The 240th Mission Btn operated in China between 1942 & 1943. It comprised of of 2-4 Chinese Surprise Companies plus 1 British Commando Company.
The unit was to operate behind enemy lines or for specific target raids. Only the British unit had demolition charges, whilst the Chinesse forces provided the main manpower element.
Andy H
Obscure Allied Facts & Trivia during WW2
There were also many Spanish demolition experts working with the Red Army, they came over after the Spanish Civil War of course where men like Starinov and his wife taught them demolition (and other partisan type warfare) where they now put it to use against Germans once more.Andy H wrote:The part played by Spanish troops and airmen on Germany's side in WW2 is well documented, but over the past few years, the role of Russia's Spanish volunteers is finally coming to light.
Their plight has been lost to history because Russia never formed a coherant Spanish only unit-like the Germans did. However some 40 Spanish fighter pilots flew with the Red Air Force, the most famous being the Basque ace Jose Luis Larranaga, who was eventually killed over Estonia in 1944.
Many of the Spanish pilots had Russian documents on them, so that they wouldn't be handed over to the Spanish authorities if captured.
Andy H
Ruben Ibarruri, son of "la Pasionaria" of Spanish Civil War fame also fought on the side on the Russians. He even one a Hero of the SU, posthumously I thinkThe part played by Spanish troops and airmen on Germany's side in WW2 is well documented, but over the past few years, the role of Russia's Spanish volunteers is finally coming to light.
Their plight has been lost to history because Russia never formed a coherant Spanish only unit-like the Germans did. However some 40 Spanish fighter pilots flew with the Red Air Force, the most famous being the Basque ace Jose Luis Larranaga, who was eventually killed over Estonia in 1944.
Many of the Spanish pilots had Russian documents on them, so that they wouldn't be handed over to the Spanish authorities if captured.
Andy H
A little story from Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
My grandfather, along with his two brothers, their uncle and their sisters boyfriend (and she was a nurse during that time
- who later married her - fought in that quite tragic military event.
They were all in Home Army KB batallion "Nalecz" (from the name of its leader, kpt. Nalecz). They fought since the second week, after they were recalled from under the city of Lublin to Warsaw, till the last day of uprising.
They fought in the center of the city and old town (like City Hall). On a side note. The only one who died from the whole family was their well built, cowboy type like, uncle. He always stood up under enemy fire while everyone else faced the ground. Becouse of that he got shoot by a sniper when he came to a whole in a wall to see what`s the enemy doing. He got a single shot in the throat and bleeded to death.
But what I`d like to tell you about, is how my grandfathers older brother got wounded. These were the last hours of fights in the Old City, when Home Army had been surrounded by Germans and were retreating by wide and complicated city canals. I`m not completely sure as of the exact moment, but when they were send to cover the retreat a bomb or maybe artillery shell hit nearby building, which had a stock of somekind of chemical acid liquids. That acid flew straight onto my grandfathers brothers face burning him deeply. They bandaged his whole head and since he was barely contious, dragged him into the canals as last of the men retreated.
And so, they travelled through the claustrophobic, dark, slimy and stinky canals having a dirty water full of extrements often up their cheeks. Germans dropped granades and dynamite packs from street above. Many were fainting, throwing up, or dying from recieved wounds. They still dragged their heavly wounded brother. They finally reached the center of the city which was still controlled by the Home Army and got out, dirty, stinking, but alive. They walked, or rather crawled a distance which is around 1.5km in straight line and couldn`t take more than 30minutes of easy stroll. But their journey through canals lasted over 20 hours.
In overall, Warsaw Uprising was an interesting event in history.
As for the wounded brother. He was taken to the hospital where a doctor pulled off the whole dirty bandages from his face, with a short, sharp move. My grandfather said it was the first and last time in his life when he saw a bare skull of someone still being alive. Obviously, the acid burned most of his brothers skin, leaving just white bones and teeth. Luckily his eyes weren`t hurt (except eyelids).
So they all survived the war and his brother, very handsome (as they say) man before, had a face covered with deep scars and bruises. But I guess it was better than rotting on the street
My grandfather, along with his two brothers, their uncle and their sisters boyfriend (and she was a nurse during that time
- who later married her - fought in that quite tragic military event. They were all in Home Army KB batallion "Nalecz" (from the name of its leader, kpt. Nalecz). They fought since the second week, after they were recalled from under the city of Lublin to Warsaw, till the last day of uprising.
They fought in the center of the city and old town (like City Hall). On a side note. The only one who died from the whole family was their well built, cowboy type like, uncle. He always stood up under enemy fire while everyone else faced the ground. Becouse of that he got shoot by a sniper when he came to a whole in a wall to see what`s the enemy doing. He got a single shot in the throat and bleeded to death.
But what I`d like to tell you about, is how my grandfathers older brother got wounded. These were the last hours of fights in the Old City, when Home Army had been surrounded by Germans and were retreating by wide and complicated city canals. I`m not completely sure as of the exact moment, but when they were send to cover the retreat a bomb or maybe artillery shell hit nearby building, which had a stock of somekind of chemical acid liquids. That acid flew straight onto my grandfathers brothers face burning him deeply. They bandaged his whole head and since he was barely contious, dragged him into the canals as last of the men retreated.
And so, they travelled through the claustrophobic, dark, slimy and stinky canals having a dirty water full of extrements often up their cheeks. Germans dropped granades and dynamite packs from street above. Many were fainting, throwing up, or dying from recieved wounds. They still dragged their heavly wounded brother. They finally reached the center of the city which was still controlled by the Home Army and got out, dirty, stinking, but alive. They walked, or rather crawled a distance which is around 1.5km in straight line and couldn`t take more than 30minutes of easy stroll. But their journey through canals lasted over 20 hours.
In overall, Warsaw Uprising was an interesting event in history.
As for the wounded brother. He was taken to the hospital where a doctor pulled off the whole dirty bandages from his face, with a short, sharp move. My grandfather said it was the first and last time in his life when he saw a bare skull of someone still being alive. Obviously, the acid burned most of his brothers skin, leaving just white bones and teeth. Luckily his eyes weren`t hurt (except eyelids).
So they all survived the war and his brother, very handsome (as they say) man before, had a face covered with deep scars and bruises. But I guess it was better than rotting on the street
Lancastria
Going back to Andy H post on the S.S Lancastria.
After the Official Secrets Act had expired regarding this incident (60 years) in Summer 2000. I saw a new T.V documentary on this tragedy of tragedies & if my memory is good, it put the numbers on board at estimated 7-8,000 with over 5,000 perishing. The comparison was "more than twice as many dead as the Titanic & Lucatania put together".
On a lighter note.
In the Far East, (possibly Burma) an English Company commander is marching his men. He inadvertently marches them through a villages cess pool. So he then orders them to march themselves into the sea, up to their waists and out again.
After the Official Secrets Act had expired regarding this incident (60 years) in Summer 2000. I saw a new T.V documentary on this tragedy of tragedies & if my memory is good, it put the numbers on board at estimated 7-8,000 with over 5,000 perishing. The comparison was "more than twice as many dead as the Titanic & Lucatania put together".
On a lighter note.
In the Far East, (possibly Burma) an English Company commander is marching his men. He inadvertently marches them through a villages cess pool. So he then orders them to march themselves into the sea, up to their waists and out again.
Hmm, just a thought - is it possible that it wasn't spermicide (used to inhibit conception) but just "sperm oil", that is, oil from the sperm whale? It went by enough confusing names - "spermacetti", "sperma oil" etc, and I would have thought that it may well be a good lubricant at low temperatures.Mark V wrote:Do you know about the Soviet use of spermicide oil as an lubricant in extremely cold enviroment ?
I tried doing a spot of research to check up on this hunch of mine but though googling "sperm" and "lubricant" gave me lots of results, none were about Soviet aircraft...
Zygmunt (catching a spider)
Zygmunt,
Thanks for reminding me about this thread.
So, it is sperm oil. Forgive me, english is not my first language and you must forgive me my limited skills.
About use as aircraft engine lubricant. Thats why i posted this question. Have read some memories and articles where it was mentioned, but as those seem to lack credibility i am looking more information on this issue. Apparently the stuff has some potential, as it keeps its viscosity even in extremely low temperatures. We are talking about time when qualities of lubricants based on crude oil left much to be desired.
Regards, Mark V
Thanks for reminding me about this thread.
So, it is sperm oil. Forgive me, english is not my first language and you must forgive me my limited skills.
About use as aircraft engine lubricant. Thats why i posted this question. Have read some memories and articles where it was mentioned, but as those seem to lack credibility i am looking more information on this issue. Apparently the stuff has some potential, as it keeps its viscosity even in extremely low temperatures. We are talking about time when qualities of lubricants based on crude oil left much to be desired.
Regards, Mark V
Mark, apologies for the cheap innuendo I used to get you back onto this thread (hehe, not sorry really).
No criticism of anyone's language skills was intended - I was just wondering if this was a possible explanation, though for all I know some soviet soldier may have been desperate enough to actually try spermicide as a lubricant... though I doubt it would have been very effective.
The other thing is that we all pretty much stopped using whale products for just about anything so long ago that one could quite easily read an old journal and misinterpret anything to do with sperm oil.
I am curious as to how the Soviets would have sourced Sperm-whale oil though: Did they operate a whaling fleet during the war? Was it sent lease-lend from the US? Had they stockpiled it beforehand?
Zygmunt
No criticism of anyone's language skills was intended - I was just wondering if this was a possible explanation, though for all I know some soviet soldier may have been desperate enough to actually try spermicide as a lubricant... though I doubt it would have been very effective.
The other thing is that we all pretty much stopped using whale products for just about anything so long ago that one could quite easily read an old journal and misinterpret anything to do with sperm oil.
I am curious as to how the Soviets would have sourced Sperm-whale oil though: Did they operate a whaling fleet during the war? Was it sent lease-lend from the US? Had they stockpiled it beforehand?
Zygmunt
A damaged B-17 over Germany in the Schweinfurt raid tried to arrive to the Allied airbases in North Africa. As fuel was getting low, the crew was told to remove every unnecessary object from inside the plane.
One pneumatic boat got caught in the tail. In spite of the efforts of the crew, it remained there. A few hours later the damage Flying Fortress had to land on the waters of the Mediterranean... so the boat turned in a few minutes in their salvation.
One pneumatic boat got caught in the tail. In spite of the efforts of the crew, it remained there. A few hours later the damage Flying Fortress had to land on the waters of the Mediterranean... so the boat turned in a few minutes in their salvation.
Hi Zygmunt,
Sorry for very late reply - somehow i had missed your questions.
During WW2 it was altogether different matter. At that time whales were kinda like swimming resource pools for people of this world. Their value in manufacturing of multitude of products was insurmountable and vast investments were made to exploit that natural resource on industrial scale - especially in the distant Antarctic operations. Ofcourse this also lead to the near extinction of many species of these magnificent animals.
Here is whale catch statistics from 20th century: http://luna.pos.to/whale/sta.html
From statistics i see that whaling continued atleast through early years of WW2. All through 30s till early 40s there is strong correlation between USSR Sperm Whale catch and the numbers catched from Kamtchatkan area.
There is gaps in statistics. Years are missing entirely, but an overall tendency was of increasing catch in late 30s, early 40s.
Regards, Mark V
Sorry for very late reply - somehow i had missed your questions.
I know, and you used that to good effect.Zygmunt wrote: The other thing is that we all pretty much stopped using whale products for just about anything so long ago that one could quite easily read an old journal and misinterpret anything to do with sperm oil.
During WW2 it was altogether different matter. At that time whales were kinda like swimming resource pools for people of this world. Their value in manufacturing of multitude of products was insurmountable and vast investments were made to exploit that natural resource on industrial scale - especially in the distant Antarctic operations. Ofcourse this also lead to the near extinction of many species of these magnificent animals.
USSR was an player in market. Soviets didn't operate prewar in Antarctic, but in north Pacific, near Kamtchatkan peninsula was an good Sperm whale catching area.Zygmunt wrote:I am curious as to how the Soviets would have sourced Sperm-whale oil though: Did they operate a whaling fleet during the war? Was it sent lease-lend from the US? Had they stockpiled it beforehand?
Zygmunt
Here is whale catch statistics from 20th century: http://luna.pos.to/whale/sta.html
From statistics i see that whaling continued atleast through early years of WW2. All through 30s till early 40s there is strong correlation between USSR Sperm Whale catch and the numbers catched from Kamtchatkan area.
There is gaps in statistics. Years are missing entirely, but an overall tendency was of increasing catch in late 30s, early 40s.
Regards, Mark V
Another consequence was the establishment on odd islands in the South Atlantic of whaling stations to support these fleets. In time, those stations would be abandoned, but the consequences of scrap metal dealers salvaging machinery could be serious!Mark V wrote:During WW2 it was altogether different matter. At that time whales were kinda like swimming resource pools for people of this world. Their value in manufacturing of multitude of products was insurmountable and vast investments were made to exploit that natural resource on industrial scale - especially in the distant Antarctic operations.
Ofcourse this also lead to the near extinction of many species of these magnificent animals.
I'm surprised the Japanese didn't try to shut the Soviets out of Pacific whaling altogether... I suppose that after the Nomonhan incident the Japanese decided not to mess with the Soviets too much, but a glance at the statistics you linked to indicate that even in 1942 the Soviets were doing okay - indeed, looking at the numbers for Sperm whales the Soviets did better in 1942 than the previous few years.
Ahh, who am I kidding, attacking Soviet whalers would have meant war, but still... it must have been tempting for them.
Zygmunt