While driving to Verdun, I saw a Road Sign saying : 380-MM Siegfried SKL 45 Max. Before posting the image I have done, I have to post some text about this particularly German Field Gun : in fact an Imperial Nary Gun made to be installed on a Destroyer or a large battle ship.
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May
31
2009
May
31
2009
My second stop was at a another German Field Gun beside a American 105-MM Howitzer on the road from Marnach to Hosigen (Luxembourg). These are pretty nice pieces of metal and one, the German, participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Another very nice place to makes photos.
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May
31
2009
Being called from the USA to help identify on a B-17 Crash Site in France and find the remains of one or two American World War Two’ Pilots (in this case, two Congressional Medal of Honor winers), my first stop on my way to Metz, was at a German 88 Gun in the city of Trois Vierges (Luxembourg). It’s a nice piece of metal which participated in the Battle of the Bulge and is also a great place to makes some nice photos.
If some of you experts in German Artillery would be so nice to identify this Gun, that would be really nice.
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May
26
2009
I have found this information online and because I receive this question sereval time a years I will put the answer online. The number of American Soldiers killed and injured in combat :
Revolutionary War : 25,324 killed 8,445 injured
Civil War : North – 3636,020 killed 281,104 injured
Civil War : South – 199,110 killed 137,102 injured
WW-I : 116,708 killed 204,002 injured
WWII : 408,306 killed 670,846 injured
Korean War : 54,246 killed 103,284 injured
Vietnam War : 58,219 killed 153,356 injured
Operation Desert Storm : 363 killed 357 injured
Iraq War : 4300 killed and growing 31,285 injured and growing
If you do not have to support the war, but please support the troops.
May
26
2009
I’ve got it !!! I was able to get the Video to CD and Flv machine working. You’ll have now about 30 or 40 (not sure) movies to see very soon on www.eucmh.com. Here is the first one and one of the better, US Army Signal Corps movie original, uncutt, Part 1 and Part 2, narated : Robert Taylor and starring (interviews) Gen Bruce C. Clark CO CCB/7AD, Gen der Panzertruppe Hasso von Manteuffel, Gen Siegfried Westphall, Col Dustin Nelson, Gen US Robert Hasbrouck CG 7/AD, Pvt William Dassenger 7/AD, Lt Will Rogers Jr 7/AD, Lt Col V. L. Boylan 7/AD, Martha Knauf St Vith, Thomas G. Riggs 106/ID Engr, Col Don Boyer 7/AD : in The Battle of St Vith.
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May
23
2009
A tyrant’s death at patriots’ hands revealed as Operation Salmon of Czech Intelligence in exile.
ASSASSINATION REINHARD HEYDRICH (R. C. Jaggers)
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May
23
2009
Category : Commemorations, Jalhay 2009
May 23d, 2009. Today as every year, I was supposed to go to Henri-Chapelle but the weather is simply crazy and the temperature in the sun is over 35 centigrades. I will not be able to get me sitting for hours under this flying volcano and I will, as usual, go there on December 16, like every year.
May
22
2009
Category : Italy, Northern Part
Memoranda for the President : Sunrise
OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Intelligence cables covering the capitulation of the Nazi armies in northern Italy.
Among the William J. Donovan papers are five volumes entitled OSS Reports to the White House containing carbons of memorandum predominantly transmitting or paraphrasing intelligence reports for the President’s personal attention. They are characteristically introduced by a note to the President’s secretary, Miss Grace Tully :
“Dear Grace : Will you please hand the attached memorandum to the President ? I believe it will be of interest to him”.
They begin in modest quantity, the first volume covering a full two years and including some administrative matters such as requests for draft deferment; but those for the nine months beginning with July 1944 occupy three volumes, almost exclusively intelligence.
After President Roosevelt’s death and the end of the war in Europe they taper off in the fifth volume-bound, curiously, in reverse chronology-and again include non substantive material, particularly concerning the formation of a peacetime central intelligence agency.
The reports are for the most part not the finished intelligence that the President might now be expected to examine personally. They do include summaries of some Research and Analysis Branch estimates-of the age distribution of German casualties, for example, or the Soviet Union’s population in 1970 – but the bulk of them are unedited reporting from individual case officers on subjects of particular importance or of particular interest to President Roosevelt. For the historian this minute but choice fraction of the total of OSS raw reporting constitutes a pre-selected documentary source of considerable value.
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May
22
2009
Category : OSS & SOE
William J. Donovan’s voluminous memoranda to President Roosevelt (1) include half a dozen concerning collaboration between the US and Soviet intelligence services, and these are supplemented by a few addressed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and one recording a conversation in the NKVD offices in Moscow.
Originally proposed as an exchange of representatives to each other’s headquarters, this liaison was reduced by political considerations to communication between heads of services through Gen J. R. Deane, chief of the US Military Mission in Moscow.
The documents are reproduced below.
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May
22
2009
US MK-1 ILL
MK-1 ILLUMINATNG HAND GRENADE
The MK1 illumination hand grenade (Figure E-2) is a ground signaling and ground pyrotechnic signal, except that the grenade burns only at ground level whereas pyrotechnic signals burn in flight or while suspended from a parachute. The MK-1 should not be used in deep mud or swampy ground, which would result in little or no illumination. The grenade burns with a very hot flame and may be used as an incendiary agent. Because it is incendiary, soldiers should use caution to prevent fires that would be detrimental to tactical operations.
This is a World War Two Hand Grenade (the model)
May
21
2009
Category : Ordnances Materials
US Army Hand Grenades : my specialty for over 30 years. Unfortunately my English needs some improvements before I could thing about the writing the history of the US Hand Grenades, starting with the Ketchum or Adams till the first Standardizing and Nomenclature of the first American Hand Grenade : the French F-1 (MK-1) Defensive Hand Grenade.
Bellow are some informations on Hand Grenades like fuzing, M-6, M-10 and M-200, Ignition Fuze, Detonating Fuze, and Quick match Fuze etc.
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May
21
2009
Dachau 1933 – 1945, will stand for all time as one of history’s most gruesome symbols of inhumanity. There our troops found sights, sounds and stenches horrible beyond belief, cruelties so enormous as to be incomprehensible to the normal mind. Dachau and death were synonymous. No words or pictures can carry the full impact of these unbelievable scenes bit this report presents some outstanding facts and photographs on some order to emphasize the type of crime which elements of the SS committed thousands of time a day, to remind us of the ghastly capabilities of certain classes of men, to strengthen our determination that they and their works shall vanish from the earth. The sections comprising this report were prepared by the agencies indicated. They remain substantially as they were originally submitted in the belief that consolidate this material in a single literary style would seriously weaken this realism.
William W. Quinn
A C of S, G2
7th US Army
A C of S, G2
7th US Army
May
19
2009
The voyage across was made without undue incident, and on Oct 17, the Division began arriving in the Irish Sea off Belfast. Disembarking at the Irish port of Belfast, the units of the Division moved by rail to points in and County Down, North Ireland. They then marched to the billets they would occupy, in hutments, castles, manor houses, and factories, throughout the scattered Irish towns and hamlets.
Division Headquarters was set up in Armagh, the county seat of County Armagh, reputed burial place of Good St Patrick. Mastering the idiosyncrasies of the Irish language which proved to be a pure, clear English and not at all the brogue of Irish comedians on the American stage. The men of the Division fell in quickly with the customs of the country. They made friends readily with their amiable Irish neighbors and soon learned to tell a crown from a bob and stout from ale. One of the great surprises was the Irish weather. It was generally wet and overcast with long slow rains and heavy swirling fogs. There hovered constantly a blanket of mist which kept the countryside a dazzling green. Once the men got used to murky skies and boggy ground, other aspects of life in garrison became more pleasing.
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May
17
2009
While sorting papers into my own archives I have found my old Officers Folder containing letters from Gen James ‘Jim Slim’ M. Gavin, CO 82nd A/B Division, Gen William M. “Bud’ Miley, CO 17th A/B Division, Gen William T. Ryder, CO 1st American Parachute Test Platoon, Gen William P. Yarborough, CO 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Italy 1943-1944, Gen George M. Jones, CO 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment USMC, Gen Matthew B. Ridgway, CO XVIII Corps Airborne, M. Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of American, Mrs Nancy Reagan, 1st Lady, as well as many other letters from American friends like Gerry Devlin and Charles B. McDonald.
The first letter I am using is the one that retrace the history of the US World War Two Paratrooper Uniforms M-1940 Balloon Cloth, M-1941 Herringbone Twill Overall, M-1941 Jump Jacket and Trouser, M-1942 Improved Jump Jacket and Trouser and finally the Paratrooper Uniform s Olive Drab or Tiger Stripes as used in Vietnam.
May
17
2009
Members of the 2nd Infantry Division has been the wearers of the famed Indian Head Patch in five different wars around the planet. This insignia had its origin during World War One as the identifying insignia on the vehicles of the Division Supply Trains. The Commanding Officer of the trains held a contest in March, 1918, to select a distinctive identifying symbol for use upon the vehicles after he had seen the vehicles of adjacent French units decorated in this manner. Through his adjutant he sent out a memorandum authorizing prizes for the best designs submitted, with a first prize of forty francs. The winning insignia, which obtained the final approval of Division Headquarters for use upon supply train vehicles in April, 1918, was the striking red and blue Indian head, super imposed upon a white star. The head covered the reentrant angles of the star and exposed only the points. Maj Gen Omar Bundy, the Division Commander, and his Chief of Staff, Col Preston Brown, later Maj Gen Preston Brown, were riding in a command car one day in April when Gen Bundy’s eye was caught by the insignia emblazoned on a truck. According to a letter from Maj Gen Brown written some time later, Gen Bundy stopped the driver, asked the meaning of the device, and was told by the driver that it enabled him to find his vehicle in the dark. The letter does not bring out that the insignia had been authorized and was probably coming into use on all the vehicles of the trains but at that time and at any rate, the Gen and his Chief of Staff promptly sent their cars to the area to have the insignia painted upon them. In this manner the Indian Head became associated with the 2nd Infantry Division as its identifying insignia some time before it became the standard shoulder patch so proudly worn by men of the Division.
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May
15
2009
We have here a photos set (the first one) over Normandy and the Invasion. Some photos are done in the UK while preparing equipments (paratrooper) and some are done on the Beaches. The majority of the photos are dedicated to Wessles, LTC, LST etc.
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May
14
2009
I have seen in these photos almost everything. Helicopter (or things that looks like) French or German (if French) then 1940, Wasserkuppe Photos from Gruenhoff, Gliders, Heinkell and German’s peoples and children. It’s even hard to believe that there is wartime. Tanks to Mary Jo and Willfried from the USA to pass the photos over because they are now in good hands and can be shared with everyone.
I want to recall all of you that you can use these photos for free (no charge) (International Historical Patrimony).
The huge format photos (some even over 6000 pixels) are in the archives for you to download. (123.zip)(Huge file)
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May
14
2009
(On Photos Set Wartime – Rothenburg ob der Tauber)
Sehr geehrter Herr Gillot,
die historischen Fotos aus unserer Stadt stellen ein interessantes geschichtliches Zeugnis dar. Herzlichen Dank für Ihre mail und den Hinweis.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Walter Hartl
Große Kreisstadt Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Marktplatz 1
91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Email
Rothenbug
May
14
2009
I am still into sorting photos and found some that can not be used into a post because of the bad quality. I have reduced them and put them online under the title ‘Aus der Traüm’ (Game Over).
Many other titles could be used and if I had to take another one, I would use : The History of a 1000 Years Reich that didn’t even Last 500 Days.
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May
14
2009
Here is a couple World War Two photos in Technicolor. Beside the fact that I don’t really like wartime colors photos I am posting them before deleting. I am sure that several visitors will really like these images and even use them for their websites.
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May
14
2009
Category : Combat Vehicles, German Photos
I can’t say where I got them. Some from Archives, other from the Net and some that visitors sended to me. Before erasing them I will post them for the last time.
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May
13
2009
Please read carefully the following : photos donations from American or German Veterans are accepted on my side at only 2 rules : the first is that anyone online can use the pictures for free, the second is that the one who use the photos have to credit them correctly.
To credit photo(s) please use : (Photo : Ken Papke – 732d ROB-ETO). You can also credit (www.eucmh.com) but you don’t need to as I don’t need advertising for my work.
Thanks
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May
13
2009
Category : US Photos, Willys Jeeps
A nice selection from the Archives : Jeeps ! This small vehicule was made for a 6 months wartime life but in 2009, some 65 years after those were manufactured, some original are still used today.
May
12
2009
Still cleaning the Hard Disck (480 Gigas still to go). Here is a groups photos from the beach of Dunkirck after the party was over.
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May
11
2009
Another set of Liberated photos from the collection of an American World War Two Combat Soldier. Published for the first time and available in large size in the Archives Center.
Bad Windsheim is a small historic city in Bavaria, Germany. It lies in the district Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim, west of Nuremberg. A document from 741 proofs for the first time the existence of town called ‘Uuinidesheim’. The name changed to ‘Windsheim’ by linguistic development and means something equal to ‘To the home of Winid’.
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May
11
2009
Before posting these photos I would like to remind you that I am doing for years now a small one day tour axed on downed airplanes (Allied & Axis)(Crash Sites). To be part or order one tour just send me an mail.
The photos here are the original one shot after the crash of these 2 C-47 Skytrain with the one shot last years at the same place where a little monument mark the place since 1945.
May
11
2009
I have here a set of 40 to 50 set of Wartime Photos (before combat) of this charming city. Believe me, if you want to see a place where you can hear the German’s heart beating then you have found it. Rothenburg is a kind of Jewel inside Germany and this place is not even far.
The photos I am posting are all unpublished these pictures where liberated in 1945 and are presented to the public for the first time.
I have made a zip file of the large and original photos. You will be able to download them in the Archives Center.
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