Posted on 04/08/2014 5:03:40 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring
#1 - “Besame Mucho” – Jimmy Dorsey, with Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen
#2 - “Holiday for Strings” – David Rose
#3 - “Mairzy Doats” – Merry Macs
#4 – “Shoo Shoo Baby” - Andrews Sisters
#5 – “I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night” – Frank Sinatra
#6 - “Poinciana” – Bing Crosby
#7 - “I Love You” - Enric Madriguera, with Bob Lido
#8 – “Mairzy Doats” - Pied Pipers
#9 - “My Heart Tells Me” - Glen Gray, with Eugenie Baird
#10 – “Shoo Shoo Baby” - Ella Mae Morse, with orchestra
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/apr44/08apr44.htm#
Germans flying to Manchuria
Saturday, April 8, 1944 www.onwar.com
In Occupied Poland... The Germans begin long-distance cargo flights between Polish airfields and Manchuria during which Ju290A-9 transport aircraft, with sufficient fuel for a 5500 mile flight, travel at altitudes of up to 38,000 feet to cross the Soviet Union without detection.
On the Eastern Front... Heavy fighting north of Razdelnaya continues as a small pocket of German and Romanian forces is eliminated by forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. To the south, Soviet forces of 4th Ukrainian Front (Tolbukhin) begin attacking in the Crimea. The German 17th Army (Jaenicke) is trapped there. Meanwhile, to the northwest, the 1st Ukrainian Front (Zhukov) and 2nd Ukrainian Front (Konev) penetrate deeper into Romania. Botosani, Dorohoi and Siret to the north are all captured. Patrols from 1st Ukrainian Front reach the Slovakian frontier while forces of 2nd Ukrainian Front reach the Siret River on a 60-mile frontage.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/08.htm
April 8th, 1944 (SATURDAY)
GERMANY: US aircraft bomb the Volkswagen plant at Fallersleben, near Hanover.
The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 291: 3 separate forces, a total of 664 bombers divided into 13 combat wings, escorted by 780 fighters, are dispatched against airfields in north-western Germany and aircraft factories in the Brunswick area; 34 bombers and 23 fighters are lost.
- 59 B-17s hit Oldenburg Airfield.
- 83 B-17s hit Quakenbruck Airfield, 60 hit Achmer Airfield, 41 hit Rheine Airfield, 22 hit Twente Enschede, 21 hit Hesepe, 19 hit Handorf and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-17s are lost.
- 190 B-24s bomb aviation industry targets in Brunswick, 59 hit Rosslingen, 48 hit Langenhagen Airfield and 6 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 58-9-32 Luftwaffe aircraft; 30 B-24s are lost
Escort is provided by 136 P-38 Lightnings, 438 Eighth and Ninth Air
Force P-47 and 206 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; the fighters claim 88-3-46 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 49-6-38 on the ground: 5 P-38s, 4 P-47s and 14 P-51s are lost. (Jack McKillop)
The Arado 234 V6 four jet-engined bomber makes its first flight. It is powered by four 800kg thrust BMW 003A-1 turbojets in four separate nacelles. (21)
BELGIUM: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 292: 5 B-17s drop 1 million leaflets on Liege, Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, and Mont-sur-Sombre, Belgium at 2215-2227 hours without loss.
198 Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack Hasselt marshalling yard and hit Coxyde Airfield; and 32 P-47 Thunderbolts bomb the area around Hasselt. (Jack McKillop)
ITALY: Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack a bridge northwest of Orte while A-20 Havocs successfully attack supply stores; fighter-bombers hit several bridges, motor transport, and supply dumps in central Italy, and bomb railroad tracks at Sesti Bagni and Maccarese. (Jack McKillop)
CHINA: Japan bombs Honan province.
BURMA: Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 40 2:50 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Malu, Burma. Bombed Japanese troop area (Chuck Baisden)
Nearly 100 Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers and 2 B-25s again pound Mogaung Valley targets, including Manywet, storage areas and railroad at Mogaung, positions at Shaduzup and general targets of opportunity around Kamaing; 4 B-25s damage a bridge and track at Sittang. (Jack McKillop)
INDIA: L/Cpl John Pennington Harman (b.1914), Royal West Kent Regt, destroyed a machine-gun post and, next day, wiped out another Japanese position before being fatally wounded. (Victoria Cross)
Four C-47 Skytrain squadrons of the 64th Troop Carrier Group based in Italy arrive in India to support the emergency resupply of the British Army’s besieged garrison at Imphal. (Jack McKillop)
ROMANIA: Konev’s Soviet troops reach the River Siret on a 60 mile front.
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: A 324-gun salute marks the First Ukrainian Front reaching Czechoslovakia and Romania.
Russia launches a major Crimean offensive.
The 17th Army (a mix of Germans and Romanians) in Fortress Crimea are mostly wiped out, the survivors retreating back to Sevastopol. (Gene Hanson)
Moscow: Mr. Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister, announced today that the Red Army has crossed the river Prut into Romania at several points and will pursue the Romanian and German armies into Romania until “their rout and complete capitulation”. The first crossings were made on 2 April. The fact that the news was given by Molotov rather than by a general indicates the political implications of the advance. According to the official statement it is “the first step in the restoration of the frontier established by the Treaty of 1940 which Romania broke by her treacherous attack in 1941 in the wake of Hitlerite Germany”.
“At the same time,” said Molotov, “the Soviet government declares that the entry into Romania is dictated solely by military necessity, and is in no way aimed at the integrity of Romanian territory or the existing social order.” Meanwhile, the Red Army is advancing on Jassy, the Romanian army’s headquarters.
CHINA: 6 Fourteen Air Force B-25s damage several small ships in Yulinkan Bay; 2 others strafe an airfield on Weichow Island; 8 P-40s pound oil dumps at Wanling, leaving the target area in flames. 9 B-24s bomb the airfield on Samah Bay, Hainan Island; 4 others lay mines in the bay. (Jack McKillop)
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 11 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb railroad yards at Hanoi. (Jack McKillop)
NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force P-40s attack targets of opportunity in the Aitape-Wewak area; and A-20s hit targets in the Hansa Bay area, firing a fuel dump and destroying several warehouses and other buildings at 3 plantations and strafing and bombing roads and bridges along the coast. (Jack McKillop)
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: During the night of 7/8 April, 6 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s heckle the Kavieng Airfield area on New Ireland Island. On New Britain Island, 50+ fighter-bombers hit the northeastern section of Rabaul and 24 B-25s bomb the centre of Lakunai Airfield. (Jack McKillop)
CAROLINE ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-24s flying out of Kwajalein Atoll, strike Truk Atoll while Abemama Island-based B-25s bomb Ponape Island. (Jack McKillop)
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s from Tarawa Atoll hit Maloelap Atoll, rearm at Majuro Atoll and bomb Jaluit Atoll during the return flight. (Jack McKillop)
PACIFIC OCEAN: The submarine USS Seahorse (SS-304) attacks a Japanese convoy 7 miles (11 km) off Guam, torpedoing an ammunition ship; the explosion in turn damages destroyer HIJMS Asakaze. The crippled ammunition ship, burning, drifts ashore and explodes and sinks the next day. (Jack McKillop)
SOLOMON ISLANDS: 4 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s again bomb Monoitu Mission on Bougainville Island. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: The Pied Pipers’ record of “Mairzy Doats” makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. This is their first single to make the charts and it stays there for 1 week reaching Number 8. (Jack McKillop)
Since I was born in August of 1944, I have no comprehension
of WW2. It is, however, interesting to see the film footage from the war in the Pacific, as well as Europe.
It is so hard to comprehend how humans can massacre each other, for the sake of WHAT?
Thanks for posting these, Homer. I have several family members that fought in both theaters. I find these fascinating. Thank God someone has preserved them.
Haven’t read far enough into my history book. Do the Germans evac Odessa via the Black Sea, or is that fantasy?
For sake of every reason you can imagine, some noble & uplifting, others not-so-much.
Naturally, our guys had all the noble & uplifting reasons (not to mention Providence) on our side.
But the bad guys had plenty of not-so-noble reasons of their own.
For individual soldiers, "kill or be killed" is usually plenty reason enough.
OK. I admit that I did not phrase my question in the right way. How in God’s name do we understand ANY war?
What scares me is that America will soon be at war with itself. As I am now pushing 70, I see an America that has no resemblance to the country that I grew up in.
JU-290 trnsport
Hitler declared Odessa a fortress city: Meaning do not retreat an inch. German and Axis forces in the city totally ignored these insane orders and quickly got out of the city by land. German troops trapped in the Crimea were evacuated by boats in the Black Sea, although thousands were stranded on the beaches and taken prisoner.
“Rome’s Press Encourages a 50% Evacuation”
A few months ago, they were demanding that refugees sign up with German labor battalions. Anything to make sure things stay as comfortable as possible for the press!
World War 2 is proof of one of my maxims:
You cannot have peace with someone who is determined to wage war.
He crashed his plane while doing stunts over his home airfield. His commander grounded him, sent him home for a war bond tour and supposedly pulled a Medal of Honor recommendation. Don got a different win, meeting and marrying a childhood friend, Isabella. After the War, Gentile crashed and died trying to land a trainer because his passenger was afraid to bail out.
Isabella, a young widow with three sons, married another Air Force officer and lived to a ripe old age.
I thought the Japanese didn't allow any German flights to Manchuria that passed through Soviet air space?
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