1945 – Page 17 – Old Magazine Articles

Kind Words from Field Marshall Montgomery
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

As the Battle of the Bulge reached its conclusion and the Germans resumed their retreat, British General Bernard Law Montgomery (1887 – 1976) held a press conference in which he praised the fighting abilities and the leadership skills of all those Americans who resisted the German onslaught in the Ardennes:

But when all is said and done, I shall always feel that Rundstedt was really beaten by the good fighting qualities of the American soldier…

‘Outmaneuvered”
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1945)

Here is a short column that lists the impact that the American counterattack wrought upon the German forces as a result of their winter offensive during the Battle of the Bulge – no explanation was given as to how this information was attained.

The Future of Democracy in China
(Collier’s Magazine, 1945)

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek stepped up to the plate and answered nine questions that were put to him by COLLIER’S editor Henry La Cossitt, concerning the future of democracy in China.

The Nice Jewish Boy and the Nazi
(Collier’s Magazine, 1945)

I have always said that there are no good Jews, but that boy proved me wrong.

-so spake the Nazi king-pin Julius Streicher (1885 – 1946) upon being confronted by the goodness of one American serviceman who went out of his way to be kind and identified himself as a Jew.

This small piece is an excerpt from a longer article; to read the entire magazine article, click here.

Julius Streicher had an IQ that measured 106 – click here to read about the IQs of the other lunatics in Nazi leadership…

Click here to read about the inmate rebellions that took place at Auschwitz, Sobibor and Triblinka.

American Families Hear of Their PoW Sons
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

Repatriating The Axis PoWs
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

For the 417,034 Axis prisoners of war in this country, the War Department last week had word that repatriation was in sight. The 362,170 Germans and 49,784 Italians definitely would be home by early Spring; the 5,080 Japanese, as soon as General of the Army MacArthur was ready to receive them.

The Wonderful World of the Panzerfaust
(Volkischer Beobacher, 1945)

Although the attached cartoon illustrations from Volkischer Beobacher depicts a German soldier using a Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon, the intended readership was actually the old men and under-age boys who made up the out-gunned and under-manned Volkssturm militia units at the close of the war. The panzerfaust (tank fist) has been characterized as the first expendable anti-tank RPG. Also included in this file is the U.S. Army study concerning this weapon.

When YANK Closed It’s Doors
(Maptalk, 1945)

When the flaks had all said their bit and the Japanese and Germans had all signed on the dotted line, YANK MAGAZINE did what everybody else was doing – they demobilized. When YANK published their last issue numerous magazine and newspaper editors were pretty choked-up about it and they wrote columns about how sad they all were to see it go; this one appeared in another U.S. Army rag.

More on this magazine can be read HERE…

Read about the time when THE STARS & STRIPES ceased printing…

Winding Down
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

The Battle of the Ardennes was practically over. The salient which once poked 52 miles into Belgium from the German frontier had been ground down to a nub by last week…. The German retreated slowly and in good order. In the sleet and fog of the Ardennes they pulled back their armor and other vehicles while their artillery and infantrymen put up stiff rearguard actions.

Dreading the Winter
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

When this article was published the war was over and Paris had experienced her second German-free autumn – but life was still difficult in the city. Coal was still rationed, the lines in the shops were long and the average French child was drastically underweight. NEWSWEEK dispatched two gumshoe reporters to get the full picture for the folks at home (where, happily, rationing had ended the the previous August).

The AWOL GIs in the Black Market of Paris
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

Attached is a four page article that reported on the deserters of the U.S. Army who organized themselves into Chicago-style gangs in post-occupied Paris, replete with gun-molls, hideouts, fencing contacts and all the trimmings of a third-rate-blood-and-thunder detective story.

The Paris Winter Collection
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

After years of material shortage, the accent is definitely on the feminine, with all of its flounces… A look at all the collections shows that black is the outstanding color for afternoon and dinner. Drapings, wrappings and swathings that girdle the hips are the outstanding line. The favored fabrics are velvet , velveteen, corduroy (used horizontally, as are other striped materials) monotone tweeds, Kashas (a twill-weave fabric of wool mixed with Cashmere), and some Scotch plaids.

The Navy Mourned
(Newsweek, 1945)

It was no secret around Washington that President Franklin Roosevelt was partial to the U.S. Navy. The admirals and other senior officers of the navy certainly knew – and loved it. The attached essay was an appreciative salute to FDR composed shortly after his death by Admiral William Pratt (1869 – 1957):

Other men, military in training and veterans of successful land campaigns, have sat in the White House, but never before in the history of our country has any man ever sat there whose instincts at heart were essentially those of a sailor.

A GI View of Japan
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

Reporter Robert Shaplen (1917 – 1988) filed this account of how the GIs have reacted to the strangest country they have ever encountered:

Looking at the Japanese, the average GI wonders how they ever managed to prosecute a war in the first place. Everything in Japan, even broken and blasted cities and factories, has a miniature toy-like appearance. Automobiles, the ones that are left, don’t work; trains bear little resemblance to the Twentieth Century Limited or a fast freight back home. The short, slight people are dressed poorly and drably.

Kyoto: The Japanese City That Was Never Bombed
(Yank, 1945)

An article touching on the war-weary appearance of Kyoto, Japan. Although the writer had been informed by the locals that Kyoto was very special to the Japanese, the dullard was really unable to see beyond the filth, rampant prostitution and general disrepair of the city in order to understand this.

What Might Have Been
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

Into the records of the Pearl Harbor investigating committee last week went a little-noticed document that added new mystery to the disaster of December 7, 1941:

Four months before the enemy struck, the Army and Navy air command at Pearl Harbor drew up a joint defense plan which correctly forecast the hour, the direction, the size of the force and the strategy by which the Japs actually attacked.

Killing Tiger Tanks in the Ardennes
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

This article follows the efforts of the Tank Destroyers (TD) in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge:

This TD work is among the most dangerous of the war. One of the chief reasons is that TDs are constantly up against superior enemy weapons. For example, none of our TDs (except possibly the M-36) can penetrate the 8-inch frontal armor of the King Tiger, whereas the German 88-millimeter anti-tank gun has been able to penetrate any American tank. And to kill the tiger, TDs must shoot for the tracks, then assault the disabled monster with high explosive, setting it afire.

Click here to read about the equipment and training of American tank destroyers during the Second World War.

Facts About WACS
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

Attached are a few interesting factoids about the American lassies who served in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps throughout the Second World War.