The Cooler King
Godfather
There is a trusted source if I've even seen one. :-D
Geez, I haven't posted in this thread in a while. My New Year's Resolution is to post in here every day.
This day in military history..
There is a trusted source if I've even seen one. :-D
Geez, I haven't posted in this thread in a while. My New Year's Resolution is to post in here every day.
britopinion
New Member
THE BATTLE OF FEROZESHAH, 21ST &22ND DECEMBER 1845.
The first anglo-sikh war was precipitated by mutual suspicions and the turbulence of the Sikh army. The Sikh state in the Punjab had been built into a formidable power by the maharaja Ranjit Singh, who ruled from 1801 to 1839. Within six years of his death, however, the government had broken down in a series of palace revolutions and assassinations. By 1843 actual power resided with the army. Having determined to invade British India under the pretext of forestalling a British attack, the Sikhs crossed the Sutlej River in December 1845. They were defeated in the four bloody and hard-fought battles of Mudki, Firoz Shah (Firozpur), Aliwal, and Sobraon.
In January 1845, the total British force ready to fight amounted to 20,000 men and 60 guns. We can collect," British Governer General Lord Hardinge reported to the Home government, 33,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and 100 guns in six weeks." In March additional British and Indian regiments were quietly moved to Flrozpur, Ludhiana and Ambala. Field batteries of 9 pounders with horses or bullocks to draw them, and 24 additional pieces of heavy ordnance were on their way to the frontier. Meanwhile the Sikh ranks, alerted to the danger of a British offensive, started their own preparations.
When the British made a referenece to Lahore about military preparations in the Punjab, it replied that there only defensive measures to counter the signs of the British. The British government rejected these claims and severed diplomatic relations. The armies under General Hugh Gough and Lord Hardinge began proceeding towards Firozpur. To forestall their joining those at Firozpur, the Sikh army began to cross the Sutlej on 11 December near Harike Pattan into its own territory on the other side of the river. The crossing over the Sutlej by Sikhs was enough for the British to open hostilities and on 13 December Governor-General Lord Hardinge issued a proclamation announcing war on the Sikhs.
Hesitation and indecision marred Sikh military operations. Having crossed the Sutlej with five divisions, each 8,000 - 12,000 strong, an obvious strategy for them would have been to move forward. They did in a bold sweeping movement first encircling Firozpur, then held by Sir John Littler with only 7,000 men, but withdrew without driving the advantage home and dispersed their armies. Meanwhile, a Sikh force under Lal Singh comsisting of 20,000 troops (18,00 infantry and 2,000 cavalry) with 22 pieces of artillery clashed with General Sir Hugh Gough's British and East India Company forces, numbering 11,000 with 42 pieces of artillery, at the Battle of Mudki on December 18.The battle opened with an artillery duel, in which the British guns, though inferior in weight, soon silenced the enemy, the 3rd Light Dragoons delivered a brilliant charge, and the infantry drove the enemy from position after position with great slaughter and the loss of many Sikh guns. The victory was complete, but the fall of night prevented from being followed up.
The British won this untidy encounter battle inflicting 3,000 casualties on the Sikh troops and capturing 15 guns and in turn suffering 215 killed and 655 wounded themselves.
THE BATTLE OF FEROZESHAH.
On the 21 st of December the British advanced from Moodkee to attack the Sikh entrenched camp under the command of Lal Singh at Ferozeshah. At four in the morning of 21st the British/East India Company army was formed up in line of columns ready to advance. Every soldier had been issued with 60 rounds of ammunition and two day’s cooked rations. But the move was postponed until after midday to allow re-inforcements to arrive. The delay was unfortunate as it was the shortest day of the year and the battle for Ferozeshah did not begin until four in the afternoon. General Gough's total force was now about 18,000 with sixty-three guns, mostly of small calibre, and a preponderance of native troops. The exact position of the enemy was not discovered until three in the afternoon, when they were found strongly entrenched around Ferozeshah village. This Sikh force was the one commanded by Lal Singh; reinforced since fighting at Moodkee, it now totalled over 30,000 men with more than 100 guns, many of large calibre. Tej Singh, with at least an equivalent force, was still encamped some ten miles away near the Sutlej . The village of Ferozeshah lay behind a high embankment, along which the Sikhs were positioned. In front of them the ground was flat and completely open for 300 yards, then came brushwood and jungle through which the British advanced to the attack at four in the afternoon. On the British left flank Major-General Littler ordered Acting Brigadier Reed's Brigade to take station next to the main body, with Acting-Brigadier Ashburnham's Brigade on his left. Deployment was from the right, which meant that Ashburnham's three Regiments needed longer to get into position than Reed's. However, once Reed's Brigade was deployed, Littler placed himself behind them and ordered the advance. As a result Reed's left flank was exposed, as Ashburnham had not had time to get into position, and his right flank was equally unprotected, as a gap of a quarter of a mile was opened up between his Brigade and the main body. It also brought Reed's men under fire well before anyone else, and the Sikh artillery could concentrate on them alone. The 62nd, led by Major Shortt, were on the right, the 12th Native Infantry on their left, and the 14th Native Infantry in support. Under tremendous fire the two Native Regiments hung back except for a few files. Ashburnham was having similar trouble on the left, only managing to get one-third of his men into action. The 62nd, having advanced through the trees and brushwood with round shot and shell dropping among them, came into the open entirely unsupported opposite the strongest part of the Sikh fieldworks. A storm of grape-shot and canister met them at short range, and masses of enemy cavalry threatened their left flank. For twenty minutes they struggled slowly forward, by which time half of them were casualties. The Regiment then halted and commenced firing. Reed, seeing them exposed to certain destruction right under the muzzles of the Sikh guns, ordered a charge. This they were quite unable to do, having been on the move for nine hours in the sun without food or water, and having advanced rapidly through jungle and over heavy ground. Many of the convalescents among them had doubled through out most of the attack in order to keep up, and the survivors were exhausted. In Reed's own words, "Unable to urge them on, they declaring they would stay there as long as I wished but had not the strength to charge, which was true, seeing the fire to which they were exposed, I took the responsibility of ordering them to retire, which they did in good order."
http://history.farmersboys.com/Battles/Feroseshah%20Ground.gif
The next British charge succeeded in wresting advantage from the Sikhs, the contest continuing with greater determination throughout the night earning it the appellation "night of terror". The position of the British grew graver as the night wore on.The British had suffered terrible casualties with every single member of the Governor General's staff either killed or wounded. That frosty night "the fate of British India trembled in the balance." Sir Hope Grant, one of the British Generals bloodied in the Anglo-Sikh Wars recorded: "Truly the night was one of gloom and foreboding and perhaps never in the annals of warfare has a British Army on so large a scale been nearer to a defeat which would have involved annihilation. The Sikhs had practically recovered the whole of their entrenched camp: our exhausted and decimated divisions bivouacked' without mutual cohesion over a wide area." Lord Hardinge sent his son back to Mudki with a sword awarded to him for services during the Napoleonic campaigns with instructions that in the event of a defeat, all his private papers were to be destroyed.
The next morning, the British re-newed their attack. The attack was renewed in thick mist and was successful. The 31st Regiment was on the extreme right. Lieutenant Robertson later recorded that “We advanced very quietly upon a strong battery on the left of the Sikh camp; they did not see us till we were right upon them, and they had only time to fire one or two rounds when we gave them a volley and charged right into them. We bayoneted a great many artillerymen and infantry who stood to the last; we also took a standard, and then charged on through the camp, polishing off all we could get at”. The attack was able to dislodge the remainder of the Sikh Army from the village. By this time, the British Army were exhausted having fought without respite for in excess of 16 hours.
By midday, sizeable Sikh reinforcement appeared to the east of the village under command of the Sikh Commander-in-Chief, Tej Singh. The Sikh attack that followed was uncoordinated and lacked direction, and as a result was defeated. By 4.00pm in the afternoon, the Sikh Army was ordered by its Commander-in-Chief to withdraw.
So ended the battle of Ferozeshah, one of the most critical fought in India. British/HEIC casualties were high at 694 killed and 1,721 wounded. The Sikh armies withdrew to the Sutlej River after suffering 4,590 killed and wounded and 78 guns captured and awaited reinforcements. The British were too exhausted to follow up closely and remained at Ferozeshah to rest and reorganise.
The first anglo-sikh war was precipitated by mutual suspicions and the turbulence of the Sikh army. The Sikh state in the Punjab had been built into a formidable power by the maharaja Ranjit Singh, who ruled from 1801 to 1839. Within six years of his death, however, the government had broken down in a series of palace revolutions and assassinations. By 1843 actual power resided with the army. Having determined to invade British India under the pretext of forestalling a British attack, the Sikhs crossed the Sutlej River in December 1845. They were defeated in the four bloody and hard-fought battles of Mudki, Firoz Shah (Firozpur), Aliwal, and Sobraon.
In January 1845, the total British force ready to fight amounted to 20,000 men and 60 guns. We can collect," British Governer General Lord Hardinge reported to the Home government, 33,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and 100 guns in six weeks." In March additional British and Indian regiments were quietly moved to Flrozpur, Ludhiana and Ambala. Field batteries of 9 pounders with horses or bullocks to draw them, and 24 additional pieces of heavy ordnance were on their way to the frontier. Meanwhile the Sikh ranks, alerted to the danger of a British offensive, started their own preparations.
When the British made a referenece to Lahore about military preparations in the Punjab, it replied that there only defensive measures to counter the signs of the British. The British government rejected these claims and severed diplomatic relations. The armies under General Hugh Gough and Lord Hardinge began proceeding towards Firozpur. To forestall their joining those at Firozpur, the Sikh army began to cross the Sutlej on 11 December near Harike Pattan into its own territory on the other side of the river. The crossing over the Sutlej by Sikhs was enough for the British to open hostilities and on 13 December Governor-General Lord Hardinge issued a proclamation announcing war on the Sikhs.
Hesitation and indecision marred Sikh military operations. Having crossed the Sutlej with five divisions, each 8,000 - 12,000 strong, an obvious strategy for them would have been to move forward. They did in a bold sweeping movement first encircling Firozpur, then held by Sir John Littler with only 7,000 men, but withdrew without driving the advantage home and dispersed their armies. Meanwhile, a Sikh force under Lal Singh comsisting of 20,000 troops (18,00 infantry and 2,000 cavalry) with 22 pieces of artillery clashed with General Sir Hugh Gough's British and East India Company forces, numbering 11,000 with 42 pieces of artillery, at the Battle of Mudki on December 18.The battle opened with an artillery duel, in which the British guns, though inferior in weight, soon silenced the enemy, the 3rd Light Dragoons delivered a brilliant charge, and the infantry drove the enemy from position after position with great slaughter and the loss of many Sikh guns. The victory was complete, but the fall of night prevented from being followed up.
The British won this untidy encounter battle inflicting 3,000 casualties on the Sikh troops and capturing 15 guns and in turn suffering 215 killed and 655 wounded themselves.
THE BATTLE OF FEROZESHAH.
On the 21 st of December the British advanced from Moodkee to attack the Sikh entrenched camp under the command of Lal Singh at Ferozeshah. At four in the morning of 21st the British/East India Company army was formed up in line of columns ready to advance. Every soldier had been issued with 60 rounds of ammunition and two day’s cooked rations. But the move was postponed until after midday to allow re-inforcements to arrive. The delay was unfortunate as it was the shortest day of the year and the battle for Ferozeshah did not begin until four in the afternoon. General Gough's total force was now about 18,000 with sixty-three guns, mostly of small calibre, and a preponderance of native troops. The exact position of the enemy was not discovered until three in the afternoon, when they were found strongly entrenched around Ferozeshah village. This Sikh force was the one commanded by Lal Singh; reinforced since fighting at Moodkee, it now totalled over 30,000 men with more than 100 guns, many of large calibre. Tej Singh, with at least an equivalent force, was still encamped some ten miles away near the Sutlej . The village of Ferozeshah lay behind a high embankment, along which the Sikhs were positioned. In front of them the ground was flat and completely open for 300 yards, then came brushwood and jungle through which the British advanced to the attack at four in the afternoon. On the British left flank Major-General Littler ordered Acting Brigadier Reed's Brigade to take station next to the main body, with Acting-Brigadier Ashburnham's Brigade on his left. Deployment was from the right, which meant that Ashburnham's three Regiments needed longer to get into position than Reed's. However, once Reed's Brigade was deployed, Littler placed himself behind them and ordered the advance. As a result Reed's left flank was exposed, as Ashburnham had not had time to get into position, and his right flank was equally unprotected, as a gap of a quarter of a mile was opened up between his Brigade and the main body. It also brought Reed's men under fire well before anyone else, and the Sikh artillery could concentrate on them alone. The 62nd, led by Major Shortt, were on the right, the 12th Native Infantry on their left, and the 14th Native Infantry in support. Under tremendous fire the two Native Regiments hung back except for a few files. Ashburnham was having similar trouble on the left, only managing to get one-third of his men into action. The 62nd, having advanced through the trees and brushwood with round shot and shell dropping among them, came into the open entirely unsupported opposite the strongest part of the Sikh fieldworks. A storm of grape-shot and canister met them at short range, and masses of enemy cavalry threatened their left flank. For twenty minutes they struggled slowly forward, by which time half of them were casualties. The Regiment then halted and commenced firing. Reed, seeing them exposed to certain destruction right under the muzzles of the Sikh guns, ordered a charge. This they were quite unable to do, having been on the move for nine hours in the sun without food or water, and having advanced rapidly through jungle and over heavy ground. Many of the convalescents among them had doubled through out most of the attack in order to keep up, and the survivors were exhausted. In Reed's own words, "Unable to urge them on, they declaring they would stay there as long as I wished but had not the strength to charge, which was true, seeing the fire to which they were exposed, I took the responsibility of ordering them to retire, which they did in good order."
http://history.farmersboys.com/Battles/Feroseshah%20Ground.gif
The next British charge succeeded in wresting advantage from the Sikhs, the contest continuing with greater determination throughout the night earning it the appellation "night of terror". The position of the British grew graver as the night wore on.The British had suffered terrible casualties with every single member of the Governor General's staff either killed or wounded. That frosty night "the fate of British India trembled in the balance." Sir Hope Grant, one of the British Generals bloodied in the Anglo-Sikh Wars recorded: "Truly the night was one of gloom and foreboding and perhaps never in the annals of warfare has a British Army on so large a scale been nearer to a defeat which would have involved annihilation. The Sikhs had practically recovered the whole of their entrenched camp: our exhausted and decimated divisions bivouacked' without mutual cohesion over a wide area." Lord Hardinge sent his son back to Mudki with a sword awarded to him for services during the Napoleonic campaigns with instructions that in the event of a defeat, all his private papers were to be destroyed.
The next morning, the British re-newed their attack. The attack was renewed in thick mist and was successful. The 31st Regiment was on the extreme right. Lieutenant Robertson later recorded that “We advanced very quietly upon a strong battery on the left of the Sikh camp; they did not see us till we were right upon them, and they had only time to fire one or two rounds when we gave them a volley and charged right into them. We bayoneted a great many artillerymen and infantry who stood to the last; we also took a standard, and then charged on through the camp, polishing off all we could get at”. The attack was able to dislodge the remainder of the Sikh Army from the village. By this time, the British Army were exhausted having fought without respite for in excess of 16 hours.
By midday, sizeable Sikh reinforcement appeared to the east of the village under command of the Sikh Commander-in-Chief, Tej Singh. The Sikh attack that followed was uncoordinated and lacked direction, and as a result was defeated. By 4.00pm in the afternoon, the Sikh Army was ordered by its Commander-in-Chief to withdraw.
So ended the battle of Ferozeshah, one of the most critical fought in India. British/HEIC casualties were high at 694 killed and 1,721 wounded. The Sikh armies withdrew to the Sutlej River after suffering 4,590 killed and wounded and 78 guns captured and awaited reinforcements. The British were too exhausted to follow up closely and remained at Ferozeshah to rest and reorganise.
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tomtom22
Chief Engineer
Busy day in WW II
December 20
1941: German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte retreating from the front before Moscow reach new defensive lines more than 100 m to the west where, following strict orders by Hitler, they are to stand and fight off any further Soviet advances.
1944: In their torturous advance toward the Meuse river, armored units of 6.SS-Panzerarmee capture Stavelot, searching for Allied fuel dumps to replenish their near- exhausted supplies of gasoline.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html
1914 : First Battle of Champagne begins - After minor skirmishes, the First Battle of Champagne begins in earnest, marking the first major Allied attack against the Germans since the initiation of trench warfare on the Western Front.
1941: Hitler to Halder: No Retreat! - In one of his first acts as the new commander in chief of the German army, Adolf Hitler informs General Franz Halder that there will be no retreating from the Russian front near Moscow. "The will to hold out must be brought home to every unit!" Halder was also informed that he could stay on as chief of the general army staff if he so chose, but only with the understanding that Hitler alone was in charge of the army's movements and strategies.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih
1915 - World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
1941http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941 - World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
1942http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942 - World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.
1989http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989 - United States invasion of Panama: United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_December
1943: Ortona Italy - Maj-Gen Christopher Vokes and the 1st Canadian Division ordered to take the medieval seaport of Ortona, as part of the advance of General Montgomery's Eighth Army up the Italian Adriatic coast; Royal Edmonton Regiment and Seaforth Highlanders of Canada attack from the south, since the town flanked by sea cliffs on the north and east and by a deep ravine to the west; Canadians suffer heavy casualties before German forces withdraw on the night of Dec 27; 1,372 Canadians killed at Ortona - almost 25% of all Canadians killed in the Mediterranean theatre.
1944: Burma - RCAF Squadrons Nos. 435 and 436 fly their first operational mission, supplying Wingate's Fourteenth Army on its epic march south on the Burma Road.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Dec&day=20
1939: The Russians cease their attacks at Summa, leaving Finnish forces in control of the whole Mannerheim defensive line, except the Oinala Bulge.
1940: The Luftwaffe continues its attacks against British cities, this time hitting Liverpool.
1941: Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll takes over command of the Atlantic Fleet, from Admiral Ernest J. King who is appointed as Commander, US Navy. German forces of Army Group Centre retreating from before Moscow reach a new defensive line more than 100km to the west, where, following strict orders by Hitler, they are to stand and fight off any further Soviet advances.
1943: The British reach the Maungdaw plain in Arakan, Burma. De Lattre de Tassigny meets de Gaulle in Algiers before taking command of ‘Army B’, for liberation of France. The heaviest raid of war on Frankfurt with more than 2,000 tons dropped by RAF. Mosquito raiders follow half an hour later to hamper the fire fighters efforts. US counter intelligence reports the smashing of a Nazi spy ring in Sicily. A 19-year-old ringleader ‘Grammatico’ and 27 others are arrested.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
December 20
1941: German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte retreating from the front before Moscow reach new defensive lines more than 100 m to the west where, following strict orders by Hitler, they are to stand and fight off any further Soviet advances.
1944: In their torturous advance toward the Meuse river, armored units of 6.SS-Panzerarmee capture Stavelot, searching for Allied fuel dumps to replenish their near- exhausted supplies of gasoline.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html
1914 : First Battle of Champagne begins - After minor skirmishes, the First Battle of Champagne begins in earnest, marking the first major Allied attack against the Germans since the initiation of trench warfare on the Western Front.
1941: Hitler to Halder: No Retreat! - In one of his first acts as the new commander in chief of the German army, Adolf Hitler informs General Franz Halder that there will be no retreating from the Russian front near Moscow. "The will to hold out must be brought home to every unit!" Halder was also informed that he could stay on as chief of the general army staff if he so chose, but only with the understanding that Hitler alone was in charge of the army's movements and strategies.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih
1915 - World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
1941http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941 - World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
1942http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942 - World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.
1989http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989 - United States invasion of Panama: United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_December
1943: Ortona Italy - Maj-Gen Christopher Vokes and the 1st Canadian Division ordered to take the medieval seaport of Ortona, as part of the advance of General Montgomery's Eighth Army up the Italian Adriatic coast; Royal Edmonton Regiment and Seaforth Highlanders of Canada attack from the south, since the town flanked by sea cliffs on the north and east and by a deep ravine to the west; Canadians suffer heavy casualties before German forces withdraw on the night of Dec 27; 1,372 Canadians killed at Ortona - almost 25% of all Canadians killed in the Mediterranean theatre.
1944: Burma - RCAF Squadrons Nos. 435 and 436 fly their first operational mission, supplying Wingate's Fourteenth Army on its epic march south on the Burma Road.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Dec&day=20
1939: The Russians cease their attacks at Summa, leaving Finnish forces in control of the whole Mannerheim defensive line, except the Oinala Bulge.
1940: The Luftwaffe continues its attacks against British cities, this time hitting Liverpool.
1941: Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll takes over command of the Atlantic Fleet, from Admiral Ernest J. King who is appointed as Commander, US Navy. German forces of Army Group Centre retreating from before Moscow reach a new defensive line more than 100km to the west, where, following strict orders by Hitler, they are to stand and fight off any further Soviet advances.
1943: The British reach the Maungdaw plain in Arakan, Burma. De Lattre de Tassigny meets de Gaulle in Algiers before taking command of ‘Army B’, for liberation of France. The heaviest raid of war on Frankfurt with more than 2,000 tons dropped by RAF. Mosquito raiders follow half an hour later to hamper the fire fighters efforts. US counter intelligence reports the smashing of a Nazi spy ring in Sicily. A 19-year-old ringleader ‘Grammatico’ and 27 others are arrested.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
December 21
1944: In the Ardennes, units of 5.Panzerarmee capture St. Vith.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html
1883: Toronto Ontario - George T. Denison organizes first Canadian infantry and cavalry schools.
1884: Khartoum Sudan - General Herbert Kitchener leads British troops into Khartoum; find General Charles Gordon's garrison was wiped out three days earlier; the expedition was transported up the Nile by Canadian voyageurs and Caughnawaga Mohawks recruited by Col. Garnet Wolseley, who had previously employed them during the Red River Campaign in 1870.
1943: Ortona Italy - 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade attacks the town of Ortona, starting a week-long battle; a savage house to house fight against heavily barricaded 'mouseholed' German infantry. 1,372 Canadian soldiers will die during the week of fighting, one quarter of all casualties in the Mediterranean theatre.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Dec&day=21
1945 : "Old Blood and Guts" dies - General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. 3rd Army, dies from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident. He was 60 years old. Descended from a long line of military men, Patton graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1909. He represented the United States in the 1912 Olympics-as the first American participant in the pentathlon. He did not win a medal. He went on to serve in the Tank Corps during World War I, an experience that made Patton a dedicated proponent of tank warfare.
During World War II, as commander of the U.S. 7th Army, he captured Palermo, Sicily, in 1943 by just such means. Patton's audacity became evident in 1944, when, during the Battle of the Bulge, he employed an unorthodox strategy that involved a 90-degree pivoting move of his 3rd Army forces, enabling him to speedily relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium.
Along the way, Patton's mouth proved as dangerous to his career as the Germans. When he berated and slapped a hospitalized soldier diagnosed with "shell shock," but whom Patton accused of "malingering," the press turned on him, and pressure was applied to cut him down to size. He might have found himself enjoying early retirement had not General Dwight Eisenhower and General George Marshall intervened on his behalf. After several months of inactivity, he was put back to work.
And work he did-at the Battle of the Bulge, during which Patton once again succeeded in employing a complex and quick-witted strategy, turning the German thrust into Bastogne into an Allied counterthrust, driving the Germans east across the Rhine. In March 1945, Patton's army swept through southern Germany into Czechoslovakia-which he was stopped from capturing by the Allies, out of respect for the Soviets' postwar political plans for Eastern Europe.
Patton had many gifts, but diplomacy was not one of them. After the war, while stationed in Germany, he criticized the process of denazification, the removal of former Nazi Party members from positions of political, administrative, and governmental power. His impolitic press statements questioning the policy caused Eisenhower to remove him as U.S. commander in Bavaria. He was transferred to the 15th Army Group, but in December of 1945 he suffered a broken neck in a car accident and died less than two weeks later.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=12/21&categoryId=worldwarii
1944: In the Ardennes, units of 5.Panzerarmee capture St. Vith.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html
1883: Toronto Ontario - George T. Denison organizes first Canadian infantry and cavalry schools.
1884: Khartoum Sudan - General Herbert Kitchener leads British troops into Khartoum; find General Charles Gordon's garrison was wiped out three days earlier; the expedition was transported up the Nile by Canadian voyageurs and Caughnawaga Mohawks recruited by Col. Garnet Wolseley, who had previously employed them during the Red River Campaign in 1870.
1943: Ortona Italy - 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade attacks the town of Ortona, starting a week-long battle; a savage house to house fight against heavily barricaded 'mouseholed' German infantry. 1,372 Canadian soldiers will die during the week of fighting, one quarter of all casualties in the Mediterranean theatre.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Dec&day=21
1945 : "Old Blood and Guts" dies - General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. 3rd Army, dies from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident. He was 60 years old. Descended from a long line of military men, Patton graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1909. He represented the United States in the 1912 Olympics-as the first American participant in the pentathlon. He did not win a medal. He went on to serve in the Tank Corps during World War I, an experience that made Patton a dedicated proponent of tank warfare.
During World War II, as commander of the U.S. 7th Army, he captured Palermo, Sicily, in 1943 by just such means. Patton's audacity became evident in 1944, when, during the Battle of the Bulge, he employed an unorthodox strategy that involved a 90-degree pivoting move of his 3rd Army forces, enabling him to speedily relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium.
Along the way, Patton's mouth proved as dangerous to his career as the Germans. When he berated and slapped a hospitalized soldier diagnosed with "shell shock," but whom Patton accused of "malingering," the press turned on him, and pressure was applied to cut him down to size. He might have found himself enjoying early retirement had not General Dwight Eisenhower and General George Marshall intervened on his behalf. After several months of inactivity, he was put back to work.
And work he did-at the Battle of the Bulge, during which Patton once again succeeded in employing a complex and quick-witted strategy, turning the German thrust into Bastogne into an Allied counterthrust, driving the Germans east across the Rhine. In March 1945, Patton's army swept through southern Germany into Czechoslovakia-which he was stopped from capturing by the Allies, out of respect for the Soviets' postwar political plans for Eastern Europe.
Patton had many gifts, but diplomacy was not one of them. After the war, while stationed in Germany, he criticized the process of denazification, the removal of former Nazi Party members from positions of political, administrative, and governmental power. His impolitic press statements questioning the policy caused Eisenhower to remove him as U.S. commander in Bavaria. He was transferred to the 15th Army Group, but in December of 1945 he suffered a broken neck in a car accident and died less than two weeks later.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=12/21&categoryId=worldwarii
Last edited:
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
All kinds of history
December 26
1943: Ordered to sail to the Barents Sea and destroy the Allied convoy JW-55B bound for the Soviet port of Murmansk, the German battle-cruiser Scharnhorst (Vizeadm. Bey) encounters a protective force of the British Home Fleet (Vice-Adm. Burnett) consisting of the cruisers HMS Belfast, Duke of York, Jamaica and Norfolk. After a fierce action, Scharnhorst is sunk, with only 36 of her crew of 1,839 surviving.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html
1942: Halifax, Nova Scotia - Canadian-escorted convoy ONS-154 loses 14 ships to German U-boats in mid-Atlantic; gets 32 to Britain by Dec. 30.
1943: London England - General A.G.L. 'Andy' McNaughton 1887-1966 retires as commander of First Canadian Army; will become Minister of National Defence replacing J. L. Ralston.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Dec&day=26
1481 - Battle of Westbroek - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton.
1793 - Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians.
1806 - Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon.
1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26_December
1941:Japanese forces capture Hong Kong - Hong Kong, a tiny British colony on the Chinese coast, withstood a three-week siege by the Japanese.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1939: The first squadron of Australian airmen arrives in Britain.
1941: The Philippine capital of Manila is declared an open city by the Americans. Japanese troops cross the river Perak. The Japanese commander General Yamashita, senses that British resistance is weakening in Malaya and is determined to push home his advantage and not allow the British any time to reorganise themselves. This he does by forcing the British troops back down the coast roads until he reaches a defensive position and then outflanks it through the jungle. The Russians land on the Kerch Peninsula in an attempt to relieve the siege of Sevastopol.
1942: The Russians continue their advance on the southern front and claim 56,000 prisoners taken in middle Don region.
1943: US Marines make further landings on New Britain, either side of Cape Gloucester.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
December 26
1943: Ordered to sail to the Barents Sea and destroy the Allied convoy JW-55B bound for the Soviet port of Murmansk, the German battle-cruiser Scharnhorst (Vizeadm. Bey) encounters a protective force of the British Home Fleet (Vice-Adm. Burnett) consisting of the cruisers HMS Belfast, Duke of York, Jamaica and Norfolk. After a fierce action, Scharnhorst is sunk, with only 36 of her crew of 1,839 surviving.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html
1942: Halifax, Nova Scotia - Canadian-escorted convoy ONS-154 loses 14 ships to German U-boats in mid-Atlantic; gets 32 to Britain by Dec. 30.
1943: London England - General A.G.L. 'Andy' McNaughton 1887-1966 retires as commander of First Canadian Army; will become Minister of National Defence replacing J. L. Ralston.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Dec&day=26
1481 - Battle of Westbroek - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton.
1793 - Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians.
1806 - Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon.
1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26_December
1941:Japanese forces capture Hong Kong - Hong Kong, a tiny British colony on the Chinese coast, withstood a three-week siege by the Japanese.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1939: The first squadron of Australian airmen arrives in Britain.
1941: The Philippine capital of Manila is declared an open city by the Americans. Japanese troops cross the river Perak. The Japanese commander General Yamashita, senses that British resistance is weakening in Malaya and is determined to push home his advantage and not allow the British any time to reorganise themselves. This he does by forcing the British troops back down the coast roads until he reaches a defensive position and then outflanks it through the jungle. The Russians land on the Kerch Peninsula in an attempt to relieve the siege of Sevastopol.
1942: The Russians continue their advance on the southern front and claim 56,000 prisoners taken in middle Don region.
1943: US Marines make further landings on New Britain, either side of Cape Gloucester.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
MightyMacbeth
I am Honor
Today, 29, Texas became a state and was annexed to the United States :smil:
The Cooler King
Godfather
January 1
1965
1 Jan.-7 Feb. The VC mount a series of attacks across South Vietnam. They briefly seize control of Binh Gia, a village only 40 miles from Saigon. Two hundred South Vietnamese troops are killed near Binh Gia, along with five American advisors.
1966
1-8 Jan. Op.Marauder/An Dan 564, 1/503, 2/503 (173d Abn), 1 RAR, 2d ARVN Abn TF search and destroy in the Plain of Reeds along the Vam Co River, Bao Trai.
1-16 Jan. Op.Jefferson, 2d ROK Mar Bde, ARVN Abn, 47th ARVN Rgt search and destroy to clear mountainous area along the coast S. of Tuy Hoa
1967
1 Jan.-5 Apr. Op. Paul Revere V/Sam Houston: 1/8, 2/8, 1/12, 1/22, 1/10 Cav ( 4thInf), 2/35 (25th Inf) search and destroy and border surveillance in Pleiku and Kontum provinces, Plei Trap Valley, Se San and Nam Sathay rivers, Duc Co.
1968
1-2 Jan. As part of operation Yellowstone, FSB Burt, defended by 2/22 and 3/22 (25th Inf) is assaulted by 271st and 272d VC Regts.
1 Jan.68-1 Mar.73. Op.Clearwater, USN interdiction of inland waterways in I Corps
1969
1 Jan.-31 Aug. Op.Rice Farmer, 9th Infantry and ARVN rice denial in Dinh Tuong, Kien Tuong, Kien Hoa provinces
1 Jan.-31 Dec. Op.Quyet Thang II, 2/39, 4/39, 6/31, 3/47, 4/47, 3/60, 3/39 (9th Inf), 7th, 9th, 21st ARVN multidivision clear and search in IV Corps
1970
1-7 Jan. Op.Leopard, A Sqn/1st Arm (1st ATF) recon. and ambush in Duc Thanh District
1971
1 Jan.-31 Mar. Op. Quyet Thang 405A, ARVN search and destroy in Quang Ngai province
1 Jan.-31 Mar. Op. Quyet Thang 603A, ARVN search and destroy in Quang Ngai province
1 Jan.-30 Apr. Op.Keystone Robin (Charlie), Redeployement (Increment VI)
1 Jan.-1 May Op. Cuu Long 7/2, ARVN search and destroy in Kien Hoa, Vinh Long, Sa Dec, Vinh Binh, Dinh Tuong and Go Cong provinces
1 Jan.-21 Apr. Op.Greene Lightning, 173d Abn clear and search in Binh Dinh province
1972
1-31 Jan. Op. Bac Binh Vuong I, ARVN operation in MR1
1965
1 Jan.-7 Feb. The VC mount a series of attacks across South Vietnam. They briefly seize control of Binh Gia, a village only 40 miles from Saigon. Two hundred South Vietnamese troops are killed near Binh Gia, along with five American advisors.
1966
1-8 Jan. Op.Marauder/An Dan 564, 1/503, 2/503 (173d Abn), 1 RAR, 2d ARVN Abn TF search and destroy in the Plain of Reeds along the Vam Co River, Bao Trai.
1-16 Jan. Op.Jefferson, 2d ROK Mar Bde, ARVN Abn, 47th ARVN Rgt search and destroy to clear mountainous area along the coast S. of Tuy Hoa
1967
1 Jan.-5 Apr. Op. Paul Revere V/Sam Houston: 1/8, 2/8, 1/12, 1/22, 1/10 Cav ( 4thInf), 2/35 (25th Inf) search and destroy and border surveillance in Pleiku and Kontum provinces, Plei Trap Valley, Se San and Nam Sathay rivers, Duc Co.
1968
1-2 Jan. As part of operation Yellowstone, FSB Burt, defended by 2/22 and 3/22 (25th Inf) is assaulted by 271st and 272d VC Regts.
1 Jan.68-1 Mar.73. Op.Clearwater, USN interdiction of inland waterways in I Corps
1969
1 Jan.-31 Aug. Op.Rice Farmer, 9th Infantry and ARVN rice denial in Dinh Tuong, Kien Tuong, Kien Hoa provinces
1 Jan.-31 Dec. Op.Quyet Thang II, 2/39, 4/39, 6/31, 3/47, 4/47, 3/60, 3/39 (9th Inf), 7th, 9th, 21st ARVN multidivision clear and search in IV Corps
1970
1-7 Jan. Op.Leopard, A Sqn/1st Arm (1st ATF) recon. and ambush in Duc Thanh District
1971
1 Jan.-31 Mar. Op. Quyet Thang 405A, ARVN search and destroy in Quang Ngai province
1 Jan.-31 Mar. Op. Quyet Thang 603A, ARVN search and destroy in Quang Ngai province
1 Jan.-30 Apr. Op.Keystone Robin (Charlie), Redeployement (Increment VI)
1 Jan.-1 May Op. Cuu Long 7/2, ARVN search and destroy in Kien Hoa, Vinh Long, Sa Dec, Vinh Binh, Dinh Tuong and Go Cong provinces
1 Jan.-21 Apr. Op.Greene Lightning, 173d Abn clear and search in Binh Dinh province
1972
1-31 Jan. Op. Bac Binh Vuong I, ARVN operation in MR1
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
January 7
1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
1945 - World War II: British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_January
1952 -HMAS Tobruk bombards Chomi Do, Korea - The bombardment of Chomi Do, on the Haeju Gulf north-west of Seoul, forestalled a North Korean invasion of Yongmae Do, an island about 20 kilometres from Inchon.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1967 : Operation Cedar Falls is launched
About 16,000 U.S. soldiers from the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions, 173rd Airborne Brigade and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment join 14,000 South Vietnamese troops to mount Operation Cedar Falls. This offensive, the largest of the war to date, was designed to disrupt insurgent operations near Saigon, and had as its primary targets the Thanh Dien Forest Preserve and the Iron Triangle, a 60-square-mile area of jungle believed to contain communist base camps and supply dumps. During the course of the operations, U.S. infantrymen discovered and destroyed a massive tunnel complex in the Iron Triangle, apparently a headquarters for guerrilla raids and terrorist attacks on Saigon. The operation ended with 711 of the enemy reported killed and 488 captured. Allied losses were 83 killed and 345 wounded. The operation lasted for 18 days.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do
1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
1945 - World War II: British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_January
1952 -HMAS Tobruk bombards Chomi Do, Korea - The bombardment of Chomi Do, on the Haeju Gulf north-west of Seoul, forestalled a North Korean invasion of Yongmae Do, an island about 20 kilometres from Inchon.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1967 : Operation Cedar Falls is launched
About 16,000 U.S. soldiers from the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions, 173rd Airborne Brigade and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment join 14,000 South Vietnamese troops to mount Operation Cedar Falls. This offensive, the largest of the war to date, was designed to disrupt insurgent operations near Saigon, and had as its primary targets the Thanh Dien Forest Preserve and the Iron Triangle, a 60-square-mile area of jungle believed to contain communist base camps and supply dumps. During the course of the operations, U.S. infantrymen discovered and destroyed a massive tunnel complex in the Iron Triangle, apparently a headquarters for guerrilla raids and terrorist attacks on Saigon. The operation ended with 711 of the enemy reported killed and 488 captured. Allied losses were 83 killed and 345 wounded. The operation lasted for 18 days.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
January 10
1942: Colonel-General Ernst Udet, head of Luftwaffe aircraft production and development, commits suicide for failure to provide adequate replacements and new improved aircraft models.
1943: After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers, and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation Ring, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of 6.Armee defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1940: Second AIF sails for the Middle East - Following in the footsteps of the first AIF, the second AIF were also sent to the Middle East rather than England. Unlike their earlier counterparts, however, most of their fighting took place in North Africa.
1942: Japanese air raid on Singapore - After their rapid advance through Malaya, Japanese forces paved the way for their invasion of Singapore with a series of air raids against the island.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
49BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_January
1940: Hitler informs his commanders that the attack in the west will begin on the 17th January. On this same day a German light aircraft makes a forced landing at Malines in Belgium, near the German border. The plane's occupants were carrying details of the German plans, which alerted the Belgium and Dutch governments to German intentions.
1941: Heavy air attacks begin on Malta. Germany and the Soviet Union sign a fresh treaty, which recognises their existing spheres of influence and affirms current trade agreements. German aircraft surprise the Mediterranean fleet, which is escorting 3 merchant ships to Greece. 40 Ju-87 Stukas attack them, scoring 6 hits on HMS Illustrious and severely damaging her. HMS Warspite also receives damage. Both ships make for Malta and arrive the next day.
1943: After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation Ring, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of 6th Army defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad.
1944: The Russians capture Lyudvipol, 2-3 miles across the Polish border. The Russians propose new Polish border further west on the so-called ‘Curzon Line’. German forces in Dnieper bend are attacked by the Russians for the next five days, but and early thaw aids the German defense.
1945: The German 7th Gebirgsdivision retreats from it's positions in Lätäseno. Only a very small portion of Finland is still in German hands.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
1942: Colonel-General Ernst Udet, head of Luftwaffe aircraft production and development, commits suicide for failure to provide adequate replacements and new improved aircraft models.
1943: After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers, and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation Ring, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of 6.Armee defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1940: Second AIF sails for the Middle East - Following in the footsteps of the first AIF, the second AIF were also sent to the Middle East rather than England. Unlike their earlier counterparts, however, most of their fighting took place in North Africa.
1942: Japanese air raid on Singapore - After their rapid advance through Malaya, Japanese forces paved the way for their invasion of Singapore with a series of air raids against the island.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
49BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_January
1940: Hitler informs his commanders that the attack in the west will begin on the 17th January. On this same day a German light aircraft makes a forced landing at Malines in Belgium, near the German border. The plane's occupants were carrying details of the German plans, which alerted the Belgium and Dutch governments to German intentions.
1941: Heavy air attacks begin on Malta. Germany and the Soviet Union sign a fresh treaty, which recognises their existing spheres of influence and affirms current trade agreements. German aircraft surprise the Mediterranean fleet, which is escorting 3 merchant ships to Greece. 40 Ju-87 Stukas attack them, scoring 6 hits on HMS Illustrious and severely damaging her. HMS Warspite also receives damage. Both ships make for Malta and arrive the next day.
1943: After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation Ring, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of 6th Army defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad.
1944: The Russians capture Lyudvipol, 2-3 miles across the Polish border. The Russians propose new Polish border further west on the so-called ‘Curzon Line’. German forces in Dnieper bend are attacked by the Russians for the next five days, but and early thaw aids the German defense.
1945: The German 7th Gebirgsdivision retreats from it's positions in Lätäseno. Only a very small portion of Finland is still in German hands.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
January 11
1942: The Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Beat, the first coordinated attack carried out by five U-boats initially against US shipping along the East Coast of the United States. Their first victim is the 9,000 ton British freighter Cyclops which is sunk by U-123 (Kptlt. Hardegen).
1944: 660 heavy bombers of the US 8th Air Force carry out attacks against industrial targets at Braunschweig, Magdeburg and Ascherleben.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1957: Port Said Egypt - Canadian aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent arrives in Egypt with men and supplies for the UN emergency force; Canadian strength in Egypt now about 1,000 men.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=11
1942: Japanese captured Tarakan island, Borneo - The success of Japan's war in South East Asia and the Pacific depended in large part upon the seizure of Borneo's oilfields, including those at Tarakan.
1973: Cessation of hostilities in Vietnam by Australian forces - The proclamation by the Governor-General, Sir Paul Hasluck, ended 11 years of Australian involvement in Vietnam, the longest duration of any war in Australia's history.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1941: The Cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Gloucester are attacked by German aircraft in the Sicilian channel. HMS Gloucester receives damage, while HMS Southampton is sunk. British submarine's begin to make attacks on German and Italian convoys crossing to Libya.
1942: The Japanese 5th Division enters Kuala Lumpur, which is the main supply base for the Indian 3rd Corps. By this time Japanese forward elements are coming in to contact with the 8th Australian Division, which puts up fierce resistance, although Japanese amphibious landings to their south force them to retreat and ends British hopes of a protracted defense of Johore. The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies begins with landings at Tarakan (Borneo) and Manado (Celebes). The Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Beat, the first coordinated attack carried out by five U-boats initially against US shipping along the East Coast of the United States. Their first victim is the 9,000 ton British steamer Cyclops which is sunk by U-123 (Kptlt. Hardegen), 300 miles to the east of Cape Cod.
1945: U.S. troops establish a firm hold on the Luzon beachhead. British troops capture Laroche, 20 miles Northwest of Bastogne.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
1942: The Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Beat, the first coordinated attack carried out by five U-boats initially against US shipping along the East Coast of the United States. Their first victim is the 9,000 ton British freighter Cyclops which is sunk by U-123 (Kptlt. Hardegen).
1944: 660 heavy bombers of the US 8th Air Force carry out attacks against industrial targets at Braunschweig, Magdeburg and Ascherleben.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1957: Port Said Egypt - Canadian aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent arrives in Egypt with men and supplies for the UN emergency force; Canadian strength in Egypt now about 1,000 men.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=11
1942: Japanese captured Tarakan island, Borneo - The success of Japan's war in South East Asia and the Pacific depended in large part upon the seizure of Borneo's oilfields, including those at Tarakan.
1973: Cessation of hostilities in Vietnam by Australian forces - The proclamation by the Governor-General, Sir Paul Hasluck, ended 11 years of Australian involvement in Vietnam, the longest duration of any war in Australia's history.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1941: The Cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Gloucester are attacked by German aircraft in the Sicilian channel. HMS Gloucester receives damage, while HMS Southampton is sunk. British submarine's begin to make attacks on German and Italian convoys crossing to Libya.
1942: The Japanese 5th Division enters Kuala Lumpur, which is the main supply base for the Indian 3rd Corps. By this time Japanese forward elements are coming in to contact with the 8th Australian Division, which puts up fierce resistance, although Japanese amphibious landings to their south force them to retreat and ends British hopes of a protracted defense of Johore. The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies begins with landings at Tarakan (Borneo) and Manado (Celebes). The Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Beat, the first coordinated attack carried out by five U-boats initially against US shipping along the East Coast of the United States. Their first victim is the 9,000 ton British steamer Cyclops which is sunk by U-123 (Kptlt. Hardegen), 300 miles to the east of Cape Cod.
1945: U.S. troops establish a firm hold on the Luzon beachhead. British troops capture Laroche, 20 miles Northwest of Bastogne.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
January 12
1943: The Red Army begins an offensive to restore the land communications with the encircled city of Leningrad. In the East, Heeeresgruppe A continues its withdrawal from the Caucasus to the Taman peninsula, i.e. the Kuban bridgehead.
1945: The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) launches an offensive from its bridgehead across the Vistula at Baranov.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1916: Ottawa Ontario - Cabinet Order in Council raises Canadian troop strength in World War I to 500,000.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=12
1943: Beginning of allied attack on Sanananda - The Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda Trail enabled the allies to plan the encirclement of important Japanese positions in the Buna, Sanananda and Gona beachhead. Sanananda was last of the three to fall to the allies after weeks of heavy fighting.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1991 - Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_January
1962: The United States Air Force launches Operation Ranch Hand, a "modern technological area-denial technique" designed to expose the roads and trails used by the Viet Cong. Flying C-123 Providers, U.S. personnel dumped an estimated 19 million gallons of defoliating herbicides over 10-20 percent of Vietnam and parts of Laos between 1962-1971.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
1943: The Red Army begins an offensive to restore the land communications with the encircled city of Leningrad. In the East, Heeeresgruppe A continues its withdrawal from the Caucasus to the Taman peninsula, i.e. the Kuban bridgehead.
1945: The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) launches an offensive from its bridgehead across the Vistula at Baranov.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1916: Ottawa Ontario - Cabinet Order in Council raises Canadian troop strength in World War I to 500,000.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=12
1943: Beginning of allied attack on Sanananda - The Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda Trail enabled the allies to plan the encirclement of important Japanese positions in the Buna, Sanananda and Gona beachhead. Sanananda was last of the three to fall to the allies after weeks of heavy fighting.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1991 - Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_January
1962: The United States Air Force launches Operation Ranch Hand, a "modern technological area-denial technique" designed to expose the roads and trails used by the Viet Cong. Flying C-123 Providers, U.S. personnel dumped an estimated 19 million gallons of defoliating herbicides over 10-20 percent of Vietnam and parts of Laos between 1962-1971.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
phoenix80
Banned
Jan 16th
1979: Late Shah of Iran flees into exile
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/16/newsid_2530000/2530475.stm
1979: Late Shah of Iran flees into exile
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/16/newsid_2530000/2530475.stm
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
January 17
1942: The British 8th Army (Auchinlech) captures ollum in Cyrenaica.
1945: The Red Army captures Czenstochova, while German forces evacuate Warsaw. The German defenders of encircled Budapest withdraw to Buda on the western bank of the Danube.
source:
http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1917: 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps sail for France - No. 4 Squadron was the final Australian Flying Corps squadron formed in the First World War. Its pilots flew Sopwith Camels over the Western Front beginning their active service in the battle of Cambrai.
1991: Coalition air attacks begin against Iraqi forces in Iraq and Kuwait - The first day of the Gulf War which ended when Iraqi forces were driven from Kuwait.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1746 - Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", defeats a Hanoverian army at Falkirk in his ultimately unsuccessful campaign to recover the throne for the Jacobite dynasty.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens - Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
1885 - A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
1945 - Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
1945 - The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm began early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17_January
1942: The last German garrison at Halfaya in Cyrenaica surrenders, with about 5,500 prisoners taken.
1945: Russian forces cross the Warthe and advance 100-miles on a 160-mile front forcing the Germans to evacuate Warsaw, which falls that same day. The German defenders encircled at Budapest withdraw to Buda on the western bank of the Danube. The Red Army captures Czenstochova.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
1942: The British 8th Army (Auchinlech) captures ollum in Cyrenaica.
1945: The Red Army captures Czenstochova, while German forces evacuate Warsaw. The German defenders of encircled Budapest withdraw to Buda on the western bank of the Danube.
source:
http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1917: 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps sail for France - No. 4 Squadron was the final Australian Flying Corps squadron formed in the First World War. Its pilots flew Sopwith Camels over the Western Front beginning their active service in the battle of Cambrai.
1991: Coalition air attacks begin against Iraqi forces in Iraq and Kuwait - The first day of the Gulf War which ended when Iraqi forces were driven from Kuwait.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1746 - Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", defeats a Hanoverian army at Falkirk in his ultimately unsuccessful campaign to recover the throne for the Jacobite dynasty.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens - Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
1885 - A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
1945 - Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
1945 - The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm began early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17_January
1942: The last German garrison at Halfaya in Cyrenaica surrenders, with about 5,500 prisoners taken.
1945: Russian forces cross the Warthe and advance 100-miles on a 160-mile front forcing the Germans to evacuate Warsaw, which falls that same day. The German defenders encircled at Budapest withdraw to Buda on the western bank of the Danube. The Red Army captures Czenstochova.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
January 18
1942: In the East, the Red Army encircles seeral German divisions at Demjansk near Lake Ilmen. In the Crimea, German troops of Heeresgruppe B recapture Feodosia and seal off the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch. Germany, Italy and Japan sign a new military treaty.
1944: German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte repel repeated Soviet attacks in the area of Vitebsk.
1945: German troops in Poland evacuate Kracow. Beginning of a German offensive from Lake Balaton to lift the Soviet siege of Budapest.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1919: Versailles Peace Conference opens - The Treaty of Versailles, signed between Germany and representatives of 27 victorious powers punished Germany territorially and financially for her role in the First World War. The treaty was supposed also to prevent Germany from having the means to make war in the future.
1942: Lieutenant Colonel C.G.W. Anderson, VC - Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson, 2/19 Battalion, 8th Division, originally of Cape Town, South Africa, won the Victoria Cross during operations against the Japanese at the Muar River, Malaya.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1944 - Soviet forces liberate Leningrad, effectively ending a three year Nazi siege, known as the Siege of Leningrad.
1945 - Liberation of the Budapest ghetto by the Red Army
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_18
1943: Australian troops capture Cape Killerton and Wye Point in Papua, New Guinea.
1942: The Red Army cuts the main supply route for the German 2nd and 10th Corps at Demyansk near Lake Ilmen, forcing the Luftwaffe to begin flying in supplies. Field Marshal von Bock takes over command of Army Group South from Field Marshal von Reichenau who died of a heart attack. The Soviet South West Front launches an offensive across the river Donets, to the South of Kharkov in an attempt to cut of all German forces north of the Sea of Azov. German troops of 11th Army recapture Feodosiya and seal off the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch in the Crimea.
1943: The Germans counter attack in Tunisia. They gain ground against the Free French, but are repulsed by British forces. The Russians break through the German stranglehold on Leningrad to relieve the city from the East. In the Caucasus, the Russian advance continues. Cherkessk is captured by the Red Army, who are now less than 250 miles south east of Rostov.
1944: German forces of Army Group Centre repel repeated Red Army attacks in the area of Vitebsk.
1945: USAAF B29 bombers destroy the Kawasaki aircraft works near Kobe, in Japan. German troops evacuate Kracow. A German offensive begins from Lake Balaton, with the aim of lifting the Red Army's siege of Budapest.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
1942: In the East, the Red Army encircles seeral German divisions at Demjansk near Lake Ilmen. In the Crimea, German troops of Heeresgruppe B recapture Feodosia and seal off the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch. Germany, Italy and Japan sign a new military treaty.
1944: German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte repel repeated Soviet attacks in the area of Vitebsk.
1945: German troops in Poland evacuate Kracow. Beginning of a German offensive from Lake Balaton to lift the Soviet siege of Budapest.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1919: Versailles Peace Conference opens - The Treaty of Versailles, signed between Germany and representatives of 27 victorious powers punished Germany territorially and financially for her role in the First World War. The treaty was supposed also to prevent Germany from having the means to make war in the future.
1942: Lieutenant Colonel C.G.W. Anderson, VC - Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson, 2/19 Battalion, 8th Division, originally of Cape Town, South Africa, won the Victoria Cross during operations against the Japanese at the Muar River, Malaya.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1944 - Soviet forces liberate Leningrad, effectively ending a three year Nazi siege, known as the Siege of Leningrad.
1945 - Liberation of the Budapest ghetto by the Red Army
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_18
1943: Australian troops capture Cape Killerton and Wye Point in Papua, New Guinea.
1942: The Red Army cuts the main supply route for the German 2nd and 10th Corps at Demyansk near Lake Ilmen, forcing the Luftwaffe to begin flying in supplies. Field Marshal von Bock takes over command of Army Group South from Field Marshal von Reichenau who died of a heart attack. The Soviet South West Front launches an offensive across the river Donets, to the South of Kharkov in an attempt to cut of all German forces north of the Sea of Azov. German troops of 11th Army recapture Feodosiya and seal off the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch in the Crimea.
1943: The Germans counter attack in Tunisia. They gain ground against the Free French, but are repulsed by British forces. The Russians break through the German stranglehold on Leningrad to relieve the city from the East. In the Caucasus, the Russian advance continues. Cherkessk is captured by the Red Army, who are now less than 250 miles south east of Rostov.
1944: German forces of Army Group Centre repel repeated Red Army attacks in the area of Vitebsk.
1945: USAAF B29 bombers destroy the Kawasaki aircraft works near Kobe, in Japan. German troops evacuate Kracow. A German offensive begins from Lake Balaton, with the aim of lifting the Red Army's siege of Budapest.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
January 20
1941: With Hitler's tacit support, Marshal Antonescu suppresses a rebellion by the Iron Guard in Rumania.
1943: The Red Army begins an offensive against Heeresgruppe Mitte in the Voronesh area.
1944: On the Northern front in Russia, the Red Army recaptures Novgorod. The RAF launches a heavy attack (700 bombers) against Berlin.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1942: Wirraways engage Japanese fighter and bomber formations over Rabaul - In the days before the fall of Rabaul, Japanese aircraft conducted a series of raids on the town. In an engagement lasting less than ten minutes three of 24 Squadron's eight Wirraways were shot down, one crashed on take-off and two were damaged in crash-landings.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1777: Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson leads 400 “raw” men from the New Jersey militia and 50 Pennsylvania riflemen under Captain Robert Durkee in an attack against a group of 500 British soldiers foraging for food led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Abercromby near Van Nest’s Mills in Millstone, New Jersey. The mills lay at a strategic point between New Brunswick and Princeton, New Jersey, where General George Washington had defeated the British on January 3. After that victory, Washington had decided to divide his forces in order to harass British installments in the New Jersey towns of New Brunswick and Amboy. The British, who were stealing flour and supplies from Van Nest’s Mills with which to supply their troops in New Brunswick, had set up small cannon defenses at a bridge crossing the Millstone River. The Patriots caught the British forces by surprise when they, avoiding the cannons, forded the deep and icy water. In the ensuing 20-minute battle, Dickinson reported that the Patriots captured “107 horses, 49 wagons, 115 cattle, 70 sheep, 40 barrels of flour – 106 bags and many other things.” They also took 49 prisoners. General Washington reported to John Hancock that the British removed “a good many dead and wounded in light Waggons,” estimated to be 24 or 25 in total compared to the 4 or 5 losses sustained by the Patriots.
1918: British and German forces clash in the Aegean Sea when the German battleships Goeben and Breslau attempt a surprise raid on Allied forces off the Dardanelle Straits. The Goeben and </I>Breslau</I>—the same two swift, powerful cruisers that had famously eluded capture by the British in the Dardanelles in 1914 to reach Constantinople and bring Turkey into the war on the side of Germany—had attempted to leave the Dardanelles and head towards Salonika, Greece, when they encountered the British fleet. Just after sunrise on January 20, the Goeben and Breslau fired upon and sank two British monitors, the HMS Raglan and the M28, leaving 127 sailors dead.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do
1941: With Hitler's tacit support, Marshal Antonescu suppresses a rebellion by the Iron Guard in Rumania.
1943: The Red Army begins an offensive against Heeresgruppe Mitte in the Voronesh area.
1944: On the Northern front in Russia, the Red Army recaptures Novgorod. The RAF launches a heavy attack (700 bombers) against Berlin.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1942: Wirraways engage Japanese fighter and bomber formations over Rabaul - In the days before the fall of Rabaul, Japanese aircraft conducted a series of raids on the town. In an engagement lasting less than ten minutes three of 24 Squadron's eight Wirraways were shot down, one crashed on take-off and two were damaged in crash-landings.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1777: Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson leads 400 “raw” men from the New Jersey militia and 50 Pennsylvania riflemen under Captain Robert Durkee in an attack against a group of 500 British soldiers foraging for food led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Abercromby near Van Nest’s Mills in Millstone, New Jersey. The mills lay at a strategic point between New Brunswick and Princeton, New Jersey, where General George Washington had defeated the British on January 3. After that victory, Washington had decided to divide his forces in order to harass British installments in the New Jersey towns of New Brunswick and Amboy. The British, who were stealing flour and supplies from Van Nest’s Mills with which to supply their troops in New Brunswick, had set up small cannon defenses at a bridge crossing the Millstone River. The Patriots caught the British forces by surprise when they, avoiding the cannons, forded the deep and icy water. In the ensuing 20-minute battle, Dickinson reported that the Patriots captured “107 horses, 49 wagons, 115 cattle, 70 sheep, 40 barrels of flour – 106 bags and many other things.” They also took 49 prisoners. General Washington reported to John Hancock that the British removed “a good many dead and wounded in light Waggons,” estimated to be 24 or 25 in total compared to the 4 or 5 losses sustained by the Patriots.
1918: British and German forces clash in the Aegean Sea when the German battleships Goeben and Breslau attempt a surprise raid on Allied forces off the Dardanelle Straits. The Goeben and </I>Breslau</I>—the same two swift, powerful cruisers that had famously eluded capture by the British in the Dardanelles in 1914 to reach Constantinople and bring Turkey into the war on the side of Germany—had attempted to leave the Dardanelles and head towards Salonika, Greece, when they encountered the British fleet. Just after sunrise on January 20, the Goeben and Breslau fired upon and sank two British monitors, the HMS Raglan and the M28, leaving 127 sailors dead.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
A busy day for WW II
January 24
1942: German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte recapture Suchinitshe near Kaluga.
1943: The offensive by the Soviet Trans-Caucasian Front toward the Kuban bridgehead is stopped at Novorossiisk and Krasnodar.
1945: German forces evacuate Slovakia. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) captures Oppeln and Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia. Heinrich Himmler is appointed C-in-C of the newly formed Heeresgruppe Weichsel (Vistula).
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1781: Patriot commanders Lieutenant Colonel “Light Horse” Henry Lee and Brigadier General Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion of the South Carolina militia combine forces and conduct a raid on Georgetown, South Carolina, which is defended by 200 British soldiers. Marion won fame and the “Swamp Fox” moniker for his ability to strike and then quickly retreat into the South Carolina swamps without a trace. His military strategy is considered an 18th-century example of guerilla warfare and served as partial inspiration for the film The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson.
1915: German naval forces under Admiral Franz von Hipper, encouraged by the success of a surprise attack on the British coastal towns of Hartlepool and Scarborough the previous month, set off toward Britain once again, only to be intercepted by a squadron of British cruisers led by Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty on the morning of January 24, 1915, near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea.
1943: German Gen. Friedrich von Paulus, commander in chief of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, urgently requests permission from Adolf Hitler to surrender his position there, but Hitler refuses. The Battle of Stalingrad began in the summer of 1942, as German forces assaulted the city, a major industrial center and a prized strategic coup. But despite repeated attempts and having pushed the Soviets almost to the Volga River in mid-October and encircling Stalingrad, the 6th Army, under Paulus, and part of the 4th Panzer Army could not break past the adamantine defense of the Soviet 62nd Army. By January 24, the Soviets had overrun Paulus' last airfield. His position was untenable and surrender was the only hope for survival. Hitler wouldn't hear of it: "The 6th Army will hold its positions to the last man and the last round."
1966: In the largest search-and-destroy operation to date--Operation Masher/White Wing/Thang Phong II--the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), South Vietnamese, and Korean forces ssweep through Binh Dinh Province in the central lowlands along the coast. The purpose of the operation was to drive the North Vietnamese out of the province and destroy enemy supply areas. In late January, it became the first large unit operation conducted across corps boundaries when the cavalrymen linked up with Double Eagle, a U.S. Marine Corps operation intended to destroy the North Vietnamese 325A Division. Altogether, there were reported enemy casualties of 2,389 by the time the operation ended.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
1967: First contact at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam - Fighting at Bien Hoa involved a series of contacts between units of the 1st Australian Task Force and communist forces in the area of the Bien Hoa - Long Binh complex near Saigon. Australian and American units sought to dominate the area and prevent enemy rocket attacks on nearby military bases and installations.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been in hiding since 1944, when U.S. forces liberated the island during World War II.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_24
1941: General Cunningham's 'Southern Force' invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa and Bura in Kenya.
1942: Four US destroyers and some submarines attack a Japanese convoy in the Macassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes, sinking 1 destroyer and four transports, while only suffering damage to one of their destroyers. This action delays the impending Japanese invasion of Java. Japanese troops land at Balikpapan in Dutch Borneo. More reinforcements arrive at Singapore to boost its defenses as the British 18th Division is landed. General Cunningham's 'Southern Force' invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa and Bura in Kenya.
1943: Fighting in Papua is officially reported as over. Russians take Starobelskiy, near the Donets River in the eastern Ukraine, more than 250 miles to the West of Stalingrad.
1944: Chinese forces make further advances in the Hukawng Valley. Hitler orders that German troops in Italy hold the ‘Gustav Line’ at all costs. The French attack to the North of Cassino. Allied patrols from Anzio beachhead are halted but the Germans.
1945: The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm carrier planes destroy the Japanese oil refinery near Palembang, on Sumatra. U.S. troops capture Clark Field, the main Japanese airbase on Luzon.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
January 24
1942: German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte recapture Suchinitshe near Kaluga.
1943: The offensive by the Soviet Trans-Caucasian Front toward the Kuban bridgehead is stopped at Novorossiisk and Krasnodar.
1945: German forces evacuate Slovakia. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) captures Oppeln and Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia. Heinrich Himmler is appointed C-in-C of the newly formed Heeresgruppe Weichsel (Vistula).
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html
1781: Patriot commanders Lieutenant Colonel “Light Horse” Henry Lee and Brigadier General Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion of the South Carolina militia combine forces and conduct a raid on Georgetown, South Carolina, which is defended by 200 British soldiers. Marion won fame and the “Swamp Fox” moniker for his ability to strike and then quickly retreat into the South Carolina swamps without a trace. His military strategy is considered an 18th-century example of guerilla warfare and served as partial inspiration for the film The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson.
1915: German naval forces under Admiral Franz von Hipper, encouraged by the success of a surprise attack on the British coastal towns of Hartlepool and Scarborough the previous month, set off toward Britain once again, only to be intercepted by a squadron of British cruisers led by Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty on the morning of January 24, 1915, near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea.
1943: German Gen. Friedrich von Paulus, commander in chief of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, urgently requests permission from Adolf Hitler to surrender his position there, but Hitler refuses. The Battle of Stalingrad began in the summer of 1942, as German forces assaulted the city, a major industrial center and a prized strategic coup. But despite repeated attempts and having pushed the Soviets almost to the Volga River in mid-October and encircling Stalingrad, the 6th Army, under Paulus, and part of the 4th Panzer Army could not break past the adamantine defense of the Soviet 62nd Army. By January 24, the Soviets had overrun Paulus' last airfield. His position was untenable and surrender was the only hope for survival. Hitler wouldn't hear of it: "The 6th Army will hold its positions to the last man and the last round."
1966: In the largest search-and-destroy operation to date--Operation Masher/White Wing/Thang Phong II--the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), South Vietnamese, and Korean forces ssweep through Binh Dinh Province in the central lowlands along the coast. The purpose of the operation was to drive the North Vietnamese out of the province and destroy enemy supply areas. In late January, it became the first large unit operation conducted across corps boundaries when the cavalrymen linked up with Double Eagle, a U.S. Marine Corps operation intended to destroy the North Vietnamese 325A Division. Altogether, there were reported enemy casualties of 2,389 by the time the operation ended.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
1967: First contact at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam - Fighting at Bien Hoa involved a series of contacts between units of the 1st Australian Task Force and communist forces in the area of the Bien Hoa - Long Binh complex near Saigon. Australian and American units sought to dominate the area and prevent enemy rocket attacks on nearby military bases and installations.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been in hiding since 1944, when U.S. forces liberated the island during World War II.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_24
1941: General Cunningham's 'Southern Force' invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa and Bura in Kenya.
1942: Four US destroyers and some submarines attack a Japanese convoy in the Macassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes, sinking 1 destroyer and four transports, while only suffering damage to one of their destroyers. This action delays the impending Japanese invasion of Java. Japanese troops land at Balikpapan in Dutch Borneo. More reinforcements arrive at Singapore to boost its defenses as the British 18th Division is landed. General Cunningham's 'Southern Force' invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa and Bura in Kenya.
1943: Fighting in Papua is officially reported as over. Russians take Starobelskiy, near the Donets River in the eastern Ukraine, more than 250 miles to the West of Stalingrad.
1944: Chinese forces make further advances in the Hukawng Valley. Hitler orders that German troops in Italy hold the ‘Gustav Line’ at all costs. The French attack to the North of Cassino. Allied patrols from Anzio beachhead are halted but the Germans.
1945: The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm carrier planes destroy the Japanese oil refinery near Palembang, on Sumatra. U.S. troops capture Clark Field, the main Japanese airbase on Luzon.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
Last edited:
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
Battle for Iwo Jima Begins
February 19
1945: In East Prussia, German forces reestablish communications between Königsberg and the port of Pillau, thus again enabling tens of thousands of German refugees to be evacuated to the West by ships of the Kriegsmarine. Operation Sonnenwende is stopped in the face of fierce Soviet resistance. The operation was a complete military failure, but did achieve the political goal of delaying Soviet operations to take Berlin by several months.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/february.html
1915:Allied warships shell Dardanelles - This was the first allied attempt to force a passage through the Dardanelles and attack the heart of the Ottoman Empire. Its failure ultimately led to the ill-fated Gallipolli campaign.1942:First Japanese air raid on Darwin - The city was bombed 64 times between February 1942 and November 1943.1943
efence Bill approved - Parliament approves Defence (Citizen Military Forces) Bill introducing conscription for service in the south west Pacific war zone.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1941: The Afrika Korps, the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in North Africa, was formed.
1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.
1943: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
1945: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19_February
1940: Destroyer HMS Daring torpedoed, 157 are killed. Finnish forces defeat and disperse the Soviet 18th Division northeast of Lake Ladoga.
1942: The battle of Lumbok Strait results in a Japanese victory, as an Allied naval squadron attempts to prevent the Japanese landing on Bali. The Allies lose 1 Dutch destroyer sunk and 2 Dutch cruisers and a US destroyer damaged. Under increasing threat of being outflanked by the advancing Japanese, the 17th Indian Division is finally given permission to withdraw across the river Sittang.
1944: The RAF saturates Leipzig, dropping 2,300 tons of bombs, but lose 78 of 823 bombers. Danish saboteurs attack the rail lines round Aarhus.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
February 19
1945: In East Prussia, German forces reestablish communications between Königsberg and the port of Pillau, thus again enabling tens of thousands of German refugees to be evacuated to the West by ships of the Kriegsmarine. Operation Sonnenwende is stopped in the face of fierce Soviet resistance. The operation was a complete military failure, but did achieve the political goal of delaying Soviet operations to take Berlin by several months.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/february.html
1915:Allied warships shell Dardanelles - This was the first allied attempt to force a passage through the Dardanelles and attack the heart of the Ottoman Empire. Its failure ultimately led to the ill-fated Gallipolli campaign.1942:First Japanese air raid on Darwin - The city was bombed 64 times between February 1942 and November 1943.1943
efence Bill approved - Parliament approves Defence (Citizen Military Forces) Bill introducing conscription for service in the south west Pacific war zone.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1941: The Afrika Korps, the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in North Africa, was formed.
1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.
1943: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
1945: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19_February
1940: Destroyer HMS Daring torpedoed, 157 are killed. Finnish forces defeat and disperse the Soviet 18th Division northeast of Lake Ladoga.
1942: The battle of Lumbok Strait results in a Japanese victory, as an Allied naval squadron attempts to prevent the Japanese landing on Bali. The Allies lose 1 Dutch destroyer sunk and 2 Dutch cruisers and a US destroyer damaged. Under increasing threat of being outflanked by the advancing Japanese, the 17th Indian Division is finally given permission to withdraw across the river Sittang.
1944: The RAF saturates Leipzig, dropping 2,300 tons of bombs, but lose 78 of 823 bombers. Danish saboteurs attack the rail lines round Aarhus.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
February 24
1945: In the East, the Red Army breaks through the German defenses of the Pommerstellung in Pommerania. Off the northern coast of Norway, German U-boats sink 8 ships and 2 destroyers of a convoy bound for the Soviet port of Murmansk. Egypt declares war on Germany.
1739 - Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
1826 - The signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo marks the end of the First Burmese War.
1917 - World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States.
1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
1971 -Smith, MM & Bar - Captain J.J. Smith, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, wins a Bar to his Military Cross
1942: Reconnaissance elements of the German 5th Light Division clash with British forces for the first time in Africa, at Nofilia near El Agheila.
1945: U.S. Marines capture a second airfield on Iwo Jima.German U-boats sink 8 ships and 2 destroyers from a convoy bound for the Russian port of Murmansk.A German counter attack wipes out the Russian Hron bridgehead over the Danube to the northwest of Budapest.
1915: Armentières France - Canadian Corps takes over 6.5 km section of trench line near Armentières.
1944 : "Merrill's Marauders" hit Burma - Maj. Gen. Frank Merrill's guerrilla force, nicknamed "Merrill's Marauders," begin a campaign in northern Burma. In August 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed to create an American ground unit whose sole purpose would be to engage in a "long-range penetration mission" in Japanese-occupied Burma. This mission would consist of cutting Japanese communications and supply lines and otherwise throwing the enemy's positions into chaos. It was hoped that this commando force could thus prepare the way for Gen. Joseph Stillwell's Chinese American Force to reopen the Burma Road, which was closed in April 1942 by the Japanese invaders, and once again allow supplies and war material into China through this route.
1917 : British troops recapture Kut in Mesopotamia - The Allied war against Turkish forces gains momentum (and ground) in Mesopotamia as British and Indian troops move along the Tigris River in early 1917, recapturing the city of Kut-al-Amara and taking 1,730 Turkish prisoners on February 24. Ten months after nearly 12,000 British and Indian troops had been captured there—considered by many the most humiliating surrender in the history of the British army—Kut fell into the hands of a British corps commanded by Sir Frederick Maude. After being appointed commander of the Tigris Corps in Mesopotamia in July 1916 and of the entire Mesopotamian front a month later, Maude had immediately begun to reorganize and re-supply the troops in the region in preparation for a renewed offensive against Kut.
1864 : Battle of Dalton, Georgia, begins - Union General George Thomas attacks Joseph Johnston's Confederates near Dalton, Georgia, as the Yankees probe Johnston's defenses in search of a weakness. Thomas found the position too strong and he ceased the offensive the next day, but the Yankees learned a lesson they would apply during the Atlanta campaign that summer.
1945: In the East, the Red Army breaks through the German defenses of the Pommerstellung in Pommerania. Off the northern coast of Norway, German U-boats sink 8 ships and 2 destroyers of a convoy bound for the Soviet port of Murmansk. Egypt declares war on Germany.
1739 - Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
1826 - The signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo marks the end of the First Burmese War.
1917 - World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States.
1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
1971 -Smith, MM & Bar - Captain J.J. Smith, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, wins a Bar to his Military Cross
1942: Reconnaissance elements of the German 5th Light Division clash with British forces for the first time in Africa, at Nofilia near El Agheila.
1945: U.S. Marines capture a second airfield on Iwo Jima.German U-boats sink 8 ships and 2 destroyers from a convoy bound for the Russian port of Murmansk.A German counter attack wipes out the Russian Hron bridgehead over the Danube to the northwest of Budapest.
1915: Armentières France - Canadian Corps takes over 6.5 km section of trench line near Armentières.
1944 : "Merrill's Marauders" hit Burma - Maj. Gen. Frank Merrill's guerrilla force, nicknamed "Merrill's Marauders," begin a campaign in northern Burma. In August 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed to create an American ground unit whose sole purpose would be to engage in a "long-range penetration mission" in Japanese-occupied Burma. This mission would consist of cutting Japanese communications and supply lines and otherwise throwing the enemy's positions into chaos. It was hoped that this commando force could thus prepare the way for Gen. Joseph Stillwell's Chinese American Force to reopen the Burma Road, which was closed in April 1942 by the Japanese invaders, and once again allow supplies and war material into China through this route.
1917 : British troops recapture Kut in Mesopotamia - The Allied war against Turkish forces gains momentum (and ground) in Mesopotamia as British and Indian troops move along the Tigris River in early 1917, recapturing the city of Kut-al-Amara and taking 1,730 Turkish prisoners on February 24. Ten months after nearly 12,000 British and Indian troops had been captured there—considered by many the most humiliating surrender in the history of the British army—Kut fell into the hands of a British corps commanded by Sir Frederick Maude. After being appointed commander of the Tigris Corps in Mesopotamia in July 1916 and of the entire Mesopotamian front a month later, Maude had immediately begun to reorganize and re-supply the troops in the region in preparation for a renewed offensive against Kut.
1864 : Battle of Dalton, Georgia, begins - Union General George Thomas attacks Joseph Johnston's Confederates near Dalton, Georgia, as the Yankees probe Johnston's defenses in search of a weakness. Thomas found the position too strong and he ceased the offensive the next day, but the Yankees learned a lesson they would apply during the Atlanta campaign that summer.
Last edited:
February 25
1861 - Saratoga, a member of the U.S. African Squadron, captures the slaver sloop Express.
1933 - USS Ranger (CV 4), the first true aircraft carrier, is commissioned.
1959 - USS Galveston (CLG 3) fires the first Talos surface-to-air missile.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display_history.asp?story_id=365
1861 - Saratoga, a member of the U.S. African Squadron, captures the slaver sloop Express.
1933 - USS Ranger (CV 4), the first true aircraft carrier, is commissioned.
1959 - USS Galveston (CLG 3) fires the first Talos surface-to-air missile.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display_history.asp?story_id=365
tomtom22
Chief Engineer
March 3rd
1942: RAF Bomber Command, under its new C-i-C, Air Vice Marshal Harris (Bomber Harris), attacks the Renault plant in the Paris suburb of Bilancourt, causing serious damage to production facilities and killing many French workers.
1945: Units of the Canadian First Army (Crerar) capture Xanten on the lower Rhine in the battle of the Reichswald. The US First Army (Hodges) captures Krefeld.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/march.html
1885: Sudan contingent departed Sydney - New South Wales' offer to send a contingent to the Sudan was a demonstration of the depth of imperial sentiment in colonial Australia.
1942: Broome and Wyndham bombed - The Japanese air raid on Broome came when the port was crowded with refugees fleeing the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies. About 70 people, including many civilians are thought to have been killed in the raid. Japanese Attacks on Wyndham focused on the town's aerodrome.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1857 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
1918 - Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
1943 - World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Greentube station.
1945 - World War II: Previously neutral Finland declares war on the Axis powers.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_3
1886: Bucharest Romania - Bulgaria and Serbia sign Treaty of Bucharest, ending conflict between the two states.
1878: San Stefano Italy - Russians and Turks sign Treaty of San Stefano, ending Russo-Turkish War; Serbia gains independence.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Mar&day=03
1971: The U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) departs South Vietnam. The Special Forces were formed to organize and train guerrilla bands behind enemy lines. The 5th Group was sent to Vietnam in October 1964 to assume control of all Special Forces operations in Vietnam. Prior to this time, Green Berets had been assigned to Vietnam only on temporary duty. The primary function of the Green Berets in Vietnam was to organize the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) among South Vietnam's Montagnard population.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih
1940: The Russians launch a massive offensive and bring Viipuri under direct attack. This brings home to the Finns the fact that they cannot resist for must longer against the overwhelming force that the Russians are now deploying.
1942: General Chiang Kai-shek meets General Wavell in Burma. Vichy announces that 'official' German figures put the number of French arrested in 1941 at 5,390 and executions at more than 250.
1943: Russians take Rzhev, over 100 miles to the west of Moscow. Italy protests to Britain over proposed ban on Italian imports of German coal.
1944: Japanese counter-attacks on Los Negros fail. The allies announce that Russia is to get a third of Italian fleet, or equivalent in British and American warships. Under pressure from the Western Allies to withdraw all remaining Spanish troops from the Eastern front, the Franco government orders members of the so-called “Blue Legion,” attached to the German 121st Infantry Division, to return home and outlaws service by Spanish citizens with the Axis forces. Nevertheless, a handful of fanatically anti-Communist Spaniards defy orders and volunteer for service with the Waffen SS, some of them fighting suicidally to the end in the ruins of Berlin. German attacks cease at Anzio after loss of 3,500 men and 30 Panzer's in four days.
1945: Japanese resistance ends in Meiktila. 100 Luftwaffe night-fighters attack 27 RAF airfields, in what is the last night intrusion raid of the war. 22 RAF aircraft were destroyed for 6 German.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/
1776 - First amphibious landing operation. Continental naval squadron under Commodore Esek Hopkins lands Sailors and Marines, commanded by Captain Samuel Nicholas, on New Providence Island in the Bahamas, capturing urgently-needed ordnance and gunpowder.
1871 - U.S. Navy Medical Corps established
1883 - Congress authorizes 4 modern ships of steel, "A,B,C, D Ships"; three cruisers, Atlanta, Boston and Chicago, and dispatch boat Dolphin
1915 - Congress creates Federal Naval Reserve. Under it Naval Reserve Force built up.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmar.htm
1942: RAF Bomber Command, under its new C-i-C, Air Vice Marshal Harris (Bomber Harris), attacks the Renault plant in the Paris suburb of Bilancourt, causing serious damage to production facilities and killing many French workers.
1945: Units of the Canadian First Army (Crerar) capture Xanten on the lower Rhine in the battle of the Reichswald. The US First Army (Hodges) captures Krefeld.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/march.html
1885: Sudan contingent departed Sydney - New South Wales' offer to send a contingent to the Sudan was a demonstration of the depth of imperial sentiment in colonial Australia.
1942: Broome and Wyndham bombed - The Japanese air raid on Broome came when the port was crowded with refugees fleeing the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies. About 70 people, including many civilians are thought to have been killed in the raid. Japanese Attacks on Wyndham focused on the town's aerodrome.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1857 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
1918 - Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
1943 - World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Greentube station.
1945 - World War II: Previously neutral Finland declares war on the Axis powers.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_3
1886: Bucharest Romania - Bulgaria and Serbia sign Treaty of Bucharest, ending conflict between the two states.
1878: San Stefano Italy - Russians and Turks sign Treaty of San Stefano, ending Russo-Turkish War; Serbia gains independence.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Mar&day=03
1971: The U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) departs South Vietnam. The Special Forces were formed to organize and train guerrilla bands behind enemy lines. The 5th Group was sent to Vietnam in October 1964 to assume control of all Special Forces operations in Vietnam. Prior to this time, Green Berets had been assigned to Vietnam only on temporary duty. The primary function of the Green Berets in Vietnam was to organize the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) among South Vietnam's Montagnard population.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih
1940: The Russians launch a massive offensive and bring Viipuri under direct attack. This brings home to the Finns the fact that they cannot resist for must longer against the overwhelming force that the Russians are now deploying.
1942: General Chiang Kai-shek meets General Wavell in Burma. Vichy announces that 'official' German figures put the number of French arrested in 1941 at 5,390 and executions at more than 250.
1943: Russians take Rzhev, over 100 miles to the west of Moscow. Italy protests to Britain over proposed ban on Italian imports of German coal.
1944: Japanese counter-attacks on Los Negros fail. The allies announce that Russia is to get a third of Italian fleet, or equivalent in British and American warships. Under pressure from the Western Allies to withdraw all remaining Spanish troops from the Eastern front, the Franco government orders members of the so-called “Blue Legion,” attached to the German 121st Infantry Division, to return home and outlaws service by Spanish citizens with the Axis forces. Nevertheless, a handful of fanatically anti-Communist Spaniards defy orders and volunteer for service with the Waffen SS, some of them fighting suicidally to the end in the ruins of Berlin. German attacks cease at Anzio after loss of 3,500 men and 30 Panzer's in four days.
1945: Japanese resistance ends in Meiktila. 100 Luftwaffe night-fighters attack 27 RAF airfields, in what is the last night intrusion raid of the war. 22 RAF aircraft were destroyed for 6 German.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/
1776 - First amphibious landing operation. Continental naval squadron under Commodore Esek Hopkins lands Sailors and Marines, commanded by Captain Samuel Nicholas, on New Providence Island in the Bahamas, capturing urgently-needed ordnance and gunpowder.
1871 - U.S. Navy Medical Corps established
1883 - Congress authorizes 4 modern ships of steel, "A,B,C, D Ships"; three cruisers, Atlanta, Boston and Chicago, and dispatch boat Dolphin
1915 - Congress creates Federal Naval Reserve. Under it Naval Reserve Force built up.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmar.htm