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    SUN-SAND AND SURVIVAL - An Analysis Of Survival Experiences In Desert Areas
    SUN-SAND AND SURVIVAL - An Analysis Of Survival Experiences In Desert Areas
    SUN-SAND AND SURVIVAL - An Analysis Of Survival Experiences In Desert Areas
    Ebook125 pages1 hour

    SUN-SAND AND SURVIVAL - An Analysis Of Survival Experiences In Desert Areas

    By Dr Richard A. Howard

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    About this ebook

    Desert survival presents unique problems not met in other non-temperate areas. Recognizing this, the Arctic, Desert, Tropic Information Center commissioned Dr. Richard A. Howard to assemble and analyze desert survival experiences of World War II, for the purpose of increasing our knowledge of desert survival techniques and procedures. To know what World War II survivors did, what they thought, and what they recommended after having experienced desert survival conditions is of paramount importance. Sun, Sand and Survival relates and evaluates these experiences.

    Dr. Howard, ADTIC consultant, has had long experience in the survival training of military personnel. He is the author of the ADTIC Publication T-100 999 Survived which analyzes 1,000 tropical survival experiences. Dr. Howard’s desert study analyzes 382 successful desert survival episodes and mention is made of an additional 142 individuals who were lost. The stories show how men without desert background or mental conditioning met their desert problems. They include examples of men who left their group and were never heard of again. In the light of our present knowledge of the water requirements of the human body, we know that many could have survived had they had a better understanding of the requirements imposed by the desert. More survivors would have returned in better health and endured less discomfort if advance knowledge had been readily available.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucknow Books
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786253101
    SUN-SAND AND SURVIVAL - An Analysis Of Survival Experiences In Desert Areas
    Author

    Dr Richard A. Howard

    See Book Description

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      Book preview

      SUN-SAND AND SURVIVAL - An Analysis Of Survival Experiences In Desert Areas - Dr Richard A. Howard

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1953 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      SUN, SAND and SURVIVAL

      An Analysis of Survival Experiences in Desert Areas

      by

      Richard A. Howard, Ph.D.

      ADTIC Consultant

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      PREFACE 5

      PART I—THE EPISODES 7

      1. Background for the Study 7

      2. Nature of the Sample and Sources of Material 8

      3. Reasons for the Emergency 10

      4. Nature of the Emergency Descent 10

      5. How Men Saw the Desert 12

      PART II—THE PROBLEMS OF SURVIVAL 14

      1. Travel in Desert Terrain 14

      a. The Long Walk 14

      b. Navigation 18

      c. Hazards of the Environment 20

      d. Mirages and Illusions 21

      2. The Problem of Water 22

      a. Amounts and Sources 22

      b. Water Purification Methods 25

      c. Thirst Quenchers and Water Substitutes 26

      3. Rest and Shelter 27

      4. Clothing and Wearing Apparel 28

      5. The Health of Survivors 30

      6. Food and Hunger 33

      a. Rations 33

      b. Plant Materials as Emergency Foods 34

      c .Animals as Emergency Foods 35

      d. Food Supplied by the Natives 36

      PART III—HAZARDS OF SURVIVAL 38

      1. Animal Dangers 38

      2. Dangers From Materials 39

      PART IV—AIDS TO SURVIVAL 40

      1. Contact with the Natives 40

      2. Emergency Signaling and Equipment 41

      3. Rescue Activities 43

      4. Survivors’ Comments on Equipment 45

      5. Survival Training 45

      6. Philosophy of the Survivors 46

      CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY 47

      APPENDIX—SIX OF THE BEST DESERT SURVIVAL EPISODES 51

      1. QATTARA DEPRESSION 51

      2. SOUTH OF TOBRUK 52

      3. PARALLELING THE COASTAL ROAD 53

      4. ETHIOPIA 54

      5. SOMALILAND 55

      6. ARIZONA 56

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 58

      PREFACE

      Desert survival presents unique problems not met in other non-temperate areas. Recognizing this, the Arctic, Desert, Tropic Information Center commissioned Dr. Richard A. Howard to assemble and analyze desert survival experiences of World War II, for the purpose of increasing our knowledge of desert survival techniques and procedures. To know what World War II survivors did, what they thought, and what they recommended after having experienced desert survival conditions is of paramount importance. Sun, Sand and Survival relates and evaluates these experiences.

      Dr. Howard, ADTIC consultant, has had long experience in the survival training of military personnel. He is the author of the ADTIC Publication T-100 999 Survived which analyzes 1,000 tropical survival experiences. Dr. Howard’s desert study analyzes 382 successful desert survival episodes and mention is made of an additional 142 individuals who were lost. The stories show how men without desert background or mental conditioning met their desert problems. They include examples of men who left their group and were never heard of again. In the light of our present knowledge of the water requirements of the human body, we know that many could have survived had they had a better understanding of the requirements imposed by the desert. More survivors would have returned in better health and endured less discomfort if advance knowledge had been readily available.

      Sun, Sand and Survival will contribute materially to the briefing of pilots and crews who operate over desert terrain. It gives first-hand in-formation on what to expect in a great variety of desert areas. It shows definitely that deserts are not all alike. Used in connection with ADTIC Publication D-100 Afoot in the Desert and Air Force Manual 64-5 Survival, it gives the reader a thorough grasp of techniques and procedures of desert survival.

      PAUL H. NESBITT

      Chief, ADTIC

      PART I—THE EPISODES

      1. Background for the Study

      The military operations of the United States Air Force over desert terrain took place primarily in the opening phases of World War II. At that time our forces were scarcely organized for the activities they were to undertake. Briefing for desert operations was inadequate; survival training had not been organized; survival manuals were not yet written; emergency equipment was not available either to be carried in the aircraft or to be dropped to survivors on the ground; and rescue organizations to locate and return the survivors were still to be formed. However, men flew over deserts and some of them came down on desert terrain and walked home to tell about it. The experiences of these desert survivors have now been studied and it is felt that analysis of these experiences will give some indication of what problems men must face in desert emergencies.

      This study is a topical approach to the problem of desert survival. The stories forming the basis of this study represent first-hand experiences of men who walked the desert. The things these men saw, the problems they faced, the hazards they endured, and their adaptations, improvisations and solutions to their problems will be considered under such topics as navigation, health, rest, shelter, and hazards of the environment. This study has been requested by the Directorate of Requirements of the United States Air Forces. It is hoped that the study will prove useful not only to the program of instruction in survival procedures conducted by the USAF throughout its field of operation but to operating units of the Air Rescue Service, the preparation of rescue kits and materials, and the compilation of survival manuals and specific information on areas where the USAF operates today. I have tried to prepare a readable account of what the airmen of 1940-43 endured in the desert with the knowledge that today’s fliers can learn from the difficulties as well as the determination, stamina, and ingenuity of the men who lived these stories.

      The British Air Force in conjunction with units from New Zealand and South Africa began military operations’ against the Italians in the desert areas of East Africa in 1940. These operations spread to the western deserts in North Africa against the combined Axis forces the following year. With the entry of the United States into this global conflict, small units of the AAF joined the Desert Air Force in North Africa and were incorporated into the DAF. Urgency demanded that many of these American units receive their desert training co-operatively, and it was only after several months of such training that the Ninth Air Force was established as an independent operational unit. With the invasion of Morocco and Tunisia the USAF came into its own as an operational force and remained that way until the defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa. The Allied air units, operating from the east and the west, experienced desert conditions of the most severe type. In addition to the fighting units the transport planes of the Air Transport Command also flew routes over some desert areas in Africa.

      The desert was left behind as an active theatre of operational warfare when the attack shifted to southern Europe and the invasion of Europe began in Sicily in 1943. From 1943 until the end of the war in Europe, only a few outfits operated over desert areas.

      The desert training center in southwestern United States was not used to any great extent by the USAF in preparation for the war in North Africa. Only a few survival stories have been gleaned from training operations over the North American deserts.

      2. Nature of the Sample

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