The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Winter War (11/1939 - 3/1940) - Mar. 24th, 2005

www.kaiku.com ^ | Robert K. Maddock, Jr. M.D.

[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.

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

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The Winter War

During the winter of 1939-40, the Finns fought the Soviet Union in an epic struggle for Karelia, the outcome of which can only be called miraculous.

The history of Karelia has been one of frequent warfare. A glance at a map will show why. The Karelian isthmus which lies north of St. Petersburg (Leningrad) and surrounds Lake Ladoga occupies a position not unlike the Holy Land in the Middle East. It is at the end of the Baltic Sea. Control of this land dominates the trade routes which head South and East to the Orient. The Karelian coat of arms reflects this. It shows the curved sword of the East opposed by the straight sword of the West over a large crown.

From about 1200 AD on, Finland had been controlled by Sweden. In the 18th century the Tsars had made several forays into Finland and taken parts of Karelia. A secret agreement at Tilst between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia gave the Tsar a free hand in the conquest of Finland, and in 1809 he exercised that option by taking the entire country. It was renamed the Grand Duchy of Finland.



Until the assassination of Alexander II in March 1881, Finland had been an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. She had her own language, parliament, armed forces, military conscription and coinage. Laws were passed which discriminated against Russian Orthodoxy in favor of Lutheranism and clearly favored non-Russian citizens. In 1891 a reaction to this practice became Russian policy with the declaration of Russian as the official language. In 1898 NI Bobrikov was appointed governor general of the Duchy. Bobrikov's style was uncompromising. Everything was to be subservient to Mother Russia. In 1901 Finland's legislature was stripped of its power, and in 1902 her independent armed forces suddenly found themselves an extension of the Tsar's army. Young men were conscripted to fight the Tsar's wars. The press was controlled and direct petitions to the Tsar were ignored. However, on June 16, 1904, Bobrikov was assassinated and a spirit of revolution swept the land. This was followed by a number of events throughout the Russian Empire which eventually brought down the monarchy.



On December 6, 1917, Finland declared its independence and fought its own version of the "revolution" in a civil war in which White forces under the leadership of Carl Gustav Mannerheim prevailed over Red Army. For 20 years, Finland, like others, had neglected its military despite warnings from Mannerheim. After World War I, Finland had been given control of the Åland Islands by the League of Nations and with the consent of Sweden with the understanding that no military forces were to be stationed on them.


Soviet Union´s and Finland´s troops in the beginning of Winter War

With the rise of Hitler in 1933 and the ever increasing military build-up by Germany under Hitler and finally the acquisition of territories starting in 1938, Molotov and Stalin, himself, began secret negotiations with a few Finnish representatives in an attempt to force the Finns into giving up control of the Åland Islands, Hanko and other strategic islands in the Baltic plus a large strip of land to the north of Leningrad in return for indefensible parts of Soviet Karelia. However, the Finns could not do this without violating their trust with other Scandinavian countries and the League of Nations.



Hitler looked for any excuse to retake Poland which had been lost by Germany during World War I. In order to secure his Eastern frontier from attack from Russia which also had designs on parts of Polish territories, lost during World War I, Stalin and Hitler signed a "non-aggression pact." It included several secret agreements. It gave Germany the right to take all of Poland except the four Eastern-most counties. These, plus the Baltic States and Finland were to be given to Stalin, if he could take them.



On September 1, 1939, German troops crashed across the Polish frontier in a blitzkrieg and took Poland in a matter of weeks. Stalin's troops moved into the Baltic States and eastern Poland with ease. On November 26, 1939 a border "incident" at Mainila, which even the Russians did not believe, took place.


In Taipale, the bridges at Kiviniemi over River Vuoksi, Karelian Isthmus, were blown up. The enemy could cross the river but soon the Finns were succesfull in their attempts to stop the advancing enemy at the line Koukkuniemi-Terenttilä for the entire war.


Soviet infantry acrossing river Rajajoki in Karelian Isthmus 30th November 1939. Soviet photo.

On November 30, 1939, it was Stalin's next move. 250,000 Russian troops under the cover of a coordinated air and artillery bombardment crossed into Finland to begin one of the least publicized and most costly campaigns in the annals of military history. It would be a "walk over;" General Meretskov estimated it would take only 10 to 12 days for his 26 well equipped 14,000 man divisions to reach Helsinki. Russian propaganda had been so convincing that it was felt that the Finns would be waving flags and welcoming the Red Army with open arms. Opposing him were nine poorly equipped 11,000-man Finnish divisions.


Damage after first bombings 30th November 1939

Meretskov never suspected that his army was about to plunge into a frozen hell, the second coldest winter since 1828, and oppose Mannerheim, probably one of the greatest defensive tacticians since Robert E. Lee. So confident were the Soviets of a quick victory march to Helsinki that they came with parade bands, but without winter uniforms, without supplies for a protracted campaign and without medical services. Even more sinister was the fact that Stalin had purged most of his regular army officers two years earlier and placed most of the responsibility for the army in the hands of political commissars.


General Meretskov

For 105 days the world held its breath and learned the word sisu, while Russians died at the incredible rate of nearly 10,000 per day and the Finns lost 250 per day. When the armistice finally came on March 13, 1940, the Finns counted 25,000 dead, 55,000 wounded, and 450,000 homeless, a terrible price for a country of only four million people. However, even the Finns did not know the devastation that they had caused the Russians until years later. All this was at the hands of an army of less than 250,000 (mostly light infantry, home guard units) with hardly any anti-tank weapons (except Molotov cocktails) and 41 operational fighter aircraft. In the words of my father-in-law, Antti Olavi Pönkänen, who fought in this war: "Our lakes are full of dead Russians."



The Russians attacked in company, battalion and regimental strength across frozen lakes, their dark uniforms easily visible against the white snow. Machine guns enfiladed the lakes and home guard troops, most of whom were expert shots, armed with one of the best military rifles ever made, the Sako Arms version of the Russian rifle, picked them off one by one. One Finnish soldier, Corporal Simo Häyhä was credited with more than 500 known kills.


Field Marshall Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim

One of the most famous early battles of the Winter War occurred at Suomussalmi during December, 1939. The Russian 44th Division advanced along the Raate Road from the south and the 163rd Russian Division advanced from Juntusranta from the North. They were supposed to link up at Suomussalmi and then head West across Finland to Oulu and cut the country in half. Russian troop strength totaled 48,000 men, 335 cannon, 100 tanks and 50 armored cars. The Finnish defenders reinforced from a few thousand now numbered 17,000 with 11 cannons under the command of Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo; his only hope was to defeat the Russians in detail. And he did.



To slow down the 163rd in the north, Finnish ski troops made wide circling flanking movements of 20 to 30 miles under cover of the long night and caught the rear and middle parts of the column by surprise. They found Soviet soldiers huddled around fires in -40° weather easy prey to sub-machine gun fire and grenades. Almost any wound was fatal. As the 44th approached Suomussalmi down the Raate Road, they had to pass between Kuomasjärvi and Kuivasjärvi on a narrow isthmus. 350 Finns in hand-to-hand combat closed the isthmus. Trees were now felled across the road in front and behind with the 44th Division strung out along the road. The 163rd only six miles north engaged in desperate struggles to push the Finns west, but were stopped. Much of this fighting was hand to hand. After four days, both the 163rd and 44th were stopped dead in their tracks. Now Russians of the 163rd Division, after throwing their weapons away made an attempt to escape back to Russia. Two Finnish machine gun platoons and a guerrill a company helped them back to Russia.


Russian soldiers killed alongside their vehicles

The 44th fared even worse. Trees blocked the roads which prevented movement. The frozen lakes around them were death traps. Any attack across the lakes were met with machine gun fire. The Russian dead were permitted lie frozen in the snow over the lakes until the thaw when their bodies sank to the bottom. Several attacks by the Finns further demoralized the Russians. Orders from the commanding general did not permit a fighting retreat. The 44th was out of food, freezing and had nowhere to go except to sit and be slaughtered at will. Of the 44,000 only 5000 made it back. The Finns captured intact 85 tanks, 437 trucks, 20 tractors, 10 motorcycles, 1620 horses, 92 artillery pieces, 78 anti-tank guns, and 13 anti-aircraft guns plus thousands of rifles, machine guns and a horde of ammunition. This was later used against the Russians in Karelia.



In the Karelian isthmus, Russian units were isolated from each other into motti, "log piles." There, surrounded, they froze and starved to death by the thousands or died by rifle fire and wounds. However, the Russians continued to reinforce in the South and keep the pressure on the Finnish line.

[SAMWolf]

As 1940 came, it was apparent to Stalin that his armies were suffering terrible losses; he was getting nowhere fast and knew that Finland had to be beaten at all costs. The British and other nations offered token forces and supplies for Finland, but the Swedes refused transit. Hitler made immediate plans to invade Norway and Denmark while these two countries declared themselves "neutral." Swedish diplomats pointed out that "When great powers are waging war, small countries can't afford to be heroic." This was the thanks Finland got for honoring her commitments to her neighbor, Sweden. Stalin demoted or shot most of the commanders and placed the entire operation in Finland under the command of Marshal Semyon K. Timoshenko.


General Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko

Timoshenko ordered large numbers of reinforcements into Western Karelia. According to Khrushchev, Stalin was "gnashing his teeth," waiting for news. "Our air force has been called into action. Many bridges have been destroyed. Many trains have been crippled . . . The Finns have only their skis left. Their supply of skis never runs out."



Blanket bombing began on February 1, 1940, to soften up the lines. The Russians massed 600,000 men, artillery lined hub to hub and poured over 300,000 shells in one day on the Mannerheim Line's Summa positions. In 1.6 miles of front there were 440 cannon pounding the Finns who replied with only 16. Six divisions supported by 500 aircraft and many tanks attacked at the Hatjalahti and Muolaa Lake sectors. The Finns pushed them back. Entire Russian Divisions were wiped out, but more kept attacking over the frozen bodies of their comrades.


Finnish soldiers in Ladoga´s Karelia.

The main and final attack of the war began on February 6, 1940, along a five-mile front in Western Karelia with three divisions supported by 150 tanks and 200 airplanes. The results were the same with thousands of dead Russians lying in front of the Finnish positions and more Russian troops charging across their frozen bodies. On 11 February the Russians managed to make breakthroughs on both flanks (Lake Ladoga & Gulf of Finland). Finnish troop strengths were down to one half or one third of original and the Finns were nearly out of ammunition. They were now withdrawn on February 14 to new defensive positions. The Russians made no effort to pursue them.



By February 26, the Finns were forced to abandon Koivisto and they retreated back toward Viipuri. The need for men, arms and ammunition was desperate and Mannerheim warned the Finnish government about the potential consequences. The French and British were offering to send 100,000 men, but should the Finns accept this aid which was not at all certain, go it alone, or try to work a deal with the Russians? The offer from the Allies was suspect and the Swedes were not of a mind to permit them to cross their country. The British and French were also fearful of Hitler's designs on Norway and Denmark and might use the troops there. The German government advised the Finns to make arrangements with the Russians. The Finnish Foreign Affairs Committee again asked Sweden if they would allow transit of Allied troops and Mannerheim asked the United States to mediate. On March 5, Stockholm informed Helsinki that the Cabinet had decided to let no troops cross Sweden by a unanimous vote.



On March 6, 1940, a Finnish delegation left for Moscow to discuss terms. The Finns prepared for another counter-offensive, and the Russians brought up more troops, but all was quiet. In some sectors of the line there were only a few Finns left where there had been whole units, and there was precious little ammunition. Then on March 13, 1940, it was all over; an armistice was signed. Had the Russians mounted just one more attack, they might have carried it all the way to Helsinki, but they had lost their nerve about the same time the Finns ran out of ammunition.


Russian soldier frozen to death at his post

Under the treaty, Russia received Finland's second largest city, Viipuri, the port of Petsamo on the Arctic Ocean, the Hanko area, all of Lake Ladoga’s shores and the entire Karelian Isthmus, the home of 12 per cent of Finland's population. Finland gave up a total of 22,000 square miles. One Russian general remarked, "We have won enough ground to bury our dead." Khrushchev wrote, "Even in these most favorable conditions it was only after great difficulty and enormous losses that we were finally able to win. A victory at such a cost was actually a moral defeat." According to Khrushchev, 1.5 million men were sent to Finland and one million of them were killed. 1000 aircraft, 2300 tanks and armored cars and an enormous amount of other war materials were lost.



The people in the ceded area were given the right to remain with the Soviet Union or emigrate to Finland. Most if not all of the 450,000 people living in the region moved to Finland despite being left destitute and homeless.


Molotov´s Cocktail were a feared weapon by Soviet tankcrews. The mixture of fuel, petrol, spirits, tar and matchstick or ignition rag was very flammable and adhesive.

The most famous weapon of this brief war is well known—the Molotov cocktail, named after the perfidious Russian negotiator. However, its origin, an invention of the Finnish Liquor Board, is generally unknown. With hardly any anti-tank weapons, four-man Molotov cocktail crews destroyed nearly 2000 tanks. The Soviet tanks had an extra 50 gallon gas tank on the back end of the tank near the engine air vents. The tanks were noted for their poor maintenance and excess grease and oil in the engine compartment. The tank would be allowed to penetrate the tactical wire. One man with a log would attempt to jam the tracks while the two Molotov Cocktail men would throw their weapons on the back end of the tank. The gasoline and alcohol would drip into the engine compartment where heat would ignite the mixture and the engine compartment would burst into flames. This would in turn ignite the 50 gallon gas tank on the back of the tank and create tremendous heat inside the tank. The tank crew would attempt to escap e and the man with a sub machine gun would kill the crew. Casualties among the Molotov cocktail crews were about 75 per cent.

[SAMWolf]

Foreign support

World opinion at large supported the Finnish cause. The World War hadn't really begun yet, for the time being the Winter War was the only real fight going on, on which the world's interest was focused. The Soviet aggression was generally deemed totally unjustified. Various foreign organizations sent material aid, such as medical supplies. Finnish immigrants in the United States and Canada returned home, and many volunteers travelled to Finland (one of them actor-to-be Christopher Lee) to join Finland's forces: 1,010 Danes, 695 Norwegians, 372 Ingrians, 346 Finnish expats, and 210 volunteers of other nationalities made it to Finland before the war was over. Foreign correspondents in Helsinki wrote, and even greatly exaggerated, reports of supposed Finnish ingenuity and successes in combat.


All empty villages and houses were burnt down when possible. Aim was to slow down enemy´s advance and to make their life as miserable as possible. A village on fire somewhere in Karelian Isthmus.

Sweden, which had declared herself to be a non-belligerent rather than a neutral country (as in the war between Nazi Germany and the Western Powers) contributed with military supplies, cash, credits, humanitarian aid and some 8,700 Swedish volunteers prepared to die for Finland. Maybe most significant was the Swedish Voluntary Air Force, in action from January 7, with 12 fighters, 5 bombers, and 8 other planes, amounting to a third of the Swedish Air Force of that time. Volunteer pilots and mechanics were drawn from the ranks. The renowned aviator Count Carl Gustav von Rosen, related to Hermann Göring, volunteered independently. There was also a volunteering work force, of about 900 workers and engineers.



The Swedish Volunteer Corps with 8,402 men in Finland, and with the only common volunteers who had finished training before the war ended, started to relieve five Finnish battalions at Märkäjärvi in mid-February. Together with three remaining Finnish battalions, the corps faced two Soviet divisions and were preparing for an attack by mid-March, that was inhibited by the peace. 33 men died in action, among them the commander of the first relieving unit, Leutenant Colonel Magnus Dyrssen.



The Swedish volunteers remain a focus of dissonance between Swedes and Finns. The domestic debate in Finland had in the years immediately before the war given common Finns hope of considerably more support from Sweden, notably large regular troops, that could have had a significant impact on the outcome of the war — or possibly made the Russians to never attack. As such a more substantial support was expected, Finnish evaluation of gifts, credits and volunteers from Sweden tend to be made on the foundation of deep and bitter disappointment.

Franco-British plans for a Scandinavian theatre

Already within a month, the Soviet leadership began to consider abandoning the operation, but Finland's government was reached by a preliminary peace offer (via Sweden's government) first in the end of January. Until then, Finland had factually fought for its existence. When credible rumours reached the governments in Paris and London, the incentives for military support were dramatically changed. Now Finland fought "only" to keep as much as possible of her territory in Leningrad's neighbourhood. But of course the public could know nothing about this — neither in Finland, nor abroad. For public opinion, Finland's fight remained a life and death struggle.


Franco-British support was offered on the condition it was given free passage through neutral Norway and Sweden instead of taking the road from Petsamo. The reason was a wish to occupy the iron ore districts in Kiruna and Malmberget. (Borders as of 1920–1940.)

In February 1940 the Allies offered to help: The Allied plan, approved on February 5 by the Allied High Command, consisted of 100,000 British and 35,000 French troops that were to disembark at the Norwegian port of Narvik and allegedly support Finland via Sweden while securing the supply routes along the way. The plan was agreed to be launched on March 20 under the condition that the Finns plead for help. It was hoped that this would eventually bring the two still neutral Nordic countries, Norway and Sweden to the Allied side — by strengthening their positions against Germany, although Hitler already in December had declared to the Swedish government that Western troops on Swedish soil immediately would provoke a German invasion.



However, only a small fraction of the troops was intended for Finland. Proposals to enter Finland directly, via the ice-free harbour of Petsamo, were dismissed. Suspicions that the objective of the operation was to capture and occupy the Norwegian shipping harbour of Narvik and the vast mountainous areas of the North-Swedish iron ore fields from where the Third Reich received a large share of the iron ore critical for the war production, and fear of thereby becoming the battle ground for the armies of the Allied and the Third Reich, caused Norway and Sweden to deny transit. After the war it became known that the commander of the Allied expedition force actually was instructed to avoid combat contact with the Soviet troops.



The Franco-British plan hoped to capture all of Scandinavia north of a line Stockholm–Göteborg or Stockholm–Oslo, i.e. the British concept of the Lake line following the lakes of Mälaren, Hjälmaren, and Vänern, which would contribute with good natural defence some 1,700–1,900 kilometres south for Narvik. The expected frontier, the Lake line, involved not only Sweden's two largest cities, but its consequence was that the homes of the vast majority of the Swedes would be either Nazi-occupied or in the very war zone.



The Swedish government, headed by Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson, declined to allow transit of armed troops through Swedish territory. Although Sweden had not declared herself neutral in the Winter War, she was neutral in the war between France and Britain on one side and the Third Reich and the Soviet Union on the other. Granting transit rights to a Franco-British corps were at that time considered too great a diversion from international laws on neutrality.



The Swedish Cabinet also decided to reject repeated pleas from the Finns for regular Swedish troops to be deployed in Finland, and in the end the Swedes also made it clear that their support in arms and munitions could not be maintained for much longer. Diplomatically, Finland was squeezed between Allied hopes for a prolonged war and Scandinavian fears of a continued war spreading to neighbouring countries (or of the surge of refugees that might result from a Finnish defeat). Also from Wilhelmstrasse distinct advice for peace and concessions arrived — the concessions "could always later be mended."



While Berlin and Stockholm pressured Helsinki to accept peace also on bad conditions, Paris and London had the opposite objective. From time to time, different plans and figures were presented for the Finns. To start with, France and Britain promised to send 20,000 men to arrive by the end of February, although under the implicite condition that on their way to Finland they were given opportunity to occupy North-Scandinavia.



By the end of February, Finland's Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Mannerheim, was pessimistic about the military situation, which is why the government on February 29 decided to start peace negotiations. That same day, the Soviets commenced an attack against Vyborg.



When France and Britain realized that Finland was seriously considering a peace treaty, they gave a new offer for help: 50,000 men were to be sent, if Finland asked for help before March 12. But actually, only 6,000 of these would have been destined for Finland. The rest was intended to secure harbours, roads and iron ore fields on the way.

Additional Sources:

www.answers.com
www.utb.boras.se
virtual.finland.fi
www.mil.fi
www.politicsforum.org
www.historyhouse.com
www.battlefield-site.co.uk
www.iremember.ru
hkkk.fi/~yrjola
www.colddeadhands.addr.com
mailer.fsu.edu
www.onwar.com
www.raatteenportti.fi
www.military-art.com

[SAMWolf]

'We gained 57,000 km² [22,000 square miles] of territory. Just enough to bury our dead.'

Soviet General

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The Winter War of 1939 is a footnote in most histories. Yet it had great importance in the outcome of World War II. Hitler watched as the Finns humiliated the Russians and believed that Germany could crush his Eastern neighbor. Although publicly claiming a great victory, Stalin realized that it had been a military fiasco. He reinstated many Army officers, returned their rank and privileges and reduced the importance of political commissars. His reorganization was just in time to prevent Hitler from taking Russia. Timoshenko said, "The Russians have learned much in this hard war in which the Finns fought with Heroism." Admiral Kuznetsov concluded, "We had received a severe lesson. We had to profit by it." Khrushchev summed it up, "All of us—and Stalin first and foremost—sensed in our victory a defeat by the Finns. It was a dangerous defeat because it encouraged our enemies' conviction that the Soviet Union was a colossus with feet of clay . . . We had to draw some lessons for the immediate future from what had happened."


Dead Russian soldier boots taken, pockets emptied

As for the Allies, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's British government and the French government of Daladier vacillated in indecision during the "mid-winter madness" of the "phony war" of 1939-40. The Nazis invaded Norway and Denmark and both governments fell. Pierre Laval took over in France to no avail, but Chamberlain's "peace in our time" policy was replaced by the resolute Winston Churchill. Once Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in June of 1941 and Japan attacked the US in December of 1941, the US, Britain and Soviet Union were thrown together as allies and this spelled doom for the Axis powers in what became one of the true holy wars of world history.



This epic Finnish Winter War is the material of heroic ballads passed down to generations. Only the hand of God could have brought about the results.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



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Wow. I am always amazed at how little history I really know.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 23:
1699 John Bartram naturalist/explorer, father of American botany
1769 William Smith geologist (Strata Identified by Organized Fossils)
1818 Don Carlos Buell Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1898
1823 Schuyler Colfax (R) 17th Vice President (1869-73)
1825 Edward Lloyd Thomas Brigadier General (Confederate Army) died in 1898
1857 Fannie Farmer actress (namesake of a candy company)
1858 Ludwig Quidde German historian/politician (Nobel prize 1927)
1860 Horatio W Bottomley British journalist/swindler
1881 Hermann Staudinger Germany, chemist/plastics researcher (Nobel '53)
1883 Faisal I ibn Hussein ibn Ali 1st king of Iraq/Syria
1887 Felix Felixovitch Yussupov Russian prince/murderer of Rasputin
1900 Erich Fromm Frankfurt Germany, psychologist (Sane Society)
1902 Philip Ober Fort Payne AL, actor (General Stone-I Dream of Jeannie)
1908 Joan Crawford [Lucille Fay LeSueur] San Antonio TX, actress (Mildred Pierce, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?)
1910 Akira Kurosawa Tokyo Japan, director (7 Samurai, Living)
1912 Werner von Braun Wirsitz Germany, rocket expert
1917 Johnny Guarnieri New York NY, jazz pianist (Morey Amsterdam Show)
1920 James Brown Desdemona TX, actor (Lieutenant Rip Masters-Rin Tin Tin)
1921 Donald Malcome Campbell Surrey UK, boat racer (1955 speed records)
1922 Marty Allen Pittsburgh PA, comedian (Allen & Rossi), "Hello Dere"
1929 Albert H Crews astronaut
1929 Roger Bannister England, 1st to run a 4 minute mile (May 6, 1954)
1933 Monique van Vooren Belgium, actress (Andy Warhol's Frankenstein)
1937 Craig Breedlove Los Angeles CA, auto-racing champion (600 MPH-Spirit of America)
1948 Michael Gleeson otolaryngologist
1953 Chaka Khan [Yvette Marie Stevens] Great Lakes IL, rocker (Rufus-I'm Every Woman)
1953 Louie Anderson Minneapolis MN, comedian
1954 Moses Malone NBA all star center (Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia '76ers)
1956 Laura Thorne chef (named one of 10 best American chefs)
1971 Renette Cruz Miss Canada-Universe (1996)
1971 Yasmeen Ghauri Montréal Canada, model (Valentino Perfume)
1972 Jennifer K Chapman Miss Massachusetts-USA (1997)

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Deaths which occurred on March 23:
1169 Shirkuh Kurd General/vizier of Cairo/Saladin's uncle, dies
1237 Jan of Brienne King of Jerusalem/Emperor of Constantinople, dies
1369 Pedro the Cruel, King/tyrant of Castile & Leon, murdered
1555 Julius III [Giovanni M del Monte], Pope (1550-55), dies at 67
1801 Paul I tsar of Russia (1796-1801), strangled at 46
1944 O C Wingate British General-Major (Burma), dies in air crash
1958 Florian Znaniecki Polish/US sociologist/philosopher, dies at 76
1960 Franklin P Adams columnist (Information Please), dies at 78
1961 Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko cosmonaut, dies in accident at 24
1964 Peter Lorre actor (The Maltese Falcon), dies at 59
1973 Ken Maynard actor (Phantom Rancher, $50,000 Reward), dies at 77
1983 Dr Barney Clark 1st artificial heart recipient , dies after 112 days at 62
1985 Singing Nun [Janine Deckers] commits suicide in Belgium at 52
1994 Alvara del Portillo Spanish Opus Dei bishop, dies at 80

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GWOT Casualties


24-Mar-2003 6 | US: 4 | UK: 2 | Other: 0
US Corporal Evan Tyler James Saddam Canal Hostile - drowning
US Sergeant Bradley Steven Korthaus Saddam Canal Hostile - drowning
US Specialist Gregory Paul Sanders 60 miles S. of Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - sniper
US Lance Corporal Thomas Alan Blair An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
UK Sergeant Steven Mark Roberts Al Zubayr Hostile - friendly fire
UK Lance Corporal Barry Stephen Al Zubayr Hostile - hostile fire

Afghanistan

A Good Day

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On this day...
1026 Koenraad II crowns himself king of Italy
1066 18th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1153 Treaty of Konstanz between Frederik I "Barbarossa" & Pope Eugene III
1490 1st dated edition of Maimonides "Mishna Torah" published
1568 Treaty of Longjumeau: French huguenots go on strike
1593 English Congressionalist Henry Barrow accused of slander
1657 France & England form alliance against Spain; England gets Dunkirk
1708 English pretender to the throne James III lands at Firth of Forth

1743 George Frideric Händel's oratorio "Messiah" premieres in London

1775 Patrick Henry proclaims "Give me liberty or give me death"

1794 Josiah Pierson patents a "cold-header" (rivet) machine
1794 Lieutenant-General Tadeusz Kosciuszko returns to Poland
1801 Murder attempt on Czar Paul I
1806 Lewis & Clark reach Pacific coast
1808 Napoleon's brother Joseph takes the throne of Spain
1836 Coin Press invented by Franklin Beale
1839 1st recorded use of "OK" [oll korrect] (Boston's Morning Post)
1840 Draper takes 1st successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype)
1857 Elisha Otis' 1st elevator installed (488 Broadway, NYC)
1858 Streetcar patented (Eleazer A Gardner of Philadelphia)
1862 Battle of Kernstown VA-Jackson begins his Valley Campaign
1865 General Sherman/Cox' troops reach Goldsboro NC
1867 Congress passes 2nd Reconstruction Act over President Johnson's veto
1868 University of California founded (Oakland CA)
1880 Flour rolling mill patented (John Stevens of Wisconsin)
1881 Boers & Britain sign peace accord; end 1st Boer war
1891 1st jazz concert was held at Carnegie Hall
1903 Wright brothers obtain airplane patent
1910 1st race at Los Angeles Motordrome (1st US auto speedway)
1912 Dixie Cup invented
1915 Zion Mule Corp forms
1917 4 day series of tornadoes kills 211 in Midwest US
1918 Lithuania proclaims independence
1918 Paris bombs "Thick Bertha's Dike" (nickname for the widow Krupp)
1919 Benito Mussolini forms Fascist movement in Milan Italy
1919 Moscow's Politburo/Central Committee forms
1922 1st airplane lands at the US Capitol in Washington DC
1923 Frank Silver & Irving Conn release "Yes, We Have No Bananas"
1925 Tennessee becomes 1st state to outlaw teaching theory of evolution
1929 1st telephone installed in White House

1933 Enabling Act: German Reichstag grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers

1934 US Congress accepts Philippines independence in 1945
1940 1st radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS
1940 All-India-Muslim League calls for a Muslim homeland
1942 2,500 Jews of Lublin massacred or deported
1942 US move native-born of Japanese ancestry into detention centers
1943 German counter attack on US lines in Tunisia
1944 Nicholas Alkemade falls 5,500 meter without a parachute & lives
1945 Largest operation in Pacific war, 1,500 US Navy ships bomb Okinawa
1948 John Cunningham sets world altitude record (54,492' (18,133 meter))
1956 Pakistan proclaimed an Islamic republic in Commonwealth (National Day)
1956 Sudan becomes independent
1957 US army sells last homing pigeons
1965 Gemini 3 launched, 1st US 2-man space flight (Grissom & Young)
1965 Moroccan army shoots on demonstrators, about 100 killed
1966 1st official meeting after 400 years of Catholic & Anglican Church
1968 Reverend Walter Fauntroy, is 1st non-voting congressional delegate from Washington DC
1972 Evil Knievel breaks 93 bones after successfully clearing 35 cars
1972 New York Yankees agree to continue playing ball in the Bronx
1973 After a 5½ year run, soap "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" ends
1976 International Bill of Rights goes into effect (35 nations ratify)
1979 Larry Holmes TKOs Osvaldo Ocasio in 7 for heavyweight boxing title
1980 Shah of Iran arrives in Egypt
1981 Supreme Court rules states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teen-age girls sought abortions
1981 Supreme Court upholds law making statutory rape a crime only for men
1982 Guatemala military coup under General Rios Montt, President Romeo Lucas flees
1983 US President Ronald Reagan introduces "Star Wars"-plan (SDI)
1985 Billy Joel weds supermodel Christie Brinkley
1985 Discovery moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 51-D mission
1987 US offers military protection to Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf
1989 2 Utah scientists claim they have produced fusion at room temperature
1989 Joel Steinberg sentenced to 25 years for killing his adopted daughter
1990 Former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood ordered to help clean up Prince William Sound & pay $50,000 in restitution for 1989 oil spill
1992 Florida Marlins begin selling tickets
1994 Graeme Obree bicycles world record 10 km (11 :8)
1994 Howard Stern formally announces his Libertarian run for New York Governor
1997 Phil Mickelson wins Bay Hill Golf Invitiational
1997 Wrestlemania XIII in Chicago, Undertaker beats Psycho Sid for title
2000 Pope John Paul the Second paid his respects at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial.
2000 President Clinton visited the western Indian village of Nayla.

---

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

Bolivia : Memorial Day
Laos : Armed Forces Day
Lithuana : Independence Day (1918)
Pakistan : Republic Day (1956)
Sudan : Independence Day (1956)
UN : World Meteorological Day, a UN observance (1950)
World : World Meteorological Day
US : Chocolate Week (Day 3)
Rosacea Awareness Month

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Religious Observances
Anglican : Gregory the Illuminator, bishop/missionary to Armenia
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Turibius of Mogrovejo, archbp of Lima (optional)

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Religious History
1540 In a show of growing support for Henry VIII, Waltham Abbey in Essex became the last monastery in England to transfer its allegiance from the Catholic Church to the newly_established Church of England.
1744 In London, composer George Frederic Handel's famous oratorio "Messiah" was performed for the first time.
1877 Mormon fanatic John Doyle Lee was executed by a firing squad for masterminding the Mountain Meadows Massacre. In 1857, a wagon train of 127 Arkansas Methodist emigrants, bound for California, were killed by a party of Mormon settlers and Paiute Indians at Mountain Meadows (near Cedar ity), Utah.
1892 Birth of George Arthur Buttrick, English Presbyterian pastor and educator. A teacher at both Union Theological Seminary and Harvard University, Buttrick is best remembered as chief editor of "The Interpreter's Bible" (1952_57).
1966 Archbishop of Canterbury Arthur Michael Ramsey met and exchanged public greetings with Pope Paul VI in Rome. It was the first official meeting between heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in over 400 years.

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

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Thought for the day :
"I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him."

[The Mayor]

March 24, 2005

Celebrate Beginnings

Read:
Luke 1:26-38

You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. -Luke 1:31

Bible In One Year: Judges 19-21

Many churches observe March 25 as Annunciation Day. It commemorates the angel's announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus, the Messiah. In our success-oriented society, this festival is a needed reminder to recognize and rejoice at the beginning of God's work in a person's life rather than holding our applause for the accomplishments.

Because we often read Luke's gospel at Christmas, we may forget that 9 months of trust and waiting separated Mary's response to Gabriel from the birth of Jesus. When we read her words of surrender in light of this timespan, they take on added meaning: "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Mary must have received great encouragement when her cousin Elizabeth told her, "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord" (v.45).

We can celebrate beginnings by giving a hug or handshake to a new believer who professes faith in Christ. We can write a note of encouragement to a friend who has chosen to obey God's Word.

Let's grasp every opportunity to celebrate the beginnings of God's work in the lives of others. -David McCasland

It takes but a moment of time
And minimal energy spent
To pass an encouraging word
To one who'll be glad it was sent. -Hess

The human spirit soars with hope when lifted by an encouraging word.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
How Much Does God Control?

[alfa6]

Interesting Post today SAM

The Finns in their struggles witht the Soviets found a good use for the lowly Brewster Buffalo. The Buffalo was much despised by those who flew it in combat for the US, Britian, Australia and New Zealand but to the Finns it was a gift froom the gods. I suspect that the reason for the succes of the Buffalo in the service of the Finns was due to the "relatively" poor quality of the Soviet air arm at this time.

If I am not nmistaken the chief opposiion for the Finns would have been the I-15 and I-16 fighters, aircraft that would have had a performance roughly equal to the Buffalo. Given aircraft of equal ability the tide will turn to the better trained piolts. Also the Finns would have had the advantage of fighing over thier own country for the most part, refer to the Battle of Britian for this advantage.

Any excuse for a few pictures, EH :-)

A pic of a Brewster Buffalo in Finnish Service,a hat tip to www.warbirdalley.com for the pic

And the Buffaloe's oppostion, hat tip to www.warbirdsovernewzealand.com for the Soviet pics

A pic of the I-153 Biplane, IIRC the I-153 was the version of the I-15 that had retractable landing gear.

And a pic of the I-16 Rata

Well off to work the insulboard and sheetrock are calling me :-)

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[PzLdr]

The "loopiness" of the British and French in 1939-1940 goes a ways to helping explain their defeats in 1940. In addition to contemplating intervention in Finland, tat amount to a declaration of war on the Soviet Union, when they were already at war with Nazi Germany, the French proposed (and consideration was given to) bombing the oil fields at Baku, even without aiding Finland.

Norway's fate was sealed when British destroyers entered Norwegian territorial waters and boarded the German supply ship ALTMARCK, which had been a supply ship for the panzerschiffe ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE, and which held prisoners taken by GRAF SPEE from merchantmen.

The Anglo-French force sent to Norway in early April, with the intent of occupying Narvik, and other points, was preempted by the German attack on April 9th, resulting in naval and land battles that continued until early June. Interestingly, Admiral Raeder, at Nuremberg was not allowed to use evidence of the Allied operation in his defense on the charge of planning to wage aggressive war.

[alfa6]

1937 Craig Breedlove Los Angeles CA, auto-racing champion (600 MPH-Spirit of America)

Well the Canucks can still get a few things right, he he

1971 Yasmeen Ghauri Montréal Canada, model (Valentino Perfume)

Yowzers

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Mudboy Slim]

La di dah...very nice...

"Already Gone!!"
(To be sung to the Eagles' "Already Gone")

Folks, I heard Rush Limbaugh talkin' just the other day...
And Rush said, "RATS're gonna put Slick on the shelf!!
But let me tell you...MUD's got some news for you...
And you'll soon find out Right's True...
'Cuz Slick's gonna haveta eat his lunch in a JailCell!!

'Cuz Slick's already bombed...
And Right's feelin' strong!!
MUD shall sing his Vict'ry songs...woo, hoo,hoo,woo,hoo,hoo!!

This Prez'dent fer whom RATS voted...made me stop and wonder "WHY?!!"
But I reckon that we'll just haveta set things Right!!
Just remember this, Lib'rals, when ya listen to those who LIE...
They can be RATstars and still not know what's Right (WE're Right!!)

And Left's already done...
And Right's feelin' strong!!
Right shall sing our Vict'ry songs...woo, hoo,hoo,woo, hoo,hoo!!!

Willie knows it was YOU FOOLS who gave Slick Power...
Clinton knows it shall be YOU who helps US FReep!!
So often times it happens that YOU live yer lives in chains...
And YOU never even knew YOU are the key!!

But me, I'm already gone!!
And I'm feelin' strong!!
Right Shall Sing our Vict'ry Songs...
'Cuz Slick's Already Bombed!!

Yes, RATS're already gone...
And Right's feelin' strong!!
Right shall sing our Vict'ry songs...
'Cuz RATS're already done!!

Yes, Slick's already buggered...
Slick's squeeeeelin' fer more!!
All Right, Let's Fight the Fight!!

BWAHAHAHAHA...MUD

[Darksheare]

Yikes, frozen Russian soldiers.
Nothing worse than commiecicles.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Snippy. Ready to talk to the reporter today?