The Rat Bomb:

Conceived of by the British, it sounds like a reasonable idea: load the carcass of a dead rat with plastic explosives, leave it on board a ship, train engine, or the like where when discovered it would be cast into the flames. The hope was that, when the explosives went off, it would result in a boiler explosion.

Unfortunately the first shipment of 'exploding rats' was intercepted by the Germans, and the project dropped.

At the very least, a small amount of German effort was expended in the search for more 'booming rats.'

Could you imagine having to explain at a court martial: "Tell me again Captain, how did you lose your ship to a rat?"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_rat

 

Still no peace treaty between Russia and Japan over end of WW2...

http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1058753.html

Sixty years and counting, and no peace in sight (formally at least) for Russia and Japan.

 

To maintain secrecy during testing of the first US jet fighter the Bell P39 during the war the plane was fitted with a dummy propeller while on the ground. But it's test pilot Laurence Craigie came up with a solution to pilots seeing it in the air.
While flying the jet he would wear a gorilla costume, durby hat and have a cigar in the mask's mouth. Numerous pilots were sent to the base psychiatrist after reporting they saw a plane without a propeller being flown by gorilla wearing a derby hat while smoking a cigar. In every case the psychiatrist was able to convince the pilots they were seeing things. Not because of the gorilla wearing a Derby hat while smoking a cigar but because of the belief that a airplane couldn't fly without a propeller.

 

God Bless your DAD I spent 2 months on an LST and if I NEVER see another one up close it will be way to soon


USS Spartanburg County LST 1192
Worst ride I have ever had.

 

Japan used Balloons to bomb the US they sent up 1000s of bombs but only 1 is known to have killed anyone in CONUS a Scout leader out with his troop up in Or.

 

Had a Chance to see the New Jersey Fire her guns in anger off the coast of Lebanon

 

Just a minor point, the aircraft was designated as a P59. The P39 was a propeller driven Bell aircraft labeled the Airacobra. That aircraft had the highest kill rate of any US built fighter in WWII, it was flown by the Soviet air force as well as the RAF and the free French.

The P59A was the first production jet fighter flown by the AAF, but it was far from a successful aircraft.

BTW, my brother-in-law was an engineer at Bell during the war and for many years thereafter, he spoke fondly of the P59 project and the learning curve that followed it.

 

I've always wondered what that would have been like, to see those giant guns fire. By Uncle Sam's standards I was falling apart even by the age of 18, tried my damndest to join, and I never got to see the things that my friends did.
Seems that every year, they open up more parts of the North Carolina than the year before, and I'll never forget standing in her wheelhouse looking across the bow.
Some years ago, I got to dive on one of the u-boats that was sunk off our coast, most folks never knew that the war came so close to us, other than the attack on Pearl. Below is an excerpt.....
The greatest concentration of U-boat attacks happened off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where dozens of ships passed daily. So many ships were attacked that, in time, the waters near Cape Hatteras earned a nickname: “Torpedo Junction.” U.S. military and government authorities didn’t want people to worry, so news reports of enemy U-boats near the coast were classified, or held back from the public for national security reasons. For many years, most people had no idea how bad things really were. But families living on the Outer Banks knew—they were practically in the war.

 

Thanks I didn't realize I had made that mistake. My grandfather used to love the P39. His favorite feature on them was the canon that went through the center of the propeller.

For those that don't know about this little known plane. The Bell P39 Airacobra was mid engined plane that was developed before the war. They were equipped with four 50 caliber machine guns in the wings, 2 50 caliber machine guns in the nose, and a 37 mm canon that fired through the center of the propeller. This was made possible by moving the engine behind the cockpit and using a drive shaft to turn the propeller. This plane also made use of car stile doors instead of a sliding canopy. The US used them early on in the war but would replace them them with newer fighters that were faster, more powerful, more maneuverable, and easier to maintain. They were then sent in large numbers to our allies through Lend Lease. This is why most of the surviving examples are found with Soviet markings. The Soviets loved the plane and used them as a tank killer.
My fondest memories are of building models with my grandfather as a kid. Next to the B26 his favorite plane to build was the P39. I still have several of these including a P39 and a B26 I built for him of his bomber he was a gunner in.

 

WW2 was the first war that saw the large scale development and use of amphibious vehicles.
Germany, Japan, and the US all developed and used amphibious vehicles during the war. I've already mentioned the Japanese amphibious tanks like the Type 2 Ka-Mi. And the duplex drive modification made to the M4 Sherman tank. But it also saw other types of vehicles. This included the German VW Schwimmwagen and the US Ford GPA "Seep"(sea jeep). However the two best known would be the DUKW and the LVT(landing vehicle tracked) also called Amtraks. Both serving through many of the major invasions of the war including Normandy and ISO Jima.
In the pictures below you see LTVs approaching the beaches of Iwo Jima, another LVT unloading a Jeep onto a beach, a Ford GPA, a VW Schwimmwagen, and a DUKW transporting troops across a river.

 

A number of years ago I saw an interesting movie whose name I have forgotten. It was made in the U.S. around 1957. It was a sympathetic portrait of a German soldier. He gets married, and spends his wedding night with his bride in a bombed out building during an Allied bombing raid. At the end of the movie he is shot in the back and killed by a partisan he had declined to kill earlier.

 

You would probably like the movie Night of the Fox. It's about two British spies sent into occupied Jersey to rescue a American soldier with knowledge of the D-day invasion that had washed ashore after his ship was sunk during a training exercise. It stars George Leopard and Michael York.

 

Well, yeah, but how was the food?

 

Some of the worst maritime disasters in history happened during WW2. From the sinking of Japanese "Hell ships" to the sinking of hospital ships by both sides. The worst though is the sinking of the ocean liner Wilhelm Gustloff by the Soviet submarine S13 in 1945 with a death toll of 9,500.
The Wilhelm Gustlolf was transporting refugees and German military personal freeing the Soviet advance into Poland when she was stuck by three torpedoes launched by the Soviet submarine. She sank within forty minutes of the torpedoes impacts. There were a total of 1,252 survivors rescued. The pictures below show the Wilhelm Gustloff in her early war hospital ship markings and a model of her in her gray military paint scheme she wore at the time of her sinking.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Wilhelm_Gustloff

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_maritime_disasters#Peacetime_disasters

 

The USA shipped about 70 tons of poisonous gas to Italy during the Italian campaign. While in port, the ship transporting the gas was destroyed by Luftwaffe during a raid. Hundreds died. Led to a big cover-up.

 

I was on shore when they fired could just make out the ship but the flash from a couple hundred pounds of gunpowder was one hell of a flash could see that for miles and you can see the round flying through the air just glad I wasn't in the impact zone

 

I would have rather had C-Rats

 

My mom(r.i.p) and me, thank you for this about Suomi, kiitos paljon, snow leopard! Yes, the Finns fought well, giving those Russkies a `bloody nose' before being overwhelmed, as well, the Finns were abour the only country that fared well, depite an alliance with the Germans against a common foe.

 

Oh really? One consistent message heard from troops on LST's was the the ride sucked big grapes cause, you know, an LST was basically a big flat bottomed tube that rode like a cork, but the food was always excellent............assuming you could keep it down.........

 

Welcome,

If you are interested, in the signature below my post is a link to the alternate history story I wrote of the Winter War. In it, the Finn's win, and Stephen the 'Ghost Bear' and his granddaughter Nikkie "Snow Fox' are partisans who make a difference...

I wish you the best, and may the story of Finland and her people in the Winter War never be forgotten.