On this day during W.W. 2

[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…

[Witt]

Jan 22nd 1944 the 1st British Inf, the 3rd US Inf, the 504th Para Regt and Darby’s Rangers landed 30 miles South of Rome and North of the Gustav line in an operation named Shingle. Lucas was the Allied Corps commander and he had of the operation: “the whole affair had a strong odour of Gallipoli.” He was not to be wrong.
The Germans only had a hodgepodge of units in the area amounting to about 1000 men, but they learned very early of the landings and as usual a defence was quickly built up. The objective was containment.
The overall commander in Italy was Albert Kesselring. His main problem was the lack of a Tactical HQ. The 10th Army was on the Gustav line holding Clark and Montgomery, but he had Mackensen’s 14th in the North of Italy, which served as a training army. Units were immediately dispatched from there or as in the case of ghe 71st Inf and 3rd Pzg, rerouted to Anzio instead. The  4th Para was nearer, again in the process of formation, so it too was sent. The 1st Para Corps HQ (Schlemm) took over the defence.
Luckily for Kesselring, though Lucas advanced he could not properly go on the offensive with just two Divisions.
Over the next few days many opportunities would be missed.

[Witt]

Jan 28th 1945: the Burma Road was reopened after nearly 3 years.
It was a stretch of road from Lashio in Burma to Kunming in Hunan. It was 717 miles long and runs through mainly mountainous terrain. It was built between 1937 and 38 and was used by the British before their entry in the war to supply Chinese forces fighting the Japanese.
After the fall of Burma supplies had to be airlifted.
On Roosevelt’s insistence most  of  Britain’s efforts and resources  in the Pacific were designed to reopen this road to facilitate China’s continuing resistance to Japan. The American commander in Burma was General “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell.

[Witt]

February 5th 1941 the Indian 4th Inf Division’s 11th Brigade attacked at Keren, Italian Eritrea.
Keren was of strategic importance as it was between the capital, Asmara, and the Red Sea port of Massawa.
Most of the early, February battles, were fought over a ridge, named 1616. The Italians retook it several times. The battalions engaged were the 2nd Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, 1/6  Rajputana Rifles and the 3/14th Punjab and for the Italians, the 65th Inf Granatieri di Savoia.
The battle was to last until April 1st and was a British victory, but the Italian troops, half of which were Colonial ones, fought so well as to win the respect of 4th and later 5th Indian Divisions, who said their defence was only bettered by 1st Para in Italy and the Japanese in Burma. The Italian commander, General Carnimeo, was praised for his leadership.
Both Asmara and Massawa surrendered soon after the fall of Keren and the port was later used by both British and US forces.

[Witt]

10th Feb 1943: the Battle of Krasny Bor today. It was a Russian offensive designed to relieve the siege of Leningrad and was by the 55th Army. Despite initial gains it soon turned into a stalemate. The attacking units were 45 and 63 Guards and the 72 Rifle Divisions. The defending Division was the 250th, Spanish Division, with fewer than 6000 men. The attack began with a massive artillery barrage, which caused the Spanish Division to be unable to retreat and for the most part, it fought to the death. At the Railway Station a Company fended off three tank attacks and many infantry charges, before pulling out much depleted. The Russians attacked the hospital, but were fought off. Everywhere the Spanish put up a good fight, inflicting heavy casualties.  Some German, Flemish annd Lithuanian units joined the fighting and the Luftwaffe even made an appearance. The 4th SS Polizei Division(a very poor outfit) was pushed back.
The day ended with gains of 4-5 kms for the Russian attackers and the loss to the Spanish Division of about 70% of its force, marking it as Black Wednesday back home.

[Witt]

February 19th 1945 US Marines landed on The Island of Iwo Jima, about 700 miles south of Tokyo. It was a volcanic island covered in rock and ash. It was not much to look at, but was to prove a costly venture for the attackers. The Japanese had 21000 defending it and it contained 3 airstrips. The defenders could count on concealed gun emplacements, pillboxes and an elaborate network of underground caves. Its defence was to be fierce as if is proximity to Tokyo meant it was important to both sides. The US wanted it to take the air war to Japan proper.
Two days before landing US Battleships pounded the island while smaller ships went in closer to scout the beaches. Two Marine Divisions landed on D-Day and a 3rd followed. There would be 60000 by battle’s end. The volcano, Mt Suribachi, fell on D+4. The 1st flag went up that morning and was seen by thousands. Mt Suribachi was only to be the beginning. The Japanese fought stubbornly for every inch and it was to be 35 days before all resistance ended with a predawn suicide charge.
The US Marines and Navy suffered 26000 casualties, 6000 of them deaths.
Perhaps 1000 Japanese survived as prisoners.
Before the battle ended a B29 low on fuel, landed on one of the strips. It was the first of 2400 that would use the island.

[barney]

Good action Wittman    didn’t realize the anniversary was today

one thousand japanese survivors    thought their was less than that

Salute to the combatants

[Witt]

Hi Barney. Wicki says 216 surrendered, another site 212, the only book I have on the Pacific says about 200.
You were right to query it and remember it was lower than 1000. 
Thank you for the correction. 
Have since read was the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions that fought in the island.(I had presumed it was 1,2 and 3.) Also it was the first time the Americans lost more men than the Japanese. Of  the original 24 Battalion commanders who landed with their men, 19 were killed or wounded.
Not many Marines wanted a repeat of this landing.
One said:“I hope to God that we don’t have to go any more of those screwy islands.”

[Witt]

25th February 1932: Hitler obtained German citizenship by right of Naturalisation, so that he could run for Reichprasident in the 13th March elections. He came second with 36.8% of the vote; the sitting President, Hindenberg, was reelected, but on 30th January 1933 made Hitler Chancellor.
I think we know the rest of the story!

On the 25th February 1945 Turkey also declared war on Getmany.(Another source said the 23rd Feb.)
In August of 1944 Russia’s entry into Bulgaria had severed their overland contact. Turkey ceased  their Diplomatic Relations at this point.
In June of 1941 they had signed a non aggression pact, followed in October by a commercial deal which ensured Germany was supplied with chromite ore in exchange for weapons and other military supplies. (Not sure what chromite was used for. Please tell me someone!)

[Witt]

Feb 27th 1942: Battle of Java Sea. This engagement sealed the fate  of the DEI and saw a multinational force(UK, US Australian and Dutch)of 5 Cruisers(3 Heavy)  and 9 Destroyers take on Admiral Takagi’s Eastern Invasion Force convoy protected by 4 Cruisers(2 and 2) and 14 Destroyers.  The Japanese Heavy Cruisers were armed with 10 8" guns and, therefore, more powerful. Their torpedoes were also of a better quality.
The commander of the multinational force was Dutch Admiral Doorman. He tried all afternoon to reach the troopships, but was foiled by the Japanese warships and a lack of Radar. (Onlythe HMS Exeter had it.) the Allies even had local Air Superiority as the Japanese planes were it of range. In the initial engagement gunnery was poor and only an 8" shell hit Exeter, which had to retire. The Japanese launched two torpedo attacks, but only the Dutch Destroyer, Kortenaer, was hit and sank. Only one Japanese Destroyer was forced to retire and at 6pm the Allies withdrew.
About 11pm that evening the two fleets met again and this time the Japanese torpedoes hit both Dutch Cruisers, including the Dutch Admiral’s flagship, the De Ruyter. Only 111 survived on the two ships. This time the surviving Australian Cruiser, Perth, and USS Houston  retired  for good.
The Japanese troopships unloaded the next day.

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

Feb 27th 1942: Battle of Java Sea. This engagement sealed the fate  of the DEI

This battle also proved to be the final nail in the coffin of the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), a multinational joint command structure which tried unsuccesfully to hold the line against the Japanese.  And it illustrated the difficulty of joint naval operations being conducted by the navies of nations which had not previously trained and operated together.

[Witt]

Thank you Marc. From my reading of the battle I gathered coordination was an Allied problem.

Have you any idea when the US first got the better of the Japanese in a Cruiser battle and was there one factor that made the difference or was it a combination?
I think I remember the Japanese bettered them in the first engagement at Guadalcanal.

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

Have you any idea when the US first got the better of the Japanese in a Cruiser battle and was there one factor that made the difference or was it a combination?

I don’t really know the answer (cruiser actions not being a subject on which I’ve read a lot), but you might want to have a look at an intriguing but little-known naval action that took place between the US and Japan in early 1943: the Battle of the Komandorski Islands.  It involved 1 heavy cruiser, 1 light cruiser and 4 destroyers on the US side and 2 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 4 destroyers on the Japanese side.  It was one of the rare occasions in WWII (and one of the even rarer ones in the Pacific theatre of operations) in which two surface fleets slugged it out entirely with gunfire, and without any aircraft or subs taking part.  The Japanese had a 2-to-1 advantage in both heavy and light cruisers, yet the battle was essentially a tactical draw (and arguably a strategic defeat for Japan).  So in this sense the Americans did better than expected in view of their weaker force.

[Witt]

A very interesting read, thank you Marc.
Failure to finish off the US ships resulted in the Japanese commmander being relieved. 
I see he commanded a 42000 ton Battleship in 1934.

[Witt]

1st March 1941 Bulgaria signed the Tripartite Pact. They were the last major Axis  nation to do so;  Yugoslavia  and Croatia were still to sign. In return for military access to invade Greece, Hitler promised the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III all the territory she had lost to Serbia and Greece after siding with the Central Powers in WW1. His PM Bogdan Filov signed on his behalf.
Bulgaria did not furnish any troops for Operation Barbarossa, unlike the other signatories. In fact though they declared war on the UK and the US, they resisted Gerrman pressure to do so against Russia. Instead they sent troops to occupy Thrace  and Macedonia. Pro Russian feeling was strong in the country especially from 1943 on. With theSoviets close to their border, on the 23rd August 1944, they declared war on Germany. Russia was not to be placated and declared war on them 13 days later; for 3 days Bulgaria found itself  in the strange position of being at war with both countries! Sofia was entered by Soviet troops on the 14th September 1944 and soon it was free of German troops. Three armies of 450000 troops liberated Macedonia as the Germans were pushed out.
Their casualties for WW2 were a very low 25000, most fighting the Germans in the last 8 months of the war. Their 130000 strong 1st Army entered Hungary and by war’s end, Austria, joining up with British 8th Army in Klagenfurt on 8th May 1945.

[Witt]

March 6: Cologne was captured by units of 1st US Army today in 1945.
Cologne is  in West Germany and is an ancient city; the Romans founded Colonia on the Rhine as the capital of Germania Inferior. It was also a great Medieval city, its cathedral a beautiful Gothic example, not finished unti the 19th century. Napoleon later made it part of his empire. Its proximity to the French border ensured it was strongly fortified and designated one of the Fortresses of the German Confederation. After WW1 it found itself in the Demilitarised Rhineland, so these defences were removed.
During WW2 it was the HQ of Wehrkreis VI and home to the 211Inf Regt and 26 Art. Its prewar population was over 700000 and it was never a great centre of Nazi sympathy. On may 31st 1942 it  was the target of the first 1000 plane bomber raid(actually 1046 bombers). In total it suffered 262 bombing raids and 20000 civilian casualties.  By the end of the war its population was reduced to 40000, most of which was voluntary and to rural areas, to avoid the bombings.

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

It was also a great Medieval city, its cathedral a beautiful Gothic example, not finished unti the 19th century.

Considering what a thorough job the Allied bombers did of demolishing Cologne, it’s amazing that Cologne Cathedral managed to survive the war.  It took some seventy bomb hits over the years without collapsing.  To quote Curt Jurgens in the submarine movie The Enemy Below, “We build them good in Germany, eh?”