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

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

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

The 8th Air Force conducted a 1,500 plane raid on Berlin.  The 15th Air Force and Bomber Command attacked railway sites in Bucharest.  The 9th Air Force attacked the railway yards at Mezieres-Charleville with B-26s and P-38s.

The 46th Infantry Division occupied Cape Hopkins Airfield on the Bismark Archipelago.  The Japanese offered no resistance.

The Red Army carried out an assault on Sapun Mountain May 7, 1944 in the Battle of Sevastopol.

Polish Gen. Anders visited the 15th Vilnius Rifle Battalion "Wilków" and attended Mass with them.

The RCN Valleyfield was sunk by the U-548 off of Cape Rice.  129 out of 167 crewmembers died in the attack.

"Georgetown, D.C. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, rested and tanned after a four week vacation at Shangri-La, returned to the White House. The President rested a month in the 23,000 estate. His residence was a guarded secret until he was safe back in Washington. It was a fishing and bathing vacation with the nearest telephone five in good health and good spirits, all traces of his bronchitis from which he suffered during the winter months having disappeared, May 7th, 1944. Shown: U.S. Marine standing guard at Shangri-La, Maryland."

The Marine guard is wearing an early pattern field jacket and carrying a M50 Reising submachinegun.

Sarah Sundin, on her entry Today in World War II History—May 7, 1944 notes that another D-Day exercise, Exercise Pigeon, commenced.

A  B-25 crashed in bad weather and one mile north of West Chester, Pennsylvania, killing all seven on board.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, May 6, 1944. Shelling Sevastapol.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Biltmore Conference, boats and ships, Crimea, Horse Racing, Imperial Japanese Navy, Kentucky Derby, Operation Overlord, Pacific, Red Army, Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Saturday, May 6, 1944. Shelling Sevastapol.

Reconnaissance photograph, Normandy.

The Red Army began its attack on Sevastapol with a massive artillery strike, the Red Army norm.

The Biltmore Conference opened in New York City. It was a convention of Zionist meeting in the context of the Second World War at a point at which the mass murder of Jews was fairly openly known, and was certainly known amongst Jews.  The topic was the British Palestinian Mandate.

The USS Gunard attacked the Take Ichi convoy, sinking three freighters.

The U-473 was sunk southeast of Ireland by the Royal Navy.

The first flight of the Mitsubishi A7M, the intended replacement for the famous A6M "Zero", occured.  Only seven of the carrier planes would be built before the end of the war.

The U66 was rammed and sunk by the USS Buckley off of Cape Verde.

Pensive won the Kentucky Derby.

MGM released the Million Dollar Cat episode of Tom and Jerry.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 5, 1944. Counterattack at Imphal.

1940s, 1944, Battle of Imphal, British Army, German Luftwaffe, India, Indian Army, Mohandas Gandi, Operation U-Go, Slovenia, World War Two, Yugoslavia

Wednesday, May 4, 1944. Japanese Command Changes.

 

Soemu Toyoda (豊田 副武) was made Commander in Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet.

Toyada became a full Admiral only shortly before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and was opposed to it from the onset, believing that a war with the United States was unwinnable.  He figured in late war Imperial Conferences on finding an end to the war, which he was in favor of ending but he wished for better terms for Japan, even after the atomic strikes on the country.  He was in favor of defending the home islands to the last man.

Arrested and charged with war crimes in 1948, he was acquitted in 1949, the only member of the Japanese armed forces to prevail in a war crimes trial.  He died in 1957 at age 72.

The British 14th Army captured the heights above the Maungdaw-Buthindaung road in the Arakan.

The USS Donnell was heavily damaged by a strike by the U-473. Towed to Scotland, she became a total loss.

The U-852 was scuttled on the Somali coast.

Harvard scientists announce the ability to produce synthetic quinine.

The French Resistance burned 100,000 liters of acetone at the Lambiotte plant.

2nd Lt. John W. Garrett, age 19, was killed making an emergency landing of a B-24 at Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Connecticut. 

Sarah Sundin has some interesting entries on her blog, Today in World War II History—May 3, 1944.

She reports, for instance, that Going My Way was released.

I've never seen the film, but according to some its the best in Bing Crosby's career.  I probably should catch it.

The movie is really from the golden age of the portrayal of Catholic clerics in American films.  It interestingly came before the point at which Catholics had crossed over into the American cultural mainstream, and remained their own ethnicity to a strong degree.  The era, which started in the 1930s and continued into the 1950s, basically ended after the American Catholic integration occured following John F. Kennedy's election to the White House.

It's interesting, in that there are an entire series of really sympathetic portrayals of Catholic priests and Catholicism in general from this era, including Boys Town (1938), The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Bells of Saint Mary's (1945), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), The Quiet Man (1952) On The Waterfront (1954), and The Left Hand of God (1955).  These were all major motion pictures, not niche pictures such as For Greater Glory (2012).  They came on pretty strongly in the late 1930s and continued on into the mid 50s, but really disappeared after that.  By the 1970's M*A*S*H the portrayal of priests had declined to the point where the portrayal was entirely satyric.

Sundin reports that meat rationing was temporarily relaxed, which brings up this post that we pondered the topic in from a few years back:

Hunting (and fishing), Stateside, during World War Two.

Owning a packing house, as they did, I wonder what was table fare for my father and his family during the war?

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, May 2, 1944. Sensing a change.

1940s, 1944, boats and ships, French Resistance Movements, Red Army, Romania, Second Battle of Târgu Frumos, Spain, U.S. Navy, Vichy France

Saturday, May 3, 1924. Foundings.

The Grand Order of the Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA or אצא), an international fraternity for Jewish teenagers, was founded in Omaha, Nebraska.

It would go on to found the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization a year later.

The SS Catalina, which would be in service for 51 years ferrying passengers between Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island, was launched.

German police raided the Soviet Trade Delegation

Zinaida Kokorina, against the odds and through the intervention of the Soviet head of state, became the first female military pilot on this day in 1924.

She wanted to become a fighter pilot, but was persuaded to remain a flight instructor, which she did through World War Two.  She later became headmistress of a village school at Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan before retiring to Moscow.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 2, 1924. Craters of the Moon.

1920s, 1924, Calvin Coolidge, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Cuba, Government, Idaho, Radio

Tuesday, May 2, 1944. Sensing a change.

As true now, as then.

The Second Battle of Târgu Frumos began in Romania, which would provide another example of the Red Army not doing well in its Romanian campaigns at this point in the war.

A Swordfish sank a second German submarine, the U-674, in consecutive days, in the Arctic.

The USS Parrott collided with the John Morton at Norfolk, Virginia and was severely damaged. It was never repaired.

Span stopped exporting tungsten to Germany under Allied pressure, a move that was risky given the German proclivity for invading allies that attempted to pack out of association with them.

In perhaps an even riskier move, the management of the Aubert and Duval steel works at Ancizes, France shut the plant down in cooperation with the French Resistance.

Or was it that it was obvious in France, and Spain, that the Germans would soon be leaving?

Last prior edition:

Monday, May 1, 1944. Unmet expectations.

1940s, 1944, boats and ships, Caroline Islands, Dwight Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Greece, Greek Partisans, Office of Strategic Services, Operation Overlord, Special Operations Executive, World War Two

Monday, May 1, 1944. Unmet expectations.

The wounded German beast must be pursued and finished off in its lair.

Stalin, May 1, 1944.

Piper Cub over Italy, May 1, 1944.

Today had been the original D-Day in planning for Operation Overlord.

The Germans executed 200 Greek Communists in Kaisariani in reprisal for the killing of Gen. Franz Krech by the Greek People's Liberation Army.  Interestingly, the OSS and the SOE spread a rumor following the ambush that he'd been assassinated by the Gestapo for being an anti Hitler dissident. The falsification was an attempt to avoid reprisals on Greek civilians.

The Germans didn't buy it, and according executed the 200 Communist prisoners.  Greek collaborationist forces killed a further 100 suspected members of the Greek resistance, and the Germans a further 25.

Task Group 58.1 attacked Ponape from the air and from the sea.  Seven battleships were included in ship to shore bombardment.

The Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference was held in London.

The Soviets created the Medal for the Defense of Moscow and the Medal for the Defense of the Caucuses.

The U-277 was sunk in the Arctic by a Swordfish of the 842 Naval Air Squadron.

Patton had an uncomfortable meeting with Gen. Eisenhower and wrote about it in his dairy.

May 1, 1944

In spite of possible execution this morning I slept well and trust my destiny. God has never let me, or the country, down yet. Reported to Ike at 1100. He was most cordial and asked me to sit down, so I felt a little reassured. He said, “George, you have gotten yourself into a very serious fix.” I said, “Before you go any farther, I want to say that your job is more important than mine, so if in trying to save me you are hurting yourself, throw me out.” He said, “I have now got all that the army can give me—it is not a question of hurting me but of hurting yourself and depriving me of a fighting army commander.” He went on to say that General Marshall had wired him that my repeated mistakes have shaken the confidence of the country and the War Department. General Marshall even harked back to the Kent Lambert incident in November 1942—certainly a forgiving s.o.b.

Ike said he had recommended that, if I were to be relieved and sent home, I be not reduced to a Colonel, as the relief would be sufficient punishment, and that he felt that situations might well arise where it would be necessary to put me in command of an army.

I told Ike that I was perfectly willing to fall out on a permanent promotion so as not to hold others back. Ike said General Marshall had told him that my crime had destroyed all chance of my permanent promotion, as the opposition said even if I was the best tactician and strategist in the army, my demonstrated lack of judgment made me unfit to command. He said that he had wired General Marshall on Sunday washing his hands of me. (He did not use these words but that is what he meant). I told him that if I was reduced to a Colonel I demanded the right to command one of the assault regiments; that this was not a favor but a right. He said no, because he felt he would surely need me to command an army. I said, “I am not threatening, but I want to tell you that his attack is badly planned and on too narrow a front and may well result in an Anzio, especially if I am not there. He replied, "Don't I know it, but what can I do?” That is a hell of a remark for a supreme commander. The fact is that the plan which he has approved was drawn by a group of British in 1943. Monty changed it only by getting 5 instead of 3 divisions into the assault, but the front is too short. There should be three separate attacks on at least a 90 mile front. I have said this for nearly a year. Ike said he had written me a “savage” letter but wanted me to know that his hand is being forced from United States. He talked to the Prime Minister about me and Churchill told him that he could see nothing to it. That “Patton had simply told the truth.” Ike then went on to excuse General Marshall on the grounds that it was an election year etc. It is sad and shocking to think “fear of They”, and the writings of a group of unprincipled reporters, and weak kneed congressmen, but so it is. When I came out I don't think anyone could tell that I had just been killed. I have lost lots of competitions in the sporting way, but I never did better. I feel like death, but I am not out yet. If they will let me fight, I will; but if not, I will resign so as to be able to talk, and then I will tell the truth, and possibly do my country more good. All the way home, 5 hours, I recited poetry to myself.

“If you can make a heap of all your winnings

And risk them on one game of pitch and toss

And lose, and start at your beginning

And never breathe a word about your loss”

“I dared extreme occasion and never one betrayed.”

My final thought on the matter is that I am destined to achieve some great thing—what I don't know, but this last incident was so trivial in its nature, but so terrible in its effect, that it is not the result of an accident but the work of God. His Will be done.

General Leroy Lutes of the U.S. Service of Supply was here when I got back after supper and we gave him a briefing and entertained him. I hope to get some equipment as a result.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, April 30, 1944. Pre fab. Draft McArthur?

1940s, 1944, 1944 Election, Douglas MacArthur, Hollandia, Lodging, Truk, United Kingdom, World War Two