World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First

by Harry Kellogg

  In contrast, Warren would almost assuredly act out of instant rage. He would be guilty of an act of passion and one could argue that he was insane. Phil on the other hand would have to be totally sane to succeed.

  On 21 May 1947, Phil Post provoked a fight with Warren Johnson. He shot his friend in the heart with his service weapon when Warren attacked. He then cradled him in his arms until the Corporal died. Later a story was concocted about the heroic death of Corporal Warren Johnson while leading a counterattack against overwhelming odds.

  No charges were brought against Sergeant Phil Post.

  Post disappeared from his unit on 29 May 1947.

  He was said to have joined a Turkish unit and continued to kill Soviets. The last reported sighting was in Albania in late 1947. His body was never recovered and there was no report of him being seen alive again.

  Chapter Four: Inland

  Figure 16-The waters of the Tigris provide both an obstacle and opportunity. Reed boats and floating bridges make crossing possible and a source of revenue.

  Tanks for the Memories

  Fortunately for infantry, you can hear a main battle tank from up to half a kilometer away. As a foot soldier upon hearing a tank’s engine you immediately run for cover and call for help.

  Both sides are now using the latest armored vehicles in their respective arsenals. The engine noise is deafening inside the hull and the crew’s visibility was minimal.

  The Soviets were mass producing the T54A in astounding numbers. These armored vehicles were mechanically straight forward and extremely robust. The level of education needed by the crew members to operate the tank was minimal. It had simple controls with a few easily understood gauges.

  For a main battle tank they were small and very mobile thanks to their relatively light weight. Because of their size they could easily be transported by rail or flatbed truck. The tank’s wide tracks gave it lower ground pressure that allowed it to cross soft ground. All were equipped with a snorkel for fast river crossings.

  The T54As size presented a smaller target for its opponents to hit. Its gun was a very lethal 100 mm D-10T that could take out any NATO tank with one hit.

  The tank’s compact size presented a number of drawbacks that NATO was well aware of. The cramped interior and lack of a turret basket resulted in major difficulties in loading the gun quickly. Crew members were required to be under a certain height in order to mitigate the problems caused by the T54’s confined space.

  An undersized turret prevented the main gun from being depressed by more than 5°. This limitation prevented one of the most useful tactics available to a tank crew. The particular tactic is called the “hull down” position on a reverse slope.

  Figure 12-NATO Armor Assuming the Hull Down Position

  In the hull down position the only target visible was the tank’s turret that was hard to hit and very well armored. A hull down tank could still visually locate and fire on any available opponent.

  The T54A was easy to produce and Sergo had further sped up the process with his innovations. These tanks were reaching the battlefield in ever increasing numbers and were a force to be reckoned with.

  Figure 13-Soviet Column of T-54 Tanks

  The Americans and most of her NATO allies had adopted the M-50 Patton Main Battle Tank.[cxli] The new tank’s design was based partly on the British Centurion tank that just missed action in World War Two.

  Design features included a cast armored turret that easily accommodated a four-man crew. The relatively spacious interior further improved crew mobility for a faster rate of fire compared to Soviet tanks. The turret’s unusually narrow forward profile dramatically reduced the penetrating ability of enemy armor piercing shells.

  When assuming the hull down position a M-50 was very hard to damage or destroy. Even in the hull down position the M-50’s larger turret could easily depress its gun to cover all fields of fire. Presenting a turret to the enemy was a very decided advantage.

  The Patton’s main armament is the 90-mm M3 gun, fitted with a muzzle break and a bore evacuator. The secondary armament is a coaxially mounted .30-caliber Browning machine gun, with a .50-caliber Browning machine gun mounted before the tank commander's hatch for use as an antiaircraft weapon.

  The engine is a Ford V-12 GAC engine, from the aborted T-29 heavy tank project. The engine is rated at about 770 horsepower. With the more powerful engine they get from 100 to 110 miles before refueling. The fuel consumption per mile is very good for such a large tank.

  The Soviet T-44 Medium tank and IS-3 Super heavy tank were almost invulnerable to all but the gun of the American M-26 Pershing. The illfated Pershing was underpowered and had a delicate transmission that failed regularly. It could hold its own in a standup fight from a hull down position. The nearly insurmountable challenge was getting it to the battlefield in working order.

  The marriage of the British Horstmann suspension, the American turret and 90-mm M3 gun in the Patton was a vast improvement over the M-26 Pershing. The M-50 heavy main battle tank could now get to the dance and mix it up with the heaviest of Soviet armor.

  Being able to fully engage the enemy was a very welcome and novel situation for the American tankers. Whenever a German Tiger tank was spotted during the last war, US armor usually withdrew and called in air support. In the initial meeting engagements at the beginning of World War Three the same tactic was repeated.

  With the introduction of the M-50 Patton, the advantage now lay with the American tanker for the first time in modern warfare. Who prevailed came down to who fired accurately first. The Americans were about to make full use of the element of surprise and their increased maneuverability.

  The soviets were in for a rude awakening. Both sides now could kill each other at long range. It came down who was the firstest with the mostest in a tank knife fight.

  Figure 14-US M-50 Patton Main Battle Tank

  The Mechanic

  Bill Philips was the engineer of a LCVP or Higgins boat.[cxlii] The LCVP was military speak for Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel. The boat could ferry a platoon of 36 men, or a jeep and a dozen men.

  Before the war Bill’s main activity was the same as the Higgins boat, both worked for bootleggers. The repeal of prohibition ended their involvement in the moonshine business for both man and boat.

  World War Two and Three had given Philips a new career. As the engineer, Philips was now part of a crew of four that was landing troops and supplies ashore off the coast of Lebanon. The other three members of the crew included a coxswain, bowman and sternman. Bill’s job was to keep the engine running.

  The 225 horsepower Hall-Scott gasoline engine was life and death to all in the boat. The engine had let him down only once. It was off the coast of Okinawa and a small Japanese cannon took potshots at them for over two hours as they drifted helplessly out of control.

  During the last war as part of his duties he was preparing the boat for the landings on Okinawa. Eventually the long hours and loss of sleep had made him accident prone. He had overlooked a very minor fuel filter that was in a very hard to reach spot in the engine compartment. The fuel filter’s failure should not have been enough to shut the engine down completely but it had.

  As they were under fire, the other members of the crew and the platoon on board threatened to throw him overboard a number of times as he frantically tried to figure out the problem. By the time he got the engine running again the passengers on the boat were preparing to swim ashore.

  The whole incident had left a lasting mark on Bill’s psyche. He vowed that the engine would never fail again. He was obsessed with keeping the mechanics of the boat in 100% working order. This quest basically consumed all of his waking hours. Bill constantly cleaned, adjusted, replaced and tweaked every single nut, bolt, filter, gasket and screw on the boat.

  When you talked to Bill, you talked about the engine. Bill always steered the conversation towards how the motor was functioning and where he could get spare parts. At the same ti
me the rest of the crew was thinking about women and food, all Bill was thinking about was his engine.

  In today’s operation near Beirut, the Higgins boat had made six round-trips between the Landing Craft Infantry ship and the shore. They carried 150 Marines and three jeeps to the beach without incident.

  During the seventh trip a riptide caught the coxswain off-guard and pushed the little boat 25 feet to the south of their intended course. As the coxswain tried to bring the boat back in line the motor suddenly quit.

  The now helpless Higgins boat was carried into a minefield by the current. No one on board knew the kind of mines now surrounding them or how they worked.

  In their ignorance the passengers and crew spent close to an hour keeping the boat from coming in contact with the mines. In fact the mines in this area only exploded when they detected a magnetic field caused by a large metal hull of a ship.

  The Higgins boat was made of plywood and only had two metal parts, the front ramp and the engine. Unbeknownst to the crew of the boat the magnetic signature of the Higgins was too small to set off the mines.

  Everyone had looked to Bill in panic. His story was legendary. Bill started to work on the engine. With the motor off they realized that shots were coming from the shore.

  A Soviet sniper had spotted the small boat and started shooting at it. His first shot had missed everything but the engine. That lucky shot had hit a vital area and the motor just stopped. Although the bullet did not penetrate anything it did enough damage to bring the engine to a halt.

  The sniper continued firing. Bill Philips was the third person hit as his fourth shot passed through the wooden sides of the Higgins boat, through the pant leg of the lieutenant commanding the platoon and finally into Bill’s brain via his left eye.

  Ironically Bill’s engine never did fail again. The sniper was eventually hunted down and killed by a marine on shore. The boat and its passengers were rescued. The damage to the engine was discovered and repaired. A new engineer was assigned and the boat completed another two dozen trips before it was abandoned as scrap.

  An enterprising, local fisherman claimed the boat and used it for another 30 years before the engine finally gave out. Bill was buried in Beirut along with thousands of others. His last thoughts were how he had failed once more.

  Figure 15-The Middle East May-June 1947

  Baghdad

  Baghdad was once again the focus of mighty empires as in ages past. The city existed primarily because of one factor. It had water. It had been established in the eighth century because of this life-giving element and quickly became a major population center. Eventually the region grew into the largest city in the world and a center of learning, until the Mongols destroyed it in 1258.

  The city suffered periodic visitations of the plague and cholera for over two hundred years. The area languished until the 20th century when the cause and prevention of both diseases was discovered. By 1938 Baghdad was once again a major metropolitan area.

  The Soviet forces had looted the city when they occupied it on the way to the Suez Canal. Anything that was shiny or clearly valuable was taken. Stone sculptures and pottery were ignored left behind or smashed. As in the centuries past all roads in the area still led to Baghdad and the water still flowed.

  The city had become the supply hub for all Red Army forces south of the Caucasus Mountains. Baghdad’s capture would spell doom for the Soviets in the Middle East. On a particularly fine day in June, the US Army was closing in from the east and the British Commonwealth Forces from the South.

  On 14 June 1947, the first NATO forces entered what looked like an empty city. Some booby traps and mines where scattered about but very few Soviet fighters were observed. The Reds did leave behind a hospital full of wounded. It was a mix of civilians and gravely wounded Soviet soldiers who could not be moved.

  In the last war with the Germans, the Soviets would probably have killed these men. Memories of once being allies with the Americans must have been a factor in letting the wounded men live.

  At the end of that war returned Soviet POWs were very often killed as traitors and their families disparaged by the authorities. Allowing these wounded soldiers to live was a possible sign that the convictions of the Red Army Commanders had deviated from the party line. One wonders if Stalin and the STAVKA were aware that the local commanders were acting on their own initiative in this matter.

  The Beggar They Are

  Akram was a beggar in Baghdad. He had been a beggar all his life. When he was very little his father would send him out alone. He was very cute and fearless. He came back with a fair amount of food for his efforts that his father and older brother ate. His father said that if Akram got fat he would not look like he was starving, as a result he did not get much of the food he worked so hard for.

  When he became older his looks matured and he could no longer bring in as much food. In time his father acquired a new little boy. Akram was left to fend for himself. On his own he actually did quite well since he got to keep all his proceeds. For the first time in his life he got the nutrition he had been lacking.

  He became a very good looking teenager, albeit slight in stature, and started to trade sex for food. Food was the only medium of commerce in Baghdad during his first 14 years of life. When the Russians came food was the only commodity exchange for beggars. While ammunition was abundant, bullets had no value when it came to trading for nourishment.

  Then the Americans came. They had other things besides food, wonderful things. The first item he got in payment was American cigarettes. These cigarettes were made from incredibly smooth and good tasting tobacco. For the first time he found he enjoyed smoking instead of just smoking to alleviate his habit. Soon American cigarettes were all over the streets and you could use them to buy food.

  Cigarette lighters were the next article of trade to appear. These lighters were wonderfully intricate pieces of metal that with the flick of a finger would create a flame. These flames could be used to light cigarettes and to trade for more cigarettes and food.

  There were many other wonderful things that the Americans brought as well.

  Akram took immediately took delight in these exciting new developments and the opportunities they offered. He was never so well fed, smoked so many cigarettes, or felt so good. Life was better than he ever imagined.

  Overtly the Americans were not interested in sex with boys. However, he easily found some that were. Secrecy was paramount to the soldiers and they paid handsomely. Apparently it was taboo for men to have sex with boys in America. No matter, there are always ways to get what you want.

  Akram was talking to other beggars about the Americans when Kasim mentioned that his American was paying him not to tell others about their having sex. Akram thought about this idea for a long time and decided to try it out.

  He was having regular relations with an American captain, Captain Richmond. Captain Richmond was on the fast track to becoming a major. He had distinguished himself quite well in combat. His men liked him and he was a good leader. If word got out that he liked boys his career was over. Akram did not know all the implications of his relationship with the Captain, he was just experimenting with a new way of making a living. The term or meaning of “blackmail” was totally unknown to him.

  When Akram brought the subject of payment for silence to the Captain’s attention, the captain paid him an extra pack of cigarettes. He was very pleased with this new way of getting paid more for doing the same thing.

  Later that day he tried the same approach with Sergeant Patterson and he got two extra packs of cigarettes. Akram was beside himself with joy. He thought to himself, What an easy way to become rich.

  After he and Lieutenant Biscoe had pleasured each other later that evening, he asked the Lieutenant for a whole extra carton of cigarettes for his silence and received just that. He then asked the Lieutenant for his lighter as well. The Lieutenant looked at him for a couple of seconds, walked over to his clothes, drew his gun fr
om the holster and shot Akram in the head.

  Akram was not missed. Life in Baghdad continued on without losing a beat. The only one who even asked about Akram’s whereabouts was Captain Richmond. Soon the Captain was rotated back to Beirut. Within a week Sergeant Patterson was killed by a land mine. Lieutenant Biscoe shot himself two days after the murder he committed. Within 30 days there was no one left in Baghdad who remembered Akram.

  Sergo Underground

  Sergo’s latest encounter with Stalin had not gone well. He had presented a number of practical solutions to the challenges brought on by the American naval paint scheme. Stalin had listened instead to the advice of Admiral Kuznetsov, who pronounced all of the solutions temporary and impractical. The increasingly erratic dictator then ordered that Sergo provide him a permanent solution to the problem immediately.

  Sergo convinced Stalin that he had to gather some information from his office located in the manufacturing facilities outside of Moscow. Stalin became distracted and waved a dismissal to Sergo. He then told a pair of guards to accompany Sergo to the office. It was understood that they were not to let him out of their sight.

  Like Beria before him, Sergo always knew that his days as an advisor to Stalin would not last forever. Also he had planned ahead for his eventual fall from grace.

  Sergo had read about an American named Dr. Henry Howard Holmes.[cxliii] His real name was Henry Webster Mudgett and he was the most prolific murderer in America’s short history. It was not his 200 victims that fascinated Sergo. What captured his attention was how Holmes was able to construct and then hide a complex chamber of horrors in plain sight of a daily stream of passersby.

  He had constructed a very large building as a hotel in downtown Chicago. The structure was massive even by the standards of 1886 Chicago. The locals dubbed it “The Castle.”