Showing posts with label Waffen SS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waffen SS. Show all posts

Monday, April 21, 2025

Saturday, April 21, 1945. Steiner refuses to attack, Hitler decides on suicide, Model kills himself, May dies heroically in action.

Hitler ordered a last ditch, all out, attack by German forces in Berlin.  The Berlin forces were under the command of SS Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner., who called Gen. Heinrici and informed him that the plan could not be implemented because the 5th Jäger Division and the 25th Panzergrenadier Division were deployed defensively and could not be redeployed until the 2nd Naval Division arrived from the coast to relieve them. This left only two battalions of the 4th SS Panzergrenadier Division available, and they were poorly equipped.

Heinrici, appreciating Steiner's assessment, called General Hans Krebs, Chief of Staff of the German General Staff of the Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres or OKH), and told him that the plan could not be implemented and he  further asked to speak to Hitler.  He was informed that Hitler was too busy.  Hitler did become aware that Steiner had no intention of attacking, however, and fell into a rage, declared the war lost, and blamed his generals.  He expressed his intention to remain in Berlin until the defeat was final and kill himself.

What a selfish asshole.

The Battle of Bautzen, one of the last battles of the Eastern Front, began around Bautzen, Germany.

The Battle of the Ruhr Pocket ended in an Allied victory.  It was notable as German anti Nazi resistance  in Düsseldorf attempted to surrender the city to the Allied armies in the so-called "Aktion Rheinland" in order to spare Düsseldorf.

The Polish II Corps captured Bologna.  

American soldiers being greeted by civilians in Genoa. 21 April, 1945. Photographer: Leviton, 196th Signal Photo Co.

The U-636 was sunk off of Ireland by the Royal Navy.

German born Jewish representative for Sweden to the Jewish World Congress Norbert Masur met, in Germany, with Heinrich Himmler to agree the release of women from Ravensbrück concentration camp.

Diehard Nazis who weren't willing to go down with Hitler were beginning to attempt to cut their deals.

A mutual assistance treaty was concluded between the Soviet government and the Provisional Government of Poland

Field Marshall Walter Model, age 54, killed himself.

Model had not come from a military family, which is interesting in relation to his death.  Many high ranking officers who did saw no reason to take this step at all, and their post war lives showed the wisdom of their decision.  Many joined the Bundesheer, and even very high ranking officers were not really subject to much but temporary punishment.  Model would no doubt not have been able to join the post war West German Army, but he likely would not have been punished all that much.

Model's middle class background likely had much to do with his despair.  Perhaps ironically, those who came from the military class were acclimated to German and Prussian regimes failing.

Gen. Karl Decker, age 47, German panzer general killed himself.  What is noted above for Model, is even more the case for Decker.

PFC Martin O. May, agee 23,preforemd the actions that resulted in his winning the Medal of Honor.  His citation reads:

He gallantly maintained a 3-day stand in the face of terrible odds when American troops fought for possession of the rugged slopes of legusuku-Yama on Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands. After placing his heavy machinegun in an advantageous yet vulnerable position on a ridge to support riflemen, he became the target of fierce mortar and small arms fire from counterattacking Japanese. He repulsed this assault by sweeping the enemy with accurate bursts while explosions and ricocheting bullets threw blinding dust and dirt about him. He broke up a second counterattack by hurling grenades into the midst of the enemy forces, and then refused to withdraw, volunteering to maintain his post and cover the movement of American riflemen as they reorganized to meet any further hostile action. The major effort of the enemy did not develop until the morning of 21 April. It found Pfc. May still supporting the rifle company in the face of devastating rifle, machinegun, and mortar fire. While many of the friendly troops about him became casualties, he continued to fire his machinegun until he was severely wounded and his gun rendered useless by the burst of a mortar shell. Refusing to withdraw from the violent action, he blasted fanatical Japanese troops with hand grenades until wounded again, this time mortally. By his intrepidity and the extreme tenacity with which he held firm until death against overwhelming forces, Pfc. May killed at least 16 Japanese, was largely responsible for maintaining the American lines, and inspired his comrades to efforts which later resulted in complete victory and seizure of the mountain stronghold.

Last edition:

Friday, April 20, 1945. Shelling Berlin. Departing Berlin. The Morotai Mutiny.

Friday, April 18, 2025

Wednesday, April 18, 1945. The death of Ernie Pyle.


Journalist Ernie Pyle was killed by machinegun fire on  Ie Shima.


Looking much older, and having lived a hard life, he was 45 years of age.  He was beloved by soldiers.  A lawyer I long practiced with had a photograph of himself with Pyle just before the landing on le Shima.

18 year old Joseph Frederick Merrell performed the actions that would result in his being awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.
He made a gallant, 1-man attack against vastly superior enemy forces near Lohe, Germany. His unit, attempting a quick conquest of hostile hill positions that would open the route to Nuremberg before the enemy could organize his defense of that city, was pinned down by brutal fire from rifles, machine pistols, and 2 heavy machine guns. Entirely on his own initiative, Pvt. Merrell began a singlehanded assault. He ran 100 yards through concentrated fire, barely escaping death at each stride, and at point blank range engaged 4 German machine pistolmen with his rifle, killing all of them while their bullets ripped his uniform. As he started forward again, his rifle was smashed by a sniper's bullet, leaving him armed only with 3 grenades. But he did not hesitate. He zigzagged 200 yards through a hail of bullets to within 10 yards of the first machine gun, where he hurled 2 grenades and then rushed the position, ready to fight with his bare hands if necessary. In the emplacement, he seized a Luger pistol and killed the Germans that had survived the grenade blast. Rearmed, he crawled toward the second machine gun located 30 yards away, killing 4 Germans in camouflaged foxholes on the way, but himself receiving a critical wound in the abdomen. And yet he went on, staggering, bleeding, disregarding bullets that tore through the folds of his clothing and glanced off his helmet. He threw his last grenade into the machine gun nest and stumbled on to wipe out the crew. He had completed this self-appointed task when a machine pistol burst killed him instantly. In his spectacular 1-man attack, Pvt. Merrell killed 6 Germans in the first machine gun emplacement, 7 in the next, and an additional 10 infantrymen who were astride his path to the weapons that would have decimated his unit had he not assumed the burden of the assault and stormed the enemy positions with utter fearlessness, intrepidity of the highest order, and a willingness to sacrifice his own life so that his comrades could go on to victory.

27 year old Cpl.  Edward G. Wilkin performed the actions that would result in his being awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.

He spearheaded his unit's assault of the Siegfried Line in Germany. Heavy fire from enemy riflemen and camouflaged pillboxes had pinned down his comrades when he moved forward on his own initiative to reconnoiter a route of advance. He cleared the way into an area studded with pillboxes, where he repeatedly stood up and walked into vicious enemy fire, storming 1 fortification after another with automatic rifle fire and grenades, killing enemy troops, taking prisoners as the enemy defense became confused, and encouraging his comrades by his heroic example. When halted by heavy barbed wire entanglements, he secured bangalore torpedoes and blasted a path toward still more pillboxes, all the time braving bursting grenades and mortar shells and direct rifle and automatic-weapons fire. He engaged in fierce fire fights, standing in the open while his adversaries fought from the protection of concrete emplacements, and on 1 occasion pursued enemy soldiers across an open field and through interlocking trenches, disregarding the crossfire from 2 pillboxes until he had penetrated the formidable line 200 yards in advance of any American element. That night, although terribly fatigued, he refused to rest and insisted on distributing rations and supplies to his comrades. Hearing that a nearby company was suffering heavy casualties, he secured permission to guide litter bearers and assist them in evacuating the wounded. All that night he remained in the battle area on his mercy missions, and for the following 2 days he continued to remove casualties, venturing into enemy-held territory, scorning cover and braving devastating mortar and artillery bombardments. In 3 days he neutralized and captured 6 pillboxes single-handedly, killed at least 9 Germans, wounded 13, took 13 prisoners, aided in the capture of 14 others, and saved many American lives by his fearless performance as a litter bearer. Through his superb fighting skill, dauntless courage, and gallant, inspiring actions, Cpl. Wilkin contributed in large measure to his company's success in cracking the Siegfried Line. One month later he was killed in action while fighting deep in Germany.

The First Canadian Army captured the eastern end of the IJsselmeer causeway, trapping German forces in the western Netherlands.

5,000 concentration camp prisoners were loaded aboard the immobilized ocean liner Cap Arcona in the Baltic.

Waffen-SS General Karl Wolff met with Adolf Hitler and disclosed his negotiations with the Allies. 

Hitler told him to get better terms.

German Gen. Hans Källner was killed in action in Czechoslovakia.

Mussolini, with mistress Clara Petacci in tow, went to Milan to establish his government there.

Last edition:

Tuesday, April 17, 1945. Flak Bait.

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Friday, March 30, 1945. Mère Marie Élisabeth de l'Eucharistie gassed at Ravensbruck. Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose killed in action.


Algerian born Élise Rivet, whose father was a French Naval officer and whose mother was Alsatian, also known as Mère Marie Élisabeth de l'Eucharistie was gassed at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp after volunteering to take the place of a mother who was slated for that fate.  She had been arrested in 1944 for harboring refugees fleeing the Germans and for allowing her convent to be used to store weapons for the Mouvements Unis de la Résistance at the request of Albert Chambonnet.

She was 55 years of age.


Commander of the 3d Armored Division, Maj Gen. Maurice Rose was killed in action near Paderborn, Westphalia, where many of many ancestors immigrated from in the 19th Century.

Rose was cut off in a forested area near the city and his part attempted to escape in their Jeeps, which one Jeep managed to do.  Stopped by a tank, a Waffen SS tank commander emerged from the hatch with a submachinegun and Rose's hand went for his sidearm.  He was machinegunned and left.  The remainder of his party hid in the woods overnight, and recovered his body, which contained operational orders that had not been disturbed, that night.

He was the highest ranking U.S. Army officer to be killed in direct action by enemy forces during World War Two.

Rose was Jewish by descent and grew up in a Jewish household in Denver.  His father was a businessman who later became a rabbi.  Rose himself could speak Yiddish and read Hebrew.  He joined the Colorado National Guard before he was legally old enough to do so, hoping for a military career early on, and hoping to serve in the Punitive Expedition, but was discharged six weeks later when his age was discovered.  He enlisted again during World War One at age 17 with his parents permission, and went to OCS, which says something about how different things were in regard to educational requirements at the time.  He was briefly out of the service in 1919, but returned to the Army as an officer in 1920.

Rose was married for about ten years, from 1920 to 1931, to Venice Hanson of Salt Lake City.  although the marriage ended in divorce.  Their son served as a career Marine Corps officer and also served in World War Two, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.  He later married Virginia Barringer in 1934.

While born and raised Jewish, Maurice identified as an Episcopalian as an adult, which has lead to speculation on whether his conversion was real or political, it being difficult at the time to advance in American society, and the Army more particularly, while being outwardly Jewish.  Not that much is known, however, about his personal religious convictions.

He was 45 years of age.

"he rabbi of the Jewish Inf. Brigade visits the aid station and distributes newspapers. 30 March, 1945. Photographer: Levine, 196th Signal Photo Co."

The Battle of Lijevče Field began near Banja Luka between Croatian and Chetnik forces in what would soon be incorporated into communist Yugoslavia.

The Red Army took Danzig.  The Danzig Corridor, of course, had been one of the things the Germans claimed they required that lead to World War Two.

Anyone else make a connection to Greenland today.. . . ?

Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey to 16 year old Patricia Molly Clapton and 25 year old Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer.  He was raised by his grandparents, whom he thought to be his parents until he was nine years old.  He thought, at that time, his mother was his older sister.  She'd marry another Canadian soldier later on and his grandparents would continue to raise him.

He was performing the blue professionally by age 17.

Last edition:

Thursday, March 29, 1945. The first Public Passover Sedar in Germany since 1938.

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Thursday, September 21, 1944. A sort of Estonian civil war.

Estonians, some in the Red Army, and some in German Estonian units, others in Waffen SS units fought each other at Porkuni.

The Red Army units prevailed.

This presents the complicated picture of the war in the Baltics.  The Soviets were widely disposed by most residents of the Baltic States, but there were, and always had been, Baltic communists who saw the Soviet Union as an ally.  Estonian resistance to Soviet occupation, on the other hand, had started with the pre World War Two Soviet invasion and continued on after World War Two in the form of the Estonian Forest Brothers.

The Germans had never desired any sort of independence for Estonia and had not supported it in any sense.  

Interestingly, during the war, Finland never came into play in this even though the Estonians are a Baltic Finnic people and in the 1920s there had been serious considerations given to an Estonian Finnish union, with such efforts being committedly opposed by the Soviets.   The East Karelian Uprising of 1921-22 fit into this, as that territory lay between the two nations to some degree and was occupied by Finnic people as well.

The Battle of Rimini ended in a Canadian, Greek and New Zealander victory.

The Satsuki was sunk by US aircraft in Manila Bay.

The Cardinals took the National League Pennant for the third time in a row, defeating the Boston Braves.

Pfc. Calvin Stempien, Monroe, Mich., levels covering fire from his foxhole while members of his engineer unit construct a bridge over the Meurthe river, under enemy fire. 21 September, 1944.

Last edition:

Wednesday, September 20, 1944 Nijmegen liberated.

Monday, August 5, 2024

Friday, August 5, 1944. The Wola Massacre.

German SS, the Azerbaijani Legion and the Russian collaborationist Kaminski Brigade, commenced killing Poles in the Wola district of Warsaw.  The massacre was ordered by Himmler.

Major Ivan Denisovich Frolov with the officers of the Russian National Liberation Army (RONA) during the Warsaw Uprising.

Between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles would be murdered.

The weirdness of this is inescapable. The Russians in RONA were there partially in order to survive German captivity, and partial in an effort to free their homeland from Communist control. The Soviet Union had helped take away Poland's freedom by invading it along with Germany, and the Polish Home Army was attempting to free their homeland and was anti communist.  The Azerbaijanis were fighting for the liberation of their homeland as well.

The 3d Army took Vannes.

The Cowra breakout occured in New South Wales in which 1,100 Japanese POWs broke out.  They'd all be captured within ten days, although four Australians and 231 Japanese POWs would be killed.

The RAF destroyed the German U-boat pens at Brest.

The Soviet submarine Shch-215 sanke the Turkish motor schooner Mefküre resulting in the death of 300 Jewish refugees.

Last edition:

Thursday, August 4, 1944. The Frank's arrested.

Friday, July 19, 2024

Wednesday, July 19, 1944. The start of the Democratic Convention.

 

Opening of the Democratic Convention.

A couple of big items are reported by Sarah Sundin:

Today in World War II History—July 19, 1944

These include the beginning of the 1944 Democratic Convention and the 5th Army taking Livorno, Italy.

President Roosevelt had no real opposition to his nomination. The big question was who would be his vice president.

The Battle of Verrières Ridge in Normandy south of Caen, with two Canadian divisions pitted against three SS divisions.

Troops of the 29th Infantry Division in Saint-Lô.

Saint-Lô was taken by U.S. troops.

The Red Army entered Latvia.

The Ōi was sunk by the USS Flasher.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 18, 1944. Tojo out.

Monday, July 1, 2024

Saturday, July 1, 1944. Bretton Woods.

Morgenthau opening conference.

Delegates from forty-four nations met at the secluded Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to participate in the Bretton Woods Conference. The conference met to establish the post-war economic order and was one of the most significant events of the 20th Century.

Henry Morgenthau was the chief U.S. delegate to the conference, and was rapidly elected its presiding officer.  Harry Dexter White, who was a Soviet spy, was the chief US delegate in fact and a major factor in the resulting plans.

The II SS Panzer Corps attacked British positions around Caen but was repulsed.  Gerd von Rundstedt phoned Berlin to report the failure to which Chief of Staff Wilhelm Keitel purportedly asked, "What shall we do?", to which Rundstedt replied, "Make peace, you fools! What else can you do?"

The U.S. 133d Infantry Regiment captured Cicina, Italy.

The Red Army took Borisov.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Public Health Service Act and the Renunciation Act of 1944.  The latter allowed people physically present in the U.S. to renounce citizenship when the country was at war.  It required an application to the Attorney General of the United States in order to do so.

The act sought to have Japanese Americans do that very thing, sot hey could later be deported to Japan.  A total of 5,589 American citizens availed themselves of the act, 5,461 coming from the Tule Lake Segregation Center.  Many came to regret their decision, and some of the renunciations were reversed.

Internees at Tule Lake.

Formation of the anti-Soviet Lithuanian Partisans occured.

Partisans in 1947.

They'd fight on after World War Two.

Anti Soviet Estonian Forest Brothers re formed on the same day.

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Sunday, June 25, 1944. The Battle of Tali–Ihantala commences.


The Battle of Tali–Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought by Nordic nations, commenced between Finland and the Soviet Union.

The battle followed a continued series of contacts between Finland and the USSR about Finland leaving the war.  On June 21 the Finish government asked for peace conditions.  The reply came on June 23 which demanded a signed statement from Finland that it was ready to surrender as a precondition for talks. The Finns rejected this.  The day prior to that, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop demanded that Finland would promise that it would continue to fight as a precondition for ongoing military support, which Finland gave.  The Soviet offensive commenced today, even as recent events had shown that Finnish resistance to Red Army attacks was strengthening.

"Combat engineers kneel in prayer at a Sunday mass conducted by Chaplain (1st Lt.) Paul J. McGovern, Boston, Mass., former pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Danvers, Mass. The first American cemetery to be constructed in France is in the center background." 

U.S. and Royal Navy ships bombarded shore fortifications at Cherbourg.

Operation Martlet, the initial stage of Operation Epsom, a British operation to take Caen, commenced.  60,000 Canadian and British troops  were involved in the assault against the 12th SS Panzer Hitlerjugend Division.

As a matter of pure trivia, the German Tiger tank in the movie Kelly's Heroes bears the insignia of the 12th SS Panzer Division.

The Battle of Osuchy began in Poland between German forces and the Polish resistance.

The U-269 was sunk off of Torquay by the HMS Bickerton.

Last prior edition:

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in Normandy.

The first V-1 rockets were launched on London.


V-1s are, basically, a pulse jet drone, and therefore heralded an advance in weaponry which we're only now seeing the full application of in combat.  One of a variety of late war German "Wunderwaffe", they were primitive in their category and while they affected terror, they stood no chance of being war altering.  The same can not be said of the V-2, which was a ballistic missile and truly revolutionary.

Armed drones would be revolutionary, but it would not really be until the advent of cruise missiles that they'd become effective.  With advances in targeting, they're now a massive dangerous weapon which has been one of the things which has allowed Ukraine to disproportionately take on Russia in the ongoing Russo Ukrainian War.

Gen. Montgomery strengthened his positions and basically regrouped in a fashion, which was typical for the careful planner, Montgomery.  The 7th British Armoured Division reached Villers-Bocage, where they were attacked by German armor, including Tigers.  The British were forced to retreat.

The tank battle is a famous one.

Ambush at Villers-Bocage

Apparently, however, the "lone Tiger" commanded by Michael Wittmann of the SS, who gave a German radio interview that very night, destroying 25 British tanks is a bit of a myth.

Wittmann, who had just turned 30 years old, died the way you'd expect.  The Waffen SS Hauptsturmführer (Captain) and "panzer ace" died that August at the hands of British armor.

The Germans followed up with an attack on Tilly-sur-Selles and Lingèvres which was successfully resisted, scattering the Panzer Lehr Division.

Montgomery, who was facing fierce and effective resistance, cannot really be faulted for his careful approach, something that was the hallmark of his combat strategy.  Having fought the war with thin resources carefully, his economy of planning tended to be effective, and was frankly here, in spite of constant American criticism, then and now.

The Battle of Bloody Gulch took place around the Manoir de Donville Hill southwest of Carentan involving the German 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment, and the American 501st, 502nd and 506th Parachute Infantry Regiments (PIR) of the 101st Airborne Division, reinforced by elements of the 2nd Armored Division and the 29th Infantry Division.  The Airborne prevailed and released the whole of Carentan.

Grateful French civilians lay flowers on the body of a dead American soldier at Manoir de Donville.

The US 90th Division took Pont-l’Abbé. The 1st Infantry Division took Caumont, fighting the 2nd SS Panzer Division in the process.

Last prior edition:

Monday, June 12, 1944. D+6. Linking at Carentan.

Monday, June 10, 2024

Saturday, June 10, 1944. D+4. The Oradour-sur-Glane and Distomo Massacres.

German POW being searched in France, June 10, 1944.

The Oradour-sur-Glane massacre was carried out by the troops of the SS Panzer Division Das Reich in France, destroying the village and killing 642 residents.  It was a reprisal for Resistance activities.  200 of the dead were women and children who were burned to death in a church.

A few escapees were tipped off as the village was surrounded by Alsatian members of the unit.

The Waffen SS also carried out the Distomo massacre on the same day, killing 214 residents of that Greek village in reprisal for a partisan attack upon the unit.

Utah and Omaha beaches were linked by the 2nd Armored Division.  The artificial harbors of Arromanches and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer began to be installed.

Allied casualties for the day in Normandy amounted to 15,000 men.

Iin Italy, the British 8th Army captured Pescara and Chieti.

British seaborne aircraft hit Saband in the Dutch East Indes as a diversion from American forces approaching the Mariana Islands.

The Red Army took Terijoki and Yalkena from the Finns.

Joe Nuxhall debuted for the Cincinnati Reds at age 15. He'd be sent down to the minors, but would reappear in the major leagues at age 23.

Jockey Jimmy Stout rode Bousset in horse racing's only triple dead heat in the Carter Handicap.

Last prior edition:

Friday, June 9, 1944. D+3