July 16th
1940: Hitler issues Directive No. 16 ordering preparations to begin for Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sealion), the seaborne invasion of England, to be completed by mid-August.
1941: In the East, Finnish troops break through Soviet positions N of Lake Ladoga. On the central front, German forces of Heeesgruppe Mitte begin the destruction of several Soviet divisions encircled in the Uman pocket. Stalin's son, Lt. Jacob Dugashvili, is taken prisoner near Vitebsk. In Libya, Axis bombers carry out raids on Tobruk.
1942: In Egypt, the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) attacks the Afrikakorps' positions at El Alamein, gaining some ground near the railway station.
1943: In Sicily, troops of the US Seventh Army (Patton) continue their advance toward Palermo, while the British VIII Corps (Dempsey) approaches Catania.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts converge to capture Grodno SW of Vilna. In Italy, Allied forces are making only slow progress against German positions of the Gothic Line S of the Arno river.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1940: HMA Ships Stuart and Waterhen at BardiaHMA Ships Stuart and Waterhen were on screen at the bombardment of Bardia.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1957: United States Marine Major John Glenn flies a F8U Crusader supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds setting a new transcontinental speed record.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16

1779: American troops under General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, N.Y.
1944: Soviet troops occupy Vilna, Lithuania, in their drive towards Germany.

July 17th

1941: In the East, units of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) cross the Dnepr river near Mogilev, while in the South the Rumanian 4.Armee (Dumitrescu) captures Kishinev on the lower Dnestr. Axis bombers carrry out raids on port facilities on Malta.
1942: In the East, units of Heeresgruppe A (List) capture Voroshilovgrad in the Donets industrial region. The German 6.Armee (Paulus) and 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) continue their advance toward Kalach on the Don.
1943: In Sicily, units of the US Seventh Army capture Agrigento on the road to Palermo.
1944: Returning by car to his HQ at La Roche-Guyon from a tour of inspection to I.SS-Panzerkorps S of Caen, Field Marshal Rommel, C-in-C of Heeresgruppe B, is severely wounded in a low-level attack by an RAF fighter bomber. In Italy, the British Eighth Army advances toward Ancona and Florence. In the East, the Soviet First Guards Tank Army reaches the River Bug, the old border between Poland and the USSR. At Moscow, 57,000 German prisoners of war captured in Belorussia, including several generals, are paraded through the center of the city. In Norway, the British Navy launches an abortive carrier raid on the German battleship Tirpitz in Kaa Fjord.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1918:Lieutenant A.C. Borella, VCLieutenant A.C. Borella, 26th Battalion, originally from Borung, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Villers-Bretonneux, France. At 36 Borella was the oldest member of the first AIF to receive this award.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1918: The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German submatine U-55; only 5 lives are lost.
1944: Napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_17

1812: Michilimackinac Michigan - Charles Roberts captures Fort Michilimackinac with 600 British, Canadians and Indian allies from the British Fort St. Joseph.
1944: Halifax, Nova Scotia - Royal Canadian Navy escorts war's largest convoy of 167 ships into Atlantic; meets no U-Boat opposition; RCN now controls all Battle of the Atlantic escort forces.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jul&day=17

What Happened to this?

Originally Posted by FULLMETALJACKET

What Happened to this?

I went on vacation for a while.

July 18th

1940: The RAF carries out a daylight raid on invasion barges at Rotterdam, and a night raid on the Krupp armaments works at Essen in the Ruhr.
1942: In the East, the advance by 6.Armme and 4. Panzerarmee toward the Don bend at Kalach continues. The RAF launches a night raid on Duisburg.
1943: In Sicily, the attacks by the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) before Catania are stalled in the face of stiff German resistance.
1944: In the West, units of thr US First Army (Bradley) enter St. Lo. In the Caen area, the British Second Army (Dempsey) begins Operation Goodwood with the objective of dislodging and destroying the German forces fiercely opposing its further advance, notably the I. (Dietrich) and II.SS-Panzerkorps (Bittrich), and then to break out and join up with US forces to the south.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1863: Assault of Battery Wagner and death of Robert Gould Shaw
On this day, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and 272 of his troops are killed in an assault on Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina. Shaw was commander of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, perhaps the most famous regiment of African-American troops during the war.
1918: Allies begin major counter-offensive in Second Battle of the Marne
Three days after a German offensive near the Marne River in the Champagne region of France meets with failure, Allied forces launch a major counterattack on July 18, 1918, ending the Second Battle of the Marne and decisively turning the tide of the war toward an Allied victory.
Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do

1936: the Spanish Civil War began as Gen. Francisco Franco led an uprising of army troops based in North Africa.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/gene.../20080718.html

1861: Union and Confederate troops skirmish at Blackburn’s Ford, Virginia, in a prelude to the Battle of Bull Run.
1942: The German Me-262, the first jet-propelled aircraft to fly in combat, makes its first flight.
1971: New Zealand and Austrailia announce they will pull their troops out of Vietnam.
Source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_h...Day=18&tdih=GO

1944: Caen France - Bomber Command sends 100 RAF and RCAF planes to attack German defenses around Caen; much of the city destroyed and up to 3,000 French killed; Canadians and British gain a few miles in attacks beyond Caen in Operation Goodwood/Atlantic to secure Vaucelles and Colombelles, preparing the way to break through the triangle to Falaise; the 2nd Infantry under Maj. Gen. Charles Foulkes comes into line to join the 3rd and 2nd Armoured Brigade of Lt. Gen. Guy Simonds' 2nd Corps and they move forward to take the German stronghold on the Verrières Ridge.
Source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jul&day=18

1779 - Commodore Abraham Whipple's squadron captures 11 prizes in largest prize value of Revolutionary War.
1813 - U.S. Frigate President captures British Daphne, Eliza Swan, Alert and Lion.
1943 - German submarine shoots down K-47, the first and only U.S. airship lost during WW II.
1966 - Launch of Gemini 10 with LCDR John W. Young, USN as Command Pilot. Mission involved 43 orbits at an altitude of 412.2 nautical miles and lasted 2 days, 22 hours, and 46 minutes. Recovery was by HS-3 helicopter from USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7).
Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

July 19th

1941: In a major change of operational plans, Hitler issues Directive No. 33 ordering the German 4.Armee (von Kluge) and Panzergruppe 2 (Guderian) of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) to suspend their attacks toward Moscow and join 6.Armee (von Reichenau) and Panzergruppe 1 (von Kleist) of Heeresgruppe S=FCd (von Rundstedt) with the objective of destroying the Soviet Fifth, Sixth and Twelfth Armies W of the Dnepr-Dnestr line. The idea behind this directive is to begin exploiting the great agricultural and mineral riches of the Ukraine for the German war effort just as soon as the Soviet forces in that region are defeated. Both Kluge and Guderian object, but are curtly overruled by Hitler.
1942: In the East, the two-pronged German advance toward the Don bend and to Stalingrad beyond (6. Armee and 4.Panzerarmee) and toward Rostov (1.Panzerarmee) continues in the face of stiffening Soviet resistance.
1943: In Sicily, the US Seventh Army (Patton) makes further progress toward Palermo, while the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) is held up before Catania by stubborn German resistance. The US 15th Air Force (270 aircraft) attacks marshalling yards on the outskirts of Rome. 1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) encircles 5 German divisions W of Brody. In Italy, the US Fifth Army (Clark) captures Leghorn.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

711 – Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic.
1333 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Halidon Hill – The final battle of the war.
1544 – Italian War of 1542: The Siege of Boulogne began.
1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The Spanish Armada sighted in the English Channel.
1940 – World War II: Twelve men were promoted Generalfeldmarschall by Adolf Hitler, see List of German Field Marshals.
1940 – World War II: Battle of Cape Spada – The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.
1940 – World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.
1942 – World War II: Battle of the Atlantic – GermanGrand AdmiralKarl Dönitz orders the last U-boats to withdraw from their United StatesAtlantic coast positions in response to the effective American convoy system.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_19

1944: Normandy France - Canadians and British start Operation Goodwood/Atlantic, to secure Vaucelles and Colombelles, and prepare the break through to Falaise. General Dempsey, commander British 2nd Army, launches his Eighth Corps of three armoured divisions south of Caen; attacked by 1st SS Panzer Division and forced to halt; 7th Armoured Division fails to capture Verrières and Bourguebus Ridges; the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division under Maj. Gen. Charles Foulkes comes into line to join the 3rd and 2nd Armoured Brigades of the 2nd Canadian Corps under Lt. Gen. Guy Simonds, who fight on the Eighth's right with infantry; ordered to cross the Orne River into the southeastern suburbs of Caen, force the enemy out of his entrenched positions there, and then forge southward into open country. Their tanks are neutralized by German anti-tank fire and the infantry are decimated as they advance; they gain Colombelles and the Queen's Own captures Giberville. The rest of the 8th Brigade passes south, and by nightfall the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division has taken Cormelles and the eastern part of Vaucelles; the southern part of Caen is cleared; the Black Watch cross the Orne River, and advance to St-Andre-sur-Orne and the northern edge of Verrières Ridge.
1950: Korea - UN asks RCAF transport squadron to assist in United Nations airlift in Korea.
Source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=19


1916: Battle of Fromelles - 5,533 Australians were killed or wounded in this battle, most on the night of 19-20 July. Fromelles was the first battle for the Australians on the Western Front.
1940: HMAS Sydney sinks the Bartolomeo Colleoni - HMAS Sydney sinks the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the battle of Cape Spada off Crete.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

July 20th

1940: Reichsmarschall Goering, C-in-C of the Luftwaffe, orders the formation of a Nachtjagdgeschwader (night fighter wing), NJG 1, under Oberst (Colonel) Kammhuber, consisting of Me-110 fighter bombers.
1941: Stalin appoints himself People's Commissar for Defense. The RAF launches a raid on Naples.
1943: Cancellation of Operation Brimstone, the Allied invasion of Sardinia, in favor of alternate landings in the area S of Naples (Anzio).
1944: At 12:42 p.m. CET, a powerful bomb explodes in the wooden briefing hut at the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair), Hitler's secret HQ near Rastenburg in East Prussia, during Hitler's Lagebesprechung (daily noon-time conference on operations on all fronts) with his chiefs of staff and their aides of the OKW and OKH. Aside from minor injuries, Hitler is unharmed, but four people, Colonel Brandt, Generals Korten and Schmundt, as well as a stenographer are killed, several other severely wounded. The bomb was placed by Colonel Claus Count von Stauffenberg, chief of staff of the Ersatzheer (Reserve or Home Army) who had volunteered to take on the task of killing Hitler on behalf of a group of high Wehrmacht officers, among them Field Marshall von Witzleben and Generaloberst Beck, to overthrow the Nazi regime and end the war. He returns to Berlin, mistakenly informing his co-conspirators at the War Ministry that Hitler was dead and that Operation Valkyrie, the Army's longstanding emergency plan to secure the vital government offices in case of an internal revolt, should go forward so as to be used to establish the conspiracy's hold on the levers of power over the Reich. Due to the prompt actions by Dr. Goebbels, Reich Propaganda Minister, who speaks with Hitler on the telephone and then orders the Wachbataillon Berlin (Guards Battalion) under Major Remer to surround all government offices and arrest any suspicious person, the Putsch is foiled. Stauffenberg and two of his aides are captured and brought before a summary court convened by Generaloberst Fromm, C-in-C of the Home Army; they are convicted of high treason and shot by a firing squad the same evening. In the coming months, some 5,000 persons implicated in the conspiracy will be executed. In the Arctic Ocean, 7 German U-boats begin laying minefields off the Soviet Lend-Lease port of Archangelsk.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1943HMAS Hobart torpedoedHMAS Hobart torpedoed off San Cristobal, Solomon Islands. Seven officers and six ratings were killed in the attack. Though badly damaged the Hobart was able to reach Espirtu Santo the next day.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1780: Mad Anthony Wayne loses to Loyalists in New Jersey - General "Mad Anthony" Wayne leads two brigades of Pennsylvania militia, supported by four artillery pieces, in an attempt to destroy a fortified blockhouse located approximately four miles north of Hoboken, in Bull's Ferry, New Jersey.
1864: Battle of Peachtree Creek - General John Bell Hood's Confederate force attack William T. Sherman's troops outside of Atlanta, Georgia, but are repulsed with heavy losses.
1964: Viet Cong troops overrun town - Viet Cong forces overrun Cai Be, the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, killing 11 South Vietnamese militiamen, 10 women, and 30 children. This incident and numerous intelligence reports indicated that North Vietnamese regular troops were moving down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in great numbers to join the fighting in South Vietnam. This marked a major change in the tempo and scope of the war in South Vietnam and resulted in President Lyndon B. Johnson committing U.S. combat troops. North Vietnamese forces and U.S. troops clashed for the first time in November 1965, when units from the newly arrived 1st Cavalry Division engaged several North Vietnamese regiments in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands.
Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

1917:The World War I draft lottery began
1942The first detachment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/gene.../20080720.html

1881: Sioux chief Sitting Bull surrenders to the U.S. Army.
1950: The U.S. Army’s Task Force Smith is pushed back by superior North Korean forces.
Source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_h...Day=20&tdih=GO

July 21st

1940: In accordance with the results of the July 14 referendums blatantly rigged by the Soviet occupying power, the USSR annexes the three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
1941: In the East, the Luftwaffe launches its first bombing raid (127 aircraft) on Moscow, which is followed by another 73 raids until the end of the year. In the Mediterranean, a British 7-ship convoy from Gibraltar to Malta escorted by heavy units of the Royal Navy is attacked by Italian bombers and MTBs which sink one merchant ship and the destroyer Fearless.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front recaptures Ostrov S of Lake Peipus, while the 1st Belorussian Front advances toward Brest-Litovsk and Lublin. In Italy, the US Fifth Army prepares for a major attack on the Gothic Line.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1942: Japanese forces land at Buna and GonaBuna, Gona and Sanananda were to become the scenes of heavy fighting over the period November 1942 - January 1943 when the Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda Trail enabled the allies to plan the encirclement of these important Japanese positions. Gona was the first to fall to the Allies and Buna was the second after weeks of heavy fighting.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp


1798: Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Arab Mameluke warriors at the Battle of the Pyramids.
1861: In the first major battle of the Civil War, Confederate forces defeat the Union Army along Bull Run near Manassas Junction, Virginia. The battle becomes known as Manassas by the Confederates, while the Union calls it Bull Run.
1944: U.S. Army and Marine forces land on Guam in the Marianas.
1954: The French sign an armistice with the Viet Minh that ends the war but divides Vietnam into two countries.
Source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=21&tdih=GO


1944: Fleury Normandy - SS veterans of the 1st Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler attack the Essex Scottish Regiment and Les Fusiliers Mont Royal in heavy rain; Montreal's Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, helped by heavy artillery bombardment and support of two tank regiments, beats Germans back, but they keep Verrières Ridge; South Sasks and Essex Scottish suffer over 450 casualties in two days, and the 2nd Canadian Corps loses 1149 men over four days of fighting. Simonds blames Foulkes and tries to get him fired, but Crerar protects him. Pressure from US General Bradley, ready to launch Operation Cobra, had forced Montgomery to pressure the Canadians for action.
Source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=21

Interesting stuff!

today, 70 yrs ago at 0400 JULIET, Germany starte "firing back".

The start shot to a war that cost approx. 25 Million military and another 30 Million civilian lives overall.

70 yrs WWII, just thought I´d mention it.

Should we meet here again MAY 8, 2015, and should you remember having read this post, then you will have got the idea how long it lasted for the folks that fought it in Europe, Russia and Africa.

Rattler