeople did not die without a fight however. When the fighting was over, 326 members of the SS were dead, including SS Gruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich killed by a 14 year old girl with her father’s hunting rifle.
EXCERPTS FROM BRANDENBURGER
MY LIFE IN THE GERMAN SPECIAL FORCES
BY SERGEANT MAJOR ALBERT BURKHALTER, GERMAN ARMY (RET)
CHAPTER X – RUSSIA
​

July 1, 1941
We crossed the border and were in Kiev on June 28 and we met up with the team that had been watching Budnney’s HQ. Security had increased, Field Marshall Zhukov, Chief of Staff of the Russian Army was on an inspection tour and was spending a few days looking over the HQ of the Western Front. What a coup that would be if we could bag him as well. We were to go in, kill everyone (intelligence officers were to be captured if possible), collect as much hard intelligence as we could (codes, orders of battle, etc).

We were to hit the headquarters at 3am, an hour before the invasion. Thanks to the recent attacks of Ukrainian monarchists and the Communist rebels, this would be thought of as such an attack until it was all over. My assault unit would go in wearing Russian Army uniforms, using Russian weapons. We would breach the defenses (Normally it was a company of light infantry, but as we discovered, it was now a reinforced company thanks to Zhukov.) and open the way for the rest of the Special Assault Unit to pour through.

We were in a warehouse owned by a front company (It was a Swedish company that sold paper products) when we got word at 1am that Zhukov and his aides had suddenly left. The Assault Unit Commander, Major Stefan Eiffel ordered a squad to go after Zhukov and kill them at the same time we hit Budnney’s HQ.

We were all geared up and in position by 2am. It was a nice, warm evening. We could hear some traffic in the distance, but nothing close by. We had the usual pre-assault jitters, but we concentrated on checking and rechecking our gear.

I would drive up in a GAZ-61 car, followed by 2 ZIS5-5 trucks carrying half of my team; we would go in through the front entrance. There I would present the documents that would get us inside. The other half would quietly approach one of the rear entrances and blow the door off and go in that way. The main assault group would come in two minutes later.

At 2:58am, July 1, 1941, we drove up to the main gate. There were 4 guards. Two at the gate armed with AVS-36 automatic rifles, there was one with DP light machine gun (he would have to be the first to die), and finally the Corporal of the Guard, and he was armed with PPD-40 sub machine gun. As I was presenting my “papers” I could tell that at least one of the guards was drunk on duty.

As I expected, the corporal wanted to see what was in the trucks. As I escorted him to the first truck (filled with (empty) boxes of supplies, several of my men were quietly dealing with the rest of the sentries. As we were walking towards the second truck, I “tripped” and got behind him, seconds later my garrote was around his throat and he was dead seconds later.

We were in…
 
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