Friday, May 19, 1944. Dewey take the GOP nomination.

155s firing on Wadke Island, May 19, 1944.

The Allies took Gasta Itri, Monte Grande, Pico and n the Aquino airfield, in the Liri Valley.

Task Group 58.2 raided Marcus Island.

B-17 Donna Mae II seconds before a bomb dropped from a B-17 above her, under which she had drifted, struck her horizontal stabilizer and caused the plane to go straight down, killing the entire crew.

The Republican primary process concluded with the Oregon Primary.  Dewey was the nominee.

Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars, was born.

Thursday, May 18, 1944. Monte Cassino ends.

And in more ways than one.

The Germans had withdrawn, leaving only 30 men too wounded to be moved. The Poles were the first Allied troops in the monastery.

It would be rebuilt.

Stalin ordered the Crimean Tartars deported from their homeland. The action was carried out on the excuse that some Tartars had collaborated with the Germans, which was actually true of every Soviet ethnicity, including, in large numbers, the Russians.  Repression of the Tartars would carry on for decades after the war, and the disaster has never been sufficiently redressed.

The Admiralty Islands Campaign and the Battle of Wakde ended in Allied victories.

Gerd von Runstedt as Commander in Chief of German forces in the west.

Von Runstedt was an old soldier by this point, having been born in 1875 and having entered the Prussian Army in 1892.  Like MacArthur in the U.S. Army, he'd retired before the war, having left service in 1938, although he was five years older than MacArthur, who was old for a U.S. Army commander.  An erasable character, he was not personally fond of Hitler, knew of plots to kill him which he kept to himself, but would not participate in them as he felt the concept disloyal.

After the war he was imprisoned for four years and upon his release found himself separated from his wife due to the division of Germany. She was in the American Zone of occupation, but he could not secure permission to visit her, as the US was upset by the British decision to release him.  He died in 1953 at age 77.

It can be argued that his decision not to support the July 20 plotters was instrumental in the coup's failure.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, May 17, 1944. Landing at Wakde.

1940s, 1944, Battle of Wakde, Burma, Italy, Merrill's Maurauders, Nationalist Chinese Army, Operation Diadem, Operation Straight Line

Tuesday, May 18, 1909. Sulfanilamide,

A patent was issued to Heinrich Hoerlein of the Bayer company for a sulfanilamide, the first synthesized sulfonamide. 

It was not until1935 that the antibiotic properties of sulfonamides were realized.

Hoerlien would go on to rise to power in the IG Farben company.  He joined the Nazi Party in 1934 after having campaigned against Hermann Göring's law banning testing on animals, showing how radical movements then and now had similar traits.  He went on to have knowledge of the company's production of Zyklon B and was tried after the war was a war criminal, but acquitted.  He had a place on the board of Bayer after the war.

Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, chose his 14-year-old grandson Lij Iyasu as his successor.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, May 12, 1909. The Taft Summer Residence.

1900s, 1909, Massachusetts, William Howard Taft

Wednesday, May 17, 1944. Landing at Wakde.

 

The US landed on Wakde.

US forces also landed on Insumarai and at Arare on mainland New Guinea.

The U.S. Navy raided Surabaya's oil installations in the  Dutch East Indies by air, and then the night B-24s did so again.

Merrill's Marauders and Chinese Nationalists captured Myitkyina airfield.  Allied troops landed by glider later that day.

Allied forces took Piumarolo, Monte Faggeta, Esperiam Formiam Sant'Angelo. The Germans decide to withdraw to a new defensive perimeter.

From Sarah Sundin:

Today in World War II History—May 17, 1944: Allied Expeditionary Air Force approves black & white invasion stripes for aircraft for D-day to prevent friendly fire, not announced yet to maintain security.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, May 16, 1944. The Romani Uprising, Advancing in Italy

1940s, 1944, Allied Powers, Auschwitz, Belgium, boats and ships, Diplomacy, German SS, Gypsies, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Operation Diadem, Romani Uprising, The Holocaust, World War Two

Tuesday, May 16, 1944. The Romani Uprising, Advancing in Italy

Romani, gypsies, rebelled at Auschwitz.  Tipped off by a Yugoslavian member of the SS, a Pole alerted the Gypsies the night prior of the SS plan to destroy their camp the following day. Armed with shovels and other tools, they refused to come out of their buildings, and a confused SS withdrew.  The event was bloodless, but the destruction of the camp and the murder of its occupants was only postponed.

Perhaps coincidentally, or not, the first train carrying Hungarian Jews arrived at Auschwitz on this day as well.

Pvt. Joseph A. Zbin, Cleveland, Ohio, of Co. A, 338th Inf. carrying a 90 lb load of mortar ammo through town of Scauri. 16 May, 1944.  He's armed with a M1 Carbine.  He died in 1977 at age 55 back in Ohio.

Allied forces generally advanced in Italy, save for at Monte Cassino where the Polish 2nd Corps was meeting difficult resistance.

Twenty three year old 1st Lt. Keith J. Bauer, 937th F.A. Battery, of Arkansaw Wis., washes up on this day in 1944.  His post-war plans were, reportedly to "get married", "get a farm", "get out of the Army".  Bauer was from a farm family.  Bauer was a pilot and was still in the Army in 1954, so apparently his plans changed, or he was recalled during the Korean War.  In this photograph you can tell that he's an officer simply because his wool shirt has epaulets.

The Soviet Air Force bombed the rail yards at Minsk.

The Allied powers entered into an agreement with Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway about immediate post-war governance.

British Coast Command harried German submarines.

Anti-aircraft crew training at Ft. Bliss, May 16, 1944.

Last prior edition:

Monday, May 15, 1944. Deportation of the Hungarian Jews.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Auschwitz, Battle of the Atlantic, boats and ships, Disaster, German SS, Hawaii, Hungary, Operation Overlord, Russian Orthodox Church, The Holocaust, World War Two

Monday, May 15, 1944. Deportation of the Hungarian Jews.

With Germany in control of the country, the SS began deporting Hungary's Jews, mostly to Auschwitz.

German lines in Italy began to collapse.

 Pilots hold a briefing on their assignments before taking to the air on their respective missions. Sessa area, Italy. 15 May, 1944.

French Vice-Admiral Edmond Derrien was sentenced to life in prison for turning over elements of the French Fleet to the Germans after the Allied landing in North Africa.

Pvt. Frank G. Schubert moves through an area with full field equipment during training in Helston, Cornwall.

Disembarking MP's, Slapton Sands, England. 15 May 1944.

A terrible training accident happened off of Hawaii.

On May 15, 1944, a line of LST's (amphibious ships) were headed from Mā`alaea Bay back to Pearl Harbor, filled with men and material destined for the invasion of Saipan. These particular ships had been modified to carry other landing craft, 120-foot long LCT's, on their decks. In the middle of the night the rough seas in the channel caused the large ships to roll to the point that the fastenings attaching the LCTs to the decks carried away.

LCT-984 slid from the deck and struck the water with engine room doors open and bow ramp down. The vessel quickly became waterlogged and semi-submerged. On board LST-71 men of the 8th Marine Division were sleeping on the deck and inside their LCT. When LCT-988 fell into the ocean, the next ship in the convoy, LST-29, accidentally rammed the landing craft, causing her to immediately capsize. Eldon Ballinger (Marine Corps League newsletter, n.d.) relates part of the story:

The division was assigned 22 LST's and in the well decks were Amphtracs. We pulled practice landings at Maalaea Bay on Maui and also a mock invasion of Kahoolawe Island...Around 2330 the sea began to get rough and within a two hour period the sea became very turbulent with high waves. The flat bottomed LST rocked back and forth so violently that the straps broke on the stacks of ammunition, falling on the sleeping men. Then the steel cables snapped, releasing the LCT, ripping the large skid beams loose, and the waves washed everything off the deck of the LST's starboard side. The LCT hit the water right-side up, except the ramp was down. I remember a crewman and I were trying to start the engine so that the ramp could be raised. It was then that the trailing LST hit us broadside, flipping the LCT completely upside down. The LCT sank within minutes with those that were still alive going down with the ship.

LCT-999 was also swept into the ocean, but fortunately was later recovered and towed to Pearl Harbor. In all the series of LCT accidents resulted in some 19 men dead or missing (the exact number is not clear).

The U-731 was sunk in the Atlantic by the Allies.

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Sergius of Moscow died at age 77.

Lincoln Borglum, who finished his father's work at Mount Rushmore, stepped down as Mount Rushmore National Memorial's first superintendent.

Orson Welles went on the government payroll, at $1.00 per year, as a consultant to the government.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, May 14, 1944. Route to Rome.

1940s, 1944, Albania, boats and ships, Catholic, Collaborators, German Kriegsmarine, German Luftwaffe, German SS, Italy, Operation Diadem, The Holocaust, Vichy France, World War Two

Sunday, May 14, 1944. Route to Rome.

Today in World War II History—May 14, 1944: 80 Years Ago—May 14, 1944: In Italy, US II Corps breaks German Gustav Line, opening the route to Rome.

Sarah Sundin's blog.

The Luftwaffe raided Bristol at night.

E-boats attacked Allied landing craft near the Isle of Wight.

Albanian SS rounded up 281 Kosovo Jews for deportation to concentration camps.

Vichy radio reported that French cardinals had appealed to the Roman Catholic clergy in Britain and the United States to use their influence to ensure that the French civilian population towns, works of art and churches would be spared from Allied bombing as much as possible,

2nd Lt. Trava Thomas of Okmulgee, Okla., arrives with full pack at the Brisbane, Queensland railroad station. 14 May, 1944.

The ironically named America Maru was sunk by the USS Nautilus.  Most of the occupants of the ship were Japanese civilians being evacuated from Saipan, the overwhelming majority of whom were killed in the sinking.

George Lucas was born in Modesto, California.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 12, 1944. Heroism in Italy. End of the war in the Caucasus.

1940s, 1944, Battle of the Caucasus, Heroes, Indian Army, Italy, Nazi Germany, Operation Diadem, Personalities, Red Army, Rome, U.S. Air Force, World War Two

Saturday, May 13, 1944. Battle of the Tennis Court ends.

The long-running Battle of the Tennis Court ended in an allied victory.

The Axis completed its withdrawal from Crimea, having evacuated over 150,000 troops, a stunning effort given the context of the battle going on there.

78,000 were killed or captured by the Soviets in this time frame.

Cpt. Richard Wakeford.

On 13th May, 1944, Captain Wakeford commanded the leading Company on the right flank of an attack on two hills near Cassino, and accompanied by his orderly and armed only with a revolver, he killed a number of the enemy and handed over 2O prisoners when the Company came forward. On the final objective a German officer and 5 other ranks were holding a house. After being twice driven back by grenades. Captain Wakeford, with a final dash, reached the window and hurled in his grenades. Those of the enemy, who were not killed or wounded, surrendered. Attacking another feature on the following day, a tank became bogged on the start line, surprise was lost and the leading infantry were caught in the enemy's fire, so that the resulting casualties endangered the whole operation. Captain Wakeford, keeping his Company under perfect control, crossed the start line and although wounded in the face and in both arms, led his men up the hill. Half way up the hill his Company came under heavy Spandau fire; in spite of his wounds, he organized and led a force to deal with this opposition so that his company could get on. By now the Company was being heavily mortared and Captain Wakeford was again wounded, in both legs, but he still went on and reaching his objective, he organized and consolidated the remainder of his Company and reported to his Commanding Officer before submitting to any personal attention. During the seven hour interval before stretcher-bearers could reach him his unwavering high spirits encouraged the wounded men around him. His selfless devotion to duty, leadership, determination, courage and disregard for his own serious, injuries were beyond all praise.

Wakeford became a solicitor (lawyer) after the war and died in 1972 at age 51.

Also in Italy, the Polish 2nd Corps unsuccessfully attacked Monte Cassino, sustaining heavy casualties in the effort.  The French Expeditionary Corps took Castelforte and Monte Mailo.

Sarah Sundin reports: 

Today in World War II History—May 13, 1944: In drive for Rome, French troops break through Gustav Line. Premiere of Cowboy and the Senorita, starring Roy Rogers & Dale Evans in their first film together.

She also noted that Klaus Dönitz, son of the commander of the German Kriegsmarine, was killed when his torpedo boat went down off the English coast. 

The U-1224, now in Japanese service as the RO-501, was sunk in the Atlantic, making it one of two Japanese flagged submarines to be sunk in the Atlantic.

The French Resistance halted self propelled artillery production at the Lorraine-Dietrich works, Bagneres de Bigorre.

Pensive won the Preakness.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 12, 1944. Heroism in Italy. End of the war in the Caucasus.

1940s, 1944, Battle of the Caucasus, Heroes, Indian Army, Italy, Nazi Germany, Operation Diadem, Personalities, Red Army, Rome, U.S. Air Force, World War Two

Friday, May 12, 1944. Heroism in Italy. End of the war in the Caucasus.

The two-year-long Battle of the Caucasus ended in a Soviet victory.  

What's partially amazing about this is that the Soviets and Axis forces were fighting a war that was effectively far behind the real front lines by this point.  The Axis forces should have withdrawn from this region months prior to this.

The war in Italy at this point was remarkably multinational, with the US 5th Army including a wide variety of western units, including units of the Indian Army. Sepoy Kamal Ram won the Victoria Cross in Italy for single handely wiping out a German machinegun post, causing a second one to surrender a,d n assisting a feelow soldier in the destruction of a third.

His citation.

In Italy, on 12 May 1944, after crossing the River Gari overnight, the Company advance was held up by heavy machine-gun fire from four posts on the front and flanks. As the capture of the position was essential to secure the bridgehead, the Company Commander called for a volunteer to get round the rear of the right post and silence it. Volunteering at once and crawling forward through the wire to a flank, Sepoy Kamal Ram attacked the post single handed and shot the first machine-gunner; a second German tried to seize his weapon but Sepoy Kamal Ram killed him with the bayonet, and then shot a German officer who, appearing from the trench with his pistol, was about to fire. Sepoy Kamal Ram, still alone, at once went on to attack the second machine-gun post which was continuing to hold up the advance, and after shooting one machine-gunner, he threw a grenade and the remaining enemy surrendered. Seeing a Havildar making a reconnaissance for an attack on the third post, Sepoy Kamal Ram joined him, and, having first covered his companion, went in and completed the destruction of this post. By his courage, initiative and disregard for personal risk, Sepoy Kamal Ram enabled his Company to charge and secure the ground vital to the establishment of the bridgehead and the completion of work on two bridges. When a platoon, pushed further forward to widen the position, was fired on from a house, Sepoy Kamal Ram, dashing towards the house, shot one German in a slit trench and captured two more. His sustained and outstanding bravery unquestionably saved a difficult situation at a critical period of the battle and enabled his Battalion to attain the essential part of their objective.

He was 19 years old at the time, and would remain in the Indian Army after the war, retiring in 1972.  He died in 1987 at the age of 57. 

The 5th Army made progress against the Gustav Line.  The French Expeditionary Corps captured Monte Faito. The British 13th Corps crossed the Rapido opposite of Cassino.

Frederick Schiller Faust, better known by his pen name Max Brand, was killed by artillery while working as a writer attached to U.S. infantry, a request he'd made some weeks earlier.  He was 51 years old.

The United States Army Air Force hit synthetic oil plants at Leuna-Merseburg, Bohlen, Zeitz, Lutzkendorf and Brux.

ME 410 photographed from a B-17 over Brux.

A20 hit by flak over France.  Pilot 1st Lt Robert E. Stockwell and gunner S/Sgt Hollis A. Foster were killed. Bombardier Lt. Albert Jedinak and gunner S/Sgt. Egon W. Rust bailed out and were captured.

The State Department was busy trying to find a way to save Rome from destruction.

German U-boat commander Oskar Kusch was executed for holding views critical of Adolf Hitler.

Last prior edition:

Thursday, May 11, 1944. Operation Diadem.

1940s, 1944, 1944 at the Movies, Blog Mirror, Bougainville, German Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, Italy, Movies, Operation Diadem, Personalities, Royal Air Force, The Holocaust, World War Two

Thursday, May 11, 1944. Operation Diadem.

Japanese foxholes located under bank of draw in the 129th Infantry, 37th Division sector on Bougainville, Solomon Islands. The jungle growth has been cleared by the fierce artillery fire.  May 11, 1944.

Allied forces broke through German defenses in the Liri Valley in Operation Diadem with the first attacks being by the British 4th Infantry Division and the 8th Indian Infantry Division, with fire support from the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade.  All the Allies fighting in Italy would participate in the offensive.

Allied air forces raided the French coast, with Calais particularly hard hit.

Oberst Walter Oesau (123 victories) was shot down and killed over the Eifel Mountains.  

Oesau had been goaded into flying by Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring on that day even though he'd been sick in bed with the flu, Göring calling his command to see if he was flying.  Göring had been turning his ire on unit commanders who were not regularly flying, and upon learning that Oesau was in bed he basically accused him of cowardice.  He did skillfully fight three P-38s but was killed by cannon fire from one of the aircraft attempting to make an emergency landing.\

Oesau had fought in the Spanish Civil War, but there's little known about him overall.  He was not a flamboyant figure and included no special markings on his aircraft.

The RAF Lancaster "S for Sugar" completed its 100th mission.

Today in World War II History—May 11, 1944 In Italy, Germans release Jews of Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, and Swiss citizenship under pressure from these neutral governments.

Movie premiere of The White Cliffs of Dover, starring Irene Dunne.

Social Security Administration ruling reflecting a marriage on this date, and a complicated set of relationships.

SSR 60-9. STATUS OF CHILD IN THE WOMB

A child conceived during its mother's marriage to her first husband, but born after her re-marriage to her second husband is the stepchild of the second husband from the date of such marriage.

M was divorced from F on March 25, 1944. She married P on May 11, 1944. A child, C, was born to M on July 13, 1944. P died on May 20, 1945. An application for child's benefits on P's social security account was filed September 23, 1959, on behalf of C.

Section 216(e) of the Social Security Act defines the term "child" as including a stepchild of a deceased individual who has been a stepchild "for not less than one year immediately preceding the day on which such individual died."

In view of the general principle that when justice or convenience requires, the child in the womb is dealt with as a human being even though physiologically it is part of the mother, the marriage of P and M created a steprelationship between P and M's child, C, even though C was unborn at that time. Since the marriage of P and M occurred more than one year prior to P's death, and C had been conceived and was in existence at the time of the marriage, it is held that C was P's stepchild for one year prior to his death as required by section 216(e) for becoming entitled to benefits on his earnings record.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, May 10, 1944. New Medals.

1940s, 1944, boats and ships, Burma, Imperial Japanese Navy, Merchant Marine, Nationalist Chinese Army, Personalities, Red Army, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Wednesday, May 10, 1944. New Medals.

Chinese forces, while under assault elsewhere in China, crossed the Salween River near the Burmese border in an offensive.

The Japanese destroyer Karukaya was sunk in the South China Sea by the USS Silversides.

Soviet General Aleksandr Vasilevsky was wounded in the head at Sevastopol when his car drove over a mine.  He recovered and later served again in high command, and went on to be Stalin's post-war Minister of War, a position he lost with Stalin's death.  He died in 1977.

A series of Merchant Marine medals were established, recognizing their very dangerous service in various theaters.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, May 9, 1944. Sevastopol liberated.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, El Salvador, Red Army, Siege of Sevastopol, Soviet Navy, technology

Monday, May 8, 1944. Red Army defeated in Romania again.

The Second Battle of Târgu Frumos ended in Axis victory, as had the first, thereby preserving Romania from Soviet occupation for the time being.

Meanwhile, Romanian troops, along with Germans, were being evacuated from Sevastopol and Crimea.  It can't help but be noted that at this point in the war, Romania desperately needed Romanian troops in Romania.  Of course, they had figured prominently in the Axis advance into Ukraine, including Crimea, earlier.

Irrespective of the Axis victory near their country, the Czechoslovak government in exile granted permission for the Red Army to enter and liberate their country in a convention in London.  Clearly, they could see what was coming.

Gen. Eisenhower selected June 5 as the new date for the commencement of Operation Overlord.

The U.S. Senate voted to extend Lend Lease to June 1945.  Wait until Marjorie Taylor Greene hears about that . . . 

A TBM-1C making a training flight over Cape Cod went down when a fuse went off on a 100 lb bomb the lane was carrying caught on fire. The pilot attempted to and the plane but the open bomb bay doors rapidly sank it, taking the crew,  Lt.(Jg.) Norwood H. Dobson, (27),  AOM3/c John William Dahlstrom and ARM3/c Arthur N. Levesque down with it.

Sgt Floyd A. Ott, Jerone, Idaho, of 41st Div., cleans rust off M2 machine gun by means of a buffer. Hollandia, New Guinea. 8 May, 1944.  The gun may very well still be in service.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, May 7, 1944. Hitting Berlin, Assaulting Sapun.

1940s, 1944, Berlin Germany, boats and ships, Canadian Navy, Crimea, Franklin Roosevelt, New Guinea, Polish Army, Red Army, Royal Air Force, Siege of Sevastopol, U.S. Air Force, Weapons, World War Two