We Remember:
1917: The first underway landing on board a carrier is made by Squadron Commander Dunning landed on HMS FURIOUS. The carrier was steaming at 26 knots into a wind of 21 knots. (Peter Beeston)
1934: Paul von Hindenberg dies. He is President of Germany under the Weimar Constitution, thus his death allows the NAZI Party to manipulate German public opinion and the Weimar constitution thus paving the way for Hitler's assumption of full powers and the title of Fuhrer. (Tom Hickox and Jack McKillop)
1939: After a lengthy debate the House of Commons votes itself a summer holiday. The House will rise on Friday and will not expect to return until 21 October. (Andy Etherington)
Albert Einstein writes a letter to US President Roosevelt, warning him of the possibility that Nazi Germany might be attempting to build an atom bomb. "This new phenomena [atomic energy] would also lead to the construction of bombs. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port, together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs might very well prove to be too heavy for transportation by air." (Andy Etherington)
1940: Lord Beaverbrook, British Minister of Aircraft Production is taken into the inner circle of Churchill's War Cabinet.
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - oil refinery at Salzbergen. (Andy Etherington)
German bombers drop leaflets detailing Hitler's August peace proposals over southern England. (Andy Etherington)
"Operation Hurry" concludes. After recognizing the need to close
significantly closer to Malta to successfully launch the Hurricane Is of
418 Flight on their transit flight from HMS Argus, Force H opts to
launch a pre-dawn strike on Regia Aeronautica'
Sardinia by aircraft from HMS Ark Royal. The plan calls for 9 Swordfish
of 810, 188, and 820 squadrons to go after the airfield while
simultaneously, 3 additional 820 Squadron Swordfish will lay mines in
Cagliari harbour. The 0230 takeoff is marred when one Swordfish of 810
Squadron crashes. Most unfortunately for those involved, the strike
planes had difficulty finding their targets until after dawn. Although
the harbor is successfully mined and the bombing destroyed 4 Italian
aircraft and several hangers, one aircraft is downed by a defending
fighter. Back with the fleet, dawn's early light sees the 12 Hurricanes
and their 2 Skua II guides depart HMS Argus and, ultimately, arrive
safely at Malta. Covered by Ark Royal's Skua II fighters of 800 and 803
Squadrons, the entire force sails past the rock enroute to the UK, where
Force H will stay for most of the month. (Mark Horan)
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his cabinet have a long discussion in a cabinet meeting concerning "ways and means to sell directly or indirectly" 50 to 60 overage destroyers to the British. Everyone agrees "that the survival of the British Isles under German attack might very possibly depend on their (the British) getting these destroyers." Everyone also agrees that legislation to permit the sale of these ships is necessary. (Jack McKillop)
1941: German forces attack Staraya Russa, south of Lake Ilmen, in their drive toward Leningrad.
US Lend-Lease aid begins for the Soviet Union.
1943: US naval forces again bombard Kiska in the Aleutians, unaware that the Japanese have evacuated.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
In the Aleutians, the USN's Task Groups 16.6 and 16.17 commence a preinvasion bombardment of Kiska Island. TG 16.6 under Rear Admiral Wilder D. Baker consists of the heavy cruisers USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and USS Salt Lake City (CA-25); the light cruisers USS Detroit (CL-8), USS Raleigh (CL-7), USS Richmond (CL-9) and 5 destroyers. TG 16.17 under Rear Admiral Howard F. Kingman consists of the battleships USS Idaho (BB-42) and USS Tennessee (BB-43) and 4 destroyers. TG 16.6 bombards Gertrude Cove, the Main Camp, western Little Kiska Island and south Head with 1,261 rounds of 8-inch (203.2 mm), 6-inch (152.4 mm) and 5-inch (127 mm) shells. TG 16.17 bombards North Head and the submarine base with 1,051 rounds of ammunition including 120 rounds of 14-inch (255.6 mm) shells. Unknown to the Americans, the Japanese have already evacuated the island.
In the air, the USAAF's Eleventh Air Force dispatches 8 B-24 Liberators, 9 B-25 Mitchells, and 8 P-38 Lightnings to attack Kiska in 2 waves, bombing and strafing North Head, and coast guns on Little Kiska Island, scoring several hits. (Jack McKillop)
US forces on New Georgia have advanced to the airfield. The Japanese have decided not to reinforce. There concentration is now on Kolombangara Island.
Znamenskaya is liberated by the Soviet Army.
A Telegram of Don Juan de Borbon y Battenberg, Infante of Spain, Count of Barcelona, to Generalissimo Francisco Franco. He demands the restoration of the monarchy. (Glenn Steinberg)
The Italian people are warned of imminent invasion by an Allied broadcast from Algiers. (Glenn Steinberg)
In the Solomon Islands at approximately 0215 hours local, Motor Torpedo Boats 109, 162 and 169 are due east of Gizo Island heading south at low speed. The IJN destroyer HIJMS Amagiri is sighted travelling northward at high speed on a collision course; the ship is approximately 700 yards (0.4 miles/ 640 meters) away. PT-162 attempts to fire its torpedoes but they do not fire and the PT boat turns southwest to avoid a collision after getting within 100 yards (91.4 meters) of the destroyer. The destroyer then rams PT-109 followed by an explosion and a large flame which died down a little, but continued to burn for 10 or 15 minutes; two crewman are killed but 11 survive including the captain, Lieutenant (jg) John F. Kennedy, USNR. PT-169 stopped just before the warship hit PT-109, turned toward it and fired two torpedoes when abeam at 150 yards (137 meters) range. The destroyer straddled PT-169 with shell fire, just after it collided with PT-109, and then circled left toward Gizo
Island at increased speed and disappeared. The 11 survivors of PT-109 are finally rescued by a PT boat on the night of 6/7 August. (Jack McKillop)
In the Bay of Biscay, the German submarine U-706 is sunk at 0630 hours local northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 46.15N, 10.25W, by depth charges from a USAAF B-24 of the 4th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) based at St. Eval, Cornwall, England. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's VIII Air Support Command in England schedules four missions.
Missions 12A and 12B: Two airfields in France are targeted: 31 B-26B Marauders bomb Merville Airfield at 0810 hours and 18 B-26Bs bomb Ft. Rouge Airfield at St. Omer at 0900 hours.
Missions 13A and 13B: An attack Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands is cancelled; Mission 13B is a diversion. (Jack McKillop)
On the ground in Sicily, US ground forces push slowly west while British troops gain control of Regalbuto and fight indecisively in the streets of Centuripe.
U.S. General George S. Patton, Commanding General Seventh Army, slaps U.S. Army Private C.H. Kuhl in a hospital on Sicily.
In the air, Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters, and light and medium bombers hit trucks, a dump and road junction in northeastern Sicily, docks and shipping at Milazzo, Messina and in the Reggio di Calabria, Italy area, and targets of opportunity (mainly motor transport) from Barcellona south to Adrano. Ninth Air Force P-40s attack shipping in the Straits of Messina and off Milazzo. (Jack McKillop)
1944: The US VIII Corps, now part of Patton's 3rd Army, reaches Dinan and Rennes in Brittany. First Army units to their left attack around Tessy toward Mortain and liberate Villedieu, France.
US forces advance on the west side of Guam but are pushed back on the east side.
A USN submarine attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks an army cargo ship. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 510: 319 bombers and 158 fighters in 2 forces are dispatched to attack oil and supply dumps and bridges in the Paris area (number in parenthesis indicates number of bombers attacking); the two forces above are escorted by 132 P-51 Mustangs. Two B-17s and a P-51 are lost.
1. Targets for 156 B-17 Flying Fortresses are Paris/Gennevilliers (51), Paris/Dugny (38), Mery-sur-Oise (37), Bernay marshalling yard (12), Courtalain rail junction (7) and targets of opportunity (4); 2 B-17s are lost.
2. Targets for 163 B-24s are bridges at Neuvy-sur-Loire (36), Nogent-sur-Seine (31), Mantereau (28); Sens oil depot (26); airfields at St Dizier (12) and Creton (3); and Pacy-sur-Armancon (10).
Mission 511: 517 bombers and 249 fighters in 2 forces are dispatched to attack CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites and bridges in France; escort for the 2 forces is provided by 236 P-51s. Three B-17s and 5 P-51s are lost:
1. Of 195 B-17s dispatched, 77 hit V-weapon sites, and rail bridges at Jussy (31), Aulnoye (21), Beautor (21) and Crocal de St Quentin (11); 3 B-17s are lost.
2. Of 322 B-24s dispatched, 182 hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area, 22 hit Thennes Bridge, 12 hit Peronne Rail Bridge, 11 hit Achiet Airfield and 8 hit targets of opportunity.
49 P-38s, 183 P-47 Thunderbolts and 51 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against rail and road transport in the Paris-Amiens-
42 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night. (Jack McKillop)
In France, the Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command halts bombing of bridges, fuel dumps, and similar targets in Brittany except on the request of the 12th Army Group, as the US Third Army wants the use of bridge access to all fuel they may find in their advance across France; around 300 A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack bridges at Mezieres-sur-
The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy dispatches 330+ bombers to hit targets in France and Italy; B-24s attack Genoa, Italy harbor; B-17s hit targets in S France, including Le Pouzin oil storage, Portes-les-Valences torpedo factory and marshalling yard, Le Pontet oil storage, and Avignon railroad bridges; P-38s and P-51s provide escort. (Jack McKillop)
1945: U.S. President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee conclude the Potsdam conference. (Jack McKillop)
While on routine patrol, the crew of a PV-1 Ventura of the USN's Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Fifty Two (VPB-152) based on Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, sights an oil slick with 30 men in the water. Further observation reveals another group of 150 men. These are the survivors of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) that was sunk by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-58 on 30 July. The crew drops their life raft and six life jackets to the men in the water and radios for assistance. PBY Catalinas and surface ships commence search missions until 8 August; they pick up 316 survivors. (Jack McKillop)
Two USN destroyers, USS Charrette (DD-581) and USS Conner (DD-582), make radar contact with a ship which they track through the night, finding in the morning that it was the Japanese hospital ship Tachibana Maru. A search party from USS Charrette boards the ship and finds able-bodied troops and arms and ammunition in boxes marked with red crosses; the troops are made prisoners of war. A prize crew of 80 marines and sailors is placed aboard the Japanese ship and it is taken to Naval Advance Base Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies arriving on 6 August. (Jack McKillop)
Off the Malay Peninsula, the USN submarine USS Bugara (SS-331), on her third war patrol, encounters a Japanese schooner manned by a Chinese crew being attacked by Malay pirates; the pirates fire at the submarine and then attempt to escape. The sub crew takes off the Chinese crew, sinks the schooner with gunfire and then pursues the pirates and disposes of them. (Jack McKillop)
In the Marianas, Lieutenant General Nathan F Twining relieves Lieutenant General Curtis Emerson LeMay as Commanding General, Twentieth Air Force; LeMay is reassigned to the US Army Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF) as Chief of Staff. (Jack McKillop)
On Okinawa, bad weather due to a typhoon cancels all Far East Air Forces missions against Japan. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., the top pop songs are (1) "The More I See You" by Dick Haymes; (2) "Dream" by The Pied Pipers' (3) "Sentimental Journey" by Les Brown and his Orchestra with vocal by Doris Day: and (4) "Oklahoma Hills" by Jack Guthrie. (Jack McKillop)
1999: The death of TSgt Bobby Austin: October 24, 1924 - August 2, 1999. He entered the Marines in 1942 and served as a navigator of a Marine R4D and was honorably discharged in November 1945. A member of the WWII List! Semper Fi!!
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