Thursday, September 14, 1944. Dragoon concludes. More SOE agents executed. The toll of the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane increases.

Troops of the 3rd Bn., 7th Inf. Regt., 3rd Div., move through a muddy street in Montjustin-et-Velotte, France. 14 September, 1944. 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

Operation Dragoon concluded.

The Red Army commenced the Baltic Offensive.

The Red Army and Romanian Army fought the Hungarian Army at Păuliș.

British and Canadian troops took Coriano, Italy.

Captured Canadian Army officers assigned to the  John Kenneth Macalister, 30, Frank Pickersgill, 29, and Roméo Sabourin, 21, were executed at Buchenwald.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded the third highest water level of Woods Hole, MA to date at 1.488 meters, no doubt due to the ongoing 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane.

The USCGC Bedlo and USCGC Jackson went down in the hurricane.

Last edition:

Wednesday, September 13, 1944. The Execution of the SOE Agents.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, Battle of Rimini, boats and ships, Collaborators, Dachau, Greece, Greek Partisans, Italy, SOE, Soviet Air Forces, Warsaw Uprising, Weather, World War Two

Monday, September 11, 1944. Communist usurpation in Poland.

Communist Pole Boleslaw Bierut became the usurper president of the Russian backed Polish provisional government.

 Scouting around in the small Belgian town of Battice, Belgium, on the way to Aachen (25km away) are L-R: T/Sgt. Frank F. Kitts, Chambersburg, Pa.; Pfc. Durward F. Oakly, Tocum, Ky.; Pfc. Leon Mooers, 174 Franklin Ave., Hartford, Conn., and Cpl. Tom. H. Graham, Scranton, S.C., all members of an infantry outfit. 11 September, 1944. Company B, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

The U.S. Army entered Germany in a patrol by the 2nd Platoon, Troop B, 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 5th Armored Division.  No Germans were encountered.

The US 1st Army took Malmedy.  The 7th Army took Digon and linked up iwth the 3d Army, uniting the forces of Overlord and Dragoon.

South Africans captured Pistoia, Italy.

The Octagon Conference between Churchill and Roosevelt started in Quebec.

Last edition:

Sunday, September 10, 1944. Reaching Germany, Freeing Luxembourg, Continuation War lost.

Labels: 1940, 1940s, 1944, Army, Belgium, boats and ships, Bougainville, Continuation War, Diplomacy, Finland, Luxembourg, Operation Paravane, Red Army, Royal Air Force, USSR, World War Two

Monday, August 28, 1944. Hungarians reconsider.

The Kaunas Offensive in Lithuania ended in a Red Army victory.

The 1st Army crossed the Marne at Meaux.

German garrisons at Toulon and Marseilles surrendered.    The encircled 11th Panzer Division begins a breakout offensive towards the north.

Lakatos.  His government stopped the deportation of Hungarian Jews.  He'd be overthrown by fascists in October.  He lived in poverty after the war until immigrating to Australia, where he died in 1967 at age 77.

A new Hungarian government is seated lead by Gen. Lakatos.  It announces that it wishes to negotiated with the Soviet Union, which did not result in an end of the war for Hungary.

The BBC began Southeast Asian broadcasts in Dutch and French.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 27, 1944. Collateral damage.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle for Paris, boats and ships, Buchenwald, Château-Thierry France, Eastern Front, French Navy, Italy, Monarchy, Normandy Breakout, Romania, Royal Air Force, U.S. Air Force, Women, World War Two

Thursday, August 24, 1944. Paris Reached.

US tank crossing the Seine, August 24, 1944.

The French 4th Armored Division entered Paris in the evening.

Germany closed theaters, cancelled holidays and cancelled military leave.

The First Canadian Army captured Bernay and crossed the Risle River at Nassandres.

The 51st SS-Brigade murdered 68 civilians of all ages in Buchères, France.

The 7th Army took Cannes.

The German Army Group South Ukraine line collapses with the switch in sides of Romania.

The USS Harder was sunk in Dasol Bay by the Japanese.

The U-354 and U-445 were sunk by the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy unsuccessfully tried again for the Tirpitz.

IBM's Harvard Mark I electro-mechanical computer was formally presented to Harvard University.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 23, 1944. The Act of 23 August.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Act of 23 August, Allied Powers, Battle for Paris, Battle of Numfoor, Eastern Front, French Resistance Movements, Italian partisans, Monarchy, Operation Dragoon, Romania, World War Two

Wednesday, August 23, 1944. The Act of 23 August.

King Michael of Romania lead a coup that overthrew fascistic dictator Ion Antonescu in order that Romania could extract itself from its losing alliance with Germany.

It would become known as the Act of 23 August.

During the event, the King first met with Antonescu and asked him to sign an armistice with the Soviet Union.  When he refused, the King declared there was nothing that could be done, officers came in, and arrested Antonescu.

The King offered the Germans free passage out of the country, which they refused.  Within 24 hours the country would be successfully at war with Nazi Germany and an Allied power.

In spite of its success, the country would not be able to avoid the Soviet co-opting of the government, and Michael was deposed in 1947 when he was out of the country for the marriage of his cousin, Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.  He was allowed to return to Romania late in life, after Communism fell.

Antonescu was tried and executed in 1946. Constantin Sănătescu, who became Prime Minister up Antonescu being removed, died of cancer in 1947.

Italian partisans took Barceno, near Switzerland.

French partisans controlled most of Paris.

Allies were advancing everywhere in Europe.

American infantrymen move past a burning German motorized vehicle, in pursuit of the former operators of the vehicle. 23 August, 1944.

Eight German ships were sunk in the Battle of Audiene Bay The U-180 was sunk by some undetermined means in the Bay of Biscay.

The Japanese destroyer Asakaze was sunk by the USS Haddo in Paluan Bay.

Japanese resistance on Numfoor ends.

Last edition:

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

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Falaise Pocket, France, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Japan, Normandy Breakout, Operation Dragoon, Operation Goodwood, Romania, Royal Navy, 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

Thursday, August 17, 1944. And on this day too, 30 years later, the Red Army entered East Prussia.

The Red Army crossed the River Scheshule and raised the Soviet flag on German soil. Sgt. Alexander Belov took the honors.  He survived the war and died in 1960.   

Interestingly, the Red Army entered East Prussia on the same day that the Imperial Russian Army had during World War One.

German forces in Lithuania launched counterattacks along their entire line.

Statue of St. Joan d'Arc in Orleans, August 17, 1944.

The Canadian Army took Falaise.  The city was in ruins.  A gap of a few miles exists thereafter between the British lines and the American ones.

The US Third Army took Saint-Malo.

In Southern France, almost no resistance to Allied advances is offered and the US captured St. Raphael, St. Tropez, Frejus, Le Luq and St. Maxime.

Third Infantry Division troops advancing on  August 17, 1944, in southern France.  Troops are wearing the new M1943 combat boots.

Hitler dismissed Field Marshal Kluge as commander of Army Group B and replaced him with Model.

The Battle of Biak, which had been going on since May 27, ended in an Allied victory.  American forces advanced near Aitape.  The length of these battles gives testament to how hard the Japanese were fighting.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 16, 1944. Closing the Falaise Pocket.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Argentina, Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou ( 桂柳會戰), Battle of Studzianki, Cheyenne Wyoming, Eastern Front, Falaise Pocket, Operation Dragoon, Operation Ichi-Go, World War Two, Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Wednesday, August 16, 1944. Closing the Falaise Pocket.

American armor rolls into the town of Dreux, France, as the Americans continue their rapid advance for Paris. The smoke of battle hangs low and the road is strewn with wrecked German armor. 16 August, 1944.

US forces entered Chartres.  US forces also advanced towards Argentan and Alençon, in pursuit of the German forces fleeing the Falaise pocket.  Falaise itself was liberated by the Canadians.   Montgomery attempted to close the  Falaise pocket with an attack from Trun, which Bradley believes to be too late.  Polish troops in the British 1st Corps crossed over the Dives.

Pfc. Ciro B. Iadavaio, Brooklyn, N.Y., and T/4 Ira W. Myer, Louisville, Kentucky, of the crew of the hospital ship "Marigold" getting their first printed news of the invasion on the southern coast of France as nurses from the 93rd Evacuation Hospital load aboard to be taken to the new invasion front. 16 August, 1944. Naples, Italy.

The French 2nd Corps landed in southern France.

Walter Model replaced Günther von Kluge as Oberbefehlshaber West.

The Wehrmacht launched Operation Doppelkopf as a counteroffensive in the East.

The Red Army reached Ossow outside of Moscow, but had to withdraw under a German counterattack.

The Battle of Studzianki ended in a victory for Polish and Soviet forces.

The Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou ( 桂柳會戰) commenced between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Nationalist Chinese.

The US froze Argentine gold assets in the US due to failure to cooperate against the Axis.

Cheyenne experienced record railroad traffic due to war transportation of troops. (Wyoming State Historical Society calendar).

Last edition:

August 15, 1944. Operation Dragoon. The added invasion of France

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Port Cros, boats and ships, Canadian Army, Commandos, France, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Operation Dragoon, Operation Overlord, U.S. Navy, Women, World War Two

August 15, 1944. Operation Dragoon. The added invasion of France

A second, nearly forgotten invasion of France, this time in the south, commenced.

Operation Dragoon.

Ordinally planned on concert with Operation Overlord, a shortage of landing craft caused it to be postponed to August.  In just four weeks the Allies would clear southern France of the Germans.

Troops of the 15th Inf. Regt., 3rd Div., take cover in the sand as they await orders to advance inland. 15 August, 1944. 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

SC 411764 - Infantrymen of B Company, 120th Infantry, 30th Division, cut through a field alongside a road to avoid crossing in the open and giving German snipers a target. 15 August, 1944.

A paratrooper thanks the French fighters who saved his life. Pvt. Winifred D. Eason, of Atlanta, Ga., Company B, 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, landed 34 hours before H-Hour, D-Day, Aug. 15, 1944, for the invasion of southern France. On the left is the man who saved him, Monsieur Marc Rainaut, leader of the French forces of the Interior of St. Tropez. In the center is Mademoiselle Nicole Celebenovitch, who secured a .45 (seen in her belt) and led the paratroopers to a group of hidden Germans. Rainaut received the Silver Star for his work on D-Day.

It is at this point, frankly, that the Germans should have rationally concluded they had lost the war.

The Battle of Port Cros took place in which the U.S. Navy and the Kriegsmarine engaged in a rare surface engagement in connection with Operation Dragoon in which Axis ships operating out of Port Cros engaged the U.S. Navy.  Later in the day, a mixed regiment of United States Army and Canadian Army infantry, the 1st Special Service Force, dropped onto Port Cros and captured the five forts there after a day-long battle with their German garrisons.

Audie Murphy received the Distinguished Service Cross for action taken on 15 August 1944.

"U.S. Army nurses, newly arrived, line the rail of their vessel as it pulls into port of Greenock, Scotland, in European Theater of Operations. They wait to disembark as the gangplank is lowered to the dock.", 08/15/1944"

The U-741 was sunk off of Le Havre by the USS Somers.

Last edition:

Monday, August 14, 1944. Closing Gaps

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Canadian Army, Falaise Pocket, France, Ft. Lawton Washington, German Army, Italian Army, Operation Bagration, Operation Overlord, Partisans, Polish Army, Red Army, World War Two