The prisoners of Rabaul (Was: P-39's, zeros, etc.)

In article ,
Cub Driver writes:

as it goes. i was interested to learn how the japs had had to pull air
resources out of southeast Asia to smash bataan, evening bringing in the big
Sally army bombers. I was even more interested to know how badly hurt they had
been by AAA from the Bataan defenders. But when I wondered what unit with what
weaponry were doing this damage, the text was silent. I also wondered what

Well, the Japanese wouldn't have known that! As always, what an
individual writes about his own side is generally fairly close to the
mark. It's when he's writing or yarning about the other side (how many
planes went down, what kind of planes they were) that he goes astray.

altitude the Sallys were bombing from, and if the Jap experience with US Army
AAA at Bataan influenced them to fly at 22,000 feet over port moresby, greatly
reducing their effectiveness, that being ironic because there was no AAA at
Moresby.

According to Stanton's "World War Two Order of Battle", Galahad Books,
NY, 1991, There were two Coast Artillery Regiments (Anti Aircraft) in
the Philippines. These were the 60th Coast Artillery
Regiment(Antiaircraft)(Semimobile), Originally headquartered at Ft
Mills, and the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment
(Antiaircraft)(Semimobile) Headquartered at Clark Field. The 200th
was a New Mexico National Guard unit that had arrived in Manila on 20
Nov 41.
A Coast Artillery Antiaircraft Regiment consisted of 3 Battalions,
with a total of 3 batteries of AAA Guns (3 inch M1 or M2,in the Philippines,
the 90mm gun wasn't yet available), 3 Automatic Weapons Batteries with
37mm M1 AA guns, and 3 searchlight batteries. The Horizontal range of
the 3" is given as 14,780 yds, and the effective ceiling is 27,900'.
The 37mm hat a Horizontal Range of 8,875 yds, and an effective ceiling
of 10.500', with a rate of fire of 120 rds/min. It was a little lower
in performance than a Bofers 40mm.

All of the guns could be controlled by either the Control Equipment
Set M1, or the Kerrison Predictor (M5), and were capable of remote
power control. The remote power control, BTW, is a Big Deal. It means
that the guns are trained, elevated, and, in the case of the larger
guns, the fuzes are set by the predictor, (Which were auto-following
systems. Once a good track was established, the predictor adjusted
the sight, and the guns, to follow the arget's motion. The operators
made small adjustments to improve the tracking. This eliminated most
of the human error that came from the transmitted order or "follow the
pointer" type systems that other combatants, most notably the Germans,
were never quite able to figure out. The U.S was able to build
effective remote power control systems on scales ranging from a B-29s
or A-26's .50 cal turrets, to an Iowa Class Battleship's 16" guns.
This made integrating bettter sensors, like radar, much easier in
U.S. systems.


--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

Well, there is a book about the prisoners of Rabaul, by Henry Sakaida.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...f=nosim/annals

On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 10:32:19 +0900, Gernot Hassenpflug
wrote:


Chris, these stories are enough to make a man cry. If you got this
information out of a book, please post the title. On the other hand,
if you didn't, then please write the book and post the title!

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at http://www.danford.net/index.htm
Vietnam | Flying Tigers | Pacific War | Brewster Buffalo | Piper Cub

From: Gernot Hassenpflug

Chris, these stories are enough to make a man cry. If you got this
information out of a book, please post the title.

I'm looking for a good book!

On the other hand,
if you didn't, then please write the book and post the title!

You would seem to be in a great position to write a book using Japanese
sources. Surely the war must be a big subject to the Japanese, but what can be
found in English from a japanese point of view is very limited. Much of what
there is appears to be related to fighter planes and pilots. I'd love to read a
book, based directly on Japanese sources, about Japanese bomber development,
tactics and operations.

I've been fussing around with a history of USAAF air operations in the Med for
a number of years. I suppose it is about time I wrapped it up. (But then I'll
lose my excuse for business deductions of trips to the Greek Isles and Capri!)


Chris Mark

ost (Chris Mark) writes:

From: Gernot Hassenpflug

Chris, these stories are enough to make a man cry. If you got this
information out of a book, please post the title.

I'm looking for a good book!

I'm looking for the time to read a good book....

You would seem to be in a great position to write a book using Japanese
sources. Surely the war must be a big subject to the Japanese, but what can be
found in English from a japanese point of view is very limited. Much of what
there is appears to be related to fighter planes and pilots. I'd love to read a
book, based directly on Japanese sources, about Japanese bomber development,
tactics and operations.

Yes, being here in Japan is a boon and a curse at the same time (see
above... let alone the time to research and write a good
book). Probably when I retire I can do something useful in that line,
say in 30 years or so. In the meanwhile I am afraid dedicated
historians will have to do that work as best they can - the more
decide to do their post-graduate studies or further in Japan the
better. Actually my interest is more in the individual, personal,
tales of ordinary Japanese soldiers and civilians than the technical
aspects these days. These accounts are most difficult to find in
translated form, and when they are, they tend to be one-dimensional
because the whole background of culture is washed out in the
translation.

I suppose it is about time I wrapped it up. (But then I'll
lose my excuse for business deductions of trips to the Greek Isles and Capri!)

:-)

Regards,
Gernot
--
G Hassenpflug * IJN & JMSDF equipment/history fan

On 28 Jul 2003 15:28:21 GMT, ost (Chris Mark) wrote:

Surely the war must be a big subject to the Japanese, but what can be
found in English from a japanese point of view is very limited. Much of what
there is appears to be related to fighter planes and pilots.

curiously enough, the best stuff available on this line has been
available for more than half a century, and that's the "Japanese
Monograph" series published by the U.S. Army of Occupation in Japan in
the late 1940s, early 1950s. They vary hugely in quality, but they
were written by demobbed Japanese officers (perhaps enlisted as well)
using what resource material was available, plus their personal
memories. Some of them have been republished
www.danford.net/historic.htm and the Library of Congress has a
complete set on microfilm.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at http://www.danford.net/index.htm
Vietnam | Flying Tigers | Pacific War | Brewster Buffalo | Piper Cub

Trivia: Joe Moore, the pilot flying the transport that crashed into a P-40,
killing his passenger, Gen. Harold George, commander of the fighter forces in
the PI, was the son of Gen. George Moore, harbor defense commander at
Corregidor. Joe Moore himself later became a General, commanding 4TFW.


Chris Mark