Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 261
May 14, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 14, 1942
75 Years Ago—May 14, 1942: Australia decides to ration food and clothing.
US Navy begins full convoys on East Coast as the first convoy departs from Hampton Roads, VA to Key West, FL.
German agent Alfred Langbein is landed by U-213 at New Brunswick to report on convoys; he does not, and he surrenders to Canadians on 11/1/44 when he runs out of money.
May 13, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 13, 1942
New Zealand and US soldiers compare weapons in the Southwest Pacific, 1942 (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—May 13, 1942: US troops replace New Zealanders in Fiji, take responsibility for islands.
King George VI becomes Commander in Chief, British Home Guard.
May 12, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 12, 1942
Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress, 99th Bombardment Group, 1943 (US Army Air Forces photo)
75 Years Ago—May 12, 1942: Soviets open offensive in Ukraine toward Kharkov.
Production begins of B-17F Flying Fortresses.
Battleship USS Massachusetts is commissioned, Quincy MA.
San Francisco Bay Area has 25-minute air raid alert.
Battleship USS Massachusetts, Battleship Cove, Fall River MA (Photo: Sarah Sundin, July 2014)
May 11, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 11, 1942
US Air Medal ribbon (public domain)
75 Years Ago—May 11, 1942: Off Mersa Matruh, Egypt, Luftwaffe sinks British destroyers Kipling and Lively, and damages British destroyer Jackal (scuttled 5/12).
Canadian Parliament approves full conscription.
US authorizes Air Medal, awarded retroactively to September 1939.
May 10, 2017
Book Beat – Catching the Wind, by Melanie Dobson
In Germany in 1940, young Dietmar and Brigitte lose themselves in tales of knights and princesses, but when the Gestapo comes for their parents, the two friends flee for their lives.
In modern-day London, reporter Quenby Vaughn is deep in her investigation of a powerful British family that might have had Fascist connections during World War II. Then solicitor Lucas Hough contacts her. Lucas’s elderly client, Daniel Knight, is searching for the little girl he was separated from during the war – and Mr. Knight believes Quenby is the person to find her.
As Quenby and Lucas delve into Daniel and Brigitte’s stories, surprising connections arise, and Quenby is forced to face the demons in her own past. Can she open her heart and trust – and can she help the knight find his lost princess?
Intricate and lyrical, Catching the Wind tells intertwining stories of lost souls and faithful hearts. Once again, Melanie Dobson pens a novel full of fascinating historical detail and characters as real as your best friends – and worst enemies. Engrossing, beautiful, and thoughtful, this is a novel to be savored.
Today in World War II History—May 10, 1942
Japanese-American children waiting for bus to take them to an Assembly Center, Byron, CA, 2 May 1942 (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—May 10, 1942: Assembly center for Japanese-Americans opens at Stockton, CA.
May 9, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 9, 1942
British Spitfire V fighter taking off from carrier USS Wasp for Malta, May 1942 (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—May 9, 1942: Turning point on Malta—62 RAF Spitfires are delivered by HMS Eagle and USS Wasp; the Luftwaffe will be diverted to other theaters.
Off North Carolina, US Coast Guard cutter Icarus sinks U-352, rescuing 33, the first German POWs taken by any US forces in WWII.
New song in Top Ten: “Jersey Bounce.”
May 8, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 8, 1942
USS Lexington’s crewmen abandoning ship and boarding a destroyer, 8 May 1942 (US National Museum of Naval Aviation)
75 Years Ago—May 8, 1942: Battle of the Coral Sea concludes: Allies deter Japanese landing at Port Moresby, New Guinea, first time in war Japanese navy fails to achieve objective.
In Battle of the Coral Sea, carrier USS Lexington is badly damaged and scuttled.
Japanese take Myitkyina, last viable airfield to supply China from Burma.
Alvin York, WWI Medal of Honor recipient “Sergeant York,” is commissioned as a major.
May 7, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 7, 1942
Japanese carrier Shoho under attack by US Navy TBD-1 torpedo bomber, 7 May 1942 (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—May 7, 1942: In the Battle of the Coral Sea, US destroyer Sims and Japanese carrier Shoho are sunk.
Japanese execute José Abad Santos, chief justice of the Philippines, for refusing to participate in the puppet government.
May 6, 2017
Today in World War II History—May 6, 1942
Surrender of American troops at Corregidor, Philippine Islands, 6 May 1942
75 Years Ago—May 6, 1942: US Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright surrenders on Corregidor, the unconditional surrender of all US and Filipino troops in the Philippines, 13,000 POWs.
US Gen. Joseph Stilwell sets off on foot from Burma toward India with 100 military personnel and civilians.
US Army Air Force impresses all but 200 civilian DC-3s into military service, to be converted to C-47 cargo planes.
First American Red Cross Service Club opens in the UK, at Northern Counties Hotel in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Douglas C-47 Skytrain of US Air Transport Command, 1940s (US Air Force photo)
