The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle for Mortain (Aug. 7-12, 1944)

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on August 07:
317 Constantius II Roman emperor (337-61)
1598 Georg Stiernhielm "father of Swedish poetry" (Hercules)
1742 Nathanael Greene American Revolutionary War General
1779 Carl Ritter cofounder of modern science of geography
1783 John Heathcoat inventor (lace-making machinery)
1876 Mata Hari dancer/courtesan/spy (WW I)
1885 Billie Burke Washington DC, actress (Glinda-The Wizard of Oz)
1886 Louis Hazeltine inventor (neutrodyne circuit, making radio possible)
1896 Ernesto Lecuona Havana Cuba, composer (Malague¤a)
1903 Louis Leakey anthropologist (1964 Richard Hooper Medal)
1904 Ralph J Bunche a founder & UN diplomat (Nobel 1950)
1921 Karel Husa Prague Czechoslovakia, composer (Trojan Women)
1926 Stan Freberg LA Calif, satirist/ad executive
1927 Edwin W Edwards (Gov-La)
1928 Amazing "James" Randi Toronto Ontario, skeptic magician
1929 Don Larsen pitcher (NY Yankees), on what must have been a perfect day
1929 Ruth Carter-Stapleton Plains Ga, 1st sister/evangelist
1932 Ann Harding US, actress (East is West, Janie)
1938 Helen Caldicott Melbourne Australia, physician/anti-war activist
1940 Marlyn Mason San Fernando Cal, actress (Making It, Peyton Place)
1942 Anjanette Comer Dawson Tx, actress (Baby, Lepke)
1942 B.J. Thomas singer (Raindrops, Growing Pains Theme)
1942 Garrison Keillor PBS radio personality (Prairie Home Companion)
1943 Lana Cantrell Sydney, Australia, singer (Those Were the Days)
1944 John Glover Kingston NY, actor (52 Pick-Up, Something Special)
1945 Alan Page defensive tackle (Minn Vikings)
1950 David James Wottle 800m runner (Olympic-gold-1972)
1950 Rodney Crowell singer/guitarist (for Emmylou Harris)
1951 Gary Hall swimmer (Olympic-bronze-1976)
1956 Kent V Rominger Del Norte Colo, US Navy Lt Commander/astronaut
1957 Aleksandr Ditiatin USSR, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1980)
1958 Alberto Salazar marathoner (NYC Marathon Winner)
1958 Bruce Dickinson heavy metal rocker (Iron Maiden-Run to Hills)
1958 Larisa Karlova USSR, team handball player (Olympic-gold-1976, 80)
1960 Jacquie O'Sullivan rocker (Bananarama-Venus)
1961 Yelena Davydova USSR, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1980)
1963 Marcus Lewis Pontiac Mich, singer (Sing me a Song)
1967 Charlotte Lewis Kensington London, actress (Golden Child, Pirates)
1969 David Hollander LA Calif, actor (Lewis & Clark, What's Happenings?)
197- Josh A Andrew Koenig actor (Boner-Growing Pains)

Deaths which occurred on August 07:
1106 Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1056/84-1105), dies at 54
1867 Ira Aldridge actor dies at 63 in Lodes Poland
1931 Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke, jazz cornetist (In Mist), dies at 29
1957 Oliver Hardy comedian of Laurel & Hardy, dies at 65
1969 Russ Morgan orch leader (Welcome Aboard), dies at 65
1972 Joi Lansing actress (Bob Cummings Show), dies at 44 of cancer
1976 Murvyn Vye actor (Bob Cummings Show), dies at 63
1991 Shotzie Cincinnati Red dog mascot, dies at 9
2000 Sir Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) died at a southern England hospital at age 86

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 GRAY HAROLD EDWIN JR. NEW YORK NY.
1966 BRAZELTON MICHAEL L. INGLEWOOD CA.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 FRYER CHARLES WIGGER OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
1966 GIDEON WILLARD S. SILVER SPRINGS MD.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1966 MORAN RICHARD ALLAN FORT SMITH AR.
1966 PYLE THOMAS S. NEW CASTLE DE.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 SANDVICK ROBERT J. GLASGOW MT.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1966 WENDELL JOHN H. HOUSTON TX.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 CHAMBERS CARL D. SANTA MONICA CA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 WILSON GLENN H. ST. ALBANS WV.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED]
1971 BERG BRUCE A. OLYMPIA WA.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0626 Battle at Constantinople: Slavic/Persians/Avarenvloot defeated
768 Stephen III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1498 Columbus arrives in Caribbean
1620 Kepler's mother arrested for witchcraft
1760 Ft Loudon Tennessee surrenders to Cherokee Indians
1782 George Washington creates Order of the Purple Heart
1789 US War Department established
1819 Battle of Boyac ; Bol¡var defeats Spanish in Colombia
1820 1st potatoes planted in Hawaii
1882 Hatfields of south WV & McCoys of east Ky feud, 100 wounded or die
1888 Theophilus Van Kannel of Phila patents revolving door
1893 53rd Congress (1893-95) convenes
1906 In North Carolina, a mob defies a court order and lynches three African Americans which becomes known as "The Lyerly Murders.
1909 US issues 1st Lincoln penny
1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party nominates Theodore Roosevelt for pres
1927 Peace Bridge between US & Canada dedicated
1929 Ruth ties record by hitting grand slams in consecutive games
1934 US Court of Appeals upheld lower court ruling striking down govt's attempt to ban controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses"
1935 60% of voters agrees to Nazism (NSDAP) in Danzig (Gdansk)
1938 Nazi's close theology department of Innsbruck university
1938 2 die in a NYC subway accident
1940 Largest amount paid for a stamp ($45,000 for 1 1856 British Guiana)
1941 551 Jews are shot in Kishnev ghetto in Romania
1942 1st American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Is
1946 1st coin bearing portrait of Negro authorized
1947 Balsa raft Kon Tiki crashes into a Polynesian archipelago reef
1951 Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket reaches 1,992 kph
1953 Eastern Airlines enters the jet age, uses Electra prop-jet
1954 Charles Mahoney becomes 1st US black to serve as a full UN delegate
1959 Explorer 6 transmits 1st TV photo of Earth from space
1960 Ivory Coast (C“te d'Ivoire) gains independence from France
1960 Students stage kneel-in demonstrations in Atlanta churches
1961 Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2
1963 Jac Kennedy becomes 1st, 1st lady to give birth since Mrs Cleveland
1964 US Congress approves Gulf of Tonkin resolution
1966 Race riot in Lansing Michigan
1966 The United States loses seven planes over North Vietnam, the most in the war up to this point.
1970 1st computer chess tournament
1970 4, including presiding judge, killed in courthouse shootout in San Rafael, Calif (Police charge Angela Davis provided weapons)
1971 Apollo 15 returns to Earth
1972 Hall of Fame inducts Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez & Early Wynn
1974 Philippe Petit walks tightrope strung between the twin towers of the World Trade Center
1976 US Viking 2 goes into Martian orbit after 11-month flight from Earth
1976 Scientists in Pasadena, Calif, announce Viking I found strongest indications to date of possible life on Mars
1978 Thousands of mourners file past the body of Pope Paul VI
1983 1st World Track & Field Championships
1983 Bobby Murcer day at Yankee Stadium
1983 Grete Waitz of Norway, wins 1st all-women Marathon (Helsinki Fin)
1983 Some 675,000 employees strike AT&T
1984 Japan beats US for olympic gold medal in baseball
1984 Jim Deshales becomes 1,000th playing Yankee
1985 Barbra Streisand records "The Broadway Album"
1985 Baseball players end a 2 day strike
1986 Daniel Buettner, Bret Anderson, Martin Engel & Anne Knabe begin cycling journey of 15,266 miles from Prudhoe Bay Alaska to Argentina
1987 5 Central American presidents sign peace accord in Guatemala
1987 Lynne Cox swims 4.3 km from US to USSR in 39ø F (4ø C) Bering Sea
1988 Writers guild end their 6 months strike
1990 Desert Shield begin-US deploys troops to Saudi Arabia
1990 Saudi Arabia allows US troops on their soil to stop an Iraqi invasion
1990 NY Yankee Kevin Mass sets record with 12th HR in 1st 92 at bats & becomes 21st to hit a ball into 3rd deck of Seattle's Kingdome
1991 Court rules Manuel Noriega, may access some secret US documents
1991 Manhattan Cable final day of amnesty to return illegal cable boxes
1991 US sets 400m relay record at 37.67 seconds
2000 Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate.
2001 The Vatican denounced what it called a "slanderous campaign" against the Roman Catholic Church over the Holocaust-era pope, Pius XII.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Tightrope Walking Day
National Sandwich Month
Columbia : Battle of Boyac (1819)
Ivory Coast/C“te d'Ivoire : Independence Day (1760)
Trinidad & Tobago : Discovery Day (1498)
Arizona, Michigan : American Family Day - - - - - ( Sunday )
Italy : Joust of the Quintana (1st Sunday) - - - - - ( Sunday )
Bahamas, Barbados, Turks & Caicos Island : Emancipation Day (1838) - - - - - ( Monday )
British Commonwealth : Bank Holiday - - - - - ( Monday )
Canada : Civic Holiday (1st Monday) - - - - - ( Monday )
Colorado : Colorado Day (1876) - - - - - ( Monday )
Jamaica : Independence Day (1962) - - - - - ( Monday )
St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla : August Monday - - - - - ( Monday )
US : National Smile Week begins - - - - - ( Monday )
Grasmere England : Rush-Bearing Day - - - - - ( Saturday )

Religious Observances
Ang, Episcopal : Feast of Holy Name of Jesus
RC : Memorial of Sixtus II, pope, & his companions, martyrs (opt)
RC, Ang : Memorial of St Cajetan, confessor (opt)
Ang : Commemoration of John Mason Neale, priest

Religious History
0117 Death of Marcus Trajan, 65, Roman emperor from A.D. 98-117. His attitude toward Christianity gradually changed from toleration to persecution. It was during Trajan's rule that Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch was martyred.
1409 The Council of Pisa closed. Convened to end the Great Schism (1378-1417) caused by two rival popes, the Council in fact elected a third pope, Alexander V (afterwards regarded as an antipope).
1560 Ratification of the Scots Confession by the Scottish Parliament marked the triumph of the Reformation in Scotland, under the leadership of John Knox. (In 1647, the Scots Confession was superseded by the Westminster Confession.)
1852 Birth of Franklin L. Sheppard, Presbyterian organist and hymnbook editor. It was Sheppard who composed the hymn tune TERRA PATRIS, to which we sing "This is My Father's World."
1878 Missouri Synod Lutheran Church founder C. F. W. Walther wrote in a letter: 'Do not deny the Word of God when it speaks to you.'

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

Thought for the day :
"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

You might be from Florida if...
Your idea of a mountain is 100 feet above sea level.

Murphys Law of the day...(Bus Law)
If you're running late the bus will be too

Cliff Clavin says, it's a little known fact that...
1903 Alexander Winton set the 1st land speed record in car racing. Set at Daytona Beach, his speed was 68.18 mph.

Our Military Today
Still Under Fire

U.S. Army soldiers take cover after an American military vehicle was destroyed allegedly by a rocket attack in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

A U.S.Army soldier points his weapon towards a building after an American military vehicle was destroyed, allegedly by a rocket attack, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

A U.S .Army soldier takes cover after an American military vehicle was destroyed, allegedly by a rocket attack, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

People come out with their hands up from a building that came under American military forces after an American military vehicle was destroyed, allegedly by an rocket attack, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

U.S. Army soldiers run towards a forward position after an American military vehicle was destroyed, allegedly by a rocket attack, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

A U.S. Army Bradley fighting vehicle fires rounds into a building after an American military vehicle was destroyed, allegedly by a rocket attack, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

People come out with their hands up from a building that came under American military forces after after an American military vehicle was destroyed, allegedly by rocket-propelled grenades, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

U.S.Army soldiers take cover after an American military vehicle was destroyed allegedly by rocket-propelled grenades in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday July 7, 2003.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

A U.S. Army soldier helps a woman out of a building that came under American fire after an American military vehicle was destroyed allegedly by rocket-propelled grenades in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

U.S. Army soldiers take cover after an American military vehicle was destroyed, allegedly by a rocket attack, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday Aug. 7, 2003.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

Air Power
Hawker Typhoon

The Typhoons developmental life was so trouble that the entire project risked cancellations. The core of the problem were the untried powerplants that suffered from teething problems for wuite some time. Two prototypes were developed, the R-type Tornado equiped with the Vulture power plant and the N-type Typhoon equipped with the Napier Sabre. The Tornado prototype was eventually cancelled when the Vulture powerplant was abandoned. Production was delayed by the pressing need for Hurricanes and eventually the Typhoon's production was contracted to Gloster once development was complete.

The Typhoon began to enter service with Nos 56 and 609 squadrons at Duxford in September of 1941. Unfortunately the type still suffered problems, the Sabre powerplant proved to be unreliable and the rear fuselage had an annoying habit of coming apart. Once again the Typhoon risked cancellation but held on long enough for the problems to be resolved and a niche to be found. In late 1941 the Typhoon gained favour by demonstrating it's ability to catch Luftwaffe Fighter-Bombers that were making hit and run nuissance raids.

In 1943 the Typhoon's reputation grew as it descended on France and the Low countries and shot-up anything that moved. The type, now thoroughly developed and reliable became the premier ground attack aircraft of the RAF and proved particulayly suitable for operations from forward strips. Of the 3,330 Typhoons built, most (3,000 odd) had a bubble type canopy instead of the heavy framed canopy of the earlier type. The car style door was also deleted on these latter types. Further development of this aircraft led to the design of the Tempest

Specifications:
Origin: Hawker Aircraft Ltd
Manufacturer: Gloster Aircraft Company
Type: Originally heavy interceptor, later fighter bomber/ground-attack aircraft
Accommodation: Single pilot in enclosed cockpit
History: First flight (prototype) January 1938
First flight: 24th February 1940
First production delivery: 27th May 1941
Final production delivery: November 1945
Operational Equipment: Standard communications and navigational equipment, reflector gunsight, later sights for rockets and bomb-aiming.
Powerplant: Typhoon Mk IA/IB Napier Sabre IIA 2,180hp
Weights: Empty - 8,800lbs 4000kg / Loaded: 13,250lbs 6023kg

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 41ft 7in 12.67m
Length: 31ft 11in 9.73m
Height: 15ft 3 ½in 4.66m

Performance :
Maximum speed: 412mph 664kph
Initial climb: 3000 ft 914m/min
Service ceiling: 35,200ft 10,730m
Range: (with bombs) 510 miles 821km
Range: (drop tanks) 980 miles 1577km

Armaments:
Typhoon Mk IA: 12x 0.303-inch Browning machine guns
Typhoon Mk IB:
4x 20mm Hispano cannon,
+8x 60lb (27kg) rocket projectile,
Or 2x 500lb (227kg) bombs,
Later, 2x 1000lb bombs

All photos Copyright of:
http://WWII Tech and War Birds Resource Group

1942 1st American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Is

Guadalcanal –- Operation Shoestring

During the first six months of the war in the Pacific, the Navy had blunted Japanese expansion into Australia and New Zealand at the Battle of the Coral Sea and had cut the mighty Japanese carrier navy down to size at Midway. Finally, U.S. forces were taking the first tenuous step in their bloody, island-hopping march toward Tokyo.

The Marines’ primary objective was a rudimentary landing strip constructed by the Japanese on Guadalcanal in the weeks preceding the invasion. Although poorly supplied and undermanned, the Leathernecks captured the airstrip in one day, dubbed it Henderson Field in memory of a Marine Corps pilot killed at Midway, then dug in. For the next four disease-ridden months they defended it against repeated naval, air and land assaults by a determined enemy.

The regional balance of air and naval forces strongly favored the Japanese. As a consequence, tons of supplies including food and other provisions that were to have come ashore did not. Intelligence about the island was lacking. Reinforcements were not immediately available. Hence, the unofficial name "Operation Shoestring."

Living and working conditions on Guadalcanal were miserable as well as dangerous. Mosquitoes, leeches, chiggers and flesh eating ants gnawed at the men in the field, while rats spread typhus. Malaria, dysentery and various other jungle diseases were so rampant that anyone with a temperature of 103 degrees or less was considered fit for duty. In his book Victory at Guadalcanal, author Robert Edward Lee records one Marine’s cynical observation: "If the world needed an enema, this would be the right place to put in the hose!"

Air support operations began 13 days after the invasion with the arrival of a Marine fighter squadron and a squadron of Navy dive-bombers. They were soon augmented by a detachment of Army Air Force fighter-bombers from New Caledonia. As Cactus was the Allied code name for Guadalcanal, this unconventional collection of planes and fliers came to be known as "The Cactus Air Force."

Among the AAF pilots who joined the Cactus Air Force early on was Captain John A. Thompson, a name often lost among the shadows of aviation legends like Marine Corps pilots John Smith and Marion Carl, the first American triple aces of the war, Joe Foss, the USMC’s all-time second leading ace and Black Sheep leader "Pappy" Boyington.

The struggle for Guadalcanal spawned acts of courage and heroism by members of all of the participating allied military forces.

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