artillery

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Behind the Scenes, part 2

Posted by sdmahaney on October 1, 2015
Posted in: History, References. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Today we continue letting the reader see some of the specific references behind the details in X-Day: Japan. These are not formal citations, as they are not all root sources and the book is not an academic volume. The use of real historical elements for X-Day: Japan serves to educate the reader about the time, add interest to the story, and honestly it just made the thing easier to write!

August 30, 1945
Purple heart orders and production,
– Giangreco, Hell to Pay, p187-193 [hardcover, 2009]

September 10, 1945
Typhoon Ursula,
– wikipedia.org

September 17, 1945
Typhoon Ida,
– wikipedia.org
– navsource.org

September 21, 1945
Antitank Rocket, Methods of Use,
– youtube.com

October 10, 1945
Typhoon Louise,
– history.navy.mil
– danielborgstrom.blogspot.com
– navsource.org
– glynn.k12.ga.us

October 11, 1945
USS Laffey, destroyer DD-724 [MUSEUM SHIP at Patriot’s Point],
– patriotspoint.org

October 28, 1945
Downfall operational plan, 5/28/45, Annex 3 – estimated lift requirements
– theblackvault.com

November 6, 1945
Petition to make Ernie Pyle’s house a national landmark,
– nps.gov

November 9, 1945
Men lined up waiting to use the head before an assault,
– Sledge, With the Old Breed
Surrender rates of Japanese soldiers,
– Frank, Downfall, p28-29 and p71-72 [Penguin paperback, 2001]

November 11, 1945
Diagrams of amphibious assault boats,
– ww2gyrene.org

November 16, 1945
USS Charette, destroyer DD-581, which had a remarkable career with the Greeks as the Velos,
– wikipedia.org
USS Montrose, attack transport APA-212,
– nasflmuseum.com

November 17, 1945
Helicopter medevac,
– olive-drab.com
– airspacemag.com

November 19, 1945
Estimate of Japanese tank strength and tactics,
– ibiblio.org/hyperwar

November 20, 1945
USS Sanctuary, hospital ship AH-17,
– wikipedia.org
158th RCT, “Bushmasters”
– ww2f.com
– wikipedia.org

November 21, 1945
USS Athene, attack cargo ship AKA-22,
– navsource.org
USS Kidd, destroyer DD-661 [MUSEUM SHIP],
– usskidd.com
USS Chester, heavy cruiser CA-27,
– ibiblio.org/hyperwar
USS Windham Bay, escort carrier CVE-92,
– sites.google.com/site/windhambay
USS Comfort, hospital ship AH-6,
– dorriehoward.info/comfort
Blood supply,
– Giangreco, Hell to Pay, p139 [hardcover, 2009]
USS Firedrake, Mount Hood class,
– wikipedia.org
– ibiblio.org/hyperwar
USS Orleck, destroyer DD-886 [MUSEUM SHIP],
– orleck.org
USS Guam, Alaska-class,
– wikipedia.org
– wikipedia.org

November 22, 1945
USS Heerman (DD-532), USS John C. Butler (DE-339), – legends of Taffy-3,
– bosamar.com
– wikipedia.org
– navsource.org
“The outcome is doubtful, but we will do our duty.”
Rear Admiral Robert W. Copeland,
– wikipedia.org

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Maps by the Ton

Posted by sdmahaney on April 25, 2015
Posted in: History, Snippets. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Ernie Pyle wrote that for the invasion of Sicily Army engineers of just one division brought 83 tons of printed maps. We’ve looked over the actual maps for the invasion of Kyushu and are sure it was several times that for Operation Olympic. Kyushu is a much bigger island, and they mapped it in intricate detail, down to every fishing shack and outhouse.

map snippet

Kyushu was covered by over 150 color folding map sheets, each spanning 25,000 yards, about 14 miles. Tens of thousands of junior officers tracked their men over several of the maps. An artillery battery might cover four at once. Pilots had their own versions, and planners back at base had to translate back to the land versions to coordinate activities. A lot of guys needed a lot of maps.

Now we need a new version – for the readers. Simplified maps were drawn up just for X-Day: Japan, of southern Kyushu and key battle areas. They are being made available here in a stand-alone package. The reader can refer to the maps separately, without having to flip or scroll back in the middle of a chapter.
Click to save the zip package.

xdj_map_samp
https://www.xdayjapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/XDJ_maps.zip

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X+21 : December 6, 1945 – Buy The Numbers

Posted by sdmahaney on March 29, 2015
Posted in: History, Snippets. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

December 6, 1945 : X+21 – Kanoya, Kyushu

…Life under artillery fire is an inestimable and unrelenting agony. One is sleep deprived, lonely, scared, and above all helpless to do anything about it. There is no rational response. Some flavor of functional lunacy is required to carry on, be it bitter hardness or detached resignation. Cases of shell shock accumulate when a front is static – one more reason commanders are anxious to maneuver and push forward again.

It is certain that life on the Japanese side is even worse. For every scattering of shells they send, we are carpeting whole hills and valleys. We fire patterns of shells at the taller rocky mountains deliberately on schedule at the same time each day and night. The barrage is not meant to catch anyone by surprise. It is meant to reinforce the idea that we can do this at will and without end. Japanese there are probably hiding deep down in well stocked caves. It’s fine by us if they simply stay there.

Ernie Pyle wrote that in Italy some artillery men there figured that we were spending about $25,000 for every German soldier killed. They wondered what would happen if we just offered each of them that much cash to surrender instead. Pyle didn’t think much would happen.

I put the question to members of a supply company here. They spent some time doing some serious accounting. Their total came to $127,200 for each Jap. They agree with me that few of them would surrender for even that lofty ransom. We are going to have to go get those Japanese soldiers the old fashioned way.

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