Today in World War II History—June 23, 1940 & 1945: June 23, 1945: In the last airborne assault of the war, paratroopers of the US 11th Airborne Division land near Aparri in northern Luzon.
Today in World War II History—June 16, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 16, 1945: US Tenth Army takes Yuza-Dake Hill on Okinawa. “Bell Bottom Trousers” becomes final military-themed song to hit US charts in WWII.
Lots of versions of this song were recorded in 1945, and all in close proximity. The one above is the one that hit the charts on this date.
Here's another version, same year.
Once there was a little girl who lived next to meAnd she loved a sailor boy, he was only threeNow he's on a battleship in his sailor suitJust a great big sailor, but she thinks he's very cute(With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue)(She loves her sailor and he loves her too)When her sailor boy's away on the ocean blueSoldier boys all flirt with her, but to him she's trueThough they smile and tip their caps, and they wink their eyesShe just smiles and shakes her head, then she softly sighs(Oh, bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue)(She loves her sailor and he loves her too)Then her sailor went to sea to see what he could seeShe saw that he ate spinach, now he's big as he can beWhen he's home they stroll along, they don't give a hootShe won't let go of his hand, even to saluteIf her sailor she can't find on the bounding mainShe is hopeful he will soon come home safe againSo they can get married and raise a familyDress up all their kiddies in sailor's dungarees(Oh, bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue)(She loves her sailor and he loves her too)
The song was hugely popular (I can recall my mother singing it), and was recorded five times in 1945. Interestingly, the last recording, in February 1945, by Louis Prima recalled the more bawdy earlier version.
When I was a lady's maid down in Drury Lane
My mistress, she was good to me; my master was the same
Along came a sailor, happy as could be
And he was the cause of all my misery
With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue
(She loved her sailor and he loved her too)
He asked me for a candle to light him up to bed
He asked me for a kerchief to tie around his head
And I, like a silly girl, thinking it no harm
Lay down beside him, just to keep him warm
With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue
(She loved her sailor and he loved her too)
(Trumpet Solo)
Early in the mornin', before the break of day
A sawbuck note he left for me before he went away
And he wrote a message that if I have a son
Let him be a sailor if he wants to have some fun
With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue
(She loved her sailor and he loved her too)
(Saxophone Solo)
LOUIS:
If it is a daughter, bounce her on your knee
And if it is a boy, send the begger out to sea
Singin' bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue
Oh, he'll climb the riggin', like the sailors used to do
LILYANN:
If my sailor I can't find on the bounding main
I am hopeful he will soon come home safe again
So we can get married, and raise a family
Dress up all our kiddies in sailor's dungarees
When I was in service in Rosemary LaneI won the goodwill of my master and did ITill a sailor came there one night to layAnd that was the beginning of my misery
He called for a candle to light him to bedAnd likewise a silk handkerchief to tie up his headTo tie up his head as sailors will doAnd he said my pretty Polly will you come too
Now this maid being young and foolish she thought it no harmFor to lie into bed to keep herself warmAnd what was done there I will never discloseBut I wish that short night had been seven long years
Next morning this sailor so early aroseAnd into my apron three guineas did throwSaying take this I will give and more I will doIf you'll be my Polly wherever I go
Now if it's a boy he will fight for the kingAnd if it's a girl she will wear a gold ringShe will wear a gold ring and a dress all aflameAnd remember my service in Rosemary Lane
When I was in service in Rosemary LaneI won the goodwill of my master and did ITill a sailor came there one night to layAnd that was the beginning of my misery
The 10th Mountain Division adopted the song during the war for their own fighting song, and produced these lyrics:
I was a barmaid in a mountain inn;
There I learned the wages and miseries of sin;
Along came a skier fresh from off the slopes;
He’s the one that ruined me and shattered all my hopes.
Singing:
[Chorus:]
Ninety pounds of rucksack
A pound of grub or two
He’ll schuss the mountain,
Like his daddy used to do.
He asked me for a candle to light his way to bed;
He asked me for a kerchief to tie around his head;
And I a foolish maiden, thinking it no harm;
Jumped into the skier’s bed to keep the skier warm..
Singing:
[Chorus]
Early in the morning before the break of day,
He handed me a five note and these words did say,
“Take this my darling for the damage I have done.
You may have a daughter, you may have a son.
Now if you have a daughter, bounce her on your knee;
But if you have a son, send the young man out to ski.”
Singing:
[Chorus]
The moral of this story, as you can plainly see,
Is never trust a skier an inch above your knee.
For I trusted one and now look at me;
I’ve got a bastard in the Mountain Infantry.
Singing:
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.
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:
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.
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 French Resistance halted self propelled artillery production at the Lorraine-Dietrich works, Bagneres de Bigorre.
Pensive won the Preakness.
Last prior edition:
Nellie Morse became the fourth, and last, filly to win the Preakness. She's the only horse to win the Preakness and the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.
Maryland's Nellie Morse Stakes, restricted to fillies and mares, is named after her.
The USSR began a boycott of Germany over the Bozenhardt Incident.
Prohibition came to an end in Alberta, with two government owned liquor stores opening.
Raymond Poincaré announced he would resign as French Prime Minister as soon as a new government was formed, following recent French elections.
Last prior edition:
The Red Army began its attack on Sevastapol with a massive artillery strike, the Red Army norm.
The Biltmore Conference opened in New York City. It was a convention of Zionist meeting in the context of the Second World War at a point at which the mass murder of Jews was fairly openly known, and was certainly known amongst Jews. The topic was the British Palestinian Mandate.
The USS Gunard attacked the Take Ichi convoy, sinking three freighters.
The U-473 was sunk southeast of Ireland by the Royal Navy.
The U66 was rammed and sunk by the USS Buckley off of Cape Verde.
Pensive won the Kentucky Derby.
MGM released the Million Dollar Cat episode of Tom and Jerry.
Last prior edition:
The French Committee of National Liberation made a radio broadcast pledging to abolish the "arbitrary powers" imposed by the Vichy regime and restore French liberties and republican government.
Count Fleet won the Belmont, and hence the Triple Crown.
Paul Newman, having enlisted days before his 18th birthday, was called up for service in the Navy.
Newman wanted to be a pilot, but was taken out of flight school when it was discovered he was color blind. He went on to be a torpedo bomber crewman.
Sarah Sundin noted Newman's enlistment, but also noted the A36:
Today in World War II History—June 6, 1943: North American A-36 Apache flies first combat mission in a US Twelfth Air Force mission to Pantelleria. Future actor Paul Newman enlists in the US Navy, age 18.
We don't think much of the A-36, the dive bomber version of the P-51. The odd aircraft only came into existence in the first place as the 1942 appropriations for new fighter aircraft had run out and converting the assembly line to dive bombers kept the P-51 line open. Only 500 were built, with most used by the U.S. Army Air Force, but some used by the RAF.
The Germans liquidated the Rohatyn Ghetto in what is now Ukraine.
262 U.S. 39043 S.Ct. 62567 L.Ed. 1042MEYERv.STATE OF NEBRASKA.No. 325.Argued Feb. 23, 1923.Decided June 4, 1923.Messrs. A. F. Mullen, of Omaha, Neb., C. E. Sandall, of York, Neb., and I. L. Albert, of Columbus, Neb., for plaintiff in error.[Argument of Counsel from pages 391-393 intentionally omitted]Messrs. Mason Wheeler, of Lincoln, Neb., and O. S. Spillman, of Pierce, Neb., for the State of Nebraska.[Argument of Counsel from pages 393-395 intentionally omitted]Mr. Justice McREYNOLDS delivered the opinion of the Court.Plaintiff in error was tried and convicted in the district court for Hamilton county, Nebraska, under an information which charged that on May 25, 1920, while an instructor in Zion Parochial School he unlawfully taught the subject of reading in the German language to Raymond Parpart, a child of 10 years, who had no attained and successfully passed the eighth grade. The information is based upon 'An act relating to the teaching of foreign languages in the state of Nebraska,' approved April 9, 1919 (Laws 1919, c. 249), which follows:'Section 1. No person, individually or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial or public school, teach any subject to any person in any language than the English language.'Sec. 2. Languages, other than the English language, may be taught as languages only after a pupil shall have attained and successfully passed the eighth grade as evidenced by a certificate of graduation issued by the county superintendent of the county in which the child resides.'Sec. 3. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100), or be confined in the county jail for any period not exceeding thirty days for each offense.'Sec. 4. Whereas, an emergency exists, this act shall be in force from and after its passage and approval.'The Supreme Court of the state affirmed the judgment of conviction. 107 Neb. 657, 187 N. W. 100. It declared the offense charged and established was 'the direct and intentional teaching of the German language as a distinct subject to a child who had not passed the eighth grade,' in the parochial school maintained by Zion Evangelical Lutheran Congre ation, a collection of Biblical stories being used therefore. And it held that the statute forbidding this did not conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment, but was a valid exercise of the police power. The following excerpts from the opinion sufficiently indicate the reasons advanced to support the conclusion:'The salutary purpose of the statute is clear. The Legislature had seen the baneful effects of permitting for eigners, who had taken residence in this country, to rear and educate their children in the language of their native land. The result of that condition was found to be inimical to our own safety. To allow the children of foreigners, who had emigrated here, to be taught from early childhood the language of the country of their parents was to rear them with that language as their mother tongue. It was to educate them so that they must always think in that language, and, as a consequence, naturally inculcate in them the ideas and sentiments foreign to the best interests of this country. The statute, therefore, was intended not only to require that the education of all children be conducted in the English language, but that, until they had grown into that language and until it had become a part of them, they should not in the schools be taught any other language. The obvious purpose of this statute was that the English language should be and become the mother tongue of all children reared in this state. The enactment of such a statute comes reasonably within the police power of the state. Pohl v. State, 102 Ohio St. 474, 132 N. E. 20; State v. Bartels, 191 Iowa, 1060, 181 N. W. 508.'It is suggested that the law is an unwarranted restriction, in that it applies to all citizens of the state and arbitrarily interferes with the rights of citizens who are not of foreign ancestry, and prevents them, without reason, from having their children taught foreign languages in school. That argument is not well taken, for it assumes that every citizen finds himself restrained by the statute. The hours which a child is able to devote to study in the confinement of school are limited. It must have ample time for exercise or play. Its daily capacity for learning is comparatively small. A selection of subjects for its education, therefore, from among the many that might be taught, is obviously necessary. The Legislature no doubt had in mind the practical operation of the law. The law affects few citizens, except those of foreign lineage.Other citizens, in their selection of studies, except perhaps in rare instances, have never deemed it of importance to teach their children foreign languages before such children have reached the eighth grade. In the legislative mind, the salutary effect of the statute no doubt outweighed the restriction upon the citizens generally, which, it appears, was a restriction of no real consequence.'The problem for our determination is whether the statute as construed and applied unreasonably infringes the liberty guaranteed to the plaintiff in error by the Fourteenth Amendment:'No state * * * shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.'While this court has not attempted to define with exactness the liberty thus guaranteed, the term has received much consideration and some of the included things have been definitely stated. Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall. 36, 21 L. Ed. 394; Butchers' Union Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U. S. 746, 4 Sup. Ct. 652, 28 L. Ed. 585; Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S. 356, 6 Sup. Ct. 1064, 30 L. Ed. 220; Minnesota v. Bar er, 136 U. S. 313, 10 Sup. Ct. 862, 34 L. Ed. 455; Allegeyer v. Louisiana, 165 U. S. 578, 17 Sup. Ct. 427, 41 L. Ed. 832; Lochner v. New York, 198 U. S. 45, 25 Sup. Ct. 539, 49 L. Ed. 937, 3 Ann. Cas. 1133; Twining v. New Jersey 211 U. S. 78, 29 Sup. Ct. 14, 53 L. Ed. 97; Chicago, B. & Q. R. R. v. McGuire, 219 U. S. 549, 31 Sup. Ct. 259, 55 L. Ed. 328; Truax v. Raich, 239 U. S. 33, 36 Sup. Ct. 7, 60 L. Ed. 131, L. R. A. 1916D, 545, Ann. Cas. 1917B, 283; Adams v. Tanner, 224 U. S. 590, 37 Sup. Ct. 662, 61 L. Ed. 1336, L. R. A. 1917F, 1163, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 973; New York Life Ins. Co. v. Dodge, 246 U. S. 357, 38 Sup. Ct. 337, 62 L. Ed. 772, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 593; Truax v. Corrigan, 257 U. S. 312, 42 Sup. Ct. 124, 66 L. Ed. 254; Adkins v. Children's Hospital (April 9, 1923), 261 U. S. 525, 43 Sup. Ct. 394, 67 L. Ed. ——; Wyeth v. Cambridge Board of Health, 200 Mass. 474, 86 N. E. 925, 128 Am. St. Rep. 439, 23 L. R. A. (N. S.) 147. The established doctrine is that this liberty may not be interfered with, under the guise of protecting the public interest, by legislative action which is arbitrary or without reasonable relation to some purpose within the competency of the state to effect. Determination by the Legislature of what constitutes proper exercise of police power is not final or conclusive but is subject to supervision by the courts. Lawton v. Steele, 152 U. S. 133, 137, 14 Sup. Ct. 499, 38 L. Ed. 385.The American people have always regarded education and acquisition of knowledge as matters of supreme importance which should be diligently promoted. The Ordinance of 1787 declares:'Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.'Corresponding to the right of control, it is the natural duty of the parent to give his children education suitable to their station in life; and nearly all the states, including Nebraska, enforce this obligation by compulsory laws.Practically, education of the young is only possible in schools conducted by especially qualified persons who devote themselves thereto. The calling always has been regarded as useful and honorable, essential, indeed, to the public welfare. Mere knowledge of the German language cannot reasonably be regarded as harmful. Heretofore it has been commonly looked upon as helpful and desirable. Plaintiff in error taught this language in school as part of his occupation. His right thus to teach and the right of parents to engage him so to instruct their children, we think, are within the liberty of the amendment.The challenged statute forbids the teaching in school of any subject except in English; also the teaching of any other language until the pupil has attained and successfully passed the eighth grade, which is not usually accomplished before the age of twelve. The Supreme Court of the state has held that 'the so-called ancient or dead languages' are not 'within the spirit or the purpose of the act.' Nebraska District of Evangelical Lutheran Synod, etc., v. McKelvie et al. (Neb.) 187 N. W. 927 (April 19, 1922). Latin, Greek, Hebrew are not proscribed; but German, French, Spanish, Italian, and every other alien speech are within the ban. Evidently the Legislature has attempted materially to interfere with the calling of modern language teachers, with the opportunities of pupils to acquire knowledge, and with the power of parents to control the education of their own.It is said the purpose of the legislation was to promote civic development by inhibiting training and education of the immature in foreign tongues and ideals before they could learn English and acquire American ideals, and 'that the English language should be and become the mother tongue of all children reared in this state.' It is also affirmed that the foreign born population is very large, that certain communities commonly use foreign words, follow foreign leaders, move in a foreign atmosphere, and that the children are thereb hindered from becoming citizens of the most useful type and the public safety is imperiled.That the state may do much, go very far, indeed, in order to imporve the quality of its citizens, physically, mentally and morally, is clear; but the individual has certain fundamental rights which must be respected. The protection of the Constitution extends to all, to those who speak other languages as well as to those born with English on the tongue. Perhaps it would be highly advantageous if all had ready understanding of our ordinary speech, but this cannot be coerced by methods which conflict with the Constitution—a desirable and cannot be promoted by prohibited means.For the welfare of his Ideal Commonwealth, Plato suggested a law which should provide:'That the wives of our guardians are to be common, and their children are to be common, and no parent is to know his own child, nor any child his parent. * * * The proper officers will take the offspring of the good parents to the pen or fold, and there they will deposit them with certain nurses who dwell in a separate quarter; but the offspring of the inferior, or of the better when they chance to be deformed, will be put away in some mysterious, unknown place, as they should be.'In order to submerge the individual and develop ideal citizens, Sparta assembled the males at seven into barracks and intrusted their subsequent education and training to official guardians. Although such measures have been deliberately approved by men of great genius their ideas touching the relation between individual and state were wholly different from those upon which our institutions rest; and it hardly will be affirmed that any Legislature could impose such restrictions upon the people of a state without doing violence to both letter and spirit of the Constitution.The desire of the Legislature to foster a homogeneous people with American ideals prepared readily to understand current discussions of civic matters is easy to appreciate. Unfortunate experiences during the late war and aversion toward every character of truculent adversaries were certainly enough to quicken that aspiration. But the means adopted, we think, exceed the limitations upon the power of the state and conflict with rights assured to plaintiff in error. The interference is plain enough and no adequate reason therefor in time of peace and domestic tranquility has been shown.The power of the state to compel attendance at some school and to make reasonable regulations for all schools, including a requirement that they shall give instructions in English, is not questioned. Nor has challenge been made of the state's power to prescribe a curriculum for institutions which it supports. Those matters are not within the present controversy. Our concern is with the prohibition approved by the Supreme Court. Adams v. Tanner, 244 U. S. 594, 37 Sup. Ct. 662, 61 L. Ed. 1336, L. R. A. 1917F, 1163, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 973, pointed out that mere abuse incident to an occupation ordinarily useful is not enough to justify its abolition, although regulation may be entirely proper. No emergency has arisen which renders knowledge by a child of some language other than English so clearly harmful as to justify its inhibition with the consequent infringement of rights long freely enjoyed. We are constrained to conclude that the statute as applied is arbitrary and without reasonable relation to any end within the competency of the state.As the statute undertakes to interfere only with teaching which involves a modern language, leaving complete freedom as to other matters, there seems no adequate foundation for the suggestion that the purpose was to protect the child's health by limiting his mental activities. It is well known that proficiency in a foreign language seldom comes to one not instructed at an early age, and experience shows that this is not injurious to the health, morals or understanding of the ordinary child.The judgment of the court belo must be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.Reversed.Mr. Justice Holmes and Mr. Justice Sutherland, dissent.
Lenin's USSR, which was ostensibly for the rights of small nations, executed the principal leaders of the Georgian Committee for the Independence of Georgia.
Zev won the Kentucky Derby. H was owned by Harry F. Sinclair of the Sinclair Oil Company.
Italian women marched for suffrage in Rome.
Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, the first of his races on to the Triple Crown.
480,000 coal mining members of the United Mine Workers went on strike. President Roosevelt ordered them to return to work by 10:00 a.m. They didn't.
An executive order followed, authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to take possession of the mines, if necessary.
More on the strike here:
In case you wondered, 55,156 people are employed in the American coal mining industry today.
On the same day, Ford Motor Company fired 141 employees because of labor disputes. Most of those fired were African Americans.
800 British troops, mostly Colonial forces, went down with the British troopship Erinpura which was sunk north of Benghazi by German aircraft.
Count Fleet won the Kentucky Derby.
Foaled in 1918, the horse went on to a career as a stud, sort of, with the owner restricting the horses breeding as he thought its legs had poor confirmation He was ultimately donated to the U.S. Army's remount program which sent him out to Wyoming. He was considered a poor racehorse and ironically beat the favorite that was owned by the same individual as he was, which resulted in that owners losing money on the race as he'd put money on that favorite, the vaguely racist named Black Servant.
Mrs. Harding, General Peshing, and Mrs. Benedict Crowell attended the New York City Police Parade with a troop of Girl Scouts.
November 12, 1920: Man o' War's final run
Read about it at the above, an unfortunately seemingly inactive blog.
On the same day, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was hired as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, and at the same time the major leagues took on their present organizational form.
This occured, of course, in the wake of the Black Sox Scandal and as part of an effort to address deficiencies in the organization of the sport and clear up its name.
Italy and what would become Yugoslavia entered into the Treaty of Rapallo. The treaty adjusted territorial boundaries between the nations, which had been disputed in the wake of World War One and the creation of the new state. The new South Slav kingdom and Italy shared populations that were of the ethnicities of the other state. While the treaty did leave few Italians in Yugoslavia, about 500,000 South Slavs remained in what became Italian territory.
The border would be readjusted following World War Two.
Former resident of Cheyenne and teenage lover of Charlie Chaplin, actress Mildred Harris, was granted a divorce from Chaplin.
Harris' sad story, as well as her peculiar role in history (she's at least partially responsible for Wallace Simpson meeting King Edward VIII, has been addressed elsewhere on this blog.
President Wilson refused to sign the execution warrant for Sgt. Anthony F. Tamme, who had been convicted of espionage during World War One.
