MIS-X MISSILES See V-weapons program MIS-X An American organization that helped downed pilots or escaping prisoners of war get back to friendly territory It operated in southern China and across Western Europe See also MI9 MITSCHER, MARC (1887–1947) U.S vice admiral He commanded the carrier USS Hornet during the Doolittle Raid in 1942, and again at the critical Battle of Midway, where some argue that his carrier and aircrew underperformed During 1943 he commanded naval air assets based in the Solomons, then moved briefly to the West Coast command in the United States From March 1944, he commanded the Pacific Fleet’s Fast Carrier Task Force 58, with which he perfected carrier warfare in the Pacific His task force was heavily engaged in the Marianas campaign, and again in fast carrier raids on isolated Japanese air and naval bases at Truk and in the Solomons TF-58 destroyed Japanese air power in the Marshall Islands prior to the ground assault on Kwajalein The high point of his command came during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 TF-58 fought next at Palau, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, while also making fast carrier raids against targets in the home islands of Japan MITTELEUROPA Traditionally, this was merely the German term for Central Europe In the late 19th century a nationalist dream of a German-led superstate in Central Europe and the Balkans took shape Not all Germans shared the vision of uniting volksdeutsch in a single Reich Most notably, Otto von Bismarck rejected the notion as romantic, far-fetched, and dangerous However, the newer nationalist meaning was taken up by Wilhelm II and others before and during World War I For ultranationalists in the interwar years, and especially within Nazism, it became an article of faith in German national destiny and an expression of newly aggressive German expansionism MIUS OPERATION (1943) See Donbass offensive operation MLAWA-ELBING OPERATION ( JANUARY 1945) Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky’s 3rd Belorussian Front pivoted to attack due north toward the Baltic coast of East Prussia Allenstein fell on January 22, while 5th Guards Tank Army raced to reach the coast east of Elbing two days later Adolf Hitler ordered the great memorial to Field Marshal Paul Hindenburg at Tannenberg blown up in advance of the Red Army, with the old man’s bones removed first German 4th Army abandoned fixed defenses and pulled out Its commander, General Friedrich Hossbach, was immediately sacked See also Vistula-Oder operation 732