12 August 1939

August 12th, 1939 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: A detachment of No. 10 Squadron RAAF, consisting of one officer and 14 enlisted men arrive in the UK. This detachment was to receive conversion training with the RAF to enable RAAF crews to fly six Sunderland Mk Is to Rathmines, New South Wales, Australia.

In Scotland the grouse-shooting season opens.

Mine-sweeping trawlers HMS Walnut and Rowan are launched.

GERMANY: Ciano goes to Berchtesgaden to see Hitler. Hitler is pondering over his maps planning the war against Poland. Hitler believes that the war will be localised.
There was not the slightest danger that Britain and France would fight. When Ciano protested that so little would be gained at such vast risk, Hitler says to him "You are a southerner, and you will never understand how much I as a German, need to get my hands on the timber of the Polish forests." Ciano notes: "He has decided to strike, and strike he will."

Astakhov sends Schnurre new information from Moscow indicating Russian willingness to open political negotiations with Germany.

U-49 and U-61 are commissioned.

ROMANIA: Heinkel He-112s are declared in the official strength roster of the Royal Romanian Air Force. (Greg Kelley)

U.S.S.R.: In Moscow, the Anglo-French-Russian military talks begin. Drax and Doumenc meet with Marshal Voroshilov and his senior officers.

U.S.A.: War Department informs MacArthur"> MacArthur that more equipment will be lent to the Philippine Army, most in 1941 or afterwards. (Marc Small)

12 August 1940

August 12th, 1940 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Battle of Britain:
Do17s from KG 2 attack Manston, dropping 150 bombs and putting the airfield out of action for a day.
63 JU 88A-1s from KG 51 and KG 54 bomb Portsmouth, 15 aircraft diverting to attack the radar station at Ventnor (Isle of Wight). The radar station is put out of action for 11 days.

Radar stations at Dover, Pevensey, Rye and Dunkirk (Kent) are also bombed as the Luftwaffe try to put a breach in the British radar system. But they failed to hit the transmitter poles and the stations themselves were well camouflaged in the surrounding countryside. Spare radar stations also served to deceive the Germans with simulated radio traffic.

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - industrial targets at Heringen and the Ruhr.
77 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Heringen. Bad weather, only five bombed.
78 Sqn. Five aircraft to the Ruhr. Bad weather, only two bombed. Two damaged by Flak.
Germany. Flt-Lt Roderick Alastair Brook Learoyd (b.1913) bombed his target from just 150 feet amid heavy flak, and returned his badly damaged aircraft to England. (VC)
RAF Fighter Command: Luftwaffe 45, RAF 13.

The first Bristol Beaufighters are delivered to the Fighter Interception Unit at Tangmere, they are equipped with A.I. MkIV (airborne interception) radar.
An experimental British radar, using the cavity magnetron which was developed only six months earlier, tracks an aircraft for the first time. (Cris Wetton)

London: RAF Headquarters announced:
This morning a series of violent aerial combats involving more than one hundred aircraft took place over the Channel and southeast coast of England. British fighter planes attacked a strong formation of enemy aircraft that was nearing the English coast, and have so far shot down 5 machines while seriously damaging other German aircraft.
Dover: The first German shell to fall on British soil destroys four houses.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Tyrope is lost due to unknown reasons.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Tamarisk is bombed and sunk in the Thames estuary.

Corvette HMS Anemone is commissioned.

GERMANY: The Wehrmacht High Command announced:
As has already been revealed by a special announcement, German combat aircraft formations attacked the naval harbour of Portland on August 11. Important harbour installations, the jetty, the floating dock and a loading bridge were demolished; oil warehouses were set on fire. Two merchant vessels and one destroyer were badly hit.
Berlin:
The German News Bureau announced:
In the first segment of hostilities over the Channel and England on Monday, German fighters shot down 22 aircraft according to reports received so far. German losses thus far are 6.

Hauptmann von Menges of the OKW publishes his final contingency plans for an invasion of Switzerland. The first section details the German effort, the second outlines Italy's expected contribution to the invasion. The plan emphasises the assault is to take place from several directions at once to quickly isolate and destroy the various units of the Swiss Army before they could withdraw into the high mountains of the interior. The occupation of the capital, Berne, and the industrial area around Solothurn and Zurich (where the Oerlikon armament works are located), is deemed critical for achieving quick success.

It is expected that the Swiss will field some 278,000 soldiers in six infantry and three mountain infantry divisions, three mountain infantry brigades, nine border guard brigades, and 75 reserve battalions. The Swiss Army has no tank arm, and there is only a weak air force. Menges, however, also believes that the French and Polish troops interned in Switzerland (about one divisions worth with some tanks) will also resist the invasion. Overall von Menges' appraisal is that the Swiss armed forces are only suitable for defence and even at that would prove inferior in any contest with the Wehrmacht.

The main attack is to come from France because there the Swiss border defences are the weakest and the defenders less numerous. It is also believed that the transport net runs in such a way that the important Swiss cities can be reached more quickly by the invaders advancing from that direction.

The German units selected for the attack are: 4. Panzer Div., 5. 23. 73. 260. 262. Inf.Divs. - 1. Gebirgsjäger Div., 20. Inf. (mot). SS-TK (mot.), SS-LAH Rgt. (mot)., 'GrossDeutschland' Rgt.

Menges believes that the portion of Switzerland to be occupied by the Germans can be secured in three to five days. He is unsure how long the Italians will need to complete their part of the invasion, since their sector includes difficult Alpine terrain and strong fortifications. (Russ Folsom)(131)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Bendigo is commissioned.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Moose Jaw is laid down in Collingwood, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The USN Bureau of Ordnance requests informally that the National defence Research Committee sponsor development, on a priority basis, of proximity fuses with particular emphasis on anti-aircraft use.

The Will Bradley Trio, consisting of Ray McKinley on drums, "Doc" Goldberg on base and Freddie Slack on piano with McKinley and Bradley on vocal, records "Down the Road Apiece" on Columbia Records.

12 August 1941

August 12th, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The Canadian Hall Corporation merchantman Eaglescliffe Hall (1,900 GRT) was damaged by bombs from Luftwaffe aircraft in the North Sea, off Sunderland. There is no record of casualties in this incident.

Minesweeper HMS Shippigan launched.

Destroyers HMS Airedale and Tetcott launched.

VICHY FRANCE: Marshal Petain, responding to what he called an "evil wind" of discontent, has introduced what is, in effect, a fascist constitution for France. All political activity has been suspended, and political meetings are banned.
The powers of the police and of the departmental prefects have been increased, and a council for political justice will be set up to punish those responsible for the collapse of France last year. Commissioners will be appointed to root out secret societies and action will be taken immediately against Freemasons in particular. All ministers and high officials will be required to take an oath of allegiance to Marshal Petain.
The marshal acknowledged that his "national revolution" was proving more difficult than he had expected, and that the collaboration "offered with great courtesy" by Hitler was slow. Minds were falling prey to anxiety, he conceded; he even admitted that this unease was in part caused by "insidious propaganda", an apparent admission of the widespread popularity of the BBC news broadcasts from London.
In effect, the Marshal proposes to replace "Petainism by persuasion" with "Petainism by discipline," thus imposing on the French people a conservative revolution which they have refused to adopt of their own free will.

GERMANY: In one of the biggest daylight raids on the war Cologne has been hit by 54 Blenheims and four US made Flying Fortresses, setting fire to two power stations. Thirteen planes were lost.
The attack follows a bombing directive by Air Vice-Marshal Norman Bottomley, the deputy chief of the air staff, claiming that strikes on industrial towns undermine civilian morale. Last month he wrote: "Destroy the morale of the civilian population as a whole and the industrial workers in particular."
The air ministry says that the raiders had a fighter escort to Antwerp. Then "the bombers went on alone, ..., on their 150 mile penetration of the German air defence system. The power stations were attacked at point blank range."

Last night 24 Wellington bombers attacked a railway target at Monchen-Gladbach, on the edge of the Ruhr. All the bombers returned safely. Although cloud covered the target, the raid was noteworthy in that two aircraft, from 115 Squadron, were equipped with a new navigation device codenamed "Gee".
Until now British bombers have had to reckon on dead reckoning and astro-navigation to find their way to targets by night. The result has been that up to 90 per cent of bombs have missed their target. Robert Dippy, a scientist working at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) at Worth Matravers in Dorset, has produced a radio navigation system known as TR 1335. This is based on three radio transmitters, situated on a 200 mile baseline, sending signals to the aircraft. These are observed by the navigator on a cathode-ray tube and can tell him his position to within a mile.
The initial results are very encouraging. The only drawback are that the system is line-of-sight and limited to a range of 400 miles, and that it can be jammed. As yet there are only 12 sets available, and it is planned to carry out further operational trials with these this month before TR 1335 is cleared for production.

U-657 is launched.

Berlin: The Finnish Ambassador in Berlin, T. M. Kivimäki informs the German Foreign Ministry that Finland doesn't think it necessary to join the Anti-Comintern Pact, because 'the Finnish attitude towards communism is already clear'.

ROMANIA: All Jews are forced to register for forced labour.

U.S.S.R.: In a supplement to his war directive no. 34, Hitler orders increased efforts by Army Group North to capture Leningrad and a new offensive by Army Group South to take Kharkov, the Donets Industrial Basin and the Crimea, suspending military activity by Army Group Centre in the central front around Moscow. Instead it is to aid the other Army Groups.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Apprentice John Sedgwick Gregson (b. 1924) helped free a gunner on the sinking MV DEUCALIAN, then swam 600 yards with the helpless man to another ship. He is later awarded the Albert Medal.

TURKEY: Ankara: Britain and Russia have assured neutral Turkey that they will come to its aid in the event of an attack by any European power. In identically-worded statements presented to the Turkish foreign office by their ambassadors, the two Allies have also pledged themselves to "respect the territorial integrity of the Turkish Republic."
The statements are seen as counters to German propaganda claiming that Russia would take advantage of Turkey and invade should the latter enter the war.

AUSTRALIA: Corvette HMAS Meadowsweet laid down.

CANADA: Japanese Canadians are required to carry registration cards that have their thumbprint and photo.

Fairmile "B" patrol craft ordered in Canada - USS SC 1466 (ex HM ML 392), USS SC 1467 (ex HM ML 393), USS SC 1468 (ex HM ML 394), USS SC 1469 (ex HM ML 395), USS SC 1470 (ex HM ML 396), USS SC 1471 (ex HM ML 397), USS SC 1472 (ex HM ML 398), USS SC 1473 (ex HM ML 399).

NEWFOUNDLAND: The final conference between US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Placentia Bay, Argentia, Newfoundland, is held in the US heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31). The two men have discussed the needs of the British for support, a joint strategy and the political character of the post-war world. At the end, The Atlantic Charter, which outlines goals in the war against Germany and emphasizes the principles of freedom, self-determination, peace and co-operation, is issued. After the last meeting, the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and her escort depart Newfoundland for England while USS Augusta, with USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and 5 destroyers, sail fro Blue Hill Bay, Maine, where the presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) and her tender, USS Calypso (AG-35), are anchored.

U.S.A.: The manoeuvres held at New River, North Carolina, since 3 August involving the 1st Marine Division and the Army's 1st Division, end.

US Navy Motor Torpedo Squadron 3 is commissioned and sent to the Philippines.

Two motion pictures are released:

1. "Dive Bomber," a drama directed by Michael Curtiz, stars Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Belamy, Alexis Smith, Regis Toomey and Craig Stevens; Alan Hale, Jr., George Meeker and Gig Young appear in uncredited roles. The plot involves Navy flight surgeons attempting to solve the problem of blackouts experienced by dive bomber pilots but of course, the real stars are the Navy aircraft in their pre-war markings. The film is nominated for one technical Academy Award.

2. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," a horror drama based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," is directed by Victor Fleming and stars Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp and Barton MacLane; Hillary Brooke appears in an uncredited role. The plot involves the good Dr. Jekyll and his other half, the evil Mr. Hyde. The film is nominated for three technical Academy Awards.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: During the night of 11/12 August, the British Flower class corvette HMS Picotee (K 63) is sunk about 206 nautical miles (382 kilometres) southeast of Reykjavik, Iceland, (62.00N, 16.01W) after being hit by with one torpedo from U-568. The corvette was escorting slow convoy ON(S)-4 from the U.K. to North America. Picotee sinks almost immediately and there are no survivors. (Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)(108)

12 August 1942

August 12th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Rescue tug HMS Eminent launched.

Minesweepers HMS Espiegle and Fancy launched.

Destroyer HMS Meteor is launched.

NORTH SEA: Submarine HMS Unshaken sinks the German merchant Georg L.M. Russ (2890 BRT) off Norway.

GERMANY: U-468, U-526 and U-709 are commissioned.

U-531 is launched.

U-1062 is laid down.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Churchill arrives for a conference with Stalin and informs his colleagues: "I can handle this peasant."
The major reason for this trip is to inform Stalin there will be no 2nd Front in western Europe in 1942.

1st Panzer Army's LII A.K. captured Elista. At this time 4th Panzer Army is approaching the outer ring of the Stalingrad defences from the Southwest, having entered Abganerovo on the 12th. (Jeff Chrisman)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Attacks continue on the convoy of Operation Pedestal. Today 2 cruisers and destroyer and 2 merchants are sunk. One tanker and HMS Indomitable are damaged.

Whilst escorting the Pedestal convoy, destroyer HMS Foresight is attacked by Ju.87 and Ju.88 bombers and Italian S.79 torpedo bombers. Foresight is disabled by a torpedo hit and taken in tow by Tartar towards Gibraltar. Later it is decided to scuttle Foresight by torpedo from Tartar rather than risk both destroyers being sunk. There were 4 casualties but 140 survivors. Location: 13 miles SW of Galita Island at 37 40N 10 00E.

Whilst escorting the Pedestal convoy, light anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cairo is attacked by the Italian submarine Axum (TV {Lt.} Perrini, CO) which fired four torpedoes. Axum claimed hits on a cruiser and a destroyer, but in fact he had hit cruiser HMS Nigeria which had to return to Gibraltar, another torpedo hit the tanker Ohio, and the other two hit HMS Cairo and blew off her stern: she then had to be scuttled the next day, thus taking away the only two ships fitted for fighter direction. Axum’s achievement of one cruiser sunk, another damaged, and a tanker damaged with a single salvo is unique in submarine history standing at 4,200 tons sunk and 17,514 tons damaged. Location: NE of Bizerta at 37 40N 10 06E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Italian submarine Cobalto rammed and sunk off Bizerta, Tunisia after being forced to surface after being depth charged by destroyers HMS Ithuriel and Pathfinder. It was Ithuriel that rammed the submarine.

Italian submarine Dagabur rammed and sunk north of Algiers by destroyer HMS Wolverine.

ALGERIA: An Air France Lioré et Olivier H 246-1 seaplane, msn 403, registered F-AREJ, is damaged by RAF Hurricanes and sinks on landing at Algiers; the 4 aboard the aircraft are killed.

EGYPT: Cairo: Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery has today taken over command of the British Eighth Army in North Africa. The arrival of this relatively unknown general is the culmination of a week of turmoil in the army hierarchy, as first Winston Churchill pressed for changes and then the newly-chosen commander for the Eighth Army was shot down by German fighters, leaving the way open for Montgomery. The major internal battle has been waged over the new C-in-C, with Auchinleck now replaced by General Sir Harold Alexander.
Auchinleck finally sealed his own fate when he told the PM that there was no chance of a major offensive until his exhausted army was reinforced and retrained, and complained about the inadequacy of his tanks and anti-tank weapons, prompting the premier to storm: "Rommel, Rommel, Rommel! What else matters except beating him?" How quickly the offensive will begin is another matter.

CHINA: Shantung: Japanese troops today took advantage of the disarray among the divided Chinese forces by launching new operations in central Shantung against the troops of the Nationalist leader Yu Hsueh-chung, on the run for the last nine days since Communist troops overran his headquarters before they defected to the Eighth Route Army.
Yu managed to escape by disguising himself as a shepherd as the Communists moved into his old base area to begin mopping up operations against Nationalist die-hards. Among those cornered was the militant anti-Communist Ch'in Chijung, who, when surrounded by the Eighth, committed suicide rather than be captured.

JAPAN: The 39 year old would-be assassin of Prime Minister Tojo Hideki, Park Soowan has been killed by police it is today reported in the Japanese press. The attempt was made on June 17th. (Lois Shapley Bassen and Sharon Domier)(132 and 133)

NEW HEBRIDES: US forces start building a base on Espiritu Santu.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A PBY Catalina, piloted by Admiral McCain's aide, is the first aircraft to land at, the yet unfinished, Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. On a run from Guadalcanal to Tulagi, 2 Higgins boats and tank lighter are attacked by a IJN I-boat. After sinking one Higgins boat the submarine is bracketed by Battery E of the 11th Marines and submerges.

The US forces on Guadalcanal are placed on reduced rations of 2 meals per day. This relatively large ration is possible due to the captured Japanese food stuffs.

After dark a patrol led by Col. Frank Goettge (G-2, 1st MarDiv) leaves the Marine Perimeter, by boat 3 miles east, for the mouth of the Matanikau River. Stories from the 3 survivors tell of the glint of swords or bayonets as the patrol is slaughtered. This incident will profoundly effect the US forces throughout the war in the Pacific.

Supporting the Guadalcanal invasion, USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Allied Air Forces bomb shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island, scoring damaging hits on an oiler.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Cowra laid down.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Trois Rivieres (ex HMCS Three Rivers) commissioned.

Minesweepers HMCS Llewellyn and Lloyd George launched Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutian Islands: A US 11th Air Force B-24 Liberator flies photo reconnaissance over Amlia and Atka Islands.

U.S.A.: San Francisco: Admiral Nimitz replies to Admiral King: "Doubt BB usefulness unless we can operate them in close support Cactus [Guadalcanal] area." He agrees to bring Task Force 1 (TF-1) to Pearl Harbor "for possible use against landing attack this area," i.e. Hawaii. Otherwise, he tells King, no old battleships would go south "unless directed by you." (John B. Lundstrom)(225)

The US light cruiser USS Cleveland (CL-55), operating in the Chesapeake Bay, demonstrated the effectiveness of the radio-proximity fuze against aircraft by destroying 3 radio-controlled drones with 4 proximity bursts fired from her 5-inch (127 mm) guns. This successful demonstration led to mass production of the fuze.

USS Wolverine, Unclassified Miscellaneous Vessel Number 64 (IX-64) had been launched in 1912 by Detroit Shipbuilding as SS Seeandbee. She was converted and commissioned today. This aircraft carrier was used for training on the Great Lakes and was one of two paddlewheelers.

Destroyer USS Robinson laid down.

Destroyer USS La Vallette is commissioned.

Movie star Clark Gable enlists. (Stuart Kohn)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-508 sinks SS Manzanillo and Santiago de Cuba in SpecCon-12.

12 August 1943

August 12th, 1943 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England dispatches both the VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command on missions.

- The VIII Air Support Command sends 71 B-26B Marauders to the Nord Airfield at Poix, France on Missions 17 and 18; 34 hit the target at 1052 hours.

- The Ruhr is targeted by 2 forces with the bombers concentrating on manufacturing installations and synthetic oil during VIII Bomber Command Mission 81. (1) 183 B-17s are dispatched to attack synthetic oil installations at Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen; some B-17s become separated on the bomb run and bomb various targets of opportunity;

133 B-17s hit the targets at 0845-0925 hours; 23 B-17's are lost. (2) 147 B-17s are dispatched to manufacturing installations at Bonn; 110 hit the target at 0850-0858 hours; 2 B-17s are lost.

Captain Clark Gable of the USAAF today flies on a raid on the Ruhr.

Corvette HMCS Bowmanville (ex HMS Nunney Castle) laid down Sunderland.

GERMANY: U-860 commissioned.

U-864 launched.

U-1278 launched.

ITALY: 656 RAF bombers devastate Milan, dropping 1,252 tons of incendiary bombs; secret negotiations for an armistice are opened.

Turin: Flt-Sgt. Arthur Louis Aaron (b.1922), No. 218 Squadron RAFVR, suffered terrible injuries in a fighter attack, in spite of which he brought his Short Stirling in to land in Algeria. He died nine hours later. (Victoria Cross)

U.S.S.R.: Chuguyev in the Kharkov sector falls to the Soviets. The advance on Poltava threatens to cut off the German units at Kharkov and further south. Therefore the III Panzer Corps is brought north from Taganrog. The use of Panzer forces as a mobile reserve is indicative of the weakness of the German Army on the Eastern Front.

CHINA: Shantung: An isolated Chinese Nationalist division in Shantung is in danger of being destroyed as it comes under attack from both the Chinese Communists and the Japanese. Members of the Kuomintang's 51st Corps which operates in the Yi-meng Shan area have been acting as a guerrilla force for the last three months following Japanese attacks. Now the diehard Nationalists have lost their HQ and their commander, following an attack by the rival Chinese Communists Eighth Route Army.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The US Thirteenth Air Force dispatches 25 B-24s, with 8 P-40s and 22 US Marine F4U Corsairs, to bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island, causing considerable damage in the dispersal and runway areas. The Allied airplanes claim 11 A6M "Zekes" shot down; 1 P-40 and 1 F4U are lost. During the night, a US Army detachment lands at Barakoma on Vella Lavella Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The USN Task Unit 16.6.1 consisting of the heavy cruisers USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and USS Salt Lake City (CA-25), the light cruisers USS Detroit (CL-8), USS Raleigh (CL-7) and USS Richmond (CL-9), and 5 destroyers bombard Kiska Island between 0712 and 0733 hours local with 85 rounds of 8-inch (203.2 mm), 450 rounds of 6-inch (152.4 mm) and 1,072 rounds of 5-inch (127 mm) shells. Scouting aircraft are launched by the cruisers to spot the shellfire but damage is difficult to assess because of the excellent camouflage the departed Japanese had used. Later in the day, US Eleventh Air Force B-24s and B-25 Mitchells fly 26 bombing, strafing, and radar and photo reconnaissance sorties over Kiska Island targets from bases on Adak Island. From Amchitka Island P-40s, P-38 Lightnings, B-24s, B-25s, and A-24 Dauntlesses fly 70 bombing sorties over the island and are joined by B-24s, P-40s, and F-5A Lightnings flying 6 reconnaissance and photo sorties. Targets include the runway, harbour and shipping installations, army barracks, and the Rose Hill area.

U.S.A.: The HQ USAFISPA, Air Information Bulletin No. 23, reproduces information found in HQ AAF, SWPA Intelligence Summary No. 126 on the Nakajima Ki-43. (Mike Yared)

Destroyer escorts USS Stern and Swearer laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Bull commissioned.

Submarine USS Boarfish laid down.

Frigate USS Woonsocket laid down.

Frigate USS Pouhgkeepsie launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: During an air attack on U-760 in the North Atlantic one man was lost. [Matrosenenobergefreiter Günter Werner].

U-181 sinks SS Clan MacArthur in Convoy DN-55.

12 August 1944

August 12th, 1944 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The shuttle-bombing mission flown by US Eighth Air Force from UK-USSR-Italy-UK is completed; of the 72 B-17s taking off from Fifteenth Air Force bases in Italy, 3 have various problems; the others bomb Francazal Airfield, Toulouse, France and then proceed to the UK; 62 P-51 Mustangs (part of the shuttle-mission force) and 43 from the UK provide escort; no aircraft are lost; 70 B-17s and 58 P-51s land in the UK; 5 B-17s and 6 P-51s, either left in Italy or returning there during this mission, subsequently return to the UK.

The Eighth Air Force also flies two missions:

- Mission 545: 577 bombers and 436 fighters, in 2 forces, are dispatched to make visual attacks on the Metz marshalling yard and airfield in central and eastern France; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost (number in parenthesis are the number of bombers attacking the target).
(1) 276 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Mourmelon (75), Laon/Athies (63), Laon/Couvron (61) and Juvincourt (52); 3 B-24s are lost.
(2) 301 B-17s are dispatched to hit airfields at Chaumont (72), Buc (67), La Perthe (58) and Etampes/Mondesir (12);and 69 hit the Metz marshalling yard. The 2 forces above are escorted by 386 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost.

- Mission 546: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

- 486 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s attack transportation targets in the Paris and Brussels areas; they claim 18-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-38s, 5 P-47s and 7 P-51s are lost.

- 220 P-47s and P-51s attack transportation targets in northeastern France; 2 P-51s are lost.

Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., a pilot assigned to the USN's Bombing Squadron One Hundred Ten (VB-110) based at NAF Dunkeswell, Devonshire, England, volunteers to serve as pilot aboard a worn-out Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator loaded with explosives and equipped with terminal radio control systems. The concept was that the pilot and co-pilot would take off in the aircraft and place it on the correct heading toward the target. Once locked under positive radio control by an accompanying mothership (a Lockheed PV-1 Ventura on this occasion), the pilot and co-pilot would bail out of the aircraft. The explosive-laden bomber would then be guided into its target by the accompanying plane.

The death of Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (USNR).

Lt. Kennedy was commissioned as a Naval Aviator in May, 1942.

He flew Caribbean patrols until September, 1943 when he was transferred to England. He and his crew finished their rotation in May, 1944. They stayed though July, 1944 as they felt "D-Day" was important. The balance of the crew was rotated to the US.

Lt. Kennedy chose to stay in England because he had heard of a new and special assignment for which volunteers had been requested which would require another month of the most dangerous type of flying.

The Secret mission on which he lost his life was described by a fellow officer after it was declassified: Lt. Kennedy, regarded as an experienced Patrol Plane Commander, and a fellow-officer, an expert in radio control projects, was to take a "drone" Liberator bomber loaded with 21,170 pounds of high explosives into the air and to stay with it until two "mother" planes had achieved complete radio control over the "drone." They were then to bail out over England; the "drone," under the control of the "mother" planes, was to proceed on the mission which was to culminate in a crash-dive on the target, a V-2 rocket launching site in Normandy. The airplane ... was in flight with routine checking of the radio controls proceeding satisfactorily, when at 6:20 p.m. on August 12, 1944, two explosions blasted the "drone" resulting in the death of its two pilots. No final conclusions as to the cause of the explosions has ever been reached.

More information: http://www.jpkf.org/BIOG.HTML

(Tom Hickcox)

Frigate HMS Tobago commissioned.

EIRE: An RAF Sunderland crashes at Caskelard, County Donegal.

FRANCE: The US XV Corps occupies Alençon and halts the German offensive towards Avranches. It then advances towards Argentan to meet the German 116th Division.

Now that the Allied armies have broken out of the Normandy beachhead they will be increasingly reliant on petrol to keep their armoured spearheads motoring as they fan out across France. In order to keep the fuel flowing across the Channel without interruption a pipeline has been laid from the Isle of Wight in England to Cherbourg. Known as PLUTO (PipeLine Under The Ocean), it can deliver up to 700 tons of petrol per day. Trucks then ferry the petrol up the line to the forward troops.
US Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack the Oissel rail bridge, Corbeil-Essonnes refuelling siding, and numerous points along highways in the Argentan area with the aim of bottling up enemy troops; fighters fly ground forces cover and armed reconnaissance over wide areas of western and northern France, also escort IX Bomber Command aircraft.

North-West FRANCE: With Brittany sealed off and its ports besieged, Patton has swung the bulk of his Third Army eastwards towards the Seine. Le Mans has fallen and Alençon, to the north, fell today.

The Allied plan is to put Patton's XV Corps in place at Argentan, opposite the Canadian First Army, now driving on Falaise, and trap the remnants of General Paul Hausser's II SS Panzer Corps, ten of whose divisions have disintegrated.

On Hitler's orders, Hausser has launched a counter-attack at Mortain, east of Avranches. In a bid to gain tactical surprise, the Panzers advanced without the usual artillery bombardment and overran two US infantry companies before pressing on to within nine miles of Avranches.

"Ultra" intercepts, however, had alerted the Americans to the counter-attack. As the Panzers moved up they were hit by a swarm of fighter-bombers and a strong infantry and artillery defence. The Germans collapsed in disorder. The massive forces deployed in the Fuhrer's directive for Operation Luttich did not exist. Of 1,400 Panzers assembled for the Normandy campaign, fewer than 150 remain, along with 30 self-propelled guns. Von Kluge's Army Group B's best move now would be to retreat to the Seine and save the bulk of its forces. This course Hitler has rejected.

Paris: A letter is sent by the French national railway, S.N.C.F. (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français), demanding payment of 200,000 Francs from the regional government of Haute-Garonne in southern France for transporting Jewish detainees from concentration camps to the border with Germany. The letter warns that interest will be charged if the payment is not made on time. (Peter Kilduff)

Destroyers HMCS Qu'Appelle, Assiniboine, Skeena, Restigouche and HMS Albrighton while engaged in Ops Kinetic, an attack against a German convoy in the English Channel attempting to resupply an isolated German garrison on an island in Audierne. Three German armed trawlers were sunk. During this action, Qu'Appelle and Skeena collided and had to be escorted by Restigouche to Devonport for repairs. After the landings in Normandy, the naval power required to support Operation NEPTUNE was freed to exert offensive power along the European coastline. Operation KINETIC was a typical example of the use of offensive sea power to deny the enemy the ability to use the sea for their own purposes.

One man from U-963 was killed during an air attack on the base at Brest, France and another man was so severely wounded that he died a day later. [Bootsmaat Albrecht Sekula, Maschinenobergefreiter Helmut Laskosky].

Nancy: Laval arrives to bring Edouard Herriot, former president of the Assemblée, from his nursing home, so that he might help revive the Third Republic. Herriot has no desire to save Laval and nothing comes of the endeavour.

GERMANY: U-2504 is commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: MS "T-114" (ex-AM.141 "Alchemy") and MS "T-118" (ex-AM.145 "Armada") - by U-boat, close to Belii Is., in Karsk Sea (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

ITALY: The liberation of Florence is complete.

The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches almost 550 fighter-escorted B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in France and Italy; the B-17s bomb gun positions in the Savona, Italy area; B-24s attack gun positions in the Genoa, Italy and the Marseille, Toulon, and Sete areas of France; 100+ P-51s strafe radar installations and other coast-watching facilities along the southern French coast; these strikes are preparatory to Operation DRAGOON, the invasion of southern France.

560 men, women and children in the Tuscan village of Sant' Anna are massacred in the early hours by Heer troops retreating to the Gothic Line. The Nazis defence is that this is an anti-partisan sweep. One of those responsible is SS captain Erich Priebke who is also responsible for the murder of 335 men and boys in the Ardeatine Caves south of Rome.

INDIAN OCEAN: - U-198 is sunk near the Seychelles, in position 03.35S, 52.49E, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Findhorn and the Indian sloop HMIS Godavari. All hands, 66 men, are lost.

KURILE ISLANDS: 4 B-24s and 2 F-7A Liberators of the US Eleventh Air Force over Paramushiru and Shimushu Islands, hit targets which include shipping in Higashi Banjo Strait and buildings and runway on Suribachi; enemy fighters give battle; the B-24s score 3 kills and 13 probables and damaged; 6 more B-25s fly an uneventful shipping sweep and take photos over Shimushiru Island.

US Seventh Air Force B-24s based on Saipan Island hit shipping, a seaplane base, and the airfield on Chichi Jima Island, Bonin Islands.

U.S.A.: US President Franklin D Roosevelt concludes his inspection of naval facilities in the Pacific and departs Puget Sound, Washington for Washington, DC.

Minesweeper USS Mirth commissioned.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-191 was commissioned on 12 August 1944, at New Orleans with LTJG ER Holden, USCGR, as commanding officer. She has assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: - U-981 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay at La Rochelle, in position 45.41N, 01.25W, by an air-laid mine (field "Cinnamon") and depth charges from an RAF Halifax Mk II of No. 502 Squadron based at St David's, Pembrokeshire. 40 of the 52 U-boat crewmen survive.

U-365 sinks SS Wedemeyer, T-114 and T-118 in Convoy BD-5.

12 August 1945

August 12th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

FAR EAST: Soviet forces advance towards northern Korea and land on Sakhalin Island.

KURILE ISLANDS: The USN light cruiser USS Concord (CL-10) and three destroyers bombard Suribachi Airfield on Paramushiru Island for 20 minutes beginning at 0046 hours local. The last shot fired by a USN vessel is fired by the USS Concord. Four US Eleventh Air Force B-24s make a combined visual and radar bomb run over Kataoka on Shimushu Island; three more bomb Suribachi Airfield on Paramushiru Island, hitting runways and buildings; one B-24 flies a radar-ferret mission; all of these missions are in support of the naval bombardment. USN PB4Y-2 Privateers of Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty (VPB-120) based on Attu attack Kurabu Airfield on Paramushiru Island.

JAPAN: US Far East Air Force B-25s and A-26 Invaders hit Chiran and Kanoya Airfields while other A-26s and A-20s and P-47s hit the towns of Kushikino, Akune, and Miyazaki; more B-25s and fighter-bombers hit shipping and communications targets on Kyushu, the northern Ryukyu Islands, and between Japan and Korea; the aircraft claim several small merchant ships sunk and damaged, and numerous bridges, railroads, factories, and other targets of opportunity hit.

On this quiet Sunday, junior Army officers meet with War Minister Anami at his house, attempting to enlist his assistance in their plans for a coup.

Okinawa: A Japanese submarine sinks the destroyer USS THOMAS F NICKEL and the landing craft USS OAK HILL.

The battleship USS Pennsylvania is torpedoed and damaged by a Japanese plane in Buckner Bay while lying at anchor. Hit well aft, PENNSYLVANIA suffered extensive damage. Twenty men are killed and ten injured. Many compartments are flooded and PENNSYLVANIA settles heavily by the stern. The flooding is brought under control by efforts of Pennsylvania's repair parties and the prompt assistance of two salvage tugs. Tomorrow she will be towed to more shallow water where salvage operations will continue. (Randall Steigner) (military.com)

PACIFIC OCEAN: Aboard destroyer escort USS Levy, Capt. H.D. Grow negotiated and accepted the surrender of Mille Atoll.

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS Algonquin departed Halifax for Far East.

Destroyer HMCS Chaudiere paid off Sydney, Nova Scotia.

MEXICO: Douglas DC-2-243 (ex USAAF C-39, USAAF serial number 38-518), msn 2075, registered XA-DOT by the Mexican airline Cia Mexicana de Aviacion SA, crashes in poor weather near Ixtaccihuati. All four crew and 12 passengers are killed.

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