tomtom22

February 23
1945: In the West, the US Ninth Army (Simpson) begins an offensive from its bridgeheads on the Roer river leading to the bloody battle of the Hürtgen Forest. In the East, the Red Army captures the isolated fortress city of Posen.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/february.html

1951: Korea - Canadian troops with 27th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade make first contact with enemy.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=23

1942: Main Australian force on Timor surrenders to the Japanese - Those Australians who remained waged a guerilla war against the Japanese on the island.
1956: 1 Squadron RAAF bomb Communist camps near Kuala Lumpur during the Malayan Emergency - 1 Squadron flew Canberra bombers during the Malayan Emergency.
1967: Major P.J. Badcoe, VC - Major P.J. Badcoe, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, originally of Adelaide, South Australia, leads an attack against Viet Cong troops - it was the first of three acts of bravery between February and April 1967 for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1795 - U.S. Navy Office of Purveyor of Supplies is established. This is the Navy Supply Corps Birthday.
1919 - Launching of Osmond Ingram (DD-255), first Navy ship named for an enlisted man
1944 - Carrier groups under Spruance attack Saipan, Tinian and Rota in the Marianas
1945 - Marines and a Navy corpsman raise flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesfeb.htm

1836 - The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
1847 - Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista - In Mexico, American troops under GeneralZachary Taylor defeat Mexican GeneralAntonio López de Santa Anna.
1918 - First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser's German troops near Narva and Pskov. Since 1923 this date become the Day of Red Army in honour of this victory.
1945 - World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.
1945 - World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań, the city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
1945 - World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379 British bombers.
1991 - Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabia border and enter Iraq, thus starting the ground-phase of the war.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_23

1917: German troops begin a well-planned withdrawal—ordered several weeks previously by Kaiser Wilhelm—to strong positions on the Hindenburg Line, solidifying their defense and digging in for a continued struggle on the Western Front in World War I.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=227

1941: Stukas sink a British Destroyer and the Monitor Terror off the North African coast, near Tobruk.
1942: While the 17th Indian Division is withdrawing across the river Sittang, the Japanese launch an attack to capture the Bridge. Lieutenant General Smyth, orders the bridge to be blown, even though more than half his division has still to cross. The remnants of the 17th Indian Division, withdraw to Pegu, where they are joined by the 7th Armoured Brigade, which had recently arrived from the Middle East. For prematurely blowing up the bridge on the river Sittang, Lieutenant General Smyth is removed from command of the 17th Indian Division by General Wavell. Wavells ABDA HQ leaves Java for Australia, where upon its arrival it is disbanded. Against the wishes of Churchill, the Australian Prime Minister, Curtin orders all Australian Divisions to return home. The British submarine HMS Trident, torpedo's the cruiser Prinz Eugen which is sailing to Norway from Kiel, forcing its return to Germany for substantial repairs.
1944: Merrill’s ‘Marauders’ (US 5307th Composite Unit) begins Stilwell’s Sino-American advance into northern Burma. General Lucas is sacked from the Anzio command and is replaced by Major General Truscott. German counter-attacks drives the Anzio beachhead back further.
1945: US paratroops spring 2,146 detainees from a Japanese camp South of Manila in surprise attack, during which 243 Japanese are killed for loss of just two U.S. killed and two injured. The US Ninth Army begins an offensive from its bridgeheads on the Roer river leading to the bloody battle of the Hürtgen Forest.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

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"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - Norman Schwarskopf, Commander of Desert Storm Operations