Tuesday, August 22, 1944. End of the German Navy in the Baltic, Strikes on the Tirpitz, Advances in France.

Two GIs of the 2nd Infantry Division operate a .30 caliber light machine gun from under the cover of low-hanging trees. They are firing at a hedgerow across a clearing. Near Vire, France. 22 August, 1944.

The 7th Army captured Grenoble.

Destroyed German field kitchen, with more in background, near Falaise.

German POWs, Falaise.

The Royal Navy began carrier raids against the Tirpitz in Operation Goodwood.  The HMS Nabob was hit by torpedoes from a German submarine, but was able to continue with limited operations.  The U-344 was sunk in the Barents Sea by Fairey Swordfish aircraft of 825 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm.  The frigate Bickerton was scuttled after being damaged by a torpedo strike.

Strikes against the Tirpitz were ineffective.

The Kriegsmarine ordered the evacuation of Constanta, Romania, a Black Sea port.  Ships were authorized to be scuttled.

The 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Jassy, Romania, while the 3d Ukrainian Front drove northward, making 50 miles in two days.

The Japanese government introduced female labor conscription for women aged 12 to 40.

Last edition:

Monday, August 21, 1944. Dumbarton Oaks.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Marseille, Canadian Army, Dunbarton Oaks, Falaise Pocket, Operation Tractable, Polish Army, United Nations

Monday, August 21, 1944. Dumbarton Oaks.

The United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and China opened talks at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington that would help establish  the United Nations.

The battles associated with the Falaise Gap concluded.  The Battle of Marseille began.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 20, 1944. Advancing everywhere in France.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Toulon, Falaise Pocket, German Army, Jassy-Kishinev Offensive, Normandy Breakout, Operation Dragoon, Operation Overlord, Prisoners of War, Romania, Vichy France, Weapons, World War Two

Sunday, August 20, 1944. Advancing everywhere in France.

Philippe Pétain was arrested by the Germans for his refusal to a German demand that he leave France.

Dead German soldier in Toulon.

The Battle of Toulon began.

While the Falaise Gap was closed, Germana units continued to escape through gaps in the line.

The 3d Army captured Seine River crossings at Mantes Grassicourt and entered Fontainbleau.

Pvt. Herbert Knowles, Toledo, Wash., and Pvt. Charles Brown, Richmond, Ind., peer over the top of a knoll to view the burning German convoy in the distance, blasted by air and artillery near Chambois.

 Another projectile from an 8 inch howitzer is on its way to stop the German retreat across the Seine River, France, opposite the town of Mantes-Gassicourt, 15 miles below Paris. 20 August, 1944.

Pvt. Dan Lipshutz, of Philadelphia, Pa., a guard in a prisoner-of-war camp somewhere in France, points out the contrast between the two very old, and the one very young soldier captured in the Allied pincer movement in France. The two old soldiers are white Russian Mongols who were fighting for the Nazis. August 20, 1944.

Knocked out Tiger [sic] tank, the last vehicle abandoned by the Germans in their flight from Argentan, France, in the face of terrific American assault which liberated the town. 20 August, 1944.

Self propelled artillery battery, August 20, 1944.

The Allies bombed Buna Werke POW camp in Poland in error, killing 39 British POWs.

The Soviets began the Jassy-Kishinev Offensive in Romania.

The U-188 was scuttled in Bordeaux, the U-9 was sunk at Constanța in a Soviet air raid, U-413 was lost to a  mine in the Cornish corridor, U-984 was sunk by Canadian warships in the Bay of Biscay  and the U-1229 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Allied aircraft.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 19, 1944. Uprising in Paris.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Australia, Battle for Mont Ormel, Battle for Paris, French Resistance Movements, July 20 Plot, Operation Bagration, Paris France, World War Two

Friday, August 18, 1944. German retreats.

 SC 192989 - French girls wave to members of an artillery unit as their truck towing an eight inch gun rolls along a highway to take up a position near Brest. The artillery piece is a M1 155 "Long Tom".

The German 7th Army retreated across the Orne River, abandoning 18,000 troops to captivity.  The Allies closed the Falaise Gap.

The Third Army reached Versailles.

The Red Cross entered the Drancy internment camp in France, finding 500 survivors there.

The Vichy French Vichy battleship Strasbourg and cruiser La Galissonnière were sunk at Toulon by the U.S. Army Air Force.

U.S. serviceman shares a glass of something with two French women, August 18, 1944.

Pvt. J.K. Mabry, Memphis, Tenn., and Pvt. Borislav M. Tences, Garfield, N.J., infantrymen of the 3rd Infantry Division, rest alongside the road leading to Brignoles, southern France.  ONe has his shoes off, which would have made my DI yell at me.  The 3d Infantry Division was highly experienced and had been in action since Operation Torch.  It must have been refitted before Dragoon, as photos consistently show its troops wearing M1943 boots, which were new at the time.  Photos of troops from Overlord do not tend to show that.

The U-107 and U-621 were sunk by Allied ships and aircraft. The U-129 was scuttled.

US submarines attacked Japanese convoy Hi-71 in the South China Sea and sank the carrier Taiyō.  In the Philippine Sea a US submarine sank the cruiser Natori.

Last edition:

Thursday, August 17, 1944. And on this day too, 30 years later, the Red Army entered East Prussia.

Thursday, August 17, 1944. And on this day too, 30 years later, the Red Army entered East Prussia.

The Red Army crossed the River Scheshule and raised the Soviet flag on German soil. Sgt. Alexander Belov took the honors.  He survived the war and died in 1960.   

Interestingly, the Red Army entered East Prussia on the same day that the Imperial Russian Army had during World War One.

German forces in Lithuania launched counterattacks along their entire line.

Statue of St. Joan d'Arc in Orleans, August 17, 1944.

The Canadian Army took Falaise.  The city was in ruins.  A gap of a few miles exists thereafter between the British lines and the American ones.

The US Third Army took Saint-Malo.

In Southern France, almost no resistance to Allied advances is offered and the US captured St. Raphael, St. Tropez, Frejus, Le Luq and St. Maxime.

Third Infantry Division troops advancing on  August 17, 1944, in southern France.  Troops are wearing the new M1943 combat boots.

Hitler dismissed Field Marshal Kluge as commander of Army Group B and replaced him with Model.

The Battle of Biak, which had been going on since May 27, ended in an Allied victory.  American forces advanced near Aitape.  The length of these battles gives testament to how hard the Japanese were fighting.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 16, 1944. Closing the Falaise Pocket.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Argentina, Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou ( 桂柳會戰), Battle of Studzianki, Cheyenne Wyoming, Eastern Front, Falaise Pocket, Operation Dragoon, Operation Ichi-Go, World War Two, Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Wednesday, August 16, 1944. Closing the Falaise Pocket.

American armor rolls into the town of Dreux, France, as the Americans continue their rapid advance for Paris. The smoke of battle hangs low and the road is strewn with wrecked German armor. 16 August, 1944.

US forces entered Chartres.  US forces also advanced towards Argentan and Alençon, in pursuit of the German forces fleeing the Falaise pocket.  Falaise itself was liberated by the Canadians.   Montgomery attempted to close the  Falaise pocket with an attack from Trun, which Bradley believes to be too late.  Polish troops in the British 1st Corps crossed over the Dives.

Pfc. Ciro B. Iadavaio, Brooklyn, N.Y., and T/4 Ira W. Myer, Louisville, Kentucky, of the crew of the hospital ship "Marigold" getting their first printed news of the invasion on the southern coast of France as nurses from the 93rd Evacuation Hospital load aboard to be taken to the new invasion front. 16 August, 1944. Naples, Italy.

The French 2nd Corps landed in southern France.

Walter Model replaced Günther von Kluge as Oberbefehlshaber West.

The Wehrmacht launched Operation Doppelkopf as a counteroffensive in the East.

The Red Army reached Ossow outside of Moscow, but had to withdraw under a German counterattack.

The Battle of Studzianki ended in a victory for Polish and Soviet forces.

The Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou ( 桂柳會戰) commenced between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Nationalist Chinese.

The US froze Argentine gold assets in the US due to failure to cooperate against the Axis.

Cheyenne experienced record railroad traffic due to war transportation of troops. (Wyoming State Historical Society calendar).

Last edition:

August 15, 1944. Operation Dragoon. The added invasion of France

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Port Cros, boats and ships, Canadian Army, Commandos, France, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Operation Dragoon, Operation Overlord, U.S. Navy, Women, World War Two

Monday, August 14, 1944. Closing Gaps

Partisan in Florence, August 14, 1944

On this day in 1944, Operation Tractable was commenced by Canadian and Polish troops in Normandy with the goal of closing the Falaise Gap, which it did.  Casualties were outsized, as they often are during offensives, with the Canadian forces, the largest Allied contingent by far, taking over twice the number of casualties as the Germans.

Canadian artillery advancing.

On the same day, the Red Army completed operations in Operation Osovets, having taken all of their objectives in a week's operation in the final stage of Operation Bagration.

Also on this day, the Ft. Lawton riot occurred at Ft. Lawton, Washington. The riot was a conflict between Italian Prisoners of War and African American soldiers who had been celebrating their imminent departure overseas.  The riot started as an exchange of words between some drunk soldiers with liberty and Italian prisoners, which escalated into a fight.  Military Policemen restored order with no arrests, but the following day an Italian POW was found lynched.  No American participants in the riot could really be identified, but nonetheless 43 of them were charged in connection with the incident and 28 convicted in the largest US trial of servicemen during World War Two.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 13, 1944. Finnish victory, German retreat.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Artillery, boats and ships, Continuation War, Eastern Front, Falaise Pocket, German Kriegsmarine, Radio, The Press, U.S. Navy, 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

Saturday, August 12, 1944. Appreciating the Falaise Gap.

 Loading shells onto a tank destroyer just outside Brest, France, are, left to right: T/5 Francis J. Kangas, Astoria, Oregon; Pfc. Dominic Juncewski, Silver Lake, Minn.; Sgt. Emory Triggs, Arkansas City, Kansas; Pvt. John Horns, Dickinson, N.D., and Cpl. Cliff Pratt, Selah, Washington. 12 August, 1944.  B Company, 603rd Tank Destroyer Battalion.

The Battle of the Falaise Pocket, the decisive battle in the campaign for Normandy, began.

The US 15th Corps of the 3d Army took Alencon and advanced to the edge of Argentan.  Patton sought permission to advance and close the Falaise gap, but was halted by command for several hours who feared that there would be friendly fire casualties.

Army field hospital nurses, August 12, 1944. France.  Nurse on far left as viewed is wearing paratrooper boots.

Gen James Edward Wharton, commander of the 28th Infantry Division, was killed in action by a German sniper while inspecting the front lines.  He'd taken command of that division on that very day.

An underground oil pipeline beneath the English Channel was completed. It was the world's first Pipeline Under the Ocean (PLUTO) and ran from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg.

US bombers operating out of Italy bombed the Bordeaux-Merignac airfield and flew on to the UK.

Navy pilot Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr died when his PB4Y-1 Liberator, the Naval version of the B-24, converted for radio controlled drone operations, detonated. The plane was part of a project that converted the planes into flying bombs, largely unsuccessfully, but which still required pilots to get them airborne.

The 5th Army took Florence.

Churchill met Tito in London.

Franklin Roosevelt gave an address from the Puget Sound Navy Yard.

The U-198 was sunk in the Indian Ocean.

Last edition:

Friday, August 11, 1944. Third Army crosses the Loire.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, actors and actresses, Eastern Front, F. E. Warren AFB, Normandy, Normandy Breakout, World War Two, Wyoming

Tuesday, August 8, 1944. Hengyang falls, Wittmann killed, Falaise noticed.

The Japanese took Hengyang, China.  The vastly outnumbered Chinese forces had held out for six weeks.

German panzer ace SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann was killed when his tank was hit by fire from a Canadian tank and the ammunition within it detonated, killing the entire crew.

The British buried the bodies of the tankers in unmarked graves at the location, which is not surprising as the crew would have been just another group of dead Germans to them.  In 1983, German authorities recovered the bodies and reburied them in a German military cemetery in France.

Wittmann had cult status within Nazi Germany and has since retained it with German armor fans.  He died during Operation Totalize which was seeing large-scale success.

The possible encirclement of the German forces as a possibility began to be noticed by Omar Bradley, with Falaise already noticed as a focal point.  Bradley brought it to Eisenhower's attention on this day.

Greek partisans attacked German forces, with the aid of the SAS, aat Damasta in Crete. Predictably, the action resulted in severe German reprisals.

The United States and United Kingdom signed the Anglo-American Petroleum Agreement in Washington, D.C.  The agreement, which would have regulated the petroleum industry globally, fell apart and was never ratified by the U.S. government due to petroleum industry opposition.

The HMCS Regina was sunk north of Trevose Head by the U-667.

The somewhat bizarre Ju 287 jet bomber made its first flight.

Only two would be made and the project was then cancelled.

Last edition:

Monday, August 7, 1944. German counter attack.

Labels: Army, Automobiles, Battle for Brest, British Army, Brittany, Canadian Army, German Wehrmacht, Kodiak Island, Normandy Breakout, Operation Bluecoat, Operation Lüttich, Operation Totalize, World War Two