Picture of the day

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Francis_Edwards

Very cool, RR - thanks for that. I had no idea about Mr. Edwards.

Here are a couple of lads on leave in Berlin, enjoying the sights:

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^ There is small fortune in awards and boxes on the steps. Somebody really has to invent a time machine, one that can hold a sea can or two.
 
Very cool, RR - thanks for that. I had no idea about Mr. Edwards.

Here are a couple of lads on leave in Berlin, enjoying the sights:

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The big bronze "Reichskanzlei" sign in the background is probably in some Russian museum.

Notice the medal group sitting on the top step. Someone just have "forgotten" it in the rush to get out of town.

And the PPD submachine gun: a bit surprising to see one of those so late in the war. I think they stopped making them in 1942.
 
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USS Iowa in a floating dry dock at Ulithi in the Western Pacific. That dock must have been massive.
I wonder how long it took to build and to get it to Ulithi!

Here's another shot of the Iowa in the floating drydock at Ulithi:

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Interesting article on the drydocks at (where else) WarHistoryOnline.

Apparently the Pacific Fleet had a number of them at their disposal, and they kept moving them forward as the war progressed, so that they could perform routine maintenance (and occasionally serious repairs) without taking the ship out of the line for the return trip to the coast or Pearl. This allowed some of the ships to stay at sea for over a year without returning to port (quite the feat for a WWII era ship).

Interesting note: Some of the drydocks were large enough to lift the largest battleships of the fleet - but they had to be completely unloaded of stores, fuel, and munitions first, to bring the weight down to safe levels. Which is quite the feat in and of itself, when you think about it. Can you imagine the effort it would take to completely empty the fuel bunkers and munitions of the Iowa, at sea? There would have needed to be a small fleet of tenders just to accomplish that.

Here's a video of the Idaho being brought into a drydock for repairs at Espiritu Santo in 1944:

 
Shame about the mild prang, but that's a very, very small bump in the road.

I want to see it in full song, blasting around up where God keeps the other angels. What an extraordinarily pretty thing.
 
^ The troops rotated off the line from the fighting for Christmas supper at Ortona. It stands to reason that some of the men in the picture are sitting down for their last meal.
 
Ortona was a brutal affair.

Thanks for that video....it made me remember that my father was there...at the Crossroads anyway... 72 years ago today.... about that time he would have been a Capt and was probably working with Strome Galloway
 
Strome Galloway was Garrison Commander of CFB Churchill, Manitoba when I was stationed there. He used to stroll from his ride to the HQ building twirling his cane. You could gauge his mood by the ferocity of the swing, according to legend.

Had a book he wrote about his war time experiences. Loaned it out and it never came back.
 
Thanks for that video....it made me remember that my father was there...at the Crossroads anyway... 72 years ago today.... about that time he would have been a Capt and was probably working with Strome Galloway

My Dad was there too, a Sergeant in the SLI.
He would never mention his combat experience especially concerning Ortona except to say that he shared cover with a Capt. Paul Triquet who he really liked and spoke highly of..
 
And keeping in the sprit of the Season (even if we have zero snow and record setting temps in Oddawa). Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.



 
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