Friday, August 5, 1944. The Wola Massacre.

German SS, the Azerbaijani Legion and the Russian collaborationist Kaminski Brigade, commenced killing Poles in the Wola district of Warsaw.  The massacre was ordered by Himmler.

Major Ivan Denisovich Frolov with the officers of the Russian National Liberation Army (RONA) during the Warsaw Uprising.

Between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles would be murdered.

The weirdness of this is inescapable. The Russians in RONA were there partially in order to survive German captivity, and partial in an effort to free their homeland from Communist control. The Soviet Union had helped take away Poland's freedom by invading it along with Germany, and the Polish Home Army was attempting to free their homeland and was anti communist.  The Azerbaijanis were fighting for the liberation of their homeland as well.

The 3d Army took Vannes.

The Cowra breakout occured in New South Wales in which 1,100 Japanese POWs broke out.  They'd all be captured within ten days, although four Australians and 231 Japanese POWs would be killed.

The RAF destroyed the German U-boat pens at Brest.

The Soviet submarine Shch-215 sanke the Turkish motor schooner Mefküre resulting in the death of 300 Jewish refugees.

Last edition:

Thursday, August 4, 1944. The Frank's arrested.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, British Army, Continuation War, Finland, German Wehrmacht, Italy, Netherlands, Normandy, Normandy Breakout, South African Army, The Holocaust, The written word, Warsaw Uprising, World War Two

Sunday, July 23, 1944. The Lwów Uprising

The Lwów Uprising by the Polish Home Army began.  The uprising was a success in that it took large portions of the city as the Soviets arrived, but a failure in that the Soviets arrested the political leadership of the city,  and then conscripted or arrested the Polish combatants.

The Red Army took Pskov, the last major town of the prewar USSR to be liberated, meaning that the Soviets were now fighting off of their soil, for the most part.

The last inmates at Treblinka were murdered.

The SS launched a manhunt for members of the July 20 plot.

The Canadian First Army became operational in Normandy.

US troops outside of Saint-Lô.  The soldier closest to the camera is a NCO, identifiable by the horizontal stripe on his helmet, and is carrying a M3 "Grease Gun".

Last edition:

Saturday, July 22, 1944. Changes in governments.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Bretton Woods, Italy, Japan, Operation Cobra, Operation Frantic, Operation Goodwood, Operation Overlord, Poland, Polish Army, Red Army, The Holocaust, World War Two

Saturday, July 8, 1944.

The Saturday Evening Post featured a clown on the cover, a really unfortunate piece of artwork given the horrific circus fire earlier in the week.

Thursday, July 6, 1944. Advances on Eastern Front, Halted on Western Front, Tragedy in Connecticut, Racism at Camp Hood.

The disputed photograph which is likely of Ellis Underwood may have been taken on this date:

Tuesday, June 27, 1944. Angelo Klonis or Thomas E. Underwood?

British and Canadian forces launched Operation Charnwood which sought to at least partially capture Caen. Heavy RAF raids on the city are launched as part of the offensive.

German machine gun crew killed in action by U.S. troops in Normandy on this day.

The SS began to remove the Jewish population of Kovno to Stufthof and Dauchau in order to clear out the ghetto before it was liberated by the Red Army.

Admiral Takeo Takagi (高木 武雄) was killed on Saipan.

The U-243 was sunk by the RAAF in the Bay of Biscay.

Mass in the Ready Room of the USS Saginaw Bay (CVE 82), July 8, 1944.

Last edit:

Friday, July 7, 1944. Banzai.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, boats and ships, French Resistance Movements, Imperial Japanese Army, Infantry, Saipan, Vichy France

Sunday, June 25, 1944. The Battle of Tali–Ihantala commences.

The Battle of Tali–Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought by Nordic nations, commenced between Finland and the Soviet Union.

The battle followed a continued series of contacts between Finland and the USSR about Finland leaving the war.  On June 21 the Finish government asked for peace conditions.  The reply came on June 23 which demanded a signed statement from Finland that it was ready to surrender as a precondition for talks. The Finns rejected this.  The day prior to that, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop demanded that Finland would promise that it would continue to fight as a precondition for ongoing military support, which Finland gave.  The Soviet offensive commenced today, even as recent events had shown that Finnish resistance to Red Army attacks was strengthening.

"Combat engineers kneel in prayer at a Sunday mass conducted by Chaplain (1st Lt.) Paul J. McGovern, Boston, Mass., former pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Danvers, Mass. The first American cemetery to be constructed in France is in the center background." 

U.S. and Royal Navy ships bombarded shore fortifications at Cherbourg.

Operation Martlet, the initial stage of Operation Epsom, a British operation to take Caen, commenced.  60,000 Canadian and British troops  were involved in the assault against the 12th SS Panzer Hitlerjugend Division.

As a matter of pure trivia, the German Tiger tank in the movie Kelly's Heroes bears the insignia of the 12th SS Panzer Division.

The Battle of Osuchy began in Poland between German forces and the Polish resistance.

The U-269 was sunk off of Torquay by the HMS Bickerton.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, June 24, 1944. The sinking of the Derrycunihy.

Labels: Battle of the Atlantic, Belarus, boats and ships, Cherbourg France, German Wehrmacht, Operation Bagration, Operation Overlord, Red Army, Royal Navy, Saipan, United States Marine Corps, World War Two

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

German POW being searched in France, June 10, 1944.

The Oradour-sur-Glane massacre was carried out by the troops of the SS Panzer Division Das Reich in France, destroying the village and killing 642 residents.  It was a reprisal for Resistance activities.  200 of the dead were women and children who were burned to death in a church.

A few escapees were tipped off as the village was surrounded by Alsatian members of the unit.

The Waffen SS also carried out the Distomo massacre on the same day, killing 214 residents of that Greek village in reprisal for a partisan attack upon the unit.

Utah and Omaha beaches were linked by the 2nd Armored Division.  The artificial harbors of Arromanches and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer began to be installed.

Allied casualties for the day in Normandy amounted to 15,000 men.

Iin Italy, the British 8th Army captured Pescara and Chieti.

British seaborne aircraft hit Saband in the Dutch East Indes as a diversion from American forces approaching the Mariana Islands.

The Red Army took Terijoki and Yalkena from the Finns.

Joe Nuxhall debuted for the Cincinnati Reds at age 15. He'd be sent down to the minors, but would reappear in the major leagues at age 23.

Jockey Jimmy Stout rode Bousset in horse racing's only triple dead heat in the Carter Handicap.

Last prior edition:

Friday, June 9, 1944. D+3

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Ushant, boats and ships, Brittany, Canadian Navy, German Kriegsmarine, Imperial Japanese Navy, Italy, Normandy, Operation Overlord, Polish Navy, Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Wednesday, June 7, 1944. D+1.

The British began Operation Perch, an attempt to encircle and take Caen, which had been a D-Day objective.  

Much has been made of this, with a large amount of criticism being levied by American historians, but the fact of the matter is that the British and Canadians had taken well over twice the amount of ground as the Americans on D-Day, while failing to take Caen, with the British drawing some of the best German forces in the region as a result.

The Battle of Bréville began with British Airborne entering the unoccupied town.

British and Canadian Airborne in Bréville.  The trooper closest to the camera is carrying a M1911 .45 ACP pistol.  The paratrooper on furthest right, as viewed, has a bayonet affixed to his Sten Gun.

The week-long battle would become one of the most important battles of the invasion of Normandy.

The British airborne phase of Overlord, Operation Tonga, concluded as a tactical success.

The 7th Corps advances towards Carentan and Montebourg in an effort to link up with the 82nd and 101st Airborne.   The 5th Corps advances towards Isigny and Bayeux.  The British 30th Corps cuts the Caen-Bayeux Road.

The 12th SS Panzer Division murdered 11 Canadian POWs in the beginning of what would be a series of atrocities.

And a picture from this day, which we featured earlier, with the text:

Something interesting to note.

 

Troops of the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division going up the bluff at the E-1 draw in the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach, Normandy, on June 7, 1944.

The first three soldiers, and the seventh and eighth, are carrying M1903 Springfield bolt action rifles.  The fourth's weapon isn't visible at all, and if he's carrying one, it's probably a sidearm.  The fifth one is carrying an M1 carbine, as is the sixth and seventh.

These men have the appearance of being infantrymen, but the lack of M1 Garands suggests they might be combat engineers. At any rate, this photo nicely illustrates how prevalent the M1903 still was during World War Two.

The second man was 18 years old Pvt Vincent Mullen, who would be killed in action a few days after this photograph was taken.

The Resistance pushed the Germans out of Bayuex and the British 50th Division takes it.

The 5th Army captured Bacciano and Civitavecchia.  The British 8th Army takes Subiaco.  The South African 6th Armored Division captures Civita Castellana.

Operation Hasty in Italy concluded with over 50% British casualties.

The US 41st Division captures Mokmer Airfield on Biak.

The Hayanami became the second Japanese ship lost in the Sibuto Passage to the USS Harder in two days.

Judy Garland divorced David Rose.  It was the second of his three marriages and the first of her five.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, June 6, 1944. Operation Overlord

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, British Army, Canadian Army, Canadian Navy, Eastern Front, France, Italy, Normandy, Operation Houndstooth, Operation Overlord, Red Army, Romania, Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Saturday, June 3, 1944. Rome declared an open city.

German commander Albert Kesselring declared Rome to be an open city and withdraw from the city under a truce with Italian partisans.

Under international law and the rules of war, an open city is one that will not be defended, and therefore is open for the taking.  The declaration spared Rome major destruction.

US troops took Albano and Frascati on Rome's outskirts.  Canadian troops too Anagni.

The Provisional Government of the French Republic was officially created.

The Japanese attempt to reinforce Biak by sea but fail.  Fighting on the island was intense.

Troops of the 4th Infantry Division on their way to load for D-Day, June 3, 1944.

Gretl Braun, Eva Braun's sister, married SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, who was a really bad guy.  He was not faithful to her, or in the very last moments of its existence, Hitler.  He was executed in its closing days.  She would remarry in 1954 and died in 1987 at age 72.

Bounding Home won the Belmont.

Asperger Syndrome was identified for the first time in a paper by Dr. Hans Asperger, an Austrian.

Last prior example:

Friday, June 2, 1944. Eisenhower moves, Operation Frantic commences, Romania and the Soviet Union talk.

Labels: Commandos, Diplomacy, Free French, Italy, Operation Frantic, Romania, Rome, U.S. Air Force, Ukraine, USSR, World War Two

Tuesday, May 16, 1944. The Romani Uprising, Advancing in Italy

Romani, gypsies, rebelled at Auschwitz.  Tipped off by a Yugoslavian member of the SS, a Pole alerted the Gypsies the night prior of the SS plan to destroy their camp the following day. Armed with shovels and other tools, they refused to come out of their buildings, and a confused SS withdrew.  The event was bloodless, but the destruction of the camp and the murder of its occupants was only postponed.

Perhaps coincidentally, or not, the first train carrying Hungarian Jews arrived at Auschwitz on this day as well.

Pvt. Joseph A. Zbin, Cleveland, Ohio, of Co. A, 338th Inf. carrying a 90 lb load of mortar ammo through town of Scauri. 16 May, 1944.  He's armed with a M1 Carbine.  He died in 1977 at age 55 back in Ohio.

Allied forces generally advanced in Italy, save for at Monte Cassino where the Polish 2nd Corps was meeting difficult resistance.

Twenty three year old 1st Lt. Keith J. Bauer, 937th F.A. Battery, of Arkansaw Wis., washes up on this day in 1944.  His post-war plans were, reportedly to "get married", "get a farm", "get out of the Army".  Bauer was from a farm family.  Bauer was a pilot and was still in the Army in 1954, so apparently his plans changed, or he was recalled during the Korean War.  In this photograph you can tell that he's an officer simply because his wool shirt has epaulets.

The Soviet Air Force bombed the rail yards at Minsk.

The Allied powers entered into an agreement with Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway about immediate post-war governance.

British Coast Command harried German submarines.

Anti-aircraft crew training at Ft. Bliss, May 16, 1944.

Last prior edition:

Monday, May 15, 1944. Deportation of the Hungarian Jews.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Auschwitz, Battle of the Atlantic, boats and ships, Disaster, German SS, Hawaii, Hungary, Operation Overlord, Russian Orthodox Church, The Holocaust, World War Two

Monday, May 15, 1944. Deportation of the Hungarian Jews.

With Germany in control of the country, the SS began deporting Hungary's Jews, mostly to Auschwitz.

German lines in Italy began to collapse.

 Pilots hold a briefing on their assignments before taking to the air on their respective missions. Sessa area, Italy. 15 May, 1944.

French Vice-Admiral Edmond Derrien was sentenced to life in prison for turning over elements of the French Fleet to the Germans after the Allied landing in North Africa.

Pvt. Frank G. Schubert moves through an area with full field equipment during training in Helston, Cornwall.

Disembarking MP's, Slapton Sands, England. 15 May 1944.

A terrible training accident happened off of Hawaii.

On May 15, 1944, a line of LST's (amphibious ships) were headed from Mā`alaea Bay back to Pearl Harbor, filled with men and material destined for the invasion of Saipan. These particular ships had been modified to carry other landing craft, 120-foot long LCT's, on their decks. In the middle of the night the rough seas in the channel caused the large ships to roll to the point that the fastenings attaching the LCTs to the decks carried away.

LCT-984 slid from the deck and struck the water with engine room doors open and bow ramp down. The vessel quickly became waterlogged and semi-submerged. On board LST-71 men of the 8th Marine Division were sleeping on the deck and inside their LCT. When LCT-988 fell into the ocean, the next ship in the convoy, LST-29, accidentally rammed the landing craft, causing her to immediately capsize. Eldon Ballinger (Marine Corps League newsletter, n.d.) relates part of the story:

The division was assigned 22 LST's and in the well decks were Amphtracs. We pulled practice landings at Maalaea Bay on Maui and also a mock invasion of Kahoolawe Island...Around 2330 the sea began to get rough and within a two hour period the sea became very turbulent with high waves. The flat bottomed LST rocked back and forth so violently that the straps broke on the stacks of ammunition, falling on the sleeping men. Then the steel cables snapped, releasing the LCT, ripping the large skid beams loose, and the waves washed everything off the deck of the LST's starboard side. The LCT hit the water right-side up, except the ramp was down. I remember a crewman and I were trying to start the engine so that the ramp could be raised. It was then that the trailing LST hit us broadside, flipping the LCT completely upside down. The LCT sank within minutes with those that were still alive going down with the ship.

LCT-999 was also swept into the ocean, but fortunately was later recovered and towed to Pearl Harbor. In all the series of LCT accidents resulted in some 19 men dead or missing (the exact number is not clear).

The U-731 was sunk in the Atlantic by the Allies.

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Sergius of Moscow died at age 77.

Lincoln Borglum, who finished his father's work at Mount Rushmore, stepped down as Mount Rushmore National Memorial's first superintendent.

Orson Welles went on the government payroll, at $1.00 per year, as a consultant to the government.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, May 14, 1944. Route to Rome.

1940s, 1944, Albania, boats and ships, Catholic, Collaborators, German Kriegsmarine, German Luftwaffe, German SS, Italy, Operation Diadem, The Holocaust, Vichy France, World War Two

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