I too appreciate these posts and have looked forward to reading them each week.
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May have, but she didn't mention it. She said the roads were choked with people trying to meet the Allied troops. She said rape, or worse, was a certainty for a woman, if you got caught by the Russians. She had been decorated for going to back into the Chancellery to rescue burning records, something very German to do. Her husband told me this. Leni would never have. Some of the refugees from formerly German territories like Königsberg actually traveled much further. It was a time of mass migrations. If you were a young, attractive blond female German, hanging around Berlin to greet the Russians was the last thing you'd want to do. Around 14 million Germans fled west at the end of WWII. The death toll has been estimated all the way from a half million to two and half million...Just looked it up. Laupheim is about 650 km / 400 miles SSE from Berlin. That's one huge hike. Hope she hitched a ride on something, even if it was a horse-drawn wagon, for at least part of the way.
A German colleague to studies such things told me that half the total German casualties were suffered in the last twelve months of the war. I checked and Killed and wounded, he is right. If Op Valkyrie had worked, it would have saved a bunch of German lives.May have, but she didn't mention it. She said the roads were choked with people trying to meet the Allied troops. She said rape, or worse, was a certainty for a woman, if you got caught by the Russians. She had been decorated for going to back into the Chancellery to rescue burning records, something very German to do. Her husband told me this. Leni would never have. Some of the refugees from formerly German territories like Königsberg actually traveled much further. It was a time of mass migrations. If you were a young, attractive blond female German, hanging around Berlin to greet the Russians was the last thing you'd want to do. Around 14 million Germans fled west at the end of WWII. The death toll has been estimated all the way from a half million to two and half million...
Caen is a pretty nice town today. Most everything is shiny and new (except William the Bastard's castle which is old, but restored).
Their reconstructions are breathtaking. In both Dresden and downtown Stuttgart, they already had every block numbered, long before the bombing occurred. Here is a pic of Dresden after the British firebombing and a pic of the Frauenkirche after reconstruction. The dark blocks are original and burned. The light blocks are new...Caen is a pretty nice town today. Most everything is shiny and new (except William the Bastard's castle which is old, but restored).
I find the Germans meticulous (sometimes too meticulous; messiness really bothers them) and hardworking.Their reconstructions are breathtaking. In both Dresden and downtown Stuttgart, they already had every block numbered, long before the bombing occurred. Here is a pic of Dresden after the British firebombing and a pic of the Frauenkirche after reconstruction. The dark blocks are original and burned. The light blocks are new...View attachment 3855View attachment 3856
Very sad...Very interesting article about Philip Streczyk, pictured above receiving award from Montgomery.
http://www.warwickadvertiser.com/ap...zing-lost-story-of-Philip-Streczyk-D-Day-hero
My high school history teacher, Frank J. Stone, then a platoon leader in the 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division, on the night of 5/6 June 1944, landed outside La Haie-du-Puits, probably 20 miles off his drop zone. He was less than enthused by the navigational abilities of the C-47 crew who dropped him. He realized they navigated by indicated air speed, compass and clock, flying over a featureless Channel and then a blacked-out France, but 20 miles was a bit much.La-Haie-du-Puits is finally liberated by the 79th American Infantry division supported by the tanks of the 749th Tank Battalion, which drive the German defenders belonging to the 352nd German Infantry division out of the city.
My brother bombed a Dutch village by error. It really bothered him...My high school history teacher, Frank J. Stone, then a platoon leader in the 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division, on the night of 5/6 June 1944, landed outside La Haie-du-Puits, probably 20 miles off his drop zone. He was less than enthused by the navigational abilities of the C-47 crew who dropped him. He realized they navigated by indicated air speed, compass and clock, flying over a featureless Channel and then a blacked-out France, but 20 miles was a bit much.
The one variable that the had a hard time compensating for was winds at altitude. If the weatherman said winds at cruising altitude were out of the west at 20 mph, but in fact, they were out of the east at 20 mph, then you could easily by off by 100 miles. No GPS and the Germans certainly went using modern nav aids.My brother bombed a Dutch village by error. It really bothered him...
No doubt they were trying to hit legitimate targets. He wasn't the only navigator who was off that day...The one variable that the had a hard time compensating for was winds at altitude. If the weatherman said winds at cruising altitude were out of the west at 20 mph, but in fact, they were out of the east at 20 mph, then you could easily by off by 100 miles. No GPS and the Germans certainly went using modern nav aids.
My way of judging your brothers case would be to ask him, "What were you trying to do? Did you take reasonable precautions?" If the answers were "Hit Germany" and "Yes," then he should have a clear conscience.
In the end, LT Stone and his stick just had to move at night and be very quiet. They made it to American lines. It just took him a few nights.