Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 336
July 17, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 17, 1940 & 1945
Josef Stalin, Harry Truman, and Winston Churchill at the Potsdam Conference, Germany, 17 Jul 1945 (Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum)
75 Years Ago—July 17, 1940: In England, pub owner Percy Tibble captures 4 downed German airmen with a toy pistol.
70 Years Ago—July 17, 1945: Potsdam conference begins outside Berlin—Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, and Harry Truman meet to discuss post-war Europe and the end of the war with Japan.
July 16, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 16, 1940 & 1945
Atomic bomb ‘Gadget’ exploding during Operation Trinity, Alamogordo NM, 16 Jul 1945 (US Department of Energy)
75 Years Ago—July 16, 1940: Vichy France revokes citizenship of naturalized Jewish citizens.
70 Years Ago—July 16, 1945: First atomic bomb is detonated at Alamogordo, New Mexico.
July 15, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 15, 1940 & 1945
75 Years Ago—July 15, 1940: Democratic convention opens in Chicago. RAF reduces pilot training from three months to one month. The rector of Old Bolingbroke, England, is sentenced to 4 weeks prison for ringing a church bell. Britain bans fireworks, kites, and balloons.
70 Years Ago—July 15, 1945: Italy declares war on Japan.
July 14, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 14, 1940 & 1945
Battleship USS Indiana, battleship USS Massachusetts, and cruiser USS Quincy bombarding Kamaishi, Japan, 14 Jul 1945 (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—July 14, 1940: Three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), involuntarily occupied by Soviet forces, “vote” to be admitted to the Soviet Union.
70 Years Ago—July 14, 1945: French celebrate first Bastille Day since 1939. US warships fire directly on Japan for the first time, in support of carrier strike on Kamaishi, Honshu; first shot fired by battleship USS South Dakota. Movie premiere of musical Anchors Aweigh, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Kathryn Grayson, famous for Kelly’s dance with animated mouse Jerry.
July 13, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 13, 1940 & 1945
Japanese-Americans returning to Sacramento, CA after being released from Rohwer Center internment camp in McGehee, Arkansas, 30 Jul 1945 (US Library of Congress)
75 Years Ago—July 13, 1940: First Free Polish fighter squadron is formed in Britain.
70 Years Ago—July 13, 1945: Japanese ambassador Sato meets with Soviet foreign minister Molotov to discuss peace with the Allies without unconditional surrender. US War Relocation Authority announces all but one internment camp for Japanese (Tule Lake) to close by December 15.
July 12, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 12, 1940 & 1945
75 Years Ago—July 12, 1940: Britain launches “Pots into Planes” campaign to collect aluminum for military use.
70 Years Ago—July 12, 1945: On Mindanao in Philippines, US Eighth Army lands at Sarangani Bay to crush final resistance.
July 11, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 11, 1940 & 1945
Henri Petain and Adolf Hitler, 24 October 1940 (German Federal Archive, Bild 183-H25217)
75 Years Ago—July 11, 1940: Marshal Henri Pétain assumes position as Chief of State of Vichy France, with Pierre Laval as Prime Minister. King Carol of Romania imprisons Fascist Iron Guard leader Ion Antonescu.
70 Years Ago—July 11, 1945: At Waw, Burma, British repel attack by remnant of Japanese army.
July 10, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 10, 1940 & 1945
British poster, WWII (Imperial War Museum)
75 Years Ago—July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain begins with German Luftwaffe attacks on British shipping and on southern England. French motto “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” replaced with “Travail, Famille, Patrie” (work, family, fatherland). Japanese deploy new A6M Zero fighters against Chinese forces.
70 Years Ago—July 10, 1945: US Navy’s Task Force 38 begins raids on Japan coordinated with B-29s; 1000 planes bomb Tokyo.
B-29 Superfortress bombers near Mount Fuji, Japan, July 1945 (US National Parks Service)
July 9, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 9, 1940 & 1945
Australian Army Lieutenant MG Searles, 2/25 infantry battalion, inspecting a Japanese vehicle found abandoned near Balikpapan, Borneo, 22 Jul 1945. (Australian War Memorial)
75 Years Ago—July 9, 1940: Battle of Punta Stilo, the first naval engagement in the Mediterranean—between British and Italian convoys, little damage occurs; battleship HMS Warspite hits Italian battleship Guilio Cesare from 24 km, one of the longest naval gun hits of the war. German Evangelist Church protests Nazi euthanasia programs.
70 Years Ago—July 9, 1945: Australian and Dutch troops complete encirclement of Balikpapan Bay, Borneo. US conducts last area bombing of Formosa; 6100 killed in campaign.
July 8, 2015
Today in World War II History—July 8, 1940 & 1945
Grounded Dutch submarine O-19, 8 July 1945 (US Navy photo)
75 Years Ago—July 8, 1940: Britain begins tea rationing (two ounces per person per week), which won’t end until 1952.
70 Years Ago—July 8, 1945: Only international sub-to-sub rescue in history: USS Cod rescues crew of grounded Dutch sub O-19 in South China Sea. US guard Clarence Bertucci machine-guns a tent of sleeping German POWs in Utah; 8 are killed.
