Showing posts with label Polish Army. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Polish Army. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Monday, October 30, 1944. Pvt. Ross.

The British 8th Army reached Forli.

The U.S. 3d Army took Maizières-lès-Metz.


Then Pvt. Wilburn K. Ross preformed the actions which resulted in his winning the Medal of Honor:

For The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Wilburn Kirby Ross, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company G, 2d Battalion, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division, in action near St. Jacques, France. At 11:30 a.m. on 30 October 1944, after his company had lost 55 out of 88 men in an attack on an entrenched, full-strength German company of elite mountain troops, Private Ross placed his light machinegun ten yards in advance of the foremost supporting riflemen in order to absorb the initial impact of an enemy counterattack. With machinegun and small-arms fire striking the earth near him, he fired with deadly effect on the assaulting force and repelled it. Despite the hail of automatic fire and the explosion of rifle grenades within a stone’s throw of his position, he continued to man his machine gun alone, holding off six more German attacks. When the eighth assault was launched, most of his supporting riflemen were out of ammunition. They took positions in echelon behind Private Ross and crawled up, during the attack, to extract a few rounds of ammunition from his machinegun ammunition belt. Private Ross fought on virtually without assistance and, despite the fact that enemy grenadiers crawled to within four yards of his position in an effort to kill him with hand grenades, he again directed accurate and deadly fire on the hostile force and hurled it back. After expending his last rounds, Private Ross was advised to withdraw to the company command post, together with eight surviving riflemen, but, as more ammunition was expected, he declined to do so. The Germans launched their last all-out attack, converging their fire on Private Ross in a desperate attempt to destroy the machinegun which stood between them and a decisive breakthrough. As his supporting riflemen fixed bayonets for a last-ditch stand, fresh ammunition arrived and was brought to Private Ross just as the advance assault elements were about to swarm over his position. He opened murderous fire on the oncoming enemy; killed 40 and wounded ten of the attacking force; broke the assault single-handedly, and forced the Germans to withdraw. Having killed or wounded at least 58 Germans in more than five hours of continuous combat and saved the remnants of his company from destruction, Private Ross remained at his post that night and the following day for a total of 36 hours. His actions throughout this engagement were an inspiration to his comrades and maintained the high traditions of the military service.

He rejoined the Army after the war and was wounded in Korea.  He retired from the Army in 1964.

The Finnish Army took Muonio.

The Polish 1st Armored Division took Breda, Netherlands.

The Greek government banned the ELAS.

The US 24th Corps captured Abuyag in the Philippines and cleared Catmon Hill.

The U.S. Navy conducted air raids on Japanese targes in the Phillpines, with the Japanese responding with kamikaze attacks, hitting the USS Intrepid, USS Franklin and the USS Belleau Woods.   They all remained afloat.

The ballet Appalachian Spring premiered.

Last edition:

Sunday, October 29, 1944. Shelling chocolate bars.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Sunday, October 15, 1944. Horthy attempts to take Hungary out of the war.

n Aachen, Germany, Pfc. Ragnel Lundgren, Jamestown, New York, maintains continuous communications with his headquarters with a handie-talkie radio. 15 October, 1944. 1st Infantry Division.

Aided by the armored force, Yank infantry moves forward to engage the enemy in Aachen, Germany. 15 October, 1944. Company M, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

Regent of Hungary Miklós Horthy made a radio broadcast announcing a separate peace with the Soviet Union.  The Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust, a commando operation to seize Horthy and keep Hungary in the war.  He was in fact seized later that day and resigned in favor of Arrow Cross leader Ferenc Szálasi when he learned that his son had been seized and his life was in danger.

The Red Army too Riga.

Partisans launched an operation to expel the Germans from Kosovo.

The Poles took Gambettola.

The Leipzig collided with the Prinz Eugen in the Baltic fog and was rendered a total loss.

The U-777 was sunk by the RAF.

Task Force 38.4 conducted air raids north of Manila.

Pfc. Hoyle E. Lougherty, Knoxville, Tenn., looks at a warning sign posted by the Nazis for the German citizenry of Aachen, Germany. It means "Take care, the enemy may be listening". 15 October, 1944.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 14, 1944. Rommel kills himself.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Friday, September 22, 1944. Stiffening resistance in the Netherlands.



Polish paratroopers attempted to reach the Rhine and meet up with British airborne trapped on the opposed bank Arnhem.  Elst was taken by 30th Corps.

3rd Bn., 157th Inf. Regt. walking across footbridge over canal lock. Igney, France. 22 September, 1944. Note that the machine gun crewmen are carrying M1911 pistols as personal arms.  This unit of the 45th Infantry Division was equipped at this point with M1943 combat boots, but still wearing older pattern field jackets.

45th Infantry Division tank crossing the Moselle.

The 3d Canadian Division took Boulogne and Operation Undergo commenced to take Calais.

The Red Army took Tallinn, Estonia.

The U.S. Army took Giogo Pass in Italy.

A regiment of the Army's 81st Infantry Division was committed in Peleliu to reinforce depleted elements of the 1st Marine Division.

Last edition:


Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Monday, August 14, 1944. Closing Gaps

Partisan in Florence, August 14, 1944

On this day in 1944, Operation Tractable was commenced by Canadian and Polish troops in Normandy with the goal of closing the Falaise Gap, which it did.  Casualties were outsized, as they often are during offensives, with the Canadian forces, the largest Allied contingent by far, taking over twice the number of casualties as the Germans.

Canadian artillery advancing.

On the same day, the Red Army completed operations in Operation Osovets, having taken all of their objectives in a week's operation in the final stage of Operation Bagration.

Also on this day, the Ft. Lawton riot occurred at Ft. Lawton, Washington. The riot was a conflict between Italian Prisoners of War and African American soldiers who had been celebrating their imminent departure overseas.  The riot started as an exchange of words between some drunk soldiers with liberty and Italian prisoners, which escalated into a fight.  Military Policemen restored order with no arrests, but the following day an Italian POW was found lynched.  No American participants in the riot could really be identified, but nonetheless 43 of them were charged in connection with the incident and 28 convicted in the largest US trial of servicemen during World War Two.

Last edition:

Monday, July 22, 2024

Saturday, July 22, 1944. Changes in governments.

Resing tank crewman, Normandy.  July 22, 1944.

We start today with some items Sarah Sundin has already noted in her blog:

Today in World War II History—July 22, 1944

Gen. Kuniaki Koiso became the Prime Minister of Japan, and SS glider troops landed in the Vecors region to address a Maquis uprising.

Operation Goodwood concludes near Caen with limited results, and the US began initial support operations for Operation Cobra.

The Moscow controlled Polish Committee of National Liberation was established in Chelm.

The Red Army closed the Brody Pocket in Ukraine, capturing 17,000 German troops.  The Red Army also took Panevezys, Lithuania.

The Red Army overran the Majdanek concentration camp, the first concentration camp to be liberated by Allied forces.

The first all fighter aircraft shuttle mission occurred with July 22, 1944 Italian based U.S. P-38 Lightning's and P-51 Mustangs of Fifteenth Air Force attacking German airfields at Bacau and Zilistea, Romania and flying on to  Soviet territory.

The Germans began cancelling the construction of new U-boats as well as the repair of existing ones.

Arrests continued due to the July 20, plot.

The Poles took Castelfiorentino and Tavernelle, Italy.

The USS Bailey shelled positions on Tinian.

The US Army Air Force raided Japanese positions in Shanghai.

Bretton Woods concluded.

Last edition:

Friday, July 21, 1944. Landings on Guam.

Thursday, July 18, 2024

Tuesday, July 18, 1944. Tojo out.

British armor, July 18, 1944.

Hideki Tojo was removed premier of Japan and resigned as Chief of Staff of the Army.

Gen. Kuniaki Koiso and Adm. Yonai were chosen to form a new cabinet.  Gen. Umezu became the Army Chief of Staff.

The Red Army launched the Lublin-Brest Offensive.


The British launched Operation Goodwood to expand out from Caen, making costly advances.  The action has, as one of its goals, keeping German forces committed against the British so they do not redeploy against US forces.

The US 19th Corps occupied Saint-Lô.  

The Polish 2nd Corps took Ancona, Italy.

Abandoned German tanks, Italy.

The U-672 was sunk by the HMS Balfour.

Last edition:

Monday, July 17, 1944. The Port Chicago Disaster


Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Sunday, May 7, 1944. Hitting Berlin, Assaulting Sapun.

The 8th Air Force conducted a 1,500 plane raid on Berlin.  The 15th Air Force and Bomber Command attacked railway sites in Bucharest.  The 9th Air Force attacked the railway yards at Mezieres-Charleville with B-26s and P-38s.

The 46th Infantry Division occupied Cape Hopkins Airfield on the Bismark Archipelago.  The Japanese offered no resistance.

The Red Army carried out an assault on Sapun Mountain May 7, 1944 in the Battle of Sevastopol.

Polish Gen. Anders visited the 15th Vilnius Rifle Battalion "Wilków" and attended Mass with them.

The RCN Valleyfield was sunk by the U-548 off of Cape Rice.  129 out of 167 crewmembers died in the attack.

"Georgetown, D.C. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, rested and tanned after a four week vacation at Shangri-La, returned to the White House. The President rested a month in the 23,000 estate. His residence was a guarded secret until he was safe back in Washington. It was a fishing and bathing vacation with the nearest telephone five in good health and good spirits, all traces of his bronchitis from which he suffered during the winter months having disappeared, May 7th, 1944. Shown: U.S. Marine standing guard at Shangri-La, Maryland."
The Marine guard is wearing an early pattern field jacket and carrying a M50 Reising submachinegun.

Sarah Sundin, on her entry Today in World War II History—May 7, 1944 notes that another D-Day exercise, Exercise Pigeon, commenced.

A  B-25 crashed in bad weather and one mile north of West Chester, Pennsylvania, killing all seven on board.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, May 6, 1944. Shelling Sevastapol.