Afrika Korps display, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 

Last edition:

Dodge WC Command Car. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 4x4, Automobiles, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Transportation, World War Two

Artillery and Prime Movers. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 Last edition:

SPW 152 "Iron Pig" (BTR 152). National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Location: 6419 US-26, Dubois, WY 82513, USA

Anti Tank Guns. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 

Saturday, November 4, 1944. Sir John Dill.

Self propelled U.S. 155 shelling German positions with captured German artillery projectiles, November 4, 1944.

Australian forces landed at Jacquiot Bay in New Britain.

The last major air raid on Bochum, German occured.  4,000 buildings and 1,000 people were lost in the raid by the RAF.

The Red Army took Szolnok and Cegled on the way to Budapest.

Royal Navy Minesweepers reached the port of Antwerp while the logistical tail continued to reach back principally to Normandy, a major problem for the Western Allies.

The 5th Indian Division took Kennedy Peak, south of Tiddim.

Field Marshall Sir John Dill died in Washington D. C. at age 63.  The British officer was immensely respected in Washington, and is buried at Arlington.

Last edition:

Friday, November 3, 1944. Generals.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, George S. Patton, Kamikaze, Radio

Central Display Room. M3 Grant: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

 

 

US M3 tank in British desert colors. The M3 was the first US produced wartime tank and while it was welcomed by the British, it had some less than ideal features.

While the US did use both variants of the M3, this later "Grant" variant, as well as the earlier "Lee" variant, are more heavily associated with the British, who used them early on in the desert.  They continued to use them until the end of the war in Southeast Asia.

In the photograph, the M7 Self Propelled Gun is to the right of the M3.

Last edition:

M7 Self Propelled Gun. US Armored Vehicle Central Display. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1950s, Army, Artillery, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, World War Two

M7 Self Propelled Gun. US Armored Vehicle Central Display. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

M7 Self propelled gun.  This 105 mm SP used a Sherman chassis.

Last edition:

Early Jeeps: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Location: 6419 US-26, Dubois, WY 82513, US

Sunday, October 29, 1944. Shelling chocolate bars.

Knocked out Panther, October 29, 1944.  Oddly, it's labeled as to what it is.

The Red Army and the Romanian Army commenced the Budapest Offensive.

The Red Army prevailed in the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive.

The RAF tried for the Tirpitz again, and again without success.

Himmler ordered the gas chambers closed at Auschwitz and other death camps.  Keep in mind, most of the death camps were in the east, which the Red Army was now approaching.

The final of three acts by Pvt. Barney F. Hajiro occurred which resulted in his being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Private Barney F. Hajiro distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 19, 22, and 29 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, eastern France. Private Hajiro, while acting as a sentry on top of an embankment on 19 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres, France, rendered assistance to allied troops attacking a house 200 yards away by exposing himself to enemy fire and directing fire at an enemy strong point. He assisted the unit on his right by firing his automatic rifle and killing or wounding two enemy snipers. On 22 October 1944, he and one comrade took up an outpost security position about 50 yards to the right front of their platoon, concealed themselves, and ambushed an 18-man heavily armed, enemy patrol, killing two, wounding one, and taking the remainder as prisoners. On 29 October 1944, in a wooded area in the vicinity of Biffontaine, France, Private Hajiro initiated an attack up the slope of a hill referred to as "Suicide Hill" by running forward approximately 100 yards under fire. He then advanced ahead of his comrades about 10 yards, drawing fire and spotting camouflaged machine gun nests. He fearlessly met fire with fire and single-handedly destroyed two machine gun nests and killed two enemy snipers. As a result of Private Hajiro's heroic actions, the attack was successful. Private Hajiro's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit, and the United States Army.

NBC broadcast a Jewish religious service from US occupied Aachen.

D-ration chocolate bars and bottles of Halazone pills are packed into 105mm howitzer shells to be fired to men in an Infantry battalion that is cut off by Germans in the Belmont sector, France. 29 October, 1944. ABL Bat., 131st Field Artillery Battalion, 36th Infantry Division.

Last edition.

Saturday, October 28, 1944. Slovaks put down, French Resistance ordered to disarm, Bulgaria quits, Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders (День визволення України від фашистських загарбників).

Labels: Allied Powers, Auschwitz, Battle of Dukla Pass, Bulgaria, Charles de Gaulle, Czechoslovakia, French Resistance Movements, Red Army, Slovak National Uprising, Slovakia, The Holocaust, Ukraine, World War Two

World War Two U.S. Airborne Displays, National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Airborne display at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, Wyoming.  Unfortunately, I just had my cell phone, so a lot of these photographs are not great.

This last series of uniform photographs demonstrates the actual colors (color batches varied) of the M1942 paratrooper uniform.  The uniform itself was already on the way towards being phased out in favor of he M1943 patterns of uniforms, but it was still the one issued during Operation Overlord.

Last edition:

Small Arms and Light Crew Served Weapons Collection, National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Tuesday, September 26, 1944. Coastal artillery exchange.

The British 8th Army crossed the Uso (Rubicon).

The British 2nd Army took Turnhout between Antwerp and Eindhoven.   They also took Oss.

The Germans shelled the British coastal city of Dover with long-range artillery implaced near Calais.  The British returned fire with long range coast artillery at Dover.  This would end the long range artillery duels across the channel.

The RAF bombed Calais and Cap Griz Nez.

The Red Army prevailed in its Tallinn Offensive.

Greek resistance groups recognized the authority of the Greek government in exile and to place themselves under the Allied Supreme Commander in the Mediterranean.

Sea rescue from dirigible, September 26, 1944.

Last edition:

Monday, September 25, 1944. Withdrawal at Arnhem.

Labels: "Wacht am Rhein", 1940s, 1945, Airborne, Battle of Arnhem, Bernard Law Montgomery, British Army, Estonia, Netherlands, Operation Market Garden, Red Army, The roles of men and women, Volkssturm, Yugoslav Partisans

Saturday, September 9, 1944. A coup in Bulgaria.

U.S. infantry advancing with Sherman, Spangle, Belgium, September 9, 1944.

A captured Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighter, the Zero, was displayed in Cheyenne (Wyoming State History Calendar).

A coup in Bulgaria put the Communist Fatherland Front (Отечествен фронт) in control of the country, which it would control until the fall of Hungarian Communism in 1986.  It dissolved in 1990.

French race car driver Robert Benoist, a member of the French Resistance, was executed at Buchenwald.

The U-484 was sunk by the Royal Navy northwest of Ireland.

Ten mule team draws heavy Chinese howitzer over many mountains in the Burma Road on its way to the fighting at Tung Ling, Yunnan, China. 9 September, 1944.

Last edition:

Friday, September 8, 1944. Belgian government returns.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Dukla Pass, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canadian Army, France, German Wehrmacht, Hungarian Army, Red Army, technology, Weapons, World War Two

Friday, August 18, 1944. German retreats.

 SC 192989 - French girls wave to members of an artillery unit as their truck towing an eight inch gun rolls along a highway to take up a position near Brest. The artillery piece is a M1 155 "Long Tom".

The German 7th Army retreated across the Orne River, abandoning 18,000 troops to captivity.  The Allies closed the Falaise Gap.

The Third Army reached Versailles.

The Red Cross entered the Drancy internment camp in France, finding 500 survivors there.

The Vichy French Vichy battleship Strasbourg and cruiser La Galissonnière were sunk at Toulon by the U.S. Army Air Force.

U.S. serviceman shares a glass of something with two French women, August 18, 1944.

Pvt. J.K. Mabry, Memphis, Tenn., and Pvt. Borislav M. Tences, Garfield, N.J., infantrymen of the 3rd Infantry Division, rest alongside the road leading to Brignoles, southern France.  ONe has his shoes off, which would have made my DI yell at me.  The 3d Infantry Division was highly experienced and had been in action since Operation Torch.  It must have been refitted before Dragoon, as photos consistently show its troops wearing M1943 boots, which were new at the time.  Photos of troops from Overlord do not tend to show that.

The U-107 and U-621 were sunk by Allied ships and aircraft. The U-129 was scuttled.

US submarines attacked Japanese convoy Hi-71 in the South China Sea and sank the carrier Taiyō.  In the Philippine Sea a US submarine sank the cruiser Natori.

Last edition:

Thursday, August 17, 1944. And on this day too, 30 years later, the Red Army entered East Prussia.

Sunday, August 13, 1944. Finnish victory, German retreat.

The Red Army took  Võru and Valga but was defeated in the  Battle of Ilomantsi.

Destroyed Soviet T-26 and dead Soviet soldier, Battle of Ilomantsi.

The 3d Army took Argentan. Gen. Bradley halts its further advances in that direction.

Germans begin to evacuate the Falaise Pocket in earnest.  10,000 troops make it out by the end of the day.

105mm self-propelled howitzer gets a cleaning from its crew, having been in the Siege of Brest, France.  Pvt. John B. Siirila, Berkeley, Cal.; and Cpl. Robert Silverman, San Francisco, Cal., are poking the gun cleaning rod in and out. Pvt. Ed DeSimmons, Atlantic City, N.J., cleans the machine gun. Pvt. Bert Lavaro, Potsdam, N.Y., wipes the howitzer barrel, as Sgt. William Entrekin, Tallapoosa, Ga., tests the field telephone. 83rd Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division. 13 August, 1944.

The submarines USS Flier hit a mine in the Balabac Strait and sank.

The U-270 was sunk by the RAAF in ht eBay of Biscay.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 12, 1944. Appreciating the Falaise Gap.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Falaise Pocket, Franklin Roosevelt, George S. Patton, Normandy, Operation Pluto, Operation Tractable, Petroleum, Radio, U.S. Air Force, Winston Churchill, World War Two

2nd Bn, 300th AFA, activates.

Yesterday the 2nd Bn, 300th AFA, commenced active duty for a period of two years, during which they will be deployed to the "Middle East".

The Middle East is a large region.  The US has forces Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.  Most likely, the Guard is not going to Syria, Qatar (which is mostly USAF), or Iraq, but who really knows?

This is the largest deployment of the 300th since the Korean War, with it being perhaps significant to note that the 300th designation lapsed after the Korean War. During the balance of the Cold War, the Wyoming Army National Guard's artillery in the state was part of the 3d Bn 49th FA, which was part of the 115th FA Bde.

The deployment of a National Guard unit in this role, for this long, really demonstrates the degree to which the National  Guard is part of the overall Army structure today.  If you are in the Guard, you are going to see active duty.