Category Archives: man card

Tea, Rope, and Tommy Guns

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80 years ago this morning:

Men from British Army’s No. 9 Commando “having a cuppa” on the morning following a raid on the night of 29/30 December near the Garigliano river in Italy as part of Operation Partridge, a diversionary attack behind Jerry’s lines to cover the withdrawal of the X Corps. They marched back 29 gagged and bagged German POWs for intel purposes but sadly lost nine of their own.

Image by SGT Mott – No 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit, via the Imperial War Museums, Catalog IWM NA 10449

Note the array of weapons carried by the cap comforter-clad and ash-faced Commandos including M1928 Thompsons, the standard No. 4 Enfield .303.

Several other images exist in the IWM of No. 9’s special ops crews from the same period.

Note the M1911A1

THE BRITISH ARMY IN ITALY 1944 (NA 12469) A member of No. 9 Commando at Anzio, equipped for a patrol with his Bren gun, 5 March 1944. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205204525

Note the toggle rope arrangement, a classic bit of Commando kit from WWII

The Toggle rope was (supposedly) very useful

As noted by the Commando Veterans organization about Operation Partridge, both the rope and the unit’s bagpipes played a tactical role in the fighting:

On the 29th Dec. operation “Partridge” took place. It started very badly, as the Navy landed the Commando 95 mins too late and 1000x away from the correct beach. Thus daylight found the Commando still on the enemy side of the river. At the mouth of the river the main body of the unit returned by DUKWs, but 4 and 6 Tps had to cross the river 2,700 yards up from the mouth by swimming and use of ropes. This they successfully achieved, bringing back their casualties. The bagpipes were very effectively used on this operation. When HQ had established itself at the mouth of the river most of the personnel made no attempt to dig themselves in. After one Jerry stonk, the C.O. says they dug so fast, he literally saw them sink into the ground.

Formed originally as the 2nd Special Service Battalion by amalgamating No. 6 and No. 7 Independent Companies in the scary Autumn of 1940 when Britain stood alone against Mr. Hitler, they were soon redesignated No. 9 Commando.

After raids along the coasts of occupied France (Operations Sunstar and Chariot), raids in the Med against the Italian islands of Tremiti and Pianosa, and the invasions of Italy as shown above, they took a vacation in occupied Greece then returned to “The Boot” for Operation Roast in 1945.

Disbanded in 1946, the Army Commando unit carries the name of no less than 102 men lost during the war on its Rolls of Honor. 

Coasties Swatting Vals on the Cape

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As a follow-up to our coverage of the 80th passing of the Cape Gloucester operations that saw the 1st Marine Division hit the beaches on the day after Chrismas 1943, we touched on the fact that a lot of the Gators used in the op were Coast Guard-manned.

In fact, as detailed by the Foundation for Coast Guard History:

Landings at Cape Gloucester were conducted by Coast Guard-manned LSTs 18, 22, 66, 67, 68, 168, 202, 204, and 206.

LST-22 shot down a Japanese “Val” dive bomber while LST-66 was officially credited with downing three enemy aircraft. Two of her crew were killed by near misses. LST-67 brought down one Japanese dive bomber while LST-204 shot down two and the gunners aboard LST-68 claimed another. LST-202 claimed three enemy planes shot down.

USS LST-66 gunners shot down three Japanese bombers in the battle off Cape Gloucester, New Britain on 25-27 December 1943 and they are justly proud of their marksmanship. They call their LST the “Little Joe,” in honor of a Coast Guard shipmate who was killed in that battle. Left to right; S1/c Cleo Kidd, Perkins, Oklahoma, RM2/c Kenneth Gundling, West New York, N.J. MMoM2/c Julio Pascuito, Hyde Park, Mass., and F1/c John Langston Newport, Arkansas. (US National Archives Identifier 205584225, Local Identifier 26-G-2108, US Coast Guard photo # 2108 by Coast Guard Photographer Halscher.)

Aboard USS LST-66 Coast Guardsman Rudolph Broker, coxswain, examines the hole pierced in an armored gun shield by a Japanese bomb fragment during an air attack, 25-27 December 1943 off Cape Gloucester, New Britain. The fragment wounded Broeker slightly, but he stuck to his gun post and helped knock out one of the attacking Japanese bombers. Two others were bagged by the Coast Guard gunners. Twice attacked by enemy aircraft, four near misses caused minor damage, with two killed and seven wounded. The ship’s gunners shot down three enemy aircraft. (US National Archives LST-66 War Diary, Identifier 78270636, Local Identifier 26-G-2112, US Coast Guard photo 2112 by Coast Guard photographer Halscher.)

During WWII, the Coast Guard lost 1,918 men— 574 in combat– while under Navy service before they were returned to the Treasury Department on 1 January 1946.

Getting Muddy with the ‘Bees

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One of the best “events” I ever attended in Las Vegas was a talk given by Mike Rowe several years ago during the SHOT Show. To be sure, it was a very red-blooded crowd (Lt. Col. Oliver North was like five seats away from me), but Mr. Rowe delivered a lot of common sense akin to a modern Mark Twain.

On a recent “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” episode, Rowe was in my neck of the woods and visited the Navy Seabees while they were in a Field Ex in the mud at Camp Shelby. It’s entertaining if you have 25 minutes to spare.

82nd Commemoration…

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The destroyer tender USS Dobbin (AD-3) was at Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941. Her crew sprang to action and, in addition to her own armament, broke out four spare .50 caliber machine guns and 13 spare .30 caliber Lewis guns from her stores and quickly got them into action.

Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. View taken around 0926 hrs. in the morning of 7 December, from an automobile on the road in the Aiea area, looking about WSW with destroyer moorings closest to the camera. In the center of the photograph are: USS Dobbin (AD-3), with destroyers Hull (DD-350), Dewey (DD-349), Worden (DD-352) and MacDonough (DD-351) alongside. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-33045

One bluejacket aboard that day was 21-year-old Musician’s Mate Ira “Ike” Schab, and the Pearl Harbor survivor– who helped load Dobbin’s machine guns that morning while watching USS Utah collapse– is one of the dwindling few veterans from the attack.

He is one of just six Pearl Harbor vets who have been attending the services along Battleship Row and elsewhere this week.

Pearl Harbor survivor Ira Schab, now 103, is the last survivor from Navy Band “Lucky” 13 and, appropriately, was welcomed to Hawaii by the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band this week

Schab left the Navy in 1947 and always regretted never making Band Master, something the Navy fixed a few years back.

Never forget.

Vampire over Ocean

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Talk about old-school cool.

How about this full-page ad from the 1946 edition of Jane’s in my collection? Taken out by the De Havilland company, it shows one of its new Sea Vampire jets– LZ551G– over the recently-completed RN Colossus-class aircraft carrier, HMS Ocean (R68).

As we have covered in the past, it was on 3 December 1945, when an early model Sea Vampire flown by LCDR Eric “Winkle” Brown made the first ever carrier landing of a purely jet-powered aircraft when he touched down on HMS Ocean, then soon after completed the first take off. It is the same one in the above ad. 

De Havilland Sea Vampire Mk.10 LZ551G catches the arresting wire aboard HMS Ocean, on 3 December 1945.

Ocean, which served in the Korean War as a traditional flattop and in the Suez Crisis as a helicopter platform, was scrapped in 1962.

Meanwhile, Capt. Eric Melrose “Winkle” Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, retired from the RN in 1970 capping a 31-year career during which he flew 487 types of aircraft. Brown passed in 2016, aged 96.

But he did get to see his old De Havilland again. 

Captain Eric M. Brown with the De Havilland DH.100 Sea Vampire Mk.10, LZ551, at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, Somerset, England. (Nigel Cheffers-Heard, Fleet Air Arm Museum)

Big O

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Some 80 years ago today, on Armistice Day, now Veterans’ Day, we see the svelte 26-year-old fighter pilot that is Major Robert Gordon Owens Jr. of the “Fighting Corsairs” of Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 215, on Vella La Vella, 11 November 1943. Note his M1911 in a shoulder holster along with spare mags and a Ka-Bar on his webbelt.

USMC Photo by Sgt. D. Q. White, U.S. Marine Corps 021206-M-3031H-101

USMC Photo by Sgt. D. Q. White, U.S. Marine Corps, 021206-M-3031H-101

The squadron, formed as Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 244 (VMSB-244) in March 1942, by September had been redesignated as VMSB-242 and then hung up its SBDs in favor of F4F Wildcats to become VMF-215. Then, by the time they made it to MCAS Ewa in Hawaii in February 1943, they transitioned to the gull-winged F4U Corsair and, on 14 August, landed the first Allied plane at the newly captured Munda airfield in the Solomons where they immediately began operating to cover the landings on nearby Vella Lavella– where they set up shop in November.

It was Maj. Ownes that made the inaugural Munda flight.

The first fighter plane to land on Munda Point airfield in New Georgia after its capture by Allied forces was a VMF-215 Corsair flown by Maj Robert G. Owens, Jr., on 14 August 1943. Flight operations began immediately to cover the Vella Lavella landings.

By the end of the war, VMF-215 was credited with shooting down 137 enemy aircraft, the fourth most in Marine Corps aviation history, and counted 10 aces in its wardroom– including Owens who had 7 kills and another 5 probable.

Original caption: Decoration of Marine Flyers in the South Pacific is often as informal as pictured here. These fighter pilots, at the end of a day’s flights against the enemy, line up by a revetment to be decorated by their skipper. In the background is a Corsair fighter plane. Photo shows, left to right: 1st Lt. Robert E. Clark reading citations, Major Robert G. Owens Jr., Major James L. Neefus, LtCol. Herbert H. Williamson, 1stLt. Lincoln F. Deetz, (Gold Star), 1st Lt. Bennie P. O’Dell (Air Medal), 1st Lt. David R. Moak (Air Medal), Capt. Don Aldrich (Purple Heart), 1stLt. Drury E. McCall (Air Medal), 1st Lt. Robert M. Hanson (Air Medal), 1st Lt. Thomas M. Tomlinson (Air Medal), 1st Lt. Otto K. Williams (Air Medal), and 1st Lt. Grafton S. Stidger (Purple Heart).

VMF-215 had probably the best insignia of any Corsair squadron.

Reformed after the war to fly jets, VMF-215 flew F9Fs, F4Ds, and, finally, the F-8 Crusader, before they were disestablished for the final time in 1970.

As for Owens, “Big O” picked up the Navy Cross, five awards of Distinguished Flying Cross, eleven Air Medals, and a Purple Heart for the wounds he received when shot down by Japanese flak over Rabaul. He went on to be a career Devil, commanding the 3rd and later the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing during Vietnam, and retired in 1972 as a major general after 33 years of active service. He has a fantastic oral history online in the Library of Congress. 

MG Owens passed in 2007, aged 90, and is buried in Arlington.

The Lousy Lousy Lounge: Happy Birthday, Devils

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80 years ago this month. Tarawa, November 1943. Japanese RADM Keiji Shibasaki proclaimed, “A million men cannot take Tarawa in 100 years.”

The Second Marine Division did it in four days. 

Official caption: “Home is Where You Find It-The fighting qualities of the Marines is well known but their sense of humor is running a good second. Their humor coupled with their adaptability to make the best of an impossible situation is demonstrated by these two Marines on Tarawa who have named their dugout ‘The Lousy Lousy Lounge.'”

From the Julian C. Smith Collection (COLL/202), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH

Happy 248th, Marines.

Lady Lex Pow Wow

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Some 80 years ago this month, aboard the Essex-class fleet carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) in the Pacific: A great period Kodachrome of The “Fighting Airedales” of Fighting Squadron Sixteen (VF-16)’s Commanding Officer, LCDR Paul Douglas Buie (USNA ’33), (center) briefing his pilots for an upcoming mission, during the Gilberts operation, November 1943.

Photographed by Commander Edward Steichen, USNR. Official U.S. Navy Photograph 80-G-K-16053, now in the collections of the National Archives.

The above are (l-r): ENS WM. J. Seyfferle, LT(JG) A. R. Fizalkowski, LT(JG) A. L. Frendberg, LCDR (future RADM) Paul D. Buie (Commanding Officer), ENS John W. Bartol, LT(JG) Dean D. Whitmore, LT(JG) Francis M. Fleming, LT(JG) WM. C. B. Birkholm, LT(JG) Sven Rolfsen, Jr. plus two others not named in the group to the right of LCDR Buie. A F6F-3 Hellcat fighter is behind them. Note flight gear, markings on helmets, and life vests. The pilot at left wears an M1911 .45 caliber pistol on his belt in a leather flap holster just in case he was to become a member of “The Walking Club.”

The fifth warship (and second WWII flattop) to carry the name, Lady Lex had originally been laid down in July 1941 by Bethlehem Steel in Quincy in July 1941 while America was at an uneasy peace, with the intention she would be named USS Cabot. Instead, on 16 June 1942, just days after CV-2 was lost at the Battle of the Coral Sea, she picked up the mantle and was commissioned on 17 February 1943.

Her inaugural airwing would be Carrier Air Group 16, which had only been established on 16 November 1942 with all-new squadrons (VF-16, VT-16, VB-16, and VS-16). CAG-16 would remain with Lex until July 1945 and would earn their keep in November 1943.

As noted by DANFS:

After Caribbean shakedown and yard work at Boston, Lexington sailed for Pacific action via the Panama Canal, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 9 August 1943. She raided Tarawa in late September and Wake in October, then returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the Gilbert Islands operation. From 19 to 24 November, she made searches and flew sorties in the Marshalls, covering the landings in the Gilberts. Her aviators downed 29 enemy aircraft on 23 and 24 November.

A U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat from Fighting Squadron VF-16, Carrier Air Group 16, goes down deck for take-off of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) during the Gilbert Islands campaign. Photographed by Commander Edward Steichen (U.S. Navy photo 80-G-471179)

Pilots of VF-16 celebrate after shooting down 17 Japanese aircraft in the Marshalls & Gilberts area on 23 November 1943. They are (l-r): Ensign WM. J. Seyfferle, Lieutenant Junior Grade A. R. Fizalkowski, Lieutenant Junior Grade A. L. Frendberg, Lieutenant Commander Paul D. Buie (Commanding Officer), Ensign John W. Bartol, Lieutenant Junior Grade Dean D. Whitmore, Lieutenant Junior Francis M. Fleming, Lieutenant Junior Grade WM. C. B. Birkholm, Lieutenant Junior Grade Sven Rolfsen, Jr. plus two others not named in the group to the right of Lieutenant Commander Buie. Planes are F6F-3s. Photographed by Commander Edward Steichen, USNR. 80-G-44598

Lexington received the Presidential Unit Citation and 11 battle stars for World War II service, served off Cuba during the Missile Crisis with CVG-3 aboard then, at the end of 1963, tapped out sistership USS Antietam (CV/CVS/AVT-36) as the aviation training carrier at Pensacola, a task she would keep up for the rest of the Cold War, remaining the last of her class on active duty– and the final wooden decked carrier in the U.S. Navy.

She logged more than 493,000 arrested landings between 1943 and 1991.

Navy photograph of USS Lexington (AVT-16) at Pensacola December 1991 before towing to Corpus

She is preserved in Corpus Christi, where she has rested since 1992, outliving CAG/CVW-16 by two decades and VF-16 by four.

Get that Christmas Tree permit

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Rather than support “Big Tree” this year just spend $15 and go harvest your own on public land– helping the forest in the process.

Via the USDA:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is selling Christmas Tree permits through Recreation.gov, which makes it more convenient for visitors to find and purchase permits to cut holiday trees from their favorite national forest. Permits will be available beginning on October 12, and sale dates may vary by national forest.

“Venturing into a local national forest to find that special tree is an experience that creates treasured family memories and stories,” said USDA Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “It is through these experiences that people establish important connections to the forest that can lead to a lifetime of adventures and instill a commitment to stewardship.”

Marcina B. expressed their gratitude when visiting the Tahoe National Forest in California: “Our family loves getting Christmas tree permits and cutting down our own tree. Thank you for making this possible and allowing me and my family some unforgettable memories.”

Recreation.gov makes it easy to purchase a permit. “Visitor feedback has been extremely positive,” said Rick DeLappe, Recreation.gov Program Manager. “Of the nearly 1,200 ratings submitted by those who purchased permits on Recreation.gov during the 2022 season, 90 percent gave 4 or 5-stars ratings of their experience.”

Instead of visiting a Forest Service office in person, visitors can go to Recreation.gov and search for their local national forest. Once on Recreation.gov, national forests provide important details, like cutting area maps, types of trees to cut and important planning tips on their respective permit pages.

“It is important to remember that visitors will need to print the permit and display it on the dash of their vehicle on the day of their visit to cut their trees,” said DeLappe. Also keep in mind that many national forests may continue to sell permits in person or through local vendors.

Fourth graders with an Every Kid Outdoors pass are eligible for a free Christmas tree permit and can apply by entering the pass or voucher number when purchasing a permit. Kids of all ages can download, color, and decorate their tree with this Christmas tree ornament coloring page for a fun, handmade addition to their tree.

Cutting a Christmas tree improves forest health. The permit system helps to thin densely populated stands of small-diameter trees. Local forest health experts identify areas that benefit from thinning trees and tend to be the perfect size for Christmas trees. Removing these trees in designated areas helps other trees grow larger and can open areas that provide food for wildlife.

Online Resources:

Of course, all this reminds me of Clark’s tree. 

One of our own needs a boost

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Chase Welch, a 0311 Marine with two combat tours in Afghanistan and an all-around good guy who was once a lowly Guns.com writer long ago left GDC for a bigger and better deal over at EoTech where he makes great content.

Observe:

Then comes the bad stuff.

He and his wife were recently in a serious car accident and, after a fight, came through but can use a hand.

I don’t normally ask for things, but if you can, please think about it.

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