Thursday, April 6, 1944. German withdrawal from the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket, Army Day.

The Germans pull off a major successful fighting withdrawal from Hube's Pocket (Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket).  200,000 German troops escaped Zhukov's forces, losing a lot of equipment, but also destorying a lot of Soviet equipment on the way.

An RAF Spitfire raid destroyed a substantial number of aircraft at Banja Luka field, Yugoslavia.

The French resistance shut down Timken ball bearing production at Paris.

The U-302 was sunk in the Atlantic by the Royal Navy.  The U-455 went down in the Ligurian Sea due to a mine.

US troops on Bougainville, April 6, 1944.

It was Army day pursuant to a proclamation earlier issued by President Roosevelt.

Proclamation 2610—Army Day, 1944

March 22, 1944

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Whereas America's valiant soldiers have been welded by the fire of battle into a mighty army of liberation; and

Whereas the men and women of the American Army, of different races and creeds but one in their love of freedom and their devotion to the goals for which the United Nations are striving, must face during the coming year a burning test of their courage, their resourcefulness, and their physical prowess; and

Whereas the Congress, by Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, 75th Congress, agreed to by the House of Representatives March 16, 1937, has recognized April 6 of each year as Army Day and has requested that the President issue a proclamation annually with respect to that day:

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, April 6, 1944, as Army Day, and do invite the Governors of the various States to issue proclamations calling for the appropriate observance of that day.

And I urge the civilians of the Nation to reconsecrate themselves on that day to the task of producing in fullest measure and with the greatest possible speed the weapons and ammunition and the materials and supplies required to equip our Army and to sustain it unto final victory.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this 22nd day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-eighth.

Signature of Franklin D. Roosevelt

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

By the President:

CORDELL HULL

Secretary of State.

Rose O'Neill, cartoonist and creator of the Kewpie character, died at age 69.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 5, 1944. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that’s inside me! When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived!

1940s, 1944, 1944 Election, Anne Frank, Ernie Pyle, Hungary, Judaism, Marshall Islands, Romania, The Holocaust, The written word, United States Marine Corps, World War Two

Wednesday, March 22, 1944. German defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Admiral Doenitz orders his U-boats to disperse and work singly.  Convoy attacks were halted in anticipation of new U-boat designs coming on.  Effectively, this amounted to a concession of German defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic.

New Zealanders made an unsuccessful assault on Monte Cassino.  After its failure, Allied defensive lines are consolidated.

The US OSS began Operation Ginny II, again intending to cut rail lines in Italy, and once again failing, this time as the landing party was beached in the wrong place and captured.

80% of the B-25s of the 340th Bombardment Group were destroyed by volcanic boulders from Vesuvius.

The Corpo Italiano di Liberazione (Italian Liberation Corps) was organized to collect the Royal Italain Army units that were now part of the Allied armies.  

Döme Sztójay replaced Miklós Kállay as Prime Minister of Hungary, and the country promulgated anti-Jewish legislation and ordered all Jewish businesses to close. The roundups of Hungarian Jews were soon to begin and the country would reenter the war as a German ally.

Hedwig Jahnow died at age 65 of malnutrition at Theresienstadt.  She was a German teacher and an Old Testament theologian who studied Rabbinic Dirge and remains significant in those studies.

On the same day, and at the same location, important pre Nazi German legal advisor to banking and industry, Albert Katzenellenbogen, died.

The Red Army took Pervomaysk

Mortar crew of 164th Inf. Regt., Americal Div., on Bougainville Island. 22 March, 1944.  All of these men were from Minnesota. All enlisted, this photograph is unusual in that one of the soldiers, PFC Russell Campbell, is wearing his service cap with the stiffner removed, something almost never seen in the case of U.S. soldiers in combat outside of airmen.

The only example of the Northrup XP-56, the first one having been destroyed in a crash, was photographed in anticipation of its first flight the following day.

Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet (s/n 42-38353) on the ground at Muroc Army Air Field, California, March 22, 1944.

The weird aircraft was not a success.

Sarah Sundin's excellent blog on daily events in World War Two, whose feed updates are no longer working, notes this item:

In US, “A” gas rationing cards (basic passenger car ration) are cut from three gallons per week to two gallons. 

Two gallons per week.

Could you get by on two gallons per week?  Most days I drive a 1/4 ton Utility Truck, which is better known as a Jeep, and while it's small, it gets terrible mileage.  I know that I use more than two gallons per week, but I would if I was driving my fuel efficient diesel truck as well.  If I was limited to two gallons per week, I'd have to make major life changes.

Should I be pondering this as Congress, through the neglect of Ukraine, pushes us ever closer to a war with Russia, should she invade the Balkans?

During World War Two I know that my grandfather had a different class of ration ticket as his vehicle was used for business.  His car was a "business coupe", which is about all I know about it.

I know it had a gasoline personnel heater, which probably provides a clue, but I still don't know who made it.

I had a 1954 Chevrolet at one time, and it got really good mileage.  Interestingly, a 1973 Mercury Comet, with a really powerful V8 engine we had, also did.  According to one site about older cars, the business couple should be something like this:

My '38 gets around 17-18 MPG @ 50 MPH. It drops to around 12-14 @ 60. She just doesn't like being pushed that hard.

My 54, and the 73, got much better mileage than that.

Whatever mileage the business coupé got, my father sort of brushed gasoline rationing off when I asked him about it, due to the other category of ticket.  I don't know what that really meant, however.

Of course, for most long travel of any kind, people took the train.  Something that we might want to consider as potentially being something that may very well return.  High speed rail, for that matter, may be coming to Wyoming.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, March 21, 1944. Dear John.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Churches, Continuation War, Kamikaze, Miles City Montana, New Guinea, Operation Margarethe, Operation U-Go, The relationship between men and women, The written word, World War Two

Friday, March 17, 1944. Forces of nature.

St. Patrick's Day fell on a Friday, which means that actual Irish Americans couldn't eat the traditional American Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage, unless a dispensation had been granted by their local bishop.  Dispensations were quite common in North America, however.

The March 1944 eruption of Vesuvius, by Jack Reinhardt, B-24 tail gunner.

Mount Vesuvius, not taking a time out for war, erupted, killing 26 Italian civilians and displacing a further 12,000.  88 American aircraft were destroyed.

Fighting continued at Monte Cassino.  Regarding that, Sarah Sundin, on her blog, Today in World War II History—March 17, 1944; notes that in the town of Cassino, which is often forgotten was parat of the battle, New Zealanders took its western part of town and train stations.

She also noted in her blog the death of Félix Éboué, Governor-General of French Equatorial Africa, died of a heart attack in Cairo, age 60.  He was a native African, the first to rise to such status in the French Empire.

Actor Ray Milland moves through the chow line in the mess hall of the 8th Special Service Co., Espiritu Santo, as the company cooks get a helping hand from Rosita Moreno, left, Latin-American dancer, and Mary Elliot, MGM starlet. March 17, 1944.

Ray Milland and two female entertainers of his USO-Camp Shows troupe visit the tent of two members of the 8th Special Service Co., on Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides.  March 17, 1944.

Bombing run at Bougainville.

The Red Army took Dubno.

The U-801 was sunk by American aircraft and warships in the Atlantic.

Famous photographer Pattie Boyd was born in Taunton, England.  She would marry George Harrison and Eric Clapton.

Musician John Sebastian was born in Greenwich Village, New York.

Last Prior Edition:

Thursday, March 16, 1944. Lucky Legs II

Friday, March 10, 1944. Soviets say no to Finns.

The Soviets rejected a Finnish reply to armistice terms requesting further guarantees.

Ireland rejected a U.S. request that it expel Axis diplomats.

An award winning Irish army boxing team was photographed on the same day.

The Red Army made major advances on the Ukrainian front.

The Political Committee of National Liberation, Πολιτική Επιτροπή Εθνικής Απελευθέρωσης was formed.  Often called the "Mountain Government", the communist body was opposed to collaborationist in Athens and the royal government in exile.

American forces captured Talasea on New Britain.  On Bougainville, the Japanese took Hill 260 but lost ground to an American counterattacks elsewhere.

PT Boats at Bougainville, March 10, 1944.

The Japanese attacked rear positions of the British 17th Indian Division in Burma.

U-343, U-450, U-625 and U-8459 were lost in the Atlantic.

The Fighting Seabees, which is a pretty bad movie in my view, was released.

Last prior:

Thursday, March 9, 1944. Bombing of Tallinn.

Wednesday, March 1, 1944. The last surface raid in history begins.

U.S. Navy recognition depiction of Japanese Aoba-class heavy cruisers

Three Japanese cruisers broke out for the Indian Ocean Raid.  It was the last action by Axis surface raiders during World War Two, and hence the last such example, something that dated back to the age of sail, in history.  That the Japanese would engage in it frankly showed how far their fortunes had fallen.

There will never be another surface raid again.  This concludes something that dates back to antiquity.

Like much associated with the Japanese in World War Two, it would be marked by mindless atrocity.

The Kingisepp-Gdov Offensive concluded in a Soviet victory.

The Huon Peninsula Campaign concluded in an Allied victory.  As part of that, the Battle of Sio on New Guinea also ended in an allied victory.

A huge strike broke out in the Italian Social Republic against the government.

Hitler received the leaders of the Independent State of Croatia to discuss then current political issues, which is frankly rater surreal.

Today In Wyoming's History: March 1: 1944 Fremont County, Wyoming agriculture agents request 200 POWs for farm labor.

There was a major POW camp in Wyoming, housing Italian and German POWs, in Douglas. Ft. F.E. Warren also housed POWs during the war.

Nebraska also had six, including one at Scotsbluff and one at Camp Robinson.

German POWs, it might be noted, were particularly problematic, in part because US Army authorities in the US were sort of second stringers.  Often the Nazi elements in the camps were able to co-opt the system and even hold court-martials of German POWs within them in order to enforce the ideology of the regime.

Italian POWs, it's often noted, were glad to be out of the war, something that speaks highly for the intelligence of the average Italian.  Often criticized for not showing the fighting spirit the Germans did, the Italians actually served the interest of their country and people to a much greater extent than the Germans in uniform did.

On Italy, for the second time in the war, the Vatican was bombed accidentally by a plan of the RAF, killing one, and injuring another.

The U-358, U-630 and &-709 were sunk by the Allies in the Atlantic.

Saturday, February 26, 1944. „Nie” dla linii Curzona

The Polish Government in Exile rejected the Curzon Line as Poland's eastern border. 

While their resistance to the border being moved is admirable, and had to be expected, it was of course doomed.

The Soviets launched a nighttime 600 bomber raid on Helsinki.  Finnish air defenses prove ineffectual, which was typical for any nighttime raid, and only three Soviet Air Force planes are lost.  

The Red Army captured Porkhov.

The French Resistance attack the SOMUA armor plate works at Lyons, but their explosives fail to detonate.

Leigh Light fitted to a Royal Air Force Coastal Command Liberator, February 26, 1944.

The U-91 was sunk by the Royal Navy.

The United States Army Air Force discover the source of the Orinoco River in British Guiana in an overflight.

Captain Hugh H. Goodman, USN, Commanding Officer of USS Gambier Bay (CVE 73) making first dungaree inspection on board ship, somewhere in the South Pacific, February 26, 1944.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—February 26, 1944: Japanese retreat from Sinzweya, Burma, ending “Battle of the Admin Box." US Navy nurses are given actual commissioned rank instead of relative rank.

Thursday, February 24, 1944. Big Week Climax.

 

B-26 “Marauder” bomber roars over Luftwaffe airfield at Leeuwarden, Holland, February 24, 1944.

The Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha) aircraft plant was hit as part of the Big Week.

The plant had been targeted for February 22, but bad weather had prevented the raid from occurring.  On this day, 239 B-24s raided the plant.

Typical for such things, the US Army Air Force regarded the raid as a huge success.  In reality, however, the lead bombardier, who controlled the run ins via the Norden Bomb site, suffered from anoxia due to a faulty oxygen mask and mistook Eisenach as the primary target. Forty-three bombers accordingly followed his error. Thirty-four B-24s were shot down, twenty-nine were damaged.  Three aircrewmen were killed, six wounded and 324 went missing.  169 bombers did get through, and the plant was heavily damaged.

The Messerschmidt plants at Regensburg and Augsburg were hit and heavily damaged as well.  Production was disrupted, but as Albert Speer noted, the damage was to the frame plant which was quickly put back into production.  Had the engine plant been hit, results would have been different.

It was the climax of The Big Week.

The Allies prevailed in the Battle of Arawe.

The Red Army took Rogachev.

Finnish Prime Minister Edwin Linkomies announced that Finland wanted to restore peace with the Soviet Union.

The U-761 was sunk by tow U.S. Navy PBY's assisted by two Royal Navy destroyers.

The U-257 was depth charged and sank on the same day.

Merrill's Marauders began their march north in Burma.

U.S. Army 81 mm mortar crew on Bougainville, February 24, 1944.

U.S. Navy Gunner Frank S. Hughes giving instructions on firing a M1 Thompson Sub Machine Gun on the fantail of USS Gambier Bay (CVE 73), February 24, 1944.

Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit, Michigan, at an altitude of 500 feet, looking at 90 degrees. Photographed by Naval Air Station, Detroit, February 24, 1944.

Saturday, February 19, 1944. Landing on Eniwetok.

Marines and Coast Guardsmen display a Japanese flag, Engebi, Eniwetok Atoll, 19 February 1944.

Marines land on Eniwetok in regimental strength.  Fighting is heavy.  Among the casualties is John A. Bushemi, noted combat photographer.  He was 26 years of age.

Landing craft  headed towards Eniwetok, February 19, 1944.

And also Cpl. Anthony Damato.

Corporal Anthony P. Damato

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with an assault company in action against enemy Japanese forces on Engebi Island, Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands, on the night of 19[-20 February 1944. Highly vulnerable to sudden attack by small, fanatical groups of Japanese still at large despite the efficient and determined efforts of our forces to clear the area, Cpl. Damato lay with two comrades in a large foxhole in his company's defense perimeter which had been dangerously thinned by the forced withdrawal of nearly half of the available men. When one of the enemy approached the foxhole undetected and threw in a hand grenade, Cpl. Damato desperately groped for it in the darkness. Realizing the imminent peril to all three and fully aware of the consequences of his act, he unhesitatingly flung himself on the grenade and, although instantly killed as his body absorbed the explosion, saved the lives of his two companions. Cpl. Damato's splendid initiative, fearless conduct, and valiant sacrifice reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his comrades.

From Sarah Sundin:

Today in World War II History—February 19, 1944: The major Japanese air & naval base at Rabaul is officially neutralized by Allied forces as the last Japanese planes are moved to Truk.

The Luftwaffe hit London with 187 planes, the heaviest raid since May, 1941.

The Germans ended Operation Sumpfhahn against partisans in Belarus.

The U-386 and U-264 were both sunk by the Royal Navy in the Atlantic.

Billboard modified its "Most Played Juke Box Records" chart to rank records rather than songs.

Saturday, January 29, 1944. The USS Missouri launched.

The USS Missouri was launched.  The long serving ship is now a Museum Ship in Pearl Harbor.

USS Missouri, Pearl Harbor Hawaii

 USS Missouri viewed from the USS Arizona Memorial.

 Small trailed mortar, probably of a Japanese pattern.

 Dual Bofars 40mm Anti Aircraft guns formally on the USS Missouri.

 The "tears" of the USS Arizona.  Oil slick from oil leaking from the bunkers of the Arizona.

 The spot on which World War Two came to an end on the decks of the Missouri.

 The instrument of surrender.

 Oil from the USS Arizona alongside the USS Missouri.

 Tomahawk Missile platform.

 The location on the USS Missouri where she was hit by a Kamikaze aircraft.  The result was this dent in the side.  The Japanese pilot was buried in a formal burial at sea the following day.

 While not labeled on the ship, these are powder bags for 16 in guns.

USS Missouri viewed from the hangers at Ford Island.

While occasionally taken out of service, she's serve all the way through 1998 in various recalls.  

The massive battleship was far larger than the pre-war US battleships.

The Battle of the Green Islands began when American and New Zealand reconnaissance forces landed on the islands, which are located between Bougainville and New Ireland.  They'd only remain for 24 hours and then withdraw, with larger operations to begin on February 5.

In the Marshalls, US Task Force 58 bombed and shells Japanese targets on Roi, Namur, Maloelap and Wotje.  Land-based aircraft bomb Jaluit and Mille.

The Red Army captured Chudovo.

Soviet Partisans killed 38 civilians in German occupied Koniuchy, Lithuania.

The HMS Spartan was sunk off of Anzio by a Hs 293.

The U-364 was sunk in the Ba of Biscay by an RAF Halifax.