Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 12

Today in World War II History—June 21, 1940 & 1945

Canadian poster, WWII

85 Years Ago—June 21, 1940: Polish government-in-exile arrives in London from France.

Canada introduces military conscription, but overseas service is voluntary.

First successful west-east navigation of the Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, BC.

Lawyer and future president Richard Nixon marries teacher Pat Ryan at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA.

US Marines and US Army soldiers celebrating the capture of Hill 89, Okinawa, Japan, 27 Jun 1945; the hill was captured by US 7th Inf Div on 21 Jun 1945. (US Marine Corps photo)

80 Years Ago—June 21, 1945: US Rangers link with Filipino guerrillas in Aparri, Luzon, in the Philippines.

US Tenth Army takes Hill 89, the last Japanese stronghold on Okinawa.

Trial of the Sixteen: Soviets convict twelve of sixteen leaders of Polish Underground State (anti-German) of collaborating with Germany; three will die in prison.

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Today in World War II History—June 20, 1940 & 1945

Secretary of War Henry Stimson, Washington, DC, 10 Aug 1945 (US National Archives: 199142)

85 Years Ago—June 20, 1940: President Roosevelt names Republican interventionist Henry Stimson as Secretary of War.

Germany begins conscription of Dutch civilians for forced labor.

Britain establishes Children’s Overseas Reception Board to evacuate children to Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Evacuation begins from the Channel Islands (Jersey & Guernsey); 30,000 will evacuate through June 23.

80 Years Ago—June 20, 1945: Australians take oil fields at Seria on Borneo.

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Today in World War II History—June 19, 1940 & 1945

French refugees on a road near Gien, France, 19 Jun 1940. (German Federal Archive: Bild 146-1971-083-01)

85 Years Ago—June 19, 1940: Germans continue their conquest of France, taking Cherbourg, Brest, Nantes, Tours, Rennes, and Strasbourg.

Hans Halban, Lew Kowarski & 31 other French nuclear scientists and their families sail from Bordeaux on SS Broompark, arriving in England 6/21, bringing 408 lbs of Norwegian heavy water.

80 Years Ago—June 19, 1945: US Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower receives a ticker-tape parade in New York City before 4 million people.

Fire in El Teniente copper mine in Chile kills 355 men.

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Today in World War II History—June 18, 1940 & 1945

Poster with Charles De Gaulle’s speech to France on the BBC, 18 Jun 1940 (public domain via National Library of France)

85 Years Ago—June 18, 1940: In speech to Parliament, Churchill declares: “The Battle of France is over…the Battle of Britain is about to begin,” and “This was their finest hour.”

In France, Allies complete evacuation of Brest, Cherbourg, Nantes, Saint-Nazaire, and Saint-Malo.

From London, Gen. Charles de Gaulle makes a radio appeal on BBC’s French Service for French to fight under him and not surrender, but few in France hear this broadcast.

Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, Commanding General, US Tenth Army (right, with camera) and Maj. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepperd, Jr., Commanding General, 6th Marine Division, Okinawa (with walking stick), June 1945 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—June 18, 1945: On Okinawa, Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, commander of the US Tenth Army, is killed by shrapnel; replaced temporarily by Marine Maj. Gen. Roy Geiger, the first Marine and first (and only) aviator to head a US army.

In the Philippines, US Eighth Army secures Mindanao.

Britain begins demobilization of armed forces; one-third will be demobilized by the end of the year.

Movie premiere of The Story of G.I. Joe, starring Robert Mitchum and Burgess Meredith, based on journalist Ernie Pyle’s coverage in Tunisia and Italy.

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Today in World War II History—June 17, 1940 & 1945

HMT Lancastria sinking off St. Nazaire, France, 17 June 1940 (Imperial War Museum: HU 3325)

85 Years Ago—June 17, 1940: As German troops cross the Loire near Orléans, French Prime Minister Philippe Pétain offers the surrender of France and orders French troops to stop fighting.

German Gen. Erwin Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division advances 240 km in one day, a world record, as Panzers move to trap the French 10th Army in Normandy.

Off St. Nazaire, France, the German Luftwaffe sinks liner HMT Lancastria carrying soldiers & refugees evacuating from France, the worst maritime loss in British history (about 3400/5800 killed).

Soviets occupy Estonia and Latvia.

80 Years Ago—June 17, 1945: US begins B-29 incendiary raids on medium-sized Japanese cities; missions carried out using radar-bombing.

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Today in World War II History—June 16, 1940 & 1945

Yuza-Dake Hill, under attack by US 382nd Infantry, 96th Division. Tanks are working on the caves and tunnel system at base of ridge, June 1945 (US Army Center of Military History)

85 Years Ago—June 16, 1940: French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigns, replaced by Marshal Philippe Pétain.

80 Years Ago—June 16, 1945: US Tenth Army takes Yuza-Dake Hill on Okinawa.

“Bell Bottom Trousers” becomes the final military-themed song to hit the US charts in WWII.

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Today in World War II History—June 15, 1940 & 1945

Cover of 1st edition of The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1940

85 Years Ago—June 15, 1940: USSR occupies Lithuania.

German 1st Army crosses the Maginot Line in the Saar; German 7th Army crosses the Rhine at Colmar.

Bread and flour are rationed in the German-occupied Netherlands.

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter is published.

US B-29 Superfortress over Osaka, Japan, 1 June 1945 (US Air Force photo)

80 Years Ago—June 15, 1945: US B-29 incendiary raid on Osaka ends the incendiary campaign on the six biggest Japanese cities.

Judy Garland marries Vincente Minnelli.

Publication of Bill Mauldin’s best-selling cartoon collection Up Front.

The Blue Network, formerly owned by NBC, officially changes name to American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

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Today in World War II History—June 14, 1940 & 1945

German troops parading down the Champs Élysées in Paris, 14 June 1940 (German Federal Archive: Bild 146-1994-036-09A)

85 Years Ago—June 14, 1940: German troops take Paris and fly the swastika over the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower—German soldiers must climb 900 steps to do so, because French soldiers cut the elevator cables.

Gen. Sir Alan Brooke orders evacuation of all British troops from France, defying Churchill and French Gen. Weygand.

Germans send first prisoners to Auschwitz concentration camp—728 Polish political prisoners.

Britain bans ringing of church bells, which is reserved for invasion alerts.

US 96th Division on the top of Yaeju-Dake Hill, Okinawa, Japan, 18 Jun 1945 (US Army photo)

80 Years Ago—June 14, 1945: British arrest German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Hamburg; he will be executed after the Nuremberg Trials.

On Okinawa, US Tenth Army takes Yaeju-Dake peak and US Marines take Kunishi Ridge.

Premiere of Frank Capra’s War Comes to America, the final documentary in the Why We Fight series.

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Today in World War II History—June 13, 1940 & 1945

Soldier of the Australian 2/43rd Battalion armed with an Owen Gun in a bomber dispersal bay at Labuan airstrip, Brunei, Borneo, 10 June 1945. (Australian War Memorial: 018637)

85 Years Ago—June 13, 1940: Germans take Le Havre, France, and enter Paris suburbs.

US Ambassador to France William Bullitt notifies the Germans, via the US Embassy in Switzerland, that Paris has been declared an open city.

First naval skirmish in the Mediterranean in WWII: British submarine HMS Odin attacks Italian cruisers Fiume and Gorizia.

80 Years Ago—June 13, 1945: Australians take Brunei on Borneo.

Japanese resistance ends in the Oroku sector of Okinawa; Japanese commander Adm. Minoru Ota commits suicide.

US Sixth Army drives into the Cagayan Valley on Luzon in the Philippines.

Soviet Politburo orders trials for Polish wartime leaders, including leaders of Polish Home Army which fought against the Germans.

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Today in World War II History—June 12, 1940 & 1945

Japanese resistance fighters captured, Okinawa, Japan, Jun 1945; prisoner to the far left is reading American propaganda literature (US Army photo)

85 Years Ago—June 12, 1940: Gen. Maxime Weygand orders a general retreat to the Loire River, abandoning Paris.

Military governor of Paris Gen. Pierre Héring evacuates, leaving US Ambassador to France William Bullitt as the provisional governor of the city.

Japanese bomb Chongqing, China, with 154 aircraft.

80 Years Ago—June 12, 1945: US Marines make push for final pocket of Japanese forces on the Oroku Peninsula on Okinawa; hundreds of Japanese Marines commit suicide.

US B-32 Dominator bomber is first flown in combat, in the Philippines.

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