[Milsurplus] Research Help Requested

[James Whartenby]

Joe
The book I mentioned below can be found here:
https://archive.org/details/ReliabilityFactorsForGroundElectronicEquipment
and can be downloaded in any format you choose.
Chapter 1 gives the history and there is mention of MPF varnish on page 6-24.
The organic material that was used for wire insulation and the like fed the fungus!

Good luck on your project,
Jim

--------------------------------------------
On Sun, 8/27/17, James Whartenby <antqradio at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Research Help Requested
 To: "Milsurplus" <milsurplus at qth.net>
 Date: Sunday, August 27, 2017, 11:27 AM
 
 Joe
 I once worked with a mechanical engineer who spent most of WW2
 on reconnaissance patrols in the ETO.  He mentioned to me,
 on many occasions, that he spent more time behind German
 lines then in front of them.  These patrols lasted for
 several weeks at a time.  Their purpose was to gauge troop
 movements and concentrations.  Bill said that at times he
 was so close to the enemy that he could reach out and touch
 them as they passed by on the road.  Food and ammunition
 was the majority of what was taken with them.  They wore
 the same clothes for the duration of the patrol.  When they
 got back to their unit, they burnt their old clothes,
 showered and then were issued new uniforms.
  
 I
 asked him which radios were also taken on these patrols.
  He laughed and said that the reliability of the radios was
 so poor, that when you needed to use it, it wouldn't
 work.  Things
 seemed to be so bad that before most radio equipment could
 be issued to the troops, it had to be repaired as soon as it
 was taken out of the crate!  This is backed up by
 several post WW2 studies on electronic equipment
 reliability.  One that mentions this can be found here: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/76283/AIAA-1966-2598-214.pdf;sequence=1  This
 paper seems to have been written in the early 1960's and
 concentrates on commercial equipment but much was written on
 this subject just after WW2 and during the Korean
 Conflict.
 I
 have a copy of a book, the title escapes me now but it
 echoes what is contained above.  When I get the chance,
 I'll look for it and send along the title.  I believe
 it can also be found as a pdf on line.
 Jim
 
 
 
     
   From: Joe Connor via
 Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
  To: Milsurplus
 <milsurplus at qth.net> 
  Sent: Sunday, August
 27, 2017 9:34 AM
  Subject: [Milsurplus]
 Research Help Requested
    
 Guys,
 I need some help on a research project I'm doing on the
 Goettge patrol, a 25-man Marine patrol that was slaughtered
 on Guadalcanal on August 12-13, 1942.
 One
 curious and unexplained issue is why the patrol did not
 bring a radio with them. Because of that, when they needed
 help, they had to send a guy to swim back to the Marine
 perimeter, about four miles away.
 Can
 you think of any reason why they wouldn't bring a
 transmitter/receiver? Size? Weight? Bulk? Lack of
 availability in the shoestring days of the Guadalcanal
 campaign? This was before the advent of the BC-611
 walkie-talkies, right? In August 1942, what type of small
 transmitters/receivers (if any) would have been available to
 a 25-man Marine patrol on Guadalcanal?
 As
 always, thank you for your help.
  
                       Joe Connor