WWII Theaters of Operation... Which Do You Prefer?

[PADDY]

I'm very much into the ETO (European Theatre of Operations) with regard to the USAAF. The old airfields in East Anglia are only a few hours drive away so are accessible to walk around and soak up the atmosphere. Even the old country lanes that these boys from overseas would cycle along are there, unchanged (as are many of the pubs they would drink at).

>>BROKEN PHOTO LINKS<<

I also love the uniforms of the AAF, especially the 8th, as they would wear much of the interesting heavier, warmer clothing than their colleagues in the likes of the Pacific or Italy.

Something very cool about the old olive green jumpers and flight suits under a battered A-2 or B-10 jacket!! Add a pair of RAF procured 1936 flying boots and you have quite a dashing figure!!!

 

[Cobden]

I must admit to being interested in the Royal Navy in the Med, especially the fleet air arm operations

 

[J.B.Saxon]

Paddy,
I agree with you, 8th and 9th Air Force are very interresting. They have not been so far away from here and they came so close to my hometown, more as my parents liked those days. I started in collecting the kit from different point of views. One was to get the batted look and the other one to wear the stuff while motorbiking! I used my A-11 pants and B-3 a lot last winter. The A-9 mittens are a little too stiff while biking

 

[Dixon Cannon]

USAAF

I'm with you Paddy - I've had a connection with 8th AF since I was about ten or so! I suppose it started with the T.V. version of 'Twelve O'Clock High' with Robert Lansing. That hat, that uniform, those airplanes...I was hooked. I used to wear a khaki yachting cap with an iron-on eagle on the front and I'd cut a paper shopping bag into a 'Mae West' - I'd sit and watch the whole show in my mocked up uniform!

Some time later, as a teenager, I came across a paperback of Bert Stiles 'Serenade to the Big Bird'. That book touched me deeply and I felt a kinship with young Bert. His writing style seemed an honest and heartfelt reflection of the true nature of war and the men that fought it. (I now have a 1st Edtion hardback and about three different later editions!) That was almost 40 years ago and I'm still fascinated by ETO fighter/bomber operations and devour most anything I can read or watch.

I hang out with the CAF AZ Wing and attend whatever functions and airshows I can attend so that I can strut around in my uniforms (that I could only dream about at age 10!).

I've developed quite a sympathy for the Luftwaffe as well, based on the writings and interviews of Gunter Rall. I have luftwaffe pieces too that I wear. The crash of the CAF Heinkel put 'kaput' on the Luftwaffe squadron that was in the works however.

So, although I have a broad general knowledge of WWII and the Golden Era that surrounded it, my heart is with the 8th USAAF... 'somewhere in England'

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Material Command at Wright Field, but then I do the rotary-wing stuff in W.W.II.

 

[MelissaAnne]

Since I focused on the European theater during graduate school, I tend to do more research in this area.

I got interested in the 8th Air Force after watching "Memphis Belle." That is probably what started my interest in WW2.

 

[Hondo]

I'm with you Paddy - I've had a connection with 8th AF since I was about ten or so! I suppose it started with the T.V. version of 'Twelve O'Clock High' with Robert Lansing. That hat, that uniform, those airplanes...I was hooked.

I second that, B-17's the uniform colors, pilot hats, adventure theme, many don't know of the T.V. version of Twelve O'Clock High, even as a kid I was upset they (ABC-TV) Killed off Lansings character Frank Savage and replaced him with that pretty boy Paul Burke Plus canceling this show and Combat due to violence on Tv and this was at the point when we were in Viet Nam, really stupid, anyway...

Thats where I got started, I didn't know of my fathers sevice in the Pacific theatre until my later years, now that the current Navy will discontinue the "Cracker Jack" uniform, I'd like to get one, to honor my Dad. Wildroot looks great in his Still need A-2 when funds become available.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Can I quote myself???????

Some time later, as a teenager, I came across a paperback of Bert Stiles 'Serenade to the Big Bird'. That book touched me deeply and I felt a kinship with young Bert. His writing style seemed an honest and heartfelt reflection of the true nature of war and the men that fought it. (I now have a 1st Edtion hardback and about three different later editions!) [/I]

I'm going to start a thread on Bert Stiles and 'Serenade to the Big Bird'. I'd like to find out how many others have read it and how they were effected by it. Amongst pilot types it's a big hit! -dixon cannon

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

It started in Europe.

For me. But lately I'm into The China, Burma, India, and The AVG theater.

 

[Clyde R.]

Good question for history junkies!

I started out as a kid being fascinated by the early years of the war in Europe. You see, I had the first two-free- volumes of a WWII encyclopedia set

That broadened into a general interest in the entire war, but like many of you I've found the air war in Europe especially riveting. After a long hiatus I am getting back "into" the air war stuff. I just finished reading "Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot" and "War's End" by General Chuck Sweeney...the pilot who flew Bockscar to Nagasaki.

I've always been into the war in the Pacific, too. I credit some of that to reading "Guadalcanal Diary" at an early age and the 70s TV show Baa Baa Black Sheep/Black Sheep Squadron. My Dad actually introduced me to some Marine vets of WWII as I grew up in a military town with a lot of retirees. Those guys have my undying admiration and respect. One of them had earned the Navy Cross at Guadalcanal. Another ran a little gun store as his retirement and had a "liberated" Japanese Nambu light machine gun in his store window! ( All legal, mind you )

A good buddy of mine made the landing at Okinawa on Love Day, April 1, 1945 with the 1st Marine Division. He's rekindled my interest in the final days of WWII in the Pacific and the China, Burma, India theater. I'm actually working on a novel set in that theater and am currently researching it for more details and background.

 

[Jake]

Pacific theater for me, probably from watching Baa Baa Black Sheep on T.V. also into A.V.G. china as My A2 "Kachina Doll" is done up with AVG patches. Mainly I just like the Khaki color for my crusher and shirt....Fly on.....Jake

 

[BellyTank]

For me...

9th AAF Fighter Sqadrons and the CBI theatre,
especially airborne Commando units.

B
T

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Rather boringly, i'm most interested in the Home Guard during the period of threatened German invasion. These men were mostly not soldiers. they were badly armed and, at best, had a minimum of formal training. They were to be the cannon fodder ("delaying an enemy invasion force for as long as possible") while the regulars were forming a front line to repel the invasion. Maybe climbing over the bodies would slow the Germans down enough to give the regulars time.

Truly a fascinating group of chaps ...

bk

 

[BellyTank]

Well then Baron K...

...you'd probably enjoy a book entitled; "Repelling the Nazi Invader"- a mixture of factual information and fantasy- nice pictures.

You'd probably also like "With British Snipers to The Reich"- that's one for Paddy too. You really must read "Ill met by Moonlight" BK... if you haven't already.

B
T

 

[Serial Hero]

The ETO and Italy, though I’m more into infantry and armor tactics rather than aircraft.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Home Guard

Baron, here's my father and his fellow Home Guard. Dad's in the top row, far left. He was 33 in 1939 and was an engineer at Supermarine, but he still wanted to do his bit. Oh, and he was deaf as a post due to a motorcycle accident at age 19. His father Ernest C. Dickson (born 1876) may also be in this picture, but I haven't spotted him yet. He was also in the Home Guard.

Click on the picture for a larger version.

 

[Captain Krunch]

Great Question

Great question, Paddy! Obviously, I'm a big Army Air Forces fan in general, with most of my attention focused on the 8th Air Force. But what I'm very interested in is the American "silent service" of the Pacific theater. I read everything I can about the US submarines, their crews, and their patrols in the far Pacific. It's pretty phenomenal the havoc 75 guys could do with a 215-foot boat and a bunch of sub-par torpedoes. I can recommend a number of good books to read, if anyone is interested.

 

[Serial Hero]

Great question, Paddy! Obviously, I'm a big Army Air Forces fan in general, with most of my attention focused on the 8th Air Force. But what I'm very interested in is the American "silent service" of the Pacific theater. I read everything I can about the US submarines, their crews, and their patrols in the far Pacific. It's pretty phenomenal the havoc 75 guys could do with a 215-foot boat and a bunch of sub-par torpedoes. I can recommend a number of good books to read, if anyone is interested.

Let's here 'em

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Baron, here's my father and his fellow Home Guard. Dad's in the top row, far left. He was 33 in 1939 and was an engineer at Supermarine, but he still wanted to do his bit. Oh, and he was deaf as a post due to a motorcycle accident at age 19. His father Ernest C. Dickson (born 1876) may also be in this picture, but I haven't spotted him yet. He was also in the Home Guard.

Click on the picture for a larger version.

Very cool.

You guys have the same smile ...

bk

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Wow. All these chaps have their caps cocked to the right. Especially the fellow that is 3rd from the right sitting in the first row. His is so extreme it looks as if it is falling off. How do they do that!?