This day in military history..

5 December

1939 First official RAAF operation of World War Two - A Sunderland aircraft of No. 10 Squadron RAAF, flew on the first official RAAF operation of the Second World War. This was the beginning of six years of war for 10 Squadron, which flew as part of RAF Coastal Command continuously against U-boats in the battle of the Atlantic.
1950 Evacuation of Chinnampo, Korea - HMA Ships Bataan and Warramunga took part in evacuating Chinnampo, which involved operating in the very shallow waters of the Taedong River estuary at night.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1934 - Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
1964 - Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain
Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_December

1941: Start of a Soviet counter-offensive in the area of Kalinin NW of Moscow.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1915 Siege of British-occupied Kut, Mesopotamia begins -
Turkish and German forces launch an attack on the British-occupied town of Kut al-Amara on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.
1941 American carrier Lexington heads to Midway the Lexington, one of the two largest aircraft carriers employed by the United States during World War II, makes its way across the Pacific in order to carry a squadron of dive bombers to defend Midway Island from an anticipated Japanese attack.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/
 
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6 December

1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kief under Danylo of Halych and Voivode Dmytro falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
1921 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives
1922 - One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty the Irish Free State comes into existence.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6_December

1951 HMAS Sydney begins its second patrol off Korea - Sydney's aircraft were used to protect South Korean-held islands on Korea's north-west coast. source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1941: Three Soviet armies, including some 18 divisions from the Russian Far East, with 1,700 tanks and 1,500 aircraft, begin a massive counter-offensive to throw back and destroy the German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) before Moscow. source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1917 Munitions ship explodes in Halifax - At 9:05 a.m., in the harbor of Halifax in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the most devastating manmade explosion in the pre-atomic age occurs when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel.
1972 Fighting continues in South Vietnam while negotiators talk in Paris - Fighting in South Vietnam intensifies as the secret Paris peace talks resume after a 24-hour break. The renewed combat was a result of both sides trying to achieve a positional advantage in the countryside in preparation for the possibility that a cease-fire might be worked out in Paris.
 
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I know this is non-military but I thought people may like to know

8 December 1980 - Former Beatle John Lennon is shot dead outside his New York apartment by Mark Chapman, a disturbed fan.
 
A day that will live in infamy....

7 December

1915: Evacuation of ANZAC begins - Though the Gallipoli campaign had failed British empire forces at least planned and executed the evacuation without loss.
1941: At 7:55 Honolulu time, 384 Japanese Navy bombers and torpedo bombers taking off from three aircraft carriers launch a surprise attack against the US Pacific Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, sinking or seriously damaging 18 major warships, including the battleships Arizona, Nevada and Virginia, and destroying on the ground 180 USAAF aircraft. American casualties amount to 2,403 killed and 1,178 wounded; Japanese losses are 29 aircraft (59 airmen) and five mini-submarines. In Libya, Panzerarmee Afrika completes its withdrawal to the Gazala line.
1815 - Michel Ney, Marshal of France, is executed by firing squad, after having been convicted of treason for his support of Napoleon Bonaparte.
1917 - World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The government of the Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei.
1862 - Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas: Northwestern Arkansas and Southwestern Missouri is secured for the Union when a force commanded by General James G. Blunt holds off a force of Confederates under General Thomas Hindman.
1964 - Situation deteriorates in South Vietnam: The situation worsens in South Vietnam, as the Viet Cong attack and capture the district headquarters at An Lao and much of the surrounding valley 300 miles northeast of Saigon. South Vietnamese troops regained control only after reinforcements were airlifted into the area by U.S. helicopters. During the course of the action, two U.S. advisors were killed. There were over 300 South Vietnamese casualties and as many as 7,000 villagers were temporarily forced to abandon their homes.
 
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8 December

1914 - World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands - The Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee is engaged by the Royal Navy.
1941 - World War II: Pacific War - After the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbour the U.S. Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan.
1941 - World War II: Pacific War - China officially declares war against Japan, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.
1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong - The Japanese invade the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong less than 8 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour.
1941 - Holocaust: Gas vans are first used as a means of execution, at the Chelmno concentration camp near Lodz in Poland.
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_December

1939: The Fascist Grand Council confirms the Axis alliance, but votes to remain out of the conflict.
1940: The House of Commons and the Tower of London are hit in a heavy Luftwaffe night raid. The 5,000 ton German ship Idarwald is intercepted off Cuba by HMS Diomede. She is at once scuttled by her crew and sunk.
1941:The Unites States and Great Britain declare war on the Empire of Japan. The Soviet offensive against Heeresgruppe Mitte before Moscow succeeds in breaking through the German lines in many places, causing hasty withdrawals by ill-prepared and frost-bitten troops that are forced to abandon much heavy equipment immobilized by the below-zero weather. In Cyrenaica, British forces of the 8th Army (Wavell) succeed in lifting the German siege of Tobruk.
1942: German troops occupy the port of Bizerte in Tunisia.
1944: In Hungary, the Red Army begins an offensive toward Budapest. In the West, German troops evacuate Jülich on the Roer river.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1941: Japan invades Malaya and Thailand - This attack (which occurred virtually simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor) would lead within three months to the loss of Malaya and Singapore.
1941: Australia at war with Japan - Australia announces that it is at war with Japan. Some 17,000 Australians would die in the three-and-a-half-year war against Japan, 8,000 as prisoners of war.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1969: Nixon declares Vietnam War is ending - At a news conference, President Richard Nixon says that the Vietnam War is coming to a "conclusion as a result of the plan that we have instituted." Nixon had announced at a conference in Midway in June that the United States would be following a new program he termed "Vietnamization."
1966: North Vietnam rejects Johnson's prisoner exchange proposal - The International Red Cross announces in Geneva that North Vietnam has rejected a proposal by President Johnson for a resolution of the prisoner of war situation. He had proposed a joint discussion of fair treatment and possible exchange of war captives held by both sides.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/
 
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9 December

1917: Jerusalem occupied by the Desert Mounted Corps - The capture of Jerusalem, a city significant for Christians, Jews and Moslems, was one of the triumphs for British empire forces in the Middle East in 1917.
1942: Australians occupy Gona, New Guinea - The Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda trail enabled the allies to plan the encirclement of important Japanese positions in the Buna, Sanananda and Gona beachhead. Gona was the first of the three to fall to the allies after weeks of heavy fighting.
1997: Death of Mr Ted Matthews - About 50,000 Australians served on Gallipoli. Some 8,000 died in 1915. Ted Matthews was the last survivor of those who landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1939: Russia discovers that Italy is sending military supplies to Finland via Germany.
1940: The Wehrmacht High Command announced:- ... during the month of November, 7,455 tons of bombs were dropped on British targets by the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe estimate the British dropped 475 tons during the same month.
1941: The Red Army recaptures Klin and Tikvin. China declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy.
1943: The Allies further consolidate their lines around Monte Camino after repulsing a series of German counterattacks. In the east, Medorovo falls to the Soviet Army. They then move on to attack Znamenka
1944: The 2nd Ukraine Front, north of Budapest, reaches the Danube River.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1824 - Battle of Ayacucho: Peruvian nationalists led by Antonio José de Sucre defeat Spanish colonial forces and secure the independence of Peru.
1835 - The Republic of Texas captures San Antonio.
1856 - The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.
1861 - American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress.
1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing.
1941 - World War II: The Republic of China, Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and Cuba declare war on Germany and Japan.
1945 - GeneralGeorge S. Patton is injured in an automobile crash in occupied Germany. He dies twelve days later.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_December

1917: Jerusalem surrenders to British troops - On the morning of this day, after Turkish troops move out of the region after only a single day’s fighting, officials of the Holy City of Jerusalem offer the keys to the city to encroaching British troops.
1940: Brits launch Operation Compassoffensive against Italians in North Africa - On this day, two British divisions, half of them composed of Indian troops, attack seven Italian divisions in Egypt. Overwhelmed, the Italian position in Egypt collapsed.
1965: Newspaper reports on bombing over North Vietnam - An article in the New York Times asserts that the U.S. bombing campaign has neither destabilized North Vietnam's economy nor appreciably reduced the flow of its forces into South Vietnam.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/
 
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10 December

1940: Two German spies, Jose Waldberg and Carl Meier, are the first people to be executed since the start of the war. They were hung in Pentonville jail in London. The pair landed in England several weeks prior with a radio transmitter, English money and some iron rations. They planned to spend the nights hiding, and their days collecting information - from the unwary public in trains, pubs and buffets, and by observation of military bases. Also, Hitler issues a directive for the seizure of French military resources and the future occupation of Vichy France (Operation Attila), and cancels plans to invade Gibraltar via Spain (Operation Felix).
1942: Hitler replaces General Halder with General Zeitzler as chief of staff of the OKH. Little ground is gained at Rzhev by a small German counterattack on the Eastern Front.
1944: In the West, the US Third Army (Patton) captures Hagenau and Saargemünd.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1941: HM Ships Repulse and Prince of Wales sunk - The sinking of these powerful warships by Japanese torpedo bombers off Malaya came as a shock to those who had under-estimated Japan's military ability and had relied on the imagined impregnable Singapore naval base. The sinkings heralded the significance of air power in the Pacific war.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General William T. Sherman's Union Army troops reach Savannah, Georgia.
1898 - Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.
1941 - World War II: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland.
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
1978 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_December

1917 - Red Cross is awarded Nobel Peace Prize - After three years of war, during which there had been no Nobel Peace Prize awarded, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the 1917 prize to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1941 - Japan becomes master of the Pacific and South China Sea - On this day, 4,000 Japanese troops land on the Philippine Islands, while Guam, an American-controlled territory, was also seized. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill finally exclaims, "We have lost control of the sea."
1970 - Calley trial defense begins - Charged with six specifications of premeditated murder, Calley was a platoon leader in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade (Light) of the 23rd (Americal) Division. He was tried because of his leadership role in the My Lai massacres. On March 16, 1968, Calley led his troops to murder innocent Vietnamese civilians living in a cluster of hamlets located in Son Tinh District in Quang Ngai Province in the northern coastal lowlands.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/
 
Busy day in WW II

11 December

1939: Finnish soldiers cut off the Russian 163rd Division at Suomussalmi, Finland during the Winter War. Also, the League of Nations demands that Russia cease hostilities against Finland.
1940: German raiders devastate a large area of Birmingham in arial attacks.

1941: In a speech before the Reichstag Hitler, after denouncing the un-neutral and warlike anti-German policies of President Roosevelt and citing Germany's obligations under the Tri-Partite Pact with Japan and Italy, declares war on the United States. His ally, Mussolini, follows suit some hours later. Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua declare war on Germany.
1942: In Libya, Panzerarmee Afrika abandons the Gazala line and continues its retreat west toward the Mareth line in Tunisia.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1952: Operation Fauna, Korea - The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment begins Operation Fauna in Korea, its objective is to capture prisoners and destroy enemy defences. Operation Fauna was a major trench raid on Chinese positions near Hill 355 to snatch a prisoner. Although no prisoners were taken, Chinese dispositions near Hill 355 were seriously disrupted.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1602 - A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (This actually took place after midnight, in the early morning of December 12, but commemorations/celebrations on Fête de l'Escalade are usually held on December 11 or the closest weekend.)
1792 - French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
1981 - El Mozote massacre: Salvadoran armed forces kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign durin the country's civil war.
1994 - First Chechen War: Russian PresidentBoris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_December

1777: British delay Washington’s march to Valley Forge - On this day, General George Washington begins marching 12,000 soldiers of his Continental Army from Whitemarsh to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, for the winter. As Washington’s men began crossing the Schuylkill River, they were surprised by a regiment of several thousand British troops led by General Charles Cornwallis. Cornwallis came across the continental forces by chance as he followed General William Howe’s orders to forage for supplies in the hills outside Philadelphia.
1862: Federals occupy Fredericksburg - The Union Army of the Potomac occupies Fredericksburg, Virginia, as General Ambrose Burnside continues to execute his plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond. Unfortunately for the Union, the occupation did not happen until three weeks after Burnside's army had arrived at Falmouth, just across the river from Fredericksburg. Due to a logistical error, pontoon bridges had not been available so the army could not cross; the delay allowed Confederate General Robert E. Lee ample time to post his Army of Northern Virginia along Marye's Heights above Fredericksburg.
1915: Yuan Shih-kai accepts Chinese throne - With war raging in Europe, conflict also reigns in the Far East between two traditional enemies, Japan and an internally-divided China. On December 11, 1915, the first president of the new Chinese republic, Yuan Shih-kai, who had come to power in the wake of revolution in 1911 and the fall of the Manchu Dynasty in 1912, accepts the title of emperor of China.
1961: First U.S. helicopters arrive in South Vietnam. - The ferry carrier, USNS Core, arrives in Saigon with the first U.S. helicopter unit. This contingent included 33 Vertol H-21C Shawnee helicopters and 400 air and ground crewmen to operate and maintain them. Their assignment was to airlift South Vietnamese Army troops into combat.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/
 
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A slow day.

14 December

1939: Because of its brutal aggression against Finland, the Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations.
1941: German forces evacuate Kalinin 100 miles NW of Moscow.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html

1941: Japanese forces land at Penang, Malaya - Penang's military importance lay in the island's port facilities and its stocks of ammunition and stores. When the allies were unable to stop the Japanese advance on the mainland it became clear that the island would have to be evacuated.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1981 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset passes The Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the area of the Golan Heights.
1995 - Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by President Slobodan Milošević, President Franjo Tuđman, President Alija Izetbegović, President Jacques Chirac, President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister John Major, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_December

1918: New king renounces Finnish throne - In the latest bump on Finland’s rocky road from Swedish and Russian duchy to independent nation, the newly-crowned Frederick, German-born and the brother-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II, renounces the Finnish throne after barely two months.
1961: Kennedy announces intent to increase aid to South Vietnam - In a public exchange of letters with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, President John F. Kennedy formally announces that the United States will increase aid to South Vietnam, which would include the expansion of the U.S. troop commitment. Kennedy, concerned with the recent advances made by the communist insurgency movement in South Vietnam wrote, "We shall promptly increase our assistance to your defense effort."
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/


:neutral:
 
17 December

1939: Unable to complete repairs of the Graf Spee within 24 hours, the time limit stipulated by international law for foreign warships in neutral ports, and under strict orders by OKM not to go into internment in Uruguay, Capt. Langsdorff takes his ship outside the harbor of Montevideo and orders his crew to scuttle her, thus denying the fleet of British Navy vessels converging on the River Plate the opportunity of destroying her in an unequal battle.
1940: In pursuit of the retrating Italian forces, the British 8th Army (Wavell) captures Sollum in Cyrenaica.
1944: The German offensive in the West, after some deep penetrations into the lines of the unprepared US forces in the area, makes only slow progress due to limited roads as well as difficult terrain and weather conditions, not reaching any assigned first-day objectives.

source: http://www.feldgrau.com/december.html
1967: HMAS Perth under fire - HMAS Perth comes under fire off Dong Hoi, Vietnam.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - Malmédy massacre - American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SSKampfgruppePeiper.
1989 - Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timisoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
2002 - Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17_December

1941: Commander at Pearl Harbor canned - Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel was relieved of his command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet as part of a shake-up of officers in the wake of the Pearl Harbor disaster.
1971: Cambodian forces under heavy pressure - Cambodian government positions in Prak Ham, 40 miles north of Phnom Penh, and the 4,000-man base at Taing Kauk are the targets of continuous heavy bombardment by communist forces. The communist Khmer Rouge and their North Vietnamese allies were trying to encircle the capital city.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/

1942: Britain condemns massacre of Jews - The British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, has told the House of Commons about mass executions of Jews by Germans in occupied Europe.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/17/default.stm

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MightyMacbeth said:
the info is all 20cen, isnt there like older?

If you can find anything in military history on the 17th of December earlier than the 20th century, then post it.
:peace:
 
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