'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 12, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

"Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945" - On one of the earlier raids on Hong Kong harbour, P-40 pilots tried to dive-bomb some Japanese shipping, the results weren't great. According to an allied spy in Hong Kong:

"The operative confessed that he was not even sure what the intended targets of the dive-bombers had been, since the bombs had all detonated in the harbor, leaving the waters strewn with a sheen of dead fish. 'I heard that the boat people want more of these raids!' the operative reported, proving that the BAAG had managed to keep its sense of humor despite the dire situation in Hong Kong."

British Army Aid Group (BAAG):
https://gwulo.com/baag

Nice review Rowan, thanks for sharing with the group.

happy wrote: "I'm currently reading a tell of the aerial supply of China from India - flying the "Hump"

"

I hope it's a good account Happy, keep us all posted!

"Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945" - The author provided some details on how rugged the P-40 fighter was:

"In addition to the nose armor, a steel plate mounted behind the cockpit shielded the pilot. More than one P-40 pilot with a Zero on his tail had the rivets of this plate blasted into his back when 20 mm cannon shells exploded against the steel armor, but such wounds could be survived, and the bloodied pilots landed their ships safely. One AVG P-40B wobbled back to base with sixty-six bullet holes, including five i the pilot, who escaped a fatal wound courtesy of his armor plating. Some P-40 pilots even managed to safely land their mangled ships after head-on collisions with enemy fighters, which almost always failed to survive the impact. P-40s sometimes collided with other obstacles as well - one Shark pilot flyng just above the deck in heavy rain ran into some telephone lines strung across a river and returned to base with 1,200 feet f phone cable trailing behind his aircraft. Another pilot hist a high-tension line during a strafing run, lassoed himself with 200 feet of wire, and still managed to fly home to make a normal landing. The rugged construction of the P-40 meant that ground crews could repair badly mangled planes and send them back into the air along with the bandaged-up pilots."

Curtiss P-40:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss...

I'm currently reading; "Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945" by Steven K. Bailey. In the second chapter of the book which covers aspects of the American aerial supply effort over the Hump, the author mentions the Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) fighter squadrons based at Lashio and Myitkyina in northern Burma:

"The Ki-43 pilots tasked with intercepting American transports referred to their missions as tsujigiri which translates somewhat roughly as 'street murder' or 'street ambush'. Transports caught by a tsujigiri fighter sweep had few options. Though solidly built, the slow-flying C-47s were extremely vulnerable and carried no defensive armament other than small arms. On one occasion Lieutenant Colonel Haynes and his crew chief fired .45-caliber Thompson submachine guns out the windows at an attacking fighter bent on some street murder. Fortunately, the pilot of the C-47 ended this unequal duel by diving down to treetop level, where the fighter broke off the attack for reasons that remained unclear but likely had nothing to do with the Tommy guns."

Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945 by Steven K. Bailey

Heading over to my local cafe for an afternoon coffee and to start reading this book; "Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945" by Steven K. Bailey.

Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945 by Steven K. Bailey

Excellent present Simon! I purchased two volumes from the series a few years back: "France and Belgium 1915" book 1 and 2. I am yet to read them but maybe one day soon:)

Jerome wrote: "Another:

by James H. Hallas
Description:
In this sequel to his epic Saipan, James Hallas tells the dra..."

I've enjoyed this author's books so this new title will most likely be a future purchase.

His book on Hamburg was pretty good so I will have to keep any eyes out for this new book in 2025.

Jonny wrote: "I'll be interested to hear what you think Manray.... I started it yesterday.

"

I hope you enjoy it as well Jonny, keep us all posted!

Manray9 wrote: "I've started --

War In Italy, 1943-1945: A Brutal Story by Richard Lamb."

I hope you enjoy the book MR9!

Great bunch of books there Perato! I really hope you enjoy the Canadian books.

fourtriplezed wrote: "My review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Great review 4ZZZ, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the rest of the group.

"Monte Cassino January–May 1944: The Legend of the Green Devils" - The author mentioned the Polish celebrity, Wojtek the soldier bear, at Monte Cassino. There are now two statues honouring this amazing bear:

https://ewh.org.uk/wojtek-the-bear/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/w...

Hi Perato, I have read that series of books and found them to be quite good. I had some issues with his book on the Sicily campaign, for some reason I just couldn't get into it. But I found his books on the mainland campaign quite engaging.

You can preview his books and read a number of pages if you like to see if it suits you:

https://www.google.com.au/books/editi...

https://www.google.com.au/books/editi...

https://www.google.com.au/books/editi...

Hi Perato, I have read that series of books and found them to be quite good. I had some issues with his book on the Sicily campaign, for some reason I just couldn't get into it. But I found his books on the mainland campaign quite engaging.

You can preview his books and read a number of pages if you like to see if it suits you:

https://www.google.com.au/books/editi...

https://www.google.com.au/books/editi...

https://www.google.com.au/books/editi...

Another very engaging post 4ZZZ! I really liked the final comment; "It was curious that a battle that had opened with the majesty of five hundred bombers depended for its final action on just one pigeon."

"Monte Cassino January–May 1944: The Legend of the Green Devils" - The author provides a chapter on the atrocities committed by the liberators, mainly the colonial troops of the French Expeditionary Corps. In no way do I condone these actions, but I think what is missing from this argument about how beastly these colonial troops were to the Italians is some context.

These colonial troops were from neighbour areas and regions that had witnessed Italy's forcible colonisation during the late 1890's and early 1900's with numerous atrocities and massacres committed against native populations, including the use of mustard gas, torture, sexual exploitation and rape:

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/30/...

fourtriplezed wrote: "The codename for the third battle of Cassino was called Bradman.

Majdalany writes "The staff officer who chose an Australian name to herald a New Zealand enterprise no doubt acted on the usual En..."

Great post 4ZZZ - I'm not much of a cricket fan but that was funny!

Another good post 4ZZZ. My book did discuss Tuker and General Juin (French Expeditionary Corps), idea of cutting off Cassino by moving their experienced mountain troops around the Monastery through the less defended German positions, but Clark did not want a bar of it and seemed set on the direct frontal assault. It's a shame that Tuker and Juin did not get their way, many lives would have been spared during this campaign and maybe the Monastery would never have needed to be bombed.