Tuesday, September 19, 1944. The Moscow Armistice Signed.

Fighting was ongoing in Italy.

The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland and the USSR.

Land ceded to the Soviet Union by the Moscow Armistice.  By Jniemenmaa - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=317801

The land ceded by Finland was similar in extent to that which had been ceded to end the Winter War four years earlier.

Land ceded by Finland in Winter War.  By Jniemenmaa - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=317799

Will discuss the history of Finnish wars with the USSR in a separate thread, which is much more complicated than generally recalled, but suffice it to say, Karelia had been a major bone of contention between the two countries, and fought over several times in the 20th Century until the Continuation War seemingly ended the dispute.

Grand Duchy of Finland, 1900.

The Battle of Păuliș ended in Romanian-Soviet victory.

The Soviets took Valga, Estonia.  A mass flight from the advancing Soviets by the Estonian population was underway, with a huge percentage of the population on their feet and in boats to attempt to escape.

British 30 Corps reached the US 82nd Airborne at Grave.

Cpl. Jaap W. Bothe, San Antonio, Texas, formerly of Rotterdam, Holland, gives some advice to a Dutch farmer who is giving Yanks a lift to the front lines near Son. 19 September, 1944. 101st Airborne Division.

The Battle for Brest ended in Allied victory.

Pvt. Garnett N. Early, of Harrisonburg, Va., receives an early morning cup of coffee from Red Cross worker Mary Jane Cook, of Jackson Heights, N.Y. Nancy, France. 19 September, 1944. 35th Infantry Division.

The Battle of Hürtgen Forest began between German and U.S. forces in the Hürtgen Forest began.  The battle would continue until mid December.  The Battle over a 54 square mile of industrial forest on the Belgian German frontier would continue until December 16 and became the longest battle on German ground during World War II and is the second longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought after The Battle of Bataan.

US tanker Lafayette G. Pool lost his third Sherman tank in combat in a night engagement when it was ambushed by a German Panther at Münsterbusch, southeast of Aachen, Germany.  Pool lost his leg in the engagement, ending a pre war amature boxing career. 

In 81 days of combat tanks commanded by Pool had destroyed 12 German tanks, 258 total armored vehicles and self propelled busn and killed German soldiers.

Pool reentered the Army in 1949 and retired in 1960.  He thereafter became a Protestant minister.  He passed away in 1991.

The SS declared a state of emergency in Denmark over the ongoing strike.

Heavy fighting occurred on Peleliu and Angaur.

The U-407 and U-867 were sunk by the Allies and the U-565 damaged beyond repair.

Brazilian nurses embarking for Europe at Hampton Roads, September, 1944.

Last edition:

Monday, September 18, 1944. Eindoven taken.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Airborne, Battle of Arracourt, Battle of Peleliu, boats and ships, Disaster, Heroes, Operation Market Garden, Prisoners of War, Royal Navy, United States Marine Corps, Warsaw Uprising, World War Two

Sunday, September 10, 1944. Reaching Germany, Freeing Luxembourg, Continuation War lost.

The US 3d Armored Division occupied St. Vith and accordingly reached the German border.  St. Vith is in the German speaking border region of Belgium.

Luxembourg was liberated.

Gen. Eisenhower approved what would become Operation Market Garden, Field Marshall Montgomery's concept for an airborne assault in the Netherlands.

The U-20 and U-23 were scuttled in the Black Sea.

The Red Army attacked German forces holding a suburb of Warsaw.

The RAF launched Operation Paravane, an attempt to sink the Tirpitz.

Finland signed a formal armistice with the Soviet Union which restored the 1940 borders and required reparations to be paid by Finland.  Finland had, accordingly, lost the Continuation War, but the Soviet terms were remarkably generous.

"Soldiers from Co. A, 145th Inf., 37th Div., in position on a hillside where they had the Japs surrounded.Bougainville. 10 September, 1944."

Last edition:

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

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1980s, 1986, 1990, 1990s, Aircraft, Armor, Army, Artillery, Belgium, Buchenwald, Bulgaria, Burma Road, Cheyenne, Cheyenne Wyoming, Communism, Nationalist Chinese Army, World War Two, Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Monday, September 4, 1944. Reaching Antwerp.

The British entered Antwerp, Kortenberg and Leuven.  They failed to take the Antwerp canal crossings.

The 7th Army took Bourg-en-Bresse.

The Red Army took Brașov and Sinaia, Romania.

Fighting stopped between Finland and the Soviet Union.  German troops fall back to Norway or embark for Germany at Baltic ports.

Last edition:

Sunday, September 3, 1944. An agreement to end the Continuation War.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Belgium, British Army, Bulgaria, Continuation War, France, Free French, German Wehrmacht, The Holocaust, U.S. Navy, Wake Island, World War Two

Sunday, September 3, 1944. An agreement to end the Continuation War.

A ceasefire, to take place on September 4 at 8:00, was agreed to in the Continuation War.  The Germans commenced Operation Birke to try to keep a supply of Finnish nickel from Lapland.

Residents of Couvin, Belgium, flock into the streets to welcome the vanguard of American troops which arrived after driving out the Nazis. 3 September, 1944.

Residents of Couvin, Belgium, flock into the streets of their town to cheer the vanguard of American troops rolling eastward across their country into Germany. 3 September, 1944.

Residents of Chimay, Belgium, gather in their town square to welcome their liberators, the first American troops to reach their town. 3 September, 1944.

S/Sgt. Robert Troxler, left, of Elson College, N.D., and Pvt. Charles Forkas, right, of Rutland, Vt., both members of an infantry unit, walk along a French road to rejoin their unit after having escorted some German prisoners to the rear of the line. They are fighting the Nazis still holding out around Brest, France. 3 September, 1944.

The British Second Army took Brussels. The U.S First Army took Toumai.

The French 1st Infantry Division entered Lyons.

Gerd von Rundstedt was restored as Oberbefehlshaber West, replacing Walter Model, in the face of rampaging disaster.

Execution of political prisoners  was halted in Bulgaria.

Could it have been any clearer that Germany was defeated?

Nonetheless, Germany begin the deportation of Dutch Jews from the Westerbork, Amersfoort, and Vught.

The U.S. Navy bombarded Wake Island.

Last edition:

Saturday, September 2, 1944. Finland calls it quits.Labels: 1940s, 1944, Belgium, boats and ships, British Army, Bulgaria, Canadian Army, Chichijima, Continuation War, Finland, George W. Bush, Personalities, Poland, Polish Home Army, U.S. Navy, Winter War, World War Two

Saturday, September 2, 1944. Finland calls it quits.

This was the 5th anniversary of the start of the Second World War in Europe.

This means, fwiw, that a fair number of combatants had been in their early to mid teen years when the war started, and were now fighting in it.

Finnish Prime Minister Antii Hackzell announced that Finland was breaking diplomatic relations with Germany and demanded that all German troops leave the country.  Fighting concluded two days later.

Finland had lost about 63,000 men in what it termed the Continuation War, over twice as many men as it had lost in the much briefer Winter War.  In the war to regain territory lost during the first war it regained what it had lost, but would lose it again.  Fought as a separate war, the Finns had ceased advancing once they took what they'd lost.

On the same day, two Soviet defectors crash landed a Yak 9 inside of Finnish lines.

At this point, Italy had switched sides, as had Romania and Bulgaria was begging the Soviets to honor its neutrality. Hungary was trying to get out of the war. As noted below, the British had entered Belgium.  The Germans should have realized they were doomed.

Lt. Jr. Gr George Bush, later President of the United States, found his aircraft badly damaged after completing a bombing run over Chichijima and ordered the crew of this TBM Avenger to bail out.  Only one other man made it out of the plane, and his parachute didn't open, making Bush the only survivor.

He'd be at sea for four hours before being rescued by he USS Finback, with which he'd remain for the rest of the month.

FWIW, the President at the time, Franklin Roosevelt, had never been in the service, but he had been Assistant Secretary of the Navy.  The next one, Truman, had been an artillery captain during World War One.  Eisenhower of course was in the service in 1944.  Kennedy was in the Navy in 1944.  So was Nixon, and Ford.  Carter did not serve in World War Two, but was an Annapolis graduate.  Reagan served in World War Two, but not in a combat role. Then Bush.  Clinton was the first to break the trend.

Konstantin Muraviev became Prime Ministers of a now desperate Bulgaria.

The First Canadian Army took Saint-Valery-en-Caux and reached the Somme.

The FFI executed six French young men they found guilty of treason in Grenoble.

The British 21st Army Group entered Belgium.

German troops murdered 450 Poles at Lipniak-Majorat, Poland in reprisal for actions by the Home Army.

The U-394 was sunk by the Royal Navy off of Jan Mayen.

Last edition:

Friday, September 1, 1944. Lone Tree Hill

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Lone Tree Hill, boats and ships, Bulgaria, Canadian Army, Canadian Navy, Dieppe France, New Guinea, Red Army, Romania, World War Two

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

Thursday, August 4, 1944. The Frank's arrested.

The Jewish Frank family was arrested in Amsterdam by German police.  Only Otto Frank would survive the war, going on to publish his daughter Anne's diary.

They were betrayed by somebody, but it remains a mystery as to who it was.

The Germans retreated from Florence leaving only the Ponte Vecchio bridge entact.  The South African elements of the British 13th Corps entered the city.

The Germans counterattacked between Riga and Jelgava, reestablishing communications.

Polish poet Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński was killed in the Warsaw Uprising.

The solider in the foreground carries an M1 Garand and a bazooka.  The armored vehicle is a M10 tank destroyer.

The 3d Army occupied Rennes.  The British 21st Army captured Evrecy and Villers Bocage.

Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim assumed the Finnish presidency, paving the way for Finland to exit the war.

The British 2nd Division took Tamu, Burma.

The U-671 was sunk by the Royal Navy in the English Channel.

The Matsu was sunk by the U.S. Navy off of Chichijima.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 3, 1944. Advances in Burma and Normandy.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, boats and ships, Burma, Diplomacy, Education, German Kriegsmarine, Lebanon, Nationalist Chinese Army, Normandy, Normandy Breakout, Operation Overlord, Royal Navy, United Kingdom, USSR, World War Two

Wednesday, July 26, 1944. Cobra advances.

U.S. infantrymen advancing beyond St. Lo, July 26, 1944.

The 1st Army took Marigny and St. Gilles, and crossed the Lessay-Perieres Road.

A really remarkable photograph of US troops near Saint Giles ,with editing marks, July 26, 1944.  The armored vehicle appears to be a M3 Lee/Grant, which according to all sources had been fully replaced by the Sherman by this time.  It might be a M31 tank retriever, however, which was based on the same vehicle and retained the 75mm gun and the turret.  From this angle, the crane would not be visible.  The edits clearly intended to cut out evidence of the 75mm gun, which would make the vehicle appear to be a Sherman.

After six months of combat, the Red Army took Narva, ending the Battle for Narva Bridgehead.

The Battle of Ilomantsi began between the Finns and the Red Army.

The 1st Ukrainian Front took Deblin.

President Roosevelt began a two day conference at Pearl Harbor on strategy in the Pacific.  At the conference MacArthur urged an advance on the Philippines while Nimitz argued for making Taiwan the first priority and bypassing the Philippines.  Roosevelt listened, but did not decide.

Fighting raged on around Aitape.

Japanese forces on Guam launched a banzai charge against Marines fighting for control of the island

The USS Robalo hit a mine sinking the sub off of Palawan Island.  There were four survivors who disappeared forever into Japanese captivity.

The I-29 was sunk by the USS Sawfish in a submarine on submarine action.

The U-214 was sunk by the HMS Cooke in the English Channel.  The U-2323 hit a mine off Kiel and sank.

A pilot with family in Merriam, Kansas, decided to buzz the family home with disastrous results.

The Merriam Bomber Crash of 1944

Oklahoma State Highway 89 was officially designated.

Last edition

Tuesday, July 25, 1944. Operation Cobra commences. Operation Spring does as well.

Labels: Army, Canadian Army, German Wehrmacht, Home Front, Nazi Germany, Operation Cobra, Operation Gaff, Operation Spring, Polish Resistance, Special Air Service, U.S. Air Force, Weapons, Women, World War Two

Monday, July 10, 1944. The Third German Palestinian Exchange.

242 Jewish individuals arrived in Palestine under the Third German Palestinian Exchange, a peculiar event that's almost forgotten.  Under the odd arrangement, Jews in occupied Europe were exchanged for Germans in Palestine, most of whom were "Templer Germans".

The Templer Germans were residents of settlements that had been established in Palestine during Ottoman rule in 1868 and continued on into the 20th Century.  Originally part of the German Pietist Templer movement, the Nazi Party made a heavy effort to Nazify the colonies after they came to power in Germany.  Their numbers decreased over time, and never numbered more than 2,000.  They were declared enemy aliens by the British at the start of World War Two, and many were interned in Australia.  The British, however, brokered a deal in which 1,000 Templers were exchanged for 550 Jews, most of whom had Palestinian connections.  After the Second World War, the remaining members came under heavy pressure, with their leader at the time being assasinated, to leave newly founded Israel.

I have to note that being deported to Germany in this time frame would be an epic bummer, although like Italian colonies in Libya, and French ones in Algeria, the small German settlements in Palestine were not long for the world.

Enduring a second blitz, 41,000 mothers and children left London for countryside billets to avoid V1 bombs.

Having taken D-Day objective Caen, the British moved towards expanding their lines under stuff resistance.

The Finns won a second battlefield victory in two days, this time prevailing at Vyborg Bay.

The Battle of Driniumor River began near Aitape, New Guinea with a Japanese assault of Allied positions there.

The SS Duilio, interned at Trieste, was sunk by Allied aircraft.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 9, 1944.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Saint-Lô, Battle of Tali–Ihantala, British Army, Caen France, Canadian Army, Continuation War, Italy, Operation Charnwood, Operation Forager, Operation Overlord, Saipan, World War Two

Sunday, July 9, 1944.

The Battle of Saipan ended in a U.S. victory.

Canadian and British forces took Caen.

The Battle of Saint-Lô began.

US troops entering Haye Du Puis.

The Finns prevailed in the Battle of Tali–Ihantala, although some local attempts at Red Army advances would continue.  On July 12, the Red Army began to withdraw troops from the area to redeploy them against the Germans elsewhere.

The US 88th Division took Voterra, Italy.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 8, 1944.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, British Army, Canadian Army, Catholic, Christianity, German SS, Operation Bagration, Operation Charnwood, Operation Overlord, Red Army, religion, Saipan, The Holocaust, World War Two