Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 22

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

Ludendorff Bridge shortly after the collapse, Remagen, Germany, circa 17 Mar 1945. (US National Archives: ARC 195343)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 17, 1940: Fritz Todt is named German Minister for Armaments and Munitions.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 17, 1945: Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, Germany, collapses under attack by German Ar 234 jets, but five US divisions had already crossed, and US Army engineers erect a new pontoon bridge in ten hours.

US 5th Marine Division launches assault against last resistance on Iwo Jima at Kitano Point.

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

P-51D Mustangs of the US 47th Fighter Squadron on Iwo Jima prepare for raid on Chichi Jima, Mar 15, 1945; Mt. Suribachi in background (US Army Air Force photo 70336 AC)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 16, 1940: Luftwaffe bombs British naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, and the first British civilian is killed (James Isbister, age 27, at Stenness, Orkney).

80 Years Ago—Mar. 16, 1945: Soviets launch an offensive toward Vienna, Austria.

An airfield opens on Iwo Jima for US P-47 and P-51 fighter planes to escort B-29 bombers to Japan.

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

Theatrical release posters for the 1944 films Going My Way and Gaslight (both public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 15, 1940: Movie premiere of Young Tom Edison, starring Mickey Rooney.

Movie premiere of comedy My Little Chickadee, starring Mae West and W.C. Fields.

Advertisement about penicillin from Schenley Laboratories, 14 August 1944

80 Years Ago—Mar. 15, 1945: Canadian I Corps enters service in northern Europe after transfer from Italy.

Academy Awards:

Best movie of 1944—Going My WayBest actor—Bing Crosby in Going My WayBest actress—Ingrid Bergman in GaslightBest director—Leo McCarey for Going My Way.

US War Production Board makes penicillin available for civilian use.

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

Men of US Mars Task Force on Loi-Kang Ridge, Burma, 475th Infantry, 19 January 1945. (US Army Center of Military History)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 14, 1940: Germans are required to turn in copper, bronze, brass, lead, tin, nickel, and other metals for the war effort.

Movie premiere of Road to Singapore, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 14, 1945: First US infantry unit arrives in China, the Mars Task Force, ferried by the US Air Transport Command.

In the RAF’s first use of the 22,000-lb Grand Slam bomb, bombers hit the Bielefeld and Arnsberg rail viaducts, and the Bielefeld viaduct collapses.

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

Osaka, Japan, after the 13 March 1945 US B-29 air raid (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 13, 1940: Canada forms Inventions Board to process weapon suggestions from civilians.

Canada discontinues manufacture of civilian-use trucks.

Punjabi nationalist Udham Singh assassinates former British governor Sir Michael O’Dwyer in London, in retaliation for 1919 Amritsar massacre.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 13, 1945: US B-29s launch a fire raid on Osaka, Japan, killing 4,000 and destroying 119 factories.

US 51st Field Hospital crosses the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, the first US hospital to do so.

Queen Wilhelmina returns to the Netherlands.

King Norodom Sihanouk declares Cambodian independence from France (under Japan), changes name of country to Kampuchea, reinstates Khmer script, ending Romanization of the Khmer language.

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

Finnish foreign minister, Väinö Tanner, reads the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty on the radio, 13 March 1940 at 12 am (Source: Museovirasto via Wikimedia Creative Commons)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 12, 1940: Finland signs treaty with the USSR, ending the Soviet-Finnish Winter War and ceding border lands to the Soviets. In over three months of fighting, 25,000 Finnish soldiers were killed and 200,000 Soviets.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 12, 1945: RAF sends 1108 bombers to Dortmund, Germany, dropping 4851 tons of bombs, an RAF record for both tonnage and bombers to a single target.

New York becomes the first state to outlaw employment discrimination by race or creed.

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Today in World War II History—March 11, 1940 & 1945

British poster, WWII (Imperial War Museum)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 11, 1940: Off Wilhelmshaven, British Blenheim bombers sink German U-boat U-31, the first U-boat to be sunk by aircraft in WWII; U-31 will be refloated only to be sunk again, the only U-boat to be sunk twice in WWII.

Britain begins meat rationing—each person to receive 1 shilling, 10 pence worth per week (about one pound); chicken, fish, game, sausage, and meat pies are not rationed.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 11, 1945: Seventy German POWs escape from a camp at Bridgend, Wales—all will be recaptured by March 17.

US Navy begins using LCVP landing craft to ferry US Army troops across the Rhine at Remagen, Germany.

Emperor Bao Dai of Nguyen Dynasty declares Vietnamese independence from France, with Japanese support.

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Today in World War II History—March 10, 1945

Amphibious landing area, Zamboanga Peninsula, March 1945. (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Mar. 10, 1945: British and Canadians clear the west bank of the Rhine in their sectors.

German navy completes evacuation of Danzig and Gdynia.

US Eighth Army lands at Zamboanga on Mindanao in the Philippines.

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Today in World War II History—March 9, 1940 & 1945

Tokyo, Japan in ruins after aerial bombing, circa 10 Mar 1945 (Photographer: Koyo Ishikawa; public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 9, 1940: Norwegians give French military intelligence the supply of heavy water at Norsk Hydro plant in Telemark, Norway, free of charge.

New song in Top Ten in US: “When You Wish upon a Star” from Walt Disney’s Pinocchio.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 9, 1945: On the night of March 9-10, US B-29s launch first major nighttime, low-altitude incendiary raid on Tokyo—97,000 are killed in the most destructive air attack of the entire war.

On Iwo Jima, US Marines repulse a large Japanese banzai attack and reach the far coast, dividing Japanese forces.

At Fort Devens, MA, Black hospital orderlies in the Women’s Army Corps go on strike to protest the lack of opportunity for technical training; 4 women choose to face court-martial for mutiny.

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Today in World War II History—March 8, 1940 & 1945

US Navy Cdr. Thomas Gaylord administering oath to nurses commissioned in New York, 8 Mar 1945; Phyllis Mae Daley, US Navy’s first African-American nurse, second from right. (US National Archives: 80-G-4836)

85 Years Ago—Mar. 8, 1940: Off the Dominican Republic, British light cruiser Dunedin and Canadian destroyer Assiniboine capture German freighter Hannover, violating Pan-American Neutrality; Hannover will become the first British escort carrier, HMS Audacity.

80 Years Ago—Mar. 8, 1945: German commandos from Jersey in the occupied and besieged Channel Islands raid Granville, Normandy, at night, sinking four Allied ships, freeing 55 German POWs, and capturing 30 Americans and a vital supply of coal.

In the Netherlands, the Germans kill 263 prisoners & civilians in reprisal for the March 6 Dutch resistance attack at Woeste Hoeve.

US Navy swears in its first Black nurse, Phyllis Daley.

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