Most of the remaining motor equipment came ashore today, was de-waterproofed, and joined their respective units. The 313th regiment is now nearly complete, lacking only 500 men, a field kitchen, and some equipment left behind in England.
History
144 posts
Today, 14 June 1944, the 79th Infantry Division and the 313th Infantry Regiment land on Utah beach, beginning about 4 p.m. The beach has been cleared of enemy opposition, however sounds of enemy shelling and bombing echo in the distance. The units start inland along the main road towards Sébeville, […]
“Static, like the poor, will always be with us,” radio engineer John Carson famously quipped in the 1920s. The crackles, pops, and hiss on the AM radio band were thought to be an inevitable part of radio technology. Then along came Edwin Howard Armstrong who invented wideband frequency modulation or […]
For the last few days the troops have remained in the marshaling area, changing money into francs and making other last minute preparations. Today, the 313th was trucked to the port of embarkation. Tomorrow, the 79th lands on Utah Beach. Here’s the situation they will find.
On 10 June 1944, the 313th Infantry Regiment entrained for Plymouth, England, about 100 miles away. Their destination is Crown Hill Camp, a marshaling area for troops scheduled for shipment across the English Channel. On arrival, a message awaits them from Major General Wyche, in command of the 79th Infantry […]
In his guest post last week, The Rise and Fall of UWB, Kai Siwiak traced the history of wireless – from the original wideband spark transmissions, to narrowband carrier signals with compact modulations, coming full circle back to spread spectrum and ultra-wideband signals. This history is correct in its description […]
The soldiers of the 79th Division learn that D-Day has finally arrived. Earlier today, 6 June, 1944, the 4th Division, a sister division to the 79th Division in VII Corps, landed on “Utah” beach more than a mile south of the originally planned location. “We’ll start the war from right […]
“D-Day,” the long anticipated Allied invasion of Europe, originally scheduled for today, is postponed due to poor weather. General Eisenhower and his staff hope for better weather tomorrow. Meanwhile, Life Magazine features “The U.S. Infantry” in the cover story of its 5 June 1944 issue. On the cover of this […]
On 1 June, the entire 313th Regiment moved by motor to a new location, Lype Hill, located in Somersetshire. The 79th Infantry Division shoulder patch features the Cross of Lorraine in recognition of the Division’s victory in the Lorraine Campaign of the First World War. The Cross of Lorraine was […]
On 30 May 1944, the 79th Division including the 313th Infantry Regiment, stationed at Garswood Park and Marbury Hall, received orders to prepare for a sudden move. 313th Infantry Regiment; 1st Battalion, Company C
Memorial Day Weekend is a time to remember and honor all those who fought to defend our country and our freedom. We honor all, because we cannot possibly honor each. And thus the individual experiences, memories, and recollections grow dim and risk being forgotten. This Memorial Day weekend, AetherCzar undertakes […]
Long before the sixth century B.C., trade and commerce brought about an exchange of ideas among the cultures of the Mediterranean. The ideas of the time are somewhat sketchy. We have to rely on fragmentary evidence, on quotations (perhaps taken out of context) that were preserved in the work of […]
Great history books generally fall into one of two categories. The first category is a streamlined and essentialized rocket trip straight through a subject to the heart of the matter. The second category branches out from the subject at hand to touch on the context, consider the background, describe the […]
The mark of a really great book is that there’s a great deal to say about it. Twice now Fergus Fleming’s Barrow’s Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy has inspired posts. This will make it three, and I’m already anticipating post number four in a few […]
A few quick picks: A new radio direction finding system for deployment on Humvees was introduced last week by Southwest Research Institute. Claire Berlinski reporting in City Journal reports a surprising lack of interest in a couple of Russian exiles with copies of the Kremlin’s secret archives needing translation and […]
I first heard about the “Tin Disease” when I was reading Isaac Asimov’s science essays in junior high school. He described how the tin organ pipes in St. Petersburg mysteriously lost their shine during a cold winter and transformed into a crumbly gray powder. Thus (Asimov said), was it discovered […]
Friday, I discussed Fergus Fleming’s Barrow’s Boys: A Stiring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy. Yet another highlight of that book was its treatment of the lost Franklin Expedition. In 1845, Barrow dispatched Sir John Franklin to find the Northwest passage – the long sought northern route connecting the […]
It was one of the most memorable television events of the 1970s: a twelve hour mini-series that traced the story of author Alex Haley’s Roots back to an African ancestor. In one of many gripping episodes, an African Muslim, “Kunte Kinte” (played by LeVar Burton, minus the iconic Star Trek […]
“Is Induction Cooking Ready to go Mainstream?” asked the New York Times last month. An induction range uses a rapidly varying magnetic field to induce electric currents in steel pots and pans – causing them to get hot very rapidly. Induction cooking appears to be coming back into vogue… again. […]
From the July 1927 issue of Popular Science, the ‘latest’ thinking on “Wireless Power Transfer.” The article quotes contemporary expert opinion from such luminaries as Steinmetz, Tesla, and Marconi. As Marconi noted: “the transmission of power by electrical waves awaited only the perfection of devices for projecting the waves in […]
A few quick picks: A SWAT raid back in February burst into a house occupied by a suspected drug user, his wife and seven year old son. Officers opened fire, killing a pit bull and injuring a corgi (?). The suspect was charged with a marijuana offense that resulted in […]
The popular image of Kennedy family patriarch, Joseph Kennedy, as a bootlegger with mob connections is thoroughly debunked in a new history of Prohibition, Last Call, by Daniel Okrent. An excerpt is available here.
While I was goofing off in high school in the early 1980’s, Scott Savage was busy building what may well have been the world’s first checker playing robot: “Lefty.” Lefty was an Armdroid robot arm run by an Atari 800 computer that debuted at the Oklahoma City Omniplex (now the […]
John Wilkes Booth was shot and killed this day, April 26, 1865, ending the most comprehensive manhunt in U.S. history. James Swanson tells the story of Booth’s preparation and planning, the assassination of Lincoln, Booth’s escape from Ford theater, and his nearly two weeks on the run. Swanson dispels the […]