Posted on 07/08/2011 5:42:16 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/jul41/f08jul41.htm
Axis to dismember Yugoslavia
Tuesday, July 8, 1941 www.onwar.com
In Occupied Yugoslavia... The Germans and Italians formally announce their plans for the dismemberment of Yugoslavia. Croatia is to be independent. The province of Ljubljana, part of Dalmatia and some of the Adriatic islands are to be annexed by Italy. Bosnia is to be under Italian protection. Germany takes Montenegro, Carinthia and Cariola. Hungary also takes some territory.
On the Eastern Front... In the advance on Leningrad, Hoeppner’s Fourth Panzer Group takes Pskov.
In Syria... A series of battles just inland from Sidon at Jezzine and Mazzrat-ech-Chouf take place (July 8-10th).
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/08.htm
July 8th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: The Albert Medal was gazetted for Cadet David George Montagu Hay (1921-79), RNR, who left a liferaft of the sinking SS Euryiochus to rescue another officer, as sharks swam all around.
London:
P G Wodehouse could be prosecuted after the war for making his broadcasts from Berlin, which are being recorded as evidence. Mr Eden told the Commons yesterday that “the government has seen with regret the report that he has lent his services to the German propaganda machine.”
The RAF Bomber Command’s No. 90 Squadron based at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, dispatches three Fortress Mk. Is (B-17Cs) to bomb the German Naval base at Wilhelmshaven, Germany; this is the RAF’s first B-17 mission. The three aircraft fly individual sorties and the results are far from successful. The USAAF criticizes the individual sorties stressing that attacks by large formations are more effective. The RAF flies a total of 51 individual sorties in 26 raids by September and abandons operations over Europe with the Fortress identifying difficulties with the Norden bombsight, numerous mechanical failures and a tendency for the guns to freeze up at altitudes up to 30,000 feet (9,144 m). The most serious defect was the inadequate defensive armament. In October 1941, four of the Fortress Mk. Is are sent to Egypt to serve with Coastal Command’s No. 220 Squadron where they served until May 1942 bombing Benghazi at night and attacking shipping in the Mediterranean. In October 1942, the surviving aircraft were all transferred to Coastal Command and they served in Scotland until replaced by the Fortress Mk. II (B-17F) and IIA (B-17E). (Jack McKillop)
YUGOSLAVIA: Belgrade: Germany and Italy announce plans to dismember Yugoslavia. Croatia is to independent. Ljubljana, part of Dalmatia and some of the Adriatic islands are annexed by Italy. Bosnia will be an Italian Protectorate. Germany takes Montenegro, Carinthia and Cariola. Hungary also takes some territory.
BALTIC STATES: Jews are ordered to wear a yellow badge of identification.
U.S.A.: Baseball!
CANADA: HM S/M Patrol departed Halifax for Mediterranean.
AMC HMCS Prince Henry commenced refit at Victoria Machinery Depot.
Corvette HMCS Shediac commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
He then went to England with the 8th USAAF..dropped paratroops on D-Day..was shot down twice, and made it back both times..
Love the column reporting, “girl golfers in shorts affects troops morale..” lol....
Looks like the General’s political connections came through for him:
Benjamin Lear (May 12, 1879 – November 2, 1966) was a United States Army General.
Ben Lear was born in Hamilton, Ontario on May 12, 1879. His military service began in 1898, when he enlisted with the 1st Colorado Infantry, USV, for the Spanish-American War as a First Sergeant. He was promoted to second lieutenant during the Philippine-American War in the 1st Colorado and later in the 36th Infantry, USV, but joined the regular army as a sergeant at the end of the war. He subsequently served in World War I.
He was a 1912 Olympian, part of the equestrian team which won the Bronze Medal in the three day team event.
Lear graduated from the Army School of the Line in 1922, the Army General Staff School in 1923, and the Army War College in 1926. He was promoted to Brigadier General in May 1936 and Major General in October 1938. He commanded the 1st Cavalry Division from 1936 to 1938, and the Pacific Sector of the Panama Canal Zone from 1938 to 1940.[1]
He was commanding general of U.S. Second Army from October 20, 1940 to April 25, 1943 and was promoted to temporary lieutenant general in October 1940. As such, he was responsible for training a large number of U.S. soldiers during World War II. He became known as a strict disciplinarian.
It was in the lead-up to these maneuvers that Lear acquired the nickname “Yoo-Hoo”. He was playing golf at the Country Club in Memphis, Tennessee in civilian clothes on Sunday, July 6, 1941, when a convoy of 80 U.S. Army trucks carrying men of the 35th Division rolled past. The troops in the passing trucks subjected a group of women in shorts to a series of whistles and “lewd and obscene” catcalls. Lear had the convoy stopped and told the officers that this conduct was unacceptable, and they had disgraced the army. Lear’s punishment was to make every one of the 350 men in the convoy march 15 miles (24 km) of the 45 mile (72 km) trip back to Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas in three 5 mile sections. This they did in the 97°F (36C) heat. Many men straggled and a number collapsed. There was storm of public criticism of Lear’s action from people who felt that the soldiers had been harshly and collectively punished when they had done nothing wrong. The commander of the 35th Division, Major General Ralph E. Truman was well-connected politically, his cousin being Senator Harry S. Truman, and some Congressmen called for Lear to be retired. However, to Army eyes this was not a case of sexual harassment but of indiscipline, and no action was taken against Lear.[2] The derogatory nickname “Yoo-Hoo” stuck.
During the Louisiana Maneuvers, Lear led his U.S. Second Army against the U.S. Third Army under Lieutenant General Walter Krueger. In these maneuvers, Lear judged the control and discipline of the 35th Division to be unsatisfactory and relieved Truman of his command.[3]
Lear did retire in May 1943, but was immediately recalled to active duty to serve on the Personnel Board of the Secretary of War, and promoted to Lieutenant General. On the death of Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair in Normandy in July 1944, Lear became Commanding General of Army Ground Forces. After the German counter-attack in the Ardennes, caused a manpower crisis, he was appointed Deputy Commander of European Theater of Operations, US Army, responsible for Theater Manpower. As such, he overhauled the replacement system, but the war against Germany ended before the full benefits of his reforms could be realised.
He retired again in July 1945, but was promoted to General on July 19, 1954 by special Act of Congress (Public Law 83-508). He died at Murfreesboro, Tennessee on November 2, 1966, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 4, Grave 2690
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Lear
The actual title is "Girl Golfers in Shorts Upset Troops' Morale," which is inaccurate. The girl golfers boosted the troops' morale. It was General "Yoo-Hoo" Lear who upset it.
Yes, I just read that item and thought that the “girl golfers” were very good for troop morale until the General had to get into it.....
That is interesting. My uncle followed a very similar path to his WWII service. He left UCLA before graduation and went to pilot training. He washed out of that course but made it as a navigator in B-17s. He must have followed your father by a year or two. He completed his training stateside and joined the 8th AAF in December '43. He was only shot down once but he didn't make it back to England, instead residing in Stalag Luft 1 until he was liberated by the Reds. After the war he stayed in the AAF and then the new Air Force. He had to complete his degree in order to do that.
Indeed..my dad couldn’t wait to get in. My parents are both Jewish. My dad’s family had been here for several generations. My mom’s Hungarian..some of her family had come to the US in the early 30’s..others not as smart..stayed behind..my mom managed to get out in 1936 as a 16 year old...she met my dad a month later...Over 100 of my mom’s extended family..aunts, uncles, cousins...were killed in the camps..
My father wanted to go in right after HS...he went to college only because the US was slowly ramping up pilot training at that time...he was told there wouldn’t be an open slot for at least a year..so since WI gave him a basketball scholarship..he decided to go..
I wonder what the relationship was between the General and one or more of the young ladies. He sure seemed to get bent out of shape over it.
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