The Main Challenge For World War II Historians

One of the greatest questions that historians face in any field of study is "what was this person thinking before X happened?" Often times historians are forced to make educated guesses based on the person's actions as to what their motivations are.

However, sometimes historians have documentation from a person to give us a glimpse into their mindset during an event. In the field of World War II research, we are fortunate to have some very interesting and enlightening perspectives into two of the war's combatants: Britain and Germany.

Of course, the person that people most want to get into the mind of is Adolf Hitler. Fortunately for historians, Hitler was an avid orator and there are numerous works of his that explain his motivations. People who at the time viewed Germany's aggressive actions as a shock obviously didn't read "Mein Kampf", in which Hitler states that:

"[the Nazi movement] must find the courage to gather our people and their strength for an advance along the road that will lead this people from its present restricted living space to new land and soil, and hence also free it from the anger of vanishing from the earth or of serving others as a slave nation."

Arado Ar 234: First Jet Bomber

An Arado Ar 234 after the war with US markings.
Photo sourced from WikiCommons.

As World War II neared its conclusion in Europe, the Germans were growing increasingly desperate for "wonder weapons", weapons that could turn the tide of war in their favor. Nothing the Germans developed did that but they greatly advanced the field of military technology. One of these technological innovations was the implementation of the jet engine in both fighters and bombers. The fighter was the Messerschmitt Me 262, the bomber was the Ar 234.

The first Ar 234s were introduced in the fall of 1944. At first they were only used in a reconnaissance capacity, but soon they were used as bombers. Since the bomb bay was completely filled with fuel tanks, the bombs had to be mounted externally, an unusual trait for such a plane. Even so, the few missions the Ar 234 flew proved that the plane was nearly impossible to catch (see Bombing of Remagen Bridge)

However, like all of Germany's secret weapons it was too little too late. The early jet engines needed a lot of fuel that wasn't available and Allied pilots figured out that the easiest time to shoot down a jet was to wait for it to take off or land, which happened on many occasions. Nevertheless, the innovations made by the Germans in the field of jet aircraft paved the way for all modern jet aircraft today. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

(Fcts sourced from "The Encyclopedia of Aircraft of World War II" edited by Paul Eden as well as Wikipedia on the Ar 234)

WWII Movie Review: "A Bridge Too Far"

Photo sourced from
WikiCommons.

It was the largest operation on the Western Front since the D-Day landings. It was the largest airborne assault in history up to that time. It was also the big disappointment for the Allies who thought that they could end the war before Christmas 1944. This was Operation Market Garden, and it was immortalized by the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far based on the 1974 book by Cornelius Ryan.

The film is famous as a movie because of its large number of all-star actors, including James Caan, Robert Redford, Michael Caine, John Ratzenberger, Laurence Olivier,  and Sean Connery. This was not the first World War II film to feature some of these names in one place (see The Longest Day).

However, as a historical film it outdoes itself. Based on the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, this movie is incredibly accurate in its portrayal of the ultimate failure of Market Garden and the people associated with it on both sides, with few obvious artistic liberties.  Filming for the most part took place on the sites where the actual events happened, most notably the Arnhem bridge.

This is not the shortest film at almost 3 hours, but for the time you commit to watching this it gives you a good taste of one of the most notorious campaigns in World War II and overall it's a great war movie. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

The Bridge at Remagen: First Jet Bomber Target in History

An Arado Ar 234 as seen at the National Air and Space Museum's
Steven Udvar-Hazy Center. Photo by Cody Lizotte.

In early 1945, the majority of Germans all but knew they were done for. The Luftwaffe's attempts to break the Western Allied air forces, Operation Bodenplatte, was a disaster. Soviet troops had captured almost all of occupied Poland and were closing on Berlin. Finally, the Western allies had reached the Rhine River, the natural border between France and Germany.

The Wehrmacht (German army) had failed in their mission to blow up the main bridge across the river at Remagen, so the Luftwaffe (German air force) was ordered to launch bombing strikes to destroy the bridge. Suffice it to say, the Allies were well prepared to fend off air attacks and the strikes were unsuccessful. The Americans captured both sides of the bridge by March 23, 1945.

However, this was the first instance in history when formations of only jets were used to strike a target. The escort fighters were Messerschmitt Me 262s, the world's first operational jet fighter. The bombers were Arado Ar 234s, the world's first jet bomber with a bomb payload equal to that of the B-17 Flying Fortress but with a top speed at least 150mph faster.

The raids may not have been a success, but this early mission would later serve as a blueprint for future air strikes in the jet era, with F-18s escorting A-10s for example. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

(Facts sourced from "Campaigns of World War II Day by day" by Chris Bishop and Chris McNab)

Luftflotte 4: Lifeline of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad

A Junkers Ju52 being offloaded at Stalingrad.
Photo sourced from www.stalingrad.net.

One of the US Air Force's proudest moments in postwar history was the Berlin Airlift, a massive undertaking in which the Soviet-besieged city of West Berlin was supplied solely by air for over a year. A similar feat was attempted during the war by the German Luftwaffe in order to supply the surrounded Sixth Army at Stalingrad.

In 1940, with the British Expeditionary Forces and the remnants of the French army fleeing to the coast near Dunkirk, Hitler ordered the advancing forces stopped. This was partly because they had outrun their supply lines, but also because Herman Goering, the head of the Luftwaffe, promised Hitler that he would demolish the enemy using nothing but air power. Needless to say, it didn't work nearly as well as Goering had hoped.

You would think Hitler would have lost faith in Goering after that, but no. In November of 1942, Goering made a promise to Hitler that using Junkers Ju 52s from Luftflotte 4 he could supply the surrounded Sixth Army with enough resources to drive back the Soviets. This worked in that it allowed the Sixth Army to hold on longer than was expected, but because of increased Soviet air superiority and the fact that the Soviets were capturing the airstrips near Stalingrad meant that the airlift was overall a disaster. The last plane left Stalingrad on January 24, 1943, and the Sixth Army surrendered ten days later.

The toll on Luftflotte 4 was tremendous, with one-third of the entire fleet of Ju-52s on the Eastern Front destroyed. Nevertheless, one good  thing came from this airlift. About 42,000 wounded troops were evacuated and were spared the harsh prisoner of war camps that awaited the remnants of the Sixth Army. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

(Facts and figures sourced from "World War II" by H.P Willmott, Robin Cross, and Charles Messenger as well as Wikipedia on Hans-Georg von Seidel, the Luftwaffe head of logistics during this operation.)

Stars and Stripes Review: July 29, 1943

Scanned by Cody Lizotte.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, The Stars and Stripes is the daily publication for the U.S armed forces and has been published since World War I. It has been published both as a traditional newspaper and a tabloid. Today, many issues of Stars and Stripes that denote famous wartime events are highly sought, such as D-Day and "Hitler Dead". This issue, however, does not show any events of major historical importance, but is instead a unique insight into the everyday reality of World War II.

This specific issue was published in London, however as the war progressed other editions sprang up such as North Africa, Paris, and Munich, Germany. This issue's headline topic concerns the Allied policy of the Combined Bombing Initiative, where the Americans would bomb Germany during the day and the British would bomb during the night.

Also included in this issue are the first signs of strains between Germany and Italy. As peace talks begin, Italy is seen as willing to surrender to the Allies, an act that they won't commit until the Allied invasion of mainland Italy (at the time of this issue, the Germans had yet to be defeated in Sicily).

Along with various war-related stories, there's also the full-page sports section (the issue's only one sheet of folded paper, with sports being on page 3 and the other pages dealing with war issues) reporting the results from the minor leagues of baseball as well as an upset for the Phillies as the Cardinals beat them 6-2 and 5-2, leading to a replacement of the Philies' manager.

Finally, there's the comics. There are only two strips in this issue (sometimes there's at least five), and neither of them are in circulation today: Li'l Abner and a 'new' one Terry and the Pirates. These strips follow the model of serials rather than witty one-offs every day. However, for the men in the trenches it was a refreshing break from the harshness of war. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

Autogyros: WWII's Contribution to Helicopter Development

A Cierva C.30 circa 1951. Photo sourced from WikiCommons.

All technology has to start somewhere. Before we could get to images of Bell Hueys depositing U.S troops in Vietnam, we had to have several generations of helicopters developed, as well as find various military uses for such aircraft. Before even the spartan helicopters seen on "M*A*S*H", we had the autogyro, and it played a small but vital role in World War II and afterward.

The autogyro was first successfully flown in 1923. In concept it's similar to a helicopter in that it has a rotary wing that provides lift. Unlike a helicopter, for an autogyro to achieve lift it must have a propeller push it forward, making the rotor spin in the wind fast enough.

The autogyro was adopted by the air forces of both Germany and Britain because of its low maintenance requirements and its short takeoff requirements. The Germans used autogyros as reconnaissance tools to aid the U-Boat hunting packs off the coast of mainland Europe. The British, however, used autogyros like the Cierva C.30 to calibrate the coastal radar installations that were so crucial during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

While this was the main extent of autogyros in World War II, it was through experimentation on these aircraft that helicopter pioneers like Igor Sikorsky were able to make the breakthroughs necessary to make the first operational helicopters in the late 1940s. The rest, as they say, is history. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

(Facts sourced from "World War II" by H.P Willmott, Robin Cross, and Charles Messenger, as well as Wikipedia on autogyros.)

Schweinfurt: The Mission All Pilots Hated

An aerial view of Schweinfurt during the raids in 1943.
Photo sourced from wikicommons.

One of the hallmarks of World War II is the image of massive bomber formations heading into Germany to bomb factories and cities in order to cripple the German war machine and destroy morale. However, these missions were fraught with peril from anti-air flak on the ground and enemy fighters in the air. One such mission was more perilous than most, but the target was vital, if not immediately obvious as to its importance. The factories at Schweinfurt made extremely vital, immensely important...ball bearings.

These ball bearings, however, really were vital in the German war effort, especially in their aircraft production and specifically in the manufacture of airplane engines. It was thought that the destruction of the Schweinfurt factory would cripple the German aircraft industry and promote Allied air superiority.

However, this raid earned a reputation in its first incarnations. In August and October of 1943, the Allies did two raids on Schweinfurt with over 200 bombers per raid. Normally, the acceptable amount of battle losses for a bomber mission is below 10 percent. On these raids, the casualty rates were as high as 30 percent. After the October raid, strategic bombing in Europe was suspended for four months to recover from the losses.

Schweinfurt would be visited again and again until the factory was destroyed, costing the Germans 25 percent of their entire ball bearing making capability. However, lack of proper intelligence and no air superiority fo rthe Allies meant that these raids were the most costly and the most infamous of the war. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

(Facts and figures sourced from "Campaigns of World War II Day by Day" by Chris Bishop and Chris McNab)

Wartime Innovation: The Tank Destroyer

A Hetzer on patrol in Hungary 1944.
Photo sourced from WikiCommons.

In war, there's a certain amount of innovation associated with certain situations. Technology is often developed at a much faster rate than in peacetime, and new technology is often produced as a result. One of these new technologies is the tank destroyer.

Developed later in the war, the tank destroyer is basically a tank gun mounted on an obsolete tank chassis. The Germans were one of the first to build one of these, and it was called the Hetzer. It was cheaper to produce than a tank with a comparable gun, and as the name implies it could destroy enemy tanks with losses that were easier to replace.

Unfortunately for the Germans, like many of their technological achievements in the war, it was too little too late. While the concept of the tank destroyer would be adopted by other nations and is still used to this day, in World War II it came too late to change the outcome. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

(Facts sourced from "Campaigns of World War II Day by Day" by Chris Bishop and Chris McNab)