History Forum / War History / World War II / February 2004

how many soldiers are in a division?
Where can I find an army glossary or dictionary that explains some
basic terms of ww2 armies?
L

What newsgroup would best help me identitfy this WWII film?
I apologize for my memory of it being vague and spotty, but I remember
it being an awesome chase  movie (to a 12 year old) of 2 or 3 guys
running from the Germans to the safety of Switzerland. They suffer

   On reading about the failure of Market - Garden, I keep shaking my
head over the lack of urgency of some British commanders on the drive
north to aid the paratroops fighting for their lives at Arnhem.
Horrocks made clear that 30 Corps was "the cavalry" to the rescue. So

I have just finished reading Norman Davies excellent "Rising '44" about the
AK Warsaw rising. Can any of our Polish members let me know if any
considerable numbers of the AK and/or 1939 Campaign + exiles have
returned to Poland since the collapse of Communism?

Several years ago I caught part of a movie on TV and I have never been
able to figure out what the name of it was. It was about the
assasination attempts on Hitler during the War, but I don't think it
was "The Plot To Kill Hitler." The one scene that stuck out was of two

Was there any Coast Guard presence in Hawaii in December, 1941?  If there was
any, what happened to it on Dec. 7?  
John Healy
Doctoral candidate

I recently came across an unsubstantiated allegation that Admiral
Halsey wanted to court martial JFK over the loss of PT-109. Has anyone
ever heard of such a claim before?
Does anyone know of any sources where this is actually substantiated?

This week I have bought a Revell SdKfz 250/3 model.
I am thinking about building this as a camouflaged vehicle with lots of
stowage, and maybe if I can find info, to portray it as one of Gräbner's
vehicles.

I am teaching a class on WWII and I would love your examples/opinions on the
following items:
1)  Key battle(s) or operation(s) where poor/inadequate planning/strategy
and inferior technology/weaponry was overcome by the ingenuity/bravery of

Does anybody know a source of diagrams of fieldworks and entrenchments in
WWII ? I'm looking for stuff like MG and mortar pits, Pakstellungen etc ...

The WFI Research Group has just finished work on this database which now
list all 69,732 USAAF personnel lost to all reasons during the Second World
War. Previously completed were all Navy, Marine and Coast Guard personnel.
Army is curently in work.

While investigating the effects of bombing on Japan, I have come across a
remarkable claim in Michael Sherry's "The Rise of Amercian Air Power" (which
is being cited in other works now - like Robert A. Pape's 1993 article "Why
Japan Surrendered" and Robert S. Norris's "Racing for ...

Let's take a fresh tack on this.  Since certain people want to deflect blame
away from Bomber Command by throwing the Winter of 1944/45 in the mix, let's
take the period when Allied bomber strength waxed and the weather was still
pretty good -- High Summer, 1944.

I've been given to believe that my uncle's brother, one Henry Harding
served
aboard HMS Drake during WWII but according to what I've found so far,
"The