HoI4 Countdown - it's D-Day, H-Hour minus....

[Axe99]

We're 75 days out from HoI4 . For a 75-related WW2 number, it turns out (I googled this, I can't claim prior knowledge) that western Allies celebrate VE day on May 8, and the Soviets/Russians on May 9, because of a 75-minute delay. The surrender document for the Western Allies was signed by General Jodl on May 7, with the surrender to take effect at 11:01pm on May 8. However, the Soviets wanted a higher ranking signatory on their document (for sensible reasons, more details through the link), and while Field Marshall Keitel was ready to sign at 11pm on May 8, administrative snafus meant there was a 75-minute delay in him getting the appropriate document, and thus it wasn't signed until the next day, and there are now two VE days!

Here's a the Allied surrender document signed on the 7th (by Jodl, the one that wasn't 75 minutes late):

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/ve-day-anniversary-world-war-II/392768/

 

[Tjolme]

75mm was a common calibre for tank guns during the war. There was the Ordnance QF 75mm (British), 7.5cm KwK 40 (German) and M3 75mm /40 (American).

Of course it was also popular for field guns, and anti tank guns.

 

[Haelicon]

75mm PaK 40 (7,5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40), was the backbone of German anti-tank gun in the later part of World War II! Effective against the Allied tanks until the end of the war, it was produced until the end of the war, numbering about 23,500 produced.

 

[Haelicon]

Can't wait until we finally post the actual D-Day event

 

[Wyrm]

USS Wickes (DD-75)

 

[Axe99]

74 days to go, 74 days to go . For today, my '74' is the Grenade, Hand, Anti-tank no. 74, also known as the sticky bomb. Not the bomb of Saving Private Ryan fame, but rather a mass-produced (over a quarter of a million made) bomb by the British. Here's a pic of one being made:

You pulled a lever and the outer casing would spring off, revealing a sticky, explosive-filled centre. The centre was actually a birdlime-covered glass case filled with semi-liquid nitroglycerin. To use, you pulled one pin to eject the outer case, and another to prime the grenade. The fuse started once you let go of the handle - the idea being you pulled the two pins, ran up to a tank, smashed the thing on the back spreading nitro over the hull, then ran off before the five-second timer ran out. It sounds like it was pretty dangerous (some people while training would pull the pins then get the grenade caught on clothing while moving, lose grip of the lever and that was sadly it) but mainly issued to the home guard, but apparently some made their way to Africa, and took out a few tanks there, as well as turned up in the Battle of Milne Bay, ANZIO and in the hands of the French Resistance. I'd have felt fairly nervous using them m'self! For more deets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_bomb

 

[Axe99]

We're only 73 days away from HoI4 . Which is the same amount of time as it took for the US and Japan to fight the Battle of Peleliu. The General in charge of the 1st US Marines (the invading division) thought the island would fall in only take four days (another parallel with HoI4, which was expected to be a bit quicker to complete ), but well-prepared Japanese defensive positions made it a tough battle for the US, while the US' resources and tenacity made it an inevitable defeat for Japan.

Here's the first wave of LVTs approaching the shore on Peleliu, September the 15th 1944.

 

[Victor Cortez]

We're only 73 days away from HoI4 .

"Only"?

Thanks for these posts Axe!

 

[Haelicon]

HMS Eagle, during the 1930s.

The U-73, commanded by Helmut Rosenbaum sank the British carrier HMS Eagle on 11 August 1942.

 

[Axe99]

We're a just 72 days to go until HoI4 . I haven't done a ship yet, so here's CA-72, USS Pittsburgh, a Baltimore-class cruiser of the USA. She served at Okinawa and Iwo Jima, and then copped such a buffeting during a typhoon her bow fell off! Didn't stop her though, see the second pic!

"Only"?

Thanks for these posts Axe!

Haha, no worries at all, thought it might be a good light bit of fun in the last couple of months pre-launch, and after waiting since I think 2014 sometime, it feels like it's just around the corner now .

 

[Axe99]

We're a mere 71 days away from HoI4 now . For a '71' WW2 themed number, here's the Wehrmacht's 71st "Cloverleaf"Infantry division, that had a four leaf clover as their divisional symbol (see below), but while it may have worked for them early, they didn't have a particularly lucky WW2 in the scheme of things. They were raised in August '39, was on garrison duty in the West Wall until the invasion of France, when it got in on the Fall Gelb action, before serving as a demonstration unit for Barbarossa, where it was there from the start.

They got lucky and got sent back for rest in November 1941 (no Soviet winter for them in 41-42 at least), but their luck went downhill from there, with them being assigned to the sixth army for the Battle of Stalingrad, where they were part of the German forces that were completely destroyed. The division was reconstituted and sent to Italy, where it was almost destroyed again at Monte Cassino (through attrition rather than encirclement this time), and then continued to fight as best it could against the Allied advance, taking heavy losses until the end, when (according to the Wikipedia) they surrendered to the British in Hungary (although I haven't the foggiest how they accomplished this - this might be Wikipedia playing up, I thought the USSR overran Hungary before the Germans surrendered).

TL: DR - four leaf are clovers not guaranteed to bring you luck during wartime .

 

[Thandros]

Interesting... Ok heres one for 71. 71 years ago today the battle of Iwo Jima ended with an American victory.

 

[Axe99]

70 days to go, 70 days to go . Happy Easter everyone as well . Three pics today - two are for Easter, the rest is a proper '70' number.

First pic is a popular alternative to Easter eggs in Britain during the war - carrots on a stick! Chocolate was in very short supply, but carrots were relatively plentiful, so were the go-to treat. I hope everyone gets lots of tasty carrots today .

Easter was celebrated on the frontlines as well - in Italy in 1944 (so the closest thing to Easter, although it was April 9 in 1944, Easter not wanting to settle on a specific date and all that) the US broadcast their service across the front lines, and there was a temporary ceasefire for an hour or so.

In both cases, if you celebrate Easter, I hope you're doing it a bit 'easier' than above!

As for a '70', I hope your wait for HoI4 is a good deal easier than the 70 days these two spent adrift at sea after their vessel was torpedoed by a U-boat. Bob Tapscott and Roy Widdicombe were both serving in the British Merchant Navy aboard the Anglo-Saxon when it was sunk by the German commerce raider Widder. They escaped in a jolly boat (with some others, who didn't survive the trip), and managed to stay alive for 70 days while they drifted across the Atlantic to the Bahamas. They survived on rainwater and incredibly meagre rations for weeks. Tapscott survived the war, but tragically Widdicombe was killed when on his return voyage from the Bahamas to the UK, when the vessel he was travelling on was torpedoed by a U-boat.

From: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-35252604

 

[CHRIS3169]

Anyone else notice that in the forum rules, among the things that aren't going to be included and shouldn't be discussed, they mention systematic purges.

Don't the Soviets have a purge focus tree though?

 

[uglyduckling81]

Anyone else notice that in the forum rules, among the things that aren't going to be included and shouldn't be discussed, they mention systematic purges.

Don't the Soviets have a purge focus tree though?

Anyone else notice this post has nothing to do with the topic of this thread. Can we have it deleted?

'D-Day - 70' : Early March 1942 - 70 people died during a Japanese air raid over Broome in Western Australia.

What's left of a Dutch Dornier flying boat about 70 years after it was destroyed by a Japanese air raid on Broome.

 

[lepyrovengeur]

First pic is a popular alternative to Easter eggs in Britain during the war - carrots on a stick! Chocolate was in very short supply, but carrots were relatively plentiful, so were the go-to treat. I hope everyone gets lots of tasty carrots today .

I think it is french kids, because the fowl in the right is a sign of a french compagny which do movies those day.

 

[Axe99]

I think it is french kids, because the fowl in the right is a sign of a french compagny which do movies those day.

That's not a bad guess, but that fowl is for British Pathe, and it was British owned and run during WW2 (http://www.britishpathe.com/pages/history/#19331958). From my internetting, I'm pretty confident that's a picture of British kids, but I can track down the original article (sorry, I should have linked it in my post, been a big weekend, head not working straight) if that'd help?

 

[lepyrovengeur]

That's not a bad guess, but that fowl is for British Pathe, and it was British owned and run during WW2 (http://www.britishpathe.com/pages/history/#19331958). From my internetting, I'm pretty confident that's a picture of British kids, but I can track down the original article (sorry, I should have linked it in my post, been a big weekend, head not working straight) if that'd help?

I didn't know they had a british branch.

 

[Wurstsalat]

We're D-Day minus 78 today .

For something a bit random, if you remember that old German bloke who had a Panther tank in his cellar (!), well, he was 78 years old .

He also had an '88, in case anyone with a tank came looking for his tank .

of course do i remember it happend in Kiel where i live . My dad saw this tank clearing the roads during the blizzard in the 80s

 

[Yorkie-GBR]

I think it is french kids, because the fowl in the right is a sign of a french compagny which do movies those day.

That's not a bad guess, but that fowl is for British Pathe, and it was British owned and run during WW2 (http://www.britishpathe.com/pages/history/#19331958). From my internetting, I'm pretty confident that's a picture of British kids, but I can track down the original article (sorry, I should have linked it in my post, been a big weekend, head not working straight) if that'd help?

They are British Children, as the carrot on a stick was a wartime substitute for ice cream.

The pictures are taken from British Pathe as indicated by the logo in the picture shown by Axe99. Below is a short vid about the topic.