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From Dobodura to Okinawa: history of 308th Bombardment Wing
Get PDFTo the Officers and Men of the 308th Bombardment Wing and all Tactical Air Units which took part in the Wing\u27s Operations: The long list or 308th Bombardment Wing combat operations, to which this Year Book is eloquent testimony, reflects a degree of loyalty, teamwork, and unselfish devotion to duty or such high order, it is a deep personal satisfaction to me to have been privileged to serve as its commanding officer.
During the Wing\u27s operations there were many grim days when our planes were obliged to take the air repeatedly outnumbered by enemy aircraft. The men in the planes and the men on the ground met tests of endurance and fortitude which tried their patience and courage to the breaking point. Yet, they met those tests unfalteringly, refused to be daunted by a numerically superior foe.
The fighting spirit and combat know-how which the Wing developed set a standard for operational effectiveness that won the respect and admiration or the entire AAF, a standard that was splendidly maintained throughout the long combat history of the Wing. Air-ground operations were brought to a new high in efficiency. Enemy shipping was smothered and sunk with a speed which exceeded the most optimistic estimates. Japan\u27s extensive network of air bases was progressively rendered impotent. Nip airplanes were driven from the air over every target until their only tactic was the sporadic, ineffectual Kamikaze strike. In the final phase of the war, the intensity of American air power rose to such a terrific pitch the Japanese were pounded beyond human endurance, their capitulation constituting the supreme achievement of AAF men and the planes they flew.
Thus, of our gallant airmen who did not come back, we may say, the time they bought with their lives saved thousands of fellow soldiers who would have been lost in the final great invasion of Japan. Because of them and their comrades in the air who carried on, the enemy was forced to surrender before the huge invasion force was launched. Their deeds in speeding the final defeat of the world\u27s last despot nation will never be forgotten, their record will forever remain bright on the historic walls or American Democracy.
D.W. Hutchison, Brigadier General, U.S.A., Commandinghttps://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1105/thumbnail.jp
Eighth Division Artillery
Get PDFFrom ETO Action -- Headquarters Battery, page 19:
On July 4, 1944, Headquarters Battery, Eighth Division Artillery-properly known as the artillery nerve center moved out of crowded landing craft and began the long climb up the hill at Omaha beach and then along the dusty Normandy roads that led to combat.
Marching inland, the battery took up a position near the village of La Haye du Puits, prior to jumping off in a Seventh Corps attack. Here men and officers got their first taste of combat as German guns -- 88s and bigger -- began almost immediately to drop into the battery area, inflicting several casualties. Nonetheless, the battery proceeded with its duties -- chiefly those of maintaining wire and radio communication -- and played an instrumental role in the Eighth Division\u27s seizure of immediate objectives. When the First Army\u27s attempt to break out of the Normandy Peninsula (the attack began July 26) proved successful, the battery moved with considerable speed, following in the wake of the Fourth Armored Division\u27s rapid advance. Along the road that led to Rennes, a sizeable Breton city, the battery got its first real taste of Jerry strafing when a flight of ME-109s chewed up the highway with machine guns and cannon and added considerably to our roster of Purple Hearts.
Rennes fell. We rested, discovered cidre, tried our luck with the French language, then moved to the outskirts of Brest and played our vital part in the reduction of that large port.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1123/thumbnail.jp
History of the 157th Infantry Regiment (Rifle), 4 June 1943-8 May 1945
Get PDFIntroduction
This an informal story of the travels and battles of an infantry regiment in World War II. Like most stories of war, it is difficult to tell, for it is about groups-- squads, platoons, companies, battalions -- while the real story of war, to every soldier who fought, is the story of the part HE played in it. But to tell the full story of any one soldier in this war, to tell of the grimness and the humor, the nausea and the dignity, the terror and the heroism which marked his fighting days would fill this whole book and many more. Even in this simple story of a single regiment we can only outline the major facts of endless battle. For greater detail we refer you to the men for whom this book was written, the men of the 157th Infantry.
To the best of our knowledge, the facts in this book are accurate. Yet remember, the actions spoken of are not the calm, deliberate movements of history in its normal stride, but the frenzied, semi-chaos of men killing each other. No reporters stood by while these killings took place and the men present were too busy with the killing to note, at all times, which squad went where. So while we may place you at the bottom of a hill at a time when you know full well your squad was at the top of the hill, hear with us, for in the main you\u27ll find us accurate.
Cover reads: Eager For Duty -- motto of the regimenthttps://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1225/thumbnail.jp
The record: the eleventh Bombardment Squadron (M)
Get PDFFrom page 54:
Of the grievances associated with our life at Kweilin, many were trivial and some were imaginary. But one which was real and loomed terribly large was the food. At this time we had no Quartermaster provisions at all -- no milk powdered or canned, no jam or butter, no fruit or juices, no Army rations, no yeast, no cornstarch or baking powder, and no beer! And, while various substitutes were employed, we had no American meat, vegetables, flour, sugar, coffee, salt, pepper or condiments of any description. Nearly everything served in our mess hall was produced within sight of our hostel, and we were living in a notoriously poor section of a very poor country.
From India, by virtue of occasional ferry-trips, we obtained coffee that was good, but in quantities so limited that it could be served at breakfast only. All of the other substitutes mentioned above were obtained locally, and, except for the salt and pepper, were as poor as the country from which they came.
The major source of meat was the water buffalo. However, this beast was too valuable to be slaughtered until old age or disease had ended his days as a draft-animal, with the result that the flesh was literally too tough to cut with a knife. A poor grade of pork was obtainable, but was so expensive that it could be served only occasionally. (We were not sympathetic with the boys in other theaters who complained of a monotonous diet of Spam. Any of us would gladly have given a week\u27s pay for a single can of that Stateside delicacy). It would be no exaggeration to say that more than 90 percent of the meat served in our mess hall was not eaten. Were it not for fresh chicken, served about twice a month, it could be said that none of the meat was fit for human consumption. It was brought to us in carts or trucks from the city of Kweilin. Uncovered during the trip, exposed to flies, street filth and the elements, it was a revolting sight even before it was cooked. And mention should be made of the fact that neither in Kweilin nor in our· hostel was there any form of refrigeration.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1115/thumbnail.jp
Battle baby: a pictorial history of the escort carrier U.S.S Savo Island (CVE-78)
Get PDFThe ship was named after two naval battles which were fought near Savo in August and in October, 1942. In the first of these battles our forces were surprised, mistakes were made. and four cruisers were lost. It was a hard lesson, well learned. A few months later, one of our cruiser divisions intercepted a Jap task force near Savo and sank at least six vessels, cruisers, and destroyers. No great damage was done to our ships. The enemy was surprised, one of his cruisers was sunk before her guns were even trained out, and he was out-fought in every phase of the battle. As a result, this body of water, Purvis Bay. is known as Iron-Bottom Bay.
Savo Island is located in Sky Lark Channel between the Western extremities of Florida and Guadalcanal Islands. It is a product of volcanic upheavals, is only four miles in diameter, and consists of extinct volcanic peaks. Ships now anchor in waters that cover a village which subsided years ago as a result of an earthquake. Even today, there may be an occasional tremor. A few natives live on the island, and you will find very small villages and a mission station there.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1141/thumbnail.jp
War diary of the U.S.S. Blue, Destroyer 744
Get PDFOn November 30, 1943, the destroyer Blue was launched in the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Staten Island, New York. She went into commission on March 20, 1944, in the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, with nineteen officers and 3 3 5 enlisted men aboard.
The Blue was one of the first 2,200 ton super-destroyers to be commissioned in the navy, and was named after the 1,500 ton U.S. S. Blue (DD387), which was sunk in the Solomon Islands Campaign in 1943. The first Blue was named in honor of the late Admiral Victor Blue and his son, Lieutenant-Commander John Stuart Blue, who was killed in action in the South Pacific.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1143/thumbnail.jp
U.S.S. Herald of the Morning (AP-173)
Get PDFFrom U.S.S. Herald of the Morning Log
The U.S.S. Herald of the Morning built for the Maritime Commission as a C-2 cargo ship, and converted by the Navy into a medium-sized transport, spent most of her time as a Naval auxiliary in Pacific theatre amphibious operations during the war. This ship engaged in five amphibious operations, several re-enforcement runs into forward areas and was under enemy attack frequently but successfully eluded damage. Since the cessation of hostilities the Herald operated as part of the Magic Carpet and the Naval Transportation Service, evacuating Army and Navy personnel from the Pacific areas and carrying replacements to forward stations.
Built by the Moore Drydock and Shipbuilding Company of Oakland, Calif., in the summer of 1943, she was named for the American sailing ship Herald of the Morning which was famous on both oceans in the second half of the 19th century as a fast and beautiful medium clipper. The new Herald made one trip to the Hawaiian Islands as a merchant cargo vessel before being taken over early in 1944 by the Navy for conversion into an auxiliary transport.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1145/thumbnail.jp
Pack up and move: a pictorial history of the 348th Engineer Combat Battalion
Get PDFIt was on the 15th of July 1942 that the 348th Engineers were entered on the War Department records, as a General Service Regiment. The Regiment was organized at Camp Crowder, Missouri; and the greatest portion of its cadre was from the 19th Engineer Combat Regiment stationed, at that time, as Pasadena, California.
The first group of fillers joined the unit early in the morning of August 22nd after traveling many miles by rail from the various induction centers of the Seventh Service Command. These men were followed in succeeding three days by two groups, one from New York, and the other from Michigan. The unit at this time was under the command of Major Clayton Gates, later under Colonel Sylvester Nortner, a West Pointer and then the ranking colonel of the United States Army.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1031/thumbnail.jp
303rd Signal Operation Battalion: an informal unofficial history, April 17, 1943 to February 25, 1946
Get PDFApril 17, 1943 was officially activation day for the 303rd at Camp Crowder, Missouri. Shortly before that, Lt. Clyde Burch had herded a wild and wooly cadre crew northward from the 17th Sig. Opn. Bn., which was then on 2nd Army maneuvers in Tennessee. Officers then began to trickle in, more cadre men, and the inevitable lesson plans and course outlines started to take shape.
The bulk of the fillers arrived around the first of June, and training took hold with vigor, if not with a great deal of vim. Basic training, hikes, calisthenics (TC-87!) and rain, rain, rain occupied our days, always under the fierce scrutiny of Col. Rinaldo Coe who ruled the 2d Army detachment at Crowder with the aid of Capt. Cohen and an assorted staff,guaranteed to give trouble. Col. Coe was a real soldier, and though we groaned under him, later we were damned proud of our state of training. He was aided in his inspections by his dog, which the men fervently believed came up to inspect our training on his own, and then scampered back to report our deficiencies to his master.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1060/thumbnail.jp