Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts

Friday, August 1, 2025

Wednesday, August 1, 1945. Laval brought to trial for what many in France had thought or done.

Pierre Laval was brought to Paris to face trial, a crime that a huge percentage of the French population was itself guilty of, accomodating a far right government and turning a blind eye. . . just like many are doing now.

Laval started off for a career in zoology before diverting to law.  Politically, he took a trip through Marxism.  He evolved into a Socialist, and ultimately into a right wing nationalist.

Laval during his trial.

De Gaulle, who was of course on the opposite side of the World War Two contest, said of him:

Naturally inclined, accustomed by the regime, to approach matters from below, Laval held that, whatever happens, it is important to be in power, that a certain degree of astuteness always controls the situation, that there is no event that cannot be turned around, no men that cannot be handled. He had, in the cataclysm, felt the misfortune of the country but also the opportunity to take the reins and apply on a vast scale the capacity he had to deal with anything. But the victorious Reich was a partner who did not intend to compromise. For, despite everything [...] he had to embrace the disaster of France. He accepted the condition. He judged that it was possible to take advantage of the worst, to use even the point of servitude, to even associate oneself with the invader, to make oneself an asset of the most terrible repression. To carry out his policy, he renounced the honor of the country, the independence of the State, and national pride. Now, these elements reappeared alive and demanding as the enemy weakened. Laval had played. He had lost. He had the courage to admit that he was responsible for the consequences. No doubt, in his government, deploying all the resources of ruse, all the resources of obstinacy to support the unsustainable, he sought to serve his country. Let that be left to him!

If everyone who thought the way that Laval did during the war had suffered his fate, the Seine would have run red for years.

The new British parliament assembled.    When Winston Churchill, somebody who never entertained the faults that Laval had, entered the House he was greeted by cheers and singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".  Laborites responded by singing "The Red Flag".

Probably not that one.

Singing The Red Flag was BS.

When Douglas Clifton Brown was re-elected Speaker he said he was not quite sure whether he was becoming chairman of the House of Commons or director of a musical show.

Mines brought Japanese shipping on the Yangtze to a halt.

Allied troops sealed off the Japanese on Bougainville, where fighting was ongoing, off at Buin.

US aircraft struck Japanese positions on Wake Island.

Toyama, Japan, on fire after nighttime raid.

New York Giant Mel Ott became the third member of the 500 home run club with a shot off Johnny Hutchings of the Boston Braves.

The current issue of Vogue was out with an issue on furs, showing how the war time economy was changing to a focus on luxury.

Vogue, posted as fair use.

Well sort of.  Fur coast were a much more Middle Class thing than now imagined. And frankly, as one of the only renewable clothing sources, they still should be.

Would that this would return.

War Winding Down – Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop – August 1, 1945

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 31, 1945. Little Boy assembled.

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Friday, July 27, 1945. Preparing the bomb.

Little Boy was delivered to Tinian and preparation to drop it on Japan commenced.

Commencing on the night of July 27, B-29s dropped leaflets on eleven Japanese cities warning them that they were targeted for bombing.

The Chinese took Guilin.

Ernest Bevin became the British Foreign Affairs Secretary.

The World War Two British chiefs of staff had their final meeting with Churchill.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 26, 1945. Churchill out, Attlee in.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Tuesday, July 17, 1945. The Potsdam Conference begins.

Churchill, who was actually on his way out due to having lost the recent British election, Truman, who was brand new to the Oval Office, and Stalin.

The Potsdam Conference between Josef Stalin, Winston Churchill and Harry Truman commenced.

The immediate topic was the governance of postwar Germany.

The British participated in a carrier raid on Tokyo.

German Field Marshal Busch, the former commander of Army Group Center on the Eastern Front, died at the military hospital in Notts at age 60 due to a heart attack.

The King, Queen and Princess Elizabeth visited Ulster.

Last edition:

Monday, July 16, 1945. Trinity.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Sunday, July 15, 1945. Lifting the blackout.

The U.S. surface naval raid on the Japanese home islands continued with the bombardment of Muroran, a steel making location.  Air Force and Navy air raids also continued.

Australian troops captured Mount Batochampar on Borneo.

Blackout restrictions on London's West End were lifted.

Belgium's King Leopold III again refused to abdicate.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 14, 1945. Verboten und Nicht Verboten

Friday, July 11, 2025

Wednesday, July 11, 1945. Redeploying.


"Joyous Second Division Marines, about to board ship for home after more than thirty months overseas, were not forgotten by the famed division mascot "Eight Ball", who was on hand to bid them a sorrowful goodbye. Saipan. 11 July, 1945. Photographer: Rohde. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive."

The first meeting of the Inter-Allied Council for Berlin took place in which the USSR agreed to hand over civilian and military control of West Berlin to the UK and US.

The Japanese destroyer Sakura hit a mine and sank in Osaka Harbor.

The 8th Air Force began to redeploy from Europe to Okinawa, where they were to receive B-29s after initially having a training role.  The redeployment of its aircraft to the continental US also began on this day.

The US used napalm on resistant Japanese targets on Luzon.

Fadil Hoxha became President of the Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija.

Last edition:

Friday, July 10, 1945. Sentimental Journey.

    Saturday, July 5, 2025

    Thursday, July 5, 1945. Elections in the UK.

    The United Kingdom held a general election.

    The Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was recognized by Britain and the United States..

    Australian Prime Minister John Curtin died and Frank Forde took his place.

    Gen. Spaatz was announced as the air commander for Operation Downfall.

    "Patrols of 29 Bn., 18th Brigade move cautiously into the village area of Penadjam, Balikpapen, Borneo, under sniper fire. 5 July, 1945. Photographer: Lt. Novak. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive.

    Last edition:

    Wednesday, June 25, 2025

    Monday, June 24, 1945. Brandenburg Ballerina.

    Junior Sergeant Lydia Spivak (Лидия Спивак), Red Army Traffic Regulator, June 1945.  She became locally famous in this role and was tagged the Brandenburg Ballerina or The Mistress of Brandenburg Gate.  She would have been 19 or 20 years old at the time and had been in the Red Army since she was 17.  She was a Ukrainian, and served in a transportation unit.  Like most Red Army soldiers, not that much is known about her in the West and indeed she's often confused with another female Soviet soldier who served in the same role.  Having said that, this role did make her into a type of celebrity and she did resurface from time to time, including once in the 1950s when she toured the area in which this video was shot.*  She passed away at age 59.  This is a truncated interview, and there is more to it.  It was impromptu, which is impressive.

    US forces took Tuguegarao and Gattaran on Luzon.

    Australian forces completed the occupation of the Miro oilfield on Borneo.

    The Simla Conference to discuss the future Indian government of India began in Simla, India.

    Seán T. O'Kelly became 2nd President of Ireland and Einar Gerhardsen became Prime Minister of Norway.

    Footnotes:

    *Ms. Spivak by that time was aging rapidly. By the 50s she'd gained a lot of weight and by the time of her sad early death she had aged rapidly  by western standards and looked much older than her 59 years.  She was undeniably cute and lively in 1945, and in later photographs the liveliness seems undiminished in spite of her aging.  She achieved her original goal of becoming a teacher, and in fact became a university professor and married another professor

    Spivak is often confused with Maria Limanskaya (Мария Лиманскаяwho) served in the same role in Berlin.  She was a Russian and lived to age 100, dying last year, although oddly enough in some ways had a harder post war life, marrying than divorcing her first husband, and raising two children for a time on her own.



    Last edition:

    Labels: 

    Monday, June 23, 2025

    Saturday, June 23, 1945. Polish arrangements.

    Today in World War II History—June 23, 1940 & 1945: June 23, 1945: In the last airborne assault of the war, paratroopers of the US 11th Airborne Division land near Aparri in northern Luzon.
    The US, UK, USSR and China agreed to admit Poland to the United Nations.

    In Poland, competing Communist and Non Communist parties agreed to a power sharing arrangement.

    Pavot won the Belmont Stakes.

    Last edition:

    Sunday, June 15, 2025

    Friday, June 15, 1945. Infantry Day.

    The longest British Parliament since the Cavalier Parliament of 1661–1679 was dissolved ahead of the July 5 elections.  Parliament had been in session since 1935, as elections during the war had been suspended.

    The Battle of Bessang Pass in the Philippines came to an end in an Allied victory.

    It was the first flight of the XP-82, the Twin Mustang.

    Coming too late for its intended role as an escort for B-29s in World War Two, it would see action during the Korean War before it was retired in 1953.

    Today In Wyoming's History: June 151945  Governor Leslie Hunt proclaimed to day Infantry Day.



    Conflict, starring Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith and Sydney Greenstreet was released.

    Last edition:

    Thursday, June 14, 1945. Slogging.

    Wednesday, June 11, 2025

    Wednesday, June 11, 1975. North Sea Oil. Reeducation. Gas Tax Rejection. MKUltra.

    The United Kingdom became an oil producing nation as the first oil was produced in the North Sea's Argyll field.

    The U.S House of Representatives voted 209 to 187 to reject President Ford's proposal for a .23 per gallon federal fuel tax Ford saw as a way of ending US dependency on imported oil by 1985.

    Alice Olson, the widow of Frank Olson, learned for the first time that her husband had been the subject of secret CIA experiments with the hallucinogenic drug LSD as part of the illegal clandestine program MKUltra.  Olson had leaped to his death in 1953.  The CIA was hoping to find drugs that could be used for interrogation purposes.

    Vietnam sent an order to all "puppet soldiers" of  Army of the Republic of Vietnam to attend three days of "re-education" (hoc tap), and for former officers to bring supplies for one month of training.  Most officers who reported were held for more than one month.

    Last edition:

    Tuesday, June 10, 1975. Refugees.

      Thursday, June 5, 2025

      Thursday, June 5, 1975. Reopening the Suez Canal.

      The Suez Canal reopened for the first time since the Six Day War, with the USS Little Rock making the first transit.


      Voters in the United Kingdom voted to say in the European Community by  a margin of 17,378,581 to 8,470,073.

      Last edition:

      Tuesday, June 3, 1975. New rules for boys and girls.

      Friday, May 23, 2025

      Wednesday, May 23, 1945. The end of governments.


      Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister, forming a caretaker government in anticipation of July 5 elections.

      The elections would be the first in a decade.

      The German Flensburg government is arrested and deposed by the Allies.


      Himmler committed suicide.  So did German admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, who became a POW during the British occupation of Flensburg.

      Julius Streicher was arrested in Bavaria.

      US attacks on Yokohama bring shipping from the city to an end.

      The United Nations Conference in San Francisco approved veto rights for China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States on the Security Council.


      Last edition:

      Tuesday, May 22, 1945. Operation Unthinkable.

      Thursday, May 22, 2025

      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.