Air Power.

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Thanks to the magazine, "America in WWII" in this case:

From the de-briefings of the most senior German officers in the aftermath of the Second World War [WW2] - - "reasons" as to WHY Germany lost the war:

"Allied air power was the greatest single reason for the German defeat" - - Kesselring.

"This is especially true with reference to attacks on the fuel industry . . . which by the end of the war proved to be the decisive factor." - - Vietinghoff.

"The front died of slow starvation" . . . "ever increasing disruption of plant and transport facilities." - - Wolff.

All three persons, of course, important German commanders during the Italian Campaign.

The allied air campaign, both strategic and tactical, critical to victory. Victory was an assured thing no matter what [?], but a process greatly facilitated and accelerated due to the preponderance of allied air forces - - air superiority and eventual air supremacy being more less guaranteed from the period of 1944 onward to eventual victory in the spring of 1945.

Those massive strategic bomber fleets of the western allies [U.S. and Britain], a thousand strong massed for a single raid beginning in 1944, exacting a terrible toll on German industry and fuel production, severe disruption of the transport system also a major factor.

[strategic bombardment of German targets almost solely a matter for the western allies, the Soviets throughout the entire war not possessing a long-range bomber in the numbers adequate enough to achieve similar results.]

And of course, as noted by Albert Speer but not taken into account by the USSBS study, the Reich requiring a MILLION MAN ARMY with impedimenta to defend against the allied aerial onslaught. This including all the day fighters [ground crews], night fighters [ground crews], anti-aircraft-artillery [AAA] and crews, searchlight batteries, radar installations and manning staff, air wardens, firefighters, etc. The entire panoply of personnel and equipment immense and a severe drain on German resources.

[during the Vietnam war, the North Vietnamese also required a massive number of troops to guard against American bombing! Protecting targets throughout all of North Vietnam necessitated a force on the ground of about 700,000 men [women too]! A diversion of resources of great consequence!]

Some skeptics have even have suggested that the allied bombing offensive against Germany and the German military was AT BEST ineffective and often counter-productive! The German generals beg to differ?

You have to judge for yourself.

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Na San!

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"... sans elle [l'aviation], Na San n'était pas possible et je perdais la bataille du Nord-Ouest - (... without it [air-support], Na San would not be possible and I would've lost the Northwest battle)." - - Raoul Salan

"... it (the battle) wasn't a defeat - but we suffered losses." - - Vo Nguyen Giap

"Nous ne sommes pas entamés! Ca tient partout! C'est un déluge de feu indescriptible." (We have not been overrun! All (positions) hold! It is an indescribable deluge of fire.)" - - Jean Gilles

"Defense is the stronger form of combat" - - Clausewitz

Well, this was a new one on me.

Na San. A battle of the First Indo-China War! A decisive victory for French Union troops!

"The Battle of Na San was fought between French Union forces and the communist forces of the Viet Minh at Na San . . . during the First Indochina War"

And even more importantly, a model for which the French high-command had in mind when they embarked upon the mis-adventure at Dien Bien Phu [DBP]. The tactical precepts as followed at Na San were a success and the French hoped to replicate the same at DBP! The strategy, operational art and tactics of the French at DBP WERE NOT TOTALLY WITHOUT MERIT!!

French Union troops establishing an outpost in enemy territory, defended by a series of surrounding strong-points, fighting a strictly defensive battle [with appropriate counter-attacks], able to successfully defend and defeat the overwhelming numbers of the attacking Viet Minh. Goad the enemy into an attack over ground for you which prepared a suitable defense.

"the hedgehog" (le hérisson), [was used] for the first time. The hedgehog defense consisted of an outpost surrounded by several armed positions (Point d'appui or P.A.). The objective was to provoke an enemy frontal assault . . . Na-San's hedgehog consisted of 30 P.A. with a complicated trench system, enforced with barbed wires. Its defense forces consisted of 11 battalions (15,000 men) and 6 artillery batteries."

"after nearly 2 weeks of trying to overrun Na San, General Giap withdrew his troops leaving behind 5,000 dead and over 2,000 wounded prisoners. The defending Franco-Vietnamese forces lost close to 2 battalions."

"sometimes the attackers outnumbered the defenders 15 to 1. Na San had achieved the unthinkable: halting Giap's seemingly unstoppable Vietminh forces"

French Union troops at Na San predominantly NOT Frenchmen but consisting of Colonial North African troops, indigenous friendly Vietnamese and Tai soldiers, and of course the French Foreign Legion contingents. The same exact mix of units that fought at DBP.

"Defense is the stronger form of combat". Easier to do and you can accomplish more with less!! Determined troops in well-fortified positions well commanded and prepared doing well at Na San. NOT SO at Dien Bien Phu!

coolbert.

Y Service.

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The recent comment from Steiner to the blog has stimulated my interest again regarding the Bari Raid - - 1943. Worst shipping disaster since Pearl Harbor. Allied naval vessels and transports and supply ships in harbor caught flat footed, defenseless mostly, night-time attack by the Luftwaffe successful.

It is generally accepted that the Luftwaffe raiders were able to approach Bari undetected because: [taken from the "The Enemy is Listening"]

"the Allied radar coverage looking eastward was not yet adequate . . . It happened on that day our main radar installation in Bari was unserviceable."

According the author of the book: "The Enemy is Listening" - - Aileen Clayton, the Luftwaffe at Bari had also dispersed Dueppel [German radar jamming chaff] and flown low to the target to escape expected radar detection.

NO radar detection was possible at the time [the allied radar at Bari was not working] but the GERMAN DID NOT KNOW THAT!

In addition, according to Clayton, the British Y Service [radio interceptors], while not totally ignorant of Luftwaffe intentions in the area, were slow to respond to radio traffic of the raiders, interception and decoding of communications of the aerial attackers late or non-existent!

"The raid on Bari coincided not only with the defective radar but also with a state of flux in the Y organization in the Mediterranean"

At that exact moment of Bari, units moving, preparing to displace, inadequate personnel left behind to accomplish the mission in an adequate fashion.

"There is no record available of messages being monitored from the bombers as they approached the target. When we did hear them, the damage had already been done."

Right! British Y Service radio interceptors during the Second World War were adept at fashioning real time intelligence on the combat actions of the Luftwaffe, based upon intercepted communications, ground-to-air, air-to-ground, and air-to-air, high frequency [HF] long-range communications.

Luftwaffe communications, relatively low-level so I surmise, using simple cryptographics, intercepted and decrypted by the English, providing allied forces with forewarning of German aerial attack. Intelligence gleaned from radio intercepts of Luftwaffe communications an invaluable tool throughout the entire war!

NOT SO in the case of Bari. Everything failed the allies at Bari. Radar out of action, Y Service ineffective, place [harbor at Bari] lit up like a gin mill, over-confident even cocky English Air Marshal - - total failure across the board.

coolbert.

Amos & Andy.

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From a comment to the blog by Steiner:

"Steiner said...
You mean, it is cheaper for the United States to pay to have these vehicles manufactured in the U.S. for delivery to Israel. The government of the Jewish state won't pay a penny for these things."

Well, what Steiner says regarding the manufacture of the Nemer infantry fighting vehicle in the U.S. is very true!

The proper understanding of the entire scenario is:

1. The U.S. borrows money from China.

2. The U.S. loans [gives?] the money to Israel in the form of military foreign aid.

3. The Israeli pays the U.S. firm [General Dynamics} to build the Nemer.

4. General Dynamics pays the workers of the firm.

5. Those workers pay taxes to the U.S. government, a portion of those taxes used to pay off the debt owed to China. That original money borrowed from China in the first place.

Sort of sounds like an Amos & Andy comedy routine - - doesn't it? But is NOT merely a shell game! Goods and services are being exchanged.

In addition AND perhaps even more important it is true that in recent times manufacturing costs in the U.S. HAVE become lower AND that it is eminently important that the U.S. continue to have an expertise in the manufacture of heavy military weaponry.

[Adam Smith said that free trade should ordinarily be absolute, with two exceptions, one being that a nation must maintain an ability to manufacture weaponry necessary for defense!]

Skills, abilities, expertise that can only be had by DOING [making the thing!].

Items such as:

* Submarines.
* Armor plate.
* MRAP.
* Nemer IFV.

Normally, the proud and self-reliant Israeli would ONLY want to do this work on their own. But NOW the situation is such than the costs of doing the work in the U.S. are just plain CHEAPER!

coolbert.

Hittokapu Bay.

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Taken in isolation, this is not a big [a minor?] issue. Taken in the context of the Japanese dispute with China over the contested islands Senkaku & Diaoyu this suggests something else?

President Medvedev makes a visit, scheduled [?] to the Kurile Islands, this raising an instantaneous and somewhat furious reaction from the Japanese.

"Russia defiant as Japan recalls envoy over islands"

"MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia announced that President Dmitry Medvedev planned more trips to a disputed chain of Pacific islands Tuesday, adding more fuel to a diplomatic row after Japan said it would recall its envoy to Moscow."

The Japanese ambassador to Moscow being recalled in protest! NOT a minor event!

"Lavrov's message of defiance came after his counterpart Seiji Maehara said he had summoned home Japan's ambassador to the Russian capital."


The Kurile Islands, rich in resources, controlled by the Soviets/Russians from 1945 onward, ownership of the the island chain disputed to a degree!

"The Kuril Islands, which lie north of Japan's Hokkaido island, have been controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War II, but Tokyo claims the southernmost four as Japanese territory."

From Hittokapu Bay, Kurile Islands, is from whence the Kido Butai embarked on Pearl Harbor mission, 7 December, 1941! A very minor theatre of the war in the Pacific - - occasionally bombed by long-range American aircraft flying out of the Aleutians/Alaska!

"Hittokapu Bay (147.63E 44.93N), also known as Tankan Bay, is located on the island of Etorofu in the southern Kuriles. It was the assembly point for the Pearl Harbor strike force, chosen for its isolation, but it played little further role in the war."

This visit of Medvedev is a deliberate provocation, orchestrated in concert with the Chinese, provoking the Japanese in a manner unwarranted? I hate to think it is so, but regrettably the thought is more or less foremost in my mind.

Disputes not subject to negotiation over land are traditionally a casus belli! Let it not be so in this case!

coolbert.

U-864.

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Hot intel dope!!

Thanks in large measure to "Sharkhunters": http://www.sharkhunters.com some inside info concerning the sunken German submarine U-864. From the era of World War Two [WW2], a sunken German submarine, leaking for some time mercury - - contaminating valuable Norwegian fishing grounds. The "leak" now becoming precipitous, a decision in the works as how to proceed with the hulk. Raise or entomb, that is the question!

U-864, NOT to be confused with the U-234. The U-864, on a similar mission, perhaps even carrying ATOMIC MATERIAL!!

The end-game for the U-234 a well known fact, surrender to American naval forces at the end of the war, transporting unusual and very valuable cargo, EN ROUTE TO JAPAN!

"German submarine U-234 was a Type XB U-boat . . . during World War II. Her first and only mission into enemy territory consisted of the attempted delivery of uranium and other German advanced weapons technology to the Empire of Japan . . . the submarine surrendered to the United States on 14 May 1945."

"The cargo included technical drawings, examples of the newest electric torpedoes, one crated Me 262 jet aircraft, a Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb, and what was listed on the US Unloading Manifest as 560 kg (about 1,200 pounds) of uranium oxide"

MUCH HAS BEEN MADE OF THE URANIUM OXIDE - - SPECULATION THAT THE VALUABLE ORE WAS A REQUISITE FOR JAPANESE ATOMIC BOMB RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT!

U-234 WAS NOT ALONE! Other U-boats also were dispatched on extended voyages to Japan, carrying similar cargo, AMONG THEM THE ILL-FATED U-864!

"We ["Sharkhunters"] also determined that other U-Boats had similar cargoes but unlike U-234, they were all sunk with all hands and their cargo. One of these other boats was U-864"

Additionally, from "Sharkhunters":

"a report from S.E.I.G. Agent Vm 469 who filed this report":

“From reliable people, I know that the Norwegians know the location of U-864 and also have learned the cargo aboard which included Uranium Oxide and Heavy Water."

There IS mercury aboard the U-864 and it is leaking, BUT also uranium oxide and heavy water - - ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF ATOMIC WEAPONS RESEARCH!

Such quantities of uranium oxide suggests [?] that Japanese atomic weapons research and development was far more advanced than what the conventional histories tell us, the Japanese NOT lagging the U.S. by much? So is the reasonable inference?

coolbert.

Vor.

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Normally criminals do not make for good soldiers. "Noble" experiments to release criminal elements from prison during a time of war - - a parole being offered convicts in return for the inmate being willing to perform honorable military service, often backfires, not worth the effort.

Persons, criminal elements, not having from the get-go the proper character and not willing to conform to discipline of an unremitting nature, just make poor material for incorporation into the military.

Here thanks to the wiki, some info regarding the Soviet approach to the matter during the Second World War [WW2]. Members of the "guild of thieves" - - inmates of the GULAG, being offered release in return for faithful military service. SOME vor [criminals] accepting the offer, BETRAYING THE THIEVES CODE IN THE PROCESS!

As one might expect, the Soviet experience - - very harsh and brutal, both during the war and SUBSEQUENTLY!

The Thief in Law those Soviet underworld criminals sentenced to the GULAG, organized criminals, thieves, habitual and irredeemable.

"Thief in law (Russian: вор в законе, vor v zakone . . . ("A criminal who obeys The Thieves' Code") is a criminal . . . within the criminal underworld in the old Soviet Union, Russia and the republics that formed the former Soviet Union"

Those person released from the GULAG, performing honorable military service during WW2, post-war returning to their criminal ways and eventual re-incarceration, becoming participants in what became known as the "Bitch Wars". Criminal inmates of the GULAG versus other criminal inmates of the GULAG in mortal combat! War outside of prison, war inside of prison.

"After World War 2, the vory in the GULAG system were weakened by the so-called Bitch Wars - a prison gang war between pure vory [those that refused to perform military service] and the so-called suki ("bitches"). The 'suki' . . . had broken the thieves' code by agreeing to join the Soviet army and fight against Nazi Germany during World War 2 (in exchange for being freed from prison)."

"By joining the army, they violated the Thieves' Code which expressly forbids assisting authority in any way."

"Since most 'suki' were tough, life long criminals and assassins hardened by the experience of brutal combat during World War 2 . . . This resulted in the so called Bitch Wars which lasted for decades. Due to a large number of 'suki', most gulags were divided into two separate zones: one for 'suki' and one for 'vors'."

Right! Both sets of combatants were tough in the extreme. Hardened criminals make even rougher by the experiences of the GULAG, the suki furthermore trained veterans of WW2, seeing a lot of death, and probably having to kill on many occasions as well!

Rough customers all around! Persons quite willing to use violence, kill, and experienced and adept at doing so!

Vor too, sentenced to death, making appropriate candidates to become a "volunteer" [NKVD], a "Robinson" [Smersh], a "gladiator" [VCheka], a "puppet" [spetsnaz]! A criminal sentenced to death, being used as a live training "dummy" in mortal combat with the trained martial artists of the various Soviet special operations units. [Suvorov writes at length about the Soviet use of condemned criminals in such a manner.]

coolbert.