Today in World War II History—November 24, 1939 & 1944 (Friday November 24, 1944). Terrace Mutiny,

Usually I post this separately, but there are so many significant items in Sarah Sundin's blog this Sunday, I'm incorporating it into my post.

Today in World War II History—November 24, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 24, 1944: US B-29 Superfortress bombers bomb Tokyo for the first time. Japanese capture Nanning, completing a land corridor between occupied China and Indochina. In controversial decision, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower orders the 6th Army Group not to cross the Rhine but to drive north and assist Patton’s Third Army. In Terrace, BC, Canadian conscripts (many are French-Canadian) mutiny when they hear they might be sent overseas, the largest mutiny in Canadian history; put down by 11/29; news of the mutiny is censored. France establishes Commission de Récupération Artistique (CRA) to return looted artwork, with curator Rose Valland as secretary.

Wow. 

The Terrace Mutiny, which is what the mutiny was called, reflected the internal discord in Canada over conscription, something that has largely been glossed over after the war.  English Canadians were disproportionately represented amongst those who volunteered for service and volunteered to go overseas. French Canadians were disproportionally amongst those who did not.  Those who volunteered termed those who did not "Zombies" and often harassed them.  Ultimately, the needs of war could not sustain the system.

The 3d Army crossed the Saar.

Soviets completing their occupation of Saaremo in the Baltic.

The HMCS Sawinigan was sunk by the U-1228 in the Cabot Strait.

Last edition:

Thursday, November 23, 1944. Thanksgiving Day.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Alsace-Lorraine, Army, Canadian Army, Czechoslovakia, France, French Army, Holidays, Hungary, Nazi Germany, Red Army, Royal Navy, Thanksgiving, The Holocaust, World War Two

Thursday, November 16, 1944. Attack on the Siegfried Line.

"Soldiers of a tank destroyer battalion warm themselves with coffee before going into action against the Germans near Stolberg, Germany. 16 November, 1944. Company D, 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion."

The U.S. Frist and Ninth Armies commenced Operation Queen, aimed at the Siegfried Line.  The attack is supported by heavy Allied air strikes.

"German prisoners being taken to the rear were captured less than two hours after new American offensive started inside Germany. Beggendorf, Germany. 16 November, 1944. 2nd Armored Division."

Political disagreements between the Belgian government nad the Belgian resistance resulted in the resignation of three ministers.

The Jussi Awards for Finnish films were conveyed for the first time, with the ceremony in Helsinki.

Ansa Ikonen, best actress for 1944.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 15, 1944. Early war movie released late in the war.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1944 at the Movies, Battle of Morotai, boats and ships, Clothing, Imperial Japanese Navy, Italy, Movies, Project Hermes, Red Army, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Friday, November 10, 1944. The Explosion of the Mount Hood.

The USS Mount Hood, an ammunition ship, exploded at Seeadler Harbor at Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, killing all on board and damaging 22 other ships.

Imperial Japanese forces took U.S. airfields in China as part of Operation Ichi-Go.  The Japanese were gaining ground in China.

The Germans rounded up over 50,000 Dutch me in Rotterdam as slave labor, and effectively as hostages.

"Sgt. Sam S. McNealy, Morgantown, N.C., stands watch by his machine gun during the first snowfall of the year in this sector of the western front. 1st Army, Monschau, Germany. 10 November, 1944."

Last edition:

Thursday, November 9, 1944. Sorge meets his end.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Leyte, Battle of Metz, British Army, Espionage, Imperial Japanese Army, Imperial Japanese Navy, Italy, Japan, USSR, World War Two

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 10, 1944: Japanese take US Fourteenth Air Force air bases at Kweilin and Liuchow in their drive through southern China.

Thursday, November 2, 1944. The march of the Hungarian Jews.

Infantrymen moving through Hurtgen Forest near Vossenack, Germany. 2 November, 1944. Company E, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division.

The Germans commenced a forced march of 50,000 Hungarian Jews from Budapest to Austria as Germany's ongoing amplification of mass murder against the Jews in the closing months of the war carried on.

Josip Broz Tito became the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.

The 7th Army took Nompatelize.

The 5th Army took Casseta.

"American Red Cross worker Henry Eichman of Springfield, Mo., giving a pair of U.S.- made moccasins to a pig-tailed Italian girl. 2 November, 1944. Monghidoro, Italy."

Robert Edward Femoyer preformed the actions that resulted in his receiving a posthumous Medal of Honor.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty near Merseburg, Germany on 2 November 1944. While on a mission, the bomber, of which 2d Lt. Femoyer was a navigator, was struck by three enemy antiaircraft shells. The plane suffered serious damage and 2d Lt. Femoyer was severely wounded in the side and back by shell fragments which penetrated his body. In spite of extreme pain and great loss of blood he refused an offered injection of morphine. He was determined to keep his mental faculties clear in order that he might direct his plane out of danger and so save his comrades. Not being able to arise from the floor, he asked to be propped up in order to enable him to see his charts and instruments. He successfully directed the navigation of his lone bomber for 2 and one half hours so well it avoided enemy flak and returned to the field without further damage. Only when the plane had arrived in the safe area over the English Channel did he feel that he had accomplished his objective; then, and only then, he permitted an injection of a sedative. He died shortly after being moved from the plane. The heroism and self-sacrifice of 2d Lt. Femoyer are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

The tanker Fort Lee was sunk in the Indian Ocean by the U-181.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 1, 1944 Death of Greek Catholic Archbishop of Lviv and Metropolitan of Halych Andrey Sheptytsky

Labels: 1940s, 1944, British Army, Canadian Army, Catholic, Conscription, Conscription Crisis, Eastern Rite Catholic, Japan, Netherlands, Operation Infatuate, Personalities, religion, World War Two

The Aerodrome: AT-6, Cheyenne Wyoming.

The Aerodrome: AT-6, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Thursday, October 19, 1944. Airbase disaster.

Today In Wyoming's History: October 19: 1944  1944  A bomber from the Casper Air Base crashed killing three crewmembers.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Last edition:

Wednesday, October 18, 1944. Levée en masse.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Auschwitz, Conscription, Erwin Rommel, Greece, Italy, Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, Volkssturm, World War Two

Monday, October 16, 1944. Fascist Hungary.

The German backed fascist coup in Hungary, designed to keep the country in the war, completed with the leader of the banned  fascist Arrow Cross Party, Ferenc Szálasi, becoming prime minister of  a "Government of National Unity" w hich was controlled by the Germans.  Horthy was taken prisoner.

Horthy, who appears here a lot, died in Portugal in 1957 at age 88.  Szálasi was executed in 1946 at  age 49.

Who the crap could think that the fascist were going to win in late 1944?

 T/5 Ray Tintera, Tampa, Fla., and Sgt. Elwood Johnson, Ogema, Wisc., check civilians at an outpost in Monschau, Germany. 16 October, 1944.g, Admiral Miklós Horthy was forced out of office and replaced by Ferenc Szálasi of the fascist Arrow Cross Party.

Registration slips of these two German frauleins are checked by T/4 Nick Kellen, Woodstock, Mich., as they pass through the outskirts of Monschen, Germany. Slips showed them to be Karolina Rader and Johanna Kirch. 16 October, 1944.

The Soviets launched the Gumbinnen Operation with the goal of penetrating the borders of East Prussia.

Albanian partisans liberated Vlorë.

Maj. Gen. Eurico Jaspar Dutra, (left), Brazilian Minister of War and Maj. Gen. Mascarenhas De Moraes, C.G. of the B.E.F., shown in hatches of a medium tank in which they took a ride during an inspecting tour at the IV Corps recently. Fifth Army, IV Corps area, Italy. 16 October, 1944.

The U.S. launched an offensive towards Bologna.

The 10th Indian Division crossed the Savio River.

A U.S. bombing raid on Salzburg destroyed the dome of the cathedral and most of the Mozart family home.

Troops of the 44th Division await truck transportation after unloading at a station in Northern France. They are on their way to the front. 16 October, 1944.

 

Pfc. Victor Henry, Pontotoc, Miss., fires his machine gun through a hole in a wall, at Germans in a barn 300 yards away, beyond Kohlscheid, Germany. He is flanked by two of his buddies. 16 October, 1944. Company K, 3rd Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division.

Sunday, October 15, 1944. Horthy attempts to take Hungary out of the war.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Aachen, boats and ships, Commandos, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Polish Army, Radio, Red Army, Royal Air Force, U.S. Navy, World War Two, Yugoslavia

Wednesday, October 11, 1944. To Have and Have Not.

A Hungarian delegation signed a ceasefire agreement in Moscow agreeing to abandon territory gained since 1937 and to declare war on Germany.  Hungary was enduring turmoil in its government over this general topic.

The obscure Tuvan People's Republic was absorbed by the Soviet Union.

The U.S. Army Air Force bombed Okinawa.

To Have and Have Not premiered.  It was Lauren Bacall's premier film.

Last edition:

Tuesday, October 10, 1944. The murder of the Romani children.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Auschwitz, Austria (Vienna), Gypsies, Imperial Japanese Navy, Italian partisans, Italian Social Republic, Nazi Germany, Okinawa, The Holocaust, U.S. Navy

Monday, September 29, 1924. Around the world flight completed.

It had actually occurred the day prior, and I failed to note it.

Last edition:

Saturday, September 27, 1924. Politicin'

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 Election, Art, Calvin Coolidge, China, Chinese Warlord Era, Democratic Party, hunting, Norman Rockwell, Republican Party, Women

Wednesday, September 27, 1944. The Battle of Metz commences.

S/Sgt. Claude W. Small, of Summit Street, Boothwyn, Pennsylvania reads a letter from home.  27 September, 1944.

The Red Army and Yugoslav partisans crossed into Albania.

The Battle of Metz began.

Only four B-24s out of thirty-five from the 445th BG survive the round trip from their base in the UK to their target at Kassel.

The Finnish army took Pudasjärvi in northern Finland from the Germans.

Sweden closed its ports to German shipping.

The Japanese troop transport and hospital ship Ural Maru was sunk in the South China Sea by the USS Flasher.  2,000 perished in the sinking.

The HMS Rockingham hit a mine in the North Sea and ultimately sank.

Australian sailors, September 27, 1944.

Controversial evangelist Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson died at age 53 from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

McPherson inspired a major plot, in a very fictionalized form, in the revived Perry Mason series.

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 26, 1944. Coastal artillery exchange.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Artillery, Eindhoven, German Army, Greece, Greek Partisans, Netherlands, Operation Market Garden, Pas-de-Calais France, Red Army, Royal Air Force, Tallinn, World War Two

The Air Force and Space Force are using airsoft rifles in basic training . . . and why does the Air Force (and Space Force) have separate basic training anyway?

Which is absurd.

They're asking for real M4 carbines, which they should get.

But it also raises this question.

Why doesn't the Air Force simply use the Army for basic training?  The Marines send their artillerymen to Ft. Sill for artillery training from the Army. Everyone uses the Air Force for training in dog handling.

Each service has its own requirements, but basic training conveys basic soldierly skills.  Granted, the Air Force is unique from the Army, but in regard to basic training, not that unique.  And after all, the Army did provide basic training to the U.S. Army Air Corps prior to the Air Force existing, and enlisted Marines in the Marine Corps' aviation branch go through regular Marine Corps basic training.

It's not as if this would save piles of money, but it would save some, and do away with some needless duplication here.

Monday, September 8, 1924. Landing at Long Island. Beauties in Casper. Gunning down the mistress in Texas.

The U.S. Army's around the world flight, that is the surviving aircraft of it, landed at Mitchel Field on Long Island.

The Prince of Wales was there to greet them.

The Casper papers reported on the big aviation event.

The Casper Daily Tribune also reported on the Princess Petrolia Ball.

The Casper Herald, a morning paper, noted that the flight would be coming, but headlined with other news.

Last edition:

Sunday, September 7, 1924. Infernos.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 at the Movies, Casper Wyoming, Catholic, Christianity, Movies, religion, Spain, The written word, Wyoming (Casper)

Friday September 5, 1924. Back in the US.

The three surviving U.S. Army aircraft attempting to fly around the world,  the Chicago, New Orleans and Boston, reentered U.S. airspace near Brunswick Maine in a dense fog.

President Coolidge gave a press conference.

Press Conference, September 5, 1924

Last edition:

Wednesday. September 3, 1924. The massacre at Taif.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Ikhwan, Kingdom of Hejaz, Saudi Arabia, Second Saudi-Hashemite War, Sultanate of Nejd

Space National Guard? Spare us.

The time has come to create a Space National Guard as the primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force.  So as president, I will sign historic legislation creating a space National Guard.

Donald Trump, yesterday, at the National Guard Association Convention.

The Space Force is frankly absurd and ought to be abolished, with its enlisted men folded back into the Air Force and its officers assigned permanent duty at Tasty Freeze drive up windows. 

But a Space Force National Guard?

Please, no.

Of course, if a bill like that passes through Congress, and as goofy as Congress has been in recent years, it probably would, no State Governor is going to turn down the chance to have the Mos Eisley Space Guard station put in their state, so every state will end up with a squadron of "Guardians".

The Space Force is flat out dumb.  It's duties belong in the Air Force.  One of the unfortunate legacies of the Trump administration, however, is this absurd new branch of the service.

Would that sanity would reign and it would go away.

Sunday, August 27, 1944. Collateral damage.

Shoeless French women subject to abuse, swastika's painted on their foreheads, for dalliances with German soldiers during the occupation of Paris, August 27, 1944.

The Germans made limited tactical gains in Operation Doppelkopf on the Eastern Front.

The Red Army took August 27, 1944 Focșani, Romania.

The British 21st Army Group and US 12 Army Group advanced beyond the Seine.

The US 3d Army took Château-Thierry.

Princess Mafalda of Savoy, age 41, died of wounds sustained in a bombing raid on Buchenwald concentration camp.  She was imprisoned there, as was her husband, due to Italy's having changed sides during the war.

Her naked body was dumped into the crematorium but  Father Joseph Thyl was able to give it some attention.  Her death was not learned of until after the German surrender.

The RAF bombed the refinery at Homberg-Meerbeck in a daylight bombing raid, the first since the early stages of the war.

The incomplete French battleship Clemenceau was bombed and sunk at Brest by U.S. aircraft.

Dumbarton Oaks was still going on.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 26, 1944. De Gaulle in the streets of Paris. Bulgaria calls it quits.

Labels: Battle for Paris, Battle of Toulon, Bulgaria, Caen France, Charles de Gaulle, Collaborators, French Army, French Resistance Movements, Paris France, Rüsselsheim massacre, World War Two