Posted on 05/22/2014 5:06:12 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/may44/22may44.htm#
Free French capture Pico
Monday, May 22, 1944 www.onwar.com
In Italy... US 5th Army forces continue to advance. The US 2nd Corps (Keyes) advances north along the coast and Route 7. The French Expeditionary Corps captures Pico. There is continued heavy German resistance in the Liri Valley.
In the Sulu Sea... An American submarine detects the concentration of the Japanese fleet around Tawitawi.
In New Guinea... Japanese forces attack US positions around Aitape. American forces make some withdrawals.
In Wake Island... An American destroyer force bombards Japanese positions.
In Occupied France... French resistance members blow up the hydroelectric station at Bussy.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/22.htm
May 22nd, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
The USAAF’s Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 361: 438 bombers and 568 fighters are dispatched on PFF attacks to targets in Germany and France; five bombers and seven fighters are lost:
- 342 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to the port area at Kiel, Germany; 289 hit the primary and five bomb targets of opportunity; five B-17s are lost.
- 94 of 96 B-24 Liberators hit V-weapon sites at Siracourt, France.
Escort is provided by 145 P-38 Lightnings, 95 P-47 Thunderbolts and 328 P-51 Mustangs; P-38s claim 8-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft, P-47s claim 12-1-2 and P-51s claim 2-2-1; three P-38s, three P-47s and a P-51 are lost.
130 P-47s are dispatched on a fighter-bomber attack on railroad bridges at Hasselt and Liege, Belgium; one P-47 is lost.
Mission 363: Four B-17s drop 320,000 leaflets on The Hague, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Utrecht, The Netherlands without loss.
Twelve B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.
The USAAF’s Ninth Air Force on England dispatches about 330 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb airfields and other targets in the Cherbourg, Calais, and Paris areas of France while a like number of P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb marshalling yards, airfields and other targets in the same general areas.
Submarine KNM Utsira (ex-HMS Variance) launched.
Corvette HMS Caistor Castle launched.
Minesweeper HMS Cheerful launched.
Salvage vessel HMS Kingarth launched.
ARCTIC SEA: U-476 encountered an enemy submarine in the Arctic Sea, but neither boat attacked.
BALTIC SEA: U-1164 hit a mine in the Baltic Sea and was damaged.
FINLAND: The Soviet 21st Army begins to transfer its tank and artillery units to the Karelian Isthmus against Finns. This is done by rail and boats during nights to keep it secret. Gen. Gusev’s 21st Army comprises of 97th and 109th Army Corps and the crack 30th Guards Army Corps.
Gusev’s Army has spent the most of May in intensive training, which is of essence, because it’s to act as the Soviet spearhead in the coming offensive against the Finnish Army. The Red Army has not forgotten the fierce resistance of the Finns in the Winter War, so as little as possible is left to chance. To practice storm-troop tactics, training-grounds has been built south-west of Leningrad to resemble as much as possible the first Finnish defence-lines. The morale of the soldiers is also taken care of: they have received intensive political training.
ITALY: US II Corps push north on Route 7. The French take Pico.
In an attack on the Hitler Line, the Canadian Three Rivers Regiment’s tanks arrive at their jump off point where 30-40 British Churchill tanks (of the North Irish Horse and the 21st RTR) sat burning in front of them. These have been destroyed by a few well-placed 88mm anti-tank guns. Fortunately the 88’s were moved back by the time the Three Rivers Regiments Shermans arrived. (Stuart Millis)
The weather clears again and the USAAF’s Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 550+ B-17s and B-24s to attack communications and military targets in central and northwestern Italy; B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Avezzano; B-24s hit port areas at Fano, Porto Civitanova and La Spezia; fighters fly 200+ sorties in escort to bombers; there is no fighter opposition.
PACIFIC OCEAN: A US submarine spots the IJN forces near Tawi Tawi.
The destroyer escort USS England (DE-635) sinks a second Japanese submarine in three days. HIJMS RO-106, part of Operation “NA,” is sunk 250 miles north of Kavieng, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago.
Two USN destroyers bombard Wotje Atoll, consisting of 65 islets in the Marshall Islands.
WAKE ISLAND is bombarded by a strong US destroyer force.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Charlottetown visited namesake enroute Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.
Corvette HMCS Ville de Quebec commenced workups at Bermuda.
ASW towing vessel HMCS Wildwood assigned to Esquimalt, British Columbia.
U.S.A.: Ben Prime graduates Aviation Cadet School and goes on to join the USAAF.
Destroyer USS Duncan laid down.
Minesweeper USS Inaugural laid down.
Destroyer escort USS John L Williamson laid down.
Submarine USS Trutta laid down.
Submarine USS Trepang commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Instill commissioned.
Frigate USS Forsyth launched.
Destroyer USS Little launched.
Escort carrier USS Mantanikau launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two new RCN torpedo boat flotillas start operating off coast of France.
Interesting comments from a Romanian Jewish businessman who escaped to "Palestine." It's only be 70 years, but alert Jewish people are evacuating Europe, again.
Not much news about the Eastern front lately.
Maybe because there finally seems to be movement in Italy and D Day right around the corner.
French Choose ‘Hun’ victims
London, May 21 - The French underground was reported today to be scrawling the following invasion-day slogan on walls throughout France: “Choose your Hun; there won’t be enough to go around.”
Common American words for Germans would be “kraut”, “heinie”, “fritz”, “jerry”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terms_used_for_Germans
I was listening to a lecture about the Huns recently. The professor mentioned that Kaiser Wilhelm chose to associate his imperial regime with the idea of Huns, who were actually Central Asian and not Germanic at all.
Asks Ignoring of Axis
WASHINGTON, May 21 — Mr Davis renewed appeal to the people to ignore Axis reports of invasion operations which were designed to arouse hysteria. Concurrently, he told The United Press that there might be a time lag between the beginning of actual landings and the official announcement from Allied headquarters in London.
“An during that lag,” he added, “Mr Goebbels unfortunately will have the floor. But I trust the American people will remember that Joe Goebbels is in business for this own health and not for theirs.”
I nice subtle way to call Joe a liar................
Regarding the article about Lt Robert Craig I am reminded about how I grew up with real heroes and the value of those heroes. This current generation doesn’t have that..............
It appears the press used his statement of the Huns to communicate how savage the Germans were. He used “huns” once in an official speech and then the press continued it?
Here is a little WWI history that had some impact on our attitudes toward Germans in WWII? It is important to understand how our attitudes develop. Reading the following site France was viewed as the real enemy for many in Britian during WWI and some remnants for WWII?, carry over from Napoleon?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-German_sentiment
During World War I, German Americans were sometimes accused of being too sympathetic to Germany. Former president Theodore Roosevelt denounced “hyphenated Americanism”, insisting that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime. A small minority came out for Germany, or ridiculed the British (as did H. L. Mencken). Similarly, Harvard psychology professor Hugo Münsterberg dropped his efforts to mediate between America and Germany, and threw his efforts behind the German cause.[13]
The Justice Department attempted to prepare a list of all German aliens, counting approximately 480,000 of them, more than 4,000 of whom were imprisoned in 1917-18. The allegations included spying for Germany, or endorsing the German war effort.[14] Thousands were forced to buy war bonds to show their loyalty.[15] The Red Cross barred individuals with German last names from joining in fear of sabotage. One person was killed by a mob; in Collinsville, Illinois, German-born Robert Prager was dragged from jail as a suspected spy and lynched.[16]
An old black and white comic strip. Two characters are talking about a clown that was bought for a birthday present. One character smashes the doll because it was made in Germany.
A 1917 comic strip in which the character smashes a clown doll present because it was made in Germany.
Anti-German sentiment was stoked by the success of German saboteurs in the 1916 bombing of Black Tom island; the operation had been directed and financed by German intelligence officers under diplomatic cover.[17]
When the United States entered the war in 1917, some German Americans were looked upon with suspicion and attacked regarding their loyalty. Some aliens were convicted and imprisoned on charges of sedition, for refusing to swear allegiance to the United States war effort.[18]
In Chicago, Frederick Stock was forced to step down as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra until he finalized his naturalization papers. Orchestras replaced music by German composer Wagner with French composer Berlioz.
The town, Berlin, Michigan, was changed to Marne, Michigan (honoring those who fought in the Battle of Marne).
German street names in many cities were changed. German and Berlin streets in Cincinnati became English and Woodward.[19] In Chicago Lubeck, Frankfort, and Hamburg streets were renamed Dickens, Charleston, and Shakespeare.[20][21] In New Orleans, Berlin Street was renamed for General Pershing, head of the American Expeditionary Force.[22]
Businesses changed their names. In Chicago, German Hospital became Grant Hospital.[20] In New York, the giant Germania Life Insurance Company became Guardian.[23]
Many schools stopped teaching German language classes.[19] The City College of New York continued teaching German courses, but reduced the number of credits students could receive for them.[24] Books published in German were removed from libraries or even burned.[19][25] In Cincinnati, the public library was asked to withdraw all German books from its shelves.[26] In Iowa, in the 1918 Babel Proclamation, the governor prohibited all foreign languages in schools and public places. Nebraska banned instruction in any language except English, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban illegal in 1923 (Meyer v. Nebraska).[27]
Vocabulary changed. Sauerkraut came to be called “liberty cabbage”,[22] German measles became “liberty measles”, hamburgers became “liberty sandwiches”[22] and dachshunds became “liberty pups”.[28]
The response of German Americans to these tactics was often to Americanize names (e.g. Schmidt to Smith, Müller to Miller) and to limit the use of the German language in public places, especially churches.[29
You’d think German measles would remain “German measles,” since measles are bad.
"These Hungarian women and children, possibly an extended family, were assembled for a photograph in front of an electrified fence at Auschwitz-Birkenau."
All of my ancestors were "German-Americans", some of more recent arrival than others (the first came around 1700).
None that I know of suffered persecution as a result of the First World War.
Many grew up speaking German (well, Pennsylvania-Dutch) at home, and English out in the world.
Their children learned English at home, and some modified their names, long before the First World War.
It's important to remember that Americans of German descent are second in numbers only to Americans of English descent, and many (including my ancestors) were involved in founding & defending our republic.
Also, there's no comparison of the treatment of German-Americans (or Italian-Americans) to that of Japanese-Americans who were rounded up wholesale, regardless of reasonable suspicions or not.
Germans or Italians were only arrested on probable cause.
I did not mean to imply persecution of Germans. Just that these were interesting observations, the news that was read, not the majority of views.
It is interesting that town names were changed. I suspect that most of those towns had heavy German population and they were the ones promoting the name change to show their allegiance.
Some things never change, todays headline is Senate votes to change name of Redskins. But today, I don’t see the Indians that worried about the name change.
Probable cause is very loose terminology. Interesting that if you bought a bond, you might no longer be suspect. There were similarities and differences with WWII. I have no problem with the way the Japanese and Germans were handled in WWII. It was the RECENT immigrants that were suspect and It was war, there were many whose allegiance were to the home country and it took a while to sort it out. and it WAS sorted out. Perfect and fair, hell no but it never will be.
Hindsight gives a different perspective. I was just interested in the carry over of attitudes for WWII. “Hun” does not evoke a gut feeling for me in my generation. “Jerry” is a friendly term in many ways. “Heine” was short for Heinrich a common name but evokes a juvenile derogatory thought.
Certainly by the time of the French and American revolutions the idea of fighting and dying for the nation was back, but I don't know of any circumstance like this - large-scale use of foreign nationals, organized as national units after their homelands were conquered, in the campaign against the enemy.
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