Posted on 08/24/2014 4:12:23 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/aug44/24aug44.htm#
German line shattered in Romania
Thursday, August 24, 1944 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... The line of German Army Group South Ukraine (Freissner) is shattered by the defection of the Romanian forces and the encirclement of 6th Army. Soviet forces continue to advance rapidly. Kishinev is captured by Soviet troops.
On the Western Front... The French 4th Armored Division (Leclerc), part of the US 5th Corps, reaches the outskirts of Paris as renewed fighting takes place within the city, between German forces and French resistance members.
In Southern France... Elements of the US 7th Army advancing northeast along the coast capture Cannes. In the advance northward, Grenoble is occupied while forces moving west take Arles on the Rhone River, south of Avignon.
In Occupied Norway... Elements of the British Home Fleet, led by Admiral Moore, make an unsuccessful air strike on the German battleship Tirpitz in Kaafiord.
In the Occupied Dutch East Indies... Admiral Moody commands the British carriers Victorious and Indomitable in an air raid on Padang in the southwest of Sumatra. The battleship HMS Howe is among the escorting ships.
In Washington... At Dumbarton Oaks, senior Allied representatives meet to discuss postwar security.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/24.htm
August 24th, 1944 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: While the reopening of London theatres signals the defeat of the V1 flying-bomb offensive against the capital, the closure of theatres and amusements in Germany shows the desperate state the war has reached for the Nazis. Dr Goebbels announced today that all theatres, music halls and cabarets were to be closed from 1 September and all holidays suspended as part of total mobilization. Manpower released will be conscripted for war-work. So will thousands of students.
The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 2 missions.
- Mission 568: 1,319 bombers and 739 fighters, in 4 forces, are dispatched on visual attacks on strategic targets in Germany with some PFF on targets of opportunity; 26 bombers and 4 fighters are lost. The numbers in parentheses after the target name indicate number of attacking bombers.
(1) B-24s bomb aviation industry targets at Brunswick/Waggum (125), Brunswick/Querum (99) and Hannover/Langenhagen (72) and an oil refinery at Misburg (88); 5 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 5 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 248 P-38 Lightnings P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs they claim 10-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.
(2) B-17s attack the Merseburg oil refinery (185), Weimar (129) and Kolleda Airfield (30); targets of opportunity hit are airfields at Goslar (37), Nordhausen (11), Vorden (11) and Stade (2), and Leipzig (10) plus 7 others; they claim 10-3-3 aircraft; 16 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 121 P-51s; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft without loss.
(3) B-17s bomb oil industry targets at Brux (139), Ruhland (135) and Freital (65); 15 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 240 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 10-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.
(4) 43 B-24s hit Kiel/Walther; 3 others hit Hemmingstedt Airfield and 2 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 17 P-51s without loss.
- Mission 569: 1 B-17 drops leaflets on Brest, France during the night.
Repair ship HMS Beauly Firth launched.
Submarine KNM Utsira (ex-HMS Variance) commissioned.
FRANCE: The French 2nd Armoured Division, under Major-General Jacques Leclerc, reaches the outskirts of Paris. Fighting within the city again, due to German defensive movements. The French use back streets to crack the Germans’ defences of Paris and reach the heart of the city. Nearby, the U. S. 4th Infantry Division pushes into Paris’ suburbs. Meanwhile, the U.S. 5th Infantry and 7th Armored Divisions bridge the Seine at Melun and Mandara, east of Paris.
Resistance fighter Emile Guet takes part in the capture of an 82-man German battalion. The head of Guet’s Resistance Group promises the captives that they will be treated as prisoners of war. (Pierre Sauvey, AP)
Paris: The reluctance of von Cholitz to engage his troops in battle has encouraged those who want to be active against the Germans, so nullifying the truce. Estimates put the number of civilian casualties of the insurrection as 1,000.
In northern France, weather cancels a US IX Bomber Command mission against 4 fuel dumps north of the Seine River; fighters give air cover to ground forces, mainly for 3 armoured and 2 infantry divisions, bomb Seine River bridges, and fly armed reconnaissance along the Seine and around Troyes, Orleans, and Tours; about 270 C-47 Skytrains fly supply and evacuation missions.
The USAAF’s Twelfth Air Force in France and Italy TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): During the night of 23/24 August, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit motor transport and targets of opportunity in the Rhone Valley of France and at Genoa, Milan, and Turin, Italy; medium bombers bomb bridges at Montpellier, Avignon, and Lunel, France and Solignano Nuovo, and Castel del Rio, Italy, and score direct hits on gun positions in the Marseille, France area; and fighters bomb and strafe gun positions, vehicles, roads and bridges throughout south-eastern France.
In the south, US forces liberate Cannes and Antibes on the Riviera and Arles on the Rhone River while the Germans evacuate Bordeaux however, the Germans occupy fortified bunker positions on the Gironde estuary west of the city.
The first shipments of gasoline, ammunition, food and other military equipment begin streaming across France on the “Red Ball Express,” a highway supply line using thousands of American trucks. Using two roads restricted to military traffic, Red Ballers hotrod from St. Lo in Normandy to advanced supply dumps of the U.S. First and Third Armies. The Red Ball rolls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler orders the building of a new “west wall” charging party officials to do the work because he no longer trusts the army.
U-779 commissioned.
U-2519 and U-2520 laid down.
NORWAY: The aircraft carriers HM Ships Formidable, Furious and Indefatigable launched an air strike against the great German battleship Tirpitz sheltering in Altenfjord. Fleet Air Arm Barracuda dive-bombers attacked escorted by Seafires, Hellcats, Fireflies and Corsairs. Tirpitz was hit, though not seriously damaged.
FINLAND: President Mannerheim and the cabinet unanimously decide to seek peace with Soviet Union. It is agreed that the decision can’t be postponed even if Germany is continuously providing Finland with war material and Hitler hasn’t reacted to Mannerheim’s message to Keitel that Finland will stay in the war only as long as it is in her interest to do so.
Submarine Iku-Turso tries to attack Lavanaari harbour but in shallow water it hits a net obstacle and is damaged by explosion. Boat returns to Helsinki.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF’s Eighth Air Force in England visually bomb two targets in Brux: 132 aircraft bomb the synthetic oil refinery while seven others bomb the industrial area; two aircraft are lost. The USAAF’s Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs three targets: 158 bomb the airfield at Pardurice while 110 hit the oil refinery in the same city; another 100 bomb the oil refinery at Kolin; 13 bombers are lost.
U.S.S.R.: The German Army Group South Ukraine, under Freissner, has been shattered by Russian attacks and the defection of the Rumanian forces attached. Kishinev falls to the Soviets.
HUNGARY: Forty nine heavy bombers of the USAAF’s Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb the railroad bridge at Szeged without loss.
ITALY: The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 530+ B-17s and B-24s to bomb 3 oil refineries at Kolin and Pardubice, Czechoslovakia; marshalling yard at Vinkovci, Yugoslavia; Szeged, Hungary; and Ferrara, Italy railroad bridge and several targets of opportunity; around 70-80 fighters escort the Czechoslovakian missions; US bombers and escorting fighters claim nearly 40 air victories.
During the day, medium bombers of the USAAF’s Twelfth Air Force bomb bridges at Solignano Nuovo, and Castel del Rio. Heavy bombers of the USAAF’s Fifteenth Air Force hit four targets: 62 bomb the railroad bridge at Ferrara; individual bomber hit the railroad at Bordeno and Formignana and a target of opportunity at Polesella; two aircraft are lost. During the night of 23/24 August, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit motor transport and targets of opportunity at Genoa, Milan, and Turin while 74 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the Main marshalling yard at Bologna.
During the night of 23/24 August, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit motor transport and targets of opportunity at Genoa, Milan, and Turin; during the day, medium bombers bomb bridges at Solignano Nuovo, and Castel del Rio.
YUGOSLAVIA: Fifty one heavy bombers of the USAAF’s Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb a marshalling yard at Vincovici.
CHINA: Town areas, river and road traffic, railroad targets, and other targets of opportunity in or near Hengyang, Chuchou, Siangtan, and Yangtien are attacked by 8 B-25s and 25 P-40s of the USAAF’s Fourteenth Air Force; 19 other P-40s hit similar targets of opportunity at Yungeheng, Anjen, along the central Yangtze River, and south of Mangshih.
BURMA: 9 USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25s bomb Kangon; 3 P-47 Thunderbolt flights support British troops northeast of Pinbaw, hitting forces and gun emplacements near Namyin Te and Nansankyin; 4 P-47s bomb Nankan; and 4 P-51 Mustangs strafe vehicles along the Shweli River and bomb a storage area south of Hopin.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: A British air and naval force under Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, including carriers HMS Victorious and Indomitable, and battleship HMS Howe, under Admiral Moody, attack Padang in SW Sumatra.
The USAAF’s Far East Air Forces dispatches B-25s to attack shipping in Lembeh Strait, Celebes Island, while B-24s bomb Lolobata Airfield on Halmahera Island.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: US Seventh Air Force B-24s based in the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll.
MARIANA ISLANDS: The advanced air echelon of Brigadier General Emmett O’Donnell Jr’s HQ 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) arrives in the with B-29s, the first Twentieth Air Force contingent to arrive; the ground echelon arrives by ship on 16 September.
SAIPAN: Saipan Island-based P-47s of the USAAF Seventh Air Force pound Aguijan and Pagan Islands. Marshall Island-based B-24s bomb Truk Atoll while B-25s hit Nauru Island.
PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN submarine USS Harder (SS-257) is sunk by Japanese Coast defence Vessel No. 22 off the west coast of Luzon. In a four day period the USS Harder under the command of Samuel Dealey sank three Japanese destroyers and damaged two more, most with short range down the throat shots, a dangerous tactic. In all Dealey sank 16 Japanese ships and was awarded the Medal of Honor before being lost, along with all of his crew to a Japanese Minesweeper today. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)
USN submarines sink four Japanese merchant ships. (1) USS Ronquil (SS-396) attacks a Japanese convoy, sinking an army cargo ship off Keelung, Formosa, and a merchant cargo ship off Sankaku Island; (2) USS Sailfish (SS-192) attacks Japanese convoy in Luzon Strait, sinking a transport; and (3) USS Seal (SS-183) sinks a merchant cargo ship off the southeast coast of Hokkaido, Japan.
CANADA: ASW towing vessel HMCS Kirkwood assigned to HMCS Somers Isles.
U.S.A.: The USN establishes its first night carrier air group, Night Light Carrier Air Group Forty Three [CVLG(N)-43] at NAAS Charlestown, Rhode Island. The air group consists of 2 squadrons, Night Fighting Squadron Forty Three [VF(N)-43] and the first night torpedo squadron, Night Torpedo Squadron Forty Three [VT(N)-43].
Destroyer escort USS Woodson commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Murrelet laid down.
Submarine USS Requin laid down.
Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-264 was commissioned at New York with LTJG E. F. Warner, USCGR, first commanding officer. On 27 September 1944 she departed New York towing P-751 for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war at Leyte, Manila, etc. She was decommissioned on 24 September 1945.
Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific and Admin Command, Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific are combined to become Provisional HQ, Fleet Marine Force. (Gordon Rottman)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Three German submarines are sunk:
- U-354 is sunk in the Barents Sea northeast of North Cape, in position 72.49N, 30.41E, by depth charges from the RN sloops HMS Mermaid and HMS Peacock, the frigate HMS Loch Dunvegan and the destroyer HMS Keppel. All hands on the U-boat, 51-men, are lost.
- U-445 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of St. Nazaire, France, in position 47.21N, 05.50W, by depth charges from the RN frigate HMS Louis. All 52 crewmen of the U-boat are lost.
- U-925 is last heard from today. She and her 51 crewmen are lost in the North Atlantic or Arctic Sea north of Britain.
Roberto Alagna “La Marseillaise”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqZ4GQ5ZPME
La Marseillaise, French National Anthem (French/English)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g&list=PL17B6BA980635DAA4
"Beginning in August 1944, Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York, provided a haven to 982 refugees, mostly Jews, from 17 countries.
Liberated by the Allies in southern Italy, they received sanctuary in the "free port" on the condition they return to their homelands at the end of the war.
Inmate numbers were limited to allay fears that the U.S. might be overwhelmed by a tide of penniless Jewish refugees at war's end.
"Confined to the camp, many people despaired.
One mother, with two sons who had emigrated earlier and were fighting in the U.S. Army, faced the heartbreaking predicament of never seeing them if she were to be repatriated.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was deeply touched by the refugees' plight, but noted 'that people in wartime are not logical, and Congress acts in the way people at home want them to act.' "
And still nine more months of war the worse to come. It’s great reading all these old NYT - shows me what my great grandads generation went through in real-time. Thanks for posting these.
What a quaint notion.
FRiends, ever since the 2012 election of President Romney, I'm not a big fan of Dick Morris, for the same reason I'm not a fan of President Romney -- over-confidence, under-performance.
Nevertheless, Morris is an indefatigable self-promoter, so I saw this last night on TV, found it today on the internet.
It is a small part of Morris' symposium on WWII, a part which relates to "today's" news.
In it he makes a number of astonishing assertions, including that 25% of the Jews who will die are still alive.
I can't confirm if that's correct or not, but would have put the number closer to merely 10% -- since the last major shipments to Auschwitz from Hungary are completed, and nearly all the other death-camps have been shut down.
So there are very few Jews left alive within the grasp of Nazis.
I will look for an answer to that...
But the major claim Morris makes is that Eisenhower should have let Montgomery have his "dash to Berlin" because it would have ended the war months earlier, saved many lives, and prevented Soviet take-over of some parts of Eastern Europe.
My response is two words: Market Garden.
So I sincerely invite all of our Free Republic "panel of experts" to listen and comment on Dick Morris' version of this day in history.
Dick Morris: Did Eisenhower's Mistakes Prolong WWII?
Fortunately, with today's Dems in charge, that's no longer a problem. < /sarc >
1933-1940: fewer than 100,000
1941: 1,100,000
1942: 2,700,000
1943: 500,000
1944: 600,000 -- most from Hungary
1945: 100,000
These are Raul Hilberg's 1961 numbers, totaling 5.1 million.
Current research puts the total closer to 6,000,000, but I've seen no more recent breakdown by year.
Safe to say -- Dick Morris not withstanding -- of those Jews who will die in the Holocaust, fewer than 5% are still alive in late summer, 1944.
Morris is an idiot.
It wasn’t just Jews of course, the total number could have been much higher
Sam Dealy was a gutsy sub skipper. He never backed down from a fight. It’s a pity he and his crew did not survive the war.
The Romanians were only too ready to turn on their esrtwhile comrades, the Hungarians. Note to the Germans; it’s a really bad idea to have as allies two countries that despise each other, do things will fuel their animosity, and then treat them both like dirt. Nothing good will come of it.
Paris liberated!
Rumania not so liberated
Japan knows what is coming
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