http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/12.htm
July 12th, 1944 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF’s Eighth Air Force flies three missions.
- Mission 468: 131 B-24s, escorted by by 144 Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires, are dispatched to bomb 10 CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites in the Rouen, France area but abort because of a thick blanket of low cloud over the target area; no losses.
- Mission 469: 1,271 bombers and 803 fighters are dispatched to bomb Munich and Enstingen, Germany; 24 bombers are lost, 4 are damaged beyond repair and 297 are damaged. Escort is provided by 717 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair.
- Mission 470: During the night, 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France.
The first two Gloster Meteor Mk I jets are delivered to No. 616 Squadron RAF based at Culmhead, Somerset. By the end of August, the squadron has transitioned from Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk. VIIs to Meteors becoming the first operational Allied jet fighters squadron.
FRANCE: The US forces capture Hill 92, just two miles east of St. Lo.
Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt and assigned to the US First Army, dies of a heart attack in Normandy, France. He was 56. Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Normandy on 6 June 1944. The citation for the medal reads, “Citation: for gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, in France. After two verbal requests to accompany the leading assault elements in the Normandy invasion had been denied, Brigadier General Roosevelt’s written request for this mission was approved and he landed with the first wave of the forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches. He repeatedly led groups from the beach, over the seawall and established them inland. His valor, courage, and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brigadier General Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strong points and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France.” The medal was posthumously awarded on 28 September 1944. (Jack McKillop and W. Jay Stone)
300+ USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders fly morning and afternoon missions against fuel dumps at Foret d’Andaine and Foret d’Ecouves, military concentrations at Foret de Cinglais, rail bridges at Merey, Cinq Mars-la-Pile, Saumur, Nantes, and Nogent-le-Roi, and other rail and road targets; fighters furnish escort, cover the battle area, and fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas, attacking rail lines south and west of Rambouillet, bridges and fuel dump in the Nantes vicinity, trains and military transport at Vitry-le-Francois, and grounded aircraft south of Chateaubriant, bridges at Craon, Le Mans, Pontorson, Mayenne, south of Rennes, north of Angers, and Tours, rail traffic south of Fougeres, and infantry and artillery positions near Periers.
ITALY: US air attacks against the bridges of the River Po begins. Operation MALLORY MAJOR conducted by Twelfth Air Force North American B-25 Mitchells and Martin B-26 Marauders against bridges spanning the Po River in Italy. The bridges were attacked on 12, 13, 14 and 15 July and was deemed a success and terminated on the 15th.
The Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 420+ B-24s to attack targets in southeastern France, scoring numerous hits on Nimes and Miramas marshalling yards and cutting rail lines at the Theoule-sur-Mer bridge and Var River bridge in Provence; around 50 enemy fighters oppose the missions; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 14 shot down; 7 AAF aircraft are lost.
FINLAND: Corporal Ville Väisänen is awarded the highest Finnish military award, Cross of Mannerheim Order, for destroying eight Soviet tanks using a Panzershreck. (Jukka Kauppinen)
The Soviet Union informs the Swedes that it is willing to discuss peace with Finland. (Gene)
U.S.S.R.: Idritsa falls to Yeremenko’s troops.
POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: The “family camp” of 12,500 Jews is closed down, and 4,000 of them are gassed.
BURMA: No. 84 Squadron flies the last RAF missions against the Japanese equipped with the Vultee Vengeance dive-bomber. (22)
PACIFIC: Seventh Air Force P-47s based on Saipan Island continue pre-invasion attacks on Tinian Island.
AUSTRALIA: MacArthur asks Australian General Blamey to produce a plan for the relief of six US Divisions in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, so as to free these forces for operations in the Philippines. Blamey proposed to use six Australian militia brigades to relieve the six US divisions, and maintain 1st Australian Corps at full strength with three AIF divisions, for use in MacArthur’s offensives in PI. Some US officers saw this as a slur on US troops (i.e. that six Australian militia brigades should relieve six US divisions). However, it wasn’t: the Japanese forces in the Solomons and New Guinea were not aggressive and Blamey correctly assessed that large forces were not necessary to contain them. (Michael Alexander)
CANADA:
Tugs HMCS Gleneagle and Glenkeen laid down Kingston, Ontario.
HMC ML 116 commissioned.
Frigate HMCS Sussexvale launched Lauzon, Province of Quebec.
Frigate HMCS Thetford Mines arrived Bermuda for workups. (DS)
U.S.A.: Elements of V Amphibious Corps HQ form Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific. (Gordon Rottman)
Destroyer USS Ebert commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Pivot commissioned. (DS)
Yet again I cringe when I think of the current poor excuse for an “American” in the White House as I read Teddy’s son’s bio for the first time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt,_Jr.
With a reserve commission in the army (like Quentin and Archibald), soon after World War I started, Ted was called up. When the United States declared war on Germany, Ted volunteered to be one of the first soldiers to go to France. There, he was recognized as the best battalion commander in his division, according to the division commander. Roosevelt braved hostile fire and gas and led his battalion in combat. So concerned was he for his men’s welfare that he purchased combat boots for the entire battalion with his own money. He eventually commanded the 26th Regiment in the First Division as lieutenant colonel. He fought in several major battles. He was gassed and wounded at Soissons during the summer of 1918. In July of that year, his youngest brother Quentin was killed in combat. Ted received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the war. France conferred upon him the Chevalier Légion d’honneur on March 16, 1919. Before the troops came home from France, Ted was one of the founders of the soldiers’ organization that developed as the American Legion.”
Despite a heart condition and arthritis that forced him to use a cane, General Roosevelt led the assault on Utah Beach.
Roosevelt was the only general on D-Day to land by sea with the first wave of troops. At 56, he would be the oldest man in the invasion, and the only man to serve with his son on D-Day at Normandy (Captain Quentin Roosevelt II was among the first wave of soldiers to land at Omaha beach while his father commanded at Utah beach).
Roosevelt was one of the first soldiers, along with Captain Leonard T. Schroeder Jr., off his landing craft as he led the U.S. 4th Infantry Division’s 8th Infantry Regiment and 70th Tank Battalion landing at Utah Beach. Roosevelt was soon informed that the landing craft had drifted more than a mile south of their objective, and the first wave of men was a mile off course. Walking with the aid of a cane and carrying a pistol, he personally made a reconnaissance of the area immediately to the rear of the beach to locate the causeways that were to be used for the advance inland. He returned to the point of landing and contacted the commanders of the two battalions, Lieutenant Colonels Conrad C. Simmons and Carlton O. MacNeely, and coordinated the attack on the enemy positions confronting them. Roosevelt’s famous words in these circumstances were, “We’ll start the war from right here!”.[16]
These impromptu plans worked with complete success and little confusion. With artillery landing close by, each follow-on regiment was personally welcomed on the beach by a cool, calm, and collected Roosevelt, who inspired all with humor and confidence, reciting poetry and telling anecdotes of his father to steady the nerves of his men. Roosevelt pointed almost every regiment to its changed objective. Sometimes he worked under fire as a self-appointed traffic cop, untangling traffic jams of trucks and tanks all struggling to get inland and off the beach. One GI later reported that seeing the general walking around, apparently unaffected by the enemy fire, even when clods of earth fell down on him, gave him the courage to get on with the job, saying if the general is like that it can’t be that bad.[citation needed]
When General Barton, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division, came ashore, he met Roosevelt not far from the beach. He later wrote that
while I was mentally framing [orders], Ted Roosevelt came up. He had landed with the first wave, had put my troops across the beach, and had a perfect picture (just as Roosevelt had earlier promised if allowed to go ashore with the first wave) of the entire situation. I loved Ted. When I finally agreed to his landing with the first wave, I felt sure he would be killed. When I had bade him goodbye, I never expected to see him alive. You can imagine then the emotion with which I greeted him when he came out to meet me [near La Grande Dune]. He was bursting with information.[17]
By modifying his division’s original plan on the beach, Roosevelt enabled the division to achieve its mission objectives by coming ashore and attacking north behind the beach toward its original objective. Years later, General Omar Bradley was asked to name the single most heroic action he had ever seen in combat, and he replied, “Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach.”