Showing posts with label Prisoners of War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prisoners of War. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Sunday, July 8, 1945. The Camp Salina Massacre.

Private Clarence V. Bertucci murdered nine German POWs at the POW camp at Salina, Utah.  He fired a Browning M1917 into their lodgings, only stopping when he ran out of ammunition.

Nineteen were wounded.

Bertucci, who had a previous court martial from his time in the UK, did not deny the killing and was court martialed and found insane.  The New Orleans native died in New Orleans in 1969 at age 48.

Australian troops landed at Penajam, Borneo.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—July 8, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—July 8, 1945: Only international sub-to-sub rescue in history: USS Cod rescues crew of stranded Dutch submarine O-19 in the South China Sea.

The USS Saipan was launched.


She's serve until 1970.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 7, 1945. Japanese killings.

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Sunday, June 24, 1945. A parade in Moscow.

 


A massive military parade marking the defeat of the Germans was held in Moscow.

Japan sent a military delegation to the event.
Today in World War II History—June 24, 1940 & 1945In a bombing raid, the RAF destroys the infamous bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand, built at great cost by slaves and prisoners of the Japanese.
Last edition:

Saturday, June 23, 1945. Polish arrangements.

Friday, June 20, 2025

Wednesday, June 20, 1945. Japanese surrenders.

Today in World War II History—June 20, 1940 & 1945: Australians take oil fields at Seria on Borneo.

Hard fighting continues on Okinawa, but 1,000 Japanese troops surrendered.

"A Jap prisoner of war and Pfc. John H, Davis, Rt. #1, Whitwell, Tenn, 7th Reconnaissance, 7th Infantry Division, attempt to reach shore on a surf board to coax Japs still entrenched in a cave to surrender and swim to LCI. The attempt was unsuccessful due to the inability of the prisoner of war to swim. 20 June, 1945."

Australians landed at Lutong in eastern Sarawak, Borneo.

The Australian 26th Infantry Brigade captured Hill 90 on Tarakan Island, ending organized Japanese resistance.

The Polish government in exile denies the right of the Soviets to try Polish ministers who had flown to Moscow and were arrested.

The United Nations agreed to let the General Assembly have the right to discuss "any matters within the scope of the charter".

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 19, 1945. Eisenhower's parade.

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Sunday, June 17, 1945. Taking Kuishi Ridge.

The last Japanese defensive line was broken on Kuishi Ridge, Okinawa.  The US 7th Division completed the capture of Hills 153 and 115.

"Tec Sgt. Hiroshi Mukaye, Los Angeles, Cal., Japanese Interpreter for the 32nd Infantry Regiment, and S/Sgt. Ralph M. Saito, Ewa, Hawaii, interpreter for the 24th Corps, question this Japanese sailor brought in by the 32nd Infantry Regiment. 17 June. 1945. 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive."  This photograph is remarkable in that S.Sgt  Santo has his rank drawn onto his fatigue cap in the same approximate size that later black subdued rank insignia would have it.  He also has his rank printed on the lapels of his fatigue shirt, which would anticipate the practice of the 1960s, although not in that location.

The 37th Infantry Division captured Naguilian on Luzon.  

Last edition:

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Thursday, May 10, 1945. Guderian surrenders.

Convoy returning German troops to Germany from Austria after the surrender.

The Red Army entered Prague to the cheers of its residents.

The German garrisons at Lorient and Sark surrendered.

Heinz Guderian surrendered to U.S. troops. While he was a supporter of Nazism and remained a German nationalist for the rest of his life, he managed to avoid incarceration.

The U.S. Government announced its plans to withdraw 3,100,000 US troops in Europe.

Richard Glücks, age 56, Nazi official died by suicide; Konrad Henlein, 47, Sudeten German politician and Nazi, died by suicide. Norwegian Reichs Commissioners Terboven and the German Chief of Police in Norway both committed suicide.

US troops landed on the coast of Macajalar Bay on Luzon.

Japanese POWs on Okinawa.  May 10, 1945.

Last edition:

Wednesday, May 9, 1945. The last Wehrmachtbericht, Stalin's congrats.


Saturday, April 26, 2025

Thursday, April 26, 1945. Petain arrested.

Philippe Pétain was arrested on the border between Switzerland and France as he entered France.

The 8th Guards Army and the 1st Guards Tank Army attacked Tempelhof Airport.

The Battle of Baguio ended in Allied victory and the Battle of Collecchio around the town of Fornovo di Taro, Italy began.

Italian partisans take Genoa and revolt in Milan.

British take Bremen, Germany.

RAF begins Operation Exodus, ferrying 75,000 British POWs home in Lancaster bombers in 469 flights through May 7.

Today In World War Two.

The Germans murdered 300 Polish POWs at Horka, Saxony.

Weird SS doctor Sigmund Rascher was executed at Dachau by the SS for fraud, amongst other things.


The war may have been winding down, but:
As demand for meat rises in liberated Europe, US rations all meats again except mutton and raises point values for most meats.

FWIW, when I was a kid I used to hear all the time "I was raised on mutton".  I've even heard it from people my own age.  It's pretty much baloney, but this may be a partial reason that people say that.

Also, I actually have had mutton, and I don't think it's bad at all.

Last edition:

Wednesday, April 25, 1945. Elbe Day.

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Movies in History Masters of the Air

Emblem of the "Bloody 100th"

I watched this when it first came out, started my review over a year ago, and failed to post and complete it.

Masters of the Air is the epic portrayal of "The Bloody 100th", the United States Army Air Force's 100th Bomb Group, during World War Two.  Produced by Tom Hanks, it joins Band of Brothers and The Pacific as a multi part mini series with ambitious aspirations.  If we add Hank's Saving Private Ryan and Greyhound, for which a sequel is now being filmed, it's part of an impressive body of work which has actually covered a large portion of American participation in World War Two to some degree. 

It doesn't disappoint.

Perhaps simply because Band of Brothers is so well done, and because The Pacific disappoints a bit, early reviews of this film are careful to praise it but to say it isn't as good as Band Of Brothers.  It is.  The topic is just different.

Taking the 100th from deployment to Europe and following individual airmen through the war, some into POW camps, others to their deaths, and others through to the end, it's a masterful portrayal of the air war over Europe.  An added element, although some what minor (understandably) is the inclusion of pilots from the 332nd Fighter Group, who were African American pilots.  While the inclusion of their story could have been awkward, it works in well and is tied together through POW sequences.

Relying extremely heavily on CGI, the film portrays massive air actions wonderfully, and more effectively than any movie since Twelve O'clock High (which has a prop reference in the final episode).  I would not say that its impossible to tell the flight scenes are CGI, but they are excellently done.

The film spares none of the horrors of the war.  Airmen are introduced and violently killed, just as occurred in the war.  Red Army soldiers, who appear in the last episode, simply shoot Germans attempting to surrender with their being no varnishing about it occurring.  One major character cheats on his wife during the film without seeming to have any remorse.  

Material details are excellent.  Historically, its' very well done.  The characters are for the most part real with probably only one slight fictionalization and a dramatized portrayal of the liberation of a POW camp which no doubt did not occur in the close combat fashion portrayed.

As a bonus, as discussed on the American Heritage Center's website, the story features two Wyomingites, both from this county.

Friday, February 28, 2025

Wednesday, February 28, 1945. Saudi Arabia declares war.

Saudi Arabia declared war on the Axis powers.

German officer taken prisoner by U.S. Army, February 28, 1945.

The Red Army too Neustettin.

The Third Army too Bitburg.

German POWs taken by 4th Infantry Division, part of the 3d Army.  The US infantrymen have the typical late war disheveled look in spite of being part of the 3d Army.  At least two of three of the German POWs are Luftwaffe personnel.

The US conducts landings at Puerto Princesa on Palawan.

John Harlan Willis performed the actions that resulted in his being conferred a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Platoon Corpsman serving with the 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, during operations against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 28 February 1945. Constantly imperiled by artillery and mortar fire from strong and mutually supporting pillboxes and caves studding Hill 362 in the enemy's cross-island defenses, Willis resolutely administered first aid to the many marines wounded during the furious close-in fighting until he himself was struck by shrapnel and was ordered back to the battle-aid station. Without waiting for official medical release, he quickly returned to his company and, during a savage hand-to-hand enemy counterattack, daringly advanced to the extreme frontlines under mortar and sniper fire to aid a marine lying wounded in a shellhole. Completely unmindful of his own danger as the Japanese intensified their attack, Willis calmly continued to administer blood plasma to his patient, promptly returning the first hostile grenade which landed in the shell-hole while he was working and hurling back 7 more in quick succession before the ninth exploded in his hand and instantly killed him. By his great personal valor in saving others at the sacrifice of his own life, he inspired his companions, although terrifically outnumbered, to launch a fiercely determined attack and repulse the enemy force. His exceptional fortitude and courage in the performance of duty reflect the highest credit upon Willis and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Last edition:

Tuesday, February 27, 1945. Hard fighting on Iwo Jima.

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Sunday, February 18, 1945. Off of Iwo Jima.

 

"HoM2/C Charles R. Roth, USCG, leads hymn singing and gives brief talk to his shipmates aboard a Coast Guard-manner LST the day before landing on Iwo Jima. Photographed February 18, 1945."

Pre landing bombardments continued at Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima, February 18, 1945.

Operation Solstice ended in a German defeat.

American forces breached the Siegfried Line north of Echternach.

The USS Gamble was damaged beyond repair off of Iwo Jima.

General Ivan Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, dies from wounds received outside Konigsberg at age 37.

General Dmitry Mikhaylovich Karbyshev was tortured to death along with other Soviet POWs by being doused with water and left out in a freezing night.

Last edition:

Saturday, February 17, 1945. Rum and Coca Cola. Cold Comfort. Scientist leave Peenemünde. Iwo Jima.

Friday, January 24, 2025

Wednesday, January 24, 1945. Himmler given a field command.

German POW, January 23, 1945.  His cap badge indicates he was in the Luftwaffe.

Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler as commander of the newly created Army Group Vistula.  This was rightfully resented by the German military.

The Battle of Poznań began for Polish city.

The French 1st Army took crossing over the River Ill in Alsace.  The  British 2nd Army entered Heinsberg.

"Lt. Col. V. L. Johnson, G-3 Officer, 25th Division, and Maj. Gen. C. L. Mullins, Jr., CG, 25th Division, share a foxhole in San Manuel, Luzon, P.I., with a GI of the 161st Infantry Regiment. 24 January, 1945."

The US took Calapan on Mindoro and Cabanatuan on Luzon.

The US 14th Air Force abandoned Suichuan airfield in China due to Japanese advances.  Operation Ichi-Go, the Japanese ground offensive in China, was going spectacularly well at the same time the United States was destroying the Japanese in the Pacific and getting ever closer to Japan itself, giving this a surreal quality.  Additing to it, British operations in Burma were going very well.

The Shigure was sunk by the USS Blackfin in the  Gulf of Siam.

Today In Wyoming's History: January 24:1945  The Legislature rejects a junior college plan.

One thing that's nice about doing these posts is that you learn how prior legislatures were short sighted. This is just such an example, most likely.

They would approve a community college plan within a couple of years.

This year the legislature is going to pass a bill, probably, allowing people who homeschool to not report to their school district.  By and large, those homeschooling around here do it so their children don't learn something, rather than insure that they learn.

Last edition:

Tuesday, January 23, 1945. St. Vith taken by the Allies.

Monday, December 23, 2024

Saturday, December 23, 1944. German command worries.


The US First Army withdrew from St. Vith.

US aircraft are able to hit ground targets over Belgium.  C-47s dropped supplies into Bastogne.

By this point, Model, Guderian and Von Rundstedt have all recommended a halt to the offensive.

"Capt. Chaplain Connolly says mass for members of 127th Inf. Regt., 32nd Div., outside of Lonoy, Leyte, P.I. Mass was held two days before Christmas because the regiment was moving across country to push on to the west coast and would be unable to attend on Christmas. 23 December, 1944. 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. Photographer: Pfc. Jack Traub.

Twenty five German POWs escaped from Papago Park Camp in Arizona with a plan to float a river all the way to Mexico, apparently not appreciating that by this point Mexico was an Allied power.  They would be on the run until January 28, which is impressive, but their plan failed.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 231944  All horse racing in the US is banned in an effort to save labor.

Last edition:  

Friday, December 22, 1944. "Nuts!".

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Sunday, December 17, 1944. SS murders in Belgium.

 


Soldiers of SS Kampfgruppe Peiper murdered eighty-four U.S. prisoners of war at Malmedy.


Peiper survived the war and a death sentence for war crimes, which was commuted and oddly took up residence in France.  In spite of clear warnings that he should get out, he stayed, and was murdered himself on Bastille Day, 14 July 1976, by French communists who also set fire to his house.

Peiper is also associated with the 1943 Boves Massacre in Italy.

On the same day, eleven 11 African-American prisoners of war were murdered by members of the 1st SS Panzer Division at Wereth, Belgium.


The Germans took Lanzerath Ridge.  U.S. resistance held the Germans up for an entire day.  While the Germans were advancing, things were already going wrong.

Eisenhower released the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions from reserve and committed them to the Ardennes.  Elements of the 12th Army Group were redeployed as well.

"An anti-tank gun is rapidly put into position in a forward area on the German-Belgium border, to repel a strong German counter attack in the First Army sector. 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, V Corps, First U.S. Army. 17 December, 1944.

The Germans took 9,000 US pows at Ecternach.

The RAF hit Ulm in a nighttime raid for the first time.

The Army's Western Defense Command rescinded orders to incarcerate people of Japanese ancestry from the West coast.

Last edition:

Saturday, December 16, 1944. Wacht am Rhein