Saturday, June 16, 1945. Oppenheimer writes a letter. Bell Bottom Trousers hits the charts. Belgians debate the return of a king. Sugar for canning.

See below.

Oppenheimer and his committee wrote a letter:

Mount Yuza was captured on Okinawa.

"Soldiers of the 32nd Regt., 7th Inf. Div., advancing to Hill 115 against moderate resistance. 16 June, 1945. 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division."  Okinawa. Note the infantryman reloading his M1 Garand and the two BARs in the photograph.  Both of the BARs have had their bipods removed.  One of the automatic rifleman is holding his BAR sideways.

"A flame throwing tank of 96th Division burns out Japs hiding in holes along sunken road on bitterly contested “big apple” ridge, Okinawa. 16 June, 1945."

This was also noted by Sarah Sundin, who also noted an interesting musical item:

Today in World War II History—June 16, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 16, 1945: US Tenth Army takes Yuza-Dake Hill on Okinawa. “Bell Bottom Trousers” becomes final military-themed song to hit US charts in WWII.

Lots of versions of this song were recorded in 1945, and all in close proximity. The one above is the one that hit the charts on this date.

Here's another version, same year. 

 

The song was actually originally a bawdy sailors song, and it had been rewritten by Moe Jaffe for a modern audience in a form that' was recordable.  His lyrics went:

Once there was a little girl who lived next to me

And she loved a sailor boy, he was only three

Now he's on a battleship in his sailor suit

Just a great big sailor, but she thinks he's very cute

(With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue)

(She loves her sailor and he loves her too)

When her sailor boy's away on the ocean blue

Soldier boys all flirt with her, but to him she's true

Though they smile and tip their caps, and they wink their eyes

She just smiles and shakes her head, then she softly sighs

(Oh, bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue)

(She loves her sailor and he loves her too)

Then her sailor went to sea to see what he could see

She saw that he ate spinach, now he's big as he can be

When he's home they stroll along, they don't give a hoot

She won't let go of his hand, even to salute

If her sailor she can't find on the bounding main

She is hopeful he will soon come home safe again

So they can get married and raise a family

Dress up all their kiddies in sailor's dungarees

(Oh, bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue)

(She loves her sailor and he loves her too)

The song was hugely popular (I can recall my mother singing it), and was recorded five times in 1945.  Interestingly, the last recording, in February 1945,  by Louis Prima recalled the more bawdy earlier version.

When I was a lady's maid down in Drury Lane

My mistress, she was good to me; my master was the same

Along came a sailor, happy as could be

And he was the cause of all my misery

With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue

(She loved her sailor and he loved her too)

He asked me for a candle to light him up to bed

He asked me for a kerchief to tie around his head

And I, like a silly girl, thinking it no harm

 

Lay down beside him, just to keep him warm

With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue

(She loved her sailor and he loved her too)

(Trumpet Solo)

Early in the mornin', before the break of day

A sawbuck note he left for me before he went away

And he wrote a message that if I have a son

Let him be a sailor if he wants to have some fun

With his bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue

(She loved her sailor and he loved her too)

(Saxophone Solo)

LOUIS:

If it is a daughter, bounce her on your knee

And if it is a boy, send the begger out to sea

Singin' bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue

Oh, he'll climb the riggin', like the sailors used to do

LILYANN:

If my sailor I can't find on the bounding main

I am hopeful he will soon come home safe again

So we can get married, and raise a family

Dress up all our kiddies in sailor's dungarees

The original song was Rosemary Lane, and English song from the early 1800s.  It went:

When I was in service in Rosemary Lane

I won the goodwill of my master and did I

Till a sailor came there one night to lay

And that was the beginning of my misery 

He called for a candle to light him to bed

And likewise a silk handkerchief to tie up his head

To tie up his head as sailors will do

And he said my pretty Polly will you come too 

Now this maid being young and foolish she thought it no harm

For to lie into bed to keep herself warm

And what was done there I will never disclose

But I wish that short night had been seven long years 

Next morning this sailor so early arose

And into my apron three guineas did throw

Saying take this I will give and more I will do

If you'll be my Polly wherever I go 

Now if it's a boy he will fight for the king

And if it's a girl she will wear a gold ring

She will wear a gold ring and a dress all aflame

And remember my service in Rosemary Lane 

When I was in service in Rosemary Lane

I won the goodwill of my master and did I

Till a sailor came there one night to lay

And that was the beginning of my misery

The 10th Mountain Division adopted the song during the war for their own fighting song, and produced these lyrics:

I was a barmaid in a mountain inn;

There I learned the wages and miseries of sin;

Along came a skier fresh from off the slopes;

He’s the one that ruined me and shattered all my hopes.

Singing:

[Chorus:]

Ninety pounds of rucksack

A pound of grub or two

He’ll schuss the mountain,

Like his daddy used to do.

He asked me for a candle to light his way to bed;

He asked me for a kerchief to tie around his head;

And I a foolish maiden, thinking it no harm;

Jumped into the skier’s bed to keep the skier warm..

Singing:

[Chorus]

Early in the morning before the break of day,

He handed me a five note and these words did say,

“Take this my darling for the damage I have done.

You may have a daughter, you may have a son.

Now if you have a daughter, bounce her on your knee;

But if you have a son, send the young man out to ski.”

Singing:

[Chorus]

The moral of this story, as you can plainly see,

Is never trust a skier an inch above your knee.

For I trusted one and now look at me;

I’ve got a bastard in the Mountain Infantry.

Singing:

The USS Twiggs was sunk by a kamikaze attack.

Poster from this date.  The impressive thing is how much territory the Japanese were still holding, and tenaciously.

Belgian Premier Achille van Acker and his cabinet resign in protest against the contemplated return of King Leopold III from Germany, where he'd been taken by the Germans at the end of the war.

Today In Wyoming's History: June 16: 1945  Sugar once again allowed, on a restricted basis, for home canning in the US.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Belgian Premier Achille van Acker and his cabinet resign in protest against the contemplated return of King Leopold III from Germany, where he'd been taken by the Germans at the end of the war.

Former Hungarian Prime Minister Béla Imrédy was arrested by American troops.

Col. Gen. Nikolai Erastovich Berzarin, commander of the troops in Berlin, died in a motorcycle accident.  He was 41.

Denounced radical Communist Greek guerilla leader Aris Velouchiotis  committed suicide rather than surrender.  He was 39.

Polynesian won the Preakness.

Last edition:

Friday, June 15, 1945. Infantry Day.

Labels: 1660s, 1670s, 1930s, 1935, 1940s, 1945, 1945 at the movies, 1950s, 1953, Aircraft, Battle of Bessang Pass, Cavalier Parliament, Infantry, Korea War, Movies, Philippines, U.S. Air Force, United Kingdom, Wyoming

Tuesday, May 22, 1945. Operation Unthinkable.

  

It was a Churchill ordered study for a war against the Soviet Union, in aid of Poland, coming right after World War Two.

Unthinkable in deed, it likely would have been a massive failure. By 1945 the Western Allies were fatigued and the concept that "moral remained high" was assuming a lot. The American public, which had been lead to believe that the Soviets were more or less like us, just misunderstood, would not have tolerated a war against the USSR.  Indeed, the American public largely ignored the Soviets until the Berlin Blockade, which came as a shock. The British public was so sick of things that Churchill lost power on July 5, 1945.  The Labour Party had withdrawn support for the coalition government which Churchill governed the day prior.

OPERATION UNTHINKABLE

REPORT BY THE JOINT PLANNING STAFF

We have examined Operation Unthinkable. As instructed, we have taken the following assumptions on which to base our examination:

The undertaking has the full support of public opinion in the British Empire and the United States and consequently, the morale of British and American troops continues high.

Great Britain and the United States have full assistance from the Polish armed forces and can count upon the use of German manpower and what remains of German industrial capacity.

No credit is taken for assistance from the forces of the other Western Powers, although any bases in their territory, or other facilities which may be required, are made available

Russia allies herself with Japan.

The date for the opening of hostilities is 1st July, 1945.

Redeployment and release schemes continue till 1st July and then stop.

Owing to the special need for secrecy, the normal staff in Service Ministries have not been consulted.

OBJECT

The overall or political object is to impose upon Russia the will of the United States and British Empire.

Even though ‘the will’ of these two countries may be defined as no more than a square deal for Poland, that does not necessarily limit the military commitment. A quick success might induce the Russians to submit to our will at least for the time being; but it might not. That is for the Russians to decide. If they want total war, they are in a position to have it.

The only way we can achieve our object with certainty and lasting results is by victory in a total war but in view of what we have said in paragraph 2 above, on the possibility of quick success, we have thought it right to consider the problem on two hypotheses:-

That a total war is necessary, and on this hypothesis we have examined our chances of success.

That the political appreciation is that a quick success would suffice to gain our political object and that the continuing commitment need not concern us.

TOTAL WAR

Apart from the chances of revolution in the USSR and the political collapse of the present regime – on which we are not competent to express an opinion – the elimination of Russia could only be achieved as a result of:

the occupation of such areas of metropolitan Russia that the war making capacity of the country would be reduced to a point at which further resistance became impossible.

Such a decisive defeat of the Russian forces in the field as to render it impossible for the USSR to continue the war.

Occupation of Vital Areas of Russia

The situation might develop in such a way that Russians succeeded in withdrawing without suffering a decisive defeat. They would then presumably adopt the tactics which they had employed so successfully against the Germans and in previous wars of making use of the immense distances with which their territory provides them. In 1941 the Germans reached the Moscow area, the Volga and the Caucasus, but the technique of factory evacuation, combined with the development of new resources and Allied assistance, enabled the U.S.S.R. to continued fighting.

There was virtually no limit to the distance to which it would be necessary for the Allies to penetrate into Russia in order to render further resistance impossible. It is far as, or as quickly as, the Germans in 1942 and this penetration no decisive result.

Decisive Defeat of the Russian Forces

Details of the present strengths and dispositions of the Russian and Allied forces are given in Annexes II and III and illustrated maps A and B. The existing balance of strength in Central Europe, where the Russians enjoy a superiority of approximately three to one, makes it most unlikely that the Allies could achieve a complete and decisive victory in that area in present circumstances. Although Allied organisation is better, equipment slightly better and morale higher, the Russians have proved themselves formidable opponents of the Germans. They have competent commanders, adequate equipment and an organisation which though possibly inferior by our standards, has stood the test. On the other hand, only about one third of their divisions are of a high standard, the others being considerably inferior and with overall mobility well below that of the Allies.

To achieve the decisive defeat of Russia in a total war would require, in particular, the mobilisation of manpower to counteract their present enormous manpower resources. This is a very long term project and would involve:-

The deployment in Europe of a large proportion of the vast resources of the United States.

The re-equipment and re-organisation of German manpower and of all the Western Allies.

 Conclusions

We conclude that:-

That if our political object is to be achieved with any certainty and with lasting results, the defeat of Russia in a total war will be necessary.

The result of a total war with Russia is not possible to forecast, but the one thing certain is that to win it would take us a very long time.

QUICK SUCCESS

It might, however, be considered, as result of a political appreciation, that a quick and limited military success would result in Russia accepting out terms.

Before a decision to open hostilities were made, full account would have to taken of the following:-

If this appreciation is wrong and the attainment of whatever limited objective we may set ourselves does not cause Russia to submit to our terms, we may, in fact, be committed to a total war.

It will not be possible to limit hostilities to any particular area. While we are in progress, therefore, we must envisage a world-wide struggle.

Even if all goes according to plan, we shall not have achieved, from the military point of view, a lasting result. The military power of Russia will not be broken and it will be open to her to recommence the conflict at any time she sees fit.

Assuming, however, that it is decided to risk military action on a limited basis, accepting the dangers set out above, we have examined what action we could take in order to inflict such a blow upon the Russians as would cause them to accept our terms, even though they would not have been decisively defeated and, from the military point of view, would still be capable of continuing the struggle.

Churchill had a penchant for such things.  While he was correct about the dangers the USSR posed, fanciful planning was something he had a taste for, and not always wise fanciful planning.

The Battle of the Hongorai River in New Guinea ended in Australian victory.

The UK cut rations of bacon, cooking fats and soaps in recognition of the distressed condition of Europe.  POWs would also receive ration cuts.

President Truman reports to Congress on the Lend-Lease program as of March, 1945.  The UK had received supplies worth $12,775,000,000 and the USSR $8,409,000,000. 

Reverse Lend-Lease from the UK had amounted to about$5,000,000,000 in the same period.  The existence of Reverse Lend Lease is typically ignored.  The UK, it should be noted, also supplied materials to the Soviet Union.

US forces entered Yonabaru, Okinawa and captured Conical Hill.

Lucky Strike Green:

22 May 1948

Last edition:

Monday, May 21, 1945. British government falls apart, French mandates want out, Himmler arrested.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Blog Mirror, Heinrich Himmler, Lebanon, Marriage, NKVD, Philippines, Poland, Polish Home Army, Politics, Syria, The Cold War, United Kingdom, USSR

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.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Adolf Hitler, Aircraft, Army, Elbe River, German Luftwaffe, Hanna Reitsch, Red Army

Sunday, December 24, 1944. The high water mark of the German offensive.

The highwater mark of Wacht am Rhein was reached at Celles.  By the end of the day, the Germans had exhausted their offensive capabilities.

Gen. Frederick Castle performed the actions that resulted in his winning a posthumous Medal of Honor.

He was air commander and leader of more than 2,000 heavy bombers in a strike against German airfields on 24 December 1944. En route to the target, the failure of 1 engine forced him to relinquish his place at the head of the formation. In order not to endanger friendly troops on the ground below, he refused to jettison his bombs to gain speed maneuverability. His lagging, unescorted aircraft became the target of numerous enemy fighters which ripped the left wing with cannon shells, set the oxygen system afire, and wounded 2 members of the crew. Repeated attacks started fires in 2 engines, leaving the Flying Fortress in imminent danger of exploding. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the bail-out order was given. Without regard for his personal safety he gallantly remained alone at the controls to afford all other crewmembers an opportunity to escape. Still another attack exploded gasoline tanks in the right wing, and the bomber plunged earthward, carrying Gen. Castle to his death. His intrepidity and willing sacrifice of his life to save members of the crew were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

Race riots broke out between black and white Marines on Guam.

The U-486 sank the Belgian troopship Léopoldville in the English Channel, killing 763 American soldiers and 56 crew. 

V1s killed 42 in Manchester, England.

Anti German and anti fascist Hungarian politician Endre Kálmán Bajcsy-Zsilinszky was executed.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 24:  1944   All beef products are again being rationed. New quotas are introduced for most other commodities as well.

Last edition:

Saturday, December 23, 1944. German command worries.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Arizona, Bastogne, Battle of Leyte, Battle of the Bulge, Christmas, Gerd von Runstedt, Prisoners of War, Siege of Bastogne, U.S. Air Force, World War Two

Wednesday, April 19, 1944. Operation Ichi-Go.

 Operation Ichi-Go commenced in China.

Japanese plans for the offensive, which would be a largely successful Japanese effort.

Control of the ground at the end of the war.

The massive and highly successful offensive was designed, in no small measure, to help force a conclusion to the war in China, something perhaps best demonstrated by its alternative Japanese name, Tairiku Datsū Sakusen (大陸打通作戦), "Continent Cross-Through Operation"). It would gain a huge amount of ground, and demonstrate the importance of the war on the mainland to the Asian conflict.  It's specific goas were to link railways in Beijing and Hankou in northern China to the southern Chinese coast at Canton and spare shipping and avoid American submarines; to take the airfields in Sichuan and Guangxi to preclude U.S. bombing of Taiwan and the Japanese mainland; and to destroy elite Nationalist units to cause the Nationalist government to collapse.

It was ambitious and would be, late war though it was, the largest military campaign of the Japanese war against China.  Japan committed 80% of their forces in China, some 500,000 men, as well as 100,000 horses, 1,500 artillery pieces, and 800 tanks.

700,000 Nationalist Chinese troops were eliminated from combat in the operation, which would continue into October.

The Allies launched Operation Cockpit, an operation that featured all of the principal Allied forces in the East, the same being an air assault on Sabang Indonesia.

The RAF mined the Danube.

 

Sarah Sundin notes, on her blog:

Today in World War II History—April 19, 1944 In the US, shortening, salad & cooking oils are removed from rationing, but butter & margarine are still rationed. Read more: “Make It Do—Rationing of Butter, Fats & Oils in World War II.”

Congress extended the Lend Lease Act.  Apparently the 78th Congress was a little more active than the 119th.

The 1944 NFL Draft was held, and the first draft pick was Angelo Bertelli, who was drafted by the Boston Yanks.  It wouldn't matter, Bertelli was already slated to enter the Marine Corps.

Canadian Gérard Côté won the Boston Marathon.

Côté winning the 1940 Boston Marathon.

He was serving in the Canadian Army at the time, and took leave to run in the race, sponsored by a Montreal restaurateur.  While the Canadian Army, which initially used him as a physical education instructor, and then stationed him in a munitions plant, had been proud of his status as Canada's premier runner, it had taken heat for perceived preferential treatment that he received, and reacted negatively to his taking leave and running in the race. Côté was shipped to the UK and served the rest of the war in Europe, winning three English marathons during that time period.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, April 18, 1944. 4,000 tons v. 53.

1940s, 1943, Battle of Kohima, boats and ships, Catholic, Crimea, Eastern Front, German Luftwaffe, London England, Operation U-Go, Royal Air Force, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Wednesday, March 22, 1944. German defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Admiral Doenitz orders his U-boats to disperse and work singly.  Convoy attacks were halted in anticipation of new U-boat designs coming on.  Effectively, this amounted to a concession of German defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic.

New Zealanders made an unsuccessful assault on Monte Cassino.  After its failure, Allied defensive lines are consolidated.

The US OSS began Operation Ginny II, again intending to cut rail lines in Italy, and once again failing, this time as the landing party was beached in the wrong place and captured.

80% of the B-25s of the 340th Bombardment Group were destroyed by volcanic boulders from Vesuvius.

The Corpo Italiano di Liberazione (Italian Liberation Corps) was organized to collect the Royal Italain Army units that were now part of the Allied armies.  

Döme Sztójay replaced Miklós Kállay as Prime Minister of Hungary, and the country promulgated anti-Jewish legislation and ordered all Jewish businesses to close. The roundups of Hungarian Jews were soon to begin and the country would reenter the war as a German ally.

Hedwig Jahnow died at age 65 of malnutrition at Theresienstadt.  She was a German teacher and an Old Testament theologian who studied Rabbinic Dirge and remains significant in those studies.

On the same day, and at the same location, important pre Nazi German legal advisor to banking and industry, Albert Katzenellenbogen, died.

The Red Army took Pervomaysk

Mortar crew of 164th Inf. Regt., Americal Div., on Bougainville Island. 22 March, 1944.  All of these men were from Minnesota. All enlisted, this photograph is unusual in that one of the soldiers, PFC Russell Campbell, is wearing his service cap with the stiffner removed, something almost never seen in the case of U.S. soldiers in combat outside of airmen.

The only example of the Northrup XP-56, the first one having been destroyed in a crash, was photographed in anticipation of its first flight the following day.

Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet (s/n 42-38353) on the ground at Muroc Army Air Field, California, March 22, 1944.

The weird aircraft was not a success.

Sarah Sundin's excellent blog on daily events in World War Two, whose feed updates are no longer working, notes this item:

In US, “A” gas rationing cards (basic passenger car ration) are cut from three gallons per week to two gallons. 

Two gallons per week.

Could you get by on two gallons per week?  Most days I drive a 1/4 ton Utility Truck, which is better known as a Jeep, and while it's small, it gets terrible mileage.  I know that I use more than two gallons per week, but I would if I was driving my fuel efficient diesel truck as well.  If I was limited to two gallons per week, I'd have to make major life changes.

Should I be pondering this as Congress, through the neglect of Ukraine, pushes us ever closer to a war with Russia, should she invade the Balkans?

During World War Two I know that my grandfather had a different class of ration ticket as his vehicle was used for business.  His car was a "business coupe", which is about all I know about it.

I know it had a gasoline personnel heater, which probably provides a clue, but I still don't know who made it.

I had a 1954 Chevrolet at one time, and it got really good mileage.  Interestingly, a 1973 Mercury Comet, with a really powerful V8 engine we had, also did.  According to one site about older cars, the business couple should be something like this:

My '38 gets around 17-18 MPG @ 50 MPH. It drops to around 12-14 @ 60. She just doesn't like being pushed that hard.

My 54, and the 73, got much better mileage than that.

Whatever mileage the business coupé got, my father sort of brushed gasoline rationing off when I asked him about it, due to the other category of ticket.  I don't know what that really meant, however.

Of course, for most long travel of any kind, people took the train.  Something that we might want to consider as potentially being something that may very well return.  High speed rail, for that matter, may be coming to Wyoming.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, March 21, 1944. Dear John.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Churches, Continuation War, Kamikaze, Miles City Montana, New Guinea, Operation Margarethe, Operation U-Go, The relationship between men and women, The written word, World War Two

February 1, 1944. Soviets advance beyond Leningrad.

The Red Army commenced the Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive on the Leningrad Front.

Kingisepp was taken on the first day.

The French Forces of the Interior (FFI), uniting all French Resistance movements, was formed.

Clothing restrictions were lifted in the United Kingdom.

"The butcher of Warsaw", Austrian Nazi SS-Brigadeführer Franz Kutschera, age 39, was assassinated by the Polish Home Army.  He was a figure in the repression of the region and was noted for his extreme harshness. The Poles had subjected him to a trial in absentia, and carried out the operation once his location in Poland was learned.  300 Poles were executed as a reprisal for his assassination.

He left behind a pregnant Norwegian girlfriend, Jane Lilian Gjertsdatter Steen, who was subsequently "posthumously married" to him, in a pagan ceremony.  Posthumous marriages had been introduced by Hitler during the war to legitimize the offspring of German soldiers under these circumstances.  She had been serving as a German Army nurse and remarried after the war and lived in Norway, in spite of the feelings of post-war Norwegians towards those who had sympathized with the Nazis. Their son, Sepp Kutschera, became a notable mountain climber.  

She had several more children by her second, Norwegian, husband.

Sarah Sundin notes:

Today in World War II History—February 1, 1944: Allied leaders issue Neptune Initial Joint Plan for D-day, including a 5-division front. US Marines land on Roi & Namur in Kwajalein Atoll in Marshall Islands.

Japanese fuel dump burning on Eniwetok, February 1, 1944.

The Umikaze was sunk off of Truk by the USS Guardfish.

The Bolu–Gerede earthquake killed nearly 4,000 people in northern Turkey.

1944 Mike Enzie born in Bermerton Washington.  His father was in the service at the time, and the family returned to Thermopolis after his father's discharge following World War Two.  He has served as a Senator for Wyoming since 1997.

Enzi has been a very popular Wyoming politician.  He was a successful businessman in Gillette, first in his family's shoe store business, and then as an accountant, prior to entering politics locally.

The entry above was obviously written while Enzi was still living.  He died, after a bicycle accident, in 2021, shortly after his retirement.

Enzi was a really decent guy who liked to work behind the scene in Wyoming's politics.  He was never flashy, he was highly intelligent, and he did not tend to be controversial.  He frankly is one of the politicians who would not fit in well into today's' GOP.

Enzi's term as Senator may have ironically, in retrospect, have been extended by Liz Cheney, who assumed he was retiring earlier than he intended to, and therefore ran briefly against him in 2014.  At least by appearances, when Cynthia Lummis ran to replace him, Cheney was still considering a Senatorial run in 2020 when Lummis announced, seemingly causing some animosity between them.  Had Cheney announced first, she might well be our Senator now, as it would be less likely that she would have been defeated in 2020, and Tim Stubson would have been our Congressman going into that election.

Monday, January 17, 1944. The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.

U.S. forward observer operating in support of British forces at Monte Cassino, January 17, 1944.

The British 56th and 5th Divisions attack at Monte Cassino, forcing a crossing of the Garigliano.  The German 29th and 90th Panzergrenadier Divisions were redeployed from the Rome as reinforcements.

The Red Army took Slavuta.

The Soviet Union rejected negotiations with the Polish Government In Exile over the Polish border.

While it was not really occurring, the Polish Home Army ordered Polish partisans not to cooperate with the Germans in attacking Soviet partisans operating in Poland.  Given the extreme repression by the Germans in Poland, there was little reason to fear that would occur.

Pravda reported a falsehood that British and German representatives had met on the Iberian Peninsula to discuss a separate peace.  The British Foreign Officer immediately denied the rumor.

Slovene partisans attack the Germans at Paški Kozjak.

The U-305 was lost in the Atlantic.

Australia began rationing meat.

Monday, January 7, 1974. Sweden rations gasoline.

Gas rationing began in Sweden, the first Western nation to do so in response to the ongoign crisis caused by the Arab Oil Embargo.

The four-year-long Gombe Chimpanzee War broke out in Tanzania's Gombe Stream National Park.

Margaret Queen Adams.

Margaret Queen Adams, née Margaret Queen Phillips, the first female deputy sheriff in the United States died at age 99. She had served in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department from 1912 to 1947.  She worked in the evidence department.

Wednesday, December 29, 1943. Rationing Bicycles

F.F. Calkin, of Cadillac, Michigan, and J. Ferber, of Camden, New Jersey, using British bicycles for transportation in England, 1943.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 29: 1943  Wartime quotas of new adult bicycles for January cut in half, with 40 being allotted to Wyoming.Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Bicycles at high school in Texas, 1943.

This was no small matter.  Bicycles had increased enormously in importance due to the war.  The National Park Service notes:

The government rationed bicycles from July 1942 to September 1945. The goal was to reduce the amount of wartime materials used for bicycles, but also to ensure that those who rode instead of drove could get one (thereby saving on car tires and gasoline).[10]

Shortly after the December 1941 Japanese attacks, the government took over control of the bicycle industry. They halted the bicycle trade entirely, and forbade bicycles from leaving “a factory, a jobber, a wholesaler, or a retailer’s place of business after 11:59 tonight” (April 3, 1942). They hoped this would prevent hoarding, and also gave them the opportunity to evaluate supply and demand.

The government issued specifications for what became known as Victory bicycles. These were designed and built only for adults; bikes for children were not manufactured during the war. Victory bikes were lightweight, weighing no more than 31 pounds (lighter by about a third than pre-war). They were made of steel only with no copper or nickel parts, and a minimum of chrome plating. Paint was used instead on handlebars and wheel rims. Accessories like chain guards, bells, and whitewall tires were removed, and a maximum tire width of 1-3/8" was set.[12] Behind the scenes, there were disagreements between the OPA and the Wartime Production Board (WPB) about the necessity of bicycle rationing – were bicycles a luxury? Was the rubber needed to make bicycle tires better used for other war needs while people continued to put wear on the car tires they already owned? This debate was eventually resolved, and Victory bikes went into production.[13]

When rationing began in July 1942, the OPA had 150,000 Victory bicycles and 90,000 pre-war bicycles to divide up. To get a bicycle, you had to apply at the local rationing board and prove you needed a bicycle. For example, your job was too far to walk to, and there was no good public transportation. By August 1942, access to bicycles was further limited to health care workers, school teachers, fire fighters, and others in critical occupations. New and used bicycles became much in demand, as thousands used them to get to their war jobs.[14] Despite this, the numbers of bicycles made and allocated by rationing boards never met the actual demand.[15]

Sailors who had bicycled to Arlington Farms, a residence for women who worked in the U.S. government for the duration of the war, from Washington in search of a date, 1943.

Leo Pasvolsky of the State Department finished the draft for the United Nations Charter.

Gen. Eisenhower ordered Allied Commanders to avoid attacking historic Italian monuments to the extent that this was possible; stating:

We are bound to respect those monuments so far as war allows. If we have to choose between destroying a famous building and sacrificing our own men, then our men's lives count infinitely more and the buildings must go. But the choice is not always so clear-cut as that. In many cases the monuments can be spared without any detriment to operational needs.

The Royal Air Force resumed bombing Berlin, its Christmas hiatus having ended.

The Red Army took Korosten in Ukraine.

The Italian submarine Axum was scuttled after running aground off of Morea, Greece.  The boat had a very successful war record.