Today in World War II History—November 24, 1939 & 1944 (Friday November 24, 1944). Terrace Mutiny,

Usually I post this separately, but there are so many significant items in Sarah Sundin's blog this Sunday, I'm incorporating it into my post.

Today in World War II History—November 24, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 24, 1944: US B-29 Superfortress bombers bomb Tokyo for the first time. Japanese capture Nanning, completing a land corridor between occupied China and Indochina. In controversial decision, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower orders the 6th Army Group not to cross the Rhine but to drive north and assist Patton’s Third Army. In Terrace, BC, Canadian conscripts (many are French-Canadian) mutiny when they hear they might be sent overseas, the largest mutiny in Canadian history; put down by 11/29; news of the mutiny is censored. France establishes Commission de Récupération Artistique (CRA) to return looted artwork, with curator Rose Valland as secretary.

Wow. 

The Terrace Mutiny, which is what the mutiny was called, reflected the internal discord in Canada over conscription, something that has largely been glossed over after the war.  English Canadians were disproportionately represented amongst those who volunteered for service and volunteered to go overseas. French Canadians were disproportionally amongst those who did not.  Those who volunteered termed those who did not "Zombies" and often harassed them.  Ultimately, the needs of war could not sustain the system.

The 3d Army crossed the Saar.

Soviets completing their occupation of Saaremo in the Baltic.

The HMCS Sawinigan was sunk by the U-1228 in the Cabot Strait.

Last edition:

Thursday, November 23, 1944. Thanksgiving Day.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Alsace-Lorraine, Army, Canadian Army, Czechoslovakia, France, French Army, Holidays, Hungary, Nazi Germany, Red Army, Royal Navy, Thanksgiving, The Holocaust, World War Two

Today in World War II History—November 23, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 23, 1939 & 1944: 85 Years Ago: US celebrates Thanksgiving after Roosevelt moved the holiday from the last to the second-to-last Thursday to extend Christmas shopping season

Thursday, November 20, 1924. The marriage of my father's parents.

Which was oddly a Thursday.  I think of most weddings being on Saturday.

At least they are now.

The wedding was in Denver, where they had met and where my grandfather was working.  They'd live there until 1937, when they'd move to Scottsbluff.  In that time they had all of their children save for one, who would be born in Scottsbluff, the first one being born in 1926 and my father being born in 1929.

They were both 23 years old.  He had been on his own since age 13.  She was living with her parents in Denver, where they had moved after her father had closed his store in Leadville.  Her parents were of 100% Irish extraction, with her mother being from Cork.  His parents were of 100% Westphalian extraction.  They were both Catholic, although I don't know what church they were married in.  Likey one of the Catholic churches downtown.

The American Automobile Association of State Highway Officials approved a resolution recommending that states agree to a consistent system of numbered highways.

Last edition:

Tuesday, November 18, 1924. Adding to the public domain.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1950s, 1954, Army, Black Hills, Calvin Coolidge, Commentary, Medicine, Personalities, Public Land, South Dakota, United States Forest Service

Today in World War II History—November 18, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 18, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago: US Third Army enters Metz, France. Submarine USS Blackfin picks up captured Japanese cryptographic equipment from Filipino resistance on Mindoro.

Today in World War II History—November 17, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 17, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 17, 1944: Submarine USS Spadefish sinks Japanese escort carrier Shinyo in the Yellow Sea, only 130 of 1,160 survive.

Today in World War II History—November 15, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 15, 1939 & 1944: 85 Years Ago: Pres. Franklin Roosevelt lays cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial. 80 Years Ago: US Eighth Army, in its first assault, lands on Mapia Islands.

Monday, November 13, 1944. Air service returns to London.

Civil air service returned to London.  It had been stopped in September, 1939.

The Akebono, Akishimo, Hatsuharu, Kiso and Okinami was sunk in Filipino waters by the U.S. Navy.  The I-12 was sunk east of Hawaii.

The Bulgarian 1st Army captured Skopje.

SSgt Junior J. Spurrier performed the actions that resulted in his receiving a Medal of Honor.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy at Achain, France, on 13 November 1944. At 2 p.m., Company G attacked the village of Achain from the east. S/Sgt. Spurrier armed with a BAR passed around the village and advanced alone. Attacking from the west, he immediately killed 3 Germans. From this time until dark, S/Sgt. Spurrier, using at different times his BAR and M1 rifle, American and German rocket launchers, a German automatic pistol, and hand grenades, continued his solitary attack against the enemy regardless of all types of small-arms and automatic-weapons fire. As a result of his heroic actions he killed an officer and 24 enlisted men and captured 2 officers and 2 enlisted men. His valor has shed fresh honor on the U.S. Armed Forces.

Spurrier had an extremely difficult time adjusting to post World War Two life and rejoined the Army during the Korean War, where he proved to be a difficult soldier.  He was by that time an alcoholic and after his second period of service had numerous run ins with the law.  He ultimately became a teetotaler and ran an electronics repair service, dying at age 61 in 1984.

Last edition:

Sunday, November 12, 1944. Carving off part of China, Tirpitz sunk, Hitler takes time to release a long Beer Hall message, Dog Faces in chow line.

Labels: 1920s, 1923, 1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, Army, Beer Hall Putsch, boats and ships, France, German Kriegsmarine, Nazi Germany, Nazi Party, Republic of China, Royal Air Force, The written word, USSR, World War Two

Today in World War II History—November 11, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 11, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 11, 1944: In Italy, First Brazilian Fighter Group begins operations with US Twelfth Air Force in P-47 Thunderbolts.

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 10, 1944: Japanese take US Fourteenth Air Force air bases at Kweilin and Liuchow in their drive through southern China.

Today in World War II History—November 8, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 8, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago: Canadians secure Walcheren and the Scheldt Estuary to protect port of Antwerp, Belgium. US Third Army begins offensive toward Metz, France.

Wednesday, November 5, 1924. Expelled from the Forbidden City.

The news of the election hit the papers.

The former Emperor of China, Puyi, was expelled from the Forbidden City by Gen. Feng Yuxiang who unilaterally revoked the Articles of Favourable Treatment of the Great Qing Emperor after His Abdication

Puyi lived a tragic life, having been born into the anachronism of the Chinese Empire at a time it was collapsing.  He'd go on to be Emperor of Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state in Manchuria, a prisoner of the Soviet Union, a prisoner of the Red Chinese, and finally, a gardener.  He died in 1967 at age 61.

President Coolidge made a Thanksgiving proclamation:

We approach that season of the year when it has been the custom for the American people to give thanks for the good fortune which the bounty of Providence, through the generosity of nature, has visited upon them. It is altogether a good custom. It has the sanction of antiquity and the approbation of our religious convictions. In acknowledging the receipt of Divine favor, in contemplating the blessings which have been bestowed upon us, we shall reveal the spiritual strength of the nation.

The year has been marked by a continuation of peace whereby our country has entered into a relationship of better understanding with all the other nations of the earth. Ways have been revealed to us by which we could perform very great service through the giving of friendly counsel, through the extension of financial assistance, and through the exercise of a spirit of neighborly kindliness to less favored peoples. We should give thanks for the power which has been given into our keeping, with which we have been able to render these services to the rest of mankind.

At home we have continually had an improving state of the public health. The production of our industries has been large and our harvests have been bountiful. We have been remarkably free from disorder and remarkably successful in all those pursuits which flourish during a state of domestic peace. An abundant prosperity has overspread the land. We shall do well to accept all these favors and bounties with a becoming humility, and dedicate them to the service of the righteous cause of the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. As the nation has prospered let all the people show that they are worthy to prosper by rededicating America to the service of God and man.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States of America, hereby proclaim and fix Thursday, the twenty-seventh day of November, as a day for National Thanksgiving. I recommend that the people gather in their places of worship, and at the family altars, and offer up their thanks for the goodness which has been shown to them in such a multitude of ways. Especially I urge them to supplicate the Throne of Grace that they may gather strength from their tribulations, that they may gain humility from their victories, that they may bear without complaining the burdens that shall be placed upon them, and that they may be increasingly worthy in all ways of the blessings that shall come to them.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

DONE at the city of Washington this fifth day of November in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-ninth.

Last edition:

Tuesday, November 4, 1924. Ross and Coolidge win.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 Election, Blog Mirror, Calvin Coolidge, Nellie Tayloe Ross, Politics, Women, Wyoming

Central World War Two Display, U.S. Armored Cars: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

The U.S. M3 Scout Car was produced by White Motor Company from 1939 to 1944.  The early version, the M3, was made in only limited numbers, but the successor M3A1 was fairly widely produced.

Envisioned as a cavalry vehicle, it really wasn't up to the task and therefore while produced, it was arguably obsolete from the onset.

The M8 was introduced in 1943 and picked up where the M3 left off, being a much more combat worthy vehicle.  It remained in service into the 1950s in the US but had a long life in other countries, with some still being used.

The M20 Armored Utility Car was another US armored vehicle that came in and supplemented the M3.  

 

Last edition:

Allis Chalmers M7 Snow Tractor. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1943, 1944, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, Transportation, Wyoming (Dubois)

Today in World War II History—November 1, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 1, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 1, 1944: US C-47 medical air evacuation flight crashes in southern France—the crew, 15 patients, and flight nurse Aleda Lutz are killed.

Today in World War II History—October 31, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 31, 1939 & 1944: 85 Years Ago—Oct. 31, 1939: British children are advised not to go “guising” (trick-or-treating) due to the blackout. New York World’s Fair closes.

Today in World War II History—October 30, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 30, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Oct. 30, 1944: In the Vosges mountains in France, US 442nd Infantry Regiment (Nisei) rescues the Lost Battalion with heavy losses.

The Aerodrome: AT-6, Cheyenne Wyoming.

The Aerodrome: AT-6, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Today in World War II History—October 29, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 29, 1939 & 1944: 85 Years Ago—Oct. 29, 1939: Golden Gate International Exposition closes on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay (will re-open 25 May 1940).

Today in World War II History—October 28, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 28, 1939 & 1944: 85 Years Ago—Oct. 28, 1939: A Heinkel He 111 bomber is shot down over Scotland, the first German aircraft shot down over Britain.

Today in World War II History—October 27, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 27, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Oct. 27, 1944: In Italy, Gen. Sir Henry Maitland Wilson orders halt to Allied offensive for the winter due to fatigue, heavy rains, and flooding.

Today in World War II History—October 26, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 26, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Oct. 26, 1944: The Battle of Leyte Gulf concludes with a decisive US victory, despite heavy Japanese kamikaze attacks.