Saturday, May 16, 1914. Álvaro Obregón's takes Tepic.

Álvaro Obregón's forces captured Tepic and thus the only railroad between the ports of Guadalajara and Colima.

Robert Bartlett arrived in Emma Harbour.

A day late, but the day prior, May 15, Colorado National Guardsman Sergeant Patrick N. Cullom testified that soldiers in his company shot and killed labor activist Louis Tikas and two other fellow strikers while they tried to escape during the Ludlow Massacre.  Moreover, it was revealed that large numbers of strikebreakers were recent enlistees in the subject unit.

Last prior edition:

Thursday, May 14, 1914. The Life of General Villa

1910s, 1914, 1914 at the movies, Equine Transportation, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Movies, Nebraska (Omaha), Omaha Nebraska, Pancho Villa, panoramic

Wednesday, May 7, 1924. Liberty.

 

The American Popular Revolutionary Alliance was founded in Mexico City by Peruvian politician Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre as a Latin American left wing political party/alliance of left wing political parties.  It still exists.

The first issue of Liberty, dated May 10, appeared.  It lasted until July 1950.

German miners went on strike in he Ruhar over wages.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, May 6, 1924. After shocks of World War One and the beginnings of the 30s.

1920s, 1924, Fascism, German Weimar Republic, Macedonia, Marriage, Romania, The relationship between men and women, USSR, Women, Yugoslavia

Thursday, May 1, 1924. Salt.

Iodized salt was introduced in the US, which addressed a pile of thyroid related problems.

Having had half of my thyroid cut out this year, I appreciate that.

It was Canadian pediatrician David Murray Crowe who became aware that the addition of sodium iodide or potassium iodide to salt could safely remedy the problem of iodine deficiency that was a leading cause of thyroid problems.

Benz und Companie and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft combined operations, but had not yet quite merged.

May Day demonstrations occured across the US.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 30, 1924. More tornadoes.

1920s, 1924, Animals, Calvin Coolidge, Cats, Cuba, First Around The World Flight, police, Weather

Saturday, February 23, 1924. Electric Trucks.

The Saturday magazines hit the stands, including this issue of Colliers:

The issue had some good articles on it, including one that would still be considered timely.

Politics and oil were a topic.

On oil, the issue had an Autocar Truck advertisement advertising gas and electric trucks. . . the latter being something that locals now insist just can't happen.

And Colt had an advertisement on handguns in a national magazine, something that wouldn't happen now.  While the government is referenced, it's really home protection, a theme we still see, that is being suggested.

The Royal Navy intervened in the ongoing dockworkers strike to move 4,500 bags of mail from the United States.

Albanian Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu was shot twice by an anarchist would be assassin, but survived.

Monday, February 11, 1924. Booting Denby

The Senate began to move against Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby.

The vote was 47 to 34 to remove Denby, which would actually be something that Coolidge, not Congress, could do.

The Negro Sanhedrin, an attempt by the City of Chicago to have an all race congress to address racial issues, convened with representatives of trade unions, civic groups and fraternal organizations. The specific goal was to devise a program to protect the rights of African American tenant farmers.

Thursday, February 7, 1974: Blog Mirror: "Blazing Saddles" Premieres

February 7, 1974: "Blazing Saddles" Premieres

I love that movie.

Mel Brook's great comedic spoof Western movies remains one of the all-time greats. It could not be made today.

Grenada became independent.

Prime Minister Edward Heath called for a dissolution of Parliament and new elections due to the governments' inability to resolve a coal miner's strike.

Coal mining had once been a major industry in the UK but was on its decline by the 1970s. The labor victory would be short lived as the Thatcher government of the 80s began to close coal mines down in a direction that indicated the industry was clearly done for, something she could do because of the nationalization of mines.  The trend had been going on since World War Two in any event.

Eight coal fired power plants remain in operation in the UK, all of which are slated to be closed this year. Six underground mines remain in operation, and two open pit mines. Mining communities have not been able to adjust to the change, something which should concern Wyoming.

The Nixon Administration entered into an agreement to revise the 1903 Panama Canal Treaty.

Moro rebels killed 25 civilians on a raid on Pikit, Mindanao.

The Laju Incident in Singapore ended as the combined terrorist attackers from the Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine released hostages in exchange for safe passage to the Middle East.

Supposedly the small Japanese Red Army disbanded in 2001, but Japanese authorities maintain a successor organization was founded, and Japanese police have continued to maintain that known members of the group should be arrested.  The PFLP still exists.  Both groups were/are Communist in nature.

Related threads:

Coal: Understanding the time line of an industry

Monday, January 21, 1924. Death claims bloody Lenin.

 

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to history as Vladimir Lenin, the illegitimate leader of a "soviet" state the Russian people had not wished to come into existence, died, having brought untold misery to millions.

The monster was 53 years of age.

His father had died at 54, so there's likely a genetic component to his "stroke", but in actuality, the exact cause of his death is not really known.

Parliament passed a no confidence motion in the government of Stanley Baldwin.

British railway workers went on strike the same day.

Mexican Federal troops crossed the US into Mexico, repeating the event which had lead Pancho Villa to attack Columbus, New Mexico, in March 1916.

Friday, January 14, 1944. Relieving Leningrad.

The Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive commences with the aim of lifting the siege of Leningrad.  The Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha offensive also commenced.

Red Army sniper and Kazakh Aliya Nurmuhametqyzy Moldagulova (Russian Алия Нурмухамбетовна Молдагулова, Kazakh: Әлия Нұрмұхамедқызы Молдағұлова/Äliia Nūrmūhamedqyzy Moldağūlova) was killed in action.

The Polish Government In Exile again refused to accept unilateral decisions regarding Polish territory but said it was approaching the British and American governments to mediate questions between Poland and the USSR and that it was optimistic regarding resolutions.

The Red Army took Mozyr and Kalinkovichi.

The Japanese destroyer Sazanami was sun by the submarine USS Albacore off of Yap.

T/4 Clarence Benson of the 272nd QM Bakery on Kiska. 14 January, 1944.

Railroad unions accepted a proposal put forth by the Administration.

Sarah Sundin's blog has a bunch of interesting ones, including this:

Today in World War II History—January 14, 1944: 80 Years Ago—Jan. 14, 1944: US Navy Seabees in camps in US get a sneak preview of John Wayne’s movie The Fighting Seabees.

She also noted that Gen. Eisenhower arrived in London, and that interned Japanese Americans became liable for conscription. 

Thursday, December 23, 1943. Moving toward railroad seizure.

The Great Hall of Union Station, Toronto, Canada, December 23, 1943.

Three out of five railroad unions rejected Franklin Roosevelt's offer of arbitration in their wage dispute.

Accordingly, President Roosevelt ordered Attorney General Francis Biddle to being the process of seizing the railroads effective December 30.

The Red Army prevailed in the Battle of the Dnieper.

The Canadian 1st Division seized most of Ortona.  Other 8th Army elements captured Arielli.

The HMS Worcester hit a mine in the North Sea and was rendered a loss.

Thursday, December 20, 1923. Setback in Mexico.

 Mexican revolutionaries were suffering a set back.

And Congress went on vacation.

The German arms manufacturing company, which also manufactured other things, started finding workers who refused to work a ten-hour day.

The Dixmude, a war prize German Zeppelin in French service, exploded in midair, with all hands lost.

Wednesday, November 3, 1943. Aktion Erntefest

Over 18,000 Jewish prisoners were shot on this day at the Majdanke concentration camp in Poland in Aktion Erntefest, named after the traditional German harvest festival.  Music associated with the festival and dance music was played over loudspeakers to drown out the sounds of the massacre.

An additional 6,000 were murdered at Trawniki concentration camp. 

Over 42,000 Jews would be murdered over a course of several days.

Hitler issued Führer Directive Number 51.  It stated:

Führer Headquarters3 November 1943 Top Secret The Führer  OKW/WFSt/Op.No. 662656/43 g.K. Chefs

For the last two and one-half years the bitter and costly struggleagainst Bolshevism has made the utmost demands upon the bulk of ourmilitary resources and energies. This commitment was in keeping with the seriousness of the danger, and the over-all situation. The situation has since changed. The threat from the East remains, but an even greater danger looms in the West: the Anglo-American landing! In the East, the vastness of the space will, as a last resort, permit a loss of territory even on a major scale, without suffering a mortal blow to Germany’s chance for survival.

Not so in the West! If the enemy here succeeds in penetrating our defenses on a wide front, consequences of staggering proportions will follow within a short time. All signs point to an offensive against theWestern Front of Europe no later than spring, and perhaps earlier.

For that reason, I can no longer justify the further weakening of the West in favor of other theaters of war. I have therefore decided to strengthen the defenses in the West, particularly at places from which we shall launch our long-range war against England. For those are the very points at which the enemy must and will attack; there-unless all indications are misleading-will be fought the decisive invasion battle.

Holding attacks and diversions on other fronts are to be expected. Not even the possibility of a large-scale offensive against Denmark may beexcluded. It would pose greater nautical problems and could be less effectively supported from the air, but would nevertheless produce thegreatest political and strategic impact if it were to succeed.

During the opening phase of the battle, the entire striking power of the enemy will of necessity be directed against our forces manning the coast. Only an all-out effort in the construction of fortifications, an unsurpassed effort that will enlist all available manpower and physical resources of Germany and the occupied areas, will be able to strengthenour defenses along the coasts within the short time that still appears to be left to us.

Stationary weapons (heavy AT guns, immobile tanks to be dug-in, coast artillery, shore-defense guns, mines, etc.) arriving in Denmark and the occupied West within the near future will be heavily concentrated in points of main defensive effort at the most vulnerable coastal sectors.At the same time, we must take the calculated risk that for the present we may be unable to improve our defenses in less threatened sectors.

Should the enemy nevertheless force a landing by concentrating his armed might, he must be hit by the full fury of our counterattack. For this mission ample and speedy reinforcements of men and materiel, as well as intensive training must transform available larger units into first-rate,fully mobile general reserves suitable for offensive operations. The counterattack of these units will prevent the enlargement of the beachhead, and throw the enemy back into the sea.

In addition, well-planned emergency measures, prepared down to the last detail, must enable us instantly to throw against the invader every fit man and machine from coastal sectors not under attack and from the homefront.

The anticipated strong attacks by air and sea must be relentlessly countered by Air Force and Navy with all their available resources. I therefore order the following:

A) Army:

1.) The Chief of the Army General Staff and the Inspector General of Panzer Troops will submit to me as soon as possible a schedule covering arms, tanks, assault guns, motor vehicles, and ammunition to be allocated to the Western Front and Denmark within the next three months. That schedule will conform to the new situation. The following considerationswill be basic:

a) Sufficient mobility for all panzer and panzer grenadier divisions in the West, and equipment of each of those units by December 1943 with 93Mark IV tanks or assault guns, as well as large numbers of antitankweapons.

Accelerated reorganization of the 20 Luftwaffe Field Divisions into an effective mobile reserve force by the end of 1943. This reorganization isto include the issue of assault guns.

Accelerated issue of all authorized weapons to the SS Panzer Grenadier Division Hitler Jugend, the 21st Panzer Division, and the infantry andreserve divisions stationed in Jutland.

b) Additional shipments of Mark IV tanks, assault guns, and heavy AT guns to the reserve panzer divisions stationed in the West and in Denmark, as well as to the Assault Gun Training Battalion in Denmark.

c) In November and December, monthly allotments of 100 heavy AT guns models 40 and 43 (half of these to be mobile) in addition to thoserequired for newly activated units in the West and in Denmark.

d) Allotment of large numbers of weapons (including about 1,000 machineguns) for augmenting the armament of those static divisions that arecommitted for coastal defense in the West and in Denmark, and forstandardizing the equipment of elements that are to be withdrawn fromsectors not under attack.

e) Ample supply of close-combat AT weapons to units in vulnerablesectors.

f) Improvement of artillery and AT defenses in units stationed in Denmark, as well as those committed for coastal protection in theoccupied West. Strengthening of GHQ artillery.

2.) The units and elements stationed in the West or in Denmark, as well as panzer, assault gun, and AT units to be activated in the West, must not be transferred to other fronts without my permission. The Chief ofthe Army General Staff, or the Inspector General of Panzer Troops will submit to me a report through the Armed Forces Operations Staff as soon as the issue of equipment to the panzer and assault gun battalions, as well as to the AT battalions and companies, has been completed.

3.) Beyond similar measures taken in the past, the Commander in Chief West will establish time tables for, and conduct maneuvers and command post exercises on, the procedure for bringing up units from sectors not under attack. These units will be made capable of performing offensive missions, however limited. In that connection I demand that sectors not threatened by the enemy be ruthlessly stripped of all forces except small guard detachments. For sectors from which reserves are withdrawn,security and guard detachments must be set aside from security and alarmunits. Labor forces drawn largely from the native population must likewise be organized in those sectors, in order to keep open whateverroads might be destroyed by the enemy air force.

4.) The Commander of German Troops in Denmark will take measures in thearea under his control in compliance with paragraph 3 above.

5.) Pursuant to separate orders, the Chief of Army Equipment andCommander of the Replacement Army will form Kampfgruppen in regimental strength, security battalions, and engineer construction battalions fromtraining cadres, trainees, schools, and instruction and convalescentunits in the Zone of the Interior. These troops must be ready forshipment on 48 hours’ notice.

Furthermore, other available personnel are to be organized into battalions of replacements and equipped with the available weapons, sothat the anticipated heavy losses can quickly be replaced.

B) Luftwaffe:

The offensive and defensive effectiveness of Luftwaffe units in the Westand in Denmark will be increased to meet the changed situation. To that end, preparations will be made for the release of units suited for commitment in the anti-invasion effort, that is, all flying units and mobile Flak artillery that can be spared from the air defenses of thehome front, and from schools and training units in the Zone of the Interior. All those units are to be earmarked for the West and possibly Denmark.

The Luftwaffe ground organization in southern Norway, Denmark, northwestern Germany, and the West will be expanded and supplied in a waythat will-by the most far-reaching decentralization of own forces-denytargets to the enemy bombers, and split the enemy’s offensive effort incase of large-scale operations. Particularly important in that connection will be our fighter forces. Possibilities for their commitment must be increased by the establishment of numerous advance landing fields. Special emphasis is to be placed on good camouflage. I expect also that the Luftwaffe will unstintingly furnish all available forces, bystripping them from less threatened areas.

C) Navy:

The Navy will prepare the strongest possible forces suitable for attacking the enemy landing fleets. Coastal defense installations in the process of construction will be completed with the utmost speed. The emplacing of additional coastal batteries and the possibility of layingfurther flanking mine fields should be investigated.

All school, training, and other shore-based personnel fit for groundcombat must be prepared for commitment so that, without undue delay, they can at least be employed as security forces within the zone of the enemylanding operations.

While preparing the reinforcement of the defenses in the West, the Navy must keep in mind that it might be called upon to repulse simultaneous enemy landings in Norway and Denmark. In that connection, I attach particular importance to the assembly of numerous U-boats in the northern area. A temporary weakening of U-boat forces in the Atlantic must be risked.

D) SS:

The Reichsfuehrer-SS will determine what Waffen-SS and police forces he can release for combat, security, and guard duty. He is to prepare to organize effective combat and security forces from training, replacement,and convalescent units, as well as schools and other home-front establishments.

E) The commanders in chief of the services, the Reichsfuehrer-ss, the Chief of the Army General Staff, the Commander in Chief West, the Chief of Army Equipment and Commander of the Replacement Army, the Inspector General of Panzer Troops, as well as the Commander of German Troops in Denmark will report to me by 15 November all measures taken or planned.

I expect that all agencies will make a supreme effort toward utilizing every moment of the remaining time in preparing for the decisive battlein the West.

All authorities will guard against wasting time and energy in useless jurisdictional squabbles, and will direct all their efforts towardstrengthening our defensive and offensive power.

Adolf Hitler

The emphasis on Denmark, which would have made for a difficult invasion, is interesting. 

The diversionary Raid on Choiseul (Operation Blissful) came to an end.

Today in World War II History—November 3, 1943: Battleship USS Oklahoma, sunk at Pearl Harbor, is refloated, but it will be scrapped due to damage. US Eighth Air Force sends 566 bombers to Wilhelmshaven.

Sarah Sundin.

She also notes that Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes signed an interim agreement with coal miners allowing for the resumption of coal mining.

Monday, November 1, 1943. Landings on Bougainville.

14,000 U.S. Marines of the 3d Marine Division landed on Bougainville in the Solomons in the oddly named Operation Goodtime as well as the smaller Operation Cherryblossom.

The major operation would ultimately involve 144,000 US troops of the Marine Corps and the Army and 30,000 Australian troops.  Japanese defenses were initially overrun, the defending force consisting of only 200 men, but the island had 40,000 Japanese troops on it.  Operations would not cease until the end of the war, as the Japanese forces remained fighting up until that time.

Bougainville is a very large island that the Germans colonized starting in 1899.  It passed to Australian by way of a League of Nations mandate following World War One.

Internees at the Tule Lake Segregation Center surrounded the administration building during a visit by War Location Director Dillon S. Myer. 

Between 5,000 to 10,000 internees surrounded the building upon learning of Myer's unannounced visit until he consented to see a negotiating committee regarding grievances they held.

The USS Borie and the German submarine U-405 fought in the North Atlantic, with the result that both ships had to be scuttled.

President Roosevelt orders the Solid Fuels Administration to take over the operation of the nation's coal mines.

He also addressed Congress on the nation's food program.

The Moscow Conference issued its declaration on atrocities.

Moscow Declaration on Atrocities

by President Roosevelt, Mr. Winston Churchill and Marshal Stalin, issued on

November 1, 1943

The United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union have received from many quarters evidence of atrocities, massacres and cold-blooded mass executions which are being perpetrated by the Hitlerite forces in many of the countries they have overrun and from which they are now being steadily expelled. The brutalities of Hitlerite domination are no new thing and all people or territories in their grip have suffered from the worst form of Government by terror. What is new is that many of these territories are now being redeemed by the advancing armies of the liberating Powers and that, in their desperation, the recoiling Hitlerite Huns are redoubling their ruthless cruelties. This is now evidenced with particular clearness by the monstrous crimes of the Hitlerites on the territory of the Soviet Union which is being liberated from the Hitlerites and on French and Italian territory.

Accordingly the aforesaid three Allied Powers, speaking in the interests of the 32 United Nations, hereby solemnly declare and give full warning of their declaration as follows: At the time of the granting of any armistice to any Government which may be set up in Germany, those German officers and men and members of the Nazi party who have been responsible for or have taken a consenting part in the above atrocities, massacres and executions will be sent back to the countries in which their abominable deeds were done in order that they may be judged and punished according to the laws of these liberated countries and of the Free Governments which will be erected therein. Lists will be compiled in all possible detail from all these countries having regard especially to the invaded parts of the Soviet Union, to Poland and Czechoslovakia, to Yugoslavia and Greece including Crete and other islands, to Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Italy.

Thus, Germans who take part in wholesale shootings of Italian officers or in the execution of French, Dutch, Belgian or Norwegian hostages or of Cretan peasants, or who have shared in the slaughters inflicted on the people of Poland or in the territories of the Soviet Union which are now being swept clear of the enemy, will know that they will be brought back to the scene of their crimes and judged on the spot by the peoples whom they have outraged. Let those who have hitherto not imbued their hands with innocent blood beware lest they join the ranks of the guilty, for most assuredly the three Allied Powers will pursue them to the uttermost ends of the earth and will deliver them to the accusers in order that justice may be done.

The above declaration is without prejudice to the case of the major criminals whose offences have no particular geographical location and who will be punished by a joint decision of the Governments of the

Allies.

Thursday, October 28, 1943. Operation Blissful.

Operation Blissful, the Raid on Choiseul in the Solomon's, commenced.

The raid was conducted by Marine Corps paratroopers, although they landed by landing craft, and was designed to divert and confuse Japanese troops as to Bougainville.  It is not known to what extent the raid achieved that goal.

Coal miner strikes in the US increase momentum.

Churchill addressed the Commons about rebuilding its damaged structure.

The Soviets established the military award The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky (Орден Богдана Хмельницького), the only Soviet Award written in Ukrainian.  It was named after a Ukrainian Cossack Hetman.

Sunday October 14, 1923. Yankees beat the Giants, blast at Wrigley Field, More French Babies.

The Yankees took game 5 of the 1923 World Series, 8 to 1.

Polo Grounds, Yankee's Stadium in the background.

A bomb exploded outside of Wrigley Field, injuring none but causing $5,000 in damage.  It was attributed to union agitators who were upset with Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

No arrests were made.

French President Alexandre Millerand lobbied for an increased French birth rate to hedge against Germany.  French birth rates had decreased since the war.

Friday, September 21, 1923. Oklahoma standoff, Lee's Ferry, Coolidge Press Conference, Dr. Fidel Pagés.

The Colorado River was photographed at Lee's Ferry.

Things were getting worse in the standoff between the Governor and the Legislature in Oklahoma.

.President Coolidge delivered an address to the Press.

I am reminded that when I came here I did a good deal of wondering whether I would be able to be helpful to the members of the press in these conferences that we have, and especially as to whether I wouldn’t find it more or less of a bore on my part and, perhaps, not particularly pleasant. I haven’t found it that way at all. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that I rather look forward with pleasure to having you come in twice a week, in order that I may talk to you, give you a little of the idea I may have of what the Government is trying to do, and satisfy you, insofar as I can, on the questions that you ask.

I am reminded too that my boys have returned back to school. They are just such boys as some of you have, I have no doubt. I hope that they can remain there at school without much of anything in the way of publicity. When they are here anything that they can do to be helpful, or that we can do, we are glad to do but I sent them up to Mercersburg, which is a very excellent school. They have always been in the public schools at Northampton and would have been there now, had we remained in Massachusetts, but there is no one in Northampton now, but my housekeeper. I wanted them to be under more supervision than that, so I sent them up there in order that they might be out of Washington and have that opinion, which I think boys are entitled to have, of privacy in their school affairs. Dr. Irving has been very helpful to them up there, and I presume that if you make any application to him, or any of your associates, to get any story about the boys up there, he will have to tell you that we very much prefer that they be not subjected to publicity while they are there.

Now I have several inquiries here – more than I do sometimes.

The veteran inquiry about the Governors’ Conference. I have practically determined that I shall adopt the time when the Governors are meeting in their annual conference, which is in the middle of October. I have adopted that as a result of some communications that I have had from Governors, indicating that that would meet their convenience, and that it would be of very much greater assistance to them, than should we call it at any other time.

Q. Where do they meet?

A. They meet in Indianapolis. I think it is the 16th or 15th of Oct.

Q. The meeting will be after that?

A. I am not sure yet whether it will be right after or right before. I am under the impression now that it will be more convenient if we have it immediately following.

Q. Do we understand that they will come here or you go there?

A. Oh, no. I shall not go there. The conference will be here.

I have several inquiries about an extra session of Congress, Nothing new has developed on that. I have already expressed to you quite a good many times that I couldn’t see any reason at the time I was speaking, nor do I now, for calling an extra session. There are many questions to come before Congress but I think, so far as they have been presented to me, they will be able to wait. Now as I said before, I don’t want to foreclose a session, and should it be disclosed to me that on account of some condition Congress might render a great public service by coming into session earlier than about eight weeks from now, I will take that instance up and decide it when it comes. At present, I don’t see any reason for an extra session.

An inquiry about the Oklahoma situation. So far as I know, there have been no representations made to Washington in relation to that situation, and an inquiry as to whether there is any Federal observation being made on it – not any that I know of. It wouldn’t be necessary to do it from Washington, of course, because the Executive is represented there by the Marshal and the United States District Attorney, as he is in every other jurisdiction, and should there be any violation of the laws of the U. S., why, of course, that would be the tribunal before which said violations should be brought.

Regarding the shipping board policy. I have no new policy about that. It really isn’t the business of the executive, as I understand it, under the law to try to formulate a policy for the Shipping Board. I am glad at all times to confer with, different departments, give them the benefit of any judgment that I may have or any information that may come to me, and assist them in every possible way. The Shipping Board has certain directions under the law for carrying on the shipping business of the U. S. to – generally speaking to try and get into private hands as soon as possible and to liquidate it. The plan that they had appealed to me, especially because they represented it to me, and it was my judgment that it was, perhaps, a first step and the best step that we could take towards private ownership and private operation. It has appeared that it isn’t possible to put it int o effect under the present statute. I haven’t conferred with the Board yet. I got that opinion from the Attorney General yesterday, I think – today has been Cabinet day. I am going to confer with Chairman Parley or any other members of the Board very soon, and see if I can help in any way. I don’t know whether they will desire legislation about it. Of course, one of the main elements of their plan was that it could be put int o operation without the mediation of Congressional action, that it could be put into operation immediately. That was the essential of it. Whether they think they want to pursue some other plan, if it is necessary to secure legislation, I do not know. Of course the Board had the plan that was explained in the Shipping Bill last year and which was debated in the Senate, but never came to a final vote. I suppose that represents the idea that the Shipping Board has of the kind of legislation they would like to have, rather than forming another, but whether they think it advisable to do anything about that legislation in the coming session is something I Couldn’t give you any definite opinion about now.

An inquiry also about Mr. Ahister and his conference with me. That leads me to say a general word about matters of this kind. Of course, the people that come here to see the President come because they have something that they want to lay before him. Something they want to tell him. Not because they expect to get information from me. That being so, I give them the opportunity, insofar as I can, to tell me what it is that they have in mind. Very much as you come in and get information from me, not by all talking to me, but by permitting me to talk to you, and it is the reverse of that operation that goes on here when any one comes to see me. When they go out they are, of course, at liberty to make such representations as they want to. They are not supposed to quote the conferences with me, but sometimes they undertake to do that and sometimes they don’t. Now, I shall have to adopt the rule, of course, of not being responsible for what people may say when they go out. They are good about it, I know, and mean to represent everything just exactly as they understood it, but if I should undertake to follow up all those things and correct them all, I don’t suppose I would have an opportunity to do very much else. So I am not going to do that.

This inquiry is in relation to railroad consolidations. I haven’t been into the particulars of that. Senator Cummings has it under consideration. He is a veteran in the study of railroad problems, was one of the authors of the present law, and I should want to confer with him and with others, of course; with the Interstate Commerce Commission, also, before I could have any mature opinion about railroad matters.

There wasn’t anything that came up today at the Cabinet Meeting that is of any particular interest. We discussed a lot of small details as to when we might be able to meet and take up some questions, but there were no decisions made, and while I had expected to take up the agricultural problem especially at this meeting of the Cabinet, I was not able to do so because Secretary Wallace hasn’t completed his survey of the wheat situation.

Another inquiry about the Merchant Marine problem. I have already spoken about that, and I can’t give you any more information as to what the next step will be.

I have already spoken about the Oklahoma situation. As I said, no representation, as far as I know, has been made in Washington at all about that, and it would be very unlikely that any representation would come from anyone except the Governor.

Further inquiry as to what may be done about profiteering in coal. The Federal Trade Commission, as I have already said, has all the facts that were gathered by the Fuel Commission. They are studying those, and undertaking to see if they can make any representations that would be helpful. On the 24th, which is next Monday, the Interstate Commerce Commission meets, I think, at Pittsburgh, in order to consider rates, especially of coal. I think that has firtually covered the things that you had in mind.

I am reminded that the Conference of Governors is at West Baden instead of Indianapolis. I assume that Mr. Welliver is right. He almost always is.

The pressman's strike in New York City ended.

Spanish military physician, Dr. Fidel Pagés, only 37 years of age and the developer of the technique of epidural anesthesia, was killed in a traffic accident in the town of Quintanapalla.  He was returning from a vacation with his family.

Wednesday, August 18, 1943. Air Space.

President Roosevelt, via Executive Order, revoked deferments for striking defense plant workers.

The RAF hit Peenemünde with three waves of bombers in Operation Hydra.  Damage was so extensive that Luftwaffe General Jeschonnek, charged with defense of the Reich's airspace and well ware of his failings in that regard, and further having an inwardly timid personalty masked by a harden affectation, killed himself the following day, leaving a note that stated; „Mit dem Reichsmarschall kann ich nicht mehr zusammenarbeiten. Es lebe der Führer!“ ("I can no longer work together with the Reichsmarschall. Long live the Führer!").  He left a further note excluding Ulrich Dieseing and Bernd von Brauchitsche from his funeral.  A memorandum he left called upon Hitler to change leadership in the Luftwaffe, but was confiscated by Göring.

Ultimately, in some way, Jeschonnek was a victim of his personality, knowing internally that the air war was lost, but lacking the will to do something about it.

Sarah Sundin noted Jeschonnek's fate on her blog, and also noted the following:

Today in World War II History—August 18, 1943: Army Air Force barrage balloon battalions are inactivated in the US. Betty Smith’s bestselling novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is published.

The U.S. Navy bombarded Palmi and Gioai Taura in Italy.

The Allies prevailed in the Battle of Mount Tambu.

46,000 mostly Jewish Greeks arrived at Auschwitz.

Wednesday, June 23, 1943. Arrests in France, Elections in Ireland.

The "Prosper" network of SOE agents in France, including French woman Andrée Borrel, Francis Suttill, and Gilbert were arrested by the Gestapo after being betrayed by an informer.

Borrel.

 

They'd be executed on July 6, 1944.  Execution would have been legal under the norms of war of the day, as they were spies, but the method was bizarre in that they were rendered unconscious through injection and then burned alive.

As previously noted, the SOE, which frankly was quite amateurish in Europe, had been penetrated by the Germans.

Sarah Sundin reports:

Today in World War II History—June 23, 1943: President Roosevelt establishes American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (“Monuments Men”).

She also notes that the coal strike in Appalachia was settled, but that President Roosevelt threatened to conscript the miners if it occurred again. 

In Ireland's general election t Fianna Fáil, led by Éamon de Valera, failed to gain a majority but was able to form a minority government.

Friday, June 11, 1943. Pantelleria calls it quits, the U.S. Army Air Force takes a pounding, Coal minters go on strike once again, Losses at sea.

The Italian island of Pantelleria was unconditionally surrendered to the Allies at 11:40 am local time.  

It was an historic surrender in that no boots were on the ground.  It was made solely in the face of an ongoing, and heavy, areal campaign, which is somewhat deceptive.  At this point in time the U.S. Army Air Force was of the mind that it could win the war without an invasion of Europe, which was obviously incorrect, and something like this tended to emphasize that mistaken view.

The surrender was significant in that it provided a staging area for the invasion of Sicily.

The island is closer to North Africa than it is to Sicily, but it can be regarded as midpoint.  The fact that it would call it quits is significant in and of itself, as it pretty clearly telegraphed that Italy was done.

On the same day the press reported that the Germans were planning a massive offensive in the East. They in fact were, but not in the location noted.

The RAF bombed Düsseldorf and Münster in its heaviest attack up to that time.  The U.S. 8th Air Force made a daylight raid on Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhave with 225 airplanes, losing 85 of them in a record loss ration at the time.

This emphasized the British point that daylight raids, which the U.S. favored as they were in favor of "precision bombing", and justifiably concerned about the immorality of nighttime targeting, were doomed due to heavy losses, in spite of having just agreed to the same in the Pointblank Directive.  On the other hand, this emphasized also the American view that the British fighter command was completely unhelpful in its refusal to do anything to extend the range of fighter escorts and make them suitable for long range penetration.

Indeed, it's worth noting that the Supermarine Spitfire and the P51 Mustang shared the same Rolls Royce Merlin engine. Had the RAF fighter command been less narrow-minded, the Spitfire, not the Mustang, would likely be remembered as the premier escort fighter of World War Two, and the P51 would have faded by late 1943 into obscurity.

U.S. coal miners went on strike again, with the support of their union President John L. Lewis.

Super patriotism at work. . . not.

Roosevelt would halt the strike, temporarily, by threatening to draft the miners.

In the popular imagination World War Two was free of labor strife, but in reality, it wasn't.

The German submarine U-417 was sunk in the North Atlantic by a B-17 of No. 206 Squadron RAF, the Japanese submarine I-24 was sunk off Shemya, Alaska by the U.S. Navy subchaser Larchmont, the Australian corvette HMAS Wallaroo sank off Fremantle after a collision with the American Liberty ship Henry Gilbert Costin.

The technicolor musical Coney Island was released.  It was nominated, but did not win, an Academy Award for best musical score in 1944.

Tuesday, June 1, 1943. The attack on Flight 777.

The Luftwaffe shot down a civilian DC-3 airliner belonging to BOAC flying out of Portugal, killing the passengers on board, which included actor Leslie Howard.

The flight, 777, was a regularly scheduled flight of which the Germans were aware.  As odd as it is to think of this in the context of a global war, commercial aviation continued on during the war where it could.  The fact that the aircraft was shot down has led to speculation that the Germans may have thought Winston Churchill was on board the craft, although other conspiracy theories exist including that Howard was the target, as, it is theorized, he was a British spy.  Some speculation exists that the Germans targeted the plane simply to cause British demoralization, which they theorized would occur with the death of Howard.  Having said all of that, the plane had been attacked by German aircraft twice before during the war.

The flight was overbooked and Howard actually joined the passenger list late, bumping off another passenger who accordingly was spared his fate. Some other last moment changes have led to some confusion over who was originally supposed to be on the flight.   Catholic Priest Father A. S. Holmes, vice president of the R. C. English College, left the plane at the last moment in order to take a phone call.  Actor Raymond Burr claimed that his wife Annette Sutherland, an actress, died in the crash, but no record of her being on the plane exists, nor of Burr having ever been married to an Annette Sutherland.

Howard is best known to American audiences for his role as Ashley in Gone With The Wind, a role which I feel he was miscast in.

The SS John Morgan, carrying explosives, exploded when it accidentally struck the tanker SS Montana in Baltimore's harbor. Sixty-five of the 68 men on the John Morgan died in the explosion, while 18 of the 82 men on the Montana were killed.

The United Mine Workers went into a coal strike.  It lasted only a week.

Wednesday, May 26, 1943. Edsel Ford passes. Canada rations, Barclay stays,

Today in World War II History—May 26, 1943: Edsel Ford, President of Ford Motor Company, dies, age 49; his father, Henry Ford, resumes the presidency. Canada begins meat rationing.

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

Ford, a major philanthropist, died of stomach cancer.

Edsel Ford with his wife Elanor.

Edsel had taken the company into aviation, over the objections of his father, which was foresighted at the time.  This allowed the company to engage in aviation manufacture during World War Two.

Like his father, his reputation in not wholly unblemished.  There are some reasons to suspect that he sympathized with the Germans in World War Two early on.

Edwin Barclay, the President of Liberia, visited President Roosevelt and spent the night, at the Executive Mansion, the first black to do so.  On the same day, Roosevelt ordered striking workers at rubber plants in Akron, Ohio to return to work.

U.S. Troops at Massacre Bay, Attu, May 26, 1943.

The Japanese attached Chinese forces at Pianyan in Hubei Province, but were repelled. the Japanese force of 4,500 men sustained 3,000 casualties.

The Germans ordered that concentration camp inmates cease being given sequentially numbered identification numbers in order that the number of murder victims could be concealed.

My father celebrated his 14th birthday.