Posted on 07/16/2014 5:23:20 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy
The News of the Week in Review
Fifteen News Questions – 16
Roads to Paris (map) – 17
Battle of Caen Called Key to French Campaign (Middleton) – 18
“The Chimes of Normandy” (cartoon) – 19
Answers to Fifteen News Questions – 19
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/jul44/16jul44.htm#
Poles claim German territory
Sunday, July 16, 1944 www.onwar.com
In London... The Polish government in exile publishes a paper claiming German territory in East Prussia, Danzig and the Polish Corridor for postwar Poland.
On the Western Front... Forces of US 1st Army continue attacking near St. Lo. Elements of British 2nd Army advance toward Hottot-les-Bagues and Evrecy.
In Italy... British 8th Army forces capture Arezzo. Elements of the British 13th Corps cross the Arno River as the German forces fall back.
On the Eastern Front... Southwest of Vilna, Soviet forces storm Grodno. To the south, the 1st Ukrainian Front advances toward Lvov on a 300-mile frontage.
In New Guinea... Around Aitape, the Japanese forces along the Driniumor River weaken.
In the United States... The Bretton Woods conference continues.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/16.htm
July 16th, 1944 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF’s Eighth Air Force flies two missions.
Mission 476: 1,087 bombers and 712 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; eleven bombers and three fighters are lost:
1. Of 407 B-17 Flying Fortresses dispatched, 213 hit an aircraft engine plant at Munich, 54 hit Augsburg, 52 hit Stuttgart and 50 hit two targets of opportunity; they claim 2-3-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; ten B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 240 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; a P-51 is lost.
2. Of 238 B-17s dispatched, 206 hit Stuttgart and two hit a target of opportunity; a B-17 is lost. Escort is provided by 214 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; a P-51 is lost.
3. 407 B-24s hit the marshalling yards at Saarbrucken. Escort is provided by 169 P-38s and P-47s; a P-38 is lost.
- Mission 477: 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
- 24 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
The London Polish government publishes a paper claiming territory in East Prussia, Danzig and the Polish Corridor for postwar Poland.
USS Crowninshield (DD-134), was commissioned as HMS Chelsea (I-35) on 9 Sep. 1940, and USS Cowell (DD-167), commissioned as HMS Brighton (I-08) on 23 Sept. 1940, USS Fairfax (D-93), commissioned as HMS Richmond (G-88) on 26 Nov. 1940; USS Thomas (DD-182), commissioned as HMS St Albans (I-15) on 23 Sep. 1940, are transferred to Russia. All four were part of the destroyers-for-bases deal. Chelsea is transferred to Russia as Dzerki, Brighton as Zharki, St. Albans as Dostoinyi and Richmond as Zhivuchi. They will be returned to the Royal Navy in 1949. (Ron Babuka)
FRANCE: US forces continue their attacks near St. Lo.
About 375 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs, during morning and evening operations, bomb strongpoints in the Saint-Lo area, bridges in the frontline area, and bridges and a fuel dump southeast of Rennes. Fighters escort the bombers and fly armed reconnaissance over the frontlines in the Chateaudun-Orleans-Tours areas.
AUSTRIA: Around 380 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack oil and aircraft targets in the Vienna area, bombing Munchendorf Airfield, Winterhafen oil depot, Vienna marshalling yard, and the Wiener Neudorf engine factory; P-51s and P-38s fly 150+ sorties in escort while 132 other P-51s sweep the Vienna area; 100+ Luftwaffe fighters oppose the raids. Ten USAAF aircraft are lost and several others are missing; USAAF claims of fighters shot down total 30+.
ITALY: The Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches about 380 bombers to attack targets in the Vienna, Austria area including Munchendorf Airfield, Winterhafen oil depot, Vienna marshalling yard, and the Wiener Neudorf engine factory; P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings fly 150+ sorties in escort while 132 other P-51s sweep the Vienna area; 100+ fighters oppose the raids; 10 AAF aircraft are lost.
Arezzo, key point of the German defensive line, falls to the British 8th Army. The British XIII Corps cross the Arno River.
U.S.S.R.: Grodno, southwest of Vilna is attacked by the Russians.
Baltic Fleet, Ladoga Lake and Chudskoe Lake Flotillas: MS “T-218” - by shnellboat (?), in Narva Gulf. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)
Soviet warplanes sink German Anti-Aircraft cruiser Niobe (former Dutch Gelderland from 1898) in Kotka harbor and believe that the victim was Väinämöinen.
GUAM: In support of the preinvasion strikes against Guam, Seventh Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts based on Saipan continue to pound Tinian Island while Fifth Air Force B-24s continue bombing Yap Island.
Thirty people from the village of Merizo, Guam were massacred at a place known as Faha by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army. Unlike the incident of the previous night at Tinta, there were no survivors. However, the general circumstances regarding the Faha massacre were similar to those of the event at Tinta. Again, using the pretense of gathering a work crew, the Japanese herded a group of thirty men and marched them off to the site at Faha. Here the men had grenades thrown at them and were slashed to death. (Will O’Neil quoting a plaque erected in a National Park on Guam.)
Soviet warplanes sink German Anti-Aircraft cruiser Niobe (former Dutch Gelderland from 1898) in Kotka harbor and believe that the victim was Väinämöinen.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Task Group 17.16 consisting of the submarines USS Guardfish (SS-217), USS Piranha (SS-389) and USS Thresher (SS-200) attacks Japanese convoy TAMA 21C enroute from Takao to Manila. The submarines sink 2 army transports, 2 army cargo ships and damage 2 freighters.
NEW GUINEA: Kamiri Airdrome on Noemfoor Island is declared operational and capable of supporting a USAAF fighter group.
U.S.A.:
Submarine USS Bullhead launched.
Destroyer USS Hugh W Hadley launched.
Destroyer USS Fred T Berry laid down.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-299 commanding officer wounded in an aircraft attack. The boat, part of a defence line off Norway, reached Bergen four days later.
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