Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 24

Today in World War II History—February 25, 1940 & 1945

M26 Pershing heavy tank of US 9th Armored Division, near Vettweiss, Germany, Mar 1945 (US Army photo)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 25, 1940: First Royal Canadian Air Force squadron arrives in Britain.

British Summer Time begins (daylight savings time moved up for wartime).

80 Years Ago—Feb. 25, 1945: US Fifth Fleet carrier aircraft and B-29 bombers strike Tokyo in a devastating raid.

US M26 Pershing tanks are first used in combat in Europe.

Turkey breaks neutrality and declares war on Germany and Japan.

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Today in World War II History—February 24, 1940 & 1945

Prototype Hawker Typhoon P5212 before its first test flight, 24 February 1940 (British Air Ministry photo, public domain)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 24, 1940: Maiden flight of prototype RAF Hawker Typhoon fighter.

80 Years Ago—Feb. 24, 1945: Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Maher Pasha declares war on the Axis and is immediately assassinated in the parliament chamber.

Hitler makes his last speech in the Chancellery in Berlin.

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Today in World War II History—February 23, 1940 & 1945

British poster, WWII (Imperial War Museum)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 23, 1940: Britain announces wool shortage due to enthusiastic knitters knitting for the troops.

Woody Guthrie writes “This Land Is Your Land.”

Raising the US flag atop Mount Suribachi, by Joe Rosenthal, Iwo Jima, 23 Feb 1945. (US National Archives: 80-G-413988)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 23, 1945: US Marines capture Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima and raise flag; immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.

Troops of US 11th Airborne Division liberate 2,147 POWs at Los Baños, Luzon.

In Arctic convoy RA-64, US freighter Henry Bacon shoots down 3 Luftwaffe Ju 88 bombers, a Liberty ship record, but is sunk in turn—the last Allied ship lost to German aircraft in the war.

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Today in World War II History—February 22, 1940 & 1945

German destroyer Z-1 Leberecht Maass (Division of Naval Intelligence of the US Navy)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 22, 1940: In the North Sea, Luftwaffe He 111 bombers accidentally damage German destroyer Leberecht Maass, which is then sunk by a mine (280/340 killed); German destroyer Max Schultz is sunk by a mine during rescue operations (all 308 killed).

80 Years Ago—Feb. 22, 1945: Operation Clarion is launched: 6,000 aircraft of the RAF and US Eighth, Ninth, and Fifteenth Air Forces aim to destroy German communications and isolate the industrial Ruhr Valley.

US Fifth Army secures the Upper Reno Valley in Italy.

French fascist leader Jacques Doriot is killed by strafing Allied aircraft near Sigmaringen, Germany.

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

Eric Liddell at the British Empire versus United States of America meet at Stamford Bridge, London, 19 July 1924 (Public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 21, 1940: Cavity magnetron is used for the first time, at the University of Birmingham in England; the magnetron will be vital for Ultra High Frequency radar.

Britain reduces passenger train service due to a coal shortage.

80 Years Ago—Feb. 21, 1945: US Sixth Army secures the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon in the Philippines.

Scottish Olympic runner Eric Liddell (memorialized in the movie Chariots of Fire for refusing to run on the Sabbath) dies in a Japanese internment camp in China, where he had served as a missionary, age 43.

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

Man of US 9th Marines with flamethrower, Motoyama Airfield Number 2, Iwo Jima, Feb 1945 (US Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 104275)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 20, 1940: French Chamber of Deputies expels all communist deputies.

80 Years Ago—Feb. 20, 1945: US Marines take Motoyama Airfield 1 on Iwo Jima; on February 26 the first Marine OY-1 Sentinel observation aircraft will arrive to conduct artillery spotting, on March 2 the first cargo planes will land, and on March 4 the first B-29 will make an emergency landing there.

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

Men of USMC 5th Division advancing through the volcanic ash hills of Red Beach No. 1 at Iwo Jima, 19 Feb 1945 (US Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 104205)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 19, 1940: José Estigarribia, President of Paraguay, suspends the constitution, dissolves the legislature, and enacts authoritarian rule.

In Britain, “BBC Forces Programme” premieres, a second nationwide service (radio channel) with dance music and variety shows meant to appeal to servicemen.

Landing craft underway off Iwo Jima’s eastern shore during the initial day of landings, 19 Feb 1945 (Photographer: Howard Whalen; US Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 104322-KN)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 19, 1945: US Marines invade Iwo Jima and establish a beachhead despite heavy casualties.

US Eighth Army lands on Samar and Capul in the Philippines.

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

US troops crossing the Siegfried Line in Germany, Feb 1945 (US National Archives: 208-YE-193)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 18, 1940: Chinese forces drive Japanese out of Nanning, China.

80 Years Ago—Feb. 18, 1945: In Germany, the US Third Army crosses the Siegfried Line north of Echternach.

The late Maj. Glenn Miller’s US Army Air Forces Band performs at the Paris Opéra House, the first time popular music is performed at this venue.

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

Carrier pilots of the US Fifth Fleet being briefed on their mission to Tokyo aboard an unnamed carrier, 17 Feb 1945 (US National Archives: 208-N-38374))

85 Years Ago—Feb. 17, 1940: Norway protests the Altmark incident (Feb. 16) as a violation of her neutrality.

80 Years Ago—Feb. 17, 1945: For the second day in a row, carriers of US Fifth Fleet strike Tokyo, while US Fifth Fleet warships bombard Iwo Jima.

Premiere of US war film Objective, Burma!, starring Errol Flynn.

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

Altmark at Jøssingfjord, 16 Feb 1940 (public domain via WW2 Database)

85 Years Ago—Feb. 16, 1940: British commandos from destroyer HMS Cossack board German tanker Altmark in Jøssingfjord, Norway, freeing 299 British naval prisoners of war, but creating an international incident due to the violation of Norway’s neutrality.

Finnish II Corps abandons the Mannerheim Line as Soviets advance in Finland.

80 Years Ago—Feb. 16, 1945: US paratroopers (503rd PIR) and US Sixth Army land on the island fortress of Corregidor in the Philippines.

US Fifth Fleet carrier aircraft (TF 58) hit Tokyo for the first time.

Soviets surround Breslau in eastern Germany after most of the civilian population was forcibly evacuated, many to die in the severe winter weather.

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