Wednesday, August 23, 1944. The Act of 23 August.

King Michael of Romania lead a coup that overthrew fascistic dictator Ion Antonescu in order that Romania could extract itself from its losing alliance with Germany.

It would become known as the Act of 23 August.

During the event, the King first met with Antonescu and asked him to sign an armistice with the Soviet Union.  When he refused, the King declared there was nothing that could be done, officers came in, and arrested Antonescu.

The King offered the Germans free passage out of the country, which they refused.  Within 24 hours the country would be successfully at war with Nazi Germany and an Allied power.

In spite of its success, the country would not be able to avoid the Soviet co-opting of the government, and Michael was deposed in 1947 when he was out of the country for the marriage of his cousin, Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.  He was allowed to return to Romania late in life, after Communism fell.

Antonescu was tried and executed in 1946. Constantin Sănătescu, who became Prime Minister up Antonescu being removed, died of cancer in 1947.

Italian partisans took Barceno, near Switzerland.

French partisans controlled most of Paris.

Allies were advancing everywhere in Europe.

American infantrymen move past a burning German motorized vehicle, in pursuit of the former operators of the vehicle. 23 August, 1944.

Eight German ships were sunk in the Battle of Audiene Bay The U-180 was sunk by some undetermined means in the Bay of Biscay.

The Japanese destroyer Asakaze was sunk by the USS Haddo in Paluan Bay.

Japanese resistance on Numfoor ends.

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 22, 1944. End of the German Navy in the Baltic, Strikes on the Tirpitz, Advances in France.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Falaise Pocket, France, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Japan, Normandy Breakout, Operation Dragoon, Operation Goodwood, Romania, Royal Navy, World War Two

Thursday, July 6, 1944. Advances on Eastern Front, Halted on Western Front, Tragedy in Connecticut, Racism at Camp Hood.

Admiral Horthy ordered a halt to the deportation of Hungarian Jews, clearly seeing which way the war was going.  Hungary had not supported this policy initially, but upon being invaded by the Germans early in 1944 Jewish deportation commenced.

The Red Army took Kovel and Svir.

The Polish 3d Division took Osemo, Italy.

The U.S. Army took Namber airfield on Numfoor.

Allied progress was generally halted in Normandy.

De Gaulle arrived in Washington for talks on his administration and forces. Bretton Woods, of course, the boozy conference on post-war economics, was rolling on at the same time.

The tragic Hartford Circus Fire resulted in 167 deaths and 700 injuries in Hartford, Connecticut.  Up to 7,000 people when the tent caught fire, with the cause never being determined.

U. S. Army Lieutenant Jackie Robinson, stationed at Camp Hood, Texas, was instructed to move to a seat farther back in the back of an Army bus and refused, resulting in his court-martialed.  Army buses were not segregated.

Robinson had originally been an enlisted cavalryman who had been sent to OCS, and was now a cavalry officer serving in an armor unit.  His commander, Paul L. Bates, refused to authorize the prosecution whereupon he was transferred to another unit and then charged with multiple offenses, including public drunkenness even though Robinson did not drink.  He was tried in August 1944, and acquitted.

The delay caused by the trial prevented him from going overseas with his unit.  He was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, and served as an army athletics coach before being discharged in November 1944.

Council of war, Saipan, July 6, 1944.

Last edition:

Wednesday July 5, 1944. Third Army in Normandy.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of the Atlantic, boats and ships, Canadian Army, George S. Patton, German Kriegsmarine, Operation Overlord, Operation Windsor, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Tuesday, July 4, 1944. Independence Day.

"Marine Private First Class Raymond Hubert, shakes a three-day accumulation of sand from his boondocker."  Saipan, July 4, 1944.

The U.S. Army in Normandy celebrated Independence Day with a massive, timed artillery barrage.  Progress in the hedgerow country, however, is slow, and US casualties were becoming severe.

The Canadian Army commenced Operation Windsor, designed to take Carpiquet, which by the end of the day, they did, save for the airfield.

The Red Army took Polotsk.

The Soviets commenced the Battle of Vuosalmi against Finnish positions, which they were having difficulty with.

A second parachute drop was made at Numfoor and took Kornasoren airfield with heavy casualties.

US Task Force 58 attacked Guam, Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima from the air.

The I-10 was sunk east of Saipan by the USS David W. Taylor and USS Riddle.

Last edition:

Monday, July 3, 1944. Airborne at Numfoor, Red Army in Minsk.

Labels: 1940s, 1941, 1944, Battle of Imphal, Battle of Numfoor, Clean Wehrmacht Myth, French Army, Operation Bagration, Operation Barbarossa, Paratroopers, Personalities, The roles of men and women, World War Two

Monday, July 3, 1944. Airborne at Numfoor, Red Army in Minsk.

The Red Army retook Minsk, leaving the path through Belarus and into Poland open of urban obstacles.  It had been occupied by the Germans since June 28, 1941, which means that the Wehrmacht in Barbarossa had taken it in an amazingly short amount of time.

German forces that had been defending Minsk were now trapped east of the city, a bad place to be.

Gen. Georg Lindemann was relieved as commander of Army Group North and replaced with Johannes Frießner.

Lindemann would not be returned to service until February 1945, when he was placed in command of German troops in Denmark.  Frießner would go into retirement, after being relieved from a subsequent assignment, in December 1945.  After the war, he was an apologist for the German war effort and the Waffen SS, but did advise West Germany in regard to the creation of the Bundesheer.

The US 1st Army launched an offensive with the goal of establishing a new line from Coutances to St. Lo.

Sixty-six American servicemen of the 130th Chemical Processing Company were killed by a V-1 drone at Chelsea, the largest loss of US life from a V-1.  Nine civilians were also killed.

Moroccan troops in Siena.

The French took Siena, Italy.  Well. . . French and Moroccans.  The British took Cortona.

The Germans launched the Emergency Fighter Program (Jägernotprogramm),

U.S. Paratroopers took Kamiriz Airfield on Numfoor, but with heavy casualties.

Airborne drops in the Pacific and Asia are nearly forgotten.

The Allies prevailed in the Battle of Imphal.  

The U-154 was sunk in the Atlantic by the U.S. Navy.

Filipino women working for the Office of War Information. Left to right, Adelaida Torres, Robert Kleiman, Salud Darrago, and Julie Bayona.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 2, 1944. Plots in motion and the SS Jean Nicolet

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, Army, Australian Army, Battle of Numfoor, British Army, Claus von Stauffenberg, Gerd von Runstedt, German Wehrmacht, Italy, July 20 Plot, New Guinea, Saipan, War Crimes, World War Two

Sunday, July 2, 1944. Plots in motion and the SS Jean Nicolet

The I-8 sank the SS Jean Nicolet, a liberty ship, and then engaged in what can only be the torture and murder of its survivors.  The atrocities were interrupted by Allied aircraft, allowing some men to survive as the I 8 dived away.

The I-8 had been involved in a prior atrocity.  It would be sunk near the end of the war.

Not too surprisingly, Gerd von Rundstedt was relieved of command and replaced by Günther von Kluge as Oberbefehlshaber West . The day prior, von Rundstedt had expressed the situation in the war as hopeless.   Additionally, on this day, he sought permission from Hitler to withdraw from the present German lines.

It wasn't the first time he'd been relieved, and he would be brought back.

The replacement would be a bit ironic in that von Kluge participated in the July 20 plot.

Concerning that, the prior day, July 1, Claus von Stauffenberg was appointed Chief of Staff to General Fromm at the Reserve Army headquarters.  The appointment meant that he would be in close proximity to Hitler frequently.

The British 8th Army captured Foiano, Italy.

U.S. and Australian troops landed on Numfoor Island, New Guinea.

The U-543 was sunk off of Tenerife by aircraft.

An interesting issue of Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—July 2, 1944

Fighting continued on Saipan, with the Japanese withdrawing to their last defensive line.

US ace and former member of the RCAF Ralph K. Hofer was killed in action over Budapest.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 1, 1944. Bretton Woods.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Bretton Woods, Caen France, Eastern Front, Espionage, Estonian Forest Brothers, Gerd von Runstedt, Italy, J. C. Leyendecker, Lithuanian Partisans, Operation Overlord, Waffen SS, World War Two