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

Friday, July 21, 1944. Landings on Guam.

Following up on the dramatic events of the day prior, German troops poured into Berlin.

Ludwig Beck, 64, Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, 39, and  Claus von Stauffenberg, 36, were executed for their role in the July 20 plot.

Guderian succeeded Kurt Zeitzler, who had suffered a nervous breakdown, as Chief of Staff of the German Army.

US Marines and soldiers of the US Army commenced landing on Guam.  Initial Marine landings met with very little opposition.

The Japanese mounted attacks on US positions at Aitape.

The French Expeditionary Corps was withdrawn from the line in Italy in preparation for Operation Dragoon.

The U-212 was sunk sought of Brighton by the Royal Navy.

Harry S. Truman was nominated by the Democratic Party to run as Roosevelt's Vice President for 1944.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 20, 1944. The July 20 Plot.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1944 Election, Adolf Hitler, Battle of Narva, Claus von Stauffenberg, Franklin Roosevelt, German Resistance Movements, Heroes, July 20 Plot, Mussolini, Operation Valkyrie, World War Two

Wednesday, June 14, 1944. Flag Day

 

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

For many years June 14 has been set aside as Flag Day, observed throughout the Nation as a day of earnest rededication to those high principles of humanity and civilization which constitute the foundations of the Republic.

It is not necessary to recite that the stars and stripes of our flag symbolize the patriotic and loyal unity of one hundred and thirty-five million people in a widely diversified land. Nor is it necessary to dwell on the struggles through which we have marched, under that flag, to our present great part in the world's affairs. What we are, and what we do, speak of these things far more eloquently than any words.

Ours is a flag of battles. On the ships of our Navy, in the vanguard of our soldiers and marines, it is carrying liberation and succor into stricken lands. It is carrying our message of promise and freedom into all comers of the world.

Ours is also a flag of peace. Under its protection, men have found refuge from oppression. Under its promise, men have found release from hatreds and prejudice, from exploitation and persecution. It is the flag under which men and women of varied heritage, creed, and race may work and live or, if need be, fight and die together as only free men and women can.

Let us then display our flag proudly, knowing that it symbolizes the strong and constructive ideals—the democratic ideals—which we oppose to the evil of our enemies. Let us display our flag, and the flags of all the United Nations which fight beside us, to symbolize our joint brotherhood, our joint dedication, under God, to the cause of unity and the freedom of men.

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby ask that on Flag Day, June 14, 1944, the people of our Nation honor especially the members of the armed forces—men and women equally—whose unfaltering devotion to our national ideals has given the Nation's flag a new and hopeful meaning for those struggling against oppression in lands still held by our enemies.

I direct the officials of the Federal Government and I request the officials of the State and local governments to have our colors displayed on all public buildings on Flag Day, and I urge the people of the United States on that day to fly the American flag from their homes, and to arrange, where feasible, for joint displays of the emblems of the freedom-loving United Nations without whose staunch collaboration we could not have hoped for victory.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this 3rd day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-eighth.

Signature of Franklin D. Roosevelt

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

By the President:

CORDELL HULL

Secretary of State.

Operation Perch concluded in failure.

The U.S. 9th Infantry Division, moving north from Utah, took Quinéville, where the regional German command had been located.

Charles de Gaulle visited the Normandy beachhead.  His touring of French cities proved to be a problem as the large gatherings were signals to the Germans of his presence.

The provisional French government located itself at Bayeux.

A RAF Mosquito shot down a V-1 over the English Channel, the first such victory.

The Battle of Porytowe Wzgórze between Polish and Soviet partisans and the Germans took place, leading to a partisan breakout of a surrounded position, but at high cost.

The British 8th Army captured Orvieto, Terni and Todi in Italy.

B-29s raided Japan for the first time. Four of the aircraft were lost on a 48 plane, ineffective, raid on the Yawata steel works.

The U.S. Navy continued to bombard Saipan and Tinian.

After an extended and costly period of time leading up to it, the U.S. 6th Infantry Division took Lone Tree Hill in New Guinea.

The USS Golet was sunk by ships and aircraft off of Honshu.

Eleanor Roosevelt opened the White House Conference on How Women May Share in Post-War Policy-Making.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in Normandy.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Armor, Battle of Bloody Gulch, Bernard Law Montgomery, Caen France, Carentan France, German Army, Operation Overlord, Operation Perch, Russo Ukrainian War, Waffen SS, Weapons, World War Two

Sunday, June 11, 1944. D+5. Carentan taken.

Photograph taken the moment the No. 1 Cannoneer fires a M3 105 howitzer at Carentan, June 11, 1944.

The U.S. 1st Army captured Carentan and Lison.  The British and Canadians experienced heavy fighting in their effort to take Caen, including the deployment of the most recent German armor. The 46 Royal Marines Commando took Cairon after heavy fighting against the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend.  They then took Lasson, Rots and Rosel.

The HMS Halstand was torpedoed and rendered a loss by E-boats off of Normandy.

Gooseberry 1, an artificial breakwater formed from sunken obsolete ships, was in palce.

The French Expeditionary Corps captured Montefascone, Italy.

The US 15th Air Force raided Axis airfields at Focsani, Romania and flew on to Ukraine.

Task Force 58 began raids on Saipan and Tinian, causing the Japanese to lose 36 aircraft, three warships and 30,000 tons of merchant transport.

The USS Missouri was commissioned.  She is now a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.

USS Missouri, Pearl Harbor Hawaii

 USS Missouri viewed from the USS Arizona Memorial.

 Small trailed mortar, probably of a Japanese pattern.

 Dual Bofars 40mm Anti Aircraft guns formally on the USS Missouri.

 The "tears" of the USS Arizona.  Oil slick from oil leaking from the bunkers of the Arizona.

 The spot on which World War Two came to an end on the decks of the Missouri.

 The instrument of surrender.

 Oil from the USS Arizona alongside the USS Missouri.

 Tomahawk Missile platform.

 The location on the USS Missouri where she was hit by a Kamikaze aircraft.  The result was this dent in the side.  The Japanese pilot was buried in a formal burial at sea the following day.

 While not labeled on the ship, these are powder bags for 16 in guns.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, June 10, 1944. D+4. The Oradour-sur-Glane and Distomo Massacres.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, baseball, Distomo Massacre, Eastern Front, French Resistance Movements, German SS, Greek Partisans, Italy, Operation Overlord, Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre, Waffen SS, War Crimes, World War Two