USS Vixen (PG-53)-- Part 1

I have been writing about Edward Simpson, USN in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog.  He was a Civil War officer and was in the  first USNA graduating class in 1846.  He also served during the Mexican War on a ship named the USS Vixen.  You can read about that service in that blog, plus find the names of other U.S. Navy ships named the Vixen in my Cooter's History Thing blog.  Just click on the blog in my My Blogs List to the right of this.

There was also a USS Vixen (PG-53) that served during World War II.

I will be writing about it in the future.

--GreGen

Wilmington's WW II Role, By the Numbers-- Part 3: Rommel's Afrika Korps and Housing

Wilmington, North Carolina

550--  German POWs from Rommel's Afrika Korps

3,500--  Estimated number of uniformed soldiers hosted by the USO each week from 1941-1945.

5,495--  Public Housing units constructed to help deal with the population surge.

100,000--  County population by late 1943.    Three years later, it was 43,000 in peace time.

Information from Wilbur Jones

--GreGen

Wilmington's WW II Role, By the Numbers-- Part 2:

During World War II, Wilmington was known as "The Defense Capital of the State."  Today, there is a movement to declare Wilmington as a "World War II Heritage City" largely led by Wilbur D. Jones.

The city also had a huge impact on shipbuilding for the war efforts.  It also hosted USOs, five military branches, a fighter plane training area and the headquarters of a railroad company.

Here are some NUMBERS to go with the city's contributions:

2--  Congressional Medal of Honor recipients from New Hanover County:  Charles Murray and William Halyburton.  A Wilmington middle school is named for Murray and the road to it is named for Halyburton. 

In addition, two pilots from Wilmington received the Navy Cross for helping sink a Japanese carrier at the Battle of Midway.

3-- Prisoner of War camps from February 1944 to April 1946.  They were located at Shipyard Boulevard and Carolina Beach Road, then moved to Robert Strange Park (at 8th and Anne streets) and a detachment at Bluethenthal Field (now Wilmington International Airport).

191--  New Hanover County men who died in service, plus 57 with an area connection.  Three were killed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

242--  Vessels (mostly Liberty Ships) built by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company (now the State Port).  At its height the company employed 23,000 people.

--GreGen

One of South Florida's Last Pearl Harbor Survivors Dies in 2019, Edward Hammond: "I Think That Will Remain In My Blood Forever"

From the November 19,2019, Valliant News

Edward Hammond fired his first rifle at age 17 on December 7, 1941, as a Navy machinist.  He died September 15 at age 93.  His friends called him "Pearl Harbor Eddie."  There are thought to be around only 2000 Pearl Harbor survivors still alive.

He was always reluctant to talk about the war.  Hammond grew up in Cleveland and returned there after the war and moved to Florida about 35 years ago, living mostly in Deerfield Beach.  A member of American Legion posts in Deerfield and Pompano Beach, he had a close circle of friends.

As for his experience at Pearl Harbor that day, he said he had no idea what was happening and that he had never fired a rifle before, but he had that rifle and intended to defend a ball field from Japanese parachuting in.

Even to his last days, he said, "To this day, if I hear a prop (propeller) plane, I'm waiting for a bomb to go off.  I think that will remain in my blood forever."

After Pearl Harbor, he spent much of his time on an attack transport shuttling troops to places in the Pacific Theater.

Another One of the Greatest Generation.  --GreGen

Wilmington, North Carolina's Role in WW II: By the Numbers-- Part 1

From the May 16, 2020, Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News  "Wilmington facts, figures from World War II" by Owen Hassel.

Accompanied by pictures of  a German POW camp marker, WW-II era hangar at Wilmington International Airport, picture of a farm where German POWs were held and a picture of Liberty Ships being built by the N.C. Shipbuilding Company.

**  The POW Sign:  Photo of its unveiling at Robert Strange Park at 10th and Anne streets.  From October 1944 to April 1946, 550 members of Rommel's Afrika Korps were held here in the main camp.  There were also two other German POW camps in Wilmington.

**  Legislation to make Wilmington the first "America City of World War II" has languished in Congress for a decade now.

**  Wilmington International Airport was the site of an active war airport, Bluethenthal Field for anti-submarine patrols and P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft training.

**  Echo Fields dairy farm was one of the places German POWs being held in Wilmington were put to work.

--GreGen

Pre-School Nursery at NISTC Closing in DeKalb in 1945

From the May 13, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"E.A. Anderson, business manager at Northern Illinois State Teachers College, announced this morning that the pre-school nursery operated by the Federal Works Agency,  under the sponsorship of the college, will close on June 30, 1945.

"The nursery is located at the new science building  at the college. The nursery  was started to accommodate  pre-school children of mothers who are working, especially those engaged  in occupations in war plants."

Things Winding Down.  --GreGen

DeKalb's on the Battlefront?

From the May 13, 2020, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"DeKalb yesterday was characterized  as a unit on the battlefront which could be depended upon to  hold its position and advance under orders.

"The comparison was made by Major General Frank Parker, executive director of the Illinois War Council."

I've never heard of the Illinois War Council.  I imagine this was a big compliment.

What?  --GreGen

Amazing War Production in DeKalb County in 1944

From the March 13, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"Many outstanding production achievements have been recorded in DeKalb county war plants during the past few months, but most of them must go unheralded on account of the strict censorship necessities of wartime.

"However, it is revealed by the J.V. Patten Company of Sycamore, which has been known to have a war contract, that heavy production on the Boots roll top airplane engine nut is now reaching large figures.  This special type of nut, that helps make American  Airplane engines tops on the war front, are being turned out  at the Sycamore plant at a rate of a half million a month."

--GreGen

Celebrations for V-E day-- Part 3: Paris, Washington, D.C., and the Army

In Paris, which lived through four years of German occupation to become a base for Supreme Allied  Headquarters, the French government announced a two-day holiday.  France had special cause for satisfaction for having staged a comeback and earned a right to share in accepting Germany's surrender.

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In Washington, crowds gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House in anticipation  of an announcement by President Truman to proclaim V-E Day.

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A dispatch from the United States 9th Army  front said withdrawal of American troops toward a previously established line of demarcation between them and the Russians  had begun, with the first-move evacuation of the Yanks from their bridgehead of the banks of the Elbe River.    The Elbe became the temporary line between the Allied armies.

It Is Too Bad FDR Had Already Died.   This Was His Thing.  --GreGen

Celebrations for V-E Day-- Part 2: London

War-scarred London burst into jubilant celebration of the end of the war in Europe today, its millions of citizens unable to wait for the government's official V-E  Day proclamation tomorrow.

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Millions surged into the streets, from Buckingham Palace to the sedate East End.

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The Picadilly Circus, Whitehall and Westminster areas filled with a laughing, shouting throng.  Some old-timers said the scene eclipsed those of the 1918 armistice.

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Pubs were jammed, champagne was brought up from deep cellars and long-hoarded whisky and gin came out of hiding.

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The great bells of Big Ben tolled the hours of the historic day.

--GreGen

Celebrations for V-E Day-- Part 1: Rome, Capitals and Battle Front

Continuing with the previous posts.  Excerpts from AP posts this day.

The world celebrates.

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The great bells of St. Peter's Basilica  rang out over Rome shortly after  the Associated Press report that peace had come to Europe, while several Allied capitals proclaimed V-E holidays for today, and Tokyo  announced continuation of "The Sacred War."

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Many of the world's cities went wild with the news, and even neutral capitals were bedecked and full of celebrating crowds.  Masses of people gathered in front of loudspeakers and newspaper offices, which were frantically answering inquiries and rolling out extras.

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Only in the unnatural calm of the European fronts  was the news reported  to have been taken soberly,  by soldiers who had seen fighting taper off in one sector after another for the past few weeks.

--GreGen

FLASH: ALLIES OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED GERMANS SURRENDERED UNCONDITIONALLY-- Part 2

The end of the European warfare, the greatest, bloodiest,  and costliest war in human history -- it has claimed  at least 40 million casualties on both sides in killed, wounded and captured -- came after five years, eight months and  six days of strife that spread all over the globe.

Hitler's army invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939,  beginning the agony that convulsed the world for 2,319 days.

Gen. Eisenhower was not present for the signing, but immediately afterward Gen. Jodl and his fellow delegate, Gen. Adm. Hans Georg Friedeburg were received by the supreme commander.

They were asked sternly , if they understood the surrender terms imposed upon Germany, and if they would be carried out in Germany.

They answered yes.

Germany, which began the war with a ruthless attack on Poland, followed by successive aggressions and brutality in concentration camps, surrendered  with an appeal  to the victors for mercy toward the German people and armed forces.

After having signed the full surrender, Gen. Jodl said he wanted to speak (to the German people) and received leave to do so.

"With this signature, he said in soft-spoken German, "the German people and armed forces  are for better or worse delivered into the victors' hands."

"In this war, which has lasted more than five years, both have achieved and  suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world."

It's Partially Over.  --GreGen

FLASH: ALLIES OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED GERMANS SURRENDERED UNCONDITIONALLY-- Part 1

Continued from previous post.  These are excerpts for AP dispatches that day.

BULLETIN:  Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Western Allies and Russia at 2:41 a.m., French time today.

REIMS, France:  Germany surrendered to the Western Allies and the Soviet Union at 2:41 a.m. French time today.  (This was at 8:41 p.m. Eastern War Zone Time, Sunday May 6. 1945.)

The surrender took place at the little red school house that is the headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The surrender was signed for Germany by Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl.  Gen. Jodl is the new chief of staff of the German Army.

The surrender was signed for the Supreme Allied Command by Lt. Gen. Walter Beddell Smith, chief of staff for Gem. Eisenhower.  It was also signed by Gen. Ivan Susloparov of the Soviet Union and by Gen. Francois Sevez for France.

Joy at the news was tempered only be the realization that  the war against Japan remains to be resolved.

--GreGen

Germany Surrenders 75 Years Ago: End of World War II in the European Theater

From the May 6, 2020, Mesa (Az) Daily Independent  "AP was there:  Nazis surrender, ending WW II in Europe" AP.

Reims, France.

Nazi commanders signed the surrender to Allied forces in a French schoolhouse on May 7, 1945, 75 years ago.  This ended World War II and the Holocaust.

Unlike the mass celebrations 75 years ago when the news went out (it had been expected for weeks), surviving veterans and civilians back then are not celebrating this milestone (which became known as V-E Day) because of the coronavirus confinement which is of particular danger to them because of advanced age and conditions.

During the war, AP reporters and photographers put their lives on the line with five of them killed and one,  correspondent Joe Morton, who was executed by the Nazis.

On May 7, 1945, AP witnessed the Nazi surrender and was first to  announce it to the Allied public, defying  authorities who wanted to delay the momentous announcement.

However, there was still the war in the Pacific against Japan to continue.

A Great Day.  --GreGen

The Fall of Berlin and Death of Hitler

From the May 6, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1945. 75 Years Ago, as the War in Europe Was in Its Final Days.

"Hans Fritsche, Goebbel's deputy propaganda chief,  told Red Army troops who captured him that Hitler, Goebbels and General Kreb had killed themselves in the final hours of the Battle of Berlin.

"Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said all evidence at hand indicated that Hitler had died of a brain hemorrhage.  The German radio version of Hitler's death was that he 'fell' a hero  directing the defense of Berlin."

Either Way, Hitler Was Gone.  --GreGen

Why's That Plane Flying So Low?

From the May 6, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back.

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"An unidentified Army plane flew over Sycamore Tuesday afternoon and frightened  several people in the residential section because of his low altitude.

"The young man seemed to be master of his ship and flew at a  terrific speed  while low, causing persons to'duck' as he passed."

Maybe a left-over TDR-1?

Barnstorming at Home.  --GreGen

Interstate TDR-1 Drones-- Part 4: Testing and the Yamasuki Maru

The code name for the project was Operation Option and the U.S. Navy had plans for up to eighteen squadrons of the drones with 162 Grummans TBF Avengers as control aircraft and  1000 flying TDR-1 drones.

However, there were technical difficulties with their operation and unfortunately, low priority given to the project.  The contract was modified and the order reduced to just 300 of the aircraft.  A single TDR-1 was tested  bu the U.S. Army Air Force as the XBQ-4, however no extra production orders were received.

In 1944, under control of the Special Air Task Force (SATFOR), the TDR-1 was deployed operationally in the Pacific for operations against the Japanese.  Additional testing was done by SATFOR in July, complete with a strike against a previously beached Japanese freighter named the Yumasuki Maru  (Yamasuki Maru), including management of the flight from seven miles away by TBM Avenger aircraft, which could monitor the progress from the TDR's  via early television technology.

--GreGen

Interstate TDR-1 Delivery on the USS Marcus Island (CVE-77)

Photos of the TDR-1 drones accompany the Wikipedia article so you can get an idea what they looked like.  I found the most interesting one of the escort carrier USS Marcus Island (CVE) with a deck load of the TDR-1s and possibly some TBMs for drone control.

The caption reads:  The U.S. Navy Escort Carrier Marcus Island (CVE-77) in a South Pacific port 17 June 1944.  The airplanes parked on her flight deck from amidships to her stern appear to be  Interstate TDR-1 assault drones.

She is probably delivering elements of Special Task Force Group One (STAG-1), which employed TDR-1s in Solomons area operations during September and October  1944.

Other planes aboard appear to be TBMs (which might have actually been Grumman TDF Avengers which were the originally designated control planes), which were used for drone control.The ship is painted in Camouflage Measure 32,  Design 15A.

That Was One Packed Deck.  --GreGen

Interstate TDR-1-- Part 3: Why DeKalb Was Selected for the Drones

In September 1942, the U.S. Navy selected DeKalb, Illinois, to be the site for the manufacture of the DR-1 drones and they were to be built at an airport on the city's east side.  The site was selected because there was already an airport there with an airfield and a large hangar which already had a fence around it and was guarded around the clock (as a war measure).

Plus, the Wurlitzer Company, maker of pianos, was known for its expertise with wooden products and was already located in DeKalb.

So the parts were made at the Wurlitzer plant, then assembled by Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corporation, based in El Segundo, California, at the airport.

About 200 drones were built and tested at the DeKalb airport and then boxed up and shipped to the South Pacific where they were assembled and used against the enemy after some more testing to see their effectiveness.

Top Secret DeKalb.  --GreGen

The Interstate TDR-1-- Part 2: Frame by Schwinn, Tricycle Landing Gear

Control of the TDR either came from a control aircraft, usually a Grumman TBF Avenger, with the operator viewing a TV screen showing the view from a camera mounted in the nose of the drone along with a radar altimeter's readout.

Or, the aircraft could be piloted by a human on board for test flights.

The TDR-1 had a remarkably simple design, with a steel tube frame constructed by the Schwinn bicycle company covered with a molded wood frame..  This was important because it didn't use much in the way of strategic materials so it didn't impede the construction of higher priority aircraft.

As before mentioned, the TDR-1 had the option of having a human pilot for test flights, there was a cockpit area.  In addition, the drone had a fixed tricycle landing gear that could be jettisoned during during operation after takeoff for improved performance.

Fly Me to the Target.  --GreGen