This day in military history..

May 17th

1940: In the West, troops of 6.Armee occupy Brussels. French prime minister Pierre Laval is replaced by Paul Reynaud who forms a new government.
1941: The German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen leave Gotenhafen in the Baltic to begin operations against British convoys in the Atlantic (Operation Rheinübung).
1942: In the East, Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) begins a counter-offensive against Soviet attacks toward Charkov and the Donbas.
1943: The Luftwaffe carries out a night raid (89 aircraft) against Cardiff in Wales.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1917: Bullecourt captured - After two failed attempts to capture the village of Bullecourt, the allies were finally successful, though the victory had cost 7,000 casualties.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1940 - World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1940 - World War II: The old city centre of the Dutch town of Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_17

1940 - FDR announces plans to recommission 35 more destroyers
1942 - USS Tautog (SS-199) sinks Japanese sub, I-28; while USS Triton (SS-201) sinks I-164
1951 - Aircraft from carriers attack bridges between Wonsan and Hamhung, Korea
1962 - Naval amphibious ready group lands Marines to guard Thailand's borders from Communist probes
1966 - Naval Support Activity Saigon established
1973 - First woman to hold a major Navy command, Captain Robin Lindsay Quigley assumes command of Navy Service School, San Diego, CA.
1987 - USS Stark (FFG-31) struck by Iraqi Exocet missile in Persian Gulf, killing 37 Sailors. 21 were wounded.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1863 : Battle of Big Black River, Mississippi - The Union army defeats the Confederates on the Big Black River and drives them into Vicksburg in part of a brilliant campaign by General Ulysses S. Grant. Grant had swung his army down the Mississippi River past the strong riverfront defenses, and landed in Mississippi south of Vicksburg. He then moved northeast toward Jackson and split his force to defeat Joseph Johnston's troops in Jackson and John C. Pemberton's at Champion's Hill.
1972 : South Vietnamese reinforcements near An Loc - Preceded by five B-52 strikes, which reportedly killed 300 North Vietnamese to the south, South Vietnamese forces arrive by helicopter to within two miles of An Loc in continuing efforts to relieve this besieged city. It had been surrounded by three North Vietnamese divisions since early April. The North Vietnamese had been holding An Loc under siege for almost three months while they made repeated attempts to take the city. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, including 2,300 dead or missing, but with the aid of U.S. advisors and American airpower, they managed to hold An Loc against vastly superior odds until the siege was finally lifted on June 18.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
 
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Lots of action

May 18th

1940: In the West, XIX.Panzerkorps (Guderian) in its rapid advance toward the Channel coast reaches Peronne. German troops occupy Antwerp.
1942: The RAF launches a major attack against Mannheim.
1944: In Italy, the US Fifth Army (Clark) captres Gaeta S of Rome.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1885:Sudan contingent departs Suakin - New South Wales troops of the Sudan contingent depart Suakin for Sydney having a little over two months in the Sudan without seeing any serious action.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1775 - Benedict Arnold captures British sloop and renames her Enterprise, first of many famous ships with that name
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1803 - Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1811 - Las Piedras Battle first great military triumph of the liberating revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay leaded by Jose Artigas.
1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins, ending on July 4
1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.
1944 - World War II: SS troops burn down six villages in the Brkini hills in south western Slovenia.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_18

1943: Hitler gives the order for Operation Alaric - Adolf Hitler launches Operation Alaric, the German occupation of Italy in the event its Axis partner either surrendered or switched its allegiance.
1969: Communists attack Xuan Loc - More than 1,500 communist troops attack U.S. and South Vietnamese camps near Xuan Loc, located 38 miles east of Saigon. After five hours of intense fighting, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces were driven off. At the U.S. camp, 14 Americans were killed and 39 wounded; 24 enemy soldiers were killed in the action. At the South Vietnamese camp, 4 South Vietnamese were killed and 14 wounded, with 54 communist soldiers reported killed and 9 captured.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp

1940: Germans take Antwerp, Belgium’s second city. Allied forces are seriously split as German tanks of 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian) reach Peronne and Rommels 7th Panzer Division reaches Cambrai during their rapid advance toward the Channel coast. Amiens is occupied. Regions ceded to Belgium in Treaty of Versailles (1919) re-incorporated into Germany.
1941: General Dentz tells the French Army in Syria to "match force with force". The 5th Indian Division captures the Italian fortress of Amba Alagi after 18 days of fighting. The British column from Palastine (Habforce), arrives at Habbaniyah and relieves its garrison. Italy annexes the Yugoslavian territory of Dalmatia.
1942: The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm attacks and hits the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen off Norway, but she makes it back to Kiel. Despite increasing losses, Churchill remains determined to continue the Artic convoys to Russia. The New York Times reports on an inside page that Nazis have machine-gunned over 100,000 Jews in the Baltic states, 100,000 in Poland and twice as many in western Russia. The RAF launches a major attack against Mannheim. German forces finally halt the Russian summer offensive just short of Kharkov and let loose Group von Kleist’s with a strength of 15 Divisions (1st Panzer Army and 17th Army), of which two are Panzer and one Motorised. The Germans aim for Izyum to the South of Kharkov in order to pinch off the Russian salient. The Germans attack with their usual skill, technology, and ferocity and drive through the Russian defenses. The Germans have a 4.4-1 edge in tanks, 1.7-1 edge in artillery, and 1.3-1 edge in infantry on the battlefield. Russian co-ordination is poor and the Germans quickly gain local air superiority. Russian officers lack adequate combat experience to handle the fast pace of the German blitzkrieg, and their divisions literally come apart.
1943: The Japanese launch a new offensive along the Yangtze river, 250 miles north east of the Nationalist capital of Chunking.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
8)
 
May 19th

1940: German troops of XX.Panzerkorps (Reinhardt) capture St. Quentin. General Gamelin, C-in-C of Allied Forces, is replaced by General Weygand.
1944: In Italy, British troops capture Aquino airfield in the Liri valley SE of Rome.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1915: Turkish counter-attack on Gallipoli - The Turkish counter-attack sought to drive the Australians and New Zealanders from ANZAC Cove. The attack failed and over 10,000 Turks were killed or wounded in their greatest disaster of the entire campaign.

1918: Sergeant W. Ruthven, VC -Sergeant W. Ruthven, 22nd Battalion, originally from Collingwood, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Ville-sur-Ancre, France.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1643 - Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
1848 - Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico ratifies the treaty thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of five other modern-day U.S. states to the USA for USD $15 million.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_19

1882 - Commodore Shufeldt (USS Swatara) lands in Korea to negotiate first treaty between Korea and Western power
1912 - Navy establishes North Atlantic Ice Patrol following RMS Titanic disaster
1965 - 30th Naval Construction Regiment activated at Danang, Vietnam
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm
:m16:
 
May 20th

1940: In the West, units of XIX. Panzerkorps (Guderian) capture Amiens and advance to the Channel coast at Abbeville, separating the British Expeditionary Force (Gort) and the Belgian Army from the French forces to the south.
1941: Taking off from airfields in Greece, German paraptroops of the 7.Fliegerdivision (Süssmann) carried in 490 Ju-52 transports of XI.Fliegerkorps (Trettner) and supported by Stuka dive-bombers of VIII.Fliegerkorps (von Richthofen) begin Operation Mercury, the capture of the island of Crete in the Mediterranean. Encountering heavy ground fire from British Commonwealth troops (total of 30,000 men under New Zealand Gen. Freyberg) in prepared positions, casualties are high: of 8,000 men landed nearly 6.000 are killed, and 151 Ju-52s destroyed before air and sea-borne mountain troops arrive to turn near disaster into victory.
1943: The US Tenth Fleet is formed for anti-submarine operations in the Atlantic.
1944: Nearly 5,000 Allied aircraft attack airfields and rail communications in France and Belgium.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1915:Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, VC - Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, 14th Battalion, 4th Brigade, New Zealand and Australian Division, of Winchelsea, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Courtney's Post, Gallipoli. Jacka's was the first VC to be awarded to an Australian in the First World War. Jacka also went on to win the Military Cross and bar.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1631 - The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church - In the VirginiaBermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_20

1778: Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania - British forces from Philadelphia attempt to trap 2,200 Continentals defending Valley Forge led by Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette, through skillful maneuvering, avoids the entrapment and the destruction of his forces. The encounter takes place at Barren Hill, now known as Lafayette Hill, just northwest of Philadelphia.
1915: British renew attacks in Battle of Festubert - British, Canadian and Indian troops launch a new round of attacks against a reinforced German line around the village of Festubert, located in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front.
1953: French see "light at the end of the tunnel" in Vietnam - Using a phrase that will haunt Americans in later years--"Now we can see [success in Vietnam] clearly, like light at the end of a tunnel"--Gen. Henri Navarre assumes command of Frennch Union Forces in Vietnam. The French had been fighting a bloody war against communist insurgents in Vietnam since 1946. The insurgents, the Viet Minh, were fighting for independence and the French were trying to reassert their colonial rule in Indochina.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp

1801 - Four warships sent to Mediterranean to protect American commerce
1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur ( Frigate Guerriere) sails with 10 ships to suppress Mediterranean pirates' raids on U.S. shipping
1844 - USS Constitution sails from New York on round the world cruise
1943 - Establishment of Tenth Fleet in Washington, DC, under command of ADM King to coordinate U.S. antisubmarine operations in Atlantic
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1941: Churchill announces the end of Abyssinian campaign as the Duke of Aosta signs the formal Italian surrender. The British took just 94 days to win the East African campaign. The Royal Navy Minesweeper Widnes is sunk by Luftwaffe planes near Suda Bay in Crete.
1942:The rearguards of the 1st Burma Corps cross the border from Burma into India. Once this is complete, the 1st Burma Corps is disbanded. Admiral Yamamoto issues his orders for Operation 'Mi'. 2nd Carrier Striking Force under Admiral Hosogaya (2 small aircraft carriers, 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers) was to mount an air-strike on Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians on the 3rd June, this was designed to decoy part of the American force northwards. If this happened then they would be met by a Guard Force of 4 battleships, 2 cruisers and 12 destroyers, which would position themselves between Pearl Harbor and the Aleutians. Then on the 5th June, the transports carrying the Japanese assault force would land on Attu and Kiska Islands on the 5th June. Meanwhile the 1st Carrier Striking Force under Admiral Nagumo, which included the Carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, plus 2 battleships, 2 cruisers and 11 destroyers, would sail from Japan for Midway on the 4th June. Following this would be Transport Force which was commanded by Admiral Kondo with the invasion troops, additionally protected by 3 cruisers from Guam. Finally the Main Support force, commanded by Admiral Yamamoto onboard the super battleship Yamato and including a further 3 battleships, 4 cruisers and escorting destroyers would be ready to move up to engage the American Fleet if required. In order to be sure of the position of the American Fleet, 3 cordons of submarines were positioned north and west of Hawaii and 2 flying boats were stationed at French Frigate Shoal, about 500 miles north-west of Hawaii. The Crimea is finally cleared of the Red Army. 170,000 Russians taken prisoner. Manstein's gaze now turns fully towards Sevastopol.
1943: The Chinese launch a counter offensive on Yangtze River.
1944: The U.S. Fifth Army captures Gaeta to the South of Rome. The first orders from Eisenhower are broadcast to European underground armies.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
8)
 
May 21st

1940: In the West, an attack by a French armored brigade under General de Gaulle against 7.Panzer-Division (Rommel) at Arras fails after initial success. The French Ninth Army is surrounded and destroyed, its commander, General Giraud, taken prisoner.
1941: In the battle for Crete, 80 Ju-52s crash-land a regiment of 5.Gebirgsjäger-Division (Ringel) to support the hard-pressed paratroopers at Maleme airfield. In the south Atlantic, against strict orders not to attack American vessels, the US merchant ship Robin Moor is sunk by U-69 (Kptlt. Metzler). This sinking of a neutral American vessel is publicly denounced by President Roosevelt and becomes yet another argument for him in his secret desire for bringing the United States into war against Germany.
1943: The Luftwaffe carries out a raid by FW-190 fighter bombers against Malta.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1968: HMAS Sydney leaves Brisbane - HMAS Sydney left Brisbane on its tenth voyage to Vietnam with 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, embarked.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1850 - Washington Navy Yard begins work on first castings for the Dahlgren guns
1917 - USS Ericsson fires first torpedo of war
1944 - During preparations for the invasion of Saipan an accidental ordnance blast on LST 353 sets off cataclysmic ammunition explosions at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, killing 163 and injuring 396. Six tank landing ships (LST-39, LST-43, LST-69, LST-179, LST-353, LST-480), three tank landing craft (LCT-961, LCT-963, LCT-983), and 17 track landing vehicles (LVTs) are destroyed in explosions and fires.
1964 - The initiation of the standing carrier presence at Yankee Station in the South China Sea.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1969 : Military spokesman defends "Hamburger Hill" - A U.S. military command spokesman in Saigon defends the battle for Ap Bia Mountain as having been necessary to stop enemy infiltration and protect the city of Hue. The spokesman stated that the battle was an integral part of the policy of "maximum pressure" that U.S. forces had been pursuing for the prior six months, and confirmed that no orders had been received from President Nixon to modify that basic strategy. On May 20, the battle, described in the American media as the battle for "Hamburger Hill," had come under attack in Congress from Senator Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), who described the action as "senseless and irresponsible." On May 22 in Phu Bai, South Vietnam, Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division that took "Hamburger Hill," responded to continuing media criticism by saying that his orders had been "to destroy enemy forces" in the A Shau Valley and that he had not received any other orders to reduce casualties by avoiding battles.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson – Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
1941 - 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor becomes the first United States ship sunk by a GermanU-boat.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_21
 
May 22nd

1940: In the West, XIX.Panzerkorps (Guderian) strikes from Abbeville toward Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk along the Channel coast. British cipher experts at Bletchley Park break the Luftwaffe Enigma code.
1941: Off Crete, Stuka dive-bombers of Luftflotte 4 (Lühr) sink the British cruiser Gloucester and the destroyer Greyhound, damaging the battleship Warspite and the cruiser Fiji. On the island, fierce fighting continues for Maleme airfield.
1942: In the East, the Soviet forces (two armies) attacking toward Charkov are stopped and destroyed by the German 6.Armee (von Paulus); 241,000 prisoners are taken.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1940: Decision to form 8th Division made - Most of the 8th Division was lost in the fall of Singapore in February 1942. The Division never took the field as a complete Division because the battalions of the 23rd Brigade were sent to Ambon, Timor and Rabaul.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1882 - Commodore Shufeldt signs commerce treaty opening Korea to U.S. trade
1958 - Naval aircraft F4D-1 Sky Ray sets five world speed-to-climb records, 22-23 May
1967 - New York City reaches agreement to purchase Brooklyn Navy Yard, ending 166 years of construction and repair of naval vessels.
1968 - USS Scorpion (SSN-589) lost with all hands
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1455 - Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
1762 - Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
1939 - World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
1942 - Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_22

1940: British cipher experts at Bletchley Park break the Luftwaffe Enigma code.
The 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian) strikes from Abbeville toward Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk along the Channel coast.
1941: British forces capture the last Italian stronghold in southern Abyssinia. Heavy German air attacks on Crete sink the cruisers Fiji, Gloucester and York and the destroyer Greyhound. The Battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Valiant are damaged, but the Royal Navy manages to break up a German supply convoy. British blockade of Vichy France made complete. Himmler establishes Norwegian SS on German lines. Fierce fighting continues in Crete as British troops begin to pull back from Maleme airfield towards Suda Bay in order to regroup and protect their main point of supply.
1942: The 6th Army and Kleist's Panzer’s meets thereby pinching of the Russian salient Southeast of Kharkov.
1945: Sugar Loaf Hill on Okinawa is finally taken by U.S. troops after changing hands 11 times in the last few days. Montgomery is appointed as C-in-C of the British force of occupation in Germany and a British member of the allied control commission.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
 
May 23rd

1940: In the West, units of 6.Armee (von Reichenau) cross the Scheldt river at Oudenarde in Belgium.
1941: In waters off Crete, the Luftwaffe sinks the British destroyers Cashmir and Kelly.
1943: The RAF launches a heavy raid on Dortmund, dropping 2,000 tons of bombs.
1944: In Italy, the US Fifth Army (Clark) begins an offensive from the Anzio bridgehead toward Rome, while the British Eighth Army (Alexander) attacks the Dora Line further East.
1945: By order of SHAEF, British troops arrest the members of the post-Hitler government of Grossadmiral Dönitz as well as of the OKW at Flensburg; they are flown to a secret American camp in Luxemburg and held there pending their indictment in an Allied war crimes trial scheduled to be held at Nuremberg.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1942: Kanga Force moved to Wau, New Guinea - Kanga Force was formed in April 1942 to reinforce the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles. Kanga force was primarily involved in reconnaissance work, but did stage some raids against Japanese positions in the Wau–Bulolo area.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1944: Pontecorvo Italy - First Canadian Corps starts breaking through Hitler Line across Liri Valley, near Monte Cassino; British and Canadians occupy Pontecorvo.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=23

1850 - Navy sends USS Advance and USS Rescue to attempt rescue of Sir John Franklin's expedition, lost in Arctic.
1939 - USS Squalus (SS-92) sinks off Postsmouth, NH, with loss of 26 lives.
1962 - Launch of Aurora 7 (Mercury 7), piloted by LCDR Malcolm Scott Carpenter, USN, who completed 3 orbits in 4 hours, 56 minutes at an altitude up to 166.8 statute miles at 17,549 mph. He was picked up by HSS-2 helicopters from USS Intrepid (CVS-11). The capsule was recovered by USS John R. Pierce (DD-753).
1962 - USS Valcour (AVP-55) provides medical care to a merchant seaman from tanker SS Manhattan in the Persian Gulf.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1568 - Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, brother of William I of Orange, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War.
1706 - Battle of Ramillies - the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough defeats a French army under Marshal Villeroi.
1900 - American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney becomes the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner.
1915 - World War I: Italy joins the Allies after they declare war on Austria-Hungary.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_23

1777 : Meigs Expedition claims sole Patriot victory on Long Island - At Sag Harbor, New York, Patriot troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs capture several British vessels and burn Redcoat supplies. With the help of two local men, Meigs and his Connecticut raiders grabbed the British commander from his bed in the wee hours of the morning, firing only one gunshot. Instead of guns, the Patriots used silent but deadly bayonets to capture the British fort, successfully avoiding announcing their presence with gunfire.
1864 : Fighting begins on the North Anna River, Virginia - The campaign between Union commander Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, continues southward to the North Anna River around Hanover Junction. In early May, Grant crossed the Rapidan River with the Army of the Potomac and then clashed with Lee's forces in the Wilderness on May 5 and 6 before racing to Spotsylvania Court House for an epic 12-day battle. Grant's continuous pressure on Lee would ultimately win the war, but he was racking up casualties at a rate that was difficult for the Northern public to stomach.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
 
May 24th

1941: Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood. The Bismarck was the most modern of Germany's battleships, a prize coveted by other nation's navies, even while still in the blueprint stage (Hitler handed over a copy of its blueprints to Joseph Stalin as a concession during the days of the Hitler-Stalin neutrality pact). The HMS Hood, originally launched in 1918, was Britain's largest battle cruiser (41,200 tons)-but also capable of achieving the relatively fast speed of 31 knots. The two met in the North Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, where two British cruisers had tracked down the Bismarck. Commanded by Admiral Gunther Lutjens, commander in chief of the German Fleet, the Bismarck sunk the Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of its crew; only three Brits survived.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1940: In the West, infantry units of XIX.Panzerkorps storm the citadel of Boulogne and take 5,000 British and French prisoners. The French fortress of Maubeuge surrenders, while 6.Armee captures Ghent and Tournai in Belgium.
1943: Grossadmiral Dönitz, C-in-C of the Kriegsmarine, orders suspension of all U-boat operations against Allied convoys after the loss of 56 boats in April and May.
SOURCE: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1915: Formal truce on Gallipoli - A formal truce was declared on Gallipoli during which the Turkish dead of the 19 May attacks were buried.1966: Private Errol Noack killed in Vietnam - Private Noack, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, was the first of 202 Australian conscripts to be killed in the Vietnam War.1969: Warrant Officer Class 2 K. Payne, VC - Warrant Officer Class 2 K. Payne, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, originally from Ingham, Queensland, wins the Victoria Cross in Kontum Province.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1940: Halifax Nova Scotia - Four Canadian destroyers sent to Britain.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=24

1917 - First U.S. convoy to cross North Atlantic during World War I leaves Hampton Roads, VA
1918 - USS Olympia anchors at Kola Inlet, Murmansk, Russia, to protect refugees during Russian Revolution
1939 - First and only use of VADM Allan McCann's Rescue Chamber to rescue 33 men from sunken USS Squalus (SS-192)
1941 - Authorization of construction or acquisition of 550,000 tons of auxiliary shipping for Navy
1945 - Fast carrier task force aircraft attack airfields in southern Kyushu, Japan
1945 - 9 US ships damaged by concentrated kamikaze attack off Okinawa
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1846 - Mexican-American War: GeneralZachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
1861 - American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
1900 - Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
1915 - World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_24
 
May 25th

1940: In the West, the British garrison of Calais rejects a German call for surrender.
1944: Yugoslav partisan leader Tito narrowly escapes capture by German paratroops supported by Stukas in his HQ in Bosnia.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1968: Fire Support Base Balmoral reinforced - Fire Support Base Balmoral in Vietnam is reinforced with Centurion Tanks just hours before two North Vietnamese Army battalions attacked.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1944: Melfa River Italy - Canadian Army Major J. K. Mahony wins VC for holding bridgehead over Melfa River.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=25

1952 - USS Iowa bombards Chongjin, Korea.
1973 - Launch of Skylab 2 mission, which was first U.S. manned orbiting space station. It had an all Navy crew of CAPT Charles Conrad, Jr., USN. (commanding), CDR Joseph P. Kerwin, USN and CDR Paul J. Weitz, USN. During the 28 day mission of 404 orbits, the craft rendezvoused with Skylab to make repairs and conduct science experiments. Recovery by USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14)
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1938 - Spanish Civil War: Bombing of Alicante, 313 deaths.
1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.
1982 - HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_25

1862 : First Battle of Winchester, Virginia - Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson notches a victory on his brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. Jackson, with 17,000 troops under his command, was sent to the Shenandoah to relieve pressure on the Confederate troops near Richmond, who were facing the growing force of George McClellan on the James Peninsula.
1968 : Communist launch new offensive - The communists launch their third major assault of the year on Saigon. The heaviest fighting occurred during the first three days of June, and again centered on Cholon, the Chinese section of Saigon, where U.S. and South Vietnamese forces used helicopters, fighter-bombers, and tanks to dislodge deeply entrenched Viet Cong infiltrators. A captured enemy directive, which the U.S. command made public on May 28, indicated that the Viet Cong saw the offensive as a means of influencing the Paris peace talks in their favor.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
 
May 26th

1940: Employing hundreds of naval, commercial and private vessels, the beaten British forces in France begin Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk. Calais fall to the Germans, and the advance toward Dunkirk, ordered stopped by Hitler 3 days previously, is resumed.
1941: In the Atlantic, British Swordfish torpedo planes from the carrier Ark Royal score hits on the German battleship Bismarck, disabling her steering gear and rendering her unmaneuvreable. On Crete, German paratroopers capture Canea.
1942: In Libya, the German Afrikakorps begins an attack against the British Gazala line (Operation Theseus), but is held up at Bir Hacheim which is defended by Free French forces.
1943: In the East, the Red Army begins an offensive against the German forces isolated in the Kuban bridgehead between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1940: Evacuation of Dunkirk - More than 338,000 British, French and other allied troops were taken off the beaches at Dunkirk during the fall of France.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1944 - USS England sinks fifth Japanese submarine in one week
1952 - Tests from 26-29 May demonstrate feasibility of the angled-deck concept conducted on simulated angled deck on USS Midway
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1971 : North Vietnamese seize Snoul, Cambodia - In Cambodia, an estimated 1,000 North Vietnamese capture the strategic rubber plantation town of Snoul, driving out 2,000 South Vietnamese as U.S. air strikes support the Allied forces. Snoul gave the communists control of sections of Routes 7 and 13 that led into South Vietnam and access to large amounts of abandoned military equipment and supplies. On May 31, the Cambodian government called for peace talks if all North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces agreed to withdraw. The communists rejected the bid. Cambodia ultimately fell to the communist Khmer Rouge and their North Vietnamese allies in April 1975.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=5/26&categoryId=vietnamwar
 
May 27th

1941: In the Atlantic, the crippled German battleship Bismarck is relentlessly bombarded by dozens of British warships, including the battleships Rodney and King George V. After all her guns are silenced, she is sunk by torpedos from the cruiser Dorsetshire; there are only 14 survivors out of a crew of 2,200. In Libya, the Afrikakorps recaptures Halfaya Pass.
1942: Off the northern coat of Norway, Luftwaffe bombers sink 5 ships of Convoy PQ-16.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1965:HMAS Sydney's first voyage to Vietnam - HMAS Sydney departs on first voyage to Vietnam with 1RAR embarked.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1813 - War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
1940 - World War II: 97 out of 99 members of a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are massacred while trying to surrender at Dunkirk. The German commander, Captain Fritz Knoechlein, is eventually hanged for war crimes.
1941 - World War II: U.S.President Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency".
1942 - World War II: Operation Anthropoid - assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague.
1965 - Vietnam War: United States warships begin bombardments of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam for the first time.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_27

1940: British position in Flander’s worsens as King Leopold of Belgium surrenders the remnants of his Army.
1941: Having been reinforced by the 15th Panzer Division, Rommel retakes the Halfaya Pass on Egyptian border. The 10th Indian Division begins to advance north from Basra towards Baghdad. 400 miles west of Brest, the crippled Bismarck is relentlessly bombarded by dozens of British warships, including the battleships Rodney and King George V. After all her guns are silenced, she is sunk by torpedo's from the cruiser Dorsetshire. There are only 110 survivors out of a crew of 2,300. The convoy HX129, becomes the first to have continuous escort protection across the Atlantic. Germans paratroopers take Canea and with it the main British supply point of Suda Bay. This convinces Major General Freyberg VC, that the situation has gone against the British and that he must withdraw from Crete to save what he can.
1942: Japanese Combined Fleet lifts anchor and sets sail for Midway. On the same day, Admiral Nimitz, having been for warned of the impending Japanese attack against Midway by US intelligence who were intercepting Japanese naval signals, issues orders for Task Force 16 (Admiral Spruance) with the carriers Enterprise and Hornet, plus 6 cruisers, 11 destroyers, 2 tankers and 19 submarines, to sail for Midway the next day. The Afrika Korps, having pushed round the British defenses, move northeast. They are engaged by elements of the British 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions. Many tank losses were taken by both sides, although as the battle went on the British armour became increasingly scattered. The Italian Ariete Armoured Division continued to meet stiff resistance from the Free French at Bir Hacheim, while the Italian Trieste Motorised Division further north, found itself grinding through minefields under heavy fire as a result of a navigation error. The siege of Sevastopol rages on, becoming the only incident of a formal siege of a modern fortress being pushed through to final reduction. Sevastopol is the premier port on the Black Sea, and its defenses include three zones of trenches, pillboxes, and batteries. The strongest defenses lie in the middle zone, which includes the heights and the south bank of the Belbek River. Among these hills are "Fort Stalin" on the East and the massive western anchor of "Fort Maxim Gorki I," with its turret of twin 305 mm (12-inch) guns sweeping the length of the Belbek valley. 105,000 men defend this port. Against this the Germans and Romanians range 203,000 men and some of the most powerful siege artillery ever disposed by any army in World War II. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein aims 305 mm, 350 mm, and 420 mm howitzers at the Russians, along with two of the new, stubby "Karl" and "Thor" 600 mm mortars. Also on hand is the 800 mm (31.5-inch) "Big Dora" from Krupp, which has to be transported to position by 60 railway wagons. "Big Dora" is commanded by a major general and a colonel, protected by two flak regiments and periodically fed with a 10,500 lb. shell. Czech patriots shoot Reinhard Heydrich in the suburbs of Prague. His condition is described as critical.
1943: The first British ‘liaison’ team is dropped into Yugoslavia to join up with Tito’s partisans.
1944: Start of the monsoon season bogs down operations in Burma. 12,000 U.S. troops land on Biak in the Schouten Island Group, 350 miles West of Hollandia. MacArthur says, 'this marks the strategic end of the New Guinea campaign'.
1945: Chinese troops are now 25 miles North of Foochow and take Loyaun. The U.S. Sixth Army takes Santa Fe on Luzon.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
 
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 (Gebirgsjäger units and crews of sunk destroyers) 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. The withdrawal is to be covered by two recently landed Commando Battalions. However the garrisons at Retimo and Heraklion will be evacuated separately.
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. In order to shorten his supply lines he decides to punch a hole through the Gazala line.
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: Boer War ends - 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: Fire support base Balmoral attacked - 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: D company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, receives citation - 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: Burlington Ontario - 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 - French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginiamilitia under 22-year-old Lieutenant ColonelGeorge Washington defeat a Frenchreconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
1863 - American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts, to fight for the Union.
1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the RussianBaltic Fleet by AdmiralTogo Heihachiro and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
1982 - Falklands War: 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?
 
15th September 1940 Battle Of Britain Day..........This marks the day when Hitler suffered his first set back when he failed to drive the RAF from the skies over Britain which would have allowed his invasion to go ahead, seeing this failed he took it out on Russia
 
The Great War ends

November 11

1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins burning Atlanta, Georgia to the ground in preparation for his march south.
1865 - Treaty of Sinchula is signed in which Bhutan ceded the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company.
1921 - The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by US President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery.
1940 - World War II: Battle of Taranto - The Royal Navy launches the first aircraft carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto.
The German cruiser Atlantis captures top secret British mail, and sends it to Japan.
1967 - Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to "new left" antiwar activist Tom Hayden.
1968 - Vietnam War: Operation Commando Hunt initiated. The goal was to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, through Laos into South Vietnam.
1972 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
2004 - New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_November

1778- Patriot Colonel Ichabod Alden refuses to believe intelligence about an approaching hostile force. As a result, a combined force of Loyalists and Native Americans, attacking in the snow, killed more than 40 Patriots, including Alden, and took at least an additional 70 prisoners, in what is known today as the Cherry Valley Massacre. The attack took place east of Cooperstown, New York, in what is now Otsego County.
1918- At 11 o’clock in the morning of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the First World War--known at the time as the Great War--comes to an end. The Great War took the life of some 9 million soldiers; 21 million more were wounded. Civilian casualties caused indirectly by the war numbered close to 10 million. The two nations most affected were Germany and France, each of which sent some 80 percent of their male populations between the ages of 15 and 49 into battle.
1942- Congress approves lowering the draft age to 18 and raising the upper limit to age 37. In September 1940, Congress, by wide margins in both houses, passed the Burke-Wadsworth Act, and the first peacetime draft was imposed in the history of the United States. The registration of men between the ages of 21 and 36 began exactly one month later. There were some 20 million eligible young men-50 percent were rejected the very first year, either for health reasons or because 20 percent of those who registered were illiterate. But by November 1942, with the United States now a participant in the war, and not merely a neutral bystander, the draft ages had to be expanded; men 18 to 37 were now eligible.

1944- The German First Army HQ leaves Metz as the U.S. Third Army gains three bridgeheads over the Moselle.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm
 
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November 13th

1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Col. Ethan Allen attack Montreal defended by British General Guy Carleton. Allen and his troops were disorganised and soundly defeated.
1941 - World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is torpedoed by U 81, she sinks on November 14.
1942 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - Aviators from the USS Enterprise sink the Japanese heavy cruiser BB- Hiei.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_November

1941: President Roosevelt announces the arming of American merchant vessels carrying Lend-Lease cargo to Britain.
1942: In Libya, the British 8th Army retakes Tobruk.
1944: German troops of Heeresgruppe E evacuate Skopje in Yugoslavia.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/november.html

1965 Warrant Officer K. Wheatley, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, wins the first Victoria Cross of the Vietnam War posthumously in the Tra Bong Valley, Quang Ngai province.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1982-Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated Near the end of a weeklong national salute to Americans who served in the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington after a march to its site by thousands of veterans of the conflict. The long-awaited memorial was a simple V-shaped black-granite wall inscribed with the names of the 57,939 Americans who died in the conflict, arranged in order of death, not rank, as was common in other memorials.

1775-Patriots take Montreal On this day in 1775, Continental Army Brigadier General Richard Montgomery takes Montreal, Canada, without opposition.
Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do
 
November 16

1632 - The Battle of Lützen, where king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden is killed.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: Hessian mercenaries capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
1857 - The relief of Lucknow. The most Victoria Crosses won in a single day (24).
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.
1940 - World War II: In response to Germany leveling Coventry two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.
1940 - Holocaust: In Poland, Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.
1943 - World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vermork, Norway.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_November
1944: In the West, US and German forces begin the bitter battle for the Roer river crossings on the German-Belgian border.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/november.html
1943 Admiral Louis Mountbatten appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1863 : Battle of Campbell Station, Tennessee Confederates under General James Longstreet fail to defeat a Union force under General Ambrose Burnside near Knoxville, Tennessee. source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...1&cat=10272941
1970 Ky defends South Vietnamese operations in Cambodia South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky, speaking at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, says Cambodia would be overrun by communist forces "within 24 hours" if South Vietnamese troops currently operating there are withdrawn.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...1&cat=10272949
 
November 17
1796 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Arcole - French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.
1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins - Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege.
1941 - World War II: Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables the State Department that Japan has plans to launch an attack against Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (his cable is ignored).
1967 - Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports he was given on November 13, US President Lyndon B. Johnson tells his nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress." (two months later the Tet Offensive made him regret his words).
1970 - Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17_November
1941: Units of 11.Armee (von Manstein) capture the eastern Crimean port of Kerch.
1942: In Tunisia, the first clashes occur between the newly landed US and German forces.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/november.html
1943 Sattleberg The Austrailian 9th Division begins its attack on Sattleberg. Sattelberg, a high peak and the key to the occupation of the Huon Peninsula, involved a hard, four-month campaign for the 9th Division. source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp
1965 1st Cavalry unit ambushed in the Ia Drang Valley - During part of what would become known as the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, a battalion from the 1st Cavalry Division is ambushed by the 8th Battalion of the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment. The battle started several days earlier when the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry engaged a large North Vietnamese force at Landing Zone X-Ray at the base of the Cheu Pong hills (Central Highlands).
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&cat=10272949
 
November 18
1916 - World War I: First Battle of the Somme ends - In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
1940 - World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.
1943 - World War II: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost nine aircraft and 53 air crew.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18_November

1942 Popondetta captured by Australians - Popondetta, on the steamy kunai plains north of the Owen Stanley Range, became a major Allied base for the attack on the Japanese-held beachheads in Papua.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1943: Start of a series of heavy night attacks by the RAF against Berlin.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/november.html

1941: At 6am 'Operation Crusader’, the British Eighth Army's offensive to relieve Tobruk begins. Rommel, who arrives back from Rome that day, is caught by surprise, allowing the British XXX Corps to advance 50-miles and capture the axis airfield 10 miles south of Sidi Rezegh. The Germans, believing that the British are about to encircle Bardia, send the Afrika Korps on a wild goose chase in that direction.
1943: A German counter offensive recaptures Zhitomir.
1944: The U.S. Third Army crosses the German frontier. Metz is cut off and surrounded by the U.S. Third Army's, XX Corps.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm

1942: The Red Army counter-attacked and surrounded the German army at Stalingrad.
1960: The first vertical take-off aircraft (VTOL) made by the British Hawker Siddeley company was flown for the first time.
1990: Nato and Warsaw Pact members ended the Cold War by signing a weapons treaty in Paris.
SOURCE: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/onthisday.asp
 
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December 12

1969: The Philippine Civic Action Group, a 1,350-man contingent from the Army of the Philippines, departs South Vietnam. The contingent was part of the Free World Military Forces, an effort by President Lyndon B. Johnson to enlist allies for the United States and South Vietnam. By securing support from other nations, Johnson hoped to build an international consensus behind his policies in Vietnam. The effort was also known as the "many flags" program. The Philippine Civic Action Group entered Vietnam in September 1966, setting up operations in a base camp in Tay Ninh Province northwest of Saigon. The force included an engineer construction battalion, medical and rural community development teams, a security battalion, a field artillery battery, and a logistics and headquarters element.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=1547

1917:HMAS Australia damaged - The battle cruiser HMAS Australia damaged in a collision with the battle cruiser HMS Repulse.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1939: The German liner Bremen arrives at Bremerhaven from Murmansk, having evaded the British blockade. In the east, Russia rejects the League of Nations demands for peace with Finland.
1940: In England, Sheffield suffers heavy Luftwaffe raids.
1941: Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania declare war on the United States. In order to improve relations with Germany, Yugoslavia signs a friendship pact with Hungary.
1942: A hastily assembled force of 13 divisions, including three Panzer divisions, under the control of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth), begins Operation Winter Tempest, the relief of 6.Armee (von Paulus) encircled at Stalingrad. In the Mediterannian Sea, Italian midget submarines sink four ships in the harbor at Algiers.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1862 - Confederate torpedo (mine) sinks USS Cairo in Yazoo River.
1937 - Japanese aircraft sink USS Panay in Yangtze River near Nanking, China.
1941 - Naval Air Transport Service is established.
1951 - First flight of helicopter with gas-turbine engine at Windsor Locks, CT, demonstrates adaptability of this engine to helicopters.
1972- Captain Eugene A. Cernan, USN, commander of Apollo 17, walks on the Moon. Commander Ronald E. Evans, USN, was the Command Module Pilot. The mission lasted 12 days, 13 hours and 52 minutes. Recovery by HC-1 helicopters from USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14).
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesdec.htm

1969: Halifax Nova Scotia - Royal Canadian Navy retires aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure after 12 years of service; later sold for scrap.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Dec&day=12
 
December 13

1939: In the south Atlantic the German raider, the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, fights an action against three British cruisers, HMS Achilles, Ajax and Exeter, which results in serious damage to both sides, with Exeter rendered a blazing hulk and the Graf Spee withdrawing to the River Plate for repairs.
1940: Hitler issues Directive No. 20, the order for the preparation of Operation Marita, a plan for sending German forces to revive the bogged-down Italian offensive in Albania.
1941: In the East, the Red Army launches a counter-offensive from the Kalinin area toward besieged Leningrad. German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) evacuate Tula.
1942: In Libya, Panzerarmee Afrika evacuates El Agheila.
1943: Heeresgruppe Mitte becomes engaged in a series of heavy defensive battles in the area of Witebsk.
1944: In northern Alsace, German forces of 7.Armee (Brandenberger) withdraw to fortified positions of the Westwall (Siegfried Line).
SOURCE: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1862: Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia repulses a series of attacks by General Ambrose Burnside's Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg, Virginia. The defeat was one of the most decisive loses for the Union army, and it dealt a serious blow to Northern morale in the winter of 1862-63.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2416

1915:Light Horse fight at Um Rakham - The Light Horse was deployed against pro-Turkish Arabs of an Islamic sect known as the Senussi, in Egypt's western desert. source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1941: Hong Kong - British Governor rejects Japanese demand for the surrender of Hong Kong; defence of the Island organized into a West Brigade, commanded by Brigadier J.K. Lawson, and including The Winnipeg Grenadiers; and an East Brigade, under Brigadier C. Wallis, including The Royal Rifles of Canada; General Maltby deploys both Canadian units to defend the southern beaches against a seaborne attack, as heavy Japanese artillery fire and air raids begin.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Dec&day=13
 
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