Posted on 09/03/2014 4:40:37 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy
The News of the Week in Review
Fifteen News Questions – 16
Twenty-Five Highlights of Five Years of War (map) – 17
Outstanding Events and Major Trends of the Second World War (by C.B. Palmer, first-time contributor) – 18-20
Answers to Fifteen News Questions – 21
The Best Selling Books, Here and Elsewhere (from Book Review) – 21
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/sep44/03sep44.htm#
British liberate Brussels
Sunday, September 3, 1944 www.onwar.com
On the Western Front... The British Guards Armored Division enters Brussels, in Belgium, as the British 21st Army Group continues to advance. Other elements capture Tournai and Abbeville. US 12th Army Group also advance. Forces of US 1st Army take Mon while lead elements of US 3rd Army cross the Moselle River.
In Southern France... Forces of US 7th Army continue advancing. The French 1st Infantry Division enters Lyons.
In Wake Island... An American force, commanded by Admiral Smith, including 3 heavy cruisers and 3 destroyers, bombards the island. The light carrier USS Monterey provides air cover for the operation.
In Italy... Canadian forces of British 8th Army cross the Conca River and continue their advance.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/03.htm
September 3rd, 1944 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS
* Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown.
(1) Mission 601: 393 B-17s make a visual attack on 16 gun batteries and defensive installations in the Brest, France area; 2 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 15 P-51s without loss but bad weather cancels fighter-bomber mission by 50 P-38s against strongpoints in the Brest area.
(2) 345 B-17s are dispatched to bomb the Opau synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany (325); 1 hits a target of opportunity and 5 drop leaflets; 1 B-17 is lost; escort is provided by 233 P-51s; they claim 7-0-1 aircraft; a P-51 is lost.
(3) 125 P-47s strafe transportation targets in Tilburg, the Netherlands; Namur, Belgium; and Cologne, Germany areas; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 is lost.
(4) 40 B-24s and 4 C-47 Skytrains fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
* Ninth Air Force: In France, B-26s and A-20s supporting ground troops pound strongpoints and bridges in the Brest area; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, ground support, and sweeps in northern and eastern France, Belgium, and western Germany.
In England, Lieutenant Ralph Spalding, USN, and a radio operator of the Special Air Unit, Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7), takes off in a TORPEX laden PB4Y-1 Liberator from Fersfield, Norfolk, sets the radio controls and then parachutes to the ground. Ensign James M. Simpson, USNR, in a PV-1 Ventura, takes control and flies the PB4Y to attack German submarine pens on Helgoland Island. Unfortunately, the PV-1 crew loses sight of the Liberator in a rainstorm and it crashes into a barracks and industrial area on Dune Island. A second attempt is later made with Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, at the controls of a PB4Y-1 but the aircraft explodes before Kennedy and the radio operator can bail out and Project APHRODITE is then cancelled.
FRANCE: Tournai and Abbeville are liberated by the 21st Army Group and the U.S. Third Army crosses the Moselle River.
In southwestern France, 80,000 Germans of the German First Army (von der Chevallerie) have surrendered including 20,000 to a single platoon of the U. S. 83d Infantry Division. Many Germans quit because they fear the murderous firepower of American fighter bombers. However, 130,000 troops escape and rejoin Army Group B.
German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt assumes command of the German armies in the West.
The U.S. First Army (Hodges) reaches the border of Luxembourg. The fleeing Germans are suffering huge losses. Hodges’s troops surround and will soon capture 30,000 troops near Mons.
In southern France, the commander of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division orders his men to halt and allow the French 1st Infantry Division to liberate Lyons, France’s third-largest city. Most of the German Nineteenth Army have managed to withdraw northward.
BELGIUM: Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery orders the British Second Army to drive speedily to the Rhine River and secure a crossing.
German troops evacuate Brussels, then units of the British Guards Armoured Division enter Brussels and blocks the exits from the city while the U.S. 3d Armoured Division captures Mons.
The US First Army (Hodges) reaches the border of Luxembourg. The fleeing Germans are suffering huge losses. Hodges’s troops surround and will soon capture 30,000 troops near Mons.
NETHERLANDS: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 675 aircraft, 348 Lancasters, 315 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos, to carry out heavy raids on six airfields: 112 aircraft hit Soesterberg, 112 bomb Venlo, 112 attack Volkel, 104 hit Gilze-Rijen, 103 bomb Eindhoven and 88 bomb Deelen. All raids are successful and only one Halifax was lost from the Venlo raid.
GERMANY: In the air, 325 B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF Eighth Air Force using H2X radar to bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen and one hits a target of opportunity. P-47 Thunderbolts strafe transportation targets at Cologne.
HUNGARY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers visually bomb three rail targets: 58 bomb railroad bridge at Szeged while one bombs a marshalling yard in the same city and 54 bomb the railroad at Szajol.
FINLAND: U-370 helps evacuate a German radio station.
ITALY: The British 46th Division cross the River Conca River while the Canadian 5th Armoured Division clears Misano.
USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS
* Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, medium bombers pound railroad and road bridges in the western Po Valley while fighter-bombers blast motor transport and rolling stock in the Turin area; and on the night of 2/3 September A-20s on armed reconnaissance, start fires in Genoa harbor. In France, fighter-bombers blast German vehicles retreating up the Rhone Valley
* Fifteenth Air Force: 300+ B-17s and B-24s hit key escape routes of retreating German forces in the Balkans, and bomb rail communications and supply lines south from Budapest, Hungary; 3 bridges in the Belgrade, Yugoslavia, area; bridges at Szajol and Szeged, Hungary; and badly damage ferry docks at Smederovo, Yugoslavia. Three B-17s evacuate interned airmen from Bucharest, Romania; 40 P-38s divebomb the Smederovo ferry and strafe Kovin and Baviniste, Yugoslavia airfields and a landing ground, destroying many parked aircraft, motor transport, vehicles, and fuel tanks; and 75 P-51s strafe roads, railroads, vehicles, bivouac areas, railroad repair shops, and miscellaneous targets in the Skoplje-Nish-Krusevac-Belgrade, Yugoslavia, areas.
USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS
* Tenth Air Force: In Burma, 4 B-25s attack and slightly damage the Tabpalai Bridge northeast of Hsipaw; a B-25 knocks out the center span of a railroad bridge in the area and another causes considerable damage at Indaw.
* Fourteenth Air Force: In China, 12 B-24s pound marshalling yards at Nanking; 7 B-25s destroy at least 45 trucks and damage about 100 others during armed reconnaissance from Hengyang to Tungting Lake and Yoyang; 2 others bomb Hengyang Airfield; 100+ P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38s attack troops, railroad targets, bridges, and other targets of opportunity in areas around Changning, Hengyang, Sungpai, Chuki, Yangtien, Hengshan, and in French Indochina, near Haiphong, and in the Red River Valley.
PACIFIC OCEAN: On Wake Island, the USN’s Task Group 12.5 (Rear Admiral Allen E. Smith), comprising the light aircraft carrier USS Monterey (CVL-26), three heavy cruisers, and three destroyers, pound Japanese installations.
USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan-based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima Island, Volcano Islands. In the Mariana Islands, P-47s hit Pagan and Maug Islands with rockets. A lone B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Yap in the Caroline Islands.
USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (Far East Air Forces): On Celebes Island, B-24s pound Langoan Airfield and Lembeh Strait warehouses and shipping. B-25s hit the village of Tobelo on Halmahera Island.
Fighter-bombers hit oil tanks and a radio station at Boela on Ceram Island.
In New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Babo, Warren and Nabire Airfields, Manokwari storage and personnel areas, strafe areas along MacCluer Gulf, and fly coastal sweeps in the Wewak area, strafing troops, supplies, and occupied areas. Meanwhile, RAAF Kittyhawks conduct another strike against Babo Airfield and for the first time, carry a 1,500 pound (680 kilogram) bombload. The 50 percent increase in bombload was made possible by the sturdier build of the Kittyhawk Mk. IV (= USAAF P-40N) with which the squadron was equipped.
U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Drexler is launched. Anti-aircraft cruiser USS Tucson is launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-541 sinks SS Livingston.
U-482 sinks SS Fjordheim.
"In August 1944 the by-now largely non-Jewish Polish underground revolted against German troops in the city of Warsaw.
Some early triumphs, such as the capture of German soldiers (top photo), were psychologically important, and the Poles were further buoyed by the nearness of Soviet troops."
“In England, Lieutenant Ralph Spalding, USN, and a radio operator of the Special Air Unit, Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7), takes off in a TORPEX laden PB4Y-1 Liberator from Fersfield, Norfolk, sets the radio controls and then parachutes to the ground. Ensign James M. Simpson, USNR, in a PV-1 Ventura, takes control and flies the PB4Y to attack German submarine pens on . Unfortunately, the PV-1 crew loses sight of the Liberator in a rainstorm and it crashes into a barracks and industrial area on Dune Island. A second attempt is later made with Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, at the controls of a PB4Y-1 but the aircraft explodes before Kennedy and the radio operator can bail out and Project APHRODITE is then cancelled.”
This appears to have incorrect information. According to this wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Aphrodite, there were 15 missions from Augsut 19 to January 2, 1945. Kennedy’s mission happened on August 12, 1944.
Dune Island was a German island off the coast of Northern Germany and Denmark. It was near the target island of Helgoland Island.
You are correct. The Times reported on Kennedy's death a couple weeks ago.
Liberation of Belgium
2 Sep 1944 - 2 Nov 1944
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
With northern France just won, Allied troops under general command of the Canadians pushed into Belgium in early Sep 1944. Major cities of Brussels and Antwerp were liberated quickly, and the V-1 rocket launching bases nearby fell along with the cities. German troops attempted to hinder the usefulness of the Antwerp port by attacking with V-1 and V-2 rockets, but the rockets were not accurate in their attacks and the port facilities remained standing. The city itself, however, bore the burden of the rockets that ran astray.
Source:
Liberation of Belgium Timeline
2 Sep 1944 Canadian troops crossed into Belgium.
3 Sep 1944 In Belgium, British Second Army captured Brussels and US First Army captured Tournai.
4 Sep 1944 British 11th Armoured Division captured Antwerp, Belgium.
5 Sep 1944 US Third Army crossed the Meuse River while the British forces reached Ghent, Belgium.
7 Sep 1944 British 11th Armoured Division crossed the Albert Canal in Belgium.
8 Sep 1944 In Belgium, US First Army captured Liége and Canadian forces captured Ostend.
10 Sep 1944 Allied patrols in Belgium crossed the German border near Aachen, Germany.
11 Sep 1944 Scottish 15th Division crossed into the Netherlands near Antwerp, Belgium.
2 Nov 1944 Canadian forces captured Zeebrugge, which was the last pocket of German occupation in Belgium.
4 Feb 1945 Belgium was reportedly free of German forces as of this date.
http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=193
It strikes me as writing the Normandy plan in hindsight. After all, the original plan was for Monty to take Caen ON D-Day. The evolution of a strategy where the Brits tied down the German armor on the left while the Americans advanced on the right was just a recognition that facts on the ground had changed.
Perhaps the numbers have not been released, but the statement that both the Brits and Americans suffered roughly the same casualties is wrong. Churchill expressed concern with this some time ago. American casualties were substantially higher, even if you assign Canadian casualties to the Brits.
It is true, however, that the Brits and Canadians did a good job of keeping most of the German armor busy and unable to shift west.
One thing I'm sure Monty would strongly disagree with is that the brainchild of this strategy was Bradley. Monty always insisted this was his idea that he pursued as ground commander, a title he resented having been taken from him.
Bradley and his staff did plan Cobra, but I think much of Third Army's outbreak was Patton running wild, but Baldwin attributes that to a command of Bradley too.
Ike picked Patton for a French field command back when he was in the doghouse in Sicily. I'm not sure if the decision had been entirely Bradley's he would have given Third Army to Patton.
Good summary of Normandy strategy from top-down and the contrasting roles of the Americans and the British.
Monty’s position in Baldwin’s article will be fleshed out in his memoirs, where he will claim that everything happened according to his plan. Looking at the pre-invasion planning, directed by Monty, the allied armies were intended march side by side out of Normandy by D+90 and be on the Seine. On D+45, when Cobra was launched, the Allies were way behind schedule. It cannot be said things were going to plan.
The idea to pin the German panzers in the east and allow the Americans to breakout and pivot in the west was basically Monty’s. Bradley came up with the operational plan. The situation in Normandy was not what the allies expected. Monty adapted, and did so brilliantly. He would have been better served to have been candid. But that would involve admitting he was wrong, and he was not capable of doing that.
ow! ;-)
That looks spot on to me. What battle plan hasn’t changed after the battle opens? Thanks.
Therefore no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.
"On Strategy" (1871), as translated in Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings (1993) by Daniel J. Hughes and Harry Bell, p. 92
Paraphrased variants:
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
Paraphrased in The Swordbearers : Studies in Supreme Command in the First World War (1963) by Correlli Barnett, p. 35
No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.
As quoted in Donnybrook : The Battle of Bull Run, 1861 (2005) by David Detzer, p. 233
This is one of my favorite maxims. I apply it to life in general, paraphrased as "No plan ever survives it's first contact with reality."
I wish I could get Mrs. Henkster to accept and apply this philosophy to our vacations.
I am a Myers-Briggs "P" where my long-suffering wife is a "J." So, I'm very comfortable with changing plans on the fly where that drives her crazy because she loves order and certainty.
I found my personality was very useful in the field where changing a plan to adapt to changed circumstances was a useful skill. Heck, it's a useful skill for what I do now.
I hadn’t taken that test before. I’m an ENTJ, according to the test. Some of it may be a bit flawed, though. It only scored me moderate preference for thinking over feeling. While I have empathy, I like to think I do what is right based on reason more than emotion.
Well, no short test gives a perfect personality profile.
I’m thinking what it would be like to be a unit commander in Third Army. You would really have to able to change directions on the fly!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
