Remembering History by day WW2

[Bodston]

From 'Tank War' by Janusz Piekalkiewicz

Wednesday 27 December 1944:
(In our press reports) we should present the great winter battle in the west as a successful relief to reduce strain on the hard-pressed German front lines at Aachen, on the Saar river and in Alsace. We should at the same time emphasize the success we have already achieved: the fact that we have driven a deep and dangerous wedge into the enemy hinterland, and rapidly eliminated the enemy's offensive pressure on the above-mentioned fronts, smashed large numbers of enemy divisions, knocked out a high toll of tanks and taken sizable numbers of prisoners.

[Peter Clare]

December 27, 1942
Germans form the Smolensk Committee to enlist Soviet soldiers

On this day, the German military begins enlisting Soviet POWs in the battle against Russia. General Andrei Vlasov, a captured Soviet war hero turned anticommunist, was made commander of the renegade Soviet troops.
Vlasov had been a military man since 1919, when, at age 19, he was drafted into the new "Red" Army to fight in the Russian Civil War. After joining the Communist Party in 1930, he became a Soviet military adviser to China's Chiang Kai-shek. Returning to Russia in 1939, Vlasov was given the 4th Armored Corps to command. He distinguished himself in the defense of Kiev and Moscow against the German invaders, even winning the Order of Lenin in 1941, and later the Order of the Red Banner as commanding general of the 20th Army.
Then came the defense of Leningrad in 1942. The Germans were overwhelming the Soviet forces at the front, and Stalin would not allow Vlasov to retreat to a more favorable position. His army was battered, and he was taken prisoner by the Germans along with many of his men. Back in Germany, Vlasov became disgusted with Stalin and communist ideology, which he had come to believe was a more sinister threat to the world than Nazism. He began broadcasting anti-Soviet propaganda and formed--with Nazi permission, of course--the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. Its goal: to overthrow Joseph Stalin and defeat communism.
The German "Smolensk Committee" began persuading more and more captured Russians, Ukrainians, Cossacks, and other Soviet anti-Stalinists to join the German war effort. These now-pro-German Soviets were finally formed into a 50,000-man army, the Russian Liberation division, and fought toward the end of the war, with Vlasov at their command. Tens of thousands ending up turning back against the Germans, then finally surrendering to the Americans-rather than the advancing Soviets-when the German cause was lost. The Americans, under secret terms of the Yalta Agreement signed in February, repatriated all captured Soviet soldiers-even against their will. Vlasov was among those returned to Stalin. He was hanged, along with his comrades in arms.

[Peter Clare]

27 December 1941.

The Vaagso Raid.

The first Combined Operations raid of the war against German-held territory took place on this day when naval ships landed Commandos on the island of Vaagso off the Norwegian coast. Bomber Command provided 19 Blenheim's and 10 Hampton's for supporting operations.

6 Blenheim's of 110 Squadron made an attack on shipping of the Norwegian coast in the Oberstad area to draw off german fighters from the Commando raid. A convoy was found and attacked but ships defences and fighters caused the loss of 4 Blenheim's. 13 Blenheim's of 114 Squadron made a successful low-level raid on a German fighter airfield at Herdla but 2 Blenheim's collided over the target and crashed. 7 Hampton's of 50 Squadron were sent to lay a smoke-screen at Vaagso but 2 were shot down, probably by shore defences. 3 more Hampton's from the same squadron bombed a German gun position covering the approaches to Vaagso.

The Vaagso landing attained all its objectives and was regarded as a great success. The naval and army casualties were negligible but Bomber Command losses were 8 aircraft out of 29 dispatched.

The Bomber Command War Diaries. Middlebrook and Everitt.

[Peter Clare]

December 28, 1941
Request made for creation of construction battalions

On this day, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell requests authority from the Bureau of Navigation to create a contingent of construction units able to build everything from airfields to roads under battlefield conditions. These units would be known as the "Seabees"-for the first letters of Construction Battalion.
The men chosen for the battalions were not ordinary inductees or volunteers-they all had construction-work backgrounds. The first batch of recruits who made the cut had helped build the Boulder Dam, national highways, and urban skyscrapers; had dug subway tunnels; and had worked in mines and quarries. Some had experience building ocean liners and aircraft carriers. Approximately 325,000 men, from 60 different trades, ages 18 to 60, would go on to serve with the Seabees by the end of the war. The officers given the authority to command these men were also an elite crew, derived from the Civil Engineer Corps. Of the more than 11,000 officers in the Corps all together, almost 8,000 would serve with the construction units.
Although the Seabees were technically supposed to be support units, they were also trained as infantrymen, and they often found themselves in combat with the enemy in the course of their construction projects. They were sent to war theaters as far flung as the Azores, North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, and the beaches of Normandy.
Some of the Seabees' feats became legendary. They constructed huge airfields and support facilities for the B29 Superfortress bombers on Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, as well as the ports needed to bring in the supplies for the bombing of Japan. The Seabees also suffered significant casualties in the process of providing innovative new pontoons to help the Allies land on the beaches of Sicily. During D-Day, the Seabees' demolition unit was among the first ashore. Their mission: to destroy the steel and concrete barriers the Germans had constructed as obstacles to invasion.
The Seabees' motto was "We Build, We Fight."

[Bodston]

From 'Tank War' by Janusz Piekalkiewicz

German Army Decree of 28 December 1943 on the award of the "Afrika Armband" to Germans decorated for bravery:
The "Afrika Armband" may be conferred without regard to the period of time a soldier has been in action, provided that he has earned any type of German decoration for bravery while on African soil - including the Iron Cross, the German Gold Cross or a mention in dispatches.

[Peter Clare]

December 29, 1940
Germans raid London

On this day, German aircraft blanket incendiary bombs over London, setting both banks of the Thames ablaze and killing almost 3,600 British civilians.
The German targeting of the English capital had begun back in August, payback for British attacks on Berlin. In September, a horrendous firestorm broke out in London's poorest districts as German aircraft dropped 337 tons of bombs on docks, tenements, and teeming streets. The "London Blitz" killed thousands of civilians.
December 29 saw the widespread destruction not just of civilians, but of great portions of London's cultural relics. Historic buildings were severely damaged or destroyed as relentless bombing set 15,000 separate fires. Among the architectural treasures that proved casualties of the German assault were the Guildhall (the administrative center of the city, dating back to 1673 but also containing a 15th-century vault) and eight Christopher Wren churches. St. Paul's Cathedral also caught fire but was saved from being burned to the ground by brave, tenacious firefighters. Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Chamber of the House of Commons were also hit but suffered less extensive damage.
Fighting the blazes was made all the more difficult by an unfortunate low tide, which made drawing water a problem.

[spidge]

While war is hell, I am amazed at the Johnny come lately's who pick out Arthur Harris as a war criminal for the bombing of German Cities and choose to conveniently forget the death and destruction metered out to British cities and their populations as Peters very timely piece shows.

I have been involved in quite a few heated arguments with those who attempt to push this "war criminal" barrow.

The problem is there are too many people who simply do not understand "total war"!

Any comments?............Support or not!

[Bodston]

From 'Tank War' by Janusz Piekalkiewicz

Friday 29 December 1939, Helsinki
The French Havas News Agency reported:
The Finns say that since war with Finland broke out, the Red Army has suffered the following casualties: 25,000 dead; 5,000 prisoners; 271 tanks destroyed.

[Bodston]

From 'Tank War' by Janusz Piekalkiewicz

Monday 29 December 1941, Rome
The Italian High Command announced:
The enemy attempted a pincer movement around Agedabia with strong armoured forces. This effort was stayed by fire from our artillery and the enemy flank was attacked and severely mauled by German and Italian motorized forces. Fifty-eight British tanks and a considerable number of armoured scout cars and trucks were destroyed or captured.

29 December 1941, Singapore
The British Reuters News Agency reported:
The Japanese are launching a three-pronged attack against Singapore, along the eastern and western coasts of Malaya and towards Ipoh in the northwest central area. The Japanese troops have all recieved special training in jungle warfare and are operating with light tanks wherever possible.

[Bodston]

From 'Tank War' by Janusz Piekalkiewicz

Tuesday 29 December 1942
The German Wehrmacht High Command announced:
Renewed enemy attacks between the Volga and the Don bend have failed in the face of hard defensive fighting. We have annihilated an enemy force which we kept encircled for several days. Since December 24, with the support of the Luftwaffe, we have destroyed or captured 65 tanks, 30 cannon, large numbers of heavy and light infantry weapons and other equipment, and taken a great many prisoners. Enemy casualties greatly exceeded the numbers captured. The Italian Julian Division particularly distinguished itself in our defensive fighting in the large bend of the Don.

29 December 1942, Moscow
The Soviet Information Bureau announced:
The weather has improved considerably along the southern sector of our Western Front. The blizzards have let up and given way to freezing cold. This has eliminated the danger that the masses of snow posed to supplies needed for our offensives. The improved weather has also enabled the Fascists to resume their cargo flights to support Hoth's 20 encircled divisions between the Volga and the Don; however, they are suffering heavy losses of aircraft and flying personnel. Now that our troops have occupied the bend of the Don, the German planes' approach route has been considerably extended, a factor which makes it easier for us to fight the aircraft. As a result, the German Junkers Ju-52 transport planes are exposed to our fighters and flak for much longer, and are also able to carry fewer needed supplies due to their increased fuel load.