USCG - Chemical Warfare Grouping - Iwo Jima mimeographs

[RedLegGI]

PIcked this up about 7 years ago and got this posted (finally!)

[RedLegGI]

 

 

 

 

http://s1321.beta.photobucket.com/user/RedLegGI/library/USCG%20Chemical%20Warfare%20-%20Iwo%20Jima%20Grouping

[Patch]

Neet group of stuff and a jumper with a Chemical Warfare rate that I had never seen before.

[uplandmod]

Speechless!!

Leonardo

[Corpsmancollector]

That is quite an amazing grouping!

Will

[RedLegGI]

The only downside is that I wish he had taken better care of the paperwork because its crumbling now.

[Timberwolf]

Not a huge navy rate guru but that CW rate is pretty awesome!

[RedLegGI]

Not a huge navy rate guru but that CW rate is pretty awesome!

 

When I bought it I had no idea what it was and honestly didnt read the mimeograph stuff until much later. I went home and tried to do some reseach but it seems theres really not much info about these guys during WWII. Even now trying a search on google yielded one picture of a rate without its uniform and im kind of wanting to find out more about these guys. Navy/USCG isnt my forte either I tend to like the army stuff but couldn't pass this up.

 

Dent

[buzzard517]

Hmmm....smoke generation maybe? I know that's one of the jobs tasked Army chemical troops. Also, the Army trained Navy landing craft personnel to fire the 4.2 inch mortar from their craft. Is it possible that there were CG mortar boats as well?

[MMA10mm]

This is strictly suposition on my part, but i'm speculating he was there to deploy US gas weapons against the Japanese defenders. Why? Well, from our notorious knowledge provider, wikipedia:

 

"[edit]World War II

 

Despite article 171 of the Versailles Peace Treaty, article V of the Treaty in Relation to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare[24] and a resolution adopted against Japan by the League of Nations on 14 May 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army frequently used chemical weapons. Because of fear of retaliation however, those weapons were never used against Westerners, but against other Asians judged "inferior" by the imperial propaganda.

 

According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Kentaro Awaya, gas weapons, such as tear gas, were used only sporadically in 1937 but in the spring of 1938, however the Imperial Japanese Army began full-scale use of sneeze and nausea gas (red), and from summer 1939, mustard gas (yellow) was used against both Kuomintang and Communists Chinese troops.[25]

 

According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, the chemical weapons were authorized by specific orders given by Emperor Hirohito himself, transmitted by the chief of staff of the army. For example, the Emperor authorized the use of toxic gas on 375 separate occasions during the Battle of Wuhan from August to October 1938.[26] They were also profusely used during the invasion of Changde. Those orders were transmitted either by prince Kotohito Kan'in or general Hajime Sugiyama.[27]

 

The Imperial Japanese Army used mustard gas and the recently developed blister agent Lewisite against Chinese troops and guerrillas. Experiments involving chemical weapons were conducted on live prisoners (Unit 731 and Unit 516). The Japanese also carried chemical weapons as they swept through Southeast Asia towards Australia.

 

Some of these items were captured and analyzed by the Allies. Greatly concerned, Australia covertly imported 1,000,000 chemical weapons from the United Kingdom from 1942 onwards[28] [1][29] [2].[30][31][32][33]"

 

So, why do I jump to the conclusion we had gas there? A couple reasons: First, the command structure saw fanatacism (and our casualties) climb as we progressed closer to the home islands of Japan. If the enemy was ready to use kamikaze, would they not also may be willing to use gas? Second, it was well known the Japanese had used gas in China and possessed quantities in SE Asia. Prudence would dictate that we have a weapon to counter a Japanese gas attack. (Remember, we hadn't tested the bomb yet, and the military theory of the time was to match your side's weapons to the other side's - hence several classes of ships built to "counter" Japanese classes.)

 

Still not convinced? I'm sure some people are thinking my speculation is wild, because the Allies were the good guys and would never use gas... Think again. Re-read the last sentence in my quote abve. Then, consider this:

 

"On the night of December 2, 1943, German Ju 88 bombers attacked the port of Bari in Southern Italy, sinking several American ships– among them SS John Harvey, which was carrying mustard gas intended for use in retaliation by the Allies if German forces initiated gas warfare. The presence of the gas was highly classified, and authorities ashore had no knowledge of it– which increased the number of fatalities, since physicians, who had no idea that they were dealing with the effects of mustard gas, prescribed treatment improper for those suffering from exposure and immersion.

The whole affair was kept secret at the time and for many years after the war (in the opinion of some, there was a deliberate and systematic cover-up). According to the U.S. military account, "Sixty-nine deaths were attributed in whole or in part to the mustard gas, most of them American merchant seamen"[37] out of 628 mustard gas military casualties.[38] The large number of civilian casualties among the Italian population were not recorded. Part of the confusion and controversy derives from the fact that the German attack was highly destructive and lethal in itself, also apart from the accidental additional effects of the gas (it was nicknamed "The Little Pearl Harbor"), and attribution of the causes of death between the gas and other causes is far from easy.[39][40]

Rick Atkinson, in his book The Day of Battle, describes the intelligence that prompted Allied leaders to deploy mustard gas to Italy. This included Italian intelligence that Adolf Hitler had threatened to use gas against Italy if the state changed sides, and prisoner of war interrogations suggesting that preparations were being made to use a "new, egregiously potent gas" if the war turned decisively against Germany. Atkinson concludes that "No commander in 1943 could be cavalier about a manifest threat by Germany to use gas.""

 

My guess is we had a couple AKAs full of gas which we were ready to fill Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and eventually Kyushu (I seem to remember gas was part of the planning for X-Day also).

 

[RedLegGI]

This is strictly suposition on my part, but i'm speculating he was there to deploy US gas weapons against the Japanese defenders. Why? Well, from our notorious knowledge provider, wikipedia:

 

"[edit]World War II

 

Despite article 171 of the Versailles Peace Treaty, article V of the Treaty in Relation to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare[24] and a resolution adopted against Japan by the League of Nations on 14 May 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army frequently used chemical weapons. Because of fear of retaliation however, those weapons were never used against Westerners, but against other Asians judged "inferior" by the imperial propaganda.

 

According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Kentaro Awaya, gas weapons, such as tear gas, were used only sporadically in 1937 but in the spring of 1938, however the Imperial Japanese Army began full-scale use of sneeze and nausea gas (red), and from summer 1939, mustard gas (yellow) was used against both Kuomintang and Communists Chinese troops.[25]

 

According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, the chemical weapons were authorized by specific orders given by Emperor Hirohito himself, transmitted by the chief of staff of the army. For example, the Emperor authorized the use of toxic gas on 375 separate occasions during the Battle of Wuhan from August to October 1938.[26] They were also profusely used during the invasion of Changde. Those orders were transmitted either by prince Kotohito Kan'in or general Hajime Sugiyama.[27]

 

The Imperial Japanese Army used mustard gas and the recently developed blister agent Lewisite against Chinese troops and guerrillas. Experiments involving chemical weapons were conducted on live prisoners (Unit 731 and Unit 516). The Japanese also carried chemical weapons as they swept through Southeast Asia towards Australia.

 

Some of these items were captured and analyzed by the Allies. Greatly concerned, Australia covertly imported 1,000,000 chemical weapons from the United Kingdom from 1942 onwards[28] [1][29] [2].[30][31][32][33]"

 

So, why do I jump to the conclusion we had gas there? A couple reasons: First, the command structure saw fanatacism (and our casualties) climb as we progressed closer to the home islands of Japan. If the enemy was ready to use kamikaze, would they not also may be willing to use gas? Second, it was well known the Japanese had used gas in China and possessed quantities in SE Asia. Prudence would dictate that we have a weapon to counter a Japanese gas attack. (Remember, we hadn't tested the bomb yet, and the military theory of the time was to match your side's weapons to the other side's - hence several classes of ships built to "counter" Japanese classes.)

 

Still not convinced? I'm sure some people are thinking my speculation is wild, because the Allies were the good guys and would never use gas... Think again. Re-read the last sentence in my quote abve. Then, consider this:

 

"On the night of December 2, 1943, German Ju 88 bombers attacked the port of Bari in Southern Italy, sinking several American ships– among them SS John Harvey, which was carrying mustard gas intended for use in retaliation by the Allies if German forces initiated gas warfare. The presence of the gas was highly classified, and authorities ashore had no knowledge of it– which increased the number of fatalities, since physicians, who had no idea that they were dealing with the effects of mustard gas, prescribed treatment improper for those suffering from exposure and immersion.

The whole affair was kept secret at the time and for many years after the war (in the opinion of some, there was a deliberate and systematic cover-up). According to the U.S. military account, "Sixty-nine deaths were attributed in whole or in part to the mustard gas, most of them American merchant seamen"[37] out of 628 mustard gas military casualties.[38] The large number of civilian casualties among the Italian population were not recorded. Part of the confusion and controversy derives from the fact that the German attack was highly destructive and lethal in itself, also apart from the accidental additional effects of the gas (it was nicknamed "The Little Pearl Harbor"), and attribution of the causes of death between the gas and other causes is far from easy.[39][40]

Rick Atkinson, in his book The Day of Battle, describes the intelligence that prompted Allied leaders to deploy mustard gas to Italy. This included Italian intelligence that Adolf Hitler had threatened to use gas against Italy if the state changed sides, and prisoner of war interrogations suggesting that preparations were being made to use a "new, egregiously potent gas" if the war turned decisively against Germany. Atkinson concludes that "No commander in 1943 could be cavalier about a manifest threat by Germany to use gas.""

 

My guess is we had a couple AKAs full of gas which we were ready to fill Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and eventually Kyushu (I seem to remember gas was part of the planning for X-Day also).

 

 

Great article and information there. I completely agree with you that gas was present, all be it secret, in every theater of war. In the paperwork of this group it specifically lists locations of gas in the Alaskan theater. Just as you say, we were the victors so we get to portray ourselves as the great white knight on a warhorse coming in to save the day. In reality, we're all human and a such,w e prepare for what the enemy may throw at us. I fully expect we would have employed gas.

[jgawne]

CW men were generally for gas DEFENSE in the war. You had to have people who knew how to deal with it if the enemy used it, and how to decontaminate things (even ships). So which he may have been involved with something, in all proability he was just Chemical Warfare specialist and did stuff like teach and check out guys on how to use their masks and suits and decontamination kits. An obscure rating to be sure, but pretty much every service had people trained in this stuff.

[MMA10mm]

Yes, I agree he was there for defense as well as offense. Re-reading my post above sounds a little critical, which was unintentional. I'm certain these specialists first duty would be decontamination and other defensive response to an enemy attack, but I'm equally sure he was trained and we had the supplies with which to retaliate. Rather like nuclear weapons during the cold war, having the offensive capability to retaliate assured our enemy never tried. Unlike the Koreans and Chinese who had no retaliation capability, so the Japanese felt safe to use gas against them.

[PaulR]

Now that is a rating I have never seen before. You hit the jackpot there.