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| The Barracks Off topic stuff. Rattle on about whatever you like here. Rants & raves, general strangeness & anything else you'd like to share. Pretty much a free for all. |
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| | #41 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,028
![]() ![]() | Code name Aspidistra ASPIDISTRA. The codename given to the powerful 500 KW (below says 600KW) transmitter which was purchased from America for use in broadcasting propaganda on the German controlled wave-lengths. It cost Britain £111,801, 4 shillings and 10 pence to buy the apparatus from the RCA factory in Camden, New Jersey. Another sum of £16,000 was spent to prepare the site and erect the masts near Crowborough in Essex. The transmitter first became operational on November 8, 1942. http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/18.htm And the trio of stories on the Black Propaganda Radio by the allies in ww2. http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/trail-sinister.htm http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/black-boomerang.htm
__________________ Spidge, ![]() ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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| | #42 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Neverland
Posts: 5,564
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | SS BLACK POINT (May 5, 1945) The last American victim of the German U-boat was the freighter SS Black Point (Capt. Charles Prior) sunk off Judith Point, Rhode Island at 5.40pm on May 5, 1945. The freighter was carrying a cargo of coal to Boston when attacked by the U-853, the submarine that sank the Eagle 56. Twelve crewmen were killed but thirty four survived. In the European theater, the last vessels sunk were the British freighter Avondale Park and the Norwegian vessel Snelland were both sunk within an hour of the cessation of hostilities on May 7, 1945, by the U-2336 off the Firth of Forth on the east coast of Scotland while part of Convoy EN-91. |
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| | #43 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,028
![]() ![]() | SWISS NEUTRALITY On a bombing raid on German military installations near the German/Swiss border on April 1, 1944, a force of 23 B-24 bombers from the USAF 392nd Bombardment Group, on its 59th mission, inadvertently entered Swiss air-space and owing to a navigational error mistakenly bombed the Swiss town of Schaffhausen. Fifty Swiss civilians were killed. The real target was to have been the chemical works at Ludwigshafen, 120 miles away. In 1949, the US agreed to pay $64 million in compensation. This was an attempt to secure Switzerland as an ally in the 'Cold War'. The greedy Swiss demanded that interest be paid on the $64 million, claiming that the damaged property had not been able to earn any money since the bombing. This demand was rejected. The British Royal Air Force also flouted Swiss neutrality a couple of times and attempted to bomb a ball-bearing factory in Basel suspected of producing ball bearings for the German Army but both times the bombs missed the target. During the war a total of 167 American bombers and 12 British bombers made emergency landings in Switzerland. Severely damaged in combat over Germany and unable to return to their bases in England their only alternative was to head for neutral Switzerland. In one day, on March 18, 1944, no less than eleven American bombers made emergency landings at the Dubendorf airfield. The crews were interned by the Swiss authorities in camps at Adelboden, Grippen, Les Diablerets and in the notorious punishment camp at Wauwilermoos (for escapees). They were supposed to be treated like POW's under the rules of war but in many cases living conditions were little better than German concentration camps. In all, around 1,500 American servicemen were interned in neutral Switzerland.
__________________ Spidge, ![]() ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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| | #44 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,028
![]() ![]() | Only U-Boat Captain/crew to be charged as a war criminal! What is your opinion. The sentences were confirmed up the line, with the last confirmation of them made by Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery on November 12, 1945. On November 30, 1945, a cold gray morning in Hamburg, Heinz Eck, August Hoffmann and Walter Weispfennig rose before dawn and put on their Kriegsmarine uniforms for the last time. The condemned men were marched across the Altona Prison exercise yard and down a tree-lined path to the prison firing range. Ahead of them were three posts side-by-side, all uniform in height. The prisoners were tied to the posts according to standard field regulations in such a way that after they were shot, the only visible changes in body positions would be a slight sagging at the knees and heads slumped forward. The officer in charge of the firing squad and his sergeant inspected the bindings and the latter pulled a hood over each man's head. At 8:40 a.m., all three were executed. Read the story here. From: http://uboat.net/articles/index.html?article=18&page=2 Chapter One Left: Heinz-Wilhelm Eck as a cadet of Crew 1934. Kapitänleutnant Heinz Eck of U-852 holds the distinction of being the only U- boat captain tried, convicted and executed for war crimes at the end of World War II. But was he really a war criminal? Both World Wars were fought against a backdrop of good versus evil. It did not matter which side you were on-yours was good and the enemy was evil; your soldiers heroes, enemy soldiers criminals. But the reality of both wars differed considerably from the rhetoric. After World War II, the Allies-still under the influence of their wartime rhetoric-conducted a series of showcase war crimes trials. Many of the Axis leaders convicted during those trials deserved to be punished. But others, notably soldiers whose conduct was no different than that of their Allied equivalents, were treated much more harshly than they deserved. Heinz Eck was one of them.
__________________ Spidge, ![]() ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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| | #45 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,028
![]() ![]() | New evidence tracks Japan's efforts to create atomic bomb Read the story here: http://vikingphoenix.com/public/Japa...5/jp-abomb.htm And here: http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/index.h.../447/4440.html German uranium destined for Japan? U-234 here: http://uboat.net/boats/u234.htm On May 19, 1945, a week after the Germans surrendered in World War II, the American Navy brought one of the biggest submarines of the Nazis, the U-234, into the harbour of Portmouth, New Hampshire, U.S. The U-boat had been captured before it could proceed on a secret mission to Japan slated for the end of March 1945. (447.4440) WISE-Amsterdam - Upon its arrival in the U.S., newspapers immediately reported on the unusual contents of the U-boat. There were French cognacs and 240 tonnes of weapon components for delivery to the Japanese ally. The most important part of the shipment, however, was 560 kg of uranium. As written on the U-boat manifest, the top-secret material was intended for the Japanese army. Was there really uranium on board? If so, what happened to it? Was it used for one of the two nuclear bombs dropped in Japan? Historians have not been able to determine conclusively. In the archives of Portsmouth, the records have been lost.
__________________ Spidge, ![]() ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm Last edited by spidge; 16-11-2006 at 11:27 AM. |
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| | #46 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Neverland
Posts: 5,564
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | THE LAST EXECUTION IN THE TOWER OF LONDON This historic even occurred on August 14, 1941. German spy, Josef Jakobs, was executed while seated tied to a chair, by an eight man firing squad from the Scots Guards. The white lint target patch placed over the area of his heart bore five bullet holes from the eight shots fired. Jakobs had parachuted into Britain on January 31, 1941, and broke his leg on landing. He lay all night in a field until his cries for help were heard next morning. He is buried in an unmarked grave in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery at Kensal Green, London. ( The chair on which Jacobs sat during his execution is now on display in the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds) |
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| | #47 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,028
![]() ![]() | Sydney Cotton - Australian MI6/RAF Photographer His inventions included: 1. the Sidcot suit 2. an upward firing gun mount for firing a Zeppelins from an aircraft 3. long range bombing techniques 4. rear facing guns to defend the back of his Sopwith 1½ Strutter WW1 fighter. In 1915, at the age of 21,he came to England and joined the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) as a pilot. After only 5 hours solo flying he was sent to the front line. It is an interesting aside that when, later in the war, the Red Barron, Von Richtoven, was shot down, he was wearing a British Sidcot Flying Suit as designed by Sydney Cotton. Read the BBC account here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/s...a2086553.shtml The two spitfire super marine aircraft that he requisitioned and fitted with cameras were apparently supplying the photos from France which convinced the British that the Sealion invasion was being dismantled. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...2/nplane12.xml
__________________ Spidge, ![]() ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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| | #48 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Neverland
Posts: 5,564
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) was an extraordinary system used for dispersing fog from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely. A flammable liquid was pumped along a system of pipes along both sides of the runway being released through outlets made every few yards. The vapours were lit from a series of burners, producing walls of flame. The heat produced lifted the fog. FIDO used huge quantities of fuel, as much as 100,000 gallons [125,000 US gallons, 450,000 litres] per hour. FIDO systems were used at many airbases in England during World War II, and have been used to bring commercial planes into fog-covered airports in the United States. The system was developed at the University of Birmingham department of chemical engineering during the Second World War. |
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| | #49 (permalink) | |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,028
![]() ![]() | Quote:
__________________ Spidge, ![]() ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm | |
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| | #50 (permalink) |
| Legendary Member ![]() Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,028
![]() ![]() | AIR-POWER JOKE The failure of the German Luftwaffe to appear over the D-day beaches caused the Wehrmacht soldiers to quip "If the plane in the sky is silver, it's American, if it's blue, it's British, if it's invisible, it's ours!"
__________________ Spidge, ![]() ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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