This day in military history..

May 28th

1940: In the West, the Belgian Army surrenders, King Leopold being taken prisoner. In Norway, French mountain troops capture the port of Narvik, forcing the German defenders into the surrounding hills.
1941: On Crete, British and Commonwealth fores begin evacuating the island which by now is practically in German hands.
1943: In Italy, the US 15th Air Force attacks oil refineries at Livorno.
1944: The US 8th Air Force attacks synthetic fuel-producing plants at Leuna-Meseburg.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1940: French mountain troops capture the port of Narvik, forcing the German defenders (Gebirgsjäger units and crews of sunk destroyers) into the surrounding hills and towards the safety of the Swedish border and internment.
1941: British and Commonwealth forces begin evacuating Crete through the port of Sphakia on the southern coast of Crete.
1942: The Russian pocket Southeast of Kharkov continues to be broken in. 200 Poles are taken from Warsaw to the village of Magdalenka and shot. Among them are three women brought on stretchers from Pawiak prison hospital. Heavy fighting continues at the southern end of the Gazala line, although by now Rommel's forces are beginning to run out of fuel and his tanks are becoming scattered.
1943: The U.S. 15th Air Force attacks Italian oil refineries at Livorno.
1944: The US 8th Air Force attacks synthetic fuel-producing plants at Leuna-Meseburg.
1945: The British Twelfth Army HQ is set up in Rangoon.
source: [URL]http://www.worldwar-2.net/[/URL]

1902: Boers surrender, ending the Boer War. Over 16,000 Australians served in South Africa, 251 were killed in action and 267 died from disease and 43 were reported missing.
1968: This second assault on Fire Support Base Balmoral, Vietnam, was more easily defeated than the first with the North Vietnamese driven off after 30 minutes.
1968: Award of United States Presidential Unit Citation to D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, for the Battle of Long Tan.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1813: General John Vincent ends his retreat to Burlington Heights after losing Fort George; Americans now control Niagara Peninsula.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=28

1813 - Frigate Essex and prize capture five British whalers
1917 - First underway fueling in U.S. Navy, USS Maumee fuels 6 destroyers in North Atlantic. LCDR Chester W. Nimitz served as Maumee's executive officer and chief engineer.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1754: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
1863: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts, to fight for the Union.
1905: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the RussianBaltic Fleet by AdmiralTogo Heihachiro and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
1982: British forces defeat the Argentines at the Battle of Goose Green.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_28

1918 : U.S. troops score victory at Cantigny - In the first sustained American offensive of World War I, an Allied force including a full brigade of nearly 4,000 United States soldiers captures the village of Cantigny, on the Somme River in France, from their German enemy. A day after their French allies suffered a blistering defeat on the Aisne River, a two-hour artillery barrage preceded the attack on Cantigny, located further north on the Western Front. The French army provided air cover, artillery, heavy tanks and—in an especially effective tactic—teams of flamethrowers to aid the U.S. advance through the German-held village, which was quickly overrun. The Americans took 100 German prisoners by the end of that day. The commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), General John J. Pershing, gave the order that no inch of Cantigny was to be surrendered. Over the next 72 hours, the Americans in Cantigny endured seven German counterattacks, maintaining control of the village despite high casualties, with 200 soldiers killed and another 200 incapacitated by German gas attacks. By the time relief finally came, total U.S. casualties at Cantigny had reached over 1,000, and the soldiers were exhausted from the strain of continual shelling. As the first major U.S. victory, the capture of Cantigny had a threefold impact on the war effort in the spring of 1918: first, it deprived the Germans of an important observation point for their troops on the Western Front. It also lent weight to Pershing’s argument that an independent U.S. command should be maintained apart from the joint Allied command. Finally, it provided a warning to the Germans that the Americans, although recently arrived and relatively new to the battlefield, were not a force to be taken lightly.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1859: The French army launches a flanking attack on the Austrian army in Northern France.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0528.htm

1291: Crusader rule in the Holy Land came to an end as the Mamluks took the city of Acre, the last stronghold of the kingdom of Jerusalem.
source: http://www.britannica.com/eb/dailycontent?month=5&day=28&go_button.x=9&go_button.y=13


:salute:
 
May 29th

1940: In the West, the German 6.Armee occupies Lille, Ypres and Ostend. Off the beaches at Dunkirk, the British Navy loses 5 destroyers and 15 other vessels to Luftwaffe Stuka attacks.
1941: While evacuating British troops from Crete, the British destroyers Imperial and Hereward are sunk by the Luftwaffe.
1943: The RAF launches a major raid (719 bombers) against Wuppertal, dropping 1,900 tons of bombs and killing 2,450 civilians.
1944: In the Atlantic, the US escort carrier Block Island is sunk by U-549. Using its maximum range, the US 8th Air Force attacks aircraft production plants at Marienburg and Posen in eastern Germany.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1167 - Battle of Monte Porzio - A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III is defeated by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel
1176 - Battle of Legnano, in which the Lombard League defeats Emperor Frederick I.
1453 - Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: Ottoman armies under SultanMehmed IIFatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.
1592 - At the Battle of Sacheon, the Korean navy led by Admiral Yi Sun Shin, repels a Japanese army that outnumbers it nearly 3 to 1.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_29

1812: James Yeo raids Isaac Chauncey's naval base at Sackett's Harbour with Roger Sheaffe; forced to withdraw by Brigadier Jacob Brown; new Commodore of Provincial Marine based in Kingston.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=29

1780: the surrender of Charleston on May 12, the 3rd Virginia, was virtually the only organized Patriot formation remaining in South Carolina; British Colonel Banastre Tarleton had been given the mission to destroy any colonial resistance in the state. At Waxhaws on the North Carolina border, a cavalry charge by Tarleton’s men broke the 350 remaining Patriots under Buford. Tarleton and his Tories proceeded to shoot at the Patriots after their surrender, a move that spawned the term “Tarleton’s Quarter,” which in the eyes of the Patriots meant a brutal death at the hands of a cowardly foe. The Continentals lost 113 killed and 203 captured in the Battle of Waxhaws; British losses totaled 19 men and 31 horses killed or wounded. Although they were routed, the loss became a propaganda victory for the Continentals: wavering Carolina civilians terrified of Tarleton and their Loyalist neighbors were now prepared to rally to the Patriot cause.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

1915:Quinn's PostTurkish attack on Quinn's Post, Gallipoli.
1941: HMAS Perth damagedHMAS Perth was damaged during the evacuation of Allied troops from Crete. Over 16,000 troops were successfully evacuated from the island over four successive nights.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.asp

1781 - Frigate Alliance captures HMS Atalanta and Trepassy off Nova Scotia
1991 - Amphibious Task Force in Bangladesh for cyclone relief redeployed
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1916: U.S. forces invade the Dominican Republic.
1942: The German Army completes its encirclement of the Kharkov region of the Soviet Union.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

1905: The Russian navy was defeated in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War.
source: http://www.britannica.com/eb/dailycontent?month=5&day=29&go_button.x=10&go_button.y=8

:m16:
 
Last edited:
May 30th

1941: Collapse of the anti-British revolt in Iraq.
1942: The RAF launches its first "Thousand Bomber Raid" against Cologne: 1,046 heavy bombers drop 1,455 tons of bombs, destroying 600 acres of built-up area, killing 486 civilians and making 59,000 people homeless.
1944: German forces of Heeresgruppe Südukraine begin a counter-attack near Jassy on the lower Dnestr river.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were defeated and almost annihilated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars.
1913 - First Balkan War: A peace treaty is signed in London ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.
1941 - World War II: Germany captures Crete.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_30

1862: Confederates evacuate Corinth, Mississippi - After the epic struggle at Shiloh in April 1862, the Confederate army, under the command of P.T. Beauregard, concentrated at Corinth, while the Union army, under Henry Halleck, began a slow advance from the Shiloh battlefield toward the rail center at Corinth. Halleck had no intention of taking on Beauregard's army directly; he was more concerned with controlling the railroad junction.
1966: U.S. aircraft carry out new raids -In the largest raids since air attacks on North Vietnam began in February 1965, U.S. planes destroy five bridges, 17 railroad cars, and 20 buildings in the Thanh Hoa and Vinh areas (100 and 200 miles south of Hanoi, respectively). Others planes hit Highway 12 in four places north of the Mugia Pass and inflicted heavy damage on the Yen Bay arsenal and munitions storage area, which was located 75 miles northeast of Hanoi.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?

1940: Mussolini tells Hitler he intends to enter the war. 53,823 British and French troops are evacuated from Dunkirk, bringing total landed in England since May 27th to 126,606.
1942: Admiral Nimitz orders for Task Force 17 (Admiral Fletcher) consisting of the carrier Yorktown, 2 cruisers and 6 destroyers, which had been refitting at Pearl Harbor after operations in the Coral Sea, to set sail for Midway and meet Admiral Spruance there. The Afrika Korps take up defensive positions in the 'Cauldron' in readiness for their attempt to punch through the Gazala line.
1944: The Eighth Army captures Arce, 15 miles Northwest of Cassino, en route to Rome.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1859: The Piedmontese army crosses the Sesia River and defeats the Austrians at Palestro.
1912: U.S. Marines are sent to Nicaragua to protect American interests.
1942: The Royal Air Force launches the first 1,000 plane raid over Germany.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

1814 - Navy gunboats capture three British boats on Lake Ontario near Sandy Creek, NY
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1942: RAAF participates in first 1,000-bomber raid First 1,000-bomber raid launched by the RAF. The target was Cologne, Germany. To make up the numbers crews were taken from operational training units to participate in the raid.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.asp

:army:
 
Last edited:
May 31st

1940: The evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk continues under heavy Luftwaffe attacks that sink two French destroyers; 68,000 men have been rescued thus far.
1942: Sine the start of Operation Paukenschlag (Drum Beat) in January, German U-boats operating along the US eastern seaboard have sunk 111 vessels. The RAF launches another 1,000-bomber raid against Essen, but with minimal results. In Libya, the attack by the Afrikakorps against the British Gazala line is still stalled at Bir Hacheim.
1943: By the end of the month, 41 U-boats have been sunk in the Atlantic due to greatly improved Allied anti-submarine techniques and tactics (Hedgehog, greater-range patrol aircraft, better radar, more escort vessels and carriers, plus the advantage of having broken the German Navy Enigma code). "Black May" effectively marks the end of a sustained German U-boat campaign in WWII which did come very close to starving out Britain and forcing her to make terms with Germany. In Italy, the US 15th Air Force bombs Axis airfields at Foggia, destroying many aircraft on the ground.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1918: Monash Commands the Australian Corps - Lieutenant General Monash succeeds Birdwood as General Officer Commanding the Australian Corps.
1942: Japanese midget submarines raid Sydney Harbour - Of the three Japanese submarines that attacked Sydney Harbour, two were destroyed or disabled during the raid; the third disappeared and was located off Sydney's northern beaches by a group of amateur divers in November 2006. Little material damage was caused by the attack, but 21 sailors were killed when the depot ship HMAS Kuttabul was torpedoed.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.asp

1223http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1223 - Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River - Mongol armies of Genghis Khan lead by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans.
1862: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) - Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G. W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
1864: Battle of Cold Harbor - The Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee engages the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S. Grant & George G. Meade.
1902http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902 - Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
1916 - World War I: Battle of Jutland - The British Grand Fleet under the command of Sir John Jellicoe & Sir David Beatty engage the Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Reinhard Scheer & Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_31

1900 - Sailors and Marines from USS Newark and USS Oregon arrive at Peking, China with other Sailors and Marines from Britain, France, Russia, Italy and Japan to protect U.S. and foreign diplomatic legations from the Boxers
1919 - NC-4's transatlantic mission ends at Plymouth, England
1944 - USS England sank a record 6th Japanese submarine in 13 days.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1915: A German zeppelin makes an air raid on London.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

1941: The last of the Allies evacuate after 11 days of battling a successful German parachute invasion of the island of Crete. Crete is now Axis-occupied territory. On the morning of May 20, some 3,000 members of Germany's Division landed on Crete, which was patrolled and protected by more than 28,000 Allied troops and an almost equal number of Greek soldiers. The German invasion, although anticipated, was not taken seriously; the real fear was of an attack from the sea. Those initial 3,000 parachutists were reinforced-to the tune of an additional 19,000 men, arriving by parachute drop, glider, and troop carrier. The Allies remained optimistic; many of the German soldiers who dropped from the sky died or were injured on impact. The rest were undersupplied and inexperienced. But by the May 26, British General Bernard Freyberg, commander of the defense of Crete, already reported that their position was hopeless. Evacuation of Allied troops began on the 28th. By the night of the 31st, the last of the Allies that would make it out had left the seaport of Sphakia; 5,000 men would be left behind in the hands of the Germans. The total loss of Allied land soldiers in the Cretan engagements was 1,742; a further 2,265 sailors were lost at sea. Three cruisers and six destroyers had been sunk. The Germans suffered a loss of about 4,000 men.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=6470

:rambo:
 
June 1st

1940: In the West, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk continues, with another 64,400 men taken off the beaches. The British destroyers Keith, Basilisk and Havant and the transport Scotia are sunk by Luftwaffe dive bombers.
1941: The last British troops (15,000) are evacuated from the island of Crete which is now completely in German hands. The Luftwaffe carries out a night raid (110 bombers) on Manchester. In the Mediterranean, Stukas sink the British cruiser Calcutta off Alexandria.
1942: The RAF launches another 1,000-bomber night raid against Essen in the Ruhr, but with minimal effect. In the East, the siege of the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol by 11.Armee (von Manstein) continues with a round-the-clock bombardment by heavy artillery and Luftwaffe bombers. Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan.
1943: BdU (C-in-C U-boats) adopts a new policy of fighting back at Allied sub-hunting aircraft with the U-boats' own AA guns while crossing the Bay of Biscay on the surface; this tactic proves to be largely unsuccesful and is soon abandoned. In the East, the Red Air Force attacks German rear communications and airfields at Smolensk, Orel and Bryansk.
1944: In the West, Allied air forces continue to carry out heavy attacks against strategic bridges and rail lines in France. In Italy, the British Eighth Army (Alexander) captures Frosinone SE of Rome.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1215http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1215 - Beijing, then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Beijing.
1918: Battle for Belleau Wood - Allied Forces under John J. Pershing & James Harbord engage Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_1

1813 - HMS Shannon captures USS Chesapeake, Capt. James Lawrence. As the mortally wounded Captain Lawrence was carried below, he ordered "Tell the men to fire faster! Don't give up the ship!" These words would live on in naval history. Oliver Hazard Perry honored his dead friend Lawrence when he had the motto sewn onto the private battle flag flown during the Battle of Lake Erie, 10 September 1813.
1871 - RADM Rodgers lands in Korea with a party of Sailors and Marines and captures 5 forts to secure protection for U.S. citizens after Americans were fired upon and murdered.
1914 - General Order 99 prohibits alcohol on board naval vessels, or at navy yards or stations
1915 - First contract for lighter-than-air craft for Navy
1939 - Director of the Naval Research Laboratory, Captain Hollis M. Cooley, proposes research in atomic energy for future use in nuclear powered submarine
1944 - ZP-14 Airships complete first crossing of Atlantic by non-rigid lighter-than-air aircraft
1954 - First test of steam catapult from USS Hancock
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1918: RAN aircraft first used in combat - First use of aircraft in combat by ships of the Royal Australian Navy in the Heligoland Bight. Aircraft were launched from HMAS Sydney and HMAS Melbourne to intercept two German aircraft.
1941: Evacuation from Crete completed - Over 16,000 troops were successfully evacuated from the island over four successive nights.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jun.asp

1864: The Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, begins as Confederate general Robert E. Lee tries to turn Union general Ulysses S. Grant’s flank.
1877: U.S. troops are authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

:salute:
 
The 6th June 1944...........D. Day. While reading these forums just spare a thought to ALL those brave men that gave their all in the name of Freedom
 
June 2nd

1940: At Dunkirk, 26,200 British and French troops are evacuated from the beaches. The Luftwaffe carries out raids on Lyon and targets in the Rhone valley.
1941: Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass on the German-Italian border to discuss the progress of the war.
1944: First shuttle raid (Operation Frantic) by 130 B-17s of the US 15th Air Force based at Tripoli that attack rail yards at Debrecen< Hungary, and then fly on to Soviet airfields at Poltava in the Ukraine. Beginning of secret negotiations between the Rumanian government of Marshal Antonescu and representatives of the Soviet Union at Stockholm, Sweden, while the Bulgarian government seeks terms of surrender from the Western Allies.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1941 - First aircraft escort vessel, USS Long Island (ACG-1), commissioned, then reclassified as an auxiliary aircraft carrier (AVC-1) on 20 August and finally reclassified as an escort carrier (CVE-1) in July 1943.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1967: 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, arrives in Vietnam - By 1967 Australia's commitment to the war in Vietnam was increasing as the task force expanded its control over areas of Phuc Tuy Province.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jun.asp

1917: Germany - William Avery 'Billy' Bishop seriously damages a German aerodrome and airfield and destroys three German planes far behind enemy lines, an action that wins him the Victoria Cross; most successful Canadian airman in the Royal Flying Corps, with 72 kills.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=02

1098http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1098 - First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city. The second siege would later start on June 7.
1984 - Operation Bluestar, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for the Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6 with causalities, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.
1995http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995 - United States Air ForceCaptainScott O'Grady's F-16 is shot down over Bosnia while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2

1818: British army defeats the Maratha alliance in Bombay, India.
1865: At Galveston, Texas, Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith surrenders the Trans-Mississippi Department to Union forces.
1942: The American aircraft carriers Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown move into their battle positions for the Battle of Midway.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=6&tihDay=2&tdih=GO

:army:
 
June 3rd

1940: In Norway, British and French forces (24,000 men) abandon Narvik, while the last Allied troops are evacuated from Dunkirk (in all, 218,226 British and 120,000 French).
1944: In Italy, German forces withdraw from Rome which has been declared an 'open city'.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1785 - Order to sell last ship remaining in Continental Navy, frigate Alliance. No other Navy were ships authorized until 1794.
1898 - Collier Merrimac sunk in channel leading to Santiago, Cuba in unsuccessful attempt to trap Spanish fleet. The crew was captured and later received the Medal of Honor.
1949 - Wesley A. Brown becomes the first African-American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy.
1966 - Launch of Gemini 9, piloted by LCDR Eugene A. Cernan, USN. The mission included 45 orbits over 3 days. Recovery was by USS Wasp (CVS-18).
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1942: Battle of Midway begins - The battle of Midway was the first decisive defeat inflicted on Japan by America in the Second World War. The battle shifted the balance of sea power in the Pacific towards the Allies and forced Japan to abandon plans for advances on New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa and delayed their offensive in New Guinea.
1944: Last major air combat by RAAF in the Second World War - South of Biak Isand 15 P-40Ns from 78 Squadron attacked 15 Japanese aircraft comprising 12 fighters and three dive bombers and succeeded in shooting down seven fighters and all of the dive bombers for the loss of one P-40 and pilot.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jun.asp

1940: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris. The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.
1969http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969 - Melbourne-Evans collision: Off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_3

1098: Christian Crusaders of the First Crusade seize Antioch, Turkey
1861: Union troops defeat Confederate forces at Philippi, in western Virginia
1864: Some 7,000 Union troops are killed within 30 minutes during the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia.
1942: Japanese carrier-based planes strafe Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands as a diversion of the attack on Midway Island.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0603.htm

:m16:
 
June 4th

1940: German troops enter Dunkirk, taking 40,000 French prisoners and huge quantities of abandoned British equipment: 84,000 vehicles, 2,500 guns and 650,000 tons of supplies and ammunition. French bombers carry out night raids on Munich and Frankfurt, with negligible results.
1941: Luftwaffe bombers carry out a night raid on the port of Alexandria in Egypt.
1942: Hitler flies to Finland to meet with the Finnish head of state, Marshal Mannerheim.
1943: In the East, Luftwaffe bombers attack the great tank-producing plants at Gorki.
1944: The US Fifth Army (Clark) enters Rome. U-505, patroling off Cape Blanco on the West African coast is forced to the surface by depth-charges from the US destroyer escort Chatelain, captured intact and towed to Bermuda by the escort carrier Guadalcanal.
SOURCE: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1934 - USS Ranger, first ship designed from the keel up as a carrier, is commissioned at Norfolk, VA
1942 - Battle of Midway (4-6 June) begins; during battle, the 4 Japanese carriers which attacked Pearl Harbor are sunk; this decisive U.S. victory is a turning point in the Pacific war
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1900: Six Mile Spruit - Victorians and West Australians heavily engaged at Six Mile Spruit.
1944: Allied troops enter Rome - The Italian campaign, aimed at exploiting the Allied victory in North Africa and distract German forces from France and the Eastern Front, became a lengthy war of attrition that was not brought to an end with the fall of Rome.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jun.asp

1742: Quebec Quebec - Le Canada launched; first French warship built in Canada sails for Rochefort, France.
1940: France - RAF's 242 'Canadian' Squadron posted to France. Dunkirk France - Dunkirk evacuation completed; Canadians recross Channel with only six men missing.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=04

1615: The fortress at Osaka, Japan, falls to Shogun Leyasu after a six-month siege.
1794: British troops capture Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
1859: The French army, under Napoleon III, takes Magenta from the Austrian army.
1918: French and American troops halt Germany’s offensive at Chateau-Thierry, France.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0604.htm

:rambo:
 
June 5th

1940: Beginning of Fall Rot (Operation Red), the second stage of the German invasion of France, also called the Battle of France (119 divisions, including 10 armored). Heeresgruppe B (von Küchler), with 50 divisions, opens the offensive on the Somme against the fortified positions of the Weygand Line. Hptm. Mölders, leader of III/JG 53 and Germany's top air ace (25 kills) is shot down near Compiegne and taken prisoner.
1942: The United States declares war on Rumania, Hungary and Bulgaria.
1943: U-513 (Kptlt.. Sohler) sinks 4 ships off the coast of Brazil. 1944: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France, is postponed for one day because of rough seas in the English Channel. The RAF carries out heavy night raids against German coastal batteries and fortifications in Normandy.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1813: Stoney Creek Ontario - John Harvey makes surprise attack with 700 British regulars of the 8th and 49th Regiments and some Canadian militia against 2,000 strong American force under Brigadiers William Winder and John Chandler at Stoney Creek; Americans withdraw toward Forty Mile Creek after midnight; War of 1812.
1944: Normandy France - D-DAY-1; Soldiers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, part of British 6th Airborne Division's 3rd brigade make advance overnight landing before D-Day; "C" company lands in the most easterly drop-zone near Varville, blows up a bridge across the Divette River, destroying a German strong-point and then moves back four miles to the village of le Mesnil.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=05

1941: Cyprus reinforced by Australian troops - After their heavy losses during the invasion of Crete German plans to launch a similar attack against Cyprus were abandoned.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jun.asp

1794 - First officers of the U.S. Navy under the Constitution are appointed. The first 6 captains appointed to superintend the construction of new ships were John Barry, Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Richard Dale, and Thomas Truxtun
1917 - First military unit sent to France, First Naval Aeronautical Detachment, reaches France on board USS Jupiter
1945 - Typhoon off Okinawa damages many U.S. Navy ships
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1967: War erupted in the Middle East as Israel raided Egyptian military targets. Syria, Jordan and Iraq entered the conflict.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080605.html


:rambo:
 
D-Day, the Longest day

June 6th

1940: In the West, 7. Panzerdivision (Rommel). advancing W of Amiens, penetratees 20 miles into French territory. U-46 (Kptlt. Sohler) sinks the British armed merchant cruiser Carinthia off the west coast of Ireland.
1941: Hittler issues a directive for the implementation of the Kommissarbefehl (Commissar Order) which calls for the summary execution of all Soviet political commissars attached to the Red Army; this order is tacitly disobeyed by most German army and corps commanders who deem it contrary to German military custom and tradition.
1944: D-DAY. - In the early morning hours, the Allied Expeditionary Force of American, British, Canadian, Polish, and Free French troops begins Operation Overlord, the long-awaited invasion of 'Fortress Europe', as the Germans call it. After an intensive naval and aerial bombardment, the first wave of 5 divisions (156,115 men) are landed at designated beaches in Normandy named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, preceded by some 12,000 paratroopers of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions behind the German lines on the Cotentin peninsula and the British 6th Airborne Division near Caen. These forces are supported by 1,213 warships, including 7 battleships and 23 cruisers, 1,600 auliary ships, and 4,126 landing craft, as well as several Allied air forces flying 14,674 sorties. Opposing them in their bunkers on the beaches are 5 lowgrade German infantry divisions with about 50,000 men and 100 tanks and assault guns. Despite some heavy casualties, especially at Omaha Beach, the German defenders, stunned and surprised by the massive onslaught, are progressively overwhelmed, and most of the Allied objectives are reached and secured by nightfall. There is little opposition from the Luftwaffe or Kriegsmarine.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1942: Battle of Midway ends - The battle of Midway was the first decisive defeat inflicted on Japan by America in the Second World War. The battle shifted the balance of sea power in the Pacific towards the Allies and forced Japan to abandon plans for advances on New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa and delayed their offensive in New Guinea.
1969: Battle of Binh Ba, South Vietnam - Binh Ba, located five kilometres north of the Australian base at Nui Dat was the site of a battle between a combined force of Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese Army troops after they occupied the village. They were driven off after more than a day's fighting. This was the last large-scale clash in Phouc Tuy.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1513: Battle of Novara. Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis de la Tremoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
1813: Battle of Stoney Creek - A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeat an American force three times its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
1862: Battle of Memphis - Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.
1918 - Battle of Belleau Wood begins .
1982 - 1982 Lebanon War begins: Forces under IsraeliDefense MinisterAriel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capitalBeirut.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June 6

1944: Normandy France - D-DAY: Operation Overlord's 60-mile front opens a new campaign in western Europe as about 14,000 Canadian soldiers join in the landing on Juno beach between Courseulles and St-Aubin-sur-Mer. RCN minesweepers help clear the lanes in, and RCAF bombers and fighters help soften up the German defenses. The main task of the Canadian Army is to push through the gap between Bayeux and Caen. The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion red berets were part of the advance landing during the night, capturing a bridge near Caen with the British. At about 7:40 am, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 2nd and 3rd Armoured, under Major-General R. F. L. Keller, start landing in rough seas. The 8th Brigade capture Bernières-sur-Mer [in the picture] by 9:30 am but mines and German anti-tank guns hold up the advance inland, creating a traffic jam in the village streets; they take Bény by evening. The 7th Brigade captures Courseulles, Ste-Croix and Banville, with heavy losses. The 9th Brigade make it through Bény to Villons-les-Buissons, less than four miles from Caen, and nearly at their goal - Carpiquet airport. Canadian casualties that day are less than expected - 715 wounded, 359 dead.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jun&day=06


1972: South Vietnamese forces drive out all but a few of the communist troops remaining in Kontum. Over 200 North Vietnamese had been killed in six battles in and around the city. The city had come under attack in April when the North Vietnamese had launched their Nguyen Hue Offensive, a massive invasion by North Vietnamese forces designed to strike the blow that would win them the war. The attacking force included 14 infantry divisions and 26 separate regiments, with more than 120,000 troops and approximately 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles. In addition to Kontum, the other main North Vietnamese objectives were Quang Tri in the north and An Loc farther to the south.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

:army:
 
June 7th
1942: In the East, 11. Armee (von Manstein) begins the final assault on the Soviet fortress of Sevastopol in the Crimea.
1944: In the West, US forces landed in Normandy link up with elements of the British 6th Airborne Division South of Caen.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1917: Captain R.C. Grieve, VC - Captain R.C. Grieve, 37th Battalion, originally from Melbourne, wins the Victoria Cross at Messines.
1951: 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment - 3RAR patrols sent across the Imjin River and they begin to win control of the north bank.
1968: Prime Minister visits Vietnam - Prime Minister Gorton begins two-day visit to Vietnam against a background of both a growing Australian military commitment to the war and steadily increasing, though not yet overwhelming, domestic opposition.
1917: Private J. Carroll, VC - Private J. Carroll, 33rd Battalion, originally from Brisbane, wins the Victoria Cross at St Yves (battle of Messines)..
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1917: Battle of Messines Ridge - The British 2nd Army, led by Herbert Plumer, scores a crushing victory over the Germans at Messines Ridge in northern France, marking the successful prelude to an Allied offensive designed to break the grinding stalemate on the Western Front in World War I.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?

1863 - Mexico City is captured by French troops.
1917 - World War I: Allied ammonal mines underneath German trenches in Mesen Ridge are detonated, killing 10,000 German troops.
1967 - The Israeli forces occupy Jerusalem during the Six-Day War.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June 6

1944: Normandy France - D-DAY + 1; the 3rd Canadian Division, 9th Canadian Brigade, North Novas with the Sherbrooke tanks for support, and some Cameron Highlander machine-gunners, push through Buron and Authie toward Capriquet airport, 3 miles west of Caen; lose naval gunfire support, pass out of range of Canadian artillery, and lose contact with a British brigade ordered elsewhere; Lt Col Petch decides to withdraw to higher ground, but C company attacked by the German 12th SS Panzer at Authie, just North of Caen-Bayeux road; 250 North Nova Scotia Highlanders and 60 Sherbrooke Fusilier tankmen are killed or captured; 23 Canadian POWs are executed that night by the Panzers.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jun&day=07

1940: The French bomb Berlin. King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government leave Tromsö for England. Allied troops fall back on Bresles front, 60 miles north of Paris.
1941: The first of five heavy night raids by the RAF begins on Brest as Prinz Eugen shelters there.
1942: The Japanese make landings on Attu and Kiska Islands in the Aleutian Islands. The US carrier Yorktown, having been damaged on the 4th June, is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine whilst enroute to Pearl Harbor for repairs. General Erich von Manstein hurls his troops in the grand assault on the besieged port of Sevastopol in a two-pronged assault. The Soviets resist fanatically in excellent fortifications. The Germans gain ground but take heavy casualties, and have to bring in reinforcements to take the city. However, the continuous German attacks wear down the defenders ammunition supplies, which must be brought in by sea through a tight German blockade maintained by the Luftwaffe, E-boats, and Italian midget submarines.
1944: The British 2nd Division is now only 55 miles from Imphal. Mokmer airfield on Biak is captured by U.S. troops. The Americans take Civitavecchia on the western coast of Italy. British troops liberate Bayeux, five miles inland from the Normandy coast. All beachheads are reported as established.
1945: The first allied cargo ship for three years enters Wewak harbour, in New Guinea. King Haakon VII returns to Norway, on the fifth anniversary of his leaving the country.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1981: Israeli military planes destroyed a nuclear power plant in Iraq, a facility the Israelis charged could have been used to make nuclear weapons.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080607.html

1819- LT John White on merchant ship Franklin, anchored off Vung Tau is first U.S. naval officer to visit Vietnam
1917 - U.S. subchasers arrive at Corfu for anti-submarine patrols
1942 - Battle of Midway ends with loss of USS Yorktown
1944 - Construction of artificial harbors and sheltered anchorages begins off Normandy coast
1991 - Joint Task Force Sea Angel ends relief operations in Bangladesh after Cyclone Marian
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1942: The Japanese invade Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
1968: In Operation Swift Saber, U.S. Marines sweep an area 10 miles northwest of Danang in South Vietnam.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0607.htm

:salute:
 
Last edited:
June 8th

1940: In Norway, the evacuation of British and French troops (24,000 men) from Narvik and Harstad is completed. The British aircraft carrier Glorious is sunk by the German heavy battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau SW of Narvik. King Haakon and the Norwegian government leave Tromsö for England.
1941: British and Free French forces invade Lebanon and Syria against stiff resistance by Vichy French troops.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1941: Australians attack Vichy French in Syria - 7th Division and Imperial forces attack Vichy French in Syria.
1942: Sydney and Newcastle shelled - In addition to launching the midget submarines that attacked Sydney Harbour and attacking shipping on Australia's east coast Japanese submarines shelled Sydney and Newcastle, but with little effect.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1940: Montreal Quebec - RCAF's No. 1 Fighter Squadron leaves for Britain.
1944: Caen France -Canadians move inland from Juno beach; Rommel orders Kurt Meyer's 12th SS Panzer Grenadiers to attack the Canadian 7th Brigade at Putot-en-Basin (8 kms west of Caen). They cross the railway and outflank the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, destroying the three forward companies; the rest withdraw, leaving their wounded behind; the Canadian Scottish, Canscots and 1st Hussars then use an artillery barrage from the 12th and 13th field regiments to retake Putot, but Meyer counter-attacks with 22 Panther tanks, the Regina Rifles fight a night-long battle, and hold. During these fights, the SS murder several Canadian POWs, including six Winnipeg Rifles, and a Red Cross stretcher-bearer, who are ordered into a wood and shot in the temple; 13 more Canadians are executed within 100 yards of the Command post; the bodies of 7 more are found near-by, all shot in the head with small arms; finally, 40 Winnipegs and Cameron Highlanders are marched into a field, ordered to sit together with the wounded at their centre, and machine gunned; 5 escape. Atlantic - Flight Officer K. O. Moore, piloting a Canadian Liberator bomber, destroys two German U-Boats in 22 minutes.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=08

1830 - Sloop-of-war Vincennes becomes first U.S. warship to circle the globe
1853 - Commodore Matthew Perry arrives at Uraga, Japan to begin negotiations for a treaty with Japan
1880 - Congress authorizes the Office of Judge Advocate General
1937 - Observation of total eclipse of the sun by U.S. Navy detachment commanded by CAPT J. F. Hellweg, USN, participating in the National Geographic Society - United States Navy Eclipse Expedition at Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands, Pacific Ocean. USS Avocet was assigned to this expediton.
1958 - Navy and Post Office deliver first official missile mail when USS Barbero (SS-317) fired Regulus II missile with 3000 letters 100 miles east of Jacksonville, FL to Mayport, FL.
1960 - Helicopters from USS Yorktown (CVS-10) rescue 54 crewmen of British SS Shunlee, grounded on Pratus Reef in South China Sea.
1962 - Medical team from Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD; Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, MD; and Naval Preventative Medicine Unit No. 2 Norfolk, VA sent to San Pedro Sula, Honduras to fight epidemic of infectious gastroenteritis.
1967 - USS Liberty (AGTR-5) attacked by Israeli forces in Mediterranean
1990 - CDR Rosemary Mariner becomes first Navy women to command fleet jet aircraft squadron.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1862: The Army of the Potomac defeats Confederate forces at Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia.
1904: U.S. Marines land in Tangiers, Morocco, to protect U.S. citizens.
1995: U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O’Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines in Bosnia.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0608.htm

:sniper:
 
June 9th

1940: In the West, German forces of Heeresgruppe A (von Küchler) advancing S from the Somme capture Rouen on the Seine.
1942: 6. Armee (Paulus) launches a counterattack against advancing Soviet forces in the Charkov area.
1944: The Red Army begins an offensive against Finnish positions in the Karelian Isthmus N of Leningrad. In Normandy, US forces advancing from Utah Beach capture St. Mere-Eglise.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1882 - Establishment of Office of Naval Records of the War of the Rebellion (became part of Naval Historical Center)
1942 - First Navy photograhic interpretation unit set up in the Atlanic.
1959 - Launching of USS George Washington (SSBN-598), first nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine, at Groton, CT
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1941: Litani River, Lebanon - Having seen the bridge over the River destroyed by Vichy French troops, two platoons of the 7th Division crossed the Litani River in canvas boats and captured several French positions on the far shore.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1775: Quebec Quebec - Guy Carleton, Baron Dorchester proclaims martial law and calls out militia to augment 800 British regular troops; suspends administration of the Quebec Act to meet the American invasion.
1942: Valetta Malta - George 'Buzz' Beurling reaches Malta; starts rise to top rank of Canadian fighter pilots; the Montrealer will shoot down 15 enemy aircraft while with the Royal Air Force.
1944: Norrey France -D-Day +3; Kurt Meyer withdraws his defeated 12th SS Panzer Grenadiers to Rots, then throws his last fresh Panther tank company in broad daylight against the Regina Rifles position at Norrey; but the 17-pounder Sherman Firefly tanks of the 1st Hussars drive him back. Later in the day, the Queens Own Rifles and 1st Hussars capture the village of Le Mesnil-Patry, seven miles forward of Norrey; attacked by 88s, they lose 19 of the Hussar Shermans in fifteen minutes; the Queen's Own Rifles have 87 casualties, the 1st Hussars 60. Later in the day, the SS executes 18 more Canadian POWs at Abbey d'Ardenne, Kurt Meyer's HQ, on his orders.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=09

1863: At the Battle of Brandy Station in Virginia, Union and Confederate cavalries clash in the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War.
1951: After several unsuccessful attacks on French colonial troops, North Vietnam’s General Vo Nguyen Giap orders Viet Minh to withdraw from the Red River Delta.
1972: American advisor John Paul Vann is killed in a helicopter accident in Vietnam. (Editorial Note: One of the very few men who truly understood how to pursue the fight against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army, a great loss.)
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=6&tihDay=9&tdih=GO

:rambo:
 
June 10th

1940: In Norway, the remaining troops of the Norwegian Army surrender. Italy declares war on Britain and France and begins an offensive along the coast of the Riviera.
1942: In the East, 6. Armee forces the withdrawal of Soviet forces from the Charkov area and captures Volchansk and Kupyansk. In Libya, the Afrikakorps (properly, Panzerarmee Afrika) finally captures Bir Hacheim, a strongpoint fiercely defended by Foreign Legionaires of the Free French Forces. The British Eighth Army (Ritchie) retreats toward the Egyptian border.
1943: Beginning of a coordinated air offensive by the US 8th Air Force (Doolittle), flying precision bombing missions by day, and RAF Bomber Command (Harris), flying area saturation missions by night, against major German cities.
1944: In the West, German counterattacks against Allied invasion forces are unsuccessful for lack of armored reserves in the area.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1941: Recruiting begins for Torres Strait Defence Force - Recruitment commenced for the Torres Strait Defence Force to be drawn from the indigenous population of the Torres Strait Islands.
1944: Last Japanese aircraft shot down shot down in New Guinea campaign - Flight Lieutenant Baker pursued and shot down a Japanese dive bomber, making it the last Japanese aircraft shot down by the RAAF in the New Guinea campaign.
1945: Landings at Brunei, Labuan and Muar, Borneo - Codenamed Oboe 6 the 9th Division's landings at Brunei, Labuan and Muar were designed to secure the Brunei Bay area north of Borneo, to permit the establishment of an advanced fleet base to protect Brunei's oil and rubber resources.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1861: Dorothea Dix is appointed superintendent of female nurses for the Union army.
1863: At the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads in Mississippi, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats the numerically superior Union troops.
1898: U.S. Marines land in Cuba.
1942: Germany razes the town of Lidice, Czechoslovakia and kills more than 1,300 citizens in retribution of the murder of Reinhard Heydrich.
1944: The U.S. VII and V corps, advancing from Normandy’s beaches, link up and begin moving inland.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0610.htm

1801: The North African state of Tripoli declared war on the United States in a dispute over safe passage of merchant vessels through the Mediterranean.
1999: Yugoslav troops departed Kosovo, prompting NATO to suspend its punishing 78-day air war.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080610.html

1871http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1871 - Sinmiyangyo: Captain McLane Tilton leads 109 Marines in naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea.
1944 - World War II: In Distomo, Boeotia Prefecture, Greece 218 men, women and children are massacred by German troops.
1965 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Xoai begins.
1967http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967 - Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_10th

1917: Italian troops launch a renewed assault on Austro-Hungarian positions in the mountains of the Trentino region in northern Italy, on the border with Austria.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?
 
June 11th​

1940: In the West, German forces capture Rheims. The French government of Premier Reynaud leaves Paris for Tours. The RAF carries out raids on Genoa and Turin in Italy. The British cruiser Calypso is sunk by an Italian submarine off Crete.
1941: The Raf begins a series of 20 consecutive raids against targets in the Ruhr, the Rhineland, as well as Hamburg and Bremen.
1942: German U-boats begin laying mines off Boston, Delaware and Chesapeake Bay.
1943: The US 8th Air Force raids the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven (200 B-17s), while the RAF attacks Münster and Düsseldorf.
1944: US forces landed at Utah Beach capture Carentan.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html​

1944: Le-Mesnil-Patry France - D-Day +5; 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) and Queens Own try to outflank Carpiquet by moving from Norrey-en-Bessin through Le-Mesnil-Patry towards Cheux, but they meet heavy mortar, machine-gun and 88mm anti-tank gun fire from the 12th Panzer SS, slowing the Sherman tanks; only 2 that enter the town survive; 59 men are killed, 21 wounded; the Queen's Own also loses 55 killed and 44 wounded; in the 6 days of June 6-11, 1017 Canadians are killed in action and 1814 more are wounded.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=11​

1853 - Five Navy ships leave Norfolk, VA on 3 year exploring expedition to survey the far Pacific
1927 - USS Memphis arrives at Washington, DC, with Charles Lindbergh and his plane, Spirit of St. Louis, after his non-stop flight across the Atlantic
1944 - U.S. battleships off Normandy provide gunfire support.
1953 - Navy ships evacuate 20,000 Koreans from West Coast Islands to safety south of 17th parallel
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm​

1900: Diamond Hill, South Africa - Members of the 1st Australian Horse and the New South Wales Lancers participate in the battle of Diamond Hill, South Africa.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp​

1915: British troops take Cameroon in Africa.
1940: The Italian Air Force bombs the British fortress at Malta in the Mediterranean.
1943: The Italian island of Pantelleria surrenders after a heavy air bombardment.
1944: U.S. carrier-based planes attack Japanese airfields on Guam , Rota, Saipan and Tinian islands, preparing for the invasion of Saipan.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0611.htm​

1940 - World War II: British forces bomb Genoa and Turin in Italy. First attack of the Italian Air force on the island of Malta.​
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_11

1918: After several months of an aggressive German offensive on the Western Front during the spring and early summer of 1918, the Allies begin their counterattack, including an assault by four French and two American divisions on German lines near the town of Antheuil-Portes in central France, some 45 miles from Paris.
1970: A force of 4,000 South Vietnamese and 2,000 Cambodian soldiers battle 1,400 communist troops for control of the provincial capital of Kompong Speu, 30 miles southwest of Phnom Penh. At 50 miles inside the border, it was the deepest penetration that South Vietnamese forces had made into Cambodia since the incursion began on April 29. The town was captured by the communists on June 13, but retaken by Allied forces on June 16. South Vietnamese officials reported that 183 enemy soldiers were killed, while 4 of their own died and 22 were wounded during the fighting. Civilian casualties in Kompong Speu were estimated at 40 to 50 killed.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

:m16shoot:
 
Last edited:
June 12th

1940: On orders from General Weygand, C-in-C of the French Army, the French forces opposing the advance of Heeresgruppe A withdraw to the south, offering little resistance. The Soviet Union issues an ultimatum to Lithuania which is soon followed by the occupation of the country by the Red Army.
1941: The German pocket battleship Lützow (formerly Deutschland) is attacked and damaged by RAF aircraft off the southern coast of Norway.
1942: The British convoys Harpoon and Vigorous bound for Malta and Alexandria from Gibraltar are attacked by Axis aircraft which sink 6 merchant ships and 6 escort vessels. The Italian cruiser Trento is sunk by British naval aircraft.
1943: The RAF launches a heavy raid on Bochum in the Ruhr, while the Luftwaffe carries out a night attack against Plymouth.
1944: The five Allied beachheads in Normandy link up together; thus far, 326,000 men and 54,000 vehicles have been landed.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1901: Williamsrust, South Africa - Victorians trapped in a surprise attack at Williamsrust; 18 were killed and 42 wounded in a five-minute-long engagement.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1653: Battle of the Gabbard – lasted until June 13.
1775: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offered a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.
1864: Battle of Cold Harbor – General Ulysses S. Grant pulls his troops from their positions at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.
1922 - In Windsor Castle, King George V receives the colours of the six Irish regiments that are to be disbanded - the Royal Irish Regiment, the Connaught Rangers, the South Irish Horse, the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment, the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
1940: 13,000 British and French troops surrender to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
1999: Operation Joint Guardian begins – NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force KFor enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June 12

1758: Louisbourg Nova Scotia - James Wolfe takes possession of the Light-House Point, destroyed and abandoned by Governor Drucour after the British landing on June 8; at 2 am, Major Scott marches with 500 Light Infantry and Rangers, making a sweep through the woods, in order to take the Light-House battery; Wolfe follows at 5 am, with four companies of Grenadiers, and 1200 men detached from the line; he will secure the area, bring in artillery by sea, and open fire on Louisbourg's Island battery on the night of the 19th.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jun&day=12

1944 - Four U.S. Carrier Groups (15 carriers) begin attack on Japanese positions in the Marianas.
1948 - The Women's Armed Forces Integration Act provides for enlistment and appointment of women in the Naval Reserve.
1970 - After earthquake in Peru, USS Guam begins 11 days of relief flights to transport medical teams and supplies, as well as rescue victims.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1812: Napoleon Bonaparte and his army invade Russia.
1918: The first airplane bombing raid by an American unit occurs in France.
1942: American bombers strike the oil refineries of Ploesti, Rumania for the first time.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=6&tihDay=12&tdih=GO
:salute:
 
June 13th

1940: In the West, German troops reach the northern outskirts of Paris which has been declared an 'open city'. Italian bombers attack the French naval base at Toulon. The British auxiliary cruiser Scotstown is sunk by U-25 (Kptlt. Beduhn) off the Irish coast. The German raider Orion lays mines off Auckland, New Zealand.
1941: The Luftwaffe carries out a raid on the British naval base at Chatham, but with little success.
1942: In the battle for Tobruk, German tanks and anti-tank batteries (88mm) of the Afrikakorps destroy 138 enemy tanks, leaving the British Eighth Army with only 75 armored vehicles operational.
1944: Launching of the first V-1 robot bombs from the Pas de Calais against London causing shock and near-panick among the civilian population. In the battle for Caen, a single Tiger tank from 12.SS-Panzerdivision (Obstuf. Wittmann) destroys 25 tanks and other vehicles of the British 7th Armoured Division near Villers-Bocage.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1941: Battle for Jezzine, Lebanon - The battle was one of several hard fought actions in the five-week-long campaign by the allies against Vichy French forces in Syria and Lebanon.
1945: Australians capture Brunei - The Australian occupation of Brunei was aimed at permitting the establishment of an advanced fleet base to protect Brunei's oil and rubber resources.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1777: Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina, in order to help the Continental Congress to train its army.
1917: the deadliest German air raid on London during World War I is carried out by Gotha G bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_13

1813: Boston Massachusetts - Philip Vere Broke, commanding HMS Shannon, with 38 guns, defeats US warship Cheseapeake, commanded by James Lawrence, off Boston Harbour; tows her to Halifax as a prize.
1940: Britain - Canadian brigade leaves for France to form defence line across Brittany peninsula; a failure; Paris falls to Germans the next day.
1944: over Cambrai France - Winnipeg-born Andrew Mynarski is Flight Sergeant on Lancaster bomber A for Able in No. 419 Squadron on the night of June 12-13, their 13th mission, when it is attacked by a Junkers night fighter and set on fire. Mynarski tries to rescue crewmate Pat Brophy, the trapped rear gunner, but his clothes and parachute catch fire; by the time he jumps he is badly burned, and later dies of his burns; Brophy survives, carrying a four leaf clover Mynarski gave him just before takeoff; valor wins him a posthumous Victoria Cross.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=13

1881 - USS Jeannette crushed in Arctic ice pack
1967 - Operation Great Bend in Rung Sat Zone, Vietnam
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1777: The Marquis de Lafayette arrives in the American colonies to help in their rebellion against Britain.
1863: Confederate forces on their way to Gettysburg clash with Union troops at the Second Battle of Winchester, Virginia.
1978: Israelis withdraw the last of their invading forces from Lebanon.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0613.htm

:rambo:
 
June 14th

1940: German troops enter Paris which has been evacuated by most of its inhabitants. Heeresgruppe C (von Leeb), with 24 divisions, prepares to cross the upper Rhine to attack the Maginot Line in Alsace. The French government leaves Tours for Bordeaux. All remaining British troops in France are ordered to return to England.
1941: In Libya, the British Eighth Army begins Operation Battleaxe to lift the siege of Tobruk, but the Afrikakorps conterattacks three days later and the operation is abandoned. President Roosevelt orders the freezing of all Axis assets and those of the occupied countries. Hitler meets with his top generals to discuss matters concerning the upcoming campaign against the Soviet Union. Croatia joins the Tripartite Pact of Germany, Italy and Japan.
1942: Two German U-boats land teams of saboteurs on Long Island and near Jacksonville, Florida; within days, they are all captured, and six are executed after trial.
1943: RAF Coastal Command begins daily patrols over the Bay of Biscay by aircraft equipped with new detection devices to locate and destroy German U-boats leaving and entering their bases on the French coast.
1944: The RAF launches heavy attacks (600 bombers) against Le Havre and Boulogne.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1966: The 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, arrives in South Vietnam - The deployment of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, to Vietnam formed part of Australia's build up of forces in Phouc Tuy Province in the mid-1960s. D Company from this battalion became involved in the battle of Long Tan in August 1966.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1944: Normandy France - All units of the exhausted 3rd Canadian Infantry Division put on reserve after taking le Mesnil-Patry; Germans concentrated 7.5 of their 8 armoured divisions, and half of their 12 other divisions against Canadians and British; Canadians spend second half of June in reserve before resuming attack on Capriquet airfield.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=14

1777 - John Paul Jones takes command of Ranger
1777 - Continental Congress adopts design of present U.S. Flag
1847 - Commodore Matthew Perry launches amphibious river operations by Sailors and Marines on Tabasco River, Mexico
1940 - Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Naval Expansion Act to construct ships to increase Navy's tonnage by 11 %
1985 - Steelworker Second Class Robert D. Stethem, USN of Underwater Construction Team ONE was killed by terrorist hijackers of TWA Flight 847. He later received a Bronze Star for his heroism.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1775: The U.S. Army is founded when the Continental Congress authorizes the muster of troops.
1944: Boeing B-29 bombers conduct their first raid against mainland Japan.
1945: Burma is liberated by the British.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0614.htm

:sniper:
 
Last edited:
June 15th

1940: In the West, German forces of 7. Armee break into the Maginot Line and capture Verdun. 30,600 British and Canadian troops are evacuated from Cherbourg, Brest and St. Malo.
1941: In Libya, the British Eighth Army abandons Gazala.
1942: In the North Atlantic, U-552 (Kptlt. Topp) sinks 5 ships of Convoy HG-84.
1943: The German raider Michel sinks 2 ships off the west coast of Australia.
1944: Heavy V-1 attacks on London.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1901: Sergeant J. Rogers, VC - Sergeant J. Rogers, South African Constabulary, originally from Moama, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross near Thaba 'Nchu, Orange Free State. Rogers was a New South Welshman by birth.
1951: HMAS Bataan bombards Chongjin, Korea - After the war in Korea had ended the Chinese leader, Chairman Mao Tse Tung, admitted one of the principal factors in denying the Chinese and North Korean victory was the superiority of United Nations naval power. Australia's contribution to the naval war in Korea was significant. source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1915: Givenchy France - Lt. Frederick William Campbell of the 1st Bn. Western Ontario Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force moves two machine-gun detachments forward under heavy fire at Givenchy; reaches the German front line trench with one gun after nearly all his detachment killed or wounded; holds back German counter-attack by advancing further and firing off 1,000 more rounds before getting hit by fire; dies four days later at age 48; awarded Victoria Cross posthumously Aug. 23, 1915.
1940: France - Canadians withdraw from France over a two day period.
1944: France - First RCAF fighter wings move into France after D-Day.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=15

1944 - Fifth Fleet lands Marines on Saipan, under the cover of naval gunfire, in conquest of Marianas
1963 - Launching of combat store ship, Mars (AFS-1), first of new class of underway replenishment ships
1991 - 2 battle groups and amphibious ships evacuate dependents and Air Force personnel from Clark Air Force Base after Mount Pinatubo erupts in Philippines.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1184: King Magnus of Norway is defeated by his rival, Sverre.
1940: The French fortress of Verdun is captured by Germans.
1964: The last French troops leave Algeria.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0615.htm

2000: British marines leave Sierra Leone - The major contingent of the British military task force sent to help restore order in the West African state of Sierra Leone has left the country.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/15

:m16:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top