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in 1944 the William cc Claiborne was shelled in the Philippines , damage was done with no loss of life
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Born in Manassa, Colorado on June 24, 1895, William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey rose to sports stardom in the 1920s. As a nomadic traveler from 1911 to 1916, Dempsey began boxing in the small mining towns of Colorado under the name "Kid Blackie." He emerged from numerous saloon floor-boxing matches to rein victorious in over 80 professional fights by the meager age of 24. Dempsey was perhaps best known for his thrilling knockout victories, many of which occurred in just seconds of the fight’s onset.

Dempsey proved his phenomenal ability in a battle of "David and Goliath" match of fists. His iron strength and killer left hooks allowed Dempsey to beat Jess Willard in 1919, leaving the giant bewildered and shattered. This victory awarded Dempsey both the heavyweight title and the nickname of the "Manassa Mauler, " the name that soon haunted potential opponents all around the country. Dempsey became a ring warrior through his tough defense of his title six times in just seven years. In most of his matches, there were no survivors.

A day of disbelief for Dempsey occurred on September 23, 1926 when he was defeated by Gene Tunney and lost his heavyweight title. Ironically, this match yielded the largest paid attendance in boxing history. Tunney and Dempsey went head to head and fist to fist again in 1927 in hopes that Dempsey would reclaim his title. Dempsey lost this rematch, which was coined "The Battle of the Long Count" because of a call by the referee that Dempsey did not return to a neutral corner after Tunney had fallen. Tunney won the match three rounds later.

Dempsey continued boxing in exhibitions after his defeat but retired from professional boxing in 1940 and went on to be a successful restaurant owner in New York. Dempsey retired with an astounding record of 60-7-8. Fifty of these wins were knockouts. He was a universally accepted sports star. With his bobbing and weaving stance, amazing speed, graceful agility, and pure power, Jack Dempsey will forever remain the perfect boxer and one of the greatest box office attractions of all time.

When the United States entered ww2, Dempsey had an opportunity to refute any remaining criticism of his war record of two decades earlier. Dempsey joined New York State National Guard and was given a commission as a first lieutenant. Dempsey resigned that commission to accept a commission as a lieutenant in the Coast Guard Reserve. Dempsey reported for active duty in June 1942 at Coast Guard Training Station, Manhattan Beach , Brooklyn, New York, where he was assigned as "Director of Physical Education." Dempsey also made many personal appearances at fights, camps, hospitals and War bond drives. Dempsey was promoted to lieutenant commander in December 1942 and commander in March 1944. In 1944 Dempsey was assigned to the transport USS Wakefield In 1945 Dempsey was on the attack transport USS Arthur Middleton for the invasion of Okinawa. Dempsey also spent time aboard the USS General William Mitchell where he spent time showing the crew sparring techniques. Dempsey was released from active duty in September 1945 and he was given an honorable discharge from the Coast Guard Reserve in 1952.

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Designed in 1937 as a high-altitude "pursuit aircraft" (interceptor), the XP-38 was heavier than a Bristol Blenheim Mk. I, which at that time was the standard British medium bomber. Equipped with under wing droppable fuel tanks, the Lockheed P-38 was used extensively as a long-range escort fighter aircraft and saw action in practically every major combat area of the world. The Pacific theatre of operations produced the two highest scoring aces in American history - Major Richard Bong and Major Thomas McGuire, Jr. Both men flew P-38 Lightnings in the Southwest Pacific and each received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his courage and accomplishments.
After WW2, a number of Lockheed P-38s were used for aerial photography in the private sector. Almost 10,000 P-38s were built. Today, only a few are remaining.
Type:
Long range fighter and fighter bomber
Powerplant:
Two Allison V-1710-27/29
Max speed:
414 mph (666 km/hr)
Ceiling:
44,000 ft (13 400 m)
Range:
475 miles (765 km) on internal fuel
Weight (empty):
12,600 lbs (5806 kg)
Max. T/O:
21,600 lbs (9798 kg)
Wingspan:
52' 0" (15.85m)
Length:
37' 10" (11.53 m)
Height:
9' 10" (3 m)
Armament:
One 20mm cannon, four .50 machine guns, 2,000 lb of bombs, rockets

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4th Armored Division

The 4th Armored Division, after training in England from January to July 1944, landed at Utah Beach 11 July and entered World War II combat 17 July.
The Division participated in Operation Cobra, the Normandy Breakout. They secured Coutances, Nantes and then turned east driving across France. September had them crossing the Moselle River and in the vicinity of Nancy. They maintained a defensive posture and line from Chambrey to Henamenil into October. They returned to the line in November near Viviers and crossed the Saar River on the 21st and 22nd.
After the Germans launched their Ardennes Offensive, the 4th AD raced northwest to Belgium. Units of the 4th AD were the first Allies to reach the 101st AB at Bastogne. Following the Battle of the Bulge , the Allies went on the offensive and the 4th moved east crossing the Moselle and then the Rhine in late March and on to the capture of Lauterbach. By 12 April the Division had crossed the Saale River and continued their advance into Czechoslovakia where World War II for the 4th Armored Division ended on 6 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day.

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Percival has gone down in history as the man who surrendered 136,000 men after Singapore surrendered in February 1942. After the war Percival wrote about his command in Malaya and Singapore but many reviewers gave unfavorable reviews to his book. Was this justified? Before taking up his appointment as GOC Malaya, Percival had noted that he could well have been taking up an outpost in Asia in which little of consequence happened and that it could stall his career prospects. Alternately his also knew that places such as Malaya and therefore Singapore had not had as much spent on their defenses as he would have liked. While serving under General Dobbie before the war, Percival had made an assessment of the defenses in Malaya and Singapore. He concluded that far more needed to be spent to modernise what was there especially in Southern Johore, just to the north of Singapore.Churchill called the surrender “the worst disaster in British history”. But it was Churchill who had ordered all the 350 tanks in Malaya to be moved to the Russian front as a show of faith between the USSR and Britain. Japan had 200 light tanks in the Battle for Malaya while the British had none. Likewise, the request for 566 aircraft to give aerial cover to ground troops was ignored by the War Cabinet who considered that 336 would be sufficient.

As the situation became more and more threatening in the Far East before war broke out in the region, Dobbie had requested more ground troops. In this he was successful but the decision to send more troops from India did not meet with Churchill’s approval. He wrote in January 1941:

“I do not remember to have given my approval to these very large diversions of force. On the contrary, if my minutes are collected they will be seen to have an opposite tendency. The political situation in the Far East does not seem to require, and the strength of our Air Force by no means warrants, the maintenance of such large forces in the Far East at this time.”

However, the 9th Indian Division was sent.

Percival, while GOC Malaya, was also refused permission to put ‘Operation Matador’ into being. This was a plan to capture Singpora in southern Thailand before Japanese forces got to it. Singapore was a port and had a major air base. It seemed obvious that if the Japanese were going to attack both Malaya and Thailand, they would take Singapore. ‘Operation Matador’ would take this option away from the Japanese or the fighting for it would reduce it to such a state that the Japanese could not use it operationally. However, the War Office would not sanction such a move as it was felt that the Japanese might view this as a provocative act, which could stimulate war.

One area where Percival could be criticized was his refusal to build defenses along the northern shore of Singapore. He had 6,000 engineers at his disposal and could have done so with some ease. However Percival did believe that “defenses are bad for morale”.

After the surrender Percival was held in Changi jail, which acted as a POW camp. In August 1942, he was sent to Manchuria via Taiwan. He stayed here until the end of the war. Percival stood behind General Douglas McArthur during the surrender ceremony on ‘USS Missouri’ and MacArthur gave him one of the pens used in the ceremony.