Showing posts with label cavalry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cavalry. Show all posts

Friday, March 15, 2024

Wednesday, March 15, 1944. The destruction of Monte Cassino.


Allied aircraft dropped 14,000 tons of bombs on Monte Cassino and fired 195,000 rounds of artillery.  British, Indian and New Zealand troops tried, and failed, to take the abbey.

The Red Army crossed the Bug.

US troops held off a Japanese assault on the American beachhead at Bougainville.

Additional cavalry landed on Manus Island in the Admiralities.

The Japanese crossed the Chindwwin River in Burma.

The U-653 was sunk in the North Atlantic by the Royal Navy.  The British submarine Stonehenge was lost in the Indian Ocean.

The State Anthem of the Soviet Union replaced The Internationale as the anthem of the USSR.

Last prior:

Tuesday, March 14, 1944. Isolating Ireland

Saturday, March 15, 1924. Passing symbols and elections.

Today In Wyoming's History: March 151924  The wreck of the six masted schooner Wyoming was located off of Pollock Rip, Massachusetts.  She went down with all 18 hands.


Maj. Gen. DeRosey Cabell, age 62, Chief of Staff during the Punitive Expedition under Pershing, died.  He had been retired since 1919.

Cabell.

Brig Gen. Richard Henry Pratt, former head of the Carlisle Indian School and advocate for cultural assimilation of Native Americans, died at age 83.  He coined the word "racism", but also advocated for the policy that he expressed as "Kill the Indian...save the man."

An election was held in the Dominican Republic for its president and Congress.

Kenya held a legislative election under its new constitution

King Fuad I opened the initial session of Egypt's first constitutional parliament.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Thursday, March 6, 1924. The US Olympic Equestrian Team.

Olympic Cavalry Team, March 6, 1924. Capt. E. W. Taubee, Capt. V. L. Padgett, Lieut. P. M. Robinett. (Back Row) Lieut. F. L. Carr., Major, C. P. Georges, Major J. A. Barry, Major S. Doak, Captain I. R. Underwood, and Captain U. T. Bauskett.

At the time, the equestrian teams were drawn from various nation's officer corps.

Last prior:

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Friday, March 3, 1944. The death of Teresa Gullace and of hope for Poland.

Teresa Gullace, seven months pregnant, was killed by a German soldier when she attempted to pass a sandwich to her husband, who was detained by the Germans in Rome.  She was part of a group of women that had gathered to protest the Germans holding their husbands.

The scene was later depicted in Rosellini's 1945 Rome open city, one of three great films by the director set during World War Two and filmed immediately after, and which used amateur actors to a large degree.

The U.S. Army Air Force hit the Roman rail facilities at the Tiburtino, Littorio and Ostiense marshalling yards.  There were 400 civilian casualties.

Over 500 railroad passengers died of carbon monoxide poisoning during a protracted stall in a tunnel at Balvano, Italy.  It's one of the worst rail disasters of all time.

Stalin shut the door on further negotiations on the Polish border.

The Soviet Union created the Medal of Ushakov and the Medal of Nakhimov, both of which were awarded to sailors.  Interestingly, they were both named after Imperial Russian officers.

Japanese troops on Los Negros launched a night attack, which was repulsed by US cavalrymen.

The 3d Infantry Division repulsed a German attack on the Anzio beachhead at Ponte Rotto.  It would be the last German offensive action at Anzio.

Paul-Émile Janson, a Belgian Prime Minister just before World War Two, died at Buchewald at age 71.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Thursday, March 2, 1944. And the Oscar goes to. . .

Men of the 5th Cavalry Rgt. were landed on Los Negros to back up the previous landings.  Momote Airfield was taken.

Lend Lease aid to Turkey was cut off.  That it was ever extended is interesting, in that Turkey had not joined the war and in fact was still being courted by both sides.

Maj. Graham Batchelor, Milledgeville, Ga., U.S. Army Infantry Liaison Officer, eating with Chinese officers, March 2, 1944.

The 16th Academy Awards were held at Grauman's Chinese Theater, the first time the awards were held in a large public venue. 

Casablanca won Best Picture and Best Director. Other films that were nominated were, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Heaven Can Wait, The Human Comedy, In Which We Serve, The More the Merrier, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Song of Bernadette and Watch on the Rhine.  Of those, I've only seen Casablanca, The Ox-Bow Incident and The Song of Bernadette all of which are truly excellent.

Paul Lukas won best actor for Watch on the Rhine.  Jennifer Jones won best actress for The Song of Bernadette.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Tuesday, February 29, 1944. The 1st Cavalry Division lands at Los Negros.


First wave of the 1st Cavalry, note all the Thompson Submachineguns.

The Admiralty Islands Campaign began with the dismounted US. 1st Cavalry Division landing on Los Negros Island. What had started as a small landing was converted on the spot by General MacArthur and Admiral Kinkaid to a full scale landing.


MacArthur and Kincaid on Los Negros, February 29, 1944, with Army cameraman T/Sgt Daniel Rocklin.

A-20s on their way to Vesuvius airport after bombing targets at Anzio.

Poor weather prevented an effective continued German effort at Anzio.

The USS Trout was sunk in the East China Sea by the Japanese destroyer Asashimo.

The Red Army prevailed in the Nikopol-Krivol Rog Offensive.

The Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Nikolai Vatutin, was ambushed by Ukrainian partisans and mortally wounded.

The Battle of Ist was fought between the Free French Navy and a Kriegsmarine element, resulting in a French victory in the Adriatic.

A rodeo was held in New South Wales.




Friday, February 23, 2024

Wednesday, February 23, 1944. Truscott assumes command at Anzio.

Lucian Truscott on the  Anzio beachhead, wearing cut down U.S. Army cavalry boots (not M1943 boots which they resemble) and an A2 flight jacket, which he routinely wore, with General Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Allied Armies in Italy, who is wearing a  British sherling flight jacket and riding boots.
Today in World War II History—February 23, 1944: Maj. Gen. Lucian Truscott assumes command of US VI Corps at Anzio. First US Army blood bank in the Mediterranean Theater opens at Naples medical center.

Cavalryman Lucian Truscott was one of the great ones.

Of interest, Truscott, who had started off his adult life as a school teacher before entering the Army during World War One (he did not see overseas service), was replacing another cavalryman, Gen. Lucas.  His entry into teaching was based upon a lie, in that he represented, at age 16, that he was a high school graduate, which he was not.  His entry into the Army, which was combined with a petition to become an officer, was based upon a compounded lie that he had attended, but not graduated from, college.

Truscott with British troops, later in Anzio.  In this photograph we see the same A2 jacket but he's wearing riding breeches and three strap riding boots.

Truscott was an extremely able commander and the author of the excellent cavalry memoir, Twilight of the Cavalry.  He's an example, additionally, on how the era allowed capable individuals to excel without full accreditation, something that does not occur nearly as much now.

The Soviet mass deportation of the Chechens commenced.

Resistance on Parry Island ended, and with it the hard fought Eniwetok campaign.  Of the 3,400 Japanese troops committed to the defense of the atoll, 66 survived.

The Battle of Admin Box also ended in an Allied victory.

The late bluesman Johnny Winter was born in Beaumont, Texas.  He passed away in 2014 at age 70.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Monday, January 31, 1944. Landings at Kwajalein.

The Battle of Kwajalein commenced with landings by the 4th Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division under the command of Marine Corps General Holland "Howlin Mad" Smith, an acknowledged expert on amphibious warfare that some have called the "father of amphibious warfare".


Smith went to Auburn University, graduating in 1901, but his goal was to become an Army officer.  He was already a cavalry 1st Sergeant in the Alabama National Guard.  Nonetheless, following his undergraduate degree, he went to law school and obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (JD's were not yet common) from the University of Alabama.  He thereafter practiced law in Montgomery, Alabama for a year.

Apparently he had second thoughts about that and determined to revive his interest in joining the Army.  He sought a commission, but none were available, so he instead obtained one from the Marine Corps, entering the Corps on March 20, 1905.  He'd later claim not to have known of the existence of the Marine Corps until the Army recruiter told them they were not accepting applicants, and referred him to the Marine recruiter down the block, although that's almost certain false.  The Marines were well known by 1905, and as he was seeking entry through a direct commission, an application process would have existed, rather than simply joining.

His first assignment as a Marine was in the Philippines.  He first saw action in 1916 in the Dominican Republic.  He was deployed to France in World War One in June 1917.  He was awarded the Purple Heart for service in the Great War, for merit, something that was not done after World War One.  During World War Two, he became instrumental in training both Marine and Army units in amphibious operations.

Smith, during World War Two, tended not to plan for disengagement of his forces once they were committed, something the Army regarded as foolhardy but which reflected the reality of amphibious operations.  The "no plan for retreat" ethos, however, crept into the Marine Corps as a result, and was evidenced in it long after.

He retired in 1946, and lived until 1967, dying at age 84.  His wife had already passed, but he was survived by a son, Rear Admiral John V. Smith, a 1934 Naval Academy graduate.

Sarah Sundin's entry on this event:

Today in World War II History—January 31, 1944: US Army and Marines land on Kwajalein & Majuro in the Marshall Islands, with the first use of the DUKW amphibious vehicle in the Pacific .

The Allies took Majuro in the Marshall's.

U.S. ships at Majuro.

The landing force had expected opposition, but the Japanese had withdrawn to Kwajalein and Eniwetok, leaving a single warrant officer as a caretaker in what must have been an anxiety filled roll.  He was captured, and along with him, one of the largest anchorages in the Pacific. 

The U-592 was sunk by three Royal Navy sloops. All hands were lost.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Sunday, January 23, 1944. Halting at Anzio.

British infantrymen meeting U.S. Army Rangers outside of Anzio.  In the early hours of the operation there was little resistance and things were very fluid.  Both Rangers in the foreground are carrying M1 Garands and wearing the "Jacket, Combat, Winter", which is  erroneously associated with tanker s today.  At least the Ranger on the right is wearing a pair of winter trousers as well.  The soldier on the right has a large "H' on his helmet cover, which is an identifying mark I'm not familiar with.  The soldier on the left appears to have the same mark.  Both British solders are wearing leather jerkins.

36,000 Allied troops had already disembarked by the prior midnight, 13 had been killed, and 200 German prisoners of war taken, including a drunk German officer and orderly who had driven his staff car into an Allied landing craft.  There'd be 50,000 troops on the ground by the end of the day.

Allied troops, under Lucas' command, took up forming defensive positions in anticipation of a counterattack, a decision that was soon controversial, and frankly, a mistake.  This is interesting for a variety of reasons, one of which is that Lucas was originally a cavalry officer, with cavalry being the only branch in the U.S. Army that was dedicated to battlefield mobility and had a doctrine of always moving forward.That view as not shared by the other branches.  Having said that, Lucas had transferred out of the cavalry after World War One.

The German forces did debate what to do.  Kesselring, in command in Italy, believed the Gustav Line could be held along with the beachhead at Anzio. Von Vietinghoff favored withdrawing from the Gustav Line.  The German High Command, meanwhile, allocated reserved from France, northern Italy and the Balkans to the effort.

By the week's end, the Allies would be facing 8 German divisions at Anzio.

The HMS Janus as sunk off shores by a Fritz X.

The Australian Army took Maukiryo in New Guinea.

The Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Rangers 15 to 0, which apparently remains a hockey record.

Pistol Packin' Mama was number one on the country charts.

23-year-old New Zealand er Linda Malden working on a windmill while managing her parent's farm.  No men were left to do what was traditionally a male role, due to wartime manpower demands. Public domain, State Library of New South Wales.

Friday, December 15, 2023

December 15, 1943. The cavalry arrives.

The 112th Cavalry, which had been dismounted, landed at Arawe in the opening battle of the New Britain Campaign, Operation Cartwheel.


The landings were actually a diversion for an upcoming landing at Cape Gloucester.

The 112th Cavalry was a cavalry regiment of the Texas National Guard. They had at first been retained along the boarder with Mexico until Mexican attitudes towards the war could be ascertained.  They were deployed to the Pacific without horses and would never recover their mounts.

Australian forces took Lakona on New Guinea.

Three German officers and a collaborator were tried for war crimes by the Soviet Union. Abwehr Captain Wilhelm Langheld, SS Lieutenant Hans Ritz, Corporal Reinhard Retzlaff of the Secret Field Police, and Mikhail Bulanov of Kharkov were found guilty on December 18 and hanged the next day in what some inaccurately regard as the first war crimes trial.

The Soviets had, in fact, already conducted at least one.  Unlike the prior ones, however, this one, whose results were basically foreordained, was photographed by the Soviets.

Famous musician Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller died of pneumonia at age 39 while traveling on the Los Angeles to Chicago Super Chief train.


Saturday, October 28, 2023

Some Gave All: Fort Gordon now Fort Eisenhower.

Some Gave All: Fort Gordon now Fort Eisenhower.

Fort Gordon now Fort Eisenhower.

The post in Georgia has been renamed for Kansan and former President, Dwight Eisenhower.

It's somewhat surprising to realize that nothing had been named for Eisenhower until now.   Eisenhower is so well known to Americans, he really needs no introduction here.

Gordon might.


A lawyer and a plantation owner, Gordon was a cavalry commander during the Civil War.  Following the South's defeat, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia, became its Governor, and then returned to the Senate.  He never recanted from his racist views.  He died in 1904.

Monday, May 22, 2023

Tuesday May 22, 1923. Baldwin rises, Cavalry Bandits caputured, Bryan Anti Evolution Measure voted down, Mark falls, D.C. Golf.

 


Stanley Baldwin became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following Bonar Law stepping down due to rapidly failing health.

The Distillery Bandits, who were apprehended after a gun battle, were all veterans of the U.S. Army's cavalry branch.

William Jennings's Bryan's motion that the Presbyterian General Assembly cut off financial support for any Presbyterian body teaching evolution was voted down.

The Mark dropped enormously.

The President played in a newspaper golf tournament.


Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Monday, May 3, 1943. The crash of Hot Stuff claims the life of Gen. Andrews.

Lt. Gen. Frank Maxwell Andrews, for whom Andrews Air Force Base is named, died in the crash of the B-24 Hot Stuff in Iceland, when it went down in bad weather.

He had been on an inspection tour in the United Kingdom.

Only the plane's tail gunner, SSgt George A. Eisel, survived the crash.  Eisel had survived a previous B-24 crash in North Africa.  He'd live until 1964 when he died at age 64.  Married prior to the war, he and his wife never had any children.

Hot Stuff was the first B-24D to complete 25 missions, well before, it might be noted, the B-17 Memphis Belle did the same.  Hardly anyone recalls Hot Stuff, as the Army went on to emphasize the Memphis Belle following the crash of Hot Stuff and the death of all but one of its crew.  Of note, Hot Suff, predictably, had a much more salacious example of nose art than Memphis Belle, and it's interesting to speculate how the Army would have handled that had the plane been popularized.  At any rate, the story that Memphis Belle was the first US bomber to complete 25 missions is a complete myth.

Andrews was the CO of the ETO at the time of this death.  A West Point Graduate from the class of 1906, he had been in the cavalry branch from 1906 to 1917, when he was assigned to aviation over the objection of his commander.  A prior objection had prevented his reassignment in 1914.

Sarah Sundin noted this event on her blog:

Today in World War II History—May 3, 1943: Lt. Gen. Frank Andrews, commander of US European Theater of Operations, is killed in a B-24 crash in Iceland. US II Corps takes Mateur, Tunisia.

She also noted the ongoing Allied advance in North Africa and the establishment of the British 6th Airborne Division. 

Mine workers called off the coal strike.

The United States Supreme Court invalidated a Jeannette, PA ordinance that required Jehovah's Witness members to acquire peddler's licenses before distributing religious literature.  The ordinance's license fee was a whopping $10.00/day.

Friday, March 31, 2023

Wednesday, March 31, 1943. Oklahoma!

Oklahoma! opened on Broadway.

Having a very long initial run, and having been revived from time to time, I have to admit, I've never seen it.

I have been, however, to Oklahoma on numerous occasions.


The Afrika Korps withdrew from Cap Serrat, the Tunisian city that's about as far north in Tunisia as you can go.  

The British took El Aouana, Algeria.  The ancient city is famous for the French discovery for four dolman there.  Dating back to Roman times, the city was named Cavallo, "horse", by the Romans.

A photographer was apparently touring the Port of San Francisco, which I've also been to.

USS Albireo (AK-90), the former John G. Nicolay,  a Navy cargo ship at San Francisco on this day.

Cavalryman, Gen. Frederick Gilbreath, Commander of the San Francisco Port of Embarkation, on this day in 1943.

Actor Christopher (Ronald) Walken born on this day in 1943 in New York.

Russian writer and politician Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov (Па́вел Никола́евич Милюко́в) died in exile in France on this day in 1943.  He had been a member of the Provisional Russian Government after the fall of the monarchy.   While an opponent of the Communists in his native land, he supported Stalin's efforts to expand Soviet territory and was an ardent supporter of the Soviet war effort against the Germans.

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Friday, February 5, 1943. Depriving the vote. Introduction of the M1943 Combat Boot.

Today In Wyoming's History: February 5: 1943 1943  The Legislature passes a bill denying American citizens interned at Heart Mountain Relocation Camp the right to vote.



Not exactly a proud, or even legal, moment for the state.

Sarah Sundin notes something grim on her blog:
Today in World War II History—February 5, 1943: 80 Years Ago—Feb. 5, 1943: Nazis begin liquidating Bialystok ghetto; 1,000 Jews are killed and 10,000 are sent to Treblinka extermination camp.
Events such as these accelerated and climbed in scale following the German defeat at Stalingrad.  The focus of the war began to turn less on Eastern European colonization and more on murder.

Mel Brooks, oddly enough, made Bialystok a name that's at least recognizable to fans of his comedy, as one of the two principal characters in The Producers bears that as his last name.  I don't know if that was intentional or not, but it's interesting.

The Polish city remains a significant one in Poland today.  Prior to World War Two, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe.  Germany's was actually relatively small.  3.3 million Jews lived in Poland, not all of whom claimed a Jewish identity, although many did.  By the war's end, approximately 380,000 Polish Jews remained.  Many would subsequently emigrate out of the country.  Polish Jews would undergo a renewed wave of repression following World War Two, following the same in the Soviet Union, during which Jewish Poles were accused of being in league with the United States and Israel against Communism, and the state officially worked to eliminate the unique distinction of Jews as particular victims of German atrocities.

Mussolini fired his Foreign Minister, his son-in-law Count Galeazzo Ciano, along with most of his cabinet.  Il Duce took over the position of Foreign Minister, along with being Interior Minister, War Minister, and Air Minister.

Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews.

Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews was appointed commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, relieving Gen. Dwight Eisenhower of that post in a little noted change of command.  Eisenhower was, at that time, engaged in the combat command in North Africa.

Andrews was the grandson of a Confederate cavalryman and was a cavalryman himself, having been commissioned in that branch in 1906.  His career benefited from him having married well.  He switched to Army aviation during World War One, although he returned briefly to the cavalry after the war.

Lt. Col Georges Doriot, a later pioneer in venture capitalism, an immigrant from France, and a wartime volunteer, convinced Gen. George Marshall to adopt what would become the M1943 combat boot, which would replace the Army Service Shoe and leggings, for the most part, by the end of the war.  The M1943 would also officially replace the Army paratrooper boot as well.  In reality, the Service Shoe and the jump boot were never fully replaced by the M1943, and paratroopers resisted adopting the M1943.

How the U.S. Army imagined its troops to look in an official painting illustrating the Army in Europe, late war.  The tankers in this painting are probably wearing the overalls that were issued to tankers, but for coats they are wearing the Winter Combat Jacket.  It wasn't a tanker only item, but it became heavily associated with them.  Originally they were part of the overall winter uniform and were popular with soldiers.  You can find photographic evidence of officers having some altered by tailors to include epaulets for rank insignia, which they otherwise lacked.  The Thompson submachine gun is correct for an armored crewman.  The walking Colonel is an officer of the 5th Infantry Division and is shown wearing the M1943 Field Jacket, and he is wearing the M1943 Combat Boots.  These solders are wearing the M1943 cotton trousers, which were issued, but often solders in the winter continued to wear their wool service pattern trousers, and indeed did so even in warmer months.   Both walking soldiers are shown wearing helmet covers, which were rarely worn in Europe as it caused confusion with German snipers, who also did.  Helmet netting was much more common.

The reason for the adoption was that Service Shoes were not lasting long, with a reported thirteen days of durability, although that is likely explained by materials rather than the design itself, which had an extremely long run and which survives as a very tough civilian pattern to this day.  The M1943 was in fact based on the Service Shoe, but incorporating cuff buckles which had been used on prior civilian hunting and outdoors boots.  It was also made of rough out leather, as "Pershing Boots" had been during World War One, which was known to be highly durable, but which was resistant to polishing.

One solder comforting another during the Korean War.  All of these men wear the M1943 Combat Boot. They're also wearing Field Pants, modeled on the trousers worn by U.S. paratroopers in World War Two and which have continued to be the pattern to the present day.

The M1943 was seen as a huge improvement by soldiers when they came out, save for paratroopers, but it was replaced in 1948, theoretically, by a boot based on the theoretically replaced jump boot.  In reality, however, M1943s would be in use well into the late 1950s.  They also saw use in other armies, which adopted the pattern, and which used them for many years.

U.S. troosp in Italy during World War Two.  The sniper in the center of the photo is wearing a helmet cover, rare for U.S. troops during the war, and he's wearing M1942 Jump Boots, which were hugely popular with U.S. servicemen during the war, and for decades thereafter.  Made on the Munson Last, they were very comfortable boots.  His rifle is a M1903A5.  To the right, as we view the photo, an infantryman is equipped also with the bolt action M1903, as are two of the men behind him.  The number of M1903s in this photo is not uncommon, but there are too many to be explained by their being scout snipers or grenadiers, both of which used the M1903 throughout the war.

The M1943 boots came in as part of the M1943 Combat Uniform, which featured not only new boots, but a new field jacket, the M1943, which formed the distinctive appearance of the American soldier for decades thereafter.  The Field Jacket was a huge improvement over prior patterns, and it did successfully replace the various competing variants, although examples of the earlier patterns did endure throughout the war.  Through various updates and modifications, the basic M1943 style of uniform remained in general service up until the adoption of the Battle Dress Uniform in the early 1980s, which was itself ironically patterned on the earlier M1941 Paratroopers Uniform which had inspired Vietnam era jungle fatigues.  The successor of the M1943 Field Jacket would remain in use until the very recently, and is still an acceptable private purchase item.

U.S. Army officers during the Korean War wearing the pattern of uniform closely based on the M1943 uniform.  The officer on the right wears the M1951 Field Jacket, which was of a greener color than the M1943.  Both men are wearing russet M1948 Combat Boots, a pattern that had been introduced after the war and which was based on the M1942 Paratrooper Boot, but which was in fact slightly different, even though by this time the M1942 had been reintroduced.  The boots should be black, but many were russet as that had been the color they were first adopted in and soldiers were expected to die them black, something that wasn't easy to do.  Both men are wearing "patrol caps", which also came in with the M1943 uniform as the M1943 Field Cap.  The Army has retained the Patrol Cap to this day, after briefly toying with replacing it.

It might be noted that the M1943 uniform was only an Army uniform during World War Two.  The Marine Corps adopted the field jacket after the war, but only the field jacket.

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Monday, August 24, 1942. The Battle of the Eastern Solomons.


Stricken Japanese aircraft descending on the USS Enterprise.

The Battle of the Eastern Solomons commenced between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. 


This day saw the sort of action that the naval war in the Pacific is recalled for.  Even though the battle for the Solomons had already featured a lot of surface action, this was a carrier battle, although, like at Midway, bombers of the United States Army Air Force participated as well.

Japanese aircraft exploding on the deck of the USS Enterprise.

Most of the action was on this day.  The Japanese lost the light carrier Ryūjō, a destroyer and a transport.  The USS Enterprise was heavily damaged, with a stricken Japanese aircraft hit her deck.

USS Enterprise under attack.

The battle was an American victory. 

Ryūjō under attack from B-17s.
Today in World War II History—August 24, 1942: Italians successfully charge Soviets at Izbushensky, Russia.

So notes Sarah Sundin.

Unit creast of the Savoia Cavallerria

The Italian cavalry charge by the Savoia Cavallerria was dramatic in the extreme, against heavy odds, and deployed the time tested cavalry tactic of charging into an ambushing enemy.  It worked, moreover, although the charging Italian elements took heavy losses.  Soviet losses, however, were in fact much higher.

The unit still exist, although dismounted, today.  It was saved as an Italian unit to some degree by the actions of Count Col. Pietro de Vito Piscicelli who, after the Italian surrender, found his unit in a position in which it could not surrender to the Western Allies.  Instead, he took the unit into Switzerland, where they were interned.  Interestingly, officers were allowed to keep their horses and sidearms while under Swiss authority until the end of the war.

Churchill arrived back in the UK after his trip to Moscow.


War information sheet put out by the United States.

In Peru, an earthquake killed 30 people.

Monday, May 30, 2022

Saturday May 30, 1942: Memorial Day Parade, Washington D. C., May 30, 1942.

Lex Anteinternet: Memorial Day Parade, Washington D. C., May 30, 1942.:     

On this occasion, we're reposting a post that we made in 2014:

Memorial Day Parade, Washington D. C., May 30, 1942.

 9th or 10th Cavalry.

 9th or 10th Cavalry.

President's reviewing stand and light tanks.

As we can see, the growing U.S. Army was featured in a Washington, D. C. Memorial Day parade.

On the same day, the Royal Air Force made its first nighttime 1,000 plane raid on Cologne, Germany.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Thursday, May 25, 1922. The mysterious death of Anna Richey.


The headlines in the paper in Casper dealt with the mysterious death of Anna Richey, the only woman to ever have been convicted of rustling in Wyoming.

You can read more about her here:

The Strange Life and Death of Anna Richey

Richey had died several days prior.  Her ranch hand had been sickened in the same incident, attributed to poisoned coffee,  and had only just sufficiently recovered to provide a statement. What ultimately basically transpired is that the two had worked that morning until about 10:00, when the mysterious stranger discussed in the article arrived, and then they'd gone into eat. Whomever the man in corduroy was, Richey had said nothing about her encounter with him at all.

Richey was out on a gentlemanly bond, having been given six months to get her affairs in order before being required to present herself for incarceration due to her conviction.  She would have served time in the Colorado State Penitentiary, which was more suitable for her gender.  She was poisoned, however, in what remains an unsolved mystery.  Prior to the poisoning, as noted, and according to the herald, she was visited by a man who rode in on horseback and who was dressed in a corduroy suit, and wearing a "large" sombrero.  It should be noted that, at the time, "sombrero" often simply meant a large cowboy hat.

The information from Richey's ranch hand on the mysterious stranger led to the release of Richey's brother-in-law, who had at first been arrested on suspicion of being the culprit in her murder.  Whatever led to that suspicion, however, really isn't addressed by the arrival of the stranger.  Whoever poisoned the coffee had done so prior to their consuming it.  That it was not suicide seems evident by the fact that both Richey and her ranch hand drank the coffee, not just Richey.

Old and young soldiers were on the parade grounds at Ft. Meyers.


Gen. Nelson A. Miles and Anson Mills at Fort Meyer. May 25, 1922