Friday, February 2, 1945. Malta concludes, FDR and Churchill depart for Yalta. German murders.

The Malta Conference ended.  Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to withdraw two divisions from Greece and three from Italy to commit them to northwest Europe.

They left for Yalta.

The Vistula–Oder Offensive ended in Soviet victory with a voluntary halt of the Red Army.  Curiously, the Red Army was only 43 miles from Berlin, and the city was undefended.

The liberation of Auschwitz was mentioned for the first time, in Pravda, which failed to note that the inmates were mostly Jewish.

German politician Carl Friedrich Goerdeler was hung for his role in the July 20 plot.

Catholic Priest Fr Alfred Delp was executed as well.

Adoration of God is the road that leads man to himself.

Fr. Alfred Delp,

Soviet POWs made a mass escape from the Mauthausen concentration camp.

"Snow-caped infantrymen the 60th Inf. Regt., 9th Inf. Div., U.S. First Army, move towards Dedenborn, Germany, as Nazis retreat during heavy fighting on this sector. 2 February, 1945.

60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. Photographer: Linden, 165th Signal Photo Co."

Lt. Jack L. Knight, a cavalryman of the Mars Task Force performed the actions which resulted in his being awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor while in combat at LoiKang, Burma.

He led his cavalry troop against heavy concentrations of enemy mortar, artillery, and small arms fire. After taking the troop's objective and while making preparations for a defense, he discovered a nest of Japanese pillboxes and foxholes to the right front. Preceding his men by at least 10 feet, he immediately led an attack. Single-handedly he knocked out 2 enemy pillboxes and killed the occupants of several foxholes. While attempting to knock out a third pillbox, he was struck and blinded by an enemy grenade. Although unable to see, he rallied his platoon and continued forward in the assault on the remaining pillboxes. Before the task was completed he fell mortally wounded. 1st Lt. Knight's gallantry and intrepidity were responsible for the successful elimination of most of the Japanese positions and served as an inspiration to officers and men of his troop.

Last edition:

Thursday, February 1, 1945. Advances in east and west.

Labels: 190s, 1945, 1990s, 1996, Army, Battle of Kesternich, Bulgaria, Eastern Front, Germany, Red Army, Transportation

Wednesday, May 17, 1944. Landing at Wakde.

 

The US landed on Wakde.

US forces also landed on Insumarai and at Arare on mainland New Guinea.

The U.S. Navy raided Surabaya's oil installations in the  Dutch East Indies by air, and then the night B-24s did so again.

Merrill's Marauders and Chinese Nationalists captured Myitkyina airfield.  Allied troops landed by glider later that day.

Allied forces took Piumarolo, Monte Faggeta, Esperiam Formiam Sant'Angelo. The Germans decide to withdraw to a new defensive perimeter.

From Sarah Sundin:

Today in World War II History—May 17, 1944: Allied Expeditionary Air Force approves black & white invasion stripes for aircraft for D-day to prevent friendly fire, not announced yet to maintain security.

Last prior edition:

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

1940s, 1944, Allied Powers, Auschwitz, Belgium, boats and ships, Diplomacy, German SS, Gypsies, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Operation Diadem, Romani Uprising, The Holocaust, World War Two

Thursday, April 20, 1944. Bombs for Hitler's birthday.

Members of 5307 Composite Unit (Merrill's Maunders) and local Kachin tribesmen in a group photo of all the nationalities represented in the unit.

L to R, back row:

Sgt. Harold R. Stevenson, Beaver, Pa. - Irish.

Pfc. Stephen Komar, Minnesota. - Ukrainian.

Pvt. George D. Altman, Adamsburg, Pa. - German.

Sgt. Carl F. Hamelic, Cleveland, Ohio. - Dutch.

Pvt. Hose L. Montoya, Las Vegas, Nevada. - Spanish.

Capt. A. E. Quinn, Burma. - Anglo-Burmese.

Capt. D. G. Wilson, Burma. - Anglo-Burmese.

Pfc. Joseph Wuele, Italy. - Italian.

Third row:

Pvt. Kai L. Wong, Los Angeles, California. - Chinese.

S/Sgt. C. N. Dulien, Wisconsin. - Polish.

Cpl. Perry E. Johnson, Somerville, Massachusetts. - Swedish.

Pfc. Louis O. Perdomo, Tampa, Florida. - Cuban.

T/Sgt. Jack Growly, Brooklyn, N.Y. - American.

Second row:

T/Sgt. Russell Hill, Chicago, Ill. - English.

Sgt. Werner Katz, N.Y.C. - Jewish.

Sgt. Miles Elson, Toledo, O. - Swedish.

S/Sgt. Francis Wonsowitz, Gary, Indiana. - Polish.

Sgt. Edward Kucera, Antigo, Wisc. - Bohemian.

Cpl. Bernard Martin, Providence, R.I. - French.

Sgt. Wilbur Smawley, Pullman, Wash. - English.

First row: 

Father James Steward. - Irish.

N'Ching Gam. - Kachin.

Li Yaw Tang - Maru.

Pirta Singh. - Gurkha.

Hpakawn Zau Mun. - Atzi.

The Royal Air Force dropped 4,500 tons of bombs on a single raid, a new record.  It was Hitler's 55th birthday.

The Luftwaffe sunk the USS Lansdale and the Liberty ship SS Paul Hamilton of Algiers. The attacking planes were Ju 88s which were used as torpedo bombers in this application.

Off of Anzio, the Germans deployed human torpedoes.  No serious damages are incurred by any of the Allied ships which are stricken.

Elmer Gedeon, age 27, was killed piloting a B-26 over France.  He had been, prior to entering the service, a professional baseball player and was one of only two major league ball players killed during World War Two, the other being Harry O'Neill who was killed as a Marine Corps officer on Iwo Jima.

The British conversation at Kohima was relieved.

The Luftwaffe attempted to raid Hull, but called off the mission.

George Grantham Baink "the father of foreign photographic news", died at age 78 in New York City, which he had heavily photographed.

Many of his photographs appear on this website.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 19, 1944. Operation Ichi-Go.

1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, baseball, Battle of Anzio, Battle of Kohima, boats and ships, German Kriegsmarine, German Luftwaffe, Operation U-Go, Personalities, Royal Air Force, U.S. Navy

Thursday, February 24, 1944. Big Week Climax.

 

B-26 “Marauder” bomber roars over Luftwaffe airfield at Leeuwarden, Holland, February 24, 1944.

The Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha) aircraft plant was hit as part of the Big Week.

The plant had been targeted for February 22, but bad weather had prevented the raid from occurring.  On this day, 239 B-24s raided the plant.

Typical for such things, the US Army Air Force regarded the raid as a huge success.  In reality, however, the lead bombardier, who controlled the run ins via the Norden Bomb site, suffered from anoxia due to a faulty oxygen mask and mistook Eisenach as the primary target. Forty-three bombers accordingly followed his error. Thirty-four B-24s were shot down, twenty-nine were damaged.  Three aircrewmen were killed, six wounded and 324 went missing.  169 bombers did get through, and the plant was heavily damaged.

The Messerschmidt plants at Regensburg and Augsburg were hit and heavily damaged as well.  Production was disrupted, but as Albert Speer noted, the damage was to the frame plant which was quickly put back into production.  Had the engine plant been hit, results would have been different.

It was the climax of The Big Week.

The Allies prevailed in the Battle of Arawe.

The Red Army took Rogachev.

Finnish Prime Minister Edwin Linkomies announced that Finland wanted to restore peace with the Soviet Union.

The U-761 was sunk by tow U.S. Navy PBY's assisted by two Royal Navy destroyers.

The U-257 was depth charged and sank on the same day.

Merrill's Marauders began their march north in Burma.

U.S. Army 81 mm mortar crew on Bougainville, February 24, 1944.

U.S. Navy Gunner Frank S. Hughes giving instructions on firing a M1 Thompson Sub Machine Gun on the fantail of USS Gambier Bay (CVE 73), February 24, 1944.

Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit, Michigan, at an altitude of 500 feet, looking at 90 degrees. Photographed by Naval Air Station, Detroit, February 24, 1944.