Posted on 07/11/2014 4:11:06 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Major General H.W. Blakeley, USA, Ret., 32d Infantry Division in World War II
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy
I dropped the ball on posting the minutes of Winston Churchill found in an appendix to “Triumph and Tragedy.” I have belatedly posted them on the proper dates in July. They can be found at or near the bottom of threads for July 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 – HJS.
Vilna Surrounded – 2-3
Bares Hitler Plan for Invading U.S. (by John Stuart, first-time contributor) – 3
Drive Nears Orne (Daniel) – 4
Allied Armies Batter Down Resistance to Advance in Normandy (map) – 5
French Collaborationist is Treated to a New Hair-Do (photo) – 6
Eisenhower Warns of Losses; Urges a Check on Optimism – 7
War News Summarized – 7
Japanese Crack on Ukhrul Front – 8
Latest War Casualties in the Army and Navy – 9-10
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 11-13
Russian Bases a Play on Johnston’s Visit; ‘Mr. Perkins’ Mission’ Goes into Rehearsal – 13
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/jul44/11jul44.htm#
Germans counterattack Americans
Tuesday, July 11, 1944 www.onwar.com
On the Western Front... German forces counterattack the US 1st Army. The German Panzerlehr Division spearheads the assault against US 9th Division southwest of St. Jean de Daye. US forces hold. The British 2nd Army continues a slow advance. The 8th Corps captures Hill 112, southwest of Caen. Naval gunfire supports operations around the city.
On the Eastern Front... Other Soviet forces eliminate German resistance east of Minsk.
In New Guinea... American forces around Aitape pull back from the Driniumor River under pressure from Japanese forces.
In Washington... President Roosevelt announces that the US will recognized the French Provisional Government, led by de Gualle, as the de facto authority for the civil administration of liberated territory in France. Roosevelt also tells a press conference that he will run for president again if the Democratic Party nominates him. He say, “If the people command me to continue in office... I have as little right as a soldier to leave his position in the line.”
In the United States... The Bretton Woods conference continues.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/11.htm
July 11th, 1944 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: 41,000 mothers and children are evacuated.
A Coastal Command Avenger turret gunner shoots down a V-1 rocket, at night, while on anti-E-boat patrol over the English Channel. (Ron Babuka)
The USAAF’s Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
- Mission 466: 845 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24s escorted by 699 fighters attack targets in Munich while 38 others bomb Augsburg and Eppington; 20 bombers and 4 fighters are lost:
1. 371 B-17s hit the Munich marshalling yard, Passing electrical station and a tire factory and three hit targets of opportunity; a B-17 is lost. Escort is provide by 209 P-38s, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs without loss.
2. Of 340 B-17s, 183 hit the BMW factory at Munich and 106 hit the Munich marshalling yard; three B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 166 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; a P-51 is lost.
3. Of 435 B-24s, 291 hit Munich, 55 hit Munich/Riem Airfield, 29 hit Augsburg, eight hit Eppingen and one hits a bridge on the Autobahn; 16 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 324 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; a P-47 and two P-51s are lost.
- Mission 467: During the night, 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France.
29 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
FRANCE: The US 9th Division holds against a counterattack by Panzerlehr Division, south-west of St jean de Daye. The British supported by heavy naval gunfire capture Hill 112, south-west of Caen.
Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders strike fuel dumps at Foret d’Andaine, Chateau-de-Tertu, Flers, and Foret d’Ecouves; NOBALL (V-weapon) sites at Chateau d’Helicourt and Chateau d’Ansenne; and a rail bridge at Bourth; fighters escort the bombers, patrol the battle area, and attack trains, gun positions, ammunition dumps, and other targets in the areas around Lessay, Periers, Saint-Lo, Lonrai, Tours and Folligny.
GERMANY: Berchtesgaden: Von Stauffenberg takes a bomb to a meeting with Hitler, but postpones the explosion because Himmler and Göring did not attend.
FINLAND: Vuosalmi: Finnish counter-attacks fail to destroy the Soviet bridgehead on the northern shore of the River Vuoksi. Finns retreat slightly and regroup for defence. From this day on there are attack and counter-attacks, but the Soviet forces are unable to widen their bridgehead. Fighting goes on until the middle of July, and then stagnates into positional warfare.
Stavka orders the Leningrad Front to cease offensive operations on Karelian Isthmus. The strategic aims of the operation (ultimately the occupation of South Finland and forcing an unconditional surrender) has not been reached, and the drive to Berlin has much greater priority. First hints of this are given by Finnish radio-intelligence, and is later confirmed by patrols operating behind the enemy lines who observe trains loaded with tanks and other equipment, going back to east.
ITALY: Bad weather curtails the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy; the only target attacked is the harbor at Toulon, France, where 87 B-24s hit jetties, oil stores, a nearby telegraph cable factory, barracks, repair shops, an adjoining marshalling yard, and submarines in drydock.
MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: Seventh Air Force P-47s based on Saipan continue preinvasion strikes on Tinian and Pagan Islands.
U.S.A.: Washington: Roosevelt agrees to recognize de Gaulle’s French provisional government as the legitimate administration of liberated France.
Washington: President Roosevelt announced at his press conference today that he would run for an unprecedented fourth term in the White House. Ordering the doors of the Oval office to be closed, to prevent a “mad rush” to the door, the president informed correspondents by reading out a letter he had written to Robert Hannegan, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, accepting his invitation to run. Everyone in wartime, said the president, had a superior officer, and the commander-in-chief’s superior officers were the American people. Roosevelt says: “If the people command me to continue in office ... I have as little right as a soldier to leave his position in the line.”
Baseball!
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that the U.S. will recognize the French Committee of National Liberation as the de facto administrative authority in France.
Top songs on the Pop Charts today in the U.S. are
(1) “I’ll Be Seeing You” by The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and vocal by Frank Sinatra;
(2) “Long Ago (And Far Away)” by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes;
(3) “I’ll Get By (As Long As I Have You)” by The Harry James Orchestra and vocal by Dick Haymes; and
(4) “Straighten Up and Fly Right” by The (Nat) King Cole Trio.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Beacon Hill arrived Halifax from builder Esquimalt.
HM S/M P553 and HM S/M P554 returned to USN at Philadelphia.
Tug HMCS Gelnlivit launched Owen Sound, Ontario.
Now that Caen has been lost, it’s really nuts for the Germans to leave their forces exposed to naval gunfire. But, they were led by a nutcase.
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