|
Post by Yan Taylor on Mar 28, 2012 6:39:49 GMT -6
Good morning Richard, I can just see in my mind’s eye a German Officer hanging a plumb line over side similar to old naval ships navigating through shallow water.
Thanks Ian.
|
|
|
Post by wild on Mar 28, 2012 7:51:17 GMT -6
Hi Ian Got your pm. Bye the bye probably the last balloon attack was by the Japanese on the US mainland. Regards
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Mar 28, 2012 8:23:50 GMT -6
yes I think you are right Richard.
|
|
|
Post by johnnyq on Apr 2, 2012 16:47:30 GMT -6
Odd my first post is on WW2.
I've read several books by or about German troops recently and, a few comments came to mind.
1. Von Lucks book is worth the time to read. He devoted a half page or so to Beckers work. Becker was using French tank chassis from the Hotchkiss plant to make SP guns and rocket launchers.
2. Two other books about SS units, Viking Panzers by Ewald Klapdor and Hitlers Vikings by Jonathan Trigg, are good overviews. Trigg has done several books on SS units.
3. Personally, I enjoy the "I was there" books. Good journal/diary books are: Eastern Inferno, Christine Alexander and Mason Kunze editors. The editors are grandchildren of journal keeper Hans Roth.
Panzer Soldier by Erich Hager.
The Good Soldier by Alfred Novotny
I really enjoyed Black Edelweiss by Johann Voss. Voss was SS. He wrote his book while a US POW but didn't publish until 2002.
4. I'm a bit less critical of the SS units now. The true SS battle divisions seem to have functioned much like regular army. Many of them joined to fight "world communism" The none combat units built up during the thirties appear to have committed most of the war crimes.
Johnny
|
|
|
Post by fred on Apr 3, 2012 19:08:30 GMT -6
I'm a bit less critical of the SS units now. The true SS battle divisions seem to have functioned much like regular army. Many of them joined to fight "world communism" I think you will find that as something of a general rule. We cannot trace atrocities back to every SS unit that fought and I am sure there were good men, good soldiers in that organization, as well as bad men in the German army. I know of things that happened in Vietnam no one ever read about in the papers... and while My Lai was the worst, some of the stories I could tell you would drain the color from your face. We'll let it at that. The differentiating factor, I believe, is that for the most part we, as a people, won't tolerate it. The Germans, as a people, did... regardless of the consequences. Maybe that's why when our men prayed to the same God as the German boys, our prayers were the ones answered. Best wishes, Fred.
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Apr 4, 2012 8:16:42 GMT -6
It’s ironic that the men who fought to defend Berlin and the Fuhrer in 1945 were in fact French, the 33rd SS Waffen Grenadier Division Charlemagne.
Ian.
|
|
|
Post by fred on Apr 4, 2012 18:29:37 GMT -6
... the men who fought to defend Berlin and the Fuhrer in 1945 were in fact French, the 33rd SS Waffen Grenadier Division Charlemagne. The French volunteer legion, Charlemagne ( Franzoesische No. 1), commanded by Brigadefuehrer Krukenberg, and not to be confused with the 33rd Waffen Kavalerie Division der SS ( Ungarische No. 3), comprised of Hungarians, a division that was never full, and eventually disbanded. Best wishes, Fred.
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Apr 5, 2012 9:26:26 GMT -6
Hi Fred, funny you should mention the Hungarians, I enjoy reading about the little known armies who fought along with Germany during WW2, everyone knows about the AFVs used by the U.S., U.K., USSR, France, Italy and Japan, but the Hungarians had a small armoured force of their own. Check out their main AFVs here. www.wio.ru/tank/hungary.htmAlong with Romania, Bulgaria, Sweden (neutral but still had fairly good army), Belgium and Holland, the Hungarian army is a wealth of knowledge, I find them much more interesting than the larger and better known forces in WW2. Ian.
|
|
|
Post by montrose on Jan 19, 2015 20:09:23 GMT -6
1.....Custer intentionally drew the Indians to him to save Reno. Your "nonsense," Dan, mirrors mine. That is an utterly ridiculous theory, unsupportable by any timing scenario, any account, any proof-- anecdotal, archaeological or otherwise. Only from dreamers. There is a beautifully written description of people like that, written by Fred Dustin about 76 years or so ago. I thought it so beautifully constructed, I copied it into my notes: “It is the fashion of unthinking people to be guided by their prejudices…. They worship the idols they have set up… they regard their popular heroes as gods, and at once decide offhand that all who differ with them are entirely and utterly wicked, hateful, and malicious. Persons of this type may be convinced against their wills of the wrongness of their opinions, but they will still go on and add new defenses, new excuses, new apologies, all equally untenable with their previous arguments, and we, naturally, come to the conclusion that time is wasted on such….” Agree, as well. Robert Carter-- 4th Cavalry-- was an ass, and you are probably right about his hanging around the "O Club." If people who believe such nonsense would only take the time and make the effort to figure out which Indians were where and at what time, they would see-- quite clearly-- that the Indians who cleaned George's clock needed no help from up-river. Hope you are feeling OK, my boy. I miss our talks! Best wishes, Fred. Interesting how some theories never die, no matter how ridiculous.
|
|