Resource Sites for Members

[Manray9]

I stumbled across this website which may be of interest to group members who are, like me, fascinated by historic firearms. This link is to the video on the Lewis Gun, but many WW II weapons are included on the site (check the column on the left). I would love to shoot a Lewis Gun.

http://www.forgottenweapons.com/light...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Great link Manray9, thanks for sharing.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

I appreciate the warning on the site about time...nice link Manray9.

[carl]

The airplane type w/the round ammo canister is certainly iconic. No Allied biplane is complete without one. Gee MR to you have the premium membership?

[Manray9]

carl wrote: "The airplane type w/the round ammo canister is certainly iconic. No Allied biplane is complete without one. Gee MR to you have the premium membership?"

No, I just look at the free stuff.

[Steve]

For anyone interested in soldier slang, this general Slate article (not really a site) includes links to some good period sources:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/...

It reminds me of all the research I did for Under False Flags: A Novel (pardon the plug). Not overdoing it was tough! One glossary I remember consulting was: FUBAR F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition

[Manray9]

Steve wrote: "For anyone interested in soldier slang, this general Slate article (not really a site) includes links to some good period sources:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/......"

FUBAR was still used often in my Navy days. So was BOHICA.

[happy]

I found this link on RealClearPolitics and thought it might be of interest to some here

The five greatest Air Battles in History

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/f...

A couple I would say are up a little high (view spoiler)[Falklands, Mig Alley? (hide spoiler)], but I thought it was well thought out

[Manray9]

happy wrote: "I found this link on RealClearPolitics and thought it might be of interest to some here

The five greatest Air Battles in History

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/f......"

I agree with you, Happy.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Concur happy.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Good link and interesting article, thanks for sharing Happy.

[happy]

In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, an article from the USATODAY about the last surviving USS Arizona crew members

http://www.azcentral.com/story/life/a...

[A.L.]

happy wrote: "In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, an article from the USATODAY about the last surviving USS Arizona crew members

http://www.azcentral.com/story/life/a......"

Nice article. Thanks, Happy!

[Bev]

Veteran's Affairs Canada website has some wonderful learning tools for educators or access to downloadable videos at no charge. The link to the video's is:
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembr...

For the Second World War there are videos about:
Canada Remembers: Holland (22 min. 14 sec.)
Sacrifice, Achievement and Legacy: Canadians and the Second World War 1939-1945 [22 min. 09 sec.)
Canada Remembers the Far East (24 min. 24 sec.)

There are also some shorter titles under the heading of "Heroes Remember Presents"

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Thanks for that link Bev, a very useful resource site for members.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Bev wrote: "Veteran's Affairs Canada website has some wonderful learning tools for educators or access to downloadable videos at no charge. The link to the video's is:
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembr......"

Thanks Bev - ones for me to watch :) By the way if you use the search in the top right corner of the group's pages and enter Canada you'll find we mention it and you guys a lot.

[Bev]

Thanks Geevee. I'll look for that. It sounds like a great feature.

[Steve]

A couple videos to mention:

Rare footage of US MPs executing German commandos caught impersonating American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge (warning: graphic):

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/656...

Haunting color footage of destroyed Munich in May 1945:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idiJe...

Both of which play a role in my novels, by the way—pardon the plug.

Overall, Critical Past is a great resource for raw video from the period:

http://www.criticalpast.com

[Manray9]

I came across this article by Geoffrey Wheatcroft linked from RealClearHistory.com. It's a reprint from 2005 Boston Globe article. He punctures a few balloons here. I liked: "The best description of how Hitler was defeated was Stalin’s. The old monster said that England provided the time, America provided the money, and Russia provided the blood." I haven't read that one before. It's been my experience that most Russians don't know about or refuse to acknowledge the Molotov-Ribbentrop period (Aug. 1939-June 1941).

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/idea...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

That's a great quote from Stalin, thanks for the link Manray9.

[cameron]

http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?...

Anyone ever read about this fake Nazi invasion map? I never read a word until today.

[Bev]

cameron wrote: "http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?...

Anyone ever read about this fake Nazi invasion map? I never read a word until today."

First I ever heard of it.

[Jeff]

Bev wrote: "cameron wrote: "http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?...

Anyone ever read about this fake Nazi invasion map? I never read a word until today."

First I ever heard of it."

If I remember correctly, Time or Life magazine published an article showing how Germany and Japan would invade the United States.

[Dj]

So I read something about this, in the book where a US Undersecretary was a spy for the Russians and was trying to get the US involved in the war. Seemed a little far fetched then. Still does. But hey, what can you do?

[Chin Joo]

I've taken some pictures of the maps used by the Malayan Command during the Malayan Campaign. You can see them here. Knowing how small Singapore is, it must have been quite a desperate fight, especially having seen the last map.

The originals are in the National Archives in the UK.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Great link Chin Joo, thanks for posting the details.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Great maps, thanks!

[Manray9]

Chin Joo wrote: "I've taken some pictures of the maps used by the Malayan Command during the Malayan Campaign. You can see them here. Knowing how small Singapore is, it must have been quite a desperate fight, espec..."


Thanks, Chin Joo. Excellent maps!

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Chin Joo wrote: "I've taken some pictures of the maps used by the Malayan Command during the Malayan Campaign. You can see them here. Knowing how small Singapore is, it must have been quite a desperate fight, espec..."

Thanks Chin Joo, as the other guys have said great maps.

[Eric]

This link will take you to pictures of a 1943 RAAF Armourers Manual:


http://imgur.com/a/TkP7f

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Great link Eric, thanks for sharing.

[Alan]

http://histru.bournemouth.ac.uk/CHiDE...

Transcript of a recording by Lieutenant Colonel R G Wells, on the construction of radio equipment whilst in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp after the fall of Singapore.

http://bizarrelabs.com/foxhole.htm
Foxhole radios, are radios that require no battery & which allowed service men & even prisoners of war to utilise available materials to build a working radio receiver.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Thanks for these links Alan, I am sure members will find these interesting.

[Alan]

We built a copy of the Colditz radio when my daughters were younger. The only issue was getting a lump of Coke.
The Razor blades are still available from companies who supply crystal radio bits & pieces.

[Manray9]

I found this to be an interesting article on Kaname Harada, who claims to be the last living Zero pilot of WW II. He is a man who earned an understanding of the value of peace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/wor...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Great story Manray9, thanks for the link.

[Eric]

Very interesting. Thank you Manray9.


Reminded me of this I found recently. I don't know if this has been posted before but this link will get you to a lecture delivered by Eugene Sledge titled "The Costs of War" (May 1994). He wrote "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa".

http://youtu.be/WCIJfM_CgWo

[Alan]

I thought some of you may be interested in this. It is a transcript of a recording by Lieutenant Colonel R G Wells, on the construction of radio equipment whilst in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp after the fall of Singapore.

http://histru.bournemouth.ac.uk/CHiDE...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Interesting link Alan, thanks for the details.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I just received my copy of this new release book; Stalingrad by Jochen Hellbeck. The author runs this web site on Stalingrad which may interest a few members:

http://facingstalingrad.com/

by Jochen Hellbeck

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "The author runs this web site on Stalingrad which may interest a few members:

http://facingstalingrad.com/

[bookco..."

Fascinating website AR. I love the "Blind Swap" in the interview of Anatoly Grigoryevich Merezhko .

[happy]

Thnx AR - fascinating Website

[Bev]

I came across a link to an online copy of a book about the Royal Canadian Medical Corps in WW2. It looks quite interesting.

http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-d...

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Thanks for this link Bev. I have collected the allied official histories (UK, US, NZ, Australia, India, South Africa and Canada) for a while now. They are multi-subject and multi volume sets and are always good on maps and detail. This is one I don't have (medical ones can be scarce) but if it is like the other nations and the Canadian volumes I have it'll be a good one to read. appreciate the link.

[Robert]

Denny Hair, a retired Houston homicide detective and professional and extremely talented Gorge S. Patton impersonator, has done a remarkable job of researching Patton and the U.S. Third Army's role in the war in Europe. He has just launched a fascinating Web site:

http://pattonthirdarmy.com/pattonbook...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Interesting link Robert, thanks for posting the details.

[carl]

Robert wrote: "Denny Hair, a retired Houston homicide detective and professional and extremely talented Gorge S. Patton impersonator, has done a remarkable job of researching Patton and the U.S. Third Army's role..."

A fun fellow who provides a friendly swagger to his Patton. He was 'performing' at last years Camp Mabry-Austin (Texas 36th Infantry home) Memorial Day event last year and I imagine he'll be here this year.

[Manray9]

Here is a column from today's The Washington Post about the U.S. in WW II. The writer is the Post's economics correspondent, Robert J. Samuelson. I liked:

...the triumph in World War II was a collective, democratic and unifying event, the likes of which we never experienced before... The triumph was not the property of any group, region or class; the victory was national. It belonged to everyone. One of the war’s great emotional appeals, I think, is this emphasis on communal responsibility, obligation and reward.

I think the proper word for that "communal responsibility" is patriotism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion...

[Shawn]

"Communal responsibility" is the sort of oxymoron that defined Axis powers. There's no surprise to see Samuelson advancing such an obscene notion.

Not that he's wrong about the victory of such notions. Centralized power reached its zenith in the victors, especially the United States, shortly after the war.

This being Goodreads and not my other blog, I'll refer to a couple literary examples. In Ian Fleming's Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever post-war state control of behind-the-scenes institutions is laid out quite matter-of-factly, as if it was perfectly normal.
Goldfinger
Diamonds Are Forever

[Manray9]

Shawn wrote: ""Communal responsibility" is the sort of oxymoron that defined Axis powers. There's no surprise to see Samuelson advancing such an obscene notion.

Not that he's wrong about the victory of such not..."

I gather you don't see "communal responsibility" as a manifestation of patriotism and an example of civic virtue? What else is it? How do societies achieve successes, such as victory in WW II, if they don't work together for a common goal? It's not just a post-war notion. Aristotle's Politics supports the concept as did the Romans. You may disagree with Samuelson, but it's unfair to describe his view as "obscene."