Posted on 08/25/2014 4:20:53 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
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/aug44/25aug44.htm#
Allies liberate Paris
Friday, August 25, 1944 www.onwar.com
Cholitz (left) surrenders to Leclerc (center) [photo at link]
On the Western Front... The French 4th Armored Division (General Leclerc) enter Paris. German garrison commander, General Chollitz, disobeys orders to the contrary and surrenders the city. To the northwest of Paris, forces of British 21st Army Group capture Vernon, Louviers and Elbeuf on the approach to the Seine River line. In Brittany, the US 8th Corps launches an attack on Brest were the German garrison continues to resist. The HMS Warspite shells the town.
In Southern France... American forces of US 7th Army capture Avignon in the advance westward. Most of the German 19th Army is withdrawing northward up the Rhone valley. The garrisons in Marseilles and Toulon continue to resist.
In Italy... The British 8th Army launches a new offensive over the Metauro River on the eastern side. The German defenders are caught by surprise. The British 5th Corps, Polish 2nd Corps and Canadian 1st Corps are involved in the attack.
On the Eastern Front... In Estonia, Soviet troops of the 3rd Baltic Front capture Tartu, unhinging the German defense in the area.
In Bucharest... The Romanian government declares war on Germany.
In Washington... At Dumbarton Oaks, senior Allied representatives meet to discuss postwar security.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/25.htm
August 25th, 1944 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 4 missions.
- Mission 570: 1,191 bombers and 708 fighters, in 3 forces, make visual bombing attacks against aircraft component plants, Luftwaffe experimental stations and the synthetic oil industry; 18 bombers and 7 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking the target.
(1) B-24s attack aircraft component plants at Rostock (116), Schwerin (106), Wismar (91) and Lubeck (81); 11 others hit Grossenbrode Airfield and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 243 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 11-2-3 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost.
(2) B-17s bomb the Rechlin Experimental Station (179) and oil refinery at Politz (169); 6 others hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s; escort is provided by 215 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-2 aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost.
(3) B-17s attack the Peenemunde Experimental Station (146), Neubrandenburg Airfield (108) and Anklam Airfield (73); 21 others hit Parow Airfield and 5 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 171 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 36-0-28 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.
- Mission 571: 10 B-24s fly an Azon glide bomb mission to Moerdijke, the Netherlands but the target is missed. Escort is provided by 36 P-47s.
- Mission 572: 107 bombers and 172 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on liquid oxygen and ammonia plants in Belgium and northern FRANCE:
(1) 31 38 B-17s hit Henin Littard; and
(2) B-24s bomb Willerbroeck (18), Tertre (17), Tiller/Liege (12) and La Louviere (10); 4 others hit St Trond Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity. Escort for Mission 572 is provided by 152 P-38s and P-51s.
- Mission 573: 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France and Belgium during the night.
- 1 C-47 Skytrain flies a CARPETBAGGER mission during the night.
Major Glenn Miller christens a B-17G bomber for his famous theme song, “Moonlight Serenade” in Knettishall.
FRANCE: The second “Red Ball Express” is activated from the Normandy beachhead.
The French 4th Armored Division enters Paris. German General Choltitz disobeys orders to fight for the city and surrenders, avoiding damage to the city.
Paris: Paris is free. At 2,30 this afternoon the German commander of the Paris area, General Dietrich von Cholitz, surrendered to Lieutenant Henri Karcher of the French 2nd Armoured Division, commanded by General Leclerc, the first Allied unit to enter Paris. German snipers are still active, but late this afternoon General Charles de Gaulle also entered the city.
The first of Leclerc’s men drove their Sherman tanks into Paris last night to be greeted by cheering Parisians. Shortly after 7.00am today, Leclerc and the rest of his troops entered, with units of the US 4th Infantry Division. Karcher and his men stormed the German headquarters in the Hotel Meurice, shot up a picture of Adolf Hitler and overcame the garrison with a phosphorous grenade and a flame-thrower. Karcher found von Cholitz sitting behind a table. Karcher asked von Cholitz if he was ready to surrender. The German answered simply “Ja”. “Then you are my prisoner,” said Karcher.
The liberation of Paris has been won by not only the regular Allied forces but the people of Paris itself who backed an uprising called by the Resistance on 18 August. Some 500 Resistance fighters and 127 other civilians have been killed. Many Germans also died - 50 were killed defending the French foreign office building. It has also been a time of summary justice for suspected collaborators. Tonight the retribution continues, along with a vast explosion of joy which will culminate tomorrow in parades. But behind the celebrations, a grim power struggle has been taking place.
De Gaulle had appealed to Eisenhower to take Paris without delay. Ike refused; he did not want to risk a bloody street-by-street battle, nor was he ready to take responsibility for feeding four million people. But de Gaulle argued that the uprising against the Germans in Paris and the denunciation of “collaborators” were being used by the communists as a cover for eliminating their opponents. He ordered Leclerc to detach his 2nd Armoured Division from the Allied command and head for Paris.
Paris: The relative swiftness of the liberation of Paris is in large measure owing to the bravery of the French capital’s own citizens. At least 3,000 were killed over the last week, along with 2,000 Germans.
On 18 August, the Resistance announced a general strike. The next day, French policemen occupied the Prefecture of Police and a general insurrection was declared by the Parisian Liberation Committee (CPL) and the National Council of the Resistance (CNR). On 20 August barricades went up, the Hotel de Ville [City Hall] was captured and German troops and installations were attacked. Soldiers were killed and military vehicles set alight. General von Cholitz, the German military commander of Paris, agreed to an offer from the Resistance of a ceasefire “until the German evacuation of Paris.”
But SS units refused to co-operate, and on 22 August the Resistance leaders decided to break the truce. Hitler was also sending von Cholitz orders to crush the uprising. Paris, said the Fuhrer, must be held of “fall into the hands of the enemy only as a heap of rubble.”
At nine o’clock last night, however, the church bells of Paris announced that the first units of Leclerc’s 2nd Armoured Division had reached the Hotel de Ville. Von Cholitz ignored Hitler’s orders. The Parisians had won.
The British XXX Corps enters Vernon on the Seine. The XII Corps prepares to cross at Louviers. Canadian forces liberate Elbeuf.
The US VIII Corps begins a major attack on Brest. This attack is assisted by HMS Warspite bombarding with HMCS Assiniboine forming part of the screen.
Troops from the US 3rd Infantry Division entered Avignon in southern France today as the liberation gains pace. Grenoble has also fallen, and though German forces still hold out in the ports of Toulon and Marseilles, elsewhere their compatriots are in retreat.
The Allied advance in southern France began on 15 August with the Operation DRAGOON landings on the Riviera between Toulon and Cannes. From the outset the Allies encountered little German resistance; the Nineteenth Army under General Friedrich Wiese had only seven divisions to cover the entire coastline. Within three days nearly 100,000 troops from the US Seventh Army under Lt-Gen Alexander Patch, including the French Army B under General jean de Tassigny, were ashore. Inland the Maquisard [Resistance] fighters were also active, tying up German reserves (and being the first to enter Grenoble).
With the Nineteenth Army weakened by withdrawals to fight the Allies in Normandy, the Germans were in no position to defend on the southern flank, and for once Hitler recognized this. On 16 August the Fuhrer gave the order for the gradual withdrawal of German forces in southern France to a line from Sens through Dijon to the Swiss border. The coded order, which in effect told the Allies that their progress would be unimpeded, was deciphered and conveyed to their land forces.
The Allied forces have advanced in two directions: by the mountains via Digne and Gap to Grenoble, and the coast towards Avignon from where the US Seventh Army and French II Corps plan to head up the Rhone valley to Lyons. With Hitler’s order, and the success of Operation DRAGOON, the collapse of Vichy France has been swift. The Vichy premier, Pierre Laval, was compelled to leave Paris on 17 August, after refusing to leave in the hope of negotiating with the Allies; Marshal Petain was abducted from Vichy four days later. Both men are now being held in Belfort.
- The US Ninth Air Force sends about 240 A-20 Havocs and B-26s to attack various enemy strongholds in and around Brest supporting the ground forces’ attempt to capture Brest harbor; fighters provide air cover for 5 divisions, fly armed reconnaissance along the Seine River, and sweeps in wide areas around Paris which is liberated; fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command raid, and set afire with napalm tanks, the reported HQ of Field Marshall Walter Model (Commander-in-Chief West) and Verzy.
- A-20s of the US Twelfth Air Force hit targets of opportunity during the night of 24/25 August, and during the day fly armed reconnaissance over the Rhone Valley and hit ammunition stores; B-25s and B-26s attack Rhone River bridges at Avignon, Culoz, Saint-Alban-du-Rhone, Pont d’Ain, and Loyes, and hit gun positions around Marseille.
- U-178 is scuttled at Bordeaux, France as she was not seaworthy in time to escape the Allied advance.
- U-667 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay near La Rochelle, in position 46.00N, 01.30W, by a mine in the minefield Cinnamon. All 45 men on the U-boat are lost.
GERMANY: U-3015 laid down.
U-3505 and U-3006 launched.
U-2328 commissioned.
U-242 sank Soviet survey ship KKO-2 and barge VRD-96 Del’fin.
U-480 sank SS Orminster.
U-764 sank HMS LCT-1074 with two GNAT torpedoes.
AUSTRIA: One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bomber based in Italy bombs a railroad bridge as a target of opportunity.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy bomb four targets, three of them in Brno: 82 bomb the Kurim aircraft factory at Brno, 80 bomb Brno Airfield and 79 bomb the Lison aircraft engine factory at Brno; one bomber is lost. The fourth target is Prostejov Airfield which is hit by 71 bombers with the loss on one.
HUNGARY: Three bombers of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force hit targets of opportunity including a railroad bridge.
FINLAND: The Finnish ambassador in Stockholm G. A. Gripenberg meets the Soviet ambassador Alexandra Kollontay and hands her a letter written by Foreign Minister Enckell. In the letter Enckell informs the Soviet government that Finland is willing to start peace negotiations in Moscow. On the same day Finland officially informs Germany that the promise made by the ex-President Risto Ryti to Ribbentrop (that Finland shall not make peace unless in full agreement with Germany) is in force no more.
ESTONIA: Tartu is liberated by Soviet forces under Masiennikov. This is an important point in the German defence lines.
ITALY: The British 8th Army begins a new offensive across the River Metauro in Italy, towards the Gothic Line. This involves the British V Corps, the Polish Corps and the Canadian I Corps and makes good progress. The Germans, taken by surprise, offer only ineffective oppostion.
73 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group visually bomb the marshalling yard and canal at Ravenna.
The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy attacks targets in CZECHOSLOVAKIA: 300+ B-17s and B-24s supported by P-38s and P-51s bomb aircraft factories at Brno and Kurim and airfields at Brno and Prostejov.
From an olive grove overlooking an Italian valley, Winston Churchill watched today as his Eighth Army began its advance towards the Gothic Line. “This was the nearest I got to the enemy and the time I heard most bullets in the Second World War,” he recorded later.
The offensive has been planned by General Oliver Leese, the Eighth Army’s commander. He has moved his forces from the west of Italy to attack on the eastern flank of the Apennines. The aim is to cross the Foglia river, break through the newly-completed defensive line near the Adriatic coast and clear the way for a mass tank breakout into the flood-plain of the Po valley. A tough fight is expected. Ten German infantry divisions face the Allies.
BLACK SEA: U-18 and U-24 are scuttled at Konstanza in position 44.12N, 28.41E. 8 men are killed on the U-18.
CHINA: 3 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Kowloon docks in Hong Kong.
KURILE ISLANDS: a US Eleventh Air Force B-24 flies reconnaissance over Shasukotan, Onnekotan, and Harumukotan Islands but drops no bombs due to accurate AA fire.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Bob Hope was at Biak on 25 August 1944 putting on a special show for the Air Corps. He is seen in the “Jolly Rogers” staff car holding a captured Japanese flag which was presented to him. The Jolly Roger’s squadron got all the limelight. (Denis Peck)
US Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan Island hit the airfield on Iwo Jima Island and a B-24 bombs Yap Island.
US Far East Air Force B-24s strike Koror and Malakal Islands, Palau Islands, Caroline Islands.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Capilano commissioned.
Frigate HMCS Royalmount commissioned.
“Robot Wrecks a Famous Building”
I read a biography of DeGaulle in recent years. He was a real patriot, although he equated the good of France with his own advancement quite a bit. A smart military man, too.
"Among the things that made Auschwitz the most horrific of the camps was the infamous selection process that took place upon the prisoners' arrival.
This photograph shows an SS man deciding who will die immediately in the gas chambers and who will work himself or herself to death as a slave of the 'master race.'
Children and pregnant women, who represented the future of the Jewish 'race,' were universally selected for the gas chambers."
Degaulle got the honor of leading the forces into Paris and he accomplished this incredible feat despite ignoring the command orders of the Supreme Commander in all aspects before and during operation overlord and the following pushes toward Paris. An effete big nosed lumbering gawk who did more for the Germans by his narcissistic self importance than any help he might have given to the allies.
Ah Politics.
von Choltitz appears to be an interesting guy, at the least something of an enigma - the French could have ended up with much worse.
DeGaulle was interested in capturing Paris before the Stalinist partisans could take control. Eisenhower could not care less about this. DeGaulle learned not to trust the Americans.
On your page 1 map, that wouldn’t be a blot of mustard just over Dijon, would it?
That would be the appropriate substance to stain that particular point, but I’m guessing chocolate instead. The paper boy must have been snacking.
Humorous tidbit of von Choltitz’ surrender. He was not going to surrender to the FFI; he insisted on surrendering to regular troops. So he sat in his HQ waiting for it to happen.
The surrender took place when an excited young French lieutenant burst into his office, and in a bit of confusion blurted out “Do you speak German?”
Choltiz replied: “Probably better than you.”
If not for DeGaulle, France may very well had gone Communist after the war.
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