We Remember:
1939: At Weymouth, on the south coast of England, King George VI inspects the 133 warships of the Reserve Fleet immediately prior to its mobilisation. During the inspection, as a courtesy to the French, Admiral de la Flotte Jean Darlan, Chief of the French Naval Staff is presented to the King. Ambassador von Dirksen, preparing to depart on leave to Germany, visits the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax. Halifax quizzes von Dirksen over the 'sharp tone of the German press concerning Danzig.' Von Dirksen replies that it is the fault of the Polish paper Czas which has published a statement that if there were any attempt to incorporate Danzig into the Reich, Polish troops would open fire on the Free City. (Andy Etherington)
An official German warning concerning the Polish attitude to Danzig is sent from Berlin to Warsaw, where it is viewed as an unwarranted interference in internal Polish affairs. (Andy Etherington)
11.00 p.m. Admiral Drax and his colleagues arrive in Leningrad. (Andy Etherington)
1940: RAF 4 Group (Whitley). Bombs aluminium works at Ludwigshaven.
(Andy Etherington)
RAF Fighter Command: Weather, cloud and rain. Luftwaffe attacked east coast shipping and Dover balloons. Heavy raids on Bournemouth and Salisbury, and a mine is dropped on South Shields, Tyneside. Bombs fall for the first time on Birkenhead, Cheshire. KG 26 attack Wearmouth, Northumberland. By dawn in total 190 HEs had fallen in 24 hours, killing 7 and injuring 100. Losses: Luftwaffe, 5; RAF 4. (Andy Etherington)
Britain promises Japan that it will pull out of Shanghai and northern China; its manpower is needed elsewhere. (Andy Etherington)
The German 'New British Broadcasting Station' (NBBS} propaganda radio announces that German parachutists would descend on Britain wearing some of the 100,000 British uniforms captured in France or else dressed as miners. (Andy Etherington)
1941: Army Group South begins attacks along the Bug.
NEWFOUNDLAND: The British battleship HMS Prince of Wales (53), with Prime Minister Winston Churchill aboard, arrives at Placentia Bay escorted by the British destroyer HMS Ripley [G-79, ex USS Shubrick (DD-268)] and Canadian destroyers HMCS Restigouche (H 00) and HMCS Assiniboine (I 18). Churchill is here to meet with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt who arrived in the heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31) two days ago. Churchill calls on Roosevelt on board USS Augusta and the two confer over lunch and dinner before Churchill returns to HMS Prince of Wales.
This conference will result in the Atlantic Charter; a statement of principles governing the policies of Britain and America. The other major outcome of this conference is that the military staff of both countries get to know each other and to begin to work together. This conference will last for 4 days. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)
BALTIC SEA: German submarine U-144 is sunk in the Gulf of Finland about 91 nautical miles (169 kilometers) southwest of Helsinki, Finland (59N, 23E), by torpedoes from the Russian submarine SC 307. All hands on the U-boat, 28 men, are lost. (Jack McKillop)
1942: Maykop, Russia falls to the German 1st Panzer Army and Krasnodar falls to the 17th Army. The retreating Russians have demolished the oil installations at Maykop.
Solomon Islands: Off Guadalcanal: Shortly after 1:00 am the IJN 8th Fleet, Admiral Mikawa, passes Savo Island. His force is prepared for battle and shielded by weather. The US and Australian ships are dulled by the fatigue and trust in radar. Striking quickly first with "long lance" torpedos, the Japanese strike cruisers HMAS Canberra and USS Chicago. Moments later torpedos and gunfire strike cruisers USS Quincy, Vincennes and Astoria. The Battle of Savo Island leaves 3 US and 1 Australian cruisers sunk. The Japanese cruisers have some shell damage from the US cruisers. The valuable transports with additional supplies and Marines are not harmed.
During the day the Marines consolidate their lines and defenses on Guadalcanal. Admiral Turner continues unloading supplies and men until he departs at sunset. He leaves promising aircraft for the still uncompleted Henderson Field by the 11th.
In the Aleutian Islands, 6 USAAF 11th Air Force bombers fly armed reconnaissance over Kiska and Attu Islands and then bomb Kiska. (Jack McKillop)
Despite a 50-foot (15.24 meter) gash in her side, the USN destroyer USS
Jarvis (DD-393), which was severely damaged by a torpedo yesterday off
Guadalcanal, is considered seaworthy and ordered to proceed under cover of
darkness to Efate, New Hebrides. Apparently unaware of the order, her
captain, decided to steam to Sidney, Australia, for immediate repairs.
Unnoticed by her own ships, USS Jarvis departed Tulagi at 0000 hours local
and moved slowly westward through "Ironbottom Sound" and between Savo
Island and Cape Esperance. At 0134 hours she passed 3,000 yards (2,743
meters) northward of Rear Admiral Mikawa's cruisers, steaming to meet the
Americans at the Battle of Savo Island. Mistaking her for a cruiser of the
New Zealand Achilles-class, they fired torpedoes, and destroyer Yunagi
later engaged her briefly, all without effect. The destroyer, continuing to
retire westward, had little speed, no radio communications, and few
operative guns; but she refused aid from the destroyer USS Blue (DD-378)
upon being sighted at 0325 hours. After daybreak, a scout plane from the
aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) sighted her 40 miles (64.4 km) off
Guadalcanal, trailing fuel oil and down by the bow. That was the last time
Americans saw her.
The Japanese, however, still mistaking Jarvis for an escaping cruiser,
dispatched 31 planes from Rabaul to search out and destroy her. Once
discovered, the badly damaged destroyer was torpedoed and, according to
Japanese records, "split and sank" at 1300 hours on 9 August with the loss
of all hands. (Jack McKillop)
In support of operations in the Solomon Islands, USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Allied Air Forces bomb shipping and airfields at Rabaul, New Britain Island and Gasmata Island off the southern coast of New Britain Island. (Jack McKillop)
The German submarine U-98 sows mines at the mouth of the St Johns River
east of Jacksonville, Florida. (Jack McKillop)
In India, British authorities arrest Indian nationalist Mohandas K Gandhi. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., the 15-minute radio show "Our Secret Weapon," sponsored by Philco, debuts on CBS on Sundays at 1900 hours Eastern Time. The most outrageous lies transmitted by the Axis shortwave radio stations were read and then countered by Rex Stout the author of the Nero Wolfe detective stories. For example, when the Germans claimed that the best major league baseball players were all German, Stout replied, "They've got the facts, no getting away from it. Take the six leading batters in the major leagues -- Williams, Gordon, Wright, Reiser, Lombardi, Medwick. Some bunch of Germans. Also the great German prizefighter, Joe Louis." The show remained on the air until 8 October 1943. (Jack McKillop)
1943: In response to a German request that Danish saboteurs be tried by a German court; the Prime Minister of Denmark, Scavenius issues a refusal.
In the Aleutian Islands, 1 USAAF B-24 Liberator of the US Eleventh Air Force flies photo reconnaissance over various Kiska Island sites. (Jack McKillop)
In England, the USAAF VIII Air Support Command Missions 16A and 16B. 72
B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer, France;
clouds prevent bombing and only 1 aircraft hits the target at 1904 hours. (Jack McKillop)
In the Solomon Islands, the USAAF's Thirteenth Air Force dispatches10 B-25
Mitchells, with fighter cover, to bomb Vila on Kolombangara Island. Shortly
thereafter 22 B-24s strike the same target. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-664 is sunk about 488 nautical miles (905 kilometers) west-northwest of Lagens Field, Azores Islands (40.12N, 37.29W) by depth charges from two American TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the American escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11). 44 of the 51 crewman on the U-boat survive. (Jack McKillop)
1944: The Canadian II Corps continues to attack along the Caen-Falaise road.
The German attacks around Mortain are running out of steam.
The US XV Corps heads from Le Mans toward Argentan to assist the Canadians.
By this day the battle of Ilomantsi has ended. During the ten days of fighting the Finns lose 1700 men KIA or wounded; Soviet casualties are estimated at 3000 men. This is the last significant battle of Continuation War that is about to end in few weeks. The battle ends in a 'real' Finnish victory (unlike the earlier battles of Tali-Ihantala, Vuosalmi and Bay of Viipuri, which are classed by Finnish military historians as 'defensive victories', the opposing Soviet divisions are effectively destroyed as fighting formations. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
The chief defendants of the 20 July attempt on Hitler's life are tried by Roland Freisler's People's Court and condemned to death. They are hanged two hours later. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions.
- Mission 533: 824 bombers and 675 fighters, in 3 forces, are dispatched to strategic targets (aircraft and tank factories, airfields and fuel depots) in southeastern Germany; weather deteriorated enroute and many bombers were recalled when confronted with a front rising to 28,000-feet (8,534 m) and most units attacked targets of opportunity; only 25 bombers hit their primary (Sindelfingen)
, 147 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yard and 25 hit an aircraft engine plant at Sindelfingen; 4 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 165 P-38 Lightnings, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-38 is lost.
- Mission 535: 3 B-17s fly a Micro H test mission against Aubigny, France
airstrip. Escort is provided by 16 P-38s without loss.
- Mission 536: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during
the night.
- 116 P-47s, escorted by 40 P-51s, are dispatched on fighter-bomber
missions against communications in France without loss. (Jack McKillop)
In France, the USAAF Ninth Air Force sends close to 400 B-26s and A-20 Havocs to attack an ammunition dump in Foret de Blois, shipping at Brest, and other targets, including rail bridges at 10 locations in northern and western France; fighters escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, cover ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance in the wide areas of northern France (around Paris, as far south as Orleans, and as far northeast as Reims and Chalons- sur-Marne). (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches around 400 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, hit targets in Hungary and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb an aircraft assembly plant and a rolling stock plant at Gyor, Hungary and a marshalling yard and oil refinery at Brod, Yugoslavia; B-24s bomb 2 airfields and an oil refinery at Budapest, Hungary. (Jack McKillop)
On Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a PB4Y-1 Liberator of the USN's Bombing Squadron One Hundred Sixteen (VB-116) based at Stickell Field, crashes on takeoff and burns amid the 340 planes in the carrier aircraft replacement pool area; 106 F6F Hellcats, FM Wildcats, SB2C Helldivers and TBM Avengers are destroyed. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., the motion picture "Hail The Conquering Hero" is released. This comedy, directed by Preston Sturges, stars Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demarest and Franklin Pangborn. The plot involves Bracken, who wants to join the Marines but is 4F, leaving town and having his friends send postcards from all over the world. When he returns, he is mistaken as a hero. The film is nominated for one Academy Award. (Jack McKillop)
1945: JAPAN: The USAAF's Twentieth Air Force Special Mission Number 16, the world's second atomic attack, is flown. At 0349 hours local, Major Charles W. Sweeney, Commanding Officer of the 393d Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), pilots the Martin-built, Boeing B-29-35-MO Superfortress, s/n 44-27297, Number 77, later renamed BOCKSCAR, off the runway at North Field, Tinian Island, Mariana Islands. At two-minute intervals, two observation B-29s follow, Captain Frederick C. Bock in GREAT ARTISTE and Major James I. Hopkins in Number 91. On board the GREAT ARTISTE is William L. Laurence, a reporter for The New York Times who had been chosen at the inception of the Manhattan Project while British Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, Winston Churchill's official representative, is aboard Number 91. Number 77 is carrying a plutonium implosion weapon, nicknamed "Fat Man," with a yield in the area of 22,000 tons (19,958 metric tons) of TNT. The bomb is 10 feet 8 inches (3,25 meters) long
and 5 feet (1,52 meters) in diameter Six B-29s had been designated for the mission. One was a spare that was to stand by at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands where there are facilities for unloading and reloading the bomb in case of an abort. Two are weather planes that had been dispatched in advance of the attack to determine weather conditions over the two proposed targets, i.e., Kokura, the primary and Nagasaki, the secondary. Major Sweeney reaches the rendezvous point, Yakujima, off the south coast of Kyushu, at 0909 hours and is joined by Captain Bock at 0912 hours. Bock spotted the second observation aircraft but loses contact; after circling for 45-minutes waiting for Major Hopkins' aircraft, which had the cameras to document the mission, Sweeney and Bock head for Kokura where the weather has closed in. The crew spends 50 minutes making three runs from different directions over the city without getting a glimpse of the target and at this point, the flight engineer repo
rts that the 600 US gallons (500 Imperial gallons or 2 271 liters) in the bomb bay auxiliary tanks could not be transferred to the wing tanks. With the prospect of not having enough fuel to return to base, Major Sweeney elects to try Nagasaki. Their orders state that the attack is to be made visually but Sweeney decides to attack either visually or by radar. They find 8/10 cloud cover over Nagasaki and the run-in is "90 percent by radar," but at the last second, they find a hole in the clouds and release the bomb at 1058 hours at an altitude of 28,900 feet (8 809 meters); the bomb explodes within a minute at 1,650 feet (503 meters) above the city. The estimated casualties were 35,000 killed, 5,000 missing and 60,000 injured. Running low on fuel, the two B-29s landed at Yontan Field, Okinawa, at 1400 hours to refuel; there as 7 US gallons (5.8 Imperial gallons or 26.5 liters) left in the tanks. After refueling, the aircraft take off for Tinian arriving at 2339 hours. (John Ni
cholas and Jack McKillop)
US President Truman broadcasts about the atomic bombs and their use on Japan.
The Red Army attack Japanese Forces in Manchuria with an army of 1.5 million soldiers. The Japanese defense lines are soon smashed.
Vice Admiral Hoshina, Chief of Military Affairs Bureau for the Naval Ministry, discussed the worsening situation with Vice Admiral Onishi, the Navy Vice Chief of Staff. Onishi replies that there were "ample chances of victory for Japan." He minimizes the importance of the atom bomb and the Russian invasion, the dwindling resources. He stresses the effectiveness of "special attacks" and the suicide weapons.
Hoshina then sees Navy Minister Yonai. Yonai comments "I have given up the war."
The Japanese Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, meets at 10:30 this morning. The SCDW is known as the Big 6 of the Japanese Cabinet. PM, FM, War Minister, Navy Minister, Army CofS, Navy CofS. They are notified of the Nagasaki bomb. By 1:00 pm they are still unable to agree on acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. The Military refuses to negotiate on the continuing existence of the Emperor system, disarmament and occupation.
At the Japanese cabinet meeting this afternoon, PM Suzuki is able to set the stage for an Imperial Conference with the Emperor. The military are not aware that it will be tonight. The discussion is deadlocked over two proposals. The FM proposal is to accept the Potsdam Declaration. The military have added 1) A guarantee that the imperial family will continue to reign. 2) Disarmament of the armed forces by Japan herself. 3) Trial of war criminals by Japan herself. 4) Occupation of Japan to be limited to the minimum time and places.
The USAAF Twentieth Air Force also flies a second mission.
- Mission 322: During the night of 9/10 August, 95 B-29s bomb the Nippon Oil Refinery at Amagasaki; 2 others hit alternate targets. (Jack McKillop)
In Japan:
- US Far East Air Force (FEAF) B-25 Mitchells over Kyushu Island, bomb airfields at Kanoya, the town of Noma, shipping in Beppu Bay, bridges, factories, and oil storage at Tsurusaki, and shipping, coastal villages, and communications targets in the Tsushima Strait area; A-26 Invaders and A-20s hit Kanoya Airfield and the industrial areas of Kushikino, Minato, and Shimahira; B-24s over western Honshu Island bomb the airfield at Iwakuni; 200+ P-47s and P-51s hit numerous targets on Shikoku and Kyushu Islands, and in the Ryukyu Islands including airfields, barracks, harbor installations, bridges, shipping, vehicles, and various factories and storage facilities.
- USN carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 38 attack Japanese shipping
and airfields in northern Honshu and Hokkaido; 9 ships are sunk.
- USN battleships and cruisers, plus 2 RN light cruisers, bombard industrial targets at Kamaishi, Honshu. (Jack McKillop)
A USN force consisting of the battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62), light cruiser USS Biloxi (CL-80) and 4 destroyers shell Wake Island while they are enroute from Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii to Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. (Jack McKillop)
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