On this day during W.W. 2

Today in 1942, Japanese forces invaded tulagi in the first part of Operation Mo. This would eventually result in the battle of the coral sea.

On May 3rd 1945 Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe G: Albert Kesselring receives the “Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes” - Knights cross of Iron cross.

On May 3rd 1941,Dave Robinson was born.
Known as an American Football player (Linebacker) who made it to the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame in 1996.
He played for the Greenbay Packers and later on for Washington Redskins.

On the 14th June 1944(the day after Wittmann’s amazing one tank rout of the 7th Armour at Villers Bocage), an English Sergeant by the name of Wilfred Harris made his mark.
Commanding a 17lb Sherman Firefly in the 7th Dragoon Guards, he was at the village of Lingevres, near Tilly Sur Seulles in Normandy, when 2 Panthers appeared in his sights at 800m. He quickly dispatched both. He next moved to another part of the village and seeing 3 more Panthers knocked them out too. All 5 had been disabled with a single shot.
He was promoted after this and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
He died in 1988.

@wittmann:

All 5 had been disabled with a single shot.

For a moment I thought you meant a single shot overall rather than a single shot per tank.  I was going to ask what kind of advanced ammunition the Sherman Firefly was using.  :lol:  I couldn’t help thinking of those old low-budget westerns in which one of the besieged homesteaders / cavalrymen / whatever fires his rifle once, and the editor then cuts to a scene in which three of the attacking Indians fall off their horses.

A question: was this the action in which Wittmann’s 007 tank was destroyed?  You mentioned in an earlier post that he was killed in an encounter with a Firefly.

Yes. He was leading his Company(5 tanks, not full strength 14) in an impossible  mission. He had to buy time for Meyer commanding 12SS to construct some sort of second line of defence. The II  Canadian XXX was about to break through and take Falaise, cutting off the failed German counterattack at Mortain. The Americans were almost at Le Mans in their deep rear.
He raced forward, fired upon by units to his front(no effect) and was knocked out along with the other 4 Tigers, by a concealed Firefly commanded by a Sgt Gordon, then when he was wounded, by his Troop commander, Lt Young.
It was during Operation Totalise.

Ah the Firefly, pretty much the sexiest thing on the battlefield.

@DarthShizNit:

Ah the Firefly, pretty much the sexiest thing on the battlefield.

With Betty Grable’s iconic pin-up photo running a close second.  :-D

I beg to differ boys.
Just received my Osprey Duel: Jagdpanther vs SU 100.
Jagdpanther is the prettiest thing on the battlefield. I have thought that since I was a little boy!

@wittmann:

I beg to differ boys.
Just received my Osprey Duel: Jagdpanther vs SU 100.
Jagdpanther is the prettiest thing on the battlefield. I have thought that since I was a little boy!

I have always found fighter planes sexier than tanks.

The Stuka was my first love. Still is my favourite plane, especially after I discovered the tank busting G model.
I have probably misspoken saying how much I loved the Jagdpanther as a little boy. Thinking on it, I was  older. Like you, planes were my thing.

@wittmann:

The Stuka was my first love. Still is my favourite plane, especially after I discovered the tank busting G model.  I have probably misspoken saying how much I loved the Jagdpanther as a little boy. Thinking on it, I was  older. Like you, planes were my thing.

For those occasions when it’s hard to decide if planes or tanks are more exciting, there’s the Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft, which was was nicknamed “the Flying Tank”.  :-)

Marc, you are forgetting to whom you are talking: the Sturmovik is Russian.
Axis equipment rocks my boat!

On this day in 1942, the WAVES program started.  It allowed women to serve in the reserves of the first time.

October 14th 1944, FM Erwin  Rommel took poison rather than face a public trial for treason.

It is also the day in 1066 Harold Godwinson, King of England for nine months,  died at the Battle of Hastings.
England would never be the same again.

@wittmann:

October 14th 1944, FM Erwin  Rommel took poison rather than face a public trial for treason.

It is also the day in 1066 Harold Godwinson, King of England for nine months,  died at the Battle of Hastings.
England would never be the same again.

That’s an interesting coincidence: Rommel and Harold II sharing a death date.  Thanks for sharing that.

Hello Marc. It is just one of those dates I don’t ever forget.
I will test you next year!

If we’re talking WW2 history for that date, we should also remember the sinking of HMS Royal Oak by U-47 in 1939, with the loss of 833 lives. It was a daring raid by Kapitanleutnant Gunther Prien, striking at Britain’s Scapa Flow naval base right at the start of the war. Prien returned to German to a hero’s welcome. He was a very successful commander, but was lost in March 1941 when U-47 was sunk by British destroyers.

Thanks Herr KaLeun. Was unaware that was the 14th.
Won’t forget now.

On the 12th November 1944, the Tirpitz was attacked by 30 Lancasters of 9 and 617 Squadrons. Two Tall Boy, 12000lb,  deep penetration bombs hit her and she capsized. It is not known how many sailors died, but it was probably over 1000.
She was the slightly (2000 tons) heavier sister ship to the Bismarck and the British had been after her for two years.

Could any WW2 battleship survive a hit from a tall boy bomb?