August 15
We Remember:
1912: OSS Research Assistant, Chef, author, television personality. Julia (Nee: McWilliams) Child, in Pasadena, California (Tom Hickox)
1939: Indian troops arrive in Suez to reinforce the British forces in Eqypt.
At last given permission by their political masters, the British Chiefs of Staff eagerly draft new instruction for Drax, while the Foreign Office and the Quai d'Orsay put pressure on Poland to allow Russian forces into Poland if necessary. (Andy Etherington)
Churchill begins a tour of the Maginot Line, France's main land defensive barrier against Germany. (Andy Etherington)
In Moscow, Molotov is highly interested in von der Schulenberg's proposals; von der Schulenberg in turn is surprised and pleased at the Russian's moderate conditions. (Andy Etherington)
Captain Karl Donitz, head of the U-boat arm of the German Navy, is recalled unexpectedly early from leave. (Andy Etherington)
Berlin: Von Dirksen's own leave is uninterrupted: although he wishes to see Ribbentrop, the Nazi Foreign Minister will not receive him. Von Dirksen also discovers that the Italian Ambassador in Berlin, Bernardo Attolico, believes Germany is about to go to war with Poland, ignoring Britain's attitude. Von Dirksen is convinced Attolico is wrong. (Andy Etherington)
In the U.S., the motion picture "The Wizard of Oz" premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. Crowds thronged the theater to catch glimpses of Hedy Lamarr, Orson Welles, and other stars who attended the opening. Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum, this fantasy, adventure film is directed by Victor Fleming and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr and Billie Burke. The plot has Dorothy, a Kansas girl, and her dog "Toto" caught in a tornado and going "Over the Rainbow'' to a land of colorful characters and spirited adventure. Two of the 13 memorable songs from the film are Harold Arlen's "Over The Rainbow," sung by Judy Garland, and "We're Off To See The Wizard," sung by Garland, Bolger, Haley and Lahr. The film is nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture; it wins two musical awards including Best Song ("Over The Rainbow"). The American Film Institute has ranked this film as Number 6 of the 100 Greatest Movies
ever made. (Jack McKillop)
1940: RAF 4 Group (Whitley). Bombs Fiat works at Turin and Caproni aircraft at Milan. (Andy Etherington)
RAF Fighter Command: Luftwaffe losses, 76 aircraft, RAF losses, 35. The first large scale attacks on the north of the country take place 65 He111s with Bf110 escort attack the Bomber Command bases at Driffield and Linton-on-Ouse. Later in the day Ju88s based in Denmark are detected heading towards Humberside. 50 Ju-88A-1s from I., II. and III./KG 30 from Aalborg attack the Bomber Command airfield at Driffield in Yorkshire. Late this afternoon, 12 Ju88s from I./LG 1 bomb Middle Wallop, and 15 aircraft from II./LG 1 take off to attack Worthy Down. The RCAF gets its first kill when Ernest McNab shoots down a Dornier bomber.(Andy Etherington)
The first issue of the underground newpaper La Libre Belgique [Free Belgium] is published. (Andy Etherington)
Mediterranean Fleet battleships HMS Warspite, HMS Malaya and HMS Ramillies bombard Italian positions around Bardia in Libya, just over the border from Egypt. (Andy Etherington)
The Greek cruiser 'Helle' is sunk by an Italian submarine. (Andy Etherington)
Greece and Italy are not at war when the HELLE was at anchor off Tinos for a religious celebration! (Peter Beeston)
Capt. Eric Charles Twelves Wilson (b.1912), attached to the Somaliland Camel Corps, was captured after keeping a gun post in action for four days despite wounds and malaria. (Andy Etherington)
In England:
- British Prime Minister Churchill replies to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's telegram of 13 August in which Roosevelt stated that it may be possible to supply 50 overage destroyers to the RN. Churchill states that "the worth of every destroyer that you can spare to us is measured in rubies..." The "moral value of this fresh aid from your Government and your people at this critical time will be very great and widely felt."
- Assistant Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Rear Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, Major General Delos C. Emmons (USAAC) Commanding General of General Headquarters Air Force (GHQAF), and Brigadier General George V. Strong (USA) arrive in London for informal staff conversations with British officers. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., two motion pictures are released today:
- "The Great McGinty," a comedy directed by Preston Sturges (his directorial debut), stars Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff and William Demarest. The plot has a hobo (Donlevy) who is recruited by crooked politicians to commit voting fraud. He works himself up to mayor of the city but then wants to become honest. Sturges wins an Academy Award for best writing.
- "I Love You Again," a comedy based on a novel by Octavus Roy Cohen directed by W.S. Van Dyke, stars William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh and Edmund Lowe. The plot has an upstanding, mean, teetotaling business man (Powell) being hit in the head and suffering amnesia. When he recovers, he reverts to his old self, a con-man, but he falls in love with his wife who is divorcing him. (Jack McKillop)
1941: US President Franklin D Roosevelt in the presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25), fishes while the ship is anchored in Pulpit Harbor, Penobscot Bay, Maine. (Jack McKillop)
The troops of Finnish 7th ID (Col. Svensson) are the first to enter recaptured Sortavala. Althought the Russians have been able to evacuate most of the defending men, some 540 Red Army soldiers are captured. Sortavala is the first major population center lost to the Soviet Union in 1940 that is recaptured. In the lands that were lost to Soviet Union in 1940 there lived some 400.000 people before the Winter War. Practically everybody left rather than stay to live under the new masters. Now, when it seems that these lost lands are about to be reconquered, the first civilians are returning. As the recaptured areas are still unsafe, the returnees are warned to have weapons with them and move around with caution. Only people able to take care of themselves are allowed back. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
In the U.S.:
- The motion picture "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" is released. Directed by George B. Seitz, this comedy drama stars Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Ann Rutherford and Judy Garland. The plot has Andy Hardy (Rooney) going to New York for a job before he enters college and grows up fast when he is in the real world. This was Judy Garland's third and last Andy Hardy movie.
- In baseball, the Boston Red Sox play the Washington Senators in a game held in Griffith Stadium in Washington. D.C. The Senators are leading 6-3 but they forfeit the game because the ground crew deliberately refuses to cover the field when it started to rain. (Jack McKillop)
1942: German forces continue to advance in the Caucasus especially around Gerogivesk.
4 APDs (converted WWI Wickes class DDs) land the first supplies, aviation fuel and CUB 1 (aircraft maintenance unit) on Guadalcanal.
Martin Clements, coastwatcher, Jacob Vouza and other natives arrive at the Lunga perimeter on Guadalcanal. This group will become an important part of the scouting and intelligence for the 1st MarDiv in the campaign.
1943: Karachev, Russia falls to Popev's forces.
34,000 US and Canadian troops land on Kiska. They find the Japanese have evacuated.
Elements of the 25th Division occupy Vella Lavella in the Solomons.
The Allied airfield at Tsili Tsili, New Guinea is the target of a Japanese air strike.
The British enter Taormina, Sicily. Another US amphibious flanking movement finds the Germans have evacuated once again.
The US Army forms the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate). It is formed with personnel of Norwegian ancestry, at Camp Ripley, Minn. (Nick Minecci)
In the Aleutian Islands, US and Canadian troops invade Kiska Island and discover that the Japanese, under the cover of fog, evacuated their garrison on 28 July. Troops landing are the US Army's 17th, 53d and 184th Infantry Regiments, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment and the 1st Special Service Force. Also landing is the Royal Canadian Army's 13 Infantry Brigade Group. (Jack McKillop)
The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command
both fly missions.
The VIII Air Support Command flies Missions 19A, 19B and 20 against targets in France and the Netherlands. (1) 31 B-26B Marauders bomb Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer France at 0959 hours. (2) 36 B-26Bs are dispatched against Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands; they turn back at the Dutch coast aborting the mission. (3) 19 B-26Bs attack the marshalling yard at Abbeville, France at 1933 hours.
The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 82 against Luftwaffe airfields in France and the Netherlands. (1) 147 B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Vlissingen Airfield in the Netherlands and Amiens and Poix Airfield in France at 1926-1931 hours. (2) 143 B-17s bomb Merville, Lille/Vendeville and Vitry en Artois Airfields in France at 1925-1933 hours; 2 B-17's are lost. (Jack McKillop)
In Sicily, US Seventh Army troops land on the Sicilian north coast northwest of Barcellona during the night of 15/16 August to block the enemy withdrawal. The US 3d Infantry Division heads along the north coast to Spadafora. British Eighth Army troops complete a drive around Mount Etna as the Randazzo-Linguaglossa road is closed. Linguaglossa and Taormina are taken. (Jack McKillop)
In the Solomon Islands, fighters are sent to cover amphibious landings at Vella Lavella Island where elements of the US 25th Infantry Division, and supporting units, go ashore in the Barakoma area and establish a beachhead at 0741 hours. Allied airplanes knock down about 25 Japanese aircraft. USMC F4U Corsairs also claim 10 Japanese shot down over Kahili, Bougainville Island. B-25 Mitchells bomb Papatura Fa and Ighiti Islands in the Rekata Bay area of Santa Isabel Island. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., the War Department awards Sergeant Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit for his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes. (Jack McKillop)
1944: The British VIII Corps enters Tinchebray, France. From here to Falaise there is heavy fighting by other British and Canadian units. South from Tinchebray to Argentan the US VII and V Corps attack to the north. They have trapped the German 7th Army, the 5th Panzer Army, and Panzer Group Eberbach. A desperate retreat to the east begins for these units. FM Kluge attempts to visit the front and spends most of the day dodging Allied air strikes. His unavailablity increases Hitler's suspicions that Kluge is attempting to defect to the Allies.
Between Toulon And Cannes, in southern France, Operation Dragoon begins. The troops are General Alexander Patch's US 7th Army. General de Lattre's French II Corps will be the follow on troops. The defending German troops are General Weise's 19th Army of 7 weak infantry divison and 11 Panzer divisions for the whole south and southeast of France.
In India, RAF Air Marshall William A Coryton assumes command of the Third Tactical Air Force, a major component of the Eastern Air Command; tactical air force functions remain under Coryton until it is dissolved on 4 December 1944. (Jack McKillop)
The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 554: 932 bombers and 443 fighters, in 4 forces, are dispatched to attack 11 airfields in northwestern Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in conjunction with 1,000 RAF heavy bombers and Mosquitos raiding 9 airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium; 16 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombing attacking. (1) B-17s bomb German airfields at Cologne/Ostheim (108), Frankfurt/Eschborn (65) and Wiesbaden (38); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 9 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 112 P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-51 is lost. (2) B-24 Liberators attack German airfields at Wittmundhaafen (91), Zwischenahn (90), Vechta (67), Plantlunne (54) and Hopstein (10); 4 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 163 P-38s and P-51s; 2 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost. (3) B-17s bomb Dutch airfields at Handorf (109), Venlo (104) and Twente/Enschede (75); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost. (4) In Bel
gium, 59 65 B-24s hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. Forces (3) and (4) are escorted by 118 P-51s.
33 P-47 Thunderbolts dive-bomb and skip-bomb a repair shop and
locomotives in the marshalling yard at Braine-le-Comtes; 1 P-47 is lost.
`12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night. (Jack McKillop)
In northern France, 330+ A-20 Havocs and B-26s with fighter escort bomb
Marseille-en-Beauvaisis and Foret de Chantilly ammunition and fuel dumps, rail bridges at Auvers-sur-Oise and L'Isle-Adam, Serqueux marshalling yard, and coastal defense at Saint-Malo; fighters fly cover for 5 infantry and armored divisions, and fly extensive armed reconnaissance over northern and western France. (Jack McKillop)
In southern France:
In the US Ninth Air Force's 50th and 53d Troop Carrier Wings, on loan to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF), participate in the invasion of southern France as part of the Provisional Troop Carrier Air Division.
During the night of 14/15 August, the US Twelfth Air Force based in Italy, dispatches A-20s to bomb Le Vallon, Istres, and Orange/Plan de Dieu Airfields and other Rhone Valley targets while the US Seventh Army carries out preliminary operations to isolate Operation DRAGOON invasion beaches; the US Special Service Force invades Levant and Port-Cros Island and secures the left flank of the assault area; French commandoes land east of Cap Negre and clear coastal defenses, the French Naval Assault Group lands southwest of Cannes and secures the right flank; the 1st Airborne Task Force drops in the rear of assault beaches and blocks off the invasion area from the interior; the main force, the US VI Corps, lands 3 divisions abreast between Nice and Toulon at 0800 hours local; A-20s bomb barracks in the invasion area while B-25s, B-26s, P-38s, and P-47s, supporting the invasion, pound beaches, enemy concentrations, and gun positions in coastal areas and later in the day move at
tacks inland to interdict enemy communications lines successfully hitting numerous bridges; fighters maintain constant patrol over the convoys and invasion area
The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy flies its first night raid; 252 B-17s and B-24s after a predawn takeoff pound beaches in the Cannes-Toulon, France area in immediate advance of Operation DRAGOON; 28 other fighter-escorted B-17s bomb highway bridges over the Rhone River; B-17s sent against coastal gun positions abort the mission owing to poor visibility; and 166 P-51s escort Mediterranean Tactical Air Force (MATAF) C-47 Skytrains carrying airborne invasion troops. (Jack McKillop)
The German submarine U-741 is sunk in the English Channel northwest of Le Havre, in position 50.21N, 00.35W, by depth charges from the RN corvette HMS Orchis. Of the 49 U-boat crewmen at an unknown depth, there is 1 crew that is able to self escape with Drager gear during sinking without an air lock. He survives as a PoW. (Jack McKillop and Mark Horan)
Drager gear is similar in general concept to the Momsen Lung (see http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi238.htm) , re-breathing air, but far different in actual design, as it had a more sophisticated mask and as designed as a flotation device to aid an otherwise unassisted ascent whereas the Momsen Lung was designed as a breathing device to be used while going up an ascent line. (Mark Horan)
1945: Major Hatanaka, Lt. Col. Shiizaki and Col. Ida arrive at the HQ of the Imperial Guards Division to enlist General Mori in the coup. There they gather Major Koga and Ishihara who have the written order to be signed by General Mori which will put the coup in motion. They wait on the General.
After midnight they barge in. When asked to lead the coup, Mori refuses without orders from his superior. They continue to cajole him to join them. They are joined by Captain Uehara. Mori refuses again and Uehara draws his sword. Col. Shiraishi, the General's aide is killed. Major Hatanaka draws his pistol and shoots General Mori.
It is now 2:00 am and the coup leaders proceed to the palace. There they obtain the cooperation of the guards on duty. The palace is sealed from the outside, telephone lines are cut. The rebels also take the Broadcasting House across the street from the Palace. The imperial chamberlains are alerted. They remove the recordings from storage and take them to a out of the way air raid shelter.
Troops ransack the palace looking for the recordings and Privy Seal Kido and others. Other rebels fan out over the city to kill the PM and FM and others of the "peace faction".
War Minister Anami commits ceremonial suicide. He does this because he has failed the Emperor by failing to win the war; failing to follow the Emperor's wish for peace; failing to control his officers; failing to live up to the expectations of the Junior officers and because the rebels have assassinated General Mori.
The coup comes to the attention of General Tanaka, General Mori's commander. At 4:00 am he proceeds to the palace. One unit at a time he seizes control of the situation. He confronts the leaders of the coup and advises them to commit ceremonial suicide for disobeying the wishes of the Emperor.
The Emperor is told of the coup at 7:00 am and then General Tanaka pays his respects. Radio Tokyo goes back on the air at 7:21 and announces that the Emperor will broadcast a rescript at Noon. General Tanaka finishes at the palace and takes the recordings to Radio Tokyo.
The Emperor's recorded rescript is broadcast, by Radio Tokyo, at noon.
In Japan, 103 carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Force 38 are launched at 0415 hours local and attack airfields in the Tokyo area. They encounter heavy aerial opposition and shoot down 32 Japanese aircraft. A second strike is cancelled while it is en route to objectives; pilots jettison their ordnance and return to their carriers. The last aircraft shot down by the USN in World War II occurs at 1400 hours when an F6F-5 Hellcat pilot of Fighting Squadron Thirty One (VF-31) in the light aircraft carrier USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) shoots down a "Judy" carrier bomber (Kugisho D4Y Navy Carrier Bomber Suisei) at sea. (Jack McKillop)
All offensive action against Japan by Allied forces ends. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur is notified that he is Supreme Commander for Allied powers. MacArthur tries to communicate with Tokyo using the War Department signal facilities, but when he receives no reply, he turns to the USAAF's Army Airways Communications System (AACS). The AACS Manila station (call sign WXXU), tapped out MacArthur's instructions to the Japanese using a frequency over which AACS had been broadcasting uncoded weather information; the message reads:
From: Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
To: The Japanese Emperor, the Japanese Imperial Government, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
Message Number Z-500
I have been designated as the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (the United States, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and empowered to arrange directly with the Japanese authorities for the cessation of hostilities at the earliest practicable date. It is desired that a radio station in the Tokyo area be officially designated for continuous use in handling radio communications between this headquarters and your headquarters. Your reply to this message should give the call signs, frequencies and station designation. It is desired that the radio communication with my headquarters in Manila be handled in English text. Pending designation by you of a station in the Tokyo area for use as above indicated, station JUM on frequency 13705 kilocycles will be used for this purpose and Manila will reply on 15965 kilocycles. Upon receipt of this message, acknowledge.
Signed MacArthur.
Within less than 2 hours, the Tokyo reply came back. This was the first direct communication between the Allies and Japan. (Jack McKillop) (Having spent 3 years in the USAF's Airways and Air Communications Service (AACS), the successor of the Army Airways Communications System, I'm kind of proud of the above. - JEM)
The Allies proclaimed V-J Day, one day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally. (Tony Morano)
In the U.S.:
- Gasoline rationing is ended today.
- The top pop songs on this date are (1) "Dream" by The Pied Pipers; (2) "I Wish I Knew" by Dick Haymes; (3) "If I Loved You" by Perry Como'; and (4) "Oklahoma Hills" by Jack Guthrie. (Jack McKillop)
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