Operation Roast ended in a British victory in Italy.
The British 2nd Army took Munster.
The Red Army launched the Vienna Offensive. They also took Magykanizsa and Kremnica.
The US 10th Army made easy advances on Okinawa.
The U-321 was sunk by a Vickers Wellington of No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron southwest of Ireland.
Last edition:
Operation Varsity, part of Operation Plunder, saw British, Canadian and American airborne troops drop around Wesel, Germany.
Little remembered, and sometimes criticized, the successful operation remains the largest airborne operation ever conducted on a single day and in one location. Much of the criticism has been based on the operation perhaps being unnecessary, but it's notable that by the end of this day, Montgomery's forces of Operation Plunder, which included American, British and Canadian troops, had established a bridgehead over the Rhine five miles deep.
German troops in Hungary were retreating in disorder.
The Red Army took Spolot on the Baltic coast between Gdynia and Danzig.
Task Force 58 raided Okinawa.
The Allied Chinese New 1st Army links up with the Chinese 50th Division near Hsipaw, bringing the campaign in northern Burma to an end.
Last edition:
Today in World War II History—March 6, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—Mar. 6, 1945: US First Army takes Cologne (Köln), Germany; in retreat, Germans destroy the Hohenzollern Bridge.
Operation Spring Awakening was launched by the Germans. It would be their last major offensive. An Eastern Front offensive, oil reserves were the target.
King Michael of Romania installed Petru Groza as Prime Minister of Romania due to Soviet pressure.
The Soviets began to arrest or kill anyone associated with the Polish Government In Exile or the Polish Home Army.
The famous tank battle in Cologne between a German Panther and a M26 named Eagle 7 took place. It's one of the best known American v. German tank battles of World War Two, and ironically took place in a large urban environment.
The battle was, unusually, completely filmed.
The crew of Eagle 7, after the battle.
The Chinese 1st Army took Lashio, Burma.
One of the interesting things here is that a person living in a communist country, or at least Hungary, could get a patent.
He is still with us, and is a bibliophile and collector of plants.
The deadline for draft dodgers to apply for amnesty for evading service in the Vietnam War was extended from January 31 to March 1.
Amnesty required a year of volunteer service, which most weren't up for, so not all that many had applied for amnesty.
Last edition:
End of the Siege of Bastogne which was an American victory. Beginning of the Siege of Budapest by the Red Army.
Germans forces were forced out of Celles by 30 Corps.
The US 8th Air Force bombs Coblenz, Bonn and Kaiserslautern (nominally railway targets) and the RAF Munchen-Gladbach and Bonn.
Sára Salkaházi, a Hungarian religious sister was executed by the Arrow Cross Party for working to save Jews. She was 45 years old.
The U-877 was sunk northwest of the Azores by Canadian corvette HMCS St. Thomas.
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, announced his retirement from Parliament.
Last edition:
Bastogne was surrounded.
General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz, commander of German forces outside of Bastogne, sent a major, a lieutenant and two enlisted men to deliver an ultimatum to US forces. The ultimatum, delivered to 101st artillery commander, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, who was in command, read:
To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.
The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Ourthe near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.
There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.
If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours term.
All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity.
The German Commander.
McAuliffe read the note, crumpled it up, and muttered, "Aw, nuts" after realizing that the Germans were asking for a U.S. surrender, rather than the other way around. Lieutenant Colonel Harry Kinnard suggested that McAuliffe's response summed up the situation well and reply was typed and delivered by Colonel Joseph Harper, commanding the 327th Glider Infantry, to the German delegation. It stated:
To the German Commander.
NUTS!
The American Commander.
The German commander was confused by the reply, understandably, and asked Harper what it meant. Harper replied; "In plain English? Go to hell." McAuliffe himself never used profanity.
Slowed progress caused Guderian to recommend the German offensive in the Ardennes be halted.
Guderian and McAuliffe's assessment was realistic. While from the outside the American situation appeared desperate, in fact it was not. The German advance had been massively slowed by American resistance, including by relatively inexperienced troops. At Bastogne the Germans now faced two airborne divisions which were used to being surrounded.
President Roosevelt signed the Flood Control Act of 1944.
A new provisional government was formed in Hungary.
The People's Army of Vietnam was formed.
Last edition:
The Spanish confiscation (Desamortización española) law, authorizing the government of Spain to steal the property and lands of the Catholic Church, a popular enlightenment and Reformation despoliation that happened in many places, was repealed.
The barbarity had been in place since 1766.
Amongst other things, the law resulted in millions of acres of forest falling into private hands, being deforested, with the cost of reforestation exceeding the value of their sales. The confiscations of the 19th Century were one of the biggest environmental disasters in Iberian history.
The Supreme Court of Hungary confiscated the property of former president Mihály Károlyi for high treason. He had been convicted of negotiating with Italy in 1915 to keep the Italians out of World War One in exchange for Austrian territory, and for allowing a communist revolution to happen in 1919 by deserting his position.
The Great Snowstorm of 1944 set in, impacting northeastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, upstate New York, southern Ontario and southern Quebec.
The British 8th Army crossed the Lamone.
The Soviets heavily bombard Budapest.
The US 7th Army entered Haguenau. The Germans unsuccessfully attacked 3d Army bridgeheads over the Saar.
The Germans completed the murder of the inmates of the Hartheim Euthanasia Centre.
British reinforcements reach Athens to combat some 25,000 ELAS troops.
The USS Reid was sunk off of Leyte by a kamikaze.
Kia (기아), then Kyungsung Precision Industry (京城精密工業), was founded in Seoul, which of course was occupied as part of the Japanese Empire.
Last edition:
The Red Army took Mohács, Hungary.
Heavy fighting continued in Leyte.
The U-80 went down with all hands in an accident off of Pillau.
Last edition:
French forces liberated Strasbourg.
The Canadian cabinet made 16,000 Canadian conscripts, previously not liable for overseas deployment, available for the same.
Soviet troops took Cop, Czechoslovakia and Tokay, Hungary.
The Royal Navy disbanded the British Eastern Fleet. Escort carriers and older ships were formed into the British East Indies Fleet with modern ships detached for service in the British Pacific Fleet.
Last edition:
Taiwan
The party regards Taiwan as de facto independent, which it should be. President Biden, following the election, stated the US didn't support Taiwanese independence, which it very much should.
January 14, 2024.
Hungary
The President of Hungary, Katalin Novák, age 46, has resigned due to a scandal involving the pardoning of an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.
February 11, 2024.
Ireland
The referendum failed massively. Actually two proposals, the one that sought to expand the definition of family from a relationship founded on marriage to include other durable relationships, failed 67.7% to 32.3%. The one to replace language surrounding a woman's duties in the home with a clause recognizing the role of family members in the provision of care was rejected 73.9% to 26.1%.
This deserves its own thread.
March 10, 2014
Russia
March 18, 2024.
South Africa.
Mexico
She is a protégé of the incumbent populist Manuel López Obrador and served as his pro oil environmental minister, in spite of having a degree in the field. Mexican presidents may only serve one six year term.
June 3, 2024
European Union
Far right parties gained overall in EU parliamentary elections over the weekend, although in Scandinavia, the far left did. President Macron dissolved the French parliament as a result, and France will now have elections. Poland's governing conservative party came out on top for that country, edging out the further right wing party that had governed Poland before it came to power last year.
June 10, 2024
France
And so the far right, globally, continues its rise.
July 1, 2024.
United Kingdom
July 5, 2024.
Iran
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election.
July 7, 2024.
France
In an amazing one week long rally, the French left and Macron's Ensemble stages a comeback with the left wing NFP now having the majority of seats in the French Assembly and Ensemble the second largest.
None of the parties have enough seats to form a government, and nobody is certain what will occur. If a government is to be formed, it will have to be a coalition government.
July 8, 2024.
Venezuela
July 30, 2024.
Georgia
Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has likely won a simple majority in the Georgian parliamentary election held on October 26, 2024, according to preliminary results. Partial preliminary results released by the Georgian Central Election Committee (CEC) on October 26 indicate that the Georgian Dream party will likely win the majority of seats in parliament, but the results are neither complete nor final.[1] The results suggest that Georgian Dream will form the new Georgian government, but that it will not have the 113 seats required to obtain the “constitutional majority” it needs to pursue some of the goals it has outlined, including outlawing nearly all opposition parties.[2] The CEC reported that voter turnout was nearly 59 percent- the highest since 2012 when Georgian Dream first came to power.[3]
Institute for the Study of War.
October 26, 2024.
Moldova
November 4, 2024
