Made with antiquated but easily manufactured technology, they were built in record time. Each ship took an average of just 42 days to complete.
The ships were lightly armed, but one notable example, the SS Stephen Hopkins, managed to fight a cargo raider to mutual destruction.
Currently, only four remain. Three are museums, while the fourth is a landlocked canning facility.
In February 1945, during the Allied campaign in the Philippines, Smoky was instrumental in helping lay communication lines under an airstrip at Lingayen Gulf on Luzon. Engineers needed to run telephone wires through a 70-foot-long, 8-inch-diameter pipe buried beneath the runway, but doing so manually would have taken 70 men three days and exposed them to constant Japanese air attacks.
Instead, Corporal Bill Wynne, Smoky’s owner, trained her to pull a kite string through the narrow, sand-filled culvert. With the string in place, engineers used it to pull the heavier communication cables through—completing the task in minutes and saving an estimated 250 men and 40 aircraft from potential destruction.
My great grandfather was a ussr soldier during ww2. He received several medals but his house was looted after his death
Can anyone help identify the medals shown in the image?
I recently found a few photos of my great-grandfather from Austria during WWII and I’m trying to figure out more about his military service.
He was born in 1902 and was reportedly forcibly drafted around 1941 after he spoke negatively about Hitler and someone reported him to the Gestapo in Vienna. He was then sent to the Eastern Front.
The problem is that I can barely find any records or information about him anywhere.
I only have a few photos, so I’m hoping maybe someone here can help identify things like:
- his unit
- rank
- uniform details
- possible location/front
- or anything else visible
He was from Vienna, Austria.
Hello! This is a picture of my wife's grandmother from WWII, I asked Chat GPT to Colorize/sharpen it, so I attached the original as well just in case. We believe she was in the Army Nurse Corps but can't find any documentation for her service so we are hoping to get some information here.
Could anyone please let me know what Branch/Rank this uniform lines up with? It looks like a Gold Oak leaf to me on the collar but I cant tell for sure, and the insignia on her hat sort of looks like the Marine Corps EGA.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!