Friday, May 4, 1945. The war ends in northwest Europe.

British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands, northwest Germany including all islands, Denmark and all naval ships in those areas. 

The US Seventh United States Army captured Innsbruck, Salzburg and Berchtesgaden.

German forces in northeast Germany, Czechoslovakia and Austria begin rearguard actions in an attempt to reach Anglo American lines.

The Red Army too the Oranienburg concentration camp.

Konrad Barde, 47, German Generalmajor committed suicide.

Fedor von Bock, 64, German field marshal was killed by a strafing British aircraft while traveling by car.

Yugoslav partisans entered Fiume.

Last edition:

Thursday, May 3, 1945. Dönitz sends a surrender delegation.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Bernard Law Montgomery, boats and ships, British Army, Burma, Karl Dönitz, Philippines, Portugal, United Nations, World War Two

Wednesday, May 2, 1945. Berlin taken.

The Red Army took Berlin.

Yevgeny Khaldei took the staged Raising a Flag over the Reichstag photograph, showing Soviet troops raising the flag of the Soviet Union atop the Reichstag.  The unretouched variant is shown above, i which one soldier is wearing two watches, which was later edited out of the photo as at least one of them was no doubt picked up somewhere.

The Nisei 552nd Field Artillery Bn liberated a Dachau death march.

The Germans surrendered in Italy and Southern Austria. Among those going into Allied captivity is Dr. Wernher von Braun.

Admiral Dönitz's formed the Flensburg Government.

Eamon de Valera paid a visit to Dr Eduard Hempel, the German minister in Ireland, to offer his condolences on the death of Hitler.  Nobody has ever been able to grasp this.

Erich Bärenfänger, 30, German Generalmajor, Martin Bormann, 44, German Nazi official; Wilhelm Burgdorf, 50, German general; Walther Hewel, 41, German diplomat; Hans Krebs, 47, German general; and Franz Schädle, 38, German commander of Hitler's personal bodyguard, killed themselves.

Peter Högl, 47, German SS-Obersturmbannführer, Ewald Lindloff, 36, Waffen-SS officerMartin Strahammer, 54, German Generalmajor; and Joachim von Siegroth, 48, German Generalmajor were killed in action.

The British landed on Rangoon.

Last edition:

Tuesday, May 1, 1945. German radio reports Hitler dead.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Adolf Hitler, Battle of Tarakan, Borneo, Germany, Joseph Goebbels, Karl Dönitz, Operation Oboe, Radio, Rape and the Red Army, The Battle of Halbe, World War Two

Friday, April 27, 1945. Mussolini captured by Partisans, Second Austrian Republic comes into being.

Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were captured by partisans while attempting to cross into Switzerland.

The Red Army took Potsdam, Prenzlau, Angemunde and Tempelhof airfield.

US troops liberated Kaufering concentration camp.

The Western Allies rejected Himmler's peace offer for the Germans to lay down their arms in the west and sent a reminder that the German surrender was to be unconditional.

One of the interesting things here is that its not entirely clearly that the Western Allies understood the offer the way it was made.  Theoretically, it might have been possible to accept the offer as a largescale troop surrender which, while it would have ended fighting in the west, it would not have ended the war against Germany.

The U.S. Fifth Army reached Genoa, Italy, which was mostly already liberated by Italian partisans.

SS architect Hans Schleif committed suicide at age 43.  Schleif had been involved in removing cultural material from Poland, but he oddly never really seemed to be fully on board with the worst elements of Nazism.  His death was probably needless, but he probably would have served time after the war.

Former Austrian chancellor Karl Renner set up a provisional government composed of Social Democrats, Christian Socialists, and Communists and proclaimed the reestablishment of Austria as a democratic republic.  This became the Second Austrian Republic, which remains today.

US and Philippine forces commenced the Battle of Davao.  US forces took Baguio.

U.S. troops firing a pack howitzer in the Philippines, April 27, 1945.

Thursday, April 26, 1945. Petain arrested.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Battle of Berlin, Berlin Germany, Dachau, German SS, Italian partisans, Italy, Operation Exodus, Philippe Pétain, Prisoners of War, Rationing, Red Army, Vichy France, War Crimes, World War Two

Thursday, April 19, 1945. Broadcasting from Belsen.

Army machine gunners on Okinawa, April 19, 1945.  Not the visible rear sight on the M1917 machine gun and the high angle the gun is being used at.

The Battle of the Seelow Heights ended in Soviet/Polish victory.

The US 1st Army took Leipzig.

Robert Cappa, the famous photographer, took a series of photos in an event that occurred in this battle, in which a tank crewman who was manning a machinegun in a building was killed by a German sniper.  The bloody scene and the soldier's lifeless body is the recalled photograph.  A nearly as dramatic photo of another crewman stepping over him to man the gun is not as well recalled.

Richard Dimbleby broadcast the conditions of Belsen on the BBC.

The Battle of Odžak began in Croatia between Yugoslav Partisans and the Axis aligned Croatian Armed Forces.  The last battle to be fought in the Second World War in Europe, it would continue until May 25.

Pyinmana, the base of the Japanese aligned Burma Defence Army, fell to the 5th Indian Division.

Japanese Gen. Sōsaku Suzuki, age 53, was killed in action in the Philippines.

Nazi Party member Fritz Wächtler,  age 54, was executed by the Nazis for desertion over the surrender of Bayreuth. The charge was unjust and due to rivalry on the part of other Nazis.  

It's amazing to think of this sort of infighting when it should have been obvious they'd all be facing trials by the victors soon.

The U-251, U-548 and U-879 were sunk.

Johnny Kelley won the Boston Marathon.

Last edition:

Wednesday, April 18, 1945. The death of Ernie Pyle.Labels: 1940s, 1945, Adolf Hitler, Army, Canadian Army, Heroes, Mussolini, Okinawa, The Holocaust, The Press, The written word, Waffen SS, World War Two

Tuesday, April 3, 1945. The Germans began the evacuation of Buchenwald.

The Germans began the evacuation of Buchenwald.

Soviet forces take Wiener Neustadt

Elements of the US 40th Division landed on Masbate to assist Filipino guerillas.

"Pfc. Thomas Powell, North Platte, Nebr., 5th Cav., guards the main street of San Pablo, Luzon, P.I, with his machine gun, and covers himself completely with his poncho in the tropical rain. 3 April, 1945.  Photographer: T/4 Wendinger.  Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive."

Kamikazes were active off of Okinawa.

"Men of an antitank company keep on the alert for enemy action atop a hill in Okinawa.

Left to right, Pfc. George Harrington, Brooklyn N.Y., Cpl Joe Irvin, Elgin, Ill., and Pfc Leland Beleme, Merced, Cal. 3 April 1945."

Last edition:

Monday, April 2, 1945. Easy advances on Okinawa.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Austria, Austria (Vienna), boats and ships, British Army, Hungary, Italy, Okinawa, Operation Iceberg, Philippines, Polish Air Force, Red Army, Slovakia, Vienna Offensive, World War Two

Monday, April 2, 1945. Easy advances on Okinawa.

Operation Roast ended in a British victory in Italy.

The British 2nd Army took Munster.

The Red Army launched the Vienna Offensive.  They also took Magykanizsa and Kremnica.

The US 10th Army made easy advances on Okinawa.

U.S. artillerymen, Okinawa, April 2, 1945.

Part of the US 163d Regiment landed on Tawitawi, in the Sulu Archipelago.

The U-321 was sunk by a Vickers Wellington of No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron southwest of Ireland.

Last edition:

Sunday, April 1, 1945. Operation Iceberg.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Battle of Kassel, British Army, Communications, Eastern Front, Hitler Youth, Italy, Okinawa, Operation Iceberg, Red Army, television, United States Marine Corps, World War Two

Easter Sunday, April 1, 1725. Bach's Easter Oratorio.

Bach’s Easter Oratorio, the companion piece to his Passions was first performed in an Easter service in Leipzig, April 1, 1725.  The composer conducted.

Last edition:

Monday, March 26, 1725. Monday of Holy Week for 1725.

Saturday, December 20, 1924. Hitler released from prison.

That really didn't work out the way predicted.

All the magazines had a Christmas theme that Saturday.

 

Last edition:

Wednesday, December 17, 1924. An election and a promise.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, baseball, Greece, Greek Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Personalities, Turkey

Thursday, October 16, 1924. See See Rider.

Incarcerated menace Adolf Hitler published a statement admitting that he was born in Austria, not Germany, but arguing that he had lost his Austrian citizenship after volunteering to serve in the German Army during World War I .  He claimed that mentally, he'd always been a German.  

He nonetheless did not renounce his Austrian citizenship until 1925, and didn't acquire German citizenship until 1932.

Ma Rainey recorded See See Rider, the first known recording of the blues standard which has an unknown origin and date of origin.  It's at least a couple of decades older than the recording.

Ma Rainey.

Last edition:

Wednesday, October 15, 1924. Airship and a proclamation.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Aircraft, Calvin Coolidge, Lighter than air aircraft, Monarchy, National Park Service, Toronto Canada, U.S. Navy

Friday, October 6, 1944. Collapsing.

Officials of the Serbian puppet government fled to Austria.

The Battle of Debrecen began in Hungary.

The Dumbarton Oaks Conference concluded.

Last edition:

Thursday, October 5, 1944. Fuzhou and Memel.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Memel, Eastern Front, German Luftwaffe, Imperial Japanese Army, Operation U-Go, Royal Canadian Air Force

Saturday, December 22, 1923. Reversal at Puebla.

It was a Saturday, so the Saturday news magazines were out, featuring Christmas themes, as to be expected.

The news did not have the Holiday Spirit.

The news reported the Rebel failure to take Puebla.

Georg Luger, inventor of the iconic handgun, died on this day.  He was an Austrian by birth, but had spent much of his early life in Italy.   Multi talented, he was trained as an accountant.

Friday, August 13, 1943. Resumption of bombing of Italy.

A two week Allied hiatus of bombing of Italian targets came to an end.  Milan and Turin were struck by the RAF, which also struck Berlin for the first time since May 21. U.S. bombers began a heavier attack on Rome and a precision bombing attack on Italian rail yards at San Lorenzo and Vittorio.  The US bombed an Austrian target for the first time.

Fr. Jakob Gapp, age 46, was executed by the Germans.

Fr. Gapp was an Austrian with outspoken anti-Nazi views and had gone into exile, first in France and then in Spain, as a result.  He'd been kidnapped by German agents posing as refugees needing help to cross the Spanish border and sentenced to death.  He was beatified on November 24, 1996. 

In Natrona County, the high was 87.4 F and the low 52.3F.

Monday, August 9, 1943. Blessed Franz Jägerstätter

 

Franz Jägerstätter, 36, Austrian farmer and conscientious objector, was executed by the Germans.

Born into poverty and illegitimacy, he was the son of a farmer and chambermaid who could not afford to marry.  He was initially raised by his grandmother, the pious Elisabeth Huber.  His father was killed in World War One and his mother latter married Heinrich Jägerstätter, who adopted him and who gave him his farm upon his marriage.

Irreligious in his youth, he underwent a sudden religious conversion after fathering an illegitimate child and spending a period of time in community exile, during which he worked for several years in iron mines.  Upon returning he became profoundly religions and in turn married a deeply religious spouse.  Upon the German invasion of Austria he openly opposed the Nazis and while he did serve in the German Army in 1940 he refused to take the Hitler oath.  Called back into service in 1943 he refused combat duty, although he did offer to serve as a medic, which was ignored.  He was ultimately died and executed on this day.

He was beatified in 2007.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—August 9, 1943: 80 Years Ago—Aug. 9, 1943: On New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, US northern and southern landing forces link.

The US signed a military assistance treaty with Ethiopia.

Life Magazine hit the stands with an article on female steelworkers.

Tuesday, March 30, 1943. The Martyrdom of Sister Maria Restituta. Patton and his B-3. UW wins the NCAA. The 505th Jumps.

Sister Maria Restituta, age 48, was beheaded under orders of Martin Bormann.  An absolute vocal critic of Hitler and Nazism, she refused to be quiet about her opinions, no matter the cost.

Sister Restituta.

Sister Restituta had been born in Austria, and was of Czech desecent.  Her full name, after becoming a nun, was Maria Restituta Kafka.  She had been born Helene Kafka and had joined the order in her 20s, having first been a nurse.  She was a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity.

She was beatified in 1998.

One of the most iconic photographs of George S. Patton to be taken, was taken on this day in Tunisia.

This photo is justifiably famous, but it's sometimes a bit misinterpreted.  It really doesn't show anything that unusual for a senior officer of the period.

Patton is wearing a B-3 flight jacket, the heavy sheepskin jacket that was issued to aviators who flew at altitude until synthetics and electrically heated flight suits started to replace it mid-war.  It would not be fully replaced during the war.  Both the heavy B-3 and the light A-2 saw widespread use beyond airmen, however.

A-2s were issued as a semi dress item to airborne officers (and perhaps enlisted men, although I'm not completely certain on that), signifying that 1) they were an airborne service and 2) there were a lot of them.  A-2s made their way into the Navy in some roles as well.  They were also widely worn by officers.

B-3s were issued not only to air crewmen, but to ground crews as well, as there were a lot of them.  They were a private purchase item with officers, and senior officers sometimes favored them as they were warm.  

Patton's B-3 here has had some alterations made to it, including at least one front pocket.  You can see his reading glasses held in the visible pocket.  You'll frequently see it claimed on websites that Patton had epaulets added to this coat, but that's completely incorrect, at least at the time this photograph was taken. His general's stars are visible, but they are neither pinned nor sewed on epaulets.  Indeed, the seam that's visible is simply a coat seam.  Other, sometimes later, photos do show Patton wearing a B-3 with epaulets, but that probably actually depicts a different coat, or that this one was subsequently altered as he was promoted.

Patton, perhaps with same B-3 as it has reinforced upper sleeves, but now featuring also epaulets, with the coat featuring the 1st Armored Corps patch.  The other figure is Major General Geoffrey Keyes, whose coat features II Corps insignia.  This photograph was taken in January, 1944.

The odd things about those photographs are that they show that Patton had that coat at the time that he was the commander of the 1st Armored Corps, which he had relinquished prior to March 1943 when he took over II Corps.  Patton was a bit of a stickler about uniforms being correct, but at least in that case his having had the 1st Armored Corps patch put on an expensive coat probably proved to be a mistake, as it couldn't be removed, so he therefore kept wearing it.

The stars on this one, or this coat at this time, are probably painted on.

This coat does have a reinforced upper arm, which is also an alteration, but not one that's as uncommon as might be supposed.  I've seen at least one photograph of a conventional aviator with the same alteration.  Alterations, often done at the local level, were very common.  The location of the unit patch on the reinforcement probably explains why the patch was never replaced.  Subsequent promotion probably explains why epaulets were later added.

Sailors in 1950.

Today In Wyoming's History: March 30: 1943  Led by legendary UW basketball player Kenny Sailors, UW beat Georgetown 46 to 34 in Madison Square Gardens.  Sailors would enter the Marine Corps as an officer at the conclusion of that year.  UW would suspend basketball due to the war after that year.  Sailors eventually became a hunting guide in  Alaska, but returned to Wyoming in his old age, where he still lives, following the death of his wife.

Note: that item was originally penned, Sailors was in fact alive.  However, he subsequently passed on January 30, 2016, in Laramie, Wyoming.  Sailors remains a Wyoming basketball legend.

The 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment made a 2,000 trooper jump, the first such mass jump in US history.

The 505th had been formed in July 1942 and was originally under the command of James Gavin.  It had been assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division only a month prior to its first mass jump.

The jump took place near Camden, South Carolina.

Thursday, December 21, 1972. Things German.

Flag of the former East Germany, the German Democratic Republic.

The Gurndlagenvertrag between the two Germany's was entered into, paving the way for wider recognition of both states by other nations.  

Flat of the Federal Republic of Germany.

It provided:

The High Contracting Parties,

Conscious of their responsibility for the preservation of peace,

Anxious to render a contribution to détente and security in Europe.

Aware that the inviolability of frontiers and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all States in Europe within their present frontiers are a basic condition for peace,

Recognizing that therefore the two German States have to refrain from the threat or use of force in their relations,

Proceeding from the historical facts and without prejudice to the different view of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic on fundamental questions, including the national question,

Desirous to create the conditions for cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic for the benefit of the people in the two German States,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic shall develop normal, good-neighbourly relations with each other on the basis of equal rights

Article 2

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic will be guided by the aims and principles laid down in the United Nations Charter, especially those of the sovereign equality of all States, respect for their independence, autonomy and territorial integrity, the right of self-determination, the protection of human rights, and non-discrimination.

Article 3

In conformity with the United Nations Charter, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic shall settle any disputes between them exclusively by peaceful means and refrain from the threat or use of force.

They reaffirm the inviolability now and in the future of the frontier existing between them and undertake fully to respect each other's territorial integrity.

Article 4

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic proceed on the assumption that neither of the two States can represent the other in the international sphere or act on its behalf.

Article 5

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic shall promote peaceful relations between the European States and contribute to security and cooperation in Europe.

They shall support efforts to reduce forces and arms in Europe without allowing disadvantages to arise for the security of those concerned.

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic shall support, with the aim of general and complete disarmament under effective international control, efforts serving international security to achieve armaments limitation and disarmament, especially with regard to nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

Article 6

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic proceed on the principle that the sovereign jurisdiction of each of the two States is confined to its own territory. They respect each other's independence and autonomy in their internal and external affairs.

Article 7

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic declare their readiness to regulate practical and humanitarian questions in the process of the normalization of their relations. They shall conclude agreements with a view to developing and promoting on the basis of the present Treaty and for their mutual benefit cooperation in the fields of economics, science and technology, transport, judicial relations, posts and telecommunications, health, culture, sport, environmental protection, and in other fields. The details have been agreed in the Supplementary Protocol.

Article 8

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic shall exchange Permanent Missions. They shall be established at the respective Government's seat.

Practical questions relating to the establishment of the Missions shall be dealt with separately.

Article 9

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic agree that the present Treaty shall not affect the bilateral and multilateral international treaties and agreements already concluded by them or relating to them.

[ . . . ]

The Federal Republic of Germany states for the record:

"Questions of national citizenship [Staatsangehörigkeitsfragen] are not regulated by the Treaty."

The German Democratic Republic states for the record:

"The German Democratic Republic proceeds from the assumption that the Treaty will facilitate a regulation of questions of national citizenship [Staatsangehörigkeitsfragen]."

[ . . . ]

The Federal Minister Without Portfolio in the Office of the Federal Chancellor

Bonn, December 21, 1972

To the

State Secretary of the Council of Ministers

of the German Democratic Republic

Dr. Michael Kohl

Berlin

Dear Herr Kohl,

In connection with today's signing of the Treaty concerning the Basis of Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany has the honor to state that this Treaty does not conflict with the political aim of the Federal Republic of Germany to work for a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will regain its unity through free self-determination.

Very respectfully yours,

Bahr

English translation: The Bulletin, vol. 20, n. 38. Published by the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government (Bundespresseamt), Bonn. © Press and Information Office of the Federal Government (Bundespresseamt).  Posted here for commentary.

The West Germans always hoped for reunification of the country, and the treaty was seen as advancing that goal.  In that, they proved to be correct.

Oddly enough, Paul Hausser, General of the Waffen SS, died on this day, perhaps putting some sort of weird point to events.  He was 92 years old.

Hausser has served in the Imperial German Army during World War One, the Reichswehr after that, retiring in 1932 and joined the SS in 1934.  During the Nuernberg trials he claimed that the Waffen SS was purely military, and he was one of the founders of the myth that the Waffen SS were soldiers like any others.  He worked for the U.S. Army Historical Division after the war, at first as a POW and then later an employee.  In 1950, he was active in the Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Angehörigen der ehemaligen Waffen-SS ('Mutual aid association of former Waffen-SS members') which sought to rehabilitate the reputation of the Waffen SS.

Emblem of the Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Angehörigen der ehemaligen Waffen-SS.

The reality of things, of course, is not only was the Waffen SS bad, but frankly the Heer, the German Army, was too.

The existence of HIAG cannot help but bring about a recollection of Frederick Forsyth's novel, The ODESSA Files, which dealt with an organization termed Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen (Organization of Former SS Members) which, in the novel, was more sinister, seeking to help former members of the SS escape detection in the post-war world.  That term dates, surprisingly enough, to 1946, at which time American intelligence was still concerned about German Werewolves, an attempt by the Nazis to keep on keeping on through a guerilla organization which in fact fell flat.  This morphed into an American belief of a post-war German organization of the type noted, although most historians have found that it simply didn't exist, although smaller Nazi based organizations designed to hide and aid former Nazis did.  Having said that, Simon Wiesenthal, who cannot be discounted, asserted that ODESSA was real.  It is known that the Austrian government investigated the existence of ODESSA prior to Wiesenthal going public with his views.