Free Republic

the same medal that the post-911 airport security losers confiscated from him at the age of 86 because one of them thought that it was a 'Japanese throwing star'.

Don't it make you proud?

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

May 19th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission Number 59: 123 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched against the U-boat yards at Kiel, Germany; 103 bomb the target at 1329-1333 hours local and claim 48-7-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; six B-17s are lost. A smaller force, 64 B-17s, is dispatched against the naval yards at Flensburg, Germany; 55 attack the target at 1325-1328 hours local and claim 12-4-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; no B-17s are lost. An uneventful diversion is flown by 24 B-17s. (Jack McKillop)

Destroyer HMS Cavendish laid down.
Frigate HMS Bentinck commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Talybont commissioned.
Frigates HMS Dacres, Domett, Foley, Garlkies, Odzani launched.

Minesweeping trawler HMS St Agnes launched.

Destroyer HMS Urania launched.

(Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: Berlin: Goebbels announces that the city is free of Jews.

U-545, U-717 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: BP “ChF-6 “Pervansh”” - by shnellboat, in Gelenjik-Sochi area (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

ITALY: 2nd Lt. Louis Curdes, USAAF, 82nd FG, 95th FS shoots down two Me-109s near Villacidro, Sardinia. (Stuart Kohn)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: On Attu Island in the Aleutians, the Southern Landing Force tries to advance against Japanese opposition at Point Able on the eastern shore of Holtz Bay.

Six B-24 Liberators and eleven B-25 Mitchells of the USAAF fly three air-ground support missions bombing Sarana Valley. Four P-40s fly two reconnaissance missions to Kiska Island. (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Orkney laid down Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Tug HMCS Glendower launched Owen Sound, Ontario. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: Washington: In a speech to a joint session of Congress today, Winston Churchill gave a defiant and optimistic account of the progress of the war and the high strategy of the Alliance, and proclaimed that all war plans must be “pervaded and even dominated by the supreme object to get to grips with the enemy.”

Mr. Churchill, who first addresses a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives in December 1941, was greeted by cheering lasting for a minute and a half before he spoke. His 50-minute speech was heard clearly in London by radio. The first cheers during it came when the British prime minister said “our partnership has not done badly”. He was cheered again when he promised his government’s determination to fight the Japanese in Burma. But he went on to say that in January 1942, when Britain and the United States made a division of labour, the US undertook the main responsibility for fighting Japan while “we took the main burden in the Atlantic.” He and President Roosevelt agreed, Mr. Churchill said, that “while the defeat of Japan would not mean the defeat of Germany, the defeat of Germany would infallibly mean the defeat of Japan.”

Destroyer USS Sproston commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Schmitt launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-954 sunk in the North Atlantic SE of Cape Farewell, Greenland in position 54.54N, 34.19W, by depth charges from corvettes HMS Jed and Sennen escorting convoy SC-130. Among the crew of 47 who perished was Admiral Dönitz’ younger son, Peter.

U-273 sunk SW of Iceland, in position 59.25N, 24.33W, by depth charges from an RAF 269 Sqn Hudson. 46 dead (all hands lost).

At 1130, the Canadian-flagged barquentine Angelus was stopped by U-161 north of Bermuda and sunk by gunfire after the crew of ten men abandoned ship in a lifeboat. When USS Turner found the boat after five days; only two of them were still alive, the others had died from exposure. The survivors were landed at Portland ME on 27 May 1943. (Dave Shirlaw)

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/may1943/f19may43.htm

German 17th Army continues counterattack
Wednesday, May 19, 1943 www.onwar.com

Soviet troops move a machine gun into a new position [photo at link].

On the Eastern Front... In the Caucasus, the German 17th Army continues to counterattack. Soviet forces continue to hold the offensive.

In the Aleutian Islands... On Attu, American forces advance along Clevesy Pass toward Chicagof.

In Washington... The Trident Conference continues.

Squeeze On Enemy (Shalett) – 2-3
War News Summarized – 3
Big U.S. Planes Bomb Isle with Special Block-Busters (Trumbull) – 4
Roosevelt Rejects Chandler’s Advice – 4
Ruhr Losses Soar from Burst Dams (Daniell) – 5-6
British Submarines Claim Six Vessels – 6
Italians Examine Peace Chances and Quid Pro Quo for Surrender (Brigham) – 7
Australia Wants Tokyo Group Tried – 9
Australian Hospital Ship Torpedoed by Japanese (photo) – 9
Western Europe Still Air Theatre (Baldwin) – 10-11
How to Fill Out Mail Application for Ration Book 3 – 11
Strategy Senate Issue (Krock) – 12
Escort Carriers Protect Convoys – 12
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 13-15
Congressional Medal of Honor Winner: Captain Joe Foss (photo) – 15

Winston S. Churchill, The Hinge of Fate

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 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. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

Here is a link back to tomkat’s thread from yesterday dedicated to the dam-busters.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3020720/posts

I think it was Bobalu who provided the initial youtube link, but thanks for posting it here.

Here is the link to the N.Y. Times coverage of the dam bombing.

May 18, 1943.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

May 18th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Montgomery gets more applause than the cast when he attends a performance of Arsenic and Old Lace.

The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) plan for the round-the-clock bombing of the enemy from the UK by the RAF and USAAF is approved by the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS). The U.S. Eighth Air Force now has authorization to proceed with daylight strategic bombing within the type of combined offensive it has long wished to initiate. The CBO plan lists the destruction of German fighters as the immediate priority objective. Primary objectives in order are German submarine yards and bases, the German aircraft industry, ball bearings, and oil (the last being contingent upon attacks from the Mediterranean against Ploesti, Romania). Secondary objectives in order of priority are synthetic rubber and tires, and military motor transport vehicles. (Jack McKillop)
Submarine HMS Storm launched.

Rescue tug HMS Athlete launched.

MAC ship SS Empire Macabe launched.

Escort carrier HMS Rajah launched.

Minesweeper HMS Strenuous commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-414 attacked Convoy KMS-14 (combined with UGS-8) northeast of Mostaganem, Algeria, damaging SS Fort Anne and sinking CAM ship SS Empire Eve. The master, 55 crewmembers, 12 gunners and 13 RAF personnel from the Empire Eve were picked up by boom defense ship HMS Barfoil and an LCT and landed at Algiers. Five crewmembers were lost. (Dave Shirlaw)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: On Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese withdrawal yesterday permits the linkup of the Northern and Southern Landing Forces on the western slope of the Holtz Bay-Massacre Bay Pass in the morning. Six B-24 Liberators of the USAAF’s Eleventh Air Force bomb the Gertrude Cove area on Kiska Island after being weathered out of Attu; the attack results in large fires on the island. Meanwhile over Kiska, four P-40s reconnoitre and strafe barges while a B-25 Mitchell flies photo reconnaissance. (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Ste Therese laid down Lauzon, Province of Quebec.
U.S.A.: A United Nations Food Conference meets in Hot Springs, Virginia and lasts through t the 3rd of June. The outcome is a resolution in regard to fairer food distribution for the postwar world.

The U.S. Marine Corps program to air assault Pacific islands with gliders is cancelled. (Jack McKillop)

Destroyer escort USS Martin launched.
Escort carrier USS Fanshaw Bay laid down.

Destroyer USS Charrette commissioned.

(Dave Shirlaw)

CHILE: Chile severed diplomatic relations with Bulgaria, France, Hungary, and Rumania. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-103 rescued two shipwrecked survivors of the Fort Concord, which had been sunk by U-456 a week earlier. (Dave Shirlaw)

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/may1943/f18may43.htm

Fighting in the Kuban continues
Tuesday, May 18, 1943 www.onwar.com

Soviet troops caught by artillery fire [photo at link].

On the Eastern Front... In the Caucasus, the German 17th Army continues to counterattack. Soviet forces continue to hold the offensive.

In the Aleutian Islands... On Attu, American forces advancing from the north and south link up. They reorganize for the drive on what is believe to be the final Japanese positions on the approach to Chicagof Harbor.

In the United States... A United Nations Food Conference begins in Hot Springs, Virginia. The conference continues until June 3rd.

In Washington... The Trident Conference continues.

Fliers Drop Mines (Daniell) – 2-3
Exile Gave Advice for Dam Blasting (by Guy Bettany, first-time contributor) – 3
War News Summarized – 3
Nazi Dam Broken by R.A.F. and Leader of the Raids (photos and map) – 4
2 Damaged Dams Vital to Germany – 5
U.S. Bombs U-Boat Bases, Raids Bordeaux in Day Blow – 5
Hospital Ship Sunk, 299 Die in Pacific – 5-6
Attu Fight Goes On ‘Satisfactorily’ – 6
President Expects Early Offensives – 6-7
Stage in Air War Held By the Allies (Baldwin) * – 8-9
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones – 10-12

* Baldwin: “Bombing alone will never win this war.”

And that’s the name of that tune.

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 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. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

I will post a link on this thread to our WWII + 70 thread tomorrow. The headline reads, “R.A.F. Blasts 2 Big Dams in Reich; Ruhr Power Cut, Traffic Halted as Floods Cause Death and Ruin.” The N.Y. Times initial report cited 4,000+ dead and 120,000 homeless after the raid. There is a sidebar story that credits a German-Jewish “medical specialist” working in exile in London with the idea for the dam-busting raid.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

May 17th, 1943 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The amazing “bouncing bombs” used to breach the Mohne and Eder dams last night were designed by Dr. Barnes Wallis, already famous for his Wellington bomber. Wallis made his bombs act like “ducks and drakes” stone, skipping along the surface of the water and then sinking to explode at the base of the dams. The first test was a disaster. The bomb broke up when it hit the water. The “super-boffin” solved that problem by making the bomb spin as it left the aircraft. Wallis is delighted by the success of his bomb, but devastated by 617 Squadron’s losses.

Nearly two years of clothes rationing has reduced the money spent on clothing by the average family of four by three-quarters, from £30 per head before the war to £7/10/- per head this year. This has saved around £600,000 worth of material, with the ban on turn-ups alone saving five million yards of cloth. Coupons for clothes will have to stretch further from next September. Last year men had a quota of 46 coupons and women 50. But the biggest demands for coupons are made by children aged between 14 and 16.

Britain and America today came to an agreement to share the work and the results of a joint attack on the codes and ciphers of the Axis powers. Britain is to concentrate its efforts on the German and Italian ciphers while the US war department devotes its attention to the Japanese army ciphers.

Experts from both sides will work on each other’s cryptanalytic programmes, and there will be a full exchange of information and “decrypts”. It was also agreed to adopt the Bletchley Park codename of “Ultra”, derived from Ultra-Secret, for all information gleaned from breaking the German Enigma, the Japanese “Purple” and the Italian C38M enciphering machines. Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, 40 miles north of London, is the wartime home of the vastly expanded government code and cipher school whose name gives little hint of the extraordinary work it is doing in allowing Allied commanders to read enemy secrets.

A brilliant collection of men and women is housed there in the mansion and its overflow huts. Dons, mechanical engineers and chess-players are all pitting their wits against the Enigma machine which is constantly being upgraded by the Germans. Their work is so secret that people working in one hut do not know what goes on next door; the enemy must get no hint that its codes are being read.

This secrecy extends to the distribution of the material. It is done through liaison units reporting on a “need to know” basis to commanders who have been cleared to receive Ultra intelligence. None may risk capture.

Churchill has no doubts about the war-winning importance of the work being done at Bletchley. Every morning at breakfast he demands “his eggs” from the goose whose eggs are golden.

The USAAF’s VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission Number 58: 159 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to hit the port area and U-boat base at Lorient, France; 118 bomb the target at 1213-1217 hours local and claim 47-8-29 Luftwaffe aircraft; six B-17s are lost. An additional 39 B-17s are dispatched to hit the docks and sub pens at Bordeaux, France; 34 bomb at 1238-1244 hours local and claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one B-17 is lost. In a third strike, 11 B-26 Marauders are dispatched on a low-level mission to bomb power stations at Haarlem and Ijmuiden, The Netherlands; one B-26 aborts, the other ten are all shot down before they reach the target. This action prompts the Eighth Air Force to abandon low-level medium bomber attacks. (Jack McKillop)

Frigate HMS Bullen laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

NETHERLANDS: A B-26 Marauder of the USAAF is one of a flight of ten that encounters heavy AAA fire while en-route to bomb a power plant near Amsterdam. It is shot down and forced to ditch in a canal. On-board is navigator Jim Hoel, of Evanston, Illinois, USA, one of three survivors of the aircraft’s six man crew. During the crash Jim loses his elaborate Gallet Chronometer. 60 years later in 2003, Peter Cooper of England returns the watch to Jim. More...

GERMANY: Ruhr: Taking off from the grass runways of Scampton in Lincolnshire, 19 Lancasters of 617 Squadron last night headed for Germany’s industrial heartland, the Ruhr, loaded with top-secret bombs being used for the first time.

Flying below 200 feet to evade enemy defences, the aircraft followed a zigzag course across the Netherlands and Germany. The first wave of bombers went for the huge Mohne and Eder dams. On each plane, the radio operator started the motor that set the five-ton, drum-shaped bombs spinning; the the navigator signalled that the aircraft was at the correct altitude - 60 feet - and the bomb-aimer released the bomb.

Travelling along a narrow-angle of descent, the bombs rebounded from the surface of the water, bouncing along until they came to the dams and sank. The water pressure set off the fuses. The bombs tore gigantic gaps in first the Mohne dam and then the Eder, releasing millions of gallons of water. Hydroelectric turbines were ruptured, severing power to the Ruhr’s industries. A separate wave of bombers approached the Sorpe, Ennepe, Lister and Diemel dams, but only attacked the first two. The Sorpe was hit, but the breach was above water-level.

Eight of the specially designed Lancasters were lost; four were downed by anti-aircraft fire, one crashed after being damaged by its own bomb, two hit electricity cables, and one crashed into a tree after the pilot was dazzled by a searchlight. 53 of the 133 crew were killed. The operation was led by Wing-Commander Guy Gibson; he is to be recommended for the VC.

U-1304 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
YUGOSLAVIA: The German occupation forces begin their 5th major offensive against Tito’s partisans. Operation Schwartz is commanded by General Lüters with 120,000 Germans while Tito fields about 20,000 partisans.

INDIAN OCEAN: At 1412, U-198 fired two spreads of two torpedoes at Convoy LMD-17 north of Durban, heard four detonations and sinking noises and reported one ship sunk and another probably sunk. However, only Northmoor was hit and sunk. Eleven crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 20 crewmembers, four gunners and two passengers (DBS) were picked up by trawler HMS St Loman and landed at Durban. (Dave Shirlaw)

NEW GUINEA: Admiral Crutchley (Australia) and Admiral Berkey, USN lead the cover force of cruisers and destroyers for the landings of US forces on Insumarai Island, New Guinea. Landings also occur on the mainland of New Guinea. Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey, USN, was commanding Task Force 74. This was Operation STRAIGHTLINE where Task Force 77 landed the US Army’s 163d Regimental Combat Team (Reinforced), 41st Infantry Division, landed unopposed in Maffin Bay near Sarmi and prepared to take Wakde, New Guinea. The covering force, Task Force 74, provides fire support. USAAF B-24s and B-25 hit targets in the general vicinity at Sawar, Sarmi and the mouth of the Orai River in support of the landings. (Dave Shirlaw)

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: HMS Illustrious and USS Saratoga send raids against the oil installations at Surabaya on Java. Admiral Sommerville’s British Eastern Fleet performs escort duty. (Dave Shirlaw)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: On Attu Island in the Aleutians, the Northern Landing Force moves forward on Moore Ridge and discovers that the Japanese had abandoned the ridge during the night and patrols report that the east arm of Holtz Bay is free of Japanese. The Southern Landing Force attacks Jarmin Pass and finds that the enemy has also abandoned this previously defended area.

Two attempted ground support missions by the USAAF’s Eleventh Air Force, a B-24 Liberator, five B-25 Mitchells, and six P-38 Lightnings, are recalled due to weather. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: HMC ML 091 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: Washington: Britain and the US agree on a free exchange of deciphered signals intelligence, for which the codename “Ultra” is adopted.

Destroyer escorts USS Haines, Herzog and McAnn laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Stadtfield launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Hammann and Dobler commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0237, the Aymeric in Convoy ONS-7 was torpedoed and sunk by U-657 east of Cape Farewell. 52 crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 18 crewmembers and six gunners were picked up by British rescue ship Copeland and trawler HMS Northern Wave and landed at Halifax on 25 May.

U-648 shot down an RAF 10 OTU Sqn Whitley. The entire aircrew was lost.
U-229 was attacked by a Catalina with four bombs. The boat was damaged so badly that it returned to base.

Due to serious technical problems U-448 had to return to base from the North Atlantic.

U-128 sunk in the South Atlantic south of Pernambuco, in approximate position 10.00S, 35.35W, by gunfire from destroyers USS Moffett and Jouett, and depth charges from two USN VP-74 Mariners. 7 dead and 47 survivors.
U-646 sunk SE of Iceland, in position 62.10N, 14.37W, by depth charges from an RAF 269 Sqn Hudson. 46 dead (all hands lost).

U-657 sunk east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 58.54N, 42.33W, by depth charges from corvette HMS Swale. 47 dead (all hands lost).

(Dave Shirlaw)

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/may1943/f17may43.htm

Yugoslav Partisans face German offensive
Monday, May 17, 1943 www.onwar.com

Wounded Yugoslavian partisans are evacuated after Axis attacksIn Occupied Yugoslavia... Operation Schwarz. The Germans launch their fifth major offensive against Tito’s partisans. German forces are commanded by General Luters. They include the SS Division Prinz Eugen, 1st Mountain Division and the 4th Brandenburg Regiment. The latter two units have been deployed in the area for this operation. Other Axis units hold an encircling ring. In total, there are about 120,000 Axis troops engaged against, at most, 20,000 partisans led by Tito.

On the Eastern Front... In the Caucasus, the German 17th Army continues to counterattack. Soviet forces continue to hold the offensive.

In Washington... The Trident Conference continues.

The index by author on Homer’s profile is now updated through June 15, 1943.

Air Attack Steady – 2
British Bells Hail Victory in Tunisia (MacDonald) – 2
Soviet Fliers Pound 3 Rail Hubs while Red Army Gains on Donets – 3
War News Summarized – 3
Hard Fighting in Aleutians is Continuing, Says the Axis – 4
Tunisia Re-Forges Forces of France (Baldwin) – 5-6
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 7-9
Proud Moment for Son of a Soldier Father (photo) – 9
Best Sellers of the Week, Here and Elsewhere * – 10
Books of the Times (Prescott) – 11
Books Published Today – 12
Notes on Books and Authors – 13

* Quarterly feature to follow evolution of American reading habits. “The Robe” is still on top in fiction, topping the lists everywhere but Chicago, Dallas and S.F. The new leader in the general category is “One World,” by Wendell Willkie

2/15/43 Thread
11/16/42 Thread
8/17/42 Thread
5/18/42 Thread
2/16/42 Thread
11/17/41 Thread
8/18/41 Thread
5/19/41 Thread
2/17/41 Thread
11/18/40 Thread
8/19/40 Thread
5/13/40 Thread
2/19/40 Thread
10/23/39 Thread

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 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. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

I get the impression that, after Walter Duranty, Herbert L. Matthews is the most notorious Red on the Times staff. Someone here pointed out his later PR work for Castro when I first posted some of his articles. If you check the index by author on my profile you will see that when I first began this project Matthews was in Spain covering the civil war. He was pro-Red even then. When that gig expired he moved on to Rome. The Fascists threw him out in October 1940 but it didn’t take for some reason and he was back by November. He has been reporting from India since the U.S. got into the war. How he wound up in that relative backwater I don’t know.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

May 16th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS Plym commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson (1918-44) leads RAF squadron 617 in an attack on Ruhr dams. This raid which will become known as the “Dambusters Raid” utilizes specially constructed bombs with special bombing techniques. The dams are on the Möhne and Eder rivers. Two of the 3 dams are bombed. Damage is not as severe as expected.
Gibson is awarded the Victoria Cross for deliberately drawing fire away from his comrades.

NETHERLANDS: The Germans confiscate all wireless sets.
POLAND: The Nazi SS troops in Warsaw blow up the synagogue in the Warsaw Ghetto. Their actions in the Ghetto result in 14,000+ killed and 40,000+ sent to the death camp at Treblinka.

Warsaw: A month after he launched the operation which he reckoned would take a few days only, SS Major-General Stroop has reported to Himmler: “Warsaw Ghetto is no more.” Besides the 14,000 Jews killed in the fighting or sent to the Treblinka death camp, another 42,000 are being deported to labour camps near Lublin.

Stroop rounded off his destruction of the ghetto at 8.15 this evening by blowing up the Thomaebi synagogue. Then he set sat down to prepare his report. Only eight buildings have survived: the police lodgings, quarters for factory guards and a hospital. But he says that the ruins contain “a vast amount of stones and scrap metal which could be useful”. He is having the report illustrated with many photographs, typed on top quality paper and bound in fine leather. Stroop has been promised the Iron Cross, first class, for his achievement.

The remnants of the Jewish resistance, driven from their bunkers by poison gas, still refused to give in. One man attacked the Germans with stones; he was beaten with rifle butts, kicked and left soaked in blood. The bodies of two young women lay in the road, and cats and crows appeared to tear pieces of flesh from their faces. Though Stroop says that the ghetto has been destroyed, small groups of Jews are still in hiding there and some others have escaped through the slime of the sewers to seek refuge in the Christian districts of Warsaw.

One of them wrote in his diary: “Though our hearts are still beating, there will never be a joy of life in them again.”

FINLAND: Thornycroft motor torpedo boat Raju hits an underwater boom obstacle in Koivisto Sound and repair of the old boat is not worth the efforts. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: Volga Flotilla: GB “Krasnii Dagestan” - mined close to Gusinii Is., in Stalingrad area (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

German troops launch Operation Gypsy Baron, a three-week drive to capture Soviet partisans.

ITALY: 20 RAF Wellingtons of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the Rome area at night. Eighteen bomb the Lido di Roma airfield dropping 34.6 tons of bombs, one bombed a target of opportunity dropping 2.3 tons of bombs and one drops leaflets. (Jack McKillop)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Unruly torpedoed and damaged the Italian merchant Nicolo Tommaseo (4573 BRT). (Dave Shirlaw)

NEW GUINEA: Japanese troops in the Salamaua area are reorganised:

Salamaua Defence Force (Maj Komaki), Mubo Defence Force (Lt-Col Maruoka), and Nassau Defence Force (Maj Takamura). [Dexter p 47](Michael Alexander)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Japanese forces on Attu retreat to Chichagof Harbor to regroup for a final stand.
Major General Albert E. Brown, Commanding General 7th Infantry Division is relieved and replaced by Major General Eugene M. Landrum. The Southern Landing Force again attacks Jarmin Pass without success however, the Northern Landing Force attacks Moore Ridge and secures a foothold on the northern end thus gaining control of the whole ridge. Realizing that they were vastly outnumbered by the Americans and could be taken from the rear, the Japanese withdraw from Moore Ridge during the night of 16/17 May and take up positions in Chichagof Harbor for a final stand.

The USAAF’s air-ground liaison B-24 Liberator bombs Chichagof Harbor with unobserved results. Another B-24 drops supplies to ground forces while 8 B-24s, 12 B-25 Mitchells, and 12 P-38 Lightnings are dispatched to fly ground support missions; because of the weather, only the P-38s get through and strafe AA guns, installations and barges, scoring several hits. The bombers are redirected to bomb Kiska Island joining two P-40s flying reconnaissance missions over the island.

A large Japanese Naval Force consisting of the battleships HIJMS Musashi, HIJMS Kongo and HIJMS Haruna; the aircraft carrier HIJMS Hiyo; the heavy cruisers HIJMS Tone and HIJMS Chikuma; and five destroyers depart Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands fro Tokyo for eventual duty in the Aleutian Islands. (Jack McKillop)

U.S.A.: During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with “The German Rifle Company for Study and Translation.” (William L. Howard)
Minesweeper USS Sentry laid down.

Minesweeper USS Scrimmage launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-228 transferred wounded crewmembers to the milkcow U-461.

U-182 sunk NW of Madeira Islands, in position 33.55N, 20.35W, by depth charges from destroyer USS Mackenzie. 61 dead (all hands lost).

U-463 sunk in the Bay of Biscay in position 45.57N, 11.40W by depth charges from an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax. 57 dead (all hands lost). (Dave Shirlaw)

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/may1943/f16may43.htm

The British “Dam Busters” Raid
Sunday, May 16, 1943 www.onwar.com

One of the dams breached in the attack [photo at link].

Over Germany... During the night (May 16-17), a specially trained and equipped RAF bomber squadron (No. 617) carries out successful precision bombing raids on the dams on the Mohne and Eder Rivers. A third target, the Sorpe dam, is not attacked. The targets are believed to supply the majority of electricity used in the Ruhr industrial area and a significant quantity of the water. However, 8 of the 19 aircraft are lost and the damage is far less than had been hoped.

In the Aleutian Islands... On Attu, the Japanese are forced to pull back as the Americans continue their attacks near Holtz Bay.

In Occupied Poland... The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The synagogue is blown up. Stroop, the SS commander responsible for putting down the uprising, claims that since the uprising began, on April 19, 14,000 Jews have been killed in the ghetto and another 40,000 have been sent to Treblinka to be killed.

On the Eastern Front... In the Caucasus, the German 17th Army launches counterattacks from its foothold in the Kuban Peninsula. Soviet forces hold.

In Washington... The Trident Conference continues.

Fortresses Strike – 2
Americans Bomb Both Ends of Italy-Sardinia Supply Line (Middleton) – 3-4
Russian Air Blows Batter Nazi Bases – 4
War News Summarized – 4
Afghanistan Sees Isolation Ending; Primitive Land Awaits War Role (Matthews) – 5-6
Italian Fascisti on 24-Hour Duty (Brigham) – 6
Axis Prisoners Working on Mississippi River Levee (with murky photo) – 7
Operational Unity Gained in Tunisia (Baldwin) * – 8-9
The Texts of the Day’s War Communiques – 10-11
Twenty News Questions (from News of the Week in Review) – 12
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 13
The Best Selling Books, Here and Elsewhere (from the New York Times Book Review) – 13

Editorials – 14-16
Road to Victory
War Mobilization
The Poll Tax Issue
Radar
The Guns Catch Up
Apple Blossoms
Topics of the Times

The New York Times Magazine
When Will the War End (Sulzberger) – 18-20

* Don’t miss this installment of Baldwin’s 12-part analysis of the ETO situation. It could have served as the basis for a briefing to American political and military leaders in May 1943 and it serves today as a historically valuable look (in my highly unqualified opinion) at the state of our military on the eve of the war on the European continent. I’ll copy a few highlights below, but just about every paragraph provides something to think about – HJS.

. . .[J]ust as Pearl Harbor reflected the national sense that “it can’t happen here,” so Tunisia has reflected the effects of years of rather easy living and thinking in America.

In one instance a unit of about thirty men bivouacked at night on one of the hill slopes near the front. They woke up in the morning and roundly cursed the “thieving Arabs” because much of their equipment was missing. They were near the enemy, but they had posted no sentry; the young non-com’s excuse was that there were so few of them they wouldn’t get enough sleep if they posted sentries.

The defeats we suffered in Tunisia were tactical defeats of detail. The enemy “got thar fust with the mostest men.” The old “plug-the-gap” strategy of January and February gave way in March and April to the victorious policy of concentration of effort.

Psychologically, we should take to heart the oft-repeated lesson of North Africa and the Pacific that the truth always pays in the long run, that public relations is a very important war weapon, that news must come quickly from every battlefront, and that censorship must be reasonable, not stupid.

Reply: The first part of the following excerpt is continued from April 19.

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

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 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. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

Daddy, where do whistle blowers come from?

From under the bus, son. From under the bus.

My wife’s grandfather was the Transport Commander for the Attu landing and helped plan the assault.

I wonder if he arranged transport for texanyankee's father, who arrived in the theater aboard the USS Arthur Middleton.

Why is Churchill Horing the Home Guard?

It is supposed to be "honoring." Sometimes my cutting and taping spins out of control.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

May 15th, 1943 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission Number 57.

- 113 B-17s are dispatched against various targets in Germany as well as airfield and naval installations on Helgoland Island and the naval base and submarine construction works at Wilhelmshaven; 76 bomb the targets at 1050-1055 hours local and claim 29-20-30 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; five B-17s are lost. 80 B-17s are dispatched against the U-boat yard, marshalling yard and airfield at Emden; 59 bomb at 1056-1103 hours local and claim 14-3-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; one B-17 is lost.

- 116 P-47 Thunderbolts are dispatched on a high altitude sweep of the Amsterdam/Rotterdam area in the Netherlands prior to the bombing raids; they claim two Luftwaffe aircraft damaged; one P-47 is lost. (Jack McKillop)

Submarine HMS Verve laid down.
Patrol vessel HMS Kilbride launched.

Rescue tug HMS Patroclus launched.

(Dave Shirlaw)

FRANCE: General Delestraint, chief of the Secret Army (AS) moves to the Vercors area. He starts to organize a vast partisan area, with the co-operation of Pierre Dalloz. (Yanni Karadi)

GERMANY:
U-328, U-1203, U-1204 laid down.

U-288, U-393 commissioned.

U-288, U-393 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

YUGOSLAVIA: Axis forces in Yugoslavia today launched their fifth offensive against aimed at smashing local resistance. Operation Black, as it is called, is the biggest offensive so far against the partisans, and promises to be the most savage.

Axis troops have been ordered to move “with utmost brutality” against “the hostile population”. Four German and Italian divisions are supported by Bulgarian troops and the Ustachi, the notorious Croatian irregulars. In all 120,000 men are lined up against a much smaller force of guerrilla fighters.

The Germans and their allies are using new tactics. Until now they have advanced along main roads; but now they are using Tito’s methods, advancing across the countryside, often by night.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Stalin has decided to disband the Comintern, the Communist International organization which controls foreign communist parties. The timing of the announcement, which will take effect in a week, is significant. The Grand Alliance against the Axis powers came under strain last month when Moscow broke with the Polish government in exile in London over the Katyn atrocity.

This row still simmers, despite attempts to patch it up ten days ago, and observers believe that Stalin wishes to reassure the west that notions of exporting revolution have been abandoned, and that any countries liberated by the USSR will be allowed to choose their own regimes, undisturbed by Moscow.

Soon after the German invasion in 1941, Comintern offices were moved from Moscow to Ufa, just west of the Urals, and rumours surfaced in Moscow suggesting that the organization was being disbanded. But it continued its activities under the veteran Bolshevik Dmitry Manuilsky, the Bulgarian Georgi Dimitrov and the Italian Palmiro Togliatti. Many westerners familiar with Stalin’s methods doubt whether the Comintern will in fact now be dissolved.

TUNISIA: General Giraud deposes the bey of Tunis for collaboration with the Axis.
BURMA: General Slim takes command of the 14th army.

AUSTRALIA: Brisbane: A Japanese submarine, the I-177, sank the Australian hospital ship CENTAUR off Brisbane yesterday with the loss of 268 lives. The CENTAUR was brightly lit and properly marked. Most on board were asleep and had little chance; 11 of the victims were army nurses. An American destroyer picked up 63 survivors, including the only woman found alive, an army nursing sister.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Seven Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Midway Island bomb Wake Island; four others abort and seven others fail to find the target. 22 fighters intercept the formation; the B-24s claim four shot down; one B-24 is lost. (Jack McKillop)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: On Attu in the Aleutians, the fog lifts at 1100 hours and elements of the Northern Landing Force move forward. They find that the Japanese has withdrawn from the reverse slope of Hill X to Moore Ridge in the center of Holtz Valley leaving food and ammunition behind. This pullback permits the Provisional Battalion, which has been pinned down since D-Day, to link up with the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry and the 3d Battalion, 32d Infantry.

As the American troops enter the valley to the north of Moore Ridge, the clear skies permit Japanese troops to place accurate fire on them. The Southern Landing Force again attacks Jarmin Pass but is repulsed. On Adak, the reported situation on Attu appeared grim. Of special interest was the exposed position of theUSNships supporting the Army on the island; a Japanese submarine has already fire torpedoes at a battleship and there are reports that a Japanese task force is enroute to challenge the landings. The Navy advises the Army that the support ships will be withdrawn no later than 17 May.

Weather again curtails air operations. The air-ground liaison B-24 observes and directs air operations at Attu throughout the day as visibility permits and directs a supply drop for ground forces by another B-24 in two air-ground support missions. Six B-24s bomb Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor and 6 P-38s strafe AA installations in the Holtz Bay area. (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan laid down Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: Washington: The TRIDENT Conference between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and the Combined Chiefs of Staff begins in Washington, D.C. (Jack McKillop)
Destroyer escorts USS Bebas and Le Hardy commissioned.

Destroyer USS Izard commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Ira Jeffery and Peterson launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Durant and Lansing laid down.

Submarine USS Pilotfish laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

CARIBBEAN SEA: The Cuban subchaser CS-13, with the assistance of a US Kingfisher, sank U-176 off the north coast of Cuba. (Keith Allen)(68)

A task force of Cuban sub chasers formed by CS-11, CS-13 and CS-12 was sailing from Isabela de Sagua in the Sabana Archipelago en route to Havana escorting the Honduran merchant ship SS Wanks and the Cuban SS Camagüey, both transporting sugar. The crews were on maximum alert. Shortly before casting off they had received communication that a submarine had been seen surfacing north of Matanzas. The merchant ships were sailing side by side 500 yards apart, with the Camagüey closer to shore. The escorts were 750 to 1,000 yards away. At the vanguard was the CS-12, followed by the CS-11, which was the flagship, and the CS-13 at the rear of the small convoy. At 17:15, when the ships were sailing by Mégano Key, a US Navy Kingfisher flew over them. The plane dived and flying at low altitude circled twice gunning and killing its engine in order to signal in the pre-established code the presence of an enemy submarine. The leader of the sub-chaser task force ordered the captain of the CS-13, Ensign Mario Ramírez Delgado, to explore the area pointed at by the plane. Years ago Ramírez told me about his actions at the time. The CS-13 sped to the area. After some minutes the hydro acoustics equipment gave a sounding of a loud and clear contact 900 yards away. It was the sub taking evasive action. The attack was on. At the proper range three depth charges were dropped aft of the sub-chaser, set to explode at 100, 150 and 250 feet, according to the calculated immersion rate of the submarine. Four explosions were detected. The fourth one “probably by proximity of one or more of the submarine’s torpedo warheads” was so potent that the Cuban sub chaser’s stern was submerged and water flooded the engine room through the hatch. At that moment through the hydrophones a noise similar to liquid entering a submerged recipient was heard. Immediately a slowly diminishing whistling was also heard. They were the evidence that the sub had been hit. To finish it off, the CS-13 dropped a couple of more charges set for 250 feet and continued exploring. After a few minutes a lookout discovered a dark stain on the water. A black and viscous substance reeking of diesel oil surfaced from the bottom. Ramírez ordered a hand to take a sample as proof of the sub’s sinking. After patrolling the area and failing further detection, the sub chaser went back to the convoy, which had continued its route. For reasons unknown, the Cuban government at the time decided to silence the action. That was the last thing that Ensign Mario Ramírez told me. At the end of the Second World War when the German Navy files were captured, it was known that the U-Boat that had been operating in the area in those days had been the U-176, commanded by Kapitänleutenant Reiner Dierksen. In 1946 Ramírez Delgado, who had been promoted to Lieutenant Jr. Grade, was decorated with the Medal of Naval Merit. His success was also acknowledged by Rear Admiral Samuel E. Morrison, the US Navy’s official historian in his book History of US Naval Operations in World War II¸ where he also praised the expertise and efficiency of Cuban seamen. CS was small wooden boats with a length of 83 ft, a 45-ton displacement and a crew of 12. Maximum speed was 18 knots. They were armed with a 20-mm cannon and 8 depth charges of 325 lb. The boats had been recently leased to Cuba by the US government and the crews had been trained in the United States. The U-176 commanded by Captain Reiner Dierksen was an IXC Class 1,540 ton submarine with a little over 250 ft. Maximum speed was 18.2 knots on the surface and 7.3 submerged. It could go down to 775 ft. The submarine could load 22 torpedoes (other sources say 12) and 44 mines. It was armed with one cannon and two antiaircraft machine guns. At the time it was sunk there were 53 men aboard, three short of its full crew. None survived. The U-176 had sunk 11 ships for a total tonnage of 53.307 tons. By the end of the war the German submarine fleet had lost three out of four of its vessels. It was the service with the greatest losses. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-266 sunk in the North Atlantic in position 45.28N, 10.20W, by depth charges from an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax. 47 dead (all hands lost).

At 2043, the unescorted Maroussio Logotheti was hit by two torpedoes from U-105 and sank immediately. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo, which detonated prematurely. The second officer was taken prisoner by the U-boat, transferred four days later to U-460 and landed at Bordeaux on 25 June.

At 1219, U-607 fired a spread of two torpedoes at the unescorted Irish Oak and hit her twice under the bridge after 2 minutes 10 seconds. After the crew had abandoned ship, she was sunk by a coup de grâce at 1331.

U-591 was hit with machine gun fire from an RAF 10 Sqn Whitley that wounded the Commander and one seaman. The boat had to abort its 3 day-old patrol and returned to St Nazaire 2 days later. (Dave Shirlaw)

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/may1943/f15may43.htm

Leningrad resists German assault
Saturday, May 15, 1943 www.onwar.com

On the Eastern Front... A minor German attack in the Leningrad area fails to make any progress.

In the Aleutian Islands... An American attack at Massacre Bay fails. A second effort to the north makes some progress although with casualties from friendly fire as well as Japanese resistance.

In Moscow... The Soviet leadership decides to dissolve the Comintern. In part, this decision is aimed at influencing opinion in Britain and the United States.

In Burma... British General Slim is appointed to command the 14th Army. Generals Irwin and Lloyd have been relieved.

In Washington... The Trident Conference continues.

Army Storms Isle (Wood) – 2-3
War News Summarized – 3
Bombs Rock Reich – 4
Italian Islands Hit (Middleton) – 5
Tunisian Mop-Up is Now Completed – 5-6
Blows in Europe and the Far East Promised in Churchill Broadcast (Lawrence) – 6
Text of Churchill Broadcast Horing (Oops. “Honoring” in original – HJS.) British Home Guard – 7-8
Churchill Rested by Ocean Voyage – 8
Japanese Base in the Aleutians Where Our Forces Have Landed (photo) – 9
Political Pitfalls of African Landing (Baldwin) – 10-11
‘Monsieur X’ Named to French Committee; De Gaulle Announces Resistance Council – 11
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones – 12-14
Untitled photo of German P.O.W.s in Tunis – 14

Billboard Top Ten for the Week of May 15, 1943

#1 - “I’ve Heard That Song Before” – Harry James, with Helen Forrest
#2 – “That Old Black Magic” - Glenn Miller, with Skip Nelson and the Modernaires
#3 – “Brazil” - Xavier Cugat
#4 – “It Started All Over Again” - Tommy Dorsey, with Frank Sinatra, Pied Pipers
#5 - “Taking a Chance on Love” - Benny Goodman, with Helen Forrest
#6 - “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” - The Ink Spots
#7 - “Velvet Moon” - Harry James
#8 - “As Time Goes By” - Jacque Renard, with unknown vocalist
#9 - “As Time Goes By” - Rudy Vallee
#10 – “For Me and My Gal” - Judy Garland and Gene Kelly

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

Winston S. Churchill, The Hinge of Fate

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 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. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

The House needs to bring this guy into a select committee hearing NOW.

I agree.

Why? Because he knows how things work in Washington? His hunch won't carry much weight in a hearing.

I think the entry might be scrambled. If you add up the individual groups by target that make up the grand total it comes to 343 B-17s, 28 B-24s and 12 B-26s. Total 393.

A Chicago-area teen looking to get lucky hired a hooker while his parents were out, but ended up getting his piggy bank and iPad stolen.

I hate it when that happens.

A lawyer’s hunch based on logic is not tangible proof.

It is so bizarre to hear the WH press corps asking real questions and then following up when they don’t get a rational answer.

Ping

Oh, 12:30 EDT, not 11:30. Never mind.

Aren’t they running a little late at the White Hut?

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

May 14th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The intelligence service confirms the success of Operation Mincemeat, in which a corpse was floated ashore off Spain bearing papers aimed at fooling the Germans into thinking that the Allies plan to invade Greece.

London: The Public Relations department of the Free French, led by Jacques Soustelle, announces the creation of the CNR, Comité National de la Résistance. CNR is an organization created to allow the union of various French partisan groups. (Yannis Kadari)

The USAAF VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission Number 56: A maximum force, 154 B-17s, 21 B-24s and 12 B-26s, is dispatched against four targets. This is first time more than 200 US bombers are dispatched.

- The principal attack is against submarine yards and naval installations at Kiel, Germany; 136 B-17s and 21 B-24s are dispatched with 126 B-17s and 17 B-24s hitting the target at 1200-1203 hours local and destroying three U-boats; they claim 62-24-27 Luftwaffe aircraft and lose 5 B-24s and 3 B-17s.

- 42 B-17s are dispatched against the former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp, Belgium; 38 hit the target at 1320 hours local; they claim 5-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; one B-17 is lost. The bombers are escorted by 118 P-47 which claim 4-6-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-47s are lost.

- 39 B-17s are dispatched against Courtrai Airfield, France; 34 hit the target and claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; two B-17s are lost.

- 12 B-26’s are dispatched against the Velsen power station at Ijmuiden, The Netherlands; 11 hit the target at 1100 hours without loss. (Jack McKillop)

Frigate HMS Cuckmere commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: U-237 sunk at Germaniawerft Kiel, by US bombs. Raised, repaired, and returned to service on 8 Oct 1943. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: Submarine “M-122” - sunk by aviation, close to cape Zip-Navolok. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The Allies’ Mediterranean Air Command orders a sea and air blockade of Pantelleria.

INDIA: New Delhi: The first Allied offensive in Burma has ended in total failure. After six months’ campaigning, the British Army is back where it started.

The much-heralded offensive from India began last December. The 14th Indian Division advanced down the long narrow Mayu peninsula, on the Bay of Bengal, with the limited objectives of clearing the peninsula and seizing the strategically important island Akyab Island. Possession of Akyab would put Allied air forces within easy striking distance of Rangoon.

At first all went well. The port of Maungdaw and the town of Buthidaung fell with little opposition. However, early in January, an unfortunate delay occurred when the offensive became bogged down in the inhospitable terrain of the peninsula. The Japanese blocked the division five miles short of Donbaik. Frontal attacks, gallantly pressed against the strong Japanese bunker defences, were repulsed. Failures at Donbaik and Rathedaung gave the enemy time to rush reinforcements forward and take the offensive with its well-trained veteran 55th Division. Winston Churchill, convinced that another retreat would be disastrous to army morale, would not countenance a withdrawal. Tanks were sent in, but they were knocked out almost at once. More frontal attacks were made. But gallantry was not enough. In March Lieutenant-General William Slim was sent to report on the situation. He found that morale was ebbing as a result of repeated failures. Further desperate attempts to dislodge the enemy were met by heavy fire and driven back.

The commander of the 14th Division was replaced by Maj-Gen C. Lomax, and Slim was again sent to the front where he found the situation “fantastically” bad. A brigade had disintegrated, and small starving parties were struggling over the hills. Things had gone terribly wrong, and on 8 April, Churchill wrote: “We are being completely out-fought and out-manoeuvred by the Japanese.”
By early May the Japanese had re-occupied Maungdaw and the fighting stopped with the monsoon. The Allies were back at their starting point.

AUSTRALIA: The MS Centaur, an Australian Hospital ship is sunk off the coast of Queensland by IJN submarine I-177.

The MS Centaur, 2/3rd Australian Hospital Ship, was a motor passenger ship converted in early 1943 for use as a hospital ship. In November 1941 it had rescued survivors of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran after it had sunk and been sunk by HMAS Sydney.

On 12 May 1943 the Centaur sailed unescorted from Sydney at 0945 hours carrying her crew and normal staff, as well as stores and equipment of the 2/12th Field Ambulance but no patients. It was sunk without warning by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine on 14 May 1943 at approximately 0400 hours, its position being approximately 27°17’ S, 153°58’ E about 50 miles east north-east of Brisbane. The wreck was discovered in 1995.

Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived. These survivors spent 35 hours on rafts before being rescued. Sister Ellen Savage, the only one of twelve nursing sisters on board to survive, though injured herself, gave great help to the other survivors and was awarded the George Medal for this work.

The ship had been appropriately lit and marked to indicate that it was a hospital ship and its sinking was regarded as an atrocity. The Australian Government delivered an official protest to Japan over the incident. The Japanese did not acknowledge responsibility for the incident for many years and the War Crimes Tribunal could not identify the responsible submarine. However, the Japanese official war makes clear that it was submarine 1-177, under the command of Lt Commander Nakagawa who had sunk the Centaur. Lt Commander Nakagawa was convicted as a war criminal for firing on survivors of the British Chivalry which his ship had sunk in the Indian Ocean. More...

(Daniel Ross)

CANADA: Lake Erie: LAC Kenneth Gerald Spooner (b.1922), RCAF, was killed trying to land an aircraft after the pilot fainted. The pilot also perished. (George Cross)
Tug HMCS Marion assigned to Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Tugs HMCS Heatherton and Beaverton ordered. (Dave Shirlaw)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA:

On Attu Island in the Aleutians, an attempt to capture Jarmin Pass is made by a combined attack of the Northern and Southern Landing Forces. The Southern Force will attempt to inch forward up Massacre Valley while the Northern Force will attempt to drive the Japanese off the reverse slope of Hill X, continue on to seize Moore Ridge and then take Jarmin Pass from the rear.

Each attack quickly bogs down. In the north, the Provisional Scout Battalion which has been pinned down since landing in Austin Cove on D-Day, remains pinned down. The second arm of the Northern Force also is unable to move forward because the 3d Battalion, 32d Infantry Regiment does not reach its assault position in time. Major General Albert E. Brown, Commanding General 7th Infantry Division, calls off the attack and in a report to higher headquarters that evening, states that “progress through passes will, unless we are extremely lucky, be slow and costly, and will require troops in excess to those now available to my command.”

USAAF support is hampered by poor weather. The air-ground liaison B-24 flies reconnaissance and photo reconnaissance over Attu throughout the day while another B-24, carrying supplies for the ground forces, hits a mountain side 10 miles (16 km) west of the drop zone. Ground support missions over Attu are flown by six B-24s and five B-25s while two P-40s bomb Kiska Island through the overcast.

The USN continues gunfire support for the American troops. (Jack McKillop)

U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Oracle commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: USS Hunt (DD-194), commissioned as HMS Broadway (H-90) on 8 Oct. 1940 as part of the destroyers-for-bases deal. Broadway having a part in the attack on U-110 on 9 May 1941, today locates and sinks U-89. (Ron Babuka)

U-640 sunk in the North Atlantic east of Cape Farewell, Greenland in position 60.32N, 31.05W by depth charges from a USN VP-84 Catalina. 49 dead (all hands lost). (Dave Shirlaw)

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/may1943/f14may43.htm

Japanese advancing in Burma
Friday, May 14, 1943 www.onwar.com

Japanese troops in Burma [photo at link].

In Burma... The Japanese occupy Maungdaw following the British withdrawal (May 11th).

In Washington... The Trident Conference continues.

Meaulte is Target – 2
War News Summarized – 2
17 Generals Taken – 3
Von Arnim Refused Surrender Terms (Middleton) – 3-4
Untitled photos of Eisenhower, Alexander, Bradley, broken truck – 4
Allies Decide to Deal in Europe Only with Military Commanders (Daniell) – 5
M’Arthur, Halsey Meet in Australia – 5
North Africa Test for Europe Entry (Baldwin) * – 8-9
Knitted Wear Presented to United Seamen’s Service – 9
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 10-12
Germans Hit Back at Russians in Air – 12

* Several points, not generally know, need to be made in the interest of clarifying what has occurred in North Africa.

Baldwin’s eight points all relate to the French role in the invasion and aftermath. He doesn’t name his sources but he evidently talked to the right people.

Barbara W. Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45

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 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. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

Netflix has both these movies on DVD.

Mrs. Homer and I were not nearly as impressed with “The More the Merrier” as Bosley Crowther. Jean Arthur and Joel McRea turn in solid comedic performances but the story contains too many implausible elements to overlook. The movie was nominated for all the major Oscars and Charles Coburn won for best actor but in our judgment “The More the Merrier” is a 1943 flash in the pan.

“The More the Merrier” opening

The interesting thing about “Lady of Burlesque” is that it was “condemned” by the Roman Catholic National Legion of Decency because it “contains double-meaning lines, salacious dances and situations, and indecent costumes, presented against the background of a sensuous form of entertainment.” (See page 2 for the whole story.) It was a neat trick for Columbia to produce such a scandalous film while satisfying the conditions set forth by the Hays Office. The movie is based on the novel “The G-String Murders,” by Gypsy Rose Lee. It is supposed to be about strippers but I didn’t see anyone remove so much as an overcoat, even though much of the movie takes place in the ladies’ dressing room - HJS.

“The More the Merrier” clips

“The More the Merrier” movie posters

“Lady of Burlesque” clips

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 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. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.