We Remember:
1940: British fighter production is 50% above the target figures. 1,200 aircraft have been produced since May 1, 1940. The gap with the Luftwaffe is closing.
Operation "Hurry", the first ship launched aerial reinforcement of Malta
begins. On 23 July, HMS Argus sailed from Greenock escorted by HMSs
Encounter, Gallant, Greyhound, and Hotspur, bound for Gibralta with 2
war-weary Skua IIs (to carry the lead navigators) and 12 new RAF
Hurricanes Mk Is 418 Flight, and arrived safely on 30 July. The force
then sortied into the Western Mediterranean on 31 July heading for a
flying off point West of Malta. The reinforcement force is covered by
Force H, comprising HMSs Ark Royal, Hood, Valiant, Resolution, Arethusa,
Delhi, Enterprise, Faulknor, Forester, Foresight, Foxhound, Fearless,
Escapade, Active, and Wrestler. Improperly reviewed plans call for the
Hurricanes to fly off on 1 August. The force is discovered by the
Italians late in the afternoon. (Mark Horan)
The face of Britain is being transformed by the war as a massive effort gets under way to ensure that the country is not starved into submission. From rural hills to suburban gardens, "digging for victory" has become a patriotic duty. Arable land is expected to increase by 14% this year. (Andy Etherington)
The Vichy government decrees the death penalty for French servicemen who join a foreign army. Chantiers de Jeuness [Youth Workshops], a youth organisation service run by the state, is founded. (Andy Etherington)
German raider 'Komet' sails for the Pacific through the North-East passage across the top of Siberia with the aid of Russian icebreakers. She operate in the Pacific and Indian Ocean until her return to Germany in November 1941. She is the last of the first wave of raiders. (Andy Etherington)
In the Battle of the Atlantic, Convoys are now being rerouted through the North Western Approaches to the British Isles instead of to the south of Ireland and through the Irish Sea. North Channel and the sea lanes leading to it becomes a focal point for all shipping leaving or arriving in British waters.(Andy Etherington)
Thames-out OA convoys are now joining FN East Coast ships and passing around the north of Scotland before going out through the North West Approaches. They stop altogether in October. The Thames/Forth FN/FS convoys continue along the east coast. Two additional ones are: Forth/ Clyde EN/WN around the north of Scotland. Thames/English Channel CW/CE through the Strait of Dover. [Losses in the Channel are so heavy that the latter have to be stopped for a while.] Slow Sydney, Cape Breton/UK convoys start in August with SC1. The limits of the few escorts available are only just pushed out from 15 W to 17 W where they stay until October. U-boats are patrolling well beyond this range and so many sinkings are taking place in unescorted convoys or when the ships have dispersed. (Andy Etherington)
Losses:
34 ships of 173,000 tons and 1 destroyer.
1 U-boat.
European Waters: 67 ships of 192,000 tons.
Mediterranean Waters: 2 merchant ships of 7,000 tons.
(Andy Etherington)
British Prime Minister again sends a telegram to U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull asking President Roosevelt for the loan of destroyers. In the past ten day, the RN has lost four destroyers and seven others have been damaged. Churchill states that, "If we cannot get reinforcements, the whole fate of the war may be decided by this minor and easily remediable factor." (Jack McKillop)
1941: The Russian Army fired the first volly of Katyusha Rockets. (Bill Howard)
Force H covers a small convoy to Malta. Destroyers and aircraft for HMS Ark Royal attack Alghero in Sardinia.
Civilian air raid casualties this month were 900 people killed and 908 injured.
Nazi plans to rid Europe of Jews took a step forward today, when Reinhardt Heydrich, the head of the RHSA (Reichssicherheitsh
Royal Navy hopes are high as this month ends that they are over the worst in their battle with the U-boats. Losses to Allied shipping are now running at under one-fifth of the peak rate of 688,000 tons suffered in April. (Andy Etherington)
At the end of 14 days of continuous slaughter, Einsatzkommando groups have killed 10,000 Jews at Kishinev and 2,500 at Zhitomir. Immediately a region is occupied by German troops the Einsatzgruppen move in, gather together the local Jews, strip them of clothing and valuables and shoot them dead in a remote part of the countryside. The corpses are thrown into a shallow ditch. Local people especially in the Ukraine and Lithuania, join in mounting their own pogroms. (Andy Etherington)
The German army reaches Lake Ilmen and the Finnish army starts an attack aimed at Viipuri. (Andy Etherington)
"Fast Heinz" Guderian's tanks are approaching Smolensk, only 200 miles from Moscow, Kiev is threatened by von Kleist and the Black Sea, the Romanian 4th Army is advancing on Odessa. (Andy Etherington)
North African Axis forces are reorganised; General Ludwig Cruwell takes over command of the Afrika Korps while Rommel commands the new Panzerarmee Afrika. (Andy Etherington)
Battle of the Atlantic:
Losses:
23 ships of 98,000 tons.
Losses in home waters:
18 ships of 15,000 tons.
(Andy Etherington)
The first Lockheed Ventura makes it's maiden flight at Burbank, California, USA. It is the first of 675 placed by the British Purchasing Commission and is designed to replace the Hudson. (Andy Etherington)
US President Roosevelt explains the introduction of price controls to Congress, on the basis of controlling inflation and reducing the rise in domestic consumption. (Andy Etherington)
II Corps (Maj. Gen. Laatikainen) begins its attack on Karelian Isthmus. The ultimate goal of the attack is to recapture Viipuri (Vyborg), the second largest city of Finland before 1939, lost to Soviet Union after the Winter War. The attack meets heavy resistance and the intense fighting slows Finnish advance in the first days of the attack. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall issues public statement that it was now US policy to defend the Philippines and that Philippine defense was to take the "highest priority". (Marc Small)
The US Asiatic Fleet and US Army Harbor Defense Command close Manila harbor by mining. Henceforth, civilian shipping requires escort through the minefields by Asiatic Fleet vessels or by US Army Mine Planters assigned to the Harbor Defense Command. (Marc Small)
The Japanese government assures the U.S. government that the bombing of the river gunboat USS Tutuila (PR-4) at Chungking, China, yesterday was "an accident 'pure and simple.' " (Jack McKillop)
The U.S. Army establishes the Military Police Corps. (Jack McKillop)
The motion picture "Hold Back the Dawn" is released in the U.S. The film is directed by Mitchell Leisen and stars Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Walter Abel and Rosemary DeCamp; Brian Donlevy and Veronica Lake appear in uncredited bit parts. This tear-jerker has Boyer as a Rumanian gigolo being rejected as he tries to enter the U.S. so he marries a spinsterish American (de Havilland). After entering the country, he plans to dump her and marry his girlfriend (Goddard) who got into the U.S. the same way. The film is nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actress (de Havilland). (Jack McKillop)
In New Jersey, USA a future list member, specializing in technical intelligence, is born.
1942: US bombers attack targets on Tulagi and Guadalcanal. TF 61 leaves the Koro in the Figi Islands for landing in the southern Solomon Islands in 7 days.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
Colonel LaVerne G Saunders leads 9 B-17 Flying Fortresses of his 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy) based at Vila Field, Efate, New Hebrides, on a strike against Guadalcanal, bombing the landing strip and area about Lunga Point. In a separate attack, B-17s of the Allied Air Force, Southwest Pacific Area based in Australia, bomb Kukum Beach and Lunga landing strip on the north coast of Guadalcanal.
The USN's Patrol Squadron Twenty Three (VP-23) based at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, dispatches PBY-5 Catalinas to bomb Tulagi and Gavutu but they abort the mission due to weather. (Jack McKillop)
Franciscus Winter, claiming Belgian refugee status, arrived at Gourock on board a ship from Gibraltar. He was interrogated at RVPS, found to have a large amount of money on him, and eventually confessed. Found guilty of treachery at the Old Bailey on 4 December 1942, he was hanged at Wandsworth on 26 January 1943.
A 7th Air Force B-17 from Midway Island, flies photo reconnaissance over Wake Island. The B-17 is Intercepted by 6 fighters; in the ensuing fight US gunners claim 4 fighters destroyed. (Jack McKillop)
In New Guinea, B-17s hit Gona and a nearby transport which had been previously damaged. (Jack McKillop)
U-588 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, at position 49.59N, 36.36W, by depth charges from the Canadian corvette HMCS Wetaskiwin and the destroyer Skeena. 46 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)
U-754 (Type VIIC) is sunk in North Atlantic north of Boston, USA at position 43.02N, 64.52W, by a Royal Canadian Air Force Hudson Mk. III, s/n BW625, piloted by Squadron Leader N.E. Small of No. 113 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. All hands, 43-men, on the U-boat are lost. This was the first submarine sunk by the RCAF's Eastern Air Command. 43 dead. (Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)
U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy lists submarine Shch-317 Baltic Fleet Gulf of Finland (mined off Suuraari Island)(Mike Yared)
Harry James and his Orchestra record the classic song, "I've Heard that Song Before", for Columbia Records. Helen Forrest is the vocalist on this record that was Number 1 on the pop charts for 13 weeks in 1943 and was ranked the Number 1 pop song for the year 1943. (Jack McKillop)
1943: The US 45th Division captures Santo Stefano, Sicily. British and Canadian units advance on Regalbuto and Centuripe.
An Allied diplomatic "note" is sent to neutral European governments requesting that they refuse asylum to "Nazi criminals". (Glenn Steinberg)
In the Pacific, USN submarines sink a Japanese army cargo ship and an aircraft transport. They also land supplies and equipment on Panay Island, Philippine Islands, and a survey party on the west coast of Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands. (Jack McKillop)
The German submarine U-199 is sunk in the South Atlantic east of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in position 23.54S, 42.54W, by depth charges from a USN PBM-3 Mariner, plane number 7 of Patrol Squadron Seventy Four (VP-74) based at Natal, Brazil, and a Forca Aerea Brasileira PBY Catalina and A-28A Hudson based at Rio de Janeiro. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's VIII Air Support Command in England flies Missions Number 11A, 11B, 11C and 11D: The targets are 4 airfields in France:
1. 21 B-26B Marauders are dispatched against Merville Airfield; 20 hit the target at 1120 hours.
2. 21 B-26Bs are dispatched against Nord Airfield at Poix; 19 hit the target at 1122 hours; a B-26 is lost.
3. 21 B-26Bs are dispatched against Drucat Airfield at Abbeville and all hit the target at 1617 hours.
4. 21 B-26Bs are dispatched against Tricqueville Airfield; 18 hit the target at 1623 ours; they claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. (Jack McKillop)
On the ground in Sicily, US ground forces prepare to attack east along the coast, and further inland press toward Troina. The British, to the south, are fiercely opposed west of Regalbuto.
In the air, Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-26s bomb Adrano while Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters, light and medium bombers hit Paterno, Santa Maria di Licondia and Centuripe, the general area around Paterno, and vessels in the Milazzo-Orlando area. Ninth Air Force P-40s also hit shipping in the Milazzo area. (Jack McKillop)
On New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands, 17 Thirteenth Air Force P-40s and P-39 Airacobras join 90+ USMC and USN aircraft in pounding guns and defensive positions on Bibolo Hill as Allied ground forces close in on airfield at Munda. In a separate mission, B-17s, B-25 Mitchells, P-40s, and USN aircraft attack the Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island. (Jack McKillop)
In the South Pacific, the RN's aircraft carrier HMS Victorious is detached from the U.S. Third Fleet and ordered back to duty with the RN. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day:
Shch-422 Northern Fleet off coast of Norway (failed to return from patrol off Norway coast) (Mike Yared)
1944: US 4th Armored Division advances from Avranches and crosses the Selune near Pontaubault. German counterattacks continue around Tessy and Percy.
The Third Belorussian Front enters Kaunas. The First Belorussian Front advances toward Warsaw.
Admiral Fraser assumes command of the British Eastern Fleet from Admiral Sommerville.
The last organized Japanese defenses on Tinian are attacked by US Marines.
By this time the Soviet offensive in Karelian Isthmus (south of Lake Ladoga) had been stopped by the Finnish Army and the fighting there died down. But in northern Karelia (north of Lake Ladoga) two Soviet divisions (176th and 289th) were advancing towards Ilomantsi, apparently trying to find a weak spot in the Finnish defences. Major-General Erkki Raappana, CO of the 14th Div, is given the mission to encircle and destroy the enemy divisions. For this purpose a force consisting of the 21st and Cavalry brigades and parts of the 14th Division is gathered in the closing days of July. The Finnish counter-attack begins in the early hours of the 31st of July. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
President Ryti resigns so that peace negotiations may be started. Marshal Mannerheim is nominated as new president by the Eduskunta (parliament)
Amplifying the above:
Ryti signed his resignation on 29 July, cabinet is officially notified on the evening of the 31st, and Mannerheim is elected to succeed Ryti on 4 August. (Mikko HŠrmeinen)
In New Guinea as part of Operation GLOBETROTTER, the USN lands USA troops at Cape Sansapor. (Jack McKillop)
In the Pacific, USN submarines sink a transport, two merchant tankers, a merchant freighter and a small cargo vessel and damage six other ships. (Jack McKillop)
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz approves a realignment of the number of aircraft assigned to a USN carrier air group (CVG). Currently, the standard is 36 F6F Hellcats, 36 SB2C Helldivers and 18 TBM Avengers. The new standard is 24 SB2C Helldivers, 18 TBM Avengers and as many F6F Hellcats as can be accommodated; in some aircraft carriers, this is 54 F6Fs. In addition, F6F pilots are to receive additional training in the fighter-bomber role especially in the use of air-to-ground rockets. (Jack McKillop)
The Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 507: 1,295 bombers and 701 fighters in three forces are dispatched to hit targets in Germany and airfields in France; 16 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. Of 705 B-17s dispatched, 567 bomb Munich, 43 hit Schleissheim Airfield, 36 hit aircraft engine plants at Munich-Allach and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 10 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 439 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 18-0-12 on the ground; a P-47 and 2 P-51s are lost.
Personal Memory: My diary for today reads: "Munich, Germany (Rough!) Carried incendiaries this trip. It looked like we made big fires too. The flak was really intense. Saw several B-17s go down. I carried quite a bit of flak back with me. I saw a few FW190s, but none attacked. Carried ten M17 incendiaries of 500 lbs each. Over enemy territory 4 hours and 35 minutes with a total flight time of 8 hours and 10 minutes." The 303rd BG scheduled 38 planes to bomb the Aero Engine Works by radar. Two 17s aborted and we flew with 36 planes. We each carried 2700 gallons of fuel and I was training another new crew on their first mission. It was 2nd Lt. T. A. Duncan and his crew in AC# 42-102569. Since we were to bomb by radar we remained in Wing formation and dropped our bombs with the leader. The lead plane was being piloted by my erstwhile pilot, T. R. Beiser. We could see fires through the several holes in the clouds. I must have been a slow learner but I got a good lesson toda
y. Part of our protective gear is an uncomfortable "Flak Beanie" which I carried under the seat with my parachute. I sometimes put it on when the flak got bad but today I did not do so because I had never seen a flak hole in the top of a B-17. Today a German 88 came up just barely outside the plane near my left elbow. It traveled about another thirty of forty feet and exploded with a jolt and the base of the shell came down on top of the number two engine making a hole through the cowl and part way into the collector ring causing a slight loss of manifold pressure. Before I adjusted the manifold pressure I got out my "Beanie" and put it on. I never went without it again! With all its flak damage my no-name airplane of today was listed as having major damage, although it was nothing compared to what would happen to it later.On January 8, 1945 after I was back at MacDill Field instructing, after a mission to Koblenz the pilot landed long and hot, going off the end of the runw
ay, across a road and into a farmer's field doing major damage to the right wing and engines. All systems on the B-17 are run by electricity except cowl flaps and brakes which are run by hydraulic pressure furnished by an electric motor. Early in the mission the engineer found that a limit switch was missing from the system so he removed the hydraulic fluid until just before touch down on return. He replaced the fluid but must have gotten air in the system, thus no brakes, and a loud, expensive noise. Score: Milk runs 13, Others 15 ( Dick Johnson)
2. 447 B-24 Liberators bomb the chemical works and city at Ludwigshafen, and the southwestern part of the city of Mannheim; 6 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 135 P-38 Lightnings.
3. Of 104 B-24s dispatched, 47 hit Athies Airfield at Laon, 36 hit Creil Airfield and 1 hits Poix Airfield. Escort is provided by 38 P-47s and P-51s.
Thirteen B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. (Jack McKillop)
In France, around 500 Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack bridges on the Seine, Loire, Mayenne, and Ruisseau la Forge Rivers and a fuel dump at Foret de la Guerche; fighters fly armed reconnaissance of activities in the Dieppe-Rouen areas, escort bombers, provide armored column cover, dive-bomb military targets in support of the US First Army and fly a few night intruder missions over enemy territory. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 360+ bombers to attack targets in Rumania; B-17s hit an oil refinery at Ploesti; B-24s bomb 2 oil refineries at Bucharest, 1 at and Doicesti, and oil storage at Targoviste. Fighters escort the bombers. (Jack McKillop)
The French writer, Antoine de St. Exupery, author of "The Little Prince" and "Wind, Sand, and Stars," is killed in an F-5 Lightning crash during a reconnaissance mission off Marseilles, France. (Jack McKillop)
The Soviet army took Kovno [Kaunas], the capital of Lithuania. (Jack McKillop)
U-333 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic west of the Scilly Isles, at position 49.39N, 07.28W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Starling and the frigate Loch Killin. 45 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)
1945: Pierre Laval surrenders to US forces in Austria. The French will try and execute him.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of German-occupied Vichy France, surrenders to U.S. forces in Austria; he is then extradited to France to stand trial. Laval had served as minister of state under Henri Petain after the French surrender in June 1940 but was dismissed by Petain in December 1940 for negotiating privately with Germany. By 1942, Laval had won Hitler's confidence and became premier of Vichy France and Petain was relegated to a figurehead. Laval collaborated with Hitler's programs of oppression and genocide and was forced to flee east after the Allied liberation of France. After VE Day, he fled to Spain but was expelled and then went into hiding in Austria. After his extradition, he was tried by the French High Court of Justice, sentenced to death, attempted suicide by poison and then executed on 15 October 1945. (Jack McKillop)
In Japan, the USN's Task Force 38 and RN's Task Group 37.2 cease flying operations and retire from an oncoming typhoon.
The Far East Air Force dispatches 80+ B-24s to bomb the Kagoshima railroad yards and several other targets in the general area including the Sasebo naval base, Yakishima, and Nagasaki; A-26 Invaders and B-25s bomb Kanoya and Miyazaki Airfields and nearby targets, the Sasebo naval base, Marushima, warehouses at Nagasaki, and a factory and power plant on Koyagi Island; P-51s attack flak positions at Moji, blast shipping at Iki Island and off the northwestern and western coasts of Kyushu, hit an island west-southwest of Sasebo, bomb railroad targets and warehouses in the Izumi area, and in general attack the railroad and road net and other communications targets throughout Kyushu. During the night, P-61 Black Widows continue harassing missions over Kyushu and Honshu. (Jack McKillop)
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