Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 81

Today in World War II History—September 6, 1943

1953 Bowman baseball card of Carl Scheib of the Philadelphia Athletics (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Sept. 6, 1943: New high-speed Congressional Limited train derails at Frankford Junction, Philadelphia, PA, 79 killed.

Carl Scheib, age 16, becomes the youngest pitcher in the American League, playing for the Philadelphia A’s.

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Today in World War II History—September 5, 1943

US C-47s dropping US 503rd Parachute Regiment at Nadzab, New Guinea, 5 Sept. 1943 (Australian War Memorial 128387)

80 Years Ago—Sept. 5, 1943: US & Australian paratroopers land in Nadzab, New Guinea, to encircle Japanese near Lae; first US airborne action in the Pacific.

Penicillin is delivered to dying 15-year-old Shirley Carter in Macon, GA, by a B-24 Liberator bomber and with police escort; she survives.

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Today in World War II History—September 4, 1943

Australian troops landing at Lae, New Guinea, 4 September 1943 (Australian War Memorial No. 042371)

80 Years Ago—Sept. 4, 1943: Australian 9th Division lands near Lae on New Guinea.

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Today in World War II History—September 3, 1943

Map showing Allied invasion of Italy on September 3, 1943 (British at Reggio di Calabria) and on September 9, 1943 (US & British at Salerno and Taranto) [Map: US Army Center of Military History]

80 Years Ago—Sept. 3, 1943: Operation Baytown: British Eighth Army lands unopposed in Calabria on the toe of Italy at Reggio, Gallico, and Catona.

Italy signs secret armistice with the Allies.

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Today in World War II History—September 2, 1943

Maj. Gen. Adolf Galland and Albert Speer, September 1943 (German Federal Archive: Bild 183-H28427)

80 Years Ago—Sept. 2, 1943: In Germany, Albert Speer is appointed Reich minister for arms and war production.

Movie premiere of musical The Sky’s the Limit, starring Fred Astaire & Joan Leslie, featuring hit song “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road).”

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Today in World War II History—September 1, 1943

US Navy PBY Catalina used for antisubmarine patrols landing at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL, circa 1943 (US Navy photo)

80 Years Ago—Sept. 1, 1943: US Navy assumes aerial antisubmarine warfare responsibility in the Atlantic from the US Army Air Force.

US Civil Air Patrol is relieved of antisubmarine duties; the civilian pilots had spotted 173 subs, 91 vessels in distress, and lifeboats carrying 363 survivors.

US 5th Ranger Battalion is activated at Camp Forrest, Tullahoma, TN; the 5th Rangers will land on Omaha Beach on D-day.

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Today in World War II History—August 31, 1943

US Navy pilot Lt. Cdr. James Flatley’s F6F Hellcat fighter on the USS Yorktown before raid on Marcus Island, 31 Aug 1943 (US Navy photo: 80-G-K-16166)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 31, 1943: First use of Grumman F6F Hellcat in combat, from carrier USS Yorktown in raid on Marcus Island in the Pacific—only 18 months after first flight of F6F prototype.

US Civil Air Patrol’s Coastal Patrol program is discontinued as U-boat threat has waned.

Destroyer escort USS Harmon is commissioned at Quincy, MA, the first US Navy ship named for an African-American—Leonard Ray Harmon, who died in action in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal while caring for the wounded.

“Democracy in Action, No. 4” by Charles Henry Alston, US Office of War Information poster about USS Harmon and her namesake (US National Archives: 535634)

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Today in World War II History—August 30, 1943

Aircraft carrier USS Hornet, Alameda, CA (Photo: Sarah Sundin, November 2015)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 30, 1943: The second (and current) aircraft carrier USS Hornet is launched, Newport News, VA (now a museum ship in Alameda, CA).

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Today in World War II History—August 29, 1943

King Christian X riding through Copenhagen on his 70th birthday, 26 September 1940 during the German occupation of Denmark (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 29, 1943: Germans impose martial law in Denmark and confine King Christian X and the royal family to the palace.

Germans dissolve the Danish army and navy and intern all officers and enlisted men.

Danish Navy scuttles 34 ships fleet: 13 ships escape to Sweden, only 5 are captured.

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Today in World War II History—August 28, 1943

Prince Simeon of Bulgaria, 1943 (Bulgarian Archives State Agency: BASA-3K-15-302-18)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 28, 1943: Bulgaria’s Tsar Boris III (age 49) dies of unknown reasons, possibly poisoned (he resisted fascists and protected Jews); succeeded by six-year-old Simeon II.

German plenipotentiary Werner Best gives the Danish government an ultimatum to impose a state of emergency and crack down on the growing unrest; the government refuses and German Lt. Gen. Hermann von Hanneken takes control.

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