Today in WWII History
World War II History for October 26
26 October 1942 – The US carrier USS Hornet and destroyer USS Porter were sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz. It was the last time carrier based aircraft were used by the Japanese in the Guadalcanal campaign.
26 October 1944 – The Battle of Leyte Gulf ended. The battle was won by American forces and brought the end of the Pacific phase of World War II into sight.
Friday Featured Book: Evacuees of the Second World War by Mike Brown
This book isn’t about the front lines of battle during WWII, it is all about those who were behind the soldiers, namely the British children and families they were defending. London was under heavy attack by the Germans and thousands of children had to be evacuated from the city. The countryside and even international countries took these evacuee children in to save their lives. This is their story, the details of how young children were forced to cope with a world war and many without their parents to comfort them.
Find Evacuees of the Second World War Online
Book Specifics
* Pub. Date: October 2009
* Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Limited
* Format: Paperback, 56pp
* Series: Shire Library Series
* ISBN-13: 9780747807452
* ISBN: 0747807450
Today in WWII History
World War II History for October 22
22 Oct 1942 – The Allies met to discuss Operation Torch. Operation Torch was to be the first Allied amphibious landing of World War II (North Africa), mainly as an induction of US ground forces against the Germans. Operation Torch takes place 8 Nov 1942.
Letter home from Midshipman Derek Hirst HMS Zambesi 8th May 1945
forargyll.com published this on 10:51 am, Wednesday, 30th September, 2009
HMS Zambesi entered Bergen, Norway, on 8th May 1945, the day WWII formally ended. The following is from a letter by Midshipman Derek Hirst to his mother started on 14th May and completed shortly after leaving Bergen on the 21st May.
May 14th 1945
18.00. It’s a calm night with just a slight breeze blowing. Everyone is fallen in for leaving harbour & on the bridge the Captain is standing on the compass platform waiting to give the order to slip. A few minutes later the order came – the slip rope was hauled in board & once again the ship was under way, but through the boom we went, as we had done so many times before, closely followed by HMS Obedient. Outside the flow (Scapa Flow) the cruiser HMS Norfolk joined us & together we sailed out into the night. The middle watch passed very pleasantly & by 04.00 we were 40 miles N E of the Shetlands. We then turned East & set course for Bergen.
11.30. Land-ho! Just over the horizon loomed Norway with its snow capped mountains silhouetted brightly against the sky. We were still 60 miles or more away & as we closed in we saw the ruggedness & terrific height of the mountains more plainly. We were doing 20 knots so it took us just on three hours before we reached the Fiord which led to Bergen. At the entrance we stopped main engines & waited for a pilot to come aboard. We still had another two hours steaming to go up the fiord before we should finally reach the harbour and town of Bergen itself.
Read the rest of the post here…
forargyll.com, Argyll News: Letter home from Midshipman Derek Hirst HMS Zambesi 8th May 1945 :Argyll,Scapa Flow,Bergen,World War II, | For Argyll, May 1945
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