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

General situation map, May 1, 1945.

Reichssender Hamburg's Flensburg radio station announced that Adolf Hitler had died in Berlin while "fighting for Germany". 

Hmmm. . . 

 

Dönitz gave a broadcast that night declaring that it was his task to save the German people "from destruction by Bolshevists."

New Chancellor of German Joseph Goebbels sent a letter to the Soviet commander in Berlin advising of Hitler's death and requesting a ceasefire. 

The Soviets refused.

He and his wife Magda then murdered their six children and committed suicide.  Dönitz then appointed Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the new de facto Chancellor of Germany, in the Flensburg Government.

Mass suicides occurred in Demmin following the Red Army taking and destroying the town. Between 700 and 2,500 people killed themselves.  As was common, the Red Army engaged in rapes and murders upon entering the town.

The Battle of Halbe ended in a Soviet victory.

The Australian Army landed on Tarakan off of Borneo.

Last edition:

Monday, April 30, 1945. Adolf Hitler commits suicide.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Adolf Hitler, boats and ships, Eva Braun, Italian partisans, Joseph Goebbels, Karl Dönitz, Nazi Germany, Weapons, World War Two

Friday, January 21, 1944. Embarking for Anzio.

The invasion force for Anzio departed from Naples.

Naples harbor, January 21, 1944.

The Luftwaffe commenced Operation Steinbock, the nighttime strategic bombing of targets in southern Britain.  

The first night was not a success.  Only 96 of the aircraft made it to their targets.

Operations would continue into May, but the drain on the Luftwaffe actually made the operation a net loss.

The RAF bombed Magdeburg the same night.

The Red Army took Mga near Leningrad.

The Japanese put don the Jesselton Revolt in Borneo

Patrol on Bougainville.

 Task Force 58.4 on their way to aid in invasion of the Marshall Islands.

Saturday, October 9, 1943. Last Stuka success against the UK.

HMS Panther.

The HMS Panther was sunk by a German Ju 87.  The sinking would be the last Stuka victory over a significant British target.

Heavy air action occured between the USAAF aircraft and the Luftwaffe off of the Rhodes.  Over twenty Ju87s were shot down, but they did sink the HMS Panther.  One US P-38 was lost.  The German dive bombers were attempting to attack ships of the Royal Navy that were detailed to support the Dodecanese campaign.

The very large land based dive bomber had been a huge success from its entry into service prior to World War Two.  It was first deployed in action in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War, but by this point its slow speed and the lack of a German ability to escort it meant that it was rapidly becoming undeployable in the West. This wold not be true in the East, where it would continue on, particularly in an anti tank role, until the end of the war.

The USS Buck was sunk off of Salerno by the U-616.  

SS operative Herbert Kappler was informed that the removal of Rome's Jews was directly ordered by Adolf Hitler.  Kappler asked for them to remain and be employed on construction projects in the city.

While the Ju87 was reaching its eclipse in the west, the USAAF bomber fleet was increasing its influence.

9 October 1943

The Land Battle of Vella Lavella ended in an Allied victory.

The Jesselton Revolt on British Borneo began with a guerilla uprising against the Japanese by the Kinabalu Guerrillas.

The USS Buck was sunk off of Salerno by the U-616.  

The Germans successfully completed their evacuation of the Kuban Pennensual. JE

Saturday, August 14, 1943. Rome declared an open city.

Rome was declared an open city by the Italian government.  The Italian government offered to remove its defenses under the supervision of the Allies. This followed the second major bombing strike on the city.

Allied troops had not even touched foot yet on the Italian mainland.  Suffice it to say, this made it clear that Italy would exit the war soon.

On Sicily, the Allies captured Rondazzo.

The U.S. Army Air Force raided Borneo with B-24s that were based in Australia, making a record 2,500 bombing run.  The target was oil reserves at Balikpapan.

U.S. aviation insignia changed again, albeit slightly.

By NiD.29 - Bell, Dana (1995) Air Force Colors Volume 1 1926–1942, Carrollton: Squadron Signal Publications ISBN: 0-89747-316-7.US Navy F6F Hellcat USMC F4U Corsairaccording to Section 40.1.1.2 Color of MIL-STD-2161A (AS), the colors of this insignia are established as FED-STD-595 red 11136 white 17925 blue 15044. The visualization of the colors comes from this siteElliot, John M. (1989) The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide Vol 2 1940–1949, Sturbridge, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications ISBN: 0-914144-32-4., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3330877

The Allies won the battle of Roosevelt Ridge.  The Soviets prevailed in the Battle of Belgorod.

The US revised its conscription regulations with a revised list of reserved occupations and providing that dependents were a deciding factor in deferments.

The movie This Is The Army premiered.