April 1943 (1)
1 April – ALASKA – (Eleventh Air Force) A joint directive by Commander-in-Chief, Pacific and Commanding General Western Defense Command orders preparations for Operation LANDGRAB, the invasion of Attu. Sixteen B-24, 5 B-25, and 12 P-38 sorties are flown against Kiska from Adak and Amchitka. Targets include a ship in Gertrude Cove, the North Head area, the Main Camp and the beach. AA fire damages two bombers. Reconnaissance covered Kiska, Attu, Buldir, and Semichis. During April, the 73d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 28th Composite Group with B-25’s transfers from Elmendorf Field to Umnak.
To see what remains on Alaska today from WWII, visit this site of Jon Sund where I have linked the underground hospital.
5 April – the Japanese forces in the Arakan of Burma had now pushed the British troops half-way back up the Mayu Peninsula. The British brigade headquarters was also captured. Tenth Air Force) Seventeen B-25’s bomb railroad targets at Mandalay; two others hit Ngamya. Three B-24’s bombed the Prome railroad yards; 5 hit the Mahlwagon yards and roundhouse. 12 P-40’s and a B-25 supported ground forces in northern Burma.
13 April – (Eleventh Air Force) Fifteen B-24’s, fifteen B-25’s, 28 P-38’s and 20 P-40’s fly eleven attacks to Kiska; 43 tons of bombs are dropped on the Main Camp, North Head, and runway. Fighters attack the Main Camp causing large fires, and also strafe aircraft on the beach. Heavy AA fire damages 2 P-38’s, 1 of which later crashes into the sea, and 1 B-25.
Adm. Yamamoto, wearing a dark green uniform, boarded a Mitsubishi I-type twin-engine bomber with his secretary. The plane took off precisely at 0600 hours, ( the admiral’s insistence of punctuality was well-known). An hour and a half later, Mitchell yelled: “Bogeys at 11 o’clock high.” The famed/infamous admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto, considered Japan’s greatest military leader, received a fatal bullet before his plane crashed. Mitchell radioed back to base: “Pop goes the weasel,” the prearranged success code.
13 April – Alaska’s (Eleventh Air Force) Fifteen B-24’s, fifteen B-25’s, 28 P-38’s and 20 P-40’s fly eleven attacks to Kiska; 43 tons of bombs were dropped on the Main Camp, North Head, and runway. Fighters attacked the Main Camp causing large fires, and also strafed the aircraft on the beach. Heavy AA fire damaged 2 P-38’s, 1 of which later crashed into the sea, and 1 B-25.
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 9 B-25’s bomb the Myitnge bridge without inflicting further damage to the structure. Nine others hit Monywa Airfield. Six P-40’s knock out a bridge at Shaduzup.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Christopher Ascher – Freeport, IL; US Army, WWII
Arthur Barnes – Toowoomba, AUS; RA Air Force # 76929
Albert Duda – New Orleans, LA; USMC, Vietnam
Daniel Goolsby – Brundridge, AL; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, frogman
Thomas Hogarth Sr.; WPalm Beach, FL; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Algol
Jim Keenan – Harrison, AR; US Navy, pilot
Ronal Pollet – Bay Ridge, NY; US Army, Korea
Leslie Slade – Takanini, NZ; RNZ Army # 441184, WWII, 21st Battalion
Neil Thalaker – Baltimore, MD; US Navy, WWII
Dorothy VanWinkle (Tremaine) – Wilmington, DE; civilian US Power Squadron # 5210, WWII
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Posted on October 19, 2015, in Uncategorized, WWII and tagged Burma, family history, History, Japan, Military History, Pacific, Pacific War, USA, veterans, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 63 Comments.
Always loved SNAFU! On your report of Yamamoto’s demise, the USAAF sent a few P-38 patrols to the island from BEFORE his known arrival and AFTER to deflect any inkling the US had listened in on their codified radio transmissions (broken their code).
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They had to protect what decoding they had or the Japanese would have changed it.
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A rather fitting end to the Great Isoroku Yamamoto, Death in battle, presume it was confirmed as a Death in Battle and not suicide.
That underground Hospital looks like it will be a legacy for many years to come yet.
Cheers
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Yamamoto was en-route to inspect his airfields. Being as his pilots were inexperienced, he knew their tales of grandeur had to be exaggerated and he wanted to see what was going on for himself. As far as we know, he had NO idea that his plans were intercepted – therefore YES – he was KIA.
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Naively I never really thought that Alaska was much involved in the war. I always assumed incorrectly where it is isolated that it was not really affected. Interesting to know.
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Good point to bring up, Elizabeth. I should make it clear, perhaps with a map, to show people just how close the Aleutians are to Asia – maybe that would instill further interest in the American Theater of Operations. (I don’t usually use that term, because most would not know what I was talking about.)
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I was really happy to see you post about Alaska’s Eleventh Airforce. My husband was stationed out of Alaska for a while with the Honor Guard. One of his proudest accomplishments there was to be able to honor members of the Alaska Territorial Guard who fought in WWII and whose contribution to the safety of the Alaskan Territory is often overlooked.
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So much focus was and is kept on the European war that the Pacific and CBI and American Theater (Alaska) are neglected in school texts and archives. You husband and his unit are to commended for enduring the conditions of their tour of duty!! Thank you for sharing this information with us, Claire!
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Thank you GP!
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that technical fairy in the video was really fun – enjoyed the vid – and post
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Thanks, he has entertained for a long time!!!
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Nice to see that someone is putting it in chronological order, I have noticed that it is a rarity myself, and good old Snafu, also found this, which you may like?
http://natureonline.com/37/56-ap4-glossary.html
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Ha, like a whole different language. Some I knew, while others – I didn’t have a clue. Thanks for bring that to us, wallah! (whoa, that sounds strange!)
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Good for a chuckle 😀
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Another great history lesson for me. Tributes are difficult, but I remind myself we must think of them as a Celebration of Life AND remember to always give thanks.
Appreciate your posts, GP.
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Thank you. I do appreciate your visits and you willingness to remember.
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“Pop goes the weasel” shows more originality—more class—than “Got the bugger!” or similar. For that matter, more American somehow …
Love it! And SNAFU gets the message across much better: one cartoon is worth a thousand lectures~!
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Strange – I received more comments on the success message of “Pop goes the weasel” than I did about a man like Yamamoto being assassinated.
SNAFU – well, I can never go wrong adding him in here. The straight-laced training films put everyone asleep and SNAFU got the message across with a laugh!!
Thanks for dropping by, Argus, always a pleasure.
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Jumped right into Snafu. Having wandered through the tropics and been subjected to all needle poking, I was quite amused. Maybe even empathetic. 🙂 –Curt
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I can never go wrong with that little fella!! Everybody gets a kick out of him. Thanks for watching, Curt!!
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Great stuff as always. I look forward to the day when you run out of names for the Farewell Salutes – but it’s never going to happen is it…
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I’m afraid we keep making more and more vets – isn’t mankind’s politics a sorry state?!!
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Very informative. Smiling also at “Pop goes the Weasel”.
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As you can see, a lot goes on at the same time (and I just have snippets here). Many of the Pacific War books have this time skipped over because it didn’t have major battles like Guadalcanal and the newspapers at the time were concentrating on Europe. The Pacific and CBI were still going despite Washington’s neglect.
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Yes, have discovered that and so glad that you find the snippets here and there. Makes a more complete story!
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Thank you.
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great post , followed your blog =)
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Thank you, I just got back from visiting yours. Sorry I didn’t have the time to stay longer. Welcome – we have a great bunch of people here!! I couldn’t ask for better friends!!
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Loved watching those cartoons as a young kid. Thanks for the great memories, GP.
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They were originally made as training films because the young men would get bored with the serious, lecture type films – and they worked!!
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Puts a whole new meaning on my little jack-in-box that played “Pop Goes the Weasel”! I know they’re not connected but that’s what popped into my head….
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That’s where they got it, Linda. If the message was intercepted by the enemy, just how many Japanese knew about that toy? Thanks for stopping in!!
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Flying conditions were horrible in the Alaskan campaign.
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It’s almost time for the Canadian troops to get up there too.
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I will be waiting…
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Good to know, Pierre! You still watch my back.
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Terrific, Pierre. I had to sort of rush thru, I’ll get back to it. Thanks.
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I will watch it later also.
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During that month, my father was in training, just before being sent to Alaska as part of the troop sent to reinforce places like Attu after driving the Japanese out.
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How many did he tell you about being there?
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It was one of his favorite stories – heard it for years.
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Do you have a post on it? I apologize, but I don’t remember.
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I’ve done a couple of his stories for the war: http://andrewsviewoftheweek.com/2012/06/03/a-story-of-wwii-from-my-father/ and http://andrewsviewoftheweek.com/2013/06/16/fathers-day-post/
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Thank you, Andrew. The first one was posted before I ever got on wordpress, so I don’t feel so bad and I took down the address for re-blog when I reach September ’43 – don’t let me forget! Now that I’ve re-read the second link, I do recall – thank you for bringing them here.
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This ‘calendar’ treatment of the Pacific war years is highly informative, and most enjoyable, GP.
Many thanks!
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’ve always been interested in the Pacific part, my dad had a lot to do with that of course, but every book I read on the subject went from one date to the next and then back-tracked. Then, they skipped a whole part of the war and picked it up at the end. So much went on at once that it was difficult for me to put the units in the right place at the right time – so I figured I’d collect data and try to put it in order. I’m very glad you appreciate it, Pete! Thank you.
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War should never be trivialised I suppose, but “Pop goes the weasel,” is a really cool way to announce you’ve killed Admiral Yamamoto!
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You would think they would have had something more dramatic than that, but what can I say? Thanks for coming today, John!!
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Great post!
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Thank you, Hollie.
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Great post…and comic relief, something vital for the soldiers!
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You’ve got it, Mrs P. That’s exactly why I decided to to put the humor section in this time around. Thank you!
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The heartfelt joy that comes in spontaneous words when enemy hit “Pop goes the weasel” – love the humour. And meeting Snafu here was delightful, thanks gp 😀
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So glad you don’t mind coming here to visit the past Ina when you deal so much with the present discord of the world. Thank you.
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Thanks for the news and the cartoon. That was a good way to start the day.
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I think SNAFU can make anyone smile!! Glad you enjoyed it, Dan!!
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Neat post, I got some nice pics of the Aircobra display at the museum, it is set for the wing that was in Alaska in WW2. Pretty cool. 🙂
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I didn’t miss them did I? Alaska goes on for another few months in the war – I’d like to see them.
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Nope, I still have the WW1 gallery to go through. If you would like me to send you a few for use in a post let me know. It would be fun to see you use them on your blog. 🙂
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I’d love to have them, but I don’t do private emails – a long story why – so I won’t bore you. Thank you for the offer and I am enjoying your WWI posts, the museum is great!
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