We Remember:
1940: The US prohibits the export of oil and metal products to countries outside the Americas and Britain. This is primarily aimed at Japan.
RAF 4 Group (Whitley). Bombs industrial targets Ruhr. (Andy Etherington)
RAF Fighter Command: Weather fine, very heavy attacks on Channel convoy in co-operation with E-boats. 18 Luftwaffe a/c destroyed, 7 RAF a/c lost.
Patrols covering shipping off Portland are attacked by Bf109s. 2 EA destroyed. (Andy Etherington)
From London, Charles de Gaulle asks Captain Jacques Philippe, Vicomte de Hautecloque [alias Philippe LeClerc] to rally Free French forces in Equatorial Africa. (Andy Etherington)
Italian bombers attack British naval bases at Haifa and Alexandria. (Andy Etherington)
The light cruiser USS Trenton (CL-11) arrives at Annapolis, Maryland, carrying the royal family of the Duchy of Luxembourg. The ship had departed Lisbon, Portugal, on 15 July. (Jack McKillop)
1941: The Archbishop of Canterbury, (Anglican) in London, endorses the British-Soviet Pact. He says: ÒIt may seem strange to combine the alliance with Russia with the claim that we are contending for Christain civilization, but such misgivings are really misplaced, for the one, first, and essential aim of the whole widespread struggle is the overthrow of the tyranny of evil embodied in the rulers of Germany and all who are engaged in the cause must needs be our allies.Ó
The British cruiser HMS Newcastle intercepts the German ship 'Erlangen', which scuttles herself. (Andy Etherington)
The German-controlled radio in Paris announced that the Vichy government had decided to deport all British subjects from its territory. The decision also reflects the bitter anti-British resentment of Admiral Darlan, the Vichy vice-premier, over what the radio called "the numberless British aggression" against Dakar, Syria and the French fleet. (Andy Etherington)
The Grand Harbour at Malta is unusually filled with merchant ships from the newly-arrived convoy - Operation Substance - high-speed Italian motor boats, their bow packed with high explosive, made a daredevil attack here tonight. Only one freighter had been damaged in this successful attempt to beat the Axis in "bomb alley" - although the cruiser HMS Manchester was damaged and the destroyer HMS Fearless sunk. (Andy Etherington)
The USAAF's 33rd Pursuit Squadron, armed with Curtiss P-40s, is deployed to Iceland. (Andy Etherington)
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
The 30 P-40Cs and three Stearman PT-13 Kaydets of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) were loaded on the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) at Naval Operating Base Norfolk, Virginia, on 24 July. The ship sailed for Iceland on 28 July and the aircraft were launched on the morning of 6 August 1941. I had planned to post info on 28 July and 6 August. (Jack McKillop)
US President Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets and those of banks situated in Japanese occupied China. This action specifically effects oil and scrap iron. Refined aviation fuel is not effected by todays order. (John Nicholas and Andy Etherington)
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
In response to the Japanese occupation of northern French Indochina on 24 July, the U.S. freezes all Chinese and Japanese assets in the U.S. and cuts off the export of oil to Japan; the U.K. and Dutch East Indies follow suit. As a result, Japan lost access to three-fourths of its overseas trade and 88 percent of its imported oil. (Jack McKillop)
The advance of Finnish Karelian Army is stopped north of Lake Ladoga after Col. Lagus' 5th Div. reaches Tuulos, about 20 miles east of pre-1939 border. After beating back Soviet counter-attacks the Finnish troops regroup into defence. More to north (in northern Karelia) the Finnish advance is slowed down by heavy Soviet resistance in well-prepared positions. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
In U.S. baseball, 41-year old Boston Red Sox pitcher Lefty Grove joins Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Eddie Plank to achieve 300 career wins. The lefthander gave up 12 hits beating the Cleveland Indians, 10-6. In 17 years in major league ball, he accumulated a 300-141 record. (Jack McKillop)
The motion picture "Blossoms In the Dust" is released in the U.S. The film, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, stars Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon and Marsha Hunt. This tear-jerker, set in Texas, has Garson opening an orphanage and fighting to get equal rights for illegimate kids. The film is nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actress (Garson); it wins one technical award. (Jack McKillop)
1942: The German Army Group A completes the capture of Rostov, USSR.
In the southern Solomons, USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses begin daily search missions over from New Caledonia Island. USMC photographers using USN cameras often fly on these missions. (Jack McKillop)
In New Guinea, USAAF B-25 Mitchells and P-39 Airacobras attack barges and concentrations at Gona and troops on the Gona and Kokoda trails; Japanese forces push to Oivi, within 6 miles (10 km) of Kokoda. (Jack McKillop)
1943: Hamburg was the target of the RAF overnight with 2300 tons of bombs. The USAAF follows today with daylight raids. This raid and those on Hamburg which follow tomorrow and the next 2 nights introduce the use of ÒWindowÓ, strips of metal foil, to confuse the German radar.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command fly missions.
VIII Air Support Command Mission Number 3: 18 B-26B Marauders are dispatched against the coke ovens at Ghent, Belgium; 13 hit the target at 1458 hours.
VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 76: Three locations in Germany are targeted; 19 heavy bombers are lost, mostly to effective formation attacks by German fighters. The raid on Hamburg is part of six Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) missions against that port city and follows a raid of the previous night during which nearly 750 Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers did tremendous damage to the target. The three targets are:
1. 123 B-17s are dispatched against the diesel engine works at Hamburg but due to cloud cover, 100 hit the shipyard at 1630-1645 hours; they claim 38-6-27 Luftwaffe aircraft; 15 B-17's are lost.
2. 59 B-17s are dispatched against the Kiel Shipyard but return because of cloud cover.
3. 141 B-17s are dispatched against the aviation industry at Warnemunde; 118 hit the Kiel Shipyard at 1630-1700 hours; they claim 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17's are lost. (Jack McKillop)
Mussolini meets with the King and is relieved of his offices. He is arrested after the meeting. Marshal Badoglio is chosen by the King to form a new government.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
During a two day meeting, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini is voted out of power by the fascist Grand Council. After the meeting, Mussolini meets with King Vittorio Emanuele who tells Il Duce that General Pietro Badoglio would assume the post of prime minister and that the war was lost for the Italians. On leaving the King, Mussolini is arrested by the police who had been secretly planning this move for some time. (Jack McKillop)
Resistance is growing on the north coast of Sicily against US forces. The US 9th Divison and the British 78th Division are landed to reinforce Sicily.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh Army makes slow progress along the northern coastal road, while the British Eighth Army's 30 Corps takes part in hard fighting in the Agira area.
In the air, Ninth Air Force B-25s bomb docks and shipping at Milazzo and almost 100 P-40s strafe and bomb Milazzo, Taormina, and Catania harbor. Meanwhile, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers, and fighters during night and day raids, attack shipping and docks at Milazzo and in the Santo Stefano di Camastra-Orlando area, and hit roads and motor transport, bridges and armor concentration in the Orlando-Adrano-
Units of the 25th Division are added to the 43th and 37th Divisions on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
The Japanese try to hit US forces on Rendova Island but Allied fighters shoot down several "Zeke" fighters (8 claimed) and force the enemy bombers to drop their bombs indiscriminately. On New Georgia Island, the final push on the Japanese base at Munda opens with a bombardment by 7 destroyers and the heaviest air attack in the South Pacific Theater to date; 170+ B-24 Liberators, B-25s, B-17s, TBF Avengers, and SBD Dauntlesses, covered by 70+ fighters, pound the target thoroughly, dropping more than 145 tons of bombs in little more than a half hour; later in the afternoon 10 more B-24s, with fighter cover, bomb Bibolo Hill, and SBDs and TBFs dive-bomb gun positions; and later in the day, gun positions northeast of Kindu Village are hit. The 43d and 37th Infantry Divisions open the ground assault against the firmly entrenched enemy. (Jack McKillop)
In the Aleutians, the USN's Task Group 16.21, consisting of battleships and cruisers, fights the "Battle of the Pips" off Kiska Island. Radar on the ships detected seven pips and believing them to be a Japanese force resupplying Kiska, all ships, except the light cruiser USS Santa Fe (CL-60) open fire. (USS Santa Fe had the most modern radar and saw nothing and she did not fire on the "targets.") A total of 518 14-inch (35.6 cm) rounds and 487 8-inch (20.3 cm) rounds are fired at the "Japanese ships." Nobody has ever determined what caused the seven pips on the ships's radar.
The Japanese task group sent to evacuate the garrison from Kiska is actually 500 miles (805 km) southwest of Kiska refueling before dashing in to rescue the garrison. Because of the expenditure of fuel and ammunition fighting the "pips," the USN's TG 16.21 retires to refuel and rearm leaving the door open to the Japanese. (Jack McKillop)
1944: US Operation Cobra begins. The main attack is west of St. Lo by the US VII, VIII, and XIII Corps. 3000 planes from the 8th and 9th USAAF are involved in the pre-attack bombardment. Many of the bombs fall short and cause many casualities, including a general. The VII and VIII Corps make good progress. British attacks around Caen contribute to the success. South of Caen, Canadian forces attack along the road to Falaise and meet heavy resistance.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 494: 1,581 bombers and 500 fighters are dispatched to support a US First Army assault (Operation COBRA) with saturation bombing in the VII Corps area in the Marigny-Saint-
Mission 295: Late in the afternoon 106 B-24s are dispatched to bomb the Brussels/Melsbroek Airfield, Belgium but they are recalled because of heavy cloud formations. Escort for this mission is provided by 26 P-38s and 110 P-51s.
A P-38 and 78 P-47s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the Fournival/Bois de Mont fuel dump; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft.
Seventeen B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night. (Jack McKillop)
In France during the morning 11 Ninth Air Force B-26 and A-20 Havoc groups attack tactical targets in the vicinity of Saint-Lo in support of the US First Army; in the afternoon 4 groups bomb bridges on the Seine and Loire Rivers; 42 B-26s, repeating errors of the previous day, short-bomb behind US lines and casualties again are concentrated in the 30th Infantry Division; fighters strafe and bomb military targets in the Saint-Lo area in support of Operation COBRA, fly area patrol and sweeps south of the battle area, and carry out armed reconnaissance against installations in the Laval-Ghent-
Russian units enter Luvov, Poland.
Goebbels is appointed ÒReich Plenipotentiary for Total WarÓ. New decrees are issued which cancel vacations for women involved in war work.
The British Eastern Fleet, Admiral Somerville, attacks Sabang in the Indian Ocean. Carriers HMS Victorious and Illustrious are involved.
The US forces on Guam are still battling to join their beachheads.
The 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions advance on Tinian after stopping Japanese counterattacks.
Three carrier groups from TF 58 attack Japanese positions on the Caroline Islands.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 58.2 and 58.3 attack Japanese installations in the Palau Islands while aircraft of TG 58.1 attack targets on Ulithi and Yap Atolls.
The USAAF joins the attacks with Seventh Air Force B-24s, based at Kwajalein Atoll, bombing Truk Atoll and Far East Air Forces B-24s bombing the airfield and other targets in Woleai Atoll. (Jack McKillop)
Marshal Mannerheim informs the political leadership that the German help is not enough. He wants that measures are taken to free Finland from the obligations of the Ribbentrop-pact. In practice this would mean that the President of the Republic Risto Ryti should resign. There has already been a tacit agreement between the military and political leadeship that if and when the Ribbentrop-pact becomes a liability (i.e. when the time comes to make peace with Soviet Union) Ryti should resign (as he was *personally* bound by the pact) and he will be replaced by Mannerheim. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
In Austria, 420 B-17s and B-24s of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy bomb the Hermann Goring tank works in Linz while other bombers hit the Villach marshalling yard and targets of opportunity in Austria and Yugoslavia; fighters provide escort and carry out sweeps; 175-200 enemy fighters oppose the attacks; 21 USAAF aircraft are lost; the bombers and fighters claim 60+ fighters shot down.
Operating from Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR, 34 P-51s and 33 P-38s of the Fifteenth Air Force attack the airfield at Mielec, Poland and return to the USSR bases. (Jack McKillop)
German Propaganda Minister Goebbels is appointed "Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War". New decrees are issued, one of which cancel vacations for women involved in war work.
He had been lobbying for thise job for two years and when he finally gets it the ship of state is taking on water a a fearful rate. (Jay Stone)
1945: In Japan, carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Force 38 and RN's Task Group 37.2 continues attacks in the Inland Sea area; six ships are sunk and a number damaged.
Task Group 35.3 consisting of four light cruisers and six destroyers, bombards an IJN seaplane base on Honshu.
During the night of 25/26 July, the USAAF's Twentieth Air Force based in the Marianas dispatches 106 B-29 Superfortresses on two missions; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 291: 75 B-29s attack the Mitsubishi Oil Company and Hayama Petroleum Company at Kawasaki destroying 33% of the storage tanks units and other facilities; a B-29 hits an alternate target and 1 suffers a direct flak hit over the target and goes down.
Mission 292: 29 B-29s mine the waters at Nanao, Fushiki, Obama Island, Tsuruga, and Seishin, Japan, and Pusan, Korea; 1 other mines an alternate target. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., Henry Kaiser and Joseph Frazer announce plans to form a corporation to manufacture automobiles. Kaiser is famous for his shipbuilding feats while Frazer is an executive with Packard Auto. Production begins in 1946 and they manufacture 11,000 cars that year. The company was sold to Willys in 1953. (Jack McKillop)
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