Posted on 01/17/2014 4:23:48 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
17 January. Between 0400 and 0500 an estimated five enemy planes dropped supply parachutes on the west bank of the Warup River, and six east of the Mot River. Our patrols recovered all these bundles. They contained mostly food – rice, salt and soy bean flour.
Pamphlets were dropped in the hills south of Saidor, urging the natives to come in.
Major General H.W. Blakeley, USA, Ret., The 32d Infantry Division in World War II
Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/jan44/f17jan44.htm
Soviets approaching Rovno
Monday, January 17, 1944 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... Forces of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front capture Slavuta and continue advancing toward Rovno.
In Australia... Meat rationing is introduced.
In Italy... The British 10th Corps (part of the US 5th Army) launch attacks on the defensive positions of the General Senger’s German 14th Panzer Corps (part of the 10th Army), along the Garigliano River. Two of the three British divisions gain bridgeheads over the river.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/17.htm
January 17th, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: Eisenhower appoints General Omar N. Bradley to command the US Army in the field under him.
Escort carrier HMS Rajah commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: Black Sea Fleet: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Submarine loss.”L-23” - by surface ASW ships, NW to cape Tarhankut.
ITALY: British X Corps of the 5th Army begins Operation Panther with attacks along the river Garigliano.
LIBERIA: Monrovia breaks off diplomatic relations with Berlin. (Mike Yared)
AUSTRALIA begins rationing on meat.
Frigate HMAS Barcoo commissioned.
NEW BRITAIN: Japanese resistance at Arawe ends.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Tillsonburg (ex-HMS Pembroke Castle) commissioned.
U.S.A.:
Destroyer USS Cushing commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Astute commissioned.
Destroyers USS Hank and John W Weeks laid down.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-377 sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Ireland, in position 49.39N, 20.10W, by depth charges from destroyer HMS Wanderer and frigate HMS Glenarm. 52 dead (all hands lost).
U-305 Sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 49.39N, 20.10W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer and the frigate Glenarm. 51 dead (all hands lost).
U-544 Sunk in the North Atlantic north-west of the Azores, in position 40.30N, 37.20W, by depth charges and rockets from Avenger aircraft (VC-13) of the US escort carrier USS Guadalcanal. 57 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)
Stalin laying the foundation to change Poland’s eastern border to the Curzon Line.
Notice the bit about naming the B-29 the “Superfortress”.
U-305 Sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 49.39N, 20.10W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer and the frigate Glenarm. 51 dead (all hands lost).
U-544 Sunk in the North Atlantic north-west of the Azores, in position 40.30N, 37.20W, by depth charges and rockets from Avenger aircraft (VC-13) of the US escort carrier USS Guadalcanal. 57 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)
The German U-boat crews suffered the highest casualty rate of any service of any nation during the war. Being sent to the Atlantic by this time was virtually a death sentence. And yet, the U-boat crews were all volunteers, and the Germans never had a problem with lack of volunteers. Amazing.
U-505 is on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and is well worth a visit. It seems cramped when they take a tour through. I can’t imagine what it felt like with a full crew and provisions for a cruise.
Been there a few times. It is well worth the visit. Interesting to compare the U-505 with the USS Silversides, which is in Muskegon MI. I’m not an expert, but I would rather have served on the Silversides than the U-505. I don’t think the German subs had any great technological advantages over the American subs. The Germans had the Schnorkel, but the Americans had the bathythermograph.
http://www.fleetsubmarine.com/bathythermograph.html
Jones survived the War and settled down on a farm in Nova Scotia. He insisted the Chetniks and Mihailovich were indeed collaborators. Unfortunately, he never told his entire story because he passed before the expiration of the classification on his wartime mission.
I haven’t been in the Silversides, but my impression is the Gato Class boats were bigger than the boats most used by the Germans and had air-conditioning. That would better suit them for patrols in the vast distances of the Pacific.
To all- please ping me to Canadian topics.
Canada Ping!
Page 11, HOME NEWS SAID TO UPSET TROOPS, “Reports of Gay Life and Moral Relaxation are Resented”.
A headline and byline that is applicable today.
IIRC, something I’ve read about AC on WWII subs in the South Pacific was that it cooled down the sub to a bearable 90 degrees.
In the tropics, that would still beat the alternative!
Winston needs to fire the intelligence staff en masse if they think Japan isn’t going to invade India. This time the micromanager gets it wrong.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_imphal_1944.htm
Great timing on the P.M.’s part. His timing on this memo is reminiscent of Chamberlain’s claim that Hitler had “missed the bus” days before the invasion of Norway.
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