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    Spasm

    Old Contemptible
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    Posts posted by Spasm

    1. I've also really liked this image.  The old grizzled veteran and his wife.

      I think the wife is wearing her best (looks to be a paisley patterned shawl) and is almost smiling (not common at that time as it was a serious matter to go get your photo taken).

      The Paisley design first appeared around 200AD in Persia - during the 1600s the Paisley pattern started to appear on shawls imported by the East India Company. In the 1800s the weavers in the town of Paisley, Scotland became the primary producers of the pattern due to their skill in producing the design in more than two colours. 

      The wife's shawl looks to be more than a two colour design - probably a very expensive item at the time.

      The old man is wearing his best - albeit well worn and obviously old at that time - but still wearing a jacket with waistcoat and a chain . No doubt a timepiece in there somewhere.  The medal doesn't seem to be attached to the chain but has not just been pinned onto the overcoat - it may be pinned to the jacket/waistcoat and then folded onto the coat just before the picture was taken. No idea why the overcoat and shawl were not taken off. Maybe it was cold, or maybe the wife wanted her bonnet and shawl to be in the photo.

      But I still can't pinpoint the medal. The clasps do definitely look to be a MGSM with 6 clasps. But the medal and hanging bar just isn't quite right. And I can't really see the Queen's head there - although I remember reading that at some time the medals were worn differently - ie displaying what we would now call the reverse.

      So  I gave up checking all the medals I could think of and settled on the MGSM:    

      Maybe one of us will find it, thanks all, Steve

      medal.jpg

    2. Paul,

      This is an ambrotype photo - a positive photo on glass - (ie there's only one, like a polariod or a print on paper). They were started to be used around 1850 and were superseded by the Tintype process around 1860. Produced in that 10 year period then.

      The MGSM was approved in 1847 (which had to be retrospectively applied for) and awarded for campaigns between 1793 and 1814. 

      So our man in the picture above could have been 18ish in 1793 or 18ish in 1814 to give his age between 56 and 87.  I'd put him in there somewhere. 

      Cheers, Steve

       

    3. Alex, thanks for that.

      It seems to be the only choice as I really can't find a match with any other medal given the close up of the photo.  Which is why I went for the GSM in the painting.

      Cheers, Steve 

    4. Looks to be matching turtle pattern camo rather than the 1918 Ludendorff black (finger width) outlined angular camo.  

      I assume done post war rather than all from the same unit ignoring the helmet camo order.  

      See, you've got to be careful with those supposed wartime camo helmets. Even Walt Disney said he painted them up after the war to shoot full of holes and sell onto collectors.

       

    5. Given the dates (1850-60) of the ambrotype in my posting about the unknown medal,

      I've taken the decision to go for the Peninsular War. He's now propped up in the workshop/cave.

       

      vet.jpg

    6. I've posted this picture previously but was never really happy that the medal was nailed down.

      The picture is easily found on t'tinternet and has various captions associated with it. The seated gent is always seen as a veteran but it varies from Waterloo, Peninsular Wars to the Crimean and the US Civil War.

      It's an Ambrotype photo on a glass plate from around 1850-60. It was found at an auction (Christie's I think) by Bruce Bernard in the 1970s who later tracked it down again for inclusion in his book "photodiscovery". The caption in this book reads "Veteran of Waterloo and his wife".

         

       

      1860_Anonyme_Un_vétéran_et_sa_femme_Ambrotype.jpg

      I've played with the photo a bit 

      First of all I think the photo is backwards (these etched glass plates were supposed to be viewed against a dark background) as the medal should be worn on the left and now his coat buttons up correctly - it sort of looks more natural this way round.

      vet 2.jpg

      Then crop our hero out - he looks like he's had a pretty nasty crack on the nose at some point

      vet 3.jpg

      And then zoom in on the medal

      vet 4.jpg

      Although the bars are similar to the clasps on the Peninsular War GSM the medal itself does not. For one thing it looks to be a swinging type - the medal is not central to the ribbon - and it neither looks to be either side. What could it be?

       

    7. Thanks Peter, hope your retirement is going ok. No idea how I ever had the time to go to work, but retirement is miles and miles better.

      Otto Carius of 2.sPzAbt 502 - the ones with the painted woolly mammoths - and another Tiger destroyed 17 tanks including a JS-1 in a 20 minute action in Malinava (Eastern Front). He is credited with over 150 kills and the only Tiger to have shot down an aircraft! He said it took his gunner two shots before he got one though - good grief.

      After the war he gained the qualifications and opened a chemist called 'Tiger Apotheke'. His book "Tigers in the Mud" is worth a read.

      Here he is getting another gong and some other cool pics (saves you having to look him up)

       

      Heinrich Himmler presents the Oak Leaf to the Knight's Cross with Lieutenant Otto Carius.jpg

      Otto Carius.jpg

      Otto's cupolas.jpg

      Otto the chemist.jpg

      otto clarius clip.JPG

    8. Martin

      Don't know much about these M1 shells, and absolutely hardly anything about the liners.

      The shell batch number looks good to be WW2, up into the 1000s is post war on McCord, has it got a rolled elongated S under the elongated number? Then it's Schlutler and defo WW2. Caused by the stamp on the metal batch before rolling/pressing. Chin strap is stitched on rather than clip, front seam, stainless rim, yep. Are there stress fractures around the back? then yes, more so.

      Sorry, don't really know anything about the doibys, liner. I think some are date stamped in the crown. There's a whole thing around the colour of the straps and 'A' hangers that I don't know but must be worth a look on Mr Google

      Overall the paint looks to be corked rather than sanded but also looks too light and unworn for it's age, but not all of em went to war, which would also be why the liner strap is in pretty good nick.

      The dent would come out pretty easy, just like that loose pin in the other one.

      By the way, I tried that painted Harley tank on my 1964 Bonnie being built. Harley/Triumph that'll be a Humph then.

      Steve

       

    9. 17 July 1944

      Almost all the men of the Cabanatuam Camps, about 1600, are lined up along Pier No.7 in Manila harbour. They board the 6,527 ton rusting cargo ship “Nissyo Maru”. One of the infamous “Hell Ships” used to transport slave labour to Japan to help the war effort.

      During WW2 some 50,000 POWs boarded Japanese ‘Hell ships’. 21,000 didn’t survive the journey.

      NissyoMaru1939.JPG

      The POWs are packed into the holds, at around 9pm a few large buckets of rice were lowered down. Men too weak didn’t eat, mouths too dry due to no water all day couldn’t swallow the rice. Most of the men have dysentery but have no where to go other than where they sit. No one gets any sleep the first night.

      The next morning the ship leaves dock and anchors out in Manila bay to await other elements of the convoy. It waits for a whole week with the men locked in the holds.

      The men are allowed their first water 30 Hours after boarding. Despite temperatures topping 120 degrees in the holds throughout the journey the men were issued with no more than 1 pint each per day. Some of the men drank their own urine.

      24 July 1944

      Other elements of Convoy HI68 arrive, 21 ships in all, head North towards Formosa.

      25 July 1944

      Submarine U.S.S. Angler spots the convoy at dawn and flashes word to her sister submarines U.S.S. Crevalle and U.S.S. Flasher.

      At 12.22pm U.S.S. Crevalle fires 4 stern torpedoes at the Aki Maru and Tosan Maru. All 4 miss. The Japanese are now aware of their enemy and start dropping depth charges.

      After dark U.S.S. Flasher regains contact with the convoy and fires 6 torpedoes at the same two freighters. The watch on the Aki Maru see the trails and the ship turns hard to port, only to be hit in the bow. Behind the Aki, Tosan Maru is hit twice.

      ss_uss_crevalle_ss291.jpg

      The alarm on the Nisso Maru wakes the POWs locked in the holds. Navy men recognise the sound of depth charges, torpedoes are heard running under the ship. Two of them hit the tanker Otoriyama Maru which explodes and sinks in minutes. Men on the Nissyo Maru remember hearing the boiling hiss as the burning tanker slipped under the sea.

      26 July 1944

      The submarines disengage as their torpedoes were almost exhausted. They had no idea how close they had come to killing 1600 of their own countrymen.

      27 July 1944

      Dock at Takao, Formosa at 1pm. Convoy is reorganised and more ships join up.

      3 August 1944

      Convoy HI68 arrives at Moji on the Island of Kyushu, Japan. The official death toll while on board ship is 12. POWs are loaded into train boxcars and travel onto their camps. The train travels from Moji through Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagoya and on through Tokyo. John is disembarked at Nagoya.

      6 August 1944

      John arrives, along with 193 other Americans at Osaka No.7 Branch Camp. Kamioka. Allocated to the “2nd American Company POWs”.

      Kamioka Camp - established as Osaka POW Camp Kamioka Branch Camp, then renamed Osaka No.7 Branch Camp in February 1943 and finally in April 1945 as Nagoya No.1 Branch Camp.

      NagGrpB.jpg

      In all there were 594 POWs, (320 Americans, 269 Dutch and 5 British) used as slave labour by Mitsui Mining Company.

      Each man was required to work 9 hours per day in the adjacent lead mines. They were supervised by civilian foremen armed with rubber pipes which they did not hesitate to use when a POW failed to accomplish the specified amount of labour.

      Any man hurt or wounded in the mines (of which there were many given the conditions) were forced to remain in the mine until their shift was completed. All work was inspected and detailed by Mitsui Mining Company officials daily.

      nag_07_aerial1.jpg

      kamioka-barracks-1.jpg

      The men eat nothing but cooked grain (rice and maize), about once per month each man is given about 1oz of meat, about every two weeks 3oz of fish and occasionally, as a reward for working hard, receives about 5oz of soy beans.

      The POWs sleep on straw mats, 24 to a room designed for 10. Heating is provided by two hand fulls of charcoal per day. The rooms are so fragile that the snow has to be removed from the roof each day to prevent collapse.

      Kamioka_bunk-Harle.jpg

      The medical facilities are deplorable, once a man is hurt or falls sick, the Japanese place every obstacle in the way of his recovery. They withhold medicines sent by the Red Cross, do not issue enough fuel to warm the sick quarters, provide an insufficient number of blankets and greatly reduce the rations of the sick. Many lose the will to live.

      25 January 1945

      death roster 1.JPG

      In file 3150 among the small handwritten pencil notes from the Osaka POW camps is the report of Corporal John Mott’s death from malnutrition. He was 26 years old.

      The file cover says that the author of the notes is unknown. They are probably by the camp medical officer.

      death roster 2.JPG

      22 February 1945

      A message is sent to John’s mother, Gertrude, that an enemy propaganda broadcast from the Japanese Government had been intercepted, it is quoted:

      DEAR MOTHER, HOPING TO RECEIVE LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM YOU ALL SOON. ANXIOUSLY LONGING TO SEE EVERYONE AT HOME, AND TRY SOME OF CONNIE’S COOKING AND SOME HUNTING AND FISHING WITH HIRAM. EXPERIENCING FIRST SNOW SINCE 1939. KEEP YOUR HEALTH SO WE ALL CAN HAVE A GOOD TIME WHEN I RETURN. PASS THE WORD TO DAD AND ALL MY FRIENDS. I PRAY THAT WE ALL MAY BE TOGETHER VERY SOON. KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING. YOUR LOVING SON, JOHN. CPL JOHN J MOTT, USMC.

      23 March 1945

      Having received word of John in the Osaka area and knowing that the Americans were fire bombing there, she writes to the Provost Marshal’s office asking if the POW camps have been spared the bombing.

      1 May 1945

      The Provost Marshal’s office replies confirming John’s internment at Osaka Camp, Japan. But, as the Japanese will not allow any Red Cross visits, there is no information available on the welfare of American POWs.

      25 August 1945

      Telegram

      From: COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

      To: MRS GERTRUDE LAWRENCE

      DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU REPORT JUST RECEIVED STATES YOUR SON CORPORAL JOHN JAMES MOTT USMC DIED OF ACUTE BRONCHITIS ON 25 JANUARY 1945 IN JAPANESE PRISON CAMP. NO INFORMATION AVAILABLE REGARDING BURIAL. PLEASE ACCEPT MY HEARTFELT SYMPATHY.

      A A VANDEGRIFT

      GENERAL USMC

      28 August 1945

      A letter is received by Gertrude from USMC:

      ...Mere words can do little to console you in your sorrow, but I am sure the knowledge that your son died in the service of his country will help you bear your heavy burden of grief.”

      2 April 1946

      Gertrude is sent a letter confirming John’s medal entitlements:

      Army Distinguished Unit Badge with oakleaf cluster

      American Defence Service Medal with Fleet clasp

      Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star

      Victory Medal

      Philippine Defence Medal

      Gertrude is sent the awards in 1947 and 1948.

      In the following years, Congress authorise entitlement of a Bronze Star Medal, a Prisoner of War Medal and a posthumous Purple Heart.

      26 April 1949

      Gertrude receives her, applied for, Gold Star Lapel Button engraved with her initials G.M.L.

      9 June 1949

      John’s father W.W.Mott receives his, applied for, Gold Star Lapel Button engraved with his initials W.W.M.

      3 May 1950

      Gertrude receives a letter informing her that the remains of Cpl. John James Mott has been permanently interred in Plot B, Row 16, Grave 105, side by side with comrades who also gave their lives for their country, in Manila U.S. Military Cemetery.

       

      CjmcDewVEAUTMAc.jpg

      The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs report on American POW and MIA states that of the 27,000 Americans captured in the Philippines from Dec 1941 to May 1942 almost 11,000 of them died in captivity.

      56776903_136393896731a.jpg

      certificate.JPG

      On the Pacific War Memorial, Corregidor Island:

      SLEEP MY SONS. YOUR DUTY DONE.

      FOR FREEDOM’S LIGHT HAS COME.

      SLEEP IN THE SILENT DEPTHS OF THE SEA

      OR IN YOUR BED OF HALLOWED SOD.

      UNTIL YOU HEAR AT DAWN

      THE LOW CLEAR REVEILLE OF GOD.

    10. 7 January 1938

      John James Mott, 19 years old, enlists into the United States Marine Corps at the Recruiting Station in Washington D.C.

      4 February 1938

      Gertrude Lawrence (John’s Mother), now divorced and re - married to Sheriff William Hiram Lawrence in Palm Beach, Florida, signs as Mother and Legal Guardian consenting to his 4 year service enlistment.

      7 March 1938

      Private John J. Mott is given his travel orders to report to the Commanding Officer, Recruit Depot, Paris Island, South Carolina. Commonly known as “boot camp” - 7 weeks of training that must be successfully completed in order to serve in the United States Marine Corps.

      27 April 1938

      John is posted to Sea School at the Marine Barracks, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia. 4 weeks training designed to prepare Marines for duty aboard the capital ships of the U.S.Navy Fleet.

      26 May 1938

      Assigned for two years service aboard ship. U.S.S. Honolulu was launched on 26 Aug 1937 and commissioned on 15 June 1938. After a ‘shake down’ cruise to England, she engages in fleet exercises in the Caribbean and is then based in New York. She then joins the Pacific Fleet arriving at San Pedro, California on 14 June 1939. For the remainder of the year and into 1940 she continues operations along the West Coast out of Long Beach, California.

      USS_Honolulu_CL-48_1944.jpg

      7 February 1940

      Confirmed promotion to Private First Class on 1 June 1939

      19 March 1940

      Extends enlistment for a further 2 years

      25 March 1940

      Assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment (China)

      29 April 1940

      Boards U.S.S. Chaumont at San Diego for China. Calls at Pearl Harbour, San Pedro, San Francisco, Honolulu, Guam, Manila reaching Shanghai on 28 July 1940.

       

      uss chaumont.jpg

      2 December 1940

      Promoted to Corporal

      26 May 1941

      Assigned to HQ Co. 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regt.

      1 July 1941

      Assigned back to D Co. 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regt.

      The 4th Marines had been stationed in China since 1927 “protecting the lives, property and commerce of American citizens in the International Settlement of Shanghai”. For several months the Chinese area of Shanghai was controlled by the Japanese Army during the Sino-Japanese War. The Chinese withdrew in November 1937, though many Chinese residents remained in the International Settlement. While the Japanese military could not seize the International Settlement, they maintained pressure on the remaining foreign delegations through intimidation.

      With Europe at war, foreign nations were withdrawing their troops from Shanghai, tensions between Japan and the United States steadily increased. Admiral Hart requested the Marines withdraw due to their position being untenable and his belief that war was inevitable.

      Permission to withdraw was received on 10 November 1941.

      27 November 1941

      1st and HQ Battalions embark on U.S.S. President Madison bound for Subric Bay. The rest of the Regiment leave on U.S.S. President Harrison the following day. (6 Marines not found were left behind.)

      4th depart shanghai november 1941.jpg

      30 and 31 November 1941

      U.S.S. President Madison and President Harrison arrive at Olongapo Naval Station. The Regiment is deployed to strengthen the defences at Naval bases preparing them for war. But war came earlier than expected.

       

      old-olongapo-before-the-move.jpg

      7 December 1941

      The Japanese attack Pearl Harbour

      8 December 1941

      War is declared by the United States on Japan

      1st Battalion 4th Marines are deployed to Mariveles Naval Base, Bataan to prepare defences.

      Christmas 1941

      Regiment is ordered to destroy stores, buildings, equipment at bases and to prepare for deployment elsewhere.

      27 to 29 December 1941

      Regiment is ordered to move to the Fortress of Corregidor to strengthen the beach defences.

      15 January 1942

      Order from General MacArthur to “read and explain the following message to all troops:-

      Help is on the way from the United States. Thousands of troops and hundreds of planes are being dispatched...

      We have more troops than the Japanese, a determined defence will defeat the enemy’s attack...

      It is now a question of courage and determination. If we fight, we will win.”

      7 January to 8 April 1942

      An estimated thirty thousand Americans are killed or wounded during the 3 month battle for the Bataan peninsula. 75,000 U.S. and allied Philippine troops are taken prisoner.

      Map_of_Corregidor_1941.jpg

      9 April 1942

      The Infamous Bataan Death March. The forcible transfer of prisoners from Mariveles to San Fernando and Camp O’Donnell some 65 gruelling miles away. During the trip as many as 26,000 Philippine troops and 1,500 Americans die of starvation, dehydration, malaria, or just being beaten to death by sadistic Japanese guards.

      japanese-soldier-watches.jpg

      9 April 1942

      Gertrude Lawrence (John’s mother) writes a letter to the Adjutant General in Washington D.C. She hasn’t heard from John since the summer of 1941. Having heard the news about the fall of Bataan she is obviously very anxious. She wonders if he’s been captured and whether he needs anything.

      10 April 1942 onwards

      Corregidor is like the centre of a bullseye. The island is under constant artillery fire from Bataan and continuous bombardment from the aircraft above.

      Half of the 1st Battalion of the 4th Marines had undergone an epidemic of gastroenteritis with 114 of the cases being severe. There were many cases of malaria and jaundice along with an outbreak of tonsillitis.

      18 April 1942

      The Asst. Adjutant USMC writes back to Gertrude telling her that John’s unit was evacuated to Corregidor and that it is hoped he is there. All reports have been checked and there is nothing to show that John has been injured or made a prisoner of war.

      5 to 6 May 1942

      The last stand on Corregidor, the 4th Marines are the stiffening of a composite force –- Coast Guard, Navy, Naval Reserve, Insular Force, US Army, Philippine Army, Philippine Scouts and Police.

      The enemy lands at 11pm on the east of the island - right in the faces of 1st Battalion. Company A take the brunt of the attack, throw grenades onto the landing beaches and die in their positions.

      Corregidor_Landings_May_1942.jpg

      The defenders continue to inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese invaders, however, as dawn breaks they are no match for Japanese planes, tanks and artillery. The Japanese gain a foothold and expand it, pushing toward Corregidor’s headquarters. The Marines have lost all of their heavy guns and are almost out of ammunition.

      Feeling that further resistance is useless and fearing a possible massacre of the 1,000 sick and wounded personnel in the headquarters, Gen. Wainwright decides to surrender. He radiosThere is a limit of human endurance, and that point has long been passed”. The National and Regimental Colours are burned rather than let them fall into the enemy’s hands.

      7 to 23 May 1942

      All forces on Corregidor, about 8,000 US Troops and 5,000 Philippine Troops, are rounded up and marched to a flat concrete area about 500 feet by 1500 feet on the South side of the Island. An old sign reads 92nd P.C. Garage.

      Each prisoner is given a number that is painted on the back of their shirt or trousers. They are split into groups of about 1,000 men. Every prisoner is robbed of all possessions.

      Tenko roll call.jpg

      92nd Garage Corregidor.jpg

      There is no water until the troops are allowed to lay a small pipe from the water tanks about 2 miles away. Men have to queue from 4 to 6 hours to get 1 canteen of water. After 3 days the Japanese issue a small amount of rice.

      Open latrines are dug in the middle of the area and in the sweltering heat they attract swarms of insects and flies.

      24 May 1942

      All troops are loaded into the holds of 3 transport vessels and spend the night crowded in such a way that it is impossible to stand or move.

      25 May 1942

      The ships sail across Manila bay to the shore opposite Pasay. All POWs are loaded into landing craft and then forced overboard into about 4 feet of water to make their own way to shore and are assembled into columns of four.

      Herded and kept in line by Japanese cavalry the POWs are marched the 5 miles to Bilibid Prison. About 12,000 prisoners are forced into a camp designed for about 4,000.

      Over the following days large groups of POWs are marched to Torido Station and forced into small steel boxcars on a narrow gauge railway. Over 100 men to each car, wedged in so tight that they can’t even squat down. They disembark at Cabanatuan and are force marched the 12 miles to No3 Camp. Anyone falling by the wayside from heat prostration or exhaustion is severely beaten by the guards. If, having taken a beating they still can’t walk they are loaded into trucks.

      13 June 1942

      Taken to Philippine Islands Port Area Camp No.11,– Yamamoto Butai, which is directly behind the Customs House. About 400 of the strongest men from the Cabanatuan Camps were selected as a labour battalion to work as stevedores on the docks in Manila.

      In “Horror Trek: A True Story of Bataan” by Robert W. Levering – - John is mentioned - “Tall, good natured Johnnie Mott, who fought with the 4th Marines, was well educated and often said he suffered from not having anything to read.”

      15 October 1942

      Moved to the Port Terminus Building across the street from Pier No.7. John spends almost 2 years working in the Dockyards under appalling conditions.

      11 August 1943

      Gertrude Lawrence writes to ask if she can be sent a copy of the War Prisoners Bulletin. A friend had phoned her to say that the latest copy has a photo showing a group of American POWs, one of which could be of her son John.

      This is the only photo of any Japanese held POWs in the War Prisoners Bulletin –up to September 1943. None of these men, from Camp Zentsuti, Japan (in the July 1943 issue) are of John as he was still in the Philippines:

      POWs July 1943 War Prisoners Bulletin.JPG

    11. Gents

      A WW2 4th Marine POW Group. The medals came with a fairly thick folder of paperwork - I assume copies of and from the USMC records that are obtainable from the US Archives. With a bit of Mr. Google's help and a sort through the folder: 

      JJ Mott USMC.jpg

      Purple Heart reverse.jpg

      POW medal reverse.jpg

    12. Martin

      The newer split pins (1940ish - they may be dated but probably best not to play with them too much to see) are holding the finished colour better than the older helmet. The steel alloy of the later split pins never seem to rust as much as the steel helmet so the paint looks better.

      Roller buckles are pretty rare. Some were manufactured through the 20s and clip onto the helmet bale/d ring with a steel clip and are sewn on at the other side. These are normally only found on transitional helmets (M16/M17etc), sometimes used on early M35s. All chin straps were basically the same from 1939 on, 13 holes I believe. They started off all alluminium, then most became steel in 1940 with the quality falling away later in the war.

      Chinstraps broke a lot, due to quality, hanging from webbing and general use so were replaced fairly often. Roller buckles are known on all helmet variants (M35/40 and 42) some sewn onto the bales, some made from Belgian or French Adrian straps. So, not unknown and not something to worry about, just a bit more of a life story for the helmet.

      Great helmet to keep.

      I made up the H-RTS230/245, just to see if anyone was actually reading or paying any attention. :unsure:

       

       

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