Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 20

Today in World War II History—April 6, 1940 & 1945

British poster, 1940 (Imperial War Museum)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 6, 1940: British Ministry of Food announces “Kitchen Front” campaign to save food.

Germany recalls all 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-Pfennig coins to reclaim copper and bronze; will use zinc instead.

Poster for metal drive in Germany, April 1940; caption says, “I also help the Führer.”

80 Years Ago—Apr. 6, 1945: Japanese launch air counterattack on Okinawa: over 600 planes, including kamikazes, strike US naval and ground forces; 300 shot down.

Yugoslavian partisans liberate Sarajevo.

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Today in World War II History—April 5, 1940 & 1945

Destruction in Würzburg, Germany, April 1945 (US Army Center of Military History)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 5, 1940: Turkey orders girls 11-16 to obtain military training—sharpshooting and first aid.

80 Years Ago—Apr. 5, 1945: USSR denounces the five-year neutrality pact signed with Japan in April 1941.

US Seventh Army takes Würzburg, Germany, after heavy fighting.

French troops enter Germany’s Black Forest.

“Freeman Field Mutiny” begins as African-American officers of the 447th Bomb Group attempt to integrate the all-white officers’ club at Freeman Army Air Field, IN; 61 will be arrested in the 2-day nonviolent protest.

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Today in World War II History—April 4, 1940 & 1945

American ships unloading supplies on the beach of Okinawa, Japan, 4 Apr 1945 (US Army photo)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 4, 1940: In France, spreading communist or antiwar propaganda is declared a capital offense.

80 Years Ago—Apr. 4, 1945: US Third Army liberates Ohrdruf concentration camp, the first liberated by US troops.

US Tenth Army encounters first strong resistance on Okinawa.

Soviet 2nd & 3rd Ukrainian Fronts finish occupation of all of Hungary.

US Marine Corps Commandant Alexander Vandegrift is promoted to general and US Coast Guard Commandant Russell Waesche is promoted to admiral; both men are the first in their services to attain four-star rank.

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Today in World War II History—April 3, 1940 & 1945

‘Fantails’ or Buffalo amphibians transport German prisoners through a flooded landscape south of Comacchio Lagoon, Italy, 11 April 1945 (Imperial War Museum: NA 23992)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 3, 1940: Soviets begin massacre of 20,000 Polish officers in Katyn Forest.

US Congress cuts military spending 10 percent and refuses to fund heavy bombers as “aggressive weapons.”

80 Years Ago—Apr. 3, 1945: Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front takes Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

British commandos & Italian partisans secure islands in Comacchio Lagoon, Italy.

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Today in World War II History—April 2, 1940 & 1945

Marines of the 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division disembark from amphib-tractors LVTs and rush up Yellow-1 Beach, Okinawa, 1 April 1945 (US Army Signal Corps photo: SC 117655)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 2, 1940: During Luftwaffe raid on British naval base at Scapa Flow, British antiaircraft gunners first send up “Scapa Barrage,” firing en masse rather than at individual targets, which drives the German bombers away.

80 Years Ago—Apr. 2, 1945: US Tenth Army reaches the east coast on Okinawa, dividing the island.

On Okinawa, US opens Yontan and Kadena airfields for emergency and reconnaissance use; first aircraft lands at Yontan, a Marine Corps OY observation aircraft.

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Today in World War II History—April 1, 1940 & 1945

Poster for the 1940 US Census

85 Years Ago—Apr. 1, 1940: US 1940 Census is taken: population 131,669,000, a 7.2% increase since 1930.

British Ministry of Food announces Dig for Victory campaign to encourage growing food at home.

Peter Fraser becomes Prime Minister of New Zealand.

British Dig for Victory poster, promoting home gardening, WWII

80 Years Ago—Apr. 1, 1945: US Tenth Army and Marines invade Okinawa; 60,000 troops land by nightfall.

US First and Ninth Armies meet at Lippstadt, Germany, encircling the industrial Ruhr Valley and 500,000 German soldiers in Army Group B.

Lights go on again in Paris—Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame are floodlit.

Marines landing on Okinawa, Japan, 1 Apr 1945 (US National Archives: 39573-FMC)

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Today in World War II History—March 31, 1940 & 1945

German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis, 10 July 1941 (United Kingdom government photo, public domain)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 31, 1940: British Ministry of Information starts paper rationing for the publishing and printing industries, which are allowed 60% of their 1938 usage.

German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis sets sail; will sink 22 ships before being sunk on 22 November 1941.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 31, 1945: Free French Army crosses the Rhine near Speyer, Germany, the first French troops to cross the Rhine since Napoleon.

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Today in World War II History—March 30, 1940 & 1945

Wang Jingwei and military officers at the ceremony establishing a Japanese government in Nanjing, China, 30 Mar 1940 (public domain via WW2 Database)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 30, 1940: Japanese establish puppet Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing under president Wang Jingwei.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 30, 1945: Soviet Army enters Austria.

Soviets take Danzig.

Allies get first close-up look at a German Me 262 jet fighter when a defecting pilot delivers one to American forces.

British and Chinese secure northern Burma.

Last German V-1 flying bomb is fired at England but is shot down by antiaircraft gunners; in the V-weapon campaign, V-1s killed 6,284, V-2s killed 2,754.

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Today in World War II History—March 29, 1945

Soldiers of 44th Division, US Seventh Army in Mannheim, Germany, 29 Mar 1945 (German Federal Archive, Bild 146-1971-053-59)

80 Years Ago—Mar. 29, 1945: In Germany, US Third Army takes Frankfurt and US Seventh Army takes Mannheim and Heidelberg.

In retreat from Heidelberg, Germans destroy historic Alte Brücke (bridge) over the Neckar River.

Soviets seize Komorn oil field in Hungary, Germany’s last source of petroleum.

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Today in World War II History—March 28, 1940 & 1945

B-24M Liberator “Second Chance II” of US Eighth Air Force, 93rd Bomb Group, over Zossen, Germany, Mar 15, 1945 (US National Archives: 81200 A)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 28, 1940: Supreme War Council meets in London: Britain & France agree to enter Belgium if Germany invades, to not make separate peace with Germany, and to mine Norwegian waters and the Rhine River (the latter is delayed).

Cabinet Room in the Churchill War Rooms, London (Photo: Sarah Sundin, 6 Sept 2017)

80 Years Ago—Mar. 28, 1945: Soviets take crucial port of Gdynia on the Baltic Sea.

US Eighth Air Force flies its final bombing mission to Berlin.

For the final time, the British War Cabinet meets in the underground Cabinet War Rooms in London, now called the Churchill War Rooms.

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