The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Poles at Cassino (5/11-5/18 1944) - Feb. 12th, 2004

www.battleofmontecassino.com ^ | R.Berezni

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Why Did Monte Cassino Have to be
Captured in the First Place?

The Allied objective was Rome and there were three main approaches going northward to the capital from southern Italy: Highways 5, 6, and 7.

HIGHWAY 5, a winding route through the Apennines on the Adriatic (eastern) side of Italy, was in the operational sector of the British 8th Army, which was weakened by the transfer of the 1st Division to the U.S. 5th Army and demoralized by the transfer of their long-time commander, General Montgomery, back to England on January 1, 1944 for the planning of the "Second Front" in France. Lieutenant General Sir Oliver Leese took over command on this date. Moreover, the 8th Army faced four strong German divisions, which held them in check south of Chieti. To add to this miserable situation, the weather in the winter of 1943-44 was atrocious and windchill, snow, and freezing rain hampered offensive operations. Clearly, the route to Rome along Highway 5 was not possible. The Adriatic sector was in stalemate.


One of many tanks knocked out by doubled anti-tank mine near Mas Albaneta.

HIGHWAY 7 WAS THE old "Appian Way," which ran straight down the western coast of Italy from Naples to Garigliano. Why wasn't this route used? The major problem with this route was that any army crossing the Garigliano and heading northward would soon find itself penned into the narrow coastal strip near the Gulf of Gaeta. Furthermore, the Germans would've constantly attacked the invaders from the nearby Auruncian Mountains. Additionally, in the area near Terracina, the Germans had flooded the Pontine Marshes, thus making the Highway 7 route to Rome completely impractical.



HIGHWAY 6, WHICH PASSED NEAR the Liri Valley, was obviously the only clear route for the Allies fighting their way northwards towards Rome. The problem here, however, was that entrance to the Liri Valley was blocked by a chain of mountains: Monte Cairo, Monte Castellone, Passo di Corno, Colle Mao, Colle San Angelo, Monte Albaneta, and (of course) Monte Cassino. If the Allies could break through the formidable Gustav Line defences located within these mountains, then they would be able to break into the Liri Valley and, eventually, reach their final prize: Rome. Monte Cassino had to be captured.


Another victim of the powerful mines.

Allied strategy in Italy during World War II centered on keeping the Wehrmacht fully committed so that its veteran divisions could not be shifted to help repel the cross-Channel invasion. However, the Allied high command mistakenly believed that the determined German defense of the invasion beaches of Salerno in September 1943 masked their preparations for retreat to the north. They never reckoned that the Germans would effectively use the weather and the terrain to turn the Italian campaign into a costly stalemate at the Gustav Line.


Air photos graphically depict the destruction of the abbey of Monte Cassino in southwestern Italy. Monte Cassino was the target of several concentrated Allied air strikes and assaults in the early months of 1944.

Mark Clark's disastrous attempt to split the Gustav Line in the Liri Valley died on the banks of the Rapido River ("the bloody Rapido") in January 1944, and when the Allied end run at Anzio also failed, there was now a stalemate on two fronts. In early February the U.S. Thirty-fourth Infantry Division failed to capture the western anchor of the Gustav Line, and one of the holiest shrines of Roman Catholicism, the abbey of Monte Cassino. A second offensive in mid-February again failed and resulted in one of the most hotly debated incidents of the war—the destruction of the abbey by Allied bombers.

The Third Battle of Cassino in mid-March was preceded by a thunderous artillery barrage from nine hundred guns and a massive aerial bombardment of the town. Follow-up ground attacks by New Zealand troops once again ended in failure. Only with the launch of Operation Diadem in May 1944 did the Gustav Line finally collapse when the Second Polish Corps succeeded in capturing the abbey on May 17, thus ending one of the longest and bloodiest engagements of the Italian campaign.


Polish Shermans approaching the Gustav Line.

In three previous battles, select Allied divisions - the USA 34th and 26th, the New Zealand 2nd, the British 78th and the Indian 4th -could not seize those mountains which blocked the possibility of the Allied advance toward Rome. Finally, in a seven day battle, the Polish Second Army Corps did it, at a loss of 860 dead and 2,182 wounded, of which 10 percent were officers.

Fourth battle of Cassino - The Plan

General Ander's plan was to attack from the the north-west because previous attacks had run into either thick scrub brush or steep, difficult climbs. The Poles felt that if they captured Hill 593, Hill 575, and Colle San Angelo all at the same time, this would prevent the Germans from shifting their forces from sector to sector and counter-attacking. The Germans used these tactics in the three previous attacks to successfully repel the Allies. Capturing all three objectives simultaneously would seriously disrupt the Germans' tactics.


Wladyslaw Anders,
Lieutenant General, Second Polish Corps

The Polish plan was to attack from a northwestern direction starting from Colle Mao and Monte Castellone towards Hill 593, Hill 575, and Colle San Angelo, along a broad front. Once these three objectives fell, then they could concentrate on the Monastery itself. Both Divisions were to attack along separate, but equivalent axes.

General Ander's plan was as follows: (1) Phase 1: (a) Isolate the Monastery Hill-Cassino complex from the north and north-west and then to advance to Highway 6 to link up with the British 13th Corps and (b) to capture the Monastery Hill. In Phase 2, the objectives was to gain contact with the Adolf Hitler Line north of Highway 6 and to develop offensive operations with the aim of turning it from the north.


Polish tank getting ready to support the infantry during the second part of fighting

General Anders himself stated his objectives thusly, "A simultaneous attack against Hill 593 and Colle San Angelo would prevent them [the Germans] from effectively coordinating their fire and would cause the enemy to disperse their reserves. The remaining strongholds--Monte Cassino Monastery to the south and Passo Corno to the north were to kept under overwhelming fire and blinded by smoke to prevent them from bringing their fire to bear on the area of the attack. It is necessary to use our full strength, for we shall have no men to spare for reserve."

Artillery Support


Mortar Team of the 3DSK.

The Polish Second Corps could depend on a total of 294 guns of all types, including an additional 16 heavy guns (to shell the Monastery) under the command of the British 13 Corps. The basic plan was to assign a heavier assortment of guns to one division's attack, and later switch to the other division's objective. In this way, the maximum use of artillery was expected.

May 11:
At 11 pm, 2000 guns open fire from Aquafondata all the way to the Tyrrhenian Sea. At 11:45 pm, British troops on the Rapido advance to the attack.

May 12:
At 1:00 am, the Polish 2nd Corps north-west of Cassino, the French Expeditionary Corps in the Auruncian Mountains, and the Americans in the coastal sector all advance to the attack.


Monte Cassino: In the Big Bowl…
Preparing for the May 1944 Attack on the Abbey of Monte Cassino.

At daybreak, swarms of fighter-bombers drop high explosives over their targets. The German Tenth Army headquarters in Avezzano, as well as the XIV Corps headquarters, are both buried under a carpet of bombs.

In the south, the French attack the 71st Infantry Division on the upper Garigliano. Raapke's Grenadiers fight desperately, but by 3:00 am Monte Faito is firmly controlled by the Moroccan 4th Mountain Division.



In the center, the 6th Lemberg Brigade (2nd Polish Corps) attacks the Passo Corno, but are stopped by the von Ruffin Battle Group. Further south of Monte Castillone, the 5th Vilna Brigade moves forward against Colle Santo Angelo. They reach Height 517, where they are caught by heavy machine gun fire and driven back with heavy losses. German artillery also takes a heavy toll of the attackers. By evening, General Anders is forced to withdraw the 5th Division back to its assembly areas.


CREST OF THE 3DSK (3rd Carpathian Division)

The 3rd Carpathian Division of the 2nd Polish Corps attacks Albaneta and Height 593. They capture the Cavalry Mount and set up positions on the northern slopes of Height 569. The Germans respond by sending reinforcements in an attempt to recapture it. The Germans launch four counter attacks that fail, but the fifth attempt is successful and the Cavalry Mount is back in German hands by late evening.

The U.S. II Corps (in the coastal sector) gets into a furious fight at Santa Maria Infante and Sollaciano with Steinmetz's 94th Infantry Division. Both the 85th and the 88th Divisions are repulsed.


CREST OF THE 5KDP (5th Kressowa Division)

The British XIII Corps' task is to form bridgeheads between the Cassino railway station and Santo Angelo and between Santo Angelo and the Liri and then to move toward the Via Casilina in the vicinity of Piedmonte. Kirkman's troops experience great difficulties setting up the bridgehead and one brigade, the 28th, is flung back across the river. The Indian 8th Division has better luck and manages to put up two thirty-ton bridges into position.

May 13:

5KDP trooper with a captured MG-42.

The Moroccans capture Monte Girofano by morning, Monte Feuci by noon, and Monte Maio by 4 pm. The northern wing of the German 71st Division is breached. The French I Division presses northward to capture Sant' Andrea, Sant' Ambrogio, and Sant' Appolinari and eventually reaches the Liri Valley. Castelforte and Damiano are now both in French hands. The Moroccans and Algerians together capture Monte Ceschito. This was the decisive blow. The Gustav Line is now punctured on the Garigliano, south of Cassino.


CREST OF 2 SBP (2nd Independent Armoured Brigade)

Elsewhere along the front, the situation is not so rosy. On the coast, the U.S. 88th Division captures Santa Maria Infante after a whole day of very slow advances against determined enemy resistance.

General Ward's British 4th Infantry Division launches a fresh attack south of Cassino. This time the attack succeeds in extending a bridgehead to within a mile northwest of Santo Angelo.

The Poles continue to suffer heavy losses attacking the Cavalry Mount. The Germans also suffer casualties, as illustrated by the comments made in Major Veth's diary, "Great number of dead on the slopes--stench--no water--no sleep--amputations being carried out at battle headquarters."

May 14:


After penetrating through the German 71st Division's positions, General Juin decides to push the Moroccan mountain warfare experts through the Auruncian Mountains towards the Itri-Pico road twelve miles behind the Gustav Line. After the fall of Monte Ceschito, General Guillaume's men advance towards Petrella. By nightfall of the 14/15, the French Goumiers are clambering up Monte Fammera, north of Spigno.


2SBP tankers digging in on Mas Albaneta.

During the night of May 14/15, the German 94th Infantry Division is forced to withdraw to a position on either side of Castelonorato. The French troops have torn wide gaps in this sector of the German defense lines.

The Poles under General Anders continue to engage in heavy fighting around the Cavalry Mount.

The 94th Fusiliers push the U.S. 88th Division out of Santa Maria Infante and capture an entire American battalion. The Americans counter attack later in the evening and reoccupy this place once more. The German Tenth Army decides to throw all its available reserves into the battle. The 305th Infantry Division is brought back from the Adriatic to bolster the crumbling Bode Battle Group. Two battalions of the 114th Rifle Division and grenadiers, pioneers, and anti-tank units from various divisions arrive to plug up the holes in the defensive lines.


Members of the Polish Independent Commando Company

German artillery continues to concentrate its fire on the bridges over the Rapido, but as soon as a battery opens fire, a swarm of Allied fighter-bombers quickly bombs it.

May 15:
The British 78th Division reaches the Pignataro-Cassino road. The Indians attack and capture Pignataro during the night. While the Indian 8th Division advances quickly, the British 4th Division on the right wing can only move forward with great difficulty. Further to the west, the British make little headway towards the Via Casilina. In Cassino town itself, the British make no ground at all, despite the fact that the German 1st Parachute Machine gun Battalion is completely destroyed. The right wing of the LI Mountain Corps begins to crumble as a result of the French attacks. General Alexander orders the Canadian I Corps under General Burns to cover General Kirkman's left flank. The Canadian objective is Pontecorvo.


NATIONAL PATCH WORN BY ALL SERVICES

As a result of French successes elsewhere, General Steinmetz's 94th Infantry Division has to fight desperately to hold Formia against the American 88th Division.

The 8th Army Commander later decided to postpone the 2nd Polish Corps' attack until more progress had occurred in the sector occupied by the British 13th Corps. The British 13th, however, ran into formidable resistance and did not reach the line of Matronola-Casa Petrarcone until May 13th and did not reach the highway and Pignataro area until the evening of May 15th. Casualties were heavy and General Leese committed the 78th Division, until then in reserve, directly into the battle. It was decided not to recommit the Polish troops until the 78th Division had engaged the enemy.

Before the second battle, the Polish artillery battered the German positions and Allied fighter-bombers attacked the Atina gun emplacements and the mortars in the gullies beyond Massa Albaneta.



On May 14, two squadrons of tanks from the 4th Armoured Regiment attacked the gorge, allowing the sappers to clear a path through the minefield. Thereafter, the enemy was prevented from planting more mines because of the armoured presence.

The German 1st Parachute Regiment was withdrawn and sent to bolster the defence against the British 4th Division. Interrogated POWs furnished the Poles with plenty of useful information: the Colle d' Onofrio-Massa Albaneta promontory was defended by the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Parachute Regiment; the 2nd Battalion, 100 Regiment was operating further north on Hill 575 and Phantom Ridge; and the 1st Battalion of that same Regiment occupied San Angelo and Hill 608.

On May 13 and 14, conferences were held and a second Operational Order was issued on the 14th. The Corps' objectives remained the same. Additionally, the Corps commander knew that Allied successes in the Liri Valley were sure to draw some of the enemy forces away from the Monte Cassino massif. He further knew that the Germans had only two weakened battalions and roughly one reserve battalion with which to carry out a counter-attack. Against these troops, the Allies could assemble the 2nd Polish Corps, the British 13th Corps, and the French Expeditionary Corps.


Soldier of the 12th Podolski Lancers Regiment

The Poles' plan was to gain control of Colle San Angelo and Hill 575 and link up with the right flank of the British 13th Corps. On May 16, the 5th Kressowa Division would capture the San Angelo-Hill 575 ridge and establish defensive positions. The 3rd Carpathian Division would capture the 593-569-476 ridge and prevent the enemy from withdrawing unmolested. "H" hour was set for 4 am on May 16. An hour later, the 5th Kressowa would attack the Phantom Ridge, while the 3rd Carpathian would seize Massa Albaneta. Later, the "H" hour was changed to 7 am, in order to coincide with the start time for the British 13th Corps' attack.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather.

[The Mayor]

We hit 54 yesterday

we hit 22 yesterday.. 54 would be a heat wave that I would invite ..

[R. Scott]

Thanks. We don’t hear much about the Free Polish Forces.

[SAMWolf]

Well it ends today. Rain and cooler is coming back tomorrow.

[SAMWolf]

"The Rescue" October 22-23.

A week earlier, Col. O. Dobey (nicknamed "The Mad Colonel of Arnhem") of the British 1st Airborne Division, who had escaped from a German hospital after being made prisoner, had swum across the Rhine and contacted Colonel Sink. Dobey said there were 125 British troops, some ten Dutch resistance fighters who were being sought by the Germans, and five American pilots hiding out with the Dutch underground on the north side of the Lower Rhine. He wanted to get them back, and he needed help. Sink agreed to cooperate. As the crossing point was across from Easy's position, Sink volunterred Heyliger to lead the rescue patrol. Or, as Gordon put it, "We would furnish the personnel, the British would furnish the idea and, I suppose, the Band-Aids. A fair swap, by British standards."

Dobey was in contact with the Dutch underground on the far side via telephone (for some reason, the Germans had never cut those lines). He designated the night of October 22-23 for the operation. The American 81st AA-AT Battalion would fire tracers over the river with their Bofors guns to mark the spot where the Dutch would bring the men waiting to be rescued. To allay German suspicion, for several nights before the operation, the 81st fired tracers at midnight.

On the appointed night, Heyliger, Lts. Welsh and Edward Shames, and seventeen men selected by Heyliger followed engineer tape from the dike down to the river, where British canvas collapsible boats had been hidden the previous evening. It was, as usual, a murky night, with a drizzle adding to the obscurity. The shivering men edged the boats into the river. At midnight, the Bofors fired the tracers straight north. The Dutch underground blinked the V-for-Victory signal with red flashlights from the north bank. Easy began paddling as silently as possible across the river.

The men crossed with pounding hearts but without incident. They leaped out of the boats and moved forward. Gordon had the machine-gun on the left flank; he set it up and prepared to defend against attack. Cpl. Francis Mellett had the machine-gun on the right flank. Private Stafford was at the point for the column seeking contact with the Dutch underground, Heyliger immediately behind him.

Stafford moved forward stealthily. There was no firing, no illumination. This was enemy territory, completely unfamiliar to the Americans, and it was pitch black. "The absolute quiet was almost petrifying to me," Stafford remembered.

Stafford took another cautious step. A large bird flew up not more than a foot away from his face. "I am positive my heart stopped beating," Stafford recalled. "I flipped off the safety on my M-1 and was about to fire when Lt. Heyliger calmly said, 'Easy.'"

They continued on and shortly met the British troops. The first one Stafford saw "hugged me and gave me his red beret, which I still have." A British brigadier stepped forward and shook Heyliger's hand, saying he was the finest looking American officer he had ever seen.

Heyliger motioned for the British to move in column to the boats, urging them to keep silent. But they just could not. Pvt. Lester Hashey recalled one saying, "I never thought I'd be so glad to see a bloody Yank." Lieutenant Welsh, who was in charge down at the boats, grew exasperated with the Brits who kept calling out "God Bless you, Yank," and told them they would all get killed if they didn't shut up.

The British got into the boats; Heyliger pulled his men back in leapfrog fashion; soon everyone was ready to shove off. Gordon was the last one back, and in the trailing boat crossing the river. "There was a certain amount of excitement and urgency," he said, and he was certain the Germans would sink them all any moment. But they were never spotted. By 0130 the entire party were safely on the south bank and crossing no-man's-land on the way to the American front line behind the dike.

The next day Colonel Sink issued a citation for gallantry in action. He declared that "the courage and calmness shown by the covering force was a major factor in this successful execution. So well organized and executed was this undertaking that the enemy never knew an evacuation had taken place.

"All members of this covering force are commended for their aggression, spirit, prompt obedience of orders and devotion to duty. Their names appear below."

Gordon's name is there. When I suggested that he must be proud to have volunteered for and carried out so well such a hazardous operation, he said the only reason he went along was that Heyliger had selected him. "It was not a volunteer operation. I'm not saying I wouldn't have volunteered, I'm just saying I didn't volunteer."

[SAMWolf]

4 above at my place this morning

Ouch!

[SAMWolf]

but I didn't understand it back then. Now, I do...

That was true for me too, it took till I got a little older to understand.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather.

[SAMWolf]

You're welcome.

Thanks for your service.

Welcome Home!

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on February 12:
1211 Henry VII Roman catholic German king (1220-35)
1585 Caspar Bartholin Malmö, physician, theologian, writer on anatomy
1588 John Winthrop English attorney/puritan/1st Governor of Massachusetts
1665 Rudolph J Camerarius German botanist/physician (sexuality plant)
1768 Francis II Florence Italy, last Holy Roman emperor (1792-1806)
1791 Peter Cooper industrialist/philanthropist (Cooper Union)
1809 Charles Darwin Shrewsbury England, discovered evolution (Origin of species)

1809 Abraham Lincoln Hodgenville KY, (R) 16th President (1861-65)

1828 Robert Ransom Jr Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1892
1838 Charles Carroll Walcott Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1898
1880 John Llewellyn Lewis union leader (United Mine Workers, 1920-60)
1893 Omar Bradley General of Army WWII "The GI General"
1904 Ted Mack Denver CO, TV host (Original Amateur Hour)
1914 Gordon Tex Beneke saxophonist/bandleader/vocalist (Glenn Miller Orchestra)
1915 Lorne Greene Ottawa Canada, actor (Bonanza, Battlestar Galactica)
1919 Forrest Tucker Plainfield IN, actor (O'Rourke-F Troop, Dusty Trail)
1923 Franco Zeffirelli Florence Italy, movie director (Romeo & Juliet)
1926 Joe Garagiola St Louis MO, sportscaster/host (Today Show)
1930 Arlen Specter (Senator-R-PA, 1981- )
1930 Gerhard Rühm writer
1931 Constance A Morella (Representative-R-MD)(rino)
1934 Bill Russell Monroe LA, NBA star (Boston Celtics, Olympics-gold-56)
1935 Ray Manzarek keyboardist (The Doors-Light My Fire, Unknown Soldier)
1936 Joe Don Baker Groesback TX, actor (Eischied, Walking Tall, Fletch)
1938 Johnny Rutherford auto racer
1944 Moe Bandy Meridian MS, country vocalist (Just Good Ol' Boys)
1956 Paula Zahn Omaha NB, news anchor (ABC, CBS This Morning)
1958 Arsenio Hall comedian (Alan Thicke, Arsenio, Coming to America)
1969 Josh Brolin actor (Johnny-Private Eye, Jimmy Hickok-Young Riders)
1980 Christina Ricci actress (Wednesday-Addams Family, Mermaids, Casper)

---

Deaths which occurred on February 12:
1242 Hendrik VII Roman Catholics German king (1220-35), commits suicide
1804 Immanuel Kant German philosopher (Zum ewigen Frieden), dies in Königsberg, Prussia at 79
1929 Freiherr Albert von Schrenk-Notzing German para-psychologist, dies at 66
1942 Grant Wood US painter (American Gothic), dies at 49
1945 ... de Jong Dutch vicar/resistance fighter, executed
1947 Sidney Toler actor (Charlie Chan, Dark Alibi), dies at 72
1971 James Cash Penney US founder (J C Penney), dies at 95
1976 Sal Mineo actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause), stabbed at 37
1979 Jean Renoir French writer/director (Human Beast), dies at 84
1982 Victor Jory Dawson City Yukon Territory Canada, actor (Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1st Lady, Jigsaw), dies at 79
1982 Cornelis Rijnsdorp Dutch writer (Culprit), dies at 87
1983 Eubie Blake ragtime-composer/pianist (Memories of You), dies at 100
1991 Robert Wagner mayor (NYC-D-1954-65), dies
1993 James Bulger English child beaten to death at 2, by 10 year old boys

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 SULLIVAN MARTIN J.---LAWRENCE MA.
1967 WEISSMUELLER COURTNEY E.---ORLANDO FL. 1968 BROWN HARRY W.---CHARLESTON SC.
1968 GROTH WADE L.---GREENVILLE MI.
1968 GUNN ALAN W.---SAN ANTONIO TX.
1968 ROE JERRY L.---HOUSTON TX.
1969 FISHER JOHN B.---OCALA FL.
[03/11/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK]
1969 OSBURN LAIRD P.---WEBSTER SPRINGS WV.
[03/12/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 PRYOR ROBERT J.---OAK RIDGE TN.
[03/11/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK]
1970 BRADSHAW ROBERT S. III---LUFKIN TX.
1970 BREEDING MICHAEL HUGH---BLUE RAPIDS KS.
1971 MC LEOD ARTHUR E.---BAY SHORE NY.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/27/99]
1971 WILKINSON CLYDE D.---MINERAL WELLS TX.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/27/99]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
1049 Bruno count of Egesheim & Dagsburg crowned Pope Leo IX
1111 German King Hendry V arrives at St Peter, Rome
1130 Pope Innocent II elected
1502 Granada Moslems forced to convert to Catholicism
1577 Spanish land guardian Don Juan of Habsburg signs "Eternal Edict"
1624 English parliament comes together
1733 Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe, at site of Savannah
1793 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
1797 Haydn's song "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" premieres in Vienna
1818 Chile gains independence from Spain
1825 Creek Indian treaty signed; Tribal chiefs agree to turn over all their land in Georgia to the government & migrate west by Sept 1, 1826
1832 Ecuador annexes Galápagos Islands
1848 Ballet "Faust" premieres, Milan
1850 Original Washington's Farewell Address manuscript sells for $2,300
1861 State troops seize US munitions in Napoleon AK
1865 Henry Highland Garnet, is 1st black to speak in US House of Representatives
1873 Congress abolishes bimetallism & authorizes $1 & $3 gold coins
1876 Al Spalding opens his sporting good shop
1877 1st news dispatch by telephone, between Boston & Salem MA
1877 US railroad builders strike against wage reduction
1878 Frederick Thayer patents the catcher's mask (pat # 200,358)
1879 1st artificial ice rink in North America (Madison Square Garden, NYC)
1879 News about slaughtering of Isandlwana reaches London
1880 National Croquet League organizes (Philadelphia)
1899 -47ºF (-44ºC), Camp Clarke NB (state record)
1908 New York to Paris auto race (via Alaska & Siberia) begins in New York NY; George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel
1909 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded
1912 Last Ch'ing (Manchu) emperor of China, Henry P'u-i, abdicates
1915 Cornerstone laid for Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
1921 Soviet troops invade Georgia
1921 Winston Churchill becomes British, minister of Colonies
1924 George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" premieres at Carnegie Hall (New York NY)
1924 President Calvin Coolidge makes 1st presidential radio speech
1925 1st federal arbitration law approved by Congress
1933 German vice-chancellor von Papen demands Catholic aid for Nazis
1934 France hit by a general strike against fascists & royalists
1935 Great airship, USS Macon, crashes into Pacific Ocean
1938 Austrian chancellor Schuschnigg visits Hitler in Berchtesgaden
1938 German troops entered Austria
1942 3 German battle cruisers escape via Channel to Brest N Germany
1943 General Eisenhower departs Algiers to Tebessa
1944 Wendell Wilkie (R) enters presidential race
1945 San Francisco selected for site of UN Conference
1947 Daytime fireball & meteorite fall seen in eastern Siberia
1947 Record 100.5-kg sailfish caught, C W Stewart, Galapagos Islands
1949 "Annie Get Your Gun" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1147 performances
1949 Panic in Quito Ecuador, after "War of the World" played on radio
1950 Senator Joe McCarthy claims to have list of 205 communist government employees
1950 Albert Einstein warns against hydrogen bomb
1953 USSR breaks relations with Israel
1955 McGuire Sisters' "Sincerely" single goes to #1 & stays #1 for 10 weeks
1955 President Eisenhower sends 1st US advisors to South Vietnam
1957 Researchers announce Borazan (harder than diamonds) been developed
1962 Bus boycott starts in Macon GA
1963 Argentina asks extradition of Ex-President Peron
1964 Beatles 1st NYC concert (Carnegie Hall)
1967 Keith Richards, Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithful busted for drugs
1973 1st US POWs in North Vietnam released; 116 of 456 flown to Philippines
1981 Admiral Bobby R Inman, USN, becomes deputy director of CIA
1982 Wayne Gretzky scores 153rd point of season, tying NHL record
1984 Cale Yarborough, becomes 1st Daytona 500 qualifier, above 200 MPH
1987 Survivors of a black man murdered by KKK members awarded $7 million damages
1998 Intel unveils its 1st graphics chip i740
1998 US district judge T Hogan declares line-item veto law unconstitutional
1999 The five-week impeachment trial of Bill Clinton comes to an end, the Senate voted to acquit President Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.(BOOOO)
2001 Scientists published their first examinations of nearly all the human genetic code.
2002 The war crimes trial of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic began at the Hague in the Netherlands.

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Booneville Indiana : Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial Day
Burma : Union Day (1947)
Georgia : Georgia Day/Oglethorpe Day (1733)
US : Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (Traditional)
US : No Talk Day
US : New Idea Week (Day 5)
US : Love and Laughter Keeps Us from Getting Dizzy Week (Day 5)
Snack Food Month

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Eulalia
Methodist : Race Relations Sunday (2nd Sunday in February)
Orthodox : Feast of the 3 Saints-Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian
Orthodox : Commemoration of St Anthony of Cauleas, patriarch of Constantinople
old Roman Catholic : Feast of the 7 Founders of the Servite Order

---

Religious History
1797 Franz Haydn's AUSTRIAN HYMN was first performed for the Emperor Francis II's fifth birthday. Today, AUSTRIAN HYMN is the most common melody to which we sing the popular hymn, "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken."
1807 Anglican missionary to Persia Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'Amazing patience, He bears with this faithless foolish heart and suffers me to come, laden with sins, to receive new pardon, new grace, every day! Why does not such love make me hate sin that grieves Him and hides me from His sight?'
1948 The Pentecostal awakening known as the "Latter Rain Movement" traces its origin to this date, when students at the Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada began experiencing a mass spiritual awakening.
1952 The Roman Catholic program "Life is Worth Living" debuted on television. Hosted by (then-) Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the half-hour program aired on Tuesday nights. It became the longest-running religious TV series of its day, and ran through February of 1957.
1962 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth predicted in a letter: 'The day will come when we shall no longer speak of Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians but simply of Evangelical Christians forming one body and one people.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"No one can feel as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish."

---

Question of the day...
If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

---

Murphys Law of the day...Fyffe's Axiom)
The problem-solving process will always break down at the point at which it is possible to determine who caused the problem.

---

Astounding Fact #87,306...
Your brain is 80% water.

[SAMWolf]

1809 Abraham Lincoln Hodgenville KY, (R) 16th President (1861-65)

Remember when we actually used to celebrate his and George Washington's birthdays separately?

[CholeraJoe]

I know well how scary flushing a bird in darkness can be. On my way to a deer stand once, I walked into a covey of quail who flushed within three feet of me. Scared the heck out of me and there weren't any enemy around.

[Johnny Gage]

Thank you for today's thread. I was somewhat familiar with this battle, mostly based on the decision to bomb Monte Cassino from the air, and the debate it caused.

I was woefully unaware of who the foot soldier were and just how hard it was to acheive these goals.

A "Three Howie Salute" to the Polish Forces
and the sacrifices they made for freedom

[SAMWolf]

Your're welcome Johnny. The Abbey Bombing was a very controversial decision. From what I've read, the Germans did not use the Abbey until after the bombing.

[SAMWolf]

Yeah, been scared by birds popping out of the bush myself a few times.

[Johnny Gage]

Check out this website.

The link will take you to a page with diary entries about a Pole soldier and his trek across Italy.

http://www.polandsholocaust.org/italiiaa.html

[SAMWolf]

Wherever our legions have been stationed, the Polish language lingers. And so a song, one of the easiest forms of learning a new tongue, is taken up here by Italian children who are born singers.

Thanks Johnny.

[Valin]

George Washington? Who's he?
/world-class sarcasm

[Valin]

George Washington, now I remember he was a slave owner wasn't he.



I sarcas therefore I am.