World War II History brings you the first of 2 DVD giveaway contests!

Enter today for your chance to win this first DVD set!

“How do I enter?!” – It’s an easy 3 step entry:

1) “LIKE” our Facebook Page http://facebook.com/WWIIHistory
2) Share a piece of personal WWII history, photo with description, or other accurate WWII trivia you find interesting, as a post on our Facebook page.
3) Mention DVD Contest #1 somewhere in your post.

OR

Worst case scenario… send an email to “contests (at) wwarii.com” and share a piece of personal WWII history, photo with description, or other accurate WWII trivia you find interesting with us.

What are we competing for?

DVD Set #1 Contains-

*WORLD WAR II: THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC* features the drama and intensity of history’s greatest conflict. This extraordinary collection from the History Channel and A&E Entertainment is the most complete account of World War II’s Pacific Theater ever created.

Combining graphic combat footage and expert commentary, it’s a commanding view of the battles and strategy, the men and machines, and the horror and heroism that marked this epic conflict.

*DISC ONE* (approx 90 mins)
ISLAND HOPPING: THE ROAD BACK–The epic story of the Allies’ island-by-island Pacific campaign, using massive amphibious assaults.

JUNGLE WARFARE: NEW GUINEA TO BURMA–In the steamy jungles of the Pacific, soldiers battled not only the Japanese, but malaria, heat exhaustion, and swarms of parasites.

AIR WAR IN THE PACIFIC–From the war’s first days, to the suicidal Kamikaze attacks and the bombing missions that brought the war to the Japanese homeland.

THE BLOODY RIDGES OF PELELIU–From the opening Naval bombardment, to the hand-to-hand combat and vicious guerrilla warfare, this is the complete story of this brutal and historic battle.

*DISC TWO* (approx 95 min)
THE RETURN TO THE PHILIPPINES–From MacArthur’s strategy to the heroics of the ground, naval, and air troops, it’s a stunning story of unstoppable determination.

OKINAWA…THE LAST BATTLE–Witness the desperate, suicidal resistance of the Japanese in the final battle of the Pacific campaign.

ADMIRAL WILLIAM ‘BULL’ HALSEY: NAVAL WARRIOR–Sail into battle with one of the most celebrated naval commanders in American history.

Terms & Conditions

This contest is for a copy of History’s WWII:The War in the Pacific (2-DVD) Collection to 1 contest winner. The set is brand new and provided by the publisher. All entrants must complete the entry task(s), or in case of any issues an email to contests@wwarii.com. One entry per household. All information provided will be kept confidential. Entries must be received by May 31, 2010 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time. Contest winners will be drawn at random and notified after the close of the contest. The DVD’s will be shipped directly to the winners. US residents only.

It’s time for a new contest! On April 21, 2010 Reader’s Digest released a brand new DVD collection titled WWII in the Pacific containing over 12 hours of video. From the pivotal battles that changed the course of WWII to the heroic soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of democracy, WWII in the Pacific is a gripping chronicle of the Pacific. This beautiful, gold foil-embossed 6 DVD set of authentic combat footage and newsreels from WWII is a wonderful addition to any history lover’s collection. Questar Entertainment has kindly furnished us with 2 copies to give away!

You can enter the contest in 2 ways, just follow the directions below!

Contest entry:

1) Become a Fan on Facebook AND Share a piece of personal WWII history, Photo with description, or other accurate WWII trivia you find interesting, as a post on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/WWIIHistory.

or

2) Send us an email with your name and reply email address to “contests (at) wwarii.com” AND include a piece of personal WWII history, photo or other accurate WWII trivia you find interesting.

We will pick the winners on May 3, 2010, US residents only.

If you aren’t the lucky winner, or would like to order your own copy of this great DVD set, check the links below.

Purchase Reader’s Digest WWII in the Pacific Now and see over 12 hours of live action video in this collection!

Good luck!

*Terms & Conditions – This contest is for a copy of Reader’s Digest WWII in the Pacific (6-DVD) Collection to 2 contest winners. The sets are brand new and provided by the publisher. All entrants must complete the entry task(s), or in case of any issues an email to contests@wwarii.com. One entry per household. All information provided will be kept confidential. Entries must be received by May 3, 2010 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time. Contest winners will be drawn at random and notified after the close of the contest. The DVD’s will be shipped directly to the winners. US residents only.

If you weren’t the lucky winner this time you can order the DVD at the links below.

Check back soon for the next contest!

WWII in HD DVD set:
http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=108161&v=history_show_wwii-in-hd&pagemax=all

And for the Blu ray edition:
http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=108164&v=history_show_wwii-in-hd&pagemax=all

WWII in HD

Twelve lives and a War that changed the World. The only ones who saw the war this way, were the ones who lived it. Premiering this Fall on History. Narrated By Gary Sinise.

Bugs Bunny War Bond Drive WWII Cartoon

Table of WWII Aircraft Carriers

For all those that liked HBO’s “Band of Brothers”, a new 10-part HBO mini-series is on the way from from Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. The Pacific tells the intertwined stories of three Marines during America’s battle with the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II. See some of the exciting footage in the trailer!

Trailer for “The Pacific”

World War II History for June 6 – D-Day

1942 - Japanese forces retreated in the World War II Battle of Midway. The battle had begun on June 4.

1944 - Operation “Overlord” – The D-Day invasion of Europe took place on the beaches of Normandy, France. 400,000 Allied American, British and Canadian troops were involved.

On this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, the Allied invasion of northern France.

By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. At Omaha, the U.S. First Division battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles—and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in the high tide. British divisions, which landed at Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops also met with heavy German fire, but by the end of the day they were able to push inland.

Despite the German resistance, Allied casualties overall were relatively light. The United States and Britain each lost about 1,000 men, and Canada 355. Before the day was over, 155,000 Allied troops would be in Normandy. However, the United States managed to get only half of the 14,000 vehicles and a quarter of the 14,500 tons of supplies they intended on shore.

Three factors were decisive in the success of the Allied invasion. First, German counterattacks were firm but sparse, enabling the Allies to create a broad bridgehead, or advanced position, from which they were able to build up enormous troop strength. Second, Allied air cover, which destroyed bridges over the Seine, forced the Germans to suffer long detours, and naval gunfire proved decisive in protecting the invasion troops. And third, division and confusion within the German ranks as to where the invasion would start and how best to defend their position helped the Allies. (Hitler, convinced another invasion was coming the next day east of the Seine River, refused to allow reserves to be pulled from that area.)

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, commander of Britain’s Twenty-first Army Group (but under the overall command of General Eisenhower, for whom Montgomery, and his ego, proved a perennial thorn in the side), often claimed later that the invasion had come off exactly as planned. That was a boast, as evidenced by the failure to take Caen on the first day, as scheduled. While the operation was a decided success, considering the number of troops put ashore and light casualties, improvisation by courageous and quick-witted commanders also played an enormous role.

The D-Day invasion has been the basis for several movies, from The Longest Day (1962), which boasted an all-star cast that included Richard Burton, Sean Connery, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, to Saving Private Ryan (1998), which includes some of the most grippingly realistic war scenes ever filmed, captured in the style of the famous Robert Capa still photos of the actual invasion. [1]

[1] “Allies invade France,” The History Channel website, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=52586 (accessed Jun 6, 2009).

World War II History for May 26

26 May 1940 - U.S. President Roosevelt made a radio appeal to the Red Cross due to the dire straits of Belgian and French civilians.

26 May 1940 - The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began. The evacuation was known as Operation Dynamo.

On May 26, the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk in France. Ships arrived at Calais to remove the Force before German troops occupied the area, and it was hoped that 45,000 British soldiers could be shipped back to Britain within two days. The German air force, though, had other plans. Determined to prevent the evacuation, the Luftwaffe initiated a bombing campaign in Dunkirk and the surrounding area. British, Polish, and Canadian fighter pilots succeeded in fending off the German attack in the air, allowing finally for a delayed, but successful, evacuation nine days later. But the cost to civilians was great, as thousands of refugees fled for their lives to evade the fallout of the battle.[1]

Frank Capra’s 1943 United States Army propaganda film Divide and Conquer (Why We Fight #3) directed by Frank Capra and partially based on, news archives, animations, restaged scenes and captured propaganda material from both sides. Includes British troops escaping from Dunkirk in lifeboats (France, 1940).[2]

[1] “Britain’s Operation Dynamo gets underway as President Roosevelt makes a radio appeal for the Red Cross,” The History Channel website, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6422 (accessed May 26, 2009).

[2] Divide and Conquer (Why We Fight #3) http://www.archive.org/details/DivideAndConquer (http://www.archive.org/download/DivideAndConquer/DivideAndConquer_512kb.mp4)

Rare footage showing life in British prisoner of war camp is going on display at a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.

There were over 1000 prisoner of war camps in Britain from World War II, but few moving pictures remain.

The Captured Exhibition opens on 23 May. Archive video courtesy Imperial War Museum .

BBC, POW, Camp, Britain, Imperial War Museum, Video

The six-hour series airs Wednesdays, May 6-20, 2009, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET, on PBS (check local listings).

This is an excellently portrayed and dramatized series which covers the Allied leadership in its intricacies throughout World War II. The PBS website has some great resources and interactive media covering the production and the history surrounding it which can be viewed at http://pbs.org/behindcloseddoors.

In confidential meetings held throughout the duration of World War II, Joseph Stalin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill sparred and negotiated for the political and economic interests of their nations — making deals that sometimes had less to do with right or wrong than the expediency of their individual wartime goals. Rare wartime documents made briefly available only after the fall of the Soviet Union help reveal the real story of confidential meetings held during the war between Joseph Stalin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and Winston Churchill. Award-winning historian and filmmaker Laurence Rees (Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State, Nazis ­ A Warning from History) tells the hidden story of Stalin’s backroom dealings ­ first with the Nazis and then with Roosevelt and Churchill. By juxtaposing conventional documentary elements with dramatic recreations, WWII Behind Closed Doors breaks through the myths of the Allied powers, illuminating the hidden motivations of “The Big Three” and creating a dynamic reappraisal of one of the seminal events in world history.

Episode 1: Unlikely Friends (Summer 1939 to Autumn 1941)

The first episode in the series lays bare a history of secret allegiances with the Nazis that Stalin wanted to hide. Before he was allied with Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin offered help to Hitler and the Nazis – much more help than the rest of the world knew.

In 1939, less than two weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War, the foreign minister of Nazi Germany, Joachim von Ribbentrop, visited the Soviet Union to negotiate an agreement with Stalin. The signing of a non-aggression pact between them surprised many – Soviet Communists and German Fascists alike. Though the two nations were careful to convey that they had merely signed a pact, they were allies in all but name.

Episode 2: Cracks in the Alliance (Autumn 1941 to December 1943)

On August 12th, 1942, Stalin finally came face-to-face with Churchill in Moscow. Despite the upbeat newsreels of the time, however, it was hardly a meeting of minds. As one of Churchill’s generals later remarked: “We were going into the lion’s den and we weren’t going to feed him.”
The Western leaders knew Stalin was a tyrant who had ordered the death of hundreds of his own citizens. The problem was, just how were they to work with one tyrant to defeat another?

Episode 3: Dividing the World (January 1944 to August 1945)

On the verge of an Allied victory in Europe, a new fight was just beginning over who would control which parts of Europe. Using rare archive material only available since the fall of Communism, this episode reveals the hidden forces that were tearing the Alliance apart just as victory was in reach.
As French troops marched down the Champs Elysees, on the Eastern Front, Stalin’s Red Army was also making progress against the Nazis in Poland, Hungary and Budapest. The key question was: were they liberators or occupiers?

WWII Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West | Clip #1 | PBS

World War II History for April 15

Everyone gets to say hello to the IRS today, even Donald Duck.

15 Apr 1940 - French and British troops landed at Narvik, Norway.

15 Apr 1945 - During World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.

15 Apr 1945 - The Dutch town of Arnhem was liberated.

Starring Tom Cruise, VALKYRIE, is the true story of the assassination plot against Adolf Hitler that took place on July 20, 1944 and which was led by, among others, German staff officer Klaus Von Stauffenberg (whom Cruise portrays).

Although there is some public awareness of the plot against Hitler, few people know the details of that plot and the plan that was set up to wrest control of Germany away from Hitler’s SS and Gestapo. When Von Stauffenberg’s carefully placed bomb exploded inside Hitler’s briefing room in East Prussia, all communications were immediately cut off and Von Stauffenberg flew to Berlin with the belief that Hitler was dead. Unbeknownst to most people, Hitler’s emergency plan to maintain control of the government in Germany, was then used against him to begin arresting key SS and Gestapo officials in the capital and preparations were made to hand over control of the government to saner minds.

The events that led up to that brief but dramatic uprising make fascinating drama and VALKYRIE presents these moments in a suspenseful, carefully researched and detailed story that also features, in addition to Cruise, a wonderful supporting cast that includes Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet), Bill Nighy
(Pirates of the Caribbean), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton), Carice van Houten (Black Book), Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong), Eddie Izzard (Ocean’s 12), Christian Berkel, (The Downfall) and Terence Stamp (Wall Street).

In the next few days we will be adding the Making of VALKYRIE Featurette so check back!

World War II History for August 15

1940 - Air battles and daylight raids over Britain began.

1943 - Because of his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes, the U.S. War Department awarded Sgt. Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit.

1944 - The Allied forces of World War II landed in southern France.

1945 - The Allies proclaimed V-J Day a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally. Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces the news of his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II over a radio broadcast to the Japanese people.

Although Tokyo had already communicated to the Allies its acceptance of the surrender terms of the Potsdam Conference several days earlier, and a Japanese news service announcement had been made to that effect, the Japanese people were still waiting to hear an authoritative voice speak the unspeakable: that Japan had been defeated.

On the afternoon of August 14, a Japanese radio broadcaster told the public that Emperor Hirohito would soon make an Imperial Proclamation announcing the defeat. The following day at noon, Hirohito went on the radio himself, blaming Japan’s surrender on the enemies’ use of “a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which is incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives.” The emperor was not only a political leader in Japan; he was also revered as a near-god, and many Japanese did not fully accept the news of defeat until they heard him speak those unthinkable words.

That voice was the emperor’s. In Japan’s Shinto religious tradition, the emperor was also divine; his voice was the voice of a god. And on August 15, that voice-heard over the radio airwaves for the very first time–confessed that Japan’s enemy “has begun to employ a most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives.” This was the reason given for Japan’s surrender. Hirohito’s oral memoirs, published and translated after the war, evidence the emperor’s fear at the time that “the Japanese race will be destroyed if the war continues.”

As sadness and shame engulfed Japan, joy spread around the Western world. In the United States, news of Hirohito’s announcement reached airwaves on August 14 (due to the time difference), and that day was declared Victory in Japan–or V-J–Day. That afternoon, President Harry S. Truman addressed a crowd that had gathered outside the White House, saying “This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbor. This is the day when Fascism finally dies, as we always knew it would.” That day, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt snapped one of the most famous photos ever published, a shot of a sailor in full uniform kissing a nurse in the middle of New York City’s Times Square. The photo, published by Life magazine, became a symbol of the general atmosphere of jubilation in the United States following the end of World War II.

A sticking point in the Japanese surrender terms had been Hirohito’s status as emperor. Tokyo wanted the emperor’s status protected; the Allies wanted no preconditions. There was a compromise. The emperor retained his title; Gen. Douglas MacArthur believed his at least ceremonial presence would be a stabilizing influence in postwar Japan. But Hirohito was forced to disclaim his divine status. Japan lost more than a war-it lost a god.

Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day) celebrates the surrender of Japan, the last Axis power to yield during WWII, and the subsequent end of the war. Though Japan’s surrender was announced on Aug 15, the terms were not signed until Sept 2. One of the most famous images depicting the joy of V-J Day was shot in Times Square, NY, when Alfred Eisenstaedt, photographing for Life magazine, captured the moment a sailor embraced a nurse and kissed her.

View the video history article at History.com Hirohito announces unconditional surrender

WW2 Combat Footage – Pershing vs Panther

Watch the full episode of “Hero Ships: USS Laffey”.

The USS Laffey (DD-724) is the only surviving Allen M. Sumner class destroyer preserved in her World War II configuration and the only destroyer of the period that saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theatre.

USS Laffey - Benson-class Destroyer (DD-459)

USS Laffey (DD-459)

1942 Battle for Guadalcanal was the first action for the Laffey. Escorting a convoy toward Guadalcanal a Japanese submarine breaks into the defense and torpedoes the aircraft carrier USS Wasp. The Laffey picks up survivors from the burning oil covered sea.

In early November 1942 Marines on Guadalcanal face a desperate situation.

“My pride in you is beyond expression. No honor for you could be too great.”

Admiral William F. Halsey,
to the men who fought in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal,
November 12-15, 1942

While ships brining reinforcements to Guadalcanal were making their way to shore, The Laffey defended them in a screen, filling the air with flak and munitions to bring down the Japanese dive bombers. They then get news that a Japanese task force is approaching, vastly stronger than the US ships.

Japanese battleship Hiei in 1942

1000 Yards away the HIJMS Battleship Hiei (Kongo-class), with her 14″ guns bear down on the Laffey. They pass astern of the Laffey by only 20 ft. Then they are surrounded by 2 battleships and 2 destroyers with 14″ shells splashing all around her. 14″ shells hit the bridge of the Laffey and the #2 gun mount.

The blow to the bridge has knocked out many controls and making her slow and sluggish to control. Inside mount #2 the men are vaporized. She is then hit by a torpedo in the stern stopping her in the water. Then the battleship that hit her the first time hit with another 14″ salvo. Fires race topside and below. Captain Hank gives the order to abandon ship. The magazine compartment exploded and she started to go down.

On Friday the 13th of November 1942, the USS Laffey is pounded to death in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. 228 days since her comissioning she is dead. But the Laffey name is not gone.

USS Laffey – Allen M. Sumner-class Destroyer (DD-724)

USS Laffey DD-724

“I knew my Laffey would tangle with the enemy in some desperate battles. Yet I was determined to bring her and her men through any ordeal we might face. I had lost one ship and did not intent to lose another.”
- Captain Julius Becton (former captain if the USS Aaron Ward who saw the USS Laffey DD-459 sink)
upon taking command of the USS Laffey (DD-724)

The new Laffey’s first operation was on D-Day firing its 5″ guns and launching over 1000 rounds (more than any other destroyer) onto the beach defenses of Normandy. The German 88mm positions at Cherbourg needed to be taken out by the allied naval battery group and the Hambourg 11″ coastal defense guns pounded away at them.

Once complete the ships left the harbor and took a chance to go over battle damage. an 11″ shell with 400lbs of unexploded ordinance were found in the aft of the ship. Someone in a Checloslovakian forced labor camp made it a dud saving the Laffey.

Layte Island, Philippines. The US fleet closes in on the islands that were critical to the Japanese flow of oil. In October 1944, in a desperate attempt to stave off the advancing US forces the Japanese develop a new weapon, the Kamikazi (Divine Wind).

“Keep moving and keep shooting.
Steam as fast as you can and shoot as fast as you can.”

-Skipper of the USS Cassin Young
offering advice to Captain Becton in regards to kamikazes.

300 miles off the coast of Japan lies the island of Okinawa. It was the perfect staging ground of the invasion of Japan.
April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday, approx 50k troops advance on the beaches. Offshore, 19 picket stations are set up against kamikazi attacks. USS Laffey is stationed at radar picket station #1, the closest to the Japanese mainland. The gun crews prepare for battle.

“That screen has do many dots on it that it looked at times like an advances case of chicken pox.”
Captain Becton upon seeing the radar screen the morning of April 16, 1945.

At 8:20am Captain Becton receives word that 50 boggies are picked up on the radar screen. The first hit they received was on the fantail causing a fire for 2 decks. After several hits, a plane dropped a bomb jamming the rudder.

Finally US aircover arrives and chases off any remaining Japanese planes.

22 Japanese planes have directly attacked her, 7 kamikazes and 4 bombs hit the mark. The back part of the ship was a mess, the main deck was riddled and broken up. 1/3 of the crew are casualties. 2 water tight doors contain the flooding and keep the ship afloat. Damage control parties of the survivors win difficult battles over the fires and flooding.

Laffey is towed back to a nearby base for repairs and made it back to Seattle under her own power for formal repairs.

The ship earned the nickname “The Ship That Would Not Die” for its exploits during the D-Day invasion and the battle of Okinawa. It is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and is preserved as a museum ship in Charleston, South Carolina.

http://link.history.com/services/link/bcpid1612750155/bclid1672079576/bctid1672667496

“You could see them grinning when they were firing at us.” – Seaman 1/c Vernon J. Olsen

http://link.history.com/services/link/bcpid1612750155/bclid1641831861/bctid1646174210

The War of the World, a 3-part series based on historian Niall Ferguson’s best-selling book of the same name, challenges the notion that World War II was a triumph of good (us) over evil (them).

The first part of the series gives an excellent work up to the 20th century in conflict. Spanning Asia and then through Europe it portrays the human cost in the struggle for power and control. Of all three parts that I previewed the first gave the best historical viewpoint without much bias. It was a very educational and insightful piece.

As the program moves into the second and then into the third series the author and host Niall Ferguson builds the focus of the series into his viewpoint of “seeing the 20th century through new eyes.” While the series is in the end aimed toward a particular viewpoint there are a lot of historical and factual perspectives that aren’t always highlighted in traditional history, such as the suffering and persecution of the common people throughout the various nations.

Stephen Segaller, Executive Producer of THE WAR OF THE WORLD and Vice President, National Production for Thirteen, says, “The series challenges our assumptions about a century’s worth of brutal conflict. In light of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and eastward shift of global power toward China, Ferguson makes a case for looking deeply into the past to achieve insight into the future. By looking beyond individual wars or regions, he enables us to see the larger, and more powerful historical trends of our volatile age.”

The series considers the unparalleled stretch of violence as a single, unrelenting “war of the world” that began with Japan’s invasion of Russia in 1904 and continued through the Korean War all the way to an ongoing “Third World’s War.”

Episode one, The Clash of Empires, posits that economic volatility, ethnic conflict and empires in crisis combined to spawn the 20th century’s bloodiest conflicts, leading to the rise of the brutal regimes of Germany, Japan and Russia, the “age of genocide” and a preoccupation with racial purity.

Episode two, A Tainted Victory, cites the horrors of World War II to show how, in order to win, the Allies acted with the same savagery as their enemies, thus attaining a “tainted victory.”

Episode three, The Icebox, describes the Cold War as a continuation of the “war of the world” in which millions died in proxy wars conducted by the two superpowers. The end of the Cold War led to great new dangers and challenges, and presaged the rise of East.

War of the World airs on consecutive Mondays — June 30, July 7, July 14 — at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

Technorati Tags: PBS, TV, Video, Series, War, WWII, WWarII, Review

Saving Lives in World War II

This is a moving interview of Sgt. Judson M. Hemperly, medic during World War II.

He recalls an experience saving a pregnant civilian woman with a severely injured arm. They gave her morphine for the pain but could not stop the bleeding arm, which had all but one ligament severed. He amputated it with his scissors and they stopped the bleeding with sulfa drugs and wrapped it up in snow and a blanket.

They took the woman in a stretcher to a nearby hospital where he found a doctor who spoke English and explained the situation. The doctor said that he had saved the womans life by stopping the bleeding and would have done the same thing.

He wanted to go into WWII to save lives and he “wouldn’t trade his experience for a million dollars.”

Technorati Tags: WWII, WWarII, History, Oral, Interview, Vet, Veteran, Medic, Civilian, Video

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero

The pre-series A6M2 Zero became known in 1940-41, when the fighter destroyed 266 confirmed aircraft in China. At the time of Pearl Harbor, there were 420 Zeros active in the Pacific. The carrier-borne Model 21 was the type encountered by the Americans, often much further from its carriers than expected, with a mission range of over 1600 statute miles (2,600 km). The Zero fighters were superior in many aspects of performance to all Allied fighters in the Pacific in 1941 and quickly gained a great reputation. However, the Zero failed to achieve complete air superiority due to the development of suitable tactics and new aircraft by the Allies. During World War II, the Zero destroyed at least 1,550 American aircraft. The Japanese ace Saburo Sakai described how the resilience of early Allied aircraft was a factor in preventing the Zeros from total domination:

“ I had full confidence in my ability to destroy the Grumman and decided to finish off the enemy fighter with only my 7.7mm machine guns. I turned the 20mm. cannon switch to the ‘off’ position, and closed in. For some strange reason, even after I had poured about five or six hundred rounds of ammunition directly into the Grumman, the airplane did not fall, but kept on flying. I thought this very odd—it had never happened before—and closed the distance between the two airplanes until I could almost reach out and touch the Grumman. To my surprise, the Grumman’s rudder and tail were torn to shreds, looking like an old torn piece of rag. With his plane in such condition, no wonder the pilot was unable to continue fighting! A Zero which had taken that many bullets would have been a ball of fire by now.”

Technorati Tags: WWII, WWarII, WW II, History, Video, Fighter, Japan, Zero, Mitsubishi

Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima

Happy Father’s Day !
-World War II History

Technorati Tags: WWII, WWarII, History, Fathers Day, Iwo Jima, Video, Flag

D-Day 6/6/44
Film clips from the actual D-Day landings 6 June 1944. World War II History of Operation Overlord.

Technorati Tags: WWII, WWarii, Video, Media, DDay, Normandy, Operation Overlord

Battle of Midway – WWII in colour

Technorati Tags: WWII, Midway, Video

World War II History for May 8

1943 - The Germans suppressed a revolt by Polish Jews and destroyed the Warsaw Ghetto.

1945 - U.S. President Harry Truman announced that World War II had ended in Europe. He warned that victory “is but half won.” V-E Day is celebrated in American and Britain

DESCRIPTION: V-E day news read calmly at the USO Victory Club by (l. to r.) Pvt. Johson Riddle of Hermann, Miss.; Cpl. Carl Granese of Madison, N.J.; Sgt. C.W. Best, Concord, N.C.; and Master Sgt. Salvatore Martini, Madison, N.J.

Both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine.

The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark–the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.

The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender.

Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain.

Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations…has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.”

Technorati Tags: WWII, World War II, WWarII, History, VE Day, Victory, Historical Video, Video, Photos, Images