Picture of the day

If you need something to read that shows the "fighting till the end and last man standing" sprit of the Japanese during this time check out With the old breed by Eugene Sledge. Dropping the bomb really was the only option an no doubt saved a lot of lives on both sides.
 
diopter said:
Heard the real reason Japan surrendered was due to their fear the Soviets would steamroll through all of Asia, occupy Japan ensuring the end of the 2700 year old Japanese monarchy, the Chrysanthemum Throne. The U.S. allowed a concession to the unconditional surrender for Hirohito to stay on. Beria would have killed the entire family.
Soviets kept the war going after the official surrender to gain more territory to the soviet.
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You should read, Japan's longest day. Even after the emperor had decided surrender was the only option, extremists attempted a coup.

Grizz
 
Intercepts of the Japanese Purplr Code and diplomatic codes had shown Japan had determined that they were going to persue for a conditional peace as early as June of that year. Some academic circles think that dropping the bomb was a covert/overt message to Uncle Joe. Stalin was surprised and angry that the Allies had such a weapon and he didn’t. He even threw one of his famous temper tantrums.
 
R711 said:
Intercepts of the Japanese Purplr Code and diplomatic codes had shown Japan had determined that they were going to persue for a conditional peace as early as June of that year. Some academic circles think that dropping the bomb was a covert/overt message to Uncle Joe. Stalin was surprised and angry that the Allies had such a weapon and he didn’t. He even threw one of his famous temper tantrums.
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Actually, Stalin was pretty well informed on American bomb development, they had infiltrated the scientific community, at work. It suddenly became a lot more urgent though, for Russia to have the bomb, after Allied relations soured. It suddenly became a crash program, physicists were told bluntly, git er done, or the gulag for you , if not worse. :) The first Soviet bombs were direct copies of the American versions, no time or desire for innovation on their part. Surprised the #### out of the Americans how quickly they did it, not realizing they had done all the hard part for them.


Grizz
 
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Grizzly Adams said:
Of course, Revisionists would argue with that. :confused: Less people killed by the atomic bombs than the conventional bombing of Hamburg and Dresden.

Grizz
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even military leaders who inspected the cities after the A bombs admitted that conventional bombs would have done much more damage at a lower cost. the bombs were just as much a signal to the japanese and soviets as it was a bombing raid
 
Italians in the desert.

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Grizzly Adams said:
Someday, there'll be a museum exhibit of a tank turret , swiss cheesed by shaped charges, but wait, betting there's a few already. :redface:


Grizz
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Iraqi T-55 from the 1st Gulf war, destroyed by a Maverick missile. Not that big of an entry hole, but it's worth noting the complete absence of the engine deck, which should give some idea of what happened on the inside of that particular iron coffin.
 
grelmar said:
svmsp9g4sbi51.jpg


Iraqi T-55 from the 1st Gulf war, destroyed by a Maverick missile. Not that big of an entry hole, but it's worth noting the complete absence of the engine deck, which should give some idea of what happened on the inside of that particular iron coffin.
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Surprising that the turret stayed on. Quite often they become inverted frying pans.
 
Apologies, but this seemed too good not to share, and you lot seem the target audience.

The Way to the Stars (1945) featuring plenty of Blenheims and lots of RAF slang - Lads are always "pranging kites" after a "long stooge about", etc...

[youtube]3TxwpKmdgUg[/youtube]
 
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Picked this up off the net...


German ‘Snipers Code’, 1944
1. Fight Fanatically.
2. Shoot calm and contemplated; fast shots lead nowhere; concentration on the hit.
3. Your greatest opponent is the enemy sniper; outsmart him.
4. Always only fire one shot from your position; if not you will be discovered.
5. The trench tool prolongs your life.
6. Practice in distance judging
7. Become a master in camouflage and terrain usage.
8. Practice constantly; behind the front and in the homeland, your shooting skills.
9. Never let go of your sniper rifle.
10. Survival is ten times camouflage and one time firing.
 
Sharps '74 said:
It was estimated that the invasion of the Japanese home islands would have cost up to a million Allied casualties - dead and wounded. The world was already war weary and a quick end was the solution.

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The US ordered hundreds of thousands of Purple Hearts ahead of any planned invasion of the Japanese islands. Just one of those myriad logistics calculations that propelled the US to its place after WW2. When the big machine is running, just keep it spitting out widgets, parts, supplies and inventory. There were so many Purple Hearts in inventory after the surrender, that they won't need to order anymore for half a century. Not through Korea or Vietnam, but not into the current Global War on Terrorism. (( edited for the actual remaining inventory comment courtesy of the Wikipedia article ))
 
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'A letter home from Evelyn Waugh.'

Young officers and explosives

An old one but a good one, from a letter from Evelyn Waugh , who was serving with the Commandos in WW2. I’m not the first to quote this but it is worth repeating:

Darling…

So No. 3 Cmdo were very anxious to be chums with Lord Glasgow so they offered to blow up an old tree stump for him and he was very grateful and he said don’t spoil the plantation of young trees near it because that is the apple of my eye and they said no of course not we can blow a tree down so that it falls on a sixpence and Lord Glasgow said goodness you are clever and he asked them all to luncheon for the great explosion. So Col. Durnford-Slater D.S.O. said to his subaltern, have you put enough explosive in the tree. Yes sir, 75 lbs. Is that enough? Yes sir I worked it out by mathematics it is exactly right. Well better put a bit more. Very good sir.

And when Col. D. Slater D.S.O. had had his port he sent for the subaltern and said subaltern better put a bit more explosive in that tree. I don’t want to disappoint Lord Glasgow. Very good sir.

Then they all went out to see the explosion and Col. D.S. D.S.O. said you will see that tree fall flat at just that angle where it will hurt no young trees and Lord Glasgow said goodness you are clever.

So soon they lit the fuse and waited for the explosion and presently the tree, instead of falling quietly sideways, rose 50 feet into the air taking with it half an acre of soil and the whole of the young plantation.

And the subaltern said Sir I made a mistake, it should have been 7.5 lbs not 75.

Lord Glasgow was so upset he walked in dead silence back to his castle and when they came to the turn of the drive in sight of his castle what should they find but that every pane of glass in the building was broken.

So Lord Glasgow gave a little cry and ran to hide his emotion in the lavatory and there when he pulled the plug the entire ceiling, loosened by the explosion, fell on his head.

This is quite true.”
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https://www.standingwellback.com/

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The writer training with 8 Commando, Arran.
 
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I finished this model.The more I learn about Vickers Wellesley the more I'm amazed.Airship technology used to make fabric covered, relatively light bomber with decent bomb load and range.

 
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