World War Two – Page 55 – Old Magazine Articles

Medal of Honor Recipient Robert D. Maxwell
(Collier’s, 1945)

This 1945 article by George Creel reported on the brave and selfless acts of Robert D. Maxwell (1920 – 2019):

COURAGE, like everything else, has its kinds of degrees. No one would detract a hair’s weight from the bravery of the firing line, but in battle there is the heartening touch of a comrade’s shoulder, the excitement of the charge, and the 50-50 chance of coming out alive. All these aids are lacking in those epic instances where men make death a deliberate choice…one example that stands out for sheer drama and sustained fortitude is that of Technician Fifth Grade Robert D. Maxwell, who covered a German hand grenade with his body, smothering the explosion that would have killed every member of his group.

Maxwell survived his wounds; seven months later he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage. He currently reside in Oregon.

The DUKWs of W.W. II
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

The American Army’s amphibious vehicles called the DUKWs (Ducks) were first manufactured by General Motors in 1942 and were issued to both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. 2,000 were shipped to the British, over five hundred found their way to the Australian military and 535 were passed along to the Soviet Army. They have earned their sea legs a thousand times over and have even ventured across the English Channel.

The attached YANK MAGAZINE article was one of the first articles to have ever been written about them, and quite ironically plays-down the revolutionary nature of the invention:

Japs realize the value of the DUCKs. They once issued a communique saying their bombers sank ‘one 5,000-ton ship and one amphibious truck.

A German Advantage in the War
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

The Chief of Staff’s 1945 report concerning the U.S. Army’s progress and set-backs during the course of the war mentioned one element:

in which the German Army held an advantage almost to the end of the war. The first was the triple-threat 88-mm [field gun] which our troops first encountered in North Africa…

Anticipating Germany’s Collapse
(United States News, 1944)

Taking into consideration the state of Germany’s military forces on land, air and sea, as well as the fragile state of the German populace after three years of steady bombardment, this 1944 NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE article concluded that Germany’s end was nigh – really, really nigh:

Thus on the face of it, Germany’s situation is desperate. She is encircled by powerful nations that are allied against her. Her chance of creating dissension to split those allies is gone. She is being beaten on every front and in every phase of the fighting. Her last chance to win has disappeared.

Germany would fight on for another sixteen months.

‘About the Russians in Normandy”
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

About the Russians in Normandy…and they weren’t much help to Adolf, either. Here are two stories, one of which tells how Russians, captured and forced to fight for the enemy, turned the tables on Jerry; the other which tells what happened when the Americans liberated Russian prisoners from a concentration camp.

Home Front Concerns
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1944)

Here are two home front articles regarding the rationing of labor, food and steel; 1944 orders on clothing production are also touched upon.

Marlene Dietrich Did Her Bit
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

A post-game interview with Hollywood star Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992) concerning all the many places throughout the European Theater of Operations that she performed before Allied audiences, at times performing very close to the German front line.

Marlene Dietrich’s only daughter, Maria Riva Dietrich (b. 1924), wrote that her mother, feeling a deep sense of pity and gratitude, made love to a very large number of front line soldiers.

Click here to read about the woman who entertained the U.S. troops during the First World War.

Riding The Fox-Hole Circuit
(Newsweek Magazine, 1944)

Together [these entertainers] constitute the vast composite known as USO-Camp Shows, Inc. Organized in November, 1941 as this war’s answer to the last one’s mistakes (too little which came too late to too few), Camp Shows see to it that as much entertainment as possible reaches as many soldiers as possible – in contrast to the fact that the last war produced only an Elsie Janis (You can read about her here)… The money to run Camp Shows comes from the National War Fund; the authority to use its services rests with the Army and Navy.

Montgomery’s Quarrel with Eisenhower
(Collier’s Magazine, 1946)

One of the many now-it-can-be-told stories of the early post-war period had to be that friction that existed on the SHAEF staff between British General Bernard Law Montgomery and General Eisenhower. It is recalled herein by the noted English war correspondent Alan Moorehead (1910 — 1983).

When General Eisenhower Came Home
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

The General had seen welcomes in Paris and London and Washington and New York, but he got the warmest reception of all when he hit his boyhood home town, little Abilene, Kansas.

As soon as the Eisenhower party was seated a gun boomed and the parade began. It wasn’t a military parade. It told the story of a barefoot boy’s rise from fishing jaunts on nearby Mud Creek to command of the Allied expeditionary force that defeated Fascism in Western Europe.

In 1944, a class of sixth graders wrote General Eisenhower and asked him how they can help in the war effort; click here to read his response…

Wartime Brooklyn
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

A four page article regarding the city of Brooklyn, New York during the Second World War – make no mistake about it: this is the Brooklyn that Senator Bernie Sanders inherited – it isn’t far from the N.Y. borough named Queens, where numerous Communists resided.

• Almost half the penicillin that was produced in the United States came out of Brooklyn

• Forty Five percent of of the Brooklyn war plants were awarded the Army and Navy E or the M from the Maritime Services

• Throughout the war, the ranks of the U.S. Armed Services were swollen with Brooklyn sons and daughters, 280,000 strong.

Click here to read an article about one of New York’s greatest mayors: Fiorello LaGuardia.

Los Angeles Nisei at Santa Anita Racetrack
(Rob Wagner’s Script, 1942)

Attached is a eye-witness account of the Los Angeles Issie and Nisei populations after having been removed from their homes and detained at Santa Anita racetrack prior to their transfer and subsequent incarceration at Manzanar, California.

There are more than 6,000 Japanese housed in the stables which once accommodated 2,000 horses…Each stall has had a room built on in front with doors and windows and the floors have been covered with a layer of asphaltum which seems to have killed the odors.

This article, laced throughout with subtle undertones of condemnation, was written by a Hollywood screenwriter named Alfred Cohn (1880 – 1951) who is largely remembered today for having written the adaptation for the Al Jolson movie The Jazz Singer (1929).

Paulette Goddard in Uniform
(Click Magazine, 1942)

Paulette Goddard (1910 – 1990) is pictured in color wearing an all-purpose uniform designed by the Hollywood stylist Irene (Irene Lentz, 1900 – 1962). The actress was a sporadic volunteer, having appeared in four films throughout 1942.

Interview with a Home Front War Worker
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

It would seem that a good many World War II servicemen believed that they were missing out on all that home front glamour that had kicked-in as a result of the full-employment and booming economic prosperity of wartime America; and so Yank correspondent Al Hine was quickly dispatched to Turtle Creek, Pa. to pen this small article about Frank Hanly, an average guy in a average war plant. He works hard, rests and plays like we used to and he isn’t getting rich.

The truth is this army reporter was instructed to report on the blander side of home front living – the facts were far brighter; there was money to be made and fun to be had and you can click here to read about it…

The Sole Surviving Son Rule and ”Saving Private Ryan”
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

By posting this notice that appeared in a 1944 issue of YANK, we had hoped to play a useful roll by bringing to an end some of the bar room arguments and late-night dorm bickerings that came about as a result of the unlikely story line that was presented in the movie, Saving Private Ryan (Paramount Pictures, 1998).

Irony at the Command and General Staff School
(’47 Magazine, 1947)

This is a humorous World War II story about the heroics of Captain Charles W. Davis (1917 – 1991), former resident of Guadalcanal, and his experiences with the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The Army Rangers in Tunisia and Italy
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

A compelling collection of World War II combat stories involving the 1st, 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions. Numerous Army Rangers were interviewed for this article and it is an informative read which starts with the formation of the unit taking place just seven months after the U.S. declaration of war (December 8, 1941) and their earliest deployments in North Africa and Italy.

The original outfit, the 1st Ranger Battalion, was activated in Northern Ireland on June 19, 1942, with 600 men selected from more than 2,000 soldiers who had volunteered. Their training was in Scotland, and they had more casualties there than they had on their first African landing. The British Commandos were their instructors.

Read about the hand-to-hand combat training for the Ranger Battalions here…

Rest from Battle
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

A 1944 YANK article tells the tale about a quiet little spot behind the front line where American GIs were able to enjoy 24 hours of peace before being returned to the meat-grinder:

Sergeant Carmine Daniello, of Brooklyn, New York, smoked a big cigar during the afternoon…he was taking it easy in his own way. He didn’t want to sleep just now. He said, ‘Just sitting around like this is all I want right now.’On the other side of the river it had been so bad…

CLICK HERE… to read one man’s account of his struggle with shell shock…