Introduction

After the Battle magazine has published issue # 142. After the Battle covers all theaters of WW 2, with the majority of the stories on the European theater. The magazine uses then & now photographs to help tell the stories contained in the magazine.

the magazine

After the Battle magazine is a quarterly publication of Battle of Britain International Ltd. This issue has the usual 56 pages with color pictures on the front and back covers plus 2 pages in the center. The magazine combines 'then and now' photographs pertaining to the stories. This issue has 5 major stories including a small section devoted to updates of previous stories. The high quality paper enhances the images and stories.

In Depth Part One
The Gleiwitz Incident is the first feature story in this issue. During the spring and summer of 1939, Hitler was looking for an excuse to invade Poland. Hitler needed an incident on the German-Polish border to show Polish aggression to keep the French and British from intervening. Hitler along with Himmler came up with Operation Tannernberg.
The operation was given over to the higher SS security services. R. Heydrich and H. Mueller were ordered to select and plan the fake border incursions. They came up with three separate incidents, all to take place at the same time on Aug 25-26, 1939. Due to political events the attacks were called off. The attack on Hochlinden went ahead as scheduled because the leader of the group did not receive the stand down order. The attack went ahead as planned and was stopped before the fake Polish forces clashed with real Polish troops.

The second operation was the assault on the Gleiwitz radio station. This was to take place in the early hours of Sept 1, 1939. The attack was carried out and a body of a Polish individual was left behind to show Polish insurgents had invaded German territory.

The third incursion on Sept 1, 1939 was an attack on the Forestry station near Pitschen. This attack was carried out as planned but had little effect on the area. All the attacks were carried out along with some other incursions to help show Germany was being assaulted by Poland. These incidents allowed Hitler to show that the invasion of Poland was fair punishment for the incidents.

In Depth Part Two
From the Editor is a section included once a year to bring new information on past subjects. This edition included a story on the last US soldier killed in the European theater. The International Tracing Service, based in Bad Arolsen, Germany, is an agency devoted to finding the whereabouts of missing persons. Hundreds of requests are received daily to help find information of persons who went missing in Germany during WW2.

A number of individuals are featured who passed away, and a report on the auction of WW2 memorabilia that once belonged to Alan Roudeix. Also included is a short story on a collection of Sherman tanks that were once used as targets on a range near the Belgian Ardennes.

In Depth Part Three
US Marines at Camp Balcombe. This is the story of what happened to the marines of the first marine division once they were relieved from Guadalcanal. The relieved marines were sent to Australia, first to Camp Cable, near Brisbane. The camp was in a bad location with swarms of mosquitoes and the marines had plenty of malaria cases. The marines were moved to the Melbourne area of Australia where a new hospital had just been built. During their stay the marines were rebuilt and rearmed. The first division patch was approved and the "George" medal was struck. There were two award ceremonies that included the presentation of three Medals of Honor. The Marines stayed until early September 1943 when they shipped out for New Guinea. After the War the post reverted to Australian control.

In Depth Part Four
Faking Monte Cassino is a story about how some pictures were made in other areas of Italy and reported to be of the Cassino battle. The pictures were of divisional and unit exercises near Cassino, where some re-enactments were filmed. A nice list of photo's, showing location and time is included in the article.

In Depth Part Five
Poteau Revisited, this section deals with the movie and still film taken during the Battle of the Bulge. The battle between task force Mayes of the 14th Cav group and elements of the 1st SS Panzer Div was a sharp, short fight. The interesting element of the film is that most of the German soldiers wore Luftwaffe uniforms and helmets. Many think the personnel were replacements from the Luftwaffen ground personnel pressed into service in the SS.

It seems that the museum at Poteau may be a very good place to go for a good outlook on this fight. The film was captured by US forces on Dec 18, 1944.

conclusion

After the Battle # 142 was a very nice read this time around. The story about the marines in Australia was very informative and the Gleiwitz Raid was presented very well. This issue had a couple of extra stories and updates to previous information. I look forward to the next issue to see what information is presented.

For more information, US readers can obtain subscriptions from RZM Imports. Information on the magazine and books can be obtained on the afterthebattle website.