Sunday, August 27, 1944. Collateral damage.

Shoeless French women subject to abuse, swastika's painted on their foreheads, for dalliances with German soldiers during the occupation of Paris, August 27, 1944.

The Germans made limited tactical gains in Operation Doppelkopf on the Eastern Front.

The Red Army took August 27, 1944 Focșani, Romania.

The British 21st Army Group and US 12 Army Group advanced beyond the Seine.

The US 3d Army took Château-Thierry.

Princess Mafalda of Savoy, age 41, died of wounds sustained in a bombing raid on Buchenwald concentration camp.  She was imprisoned there, as was her husband, due to Italy's having changed sides during the war.

Her naked body was dumped into the crematorium but  Father Joseph Thyl was able to give it some attention.  Her death was not learned of until after the German surrender.

The RAF bombed the refinery at Homberg-Meerbeck in a daylight bombing raid, the first since the early stages of the war.

The incomplete French battleship Clemenceau was bombed and sunk at Brest by U.S. aircraft.

Dumbarton Oaks was still going on.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 26, 1944. De Gaulle in the streets of Paris. Bulgaria calls it quits.

Labels: Battle for Paris, Battle of Toulon, Bulgaria, Caen France, Charles de Gaulle, Collaborators, French Army, French Resistance Movements, Paris France, Rüsselsheim massacre, World War Two

Tuesday, August 22, 1944. End of the German Navy in the Baltic, Strikes on the Tirpitz, Advances in France.

Two GIs of the 2nd Infantry Division operate a .30 caliber light machine gun from under the cover of low-hanging trees. They are firing at a hedgerow across a clearing. Near Vire, France. 22 August, 1944.

The 7th Army captured Grenoble.

Destroyed German field kitchen, with more in background, near Falaise.

German POWs, Falaise.

The Royal Navy began carrier raids against the Tirpitz in Operation Goodwood.  The HMS Nabob was hit by torpedoes from a German submarine, but was able to continue with limited operations.  The U-344 was sunk in the Barents Sea by Fairey Swordfish aircraft of 825 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm.  The frigate Bickerton was scuttled after being damaged by a torpedo strike.

Strikes against the Tirpitz were ineffective.

The Kriegsmarine ordered the evacuation of Constanta, Romania, a Black Sea port.  Ships were authorized to be scuttled.

The 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Jassy, Romania, while the 3d Ukrainian Front drove northward, making 50 miles in two days.

The Japanese government introduced female labor conscription for women aged 12 to 40.

Last edition:

Monday, August 21, 1944. Dumbarton Oaks.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Marseille, Canadian Army, Dunbarton Oaks, Falaise Pocket, Operation Tractable, Polish Army, United Nations

Sunday, August 20, 1944. Advancing everywhere in France.

Philippe Pétain was arrested by the Germans for his refusal to a German demand that he leave France.

Dead German soldier in Toulon.

The Battle of Toulon began.

While the Falaise Gap was closed, Germana units continued to escape through gaps in the line.

The 3d Army captured Seine River crossings at Mantes Grassicourt and entered Fontainbleau.

Pvt. Herbert Knowles, Toledo, Wash., and Pvt. Charles Brown, Richmond, Ind., peer over the top of a knoll to view the burning German convoy in the distance, blasted by air and artillery near Chambois.

 Another projectile from an 8 inch howitzer is on its way to stop the German retreat across the Seine River, France, opposite the town of Mantes-Gassicourt, 15 miles below Paris. 20 August, 1944.

Pvt. Dan Lipshutz, of Philadelphia, Pa., a guard in a prisoner-of-war camp somewhere in France, points out the contrast between the two very old, and the one very young soldier captured in the Allied pincer movement in France. The two old soldiers are white Russian Mongols who were fighting for the Nazis. August 20, 1944.

Knocked out Tiger [sic] tank, the last vehicle abandoned by the Germans in their flight from Argentan, France, in the face of terrific American assault which liberated the town. 20 August, 1944.

Self propelled artillery battery, August 20, 1944.

The Allies bombed Buna Werke POW camp in Poland in error, killing 39 British POWs.

The Soviets began the Jassy-Kishinev Offensive in Romania.

The U-188 was scuttled in Bordeaux, the U-9 was sunk at Constanța in a Soviet air raid, U-413 was lost to a  mine in the Cornish corridor, U-984 was sunk by Canadian warships in the Bay of Biscay  and the U-1229 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Allied aircraft.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 19, 1944. Uprising in Paris.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Australia, Battle for Mont Ormel, Battle for Paris, French Resistance Movements, July 20 Plot, Operation Bagration, Paris France, World War Two

Friday, August 11, 1944. Third Army crosses the Loire.

The Third Army crossed the Loire.  Hitler refused a request by Field Marshal Kluge to withdraw from positions at Mortain.  Local commanders began withdrawing anyway.

The Red Army started an offensive south of Lake Peipus and advanced up to 15 miles on the first day.

200 soldiers at F. E. Warren were used as "military actors" for Hollywood combat sequences.  (Wyoming State Historical Society Calendar).

Last edition:

Thursday, August 10, 1944. Stiffening German resistance in the East, Advancing in the West, Pacific victory.

Labels: Army, Battle of Narva, boats and ships, British Army, Eastern Front, Estonia, France, Guam, July 20 Plot, Normandy, Normandy Breakout, Royal Navy, Tartu Offensive, United States Marine Corps, World War Two

Thursday, August 10, 1944. Stiffening German resistance in the East, Advancing in the West, Pacific victory.

The Battle of Narva ended in a German defensive victory while the Battle of Tannenberg Line ended in a German tactical victory.

The Tartu Offensive began in Estonia.

The British took Vimont.   The US 20th Corps took Nantes.  Fearing encirclement from Canadian and US forces, the Germans pulled back near Mortain.

Frenchmen of the town of Angers celebrate their liberation by burning the swastika that long flew over their town in the town Awuare.

After a frontal attack routed the Nazis from Angers, tanks with infantrymen walking alongside, move through the town.

The Battle of Guam ended in an American victory.

July 20 plotter Berthold Alfred Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was executed.

The U-608 was scuttled after being damaged by a RAF B-24 and the Royal Navy sloop Wren.

Lsat edition:

Wednesday, August 9, 1944. Finns battle Soviets to a draw, Horror at the Łódź Ghetto, Yes to MacArthur and the Philippines, Third Army at Le Mans, Smokey the Bear and Sam Elliot arrive on the scene.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Studzianki, Battle of Vyborg, Douglas MacArthur, Finnish Army, France, Franklin Roosevelt, Gypsies, Normandy Breakout, Pacific, Philippines, Poland, Red Army, The Holocaust, World War Two

Wednesday, August 9, 1944. Finns battle Soviets to a draw, Horror at the Łódź Ghetto, Yes to MacArthur and the Philippines, Third Army at Le Mans, Smokey the Bear and Sam Elliot arrive on the scene.

Soviet IS2 moving through forest near Vyborg past wounded Red Army troops.

The outnumbered Finns fought the Red Army to a draw in the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, which concluded on this day.

The Battle of Studzianki began in Poland as a German counter offensive.

The Germans began the liquidation of the Łódź Ghetto, which would result in 60,000 Jews and some Roma being deported to Auschwitz.

MacArthur received a letter from Roosevelt endorsing MacArthur's plan to make the Philippines the next priority for the Allies in the Pacific.

Sgt. Robert Becker and Sgt. Joe Flores, members of an armored unit, and both from New York City, bring in their first German prisoner in the battle around Brest, France, August 9, 1944.

The 3d Army liberated Le Mans.

The French Provisional Government ordered the Republic restored and Vichy laws nullified.

120th FA in New Guinea, August 9, 1944.

The very first Smokey the Bear poster appeared.

Actor Sam Elliot was born in Sacramento, California.

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 8, 1944. Hengyang falls, Wittmann killed, Falaise noticed.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Hengyang, British Army, Canadian Army, Falaise Pocket, Imperial Japanese Army, Nationalist Chinese Army, Operation Ichi-Go, Operation Totalize, Second Sino-Japanese War, World War Two

Monday, August 7, 1944. German counter attack.

The British Operation Bluecoat, part of the Normandy breakout, ended in a British success.  Operation Totalize was launched as an immediate follow-up, spearheaded by Canadians.

The Battle for Brest began.

The Germans launched Operation Lüttich against the US 1st Army, seeking to split it into two zones.  The Germans retook Mortain. The offensive was launched a day prior to the date that Hitler preferred, given the rapid Allied advance.  Hitler was upset by the local commander ignoring his preference.  Heavy Allied air attacks arrested further German progress.

The Red Army captured Sambor southwest of Lvov.

Heavy fighting occurred on Guam.

The Nagara was sunk by the USS Croaker.

Production of the Volkswagen Beetle was halted.  Production would not resume until 1945, and at that time at the insistence of the British.

President Roosevelt visited Kodiak, Alaska.

Friday, August 5, 1944. The Wola Massacre.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Collaborators, Freiwilligen SS, German SS, Heinrich Himmler, Normandy Breakout, Prisoners of War, Russian Liberation Army, Soviet Navy, The Holocaust, Waffen SS, Warsaw Uprising, World War Two

Friday, August 5, 1944. The Wola Massacre.

German SS, the Azerbaijani Legion and the Russian collaborationist Kaminski Brigade, commenced killing Poles in the Wola district of Warsaw.  The massacre was ordered by Himmler.

Major Ivan Denisovich Frolov with the officers of the Russian National Liberation Army (RONA) during the Warsaw Uprising.

Between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles would be murdered.

The weirdness of this is inescapable. The Russians in RONA were there partially in order to survive German captivity, and partial in an effort to free their homeland from Communist control. The Soviet Union had helped take away Poland's freedom by invading it along with Germany, and the Polish Home Army was attempting to free their homeland and was anti communist.  The Azerbaijanis were fighting for the liberation of their homeland as well.

The 3d Army took Vannes.

The Cowra breakout occured in New South Wales in which 1,100 Japanese POWs broke out.  They'd all be captured within ten days, although four Australians and 231 Japanese POWs would be killed.

The RAF destroyed the German U-boat pens at Brest.

The Soviet submarine Shch-215 sanke the Turkish motor schooner Mefküre resulting in the death of 300 Jewish refugees.

Last edition:

Thursday, August 4, 1944. The Frank's arrested.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, British Army, Continuation War, Finland, German Wehrmacht, Italy, Netherlands, Normandy, Normandy Breakout, South African Army, The Holocaust, The written word, Warsaw Uprising, World War Two

Thursday, August 4, 1944. The Frank's arrested.

The Jewish Frank family was arrested in Amsterdam by German police.  Only Otto Frank would survive the war, going on to publish his daughter Anne's diary.

They were betrayed by somebody, but it remains a mystery as to who it was.

The Germans retreated from Florence leaving only the Ponte Vecchio bridge entact.  The South African elements of the British 13th Corps entered the city.

The Germans counterattacked between Riga and Jelgava, reestablishing communications.

Polish poet Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński was killed in the Warsaw Uprising.

The solider in the foreground carries an M1 Garand and a bazooka.  The armored vehicle is a M10 tank destroyer.

The 3d Army occupied Rennes.  The British 21st Army captured Evrecy and Villers Bocage.

Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim assumed the Finnish presidency, paving the way for Finland to exit the war.

The British 2nd Division took Tamu, Burma.

The U-671 was sunk by the Royal Navy in the English Channel.

The Matsu was sunk by the U.S. Navy off of Chichijima.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 3, 1944. Advances in Burma and Normandy.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, boats and ships, Burma, Diplomacy, Education, German Kriegsmarine, Lebanon, Nationalist Chinese Army, Normandy, Normandy Breakout, Operation Overlord, Royal Navy, United Kingdom, USSR, World War Two

Wednesday, August 3, 1944. Advances in Burma and Normandy.

The Siege of Mytkyina in Burma ended in an Allied victory over the Japanese.

The HMS Quon was sunk off of Normandy by German aircraft and ships.

The US 1st Army captured Mortain.  The 30th Infantry Division would win a Presidential Unit Citation for its defense to a German counterattack there.

The Germans blew up the bridges in Florence, Italy.

The USSR and Lebanon established diplomatic relations.

The British Education Act 1944 received Royal Assent.

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 2, 1944. Murder of the Gypsies.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Auschwitz, Battle of the Atlantic, boats and ships, Guam, Gypsies, Normandy, Normandy Breakout, Operation Overlord, The Holocaust, Turkey, Warsaw Uprising, World War Two

Tuesday, August 2, 1944. Murder of the Gypsies.

The last of the gypsies were murdered at Auschwitz.  4,200 people were murdered.

In their memory, this is Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma.

Clearly seeing which way the wind was blowing, Turkey broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.

The Germans launched 316 V-1s on London.  100 reached the city.

Pfc. Joseph A. Calvello of New York City, N.Y., examines the sponge rubber interior of a Russian tire found on a 4.5 cm. anti-tank gun left behind by the retreating Germans in France.

The Allies ceased air strikes on French bridges as the pace of Allied advances increased.

The newly activated 3d Army reached Dinan and the outskirts of Rennes.  The 1st Army captured Villedieu.

The USS Fiske was sunk in the Atlantic by the U-804.  

German midget submarines attacked Allied shipping in the Channel and sank two vessels, including the HMS Quorn.  Of the 58 German Marder submarines used in the attack, only 19 survived.

Fighting continued on Guam, and in Warsaw.

The Arado Ar 234 B Blitz made its first combat flight, a reconnaissance mission over the Allied beachhead in Normandy.

Last edition:

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