Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 355
January 21, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 21, 1940 & 1945
USS Ticonderoga burning after being hit by two kamikazes, 21 Jan 1945. (US Navy)
75 Years Ago—Jan. 21, 1940: British cruiser Liverpool stops Japanese liner Asamu Maru off Japan and captures 21 German civilian technicians. Off Scotland, U-22 sinks destroyer HMS Exmouth (all 189 killed).
70 Years Ago—Jan. 21, 1945: Halsey’s US Third Fleet is attacked by kamikazes off Luzon while returning to Ulithi Atoll; carrier USS Ticonderoga is damaged (143 killed).
January 20, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 20, 1940 & 1945
Inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt at White House, 20 January 1945 (Library of Congress)
75 Years Ago—Jan. 20, 1940: Britain and France agree to send troops and supplies to aid Finland, but they do not arrive in time.
70 Years Ago—Jan. 20, 1945: Hungary surrenders to the Soviets. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for his fourth term. New song in the Top Ten: “Accentuate the Positive.”
January 19, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 19, 1940 & 1945
German Volkssturm troops at Königsberg, Germany, Jan 1945. (German Federal Archive, Bild 183-R98401)
75 Years Ago—Jan. 19, 1940: Isolationist leader Sen. William Borah of Idaho dies of a stroke in Washington DC, age 74.
70 Years Ago—Jan. 19, 1945: Soviets take Lodz and Krakow in Poland, and cross Polish-Silesian border. German Adm. Karl Dönitz cuts naval manpower to release men to army.
January 18, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 18, 1940 & 1945
US troops on hill overlooking Damortis-Rosario Road on Luzon. (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—Jan. 18, 1940: British begin seizure and censorship of air mail passing through Bermuda.
70 Years Ago—Jan. 18, 1945: On Luzon in the Philippines, the US Sixth Army drives south from Lingayen Gulf toward Manila.
January 17, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 17, 1940 & 1945
Enigma machine (Imperial War Museum)
75 Years Ago—Jan. 17, 1940: In Paris, Polish cryptographers break Luftwaffe Enigma code.
Raoul Wallenberg, June 1944 (public domain)
70 Years Ago—Jan. 17, 1945: Soviets take Warsaw. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Jews, is detained by the Soviets in Budapest, Hungary and disappears. Nazis lead 66,000 prisoners from Auschwitz on a death march to Germany.
January 16, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 16, 1940 & 1945
Men of the US 347th Infantry Regiment taking a meal break while en route to La Roche, Belgium, 13 Jan 1945. (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—Jan. 16, 1940: Soviet artillery pounds Mannerheim Line near Viipuri, Finland.
70 Years Ago—Jan. 16, 1945: The Battle of the Bulge ends as US First and Third Armies meet in Houffalize, Belgium, cutting off the tip of the Bulge. Hitler enters his bunker under the Chancellery and will never leave Berlin again.
January 15, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 15, 1940 & 1945
British poster, WWII
75 Years Ago—Jan. 15, 1940: Belgium denies British & French troops the right to cross its territory. Britain announces twice as many people have been killed on blacked-out roads than in enemy action.
US troops burn Hengyang Airfield as they evacuate. (US Army Air Forces photo)
70 Years Ago—Jan. 15, 1945: Japanese launch drive toward isolated US Fourteenth Air Force bases in eastern China and toward the Hengyang-Canton railroad. In the US, a nationwide dim-out is ordered to conserve fuel.
January 14, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 14, 1940 & 1945
Japanese Prime Minister Mitsumasa Yonai reading a memo in the prime minister’s seat in the Parliament chamber, Tokyo, Japan, 2 Feb 1940
75 Years Ago—Jan. 14, 1940: Adm. Mitsumasa Yonai forms a new government in Japan, but he is opposed by the pro-war military. British chemists (pharmacists) granted an exemption to sugar rationing in order to coat pills.
70 Years Ago—Jan. 14, 1945: In Burma, British attempt to cross the Irrawaddy River at Thabaikkyin but withdraw under fierce Japanese bayonet attack.
January 13, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 13, 1940 & 1945
75 Years Ago—Jan. 13, 1940: Belgium orders military mobilization; Netherlands cancels all Army leaves.
70 Years Ago—Jan. 13, 1945: German Army Group E completes withdrawal from Greece & Albania.
January 12, 2015
Today in World War II History—January 12, 1940 & 1945
British 3rd Commando Brigade landing in Arakan, Burma, Jan 1945
75 Years Ago—Jan. 12, 1940: US ship North Star reaches Bay of Whales, Antarctica to establish West Base for expedition under Adm. Richard Byrd. Movie premiere of The Shop Around the Corner, starring Jimmy Stewart & Margaret Sullavan.
70 Years Ago—Jan. 12, 1945: Soviets launch offensive across Vistula River in Poland. British land on Arakan Peninsula in Burma.
