US and German, Mid Winter 44/45 Display. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 

Jagdpanzer 38 German tank destroyer, built on the Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis.  A classic German tank destroyer, it set the pattern for the German approach to this class of armor as well as for German infantry assault guns.  These remained in production in Czechoslovakia after the war.

Pz. kpfw. III ausf. N, a predecessor to the Panzerkampfwagen IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), the real German workhorse of the Second World War.  These tanks, far more than any other German tank, were the German tank of the Second World War.  They came in a various forms, like the Sherman. 

Last edition:

Afrika Korps display, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, Afrika Korps, Artillery, German Army, Italian Army, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Transportation, Weapons, Wyoming (Dubois)

Friday, October 27, 1944. Somewhere in Germany.

The Spanish Army launched an offensive against Republican forces in the Pyrenees.

The 7th Infantry Division took Buri Airfield on Leyte.  Tacloban airstrip became operational.

The Navy conducted airstrikes on Luzon.

The Red Army's Gumbinnen Operation in East Prussia ended in failure.  

Sarah Sundin reports that Allied Offensive actions in Italy were halted for the season:

Today in World War II History—October 27, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Oct. 27, 1944: In Italy, Gen. Sir Henry Maitland Wilson orders halt to Allied offensive for the winter due to fatigue, heavy rains, and flooding.

She also reports that that this was Navy Day for 1944, which it would have been, as Navy Day is always October 27.  I missed that, however.

The Germans put down the Slovak National Uprising.

A white cloud of smoke partly envelopes this German tank which is still smoldering in a street somewhere in Germany. U.S. infantrymen, crouching on both sides cover the tank. 27 October, 1944.

Last edition"

Thursday, October 26, 1944. End of the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, A Mystery, Australian Navy, Battle of Leyte Gulf, Imperial Japanese Navy, Monarchy, Norway, Personalities, U.S. Navy, Women's Air Force Service Pilots, World War Two

Sunday, October 8, 1944 Passing of Fr. Nicolò Cortese and Wendell Willkie

The Battle of Crucifix Hill was fought at Haaren, Germany, with the hill taken by elements of the 1st Infantry Division.

A large statuary Crucifix was on top of the hill.  In Sam Fuller's Big Red One his platoon takes a field with a large wooden Crucifix which is central to the story line, and which perhaps was inspired by the actual battle, if extremely loosely.

German resistance to Allied advances in the West was stiffening.

The nighttime Battle of Tehumardi was fought on the Estonian island of Saaremaa.  

The Germans retreated at Tornio.

The German counteroffensive at Nijemegen failed.

The British occupied Corinth and Samos and landed commandos on Nauplion.

Savy to the Greek political situation, in some ways the British were fighting a prelude to the Cold War in Greece in their actions.

The Finns occupied Kemi on the Gulf of Bothnia.

Fr. Nicolò Cortese, age 37, was killed in Trieste by the Gestapo for his role in aiding Jews and Italian partisans.

SS Enterprise (CV 6) being refueled by tanker in rough seas, October 8, 1944.

Wendell Willkie, age 52, died of a heart attack.

Willkie had run for President in 1940 and had attempted to secure the GOP nomination in 1944.  He had originally been a Democrat.  Roosevelt thought highly of him and had considered his a potential Vice Presidential candidate.  A heavy smoker and drinker, his health declined enormously in the summer and fall of 1944, and the heart attack that killed him was his third in three months, following a bout of pneumonia.

Willkie was a political liberal, authoring in 1943 the best seller One World, which espoused world federalism.  There would be no place for him in the modern Republican Party.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 7, 1944. Fighting in the Arctic.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1944 World Series, Arctic, Auschwitz, baseball, Diplomacy, Finland, German Wehrmacht, MIddle East, Norway, Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive, Red Army, The Holocaust, World War Two

Saturday, October 7, 1944. Fighting in the Arctic.

The Sonderkommando Revolt occurred at Auschwitz when the Jewish detailed prisiones rose up with makeshift weapons.  Three SS guards were killed, 200 members of the Sonderkommando, but hundreds of prisoners, all of whom were soon captured and executed, briefly escaped.

Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon signed the Alexandria Protocol leading to the establishment of the Arab League in March of the following year.

The Red Army commenced the Petsamo–Kirkenes offensive in the Petsamo region ceded by Finland and Norway.

Members of "I" Co., 7th Inf. Regt., 3rd Division, move up an alley to screen their movement from German observation, as they go toward the edge of the town. Their mission is to take up a position outside of the town. 7 October, 1944.

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the St. Louis Browns 5 to 1 in game four of the 1944 World Series.

Last edition:

Friday, October 6, 1944. Collapsing.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Austria, Bill Mauldin, Dunbarton Oaks, Hungary, Serbia, World War Two

Monday, October 2, 1944. The end of the Warsaw Rebellion.

With Soviet troops across the Vistula not crossing the river, something often regarded as intentional, the Germans prevailed in defeating the Warsaw Uprising.  200,000 Poles were killed in the battle, most of them civilians, and central Warsaw destroyed.  Between 2,000 and 17,000 German troops were killed in the battle.  Around 15,000 Polish underground and Polish Home Army troops were killed. 15,000 went into captivity.

There's good reason to believe that Stalin saw the Poles and the Germans fighting in the city to his overall benefit.  It killed a lot of Germans, and it killed non communist Poles.

The Battle of Aachen commenced with an American offensive.

The Battle of the Scheldt commenced.

Pack train of 2nd Indian Mule Co., Royal Indian Service Corps, which helped supply British 1st Div. 2 October, 1944. Near Crespino, Italy.

Japanese resistance on Peleliu's Mount Amiangal was defeated.

Lucian Truscott appeared on the cover of Life Magazine.

Cpl. Charles A. Klein, 1929 45th Street, Pennsauken, New Jersey, seals his soldiers' ballet. 2 October, 1944. 6th Armored Division.

The first French regiment of Paris, France, recently organized and put in uniform, passes in review. 2 October, 1944.

 Execution of a French traitor who acted as a spy for the Germans and received 2000 Francs ($40.00) for his services. Traitor is tied to post as firing squad gets ready. 2 October, 1944.

Last edition:

Sunday, October 1, 1944. Battle of Tornio starts.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, Army, Battle of Tornio, British Army, China Burma India Theater, Commandos, Greek Army, Italy, July 20 Plot, Lapland War, Red Cross, Southeast Asia, World War Two

Saturday, September 30, 1944. Counteroffensive at Nijmegen.

German troops at Calais surrendered to the Canadians.

British 17 pdr Anti Tank Gun with Bren Gun and Hotchkiss machine gun in foreground.  The Hotchkiss must have been captured

The Germans commenced a counter offensive at Nijmegen with the goal of retaking the salient created by Market Garden.

Adm Fort took command at Palau and announces that Peleliu, Angaur, Ngesebus and Kongauru have been completely occupied. Japanese resistance continued on.

The U-1062 was sunk by the carrier escort USS Fessenden off of Cape Verde.

Last edition:

Friday, September 29, 1944. Soviet amphibious operations and executions.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Arracourt, Belgium, British Army, Estonia, Heroes, Italian partisans, Italy, July 20 Plot, Red Army, World War Two

Friday, September 8, 1944. Belgian government returns.

The Belgian government returned to Belgium.

Bulgaria, at war for a day with the Soviet Union, accepted an armistice.  It then declared war in Germany.

Canadian troops captured Nieuport and Ostend.  The US Army captured Liege.

Men climbing ladders to allow crossing of Doubs River in Besancon. 8 September, 1944.

Company A, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

Miss Helen Rehak, St. Louis, Mo., an American Red Cross Clubmobile girl, passes out cigarettes to members of an American reconnaissance unit who have halted their motorized vehicle near the Moselle River, France. 8 September, 1944.  80th Reconnaissance Troop, 80th Infantry Division.

Members of the 80th Reconnaissance Unit fall in line for doughnuts and and coffee furnished from an American Red Cross Clubmobile in the vicinity of the Moselle River, France. 8 September, 1944.

80th Reconnaissance Troop, 80th Infantry Division.

T/5 Harry C. Snader, of Lancaster, Cpl. William J. Gorey, of Philadelphia, Pvt. Clifford A. Brilhart, Scottdale, Pvt. Chester A. Sajeska, Nanticoke, Pvt. Jacob L. Riker, Conshohocken, and T/5 Oliver J. Laudenslager, Orefield, second row, left to right: T/S R.M. Miller of Pittsburgh, and S/Sgt. Johnny Davies, of Pittsburgh, Pvt. Anthony D. Ragne, of Johnstown, Pvt. William B. George, of Philadelphia, T/4 Lynn J. Blum, of Pittsburgh, and Pfc. Paul B. Miller, of Waynesboro. Brest, France. 8 September, 1944. 2nd Infantry Division.

A V-2, an ballistic missile, hit Chiswick, west London.  It was the first such missle to do so.

It had been launched from a German site at The Hauge.

The Battle of Dukla Pass began on the border between Poland and Slovakia. German resistance was much heavier than expected, which is something that would mark how combat on the Eastern Front would increasingly develop.  Hungarian forces fought with the Germans.

Last edition:

Thursday, September 7, 1944. Hungary declares war on Romania. The Chinese Army prevails at The Battle of Mount Song (松山戰役), The Shin'yō Maru incident.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Mount Song (松山戰役), boats and ships, Burma, Burma Road, Disaster, Hungary, Imperial Japanese Army, Nationalist Chinese Army, Prisoners of War, Romania, Vichy France, World War Two

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, 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)