Today in World War II History—June 24, 1940 & 1945: In 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.
U.S. troops liberated Dachau. In outrage over what they discovered, some SS Guards were executed along with the camp commandant.
Hitler married Eva Braun, his long time mistress.
Braun had been in a relationship with Hitler for a long time. She was a photographer by picked up trade and relatively young when she met Hitler. She had already attempted suicide twice in her relationship with the dictator by this point in time.
Braun's family survived the war. Her mother Franziska, died aged 91 in January 1976. Her father, Fritz, died in 1964. Her sister Gretl, left a widow by the execution of Fegelein, gave birth to a daughte on May 5 1945 and later married Kurt Beringhoff, a businessman. She died in 1987. Braun's elder sister was not part of the Hitler inner cricle and Ilse died in 1979.
Hitler's German Shepard Blondi was given cyanide capsules as a test of their lethality and died.
Germans signed the terms of surrender in Italy and Austria which provided that the fighting would end on May 2. This effected the surrender of 1,000,000 Axis troops.
The Battle of Collecchio ended in Allied victory.
SS Obergruppenführer Matthias Kleinheisterkamp committed suicide after being captured by Soviet troops.
Italian fascist Achille Starace was killed by Italian partisans.
The Allies began dropping food to the people of the Netherlands:
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The Red Army surrounded Berlin.
The Battle of Halbe in the Spree Forest.
The Germans began the final evacuation of Dachau.
The U-546 sank the USS Frederick Davis and then was sunk itself. The loss caused Admiral Dönitz to disband the wolfpack it was part of.
The RAF raided Berchtesgaden, it's last significant action in Europe in World War Two.
Ernst-Robert Grawitz, age 45, German physician and SS officer killed himself and his entire family with grenades.
Major League Baseball cancelled the 1945 All Star game due to travel restrictions.
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The "great jet massacre" occurred in which Allied aircraft shot down fifty Me 262s causing the Luftwaffe to abandon the aerial defense of Berlin.
The last reconnaissance flight over the UK was flown by the Luftwaffe, using a Ar234.
US Army Corporal Rick Carrier discovered Buchenwald leading to its liberation the following day.
The US 84th Infantry Division took Hanover. The 9th Army took Essen.
The Battle of Authion began in the French Alps
The RAF sank the U-878 in the Bay of Biscay.
The 96th Infantry Division seized part of Kakazu Ridge.
The 14th Corps reached Lamon Bay and captured Mauban on the Philippines.
The British 4th Corps captured Thazi in Burma.
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The Red Army took Zvolen, Czechoslovakia.
Army Group South committed its reserves in Hungary.
The RAF used a 22,000 lbs bomb, the largest conventional bomb of the war, for the first time on a raid on the Bielfeld viaduct.
The U-714 and U-1021 were sunk by British and South African surface ships, and a mine, respectively.
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The RAF destroyed Essen.
The Battle of Kiauneliškis between Lithuanian partisans and the Red Army.
The British 36 Division took Mongrmit, Burma.
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The bombing of Dresden commenced. It would end on the 15th.
Dresden was an ardently Nazi city that was rail transport and communication center, and contained 110 factories and 50,000 workers. The raid was to have commenced as a daylight raid by the USAAF 8th Air Force but bad weather precluded it, so the RAF commenced operations first instead with a nighttime raid. Polish pilots servign in British supplied units had their sidearms removed due to outrage over the Yalta Agreement. Two raids were conducted that night. The USAAF hit the following day. A firestorm erupted during the raids leading to mass destruction,
Up to 25,000 civilians, a fraction of the casualties claimed by the German propogandists, lost their lives due to the raid.
The bombing became infamous, in part because of the grossly exaggerated casualty figure, but also because of the horrible nature of the destruction. In reality, the city was more of a military target than legend would have it, and if the destruction was horrific, which it was, it raises the question of the overall morality of the Allied bombing efforts, particularly as they evolved during the war.
The Germans surrendered Budapest to the Red Army.
The British 2nd Army completed clearing the Reichswald Forest.
The US Navy began operations in Manila Bay.
Corregidor was bombarded.
The 11th Airborne Division took Caviete.
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A force of Bristol Beaufighters attempted an attack on the German destroyer Z33 and its escorting vessels in Førde Fjord, Norway. The position was heavily defended and the raid a failure with heavy losses, resulting in the event being termed Black Friday.
He was an automatic rifleman when his unit attacked the strongly defended Paco Railroad Station during the battle for Manila, Philippines. While making a frontal assault across an open field; his platoon was halted 100 yards from the station by intense enemy fire.On his own initiative, he left the platoon, accompanied by a comrade, and continued forward to a house 60 yards from the objective. Although under constant enemy observation, the 2 men remained in this position for an hour; firing at targets of opportunity, killing more than 35 hostile soldiers and wounding many more.Moving closer to the station and discovering a group of Japanese replacements attempting to reach pillboxes, they opened heavy fire, killed more than 40 and stopped all subsequent attempts to man the emplacements. Enemy fire became more intense as they advanced to within 20 yards of the station.Then, covered by his companion, Pvt. Rodríguez boldly moved up to the building and threw 5 grenades through a doorway killing 7 Japanese, destroying a 20-mm. gun and wrecking a heavy machinegun. With their ammunition running low, the 2 men started to return to the American lines, alternately providing covering fire for each other's withdrawal.. In 2+1⁄2 hours of fierce fighting the intrepid team killed more than 82 Japanese, completely disorganized their defense, and paved the way for the subsequent overwhelming defeat of the enemy at this strongpoint.Two days later, Pvt. Rodriguez again enabled his comrades to advance when he singlehandedly killed six Japanese and destroyed a well-placed 20-mm gun. By his outstanding skill with his weapon, gallant determination to destroy the enemy, and heroic courage in the face of tremendous odds, Pvt. Rodriguez, on two occasions, materially aided the advance of our troops in Manila.
He was engaged in the attack on the Paco Railroad Station, which was strongly defended by 300 determined enemy soldiers with machineguns and rifles, supported by several pillboxes, 3 20mm. guns, 1 37-mm. gun and heavy mortars. While making a frontal assault across an open field, his platoon was halted 100 yards from the station by intense enemy fire. On his own initiative he left the platoon, accompanied by a comrade, and continued forward to a house 60 yards from the objective. Although under constant enemy observation, the 2 men remained in this position for an hour, firing at targets of opportunity, killing more than 35 Japanese and wounding many more. Moving closer to the station and discovering a group of Japanese replacements attempting to reach pillboxes, they opened heavy fire, killed more than 40 and stopped all subsequent attempts to man the emplacements. Enemy fire became more intense as they advanced to within 20 yards of the station. From that point Pfc. Reese provided effective covering fire and courageously drew enemy fire to himself while his companion killed 7 Japanese and destroyed a 20-mm. gun and heavy machinegun with handgrenades. With their ammunition running low, the 2 men started to return to the American lines, alternately providing covering fire for each other as they withdrew. During this movement, Pfc. Reese was killed by enemy fire as he reloaded his rifle. The intrepid team, in 2½ hours of fierce fighting, killed more than 82 Japanese, completely disorganized their defense and paved the way for subsequent complete defeat of the enemy at this strong point. By his gallant determination in the face of tremendous odds, aggressive fighting spirit, and extreme heroism at the cost of his life, Pfc. Reese materially aided the advance of our troops in Manila and providing a lasting inspiration to all those with whom he served.
He was with troops assaulting the first important line of enemy defenses. The Japanese had converted the partially destroyed Manila Gas Works and adjacent buildings into a formidable system of mutually supporting strongpoints from which they were concentrating machinegun, mortar, and heavy artillery fire on the American forces. Casualties rapidly mounted, and the medical aid men, finding it increasingly difficult to evacuate the wounded, called for volunteer litter bearers. Pfc. Cicchetti immediately responded, organized a litter team and skillfully led it for more than 4 hours in rescuing 14 wounded men, constantly passing back and forth over a 400-yard route which was the impact area for a tremendous volume of the most intense enemy fire. On one return trip the path was blocked by machinegun fire, but Pfc. Cicchetti deliberately exposed himself to draw the automatic fire which he neutralized with his own rifle while ordering the rest of the team to rush past to safety with the wounded. While gallantly continuing his work, he noticed a group of wounded and helpless soldiers some distance away and ran to their rescue although the enemy fire had increased to new fury. As he approached the casualties, he was struck in the head by a shell fragment, but with complete disregard for his gaping wound he continued to his comrades, lifted one and carried him on his shoulders 50 yards to safety. He then collapsed and died. By his skilled leadership, indomitable will, and dauntless courage, Pfc. Cicchetti saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers at the cost of his own.
Filipino accountant and educator Nicanor Reyes Sr. was killed by the Imperial Japanese forces at Manila. Likewise killed were his wife and two youngest children. The Japanese also murdered the residents of the Catholic Vincentian Central House in San Marcelino St, Manila.
Soldiers of SS Kampfgruppe Peiper murdered eighty-four U.S. prisoners of war at Malmedy.
On the same day, eleven 11 African-American prisoners of war were murdered by members of the 1st SS Panzer Division at Wereth, Belgium.
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The airplane carrying definitive band leader of the 1940s, Glen Miller, disappeared over a fog bound English Channel. Miller, age 40, was serving as the leader of the US Army Air Forces Orchestra.
Miller's influence on US military music would be profound.
The U.S. Seventh Army captured Riedseltz, Salmbach and Lauterbourg in France.
The RAF made a largescale daylight raid on the submarine pens at Ijmuiden.
The Sixth Army landed on Mindoro and faced very little ground resistance, but heavy air resistance. The US forces included a regiment of paratroopers.
Admiral William D. Leahy was promoted to five star rank, the first officer to be so promoted and the senior most officer in the Armed Forces.
The Chinese Army captured Bhamo, Burma.
Hollywood Canteen including the Andrews Sisters, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Dorsey and Roy Rogers was released.
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