Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the cornfield.

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the cornfield.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Wednesday, March 28, 1945. Guderian gets his release.

Hitler fired Guderian as Chief of the OKH following an argument. His replacement was Hans Krebs.

Guderian, as we've noted before, would survive the war.  He was released from being held as a POW in 1948, never prosecuted for war crimes, and died in 1954 at age 65.

Krebs killed himself on May 2, 1945.

Eisenhower telegrammed Stalin with his plans for advancing in Germany.  The British, who were not consulted, protested.

The Red Army captured Balga.

The U.S. 80th Infantry Division captured Wiesbaden.

The 3d Corps took Marburg.

The USS Trigger was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the East China Sea.

The Battle of Slater's Knoll began between Australian and Japanese forces on Bougainville.

Last edition:

Tuesday, March 27, 1945. The last rockets.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Argentina, Artillery, Battle for Cebu City, German Kriegsmarine, Nazi Germany, Philippines, Royal Navy, Weapons

Thursday, December 28, 1944. The German staff says Rückzug, Hitler says Angriff.

"Under conditions of snow and fog which makes visibility impossible, a 155mm howitzer is fired on German positions in Conzen from a location near Roetgen. 28 December, 1944." Battery C, 309th Field Artillery Battalion, 78th Infantry Division.

Hitler, faced with American advances in the Ardennes, ignored the advice of his senior generals and ordered renewed offensives in the Ardennes and an offensive in Alsace.

General Eisenhower met with British 21st Army Group command Field Marshal Montgomery to coordinate the counteroffensive.

Outnumbered Germans and fascist Italians retook Northern Tuscany in the Battle of Garfagnana.

Soldier of the Italian Social Republic opening the action of a German K98k.

The Infantry Landing Ship Empire Javelin sank in the English Channel with 1,483 troops aboard. Around twenty soldiers drowned. It's unknown is she was sunk by a U-boat or a mine.  The U-735 was sunk by British aircraft off Horten, Norway.

1200 B-17s escorted by 700 fighters bombed Coblenz and other targets. The RAF bombed Cologne.

Churchill agreed to recommend the establishment of a regency to the King of Greece.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 28: 1944  Governor Lester Hunt proclaimed the day to be Seabee Day.  The Seabees are the Navy's Construction Battalions, hence "CB", or Seabees.  While all of the armed services have always had engineers, the Seabees were an early World War Two creation that proved critical in the construction of airfields and other facilities during the U.S. campaigns in the Pacific during the war.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens scored eight points (five goals and three assists) during a 9–2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.  It was a record that stood until 1976.  Richard had spent the day prior to the game helping his family move from one Montreal apartment to another, and was exhausted when he showed up for the game.

Montreal born Richard was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, accomplishing the feat in 50 games in 1944–45, and the first to reach 500 career goals.  He played professional hockey from 1942 until 1960.  He lived in Montreal  his entire life.

Last edition:

Wednesday, December 27, 1944. End of the Siege of Bastogne and the beginning of the Siege of Budapest. The execution of Sára Salkaházi.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of the Bulge, boats and ships, British Army, Budapest Offensive, Catholic, David Lloyd George, Heroes, Hungary, Red Army, religion, Siege of Bastogne, The Holocaust, World War Two

Wednesday, December 20, 1944. Besieged Bastogne.

Bastogne was reached by the Germans and put under siege.

The 3d Army began advancing against German forces committed to Wachts am Rhein.

"These American soldiers from the 28th Division Band and Quartermaster Company stayed and fought the Germans in Wiltz, Belgium, until their ammunition was exhausted. Shown at Bastogne, Belgium, these soldiers evacuated Wiltz after they had used all their ammunition. Bastogne, Belgium, 20 December, 1944. 28th Infantry Division."

"Troops of 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion, all their vehicles lost in combat, manning the front line near Bastogne, Belgium, 20 December 1944. Troops of 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion, all their vehicles lost in combat, manning the front line near Bastogne, Belgium, 20 December 1944."

Dwight Eisenhower was promoted to five star rank.

The US Women Airforce Service Pilots organization was disbanded as no longer needed.  Hap Arnold, who had advocated for incorporating the organization into the Air Force, noted:

The WASP has completed its mission. Their job has been successful. But as is usual in war, the cost has been heavy. Thirty-eight WASP have died while helping their country move toward the moment of final victory. The Air Forces will long remember their service and their final sacrifice.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 19, 1944. Reacting to Wacht am Rhein.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Bastogne, Battle of Leyte, Battle of the Bulge, Bernard Law Montgomery, British Army, Chester Nimitz, Dwight Eisenhower, German Army, Omar Bradley, St. Vith, World War Two

Tuesday, December 19, 1944. Reacting to Wacht am Rhein.

 

"Troops of 10th Armored Division preparing for attack on German spearhead headed toward Bastogne, Belgium, await order to move out. Note refugees in foreground. 19 December, 1944. 10th Armored Division."

The Germans took about 9,000 surrounded U.S. troops prisoner in the Schnee Eifel region on the Belgian-German border.  US forces were pushed out of German territory.  The 6th SS Panzer Army reached Stavelot and 5th Panzer Army approached Houffalize. US forces in-between these advances continue to hold Gouvy and St. Vith.

"Infantrymen of 1st U.S. Army gather in Bastogne, Belgium, to regroup after being cut away from their regiment by Germans in the enemy drive in this area. 19 December, 1944. 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division."

Eisenhower appoints Field Marshal Montgomery, commanding British 21st Army Group, to lead all Allied forces to the north of " the Bulge" and General Bradley, all Allied forces to the south reflecting the tactical situation.

"101st Airborne Division on the road between Bastogne and Houffalize, Belgium, as they move up to stem German drive. 19 December, 1944. 101st Airborne Division."

Chester Nimitz was promoted to five star rank.

Japan determined to cease reenforceing the Japanese 35th Army on Leyte.

The Japanese aircraft carrier Unryū was sunk in the East China Sea by the Redfish. The German submarine U-737 sank in a collision with depot ship MRS 25 in Vestfjorden, Norway.

The French newspaper Le Monde published for the first time.

Last edition:

Monday, December 18, 1944. Typhoon Cobra.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, boats and ships, British Army, Dekemvriana (Δεκεμβριανά), Douglas MacArthur, Greek Civil War, Internment of Japanese, Navy, Oklahoma, Pacific, Petroleum, Weather, World War Two, Wyoming

Today in World War II History—November 24, 1939 & 1944 (Friday November 24, 1944). Terrace Mutiny,

Usually I post this separately, but there are so many significant items in Sarah Sundin's blog this Sunday, I'm incorporating it into my post.

Today in World War II History—November 24, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 24, 1944: US B-29 Superfortress bombers bomb Tokyo for the first time. Japanese capture Nanning, completing a land corridor between occupied China and Indochina. In controversial decision, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower orders the 6th Army Group not to cross the Rhine but to drive north and assist Patton’s Third Army. In Terrace, BC, Canadian conscripts (many are French-Canadian) mutiny when they hear they might be sent overseas, the largest mutiny in Canadian history; put down by 11/29; news of the mutiny is censored. France establishes Commission de Récupération Artistique (CRA) to return looted artwork, with curator Rose Valland as secretary.

Wow. 

The Terrace Mutiny, which is what the mutiny was called, reflected the internal discord in Canada over conscription, something that has largely been glossed over after the war.  English Canadians were disproportionately represented amongst those who volunteered for service and volunteered to go overseas. French Canadians were disproportionally amongst those who did not.  Those who volunteered termed those who did not "Zombies" and often harassed them.  Ultimately, the needs of war could not sustain the system.

The 3d Army crossed the Saar.

Soviets completing their occupation of Saaremo in the Baltic.

The HMCS Sawinigan was sunk by the U-1228 in the Cabot Strait.

Last edition:

Thursday, November 23, 1944. Thanksgiving Day.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Alsace-Lorraine, Army, Canadian Army, Czechoslovakia, France, French Army, Holidays, Hungary, Nazi Germany, Red Army, Royal Navy, Thanksgiving, The Holocaust, World War Two

Blog Mirror: WWII, the autobahn, Ike, the Interstates, and one-mile-in-five

 

WWII, the autobahn, Ike, the Interstates, and one-mile-in-five

Monday, May 8, 1944. Red Army defeated in Romania again.

The Second Battle of Târgu Frumos ended in Axis victory, as had the first, thereby preserving Romania from Soviet occupation for the time being.

Meanwhile, Romanian troops, along with Germans, were being evacuated from Sevastopol and Crimea.  It can't help but be noted that at this point in the war, Romania desperately needed Romanian troops in Romania.  Of course, they had figured prominently in the Axis advance into Ukraine, including Crimea, earlier.

Irrespective of the Axis victory near their country, the Czechoslovak government in exile granted permission for the Red Army to enter and liberate their country in a convention in London.  Clearly, they could see what was coming.

Gen. Eisenhower selected June 5 as the new date for the commencement of Operation Overlord.

The U.S. Senate voted to extend Lend Lease to June 1945.  Wait until Marjorie Taylor Greene hears about that . . . 

A TBM-1C making a training flight over Cape Cod went down when a fuse went off on a 100 lb bomb the lane was carrying caught on fire. The pilot attempted to and the plane but the open bomb bay doors rapidly sank it, taking the crew,  Lt.(Jg.) Norwood H. Dobson, (27),  AOM3/c John William Dahlstrom and ARM3/c Arthur N. Levesque down with it.

Sgt Floyd A. Ott, Jerone, Idaho, of 41st Div., cleans rust off M2 machine gun by means of a buffer. Hollandia, New Guinea. 8 May, 1944.  The gun may very well still be in service.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, May 7, 1944. Hitting Berlin, Assaulting Sapun.

1940s, 1944, Berlin Germany, boats and ships, Canadian Navy, Crimea, Franklin Roosevelt, New Guinea, Polish Army, Red Army, Royal Air Force, Siege of Sevastopol, U.S. Air Force, Weapons, World War Two

Monday, May 1, 1944. Unmet expectations.

The wounded German beast must be pursued and finished off in its lair.

Stalin, May 1, 1944.

Piper Cub over Italy, May 1, 1944.

Today had been the original D-Day in planning for Operation Overlord.

The Germans executed 200 Greek Communists in Kaisariani in reprisal for the killing of Gen. Franz Krech by the Greek People's Liberation Army.  Interestingly, the OSS and the SOE spread a rumor following the ambush that he'd been assassinated by the Gestapo for being an anti Hitler dissident. The falsification was an attempt to avoid reprisals on Greek civilians.

The Germans didn't buy it, and according executed the 200 Communist prisoners.  Greek collaborationist forces killed a further 100 suspected members of the Greek resistance, and the Germans a further 25.

Task Group 58.1 attacked Ponape from the air and from the sea.  Seven battleships were included in ship to shore bombardment.

The Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference was held in London.

The Soviets created the Medal for the Defense of Moscow and the Medal for the Defense of the Caucuses.

The U-277 was sunk in the Arctic by a Swordfish of the 842 Naval Air Squadron.

Patton had an uncomfortable meeting with Gen. Eisenhower and wrote about it in his dairy.

May 1, 1944

In spite of possible execution this morning I slept well and trust my destiny. God has never let me, or the country, down yet. Reported to Ike at 1100. He was most cordial and asked me to sit down, so I felt a little reassured. He said, “George, you have gotten yourself into a very serious fix.” I said, “Before you go any farther, I want to say that your job is more important than mine, so if in trying to save me you are hurting yourself, throw me out.” He said, “I have now got all that the army can give me—it is not a question of hurting me but of hurting yourself and depriving me of a fighting army commander.” He went on to say that General Marshall had wired him that my repeated mistakes have shaken the confidence of the country and the War Department. General Marshall even harked back to the Kent Lambert incident in November 1942—certainly a forgiving s.o.b.

Ike said he had recommended that, if I were to be relieved and sent home, I be not reduced to a Colonel, as the relief would be sufficient punishment, and that he felt that situations might well arise where it would be necessary to put me in command of an army.

I told Ike that I was perfectly willing to fall out on a permanent promotion so as not to hold others back. Ike said General Marshall had told him that my crime had destroyed all chance of my permanent promotion, as the opposition said even if I was the best tactician and strategist in the army, my demonstrated lack of judgment made me unfit to command. He said that he had wired General Marshall on Sunday washing his hands of me. (He did not use these words but that is what he meant). I told him that if I was reduced to a Colonel I demanded the right to command one of the assault regiments; that this was not a favor but a right. He said no, because he felt he would surely need me to command an army. I said, “I am not threatening, but I want to tell you that his attack is badly planned and on too narrow a front and may well result in an Anzio, especially if I am not there. He replied, "Don't I know it, but what can I do?” That is a hell of a remark for a supreme commander. The fact is that the plan which he has approved was drawn by a group of British in 1943. Monty changed it only by getting 5 instead of 3 divisions into the assault, but the front is too short. There should be three separate attacks on at least a 90 mile front. I have said this for nearly a year. Ike said he had written me a “savage” letter but wanted me to know that his hand is being forced from United States. He talked to the Prime Minister about me and Churchill told him that he could see nothing to it. That “Patton had simply told the truth.” Ike then went on to excuse General Marshall on the grounds that it was an election year etc. It is sad and shocking to think “fear of They”, and the writings of a group of unprincipled reporters, and weak kneed congressmen, but so it is. When I came out I don't think anyone could tell that I had just been killed. I have lost lots of competitions in the sporting way, but I never did better. I feel like death, but I am not out yet. If they will let me fight, I will; but if not, I will resign so as to be able to talk, and then I will tell the truth, and possibly do my country more good. All the way home, 5 hours, I recited poetry to myself.

“If you can make a heap of all your winnings

And risk them on one game of pitch and toss

And lose, and start at your beginning

And never breathe a word about your loss”

“I dared extreme occasion and never one betrayed.”

My final thought on the matter is that I am destined to achieve some great thing—what I don't know, but this last incident was so trivial in its nature, but so terrible in its effect, that it is not the result of an accident but the work of God. His Will be done.

General Leroy Lutes of the U.S. Service of Supply was here when I got back after supper and we gave him a briefing and entertained him. I hope to get some equipment as a result.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, April 30, 1944. Pre fab. Draft McArthur?

1940s, 1944, 1944 Election, Douglas MacArthur, Hollandia, Lodging, Truk, United Kingdom, World War Two

Sunday, January 16, 1944. Cape Gloucester secured.

M5 Stuart of the 1st Marine Division, Cape Goucester, January 16, 1944.

Cape Gloucester was officially secured, although mopping up operations would continue into April.

Dwight D. Eisenhower formally assumed the duties of the Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, although he had been acting in that capacity for some time.

The Red Army broke through German defenses north of Velikiye Luki.

Today in World War II History—January 16, 1944: Lt. Stewart Graham of the US Coast Guard becomes the first person to make a helicopter takeoff and landing aboard a ship underway—in a Sikorsky HNS-1 

Sarah Sundin.

Today In Wyoming's History: January 16: 1944  USS Johnson County, which was not named that at the time, but later renamed that in honor of several counties in various states, including Wyoming, called that, commissioned.

The renaming 

By Jjw - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69657529

Amazingly, she is still afloat as a museum ship. renamed once again, this time as the ROKS Wi Bong, reflecting her transfer to the Republic of Korea in 1958.  Having served in World War Two, she served again in the Vietnam War in the Korean Navy.  The naming of the ship after Johnson County occured in 1955.

The Japanese submarine I-181 ran aground on Gneisenau Point at Kelanoa Harbour, New Guinea.

Oops

The U-544 was sunk in the Atlantic by rockets and depth charges from Grumman TBF Avenger planes from the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal.

SBD’s on a combat mission off New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands, January 16, 1944.

1944.  Rev. Francis Penny was appointed pastor of St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Cody but he resided at St. Barbara's in Powell where he was administrator in the absence of Rev. Fred Kimmett.  Rev. Kimmett was serving as Chaplain in the U.S. Armed Services.

The Sears Roebuck in Madison Wisconsin caught on fire.

Wednesday, December 29, 1943. Rationing Bicycles

F.F. Calkin, of Cadillac, Michigan, and J. Ferber, of Camden, New Jersey, using British bicycles for transportation in England, 1943.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 29: 1943  Wartime quotas of new adult bicycles for January cut in half, with 40 being allotted to Wyoming.Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Bicycles at high school in Texas, 1943.

This was no small matter.  Bicycles had increased enormously in importance due to the war.  The National Park Service notes:

The government rationed bicycles from July 1942 to September 1945. The goal was to reduce the amount of wartime materials used for bicycles, but also to ensure that those who rode instead of drove could get one (thereby saving on car tires and gasoline).[10]

Shortly after the December 1941 Japanese attacks, the government took over control of the bicycle industry. They halted the bicycle trade entirely, and forbade bicycles from leaving “a factory, a jobber, a wholesaler, or a retailer’s place of business after 11:59 tonight” (April 3, 1942). They hoped this would prevent hoarding, and also gave them the opportunity to evaluate supply and demand.

The government issued specifications for what became known as Victory bicycles. These were designed and built only for adults; bikes for children were not manufactured during the war. Victory bikes were lightweight, weighing no more than 31 pounds (lighter by about a third than pre-war). They were made of steel only with no copper or nickel parts, and a minimum of chrome plating. Paint was used instead on handlebars and wheel rims. Accessories like chain guards, bells, and whitewall tires were removed, and a maximum tire width of 1-3/8" was set.[12] Behind the scenes, there were disagreements between the OPA and the Wartime Production Board (WPB) about the necessity of bicycle rationing – were bicycles a luxury? Was the rubber needed to make bicycle tires better used for other war needs while people continued to put wear on the car tires they already owned? This debate was eventually resolved, and Victory bikes went into production.[13]

When rationing began in July 1942, the OPA had 150,000 Victory bicycles and 90,000 pre-war bicycles to divide up. To get a bicycle, you had to apply at the local rationing board and prove you needed a bicycle. For example, your job was too far to walk to, and there was no good public transportation. By August 1942, access to bicycles was further limited to health care workers, school teachers, fire fighters, and others in critical occupations. New and used bicycles became much in demand, as thousands used them to get to their war jobs.[14] Despite this, the numbers of bicycles made and allocated by rationing boards never met the actual demand.[15]

Sailors who had bicycled to Arlington Farms, a residence for women who worked in the U.S. government for the duration of the war, from Washington in search of a date, 1943.

Leo Pasvolsky of the State Department finished the draft for the United Nations Charter.

Gen. Eisenhower ordered Allied Commanders to avoid attacking historic Italian monuments to the extent that this was possible; stating:

We are bound to respect those monuments so far as war allows. If we have to choose between destroying a famous building and sacrificing our own men, then our men's lives count infinitely more and the buildings must go. But the choice is not always so clear-cut as that. In many cases the monuments can be spared without any detriment to operational needs.

The Royal Air Force resumed bombing Berlin, its Christmas hiatus having ended.

The Red Army took Korosten in Ukraine.

The Italian submarine Axum was scuttled after running aground off of Morea, Greece.  The boat had a very successful war record.

Friday, December 24, 1943. The Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive and a Christmas Eve Address.

The Red Army commenced the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive.

Operations on the Eastern Front during the relevant time frame, including the offensive in the south.

The operation was very large scale, as everything in the East was by this time, involving around 2,400,000 Soviet personnel against around 900,000 Germans, 300,000 Hungarians and 150,000 Romanians.

In a Christmas Eve radio address, President Roosevelt delivered the news that Gen. Dwight Eisenhower would be in command of the Allied invasion of continental Europe, discounting of course that the Allies had already landed on continental Europe in Italy.  The overall "chat" stated:

My Friends:

I have recently (just) returned from extensive journeying in the region of the Mediterranean and as far as the borders of Russia. I have conferred with the leaders of Britain and Russia and China on military matters of the present --especially on plans for stepping-up our successful attack on our enemies as quickly as possible and from many different points of the compass.

On this Christmas Eve there are over ten million men in the armed forces of the United States alone. One year ago 1,700,000 were serving overseas. Today, this figure has been more than doubled to 3,800,000 on duty overseas. By next July first that number overseas will rise to over 5,000,000 men and women.

That this is truly a World War was demonstrated to me when arrangements were being made with our overseas broadcasting agencies for the time to speak today to our soldiers, and sailors, and marines and merchant seamen in every part of the world. In fixing the time for this (the) broadcast, we took into consideration that at this moment here in the United States, and in the Caribbean and on the Northeast Coast of South America, it is afternoon. In Alaska and in Hawaii and the mid-Pacific, it is still morning. In Iceland, in Great Britain, in North Africa, in Italy and the Middle East, it is now evening.

In the Southwest Pacific, in Australia, in China and Burma and India, it is already Christmas Day. So we can correctly say that at this moment, in those far eastern parts where Americans are fighting, today is tomorrow.

But everywhere throughout the world -- through(out) this war that (which) covers the world -- there is a special spirit that (which) has warmed our hearts since our earliest childhood -- a spirit that (which) brings us close to our homes, our families, our friends and neighbors -- the Christmas spirit of "peace on earth, goodwill toward men." It is an unquenchable spirit.

During the past years of international gangsterism and brutal aggression in Europe and in Asia, our Christmas celebrations have been darkened with apprehension for the future. We have said, "Merry Christmas -- a Happy New Year," but we have known in our hearts that the clouds which have hung over our world have prevented us from saying it with full sincerity and conviction.

And (But) even this year, we still have much to face in the way of further suffering, and sacrifice, and personal tragedy. Our men, who have been through the fierce battles in the Solomons, and the Gilberts, and Tunisia and Italy know, from their own experience and knowledge of modern war, that many bigger and costlier battles are still to be fought.

But -- on Christmas Eve this year -- I can say to you that at last we may look forward into the future with real , substantial confidence that, however great the cost, "peace on earth, good will toward men" can be and will be realized and ensured. This year I can say that. Last year I could not do more than express a hope. Today I express -- a certainty though the cost may be high and the time may be long.

Within the past year -- within the past few weeks -- history has been made, and it is far better history for the whole human race than any that we have known, or even dared to hope for, in these tragic times through which we pass.

A great beginning was made in the Moscow conference last (in) October by Mr. Molotov, Mr. Eden and our own Mr. Hull. There and then the way was paved for the later meetings.

At Cairo and Teheran we devoted ourselves not only to military matters, we devoted ourselves also to consideration of the future -- to plans for the kind of world which alone can justify all the sacrifices of this war.

Of course, as you all know, Mr. Churchill and I have happily met many times before, and we know and understand each other very well. Indeed, Mr. Churchill has become known and beloved by many millions of Americans, and the heartfelt prayers of all of us have been with this great citizen of the world in his recent serious illness.

The Cairo and Teheran conferences, however, gave me my first opportunity to meet the Generalissimo, Chiang Kai-shek, and Marshal Stalin -- and to sit down at the table with these unconquerable men and talk with them face to face. We had planned to talk to each other across the table at Cairo and Teheran; but we soon found that we were all on the same side of the table. We came to the conferences with faith in each other. But we needed the personal contact. And now we have supplemented faith with definite knowledge.

It was well worth traveling thousands of miles over land and sea to bring about this personal meeting, and to gain the heartening assurance that we are absolutely agreed with one another on all the major objectives -- and on the military means of obtaining them.

At Cairo, Prime Minister Churchill and I spent four days with the Generalissimo, Chiang Kai-shek. It was the first time that we had (had) an opportunity to go over the complex situation in the Far East with him personally. We were able not only to settle upon definite military strategy, but also to discuss certain long-range principles which we believe can assure peace in the Far East for many generations to come.

Those principles are as simple as they are fundamental. They involve the restoration of stolen property to its rightful owners, and the recognition of the rights of millions of people in the Far East to build up their own forms of self-government without molestation. Essential to all peace and security in the Pacific and in the rest of the world is the permanent elimination of the Empire of Japan as a potential force of aggression. Never again must our soldiers and sailors and marines -- and other soldiers, sailors and marines -- be compelled to fight from island to island as they are fighting so gallantly and so successfully today.

Increasingly powerful forces are now hammering at the Japanese at many points over an enormous arc which curves down through the Pacific from the Aleutians to the Jungles of Burma. Our own Army and Navy, our Air Forces, the Australians and New Zealanders, the Dutch, and the British land, air and sea forces are all forming a band of steel which is slowly but surely closing in on Japan.

And (On) the mainland of Asia, under the Generalissimo's leadership, the Chinese ground and air forces augmented by American air forces are playing a vital part in starting the drive which will push the invaders into the sea.

Following out the military decisions at Cairo, General Marshall has just flown around the world and has had conferences with General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz -- conferences which will spell plenty of bad news for the Japs in the not too far distant future.

I met in the Generalissimo a man of great vision, (and) great courage, and a remarkably keen understanding of the problems of today and tomorrow. We discussed all the manifold military plans for striking at Japan with decisive force from many directions, and I believe I can say that he returned to Chungking with the positive assurance of total victory over our common enemy. Today we and the Republic of China are closer together than ever before in deep friendship and in unity of purpose.

After the Cairo conference, Mr. Churchill and I went by airplane to Teheran. There we met with Marshal Stalin. We talked with complete frankness on every conceivable subject connected with the winning of the war and the establishment of a durable peace after the war.

Within three days of intense and consistently amicable discussions, we agreed on every point concerned with the launching of a gigantic attack upon Germany.

The Russian army will continue its stern offensives on Germany's Eastern front, the allied armies in Italy and Africa will bring relentless pressure on Germany from the south, and now the encirclement will be complete as great American and British forces attack from other points of the compass.

The Commander selected to lead the combined attack from these other points is General Dwight D. Eisenhower. His performances in Africa, in Sicily and in Italy have been brilliant. He knows by practical and successful experience the way to coordinate air, sea and land power. All of these will be under his control. Lieutenant General Carl (D.) Spaatz will command the entire American strategic bombing force operating against Germany.

General Eisenhower gives up his command in the Mediterranean to a British officer whose name is being announced by Mr. Churchill. We now pledge that new Commander that our powerful ground, sea and air forces in the vital Mediterranean area will stand by his side until every objective in that bitter theatre is attained.

Both of these new Commanders will have American and British subordinate Commanders whose names will be announced to the world in a few days.

During the last two days in (at) Teheran, Marshal Stalin, Mr. Churchill and I looked ahead -- ahead to the days and months and years that (which) will follow Germany's defeat. We were united in determination that Germany must be stripped of her military might and be given no opportunity within the foreseeable future to regain that might.

The United Nations have no intention to enslave the German people. We wish them to have a normal chance to develop, in peace, as useful and respectable members of the European family. But we most certainly emphasize that word "respectable" -- for we intend to rid them once and for all of Nazism and Prussian militarism and the fantastic and disastrous notion that they constitute the "Master Race."

We did discuss international relationships from the point of view of big, broad objectives, rather than details. But on the basis of what we did discuss, I can say even today that I do not think any insoluble differences will arise among Russia, Great Britain and the United States.

In these conferences we were concerned with basic principles -- principles which involve the security and the welfare and the standard of living or human beings in countries large and small.

To use an American and somewhat ungrammatical colloquialism, I may say that I "got along fine" with Marshal Stalin. He is a man who combines a tremendous, relentless determination with a stalwart good humor. I believe he is truly representative of the heart and soul of Russia; and I believe that we are going to get along very well with him and the Russian people -- very well indeed.

Britain, Russia, China and the United States and their Allies represent more than three-quarters of the total population of the earth. As long as these four nations with great military power stick together in determination to keep the peace there will be no possibility of an aggressor nation arising to start another world war.

But those four powers must be united with and cooperate with (all) the freedom-loving peoples of Europe, and Asia, and Africa and the Americas. The rights of every nation, large or small, must be respected and guarded as jealously as are the rights of every individual within our own republic.

The doctrine that the strong shall dominate the weak is the doctrine of our enemies -- and we reject it.

But, at the same time, we are agreed that if force is necessary to keep international peace, international force will be applied -- for as long as it may be necessary.

It has been our steady policy -- and it is certainly a common sense policy -- that the right of each nation to freedom must be measured by the willingness of that nation to fight for freedom. And today we salute our unseen Allies in occupied countries -- the underground resistance groups and the armies of liberation. They will provide potent forces against our enemies, when the day of the counter-invasion comes.

Through the development of science the world has become so much smaller that we have had to discard the geographical yardsticks of the past. For instance, through our early history the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were believed to be walls of safety for the United States. Time and distance made it physically possible, for example, for us and for the other American Republics to obtain and maintain (our) independence against infinitely stronger powers. Until recently very few people, even military experts, thought that the day would ever come when we might have to defend our Pacific Coast against Japanese threats of invasion.

At the outbreak of the first World War relatively few people thought that our ships and shipping would be menaced by German submarines on the high seas or that the German militarists would ever attempt to dominate any nation outside of central Europe.

After the Armistice in 1918, we thought and hoped that the militaristic philosophy of Germany had been crushed; and being full of the milk of human kindness we spent the next twenty (fifteen) years disarming, while the Germans whined so pathetically that the other nations permitted them -- and even helped them -- to rearm.

For too many years we lived on pious hopes that aggressor and warlike nations would learn and understand and carry out the doctrine of purely voluntary peace.

The well-intentioned but ill-fated experiments of former years did not work. It is my hope that we will not try them again. No -- that is putting it too weakly -- it is my intention to do all that I humanly can as President and Commander-in-Chief to see to it that these tragic mistakes shall not be made again.

There have always been cheerful idiots in this country who believed that there would be no more war for us, if everybody in America would only return into their homes and lock their front doors behind them. Assuming that their motives were of the highest, events have shown how unwilling they were to face the facts.

The overwhelming majority of all the people in the world want peace. Most of them are fighting for the attainment of peace -- not just a truce, not just an armistice -- but peace that is as strongly enforced and as durable as mortal man can make it. If we are willing to fight for peace now, is it not good logic that we should use force if necessary, in the future, to keep the peace?

I believe, and I think I can say, that the other three great nations who are fighting so magnificently to gain peace are in complete agreement that we must be prepared to keep the peace by force. If the people of Germany and Japan are made to realize thoroughly that the world is not going to let them break out again, it is possible, and, I hope, probable, that they will abandon the philosophy of aggression -- the belief that they can gain the whole world even at the risk of losing their own souls.

I shall have more to say about the Cairo and Teheran conferences when I make my report to the Congress in about two weeks' time. And, on that occasion, I shall also have a great deal to say about certain conditions here at home.

But today I wish to say that in all my travels, at home and abroad, it is the sight of our soldiers and sailors and their magnificent achievements which have given me the greatest inspiration and the greatest encouragement for the future.

To the members of our armed forces, to their wives, mothers and fathers, I want to affirm the great faith and confidence that we have in General Marshall and in Admiral King who direct all of our armed might throughout the world. Upon them falls the (great) responsibility of planning the strategy of determining (when and) where and when we shall fight. Both of these men have already gained high places in American history, places which will record in that history many evidences of their military genius that cannot be published today.

Some of our men overseas are now spending their third Christmas far from home. To them and to all others overseas or soon to go overseas, I can give assurance that it is the purpose of their Government to win this war and to bring them home at the earliest possible time (date).

(And) We here in the United States had better be sure that when our soldiers and sailors do come home they will find an America in which they are given full opportunities for education, and rehabilitation, social security, and employment and business enterprise under the free American system -- and that they will find a Government which, by their votes as American citizens, they have had a full share in electing.

The American people have had every reason to know that this is a tough and destructive war. On my trip abroad, I talked with many military men who had faced our enemies in the field. These hard-headed realists testify to the strength and skill and resourcefulness of the enemy generals and men whom we must beat before final victory is won. The war is now reaching the stage where we shall all have to look forward to large casualty lists -- dead, wounded and missing.

War entails just that. There is no easy road to victory. And the end is not yet in sight.

I have been back only for a week. It is fair that I should tell you my impression. I think I see a tendency in some of our people here to assume a quick ending of the war -- that we have already gained the victory. And, perhaps as a result of this false reasoning, I think I discern an effort to resume or even encourage an outbreak of partisan thinking and talking. I hope I am wrong. For, surely, our first and most foremost tasks are all concerned with winning the war and winning a just peace that will last for generations.

The massive offensives which are in the making both in Europe and the Far East -- will require every ounce of energy and fortitude that we and our Allies can summon on the fighting fronts and in all the workshops at home. As I have said before, you cannot order up a great attack on a Monday and demand that it be delivered on Saturday.

Less than a month ago I flew in a big Army transport plane over the little town of Bethlehem, in Palestine.

Tonight, on Christmas Eve, all men and women everywhere who love Christmas are thinking of that ancient town and of the star of faith that shone there more than nineteen centuries ago.

American boys are fighting today in snow-covered mountains, in malarial jungles, (and) on blazing deserts, they are fighting on the far stretches of the sea and above the clouds, and fighting for the thing for which they struggle.(,) I think it is best symbolized by the message that came out of Bethlehem.

On behalf of the American people -- your own people - I send this Christmas message to you, to you who are in our armed forces:

In our hearts are prayers for you and for all your comrades in arms who fight to rid the world of evil.

We ask God's blessing upon you -- upon your fathers, (and) mothers, and wives and children -- all your loved ones at home.

We ask that the comfort of God's grace shall be granted to those who are sick and wounded, and to those who are prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy, waiting for the day when they will again be free.

And we ask that God receive and cherish those who have given their lives, and that He keep them in honor and in the grateful memory of their countrymen forever.

God bless all of you who fight our battles on this Christmas Eve.

God bless us all. (God) Keep us strong in our faith that we fight for a better day for human kind -- here and everywhere.

The Battle of Hellzapoppin Ridge and Hill 600A, which had commenced on Bougainville on December 12, ended in a U.S. victory.

In the Solomon's, a U.S. Task force bombarded the Buka Island and the Japanese base at Buin on Bougainville.

The HMS Hurricane was damaged beyond repair by a torpedo fired by the U-415.  The U-645 was sunk by the USS Schenck.