#90th Infantry Division

[carbone14]

Camions de ravitaillement de la 90th Infantry Division dans Bastogne – Bataille des Ardennes – Belgique – 22 janvier 1945

#WWII #Bataille des Ardennes #Battle of the Bulge #Armée américaine #American Army #US Army #90e Division d'infanterie US #90th Infantry Division #Bastogne #Belgique #Belgium #22/01/1945 #01/1945 #1945

[captain-price-unofficially]

GIs of the 90th Infantry Division rest at a café in Baudienville, Normandy France on June 7, 1944.

#june #wwii #battle of normandy #western front #liberation of france

[regina-bithyniae]

I didn't have access to the book again until today, so sorry for the late response. In one chapter, Colby gives short summaries of various leaders in the 90th Division who proved to be incapable of command, obtained through the 1962 interview of Major General George B. Barth, who commanded the 357th Infantry Regiment after Colonel Ginder had been replaced by Colonel John Sheehy, who was then killed in action;

Brig. Gen. Jay W. MacKelvie: Should never have been given command of a division. In Normandy, critically weak in all aspects of leadership, command, and tactics. Could not communicate with subordinates, enlisted or commissioned. Relieved on 12 June, after 5 days of combat command.

Maj. Gen. Eugene M. Landrum: Short, fat, uninspiring; could not lift up or motivate troops. Commanded the Division from an arm chair in a cellar. By-passed his regimental commanders and talked by telephone directly to battalion commanders, from his chair. No faith or confidence in his subordinates. Gloomy and pessimistic in outlook. Relieved 28 July after 5 weeks.

Lt. Col. Homer Jensen, CO 1st Bn., 357th: Good appearance but no guts. Lacked courage, initiative, and energy. Tried to command his battalion from a deep foxhole a mile to the rear. Relieved by Col. Barth on 16 June.

Lt. Col. LeRoy F. Lester, CO 2nd Bn., 357th: Big, potbellied, coarse blowhard: Made one combat reconnaissance patrol on or about 10 June, claimed he went blind, and never returned to his battalion.

Lt. Col. Al Seegar, CO 2nd Bn., 358th: Nice guy but no drive, spirit, courage, or leadership. Got into trouble on the Seves river island, surrendered his battalion (11 officers, 254 men) to a German combat patrol of 50 men and two tanks. Spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of the Germans.

Lt. Col. Dan Gorton, CO 2nd Bn., 359th: A competent administrator, unschooled in tactics, not aggressive in implementation; e.g., he would attack with one company leading and not use his two reserve companies at all. Not a natural leader, he would eventually request relief.

Lt. Col. Casey, CO 3rd Bn., 359th Inf.: Had been a studious and conscientious officer, but was not a troop leader. His 3rd Bn. got in trouble several times under his command. Eventually wounded and evacuated, but led a Bn. in another Division.

I love reading about the absolutely awful units.

[AskHistorians link]

[peashooter85]

German Walther PP semi automatic pistol, captured by soldiers of the US 90th Infantry Division during World War II. Later presentation engraved and monogrammed to Fred T. Penry.

from Rock Island Auctions

#history #antiques #guns #firearms

[davidshawnsown]

Cuban Army 1st Guards Armored Division (Central Army)

Nicknamed the "Sanguily Rescue Division" - it was created in 1965 as a corps level formation of 3 armored and 2 infantry regiments and later became an armored division. Its oldest unit is the 2600th Armored Brigade - the former 26 July 1st Motorized Infantry Regiment that fought in the Bay of Pigs landing operation of 1961 - and was raised as an armored battalion equipped with Western systems in 1959. It is the armored fist of the Cuban Army today and is stationed as part of the Central Army.

IMU that brigade is restored to its original name as this division - one of a few designated Guards (Division Blindada de la Guardia) for its role in the Cuban supported operations in Africa and Grenada in the Cold War - is by now being reequipped shedding its old equipment for modern systems. For example its armored battalions are now equipped with Russian T-72s and T-62s as well as Chinese Type 15s and Iranian Tosans, as well as the Type 11 assault gun platform in two of the brigades. Infantry battalions are equipped with the BTR-70 and the Type 8 wheeled IFVs, the BMP-2 and VN11 tracked IFVs and the Type 90 APC. The 90th Mechanized Infantry operates both the BTR-70 and Tiuna in its motorized battalion. The historical companies under the depot regiment use majority of the early systems the division uses for historical and parade purposes as well as for educational tools given the division's role in Cuban military history. These include:

M4 Shermans

T17E1 Staghounds

Comets

M18 Hellcats

T-34

SU-100

T-54/55

T-62

BTR-50

BTR-152

BTR-60

BMP-1

BMP-122 SPG

It also has an armored cavalry regiment organized with Venezuelan assistance, which is patterned after the armored brigades and organized similarly but with a purpose of both armored recon and offensive operations in support of armor and infantry elements. Also IMU the placement of such regiments in divisional level by the FARC is to also ensure continuity of traditions of the Cuban "caballeria Mambisa" of the War of Independence and the Spanish American War.

Brigade artillery regiments are equipped with Chinese PLL-01 towed howitzers, the Type 7 SPG and the Fajr-3 MLRS from Iran. The cavalry regiment's artillery group is a mixed of tracked and wheeled self-propelled gun systems. DIVARTY on the other hand alongside all these uses M-46 howitzers, BM-21 Grads, Fajr-5s, CJ-10 and Soumar cruise missiles in the land attack role, and Hwasongpho-11b and Zelzar-3 TBMs.

Divisional air defense is organized into the brigade level regiments armed with Strela-10s and SPAGGs of the ZSU series and the BTR-60 organized into two battalions each and the divisional air defense regiment organized into groups of towed and self-propelled guns and missile systems armed with the following:

ZU-23, PG-99 and S-60 towed air defense guns

ZSU-57-2s, PGL-12 and T-57 Duplex SPAGGS

HQ-6, Strela-10, HQ-17, S-125 Dvina, FK-3 and Bavar-373 SAMs

This division is the only one with brigade level and divisional regiments of air defense in the Cuban Army as the rest of the divisions have air defense groups of battalion size in the brigade level with more assets either in regimental or brigade level under divisional command.

Local systems like the BTR-100 and the David and the Jupiter D-30 mobile wheeled SPG, as well as the Venezuelan Tiuna, are present to give an Latin American look to the division as well as to provide a showcase of the Cuban military industry.

The reason IMU there's a political affairs unit is because of the strong Soviet influence in the Cuban Army and to ensure control by the Communist Party over the armed forces. However, it maintains a more recent creation of a chaplaincy unit to ensure religious care among the mostly Christian service personnel of the division.

The division's CIMIC battalion and SAR elements of the engineer regiment provide aid to civil autorities capability during war and peacetime calamities, joined by elements of the division's Youth Labor Army battalion placed under its combat service support regiment.

IMU this and other divisions are reinforced in wartime by elements of the Territorial Troops, the Civil Defense of Cuba and the National Reserves, which would form a 2nd infantry brigade from elements of these organizations in the division's AOR.

@lukeexplorer

#orbat boys #fictional orbat #fantasy orbat

[nnn-lll-nnn]

EMERGENCY BROADCASTS.

ORDER OF BATTLE FOR NER. NERIAN ARMED FORCES. ORDER OF BATTLE 1 JULY 8 - 1975 2 ARG. 1RST ARMY. 1rst, 11th, 16th, 27th, 73rd, 92nd, 93rd, 109th, 176th Infantry Divisions. 2nd, 23rd, 24th, 34tyh, 36th, 71rst, 82nd, 88th Armored Divisions. 3rd, 4th, 17th, 82nd, 83rd, 84th, 85th, 86th Artillery Divisions. 7th, 16hth, 18th, 19th, 21rst Air Force Divisions. 2ND ARMY. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 12th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, 28th, 34th, 52nd, 72nd, 81rst Infantry Divisions. 3rd, 4th, 5th, 101rst, 111th Armored Divisions. 8th, 11th, 12th, 18th, 22nd, 94th, 102nd Artillery Divisions. 2nd, 4th, 15th, 50th, 90th Air Force Divisions.

./.

LINK TO FOLLOW; HOTEL TANGO TANGO PAPA SIERRA, LOW; FOXTROT, INDIA, LIMA, ECHO, OT OR PERIORD, DDAW, IDNIDIA OSCAR, /BREAK/, FORWARD SLASHES, /RhtuuTSY1Afo , CANNOT PROVIDE PROPER FORMATTED RESPONSE AT THIS TIME, OUT.

./.

STANDBY, MESSAGE FOLWLAS..

./.

ACK HITMAN-3-2; </> Acoustic this is Hitman-3-2 Fire Mission over!&lt;/> ACOUSTIC; </>Hitman-3-2 this is Acoustic standing by for Fire Mission.</> HITMAN-3-2; </>Roger, Grids; FN396582, 6 rounds, 4 guns in effect, Target Number; GK7602 over!</> ACOUSTIC; </>Solid copy Hitman, Message to Observer; FN396582, 6 rounds, 4 guns, Target Number GK7602, splash in six seconds.</> ACOUSTIC; </>Shot, over.</> HITMAN-3-2; </>Shot, out!</> HITMAN-3-2; </>SPLASH OVER!</> ACOUSTIC; </>Splash, out.</> HITMAN-3-2; </>ACOUSTIC, THIS IS HITMAN, ADJUST FIRE SYSTEM AIDED OVER!</> ./. STANDBY

#Xanxon #Preska #Fire Mission #Acoustic FDC #Hitman-3-2 #Xanxoni #unreal #unreality #meteorology #net report actual #Morse Code #Audio #Ner #Nerian Armed Forces #Order of Battle #July #August #October #November #Link to Follow #VOLMET #Erika Volmet

[casbooks]

Books of 2023

Book 48 of 2023

Title: Gone Native Authors: Alan G. Cornett ISBN: 9780804116374 Tags: A-1 Skyraider, AC-47 Spooky, B-52 Stratofortress, FAC, FRA France, GER Bad Tolz, GER Flint Kaserne, GER Germany, GER Mainz, GER Munich, GER Schweinfurt, GER USA 1SG Academy - Munich, GER USA ARSOFE Army Special Operations Force Europe, JPN Okinawa, KHM Cambodia, KHM Cambodian Civil War (1967-1975), KHM FANK Khmer Army / Forces Armees Nationals Khmeres (1970-1975) (Cambodian Civil War), KOR Battle of Bayonet Hill / Hill 180 (1951) (Korean War), KOR Korean War (1950-1953), KOR Naktong River, KOR Pusan, KOR ROK 9th White Horse Division, KOR ROK Republic of Korea Army, Military Police, Nungs, PHL Hukbalahap, PHL Philippines, THA Bangkok, THA Thailand, US CIA Central Intelligence Agency, US CIA William Colby, US Court Martial Hearing, US MOH Medal of Honor, US USA 101st Airborne Division - 1st Brigade, US USA 101st Airborne Division - 1st Brigade - LRRP Det, US USA 101st Airborne Division - Screaming Eagles, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - Sky Soldiers, US USA 1st Cavalry Division, US USA 24th ID, US USA 25th ID, US USA 27th Infantry Regiment, US USA 27th Infantry Regiment - E Co, US USA 2nd Philippine Scouts, US USA 327th Infantry Regiment, US USA 327th Infantry Regiment - 1/327, US USA 327th Infantry Regiment - 1/327 - Tiger Force Recon, US USA 327th Infantry Regiment - 2/327, US USA 327th Infantry Regiment - 2/327 - Hawk Recon, US USA 34th Infantry Regiment, US USA 34th Infantry Regiment - K Co, US USA 502nd Infantry Regiment, US USA 502nd Infantry Regiment - 2/502, US USA 502nd Infantry Regiment - 2/502 - Recondos, US USA 509th Infantry Bn, US USA 58th Infantry Regiment, US USA 58th Infantry Regiment - F Co (LRP), US USA 5th Army, US USA 5th Army - Inspector General, US USA 75th Rangers, US USA 75th Rangers - A Co, US USA 82nd Airborne Division - All American, US USA 8th ID, US USA 90th ID, US USA ANG Army National Guard, US USA Army Reserve, US USA Camp Frank D. Merrill GA - Mountain Phase Ranger School, US USA Capt Joe Hooper (MOH) (Vietnam War), US USA Col Lewis Lee Millet Sr (MOH) (Korean War), US USA Fort Benning GA, US USA Fort Benning GA - Airborne School, US USA Fort Benning GA - IOBC Infantry Officers Basic Course, US USA Fort Benning GA - Ranger School, US USA Fort Benning GA - Victory Pond, US USA Fort Bragg NC, US USA Fort Bragg NC - Advanced Medical Lab, US USA Fort Bragg NC - JFK Special Warfare Center / School, US USA Fort Carson CO, US USA Fort Gordon GA, US USA Fort Jackson SC, US USA Fort Jackson SC - Moncleaf Hospital, US USA Fort Leavenworth KS, US USA Fort Leavenworth KS - USDB United States Disciplinary Barracks, US USA Fort Riley KS, US USA Fort Riley KS - Irwin Army Hospital, US USA Fort Riley KS - USARB United States Army Retraining Brigade, US USA Fort Sam Houston TX, US USA General Olinto Barsanti, US USA General William J. Donovan, US USA General William Westmoreland, US USA James Walker (101st LRRP), US USA LRRP Team (Vietnam War), US USA Reynel Martinez (101st LRRP), US USA SSG David C. (Mad Dog) Dolby (MOH) (Vietnam War), US USA United States Army, US USA USSF 10th SFG, US USA USSF 1st SFG, US USA USSF 5th SFG, US USA USSF 77th SFG, US USA USSF Green Berets, US USA USSF Special Forces, US USA USSF Team ODB-52, US USAF Eglin Air Force Base FL, US USAF General John F Flanagan, US USAF United States Air Force, US USMC 1SG Jimmie E Howard (MOH) (Vietnam War), US USMC 1st MarDiv, US USMC 1st MarDiv - 1st Recon Bn, US USMC 1st MarDiv - 1st Recon Bn - C Co, US USMC United States Marine Corps, VNM 1968 Tet Offensive (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Ban Me Thuot, VNM Bien Hoa, VNM Buon Dham, VNM Buon Ma, VNM Buon Ya, VNM Cam Le, VNM Central Highlands, VNM Chu Lai, VNM CIA Air America (1950-1976) (Vietnam War), VNM CIA Phung Hoang / Phoenix Program (1965-1972) (Vietnam War), VNM Command and Control North/FOB-3 (Vietnam War), VNM Con Son Island, VNM Da Lat, VNM Dar Lac Province, VNM Di An, VNM Don Duong, VNM DRV NVA 1st Division, VNM DRV NVA North Vietnamese Army, VNM DRV NVA Work Site 1, VNM DRV VC 816 Main Force Co, VNM DRV VC Viet Cong, VNM Duc My, VNM Duc Pho, VNM Gia Dinh Province, VNM Hill 163 (Nui Cau), VNM Hill 488 (Nui Vu), VNM Hmong Meo Tribesmen, VNM I Corps (Vietnam War), VNM II Corps (Vietnam War), VNM Khe Sanh, VNM Lac Thien, VNM LBJ Long Binh Jail - USARVIS US Army Vietnam Installation Stockade (Vietnam War), VNM LBJ Long Binh Jail (Vietnam War), VNM Long Binh Post - Graves Registration (Vietnam War), VNM Long Binh Post (Vietnam War), VNM Montagnards, VNM Montagnards - Rhade, VNM Nha Trang, VNM Nha Trang - 5th SFG Recondo School (Vietnam War), VNM Nha Trang - Nautique, VNM Nui Dang, VNM Operation Arc Light (1965-1973) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Cattle Drive (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Crazy Horse (1966) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Leaping Lena (1964) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Wheeler (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Phan Rang Air Base, VNM Phan Thiet, VNM Phu Bai, VNM RVN ARVN 91st Airborne Ranger Bn., VNM RVN ARVN Airborne Division, VNM RVN ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam, VNM RVN ARVN CIDG Civilian Irregular Defense Group, VNM RVN ARVN LLDB Luc Luong Dac Biet Special Forces, VNM RVN ARVN National Training Center - Duc My, VNM RVN ARVN Ranger Training Center - Duc My, VNM RVN ARVN RF/PF 302nd RF Co (Vietnam War), VNM RVN ARVN RF/PF Regional Forces/Popular Forces (Vietnam War), VNM RVN ARVN Vietnamese Rangers - Biet Dong Quan, VNM RVN Chieu Hoi Program/Force 66 - Luc Luong 66 (Vietnam War), VNM RVN KHM Cambodian Training Center - Duc My, VNM RVN RVNP Can Sat National Police, VNM RVN RVNP CSDB Can Sat Dac Biet Special Branch Police, VNM RVN RVNP CSDB PRU Provincial Reconnaissance Units (Vietnam War), VNM RVN SVNAF South Vietnamese Air Force, VNM Saigon, VNM Saigon - Camp Goodman, VNM Song Be, VNM Song Pha, VNM Song Ve, VNM Song Ve Valley, VNM Tan Son Nhut Air Base, VNM Tan Son Nhut Air Base - Camp Alpha (Vietnam War), VNM US MACV Advisory School - Di An (Vietnam War), VNM US MACV Advisory Team 25 (Vietnam War), VNM US MACV Advisory Teams (Vietnam War), VNM US MACV CORDS Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (1967-1975) (Vietnam War), VNM US MACV Military Assistance Command Vietnam (Vietnam War), VNM US MACVSOG (1964-1972) (Vietnam War), VNM US MACVSOG Hatchet Force Teams (Vietnam War), VNM US Project Delta - Det B-52 (Vietnam War), VNM US Project Delta - Roadrunner Teams (Vietnam War), VNM US Project Delta - RT Viper (Vietnam War), VNM US USA 6th Convalescent Hospital - Cam Ranh Bay, VNM US USMC KSCB Khe Sanh Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USMC/USA Phu Bai Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USSF 5th SFOB Special Forces Operation Base - Nha Trang, VNM US USSF Mobile Strike Force - Nha Trang MIKE Force (Vietnam War), VNM US USSF Mobile Strike Force (MIKE) (Vietnam War), VNM Vietnam, VNM Vietnam War (1955-1975), WW2 World War 2 (1939-1945), WWII US OSS Office of Strategic Services Rating: ★★★★ (4 Stars) Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.ARVN.PRU, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.ARVN.RF/PF, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.Green Berets, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.Green Berets.Project Delta, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.LRRPs, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Advisor, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Infantry, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Medic, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.US.US Army.Infantry Year Read: 48 of 2023 Price: 8.99 Month Read: 08

Description: On his first combat assignment, Cornett accompanied the Vietnamese Rangers on a search-and-destroy mission near Khe Sang. There he gained entree into a culture that he would ultimately respect greatly and admire deeply. Cornett's most challenging military duty began when he joined the Phoenix Program. As part of AK squad, he dressed in enemy uniform and roamed the deadly Central Highlands, capturing high-ranking VC officers in hot firefights and ambushes. It was there, deep in enemy territory, where the smallest mistake meant sudden death, that the Vietnamese fighting men earned his utmost respect.While offering rare glimpses of an aspect of the war most of the military and media never saw, Cornett tells the full, gut-wrenching story of his Vietnam. He also gives an unsparing view of himself - telling a no-holds-barred story of an American soldier who made sacrifices far beyond the call of duty . . . a soldier who, in defiance of the U.S. government, refused to turn his back on the Vietnamese. From the Paperback edition.

Review: This is a book that is great in some places, less so in others. I was actually tempted to stop reading it part way through because of how the story ends, and there will be spoilers in this review.

This book is a lot about failure, and overcoming failure, and then more and more failure. So much failure. This is a dude who... fails. He also succeeds but where the heart of the story is, well it's in his failures. He manages to end up in the famed Green Berets as a medic and assigned to Project Delta/B-52 but is basically kicked out for being a liability. He ends up in the 101st with their brigade LRRP team where he finds his first home. For those of you who read a lot about the VN war, you'll recognize a lot of the cast of characters in this section, with a majority of the focus being on his relationship with Rey Martinez. He then bounces around a bit, a little time in Germany, some time training medical stuff at replacement centers, and eventually as an Advisor in a few different areas. Throughout all of this he falls in love, fucks up the relationships, gets into a fucked up relationship, does a lot of drugs, gets drunk a lot, gets in trouble a lot, and eventually marries a VN woman who he later drifts apart from even though staying close to his brother in law who he fought with. At one point he tries to kill his XO and is court-martialed for it, but somehow manages to serve his time and rejoin the army for a very long career - totally unheard of but true! The problem with the book is that it is uneven, which keeps it from being a 5 star book... his coverage of certain battles is super finely detailed whereas his court martial and time in jail is barely a wisp of text. He tells more about using drugs and drinking than he does talking about his role as a medic and the training. Overall a good book and fills in some more stories from the 101st and the 302nd RF Co. He does a great job with the other cast of characters, and their stories and it's worth it just for that.

#Books #Ebooks #Booklr #Bookblr #vietnam #vietnam war #US Army #Green Berets #Special Forces #Project Delta #Army Advisor #ARVN #RF/PFs #history #military history #non-fiction #101st Airborne #LRRP

[farmerbrown]

Arlington National Cemetery · On the anniversary of D-Day, the western Allies’ amphibious and airborne landings along the coast of Normandy, France, in World War II, ANC honors Colonel James Van Fleet, who led the 4th Infantry Division’s 8th Infantry Regiment, the first unit to land on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944.  A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and a veteran of World War I, Van Fleet reached Utah beach with one of the initial waves of landing craft amid small arms and machine gun fire.  He reported to Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt, who realized they had landed on the wrong beach made the important tactical decision, “We’ll start the war from right here.”  In less than an hour, Van Fleet’s regiment shattered the German coastal defenses, creating a breach for the rest of the division to pass through.Van Fleet’s performance as a commander so impressed his superiors that in October of 1944 he was promoted to major general and given command of the 90th Infantry Division.  In March of 1945, he took command of the III Corps, which broke through the beachhead along the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany.After the war, Van Fleet directed the military advisory mission in Greece and Turkey, where he played a pivotal role in defeating communist guerrillas.  During the Korean War, in 1951, he received a promotion to four-star general and replaced General Matthew Ridgway as the command the U.S. Eighth Army in the latter half of the Korean War.  He grieved when his son, Captain James Van Fleet, Jr., an Air Force pilot, was shot down over North Korea on April 4, 1952, and listed as Missing in Action.Van Fleet is buried in section 7 with his wife, Helen Moore. His son’s name is also on the headstone with the words, “Lost in Korea.” The back of Van Fleet’s headstone contains his philosophy of war: “The Will to Win,” and lists his commands. Surprisingly, instead of listing World War II, it simply says “Utah Beach June 6, 1944,” a testament to the D-Day battle that commenced his meteoric rise in the U.S. Army.

[ultrajaphunter]

Large RuZZian MBT Assault Defeated near Avdiivka.

RuZZian sources Blame "not the most Competent Command." 

Video if some Battle Scenes and the Aftermath below. 

In the area of Avdiivka, the RFAF 6th Tank Regiment of the 90th Tank Division Attempted a Large Scale MBT and BMP Assault from the Direction of the Village of Tonenke Towards Umanske using 36 MBTs and 12 BMPs.

The AFU 25th Airborne Brigade, which Defended Against the Attack, Believe it was the Largest Armored Vehicle Assault Attempted by the RuZZians since the Very Early Part of the War.

They report that the RuZZians Retreated after Losing at least 12 MBTs, 8 BMP's and Score of Crews and Infantry.

RuZZian source Voenkor Kotenok Summarized it as Follows:

From the Settlement of Tonenke, Our Attempts to Break Through to the Settlement of Umansky Resulted in Losses of Manpower and Equipment.

The Situation is Complicated, to put it Mildly, Not the Most Competent Command.

The Result is the Main thing, What, by Whom and How it is Achieved, I don't Care.

The Trouble is When the Main Incentive is the Dream of a General's Rank, and Everything else,Including Saving People, Fades into the Background.

 In No War Can Minefields be Cleared by Units.

For Such a Thing, One Should Not Promise Titles and, Moreover, Give Them, But Demote Them.

[mwsa-member]

The Quest of the Tough 'Ombres by Symm Hawes McCord

MWSA Review Pending  

Author's Synopsis

The novel opens with a fictitious squad in the 357th Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division, anchored in New York Harbor, ready to set off for England to take part in the liberation of the Nazi occupied nations in the European Theater of World War II. We follow them across the Atlantic, encountering one Nazi U-boat during the transit. In England the squad is made even more physically fit with exercise and long hikes which they would encounter later in battle. 

Leaving England on the 6th of June 1944, the 357th Infantry Regiment landed at Utah Beach on the 8th. After being transported to the beach in Higgins boats, they began the eleven months of trials and battles until the end of the war in May of 1945.

Initially, they entered into numerous battles in western France which involved the clearing of towns and villages and meeting the enemy in the field, where they were under considerable threat of artillery and mortar bombardments. In July of 1944, the squad became a part of General Omar Bradley’s Operation Cobra which was an all-out push to take advantage of the prolonged battle for Caen by the Canadians. The battle in Caen had caused much of the armor and artillery of the Nazis to be brought there to defend the town. With much of it concentrated around Caen, Bradley suspected an easier bursting out of Normandy. He was right, considering war is never truly easy.

For the next ten months the division, consisting of the 357th, 358th, and 359th Infantry Regiments, battled their way across France toward, and ultimately into, Germany and later Czechoslovakia during the last week or so of the war. During their time in battle the squad lost three members due to bayonet attacks, sniper fire. And battle fire. They crossed the Moselle River when it was flooding over the banks and running rapidly. They fought in two of their most costly battles at Beaucoudray and the taking of Hill 122, Monte Castre.

The regiment entered several battlefields, including one after a battle had been fought, and they found where a Nazi had been killed, fell in the road, and had been ground into the dirt as tanks, half-tracks and other vehicles continuously rode over him. He became more of a bump in the road. They fought in the battle of Maizière-Les-Metz near the larger city of Metz, France. They were a part of the battle at Mayenne, France which Patton so admired. There they had to secure one end of a bridge leading out of Mayenne that was guarded by two Nazi guards. A squad member who was a German-American, and whose uncle was slaughtered because he married a Jew and stayed in Germany, was the soldier who stealthily was able to cut the throats of both guards with a knife that had been made by the uncle who had been slaughtered by the Nazi. 

The squad was a part of clearing several towns, battling and destroying numerous pillboxes during their transit of France. They approached and helped to clear the Maginot Line in France. When the squad reached Germany the concentration of Nazis had increased since they had been driven from France and Belgium; thus, the fighting became more rigorous and dangerous. As they entered Germany, the greatest obstacle became the Siegfried Line with its dragon teeth and multiple layers of pillboxes. They attacked the Siegfried twice, having been pulled away the first time to assist another division with difficult efforts. When they returned the second time, they had significant difficulties clearing out the large number of staggered pillboxes.

On one occasion they met up with a jeep full of “GIs” that turned out to be English-speaking Nazi that had been trained in American culture, Hollywood, baseball, etc. They had been brought together by a Nazi Col. Skorzeny who sent them out to create chaos and confusion. The novel ends with them coming out of Czechoslovakia and back into Germany after V-E Day, celebrating in a Bier Haus as a group, and remembering their days in the largest war ever fought by man.

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 226

Word Count: 55,221

#MWSA Review Pending #2023 Season #Historical Fiction

[pattern-53-enfield]

90th Infantry, “Tough ‘Ombres”

via Willy Pete

#artists on twitter #historical art #military girls #90th infantry division #tough 'ombres #world war 2 #art #uniforms

[carbone14]

Compagnie d'artillerie du 90e Régiment d'infanterie tirant au canon de campagne M3 105 mm près de Carentan – Bataille de Carentan – Bataille de Normandie – 11 juin 1944

#WWII #Opération Overlord #Overlord #Bataille de Normandie #battle of normandy #Bataille de Carentan #battle of carentan #Armée américaine #american army #90e Régiment d'infanterie US #90th Infantry Division #Artillerie #artillery #Artillerie de campagne #Field artillery #M3 Howitzer #Carentan #manche #normandie #normandy #France #11/06/1944 #06/1944 #1944

[aiiaiiiyo]

December 9, 1944, in Dillingen, Germany- members of the 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, after several days of ferocious fighting. To reward their outstanding courage, they were all granted a thirty-day furlough. [1911x1664] Check this blog!

#DiosMioMan63 #historyporn #history

[greatworldwar2]

• Franz Bäke

Franz Bäke was a German officer and tank commander during World War II. In post-war popular culture, Bäke is considered one of the "panzer aces", that is, a highly decorated German tank commander.

Born February 28th, 1898 in the Province of Hesse-Nassau, German Empire. Bäke volunteered for the German Army in May 1915 and was posted to an infantry regiment. Fighting on the Western Front, Bäke earned the Iron Cross 2nd Class in 1916. Bäke was discharged from military service in January 1919. From 1919 to 1921, Bäke served in the Freikorps Epp, a right-wing paramilitary unit named after Franz Ritter von Epp. In parallel, he studied medicine and dentistry and attained degree of Doctor of Medical Dentistry in 1923. On March 1st, 1933, Bäke joined the SA; his final rank within the SA was SA-Standartenführer as of August 1944. Bäke established his own dentistry practice in Hagen. In 1937 he was accepted into the reserves and was posted to a reconnaissance unit. In 1938, he was mobilized for full-time service as an officer and took part in the occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Bäke's unit took part in the invasion of Poland as part of the 1st Light Division, which was redesignated 6th Panzer Division in October 1939. With this unit, Bäke took part in the Battle of France and Operation Barbarossa. Following the encirclement of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, the division took part in the abortive attempt to relieve the 6th Army in Operation Winter Storm in December 1942 and then retreated to Kharkov. In January 1943, Bäke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. During the Battle of Kursk (Operation Citadel) in July 1943, Bäke's unit fought near Belgorod, retreating to the Dniepr afterwards. For his actions during Operation Citadel, Bäke was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.

On November 1st, 1943, Bäke was appointed as a regimental commander. In December 1943, he was ordered to form an ad hoc reinforced tank regiment named Heavy Panzer Regiment Bäke. The regiment consisted of 46 Panther and 34 Tiger I tanks, supported by self-propelled artillery and a mechanized engineer battalion. In January 1944, Bäke commanded his regiment during the battles for the Balabonovka pocket. Bäke single-handedly destroyed three Soviet tanks during the battle with infantry weapons at close range, for which he received three Tank Destruction Badges. Next, the regiment was part of a relief effort in support of Group Stemmermann, encircled in the Cherkassy Pocket. For his actions during these battles, Bäke received the Swords to the Knight's Cross on February 21st, 1944. In March, the regiment fought in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket. In May 1944, Bäke was promoted to Oberst and later appointed commander of Panzer Brigade Feldherrnhalle. Bäke's unit attacked the U.S. 90th Infantry Division near Aumetz on the night of September 8th, 1944. Bäke's command found itself poorly deployed and under sustained counter-attack from American infantry. By the evening of September 8th, Bäke had lost thirty tanks, sixty half-tracks, and nearly a hundred other vehicles in the lopsided battle. His infantry losses were also heavy, with the unit reporting to OB West that it had only nine armored vehicles and that unit strength was down to 25 per cent of the authorized establishment. On February 28th, 1945, Bäke transferred from reserve to active duty. On March 10th he was appointed commander of Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2, formally the 13th Panzer Division, and sent to Hungary. Bäke's division fought as part of the Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle during the retreat through Hungary and Czechoslovakia. On April 20th, Bäke was promoted to Generalmajor and officially given command of the division. On May 8th, 1945 he surrendered to American forces. Bäke was interned for two years; he was released in 1947. He returned to Hagen and resumed his dental practice. He died in December 1978 at the age of 80 in Bochum, West Germany.

Bäke is one of the "Panzer aces", that is, highly decorated tank commanders popularised by the German author Franz Kurowski in his 1992 book Panzer Aces, along with Kurt Knispel and Michael Wittmann. In Kurowski's retelling of the operation to relieve the Cherkassy Pocket, Bäke is able to establish a corridor to the trapped German forces, after fighting unit after unit of the Red Army. Kurowski writes: "when the Soviets launched their expected attack, they were wiped out by the exhausted Panzer soldiers". In another of Kurowski's accounts, while attempting to relieve the 6th Army encircled in Stalingrad, Bäke destroys 32 enemy tanks in a single engagement. Military historian Steven Zaloga uses the term "tank ace" in quotation marks in his 2015 work Armored Champion: The Top Tanks of World War II. Zaloga points out that most of the supposed panzer aces operated the Tiger I heavy tank on the Eastern Front; having advantages both in firepower and in armor, Tiger I was "nearly invulnerable in a frontal engagement" against any of the Soviet tanks of that time. A crew operating a Tiger could thus engage its opponents from a safe distance. During World War II, Bäke participated in over 400 tank combat missions, 13 of which resulted in the destruction of his tank. He was wounded seven times in combat.

#second world war #world war 2 #military history #biography #world war ii #history #german history #tank warfare #tank ace #panzers #german engineering #wwii

[justforbooks]

Nicholas Oresko was born on January 18, 1917. He was an American combat veteran of World War II who received the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in Germany on January 23, 1945.

Oresko was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He was the descendant of Ukrainian people.

He joined the US Army in March 1942. He was sent to Europe and arrived in France in September 1944, three months after the Normandy landings. A platoon sergeant in Company C, 1st Battalion, 302nd Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division, he spent the next several months with his unit mopping up pockets of German soldiers who had been bypassed in the Allies' initial push through the northern part of France. In December 1944, the 93th Division was redeployed to replace the 90th Infantry Division as part of General Patton's Third Army. The 95th Division assumed positions opposite the Westwall and the German's 11th Panzer Division.

On January 23, 1945, near Tettingen, Germany, Master Sergeant Oresko single-handedly and under enemy fire, took out a German bunker position that was armed with a machine gun. Seriously wounded by another enemy machine gun from another bunker, he attacked that bunker under fire and destroyed that enemy position. Nine months later on October 30, 1945, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. President Harry Truman formally presented Oresko the medal during a ceremony at the White House.

Medal of Honor citation

Master Sergeant Oresko's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

M/Sgt. Oresko was a platoon leader with Company C, in an attack against strong enemy positions. Deadly automatic fire from the flanks pinned down his unit. Realizing that a machinegun in a nearby bunker must be eliminated, he swiftly worked ahead alone, braving bullets which struck about him, until close enough to throw a grenade into the German position. He rushed the bunker and, with pointblank rifle fire, killed all the hostile occupants who survived the grenade blast. Another machinegun opened up on him, knocking him down and seriously wounding him in the hip. Refusing to withdraw from the battle, he placed himself at the head of his platoon to continue the assault. As withering machinegun and rifle fire swept the area, he struck out alone in advance of his men to a second bunker. With a grenade, he crippled the dug-in machinegun defending this position and then wiped out the troops manning it with his rifle, completing his second self-imposed, 1-man attack. Although weak from loss of blood, he refused to be evacuated until assured the mission was successfully accomplished. Through quick thinking, indomitable courage, and unswerving devotion to the attack in the face of bitter resistance and while wounded, M/Sgt. Oresko killed 12 Germans, prevented a delay in the assault, and made it possible for Company C to obtain its objective with minimum casualties.

Oresko died while undergoing surgery for a broken femur on October 4, 2013. He was 96 years old.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #Nicholas Oresko #Famous Birthdays

[quotidiantimes]

US military delivers new birthday cake to Italian woman, 77 years after American soldiers stole the original

US military delivers new birthday cake to Italian woman, 77 years after American soldiers stole the original

Sgt. Peter Wallis and Col. Matthew Gomlak presented Meri Mion with an icing-covered cake topped with fresh fruit on Thursday, according to the US army’s official website. The ceremony took place ahead of Mion’s 90th birthday on April 29, and was hosted by Italian officials at Giardini Salvi, a park in the heart of Vicenza, Italy. On April 28, 1945, US troops from the 88th Infantry Division fought…

View On WordPress