Posted on 04/28/2015 4:22:08 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
#1 - “My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time” - Les Brown, with Doris Day
#2 – “There! I’ve Said It Again” – Vaughn Monroe
#3 - “Candy” - Johnny Mercer, with Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers
#4 – “Sentimental Journey” – Les Brown, with Doris Day
#5 - “Chloe” - Spike Jones, with Red Ingle
#6 – “My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time” - Johnny Long, with Dick Robertson
#7 - “I’m Beginning to See the Light” - Ink Spots, with Ella Fitzgerald
#7 – “Just A Prayer Away” – Bing Crosby and Ethel Smith
#8 - “I’m Beginning to See the Light” - Harry James, with Kitty Kallen
#8 - “Caldonia” - Woody Herman
#9 – “Laura” – Woody Herman
#10 - “Dream” - Pied Pipers
#10 – “Laura” – Freddy Martin
#10 - “My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time” - Phil Moore Four
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/3/28.htm
April 28th, 1945 (SATURDAY)
GERMANY: The siege of Berlin by the Russians continues. They are within a mile of Hitler’s Bunker in the east and south.
Berlin: Hitler receives word via Göbbels’ Propaganda Ministry that the BBC was reporting SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler’s attempted peace negotiations, Hitler orders his immediate arrest and execution and has his liaison officer, Hermann Fegelein, shot dead.
The German garrison is running out of ammunition and food. General Weidling, the capital’s commandant, estimates that the bullets will run out in another two days. The defence may not last that long as the Russians drive ever closer to the Reichstag. They are infiltrating through the subways and sewers, often storming the defences from below. Now not much more than the area round the Tiergarten remains in German hands.
Berlin: General Weidling’s diary (90) courtesy of Russ Folsom:
At the end of my situation report I indicated that the troops could not hold out for more than another two days, because by then they would have no ammunition left. Therefore, as a soldier, I suggested risking the breakout from the Berlin pocket. I emphasised particularly that if the troops broke out of Berlin the incredible sufferings of the people of Berlin would come to an end. Then I laid our breakout plan before the Fuhrer and explained it on the map I had prepared.
The Fuhrer remained sunk in thought for some time. He judged the overall situation as hopeless, as showed clearly from his detailed considerations which may be briefly summarised as follows. Even if the breakout succeeded, we would be simply landing from one pocket into another. He, the Fuhrer, would then have to subsist either in the open, or in some farmhouse, or somewhere similar, and wait for the end. It would be best if he stayed in the Chancellery. That is how the Fuhrer turned down the idea for a breakout. Once again, Dr. Goebbels obsequiously flattered the Fuhrer. Once again, I felt it was a waste of time to talk to this bunch...
The US 7th Army takes Augsburg.
After a misfiring of the 20-mm AA gun, the IWO of U-3012, Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Schlett, was killed instantly. The commander of the boat, Kapitänleutnant Hans Bungards, was badly wounded and died next night in the Navy Hospital at Travemünde.
U-56 sunk at Kiel, in position 54.19N, 10.10E, by bombs from British aircraft. 6 dead and 19 survivors.
FINLAND: The Commander of the Finnish III Corps, General Siilasvuo reports that the mission of Puolustusvoimat is complete. The Second World War is over for Finland. (Gene Hanson)
ITALY: Milan: The body of Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, dictator of Italy until his downfall in 1943, hangs upside-down over an ESSO garage forecourt in Milan. The body of his mistress, Clara Petacci, hangs next to it. Both bodies have been mutilated. Earlier today, a woman fired five revolver shots - “for my five dead sons” into the Duce’s body. Others spat at their former leader.
With his SS escort, Mussolini was heading towards the Alps where he believed that he could continue the war in the mountains with 3,000 fanatical Fascist followers. In fact, only 12 turned up at a rendezvous. They then drove through dangerous, partisan-held territory.
The partisans caught up with Petacci and Mussolini, dressed in a German uniform, at Dongo, on Lake Como. After interrogation, a communist partisan, Walter Audisio, lined them up at the gate of the Villa Belmonte in Mezzegra. First, he shot Petacci, who clung to her lover. Then Mussolini opened his coat wide and asked to be shot in the chest. The machine-gun rang out and the Duce slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. Audisio moved closer, and fired the final shot into his heart.
JAPAN: Japanese defensive positions, in the Shuri Line on southern Okinawa, hold out against US forces employing tanks, flame throwers and artillery of all sizes.
The fourth phase of Kamikaze attacks has been underway since yesterday on Okinawa. 125 Japanese aircraft are involved. 9 destroyers and other smaller ships are hit.
The kamikazes damage four destroyers, USS Wadsworth (DD-516), USS Daly (DD-519), USS Twiggs (DD-591) and USS Bennion (DD-662); the high-speed minesweeper USS Butler (DMS-29); the hospital ship USS Comfort (AH-6); and the transport fitted for the evacuation of wounded USS Pinkney (APH-2). The destroyer USS Brown (DD-546) is damaged by aerial attack while a Japanese assault demolition boat causes extensive damage to the U.S. freighter SS Bozeman Victory.
CANADA: Tug HMCS Glendyne commissioned.
U.S.A.: The USS Franklin, heavily damaged by Kamikaze attack on March 19 arrives in Brooklyn, New York.
Heavy cruiser USS Helena launched.
Submarines USS Chivo and Requin commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Ruddy commissioned.
Destroyer USS Vogelsgang commissioned.
Above: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov signs the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact while German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop and Soviet leader Stalin look on under a portrait of Lenin, August 23, 1939. News of the Pact stunned the world and paved the way for the beginning of World War Two with Hitler assured the Germans would not have to fight a war on two fronts.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pact.htm
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"'The Black Book of Communism,'; a scholarly accounting of communism’s crimes, counts about 94 million murdered by the supposed champions of the common man (20 million for the Soviets alone), and some say that number is too low."
Forgetting the Evils of Communism: The amnesia bites a little deeper
By Jonah Goldberg, August 2008:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmY0MjI1MDgyYjg1M2UwNDMzMTk2Mjk5YTk0ZTdlMWE=
April 26 was the last combat of German ace Adolf Galland. He commanded Jagdverband 44 (JV 44, the “Galland Circus”), a Me262 jet fighter unit based at Munich-Riem:
http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-world-war-ii-luftwaffe-general-and-ace-pilot-adolf-galland.htm
“WWII: Tell us about April 26. That was your last combat flight wasn’t it?
Galland: Yes, I was shot down by a Republic P-47D flown by a man named James Finnegan, whom I met some years later, and we became friends. We were intercepting bombers near Neuberg. I was leading a flight, and I attacked from the rear, astern. My rockets did not fire, but I poured 30mm cannon shells into one bomber, which fell in flames, and flew right through the formation, hitting another. I could not tell if that bomber was finished off, so I banked around for another run, all the while my jet was receiving hits from the bombers’ defensive fire. Suddenly my instrument panel disintegrated, my canopy was shattered, and my right knee was struck. I was losing power and was in great pain. I thought about parachuting out but realized that might be dangerous, as some of our pilots had been strafed upon exiting their jets. I flew for the deck and headed for this field at the air base, which was under attack. I cut the power to my good engine and thumped across the field. My nose wheel had been flattened, and smoke was pouring from my plane. I climbed out to get away, in case it should explode, only to find aircraft dropping bombs and firing rockets at me. Well, our mission netted five victories total, and none of the pilots were killed. From that point forward, Bär took operational command, and every unit in Germany with jets began bringing them to us at Reim airfield, near Munich. For such a long time I had been begging for planes. Now that the war was almost over I had more planes than men to fly them.”
1) From Page 5: "Democracy would be a farce without a strong and virile Congress. For years Congress has steadily been losing coequality with the Executive Branch." - Rep. Al Gore, Sr. (D-TN), April 27, 1945. I wonder what his son would think of that, in light of the present farce.
2) From Pages 7-8: is that the WWII re-incarnation of the "Fighting 69th" of WWI, or just a coincidental name?
3) From Page 10: How could anyone land at Templehof, the way it had been bombed by the Allies? Is this just another in a long line of Soviet claims, or did a runway somehow survive the bombing?
4) From Page 14: Is Grew the acting SecofState because Stettinius is in San Francisco with the UN? In any case, Grew was the US ambassador to Japan during the years leading up to the war, and after the war he, along with Reichschauer, was one of the main proponents of the "duped Emperor" theory, promoted primarily to allow Japan's bureaucracy to survive the war. By the time the true involvement of The Emperor Showa (Hirohito) had become known, it was a "what difference does it make?" issue, since Japan had become our ally against the Communists. I don't think it's any accident that it's been four generations since WWII, and Japan's PM Shinzo Abe (who's in the US this week, a bigger deal than most Americans realize--but that's another issue) is starting the process of unpeeling the onion and returning Japan to a nation with a sovereign military--not an imperialist military, mind you, Japan will never make that mistake again, but one that can extend hegemony against adversarial forces. If Obama had meant what he said about pivoting to Asia, we could have formed an anti-Islamist military alliance with all the Pacific Rim and south Asian nations--Indonesia would have hopped on board, maybe even Bangladesh--and in the process procured peace and prosperity for half of Asia for the next century. But again, that's a topic for another time.
5) From Page 16: The "baka bombs" were called "ooka" (桜花, "cherry blossom") by the Japanese...
...A newsreel of a captured "baka" can be seen here. These were essentially manned rockets, though AFAIK some of the later models were jet-propelled.
To work...
And within weeks, Buchenwald and some other concentration camps in the Russian zone were back in business ... under the control of the NKVD.
Just noticing that the big link up resulted in lots of posed photos and forced smiles.
I don't know, the Russian and American Lt.'s looks more gay than forced.
I read somewhere (Solzhenitsyn?) that Stalin later sent every one of those photographed Soviet soldiers to the gulag for having been “tainted” by American influence by virtue of simply having met and shaken hands with them.
The WWI 69th was a regiment. The 69th Division was formed for WWI but didn't get there before Armistice Day.
IOW a German navy gun crew wised up and decided they'd rather live, and caught both of their commanders on the bridge at the same time and shot their asses off with an AA gun.
Better late than never, one would suppose... I hope those guys at that point just went home, whatever was left of it.
And within weeks, Buchenwald and some other concentration camps in the Russian zone were back in business ... under the control of the NKVD.
Thanks, FDR, et al.
That explains it; thank you, and thank you for your monumental work in presenting these on a daily basis.
The execution of Mussolini: on 28 April 1945, Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by partisans as they tried to flee Italy.
The war was going badly for Italy, the Allies had landed in Sicily and the future looked bleak.
Mussolini’s last plea
Benito MussoliniOn July 24, 1943, at a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council, Benito Mussolini delivered an impassioned two-hour speech, exhorting his fellow fascists to put up a fight. His plea fell on deaf ears, the Council instead voting to propose peace with the Allies.
Dismissed
The following day the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel III, dismissed Mussolini, remarking, “At this moment you are the most hated man in Italy.” Mussolini was immediately arrested and imprisoned. The Italian population rejoiced.
On September 8, Italy swapped sides and joined the Allies. Italy’s wish to remain neutral was vetoed by Churchill who demanded Italy’s cooperation against the Germans as the price for the “passage back.” On October 13, 1943, Italy reluctantly declared war on Germany. Immediately, the Germans started capturing Italians as prisoners of war, shipping them to internment camps and began the targeting of Italian Jews.
The daring rescue
On September 12, 1943 on Hitler’s orders, Mussolini was rescued from his mountainside captivity by SS paratroopers and whisked away to Germany in a glider. Having met with Hitler, Mussolini was returned to Italy and set up as the head of a Fascist republic in German-occupied northern Italy.
The execution of Mussolini
But by April 1945, with the Allies advancing north through Italy, Mussolini knew the end was in sight. Together with his mistress, Clara Petacci, and a few followers, Mussolini fled and headed for the Swiss border. Stopped by Italian partisans on April 26, Mussolini’s attempts to disguise himself with a Luftwaffe overcoat and helmet had failed.
On April 28, 1945, at the picturesque Lake Como, the partisans stopped the car; pushed Mussolini and Petacci out, and ordered them against a wall. Whilst the partisans pronounced the death sentence, Petacci flung her arms around Mussolini and screamed, “No, he mustn’t die.” Petacci was shot and fell. Mussolini ripped open his jacket and screamed, ‘Shoot me in the chest!’ The executioner, a communist partisan by the name of Walter Audisio, did so. Mussolini fell but was not dead. Another bullet in the chest ensured that he was. The bodies were heaped into the back of a van, together with those of Mussolini’s last followers, and transported to Milan.
A rusty beam
Death of Mussolini
In the city their bodies were delivered to the Piazzale Loreto, the scene of a mass execution of partisans the year before. The corpses were beaten and urinated upon and finally left to hang upside down, for public display, from a rusty beam outside a petrol station. Petacci had not been wearing knickers and a group of old women rearranged her skirt to preserve her modesty. People surged around, desperate to get a look, to laugh and spit upon them, wanting to make sure that it was true: Mussolini, fascist dictator of Italy for 23 years, was truly dead and Italy could live again.
Two days later, Hitler was also dead.
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