PATTON 12 MILES FROM PARIS, DRIVING FOE TO NEW TRAP ON SEINE; TOULON ATTACKED (8/19/44)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 8/19/44 | E.C. Daniel, Richard J.H. Johnston, Daniel T. Brigham, Raymond Daniell, W.H. Lawrence, more

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Tax-chick]

Thanks for the link. What a sad story, but all too typical of any war.

Cool t-shirt at the linked site:

[Tax-chick]

Mad man of St Malo

I noticed that article, too. When you grow up with the Alamo legend, you have to admire anyone who sticks to his post, no matter what ... especially if he does it with some style. "God and Texas! Victory or death!"

[PeterPrinciple]

Thanks for your comment about the New Zealanders. Led me to the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Australia_during_World_War_II

Of Note:

Australia entered the war against Germany on 3 September 1939, shortly after Britain declared war when its ultimatum for Germany to withdraw from Poland expired.[4] Unlike Canada and South Africa there was no legislative debate. The government of Australia believed that, as Prime Minister Robert Menzies said, “Britain is at war therefore Australia is at war”
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While the government initially proposed deploying the entire RAAF overseas, it was instead decided to focus the force’s resources on training aircrew to facilitate a massive expansion of Commonwealth air power.[17] In late 1939 Australia and the other Dominions established the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) to train large numbers of men for service in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and other Commonwealth air units. Almost 28,000 Australians were eventually trained through EATS in schools in Australia, Canada and Rhodesia. While many of these men were posted to Australian Article XV squadrons, the majority served with British and other Dominion squadrons. Moreover, these nominally ‘Australian’ squadrons were not under RAAF control and Australians often made up a minority of their airmen.[18] As the Australian Government had no effective control over how airmen trained through EATS were used, most Australian historians regard the scheme as having hindered the development of Australia’s defence capability.[19] Nevertheless, RAAF airmen trained through EATS represented about nine percent of all aircrew who fought for the RAF in the European and Mediterranean theatres and made an important contribution to Allied operations.[20]

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Australian aircrew in Bomber Command had one of the highest casualty rates of any part of the Australian military during World War II. Although only two percent of Australians enlisted in the military served with Bomber Command, they incurred almost 20 percent of all Australian deaths in combat; 3,486 were killed and hundreds more were taken prisoner.[66]

Not pertinent to your comment but interesting:

The Australian military’s role in the South-West Pacific decreased during 1944. In the latter half of 1943 the Australian Government decided, with MacArthur’s agreement, that the size of the military would be reduced to release manpower for war-related industries which were important to supplying Britain and the US forces in the Pacific. Australia’s main role in the Allied war effort from this point forward was supplying the other Allied countries with food, materials and manufactured goods needed for the defeat of Japan
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We may criticize interment of civilians but war is war and we were not there. Was there any coverage of the august 5, 1944 event?

Thousands of Axis POWs were held in Australia during the war. A total of 25,720 POWs were held in Australia: 18,432 Italians, 5,637 Japanese and 1,651 Germans. These prisoners were housed in purpose-built camps and were treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention.[200] A total of 16,798 civilians were also interned. These included 8,921 Australian-resident “enemy aliens”, while the remainder were civilians sent to Australia for internment by other Allied countries.[201] On the morning of 5 August 1944, approximately half of the 1,104 Japanese held at a camp near Cowra, New South Wales attempted to escape. The prisoners overwhelmed their guards and over 400 broke through the wire fences; however, every escapee was either recaptured or killed within 10 days.[202]

[GeronL]

Just that one page alone says so much about that war.

[GeronL]

It is weird to see the same song, or I assume they are the same song, being in the top 10 by 2 different singers.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Just that one page [reply #4]alone says so much about that war.

Indeed it does.

It is weird to see the same song, or I assume they are the same song, being in the top 10 by 2 different singers.

It happens every week. Sometimes 3 different performers.

[GeronL]

Must not have been strange back then

[PeterPrinciple]

Good pictures, backround and information here on siege of st malo. The number of hits on the metal pill box are telling.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=499686

[PeterPrinciple]

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v02/v02p301_Beck.html

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A larger perspective on the burning of st malo

[PeterPrinciple]

Not related to today but imagine if the following had been in the newspapers:

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v05/v5n1p84_Lutton

American servicemen, led by wartime pro-Soviet propaganda to believe that Stalin was kindly “Uncle Joe” overseeing a noble human experiment in the USSR, were shocked at how most Russians in their charge reacted to the news that they were going to be repatriated to their Soviet homeland. This is illustrated by what took place at Dachau on June 17, 1946, after American authorities informed 400 Soviet refugees that they were going to be sent back to Russia:

“The scene inside was one of human carnage. The crazed men were attempting to take their own lives by any means. Guards cut down some trying to hang themselves from the rafters; two others disemboweled themselves; another man forced his head through a window and ran his throat over the glass fragments; others begged to be shot. Robert Murphy reported that ‘tear gas forced them out of the building into the snow where those who had cut and stabbed themselves fell exhausted and bleeding in the snow.’ Thirty-one men tried to take their own lives. Eleven succeeded: nine by hanging and two from knife wounds. Camp authorities managed to entrain the remaining 368. Despite the presence of American guards and a Soviet liaison officer, six of these escaped en route to the Soviet occupation zone. More and more the repatriation of unwilling persons was coming to disturb battle-hardened troops.”

The following month similar events took place at the Plattling camp in Bavaria. These were described by an eye-witness, U.S. Army translator William Sloane Coffin, Jr.:

“Despite the fact that there were three GIs to every returning Russian, I saw several men commit suicide, Two rammed their heads through windows sawing their necks on the broken glass until they cut their jugular veins. Another took his leather boot-straps, tied a loop to the top of his triple-decker bunk, put his head through the noose and did a back flip over the edge which broke his neck ... The memory is so painful that it’s almost impossible for me to write about it. My part in the Plattling operation left me a burden of guilt I am sure to carry the rest of my life.”

Through suicide, several thousand Russians managed to escape the horrors that awaited returnees in the East.

[Seizethecarp]

“U-123 taken out of service at Lorient, France 17 Jun 1944. Scuttled there 19 Aug 1944. Surrendered to France in 1945 and became the French submarine Blaison. Stricken 18 Aug 1959 as Q165.”

I get blown away by these factoids! A Nazi sub...one of the most famous...gets recycled as a French NATO sub for over a decade!

http://uboat.net/boats/u123.htm

Successes 42 ships sunk, total tonnage 219,924 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 3,209 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 683 tons
5 ships damaged, total tonnage 39,584 GRT
1 auxiliary warship damaged, total tonnage 13,984 GRT

[Seizethecarp]

Despite the universal condemnation of Stalin even to the present day for failing to immediately take Warsaw months ago...I note that from Aug 19 to Dec 31 Stalin STILL fails to take Warsaw...or make much of a dent into Prussia!

I doubt it was just to show FDR and Churchill that he was previously dithering...

[Tax-chick]

Very interesting information! Thanks for your effort.

[Ecliptic]

Articles about this escape in earlier news paper articles.

[Tax-chick]

after an examination of the ruins including the remains of incendiary shells and the questioning of witnesses, [von Aulock] was vindicated.

Fascinating.

[colorado tanker]

They have been hitting the Bonins and Volcano Islands for some time now, ever since we got Saipan and Tinian. There have also been carrier raids.

[colorado tanker]

Yes, the “Mad Man” was doing his duty, but I have been struck by how many of these German officers who execute Hitler “fight to the death” orders interpret them to mean, you men fight to the death and when enough of you have died, I’ll surrender.

[Tax-chick]

Well, that’s true. That sort of thing is pretty typical.

[colorado tanker]

Looks like the Germans have sent forlorn hope detachments into Marseille and Toulon, but the main body is pulling out.

[colorado tanker]

Wow, the rout sure is on. I see another green wishful thinking line to try set up a defense line on the Somme, but I don’t see the units to man it. Pulling out of Paris was a necessity. The Germans didn’t have the troops there to defend it, especially with the FFI rising up. And Patton has Rommel’s old HQ in his grasp.