On this day during W.W. 2

[Witt]

December 16th 1944: Hitler unleashed his remaining armoured reserves in the West, rather than safe them to use against his mortal enemy in the East.
Two Panzer Armies, the 5th under the respected and highly able  Hasso Von Manteuffel and the 6th under Hitler’s favourite and highly decorated Sepp Dietrich, shattered the calm of a quiet Winter in the lightly defended Ardennes to start what has become to be known as the Battle of the Bulge.
The plan was simple: take advantage of bad weather and reduced Allied Air Superiority to smash the best Germany could offer against a weak and surprised American Army(Hodges 1st)and reach Antwerp. I am sure no realistic German commander believed this even a possibility, but total surprise was realised and shock waves caused throughout the depleted Allied chain of command.(Many were on Christmas leave.)
The 5th Panzer contained the 47th and 58th Pz Corps: 2nd, 116 and Pz Lehr Divisions, about 250 tanks. The 6th contained the vaunted 1SS Pz Corps(formerly Dietrich’s command) under Hermann Priess and had the best tanks at the time. 1SS Pz had 80 and 45 King Tigers. The 12SS Pz 80 MK IVs and Panthers. Both Divisions counted 22000 men apiece.
Many Infantry Divisions were scheduled to fight alongside the Panzer Divisions and keep pace as best they could; none were mechanised and would find the tiny roads hard going.
The Southern shoulder of the planned attack, close to the Luxembourg border,  was covered by Brandenberger’s 7th Infantry Army(for the most part, reconstituted Normandy Divisions).
The US Divisions standing in the way of this German juggernaut were from Middleton’s 8th and Gerow’s 5th Corps: 2nd, 28th, 99th and 106th Infantry Divisions, with a reserve of the
7th and 9th Armour. Most of the units were green or had been bloodied in the Hurtgen Forest.
To aid in confusing the enemy, Hitler added Operation Grief to the offensive. This entailed Germans dressing as Americans so as to capture important bridges and send units the wrong way. Otto Skorzeny, of Mussolini’s rescue fame, was given a mechanised Brigade of captured US equipment to spearhead this plan of Hitler’s. Some Paras were also dropped.
For the most part the Americans holding the front lines did a good job of slowing the German advance units. In places a platoon held up the whole advance, but by day’s end the Germans had broken through and were advancing, but behind schedule. Their greatest success had come on 5th Panzer’s front and not in the North on the 6th’s front, where the man expected to advance the furthest, SS Lt Col Jochen Peiper was duly frustrated by the traffic jams developing. His Division commander, aware of how hard manoeuvring would be in this terrain and weather, had allocated Peiper, his Pz Regiment Commander, the lead with his 100 tanks and intrinsic Engineer Company, with the addition of the Division’s  motorised Infantry Battalion. Much was expected of Himmler’s former Adjutant.

[Witt]

December 17th 1939 the Graf Spee was scuttled at Montevideo after spending four days in its neutral port. Her Captain, Langsdorf,  commited suicide.
The Graf Spee was a Deutschland class Heavy Cruiser, weighing 16000 tons, armed with 6* 11 inch guns and capable of 29 knots.
She had been at sea since September and had sunk nine vessels totalling 50000 tons.
On the 13th December she engaged three Cruisers, only one of them a Heavy one and although inflicting considerable damage to them, especially the Exeter, she too had taken almost 100 casualties and needed repairs.'Her Captain decided to go to the nearest port to start repairs, as he deemed Germany impossible to reach in the state she was in.
He ordered her scuttled as he believed reports of a build  up of Royal Navy ships awaiting his sailing and thought to safe his crew from certain death. No such ships existed.
The Royal Navy breathed better knowing she was no more.

[Witt]

December 17th 1944. The Malmedy Massacre.
Peiper’s Spitze is spearheading the 1SS PZ Corps advance on 6th Army’s front. He is leading from the front, capturing village after village. Part of his KFG take the wrong road and capture 100 men of B Battery 285 Field Artillery Observation Battalion, after shooting up and destroying 6 of their trucks. The survivors were taken and shot at a field near Baugnez.
113 bodies  were found.
Peiper was on his way to Ligneuville, where he understood an HQ was .
No one knows who gave the order.
The 1st SS PZ continued to advance. They had captured fuel at Bullingen.

[suprise attack]

Before I go off to the war games I want to say thank you to Wittmann for doing such a good job for me while I’m trying to win war games.
Dec 17 1941 In the Gulf of Sirte an Italian convoy bound for Lybia and escorted by the entire Italian Naval force (the battleships Littorio,Doria, Cesare and Duilio, five cruisers and 20 destroyers), commanded by Admiral Iachino, chances to meet a British convoy bound for Malta, with an escort under the command of Admiral Vian of six cruisers and 16 destroyers. The engagement opens at 5:40 p.m. after a prolonged ‘long range observation’ , but it only lasts a few minutes with no damage to either side.
Tanks  S.A.

[Witt]

Hi SA!
On 19th December 1941 Italian frogmen planted mines on two Royal Navy Battleships: Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship, the Valiant, while sitting in Alexandria harbour. The frogmen were captured, but both ships were still damaged.
Both were pre-WW1 Dreadnoughts, commisioned during the war and the first to be fuelsd by oil, not coal. Like most older ships, they  had had modernisation work done to them prior to WW2.  They were proud ships that had seen action in both wars and were to see more. Neither was sunk, although both were put out of action for some time, the Elizabeth for 18 months.

[ABWorsham4]

@wittmann:

Hi SA!
On 19th December 1941 Italian frogmen planted mines on two Royal Navy Battleships: Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship, the Valiant, while sitting in Alexandria harbour. The frogmen were captured, but both ships were still damaged.
Both were pre-WW1 Dreadnoughts, commisioned during the war and the first to be fuelsd by oil, not coal. Like most older ships, they  had had modernisation work done to them prior to WW2.  They were proud ships that had seen action in both wars and were to see more. Neither was sunk, although both were put out of action for some time, the Elizabeth for 18 months.

Love the story, one of the best of WWII. I believe a tanker was also blown up spreading burning fuel in Alexandria. You do a great job on this!

[moilami]

@wittmann:

Hi SA!
On 19th December 1941 Italian frogmen planted mines on two Royal Navy Battleships: Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship, the Valiant, while sitting in Alexandria harbour. The frogmen were captured, but both ships were still damaged.
Both were pre-WW1 Dreadnoughts, commisioned during the war and the first to be fuelsd by oil, not coal. Like most older ships, they  had had modernisation work done to them prior to WW2.  They were proud ships that had seen action in both wars and were to see more. Neither was sunk, although both were put out of action for some time, the Elizabeth for 18 months.

Very interesting. I would be glad to hear more of succesful or brave actions by Italians in the war. What you wrote was the first I have heard.

[moilami]

@wittmann:

Two weeks after invading Finland, December the 14th 1939, Russia was expelled from The League of Nations. Russia invaded Finland because they said they needed security for Leningrad, which was only 40 kms from the Finnish border.
The Russians were mightly  humiliated by the tiny Finnish army, suffering far more casualties than they inflicted, despite having three times the number of men, thirty times the number of aircraft and one hundred times more tanks.
The conflict ended in March of 1940, with Finland having ceded 11% of its territory, but 30% of its resources. Russia had hoped to conquer all of Finland.

Evil soviets! Can’t appreciate more the people who fought for independence and freedom of Finland and stopped the red menace. Impressively well done! Have to hail the Wermach too for assaulting soviets, letting the soviets to bite the same bread they offered to Finland :D Haha! Yeah, no sympathy for they did not give any to us.

There is a movie about Winter War I highly recommend to watch. It is not a typical hollywood war hero movie but rather a “reality” oriented view of winter war.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/

A short clip of the movie introducing our main anti tank weapon: the molotov coctail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M8_hS0gqU8

A picture of authentic molotov coctail.

[Witt]

Dec 24th 1943: Dwight Eisenhower becomes Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
Ike, as he became to be known, was a Texan born Kansan who graduated from West Point in 1915 and who had held many administrative posts, but never got to fight in WW1.  While in Washington in 41-42 Marshall, The Chief of Staff, saw his talent and in June sent him to London as Commanding General of European Theatre of Operations. In November he commanded the Torch landings in North Africa. After this came the invasion of Sicily, which he oversaw, followed by Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy.
It was while his command was in Italy that Roosevelt returned him to London to take over command of the planning of the Normandy invasion.
He remained Supreme commander Europe  throughout the war up to Germany’s surrender in May of 45, then Military Governor of Occupied Germany until November, when he replaced Marshall as chief of staff. In 53 he was elected Republican President in a landslide victory.
His rise, despite never seeing combat, had been meteoric.

[Witt]

27th December 1939: 3rd and final day of the battle of Kelja, Karelia.
The Russians had succeeded in crossing and attacking the Finnish troops on the other side of Lake Suvanto. The Finns had counterattacked for 2 days and on the 3rd day eventually eliminated the last Russian units of 4th Inf Division who still remained. The whole time the Finns were low on artillery ammo and restricted its use, but their accuracy had been  excellent, helped by the Russian’s insistence of always attacking in the same manner and same area.
The Finns captured 12 AT guns, hundreds of MGs and 1500 rifles.
Two thousand  Russians died, the number of wounded is not known. The Finns suffered 500 casualties, but the sector was now devoid of reserves, so the Cavalry Brigade, and strategic reserve, was moved to cover this.

[Witt]

1st January 1945 the Germans belatedly launched Operation Bodenplatte.
It was a Luftwaffe operation designed to take away the Allies Air Superiority, so as to aid the continuation of the Army’s Western (The Bulge) offensive. The plan was to destroy as many aircraft as possible, many while still on the ground.
It was a disaster for the Luftwaffe’s dwindling resources and despite the destruction of probably  close to 200 aircraft and the damaging of 300 more on the one day, only made the German situation worse.Many German planes were shot down by friendly fire, so secret was the operation.
  The Germans could ill afford the pilot losses, especially the experienced ones, 25 of whom were Squadron, Gruppe and Geschwader commanders.
The Allies made up the losses, of mostly aircraft and not pilots, in a week.
The Luftwaffe would never recover and as we know, the German salient was closed off within the month and the front lines just about what they were when they attacked on December 16th.

[Witt]

The city Of Voronezh was recaptured by Russian forces the 15th January 1943, in their Ostrogozhsk-Rossoshansk offensive by 3rd Guards Tank and 6th Army. The defenders in this region were the Hungarian 2nd Army and the Italian 8th Army. The Axis  had held it since July of the previous year, when captured by Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army in their Plan Blau Summer offensive. The German 6th Army surrounded at Stalingrad was yet to surrender.
Voronezh was on the river Don 300 miles Northwest of Stalingrad and 120 miles East of Kursk.
Unlike Kharkov, to the South, it would not change hands again.

[Witt]

The 16th January 1945 Hitler moved into the Fuhrerbunker in Berlin. It was designed by Speer and completed just 3 months before. He married Eva Braun there and we know he left it ar least once, on his last birthday, to decorate some Hitler Youth as there are pictures. On the 30th April he shot himself in the Bunker.
The Reich Chancellory was flattened by the Russians after the war, but the Bunker survived, though parts were now flooded. Most of it was destroyed after reunification.
There is now a plaque to mark its whereabouts, but it is not open to the public.

[Witt]

Jan 17th 1944: Mark Clark’s 5th Army attacks across the Garigliano on the West coast of Italy, hoping to break the Gustav line. The British 10th Corps(5th and 56th Inf) are able to cross and make gains against the reconstituted 94th German Infantry Division. (The original surrendered at Stalingrad.)
Clark’s broader plan had been to cause the Germans to pull their reserves from Rome, so facilitating the planned Anzio landing on the 22nd. This amphibious landing was designed to break the Gustav line, by causing the Germans to retreat or have their supply lines cut. The rest of 10 Corps was to attack on the 19th and the 36th US(Texas) was also going to cross the Rapido on the 20th.
The plan worked as the German commander(and earlier Sicilian one)Fridolin Von Senger und Etterlin, an aristocratic, catholic and lay Benedictine member, called upon the 29th and 90th Pzg Divisions, as he feared for the integrity of the 94th on the Garigliano line.
Unfortunately, for the Allies the Gustav line with the Benedictine monastery at Monte
Cassino(been there) was to prove a formidable line and would require four months of battles and 100000 Allied casualties to finally crack.

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

Unfortunately, for the Allies the Gustav line with the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino (been there) was to prove a formidable line and would require four months of battles and 100000 Allied casualties to finally crack.

A fictionalized depiction of the Monte Cassino campaign can be seen in the movie The Story of G.I. Joe, starring Robert Mitchum and Burgess Meredith.

[Witt]

Thank you Marc: may have seen the film, cannot remember though.

On the 20th January 1944 the US 2nd Corps(Keyes) attack to the East of the UK’s 10xxx opened with the Texas Division crossing the Rapido river. It was a surprise attack, so very few preparations were made beforehand making it a difficult job for the assaulting Infantry Battalions. One from the 141st Regt did cross, but soon found itself isolated.
No US tanks were able to cross and give the Battalion support.
The German defending Division was Rodt’s 15th Pzg, with its intrinsic Stug Battalion. These turretless tanks made life hard for the Texans.
Walker, commanding the Texas Division, was ordered by his Corps commander to try and cross the balance of his Division tomorrow, the 21st.

[Gargantua]

@wittmann:

Thank you Marc: may have seen the film, cannot remember though.

On the 20th January 1944 the US 2nd Corps(Keyes) attack to the East of the UK’s 10xxx opened with the Texas Division crossing the Rapido river. It was a surprise attack, so very few preparations were made beforehand making it a difficult job for the assaulting Infantry Battalions. One from the 141st Regt did cross, but soon found itself isolated.
No US tanks were able to cross and give the Battalion support.
The German defending Division was Rodt’s 15th Pzg, with its intrinsic Stug Battalion. These turretless tanks made life hard for the Texans.
Walker, commanding the Texas Division, was ordered by his Corps commander to try and cross the balance of his Division tomorrow, the 21st.

Walker, Texas Ranger!

[Witt]

Thank God, that is all you had to say Garg.
I have just realised it is the 19th today, not the 20th.
I have been a day ahead for a few days now: what an idiot!

[Witt]

20th January 1945 the Germans began evacuating civilian and military personnel from East Prussia.
The Russians under Chernyakhosky(3rd Belorussian Front)were at last into Germany proper and most Germans feared Russian reprisals for 3 years of German slaughter, pillage and rape.
The naval evacuation initiated by Admiral Donitz did not commence until the 23rd, but civilians had already begun leaving before the Esst Prussian Gauleiter, Koch,belatedly  announced the evacuation.
Probably 2.5 million Germans left East Prussia between January and May.

[aequitas-et-veritas]

what a horror…