Thursday, April 19, 1945. Broadcasting from Belsen.

Army machine gunners on Okinawa, April 19, 1945.  Not the visible rear sight on the M1917 machine gun and the high angle the gun is being used at.

The Battle of the Seelow Heights ended in Soviet/Polish victory.

The US 1st Army took Leipzig.

Robert Cappa, the famous photographer, took a series of photos in an event that occurred in this battle, in which a tank crewman who was manning a machinegun in a building was killed by a German sniper.  The bloody scene and the soldier's lifeless body is the recalled photograph.  A nearly as dramatic photo of another crewman stepping over him to man the gun is not as well recalled.

Richard Dimbleby broadcast the conditions of Belsen on the BBC.

The Battle of Odžak began in Croatia between Yugoslav Partisans and the Axis aligned Croatian Armed Forces.  The last battle to be fought in the Second World War in Europe, it would continue until May 25.

Pyinmana, the base of the Japanese aligned Burma Defence Army, fell to the 5th Indian Division.

Japanese Gen. Sōsaku Suzuki, age 53, was killed in action in the Philippines.

Nazi Party member Fritz Wächtler,  age 54, was executed by the Nazis for desertion over the surrender of Bayreuth. The charge was unjust and due to rivalry on the part of other Nazis.  

It's amazing to think of this sort of infighting when it should have been obvious they'd all be facing trials by the victors soon.

The U-251, U-548 and U-879 were sunk.

Johnny Kelley won the Boston Marathon.

Last edition:

Wednesday, April 18, 1945. The death of Ernie Pyle.Labels: 1940s, 1945, Adolf Hitler, Army, Canadian Army, Heroes, Mussolini, Okinawa, The Holocaust, The Press, The written word, Waffen SS, World War Two

October 13, 1943. Italy declares war on Germany.

Italy would not be the last Axis power to switch sides, but it was the first.   The declaration was delivered by radio.

PROCLAMATION BY MARSHAL BADOGLIO TO THE ITALIAN PEOPLE, OCTOBER 13, 1943

Italians, with the declaration made September 8th, 1943, the Government headed by me, in announcing that the Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-American Forces in the Mediterranean had accepted the Armistice requested by us, ordered the Italian troops to remain with their arms at rest but prepared to repel any act of violence directed at them from whatever other source it might come. With a synchronized action, which clearly reversed an order previously given by some high authority, German troops compelled some of our units to disarm, while, in most cases, they proceeded to a decisive attack against our troops. But German arrogance and ferocity did not stop here. We had already seen some examples of their behavior in the abuses of power, robbery, and violence of all kinds perpetrated in Catania while they were still our allies. Even more savage incidents against our unarmed populations took place in Calabria, in the Puglie and in the area of Salerno. But where the ferocity of the enemy surpassed every limit of the human imagination was at Naples. The heroic population of that city, which for weeks suffered every form of torment, strongly cooperated with the Anglo-American troops in putting the hated Germans to flight. Italians! There will not be peace in Italy as long as a single German remains upon our soil. Shoulder to shoulder we must march forward with our friends of the United States, of Great Britain, of Russia, and of all the other United Nations. Wherever Italian troops may be, in the Balkans, Yugoslavia, Albania, and in Greece, they have witnessed similar acts of aggression and cruelty and they must fight against the Germans to the last man. The Government headed by me will shortly be completed. In order that it may constitute a true expression of democratic government in Italy, the representatives of every political party will be asked to participate. The present arrangement will in no way impair the untrammelled right of the people of Italy to c hoose their own form of democratic government when peace is restored. Italians! I inform you that His Majesty the King has given me the task of announcing today, the thirteenth day of October, the Declaration of War against Germany.

The Australians prevail at the Battle of John's Knoll-Trevor's Ridge.

Australians after the battle.

The Germans prevailed against the Soviet/Polish offensive at Lenino.

Soviet armed and organized Poles at Lenino.

The battle was badly fought by the Red Army, and well fought by the Germans.

The U.S. Navy destroyer Bristol was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by the U-371. The U-402 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by a TBF Avenger from the USS Card.