Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 342
May 25, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 25, 1940 & 1945
British Cruiser Mk IV tank crew repairing tank track, Blangy-sur-Ternoise, France, 26-29 May 1940 (Imperial War Museum)
75 Years Ago—May 25, 1940: Germans take Boulogne, France. British troops are ordered to retreat to Dunkirk. First clinical use of penicillin: Howard Florey successfully treats mice. The Golden Gate International Exposition opens on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, will run through September 29.
70 Years Ago—May 25, 1945: Last major US B-29 fire raid on Tokyo. In the campaign, 50% of city has been burned. Imperial Palace is hit in the B-29 raid, and Emperor Hirohito and his family are nearly killed.
Aerial view of Tokyo following bombing by B-29 Superfortress bombers, night of 26 May 1945 (Library of Congress)
May 24, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 24, 1940 & 1945
Lt. Gen. Simon Buckner, Jr., Maj. Gen. Lemuel Shepperd, and Brig. Gen. William Clement on Okinawa, 22 May 1945 (US Marine Corps photo)
75 Years Ago—May 24, 1940: Hitler orders panzers to halt and allow the Luftwaffe to destroy the Allies at Dunkirk, unaware that bad weather will ground the Luftwaffe. Britain orders the withdrawal of the remaining British troops in Norway.
70 Years Ago—May 24, 1945: Japanese make a suicide airborne attack on Yontan airfield on Okinawa and destroy seven US aircraft.
May 23, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 23, 1940 & 1945
British arrest German leaders Adm. Karl Dönitz, Gen. Alfred Jodl, and Reich minister Albert Speer, 23 May 1945 (German Federal Archive, Bild 146-1985-079-3)
75 Years Ago—May 23, 1940: Germans surround Boulogne, France. Allies begin evacuation from port of Boulogne by sea.
70 Years Ago—May 23, 1945: German government under Adm. Karl Dönitz is dissolved, members of government and general staff are interned on liner Patria in Flensburg harbor. Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler commits suicide.
May 22, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 22, 1940 & 1945
German SdKfz 10/4 vehicle with a mounted 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft gun, France, May 1940 (German Federal Archive, Bild 101I-055-1551-10)
75 Years Ago—May 22, 1940: German panzers strike north from Abbeville, France toward Dunkirk. British decode German Luftwaffe Enigma code.
70 Years Ago—May 22, 1945: Due to continuing shortages, Britain cuts rations of fats, bacon, meat, and soap.
May 21, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 21, 1940 & 1945
Map noting German advances in France and the Low Countries between 16 and 21 May 1940 (US Military Academy)
75 Years Ago—May 21, 1940: French Ninth Army surrenders, along with General Henri Giraud, who will escape in 1942 and lead Free French forces in North Africa. Sir Oswald Mosley, head of the British Union of Fascists, is imprisoned.
70 Years Ago—May 21, 1945: Heinrich Himmler arrested by British in Bremervörde, Germany, disguised as a businessman. Humphrey Bogart marries Lauren Bacall.
May 20, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 20, 1940 & 1945
German troops look out over the English channel with the wreckage of British equipment behind them. (German Federal Archive)
75 Years Ago—May 20, 1940: German army reaches English Channel at Abbeville, France, splitting Allied forces in two. In the US, the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (the White Committee) is formed by interventionist journalist William A. White.
70 Years Ago—May 20, 1945: On Okinawa, US Tenth Army takes Chocolate Drop and Flattop Hills; Marines take Wana Ridge. Japanese troops begin evacuating China to defend Japan.
“Chocolate Drop Hill” on Okinawa (US Army Center of Military History)
May 19, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 19, 1940 & 1945
Henri Petain and Adolf Hitler, 24 October 1940 (German Federal Archive, Bild 183-H25217)
75 Years Ago—May 19, 1940: In France, Marshal Henri Pétain is named Vice Premier, and Gen. Maxime Weygand replaces Gen. Maurice Gamelin over French forces.
70 Years Ago—May 19, 1945: Allies discontinue trans-Atlantic and Mediterranean convoys.
May 18, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 18, 1940 & 1941
Destroyed Belgian A.C.G.1 tank, Antwerp, Belgium, 19 May 1940 (German Federal Archive, Bild 146-1971-040-60)
75 Years Ago—May 18, 1940: Germans take Antwerp, Belgium. In a radio address, aviator and isolationist Charles Lindbergh accuses President Roosevelt of creating “a defense hysteria” and states, “If we desire peace, we have only to stop asking for war.”
70 Years Ago—May 18, 1945: An RAF Lancaster is the first plane in history to fly over the North Pole. US Marines secure Sugar Loaf Hill on Okinawa after heavy fighting.
US Marine running through Japanese fire at ‘Death Valley’, Okinawa, Japan, 10 May 1945 (US National Archives)
May 17, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 17, 1940 & 1945
Ipo Dam on Luzon (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—May 17, 1940: Germans take Brussels, Belgium.
70 Years Ago—May 17, 1945: On Luzon in the Philippines, US Sixth Army takes Ipo Dam intact.
May 16, 2015
Today in World War II History—May 16, 1940 & 1945
German General Heinz Guderian and other officers in Bouillon, Belgium, 12 May 1940 (German Federal Archive, Bild 146-1980-004-32)
75 Years Ago—May 16, 1940: In Belgium, the Allies retreat behind the River Scheldt. President Roosevelt asks Congress for $1.2 billion for the military, and calls for 50,000 planes, a 280,000-man Army, and a Two-Ocean Navy; Congress will appropriate $1.68 billion.
70 Years Ago—May 16, 1945: Last US B-29 incendiary raid to Nagoya—in campaign 12 out of 40 square miles have been burned and 4000 killed. Off Malaya, British destroyers Saumarez, Venus, Verulam, Vigilant, and Virago sink Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in the last classic destroyer action in history. US Sixth Army secures Bicols region of Luzon.
USAAF study of damage to Nagoya, Japan done by aerial bombing on 14 and 17 May 1945 (US National Archives)
