Monday, April 24, 1944. Violating Swiss Airspace.

L-R: Lt. Col. Earl Hormell, aide to Gen. Devers, and Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, Deputy Supreme Commander, Me. Theater, pose with Ghurka troops as the general visits the front that the Ghurka was fighting on. Orsogna Sector, Italy, April 24, 1944.  Lt. Gen. Devers is wearing a non-regulation set of pull on "engineer's boots".  Devers was an artilleryman who was an early advocated of mechanization and who had participated in the development of the Army's armored forces, including the design of the M4 Sherman and the M26 Pershing.  Upon his retirement in 1949 at age 62, he became a cattle farmer.

The Finisterre Range Campaign in New Guinea concluded in an Allied victory.  US forces reached Lake Sentani near Hollandia. Australian forces took Madang.

The RAF violated Swiss airspace in order to evade Munich's air warning system.  Earlier in the day, the U.S. Army Air Force had raided the heavily defended city, losing 55 aircraft, 14 of which crashed into Switzerland.

Italy started fielding a "Co Belligerent Air Force" in support of the Allies over the Adriatic.

The Special Boat Service raided Santorini in the Aegean.

A British blockade of mutinous Greek troops in Egypt ceased.

Double Indemnity was released in Brazil, a few months ahead of the American release.

Why Brazil?  I have no idea.

Funeral for German POW Richard Jasker, Camp Robinson Nebraska. 24 April, 1944.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, April 23, 1944. Hollandia taken, MacArthur lands, John C. Squire's posthumous MoH, Greek troubles, Pyrgoi Massacre, Tragic accident, Missing mobster.

1940s, 1944, Battle of Hollandia, Crime, Douglas MacArthur, Greek Civil War, Heroes, Italian Social Republic, Italy, Mafia, Music, New Guinea, Operation Persecution, Operation Reckless, World War Two

Friday, April 21, 1944. Les Françaises obtiennent le droit de vote.

Black artillerymen of Btry B., 140th FA Bn., 37th Div. Btry firing a 105 on Bougainville. 21 April, 1944.

Charles de Gaulle issued a decree giving French women the right to vote.

It's hard to imagine that the vote came to French women this late.

US troops inspecting German one many torpedo at Anzio.

Japanese troops captured Crete West Hill during the Battle of Imphal.

As Sarah Sundin notes on her blog:

Today in World War II History—April 21, 1944: German Gen. Hans-Valentin Hube is killed in a plane crash at Berchtesgaden; Gen. Erhard Raus replaces him over German First Panzer Army.

She also noted that a massive US task force with up to twenty aircraft carriers had attacked  Hollandia, Wakde, Sawar, and Sarmi, New Guinea from the air in preparation for landings.  D-Day was the following day.

The following statement, a product of Bretton Woods, was released:

Italy formed a coalition government.

The RAF hit Cologne, La Chappelle (Paris), Lens and Ottignies (Brussels).

The Battle of Gurba occured in Ukraine, but it's obscure.  It was an action between the Soviets and the Ukrainian National Army, and relatively large-scale for such an encounter.

Last prior edition:

Thursday, April 20, 1944. Bombs for Hitler's birthday.

1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, baseball, Battle of Anzio, Battle of Kohima, boats and ships, German Kriegsmarine, German Luftwaffe, Merrill's Maurauders, Operation U-Go, Personalities, Royal Air Force, U.S. Navy

Thursday, April 20, 1944. Bombs for Hitler's birthday.

Members of 5307 Composite Unit (Merrill's Maunders) and local Kachin tribesmen in a group photo of all the nationalities represented in the unit.

L to R, back row:

Sgt. Harold R. Stevenson, Beaver, Pa. - Irish.

Pfc. Stephen Komar, Minnesota. - Ukrainian.

Pvt. George D. Altman, Adamsburg, Pa. - German.

Sgt. Carl F. Hamelic, Cleveland, Ohio. - Dutch.

Pvt. Hose L. Montoya, Las Vegas, Nevada. - Spanish.

Capt. A. E. Quinn, Burma. - Anglo-Burmese.

Capt. D. G. Wilson, Burma. - Anglo-Burmese.

Pfc. Joseph Wuele, Italy. - Italian.

Third row:

Pvt. Kai L. Wong, Los Angeles, California. - Chinese.

S/Sgt. C. N. Dulien, Wisconsin. - Polish.

Cpl. Perry E. Johnson, Somerville, Massachusetts. - Swedish.

Pfc. Louis O. Perdomo, Tampa, Florida. - Cuban.

T/Sgt. Jack Growly, Brooklyn, N.Y. - American.

Second row:

T/Sgt. Russell Hill, Chicago, Ill. - English.

Sgt. Werner Katz, N.Y.C. - Jewish.

Sgt. Miles Elson, Toledo, O. - Swedish.

S/Sgt. Francis Wonsowitz, Gary, Indiana. - Polish.

Sgt. Edward Kucera, Antigo, Wisc. - Bohemian.

Cpl. Bernard Martin, Providence, R.I. - French.

Sgt. Wilbur Smawley, Pullman, Wash. - English.

First row: 

Father James Steward. - Irish.

N'Ching Gam. - Kachin.

Li Yaw Tang - Maru.

Pirta Singh. - Gurkha.

Hpakawn Zau Mun. - Atzi.

The Royal Air Force dropped 4,500 tons of bombs on a single raid, a new record.  It was Hitler's 55th birthday.

The Luftwaffe sunk the USS Lansdale and the Liberty ship SS Paul Hamilton of Algiers. The attacking planes were Ju 88s which were used as torpedo bombers in this application.

Off of Anzio, the Germans deployed human torpedoes.  No serious damages are incurred by any of the Allied ships which are stricken.

Elmer Gedeon, age 27, was killed piloting a B-26 over France.  He had been, prior to entering the service, a professional baseball player and was one of only two major league ball players killed during World War Two, the other being Harry O'Neill who was killed as a Marine Corps officer on Iwo Jima.

The British conversation at Kohima was relieved.

The Luftwaffe attempted to raid Hull, but called off the mission.

George Grantham Baink "the father of foreign photographic news", died at age 78 in New York City, which he had heavily photographed.

Many of his photographs appear on this website.

Last prior edition:

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

1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, baseball, Battle of Anzio, Battle of Kohima, boats and ships, German Kriegsmarine, German Luftwaffe, Operation U-Go, Personalities, Royal Air Force, U.S. Navy

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

The USS Wyoming in Chesapeake Bay, April 18, 1944. The Wyoming was a training ship during World War Two and was so frequently in Chesapeake Bay she was nicknamed "The Chesapeake Raider".

The combined Allied Air Forces achieved a new daily record, and dropped over 4,000 tons of bombs on Germany and occupied France.

On the same day, the Luftwaffe sent 125 aircraft on a raid over London, the last of the "Little Blitz" air raids.  Fourteen German aircraft were brought down. Fifty-three tons of bombs were dropped on the city, and a hospital was amongst the buildings hit.

The Red Army took Balaclava.

German and Hungarian forces counterattacked at Buchach.

The British government banned coded radio and telegraph transmissions from the UK.  Diplomats are forbidden to leave, and diplomatic bags are censored, with excepts for the US, USSR and the Polish government in exile. Incitement to strike is made a punishable offense.

The British 5th Brigade linked up with the Kohima garrison, braking the encirclement of the city.

The USS Gudgeon was sunk off of Iwo Jima by a Mitsubishi G3M.

The Vatican established the Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza to provide rapid, non-bureaucratic and direct aid to needy populations, refugees, and prisoners in Europe.

Last prior edition:

Monday, April 17, 1944. The Uman–Botoșani Offensive Concludes, First Shots of the Greek Civil War, The Martyrdom of Fr. Max Josef Metzger, A Mystery Flight, Up Front in U.S. newspapers.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Cartoons, Communists, Greece, Greek Civil War, Greek Partisans, Imperial Japanese Navy, Nazi Germany, Personalities, Royal Air Force, Uman–Botoșani Offensive, World War Two

Monday, April 17, 1944. The Uman–Botoșani Offensive Concludes, First Shots of the Greek Civil War, The Martyrdom of Fr. Max Josef Metzger, A Mystery Flight, Up Front in U.S. newspapers.

Soviet soldiers in Ukraine examining a destroyed Panther tank. By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113828084

The Uman–Botoșani Offensive concluded in a wide-ranging Soviet victory.  The Soviets had advanced 190 miles in one month, cleared southwestern Ukraine and entered Romania and Moldova.   The offensive had been, moreover, carried out during spring mud season, the rasputitsa.  It was one of the most successful Soviet advances of the war.

The Take-Ichi sendan (竹一船団, "Bamboo No. One" convoy) left Shanghai with two infantry divisions to reinforce the Philippines and western New Guinea.  Its story was to be fateful and strategically important.

Following an attack on his unit by Greek Communists on Orthodox Easter Monday, Greek army officer and partisan, Col. Dimitrios Psarros (Δημήτριος Ψαρρός), founder of the partisan National and Social Liberation organization was executed in an early indication of how things were going to go as the Axis control of Greece loosened.  Greece would be in a civil war before the end of World War Two.

Fr. Max Josef Metzger, German Catholic Priest and founder of the German Catholic Peace Association, was executed by the Nazi German state.  He is regarded as a Catholic martyr.

The U-342 was sunk in the North Atlantic by a RCAF PBY.

Civilian airliner Deutsche Lufthansa D-AOCA, a Junkers Ju-52/3m was shot down on scheduled service E.17 from Vienna to Athens with stops in Belgrade, Sofia, and Thessaloniki. An Allied fighter sweep of Belgrade mistook it for a military aircraft.  Five of its seven occupants were killed.

A Royal Air Force Warwick passenger plane went down over the UK, creating a mystery.  As the recovery of its doomed passengers occured, large amounts of cash were found with them.

United Features Syndicate began to run Bill Mauldin's Up Front in U.S. newspapers.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, April 16, 1944. Black Sunday.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Artillery, Black Sunday, boats and ships, Chodaczków Massacre, Crimea, Romania, Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Forces, The Holocaust, U.S. Air Force, United Service Organization, Weather

Sunday, April 16, 1944. Black Sunday.

The RAF hit Romania for the first time. On the same day, the Soviet Air Forces hit Galatz. 

The Germans began to gather Hungarian Jews, some 800,000 in number, into ghettos.  Prior to this phase of the war, Hungarian Jews had been oppressed by their own nation, but not subject to deportation to the death camps.

The Red Army took Yalta.  The Germans attempted to push the Red Army back over the Dnestr.

A large air raid was staged on Hollandia, Indonesia.  The mission was successful with no losses, but the aircraft ran into a severe weather front on the return and 46 of the 170 aircraft in the raid went down.  The day acquired the name "Black Sunday" as a result.

The attacking force was made up of  B-24s, B-25s and A-20s, escorted by P-38s

862 Poles were killed by Ukrainian SS troops of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division. (1st Galician) in Chodaczków Wielki, part of pre war Poland which is now Velykyi Khodachkiv, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine.

The Parczew partisans helped take over that town in Poland on this day.

The U-550 was sunk off of Nantucket.  It was found in 2012:

Search team finds U-boat off Nantucket

African American artillerymen were in action on Bougainville.

155 Long Tom of B Btry, 49th Coastal Artillery, being loaded for firing.  Bougainville, April 16, 1944.  Section 1 of this unit, which had not been deployed overseas, would be disbanded the following month as the need for coast artillery faded.  Section 2, depicted, here, had obviously been converted to heavy field artillery.

1st section gun crew, Btry. A, 593rd F.A. Bn, load 105mm howitzer, preparatory to firing. Bougainville. 16 April, 1944.

USO events were going on in the UK.

In the US, General Robert E. Wood, former head of the America First Committee, stated that there was no connection between the pre-Pearl Harbor organization and the current party which was then led by the Reverend Gerald Smith, its presidential candidate that year.  Smith would receive 1,780, votes for the Oval Office, most of those from Texas and Michigan.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, April 15, 1944. Romania attacked from the air, Teenagers lose at Tarnopol, Politics in Minnesota, Hydro-Québec

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, boats and ships, Cameras, Chichijima, Eastern Front, Farmers Labor Party, German Army, Iwo Jima, Operation Guidance, Polesti Romania, Politics, Romania, Royal Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy

Thursday, April 13, 1944. Soviet advances in Crimea.

The Red Army took Feodosia, Evpatoriya and Simferopol in Crimea.  The Axis forces of the 17th Army fell back on Sevastopol.

Australian troops took Bogodjim on New Guinea.

The U.S. Army Air Force and RAF raided numerous coast batteries in Normandy.

Operation Overlord had effectively already begun.

Martial law was lifted in Hawaii.

In April 1944, Vogue covered fashions in Texas, Florida and California.

It's worth noting that all of these dresses were fairly plain, reflecting the wartime view on the same.

The last model (must have been teenage girl's clothing there) doesn't look very comfortable with the pony.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 12, 1944. Soviet invasion of Romania fails, Withdrawal of Crimea commences, Victor Emmanuel makes retirement plans.

1940s, 1944, Conservation, Crimea, First Battle of Târgu Frumos, German Kriegsmarine, Italy, Oregon, Protestant, Radio, religion, Romania, Romanian Navy, World War Two

Monday, April 10, 1944. Odessa taken by the Red Army.

The Red Army took Odessa. 24,000 German and Romanian troops were evacuated, although many of them were wounded, along with 55,000 tons of supplies.

The RAF dropped 3,600 tons of bombs in a single raid that included Germany, France and Belgium.  It was a record.

Gen. William Slim ordered an offensive to relieve Kohima and into Japanese territory.

The U-68 and U-515 were sunk in the Atlantic by U.S. aircraft flying from the USS Guadalcanal.

108th Gun Bn., camouflage and concealment of 90mm AA gun battery height finder, dug in. Anzio area, Italy. 10 April, 1944.

Last prior edition:

Easter Sunday, April 9, 1944. A wartime Easter, de Gaulle becomes Commander of the Free French, fighting in Romania, a Ukrainian heroine, Belgrade bombed.

1940s, 1944, Catholic, Charles de Gaulle, Christianity, Crimea, Easter, Eastern Front, First Battle of Târgu Frumos, Free French, Personalities, Radio, religion, Romania, Soviet Air Forces, World War Two, Yugoslavia

Thursday, April 6, 1944. German withdrawal from the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket, Army Day.

The Germans pull off a major successful fighting withdrawal from Hube's Pocket (Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket).  200,000 German troops escaped Zhukov's forces, losing a lot of equipment, but also destorying a lot of Soviet equipment on the way.

An RAF Spitfire raid destroyed a substantial number of aircraft at Banja Luka field, Yugoslavia.

The French resistance shut down Timken ball bearing production at Paris.

The U-302 was sunk in the Atlantic by the Royal Navy.  The U-455 went down in the Ligurian Sea due to a mine.

US troops on Bougainville, April 6, 1944.

It was Army day pursuant to a proclamation earlier issued by President Roosevelt.

Proclamation 2610—Army Day, 1944

March 22, 1944

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Whereas America's valiant soldiers have been welded by the fire of battle into a mighty army of liberation; and

Whereas the men and women of the American Army, of different races and creeds but one in their love of freedom and their devotion to the goals for which the United Nations are striving, must face during the coming year a burning test of their courage, their resourcefulness, and their physical prowess; and

Whereas the Congress, by Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, 75th Congress, agreed to by the House of Representatives March 16, 1937, has recognized April 6 of each year as Army Day and has requested that the President issue a proclamation annually with respect to that day:

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, April 6, 1944, as Army Day, and do invite the Governors of the various States to issue proclamations calling for the appropriate observance of that day.

And I urge the civilians of the Nation to reconsecrate themselves on that day to the task of producing in fullest measure and with the greatest possible speed the weapons and ammunition and the materials and supplies required to equip our Army and to sustain it unto final 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 22nd day of March, 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.

Rose O'Neill, cartoonist and creator of the Kewpie character, died at age 69.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 5, 1944. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that’s inside me! When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived!

1940s, 1944, 1944 Election, Anne Frank, Ernie Pyle, Hungary, Judaism, Marshall Islands, Romania, The Holocaust, The written word, United States Marine Corps, World War Two

Friday, February 25, 1944. Operation Avalanche concludes.

Operation Argument, the "Big Week", concluded.  The last raid was as combinedone by the US 8th and 15th Air Forces on the Messerschmidt works at Regensburg and Augsburg followed by the RAF hitting the same target that night.

Regarded as an Allied victory, actual results

• On 2/20 the 1st, 2nd and 3d Bombardment group failed to reach its target and attacked their secondary targets.
• On 2/21 all the 924 bombers launched failed to hit their assigned targets and all hit secondary targets.
• On 2/22, 252 B-24s were assigned targets, but only 177 were launched and only 74 saw combat action.  None of the 33 B-17s in the 3d Bombardment Division reached their targets as they were all recalled due to weather conditions.
• 2/23.  All operations were suspended due to bad weather.
• 2/24.  The RAF conducted an ineffective raid on aircraft plants at Schweinfurt.
• 2/25/26 The RAF carried out an accurate and effective raid on Augsburg, destroying 60% of the city.  It had been hit earlier than day by the 8th and 15th U.S. Air Forces.

During the offensive, the Eighth Air Force lost 97 B-17s, 40 B-24s and another 20 aircraft were scrapped due to damage. Operational strength of bomber units dropped from 75% to 54%.  The 15th Air Force lost 14.6% of its operational strength.  RAF Bomber Command, which of course operated at night, lost 5.7% of its strength.  It is noted by historians that these losses were significantly smaller than prior raids.

German losses were massively overestimated by Allied aircrews, something that was highly typical.  However, the Germans did sustain high losses of fighters overall, with the mission partially designed to draw in fighter attacks.  14% of its fighter pilots were killed in the raid, a loss that ended up partially crippling the Luftwaffe for the remainder of the war.

The accidental bombing of Nijmegen was a humanitarian disaster.  Perhaps somewhat ironically, Queen Wilhelmina's home in exile was bombed on this day by the Luftwaffe, and she narrowly escaped death.

B-17G "Nine O Nine"

The Collins Foundation B-17G Nine O Nine.  This plane isn't the original Nine O Nine, but a B-17G painted to match the original Nine O Nine's colors.

Riding in a B-17

B-17G Madras Maiden

A B-17 and a B-24

The B-17 Nine-O-Nine, which has appeared here in prior photographs, back at the Natrona County International Airport.

The Republic of Iceland was founded with the Icelandic parliament, severing ties with the Danish monarchy.  A referendum in May would make it official.

The Tango Maru was sunk in the Java Sea by the Rasher, taking 3,500 Japanese laborers and hundreds of Allied POWs down with her.  The Rasher also sank the Ryūsei Maru that same day with 5,000 Japanese soldiers going down with her.

The HMS Inglefield was sun by a guided bomb off of Anzio.