Wednesday, June 14, 1944. Flag Day

 

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

For many years June 14 has been set aside as Flag Day, observed throughout the Nation as a day of earnest rededication to those high principles of humanity and civilization which constitute the foundations of the Republic.

It is not necessary to recite that the stars and stripes of our flag symbolize the patriotic and loyal unity of one hundred and thirty-five million people in a widely diversified land. Nor is it necessary to dwell on the struggles through which we have marched, under that flag, to our present great part in the world's affairs. What we are, and what we do, speak of these things far more eloquently than any words.

Ours is a flag of battles. On the ships of our Navy, in the vanguard of our soldiers and marines, it is carrying liberation and succor into stricken lands. It is carrying our message of promise and freedom into all comers of the world.

Ours is also a flag of peace. Under its protection, men have found refuge from oppression. Under its promise, men have found release from hatreds and prejudice, from exploitation and persecution. It is the flag under which men and women of varied heritage, creed, and race may work and live or, if need be, fight and die together as only free men and women can.

Let us then display our flag proudly, knowing that it symbolizes the strong and constructive ideals—the democratic ideals—which we oppose to the evil of our enemies. Let us display our flag, and the flags of all the United Nations which fight beside us, to symbolize our joint brotherhood, our joint dedication, under God, to the cause of unity and the freedom of men.

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby ask that on Flag Day, June 14, 1944, the people of our Nation honor especially the members of the armed forces—men and women equally—whose unfaltering devotion to our national ideals has given the Nation's flag a new and hopeful meaning for those struggling against oppression in lands still held by our enemies.

I direct the officials of the Federal Government and I request the officials of the State and local governments to have our colors displayed on all public buildings on Flag Day, and I urge the people of the United States on that day to fly the American flag from their homes, and to arrange, where feasible, for joint displays of the emblems of the freedom-loving United Nations without whose staunch collaboration we could not have hoped for victory.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this 3rd day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-eighth.

Signature of Franklin D. Roosevelt

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

By the President:

CORDELL HULL

Secretary of State.

Operation Perch concluded in failure.

The U.S. 9th Infantry Division, moving north from Utah, took Quinéville, where the regional German command had been located.

Charles de Gaulle visited the Normandy beachhead.  His touring of French cities proved to be a problem as the large gatherings were signals to the Germans of his presence.

The provisional French government located itself at Bayeux.

A RAF Mosquito shot down a V-1 over the English Channel, the first such victory.

The Battle of Porytowe Wzgórze between Polish and Soviet partisans and the Germans took place, leading to a partisan breakout of a surrounded position, but at high cost.

The British 8th Army captured Orvieto, Terni and Todi in Italy.

B-29s raided Japan for the first time. Four of the aircraft were lost on a 48 plane, ineffective, raid on the Yawata steel works.

The U.S. Navy continued to bombard Saipan and Tinian.

After an extended and costly period of time leading up to it, the U.S. 6th Infantry Division took Lone Tree Hill in New Guinea.

The USS Golet was sunk by ships and aircraft off of Honshu.

Eleanor Roosevelt opened the White House Conference on How Women May Share in Post-War Policy-Making.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in Normandy.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Armor, Battle of Bloody Gulch, Bernard Law Montgomery, Caen France, Carentan France, German Army, Operation Overlord, Operation Perch, Russo Ukrainian War, Waffen SS, Weapons, World War Two

Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in Normandy.

The first V-1 rockets were launched on London.

V-1s are, basically, a pulse jet drone, and therefore heralded an advance in weaponry which we're only now seeing the full application of in combat.  One of a variety of late war German "Wunderwaffe", they were primitive in their category and while they affected terror, they stood no chance of being war altering.  The same can not be said of the V-2, which was a ballistic missile and truly revolutionary.

Armed drones would be revolutionary, but it would not really be until the advent of cruise missiles that they'd become effective.  With advances in targeting, they're now a massive dangerous weapon which has been one of the things which has allowed Ukraine to disproportionately take on Russia in the ongoing Russo Ukrainian War.

Gen. Montgomery strengthened his positions and basically regrouped in a fashion, which was typical for the careful planner, Montgomery.  The 7th British Armoured Division reached Villers-Bocage, where they were attacked by German armor, including Tigers.  The British were forced to retreat.

The tank battle is a famous one.

Ambush at Villers-Bocage

Apparently, however, the "lone Tiger" commanded by Michael Wittmann of the SS, who gave a German radio interview that very night, destroying 25 British tanks is a bit of a myth.

Wittmann, who had just turned 30 years old, died the way you'd expect.  The Waffen SS Hauptsturmführer (Captain) and "panzer ace" died that August at the hands of British armor.

The Germans followed up with an attack on Tilly-sur-Selles and Lingèvres which was successfully resisted, scattering the Panzer Lehr Division.

Montgomery, who was facing fierce and effective resistance, cannot really be faulted for his careful approach, something that was the hallmark of his combat strategy.  Having fought the war with thin resources carefully, his economy of planning tended to be effective, and was frankly here, in spite of constant American criticism, then and now.

The Battle of Bloody Gulch took place around the Manoir de Donville Hill southwest of Carentan involving the German 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment, and the American 501st, 502nd and 506th Parachute Infantry Regiments (PIR) of the 101st Airborne Division, reinforced by elements of the 2nd Armored Division and the 29th Infantry Division.  The Airborne prevailed and released the whole of Carentan.

Grateful French civilians lay flowers on the body of a dead American soldier at Manoir de Donville.

The US 90th Division took Pont-l’Abbé. The 1st Infantry Division took Caumont, fighting the 2nd SS Panzer Division in the process.

Last prior edition:

Monday, June 12, 1944. D+6. Linking at Carentan.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of the Atlantic, boats and ships, Carentan France, Franklin Roosevelt, Home Front, Operation Overlord, Paratroopers, Radio, Saipan, St. Mere Eglise France, the spoken word, World War Two

Wednesday, June 7, 1944. D+1.

The British began Operation Perch, an attempt to encircle and take Caen, which had been a D-Day objective.  

Much has been made of this, with a large amount of criticism being levied by American historians, but the fact of the matter is that the British and Canadians had taken well over twice the amount of ground as the Americans on D-Day, while failing to take Caen, with the British drawing some of the best German forces in the region as a result.

The Battle of Bréville began with British Airborne entering the unoccupied town.

British and Canadian Airborne in Bréville.  The trooper closest to the camera is carrying a M1911 .45 ACP pistol.  The paratrooper on furthest right, as viewed, has a bayonet affixed to his Sten Gun.

The week-long battle would become one of the most important battles of the invasion of Normandy.

The British airborne phase of Overlord, Operation Tonga, concluded as a tactical success.

The 7th Corps advances towards Carentan and Montebourg in an effort to link up with the 82nd and 101st Airborne.   The 5th Corps advances towards Isigny and Bayeux.  The British 30th Corps cuts the Caen-Bayeux Road.

The 12th SS Panzer Division murdered 11 Canadian POWs in the beginning of what would be a series of atrocities.

And a picture from this day, which we featured earlier, with the text:

Something interesting to note.

 

Troops of the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division going up the bluff at the E-1 draw in the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach, Normandy, on June 7, 1944.

The first three soldiers, and the seventh and eighth, are carrying M1903 Springfield bolt action rifles.  The fourth's weapon isn't visible at all, and if he's carrying one, it's probably a sidearm.  The fifth one is carrying an M1 carbine, as is the sixth and seventh.

These men have the appearance of being infantrymen, but the lack of M1 Garands suggests they might be combat engineers. At any rate, this photo nicely illustrates how prevalent the M1903 still was during World War Two.

The second man was 18 years old Pvt Vincent Mullen, who would be killed in action a few days after this photograph was taken.

The Resistance pushed the Germans out of Bayuex and the British 50th Division takes it.

The 5th Army captured Bacciano and Civitavecchia.  The British 8th Army takes Subiaco.  The South African 6th Armored Division captures Civita Castellana.

Operation Hasty in Italy concluded with over 50% British casualties.

The US 41st Division captures Mokmer Airfield on Biak.

The Hayanami became the second Japanese ship lost in the Sibuto Passage to the USS Harder in two days.

Judy Garland divorced David Rose.  It was the second of his three marriages and the first of her five.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, June 6, 1944. Operation Overlord

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, British Army, Canadian Army, Canadian Navy, Eastern Front, France, Italy, Normandy, Operation Houndstooth, Operation Overlord, Red Army, Romania, Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, World War Two