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

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

Great post MR9 - I found this bit of information very interesting:

"The first anti-Jewish law was enacted in October 1940. Kochanski points out:

The National Revolution was French by design and implementation. In no way was it imposed on France by the Germans, nor were the more controversial aspects of it, such as the anti-semitic laws, demanded by the Germans."

Lawrence Myers wrote: "A golden oldie: Max Hastings "Overlord".
Last time I read it was about 25 years ago."

A classic account indeed!

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - Another Victoria Cross that was awarded in the final weeks of the European War; Edward Thomas Chapman VC. His citation reads:

"On 2nd April, 1945, a Company of the Monmouthshire Regiment crossed the Dortmund-Ems canal and was ordered to assault the ridge of the Teutoberger Wald, which dominates the surrounding country. This ridge is steep, thickly wooded and is ideal defensive country. It was, moreover, defended by a battalion of German officer cadets and their instructors, all of them picked men and fanatical Nazis.

Corporal Chapman was advancing with his section in single file along a narrow track, when the enemy suddenly opened fire with machine guns at short range, inflicting heavy casualties and causing some confusion. Corporal Chapman immediately ordered his section to take cover and, seizing the Bren gun, he advanced alone, firing the gun from his hip, and mowed down the enemy at point blank range, forcing them to retire in disorder.

At this point, however, his Company was ordered to withdraw but Corporal Chapman and his section were still left in their advanced position, as the order could not be got forward to them.

The enemy then began to close up to Corporal Chapman and his isolated section and, under cover of intense machine gun fire, they made determined charges with the bayonet. Corporal Chapman again rose with his Bren gun to meet the assaults and on each occasion halted their advance.

He had now nearly run out of ammunition. Shouting to his section for more bandoliers, he dropped into a fold in the ground and covered those bringing up the ammunition by lying on his back and firing the Bren gun over his shoulder. A party of Germans made every effort to eliminate him with grenades, but with reloaded magazine he closed with them and once again drove the enemy back with considerable casualties. During the withdrawal of his Company, the Company Commander had been severely wounded and left lying in the open a short distance from Corporal Chapman. Satisfied that his section was now secure, at any rate for the moment, he went out alone under withering fire and carried his Company Commander for 50 yards to comparative safety. On the way a sniper hit the officer again, wounding Corporal Chapman in the hip and, when he reached our lines, it was discovered that the officer had been killed.

In spite of his wound, Corporal Chapman refused to be evacuated and went back to his Company until the position was fully restored two hours later.

Throughout the action Corporal Chapman displayed outstanding gallantry and superb courage. Single-handed he repulsed the attacks of well-led, determined troops and gave his battalion time to reorganise on a vital piece of ground overlooking the only bridge across the canal. His magnificent bravery played a very large part in the capture of this vital ridge and in the successful development of subsequent operations."

http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/bbcha...

http://www.vconline.org.uk/edward-t-c...

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - The author also mentioned the extraordinary actions of Guardsman Eddie Charlton, who was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross, posthumously. It would be the final Victoria Cross of the European War to be awarded. Apparently, eyewitness accounts supporting the citation included that of Leutnant Hans-Jurgen von Bulow, who commanded the German assault that led to this award.

Guardsman Eddie Charlton VC:
http://www.vconline.org.uk/edward-c-c...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - The author mentioned this story in regard to the bombing of Bremen:

"Among the dozens of formations humbling Bremen was 305 (Polish) Squadron, flying Wellingtons under RAF command, who regularly took their canine mascot Ciapek ('Spotty') on missions. He was the only dog in the world who could claim to have also bombed Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Stettin."

This is all I could find on Ciapek:

https://twitter.com/sallyacb275/statu...

https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com...

Matt Collard wrote: "

Picked up James Holland's Brothers in Arms the other day and I'm about halfway through it right..."

Great to hear that you are enjoying "Brothers in Arms". That is the only James Holland book that I am yet to read, and I am looking forward to doing so sometime soon.

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - More hard fighting for the Canadians in taking the town of Groningen with a bit of a light side:

"It took good infantry-armour drills to clear Groningen, house by house, though the owners were usually in residence, having nowhere else to go. Private Frank Holm of 'B' Company, Calgary Highlanders (5 Brigade), watched a Bren gunner set up his weapon on an antique table while firing from a bay window. 'The lady of the house, seeing him in the process of ruining her little table, handed him a cushion which she asked him to put under the legs of the gun, then handed him a cup of coffee as he continued to fire down the street'."

The Battle for Groningen:
https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/hist...

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - The Canadians were involved in some fierce fighting to take Zutphen:

"On the left, 3rd Canadian Division ran into a Fallschirmjager training battalion made up of teenagers, resulting in a hard fight to take Zutphen, but by 15 April, they had reached Leeuwarden, ninety miles north-east, and only ten miles from the North Sea. 'Canadian soldiers rate the boyish defenders of Zutphen among the most fanatical troops they have encountered.' wrote Douglas Amaron, a Canadian Free Press correspondent who had earlier covered the Canuck's war in Italy. 'The SS had some sense, but these Hitler Youths were absolutely mad. Nazis to the core'."

The Battle for Zutphen:
https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/hist...

Colour footage of the liberation of Zutphen in 1945:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWsQ5...

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - Here is another great story from the book, for all the fans of the movie, The Longest Day:

"The struggle paused at 23:00 for the night, until both sides renewed the fighting at 06:30 on 18 April. The clash continued through the city and down to the river, when at 12:45 the Germans blew their last span over the Elbe. Magdeburg had fallen to McLain's XIX Corps. Combat cameramen pictured a smiling Generalleutnant Kurt Dittmar surrendering the ruins of his hometown, together with his aide, Major Werner Pluskat. The latter's military career was notable from his previous posting to an artillery regiment in Normandy. Stationed in a bunker overlooking Omaha beach on the eve of D-Day, Pluskat was the first recorded Wehrmacht officer to spot the Allied invasion fleet (which won his character a significant moment in the D-Day movie The Longest Day). He was one of the very few to have reached the Elbe alive, with twenty days left before the war's end."

Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West by Peter Caddick-Adams

I have to admit that I have copies of both books MR9 but as of yet unread. I will be very keen to hear your thoughts on "Resistance". Keep us all posted.

Manray9 wrote: "From Paul Casdorph's Let the Good Times Roll: Life at Home in America During World War II.

The war didn’t bring much excitement to most towns in the middle of the North American con..."

That was a good story MR9! I especially liked this bit; Pastor Dobbs of the church claimed things may improve “If one-fourth of the people who came to see the hole made by the bomb would only come to church.”

Manray9 wrote: "From Let the Good Times Roll: Life at Home in America During World War II by Paul Casdorph.

The government orchestrated a number of initiatives to generate voluntary public support ..."

Pretty amazing result MR9: "Victory Gardens produced 8.0 million tons of food in 1943 from 20,000,000 individual gardens."

Same here Mike!

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - Here is a great story from the book:

" ... At the same time, First Army gained Matthew Ridgeway's XVIII Airborne Corps, containing Bryant E. Moore's 8th Infantry Division, veterans since Normandy, and Edwin P. Parker's 78th, which had arrived just before the Ardennes offensive. With the later was Melvin Kaminsky, a young corporal in an engineer combat battalion assigned to the 78th. One of his tasks was to defuse landmines, but as he reminisced, 'You thought about how you were going to stay warm each night, how you were going to get from one hedgerow to another without some German sniper taking you out. You didn't worry about tomorrow. I was a Combat Engineer. Isn't that ridiculous? The two things I hate most in the world are combat and engineering.' The eighteen-year-old corporal is better known by his later stage name, Mel Brooks."

Mel Brooks in WW2:
https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-...

Jonny wrote: "September's looking like a good month....

Cassino '44: From Invasion to the Fall of Rome"

Indeed Jonny!

Now that's a good question Mike! I've not read about this story before so it's interesting how the author dug up that information. I did a quick search on the internet and come up with this web page which has some pic's of the flag in question:

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/foru...

"Fire and Steel: The End of World War Two in the West" - I liked this story about when Schweinfurt was captured by American ground forces on 11 April 1945:

"The Rainbow's commander, Harry J. Collins, directed that one captured Nazi flag be sent to the Eighth Air Force's 305th Bomb Group for its catastrophic losses in various raids on Schweinfurt. Another went to the 42nd Bomb Wing of the Ninth Air Force, for their help in softening up the city on 10 April."

The Schweinfurt Missions:
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/remem...

https://www.historynet.com/world-war-...

That was a very fascinating post MR9. I found the details about the wartime boom and the petrol rationing quite interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post those details.

Jonny wrote: "Sad to hear of the passing of Johnny Johnson, last of the Chastise Dambusters.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslo..."

Very sad news indeed! Thanks for posting that link Jonny.

KOMET wrote: "Here's a book I highly recommend ---

Patton's War: An American General's Combat Leadership, Volume 2: August–December 1944 by Kevin M. Hymel

[bookcover:Patton's Wa..."

I have a copy of the first volume but have not managed to read it yet.