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***NWoBHM*** · 07-20-2011, 09:54 AM

HM the Queen has opened Bletchley Park up over here as a museum dedicated to the maths geniuses and English Cross Word experts who cracked the German Enigma machines - used a lot on U Boats, and from all accounts impossible to crack.

They had a captured Enigma machine (and despite what Hollywood would have us believe in U571 I dont think the US nicked it from them), and this coupled with a first application of computer power, (a machine called Collosus), they were able to crack the code.

A flaw in the German thinking was transmitting the weather as part of the message - as the people knew what the weather was it helped provide the clue as to which wheel to use on the machine for that day.

I might pop along and take a look........

Rey · 07-20-2011, 11:04 AM

I visited the Strategic Air and Space Museum near Omaha, NE a couple of years ago. Awesome place, and they had an Enigma machine on display there, protected under glass. I think it was one that would travel around to different museums, and it was there at the time. Pretty interesting piece of equipment.

Really now, the story in U-571 isn't true? That's kind of disappointing, I have always liked that movie. Along with the visuals, that movie just has amazing sounds, with all the suspense and the creaking and groaning of the stressed metal while they are deep underwater. Watch that one with a great speaker system, and turn it up!

dheafey · 07-20-2011, 11:48 AM

As a young lad in high school, I belonged to Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC). We had the chance to visit a lot of cool places but the coolest thing I ever did was ride on the Navy Destroyer USS Blandy (DD 943) from Virginia to Boston Harbor. I "stood watch" while the OOD (Officer of the Deck) backed the ship out of port, all under the watchful eyes of the XO and CO, perched in the their leather chairs on the bridge.

Sololson · 07-27-2011, 12:52 PM

This week my Father-in-Law and I headed off to Oregon to pick up his Dad's old WWII Harley WLA. It was a perfect little trip, just us guys sitting around drinking whiskey and listening to old war stories. I absolutely loved it. Dick was in the 4th Armored and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, as well as being among some of the first soldiers to begin liberating concentration camps. It was incredible for me to hear his first hand accounts and see the pictures that he himself had taken. Like many other GI's he endured more than any young man should have to. It wasn't all bad times though, Dick did find time to putt around the European countryside on a Royal Enfield he "liberated" from the Germans, who had swiped it from the British. This bike was left behind when he came back to the states, and although he didn't see any action on the WLA that we went up to Oregon to get, he has had it for a long time and it has the signatures of a bunch of guys he served with written inside the stars on the tanks. This trip was definitely a highlight event for me, bringing together several of my passions: history, motorcycles, and family. Am I a lucky guy or what?!

Rey · 07-27-2011, 02:03 PM

Good post and photo, and a great story.

(07-27-2011 12:52 PM)Sololson Wrote: This week my Father-in-Law and I headed off to Oregon to pick up his Dad's old WWII Harley WLA. It was a perfect little trip, just us guys sitting around drinking whiskey and listening to old war stories. I absolutely loved it. Dick was in the 4th Armored and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, as well as being among some of the first soldiers to begin liberating concentration camps. It was incredible for me to hear his first hand accounts and see the pictures that he himself had taken. Like many other GI's he endured more than any young man should have to. It wasn't all bad times though, Dick did find time to putt around the European countryside on a Royal Enfield he "liberated" from the Germans, who had swiped it from the British. This bike was left behind when he came back to the states, and although he didn't see any action on the WLA that we went up to Oregon to get, he has had it for a long time and it has the signatures of a bunch of guys he served with written inside the stars on the tanks. This trip was definitely a highlight event for me, bringing together several of my passions: history, motorcycles, and family. Am I a lucky guy or what?!

***Mufasa*** · 07-27-2011, 04:17 PM

Makes for a hell of a memory, doesn't it?

Sololson · 07-27-2011, 04:43 PM

(07-27-2011 04:17 PM)Mufasa Wrote: Makes for a hell of a memory, doesn't it?

Sure does! He told great stories and as he was telling them I just knew he could still see those images in his mind. Some memories aren't just relegated to his head though, and he has a purple heart to prove it. He showed me how he can still take a magnet and find the shrapnel in his arm. Amazing its still with him after all these years.

***Boomer*** · 07-27-2011, 05:26 PM

Ooooo - I see a Harley - an OLD Harley! Those were the days!

Those are the men I love to seek out and talk to, because they can share so many of those memories that tend to get lost in the shuffle of life. Did a survey for an ol B-17 pilot about 6 years ago. I just listened while he talked. Bailed out over the English Channel 3 times. Shot down twice behind enemy lines, and made it back to fight another day, had more medals - including the MOH, than I could ever look at.

Those are the men that are deserving of every ounce of honor we can heap upon them!

Sololson · 07-27-2011, 07:55 PM

(07-27-2011 05:26 PM)boomer Wrote: Ooooo - I see a Harley - an OLD Harley! Those were the days!

Those are the men I love to seek out and talk to, because they can share so many of those memories that tend to get lost in the shuffle of life. Did a survey for an ol B-17 pilot about 6 years ago. I just listened while he talked. Bailed out over the English Channel 3 times. Shot down twice behind enemy lines, and made it back to fight another day, had more medals - including the MOH, than I could ever look at.

Those are the men that are deserving of every ounce of honor we can heap upon them!

Agreed! Do you have transcripts of your conversations with the pilot? I always love to hear more of these stories. Dick's brother John was a radioman on a B-17 that was shot down on his first mission. He bailed out in the Baltic and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. I met John once and his stories are just as amazing Dick's. The irony is that while Dick was liberating one camp his brother John was being set free by another group of soldiers at almost the same time. I feel so lucky to have heard their stories first hand and honored that their sacrifices allow me to enjoy the life I lead today. I'm thankful to all Veterans for their service. Here's a link to a recent article about John http://www.redding.com/news/2011/jun/09/...or-a-wwii/ (and another pic of the Harley for you Boomer).

***Boomer*** · 07-27-2011, 08:33 PM

Oooo Thanks for the pic! I always love looking at old bikes. It is my sincerest hope I can find one to restore when I retire, or maybe even before!

Unfortunately no transcript. No recording. I was surveying a part of his farmstead, it was hot, and we needed to show him the results of our work. It took two hours four beers and a couple of calls from our wives to drag us away from that house. HE had pics of all his missions, including one pic of the Memphis Belle. You just never ever forget those men because thats a generation who done it right! When I joined the navy my mom's dad took me into the garage by himself, showed me his old uniform, showed me the liberty cuffs he had handmade, talked about "fighting those Japs" and being on a destroyer. I never saw him much after that - joined the navy got married - but when I did see him his eyes brightened just a bit until Alzheimers set in. He passed away in 2000 from a stroke, but I still have the 48 star flag that flew over the ship he was on.