Thread: Australian War Memorial, WARTIME magazine

Reflecting on a post about Brendan Nelson , I thought I would briefly describe this issue of the AWM mag. WARTIME. Essentially, the theme is D Day, 1944. When we think of D day, we think of British, Canadian & American armed forces, mainly. First up is D Day, from go to woe,[ Anthony Beevar] a brief overview of the operation, with headings such as " hedgerows", " psychology of combat" , "Civilian impact" , [ more French civilians died on D Day than all the American casualties on Omaha & Utah beaches combined. ] During the 2nd world war, more French civilians were killed by Allied bombing & shelling than the total number of British civilians killed by the Luftwaffe & the flying bombs. It is estimated 35,000 during the Normandy campaign alone. The final chapter " liberation", describes the effect of 2 million Allied troops on the French, as they swarmed into France.


A very good article on Montgomery, by his biographer[ Nigel Hamilton] . A very complex character, Raised in Tasmania [ where his Father was the first Anglican Bishop], desperate for the attention & affection of a Mother who not only treated him with bruising contempt but beat him with a rod for even minor infractions. So badly wounded in Oct 1914, in the battle of Meteren, a grave was dug for him.


But Monty was a meticulous planner of military operations , and after arrival in England on the 3 January, 1944, he has been credited with transforming an operation bound for defeat, into one that could not fail, if all went well. The Americans did not get on with him.


An article on Australian involvement in D day follows,[ Lachlan Grant] surprised me that an estimated 3,300 Aus. servicemen participated in D Day operations, with many more serving, replacing losses, mainly in the RAAF after the landings. There were 13,000 RAAF personnel serving Britain in 1944, 12,400 air crew. The RAAF had 453, 455, 456, 460, 461, 463, 464, 466, & 467, article XV squadrons along with no. 10 Squadron serving in Britain at the beginning of June. There were 1,100 RAN personnel serving with the RN . The article goes on to briefly cover the various Squadrons Australians flew in on D Day, from ferrying the Airborne soldiers of the British 6th Airborne Division, to dropping " window" , aluminium chaff designed to fool the German radar, with 617 Squadron, the famous dambusters [ a high percentage of which were RAAF ].


The RAN was represented. 500 RAN personnel serving with the RN, took part in Operation Neptune, the Naval component of Overlord. On ships such as AJAX & Scylla at Gold beach, Glasgow at Omaha beach, & Enterprise at Utah beach. Within the invasion fleet, ships commanded by RAN officers included Vanquisher, [ LTCMDR Frederick Osbourne, RANVR], and Loch Killen [ LTCMDR Stanley Darling RANVR] A number of Australians commanded MTB's, . Lt John Ferguson commanded a flotilla of MTB's, & was awarded a DSC, for transporting troops & supplies on D Day. A number commanded landing craft, as well as four flotillas of Landing Craft Tank. LT Kenneth Hudspeth commanded the submarine X20, After commanding the X10 on a raid on Tirpitz in 1943 [ DSC] Hudspeth took X20 in the months before D Day surveying & collecting samples from the chosen beaches. [ Bar to the DSC] On the morning of D Day, Hudspeth moored X20 as a navigational beacon off Juno beach, where he had been since the 4th June. [ 2nd bar to DSC]


The AIF was represented. 13 were attached to British units within the 21st Army group. Major Henry Gullet landed with the Green Howards on Gold beach, & later became a Company Commander with the 8th Battalion of the Royal Scots, until wounded. He later joined the unit in the Netherlands. These are just a few examples.


The only Australian unit on the ground in Normandy was 453 Squadron, RAAF.[ Karl James] But that distinction came at a heavy cost. There is a very good article on this unit. Another article tells of Australians who ferried troops of British Paratroops, on D Day, with no 196 Squadron, RAF.[ Michael Kelly]


Then, put to things in perspective, there is a article on Russia's greatest offensive, Operation Bagration.[ David Stahel] On 22 June, the Western Allies had been in northern France for 16 days. They were busily fighting a small fraction of the Wehrmacht. On the same day, the Red Army reached an anniversary : It had shouldered the overwhelming bulk of the Wehrmacht's forces for three unrelenting years. While the German high Command deployed 58 Divisions in the West in June 1944, only 15 0f these were in the immediate area of the Normandy landings. By contrast, Germany & her Allies had retained some 228 divisions on the Eastern front. By the launch of Operation Bagration, in in the summer of 1944, the Red Army had sustained some 22 million casualties, killed, wounded, missing. [ hard to get your head around that] The article goes on to say operation Bagration was the single most successful Allied offensive of the War to date. But what a cost. In the East, during the summer of 1944, Army Group Centre [ German] lost 450,000 men, with another 100,000 lost in neighbouring army groups. Of the 2,331,000 Soviet troops involved in all the summer offensives on the central axis of advance, losses reached over 1 million men. [ 243,508 killed, 811,603 wounded.] The Russians tied down many divisions on the Eastern front, which would have been invaluable in the West.


Just a small part of a great read for those who are interested. Also a shocking read, regarding casualties. How Europe recovered from the slaughter is a story in itself, I guess.


WARTIME magazine, official mag of the AWM, Bob


Authors- Robin Prior, Anthony Beevar, Nigel Hamilton, Lachlan Grant, Karl James, Michael Kelly, David Stahel.

Just a post script, most have heard about the RAF pilot who flipped the V-1 rocket on its back, upsetting its gyroscopes and sending it spiralling out of control. That pilot was an Australian from no. 91 Squadron, RAF, Flying Officer Kenneth Collier. He had exhausted his ammo, but was determined to bring the V-1 down. So he used his wing tip, the first to use that method. Bob