We Remember:
The Birthday of Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.
1939: British Bank Holiday weekend begins. The Commons rise for the summer recess. The 25th anniversary of Germany's invasion of Belgium and the declaration of war by Britain against Germany. (Andy Etherington)
Queen Elizabeth [neŽ Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon from 1952 through 2002 the Dowager Queen of the United Kingdom (1900 - 2002)] celebrates her 39th birthday on holiday at Balmoral Castle. (Marc James Small)
Count Galeazzo Ciano, Count of Cortellazzo, Foreign Minister and Mussolini's son-in-law, writes in his diary 'The situation seems obscure to me... The moment has come when we must really know how matters stand [between Italy and Germany].' (Andy Etherington)
Poland warns Danzig's Senate that it will arm its customs officers. (Andy Etherington)
1940: RAF 4 Group (Whitley). Bombs oil plant at Sterkrade. (Andy Etherington)
RAF Fighter Command: Weather, mainly fine. Little enemy activity reported. No aircraft lost. (Andy Etherington)
Luftwaffe night raids on Mildenhall, Ely, Newark and near Debden, bombs fall for the first time on Cwmbran in Wales. (Andy Etherington)
In France, the Paris Soir newspaper reports that General Charles de Gaulle had been condemned to death in absentia for treason by a Vichy military court. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., the 30-minute radio show "Crime Doctor" debuts on CBS on Sunday at 2030 hours Eastern time. The plot has a unique twist. The hero, Dr. Benjamin Ordway, was a criminal who lost his memory when hit on the head but he built a new life studying medicine and went into psychiatry and after regaining his memory, he specializes in criminal psychology. The show remained on the air until October 1947 and Ordway was later played by John McIntire, Hugh Marlowe, Brian Donlevy and Everett Sloane. (Jack McKillop)
1941: In the U.S., the Army's 1st Division and the 1st Marine Division begin amphibious training exercises at New River, North Carolina. The aircraft escort vessel USS Long Island (AVG-1) provides close air support for the maneuvers in a test to determine its capabilities in this role.
The presidential yacht, USS Potomac (AG-25), with President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard, proceeds from Point Judith, Rhode Island, to South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. During the day, the Crown Princess of Norway and her party sail on the yacht and that night, the vessels proceeds to Menemsha Bight, Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, where it is joined by the heavy cruisers USS Augusta (CA-31) and USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37). (Jack McKillop)
1942: In the U.K., the British government charged that Mohandas Gandhi and his All-Indian Congress Party favored "appeasement" with Japan. (Jack McKillop)
A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese freighter off northern Honshu Island. (Jack McKillop)
In the Aleutians, two 11th Air Force P-38 Lightnings shoot down two IJN "Mavis" flying boats (Kawanishi H6K Navy Type 97 Flying Boats) near Atka Island. This is the first P-38 aerial combat in any theater. (Jack McKillop)
In Australia, Major General George C. Kenney assumes command of the Allied Air Forces, Southwest Pacific Area at Brisbane. His command consists of 62 heavy bombers, 70 medium bombers, 53 light bombers, 235 fighters and 36 transports. (Jack McKillop)
U-372 (Type VIIC) is sunk 4 Aug, 1942 in the Mediterranean southwest of Haifa, in position 32.28N, 34.37E, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Sikh and Zulu and the escort destroyers HMS Croome and Tetcott and by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (221 Sqdn.). Entire crew of 48 men survived. (Alex Gordon)
The motion picture "Holiday Inn" premieres at the Paramount Theater in New York City. Directed by Mark Sandrich, this musical comedy stars Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Walter Abel. Crosby sings Irving Berlin's legendary song "White Christmas" but the song is not an immediate hit with the public. It's popularity increases when American servicemen start requesting that it be played over the Armed Forces Radio Network. Bing sang "White Christmas" on the first broadcast of Armed Forces Radio's "Mail Call" on 11 August 1942 and that could be where the GIs caught on to it. Bing performed a lot on AFR programs, and sang "White Christmas" just after VJ day on AFR's "GI Journal" show.
One reason why "White Christmas" might not have been an immediate hit, aside from the fact that the song was first heard during the dog days of August, was the now-forgotten recording ban imposed by James C. Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians. He insisted that the major record companies--Columbia
a, Bing Crosby and other vocalists started cutting records a cappella with other singers. The result was such hits as Crosby's "Sunday, Monday or Always" and Sinatra's "Close to You." But Petrillo could only go so far in wartime; instrumentalists could still record "V-Disks," distributed by Armed Forces Radio, which is probably why "White Christmas" became a serviceman's favorite before it became an all-time hit among the general public.
As a further historical note, Decca caved in to Petrillo's demands in August, 1943. At this point, a bunch of startup recording companies, such as Capitol and Signature, had come on the scene. Fearing such new competition, Columbia and Victor finally gave in in November, 1944. The ban spelled the beginning of the end for the big swing bands, that had depended so much on income from records. And popular taste moved on to small-band bebop, folk singers and, then, rock 'n roll. (Matt Clark and Jack McKillop)Ê
1943: South of Kursk, Konev and Vatutin begin to attack toward Belgorod at the junction of the 4th Panzer Army and the German 8th Army.
British forces are fighting for Catania and the Americans are fighting for Troina in Sicily.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
On the ground in Sicily, the British cross the Salso River with 2 divisions, while other forces prepare to drive on Catania and others continue toward Misterbianco. U.S. troops are halted by fierce opposition at the Furiano River and at Troina.
In the air, Ninth Air Force P-40s attack shipping at Messina and support ground forces at the north end of Mount Etna. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) medium and light bombers, and fighters attack communications targets, gun positions, and storage areas in the Milazzo-Adrano-
A brutal Allied air raid on Naples. (Glenn Steinberg)
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the submarine base at Naples while B-26 Marauders and B-25 Mitchells hit the railroad bridge at Cantanzaro and railroad at Paola. (Jack McKillop)
In the Aleutians between 0855 and 1846 hours local, 153 tons (139 metric tons) of bombs are dropped on Kiska Island by Eleventh Air Force aircraft, a new one-day record. Six armed weather, photo and reconnaissance missions, flown by 3 B-24 Liberators, 2 P-40s, and 2 F-5A Lightnings bomb through clouds, take photos and observe fires in Main Camp and on Little Kiska Island; later 48 B-25s, 22 B-24s, 16 A-24 Dauntlesses, 8 P-40s, and 40 P-38s fly 17 bombing and strafing attacks to Kiska Island; targets hit include buildings near the radio station, and the gun battery area on North Head. Little Kiska Island and Segula Island are also strafed. The Americans still do not realize that all Japanese forces have been evacuated from Kiska. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's VIII Air Support Command in England flies Mission 14: 36 B-26s are dispatched to shipyards at Le Trait, France; 33 hit the target at 1926 hours local. (Jack McKillop)
U-489 (Type XIV) is sunk by Canadian aircraft (423rd Sq.) southeast of Iceland at 61.11N, 14.38W. 1 dead, 53 survivors. This supply U-boat had set out on its first patrol on 22 July, barely a fortnight before its sinking, and did not, consequently, provide replenishment to any other U-boat. (Alex Gordon)
1944: The German XXV Corps, in Brittany, withdraws to the major ports of St. Malo, Brest, Lorient and St. Nazaire. Commanded by General Farmbacher, Lorient and St. Nazaire will hold until May of 1945.
British troops liberate Evrecy and Villers Bocage, France.
South African units of the British XII Corps enter Florence, Italy and areas south of the Arno River. Plans for future operations are revised by General Leese for the British 8th Army near the east coast of Italy to make the next major move.
German units counterattack between Riga and Jelgava reopening communications with Lithuania.
The British 2nd Division liberates Tamu in the Burma Theater.
Marshal of Finland, Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (note there's *no* 'von' prefix!) is elected by the Parliament as the new President of the Republic of Finland. This election is doubly exceptional. Normally the President is elected by a chamber of electors elected by popular vote, but this procedure has already been dispensed with in 1940 and 1943 because of the exceptional times. Second, constitutionally professional soldiers can't take part in politics; they can vote but can't run as candidates or be members of political parties.
Among the political leadership it has long been agreed that the 77-year old Marshal is the only person who can lead the Finnish people unified to the harsh peace that is to be expected. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Group 58.3 bomb airfields on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. During the day, a destroyer, a collier , four transports and a landing ship are sunk by USN units in the vicinity of Iwo Jima. (Jack McKillop)
In the Aleutians, the heavy cruiser USS Baltimore (CA-68) with President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard, departs NOB Adak for NOB Kodiak. (Jack McKillop)
USN submarines sink an IJA cargo ship in the Celebes Sea and two IJN guardboats in the Bonin Islands. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions.
Mission 514: 1,307 bombers and 746 fighters in 4 forces are dispatched to strategic targets in Germany; 15 bombers are lost:
1. Of 358 B-17s dispatched, 181 hit Hamburg oil refineries, 50 hit Bremen oil refineries, 23 hit Nordhof Airfield, 22 hit Ostend, Belgium coastal defenses, 14 hit Einswarden and 7 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 0-4-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 234 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 38-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 9-0-1 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 3 P-51s are lost.
2. Of 425 B-17s dispatched, 221 hit Peenemunde, 110 hit Anklam Airfield and 70 hit Anklam aircraft factories; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 223 P-51s; they claim 4-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost.
Personal Memory: My diary reads: "Peenemunde, Germany. Experimental station for jet propelled aircraft (V-2.) Lots of flak due to CAVU weather. Got only a few holes. Shot down an Me 110 on way back. Ball Turret gunner got credit. Long, hard trip. Blasted it wide open. Won't have to go back!" At least I didn't have to go back. This was one of the most successful missions that I participated in. I was flying another new crew on their first mission. It was that of Lt. L. M. Johnston in A/C number 42-31432 "Jigger Rouche, Kraut Killer" We each carried five, 1000 pound bombs and 2700 gallons of gasoline for this nine hour trip to the Baltic coast in northern Germany. The 303rd Bomb Group supplied thirty-seven aircraft for this mission plus we had two PFF planes from the 305th Bomb Group that supplied these lead ships for many groups. At the target the weather was CAVU so we made a visual seven and a half minute bomb run and bombs were away at a few seconds past 1442 from 23,00
0 feet, we being the high squadron for today's mission I was carrying bombs with long delay fuses since I was in the No. 9 position near the center of the group. The first of my 5 bombs would explode three hours after impact and the others would explode at intervals for the next 3 days. Other groups had similar bombs in their number 9 position. We never carried these type bombs on missions to occupied countries, only to some German targets. Our bomb patterns were very good on this mission and we did considerable damage to the area. As our bombs started falling a speed boat on the canal suddenly reversed course and sped away from the target area. It was a smart move because our bombs dammed the canal in three places. As we headed home we flew over the Baltic and over the Danish Island of Falster and immediately over the island of Lolland Maribo. At this point we saw an Me110 approaching from the rear. I asked the tail gunner how far back and he said that it was about two mile
s and closing. I told them that we were on our way home and hadn't fired a shot so "let him have it." Immediately all the rearward guns opened up and when the enemy got within about a mile he started a vertical dive and never stopped until he hit the ground. There was no parachute from the stricken plane which seemed undamaged. Evidently one of our fifty caliber bullets got the pilot from a mile away. This Me110 had already fired one rocket which missed and never got a chance for a second. After this action we got a little too close to Germany's northernmost city (Flensburg) which had a battery of 88MM flak guns and another of larger caliber which was fairly intense and accurate. Several of us got minor damage from this encounter. On this mission, 17 of our thirty nine B-17s had battle damage with nine major. Score: Milk runs 13, Others, 16. (Dick Johnson)
3. Of 446 B-24s dispatched, 148 hit Rostock aviation factories, 89 hit Kiel, 88 hit Schwerin aviation factories, 71 hit Wismar aviation factories, 12 hit Schlutup, 11 hit Warien and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 4 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 209 P-38s and P-51s; a P-51 is lost.
4. Of 78 B-24s dispatched, 39 hit Husum Airfield and 29 hit Heide oil refinery at Hemmingstedt without loss.
Mission 515: The first APHRODITE mission is flown using 4 radio-controlled war weary B-17s as flying bombs; targets are Mimoyecques, Siracourt, Watten, and Wizernes V-weapon sites but none are hit; 1 drone B-17 crashes killing the crew. Escort is provided by 16 P-47s and 16 P-51s.
Mission 516: In France, 154 B-17s and 36 fighters in 2 forces are dispatched to hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais and coastal defenses at Middelkerke and Gravelines without loss. Escort for the 2 forces is provided by 35 P-47s and P-51s.
1. Of 95 B-24s dispatched, 24 hit the Pas de Calais, 12 hit Achiet Airfield, 11 hit Gravelines, 11 hit Middelkerke, 6 hit Lens marshalling yard and 6 hit Montigne marshalling yard at Villy.
2. Of 59 B-17s dispatched, 13 hit targets of opportunity, 12 hit Vendeville Airfield at Lille and 11 hit a bridge at Gravelines.
67 P-47s fly a fighter-bomber mission against Plantlunne Airfield; they claim 30-0-5 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 is lost. (Jack McKillop)
In France, 62 USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s bomb rail bridges at Oissel, Epernon, and Saint-Remy-sur-
In an attempt to comply with the first direct Soviet request for USAAF air strikes, 70+ Fifteenth Air Force P-38s and P-51s leave Italy, attack the airfield and town of Focsani, Rumania, and land at Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR. (Jack McKillop)
In England, RAF Flying Officer T. D. Dean is flying Gloster Meteor Mk. I, s/n EE216, of No. 616 Squadron from Manston, Kent, when he encounters a V-1 "buzz bomb." Dean's guns jam and he forms on the V-1 at 365 mph (587 km/h) and tips the pilotless aircraft over with his wing tip. This is the first enemy aircraft to be destroyed by an RAF jet fighter. (Jack McKillop)
In the Netherlands, the Gestapo, acting on tip from a Dutch informer, captures 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse at Prinsengracht 263; two of the Christians who had helped shelter them are also arrested. The Franks had taken shelter there in 1942 out of fear of deportation to a concentration camp. They occupied the small space with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man, and were aided by former Christian employees of Otto Frank and other Dutch friends who brought them food and supplies. Anne spent much of her time in the "secret annex" working on her diary which survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo that discovered the hiding place. They are sent to a concentration camp in Holland, and in September Anne and most of the others are shipped to Auschwitz in Poland. In the fall of 1944, Anne and her sister Margot are moved to Bergen-Belsen in Germany; both sisters catch typhus and die in early March 19
45, two months before the camp was liberated by British forces. Anne's father Otto Frank is the only one of the 10 to survive. After the war, he returns to Amsterdam via the Soviet Union, and is reunited with Miep Gies, one of his former employees who had helped shelter him. She handed him Anne's diary and in 1947, the diary is published by Otto in its original Dutch as "Diary of a Young Girl." (Jack McKillop)
1945: In Japan, Far East Air Force B-25s based on Okinawa hit an industrial area near Takanabe, Kyushu bombing warehouses, factories, a railroad bridge, and marshalling yard. (Jack McKillop)
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