Chain drive truck too.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6292545867439417&set=pcb.505799531400735
Saturday, October 15, 2022
electric delivery truck of electric kitchen stoves, way, way, way back in the day
Renault 1905 Carrosserie Landaulet childrens pedal cart found in a French castle
it's the coolest most unusual wheeled vehicle I've seen in a while
getting vital supplies from ports and depots to combat troops, when and where such supplies are needed... the Red Ball Express 362nd Quartermaster Truck Company.
Conceived in an emergency, the Red Ball Express was an express trucking-supply service that allowed Eisenhower’s armies to keep their foot on the gas at a crucial point during World War II. It is no overstatement that these unsung heroes helped to win the war.
As the theater commander, Eisenhower had some unique, first-hand experiences with army logistics and movement in his years rising up the ranks. His first occurred in 1919, when the young officer was part of a logistical effort to cross the United States in a military convoy. https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-eisenhower-interstate-system-did.html
The Express initially started with 67 truck companies, which ballooned four days later into 132 companies with 23,000 drivers and mechanics. This easy transition to truck transport was due in part to the industrial might of the United States, which produced over two million of the heavy haulers during the war.
Although the Transportation and Quartermaster Corps ran the operation, many branches were needed to make the operation run effectively.
FYI, Steve just told me that Louis L'Amour was a Lt with the 362nd Quartermasters Co. He is one of my favorite authors.
After the invasion, Louis was an officer in a Quartermaster Truck Company, delivering fuel all over Europe, chasing advancing and occasionally retreating armies through France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. When the war ended he was sent back to France, eventually to become the Company Commander of a unit with little to do except facilitate the return of American troops to the U.S. and be on call for the support services that were helping to clean up the mess that the war had made. It gave him a good deal of time on his own, time to explore the countryside and experience Paris.
Military police played the role of traffic cops, engineers helped to maintain the roads and bridges, and ordnance teams repaired disabled vehicles. Army tactics and doctrine prior to the war emphasized mobility and maneuver, which were put to effective at a time when the German army still relied on horse-drawn transport to ferry some of its equipment.
Eisenhower decided to deploy the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions around Bastogne, Belgium, and, once again, the Red Ball Express came to the rescue by transporting thousands of troops into the battle, including the above-mentioned paratroops.
The speed with which these men were moved into the fighting proved to be decisive. The quick action, availability, and speed of the Red Ball Express was a powerful tool that helped to turn the tide of battle.
Three out of four of the men of the Red Ball Express were African American. This was no accident and reflected the deliberate effort by the military during World War II—with a few notable exceptions—to keep African Americans in non-combat and service-related roles.
At its peak, the Red Ball Express operated nearly 6,000 vehicles that carried over 12,300 tons of supplies a day.
Eisenhower decided to deploy the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions around Bastogne, Belgium, and, once again, the Red Ball Express came to the rescue by transporting thousands of troops into the battle, including the above-mentioned paratroops.
The speed with which these men were moved into the fighting proved to be decisive. The quick action, availability, and speed of the Red Ball Express was a powerful tool that helped to turn the tide of battle.
Three out of four of the men of the Red Ball Express were African American. This was no accident and reflected the deliberate effort by the military during World War II—with a few notable exceptions—to keep African Americans in non-combat and service-related roles.
At its peak, the Red Ball Express operated nearly 6,000 vehicles that carried over 12,300 tons of supplies a day.
What the Red Ball Express achieved was nothing short of a landmark in the history of military logistics. Initially scheduled to have lasted only two weeks, the service they provided was so crucial to Allied success that it went on for 82 days and delivered over 400,000 tons of gas, oil, lubricants, ammunition, food, medical supplies, and other necessities to supply points near the front lines.
From 1973-1974, a short-lived CBS TV series entitled Roll Out, based on the Red Ball Express, highlighted the daily grind and adventures of the fictitious 5050th Quartermaster Truck Company of the U.S. Third Army. Intending to capitalize on the success of M*A*S*H, the series was designed to be a commentary on race relations during World War II, but only 12 episodes were broadcast.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/red-ball-express-to-the-rescue/
This is just another example of the sort of thing I have never heard of during the annual "black history month" publicity blitz, and I post whatever, when ever, without arranging to hold off until some history month or calendar event. I remember some years ago listing the many posts I've made that are distinctly black history, yet cover people and events that I've never seen brought up during the history month blitz
Friday, October 14, 2022
"There we were, going backwards, toward the end of the runway with all four engines at full take-off power." (a real ground loop story... Flak hits? No problem. No instruments? No problem. Land in mud, do a 180, and firewall the engines to nail the landing? Hold my beer))
It had been raining for weeks when we took off, the steel mat runway was covered with three inches of slimy mud.
Airplanes, taking off and landing just pushed the steel mat deeper into the mud. Every time an airplane took off or landed, more and more slimy mud had pushed up on top of the steel mat. So as we approached the mud-covered runway, there were three or four inches of slippery slime on top of the mat.
But we were not worried until I called for flaps, my copilot, replied, "We don't have any. They're not coming down" and it was too late to crank them down by hand.
We weren't about to go around again without an airspeed indicator. Due to the "hot" approach speed we didn't touch down until we were half-way down the field. The airplane in front of us made a normal landing and turned off at a taxi-strip about five- hundred feet short of the end of the runway. That pilot managed to land short enough to turn to the left onto that first taxi strip.
As he turned, he looked out his left window and saw that we were halfway down the field, he turned to his co-pilot and says, "Look out that right window. George is going to crash into the gully at the end of the runway." (Several British bombers had hit that gully in the past, and they blew up).
We finally got the plane on the mud and I hit the brakes. No brakes! (in a B-17, the pilot and co-pilot can look out their window and see the wheel on their side). Every time I touched the brakes, the wheels would stop, lock, and we'd hydroplane over the mud.
We finally got the plane on the mud and I hit the brakes. No brakes! (in a B-17, the pilot and co-pilot can look out their window and see the wheel on their side). Every time I touched the brakes, the wheels would stop, lock, and we'd hydroplane over the mud.
I had one choice, something we'd normally try to avoid. "Ground-loop"
I pulled No. 3 and 4 engines all the way back. I pushed No. 1 and 2 throttles forward to take- off power, I started tapping the right brake (trying to ground loop to the right, and let centrifugal force tip the left wing into the ground). We'd damage the airplane but avoid crashing into the gully.
Normally, the plane would turn and leave the runway. But it was so slimy, the wheels had no friction to make it turn. The plane just kept sliding forward. No. 1 and 2 engines at full take-off power caused the airplane to spin around while sliding straight down the runway. As it approached 180 degrees, I pushed number 3 and 4 throttles full forward.
Normally, the plane would turn and leave the runway. But it was so slimy, the wheels had no friction to make it turn. The plane just kept sliding forward. No. 1 and 2 engines at full take-off power caused the airplane to spin around while sliding straight down the runway. As it approached 180 degrees, I pushed number 3 and 4 throttles full forward.
Now we had "take off" power on all four engines. There we were, going backwards, toward the end of the runway with all four engines at full take-off power.
Well, we stopped right on the very end of the runway and immediately started to move back to the taxiway we just landed on before sliding backwards.
You can imagine how scared our navigator and the bombardier were. Sitting in the nose of the airplane, as it approached the end of the runway and began to spin. This maneuver is one that I'm sure had never been done previously nor will it ever be done again.
Well, we stopped right on the very end of the runway and immediately started to move back to the taxiway we just landed on before sliding backwards.
You can imagine how scared our navigator and the bombardier were. Sitting in the nose of the airplane, as it approached the end of the runway and began to spin. This maneuver is one that I'm sure had never been done previously nor will it ever be done again.
It was the most unforgettable landing in a B-17.
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Spielberg and Hanks collaborated on a documentary in 2000 about Combat Cameramen
When I learn where it can be watched on a streaming service, I will update this... but Netflix doesn't have it, and You Tube only has a 144p low res version. Not worth watching a documentary on Photography! in low res. That's just stupid.
Other lensmen serving with the Navy and Marine Corps also lost their lives trying to get “the shot.” Civilian photographers were not immune from danger; of 21 Life magazine cameramen sent overseas, five were wounded and 12 contracted malaria.
The Day’s Pay was a B-17 Bomber purchased during a fundraising drive where workers were asked to “give a day’s pay and send a bomber on its way” , raising 300k, and it flew in more than 60 missions in Europe.
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Carpenter Max Blanchard is generally credited with coming up with the idea for buying a war plane to send overseas. Shortly after the D-Day landing of June 6, 1944, Blanchard received a letter from his son, who was fighting overseas. The letter was full of praise for the offensive support the troops received from the air. Blanchard knew then that a plane was the right gift for the Army and that it would be appreciated more than anything else. Blanchard told his crew about his idea, and they quickly spread the word.
Soon the whole Hanford Site was enthusiastically supporting the idea of buying the war machine. Over the course of the next month, the payroll department collected a day’s pay from each of some 51,000 employees. The “Give a Bomber” committee held a contest to pick a name for the plane. Eleven people submitted the name “Day’s Pay,” since the campaign was conducted under the slogan “Give a day’s pay and send a bomber on its way.” All employees who contributed to the cause received a certificate acknowledging their “share” of the bomber.
Mrs. Katie Belle Harris, whose son had been lost in action in Germany earlier in the year, was given the honors of christening the B-17. She broke a champagne bottle over the nose of the airplane. Under the “Day’s Pay” moniker painted on the nose, the words “Presented to the Army Air Forces as a Result of Cash Contributions by Employees of Hanford Engineer Works,” explained the origin of the plane. There was also a plaque mounted on the inside of the plane.
The plane would eventually fly more than 60 missions in Germany, bombing oil refineries at Hamburg and an ordnance depot at Dusseldorf, among many other targets. The plane was “injured” a number of times, being hit in the engine, the gas tank, and the nose.
It was sent to the 94th Bomb group at Bury St. Edmunds (Rougham), while "Day's Pay" was allocated to the 862 Bomb Squadron, 493rd Bomb Group, at Debach Suffolk, and assigned to Lt. Arlys D. Wineinger's crew.
The first mission flown by "Day's Pay" was to Dusseldorf, on 9 September, and it flew more than fifty missions in the 493rd Bomb Group. Then in February 1945 following deactivation of the 862nd Bomb Squadron, it was transferred to the 94th Bomb Group, and had completed sixty-seven missions by the time it was returned.
The employees who bought her continued to keep track of Day’s Pay as it flew its missions. The employee newspaper, the Sage Sentinel, reported on its progress. The paper published a list of the plane’s crew. Employees wanted to send Christmas cards to “their” boys overseas.
In July of 1945, Day’s Pay was flown back to the United States, initially to Connecticut, then on to Independence Field, Kansas, for storage.
The employees who bought her continued to keep track of Day’s Pay as it flew its missions. The employee newspaper, the Sage Sentinel, reported on its progress. The paper published a list of the plane’s crew. Employees wanted to send Christmas cards to “their” boys overseas.
In July of 1945, Day’s Pay was flown back to the United States, initially to Connecticut, then on to Independence Field, Kansas, for storage.
Richland, a town on the Columbia River in Eastern Washington, the once-secret city that was built in a hurry to house the scientists and secretaries, engineers and electricians who helped build the Fat Man bomb.
In a very brief time, Richland had grown from 240 to 11,000 people, almost all of whom had worked on the top-secret project at Hanford, a bleak, Government-owned stretch of desert half the size of Rhode Island.
The neaby Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which was created to serve the nuclear weapons industry. The bomb that devastated Nagasaki and ended World War II was made of plutonium manufactured here on the banks of the Columbia River in the days of the Manhattan Project.
Richland High School, proud home of the Bombers, that emblem is everywhere: on a sign towering over the football field, on another at the street entrance to the school, on class rings and on the entrance hallway a hydrogen bomb is outlined on the floor tile, a gift from the class of '68.
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Pons Fabricius, the oldest Roman-made bridge in the city still existing in its original state.
located over the Tiber river in Rome, connecting the eastern shore of the Tiber Island to the mainland.
The bridge was constructed in 62 BC by Lucius Fabricius, a curator of roads in Rome, and it is one of only two bridges in the city not connecting the two banks of the river.
halloween car dealership commercial humor (to be read in a slow Dracula voice)
it's the time of year for hot new wheels,
come on if for killer deals
we want to pay off your loan or lease
so you can tell your old car, to rust in peace!
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