What happened today? Part III

1940 - The Great Dictator, a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released.

1944 - Admiral Horthy announces a cease fire of Hungary with the Allies. An SS-commando abducts his son to Germany to blackmail a retraction of the declaration. The Arrow Cross Party takes command in Hungary.

1945 - World War II: Former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, is executed by firing squad for treason.

 

1940 - Officer Tojo Hideki follows Konoe Fumimaro as Japanese Prime Minister.

 

1939-Junker 88A-1s of 1/KG30 based at Westerland bomb shipping in the Firth of Forth in the first air-raid on Britain.
They were allowed to penetrate so far due a number of coincidental errors; the CHL station at Drone Hill in Berwickshire had gone out of commission that morning, and Observers confused the unfamiliar a'c layout with that of the Blenheim.
Once over the Forth, their target had originally been the Hood, but because she had already docked in Rosyth and they had strict orders NOT to bomb land targets (both sides were still paranoid about the pre-war bombing theories), the Junkers attacked warships east of the Forth Bridge. Contrary to popular myth, this was NOT the target, although everyone knows the famous German recce picture taken at such an angle as to suggest that the island the bridge rests on is actually a plume of smoke from a direct hit.Three British warships were hit before Spitfires from 602 and 603 squadrons arrived and shot down two bombers. The AA defences had also opened fire, being caught in the middle of a practice drill. The Gun operations room for the Forth Gun Defended Area was shocked to see the "Guns Engaging" light flashing, and after phoning to see what was going on gave the order to fire!
Two bombers were shot down, one belonging to Hauptmann Helmut Pohle, who was later transferred to no1 POW camp at Grizedale Hall in Lancashire, and was instrumental in helping Oberstleutnant Franz Von Werra escape. Pohle broke his back in the crash, but recovered.
The only land damage was caused by the defences; a gardener in a plot in Portobello, east of Edinburgh, was injured by fire from one of the Spitfires chasing a raider., Several AA shells landed unexplode-one in the main st of Kirkliston, two miles south of South Queensferry. One landed in the garden of the manse in linlithgow and left an 8 foot wide crater.
No warning was sounded during the attack, as the Chief Constable of Lothian Police was convinced it was only a diversionary raid. A train actually crossed the bridge during the attack, from south to north, without being hit, and drivers parked their cars by the dozen on the Hawes Brae under the south ramp of the bridge to get a grandstand view.
Not one of Britain's better wartime episodes....

Regards,

Gordon

 

1944 - American Rangers occupy some islands at Leyte Gulf.

 

1941 - USS Kearny (DD-432) While escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic before the United States entered the war, three convoy merchant ships were torpedoed on Oct 16. The Kearny began dropping depth charges and continued the barrage throughout the night. During the early hours of Oct. 17, a torpedo struck Kearny on starboard side. After confining the flooding to the forward Fire room, the ship was able to get away from the area and make it to Iceland, arriving on Oct 19. The Kearny lost 11 men and 22 others were injured in this attack.

 

1943 - On the night of Oct 16, the USS Tarpon (SS-175) was patrolling the approaches to Yokohama when she sighted a ship which she tentatively identified as a large auxiliary. In the early hours of Oct 17th she attacked with four torpedoes which stopped the ship dead in the water. However, it soon got underway again and headed straight for the Tarpon. The submarine submerged, went under the ship, and attacked the target from the other side with three more torpedoes which produced one hit in the stern. The enemy still did not sink, so the Tarpon fired another torpedo which struck the target in the same place as the first. The vessel exploded and disappeared. Postwar examination of enemy records revealed that the victim was the German commerce raider Michel(Shiff-28) which had been preying on Allied shipping in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Michel was the first German raider sunk by a United States submarine in the Pacific.

 

1933 - Albert Einstein, fleeing Nazi Germany, moves to the US
1941 - For the first time in World War II, a German submarine attacks an American ship

 

1942 - A US Navy PB2Y Coronado amphibious transport glides to a halt in the waters off Noumea Harbor in New Caledonia. On board is Vice
Adm. William Halsey Jr., out on an inspection trip. As the planes engines stop, a motorwhaleboat turns up, and Vice Adm. Robert Ghormley's flag lieutenant hands Halsey a sealed envelope. Inside that is another envelope marked SECRET. Halsey wastes no time, and rips it open. It's orders from Adm. Chester Nimitz, and they read, "You will take command of the South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force immediately." Halsey reads the dispatch twice, and bellows, "Jesus Christ and General Jackson! This is the hottest potato ever handed me!" After a briefing onboard Ghormley's flagshig USS Argonne (AP-4), Halsey cuts his first orders. "All officers will stop wearing ties." Next, Halsey moves his headquarters off the crowded Argonne, and orders the Free French authorities to give him headquarters space. He then sends a signal to all commands, "Kill Japs. Kill Japs. Kill more Japs."

 

1933 - Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.

1942 - In violation of the Geneva Convention, Japan announces to punish captured US bomber crew like ordinary criminals.

1944 - United States forces land in the Philippines.

 

1944 - General Stilwell is relieved of his posts in China. This is the result of the Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek seeing Stilwell as the cause of all the problems that Chiang is having with the Nationalist, American and Communist leaderships.
Also,
Navy Department Press Release: 19 October 1944
Negro Women to be Accepted in Women's Reserve, U.S. Naval Reserve.
The President today approved a plan submitted by the Navy Department providing for the acceptance of Negro women in the Women's Reserve of the Navy. The plan calls for the immediate commissioning of a limited number of especially qualified Negro women to serve as administrative officers. They will assist in the subsequent planning and supervision of the program for Negro women which will be administered as an integral part of the Women's Reserve. Enlistment of Negro women will be undertaken as soon as these plans have been completed and it is presently indicated that the first Negro recruits will enter training shortly after January 1. Officer candidates and enlisted women will be trained at existing schools for the training of WAVES. The number to be enlisted will be determined by the needs of the service.

Source: Navy Department Press Releases, World War II Command File, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center.
[Document is also reproduced in MacGregor, Morris J. and Bernard C. Nalty Blacks in the United States Armed Forces: Basic Documents. vol.6. Wilmington DE: Scholarly Resources, 1977, p.124. ]

 

1944 - The Soviet army captures Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia

Douglas McArthur returns to the Philippines, keeping his promise from the retreat 1942

 

1941 - World War II: Germans rampage in Yugoslavia, killing thousands of civilians.

1944 - As first German city, Aachen is occupied by the Americans.

 

1942 - 1942 - A British submarine lands Capt. Jerauld Wright, USN and four Army officers at Cherchel, French North Africa, to meet with a French military delegation to learn the French attitude toward future Allied landings.

 

1944 - Battle of Leyte Gulf begins.

 

1942 - Australian troops land on Goodenough Island only to find that the Japanese have evacuated.
1943 - Sir Archibald Wavell is made viceroy of India, with the urgent mission of keeping India loyal and in the war.

 

1944 - The USS Dace (SS-247) and USS Darter (SS-227) contacted the Adm Kurita's Center Force approaching Palawan Passage enroute to attack US forces at the Leyte beachhead. Since the location of this force had been a mystery for some time, the contact report flashed back by Dace and Darter was one of the most significant of the war. The two submarines closed the task force, and Darter attacked first, sinking the flagship, cruiser Atago and heavily damaging the cruiser Takeo. The Dace sent her torpedoes away, although heavy depth charge attacks by the destroyers were beginning. She sank the heavy cruiser Maya, then went deep to avoid the counterattack. Continuing to track their target, hoping for a change to finish off the cruiser Takao previously damaged by Darter, the two submarines worked through treacherous Palawan Passage. Darter went aground, and Dace stood by. With the area full of searching enemy ships, Dace took Darter's men off, then fired torpedoes at her to destroy her. Before she had completed her work, she went deep to avoid a patrolling Japanese aircraft, which obligingly bombed the abandoned Darter. Dace sailed on for Fremantle, arriving 6 November.

 

1942 - The Japanese forces, launch a piecemeal attack on Marines positions along the banks of the Matanikau River on the island of Guadalcanal. The attack is made by two infantry battalions (1st and 2nd of 4th Infantry) supported by the 1st Independent Tank Company and unfortunately for them they run into a strong US Marine Corps presence consisting of the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Battalions of the 11th Marines supported by "I" Battery, 10th Marines (40 howitzers). By the early hours of the 24th, the Japanese attack is repulsed at a cost of 2 US Marines killed and 11 wounded. Japanese loses among the tank company of 44 men amount to 27 killed and 7 wounded. Loses from the Japanese infantry units were not detailed but eveidence suggest that casualty numbers were very high. In the grand scheme this attack was intended to be a diversion to a larger attack from the south with the aim of capturing Henderson Field the next night.

 

1941 - World War II: Georgy Zhukov assumes command of Red Army efforts to stop the German advance into Russia.
1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein starts - At El Alamein in Egypt, British forces begin a major offensive against Axis forces.
1944 - World War II: The Red Army enters Hungary

 

1944 - Japan launches first kamikaze attacks, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
1945 - Japan surrenders Taiwan to the Republic of China

 

1944 - During the early morning hours in the Surigao Straits, after running the gauntlet of American PT Boats, a line of U.S. battleships execute the maneuver of "crossing the tee" of the Japanese forces. The result is that the Japanese lose 2 battleships, 3 cruisers and 4 destroyers during the battle. Only 1 cruiser, the Ashigara, and 4 destroyers survive. The Cost to the US force, 1 PT boat sunk, 1 destroyer and several other PT boats damaged.
Later that same day, in a Battle Off Samar, US escort carriers, destroyers and destroyer escorts heroically resist attacks of Japanese Center Force. In Battle Off Cape Engano, 3rd Fleet carriers attack Japanese Northern Force sinking several small carriers