Sunday, May 14, 1944. Route to Rome.

Today in World War II History—May 14, 1944: 80 Years Ago—May 14, 1944: In Italy, US II Corps breaks German Gustav Line, opening the route to Rome.

Sarah Sundin's blog.

The Luftwaffe raided Bristol at night.

E-boats attacked Allied landing craft near the Isle of Wight.

Albanian SS rounded up 281 Kosovo Jews for deportation to concentration camps.

Vichy radio reported that French cardinals had appealed to the Roman Catholic clergy in Britain and the United States to use their influence to ensure that the French civilian population towns, works of art and churches would be spared from Allied bombing as much as possible,

2nd Lt. Trava Thomas of Okmulgee, Okla., arrives with full pack at the Brisbane, Queensland railroad station. 14 May, 1944.

The ironically named America Maru was sunk by the USS Nautilus.  Most of the occupants of the ship were Japanese civilians being evacuated from Saipan, the overwhelming majority of whom were killed in the sinking.

George Lucas was born in Modesto, California.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 12, 1944. Heroism in Italy. End of the war in the Caucasus.

1940s, 1944, Battle of the Caucasus, Heroes, Indian Army, Italy, Nazi Germany, Operation Diadem, Personalities, Red Army, Rome, U.S. Air Force, World War Two

Saturday, May 13, 1944. Battle of the Tennis Court ends.

The long-running Battle of the Tennis Court ended in an allied victory.

The Axis completed its withdrawal from Crimea, having evacuated over 150,000 troops, a stunning effort given the context of the battle going on there.

78,000 were killed or captured by the Soviets in this time frame.

Cpt. Richard Wakeford.

On 13th May, 1944, Captain Wakeford commanded the leading Company on the right flank of an attack on two hills near Cassino, and accompanied by his orderly and armed only with a revolver, he killed a number of the enemy and handed over 2O prisoners when the Company came forward. On the final objective a German officer and 5 other ranks were holding a house. After being twice driven back by grenades. Captain Wakeford, with a final dash, reached the window and hurled in his grenades. Those of the enemy, who were not killed or wounded, surrendered. Attacking another feature on the following day, a tank became bogged on the start line, surprise was lost and the leading infantry were caught in the enemy's fire, so that the resulting casualties endangered the whole operation. Captain Wakeford, keeping his Company under perfect control, crossed the start line and although wounded in the face and in both arms, led his men up the hill. Half way up the hill his Company came under heavy Spandau fire; in spite of his wounds, he organized and led a force to deal with this opposition so that his company could get on. By now the Company was being heavily mortared and Captain Wakeford was again wounded, in both legs, but he still went on and reaching his objective, he organized and consolidated the remainder of his Company and reported to his Commanding Officer before submitting to any personal attention. During the seven hour interval before stretcher-bearers could reach him his unwavering high spirits encouraged the wounded men around him. His selfless devotion to duty, leadership, determination, courage and disregard for his own serious, injuries were beyond all praise.

Wakeford became a solicitor (lawyer) after the war and died in 1972 at age 51.

Also in Italy, the Polish 2nd Corps unsuccessfully attacked Monte Cassino, sustaining heavy casualties in the effort.  The French Expeditionary Corps took Castelforte and Monte Mailo.

Sarah Sundin reports: 

Today in World War II History—May 13, 1944: In drive for Rome, French troops break through Gustav Line. Premiere of Cowboy and the Senorita, starring Roy Rogers & Dale Evans in their first film together.

She also noted that Klaus Dönitz, son of the commander of the German Kriegsmarine, was killed when his torpedo boat went down off the English coast. 

The U-1224, now in Japanese service as the RO-501, was sunk in the Atlantic, making it one of two Japanese flagged submarines to be sunk in the Atlantic.

The French Resistance halted self propelled artillery production at the Lorraine-Dietrich works, Bagneres de Bigorre.

Pensive won the Preakness.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 12, 1944. Heroism in Italy. End of the war in the Caucasus.

1940s, 1944, Battle of the Caucasus, Heroes, Indian Army, Italy, Nazi Germany, Operation Diadem, Personalities, Red Army, Rome, U.S. Air Force, World War Two

Saturday, April 29, 1944. More friendly fire, Raid on Truk, More German strikes in the Channel.

Just a few days after U.S. ships shelled US Army troops at Slapton Sands in Operation Tiger in a friendly fire incident, the PT-346 was sunk, killing nine sailors and wounding nine, by Marine Corps Corsairs.

Lieutenant James Burk ordered medic John Frkovich to take his Burk's life jacket so he could survive and treat the wounded. Wilbur Larsen, USNR, received the Navy Marine Corps medal for saving wounded non-swimmer Forrest May's life.

Japanese torpedo bomber making a run on the Yorktown in a counter to the attack on Truk.

An American air raid on Truk destroyed most of the island's Japanese aircraft.

On New Guinea, the captured Japanese airfields at Hollandia and Aitape become operational for Allied aircraft.

The HMCS Athabaskan was sunk in the English Channel by the T24, once again showing active Kriegsmarine activity in the Channel.  The T24 picked up 83 men as prisoners, 44 were rescued by the Allies, and 123 went down with the ship.

The I-183 was sunk off the Bungo Strait by the USS Pogy.

The U-421 was sunk at Toulon in an American air raid.

Stars and Stripes, April 29, 1944.

While I can't post it due to an active copyright, The Saturday Evening Post came out with a classic illustration called "Arm Chair General" by Norman Rockwell.

Last prior edition:

Friday, April 28, 1944. Day Two of Execise Tiger.

1930s, 1936 Election, 1940s, 1942, 1944, 1950, 1950s, boats and ships, Capitalism, Dieppe Raid, Disaster, Exercise Tiger, Franklin Roosevelt, German Kriegsmarine, Korean War, Personalities, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Friday, April 28, 1944. Day Two of Execise Tiger.

USS LST-289. Arrives in Dartmouth Harbor, England, after being torpedoed in the stern by German MTBs during an invasion rehearsal off Slapton Sands, England, on 28 April 1944.

We've already discussed Exercise Tiger and won't repeat what we set out there, but we will note that while focus on Tiger tends to be on the American loss of life it caused, it very well may have resulted in avoiding disaster at Operation Overlord.  

In that sense, Exercise Tiger might be remembered justifiably in much the same way that the August 19,1942 Anglo Canadian raid at Dieppe can be, a disaster whose lessons were so significant that the event is sort of a Pyrrhic defeat.  That is, the lessons learned as a result of the disasters encountered there were so significant they served to avoid them occurring on the beaches in Operation Overlord.

British family moving from the Slapton Sands area when it was being taken over as an exercise area.

Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox died.

Knox had been ill for a while, having suffered a series of recent heart attacks.  He was 70 years old at the time of his death.

A Bostonian, he's served with the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the "Rough Riders", during the Spanish American War.  After the war he had been a newspaper editor in Michigan, where he was also the state chairman of the Republican Party.  He supported Theodore Roosevelt for President in 1912 and had agitated for U.S. entry into the Great War, in which he went on to serve as an artilleryman.  He was a Vice Presidential candidate in the 1936 campaign, on the Landon Knox ticket.  Roosevelt appointed the Republican Secretary of the Navy in 1940.  After Pearl Harbor, Knox, while still Secretary of the Navy, was shunted aside to a significant degree in favor of Admiral Ernest J. King, that being somewhat of a tradition by that time.

1944  USS Crook County, LST-611, named after Crook counties Wyoming and Oregon, launched. She was a landing ship, tank.

USS Crook County at Inchon, 1950.

The ship was a LST that served in the Pacific during World War Two and then again during the Korean War.  She was decommissioned in 1956.

Related threads:

Wednesday, August 19, 2022. The Raid On Dieppe.

1940s, 1942, Canadian Army, Commandos, Dieppe France, Dieppe Raid, Espionage, Free French, Guadalcanal, Operation Jubilee, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Siege of Leningrad, World War Two

Last prior edition:

Thursday, April 27, 1944. Exercise Tiger

1940s, 1944, Capitalism, Disaster, Exercise Tiger, German Kriegsmarine, Poland, Quebec, U.S. Navy, Ukraine, United Kingdom, World War Two, Wyoming, Wyoming Stock Growers Association

Thursday, April 27, 1944. Exercise Tiger

Friendly fire due to lack of coordination killed US servicemen participating in Exercise Tiger, a landing practice operation.  The number of casualties inflicted remains unknown, but was large.

Later that night, into the next day, three American LST's were attacked and sunk in Lyme Bay by E-boats.

As a result of these incidents, over 700 troops were killed, with 400 of them being on a single LST.  The incident was kept secret.

The UK banned all travel outside Great Britain.

Quebec's legislative assembly voted 55 to 4 for a motion disapproving of sending conscripts overseas.

The Soviet Air Force raided Lvov at night.  

The city had been in pre-war Poland.  Now, as Lviv, it's in Ukraine, and is once again subject to Russian attack.

The U-803 was sunk by a mine in the Baltic.

Today In Wyoming's History: April 27: 1944  The Wyoming Stock Growers Association gave the University of Wyoming its archives, a major contribution given the enormous role the WSGA had in the early history of the state. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Sewell Avery, the principal of Montgomery Ward, and a highly successful and extremely conservative businessman, had to be forcibly removed from his office due to his refusal to settle a strike.  Ward's was delivering vital war goods.  Avery would accordingly not only be carted out of his office by two Military Policemen, but temporary lose his office with the company.

Upon being carried out and meeting the Attorney General who was delegated to the matter, he yelled.

 To hell with the government, you... New Dealer!

He subsequently complained that the government was leading the nation into a government of dictators.

While a savvy businessman, he misread the post-war economy and the changes that the war had brought to labor relations, and Montgomery Ward lost its position as a department store leader to Sears Roebuck.  In another misread, Avery had assigned the rights to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to the company employee who had written the story for a Ward's promotional.

For some reason, I feel that Avery would be a Trump supporter.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 26, 1944. Pyrrihic Kidnapping.

1940s, 1944, Commandos, Crete, German Kriegsmarine, Imperial Japanese Navy, New Guinea, Posters, Prisoners of War, Propaganda, Royal Navy, SOE, Special Operations Executive, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Wednesday, April 26, 1944. Pyrrihic Kidnapping.

Example of wartime propaganda aimed at the Japanese.

In a mission months in the making, members of the SOE and Cretan resistance kidnapped Heinrich Kreipe.

Originally directed at Gen. Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller as a reprisal for actions committed under his orders, Kreipe had succeeded him by the time the SOE team arrived.  Kreipe's kidnapping would cause Müller to return and order mass reprisals, something that had not occurred under Kreipe.

In short, it was a pointless action and poorly thought out, with ultimately tragic results.

Kreipe would be reunited with his kidnappers in a 1972 Greek television program.

In New Guinea, American beachheads at Tanahmerah Bay and Humboldt Bay were linked up.  Australian forces took Alexishafen.

The Yoshida Maru No. 1 was sunk by the USS Jack resulting in the loss of 2,669 men.

The U-488 was sunk off of Cape Verde by the U.S. Navy.

The I-180 was sunk off of Chirikof Island by the USS Gilmore.

The Royal Navy, in an effort to attack the Tirpitz which failed due to weather, found a coastal convoy instead and sunk three ships  in it.

The POW camp in Hoopeston, Illinois, received its first prisoners.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, April 25, 1944. The Blood for Goods deal extended, Air disaster at Montreal, the death of George Herriman.

1940s, 1944, 1944 at the Movies, Brazil, Commandos, Munich Germany, New Guinea, Personalities, Prisoners of War, Royal Air Force, Special Boat Service, Switzerland, United States Air Force, World War Two

Tuesday, April 25, 1944. The Blood for Goods deal extended, Air disaster at Montreal, the death of George Herriman.

Joel Brand in 1961, age 55.

The Nazis offered Hungarian rescue worker Joel Brand an offer which has been termed the "Blood for Goods" deal.  It was an offer to free 1,000,000 Hungarian Jews, releasing them to an Allied country, save for Palestine (oddly) for goods.  The offer was extended through Adolf Eichmann to Brand, who was a pre-war Hungarian Zionist.

Brand carried the message to the Allies, making his way through Turkey to Egypt, where he was arrested by the British.  The British did not take the offer seriously and believed it was a trick. The US was cautious about the offer but less hostile to it.  British opposition to exploring it ended the matter, and the British press leaked it and termed it blackmail by the fall.

At this point in the war, members of the SS were not completely loyal to Hitler and there is some reason to believe that this was a camouflaged effort to open up communications with the Western Allies in order to advance a separate peace, a delusional prospect of that is what they were thinking.

Brand moved to Israel after the war and was haunted the rest of his life by the failure of the proposal.  He died visiting Germany in 1964, at age 58.

A Royal Air Force variant of the B-24, a Liberator B Mark VI crashed into the Griffintown neighborhood of Montreal after taking off from Dorval Airport. The crew and ten civilians were killed.

My mother lived in the St. Lambert district of Montreal at the time.  St. Lambert is directly across the river from Griffentown.  I'd never heard of this incident, but then, there are many such thing that my parents never mentioned to me on matters like this, and I suppose that's to be expected.  Casper suffered numerous air disasters during World War Two.

My mother, then 19 years of age, would have been working in the city at this time, so was likely on the Griffentown side of the river when the accident occured.

The first combat helicopter evacuation completed in the CBI:

21–25 April 1944

The Luftwaffe raided shipping at Portsmouth and Plymouth-Devonport in a nighttime raid.  The same night, the HMS Black Prince and three Canadian destroyers engaged German warships in the English Channel, sinking the T-29 and damaging the T-24 and T-27.

The T-39 series of German ships were torpedo "boats", but due to their size they were more in the nature of corvettes.

Allied forces landed at Humboldt Bay, New Guinea.

The British government announced that it had a £2.76 billion deficit, £89 million smaller than anticipated.

Service Club mural, Ft. Bliss, Texas.  April 25, 1944.

The United Negro College Fund was established.

George Herriman, the creator of Krazy Kat, died at age 63.

Herriman was creole and born in New Orleans, although he speant much of his adult life in Los Angeles.  The Creole are their own distinct ethnicity, with some noting that means by default that they are of "mixed race", something that a lot of non Louisianians don't realize as they confuse creole with Cajun, the two not being the same.  Under the bizarre rules of American culture, Herriman would have been regarded as "black" in some regions of the United States, although legally, and equally bizarrely, he could at the time choose to self identify as white or black, neither of which really describes his ethnic heritage.  He self identified as white, which makes sense, as to do otherwise would have hindered his career.

Herriman was a shy and gentlemanly man.  A Catholic, he married his childhood sweetheart and had two children, as well as a lot of pets, of which he wsa very fond.

Last prior edition:

Monday, April 24, 1944. Violating Swiss Airspace.

1940s, 1944, 1944 at the Movies, Brazil, Commandos, Munich Germany, New Guinea, Personalities, Prisoners of War, Royal Air Force, Special Boat Service, Switzerland, United States Air Force, World War Two

Thursday, April 20, 1944. Bombs for Hitler's birthday.

Members of 5307 Composite Unit (Merrill's Maunders) and local Kachin tribesmen in a group photo of all the nationalities represented in the unit.

L to R, back row:

Sgt. Harold R. Stevenson, Beaver, Pa. - Irish.

Pfc. Stephen Komar, Minnesota. - Ukrainian.

Pvt. George D. Altman, Adamsburg, Pa. - German.

Sgt. Carl F. Hamelic, Cleveland, Ohio. - Dutch.

Pvt. Hose L. Montoya, Las Vegas, Nevada. - Spanish.

Capt. A. E. Quinn, Burma. - Anglo-Burmese.

Capt. D. G. Wilson, Burma. - Anglo-Burmese.

Pfc. Joseph Wuele, Italy. - Italian.

Third row:

Pvt. Kai L. Wong, Los Angeles, California. - Chinese.

S/Sgt. C. N. Dulien, Wisconsin. - Polish.

Cpl. Perry E. Johnson, Somerville, Massachusetts. - Swedish.

Pfc. Louis O. Perdomo, Tampa, Florida. - Cuban.

T/Sgt. Jack Growly, Brooklyn, N.Y. - American.

Second row:

T/Sgt. Russell Hill, Chicago, Ill. - English.

Sgt. Werner Katz, N.Y.C. - Jewish.

Sgt. Miles Elson, Toledo, O. - Swedish.

S/Sgt. Francis Wonsowitz, Gary, Indiana. - Polish.

Sgt. Edward Kucera, Antigo, Wisc. - Bohemian.

Cpl. Bernard Martin, Providence, R.I. - French.

Sgt. Wilbur Smawley, Pullman, Wash. - English.

First row: 

Father James Steward. - Irish.

N'Ching Gam. - Kachin.

Li Yaw Tang - Maru.

Pirta Singh. - Gurkha.

Hpakawn Zau Mun. - Atzi.

The Royal Air Force dropped 4,500 tons of bombs on a single raid, a new record.  It was Hitler's 55th birthday.

The Luftwaffe sunk the USS Lansdale and the Liberty ship SS Paul Hamilton of Algiers. The attacking planes were Ju 88s which were used as torpedo bombers in this application.

Off of Anzio, the Germans deployed human torpedoes.  No serious damages are incurred by any of the Allied ships which are stricken.

Elmer Gedeon, age 27, was killed piloting a B-26 over France.  He had been, prior to entering the service, a professional baseball player and was one of only two major league ball players killed during World War Two, the other being Harry O'Neill who was killed as a Marine Corps officer on Iwo Jima.

The British conversation at Kohima was relieved.

The Luftwaffe attempted to raid Hull, but called off the mission.

George Grantham Baink "the father of foreign photographic news", died at age 78 in New York City, which he had heavily photographed.

Many of his photographs appear on this website.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 19, 1944. Operation Ichi-Go.

1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, baseball, Battle of Anzio, Battle of Kohima, boats and ships, German Kriegsmarine, German Luftwaffe, Operation U-Go, Personalities, Royal Air Force, U.S. Navy

Wednesday, April 12, 1944. Soviet invasion of Romania fails, Withdrawal of Crimea commences, Victor Emmanuel makes retirement plans.

The First Battle of Târgu Frumos, the attempted Soviet invasion of Romania, which the Soviets and Russians don't really agree was attempted, ended in Axis victory.

On the same day, the Germans began withdrawing from Crimea, which was rapidly falling far behind Soviet lines.  The Red Army occupied Tiraspol, northwest of Odessa.

Romanian destroyer Regele Ferdinand.

The evacuation was by sea, and it was one of the most significant operations of the Romanian Navy during World War Two, with both the Romanian and German navies taking part.  In spite of Soviet efforts,  7,000 German and Romanian troops from Crimea in phase one of the operation, and 113,000 would ultimately be taken out.  This was impressive, but has to be balanced against the decision in error not to withdraw from Crimea earlier, which was due to Hilter's instance that it not occur.  Axis personnel losses during the evacuation were in fact massive.

King Victor Emmanuel announced plans to step down from office and appoint Crown Prince Umberto of Piedmont "Lieutenant of the Realm" upon the Allies taking Rome, which they were having trouble doing.

The I-174 was sunk off of Truk by a B-24.

The National Religious Broadcasters Association was founded in Columbus, Ohio following the Federal Council of Churches proposing to ban paid religious programming and limit broadcast personalities to individuals approved by their denominations which would have effectively removed Evangelicals from the airwaves.  The Association sought to preserve Evangelical access to the airwaves.

Religious broadcasting was different at the time. While there was some Catholic broadcasting, it was really quite limited and would remain so until the establishment of EWTN in 1981.  Most broadcasting was accordingly Protestant.

Improvising.

 

Service truck made stateside on base from Dodge WC. April 12, 1944.

1940s, 1944, 3/4 ton, 4x4, Dodge, Dodge WC, Dodge Weapons Carrier, U.S. Army, World War Two

The Summer Lake State Game Management Area was established by the State of Oregon.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, April 11, 1944. Plowing.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, boats and ships, Boston Massachusetts, Crimea, Equine Transportation, Netherlands, Pacific, Red Army, U.S. Air Force, Victory Gardens, World War Two