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World War II History for April 7

07 Apr

Today in WWII History

World War II History for April 7

Apr 07, 1939 Mussolini invades Albania. (More…)

Apr 07, 1941 Quarter of Pacific Fleet ordered to Atlantic : 3BB, 1CV, 4CL, 18DD, 3AO. (More…)

Apr 07, 1942 Japanese subs off western India sink 5 merchantmen this week. (More…)

Apr 07, 1942 Colorado only western state to agree to accept voluntary relocation of enemy aliens. (More…)

Apr 07, 1942 Relocation begins of Japanese from coastal defense zones. (More…)

Apr 07, 1943 Marine 1st Lt. James Swett, on his 1st combat mission, shot down 7 Japanese VAL’s over Guadalcanal-the 1st American to achieve this score in a single mission. (More…)

Apr 07, 1943 British and American armies linked up between Wadi Akarit and El Guettar in North Africa to form a solid line against the German army. (More…)

Apr 07, 1944 Kohima’s water supply is cut off by the Japanese. (More…)

Apr 07, 1944 Counterattacking German forces make some advances in the Crimea but suffer heavy casualties. (More…)

Apr 07, 1944 Two Jewish inmates escaped from Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp and made it safely to Slovakia. One of them, Rudolf Vrba, submitted a report to the Papal Nuncio in Slovakia, which was forwarded to the Vatican. (More…)

Apr 07, 1945 Soviet units cross the Danube River and smash into Vienna. Street fighting commenced. (More…)

Apr 07, 1945 Gottingen was taken by US troops. (More…)

Apr 07, 1945 Japanese air and naval units suffer a disastrous defeat in the battle of the East China Sea. Task Force 58 planes intercepted the Japanese Second Fleet heading for Okinawa. The 72,200-ton battleship Yamato was subjected to 3 hrs of bombing and torpedo attacks and finally capsized with only 269 survivors from the 3,292 man crew. It was the largest single loss involving a warship in history. Other casualties of the battle were the cruiser Yahagi, 4 destroyers and 54 aircraft. The US only lost 10 planes out of the 900 sortied. (More…)

Apr 07, 1945 British 14th Army forces isolated a large Japanese force between Mandalay and Meiktila. (More…)

Apr 07, 1945 Iwo Jima based aircraft make their first attacks on Japan. Fighters begin arriving on Okinawa. (More…)

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Posted in Country - Japan, Europe Theater, North America, Pacific Theater, Today

Audio – Landing on Iwo Jima

19 Feb

Audio Clip: 02.19.1945 – Live Coverage Of U.S. Marines Landing On Iwo Jima

WWII History - 02.19.1945 Live Coverage Of US Marines Landing On Iwo Jima [4:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.

By their victory, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

–Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Members of the Marine Corps Dog platoon head to the front lines – great assets in this type of operation due to their ability to find snipers and as speedy messengers

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Posted in Country - Japan, Images, Media, Pacific Theater, Podcast, Today

Audio – Battle for Iwo Jima

19 Feb

On 02.19.1945 at 0905 hrs, the first of 30,000 US Marines land on Iwo Jima.

Battle for Iwo Jima Photo Gallery

Audio Clip: Arthur Prim Reports the First Strikes on Iwo Jima

WWII History - 02.19.1945 Arthur Prim Reports the First Strikes on Iwo Jima [1:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Amphibious Tractors landing on Iwo Jima Feb 1945

Iwo Jima, which means Sulfur Island, was strategically important as an air base for fighter escorts supporting long-range bombing missions against mainland Japan. Because of the distance between mainland Japan and U.S. bases in the Mariana Islands, the capture of Iwo Jima would provide an emergency landing strip for crippled B-29s returning from bombing runs. The seizure of Iwo would allow for sea and air blockades, the ability to conduct intensive air bombardment and to destroy the enemy’s air and naval capabilities.

Photo & Text source: http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/battleiwojima.htm

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Posted in Images, Media, Pacific Theater, Podcast, Today

World War II History for February 19

19 Feb

Today in WWII History

World War II History for February 19

Audio Clip: 02.18.1943 Soong Mei-Ling Appeals to Congress to Aid Chinese Nationalists

WWII History - 02.18.1943 Soong Mei-Ling Appeals to Congress to Aid Chinese Nationalists [3:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

02.19.1932 – The Sino-Japanese dispute was referred to the Assembly by the League of Nations Council.

02.19.1937 – An attempt was made in Addis Ababa to assassinate the Italian viceroy of Ethiopia, General Rodolfo Graziani. Though he was only wounded, the Italians launched large scale reprisals vowing to keep the Ethiopians in line.

02.19.1938 – The British Cabinet rejects Foreign Secretary Eden’s proposal to have Italian troops withdraw from Spain. Their hope was misplaced, believing that Italy would check any further advances by Germany (they had already occupied Austria).

02.19.1938 – Nazis were permitted to join the ruling party of Austria, the Fatherland Front.

02.19.1939 – A trade agreement was signed between the Soviet Union and Poland in an attempt to strengthen Poland as a buffer against Germany.

02.19.1940 – Ambassador Hull extends the US moral embargo to the Soviet Union.

02.19.1941 – The 8th Australian Division lands in Singapore.

02.19.1942 – Executive Order 9066 is signed by President Roosevelt, authorizing the transfer of more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans living in coastal Pacific areas to concentration camps in various inland states (and including inland areas of California). The interned Japanese-Americans lose an estimated 400 million dollars in property, as their homes and possessions are taken from them.

02.19.1942 – Japanese air raids on Darwin, Australia. Considered the “Pearl Harbor of Australia”, they largest attacks ever mounted by a foreign power against Australia. The raids were the first of almost 100 air raids against Australia during 1942-43.

02.19.1942 – Battle of Badoeng Strait begins; ABDA force attacks retiring Japanese Bali occupation force with 1 Dutch DD sunk, 2 CL and 1 DD damaged.

02.19.1942 – Mandalay came under aerial attack for the first time. Defending forces are ordered back from the Bilin River.

02.19.1942 – Japanese troops landed on the Portuguese island of Timor in the East Indies. Tokyo says the action is taken in self-defense and that its forces would withdraw when the area was secure. The neutral Portuguese accept the occupation.

02.19.1942 – Canada’s Parliament vote to begin military conscription.

02.19.1942 – The Supreme Court of Vichy France begin trials in Riom to establish responsibility for the defeat in 1940.

02.19.1943 – Allied defenses in Tunisia are restructured in the face of a deteriorating position. The Axis forces begin frontal assaults on American positions in the Kasserine Pass.

02.19.1943 – German Army Group South opens a counteroffensive toward Kharkov and Belgorod.

02.19.1944 – US forces land on Engebi Island, Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

02.19.1945 – Units of the US 8th Div begin encircling German troops trapped within the Siegfried Line.

02.19.1945 – Himmler makes his first peace overtures to Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte of the Red Cross.

02.19.1945 US troops land on Samar and Capul Islands in the Philippines.

02.19.1945 (0905 hrs) – The first of 30,000 US Marines land on Iwo Jima. /via World War II Database

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Posted in African Theater, Asian Theater, Country - Germany, Country - Japan, Country - USA, Europe Theater, Facts, Media, North America, Pacific Theater, Podcast, Today

World War II History for March 26

26 Mar

Today in WWII History

World War II History for March 26

26 Mar 1938 - Herman Goering warned all Jews to leave Austria.

26 Mar 1942 - The Germans began sending Jews to Auschwitz in Poland.

26 Mar 1945 - The battle of Iwo Jima ended.

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Posted in Europe Theater, Pacific Theater, Today

World War II History for March 16

16 Mar

Today in WWII History

World War II History for March 16

16 Mar 1935 - Adolf Hitler ordered a German rearmament and violated the Versailles Treaty.

16 Mar 1939 - Germany occupied what remained of Czechoslovakia.

16 Mar 1940 - Geramny bombed the Scapa Flow naval base near Scotland.

16 Mar 1942 - U.S. President Roosevelt ordered men between the ages of 45 and 64 to register for non-military duty.

16 Mar 1945 - Iwo Jima was declared secure by the Allies. However, small pockets of Japanese resistance still existed.

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Posted in Europe Theater, Ground, North America, Pacific Theater, Today

Video: Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima

15 Jun

Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima

Happy Father’s Day !
-World War II History

Technorati Tags: WWII, WWarII, History, Fathers Day, Iwo Jima, Video, Flag

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Posted in Media, Today

Map: Pacific Theater 1941-1945

12 Jun

The Second World War
The Pacific Theater
1941-1945

First Phase
From 7 December 1941, until June 1942, the Japanese successfully attacked the Pacific Fleet’s base at Pearl Harbor, took Wake Island and Guam, invaded and conquered the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaya, and seized the British base of Singapore. They conquered Burma thereby cutting off China from all overland routes to the western allies, and seized the Netherlands East Indies and British Borneo, thereby securing a much-needed source of oil. The Japanese advance came to a halt with the American victories at the Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942) and the Battle of Midway (June 1942).

Second Phase
The second phase in the Pacific War was one of relative stalemate. From June 1942 until late-1943, neither side could muster the land, sea, or air power required to take the offensive and seize the initiative from the other. The Battle of Guadalcanal was an example of this stalemate.

Third Phase
The third phase, from mid-1943 until September 1945, can be characterized as the period of the Allied offensives. Two drives were under American control; General Douglas MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific Campaign and Admiral Chester Nimitz;s Central Pacific Campaign. MacArthur’s drive was characterized by a series of Army amphibious operations up the Solomon Island chain and along the northern coast of New Guinea, with the Philippine Islands as the ultimate objective. Nimitz’s strategy was designed to move directly toward Japan and to draw the Imperial Japanese navy into a decisive fleet engagement as happened at the Battles of the Philippine Sea (June 1944) and Layte Gulf (October 1944). MacArthur’s and Nimitz’s campaigns merged into one for the invasion of the Philippines. Afterwords the Central Pacific campaign continues with the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Fourth Phase
During the latter stages of the war the Army Air Force, operating out of the Mariana islands and flying the B-29 Superfortress, which begun to fire bomb the cities of Japan. These raids culminated with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. Japan surrendered to the Allies on 2 September 1945.

Technorati Tags: WWII, WWarII, Pacific, Theater, Map, Color, Timeline, MacArthur, Nimitz, Philippines, Japan, Layte, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Wake, Guam, Pearl Harbor, Midway, Coral Sea, Burma