March 1945

In loving memory of my uncle John RAFVR murdered by Japanese guards on the Sandekan Death March. 26th March 1945 aged 22, he has no known grave.

Mar 28
1794 Battle of Le Cateau
1809 Battle of Medellin
1814 USS Essex captured by HMS Phoebe and Cherub off Valparaiso, Chile
1860 Battle of Waireka begins
1862 Battle of Glorietta Pass.
1863 Gunboat USS Diana captured at Pattersonville, La.
1883 Battle of Gia Cuc ends
1931 1st flight 2MR8 Japanese recon aircraft.
1939 Siege of Madrid ends, began Nov.'36. Spanish civil War effectively ends.
1941 Battle of Cape Matapan: Italian Cruisers Fiume, Pola, Zara, Destroyers Giosue Carducci and Vittorio Alfieri sunk. Italian Torpedo Boat Gen. Antonio Chinotto sunk by mine off Greece
1942 St. Nazaire Raid ends: Destroyer HMS Campbelltown expended as a floating bomb, 12 Motor Launches, 1 MTB and 1 MGB lost. Battle of Sumatra ends.
1943 U-77 depth charged/sunk by RAF Hudsons south of Cape Nao, Spain
1944 Sub HMS Syrtis sunk off Bodo, Norway
1945 Minesweeper USS Skylark sunk by mine off Okinawa. Sub USS Trigger sunk by Frigates CD-33, 59 and Mikura. Mikura in turn sunk by USS Threadfin, and CD-33 bombed/sunk by US Navy aircraft. Patrol Boat PB-108 bombed/sunk by B-24s off Celebes. Minesweeper W-11 bombed/sunk by B-24s in Makassar Strait. Red Army captures Danzig.
1951 Battle of Mao Khe ends

May 7
1487 Siege of Malaga begins
1779 HMS Diligent captured by USS Providence off Sandy Hook
1864 Ironclad CSS Raleigh wrecked at Wilmington. Battle of The Wilderness ends
1915 Lusitania sunk by U-20
1920 Poland captures Kiev
1937 Condor Legion arrives in Spain
1941 Destroyer HMS Hurricane bombed/sunk at Liverpool, raised, repaired, and returned to service. Trawler HMS Susarion bombed/sunk southeast of the Humber Lightship. Trawler HMS Gowan Hill bombed/sunk at Breenock. Minesweeper HMS Stoke bombed/sunk at Tobruk. KM Weather Ship Munchen captured by R.N., sold in 1943 to the Faero Islands.
1942 Vichy French Sub Le Heros sunk off Madagascar by Swordfish. R.N. Motor Launch ML 130 sunk by enemy MTBs off Malta. Battle of the Coral Sea: Oiler USS Neosho and Destroyer USS Sims, and IJN Carrier Shoho, bombed/sunk.
1943 U-447 sunk by 2 RAF Hudsons west of Gibraltar. U-663 damaged by RAAF Sunderland in Bay of Biscay, sinks next day. KM Destroyer ZF-5 bombed/sunk at Bizerte. Armed Yacht HMAS Adele wrecked at Port Kembla, New South Wales.
1944 Frigate HMCS Valleyfield sunk by U-548 southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland.
1945 Norwegian Minesweeper NYMS 382 sunk by U-1023 off Lyme Bay. U-1407 scuttled, raised, repaired and put in R.N. service as HMS Meteorite. U-1406 scuttled, raised and evaluated by USN. IJN Minesweeper W-29 sunk by mine in Kanmon Strait.
1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends

16th-17th May 1943 617 (Dambuster) Squadron attacked the German Dams.

8 aircraft were lost, 53 crew lost their lives.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJun5ziotfw"]Dambusters main theme song / tune / anthem / soundtrack - YouTube[/ame]

Originally Posted by BritinAfrica

16th-17th May 1943 617 (Dambuster) Squadron attacked the German Dams.

8 aircraft were lost, 53 crew lost their lives.

Dambusters main theme song / tune / anthem / soundtrack - YouTube

The movie inspired the attack scene on the Death Star in Star Wars.

Originally Posted by George

The movie inspired the attack scene on the Death Star in Star Wars.

I didn't know that George.

Its supposed to be on the cards for a new Dambuster computer Generated movie, however it wont be historically correct as Guy Gibsons dog is to be called Nigs.

Originally Posted by BritinAfrica

I didn't know that George.

Its supposed to be on the cards for a new Dambuster computer Generated movie, however it wont be historically correct as Guy Gibsons dog is to be called Nigs.

P.C. strikes again! Probably doesn't matter too much where it's a dog, but real people's names/nick-names suck as "Chink" Gordon shouldn't be tampered with.

In the old movie Gibson is attending a show in London and realises spot lights could assist with geting the right height to drop the bomb. This is false, the idea came from Sir Ben Lockspeiser at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough.

In the movie Guy Gibson is depicted as a nice chap as played by Richard Todd, in actual fact he was very (as described by other crews) obnoxious and verbally abused his crew, especially his flight engineer. He was however an exceptional pilot, he had completed 170 operations over Germany.

June 18
1053 Battle of Civiate
1429 Battle of Patay
1757 Battle of Kolin
1778 British evacuate Philadelphia
1799 Naval Action of June 18th
1812 War of 1812 begins
1815 Battle of Waterloo
1940 French Sloop Vauquois damaged by mine off Brest & is scuttled.
French ships scuttled at Brest: Battleship Clemanceau, Destroyer Cyclone, Subs Pastuer Achille, Agosta, Ouessant, Sloops Etouadi, Vasquois, Patrol Ship Mouette, Aux. Minelayer Alexis de Tocqueville, Gunboat Etourdi, Tugs Athlete and Lutteur, Tanker Dordorgne.
Lorient: Sloop Enseigne Henry, Aux. Minesweeper Kergroise, Pluvose, Water ship Ondine II, Tug La Valette.
Cherbourg: Navy tug Goury and Aux. Minesweeper Marquitta.
KM Minesweeper M-5 sunk by mine off Fro Havet
1941 U-138 sunk by 5 R.N. ships west of Cadiz
1942 KM Minesweeper R-41 torpedoed/sunk by R.N. ships, and Gunboat HMS SGB 7 sunk by KM ships, in Siena Estuary.
1943 R.N. LCT 358 lost in the Med. R.N. LCT 395 damaged by mine and wrecked in the Med.
1944 USN PT-63 and 107 burned in a refueling accident in Hamburg Bay, Emirau. USN LCI(G)-468 torpedoed by aircraft east of Guam and scuttled. U-767 sunk by 3 R.N. ships in the English Channel.
1945 US Minesweeper YMS-50 damaged by mine off Balikpapan and scuttled by USS Denver. Aux. Sub Chaser CHa-197 sunk by mines off Mojisaki.
1981 1st flight F-117

July 14
1900 Allies capture Tianjin
1916 Battle of Delville Wood begins
1936 1st flight Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" Flying Boat
1941 Vichy French in Syria surrender to the Allies.
1942 Brazil declares War on Germany and Italy. Turkish sub Atilay sunk by mine. Soviet sub ShCh-317 sunk by Finnish Minelayer Ruotsinsalmi and Patrol Ship VMV-6. Italian sub Pietro Calvi rammed/sunk by Sloop HMS Lulworth north east of the Canarys
1943 USN LCT-19 bombed/sunk off Salerno. U-160 sunk by aircraft from USS Santee. Sub I-179 sank in diving accident in the Inland Sea
1944 U-415 sunk by mine off Brest. I-55 sunk by Destroyer Escort USS William C Miller off Tinian.
1945 USN aircraft sink Destroyer Tachibana, Frigates CD-74 & 65, Minesweeper W-24, and Sub Chaser CH-48, CD-219 sunk by sub USS Carp, all off Kamaishi.
1950 Battle of Taejon begins
1969 The Soccer War begins