Replies

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles and the occasional radio broadcast delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Also visit our general discussion thread.

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Southern Okinawa: Naha-Shuri-Yonabaru, 1945 – XXIV Corps Operations, 9 April-6 May 1945
Okinawa, Ryukyus Islands, 1945: Japanese Thirty Second Army Defensive Dispositions, 1 April 1945
Luzon, P.I., 1941: Final Operations on Luzon, 3 February-20 July 1945
Southeast Asia, 1941: Final Allied Offensives in the Southwest Pacific Area 19 February-1 July 1945
Central Europe, 1944: The End of the War – Final Operations, 19 April-7 May 1945
China, 1941: Operation Ichigo, 1945 and Final Operations in the War
Southern Asia, 1941: Third Burma Campaign-Allied Victory, April-May 1945

April 26, 1944:

"The Red Army captures Brno, Czechoslovakia, freeing Oskar Schindler's Jews.
April 26-May 3: "Survivors of the concentration camp at Stutthof, Poland, are evacuated by sea to Lübeck, Germany, a journey of more than 300 miles.
Hundreds perish during the seven-day voyage."

Hitler's Last Days

"The collapse of the German war effort and the steady advance of the Allied armies drove major agencies of the Nazi government into a subterranean network of underground bunkers.
Adolf Hitler spent the final weeks of his life in a dank, 18-room bunker located directly under the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.

"As the Red Army closed in, the Führer was a shadow of his former self.
His body was stooped and emaciated, and he could not prevent his hands and voice from shaking.
He suffered violent mood swings and forcefully rejected an opportunity to escape Berlin by plane.

"Before Hitler's demise, he expelled Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler from the Nazi Party.
He married his longtime mistress, Eva Braun, and dictated his last will and testament.
The final sentence of his political testament reads: 'Above all, I obligate the leaders of the nation and their following to a strict observance of the racial laws, and to a merciless resistance to the poisoner of all peoples, international Jewry.'

"On April 30, 1945, sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m., Hitler put a pistol to his head, bit into a cyanide capsule, and shot himself.
Braun, too, committed suicide.
The German POW seen below apparently felt little sorrow."

42 Div 232 Inf cont'd April 22-28

Once again a much-needed night's rest was not possible, as the advance was resumed at once on a three battalion front. Again the resistance encountered was mainly from delaying forces and the regiment was able to reach the northwest bank of the Danube River. At 0308, April 26, after two steady days of marching and fighting, the first assault boats were launched in the river and the initial crossing was made. The order of crossing was Second Battalion, Third Battalion, and First Battalion. The entire regiment was across by 1700 the same day.

Only light resistance was encountered between the Danube and the Lech Canal and the regiment closed on the west bank of the canal by dark. The width and rapid flow of the canal made a crossing by assault boat impractical. A partially destroyed bridge was located in the Second Battalion area, and a span for foot troops was constructed. By midnight foot troops of the Second Battalion were crossing the canal, and by daylight all foot troops of the regiment had crossed, the motors waiting for a treadway bridge to be completed. The Regiment CP moved from Buchdorf to Altisheim.

The Second Battalion, upon crossing the canal, was heavily engaged by a force and to keep from exposing its flank to enemy fire, was ordered to change its direction of attack from east (town of Rain) to the south and capture the objective initially assigned to the Third Battalion. The Third Battalion, crossing after the Second Battalion, continued on the Second Battalion's initial mission and captured the town of Rain. The First Battalion, after crossing, cut to the north and completed establishment of the bridgehead. At this time the Regimental CP was established at a farmhouse north of Genderingen. The 222d Infantry began passing through the regiment on the afternoon of April 27 to continue the advance to Munich.

-------------------------

THE END IS ~~NEAR~~ HERE. But we didn't know it at this time. Big things were about to happen on April 29-30 on the way to Munich. No doubt there is no redoubt.

Great stuff, and thanks again for this wonderful project!

Almost over in Europe now, or rather the Cold War is nearly begun. We can see the boundaries of postwar Europe beginning to gel and the Iron Curtain being woven.

Interesting side note - the issue references B rations, which I have never had. These were 10 man-days worth of food in a 45-lb box, meant to be prepared in a field kitchen but adequate otherwise. The C ration with which I and most members of my military generation is intimately familiar was not dependent on a field kitchen, and was only supposed to be of infrequent usage. In case anyone is curious, ham and lima beans were added to the menu in 1944. The culinary arts have never been the same since.