A British scientific intelligence report of 1946 noted that of the thelve thousand secret patents and further twenty-five thousand-plus secret patent applications in the Berlin office, nearly all had been destroyed by the Germans as the war ended.

"Heisenberg and the nazi atomic bomb project" by Paul Lawrence Rose

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Junkers Ju 88

Ju 88R-1 defection?!

Werknummer 360043, PJ876 was reportedly flown by a defector (or an agent of the Secret Service) from Norway to RAF Dyce, Aberdeen, on the 9th May 1943. Two of the three man crew defected, much to the consternation of the third man, the radio operator. The pilot had arranged this defection with the British Secret Service, which wanted to acquire information about German night-fighter radar technology. The aircraft had been in service with 10./NJG 3 in Norway and was registered as D5+EV. Reporting a fake engine fire to his German radio station the pilot landed at Dyce under Spitfire protection. Believing that the plane was lost in the sea the Germans declared it lost. One month later they learned by a radio transmission from the BBC what really had happened. PJ876 was consequently tested at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. At this time RAF bomber losses were exceptionally high due to night-fighter interceptions. Detailed analysis of 360043 brand new FuG 202 Lichtenstein radar revealed that the night-fighter was using the signals from Monica (a cm radar device fitted to a bomber to give early warning of an impending night-fighter attack) to “home in” on the bomber itself. The Germans had developed the technology to receive cm wavelength radar signals but not the technology to generate them using a magnetron. PJ876 was also used to evaluate the impact of “Window” (aluminium stripes) on German radar. From 1949 PJ876 was placed in storage at RAF St Athan but in 1976 it was restored to Luftwaffe livery and displayed at Hendon.

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Who said witches do not exist...

http://timelines.ws/20thcent/1944.HTML

1944 Jan 19, In England Helen Duncan (1896-1956), a Scottish spiritualist in Portsmouth, was arrested for informing an audience of the sinking of two British warships long before the news was officially made public. She was found guilty of witchcraft and jailed for nine months. When re-elected in 1951, Churchill repealed the 1735 witchcraft act but Duncan's conviction was never quashed. In 2007 her granddaughter launched a fresh campaign to gain a posthumous pardon for Britain's last convicted witch.

BBC - History - Scottish History

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Wellington MK 1A

From Wellington in action Squadron/Signal publications

" The battle of Heligoland Bight, or the Massacre of Heligoland Bight, depending on one´s point of view, was traumatic for Bomber Command, pointing up almost every defect in both equipment and tactics. The limited traverse of the nose gun turrets to less than ninety degrees when combined with the absence of beam weapons permitted the Luftwaffe fighters to attack almost with impunity from above at the midship angle. The fighter´s angle of attack often did not permit the Wellington gunners to even sight their adversaries. Even when the gun turrets could be brought to bear on the enemy the superior range and hitting power of the heavier weapons of the German fighters put the bombers at a tremendous disadvantage. Furthermore, the ventral turret of the Wellington slowed it down almost fifteen mph, just when maximum speed was of paramount importance."

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Speer later calculated that in his ministerial years he had nearly one hundred personal conferences with Hitler, at which 2,221 individual items on the agenda were discussed or settled, many of them "of minimal importance."

Speer- The Final Verdict by Joachim Fest

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Four Chaplains - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Four Chaplains were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the USAT Dorchester during World War II.

The chaplains, who all held the rank of lieutenant, were the Methodist Reverend George L. Fox, the Jewish rabbi Alexander D. Goode, the Roman Catholic Priest John P. Washington and the Reformed Church in America Reverend Clark V. Poling. The four chaplains were sailing on then USAT Dorchester troop transport on February 3, 1943 when the vessel was torpedoed by the Kriegsmarine's U-223. As the vessel sank, the four chaplains calmed the frightened soldiers and sailors, aided in the evacuation of the ship, and helped guide wounded men to safety. The chaplains also gave up their own life belts.

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The SS runes sign was developed by SS-Sturmfuhrer Walter Heck in 1931. He was paid 2.50 reichsmarks for the creation...

Sig Rune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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It seems Hitler still held onto his normal politics even with Speer. For instance Speer did not get a job you thought was of very high importance for Hitler.

"Starting from 1941, after fellow architect Roderich Fick fell out of political favor, Giesler was entrusted by Hitler with the reorganization of the entire city of Linz."

Hermann Giesler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Speer must have been amazed by this "defeat"....

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Not wanting to intrude on the thread, but it seemed the right category for this:

While looking for information and a picture for my book, I found information that was apparently found in the Canadian archives about using parachute bombs attached to Barrage balloons in England.

"The following document was located among military correspondence and files at the Directorate of History for the Department of National Defence, in Ottawa, Canada. The Directorate of History forms part of the National Archives of Canada, and is gratefully acknowledged for having supplied permission to reproduce these records. They were attached to correspondence pertaining to the defense of the Canadian Pacific Coast by proposed balloon barrages. The file location at the Directorate of History is 322.009(D657). Most of the files pertaining to balloons in WWII were declassified in the mid-to-late 1980s.

This is the first documentation that has surfaced for this researcher regarding "free" balloon barrages. The concept is similar to tethered barrage balloons, including the deployment of a parachute/bomb system which was actuated by an aircraft striking the trailing steel cable. Whereas only some tethered barrage balloon systems utilized a detaching cable parachute/bomb system, it seems that all balloons within the "free" barrage utilized such a bomb system."

MS1739 Operation ALBINO: Free balloon barrage

Michelle

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

Looks like a good enough spot for it, Michelle.

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Best Regards,
JW

Thought this would be a good place to post this.

A certain Kurt Knispel "with 168 acknowledged tank kills, was by far the most successful tank soldier of the Second World War. He became the only non-commissioned officer of the German tank arm to be named in the Wehrmacht communique.
He was never awarded the Knights Cross although he was reccommended four times."

From "Panzer Aces II."

And M. Wittman gets whole books written about him.

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General major Johannes Streich

He fell out with Rommel on two occasions, first in France 1940 in the rush to the coast, and then in Africa during the siege of Tobruk. Rommel criticised him, saying that he was far too concerned with the well-being of his troops, to which Streich replied :" I can think of no greater words of praise for a divisional commander."

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From Lesser Known Facts of WWII 1942

OPERATION 'PLUTO'
In May, 1942, the first prototype of Pluto (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) was tested across the River Medway and a month later across the Firth Of Clyde in Scotland. The first of these 75 mm diameter pipes was laid to France on August 12, 1944, under the English Channel via the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg, France, a distance of 130 kilometres. In England, fuel for these pipes was pumped through a 1,600 kilometre network of pipelines from the ports of Liverpool and Bristol. Operation 'Pluto' was considered one of the greatest engineering feats in the history of war. As the Allied Armies advanced into Germany, 17 other pipelines were laid from Dungeness to the Pas-de-Calais and eventually reached as far as the River Rhine. In January, 1945, 300 tons of gasoline were pumped to France and in March this had reached 3,000 tons. By the end of the war a total of over 781 million litres had been supplied to the war machines of the Allied armies of liberation.

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

From Lesser Known Facts of WWII 1942

DISASTER DURING 'OPERATION TIGER' (April 23-30, 1944)
In preparation for the D-Day landings on Utah beach, the US Forces were conducting a series of exercises on a stretch of beach called Slapton Sands, near Plymouth. In an area comprising around 30,000 acres a total of 3,000 people (750 families) 180 farms with livestock were evacuated. This enormous task had to be completed in six weeks.
During the actual exercise, while manoeuvring for position in Lyme Bay on the night of April 27 the landing ships were attacked by nine German motor torpedo boats, E-boats, from Cherbourg in France. Two of the landing craft, LST 507 and LST 531 were sunk and others damaged. On board the two landing ships the casualties were severe, 638 men killed (197 sailors and 441 soldiers) and hundreds injured. This was more than ten times greater than the casualties sustained in the real assault on Utah Beach on June 6 (43 Americans killed, 63 wounded). Altogether, including casualties from other ships and those killed by friendly fire on shore, a total of 946 Americans gave their lives during Operation Tiger. News of this disaster was kept a closely guarded secret for many months. For the full tragic story go to http://members.lycos.co.uk/worldwartwo/slapton.html.

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

From Lesser Known Facts of WWII 1942

MILLION-TO-ONE
Around midnight on June 5, 1944, Private C. Hillman, of Manchester, Connecticut, serving with the US 101st Airborne Division, was winging his way to Normandy in a C-47 transport plane. Just before the jump, Private Hillman carried out a final inspection of his parachute. He was surprised to see that the chute had been packed by the Pioneer Parachute Company of Connecticut where his mother worked part time as an inspector. He was further surprised when he saw on the inspection tag, the initials of his own mother!

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

PIGEONS AT WAR
Thousands of carrier pigeons accompanied the troops to Normandy on D-day and brought back essential details to Allied Headquarters in a capsule tied to their legs. A special loft was erected at the secret code deciphering centre at Bletchley Park. Considered vermin by many, these pigeons, were first used as early as the year 1150 AD and played an important part in both world wars. News of Wellington's victory at Waterloo first came by pigeon post. Many of these birds were specially bred in Belgium prior to 1939. Often used as a distress signal from downed aircraft, a pigeon named 'Winkie' escaped from a bomber after coming down in the English Channel in 1943. It flew back 120 miles to its base at RAF Leuchers in Scotland in time for rescue boats to reach and save the crew of the stricken bomber. Winkie was awarded the Dickin Medal (the animal version of the Victoria Cross) the first pigeon to be awarded with the medallion. Many of these pigeons were dropped by specially designed parachutes to be picked up by members of the French resistance. They were soon on their way back to Britain with Important information. At this time the Germans were training Falcons to intercept the pigeons while in flight and many were killed this way. In all, thirty-two animal VCs were awarded to pigeons during WW11. Founded by Maria Dickin in 1943, the Dickin Medal was awarded to any animal, bird or dog, displaying conspicuous gallantry during war. Other Pigeons so awarded were, to use their code names, William of Orange, the hero of Arnhem, Mary of Exeter, Duke of Normandy and Paddy, to name but a few. Managed by the elite division MI-14, the office in charge of Pigeon operations, these pigeons were responsible for the saving of thousands of military lives.

The city of Colvi in Italy was occupied by British troops on October 18, 1943, at 10am, well ahead of schedule. The US Air Force was to bomb the city an hour later to help the British entry. Attempts by radio to cancel the raid failed. A pigeon, GI Joe, borrowed from the Americans at the nearby airfield to accompany the troops, was released with the important message to cancel the raid, tied to it's leg. It arrived just as the bombers were about to take off. It is estimated that around a thousand British soldiers could have died if the raid had proceeded. GI Joe was the only bird or animal in America to receive the Dickin Medal. It died on June 3, 1961, aged 18, and can be seen today, mounted, in the Historical Centre at Fort Monmonth, New Jersey.

Same source. Some of the items are so interesting and probably not mentioned in any of our reference books, that I just have to share.

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

HORSES

Horses have played a significant role in warfare since the 19th century BC when they were used in Chariot warfare. The last major use of these animals was in Poland when the Polish cavalry used them in a last-ditch attempt to defend their country against enemy tanks. The total number of horses captured by the Allies in France, Belgium and Holland amounted to 10,794. These animals were all disposed of to farmers, except those used for work at the Antwerp docks. In the German army a key element in the field of transport was horses. Non-motorized infantry divisions were allotted 4,800 horses. When the war began the German ground forces had well over half a million of these animals and at war's end a total of 2,700,000 horses had served in the war. This was twice the number used by Germany in the Great War of 1914-1918.

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

NITRO BLAST (October 20, 1944)
During the Allied assault on the Scheldt Estuary (Operation Switchback) the British 248 Armoured Assault Squadron of the Royal Engineers took up position in a field near the village of Ijzendijke. No. 3 troop was assigned the task of operating a mine-clearing device known as a Condor, a 300 foot length of canvas hose launched empty across a minefield and then pumped full of liquid nitro-glycerine which was then detonated, clearing a wide path through the minefield. While unloading the nitro-glycerine from three Canadian lorries, a tremendous explosion rocked the area sending shock waves that flattened everything in its path. Trees, farm buildings and military vehicles were set on fire or completely wrecked by the blast. The three lorries carrying the glycerine simply disappeared leaving three large craters on the site. This accidental explosion, the largest in North-west Europe during WW11, took the lives of 26 British and 15 Canadian soldiers and wounding 43 others. Fifty-three years later, in 1997, a memorial was unveiled on the site commemorating the victims. The ceremony was attended by over a hundred British and Canadian veterans.

Lesser Known Facts of WWII 1944, 1945

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."