Military History

My favourite WWII era fighter, the Supermarine Spitfire, entered service 70 years ago today. Link to a collection of articles at Flight International.

Before the darker "Aggressor Gray", there appears to have been a two tone pattern for US naval aircraft, a white bottom side and a lighter than aggressor gray "gray" on top. Can anyone give me examples of Testor Model Master paint to replicate that USN gray of the guessing mid 70's to late eighties?

From TMP Site

Murphy's Law governing Naval Aviation, "What can go wrong will" and its corollary to the law dictates that whenever something does go wrong, it will always happen at the most inconvienent moment, such as operations on the flight deck at night. paraphrased from Page 42 of MiG Master by Barrett Tillman.

"Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics". - General Omar Nelson Bradley, US Army

What looks to be a useful site for World War Two order of battle (OOB) and organization info, gleaned from the Admiralty Trilogy mailing list: http://niehorster.orbat.com/000_admin/000oob.htm

“You know you never defeated us on the battlefield,” said the American colonel. The North Vietnamese colonel pondered this remark a moment. “That may be so,” he replied, “but it is also irrelevant.” —Col Harry G. Summers Jr and Col Tu, April 1975

Lest we forget ... https://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm...m/beaumonthamel

From CBC News Link to CBC's Digital Archives re 6 June 1944.

Brooklyn Navy Yard gets a makeover By Richard Pyle - The Associated Press Posted : Monday May 19, 2008 7:11:34 EDT NEW YORK — Audrey Lyons was a $40-a-week parts inspector at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1944 when Margaret Truman was invited to christen the brand-new carrier Missouri. “We all took time off to see it,” recalls Lyons, now 84 and retired in Essex, Conn. But the daughter of Sen. (and soon-to-be-president) Harry S. Truman needed help to break the champagne bottle on the third try — a less than sparkling debut for the “Mighty Mo,” the last famous warship among hundreds produced at the yard since 1801. The Pentagon closed the Brooklyn Navy Yard…

From Air Force Times NORAD marks 50th anniversary By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday May 13, 2008 8:24:44 EDT The thought that Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers could fly over the Arctic Circle loaded down with nukes was a pretty scary idea in 1958. So scary, in fact, that American and Canadian politicians came together to set up what’s now known as the North American Aerospace Defense Command. NORAD turned 50 on Monday, marking its anniversary with a Golden Jubilee Ball at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo. The celebration also includes the opening of the new NORAD-U.S. Northern Command Command Center at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., …

Today is the 63rd anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. Thank you to all those who served the cause of freedom.

Queenfish: A cold war tale By William J. Broad Published: March 18, 2008 International Herald Tribune Atop the globe, the icy surface of the Arctic Ocean has remained relatively peaceful. But its depths have boiled with intrigue, no more so than in the cold war. Although the superpowers planned to turn those depths into an inferno of exploding torpedoes and rising missiles, the brotherhood of submariners — the silent service, both Russian and American — has worked hard over the decades to keep the particulars of those plans hush-hush. Now, a few secrets are spilling through a crack in the wall of silence, revealing some of the science and spying that went i…

Adolf Hitler's 'lost fleet' found in Black Sea Telegraph By Jasper Copping Last Updated: 1:52am GMT 04/02/2008 The final resting place of three German U-boats, nicknamed "Hitler's lost fleet", has been found at the bottom of the Black Sea. The submarines had been carried 2,000 miles overland from Germany to attack Russian shipping during the Second World War, but were scuttled as the war neared its end. Now, more than 60 years on, explorers have located the flotilla of three submarines off the coast of Turkey. The vessels, including one once commanded by Germany's most successful U-boat ace, formed part of the 30th Flotilla of six submarines, taken by ro…

From Air Force Magazine, January 2008 North Vietnam’s 1968 offensive failed, but public opinion converted it into a defeat for the United States. Tet By John T. Correll The Tet Offensive of 1968 was the turning point of the Vietnam War. On the night of Jan. 30-31, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong attacked cities, towns, and military bases all over South Vietnam, striking in more than 100 locations from the Demilitarized Zone to the Mekong Delta. The synchronized attacks came at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, traditionally a time for mutual cease-fire, when security was relaxed. The offensive was defeated at every point. The North …

U.S. Gives Russia Info On Sub That Sank In '68 By Mike Eckel, Associated Press Moscow--U.S. military officials on Monday gave Russia a videotape and other archival materials on the Soviet K-129 submarine, whose sinking in 1968 is a lingering Cold War mystery. At a ceremony in the Far Eastern port of Vladivostok, Russia's Pacific Fleet archive and museum received copies of formerly classified documents, including two ship logs related to the K-129 incident and to U.S. efforts to salvage the sub from the sea floor in the central Pacific. Also turned over was a videotape of a secret burial at sea for six Soviet sailors whose bodies were recovered when the Uni…

With a sad connection to Newfoundland ... From Army Times Campbell to honor plane crash deaths today By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Dec 12, 2007 5:47:00 EST One of the saddest days in the history of the 101st Airborne Division will be commemorated Wednesday with a ceremony at Fort Campbell, Ky. The 8:30 a.m. ceremony at Gander Memorial Mark on post will recall the Dec. 12, 1985, plane crash in which 248 soldiers and crew members were killed. Before the ceremony, a wreath will be placed at each of the trees planted in memory of the fallen soldiers, and another wreath will be placed at the memorial site, followed by a scripture rea…

From Navy Times Pearl Harbor recalled, 66 years later By Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press Posted : Friday Dec 7, 2007 11:43:41 EST HONOLULU — Everett Hyland was ferrying ammunition to an anti-aircraft gun aboard the battleship Pennsylvania on Dec. 7, 1941, when a bomb hit, throwing him down. “I never heard anything. The only thing I knew, I was flat on my face and my arms were extended in front of me and they were all purple and bleeding,” Hyland said. “I ended up pretty well banged up.” On Friday, Hyland was to join some 50 survivors and hundreds more family members and officials at a Pearl Harbor pier overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial to honor t…

From Air Force Magazine, December 2007 The Air Force was taken by surprise in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nine hours later, it happened again in the Philippines. Full article at the above link.

This poem has pretty strong meaning in Canada, but I'm sure it has universal appeal as Remembrance Day (aka Veterans Day, Armistice Day, etc) approaches. It pleases me to know that my kids get plenty of exposure in school to its importance. In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you fr…