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AMERICANS HOLD GROUND IN SOLOMONS; NAZIS PLUNGE DEEPER INTO CAUCASUS (8/12/42)
Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 8/12/42 | Ralph Parker, Arthur Krock

Posted on 08/12/2012 5:49:36 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson

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TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: catholic; milhist; realtime; worldwarii
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
1 posted on 08/12/2012 5:49:38 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Papua, New Guinea, 1942
Japanese Advance, 21 July-16 Sept. 1942
The Solomons: Guadalcanal and Florida, 1942
Southwest Russia, 1942: German Advance to Stalingrad, Operations, 24 July-18 November 1942
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
2 posted on 08/12/2012 5:50:38 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
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More later.

Richard Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary

3 posted on 08/12/2012 5:53:00 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
On August 6th Homer’s father wrote from Camp Stoneman, where his group was preparing to embark for overseas. It looks like most of the 79th Battalion did board a transport and head for the South Pacific. Homer’s father, however, got diverted into an MP outfit based in Camp Knight, Oakland.

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4 posted on 08/12/2012 5:55:16 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: r9etb; PzLdr; dfwgator; Paisan; From many - one.; rockinqsranch; 2banana; henkster; meandog; ...
Grip on Isles Firm – 2-3
U.S. Fleet Batters Foe in Aleutians – 3
War News Summarized – 3
Germans Stab Into Circassia; Second Oil Field Menaced (Parker) – 4-5
800 Polish Priests Reported Killed – 5
86 More Soldiers Missing at Sea – 6
WPB Just Goes Ahead (Krock) – 7
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones – 8-9
5 posted on 08/12/2012 5:57:28 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/aug42/f12aug42.htm

Australians respond to Japanese landing
Wednesday, August 12, 1942 www.onwar.com

Australian troops move through New Guninea jungle [photo at link]

In New Guinea... A strong Japanese force lands at Buna. Australian troops advance toward Buna, in response.

In the Mediterranean... The convoy to Malta and its covering escort (Operation Pedestal) are subjected to constant attacks during the day. A merchant ship is sunk in the action. As the convoy withdraws, the British carrier Indomitable is damaged and a destroyer is sunk. On the final run to Malta, a cruiser and two freighters are sunk. Two more cruisers, a transport and the oil tanker Ohio are damaged.

In the New Hebrides... Strong American forces are landed on Espiritu Santu to build a supply base for the Guadalcanal campaign.

In Moscow... British Prime Minister Churchill arrives for discussions with Soviet leader Stalin. His main purpose will be to explain why the Allies cannot open a major second front in 1942.


6 posted on 08/12/2012 5:59:54 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

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

August 12th, 1942

UNITED KINGDOM: Rescue tug HMS Eminent launched.

Minesweepers HMS Espiegle and Fancy launched.

Destroyer HMS Meteor is launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

NORTH SEA: Submarine HMS Unshaken sinks the German merchant Georg L.M. Russ (2890 BRT) off Norway. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: U-468, U-526 and U-709 are commissioned.

U-531 is launched.

U-1062 is laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Churchill arrives for a conference with Stalin and informs his colleagues: “I can handle this peasant.”
The major reason for this trip is to inform Stalin there will be no 2nd Front in western Europe in 1942.

1st Panzer Army’s LII A.K. captured Elista. At this time 4th Panzer Army is approaching the outer ring of the Stalingrad defenses from the Southwest, having entered Abganerovo on the 12th. (Jeff Chrisman)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Attacks continue on the convoy of Operation Pedestal. Today 2 cruisers and destroyer and 2 merchants are sunk. One tanker and HMS Indomitable are damaged.

Whilst escorting the Pedestal convoy, destroyer HMS Foresight is attacked by Ju.87 and Ju.88 bombers and Italian S.79 torpedo bombers. Foresight is disabled by a torpedo hit and taken in tow by Tartar towards Gibraltar. Later it is decided to scuttle Foresight by torpedo from Tartar rather than risk both destroyers being sunk. There were 4 casualties but 140 survivors. Location: 13 miles SW of Galita Island at 37 40N 10 00E.

Whilst escorting the Pedestal convoy, light anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cairo is attacked by the Italian submarine Axum (TV {Lt.} Perrini, CO) which fired four torpedoes. Axum claimed hits on a cruiser and a destroyer, but in fact he had hit cruiser HMS Nigeria which had to return to Gibraltar, another torpedo hit the tanker Ohio, and the other two hit HMS Cairo and blew off her stern: she then had to be scuttled the next day, thus taking away the only two ships fitted for fighter direction. Axum’s achievement of one cruiser sunk, another damaged, and a tanker damaged with a single salvo is unique in submarine history standing at 4,200 tons sunk and 17,514 tons damaged. Location: NE of Bizerta at 37 40N 10 06E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Italian submarine Cobalto rammed and sunk off Bizerta, Tunisia after being forced to surface after being depth charged by destroyers HMS Ithuriel and Pathfinder. It was Ithuriel that rammed the submarine.

Italian submarine Dagabur rammed and sunk north of Algiers by destroyer HMS Wolverine. (Dave Shirlaw)

EGYPT: Cairo: Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery has today taken over command of the British Eighth Army in North Africa. The arrival of this relatively unknown general is the culmination of a week of turmoil in the army hierarchy, as first Winston Churchill pressed for changes and then the newly-chosen commander for the Eighth Army was shot down by German fighters, leaving the way open for Montgomery. The major internal battle has been waged over the new C-in-C, with Auchinleck now replaced by General Sir Harold Alexander.
Auchinleck finally sealed his own fate when he told the PM that there was no chance of a majot offensive until his exhausted army was reinforced and retrained, and complained about the inadequacy of his tanks and anti-tank weapons, prompting the premier to storm: “Rommel, Rommel, Rommel! What else matters except beating him?” How quickly the offensive will begin is another matter.

CHINA: Shantung: Japanese troops today took advantage of the disarray among the divided Chinese forces by launching new operations in central Shantung against the troops of the Nationalist leader Yu Hsueh-chung, on the run for the last nine days since Communist troops overran his headquarters before they defected to the Eighth Route Army.
Yu managed to escape by disguising himself as a shepherd as the Communists moved into his old base area to begin mopping up operations against Nationalist die-hards. Among those cornered was the militant anti-Communist Ch’in Chijung, who, when surrounded by the Eighth, committed suicide rather than be captured.

JAPAN: The 39 year old would-be assassin of Prime Minister Tojo Hideki, Park Soowan has been killed by police it is today reported in the Japanese press. The attempt was made on June 17th. (Lois Shapley Bassen and Sharon Domier)(132 and 133)

NEW HEBRIDES: US forces start building a base on Espiritu Santu.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A PBY Catalina, piloted by Admiral McCain’s aide, is the first aircraft to land at, the yet unfinished, Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. On a run from Guadalancal to Tulagi, 2 Higgins boats and tank lighter are attacked by a IJN I-boat. After sinking one Higgins boat the submarine is bracketed by Battery E of the 11th Marines and submerges.

The US forces on Guadalcanal are placed on reduced rations of 2 meals per day. This relatively large ration is possible due to the captured Japanese food stuffs.

After dark a patrol led by Col. Frank Goettge (G-2, 1st MarDiv) leaves the Marine Perimeter, by boat 3 miles east, for the mouth of the Matanikau River. Stories from the 3 survivors tell of the glint of swords or bayonets as the patrol is slaughtered. This incident will profoundly effect the US forces throughout the war in the Pacific.

Supporting the Guadalcanal invasion, USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Allied Air Forces bomb shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island, scoring damaging hits on an oiler. (Jack McKillop)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Cowra laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Trois Rivieres (ex HMCS Three Rivers) commissioned.

Minesweepers HMCS Llewellyn and Lloyd George launched Quebec City, Province of Quebec. (Dave Shirlaw)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutian Islands: A US 11th Air Force B-24 Liberator flies photo reconnaissance over Amlia and Atka Islands.

U.S.A.: San Francisco: Admiral Nimitz replies to Admiral King: “Doubt BB usefulness unless we can operate them in close support Cactus [Guadalcanal] area.” He agrees to bring Task Force 1 (TF-1) to Pearl Harbor “for possible use against landing attack this area,” i.e. Hawaii. Otherwise, he tells King, no old battleships would go south “unless directed by you.” (John B. Lundstrom)(225)

The US light cruiser USS Cleveland (CL-55), operating in the Chesapeake Bay, demonstrated the effectiveness of the radio-proximity fuze against aircraft by destroying 3 radio-controlled drones with 4 proximity bursts fired from her 5-inch (127 mm) guns. This successful demonstration led to mass production of the fuze. (Jack McKillop)

USS Wolverine, Unclassified Miscellaneous Vessel Number 64 (IX-64) had been launched in 1912 by Detroit Shipbuilding as SS Seeandbee. She was converted and commissioned today. This aircraft carrier was used for training on the Great Lakes and was one of two paddlewheelers. (Jack McKillop)

Destroyer USS Robinson laid down.

Destroyer USS La Vallette is commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

Movie star Clark Gable enlists. (Stuart Kohn)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-508 sinks SS Manzanillo and Santiago de Cuba in SpecCon-12. (Dave Shirlaw)


7 posted on 08/12/2012 6:01:22 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

August 12 1942:
"Dachau's crematorium (pictured here and above) housed several ovens for the burning of numerous bodies simultaneously.
Still, the camp's inmates died in numbers too large for the ovens to incinerate every corpse."



8 posted on 08/12/2012 6:06:25 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective....)
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
page 5 headline: "Abolition of Christianity is a deliberate, long-range objective of Nazi administrators in occupied countries, the Inter-Allied Information Committee asserted in a 10,000-word report issued tonight on religious persecution in Europe...

"The report... said that in Poland the number of priests 'executed by the Gestapo' or tormented to death in German prisons and concentration camps is estimated at 800.
It said there were about 3,000 Polish priests in German concentration camps at present...

" 'Even high dignitaries and distinguished lay-workers of churches (in Czechoslovakia) were not spared physical torment and spiritual pressure of the most severe character,' the report said.
'Among them was Karel Cardinal Kaspar, the Archbishop of Prague, who died in June, 1941.'
About the same time the leading Catholic intellectual, Alfred Fuchs, was tortured to death and his window received his ashes.' "

By war's end the total of Christian clergy deaths came to around 3,000 from all over Europe.

Such data is important to remember in any discussion of "where was the Church during the Holocaust?"
The answer to a large extent is: the Church was also in the concentration camps, death camps, crematoria and even gas chambers along with Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's witnesses and others "unworthy of life".

9 posted on 08/12/2012 6:35:58 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective....)
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To: r9etb; PzLdr; dfwgator; Paisan; From many - one.; rockinqsranch; 2banana; henkster; meandog; ...
Continued from reply #3

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10 posted on 08/12/2012 8:11:16 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

I saw a letter by my wife’s grandfather, who was a troop transport commander in the Solomons describing the japanese airman they retrieved (dead)after shooting him down in August 41, Enclosed was a 10 yen script from him.


11 posted on 08/12/2012 8:18:55 AM PDT by AU72
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To: AU72
I saw a letter by my wife’s grandfather, who was a troop transport commander in the Solomons describing the japanese airman they retrieved (dead)after shooting him down in August 41, Enclosed was a 10 yen script from him.

Now, that's interesting. Do you suppose your wife knows the name of the transport her grandfather served on? (I'll bet it was August 42 instead of 41.)

12 posted on 08/12/2012 8:36:03 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

His flagship was the USS Heywood. He transported troops for landings at Attu, Guadalcanal, Kweijaheln, Tarawa, Philipines and Okinawa and he was the first flagship in Nagasaki and received the surrender in his wardroom.


13 posted on 08/12/2012 8:46:54 AM PDT by AU72
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

Transport ships of the 2nd Marine Division for the Tarawa invasion.

Capt. H. B. Knowles, USN
Trans Div 4 CT 2 (2nd Marines
APA Zeilin LT 2/2 (2nd Bn, 2nd Marines)
APA Heywood LT 2/8 (2nd Bn, 8th Marines)
APA Middelton LT 3/2 (3rd Bn, 2nd Marines)
APA Biddle LT Hq/2nd Marines
APA Lee LT 1/2 (1st Bn, 2nd Marines)
APA Thuban LT Detachments CT 8

Trans Div 18 CT 8 (8th Marines)
APA Monrovia LT 3/8 (3rd Bn, 8th Marines)
APA Sheridan LT 1/8 (1st Bn, 8th Marines)
APA La Salle Division Troops
APA Doyen Division Troops
APA Virgo Detachments CT 8
LSD Ashland * Medium Tanks

Trans Div 6 CT (6th Marines)
APA Harris LT 3/6 (3rd Bn, 6th Mariines)
APA Bell LT 2/6 (2nd Bn, 6th Marines)
APA Ormsby LT Hq/6th Marines
APA Feland LT 1/6 (1st Bn, 6th Marines)
APA Bellatrix Detachments CT 6

* Joined the transport group at Villa Harbor, Efate.

Source: Appendix E, p.79, Stockman, James R. The Battle for Tarawa. 1947.


14 posted on 08/12/2012 8:54:19 AM PDT by AU72
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To: AU72
USS Heywood

There are a bunch of photos of the ship at the link but I don't know how to post them here.

USS Heywood (AP-12, later APA-6), 1940-1946

USS Heywood, a 14,560-ton transport, was built in 1919 at Alameda, California, as the civilian freighter Steadfast. Extensively rebuilt in about 1930 and renamed City of Baltimore, she was employed as a passenger-cargo ship until October 1940, when the Navy acquired her. She was converted to a transport at Portland, Oregon, renamed Heywood (AP-12) and placed in commission in November 1940. Until June 1941, she operated in the Pacific, then transited the Panama Canal and participated in the occupation of Iceland that summer. Heywood served in the Atlantic and Caribbean through the remaining period of nominal peace and during the first four months of World War II.

In April 1942 Heywood retransited the Panama Canal for use transporting reinforcements to the south Pacific. She took part in the Allies' first major offensive against the Japanese, the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in early August and spent the rest of the year supporting the fight to hold Guadalcanal against enemy counter-attacks. The ship was reclassified as an attack transport in February 1943, receiving the new hull number APA-6. Following an overhaul, in April 1943 she went north to Alaskan waters, where she participated in the amphibious operation to seize Attu in May. Heywood left the north Pacific after Kiska was recovered in August and in November took part in the capture of Tarawa, in the Gilbert Islands.

Heywood's next combat operation was the Marshall Islands invasion in January and February 1944. During June and July, she landed troops on Saipan and Tinian, in the Marianas. As U.S. forces returned to the Philippines, she participated in the invasions of Leyte in October 1944 and of Luzon, at Lingayen Gulf, in January 1945. Heywood carried reinforcements to Okinawa during the later part of the battle to capture that island and was preparing for the invasion of Japan when the Pacific War ended in August 1945. She then spent two months supporting occupation efforts before steaming back to the United States. USS Heywood was decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, in April 1946. Transferred to the Maritime Administration in July of that year, she later regained her old name, City of Baltimore, and survived until 1956, when she was scrapped.

15 posted on 08/12/2012 11:05:21 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
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To: AU72; Homer_J_Simpson
"Transport ships of the 2nd Marine Division for the Tarawa invasion. Capt. H. B. Knowles, USN Trans Div 4 CT 2 (2nd Marines APA Zeilin LT 2/2 (2nd Bn, 2nd Marines) APA Heywood LT 2/8 (2nd Bn, 8th Marines) APA Middelton LT 3/2 (3rd Bn, 2nd Marines)"

My Dad served in the Coast Guard and was assigned to the APA Arthur Middleton. He described - not to me - that the bodies of our Marines were so numerous & floating in the lagoon & he couldnt avoid them when his landing craft came ashore.

16 posted on 08/12/2012 5:53:29 PM PDT by texanyankee
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

Monty will take longer to attack than Auchinleck planned to.


17 posted on 08/12/2012 9:30:40 PM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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