Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 8

Today in World War II History—July 29, 1940 & 1945

Cabinet Room in the Churchill War Rooms, London (Photo: Sarah Sundin, 6 Sept 2017)

85 Years Ago—July 29, 1940: Germany annexes the Belgian provinces of Eupen, Malmédy, and Moresnet, and bans speaking of French and Flemish in these provinces.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet meets in the underground Cabinet War Rooms for the first time (now called the Churchill War Rooms).

80 Years Ago—July 29, 1945: Final time a British battleship fires in combat, as HMS King George V, along with other British and US ships, bombards Hamamatsu, Honshu.

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Today in World War II History—July 28, 1940 & 1945

Wreckage of the B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building, 28 Jul 1945 (Acme Newspictures, public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—July 28, 1940: Germans sever rail links between Vichy France and occupied France, introduce passes to cross the demarcation line.

First broadcast of Radio Oranje on BBC to the German-occupied Netherlands, with a broadcast from exiled Queen Wilhelmina.

Stalin, Attlee, Truman, and others at the Potsdam Conference, Germany, 28 Jul 1945 (German Federal Archive, Bild 183-R67561)

80 Years Ago—July 28, 1945: Japanese “choose to ignore” the Allied Potsdam Declaration requiring unconditional surrender.

Destroyer USS Callaghan becomes the last Allied ship to be sunk by a Japanese kamikaze.

US Senate ratifies United Nations Charter.

A B-25 Mitchell medium bomber crashes into the Empire State Building at the 79th floor in the fog; 19 are killed.

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Today in World War II History—July 27, 1940 & 1945

Bristol Beaufighter IF V8318 `F-Freddie’ of RAF No 252 Squadron, Magrun, Libya, April 1943 (Imperial War Museum: TR 903)

85 Years Ago—July 27, 1940: The RAF receives its first Bristol Beaufighter fighter aircraft.

Bugs Bunny makes his debut in A Wild Hare in an unnamed role; first uses “What’s up, Doc?”

80 Years Ago—July 27, 1945: In southeast China, Chinese retake Kweilin from Japanese.

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Today in World War II History—July 26, 1940 & 1945

MGM poster for 1940 movie Pride and Prejudice (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—July 26, 1940: The League of Nations is disbanded.

Due to continuing Japanese pressure on French Indochina, President Roosevelt invokes the Export Control Act to ban export to Japan of aviation fuel and premium grade iron and steel scrap, and places an embargo on export of petroleum products.

Movie premiere of Pride and Prejudice, starring Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson.

British Prime Minister Clement Attlee and King George VI of the United Kingdom, Buckingham Palace, London, England, 26 Jul 1945. (Imperial War Museum: HU 59486)

80 Years Ago—July 26, 1945: In the Potsdam Declaration, the Allies give Japan an ultimatum requiring unconditional surrender.

Heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis delivers “Little Boy” atomic bomb to Tinian.

British parliamentary election results are announced with a Labour Party victory; Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigns, replaced by Clement Attlee.

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Today in World War II History—July 25, 1940 & 1945

Civilians at the Gibraltar Evacuee Camp in Jamaica, WWII (United Kingdom government photo)

85 Years Ago—July 25, 1940: Women and children are evacuated from the British territory of Gibraltar.

Over the next few days, British convoy CW-8 off Dover is the first to be attacked by the Germans from land, sea, and air.

80 Years Ago—July 25, 1945: US secures Sarangani Bay on Mindanao in the Philippines.

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Today in World War II History—July 24, 1940 & 1945

Japanese cruiser Tone under air attack near Kure, Japan, 24 Jul 1945; photo taken by USS Shangri-La aircraft (US National Archives: 80-G-490147)

85 Years Ago—July 24, 1940: Off Brittany, German torpedo boat S-27 sinks French liner Meknes, which is repatriating French soldiers from Britain to Vichy France (416/1277 killed).

80 Years Ago—July 24, 1945: US Task Force 38 carrier aircraft hit Japanese fleet at Kure, sinking battleship-carrier Hyuga and heavy cruiser Tone.

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Today in World War II History—July 23, 1940 & 1945

Members of USS Barb’s demolition squad, Pearl Harbor, August 1945. These men went ashore at Karafuto, Japan, and planted an explosive charge that wrecked a train. This raid is represented by the train symbol in the middle bottom of the battle flag. (US Navy photo: NH 103570)

85 Years Ago—July 23, 1940: British Home Guard is officially established (formerly Local Defence Volunteers) with 1.3 million civilian volunteers to protect the home front.

Breton National Council is formed by separatists in Brittany, tolerated by Germans as it promotes division in France.

Battle flag of the USS Barb in the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum at Pearl Harbor (Photo: Sarah Sundin, Nov. 2016)

80 Years Ago—July 23, 1945: French Marshal Philippe Pétain goes on trial in Paris for collaborating with the Nazis; his death sentence will be commuted due to his age.

Submarine USS Barb lands 8 raiders on Karafuto (between Japan & mainland Asia), who blow up a train and escape.

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Today in World War II History—July 22, 1940 & 1945

Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe and his second cabinet at the Kantei, Tokyo, Japan, 22 Jul 1940 (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—July 22, 1940: Britain officially rejects Hitler’s “peace offer.”

Britain establishes Special Operations Executive (SOE) under Hugh Dalton to support resistance groups in German-occupied Europe.

Prince Fumimaro Konoe becomes Prime Minister of Japan and appoints a new cabinet with Hideki Tojo as Army Minister.

80 Years Ago—July 22, 1945: First US troops transferred from Europe arrive in the Philippines.

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Today in World War II History—July 21, 1940 & 1945

American trucks returning part of $500 million worth of Florentine artwork looted by Germans, Piazzo Dei Signoria, Florence, Italy, 21 Jul 1945 (US National Archives: 111-SC-210319)

85 Years Ago—July 21, 1940: Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian Soviet Socialist Republics are declared, as the USSR announces the results of the rigged plebiscites held in the Baltic States.

80 Years Ago—July 21, 1945: Six truckloads of art stolen by the Nazis are returned to Florence, Italy.

Largest supply operation of the war at sea: in the Pacific, US Task Group 30.8 resupplies US Task Force 38 and British Task Force 37 with 60,000 tons oil, 6000 tons ammunition, 1600 tons supplies, 99 aircraft, and 412 personnel.

Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics play a 24-inning baseball game, ending in a 1-1 tie.

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Today in World War II History—July 20, 1940 & 1945

Messerschmitt Bf 110 night-fighter (Nachtjagdgeschwader 4), 1943 (German Federal Archive: Bild 101I-377-2801-013)

85 Years Ago—July 20, 1940: Luftwaffe night-fighters (Messerschmitt Bf 110s) first shoot down a British plane.

New Hebrides becomes the first French territory to ally with the Free French rather than Vichy.

Billboard first publishes Music Popularity Chart—“I’ll Never Smile Again” is at the top, Frank Sinatra’s first hit.

“Portrait of Paul Valéry” by Ernest Rouart, 1930 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—July 20, 1945: US Congress ratifies Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement.

US Eighth Army lands on and takes Balut Island at entrance to Sarangani Bay, Mindanao, in the Philippines, the last US combat amphibious operation of the war.

French poet & 12-time Nobel Prize finalist Paul Valéry dies in Paris, age 73.

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