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Welcome to a special supporting episode of

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Service Stories of Hunger and War,

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a production from I Heart Radio and Me your

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host, Jacqueline Reposo. I

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lived in k rations and sea rations,

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and the sea rations they were like extra lash

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cracker jack boxes. We want a childlike

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waiting for the food, probably a mile long

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between all the soldiers and sails. The

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military has a language all its own.

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Over the course of this season, we'll progressively

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hear our World War two veterans described

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k ration boxes, how they loved

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or hated or simply tolerated their military

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meals, and what they outsourced to fill

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in the gaps. Today, we're going

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to detail out a few terms. You'll be hearing

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our veterans voice. Early on this season,

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they had a code name Vickey Mouse.

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If I said Mickey, you had a same mouse

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they made at six and that

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was a bigger cargo plant than the Sea

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forty selling the most will flew into

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chairman as to buy wing plan. The

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needs of World War Two encouraged major

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advancements in technology in both the United

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States and abroad, and Allied forces

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worked together before the United States joined

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in December. By

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that time, the war had been raging in

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Britain and Winston Churchill was never

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shy in praising technological advancement,

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but all the adverse fact that I've described

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have sam rather been canceled out

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development of our machinery and organization.

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The first digital computers were breaking

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enemy code. Civilians filled

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the SEMBL line state side, turning out

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nearly fifty thousand m for Sherman

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tanks in only four years. And

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the brand new development of radio navigation

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systems RADAR allowed

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pilots to maneuver to and from targets

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safely, which aided the Allies triumph

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against the Germans and the Battle of Britain, a

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huge turning point in the war which inspired

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Churchill's famous speech, The

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gratitude of every home in our island,

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in our Empire, and indeed throughout

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the world, except in the abodes

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of the guilty, go back to the British

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Airman, who, undaunted by

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odds and wearied in their

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constant challenge and mortal

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danger, are turning the tide

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of the World War by their promise and

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by that devotion, never in

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the field of human country was

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so much owed by so many

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fledgling

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US Army Air Corps pilots were inspired

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by such winds, and our veterans

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aren't shy in name dropping the companies

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that made such things possible. Before

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he was drafted, Harold bud Long was

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one of one hundred and eighty thousand employees

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of Curtis Right, the largest aircraft

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manufacturer in the United States at the time and

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second only to General Motors when it came to

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employment. Curtis produced

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aircraft engines, electric propellers,

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and airplanes like the P forty Fighter, a

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sleek, light one man monoplane

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with an enclosed cockpit that made it possible

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for pile it's to fly and inclement weather. Here's

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George Hardy at just Skigi airman you'll

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hear from the season, who flew fighter planes in

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Italy, explaining how manufacturers

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from different companies worked together on advancements

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that could make or break crucial missions.

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P fifty one type airplane we built for the

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British when we got no war. They came

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over here for us to build an airplane. They

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wanted P forties, but Curtis couldn't build

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any more than they were building, and they as North American

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to put in a P forty production line

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in North Americans said we can build a

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better airplanes faster than that. So they

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built an airplane eight thirty six something

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like that. P forty has had an Allison

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engine and built by the Allison company here, but

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the Allison engine lost efficiency

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above say fifteen thousand feet. It didn't

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have a good supercharger on it. The English

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took the airplane and they put the Rolls Royce

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engine in it, and that changed the whole characteristic

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of the airplane. Is the best airplane at any

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aplitude, and so we built

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over fourteen thousand of them for ourselves

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after that. The Rolls Royce engine

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and the engine was under licensed

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by the Pack and Moda Company, So I

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had my roles at nineteen Yeah,

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I remember flying at a forty feet

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an engine just going beautifully over the

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cal of sam in Rome. Because

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they were fast and could fly so high, pilots

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like George were able to escort and defend bomber

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planes. You'll hear details about that in

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his episode. But even with such

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helpful technological advances, soldiers

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sometimes faced agricultural challenges

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when they landed in foreign landscapes. After

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I got off on the beach and I was looking

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for my sea company guys come

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up into the hedgerows. When

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off of the Normandy beaches after D Day,

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soldiers like bud An Army private Jonda

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Strica then had to navigate hedgerows.

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I had never heard of them, but veterans

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remember them clearly. Built

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as early as the Roman era picture,

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these man made hedgerows as tall earth

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fences topped with dense shrubbery, trees

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and brambles. They closed ten

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acres of pasture around the size of

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a football field, and as they had spread

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over time to create meandering lanes

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with deep curves, they made prime

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hiding spots. This meant soldiers

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had to learn new maneuvering strategies

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to stay ahead of their foe. Here's

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Bud Long, who landed in Normandy with the Air

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Corps on D Day. It's

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tough to get through them because they were thick farmers

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in our teams of horses, and they

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farmed like five acres of land, just a small

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plot and the hedgerows and Allays

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had a lane that went into him, and I said,

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don't go through that lane because the machine

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guns set up on the other side just waiting for you

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to get through. So I said, pick the thickest

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part of the hedge roll and go through it and you'll

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catch them on by surprise. We learned

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that right off the beach. Because

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tents and barnes made easy enemy targets,

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finding a safe place to rest at night was a

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treacherous task, and so as much

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as the hedgerow's hindered movement, they

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also helped create shelter. Here's

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John explaining the difference between slip trenches

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and foxholes and how hedgerows

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could help. When we

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stopped before nightfall, we

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were told, don't dig

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a slip churrench, dig foxhole.

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A trench is just dig the hole

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the length of your body and the thickness

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of your body dirt on all sides.

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You'd be level with the ground. I f a

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shell would hit close the sharp no

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would go over your head. But if you

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like a foxhole, you dug down

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maybe three ft in the ground, and you made

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a seat in there, and your head had

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to be below ground in case you had a tank

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attack, the tank would go over and

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wouldn't hurt you. The biggest head rows

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they released five ft high to maybe

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three ft wide, so you didn't

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have to dig into the ground so much. This

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season, you'll hear our veterans referre to hedgerows

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and various kinds of ships, trucks, and planes.

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If you find yourself not entirely sure of

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the what and why, don't worry too hard

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on it. Soldiers and sailors were

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once civilians too. Sons

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pride upon lich this day

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upset upon the mighty Endeva

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that's struggle to preserve our republic.

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You can see photos from this episode at Service podcast

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dot org, where you can leave comments or messages

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for our veterans. Connect with our community

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on social media. We are at Service podcast

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on Instagram and Facebook. Service

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as a production from I Heart Radio and Me. Jacqueline

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Roposo MS Puetiger is the associate

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producer on this episode. Jennie Ramikin

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engineered the on site interview with John. Our

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supervising producer is Gabrielle Collins. Our

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executive producer is Christopher Hassiotis.

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Our art is by Girl Friday. Thanks

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for listening, and thank you those who

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are serving and those who have served