British single-seat WWII fighter aircraft
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Nueva entrega dede Música de Contrabando, semanario de actualidad musical (29/05/2025)Entrevista: - Kiblason toda una institución en el pop rock murciano; celebran más de 30 años de rock y amistad, que ha mantenido encendida la ilusión por continuar.- A Mares.Patricia Zamora es A Mares, que se mueve entre la fragilidad y la fuerza lírica del indie folk. Estrena “Estación del Norte, producida por Tono Hurtado, que forma parte de su primer EP. El jueves 6 lo presenta en el Palacio Almudí. Noticias: U2 han recibio el premio Fellowship Of The Ivors Academy, y Bono ha tenido unas palabras sobre lo que está sucedió en Gaza. Falle el guitarrista y productor Rick Derriger, fue lider de los McCoys, y colaboró con Steely Dan, Cindy Lauper, Ringo Starr o Alice Cooper.. John Fogerty ha regranado los clásicos de Creedence Clearwater Revival. Recopilados los primeros discos de Dionne Warwick. Living in the past de Jethro Tull tendrá una edición ampliada a 6 cd's denominada Still living in the past. Kinks of Leon cancelan toda su gira europea ( en Mad Cool les sustituyen Muse). Kalorama desvela horarios de su edición de 2025. Kevin patjer pone a la venta más unidades de The Orchid, su primer instrumento musical junto a su compañía Telepathic Instruments. . Gorillaz celebrará su 25 aniversario con una experiencia única. Marilyn Manso aparece como invitado en God Is A Weapon de Falling In Reverse. Dave Rowtree repasa los inicios de Blur en un libro fotográfico. Beach House esperan lanzar nuevo álbum en 2026. El mundo de la cultura se rebela contra Trump. Novedades musicales: Wet Leg, Kaiser Chief, Green Day, Saint Etienne, St Vincent & Mon Laferte, White Lies, Sen Senra, The Spitfires, The Sand, Mrcy, Mark Williams Lewis, María de Juan, Los Recortables, Durand Jones & The Indications, Unknow Mortal Orchestra, Wednesday, Benét, Marisa Valle Roso, Germán Salto, Helio, Semifinalistas CreaMurcia Pop Rock: Katarsia, Wakame, Hay Un Loco Suelto, Querido Diablo, Norte Perdido, Trepacerros, Anastasia General, Cletus, Piso Piloto, Palomo Palomo, Sueño Xanadú, Mursia. Ruth Lorenzo, madrina del CreaMurcia en la final de Pop Rock. La agenda de conciertos.Morgan, The New Raemon, Piezas & Jayder, Leo Jiménez, Huda, Diversos, Shoda Monkas, Kibla, Chema Espejo, Bucero and Shaddy López, Orquesta Nacional de Barbés, Maka, Semifinales CreaMurcia Otras Tendencias, Pecos...
C'esr Garbage et leur nouveau single "Get Out My Face, Bad Kitty", extrait de l'album "Let All That We Imagine Be The Light" qui ouvre ce RTL2 Pop Rock Station présenté par Alexis cette semaine. Juste après, Tunde Adebimpe nous plonge dans son univers avec "Somebody New", extrait de son premier album solo "Thee Black Boltz". "Better Dreaming" de Tune Yards est toujours l'album de la semaine et ce soir, on découvre "How Big Is The Rainbow". Le choix de Francis Zégut du jour, c'est Spiritbox avec "Tsunami Sea", un single percutant signé du groupe canadien de metal. La deuxième heure démarre au Danemark avec The Asteroids Galaxy Tour et leur titre "Around The Bend". En live, Jeff Buckley résonne avec "Eternal Life", capté à New York. Jamiroquai, Bruce Springsteen, Kings of Leon ou encore Otis Redding s'enchaînent. La nouveauté Fresh est signée The Spitfires, avec le morceau "Better The Devil You Know", entre punk et rock mod. On termine la soirée avec le long format du jour "Homecoming" de Green Day. Garbage - Get Out My Face Aka Bad Kitty The Automatic - Monster Fatboy Slim - The Rockafeller Skank The Cure - Let's Go To Bed Tunde Adebimpe - Somebody New The Animals - House Of The Rising Sun Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams Tune Yards - How Big Is The Rainbow Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea Led Zeppelin - Rock N Roll Fontaines D.C - Before You I Just Forget The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Around The Bend Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground Mss Frnce - De Plein Fouet U2 - Desire Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up To Boston Jeff Buckley - Eternal Life ((Live At Sin-E)) Otis Redding - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Kings Of Leon - Waste A Moment The Spitfires - Better The Devil You Know Adele - Rumour Has It Bruce Springsteen - The River Pussy Cat - Ba Ba Ba Boof Editors - Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors Green Day - Homecoming Distribué par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft. In a faraway land, these "spitfires" lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior. With cinematic sweep, in Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger during World War II (Bloomsbury, 2025) Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft. In a faraway land, these "spitfires" lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior. With cinematic sweep, in Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger during World War II (Bloomsbury, 2025) Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies
Host Diana Korte speaks with award-winning journalist Becky Aikman about her new book, “SPITFIRES. The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II.” This is a fast paced true story of the 25 US women who flew the world's most dangerous aircraft through the treacherous skies of Britain during World War II eighty years ago. Another fifty years would pass before the first American woman piloted a US fighter plane in combat.They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses — all of them pilots who wanted to serve in World War II. Because they were women, their own country turned them away. But Great Britain, in a desperate fight for survival, would let anyone — even Americans, even women -- fly warplanes. Twenty-five of them bolted for England in 1942. They became the first American women to fly perilous missions in military aircraft. In England these “spitfires” lived like women decades ahead of their time. They risked their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, flying new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returning shot-up wrecks for repair. Many transport pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves.
Atenção (disclaimer): Os dados aqui apresentados representam minha opinião pessoal.Não são de forma alguma indicações de compra ou venda de ativos no mercado financeiro.Petrobras faz 3º corte no preço do diesel no ano para mínima desde agosto de 2023https://br.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/petrobras-reduz-preco-do-diesel-em-47-para-distribuidoras-a-partir-de-terca-1539291Indústria surpreende e cresce 1,2% em março, maior taxa desde junho de 2024https://istoedinheiro.com.br/industria-producao-marco-ibge/Exportações de carne bovina em abril/25 registram o segundo melhor desempenho da série históricahttps://www.noticiasagricolas.com.br/noticias/boi/399930-exportacoes-de-carne-bovina-em-abril-25-registram-o-segundo-melhor-desempenho-da-serie-historica.htmlFed mantém taxas de juros inalteradas na faixa de 4,25% a 4,50%https://valor.globo.com/financas/noticia/2025/05/07/fed-mantem-taxas-de-juros-inalteradas-na-faixa-de-425percent-a-450percent.ghtmlCopom reduz ritmo e eleva Selic em 0,50 p.p., para 14,75% ao anohttps://www.infomoney.com.br/economia/copom-reduz-ritmo-e-eleva-selic-em-050-ponto-para-1475-ao-ano/Renda per capita tem recorde de R$ 2.020 em 2024; desigualdade cai a piso históricohttps://www.infomoney.com.br/economia/renda-per-capita-tem-recorde-de-r-2-020-em-2024-desigualdade-cai-a-piso-historico/Venda de carne bovina do Brasil aos EUA dispara apesar de tarifas, diz Abiechttps://www.noticiasagricolas.com.br/noticias/carnes/400039-venda-de-carne-bovina-do-brasil-aos-eua-dispara-apesar-de-tarifas-diz-abiec.htmlIPCA sobe 0,43% em abril, diz IBGE, com pressão de alimentação e saúdehttps://www.infomoney.com.br/economia/ipca-sobe-043-em-abril-diz-ibge-com-pressao-de-alimentacao-e-saude/Os novos conselheiros do GPAhttps://pipelinevalor.globo.com/negocios/noticia/os-novos-conselheiros-do-gpa.ghtmlTC começa processo para futura operação como corretora no Brasilhttps://br.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/tc-comeca-processo-para-futura-operacao-como-corretora-no-brasil-1539489Voepass perdendo slotshttps://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2025/05/05/voepass-deve-perder-slots-em-congonhas-e-guarulhos-at-domingo.ghtmlEletromidia compra op por R$ 80 MMhttps://valor.globo.com/empresas/marketing/noticia/2025/05/07/eletromidia-compra-clear-channel-por-r-80-milhes.ghtmlGOL Vai Propor a Acionistas Aumento de Capital de até R$19,25 Bilhõeshttps://forbes.com.br/forbes-money/2025/05/gol-vai-propor-a-acionistas-aumento-de-capital-de-ate-r1925-bilhoes/Cogna (COGN3) e Yduqs (YDUQ3) retomam conversas sobre fusão, diz jornalhttps://financenews.com.br/2025/05/cogna-cogn3-e-yduqs-yduq3-retomam-conversas-sobre-fusao-diz-jornal/Iguatemi une forças com o The Mark Hotel, em NY, para experiências de luxo internacionaishttps://exame.com/casual/iguatemi-une-forcas-com-o-the-mark-hotel-em-ny-para-experiencias-de-luxo-internacionais/Conselho de administração da Mobly (MBLY3) recomenda que acionistas não aceitem OPA dos fundadores da Tok&Stokhttps://www.seudinheiro.com/2025/empresas/conselho-de-administracao-da-mobly-mbly3-recomenda-que-acionistas-nao-aceitem-opa-dos-fundadores-da-tokstok-julw/Syria after Assadhttps://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/syria-after-assad/id1665219519?i=1000705950188‘Spitfires' chronicles the daring flights of American women pilots during WWIIhttps://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/spitfires-chronicles-the-daring-flights-of/id78304589?i=1000706252638How Elon Wields Powerhttps://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/how-elon-wields-power/id1302281912?i=1000706137217Seaweed Specialhttps://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/seaweed-special/id918896288?i=1000375241859White Hot Hate: Agent Pale Horsehttps://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/white-hot-hate-agent-pale-horse/id1591461032How China Might Actually Handle a US Trade Warhttps://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/how-china-might-actually-handle-a-us-trade-war/id1056200096?i=1000706776816
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft. In a faraway land, these "spitfires" lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior. With cinematic sweep, in Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger during World War II (Bloomsbury, 2025) Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history
Storbritannien stod ensamt kvar mot Nazityskland efter Frankrikes fall. Adolf Hitler ville egentligen ha fred med Storbritannien, men britterna och premiärminister Winston Churchill valde att fortsätta kämpa.För att kunna invadera Storbritannien behövde Luftwaffe först besegra Royal Air Force (RAF) och etablera luftherravälde. Under flera månader kämpade brittiska jaktflygare i Spitfires och Hurricanes mot det numerärt överlägsna Luftwaffe. Trots svåra förluster lyckades RAF stå emot, och när hösten anlände stod det klart att Tyskland hade misslyckats med att krossa det brittiska försvaret.Detta är det femte avsnittet i en serie av sju om andra världskriget från podden Historia Nu. Programledaren Urban Lindstedt samtalar med Martin Hårdstedt, professor i historia, om Slaget om Storbritannien 1940.Slaget om Storbritannien blev en vändpunkt i andra världskriget. När Frankrike kapitulerade den 22 juni 1940 blev Storbritanniens situation kritisk. Landet stod nu ensamt, med en krigsmakt som var försvagad efter evakueringen vid Dunkerque. De brittiska styrkorna hade förlorat stora mängder tung materiel, inklusive stridsvagnar, artilleri och transportfordon.Churchills beslutsamhet blev avgörande för Storbritanniens motstånd. Trots att vissa inom regeringen, inklusive utrikesminister Lord Halifax, övervägde en fredsuppgörelse, stod Churchill fast vid sin linje. Han ansåg att fred med Hitler endast skulle vara en kortsiktig lösning som på sikt skulle leda till att Storbritannien tvingades leva under Nazitysklands dominans. Hans beslutsamhet stärkte den brittiska moralen och bidrog till att landet stod emot trycket från Tyskland.Tysklands invasionsplan, Operation Seelöwe, byggde på att Hermann Görings Luftwaffe först behövde besegra RAF och neutralisera den brittiska flottan genom flyganfall. Planen var ambitiös men riskabel – transportfartygen var långsamma och sårbara, och utan luftherravälde skulle de bli lätta mål för brittiska bombflyg och örlogsfartyg.Luftwaffes inledande offensiv började i juli 1940 med attacker mot brittiska hamnar och fartyg i Engelska kanalen. Dessa anfall syftade till att locka ut RAF:s jaktflyg och försvaga det brittiska försvaret innan den stora offensiven tog vid. I augusti gick tyskarna vidare till nästa fas: systematiska anfall mot RAF:s flygbaser, radarsystem och logistik. Under dessa veckor var RAF hårt pressat och förlorade många flygplan och piloter. Trots detta lyckades britterna hålla sina radaranläggningar intakta, vilket var avgörande för att kunna förutse de tyska anfallen.Bild: En formation av Supermarine Spitfire Mk I från No. 610 Squadron, baserad på Biggin Hill, under ett uppdrag den 24 juli 1940. Flygplanen, inklusive N3289 ('DW-K') och R6595 ('DW-O'), flyger i den karakteristiska "vic"-formationen som användes av Royal Air Force under Slaget om Storbritannien. Fotografi taget av Daventry B.J. (F/O), Royal Air Force, och tillhör Imperial War Museums samlingar. Wikipedia. Public Domain.Musik: Wir fahren gegen Engeland av Musikkorpt eines Infanterieregimentes - leitung: B. Ahlers "Wir fahren gegen Engeland" är en tysk marschsång från andra världskriget, känd för sin användning i propagandasyfte. Sången skrevs 1939 av Herms Niel, en av de mest produktiva kompositörerna av tysk marschmusik under det nazistiska Tredje riket. Den användes i samband med Tysklands planer på en invasion av Storbritannien, Operation Seelöwe, men blev även en del av den bredare propagandakulturen inom Wehrmacht. Källa: Internet Archive (Public Domain).Klippare: Emanuel Lehtonen Vill du stödja podden och samtidigt höra ännu mer av Historia Nu? Gå med i vårt gille genom att klicka här: https://plus.acast.com/s/historianu-med-urban-lindstedt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft. In a faraway land, these "spitfires" lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior. With cinematic sweep, in Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger during World War II (Bloomsbury, 2025) Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Writer Becky Aikman tells the story of American female pilots that chose to go to Britain, to fly for the Air Transport Auxiliary. While flying Spitfires and Hurricanes, they live their lives to the fullest. It's a new land and a new chance to reinvent themselves. But not all will make it to the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textIn this interview with author Becky Aikman we talk about her new book Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger about the women who flew for the Air Transport Auxiliary in Britain. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/spitfires/The blurb: The heart-pounding true story of the daring American women who piloted the most dangerous aircraft of World War II through the treacherous skies of Britain.They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft.In a faraway land, these “spitfires” lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior.With cinematic sweep, Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams.Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker
Wednesday is the 80th anniversary of VE Day, marking Germany’s unconditional surrender and the end of WWII in Europe. A new book “Spitfires” tells the little-known contribution American women made to that outcome by flying combat aircraft — not for U.S. forces, which denied them the opportunity, but for Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary. John Yang spoke with author Becky Aikman to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders
Bonnie Dobson, cantante y compositora canadiense del folk de los años 60, regresa a sus 84 años respaldada por los cowboys psicodélicos The Hanging Stars. Wasted Youth, la banda perdida del post punk británico, se rehace 40 años después de su disolución y anuncian nuevo trabajo. Dos interesantes regresos para abrir esta envolvente selección de novedades.Playlist;(sintonía) MESSER CHUPS “Kiss of the night”BONNIE DOBSON “Morning dew” (1969)BONNIE DOBSON and THE HANGING STARS “Baby’s got the blues”THE HANGING STARS “Let me dream of you”THE ONLY ONES “Out there in the night” (1979)WASTED YOUTH “Jealousy” (1979)WASTED YOUTH “This is your day”THE ROARING 420’S “Suburbs”DEATH VALLEY GIRLS “Sister of the moon”THE SPITFIRES “Better the devil you know”CIVIC “Chrome dipped”A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS “You got me”ZOMBEACHES “Now in red”JEFF CROSDALE “Why oh why”ZACK KEIM “Battery Lane”Escuchar audio
Spitfires, it's confession time. In this episode, Lauren LeMunyan owns up to getting swept away by the feel-good "Let Them" theory — and why she's now calling B.S. Lauren breaks down where the theory falls flat, the danger of oversimplified advice, and why real change starts with critical thinking (not catchy mantras). Get ready for honest reflection, some hard-earned lessons, and a fiery reminder that doing the work beats wishful thinking every damn time. Original Episode: https://pdcn.co/e/traffic.libsyn.com/thespitfirepodcast/Let_Them.mp37" If Books Could Kill" Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-let-them-theory/id1651876897?i=1000704577681
I'm going to make a quick confession to you here: The Battle of Britain is one of my three favorite parts of all of human history. The other two would be the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus, and then the American Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, and the Constitution, all of that right as the US was being founded. And then this, the Battle of Britain. Why is this one one of my favorites periods? Well, it's got it all: a clear villain, a heroic underdog who fights valiantly, a moment when all seems lost, and then a sudden change of fortunes as the tide begins to turn. The battle of Helm's Deep, or the Battle of Minas Tirith - this has the same narrative arc. Plus, it has some of the most amazing airplanes that ever flew, which I will get to in a bit. The American war for Independence was cool, but they didn't have Spitfires or Messerschmitts. Neither did Minas Tirith. I guess Mordor did have the Nazgul on their flying lizards, but that's not quite the same. Anyway, this was one of those crucial turning points in history, where if it had gone differently, even by a small bit, our modern world would not be the same. It really was a pretty close shave. email: shortwalkthroughhistory@gmail.com
It's time to take stock of where things sit for the London Knights two rounds into the 2025 OHL playoffs. London will meet either Kitchener or Windsor in the Western Conference Championship and Mike Stubbs and Kyle Grimard sit down with the radio voice of the Spitfires, Steve Bell to talk about the seris between Windsor and the Rangers which will need a Game 7. Kyle and Mike recap Game 4 of London vs Erie and the odd overtime and Rene Van Bommel goes back to his roots with a message for a whole lot of young and hopeful hockey players. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nueva entrega de Música de Contrabando, semanario de actualidad musical (10/04/2025)Entrevistas: - Fernando Rubio, el león de Cartagena, está en todo su esplendor- Le Mur (Elsa Yepes y Pedro J. Carrillo), grupo estandarte del undeground murciano . - UMUrgentes. Mavi – Bellasound nos pone al tanto del desarrollo del certamen (Kilara, Javier Manzanares). Novedades discográficas:Pulp, Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire, Haim, The Divine Comedy, Stereolab, Bon Iver, Thom Yorke y Mark Pritchard, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Garbage, Suzanne Vega, PinkPantheress, The Low Flying Panic Attack, The Darkness, The Spitfires, Laufey, Sextile, Feedbacks, Teana, Frankie Cosmos, Durry, Amago, Hombres G, Frente Abierto ft Inés Bacán, Viva Belgrado, Vera Fauna, Aló Presidente, Clara Plath, Farmacia de Guardia, Carlos Vudú & El Clan Jukebox, Malva, Vosotras Veréis, Sen Senra, Shinova y No Te Va A Gustar, Carmesí, Anabel Lee y MagüiNoticias:Semana luctuosa: Muere Clem Burke, batería de Blondie, Dave Allen (bajista de Gang of Four), Amadou Bagayoko. The Lemonheads, nuevo disco en otoño. Elektra/Rhino records reedita el álbum homónimo de Tracy Chapman. Agenda de conciertos:La Plata, Airu, Las Dianas, Carlos Chaouen, Sala de Bandas ( A Mares), Lupefolk (El Pantorrillas), Le Mur, Viva Belgrado, Fernando Rubio & The Inner Demons Trío. Hermanos Martínez, Germán Meoro, Pau Vegas, Kilara, Javier Manzanares, Susana Re...
DJ Jesse Luscious spins classic blocks of punk from across the world & across the decades, plus new tracks from Whimsyland, Pardon Us, Season To Risk, Spitfires, Distorted Times, Fugue State, & Birth (Defects), classics from Jucifer, Sex Pistols, Iowaska, NOFX, Ann Beretta, Runaways, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Dopamines, Citizen Fish, Wayne Kramer, More Fiends, She Males, Sensation, Gargoyles, Ruin, DOA, Sham 69, Subhumans (Canada), Sharp Objects, D.I., The Business, & Ramones, and the Luscious Listener's Choice! Whimsyland- Blurpy The Bumpy Barge Whimsyland- Rough N Tumble Buccaneers Pardon Us- High-Rise Ann Beretta- Fire In The Hole NOFX- Leaving Jesusland (edit) Season To Risk- Echo Chamber Dopamines- Business Papers (edit) Spitfires- Better The Devil You Know Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros- Coma Girl Distorted Times- Thieves And Leeches Citizen Fish- Give Me Beethoven… Wayne Kramer- Crack In The Universe Runaways- Cherry Bomb More Fiends- Wild West Philly She Males- Love Crawl (edit) Ruin- Life After Life Iowaska- Mother Earth Fugue State- The Pipeline Sensation- Viktor (edit) Birth (Defects)- Guiltless Gargoyles- Michigan D.O.A.- D.O.A. Subhumans (Canada)- Death To The Sickoids Sharp Objects- Zero Ambition D.I.- Hang Ten In East Berlin Business- National Insurance Blacklist Sham 69- If The Kids Are United… Sex Pistols- Pretty Vacant Space Ghost- Meets The Ramones Ramones- The KKK Took My Baby Away Jucifer- To The Lost
Join Rob and Martyn as they talk Spitfires and Warbirds with That Spitfire Bird, Jo Rogers!
In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Carney Era Day 0, or March 14, 2025 on the old calendar, your hosts offer sincere welcome and best wishes to the new prime minister, and we're counting on all of you to not ruin this moment for us.Really. We can be nice sometimes.This episode of The Line Podcast is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the information they need to choose potentially less harmful alternatives. Learn more at Unsmoke.ca.We have a purely housekeeping announcement to make first. The Line is changing how we release our podcasts. This shouldn't make a difference to audio listeners, but video viewers will notice alerts that we're going live when the episodes are about to be released. Please make sure you have our notifications turned on! Also, we are launching a revamped social media strategy. We have a bunch of new accounts set up, and you can find a list (with links) below. If you use these platforms, please give us a follow! Many of these platforms only become useful once we clear 50 or 100 followers, so we're counting on you all to put us over the top.Phew! Okay! Sorry. Anyway. Carney's in. We wish him well. We comment on his cabinet. Some surprises there. Also some signs that the PM plans on taking his party to the right, or at least back into the centre. Speaking of the right, we have some pretty tough talk for the CPC. You're losing this, guys. It's slipping away from you. This episode has also been brought to you by Forestry For The Future. Forestry supports 200,000 Canadians in hundreds of communities, generating $87 billion in annual revenues and $37 billion in exports — including $29 billion to the United States. It's also key to addressing some of our biggest challenges. We need an action plan for our forest sector and its employees, one that will help build the homes we need with Canadian wood, reduce the risk of wildfires and create more family-supporting jobs right here at home. To learn more about what forestry can do for Canada, visit ForestryForTheFuture.ca.We also spend some time on Justin Trudeau's legacy. The heavy lifting on that is going to be done by historians, but Matt goes full Munich Conference and demands to know why Trudeau didn't build more Hurricanes and Spitfires. They talk about how what Trudeau will be best remembered for looks pretty weird today, in an era of global upheaval. They also talk about some of the buzz around his scandals. We expect that won't go away for a while.They end up by recapping a bit of the Trump madness down south. Doug Ford tried to get tough. It didn't stick. Portugal makes an interesting decision. And we keep seeing some interesting signs of worry about Trump even from people quite close to the president. Matt proposes a strategy for fighting back, and Jen gives it an, ahem, unfortunate name. You'll have to listen. If we put it into the text box here, it would get flagged.All that, and more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. As always, like, subscribe and check us out at ReadTheLine.ca.New social accounts!FB: On The Line Podcast FB: The Line Podcast InstagramTikTokTwitterBlueSkyLinkedIn
67s F Chase Yanni on the bus trips, playoff push, turning the season around, best part of his game and last year's playoff experience.
Graham and Scott look at election day in Ontario today; Petes face the Spitfires; don't get stuck on todays survey
The Windsor Spitfires pulled off a comeback win over the London Knights and Mike Stubbs and Kyle Grimard go through how it happened. They also look back on London's victory over Erie and talk with Knights captain Denver Barkey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In episode #285, we welcome Head Coach of the Windsor Spitfires, Greg Walters, someone who has thrived on his ability to be consistent and has never had a losing season. He is currently in his first season with the Spitfires following a year suspension that involved an inappropriate altercation with another Owen Sound employee. In this episode, he shares what he learned from that experience and we believe it's something that all coaches can benefit from hearing. Following eight seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Sarnia Sting to begin his coaching journey, Walters took over the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Jr A league for eight seasons, guiding them to 295 wins, a league championship and earning himself both coach and executive of the year honors. He would then return to the OHL as a Head Coach in Oshawa and Owen Sound, before landing in Windsor following the aforementioned suspension. Listen as he shares what he learned from incident that led to his suspension and the work he's done to overcome it, why good defence starts with breaking out the puck, and creating a culture of quality and self-evaluation.
For the Niagara IceDogs thirty-eighth game of 2024-25, Brandon Caputo and Cam Halbert record our game recap LIVE from the Meridian Centre for a Sunday afternoon matchup against the potent Windsor Spitfires in their only trip to St. Catharines this season, falling 4-3 in overtime.Postgame comments from Niagara head coach Ben Boudreau on his team's 1-1-1 week heading into OHL Trade Deadline week.The Dog Pound Podcast is proudly brought to you by Global Pet Foods' Four Niagara Region locations. Check them out at: https://globalpetfoods.com/*Audio goal highlights courtesy of YourTV - catch the IceDogs at home and on the road on YourTV Niagara, exclusively on Cogeco.Armchair Merchandise Site: https://the-armchair-gms-sports-ne-shop.fourthwall.com/en-cad/== Follow along with our IceDogs Content ==https://x.com/DogPoundPodcasthttps://niagaraicedogs.net/the-dog-pound-podcast== FOLLOW THE NETWORK ==X: https://x.com/ArmchairGMPodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@UCJUaG5QNg1jwQ5a_32rZs1QFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArmchairGMsNetworkInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/armchairgmsportsWebsite: https://www.armchairgmsports.com/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@UCJUaG5QNg1jwQ5a_32rZs1Q== ALSO AVAILABLE TO LISTEN TO ON ==Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/thearmchairgmsApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-armchair-gms-sports-network/id1462505333Spotify: http://bit.ly/ArmchairGM== FOLLOW THE HOSTS ON TWITTER ==Brandon: https://x.com/BCaputo_AGMCam: https://x.com/NoSleevesGaming
It's not quite Christmas, but a couple of teams have caught our attention because they're not where we thought they would be. Also, in case you'd forgotten that the OHL was big business, just consider the lengths the league will go to in order to make sure a game gets played. Dan and Mike are talking about the Top Prospects Game and who's missing from Canada's World Junior roster, plus don't forget The Wraparound, which looks at every team in the league. And in a script straight out of Hollywood, good triumphed over evil in Windsor, while Farwell removed the Spitfires from his Christmas card list. The OHL Podcast is supported by Draft Kings Sportsboook, GameTime, and the Skylight Frame.
Echamos a la marmita unas cuantas reediciones de material añejo que han visto la luz últimamente. Abrimos con un disco de psicodelia y rock ácido realmente asombroso. El único álbum de Kaleidoscope, grabado en República Dominicana en 1967 y reeditado por Guerssen Records. Discos Quilombo nos lleva a Uruguay rescatando un imbatible single de Los Iracundos, y desde México llega una curiosidad de Julissa y los Spitfires que fue censurada allá por 1961. Con Munster Records viajamos a la California de mediados de los 80 para recordar el garage punk de The Primates y con Beat Generation al Liverpool de 1979 para cerrar con "Moving fast!!!, Selected recordings 77-79" y el punk rock de The Accelerators.Playlist;KALEIDOSCOPE “Hang out”KALEIDOSCOPE “Colours”KALEIDOSCOPE “I’m crazy”KALEIDOSCOPE “Once upon a time there was a world”LOS IRACUNDOS “Toda la gente”LOS IRACUNDOS “Ven que estoy hirviendo”JULISSA y LOS SPITFIRES “Ven cerca”Versión y Original; JOHNNY RESTIVO “Come closer” (1959)THE PRIMATES “I ain’t like you”THE PRIMATES “You drive me wild”THE PRIMATES “I got nightmares”THE PRIMATES “Bad luck”THE ACCELERATORS “Popguns and green lantern”THE ACCELERATORS “Broken promises”THE ACCELERATORS “Live wire”Escuchar audio
Today we discuss Toenail eyeshades, Russia, Antlers, Paint Your Wagon, dinosaurs, SPARTA!, Time travel, Chairman Mao, Spitfires and Dave's very rational hatred of anglers. We also discuss birds! Amazing! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Hockey Writers The summer is unofficially over but for a very good reason. On The post 5 Stories to Watch at Windsor Spitfires' 2024-25 Training Camp appeared first on SPORTS BET FORUM.
Join Jim Tatti and Dave Feschuk or Hour 1 on OverDrive! Tatti and Feschuk dive into Joey Votto's retirement announcement, his remarkable career in baseball and Ernie Clement's elevated pitch home run. TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins to discuss the trades of Yaroslav Askarov and Rutger McGroarty, the RFA market throughout the NHL and the Maple Leafs' pathway to success in the Atlantic Division, Keanu Reeves signing a one-day contract with the Spitfires and the AHL mandating cut-resistant neck protection.
Ted Kulfan talks about Jake Walman's trade to San Jose, Pavel Datsyuk joining the Hockey Hall of Fame and Spitfires captain Liam Greentree is the interview guest.
The Normal Women of England: 900 Years of Making History: INTERVIEW WITH SMITHSONIAN ASSOCIATE PHILIPPA GREGORY The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates interview series on radio and podcast. I'm your host, Paul Vogelzang, and today we have a truly remarkable episode lined up for you. Get ready to embark on a journey through nine centuries of history, reimagined through the eyes of the women who lived it, shaped it, and often, redefined it. Our guest today is none other than the bestselling author Smithsonian Associate Philippa Gregory. Smithsonian Associate Philippa Gregory will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, so please check out our show notes for more information, but we have Philippa Gregory today here with us. Philippa Gregory's works like The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen have captivated readers worldwide. But today, Philippa brings us something entirely different and profoundly impactful. Her latest book, Normal Women, is a groundbreaking exploration of the lives of women in England from 1066 to the present day. Imagine women who rode in jousts, flew Spitfires during World War II, issued their own currency, and built ships and corn mills. Picture female soldiers, highwaywomen, pirates, miners, and even theater impresarios. These are not the stories of queens and noblewomen we often hear, but of the ordinary, yet extraordinary, women who have been the true backbone of English society. In today's episode, Philippa Gregory will share with us how she unearthed these incredible stories from the annals of history, revealing a tapestry of lives that are as diverse and varied as the women themselves. We'll delve into the challenges these women faced, the prejudices they overcame, and the indelible marks they left on history. That of course is out guest today, Smithsonian Associate Phiippa Gregory, reading a brief passage from her new book. Philippa's new book, Normal Women, offers a radical reframing of England's history, highlighting the persistence, ingenuity, and contributions of women throughout the centuries. It's a narrative that not only celebrates the past but also inspires the present and future. So, sit back and get ready to be enlightened, entertained, and moved by the stories of women who, though often overlooked, played a pivotal role in shaping the world as we know it. This is an episode you won't want to miss. Welcome to The Not Old Better Show Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on radio and podcast, where today, history comes alive through the voices of Normal Women. My thanks to Smithsonian Associate Philippa Gregory will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, so please check out our show notes for more information, Her latest book, Normal Women, is a groundbreaking exploration of the lives of women in England from 1066 to the present day. My thanks to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show. My thanks always to Executive Producer Sam Heninger for all his work on the show and my thanks to you our wonderful audience here on radio and podcast. Be well, be safe and Let's Talk About Better™ The Not Old Better on radio and podcast. Thanks, everybody, and we'll see you next week. For more information about Smithsonian Associates, please click here: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/normal-women-of-england
A mum from Deal has hit out at a London hospital after receiving a letter booking her son in for an appointment - more than a year after he died.Imogen Holliday was sent an email inviting three-year-old Raffy for a visit to Great Ormond Street exactly 14 months after he'd passed away there.Also in today's podcast, a leading Kent charity is calling on whoever forms the next government to ban so-called no-fault evictions.It was part of the renters reform bill that was going through parliament before the election was called. We've been speaking to Canterbury based Porchlight.A business owner in Rainham says a new red route along the high street is turning customers away.The introduction of the double red lines along the A2 was meant to help enforce existing traffic restrictions and tackle congestion. Find out what one trader's had to say and the response from the local council.A Kent veteran who landed on the beaches of Normandy on D Day is returning there this week to mark the 80th anniversary.Peter Smoothy from Herne Bay was one of 156,000 allied servicemen who took part in the invasion. He'll travel to Normandy thanks to the Taxi Charity which is run by London black cab drivers. Hear from Micky Harris from Longfield who's one of them.And in sport, it was a mixed weekend for Kent after two games in the T20 Blast.The Spitfires beat Middlesex away from home on Friday night, but lost to Hampshire Hawks yesterday.
Traders and residents fear rising rents and anti-social behaviour is putting off customers from visiting an out-of-town shopping centre.Shop owners in New Ash Green say a volatile group of youths who intimidate customers in the car park and hurl verbal abuse at them in the street are deterring visits.Also in today's podcast, five men have faced court after a meeting arranged on Facebook exploded into a street brawl in Folkestone. One person was stabbed and another suffered serious head injuries in the fight, which included wooden poles, a crowbar and chains. Just as the weather starts to warm up in Kent, an outdoor swimming pool used by thousands every summer has been forced to suddenly close.The attraction in Medway only opened for the season at the weekend and it's not yet known when it will be able to reopen. Villagers are boycotting a new convenience store in a former pub amid claims the owner “misled” residents, the parish council and planning department.But the owners say the business is “a work in progress” and not the final result.And in sport you can hear from the Kent cricket captain who says Spitfires can qualify for the knockout stages of the T20 Blast competition.Their campaign gets underway against Middlesex tonight.
**THE D-DAY SERIES WILL RETURN ON TUESDAY** Al Murray and James Holland are back again with warbird legend Richard Grace at his Northampton hangar full to the brim with Spitfires, Messerschmitts and Mustangs. They chat to Richard about flying the wartime planes, the work that goes into restoring the aircraft and his exciting airshow planned for June. Tickets for Sywell Air Show are available now at: www.sywell2024.co.uk/tickets A Goalhanger Production Produced by Joey McCarthy Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Social: @WeHaveWaysPod Email: wehavewayspodcast@gmail.com Join our ‘Independent Company' to watch our livestreams, get earlybird tickets and our weekly newsletter - packed with deals. Membership Club: patreon.com/wehaveways Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Japanese counteroffensive on Bougainville, action on the Burma front and New Guinea. General Hyakutake was under immense pressure to dislodge the Americal force from Bougainville. He unleashed a grand counter offensive trying to break the American defensive lines. Both the Japanese and Americans began suffering heavy casualties, yet neither side wavered in its resolve. Over in the Burma front, the Galahad unit, aka Merrills marauders joined their British, American and Chinese allies in pushing the Japanese back. There were some issues involving friendly fire, but overall the allies were making gains in a theater where the Japanese had dominated for years. Over in New Guinea, the Japanese were continuing to retreat to Madang. Things were going so terribly, units were now being deployed to defend the western part of New Guinea. Japan was simply not winning the war of attrition. This episode is the Operation Thursday Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Things have really been heating up on the Burma front. General Mutaguchi basically tricked his own superiors into allowing him to invade India under the guise of Operations HA-GO and U-GO. This saw Japanese units advancing towards Imphal and Kohima. On the other side General Stilwell's forces were advancing upon Myitkyina in the north, as General Slim's 15th corp were clashing with the Japanese in the Arakan region. Americans, British, Indians, Chinese were all performing operations to halt Japanese attacks and push further into Burma, but on top of all of that, we now need to talk about our favorite child born from the onion eating madman Wingate, the Chindits. All the way back in early February, Operation Thursday was in development. The operation was basically an extended version of the first Chindit raid, this time in two waves, with 3 brigades making long marches across the Chindwin. The first wave would go into the enemy territory, then 2-3 months later the second wave would come in to reinforce them. There were large issues with the operation, namely a lack of aircraft. Aircraft were being used for the Arakan campaign and flying supplies over the Hump. Chiang Kai-shek would not part with any aircraft set to go over the Hump and not even Mountbatten had the authority to touch the issue. Regardless Thursday would be authorized and its goals were as follows; to assist Stilwell's advance; to create favorable conditions for the Y-Force to gord the Salween and to inflict maximum damage to the Japanese in northern Burma. Their principles targets were the Shwebo-Myitkyina railway and the Myitkyina-Bhamo-Indaw road. There would be 4 strongholds to be designated, Piccadilly, Chowringhee, Broadway and Templecombe, the last one later renamed Aberdeen. The US 900th airborne engineer company would clear strips suitable for Dakotas to land. On February 4th Wingate and Stratemeyer, commander of the Eastern Air command issued the essential guidelines for Thursday, stressing this raid would require the wounded being flown out from the strongholds rather than to be abandoned as was the case with the first expedition. Stratemeyer added orders to bomb the stronghold areas prior to their establishment, though Wingate had instead favored diversionary bombings of Rangoon, Mandalay and Bangkok. On February 5th of 1944, Fergussons 16th brigade kicked off first from Ledo and onlookers would remark they looked more like a mule train than a commando force. There were elephants, 250 bullocks, 547 horses and 31314 mules assigned to the operation. Fergusson's 4000 men took 500 mules, fully laden along with them. They avoided Japanese forces by traversing exceptionally difficult terrain. It would be a full month before all Brigade Battalions crossed the Chindwin river. The main target was Indaw, although two Columns were tasked to attack the town of Lonkin, in the Kachin Hills and 20 miles west of Kamaing. Two gliders, loaded with folding boats, outboard engines, and gasoline, were towed by air to the Chindwin River and softly set down on a sandbar. Not only were the necessities delivered to Fergusson, but also for reuse the pair of C-4As were plucked from the scene by a C-47. Wingate traveled with Fergusson and his men for the first the start of the grueling ascent up the Paktai. They faced mud slides, torrential rain, the usual Burma experiences. It would take them all of February to reach the Chindwin, after that it was another 200 miles to their target of Indaw. Wingate departed after the first few days, but would come back over by aircraft to observe the crossing of the Chindwin. Fergusson had been critical of Wingate in January, describing him as a liar, but he continued to believe in the man. “Wingate was sometimes wrong in small things but never in big.' When Wingate met Fergusson he showed up with an entourage of war correspondents, trying to publicize the Chindits activities. He began talking to them of a new fad he came across, turtle eggs which he declared provided singular nourishment. Like so many of Wingate's eccentric ideas, no one favored it. Turtles' eggs were found to be no more appetizing than those of any other reptile, and in fact many of the Chindits experienced stomach pains and other digestive problems after eating them. Then Fergusson had to tell Wingate they could not possibly reach Indaw earlier than March 20th. The expectation had been March 5th, thus Wingate was pissed. At the same time, the 1st air commando had performed aerial reconnaissance over the 3 selected locations suitable for bringing gliders, Broadway, Piccadilly and Chowringhee. Yet Wingate had issued strict orders banning any further overflights fearing it would give up their intentions to the Japanese. Despite the warning, Colonel Cochram dispatched a B-25 on March 5th to perform a final look over the sites, giving last minute reports that Broadway and Chowinghee were clear, but it looked like teak logs were sprawled over the Piccadilly site. Since the Piccadilly site seemed unsuitable, Brigadier Calvert persuaded Wingate to send the Gliders into Broadway. On the night of March 5th, the gliders carrying the second wave were flown in. The pathfinder gliders, first to touch down, set out flare pots to facilitate succeeding waves of gliders. However, the field proved far less accessible than expected. For many years, the local people had logged teak and during the wet season, slid the huge logs across the ground down to a river. Over time the technique gouged deep ruts that elephant grass covered, making the trenches invisible to aerial photographs or reconnaissance. Co-commander of the 1st air commando group John Richardson Alison recalled "They formed perfect glider traps, and there was no way to avoid them. The gliders arrived overhead in large numbers, and when a glider starts down there is no way to stop it. As each one hit the trenches the landing gears would come off and the gliders would go in a heap. We tried to arrange the lights to spread the gliders all over the field to avoid collisions, but this was impossible. They were coming in too fast to change directions, and glider after glider piled into each other while landing.” The next day the gliders landed successfully on Chowringhee and the airstrip was completed by nightfall. Meanwhile transports began to bring Calverts 77th brigade, followed by Brigadiers Lentaigne's 111th brigade. By the 11th, the fly in was complete, now 9250 Chindits were landed on Broadway and Chowringhee. The Chindits then began their advance east to hit the Lashio-Bahmo-Myitkyina motor supply line. Trekking from Chowringhee, Morris Force Columns headed north-east, to cut the Bhamo-Myitkyina road, as 111 Brigade's British Battalions marched south from Broadway to link up with other elements flown into Chowringhee. Their job was to stop Indaw being reinforced from the south. Thus, 111th Brigade set up ambushes and roadblocks south of Indaw although part of the brigade which landed at Chowringhee was delayed in crossing the Irrawaddy River, before moving west to Pinlebu. Broadway was held with a garrison that included field artillery, anti-aircraft guns and some six Spitfires that would successfully repel a Ki-43 attack on March 13. Meanwhile Calvert's columns advanced over the railway towards Henu, where they would establish the White City stronghold, roughly 20 miles north of Indaw. Columns were directed to demolish bridges and railroads around the Kadu, Mawhun and Pinwe stations. It was a long and gruesome march over some very tough terrain. For example, it took Column 45, bringing up the Brigade's rear, nine days to cover the first 35 miles, to Hkalak Ga. They set out again on February 22nd. By this time, the men were tiring of K-rations, which gave calories but no bulk. Smoking was confined to lunch and evening bivouacs. The Leicesters were in the lead and reached the Chindwin on February 29th. Meanwhile, 45 Recce's columns, still in the rear, reached the Chindwin during the afternoon of Saturday March 4. It had taken them 21 days to cover some of the wildest, toughest country on earth. After successfully crossing the Chindwin, on March 12th Fergusson received orders to seize Indaw's airfield, destroy supply dumps in the area and establish a new Stronghold, to be known as Aberdeen. The Brigade continued south, moving parallel to and west of the railway. Meanwhile Calvert's 5 columns to 5 days to reach Henu. The South Staffords were the first to arrive and the Japanese reacted before they could dig in – they would have to fight for the Block. were on the alert to resist their incursion. In the afternoon of 16th, Calvert launched a bayonet charge up Pagoda Hill, with the Chindits soon engaging the Japanese engineers, who were charging down, in a vicious hand-to-hand combat. Eventually, with the assistance of the 1st Air Commando's close support, the Japanese were successfully pushed off the hill and the White City stronghold was established. For the loss of 23 dead and 64 wounded, Calvert's Chindits had killed 42 Japanese and had effectively cut the line of communications supporting the 18th Division far to the north. In the ensuing days, the stronghold would be developed into a fortress, with some airstrips becoming operational by March 21st. The time chosen to drop the Chindits near the 18th Division's line of communications was most embarrassing to General Tanaka. On January 10, Headquarters, 15th Army, had suspended movement of supplies to the 18th Division in order to accumulate stocks for the projected attack on Imphal. Shipment was to resume as soon as the Imphal operation was underway. Then the Chindits cut the rail line, and just when the supply movement was to have resumed, the 18th Division had to start living on what was at hand in north Burma. It was aided by the 56th Division, which shipped about ninety tons of vital supplies to Myitkyina via Bhamo, but Tanaka's supply position was fundamentally compromised by the Chindits fighting along the railway to north Burma. On the 18th Calvert's force took a large night drop, including wire and entrenching tools. They slaved away to turn the Block into a fortress. The parachutes festooned across the forest canopy gave the Block its popular name – White City – soon a maze of slit trenches and bunkers roofed with heavy timbers. White City, with its commanding position, became a powerful concentration of force, with Calvert's three Battalions steadily reinforced. The Block grew a heavily wired perimeter and a garrison strong enough to raise a substantial force for mobile action. Calvert regarded White City as “ideally situated around a series of hills about 30ft to 50ft high, with numerous small valleys in between, with water at the north and south. I brought the village of Henu into our defended area, so that we would have a good field of fire across the paddy to the south. I also brought into the perimeter what we called ‘OP Hill', a feature slightly higher than our own little hills, to give us good observation. Our perimeter was now about 1,000 yards long, mostly along the railway, and 800 yards deep.” Calvert now had 2,000 men inside the Block, with mobile “floater” columns operating to north and south, together with a sizeable force protecting Broadway. He called in air strikes to punish a Japanese force at nearby Mawlu. Meanwhile the 15th Army's staff were beginning to panic. Many of the officers were beginning to see the paint on the wall and were calling for the Imphal offensive to be abandoned. General Mutaguchi refused to give up and instead directed some troops to thwart the Chindits. To do this a reserve battalion was taken from the 15th, 18th, 33rd and 56th divisions and redirected to Indaw while Colonel Yanagisawa Hiroshi's 67th regiment moved over to Napin. Major General Hayashi Yoshihide's 24th independent mixed brigade was ordered to advance north along with some units of the 2nd division who would open a new HQ at Indaw by March 25th. Further behind the lines, the 53rd division led by Lieutenant-General Kono Etsujiro were directed to rush north to engage the enemy as fast as possible. All of this was still a diversion from the main effort against Imphal and it basically helped Stilwell's operations. To aid the war effort the IJA air force were also stepping up their game. On march 18th, a KI-43 raid managed to destroy some Spitfires grounded at broadway. William 'Babe' Whitamore and Alan M Peart managed to get airborne, with both shooting down one 'Oscar' each. Whitamore was shot down and killed but Peart survived for over half an hour, holding off over 20 enemy fighters. The remaining Spitfires were destroyed on the ground for the loss of another pilot, Lt Coulter. Peart flew back to Kangla the same day in his damaged Spitfire and reported the action. The following day, Fergusson's footsore columns finally neared Manhton village and prepared to establish the Aberdeen Stronghold. After an appalling final leg of their terrible march into Burma, with progress reduced at some points to 100 yards per hour, the 16th Brigade elements finally reached Aberdeen clearing, some 60 miles west of Broadway Stronghold. The Aberdeen clearing was at Manhton, just east of the Meza River and 25 miles from the railway supplying the Japanese 18th Division, fighting Stilwell's Chinese troops, and the 56th Division, opposing the Yunnan Chinese. Aberdeen took in three villages: Manhton, Kalat and Naunghmi. Aberdeen's site had a lot of advantages. It was only two days' march from Indaw and 14 miles from the Indaw-Banmauk road. The dominant feature was a hill at the northern end, where the permanent garrison would be quartered. There were, however, some drawbacks – mainly the fact that, as Fergusson himself acknowledged, it was “highly accessible” to the enemy. The 16th brigade were exhausted and needed rest, the planned attack against Indaw would have to be delayed. To the south, on the 21st the Japanese launched a major night attack against White City. The battle was ferocious, Calvert's Chindits managed to successfully repel numerous attacks for over 8 hours until the Japanese finally pulled back. The Japanese suffered an estimated 300 deaths, the Chindits also suffered heavy losses. In the White City perimeter, men took solace from the companionship of the animals sharing their hardships. A pony gave birth to a foal during a Japanese attack and murderous mortar barrage. The foal was named “Minnie” after a nearby mortar post. In another attack, Minnie was kicked in the eye by a panic-stricken mule. They fought to save the eye and Brigadier Mike Calvert ordered regular reports of Minnie's progress to be circulated to all forward positions. When recovered, Minnie took to “doing the rounds” of the mortar positions, on the scrounge for tea – which she drank from a pint pot. Minnie survived White City and further battles and went on to enjoy a distinguished military career as the Lancashire Fusiliers' mascot. Minnie got out to India, traveled to Britain and subsequently joined the Regiment on a tour of duty in Egypt. On the 23rd, leading elements of Brigadier Thomas Brodies 14th brigade began to arrive to Aberdeen with the task of blocking the Indaw-Banmauk road. At the same time, the 111th Brigade's columns were ordered to stop Japanese movements along the Pinlebu-Pinbon. The advance on Indaw may have been compromised inadvertently by the movements of 111 Brigade. One of its British Battalions, the Cameronian's, moved in a wide sweep west of Indaw, crossed the Banmauk road on the 22nd, with orders to cut the Indaw-Homalu road. They bumped into a Japanese patrol at night and their two wounded were flown out by light aircraft the next day. The men became hardened to the realities of jungle warfare against the Japanese, who fought to the death. Some columns were luckier than others regarding their supply drops. The King's Own columns had a reputation for being unlucky. During the 21-23, three successive attempts to re-supply them failed. Already, the columns were heavily reliant on food purchased in villages. Wingate then visited Bernard Fergusson at Aberdeen. Fergusson wanted to rest 16 Brigade after its exhausting march in but Wingate told him to press on to Indaw before it could be reinforced. Unfortunately, however, the Japanese had already accomplished this. The 16th brigade departed Aberdeen on the 24th, heading south to Auktaw, drawing closer to the heavily-reinforced Indaw. Between them were strongpoints at Thetkegyin village. This part of the country was quite dry and the Japanese controlled all the water sources, thus the Chindits would be forced to fight to drink. Despite successfully blocking the Indaw-Banmauk road, most of Fergussons columns would get sucked into heavy fighting around Thetkegyin on the 26th. Only the 2nd Leicester's columns 17 and 71 made it to Indaw, holding a toehold grimly until they were ordered to pull back. After 5 intense days of fighting, Fergusson ordered his men to withdraw and regroup at Aberdeen. Back on the 24th, Wingate flew down to Broadway and White City on a morale-boosting mission to 77 Brigade. After a side trip to Aberdeen, he flew back to Broadway and then on to Imphal. This would be the last time Calvert ever saw him. Wingate flew back to Imphal, landing at 6:23pm before taking off again at 8pm for Hailakandi airfield. Half an hour later the B-25 crashed into the Naga hills due west of Imphal near the village of Thilon. Cochran dispatched a special force to search for the crash and they found it the next day. Everyone inside the B-25 had died instantly. Investigators believed the crash could have occurred from freak weather, engine failure or pilot error. But since it was Wingate, there was an air of reluctance to accept it was just an accident. An official investigation concluded it had been the result of engine failure and that the pilot unsuccessfully tried to return to Imphal. Yet other theories emerged and were tested out. Sabotage was the first, but it was ruled out because the B-25 had been closely guarded at all times and nobody knew Wingates intentions or flight plans. Thunderstorms and turbulence were cited as plausible, but all pilots in the area confirmed no thunderstorms. General Slim opted for extreme turbulence, even though the pilots' testimony also ruled that out. ‘The wreckage was eventually found on the reverse side of a ridge, so that it was unlikely that the aircraft had flown into the hill. The most probable explanation is that it had suddenly entered one of those local storms of extreme turbulence so frequent in the area. These were difficult to avoid at night, and once in them an aeroplane might be flung out of control, or even have its wings torn off.' Another theory had it that the B-25's cluster bombs had broke loose from the bay's rolled into the fuselage and detonated. Given, well how Wingate was, many in the Indian army rejoiced at his death, some quoted Shakepears Macbeth ‘Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.' Mountbatten wrote to his wife Edwina ‘I cannot tell you how much I am going to miss Wingate. Not only had we become close personal friends but he was such a fire-eater, and it was such a help to me having a man with a burning desire to fight. He was a pain in the neck to the generals over him, but I loved his wild enthusiasm and it will be difficult for me to try to inculcate it from above.' General Slim had this to write on Wingate “With him, contact had too often been collision, for few could meet so stark a character without being violently attracted or repelled. To most he was either prophet or adventurer. Very few could regard him dispassionately; nor did he care to be so regarded. I once likened him to Peter the Hermit preaching his Crusade. I am sure that many of the knights and princes that Peter so fierily exhorted did not like him very much – but they went crusading all the same. The trouble was, I think, that Wingate regarded himself as a prophet, and that always leads to a single-centredness that verges on fanaticism, with all his faults. Yet had he not done so, his leadership could not have been so dynamic, nor his personal magnetism so striking.” And so went Wingate, probably one of the most colorful characters of the Pacific War. In light of Wingates death, General Slim promoted Lentaigne to Major-General and appointed him the new commander of the 3rd Division. Slim, had loose operational control over Special Force, selected Brigadier Lentaigne to be Wingate's replacement after conferring with Brigadier Derek Tulloch, Wingate's Chief of Staff. Lentaigne was judged to be the most balanced and experienced commander in the force; he had been an instructor at the Staff College at Quetta, had led a Gurkha battalion with distinction during the grueling retreat from Burma in 1942 and had commanded a Chindit brigade in the field. As an officer of Gurkha troops, he had a similar outlook and background to Slim. The other Chindit brigade commanders were unknown quantities, mostly without staff qualifications, some of whom had never even commanded a battalion-sized unit in combat before 1944, and Wingate's staff officers lacked the necessary combat experience. The force's second-in-command, Major General George Symes, was bypassed by Slim and formally protested and asked to be relieved. In selecting Lentaigne, Slim did not take into account the tensions between those Chindit commanders and staff who were closely associated with Wingate, and Lentaigne, who had a classical "line" officer's background and had been critical of Wingate's methods and techniques. The loss of Wingate caused significant damage to the Chindits, it was as if they lost their persona. The month following Wingate's death, the 14th, 16th and 111th Brigades appeared to lack direction. They stayed around Indaw, ambushing the Japanese but with no major objective. As Slim, noted, "The immediate sense of loss that struck like a blow, even those who had differed most from him—and I was not one of these- was a measure of the impact he had made. He had stirred up everyone with whom he had come in contact. " At Broadway, for instance, after days of aerial attack, the 2nd Battalion, 146th Regiment stormed across the airstrip on March 27th and attacked its lightly defended western perimeter. Thankfully, the attack was repulsed, partly due to superior numbers. Three days of hard fighting at Broadway then ended with counterattacks and concentrated airstrikes finally dislodging the enemy. Though the Japanese regrouped, they were again pushed back by counterattacks supported by airstrikes in the end. Meanwhile, White City's defenses were strengthened. The Dakota brought over four 25 pounders, six Bofors anti-aircraft guns and four two-pounder anti-tank guns. This would allow Calvert to attack Mawlu on the 27th. As a result, the village was successfully taken and burnt out with flamethrowers, with the Chindits then reducing the remaining Japanese strongpoints. By the end of March, however, several major changes were made at the highest level. Much of the air support was diverted to the critical battles of Imphal and Kohima, where troops were cut off and could only be resupplied by air. The 23rd Brigade, yet to fly in, was also dispatched to Kohima. Finally, the Chindits were formally subordinated to General Stilwell, who ordered them to abandon their dispersed operations around Indaw and concentrate on interdicting the supply lines to the Japanese forces opposing his troops. In early April, while the 3rd West African Brigade and the remainder of Brodie's 14th Brigade were being brought in to Aberdeen, Lentaigne ordered the 111th Brigade led by Major John Masters to advance north and build the new Blackpool stronghold, which would block the railway and main road at Hopin. To Calvert's disgust, he was ordered to abandon White City and Broadway and move north to support the new stronghold, as Lentaigne insisted that the Chindit brigades were too far apart to support each other. But that is all for today in the Burma front as we now need to head over to Bougainville. The counterattack on Bougainville shifted on March 15th. General Kanda noticed Iwasa and Muda's Units were struggling to break through in their areas, so he changed the point of attack for the Magata Unit. He withdrew the bulk of the forces from Hills 700 and 260, sending them westward in preparation for a final attempt to break through towards the Piva airfields. The reserve 6th cavalry regiment was sent to reinforce Mugata's rear while the 2nd battalion, 4th South Seas Garrison was brought forward to try and contain the Americans at the Saua river mouth. Thus, there was a five-day break in the major action while the Japanese transferred the 13th and 23rd Regiments to reinforce what was left of Colonel Mugata's 45th Regiment. At this time the Japanese maintained patrols, which sometimes got into firefights with American patrols. A number of Japanese were taken prisoner during these patrol actions. From time to time the Japanese would lob mortar shells into the 129th's sector. During this lull in the fighting, the tired American riflemen and engineers were busy strengthening the defenses. Pillboxes were rebuilt, tactical wire reestablished, illuminating devices installed, communications improved, and the many Japanese dead buried. Information gained from prisoners and reconnaissance led General Beightler to conclude that the Japanese would launch a major assault on March 23rd. It was estimated that General Kanda had approximately 4850 men at his disposal to renew the attack on the 129th's front. Meanwhile the American artillery was smashing the South Knob who were now only being defended by a screening force. On the 18th, General McCulloch launched a final combined assault against the Knob. Companies A and B of the 132nd regiment performed a enveloping maneuver and enjoyed some initial success until they came upon heavy fire from Japanese bunkers. At 2:10pm the next day the attack resumed, this time successfully destroying several pillboxes, but the Americans were halted short of the crest. On the 20th, Company B was reinforced with a platoon from A and they circled the south end of the Knob, reaching the base of the trail going east. There they discovered the Japanese could pour down just as much fire, seeing another failed attack. Because of this failure it was decided to leave the reduction of Hill 260 to artillery and mortars. On the 23rd, the Iwasa and Muda units had completed their movement, now 4850 troops were concentrated on the northern sector ready to perform a major assault. Having been forewarned by the captured documents, the American forces were expecting the attack. The Americans unleashed a heavy artillery bombardment against Magata's assault forces as they were forming up, disrupting their initial advance and causing massive casualties. Late in the evening, Kanda launched his own assault, with General Iwara's 2nd battalion, 23rd regiment and 2nd battalion, 13th regiment through Cox Creek followed by Muda's men. Advancing under darkness, the Japanese surprised the Americans and managed to knock out 3 pillboxes under heavy fire. The area of attack was so narrow, artillery and air strikes could not be performed safely, so General Beightler ordered the 148th regiment to respond with a combined tank-infantry assault. With the support of Sherman's the Americans stormed the Japanese positions at 7:25am successfully reoccupying must of their lost territory within only 20 minutes. The Japanese tossed further attacked but were being gradually pushed from the narrow area by noon. During the afternoon, General Kreber's corp and divisional artillery began concentrating their fire on a very narrow sector where the bulk of the surviving Japanese were dug in. An infantryman of the 129th recalled: “All these big guns opened fire into this area about 500 yards in front of us, and I remember what they called a million dollar barrage and it's something you never forget–the big guns shooting over your head. It was very frightening because you wondered whether one of these shells would not go far enough. It was all jungle out in front of us and when they got done it was all cleared out. They had knocked everything down. A lot of Japs were killed by this… I can remember the day after the big attack the bulldozers came in and dug these huge trenches and we had to go out and take the Japanese and drag them into these. Because of the warm weather they began to smell pretty bad. Many, many killed!” It was the heaviest artillery concentration seen as of yet during the Pacific War. It completely disrupted the Magata unit, causing tremendous casualties. The 2nd Battalion, 45th Regiment were completely disorganized; the 1st and 3rd Battalions were reduced to 20 men; the 1st Battalion, 81st Regiment were reduced to 40 men; and the 3rd Battalion, 53rd Regiment were down to 100 men. The massive losses forced the Japanese to withdraw. General Hyakutake now realized his counteroffensive was a failure and forced to call it off. The Japanese were in full retreat by the 28th. The Magata force, with an estimated strength of over fifteen hundred men, utilized the Numa Numa Trail and withdrew toward the northern part of Bougainville. The remnants of the Iwasa and Muda forces, covered by reinforcements from the 4th South Seas Garrison unit and the 6th Cavalry Regiment, moved quickly along a number of trails to the relative safety of southern Bougainville. The units of the 17th Infantry Group returned to northern Bougainville and rejoined its parent unit. On the 28th, the 182nd regiment found the South Knob abandoned and finally secured Hill 260. The three-week battle for the rather insignificant knoll had cost the Americans 98 deaths and 581 wounded, counting 560 dead Japanese on the knob. Total casualties for the final Japanese counteroffensive on Bougainville would be 263 American dead and over 2489 Japanese bodies counted. In reality, Hyakutake's 17th Army lost a total of 3000 killed and 4000 wounded in their March operations, including 2398 killed and 3060 wounded from the 6th Division. General Beightler expressed the feelings of many in stating that the beating administered to the 6th Division was a partial repayment for its role in the rape of Nanking in 1937. Although the Japanese would plan another concentrated assault on Allied positions later down the line, they would never again launch a major attack. For all practical purposes, the battle for the Solomons was now over. Now we need to jump over to the Southwest Pacific. As a result of the Admiralty Islands being invaded a month ahead of schedule. Yet General MacArthur kept his gaze on the development in the Central Pacific. He needed to pick up the pace if he wanted to win the race, so he planned to carry out the invasion of Kavieng, bypassing the Hansa Bay area with a direct jump to Holland before the end of April. General Sutherland gave the Joint Chiefs an outline calling for the Southwest Pacific forces to move into the Hollandia area with two divisions on April 15, supported by the Pacific Fleet. Air, naval, and logistic bases would be established at Hollandia to support subsequent Southwest Pacific advances northwest to the Geelvink Bay region of Dutch New Guinea. The Southwest Pacific forces would then move to Geelvink Bay about June. In the middle of the next month, according to General Sutherland's presentation, three Southwest Pacific divisions would be sent against the Arafura Sea islands, southwest of Dutch New Guinea. There, air bases would be established from which to cover later advances to the Vogelkop Peninsula and Halmahera, both scheduled for mid-September, when Central Pacific forces might be ready to move to the Palaus. If the Marianas were bypassed, however, the Palaus might then be invaded as early as mid-July. Land-based aircraft of the Southwest Pacific Area could support a July invasion of the Palaus from air bases in the Hollandia and Geelvink Bay regions. If air bases on the Vogelkop, Halmahera, and the Arafura Sea islands proved inadequate to provide left flank protection for the move into the Philippines, then airdrome sites on Ambon Island might also be seized in September or October. The entry into the Philippines would be effected at southeastern Mindanao on 15 November 1944. Yet for all of this, MacArthur needed something he did not have, the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers. After concluding the Marshall islands campaign, Admiral Nimitz argued that the next move would be to bypass Truk and invade the southern Marianas and the Palaus islands to further neutralize the Carolines. To seize the Philippines a good fleet base would be required in the western Pacific. Nimitz proposed seizing Ulithi atoll, around midway between the Marianas and Palaus. Nimitz also argued the case for Woleai in the Carolines, 400 miles south of the Marianas. By early March, the Joint Chiefs of Staff thus met at the Washington Planning Conferences with Nimitz and Lieutenant-General Richard Sutherland, to hear about their plans and discuss what the best course of action would be. In the end, on March 12th, they issued a new directive for operations in 1944. The Joint Chiefs ordered MacArthur to cancel his Kavieng operation and instead to complete the neutralization of Rabaul and Kavieng with minimum forces necessary. The Southwest Pacific's forces were to jump from eastern New Guinea to Hollandia on April 15, thus bypassing Wewak and Hansa Bay, with the mission to develop an air center from which heavy bombers could start striking the Palaus and Japanese air bases in western New Guinea and Halmahera. Once Hollandia was secured, MacArthur was to conduct operations northwest along the northern New Guinea coast in preparation for the invasion of the Palaus and Mindanao. The target date for the Southwest Pacific's landing on Mindanao in the Philippines was set for November 15. Admiral Nimitz, in turn, was ordered to cancel his Truk operation and to speed the aerial neutralization of Truk, Woleai, and other Japanese bases in the central and eastern Carolines. He was also directed to conduct heavy carrier strikes against the Marianas, the Carolines and the Palaus, and to provide carrier support and amphibious means for the Southwest Pacific's landings in the Hollandia area. The Marianas would be occupied by Central Pacific forces beginning in mid June and Palaus by mid September. The Joint Chiefs, were looking to extend Allied control over the eastern approaches to the Philippines and Formosa and to secure air and naval bases from which to support operations against Mindanao, Formosa, and the China coast. The invasion of the Admiralty and Green Islands led the Americans to seize full control over the South Pacific. This allowed the US Navy to begin sending destroyers to harass the Japanese at Rabaul and Kavieng. Admiral Halsey at Guadalcanal assembled an invasion force to hit Kavieng. When he heard about the decision to cancel the Kavieng invasion, he searched for another task for the boys he got together. He decided to capture the Emirau island, lying halfway between Kavieng and the Admiralties, thinking it could be the last link to strangle Rabaul. For what would be the last operation of Cartwheel, Admiral Wilkinson put Commodore Reifsneider in command of the amphibious operation and assigned Lieutenant-Colonel Alan Shapley's 4th Marines to carry out the landing. As a preliminary, Admiral Griffin's Task Force 36, formed around four battleships and two escort carriers, also bombarded Kavieng and its nearby airfields on March 20th. The bombardment gave Rear-Admiral Tamura Ryukichi the impression that the expected invasion by Allied forces was imminent and he gave the order to kill all the European prisoners in Kavieng. At least 25 of them were executed in the Kavieng Wharf Massacre, which later led to six of the perpetrators being sentenced for war crimes in 1947. Sentenced to death by hanging, Tamura was executed at Stanley Prison on March 16, 1948. Meanwhile Reifsneider's convoy departed Guadalcanal in two echelons, successfully reached the unoccupied Emirau Island at 6:05am. The Marines of the two assault battalions, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 4th Marines, traveled on nine high speed transports while the remainder of the force were on the dock landing ships, Epping Forest, Gunston Hall and Lindenwald, and the attack transport Callaway. One LSD carried the 66 LVTs for crossing Emirau's fringing reef, one carried three LCTs, two of them loaded with tanks, and the third carried three LCTs with radar sets and anti-aircraft guns. The LVTs were launched, and the assault troops transferred to the amphibious tractors using the APDs' boats, supplemented by those from Callaway while F4U Corsairs of VMF-218 flew overhead to make a last-minute check of the island for any signs of the Japanese. The assault waves touched down on schedule. The reserve 3rd Battalion's boats grounded on the reef soon afterwards, and its marines waded ashore through knee deep water. The only problem encountered was with launching the LCTs carrying the tanks. The LSD's flooding mechanism failed and the LCTs had to be dragged out by a fleet tug. While the detachment sent to occupy Elomusao Island was approaching the beach, some supposed opposition caused the amphibious tractors and then a destroyer to open fire, and a man was wounded by a shell fragment. After all of this…well the Marines were told by the natives the Japanese had left Emirau two months before and only a small detachment remained on Mussau Island. Thus 3727 troops and 844 tons of cargo were ashore by nightfall, when the ships sailed; and within a month, some 18,000 men and 44,000 tons of supplies had been landed and it had become a motor torpedo base that could keep watch on the north coast of New Ireland. As for the Japanese Admiral Koga was planning to carry out a desperate program of reorganization, including the creation of the Mobile Fleet. Admiral Ozawa's 1st Mobile Fleet was formed by the 2nd and 3rd Fleets; consisting of most of the IJN's warships. This would leave the combined fleet as a mere administrative organization. Land-based forces in the Central Pacific were expanded, their main base was at Tinian; Saipan was fortified and it became the new fleet HQ. Fuel shortages and loss of tankers to submarine attacks had become so severe, Admiral Ozawa's new command would have to remain within the Singapore zone. They would operate close to the Dutch East Indies oilfield and within Japanese waters for training. Koga also prepared a new defensive plan, with the inner perimeter now extending from the Kuriles to the Nanpo Islands, then the Marianas and the Carolines to the west end of New Guinea. He also drew up plans for the formation of a 3rd Aircraft Carrier Fleet, in three divisions, each composed of three carriers. It looked very impressive on paper, but the reality was that the 3rd division actually consisted of two converted tankers the Zuiho and Chitose and the converted naval auxiliary ship Chiyoda. Furthermore, the carriers lacked any experienced pilots, with most of them having been lost around Rabaul and in the Solomons and Marshalls. Thus, new pilots for the three carrier divisions would have to be trained. Finally, he developed Plan Z, a strike against the American fleet the moment it entered the Philippine Sea. For this decisive battle, that in his eyes could allow the Japanese to win an “honorable peace”, Koga wanted to be prepared to use 500 planes on the carriers and another 500 on the islands, so he needed to increase the Japanese air force by about 50%, something that would be hard to achieve. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. And with that the South Pacific was liberated from the Japanese Empire. Operation Cartwheel was effectively done. The allies were squeezing the Japanese empire back to the home islands and honestly it was a good time to negotiate a peace on the side of the Japanese. But they would not do so, always on the search for the famed decisive victory.
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Clement Leone stands in the war room, that is filled with many memories and mementos, at his home in Lake Heritage. He is wearing the Legion of Honor award which he received at the French Embassy in Washington D.C. (Darryl Wheeler/Gettysburg Times) This interview of Clem Leone was conducted at his home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania by John Fenzel and his son Luke, on June 16, 2018. At the time of this interview, Clem was 94 years old. The following narrative is derived from multiple sources, detailed at the end of this post. Many of the photos of awards, models and artifacts were taken at his home. Major Clement “Clem” Leone US Army Air Force B24 Liberator Radio Operator 2nd Air Division/445th Bomb Group/700th Squadron POW - Stalag Luft IV Poland Nov. '44 – May ‘45 Clem Leone was born in Baltimore in 1924. He had two brothers and three sisters and one of his brothers served in the Merchant Marines during WW II. I asked Clem what he remembered of growing up during the Great Depression. “It was tough makin' a living. Not enough food to eat.” Clem had a step father who was a railroad telegrapher. “He made an above average salary for the time, but even so, we had to scrounge everywhere we could to get food.” Clem attended Southern High School, loved his experience, and characterized himself as a nerd. “I went there to learn and I graduated with honors.” When the war broke out Clem was 17. He wanted to enlist but his mother wouldn't let him. “When they started drafting 18 year olds she let me go.” Clem enlisted in November of '42. The Army gave him several tests to identify his skills which would then be used to determine his military occupation. Clem did well on the radio test and had he had the option of radio school or auto and truck mechanic school. Clem had already taken auto shop in high school so he figured he should learn something else and he selected radio school. Clem headed to Fort Pickett in Virginia and then to Miami Florida for basic training. At the time the Army needed radio operators so badly that they shortened his basic training and sent him to radio school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. There he spent 13 weeks having “morse code pounded into you.” Clem wanted to fly and after passing a physical for flying he went to gunnery school to learn every weapon on the aircraft. The training was primitive but creative for the time and the technology available. Next stop for Clem was Boise, Idaho where the gunners were teamed with a pilot, co-pilot, engineer and bombardier. There were a total of 10 in the crew for the B24 Liberator. The crew was sent to Sioux Falls where they practiced formation flying and Clem was assigned primary responsibility for the radio and secondary responsibility for the upper machine gun turret. In November of '43 they left for Europe. They headed for England via Brazil and then to the Ascension Islands. “The Ascension Islands were a tiny speck in the middle of the ocean. My thought right away was, the Navigator just got out of cadet training. I hope he learned his lessons.” The Navigator got them to the Ascension Islands where they had Thanksgiving dinner while they plane was serviced. They then flew to Africa and then to Tibenham, England. Clem was in the 700th Squadron and Jimmy Stewart was a pilot in the 701st Squadron. One day Jimmy Stewart needed a radio operator to go on a training flight so he could check out a new pilot. Clem volunteered. “He was very strict. You never would have guessed he was a movie star celebrity.” The crew's first flight in December '43 was a training mission to get accustomed to a new pilot. During the flight, the number 4 engine caught fire and they were able to extinguish the flames. The pilot was looking to make an emergency landing when the number 1 engine caught fire. The pilot hit the bail out button and the crew ejected. Clem didn't get out of the plane until they were at 800 feet, and he hit the ground so hard he broke his leg. All but the pilot made it out alive. On February 4th of 1944 they had their first mission that took then into Frankfurt, Germany. They loaded onto their plane, the “Wacky Donald” and headed for Germany. Clem recalled the flight was uneventful, with lots of flack but no Nazi fighter planes. They arrived at their target, dropped their bombs, and started to make their turn to head back to England. One of the planes in the formation above the Wacky Donald had one bomb stuck in its bomb bay and when it released it hit the number two engine on the Wacky Donald. Clem looked at the window to find a huge hole in the wing. This forced them to drop out of formation and head back to Tibenham at a much slower speed than the rest of the formation. The pilot ordered the crew to throw all non-essential equipment, including all but 50 rounds per machine gun, out of the bomb bay to lighten the plane to maintain their altitude. They were 5 to 6 hours from home. Clem (lower left) with his crew. Top center is Lt. Robert Blomberg, an up and comer with the 445th Bomb Group who died at the controls when his ship blew up. Others in the crew were also KIA. Notable in this team photo is the small man next to Blomberg, Lt. Donald Widmark, co-pilot and brother of future actor Richard Widmark. The co-pilot would grab a parachute and leave Blomberg behind 75 years ago today. Clem's personal rule was to stay with the ship as long as the officers did, but when he saw Widmark bail out, he said, “It was time for this guy to go.” The plane and crew limped home and didn't hit any resistance until they received heavy flack over the coast of France just before they headed over the English Channel. The plane dropped to about 4,000 feet and then received a radio transmission, “fighters at 6 o'clock.” Two ME-109 were closing on the Wacky Donald. Clem was in the upper gun turret and swung the guns around and took aim at the ME-109's. Another transmission blared “fighters at 12 o'clock.” Clem pivoted to 12 o'clock and saw a wonderful sight; two British Spitfires. “Boy, they were beautiful.” The Spitfires took out one of the Nazi planes and one of the Spitfires chased the other ME-109 back to France. The Wacky Donald continued back to their air field and Clem recalled, “The White Cliffs of Dover….man they were beautiful!”. The runway came into sight, but the excitement wasn't over. The pilot said “I have to put us into a dive to get enough speed to land. Put the landing gear into the down position and just pray they lock.” Their prayers were answered, and the pilot got them home in one piece. “None of us were hurt, but we did a lot of sweating.” With two near misses under his belt Clem flew 4 more missions into Germany and France without incident. With D-Day looming, Operation Argument was developed. The objective was sustained and heavy bombing of aviation related targets in Germany. This was also known as “Big Week”. The crew of the "Wacky Donald" received orders to bomb a ball bearing plant in Gotha Germany, 145 miles west of Dresden. “That was a long flight.” The 20 plane formation took off on February 24 '44. While making their way to the target they came under attack by the Luftwaffe using Fokker 190's. The enemy aircraft unleashed a barrage of incendiary rockets directly at the aft section of the "Wacky Donald." Clem was on the radio when he heard a tremendous explosion and saw flames begin to consume the plane. Amidst the chaos and the 200-mile-per-hour slipstream, Clem gripped the barrels of the top turret machine gun, a desperate attempt to maintain some semblance of control. He looked around and found the tail gunner dead and half hanging out of the plane and one of the waist gunners dead in his position. The other waist gunner was wounded but managed to eject. The ball turret gunner came up to escape the fire, but he had to go back and retrieve his parachute leaving Clem and the Engineer to fight the flames with the fire extinguishers. That proved to be pointless as massive amounts of hydraulic fluid fed the flames. In a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, Clem's dire circumstances took a dramatic turn. The co-pilot climbed over Clem and exited the plane through the upper hatch and bailed out. Clem's theory was, “if the pilot or the co-pilot leaves, it's time for this boy to go.” Later Clem learned that 13 of the 20 planes in his formation were shot down. The engulfing fire reached the wing tanks, triggering a catastrophic explosion that instantly transformed the night sky. The force of the blast was so intense that it rendered Technical Sgt. Leone unconscious and propelled him clear of the disintegrating aircraft, setting him on a terrifying free-fall towards the earth below. Plummeting from an altitude of perhaps 10,000 feet, Clem was unconscious, his body hurtling down at a speed that should have guaranteed a fatal outcome upon impact. However, fate had other plans for the feisty airman. In a miraculous twist of events, Clem regained consciousness mid-fall, his face covered in blood, yet his mind startlingly clear. With death staring him in the face, he managed to summon his wits, frantically searching for the orange metal ring on his chest that stood between life and certain death. With a decisive yank, Clem pulled the ring, deploying his parachute and transitioning from a deathly free-fall to a controlled descent. Despite his injuries, including fractured ribs sustained upon impact, Clem survived the ordeal, a testament to his incredible resilience and presence of mind in the face of overwhelming adversity. This harrowing experience not only showcased Clem's indomitable spirit but also marked the beginning of an extraordinary tale of survival against all odds. Clem put on his parachute and climbed through the upper hatch. At this point the plane was still flying 240 mph and Clem had to hold on to the two upper guns to keep from blowing off. The plane was being consumed by flames and Clem was trying to decide how to exit the plane without getting caught in the spinning props or being thrown into the big double tail in the rear. “While I was contemplating what to do apparently the ship exploded because I found myself at 14,000 feet without an airplane.” Clem knew he was over enemy territory, and his mind was spinning on how to avoid capture. His chute opened without a problem and he could see below that there was a pond and he was headed straight into it. “Well wouldn't you know it, I got out of the plane safely and here I am going to land in this pond and drown because I can't swim.” Luckily, he remembered his training on how to use his cords to direct his landing. At about 8,000 feet he saw a crowd of civilians running toward him. Now he remembered being told that German civilians would kill American pilots because they were told they were gangsters. Clem made sure to pull his legs up so he wouldn't break them and instead broke three ribs and hurt his back. With the crowd rapidly approaching, Clem pulled out his sidearm to try and defend himself. He could hear them yelling, “Hollander, Hollander!” He then realized he wasn't in Germany but rather occupied Netherlands. Clem motioned them to come closer and tried to use his language card to speak Dutch but to no avail. They brought Clem to a farmhouse and gave him a slice of bread with some jelly and a drink. Clem didn't know what to expect so he gave the Dutch his firearm in case he was captured. Better the Dutch to have it than the Nazi's. Then came a knock at the door and it was a member of the German Home Guard; A Dutch citizen in a Nazi uniform who said, “you are my prisoner. For you the war is over.” Clem was led down a road by the Home Guard followed by the Dutch villagers. Clem was directed to enter a civilian camp, but the Dutch were yelling, “no, other way!” A 17 year old ran up to Clem and said “come” and he began running. Without thinking Clem took off with him. At the same time the Dutch villagers handled the guard. “They beat the daylights out of him!” They ran into the woods and took Clem to a camouflaged underground bunker just big enough for a cot and a bucket for a latrine. They told him to stay put and they would be back as soon as the Nazi's stopped looking for him. A few days later they returned with a doctor. The doctor taped his ribs and gave him some pain killers and the Dutch brought him some food. Clem was told he would have to stay put until the villagers were able to hand him off to the Dutch underground. He hid in the shelter for a week. One day he heard a truck pull up and was sure the Nazi's had finally found him. Instead, it was the Dutch underground and Clem's luck continued. The underground took him to Amsterdam where a family hid him for a while. They hid him in the attic and sometimes closets. In the evenings they took him out for walks. They were trying to arrange to get Clem into France and then over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain and from there to England. The underground thought they had found safe passage and they took Clem and began walking south until they eventually came to a train station, and they handed Clem off to a guide to take him the rest of the way. At the train station a Nazi soldier asked him where the train was headed. Clem was dressed in civilian clothes and had identification papers that identified him as a deaf and dumb accountant from Sumatra. They chose Sumatra because of Clem's Mediterranean complexion and Sumatra was a Dutch possession. They took the train to a farmhouse in southern Holland and then walked to the border of Belgium. At the border they had to time the patrols of the Belgium border guards so they could slip across the border. Once across the border there was a truck waiting for them that took them into Antwerp. Clem was taken to a home where he was hidden for a short time until the underground felt they had another contact that could take him into France. After exchanging pleasantries, the contact started asking Clem about the name of his plane, when he was shot down and who had helped him. Clem made up stories about why he couldn't remember and gave up no information. At that point he was led to a building and was handed over to the Nazi's. After four and a half months Clem was no longer free. It was July of 1944 and he had no idea when the war would be over. I asked Clem what went through his mind at that point. He said, “I thought it was all over.” Clem was put in a prison cell with another American that had been captured, Odell Hooper from Oklahoma. They remained there for about a week until the Nazis had accumulated more Americans. They were then put on a passenger train to an interrogation center. “All that time, all my mom had was the telegram she received telling her I was shot down,” Leone said. “She didn't know whether I was dead or alive.” At the interrogation center they were put into solitary for a week. When Clem was brought before the Nazi interrogation officer he was asked for his name, rank, and serial number. The Nazi, in a very friendly manner said, “Leone. That's Italian. Aren't you fighting for the wrong side?” Clem gave then no information and was sent back to his cell. Next, they were taken by train to Stalag Luft IV located in present day Tychowo, Poland just south of the Baltic Sea. Clem remembered when they stepped off the train they saw a long line of German guards, all very young in age and holding German Shepherds. The Americans were told to run into the POW camp while the guards allowed the dogs to nip at their heels. When Clem's group made it inside the camp the resident POWs told them, “You were lucky. They usually prod you with bayonets.” “The Americans already there said we were lucky,” Leone remembered. “The captain who would prick people with bayonets had just gone on leave.” In eight months, Leone had one shower. Had him and his comrades known about the Jewish concentration camps, he admitted they probably wouldn't have gotten even the one shower so as to avoid being gassed. The camp held mainly allied air crews and most of the guards were from the Luftwaffe. There was a connection between the aircrews which made life a tiny bit more bearable. Clem was led to his cell by an elderly Nazi soldier who told him, “this won't be pleasant but its bearable and you will be able to live through it and you will be able to get to go home.” Clem was offered the opportunity to be placed in the officer's camp as an orderly, but he refused. He wanted to be with the NCO's. The POWs were warned not to cross the warning wire” that extended around the perimeter of the camp. If they stepped across it, they would be shot without warning. Beyond the warning wire there was a series of fences and barbed wire entanglements to make sure no one thought of escape. Food did exist and red Cross parcels were delivered with some regularity and had some nutrition in them. Meals consisted of raw potatoes and bread with sticks in it. Once they were given a block of cheese infested with bugs. To pass the time they walked around the perimeter of the camp, played baseball with make-shift bats and balls, and played football with a make-shift football. The guards inside the camp were elderly and unarmed. The POWs called them ferrets because they were always trying to get information from the POWs to pass along to the camp commandant. The guards in the towers and in the Commandant's barracks were armed. “They were nasty, and they all spoke perfect English.” Bartering in the camp with the guards was a big business. Cigarettes and spam carried high currency. One of the men bartered with a guard for parts to a radio which he built into a functional transistor radio which kept the POWs somewhat informed of the progress of the war. They knew the Allies were winning and that helped with morale. In January of '45 the Allies were advancing into Nazi Territory. The men at the camp could hear artillery in the distance. They thought Liberation could be not far away. The Nazi's decided to evacuate the camp to avoid the Russian troops advancing from the east. They decided to march the camp west. The sick and wounded were transported by train. On February 6, 1945, the remaining men began what would become known as the German Death March. The men were assembled in columns of 4 or 5 across and were forced to march between 5 and 20 miles each day. The men had inadequate clothing to provide them protection from one of Germany's harshest winters on record. Snow and sub-zero temperatures resulted in frost bite and the complete lack of sanitation, food or drink resulted in extreme weight loss, lice, dysentery and in some cases death. Men who could not keep up were escorted by a Nazi soldier into the woods and executed. Sometimes the men were able to sleep in barns but often they slept in open fields exposed to the elements. The march took the POWs through numerous German towns where they were distained by the German citizens who had endured prolonged and devastating Allied bombing. They threw eggs and tomatoes and tried to assault the POWs. They stole eggs for food. At one point, they collected all their cigarettes to trade with a farmer for a pig to roast. They dodged friendly fire from U.S. airplanes that had no way of knowing they were American prisoners. “Survival,” Leone said when asked what was going through his mind during the more than a year he spent in Europe. “How's this gonna end? What are they finally gonna do? Any time you don't have your freedom, I think you'd feel that way. The worst part of it as far as not having your freedom was that week in solitary.” Clem believes the march ended on May 6th, 1945. That day they woke up and found that the guards had disappeared. The POWs wondered what had happened. A short while later they heard engines and soon a British Lorry appeared carrying British soldiers. The number of men thought to have started the march was 6,000+. The total time estimated for the march was 86 days. It is believed the men covered 600+ miles as the Nazi's continually changed direction to avoid the advancing Soviet troops. It is thought that 1,300+ men perished in the harsh winter conditions. No official records were kept making it hard to get precise numbers. Despite the lack of records this forced march is often compared to the Bataan Death March. The British took the POWs clothes and burned them. They deloused the men and gave them plenty of time to take a nice hot shower. Initially they were issued small portions of rations until their digestive systems became accustomed to food again. Clem boarded the ship, The Jonathan Worth for a 13 day voyage home. When they entered New York Harbor they were greeted with pleasure boats “with gals in bikini's and some of them had records playing don't fence me in.” I asked Clem if he remembered seeing the Statute of Liberty. “Oh Yes. That was a wonderful site!” Next, they were taken to Fort Dix and were given a big steak dinner. They were permitted one phone call and Clem called his uncle to come pick him up. Clem arrived back in Baltimore and had a 60 day recuperation furlough. He looked up his high school sweetheart who had waited for him to return and they decided to get married and move to Miami where Clem was scheduled to report back for duty. They were married and before they left on their honeymoon Clem received a letter to be ready to deploy to the Pacific. Fortunately, when he returned from his honeymoon the war was over. Clem went about building his life with a keen sense for making money and advancing. He worked as an auto mechanic, then networked his way into a Pontiac dealership in the service area, became shop foreman and then went into sales and various other roles in the car business. In a chance meeting someone asked him if he had ever considered teaching auto mechanics. He had not but decided to give it a try because it had a pension. Clem ended up teaching high school auto mechanics for 22 years and was beloved by his students. He also stayed in the Army and Air Force Reserves for 33 years reaching the rank of Major. “In my opinion, there are no real heroes in a war,” Leone said from his Mount Joy home in the Lake Heritage development. “There's nothing glorious about war. It's mayhem.” Clem Leone passed away at the age of 98 on Wednesday, September 28, 2022. CLem received France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., and also received the Purple Heart, the POW Award and the Dutch equivalent to the French Legion of Honor. Luke Fenzel with Clem Leone (June 16, 2018) John and Luke Fenzel, with Clem Leone (June 16, 2018) The above narrative was derived from the following sources: Written Account by Walter Schuppe, Avon, CT, (860) 558-1072; walter11_22@yahoo.com "WWII vet, former POW, recalls War as 'Mayhem'," Gettysburg Times Article by Mark Walters, December 6, 2010 "Death for Wacky Donald," by Robert Matzen
Last time we spoke about Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall islands. The allies brought overwhelming power against the Marshalls, unleashing the simultaneous invasions of numerous islands in an attempt to strike at the heart of the island chain at Kwajalein. The horror of the Gilbert Island campaign plagued the minds of the commanders who hoped to thwart such carnage. Airstrikes, naval bombardments and massive amounts of land based artillery smashed the Japanese defenders into submission before amphibious assaults were made. Countless islands such as Roi-Namur fell one by one as the Americans secured places to deploy further artillery to forces the ultimate submission of the defenses on Kwajalein. The casualties were light, but the fight for Kwajalein would soon descend into a bitter struggle, for the Japanese were not going to give up their stronghold without a good fight. This episode is The Fall of Kwajalein Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Operation Flintlock went off with a bang, and was initially a grand success. Aerial bombing, followed by naval bombardment and then land based artillery was smashing the Japanese defenders into submission. One by one the islands were falling into the Americans hands. On the second day of the battle, Roi-Namur, the northern objective was seized. Yet the stronghold of Kwajalein would provide much more of a fight. Back on the morning of January 28th Admiral Frederick Sherman's Task Force 58.3 landed a knockout blow against Kwajalein's airfield. Dawn saw a Hellcat fighter sweep ensure the airfield would not be tossing any further action before the amphibious assault occurred. The next day Sherman's force hit Eniwetok with the same kind of treatment. Sherman's carriers would remain off Eniwetok for 3 days while his aircraft smashed its airfields and ground installations. On the third say not much was left, just heaps of rubble and a few scattered palm trees stripped of their foliage. Sherman's airmen reported “they could not find any targets on the ground or in the lagoon that seemed worth bombing, and the island looked like a desert waste.” The warships came in on the 31st just off Roi and at 6:51am, Admiral Conolly maneuvered Maryland 2000 yards away from the northern beaches before unleashing 16 inch guns. As Holland Smith put it “So close that his guns almost poked their muzzles into Japanese positions.” By 7:15am the naval guns went silent as carrier planes came swooping in. Then 127mm artillery from Roi began firing, alongside cruisers and destroyers. Return fire occurred, but for a very short amount of time as they were snuffed out. Admiral Truman Hedding recalled “We learned a lot about softening up these islands before we sent the Marines in. We really worked that place over. They developed a tactic called the ‘Spruance haircut.' We just knocked everything down; there wasn't even a palm tree left.” The Kwajalein atoll islands were hit with 15,000 tons of bombs and naval shells in 72hrs. Admiral Turner would make a Churchillian statement about the event “Never in the history of human conflict has so much been thrown by so many at so few.” Then transports carrying nearly 64,000 men of the 4th marine division and the 7th army division were launched at Ivan, Jacob, Allen, Andrew, Albert and Abraham islands. Once they were secured, the marines set up artillery batteries. The 7th infantry division was assigned the task of taking the banana shaped Kwajalein island as their colleagues set up 105mm and 155mm howitzers on nearby Roi-Namur. The 32nd and 184th regiments landed on the lagoon side at 9:30am on February 1st, first encountered only feeble and intermittent resistance. The eastern half of the island was secured in quick time, as the bombardments had certainly inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy. The army moved slowly and methodically, advancing cautiously against the Japanese fixed positions. Soon they reached Carl Road, where they were met with an impressive defense system consisting of an anti-tank ditch on the south and a long rifle trench on the north. As February 2nd came on, so did another wide scale smashing of the Japanese. Artillery fire on Carlson Island and from the 32nd Regiments Cannon Company in the Wart Area coordinated with the tank and infantry movements. While the new assault units were moving up, the enemy in Corn Strong Point were kept under heavy artillery bombardment and were isolated from possible reinforcements by naval gunfire. Enemy guns that were still active in the northeastern end of the island were struck by dive bombers. The jump-off was ordered for 12:45. A series of delays deferred this crucial attack over an hour. To assemble the staff and coordinate the plans for employing tanks, artillery, and infantry while the 3d Battalion made its approach march, proved difficult to arrange. The time for the assault had passed before the planning difficulties were resolved. Then came notice of an air strike to be made at 1:15pm later postponed, on Admiral Turner's order, to 1:30, thus necessitating the suspension of all artillery fire. Since the attack on Corn Strong Point was to be immediately preceded by a heavy artillery barrage, the whole operation was postponed to 2:00. For the initial assault on the tank trap and Corn Strong Point, Colonel Logie's 32d Infantry's 3d Battalion was ordered to pass through its 2nd Battalion at Carl Road and to lead the attack. These fresh troops were to be supported by the tanks of A and D comapnies, 767th Tank Battalion and, from the left flank, by the tanks of B company, which would be temporarily detached from the 184th. The tanks of A company, 767th Tank Battalion, lined up along Carl Road to fire against the strong point, while those from B company took up positions almost at right angles to that road and prepared to strike the enemy from the left flank during the first stage of the attack. One of the batteries on Carlson continued to fire during the air strike, and the Cannon Company's howitzers also laid a preparation on the target area before the advance commenced at 2pm. Then, while the artillery lifted fire to ground northeast of the target, the tanks and infantry approached the tank trap in a 225-yard advance across open ground. The tanks poured machine gun fire into the area. Thirty yards behind them the troops came forward to the shelter of the tank ditch without receiving an enemy shot. The Japanese were pinned down. The assault initially saw the Americans pin down the Japanese. While the left wing of infantry troops started to push across the wide tank barrier, the tanks on their left momentarily broke off fire from the flank. A few tanks from A company, 767th Tank Battalion, moved toward the ocean to bypass the deep ditch, and the others after a brief hesitation laid a base of fire to cover the infantry's advance. The tanks hesitated to poke out along the flimsy wooden bridge by which Wallace Road cut through the angle of the tank trap. At this stage, a concentration of white phosphorus shells commenced to fall into the area in which I company, 32nd Infantry, was moving, and countless men were burned. After hesitating briefly the infantry moved steadily to the tank ditch. There the troops remained for some time because the medium tanks pulled back claiming they could not get over the ditch. The tanks finally broke through and began to make their way to the beach smashing pillboxes in the Corn strongpoint. An estimated 100 Japanese were killed in the area, the majority by demolition charges carried forward by engineer details while rifle and BAR men covered them. Little or no defense was put up against these tactics. The Japanese remained huddled in their shelters in spite of efforts made to coax them out to surrender. Only a single prisoner was taken in the whole area. Grenades were thrown into the shelters, and those who survived were then destroyed by demolition charges. Altogether, it took about 35 minutes to reduce Corn Strong Point once the American infantry got beyond the tank trap. Contact between the forward battalion of the 32nd Infantry and that of the 184th was temporarily lost during this fray, and K company, 32nd Infantry, moved through the left platoon of I company to establish contact firmly as soon as Corn Strong Point was taken. Advance to the Nora Road line seemed practicable within the time remaining before taking defensive positions for the night. To escape spending the night in an area too heavily wooded for security, the 3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry, planned to advance northeast of the junction of Nora Road and Wallace Road, even though that would place its perimeter slightly forward of the 184th's front-line elements, which were resting just short of Nora Road itself. To the north, Colonel O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion began advancing at 12:45 without tank support. F Company was on the right while E Company on the left along the lagoon. For the first 45 minutes no serious resistance was met. There were no tank obstacles in the area and the enemy's positions along the lagoon shore were less formidable than had been expected. At 1:30, however, the 184th had to lend its medium tanks to the 32nd Infantry as the latter moved against Corn Strong Point. This left the infantry unprotected at a time when they began to meet their first serious resistance. Without the tank support the infantry became stalled. The 184th suffered over 60 casualties by the end of the day, including the loss of F Company's commanding officer. O'Sullivan was forced to organize night defenses just 100 yards northeast of Carl Road, which also forced Logie to pull back to the abandoned trenches of Corn for the night. Heavy casualties were suffered that day, with 11 dead and 241 wounded. Japanese prisoners reported only 200 to 300 defenders remained, so the Americans expected a banzai charge to occur during the night. General Corlett's headquarters warned, "Be alert for counterattack at anytime day or night, it's bound to come. The Jap makes his suicide counterattack at dawn on the day after his cause becomes hopeless. Watch out tomorrow morning.” Yet there was no attach, so General Corlett prepared his men for a new assault at 07:15am. For the next day's operations, General Corlett ordered the two assault regiments: "Organize vigorous attack 0715 tomorrow… Finish the job not later than 1500 3 February. The Northern Force [at Roi-Namur] has finished the job…". At this point the Americans on Kwajalein faced a narrow 2000 yards of island. After artillery rained down at 7am, O'Sullivans 1st battalion advanced. In the first 150 yard B Company, along the lagoon, and Company A, at the right, advanced through rubble and broken trees west of Nora Road without more than scattered rifle fire from Japanese riflemen and occasional light machine gun fire from pillboxes. Their momentum carried them on for another 75 yards with such rapidity that the prospects for swift advance seemed excellent. B Company cleaned out an air raid shelter with grenades and shot down fleeing Japanese wearing arm bands like those of the American troops. Both companies were advancing over ground that had been under American mortar fire just before the jumpoff. At 8:06 enemy opposition was reported to be weak. After 250 yards the Americans reached the Admiralty area, finding a group of shattered buildings along the lagoon shore where it was believed the Japanese HQ was. Among the ruins were several underground shelters, with great earthen mounds above them. There were also concrete blockhouses. Against strong resistance, B Company would not be able to advance further; A Company, meanwhile, pushed farther north and attempted to attack from the flank through the Admiralty area, but became quickly bogged down. At the same time, Logie sent forward his 3rd Battalion, with I Company rapidly advancing along the coast while K Company stopped to subdue a large concrete pillbox on the corner of the Admiralty area. By midday, I Company reached Noel Road and K Company successfully bypassed the Admiralty area. Yet behind them, there was a vertical gap including most of the Admiralty area between the two regiments. Thus, Corlett sent Logie's 1st Battalion to cover the gap and O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion to swing right and continue the advance north while his 1st Battalion contained and neutralized the Admiralty area. At 3:30, the new attack was launched, with Logie's 3rd Battalion rapidly smashing into the Nap strongpoint while O'Sullivan's 1st Battalion concentrated on the Admiralty area and his 2nd Battalion attacked north towards Nob Pier. E Company started its attack before those of either G Company or the 1st Battalion. At 2:40 E Company began moving northwest. Somewhat more than half an hour later E Company crossed Noel Road, with G Company on their right. 2 medium and 2 light tanks, taken over from the 1st Battalion, moved forward with each of the companies, and each had one squad of engineer troops with demolitions. Enemy rifle fire was heavy. The men broke up into small groups, proceeding unevenly in the general direction of Nob Pier. Between 6:30 and 7:00, Captain Peter Blaettler, commander of E Company was seriously wounded. Control from the battalion command post was lost seeing the men hugging the ground to avoid sharp fire from enemy riflemen. Colonel Aulich became separated from the main part of his battalion and was to remain so until the next morning, for all intensive purposes he lost command of his unit. The 2nd Battalion's attack was pushed along the eastern side of Will Road toward Nathan Road, but as sunset approached it became evident not only that Company E would not reach Nob Pier but also that across Will Road on the left flank there was an area with many strong enemy defense positions too powerful to be occupied in the 45 minutes before dark. Meanwhile, at 3:45 A Company 1st battalion was joined by 2 medium tanks and C Company by 2 mediums and 2 M10 tank destroyers. At 4:05 they assaulted the western edge of the built-up Admiralty area along a 300 yard front, with A Company's right wing somewhat south of Noel Road. 10 minutes later they advanced towards the lagoon. Will Road was crossed shortly after 4:30. The enemy was much more firmly established between the highway and the beach, in pillboxes, blockhouses, and strong shelters. Mortar fire kept the enemy down until the tanks and infantry approached. The coordinated effort of tanks, infantry, and demolition teams ran very smoothly, gradually destroying the pillboxes and blockhouses of the Admiralty area, successfully reaching the lagoon by 6pm. To the east, Logie's I Company rapidly reduced the weakly-defended Nap strongpoint and then pushed forward to the objective Nathan Road with haste while the other companies made slower progress against stronger defenses and would not be able to reach their objectives before nightfall. The Japanese in the areas south of the front line, were in greater numbers than on either of the preceding nights of the Kwajalein Island operation. They prowled in the forward area all night. Some incidents occurred as far to the rear as Corn Strong Point, more than a 1000 yards from the 32nd Infantry's advanced position. Japanese came out of shelters, screaming and yelling, throwing grenades, and charging at the men in their foxholes. They fired rifles and threw grenades from buildings that offered places of advantage. In a pocket northeast of the Admiralty area, they greatly harassed the companies near them. Attacks from the north and from the lagoon shore were also attempted by enemy troops at various times during the night. Just after sunset, a bugle could be heard sounding among the enemy shelters near the base of Nob Pier, and shortly afterward a headlong counterattack by screaming Japanese was made toward E and G Companies, 184th Regiment. As the Japanese tried to cross Will Road, they were cut down to the last man. 5 more attacks were broken up before they were actually in progress by barrages along the entire front from mortars and from the supporting batteries of artillery on Carlson Island; and more attacks followed after midnight. From various positions beyond Nathan Road, enemy machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire was directed into the forward area at irregular intervals during the night, sometimes coinciding so closely with the fire from Carlson Island that Japanese monitoring of the artillery radio was suspected. Nonetheless, over 1000 yards had been gained, by February 3. The Americans estimated they had killed around 1300 Japanese, more than were expected to still be in the island, at the cost of 54 dead and 255 wounded. After sunset, several Japanese counterattacks and infiltration attempts were carried out against the steadfast Americans, all ending disastrously. Corlett expected to end the enemy resistance by February 4; but far too many small pockets remained in the rear and the reserve battalions were experiencing difficulties rooting them out. Corlett's final plan was for Logie's 1st Battalion to clear the remainder of the island, allowing Companies C, B and A to attack through O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion and Logie's 3rd Battalion. Unbeknownst to him, O'Sullivan also directed his 2nd Battalion to attack towards Nob Pier in order to complete the unfinished task of the previous day. At 7:15, Corlett unleashed his final attack, supported by tanks. On the east, Logie's Companies A and B ran into a full-scale battle with the Japanese who had been bypassed the day before and who now poured heavy fire on the companies as they advanced toward the line of departure. It was not until 10:00 that the 2 1st Battalion companies reached the lines held by the 3rd Battalion. Then, the Americans successfully managed to advance 200 yards past Nathan Road, where the advance was stopped pending relief. Meanwhile, to the west, the attack of O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion, supported by B Company , prevented the advance of Logie's C Company until 11:00. The Americans managed to push towards Nob Pier by 1:00, where they found no enemy resistance. Behind them, the lagoon shore continued to be mopped up, showcasing a surprising number of Japanese and Koreans surrendering. All forward movement of the 1st Battalion had stopped, its line consisting of a series of small, exhausted groups in a dense confusion of debris. The ground was interlaced with innumerable trenches and foul with bodies of the enemy, many of them long dead. Some of the corpses had been mangled by maneuvering tanks, adding greatly to the nauseating stench that blighted the area. Finally, at 3:45, Logie's 2nd Battalion passed through the 1st to complete the assault along Kwajalein. These troops would successfully push to the island's northern tip, blasting through the remaining Japanese camouflaged dugouts and ruined concrete blockhouses. As in every other island battle, Japanese stragglers had infiltrated the American lines through tunnels and overlooked bunkers, and the assault troops quickly learned to watch their backs. Nisei interpreters broadcast surrender appeals through loudspeakers, but there were only a few dozen takers, and most of the men who gave themselves up were Korean laborers. At long last, G Company reached Nero Point at 3:15. At 4:10 Corlett radioed to Admiral Turner: "All organized resistance… has ceased. The troops have been organized for mopping up operations." yet F Company, would still have to methodically destroy the enemy positions until they finally secured Kwajalein's northern end at 7:20. Ken Dodson went ashore the next morning. Writing to his wife, he described a desolate landscape of “shell craters and hillocks of upturned coral. Some of the Japanese had been dead from the first bombardment, the day before we landed. Their bodies were seared and bloated, and the stench was sickening. I saw one half buried in a pillbox. You could not tell whether he had on any clothes or not. The skin was burned off his back and his head lay a few feet from his body. Another looked like a bronze statue in Golden Gate Park. He lay forward in a crouch, helmet still on, both hands holding on to a coconut log of his pillbox. There were many, many others. I lie in bed at night remembering how they looked, and that awful sweetish sickening stench of powder, and kerosene and decaying human flesh, and I wonder, after all, what war is all about. I feel sorry for those Japs in a way. They died courageously after a stubborn, last-ditch, hopeless fight. They fought for the things they had been taught to believe in, with their poor little bundles with pictures of their wives and kiddies tied to their belts. . . . They can't tell me war is a fine and noble thing.' Losses during the last day were 252 wounded, with 65 Japanese killed and over 100 captured. Thus, for the Battle of Kwajalein Island, the Americans suffered a total of 142 killed, 845 wounded and 2 missing, killing around 4300 Japanese and capturing another 166. During the week after Operation Flintlock, numerous high ranking visitors descended on the battle-scarred islands of Kwajalein Atoll. Admiral Nimitz flew out from Pearl Harbor with an entourage of officers. On February 5, when fires were still burning on Kwajalein Island, he toured the blackened wastes alongside Spruance, Turner, Smith, and several other major commanders of the fleet and Amphibious Corps. Three weeks earlier Nimitz had been the guest of honor at a huge “Texas Picnic” in a Honolulu park. Walking among 40,000 sailors, soldiers, and civilians. He had pitched horseshoes, posed for photographs, and signed autographs. Afterward, the park looked as if it had been hit by a hurricane—clean-up crews had to cart away more than 50 truckloads of garbage and debris. An estimated 120,000 beer bottles had been left strewn across the grass. Now, upon setting foot on the lagoon beach at Kwajalein, Nimitz was waylaid by a mob of correspondents. “What do you think of the island?” one asked. The admiral drew a cheerful laugh by replying, “Gentlemen, it's the worst scene of devastation I have ever witnessed—except for the Texas picnic.” The operation had been a model one in almost every respect. The attacking force had achieved strategic surprise; artillery preparation, naval gunfire, and aerial bombardment had successfully softened up the target in a fashion unexcelled at any other time in the Pacific War; the ship-to-shore movement had been conducted expeditiously and without too many hiccups; supplies flowed ashore and to the front lines relatively smoothly and without interruption; the infantry-engineer teams assisted by tanks moved steadily clearing the enemy from shelters and pillboxes; and American casualties had been fairly light. Altogether, the battle for Kwajalein represented the ideal for all military operations. To complete the conquest of the southern Kwajalein islands, detachments of amphibian tanks had been landed on Buster and Byron back on February 3. Troops of the 2nd Battalion, 17th Regiment landed on Burnet and Blakenship on February 4; the chain between Ashberry and Bennett was secured by February 5. On that same day, Clement, Clarence, and Clifford Islands were also secured, although on Clifton a force of 101 Japanese fought to the death. Beverly, Benson and Berlin were also secured on February 5, seeing 119 Japanese dead on the latter. Bennett fell against the 7th Reconnaissance Troop and O'Sullivan's 3rd Battalion with 94 Japanese killed. Most importantly, Colonel Zimmerman's 1st and 3rd Battalions landed on Burton's Beach Orange 4. The fortifications on Burton were much lighter than those on Kwajalein, mostly machine gun positions and rifle pits. These were organized at the beaches with a concentration of dual-purpose machine guns grouped around the seaplane base in the lagoon. At the base of the south seaplane ramp was a 20-mm. antiaircraft machine gun. Near it, and between the two seaplane ramps, were two 13-mm. single-mount machine guns, three 7.7-mm. machine guns, and a concrete pillbox. Two 8-cm. dual-purpose guns were located on the ocean shore. The large number of empty machine gun emplacements would seem to indicate that the defenses of the island had not been completed at the time of the invasion. The few pillboxes found in the vicinity of the seaplane base were small, reinforced concrete shelters, each with two firing ports facing seaward. Most of the fire trenches and rifle pits were on the ocean side at the center of the island and at the north and south ends of the island. On the morning of February 3 after a heavy artillery, air and naval bombardment, the 1st Battalion traversed the southern end of the island against weak resistance and began pushing north supported by tanks, ultimately getting stopped by strong enemy resistance at Bailey Pier. The following morning, the assault was resumed at 0730, the main enemy resistance had shifted to the eastern side of the island. The Japanese had reoccupied four pillboxes close to the American front line on the ocean side, and were able to hold up A Company, but with the aid of self-propelled mounts, the company took the positions. During the morning, a flight of five Navy bombers made two runs over targets that had been spotted with the aid of information from a prisoner. The planes dropped a total of two and three quarters tons on an ammunition dump, a shelter, and a heavy machine gun that had an excellent field of fire across the hangar apron. Direct hits on these targets apparently disheartened the enemy. Not a single shot was fired by them at any later time during the operation. They remained buried in their dugouts until forced out or until they killed themselves. By 1130, when the 3d Battalion passed through and took up the assault, B Company had moved about 350 yards to the southern edge of the concrete apron, and on the right A Company was fifty to 75 yards farther back. The 3rd Battalion continued the advance north against meager resistance, ultimately reaching Burton's northern tip by 12:10. After this, the last of the enemy were readily mopped up; and by 3:37, the island was fully secured. During this battle, the 17th Regiment suffered 7 killed and 82 wounded while reporting 450 Japanese dead. Meanwhile, to the north, the 25th Marines led by Colonel Samuel C. Cumming occupied some 55 islands in the northern part of the atoll between February 2-7, finding absolutely no enemy resistance. With Kwajalein Atoll finally secured, the next objective in the Marshalls for Admirals Nimitz and Spruance would be Eniwetok, where Major-General Nishida Yoshimi was preparing his men to fight to the last. Yet that's it for the Marshall islands today, as now we are traveling over to the CBI theater, where Generals Christison and Stilwell's offensives continued. Now last time we left off with the gang in Burma General Liao's 22nd division, Colonel Rothwell Brown's 1st provisional tank group, General Merrill's Galahad Unit alongside Chinese and American engineers were busy building the Ledo Road through the Hukawng valley. Location parties up ahead cleared a trace the width of a bulldozer and put in the center-line stakes. The final clearing averaged 150 feet. The route of the Ledo Road in some cases followed existing roads, a circumstance that did not greatly diminish the amount of clearing needed. Most clearing was by bulldozer. Combat trails and access roads were cleared to the necessary minimum that would permit heavy equipment to use them. In the valleys, the road was generally built on embankments in order to lift it above flood level. In mountainous regions, side-hill cuts were used. The road itself had about seven culverts to the mile in the mountains and five to the mile in the lowlands. These culverts were most necessary as the road was a barrier to the normal runoff of water. Surfacing was with stream-bed gravel in the valley sections and, so far as hauling permitted, natural gravel in the mountainous sections. Surfacing was about ten inches thick on the average, and from twenty to twenty-eight feet wide. Compaction was by the normal road traffic. Two regiments of Chinese engineers did pioneer construction work. There was also a combat road, a hasty improvement of the existing Kamaing Road plus the Kachin and Naga trails, that ran through Shingbwiyang, Yupbang Ga, and Taihpa Ga, then went south. The trace of the Ledo Road was moved to higher ground on the north. Forward construction units were rationed from combat supply points. Meanwhile Vinegar Joe sought to end the campaign with a single decisive victory. He planned to deploy the 1st Tank Battalion as an armored spearhead against Maingkwan, the 1st battalion, 66th regiment, the 113th was to follow down the road to take over successive positions, while the 114th would assemble at Taihpa in reserve and the 112th was to protect the flank east of the Tanai, advancing on Mashi Daru. He expected his men to hit the enemy across their rear areas. Now January had been a very rainy month, armored warfare does not do well in mud, so it was important the terrain was dry for the offensive. Stilwell would end up on February 4th decided to shift the bulk of the 22nd division to seize Yawngbang-Lakyen line while General Sun's 38th Division cleaned up the area south and east of the Tanai. Once this first phase was done, then General Liao's 2 regiments could support an armored advance south towards Walawbum. The bad weather, however, had also delayed road work and hampered their supply lines. Stilwell biding his time, building up a reserve at Shingbwiyang and Ningam, while the men progressed their work on the Ledo Road, and built an airfield at Taihpa before launching his second phase. This unfortunately also gave enough time for General Tanaka to prepare an orderly withdrawal towards Maingkwan. During early february, General Sun's 32nd division successfully accomplished their part of the mission, but to the southwest, the enveloping hook from the Taro Plain did not go as planned. By February 14th, the 66th regiment were beginning to arrive on the Taro Plain through heavy rain, but only the 3rd battalion of the 65th regiment managed to join them. The 66th regiment was forced to continue without the proper support until they diverted to Yawngbang Ga which they seized on the 16th. By the 18th, Stilwell and Liao personally went over to check on their regiment's location and found the entire force was within the neighborhood of the 66th command post. It seems the utter confusion during these movements saved the Japanese, as quoted by General Tanaka: "If the Chinese 65th and 66th Infantry Regiments operating in the vicinity of Yawngbang had been prompt in closing in on our left rear flank on the 15th or 16th, as predicted, the main force of the 18th Division would have faced a grave crisis." After sorting out the confusion, the Chinese advanced from Yawngbang Ga to Lakyen Ga. There they captured a Japanese document indicating they were withdrawing. Thus another chance to envelop the enemy had thus been lost. Meanwhile, to support Stilwell's offensive, the two Allied long-range penetration units, the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders, were preparing to embark on a new mission, codenamed Operation Thursday. It was to be the second Chindit expedition with the objective of mounting a long range penetration behind the Japanese who were opposing Stilwells forces in the Northern front. It was hoping the action would prevent the arrival of any reinforcements from the two Japanese divisions on the Central Front. General Hap Arnold wanted his airmen to take the Chindits behind Japanese lines, carry their supplies, evacuate their wounded and eventually fly them off, so he decided to create the 1st Air Commando Unit, under Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Cochram. The unit consisted of a squadron of P-51s; one of B-25s; 100 C4A Waco gliders; and a squadron of C-47s. Arnold spelled out the mission to Cochram and Lieutenant-Colonel John Alison, his deputy. "This man [Wingate] has really done some remarkable things. He has walked through the jungles. He has carried his supplies on mules. It takes him about six weeks to get his men through the jungle, across the rivers, and in behind the Japanese lines. The next time he goes in, I don't want him to walk. I want him to go by air. I want to make this an air operation completely independent of land transport. I want to demonstrate that you can use the air just like the navy uses the sea. You can land and maintain a force and support it in battle. I want you to go in there and take out General Wingate's wounded. We will make available the resources that you need. 'I not only want you to do that... but I want the USAAF to spearhead General Wingate's operations.' We gathered he wouldn't mind if we turned it into an air show." The mad onion lad Wingate also wanted to created strongholds within the Japanese controlled areas that could serve as bases to receive aircrafts of all types, store supplies, hold wounded until they could be extracted, and act as centers for locals resisting the enemy. The motto for the Stronghold, as he called it, was “No Surrender”. Meanwhile Stilwell ordered Merril to close in on Ledo by February 7th, and the last American unit would arrive to Margherita on February 9th. Merrill's Marauders were to assemble at Ningbyen by February 21st whereupon they would envelop the 18th divisions east flank and block the Kamaing road near Shaduzap with the support of Sun's 113th Regiment. Simultaneously Stilwell's other troops were preparing for their attack on Maingkwan. Further in the south General Christison's 15th Corps was in a lot of trouble. The Japanese had been bringing in a lot of reinforcements for their forthcoming Arakan counteroffensive from both within and outside the Burma theater throughout December and January. By early February, General Hanaya had assembled his men and was ready to launch the first phase of Operation Ha-Go. General Hanaya planned to destroy the 7th Indian Division in the region east of Mayu Range using a pincer movement launched simultaneously from the north and south. After that, he would shift the main weight of his 55th Division near Ngangyaung against the 5th Indian Division in the Maungdaw region west of the Mayu Range. From there, he hoped to advance along the Kaladan valley to perform the phase of Ha-Go, named the Kaladan Operation. For this the men would advance towards Chittagong to distract attention from around Imphal and to draw the British reserves into Arakan. On the night of February 3, Hanaya unleashed his offensive, with several columns, under the command of Major-General Sakurai Tokutaro, commander of the 55th Infantry Group. His force secretly infiltrated through the jungle under the cover of darkness, on the left bank of the Kalapanzin river near Buthidaung, through gaps between the 7th Division's widely separated brigades. The element of terrain and weather was paramount. Throughout the dry season a morning mist with heavy dew formed daily in the small hours and, unless cleared by rain and wind, normally persisted till well after sunrise; the noise made by the dew falling from the trees on to the dry undergrowth was loud enough to drown the sound of footsteps so that, in the jungle, movement in the early morning could be unheard as well as unseen. The tides were an important factor in planning, for at high tide many of the chaungs were unfordable. The knife-edge ridges into which the Japanese so often dug their defenses presented an unusual artillery problem. If guns were to bring effective fire to bear, they had to be sited on the line of the axis of a ridge, which was always difficult and sometimes impossible. Fire from any other angle meant that reverse slope defenses were untouched and accurate ranging was extremely difficult. The dense jungle covering the hilltops greatly restricted their use as observation points. Using the early morning mists, Hanaya's men shrouded their columns advance cutting deeply into the British defenses. At about 9 am the Gwalior Lancers reported to 7th Division by wireless that a column of Japanese about a hundred strong followed by another about eight hundred strong were approaching Taung Bazar. Major-General Frank Messervy immediately ordered his reserve brigade, the 89th to advance north to locate and destroy them and asked 15th Corps to speed up the arrival of the tanks. Christison ordered the 25th Dragoons to send a squadron to Sinzweya and 5th Division to send an infantry detachment to prevent infiltration over Goppe Pass. The 89th Brigade advanced north in two columns: the right column encountered the Japanese at about 4 pm near Ingyaung resulting in hand to hand fighting, and the left reached the bend of the Prein Chaung east of Preingyaung. The right column dug in at Ingyaung and Lin babi and the left over the Prein Chaung. Although the main force of the 1st Echelon was delayed by some confusion, the advance guard surprised the Taung Bazar garrison at 7am. Without delay, the Battalion crossed the Kalapanzin River south of Taung Bazar, using captured boats, and was followed closely by the 2nd Echelon and the 3rd Battalion of the 112th Infantry Regiment. The main body of the 1st Echelon crossed the river northwest of Taung Bazar on the morning of the 5th. By 9am Taung Bazar was overwhelmed as the Japanese forces crossed the Kalapanzin River to cut the Ngakyedauk Pass in order to isolate the 7th Division. Meanwhile the 1st Battalion, 213th Regiment headed towards Ngangyaung. The battalion advanced parallel to the Sakurai Column before moving towards Goppe Bazaar. It was held up short of its objective, however, by the leading elements of 26th Indian Division committed from army reserve on 5th February to bolster 15th Corps. Despite this local setback, the Japanese hauled their mountain guns and equipment over the Mayu Range, midway between Goppe and Ngakyedauk, before attacking administrative troops, bridges, dumps, ambushing convoys and building a roadblock on the main line of communications along the Bawli-Maungdaw road. It failed to prevent supplies reaching 5th Indian Division, however, whose ammunition, equipment and food was transported by sea to Maungdaw. Overnight the rear areas of 15th Corps were transformed into the front line with administrative troops bearing much of the burden of dealing with advancing Japanese troops. To the surprise of many officers, they displayed a determination and fighting spirit unknown a year before and took a heavy toll of the Japanese attackers bearing out Slim's direction that every man in the army should be a soldier first and a tradesman or specialist second. The bulk of the 112th regiment led by Colonel Tanahashi Shinsaku marched towards the pass as the 2nd battalion 143rd regiment and Sakurai's HQ advanced south. The quickly found enemy resistance near Ingyaung which delayed their advance for over 2 days. Failing to make contact with General Sakurai, the Battalion continued its advance southward, bypassing Awlanbyin. Major Gen. Sakurai and his headquarters also got involved in fighting off enemy counterattacks near Ingyaung on the 5th and 6th and due to failure of his communications, was unable to keep in touch with his units. To further support the offensive, Japanese fighters and bombers from the 5th Air Division's 7th Air Brigade launched a heavy offensive to gian air superiority over the battlefield, using 34 fighters and 10 bombers. Between the 4th and 14th their fighters flew 350 sorties, and bombers attacked the Bawli and Briasco bridges and Sinzweya. Spitfires intercepted them but had less success than before. Japanese losses were believed to be some 14 aircraft destroyed and a number damaged, while RAF losses during the same period were around 11 fighters. On february 5th, having made such quick progress, Hanaya ordered the 143rd regiment to advance north. The 3rd battalion, 143rd managed to infiltrate through the Indian brigades en route and joined Sakurai's men to hit the pass. Seeing the danger, General Slim decided to reinforce Christison with the 26th Indian division led by Under General Lomax. Christison in turn ordered Lomax to move it forward to Bawli Bazar as quickly as possible. Upon their arrival at Bawli North, the 71st Brigade was then ordered to relieve the detachment from 5th Division on Goppe Pass and then attack the Japanese operating in rear of 7th Division. Likewise the 36th Indian division of Major-General F. W. Festing sped up their advance towards Chittagong while C-46 Commandos and C-47 Dakotas air dropped ammunition, food and other supplies to the front units. On the morning of the 6th, the 112th Regiment reached the sector north of Sinzweya and overran the headquarters of the British-Indian 7th Division while the 1st Battalion cut the Ngakyedauk Pass. In a perfect position to envelop the enemy in Sinzweya, Colonel Tanahashi disregarded the vital necessity for speed and delayed for 24 hours, giving the British time to establish a perimeter defense in the Sinzweya Basin. East of the range at about 5:00am, an enemy force, estimated at battalion strength, penetrated the widely separated posts held by the company of 24th Engineer Battalion defending 7th Division Headquarters, established machine-gun posts on tracks throughout the headquarters area and broke into the signal center. In hand-to-hand fighting the attackers were driven out, but not before all communications had been cut and ciphers compromised. Tanks from Sinzweya moved to the sound of the fighting as soon as it was light but the ground prevented them from reaching the headquarters area; rain which set in about 8:30 further hampered them and they had to withdraw. At about 10:00am, the signal center was finally overrun. Messervy, unable to exercise command any longer, sent orders to all branches of his headquarters to destroy papers and equipment of value and make their way in small parties to Sinzweya. Most of them succeeded in doing so during the following 24 hours. Major-General Frank Messervy and his staff would manage to successfully escape towards Sinzweya. Consequently, instead of ordering a general withdrawal like the Japanese expected, Christison directed the 9th Brigade to organize a defense of Sinzweya, which was the weakest link of the four isolated, self-contained all-round defensive boxes held by each brigade of the 7th Division. By the 7th, the defense of Sinzweya, also known as the Admin Box had been consolidated. The perimeter consisted of a series of small defended posts held, in the main, by administrative units, except at the south east and southwest corners where the roads entered the area. These were held by 4/8th Gurkhas and a company of 2nd West Yorkshire. There were insufficient troops to hold the whole of the Point 315 feature, and thus there was a deep reentrant between the southeast and northeast corners of the perimeter extending back to the southern end of Ammunition Hill. Most of the artillery was disposed on the southern face with attachments holding perimeter posts. The 25th Dragoons were in mobile reserve in two harbors held by a company of 3/4th Bombay Grenadiers, one each side of Ammunition Hill. The 2nd West Yorkshire constituted the infantry reserve and was located with divisional and garrison headquarters on the western side of Ammunition Hill. The main dressing station in the southwest corner was being moved to a more secure area. During the night, the Japanese launched an assault against Sinzweya, yet the tenacious defenders managed to hold on against the fierce enemy pressure. That night, the 33rd Brigade also managed to repulse an attack against Sinohbyin, though the arrival of these reinforcements would allow Sakurai to extricate himself from Ingyaung and head to Sinzweya to take command over the assault. On February 8, all British troops east of the Mayu range were receiving supplies by air, yet the strong presence of enemy fighters disrupted the first few attempts. Eventually, British air superiority would be restored. The No. 31 Squadron and 62 Squadron were reinforced on the 10th by 194 Squadron and on the 25th by 117 Squadron, recently arrived from the Middle East. Not only were 7th and 81st Divisions kept supplied with food and ammunition, but such amenities as cigarettes, rum, mail, razor blades and newspapers were delivered by air to the troops in increasing quantities as time went on, certainly a morale booster. Throughout the battle the Strategic Air Force and 224 Group gave constant close support to 15th Corps. In addition to providing escorts for transport squadrons, Hurricanes harried road, river and coastal transport on the Japanese lines of communication to Arakan that movement by day into the area virtually ceased. Tactical bombing of enemy positions was undertaken by two Vengeance squadrons which flew no less than 269 sorties in just over a week. The transports flew a total of 714 sorties in 5 weeks, successfully delivering nearly 2300 tons of supplies. From the night of February 8 onwards, the Admin and other boxes would also hold firm against repeated ferocious Japanese infantry night assaults, occasional air attacks and limited artillery bombardment from a handful of mountain and battalion guns by day and a medium gun firing from the nearby tunnels, thus showcasing the new spirit of the British-Indian troops. As quoted by Lieutenant-General Pownall: “We've learned how to fight where we stand and NOT to be frightened of the bogey of infiltration.” I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Kwajalein has finally fallen, leaving the rest of the Marshalls at the mercy of the colossal allied air, land and sea forces. Within Burma, the Chinese, British, Indian and Americans were ferociously meeting the Japanese, showcasing their dominance in the theater was no longer as sure thing, now the Japanese faced a much stronger enemy.
Join in on this five-year guided meditation where you will embark on a journey to envision where you will be five years from now. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let go of any tension as you imagine yourself in a place of success and fulfillment. Visualize your surroundings, your appearance, and your feelings in this future state. Reflect on the achievements and milestones you have accomplished to reach this point. Explore your professional and personal life in this future state and think about the impact you have made. Take a moment to journal any insights or ideas that came to you during this meditation. Remember, this vision is a guide for your future, not a limit. Keep being awesome and embrace your future path! Next Steps: Dream Big, Spitfires! – After the meditation, share one major goal they visualized for their future on our Instagram using the hashtag #SpitfireFuture. Journal the Journey – Jot down your insights and visions post-meditation. Share the Vision – We would love it if you would pass this episode to friends who could use a vision boost. Did This Episode Ignite a Spark? Drop a Review and Let Us Know! – Leave us a review or comment on how this episode impacted your vision for the future. Subscribe and Stay Focused – Subscribe for more empowering content. "Stay on track with your goals by staying tuned to The Spitfire Podcast. Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Our Website
Prepare to dive deep in this heart-to-heart episode of The Spitfire Podcast, where our fearless host Lauren LeMunyan gets real about the nitty-gritty of vulnerability and rejection. In a candid recount of a recent coach meet and greet event, Lauren peels back the layers of her own vulnerability. Imagine standing in a room filled with top-tier coaches, their resumes shining brighter than the chandelier overhead. That's where Lauren found herself, grappling with a wave of inadequacy. But this isn't just about feeling out of place. Oh no. Lauren takes us through the emotional labyrinth of her breakout room experiences – from the initial stumble to her triumphant stride back to confidence. It's a story of resilience, a tale of embracing your authentic self, and a journey of finding your footing when the ground feels like it's slipping away. As Lauren unpacks her experience, she dishes out some potent insights on resilience. How do you stand tall when rejection tries to knock you down? How do you turn vulnerability from a weakness into your superpower? Lauren doesn't just tell us; she shows us, making this episode a must-listen for anyone ready to confront their fears and transform them into stepping stones. So, buckle up, Spitfires! This episode is more than just a story; it's a toolkit for anyone ready to face their vulnerabilities head-on and come out stronger. And remember, staying curious and striving toward your goals isn't just advice; it's a way of life. Let Lauren be your guide on this journey of self-discovery and empowerment. Want More? Stay Connected: Don't miss a beat! Subscribe to The Spitfire Podcast on your favorite streaming platform. Join the Conversation: Got a story of your own about vulnerability and resilience? Share it with us on www.facebook.com/spitfirecoach or www.instagram.com/spitfirecoach. Let's grow our community of Spitfires! Support the Show: Loving what you're hearing? Show your support by leaving a review and rating us on Apple Podcasts. Every star helps us keep the flame alive! Dive Deeper: Visit www.spitfirecoach.com for more resources, exclusive content, and ways to engage with the Spitfire community. About Us: The Spitfire Podcast, hosted by Lauren LeMunyan, is more than just a podcast. It's a movement. With a focus on leadership, innovation, and personal growth, Lauren brings her sass, wisdom, and experience as a top-notch coach to ignite the Spitfire in all of us. Whether you're an emerging leader or a seasoned pro, this podcast is your go-to resource for turning challenges into triumphs and embracing the Spitfire spirit. Join us, and let's set the world ablaze with purpose and passion!
Last time we spoke about the landing at Saidor and the drive against Sio. The Australians were still advancing across Shaggy Ridge when General MacArthur unleashed an amphibious assault against Saidor to cut off the Japanese escape and isolate Sio. Numerous features were seized up the large ridge and the Americans successfully amphibiously assaulted Saidor and seized their airfield. General Adachi placed the 51st and 20th divisions under the command of General Nakano, who was tasked with advancing to Gali to try and secure a new supply point. Meanwhile efforts were made to try and contain the new threat in Saidor while simultaneously holding back the Australians in the south. Over on new britain the airdrome was seized as Colonel Katayama launched a failed counter attack against the Marines. The Marines tossed back the attack and began their own advance further inland. This episode is Ledo Road Offensive Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. The Americans had landed at Cape Gloucester, Saidor and were carrying out massive attacks against Rabaul. As we had seen previously, on November 5th, aided by bad weather, a surprise air raid was made by the USS Saratoga and Princeton, led by Rear-Admiral Frederick Sherman that inflicted heavy damage to 4 cruisers within the harbor; Maya's engine room was smashed by a bomb killing over 70 men; a 500 lb bomb hit Mogami; Takao took 2 500 lb bomb hits while 3 500 lb bombs narrowly missed Atago killing 23 seamen and caused severe damage to the ship's plating. 2 other cruisers and 3 destroyers also suffered light damage. Captain George Chandler flying a P-38 fighter pilot described how “There were B-24 bombers up high and B-25 bombers attacking right down on the deck dropping ‘frag' bombs on the airplanes along the runways … we did our best work at high altitude, but we also took part in combat a thousand feet off the ground.” The devastation caused Admiral Miniechi Koga to withdraw his forces to Truk, thus ending the IJN threat to Bougainville. A Japanese naval officer would later admit that they had given up on Bougainville mainly because of “the serious damage received by several Second Fleet cruisers at Rabaul by carrier attack …” The successful raid against Rabaul left Halsey ecstatic. “It is real music to me and opens the stops for a funeral dirge for Tojo's Rabaul.” On November 8th, reinforcements led by Rear-admiral Alfred Montgomery task force 38, with the new fleet carriers USS Bunker Hill, Essex and Independence. With the added carrier strength on November 11th, a follow up air raid was made seeing the IJN cruiser Agano torpedoed and badly damaged, while 35 Japanese aircraft out of 120 launched in a counter attack against the carrier force were shot down. Montgomery would not lose a single ship. Admiral Koga's decision to send carrier pilots to bolster Rabaul had quite literally blown up in his face. Koga's air fleet had lost 43 of its 82 Zeros, 38 of its 34 Vals, 34 of its 40 Kates and 6 Judy spotter planes. Over 86 of his 192 experienced pilots and crew had perished, and he had only inflicted minimal damage to Nimitz fleet, it was a disaster. Yet the fantastical reports from Japanese pilots kept pouring in, claiming the air battles over Bougainville were infact won by the IJN air forces. Newspapers in Japan reported victories that added up to the destruction of 5 American battleships, 10 carriers, 19 cruisers and 7 destroyers. The reality was the destruction of 2 cruisers, the USS Birmingham and Denver. By mid november Vice Admiral Kusaka was finding it difficult to sustain attacks against allied convoys feeding supplies to Empress Augusta Bay. On November 12th, Rabaul only had 113 Zero's of which only 59 were operational. Crews were suffering from malaria and other diseases, no one was granted rest as they were limited in personnel and under constant attack. The quality of ground crews and pilots was deteriorating every week. From November 12 through December 16, the daytime skies over the Gazelle Peninsula remained relatively quiet, as the US carrier forces had departed to support operations in the Central Pacific. AirSols received a new commander on the November 20th, Major General Ralph Mitchell who continued to support operations in Bougainville and General Kenney's Fifth Air Force was supporting preparations for the landings in western New Britain. The lull gave Admiral Kusaka a brief opportunity to recuperate as replacements began to arrive from the Marshalls and Truk. The Imperial Japanese Navy would take six months to replenish its carrier pilots with less well-trained and inexperienced replacements. In the meantime the carrier fleet itself, Japan's most expensive and precious strategic asset, was forced to remain idle in Truk as Nimitz began his island hop through the Central Pacific Meanwhile the Torokina airfield had become crude but operational. The Seabees had created a single 4750 foot by 200 foot strip. It lacked taxiways, hardstands and buildings, but by December 10th it could launch aircraft. Soon the Seabees would carve 2 additional landing trips in the jungle 3 miles further inland. The first would be a mile long, the second 8000 feet or so for bombers. Unlike the Japanese airfields on the Gazelle Peninsula which would take more than a year to complete, both of these American airfields took a month. You often hear, especially from marine veterans of the pacific, praise for the Seabees, such a colossal advantage in logistics paved the way to victory. A massive fighter sweep was launched on December 17 consisting of 32 Corsairs, 24 F6Fs, and 24 RNZAF Kittyhawks from airfields at New Georgia and Vella Lavella who rendezvoused at Torokina, topped off their fuel tanks, and hit Rabaul. The strike was led by Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington, the commanding officer of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, better known by its nickname, the "Black Sheep Squadron". The three types of aircraft had different flying characteristics and different cruising speeds. The Kittyhawks, slowest of the bunch, took off first. The plan was for them to come in at 15,000ft, and lure out the Japanese. Next came the Hellcats, flying above the Kittyhawks. And the last were the Corsairs, who flew top cover. It was a long flight over open water, calculated to make the pilot of a single-engine aircraft nervous. If the engine failed it was a long swim home. They were intercepted by 35 Zeros, with the Kittyhawks getting the first jump on them. After the Kittyhawks made their first pass, shooting down a Japanese fighter, the advantage switched over to the more agile Zeros. The Kittyhawk squadron leader's plane was fatally damaged and a second Kittyhawk went down after colliding with a Zero. Remarkably, both pilots survived. Meanwhile the Hellcats and Corsairs, at high altitudes, were coming up empty. The Corsairs circled Lakunai field finding no targets. Pilot Boyington exchanged insults with an English-speaking Japanese officer over the radio, but despite his challenges found no targets in the air. When all aircraft returned to base, the score was even. Two Kittyhawks and two Zeros were lost; one each due to the collision and one shot down by both sides. It was a rather disappointing fighter sweep, but would become just one of many against Rabual over the course of the next 3 weeks. The next raid came two days later seeing 48 B-24s launched, but 32 were forced turned back. The remaining 16 bombers escorted by 51 were intercepted by 94 Japanese fighters, yet they also suffered from the bad weather. Less than half made contact with the enemy. In the resulting fight, 5 Zeros were shot down and 10 allied aircraft were lost, but only two were shot down. The other eight were due to a mid-air collision and landing mishaps, all near home. The weather persisted to be so bad, it was only on the 23rd another sortie could be launched. B-24s escorted by Corsairs and Hellcats bombed Lakunai. Radar gave the Japanese some early warning and nearly 100 Zeros were scrambled. 60 made contact with the bombers after they hit Lakunai. No bombers were lost, but 2 Corsairs were shot down in the ensuing dogfights. Yet the Americans had a twist, they followed up the raid with a fighter sweep of 48 Corsairs. They arrived 15 minutes after the bombers left, surprising the airborne Japanese fighters, most of whom lacked radios. 6 Zeros were shot down, several others damaged and only 2 Corsairs lost. 2 days later, another fighter sweep preceded by bombers was launched claiming 18 aircraft kills, but it was probably closer to 5. In comparison the Japanese pilots would claim 55 kills, a number greater than the american force sent. On the 27 another sweep was launched against Cape Gloucester downing 7 Japanese aircraft for one American. 28 Corsairs returned the next day but this time the Japanese held the advantage, sandwiching the Marines between 2 large groups of Zeros. 3 Corsairs were shot down, but so were 3 Zeros, with 2 others badly damaged. On 30th 36 Liberators escorted by 20 Hellcats and 20 Corsairs, bombed Rabaul. 1 B-24 was lost on the raid, hit by antiaircraft fire. No air combat occurred. On New Years day 15 B-24s and 68 escorting fighters met heavy fighter opposition. 40 Zeros had been sent to Rabaul from Truk, manned by veteran pilots. 1 B-24 was shot down, and two others badly damaged. On January 2 48 US fighters raided and on the 3rd another 44. The two sweeps took out a handful of fighters. The last sweep was on the 5th seeing another 2 zeros downed. Meanwhile back on December 24th, Admiral Sherman's task force 37 raided Kavieng. The operation had two purposes, 1) was to distract attention from the landings at Cape Gloucester and 2) to interdict sea traffic between Truk and Rabaul. The 5000-ton naval transport Tenyru Maru was sunk and several other ships were damaged. After this task force 37 made several raids against Kavieng through January 4th. They managed to shoot down 10 Japanese fighters, damaged IJN cruiser Noshiro and destroyers Fumizuki and Satsuki. On Janaury 6th, the bomber strip at Piva became operational, thus Rabaul was now within range of allied light and medium bombers, basically it was pounding time. On January 7th, 16 Avengers and 24 Dauntless raided Tobera airfield. From medium altitudes the Avengers dropped 2000lb pounds smashing the paved runways. The Japanese managed to shoot down 3 fighters and one dauntless, but Tobera was temporarily not operational. It was the first time any Rabaul airbase was neutralized from bomb damage. This would be followed up on the 11th by a low level attack against Vunakanau by B-25's, damaging 8 parked aircraft. Then on the 14th, Simpson Harbor was attacked by 16 Avengers , 36 Dauntless and fighter escorts. The Japanese tossed 84 fighters but the allies held such a tight formation it was difficult to get at the bombers. 2 bombers were lost before reaching Lakunai; 1 to a mid-air collision and 1 to antiaircraft fire. When the Allied aircraft finally arrived, clouds shielded Lakunai so the bombers switched to targeting the ships in Simpson Harbor. The Avengers carried 2,000lb bombs, limiting their effectiveness. Regardless, they landed hits on the 15,400-ton-displacement oiler Naruto, and thus ended its goal of becoming the Hokage. . . sorry folks could not resist that one. The destroyer Matsukaze was also damaged alongside 5 other vessels. AirSols came back to hit simpson harbor and blanche bay 3 days later sinking the Komaki Maru, Kosei Maru, Yamayuri Maru, Hakkai Maru and Iwate Maru. To take down the combined 30,000 tons of shipping AirSols lost 8 P-38s, 1 Hellcat, 1 F4U, 1 Avenger, and 1 Dauntless. The rest of January saw so many raids, sometimes 2-3 on the same day, thus I can't spend the entire podcast listing their actions, but the losses were brutal. For the Americans they would lose 23 aircraft between January 23rd-30th, for the Japanese it was around 37. By the end of the month, Rabaul was being bled dry of planes, thus the rest was withdrawn to Truk with around 40 pilots. To make up for the withdrawal, Admiral Koga brought over the air groups of carriers Junyo, Hiyo and Ryuho on the 25th adding 62 zeros, 18 vals and 18 kates to Admiral Kusakas dwindling forces. Does that not sound like performing the exact same action that saw such devastating losses in late december to early january? Yes, yes it does. Moving over to New Britain, General Shepherd had just smashed the Japanese positions along Suicide Creek. While seizing Suicide Creek some Americans captured a Japanese dispatch saying “It is essential that we conceal the intention that we are maintaining positions on Aogiri Ridge. Concerning the occupation of this position, it is necessary that Aogiri Yama is maintained.” While making arrangements for the Japanese assault against Target Hill one, Lieutenant Abe had occasion sent field dispatches to Warrant Officer Kiyoshi Yamaguchi, one of his platoon leaders. The dispatch mentioned command post locations, hour of attack, and other orders. Yamaguchi, with that seemingly incredible indifference to basic security which the Japanese so often demonstrated, simply stuck the dispatch in his pocket and carried it with him to the assault. Marines found it on his body the following morning, thereby gaining their first inkling of the existence of a terrain feature which appeared as such on none of their maps but upon which the Japanese appeared to place great importance, for reasons not yet clear. Aoigiri Ridge was not in the American maps and it was currently held by the 2nd battalion, 53rd regiment and 2nd battalion, 141st regiment. Behind the ridge was a wide trail leading to Magairapua, connecting Matsuda's HQ with Borgen Bay. The trail was heavily used and concealed extremely well from American aircraft. Back over at the American lines, by January 5th, the 3rd battalion, 7th marines had pulled back into the reserve, allowing the weapons company, 7th marines to occupy the extreme left along the shore to prepare for Shepherds offensive against Hill 150. The new formation launched their attack at 11am on the 6th. Tanks surged forward to smash a roadblock held by the 2nd battalion, 141st regiment on the left trail. Artillery was deployed on a nearby hill hitting the Japanese lines as A company tried to break through but was quickly pinned down by the roadblock. The tanks eventually burst through the roadblock sending the Japanese packing. The americans advanced through the increasingly swampy terrain, facing weaker resistance. B company crossed a small stream and stormed Hill 150 during the afternoon, securing it. Further right, C company and the 3rd battalion, 5th marines were surprised to be held up by extremely heavy fire from the until then unknown feature, Aogiri ridge. The men had no other choice than to pull back to a safe distance to dig in as they reported back the presence of the heavily fortified position. The Japanese would unleash carnage upon the men for 2 days whenever they tried to press forward. On the 7th the commanding officer of the 3rd battalion, 5th Marines, was wounded and replaced by Lt Colonel Lewis Walt. The next day, Walk's men were cautiously inching forward under heavy enemy fire through dense jungle, when they first encountered the ground rising in steepness. At this point Walt realized the feature had to be Aogiri Ridge. On the 9th, the assault battalions resumed their attacks, this time with heavy artillery support against Aogiri ridge. Walt was reinforced with Companies K and L from the 7th marines, but the advance was extremely slow and painful. Two Japanese bunkers were knocked out with white phosphorus grenades, but that ended the limited gains. Walt personally began pushing a 37mm gun excruciating foot by foot up Aogiri ridge, firing a volley of canisters every few feet. Somehow he managed to get the gun up the steep slope into a decent position to sweep the ridge, allowing the gain of a foothold on the crest of Aogiri. The loss of the ridge was a huge threat to Matsuda and Katayama's positions, so the latter decided to throw his reserves in a desperate but ferocious counterattack. At 1:15am on the 10th, Katayama sent his recently arrived 3rd battalion to attack the reverse slope. However the Marines held firm and would end up repelling 5 consecutive banzai charges with a fury and persistence unparalleled in the campaign. On the 4th try a Japanese major and two company officers succeeded in knifing through the Marine cordon almost to Colonel Walt's fox hole, 50 yards behind the front line. At that instant one of two short rounds in a 60-round artillery barrage burst in a tall tree almost directly overhead, and the major died there, sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. The 5th charge was blunted by artillery and the Japanese finally cut their losses and pulled back. The Japanese had suffered immense casualties, seeing all 3 of their battalions depleted, forcing Katayama to pull off Aogiri ridge that very night. The morning of the 10th saw Walk's men securing the feature and then discovering the vital Magairapua trail. The marines went to work mopping up the area until January 12th, whereupon Shepherd planned to seize Hill 660. The feature was guarded by the 6th company, 141st regiment supported by a number of guns of the 30th machine cannon company. The fresh 3rd battalion, 7th marines, led by lt colonel Henry Buse Jr were to perform the main assault, with the 1st battalion extending the perimeter behind them. To help the effort, the weapons company,7th marines of Captain Buckley would begin constructing a roadblock between the eastern base of Hill 660 to the shore of Borgen Bay, hoping to cut off the defenders escape route. At 08:00am on the 13th, after artillery, mortars and the 5th Air Force performed a bombardment of the area, the last Marine offensive commenced. A intricate system of small arms and automatic weapon positions going up the summit unleashed fire upon the marines, quickly pinning down I company. L Company attempted swinging to the right, but were also pinned down. Engineers worked a light tank forward far enough to place fire across a gorge demolishing the more troublesome enemy weapons. By late afternoon, together with artillery supporting fire, the pinned-down companies were rescued and withdrawn for the night. Meanwhile the Weapons company worked with their bulldozer, by 1030 they had skirted the eastern base of the hill and set up an all-around perimeter. There they dug in clearing fields of fire for about 60 yards to both north and south, placing their half-tracks and tanks in supporting positions. The only opposition they encountered during the advance was by two Japanese machine guns and emplaced near the summit of the hill. With all said and done they successfully cut off the Japanese line of retreat. On the morning of the 14th, the 3rd battalion resumed their assault, with their leading companies advancing to the right working their way up. One unit nearly got atop the crest before coming under fire from heavy machine guns. They got to a position where they could bring 60mm mortars to bear, and went to work neutralizing the machine gun positions before a final surge carried them across the summit. The Japanese fled down the crest heading east, coming straight into the line of fire of the Weapons company below. The result was a terrible rout, seeing many escape to the safety of the swamps to the hills southeast. By the end of the 14th, the marines had seized Hill 660 and were performing mop up operations through the following day. At 5:30am on the 16th, Katayama ordered the 6th and 11th companies, 141st regiment to counter attack Hill 660. Soon the marines were face to face with a large banzai charge, seeing the fighting getting up close and personal. But small arms, rifles, 60mm mortars and 81mm artillery broke the Japanese. Over 110 Japanese bodies would be found after the fight. This ended Shepherds offensive, as the remnants of Colonel Sumiya's forces began to arrive to the Borgen Bay area. Over the next few days, the exhausted 7th marines were relieved by the 5th marines and 2nd battalion, 1st marines who had recently been recalled after completing their mission at Green Beach. After suffering the defeated in Borgen Bay, General Sakai decided to order the 1st battalion, 54th regiment to reinforce Talasea and for Matsuda to launch a last ditch effort, a suicidal one at that, to obliterate the enemy. But the men were in no condition for such an offensive, thus Katayama elected to postpone it for now. Since every man was needed for the defense of Borgen Bay, Colonel Sato took the remainder of his commander and departed Rooke Island to join the main body. Now that Hill 660 was secured, the Americans began a new method of patrolling; this time their patrols would specifically seek out and destroy what was presumed to be exhausted Japanese units, before the division would attack the defensive line at Borgen Bay-Itni river. Yet that is it for new Britian, as we are going to be traveling over to the CBI theater. Between November 22 to December the 1st, two conference were held between the Allied leaders. The first was the Cairo or “sextant” conference on November 22-26th, between President FDR, Sir Winston Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek. The second was held in Tehran on November 28-December 1st between FDR, Churchill and Joseph Stalin. You might be asking, why did they all not meet up together. The crux of it was the Soviet-Japanese neutrality Pact and to a lesser extent, though probably not in Chiang Kai-Shek's mind, Stalin was aiding the CCP. Because the Soviets had not declared war on the Japanese, it would not look to good if they met with the leader of China, likewise Chiang Kai-shek was not too forthcoming to meet with Stalin. The easy fix was to just have two different conferences. Overall the conferences did not really touch too much upon the Pacific war. But Stalin did promise to declare war on Japan within ninety days after the end of the European War. In return he demanded military and logistical concessions in Manchuria, maintenance of Outer Mongolia under Soviet control as well as sovereignty over the Kuril Islands that stretched from north of Japan to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. When Chiang Kai-shek heard about this he had suspicious and noted “The influence of this conference on China will be great. I hope Roosevelt isn't plotting with Churchill and Stalin against me.” Soon his suspicion would turn to anger when he discovered there were secret protocols relating to Manchuria. Stalin had made some assurances to Mao Zedong that once the Soviets were in the war against Japan, they would have forces to bear down into China to help tip the scale for the CCP against the NRA. Yet after the war, it would seem promises made by Joseph Stalin were not always kept. Another important aspect of the conferences was the British decision to cancel Operation Buccaneer, the invasion of the Andaman Islands, because Admiral Mountbatten's landing crafts were required for landings in southern france. The Joint chiefs of staff were livid at this, because it came at the same time the Japanese were reinforcing Burma. FDR overruled them and agreed to the British decision and this in turn greatly pissed off Chiang Kai-Shek. Yet at the same time, the Cairo declaration had lifted up the morale for the Chinese army and people to continue their war against the Japanese. The declarations made by the Tehran conference implied publicly that the CBI theater was all but abandoned to the mercy of Japan's air and land forces. Thus it would be no coincidence the Japanese thought it ripe to launch an all-out offensive against China. In the meantime, the rather aggressive Admiral Mountbatten was trying to salvage what he could of the situation. To try and please Chiang Kai-Shek, he proposed Operation Pigstick. The operation was something Mountbatten had wargamed a bit, it was to be a landing on the southern Mayu peninsula aimed at hitting Akyab. He began assigning landing craft for the amphibious operation, only to be immediately slapped down by Alanbrooke and told to return 3 fast tank landing crafts that were direly needed for operations against Italy. Mountbatten hoped to retain 2 slower tank landing craft, but Cunningham requested them. Pigstick was to be 2 divisions plus 2 brigades who would be used in a southward advance down the peninsula and 1 division in an amphibious assault aimed at surrounding and destroying not less than 20,000 Japanese. An additional landing similar to PIGSTICK, could perhaps be launched in the Ramree-Cheduba area, could take staging areas that would put 15 Corps within reach of Rangoon. Speaking of Ramree, if any of you have heard this kind of myth about over 1000 Japanese being eaten by crocodiles on that island, over on my personal channel the pacific war channel I did a full investigation into the so called “ramree island massacre” story. A little sad about its performance not going to lie. Dramatically improved my lackluster animation skills for it, came out really well and I did a silly impersonation at the beginning, anyways check it out its a fun one! Alongside Pigstick, Mountbatten changed the Tarzan operation into Operation Gripfast, calling for an offensive on north and central Burma with an airborne landing at Indaw to sever the Japanese line of communications to Myitkyina. But now Chiang Kai-Shek was very wary of anything British, so he rejected the plans on December 19th. Alongside pissing off Chiang Kai-Shek, his estranged wife, Joseph Stilwell was also again angry with the British, particularly Mountbatten. At one point Mountbatten proposed moving certain American units into the Hukawng valley to help the offensive there and Stillwell burst out ‘I should like it placed on record that I am responsible for the training of all American forces in this theatre and I am the person to decide when they are adequately trained and can move forward.' Mountbatten replied: ‘I accept that in principle, but would remind you that these troops are being trained under British officers. I am responsible for operations and will decide when units move into the fighting lines. In other words, general, I should like to place on record that I am Supreme Commander out here and what I say goes.' Stilwell took it good-humouredly and laughed. ‘We none of us dispute that,'”. That day Stilwell wrote a letter to his wife, referring scathingly to Mountbatten as ‘the glamour boy. He doesn't wear well and I begin to wonder if he knows his stuff. Enormous staff, endless walla-walla but damn little fighting . . . And of course the Peanut is unchanged. The jungle is a refuge from them both.' The men would all share some screaming matches against another, until Stilwell would shock everyone by exclaiming “I am prepared to come under General Slim's operational control until I get to Kamaing.” It was a truly bizarre idea, Mountbatten asked how such a thing would work, and both Slim and Stilwell asked to discuss the matter amongst themselves. The two men would agree on tactical essentials such as getting more Chinese divisions for the Ledo force and to use the Chindits to assist in hitting Myitkyina. Slim and Stilwell shook hands and Stilwell said to him ‘I would fight under a corporal as long as he would let me fight.' Slim would later reflecte ‘In practice this illogical command set-up worked surprisingly well. My method with Stilwell was based on what I had learnt of him in the Retreat – to send him the minimum of written instructions, but, whenever I wanted anything, to fly over and discuss it with him, alone. Stilwell, talking things over quietly with no one else present, was a much easier and more likeable person than Vinegar Joe with an audience. Alone, I never found him unreasonable or obstructive. I think I told him to do something he did not approve of on only two or three occasions, and on each he conformed, I will not say willingly, but with good grace.' In the end Operation Pigstick never became a reality, because the landing crafts were needed for the Italian campaign and thus the hope of meeting Chiang Kai-sheks continued demand for an amphibious operation was gone. It was almost like the British never intended to go through with such a thing in the first place, woops that is just my opinion. Meanwhile the British-Indian command elected to start a new operation in Arakan. The brutal hard-won lessons of 1st Arakan battle had been absorbed in India Command, with senior British officers determined to avoid similar mistakes. The new operation was the subject of meticulous reconnaissance, planning, and rehearsals. A series of lectures, war games, models of the grounds and syndicate discussions were held for commanders, staff and regimental officers whom carefully considered countering Japanese offensive tactics and assaulting prepared defensive positions like those witnessed at Donbaik. A carefully planned programme of continuous, progressive and intensive training was put in hand for all corps and divisional fighting, support and administrative troops to practice necessary skills, including using brigade boxes, aerial resupply and the infiltration and envelop- ment of enemy positions. This comprehensive training programme culminated in intensive rehearsals and combined arms training with artillery, tanks and close support aircraft carried out near Lohardaga, over ground resembling Arakan, simulating attacks on mock Japanese defensive positions on jungle-clad hills. General Auchinleck assigned the 15th corps, reconstituted at Ranchi with the 3 best trained divisions available: Major-General Harold Briggs' 5th Indian Division; Major-General Frank Messervy's 7th Indian Division and Major-General Christopher Woolner's 81st West African Division.The 26th Indian Division formed the corps reserve. Command of the 15th corps would be given to Lt General Philip Christison. The plan called for the 5th and 7th Indian divisions to advance along the summit of the Mayu range towards Maungdaw and Buthidaung while the 5th and 6th west african brigades would provide flanking protection. On November 1st, the 2 Indian divisions began their advance and by mid november would make contact with a Japanese outpost.As the 7th Indian division advanced astride the Kalapanzin River they ran into stiff resistance. Efforts to dislodge Japanese defenders near Awlanbyin and Letwedet, showcased the formidable difficulties that attacking Japanese defensive bunker positions presented. Most were built on razor-back ridges, through which were burrowed fire positions, affording a limited approach, while the reverse slopes protected troops from view and bombardment. With the precipitous Goppe Pass initially only suitable for porters, pack transport and pack artillery, 7th Indian Division quickly devised other methods to overcome enemy defenses, since normal stereotyped, set-piece attacks stood little chance of success without supporting field artillery. Aircraft proved an ineffective substitute, moreover, with dive-bombing having only a transitory effect since the broken terrain and dense jungle absorbed blast leaving defenses and morale largely intact unless a lucky direct hit was made. The Indian forces began to infiltrate and bypass the well-entrenched Japanese defenses, giving the impression they would soon unleash a frontal attack upon them at any moment. General Messervy's would say of the action “'We will undoubtedly have a Neapolitan sandwich of British - Japs - British, but it will be one made by ourselves, and with the initiative in our hands it will soon be transformed to British - British - Jap.” They were gaining ground and with it valuable combat experience. On the night of November 30th, the 15th Indian Corps commenced large-scale operations to drive in the Japanese outpost line astride the Mayu Range. A series of brisk skirmishes were fought by 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade on the jungle-cloaked ridges south of Awlanbyin quickly evicting small determined parties of Japanese infantry from carefully prepared platoon and company defensive localities. This was by no means an easy task since most heavily camouflaged positions were built atop steep hillsides overlooking paddy fields that provided an open field of five and difficult going for advancing troops. Earlier directions about infiltration paid off in practice. An attack on Awlanbyin west redoubt from the rear through thick jungle achieved complete surprise. Although a neighboring Japanese position initially held out, its garrison withdrew on 2nd December after being cut off. The 33rd Brigade columns crossed the Ngakyedauk Chaung and occupied the area from Ngakyedauk village to the ridge about 1.5 miles north-west of Sinohbyin village. By December3rd, they extended the area of operation to the hills overlooking Maungyithaung and Sinohbyin. The 89th Brigade, meanwhile, pushed forward down Tatmin Chaung and established forward positions on the hills south of the chaung, one mile west of Tatmingyaungywa. By mid-month, 7th Indian Division had reached the main enemy positions covering the Tunnels and Buthidaung, and the opening of the Ngakyedauk Pass to wheeled traffic in late December considerably eased resupply and allowed the divisional artillery to join the formation. However, both the Indian divisions were under orders not to get engaged in serious fighting with the Japanese, so the advance stopped there. It is also important to note, in November 1943, Spitfires were deployed in Bengal for the first time. The 615th and 617th squadrons were based in Chittagong to protect the vital port and also to cover the Arakan. Within one month, the Spitfires destroyed four Japanese photographic reconnaissance aircraft. Previously, the Dinah's range, speed and height had enabled them to fly with impunity over the Allied forward bases and the Hurricanes were unable to catch them. The Japanese reacted by sending out fighter sweeps in order to test the Spitfires and whittle down Spitfire strength. However, by the end of December, the Japanese lost 22 aircraft, another 33 were damaged, and the Allied loss was only 13 aircraft. The greatest air battle occurred on the last day of 1943. On that day, No. 136 Squadron destroyed 12 and damaged 11 when a mixed force of Japanese fighters and bombers attempted to attack the light naval force along the Arakan Coast. The Japanese carried out one strategic attack when on 5 December 1943, 60 bombers and fighters, including some naval aircraft, in two waves bombed Calcutta. The Japanese lost two aircraft and another five were damaged. The three and a half squadrons of Hurricane fighters, including half a squadron of night fighters which were defending the area lost five aircraft and another six were damaged. To the west the 5th Indian Division had also encountered stiffening resistance from Japanese outposts as it advanced southwards along the coastal plain towards Maungdaw, through the foothills further north and along the spine of the jungle-clad Mayu Mountains. They soon discovered that overcoming Japanese bunker defenses presented particular difficulties. As the division would report "The great difficulty in attacking Jap "hill top" positions lies in the concealment of the actual bunker or weapon pit' one brigade commander later wrote, and in the practical impossibility of deploying attacking troops in thick jungle, particularly where the approach runs along the top of a razor backed ridge.' In each case, patrols infiltrated between these localities isolated them from supplies and reinforcements with the result that Japanese normally gave up ground without a contest. A newsletter prepared by the HQ of 5th Indian Division reported: 'The only way to deal with the Jap def positions is by INFILTRATION. Recent experience has shown that the Jap has produced nothing new in def tactics... It is almost physically impossible in hilly and thick country to have every post covered by another, the posts can be eliminated piece- meal by infiltration tactics.' After the outline of the main Japanese defenses became apparent this approach was also increasingly applied at brigade level. At the end of December 1943, the 5th Indian Division held the area from the sea to the crest of the Mayu Peninsula and the 7th Indian Division moved into the Kalapanzin Valley. By the end of the month they reached Maungdaw. The advancing 5th Indian Division discovered that frontal assaults could not be completely avoided, however, when Japanese troops were determined to stay put. During this advance, the 161st Brigade moved to the high ground to the northeast of Bakkagona about five miles to the north of Razabil. On 30th December, 161st Indian Infantry Brigade assaulted Point 124, but the 4/7th Rajputs were held up by dense jungle and heavy mortar and machine fire and suffered heavy casualties. For six days assaults continued with the forward infantry regularly reaching the Japanese defenses before being driven off by showers of hand grenades and supporting machine-gun from every other enemy defensive position within range. Only after a 'policy of strangulation, starvation, and attrition was adopted', did its defenders withdraw. The 5th Indian Division immediately began probing the main Razabil defenses, while its 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade patrolled the western foothills of the Mayu Range and northern side of Razabil, particularly two hill positions dubbed Wrencat and Wrenkitten. To do so an indirect approach was again advocated by Major-General Harold Briggs in note on tactical policy issued on 4th January, stressing the importance of patrolling to identify positions held by the Japanese and infiltration to seize vital ground in their flanks or rear that would either provoke Japanese counterattacks or force a withdrawal. Meanwhile Stilwell arrived to Shingbwiyang on December 21st and assumed command of the Chinese forces in India. To relive the trapped battalion of the 112th regiment at Yupbang Ga, Stilwell and General Sun planned to send the entire 114th regiment to break the Japanese center at Yupang Ga to rescue the 112th, then hook north to envelope the northern fragment of the Japanese defensive line. On December 24th, they unleashed artillery and launched the infantry into the Japanese lines. The 114th regiment managed to envelop the Japanese right flank by the afternoon and soon a breakthrough emerged allowing for them to make contact with the 112th. Sun's men then surrounded the Japanese pocket during the night and would wipe them out the next morning. And thus the Chinese had gained their first victory at Yupbang Ha, though the Japanese still held the river crossing, so Stilwell began plans for another assault set after Christmas. On December 28th, Sun ordered 3 battalions to attack the north, while the 1st battalion, 112th regiment would sweep to the right, getting behind the 3 Japanese outer strongpoints. The chinese forces rapidly broke the Japanese outer defenses creating a breach while the 1st battalion, 114th regiment broke through the river defensive line. The Japanese tossed a large counterattack, but it would be repelled by the night time. Now Yupbang Ga was in allied hands as the surviving Japanese companies split into smaller groups trying to hold out for many days. With the fall of Yupbang Ga, the Japanese were forced to withdraw from Sharaw Ga as well, so elements of the 2rd battalion, 113th Regiment were be able to seize it by December 30. In the meantime, as the 22nd Division's 65th Regiment had been sent towards the Taro Plain to try and secure the southern flank, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 114th Regiment had been sent south to cross the Tanai Hka at the Kantau ford in an effort to cut off the enemy withdrawal line. By the end of 1943, with the loss of 315 killed and 429 wounded, Sun's 38th Division had gained complete control of the Tarung Hka. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Things were deteriorating for the Japanese on New Britain as American Marines were seizing features and gradually pushing them into Borgan Bay. Within the CBI theater a ton of drama amongst the high commanders was surprisingly not resulting in disaster, as operations in Burma were kicking off with great results. Perhaps Burma could be saved.
Walter Murch picks Mohammad Mossadegh, prime minister following the nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian oil company in 1951. Mossadegh was ousted in a coup in 1953. Murch became fascinated in Mossadegh's life while working on a Sam Mendes film about the first Iraq War. Walter Murch is an editor best known for Apocalypse Now, The Godfather and The Constant Gardener. He also worked on a documentary called Coup 53. This is the first in a new series of Great Lives and includes archive of Kermit Roosevelt, a CIA operative. The British were also heavily involved in the coup. The expert is Professor Ali Ansari of St Andrews University, presenter on Radio 4 of Through Persian Eyes.The producer in Bristol is Miles WardeFuture programme subjects include singer Eartha Kitt, author JG Ballard, and pioneering British aviator Diana Barnato-Walker who delivered Spitfires in World War Two.
In this week's episode, the first of Season 5, Patrick and Greg explore the very cool world of receiver operating characteristic, or ROC, curves: what they are, how they work, and why we can give partial thanks to Winston Churchill for their existence. Along the way they also mention: advent calendars, lasagna for 8, Honey Nut Cheerios, radio detection and ranging, flock of seagulls, broken pun promises, Dwayne Johnson, the whale petting machine, Embassy Suites, poison ivy and kudzu, sexy Hulk, smoldering intensity, Spitfires and F-14s, drunken punches, and Where's Waldo.Stay in contact with Quantitude! Twitter: @quantitudepod Web page: quantitudepod.org Merch: redbubble.com
In the first of a series of interviews with 'Heritage Heroes', Al Murray and James Holland speak to war bird pilot and restoration expert Richard Grace. Richard tells the lads about his extraordinary life within the classic war bird world, his parents' obsession with flying Spitfires, and what the best plane to fly really is. A Goalhanger Films Production Produced by Vasco Andrade Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Twitter: #WeHaveWays @WeHaveWaysPod Members' Club: patreon.com/wehaveways Website: wehavewayspod.com Email: wehavewayspodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dan, James, Andrew and Ella Al-Shamahi discuss hops, hominids, Spitfires and Socotra. Visit nosuchthingasafish.com for news about live shows, merchandise and more episodes. Join Club Fish for ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content at apple.co/nosuchthingasafish or nosuchthingasafish.com/patreon
The Second World War placed a tremendous strain on Britain's natural resources. One of the most important materials for fuelling the war effort was wood - used to make everything from ammunition boxes to Spitfires, Britain's timber would be harvested at an unprecedented rate during the war. It was a forgotten army of women who stepped up to make this happen, felling trees through freezing winters, splitting logs in hazardous sawmills and managing entire forestry operations.So what did this job entail? How risky was it, and how were these 'Lumberjills' considered by society at that time? Dan is joined by Joanna Foat, author of Lumberjills: Britain's Forgotten Army, to uncover the obscured world of the Women's Timber Corps.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.You can take part in our listener survey here.If you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can email us at ds.hh@historyhit.com, we'd love to hear from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
He's 19 years old and he's a 20-goal scorer in the NHL. Wyatt Johnston sat down with Jeff Marek at the American Airlines Center in Dallas to talk about his rookie season, living with Joe Pavelski, being coached by Marc Savard in Windsor, his 7-point performance in junior and how he's adjusted to being a professional. We also hear from Peter DeBoer and Joe Pavelski who speak on Wyatt and his great start in the league.Email the podcast at 32thoughts@sportsnet.ca or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailOutro Music: Brasstronaut - HawkListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Bally Sports, KTCK and P91The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.
HMS Furious having delivered its Spitfires to Malta, turns around with its escort. But they are not out of danger yet. Meanwhile, as the ships of Pedestal get closer to Malta, the Allies launch several distractions. Some are a waste of time, but one gives the British an edge that a certain Italian admiral would come to loath. But surviving a war or not truly is, the luck of the draw. Check out investmentcaster.com and use promo code History, for $10 off your first purchase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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