March of german prisoners in Moscow

Coyote Ugly, having traveled around the globe, seen alot and experienced a lot, including having few drinks with the French Foreign Legion in Africa, I had never encountered armed and uniformed females, until I visited the former Soviet Union in 1964.

These armed girls were the husky and mean looking, and judging from the size of the handgun holster, I guessed it was some large revolver they were carrying ? Their black ushanka hat and long black coat with double row of golden bottons added to the scary looks :)

Thinking of it, these armed russian girl and female dutch airport security details are the only uniformed and armed girls I encountered during my world travels in the sixties.
 
I learned quickly, that I did not like traveling in countries in or at war situations, so I have never been to Israel either to meet these Uzi carrying women. I am still saden over the fate of the former Yoguslavia, which was such a beautiful country with amazingly good looking women everywhere.

Several of these warlike or nations at war, was which I ended up visiting in the sixties, are still in some serious limbo today.
 
Re post#94. Too bad the Germans were not as idealogically and politically advanced as their technology in the mid 1930s. Had that been the case we could have avoided that nasty 1939-45 interlude and might have been driving BMWs and Mercedes,instead of Volkswagons,in the 1950s. Ironically the devastation of German industry in the war allowed them to start again with modern plants which led to the German "Economic Miracle" of the 1960s/70s. Post-war Britain suffered by comparison with uncompetitive, obsolete plants and an unproductive labour movement.

German weapons technology was superior in some cases(88mm DP gun,MG42,Me-262 jet fighter),but there was not enough of it to make a difference. The Panther and Tiger tanks were well armed and armored,but mechanically unreliable and starved for fuel. Jeez,the Germans could'nt even produce decent winter clothing for their troops or proper lubricants to keep their engines and weapons operational in the cold. There is a great myth about the Blitzkrieg and the Panzer Divisions. They were indeed the cutting edge and the mobile reserve,but the vast majority of the Wehrmacht was foot and horse mobile to the end.

The fact is that the Germans were overwhelmed on 2 fronts; in the east by a horde of peasants armed with large numbers of simple and reliable weapons,like the T-34 tank and PPSh-41 SMG,and in the west by highly effective air and mechanized forces lavishly equipped by western industry.
Thankfully we won the best 2 out of 3 with no "do-overs".
 
The germans always knew that the americans would cause them serious trouble if they entered the war on the allied side. Therefore at the early stages of WW1, Germany cultivated a friendly relationship with among others, Mexico, with arms, and yes, german beer makers, who was teaching the mexicans how to make good, german style beer as a good will from Germany, in return for that Mexico should consider to attack the US, and reclaim the mexican territories (half of Mexico) lost to the US in the 1846-48, Mexican-American war. And thus prevent the US from entering the war in Europe. Well, the mexicans settled for the Mausers and the beer :)

Leading up to WW2, iconic americans, like Chales Linbergh and particular the Henry Ford, was strong allies of Hitlers Germany. Henry Ford is the only american mentioned in Hitler book, "Mien Kampf", which Hitler claimed was his biggest inspiration, since they both shared the same, openly hatred towards Jewish people, and Hitler had in his office a large picture of Henry Ford, whom he made a recipient of the highest german medal of honer, "The Grand Eagle of Germany" in 1939. Henry Fords company in Germany, was making products for the nazi military.

Because of his stong ties to the German Air Force in particular, Charles Linbergh was by US Presidential orders, bared from joining the US Air Force.

Also in the twenties and thirties, Germany had a 50.000 strong allies in the US, from the American-Nazi organization of "German American Bund", who also used swastica as a symbol, as well as using the Hitler salute.
 
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snowhunter said:
The germans always knew that the americans would cause them serious trouble if they entered the war on the allied side. Therefore at the early stages of WW1, Germany cultivated a friendly relationship with among others, Mexico, with arms, and yes, german beer makers, who was teaching the mexicans how to make good, german style beer as a good will from Germany, in return for that Mexico should consider to attack the US, and reclaim the mexican territories (half of Mexico) lost to the US in the 1846-48, Mexican-American war. And thus prevent the US from entering the war in Europe. Well, the mexicans settled for the Mausers and the beer :)
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And they chipped in a fighter squadron to serve with the U.S. air forces. Escuadron 201 of Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana (Mexican Expeditionary Air Force) equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts deployed in the Pacific Theatre of Operations and flew 59 combat missions in the Phillipines and Formosa.
 
Israelis and personal weapons

I did 7 UN tours in the Middle East in Israel,Syria,Lebanon,Egypt and Jordan and had a lot of contact with the various armies and armed factions in the region. IDF members habitually carry their personal weapons,both on and off duty.

There is a bit of a myth about the "fighting Sabra", or the female IDF soldier. They are under arms,like the male troops,but have not participated in combat roles since the late 1940s when manpower was in short supply and every set of hands and eyeballs had to be counted. This relates to the Israeli view that females are the mothers of the nation and are to be protected at all costs(our own gut feel as well in spite of the gender equity policies of recent times).I have discussed this with IDF officers who related that, during the Yom Kippur war in 1973, trucks which should have been hauling ammo up to the Golan Heights were being used to evacuate female troops to avoid the possibility of having them fall into the hands of the Syrians. Female soldiers are drafted,like the males,but are generally employed in non-combat support roles. I've read that,in recent yrs females are being allowed into combat positions,but not on a large scale.

The young Sabras can be very attractive,even IN uniform and toting an M16 or Galil. I recall chatting to a group of them in Tiberias in the late 1980s who were carrying spanking new M14s,and knew how to use them.

I once had an encounter at an IDF checkpoint in the West Bank around Jericho at first light while driving down to Jerusalem in uniform. I knew the checkpoint was there and slowed down for it. When I stopped at the barrier an IDF troop approached my vehicle and stuck his weapon in the window. The guy presented the bearded,disheveled,sack of sh*t tied in the middle appearance typical of the IDF, and surprised me by exclaiming,"Oh,you're a Canadian,I used to be in the PPCLI". I replied that I had been in the PPCLI as well and that he had obviously forgotten everything that he had been taught and to get his friggen piece out of my face. Small world sometimes.
 
Actually, the German postwar "economic miracle" was a result of pursuing more free-market policies compared to, say, the UK. Ludwig Erhard abolished production and price controls in 1948, as well as pursuing a less inflationary monetary policy. Compare this with the UK, which nationalized industries right and left and pursued Keynesianism.

If bombing factories is a good thing for economic growth, then why did the US also experience an economic boom in the 1950s? I would say this is the broken window fallacy writ large.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_window_fallacy
 
While in Famagusta, Cypres 1964, I had the opportunity to move freely across the greek and turkish demarcations lines, provided I shoved my passport to the swedish UN soldiers, as well as greek cypriots, and then turkish and again swedish UN forces guarding the ancient walled city. Lots of history in the these wall.

I was also surprised of the bayonet attached to the swedish UN soldiers 9mm submmachinegun, with folding stock.

I found the turks to be very friendly, however I found it difficult to accept that I was in a war zone, and families lived there.

While I worked on a project with UNESCO in Paris, I learned that permanent UN staff have a UN passport. Did you as a canadian UN soldier also have a UN passport ?
 
UN Documentation

Re post 109. Each UN Peacekeeping mission issues their own ID card to military personnel. The UN ID card identifies the individual as a UN member and is intended to facilitate free movement in the host nation or nations. It can normally be used as an entry/exit document at airports as well.

The UN presence in the Middle East is so long standing that these UN ID cards are well known to all border officials in the region and are generally sufficient to cross most borders and selected cease-fire lines on official UN business and non-duty travel. In some cases host nations will issue "letters of assist" to identify UN personnel when travelling in areas away from UN zones of operations.

Permanent UN international staff may also carry a UN Laissez-Passer which is like a passport and enables the holder to travel on official business. Some countries require a visa to be issued in connection with the Laissez-Passer,while others do not. Canadian practice in the Middle East was to issue special green passports to personnel on extended duty. 2 passports were issued,one for travel to Arab countries and another for use in Israel. The reason for this was that some of the Arab countries would reject a passport if it was stamped with an Israeli visa. In my case I had a UN ID card and 2 special passports,and frequently used a letter of assist for non-duty travel. Canadian personnel serving a single 6 month tour were not issued with a Canadian passport.

There is an old saying that a 12 year-old with a Kalashnikov will teach you anything you ever wanted to know about the privileges and immunities of the UN,and I can attest to this after numerous incidents at various checkpoints and roadblocks with a muzzle shoved in my face or belly. In these cases you are on your own wits to resolve the situation.
 
To best of my knowledge, Charles Linbergh did fly a P-38 against the japanese, and not against the germans, as a private citizen, since he was barred form joining the US Air Force, and would, legally have been executed by the japanese if he had been shot down over japanese held territory.

Lindberg also sired a number of children in Germany.
 
Thank you Purple for this info of canadian UN soldiers. Having couple of passport, is for a lots of people a way of life "in that neck of the woods", better known as "Middle East", where of course, if you have israeli stamps in your passport, can result in a denial of intry into a particular arab country, as well as if you have a stamp in you passport from a particular arab country or Iran, you might be denied entry into another arab country :)

To get back to the german misadventure in russia, I remember talking to a dane, who knew, and talked returned danish Waffen SS soldiers from the Eastern front, who had told him they had, as volunteer Waffen SS soldiers, and by the nazi apparatus, been granted "liberated land" in Russia, when the war was over...
 
I looked up Charles Linbergh biography.

Like Henry Ford, Linbergh recieved the german medal of honor in 1939, by no other than Herman Goering, and thereafter became very vocal against jews, british and President Roosevelt, whom he accused for wanting to bring the US into WW2 on th allied side. Lindberg was then by many, accused for being a nazi sympatizer. Linbergh never returned his german medal.

Henry Ford hired Linbergh to become a test pilot for Ford Airplane Company, and as a civilian advisor to the US Air force, he flew 50 combat mission against the japanese, and among others invented an autopilot, that helped the US pilots to fly longer missions.

Also, Ford Airplane Company, after recieving $ 200 million from the US Government to build a new airplane factory, only produced 8000 military planes, far short of Henry Ford's optimistic promish of building "one airlane, every two hours".

President Eisenhower accepted Linbergh back in the US Air Force Reserve in 1954, with the rank of brigadier general.
 
After purple telling about his experiances as a UN soldier in the Middle East, I told about my experiences of meeting UN (swedish) soldiers in Famagusta, Cypress in 1964.

Well, getting back to memory lane from bygone days of global travel, I decided to make a yet another visit to the facinating and vibrant city of Famagusta, this time a virtual visit through "Youtube" and google.

Well, how time has changed since I was in Famagusta, now in the turkish sector of Cypres, and now only can be visited virtually, since all it's 60.000+ greek cypriot citizens fled the city, during the Turkish invasion of Cypres in 1974, and by the turkish forces, denied to returned back to their homes, and has since 1974, been a ghost city, with many any of the stores still stocked with products, hotels and restaurants still fully equiped, and homes still with furniture and private belongings...


Having been to such a lively and beautiful and place as Famagusta, Cypres, I fell sad and empty, that Famagusta has, by yet another local tribal, religous, ethnic, political and military event, even though it was "protected" by UN forces, and Greek and Turkey are NATO allies, been turned into a ghost town, by violent events, far beyond Famagusta's citizens control.

Please watch among others, the Youtube "Famagusta, ghost town".
 
The city of Quneitra on the Golan heights is another sorry sight to see. It was a thriving city of 20,000 until the Six day War in 1967 when it was taken by the Israelis. In the Yom Kippur War of 1973 it was briefly re-taken by the Syrians and then re-captured by the Israelis. It has been abandoned since 1967 and now lies just inside the UN buffer zone, known as the Area of Separation.

The city was totally demolished before being evacuated by the Israelis in 1974. There is a lot of controversy about who destroyed it. A UN investigation determined that it was the Israelis who flattened it using explosives and engineering equipment. Camp Ziouani,a former French Foreign Legion and Syrian Army camp, which was home to the Canadian UNDOF Contingent until recently, is just across the ceasefire line from Quneitra and the ruins can be seen from the camp. We used to maintain a signals det in Quneitra at "Quebec House" which was an alternate location for UNDOF HQ.

There is a small population there now as well as a few Syrian police. When I first saw the place in the 1970s the cemetary had been vandalized by people looking for gold and other valuables on the dead. The Syrians use gold for their false teeth and dental fillings,and many had a gold front tooth as a cosmetic feature. Tombs were broken open and a large number of bodies and body parts were left strewn around by the grave robbers-a nasty sight.

The nearby UN position on the ceasefire line is used as a crossing point by UN personnel and is also occasionally used by the Syrian Druze who are allowed to enter Israel for various reasons. This was depicted in the movie,"The Syrian Bride", which told the story of a Druze woman from Syria getting married to a Druze who lived on the Israeli side. The Druze population on the Golan Heights is separated by the UN zone and free movement is not permitted. At one of the narrower points in the buffer zone,the Druze gather periodically under UN auspices to conduct "family shoutings" where family news and business is exchanged using bullhorns. This is a sad sight to see.
 
The sad story of the Syrian city of Quneitra's destruction by the israelis in is well publizied world wide. However, I am shocked first to learned about the greek cypriot town of Famagusta's and it's citizens fate, yesterday, in the hand of invading turkish military, and even though this crime against humanity, under the nose of UN forces, took place 35 years ago.

From glancing over the turkish story for the same time and war, it appears that the greek cypriot also violated the basic human rights of the turkish people living in Cypres.

I believe that the greek an turkish people has been in a constant and perpertual warfare against each other the last 2500 years, and therefore no longer no why, they hate each other, and just go about hating and killing and displacing each other, as they "normally" have done for so long, as anyone can remember?
 
snowhunter said:
.....Also, Ford Airplane Company, after recieving $ 200 million from the US Government to build a new airplane factory, only produced 8000 military planes, far short of Henry Ford's optimistic promish of building "one airlane, every two hours"...
Click to expand...

Are you referring to the Willow Run plant which produced B-24 heavy bombers?
If a plane was produced evry two hours, that would take 16,000 hours. There are 8760 hours in a year.
That is pretty darn close to a four engined heavy bomber every two hours, for the period that the B-24 was in production.
 
It must truly be frustrating to be a UN Peace keeping soldier, and not be able to keep the peace between the waring fractions, because of very limited manpowers and UN mandate, and just be reduced to be observers ?

I have long given up on the Midlle east politics, the same story repeats itself all the time, only who does it, changes from time to time. Although a historicly facinating area, as well as being the cradle of our civilization,the Midlle East, and now Cypres, is not very high on my list for places to re-visit :)

tiriaq, the US build well over 300.000 airplanes during WW2, an thus was able to supply airplanes to anyone who needed a plane. For Henry Ford, with his know how for mass production, and only to produce 8000 plane for the entire duration of WW2, appears to be low ?
 
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