The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Anzio - (Jan-May 1944)

Plans for an amphibious landing behind enemy lines had been in the works for weeks, and shortly before he departed for England, Eisenhower had directed Alexander to carry out those plans. The Alban Hills--the remnants of a long-dead volcano and the last natural barrier south of Rome--lay just 15 miles from Anzio. Highways 6 and 7 straddled the hills and led to Rome's southern outskirts. Given the good beaches and flat terrain around Anzio, Alexander's staff saw no reason why the Allies should not be able to quickly capture Rome.

Allied planners saw the Anzio operation as offering two chances to end the Gustav Line stalemate: if Generalfeldmarschall Albrecht Kesselring, commander of Army Group C, pulled troops out of the Gustav Line to deal with the threat to his rear, then the Allied forces facing the line would be more easily able to break through and roll the German forces up the peninsula. Should the Germans fail to use Gustav Line units to counter the Anzio move, then the Anzio forces likely would be able to break out of the beachhead, capture Rome, and cut off a German retreat to the north.

Of course, this latter scenario presupposed that the Wehrmacht was stretched to the limit in Italy and on other fronts and that no more manpower was available. At the very least, the planners felt, the Anzio operation would tie up a large enemy force in Italy--where it could not assist Hitler's other beleaguered armies on the crumbling Eastern Front or the beaches of Normandy when the invasion of France finally began.

Enemy Coastal Defences

Alexander envisioned the Allies hitting the beach with a small, mobile force, overcoming the German defenses, which were believed to be less than formidable, and then driving on and securing the Alban Hills. This force would link up with the main force advancing from the south, and all would then head for Rome. But less optimistic staff members saw an advance on Rome as presenting a slender salient that could easily be destroyed.

The immediate problem was finding enough ships to make, supply and reinforce the landing. The Allies in Italy were under pressure to release as many ships and landing craft as possible in preparation for a twin amphibious assault on France--Operation Overlord in the north and Operation Anvil (later named Dragoon) in the south.

Besides the shortage of shipping, a few other practical considerations began to weigh upon Allied optimism. For one, if the main Allied force was to get bogged down on the Gustav Line, it would not be close enough to help support the Anzio landings. Secondly, should the Allies suffer heavy losses on the Bernhardt and Gustav lines, they might be too depleted and exhausted to be of any value, even if they made it to the Alban Hills.

Finally, the calendar worked against the planners; on December 18, Operation Shingle was reluctantly abandoned. There simply was not enough time to work out the thousands of details necessary before January 15, 1944, when the landing craft had to be released to Overlord.

A Destroyed Mussolini Canal Bridge

Subsequently, however, with Churchill putting pressure on the British chiefs of staff to break the stalemate in Italy, Operation Shingle was hurriedly moved to the front burner. But the landing craft problem remained--there were only enough LSTs to transport one division, and two divisions were considered essential for a successful landing. After conferring with his Italy commanders on Christmas, Churchill cabled Roosevelt for permission to retain the LSTs in Italy until February 5. Roosevelt concurred, with the stipulation that Shingle must not hinder preparations for Overlord or Anvil.

As plans evolved, a second division was added to the amphibious force; the number of LSTs rose, but not appreciably, and Clark was faced with the prospect of having to land the troops without the requisite number of vehicles. Some of the troops would have to be ferried in after the initial landings. Furthermore, he would have to do all his seaborne resupply and reinforcement within two days of the initial landings, as the LSTs were his for only an additional 48 hours. Shingle was set for the early hours of January 20, 1944.

Enemy Shellfire Hitting the Beaches

With the amphibious portion of the plan more or less set, Clark turned his attention to the situation in the south, where it was imperative that the main Allied armies break through the Gustav Line quickly in order to prevent the isolated Anzio forces from being cut off, chewed up or pushed back into the sea.

Augmenting the American Fifth Army at the Gustav Line were the British X Corps and the French Expeditionary Corps (the latter made up of the 2nd Moroccan and 3rd Algerian divisions), which were assigned to capture the flanks of the Liri Valley, thereby allowing U.S. II Corps to plunge, it was hoped, through the gap in the middle. In reality, the attack did not go as scripted.

On January 17, the British X Corps crossed the Garigliano with two divisions against von Senger's XIV Panzer Corps, but the Brits were too exhausted by the effort to exploit their gains. The attack, however, convinced Kesselring to bolster the Gustav Line defenses, and thus he moved his major reserves, the 29th and 90th Panzergrenadier divisions, south from Rome.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes' U.S. II Corps was preparing to cross the swiftly flowing Rapido in the vicinity of Sant'Angelo, a German strongpoint. Major General Fred Walker's U.S. 36th Division was picked for the task, to be followed by elements of the 1st Armored Division. Major General Charles Ryder's 34th Division would engage the enemy at Cassino to prevent a counterattack from the north. The flat approaches to the river afforded no cover or concealment, however, and many men viewed trying to cross a river obstacle under direct enemy observation as suicidal.

An Air Attack on Cisterna

On January 20, the understrength 36th, which had suffered heavy losses in December on the Bernhardt Line and had not been brought up to full strength, set out to cross the Rapido against all odds. Waiting for them was the 15th Panzergrenadier Division, one of the Germans' toughest units.

The Americans were hammered by artillery fire before, during, and after they reached the crossing site. The crossing itself was a disaster, with only a handful of brave men able to reach the far bank. The next morning the Germans blasted the American penetration with small arms, artillery and tank fire, nearly annihilating the beleaguered infantrymen. While delay followed delay, the men on the far bank were cut to pieces. On January 22, what few men remained on the far side were withdrawn. The first attempt to cross the Rapido had failed.

The First Overpass Above Anzio

Clark now faced an agonizing decision. Should he cancel Shingle or proceed? His staff officers had told him that in order for Shingle to succeed, it was essential that his main force be within 30 miles of Anzio before the amphibious operation was launched. If the operation could not take place by January 25, it would have to be canceled and the landing craft shipped off to England; nothing must interfere with plans for Overlord. In spite of the uncertainties, Clark chose to proceed.

In addition, Lucas' mission was, at best, vague. Just prior to his departure for Anzio on January 20, he was informed by Brig. Gen. Donald Brann, Fifth Army G-3, that his mission was not to take the Alban Hills but, rather, to seize and secure the Anzio beachhead. He was told, however, that he was free to move to the hills if conditions warranted. A planned airborne assault on the Anzio-Albano road north of Anzio by the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion was scrapped, giving Lucas a further impression that nothing more than securing the beachhead was required of him and his forces.

Early on January 21, Lucas' convoy of five cruisers, 24 destroyers and more than 300 support ships, including 238 landing craft of all types, left Naples Harbor and steamed northward. Aboard the ships were some 40,000 American and British troops, along with more than 5,000 vehicles.

Arriving at their destination early the next day, the Allies expected everything except what actually happened: Shingle took the Germans totally by surprise. Only token resistance was offered, and this was quickly eliminated by naval gunfire.

Advancing Towards the Mussolini Canal

North of Anzio, the British 1st Division landed and moved two miles inland without facing any substantial resistance.

The Rangers captured Anzio's port, and the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion occupied Nettuno with hardly a shot fired.

The 3rd Division's landing was virtually unopposed, and by midmorning Truscott's men found themselves three miles inland, awaiting a German counterattack that failed to materialize.

By midnight on the 22nd, some 36,000 men, 3,200 vehicles and a vast store of supplies had reached or pushed beyond the beachhead. Casualties had been incredibly light; only 13 killed and 97 wounded--mostly from strafing German aircraft. More than 200 Germans had been taken prisoner. It was all going too well to be believed.

Tanks Take Momentary Cover

Kesselring learned of the landings at about 3 a.m. and quickly began marshaling all available units and creating new ones. At 5 a.m., he ordered the 4th Parachute Division, along with replacement units of the Hermann Göering Division, to take up blocking positions across the roads that led from Anzio to the Alban Hills. He then requested that OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) send whatever additional units it could spare from southern France, Yugoslavia and southern Germany. Later that morning, Kesselring ordered Generaloberst Eberhard von Mackensen, commander of the Fourteenth Army in northern Italy, and General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, Tenth Army commander in charge of the Gustav Line forces, to send units to him. Within hours, elements of five divisions were rushing toward Anzio.

By nightfall on the 22nd, German units were establishing their defensive lines around the Allied forces at Anzio, which Kesselring had expected to be moving with breakneck speed toward the Alban Hills. But instead of dashing inland, Lucas chose to build up his supplies and forces.

Anzio Annie

By now, the Anzio beachhead was some 10 miles deep. The 3rd Division was approaching Cisterna on Highway 7, where the strength of Kesselring's forces was concentrated, and the British 1st Division had taken Aprilia, a model Fascist farm settlement called "The Factory" by the troops.

General Clark was urging but not demanding that Lucas begin more aggressive offensive operations. But bad weather and two heavy German air raids were upsetting operations, and Lucas was reluctant to become too adventuresome. While Lucas' lack of initiative was becoming worrisome to Clark and Alexander, Churchill was livid. He thundered, "I had hoped we were hurling a wildcat into the shore, but all we got was a stranded whale."

Engineers Clearing Demolition Charges at Anzio

Truscott, stopped at Cisterna by the Hermann Göering and 26th Panzergrenadier divisions, decided to use Darby's three lightly armed Ranger battalions to spearhead the 3rd Division's assault on the town on January 30. The Rangers' attack was a shambles. Ambushed by German tanks and heavy artillery as they approached the town, the Rangers were pinned down and torn to pieces.

Vexed that little had been accomplished in the week since the landings, Alexander urged Clark to concentrate his efforts on full-scale attacks to capture Cisterna and Campoleone, followed by a rapid advance on Velletri, seven miles north of Cisterna.

Each Building Became a Fortress

But Clark estimated that Kesselring's reinforcements were too strong for any quick thrust to be successful. Much of this belief stemmed from intelligence reports that indicated more German units in the Anzio area than were actually present, the result of fragments of larger units that had been hurriedly thrown into the line (if a battalion or regiment of a division were present, G-2 officers assumed the entire division was on line). And, so, on February 1, 1944, Lucas' attack petered out. What Clark did not know and could not appreciate was the fact that VI Corps' assault had come very close to succeeding. The Germans had suffered some 5,500 casualties--about the same as the Allies', but the numbers of troops actually present slightly favored the Allies.

Fearing a German counterattack, Clark and Alexander directed Lucas to establish defensive positions. Reinforcements arrived on February 2--the 1st Special Service Force and the British 56th Division--and the Allies dug in behind hastily laid minefields and barbed wire, allowing the Germans to go over onto the offensive.

On the drizzly morning of February 4, Mackensen's Fourteenth Army began to roll, with infantry and armor slamming into British positions near Campoleone and driving them back. By nightfall, after much dogged fighting, the British lines stiffened, and they retook their lost positions. But Lucas, feeling the British salient was vulnerable, ordered the Tommies to withdraw during the night to a more defensible line, and Clark ordered him to hold until offensive actions seemed warranted.

The Germans sensed their opportunity. At 9 a.m. on February 7, Mackensen launched another attack, this time to dislodge the British troops holding Aprilia. Only a heroic, Waterloo-like stand, along with artillery and naval gunfire from three cruisers, kept the German 715th Division from taking the shattered town. The stand was in vain, however; two days later, in another all-out assault, German troops succeeded in capturing Aprilia.

Additional Sources:

www.ibiblio.org

While Alexander exhorted Lucas to begin a new offensive and Mackensen prepared for a final, massive assault that would drive the Allies into the sea, one of the most controversial actions of the war was about to be played out 60 miles south, at the once-peaceful Abbey of Monte Cassino.

The Right Flank at the Mussolini Canal

The ancient abbey sat like a magnificent crown upon a 1,700-foot hill that overlooked the approaches to the Liri Valley. Because of its historical significance (it was begun in 529 AD by St. Benedict), its magnificent collection of priceless works of art, and the fact that it was home to some 2,500 monks, nuns and civilian refugees, Eisenhower had placed the abbey strictly off-limits to Allied bombers and artillery. The Germans, too, had hoped to respect the abbey's importance. But the pronouncements of generals would not be sufficient to spare this treasure.

By establishing observation posts and fortified defensive positions outside the abbey's walls, the Germans presented a threat to the Allied push into the Liri Valley that could not be ignored. The 4th Indian Division, given the task of taking Monte Cassino, requested an aerial bombardment of the abbey. After much discussion, which went all the way to Alexander, the request was approved over Clark's objections.

On the morning of February 15, the first wave of bombers unleashed its deadly cargo on the abbey. Ironically, the ruins then provided excellent cover for the Germans, who used them to repulse the 4th Indian Division when it attacked that night.

For the next two days, Allied bombs and artillery rained upon the mountaintop, but without gain; the ground troops were unable to evict the German defenders. Bad weather struck, and further offensive operations were postponed. It was becoming ominously clear that the Allies would not be breaking through the Gustav Line any time soon and coming to the rescue of the troops stuck at Anzio.

Shortly after the landings, Hitler became personally involved in events in Italy, giving Kesselring detailed orders long distance as to how to "remove the abcess" from the coast. February 16 was set as the date for the renewed counteroffensive at Anzio with some 125,000 German troops--about 20 percent more than the Allies possessed.

Two diversionary attacks were launched, while the main assault came down the Albano-Anzio road toward Maj. Gen. William Eagles' 45th Division. The excellent but raw troops of the Berlin-Spandau Infantry Lehr Demonstration Regiment, which Hitler had ordered to lead the attack, were hard hit and fled for their lives.

But the Germans attacked throughout the night, giving Eagles' men no rest. The next day the Luftwaffe strafed the 45th's positions, and three divisions, supported by 65 panzers, crashed into the Americans, pushing them back to just in front of the Allies' final beachhead line. Then came another wave of air attacks, followed by another charge of infantry and tanks that drove a two-mile-wide wedge into the front. The 45th Division, in the center of the Allied line, was about to crumble.

At the crucial moment, Lucas moved in artillery and tanks to plug the gap in his front lines and called for air support and concentrated naval fire to stem the German tide that was about to engulf him. Despite the infusion of Mackensen's reserves and wave after wave of attacking tanks and infantrymen that threw themselves at the 45th Division, the line miraculously held.

Ordering the survivors of his first assault to fight on through the night, Mackensen sent two additional divisions--the 29thPanzergrenadier and 26th Panzer--into battle before first light the next day. This second attack very nearly succeeded, but after four hours of furious combat, the Germans were forced to pull back.

On the 22nd, Clark, bowing to pressure from Alexander, reluctantly removed his friend Lucas from command of VI Corps, replacing him with Truscott. Lucas was stunned. "I thought I was winning something of a victory," he wrote, crestfallen, in his diary.

Truscott now placed his own, very different stamp on the command of VI Corps. Instead of installing himself in the musty, underground wine cellar that was Lucas' command post, he made a point of being seen on the front lines, braving enemy fire with the rest of his troops. Morale quickly improved and, as more replacements arrived, a feeling of confidence pervaded the Allied side.

On March 29, Allied artillery broke up a strong German assault in front of the 3rd Division before it could get started, and the 3rd counterattacked, putting an end to the Germans' last major offensive.

For the next two months, the Anzio front became static, while both sides reinforced and resupplied themselves. Along the Gustav Line, stalemate was also the name of the game, as four German divisions continued to hold off six Allied divisions around Cassino. But a spring offensive, code-named Diadem, was planned for May, and the Allied commanders hoped it would finally break through both the Gustav Line and the German positions around Anzio.

On May 11, a tremendous artillery barrage in the Cassino area heralded the start of Diadem, and the men of the Fifth and Eighth armies began moving. It was the French Expeditionary Force, under General Alphonse Juin, that finally broke the Gustav Line northwest of the Garigliano. Bitter fighting continued along the front, and on the 18th, the heights of Monte Cassino finally fell to the Polish 3rd Carpathian Division.

Success in the south was the signal for Truscott's VI Corps to begin its breakout at Anzio. Clark, fearing the British would beat the Americans to the Eternal City and gain the lion's share of glory, was determined that his Fifth Army, not the British, would be the first army in 15 centuries to capture Rome from the south. For Clark, politics overshadowed military considerations. He therefore directed the seven Allied divisions now at Anzio to begin their breakout, code-named Operation Buffalo--but instead of marching on the town of Valmontone, the VI Corps' objective as specified by Alexander, Clark chose to head for Rome instead.

Alexander let him go, but wrote in his memoirs, "I can only assume that the immediate lure of Rome for its publicity value persuaded Mark Clark to switch the direction of his advance."

To effect the breakout, the German stronghold at Cisterna had to be overcome. A massive artillery preparation and hundreds of Allied aircraft pounded the town. When the 3rd Division finally managed to force its way in on May 25, it encountered a determined foe who literally fought to the death. Four months after the initial landings, Cisterna was at last in Allied hands, and Truscott's VI Corps finally linked up with Keyes' II Corps south of Anzio.

As evening settled on June 4, a unit from the U.S. 88th Division entered the Piazza Venezia in the heart of Rome. Despite sporadic German resistance, the Americans seized the key bridges, and the rest of VI and II corps took control of the city, with Romans cheering them on. Two days later, events in Normandy swept the Italian theater from the headlines.

For decades, the Anzio operation has generated speculation and argument as to its contribution, relative to its high cost in human lives, to the Allied victory. Certainly the tactical blunders did nothing to shorten the war. Yet, the sacrifice of Allied soldiers at Anzio, the Gustav Line and other bloody points throughout the peninsula kept 24 German combat divisions and other supporting units from being deployed to other fronts, where they conceivably could have been used to devastating effect.

Showcasing America's finest, and those who betray them!

Please click on the banner above and check out this newly created (and still under construction) website created by FReeper Coop!

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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We here at Blue Stars For A Safe Return are working hard to honor all of our military, past and present, and their families. Inlcuding the veterans, and POW/MIA's. I feel that not enough is done to recognize the past efforts of the veterans, and remember those who have never been found.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004

The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

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Evening, Mr. Wolf.

Good evening. Solid article.

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!

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Good evening PAR35.

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

The Monte Cassino defense was considered extremely rough by rank and file Wehrmacht troops, both in the town, and on the mountain (in my understanding).

Polish Two Corps (one thousand killed, three thousand wounded), New Zealanders, Guhrkas paid a high, high price for the relief of Anzio.

July 25, 2005

Growing Old; Growing Up

Read:
Psalm 71:14-24

When I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation. —Psalm 71:18

Bible In One Year: Isaiah 55-57

cover Old age is the season when we can give ourselves to "soul-making," as the Quakers say. We can concentrate on getting to know God better and cultivating character traits that make us more like Him. Age breaks down our strength and energy and strips us of our busyness. It's God's way of getting us to slow down so we'll take more time for Him. We can think more deeply about life, about ourselves, and about others.

Change is an inevitable part of life. We're being shaped every minute we live. Every thought, every decision, every action, every emotion, every response is shaping us into one kind of person or another. Either we're moving toward likeness to Christ or away from Him into some sort of caricature of the person God intended us to be.

It's true, we lose some things as we age: physical strength, quickness, agility. But think of the calm God gives us, the peace He leaves us, the benefits of His salvation, and His faithfulness to us (Psalm 71:15).

Old age is the best time to grow in grace and godliness, in inner strength and beauty of character. "The silver-haired head," the wise man said, "is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness" (Proverbs 16:31). —David Roper

When wrinkles and weakness come with age
And life with its stress takes a toll,
Yet beauty and vigor can still be seen
When Jesus gives peace to one's soul. —D. De Haan

"Grow up" is what the young are told—"age gracefully" when growing old.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Finishing Well

Good morning ALL. Hot, dry and to say the least SWELTERING here in Memphis today.

Good morning everyone.

Good Morning Bump for the Foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-Gram.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on July 25:
0975 Thietmar bishop of Merseburg, German chronicler
1109 Afonso I, the Conqueror, king of Portugal (1143-85)
1575 Christoph Scheiner Germany, astronomer
1775 Anna Symmes Harrison 1st lady
1795 James Barry, female disguised as a man, surgeon general (British army)
1822 Schuyler Hamilton, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1903
1824 Richard James Oglesby, Union (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1840 Flora Adams Darling founded Daughters of American Revolution
1848 Arthur Earl Balfour (C), British PM (1902-05) (Balfour Declaration)
1884 Davidson Black Canada, doctor of anatomy (identified Peking Man)
1894 Walter Brennan Swampscott Mass, actor (My Darling Clementine, Real McCoys)
1902 Eric Hoffer longshoreman/author (True Believer)
1907 Jack Gilford NYC, actor (Save the Tiger, Cocoon, Arthur 2)
1924 Estelle Getty NYC, actress (Sophia Petrillo-Golden Girls)
1924 Frank Church (Sen-D-Id) (Weakened the CIA)
1925 Jerry Paris SF Calif, director/actor (Jerry-Dick Van Dyke Show)
1927 Midge Decter St Paul Minn,Evil right-wing ideologue writer (An Old Wife's Tale, Rumsfeld...)
1930 Maureen Forrester Montreal Canada, contralto (Ressurection Symphony)
1932 Paul J Weitz Erie Pennsylvania, astronaut (Skylab 2, STS 6)
1935 Adnan Khashoggi, billionaire arms dealer
1943 Jim McCarty rocker (The Yardbirds-For Your Love)
1948 Steve Goodman Chicago, singer/songwriter (Somebody Elses Trouble)
1954 Walter "Sweetness" Payton NFL running back (Chicago Bears)
1957 Daniel W Bursch, Bristol PA, Lt Cmdr USN/Astronaut (STS 51, 68, 77)
1957 Roger Clinton, singer, President Clinton's half-brother
1967 Matt LeBlanc, actor (Joey Tribbiani-Friends)
1975 Jay R Ferguson Jr Dallas Tx, actor (Taylor Newton-Evening Shade)
1978 Caroline Nicole Brigman, Miss South Carolina Teen USA (1997)
1978 Louise Brown Oldham England, world's 1st `test tube baby'
2003 Logan, AKA Texas Termite, world famous heart throb, monarch of all he surveys.
"Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again." ~Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Deaths which occurred on July 25:
0306 Gaius Flavius V Constantius, under-emperor of Rome 297-306, dies
1492 Innocent VII, [Giovanni B Cibo], Italian Pope (1484-92), dies
1570 Ivan Viskovati, chancellor of Russia, executed
1580 Baltazar Alvarez, Spanish jesuit/writer, dies at 47
1616 Andreas Libavius German alchemist, dies
1834 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, British poet, dies at 61
1864 Clement Hoffman Stevens, Us banker/inventor/Confederate brig-gen, dies at 42
1934 Engelbert Dollfuss Austrian chancellor assassinated by nazis
1944 Lesley J McNair, US lt-general, killed by US bomb at St-Lo
1958 Harry Warner, US movie pionier (Warner Bros), dies at 81
1959 Dr Isaac Halevi Herzog chief rabbi of Israel (1936-59), dies at 71
1966 Montgomery Clift, movie actor (From Here to Eternity), dies
1986 Vincente Minnelli movie director, dies in LA at 76
1987 Malcolm Baldrige Secretary of Commerce, dies of internal injuries
1995 Charlie Rich, country singer (Lonely Weekends), dies at 62
1997 Ben Hogan, golfer (Masters, Brit Open, US Open-1953), dies at 84
1997 Dora Maar, Picasso model/companion, dies at 89
2003 John Schlesinger (b.1926), film director, died. ("Midnight Cowboy" (1969)

GWOT Casualties

Iraq
A Good Day

Afghanistan
A Good Day

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
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On this day...
0326 Emperor Constantine refuses to carry out traditional pagan sacrifices.
0841 Battle at Fontenay: Louis and Charles beat their brother Lotharius I
1261 Byzantium Emperor Michael VIII recaptures Constantinople
1360 Jews are expelled from Breslau Silesia
1394 Charles VI of France issues a decree for the general expulsion of Jews from France.
1587 Hideyoshi bans Christianity in Japan and orders all Christians to leave.
1593 France's Protestant King Henri IV converts to Roman Catholic
1670 Jews are expelled from Vienna Austria
1689 France declares war on England
1729 North Carolina becomes royal colony
1759 British capture Fort Niagara from French (7 Years' War)
1775 Maryland issues currency depicting George III trampling Magna Carta
1799 French-Egyptian forces under Napolean I beat Turks at Battle of Abukir
1814 Battle of Niagara Falls (Lundy's Lane); Americans defeat British
1814 George Stephenson introduced the 1st steam locomotive
1832 1st railroad accident in US, Granite Railway, Quincy, Mass-1 dies
1835 Ibrahim Pasha's army attacks Jewish settlers of Hebron Palestine
1850 Gold discovered in Oregon (Rogue River)
1860 1st US intercollegiate billard match (Harvard vs Yales)
1861 The Crittenden Resolution, calling for the American Civil War to be fought to preserve the Union and not for slavery, is passed by Congress.
1861 Skirmish at Fort Fillmore, NM Terr - Rebels attack Union troops
1863 Skirmish at Barbee's Crossroads, Virginia
1866 US Grant named 1st general of Army
1868 US Congress forms Wyoming Territory (Dakota, Utah and Idaho)
1871 Carrousel patented by Wilhelm Schneider, Davenport, Iowa
1898 1st US troops land & occupy Puerto Rice, at Guanica Bay
1909 French aviator Louis Bleriot flew across the English Channel in a monoplane, traveling from Calais to Dover in 37 minutes.
1912 Comoros proclaimed a French colonies
1913 Carl Weilman strikes out 6 times in a 15 inning game
1918 Annette Adams sworn in as 1st woman district attorney of US, Calif
1918 Race riot in Chester Pennsylvania (3 blacks & 2 whites killed)
1930 Phila Athletics triple steal in the 1st & 4th innings vs Cleveland
1939 NY Yankee Atley Donald sets AL rookie record with 12 consecutive win
1940 John Sigmund begins swimming for 89 hrs 46 mins in the Mississippi River
1943 1st warship named for a Black person, SS Leonard Roy Harmon, launched
1943 Benito Mussolini dismissed as premier of Italy during WW II
1944 1st jet fighter used in combat (Messerschmitt 262)

1946 1st bikini is shown at a Paris fashion show

1946 US detonates underwater A-bomb at Bikini (5th atomic explosion)
1947 US Air Force, Navy & War Dept form US Dept of Defense
1947 US Deptartment of the Army created
1949 St Louis Cardinal Stan Musial hits for the cycle beating Bkln 14-1
1950 Goethe Link Observatory discovers asteroids #1799 Koussevitzky, #1822 Waterman & #2842
1952 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico created (Constitution Day)
1953 Truce signed between North Korea & United Nations forces.
1956 Italian liner Andrea Doria sank after colliding with the Stockholm
1957 Monarchy in Tunisa abolished in favor of a republic
1958 "Sensational" Sherri Martel wins wrestling's WWF woman's title
1961 Maris hits home runs 37, 38, 39 & 40 in a double header
1963 US, Russia & England sign nuclear test ban treaty
1964 Beatles' "Hard Day's Night", album goes #1 & stays #1 for 14 weeks
1964 Race riot in Rochester NY
1965 Folk-rock begins, Dylan uses electricity at Newport Folk Festival (He's booed)
1966 Supremes release "You Can't Hurry Love"
1966 Yankee manager Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame
1968 Pope Paul VI encyclical On the regulation of birth

1969 Edward Kennedy pleads guilty to leaving scene of an accident a week after the Chappaquiddick car accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne

1972 US health officials concede blacks were used as guinea pigs in 40 year syphillis experiment
1973 USSR launches Mars 5
1974 T Smirnova discovers asteroid #2345 Fucik
1975 "A Chorus Line," longest-running Broadway show (6,137), premiers
1978 Bob Lemon replaces Billy Martin as Yankee manager
1978 Cin Red Pete Rose sets NL record hitting in 38 consecutive games
1978 The first test-tube baby, Louis Brown, is born in Oldham, England.
1981 Voyager 2 encounters Saturn
1983 1st nonhuman primate (baboon) conceived in a lab dish, San Antonio
1983 Washington Public Power Supply System defaulted $2.25 billion
1984 Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became 1st woman to walk in space
1985 Spokeswoman for Rock Hudson confirms he had AIDS
1986 Sikhs extremist kill 16 hindus in Muhktsar India
1986 Former Navy radioman Jerry Whitworth was convicted of selling U.S. military secrets to the Soviets through the John Walker spy ring. The government called it the most damaging espionage since World War II.
1987 Sherri Martel beats Fabulous Moolah for WWF Woman's Championship Belt
1987 USSR launches Kosmos 1870, 15-ton Earth-study satellite
1990 Nadezhda Ryashkina of USSR sets 10K walk woman's record (41:56.23)
1990 Roseanne Barr sings the National Anthem at San Diego Padre game(booed)
1990 US Ambassador tells Iraq, US won't take sides in Iraq-Kuwait dispute (WRONG!)
1991 A deadline for Iraq to provide full details of its weapons of mass destruction passed, with U.S. officials indicating military action was not imminent.
1992 25th Olympic Summer games opens in Barcelona, Spain
1992 Army refuses to overturn 127 year old conviction against Dr Samuel Mudd (Lincoln plot)
1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein signed a declaration at the White House ending their countries' 46-year-old formal state of war.
1995 Radovan Karadzic and Gen’l. Ratko Mladic and 22 other Serbs are indicted for genocide by the UN War Crimes Hague Tribunal
1997 Carroll O'Connor found not guilty of slandering Harry Perzigian
1997 Vincent "The Chin" Gigante found guilty of racketeering in NYC
1997 Rituximab, a drug designed to treat B-cell lymphoma ok'd by FDA
1999 Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France
2000 Texas Gov. George W. Bush selected Dick Cheney to be his running mate. (Halibuton! Halibuton! Halibuton! Halibuton! Halibuton! Did you know Dick Cheney ran Halibuton? That's right, now Halibuton runs the countryThis has been confirmed to me by the 2 CFR agents that live under my bed.)
2000 In Zimbabwe at least 230 white farmers quit working along with some businessmen in Karoi to protest the breakdown in law and order
2002 Encouraged by a tinny tapping sound coming up from the depths, rescuers in Somerset, Pa., brought in a huge drill in a race to save nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground by a flooded shaft
2004 Lance Armstrong (32) becomes the 1st 6-time winner of the 2,107-mile Tour de France

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Ancient Rome : Furrinalia
Costa Rica : Annexation of Guanacaste Day/Anexi¢n de Guanacaste
Luiza Puerto Rico : Fiest of Santiago Ap¢stal
Netherlands : Independence Day
Puerto Rico : Constitution Day (1952)
Tunisia : Republic Day (1957)
Virgin Islands : Hurricane Supplication Day
Christmas In July.
Threading the Needle Day
National Eye Exam Month

Religious Observances
RC, Luth, Ang, Cong : Feast of St James the Elder, apostle
RC : Commemoration of St Christopher, patron of travelers

Religious History
0325 The Council of Nicea closed. Regarded as the first 'ecumenical council,' its 300attending bishops drafted the Nicene Creed and fixed the formula for Easter Sunday.
1741 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'Your extremity shall beGod's opportunity.'
1845 Canadian-born Catholic missionary Fran‡ois Blanchet was consecrated bishop of thePacific Northwest. He devoted 45 years to planting churches, and is remembered today as the'Apostle of Oregon.'
1899 Birth of Stuart K. Hine. While an English missionary to the Ukraine, Hine pennedthe English words to an oft-sung Swedish hymn, known today as 'How Great Thou Art.'
1968 Pope Paul VI published the encyclical 'Humanae Vitae.' It restated the Catholicposition on the family, and condemned all artificial methods of birth control.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

ROBERTS PROMISES STRICTER CONTROLS ON FOUR-YEAR-OLD SON

Child’s Rampage Through D.C. Prompts Nominee’s Conservative Stance

John G. Roberts, President Bush’s nominee for the United States Supreme Court, said today that if confirmed to the nation’s highest court he would support stricter controls on his four-year-old son, Jack, two days after the mischievous tyke led the police on a terrifying high-speed chase through Washington, D.C.

The first hint of trouble involving the younger Mr. Roberts came during the president’s introduction of his nominee to the press on Tuesday, when four-year-old Jack wandered about the stage at the White House, attempting to break free from his mother.

But matters took a decided turn for the worse moments after the press event, when Jack somehow eluded the security detail and commandeered a Secret Service vehicle parked outside the White House.

The irrepressible four-year-old then led the Washington, D.C. police on a high-speed chase which ended at a Toys ‘R’ Us in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was finally subdued.

At a press conference following young Mr. Roberts’ rampage, Judge Roberts revealed his conservative bent, telling reporters, “According to my reading of the constitution, the framers would have approved putting a shorter leash on my son, and that spirit will inform my decisions going forward.”

But at the White House, insiders worried that young Jack Roberts could prove to be more of a headache to the president than he is worth.

Thought for the day :
"The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything."
Eric Hoffer

So much for the soft underbelly of Europe.

2004 Lance Armstrong (32) becomes the 1st 6-time winner of the 2,107-mile Tour de France

Pic from last years tour, July 5, 2004

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

MORNING GLORY FOLKS

Excellent read . . . really takes you into the guts of an operation. At one moment it's quiet and static only to become a bitter struggle to hold a beachhead whose foothold was imperative to Allied success in Italy. Good work!

Growing Old; Growing Up

Read:Psalm 71:14-24

When I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation. —Psalm 71:18

Bible In One Year: Isaiah 55-57

Read:
Psalm 71:14-24