Issues 141-latest

ISSUE No. 141 (Code A141)

THE OB. WEST HQ AT SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE - Jean Paul Pallud tells how after seven months of 'Phoney War', the Wehrmacht launched its attack in the West on May 10, 1940 and within six weeks the Netherlands, Belgium and France had been defeated, as had the British Expeditionary Force. The Armistice with France was signed on June 22 and hostilities ceased threee days later. Of the three army groups that had fought and won the swift campaign, Heeresgruppe A was designated to remain in the West and Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt and his staff soon established themselves at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, just west of Paris. RAF Target Mapping Centre at Hughenden Manor Hughenden Manor, well known as the residence of Victorian politician Benjamin Disraeli, was in the Second World War home of the top-secret RAF target mapping centre known as 'Hillside'. Employing a motley team of talented mapmakers, it was here, in the quiet scenery of the Chiltern Hills, that all the target maps for Allied bombing missions were produced. The Discovery of HMAS Sydney - On November 19, 1941, the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney - the pride and fame of the Royal Australian Navy - sank with all hands after a short but sharp naval battle with the German raider Kormoran in the ocean off Westeren Australia. The ship and her entire crew of 645 men seemed to have disappeared without trace. It was Australia's worst naval disaster, which left bereaved families across the nation. Karel Margry tells us the tragic story.

ISSUE No. 142 (Code A142)

THE GLEIWITZ INCIDENT - Dennis Whitehead tells how on the night of August 31/September 1, 1939, the German Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service) staged a series of fake border incidents along the German-Polish frontier in Upper Silesia designed to give Nazi Germany an excuse for invading Poland. The most prominent of these provocations was the seizure of the German radio station in the town of Gleiwitz. From the Editor - Readers' letters and follow-up stories on previous issues. US Marines at Camp Balcombe - On January 5, 1943, the US 7th Marine Regiment, part of the US 1st Marine Division, arrived in Australia after having spent nearly four months fighting on Guadalcanal. Weakened by casualties, malaria and fatigue, the men needed a respite and they were sent to Camp Balcombe for rest and recuperation. David Mitchelhill-Green tells their story. Faking Monte Cassino - Perry Rowe explains that although many photos and lengths of cine film were taken during the battle of Cassino, which raged from January to May 1944, not all of the images were taken taken during actual combat or even near Cassino. Poteau Revisited - In December 1944, a German Kriegsberichter (war photographer) took a series of staged 'action' photos near the hamlet of Poteau, Belgium, that were to become emblematic of the fighting during the Ardennes offensive. Thirty-three years later, in December 1979, Jean Paul Pallud found the location.

ISSUE No. 143 (Code A143)

THE WARSAW UPRISING - Piotr Sliwowski explains how on August 1, 1944, the Polish underground army in Warsaw rose in rebellion against the Germans. The leaders of the Home Army had decided to undertake the operation, not only so that Poland could be seen to liberate its own capital but also as a statement of Polish independence. Tragedy on the eve of D-Day - Jean Paul Pallud tells the tragic story of how on June 5, 1944, 28 hostages were shot by the Germans in retaliation for the killing of 11 of their comrades by a mine planted by French Resistance fighters in the village of Ugine. Revenge at Saint-Julien - Resistance attacks followed by German reprisals occurred in many places in France in the summer of 1944. However, the events that unfolded at Saint-Julien — a small village in the Dordogne 85 kilometres east of Bordeaux — in August-September 1944 were different in that they were followed by an unusual sequel: a month after the Germans had shot 17 villagers in reprisal action, and after cessation of hostilities in the area, a local Resistance group took matters into their own hands and killed 17 German prisoners of war in an act of premeditated private retribution. The 17 victims were buried in an unmarked grave where they lay for 59 years until, finally, the conspiracy of silence was broken and the remains could at last be recovered. Karel Margry guides us through this amazing story.

ISSUE No. 144 (Code A144) — Now with Colour Comparisons

THE BATTLE OF EL GUETTAR - Jean Paul Pallud tells how in mid-February 1943 the Axis forces launched a strong counter-attack against the US II Corps in south-western Tunisia. The 1st Armored Division's counter-moves ended in a complete disaster, the division losing two of its tank battalions in two days, with over 2,500 American soldiers being taken prisoner on February 16 and 17. After 22 days of tough fighting at El Guettar the US Army were regenerated after its unfortunate setback. Now under George S Patton's energetic command, the self-confidence and offensive spirit of the 1st Armored and 1st Infantry Divisions returned and the 9th Infantry Division had gone from being a green, inexperienced outfit to a combat-experienced and able fighting unit. POW Camp No. 13 at Murchison - From April 1941 to January 1947, the Australian town of Murchison, 165 kilometres north of Melbourne in the state of Victoria, was home to Australian Prisoner of War Camp No. 13. Built to accommodate 4,000 inmates, the camp in time came to house some 2,100 Italian, 1,300 German and from August 1944, 185 Japanese prisoners, while another several hundred Italians and Germans worked in various affiliated outstations. David Mitchelhill-Green tells the story. Putting a Name to a Face - Among the stills that Jean Paul Pallud chose to  include in his book Battle of the Bulge Then and Now published in 1984 was a shot of an unknown GI. He remained unnamed for another two decades until 2005 when American researcher Norman S. Lichtenfeld traced him in New Jersey and put a name to his face: George E. Shomo. From the Editor - Readers' letters and follow-up stories on previous issues.

ISSUE No. 145 (Code A145) — Now with Colour Comparisons

THE LIBERATION OF CHARTRES . . . AND A TANK - Jean Paul Pallud tells the story of the US 7th Armored Division's objective to liberate Chartres in France . . . and an amazing discovery 64 years later. The Hérouvillette Murders - In the early hours of June 6, 1944, a German NCO executed captured British paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division. Carl Ryman's account describes what happened and how the perpetrator was brought to justice after the war. Gate Guardian Aircraft - With a plentiful supply of surplus aircraft at the end of the war, Gate Guardians were a familiar site at service airfields around the UK and overseas. Gordon Riley explains the phenomenon and describes the erection of the latest at North Weald. Kapooka Training Incident - David Mitchelhill-Green recounts how 26 Australian sappers died in a training accident at the Royal Australian Engineer Training Centre at Camp Kapooka in New South Wales. The accident remains the largest training incident in Australian Army history. When Japan attacked California - Martin Morgan explains how on February 23, 1942 — just weeks after Pearl Harbor — the United States was jolted into a flurry of panic when a Japanese submarine shelled the country's West Coast: the first direct attack on the US mainland since the war of 1812. War Grave Mysteries in Spain - Tom Dooley and Vic Beauvois investigate the mystery behind two British graves in Huelva, Spain.

ISSUE No. 146 (Code A146) — Now with Colour Comparisons

POLISH SOE SCHOOL AT AUDLEY END - Karel Margry tells the story of Audley End House in Essex which served as a secret training school for agents of the Special Operations Executive's Polish Country Section. The Death of an Earl - Chris Ransted takes us through the story of Charles Henry George Howard, the 20th Earl of Suffolk and 13th Earl of Berkshire who was killed whilst trying to defuse an unexploded bomb in Erith — an act for which he was to be posthumously awarded the George Cross. A Tribute to Grandmother Lela Carayannis - Lela Carayannis led the largest resistance organisation in Greece during the war — her adopted grandson, George Pararas-Carayannis recounts the tale of this remarkable woman. 'Mincemeat' Revisited - In October 2009, the official history of MI5 by Christopher Andrew (The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 published by Allen Lane, London) confirmed once and for all the identity of the 'Man Who Never Was', the corpse floated ashore in Spain in 1943, as being that of Glyndwr Michael and also stated that he had died from rat poisoning. Three months earlier, Roger Morgan, who was the first person to discover the true identity of 'Major Martin'  revealed in After the Battle in 1996, argued his case in the play Mincemeat produced by the Cardboard Citizens Company. Cherbourg Naval Base 1940-44 - The role of Cherbourg as a German naval base is described and illustrated  by Jean Paul Pallud as a prelude to the story of the battle for the port to be published in After the Battle issue 147.

ISSUE No. 147 (Code A147) — Now with Colour Comparisons

THE BATTLE FOR CHERBOURG - Jean Paul Pallud continues his story from issue 146 and explains how when plans were drawn up for the Allied invasion of France, one important consideration was that it would be necessary to secure a deep-water port to allow reinforcements to be brought in directly from the United States. The planners decided that the US First Army's main task should be 'to capture Cherbourg as quickly as possible'. The Japanese Tanks of Bougainville - Quietly rusting away in the jungle of northern Bougainville, one of the Solomon Islands now part of present-day Papua New Guinea, is a pair of Japanese Type 89B Yi-Go Otsu tanks. Justin Taylan tells us how they were abandoned there by the Japanese garrison in the spring of 1945 and as a consequence they represent a rare example of combat vehicles left in situ, made even more special by the fact that there are only six specimens of this type of vehicle known to be left in existence in the world today. The Women's Land Army - Marjorie Scott explains how in August 1938, with the ever-increasing threat of war, the British government decided to set up the Women's Land Army. This was in view of the fact that the country had been brought near to starvation by the German blockade of shipping in 1917. At that time, the organisation had been created almost overnight as a desperate measure to produce more food at home. This time it was decided that Britain should be prepared in advance. The Case of Pilot Officer John Benzie - Andy Saunders shows some strong evidence and tells how we believe that a headstone to an unknown pilot of the Second World War in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey, marks the last resting place of Pilot Officer John Benzie.

ISSUE No. 148 (Code A148) — Now with Colour Comparisons

WILHELMSHAVEN - Tony Colvin tells the story of this German port city on the North Sea which was greatly extended during the Nazi era to become the largest state-owned naval dockyard in the world, with Hitler labelling it the 'Kriegshafen des Grossdeutschen Reiches' (War Port of the Greater German Reich). The Liverpool Blitz - Although many of the iconic images of the Blitz were taken in London, numerous other cities outside the capital suffered heavy damage and loss of life. As a major port with extensive docks, Liverpool was an obvious target for the Luftwaffe, which began its first operations against the city in August 1940. Neil Holmes describes the devastating effect this had. Banner of Victory over the Reichstag - Nikolai Bodrikhin and Tony Le Tissier recount the tale of how Stalin gave a speech on November 6, 1944, in which he said 'The Red Army is now coming up to its last conclusive mission; together with the armies of our allies, we have to complete the defeat of the German Army, kill the fascist beast in its own lair and raise the banner of victory over Berlin.' For the Red Army soldier 'the lair of the fascist beast' meant only one thing; the Reichstag building in Berlin.

ISSUE No. 149 (Code A149) — Now with Colour Comparisons

THE GUNS OF GODLEY HEAD - David Mitchelhill-Green tells the story of how Lyttelton Harbour, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island, was protected against enemy attacks by a heavy coastal battery at Godley Head. The True Glory - The making of this classic War Film is described in detail by Trevor Popple. Führerhauptquartier 'Wolfsschlucht 2' - Jean Paul Pallud tells us about the construction of a Führerhauptquartiere in Margival, eight kilometres north-east of Soissons in France, which was used only once by Hitler. The Potters Bar Incident — April 26, 1941 - Undoubtedly, the Blitz produced numerous ironics, but few quite so remarkable as that which occurred when the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, or more to the point it cemetery, containing the graves of airship crews shot down over the district in the First World War, was bombed by a German raider in the Second. Andrew P. Hyde tells this fascinating story. No Longer Missing — The Search for LW337 - The remarkable search and discovery of Halifax LW337 and how one of its crew, Sergeant John Bremner, was finally laid to rest some 64 years later and is no longer missing.