Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 353
February 10, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 10, 1940 & 1945
German passenger ship München, later renamed Steuben, July 1925. (German Federal Archives, N 1572 Bild-1925-079 / Fleischhut, Richard)
75 Years Ago—Feb. 10, 1940: Over 4000 members of American Youth Congress march in Washington to protest US being drawn into imperialistic war; President Roosevelt angrily confronts them. Hanna-Barbera’s Tom & Jerry make cartoon debut in Puss Gets the Boot.
70 Years Ago—Feb. 10, 1945: Soviet sub S-13 sinks German transport General Steuben, killing 4500 military personnel fleeing East Prussia.
February 9, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 9, 1940 & 1945
French Infantry advances into Colmar, 2 February 1945. (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—Feb. 9, 1940: Eire (Ireland) makes law to detain IRA men without trial.
70 Years Ago—Feb. 9, 1945: US Seventh & French Armies clear Colmar Pocket and Alsatian Plain and drive Germans over Rhine south of Strasbourg, France. In rare sub vs. sub combat and the only documented case in naval history where both were submerged, British sub Venturer sinks U-864 off Norway.
February 8, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 8, 1945
3rd Canadian Infantry Division amphibious vehicles on the flooded Kranenburg road, February 1945
70 Years Ago—Feb. 8, 1945: Canadian First Army opens drive for Rhine from Nijmegen in the Netherlands, often in flooded conditions. Norwegian resistance (Milorg) kills Maj. Gen. Karl Marthinson, head of Norwegian state police.
February 7, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 7, 1940 & 1945
Damage to the Schwammenauel Dam causes flooding of the Roer River (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—Feb. 7, 1940: British railroads are nationalized. Movie premiere of Disney’s Pinocchio in New York City.
70 Years Ago—Feb. 7, 1945: Germans blow up floodgates in Ruhr Valley, flooding area west of Cologne, Germany. Japanese take US Fourteenth Air Force base in Kanchow, China.
February 6, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 6, 1940 & 1945
75 Years Ago—Feb. 6, 1940: Britain debuts “Careless Talk Costs Lives” campaign.
70 Years Ago—Feb. 6, 1945: US First Army clears Monschau Forest in Belgium.
February 5, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 5, 1940 & 1945
British poster, WWII (Imperial War Museum)
75 Years Ago—Feb. 5, 1940: First sinking of a U-boat by a lone British destroyer: in convoy OA-84 off Land’s End, HMS Antelope sinks U-41. Glenn Miller records “Tuxedo Junction.”
70 Years Ago—Feb. 5, 1945: US Seventh and French Armies link, splitting the Colmar pocket in France. RAF Balloon Command disbanded as air raid threat lessens.
February 4, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 4, 1945
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the Livadia Palace in Yalta, Russia (now Ukraine), Feb 1945. (US National Archives)
70 Years Ago—Feb. 4, 1945: Yalta Conference begins—Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin plan division of postwar Europe. Allies complete the liberation of Belgium. First Allied truck convoy over the reopened Burma Road arrives in Kunming, China.
February 3, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 3, 1940 & 1945
Internees at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines celebrate their liberation, February 1945. (LIFE, public domain)
75 Years Ago—Feb. 3, 1940: New song in Top Ten: “In the Mood,” made famous by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra.
70 Years Ago—Feb. 3, 1945: 1003 B-17s of the US Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, destroying Nazi “People’s Court,” killing brutal judge Roland Freisler, and destroying evidence against remaining conspirators in July 20 Hitler assassination plot, sparing their lives. On Luzon in the Philippines, US airborne troops liberate POWs at Santo Tomas.
February 2, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 2, 1940 & 1945
German troops on retreat in the Upper Silesia region, Germany (now Poland), 2 Feb 1945. (German Federal Archive: Bild 183-H26408)
75 Years Ago—Feb. 2, 1940: Italian Jews banned from serving as engineers, professors, or journalists, and from serving Gentiles as doctors or lawyers.
70 Years Ago—Feb. 2, 1945: Soviets reach Oder River near Frankfurt-an-der-Oder.
February 1, 2015
Today in World War II History—February 1, 1940 & 1945
Lutheran church of Sortavala, Finland on fire after Soviet bombing, 2 Feb 1940
75 Years Ago—Feb. 1, 1940: Soviets launch offensive on Mannerheim Line on Finland’s Karelian Isthmus.
70 Years Ago—Feb. 1, 1945: In Bulgaria, Soviets execute three regents of 7-year-old Tsar Simeon II: Prince Kyril and former Prime Ministers Bogdan Filov and Dobri Bozhilov. Chance Vought Corsair fighters launch first operations from US Navy carriers.
