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Trinity Beach, Australia
Trinity Beach, 1st Amphibious, Dec. 1, 1944
Trinity Beach was once a World War II training ground, where troops practiced all aspects of amphibious warfare before heading into war zones north of Australia.
Between May 1943 and December 144, thousands of Australian troops were rotated through this area for training in all aspects of beach warfare. trainees were from the Australian 9th Australian Division which had recently returned from Tobruk and Alamein. They were followed by members of the 6th and 7th divisions that had been involved in campaigns in Egypt, Libya, Cyprus, Greece and New Guinea.
Training was a joint Australian-American army-navy exercise. British ships and Navy personnel were occasionally involved. Trinity Beach was the HQ for a number of units and the troops camped along Captain Cook Highway, particularly at Deadman’s Gully near Clifton Beach.
Training was intensive and involved both day and nighttime activities. Troops undertaking this training included infantry, gunners, engineers, mechanics, signalers, ordnance, intelligence and field ambulance personnel.
Trinity Beach training
Trinity Beach had been a place for families during the holidays, this changed when the 532nd Engineer Special Brigade arrived in April 1943. Troops were rotated between inland jungle training on the Atherton Tableland to amphibious training on the beaches. This was done prior to embarkation to the front lines in Papua New Guinea.
Assault training was only one aspect of the training activities at Trinity. Logistics, including load training, was undertaken. The 1st Australian Corps Combined Operations Amphibious program co-ordinated by the 6th Australian Div. had 5 key tasks:
1- Delivery of essential supplies from key ports to forward areas, which were close to combat and only accessible by sea
2-Carriage of troops, especially in amphibious assaults.
3- Evacuations of wounded.
4- Local carriage of equipment, stores and salvage.
5-Building of minor port facilities, such as jetties and landing stages.
Trinity Beach, 11 Sept. 1944
During the Pacific War, Cairns became one of Australia’s largest military embarkation ports and the region was dotted with a variety of facilities and camps.
HMAS Kuranda and the RAAF Catalina base were located in north Cairns wharf area and a Catalina slip facility on Admirlty Island in Trinity Inlet. An American transhipment port was located at the mouth of Smiths Creek. Aerodomes were established at Mareeba and cairns. A very large hospital was established at Rocky Creek on the Atherton Tableland, with a second located on the west side of Cairns at Jungara. A medical research and development unit was based there. Radar and communications facilities were established throughout this area.
Trinity Beach today
For one and a half frantic years, thousands of troops moved in and out of the Trinity Beach area. After the training headquarters were shut down, Trinity Beach slipped back into being a place for beach-going weekenders.
Excerpts from: Cairns arts and culture.com.au
This article was suggested by Gallivanta!! Thank you for the idea, Ann!!
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert S. Chessum – Matamata, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 4311266, WWII
Joshua Fuller – Orlando, FL; US Navy, Commander, pilot
Murray Hilford – Whangaparaoa, NZ; RNZ Navy # 9474, WWII, ETO, Able Seaman
Enrique Roman-Martinez – Chino, CA; US Army, Spc., HQ Co./37/2/82nd Airborne Division
James Moir – New Town, NZ; RNZ Army # 205256, WWII
Vincent Segars – Valdosta, GA; US Navy, Captain, pilot (30 y.), Bronze Star
Peter B. Sheppard – AUS; Royal Australian Military Hospital, Cpl., # 0708811, Vietnam
Jimmy Sinclair (107) – ENG; British Royal Artillery, WWII, “Desert Rats”
Raymond Tompkins – Salem, OR; US Navy, WWII, Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class
Robert J. Wells – Eagle, CO; US Navy, WWII, gunner, USS Cornvallis, Bucknell & Whiteriver
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USS Barb – SS-220
Uss Barb, SS-220, May 1945
This post is in response to a suggestion I received from Pat at e-Quips.
In the closing months of World War II, heavy losses and depleted fuel stocks kept many of Japan’s remaining combat aircraft grounded and warships in port, awaiting an anticipated amphibious invasion. Starting in July 1945, Allied battleships embarked on a series of naval bombardments of coastal cities in Japan in an effort to draw these forces out to battle — with little success.
However, a week before the battleships began lobbing their massive shells, a legendary U.S. submarine toting a rocket launcher began its own campaign of coastal terror that foretold the future of naval warfare — and also engaged in the only Allied ground-combat operation on Japanese home-island soil.
Submarines still made use of deck guns during World War II, most of them ranging between three and five inches in caliber. These were used to finish off unarmed merchant ships or sink smaller vessels that could evade torpedoes, but also were occasionally directed to bombard coastal targets, such as in early-war Japanese raids on the coasts of California and Australia.
Capt. Eugene Fluckey of the Gato-class submarine USS Barb volunteered his boat to try out the experimental rocket launcher in 1945.
Fluckey with the navy Cross
At the time, the Navy was actually testing the weapon’s viability as an anti-kamikaze weapon, but Fluckey managed to cajole the R&D staff into releasing the Mark 51 in time for his patrol, making the Barb the only rocket-launching submarine of the Navy.
The Barb, which displaced 2,400 tons submerged, was one of the top-scoring Allied submarines of World War II. By the most conservative count, she sank 17 ships totaling 97,000 tons of shipping. Other tallies are considerably higher.
In January 1945, on his fourth patrol as commander of the Barb, Fluckey sneaked his boat into the shallow waters off of Namakwan Harbor off the coast of China and torpedoed six ships before hightailing away, an action that earned him the Medal of Honor.
The Barb set sail from her base in Midway on June 8 loaded with 100 rockets. She arrived off the Japanese home islands on June 20. At 2:30 a.m. on June 22, Barb surfaced off of the town of Shari in northeastern Hokkaido Island, unleashing a volley of 12 rockets into the slumbering community. She then sailed northward to the coast of Southern Sakhalin Island, then known as the Japanese prefecture of Karafuto. (All of Sakhalin is presently administered by Russia.)
Over the following month, the Barb expended 68 rockets on Shikuka. Shoritori and Kashiho, mostly firing late at night at near-maximum range.
When Japanese seaplanes began hunting the sub during the day, Fluckey retaliated with a volley of rockets aimed at the Shikuka military airfield. The Barb’s guns also destroyed more than three dozen civilian sampans, while her homing torpedoes took out local trawlers, tugboats and a few large merchant ships.
The Barb’s most famous exploit did not involve those weapons.
USS Barb, 1944
Observing trains passing along the Japanese coastline, Fluckey hatched a scheme to dispatch a landing party to blow up one of the trains by burying the Barb’s 55-pound scuttling charge — essentially a self-destruct device — under the tracks. Rather than using a timer, the explosives would be jury-rigged only to blow when the pressure of a passing train completed the circuit, a trick Fluckey likened to a childhood walnut-cracking prank.
A landing party of eight was selected on the basis of their unmarried status and membership in the Boy Scouts. Fluckey believed the scouts would have better pathfinding skills.
At midnight on July 23, the Barb slipped up to within a kilometer of the shore, and a landing party commanded by Lt. William Walke paddled quietly to the beach. While three men took up guard positions — they encountered a sleeping Japanese guard in a watchtower, whom they left unharmed — the other five buried the demolition charge and managed not blow themselves up jury-rigging the detonation circuit.
They were furiously rowing back to the Barb when a second train passed.
Fluckey described what happened next in his autobiography , “Thunder Below!”
“The engine’s boilers blew, wreckage flew two hundred feet in the air in a flash of flame and smoke, cars piled up and rolled off the track in a writhing, twisting mass of wreckage.”
USS Barb demolition crew with their battle flag, August 1945
All 61 train cars derailed, killing 150 passengers. The Barb’s crew added a train to the tally of enemy ships sunk on their battle flag. Her landing party had just performed what would be the only U.S. ground operation on the Japanese home islands during World War II.
The Barb’s raids on the Japanese coast — and even those performed by Allied battleships — were premised on the Japanese military’s inability, by 1945, to effectively defend the home-island coastlines, which included a lack of coastal-defense guns.
While the rockets the Barb employed appear to have been effective, it’s not clear that they were superior to having another deck gun. But within a decade of the Barb’s last mission, new rocket-based technologies in the form of guided cruise and ballistic missiles drastically reduced the relevance of big guns on warships or coastal defenses. The new weapons could be launched by a submerged submarine a long distance from the shore, safe from immediate retaliation.
The Barb’s month-long seaside rampage will remain a unique incident for some time to come.
Excerpts from: War Is Boring. com
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Military Humor –
for you submariners
Young submariners learn quickly to heed all signs!!
SIGN reads: “SECURE! Sanitation tanks under pressure!
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Farewell Salutes –
Natasha R. Aposhian – AZ; US Air Force, 319th Logistics Readiness Squadron
Bernard Barry – Stanley, AUS; RA Navy, WWII
George Bjork – St. Paul, MN; US Navy, Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class
Stanley De Witt – USA; US Army, Korea, Sgt., Medical Detachment/57th FAB/7th Infantry Div., Bronze Star, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)
Pete Conley – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., Co. K/3/31/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)
Thomas E. Griffith – USA; US Navy, WWII, radioman, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Ernestine “Tommy” King – Columbus, GA; Red Cross nurse. WWII
James Thomas Sr. – Montgomery, AL; US Navy, WWII & Korea, Lt. Commander
Julian C. Torres – TX; US Air Force, Airman 1st Class, 319th Security Forces Squadron
Jesse Vincent (100) – Leavenworth, WA; US Navy, WWII
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Shipping Them Home at the End of WWII
Here is a superb article on getting our troops home after the war.
Right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound, I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near
To the stars away from here
We can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
From a forwarded email:
Can you imagine the logistical and administrative challenges involved in this operation?!! And, all before any computers! Staggering! AND, once they were in the US, getting them to out-processing stations and eventually home!
Remember what Eisenhower said at the end of the war, “Take pictures of the dead Holocaust Jewish people, a generation or two will never believe it happened”!!!
Returning the troops home after WWII was a daunting task….
The Magic Carpet that brought everyone home.
In 1939, there were 334,000 servicemen…
View original post 911 more words
Edward “Butch” O’Hare
Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare, Feb. 1942
On Feb. 20, 1942, the flattop Lexington was steaming toward the Japanese base at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, when it was approached by two enemy flying boats. Their crews managed to signal its coordinates before American fighters flamed the planes, and the Japanese immediately launched an attack against Lexington.
That chance encounter had dire implications for the U.S., which couldn’t afford the loss of a single ship and certainly not a carrier.
American radar picked up two waves of Japanese aircraft. Mitsubishi G4M1 “Betty” bombers—good planes with experienced pilots.
Six American fighters led by legendary pilot Jimmy Thach intercepted one formation, breaking it up and downing most of the Bettys.
The second wave, however, approached from another direction almost unopposed.
Almost.
Two American fighters were close enough to intercept the second flight of eight bombers. The Navy pilots flew Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats, which like most American planes were practically obsolete at the time, certainly inferior to the best Japanese aircraft.
At this point in the war, the Navy had to rely on the men who flew them.
As the Japanese bombers dove from 15,000 feet, the guns jammed on one of the Wildcats, leaving Lexington’s fate in the hands of one young American aviator. Lt. Butch O’Hare —who’d been aboard Saratoga when she was torpedoed—had only enough .50- caliber ammunition for about 34 seconds of sustained firing.
Lt. Edward Butch O’Hare, 1942
And the Bettys were mounted with rear-facing 20mm cannons, a daunting defense. O’Hare’s aircraft may have been inferior, but his gunnery was excellent. Diving on the Japanese formation at an angle called for “deflection” shooting, but Thach had taught his men how to lead a target.
O’Hare flamed one Betty on his first pass, then came back in from the other side, picked out another and bored in.
Still too far away to help, Thach observed three flaming Japanese planes in the air at one time.
Betty bomber. Lt. Cmdr. Takuzo Ito first met 20 Feb. 1942
By the end of the action, O’Hare had downed five of the attacking Japanese planes and damaged a sixth, approaching close enough to Lexington that some of its gunners had fired on him.
After landing on the carrier, he approached one sailor and said, “Son, if you don’t stop shooting at me when I’ve got my wheels down, I’m going to report you to the gunnery officer.”
Thach estimated that O’Hare had used a mere 60 rounds for each plane he destroyed. It’s hard to say which was more extraordinary—his courage or his aim. Regardless, he had saved his ship.
On April 21, 1942, at a White House ceremony, Rita O’Hare draped the Medal of Honor around her husband’s neck as President Franklin Roosevelt looked on. Roosevelt promoted the pilot to lieutenant commander.
Butch & Rita O’Hare as he is awarded the MOH
Later in the war, Butch O’Hare was killed off Tarawa while flying a pioneering night intercept against attacking Japanese torpedo planes —an exceedingly dangerous mission, employing tactics that were in their infancy.
He had volunteered. Aviators throughout the fleet reacted with disbelief at the news that Butch O’Hare was dead.
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There is a surprising footnote to the story.
“O’Hare” resonates with Americans today for the airport in Chicago that bears his name.
Easy Eddie (r) with Al Capone (l)
Ironically, O’Hare’s father had been an associate of Al Capone. On Nov. 8, 1939, “Easy Eddie” O’Hare was gunned down a week before Capone was released from prison, supposedly for helping the government make its case against his former boss.
His son, Butch, was in flight training at the time, learning the skills he would put to use little more than two years later in the South Pacific.
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Military Humor – (For Aviators)
“A HAIRY SITUATION!”
“AND ON A WINDY DAY, OH MY!!”
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Farewell Salutes –
Warren Bowland – El Paso, TX; US Army, Vietnam, 82nd Airborne, Bronze Star, Purple Heart / NASA, Col. (Ret. 30 y.)
Katherine Carson (100) – Boston, MA; WWII, US Coast Guard SPARS
Salvadore Dezio – Bayville, NJ; US Army, WWII, SSgt.
Bill Ham – Topeka, KS; US Army, WWII, ETO
Lois Jemtegaard – Washougal, WA; Civilian, WWII, Kaiser Shipyards welder
Mike Magoulas – Charleston, SC; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, navigator, Citadel alum / US Air Force Major (Ret.)
Alfred Newman Jr. – Cranston, RI; US Army, WWII, ETO / US National Guard, MSgt. (Ret.)
William Palmer Sr. – Monticello, NY; US Army, 503/ 11th Airborne Division
Herbert Stempel – Queens, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, 311/78th Infantry Division/counterintelligence
Elmer Umbenhauer – Stony Creek Mills, PA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 8th Armored Division, Bronze Star
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Armed Forces Day/Week
A 12 MINUTE HIGHLIGHT VIDEO OF THE LONGEST RUNNING ARMED FORCES DAY PARADE, FROM BREMERTON, WASHINGTON.
Armed Forces Week is celebrated in the week leading up to Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May). For American service members, Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remember past and present service for all branches of the service. The week also includes “Children of Fallen Patriots Day” 13 May.
Armed Forces Day was observed for the first time on May 20, 1950, the day was created on August 31, 1949 to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches. Armed Forces Day/Week was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense.
Today, there are many Armed Forces Week events around the globe, but sources report the “longest continuously running Armed Forces Day Parade” for Americans is held in Bremerton, Washington. In 2018 Bremerton marked the 70th straight year of its Armed Forces Day Parade. Unfortunately, as expected, the festivities are postponed this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Armed Forces Week is another time for Americans to reflect on the sacrifices made by those in uniform, and local communities often pay tribute to their missing or fallen loved ones and friends. There may be ceremonies in your local area (especially if a military installation is nearby) to pay respects to those missing or killed in action.
Being as we cannot hold parades or visit military installations this year…
More ways to celebrate
- Wear red, white and blue
- Fly the American flag
- Thank a man or woman who serves or has served
- Talking with or writing to a military member
- Donate to veteran or military-based organizations
- Send care packages for those serving overseas
- Volunteer through the VA or a veterans service organization
What makes Armed Forces Day different from Veterans Day and Memorial Day?
Unlike Veterans Day, which honors those who served, and unlike Memorial Day, which honors those who died serving, Armed Forces Day is a day to honor all of the men and women currently serving as well as those who have served, both active and former military.
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Military Humor – 
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Quarantine Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Arthur W. Barstow – Hadley, MA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 5th Air Force
Hilton Carter – New Orleans, LA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, MSSgt., Tuskegee pilot-crew chief-gunner
Daniel Daube – Donora, PA; US Air Force, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Lt. Colonel (Ret.)
Carl Groesbeck – Chicago, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, bombardier-navigator, POW
Hansford ‘Hank’ Hancock – Greenville, KY; US Army, WWII, ETO
Dorville Johnson – Jonesboro, AR; US Navy, WWII & Korea (Ret. 21 y.)
Paul Krogh Jr. – Old Saybrook, CT; US Navy, WWII, USS Slater
Walter Mallin – Manchester, NH; US Army, WWII, Pearl Harbor survivor
Joseph Phillips – Toronto, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, ETO, radioman-navigator
Jerry Stiller – Brooklyn, NY; US Army, WWII / Beloved actor
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HELLO! Remember Me?
Tomorrow is 1 May, the start of Military Appreciation Month. I thought it appropriate to remind some about the flag they fly under and why……
Some call me Old Glory, others call me the Star Spangled Banner, but whatever you call me, I am your Flag – the Flag of the United States of America. There has been something that has been bothering me, so I thought that I might talk it over with you here today.
I remember some time ago, (I think it was Memorial Day, or was it Veterans’ Day?) that people were lined upon both sides of the street for a parade. A high school band was behind me and, naturally, I was leading the parade. When your Daddy saw me coming along, waving in the breeze, he immediately removed his hat and placed it so that his right hand was directly over his heart.
And you – I remember you.
Standing there straight as a soldier, you didn’t have a hat, but you were giving me the right salute. Remember, they taught you in school to place your right hand over your heart, and little sister, not to be outdone, was saluting the same as you. There were some soldiers home on leave and they were standing at attention giving the military salute. Oh, I was very proud as I came down your street that day.
Now, I may sound as if I am a little conceited. Well I am!
I have a right to be, because I represent you, the people of the United States of America.
But what happened? I am still the same old flag. Oh, I have a lot more stars added since the beginning of this country, and a lot more blood has shed since that patriotic day so long ago.
Now I don’t feel as proud as I used to. When I come down your street, some people just stand there with their hands in their pockets and give me a small glance and then look away. I see children running around and shouting. They don’t seem to know who I am.
Is it a sin to be patriotic anymore? Have some people forgotten what I stand for? Have they forgotten all the battlefields where men have fought and died to keep this nation free? When you salute me, you are actually saluting them!
Take a look at the memorial rolls some time. Look at the names of those who never came back. Some of them were friends and relatives of yours. That’s whom you are saluting – not me!
Lt. Bud Stapleton, 11th A/B Div., raising first flag over Tokyo on 3 Sept. 1945
Well, it won’t be long until I’ll be coming down your street again. So, when you see me, stand straight, place your hand over your heart and you’ll see me waving back – that’s my salute to you. And then I will know you remember who I am…..
~ Author unknown ~
From: the June 2017 issue of The Voice of the Angels” 11th Airborne Division Association, JoAnne Doshier, Editor
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Military Humor – 
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Quarantine Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Evelyn Boyd – Norwich, CT; Civilian, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, WWII
Eugene Carlson – Brockton, MA; US Navy, WWII, engineer, USS Shangri-La
John Donaldson (100) – Pittsburgh, PA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, LCT
William Facher (100) – San Diego, CA; US Army, WWII, PTO, 1st Calvary Mounted Artillery, 2 Bronze Stars
Harold Hicks – Broad Channel & East Meadow, NY/Archer, FL; US Army, 37th Armored Regiment
Bernard Lazaro – Waltham, MA; USMC, WWII
Vincent Massa – Staten Island, NY; US Navy, WWII, USS Fall River
Kent Ross – Dodge City, KS; US Army, WWII, Nuremberg, Sgt.
William Smith – Montrose, GA; US Army, WWII / Korea, POW / Vietnam, Sgt., 1/173 A/B, Purple Heart, 4 Bronze Stars, (Ret. 32 y.)
Robert Therrien – Sanford, ME; US Army, WWII
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25 April ANZAC Women
ANZAC Women
With today’s pandemic situation, we are seeing many similarities to WWI (ending in 1919), the 1920 pandemic, the Great Depression and WWII predicaments that also affected the entire planet.
We are additionally discovering that along with our militarys, there are many others that deserve our thanks and appreciation. So __ with that in mind, I chose, along with Garrulous Gwendoline’s encouragement, to salute the nurses that risked their lives working beside the ANZAC troops that are to be honored this 25 April.
Miss Phyllis M. Boissier
(pictured bottom right in the above image)
Elected Matron of Manly Cottage Hospital in 1912, Boissier then joined the World War I effort. She signed up with the Australian Army Nursing Service and traveled to Egypt in 1914. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross for her war service at Gezirah, where she tended to the wounded soldiers from Gallipoli. She became Matron of the hospital at Dieppe, France in 1917.
In 1918 she accepted the role of Matron at the RPAH. During her years as Matron, Miss Boissier contended with overcrowding in the wards. She also dealt with complications related to a new onsite building project which caused increased expenditures exacerbated by the Great Depression. An outbreak of pneumonic flu challenged Miss Bossier, as almost one hundred nurses became sick and were unfit to work.
Pearl Elizabeth Corkhill
Pearl Corkhill
Australian nurse Pearl Elizabeth Corkhill earned a prestigious Military Medal for her bravery as she tended to injured patients during a heavy air raid by German forces. She was serving at a casualty clearing station not far from the front line in Abbeville, France when it came under attack on 23 August, 1918.
During the bombing, Corkhill remained calm and continued to tend to her wounded patients, despite the danger.
Louise Mack
(10 October 1870 – 23 November 1935)
Marie Louise Hamilton Mack was an Australian poet, journalist and novelist. During the First World War, she reported from the front line for London’s Daily Mail and Evening News. She later wrote an autobiography titled A Woman’s Experiences in the Great War and was the author of 16 novels and a book of poetry.
New Zealand nurse, E.S. Barker, Malta 1915
Esther Barker –
New Zealand’s Ms. Barker and 2 friends were caught in France when war broke out and they sewed shirts for the troops. During the Gallipoli campaign, “The Trio” as the three artists called themselves, joined up as British Red Cross voluntary aides and sailed for Malta with about 200 other women.
WRN Enid Bell
Enid Bell –
Ms. Bell, a New Zealand nurse Enid Bell was the first ever member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service. Enid Bell trained as an ambulance driver, and went to France with the British Red Cross in April 1917
Elizabeth Kenny
(20 September 1880 – 30 November 1952)
Elizabeth Kenny was an unaccredited Australian nurse, who developed a controversial new approach to polio treatment while caring for ill soldiers during the First World War. Her muscle rehabilitation principles became the foundation of physiotherapy.
Working in Australia as an unaccredited bush nurse, Kenny was later accepted to serve during WWI.
She was assigned to dangerous missions on “dark ships”, transport that ran with all lights off between Australia and England. She made 16 round trips and one around the world and was officially promoted to the rank of Sister..
Katie Louisa Ardill
(3 August 1886 – 3 January 1955)
Katie Louisa Ardill was among the first female doctors to join the British Expeditionary Forces in 1915 after her application to serve with the Australian Expeditionary Forces was rejected because she was a woman. At that time, the Australian government prohibited women from service, compelling them to join overseas units instead.
She served as a doctor, treating wounded soldiers for four years in Britain, France and Egypt during the First World War and was promoted to the rank of Captain.
Major Alice Ross-King
Major Alice Ross-King
(5 August 1887 – 17 August 1968)
Alice Ross-King was one of four nurses awarded a Military Medal for their selfless actions at a casualty clearing station close to the trenches during an air raid in France on 22 July 1917.
Ross-King rescued patients in tents shattered by bombs, either carrying them to safety or putting tables over their beds to protect them. She and three other nurses, Dorothy Cawood, Mary Jane Derrer, and Clare Deacon, were recognized for their courageous actions.
When WWII broke out, Alice re-enlisted with the Australian Army Women’s Medical Services and was heavily involved in raising funds for the Red Cross.
Lest we forget.
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Military Humor –
desert humor
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Quarantine Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Trevor Beech – Manawatu, NZ; RNZ Navy # 4345, WWII, radar
Allan Godbaz – Auckland, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 4311330
Ian Gordon – Richmond, AUS; RA Air Force, Air Commodore (Ret.)
Gordon Habgood – NZ; RNZ Air Force, Squadron leader
Roger Midgley – Gandarra, AUS; RA Navy #R63489
John Parkes – Pukeohe, NZ; RNZ Army # 16417
Dorothy (Ford) Pollard – Rotorua, NZ; WRNZ Air Force # 4374, WWII
Reece Stratford – Nelson, NZ; 2NZEF # 273145, WWII, 23rd Battalion
Barry Tebbs – Hamilton, NZ; RNZ Air Force LAC # 344661
Michael Wright – Canberra, AUS; RA Navy, Commander (Ret.)
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The Last CBI Roundup
The Last Roundup
Most of you have been around long enough to have seen excerpts from the CBI Roundup newletter. We can not end this war without some more articles they used to say farewell.
To insure that men remaining until the end of the I-BT will get the news, The Roundup, a smaller-sized edition of Roundup will commence weekly publication in Calcutta a week from today, April 18. It will be smaller, but its “chota” staff will see to it that it carries a good coverage of local and world news, and some of the entertainment features you have enjoyed in Roundup. This was published in April 1946.
Small U.S. Group Remains Here
When the last ship pulls out of King George Docks sometime in May, it will still not be a complete farewell to India for American military personnel, because a small number of officers and men will remain behind after Theater inactivation to finish several jobs, some of which may take several months to complete.
It is estimated that the settlement of all claims within the area, including Southeast Asia, will take some months to finish. The establishment and operation of military cemeteries and the continued search for isolated bodies will keep a handful of men busy for three years, according to present estimates.
The prosecution of War Crimes cases will probably require three more months to finish up. The complex problems of financial settlements, payments of bills and claims, termination of contracts, and adjustment of reciprocal aid charges incurred after V-J Day, will probably take a considerable time to wind up.
Some installations and property will have to be kept until the Theater is officially inactivated. These will have to be turned over after the last boat leaves, but it is planned that the turnover will take only about a month.
It is expected that all personnel to remain in India after the Theater closes can be obtained from Regular Army or volunteer ranks.
BEER RATION UPPED
With the coming heat and the resultant increase of parched throats, the ration of beer in the I-B has been raised from two to three (3) cases per man, beginning with the April ration. Theater Army Exchange Service announced this week. Hubba Hubba!
You’ve been gone two years this spring,
Didn’t you see a single thing?
Never saw much but the moon shine on
The Ledo Road A Burmese temple around Maingkwan,
A Burmese temple around Maingkwan,
And silver transports high in the sky,
Thursday River and the swift Tanai,
And Hukawng Valley coming all green,
Those are the only sights I’ve seeen.
Did our job, though, like God willed:
We had the Ledo Road to build.
written by: Sgt. Smith Dawless, Los Angeles, CA
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CBI Roundup sketches –
WILBUR
THAT’S ALL FOLKS!
“Combat?! Hell NO! Calcutta riots!”
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Quarantine Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Robin Armstrong – Toronto, CAN; RC Navy, WWII, HMCS Uganda, radar
Freeman Brown – Atlantic, IA; USMC, WWII, PTO
Francis Cook – Livingston, NY; US Army, WWII, Middle East
Fred Deghi – Willits, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Calhoun
John Eastwood – Milwaukee, WI; US Army, Vietnam
George Hyrne – Savannah, GA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Africa
Andrew Karlak – Seymour, CT; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 1st Class, USS George
Frank Anthony Petrone Jr. – Archer, FL; US Air Force
Ward Rosen – Fayetville, AR; US Navy, WWII, pilot
Robert Williams – Cleveland, OH; USMC, WWII
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Beer & the Military in WWII
Happy G.I.s w/ their beer!
During WWI, the U.S. struggled to supply “the comforts of home” to the Doughboys. The Red Cross and various other groups helped, but it wasn’t enough. During WWII, the U.S. government was determined to do a better job and reserved a certain percentage of comfort items, such as beer and cigarettes, for the servicemen.
Service members could buy such items, along with gum, pop, candy, books, etc. at a PX. When feasible, small mobile PXs were set up, sometimes in the back of jeeps, to supply such items to those on or near the front.
Breweries were required to set aside a 15% of their production for military use. The prohibitionists were still around and active and tried to convince the military to ban alcoholic beverages totally. Instead the military supplied only 3.2% beer to servicemen instead of the 4-7% alcohol content. Theoretically, servicemen could not get drunk on 3.2 beer, but obviously the person who said that never saw the PX after a long desert march. Not every brewer made the 3.2 being as it had to made separately.
WWII beer cans
During the war, the military used both bottles and cans to send beer overseas. Cans were lighter, more compact and didn’t break as easily as the bottles, but while both glass and metal were rationed, bottles were somewhat easier to replace than cans, so both were used.
At first, the breweries used cans with the same labels as the pre-war cans. All they did was change the tax statement on the label to indicate that the relevant taxes were not applicable. The new statement read, “Withdrawn Free of Internal Revenue Tax for Exportation.” In 1944, the military switched to olive drab cans, apparently in an effort to make the cans more uniform in appearance.
The U.S. began to ease rationing restrictions in late 1945, although it took several years to eliminate all rationing and price controls. Beer cans became available for civilian use again in early 1947, Cab companies began advertising that “the cans are back!”
WWII beer
Beer had long been more popular in the U.S. than ale. Schaefer had been the first brewery to introduce lager beer to the U.S. in the mid 19th Century. By the early 20th Century, only New England drinkers still preferred ale to beer. After WWII, New England tastes switched to match the rest of the country. It is supposed that the returning servicemen developed a taste for beer during the war. The government did not supply much ale as the alcohol content is usually higher in ale than in beer.
Article first appeared in “The Voice of the Angels”, the 11th A/B Division Association newspaper.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
A new War Terror – Beware of Dog on Rations!
G.I. envelope home humor, 1945
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Quarantine Humor –
A Stephen King warning from “The Shining”
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Farewell Salutes –
Kenneth Adams – Des Moines, IA; US Army, WWII / National Guard Reserves (Ret.)
Harvel ‘Jack’ Baines – Oplin, TX; US Navy, WWII, SeaBees, Shipfitter 2nd Class
Michael J. Cox Sr. – Kewanee, IL; US Army, Vietnam, 2nd Lt., 25th Infantry Division
Dale Doran Sr. – Port Angeles, WA; US Army, 11th Airborne Div. / 822nd Aviation Engineer Battalion, Korea
Julius Heins – El Paso, TX; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Pharmacist’s Mate 1st Class
Thomas McCartney – Schenectady, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
David O’Connor – Capa, SD; US Navy, WWII, PTO, SeaBee / US Army, Korea
Bill Rodgers – Le Flore, OK; US Army, Korea, Sgt., Co. A/1/32/31st RCT/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin)
Samuel Smirna – East Bruswick, NJ; US Army, WWII, ETO
William Waggoner – Patagonia, AZ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO,glider pilot, 440/95th Squadron
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11th Airborne Medic
Combat Medic pin
Leaving out all the bloody and boring bits, being an 11th Airborne Medic wasn’t all that bad ___ by: Ray Sweet, Medical Detachment/ 152nd Airborne Anti Aircraft Battalion/ 11th Airborne Division
Starting late 1945 and leaving out the bloody and boring bits, being and 11th Airborne Medic wasn’t all that bad. The officers handled medics with silk gloves because they knew from who cometh their future immune booster injections as ordered by the higher command.
Medics ate better than most. The cooks all knew who had the 190-proof alcohol to put in that lousy canned grapefruit juice.
Airborne Medic
They never had bed checks, curfews and all that other crap (like standing guard over a useless pile of junk that no one in their right mind would ever dream of stealing.) They had a good life.
Sergeants were never a bother. They all knew their battery could always stand for a short arm inspection. It was actually quite nice to be a medic. If the captain said trooper Jones must do something yucky and a medic said he was not able, trooper Jones didn’t do it.
Playing cards with the geishas while on pro station duty was rather pleasant. It was a fun way for them to meet a lot of friendly girls.
When, as a courier transporting drugs from base hospitals to battalion, they had a rail care just like a general.
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Military Medic Humor –
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Corona Shortages –
Contrary to popular belief, duct tape does NOT fix ALL problems !!!!
Duct tape toilet paper
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Farewell Salutes –
Bob Bechtold – Martinsville, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Sgt. # 194GIF/ Medical Tech, 1/17th Airborne, Bronze Star
Thomas G. Delaney – Hartford, CT; US Army, Vietnam, 173rd A/B, 10th Special Forces A/B Group, Major (Ret. 20 y.)
THANK YOU
William Frankland (108) – Battle, England; Royal Army Medical Corps, WWII, CBI, POW, doctor/researcher
Richard Griffin – Franklin, NH; US Army, Vietnam, 82nd Airborne Division
Douglas L. Hickok – Norman Air Force Base, OK; US Army, Captain, Medical Corps
Donald D. Johnson – Clarkston, MI; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division, (Ret. 21 y.)
James B. Morrison – San Antonio, TX; US Army, Korea, Medical Corps/187th RCT
Edmound M. Parker – Ahoskie, NC; US Army, Medical Corps/188/11th Airborne Division
Don Schweitzer – Los Angeles, CA; US Merchant Marines, WWII / US Army, Japan Occupation, 11th Airborne Division
Bill Withers – Beckley, WV; US Navy / Douglas Aircraft / singer
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