No worries. There are lots of different views of the times and events and lots of different motivations. My Uncles thought that fighting fascism there would help them fight it here, but my Father was less optimistic about that given what happened after WWI. He joined the Air Corps, he told me, because infantry slept on the ground whereas airmen got a cot, and he was not the kind of person that sleeps on the ground! 
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The All Black 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, VLA
They Landed on D-Day
Bill Davison’s Letter to the HistoryNet
https://lestweforget.hamptonu.edu/page.cfm?uuid=9FEC3327-B2FB-E987-04E6361B4835AFA5
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All-black balloon unit served with distinction on D-Day
By Ben Sherman, Fort SillMay 1, 2014
Henry Parham, last survivor of Black unit on D-Day, dead at 99
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Thanks for Sharing this wonderful information brbrowniii801. So they were supposed to land and 630AM in the first waves to put up barrage balloons which sounds like an incredibly dangerous assignment. All the respect for them.
It also reminded me of one of my old school sources, Dr. Quintard Taylor which taught me a lot of new stuff, this is on D-Day:
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Another thanks for the posts!!! And I would not use the word “forgotten”- you can’t forget something that nobody knows about- the contributions are not identified. Based on the pictures, the barrage balloons were there, but I’ve never seen who put them there. Thanks for filling in that missing piece.
The December following D-Day, I’m interested in seeing coverage of Bastonge, too- as reading some books clearly ID’s an African American artillery unit right along with the 101st Airborne. But it’s hard to find any info, and shows like Band of Brothers suggest they were the only ones there (which is worse, because I also hear there were some tanks there) . But that’s for a completely different thread.
To all the other posters- from just a reader and supporter, this is going to be really interesting!!!
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By my knowledge Anne Frank died in Bergen-Belsen from starvation and exhaustion
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Indeed I stand corrected, thanks for the correction, she was deported to Auschwitz and then deported 700+ kilometers to Bergen-Belsen to die there. I knew that earlier but apologies for the mistake and many thanks for the correction!
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Also, @martin00 , would you have more information the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation? I read that they had underground theaters, but also a radio program. Would be very interested to see if somehow transcripts of these recordings still exist.
Also general information on how news was spread by the Slovene resistance would be interesting to read.
Many thanks,
Wieke
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No problem, just remembered differently in school.
Giving some more thought to it though, I think it is important to keep stressing this. Not all jews from the west died in Auschwitz. There was a whole system of concentration camps, which of course many of us know, but not every average Joe. As she is such an ‘iconic’ figure in the Holocaust (for better or worse), it will keep being important to stress her specific fate, because it emphasizes the entire system of terror set up to starve, exhaust and eventually kill the jews.
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I remember my girlfriend telling me her granddad kept diaries from that period. I will ask her and see if there is anything relevant in there. He lived in the south of the Netherlands at the time (Brabant). There is probably more about operation Market Garden a bit later as that is when the American airborne troops walked through their village.
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Thanks for the interest, @wieke
I have already looked into it and, unfortunately, there was no active resistance radio during the D-day, so that’s a dead end. The story of radio in Slovenia during the second world war is still very interesting though. Here’s an article about it: A clandestine radio station operated in the midst of Fascist-occupied Ljubljana - RTVSLO.si
The story of Kricac (Shouter) is very interesting in itself and there are many heroic stories involved.
The second illegal radio emerged in July 1944 (so just after D-day) as Radio Osvobodilna Fronta (Liberation Front).
Some were lucky (and daring) enough to listen to BBC: BBC World Service - Slovene Home Page
There was also the “official” Radio Ljubljana, which was overtaken after occupation. First by the Italians, later by the Germans. Both have gradually limited the content in Slovenian and replaced it with music and shows in Italian/German language. On the picture above is Ivan Pengov who was a reporter at Radio Ljubljana even during occupation. At one point he even went to Rome, from where the Slovene news were read for a time. He continued his work at the radio in Ljubljana when Italy capitulated and the Germans took charge of the occupation in the territory of Slovenia, that was previously controlled by Italy.
As for the liberation front itself… Oh boy.
Let’s just say that books have been and will continue to be written about this topic. But, I suppose, that’s the same in every country. There is always more that can be said about the second world war, since there are so many viewpoints, experiences and means to record them all. Which is good.
Anyway. I’ll link two publications that cover this field pretty well, in the reply to this (Since I’ve already pasted two links in here). I’m sure you’ll find something interesting in there, including how they handled information.
I’ll keep looking and let you know when I find something interesting.
Best wishes.
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@wieke
Here are the two publications/books about the Slovene liberation front:
Insights_14.pdf (sistory.si)
Resistance, suffering, hope (docplayer.net)
Best wishes.
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Uncle James said they always kept a little extra distance from the guys carrying the high explosive charges that dangled on lines below the balloons. Though Linda Hervieux wrote that they all returned by the Battle of the Bulge, my Uncle told me about being there as not all got shipped back (and/or were temporarily reassigned to other duties, like searching for snipers). He talked the most about how cold it was (we are from South Carolina, after all), so cold that it sometimes their fingers could not pull the trigger on their guns. Also that they knew they could expect no mercy from the Germans if they were captured. He really hated it if the temperature ever got near freezing and always kept his house really warm in winter!
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There was a little controversy over Saving Private Ryan because one can see the balloons in the background in several scenes, but in an interview Tom Hanks said that there were no Black soldiers in the movie because there were none at Omaha. He apologized after he was told about the 320th! I just left this note for Chewbacca:
Though Linda Hervieux wrote that they all returned by the Battle of the Bulge, my Uncle told me about being there as not all got shipped back (and/or were temporarily reassigned to other duties, like searching for snipers). He talked the most about how cold it was (we are from South Carolina, after all), so cold that it sometimes their fingers could not pull the trigger on their guns. Also that they knew they could expect no mercy from the Germans if they were captured. He really hated it if the temperature ever got near freezing and always kept his house really warm in winter!
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There is a Philippine Diary Program that has a few entries from POWs and one Philippine Constabulary officer in Japan for further studies. I’m restricted to two links but the rest can be followed by just paging through the entries.
Leocadio de Asis
(November 1, 1919 — ?), lawyer. Captured with the Second Regular Division, USAFFE after the fall of Bataan. Selected by the Japanese to enter a training program at the Japanese-established Philippine Constabulary Academy. Assigned to the Academy staff and taught criminal law and government regulations. In May, 1943 was one of ten Philippine Constabulary officers selected by the Japanese for training and study in Japan.
June 7, 1944 (Wednesday; Tokyo)
“News of the long-awaited landing by the Allies on the Western coast of France was published in the newspapers this morning.”
Natalie Crouter
(October 30, 1898 — October 15, 1985). Resident of Vigan and later Baguio in the Philippines. Interned by the Japanese with her family in Baguio, then Bilibid Prison in Manila.
June 11, 1944 (Baguio City?)
“At roll call Bernie whispered to me, “If you hear any good news I think you can believe it this time.” Later I heard of a Cherbourg landing of our forces. The New Guinea advance is carrying them 400 miles ahead. Still later we heard the Tribune of June 7 had admitted landings all the way from Le Havre to Cherbourg. At last, at last, the invasion of France from England –many times rumored too soon.”
Carl E. Rice
(1877 — 1950). Veteran of Spanish-American War; served in Immigration Service; Senior Administrative Assistant in the Manila Base Quartermaster Depot. Married to a Filipina, he was eventually interned in Santo Tomas.
June 11, 1944 (Manila)
The Daily Tribune was prohibited, the news from the Normandy landing was not good for the Japs. We have script which comes over the wall with black market supplies and have some idea of how the war is going.
Natalie Crouter
June 14 (Baguio City)
No newspapers will be allowed to enter camp. “We are not to be concerned with social occurrences outside,” Mr. Yamato said. He feels that we can lead a more peaceful life by ourselves. He again stated that he wishes this to be “an exemplary camp.”
The Tribune tells of landings all along Brittany—40 thousand by sea, 60 thousand by paratroops and gliders after them. Previous to this, 11 thousand planes bombarded. The sea was rough holding up landings which were finally sent by air. Transport planes landed tanks and a big tank battle was in progress. The first phase was completed, the second about to begin. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was in command on French soil. Rommel commanding Germans on French soil. The two great antagonists meet again, after Africa. Rome declared an Open City and evacuated “to spare its art treasures,” according to the Tribune. The front is now 40 miles north in Italy.
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Sorry about the tangent- but what you are telling me is that the African American contribution to the war was largely hidden, except for a token few that were noted for whatever reason. Hopefully, this entire effort can do a better job at publishing all of the contributions. (I learned of the effort in Bastogne from the book “Seven Roads to Hell”)
The pop culture history we all get is Tuskegee Airmen and the Red Bull Express.
We know the Tuskegee flew in North Africa- but between Torch and D-Day, what are we missing?
Again, sorry about the tangent, all. This should get lost in a massive list of contributions to this specific event.
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Not so much hidden as it’s barely taught, if at all. And when it is taught, it’s often either poorly taught or only being taught the most well-known units (see my posts on TG’s video for proof of that).
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Before Torch, blacks in the Pacific? (End of August 1942)
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Thanks- sorry that I’m not following your America at War thread that closely.
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Same holds true regarding the US Civil War, too.
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