BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find

Subject: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:42 AM

This is a wonderful yard sale find. It is a WWII Army air corp propaganda leaflet that was dropped on Japan. I found out that they dropped these things weeks before the bomb. I have no idea what it reads. Gotta get someone to translate. Very interesting.

leaflet

back

Anyone read Japanese??

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 11:16 AM

I suppose it said, in a less poetic way, what Bruce Phillips said in his song 'Enola Gay'

"Look out, look out
from your school room window
Look up young children from your play
Your bright young eyes
will turn to ashes
In the blinding light of Enola Gay "

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 11:21 AM

Or it reads
"one last smoke"

What a gift to mankind that thing was huh

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 12:13 PM

It probably warns people to flee from the metropolitan areas, because those areas face imminent destruction from the American Air Force. Conventional bombing was a tremendous threat too (more people were killed in one night by the conventional firebombing of Tokyo than by either atomic bomb drop), and it was a standard tactic to try to scare the urban population into abandoning their homes and fleeing to rural areas...thus abandoning their jobs in Japanese war industries and the general infrastructure, thus lessening Japan's ability to fight the war. That was the intent. I doubt that there was much real concern about the lives of Japanese civilians, but if you could get them to abandon the cities, then you could basically destroy the Japanese economy. The same tactics were applied in Germany, but (fortunately) without resorting to atomic weapons. Cities were still destroyed quite effectively, in any case, by means of ordinary conventional bombing.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 01:45 PM

Thanks LH I bet you are right

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 02:17 PM

Years ago I picked up a Canadian WW2 National HRO receiver at a surplus store. Heavy, and with a thick metal plate meant to be mounted in a panel, and a separate transformer, I enjoyed listening to short wave broadcasts, ship communications, etc., for a long time. It stopped working- probably one of the 12 tubes quit- and I never bothered to fix it. All the pbs FM, etc., had come in (it had no insert for the FM band) and I lost interest.
I am looking for a home for it. There is a large military museum here, perhaps they might be interested.

At a yard sale I picked up some old aircraft dials and the restorer people were very happy to get them.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 02:51 PM

Q
anything from the air war in WWII is pretty valuable for sure. I sold an original fighter jacket that I got at a thrift store and got 500 bucks for it.

PS. I donated the money back to them

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: gnu
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 03:09 PM

I found some books in the basement when I was about 12. The covers stated "TOP SECRET. Unauthorized possession is punishable by not less than two years plus a day in Federal Penetentiary." I thought they were cool when I read about stuff like how to use molasses and newspaper to break glass with little noise. The subversive warfare tactics were a bit beyond my comperehension at the time.

My old man, retired RCAF, caught me reading them and they disappeared. Along with the grenades (the old man liked to fish... hehehehee) and switchblade and pistol and machine pistols and other stuff. Ya know, a 38 Parachuten will bring game wardens from miles away if you target practice at the camp.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 03:10 PM

Loads here . You need to go to about p25 in the WWII list of leaflets, before you get to Japanese ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 04:35 PM

John
Thank you my friend, so kind of you ... I found it but it says
"text unknown"   my luck huh .... it confirms 1945 however

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 04:50 PM

I've got an old calculating machine here that must be from the 20s, 30s or 40s. It belonged to my grandmother. It's made of metal, shiny black, heavy, with a whole bunch of numbers and metal sliders and little handles you turn to make it work. It adds, subtracts, multiplies, and divides. Sort of like a primitive mechanically operated math computer. Boy, is it ever heavy!

It was apparently made in Goteborg and is under the brand "Original Odhner".

I should probably try selling it on Ebay, but shipping it would be costly.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 04:56 PM

Well you probably should ebay it LH ...
I got the leaflet on ebay right now. I always do that and then spend the money on more just ... well except for the pocket watches that I want ... don't consider them junk .. LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 05:39 PM

Is it like this LH??

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 06:09 PM

That one is almost identical, GS. Thanks for the link!

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 06:33 PM

LH that is a rare piece, you will get a good price for it

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 09:35 PM

Wakan, Brett's (Naemanson) wife, is Japanese. See the Guam threads. She is a sweetheart and will help, I am sure. Hope it doesn't stir up unhappy memories.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:01 PM

Thanks Mary
you sweetie

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:36 PM

I've got WWII maps of North and South China printed on the same piece of heavy silk -- these were issued as part of the survival, evasion, and escape gear. It was given to me by a friend (a nurse) who was given it by one of her homebound people.

No, I don't plan to get rid of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 06:26 PM

I have silk maps of Japan and CHina that pilots would have used in WW2 but were found unused and warehoused in San Diego too.

Subject: RE: BS: Interesting WWII Yard sale find
From: olddude
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 06:33 PM

WWII stuff goes for top dollar on ebay. My buddie sold a submarine pin for 400 bucks. I put the leaflet on and someone jumped on it in about 5 minutes. In yard sales that is one of the things to look for.