The Second World War.

[squigg58]

Here are a couple more crazy ideas from WWII ...

Project Orcon (USA)

A "pigeon-guided missile" was proposed by American psychologist B.F.Skinner as a way to delivering a missile accurately against a target by placing a pigeon inside the missile. An image of the target would be projected in front of it, and the pigeon would be trained to recognize it. It would then peck on one of four levers (up, down, left or right) until the target was dead centre of the screen. They were encouraged to do so by their training, where they were awarded with corn for keeping the target in the centre. They were surprising adept at this in training, being able to track a target which jumped 4 or 5 inches a second on the screen. The National Defense Research Committee committed $25,000 to this research, and the army modified several missiles for this purpose before it was decided that electronic guidance would be superior, and the project was cancelled in 1944.



Wind Cannon (Germany)

The cannon worked by igniting a critical mixture of hydrogen and oxygen with the resulting powerful explosion triggering a rapidly-ejected "projectile" of compressed air and water vapour. Experimental trials of the cannon at Hillersleben demonstrated that a 25mm-thick wooden board could be broken at a distance of 200m. Nitrogen peroxide was used in some of the experiments so that the brown colour would allow the path and destination of the otherwise transparent projectile to be observed and photographed.

In 1945, the Wind Cannon was taken from the Hillersleben Proving Grounds and installed as part of the defenses of a bridge over the Elbe River. There are no records of it being used, and it was captured intact.


Note: In the photo, the barrel is pointing down and to the right.

[tygrkhat40]

Lytle S. Adams, a dental surgeon, concieved the idea of using bats to carry incendiary bombs, releasing them over Japanese industrial cites. Small bombs to carry napalm were designed and over $2,000,000 was spent on developing the idea before it was cancelled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb

[Ennath]

August 20, 1935
Russia, Politics The Comintern formally adopts a Popular Front strategy of supporting all leftist groups against Germany.

August 20, 1939
Diplomatic Relations German-Soviet negotiations have been proceeding for some time at growing speed and Hitler now sends a personal message to Stalin asking if he will receive Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. An economic agreement has already been prepared.
Mongolia Zhukov begins a major offensive around Khalkin Gol with a barrage. The Japanese commanders do not inform their headquarters until the following day.

August 20, 1940
Britain, Home Front Churchill produces another of his famous speeches. His message is a tribute to the RAF fighter pilots. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Of more concrete importance to the course of the war is an official announcement that bases will be leased to the United States.
Battle of Britain 11 Group is beginning to be swamped. Airfields can usually be repaired in a day, but the Germans can just come and bomb them again. The manpower shortage is beginning and the pilots are exhausted.
Luckily, the same conditions apply to the Luftwaffe. Kesselring’s group is given priority and virtually all the Bf-109’s are redeployed to his Luftflotte 2. The fighters are ordered to provide the bombers with close escort. Luftflotte 3 is to confine itself mainly to night raids.
German Planning The High Command issues plans for the capture of Gibraltar, code-named Felix. Spanish cooperation will not be forthcoming, however.
August 20-November 30, 1940
China The Chinese Communists launch the “Hundred Regiments Offensive”. There has been a general sense, especially among the Kuomintang, that the Communists have not been really contributing to the war and that they are only interested in expanding their power base. While there is some truth to this, the Communists need to prove themselves. Communist forces are now 400,000 strong and Mao argues that a “protracted war” guerilla strategy be employed. This will not answer suspicions, however – quite the opposite. As a result, Chu Teh launches attacks on Japanese-held cities and rail lines in much of occupied north China. About 600 miles of railway are destroyed, but at the cost of 22,000 casualties to 4000 Japanese. Further losses follow as the Japanese reassert control. Nevertheless, the Communists proclaim the offensive a victory.

August 20, 1942
Guadalcanal Henderson Field receives its first aircraft – a group of 31 fighters is flown in from the escort carrier Long Island.
Atomic Research Plutonium is separated as a solid in the US.

August 20, 1943
Eastern Front The Soviets take Lebedin, west of Kharkov.
Germany, Politics Himmler replaces Frick as Interior Minister.
Sweden German rail crossings through the country are suspended. Over two million men have passed through since the summer of 1940.
New Guinea Allied forces fight fiercely to take Babdubi Ridge, southwest of Salamaua.
Solomons The Japanese evacuate the southern part of Baanga Island.
Diplomatic Relations The Allies insist on Italy’s unconditional surrender and allow ten days for the Italian negotiators to inform their government.

August 20, 1944
Western Front Heavy fighting continues at Chambois, with Canadian troops reinforcing the Poles at the end of the day. The last German units to escape the Falaise pocket do so during the night slipping through Allied lines between Chambois and St. Lambert. The Seine crossings at Mantes Grassicourt are seized and other US troops enter Fontainebleau. There is a brief cease-fire in Paris. US 9th Army is activated under General Sampson. It comes under 21st Army Group.
Southern France US troops reach the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence. French 1st Army, under de Lattre de Tassigny is activated under 6th Army Group. The Gestapo executes 120 resistance prisoners in Lyon.
France, Politics Petain is arrested by the Germans in Vichy for refusing to leave for an area safe from Allied advances. He is transferred to Belfort. General de Gaulle is in France and the FFI forces claim to control 8 departments.
Eastern Front After a fierce artillery preparation during the night a major Soviet offensive begins in the south with main attacks near Jassy and Tiraspol. Malinovsky’s 2nd Ukrainian Front advances south around Jassy and Tolbukhin’s 3rd Ukrainian Front southwest from Tiraspol. Their attacks fall on 3rd and 4th Rumanian Armies and German 6th Army, which also contains many Rumanian troops. These forces are all part of Freissner’s Army Group South Ukraine.
A major air raid on Constanza sinks a U-Boat, 3 MTB’s and a Rumanian torpedo boat, along with many smaller craft.
In Latvia Russian attacks also continue fiercely. Naval gunfire helps beat off a Soviet attack near Riga. A new Soviet attack opens south of Narva, making good progress.
Some 25,000 German troops are now involved in operations against the Warsaw Rising. An AK attack to link up separated areas fails with heavy loss.
New Guinea The Americans announce that fighting on Biak has come to an end. The Japanese have lost 4700 dead and 220 prisoners. The Americans have had 2550 casualties.
China On the Salween front, a bloody Chinese assault finally captures Sung Shan.

August 20, 1945
United States, Home Front The War Production Board removes most of its controls over manufacturing activity. These and many other measures help the US economy to convert very quickly to a peacetime basis. It is stronger and more productive than before the war and with the impetus provided by wartime innovations is ready to move into new fields also. The American standard of living, unlike that of any of the other participants in the war, has increased. Combined with the devastation of European manufacturing and communications, the US stands in an unrivalled position of economic power.
The wartime economy has brought social changes as well. Workers have moved from one part of the country to another. Blacks, previously an overwhelmingly southern population, are now in cities all over the country. Their war experience has led them to expect more from the country they fought for. Women have worked in war industries while the men were off at the front and have had their first real taste of independence; many are unwilling to simply put it all behind and return to the kitchen. These social challenges will become more prominent in the decade to come.
Atomic Research The Soviets name their atomic bomb program as Problem #1. Beria heads an intensified effort.
World Affairs British Foreign Secretary Bevin denounces Soviet activities in eastern Europe as “one kind of totalitarianism replaced by another.”
China Japanese forces in the country surrender. The US begins an airlift of Nationalist troops into the north of the country to garrison areas before the Communists can. The first clash between Nationalist and Communist forces occurs.
Manchuria Soviet troops occupy Harbin and Mukden.
Sakhalin An amphibious attack captures the southern port of Maoka in a difficult fight.
Soviet Planning Vasilievsky repeats his request for the OK for the attack on Hokkaido. Stalin gives his assent for the assault to begin on the 23rd.

[Dr Cro]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

It was seagulls,It didn't work as Seagulls don't go far out to sea,Mind You using dogs to blow up Enemy tanks didn't work very well either .....

As I said in an earlier post Gulls DO go far out to sea, Herring gulls have been know to commute the North Atlantic, Herring gulls ringed in Britain have been recovered in Canada und the US and then recovered subsequently back in Britain. Species of North American gulls have been found in Britain and that is without the usual help of weather systems. Kittiwakes are known as a pelagic species, only coming to land to breed.
As far as Peregrine Falcons being trained to hunt for German Homing Pigeons that sounds like a flight (pun not intended) of fancy as a peregrine only sees pigeons as prey, regardless of nationality. It is weel know that Peregrines, along with other falcons, were actively persecuted as they were thought to intercept homers carrying messages from occupied europe and from downed aircrew at sea.
The experiments of using gulls to "spot" periscopes was repeated on an episode of Coast, with the same results - failure. Again how would the gull differentiate between periscopes. Sometimes wonder who are the bird brains
Experiments were done on using pigeons to spot people lost at sea. the idea was that pigeons which have better eyesight to humans would be carried either side of the aircraft. When something was spotted the pigeon would peck at a target and receive food as a reward, and a light would come on in the cockpit indicating which which side to turn to look. I don't know what was the final outcome of this

[squigg58]

Originally Posted by Dr Cro

As far as Peregrine Falcons being trained to hunt for German Homing Pigeons that sounds like a flight (pun not intended) of fancy as a peregrine only sees pigeons as prey, regardless of nationality.

I did wonder about that, which is why I suggested that some means must have been devised in order to ensure the safety of the Allied pigeons! Perhaps there would have been gaps in the "Peregrine defence line" around the areas of the Allied pigeon's coops ... but I'm only guessing!

The "training" part is also slightly confusing as you don't need to train a Peregrine to go after a pigeon! Then again, perhaps someone actually believed you could train a falcon to go after outbound birds but not incoming birds!

Finally, I didn't think about it at the time, but the Scilly Isles seems an odd place to station the falcons, unless they were just being "trained" there!

Maybe it was just an elaborate hoax to convince the Germans that we had a "feathered wonder-weapon"!

[Ennath]

The Saudis must have been reading about these avian weapons when they arrested a vulture as an Israeli spy.

[Ennath]

August 21, 1937
Diplomatic Relations The USSR and China sign a non-aggression pact and the Soviets undertake to provide military-technical assistance.

August 21, 1939
Diplomatic Relations The Soviet-German economic agreement is signed and Stalin announces that he will see Ribbentrop for further talks.
Mongolia Soviet forces advance steadily against fierce but disjointed Japanese resistance. A major fight begins for Fui Heights.

August 21, 1940
World Affairs Leon Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico. Trotsky has been an untiring enemy of Stalin throughout the latter’s career and it is certain that the assassin has been working on Soviet orders.
Britain, Politics The government allows nationalist forces of Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland, France and Czechoslovakia to train in Britain under their own flags.

August 21, 1941
Eastern Front In the north the Germans take Chudovo, northeast of Novgorod, cutting the main rail link between Leningrad and Moscow. Further north, Finnish attacks take Kexholm. In the center, the Soviets pull out of Gomel after a long struggle and a series of counterattacks. In the south, the Germans take Kherson on the lower Dniepr.
France The first violent act of resistance occurs when a German naval cadet is shot in Paris. More than 150 Parisians will be shot by the Germans in reprisal.

August 21, 1942
Eastern Front Army Group A penetrates almost as far as Novorossisk on the Black Sea, taking Krymsk. Troops from Army group B cross the Don near Kletskaya.
Guadalcanal The Japanese make a series of wild attacks across the Tenaru River in which they are eventually wiped out. The US forces receive useful shipments of supplies and some reinforcements.

August 21, 1943
Australia, Politics Curtin’s Labor Party wins the General Election.
New Guinea Australian troops occupy Komiatum, 6 miles southwest of Salamaua.
Eastern Front The Red Army vice tightens around Kharkov.

August 21, 1944
Western Front The last Germans in the Falaise pocket surrender. Some 45,000 are taken prisoner, but 100,000 get away. All the Allied armies begin a pursuit of the retreating Germans across northern France. US 3rd Army improves its bridgeheads over the Seine. On the right the US advance reaches Sens. Fighting resumes in Paris; the German efforts to retain control are half-hearted as Allied armies approach.
Southern France US troops take Aix-en-Provence. Algerian troops reach Aubagne, just east of Marseilles.
Eastern Front Fighting continues in the Baltic States. In Rumania, the Soviet offensive makes progress.

August 21-29, 1944
World Affairs Senior Allied representatives meet at Dumbarton Oaks to discuss plans for maintaining postwar security. They agree that there should be an assembly of all nations backed up by a council of leading states. There is also to be an International Court of Justice.

August 21, 1945
United States, Policy President Truman orders the supply of Lend-Lease aid to stop immediately. Truman has been scantily briefed on this issue and its effects contrast considerably with American generosity in settling Britain’s Lend-Lease bill or the Marshall Plan.
India Elections for the Central and Provincial Legislative Assemblies are announced. The Congress campaigns on the issue of a united India, the Muslim League on that of a separate Pakistan. Communal rioting is widespread.
Malaya Violence between ethnic Chinese and Malay Muslims begins. Over 400 die in the coming weeks.

[Ennath]

August 22, 1927
Hungary The Allied Military Control Commission is withdrawn.

August 22, 1937
China The first major air combat of World War II takes place over Pao-Shan. Four Japanese fighters surprise and engage 18 Chinese fighters, shooting down six for no loss.

August 22, 1939
German Planning Hitler gives his final approval for the invasion of Poland. He fully expects that Britain and France will back down as they did over Czechoslovakia.
France, Defense Forces on the eastern frontier are put on alert. A partial mobilization is ordered two days later.
August 22, 1940
Italy, Planning Mussolini orders all preparations for war against Greece to be postponed.
English Channel German artillery shells a coastal convoy near Dover for 80 minutes without achieving any hits. In the evening the guns bombard Dover. A British 14” gun returns fire in the first of many such cross-Channel artillery duels.

August 22, 1941
France German authorities in Paris threaten to shoot hostages if attacks on German troops continue. About 20,000 German troops and police are engaged in searches in the city for suspects.
Eastern Front The 436th Cossack Regiment defects to the Germans, the first of thousands of Cossacks who will fight for the Germans.

August 22, 1942
Diplomatic Relations Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy.
Eastern Front The German advance reaches Suchumi but is beginning to bog down.

August 22, 1943
Eastern Front The Germans begin to pull out of Kharkov after a stubborn defense. Manstein, commanding Army Group South, refuses to hold any longer; he believes it would only sacrifice Army Detachment Kempff in a repeat of Stalingrad. Along the Mius River, the Soviets reach the Taganrog-Stalino railway and the Germans are fighting hard to hold.

August 22-28, 1943
Central Pacific US forces occupy various islands in the Ellice group and begin work on airfields.

August 22, 1944
Western Front The American bridgehead at Mantes-Gassicourt stands up to German counterattacks. The fighting in Paris reaches its maximum intensity.
Southern France American troops occupy Grenoble.
Arctic British carrier aircraft attack the Tirpitz in Kaalfjord. The attack is detected on the way in and loses heavily to the German defenses. No hits are achieved.
Eastern Front Jassy falls to the Soviets. Tolbukhin’s troops are attacking toward Kishinev and have advanced up to 50 miles in the past two days. Stalin refuses requests by the Western Allies for the use of Russian airfields to make supply drops to the Warsaw rebels.
China On the Salween front, Japanese counterattacks around Sung Shan have no success.
Japan, Home Front The government introduces measures to conscript all women between 12 and 40 for war work.

August 22, 1945
Manchuria The Kwantung Army surrenders. Soviet forces reach Port Arthur and Dairen. (These will remain in Soviet hands until 1953 before being returned to China.) Most of the Hutou bunkers are now untenable; fighting continues, but the end is in sight.
Soviet Planning The Hokkaido invasion is cancelled.
Rumania The two Rumanian divisions of the Red Army are integrated into the Rumanian Army. They are its best-equipped formations and are firmly aligned with the Soviets.
World Affairs Atlee declares that the atomic bomb means a “naked choice between world cooperation and world destruction.”

[Ennath]

August 23, 1937
China The Japanese land at the mouth of the Huangpu River, north of Shanghai, beginning efforts to flank the city itself.

August 23, 1939
Politics King Leopold III of Belgium appeals for peace on behalf of Belgium, Holland and the Scandinavian states.
Mongolia Fui Heights falls as the Soviet advance continues.

August 23-24, 1939
Diplomatic Relations The Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact is concluded and signed in Moscow. Secret terms of the agreement define the countries’ spheres of influence. Poland is to be divided approximately in half. Germany is to be allowed to control Lithuania and the USSR is allotted Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. Later this will be revised to place Lithuania in the Soviet sphere in return for more Polish territory to Germany. As a good-will gesture, Stalin turns over to the Gestapo a number of leading German Communists who had fled to Russia.
There is an exchange of messages between Chamberlain and Hitler in which Chamberlain warns that Britain is prepared to help Poland with force and Hitler says that he can never renounce his interest in Danzig and the Corridor.

August 23, 1940
War at Sea German He-115 seaplanes torpedo and sink two cargo ships off Moray Firth.

August 23, 1941
Eastern Front 2nd Panzer Group and 2nd Army from Army Group Center begin attacks south to link up east of Kiev with forces of Army Group South. Most of the German generals are opposed to this move and would prefer to maintain the drive toward Moscow but Hitler insists on this change in strategy.
German Raiders The merchant cruiser Orion returns from its cruise and arrives in the Gironde estuary. The cruise has lasted 510 days and six ships of 39,000 tons have been sunk, as well as more in company with the raider Komet.

August 23, 1942
Eastern Front Army Group B reaches the Volga on a five-mile front between Rynak and Erzovka. Soviet resistance continues strong. The Luftwaffe attacks Stalingrad with 600 bombers, causing massive destruction and killing over 30,000.
At Izbushensky in the Don bend, one of the last cavalry charges in history occurs. 600 men of the Italian Savoia Cavalry charge and rout 2000 Soviet infantry and close the breach between German 6th and Italian 8th Armies.
German mountain troops climb Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus and plant a flag, but it is clearly a propaganda victory. In terrain like this everything is on the side of a stubborn resistance.
Southwest Pacific Beginning of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Both the Japanese and Americans send major warships to cover attempts to ferry supplies to Guadalcanal. The main American force, Task Force 61 (Admiral Fletcher), consists of three carriers. The Japanese are operating characteristically in several separate groups. Admiral Nagumo has two carriers and Admiral Hara has the smaller carrier Ryujo.
Fletcher sends off a strike but it fails to find any targets. Both forces are now alert for the next day’s fight.

August 23, 1943
Eastern Front There are special Soviet celebrations to mark the liberation of Kharkov.
In the south, the Soviets are pushing forward beyond Voroshilovgrad.
Russia, Politics The Soviet government returns to Moscow.
Solomons Three Japanese destroyers making for Santa Isabel to evacuate the garrison are attacked by US aircraft and forced to turn back. The Japanese Imperial Headquarters decides to abandon the central Solomons and concentrate on Bougainville.
China Japanese terror bombing raids on Chungking are suspended.

August 23-24, 1943
New Guinea Four American destroyers bombard Finschhafen in support of the air operations against Wewak.

August 23, 1944
Western Front Most of Paris is in the hands of the rebels. To the east, Melun falls to the Americans and French troops with V Corps are brought forward to spearhead the coming liberation of Paris. In the city General von Choltitz receives orders to raze the city rather than allow it to be captured. The Grand Palais is burned in the fighting. Montgomery’s 21st Army Group and US 1st Army are hurrying forward to the Seine and XIX Corps takes Evraux. Drancy concentration camp is liberated. On the Biscay coast, small US units link with the FFI near Bordeaux.
Southern France French troops reach the outskirts of Marseilles and Toulon.
Rumania, Politics King Michael dismisses and arrests Antonescu. The new Prime Minister is General Senatescu. Rumania accepts Russian terms. There is some fighting in Bucharest between Germans and Rumanians. Most Germans are allowed to leave the country unmolested.
Eastern Front About 12 divisions of German 6th Army are cut off and Soviet troops also take Vaslui. Many Rumanian troops have either deserted or gone over to the Russians. Most of the isolated Germans will break out in the direction of the Carpathians.
New Guinea The battle for Noemfoor is over and most of the American forces are withdrawn for service elsewhere.

August 23, 1945
China Nationalist commanders order Japanese to hold their positions until relieved by Chungking troops. With a shortage of transport in China, some Japanese troops will serve under Nationalist command as late as December 1946.
Kuriles Resistance on Shimushu ends.
Austria US, British, and French troops arrive in Vienna.

[Ennath]

August 24, 1940
Battle of Britain After a lull of five days of poor weather, the Germans again resume major operations. Their bombers now have very strong escorts and it is in consequence very difficult for the British fighters to get among the formations. The small airfield at Manston is so heavily damaged that it cannot be used. There is also a damaging attack on Portsmouth. The losses for the day are nearer the figures required by the Germans with the Luftwaffe losing 38 and the RAF 22. During the night the Germans continue their efforts, sending 170 bombers on various missions. Some of these, unable to find their targets, scatter their bombs aimlessly on south London despite specific orders to avoid the city – a serious and significant error. During the night only two German bombers are lost.

August 24, 1941
Eastern Front General Koniev leads a new counterattack in the Gomel area. It makes little progress. In the north, the Finnish attacks continue to press forward and Viipuri is surrounded; the Soviets launch a counterattack but with little success.
War Crimes After protests from the Pope and German Catholics, the Nazis cancel Action T4, the euthanasia of the mentally ill. Over 70,000 have been killed. The program will continue in a more decentralized manner, with another 100,000 dying by the end of the war. Commenting on German massacres, Churchill says, “We are in the presence of a crime without a name.”

August 24-25, 1941
Mediterranean Force H carries out another offensive operation. Carrier aircraft attack the airfield at Tempio in northern Sardinia. Mines are also laid off Livorno. Italian forces come out against a suspected Malta operation so there is no contact. The cruiser Bolzano is torpedoed by the submarine Triumph.

August 24, 1942
Southwest Pacific In the morning American scout planes sight Ryujo and a strike is dispatched. While it is on its way, Shokaku and Zuikaku are also sighted and Fletcher tries to redirect his attack. Only a few of his planes receive this message and most carry on to sink Ryujo. Shortly after this strikes from Nagumo’s carriers find the Enterprise and damage her, though aircraft can still be landed on her. At the end of the day, both carrier groups retire without attempting to achieve a decisive result.
Germany, Home Front Hitler appoints Thierack Minister of Justice with powers to set aside any or all written law.

August 24-25, 1942
New Guinea Japanese assault troops land on Goodenough Island in preparation for a move into Milne Bay.

August 24, 1943
Germany, Politics Himmler is appointed Minister of the Interior. Neurath resigns as Protector of Bohemia and Moravia; he is replaced by Frisch.
Eastern Front The Soviets launch an offensive in Ukraine. Five Fronts attack along an 870 mile front. The Soviets, under Rokossovsky and Koniev, mass 2.6 million men, 2400 tanks, 51,000 guns, and 2800 aircraft. Manstein can muster 1,250,000 men, 2100 tanks, 12,000 guns, and 2000 planes.
New Guinea Australian 3rd Division is replaced by the 5th for the final phase of the advance on Salamaua. But this attack is really a feint – the true objective is Lae and the Australian main body is approaching it from the interior. The Americans continue fighting around Dot Inlet.

August 24-25, 1943
Denmark There are several bomb incidents in Copenhagen and many strikes in the shipyards.

August 24, 1944
Western Front The Germans make a final effort in Paris. Leclerc leads French 2nd Armored Division to the outskirts of the city.
Southern France A US force advancing east from the beachheads takes Cannes. Inland, Grenoble and Arles fall to the Americans. French attacks on Marseilles and Toulon begin. Both cities are heavily defended.
Germany, Home Front Goebbels abolishes most holidays, closes schools and extends the work week, all in an effort to increase war production.
Eastern Front Russian forces in the Balkans advance at great speed and Kishinev falls. Army Group South Ukraine has been shattered by the Rumanian defections. The remnants are retreating north and northwest to regroup. German aircraft raid Bucharest in reprisal for Rumania’s defection.
Indian Ocean British carrier aircraft attack Padang, Sumatra.
The Philippines Guerillas destroy a Japanese detachment at Baluarte on Leyte.

August 24, 1945
Diplomatic Relations The USSR signs a treaty of friendship with China. The Soviets, however, are already working to strengthen the Chinese Communists.
Atlee protests the sudden cut-off of Lend-Lease aid.