Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Monday, December 27, 1943. Seizing the railroads, again.



People like to imagine that World War Two was a period in which the whole country simply pulled together for the war effort, and we put our differences behind us.

Well, to some extent, but not as much as imagined.

On this day in 1943 President Roosevelt seized the nation's railroads by executive order in advance of a strike scheduled for December 30.  The Army took control of the rail lines.

This had last happened on December 26, 1917, for the same reason.

The Battle of the Pimple commenced on New Guinea between the Japanese and the advancing Australians.

Allied advances stopped at Monte Cassino.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 271943  The USS Casper, a Tacoma Class frigate, launched.


The Americans extended their beachhead at Cape Gloucester with the Japanese offering little resistance.

The German blockade runner Alsterufer was sunk by Allied aircraft in the Bay of Biscay.

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