Category: Heritage

Lest We Forget: The Pacific War

Image result for pics of poppiesLest We Forget…………………………………………………….Never!

Again: For our American Friends and Allies

The Pacific War: For this page, primarily Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan (Wikipedia)

Guadalcanal

The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.

The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms Allied victory in the Pacific theater. Along with the Battle of Midway, it has been called a turning point in the war against Japan.[10] The Japanese had reached the peak of their conquests in the Pacific. The victories at Milne Bay, Buna-Gona, and Guadalcanal marked the Allied transition from defensive operations to the strategic initiative in the theater, leading to offensive operations such as the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that eventually resulted in Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II

Tarawa: The Front Door to the Japanese mainland:

Image result for Pics of Tarawa\

The Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that was fought on 20–23 November 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts.[3] Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.[4]

The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing.[5] Previous landings had met little or no initial resistance,[6][N 1] but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. had suffered similar casualties throughout the duration of other previous campaigns, for example over the six months of the Guadalcanal Campaign, but the losses on Tarawa were incurred within the space of 76 hours.

Saipan: An Island of Tears

Image result for Pics of the battle of SaipanThe Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was launched. The U.S. 2nd Marine Division, 4th Marine Division, and the Army’s 27th Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Holland Smith, defeated the 43rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito.

1,000 Japanese civilians committed suicide in the last days of the battle by fears such as American mutilation of Japanese war dead. Some Japanese people living beside the cliff jumped from places which were later named Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff. These would become part of the National Historic Landmark District as Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isley Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island, designated in 1985. Today the sites are a memorial and Japanese people visit to console the victims’ souls.

There were other: Iwo Jima, Okinawa (Ryukus) but I thought these three lesser known battles would represent the US Military sacrifices during the Pacific War.

Of course the Marines could go nowhere without the US Navy:

Image result for pics of us battleships in the Pacific War

Finally, one song I truly love – even if I am a Canadian.

Thanks!

Check out my books by clicking on the links at the top of the page. Monk’s Orchard is my latest. Here is just one review:

“I have just finished reading this novel by John Morrison. Like his other books, this was an impressive and enjoyable read.In this book, the author chooses a theme so different from his first novel. This alone is impressive ;that he can range to themes so vastly different. His character development is again strong and the great amount of historical research that he has done is evident. Using a narrator to span the generations is an interesting and effective literary device. Let us hope that Mr.Morrison has more equally interesting novels in store for us.”

 

SJ……………………………………………….Out

Lest We Forget: The Great Escape

Image result for pics of poppiesLest We Forget………………………………Never

 

From the Royal Canadian Air Force Web Site:

You may have heard of the Great Escape. You may have seen the 1963 Hollywood movie starring Steve McQueen as a United States Air Force officer named Virgil Hilts – the “Cooler King”. And if you’ve seen the movie, you may think that the story is a British and American story.
But it’s not. It’s a British and Canadian story. There were no Americans in the North Compound at Stalag Luft III near Sagan (now Zagan), Poland, when the mass breakout occurred. Rather, most of the officers in the compound were members of the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). Others hailed from nations such as Greece, Norway, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium and France.

The idea to build tunnels to break out of Stalag Luft III was conceived by RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell in the spring of 1943. One of his most important co-conspirators was RCAF Flying Officer Wally Floody from Chatham, Ontario, who has become known as the architect of the Great Escape.

Flying Officer Floody worked in the mining industry at Kirkland Lake, Ontario, which gave him the expertise he needed in the prison camp to survey, design and engineer the tunnels. According to his obituary, his role in the project was so highly valued that the camp’s leaders forbade him to join an earlier escape attempt with a delousing party.

“We need you for the tunnels,” he was told.

Shortly before the breakout, he was moved to a nearby camp – Beria – along with several other key figures on the escape committee. The German guards had become suspicious, but they didn’t find “Harry”. Flight Lieutenant Floody thus survived the war; he gave evidence at the Nuremberg Trials, founded the Royal Canadian Air Force Prisoners of War Association and later became an advisor on the film set of “The Great Escape”. King George VI also made him an officer of the Order of the British Empire for his “courage and devotion to duty”.

THE ESCAPERS

Home Run
Sergeant Per Bergsland, RAF (Norwegian)
Second Lieutenant Jens Müller, RAF (Norwegian)
Flight Lieutenant Bram “Bob” van der Stok, RAF (Dutch)

Executed

Flying Officer Henry “Hank” Birkland, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Edward Gordon Brettell, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Leslie George “Johnny” Bull, RAF
Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Michael James Casey, RAF
Squadron Leader James Catanach, RAAF
Flight Lieutenant Arnold George Christensen, RNZAF
Flying Officer Dennis Herbert Cochran, RAF
Squadron Leader Ian Kingston Pembroke Cross, RAF
Sergeant Haldor Espelid, Royal Norwegian Air Force
Flight Lieutenant Brian Herbert Evans, RAF
Lieutenant Nils Fuglesang, Royal Norwegian Air Force
Lieutenant Johannes Gouws, SAAF
Flight Lieutenant William Jack Grisman, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Alistair Donald Mackintosh Gunn, RAF
Warrant Officer Albert Horace Hake, RAAF
Flight Lieutenant Charles Piers Hall, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Anthony Ross Henzell Hayter, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Edgar Spottiswoode Humphreys, RAF
Flying Officer Gordon Arthur Kidder, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Reginald “Rusty” Kierath RAAF
Flight Lieutenant Antoni Kiewnarski, RAF (Polish)
Squadron Leader Thomas Gresham Kirby-Green, RAF
Flying Officer Wlodzimierz A Kolanowski, PAF (Polish)
Flying Officer Stanislaw Z. “Danny” Krol, RAF (Polish)
Flight Lieutenant Patrick Wilson Langford, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Barker Leigh, RAF
Flight Lieutenant James Leslie Robert “Cookie” Long, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Romas “René” Marcinkus, RAF
Lieutenant Clement Aldwyn Neville McGarr, SAAF
Flight Lieutenant George Edward McGill, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Harold John Milford, RAF
Flying Officer Jerzy T. Mondschein, RAF (Polish)
Flying Officer Kazimierz Pawluk, RAF (Polish)
Flying Officer Porokoru Patapu “Johnny” Pohe, RNZAF
Pilot Officer Sotiris “Nick” Skanzikas, Royal Hellenic Air Force (Greek)
Lieutenant Rupert J. Stevens, SAAF
Flying Officer Robert Campbell Stewart, RAF
Flying Officer John Gifford Stower, RAF
Flying Officer Denys Oliver Street, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Cyril Douglas Swain, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Henri Albert Picard, RAF (Belgian)
Lieutenant Bernard W. M. Scheidhauer, Free French Air Force
Flying Officer Pawel “Peter” Tobolski, Polish Air Force (Polish)
Flight Lieutenant Arnost “Wally” Valenta, RAF (Czechoslovakian)
Flight Lieutenant Gilbert William “Tim” Walenn, RAF
Flight Lieutenant James Chrystall Wernham, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant George William Wiley, RCAF
Squadron Leader John Edwin Ashley Williams, RAAF
Flight Lieutenant John Francis Williams, RAF

Returned to Stalag Luft III

Flight Lieutenant R. Anthony Bethell, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Bill Cameron, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Richard S. A. “Dick” Churchill, RAF
Wing Commander Harry Melville Arbuthnot “Wings” Day, RAF
Major Johnnie Dodge, British Army
Flight Lieutenant Sydney Dowse, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Bedrich “Freddie” Dvorak, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Bernard “Pop” Green, RAF
Pilot Officer Bertram “Jimmy” James, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Roy B. Langlois RAF
Flight Lieutenant H. C. “Johnny” Marshall, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Alistair T. McDonald, RAF
Lieutenant Alastair D. Neely, Royal Navy
Flight Lieutenant T.R. Nelson, RAF
Flight Lieutenant A. Keith Ogilvie, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Desmond Lancelot Plunkett, RAF
Lieutenant Douglas A. Poynter, Royal Navy
Pilot Officer Paul G. Royle, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Michael Shand, RAF (the last to emerge from “Harry”)
Flight Lieutenant Alfred B. Thompson, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Ivo P. Tonder, RAF
Squadron Leader Leonard Henry Trent, RNZAF
Flight Lieutenant Raymond L. N. van Wymeersch, RAF (French)

With files from Sara Keddy, editor of The Aurora newspaper, 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia. Recommended reading: The Great Escape: A Canadian Story by Ted Barris

 

 

SJ…………………………………….Out

Happy 4th of July

Happy fourth of July to all of my American friends. The greatest country in the world. Defender of our peace.

See the source image

America and Americans really know how to do things right.

https://youtu.be/URbYAaAK9OQ

Without America the light of our world would surely diminish. God bless you.

Through two world wars, your valour and your sacrifice have not gone unnoticed. We do appreciate you.

Sad and tragic but the Union stood firm and came through…stronger and free.

And finally:

Beautiful land, beautiful people, beautiful spirit.

America? Thank you for being there.

Have a great 4th of July.

 

SJ……………………………..Out

 

 

Hypocrisy

Damn, late again. Busy last night, so stayed at a friend’s place. Normally I try to get these posts out by 8 am, Monday to Friday. No posts on the weekend. I am normally up at 6 am. Yes 6 am. For those of us old farts who remember the good ole days of sleepin in till 12 or 1 o’clock, well those days are long gone. the toilet always beckons.

I couldn’t sleep in past 6 am even if I tried. And, when you get to our age you no longer need an alarm clock. The bladder does that very well for us, thank you very much.

Oops, gotta take a pee before I can start this today.

Driving home I listened to KISS FM out of Bellingham Washington, USA. They have a segment called the Knucklehead Awards. The winner today was somewhat interesting. Along the lines of Mr Kraft. Y’know that Boston rich guy who got caught up in a brothel sting but denied any wrong doing saying he was only recruiting for the New England Patriots Cheerleading squad.

See the source imageYeah right Mr Kraft. And I have a Heinz pickle for you too.

See the source image

Speaking of being in a pickle, the mayor of Sandwich Illinois got himself into a real pickle yesterday. Seems Mr Dick Jones (I can’t make this up), the Lord Mayor of Sandwich Illinois, got himself caught up in a prostitution sting with three prostitutes. A foursome. That was some sandwich Dick. Three prostitutes? Must have been a clubhouse. It sure as hell wasn’t a Kraft grilled cheeze sandwich that’s for sure. Oh, Dick, he won today’s Knucklehead Award.

A poll that the CBC will never report on nor will the Liberals ever accept. This, in light of the government’s latest announcement of a climate crisis in Canada:

Are you more or less in favour of the federal carbon tax than you were when it was first introduced?

More
149 (11 %)
Less
921 (68 %)
Opinion has stayed the same
286 (21 %)

Total number of votes: 1356

The only crisis in Canada right now is one of confidence. Confidence in our leadership, especially at the Federal level and this Liberal Government under Justin Trudeau.

It is an old trick. The UN has been using it for years. Create a crisis – in this case the climate – then propose the solution. In the UN’s case the solution is for “One World Government,” under the UN of course, while for Canada it is for higher taxes and more revenue streams. If you think a 4 cents a litre tax is going to solve the so called climate crisis, then there is a ex planet waiting for you to inhabit: Pluto:

See the source imageNot that Pluto, this one:See the source imageSpeaking of leadership, the entire House of Commons unanimously apologized for the injustice that Admiral Normal had to endure – falsely as it turner out. I say unanimously and it was except for 2 absentees: Our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and his Defence Minister. Rajit Say-It Again-Sam. October cannot come soon enough.

Identity politics gone amuk. Political correctness madness. The latest? In BC of course. The removal of the statue of colonial judge, Matthew Baillie Begbie for his role in enforcing the Rule of Law with the hangin in 1866 of 6 Indigenous Chiefs – who were found guilty of their crime.

That being the case I would now expect the removal of all instances of remembrance and commemoration of the following:

Sir James Douglas – founder of Victoria and Begbie’s boss. An avowed racist by today’s standards;

Captain James Cook – statue on the causeway. That bastard of British imperialism and colonialism

Finlayson – he once fired a cannon into a Songhees Village in Esquimalt, where the Delta Pacific, Ocean Point Resort Hotel now stands;

John Helmcken – who accompanied Begbie to the Indian trial and is as culpable as he was with those hangings;

Jesper Pemberton – Racist

Blanshard – that British rogue and symbol of those dastardly colonial Brits under Queen Victoria.

John Todd,

Bishop Cridge; and

Reverend Staines

All racists!

Oh, and they might as well change the name of the City of Victoria to one that reflects that city’s true roots – Camosun.

If the Victoria Council and the Provincial Government allow Begbie’s statue to come down, and they do not address the commemoration of these other racist pioneers – in street, place names and statues- then they are hypocrites of the highest order. You cannot pick and choose your racists.

Here is something the Greens would never admit to:

She is nuts but the video is very progressive and interestingly positive about our energy future.

Yes we are:

have a great Navy day.

 

SJ……….…………………………….Out

Brothers in Arms

Doris Day passed away yesterday.

Slide 1 of 14: Doris Day was born on April 3, 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio as Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff. She looks pretty good for 97!                        Just kidding. America’s sweetheart. All us Boomers grew up with her. And Rock Hudson.

Weird Headlines but all true. Italics are mine.

Journalism is Dead – Long Live the Media…say what?

Diversity and the Welfare State – they go hand out hand don’t they?

I see dead people…and CO2

No way Greta…I do…I was first…so there. 

So shut down our economy EU….er Mommy? What’s an economy? Dead people?…you could say that honey.

China’s Latest Crackdown Target are Liberal Economists…you know dead people?

CNN wonders if Trumps July 4th speech will call for violence…against CNN.

Conservative Paul Joseph Watson is banned from Facebook…that beacon of free speech and liberty. Good riddance…er Facebook, not Watson.

Experv…er expert Psychologist Blocked on Twitter for Expressing Clinical Opinion on Transgenderism. LGBTQRSTUVWXYZ community is all in a twitter and a tizzy over this one. Truth hurts you know. 

Conservative Student Expelled from Berkeley for Using Hate Phrase “I Disagree.” Liberal student welcomed with open arms for his counterpunch: “I agree.” Ooo, the state of our Univershities today.

Whatever Happened To Obamacare?…who cares?

Schiff: Biden Ukraine Scandal Should Be Off Limits…those cabbage rolls were nasty!

“If I Had The Fire-Power” To Ban Guns “I Would”…

AOC: Don’t Let Rich Capitalists Deny You A Living Wage Or That $7.95 Iced Coffee. Capitalist bastards. They should have added a “joint” to that latte. Capitalist oppression!

Administration to Crack Down on Illegals in Public Housing – Only Families where ALL MEMBERS of the family are illegal will Qualify.

Trump doesn’t understand economics. Democrats do. They love “trickle up” economics where all of your hard earned money ends “up” in their pockets.

Following Venezuela’s lead, Cuba launches widespread rationing in face of crisis. Where Canada may be going as well. Especially with those fossil fools.

A little Mongo humour, an interlude from these whacko headlines.

Back

Speaking of Cuba, and Venezuela:

“Given that the anthropogenic climate change and resource footprint accusations against livestock agriculture do not hold water, what’s really behind the plant-based diet agenda?
 
Well, the empirical evidence suggests it is the advancement of plant-based diets for all.
 
Indeed, the plant-based and alternative protein movement is about more than industry disruption. It’s an ideology, one hell-bent on replacing traditional food with a utopian “food” solution – it’s political as much as it is commercial…and the U.N is behind this. Time to get our of this organization.

Guess who’s coming to dinner…and…Where’s the beef?

Only in Canada….shitty:

Liberal government of Canada recognizes Canada’s European liberation contribution during the 2nd World War… May 8 VE Day.

Check out those Canadian uniforms. Although given our government’s support of our military and their handling of the Admiral Norman affair, it comes as no surprise to me. Embarrassing.

October cannot come soon enough.

Have a great day.

 

SJ……….………..Out