The villain in this was the PM. No need to “ask” the volunteers again in the middle of a campaign. Then again perhaps he received his advice from his usual sources — his crystal ball, his dog and/or his dead mother.
Someone at high levels should have intervened.
This action caused the cruiser to initially be denied refuelling in Pearl Harbor enroute home with tail between legs.
Excellent! My father-in-law was too young to go over in 1943/44 but volunteered and was accepted into the 2nd Cdn Parachute Battalion. They were to be attached to a Brit Airborne Division which was to be part of a much larger Allied AB corps to drop into Japan (along with a massive over the beach invasion far larger that 6June 1944). Was about to do that in August — when the two A-bombs put an end to that.
The villain in this was the PM. No need to “ask” the volunteers again in the middle of a campaign. Then again perhaps he received his advice from his usual sources — his crystal ball, his dog and/or his dead mother.
Someone at high levels should have intervened.
This action caused the cruiser to initially be denied refuelling in Pearl Harbor enroute home with tail between legs.
Quite so. An ugly position to put the troops in. Although I can only imagine the pressure from families at home wanting their loved ones back asap.
On a personal note, my older brother was serving in the RCN on the East Coast but immediately volunteered for the war in the Pacific.
Excellent! My father-in-law was too young to go over in 1943/44 but volunteered and was accepted into the 2nd Cdn Parachute Battalion. They were to be attached to a Brit Airborne Division which was to be part of a much larger Allied AB corps to drop into Japan (along with a massive over the beach invasion far larger that 6June 1944). Was about to do that in August — when the two A-bombs put an end to that.
A good thing, too. Truman weighed up the potential losses of an opposed landing and opted for the bombs.
Your future in-laws must have felt a huge sense of relief.