Butcher.

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Butcher bird!! Best?

From the Internet web site the National Interest and thanks to same:

"Forget the P-51 Mustang or Zero: This Was the Best Fighter Plane During World War II"

"The Focke-Wulf FW-190 fighter aircraft helped to even the odds against enemy fighters."

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE!

Comments:

* The famous German combat aviator of the Second World War [WW2] Johannes Steinhoff rating the American P-51 Mustang as the BEST fighter place of that era. Johannes also having a high opinion of the Soviet La-5 and La-7.

* As was not known to me, the FW-190 also an excellent ground-attack warplane and used as so extensively on the Eastern Front of WW2. I had thought the FW only functioning as an interceptor in the role of defense of the Reich against attack by the four-engine bomber threat of the allied air forces.

* Positive aeronautic features and elements of the FW 190 incorporated into the design of the British Hawker Fury. The Fury as seeing action during the Korean War and comporting itself well as a combat aircraft EVEN DURING AIR-AIR DUELS WITH SOVIET MiG-15 jet!!

BEST a very subjective term. Personally I prefer the opinion of Steinhoff.

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Mustine.

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"War! What is it good for?"

Here with a serendipitous discovery a chemotherapy drug [the first?] as a result of an inadvertent contamination of American personnel with mustard agent, the Second World War, Bari, Italy.

"Also during World War II, an incident during the air raid on Bari, Italy, led to the release of mustard gas that affected several hundred soldiers and civilians. Medical examination of the survivors showed a decreased number of lymphocytes. After World War II was over, the Bari incident and the Yale group's studies eventually converged prompting a search for other similar compounds. Due to its use in previous studies, the nitrogen mustard known as 'HN2' became the first chemotherapy drug mustine."

A decrease in the number of lymphocytes that significance of which is unknown to me other than such cells [lymphocytes] described as "killer cells" part and parcel of the human body immune system.

The Bari Air Raid the last "fling" of the Luftwaffe during WW2. One of those American warships in the harbor of Bari when bombed the release of chemical warfare agent mustard prodigious, contamination widespread and A SECRET AT THE TIME AND FOR YEARS AFTER WARDS.

Before Bari NO chemotherapy drugs existed? After Bari the situation changed dramatically, a new way of treating cancers hitherto undiscovered now made apparent? All a result of WAR!

Read further of the Bari Raid, the unfortunate destruction of the allied merchant vessels in harbor and in particular the release of mustard agent from the SS John Harvey.

Unfortunately this is often how modern science works, that observation that the mustard agent contained a property useful in the treatment of cancers. An entire aspect of medicine unknown prior to Bari stimulating research the results of which most profound.

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Licking.

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"A good licking"!!

Indeed!

"Royal Mail ripped for D-Day stamp depicting the wrong event"

The Royal Mail got a good licking for planning to release a stamp marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day by using an image of US forces landing about 8,500 miles from Normandy Beach, according to a report.

The stamp in question. We all make mistakes from time to time. Some more permanent than others. NOT Normandy. NOT D-Day. Close does not count either in this case?

Captioned “Allied soldiers and medics wade ashore,” the stamp was meant to depict the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, in France — but was actually taken in Dutch New Guinea in what is modern-day Indonesia

See also this image from the Democratic national convention of 2004. A tribute to the American military and American veterans with Russian naval warships as shown inadvertently. Personally I have often thought the incorporation of Russian vessels rather than American was some sort of sick insider joke. I do have my doubts.

coolbert.

P-59.

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Conclusion!

Again extracts with commentary from the Internet web site "Great Power War". Topics in all cases aviation . . . oddities and curiosities for want of a better term and description.

"The Coolest Experimental Planes of World War II"

"Ryan P-59 Fireball"

Hybrid!

"The development of jet fighters began during World War II began, but the United States fell behind early as it worked on fielding propeller-driven aircraft and then building them in great numbers. One of the earliest efforts was the U.S. Navy’s P-59 Fireball, a hybrid propeller-jet fighter that lacked in several areas."

A puller and a pusher. Internal combustion engine up front and the jet engine at the rear.

The U.S. Navy in the post-war [WW2] era DID employ a hybrid warplane, the AJ Savage. A combination of propeller and turbo-jet engines. AJ a bomber warplane as to be used in a strategic nuclear role, flown from super-carriers.

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P-75.

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Still yet more extracts with commentary from the Internet web site "Great Power War". Topics in all cases aviation . . . oddities and curiosities for want of a better term and description.

The Coolest Experimental Planes of World War II

"American Fisher P-75 Eagle"

BRUTE FORCE!

"Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

"At the outset of the war, the United States Army Air Corps was in the process of developing a number of prototype aircraft, but it would be a few years before models like the very capable P-51 Mustang were ready. Meantime, the Air Corps had to make do with fighters and interceptors that were inferior to German and Japanese planes."

"One such plane under development was the GM/Fisher P-75 Eagle. The Air Corps wanted a plane that was fast and well-armed. The Allison engine company developed a new model called the V-3420, a massive 24-cylinder engine that combined a pair of V-1710 engines into one. The Fisher Body Division of General Motors set to work building an aircraft around the engine."

Fisher with two engines combined into one drive shaft, two counter-rotating propellers. Greater speed achieved by the brute force approach. NOT so ideal and elegant from the engineering perspective but it could have worked and offered more than an expedient..

Construction and employment of the warplane too the entire developmental process short-circuited. Fisher to be an amalgam with regard to tail, wings, fuselage, cockpit, etc.

"the idea presented was to build an aircraft out of proven portions of existing airframes with the entire concoction fitted around the Allison V-3420."

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282.

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Further yet with blog entries, extracts with commentary from the Internet web site "Great Power War". Topics in all cases aviation . . . oddities and curiosities for want of a better term and description.

"The Coolest Experimental Planes of World War II"

"Flettner FI 282"

HELICOPTER WW2!

"Most people don’t associate the development of helicopters with World War II, but in fact, prior to the beginning of the war the German Luftwaffe experimented extensively with choppers, and the first accepted design was the open cockpit Flettner FI 282."

"One of the oddest features of the aircraft was its intermeshing rotors, which meant that the two main rotors angled away from each other though the arc of the blades crisscrossed. But they were very carefully synchronized so as not to collide with each other"

"The German air service envisioned using the new aircraft for observation and reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and other roles."

This particular image of the Flettner FI 282 shows the unique dual synchronized and angled-rotors, counter-rotating, no tail rotor required. One engine with two rotor shafts. Click on image to see an enlarged view.

A German 282 flown post-war [WW2] by an American pilot.Thanks to You Tube.

Flettner in the aftermath of the war continuing to design helicopters for USA concerns. Yet one more instance of Operation Paperclip?

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BI-1

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Continuing still more extracts with commentary from the Internet web site "Great Power War". Topics in all cases aviation . . . oddities and curiosities for want of a better term and description.

"The Coolest Experimental Planes of World War II"

"Soviet Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1"

ROCKET MAN!

Before there was the German Me-163 Komet there was the BI-1? Soviet WW2 era rocket-plane!

"Several major combatants in the war experimented with rocket-assisted or rocket-powered aircraft including the Soviet Union. The result was the Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1."

. . . .

"Stalin ordered engineers Alexander Bereznyak and Aleksei Isayev to get the plane ready as soon as possible. As such, it only took 35 days to build a functional prototype. Development continued into 1942 with rocket motor tests, but engineers discovered that the BI-1 could only stay aloft for 15 minutes after the pilot ignited the rocket on the ground, which was a major limitation."

Thanks to You Tube and amazingly so some Soviet film footage exists of a BI-1 take-off and landing. NO undercarriage but snow skids. Useful in the sense that any frozen river or lake could be used as an "air field". Also an expedient allowing for rapid development of a fly-able prototype. NO swept back wings! This plane had a solid or liquid fueled engine? Of this I am not sure.

"After a third prototype blew up during midair during a level flight, developers came to realize the rocket plane had another flaw: The frame, which was made of plywood and metal, could not handle what was near-supersonic flight speeds."

BI-1 NEVER A DONE DEAL! FLIMSY PROTOTYPES IN DANGER OF BREAKING APART [AND DID BREAK APART] IN MID-FLIGHT SO POWERFUL WAS THE PROPULSION SYSTEM. BUT THE CONCEPT OF THE ROCKET-PLANE TO A DEGREE SOUND?

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Aircuda.

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Continuing blog entries, extracts with commentary from the Internet web site "Great Power War". Topics in all cases aviation . . . oddities and curiosities for want of a better term and description.

"The Coolest Experimental Planes of World War II"

"Bell XFM Airacuda"

HEAVY!

"Designated as a 'heavy fighter' and/or a 'bomber destroyer,' the American-made Bell XFM Airacuda was the Bell Aircraft company’s first airplane design. First flown in 1937, the plane had a number of innovative features — and many design flaws. In all, 13 were produced in three slightly different versions and one fully operational squadron was actually formed."

"The plane was created to intercept enemy bombers at distances greater than ordinary single-seat fighters."

Heavy fighter planes of the era before the Second World War additionally their mission as envisioned also to ESCORT the bomber warplane to the target and provide support. In this regard the heavy fighter across the board the concept a failure. As described by an acknowledged aviation authority:

"The twin engine, heavy fighters could not turn with the smaller, more nimble fighters, and the big planes' weight and load made speed a problem as well. Not only could a small fighter plane catch up to an enemy heavy fighter, it could out turn it in a dog fight. If it was losing, it could turn away and outrun its opponent."

A five-man crew for this warplane. Pilot and co-pilot. A radio operator [could fire weapons for rearward defense] and a gunner each for operating the two 37 mm cannon. Could also function as a light bomber.

And once more according to and from an acknowledged aviation authority:

"But none of the [WW2] twin engine bomber destroyers and long range fighter escorts worked out well: The German Me-110, the English Bristol Beaufighter , and others all failed at their designed jobs. However, many worked out as specialized, heavily armed night fighters carrying radar to find their targets in an environment where speed and maneuverability meant less"

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Twenty-two.

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Twenty-two minutes that is.

Firestorm Pforzheim. Thanks to the story from DW.

Hamburg I have heard of. Dresden I have heard of. Tokyo I have heard of.  Pforzheim I had never heard of!

"Pforzheim: the Dresden nobody knows about"

Saturation bombing of Pforzheim with high-explosive and incendiary creating a fire-storm a city of tens of thousand obliterated from the face of the earth. All occurring in twenty-two minutes!

"According to official statistics, 17,600 people died, and tens of thousands of others were injured. The market square and old town area were destroyed and completely depopulated. In the entire city, over 80 percent of the architecture that existed in 1945 was defaced, making Pforzheim, proportionally speaking, the worst instance of destruction at the end of WWII in Europe."

Dresden and Pforzheim instance of allied atrocity during the Second World War? Gratuitous and excessive violence disproportionate in nature?

NOBODY knows of Pforzheim? Until NOW!

coolbert.

SS Minden.

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How many times have we heard this before?

The lost treasure of the Sierra Madre?

In this instance the lost Nazi gold of the SS Minden.

German merchant vessel SS Minden reputed to carrying $130 million USD In gold [current value] from South America to German during the earliest stages of World War Two scuttled and sunk. Gold lost. At least until now.

SS Minden has been found??

From the British tabloids from over a year ago now but still an item worthy of consideration.

1. "British treasure hunters caught hunting for the wreck of a 'Nazi gold ship' sail into a diplomatic row with Iceland"

"A group of British treasure hunters are claimed to have prompted a diplomatic row with Iceland after they were caught searching for a ‘Nazi gold ship’."

2. "Nazi gold hunters held Brit crew caught looking for German WW2 ‘gold ship’ wreck in Atlantic ocean sparks diplomatic row"

"A NAZI 'gold ship' has sparked a diplomatic row after Brit treasure hunters were caught hunting for its wreck in the Atlantic ocean."

See previous blog entries the topic the hunt for missing gold treasure of enormous value as associated with events of the Second World War:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/gold.html 

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/12/incredible.html 

coolbert.

Prank?

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Place this one in the strange but true category!

Is it a prank? Is it a desecration? Is it vandalism? I am not sure.

Desecration of war memorials quite a common occurrence in many nations. Motivations of the perpetrators not even clear and probably never will be.

BUT THIS?

"Russia Wants Bulgarians to Stop Painting Soviet Monuments To Look Like American Superheroes"

"According to a report by the Moscow Times, pranksters in Bulgaria are repainting Soviet-era monuments so that Soviet military heroes look like American Superheroes. Needless to say, the Russians are not too happy about it:

 "Russia is demanding that Bulgaria try harder to prevent vandalism of Soviet monuments, after yet another monument to Soviet troops in Sofia was spray-painted, ITAR-Tass reported."

This is hardly vandalism or desecration as I understand the common, ordinary and normal definition of those words to mean? A prank probably is more accurate a description but out of place? Superman, Ronald McDonald, the American flag, Santa Claus. Figures are originally done Soviet soldiers of the Great Patriotic War [WW2] liberating Bulgaria from fascist occupation.

NOW cartoon characters? Who would ever have believed it. To paint that memorial in such a fashion too was a rather protracted affair, not done at a whim and in an instant the work apparently of professionals?

coolbert.

Cargo.

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Consider this the type of blog entry that will raise hackles in some quarters. But here goes! Additionally take into account the previous blog entry the topic of which was Manus Island, South Pacific, that proposed American/Australian naval base.

"raise one's hackles: Make one very angry"

"Till we meet again." The Cargo Cults.

Not only will John Frum return, HE HAS!!

Without further ado or commentary and thanks to You Tube in all instances.

Adherents to the Cargo Cults their many decades of faithful devotion to ritual, incantation and supplication now to be rewarded TENFOLD times beyond TENFOLD times? So will be the thought! Indeed, John Frum HAS returned!.

 "OH ye of little faith!"

 coolbert.

NYC.

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Attack USA WW2!! Preposterous?

From the outstanding Internet web site "Covert Shores" and the article by H I Sutton:

"Decima-MAS_attack_on_New-York"

"Planned Special Forces attack on New York, 1943

Attack USA, New York City!! Italian naval commando.

"For the New York attack the CA-Class was heavily modified with the torpedoes removed and four large mines instead added to a remodeled superstructure. A diver lock-out compartment was built into the hull with hatches on both top and bottom. This allowed the frogmen to access the midget submarine directly from the dry interior of the host submarine."

Naval commando combat swimmers [free divers] exiting a modified CA class Italian midget submarine. Attaching limpet mines to the hulls of merchant vessels anchored New York harbor. Ships sent to the bottom. Material loss minor, psychological damage GREAT! So was the plan!

"The plan was to deliver a CA midget submarine to the mouth of the Hudson River using a submarine of the Italian Atlantic Fleet which operated out of occupied France. It would then drive up the river, releasing frogmen who would place limpet mines on unsuspecting merchant ships there before rejoining the mini-sub and returning to the mother submarine."

MUCH H AS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE POOR PERFORMANCE OF THE ITALIAN MILITARY DURING BOTH WORLD WARS. ITALIAN NAVAL COMMANDO UNITS HOWEVER THEIR ABILITY AND DARING SUPERLATIVE, THE STANDARD BY WHICH ALL OTHER NAVAL COMMANDO UNITS MUST BE JUDGED.

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Eerie II.

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Conclusion! The eyes have it.

One more from the Internet web site CNet images of abandoned military bases with my commentary.

"Eyeing the past"

During World War II, the US operated a base on Baltra in the Galapagos Islands. In 2015, you could still find one of the hundreds of buildings, ultimately redecorated by locals.

"The US Baltra Military Base During WWII"

"The Galapagos Islands were sought after by the United States since 1911, three years before the Panama Canal made the archipelago a refueling stop for ships from North America."

"The Ecuadorian government declined to lease the islands, but the advent of WWII and Pearl Harbor brought a deal between the two nations after a visit from President Roosevelt."

"In 1942, US military personal arrived from Panama, including the commanders and engineers who built the canal. The forces built their base on Baltra, quadrupling the population of the small island by the end of the year."

Never knew a U.S. military installation in the Galapagos ever existed!

1911 the object was to use such a base as a coaling station? American naval vessels at that time [before the opening of the Panama Canal] sailing from the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic or in the reverse direction the only route around Cape Horn at the bottom of South America. A laborious and time-consuming voyage, even dangerous. Refueling mandated, once at least and more likely probably twice.

World War Two the mission of the base was to protect southern approaches to the Panama Canal from attack? Very-long-range [VLR] patrol warplanes of the maritime B-24 variety based on Baltra? Japanese submarines able to launch combat warplanes to bomb the canal a possible. Read here, and here concerning VLR and the I-400 class of Japanese submarine.

coolbert.

Eerie I.

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As seen at the Internet web site CNet some images of abandoned military bases and sites. My commentary added.

"Eerie photos of abandoned military sites"

"Former atomic weapons site". Salton Sea.

"A bullet-riddled structure sits near an abandoned airstrip on the former Salton Sea Test Base, once an atomic weapons testing site in 2005 near Salton City, California."

"Salton Sea Test Base"

"Dummy Atomic Bombs - Drone Airplane Tests"

MISSION OF THE SALTON SEA BASE AN ATOMIC DIMENSION EXISTING IN TWO TIME-FRAMES. 1. WORLD WAR 2 AND THE COLD WAR.

A. World War Two.

"In 1944-45 a series of classified B-29 practice flights were made from Wendover, Utah to the Salton Sea. At the sea, the crew dropped dummy atomic bombs onto a floating white raft and other targets."

B-29 bomber flying from Utah to California and dropping a single bomb the dummy analog version of the first atomic weapon as used at Hiroshima. Practice.

B. Cold War.

"The Atomic Energy Commission and its contractor Sandia Corporation acquired the base from the Navy in 1946. It was renamed the Salton Sea Test Base and used as a highly sophisticated bombing range whose drops were scrutinized and perfected using equipment reportedly recovered from Germany after World War II. Apparently the bombing tests included delivery from diverse devices, even from space capsule parachutes. Drone planes and Nike missiles were also tested there."

SALTON SEA BASE BOMBS DROPPED WITHOUT LIVE ATOMIC WARHEADS! NO DETONATION!

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Sumatra.

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The Burma Railway I had heard of. The Sumatra Railway I had not heard of. Both often referred to as the Railway of Death. As it was in Burma so was it too in Sumatra.

From that era of the Second World War. Allied prisoner of war [POW] and Asian impressed labor [Javanese] forced to build a railway to expedite cross-island [Sumatra] Japanese military movement.

That loss of life during construction of the railway horrific in the extreme. Allied POW and impressed labor basically succumbing to harsh working conditions, cruel and barbaric treatment, disease, malnutrition, etc. What else you might ask!

Thanks to the tip from the BBC History magazine and the original article by Dr Lizzie Oliver.

"The Sumatra Railway, also referred to as the Pekanbaru Death Railway, was a railway project of the Imperial Japanese army in Sumatra during the Second World War. It was designed to connect Pekanbaru to Muaro in an effort to strengthen the military and logistical infrastructure for coal and troop shipments . . . They used forced labour and prisoners of war. 6,500 Dutch, mostly Indo-Europeans, 1000 British prisoners of war along with 300 POWs from America, Australia and New Zealand. This number of POWs was dwarfed however by the over 120,000 Indonesian, mostly Javanese, forced workers called Romusha which were put to work by the Japanese army. By the time the work was completed in August 1945 almost a third of the European POWs had died and only around 16,000 of the 120,000 Indonesian Romusha had survived."

"The railway was completed on VJ Day, 15 August 1945. It was only USED ONCE and then quickly became overgrown by the jungle."

SURVIVORS ALLIED POW AND JAVANESE IMPRESSED LABOR BOTH FORTUNATE THE WAR ENDED ABRUPTLY AND IN THE MANNER AS WHICH IT DID. LAST-LEGGERS [A person who is . . . very tired or near to death] THEIR LIFE EXPECTANCY TO BE MEASURED IN WEEKS IF NOT DAYS! ASSISTANCE AND REMEDIAL CARE ARRIVING FORTUNATELY AND ABLE TO AVERT FURTHER CATASTROPHE!

Being a captive of the Japanese during WW2 not a pleasant experience fully understood and for which no further elaboration required!!

coolbert.

Spook.

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Forget Erich Hartmann. Forget Baron von Richthofen. Even forget Han-Ulrich Rudel? Rather think Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer?

That greatest combat aviator "ace" of all time?

"The Night Fighter Ace Who Shot Down 7 Lancaster Bombers In 19 Minutes"

"Once you know the story of Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, it’s pretty hard to forget. Schnaufer was an incredibly skilled pilot. He was arguably the best fighter pilot in the war. Simply put, this German fighter pilot was the deadliest ace in history – with 121 confirmed kills. He also survived the whole war and only met his death when he crashed his car while on his way to purchase wine in Bordeaux."

"What more, Schnaufer accomplished this feat in only 164 operational sorties over a three year period."

SCHNAUFER THE GREATEST COMBAT ACE WHEN TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE MOST ENEMY PLANES SHOT DOWN FOR THE FEWEST MISSIONS!!

Freeman Dyson stating that the German night-fighter force the ONLY German military service to have emerged from the Second World War with their honor intact, unsullied! German night-fighter pilots and aircrews highly respected and feared by their adversaries [almost exclusively the British].

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