Showing posts with label Dwight Eisenhower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dwight Eisenhower. Show all posts

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Thursday, June 14, 1945. Slogging.

The Chinese Army captured Ishan.

"Riflemen of the 2nd Bn., 381st Regiment of the Tenth Army's 96th Div. peer cautiously ahead as they advance across the summit of Yaeju-Dake escarpment (Big Apple Ridge) on Okinawa. 14 June 1945. 2nd Battalion, 381st Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division."

Action continued on Okinawa, but the battle was finally winding down.

Likewise, action continued in the Philippines, and Bouganville.

The British arrested Joachim von Ribbentrop in Hamburg.

The Northern Ireland general election returned a Ulster Unionist Party majority.

A victory parade was held in Rangoon.

Gen. Eisenhower was awarded the French Order of Liberation by Gen. de Gaulle.

The US Joint Chiefs of Staff issue a directive to General MacArthur, General Arnold and Admiral Nimitz to prepare plans for the immediate occupation of the Japanese islands in the event of a sudden capitulation. 

Today In Wyoming's History: June 14--Flag Day1945  Shoshone and Washakie National Forests consolidated.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Last edition:

Wednesday, June 13, 1945. Taking the Oruku Peninsula.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

Tuesday, June 12, 1945. The suicide of the Japanese Marines.

Today in World War II History—June 12, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 12, 1945: US Marines make push for final pocket of Japanese forces on Okinawa; hundreds of Japanese Marines commit suicide.

Sarah Sundin's blog.

On Okinawa, US troops took the Yaeju Dake escarpment.

Allied forces occupied Trieste.

Dwight D. Eisenhower received the Freedom of the City of London and the Order of Merit.  In receiving them, he stated:

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.

The Visayan Islands, including Samar, Negros, Panay, Leyte, Cebu, and Bohol, between Luzon and Mindanao, were secured by American forces. 

Penn Station, June 12, 1945.

Niecey Brown, a 74-year-old Black woman, died from injuries after an off-duty white police officer forcibly entered her house and beat her with a bottle in Selma, Alabama.

Last edition:

Monday, June 11, 1945. King gets another term. . . but it's a minority government.

    Friday, May 23, 2025

    Friday, March 28, 2025

    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.

    Saturday, December 28, 2024

    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 281944  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:

    Friday, December 20, 2024

    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:

    Thursday, December 19, 2024

    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.

    Sunday, November 24, 2024

    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.

    Wednesday, May 8, 2024

    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.

    Wednesday, May 1, 2024

    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?

    Tuesday, January 16, 2024

    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 161944  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.

    Friday, December 29, 2023

    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 291943  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:


    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.