Today in World War II History—November 17, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 17, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 17, 1944: Submarine USS Spadefish sinks Japanese escort carrier Shinyo in the Yellow Sea, only 130 of 1,160 survive.

Thursday, November 16, 1944. Attack on the Siegfried Line.

"Soldiers of a tank destroyer battalion warm themselves with coffee before going into action against the Germans near Stolberg, Germany. 16 November, 1944. Company D, 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion."

The U.S. Frist and Ninth Armies commenced Operation Queen, aimed at the Siegfried Line.  The attack is supported by heavy Allied air strikes.

"German prisoners being taken to the rear were captured less than two hours after new American offensive started inside Germany. Beggendorf, Germany. 16 November, 1944. 2nd Armored Division."

Political disagreements between the Belgian government nad the Belgian resistance resulted in the resignation of three ministers.

The Jussi Awards for Finnish films were conveyed for the first time, with the ceremony in Helsinki.

Ansa Ikonen, best actress for 1944.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 15, 1944. Early war movie released late in the war.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1944 at the Movies, Battle of Morotai, boats and ships, Clothing, Imperial Japanese Navy, Italy, Movies, Project Hermes, Red Army, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Wednesday, November 15, 1944. Early war movie released late in the war.

"Pvt. Zeb Turner, Bridgeport, Conn., adjusting the pack of Pvt. Robert [illegible]. Dunlap, Iowa, as infantrymen replacements prepare to leave for the front. Nancy, France, 15 November, 1944."  Note that these troops are still wearing leggings.  Also, the supposed private has a horizontal stripe on the front of his helmet.  This is the first time I've ever seen that.  The same on the back of his helmet would indicate he was an NCO.

The Fifth Army captured Modigliana, Italy.

Soviet forces took Jasbereny, Hungary.

The Japanese landing craft depot ship Akitsu Maru was sun by the USS Queenfish in the Korea Strait.  2,000 went down with her.

The 2nd Battalion, 167th Infantry Regiment landed at Pegun Island in the Mapia islands.

Project Hermes, a U.S. Army Ordinance Corps rocket research program, commenced.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo was released.

Last edition:

Tuesday, November 14, 1944. The death of Leigh-Mallory.

Labels: 1910s, 1940s, 1944, German Resistance Movements, Imperial Japanese Navy, July 20 Plot, Personalities, Royal Air Force, Russia, Russian Liberation Army, U.S. Navy, USSR, World War One, World War Two

La Marseillaise Casablanca

Ruffians.

I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits… muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers… bull dykes, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers, and Methodists.

Headley Lamar, Blazing Saddles.

In Memoriam. David Harris.

Actor David Harris, best known for his role as "Cochise" in The Warriors, has passed away at age 75 from cancer.  Fans of war movies will recall he had the role as Pvt. Smalls, a major character, in A Soldier's Story.

Today in World War II History—October 25, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 25, 1939 & 1944: 85 Years Ago—Oct. 25, 1939: First main kamikaze attacks occur in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On the ground at Leyte, Japanese take attack US ground troops.

Wednesday, October 11, 1944. To Have and Have Not.

A Hungarian delegation signed a ceasefire agreement in Moscow agreeing to abandon territory gained since 1937 and to declare war on Germany.  Hungary was enduring turmoil in its government over this general topic.

The obscure Tuvan People's Republic was absorbed by the Soviet Union.

The U.S. Army Air Force bombed Okinawa.

To Have and Have Not premiered.  It was Lauren Bacall's premier film.

Last edition:

Tuesday, October 10, 1944. The murder of the Romani children.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Auschwitz, Austria (Vienna), Gypsies, Imperial Japanese Navy, Italian partisans, Italian Social Republic, Nazi Germany, Okinawa, The Holocaust, U.S. Navy

Today in World War II History—October 11, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—October 11, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Oct. 11, 1944: US First Army begins battle for Aachen, Germany. Movie premiere of To Have and Have Not, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Sunday, September 14, 1924. Most Valuable Player.

 

Premiered on this day in 1924.  It had been filmed on location.  Anna Mae Wong, the famous Chinese American actress, was cast as an Inuit.

It was a bad day for police officers:

Deputy Constable J. Edward Brown:

Police Officer Francis X. "Buck" Roy

Patrol Inspector James F. Mankin

Walter "Big Train" Johnson was chosen Major League Baseball's Most Valuable Player

Last edition:

Saturday, September 13, 1924. Pershing retires.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Art, First Around The World Flight, French Occupation of the Ruhr, John J. Pershing

In Memoriam, James Earl Jones.

One of the most monumental actors of the second half of the 20th Century, and one of the most memorable voices of all times, James Earl Jones died at age 93 yesterday.

A lot has been written about Jones over the past day, and so we won't go back into most of it.  Born to actor Robert Earl Jones, whom he closely resembled in appearance and voice, and Ruth, he mostly grew up outside of the presence of his father who left the family shortly after he was born.  He mostly grew up on the farm of his maternal grandparents in Michigan.  After high school he started off towards a career in medicine but realized it wasn't for him and switched to drama, graduating from the University of Michigan in 1955.  He participated in ROTC while a university student and had expected to deploy to the Korean War, but it ended shortly after he graduated.  He attended Ranger school, something very difficult to graduate from and frankly making him an unusually large graduate of a program which tends to favor smaller men.  While in the Army, he converted to Catholicism.

His first film appearance was in Dr. Strangelove in 1964.  His last was in 2021 in Coming 2 America.  He had various monumental roles in between, including famously being the voice of Darth Vader and Terrence Mann in Field of Dreams.

Sunday, September 7, 1924. Infernos.

Released on this day in 1924.

A different type of inferno had broken out on Casper Mountain.

Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera issued a manifesto to the army appealing for an extension of his emergency powers in which he stated:  "One year is too short a time to attempt to carry out the work which lay before the directorio when we assumed power."  He'd remain in power until 1930, by which time he'd lost support of the king, and the military, the latter of which had never fully backed him.

Last edition:

Saturday, September 6, 1924. Putting down in Boston.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Art, Boston Massachusetts, Calvin Coolidge, Education, First Around The World Flight

Sunday, August 31, 1924. Back in North America.

The around the world flyers landed at Indian Harbour, Labrador (which was not yet part of Canada), thereby having arrived again in North America.

United with Newfoundland, Labrador would not become part of Canada until 1949.

Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia proclaimed himself heir to the Russian throne.

Wine was released, which featured Clara Bow in her first leading role.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 30, 1924. Late summer scenes.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Art, Calvin Coolidge, Currency, French League of Nation Mandates, German Weimar Republic, Illinois, inflation, It was because of World War One, Ku Klux Klan, Lebanon, Monarchy, Norman Rockwell

Monday, August 25, 1924. Ratifying the Dawes Plan and questionable movies.

Released on this day in 1924.  It was banned in some cities, as was the novel which it was based upon.

Chancellor Wilhelm Marx informed the Reichstag that he would ratify the London agreement whether the Reichstag approved it or not and even if it meant a downfall of the government and new elections.

The Cheyenne paper pointed out that summer was drawing to a close.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 23, 1924. Princess Petrolia. Refinery expansion in Glenrock.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, First Around The World Flight, Glenrock Wyoming, Petroleum, The roles of men and women, Women, Wyoming (Glenrock)

Sunday, August 13, 1899. Alfred Hitchcock presented.

Alfred Hitchcock was born in Essex.

Worth noting, the remarkable British film maker was a lifelong Catholic.

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 8, 1899. Landfall in Puerto Rico.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, Disaster, Puerto Rico, Weather

Monday, August 11, 1924. First sound film of a President.

Lee de Forest filmed Calvin Coolidge on the White House lawn using his experimental Phonofilm sound film process, resulting in the earliest sound film footage of an American president.

The UK and Turkey agreed to submit a territorial dispute over Mosul to the League of Nations.

Anti British riots broke out in Atbarah in Sudan.

Muslim v. Hindu riots broke out in Hyderbad, British India.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 10, 1924. Chinese uprising, Colorado tornado.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Canton Merchant's Corps Uprising, China, Colorado, Republic of China, Weather

Monday, August 1, 1944. The Warsaw Uprising Starts.

The Polish uprising commenced in Warsaw.  A massive uprising, and part of a series of the same, it was the most tragic of the group. The Red Army, which was already on the outskirts of the city, and which had been advancing, ground to a halt and allowed the insurrection to go on for 63 days.

Polish fighter with German MP3008, a rarely scene German copy of the British Sten gun.

The US prevailed on Tinian.

The Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944 began.

British scientists announced that DDT was an effective insecticide.

Manuel L. Quezon, age 65, died and Sergio Osmeña thereupon became the 4th President of the Philippines.

The film Wilson, about the 28th President, which is nearly a piece of hagiography, was released.

Lasts edition:

Monday, July 31, 1944. Cobra concludes.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, German Wehrmacht, Normandy, Operation Cobra, Operation Overlord, Red Army, Warsaw Poland, World War Two

Saturday, July 1, 1899. "Birth" of Indiana Jones.

According to George Lucas, this is the birthdate for his fictional character, Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr.

Last edition:

Friday, June 30, 1899. Safe passage for Spanish troops at Baler.

Labels: 1890s, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1900s, Army, Philippine Insurrection, Philippines, Prisoners of War, Spanish American War, Spanish Army, U.S. Navy

Monday, June 2, 1924. All Native Americans granted citzenship.

The Indian Citizenship Act was signed into law making all Native Americans U.S. citizens.  A little under half of the 300,000 Native Americans in the country became citizens for the first time due to the act.

It read:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all non citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property.

The Communist Party's Central Committee chose the real leaders of the country, the Politburo.  The leaders chosen, in the wake of Lenin's death, were Bukharin, Stalin, Trotsky, Rykov, Kamenev, Tomsky and Zinoviev.  They'd all be victims of Stalin's purge, save obviously for Stalin, with Tomsky being the only one who wasn't executed, but only because he killed himself rather than be arrested.

Frank Lloyd's The Sea Hawk made an early premier in New York City.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, June 1, 1924.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Camping, Radio, Science, technology

Wednesday, May 21, 1924. Big membership drive.

 Casper saw a big Chamber of Commerce Drive:

Apparently the drive did well.

The papers were advertising Daughters of Today, which apparently featured scandalous conduct by then contemporary young women.

Last prior edition:

Monday, May 19, 1924. Bonuses and Tick Fever.

1920s, 1924, Australia, Diplomacy, Iraq, It was because of World War One, Japan, Korea, Medicine, Royal Australian Air Force, Turkey, United Kingdom