Posted on 07/30/2014 4:14:12 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Major General H.W. Blakeley, USA, Ret., 32d Infantry Division in World War II
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy
The News of the Week in Review
In the East and West the Allies Drive On (maps) – 17-18
Closing In – 19-22
Quotations – 22
Fifteen News Questions – 23
New Bold Tactics Won Victory in Normandy (by Hanson W. Baldwin) – 24
The Three Zones of Japan’s Defensive System (map) – 25
‘Fortress Japan’ Has Three Defensive Zones (by Sidney Shalett) – 26
Soviet Speed and Power Overwhelms the Nazis (by W.H. Lawrence) – 27
“Will Return Later” (cartoon) – 28
Answers to Fifteen News Questions – 28
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/jul44/30jul44.htm#
Germans counterattack US advance
Sunday, July 30, 1944 www.onwar.com
On the Western Front... Advancing elements of US 1st Army seize Granville and enter Avranches, capturing bridges over the See River. The left flank is counterattacked by German forces of the 2nd Parachute Corps at Percy and Villedieu. British forces mount successful attacks near Caumount.
In the Mariana Islands... On Tinian, the main town of Tinian is captured by American forces. The southern half of Guam has been secured by US troops.
In the Philippine Sea... The US heavy cruiser Indianapolis is sunk by a Japanese submarine.
In New Guinea... The US 6th Division (Sibert) lands unopposed on the islands of Amsterdam and Middleburg, off Cape Sansapor. Task Force 78 (Admiral Berkey) provides naval support.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/30.htm
July 30th, 1944 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. In Mission 505, 237 P-47s and P-51 Mustangs fly sweeps of Evreux, St Quentin, Paris and Orleans, France claiming the destruction of 3 Luftwaffe”>Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 9 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost. In Mission 506, 1 B-17 is dispatched on a night leaflet mission but is recalled. Also, 31 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
The first ambulance version of the Avro Anson XI (NK 870) makes its maiden flight. (22)
Submarine HMS Varne commissioned.
ENGLISH CHANNEL: U-621 attacked an unknown convoy in the English Channel with LUT torpedoes and claimed a ship of 9,000 tons sunk. In fact the Ascanius was damaged.
FRANCE: Granville and Avranches fall to US forces in France. German forces including II Parachute Corps make a strong counterattack. The British advance near Caumont, France.
The US Ninth Air Force dispatches 450+ A-20 Havocs and B-26s to bomb defenses in the Chaumont area in support of the US First Army; fighters fly escort, cover the assault area and armored columns, and carry out armed reconnaissance in the Orleans-Paris area; and 200+ C-47 Skytrains fly supply and evacuation missions to the Continent
EASTERN FRONT: The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy sends 300+ bombers to attack targets in Hungary and YUGOSLAVIA: in Hungary, B-24s bomb Duna Airfield; B-17s bomb the aircraft factory at Budapest, and marshalling yards at Brod, Yugoslavia; P-38s and P-51s escort the missions.
ITALY: The first elements of the negro U.S. 92d Infantry Division reach Naples. They are a handpicked group from the 370th Regimental Combat Team. (Russell Folsom)
BALTIC SEA: U-250 (Type VIIC) is sunk on this day at 19.40 hours, in the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Finland, at position 60.28N, 28.25E, by depth charges from Russian sub chaser MO-103. 46 dead, 6 survivors.
Earlier at 1242 hrs U-250 attacked the 56 ton Russian sub chaser MO 105 with a G7e torpedo , at the north side of the Koivisto-strait in the Gulf of Finland. The Russian boat was destroyed easily (19 dead, 7 survivors), but the noise of the explosion brought other Russian boats to the location.
At 1910hrs, Russian ‘Oberleutnant` Aleksander Kolenko, chief of MO 103 got a sonar contact on U-250 and dropped five depth charges. U-250 was not heavily damaged, but there were seen on the water an air-bubbles track and so MO 103 dropped a second series of five depth charges. One of these exploded over the diesel room and U-250 got a big hole in the hull and sank. Kapitänleutnant Werner-Karl Schmidt along with five other crew-members in the control-room got themselves out at the last minute. Needless to say the Russians were thrilled to have a German U-boat captain alive and a sunken U-boat in shallow waters. Russian divers soon discovered that the boat lay at only 27-meter depth with only a slight listing of 14 degrees to the right and a large hole over the top of the diesel room. Two large air tanks, 200 tons each, were transported to the area and the Russians worked behind a smoke-curtain to raise the boat. The Germans and the Finnish did what they could to prevent the boat with the new secret T5 (Zaunkönig) acoustic-torpedo falling into Soviet hands. Finnish coastal artillery and German torpedo boats made frequent attacks on the salvage site but to no avail. Finally in September 1944 the Russian raised U-250and towed it between air tanks to Kronstadt for examination. On 15 Sept 1944 U-250 came into the dry dock at Kronstadt. The former Commander Kptlt. Schmidt had to go first into the now dry boat, as the Russian believed some explosive charges might still be on the boat. The 6 survivors then spent some years in Russian captivity. From 12 April 1945 to 20 Aug 1945 in the Russian Navy as TS-14. Later broken up. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)
U-481 attacked by two Soviet Il-2 (35. ShAP) in Narwa Bay in the Baltic. One Il-2 damaged and later ditched. At 1736, U-481 fired a Gnat at group of coastal minesweepers in Narva Bay and observed a hit after 35 seconds and saw the KT-804 (No 35) sink. At 1740, a second Gnat was fired, which detonated after 1 minute 55 seconds. Andersen could not observe the sinking of the KT-807 (No 42), but he saw how the damaged KT-806 was towed away. The U-boat later found wreckage at the site.
TINIAN: Tinian Town falls to the US forces.
In the Mariana Islands, US Seventh Air Force B-25s and P-47s from Saipan Island support US Marine ground troops on Tinian.
NEW GUINEA: During Operation GLOBETROTTER, elements of the US Army’s 6th Infantry Division are landed at Cape Opmari on the northwest coast of New Guinea and on Amsterdam and Middleburg Islands. Supporting the operation is the Navy’s Task Force 77.
GUAM: The southern half of the island has been mostly cleared.
SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC: With Admiral Berkey’s TF 78 supporting, General Sibert’s 6th Divison lands, unopposed, on the islands of Amsterdam and Middleburg off Cape Sansapor, New Guinea.
U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Hilarity launched.
Submarines USS Kete and Sea Poacher commissioned.
Outstanding, as always. I only wish the current Nazis would withdraw from the west wing.. and the rest of the White House.
See page 8 item about Rommel.
Back to the top.
I saw that; news of Rommel’s injury/death is in two stories today. Looks like the prisoner bag in Cobra has yielded some useful information.
Interesting how the Germans let the world know right away when von Rundstedt was sacked in the west, and Busch was sacked in the east, but no mention of Rommel or von Manstein for a long time.
I see on page 7 that Greg Boyington is listed as missing in action. Apparently he popped up again.
He won't pop up until Aug '45. (page 6 actually - page numbers are at the top)
The USS Indianapolis sank on July 30, 1945 not 1944.
Hmm. A little different than the Times caption. Which one is accurate?
On Page 4, the courtship of Gandhi and Jinnah reaches the handshake stage. It will result in a marriage of convenience that lasts until the day of India’s independence.
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