On This Day

[jainso31]

26 Sept.1943
8th USAAF bombers commence Operation Starkey- bombing airfields in western France.
The Batle of Leros began -this was central to the German Dodecanese Campaign. Ju88's sank the destroyers HMS Intrepid and HS Vasilissa Olga.
Brit 10 Corps enter the ruined city of NAPLES which was strewn with thousands of booby traps.
SINGAPORE Operation Jaywick is carried out by 6 members of a Special Operations Unit of Australia; they attached limpet mines to 7 ships in the harbour and got clean away.the op was successful.

jainso31

[jainso31]

27 Sept.1943
Atlantic-U221 was sunk SW of Ireland in position 47N 18W by depth charges from Coastal Command HP Halifax of 58 Sqdn.All 50 hands lost.
USSR-German forces in the Ukraine have withdrawn to positions on the west bank of the R Dneiper.
[B]ITALY[/B-]with the approach of US 5th Army on NAPLES,there is a peoples uprising and much bitter fighting and bloodshed. Yesterday a spearhead of Brit 10 Corps had got into the city

jainso31

[jainso31]

28 Sept.1943
ITALY-The Civil Uprising in NAPLES is very bitter with significant casuaties either side.The whole Allied approach to the city is slowed down by determined German resistance.
The 8th Army is welcomed into FOGGIA-the airfields there are a real prize.
S ATLANTICU161 was sunk near Bahia BRAZIL by depth charges from a USN PBM/3 Mariner of VP71.ALL hands (51) lost.
]PACIFIC[/B-]Japanese forces evacuate[B] Kolombangara[/B in the Solomons.

jainso31

[jainso31]

29 Sept.1943
ITALY-The British and US Governments were anxious that the full terms of the Italian surrender should be signed by BADOGLIO with some ceremony. Adm.Cunningham suggested one of the battleships of Force H at Malta should bethe setting and Gen.Eisenhower asked Cunningham to make the arrangements.
After some deliberation between Rodney and Nelson,Cunningham chose NELSON as the place for the formality of signing at MALTA
USSR-Soviet Forces now had full control of the major city of SMOLENSK
USA-HITLER'S MEIN KAMPF published.

jainso31

[jainso31]

30 Sept. 1943
ITALY- 10 Brit Corps now on the outskirts of NAPLES,where a civil uprising was being fought with great loss of life caused by the tanks of the German SS Herman Goering Division

USSR-The Soviet Armies were now advancing on KIEV

UK-Ernest Bevin said that farm crops were down on last year and industrial strikes-although illegal were up-particularly in the coal mines and docks

jainso31

[jainso31]

1 to3 Oct 1943[/B

[B]ITALYUS 5th Army take the wrecked city of NAPLES with Brit. 10 Corps in
the lead.The cost -12000 Brit and US casualties.
The retreating Germans have blown up the sewers; which has contaminated the water supply- and the stench is horrific.The city's 1million inhabitants are starving; and there there is a very real fear of a cholera epidemic and other contagious diseases.
US 5th Corps have crossed the R Biferno.Brit Commandos have landed at Termili
to link up with Brit 78th Inf Div.

jainso31

[jainso31]

4 Oct.1943

British Naval Command-Admiral Pound resigns his post of First Sea Lord due to ill health-Admiral Cunningham succeeds him.

ARCTIC-German shipping off the Norwegian coast near Bodo was attacked by aircraft from the USS Ranger-four freighters were sunk and seven others damaged.The battleships Anson and Duke of York were in support

Aegean-The Germans complete the capture of COS and take 1400 [/B[B]]British and 1350 Italian POW's

PACIFIC-The Japanese complete their evacuation of KOLOMBANGARA-the 9400 garrison is got away despite the attentions of the USN destroyers.A number of small boats and and 1000men were lost.

jainso31

[jainso31]

5 Oct.1943

CENTRAL PACIFIC-Wake Island is shelled and bombed by ships and planes from Adm. Montgomery's TF14-six carriers,seven cruisers and 25 destroyers in this force.The carrier aircraft flew 738 sorties.

EASTERN FRONT-The Soviet Armies cross the R Dneiper at several places.Konev is in command in the south and Vatutin further north both quickly improvising bridges.

ITALY-US 5th Army take Aversa and Maddaloni.Forward units of Brit.10[/B[B]] Corps reach the R VOLTURNO.In the fighting around Termoli;German 16th PanzerDiv. come into action and for a time; push the British back

jainso31

[Dreadnought]

6th October 1844

French King Louis Philippe arrived at Portsmouth to visit Queen Victoria, the first friendly visit ever paid by a French King to the Sovereign of England.

During the year there was a recrudescence of the friction between this country and France. This was due partly to questions as to the right of HM Ships’ officers to search foreign ships suspected of being involved in the slave trade, and partly due to the incident in Tahiti two years previousl, when Admiral Dupetit Thouars, acting independently of the French government, convinced Tahiti's Queen Pōmare IV to accept a French protectorate. George Pritchard, a Birmingham-born missionary and acting British Consul, had been away at the time. However he returned to work towards indoctrinating the locals against the Roman Catholic French. In June 1843, Dupetit-Thouars (again on his own initiative) landed sailors on the island, annexing it to France. He then threw Pritchard into prison, subsequently sending him back to Britain. News of Tahiti reached Europe in early 1844. The French statesman François Guizot, supported by King Louis-Philippe of France, had denounced annexation of the island.

Louis Philipe’s dennounciation opened the way for his historic visit to England. The King was enthusiastically received in England, visited Claremont (which he was destined to occupy in exile), was installed as a Knight of the Garter at Windsor with great magnificence, and visited Eton College and Woolwich Arsenal.

The king was immensely pleased with everything he saw, and with the friendly reception he received. He assured the Queen that France did not wish to go to war with England.

1844_Oct6_1: Attached news paper cutting from the New Zealand Ohinemum Gazette 12th May 1915.

1844_Oct6_2: King Louis Philippe disembarking at Portsmouth – a print by Louis Eugene Gabriel Isabey 1846
.
.

[jainso31]

6 Oct.1943

SOLOMONS-The sea battle of Vella LaVella took place at night when three USN DDs intercepted six IJN DDs and three transport DDs attempting to land land troops on the island.The planned landing failed and either side loat a DD each-although all three USN DDs were damaged.
The 25 US Inf Division landed unopposed on the vacated island of KOLOMBANGARA

ITALY-the US 5th Army take CASERTA and advance to the R. VOLTURNO On the east coast the British forces prevail around TERMOLI
German troops were systematically looting ROME'S museums and churches and crating up priceless works of art for transport to Germany.Hermann Goering is thought to have issued orders for this act of vandalism.

jainso31
.

[jainso31]

7 Oct.1943

AEGEAN-Two British cruisers and two destroyers intercept a German caique convoy bound for COS and sink 7 caiques and an escort.

ITALY- The Germans withdraw from contact with Brit.78th Div.around TERMOLI and pull back behind the R Trigno. Gen. Montgomery did not feel ready for close pursuit.
US 5th Army were halted at the R Volturno

EASTERN FRONT -In a new offensive in the north the Soviet Army take NEVEL

jainso31

[jainso31]

8 Oct 1943[/B

[B]ATLANTIC-U419 sunk at 53N31N/27.05W by depth charges from an 86 Sqdn RCAF Liberator of Coastal Command.Lost with 49 hands dead and 1 survivor.
U610 sunk at 55.35N/24.33W by dedth charges from a 423 Sqdn Sunderland of Coastal Command All 51 hands lost.
U643 sunk at 56.14N/26.55W by depth charges from two Coastal Command Liberators from 86 and 120 Sqdns.-30 dead 18 survived.
Looks like a "wolf pack" got a pasting!! according to the locations given.

ITALY Brit.8th Army takes Larino and Guglionese in their advance on BIFERNO

GREECE-Clashes between Pro and Anti Communist factions lead to a bloody civil war over the next six years.

GERMANY Allied air raids on Bremen and Vegasack had heavy losses mostly by German fighter aircraft although USAAF fighters also took a heavy toll of the enemy defenders.

jainso31

[jainso31]

9 Oct.1943

UK-8th USAAF continue their air assault on Germany with over 350 bombing raids

MEDITERRANEAN SEA-HMS Panther (destroyer)sunk and HMS Carlisle (cruiser) badly damaged by Stuka attacks SW of Italy.Carlisle managed to get to Alexandria only to be declared to be "beyond economical repair".

ITALY-thousands of Italian men pressed into labour to build the 85mile long fortifiication south of Rome.This was the GUSTAV LINE .
Three elite German Divisions join Kesselring's 10th Army on the R VOLTURNOopposite Clark's US 5th Army.

[B]USSR[/B-Soviet forces take KABAT but German 17th Army escape into the CRIMEA

jainso31

[jainso31]

10 Oct,1943

ITALY[/B-][B]US 5th Army take Portelandalfo.north of Benevento.

GERMANY-six RAF Mosquitoes make a nuisance raid on BERLIN without loss.8th USAAF send 236 B17's to bomb railroads and waterways in and around MUNSTER-30 B17's were lost.

MEDITERRANEAN-Submarine HMS Trooper not heard of again after leaving Beirut on 26 Sept,-presumed lost with all 60 hands.

jainso31

[jainso31]

11 Oct.1943

MEDITERRANEAN Minesweeper HMS HYTHE was sunk by U371 off Bougie-no details.

PACIFICUSN submarine USS WAHOO was sunk by Japanese A/S aircraft by depth charge.She was reported "overdue" on 2/12/43 and Struck off the US Navy List 6/12/43.
Col Neal Kearby awarded the MEDAL of HONOR for shooting down six Japanese aircraft in one sortie in the SW Pacific

ITALY.The grim task of re-establishing the city of NAPLES is undertaken by troops of British 10 Corps Royal Engineers backed up by the Pioneer Corps

jainso31

[jainso31]

12 Oct.1943

PORTUGAL An agreement with President Salazar gained aircraft bases for UK and US ASW aircraft in the AZORES to operate in the waters in the "air gap"-so tightening the surveillance of Uboat ops in this area.

ATLANTIC Aircraft of VC9 from the US carrier Card broke up another refuelling rendezvous when they attacked U731 refuelling U488 damaging both but not fatally.U378 was attacked by an avenger a.c with a FIDO homing torpedo but missed.

ITALY US 5th Army set for their assault on the VOLTURNO LINE but bad weather is hampering progress

NEW BRITAIN RABAUL is targetted by the 5USAAF and they dropped 400 tons of bombs on the dock area.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

I think I have to apologize ahead, as am pretty sure there is a regular (Naval) "On this day" thread with a different different title ...but I can't find it !

Do see four events on this date :-

1949 : Stalin established the" German Democratic Republic "(GDR) controlled by Soviet Troops

1955: Florence Chadwick swam the Channel in 13 hours 55 minutes.

1984: An IRA bomb devastates the Grand Hotel Brighton during he Tory Party Conference..

2002:: 200 people killed in two explosions in Bali.

[jainso31]

The Official site is within the Battles and Events Section- Derek-it deals with Military events essentially.
Thank you however for the salient features you have found for the 12th of October for the various years.:)

jainso31

[jainso31]

Seems I was quite wrong above!!
13 Oct.1943

ATLANTIC-U402 sunk by a FIDO from an Avenger and Wildcat of VC9 from USS Card CVE[/B[B]]-11.All hands(50) lost.

]YUGOSLAVIA[/B-]Zeneca-Partisans struck at the German industrial empire wrecking a KRUPPS factory and steelworks claiming 27 railway engines and 155 wagons destroyed.

ITALY formally declared war on GERMANY
Six US and British Divisions assault the German defence positions along the R.VOLTURNO20 mliles north of NAPLES.Three US Divisions establish a bridgehead on the north bank of the river.

GERMANYLee "Shorty"Gordon became the first US POW to escape from a POW Camp (STALAG VIIA) .AFTER many trials and tribulations he arrived in England on the 27th Feb.1944.Shorty was the ball turret gunner on a B17 Fortress of 305th Bomb Group shot down over Wilhelmshaven.

jainso31

[jainso31]

14 Oct.1943

GERMANY-8th USAAF send 291 B17's to bomb the ball bearing factory at SCHWEINFURT deep inside Germany.228 aircraft bombed the plant causing considerable damage but the cost was too high;60 B17's shot down and 560 crewmen dead,wounded or POW.276 civilians lost their lives.
The bombers claimed 288 German fighters shot down; but the real was but 10% of this figure.This catastrophic event brought deep penetration daylight raids to a halt.

ITALY-US 3rd 34th and 45th Divisions push the bridgehead over the R VOLTURNO out to four miles on the north bank.On the east coast there was much air activity against road and rail heads ahead of Gen. Montgomery's planned advance.

MEDITERRANEANHMS Trooper was sunk by a German Q ship-see#1264

ATLANTIC-U455 collided with U631 and suffered a fair amount of damage

jainso31

[jainso31]

15 Oct.1943

UK All USAAF's come under the command of Lt Gen.Ira C Eaker incl .being GOC 8th USAAF.

ITALY-British units of 10 Corps,US 5th Army finally break through the VOLTURNO DEFENCE LINE and push forward northwards via pontoon bridges built by US engineers.

PACIFIC-Adm. HALSEY issued orders for the invasion of the Northern Solomons.21 USAAF flew "softening up" missions to Bougainvile and Buka Island

CARIBBEAN-Submarine USS DORADO lost in transit to Panama Canal Zone via a US ASW aircraft or to mines laid by U224.
USS TANG
USA- Submarine USS TANG commissioned with Lt Cdr R H O'Kane in command

jainso31

[jainso31]

16 Oct.1943

ITALY-US 5th Army units advance whilst the Germans prepare to fall back the first line of the main GUSTAV LINE-the Barbara Line..
There will be three more rivers to cross- the Garigliano, Rapido and Sangro.
The Canadians of the 8th Army on the east coast take the town of Vinchiaturo.

PACIFIC-The last German auxiliary cruiser the MICHEL was sunk by thr US submarine TARPON off the Japanese coast.
Michel had sunk 17 ships during its cruise.

NEW GUINEA-The Japanese counterattack from the few remaining outposts around FINSCHAVEN, but the Australians hold them off.

ATLANTIC-three Uboats sunk off Cape Farewell,Greenland by depth charges -U540 by two RCAF Librerators of 59 and 120 Sqdns Coastal Command.U631 by Corvette HMS SNOWFLAKE and the third by frigate HMS BYARD-In all cases all hands lost

jainso31

.

[Dave Hutson]

Have now caught up with the last seven weeks - thanks Jim - as informative as ever - may you beacon never dim. ;)

Dave H

[jainso31]

17 Oct.1943

ITALY-The Allied advance has slowed don to a crawl in the face of bad weather(torrential rain) and fierce German resistance.
On the west coast the Germans are systematically withdrawing behind their pre-prepared Defence Lines of BARBARA,RHEINHART and GUSTAV.

USSR -Soviet forces break through the German lines at KREMENCHUG and cross the R DNEIPER and capture LOYEV.

SOUTH PACIFIC-USMC carrier borne aircraft attack KAHILI airfield on BOUGAINVILLE and also strafe BALLALE airfield.This latter action was engaged by 30+ ZEKES-14 of which were shot down for the loss of one F4U CORSAIR fighter.

jainso31

[jainso31]

18 Oct.1943

PACIFIC-US submarines SILVERSIDE S236 and LAPON S260 both had successes sinking two freighters and an escort.

USSR -Bitter fighting around MELITOPOL as Soviet forces continue their adva

ITALY-Germans start purging the ROME ghettos for Italian Jews-1007 sent to AUSCHWITZ after a ransom demand was made and paid.
US 3rd 34th and 45th Inf,Divisions take twenty odd towns and villages as Germans retreat back to their prepared DEFENCE LINESsouth of Rome.
US 12th Air Force and the RAF Desert Air Force continue to bomb and strafe enemy positions as well as road and rail facilities.
Germans now sending sending fast trains at night from AUSTRIA to foil interdiction.

jainso31

[jainso31]

19 Oct.1943

UK-The first antibiotic STREPTOMYCIN is isolated

SWEDEN-Thousands of badly wounded and sick British and German POW's
were exchanged for repatriation at GOTHENBURG. Brits were ex Dunkirk/Dieppe and the Germans were ex Africa Korps. 5000 each side

USSR[/B-Soviet forces consolidating their [B]bridgeheads over the R DNEIPER.
German GENERAL MANSTEIN juggling his troops on the bend of the river to aid escape.
Air ace ERICH HARTMANNwas shot down and taken POW but feigned wounds and escaped.

ITALY-German troops holding DRAGONI escaped north ,before elements of the US 34th DIV.took the town ,25 mls north of NAPLES
US 5th Army offensive along the VOLTURNO R is becoming "Bogged Down" by bad weather.

jainso31

[jainso31]

20 Oct.1943[/B

PACIFIC]-The aircraft from the aircraft carriers in TRUK are transferred to [B[B]]RABAUL.The ships concerned are the ZUIKAKU,SHOKAKU,ZUIHO,JUNYO,HIYO and RYUHO.
Although the aircraft are withdrawn from Rabaul in November,they take heay losses in the meantime-further signalling the decline of the IJN Air Force as the number of experienced pilots dwindle.

ITALY- The [B]US 45th DIv.takes PIEDMONTE d'ALIFE while on it's left 3rd and 34th Divs advance on either side of the VOLTURNO.

USSR-KONEV's forces are storming out of the FREMENCHUG bridgehead and making for KRIVOY ROG.In the KIEV sector capture VISHGOROD

jainso31

[oldsalt]

Tomorrow is the Day.

[jainso31]

21 Oct. 1943

UK[/B- First use of the PFF OBOE blind marking device by the 1st Bombardment Group of 8/USAAF was deemed a failure; due to altitude chosen to bomb 29000ft by B17's

MEDITERRANEAN-U431 was sunk off the coast of ALGIERS by depth charges from an RAF Wellington of 179 Sqdn.All 52 crew perished.

ATLANTIC-Flak Uboat 271 was attacked by two Avenger aircraft from USS CORE-boat sustained damage and crew csaualties.
U420 regarded as lost-no contact by UBOAT COMMAND for a week

ITALY- A large explosive device left by the Germans in [B]NAPLES MAIN POST OFFICE exploded killing 47 people and injuring many others.

jainso31

[oldsalt]

It happens to be Trafalgar Day today, why no mention?

[jainso31]

22 Oct.1943

UK[/B-]Bomber Command sent 358 Lancasters of 1,5,6 and 8Groups to bomb LEIPZIG.this was the first serious attack on this distant German city.The weather was "appalling" and only 271 aircraft attacked-no results observed.
16 Lancasters and crews lost

USSR The Red Army cut the railway which provides the Germans with their main escape route from their stronghold of DNEPROPETROVSK in the Dneiper river bend.Gen Malinovsky's troops advance on KRIVOI ROG and threaten to cut off almost a million Germans in the sweep of the river.

ITALY-USAAF bombers start to fly missions to AUSTRIA from the captured airfields around [B]FOGGIA.
8th Army troops cross the R TRIGNO on the east coast.

PACIFIC-USS GRAYBACK SS208 sinks enemy AMC.

jainso31

[jainso31]

23 Oct, 1943

ENGLISH CHANNEL-The AA cruiser HMS CHARYBDIS and the destroyer HMS LIMBOURNE were sunk by German T BOATS 23 and 27 which were escorting the blckade runner MUNSTERLAND.
464 died from Charybdis and 98 from Limbourne-both sunk north of the Isle de Batz.
One of the worst English Channel naval engagement disasters of WW2.

GERMANY[/B-[B]]RAF BOMBER COMMAND in the prosecution of OPERATION POINTBLANK sent 569 HB to bomb KASSEL,which resuted in in one the most devastating attacks since the HAMBURG FIRESTORM.
4349 seperate dwellings were destroyed and 6743 badly damage were killed(1817 unidentifiabled. 5599 people) and 3587 injured (807 seriously).
The cost in British losses was also horrific-43 (7.6%) aircraft and crews were lost.

ATLANTIC-U274 was sunk off the SW coast of Ireland by depth charges from HMS DUNCAN and VEDETTE and an RAF LIBERATOR from 227 SQDN.ALL 48 crew perished

jainso31

[jainso31]

24 Oct.1943

ATLANTIC-U566 was skuttled west of LEIXOS, after being attacked by 6 depth charges from an RAF Wellinton from 179 Sqdn.All 49 crew survived.
The captain of U505 Kplt Peter Zchech committed suicide whilst under very heavy depth charge attack.The XO Mayer brought the boat back to port.This was the only instance of this kind in the war.

MEDITERRANEAN-The destroyer HMS ECLIPSE carrying 200 troops to LEROS was mined east of KALYMNOS.There 140 casuaties.

ITALY-US 34th Inf. Div. take the town of SAN ANGELO

jainso31

[jainso31]

25 Oct.1943

ATLANTIC-HMCS SKEENA was wrecked at VIDEI Is.near REYJAVIK ICELAND.She was driven ashore onto rocks by a 100Kt gale whilst at anchor.
15 of 21 ratings were drowned trying to reach the shore using Carley Floats.
]The CO and 1st Lt.were both tried by COURTS MARTIAL [/B]and found guilty of "hazarding" and "stranding" the ship.
Skeena was broken up for scrap.

ITALY-Allied Commanders agreed there should be no easing of their Offensive because of bad weather.The objective was to pin down the Germans and limit the possibility of a Counter Offensive

USSR -Gen MALINOVSKY's troops have attacked across the R DNEIPERand started an assault on the German Stronghold of DNEPOROETROVSK and DNEPROODZERZINSK
.Both towns were easily taken because the German forces there have been weakened to meet KONEV's attacks further north.

jainso31

[jainso31]

26 Oct. 1943

AEGEAN-After a week of living on locust beans and jam, British survivors of the ill fated KOS INVASION were evacuated.1st BATTALION DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY had grimly fought against 4000 German troops backed by artillery and the dreaded STUKA.
The SS shot 90 ITALIAN officers for collaboration

ATLANTIC -An RCAF CANSO PATROL aircraft of 10 ASW Sqdn attacked U91 but did not do any damage
U420 deemed lost with all 49 hands in the North Atlantic

[B]NEW GUINEA[/B-Japanese troops around the FINSCHAVEN stronghold start a biitterly fought withdrawal from that area.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

BBC today on October 26th:-

1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with near-total destruction of the Japanese Fleet
by US forces.

1951 Churchill becomes Prime Minister for second time with narrow win over Labour.

1994 Israel and Jordan sign peace treaty with Bill Clinton on hand, ending 46 years of war between them.

derek-L

[oldsalt]

Trafalgar, still waiting for an explaination of why it was ignored.

[jainso31]

27 Oct. 1943

USSR-South of NIKOPOL on the NOGORSK STEPPE,the Germans made a series of counterattacks to save their access to the CRIMEA

[B]ITALY[/B-]-British 8th Army captures the town of MONTEFALCIONE. The 78th DIV.expands it's bridgehead over the R TRIGNO during the night; but German defences still holding.

PACIFIC-US submarines had a busy day-USS SHAD,USS GRAYBACK and USS FLYING FISH all reported sinkings of Japanese merchantmen and transports

USA -First women MARINES report for duty on the West Coast at FORT PENDLETON

SOLOMONS-NZ troops of the 8th BRIGADE land on the TREASURY Is.
Little or no resistance encountered on STIRLING and MONO Islands

jainso31

[jainso31]

28 Oct. 1943

UK-A Spitfire Mk IV of the RAF PHOTOGRAPHIC UNIT brought back the first pictures of a V1 FLYING BOMB SITE near ABBEVILLE-Nth FRANCE.
The MkIV Spitfire is powered by a 1400 HP Merlin engine ,is unarmed and has a range of 1700 miles.

[B]ATLANTIC[/B-U220 was sunk by depth charges from two GRUMMAN [/B[B]]AVENGER's from the US Escort Carrier USS BLOCK ISLAND].ALL
54 crew perished.

SOLOMONS-The USMC PARACHUTE BATTALION landed on CHOISEUL Is as a diversion from the intended invasion of BOUGAINVILLE

jainso31

[oldsalt]

Jim, please tell me that the Trafalgar ommission was an oversight.

[jainso31]

Yes- truly it was Keith-humble apologies.:o When I went back I did not have the Edit facility!!

Jim

[jainso31]

29 Oct. 1943

[ATLANTIC]-HMS DUNCAN and VIDETTE had further success when they sunk U282 with assistance from corvette HMS SUNFLOWER with depth charges SE of GREENLAND.All 48 crew perished.

PACIFIC-USS SEAWOLF sank a cargo ship and a transport.

USSR- [/B[B]]General HEINRICI organised the German Defences between ORSHA and VITEBSK,whilst under a fierce SOVIET attack.This marked his rise as Germany's best Tactical German General in WW2

ITALY-Units of XIII Corps of British 8th Army captures CANTALUPO

HONG KONG A Colonial Official and an Indian Army Officer were executed by the Japanese for conspiring to allow internees to escape captivity.THEY WERE BOTH AWARDED POSTHUMOUS GEORGE CROSS's

jainso31

[jainso31]

30 Oct 1943

USSR-Soviet units reach GENCHESK.This cuts one of the German exits from the CRIMEA

ITALY-MONDRAGONE falls to units of the US 5th Army-this marks the penetration of the BARBARA LINE.Further inland advance is painfully slow due to the hilly terrain and tenacious defending by the Germans.

PACIFIC-USS SEAHORSE sinks a Japanese transport.

ATLANTIC-U415 shot down an attacking ASW Wellington aircraft of 612 Sqdn RCAF.There were no survivors from the Wellington; and the boat had to abort it's patrol due to damage sustained.

jainso31

[jainso31]

31 Oct. 1943

USSR-General Tolbukhin,GOC 4th UKRANIAN ARMY capture CHAPINSKA 15 miles north of PEREKOP which guards the NW end of the CRIMEA and this threatens to cut off 150000 German and Roumanian troops;however the German Navy controls the BLACK SEA and this may be their salvation.

ITALY-TEANO is captured by units of BRITISH 10 CORPS operating with 5th US ARMYand the now advance on MONTE SANTA CROCE
The Germans may have lost their ally but they have rain on their side.A steady,remorseless downpour which turns streams into raging torrents.

ATLANTIC-[/B[B]]U584 was sunk in the N Atlantic by a FIDO fired by an aircraft of VC-9 from USS CARD All 48 crew perished.
U732 was sunk in Mid Atlantic [/B[B]]near Tangiers by depth charges from A/S Trawler HMS IMPERIALIST and destroyer HMS DOUGLAS31 dead 18 survived.
U306 was sunk in the N Atlantic ,NE of the AZORES by depth charges from HMS WHITEHALL and HMS GERANIUM.51 crew perished.

jainso31

[jainso31]

1 Nov. 1943

USSR--With the capture of PEREKOP in their advance to ARMIANSK the Soviets are isolating the CRIMEA.Part of the 56th ARMY lands at YENIKALE.

ITALY-British X CORPS captures ROCCAMONFIONA in their advance into the mountains between MONTE MASSINO and MONTE SATA CROCEGerman atrocities abound in the villages.

SOLOMONS--3rd USMC DIVISION borne by TF31 will land at EMPRESS AUGUSTA BAYin the invasion of BOUGAINVILE

PACIFIC-US submarines TRIGGER and HADDOCK report sinkings of four cargo ships

ATLANTIC-U405 is sunk in the N Atlantic by ramming.depth charges and small arms fire by destroyer USS BORIE.All 49 crew perished.

jainso31

[jainso31]

2 Nov. 1943

USSR-KAKHOVAon the lower DNEIPER R is liberated.

ITALY-Brit.8th ARMY crosses the R TRIGNO in force.7th BRIT. ARM. DIV. operating with X CORPS reaches the R GARIGLIANO close to the main German Defence Position -the GUSTAV LINE

SOLOMONS-The Battle of Empress Augusta Bayfought at sea.Japanese lost 1 cruiser and 1 destroyer against a US loss of 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers damaged.

MEDITERRANEAN-U340 sunk near TANGIERS by depth charges from two destroyers ,one sloop and a Wellington from 179 Sqdn 1 dead 48 survived.

PACIFIC-[/B[B] US SUBMARINES SEAHORSE,TRIGGER,and HADDOCK all report sinkings- totalling seven ships]

jainso31

[jainso31]

3 Nov.1943

GERMANY-Largest daylight air raid by the USAAF which sent 539 B17 bombers to WILHELMSHAVEN,using H2S Blind Bombing device-they devastated the NAVAL BASE

ITALY-British forces attacking near SAN SALVO met heavy resistance from German16th PANZER DIVISION but cotinued their advance and took SESSA AURUNCA from 16PD,which was subsequently sent to the Russian front.

HAWAII-The27500 ton BB OKLAHOMA sunk at PEARL HARBOR was refloated but was deemed impractable to restore.She was stripped of her main batteries and lay as a hulk until after the war when she was sold for scrap; but sank under tow..

CANADA-The SS VOLUNTEER laden with ammunition caught fire in BEDFORD BASINShe was towed out to McNAB's ISLAND and scuttled after the fire was put out.


jainso31

[jainso31]

4 Nov.1943

GERMANY-RAF BOMBER COMMAND send 589 HB's to bomb DUSSELDORF where the centre and south of the city were extensively damaged-both dwellings and industrial premises.The civilian death toll was described as only moderate=118. 18 aircraft and crews were lost.
The VICTORIA CROSS was awarded to F/Lt William Reid 61 Sqdn whose Lancaster was badly shot up by night fighters; which killed the navigator and wounded Reid and the aircraft was badly damaged but Reid "pressed on" and bombed on three engines and and one undercarriage hanging down.The aircraft was crash landed at Manston in Kent, but no one was hurt.

ITALY- MONTE MASSICI and MONTE SAN CROCE were finally liberated by units of BRIT X CORPS BRITISH 8th ARMY takes the ISERNIA road junction and opens the East/West communication lines.
US VI CORPS liberates VENAFRO and ROCAVIZANDOLA

USSR-Soviets now on the advance towards[B] the major city of KIEV[/B

jainso31]

[jainso31]

5 Nov.1943

FRANCE-The Peugeot factory at SOUCHAUX has been sabotaged by the RESISTANCE-this factory makes tank turrets.

GERMANY-US 8th AF attacked GELSENKIRCHEN causing considerable damage at a cost 21 B17's and 4 P47's.

USSR-The Soviet advance cuts the KIEV-ZHITOMIR railroad and they overrun the area between the lower DNEIPER.R and the CRIMEA-this gives cedenceto the threat of encircling KIEV.

ITALY-US 5th ARMY begins it's assault on the RHEINHARDT LINE BRIT 56th Div,assault MONTE CAMINO and US 3rd [/B[B]]Div.attack near MIGNANO.BRIT 8th ARMY units take PALMOLI and TORREBRUNA.

NEW BRITAIN--US carriers go into action against main Japanese Base at RABAULvia an order from ADM HALSEY to ADM SHERMAN commanding TF38.3cruiser and 3 destroyers were damaged for the loss of 10 aircraft.

jainso31

[jainso31]

6 Oct.1943

USSR- KIEV is liberated by Gen.VATUTIN'S troops-despite losing 6000 Germans as POW's who managed to escape.
The Soviets ripped a great hole in the German lines and swung west behind KIEV.German 88th Div mauled but again survivors escaped.
The fall of KIEV marks an end to a series of successful German counterattacks.
The RED ARMY has 6.5m men v4.3 Germans,5000 tanks v 2600 G,9000 guns v 5600 G and 8000aircraft v3000 G.Overwhelming odds.

ITALY-German armour is rushed to counter major threat to the GUSTAV LINE where BRIT 8th ARMY units have stormed VASTO. US 5th ARMY is driving on CAPUA on the road to ROME

ATLANTIC-CAPT.WALKER's 2nd EGsank two Uboats:-
U226 and U842 by "creeping attacks" by HM Sloops STARLING.WOODPECKER and KITEin the N Atlantic East of NEWFOUNFLAND Both boats were lost with all hands.

jainso31

[jainso31]

7 Oct. 1943

SOLOMONS-The US carriers SARATOGA and PRINCETON are attacked by 100 Japanese aircraft when they were 240 miles SE of [/B[B]]RABAUL.miraculously no hits were sustained.
A battalion of Japanese troops were landed on BOUGAINVILLE near the USMC positions-fierce fighting ensued.

USSR-The Soviet advance reaches FASTOV where the Germans have set up defensive positions.

PACIFIC-[/B[B]] USSS GREENLING SS-213 has sunk two Transports -one armed
and a tanker

jainso31

[jainso31]

8 Nov.1943

UK-RAF BOMBER COMMAND has set up 100 GROUP in NORFOLK-this Group will specialise in] COUNTER RADIO COMMUNICATION [/B]INTERFERENCE

USSR-Soviet troops have overcome German resistance around FASTOV west of KIEV and now advance towards ZHITOMIR

]ITALY-[/B]US 5th ARMY bogged down by the weather but reach the R SANGRO in the hills. BRIT 8th ARMY have taken CASTIGLIONE with 8th TNDIAN DIVISION

jainso31

[Harley]

On 8 November:

Admiral Frank Finnis, C.V.O., born 1851.

Admiral Sir Douglas A. Gamble, K.C.V.O., born 1856.

Admiral Sir Richard F. Phillimore, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., M.V.O., died 1940.

[jainso31]

9 Nov.1943

ATLANTIC-U-707 was sunk by the Escort ships of CONVOY MKS-29A.Mr Churchill told the House that 60 Uboats have been sunk in the last three months.

SOLOMONS-The US bridgehead has been extended on BOUGAINVILLE with the arrival of US 37th INF.DIV.

USA-44 nations today signed into what will be the first UNO RELIEF AND REORGANISATION ADMINISTRATION-UNRAA.This relieves Britain and the USA of sole responsibility for this work post war.

ALGERIA-GENERAL de GAULLE is now the undisputed Leader of FREE FRANCE.GENERAL GIRAUD will be the ]C in C of all FREE FRENCH FORCES

jainso31

[qprdave]

Well done Jim for keeping this going

Dave

[jainso31]

10 Nov.1943

ATLANTIC-U-966 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay near CAPE ORTEGAL,SPAIN by depth charges from an RAF 612 Sqdn Wellington and two USN Liberators of VB-103 and 110. 8 dead 42 survived.

USSR-The Soviets have instituted two new military decorations-the ORDER OF VICTORY for senior officers and the ORDER OF GLORY for the other ranks.

ITALY-Lt M L BRITT of the US 3rd Inf.DIV. has been awarded the MEDAL OF HONOR.He and the squad under his command held off repeated German counterattacks north of MIGNANO with only small arms at their disposal.At one time 100+ enemy were driven off with grenades.

jainso31

[jainso31]

GERMANY-Bomber Command made their 4th raid on BERLIN attacking with 443 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes (acting as markers).Great devastation was caused in this ongoing BATTLE OF BERLIN-over 4000 people were killed of which 575 were never found.8700 buildings containing 114,400 flats and apartments were destroyed.The RAF lost 28 aircraft and crews

USSR-The Red Army have driven the Germans out of their WINTER LINE at GORMEL and have pursued them along 100 mile of WHITE RUSSIAN FRONT and into the PRIPET MARSHES where the partisans await them.

MEDITERRANEAN-HMT RHONA carrying 2200 US military personnel including the 853th US Aviation Engineer Unit of 850 +was sunk off the Algerian coast by a German GLIDER BOMB.
The Rhona was designed to carry 100 passengers and was old and decrepit-lifeboats and rafts were defective along with life jackets,
The loss of life was horrendous =1149 and caused questions in the House

jainso31

[jainso31]

GERMANY-a further 14 Lancasters crashed on landing following the BERLIN raidtaking the total loss to 42.

ITALY-Brit.Tank Brigade cross the R SANGRO to support troops already north of that river.
5 Corps on the 8th ARMY front on the Adriatic coastline prepare for big push along that coastline.DAF aircraft interdicting to the north between LANCIANO-CASOLI

EGYPT-CAIRO CONFERENCE between SEAC and CHIANG KAI SHEK's NACC brings demand from the Chinese Generalissimo that Lt Gen. STILLWELL make an airborne assault on MANDALAY

SOLOMONS-Bougainville Harbour and Airfield attacked by aircraft of the 13th USAAF

GILBERTS-On TARAWA 2nd/6th Regt. of the USMC clear Japanese from BUARIKI ISLAND

jainso31

[jainso31]

28 11 1943

ITALY-Brit 8th Army begins it's offensive across the R SANGRO following a heavy bombardment by Artillery and Aircraft.By the end of the day the 8th IND.INF.DIV. had reached the outskirts of MOZZOGROGNA
Montgomery claims that the "road to ROME" is now open-this was to be proved to be over optimistic.

IRAN-The TEHERAN CONFERENCEtakes place with CHURCHILL.ROOSEVELT and STALIN.They agree the plan for ANVIL-the invasion of Southern France.Stalin agrees to join the war against Japan.
The Conference was controversial because the American accommodation was "bugged" by the hosts and Roosevelt's hesitancy allowed Russia more concessions than normally would have been the case.

NEW GUINEA-The ALAMO SCOUTS were organised under command of Lt,Gen.Kreuger GOC US 6th Army and were based on the CHINDIT concept with the same tasks and objectives in the New Guinea theatre.

ATLANTIC-HMS BIRMINGHAM was damaged by a torpedo from
U427
U542 was sunk north of MADEIRA by DC's from a LEIGH LIGHT Wellington of 179 Sqdn of RAF Coastal Command.All
59 hands perished

jainso31.

[jainso31]

29 11 1943

FINLAND- Leave an offer of peace based on borders.USSR refuse to discuss on any other terms.

ITALY-Brit. 8th ARMY's offensive across the R SANGRO continues apace.MOZZOGROGNO and FOSSACESIA fall to units of the 8th IND.INF.DIV.

NEW GUINEA-The AUSTRALIAN advance from FINSCHAVEN include the fall of GUSIKA and BONGA
USS PERKINS sank after collision with HMAS DUNTROON off Cape Vogel.9 US crewmen lost.

USA- the 412th FIGHTER GROUP was established at MUROC AIR BASE CAL.to become an OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT for the Testing and Flight Training of Experimental Jet Aircraft eg.the BELL P-59 AIRACOMET.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

29.11.82.
USA UN Voted that Soviet Union should withdraw troops from Afghanistan

29.11.90.
USA UN voted to authorize military action if Iraq did not withdraw troops from Kuwait.

[nick60]

A bit out of date, but:

Diary of ABST Ron Brown – HMS Vanessa
November 24th 1942
Have not bothered to make my diary up till now. The routines have been the same – nothing much to report. We have made three trips since my last entry, all quiet and good weather. We are now in “Argentia” again and waiting to see what’s happening. Arrived this morning – had a bad trip, very rough. Have lost echo sounding gear for subs. Rivets have been dropping out from fo’cstle. Leaking badly

[jainso31]

30 Nov. 1943

ITALY-British 8th Army have cleared the first ridge on the north bank of the R SANGRO. US 5th Army began diversionary attacks in the LOWER GARIGLIANO R to assist 8th Army

USSR-The Red Army suffer a major setback in their offensive by having to withdraw from KOROSTEN

GERMANY-The air assault by RAF BOMBER COMMAND and ]8th [/B]USAAF has been halted for the past week by atrocious weather.

USA-General AA VANDERGRIFT was appointed as COMMANDANT of the USMC effective 1/1/44.Gen Vandergrift commanded the 1st USMC Division during the GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN

jainso31

[nick60]

As above, slightly out of kilter with dates..

Diary of ABST “Brownie” - HMS Somaliland
24th November 1944
“09:00. Have now tied up at 19 Berth at ‘Derry. Here for a few days”

[nick60]

Dates should be back on track now....

Diary of ABST “Brownie” – HMS Vanessa

30th November 1942

“We have learnt today that we are leaving for America tomorrow with Destroyer “Whitehall”. Destination Boston for repairs”

[nick60]

Diary of ABST “Brownie” HMS Vanessa

1st December 1942

"It is now 07:00. We are now on our way from Argentia. I am now going on watch for latter part of “Morning Watch”, have been detailed to go up to crow’s nest, Top mast lookout.

08:00 Have finished lookout - ******* cold up the mast. Temperature very low, lot of ice about. Weather – calm sea. Have been wearing three coats under my duffle coat.

23:45 Just turning in – gale coming up. Now we are about 200 miles from Canadian coast. Due in Boston in the morning."

[jainso31]

1st Dec.1943

UK-Parliament today released OSWALD MOSLEY from prison to "house arrest" on health grounds; much to the fury of the Left Wing of the House

ITALY-German air and ground bombardment was stepped up on US 5th ARMY front ahead of thir oncoming offensive over the GARIGLIANO R

NEW GUINEA-Australian troops capture HUANKO,on the HUON PENINSULA

A relatively quiet day.

jainso31

[nick60]

Diary of ABST “Brownie” HMS Vanessa

2nd December 1942

"07:00. Now off Boston – a few hours steaming. Hit 90 MPH gale during the night. Ship in a bad way. Have reduced speed considerably.

HMS “Whitehall”, severe engine trouble. Standing by to tow her if possible.
We are in a bad way at present. Ship listing badly with weight of ice, almost a foot thick over the upper works. Hands off watch preparing to chip it off, ship liable to capsize.

Other damage at present:- Mast carried away, lower part hanging over the bridge – wireless gone. All lifesaving rafts smashed – both of ships boats smashed in davits – all main armament seized up with ice. Anti-Aircraft guns “Pom Poms” seized, guard rails buckled to prevent training. Badly flooded in all compartments, steering gear broken. At present steering from “Main Engines” – everyone hopes we’ll make it.


16:00. We have arrived ok. Have now tied up. American dockyard officials aboard. Thought we had been in a battle"

[jainso31]

2nd Dec. 1943-Quite a day!!!

UK- ERNEST BEVIN,Minister for Labour;today announced the birth of the BEVIN BOYS- that men will be conscripted into the coal mines.By Apr. 1944 30000 men under the age of 25yrs will be chosen by Ballot of their National Identity Nos from 0-9 (last number) and directed into the coal mining industry.They will be medically examined and trained before undertaking the work
Coal production had fallen below 200,000 tons this year and the number of miners was down to 700,000-this had to be redressed.

ITALY--US 5th ARMY attacked with units of BRIT. X CORPS
and US 2nd CORPSto begin the first phase of the major BATTLE OF CASSINOA massive bombardment by 1000 guns of all calibres preceded the attack.
BRIT 8th ARMY units on the Adriatic coast captured LANCIANO and CASTELFRENTANO
BARI PORT Frantic attempts were made by the US to hide a consignment of MUSTARD GASin an AMERICAN ship which was hit in a heavy air raid on the docks by the LUFTWAFFE and which caused the deaths of many troops and dock workers.
The 88 aircraft also hit two ammunition ships causing extensive fires and considerable damage to the dock installations.They sank a total of 17 ships and resultant loss of 38000 tons of supplies.incl. the USS JOHN HARVEY which carried 2000 MUSTARD GAS bombs -more deaths to come.
The CANADIAN owned,BRITISH registered SS FORT ATHEBASKAN loaded with ammunition blew up killing her entire crew of 39

A very bad day at the office

jainso31

[nick60]

Diary of ABST “Brownie” – HMS Vanessa

3rd December 1942

Was ashore last night, had a great time, plenty of life in the “Silver Dollar”. Have heard we are to be here for two weeks. Have been invited to to stay at a place in Andrew for the weekend with a Mr. & Mrs Scott.

Guess it wasn’t all hard work on the North Atlantic Convoys then?.....

:)

[jainso31]

3rd Dec. 1943

]GERMANY-[/B]Bomber Command's assault on BERLIN continued with a raid by 458 HBs but due to incorrectly forecast winds-the raid was a failure and blow to Bomber Command.38 Berliners lost their lives and a further 105 were "missing"
40 aircraft and crews (8%) were lost to the defenders of the Big City.
Among the dead were were two War Correspondents viz Capt Nordhal GRIEG-related to the composer-of the Daily Mail and Norman Stockton of the Sydney Star.

ITALY- Units of BRIT X CORPS reach summit of MONTE CAMINOand units of US 2nd CORPS take the summit of MONTE MAGGIORE
The US 1st SPECIAL SERVICE FORCE took the strongly held MONTE LA DEFENSAas well as MONTE REMENTANEA but sustained 500 casualties in the endeavour.

PACIFIC- USSub SALTFISH sank the Japanese aircraft carrier CHUYO off HONSHU

jainso31

[Don Boyer]

Jim, found myself giggling over the last post..."Saltfish" got to me -- it was "Sailfish", the re-named USS Squalus that sank in 1939 and was salvaged. Chuyo was the first Japanese carrier to be sunk by an American submarine. She was carrying 21 survivors of the US submarine Sculpin on board, only one of whom survived. Sculpin was the submarine that had helped locate and stood by the sunken Squalus in 1939 while her crew was rescued.

[jainso31]

4th Dec.1943
APOLOGIES FOR THE DAFT SALTFISH/SAILFISH TYPO

GERMANY- LEIPZIG was bombed by 527 HBs and despite the deaths of two war correspondents yesterday,they were accompanied by the well known US broadcaster ED MURROW-he came back safely.
It was a successful raid in which there were 1100 casualties and much damage to the manufacturing area of the city,including the large JUNKERS factory.24 of our aircraft and crews were lost.

MARSHALL ISLANDS- TF50 attacked Japanese installations .Planes from USS LEXINGTON CV-16,and BELLEAU WOOD CVL-24 sank four transports and damaged two cruisers.Other aircraft from USS ENTERPRISE CV-6,ESSEX CV-9,YORKTOWN CV-10,BUNKER HILL CV-17 and COWPENS CVL-25 accounted for another three ships .55 Japanese aircraft were claimed as shot down.LEXINGTON was hit by a torpedo.This was the first and highly successful strike on the MARSHALLS

YUGOSLVIA-The Partisans announced today the setting up of a Provisional Government under MARSHAL TITO at JAJEC
Partisans now control one fifth of the country with an ARMY of 200,000

jainso31

[jainso31]

5th Dec.1943

ITALY-MONTE CAMINO is the scene of bitter fighting; as both sides dispute possession of the summit

UK-Mr CHURCHILL told the house that CONVOY SYSTEM in the ATLANTICwas now only losing one ship in 750; due to the intense anti submarine warfare tactics of the Allies,on the sea and in the air

QUIET DAY

jainso31

[jainso31]

6th Dec.1943

UK- BOMBER COMMAND chief AIR CHIEF MARSHAL HARRIS
claimed that he will win the war over the next several months with new support for the continuing attacks on BERLIN and other GERMAN targets.
His plan is to make 15000 operational sorties with 40 SQuADRONS of LANCASTER heavy bombers,which will be operational in the next three months.They will drop 13850 tons of bombs per month and "produce in GERMANY a state of devastation in which surrender is inevitable".
He actually made 14500 sorties and the WAR DID NOT END

ITALY-British 8th Army attacks ORSOGNA on the ADRIATIC coast.
US 5th Army with 2nd and 6th CORPS attack the towns of MONTE[/B[B]]SAMMUERO and SAN PIETRO in the MIGNANO GAP

USSR-The RED ARMYmake advances to the north of ]ZNAMENCA[/B and cut the rail line to SMELA.

jainso31

[jainso31]

7th Dec.1943-2nd Anniversary of PEARL HARBOR

UK-The British Lord Chancellor told Parliament today that severe justice will be meted out to the thousands of WAR CRIMINALS.They will be followed to the ends of the Earth.

HOLLAND- ANTON MUSSERT,the DUTCH NAZI LEADER says that 150000 DUTCH JEWS have been deported to EAST GERMANY

]ITALY-[/B]MONTE CAMINO falls to the BRITISH 56th (LONDON)DIVISION after a fierce struggle.
BRIT.8th ARMY advance up the MORO RIVER

USA-Battleship USS WISCONSIN launched at NEWPORT

jainso31

[jainso31]

8th Dec.1943

NW EUROPE-FM ROMMEL and his staff tour the Danish Coast inspecting the WEST WALL HITLER decided the DESERT FOX was the right man for the task; after receiving FM VON RUNDSTEDT's gloomy report that the West Wall was anything but formidable.
Rommel was to take his dispersed Army Group "HEERSGROUPE Bz.b.v to tour the the entire NW EUROPEAN coast and sort out any shortcomings.

USSR-The RED ARMY cut the second rail line at ZNAMENKA

ITALY-The FRENCH 2nd MOROCCAN DIV.join the ALLIED LINE This heralds the start of the removal of BRIT. UNITS for OVERLORD CANADIAN units attack across the [B]MORO R.[/B

MARSHALL Is-The new USN BBs WASHINGTON,NORTHCAROLINA,INDIANA
MASSACHUSETTS,and SOUTH DAKOTAmake their first shore bombardment of NAURU.

NEW GUINEA- The AUSTRALIANS advance and capture WAREO and continue on to WANDOKAI and the JAPANESE stronghold of SIO

jainso31

[nick60]

Diary of ABST “Brownie” - HMS Somaliland

5th December 1944

“Nothing has happened in the past week or so, been busy working part of ship. Tomorrow we are leaving for unknown destination”

6th December 1944

“We are now on our way down the Irish Sea to meet a convoy, we are bound for Gibraltar, due there in 5-6 days”

[jainso31]

9th Dec.1943

ITALY-BRIT.8th ARMY moves to consolidate it's lines around MONTE CAMINO after repulsing several conterattacks.BRIT.X CORPS takes ROCCA D'EVANDRO to complete the capture of Monte Camino.

USSR- MEDOROVO falls to the [B]SOVIETS[/B and opens the way to advance on ZNEMENKO

CHINA-Chinese NATIONALIST troops take CHANGTEHafter a series of bitter battles costing heavy losses.

SOLOMONS-The airfield at TOROKINA on BOUGAINVILLE, 200 miles from Japanese Base at RABAUL became operational today.

jainso31

[jainso31]

10th Dec.1943

USSR- The Red Army finally captures ZNAMENKO and KONIEV begins an offensive to the north of it.

ITALY- CANADIAN TROOPS of the SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS of CANADA and the LOYAL EDMONTON REG'T evict the battle hardened German Paratroops from ORTONA despite roadblocks set up to provide killing grounds for German machinegun and mortar fire.
US Forces of the 143rd INFANTRY REG'T sustain 40% casuaties before being withdrawn from an assault on a heavily defended German position.
HITLER has chosen SAN PIETRO on the gentle slopes of MONTE SAMMUERO on the LIRI VALLEY as a stronghold in the GUSTAV LINE

USA- Following PEARL HARBOR President Rooseveldt has cut the US MILITARY SELECTION BOARDS categories for recruitment from four to two ie fathers and Non fathers

jainso31

[jainso31]

11th Dec. 1943

UK-Corrugated paper "drop tanks with a capacity of 70 gals arrived in England for fitting to USAAF fighters eg.P51 MUSTANG These tanks,one under each wing, increase the fighter's range to 600 miles so that they can escort their B17's to the target and back and fight German fighters over the target area.

GERMANY-BOMB GROUPS of the USAAF attacked the UBOAT PENS at EMDEN. 20 B17s were lost but they claimed 138 German fighters shot down-clearly overestimated.

ITALY- US FORCES seize Hitler's choice of STRONGHOLD-the hillside town of SAN PIETRO .Their victory was filmed by MAJOR JOHN HOUSTON(Another famous film director JOHN FORD was in the PACIFIC filming THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY)

MEDITERRANEAN- RN frigate HMS CUCKMERE was hit by a GNATfired by U223 She was towed to ALGIERS where she was found to be beyond repair.

jainso31

[jainso31]

12th DEC. 1943

UK-THe 19 ship CONVOY JW-5Adeparts LOCH EWE bound for KOLA INLET It was defended by heavy units of the HOME FLEETdue to SCHARNHORST threat but arrived safely on 22 DEC. 1943

GERMANY-[/B]FM ROMMMEL appointed by HITLER as C in C FESTUNG EUROPA under command of FM VON RUNDSTEDT

ITALY-US 36th INF DIV.attacks MONTE LUNGO in the Offensive against the GUSTAV LINE

MEDITERRANEAN- DD HMS TYNEDALE is sunk by a ZAUNKONIG fired from U593off BOUGIETwo hours later DD HMS HOLCOMBEis also sunk nearby Tynedale, by another Zaunkonig fired by U593After a 32 hour chase U593 was sunk by a team of Escorts.

]USSR-Dr BENES,CZECH PRESIDENT signed a TREATY for AMITY,MUTUAL AID and COLLABORATION with the USSR
German 48th PANZER GROUP capture RADOMYSHL

jainso31

[jainso31]

]13th Dec.1943[/B

GERMANY- 710 USAAF heavy bombers,for the first time escorted by new P51 MUSTANG fighters; carry out heavy attacks on dock installations at BREMEN and KIEL.

MEDITERRANEAN-During an attack on CONVOY GUS-24, U73 was rammed by a destroyer resulting in the loss of the Uboat's deck quad M/c gun unit.
U593 was sunk N of CONSTATINE by depth charges from USS WAINWRIGHT and HMS CALPE. 51 survivors.

PACIFIC- USN TF76 sailed for NEW GUINEA where it will carry out landings on NEW BRITAIN

ATLANTIC- U172 sunk in mid ocean after 27hrs W of the CANARY Is by depth charges and FIDO aerial torpedo from AVENGER and WILDCAT aircraft VC-17 from USS BOGUE and by some 200 depth charges from four USN DDs and DDEs .13dead 46 survivors.
U391 was sunk in the BAY OF BISCAY NW of CAPE ORTEGAL by depth charges from RAF 53 SQDN LIBERATOR All 51 hands perished.

jainso31

[jainso31]

14th Dec.1943

ITALY- CAPT.PAUL TRIQET,CANADIAN ARMY was awarded the VCfor breaking through the German Line, with the few men remaining in his Company;and holding out against savage counterattacks,until relieved.

GREECE-300 Allied bombers raided ATHENS

USSR- CHERKASSYfalls to KONEV's ARMY and then they advance towards SMYELA, the vital rail junction SW of Cherkassy.Retreating Germans are harried by STURMOVIK fighter bombers
On the BALTIC FRONT YEREMENKO commences his Offensive south of NEVEL
Meanwhile the German counter offensive to retake KIEV fails after RADOMYSHL falls to them and the whole advance peters out in the mud.Gen.HOTH,the German Commander is sacked.

jainso31

[jainso31]

15th Dec.1943

ITALY-The US 5th ARMY attacks the length of the REINHARD LINE[/B[B]]US 2nd CORPS attacks MONTE LUNGO and SAN PIETRO.Hollywood director JOHN HUSTONas a Lieut.of the US Army filmed this battle.
MOROCCANtroops secure the SAN MICHEL PASSafter fierce fighting with the German defenders.
6th CORPS also committed to the attack.

EUROPE-Allied bombers attack dock installations at PIRAEUSas well as the airfield there.INNSBRUCK and BOLZANO in the TYROL are also bombed.

SOLOMONS- US 117th CAVALRY REGT.land on ARAWE Isas a diversion to the main landing on NEW BRITAINlater supported by TF76

NEW GUINEA-LAKONA,15 miles north of FINSCHAVEN is captured by the AUSTRALIANS

jainso31

[jainso31]

16th Dec.1943[/B

[B]GERMANY=BERLIN was bombed by a force of 500 Lancaster heavy bombers-which caused much damge in the city centre area.Approx. 700 people lost their lives,many of them were foreign workers on a train.
25 Lancasters and crews were lost in the target area; and a further 27 were lost over England, where low cloud and rain caused many aircraft to be abandoned-killing a further 141 aircrew.
A truly very bad night for Bomber Command-it was indeed a "dangerous trade"

ITALY-. US forces consolidate their positions on MONTE LUNGOleaving the town of SAN PIETROexposed-the Germans make a counterattack to mask their withdrawal.

MEDITERRANEAN-U73 was sunk off ORAN by depth charges and gunfire from USS WOOLSEY DD437 and USS TRIPPE DD403.37 survived from 50 including the CO.

USSR -KHARKOVRetribution for German atrocities in this area,where 30000 civilians lost their lives via a horrific catalogue of crimes.Eight Germans were shot yesterday and 2 GESTAPO men and their RUSSIAN driver face the rigours of law today for gassing,shooting civilians-the Russians weren't averse to crucifixion.

jainso31

[nick60]

Diary of ABST "Brownie" - HMS Vanessa

16th December 1942

we are leaving tomorrow - repairs completed. had a god time in Boston

HMS Somaliland

16th December 1944

arrived Gib. 12th December. Returning to UK with convoy tomorrow

[WGVSr]

16th Dec.1943[/B

[B]GERMANY=BERLIN was bombed by a force of 500 Lancaster heavy bombers-which caused much damge in the city centre area.Approx. 700 people lost their lives,many of them were foreign workers on a train.
25 Lancasters and crews were lost in the target area; and a further 27 were lost over England, where low cloud and rain caused many aircraft to be abandoned-killing a further 141 aircrew.
A truly very bad night for Bomber Command-it was indeed a "dangerous trade"

ITALY-. US forces consolidate their positions on MONTE LUNGOleaving the town of SAN PIETROexposed-the Germans make a counterattack to mask their withdrawal.

MEDITERRANEAN-U73 was sunk off ORAN by depth charges and gunfire from USS WOOLSEY DD437 and USS TRIPPE DD403.37 survived from 50 including the CO.

USSR -KHARKOVRetribution for German atrocities in this area,where 30000 civilians lost their lives via a horrific catalogue of crimes.Eight Germans were shot yesterday and 2 GESTAPO men and their RUSSIAN driver face the rigours of law today for gassing,shooting civilians-the Russians weren't averse to crucifixion.

jainso31

Jim:
Also on this date and with a maritime theme, albeit some years prior to 1943, the original Boston Tea Party [1773].
Bill

[jainso31]

17th Dec.1943-Thanks Bill for the PS.

ITALY- US 5th ARMY units capture MONTE SAMMUEROThe Germans begin their withdrawal from SAN PIETRO
The BATTLE OF SAN PIETRO needed tanks,artillery,mortars,phosphorus grenades and outright guts to take San Pietro.That night as the townsfolk emerged from their cellars to view their shattered town and the stiffening bodies of US soldiers in body bags-they wept.
No more than 100 PANZERGRENADIERS had caused 1500 US casualties


MIDDLE EAST-Mr CHURCHILL who is 69.is ill with pneumonia.He had been attending the TEHRAN CONFERENCE with ROOSEVELDT and STALIN He is being treated with the new drug PENICILLIN

USA- PRESIDENT ROOSEVELDT repealed the CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT because of the appreciation of having CHINA as an ally in the war against JAPAN

jainso31

[jainso31]

18th Dec.1943

GERMANY-German civilians were facing rises in fares and cuts in the service of the REICHBAHN as it was becoming increasingly used for military purposes.

ITALY-US 5th ARMY units consolidating their positions in and around SAN PIETRO
HMMS FELIXSTOWE was mined off CAPE FERRO,SARDINIA fortunately there were no casualties.

INDIA-[/[B]B]GENERAL STILWELL was appointed to command all CHINESE FORCES in India and BURMA

HONG KONG-Lt.Col L A Newnham,Mddx Regt,Capt.D B Ford Ryl Scots and L/lt H B Grey RAF were executed for smuggling medicines into their POW camp.each was awarded a posthumous GC.

NEW BRITAIN- The operation to capture this objective was started by intensified air attacks against CAPE GLOUCESTER
The capture of NB would neutralise the Japanese Base at [B]RABAUL[/B

jainso31]

[jainso31]

19th Dec.1943

FRANCE- 30000 members of the various FASCIST groups held a rally in PARIS[/B in support of EUROPE AGAINST BOLSHEVISM

GERMANY- EKDO 262 or Operational Test Detachment was activated by GENERAL GALLAND and situated at BAYERN,south of the MESSERSCHMIDT factory at AUGSBERG for the development and testing of the Me262 jet fighter

USSR- The three war criminals tried for massacres carried out by them in the city o[B]f KHARKOV were today hanged in the market square in front of a 50000 crowd of city dwellers

NEW BRITAIN- The Japanese airfield at ARAWE is captured after extremely bitter fighting.

NEW GUINEA-WAREO-AUSTRALIAN 9th DIVISION captured the Japanese stronghold overlooking the VITIOZ STRAIT which separates NG from NB.
The Japanese lost 3099 men killed and only38 POWs,AUS 9th Div lost 283 killed and 745 wounded-quite a bloodbath!!

jainso31

[jainso31]

20th Dec.1943

UK-Convoy JW55B departed Loch Ewe with 19 ships.Convoy Escort comprises-HMS Onslow,Onslaught,Orwell,Scourge,and Impulsive.HMCS Haida, Iriquois and Huron.HMS Whitehall and Wrestler.MS HMS Gleaner and corvettes HMS Honeysuckle and Oxlip.

GERMANY- RAF BOMBER COMMAND attacked FRANKFURT with 650 Lancasters and Halifaxes and dropped 2000tons of bombs
causing much destruction to civilian dwellings destroying 3250 apartments and killing 282 people. 41 heavy bombers and crews were lost in or around target area.The diversionary raid on Mannhiem failed.
USAAF bombed BREMEN

ARCTIC OCEAN-HMCS ATHABASCANled Convoy JB55A into KOLA INLET

]ATLANTIC-[/B] U850 was sunk W of MADIERA by aircraft from USS BOGUE All 66 hands lost.

jainso31

[jainso31]

21st Dec.1943

ITALY- CANADIAN units of the BRIT 8th ARMY had a desperate fight for the town of ORTONA The Germans had blasted clearings to make "killing grounds" and had "booby trapped" many places and things.
Street fighting was bitter and the Canadians resorted to "mouseholing" by going into the top of a building and blasting a hole in the common wall and gradually clearing a street.
Units of the US 5th ARMY were having an equally tough time on and around MONTE SAMMUERO.
Elements of the POLISH 2nd CORPSstarted landing at TARANTO They commanded are by Lt.Gen.WLADYSLAW ANDERS

USSR-The German bridgehead across the DNEIPER R at KHERSON
has been captured by the RED ARMY

PACIFIC-Submarine USS GRAYLING has sunk a 4th Japanese ship since the the 18th Dec.

ATLANTIC- U284 had to be scuttled after it was severely damaged by ice floes.Her sister ship U629 rescued all of the crew and returned them to BREST

jainso31

[jainso31]

22nd Dec.1943

ITALY-2nd CANADIAN BRIGADE were locked in a ferocious house to house battle with the GERMAN 1st PARACHUTE DIVISIONfor possession of ORTONA

YUGOSLAVIA- MARSHAL TITO has told the country's KING PETER that his services after the war will not be required.
He was then living in luxury,along with other displaced monarchs; in LONDON

USSR-14284 SPANISH soldiers were repatriated to SPAIN by the Germans.
3000 volunteered to fight on with the NAZIS in the LEGION AZUL (Blue)

ATLANTIC- CONVOY JW55B was discovered by a LUFTWAFFE reconnaisance aircraft.

jainso31

[jainso31]

23rd Dec.1943

UK- OPERATION OVERLORDGen EISENHOWER to be Supreme Allied Commander,ACM TEDDER RAF his deputy and Gen.MONTGOMERY to be CinC 21st ARMY GROUP

ITALY -8th ARMY units seize ORTONA and ARIELLI

ALGERIA-GEn, De LATTRE de TASSIGNyto be CinC FREE FRENCH ARMY

ATLANTIC/ARCTIC CONVOY RA55A leaves KOLA INLET escorted by 9 Destroyers ,3Corvettes and a Minesweeper
CRUISER ESCORT of 3 Heavy Cuisers under command of V/Adm BURNETTDistant cover 1 BB 1 cruiser and 4 destroyers.
Relatively quiet day

jainso31

[nick60]

Diary of ABST “Brownie” - HMS Vanessa

December 17th 1942

We are now on our way to St. Johns’, Newfoundland to await convoy home. It is very cold, temperature 20 below – warmest place at present is engine room. 100 degrees

December 18th 1942

Now in St. Johns for a day or two. Have been ashore, town not very big, nothing much here. Terribly cold and snow very deep.

December 21st 1942

Left St. Johns’ at 16:30 to join convoy, one of the boys, Ginger Day, fell overboard, picked up in bad condition, nearly frozen to death.

HMS Somaliland

December 17th 1944

Left Gibraltar at 11:00 – Usual leaving routine

December 24th 1944

Now back In ‘Derry on Xmas eve – another Xmas away.

[nick60]

Diary of ABST “Brownie” – HMS Vanessa

December 25th 1942 Xmas day

My first Xmas away, we are halfway across the Atlantic, what a wonderful Xmas dinner, ***King corned dog and spuds – nothing else on menu.

We have again hit a gale, convoy it is breaking up. Navigator has informed us gale is reaching 95 MPH. The ship is riding waves about 60 feet high, it’s worse than a scenic railway. All decks are flooded. No wonder Chef can’t cook us a dinner. His galley has just been flooded out and the oven smashed up. Ship is lurching badly, averaging 45 degree roll and terrible pitching.

The cat is having great fun swimming across the deck to its hammock that we have made for it. The poor little bugger is drunk. Being Xmas day, the boys have given the cat some rum, it’s now rolling all over the place, and then paddling in the water.

Owing to bad ventilation, we’ve had to open the hatch. Heavy wave has just hit the ship, a lot of water now flooding in the hatch. Pumps working overtime.

[nick60]

December 26th 1942

Diary of ABST "Brownie" HMS Vanessa

December 26th ‘42

08:00. After yesterday’s gale we have now settled again. Sea is like a sheet of glass. I have now got the forenoon watch

[nick60]

27th December 1942

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Vanessa

It is now 03:00 on the morning of December 27th – we have just secured from action stations having sunk our first German submarine – position X – 200 miles N. E. of Ireland.

At exactly 16:00 yesterday afternoon we made our first contact. Several patterns of depth charges dropped. 17:00 Hesperus came along to assist us.
By 20:00 we had dropped nearly all our charges, last pattern fired brought sub to the surface. Many of the crew abandoned the sub as soon as it surfaced.

20:15. Main armament took over, plastering the sub with many direct hits. Submarine was apparently not damaged, was steaming at over 20 knots.

We made three attempts to ram it, succeeding third time. Submarine then depth charged by one “Light” at 50’ from starboard side. Our gunners were magnificent, grand shooting. Our starboard Oerlikon, (Bridge) gunner, killed the U-boat Captain in conning tower. Our damage so far, keel torn open about 15 feet.

21:00 approx. Submarine now stopped and laying between us and Hesperus. Captain ordered us to be stopped. As we were laying beam on to the U-boat’s stern, she discharged her 4 stern torpedoes at us. (Evidently some crew still aboard). Luckily, we dodged them, one passing across our bow, and three astern

21:15. Hesperus opened fire, but not at sub – all the stuff was hitting us, very bad DF bearings. Gunners couldn’t see us as it was a pitch black night.

21:45 approx. Searchlight used. Hesperus signalled, “Stand clear, I am going to ram”

Just before 22:00 Hesperus struck the sub at 36 knots right amidships. Immediately the two ends lifted up and went under. Great cheers. Many survivors in the water. All searchlights used. We only picked up two survivors, one badly injured. Hesperus has picked up seven.

23:00 we started to circle the area. Screams from the remainder in the water, “Kamarad”.......

23:30. Another sub reported – almost fifty survivors in the water as we proceeded after our new found echo. Captain would not risk stopping the ship for survivors in case we were torpedoed.

02:00. Hesperus informed us, “Badly damaged by ramming, could not make much speed, flooded out forward”. Unfortunately, we have lost our other contact, sub has dived deep.

03:00. Hesperus has signalled, “Proceed full speed to Moville, I will follow” - Message ends



December 27th ’42. Time 11:00

We are now leaving Moville. Prisoners have been interrogated. Knew everything with regard to convoy, where it was bound for, where Escorts were going. Even knew that we were arriving in Liverpool tomorrow. The U-boat had been brand new, left Kiel on December 13th, only at sea 13 days. Message from Hesperus, “One survivor has died, buried at sea”

[nick60]

28th December 1942

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Vanessa

December 28th

We are now in Liverpool, great welcome for us. Sirens blowing etc – news must have been received already.

[nick60]

29th December 1942

Diary of AB(ST) Brownie - HMS Vanessa

December 29th ‘42

The Commander in Chief Western Approaches has been aboard to congratulate us. Hesperus is to be in drydock for some months having bows rebuilt. We have to have a new plate fitted below, 48 hour job then back to sea.

[nick60]

29th December 1944

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

December 29th '44

Had a nice Christmas, rather grand aboard ship. Have been ashore to see the Stewarts. Still plenty to do.

[nick60]

Diary of AB (ST) “Brownie” – HMS Somaliland

December 31st 1945

Nothing much of interest. Cliff has gone on leave. Have heard from Charlie at long last.

It is now just a few minutes to go for the New Year to come in…..

00:10. The New Year is in. Tons of ships sirens and bells have rung in the New Year – most noise from HMS “Bahamas”.

[jainso31]

5th Jan.1944

GERMANY--RAF BOMBER COMMAND raid on BERLIN was a disaster-little damage for the loss of 28 Lancasters and 168 aircrew killed.This was a repeat of the previous raid.The loss rate of 7% was unsustainable.
HITLER refused FM von Manstein's plea to pull out those troops in the DNEIPER BEND for redeployment on the NORTHERN FRONT

ITALY-46th (N MIDLAND) DIV.att'd US 5th ARMY started attacks on the GUSTAV LINE on a 10 mile front.

RABAUL- Major "PAPPY" BOYINGTON CO of VMF-214 (Black Sheep) was shot down and captured by the Japanese.[B] Boyington had 28 confirmed "kills"[/B

ATLANTIC- U373 was severely damaged by a LEIGH LIGHT Wellinton.The boat was forced to return to base.

jainso31

[jainso31]

6th Jan.1944

ITALY- BRIT.46th INF. DIV.has been forced back after making several unsuccessfull attempts to get it's tanks across the flooded R PECCIA

UK- Original plan for D Day-COSSAC was revised by ground commander Gen. Montgomery; after a decision was taken that it was too narrow a bridgehead (and therefore easily containable by defending forces) with only 3 DIVISIONS plus 2 PARA DIVS on the flanks.
The new plan would extend the bridgehead to 50 miles from the R ORNE to the [/B]CHERBURG PENINSULA-requiring 5 DIVISIONS and 3 PARA DIVS.
D DAY was set for the end of MAY 1944

USSR--Thrusting west in a great salient from KIEV-Gen.VATUTIN's 1st [B]UKRANIAN FRONT has steamrollered over the border into POLAND to cut a vital rail link.
This Army has advanced 400 miles since JULY 43 and has killed 3500 Germans and knocked out 83 tanks and 68 guns.
It is planned to be in EAST PRUSSIA by winter 44

]ATLANTIC-[/B U270 shot down an RAF B17 Fortress of 206 SQDN The boat was so damaged it had to return to base.

[jainso31]

7th JAN.1944

]UK-[/B]RAF BOMBER COMMAND sent 358 Lancasters to make the first heavy raid on the port of STETTIN.The bombing was fairly accurate and sunk 8 ships.destroyed or damaged 1700 houses and industrial buildings and killed 144 and injured 1016 people.RAF losses were 16 Lancasters and crews.
Meanwhile the USAAF were bombing LUDWIGSHAVEN and Maj.JAMES STEWART(film actor) seeing LIBERATORS of the 389th BOMB [/B[B]]GROUP fly off course returning home; shepherded them back on course; and provided covering fire-reducing their losses to 8 aircraft.He was decorated for this action.

ITALY- BRIT X CORPS and US 2nd CORPS broke through the German Winter Defence Line. The village of SAN VITTORE was captured after a vicious battle and the enemy were driven off MONTE PORCHIA-there was no more talk of "a jolly romp to Rome" CASSINO loomed ominously

PACIFIC-.USS KINGFISH on patrol off PALAWAN sank the Japanese ship C-AO FUSHIMI MARU (4289T)with two of four torpedoes.

ATLANTIC-Frigate HMCS WASKESIUwas narrowly missed by a ZAUNKONIG torpedo fired by U306 but the torpedo carried on and hit
HMS TWEED which sank in 2-3 minutes,leaving only 52 survivors.The attack was carried out West of Cape Ortegal on B6 EG carrying out an ASW sweep in the BAY OF BISCAY

[jainso31]

8th JAN.1944

UK- 269 SQDN RAF became operational from DAVIDSTOW MOOR,CORNWALL airfield flying Lockheed Hudsons equipped wit[/B]h lifeboat for ASW patrols.

USSR-The RED ARMY after a fiercely contested battle captured KIROVGRAD

ATLANTIC- U426 was sunk West of NANTES by depth charges from [B]a 10 SQDN RAAF Sunderland.This aircraft was one the first of it's kind to be armed with 4X0.303 mc guns in the nose turret; and was thus able to knock out the boat's gun crew.51 (all) crew lost.
U757 was sunk SW of ICELAND by escorts of CONVOY OS-64 the sinking was made by depth charges from frigate HMS BAYNTUN and corvette HMCS CAMROSE assisted by two other Canadian corvettes.49 (all) hands lost. The convoy arrived intact at Freetown on 26th Jan.44

jainso31

[jainso31]

9th JAN. 1944

]UK-[/B]RAF BOMBER COMMAND and the 8th USAAFhave suspended their attacks on German cities to begin OPERATION CARPETBAGGERThe dropping of all manner of small arms to 25000 partisans in NW EUROPE

ITALY-US FORCES have launched their final assault on the GERMAN WINTER LINE striking at CERVARO and MONTE TROCCHIO-the last height before MONTE CASSINO

MOROCCO-CHURCHILL and de GAULLE meet in MARRAKESH to discuss the FREE FRENCH EXDEP.FORCE's part in the invasion of NW EUROPE and the control of FRANCE thereafter.

SOLOMONS-Two airfields are operational now on BOUGAINVILLEie.
TOROKINA and PIVAThese are but "stop gap" air strips for the progress of
the US up the PACIFIC TOE

ATLANTIC-HMS ABELIA a FC Corvette had her rudder torn off by a Uboat torpedo.CONVOY OS-64 had been shadowed by U757 sunk yesterday and U731 was attacked but managed to escape.


jainso31

[jainso31]

10th JAN.1944

UK-605 SQDN RAF shot down there 100th enemy aircraft-a Ju88 in a raid in London's "Little Blitz"
Churchill and Roosevelt announce a 60% decrease in merchant shipping losses set against the previous year

USSR- Red Army units cut the SMELA to KRISTINOVKA rail link and annihilate a pocket of German resistance in KIROVGRAD

BURMAGEN.SLIM's XIV ARMY have overrun MAUNGDAW,the
strategically important port on the BAY OF BENGAL[/B ]Despatches from the front indicate that he has opened an offensive in the[B] ARAKAN on the Bay of Bengal with an objective of taking BUITHDAUNG and AKYAB This will prove a "tough nut to crack".
SEAC are making plans to recapture the ANDAMAN IS in OPERATION BUCCANEER. However the numbers of ships and landing craft required is more than the Invasion of Europe can afford-so the plan had to be postponed.

NEW BRITAIN US reinforcements land at ARAWE and advance along the AOGIRI RIDGE

jainso31

[nick60]

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

January 10th '45

We are now off to Gibraltar again after having been exercising down at Moville for some time. Nothing very outstanding to enter in my diary".

[David Verghese]

10 January 1941

During Operation Excess in the Mediterranean Sea HMS Gallant was one of the destroyer screen of Force A (Adm. A. Cunningham in command) which rendezvoused with Force H (V.Adm J. Somerville in command) southeast of Pantellaria Island.

As the Force A destroyers swung into their new screening positions there was a heavy explosion under Gallant's bows as she struck an Italian mine. Fifty nine of her ship's complement died that day, and one more the next day, as her bow section was completely blown away.

Those who lost their lives will be remembered this coming Saturday at the Mess Dinner of TS Gallant (Westerham Sea Cadets) and at a Service of Remembrance to be held on Sunday 15 January (12.00) at the Destroyer Memorial, Chatham Dockyard for those who wish to pay their respects.

[jainso31]

]11 JAN. 1944[/B

GERMANY- USAAF bombers raided BRUNSWICK,ASCHERSLABEN and HALBERSTADT causing considerable damage- at a cost of 42 aircraft and crews lost and 123 damaged.
Lt Col J HOWARD a P51 GROUP LEADER having shot down an Me 110 lost contact with his Group and fought alone covering the bomber stream.He fought with great gallantry and skill- until his guns jammed after downing three enemy fighters-he was awarded the MOH

ITALY- COUNT CIANO the son in law of MUSSOLINI and ex Foreign Minister was today shot by firing squad for treason as was his captor Marshal BONO,a staunch Mussolini supporter-very Mafioso

PACIFIC.- HM SUB TALLY HO out of TRINCOMALEE sank the Japanese light cruiser KUMA in the MALACCA STRAIT

MARSHALLS US aircraft attacked shipping and military bases on KWAJALEIN prior to the forthcoming invasion.

ATLANTIC- First rocket attack from aircraft on a UBOAT made by two AVENGERS from the escort carrier BLOCK ISLAND CVE-21 No result obtained.

jainso31

[jainso31]

12 Jan.1944

UK- LOCH EWE 20 ships of convoy JW-56 sail for MURMANSK

ITALY- US forces capture CERVARO and advance on CASSINO

PACIFIC- USS ALBACORE SS-218 on a night patrol SW of TRUK sank Japanese transport XPG CHOKO MARU#2
USS HAKE SS-256 on a night patrol in the northern waters of the PHILIPPINE SEA sank the Japanese aircraft transport XAPV MAGITSU MARU (9547T) south of ]DAITI ISLAND [/B

USA- PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT is given letters of credential to become 1st AMBASSADOR to CANADA

jainso31

[jainso31]

13th JAN.1944

NORTH SEA- U621 (FLAK BOAT) attacked by a an RAF 59 SQDN LIBERATOR was so badly damaged it took 10 days to limp back to BREST 2Killed 7Wounded.

]USSR[/B-] VATUTIN's troops take KORETS between NOVOGRAD-VOLYNSKY and ROVNO

[B]ITALY[/B-] FRENCH CORPS attack SANT'ELIA north of CASSINO

BURMA- CHINESE forces destroy Japanese resistance at YUPGANG GA,and push across the R.TARUNG

ATLANTIC- U231 sunk NE of the AZORES by depth charges from an RAF 172 SQDN WELLINGTON 7dead 43 Survived

jainso31

[jainso31]

14th JAN. 1944

GERMANY- BOMBER COMMAND sent 498 heavy bombers on the first major raid on BRUNSWICK-38 of them were lost(7.6%) The raid was a complete disaster.German fighters had infiltrated the bomber stream 40 miles from their bases and had shot down 11 PFFF aircraft before reaching target.The bombing was futile and the effects were negligible due to haphazard bombing.A terrible waste.

ITALY BRIT 8th ARMY make strong attacks to widen the bridgehead over the LAMONE R

MEDITERRANEAN- HMS ALDENHAM was mined and sunk in the ADRIATIC SE of POLA.63 survivors were picked up by HMS ATHERSTONE

PHILIPPINES- TF38 send 1670 aircraft sorties to strike airfields on LUZON Losses=US 65 and Japanese 170 (claimed).
When the alarm sounded the guards at a POW Camp at PALAWAN on a clifftop, herded all 150 POWs into covered trenches and poured in petrol and set it alight.Those who escaped the trench, were either machine gunned or bayonetted.All bodies were buried in the sand below the cliff.In all 145 POWs were massacred on the orders of the High Command.
On 25 Feb 1945 79 skeletons were disinterred and reburied-of the culprits there is no news.If ever there was a race deserving of the Apocalypse-it had to be the Japanese.

jainso31

[jainso31]

15th JAN.1944

UK- CHURCHILL almost causes a rift in UK/US relations by openly criticising their stance on the future of POLAND after WW2
Major GLENN MILLER USAAF was lost whilst making a CHANNEL crossing in a single engined NORSEMAN aircraft-it was thought to have "iced up" and fell into the sea.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA Russian troops cross the border at SAHY

GREECE- ATHENS is being riven by bloody civil war-the city is being wrecked by artillery and machinegun fire.BRIT HQ came under attack from 75mm gun fire.Tanks supported by Spitfires have been strafing ELAS strongholds.

BURMA- Chinese troops have captured BHAMA but the Japanese garrison escaped.

PHILIPPINES US FORCEShave landed on SAN AUGUSTIN and MINDORO Is supported by three BBs and six CVEs.
The heaviest casualties have been at sea where an extremely fierce storm over 200 miles with 75ft waves sank three DDs withe loss of 719 lives.
Another threat emerged during this battle-the KAMIKAZE-suicide pilots crashing their planes on to the decks of carriers,etc.MacArthur and Nimitz
have placed a news blackout over these attacks.

jainso31

[jainso31]

16th JAN.1944

FRANCE-At a former barracks in MOURMELON men of the 321st FIELD ARTILLERY GLIDER BATTALION were ordered to hand in their helmets to be repainted-WHITE

BELGIUM- ANTWERP a V2 ROCKET launched from ENSCHEDE in the
NETHERLANDS hit the RITZ CINEMA killing 567 people including 296 Allied servicemen.
The GERMAN WINTER OFFENSIVE started today-it's objective to recapture ANTWERP 24 DIVISIONS incl 10 ARMOURED under the overall command of FM von RUNDSTEDT to attack through the ARDENNESFOREST
on a 150 mile front; of which 60 miles is held by 6 US DIVISIONS 83000 men and 150 tanks against 250000 men and 950 tanks
IT IS SNOWING HEAVILY
This is the GERMAN ARDENNES OFFENSIVE and the ALLIES BATTLE OF THE BULGE.
WATCH THIS PAGE!!

ITALY- Units of V CORPS of BRIT. 8th ARMY capture FAENZA on the ADRIATIC side of the country.

PHILIPPINES- Invading US FORCES consolidate their Bridgehead on MINDORO GEN. MACARTHUR is promoted to 5 STAR rank

jainso31

[jainso31]

17th JAN.1944

FRANCE- US 82nd and 101st AIRBORNE DIVISIONS re-equipped at RHEIMS to reinforce the ARDENNES DEFENCE LINE
FRENCH 1st ARMY capture KEINTZHEIM in the "COLMAR POCKET"

BELGIUM- 125 men of a US FIELD ARTILLERY UNIT came under fire near MALMEDY SS Lt Col PEIPER's TASK FORCE appeared and the Americans surrendered to this unit.They were herded into a field and COLD BLOODEDLY mown down by machine gun fire.The SS UNIT drove away leaving 75 GI's dead.Some of the men had feigned death.
At WERETH[/B 12 black soldiers were similarly killed in cold blood.THIS WAS [/B[B]]TO BECOME KNOWN AS THE MALMEDY MASSACRE and JOACHIM PEIPER would be brought to book over it-he was hanged.
Maj.Gen. TROY MIDDLETON commanding VIII CORPS moved his Reserve Division closer to BASTOGNE A race for Bastigne had begun and the US 110th DIVISION was just hanging on in holding the German advance up.82nd and 110st AIRBORNE DIVISIONS were earmarked for this area once they got underway


USAAF.-Reports of attacks by SAM's. 15th AF lost 24 B24 bombers over KOZLE POLAND

PACIFIC- DD USS SPENCE foundered in a TYPHOON East of SAMAR, Only 23 survivors.

ATLANTIC U400 was sunk by depth charges N of CORK by
HMS NYASALAND-All 50 crew lost.

jainso31

[jainso31]

18th JAN.1944[/B

][B]BELGIUM: Huy: The Americans who turned up to guard the bridge over the Meuse at Huy, south-west of Liege, was unusually well-informed. American reinforcements moving up to the front were regaled with hair-raising stories of massive German Panzer forces wreaking havoc among the Allies.

It was some time before this talkative "American" was identified as an English-speaking German commando in GI uniform, driving a captured Jeep. Hitler had told SS Lt-Col Otto Skorzeny to train men to pose as GIs and infiltrate them behind American lines to spread panic and confusion and sabotage communications. The first wave succeeded, forcing the Americans to introduce time-consuming identity checks and trick questions about comics, the name of Roosevelt's dog or baseball scores.

Three major organizations from outside US VIII Corps are on the move to corps headquarters in Bastogne in the Ardennes. Late in the day CCB, 10th Armored Division arrives in Bastogne and is directed by the corps commander, Major General Troy Middleton, to establish road blocks at three locations east of Bastogne. The teams sent to these locations will slow the advance of the Germans but at a high cost. The 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Airborne Division are on the [/B[B]]road toward Bastogne.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: A typhoon capsizes three destroyers and damages three carriers, 11 destroyers and four escort carriers of US naval TF 38, drowning 757 out of 831 sailors and sweeping 150 aircraft off the decks of carriers. TF 38 has completed attacks on Luzon, and is returning to Ulithi to refuel.
Destroyer USS Hull capsized in a typhoon, east of the Philippines. 7 officers and 55 men survived the sinking, 8 crewmembers were lost. She received 10 battle stars for her WWII service.
Destroyer USS Monaghan lost in the infamous typhoon east of the Philippines. Only six of her crew was ever found by the destroyer USS Brown. All six were put onboard the hospital ship USS Solace at Christmas Eve. They had been in the water for 4 days. All were in fair shape considering the experience. Before her loss, USS Monaghan received 12 Battle Stars for her services.
By early morning, escort carrier USS Altamaha had been hit by a raging typhoon while performing transfer operations in the Philippine Sea. By 0900, the escort carrier was labouring heavily and rolling as much as 25 to 30 degrees to either side. An hour later, visibility dropped to zero, and the vessel abandoned all effort to keep station. Almost one-half of the aircraft on board Altamaha broke loose and plunged overboard. The ship also experienced problems with flooding in the forward elevator pit. Many ships, including the Altamaha were heavily damaged, and some even sunk. No personnel were lost aboard the Altamaha

jainso31

[jainso31]

19th JAN.1944[/B
[B]
FRANCE: Versailles: Confined to his headquarters office by assassination threats, Eisenhower gives temporary command of the US First and Ninth Armies to Montgomery. Montgomery and Bradley are placed in command of the northern and southern sectors of the German offensive. A public announcement of this move will not occur until 5th January, 1945.

Late in the evening of 19 Dec Eisenhower studied the situation map in his office and drew a line from Givet, on the Muese River through the Ardennes and across the German frontier to Prum. All Allied units north of the line were placed under command of Montgomery which meant that he commanded the US First and Ninth Armies. South of the line Bradley would command the US Third Army. He ordered that the change take effect on 1200 of 20 Dec.

This was a meeting of American, not Allied, commanders. No British commanders were present, although Montgomery was represented by his chief of staff de Guingand which meant that the British did not want their presence to complicate matters. At the meeting Patton was ordered to attack toward Bastogne with the newly designated III Corps, commanded by Major General John Millikin. III Corps was to advance north toward St. Vith. Three divisions were attached to the corps: the 80th Infantry Division was on the right and maintained contact with XII Corps. The 26th Infantry Division was in the center, and the 4th Armored Division on the left. Bastogne was in its zone. This was the initial combat for Headquarters, III Corps and its commander, General Millikin. All of its attached divisions had been seen combat.
While the mission of the 101st Airborne Division and attached units was to defend Bastogne, the digging in was done at positions five to seven kilometres from Bastogne.

The Germans reach Stavelot and Houffalize areas, with US forces holding their ground in between near Gouvy and St. Vith. The US 82nd Airborne will hold Houffalize for several days, while the US 101st Airborne digs in at Bastogne.

The fog of war was at its height during the initial days of the Battle of the Ardennes. When the 82nd and 101st were released to VIII Corps, Major General Troy Middleton, the commander, intended to employ the 101st at Bastogne and the 82nd at Houffalize. However, as the post above indicates the Germans were already at Houffalize. At this time First Army became concerned about the advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper and so the 82nd was attached to V Corps on the northern side of the German penetration and assembled at Werbomont.

BELGIUM: SS troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Joachim Peiper massacre 130 civilians who they claim were harbouring US soldiers.

NORTH SEA: U-737 sank in Vestfjorden, position 68.09N, 15.39E, after a collision with MRS 25. 31 dead and 20 survivors.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: While the fighting on Leyte, continues, the Japanese high command decides that no more reinforcements or supplies will be sent.

jainso31

[Don Boyer]

Interesting tidbit in the last line of your post 1370, Jim. "While the fighting on Leyte, continues, the Japanese high command decides that no more reinforcements or supplies will be sent." IGH was great at these little statements of policy while avoiding at all costs making public the actual reasoning for such decisions.

At this point in the Philippines campaign the Japanese were losing more soldiers and materiel at sea than they were in the land campaign due to the combination of constant aerial assault on transport convoys by aircraft and the greatly increased depredations of submarines. The submarine campaign was particularly effective, as they had literally saturated the convoy route choke points in the Bashi Channel and Luzon Straits with submarines in wolf packs and operating independently, something the naval submarine command had neglected earlier.

It's a sad fact that the Admirals of the submarine fleet, particularly the otherwise outstanding VAdm Lockwood, compounded the well known issues of torpedo performance and the "captain problem" by never actually taking a hard look at putting submarines in areas where they would have the greatest effect soonest, the Luzon Straits being one, and the areas of convoy routes to and from the oil ports of Borneo being another. Not sure how that came about, but it had a definite negative effect on the overall performance of the US submarine campaign in the Pacific.

Also, it's great to see you bringing all these posts forward in this thread. I've been kind of neglecting reading them over, being deep in another project, but have finally caught up. Keep them coming!

Regards,

[jainso31]

Don-old Buddy re.your last line- you can bet on it-thank you for your interest- it is appreciated.:):):)

jainso31

[jainso31]

20th JAN.1944[/B

]BELGIUM: German forces attack north from the area of Stavelot but are forced back. St. Vith and Bastogne are still held. The road junctions of these towns are vital to the German offensive.

As German troops encircle the US 101st Airborne and 9th and 10th Armoured [B]Divisions at Bastogne, the Allies impose a blackout on all news from the Ardennes fighting, which is now being called the "Battle of the Bulge."

General der Infanterie Heinz Kokott, Commanding General 26 Volks Grenadier Division:". . . division, during the early hours of 20 December, had issued issued its orders to the regiments."For Regiments 77 and 78 these orders called for a continuation of their attack . . . as had been planned and ordered for the previous day"Regiment 78 had the additional mission to clear, before the start of the attack, the situation at Margeret as some enemy nests were still holding out in the southern part of the village. . . . and positive contact was to be established with the Panzer Lehr Division fighting near Neffe.

"The main point of effort of the division attack was to be, as heretofore, in front of the (left) Regiment 78. The terrain (affording a good view for observation) as possible of the dominating heights west of Bizory, were the decisive factors for selecting this sector as the central point of effort.The main attack was to begin as soon as the customary morning fog would have lifted sufficiently to safeguard a clearly observed support by infantry and heavy weapons.
The morning fog was, of course, supplied by nature. The fog of war would be supplied by elements of the 101st Airborne.
"Towards 0700 hours on 20 December, Grenadier Regiment 78 reported that Margaret was "enemy free" [those words again] and that combat fit reconnaissance troops were on their way to the west.*regiment 77 reported regroupings during the assembly. It was a very foggy day and at first all observation was impossible.*
"Between 0900 and 1000 hours, 20 December, the commander of XLVIII Panzer Corps appears at the division command post. He pictured the situation as follows:
The 2nd Panzer Division has taken Noville. The enemy is in flight-like retreat from the 2nd Panzer Division via Foy to the south. The 2nd Panzer Division is in steady pursuit. The fall of Foy - if not already taken place - is to be expected at any moment. After the capture of Foy, the 2nd Panzer Division, according to orders, turns to the west and drives into open the terrain.
The corps commander, General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Luettwitz, has got it wrong. Perhaps the commander of the 2nd Panzer Division, Colonel Meinrad von Lauchert, has been sending "anticipatory" reports to corps. The facts are that Team Desobry and the 1st Battalion, 506th did not withdraw from Noville until 1330 hours. The order for the withdrawal came down on the Field Artillery
FO radio and I passed it to the battalion commander. Luettwitz speaks of "The fall of Foy." (It sounds almost like "the fall of Paris.") At the time Foy was a collection of four or five farms. It was on low ground and could not be defended. The road from Noville to Foy ran downhill for 1.8 kilometres and then toward high ground for 200 meters. On that high ground the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 506 had established defensive positions through which we moved into a reserve position. This was not a text book retrograde but we were hardly in "flight-like retreat" and the 2nd Panzer was not coming down that road in pursuit. I think that they were happy to be rid of us so that they could continue the drive west to the Meuse. We had done them great harm.
At the time the Noville-Foy-Bastogne road was the right boundary of the 506th. About 200 meters east of the road was Bois Jacques.
During a period of 30 minutes approximately 50 German soldiers came out of the woods with their hands over their head and surrendered to us. I believe that they were members of the 26th VG Division, probably of Regiment 77 of that division. So much for high morale in that division.
"It is now the primary mission of the 26th Division with all its available elements to proceed via Wardin - Remoifosse for an encirclement of Bastogne from the south, then to penetrate Bastogne from the soutwest and to intercept the enemy in his withdrawal and breakthrough to the southwest or west. The Panzer Lehr Division, with main effort on the left near Marvie, will close in on Bastogne from the southeast.
"This unfortunate change in the situation came as a surprise to the division; all the more so since Regiments 77 and 78 had not detected or *reported any signs of weakening on the part of the enemy.*They only had to record unchanged heavy enemy resistance and powerful artillery - and mortar fire. The same impressions had continuously been reported by the Reconnaissance Battalion 26 which was facing the enemy.
"On the basis of this orientation and instructions through the Panzer corps, the division now immediately turned its individual orders to the Regiments, utilizing all available means of communications. "
XLVII Panzer Corps had ordered the 26th VG to send its Regiment 39, which had been guarding the left flank of both the division and corps, on a wide swing south of Bastogne to almost due west of the city while the 26th Reconnaissance Battalion would do the same and take up positions to the southwest of Bastogne. Between these two major elements of the 26th VG and its Regiments 77 and 78, corps would insert the Panzer Lehr Division to which the 77th and 78th would be attached.*
Kokott called meeting of the commanders of Regiment 39 and all separate battalions of the division in Wardin.where the division command post was located. He brifed them on the division's mission of attacking and entering Bastogne from the southwest and west.*
During this meeting an officer who had recconnoitered the routes to the west reported that the road were impassable for vehicles. The vehicles, which contained much ammunition and equipment, would have to make a long detour to the east in order to get to their new positions in the southwest and west. This would cause an inordinate delay. Kokott ordered that the vehicles be unloaded and that the men carry as much of this load as possible
"The commanders reiterated their respective missions. Everything was clear. The rifle companies and the engineers company which had arrived in the meantime, unloaded their combat vehicles without delay. The staff of the First Battalion of Rifle Regiment 39 and parts of the regimental staff were moving up, additional units of the Replacement Training Battalion, engineers, and the Second Battalion of Rifle Regiment 39 followed. As they were approaching, they remained in the march and - after the equipment had been taken off the vehicles - disappeared in "single file", loaded down heavily with weapons and ammunition, in the forest heading for Lutrebois. With exemplary calm and matter-of-factedness, weapons, ammunition and equipment were unloaded, stripped and picked up, with the stead flow of the arriving units continuing to the west and southwest."
". . . the division commander was getting ready for his drive ahead [to the new area of operations in the west and southwest] via Doncols - Lutremange to Remoifosse when an artillery salvo - about 12 shots - landed straight in the center of Wardin [the division CP]. This was not particularly alarming until there was, shortly thereafter, another battalion salvo - this time at the western edge of the village - which broke the windows of the command car. Orders had just been issued to disperse the motor vehicles further and all drivers were busy with theri machines and motors - when the third time the dull drumming of fire and became audible and already the impact of the batteries hitting - this time straight into the assembled motor; this was immediately followed for several minutes by a fire concentration with devastating effects on this assembly of men and machines.
"The fire ceased. The enemy observers - and this could only have been an observed fire - appeared to be satisfied with their success. "And they had reason to be satisfied. The command staff was considerably paralyzed. The vehicles, including the command car, were burning or had been knocked out of commission, a great number of men and almost all the officers had either been killed or wounded, among them the first liaison officer, the division intelligence officer (Ic), two officers of the Signal Battalion, one engineer officer and one liaison officer. The Ia (operations officer) and Iia (officer personnel officer) - same as the division commander - had only been slightly wounded.
"This occurred towards about 1300 hours. "It was fortunate that all the necessary orders had been given before and that all movements had already been started. "The dead were laid out, the wounded were bandaged. From the command post of Artillery Regiment 26 - located in a house in the village and thus slecetd somewhat more appropriately - the command of the battle was taken over again and the command staff somewhat restored
I doubt that this was an observed fire mission. In all probability information had been received that the 26th VG had its CP there and the location was fired upon as an unobserved fire mission. There was no place for observers to be located. I would like to believe that this mission had been fired by my battalion, the 321 Glider Field Artillery but we were engaged in the north and northeast in support of the 506th. Wardin was opposite the zone of the 501st which had the 907th Glider Field Artillery in direct support. So the mission was fired either by the 907 or one of the 155mm corps artillery battalions attached to the division. It is gratifying, however, to read how artillery can mess up a division headquarters.*
"Towards 1430 hours a message arrived from Rifle Regiment 39 to the effect 'that the forward elements of the regiment, after having crossed the north-south highway (Bastogne - Mortelange) had become engaged with enemy forces." [This was either the 327th Glider Infantry or the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion.]*
"Dusk and darkness arrived very early on that winter day. From Doncols on the road necame poor, muddy, at some parts very narrow and there were many slopes. This, however, was the least. A lot more disagreeable was the fact that - in contrast with the exemplary traffic movements in the morning - now there presented itself a picture of considerable confusion; everything was crowding onto this road: tanks of the Panzer Lehr Division, so broad that they could barely squeeze through defiles and villages; trucks which had skidded off or had become stuck; motorized vehicles of an advance section of the 5th Parachute Infantry Division, supply vehicles, and motorcycles; marching in between or pushed to the side or came to a standstill due to exhaustion were the horse-drawn vehicles of the 26th Division which had again been overtaken by the companies on foot of the 5th parachute Infantry Division, with the men themselves pulling their vehicles. In addition - ambulances, damaged tanks and captured tanks driving back from the west! . . . traffic came to a standstill and became almost hopelessly entangled!"
Kokott goes on to discuss a lack of training and discipline. The result of this hampered operations around Bastogne and in the withdrawal from the Ardennes.
"These road conditions reached their peak later when SS-formations arrived in the Bastogne combat sector. These units - unduly boastful and arrogant anyway - with their total lack of discipline so typical for them, their well-known unreserved ruthlessness, paired with a considerable lack of reason, had a downright devastating effect and in all cases proved a handicap for any systematic conduct of fighting."
". . . the division commander reached the [new] command post at Bras only after midnight, i.e. towards 0100 on 21 December. Based on incoming reports, the situation to him on that night appeared as follows:"
The Grenadier Regiments 77 and 78, while fighting some very costly battles, had made but small progress. "The heavily defended village of Bizory, however, had been taken by Grenadier regiment 78.
"The regiments were now located immediately west of the Foy - Bizory road. Enemy resistance there: strong." "The enemy forces opposite Rifle Regiment 39 fought stubbornly and were supported by tank (guns)?, artillery and, particularly, by strong mortar fire.
This was the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment which would defend 50% of the circle around Bastogne.
"As to the impression of the enemy, it appeared that - even if he would put up a stubborn and tough battle - he would be less strong and prepared in the southern sector than in the eastern sector.*
Kokott probably received this impression from the fact that the 501st had handled his division roughly and no other units would be as severe with them.)*"Here in the south - and perhaps in the west - the success had to be aimed for and to be fought for with all the strength!"
At the end of the day, 5th Panzer Army described the organization for combat of the units to be involved in the reduction of Bastogne. Essentially they were the divisions already involved.
"The division dutifully expressed its doubts and considered the chances for success under existing conditions unlikely. These doubts were eliminated, however, by the corps in its estimate of the enemy situation, which was about as follows: 'There are certain indications that the enemy had already become softened. Furthermore it could be assumed that there could 'not be much inside' Bastogne. Aside of parts of an airborne division, which, however, could not be very strong, it was reckoned that there would be the remnants of those enemy divisions, which had been abdly battered at the Our River and which ahd taken refuge in Bastogne. On the strength of prisoner of war interviews, the fighting quality of the forces inside of Bastogne was estimated not to be very high.'"
"The losses on 20 December for the division mounted to about: 8 - 10 officers and 300 men killed, wounded and missing. Most of this was suffered by Rifle Regiment 39 and Grenadier Regiment 78."
So ended another tough day for General Heinz Kokott. But that's what they pay division commanders for.

GREECE: British General Scobie warns civilians of possible bombing in areas held by ELAS (communist) units.
British tanks and armoured cars today raced to the rescue of 350 RAF and army personnel holding out against the communist-backed ELAS rebels who captured the RAF rear headquarters at Kifissia, ten miles from Athens. An army statement alleged that women and children had taken part in the assault backed by mortars and light artillery. The British were making their last stand in a dynamited hotel when the relief column arrived. In Athens, ELAS attacked and burnt a prison [/[B]B]holding collaborators awaiting trial.

ITALY: Sgt Arthur Banks (b.1923), RAFVR, was executed. Shot down on 27 August, he worked with partisans until his capture earlier this month. He refused to talk under torture. (George Cross)

BURMA: The Indian 19th Division captures Kawlin

jainso31












.

[jainso31]

21st JAN.1944

BELGIUM: German forces attack north from the area of Stavelot but are forced back. St. Vith and Bastogne are still held. The road junctions of these towns are vital to the German offensive.

As German troops encircle the US 101st Airborne and 9th and 10th Armoured Divisions at Bastogne, the Allies impose a blackout on all news from the Ardennes fighting, which is now being called the "Battle of the Bulge."

FRANCE: SS Lt-Col Otto Skorzeny leads the 150th Panzer Brigade in a pre-dawn attack on Malmedy.

Alsace - Task Force Hudelson (CCA, 14th Armored Division) was assigned a 10 mile front in the Vosges Mountains as divisions had been sent North to the Ardennes. Barbed wire was strung, fox holes and trenches were dug in the frozen ground. Sand bag racks had been welded on tanks so a layer of sand bags could help stop 88's and panzerfausts.

Orders were to give ground rather than permit a break through like the Ardennes. Trees along roads were notched and prepared with explosives for road blocks, anti-vehicle mines were laid.

Prisoners taken boasted that the Germans would retake all of Alsace German artillery was registering one or two rounds at each crossroads, and village.

The weather was very cold, rain and snow. The Germans were moving large numbers of troops into position during periods of bad weather


COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US X Corps meets the XXIV Corps in the middle of Ormoc Valley on Leyte. With only isolated groups of Japanese holding out in this area, organized resistance is ending.

Private First Class George Benjamin Jr., of the US Army, Company A, 306th [/B[B]]Infantry, 77th Infantry Division, a radio operator left his comparatively secure position when a rifle platoon was held up by a Japanese strong point to guide his platoon to a light tank and then penetrated intense machine-gun and rifle fire to take the enemy position. He is mortally wounded. MOH

jainso31

[jainso31]

22nd JAN.1944

BELGIUM: A German demand for surrender is delivered to the US 101st[/B] Airborne at Bastogne. General McAuliffe is reported to have said "Nuts!".
St. Vith is evacuated by the Allies and falls to the German offensive, behind schedule.
Rundstedt, Model and Guderian recommend that the offensive be halted. This is due to Allied resistance, the arrival oTrapped here in a network of road links are several thousand lightly-armed men of the 28th Infantry and 10th and 101st US Airborne Divisions. The Germans with one infantry and two Panzer divisions around the town, this morning sent a courier with a message calling on the Americans to surrender]. Brig-Gen Anthony C McAuliffe took the paper and scrawled: "To the German commander: NUTS! The American Commander."
Despite McAuliffe's relaxed defiance the American position remains precarious, both here and elsewhere. A Panzer force passing north of Bastogne is headed for Ourtheville and Celle, within striking distance of Dinant and Namur. Further north the Americans, having lost 8,000 of some 22,000 men at St. Vith are pulling back.
Three days ago in his headquarters at Versailles, Eisenhower met his field commanders, Bradley, Patton and Devers, of the US 6th Army Group in Lorraine. He told them he expected only cheerful faces - and then gave them the bad news. Part of Bradley's 12th Army Group, cut off north of the Ardennes bulge, is being transferred to Montgomery's command. Bradley took it badly, especially when told of Monty's swaggering into a US operational HQ and refusing a lunch invitation.
The tide of battle may be about to shift though. The German thrusts have repeatedly been stalled by fuel shortages and pockets of American resistance. Better still the days of sleet and low cloud, which have protected the Germans from Allied air power, are about to end, according to the forecasters.
Meanwhile, Patton's Third Army is on the move. Eisenhower did not believe Patton when he promised that he would be at Bastogne by today; he had to disengage his men from battle on the Saar front, execute a 90 degree change of course and move over 130,000 vehicles 75 miles to the north. And he has done just that.
General der Infanterie Heinz Kokott, Commanding General 26 Volks Grenadier Division:
"The elements of the division surrounding Bastogne in a wide arc - from Recogne to almost Mande-St. Etienne - could be supplied only with difficulty. This not only because the units were widely separated from each other but especially due to the fact that, owing to enemy air activity, supply movements had to be confined to the hours of darkness and nighttime. Movements by the horse-drawn supply columns, the regimental columns and the supply platoons of the battalions were carried out with untiring efforts, and the loading space of the motorized columns was utilized to thee limit of its capacity.
7th U.S. Army had repositioned to cover ground formerly held by Patton's 35d[/B] Army. Germans realized that this was a serious weakness in the U.S. force.
]Plans for "Operation Nordwind" were finalized with massing of the "lost German Divisions" (that Allied intelligence could not account for) along the Rhine for an assault against U.S. 7th Army in Alsace-Lorraine. Hitler wanted to drive to Paris. German generals were more realistic and wanted to recapture Strasburg, now held by the Free French First Army.
[Strasburg was considered politically critical by both the French and the Germans since they had been fighting over it for 100 years.]
To the dismay of German General Staff, Heinrich Himmler was given command of the Army of the Upper Rhine.f reserve units, and the clearing weather

ITALY-The Allied Landings at ANZIO started today with US 3rd DIVISION and BRIT.1st DIVISION in Gen LUCAS's VI CORPS 36000 men being the spearhead. Allied attacks on the GUSTAV LINE,particularly those of BRIT X CORPS have been successful. KESSLERING calls for reinforcements


jainso31

[sunray9]

22nd January 1879 - Rorke's Drift. 'Zulu's, thousands of 'em' !:):):)

[jainso31]

23rd JAN.1944

FRANCE:[/B] Eisenhower end80-year practice of commutation of the death sentence for desertion.s an He affirmed the decision of a general court-martial to execute Eddie Slovik for desertion. This would be the first execution of an American soldier for a battlefield offence since the American Civil War. Since June 6th there had been 40,000 cases of desertion and 2,800 had been tried by general court-martial. Slovik had written to Eisenhower asking for another chance to "continue to be a good soldier," though he had not asked to be returned to his unit, the 109th Infantry of the 28th Infantry Division.

BELGIUM: The German forces that have bypassed Bastogne do not have the strength or supplies because of the growing effectiveness of Allied air support. The US 101st in Bastogne holds out.
Montgomery writes: "Personally I am enjoying a very interesting battle, but we ought to be in tears at the tragedy of the whole thing."
General der Infanterie Heinz Kokott, Commanding General 26 Volks Grenadier Division:
]By 23 December the circumference of the ring around Bastogne would be approximately 25 kilometres

GERMANY: Germany's bomb-shattered overloaded transport system is in danger of grinding to a halt. The railway network is struggling to move vast numbers of troops, refugees fleeing the Russians in the east and thousands of people being imported as forced labour, or deported to death camps.

During the early stages of the war the Allies concentrated their bombing raids on transport networks in occupied France and Belgium. In September of this year they turned their attention to Germany, and systematically destroyed roads, bridges, waterways, railway junctions and airfields. Civilians are now required to have special authorization for train journeys, which can only be made for business or very pressing personal reasons.
Meanwhile in the cities frenetic commuters are travelling to work on tram running-boards, and bicycles used for anything other than war-related journeys are being confiscated.
SCHWEINFURT 735 RAF heavy bombers attacked the ball bearing factory following the USAAF's 267 B17's the previous day

Sqn-Ldr Robert Anthony Palmer (b.1920), RAFVR, pressed on to mark the target of a raid despite severe flak damage to his Lancaster, which [/B]then went down in flames. (Victoria Cross)

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Tonking: Reports indicate that military units of the [B]Viet Minh have been organized by Vo Nguyen Giap in areas close to the Chinese border. Giap, a former Hanoi schoolmaster, was earlier chosen to organize guerrilla bands and soon revealed outstanding ability, energy and audacity. Yesterday Giap formed a "People's Army" and, seeking an early success, plans to strike against French military posts in Indochina. Giap claims to have equipped his army with sub-machine guns, modern rifles and grenades.

ITALY By the end of the day have 50000 men ashore at ANZIO but advance is extremely tentative.Within a week eight Divisions are in place and XIV ARMY HQ are in place to organize and lead them.

jainso31

[jainso31]

24th JAN.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: 45 modified Heinkel He-111s launch 31 V1 bombs aimed at Manchester; 17 reach the area, killing 32 people and injuring 49.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: U-486 torpedoed the SS Leopoldville in the English Channel just 5 miles from the port of Cherbourg, France at 1754. The troopship was transporting 2235 American soldiers from regiments of the 66th Infantry Division. The ship finally sank 2 1/2 hours later. Everything that could went wrong; calls for help were mishandled, rescue craft were slow to the scene and the weather was unfavourable. 763 American soldiers [/B[B]]died that night, making this the worst loss an American Infantry Division suffered from a U-boat attack during the war. The location of the sinking The Allied authorities were embarrassed by the incident and decided to bury the case. Many loved ones were told the men were missing in action although they were already dead by then, later to be classified as killed in action. It was not until 1996 that the files were opened to the public. U-486 had not said her last word as she sank the British frigates HMS Affleck and Capel only two days later in the same area before returning on 15 Jan 1945 to Bergen, Norway. Clive Cussler with the help of his shipwreck-hunting organization NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) discovered the wreck of the SS Leopoldville. His book The Sea Hunters contains a chapter on the sinking which describes the incident from eyewitness accounts, and includes the story of the discovery of the wreck.

GERMANY: The largest bombing raid of the war occurs tonight, when 1,874 8th AF and 800 RAF bombers, escorted by 813 fighters bombed SCHWEINFURT again. Additionally, the 9th AF flew 1,157 effective fighter and fighter-bomber sorties

BELGIUM: The German 2nd Panzer Division reaches Dinant by days end. The lead unit, KG Cochenhausen, reaches the small village of Foy-Notre Dame about 5 miles short of the Meuse River bridges at Dinant. This will be the farthest penetration during the offensive. They can go no further and abandon their vehicles, walking back to their own lines. The US 1st and 3rd Armies along with the British XXX Corps and the 101st Airborne have halted the [/[B]B]German offensive.
German troops murder all men aged between 17 and 32 in the village of Bande, as revenge for a Maquis attack in September. These troops include a Swiss national, Ernst Haldiman, who was an SD member.

Brig. Gen. Frederick Castle was killed in action when the B-17 he was co-piloting was shot down. The usual co-pilot, Lt. RW Harriman, was in the tail, acting as "Formation Officer". It is reported by several residents of Fraiture, Belgium that Lt. Harriman was fired upon while in his 'chute and he returned fire, but was dead when he hit the ground in the Schweinfurt Raid

HUNGARY: The eastern outskirts of Budapest is the scene of heavy fighting between the Germans and Russians.

BALTIC SEA: At 0928, U-637 fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes at an unknown Soviet convoy of Cape Pakri in the Baltic Sea and heard a detonation after 3 minutes 44 seconds followed by sinking noises. At 0949, a Gnat missed its target and at 1009 another Gnat was followed by a detonation after 3 minutes and then sinking noises. According to Soviet sources only BMO-594 Baltiec was lost.

PACIFIC OCEAN: SS Robert J Walker (US-flagged Liberty ship) sunk by U-862 160 miles off Australia 36.45S, 150.43E - Grid VD 8222. Two crewmembers killed. She was the only ship sunk in the Pacific Ocean by a German U-boat.

MARIANAS ISLANDS: USAAF 313th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) arrives on the islands.
.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1337 hrs while escorting convoy XB-139, Minesweeper HMCS Clayoquot takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by U-806 (Kapitanleutnant Klaus Hornbostel) off the East coast of Canada at 44 30N 63 20W. There are 8 crewmembers dead but 76 survivors.

Another Zaunkönig fired by U-806 detonated in the CAT gear of corvette HMCS Transcona, but she survived the attack

jainso31

[jainso31]

25th JAN.1944

GREECE: Churchill and Eden arrive in for talks with Greek Leaders. The British are very much in control and the fighting wanes.

BELGIUM: The U.S. 2nd Armored Division counterattacks the 2nd Panzer Division at Celles, in one of the crucial moments in the Ardennes battle.

General der Infanterie Heinz Kokott, Commanding General 26 Volks Grenadier Division:"At the designated time - as far as I can recollect, towards 0500 hours - in the moonlit early morning hour, the attack- and assault troops began the attack on the entire circle surrounding Bastogne (with the exception of the northern sector).

"Already before that, the assault troops had sneaked up as closely as possible to the enemy and had even penetrated his front between some individual enemy pockets. Preparatory fire by the artillery had been abstained from purposefully. A very strong and concentrated fire barrage of all calibres hit the enemy like a blow at the moment of the attack, destroyed his known pockets of resistance and sealed off in depth. With tremendous force the Grenadiers and Panzer Grenadiers drove towards the enemy and fought their way forward from pocket to pocket. After having recovered from the initial shock, the enemy forces got hold of themselves and along the entire front there began a wild, furious struggle

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The cream of the Japanese troops on Luzon are transferred to Cebu and Mindanao, after Yamashita says that he can no longer guarantee getting supplied through to them.
Palompan, Leyte, is occupied.

MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: In a combined high-low attack Japanese intruders destroy one B-29, damage three beyond repair and inflict minor damage on eleven.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Frigate HMS Dakins is mined in the English Channel 14 miles NW of Ostend at 51 25N 02 44E.Although a lot of water was taken into the forward compartment, good damage control enables her to return to the UK under her own power. However, she is not considered worth repairing.

Frigate HMS Capel is torpedoed and sunk by U-486 (Oberleutnant der Reserve Gerhard Meyer) at 1237. The torpedo explosion blew the bridge structure aft until it rested on her funnel. Capel sank very slowly and capsized at 1602. There are 7 casualties. Location: 49 48N 01 43W.

Whilst searching for Capel’s assailant, frigate HMS Affleck takes a hit from a [/B[B]]Zaunkönig fired by U-486. The explosion blew off 60 feet of AFFLECKs stern but she reaches Cherbourg under her own power and is later towed to Portsmouth, but never repaired. Location: 49 48N 01 41W.

jainso31

[jainso31]

26th JAN.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: London: An Old Bailey jury today found 58-year-old Oswald Job guilty of espionage and he was sentenced to death. Job was born in Stepney of German parents and moved to Paris in 1911. In 1940, as a British passport holder, he was interned by the Nazis. The German secret service recruited him from prison, and he returned to England posing as an escapee. From his room in Bayswater he wrote letters to PoWs with invasion plans in invisible ink between the lines. The British authorities became aware of his activities thanks to the work of a double

ITALY: Martial law is proclaimed in Rome.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Russia today replied to German accusations that it was responsible for the murder of thousands of Polish officers in Katyn forest by charging the Germans with the massacre of [/B[B]]the Poles. According to the findings of a special atrocity commission, the Poles were still alive when the Germans took over the area in July 1941. The German accusations led to the breakdown in relations between the Polish government based in London and the Soviet government, a situation which has become even more sensitive as the Red Army advances deeper into Poland.

NEW GUINEA: In heavy fighting, veteran Australian troops have cleared the Japanese from strategic "Shaggy Ridge", in New Guinea's rugged Finisterre range. After the fall of Lae, the Australians - part of 18 Infantry Brigade of 7th Division - set out to clear the enemy from the Huon Gulf area as part of the campaign to crush Japanese resistance in the South-west Pacific.

The "diggers", patrolling in the foothills of the Finisterres encountered Japanese entrenched in strong defensive positions. In late December the Australians assaulted the southern slopes of "Shaggy Ridge" and took the "Pimple". From 17 January, backed by heavy RAAF raids, the Australians advanced along the razor backs. Today the enemy finally broke. agent [/B[B]]codenamed "Dragonfly".

ARGENTINA: The news that Argentina has severed relations with Germany and Japan brought cheering crowds out on to the streets of Buenos Aires today. President Ramirez signed the decree just after 8am, making his country the 21st American republic to turn against the Axis. This follows the uncovering of a vast enemy spy network in Argentina involving high-society figures. Many arrests have already been made. But diplomatic sources in neighbouring Chile see the move as no more than a practical expedient to avoid a break with the United States.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Off ICELAND: Ten U-boats attack convoy JW-56A, sinking [/B[B]]three merchant ships.

SS Samouri sunk by U-188 at 13.13N, 55.56E - Grid MQ 4658.
SS Surada sunk by U-188 at 13.00N, 55.15E - Grid MQ 4565.

SS Walter Camp sunk by U-532 at 10.00N, 71.49E - Grid MS 79.

At 0020, U-716 fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes on the convoy JW-56A, heard two hits and reported one ship with 7000 tons sunk and another of 7000 tons damaged. In fact, only the Andrew G. Curtin in station #61 was hit by one torpedo on the starboard side between the #2 and #3 holds. The watch below secured the engines as the ship settled by the head and listed to starboard. The deck cracked forward of the #3 hold and extended across the vessel. As the Liberty ship sank, the crack widened and the bow soon hogged about 25°. The complement of eight officers, 35 men and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in some confusion in one raft and four lifeboats aft of the crack. Two crewmembers drowned and one armed guard died in the explosion. The survivors observed the Andrew G. Curtin breaking in two before sinking. In less than 30 minutes, HMS Inconstant picked up the survivors and landed them later in Murmansk. The USS PTC-39 was on transfer from the USA to North Russia aboard the Andrew G. Curtin and was lost.

U-545 I WO was washed overboard in the North Atlantic. [Oberleutnant zur See Hans Wilkening]

[jainso31]

27th JAN.1944


U.S.S.R.: The blockade of Leningrad is lifted. This has continued for 872 days and took the lives of over a million [/B[B]]people. The news was announced by General Govorov, the planner and commander of the onslaught which drove the Germans away from the beleaguered city. In an order of the day he announced: "The city of Leningrad has been completely freed from the enemy blockade and the barbaric artillery shelling."

Addressing his troops, sailors of the Baltic fleet and "workers of the city of Lenin", Govorov said that in 12 days' fighting the Red Army had liberated 700 places and driven back the Germans along the whole front for 40 to 60 miles.

Leningrad had suffered grievous damage. Many of its fine buildings have been destroyed by shelling and bombing. In the occupied southern suburbs the retreating Germans looted and set fire to buildings, and left the bodies of partisans hanging from the trees.

As the sound of gunfire faded from the city for the first time for nearly two and a half years, the people, gaunt and tired, emerged from their shelters to celebrate in the unusual safety of the streets.

They are the true victors of the siege. They withstood everything that the Germans threw at them. They watched their families die of starvation. They ate bread made of sawdust. Some even ate the dead. One million citizens died, mainly from hunger, along with 150,000 troops. But their city has become an example to the world that Hitler's military might could be defied.

Now, as they celebrate their release, their liberators are rushing on to the west in great strength, outnumbering Field Marshal von Kuchler's weakened Army Group North in men, arms and aircraft
The Red Army is now approaching the German defence zone codenamed "Panther", which runs south from the Gulf of Finland, along the river Narva and the banks of Lakes Peipus and Pskovskoye, to the town of Ostrov. Hitler thinks the "Northern Wall" is impregnable: that remains to be seen.

LIBERIA: The government of Liberia declared war on Germany and Japan.

CANADA: Frigate HMS Ettrick transferred to RCN while under refit Halifax, Nova Scotia. Became HMCS Ettrick.
Tug HMCS Parksville assigned to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Atrocity stories on the treatment by the Japanese of American and Filipino soldiers after the surrender of Bataan and Corregidor disclosed in official reports of the United States Army and Navy.

jainso31








.

[jainso31]

28th JAN.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Official statements concerning the sickening cruelty of the Japanese towards prisoners of war were made today in Britain and the United States. The British foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, said: "Let the Japanese government reflect in time to come that the record of their military authorities in this war will not be forgotten." The House of Commons and both houses of Congress heard blood-curdling accounts of the inhuman conditions the prisoners are kept in - without sufficient food, water or shelter - and barbarous tortures used by guards.

Frigates HMS Waldegrave and Whitaker commissioned.
Frigate HMS Halladale launched.

GERMANY: U-1272 commissioned.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Kitchener completed refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: A memo signed by General Walter Bedell-Smith, Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower: "It is highly desirable that the [French] division should be composed of white personnel, which points to the second armoured division, which has only one quarter native troops and is the only French division which could be made 100 per cent white."

This is in reference to the French division which will be part of the Allied invasion force at Normandy.
Destroyer escort USS Wingfield commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Le Ray Wilson launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-271 Sunk west of Limerick, in position 53.15N, 15.52W, by depth charges from a US Consolidated PB4Y-1Liberator aircraft (VB-103/E, based in St. Eval, Cornwall under operational control of RAF No. 19 (General Reconnaissance) Group, RAF Coastal Command). The PB4Y crew caught U-271 on the surface and dropped six depth charges causing the sub to settle by the stern and sink. 51 dead (all hands lost).

U-571 Sunk west of Ireland, in position 52.41N, 14.27W, by depth charges from an Australian Shorts Sunderland MKIII aircraft (RAAF-Sqdn 461/D, out of Pembroke Dock, Wales). 52 dead (all hands lost). Unlike many U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes. U-571 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.

jainso31

[nick60]

January 30th 1945

Diary of AB (ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Jan 30th '45

"Have arrived in Londonderryfor a few days - Captain informed us Germans using new torpedo (Note: I'm assuming this was the Gnat. I'm sure someone from the forum will correct me if I'm wrong). Will follow a ship *--------------------*. Details issued and gear

[jainso31]

31st Jan 1944

UNITED KINGDOM: London and south-east England have been hit by the Luftwaffe for the first time for months in a series of night raids, codenamed Operation Steinbock [Ibex], which began on 21-22 January. The usefulness of this "Little Blitz" to Germany's propaganda machine - as an antidote to constant RAF assaults on the Reich - is worth the cost; up to eight aircraft lost in a single raid. On the first raid 447 sorties were flown (the planes included the He177 heavy bombers), during which only 32 tons of bombs were dropped for the loss of nine planes.

The total number of bombers involved is thus fewer than the 600 claimed by Germany (an RAF assessment is 200), but the raids seem to confirm intelligence reports that the Germans are still building aircraft at a rate which makes good their losses. If confirmed, such a situation would cast doubt on the belief of Sir Arthur Harris that strategic bombing alone will end the war. This claim is also under fire after the heavy losses which the RAF has suffered (as well as inflicted) in the raids on Berlin.

ITALY: Anzio: Swift German reaction to the Anzio landings is threatening to turn the tables completely on the huge Allied army which landed here nine days ago. The element of surprise has gone. Instead ofthe dash to Rome, activity has been limited to cautious attacks with heavy Allied casualties. Field Marshal Kesselring has now pulled reserves from all over Italy to ring the beach-head.

US Rangers waded four miles in darkness along a half-dry irrigation canal to attack the village of Cisterna, but were detected at the last moment and came under withering tank fire. Only six men survived. The British 24 Guards Brigade met stiff resistance on the night of 29-30 January at the small hamlet of Carroceto, where the 29th Panzergrenadier Regiment was dug in and waiting; and the Sherwood Foresters have suffered huge casualties in an assault on Campoleone.

BURMA: Chinese forces capture Taro.

MARSHALL ISLANDS:

US landings begin.
This was Operation FLINTLOCK. Kwajalein Atoll is invaded by both Army and Marine forces. U.S. Marines seized five islands in the northern section of the atoll while U.S. Army troops seize four islands and islets in the southern part of the atoll.
Prior to the scheduled invasion of Majuro Atoll by Army troops, Marine scouts are put ashore and secure the atoll without a fight.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-592 Sunk at 1000hrs on in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 50. 20N, 17.29W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Starling, Wild Goose and Magpie. 49 dead (all hands lost).

U-608 shot down an RAF 172 Sqn Wellington.


jainso31

[jainso31]

1st FEB.1944

ITALY- The Allied attacks around ANZIO are brought to a halt.Although they have achieved no positive successes but have taken heavy losses.
The Germans have been forced to postpone their counteroffensive planned to start today-they are still awaiting heavy reinforcements
The US 34th Division continues to batter German positions north of CASSINO around MONTE MAIOLA .

USSR-Eastern FrontIn the south,Third and Fourth Ukraine Fronts against the [B]German Army's Salient[/Baround NIKOPOL In the north the RED ARMY penetrates into ESTONIAcapturing VANAKULA

MARSHALLS- The American occupation of ROI and NAMUR is complete.
The Japanese have lost virtually every man of the 3700 defenders.The American
casualties number 740 killed and wounded.The battle for KWAJALEIN continues

jainso31

[jainso31]

2nd FEB.1944

GERMANY-[/B]534 RAF heavy bombers raided BERLIN in another sortie-bombing through 10/10ths cloud; some of the bombing was wildly astray- the bombs falloing on the outskirting towns,villages and open countryside but where there was accurate concentration and much of the industrial part of the city was destroyed or badly damaged including Goebbel's [/B[B]]Propaganda Ministry.
Approx 1000 people were killed and many more made homeless.
33 bombers and crews were lost=6.2%-a heavy price.

ITALY-German troops make limited attacks on Brit.1st Div's Salient around CAMPOLEONE in the ANZIO Bridgehead.
The NZ CORPS joins the OOB of US 5th Army and prepares for fighting in the CASSINO sector

]MARSHALLS- TASK GROUP 58.4 attacks ENIWETOK with it's carrier planes.
Landings are made on BURTON IS,one of the smaller islands in the KWAJA|LEIN group.

jainso31

[jainso31]

3rd FEB.1944

ITALY: Anzio: Hitler has ordered that the Anzio beach-head "must be crushed in the blood of British soldiers". As dusk fell last night those soldiers were suffering a massive artillery barrage as the German Fourteenth Army prepared a full-scale counter-attack on the British salient.

Every German gun was trained on the "thumb" created by the British 1st Division on 30 January in an abortive attempt to reach Campoleone. "Anzio Annie", a 14-inch railway gun, was used to devastating effect. However, the Germans' latest secret weapon - "Goliath", a radio-controlled miniature tank packed with explosive - failed under small-arms fire.

By mid-morning the "thumb" was nearly severed. Over 1,400 men had been lost. The Germans suffered similar losses, but show no sign of letting up. Today the British VI Corps issued verbal orders to beach-head forces to prepare defensive positions.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Victory salvoes are crashing out in Moscow as the Russians celebrate victories all along the front. In a special order of the day Stalin has announced the trapping of ten German divisions in the Dniepr Bend in the biggest encirclement since Stalingrad. Meanwhile, in the north, General Govorov's troops have crossed the Estonian border in their great Leningrad offensive.

INDIAN OCEAN: At 2345, the unescorted Chinese Liberty Ship Chung Cheng was torpedoed by U-188. Due to her cargo of ore she sank so quickly that no lifeboat could be launched. On board were eleven American officers, four Chinese officers, 29 Chinese crewmen and 27 American armed guards. Twenty men, mostly Chinese crewmen were lost. The survivors were picked up after 12 hours by a British freighter and taken to a hospital in Aden.

JAPAN: United States warships shelled Paramushiru Island in the first attack on Japanese home territory

jainso31

[jainso31]

4th FEB. 1944

BALTIC SEA: U-854 mined and sunk in the Baltic Sea north of Swinemünde, in position 54.44N, 14.16E. 51 dead and 7 survivors.

BURMA: Arakan: The British XV Corps' offensive in the Arakan has ground to a halt, with the veteran Japanese 55th Division making an attack on Taung Bazaar in the British rear. This evening the Japanese counter-attack (Operation Ha-Go) made its first contact with the British 7th Indian Division, led by Major-General Frank Messervy, in the Ngakyedauk Pass.

Since early December the British have been advancing down the Arakan towards Akyab, a vital airfield for any attack on Rangoon, but at the Maungdaw to Buthidaung road they were confronted by defences consisting of impenetrable tunnel systems. Now, with their rear threatened, the British risk a repeat of last year's defeat in the Arakan peninsula.

KWAJALEIN -After four days of fierce fighting against Japanese troops prepared to fight to the death rather than surrender, US forces have [/B[B]]captured all the main atolls in the Marshall Islands, securing a strategic staging post for future Allied offensives in the central Pacific.

The Japanese-mandated islands, an important defensive link in Japan's Pacific perimeter are the first territory in the Japanese empire to fall to the Allies. Their loss was reported to the Japanese imperial Diet by the premier, General Tojo. He said: "The war situation is increasing in gravity day by day. For the first time, the enemy has really attacked Japanese soil."

The landings four days ago by 40,000 US infantry and marines on the three main islands of Kwajalein atoll - Kwajalein, Roi and Namur - were the largest operation yet staged by the Allies in the Pacific. Namur and Roi fell within two days. But mopping-up operations are still going on against a Japanese garrison holding out in a 400-yard stretch in the north-east of Kwajalein, where US troops of Major-General Charle Corlett's 7th Division now control 80 islands in the 60-mile-long atoll.

Although outnumbered, the Japanese have fought to the death. On Namur and Roi 3,742 were killed and only 91 taken prisoner, US casualties were 737, including 190 dead. On Kwajalein, 7,870 of the 8,000-strong garrison died; US losses were 372. Roi puts the Allies within bomber range of the Japanese naval base at Truk.

ITALY- Just north of CASSINO the US 34th DIV capture Points 445 and 593 as well as attacking COLLE SANT'ANGELO.

EASTERN FRONT- The RED ARMY reached the mouth of the R.NARVA in the north and on the east side of L.PEIPUS they occupy GDOV.
In the south attempts to counterattack by 24th PANZER DIV. at NIKOPOL are made too late to effect a change.

jainso31

[nick60]

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Feb 4th '45

"Leaving tomorrow - destination unknown. Have been fairly busy working ship"

[jainso31]

5th FEB.1944 = Quiet day

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-763 shot down an RAF 502 Sqn Halifax.
U-963 shot down an RAF 53 Sqn Liberator

EASTERN FRONT-.

The Soviets of the FIRST UKRANIAN FRONT occupy ROVNO and LUTSK,pushing FOURTH PANZER ARMY back once more.
Inside the KORSUN pocket General Stemmermann withdraws his forces into a tighter perimeter.Air activity in this sector is very intense,with Germans flying supplies fairly successfully to the trapped forces from their airfields around UMAN.
The Soviets mount a considerable ground attack as well as trying to cut off German supplies.

ITALY-Allied forces in both the CASSINO and ANZIO sectors have to make some withdrawals in the face of fierce German counterattacks.

jainso31

[nick60]

February 5th 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" HMS Somaliland

(Note: The following series of events differ to those recorded elsewhere. I'm just copying the entries as written)

Feb 5th '45 16:00

"We have now arrived at Lough "U" - asembly for Russian Convoys. Now waiting sailing orders, weather not too good. Both "Hooks" dropped"

[jainso31]

6th FEB.1944

FINLAND: 150 heavy Soviet bombers attack Helsinki as a part of Stalin's plan to soften Finland to separate from Germany and conclude peace. Thanks to the efficient Finnish air-defences, mostly equipment purchased from Germany, the damage to the city is limited, but still 103 people are killed.

Patrol Boat VMV 12 is destroyed in Helsinki bombing while in dock.

ITALY: Both on the Cassino front and on the beachhead south of Rome, Allied troops were forced to withdraw under heavy German counterattacks.

BURMA: Major-General Orde Wingate leads a special force of Indian, British and US soldiers to engage the Japanese at MYITKYYNA

EASTERN FRONT-The FIRST UKRAINE FRONT captures MANGANETS,east of NIKOPOL.More significantly ,the area west of the town of APOSTOLOVO also falls.threatening a further encirclement.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The IWO of U-965 fell overboard and drowned. [Leutnant zur See Gustav-Günther Schoop]

U-177 sunk in the South Atlantic west of Ascension Island, in position 10.35S, 23.15W, by depth charges from a USN VB-107 Sqn Privateer. 50 dead and 15 survivors.

jainso31

[nick60]

February 5th 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Feb 6th '45 1500

Special Sea Dutymen - We are ready to weigh anchor

17:00. We are now on our way to Russia. We were delayed in sailing due to fact of cables fouling - Jordy Wakeman lost his finger and right hand crushed in the winch. Was transferred to Hospital.

Weather very bad - gale coming up.

[jainso31]

7th FEB.1944

BALTIC SEA: During the boat's trials in the Baltic near Hela one man died when he fell overboard from U-1003 while transferring to an outpost boat (V-Boot). [Funkgefreiter Werner Guhl].

U.S.S.R.: Hitler orders German troops trapped in the Korsun pocket to break out.

ITALY: Anzio: Maj. William Philip Sidney (b.1909), Grenadier Guards, led two attacks which forced off the enemy; later, he refused to have wounds seen to until the position was secure. (Victoria Cross)

BURMA: Imphal Last night the 1st/7th Gurkhas attacks a Japanese position known as "Bare Patch". This position (also known to the Gurkhas as "Nango") is a strongly-held network of trenches and bunkers on high-ground east of the Tiddim-Fort White Road. Major Peter Sanders led his men of the 1st/7th Gurkhas down a difficult winding path for 1,500 feet, before beginning a 1,200 foot climb up to the objective. There was no path, and it was so steep that both hands and feet had to be used - a considerable challenge for Sanders, who had lost an arm in action on the North-West Frontier five years earlier; all stores had to be carried by the men.

When the assault began at 8.30 pm, there was fierce resistance. Repeated efforts to find a way into or around the enemy’s elaborate defences were unsuccessful, and Sanders decided to dig in on the rocky ground just 20 yards from the Japanese trenches and to hold on till dawn. A thick morning mist gave his men the chance to consolidate their positions and do some wiring but, as the day progressed, casualties mounted form enemy light machine gun and mortar fire, and from sniping and grenade attacks.

Under Sander’s leadership the Gurkhas held their ground throughout the day and night, while aggressive patrolling around the Japanese flanks succeeded in locating their water point.

jainso31

[jainso31]

8th FEB.1944

UNITED KINGDOM

HMCS Qu’Appelle, a River-class destroyer (ex-HMS Foxhound), Cdr. D.C. Wallace DSC RCNR, was commissioned into the RCN in the UK. Although Qu’Appelle’s career in the RCN was somewhat unremarkable, she was very active while she served with the RN. At the outbreak of the war, she was a member of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet. On 14 Sep 39, she shared in the destruction of the long-range Type IX submarine U-39, KptLt. Gerhard Glates, CO, off the Hebrides. Foxhound and her sisters Faulkenor and Firedrake were screening the fleet carrier Ark Royal, while engaged in ASW operations. U-39 fired two torpedoes at the carrier, which detonated prematurely only 80 meters short of their target. The explosion alerted the escorts to the submarine’s presence and they eventually located and attacked her, forcing the submarine to the surface where the entire crew safely abandoned the boat before it sank. This was the first U-boat ‘kill’ of the war. In Apr 40, Foxhound took part in the Second Battle of Narvik. In Nov 40, she was transferred to the famous Force ‘H’, based at Gibraltar, and saw extensive service in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. On 18 Jun 41, she shared with four of her F-class sisters in the destruction of the short-range Type II submarine U-138, OLtzS Franz Gramitzky, CO, west of Cadiz. Foxhound was also part of the escort for one of the dangerous ‘Malta Convoys’ during this period. From Jan 42 to May 43, she served with the Eastern Fleet. On completion of this duty, she was transferred to the West Africa Command, based out of Freetown, Sierra Leone. She returned to the UK in Sep 43 for a much needed refit and was transferred to the RCN immediately afterwards.

U.S.S.R.: The Third Ukrainian Front captures Nikopol, a vital centre of manganese production.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Sportsman torpedoed and sank the German POW Transport Petrella north of Souda Bay (Crete). 2,670 out of 3,173 Italian POWs where killed. German Guards did not open the POW rooms and fired at them while they tried to break out.

ALGERIA: Algiers: Two key agreements between the British government and the French committee of National Liberation were signed at a villa on the outskirts of Algiers today. One provides for mutual assistance in the war effort, free of cost on both sides. The other establishes a common rate of exchange of 200 Francs to the pound in all parts of the French empire. This will make it possible for something like normal trading to be resumed between the French territories

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-762 sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 49.02N, 16.58W, by depth charges from sloops HMS Woodpecker and Wild Goose. 51 dead (all hands lost). Left Brest 28 Dec 1943.
At 0145, SS Margit, a straggler from Convoy UR-108 since 7 February due to bad weather, was hit in the stern by one of two torpedoes fired by U-985 SE of Iceland. The ship first sank on even keel, but then settled by the stern and finally capsized. The master, 23 crewmembers and six gunners were lost.

jainso31

[jainso31]

9th FEB.1944

UNITED KINGDOM:

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris's threat to bomb Berlin and other major cities was not him just playing with words but was his resolute intention.
Area bombing, such as the grefirestorm of Hamburg last July, which killed 42,000 people,at is known to have affected worker morale and industrial output seriously in the days immediately following the raids. But the Germans are resilient people; they soon recover; and in the case of Hamburg only 50 working days were lost.

In fact, because of the efforts of Albert Speer, the armaments minister, production of weapons in Germany is steadily rising. Tank production had increased from 760 a month at the beginning of 1943 to 1,229 in December, while the production of aircraft rose from 15,288 in 1942 to 25,094 in 1943.

Perhaps the main achievement of Bomber Command's valiant effort has been the massive diversion of resources to the air defence of the Reich, which has deprived the Wehrmacht in Russia and Italy of vital air support

[/B]FRANCE

12 Lancasters of 617 "Dambuster" Squadron, led by Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, last night devastated the important Gnome and Rhone aero-engine factory at Limoges with 12,000lb bombs, the heaviest of the war so far.

GERMANY:

U-1209, U-1210 launched.
U-1169, U-1231 commissioned.

FINLAND: Finnish government decides to send Juho Kusti Paasikivi, the former Finnish ambassador at Moscow, to Stockholm to find out what are the Soviet terms for peace.

U.S.S.R.: Generals Malinkovsky and Konev start [B]to wipe out the German Eighth Army at Kirovograd.

INDIAN OCEAN: SS Viva (Master Oscar Andersen) was hit by a torpedo and sunk. Her crew was picked up next day by SS Marwarri and landed in Aden.

BURMA: The 1/7th Gurkha's position on "Bare Patch" is completely wired; Japanese grenade dischargers during the day have no effect, and the Gurkhas are replying with 2-inch mortars.

PACIFIC OCEAN: While on her 3rd war patrol USS Bonefish torpedoes and damages the Japanese tanker Tonan Maru No.2 (19262 BRT) off French Indochina in position 11.30N, 109.10E.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Submarine USS Gar: USS Gar (LCdr. G.W. Lautrup, Jr) ended her tenth war patrol at Pearl Harbor.[/

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The very successful anti-submarine group led by Captain F J Walker in HMS Starling fought a notable action in defence of convoy SL.147, sinking U-238 and U-734. Over 150 depth charges were used in a long and relentless battle, one of the depth charges successfully exploding a German torpedo just a few yards before it would have hit Starling. Exhausted by his relentless patrols of the North Atlantic, Captain[/B[B]] Walker, awarded the Distinguished Service Order no less than four times, suddenly died aboard ship in July 1944.

U-238 Kl.VIIC is sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 49.45N, 16.07W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Kite, Magpie and Starling. 50 dead (all hands lost).

U-734 sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Ireland, in position 49.43N, 16.23W by depth charges from sloops HMS Wild Goose and Starling. 49 dead (all hands lost).
U-193 was damaged by aircraft in the[B] Bay of Biscay.

At 1300, the Kelmscott in convoy HX-278 was torpedoed by U-845 off St. Johns. The ship developed a heavy list but was towed to St John's and after temporary repairs left for Baltimore on 17 August.

jainso31

[jainso31]

10th FEB.1944

BURMA: Japanese troops take the Ngakyedauk Pass, cutting off the 7th Indian Division at Sinzweya.

The 1/7th Gurkhas fighting for "Bare Patch" move around the Japanese flank and by 2.20pm the Japanese, now denied water and almost completely surrounded, begin pulling out. Just over an hour later, the position is clear of Japanese.

NEW GUINEA: Australians from Sio link up with the Americans near Saidor.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Japanese naval forces abandon Truk.

PACIFIC OCEAN:

Submarine USS Spearfish torpedoes and damages the Japanese transport ship Tatsuwa Maru (6345 BRT) SW of Formosa in position 21.53N, 119.13E.
Submarine USS Pogy torpedoes and sinks destroyer Minekaze and Malta Maru some 85 miles NNE of Formosa in position 23.12N, 121.30E.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-545 Kl. IXC/40 is Scuttled west of the Hebrides, in position 58.17N, 13.22W, after crippling damage from 4 depth charges dropped by a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 612/O). 1 dead and 56 survivors.

U-666 Kl.VIIC Listed as missing in the North Atlantic. There is no explanation for its loss. 51 dead (all hands lost).

[U-545 was in fact attacked by two aircraft. The other one, a Canadian Wellington (Sqdn 407), was shot down during the attack.

The survivors were picked up by U-714 after a while and taken to St. Nazaire, France. Kptlt. Mannesmann then commanded U-2502. He died in an air raid on Hamburg on 8 April, 1945]

jainso31

[jainso31]

11th FEB.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: Anthony Eden, the foreign secretary, speaking as leader of the House of Commons, today denied allegations made yesterday by Aneurin Bevan, the fiery Welsh Labour MP, that the government is guilty of corruption in putting many MPs on the state payroll with jobs outside parliament. As a wartime measure the prime minister can exempt MPs from having to give up their Commons seats if they accept "offices of profit under the crown". Mr Bevan accused Mr Churchill of issuing such exemptions "like confetti" and thus buying parliamentary support. Many MPs have taken emergency jobs ranging from ambassadorships to posts on obscure public bodies. The government denied impropriety, but promised to review the system.

ITALY: The Allied offensive south of Rome is stopped at Cassino.

ALBANIA: Brig. Arthur Frederick Crane Nicholls (b.1911), Coldstream Guards, died of injuries after enduring terrible pain - he ordered a man to cut off his frost-bitten legs - to deliver vital intelligence. (George Cross)

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Gudgeon torpedoes and sinks Satsuma Maru (3091 BRT) off Wenchow, China, in position 27.38N, 121.15E.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Submarine USS Finback ends her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-283 (ObLtzS Günther Ney, CO) VIIC is sunk south-west of the Faeroes, in position 60.45N, 12.50W, by depth charges from a Canadian Wellington aircraft (RCAF Sqdn. 407/D). 49 dead (all hands lost).
U-424 VIIC is sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 50.00N, 18.14W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Wild Goose and Woodpecker. 50 dead (all hands lost)

BURMA-The Japanese 33rd Div.as well as attacking the 17th Indian Div.is infiltrating behind the 20th Indian Div.but their advances in this sector are held at Witok
More Chindit forces are flying in to central Burma and are disrupting Japanese communications with the forces facing Stilwell's Chinese and American troops

jainso31

.

[jainso31]

UNITED KINGDOM: Channel Islands: The weekly edition of G.U.N.S, Guernsey's underground newssheet, was running off the duplicating machine yesterday when Gestapo agents burst into a back room in the island's capital of St. Peter Port. The paper's founder, Charles Machon, was arrested and will be tried before a German court which is likely to sentence him - and the four others also held - to prison in France or Germany. Machan's arrest (and probable torture) highlights the dangers faced by people resisting Nazi rule in the Channel Islands - the only part of the United Kingdom subjected to German occupation.

Savage sentences are imposed on islanders found with radio sets, for instance. Stanley Green a cinema projectionist, is in Buchenwald; a fellow Jerseyman, Harold Druillenec, in Belsen; and a rector who hid his radio in the organ loft is feared to have died in a concentration camp at Spergau.

No. 345 (French) Squadron RAF is formed from French personnel transferred from North Africa.

FRANCE: Paris: Maurice Toesca's diary records the manner of Joseph Darnand, head of the SOL as he calls on Bussière, the préfet of police. "M. Darnand explained, after a short speech from the préfet, that the position which he occupied was to be restricted to maintaining law and order: 'I insist on one thing only from the functionaries under my orders, that government instructions are obeyed. I want the governmen't authority to b effective. I do not ask functionaries to take a political stand, though I do myself, and that's my business, something distinct from the job in hand.'"

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler merges the Abwehr [military intelligence] with Himmler's SD (Sicherheitsdienst) [Security Service] and Gestapo, after members are arrested for plotting against him.
Those swinging tunes from New Orleans that caused such an uproar over 20 years ago when they first filled clubs across Europe are still incensing German authorities. One National Socialist has written to Alfred Rosenberg, the head of the party's foreign affairs department, demanding that "war" be waged against jazz and other "un-German" influences. Nazi music critics are already waging a war of words, describing jazz as an "interminable knee-buckling perversion" and "an irreverence appealing to the lowest instincts of the ma

ITALY: Anzio: The Allies have been forces back three miles to their final defensive line.

Back in London Churchill fumes: "We hurled a wildcat on the shores of Anzio - all we have is a stranded whale." The prime minister is livid that there are 18,000 vehicles in Anzio for 72,000 men - and yet no sign of the promised breakout.

Constant German attacks have put the beach-head on the defensive, and now the roles on two fronts are reversed. The Anzio landings were designed to break the deadlock at Cassino. Now attacks there are to be stepped up in an attempt to break through to Anzio.

Here on the beach-head, morale has reached its lowest ebb. General von Mackensen's XIV Army is being reinforced almost daily, so that it will soon have ten divisions to confront the Allies' five. Although the main counter-offensive is yet to begin, German attacks on the beach-head have already pushed the Allies back to the sea. The heavily-reinforced Luftwaffe is joining the attack on the beleaguered Allies.

War correspondents have been summoned to headquarters to be told that all news transmissions from the beach-head have been banned. One despatch happened to mention the possibility of evacuation, raising the unwelcome spectre of another Dunkirk.

No one can ban German leaflets that tell British soldiers: "The Yanks in England ... have loads of money and loads of time to chase after your women." The lurid pictures of naked women are becoming collectors' items however.

Monte Cassino: Fierce opposition stops the US 34th Division less than 300 yards short of Cassino town.

U.S.S.R.: Leningrad: The Red Army is maintaining its advance in the Baltic region despite stiffening resistance from the Germans. Hitler has sacked Field Marshal von Kuchler, replaced him with the tough tank expert General Model and rushed in reinforcements to hold the line.

Nevertheless, the Second Shock Army has stormed Kingisepp and reached Narva, on the Gulf of Finland. The town of Luga, 85 miles south of Leningrad, was reached today and the Russians are heading for Pskov. If their advance continues they will soon be facing the Germans all along the "Panther" fortifications which bar their road to the Baltic states.

BURMA: February 12, 1944, Combat Mission No. 1 with the First Air Commandos.
Aircraft B-25H crew Lt/Col. R.T.Smith -Pilot, 1st Lt Wesley Weber -Nav, M/sgt Chuck Baisden -engineer /turret gunner, S/sgt Richard Dickson Radio operator/side gunner, S/Sgt Charles Miller-Tail gunner.
Flew from Hailikandi, Assam to Imphal,Assam and picked up C.O. of the Brit Chindits , General Orde Wingate and flew a reconn mission in the Katha, Burma area.
Wingate very interested in our .75 cannon and R.T .very happily obliged by destroying a small r.r.bridge and blowing off the roof of a very large building that stuck out above the jungle canopy. Had some small arms ground fire which holed the fuselage. One bullet hit the ammunition feed tray near Miller's head, he was unaware of this until after the mission.
Although we were gone from daylight to dusk the actual mission took only 3 hours

INDIAN OCEAN: The Japanese submarine I-27 sinks the British troopship KHEDIVE ISMAIL, killing nearly 2,000 people, and is herself sunk by the destroyers HMS PETARD and HMS PALADIN.

NAURU: Majuro Harbor: The US Fleet sails bound for Truk in the Marianas Islands. it was their "Pearl Harbor" and that they were expecting to find a lot of shipping in the area and a lot of aircraft also.'

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine rescue vessel USS Macaw ran aground on 16 January 1944 in the Midway Channel. Salvage attempts failed and on 12 February 1944 she slipped off the reef and sank.

Submarine USS Tambor torpedoes and sinks tanker Ronsan Maru (2735 BRT) in the East China Sea some 40 miles SW of Amami O Shima in position 27.45N, 128.42E.


jainso31

[jainso31]

13th FEB.1944

UNITED KINGDOM:

The Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), an alliance of British, American and French forces responsible for planning and executing Allied activities in Western Europe against the Germans. SHAEF, led by supreme commander Major General Dwight Eisenhower, is the organisation charged with developing Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of north-west Europe.

NORTH SEA:

Minesweeping trawler HMS Cap d'Antifer sunk by a German Motor Torpedo Boat.

FINLAND:

The motion picture "The Flame of New Orleans" is released here. It was released April 25, 1941 in the US. Directed by Rene Clair, the film stars Marlene Dietrich, Bruce Cabot, Mischa Auer and Andy Devine. This period comedy set in 1840 New Orleans, has Dietrich trying to convince her fiancé that she is two different women while being chased by another man. The film was nominated for one technical Academy Award.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet forces liberate Luga, Lyady and Polna, in the north.

PACIFIC OCEAN:

Submarine USS Hake sinks a Japanese sampam with gunfire in the Banda Sea in position 04.37S, 125.26E

BURMA:[/B

[B]General Scoones authorises 17th and 20th Indian Divs. to withdraw from their advanced positions to IMPHAL.Scoones agreed this move with his superiors SLIM and GIFFORD. MOUNTBATTEN requested that the American aircraft used fir ferrying supplies to the Chinese,to be used to move the 5th Indian Div. in the ARAKAN
The Japanese begin bombing the CHINDIT's BROADWAY airfield

[jainso31]

14th FEB.1944

FRANCE: Marseilles: German officials have told the Vichy government that they are taking direct control of the Mediterranean coast which they say is threatened with invasion. Martial law will be declared tomorrow in the seven coastal departments between Italy and Spain: "non-essential" people have been urged to leave the coast.

GERMANY: U-738 sunk near Gotenhafen, in position 54.31N, 18.33E, after collision with SS Erna. 22 dead and 24 survivors.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops enter the Korsun pocket, meeting strong resistance from the Germans trapped inside.

INDIAN OCEAN: Salvage vessel HMS Salviking torpedoed and sunk by U-168 SW of Ceylon at 03.30N, 76.30E.

MALACCA STRAITS: A German crewed ex-Italian submarine, UIT-23, launched as the Reginaldo Giuliani on 13 March, 1939 is sunk in position 04.27N, 100.11E, by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS Tallyho. 26 dead, 14 survivors. She has been taken over by the Germans following the Italian capitulation, at Singapore on 10 September, 1943.

PACIFIC OCEAN:

While operating off Cape Santiago, Luzon, USS Flasher torpedoes and sinks army cargo ship Minryo Maru (2224 BRT) in position 13.43N, 120.39E and the Japanese tanker Hokuan Maru (3712 BRT) in position 13.44N, 120.29E.
Submarine USS Snook torpedoes and sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Nittoku Maru (3591 BRT) SW of Tsushima, Japan in position 33.48N, 128.50E.

jainso31

[nick60]

14th February 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Feb. 14th '45
Have arrived at Polyarno, about 60 miles from Murmansk, N. Russia

Very bad trip - many aircraft attempting to attack convoy off Norway. HMS "Bellona" had taken most of the attack. Just before entering Arctic Circle, submarines have had their fun. It is very cold, am wearing much gear, including white fur coats and hood.

[jainso31]

15th FEB. 1944

GERMANY: General der Panzertruppen Friedrich Kühn, is killed in [/B[B]]an air raid on Berlin. General der Panzertruppen is three star rank, equivalent to an American Lieutenant-General. He is the highest ranking officer of the Heer to be killed by enemy action in the war.

ITALY: 142 Fifteenth Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped 353 tons of bombs on the monastery at Monte [/B[B]]Cassino.

This was the first heavy-bomber attack on Monte Cassino Benedictine Abbey in support of the New Zealand Corps assault to establish a bridgehead across the Rapido River south of Cassino. Also bombing were Twelfth Air Force North American B-25 Mitchells and Martin B-26 Marauders.

It was Lt-Gen Sir Bernard Freyberg whose newly-formed New Zealand Corps has the task of assaulting the heights, who asked for the monastery to be bombed on the grounds that it was being used as an observation post for German artillery. US generals were against the bombing; and the decision was taken only when General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, the supreme Allied commander in the Mediterranean, flew out over the monastery and thought he saw radio aerials. He was wrong. The monastery was not occupied by the Germans, though they may have been there to help the monks remove books and manuscripts for safekeeping in the Vatican.

After the aerial bombardment the New Zealanders and the 4th Indian Division began their assault tonight - only to be repulsed by German paratroopers. Ironically, the Germans are now moving into the wrecked monastery, which makes a better defensive position.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Upstart sinks German auxiliary minelayer Niedersachsen (1794 BRT, former French Guyane) off the Italian Riviera.

At 1522, the Fort St. Nicolas was hit by a Gnat from U-410 and sank east of the island of Capri. The master, 48 crewmembers, 14 gunners and four passengers were rescued by a RAF crash launch and landed at Salerno. The Fort St. Nicolas was participating in the Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio-Nettuno.

AUSTRALIA: The RAAF forms No. 7 Operational training Unit (OTU) at Tocumwal, New South Wales, to provide operational training for B-24 crews. (

SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Marine Torpedo Bomber Squadron One [/B[B]]Hundred Thirty Four (VMTB-134) flying TBF Avengers against the Japanese at Rabaul, New Britain, Bismark Archipelago, make the first combat use in the Pacific of forward firing rockets.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-43 is sunk by the USS Aspro (SS-309) east of Guam.

Submarine USS Narwhal ended her 9th war patrol as she returned to base.
Submarine USS Gato sinks the Japanese guardboat Taiyo Maru No.3 (36 BRT) off Rabaul, New Britain in position 04.00S, 150.10E.

Submarine USS Silversides departs Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol west of the Mariana Islands.

Submarine USS Angler departs Midway for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China and Sulu Sea.

Submarine USS Snook torpedoes and sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kamone Maru (875 BRT) off the south coast of Korea in position 34.23N, 128.23E.
Submarine USS Tinosa torpedoes and sinks Japanese army cargo ship Odatsuki Maru (1988 BRT) east of Dinagat Island in position 09.30N, 127.00E.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Epaminondas C. Embiricos sunk by U-168 at 01.30N, 73E. Two men were taken prisoner by U-168.

jainso31

[jainso31]

26th FEB. 1944

FINLAND: The Finnish envoy J. K. Paasikivi meets the Soviet ambassador at Stockholm Alexandra Kollontay to discuss the possibility of a negotiated peace between Finland and Soviet Union. They meet two more times on 19th and 21st of February, and after long discussions, Paasikivi receives the Soviet terms. The Soviets demand the 1940 border with Petsamo, severing all ties with Germany and interning of German troops. These terms has to be accepted before the negotiations could begin. The Soviets also publish the terms, and Germany lets it to be known that it considers the Finnish peace-feelers 'treacherous'.

This night the Soviet heavy bombers attack Helsinki for the second time. This time the Finnish defences are strengthened further by a flight of German night fighters. The first attempt by 120 bombers is repelled, but later in the night some 300 bombers try to get through in smaller groups. Some succeed, but overall the city suffers far less than in the previous bombing ten days ago; however, 25 people are killed.

U.S.S.R.: The final German attempt to escape the Korsun pocket starts tonight.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 1511, HMS LST-418 was struck by a Gnat from U-230 and sank off Anzio after being hit by a coup de grâce at 1536. The vessel was participating in the landings in Anzio-Nettuno, Operation Shingle.

WESTERN PACIFIC: Strong United States Navy task forces attacked Truk

ITALY:The Germans begin a major attack on the ANZIO BEACHHEAD.Units of five Divisions attack the relatively fresh 45th US and 56th Btitish Divisions.The Luftwaffe has gathered it's strength as well operating in support against shipping offshore.The ammunition ship ELIHU YALE blows up after one such attack.
in the CASSINO sector the NZ CORPS continues it's fight for the rubble that eas the monastery but the Germans are well protected.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A Sunderland aircraft attacked U-546 in the North Atlantic and one man died. [Matrosengefreiter Wilhelm van de Kamp].

jainso31

[jainso31]

17th FEB.1944

U.S.S.R.: The Korsun pocket is eliminated.

Kiev: The Red Army claims that it wiped out some 52,000 German soldiers last night when the 60,000-strong German force trapped in the Korsun pocket 75 miles south of Kiev tried to break out. While the III Panzer Korps tried to batter its way into the pocket from the outside, the German commander in the pocket, General Wilhelm Stemmermann, plotted the breakout. As dawn broke the Germans neared Lysyanka, thinking they had escaped; then Russian tanks and Cossack cavalry loomed out of the mist. It was a massacre. Despite Russian claims, it is possible that as many as 30,000 got away; but there is not doubt that the Wehrmacht has suffered another costly defeat. The Luftwaffe has also lost 45 Ju52 transports.

BURMA: An unlikely array of Allied troops - clerks, cooks, pay corps orderlies and staff officers - have halted the Japanese offensive, Operation HA-GO, launched earlier this month. Japanese troops cut the lines of the 7th Indian Division to attack the XV Indian Corps from the rear. But they have been stoutly resisted by XV Corps' forward administrative area at Sinzweya, now besieged in the "Admin Box" and being supplied entirely by air.

Maj. Charles Ferguson Hoey (b.1914), Lincolnshire Regt., advanced under devastating fire and, already fatally wounded, seized a strongpoint. (Victoria Cross)

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Operation Catchpole. US Carrier Force attacks Truk

Major Greg Boyington, (Pappy) had been shot down and after several hours in his life raft, was picked up by a Japanese submarine and taken to Rabaul. He was held there for a period of time and then flown out in a 'Betty' with five other POWs, two Australians, a P-38 pilot, a PBY pilot and another Corsair pilot. They landed at Truk just as our fleet was making our raid on Feb. 16,1944. It was a rough landing and as the plane came to a stop, they were jerked out of the plane and ran to a shallow pit beside the runway as an F6F came down the runway firing all his 50 cal guns. The Betty blew up in flames as Pappy watched. They watched the show til dark and were led to a building and kept there during the attack the next day so they didn't see too much til they were later led out and put on another plane for the trip to Japan. He said the damage was a sight to see. He spent the rest of the war in Japan.

PACIFIC OCEAN:
(1) the destroyer USS Nicholas (DD-449) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-11 northwest of the Marshalls;
(2) the submarine USS Cero (SS-225) sinks Japanese transport Jozan Maru between Truk and New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago;
(3) the submarine USS Sargo (SS-188), in an attack on a Japanese convoy about 150 miles (241 km) northeast of the Palau Islands, sinks ammunition ship Nichiro Maru and damages oiler Sata;
(4) the submarine USS Tang (SS-306) attacks a Japanese convoy, sinking army cargo ship Gyoten Maru and merchant tanker Kuniei [/B[B]]Maru about 130 miles (209 km) west-northwest of Truk, and survives depth-charging by the convoy escorts;
(5) USN SBD Dauntlesses and TBF Avengers bomb Japanese shipping in Keravia Bay, near Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, sinking minesweeper W.26 (which had been damaged previously, 2 November 1943, and had been beached at that time to prevent her loss), guardboat No.2 Fuku Maru, and army cargo ship Iwate Maru;
(6) USAAF B-25 Mitchells attack Japanese ships going to the aid of convoy attacked north of New Hanover Island in the Bismarck Archipelago the day before, damaging Kashi Maru and forcing her to be run aground to prevent sinking;
(7) USAAF P-40s attack Japanese shipping at Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands, damaging cargo ship Chosen Maru; and
(8) the Japanese merchant tanker Zuih Maru is damaged by mine downstream from Woosung, China.

The aircraft carrier USS INTREPID is struck by an aerial torpedo on her starboard quarter, 15 feet below her waterline, flooding several compartments and jamming her rudder hard to port. By racing her port screw and idling her starboard engine, Captain Sprague keeps her on course.

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS Algonquin (ex-HMS Valentine) commissioned. Algonquin and her V-class sister Sioux, ex-HMS Vixen, are often incorrectly referred to as Tribal-class destroyers. It has been pointed out that the designation of these two destroyers with Tribal names was deliberate attempt to deceive the enemy. In fact the V-class was the 8th Flotilla of the British Emergency War Program and was significantly different from the pre-war Tribal-class. Marginally shorter than the Tribals, the V-class carried a significantly improved secondary AA armament, which had been one of the major weaknesses of the earlier type. The twin 4.7-inch turrets of the Tribals, which had been highly prized by prewar Canadian naval planners who viewed them as 'mini-cruisers', were abandoned in favor of single-gun mountings. The V-class also carried 100 tons more fuel than the Tribals, which marginally improved the poor endurance of the older destroyers.

jainso31

[jainso31]

18th FEB. 1944


FRANCE: Amiens: Nineteen RAF Mosquito VIs of Nos. 21, 464 and 487 Squadrons flew out of winter snow at treetop height today to hurl 500-pound bombs against the walls of Amiens jail. The explosions blasted gaps in the western outer wall, which is 20 feet high and three feet thick, and sliced open the main prison block.

This was the top-secret Operation JERICHO, to snatch Resistance leaders 24 hours before they were due to face a firing squad. Their message to rescuers led by the Australian Group-Captain P. Charles Pickard was "better blown up by British bombs that shot by Nazis."

The first three bombers missed the outer wall. The next two lowered their aim and scored as the next pair hit the guards' dining room. Finally, there was uproar as the main block was bombed in an effort to blast open cell doors without bloodshed.

But this ambitious operation has had one embarrassing result. Of 258 men freed, 179 are criminals. Some 56 Resistants died, many shot by guards as they ran for the gap. The most valuable man to get out was Louis Vivant, the Maquis leader in the Somme, but the 74 men left in the prison include the prominent patriot, Dr. Mans. The RAF dead include Pickard himself, a veteran of many special operations, including the Bruneval raid, and a "star" in the 1941 film Target for Tonight.

ITALY: Anzio: At 0658, light cruiser HMS Penelope was hit by one torpedo from U-410 (Oberleutnant zur See Horst-Arno-Fenski) and sank rapidly after being hit at 0716 by a coup de grâce 35 miles west of Naples at 40 55N 13 25E. There are 415 casualties, but 85 survivors. She was returning from bombarding enemy positions during the Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio, in which she was part of the Gunfire Support Group TG 81.8, comprising of light cruiser USS Brooklyn and destroyers USS Woolsey, Mayo, Trippe, Ludlow and Edison. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Gen Ivan S Konev, the commander of the Second Ukrainian Front, is promoted to marshal of the USSR for driving the Germans out of Korsun. General Eisenhower is awarded the Order of Suvorov, First Class.

Soviet forces takes Staraya-Russa and Shimsk.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: US forces land on Engebi Island.

In Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the 22d Marine Regiment lands on Engebi Island at the northern tip of the atoll at 0845 hours. This is part of Operation CATCHPOLE. There are over 1,200 Japanese Okinawans and Koreans on the island. Organized resistance ceases at 0800 hours local tomorrow; only 16 of the occupiers are captured. American casualties are 85 KIA and MIA and 521 WIA.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Task Force 58 (TF 58) under Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance repeats a strike on Japanese installations and vessels at Truk; TF 58 planes sink destroyer HIJMS Fumizuki; submarine chaser Ch 29; and motor torpedo boat Gyoraitei No.10.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Destroyer Squadron 23 or Task Group 39.4 under Captain Arleigh A. Burke bombards Japanese positions at Kavieng on New Ireland Island; on New Britain Island, Destroyer Squadron 12 under Captain Rodger W. Simpson shells Rabaul, Japanese installations on the Crater Peninsula, and bivouac and supply areas at Vunapope and Cape Gazelle.

In the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 4 Japanese ships are sunk by an RN submarine and USAAF and USN aircraft.

ATLANTIC OCEAN-- U-406 is sunk in position 48.32N, 23.36W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Spey. 12 dead and 45 survivors


jainso31.

U-7 sank west of Pillau, in position 54.52N, 19.30E in a diving accident. 29 dead (all hands lost).

[nick60]

18th February 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Feb. 18th '45

There is nothing to report for the past few days. Have been busy aboard ship, not been ashore - nothing at all here except too much **** snow. We are leaving early in the morning about 02:00

[emason]

Seventy years ago today, 19 February 1942, the Australian town of Darwin was bombed by the the Japanese. It was the first and the largest single attack mounted by a foreign power against Australia. 242 Japanese aircraft attacked ships in Darwin's harbour and the town's two airfields. The town was only lightly defended, and heavy losses were suffered.

[jainso31]

19th FEB. 1944

POLAND: Warsaw: German forces have reduced General Bor-Komorowski's hold on the city to three isolated pockets, and the Polish Home Army and the attempt by communist partisans' (the People's Guard) to regain control of Warsaw must now depend on substantial aid from the Russians, poised just on the other side of the river Vistula. But Stalin has refused to aid the valiant Poles.

In a message to the British government three days ago the Russians argued: "The Warsaw action is a reckless, appalling adventure which is costing the population heavy casualties. This would not have been the case of the Soviet command had been informed before the Warsaw action began, and if the Poles had maintained contact with it .... the Soviet command has come to the conclusion that it must dissociate itself from the Warsaw venture."

The Russians have three operational airfields a few minutes' flight from Warsaw, while the RAF and South African bombers attempting to drop supplies to the Poles must fly from Foggia across Europe under constant Luftwaffe attacks. Of ten bombers which set out for Warsaw from Italy three days ago, six failed to return. What makes the loss of these aircraft and crews especially sad is that Stalin will not allow the RAF supply planes to land on Russian-controlled airfields. The Poles seem doomed in the face of such intransigence.

ITALY: Anzio: After three days of desperate fighting the Allied divisions trapped on the Anzio beach-head today halted a major German offensive. The attack was launched on 16 February, with General von Mackensen's Fourteenth Army supported by the Luftwaffe. A sustained artillery barrage opened up a gap in the sector held by the US 45th Division, and for a time, it appeared as though the Allied would be split in two. Panzers poured through the gap, but themselves came under attack as the Allies concentrated their own fire more effectively. Still, though, the Germans pushed the Allies back towards the beaches. But tonight determined fighting by the British 1st and US 45th Divisions, backed by air and naval bombardment, has checked the Germans at Carroceto Creek.

Twelfth Air Force B-25s blast troop concentrations to the north of Anzio [/B]beachhead; A-36s and P-40s keep troops, tanks, and motor transport in the beachhead battle area under attack, flying 200+ sorties in 20+ missions as an Allied counterattack turns the tide of battle; fighters maintain control over the northern part of the battle area.

CHINA: Fourteenth Air Force B-24s, B-25s, and P-40s fly sea sweeps over wide-spread coastal areas from the Formosa Straits to French Indochina, claiming 3 ships sunk and others damaged; railroad bridges, trains, and other

BURMA: The Tenth Air Force dispatches 60+ A-36 Apaches and P-51 Mustangs and a few B-25 Mitchells to hit a variety of targets including fuel and supply dumps at Manywet and in the Shaduzup area; the Tonkin-Kansi road and a junction west of Manywet; the Mu River bridge at Ye-u; and railroad cars and tracks, locomotives, and river traffic between Monywa and Natyekan and between Alon and Segyi. Rail and road traffic in the Bhamo and Hukawng Valley-Kamaing areas is also hit.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: A USMC and USN strike force consisting of 48 SBD Dauntlesses and 23 TBF Avengers escorted by 68 USAAF, USMC and USN fighters bomb Lakunai Airfield and other Japanese installations at Rabaul on New Britain Island; they are intercepted by less than 50 Japanese aircraft. Twelve minutes later, Lakunai and Tobera Airfields are attacked by 20 USAAF B-24 Liberators escorted by 35 fighters. The area has been repeatedly pounded, [B]and after this date the Japanese abandon air defence of Rabaul.

Twelve Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack Japanese shipping southwest of New Ireland Island, claiming a small freighter and a patrol boat sunk and other vessels damaged. Seven A-20 Havocs hit shipping at Kavieng, New Ireland Island while single B-24 Liberators and B-25s carry out armed reconnaissance over wide areas of the Bismarck Sea.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: The U.S. Army's 106th Infantry Regiment, backed by a Marine battalion and supported by naval bombardment, land on two beaches of Eniwetok Island in Eniwetok Atoll at 0907 hours local. The landing is under Brigadier General Thomas E. Watson, USMC, and the overall operation is under Rear Admiral Harry W. Hill, USN. The Japanese garrison of about 800 troops is finally overcome at 1630 hours on 21 February. U.S. casualties are light, 37 KIA and 94 WIA; 23 Japanese are captured.

Seventh Air Force B-25s from Tarawa hit Wotje Atoll while Makin-based P-40s bomb and strafe Mille Atoll.

CAROLINE ISLANDS:Seventh Air Force B-24s from Tarawa Atoll and Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands pound Ponape and Kusaie Islands.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Japanese lose 13 ships, six to USN submarines and seven to USAAF aircraft.

The crippled USS INTREPID is swung back and forth by high winds. These have tended to weathercock the ship with her bow pointed toward Tokyo. C

U.S.A.: The USAAF ordered 650 Vultee SNV-2s for the USN; these aircraft, which were identical to the BT-13Bs, were designated Model 79As

jainso31.

[nick60]

19th Decemebr 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Feb 19th 12:00

Much has happened in the last 8 hours. We are now on our way back to Murmansk, trying desperately to save HMS "Cassandra" - badly torpedoed.

Sailed at 03:00 this morning with convoy. I had the morning watch. at 05:00, HMS Cassandra was reported off our starb'd bow. Everything quiet - weather deteriorating.

05:30. Ordered to stream "CAT", device against new torpedoes). 05:40. Terrible explosion which knocked me over - I thought we'd been hit forw'd. Informed from bridge that "Cassandra" had been struck by torpedo meant for us. "05:45, going to Cassandras' assistance". Signal recieved from Commodore of convoy, "EG20 to remain behind - assist in rescue operations". All our group of five ships standing by "Cassandra" at 06:00

Message from Cassandra received by signal, "Bows all gone up to "B" gun - most of ships company lost owing to exposure in water. Forw'd watertight doors holding at present".

Weare now taking Cassandra in tow, she is still floating. making a speed of 2 knots. Rest of group circling for submarines

[jainso31]

UNITED KINGDOM: Fulham, London: Mr. Leslie Owen Fox (1904-82), Heavy Rescue Service, tunnelled for hours under burning debris to find a man trapped in a bombed house. (George Cross)
Destroyer HMS Warwick sunk by U-413.

NETHERLANDS: 35 Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Haamstede Airfield as a target of opportunity, after about 100 B-26s abort attacks on other airfields because of weather.

GERMANY: The US 8th Air Force begins attacks which become known as "Big Week". 731 B-17s and 272 B-24s are disparched to bomb German fighter aircraft production centers at Tutow, Leipzig, Heiterblick, Abtnaundorf, Bernburg, Brunswick, Wilhelmtor, Neupetritor and Gotha. 15 aircraft are lost.
USAAF Sgt Archibald Mathies, engineer, and Second Lt Walter E Truemper navigator, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions this day.
It was a planned attack on the German Air Force. The attacks were aimed at airframe and engine manufacturing plants. That was the target. The aim was to force the Luftwaffe to come up and engage with the new American long range fighter capability. The object to kill German fighter pilots and destroy the manufacturing ability. The first aim succeeded the second did not. American fighters were freed from close support of the bombers and instructed to engage and kill all German aircraft in the sky, to follow them down wherever they went and kill the pilots.


NORWAY: Norwegian resistance successfully sinks a barge carrying heavy water from Ryukan, Norway bound for Germany. Heavy water is necessary for continued experiments by the German nuclear program.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit troop concentrations along roads in the Vallalta area; B-25s hit dumps and assembly areas at the northern edge of the Anzio beachhead, and A-20 Havocs bomb a troop and motor transport concentration southeast of Carroceto; A-36 Apaches and P-40s hit troops, trucks and tanks northeast of Carroceto, bomb the town of Fondi, a factory east of Carroceto, the town of Piedimonte, and hit guns and targets of opportunity along the northern line of the beachhead; an Axis attempt to achieve a breakthrough is decisively defeated in the center of the salient created by a counteroffensive and their efforts end.
Fifteenth Air Force B-24s blast troop concentrations in the Anzio, Italy, beachhead area as the Axis efforts end.
At 1755, U-230 fired one Gnat at landing ships off Anzio and heard a detonation after 13 minutes, 25 seconds. The Gnat probably detonated at the end of its run. At 1851 hours, another torpedo was fired, which sank HMS LST-305.
At 0157, USS LST-348 was torpedoed by U-410 and was sunk at 0221 by a coup de grâce about 40 miles south of Naples. The vessel was participating in the landings in Anzio-Nettuno, Operation Shingle.


BLACK SEA: Soviet Black Sea Fleet submarine TS-2 (ex-S2 Marsuinul) sunk due to torpedo explosion at Poti. Raised Feb 28 and later returned to service.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO:35 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s, with fighter escort, bomb Lakunai Airfield at Rabaul on New Britain Island. Twelve Fifth Air Force B-24s hit shipping off Kavieng, New Ireland Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force P-39s attack barge traffic, which has greatly increased off southeastern and northwestern Bougainville Island, claiming 20 of the craft sunk.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Aircraft the USS Enterprise (CV-6), part of Task Group 58.1 (TG 58.1) bomb Japanese installations on Jaluit Atoll. Nine Seventh Air Force B-25s from Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands bomb the airfield at Wotje Atoll while P-40s from Makin Island in the Gilberts strafe and bomb runways and small vessels at Mille Atoll.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: 18 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the airfield at Laha on Ambon Island.

NEW GUINEA: 38 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the Alexishafen-Hansa Bay area.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese ships are sunk by the submarine USS Pogy (SS-266).

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Whilst serving in Captain Walker’s renowned 2nd. Escort Group, sloop HMS Woodpecker is hit by a Zaunkönig fired by U-764 (Leutnant zur See Hanskurt von Bremen) South of Iceland at 48 49N 22 11W . Woodpecker’s stern is blown off but as she remained afloat was taken in tow. She sank in a gale on 27 February at 49 39N 06 08E. There were no casualties.
[B]VandW class destroyer HMS Warwick is torpedoed and sunk by U-413 (Kapitanleutnant Gustav Poel) in the English Channel 20 SW of Trevose Head at 50 27N 05 23W. The torpedo set off an internal explosion, whereupon Warwick sank very quickly with 43 casualties and 93 survivors.
U-683 reported missing in the North Atlantic SW of Ireland[/B

jainso31].

[Mankickunny]

Wow! Thank you! I continually wanted to write on my site something like that. Can I implement a portion of your post to my blog? =-=

[jainso31]

you must get permission from a moderator on duty first; and you do not disturb the existing format'.

jainso31

[jainso31]

GERMANY: "Big Week" 617 B-17s and 244 B-24s are dispatched to hit aircraft industry at Brunswick and various airfields in Germany. 16 aircraft are lost.

ITALY:

Alberto di Filippis writes to his brother from the village of Cava dei Tirreni

Cava, 21 February 1944

"Dear brother,

I am at last managing to send you some news. I am well. As is Prospero and everybody at home. We had 18 days of emergency, from 10 to 28 September, with a complete English (sic) victory. A great many English are occupying the Croce pass and are encamped there, mostly close to Monticello: they’re all most courteous and generous. Some of them left us weeping. The military events did not cause damage to the house: but a fire triggered some looting, and it was almost completely destroyed, from the second to the third floor. We have done some repairs and have sorted ourselves out: but there is still much to do — and we have no money. It goes without saying that life has become fantastically expensive as a result of the rapacious growth of a ruthless black market. The Allies have begun to fight it, but to wipe it out will want more time.

And what about you? Send me detailed news. We all long for it passionately. I cannot give you confirmation of Ferdinando : communications with the rest of Italy are cut off. His most recent postcard dates back to the end of August, and it arrived here hardly two days ago. Ever more affectionate hugs from us all to you all. I pray always for you. God grant that we may kiss each other again.

Your brother Albert."

INDIAN OCEAN: Unescorted SS Fenris torpedoed amidships by U-168, but was able to reach Bombay in damaged condition under own power for repairs.

CHINA: The 8th Route Army takes Taiku.

JAPAN: Prime Minister Tojo assumes the office of Chief of Army General Staff. Navy Minister Shimada replaces Admiral Nagano as Chief of Naval General Staff.

PACIFIC OCEAN: After the raid on Truk, we departed for the Marianas. At about 1630 on February 21, 1944, two Jap 'Betties' sighted our convoy. One of them was shot down by our CAP but the other one got away.

About 2100, Torpedo defence was sounded as more 'Betties' were sighted on radar. Shortly after that, General Quarters sounded as they moved in for the kill. 11 or 12 'Betties' were shot down during the night by the convoy and none of our ships were hit. After being located, we figured we would get a real hot reception in the morning as we moved into strike position.

Eniwetok US Marines with support of naval bombardment and carrier aircraft secure the Atoll

jainso31.

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim,

Liked Alberto's letter to his brother/My nosy old mind wonders.....did sparse news of Ferdinand and brief postcard mean he was a serving (Italian) soldier/where,
was Alberto a Cava businessman ? 3 story house and "family", mention of Prospero and everyone at home (no wife ?).
Where was the brother and rest of family he writing to....etc
Alas we'll never know...but I'm glad he found the English a kind and matey
lot (aint we all?!).

derek-L

[jainso31]

Derek -the brother (unnamed) Albert was writing to was obviously an Italian seviceman, as was the other brother Ferdinand; and they could be serving anywhere because Italy had capitulated in 1943-this was 1944.
The family lived in a big house ,partially damaged by battle and a fire-Croce was the scene of bitter fighting.No females are mentioned ie.mother wife or sister.All a bit jumbled and one can only guess at the scenario.

jainso31

[jainso31]

22nd FEB. 1944


GERMANY evacuates Krivy Rog.

"Big Week" 289 B-17s hit aircraft production centers at Aschersleben, Ber[/B]nburg and Halberstadt plus targets of opportunity. 333 B-17s of the 3d Bombardment Division are dispatched to Schweinfurt but severe weather prevented the aircraft from forming properly and they were recalled. 74 of 177 B-24s dispatched hit targets in the Netherlands. 38 B-17s and 3 B-24s are lost.

One of the B-24 Groups bombs Nijmegen, the Netherlands, by mistake killing over 800 civilians.


SWEDEN: Soviet bombers attack Stockholm by mistake. There are no casualties.

[B]GREECE: Athens: 400 German soldiers drowned when their train was blown into a flooded river here today by mines laid by Greek partisans. Hundreds more were injured. A general was amongst the dead. The ambush marks a new offensive in the Balkans, with British officers from the Special Operations Executive leading Andarte freedom fighters. Ten coaches plunged down a ravine on the main Athens to Salonika line. The surviving armoured coach was sprayed with machine gun fire before the partisans disappeared into the countryside.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 1213, U-969 fired a spread of three torpedoes at Convoy GUS-31 about 15 miles off Bône, Algeria and heard two detonations. The Peter Skene Ogden and George Cleeve were each hit by one torpedo and were both beached, but later declared total losses. George Cleeve in station #121 was hit by one torpedo on the starboard side amidships in the engine room. The explosion created a hole 21 feet long, killed the second assistant engineer on watch below and destroyed the engine and turned it over on its side. The blast forced its way into the #4 hold, blew scrap iron through the deck and enveloped the superstructure in steam and oil. A large crack appeared amidships and the master thought the ship would break in two. The vessel settled with a 20° list to port until the after deck was awash and the bow rose out of the water. About one hour after the attack, the eight officers, 33 men and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) were ordered to abandon ship in two boats and a raft. The survivors were picked up by the American SS William T. Barry after 30 minutes and landed in Oran on 25 February. One armed guard had been blown overboard and was picked up by a small boat from the other torpedoed ship. A salvage crew later boarded the Liberty ship, which was towed to Bône and beached. After her cargo was discharged, the vessel was declared a total loss and was later scrapped in Italy. Peter Skene Ogden, the ship of the convoy vice-commodore in station #111; was hit by one torpedo on the starboard side at the #5 hold. The explosion threw sand ballast; hatch beams and covers into the air, blew one of the after booms over the side, damaged the shaft and caused the propeller to drop off. When the ship began to settle by the stern, the eight officers, 33 crewmen, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and eight naval staff members abandoned ship in four lifeboats and four rafts about two hours after the hit. They were picked up by a British escort vessel at 16.30 hours and landed at Bône, while the master and ten volunteers reboarded the Peter Skene Ogden to prepare her salvage. She was towed by tug HMS Hengist to Herbillon, Algeria where she was beached at 1800 on 23 February and later declared a total loss.

INDIAN OCEAN: U-510 made two attacks at the convoy PA-69 about 200 miles from Aden and reported two tankers and one freighter sunk, one freighter was left burning and sinking and one other freighter was damaged by one torpedo. Three tankers were hit, the San Alvaro, E.G. Seubert and Erling Brøvig. The last stayed afloat with a broken back and both parts were towed to port. It is not clear whether one ship was hit by two torpedoes. E.G. Seubert in station #21 was hit by one torpedo on the port side in the #10 tank and the cross bunkers. The explosion blew one of the after machine guns over the side and started a small fire. The steam smothering line quickly put out the flames. The engines were stopped, as the tanker settled rapidly with a list to port. Only one lifeboat could be launched before the ship suddenly capsized to port and sank by the stern, twelve minutes after the hit. The most of her crew of eight officers, 35 men and 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship by jumping overboard and had to swim through fuel oil several inches thick. One officer, two men and three armed guards, including the commanding officer died. The survivors were picked up by minesweeper HMAS Tamworth and corvette HMIS Orissa and taken to Aden, arriving on 24 February. Erling Brøvig broke almost in two after she was hit by one torpedo amidships, but was taken in tow and beached near Aden, where her cargo was transferred to lighters and she was temporarily repaired. The crew reached Aden in lifeboats and was later taken to Capetown on the Panamanian merchant Sewall. On 16 September, the tanker got underway to Massawa, assisted by a tug, but after one day she broke in two behind amidships, both parts still floating. The tug continued with the forepart and the master sailed with the afterpart as far as Suez by her own power. A tug towed her through the canal and she arrived Italy safely, where she was subsequently laid up. After the war, the tanker was repaired in Genoa and reentered service as Bramora in 1946/47. Sold to China in 1960/61 and eventually broken up. San Alvaro was sunk at 13.46N, 48.49E.

MARIANAS ISLANDS: Units of the US 5th Fleet, Task Force 58, attack the Marianas Islands.
The USS Bunker Hill kept up her tradition as the "Holiday Raider" today on Washingtons Birthday with a raid on Guam, Saipan and Tenian. Today the detachment from VFN-76 went along. They lost one pilot but accounted for 5 Japs. One pilot came back shot up pretty bad but accounted for 3 Zekes. Three divisions, the skipper's, Billo's and Runyon's, (12 planes) went to Guam and really shot up the place. They got 2 Betties in the air and 3 Douglas type transport planes, 4 betties and 2 zekes were destroyed on the ground. They say 40 or 50 planes were destroyed on the ground at Tenian by the complete task force. They reported that one VF-18 pilot was seen going in the water and was in a raft, We hope he was picked up by the subs.

Task Force 58, composed of two task groups, was involved in the raid on the Mariana Islands. The two task groups and the carriers and air groups assigned were:

Task Group 58.2 (TG 58.2)

USS Essex (CV-9) with Carrier Air Group Nine (CVG-9)

USS Yorktown (CV-10) with CVG 5

USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Four

(CVLG-24)

Task Group 58.3 (TG58.3)

USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) with CVG-17

USS Cowpens (CVL-25) with CVLG-22)

USS Monterey (CVL-26) with CVLG-30

The raids began with a dawn sweep by 48 Grumman F6F Hellcats; the Hellcats from TG 58.2 hit Guam and Saipan while the F6Fs of TG 58.3 hit Tinian and Rota. The attackers claim 168 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the air and on the ground plus several transports which are claimed sunk.

One VF-9 Hellcat driver, Ensign John M. Franks, Jr., becomes an ace when he shoots down a Zeke near Saipan at 0745 hours. A second pilot, Lt(jg) Donald E. Runyon of VF-18, downs a Betty near Orote Field on Guam at 0815 hours; this is his 11th victory.

Both task groups begin retiring toward Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the afternoon but they are attacked by four waves of land-based bombers between 2000 hours and 0900 hours the next day. AA fire and skilful manoeuvring prevent any damage to ships by the Japanese bombers.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: The Allies complete their occupation of Eniwetok Atoll and land on Parry Island.

JAPAN: Tokyo: The Japanese prime minister, General Hideki Tojo, today sacked the heads of the Japanese army and navy following last week's catastrophic losses to the Allies at Truk. Japan's strategic outlying defence base in the South-west Pacific.

General Tojo, who takes over as chief of the army general staff, succeeding the disgraced General Sugiyama, is being accused of running a one-man cabinet. In addition to being premier, he is minister of war, controller of munitions, minister of commerce and industry, and minister of education. A protest has been issued by one of the emperor's brothers, Imperial Prince Chichibu, and dissident general staff officers have nicknamed Tojo "Takauji"- a reference to a 14th century military upstart.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: An RCAF 162 Sqn Catalina attacked U-550 with machine guns in the North Atlantic. Two crewmembers were killed. The boat was lost on the same patrol on 16 April.

[jainso31]

23rd FEB.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: Chelsea, London: Mr. Anthony Smith (1899-1964), Heavy Rescue Service, dug a man out of the basement of a bombed and blazing block, and helped save another in a building next door. (George Cross)
Aircraft carrier HMS Vengeance launched.

FRANCE: Paris: Maurice Toesca notes the arrest of Jean Genet, the poet and habitual criminal.

GERMANY: A Mosquito of 692 Squadron RAF dropped a 4,000-lb bomb on Düsseldorf. This is double the original bombload of the Mk IV. To carry this large device, the bomb-bay is bulged.

ITALY: General Lucian Truscott takes full command of VI Corps at Anzio, replacing General Lucas.

MARIANAS ISLANDS: Units of the US 5th Fleet attack the Marianas Islands. Including Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Guam.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-257 is sunk in the North Atlantic, in approximate position 47.19N, 26.00W, by depth charges from frigates HMCS Waskesiu and HMS Nene. 30 dead and 19 survivors. According to a crewmember on the HMCS Waskesiu the HMS Nene only participated in picking up survivors while the Canadian frigate dropped the depth charges, after both frigates had picked up an ASDIC signal that the Canadians insisted was a U-boat, which sank the boat.

jainso31

[nick60]

23rd February 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Feb. 23rd

"Still making slow progress. Tow is holding but bad weather is coming up, if gale increases we are expected to lose Cassandra. Watertight doors and tow beginning to give way.

This perpetual darkness is getting us all down."

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim,

Yr Feb 22nd "Big Week" The B17's from the old US 100th at Thorpe Abbotts just back of my place were involved most days.There's lots of detail and crew stories but best mostly from later in the year-like June onwards.
will inject anything then as appropriate.

derek-L

[jainso31]

It was well named "The Bloody One Hundredth" due to its record of losses in WW2
In August 1943, the group received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) after attacking the German aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17 August 1943, resulting in serious disruption to German fighter production. From January–May 1944, the 100th BG regularly bombed airfields, industries, marshaling yards, and missile sites in Western Europe. The group participated in the Allied campaign against German aircraft factories, Operation Argument, during "Big Week" in the last week of February 1944. In March 1944, aircrews completed a succession of attacks on Berlin and received its second DUC of the war.Coming soon at a cinema near you.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim,

Like it--and my local 100th (old control tower) museum lads would be pleased to read your words.

derek-L

[jainso31]

24th FEB 1944

EUROPE: This is the start of "Big Week" which really lasts until March 6,1944 which broke the back of the Luftwaffe. The 445th Bomb Group endured four and one half hours of fighter attack and lost 13 out of 25 airplanes. Yet they accurately destroyed the Goather Wagonwerke which produced the ME210. The Luftwaffe never recovered from the loss of almost 500 experienced fighter pilots that week. Most of them fell to the guns of the 8th Fighter Command.

"Big Week"
238 of 266 B-17s dispatched hit Schweinfurt; 11 are lost. 295 of 304 B-17s dispatched hit Rostock and targets of opportunity; 5 aircraft are lost. 213 of 239 B-24s dispatched hit the factory and airfield at Gotha and targets of opportunity; 33 B-24s are lost.

UNITED KINGDOM: Merchant ship Fort Stikine, sails from the Mersey. Her destination is "secret" but her cargo clearly marked for Karachi and Bombay. On deck are crated gliders, whilst below, her Bombay cargo includes crated aircraft and shells, torpedoes, mines, rockets, magnesium and bombs totalling 1,400 tons of explosive. Also on board, in No. 2 'tween deck, were 124 bars of gold worth nearly one million pounds.

Kirkby, Lancashire: Mr. Richard Arthur Samuel Bywater (b.1913), civil servant, led the task of removing 17,000 possibly defective bomb fuses from a factory after a fatal blast on 22 February. (George Cross)

FINLAND: The prime minister says that Finland is prepared to make peace immediately with Russia, subject to conditions.

ARCTIC OCEAN: U-713 sunk in the Arctic NW of Narvik, Norway, in position 69.27N, 04.53E, by depth charges from destroyer HMS Keppel. 50 dead (all hands lost).

ITALY: Subadar Subramanian , Madras Sappers and Miners, died when he threw himself onto a mine to shield others. (George Cross)

GREECE: During test firing with the machine gun from U-453 at the base in Salamis were two men killed (not crewmembers).

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Cape Breton departed Halifax to join EG-6 in UK.

U.S.A.: Norfolk, Virginia: Josephine "Joe" Doolittle, the wife of Lt-Gen James Harold Doolittle, Commanding General of the US Eighth Air Force, breaks a bottle of champagne across the bow and christens the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La.

The USS INTREPID, crippled by a Japanese torpedo one week ago, stands into Pearl Harbor after having maintained direction with a jury-rigged sail.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: [/B[B]]U-257 (KptLt. Heinz Rahe, CO) is sunk in approximate position 47.19N, 26.00W, by depth charges from the Canadian River Class frigate HMCS Waskesiu (K330), LCdr. James Philip Fraser, RCNR, CO, and the British frigate HMS Nene (K272). 30 dead and 19 survivors.

Waskesiu was part of Escort Group 6, operating in support of convoy SC-153. Waskesiu detected the submarine on Asdic shortly after 02:00 and, although the Group Commander was convinced the contact was ‘non-sub’, LCdr. Fraser (an ex-RCMP marine division officer) was persuaded by his Asdic operators to persist. Waskesiu conducted many hedgehog and depth charge attacks until 05:50, when the submarine surfaced. The ship engaged the submarine with guns and closed to ram but the submarine avoided and manoeuvred away. The submarine sank a few moments later. Due to the darkness and rough seas, only 19 of U-257's 49 crewmembers were rescued. KptLt. Rahe was seen to throw his lifejacket and one-man raft to survivors and re-entered the boat just moments before it sank.
According to a crew member on the HMCS Waskesiu the HMS Nene only participated in picking up survivors while the Canadian frigate dropped the depth charges, after both frigates had picked up an ASDIC signal that the Canadians insisted was a U-boat, that sank the boat.

German submarine U-761 was detected by PBY-5A Catalinas from VP-63, now based at Naval Air Facility (NAF) Port Lyautey, French Morocco, during an attempt to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar. The two VP-63 aircraft used their MAD gear to detect, track, and assist in the sinking of U-761, the first sinking of a submarine aided by MAD equipment. The U-boat was attacked by an RAF Catalina Mk. IB of No. 202 Squadron, based at Gibraltar, and a PV-1 Ventura of USN Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Seven (VB-127) also based at NAF Port Lyautey. The crew of the VB-127 Ventura, assisted in the kill by dropping depth charges on U-761 when it surfaced. Following the attack by VB-127 PV-1, the U-boat was scuttled in the mid-Atlantic near Tangier, in position 35.55N, 0545W, in view of approaching British destroyers. Nine of the 57 men aboard were lost; the 48 survivors, including the captain, were picked up by HMS Anthony and HMS Wishart.

jainso31

[nick60]

24th February 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

24th Feb.

"We have arrived at Murmansk safely with "Cassandra", expected to remain a few days. Cassandra is practically submerged. The fellows on board have done wonders"

[jainso31]

25th FEB.1944

GERMANY: Allied air forces have rounded off their "Big Week" of bombings with a double blow on the Schweinfurt ball-bearing plant. Following last night's USAAF raid, RAF Bomber Command sent 662 more aircraft against this target tonight. But the raid was a failure: only 22 aircraft reached the target, and 33[/B] were shot down.

Strategic Air Operations in Europe:

* The Eighth Air Force flies two missions.

* * Mission 235: In the final "Big Week" mission, 4 targets in Germany are hit; 31 bombers and 3 fighters are lost.

* * * 268 B-17s are dispatched to aviation industry targets at Augsburg and the industrial area at Stuttgart; 196 hit Augsburg and targets of opportunity and 50 hit Stuttgart; they claim 8-4-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 B-17s are lost.

* * * 267 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Regensburg and targets of opportunity; they claim 13-1-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 B-17s are lost.

* * * 172 B-24s hit aviation industry targets at Furth and targets of opportunity; they claim 2-2-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-24s are lost.

* * Escort is provided by 73 P-38s, 687 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 139 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-38s claim 1-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft: the P-47s claim 13-2-10 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost; the P-51s claim 12-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft, 2 P-51s are lost.

* * Mission 236: 5 B-17s drop 250 bundles of leaflets on Grenoble, Toulouse, Chartres, Caen and Raismes, France at 2129-2335 hours without loss.

* Continuing coordinated attacks with the Eighth Air Force on European targets, Fifteenth Air Force B-17s with fighter escorts bomb the Regensburg, Germany, aircraft factory; enemy fighter opposition is heavy .

Other B[B]-17s hit the air depot at Klagenfurt, Austria, and the dock area at Pola, Italy. B-24s attack the Fiume, Italy, marshalling yard and port and hit the Zell-am-See, Austria, railroad and Graz airfield and the port area at Zara, Yugoslavia; 30+ US aircraft are lost; they claim 90+ fighters shot down.

Tactical Air Operations in Europe:

* Major General Paul L Williams becomes Commanding General of the Ninth Air Force's IX Troop Carrier Command. 191 B-26 Marauders bomb Venlo, Saint-Trond, and Cambrai/Epinoy Airfields, France in a morning raid as a diversion in support of the VIII Bomber Command heavy bombers over Germany; 36 abort, mainly because of a navigational error; 164 B-26s dispatched against military targets in France during the afternoon are recalled because of bad weather.

* In Italy, Twelfth Air Force P-40s attack guns and troop concentrations east of Campoleone and in the Carroceto area; A-36 Apaches bomb the towns of Terracina and Sperlonga and roads in the area; P-40s also maintain patrols over Anzio

594 RAF bombers raid the aeroplane plant at Augsburg.



ITALY: The destroyer HMS Inglefield is sunk at dusk off Anzio by a Hs293A Glide bomb and sinks very rapidly off Anzio at 41 26N 12 36E. There are 35 casualties and 157 survivors.

BURMA: The Tenth Air Force dispatches 8 B-25s and 4 P-51 Mustangs to attack bridges at Meza, Sinthe, and Natmauk, causing light damage to the bridges and destroying 3 locomotives and several railroad cars.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: 16 Fourteenth Air Force P-40s attack docks, railroad yards and warehouses at Hongay; in the harbor 1 large boat is sunk and another damaged; 2 P-40's hit a cargo vessel at Campha Port, leaving it sinking; 2 others bomb and strafe Weichow Island.

JAPAN: 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s from Shemya Island in the Aleutians are over Matsuwa Island in the Kurile Islands shortly after midnight 24/25 February on a photographic reconnaissance and bomb run; the mission is not completed due to weather.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Lorengau on Manus Island and Momote Airfield on Los Negros Island.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The USN's Destroyer Division 90 (DesDiv 90) under Commander Edmund B. Taylor, bombards Rabaul on New Britain Island.

Destroyer Squadron 12 (DesRon 12) under Captain Rodger W. Simpson, en route to bombard Kavieng on New Ireland Island and its airstrips, shipping, and fortifications, encounters a Japanese army cargo ship. In the ensuing action, destroyers USS Farenholt (DD-491), USS Buchanan (DD-484), USS Lansdowne (DD- 486), USS Woodworth (DD-460), and USS Lardner (DD-487) sink the enemy freighter. Japanese shore batteries subsequently give DesRon 12 a warm reception, damaging USS Buchanan and USS Farenholt.

The Thirteenth Air Force attacks targets on New Britain Island. P-39Airacobras on armed reconnaissance bomb an AA position at Monoitu, hit the Aitara area, and attack a barge in the Cape Gazelle area; 20+ B-25s hit Matupi and Rapopo Airfield; and 21 B-24s and 17 P-38s follow shortly with another strike on Rapopo Airfield.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh AIr Force B-24s from Abemama and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands bomb Ponape Island.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force aircraft based in the Gilberts attack three atolls; P-40s flying from Makin Island bomb and strafe targets at Jaluit Atoll while B-25s from Tarawa Atoll and Abemama Island bomb Mille and Wotje Atolls.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb the Alexishafen-Madang, areas while A-20s bomb airfields at Alexishafen.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink two fleet tankers, an army cargo ship, and a merchant cargo ship.

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS Columbia rammed a cliff in fog at Motion Bay, Newfoundland due to faulty radar. Repairs to make her seaworthy for towing were carried out in Bay Bulls in May. In Sep 44 she was taken to Liverpool, NS, where she served as an ammunition depot ship. She was paid off on 12 Jun 45 and sold for scrap later the same year.

Lieutenant Jack Eardely Koyl RCNVR, HMC 3rd LCI(L) Flotilla, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). Awarded as per Canada Gazette of 26 February 1944 and London Gazette of 25 January 1944, the citation read: "For gallant and distinguished services and untiring devotion to duty in operations, which led to the capture of Sicily by Allied Forces." He also received a Mention in Despatches on 26 Feb 44. Awarded as per Canada Gazette of 26 February 1944 and London Gazette of 21 December 1943, the citation read: "For good service in the first landing of troops on the mainland of Italy." Jack Koyl was born at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He joined the Volunteer Reserve and was commissioned at a Lt. (Temporary) on 18 Aug 41. He was assigned to the HMC 3rd LCI(L) Flotilla on 21 Jan 44. After his service in Sicily and Italy, Lt. Koyl was assigned to HMCS Prince Robert, a Prince-class anti-aircraft ship on 23 Apr 44. He was demobilized on 20 Oct 45.
.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-91 is sunk in position 48.12N, 40.56W by the British destroyers HMS Affleck, Gore and Gould. 36 dead and 16 survivors.

Whilst escorting convoy JW.57 to Murmansk, destroyer HMS Mahratta takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by U-990 (Kapitanleutnant Hubert Nordheimer) and then one more torpedo and sinks at 2055. The destroyer explodes and sinks within minutes. Despite the fact that destroyers HMS Impulsive and Wanderer are quickly on the scene there are 220 casualties and just 16 survivors in the freezing waters. The commander, ten officers and 209 ratings lost their lives. Location: 280 miles West of the North Cape at 71 17N 13 30E.

U-601 sunk in the Arctic Ocean NW of Narvik, Norway, in position 70.26N, 12.40E, by depth charges from an RAF 210 Sqn Catalina aircraft. 51 dead (all hands lost)


jainso31.

[jainso31]

26th FEB.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: London: US heavy bombers escorted into the heart of Germany by long-range Mustang fighters, have won a great victory over the Luftwaffe in which has become known to the crews as "Big Week".

In six days, 1,000 bombers and 900 fighters have carried out 13 major attacks against the German aircraft industry in the campaign to destroy the Germans' strength in the air. In all, over 3,800 heavy bombers sorties were made. American losses were 226 aircraft, an acceptable rate of 6%.

The bombers did not only inflict severe damage on the factories; they and the Mustangs shot down some 517 German fighters, killing 225 air crews and wounding 141, almost 10% of the skilled airmen in Germany. The Luftwaffe cannot sustain this rate of attrition.

The Mustang, with its American airframe and Rolls-Royce engine, has completely changed the pattern if air warfare over Europe. Now the bombers can be escorted all the way to their targets by a fighter superior in almost every respect to the Me109 and FW190.

The US bombers, who previously sought to evade the German fighters, are seeking them out, and the Germans, no longer able to wait until the escorting fighters turn back, are being forced to attack as soon as they cross the coast thus allowing shorter range aircraft like the Spitfire to enter the battle. RAF Bomber Command has also taken part in "Big Week", with heavy raids on Leipzig and Stuttgart. It lost 78 bombers over Leipzig, but only 10 over Stuttgart.

FRANCE
Lieutenant-Commander Peter Williams sails at dusk from Dartmouth. He heads towards Weymouth; then, once out of sight, he turns south. On reaching the Brittany coast he cuts his speed to reduce noise, wash and phospherescence, and creeps through rocks and swirling tides to anchor within a few hundred yards of the beach. A sailor is placed on stand-by to cut the grass rope in an emergency.

Williams then sent his surfboat inshore with muffled oars, on a rising tide to avoid footprints, in order to land a party which included Francois Mitterrand, the future President of France. As the boat returned, laden with five agents and a downed Allied pilot, it was able to find the MGB in the dark with a device, invented by Williams, which homed in on its Asdic [sonar] transmissions. By breakfast time, Williams was back in Dartmouth.

FINLAND: 600 Soviet bombers raid Helsinki from 6pm to 6am.
This night the Soviet bombers attack Helsinki for the third time in three weeks. From 6.45 pm until 5.10 am next morning over 500 Soviet planes try to penetrate the Finnish air-defences. Several bombers make more that one sortie, the Finns estimate that there's more than 1000 sorties. Since the two previous attempts ten and twenty days ago, the defences had been strengthened further, and there's 15 heavy AA-battalions defending the city.Most of the bombers were unable to locate their targets

GILBERT ISLANDS: 27th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) with B-24's based on Nanumea begins operating from Abemama and the 38th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) with B-24's based on Nanumea begin operating from Makin until 22 Mar 44.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The US submarine Grayback (SS-208), commanded by John A. Moore, is sunk by aircraft South of Okinawa. All hands are lost.

.U.S.A.: Susan Dauser became the first female US Navy captain. She was in the Nurse Corps[/B

A[B]TLANTIC OCEAN: MS Silvermaple sunk by U-66 at 04.44N, 03.20W .

jainso31

[jainso31]

27th FEB.1944

FINLAND: 600 Soviet bombers raid Helsinki for 12 hours last night.

EAST CHINA SEA: Submarine USS Grayback sunk by a Japanese carrier-based aircraft. There are no survivors.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS English launched.

Submarine USS Besugo launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Sailing ship Rod el Farag sunk by U-407 at 33.48N, 34.51E.

Sloop HMS Woodpecker foundered while under tow to port after torpedo damage.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim,

Our local Mustang still flying good as new yesterday ! low over my roof to buzz the old 100th tower to the delight of visiting veterans grouped atop
(though through my binoculars did see one duck !!).

d

[nick60]

27th February 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

Feb 27th '45

We are now on our way home at 15 knots - should arrive in 5 days at Derry if everything is satisfactory

[jainso31]

28th FEB.1944

UNITED KINGDOM:

Destroyer HMS Zealous launched.
Minesweeper HMS Sylvia launched.

ITALY: The second German offensive on Anzio begins. The attack of four divisions fails to break through.The main weight falls on the US [/B[B]]3rd Division astride the Cisterna-Anzio road

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: (Sergey AZIMOV(69)Submarine loss. "M-108" and K-22 - by surface ships, at Sulten-fjord area.
Soviet minesweeper Gruz torpedoed and sunk by E-boats off Cape Myshako.

Murmansk: The Allied convoy JW-57 - 42 merchant ships and a tanker - arrives safely having sunk two U-boats but lost the destroyer HMS [/B[B]]Mahratta.

CANADA:

HMC MTB 461 commissioned.
Frigate HMCS Teme (ex-HMS Teme) commissioned.
Corvette HMCS Hespeller commissioned.

U.S.A.: The last Vultee SNV-2 is delivered to the USN.

Submarine USS Sea Devil launched.
Destroyer escort USS Leland E Thomas launched.
Aircraft carrier USS Bennington launched.
Minesweepers USS Vigilance and Change commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Martin H Ray commissioned.
Destroyer USS Moale commissioned.

jainso31

[jainso31]

29th FEB.1944

ITALY: Anzio: The Allies fend off a German attack on their right flank.

Uj.201 German Corvette. (Ex Italian EGARIA) Damaged at Montfalcone by air raid; not repaired before the end of the war.

As the rain teems down on frustrated Allied troops before Cassino, a major question mark hangs over the whole of the Italian campaign. "Overlord", the invasion of Normandy, is due to take place in May. "Anvil", the diversionary landing in the south of France, is timed to coincide with the main thrust in the north.

General Alexander's chief of staff, Lt-Gen John Harding, has produced a plan - Operation Diadem - which will bring the Eighth Army from the Adriatic front to join the US 5th Army in a fullscale attack co-ordinated with a breakout from Anzio. The operation would be launched three weeks before the Normandy landings - and, it is hoped, draw off German divisions from France. "Anvil" would be abandoned under the British plan.

British chiefs of staff are enthusiastic. So, too, is Winston Churchill, desperate for what he sees as a "British" victory in Italy. The Americans are opposed. Apart from the worries about losses in Italy and the slow pace of the campaign, they favour "Anvil" as more acceptable.

The British generals, Maitland Wilson - who has been made Allied Supreme Commander Mediterranean - and Alexander, insist that no troops should be withdrawn from Italy until the breakthrough has succeeded. They want the campaign there to go through to its decisive conclusion.

The American chiefs of staff, their attention distracted by events in the Far East, have nominated General Eisenhower, a firm supporter of "Anvil", as their representative. He has reluctantly agreed to postpone the operation until July, As preparations begin for the spring offensive in Italy, lengthy cables are being exchanged between Churchill and Roosevelt.

FINLAND: Helsinki: The whole of Finland is waiting for the Diet, the Finnish parliament, to decide whether or not to agree to the Russian terms for the cessation of hostilities. These terms include territorial concessions similar to those laid down by the Russians after the "Winter War" of 1939-40, but they do not require unconditional surrender as preliminary to peace talks.

The main reasons that the Finns are not taking up the Soviet terms are the amount of reparations the Soviets are demanding ($600 million in 1938 US Dollars; economic experts consulted stated that it was impossible to pay in the schedule), and the very short time given to expel or intern the German forces from country coupled with the rapid demobilization of the Finnish Army (it was feared that the Soviets would use this as an excuse to occupy Finland)
In a secret session the Finnish parliament votes the cabinet the powers to continue the peace-feelers with the Soviet Union.

U.S.S.R.: Kiev: General Nikolai Vatutin, commander of the First Ukrainian Front and one of the Red Army's most brilliant generals, was ambushed today by partisans fighting for an independent Ukraine. It is feared that his wounds may be fatal.

Vatutin, who had played a vital role in last year's battle at Kursk and in clearing the Ukraine, was fired on as he drove with his staff to visit front-line troops. His attackers are Ukrainian nationalists who went over to the Germans in the hope that they would establish a Ukrainian state. Now they fight both Germans and Russians.

Vatutin will be sorely missed by the Red Army, It was he who, with Konev, engineered the destruction of the German pocket at Korsun. Georgi Zhukov, has taken over command of the First Ukrainian Front.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 1704, motor tanker Ensis was torpedoed and damaged by U-407, while in a convoy.

INDIAN OCEAN: The unescorted MS Palma was torpedoed and sunk by U-183 about 400 miles south of Ceylon. Four crewmembers and three gunners were lost. The master, 41 crewmembers and four gunners were picked up by armed trawler HMS Balta and whaler HMS Semla and landed at Colombo on 2 March.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: US landings on Los Negros. Los Negros, at 2.03S 147.24E, was separated from Manus Island by a narrow body of water. Los Negros as the site of Momote Airdrome one of the major Japanese air bases in the Bismarck Sea and it's capture allows the Allies to isolate Rabaul.
Today's invasion of the Admiralty Islands by the South-West Pacific Command is the final act in breaking the barrier of the Bismarks. The isolation of the great enemy bastion of Rabaul has transformed it into a liability. With the sudden exodus of the combined fleet from Truk, Japan's outer defences are crumbling dramatically.

The Pacific War has gathered a new momentum, with MacArthur poised to thrust rapidly northwards to the Philippines and the enormously powerful US Pacific Fleet, backed by a fleet "train" and many divisions of marines and infantry, set to roll through the central Pacific (as it did this month in the attacks on the Marshall Islands).

American strategists are divided on which route to take to Japan. MacArthur insists that the Allies are morally obliged to liberate the Philippines on the way to Tokyo. Admiral King wants to bypass the archipelago and invade Formosa. The US joint chiefs of staff have authorised a two-pronged drive and set the major objectives of invading Luzon, Formosa and the south China coast.

The joint chiefs believe that the central Pacific route is "strategically, logistically and tactically" better than the South-west Pacific route. However, they agree that by using both routes they will prevent the enemy from knowing where the next blow falls. In 1942 the intention had been to take Rabaul. But in 1943 MacArthur was told to bypass it. Instead of being captured at a predictably high cost in lives, it was to be isolated and neutralized.

During 1943 the Allies had advanced ever closer to Rabaul. Bouganville was invaded in November. and in December the 1st Marine Division landed at Cape Gloucester in New Britain. Rabaul had also suffered devastating air attacks.
Rabaul is now neutralized. Most of the large enemy garrison will wait in vain to die for the emperor because the Allies have no intention of making a costly frontal attack. Bypassing enemy strongpoints has become one of the war's most momentous strategic concepts.

The US submarine Trout (SS-202), commanded by Albert H. Clark, is lost N.W. of the Philippines. All hands are lost.

U.S.A.: During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "German Mountain Warfare."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Since January, 34 U-boats have been sunk.

Minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave damaged by grounding Horta, Azores. She was towed to Greenock for repairs.


jainso31

[bert-261]

In 1920 my late father,Walter James Living P/SSX 20522 who served in the R.N. and did two years on H.M.S.Hood, (Jan 1938-Jan1940) was born at 6 Bond Street,Northam,Southamton. Happy 23rd Birthday Dad. bert

[jainso31]

1st MAR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: The British minesweepers ME 35, commanded by Lieutenant Jack Nielsen, and ME 83, commanded by Lieutenant I Carlo F. Sørensen, are manned with Danish crews and flying 2 flags, Orlogsflaget (Danish Naval Ensign) and the White Ensign.


FRANCE: Rommel has arrived in northern France to take command of the German forces awaiting the long-expected Allied invasion. The legendary "Desert Fox" has been dismayed to discover that the Führer's vaunted "Atlantic Wall" is largely a figment of Hitler's imagination, and he is urgently throwing up fortifications along the Normandy coast.

Vital training programmes have had to be dropped because, unable to get labour and materials from the Todt Organization, he is having to use his troops as labourers to cut trees for stakes on the beaches. Fuel shortages have created transport problems, and he has been driven to depend on horses and carts. Field Marshal Rommel asked for 50 million mines to sow as the first line of defence on the beaches; he expects to receive about 6 million. He reckons that he needs 240 loads of cement daily for fortifications; he is receiving fewer than 50.

To compound Rommel's problems, he is in disagreement with Field Marshal von Rundstedt, the C-in-C West. Rommel considers that the Allied invasion will be mounted in Normandy; von Rundstedt is certain it will be in the Pas de Calais and is holding back an armoured reserve which Rommel argues is vital for hitting the enemy when he is weakest, at the moment of landing.

GERMANY: Berlin: Fritz Sauckel, the Reich plenipotentiary for the allocation of labour, says that there are five million slave workers in Germany.

In response to the emergency created by the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive, the Armaments and Air Ministries create the Fighter Staff (Jägerstab) program, which was to produce between 1,000 and 4,000 fighters per month.
Walter Model is promoted to Field Marshal.

U.S.S.R.: Marshal Zhukov takes over the command of the First Ukrainian Front from the injured General Vatutin; the German General Walter Model is promoted to Field Marshal.
Soviet troops take Russaki near Pskov.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-358 (Type VIIC) is sunk north of the Azores, in position 45.46N, 23.16W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Gould (ex-USS Lovering), Affleck, Gore and Garliese. 50 dead and 1 survivor. On 5 May, 1943 U-358 was depth charged in the North Atlantic by the British destroyer escort HMS Pink. The boat was damaged so badly that she had to return to base.

U-603 (type VIIC ) sunk in position 48.55N, 26.10W, by depth charges from the US destroyer escort USS Bronstein. 51 dead (all hands lost).

U-709 (type VIIC) is sunk north of the Azores, in approximate position 49.10N, 26.00W, by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS Thomas, Bostwick and Bronstein. 52 dead (all hands lost). 12 Jul, 1943 A torpedo explosion on board of U-709 killed 2 men and wounded another

Whilst in company with several escorts hunting down a submarine contact, frigate HMS Gould is torpedoed (A homing torpedo) and sunk at 7.20pm 480 miles NNE of the Azores by U-358 (Kapitanleutnant Rolf Manke). There are 123 casualties and 14 survivors.

CHINA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 13 3:15 Flight time. No details of results were noted.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: US troops defending Los Negros drive off Japanese attacks on the perimeter.

U.S.A.: USAAF XXI Bomber Command is activated at Smoky Hill AAFld, Kansas.
Aircraft carrier USS Tarawa laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: During an air attack U-703 suffered 3 dead and 3 wounded. The damaged boat reached Narvik, Norway two days later. [Funkobermaat Paul Kretschmar (died on 7 March), Bootsmaat Erich Junker Maschinengefreiter Heinz Schade].

SS Saint Louis sunk by U-66 at 05.23N, 00.09W

jainso31

[jainso31]

2nd MAR. 1944

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The British government called the Home Guard to defend its parliamentary majority tonight. MPs rostered for duty in uniform as the city's last line of defence was summoned to bolster the vote on the touchy issue of service pay. During a debate promoted by the Independent MP for Grantham, Mr Kendall, a call for pay increases was defeated by only 23 votes, a dramatic fall from the usual majority of 580 enjoyed by a national coalition government. The war cabinet is to review service pay despite inflation.

FRANCE: Paris: Rameau's opera buffa Platée is performed in the Salle du Conservatoire. Paris's artistic establishment is there in force: Jean Paulhan, Professor Mondor, Jean Marais and Jean Cocteau "in the first row of the circle, posing without intending to pose," and Marcel Arland, with whom he could walk home discussing the bad influence of American fiction on Sartre. This soirée happened to be at the moment when convoy number 69 was being prepared at Drancy, consisting of 1,501 people, of whom 178 were under 18; all but 20 of the total were to be exterminated at Auschwitz.
GERMANY:

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine Shch-216 of the Black Sea Fleet is sunk off Cape Tarkhankutskiy by a German submarine.

ITALY: Salerno: Over 400 people who boarded a freight train in the absence of any other transport die of carbon monoxide poisoning when the train stops in a tunnel.

Anzio: The rain stopped today, and bombers roamed the blue skies blasting the Germans who have attacked the Anzio garrison day and night since 28 February. Yesterday the Germans, hampered by driving rain, gave up the ground that they had won, and today the US 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion was relieved by the 30th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. Despite Hitler's fury, Kesselring has called off the offensive.

TURKEY: Lend Lease Aid is cut off, due to their reluctance to join the Allies.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0.14 3:35 Flight time. From Hailakandi to Pintha, Burma. We destroyed several engines with .75 mm and .50 machine gun fire. Severe damage done to rolling stock but because the Japanese always move their supplies at night, the cars are empty. Colonel Smith placed a .75 mm armor piercing shell into the boiler of one engine and the steam squirted up to to a height of 200 feet. I managed to get some nice bursts from the upper turret and had the satisfaction of seeing my incendiary bullets explode on an engine. Note: It is easy to fire from the top turret when the pilot makes a climbing turn

BORNEO: Capt. Lionel Colin Matthews (b.1912), Australian Military Forces, was executed. The Japanese had interrogated and tortured him for two years in an utterly vain attempt to discover signals secrets. (George Cross)

U.S.A.: The 1943 Academy Awards are presented at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California. "Casablanca" wins three Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director (Michael Curtiz); "The Song of Bernadette" takes four awards including Best Actress (Jennifer Jones); Best Actor is Paul Lukas for "Watch on the Rhine;" Best Supporting Actor is Charles Coburn for "The More the Merrier;" and Best Supporting Actress is Greek actress Katina Paxinou in "For Whom the Bell Tolls."
The documentary "With the Marines at Tarawa" is released. Directed by Louis Hayward, this 18-minute short shows the battle for Tarawa Atoll.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0259, U-744 attacked the combined Convoy MKS-40/SL-149 and reported three LSTs sunk. In fact, HMS LST-362 was sunk and HMS LST-324 was damaged.

The frigates of the Royal Navy's First Escort Group brought the longest continuous U-boat hunt to a successful conclusion, destroying U-358, but losing HMS Gould. The hunt started on 29 February, and HM Ships Affleck, Gould, Gore and Garlies dropped some 104 depth charges over the following two days. Gore and Garlies had to withdraw to Gibraltar for fuel, but Affleck and Gould continued the attack. U-358 succeeded in torpedoing Gould, but was then forced to the surface and was finished off by Affleck's guns

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim,

My son was most pleased to read your Feb 26th item on Lt.Commander Peter Williams and Mitterand that I took liberty relaying to his Brittany place.That pick up spot sounded like his craggy shore but must have been a lot further North/---local big fishing boat landed full of shellfish today as the Bass not running,so son bought five kilos--- (his own small boat wrapped tight ashore for winter). Grandson continues chase current French President who methinks might just a bit adventurous but in different direction to the young Francois !

derek-L/dsl

[jainso31]

Delighted to hear your that your son is one of my readers-thanks to you.Keep watching this space-one never knows what news each day brings.

jainso31

[jainso31]

3rd MAR. 1944

SWITZERLAND: Zurich: News has reached Switzerland that some 6 million workers are on strike today in a vast area of northern Italy, stretching from Tuscany and Emilia to the borders with France, Switzerland, Austria and Yugoslavia. Armaments factories of crucial importance to the Wehrmacht - Breda and Marelli, the Pirelli Italiana rubber and cable works and the Isotta Fraschini aero-engine manufacturers - have been brought to a standstill.

Notices posted by the strikers around the city of Milan demand an end to the deportations of Italian forced labour to Germany, and improvement in living conditions in Italy and the repeal of the military service law. The underground communist newspaper Unita Proletaria published in Rome, has recently exposed Fascist plans to deport one million more workers. Wages for these forced labourers are minimal and the working conditions are so barbaric as to prove fatal for some.

Railway workers, too, have supported the stoppages. No trains have reached Switzerland from Milan since Wednesday night. In an attempt to terrorize the strikers into returning to work the Fascist press publishes accounts of punishments of anti-fascists. Two partisans in Milan have been shot dead immediately on arrest.


BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0 15 3:10 Flight time (daytime flight) From Hailakandi to Kyaithin, Burma. Attempted to bomb storage depots and dumps. Fairly good results but no definite damage could be noted. Fires started in several buildings.

Combat Mission N0 16 3:15 Flight time (night flight) Night formation over Japanese lines. Dropped one thousand pound general purpose bombs at intervals. Object was to get their attention and make them a bit jittery.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: US forces repel a major Japanese attack on Los Negros, inflicting severe casualties.

NEW CALEDONIA: The Cannon Companies of the infantry regiments of the Americal Division join the Division from the continental United States.

PACIFIC OCEAN: SHIRAKAMI IJN, Japanese Minelayer, Sunk south of the Kuriles in a collision with army transport Nachiran Maru.

USN Submarine Operations in the PACIFIC:

0100: USS GURNARD (SS-254) sinks a civilian cargo ship at 05-53 N, 111-12 E.

2200: USS PINTADO (SS-387) sinks the destroyer AKIKAZE at 16-48 N, 117-17 E, NW of Manila.

U.S.A.: Washington: Roosevelt says that the Italian fleet is to be distributed equally between Britain, the US and the USSR.

The motion picture "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is released. Directed by Albert Lewin, this horror movie based on an Oscar Wilde novel stars Hurd Hatfield, George Sanders, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury and Peter Lawford. The film is narrated by Cedric Hardwicke.
Escort carrier USS Cape Esperance launched.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim,

When FDR agreed the three-way split for the Italian Fleet is there any record
of who got what,and specially our share--ie which ships retained,renamed to what/ if still exist ? -- Apologies it's just my ingrained Spagbol" interest

derek-L/dsl

[jainso31]

Derek this is one of our member's answer to your question

The Italian fleet never surrendered. The Italian government and the Allied governments signed an armistice on 8 September 1943. Italian warships remained under control of the Italian navy and fought several naval engagements against German forces. On 23 September Admirals Cunningham and De Courten, the Italian chief of staff, signed an agreement for naval cooperation. The battleships and some cruisers were placed in care and maintenance, under Italian control. Some cruisers remained active and served in the Atlantic. All destroyers, torpedo boats and coastal craft were kept in commission, under Italian control. To quote the memorandum of agreement:

". . . all Italian ships will continue to fly their flags. A large proportion of the Italian Navy will thus remain in active commission operating their own ships and fighting alongside the forces of the UN against the Axis powers."

Dark Navy has a lot of information regarding this, including details about all the actions fought against the Germans and the fates of all ships under repair and construction at the time of the armistice.

Vince O'Hara

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim (Vince),

Grateful thanks that gives me a nutshell tidy up of what happened . The
Italians deserved to hang onto their vessels,there were (and are) a great many brave and devoted seamen in the "Marina Militare".

derek-L/dsl

[jainso31]

Correction Derek-for information only-Regia Marina Italiana-and contrary to popular belief,this Service has and has had, many brave men in it.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

Jim,

Molto scusatamis for mixing my Marinas !

derek-L

[derek s.langsdon]

........or should that be "Molti"? my Italiano's getting very rusty.

derek-L

[jainso31]

Molti's fine Derek--4th MAR.1944

FRANCE: 219 B-24's are dispatched to hit French airfields; 62 hit Bergerac Airfield, 60 hit the Chateau-Bernard Airfied at Cognac; 41 hit Landes de Bussac Airfield and 1 hits La Roche Airfield. The group participating were the 44th, 93d, 389th, 392d, 445th, 446th 448th, 453d and 458th Bombardment Groups (Heavy). Fighter support consisted of 34 P-38's, 185 P-47's and 88 P-51's.

GERMANY: The 8th AF headed to Berlin.
The first American bombers and fighters appear over Berlin. The raid had been cancelled because of weather. One group proceeded to the target with fighter escort. Göring later said, "When I saw the American fighters over Berlin I knew the jig was up."

Bombers are escorted by P-38J Lightnings, but many of the 249 B-17s dispatched hit other targets in Bonn, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Frankfurt because of bas weather and poor visibility over much of the continent.

Today's 1200-mile round trip was made under heavy flak, but there was no sign of Luftwaffe interceptors. Even so, out of 502 bombers and 720 fighters, 39 were lost.

A recall message was received and most of the bombers turned back. The lead aircraft for the 95th BG, "I'll Be Around", was piloted that day by Alvin Brown, with squadron leader(?) Grif Mumford on board as a command pilot. The radio operator of the aircraft received the message, but told Mumford:

(1) the message had the wrong salutation codes at the beginning, and

(2) the signal was too strong and clear to have originated in England
and was therefore a fake message sent by the Germans. Mumford elected to continue the mission, and the 95th BG, accompanied by elements of the 100th BG (if memory serves, 29 B-17s in all) proceeded on to Berlin. They were met by P-51s of the 357th FG

POLAND: Krakow: Governor Hans Frank reminds a Nazi meeting: "The Jews are a race which must be wiped out. Whenever we catch one, he will be exterminated."

BARENTS SEA: U-472 sunk SE of Bear Island, Norway, in position 73.05N, 26.40E, by gunfire and rockets from destroyer HMS Onslaught and 816 Sqn Swordfish aircraft from escort carrier HMS Chaser. 23 dead and 30 survivors.

U-703 attacked Convoy RA-57 near Kola Inlet with a spread of FAT torpedoes and sank SS Empire Tourist. At 1545 hours, U-703 fired a Gnat and heard a detonation after 3 minutes 10 seconds, which was observed by destroyer HMS Milne. This destroyer then attacked the U-boat with depth charges for several hours. The master, 41 crewmembers, 23 gunners, two signalmen and one naval personnel from the Empire Tourist were picked up by minesweeper HMS Gleaner and landed at Aultbea, Loch Ewe.

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army pushes German forces back across the river Bug, except for a pocket at Uman.

ITALY: Anzio: There is a lull in the fighting giving the Germans time to rally their forces for defence.

BURMA: "Merril's Marauders" go into action for the first time, erecting a roadblock at Walawbaum, in Hukawng Valley, as part of a move to take Myitkyina and re-open the Burma Road.

Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 17 3:05 flight time Hailakandi, Assam to Lonkin, Burma Photo mission of landing strip. The following is from my memory of the occasion, written in my journal at a later date. The photos taken showed the field covered with logs. At that time it was thought the logs were placed there by the Japanese to prevent landings. The results caused much concern with the brass. There was some talk that the mission had been compromised. The force going was diverted to another field. Later it was determined that the Burmese had placed them there to dry out.

Note. General Wingate had not wanted any flying over this particular area prior to the night glider assault landings, but on a hunch Colonel Cochran sent us as a lone B-25 to fly over and photograph the field and our flight did pay off. It would have been a disaster had the flight gone as planned.

JAPAN: All students are mobilised.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: US forces arrive to reinforce the Los Negros beach-head.

U.S.A.: "Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)" by Jimmy Dorsey And His Orchestra with vocals by Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen reaches Number 1 on the BillboardPop Sin gles chart in the U.S. This song, which debuted on the charts on 15 January 1944, was charted for 23 weeks, was Number 1 for 7 weeks and was ranked Number 4 for the year 1944

jainso31.

[jainso31]

5th MAR.1944

GERMANY: The first American bombers and fighters appear over Berlin. The raid had been cancelled because of weather. One group proceeded to the target with fighter escort. Göring later said, "When I saw the American fighters over Berlin I knew the jig was up."

219 B-24's are dispatched to hit French airfields; 62 hit Bergerac Airfield, 60 hit the Chateau-Bernard Airfield at Cognac; 41 hit Landes de Bussac Airfield and 1 hits La Roche Airfield. The group participating were the 44th, 93d, 389th, 392d, 445th, 446th 448th, 453d and 458th Bombardment Groups (Heavy). Fighter support consisted of 34 P-38's, 185 P-47's and 88 P-51's. (

ARCTIC OCEAN: U-366 sunk NW of Hammerfest, in position 72.10N, 14.44E, by rockets from an RN 816 Sqn Swordfish off escort carrier HMS Chaser. 50 dead (all hands lost).

U.S.S.R.: In a new Ukrainian offensive Soviet troops advance 31 miles and retake Izyaslav, Ostropol and Yampol.

BURMA: Chinese forces capture Maingkwan as three Chindit brigades land behind enemy lines at Indaw.

Air Commando Combat Mission N0.18 3:05 Flight Time Hailakandi to Okkyi, Burma. Photo mission of landing strip. This field not covered with logs. Our gliders went in during the night and established a fairly good runway for the transports that followed. The landing area was called "Broadway"

Note: USAF sources. Colonel John Alison and his assault force landed successfully around 2200 hours and set up a lighting landing system to assist the main force. There was no enemy opposition. The glider landings were not exactly a piece of cake as the field was covered in dense elephant grass that hid logs, ruts and crevices from the camera. The gliders were heavily loaded and came in very fast. Some missed the field and crashed into the jungle, some hit obstructions and others landed and piled into the ones ahead. twenty four men were killed in the jungle crashes and four killed in Broadway crashes. Some 500 soldiers, 18 tons of supplies plus 3 mules and a smuggled horse were all brought in by the gliders. Only 3 of the 37 CG-4 gliders were flyable after the landings. These "faraway places with the strange sounding names" can be easily found on the maps in my book.

PACIFIC OCEAN: While submarine USS Tullibee was attacking a merchantman in the Palaus area, one of her own torpedoes circled back and hit the boat, sinking it. There was one survivor who became a POW and was freed after the Japanese surrender to tell the story.


ATLANTIC OCEAN: The unescorted SS John Holt was torpedoed and sunk by U-66 60 miles south of the Opobo River in the Gulf of Guinea. The master and one passenger were taken prisoner and were later lost with the U-boat. 41 crewmembers, nine gunners, three passengers and 40 Krooboys were picked up by the British tanker Empire Ruby and landed at
Port Harcourt.

jainso31

[emason]

5th March

1133 Henry II born.

1512 Gerhardus Mercator, cartographer, born.

1933 Hitler's National Socialist Party won 44% of seats in the last pre-WW2 election.

1949 Donald Bradman played his last first class innings.

1953 Sergei Prokofiev, composer, died.

1953 Josef Stalin died.

1984 Tito Gobbi, baritone, died.

[nick60]

5th March 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

March 5th '45

"Now in 'Derry, but not for long. Have heard that the homeward bound convoy from Russia was almost destroyed".

[jainso31]

6th Mar.1944

FRANCE: RAF bombers devastate Trappes railway yard as part of the plan to disable communications in Europe in the build-up to the invasion of Europe.

GERMANY: 730 USAAF B-17's and B-24s are dispatched on Mission 250 to hit the Berlin area as follows: 248 of 262 1st Bombardment Division B-17's dispatched hit Berlin, the secondary target. 198 of 226 2d Bombardment Divsion B-24's dispatched hit targets of opportunity at Templin, Verden, Kalkeberge, Potsdam, Oranienburg and Wittenberg. Groups participating are the 44th, 93d, 389th, 392d, 445th, 446th, 448th, 453d and 458th Bombardment Groups (Heavy). The primary targets were industrial areas in the suburbs in Berlin. 226 of 242 3d Bombardment Divsion B-17's hit the primary, the Genshagen industrial area, the secondary, Berlin and a target of opportunity, Potsdam.

Fighter escort for the mission, which included four Ninth Air Force groups, was 86 P-38's, 615 P-47's and 100 P-51's. The bombers claimed 97-28-60 Luftwaffe aircraft; the fighters claimed 81-8-21 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-12 on the ground. USAAF losses were 34 B-17's, 35 B-24's, 1 P-38, 5 P-47's and 5 P-51's; 9 aircraft were damaged beyond repair and 353 damaged. US casualties were 17 KIA, 33 WIA and 697 MIA.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission 19 2:30 Flight Time Hailakandi to Inywa, Burma. Bombed warehouses and oil storage depot using incendiary and fragmentation cluster bombs. Fifteen P-51B fighters escorted nine B-25H s. Each fighter loaded with two five hundred pound bombs and six 4.5 inch bazooka-type rockets. Huge explosions and fires started.

Note: from USAF Sources These were the first rockets used in combat by the US, a new development from Wright Field, Ohio, which Colonels Cochran and Alison brought in the theater..

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-744 (type VIIC) is sunk at 1830hrs in position 52.01N, 22.37W, after being torpedoed by the British destroyer HMS Icarus, then after unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port, by depth charges from Icarus, the Canadian frigate HMCS St. Catherines, corvettes Fennel and Chilliwack and destroyers Chaudiere and Gatineau and the British corvette HMS Kenilworth Castle. 12 dead and 40 survivors.

HMCS Gatineau, Chaudiere, St Catharines, Chilliwack, Fennel, HMS Icarus and Keniworth Castle after 32 hours of attack U-744 OLtzS Heinz Blischke, CO, was forced to surface, at 52-10N 23-37W in the North Atlantic. Of the crew of 51, 4 senior ratings, 33 junior ratings survived. Members of Chilliwack boarded U-744 prior to her sinking, OLtzS Blischke, was among those lost in this action. U-744 was considered to be one of the classic U-boat hunts of the war. The C2 support group was searching 4 miles ahead of the 63-ship convoy HX 280, en route from New York City for Liverpool. Icarus obtained an HF/DF bearing and Gatineau obtained a sonar contact at 1000. U-744 was a captained by a highly competent commander who proved to be a very wily opponent. Blischke repeatedly avoided attacks and evaded effectively in the disturbed water caused by depth charge explosions. The attackers expended every weapon in their inventory, including over 290 depth charges and there seemed to be no solution other than waiting for the U-boat to surface. After 32 hours of depth charge attacks, the German crew was at the extreme limit of their endurance and the submarine was seriously damaged. U-744 surfaced and the crew unsuccessfully attempted to scuttle her. Members of Chilliwack boarded the boat and gathered papers and documents. ICARUS torpedoed U-744 but she did not sink. Then, after unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port, U-744 was sunk by shallow-set depth charges.

U-973 sunk NNW of Narvik, in position 70.40N, 05.48E, by rockets from an RN 816 Sqn Swordfish from escort carrier HMS Chaser. 51 dead and 2 survivors.

U-737 damaged an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator that was destroyed when forced to crash land.


jainso31

[jainso31]

7th MAR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: Westminster: Female crooners on the BBC were attacked today in the House of Commons when Lord Winterton (Con) claimed: "They remind one of the caterwauling of an inebriated cockatoo. I cannot believe that all this wailing about lost babies can possibly have a good effect on troops who are about to endanger their lives." The parliamentary secretary to the minister of information, Mr Thurtle, said that the government would not interfere with the BBC. "I do not think a certain amount of crooning is likely to have a serious effect on the British Army," he said.

HMCS Georgian arrived Devonport and joined 14th Minesweeping Flotilla.
HMCS Bayfield arrived Devonport and joined 31st Minesweeping Flotilla.

HMCS Thunder arrived Devonport and joined 32nd Minesweeping Flotilla.

Escort carrier HMS Campania commissioned.

GERMANY: A major propaganda campaign aimed primarily at women has been launched in an attempt to bolster Germany's depleted labour force. Though some three million women between the ages of 17 and 45 were registered for war work last year on the orders of Fritz Sauckel, the Reich plenipotentiary for the allocation of labour, more than two million have used family responsibilities and health grounds to avoid their allocated jobs. Members of the Nazi organization for women are going from house to house appealing to the women to work "in the service of the community."

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: In a routine gassing, 3,823 Czech Jews from the ghetto at Theresienstadt are killed.

FINLAND: Finnish government informs the Soviet government (via Kollontay in Sweden) that it is interested in continuing the peace probes. On the 10th of March Soviet answer is received. The Finnish proposition is deemed inadequate. The Soviet terms set out earlier to Paasikivi are the minimum, and there's no way to alter that. The Soviet government expects the Finns to accept these minimum terms by 18 March if they want to negotiate.

BURMA: Tonight Lt-Gen Renya Mutaguchi launches Operation U-Go to capture the Imphal Plain.

Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 20 3:40 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Bhamo, Burma. Twelve B-25s dropped one hundred and five hundred pound bombs on the Bhamo Air Field. We used six to 12 hour chemical delay fusing in some of the bombs. The runways and taxi strips were thoroughly plastered and the field was definitely of no use to the Japanese to attack "BROADWAY," the code name for the landing site in Burma.

Notes: Source for the following: Air Force History and Museum Program 1944 Operation Thursday was code name for the operation. The task orders: (for the Chindits and Air Commandos)

(1) Assist advance of General Stillwell's forces to take Myitkyina by cutting communication of the Japanese 18th Division, harassing its rear and preventing reinforcement.

(2) Create a favorable situation for the Chinese forces crossing the Salween River into Burma.

(3) Inflict damage and confusion on the enemy in northern Burma

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

MS Tarifa sunk by U-510 at 12.48N, 58.44E.
Steam tanker Valera sunk by U-518 at 11.30N, 76.27W

jainso31.

[nick60]

7th March 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

March 7th '45

"We are off again, destination this time is a three week patrol of the Welsh and Cornwall coast. Ships have been reported sunk in these waters".

[seaJane]

Jim, Love the one about the crooners. Do you have a source?

sJ (sober cockatoo :rolleyes:)

[jainso31]

Thanks for interest sJ-see link appended for source of song Besame Mucho

jainso31


http://tsort.info/music/yr1944.htm

[jainso31]

8th MAR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: A major post-war building programme for up to 200,000 houses a year is promised by the government.

Miners in Wales and Durham strike in support of a wage claim.

A new mark of Spitfire, the XIV, is coming into RAF service. The Merlin engine of earlier marks has been replaced by a two-stage Griffon. This and the re-designed airframe enable the Mark XIV to reach speeds of almost 450mph, as well as markedly improving the rate of climb. For some time the Spitfire has been struggling against the Focke-Wulf Fw190. These improvements will enable it to match its rival on much better terms.

Boom defence vessel HMS Prefect is launched..
Destroyer HMS Zebra is launched.

ITALY: Milan: More than a million Italian workers have marched out of the factories to strike against "German pillaging" in occupied northern Italy. German tanks and SS infantrymen are being used in an attempt to force the workers back. The Germans have also threatened to impose a quisling Gauleiter and martial law, with the death penalty for strike leaders.

AZORES: Lagens airfield. No. 269 ASR squadron RAF takes up station.

BURMA: "Merrill's Maruaders" have killed 800 Japanese in north Burma. The 3,000-strong unit is the US counter-part of the British Chindits, and was formed after the war department had appealed for recruits "for particularly hazardous and self-sacrificing operations". Commanded by Colonel Frank Merrill, it arrived in India last October.

Mountbatten assigned the unit to General Stilwell's Northern Combat Area Command. Stilwell was advancing towards Hukawng Valley with Kamaing, Mogaung and Myitkyina as objectives. By early February he was in the valley, and was reinforced by the Marauders and a Chinese tank unit. His aim was to encircle two Japanese regiments in Maingkwan. The Marauders were to make a wide eastward flanking movement, cutting in on the enemy rear at Walawbaum, while the Chinese 22nd Division attacked at Maingkwan.

The Japanese, anticipating Stilwell's tactics, concentrated for five days on the outnumbered Maraduders who beat off repeated bayonet charges. One unit fought for 36 hours without food or water. By 7 March the Japanese were forced out of Walawbaum. Eight Marauders died and 37 were wounded.

Air Commando Combat Missions 21& 22 No flight time on 21, 3:30 on 22. Hailakandi, Assam to Katha, Burma. Bombed and strafed railroad and rolling stock, warehouse, dumps and destroyed radio station. Hailakandi, Assam to Shewbo, Burma. Night mission on Shewbo Air Field. Twelve B-25s dropped incendiaries and fragmentation bombs flying from a 3 ship line abreast formation. Destroyed 12 Japanese aircraft and started huge fires. Encountered flak from heavy guns in the town of Shewbo. The Japanese did not disclose their positions until we had bombed the field. No search lights observed.

Could see the flak explode above us from my turret (think they could not fuse their shells for our low altitude), also could see the winking flashes of machine gun fire but saw no tracers. On this raid Lt. Weber, our navigator, won himself a spot in our hearts. Though it was a moonless night and there was the usual haze from countless forest fires, Lt. Weber brought us directly to the Shewbo Air Base and then back to our own base.

Our crew flew with another pilot on the morning mission and my flight time was never logged. Or regular pilot Lt/Col. Smith was on a fighter sweep into the Shwebo area. His flight of 21 P-51s accounted for 27 fighters, seven bombers and a transport plus one shot down in the air. Less than an hour after landing back at Hailakandi pilots who had just participated in the fighter sweep were now flying B-25s back to the enemy air fields. The B-25H model did not have dual controls, just a jump seat next to the pilot where the navigator usually rode. He was also the designated cannon loader.

BOUGAINVILLE: The Japanese begin a counter-offensive.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Monnow commissioned.

Minesweepers HMCS Minas, Blairmore, Fort William, Milltown, Wasaga, Canso, Lempra and Guysborough join invasion Minesweeping Flotillas Devonport.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Sea Lion is commissioned.


jainso31

[jainso31]

9th MAR.1944

INDIAN OCEAN:
At 0800, U-183 torpedoed storage tanker British Loyalty, which was anchored off the southwest entrance to Addu Atoll. She caught fire and sank to the bottom. The ship was later salved and again used as hulk until she was scuttled on 15 Jan 1946 in position 00.38´12S/73.07´24E.

BURMA:
Indaw: Operation Thursday, one of the most spectacular operations of the war in Burma, was launched when Brigadier Wingate's Chindits struck again some 200 miles behind the Japanese front lines. At dusk on 5 March, 9,000 members of two brigades began flying into an area known as "Broadway" in gliders. A third brigade is marching into enemy territory, but stores, mules and equipment have been flown in.

"Broadway" is 50 miles northeast of Indaw, and Wingate's task is to sever the arteries of supply to the enemy forces opposing General Stilwell's march towards Myitkyina from the north and the advance of the Chinese troops from Yunnan.

The expedition was nearly cancelled when aerial photographs showed logs laid by the Japanese obstructing the ground at "Piccadilly" - 20 miles south of "Broadway" - where gliders crashed on landing, killing 31 crewmen. But landings at "Broadway" went ahead, and in 12 hours engineers had prepared an airstrip. The next night 55 DC-3 Dakota transports landed. The operation is to be supplied by air, and casualties are to be flown out by No. 1 Air Commando of the USAAF.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: US aircraft begin operations from Momote Airfield.

CANADA:
Frigate HMCS New Waterford arrived Halifax from Esquimalt, British Columbia.

U.S.A.:
Light cruiser USS Springfield launched.

Destroyer escort USS Dufilho launched.

Minesweeper USS Palisade commissioned.

Escort carrier USS Sargent Bay commissioned.

Submarine USS Spadefish commissioned.

Destroyer USS Wedderburn commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Richard M Rowell commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:
Flower class corvette HMS Asphodel is torpedoed and sunk by U-575 (Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Boehme) WNW of Cape Finisterre at 45 24N 18 09W. There are 92 casualties, but only 5 survivors.

USCG-manned destroyer escort USS Leopold, on her second voyage and escorting Convoy CU-16, when she got an acoustic contact about 400 miles south of Iceland and turned to investigate it. But before the destroyer escort reached the U-boat, she was hit at 2200 by a Gnat from U-255 and abandoned. The vessel remained afloat but sank early the next morning. Only 28 survivors were picked up by sister ship USS Joyce.

jainso31

[seaJane]

Thanks for interest sJ-see link appended for source of song Besame Mucho

jainso31


http://tsort.info/music/yr1944.htm

Thanks J, I'm actually looking for a source for the grumpy MP but it doesn't seem to show there? Or am I missing something?

sJ

[jainso31]

Sorry sJ-I got it all wrong-BBCs women crooners-I got from "on line"Hansard ;but I am sorry to say that I was unable to re connect.Abject Apologies.!!:eek:

jainso31

[jainso31]

UNITED KINGDOM: Scotland: Convoy RA-57, returning from Russia, arrives safely in Loch Ewe having lost one ship, sunk three U-boats and damaged t

EIRE: Dublin: Diplomatic "spies" in Eire endanger the lives of US troops awaiting orders to liberate Europe, the US told Dublin on 21 February; it urged the expulsion of Axis diplomats. Today Eire formally rejected the request, saying it would be "the first step to war". But the Irish say a radio transmitter at the German legation has been silenced.

GERMANY: Mauthausen: Adolf Eichmann and his team meet to organize the deportation of Hungary's Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Submarine loss. "S-54" - unknown case, at Berlevog Harbor area.
Soviet troops take the German airbase at Uman.

Kiev: The Red Army has made another breakthrough, the third in a week, in the Ukraine. On the whole 500-mile front, from the approaches to the Dnieper estuary north to Tarnopol, von Manstein's Army Group South is in flight, desperately trying to avoid being encircled. The Wehrmacht, bogged down in the black Ukrainian mud, is abandoning arms and equipment in its flight. The Russians claim to have captured 200 Tiger and Panther tanks among the booty.

The new breakthrough was made by Konev's Second Ukrainian Front, which as torn a hole 110 miles wide and 40 miles deep in German lines. A Pravda report says that "it seems incredible that the army could advance one step in this flooded terrain, but it has reached that superlative point at which all obstacles are powerless to halt it."

MEDITERRANEAN SEA:

U-343 sunk in the Mediterranean south of Sardinia, in position 38.07N, 09.41E, by depth charges from ASW trawler HMS Mull. 51 dead (all hands lost).
U-450 sunk in the western Mediterranean south of Ostia, in position 41.11N, 12.27E, by depth charges from escort destroyers HMS Blankney, Blencathra, Brecon and Exmoor and destroyer USS Madison. 42 survivors (No casualties).

NEW BRITAIN: Talasea falls to US forces.

BURMA:Air Commando I flew no missions from March 9th to 11th 1944 Finally got a couple of days off. No notes of what we did, but when we got any kind of a break at all, it was time to wash clothes, try to scrounge some 10-in one rations to get away from the constant diet of Spam and Vienna sausages. One time a crew chief and I got one of our aircraft life rafts and took it to a nearby lake in an attempt to grenade some fish. The grenades had been left behind by our Chindits when they loaded into the gliders taking off from Hailakandi on the 5th. We did get a few fish but found the lake had its share of leeches which put an end to our fishing expedition.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Fighting Seabees" is released in the U.S. The war drama, supposedly about the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions (Seabees), is directed by Edward Ludwig and stars John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Dennis O'Keefe and William Frawley. The film was nominated for one Academy Award.

Escort carrier USS Takanis Bay launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-845 (type IXC/40) is sunk, in position 48.20N, 20.33W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Forester, the Canadian destroyer HMCS St Laurent, the corvette HMCS Owensound and the frigate HMCS Swansea. 10 dead and 45 survivors. KKpt Weber was among those lost in the action. The attacking ships were part of Escort Groups C-1 and EG-9, which had been sent to support Convoy SC-154. U-845, who had conducted one unsuccessful attack, surfaced astern of the convoy to recharge batteries and to reposition for further attacks. St Laurent sighted her at 1647, who closed at high speed and forced the U-boat to submerge. U-845’s batteries had been depleted to 60-percent, which placed her at a major disadvantage. A prolonged series of attacks lasted until 22 -34 when the submarine re-surfaced and attempted to disengage. Weber made many innovative attempts to evade but was thwarted by ideal acoustic conditions and bright moonlight. A running gun battle ensued that resulted in the sinking of the submarine at 23 -38. St Laurent expended 119 rounds of 4.7-inch and 1,440 rounds of 20-mm ammunition. KKpt Weber was killed by gunfire.

U-625 (type VIIC) is sunk west of Ireland, in position 52.35N, 20.19W, by depth charges from a Canadian 422 Sqn Sunderland aircraft (RCAF Sqdn. 422/U). 53 dead (all hands lost). U-625 was engaged in operations against the 30-ship Halifax to Liverpool convoy SC-154 when she was attacked on the surface in the late afternoon. The submarine dove as she was attacked but resurfaced three minutes later and the crew abandoned the boat. A signal was sent by lamp to the aircraft from the survivors in their life raft that read "Nice bombing." SC-154 arrived in Liverpool on 15 Mar 44 with all of its ships intact.

U-275 sunk in the English Channel south of Newhaven, in position 50.36N, 00.04E, by a mine. 48 dead (all hands lost).

U-681 sunk at 0930hrs in the English Channel west of Isles of Scilly, in position 49.52.433N, 06.38.633W, by depth charges from a US Liberator aircraft (VPB-103). 11 dead and 38 survivors. The boat struck a rock while submerged near the Bishop Rock and was forced to surface and was then attacked by the Liberator aircraft. It sank roughly 4 miles to the north-east of the Isles of Scilly.

US Liberty Ship William B Woods sunk by U-952 at 38.36N, 13.45E.
Corvette HMS Asphodel sunk by U-575.

jainso31

[jainso31]

11th MAR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM
Destroyer HMS Zodiac launched.
Salvage vessel HMS Salvictor launched

Destroyer KNM Svenner (ex-HMS Shark) commissioned.

FRANCE: U-380 destroyed during an air raid on Toulon. One man from its crew was killed

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army captures Berislav, in the southern Ukraine.

ALGERIA: Algiers: The Free French government sentences Pierre Pucheu, the former Vichy minister of the interior to death for treason.

BURMA: As the 7th Indian Division takes Buthidaung, the Japanese advance to Witok.

Naik Nand Singh (1914-47), 11th Sikh Regt., led his men up a steep ridge under fire to take one trench, advancing alone to take two more. (Victoria Cross)

Both sides in the battle for Burma are now trying to seize the initiative. In addition to two Allied offensives, Japan returned to the attack this week.

Last month saw the Japanese call off Operation Ha-Go, an attack on British positions in the Arakan peninsula. The Japanese 55th Division has slipped behind the Allied lines at Taung Bazaar in an attempt to cut off supply lines both from the north and from the Ngakyedauk Pass, in the east. The Indian 5th and 7th Divisions were cut off in the "admin box" of Sinzweya. Supplied by air, they fended off repeated Japanese attacks until 25 February, when they were relieved from the east. The Allied capture of Buthidaung today removes the last major obstacle to an advance on Akyab.

Operation U-Go, launched by General Renya Mutaguchi's 15th Army on the night of 7-8 March, is a pre-emptive strike to prevent an Allied offensive in northern Burma. Its main objective is the capture of the key communications and supply centre at Imphal, across the Indian border in Assam; today Japanese troops crossed the Manipur river, east of the Chindwin. Mataguchi has ambitions to advance to Delhi and "liberate" the whole of India on behalf of the nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose.

U-Go took General Slim by surprise. He was expecting an attack next week, and is now rushing troops north from Buthidaung to Imphal.

Combat Mission N0. 23 of B-25H BARBIE III 1st Air Commando Group 10th[/B] Air Force. 3:00 Hrs. Flight Time Hailikandi to Katha, Burma Bombed dumps and supply areas with good results. 5:00 Hrs. Flight Time (night) Hailikandi to Heho Airdrome, Burma. Mission flown at night which proved unsuccessful. We had a lot of difficulty locating the target and would not have found it if the Japs hadn't turned on their search lights. Only one bomber released bombs and they exploded a mile from the field. We almost had a midair collision when search lights bracketed our lead formation, blinding the pilots momentarily.

Air Commando Combat Missions 22 and 23 3:00 and 5:00 Hours Flight Times Hailakandi, Assam to Katha, Burma. Bombed dumps and supply areas with good results. Hailakandi, Assam to Heho airdrome, Burma. Mission flown at night which proved unsuccessful. We had a lot of difficulty locating the target and would not have found it if the Japs had turned on their search lights. Only one bomber released bombs, and they exploded about a mile from the field. We almost had a mid air collision when the search lights bracketed our lead 3 ship formation, blinding the pilots momentarily. Being lit up by search lights at night while flying formation is not exactly habit forming.

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Chambly completed forecastle extension refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
Corvette HMCS Hespeler commissioned.


U.S.A.: A production order for 100 Bell P-59 Airacomet jets is placed.

Submarine USS Queenfish commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: UIT-22 is sunk south of the Cape of Good Hope, in position 41.28S, 17.40E, by a South African aircraft. 43 dead (all hands lost).

[Launched as the Italian submarine Alpino Bagnolini on 28 October 1939. Taken over by the Germans, following the Italian capitulation, at her Bordeaux, France base on 9 September, 1943.
* Commissioned into German service.
These boats were roughly 1166tons on the surface, in many ways they were similar in measurements to the German type IXC, they had 8 torpedo tubes and carried 14 torpedoes and had a complement of roughly 57 in Italian service.

UIT-22 (ex Alpino Bagnolini) and UIT-23 (ex Reginaldo Giuliani) were identical boats.]

U-255 was attacked by aircraft and 2 men were wounded.

[B]RCAF 407 Sqn Wellington crashed preparing to attack U-256.

jainso31

[jainso31]

12th MAR.1944 (QUIET DAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The Polish government in exile broadcasts a "call to arms" to the civilian population.

Westminster: With an invasion attempt of occupied Europe imminent the Allies have almost sealed off Eire from the rest of the world, following Dublin's refusal to expel Axis diplomats. For the time being 250,000 Irish citizens working in Britain cannot return home, nor can any of the 164,000 serving with the British armed forces. Mr Churchill recognises that this decision is "painful" in view of the contribution of so many Irishmen to the war effort. There were tears at Liverpool as some Irish girls were refused permission to sail home yesterday, but 1,000 others did leave.

U.S.S.R.: Konev's forces reach the River Bug at Gayvoron.

BURMA:
Combat Mission N0. 25 No. 1 Air Commando
March 12, 1944 3:00 Hrs. Flight Time
Hailikandi to Dineblu, Burma No results noted

The times we bombed or strafed a target we could not see in a thickly forested area. A Chindit column would find a good target or run into a problem and vector us into the area and then put mortar smoke on the target and tell us what direction to come in from. We usually had excellent communications with the these ground forces.

U.S.A.:
Destroyer escort USS Paul G Baker launched.

Submarines USS Blackfin and Jallao launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-311 shot down an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax.


jainso31

[jainso31]

13th MAR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: Arrived Plymouth assigned - (1) 31st Minesweeping Flotilla a. HMCS Cowichan b. Caraquet c. Malpequet (2) 32nd M/S Fl, later to 14th M/S Fl, and then 31st M/S Fl. a. HMCS Vegreville.

U.S.S.R.: Russian forces take Kherson.

Moscow: The USSR and Italy re-establish diplomatic links.

BURMA: Japan attacks the Chindit airstrip at "Broadway"

Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 20 2:55 Flight Time. Hailakandi, Assam to Wuntho, Burma. The Chindits had established a road block at Wuntho and through radio directions and targeting the area with colored smoke, we were able bomb the Japanese position although no results were noted.

The missions were very short ones and had an idea of the munitions required before taking off. When working with the Chindits on close support carried fragmentation cluster bombs. There were two types; a 20 pound cluster of 6 per station we dropped from a minimum of 2000 feet (not sure if I have the altitude right) or a parachute type which came in clusters of 3. These could dropped when flying from a very low altitude as the chutes delayed the bombs from detonating, giving the aircraft time to get clear. One mission included flying with another pilot, this hot shot put 57 fragments into the bottom of our plane when he dropped the load too low. Claimed it was from flak hits but we knew better.

Lt. George Albert Cairns (b.1913), Somerset Light Infantry, killed an officer who had cut off his arm and used the sword to fell more Japanese. He died of his wounds. (Victoria Cross: last VC of war gazetted [1949]).

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Fierce fighting continues on Bougainville. Heavy US counterattacks begin to blunt the recent gains by the Japanese. Japanese forces end their attack on Hill 700.

CANADA:

HMC MTB 743 commissioned.
Corvette HMCS Galt departed Halifax for refit New York City.

U.S.A.: The New York based Emergency Committee, devoted to urging the Allies to do more to save the Jews in Europe, hosts an all-star Show of Shows at Madison Square Garden.

More than 20,000 people attend, including 150 servicemen whose tickets are paid for by the famous Jewish boxer (and serviceman), Barney Ross.
The evening was a combination of pleasant entertainment and bitter reality.
On the one hand, it featured skits and comedy routines by Bob Hope, as well as by Gracie Fields, Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Zero Mostel, Molly Picon, and others. Milton Berle served as master of ceremonies. Musical numbers were performed by Paul Robeson, Perry Como, the Andrews Sisters, the Xavier CugatBand, and the Count Basie Band, among others.
But the evening also included a dramatic reading by Helen Hayes of a Ben Hecht poem about the Nazi massacres.

Emergency Committee chairman Dean Alfange (a leader of the American Labor Party), in a stirring address, declared that it was the duty of the Christian world to help these stricken people in this black hour of their misery and distress. Bergson (the chairman of the Emergency Committee) also spoke, appealing to Allied officials and Jewish community leaders to “brush aside political considerations at a time when thousands of us are dying daily.

According to the New York Times, the Show of Shows netted $80,000--quite a sum for that era and an important boost to the rescue campaign. While other entertainers used their talents simply to gain personal wealth and fame, Bob Hope and his colleagues had demonstrated that they were a cut above the rest. The participants in the Show of Shows took the risk of associating with a controversial group, for the sake of the vital humanitarian cause of rescuing Jews from the Holocaust.
Destroyer escorts USS Riley and Willmarth commissioned.
Destroyer USS Rowe commissioned.
Destroyers USS Charles S Sperry and Porter launched.


ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-575 (type VIIC) is sunk north of the Azores, in position 46.18N, 27.34W, by depth charges from the Canadian frigate HMCS Prince Rupert, the US destroyer USS Hobson, destroyer escort Haverfield, and by depth charges from a British Wellington and Fortress aircraft (Sqdns. 172/B and 206/R and 220/J) and Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier USS Bogue. 18 dead and 37 survivors.

U-575 was located by Bogue's a/c and was soon joined by Haverfield. Prince Rupert was detached from the passing convoy ON 227 to join the action. Both ships attacked with depth charges and hedgehog but with no result. They were joined by USS Hobson, which began slow creeping attack that forced the submarine to the surface. Amidst a hail of fire from all three ships and an 'Avenger' a/c from Bogue, the submarine crew abandoned ship as she sank. OLtzS Bohmer was among the survivors.

At 1940, the unescorted Peleus was hit by two torpedoes from U-852 and sank rapidly about 500 miles north of Ascension Island. The U-boat tried to destroy all evidences of the sinking by shooting at debris and rafts from the ship. During this action some survivors were killed and only four men were alive when the U-boat left the area. One of them later died, the remaining three survivors were picked up by the Portuguese SS Alexandre Silva on 20 April and taken to Lobito, Angola

jainso31.

[derek s.langsdon]

A busy day in Burma Jim ! grateful to read your summing up.
Some up date on current Burma was on my list for yesterday but been cut off past 24 hours due some (probably my) confusion over need to re-sign in with yet another third password/numbers--now seem back to as normal as I ever get !

dsl

[jainso31]

14th MAR.1944 QUIET DAY

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMCS Valleyfield departed Horta escorting damaged HMCS Mulgrave under tow of HMS Dundee to Clyde.

GERMANY: Peenemunde: Wernher von Braun and two assistants are arrested, accused of diverting resources from military rocket projects to peaceful ones, such as the movement of mail by rocket.


BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0.28-2:40 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Meza, Burma. Bombed Meza railroad bridges with excellent results. Two direct hits on the bridge and one on tracks just short of the bridge. The fighter dive bombed a truck pontoon bridge a few hundred yards away. Both bridges destroyed.
On a number of these missions we had a combat photographer on the flight who took color 16 mm movie film. Several years ago these films were located and a video of many of these actions were put together. I was lucky enough to have received a tape and got quite a few goose bumps looking at things we did so many years ago.

CHINA: The Communist Eighth Route Army captures Chinhsien, in Hupeh province.

AUSTRALIA:
Minesweeper HMAS Strahan commissioned

U.S.A.: Presidential Election begins with the primary election in New Hampshire. Wendell Wilkie and Franklin D. Roosevelt win for their respective parties.
Minesweeper USS Clamour commissioned.
Destroyer USS Meredith commissioned.
Submarine USS Lizardfish laid down.

Corvette HMCS Kamsack completed forecastle extension refit Baltimore.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-852 torpedoed the Greek SS Peleus. In a unique case among U-boats, they machine-gunned wreckage in the waters in an attempt to remove traces of their victim and to cover their tracks.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

Lucky for the US they found old Von Braun or they'd never
have got to the moon !
dsl

[jainso31]

By March 1944 Hitler's Germany was completely in the hands of zealots and other assorted lunatics- echoing their lunatic Fuhrer.

jainso31

[jainso31]

15th MAR.1944


UNITED KINGDOM: The first production Supermarine Spitfire F. 21 (LA 187) makes its first flight today. Unlike earlier marks, the F. 21 has lost the characteristic elliptical wing, the change in plan-form accompanying major structural alterations including higher tensile spar booms. The wing area is slightly increased and the tail unit re-designed. The undercarriage is strengthened and the range extended by fitting 18-gallon fuel tanks in the wings.

GERMANY: Tonight Stuttgart is raided by 863 RAF bombers

ITALY: Another Allied attack on Cassino. Preliminary bombardment used 1400 tons of bombs and 190,000 shells. The New Zealand Division moves in with the 4th Indian Division ready to follow up. They meet a regiment of the German 1st Paratroop Division. Some slight gains are made. 140 civilians and 96 Allied soldiers are killed.
In four hours, 775 Allied bombers have flattened this pleasant valley town. The attack represented more than two aircraft for every one of the German defenders - five tons of bombs for each soldier - such is the Allied determination to break the deadlock.
The Allies reckoned that no one could have survived the bombing - let alone the 195,969 shells that followed. Yet the New Zealand 6th Infantry Brigade came under intense defensive fire when it clambered over the debris into the town.
A new assault is also being made on the Cassino monastery. Gurkhas have climbed to Point 435 on the army maps, known as "Hangman's Hill", 440 yards from the monastery.

EUROPE: German forces mass on the Hungarian border.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 29 2:35 Flight time Hailakandi, Assam to Kawlin, Burma. Bombed supply dumps. No results noted.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: Manus Island: US troops of the 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments of 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, have landed at Lorengau on Manus Island, off the north coast of New Guinea. The force under Gen. MacArthur's South-West Pacific Area Command landed after a heavy preliminary air and sea barrage. The first wave of attackers has so far managed to destroy landmines, machine-gun nests and booby traps before advancing on Lorengau airfield, where the Japanese defenders are holding out.
Securing the Admiralties will safeguard the Allied rearguard, vital to MacArthur's plan to advance along New Guinea's north coast to the Vogelkop peninsula, the likely springboard for an eventual attack on the Philippines.

CANADA:

Frigate HMCS Cheboque departed Esquimalt BC for Halifax , Nova Scotia.Escort carrier HMS Puncher arrived Lapointe Pier Vancouver for RN modifications.

U.S.A.:

Escort carrier USS Shamrock Bay commissioned.
Frigate USS Racine launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Fowler and Spangenberg commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-653 (type VIIC) is sunk in position 53.46N, 24.35W, by depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex, and by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Starling and Wild Goose. 51 dead (all hands lost).

jainso31

[jainso31]

16th MAR.1944

GERMANY: Vice-Admiral Hellmuth Heye requests a drug "that can keep soldiers ready for battle when they are asked to continue fighting beyond a period considered normal, while at the same time boosting their self-esteem."

A short time later, Kiel pharmacologist Gerhard Orzechowski presented Heye with a pill code-named D-IX. It contained five milligrams of cocaine, three milligrams of Pervitin and five milligrams of Eukodal (a morphine-based painkiller). The drug was tested on crew members working on the navy's smallest submarines, known as the "Seadog" and the "Beaver."


ITALY: Heavy fighting continues around Cassino.

STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR: U-392 (type VIIC) is sunk in position 35.55N, 05.41W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Affleck, the destroyer HMS Vanoc and depth charges from 3 US Catalina aircraft (VP 63). 52 dead (all hands lost).

INDIAN OCEAN: S class submarine Stonehenge sailing from Ceylon on 25 February for a patrol around the island of Great Nicobar and the North coast of Sumatra is lost N of the Malacca Strait. There were no survivors, all 48 of the crew being lost. It is possible that she was mined, as nothing more is heard of her.

BURMA: Allied troops take Mawlu, cutting the vital rail link from Mandalay to Myitkyina.

Air Commando Combat Mission No. 30 2:45 Flight time Hailakandi, Assam to Kalu, Burma. No record kept.

NEW GUINEA: US aircraft raid a Japanese convoy off Wewak.

CANADA:

Frigate HMCS Teme commissioned.
HMC MTB 463 commissioned.

U.S.A.:.

Minesweeper USS Quest launched.
Escort carrier USS Thetis Bay launched.
Destroyer escort USS Hayter commissioned.
Frigate USS Muskogee commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-801 attacked by an Avenger aircraft from escort carrier USS Block Island in the Mid Atlantic. One man died and 9 men were wounded. The U-boat was sunk the next day.

jainso31

[jainso31]

17th MAR.1944

GERMANY: U-28 a type VIIA which was sunk on 17/March/44 at the U-Boat pier at Neustadt after an operational accident. It was raised later the same month, but struck 4/Aug/44.

AUSTRIA: Vienna: American B-24s, escorted by P-47s and P-38s, today opened the Allied bombing assault on Austria with a raid by more than 200 planes on industrial targets in Vienna. The planes of the US 15th Army Air Force, flew from airfields in Italy. Some 100 B-17s aborted the raid because of bad weather.

Though many Austrians are serving in the German armed forces, the country has until now been largely untouched by war. The Allies appear to be in two minds about it; the Moscow declaration by Allied foreign ministers last November spoke of Austria as "the first country to fall victim to Nazi aggression", but then warned Austrians that they have "a responsibility for participation in the war at the side of Hitlerite Germany."

FINLAND: Helsinki: The Finns are procrastinating in their peace negotiations with the USSR despite being offered what seem to observers to be reasonable terms to end their ill-fated alliance with Germany. The Finns' reply today is being described by the Russians as "negative". The sticking-point now seems to be not the proposed occupation of Hango base, but the fate of German forces in northern Finland. Commanded by General Dietl, they are 100,000 strong and well-equipped. Russia wants then interned, but Finland wants to repatriate them to Germany "with full military honours."

From the contemporary Finnish point of view the greatest problems with the Soviet terms presented in Spring 1944 were twofold:

- The Soviet demand of 600 million (uninflated 1938) USD as war reparations. The economic experts deemed it impossible to pay in the time frame demanded by the Soviets. In the peace concluded in September 1944 the sum was halved to 300 million USD and more time was given.

- The internment of Germans.The Finns were unwilling to fight a war against the Germans. Again the time given by the Soviets to accomplish the internment was deemed to be impossibly short, and the Germans were thought still to be strong enough to attempt to occupy Finland. In September 1944 the German situation had deteriorated enough for them not to seriously entertain plans of occupying Finland, and they worked out a plan with Finns to effect the withdrawal from Finland to happen without bloodshed. Later Finns were forced by the Soviets to abandon this plan and start a serous war, but by then the civilian population had already been evacuated.
One final point to be made. The details are still uncertain, but last year there was published information from the Russian archives that seem to indicate that the Soviet terms of Spring 1944 were a trap. The purpose was (once Finns had agreed to the initial Soviet terms) that once Finns started to negotiate for the final treaty, Soviets would have presented far harsher terms. At that point Finns would had had no other options but to agree, because cease-fire would already have been made and relations with Germany severed. But Finns rejected the initial terms (which the Soviets considered lenient), and the terms finally agreed in September 1944 were milder. (By that point the Red Army had broken the Finnish front in the Karelian Isthmus by a major offensive in June 1944, but Finns had been able to defeat the Red Army in June-July 1944 once it tried to advance into southern Finland.) If it is confirmed that Stalin tried to trick Finland into submission in Spring 1944, it will for once and all terminate the old historical debate on whether it was wise for Finland to reject the Soviet terms and stay in the German bandwagon. Until the aforementioned information was published, it would have been wiser to accept the terms than to lose almost 20 000 KIA in fighting the Red Army offensive to standstill and then accepting somewhat milder terms in September 1944.

BALTIC SEA Sea: U-1013 type VIIC/41 is sunk east of Rügen after colliding with U-286. There are "26 survivors and 25 crew are lost", however, as the same figure of 26 survivors is also noted against U-286, it may be an aggregated count.

U-286 type VIIC Sank after a collision with U-1013; raised, repaired and returned to service, finally being sunk 29/April/1945.

U-28 sunk at Neustadt U-boat pier, in position 54.07N, 10.50E in an operational accident. Raised March 1944 and stricken on 4 August 1944.

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army enters the Ukrainian road and rail junction of Dubno.

Kiev: In the swift advance of the red Army in the Ukraine has brought it close to the Romanian border. Dubno, the old fortress where the legendary Cossack warrior Taras Bulba fought, fell to Zhukov today and Konev crossed the river Dniester and wheeled north to encircle the First Panzer Army.

Tonight's communiqué says that the Red Army is fighting in the streets of the important railway junction of Mogilev-Podolski, only 40 miles from the river Pruth where it forms the Romanian border. The communiqué describing the crossing of the Dniester, said: "The advance of the Soviet troops was so swift and stunning that in a number of places the Germans had no time to destroy the ferries and bridges. They suffered enormous losses." With the Lvov to Odessa railway line cut, the key supply route to the southern sector of von Manstein's Army group has been broken, and as the Russians advance they threaten to split the German forces in Poland from those in southern Russia.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 0938, U-371 fired a Gnat at Convoy SNF-17 about 30 miles MME of Bougie and observed a hit on a ship, which settled by the stern after the hit. At 0942, a spread of three torpedoes was fired and two hits were heard. After another Gnat at 0948, a further detonation on another ship was heard.The first The first torpedo struck Maiden Creek in station #52 and the second US troop transport Dempo. ship was sunk at 1350 by a coup de grâce. A torpedo hit Dempo on the starboard side. Against orders, the crew immediately began to abandon ship, while the master tried to beach his ship, but she settled slowly and sank around 1055. Maiden Creek was hit by a torpedo forward of the #4 hatch. The explosion broke the shaft, the back of the ship and filled the #4 hold and the engine room with water. The eight officers, 40 crewmen, 29 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger abandoned ship in two lifeboats and a raft as the ship slowly settled by the stern. The boats waited two hours near the vessel until an escort appeared and ordered the men back on the vessel to prepare her to be towed by a tug. They tied up the boats at the stern and reboarded the ship. At 1350, the U-boat fired a coup de grâce, which struck on the port side in the stern. The explosion lifted the ship out of the water, destroyed the lifeboats and killed one officer, two armed guards and five crewmen. The survivors jumped overboard and swam to a single raft near the ship. They were rescued after 30 minutes by motor launches from a British destroyer and brought to Bougie. The badly damaged Maiden Creek was towed by a British escort vessel to Bougie on the morning of 18 March and beached, but broke in two forward of the #4 hold and was declared a total loss. 498 servicemen died.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 31 2:35 Flight time. Hailakandi, Assam to Malu, Burma. Bombed Japanese positions at the Malu Road block.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Calgary completed refit Liverpool , Nova Scotia.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-801 (type IXC/40) is sunk near the Cape Verde Islands, in position 16.42N, 30.28W, by a Fido homing torpedo from 2 Avenger aircraft (VC-9) of the US escort carrier USS Block Island and depth charges and gunfire from the US destroyer USS Corry and the destroyer escort Bronstein. 10 dead and 47 survivors. The boat was attacked by an Avenger aircraft from the escort carrier USS Block Island in the Mid Atlantic on 16 Mar, 1944. One man died and 9 men were wounded. The U-boat was sunk the next day.

jainso31

[jainso31]

18th MAR.1944

AUSTRIA: Salzburg: Hitler detains Hungary's regent, Admiral Horthy, in Salzburg and orders the German army to occupy Hungary.

INDIA: Imphal: As General Mutaguchi's men press forward towards the vital military base at Imphal on a massive front. General Slim is belatedly rushing troops north from the Arakan to try to repel them. The Japanese have caught them on the hop with their attack which came a week earlier than he had predicted.

To add to Slim's woes, Operation Thursday, the attack by glider-borne Chindits behind enemy lines near Indaw, has failed to make much impact. The plan was to cut off Japanese forces in northern Burma, re-opening the route between Ledo and Kunming. Despite cutting the Mandalay to Myitkyina railway, Wingate's crack troops find themselves sidelines temporarily by the Imphal battle.

Slim's tactic is to pull his troops back to the Imphal plain and entice the Japanese to follow, thus lengthening the enemy's supply lines through difficult territory and shortening his own. The 20th Indian Division, hard pressed by the Japanese 33rd Division, has withdrawn from Tamu to the hills and is now virtually blocking the Imphal road. To the north, Mutaguchi is poised to attack Sangsak, the gateway to his second main target: Kohima, a rail and supplies centre almost as important as Imphal.

Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 32 2:45 Flight time Repeated same mission as yesterday.
When I returned to the states, my journal was taken from me prior to departing from Casablanca, Morocco. We were told to make sure our name and address was on our stuff being taken. I remember there was a pile of notes, diaries, journals, etc., about a foot high.

We had been issued the baggy pants and jackets that were really paratroopers gear. A very officious, 2nd Lt of course, told me that my jacket was not Air Force issue and I would have to dispose of it or would not be allowed on the plane. We always had words for these type of people (C.S.) but spoken only to those who are at your pecking level. You can bet I got rid of the jacket.

What the Lt did not know was my traveling companion had a folding stock carbine hung over his shoulder and covered with his rain coat. The last time I saw the guy was walking out of the airport at La Gaurdia field in New York with raincoat and carbine still intact.

A couple years after the war the journal was returned by the Air Force.

CANADA:

Tug HMCS Blissville assigned to Cornwallis , Nova Scotia.
Submarine HMS Seawolf ASW training Halifax , Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.:

Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise supported US landing at Emirau.
Destroyer escort USS Jaccard launched.
Frigate USS Lorain launched.
Destroyer escort USS Earl V Johnson commissioned.
Frigate USS Grand Forks commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyer HS Kanaris collided with cruiser HMS Hawkins. No casualties.


jainso31

[nick60]

18th March 1943

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Vanessa

March 18th 43

"There has been little news up til now. We have been over with four more convoys to Newfoundland. Weather has been very bad - one of our boys lost at sea, washed overboard this trip. Couldn't pick him up, weather too bad. (Possibly Allan Bruce). Nothing else, things very quiet".

[jainso31]

19th MAR.1944

HUNGARY: The Germans occupy the country for tactical reasons and to safeguard their continued access to oil resources.

Budapest: With Stalin's armies now thrusting towards Germany's flank in south-eastern Europe. Hitler has sent in troops to occupy Hungary and seize vital communications for the defence of the Danube plain - the highway into the Reich.

All civilian traffic has been ordered off the roads. Admiral Horthy, the regent of Hungary, was summoned to Klessheim Castle, Salzburg, where Hitler ordered him to appoint a pro-Nazi as premier, allow the Germany army to take over the Hungarians transport system, and give the SS a free hand in deporting Hungarian Jews. Horthy returned to Budapest to find a German guard of honour lined up to greet him. He retreated to his palace and has not been seen since.

Edmund Veesenmayer, the German ambassador plenipotentiary with "special powers" in Hungary, is mobilizing "all resources for final victory", and Hungary's 767,000 Jews, hitherto unharmed through four years of war, are to be sent on their way to Auschwitz.

EASTERN FRONT-Koniev's forces have reached and crossed the DNEIPER R near Yampol capturing Soroki a little to the south.Near Dubno the Soviets take the town of Krzemienic


NEW GUINEA: The US shells the Japanese at Wewak for a second time.

CANADA: Tug HMCS Glenholme ordered McKenzie Barge and Derrick.

U.S.A.:
Destroyer escort USS Cross laid down.
Light cruiser USS Dayton launched.
Minesweeper USS Gayety launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Goss and Kendall C Campbell launched.
Destroyer USS Maddox launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-1059 (type VIIF) is sunk, south-west of Cape Verde Island in position 13.10N, 33.43W, by depth charges dropped from American Avenger aircraft of Squadron VC-6, operating from USS Block Island. Eight of the U-boat crew survive, but 47 are lost. Even as U-1059 was sinking, it succeeded in bringing down one of the attacking Avengers by gunfire.
The boat was sunk in this attack but it brought down one of the attackers even as the boat was slipping beneath the waves. The boat left Bordeaux during March of 1944 with a load of torpedoes destined for the "Monsun" group operating in the Indian Ocean, and from Japanese occupied harbours.

Sunk on 19 March, 1944 south-west of the Cape Verde Islands, in position 13.10N, 33.44W by depth charges from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft of the US escort carrier Block Island (VC-6). 47 dead and 8 survivors.
U-311 sank SS Seakay in Convoy CU-17.

jainso31

[nick60]

19th March 1943

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Vanessa

March 19th '43

"Now in Liverpool - what lovely news, we are going in dry dock for two months refit!"

[jainso31]

20th MAR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: The Ninth Air Force's 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group completes a series of 83 missions begun on 23 February during which photographs were made of 160 miles (260 km) of the French coastline and two inshore strips, all in preparation for the Normandy invasion. A total over 9,500 prints are produced; no aircraft were lost during this operation.

ITALY: Cassino: The new commander of the Canadian 1 Corps, Lt-Gen Eedson Burns - better known to his troops as "Smiling Sunray" because of his dour, unchanging manner - is a formidable intellectual and the complete antithesis of his predecessor, Lt-Gen Henry Crerar. The outgoing, dynamic Crerar has left for Britain where he will join General Montgomery in D-Day planning. Burns, who is inexperienced in tank warfare, commanded the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, part of Canadian I Corps.

U.S.S.R.: Another Russian advance in the Ukraine gives the Germans little chance for concentrating for a defence.
The Red Army captures Mogilev-Podolski and Vinnitsa, key bases in the Ukraine.

ALGERIA: Algiers: Pierre Pucheu, the former Vichy interior minister found guilty of treason, is shot.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0.33 2:55 Flight time Hailakandi to Indaw Lake, Burma. Reached objective around 1600 hours. Caught fifteen Japanese trucks loaded with troops on a road just west of town. Road was in a narrow defile. Blocked first and last trucks in convoy with .75mm shell fire and went into our gunnery/bombing pattern. Completely destroyed convoy with machine gun, cannon and frag bombs. Also located five locomotives, damaging 2 and blowing the boilers out of 3.

Our primary objective was the locomotives on the Burma railway and we just happened to catch the convoy by accident. A target of opportunity causing some 300 casualties and a 36 hour lull in Japanese resistance. Expended the entire ready rack of .75 mm shells (21) plus several I had stashed away on our cockpit floor.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville Island the Japanese ground forces mount their last major thrust to break into the American perimeter. The ground attack is broken by by artillery fire from U.S. Army units.

BISMARK ARCHIPELAGO: A US Marine Corps infantry regiment lands on Emirau Island in the St. Mathias Islands without opposition. Supporting the invasion are aircraft of Task Force 36 from:
Task Unit 36.1.5, the Air Support Force Carrier Unit, consisting of:
USS Enterprise (CV-6) with Carrier Air Group Ten (CVG-10), and
USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Four (CVLG-24).
Task Unit 36.3.1, the Air Support Force Escort Carrier Support Unit, consisting of:
USS Coral Sea (CVE-57) with Composite Squadron Thirty Three (VC-33), and
USS Corregidor (CVE-58) with VC-41.
Aircraft from Task Group 36.3, the Air Support Force Air Support Group, support the landing by attacking Kavieng on New Ireland Island. The carriers of TG 36.3 are:
USS Manila Bay (CVE-61) with VC-7, and
USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) with VC-63).

U.S.A.:

Corvette HMCS Hepatica arrived New York City for refit.
Destroyer escort USS Rolf laid down.
Destroyer minelayer USS Adams laid down.
escort USS Haas launched.
Destroyers USS Preston and Blue commissioned.
Destroyer escorts USS Mason and Dennis commissioned

jainso31

[jainso31]

21sr MAR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: Sloop HMS Lapwing commissioned.

GERMANY: U-3501 laid down.

ITALY-Gen Alexander agrees with Gen Freyberg that the losses in the Battle of Cassino are too heavy and must be halted in the next two days unless their are worthwhile gains.The Germans are managing to bring their reserves into the battle area ;where the British have rough terrain and German artillery
to contend with.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 34 2:50 Flight time. Hailakandi, Assam to Meza, Burma. Bombed Meza bridge. It was successful.
The 20th Indian Inf.Div.have made their withdrawal most successfully-it now holds positions on the Shenan Hills and between Palel and Wangiing.The 17th Indian Inf. Div.is still fighting it's wa back through Japanes lines and inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese 33rd Division

NEW GUINEA: Over 140 Fifth Air Force A-20s, B-24s, B-25s, P-38s and P-40s attack targets in the Hansa Bay-Tadji-Wewak-Schouten Islands area.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Springhill commissioned.

U.S.A.:

Escort carrier USS Shipley Bay commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Eversole commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Lloyd E Acree launched.

jainso31

[jainso31]

GERMANY: Berlin announces the appointment of a new government for Hungary, led by Dome Sjotay.

Frankfurt: An RAF raid tonight kills 948 people and make 120,000 homeless.

ITALY: New Zealand Corps attacks Cassino for the last time. Freyburg finally calls off the attack.

EUROPE: Over 800 USAAF bombers hit targets in Germany and Italy. About 650 Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb the Berlin area while about 200 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Verona, Bologna and Rimini.

EASTERN FRONT: Pervomaysk.southeast of Uman is taken by Konev's troops

Ottawa: CANADA and China sign a mutual aid pact.

BURMA: Over 160 A-31s, A-36s, B-24s, B-25s, P-40s and P-51s attack supply dumps at Prome near Rangoon, support Allied ground forces near Katha and Mawlu, attack Japanese ground troops along the Chindwin River and in the Mogaung Valley and damage a bridge near Pyinmana.

Air Commando Combat Mission NO. 35 3:10 Flight time Hailakandi, Assam to Malu, Burma. Bombed Jap troops at roadblock.

INDIA: Japanese ground troops invade India from Burma and advance to Manipur within 30 miles (48 km) of Imphal.

NEW GUINEA: Over 150 A-20s, B-24s, B-25s, P-40s and P-47s attack the (1) Wewak, Boram and Yeschan areas; (2) the Aitape-Tadji area; (3) barges at Alexishafen and (4) other targets.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Fifth Fleet, including Task Force 58, sorties from Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands to bombard the Palau Islands.

U.S.A.: USN aircraft paint scheme is changed. Glossy paint will be used instead of flat paint. Fighter aircraft are to be painted glossy sea blue overall. Aircraft not operating in a combat zone need not be painted at all.

jainso31

[jainso31]

23rd MAR.1944

EASTERN FRONT: The 1st Ukranian Front drives between Proskurov and Tarnapol threatening to split the 1st and 4th Panzer Armies, and surrounding the Red Army headquarters at Tarnopol.

GREECE: The Germans begin deporting Greek Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

ITALY: Monte Cassino: The unsuccessful Allied assault, spearheaded by the New Zealand Corps, is called off.

Italian partisans kill 28 SS-Polizei men with a bomb on Via Rasella in Rome. Subsequently an order is received from Hitler to kill 10 Italians for each German soldier. Chief of the Rome SIPO, SS-Obstbf., Herbert Kappler, together with Pietro Caruso, the chief of the Italian police, is responsible for selecting the victims. People arrested on the spot, political prisoners and Jews are sent to the Ardeatine Caves near Rome, shot in the neck in small groups, and buried under the sand; the entrances are then sealed by exploding charges. Altogether 335 Italians are murdered, among them 78 Jews.

ROMANIA: Bucharest: In the wake of their occupation if Hungary, the Germans today strengthened their position in Romania, which was occupied in October 1940. The dictator, Marshal Ion Antonescu, a longtime admirer of Hitler, was told that 500,000 German troops were being sent in to safeguard communications and protect the oil-wells for Germany.

With the Red Army on his borders, Antonescu was less than enthusiastic. Hitler was unmoved. Four Panzer and several infantry divisions have already moved in. Romania's foreign policy has been largely determined by resentment at the territorial depredations of her neighbours. In June 1940 Romania was forced to hand over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to Stalin. Romanian troops retook them a year later, after they had joined Hitler in the German attack on the USSR.

In August 1940 the "Vienna Award" gave North Transylvania to Hungary. This week, when Germany occupied Hungary, two Romanian divisions joined in. As Sovet troops advance into Bessarabia, the BBC today broadcast a warning to Romanians: abandon the Nazis or face retribution from the Allies.

GERMANY: Every minute for 24 hours to noon today more than four tons of explosive were dropped by Allied airmen on Germany and occupied Europe. This new intensive onslaught dropped 3,000 tons of bombs on Frankfurt, in the most concentrated attack of the war, after diverting from Schweinfurt. Mines were laid off Kiel, leaflets were dropped over France and minor diversionary raids made all over Germany. The variety of targets reflects a change of tactics, dispersing attacks to make defence more difficult. In daytime raids today the USAAF hit Brunswick and targets in France.RAF dropped 3000 tons of bombs ob FRANKFURT

BURMA: Over 100 A-31s, B-24s, B-25s, P-38s, P-40s and P-51s at Japanese positions in Burma.

Air Commando Combat Mission N0.36 3:15 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Indaw, Burma. Bombed Japanese supply dumps. Bad weather forced us to land at Broadway. Had to roll 55 gallon gasoline drums through dens elephant grass and refuel using a hand pump. Spent the night on the plane.

Note: As our missions were low level we had not been carrying any oxygen (none of my crew even had oxygen masks) and could not get over the weather front between Burma and Assam. It was a bit spooky as us fly boys were down and parked some 150 miles behind enemy lines and the night (noises )?.

EUROPE: Almost 1,000 USAAF bombers based in England bomb targets in Germany and France. Airfields in Germany are bombed by 767 B-17s and B-24s of the Eighth Air Force while over 200 B-26s of the Ninth Air Force bomb marshalling yards and airfields in France in morning and afternoon missions.

NEW GUINEA: Nearly 100 A-20s, B-24s, B-25s and P-47s hit numerous targets in the Aitape, Wewak, Alexishafen and Hansa Bay areas.

WAKE ISLAND: Seventh Air Force B-24s operating from Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands, bomb Wake Island.

PACIFIC: Japanese submarine I-42 is sunk by USS Tunny (282) east of the Philippines.

U.S.A.: US Navy Motor Torpedo Squadron 2 is re-commissioned and assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) landing personnel and supplied in occupied Europe.

jainso31

[jainso31]

24th MAR.1944

FRANCE: Airfields are attacked in the morning by 181 Eighth Air Force B-24s and 220 Ninth Air Force B-26s. In the afternoon, 146 Ninth Air Force bombers hit a marshalling yard. These aircraft are escorted by 841 Eighth and Ninth Air Force fighters.

The full weight of the Heer with massive air support, has succeeded in defeating 465 Resistance fighters of the French Maquis on the plateau of Glieres. The widespread presence of the Maquis has become a continuing source of irritation and frustration to the Vichy and German authorities.
The first attack by the Vichy Milice was a failure; but today several battalions of German soldiers, backed by the Milice, are being used in the offensive. The majority of prisoners are reported to have been brutally tortured before being executed.

GERMANY: 222 Eighth Air Force B-17s, escorted by 540 fighters, bomb Schweinfurt and Frankfurt. This is the third raid to hit Frankfurt since 18 March.

Stalag Luft III: They have been working on a tunnel for two years and now, just after dusk, the moment has arrived for the Allied airmen held in the German PoW camp at Sagan, 80 miles south-east of Berlin. The last few feet of earth are removed and the first prisoners climb out into the wood beyond the barbed wire. The 365-foot tunnel, with air vents and underground railway for moving debris, is the brain child of a Canadian mining engineer and Spitfire pilot, Wally Moody.
Two by two the men leave the tunnel and move off in different directions: south for Czechoslovakia, west for the attempt to pick up a train, and north for Baltic ports and Scandinavia. From time to time the ground beneath their feet shudders under the impact of the 4,000-pound bombs that their RAF comrades are dropping on Germany. They move warily, for the camp guard is doubled during air raids.
As dawn begins to break, a guard, startled by movement close by, fires a shot that raises the alarm. Guards, some in night clothes, swarm through the camp; 76 P oWs have escaped.Hitler is livid

UNITED KINGDOM: Pit owners and miners' leaders today signed a new four-year deal to secure peace and higher output un Britain's coalfields. Under a government-sponsored plan, piece-rate wages will be more closely related to output and there will be job security until 1946. About one in 20 miners will also be graded as "skilled craftsmen" able to earn well over £5 a week. Union leaders appealed tonight for a return to work by 60,000 South Yorkshire miners in dispute over their home coal allowance.

ITALY: 132 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Rimini and several other targets while Twelfth Air Force A-20s, A-36s, B-25s, P-40s and P-47s bomb supply and bivouac areas, bridges, troop concentrations, etc. As part of Operation STRANGLE, the aerial interdiction of the German supply lines, aerial attacks by Allied aircraft have completely severed the rail lines from northern Italy to Rome and no rail cars enter Rome until the Allied occupation in June 1944.

Rome: In a bloody and brutal night of savagery, the SS avenged the deaths of 33 of its men in a partisan bombing by killing 330 hostages - ten Italians for every German. The bomb exploded as a German unit was marching past.
The victims, drawn mostly from Rome's Jewish population, were taken by lorry to caves outside the city. There, by torchlight, the shootings began. As the dead piled up, executioners and victims were forced to stand on bodies. Engineers sealed the caves.

BURMA: General Wingate is killed flying in a B-25 Mitchell of the First ir Commando on a return flight from the Chindit base "Broadway" Burma to India. He is replaced by General Lentaigne. The weather was bad with sudden rainstorms. The RAF had grounded its planes, but the 41 year old Wingate insisted on flying - dying, as he had lived, ignoring official advice. Some of his Chindits are grieving. Others are celebrating. In death as in life he produced mixed reactions.
An unstable crusader who had found a cause, Wingate had first achieved fame for his irregular skills, and notoriety for his brutality, in Ethiopia. His staff so hated him that when he failed to commit suicide with a razor in protest at the "betrayal of Ethiopia", Colonel Hugh Boustead said: "Bloody fool, why didn't you use a revolver?"
Yet after Wingate had put his ideas on long-range penetration into practice in Burma, Churchill wanted this "man of genius and audacity" in command.

Operation Thursday, launched three weeks ago, was designed to cut off the Japanese army in north-east Burma, and threaten its rear. Within ten days Brigadier Mike Calvert's 77th Brigade has captured Mawlu, cut all rail and road links with north-east Burma and established "strongholds" supplied by air. But Brigadier Bernard Fergusson's 16th Brigade, exhausted after a five-week march from Ledo, has failed to take the main Japanese supply base at Indaw.

Meanwhile, on the Imphal plain, Slim is mustering his forces to try to hold off against Mutaguchi's two divisions advancing on Imphal, Kohima and Dimapur. While the Japanese complain that they haven't seen their own air force in weeks. Slim has airlifted the 5th Indian Division over from the Arakan. More troops are pouring into the area from Manipur.

But the Chindits, their charismatic leader gone, are no longer sure of their objective. Having been told to cut off the Japanese facing China, Wingate appears to have decided, against orders, to shift his forces west and cut off the Japanese facing Imphal. He was well-known for never writing anything down or confiding in his subordinates; his plans, whatever they were, are a mystery, scattered over a rain-soaked Imphal hillside.

Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 37 1:40 Flight Time Broadway, Burma to Hailakandi, Assam. Took off at sunrise and flew directly to home base. Japanese aircraft attacked Broadway minutes after we had left the area.
Broadway, located in Northern Burma, was the code name for the place where the glider force landed during Operation Thursday. Personnel from the glider forces made the field serviceable for transport aircraft i.e. C-47s. By Thursday of March 11 7,023 men, 132 horses, 994 mules and 220 tons of supplies had been airlifted into this base without Japanese interference.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Bougainville: 300 Japanese died today as 2,000 troops launched a suicidal attack against the Allied beach-head at Torokina, on Bougainville Island. The attack reflects Japan's increasingly desperate situation in the Solomons. Its main base for the area, at Rabaul, was bombed today for the 50th day in succession, with Allied planes dropping 150 tons of explosives on Rabaul's three airfields. The daytime offensive at Torokina was rebuffed, with US losses given as four dead and 47 wounded.

JAPAN: US Battleships under Admiral Lee bombard Okinawa.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Clock" is released. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, this romantic drama stars Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason and Keenan Wynn.

jainso31

[jainso31]

25th MAR.1944

PACIFIC: Japanese resistance nears the end on Manus and Los Negros in the Admiralties.
The 14th Antiaircraft Artillery Group arrive on Emirau Island.
Bougainville: The Japanese counter-offensive fails and they begin to withdraw.

U.S.S.R.: Kamchatka Peninsula: A US Navy PV-1 Ventura bomber on a mission from Attu in the Aleutian Islands to Shimushu Island in the northern Kurils, crashes into the side of a mountain in this remote part of Siberia. The aircraft is found and the remains of the crew identified nearly 60 years later. .

AUSTRALIA: The Thirteenth Air Force and all US Marine Corps and US Navy aviation units in the former South Pacific Area are reassigned to the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA).

FRANCE: More than 140 Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb a marshalling yard at Hirson.

GERMANY: On the "Night of the Strong Winds" 72 out of 811 bombers raiding Berlin are lost and 50 are shot down by flak.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Ignoring Churchill's request for aerial attacks on V-weapon bases in France, Eisenhower gives priority to the bombing of transport and communications centres.

ITALY: Cassino: After a week of bitter fighting around this bomb-shattered town in central Italy, the Allied offensive, aimed at dislodging the German from the monastery, has been called off. Last night the Gurkha, Essex and Rajput Regiments were evacuated from their position on Hangman's Hill. The losses sustained in this abortive attack have been severe. The 2nd New Zealand Division has lost 63 officers and over 800 men dead, wounded or missing, while the 4th Indian Division lost 1,000 men and 65 officers.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-976 (type VIIC) is sunk in the Bay of Biscay near St. Nazaire in position 46.48N 02.43W by gunfire from two British Mosquito aircraft from Sqdn. 248/L/I. 4 of the U-Boat crew are lost, but 49 survive.

jainso31

[jainso31]

26th MAR.1944

ITALY: A major re-organization occurs of the Allied forces facing Cassino in Italy.
The US 100th Infantry Battalion lands at Anzio. It is assigned a section in the Anzio beachhead later.
Despite bad weather, Twelfth Air Force A-20s, B-25s, B-26s, P-40s and P-47s hit viaducts, railway bridges, troop concentrations and guns in support of the Anzio beachhead. Bad weather forces Fifteenth Air Force B-24s en-route to Steyr, Austria to turn back but they bomb airfields and marshalling yards at Rimini while B-17s attack port facilities at Fume.

UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill broadcasts on the war situation, praising the efforts of Tito's partisans and solemnly declaring that "the hour of our greatest effort is approaching."

GERMANY: Hauptmann Herward Braunegg, an Austrian from Graz is awarded the Ritterkreuz for his close recon work on the Eastern Front with Nahaufklaerungsgruppe 9.

FRANCE: 500 Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-24s escorted by 266 P-47s hit 16 V-1 sites; nearly 140 Ninth Air Force P-47s and P-51s attack a marshalling yard at Creil and V-1 site.

NETHERLANDS: 373 Ninth Air Force A-20s and B-26s attack the torpedo-boat pens at Impudent but a miss by the lead aircraft results in very little damage.

FINLAND: After the initial Fenno-Soviet peace feelers in the preceding months had established that there's basis for a negotiated peace, Finnish delegation travels today to Moscow. The former ambassador at Moscow Juho Paasikivi (who was also in the Finnish peace delegation in 1940) and the former Foreign Minister Carl Enckell fly via Stockholm.
During the last days of March the Finns are involved in lengthy negotiations with the Soviets, whose head is FM Molotov. Soviet demands are: Finnish Army has during April to withdraw to the border of 1940 and the Army has to be cut to half by mid-May and fully demobilized to peace-time size by the end of June. Finland has also to pay $600 million as reparations. The Finns, unsurprisingly, consider the terms harsh, but Molotov retorts: "I don't understand why we should make any concessions to you. Germany has already lost this war and you had been Germany's allies, so you must accept the position of a defeated country.".

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army breaks through to the river Prut on a 53-mile front.

PACIFIC: US Marines of the 1st Provisional Brigade land on Kili Island and Namorik Atoll, Marshall Islands.
The US submarine Tullibee (SS-284), commanded by Charles F. Brindupke, is sunk by circular run of own torpedo off Peleliu Island. 79 men are lost, and 1 survivor taken prisoner.

NEW BRITAIN ISLAND: 23 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s hit USAAF Airfield while 37 fighters attack supply areas.

NEW IRELAND ISLAND: Thirteenth Air Force B-25s heckle Rafael during the night.

NEW GUINEA: Over 200 Fifth Air Force A-20s, B-24s, B-25s and fighters attack various targets along the north coast and on Manus Island.

PALAU ISLANDS: Two Fifth Air Force B-24s, with US Marine Corps observers aboard, attempt to photograph possible targets for an upcoming carrier attack on the islands but due to poor weather and bad timing, the mission is futile.

TRUK ISLAND: 24 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s fly their first mission against Truk but they fail to locate the target due to poor navigation and bomb another island.

BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND: Thirteenth Air Force B-24s and fighters attack Japanese positions along Empress Augusta Bay.

BURMA: Tenth Air Force A-31s hit Japanese positions in the Tonzang-Kalewa area; B-24s and B-25s attack roads; 70+ fighters and a B-25 attack airfields, bridges, roads and railroads; and 8 P-51s and 3 B-25s hit a bivouac and warehouses.

CHINA: Fourteenth Air Force B-25s sink 2 merchant vessels.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Four Fourteenth Air Force P-40s attack barges and ships in the Gulf of Tonkin.

jainso31

[nick60]

28th March 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

March 28th '45

"Have had no luck after 3 weeks. Have developed engine trouble and put into Plymouth for repairs. Leaving tomorrow for Londonderry".

[nick60]

30th March 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

March 30th '45

"Now in 'Derry for a few days, not sure how long"

[nick60]

6th April 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

April 6th '45

"Nothing much but the usual routine, fairly busy working part of ship.

Leaving tomorrow for Norway"

[Trish B]

7 April 1952: HMS Unicorn: left for Kure (from Iwakuni)

[nick60]

7th April 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

"We have oiled at Lisahally, now proceeding with HMS "Sarawak"

[nick60]

10th April 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

April 10th '45

Have arrived at Rosyth, awaiting sailing orders to proceed

[jainso31]

11th APR.1944

NETHERLANDS: The Hague: Six RAF Mosquitoes of No. 613 Squadron precision-bomb the Gestapo offices in the Kleizkamp Art Galleries, destroying files on the resistance and Dutch people earmarked for deportation.

BELGIUM: 229 Ninth Air Force B-26s and 36 A-20s, including 3 dropping Window, attack Montignies Airfield at Charleroi, military installations on the coast, and Chievres Airfield.

FRANCE: During the Eighth Air Force's Mission 299: 5 B-17s drop 2 million leaflets on Paris, Rouen, Le Mans, Rennes, Vichy, Lyon, Limoges and Toulouse between 2301 and 0055 hours local without loss.

90+ Ninth Air Force P-47s dive-bomb a military installation and Gael Airfield, France.

GERMANY: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 298: 917 bombers and 819 fighters are dispatched in 3 separate forces to bomb production centres (primarily fighter aircraft factories) and targets of opportunity in northern Germany; 64 bombers are lost, one of the heaviest single-day losses of World War II. The bombers also drop 2.4 million leaflets:

- 108 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Sorau and 17 bomb Cottbus; 127 hit Stettin, 20 hit Trechel, 16 hit Dobberphel and 23 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 12-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 B-17s are lost.

- 172 B-17s hit Rostock, 52 hit Politz, 35 hit the industrial area at Arnimswalde and 15 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 34-20-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 33 B-17s are lost.

- 121 B-24s hit aviation industry targets at Oschersleben and 99 bomb Bernburg; 9 bomb aviation industry targets at Halberstadt, 9 bomb Eisleben and 5 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 27-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 B-24s are lost.

Escort is provided by 124 P-38s, 454 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 241 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; the fighters claim 51-5-25 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 65-0-67 on the grounds: 7 P-47s and 9 P-51s are lost.

One of the B-24s lost was 42-7522, that crashed 2km north of Bernburg. There are three survivors of the crash.

U.S.S.R.: Kerda falls to the Soviets. They also take Kerch, in the Crimea, forcing a German retreat to Sevastopol.

ITALY: Increased German aerial mining activities are noted off Anzio.

Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit the Montalto di Castro railroad bridge, while B-26s hit marshalling yards at Ancona and Siena; fighter-bombers concentrate on attacks against railroad targets northeast of Rome and buildings inland from the east coast; tracks are hit hard in the Arezzo-Pontassieve area as are stations at Maccarese and Cesano; an overpass, bridges, railroad cars and dumps throughout central Italy are attacked, as is the town of Gaeta.

BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 43 2:30 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Naumgkan, Burma. Bombed ground troops and strafed village.

17 Tenth Air Force P-51s and B-25s fly ground support missions and bomb a road near Maungkan; Mogaung Valley targets are attacked by 50+ fighter-bombers and 2 B-25s; targets include HQ and stores at Sahmaw, HQ and ammunition dump southwest of Mogaung, troops at Myitkyina, and targets of opportunity to the south, a gun position south of Kamaing, and HQ at Waingmaw.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s hit railroad targets of opportunity north of Vinh and seriously damage a bridge south of Thanh Hoa.

JAPAN: Of 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s attempting to fly a photographic and bombing run over Matsuwa Island, Kurile Islands installations, 2 must turn back; the third bombs the runway area.

NEW GUINEA: 80+ Fifth Air Force A-20s and B-25s, supported by 30 P-47s and P-40s, blast AA positions, stores, dumps and personnel areas at Hollandia; 50+ B-24s bomb barges, AA guns, and other targets along Hansa Bay which is also hit by 12 B-25s. 12 other B-25s bomb targets on Karkar Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese warships are sunk:

- AUSNPB4Y-1 Liberator of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Eight (VB-108) based on Eniwetok attacks an enemy submarine while on patrol, claiming a sinking. This was undoubtedly HIJMS I-174, which departed on 3 April 1944 from the Inland Sea of Japan for the Marshall Islands. It failed to answer when called on 11 April 1944.

- The submarine USS Redfin (SS-272) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Akigumo in the eastern entrance to Basilan Strait in the Philippines.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville Island, 20+ Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers are dispatched against coastal gun positions but fail to locate their objective; 12 of the fighter-bombers bomb Aitara while 2 claim destruction of a bridge near Mawareka.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: About 40 Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers hit the eastern section of Rabaul on New Britain Island while 12 others strike Talili Bay ammunition dump; 24 B-25s blast supply areas at Ratawul.

[B]CENTRAL PACIFIC: Seventh Air Force B-25s from the Gilbert Islands hit Ponape Island in the Caroline Islands, rearm at Majuro Atoll, and carry out a shuttle mission against Jaluit and Maloelap Atolls in the Marshall Islands.


jainso31

[Dave Hutson]

Welcome back Jim , hope the holiday came up to spec.

Dave H

[jainso31]

12th APR.1944

FRANCE AND BELGIUM: 231 B-26s and 20 A-20s of the US Ninth Air Force attack railroad, shore batteries, radar installations, airfields, and V-weapon sites at Dunkirk and Courtrai/Wevelghem, France; Coxyde/Furnes, De Pannes-Bains, Saint Ghislain and Ostend, Belgium; and points along the coast. 70+ P-47s dive-bomb military installations in N France.

GERMANY: US Eighth Air Force Mission 300: 455 bombers and 766 fighters dispatched to bomb industrial targets at Schweinfurt, Zwickau, Oscheresleben, Schkeuditz, Halle and Leipzig are forced to abandon the mission because of haze and multilayer clouds; Luftwaffe fighter opposition is concentrated over N France and the bombers claim 10-6-7 fighters; 6 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 25 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 12 KIA, 16 WIA and 56 MIA. Escort is provided by 124 P-38s, 449 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 193 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 18-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-8 on the ground; 3 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost, 2 P-47s are damaged beyond repair and 3 P-38s, 17 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged.

U.S.S.R.: Germany begins to evacuate the Crimea, despite Hitler's order to hold to the last man.

FINLAND: In a secret session, the Finnish Parliament rejects the Soviet terms for peace.

AUSTRIA and YUGOSLAVIA: Bad weather lifts, permitting US Fifteenth Air Force bomber operations; almost 450 B-17s and B-24s attack targets in Austria and Yugoslavia; the B-17s hit aircraft factories at Fischamend Markt, Austria and Split, Yugoslavia; the B-24s hit the industrial area at Wiener Neustadt and Bad Voslau, Austria and the marshalling yard and air depot at Zagreb, Yugoslavia; 200+ P-38s and P-47s provide escort; the bombers and fighters claim 30+ enemy aircraft shot down; 8 US airplanes are known lost and several more fail to return.

ITALY: King Victor Emmanuel announces his plan to retire when the Allies enter Rome, and appoints Crown Prince Umberto lieutenant of the realm.

US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb rail lines approaching the Monte Molino bridge and at a nearby junction to the Viterbo line, railroad and road bridges S of Orvieto and at Certaldo, tracks approaching a bridge at Impeda, and railroad bridges over the Var River and at Albenga; light bombers pound the Zagarolo supply dump; fighter-bombers and fighters (some operating with British aircraft) hit communications (mainly railroad bridges), vehicles, supply dumps at various places, including Arezzo, the island of Elba, Orvieto, NE of Grosseto, NW of Bracciano, Civita Castellana, Montalto di Castro, between Piombino and Viterbo, in the Castiglioncello area, NW of Montepescali and S of Cecina.

INDIA: The merchant ship Fort Stikine arrives at Bombay. She left Liverpool, on February 24th, staging north-about around Ireland in convoy, eleven days to Gibraltar and thence unscathed through air attacks in the Mediterranean, she sailed on to Suez, Aden and Karachi. Partial discharge at Karachi was followed by the loading of 9,000 bales of cotton, thousands of drums of lubricating oil (some leaking), timber, scrap iron, sulphur, fish meal, rice and resin. An attempt to load 750 drums of turpentine on top of the coal in the bunkers was firmly resisted.

The ship docked today. Despite carrying three categories of explosive and having a priority discharge certificate, unloading will not commence until she has been alongside for more than 24 hours.

Kohima: Japanese forces, whose "March on Delhi" was halted last week on the Imphal Plain, are fighting a bloody battle with the defenders of British India. Here at Kohima, 50 miles north of Imphal, the Japanese 31st Division is locked in bitter combat with a scratch force of 3,500 Rajputs, Royal West Kents and Assamese, while Imphal is besieged by the Japanese 15th Army and Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. For eight days Kohima has been under siege and the Imphal road has been cut, isolating the 100,000 Anglo-Indian troops fighting on the Imphal Plain. Two Allied relief attempts have failed so far; one by 161 Brigade of the 5th Indian Division, did get its leading elements to Kohima before itself being cut off at Jotsoma.

Today XXXIII Corps, responsible for the Kohima area, is being reinforced as rapidly as possible, with 23 Brigade of the 3rd Indian Division being ordered south to aid the British 2nd Division and cut Japanese communications.

Fighting also continues in Naga, a tiny village which clings to a mountain east of the Manipur road. Here the Allied troops are under mortar and artillery fire by day, and at night they are attacked by waves of hungry Japanese infantry without supplies. For both sides it is a fight for survival and a race against time with the monsoon approaching next month.

BURMA: 90+ P-40s, A-36s, P-51s, and B-25s over the Mogaung Valley support ground forces, bomb supply areas, and hit numerous targets of opportunity in areas around Mogaung, Myitkyina, Kamaing, Taungni, and Shaduzup; 5 B-25s knock out a bridge at Natmauk while 2 others damage the Pyu bridge near Rangoon; 5 B-24s bomb Nagorn Sawarn while 7 hit the Moulmein railroad station and jetties and bomb the SE part of Prome.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: US Seventh Air Force B-25s, flying out of Abemama Island, bomb Maloelap Atoll, rearm at Majuro Atoll, and hit Jaluit Atoll on the return trip.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, 23 B-25s and 11 P-39s of the US Thirteenth Air Force pound the W section of Rabaul, 7 other B-25s cause considerable damage in the Ratawul supply area; 23 fighter-bombers blast the concrete airstrip at Vunakanau.

SOLOMONS ISLANDS: On Bougainville Island, 12 US Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers bomb and strafe the Numa Numa trail and pound the harbour area.

NEW GUINEA: The US Fifth Air Force dispatches 180+ B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s, supported by 60+ P-38s, bomb AA positions, airfields, supply areas and shipping construction; B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and P-39s bomb and strafe various targets at Wewak, Madang, along Hansa Bay and on Karkar Island; other P-39s fly a barge sweep from Alexishafen up the coast as far as the mouth of the Sepik River. 2 B-25s bomb Penfoei on Timor Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Halibut (SS-232), despite the presence of at least 3 escort vessels, sinks a Japanese army passenger/cargo ship about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of the Nansei Shoto, Ryukyo Islands.

Admiralty Islands: US troops clear Pak Island.

jainso31

[jainso31]

13th APR.1944

NITED KINGDOM: General Dwight D Eisenhower formally assumes direction of air operations out of the UK at 0000 hours (though he began informal exercise of this authority in late March 1944). This assumption of authority gives Eisenhower direction over the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) consisting of the RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force and the USAAF Ninth Air Force; RAF Bomber Command; and US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF) consisting of the USAAF Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces (the Fifteenth Air Force retains some degree of independence) along with the US 1st Army Group, British 21 Army Group, and Allied Naval Forces.

BELGIUM AND FRANCE: The Ninth Air Force dispatches 121 B-26s and 37 A-20s to attack a marshalling yard, coastal batteries, airfields and V-weapon sites at Namur, Chievres and Nieuport, Belgium; Le Havre, France; and along the northern coast of France in general; nearly 175 other aircraft abort missions mainly because of weather; and 48 P-47s also dive-bomb V-weapon sites.

THE NETHERLANDS: During Eighth Air Force Mission 302, 4 B-17s drop 800,000 leaflets on Amsterdam, The Hague and Eindhoven at 2235-2252 hours without loss.

GERMANY: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 301: 626 bombers and 871 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; the bombers claim 22-13-34 Luftwaffe aircraft and the fighters claim 42-8-10 in the air and 35-0-21 on the ground; 38 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; the bombers also drop 5.2 million leaflets on Germany; this mission is flown in conjunction with a raid on Hungary by 500+ Fifteenth Air Force bombers.

- 154 B-17s hit the industrial area at Schweinfurt and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 14 B-17s are lost.

- 207 B-17s bomb aviation industry targets at Augsburg and 20 hit the city of Augsburg; 18 B-17s are lost.

- 93 B-24s hit Lechfeld Airfield; 60 bomb aviation industry targets at Oberpfaffenhofen; 29 hit Lauffern and 2 hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-24s are lost.

Escort is provided by 134 P-38s, 504 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 233 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 3 P-38s, 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost.

SWEDEN: Stockholm: Britain and American demand that Sweden stop exporting ball bearings to Germany.

HUNGARY: 535 Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers (largest bomber mission to date) bomb targets in Hungary; 163 B-17s bomb an aircraft plant and depot at Gyor while 324 B-24s bomb an aircraft factory at Budapest and air depots at Budapest, Tokol and Vecses; fighter opposition and AA account for 14 US bombers and 1 fighter shot down; 40 enemy fighters are claimed shot down and 120+ aircraft destroyed on the ground.

The Hungarian fighters include sixteen Hungarian-made Me-210Cs, but these failed to shoot down any American aircraft, but lost several of their number including at least one to Hungarian anti-aircraft fire, which knocked out one of its engines.

Casualties amount to 1,073 killed and about 500 injured, prompting a mass evacuation of 100,000 people from the city (mostly children, elderly and pregnant women).

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army captures Simferopol.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Terni and a bridge at Marsciano while B-26s bomb Ancona marshalling yard and a nearby railroad bridge; fighter-bombers again strike mainly at communications, the town of Itri, Cesano station, a factory at Fontana Liri, a railroad overpass at Fara in Sabina, Anguillara, and bridges, trucks and other targets at points throughout central Italy.

CHINA: 28 Fourteenth Air Force fighters attempt to intercept but fail to make contact with 13 Japanese airplanes which bomb Namyung, China.

BURMA: 90+ Tenth Air Force P-40s, P-51 Mustangs and A-36 Apaches and a few B-25s carry out ground support missions near Kamaing and hit assorted targets throughout the Mogaung Valley; 12 B-25s and 11 P-51s support ground forces at Mawlu.

JAPAN: 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s fly armed reconnaissance and bombing runs over the airfield on Matsuwa Island and installations on Onnekotan Island in the Kurile Islands.

NEW GUINEA: Australian troops retake Bogodijm.

80+ Fifth Air Force B-24s and A-20s pound the airfields at Dagua and But on the north coast of New Guinea; 33 A-20s hit Aitape; P-39Airacobras, B-25s, and B-24s fly light strikes against a variety of targets along Hansa Bay, on Wakde Island, at Uligan, and several other points along the coast.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: There are two attacks on targets in Truk Atoll. During the early morning 23 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb and later in the day, Seventh Air Force B-24s from Eniwetok Atoll attack.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s from Tarawa Atoll bomb Jaluit Atoll, rearm at Majuro Atoll and hit Maloelap Atoll.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Harder (SS-257) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Ikazuchi 180 miles (290 km) south-southwest of Guam.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Thirteenth Air Force aircraft attack targets on New Britain Island. 24 B-25s bomb the Talili Bay and Ratawul supply areas and the town of Rabaul; 40+ fighter-bombers strike the Malaguna area northwest of Rabaul; 17 fighter-bombers hit personnel and supply areas at Mosigetta, Mawareka, Meive, and Maririei.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress" opens in Hollywood, California. Directed by William Wyler, this film documents the 25th and final mission of the crew of the Eighth Air Force's B-17F-10-BO "Memphis Belle."

jainso31

[Dave Hutson]

A very busy day Jim - hard to imagine that many aircraft in the air on any one day even worldwide.

Dave H

[jainso31]

14th APR.1944

B]UNITED KINGDOM: DeGaulle retires Free French General Giraud.[/B]

U.S.S.R.: Kiev: General Nikolai F Vatutin, injured on 29 February, dies of his wounds.

Moscow: The Red Army has re-conquered the Crimea in a lightning campaign which lasted just six days. Only the southern tip around Sevastopol is holding against Marshal Tolbukhin's Fourth Ukrainian Front. The attack was launched following the liberation of the Black Sea port of Odessa from which the Germans supplied General Jaenecke's 17th Army in the Crimea.

Tolbukhin's men stormed across the Perekop peninsula in the north, outflanking defences by crossing the Sivash lagoon, thus unlocking the northern gate of the Crimea. General Eremenko then came in by the side door, attacking from his toehold at Kerch in the east.

Since then the Russians have rolled up the Germans, who, under Hitler's orders, tried to hold a second line of defence south of Perekop instead of giving ground as Jaenecke wanted to do.

Now the Germans and their Romanian allies have no choice. They have to fall back on the "Gneisenau Line" covering Sevastopol. Thousands of German and Romanian non-combatant personnel and Russian auxiliaries are being evacuated from the Crimea to Constanta. Jaenecke wants to get his fighting men away before they are trapped, but Hitler has ordered that Sevastopol must be held at all costs.

That cost will be high. Moscow radio today broadcast this order: "Sailors and airmen. Don't allow them to escape! Destroy their ships! Shoot down their planes! Don't allow a single enemy to escape retribution!"

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Viterbo Airfield and Leghorn marshalling yard, B-26 Marauders strike at Poggibonsi, Certaldo, Cecina and Magra, attacking mostly rail facilities and hit Arezzo bridge and viaduct and Bucine viaducts; fighter-bombers also concentrate on rail lines and bridges and hit many supply dumps, gun positions and factories, generally located northeast of Rome.

INDIA: Bombay: The merchant ship Fort Stikine catches fire while at No. 1 berth, in the early stages of cargo discharge. From a sister-ship Fort Crevier, berthed 400 yards away, smoke is seen spiralling from the Fort Stikine's ventilators. Later it is also seen by the steamer Iran, and also by an inspector from the dock police. On a Norwegian ship, the Belray, Able Seaman Roy Haywood, going below noticed what looked like a wisp of smoke coming from a ventilator on the Fort Stikine. To no one did it occur that the ship might be on fire, and it was not reported. Some time later the fire was seen by returning stevedores. The stevedores scrambled up from the hold shouting "Fire!"

Men from a Bombay fire brigade pump on the quay promptly ran with their hoses to the ship. Not until their section leader was on board however did he remember that, for a fire in a ship carrying explosives, his instructions were to send an immediate No.2 alarm which would call out a larger force. With orders to dial 290, his sub-leader struggled back down the gangway, crowded with dock workers pushing to get ashore, and dashed to a telephone. But the telephone had no dial. Confused, he ran along the dockside, broke the glass of a fire alarm and rang the bell. Thus the fire brigade control room received only a normal call for two pumps. The hands of the harbour clock tower stood at 2.16.

In the previous five years there had been over 60 fires in ships in Bombay, but only one vessel had been lost, although 15 had carried explosives.

Because of the stink from the fish manure, the master of the Fort Stikine, Captain A.J. Naismith had told the dockers at Bombay to unload the fish first. When the fire broke out among the cotton bales they still had 6,000 cubic feet of timber on top of them. Above the timber the upper part of No.2 hold was packed with explosives. Below the cotton lay a thick layer of ammunition.

Eight minutes after receiving the alarm the fire station officer arrived with two pumps. He sent an immediate No.2 call to the control room. Eight more pumps and an emergency tender turned out. At 2.35 p.m. Norman Coombs, chief of the Bombay fire brigade, arrived dressed in slacks and jacket. he had had no time to change into uniform.

In the meantime, Captain B.T. Oberst, an ordnance officer rushed on board and secured a plan of the ships stowage. Then he hurried to Captain Naismith: "You have enough explosive here to blow up the whole of the docks," he said. "The only way out is to scuttle the ship," Coombs joined Oberst in his plea for scuttling, but Colonel J.R. Sadler, general manager of the docks, disagreed. He told Naismith that the only safe action was to take the ship out to sea; there was only four feet of water between her keel and the harbour bed, a distance so short that the water would not cover even the lower part of No.2 hold. Captain Naismith confused by conflicting advise, made no decision except to try to get in touch with Lloyd's surveyor.

Soon the serious nature of the fire became apparent, and every effort was made to contain it. Thirty-two hoses crossed her decks and a thousand tons of water poured onto the seat of the fire in No. 2 hold. Decks and shell plating grew red-hot.

For nearly an hour the firemen poured water into the burning ship. During this time most of the dockside workers went un-concerned about their jobs. The Fort Stikine did not display the red flag indicating that she carried explosives. She sounded no warning blasts at any time. A sailor on the Japalanda, which lay astern the Fort Stikine, grew so bored watching the fire fighting that he went below to read.


But at least one onlooker saw trouble ahead. Able Seaman Roy Hayward, on the Belray, had fought fires in the London blitz. he saw the flames from the Fort Stikine turn a yellow brown colour, and a phrase from his old fire service drill book leapt into his mind: "Yellow brown fire - explosives!" he shouted to his comrades, "Down! and fell on his face in the Belray's gun pit.



At 15:45 the explosive caught fire. Five minutes later a great sheet of flame shot up and the ship became a flaming torch. At 16:06 the fore-part of the ship exploded with a deafening roar. Flaming drums, blazing cotton and damaged. Dock gates, bridges and berths were destroyed, sheds warehouses and offices were demolished and the ruins afire; roads, railways and equipment a mass of tangled wreckage. No. 1 berth was a devastated crater, very few persons remained alive nearby, and smoke and flame enveloped the wreck.

Of the firemen scrambling from the Fort Stikine sixty six where killed outright and eighty three injured. The blast created a tidal wave which hurled the 5,000 ton, 400 foot long Japalanda from her berth and lifted her bow 60 feet to come rest on the roof of a dockside shed.


The explosion played capricious tricks. White hot metal, flung haphazardly into the town, picked out victims at random. Captain Sidney Kielly strolling with a friend, was cut in half by a piece of metal plate. His friend was unhurt.

On the dock C.W. Stevens, a marine surveyor was talking with Captain Naismith and Chief Officer Henderson of the Fort Stikine. Stevens was flung along the quayside. After the blast swept over him he stood up to find himself blackened and naked. Nobody saw Naismith and Henderson again.

Nearly a mile from the docks, D.C. Motliwala was sitting on his third floor veranda. A bar of gold crashed through the roof and lay on the veranda floor.


The million pounds-worth of gold had disintegrated. In the explosion the fore-part of the ship had blown off and sunk. The after-part remained afloat and on fire.

Meanwhile, on the Belray, Able Seaman Hayward made his way from the gun pit to the boat deck which was strewn with the injured and dying. He picked up a man who had lost a leg, carried him down the gangway, then went back for others. Time after time he made his awful journey of mercy, placing the injured between two intact walls where they would be relatively safe from the continual bursts of ammunition.

The last man was an Indian seaman who had lost both legs. Hayward picked him up and carried him towards a small car on the quay. He had just reached the car when, from the red glow inside the pall of smoke that hid the Fort Stikine, there came a second roar, far greater than the first.

Thirty-four minutes after the first blast this after-part containing 784 tons of explosive, also blew up with a blast even more shattering than before. Hayward hastily bundled the man underneath the car, then pushed under as far as he could himself, lying there until the hail of fragments ended. Then he put the man into the car and saw him off to hospital. Flying, flaming debris fell again into the dock area and into other parts of the city, causing terrible devastation and many more casualties.

Whereas the first explosion had burst sideways, losing some of its shock in the water and the quayside sheds, the second bore straight up, flinging flaming metal, timbers and cotton to a height of 3,000 feet. At the top of its trajectory the mass mushroomed and fell over an area of 900 yard radius.

Another huge crater was born where the remains of No. 1 berth had previously been. Chaos followed, for no organisation was equipped to deal with a disaster of such magnitude, and the two docks at the heart of the fire were virtually abandoned. Norman Coombs, the fire brigade chief saw that the harbour was ringed with fires. leaving the docks to the military, he ordered the remnant of his forces into the residential district, where houses where now burning. The radius of the fire was over a mile; hundreds of sheds, the edge of the oil depot and the western part of the city burnt furiously.

The human toll taken by the second blast was frightful. In two hours St. Georges Hospital took in 231 victims, and treated 140 more in the casualty department. The chief theatre sister at the hospital took on some of the surgical cases herself to help the overworked doctors.

After the injured came the dead. By Sunday morning the hospital mortuary was packed to the ceiling with corpses. Hundreds of bodies where never recovered.

In the Alexandra Dock area were three ammunition ships and four others with explosive cargoes and many sheds filled with explosives. A loaded tanker lay nearby. Fires had to be extinguished and the injured rescued. A central organisation was finally formed and the task of salvage and rescue got under way as confusion turned into efficiency. By the light of searchlights from the cruiser HMS Sussex, soldiers, sailors and harbour officials moved sixteen ships into the open sea. Men with no previous experience handled the tugs. This delicate operation took 19 hours, but the amateur pilots did not lose a single ship.

The work of rescue, fire fighting and salvage went on for many days. In a town where racial tension ran high (Bombay had only recently been the scene of bitter rioting) men of all nations joined in the common effort.


British and Indian soldiers, RAF men and Allied servicemen moved 39,398 cases of ammunition, weighing up to 115 pounds each, from Alexandra Dock. A party of WRNS set up a first-aid post. They worked all night, with only the flames to give them light. Red Cross girls parked a mobile canteen between the blazing warehouses. With ammunition exploding round them, they stayed until every fireman and rescue worker had had a drink.

Subsequently piles of debris were cleared, sunken vessels scrapped or lifted, quay walls, sheds and other buildings repaired or rebuilt. Docks were drained and cleared and other ruins and wreckage swept into the open sea.

When the damage was added up, it was found that all twenty seven ships in the two docks were sunk, burnt out or badly damaged. Three swing bridges over the entrances of the docks were blown partly from their seatings. The entrance to Victoria Dock was fouled by a 500 ton ship sunk inside and a 300 ton water boat sunk outside, and the gateway itself was blocked by a mound of rubble. Some 6,000 Indian and 2,000 British servicemen worked night and day for six months moving a million tons of debris, to get the harbour working again. Clearance and reconstruction would normally have taken years, but wartime requirement called for action on a grand scale, and the docks were operating again some six months later.

Allied shipping losses in the Bombay explosion were:

FORT STIKINE (7,142 grt) FORT CREVIER (7,131 grt) JALAPADMA (3,935 grt)
BARODA (3,205 grt) GRACIOSA (1, 773 grt) KINGYUAN (2,653 grt)
TIMOMBA (872 grt) ROD EL FARAG (6,842 grt) IRAN (5,704 grt)
GENERAL VAN DER HEIJDEN (1,213 grt) GENERAL VAN SWIETEN (1,300 grt)

BURMA: The British 2nd Indian Division breaks the Japanese position at Zubza and relieves the British 161st Brigade.

Under pressure from the US, Ho Ying-chin, China's war minister, orders troops to cross the Salween river to attack the Japanese.

20 Tenth Air Force P-40s over the Mogaung Valley attack a camp at Manywet; 20 P-51 Mustangs and 3 B-25s support ground forces in the Mawlu area.

JAPAN: 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s fly an armed photo reconnaissance mission during the early morning over Matsuwa, Onnekotan, and Paramushiru Islands, Kurile Islands. Photographs taken are negative due to cloud cover.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The Thirteenth Air Force dispatches 24 B-25s and 40+ fighter-bombers to attack a supply area at Ratawul; and 8 other fighter-bombers hit Wunapope; both targets are on New Britain Island.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s from Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands bomb Ponape Island.

19 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s on a mission to the Caroline Islands bomb Eten, Param, and Kuop Islands and targets of opportunity in Truk Atoll.

In the Pacific, the I Marine Amphibious Corps was redesignated the III Amphibious Corps. Marine Night Fighter Squadron 532 flew the Marine Corps' first successful interception by F4U night fighters, near the Marshalls.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Shortly after 0100 hours local, 12 Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers (Allied Code Name "Betty") approach Engebi Island in Eniwetok Atoll to attack the airfield. They are intercepted at 20,000 feet (6096 meters) by four F4U-2 Corsair night fighters of a detachment of Marine Night Fighting Squadron Five Hundred Thirty Two [VMF(N)-532] based on Engebi. The Marines shoot down 2 Bettys and get a "probable" on a third.

All enemy bombs fell into the water; one Marine plane and pilot are lost and another pilot has to bail out with the loss of the aircraft. This was the first successful interception by F4U night fighters. Unfortunately for the squadron, it was their first and last victory of the war.

A single Seventh Air Force B-24, en route from Kwajalein Atoll to Tarawa Atoll, bombs Jaluit Atoll while B-25s from Abemama Island strike Jaluit and Maloelap Atolls, using Majuro Atoll as an arming station between strikes.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 20+ Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers strike various targets in the northeastern part of Bougainville Island.

NEW GUINEA (Fifth Air Force B-25s and P-39Airacobras hit barges and luggers in Vanimo Harbor and at Bogia.

On Palmyra, a Marine garrison designated Marine Detachment, 1st defence Battalion, was established for the defence of the island.

U.S.A.: Chart topping songs in the U.S. today include "It's Love, Love, Love" by Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians with vocal by Skip Nelson; "I Love You" by Bing Crosby; "Besame Mucho" by Jimmy Dorsey And His Orchestra with vocal by Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen; and "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry" by Al Dexter and his Troopers.

jainso31

[WGVSr]

Jim:
Welcome back. Great commentary on the Fort Stikine disaster. There were a number of significant port explosions during WWII: Port Chicago, Bari, this one in Bombay, the Mount Hood at Manus. Might be a good thread there somewhere.
Bill

[jainso31]

Thanks for the comment Bill-as far as a thread is concerned,I will bear it in mind .I am running out of subjects.

jainso31

[jainso31]

15th APR.1944

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army captures Tarnopol. One of the principal cities of Eastern Galicia, across the former Polish border. Tarnopol, traditionally a part of Poland, then part of the Soviet Union, had become German-occupied territory in the great German offensive eastward in June 1941.

ROMANIA AND YUGOSLAVIA: Clearing weather again permits Fifteenth Air Force bomber operations. 448 B-17s and B-24s attack marshalling yards; B-17s hit Ploesti, Romaniaand Nis, Yugoslavia; B-24s hit Bucharest, Romania; 150+ fighters provide escort.

A special group, led by Lieutenant Colonel Louis A Neveleff, flies from Fifteenth Air Force HQ at Bari, Italy to Medeno Polji, Yugoslavia and from there the group proceeds to Marshall Tito's HQ at Drvar, where Colonel Neveleff confers with Tito and spends several days laying the groundwork for the evacuation of downed US airmen in Yugoslav hands. Also, much information is gathered regarding the military organization and political trend of the partisan movement. The mission returns to Italy on 2 May and 122 men, mostly Fifteenth Air Force airmen, are also evacuated.

FINLAND: Finland officially rejects the Soviet terms for peace, stating that they would be impossible to meet. This refers primarily to the Soviet demand for 600 million USD reparations, which the Finnish economic experts think impossible to pay in time without ruining the Finnish economy. As for the other Soviet demands, military experts think the Soviet demand of rapid demobilization together with the inevitable war against the Germans a dangerous combination. Majority of the people also still find it hard to accept the permanent loss of the territories lost after the Winter War, plus Petsamo, esp. as the Finnish lines of defence are still where the Finnish advance was stopped in 1941. Many are still confident that the German situation is not hopeless, although the highest Finnish leadership doesn't share this hope.

From now on, the Finns see two possibilities. The first is that the Soviets think the Finnish front too unimportant to warrant a major transfer of troops from the most important effort against the Germans. In this case Finland could perhaps secure better terms later. The second is that the Soviets will attack, but that the attack could be repulsed, and after that Finland could have better terms. The latter is essentially what eventually happened, but whether the somewhat lighter terms received in September 1944 were worth the almost 20 000 deaths suffered in the battles of summer 1944 (not to mention the Russian losses), is another matter.

Vilna: 40 Jewish prisoners working as a "Blobel Commando" digging up and incinerating massacre victims buried at Ponar Woods escape; 25 are shot dead.

HUNGARY: With today's round-up of Jews in the German-occupied areas of Ruthenia and Croatia, Hungary is no longer a safe refuge for Jewish people. The Hungarian government has hitherto stood up to German demands for the 767,000 Jews to be deported for "special treatment" in Poland. Miklos Kallay, who was premier until 22 March, refused to take any measures against the Jews, refusing German pressure to institute ghettoes and badges for them.

In April last year, Hitler reproached Hungary's regent, Admiral Miklos Horthy, for his liberal attitude. Horthy said he could not "beat the Jews to death"; the Führer treated him to a lecture, saying that nations which did not rid themselves of Jews perished.

They met again last month. With the Red Army approaching the Hungarian border, Hitler was insistent. Horthy was to replace Kallay with Dome Sjotay, who boasted that he was a "true pioneer of anti-Semitism". It was agreed that a German plenipotentiary, Edmund Veesenmayer, and a security police force under SS Maj-Gen Otto Winkelmann were to supervise Hungary's internal affairs.

On 19 March German troops moved into Hungarian combat zones. At the same time Adolf Eichmann, the head of the Gestapo Jewish office, arrived in Budapest. His painstaking attention to detail has ensured the shipment of millions of European Jews to the extermination camps. He has broughta team of Einsatzkommandos with him to carry out the deportations with their customary brutality.

Meanwhile, at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the guards chuckle that "soon we'll be eating Hungarian salami". Engineers are checking and overhauling the gas chambers and crematoria. They are clearly expecting some big transports to arrive soon.

GERMANY: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 303: 616 fighters are dispatched on strafing sweeps of central and western Germany, airfields being the primary objectives; 132 P-38s claim 7-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft, 11 P-38s are lost; 262 P-47s claim 20-1-23 aircraft, 7 P-47s are lost; 222 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s claim 30-0-10 aircraft, 15 P-51s are lost.

ITALY: The French take San Giorgio as the German Gustav Line starts to crumble.

Foggia: A force of 448 B-17s and B-24s of the US 15th Air Force escorted by 150 Mustangs fought its way to the Ploesti oilfields and the Romanian capital, Bucharest, today against packs of German fighters to drop its bombs on railway targets.

The attacks were part of the Allied air assault on Nazi communications with the southern front and has brought US bombers within 140 miles of the Russian spearheads in eastern Romania.

The Germans adopted new tactics by sending rock-firing Do-217 nightfighters against the Liberators attacking Bucharest. The Luftwaffe lost 13 aircraft in the day's battles, while the Americans lost ten bombers and four fighters.

The raids were followed tonight by RAF Wellingtons which carried 4,000-pound bombs in their first raids on Romania. Their target was Turnu Severin, a railway town on the north bank of the Danube, on the main line to Bucharest from Budapest and Belgrade.

The crews of the last wave of Wellingtons said that they could see the glow from fires 60 miles away. They went in low, machine-gunning flak barges on the Danube and shooting up an airfield before dropping their bombs on the railway yards.

Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s strike a marshalling yard at Leghorn and a tunnel and railroad bridges in central Italy; P-47 Thunderbolts attack rail lines, bridges and ammunition dumps northeast of Rome with good results; other P-47s, P-40s and A-36 Apaches hit numerous targets, including rail lines, motor transport shop, vehicles, tanks and gun positions, in central Italy and in the US Fifth Army battle areas.

FRANCE: Countdown to D-Day:
The German Perspective
Sunday, 15 April, 1944

It is late in the evening of April 15th. A modest rain falls over the château of La Roche-Guyon. Cold sentries shiver miserably as they stand at their posts. Their soaked, camouflaged capes are wrapped tightly around them as they miserably watch the rain come down. Anti-aircraft crews thankfully have received permission to stand down.

A lone army car enters the wrought-iron gates and pullsup to the château. The right rear door opens, and a single, unknown figure slowly emerges. As he stands up, raindrops began to softly strike his immaculate coat and hat. The sentries see that he is an army general.

Staff members come out to welcome him, get his bags, and escort him inside. He is told that the field marshal is in, having just returned from a number of inspections along the coast. The newcomer's arrival is announced, and he is shown the way to Rommel's study. Calmly, he reports in.

The field marshal stands up and greets him with a tired smile, then looks at the man. He is of medium height, squarish build -- not really overweight. He wears thin-framed spectacles on a lightly-freckled, owlish face. He is 46-years old, and his new rank is that of -General der Infanterie-.His name is Hans Speidel. He is Rommel's new Chief of Staff.

But this man is an old acquaintance as well -- a fellow Swabian. While he is not an aristocrat, he is by all means a stately, well-educated man. Fluid in several languages, he held a doctorate degree from Tübengen University. He is cultured in the finer arts and advanced contemporary literary works. That's why Rommel had picked him as his next -Chef-.Rommel asks him about his trip, and then as an opening gambit, mentions that here they are again, back in France. Speidel is certainly no stranger to the country. He has fought here in both world wars, has once been the German military attaché in Paris, and was once Chief of Staff to the Military Governor of France. But when in 1942 the SS had taken over the judicial side of the military government, he had transferred to the Eastern Front. Now he s back.

As the two men relax with each other's presence, the dialogue speeds up. At a certain point, the conversation shifts gears from high German to Swabian, the southern German dialect that they had both been raised with.

Speidel tells him about the briefing at OKW, and that there are no specific instructions. "I am to assume the duties of Chief of Staff for you."

Regarding policy? "I was told that none were needed. Basically, if the enemy lands, we must just drive them back into the sea." That is it. Rommel is probably puzzled at this. It is as if the successful Allied landings at Salerno or Anzio. had never happened.

They briefly talk over old times. They had met in the Argonne Forest during World War I, and later, between wars, their paths had crossed in the 13th Württemberg Infantry Regiment. Rommel remembers him as a rather quiet but sophisticated and very intelligent fellow. Now he finds himself warming up to the man. Yes, they will get along quite well.

When Speidel had arrived at Berchtesgaden on April 1st as ordered, Jodl had informed of his new appointment and then had taken him aside and had pleaded for him to try and cheer the field marshal up. The appointee agreed to do so.

Contrary to what he had promised Jodl though, and more along the lines of the conspirators' plans, Speidel does not try to give Rommel inspiration. On the contrary. He depresses him. He has to, if he is to have any hope at all of winning Rommel over to the "Schwartz Kapelle.'.

It is easy to do. Rommel is starved for news, and Speidel is willing to give it to him. He fills him in on the latest information about the Eastern Front, from which he had so recently come, including the latest updates from OKW. He tells him about the massive Soviet March offensive. About the 1st Panzer Army being trapped. The setbacks in the centre. Von Kluge and Manstein's dismissal. About his own army, the Eighth, being trapped and having to desperately fight its way out.

Speidel paints the already-bleak picture darkly, flavouring it negatively. He cannot help but present Germany's hopeless position in the war. He describes in detail about how the eastern armies are losing hundreds of thousands of men and countless numbers of vehicles in the freezing cold, as dozens of divisions get chewed up. The rumors of atrocities...

He relates briefly how the Crimea is now totally lost, and that the southern army front is in full retreat, while the weak Army Group Centre is moving back steadily. And of course, there is the next round coming up - the Russian summer offensive starts in a couple of months...

The effect upon the field marshal is immediate and considerable. Rommel shakes his head more and more as Speidel goes on. By the time his new chief of staff is finished, his good mood is gone.

Looking at him, Rommel shrugged his shoulders and says, "Well, I don't think we have the slightest chance now of winning the war."*

His diary entry for that day reflects his sour change in disposition, and how upset he is at Manstein's dismissal. He admires the man.

"What will later historians have to say about these retreats? And what will history say in passing its verdict on me? If I am successful here, then everybody else will claim all the glory -just as they are already claiming the credit for the defences and the beach obstacles that I have erected. But if I fail here, then everybody will be after my blood."

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The US Eighth Army Air Force and RAF Bomber Command have switched their attention from the cities and factories of Germany to the railways of France and Belgium to prepare for the Allied invasion.

It is not a move which pleases the commanders of the bomber forces. Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris of the RAF still believes that he can bring Germany to its knees by area bombing: despite the terrible casualties inflicted on his aircrews during the Battle of Berlin. Remembering the slaughter in the trenches of the First World War, he has no confidence in the invasion. But it is his men who are being slaughtered in this war. Lt-Gen Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, who commands the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe agrees with Harris, but for different reasons. Spaatz believes that he can destroy the Germans ability to fight by destroying their oil plants. He also fears that supporting the army will compromise the air force's hard-won independence.

Their resistance forced General Eisenhower to go to his political bosses for a decision. He argued that if the "Transportation Plan" bombing campaign was not carried out, the invasion would fail. He won, and has assumed command of both British and US bombers for the period of the invasion.

INDIA: 12 Tenth Air Force B-24s over the Andaman Islands attack shipping and other targets at Port Blair.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO:On New Britain Island, 24 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s bomb an ammunition dump on Talili Bay; 11 P-39Airacobras follow with a strike on the same target; 3 P-38s fire the Wunapope supply area; other fighter-bomber strikes on the same area are cancelled by weather.

BURMA: 12 Tenth Air Force P-38s hit Heho Airfield destroying several parked airplanes.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s knock out a bridge at Viet Tri and damage another.

JAPAN: During the night of 14/15 April, 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s on armed reconnaissance mission over Matsuwa and Onnekotan Islands in the Kurile Islands, hit several targets including Matsuwa Airfield; reconnaissance over Paramushiru Island fails due to overcast.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, based on Tarawa Atoll, bomb Maloelap Atoll, rearm at Majuro Atoll and hit Jaluit and Mille Atolls on the return trip.

NEW GUINEA: 180+ Fifth Air Force B-24s, B-25s and A-20 Havocs bomb landing strips, off-shore islands and the entire coastal area in the vicinity of Aitape; 16 P-40s strafe barges at nearby Seleo Island; 20 P-39s hit villages, supply dumps, trucks and other targets along Hansa Bay and in the Alexishafen area.

SOLOMONS ISLANDS: A few Thirteenth Air Force P-38s hit targets in the northeastern part of Bougainville Island.

PACIFIC: Two Japanese ships are sunk at sea:
- A merchant cargo ship is sunk, probably by a mine laid by submarine USS Steelhead (SS-280), off Honshu, Japan.
- British submarine HMS Storm sinks a minesweeper in the Andaman Islands.



jainso31

[jainso31]

16th APR.1944

U.S.S.R.: Soviet General Eremenko's Independent Maritime Army has taken Yalta in the Crimea. This is the last port apart from Sevastopol through which the Germans can escape the Crimea. Sevastopol's airfield at Kacha has also been captured and, as fighting rages across the old battlefields of Balaklava and Inkerman, the position of Germany's 17th Army looks hopeless.

A terrible toll is being taken of the Germans as they try to escape. A German correspondent describes how "bombers, dive-bombers and fighters in endless procession are raining their bombs on our ships and riddling them with cannon fire." Sevastopol harbour is choked with sunken ships and the bodies of drowned men.

In the Ukraine, Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's troops cross the Dniester at Tiraspol.

RUMANIA AND YUGOSLAVIA: 432 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit targets in Romaniaand Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb the industrial area at Belgrade, Yugoslavia and an aircraft plant at Brasov, Romania; B-24s hit marshalling yards at Brasov and Turnu Severin, Romania; 90+ fighters fly escort while 50+ others, failing to rendezvous with the bombers, strafe trains on the Craiova line east of Turnu Severin.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb approaches to Ficulle and Todi railway bridges; A-20 Havocs hit fuel supplies; P-40s, P-47 Thunderbolts and A-36 Apaches hit the Capranica viaduct, town of Zagarolo, railway at Spigno Monferrato, marshalling yard at Orte-Terni, tunnel at Capranica and tracks, vehicles, railway cars, ammunition dump, bridge, and targets of opportunity at various points in central Italy.

ATLANTIC: The armed U.S. tanker SS Pan Pennsylvania, in United Kingdom-bound convoy CU 1, is torpedoed by German submarine U-550 150 miles (241 km) east of Ambrose Light, New York. Later, destroyer escort USS Gandy (DE-764) is damaged when she intentionally rams U-550 off Nantucket Shoals, and teams with destroyer escorts USS Peterson (DE-152) and USS Joyce (DE-317) to sink the U-boat. Twelve of the 56-man U-boat crew survive. During the action, shells from the destroyer escorts set afire Pan Pennsylvania's abandoned wreck.

U.S.A.: The U.S. Navy's last battleship, USS Wisonsin (BB-64), is commissioned at the US Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

BURMA:Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 44 3:00 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Mahnyin, Burma. Bombed supply dump.

12 Tenth Air Force B-25s hit a bridge over the Mogaung River while 9 others, along with 12 P-51s, hit a warehouse and railroad station at Mohnyin; 9 P-38s destroy 3 medium bombers at Zayatkwin near Rangoon while 2 P-51s in the Mandalay area hit Anisakan Airfield, destroying 2 airplanes.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO:On New Britain Island, 24 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s hit the Ratawul supply area and alternate target of Raluana; at Rabaul 30+ fighter-bombers attack area inland from Toboi wharf.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll, strike Truk Atoll. 15 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the runway at Satawan Atoll.

RAAF Catalinas mine the principal entrances to Woleai Atoll to prevent the Japanese from using them during the projected Hollandia operations. The evolution is repeated on 18 and 19 April.

EAST INDIES: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Koepang on Timor Island.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, from Abemama Island hit Maloelap and Mille Atolls, using Majuro Atoll as a rearming base between the strikes.

NEW GUINEA: 170+ Fifth Air Force B-24s, B-25s and A-20s bomb Hollandia town and airfield and numerous other targets in the area; P-39Airacobras hit a wooded area and communications targets along Hansa Bay and attack villages and supply dumps from Bogia to Uligan Harbor; P-38s hit the Madang area; B-24s and PB4Y Liberators and PBY Catalinas fly a light strike against Wakde Island; other aircraft, operating singly or in pairs, attack targets of opportunity on the northern coast of New Guinea and southeastern coast of New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago.

PACIFIC: The submarine USS Paddle (SS-263) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks an army transport and a merchant cargo ship in the Ceram Sea.

The submarine USS Redfin (SS-272) continues to pursue the convoy attacked the previous day, sinking an army cargo ship in Moro Gulf, southwest of Mindanao, Philippine Islands.

The movement of Japanese convoy TAKE No.1, carrying elements of the Imperial Army's 32d and 35th Divisions to reinforce garrisons in the Halmaheras and in northwestern New Guinea, gets underway as four transports, and escorts, depart Pusan, Korea.

jainso31

[jainso31]

17th APR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: 14 of 15 Eighth Air Force B-24s of the 93d and 467th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) bomb the primary target, V-weapon sites at Wizernes, France without loss.

London: Under pressure from the military commanders for the "Overlord" invasion of Europe, the British war cabinet has clamped down on diplomatic privileges, held up diplomatic bags and put all foreign embassies under surveillance.
Even friendly embassies have been included, since it was reckoned that they could not be completely secure against spies, dupes or chumps. There has been only one protest against the restrictions - from officials of General de Gaulle's Free French.
The worrying gap in this security cordon is Eire, where de Valera's government remains at peace with Nazi Germany. German agents in Dublin move freely. But the long, coiling border with Northern Ireland, where travellers pass to and fro freely in peacetime, is now under close guard.

FRANCE:
The Eighth Air Force flies two mission.
Mission 304: 14 B-24s bomb the V-weapon site at Wizernes without loss; escort is provided by 33 P-47 Thunderbolts.

Mission 305: 5 B-17s drop 1.48 million leaflets on Rennes, Brest, Nantes, Lorient and St Nazaire at 2248-2258 hours without loss.

ITALY: Naples: Italy's return to democracy is not coming easily. Nine months after Mussolini's downfall, the country if without a government. The dictator's successor, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, has announced the resignation of his entire cabinet.
Badoglio has been asked to form a new government with a broad base - and has approached the veteran communist leader Palmiro Togliatti as well as "Actionists", led by Prince Caracciolo, at the other end of the political spectrum.
From Zurich come reports that Mussolini, who has spent much of his time at his Lake Garda villa, has visited a Vienna cancer clinic, but has refused an operation.
Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack bridges north of Orte and at Monte Molino, while A-20s pound a fuel dump NE of Rome; P-40, P-47 and A-36 Apache fighter-bombers hit motor transport stores and gun positions north of Anzio, bomb Fara in Sabina station, hit tracks, trains and guns in the Orte and Narni area and at other points north of Rome.

BULGARIA: Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Sofia.

YUGOSLAVIA: Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb the industrial area, air depot and marshalling yard at Belgrade.

ATLANTIC: The German submarine U-986 is sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS Swift and the USN subchaser USS PC-619. All 50 crewmen on the U-boat are lost.

CHINA: The Japanese launch Operation Ichi-Go, to crush Chinese resistance between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers and wipe out USAAF bases in Honan and Kwangsi provinces.

JAPAN: The submarines USS Barb (SS-220) and USS Steelhead (SS-280) shell phosphate works on Rasa Island which lies 254 miles (408 km) southeast of Okinawa. Officially, the island is named Okidaito-jima.

BURMA: 6 Tenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs support ground forces near Meza; 9 P-38s destroy several airplanes at Heho Airfield while 5 B-24s bomb Ywataung; 26 B-25s and 36 P-51s support ground forces at Mawlu and bomb a fuel dump at Kin; 13 other P-51s are diverted to intercept a Japanese force over the Imphal, India area and claim 3 airplanes shot down.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: 20 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the airfield at Satawan Atoll.

EAST INDIES: 20 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb storage areas and troop concentrations in Kai Island, Moluccas Islands.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, based on Tarawa Atoll, strike Maloelap and Mille Atolls, rearming at Majuro Atoll between the raids.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force P-39s attack AA positions at Bogia; other planes, operating individually or in pairs, attack Hollandia, Uligan Harbor and vicinity and the Madang area. A Japanese army vessel is sunk off Aitape by USAAF aircraft.


BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, 24 B-25s pound runway and revetments at Rapopo Airfield; 40+ fighter-bombers hit Matupi with incendiaries while 10 others pound the runway at Keravat.

PACIFIC: Two Japanese ships are sunk by submarines at sea:
- USS Harder (SS-257), in an attack on a convoy, sinks an army cargo ship about 150 miles (241 km) northwest of Woleai Atoll in the Caroline Islands.
- USS Searaven (SS-196) sinks an auxiliary minesweeper 120 miles (193 km) south of Haha Jima, Bonin Islands.

jainso31

[jainso31]

18th APR.1944

UNITED KINGDOM: In preparation for Operation Overlord; the British Government issues a ban on coded radio transmissions and telephone calls. Diplomatic bags are to be censored. (The only people, apart from armed forces and spyies, with the privilege of sending coded messages were embassies -- allied and neutral. The ban on coded telegrams referred to ALL traffic from neutral embassies and, I believe, "consular" traffic from allied ones. The security service -- MI5 -- was responsible for monitoring messages and diplomatic bags.

Incitement to strike is made a criminal act.

Invasion stripes are oIrdered for aircraft. These stripes are to be applied to all aircraft except four-engined bombers, transports (not troop carriers), gliders, night fighters and sea planes.

125 Luftwaffe bombers, including five He-177A-5s take off for an attack on London. The Greifs climb as high as possible while over German territory and then make a shallow dive at high speed and return at low altitude. Even the speedy Mosquito has trouble catching the Germans when using these tactics.

GERMANY: Hitler forbids all exports of weapons to Finland. This comes as a further retaliation for the Finnish peace feelers earlier in this year, even though Finland just recently decided to reject the Soviet terms for peace.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 306 Part 1: 776 bombers and 634 fighters are dispatched to hit airfields and aviation industry targets; they claim 33-5-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; due to poor weather, several units bomb targets of opportunity in the Berlin area:

- 275 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Oranienburg, Perleberg Airfield, Wittenberge and targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost.

- 210 B-17s hit Oranienburg, Brandenburg, Luneburg Airfield, Rathenow and targets of opportunity; 14 B-17s are lost.

- 248 B-24s hit Brandenburg, Rathenow, Cuxhaven, Wittenberge and targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost.

Escort is provided by 119 P-38s, 296 P-47s and 219 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-38, 1 P-47 and 3 P-51s are lost.

FRANCE: RAF bombers tonight raid Rouen, Juvisy, Noisy-le-Sec and Tergnier killing 1,383 French people.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 306 Part 2: 12 B-24s hit V-weapon sites at Watten; escort is provided by 36 P-47 Thunderbolts without loss.

277 Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders, including 24 dropping Window, and 37 A-20 Havocs bomb gun positions and marshalling yards at Dunkirk, Calais, and Saint Martin Airfield at Charleroi.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force P-47 fighter-bombers cut several rail lines in the Florence and Arezzo areas and strafe trains and motor transport; P-40s and P-47s hit Itri and a rail bridge and fuel dumps as the campaign against communications continues.
Fifteenth Air Force P-38s and P-47s strafe Udine and Aiello Airfields and targets of opportunity in the Basiliano, Sant' Andrea Island, and Cervignano del Friuli areas and in Golfo di Panzano; other fighters fly cover for the strafing missions.

NORWAY: During Eighth Air Force Mission 307, 5 B-17s drop 2.56 million leaflets on Stavanger, Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim between 2336-0041 hours without loss.

U.S.S.R.: German forces attack around Buchach.
General Feodor Tolbukhin's 4th Ukranian Army reaches the outskirts of Sevastopol and takes Balaklava, scene of the charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The 17th German-Romanian Army is trapped in Sevastopol and awaiting evacuation by ship.


BURMA: 7 Tenth Air Force B-24s bomb an oil plant at Yenangyaung while 5, along with 7 P-38s, hit Ywataung; 6 B-25s score numerous hits on the Mandalay-Shwebo railroad; and 15 B-25s and 4 P-51s bomb Kamaing and hit the Myitkyina-Bhamo road.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-24s staging through Eniwetok Atoll hit Truk Atoll while B-25s from Tarawa Atoll bomb Ponape Island.
Twenty two Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Woleai Atoll and Mariaon Island.

JAPAN: 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s fly armed reconnaissance over Matsuwa, Onnekotan, and Paramushiru Islands in the Kurile Islands; cloud cover and lack of moonlight permit only bombing of Kashiwabara Airfield and the Banjo Cape area.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s from Abemama Island bomb Jaluit and Maloelap Atolls, using Majuro Atoll as a shuttle base between strikes.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Manokwari and Babowhile fighter-bombers attack the Madang area.

PACIFIC: Seven PB4Y-1P Liberators of Photographic Squadron Three (VD-3) and Marine Photographic Squadron Two Hundred Fifty Four (VMD-254), take off on a 1,252 mile (2015 km) flight from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, to Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The next day, the aircraft take off, escorted by 5 Seventh Air Force B-24s, which bomb Saipan, and fly over 1,000 miles (1609 km) to Momote Airdrome on Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands, via Saipan, Tinian and Aguijan Islands, in the Mariana Islands, obtaining complete photographic coverage which will be used for the upcoming invasions.
The submarine USS Gudgeon (SS-211), CO Robert A. Bonin, is sunk, probably by Japanese naval aircraft (901st Air Group), southwest of Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. All hands lost.
Submarine USS Tambor (SS-198) sinks a Japanese guardboat 300 miles (483 km) northwest of Wake Island.
Seventh Air Force B-24s from Kwajalein Atoll bomb Wake Island after failing to find shipping reported in the area.

jainso31

[nick60]

18th April 1945

Diary of AB(ST) "Brownie" - HMS Somaliland

April 18th '45

"Have been fidling around here for the last week or so, and have learned with disgust that the operation is cancelled, and are returning to Londonderry tomorrow"

[jainso31]

19th APR.1944

Sumatra: Admiral Sommerville's British Eastern Fleet including the carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3), British carrier HMS Illustrious and three US destroyers attacks Japanese ships and positions at Sebang, as part of Operation Cockpit to divert attention from the start of landings at Hollandia, in New Guinea. This is the first joint naval exercise in the Indian Ocean.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-24s hit Urarom and Manokwari while B-25s, A-20s, and fighter aircraft strike a wide variety of targets around Hollandia, Aitape, Bogia, Uligan, Bunabun, Madang and Cape Croisilles.

BRITISH SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force fighters hit the Numea Numea area on Bougainville Island.

CHINA: Japanese troops strike south along the Peking to Hankow railway, in Honan province.
The Japanese offensive gathers momentum as the 12th Army pushes down the Peking-Hankow Railroad toward four B-29 bases of the U. S. 14th Air Force. The Japanese easily defeat Chiang Kai-shek's poorly led, equipped and trained army.

BURMA:Air Commando Combat Mission NO.45 4:05 Flight Time Hailiakandi, Assam to Mawlu, Burma Bombed Japanese troops.
Air Commando (2nd mission) Combat Mission N0.46 2:55 Flight Time Same as mission 45
The Tenth Air Force dispatches 6 B-25s and 8 P-51 Mustangs to attack troops and stores northwest of Banmauk; 10 P-38s hit the airfield near Meiktila; and 5 P-51s attack troop positions near Mawlu and a bridge at Shweli.
Four Fourteenth Air Force P-40s attack the village of Takaw causing several fires and sink a ferry- boat in the area.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Three Fourteenth Air Force B-25s damage a bridge at Thanh Moi and score hits on railroad and buildings south of the bridge.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 38 Thirteenth Air Force fighter-bombers hit supply areas on Matupi Island.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-24s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll, bomb Truk Atoll while B-25s from the Gilbert Islands strike Ponape Island.
21 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the airfield at Satawan Atoll, hitting the target area with about 50 tons of high explosives while B-24s bomb Woleai Atoll.
During the night of 19/20 April, RAAF Catalinas mine the waters in and around Woleai Atoll.

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army battles for Sevastopol.
Action along the Soviet front subsides as spring mud and floods make movement impossible. The exception is the Crimea, where Tolbukhin's 4th Ukrainian Army is closing on Sevastopol.

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF tactics summary for Operation No. 308.
Me-109's and FW-190's participated in the only interception of the day, An estimated force of 50 fighters, protected by an additional 50 flying as top cover, made attacks which persisted for only about eight minutes on one Combat Wing. One mass attack was made head-on as the enemy aircraft dived through the formation in large Groups without taking any evasive action. After this one pass at the entire Combat Wing, the fighters directed their efforts at stragglers and the trailing elements. In these instances, the enemy aircraft attack in Groups of three astern, coming in level from the six o'clock position and closing to about 600 yards before breaking away.

FRANCE: Railway links and river crossings throughout northern and western France - vital for Germany's defence against an Allied invasion - are being attacked with unprecedented fury by RAF and USAAF bombers. In 36 hours some 7,000 tons of bombs have been dropped. Pilots are ordered to pick their targets with care to ensure that French casualties are kept to a minimum.
Last night, RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes struck at rail links outside Paris and at Rouen, dropping 4,000 tons of bombs. It was the biggest load carried in a single raid. In order to conceal the intended invasion area, for every ton of bombs dropped behind the invasion zone the Allies are dropping two tons elsewhere in France.
Aircraft losses are falling; 14 bombers were lost last night and five in the earlier raids. The Germans are believed to be restricting their use of fighters because of dwindling supplies of aviation fuel caused by Allied bombing of oil refineries.
The Eighth Air Force flies Part 2 of Mission 308 27 B-24s bomb V-weapon sites at Watten; 1 B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 47 Ninth Air Force P-47s without loss.

GERMANY: The Eighth Air Force Mission 308.
During Part 1 of this mission: 772 bombers and 697 fighters are dispatched in 3 forces; they claim 17-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 2 fighters are lost.
- 271 B-17s hit the Kassel area, Eschwege Airfield, Limburg and a target of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost.
- 243 B-17s hit Lippstadt and Werl Airfields and a target of opportunity without loss.
- 230 B-24s bomb Paderborn and Gutersloh Airfields, Soest, Koblenz, Buren and targets of opportunity without loss.
Escort for the three forces above is provided by 127 P-38s, 439 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 131 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 16-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.

The Ninth Air Force dispatches 350+ B-26 Marauders and A-20s to bomb marshalling yards, city areas, and targets of opportunity at Gunzburg, Ulm, Neu Ulm, Donauworth, and Schelklingen; fighters fly over 1,200 sorties against a variety of targets in northwestern Europe.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit the Cecina railroad bridge and Ancona marshalling yard while B-25s hit a marshalling yard at Piombino; P-47s hit railroad tracks, a marshalling yard, junction, and railway cars between Pontedera and Empoli and between Figline Valdarno and San Giovanni Valdarno.

U.S.A.: Washington: President Roosevelt has given the go-ahead to make Lend-Lease contracts for a further year. The House of Representatives approved the move by a huge majority today. But behind the scenes intensive talks are going on about what to do about international payments now that the war is ending. Lend-Lease has provided the munitions, industrial materials and food for Britain to fight; now some Americans feel that the country is strong enough to start paying its way again.
In baseball, New York Giants manager and right fielder Mel Ott hits the first National League home run of the season, the 464th of his career, helping the Giants defeat the Boston Braves, 2-1. Ott will finish the season with a .288 batting average and 26 home runs.
Ott retires from the playing field after the 1946 season with a career .304 batting average and 511 home runs. During the 1948 season, he is replaced as manager halfway through the season by Leo Durocher.

jainso31

[derek s.langsdon]

I am a keen reader of Jim's excellent daily and detailed roundup of On This Day" events and regret that I have rarely been able to add much useful or interesting comment to the incidents described.

We are not normally into compiling other mundane events, Jim already gives us a good comprehensive footnote ration on headliners of that day from other walks of life ,ie entertainment etc.

But browsing amongst the countless-I came across the following from the distant past on April 19th and venture to throw them in instead of throwing them out !

1587 Drake sinks Spanish Fleet at Cadez
1764 We ban American Colonies from printing paper-money !
1775 American Revolution starts in Lexington.
1938 Franco says "I won" (The Civil war)
195i Hiroshima survivor Tanaka wins Boston Marathon
1956 Grace Kelly weds Ranier to become Princess (dsl there!).
1962 First "Surveyor-3" pictures back from the Moon
1971 First (Russian) Salyut 1 Space station launched.
NAVY******
1989 Gun turret explodes on USS Iowa killing 47 sailors
2002 USS Cole re-launched following Oct 12th 2000 attack by .
bin Laden terrorists killng 17 sailors.

the above is a one-off ! I will now scuttle back to "The rest of the news" !

dsl

[jainso31]

Many thanks for reading my Daily News (Diary) Derek and for your additional "Blasts from the Past"-it does indicate that something of significance occurs every day around the Globe

jainso31.