Sunday, April 16, 1944. Black Sunday.

The RAF hit Romania for the first time. On the same day, the Soviet Air Forces hit Galatz. 

The Germans began to gather Hungarian Jews, some 800,000 in number, into ghettos.  Prior to this phase of the war, Hungarian Jews had been oppressed by their own nation, but not subject to deportation to the death camps.

The Red Army took Yalta.  The Germans attempted to push the Red Army back over the Dnestr.

A large air raid was staged on Hollandia, Indonesia.  The mission was successful with no losses, but the aircraft ran into a severe weather front on the return and 46 of the 170 aircraft in the raid went down.  The day acquired the name "Black Sunday" as a result.

The attacking force was made up of  B-24s, B-25s and A-20s, escorted by P-38s

862 Poles were killed by Ukrainian SS troops of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division. (1st Galician) in Chodaczków Wielki, part of pre war Poland which is now Velykyi Khodachkiv, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine.

The Parczew partisans helped take over that town in Poland on this day.

The U-550 was sunk off of Nantucket.  It was found in 2012:

Search team finds U-boat off Nantucket

African American artillerymen were in action on Bougainville.

155 Long Tom of B Btry, 49th Coastal Artillery, being loaded for firing.  Bougainville, April 16, 1944.  Section 1 of this unit, which had not been deployed overseas, would be disbanded the following month as the need for coast artillery faded.  Section 2, depicted, here, had obviously been converted to heavy field artillery.

1st section gun crew, Btry. A, 593rd F.A. Bn, load 105mm howitzer, preparatory to firing. Bougainville. 16 April, 1944.

USO events were going on in the UK.

In the US, General Robert E. Wood, former head of the America First Committee, stated that there was no connection between the pre-Pearl Harbor organization and the current party which was then led by the Reverend Gerald Smith, its presidential candidate that year.  Smith would receive 1,780, votes for the Oval Office, most of those from Texas and Michigan.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, April 15, 1944. Romania attacked from the air, Teenagers lose at Tarnopol, Politics in Minnesota, Hydro-Québec

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, boats and ships, Cameras, Chichijima, Eastern Front, Farmers Labor Party, German Army, Iwo Jima, Operation Guidance, Polesti Romania, Politics, Romania, Royal Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy

Turning the Tide in Ukraine (maybe) or at least helping them a bunch. What President Biden could do while Michael Johnson tries to reconcile his consience to Putin Fanboyism. Part One

Ukraine needs help, right now.

And here's how could, and should, do it.

Part One, the easy part:

Artillery has become a big deal in the war in Ukraine.

This seemingly comes as a surprise to the U.S. As an old artilleryman who has followed artillery maters since I hung up the M2 Transit, I'm not.  We forgot that artillery is the King of Battle because we've been fighting the classic small, if savage, wars of peace.  We didn't use a lot of artillery in the Indian Wars, or the Spanish American War, or the Banana Wars, either.  On the Eastern plains and steppes of the Bloodlands, in a big war, they use a lot of artillery.  Because of our recent experiences, however, we were actually beginning to think that the King of Battle had been deposed.

Turns out not, not at all. The branch that's having real trouble is armor.

Ukraine is consuming artillery shells faster than the West can make them, but . . .we've got a lot of old ones lying around.

As Forbes has noted:

Joe Biden Could Send Millions Of Artillery Shells To Ukraine, For Free, Tomorrow. And It’s Perfectly Legal.

‘Excess defense articles’ remains a powerful authority.

Yes, some of this stuff is pretty old, but most of it is perfectly serviceable.  We are not going to use it, ever.

As Forbes notes:

Generally speaking, most artillery ammunition in U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps stockpiles clearly isn’t excess. Indeed, the Army and Marines need all the modern shells they can get as they prepare for Ukraine-style wars.

But there’s an important exception. There are potentially four million 155-millimeter dual-purpose improved cluster munitions in storage in the United States. M483A1 and M864 DPICM rounds respectively scatter 88 or 72 grenade-size submunitions, each of which can kill or maim a soldier.

All of these shells are obvious candidates for the “excess” label. The U.S. Army years ago determined that these DPICMs—produced in large quantities between the 1970s and 1990s—are unreliable and unsafe, as any particular submunition has up to a 14-percent chance of being a dud.

A 14% chance of being a dud isn't great, but most of these rounds aren't duds.  Most will work.

But that's not all we could send.

Part two, M60 tanks.

If it isn't obvious by now, it should be, that the age of armor, is not yet over, but armor isn't what it used to be.  Nonetheless, the US is stockpiling a lot of serviceable armor that we are not going to use, in the form of M60 tanks.  How many?  I have no idea.

The M60 isn't being used by the US anymore, but it's still used by a lot of countries, including US client states, which is partially why we keep so many around.  Taiwan, for example, is a big user of M60s, and we have to keep that in mind.

But we can spare some.

And frankly, if anything, this war has proven what people who already looked at it objectively knew, Russian armor is crap.  The M60 can probably take on about anything the Russians have, or at least any of the older armor the Russians are continually fielding.

In regard to M60s, M60s are a product improved M48.  We have quite a few of those still around. We should product improve them, all of them, and send over.  If that sounds like a bad idea, there are countries still fielding them as well.  I read an article this past week that some country, I forget which ones, just launched an M48 upgrade program.

Part Three, small arms and ammunition

This is a little trickier, as I don't have any kind of detailed information on what the US retains on obsolescent small arms.  It does retain it, however.

Right now, the US is disposing of M1911 pistols.  I think we should keep the M1911 in service, frankly, and while I support the sales through the CMP, disposing of these to Ukraine or Taiwan makes more sense.  Canada, I'd note, is replacing its Hi Powers, foolishly, but it should do the same with its surplus stocks, which it isn't going to sell to civilians.

I know that the US actually retains stocks of M1918 Browning Automatic Rifles.  No, I'm not proposing to send those, they're too old (although some automatic weapons being used in the current war are just as old).  But, if we retain BARs, we retain M60s. 

The M60 was a good machine gun. We're not going to ever use it again.  Send them overseas.

And, we likely have stocks of M16s, M16A1s, and the various other non-optical site using M16s.  Send them.  We aren't going back, and we've just started to issue the rifle that's supposed to replace the M4 in actual combat units.

Now, no, I wouldn't want to go into combat with a M16A1. But then, I didn't want to go into combat with an M16A1 when I was issued a M16A1, because I don't think they were ever a good rifle. But apparently others did, and we used them forever.  We must have more than a few.

Canada probably has extra FALs, which are a good rifle.  They should send them.  Germany probably has a lot of G3s, they sent some to the Kurds after all, and can probably spare a few.

In short, we can help a lot, just by disposing of what we don't need.

Now on to a more radical idea.

Sunday, March 19, 1944. Germany invades Hungary.

US 75mm howitzer engaging in direct fire, Bougainville

The Germans, now in the position of having to invade their own allies in order to keep them in the war, did just that and invaded Hungary with eight divisions.  The invasion was a complete surprise, and came from all directions.  It was largely bloodless.

Hungary was Germany's largest ally, and the country had approached the Western Allies as early as the summer of 1943.  Hungary had refused, starting around that time, to provide troops for the Balkans and by this time in 1944 was openly seeking to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.  By March 1944 it had largely demobilized and was nearly out of the war.

The Germans kept the Hungarian Army in the field, having no other choice.  The SS began the deportation of 550,000 Hungarian Jews, with Hungarian collaboration.  Admiral Horthy continued his efforts to negotiate a separate peace with the Soviet Union but had to form a new government under Döme Sztójay which reentered the war in the East.

The U-1059 was sunk by US aircraft off of Cape Verde.

The Indian National Army hoisted its flag on Indian soil captured by the Japanese offensive in northeast Indian.

Picasso's Desire Caught by the Tail was preformed for the first time in occupied Paris, making the performance presented by Albert Camus particularly pathetic, in my opinion.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, March 18, 1944. Summoned to Germany.

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

Sunday, February 27, 1944. The Khaibakh Massacre

Weather prevented over 700 Chechen villagers from Khaibakh from being convoyed in the Soviet mass deportation of Chechens, meaning they could not meet the absurdly short deadline set by Lavrentiy Beria so they were shot.  The order was given by Mikhail Gvishiani, an officer in the NKVD.

Beria, a loyal Stalin henchman, was a first class weirdo who was also a mass rapist, something his position allowed him to get away with.  He fell after Stalin's death, was tried, and executed for treason.

Gvishiani survived the fall of Stalin, but probably only because his son, Dzhermen Gvishiani, was married to the daughter of Communist Party Central Committee member Alexei Kosygin.

It was the start of National Negro Press Week.

The U.S. Office of Strategic Services commenced Operation Ginny I with the objective of blowing up Italian railway tunnels in Italy to cut German lines of communication.

The OSS team landed in the wrong location and had to abandon the mission.

Hitler ordered the Panzerfeldhaubitze 18M auf Geschützwagen III/IV (Sf) Hummel, Sd.Kfz. 165, "Hummel" renamed as he did not find the name Hummel, i.e. bumblebee to be an appropriate name.

You would think that Hitler would have had other things to worry about at this point.

The Grayback was sunk off of Okinawa by aircraft.

Blog Mirror: Joe Biden Could Send Millions Of Artillery Shells To Ukraine, For Free, Tomorrow. And It’s Perfectly Legal.

An excellent idea:

Joe Biden Could Send Millions Of Artillery Shells To Ukraine, For Free, Tomorrow. And It’s Perfectly Legal.

And not just artillery shells, but M60 tanks as well.

Magic Weapons

The United States has decided to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.

As we sent MLRS's multiple rock launchers already, I'm surprised that we hadn't also already sent these as well.  Basically, what they are, is that rather than pack a warhead or projectile with explosives (for those that are packed with something that will explode), the warhead or projectile is packed with submunitions.  I.e., bomblets. The ones we're going to send, however, are apparently in the 155 artilerly projectile form.

M77 Cluster Munitions

They are a devastating weapon to ground personnel, but they're hardly new.  The fact that they haven't been supplied already is almost inexcusable, as they're no more novel than artillery projectiles themselves, and they're not some sort of magic weapon.

They ought to supply them for the MLRS.

Which gets to the caption.

All sorts of people, but frankly people who are opposed to supporting Ukraine in the first place, are now verklempt over President Biden releasing this very routine conventional ordinance.  Oh my, they cry, now we'll go into World War Three.

That's just silly.

The Russians have to think we're complete saps in the first place for the list of things we wouldn't send.  And they have to be stunned that we haven't sent these already.  They've used them in the war in at least the missile delivery form.

Militaries, the famous phrase goes, are about killing people and breaking things. These are about killing people.   It's going to get a lot, lot harder for Russian troops on the ground to survive in a combat environment.  In order to survive the war, they should get out of Ukraine, which is the goal.

Saturday, July 3, 1943. Oak Ridge sees its first residents.

The first residents of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a government constructed town dedicated to the Manhattan Project, arrived.

U.S. howitzer being fired during battle.

The Battle of Wickham Anchorage on Vangunu concluded in an American victory.

The island today retains a small population of subsistence farmers.

Thanks for having been in the service

The Ghosts of Prior Careers

On a Saturday, while working on my now very long term one of nearly thirty years.

I just ran this item:

A Veterans' Day Essay on Worshiping the Military

It'd be very easy to take it the wrong way.

As noted in that thread, it's common now for people to tell you "thank you for your service!"  Indeed, some years ago I saw a National Guardsman coming out of the barber shop and, out on the street, a woman being arrested for something yelled it out, to his surprise.

I'm a contraran anyhow, and I always feel awkward about such thanks, but this thread is on thanks.

But in another direction.  I'm thankful that I served in the National Guard.

Technically, I served in the Army and the National Guard.  Basic training and AIT were so long for cannoneers that I received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army after AIT.  And FWIW I was activated for summer employment and other active service at the armory that I have more time in active service than some guys who did the short two-year Cold War enlistments do.

I've often regretted getting out.  The end of my Guard career was due to a misconception about how busy I'd be in law school.  I listed to people about law school and how hard it was.  I shouldn't have.

Anyhow, I'm glad I served in the Guard.

The National Guard/Army put me together with a lot of men, and we're talking about the basically nearly all military of that era, who came from very different backgrounds than me and who worked in lots of different occupations, many of them in manual occupations.  I learned from that a lot of them had very common interests with me.  I also learned that a lot of them were every bit as smart as I was.  

This is something I've found that a lot of people who haven't ever been in the service don't appreciate.  Blue collar workers aren't there due to intellectual deficit.  And the knowledge they possess in their fields is both vast, and interesting.  Knowing that has served me all my life.

Getting through basic training taught me that I was pretty tough.  I don't know what basic is like now, but the Army basic training at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, of the 1980s was very close to what was depicted in Full Metal Jacket.  We were told by one of our drill sergeants early on that his job was to make basic training as rough as possible, as combat would be worse, and he wanted those who were going to fail, to fail then.  Quite a few did fail.

That's served me ever since as well.  Indeed, not so much now, but for years decades after Ft. Sill, in times of high stress, things I learned there by memory would come flooding bad to mind.  We'd been so well-trained that it was automatic.

It also made every one "man up", although by that age I was pretty much an adult already.  Since getting out of school, I've been amazed by the degree to which a lot of modern adults never actually become adults.  There's a song out there somewhere called High School Never Ends, and for an amazing number of people, it really doesn't.  Being part of an organization in which you are flatly informed that in the event of certain circumstances you are expected to perform until dead, and that death would come soon and violently, really takes the game playing out of a person in serious settings.

Related to that, I've noted it before, and will again, but the Guard also taught me a system of organization and its stayed with me ever since.  Everything I've learned about office management I learned in the Guard, including that there's different roles and classes in offices, just like in the Army, for a reason.  I've watched over the years as people who don't have that background run around talking about "teams" and "we're all in this together" only to see things fail.    I've seen people make friends in offices they shouldn't have, surrender their efficiency to inattention or whatever, and go into power pouts when things didn't go the way they personally felt they should, or just because they turned out to be serious.  I've avoided all of that, in no small part due to the Guard/Army.

And the Guard gave me a job when I was young, and really needed one.  It helped pay for my schooling and gave me a way to try to do that, for which I remain grateful.

The Guard also blessed me with at least one instance of nearly being killed and not be.  That may sound odd, but only people whom have been exposed to sudden violent death, and then escaped it, knows what that means.  People's plans are always subject to the fickle hand of fate.  One moment you are doing your job, and the next an entire battery of 8in artillery shells are coming right down on you.

And finally, it gave me an appreciation of history in a way which only somebody who has been in a military unit can.

Monday, November 2, 1942. Stars and Stripes reborn.

Stars and Stripes, which had its birth as an Army newspaper during World War One, was reborn.

US made 105mm Self Propelled gun in British service, November 2, 1942.

Phase Four of the Second Battle of El Alamein, Operation Supercharge, commenced.  Rommel, back in command of the Afrika Korps, cabeled Hitler, stating:

The army's strength was so exhausted after its ten days of battle that it was not now capable of offering any effective opposition to the enemy's next break-through attempt ... With our great shortage of vehicles an orderly withdrawal of the non-motorised forces appeared impossible ... In these circumstances we had to reckon, at the least, with the gradual destruction of the army.

Hitler replied:

It is with trusting confidence in your leadership and the courage of the German-Italian troops under your command that the German people and I are following the heroic struggle in Egypt. In the situation which you find yourself there can be no other thought but to stand fast, yield not a yard of ground and throw every gun and every man into the battle. Considerable air force reinforcements are being sent to C.-in-C South. The Duce and the Comando Supremo are also making the utmost efforts to send you the means to continue the fight. Your enemy, despite his superiority, must also be at the end of his strength. It would not be the first time in history that a strong will has triumphed over the bigger battalions. As to your troops, you can show them no other road than that to victory or death. Adolf Hitler.

The Australians captured Kokoda.

The BBC began French language broadcasts to Quebec.

Thursday, August 20, 1942. Positioning moves.

The Japanese Army, believing that Henderson field is lightly defended, moves 770 troops forward within a few miles of the same, with Japanese and Marine patrols then running into each other.  The Marines deploy two battalions and 37mm anti tank rifles loaded with canister along the Tenaru River, with supporting 75mm and 105mm howitzers ranging on the east side of the river.

The 37mm was a very light anti tank rifle, but was used fairly extensively early in World War Two and was effective in the Pacific.  In addition to being trailed, as in the instance of the M3 guns in use here, it also equipped U.S. light tanks.

Meanwhile, 19 Grumman Wildcats and 12 Douglas Dauntless dive bombers land on the field.

In China, where most Japanese troops are in fact deployed, the Chinese Nationalist recapture Guangfeng and Shangaro.

The Twelfth Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Force was created at Bolling Field, District of Columbia.

Internees began arriving at the Heart Mountain Internment Camp.

Soviet officers listening to news of the Leningrad Front on this day in 1942.

George F. Will urges that the U.S. Navy break the Russian blockade.

Naval forces — including Britain’s mine-clearing talents (to remove mines Ukraine placed to deter Russian attacks from the sea) — should be promptly employed to break Putin’s illegal blockade before it has its intended effect of mass starvation. If Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling deters the nations supporting Ukraine from using their ample naval competencies to execute a humanitarian policy, his contempt for the West will be ratified, and his appetite for additional aggressions will be whetted.

George F. Will, What would the Russian reaction be, I wonder?

Friday, June 30, 1922. End of the Four Courts Seige

An explosion and fire at the Four Courts resulted in a cease fire, and then a surrender of the IRA men occupying the structure.

The United States agreed to end its occupation of the Dominican Republic, which had started in 1916.  The last U.S. troops would withdraw in 1924.

Congress passed the Lodge-Fish Resolution endorsing the Balfour Declaration.  The State Department opposed the move.

Saturday, June 20, 1942. The I26 shells Estevan Point.

The Japanese submarine I26 shelled Estevan Point on British Columbia's Vancouver Island, but did not hit it, even after firing over 25 shells.  Ironically, the effort was somewhat successful in that it was then decided to turn all of the lights off for Pacific coast lighthouses, which caused problems for coast shipping.

The I26.

The I26's raid was the first time that Canadian soil had been attacked since the last of the Fenian Raids in 1871.

The I26 was the Imperial Japanese Navy's third-highest scoring submarine.  In October 1944 it disappeared at sea, and the cause of its loss is not really known.

The Afrika Korps commenced attacking Tobruk with artillery and aircraft, resulting in the 11th Infantry Brigade retreating and opening up the lines.

Three German saboteurs were arrested in New York City, their mission having been betrayed.

Tuesday, June 2, 1942. The BBC reports news from the Polish underground of Nazi mass extermination of Jews.

Members of the Death's Head SS, Germans who ran the death camps.

Today in World War II History—June 2, 1942: 80 Years Ago—June 2, 1942: BBC reports news from the Polish underground of Nazi mass extermination of Jews. Henry J. Kaiser proposes building auxiliary carriers; the Navy awards him a contract for the Casablanca class by the end of the month.

Sarah Sundin's blog notes that news broke in the West, and indeed the world, of one of the biggest crimes ever committed in human history, the German efforts to exterminate the Jews.

This has been controversial, in terms of "when did they know" and "what could have been done", ever since.  But in retrospect, the news actually broke relatively quickly after the effort truly became industrial.  Up until that time, the Germans had been killing Jews on a large scale, to be sure, but it had been mostly done by deployed SS field units with that specific task, which accomplished it largely via small arms fire. A lot of people were killed in that fashion, and also by Eastern European unofficially allied bands, but it had taken place in conditions which precluded the news from being much more than rumors.  SS, and Eastern European, murders of this fashion had taken place either in chaotic conditions as the Germans marched in, or in actual field conditions just behind the lines.  As a result, they took place in areas where reporting was limited to what the Germans chose to report.  As the only significant opposition force in these regions was the Red Army, which had not recaptured any of these areas by this point in the war, news getting out simply didn't.

Industrial scale murder, however, was impossible to keep a secret.  The Poles reported it first, in an underground opposition newspaper.  The BBC picked it up the next day.

On the same day the Germans deployed an 800mm (31") railroad gun at Sevastopol.  For comparison, battleships typically had 16" guns.

The insanely large gun was a devastating weapon, but the crew required to man it was also insanely large.

Size comparison to Russian OTR-21 rocket launcher, which delivers a similarly sized payload.

The gun would be part of a five-day artillery barrage of the city, which also featured large raids by the Luftwaffe.

In North Africa the Afrika Korps was threatening to have its most recent offensive halt due to logistical problems.

U.S. Naval forces in the Pacific rendezvous at Point Luck, uniting Task Force 16 and Task Force 17, which are then under the command of Admiral Fletcher. They are there in anticipation of a Japanese assault on Midway Atoll, which they know is coming due to breaking the Japanese code.

Artillerymen, do you still use them? The Brunton Compass

Lex Anteinternet: Brunton Compass: 

Brunton Compass

Brunton Pocket Transit, folded for carrying.

Saturday, November 1, 1941. Coast Guard Katyusha.

Adolf Hitler issued a formal statement claiming that the United States had attacked Germany, making reference to the German sinking of the USS Reuben James the day prior.

During wartime the Coast Guard has traditionally serves as an auxiliary of the Navy, while during peace time it used to be part of the Department of the Treasury.  Post 9/11 it's been part of the Department of Homeland Safety.

The Coast Guard was transferred from the Treasury Department into the Department of the Navy for the ongoing emergency, recognizing that the US was very near being in a state of war.

Selective Service issued a list of key occupations which were to receive conscription deferments.  The last two items are noted here:

Today in World War II History—November 1, 1941

The first mass use of Soviet multiple rocket launchers occurred.  The production effort, which had actually commenced prior to the war, was so secret that the Soviets didn't even inform the soldiers assigned to them what their official designation, the BM13, was until after the war. As they were marked with the letter "K" soldiers nicknamed them Katyusha after the popular wartime Russian song, although Stalin Organs was also a popular name for them.

The weapon was groundbreaking.  Inaccurate, it went for volume of fire and was deployed in mass batteries.  It was copied by other combatants once it became known, being a simple weapon to make, and its the origin of multiple rocket launching batteries that have replaced heavy artillery in some armies, including the United States Army.

The song was written just before the war, in 1938, and has gone on to remain a hugely popular Russian tune.  About a girl on the Steppes, it is in the same category as Lili Marlene in that it was copied by other parties in the war, including those fighting the Red Army, with new lyrics being written in some instances.  A search for it on YouTube will bring up a zillion Russian versions, many with dancing Russian women dressed in wartime uniforms.  It's remained popular with Russian expatriot populations, and is popular in Israel as a folk tune.   The crowed singing the farewell tune in The Deer Hunter, in the wedding scene, is singing it, most likely spontaneously as it the extras in that scene are actually parishioners of an actual American Russian Orthodox Church.

The Slovakian government issued orders requiring Jews to ride in separate train cars and to wear to mark their mail with the Star of David.

Rainbow Bridge over Niagara Falls, another Depression Era project, was opened to traffic.

These servicemen and clergymen attended a service at St. Andrew's Church.  I'm not sure where, but probably in Wales or Scotland.

Friday September 26, 1941. The Establishment of the Military Police Corps.

Today is the founding day of the Military Police Corps, something I only know about due to the blog post found here:

Today in World War II History—September 26, 1941

There were predecessors, it should be noted, but the official establishment dates to this date.

Sarah Sundin, on her blog, also had this excellent poster, which I can't resist also posting.

The poster, I'd note, has a good representation of 155 "Long Tom" M1 howitzers, a classic American gun that was a recent introduction into the American artillery stable.  It was the predecessor of other related long range large artillery, and an 8in variant also existed, a depiction of which also exists in this poster to its far right.  The U.S. had the best artillery of any army in the Second World War.  Indeed, this poster fairly accurately depicts the technology used by the US in the war, albeit in a very dramatic fashion.

The Germans took Kiev.  It was a major German victory, and it would soon result in the expansion of the German's murder of the Jews.

For a really interesting look at the German Army of 1941 and how it walked into Russia, see the following item, if you can, or at least look at the photo.

The exhausting march East

It's often not appreciated the degree to which the German Army was a shoe leather army.  Of course, at this point in the war, the Red Army was as well.

German propaganda during the Second World War was so good at depicting their forces as highly mechanized that it not only created that myth at the time, the myth has endured.  In reality, German infantry walked in, and German artillery was largely towed in by horse, just as the French forces had been in 1812 in their invasion of Russia.  Indeed, while the Germans certainly had motorized support, even much of their logistical support was horse drawn.

In 1941, this was also true of the Red Army, and indeed for Soviet infantry it would remain largely true throughout the war.  The Soviets, however, had a massive industrial based created by Stalin's forced industrialization of the country, and additionally it had the huge industrial base of the United States and the British Commonwealth behind it.  Soviet mechanization would advance during the war, German mechanization would retreat.

June 24, 1921. 11th Field Artillery Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Cigar Makers, and Mondell visiting Harding.

11th Field Artillery Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  June 24, 1921.

The text on the photo reads:

"Just before passing in review before the Department Commander in this closely massed formation on June 24, 1921. (About 400 vehicles). No motor failed and formation remained intact, a record that will rarely be equalled and never surpassed. Tiemann N. Horn, Colonel 13th Field Artillery commanding. To General John J. Pershing, with the compliments of the brigade. R. L. Dancy, Army & Navy Photographer.".

Employees of 7-20-4, R. G. Sullivan, Cigar Factory, Manchester, N.H., no. 192, 100 [percent] Members of Cigar Makers, International Union, June 24, '21

On the same day, the employees of a cigar factory in Manchester, New Hampshire, were photographed.

As was President Harding with Wyoming's Congressman, Frank Wheeler Mondell.  Apparently that inspired President Harding to don an exceedingly large cowboy hat.

Mondell was originally from St. Louis, Missouri and had become a rancher and farmer in Wyoming, as well as a businessman involved in railroad construction.  He'd was Newcastle's mayor from 1888 to 1895 and served in Congress from 1895 to 1896 and then again from 1899 to 1923.  He was the House majority leader in the 66th and 67th Congresses.

February 23, 1920. The death of Maj. Gen. LeRoy Springs Lyon.

You've likely never heard of  him, and for that matter, I hadn't either.

Rather, I'm posting this item on Gen. Springs as he's interesting example of a World War One vintage U.S. senior officer whose military career was cut short by his premature death at age 53.

He entered the Army upon his graduation from West Point in 1891 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the cavalry, and assiged to the 7th Cavalry.  He was a scout, early on.

In 1898 he made the unusual choice to switch branches, something rarely done in the U.S. Army at the time, and went to Coastal Artillery School.  After graduating from the school, he was assigned as an aid to Gen. Royal T. Frank, and continued on in that role during the Spanish American War.  Following the war, he was transferred to the 2nd Artillery Regiment, in effect yet another branch switch from Coastal Artillery to Field Artillery, and commanded it in the field in Cuba from 1899 to 1900.  He later served in the Philippine Insurrection and in the Canal Zone before retunring ot the U.S in 1915, where he commanded Camp Bowie.  During the Great War he was in command of the 31st Division at first and then the 90th Division.

Like most brevetted generals, following the war the Major General returned to his permanent rank of Colonel and was assigned to command the Field Artillery Basic School which was located, at that time, in Camp Taylor, Kentucky.

His wife Harriet, whom he married in 1903, was ten years his junior and outlived him by forty-one years.