History Forum / War History / World War II / April 2008

Considering the Clear advantage in quality in the Luftwaffe's aircraft;
Why stick with the home grown production? Why not licence build Fw-190's
& Me 109's  instead of Fiat's And Macchi's. While The Germans exchanged
technology with Japan, How come Italy seems to come up short? ...

Military basic training "boot camp" during the war is often described
as very rough, to build up the men's confidence,  strength, and
endurance.
Obviously draftees would have a large disparity of physical skills.

During the battle of Midway, B-17s from
Oahu attacked HIRYU before landing at
Midway.
Midway is 2100 km from Oahu; that would

How much of a surprise was it to the Allies/Germany?
Did the Italian military offer any intel of any importance?
Did the Army take a full active fighting role against Germany?
thx - Craig

As I understand it; had the Germans won the war they planned to
permanently occupy Poland and the western USSR, and incorporate this
territory into Germany.
But what did they plan to do with France, Belgium, Holland,

I am currently reading Herbert Bix's Hirohito and the Making of Modern
Japan.  I have just come to his 1921 tour of Europe as Crown Prince.
Bix says that the United States was originally on the itinerary, but
was dropped because of the poor health of the emperor, the delicate

       Does anyone know of any book that deals with military production
in the US. I'm looking for the change in production priorities as the
war progressed and the consequences of those changes.
       For instances the troop basis changed over time. The naval

I have never served in the Navy and I am curious as to shipboard life
in the various navies of WWII. I know that crews are divided into
watches which take turns running the ship. Are there two? Three? What
do the off watch people do, sleep, eat, scrape paint, paint? And

Back in the late 1970s, I remember as a young boy watching a documentary
where it seemed that a scuba diving group together with several Japanese war
veterans had visited the sea site where the Taiho was sunk.
Has the wreck of the Taiho been discovered? Or do I remember ...

I have encountered a web site dedicated to the 77th Pursuit Squadron
of the 7th Air Force which was a mirror image of the AVG sent to
China. The site http://777avg.com/unithistory/ has an elaborate unit
history tracing the service of USAAF pilots in the Soviet Air Force

I am interested in the use of U.S. servicemen as couriers of German
property, documents, equipment, etc. out of Europe (specifically
Belgium) following the German surrender.  Does anyone have any
information on this topic?

News report claim that the wreck of the HMS Sydney and Kormoran has been
discovered.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/03/17/1205602238554.html
The cruiser was sunk by a German raider, the Kormoran, apparently in a

Living in Portland, Oregon, I regularly attend the Portland
International Film Festival. This features, for the most part, films
that are not older than 1-2 years at the time of the festival.
About 10-15 years ago I was fortunate enough to see a documentary

I remember seeing a pro Soviet documentary on the war, with glowing
narration by Burt Lancaster. Anybody know the name of this?  There
were more than a few eyebrows raised at the time.
   The vhs set from the early nineties WWII Russia, has a British

What significance does a ship's name have?
How perminent is it?
Ships Cassin DD372, and Downes DD375
A few months ago, I was looking at some pictures