15 August 1939

Yesterday Tomorrow

1912: OSS Research Assistant, Chef, author, television personality. Julia (Nee: McWilliams) Child, in Pasadena, California (Tom Hickox)

August 15th, 1939 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: At last given permission by their political masters, the British Chiefs of Staff eagerly draft new instruction for Drax, while the Foreign Office and the Quai d'Orsay put pressure on Poland to allow Russian forces into Poland if necessary.

FRANCE: Churchill begins a tour of the Maginot Line, France's main land defensive barrier against Germany.

GERMANY: Captain Karl Dönitz, head of the U-boat arm of the German Navy, is recalled unexpectedly early from leave.
Berlin: Von Dirksen's own leave is uninterrupted: although he wishes to see Ribbentrop, the Nazi Foreign Minister will not receive him. Von Dirksen also discovers that the Italian Ambassador in Berlin, Bernardo Attolico, believes
Germany is about to go to war with Poland, ignoring Britain's attitude. Von Dirksen is convinced Attolico is wrong.

At a demonstration bombing for the Luftwaffe leadership, including von Richthofen, an opponent of the Stuka concept, 13 aircraft crash when cloud cover merges into fog deceiving the pilots as to when to pull out of the dive. It is too difficult to check the spinning altimeter needle so they were waiting to break through the clouds. Some of them realised their mistake in time to pull out but not all. Hitler is reportedly speechless for 10 minutes when told of the accident. The inquiry does not find anyone guilty of negligence, it is assumed that the fog had materialised in the hour after the latest weather observation. The aircraft were from I/StG 76. (54)

U-54 launched.

U.S.S.R.: In Moscow, Molotov is highly interested in von der Schulenberg's proposals;
von der Schulenberg in turn is surprised and pleased at the Russian's moderate conditions.

EGYPT: Indian troops arrive in Suez to reinforce the British forces in Egypt.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Wizard of Oz" premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. Crowds thronged the theatre to catch glimpses of Hedy Lamarr, Orson Welles, and other stars who attended the opening. Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum, this fantasy, adventure film is directed by Victor Fleming and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr and Billie Burke. The plot has Dorothy, a Kansas girl, and her dog "Toto" caught in a tornado and going "Over the Rainbow'' to a land of colorful characters and spirited adventure. Two of the 13 memorable songs from the film are Harold Arlen's "Over The Rainbow," sung by Judy Garland, and "We're Off To See The Wizard," sung by Garland, Bolger, Haley and Lahr. The film is nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture; it wins two musical awards including Best Song ("Over The Rainbow"). The American Film Institute has ranked this film as Number 6 of the 100 Greatest Movies ever made.

Destroyer USS Sterett commissioned. Submarine USS Seawolf launched.

15 August 1940

August 15th, 1940 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Battle of Britain:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - Fiat works at Turin and Caproni aircraft at Milan.
10 Sqn. Four aircraft. Three bombed primary, one FTR.

RAF Fighter Command: Luftwaffe losses, 76 aircraft, RAF losses, 35.

The day begins with Luftwaffe reconnaissance sorties during which a Do17 of 3(F)/31 is shot down south of Ventnor by Spitfires.

Fighter patrols over two Thames convoys are initiated in response to Luftwaffe fighter sweeps over the Channel in the morning.

At 11:25, 40 Stukas with escort reach the coast on their way to bomb Lympne and Hawkinge. 24 of the Stukas turn towards Folkestone and they are intercepted by British fighters who shoot down the lead aircraft. Some bombs fall on Folkestone town with others damaging a hangar and barrack block at Hawkinge. The remainder of the Stukas bomb Lympne losing two of their number to defending fighters. Lympne is put out of action for two days.

The first large scale attacks on the north of the country take place as 65 He-111s with Bf110 escort attack the Bomber Command bases at Driffield and Linton-on-Ouse. Seriously underestimating the strength of No. 13 Group which includes many squadrons bloodied in the Battle of France, as many as 11 enemy aircraft of Luftlotte 5 are shot down.

Later in the day Ju88s based in Denmark are detected heading towards Humberside. 50 Ju-88A-1s from I., II. and III./KG 30 from Aalborg attack the Bomber Command airfield at Driffield in Yorkshire, but are intercepted by 12 Group fighters. Ten Whitley's are lost on the ground for the loss of Six Ju88s.

Late this afternoon, 12 Ju88s from I./LG 1 bomb Middle Wallop, and 15 aircraft from II./LG 1 take off to attack Worthy Down. I./LG 1 destroyed several Spitfires on the ground; but II./LG 1 was less successful, only three aircraft reached their target; and no less than 5 aircraft from 4./LG 1 were shot down. Only the Staffelkapitan and one other crew survived.

KG3 attacks towards Rochester and Eastchurch in the mid-afternoon, with massive protection by the Bf109s of JG26 ensuring only two Do 17s destroyed while as many as eight British fighters were lost. Gruppen I and II attack the Short and Pubjoy factories at Rochester and manage to drop eight bombs near the target. III/KG3 was equally accurate at Eastchurch.

10 Group scrambled its largest number of fighters when 80 bombers headed towards Swanage and Southampton shortly after 17:00. Three squadrons made for Swanage to engage about 40 Ju87s protected by Bf109s and '110s, all heading for Portland. Nos. 87 and 213 Squadrons tackled the bombers and the '110s, leaving 14 Spitfires of 234 Squadron to engage first the Bf110s and then the Bf109s, which in overwhelming their interceptors shot down four. Nevertheless, the Stukas had been forced to jettison their loads.

The RCAF gets its first kill when Ernest McNab shoots down a Dornier bomber.

Prime Minister Churchill replies to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's telegram of 13 August in which Roosevelt stated that it may be possible to supply 50 overage destroyers to the RN. Churchill states that "the worth of every destroyer that you can spare to us is measured in rubies..." The "moral value of this fresh aid from your Government and your people at this critical time will be very great and widely felt."

- Assistant Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Rear Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, Major General Delos C. Emmons (USAAC) Commanding General of General Headquarters Air Force (GHQAF), and Brigadier General George V. Strong (USA) arrive in London for informal staff conversations with British officers.

BELGIUM: The first issue of the underground newspaper La Libre Belgique [Free Belgium] is published.

GERMANY: Berlin: The German News Bureau reported:
English reports claiming alleged losses suffered by the German Luftwaffe during its attacks on British airbases, harbours, munitions plants and convoys, have led to the comment by the [German] press in articles with headlines like "England Flees into Numbers Craze" and "Delirium Still Mounting." The [newspaper] Berliner Borsen-Zeitung states that in no other way could the English demonstrate so clearly what they are seeking to hide at all costs; that their situation is desperate and that the blows struck by the German Luftwaffe have taught them the meaning of fear. Fear alone (says the B.B-Z) could drive them to rave in this way about the supposed numbers of German and British losses.
At a conference of his three senior commanders Goring repeats his order of the 13th that the offensive should concentrate on RAF ground installations. "Until further orders, operations are to be directed exclusively against the enemy air force, including the targets of the aircraft industry..." He also adds that it is doubtful whether further attacks on radio-directional masts would be worth-while, since they believed that none had been put out of action by the attacks on the 11th.

U-97 launched.

U-167, U-168, U-169, U-170, U-181, U-182, U-183, U-184, U-185, U-186, U-187, U-188, U-221, U-222, U-223, U-224, U-225, U-226, U-262, U-263, U-264, U-265, U-266, U-267, U-335, U-336, U-383, U-384, U-385, U-386, U-413, U-414, U-415, U-416, U-463, U-464, U-465, U-466, U-467, U-468, U-525, U-526, U-527, U-528, U-529, U-530, U-531, U-532, U-611, U-612, U-613, U-614, U-615, U-616, U-617, U-618, U-619, U-620, U-621, U-622, U-623, U-624, U-625, U-626, U-627, U-628, U-629, U-630, U-631, U-632, U-633, U-634, U-663, U-664, U-665, U-666, U-667, U-668, U-709, U-710, U-763, U-764, U-765, U-766, U-767, U-768 ordered.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Mediterranean Fleet battleships HMS Warspite, HMS Malaya and HMS Ramillies bombard Italian positions around Bardia in Libya, just over the border from Egypt.

The Greek cruiser 'Helle' is sunk by an Italian submarine.

Note: Greece and Italy are not at war when the HELLE was at anchor off Tinos for a religious celebration! (Peter Beeston)

SOMALILAND: Capt. Eric Charles Twelves Wilson (b.1912), attached to the Somaliland Camel Corps, was captured after keeping a gun post in action for four days despite wounds and malaria. (Victoria Cross)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Agassiz launched North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Convoy SC1 sailed. SC series of convoys were introduced in Aug 1940 to provide a system of protection for slow merchant ships (7.5 knots minimum, often not achieved) which had previously been sailing independently, with disastrous consequences. Sydney, Cape Breton, was chosen as the western terminus to help ease congestion on the port of Halifax. SC1 sailed on 15 Aug 40. During the winters of 41 and 42 the SC convoys were shifted to Halifax, due to ice in Sydney harbour and its approaches. In Aug 42, when the terminus for the HX series of convoys was shifted to New York City, the SC convoys were moved to Halifax, with an interval originating from New York between Sep 42 and Mar 43. Of the 177 SC convoys, only three failed to reach their destination. SC52 lost 4 of its 34 ships to U-boats in Oct 41 and with the prospects for continued heavy opposition, was returned to Sydney by a tortuous circumnavigation of Newfoundland. SC62 and 63 were scattered by bad weather in Jan 42 and completed their voyages as independently routed ships. In all, only 29 of the 177 SC convoys were attacked, mainly made possible by signals intelligence and evasive routing, and only 145 ships were lost from the total of 6,806 (2.1%). This number is somewhat misleading as a large number of 'stragglers' were sunk when they dropped out of convoy that were not counted against convoy losses. Likewise, a number of 'rompers', ships that detached from the convoy to move ahead independently, were lost, and not counted.

U.S.A.: Two motion pictures are released today:

- "The Great McGinty," a comedy directed by Preston Sturges (his directorial debut), stars Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff and William Demarest. The plot has a hobo (Donlevy) who is recruited by crooked politicians to commit voting fraud. He works himself up to mayor of the city but then wants to become honest. Sturges wins an Academy Award for best writing.

- "I Love You Again," a comedy based on a novel by Octavus Roy Cohen directed by W.S. Van Dyke, stars William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh and Edmund Lowe. The plot has an upstanding, mean, teetotaling business man (Powell) being hit in the head and suffering amnesia. When he recovers, he reverts to his old self, a con-man, but he falls in love with his wife who is divorcing him.

Submarine USS Triton commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-51 sinks SS Sylvafield in Convoy HX-62.

U-A sinks SS Aspasia.

15 August 1941

August 15th, 1941 (FRIDAY)

GERMANY: U-165, U-334 and U-377 launched.

U-233 laid down.

FINLAND: The troops of Finnish 7th ID (Col. Svensson) are the first to enter recaptured Sortavala. Although the Russians have been able to evacuate most of the defending men, some 540 Red Army soldiers are captured. Sortavala is the first major population centre lost to the Soviet Union in 1940 recaptured. (Sortavala is today (2001) Serdobol in Russian Karelia.

In the lands that were lost to Soviet Union in 1940 there lived some 400, 000 people before the Winter War. Practically everybody left rather than stayed to live under the new masters (the fact that everybody left was so embarrassing to the Soviet propagandists that they claimed that the capitalists and their henchmen forcibly evacuated the civilians). Now, when it seems that these lost lands are about to be reconquered, the first civilians are returning. As the recaptured areas are still unsafe, the returnees are warned to have weapons with them and move around with caution. Only people able to take care of themselves are allowed back. Children, elderly and sick have to wait until later date.

U.S.S.R.: The Germans estimate that they have lost 30,000 lives so far in the Russian campaign.
Jews in the German-occupied zone are ordered to wear a yellow star and live in designated ghettos. The Nazi administration bans them from public places and transport and forbids the ownership of wireless sets or motor cars.

JAPAN: Tokyo: The Japanese government confirms that it will not invade Russia from the east.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur "> MacArthur convenes a meeting of all senior military personnel assigned to the Philippines and advises them that he would fight for the islands.
Philippine Air Corps inducted into federal service at Camp Murphy. (Marc Small)

PALMYRA ISLAND: Naval Air Station, Palmyra, FPO SF 309 is commissioned today. (Gordon Rottman)

U.S.A.: President Franklin D Roosevelt in the presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25), fishes while the ship is anchored in Pulpit Harbor, Penobscot Bay, Maine.

- The motion picture "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" is released. Directed by George B. Seitz, this comedy drama stars Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Ann Rutherford and Judy Garland. The plot has Andy Hardy (Rooney) going to New York for a job before he enters college and grows up fast when he is in the real world. This was Judy Garland's third and last Andy Hardy movie.

- In baseball, the Boston Red Sox play the Washington Senators in a game held in Griffith Stadium in Washington. D.C. The Senators are leading 6-3 but they forfeit the game because the ground crew deliberately refuses to cover the field when it started to rain.

15 August 1942

August 15th, 1942 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeper HMS Antares launched.

Rescue tug HMS Oriana is launched.

GERMANY: Vickers Wellington heavy bombers of Nos. 109 and 156 Squadrons join the newly-formed Pathfinder Force of Bomber Command. (22)

U-189, U-358 and U-759 commissioned.

U-272 launched.

U-862 laid down.

EUROPE: 5,000 Jews from Vichy France are rounded up for deportation to Auschwitz; in Zagrodski, in Poland, German troops shoot dead 500 Jewish families.

U.S.S.R.: German forces continue to advance in the Caucasus especially around Gerogivesk.

Moscow: In four days of talks with Stalin in the Kremlin, Churchill gave the Soviet leader a detailed explanation of the Anglo-American plans for driving the Germans and Italians out of North Africa and then mounting an attack on the European mainland, in southern Italy.

Stalin was not well pleased with the Germans at the gates of Stalingrad, on the Volga river and striking deep into the Caucasus, he wanted an Allied second front in western Europe. Churchill argued that a thrust into Italy would put pressure on Hitler to draw off forces from the Soviet front.

Before leaving Moscow to return to London, Churchill sent a message to Stalin thanking him for his "comradely attitude" and adding: "I am very glad to have visited Moscow, firstly because it was my duty to speak my mind, and secondly because I am certain that our contact will play a useful part in furthering our cause."

Churchill flew to Moscow in an American Liberator with a US Ferry Command pilot. His aircraft and two others carrying military and diplomatic advisers were escorted on the final stage of their journey by Red Air Force fighters. The British prime minister broke his journey to Moscow with a stop in Cairo for talks with British military leaders.

Finnish Patrol Boat VMV 5 sinks enemy sub. M 97 at Suursaari by depth charges.

MALTA: Today is the feast of Saint Marija in Malta, and tonight the churches of Valetta are filled with worshippers celebrating both the saint and the miracle of the battered tanker OHIO and four other ships unloading their cargoes in the harbour. If these ships had not managed to reach Malta, the island would certainly have been forced by hunger to surrender. The date 6 September - had already been broadcast by the governor.

No convoy has been so powerfully escorted. Four aircraft carriers, HMS Victorious, HMS INDOMITABLE, HMS EAGLE and HMS FURIOUS - which carried Spitfire reinforcements - joined the battleships HMS NELSON and HMS RODNEY, together with the cruisers, HMS NIGERIA, KENYA and MANCHESTER, the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS CAIRO and a host of destroyers. Eight submarines were stationed to combat any surface attackers. The convoy sailed through Gibraltar on 10 August. A major setback came the following day. At 1.30pm HMS EAGLE was hit by four torpedoes and sank quickly; 900 of her 1,610 crew rescued. Later, 36 German bombers struck at the convoy but scored no hits.

At noon on 12 August 80 aircraft appeared from the direction of Sicily but were driven off. The VICTORIOUS was hit by a bomb that failed to explode and the merchant ship DEUCALION was damaged by a near miss; later in the day she was sunk by torpedo-bombers.

Ordeal by submarine was to follow, but no ship was hit and an Italian U-boat was rammed and sunk by HMS ITHURIEL. In the early evening more air attacks began, and four bombs put the carrier INDOMITABLE's flight deck out of action. Then the Italian submarine AXUM succeeded in torpedoing the NIGERIA, the CAIRO and the OHIO.

At dusk another carefully synchronised air attack sank two merchant ships and slightly damaged the KENYA. E-boats were the next menace as the convoy rounded Cape Bon at midnight. Five more merchantmen were sunk, and the MANCHESTER was scuttled later.

Dawn brought continuous air attacks from enemy airfields less than 100 miles away.The WAIMARAMA carrying ammunition and petrol, blew up. The MV DORSET was overwhelmed by a hail of bombs but, under protection of RAF fighters from Malta, three ships limped into the Grand Harbour. Next day the damaged MV BRISBANE STAR arrived. This left the OHIO with her important cargo of fuel, hit five times and under tow for the last 40 miles. At two knots she arrived to cheers today - Malta was saved.

MALTA: Capt. Dudley William Mason (b.1901) and the crew of the stricken tanker SS OHIO brought her into port after five days of constant attacks. (George Cross)

EGYPT: Cairo: Until now the name of General Sir Harold Alexander, the new Commander-in-Chief Middle East, has been associated with the two great retreats of this war - Dunkirk and in Burma. No one can deny, however, that he conducted them both brilliantly.

At Dunkirk, Alexander was the last to leave the beaches and toured them at dusk to ensure that no one was left behind. In Burma, he succeeded in bringing four-fifths of his men safely across the mountains into India - having fought all the way against the better equipped Japanese. Politically, he will make an excellent foil to Montgomery; but now the challenge is to attack.

NORTH AFRICA: At school they say, he was good at games, but refused to play unless he was the captain. He is arrogant, brusque and so far little known. Bernard Law Montgomery, the new commander of the British Eighth Army in North Africa, is a diminutive professional soldier with sharp features, bird-like eyes, and the total certainty that God is on his side. He won the DSO and was seriously wounded during the First World War. Twenty years later, in much the same part of France and Belgium, he commanded the 3rd Division before the retreat from Dunkirk. Now "Monty" faces his greatest challenge: defeating the "Desert Fox."

NEW GUINEA: 3,000 Japanese reinforcements land. (William L. Howard)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Shepperton is launched.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: 4 APDs (converted WWI Wickes class DDs) land the first supplies, aviation fuel and CUB 1 (aircraft maintenance unit) on Guadalcanal.

Martin Clements, coastwatcher, Jacob Vouza and other natives arrive at the Lunga perimeter on Guadalcanal. This group will become an important part of the scouting and intelligence for the 1st MarDiv in the campaign.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Digby arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Tug HMCS Kingsville assigned to Bay of Bulls, Newfoundland.

Corvette HMCS Atholl laid down Quebec City, Province of Quebec

Tug HMCS Glendower laid down Owen Sound, Ontario. Corvette HMCS Atholl laid down.

U.S.A.: Submarines USS Pompon and Snook launched. Submarine USS Hackleback is launched.

Minesweeper USS Threat launched.

Destroyer USS Waller launched.

Destroyers USS Boyle and Butler commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-705 sank SS Balladier in Convoy SC-95.

15 August 1943

August 15th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Uther commissioned.

The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command both fly missions.

- The VIII Air Support Command flies Missions 19A, 19B and 20 against targets in France and the Netherlands.
(1) 31 B-26B Marauders bomb Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer France at 0959 hours.
(2) 36 B-26Bs are dispatched against Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands; they turn back at the Dutch coast aborting the mission.
(3) 19 B-26Bs attack the marshalling yard at Abbeville, France at 1933 hours.

- The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 82 against Luftwaffe airfields in France and the Netherlands.
(1) 147 B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Vlissingen Airfield in the Netherlands and Amiens and Poix Airfield in France at 1926-1931 hours.
(2) 143 B-17s bomb Merville, Lille/Vendeville and Vitry en Artois Airfields in France at 1925-1933 hours; 2 B-17's are lost.

FRANCE: Annecy: An RAF Halifax crashes on a secret mission to supply the Maquis, killing crew and civilians and damaging property.

U.S.S.R.: Karachev, Russia falls to Popev's forces.

Generalleutnant Heinrich Recke, commander of the German 161 Inf. D.is killed as he personally leads an assault to retake a small Russian village. (Jeff Chrisman)

ITALY: The British enter Taormina, Sicily. Another US amphibious flanking movement finds the Germans have evacuated once again.

US Seventh Army troops land on the Sicilian north coast northwest of Barcellona during the night of 15/16 August to block the enemy withdrawal. The US 3d Infantry Division heads along the north coast to Spadafora.

British Eighth Army troops complete a drive around Mount Etna as the Randazzo-Linguaglossa road is closed. Linguaglossa is taken.

SPAIN: Madrid: The Italian General Giuseppe Castellano meets Sir Samuel Hoare, the British ambassador, to ask for Allied assistance to help Italy shake off the German alliance.

CHINA: Fighting between Japanese and Kuomintang troops in the Shantung region ends, with heavy casualties on both sides.

NEW GUINEA: The Allied airfield at Tsili Tsili, is the target of a Japanese air strike.

Salamaua: Not only were the infantry in action against the raiders and the artillery ready for them, but the ubiquitous signallers were, as usual, playing their part. Accompanied by a linesman, Lieutenant Hodson was today restoring the telephone between Boisi and Nassau Bay where it had been cut by the Japanese, two miles north of Lake Salus. At 1 pm an enemy patrol fired on the two signallers, who jumped into prepared holes and returned the fire. The enemy soon withdrew and the signallers resumed their task. (Michael Alexander)(155)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Elements of the 25th Division occupy Vella Lavella. Fighters are sent to cover amphibious landings at Vella Lavella Island where elements of the US 25th Infantry Division, and supporting units, go ashore in the Barakoma area and establish a beachhead at 0741 hours. Allied airplanes knock down about 25 Japanese aircraft. USMC F4U Corsairs also claim 10 Japanese shot down over Kahili, Bougainville Island. B-25 Mitchells bomb Papatura Fa and Ighiti Islands in the Rekata Bay area of Santa Isabel Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 34,426 US and Canadian troops invade Kiska Island and discover that the Japanese, under the cover of fog, evacuated their garrison on 28 July. Troops landing are the US Army's 17th, 53d and 184th Infantry Regiments, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment and the 1st Special Service Force. Also landing is the Royal Canadian Army's 13 Infantry Brigade Group. Allied HQ is justifying its continued bombardment of the last 18 days by claiming that its attacks had destroyed Japanese radio equipment so that there was no way of knowing if anyone was left.

U.S.A.: The US Army forms the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate). It is formed with personnel of Norwegian ancestry, at Camp Ripley, Minn. (Nick Minecci)

The War Department awards Sergeant Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit for his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes.

Large cruiser USS Alaska launched. Destroyer escort USS Kyne launched. Submarines USS Lancefish and Ling launched. Minesweeper USS Sentry launched. Destroyer escorts USS Ira Jeffery and Frament commissioned. Frigate USS Newport is launched.

During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "German Doctrine of the Stabilized Front." (William L. Howard)

15 August 1944

August 15th, 1944 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 554: 932 bombers and 443 fighters, in 4 forces, are dispatched to attack 11 airfields in northwestern Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in conjunction with 1,000 RAF heavy bombers and Mosquitos raiding 9 airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium; 16 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombing attacking.
(1) B-17s bomb German airfields at Cologne/Ostheim (108), Frankfurt/Eschborn (65) and Wiesbaden (38); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 9 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 112 P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-51 is lost.
(2) B-24 Liberators attack German airfields at Wittmundhaafen (91), Zwischenahn (90), Vechta (67), Plantlunne (54) and Hopstein (10); 4 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 163 P-38s and P-51s; 2 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost.
(3) B-17s bomb Dutch airfields at Handorf (109), Venlo (104) and Twente/Enschede (75); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost.
(4) In Belgium, 59 65 B-24s hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. Forces (3) and (4) are escorted by 118 P-51s.

- 33 P-47 Thunderbolts dive-bomb and skip-bomb a repair shop and locomotives in the marshalling yard at Braine-le-Comtes; 1 P-47 is lost.

- 12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: U-741 (German) unknown depth, Depth charged; northwest of Le Havre, in position 50.21N, 00.35W, by depth charges from the RN corvette HMS Orchis. Only one of 49 crewmen survives by self escape with Drager gear during sinking without an air lock, PoW. (Mark Horan and Jack McKillop)

U-741 damaged HMS LST 404 in Convoy FTC-69.

FRANCE: Paris: The police go on strike, in a move to prepare an alibi by disassociating themselves from their past collaboration and so curry favour ahead of time with the FFI. Prisoners held by the French are released by the strike.

A final trainload of deportees is loaded and dispatched to Germany.

The British VIII Corps enters Tinchebray, France. From here to Falaise there is heavy fighting by other British and Canadian units.

South from Tinchebray to Argentan the US VII and V Corps attack to the north. They have trapped the German 7th Army, the 5th Panzer Army, and Panzer Group Eberbach. A desperate retreat to the east begins for these units.
Field Marshall Kluge attempts to visit the front and spends most of the day dodging Allied air strikes. His unavailability increases Hitler's suspicions that Kluge is attempting to defect to the Allies.

Hollywood actor Art Carney, who is currently serving in the US Army's 28th Division in position around St. Lô as part of a 30 calibre machine gun squad is hit in the right leg by mortar shrapnel. (Drew Halevy)

In northern France, 330+ A-20 Havocs and B-26s with fighter escort bomb Marseille-en-Beauvaisis and Foret de Chantilly ammunition and fuel dumps, rail bridges at Auvers-sur-Oise and L'Isle-Adam, Serqueux marshalling yard, and coastal defence at Saint-Malo; fighters fly cover for 5 infantry and armored divisions, and fly extensive armed reconnaissance over northern and western France.

Between Toulon And Cannes, in southern France, Operation Dragoon begins.
The troops are General Alexander Patch's US 7th Army. General de Lattre's French II Corps will be the follow on troops. The defending German troops are General Weise's 19th Army of 7 weak infantry division and 11 Panzer divisions for the whole south and southeast of France.

The US Seventh Army stormed the beaches of the French Riviera at 8am today to open a second front in France. Three divisions of General Lucien Truscott's US VI Corps led the way, but they were backed by the French Army B under General Jed de Lattre de Tassigny, whooping for joy as they joined in Operation Dragoon.

- In the US Ninth Air Force's 50th and 53d Troop Carrier Wings, on loan to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF), participate in the invasion of southern France as part of the Provisional Troop Carrier Air Division.

- During the night of 14/15 August, the US Twelfth Air Force based in Italy, dispatches A-20s to bomb Le Vallon, Istres, and Orange/Plan de Dieu Airfields and other Rhone Valley targets while the US Seventh Army carries out preliminary operations to isolate Operation DRAGOON invasion beaches;

The US Special Service Force invades Levant and Port-Cros Island and secures the left flank of the assault area;

French commandoes land east of Cap Negre and clear coastal defenses, the French Naval Assault Group lands southwest of Cannes and secures the right flank;

The 1st Airborne Task Force comprising the US 517th PRCT, 509th PIB and 551st PIB, drop in the rear of assault beaches and blocks off the invasion area from the interior; the main force, the US VI Corps, lands 3 divisions abreast between Nice and Toulon at 0800 hours local;

A-20s bomb barracks in the invasion area while B-25s, B-26s, P-38s, and P-47s, supporting the invasion, pound beaches, enemy concentrations, and gun positions in coastal areas and later in the day move attacks inland to interdict enemy communications lines successfully hitting numerous bridges; fighters maintain constant patrol over the convoys and invasion area.

The Germans were taken by surprise when six battleships and 21 cruisers began their barrage during the night. 5,000 tons of bombs fell on coastal gun emplacements before paratroops landed in dense fog. Three American infantry divisions were first ashore, securing a beach-head between Cannes and St. Tropez with the help of French commandos and the Resistance. Allied casualties are very light: of the 400,000 men involved in the landings, just 320 are reported killed. The Free French forces are already fanning out, heading west for the ports of Marseilles and Toulon. De Tassigny has insisted on this task - promising to take both cities within a fortnight.

Southern FRANCE: Lieutenant Audie Murphy, the 20-year-old son of a poor Texan share-cropper, captured a hill here today, single-handed. Murphy lost his temper after Germans - their hands raised in surrender - killed one of his men. He rushed the hill, hurling oaths and grenades, a captured a machine-gun post. Still mad, he grabbed the gun and wiped out the other Germans. He was recently criticized for punching a private. Said Murphy: "The regulations were too goddamned heavy to carry."

Infantry landing ships HMCS Prince David and Prince Henry participate in the landings.

GERMANY: FW Helmut Lennartz shot down a lone straggler B-17 from the 303rd BG near Stuttgart. This would be the only 'viermot' (4-motor) kill claimed by the unit. (Russ Folsom)

U-3504 launched. U-2339 and U-3512 laid down.

ITALY: Allied troops advance to the Gothic Line between Pisa and Rimini.

The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy flies its first night raid; 252 B-17s and B-24s after a predawn takeoff pound beaches in the Cannes-Toulon, France area in immediate advance of Operation DRAGOON; 28 other fighter-escorted B-17s bomb highway bridges over the Rhone River; B-17s sent against coastal gun positions abort the mission owing to poor visibility; and 166 P-51s escort Mediterranean Tactical Air Force (MATAF) C-47 Skytrains carrying airborne invasion troops.

INDIA: RAF Air Marshall William A Coryton assumes command of the Third Tactical Air Force, a major component of the Eastern Air Command; tactical air force functions remain under Coryton until it is dissolved on 4 December 44.

U.S.A.: Escort carrier USS Kula Gulf launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Submarines HMS United and Upright arrive Bermuda for ASW">ASW training.

15 August 1945

August 15th, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The news was broadcast at midnight by Clement Attlee, but thousands of people who did not listen to the radio went to work today, only to leave again for a two-day holiday. The weather was wet, and the rain soaked the king and queen, driving in an open carriage to the first state opening of parliament since the war began. The queen sat smiling in a frail blue dress with her hat drooping. Every street was filled with milling crowds, and the Mall was a sea of people who fell silent for the king's broadcast at 9pm.

"The world has come to look for certain qualities from the peoples of the Commonwealth and Empire," he said. "We have our part to play in restoring the shattered fabric of civilization. It is to this great task that I call you now." The royal family made repeated appearances on the palace balcony. After dark the two princesses joined the rejoicing crowds in the streets outside. Earlier in the day Field Marshal Montgomery was wildly cheered in the streets of Lambeth, where he was born, as he was driven to receive the freedom of the borough to cries of "Good old Monty!"

FRANCE: Paris: Marshal Petain is found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Manchuria, which Japan had called Manchukuo, is to be returned to Nationalist China within three months of the end of hostilities, following a treaty of friendship agreed between the Chungking government and the Soviet Union today. The treaty, which excludes China's Communists, is a tactical victory for Chiang Kai-shek's government over its Communist rivals. In exchange for returning Manchuria, the Soviet Union's interests are safeguarded with its former possession, Port Arthur, returned to be a joint naval base and Dairen a free port.

CHINA: Marshal Chiang Kai-shek broadcast to his people after the Japanese surrender had ended a conflict that began on 7 July, 1937. "Our faith in justice through the black and hopeless days of eight long years of struggle has been rewarded," he said.

Chu-Teh, the C-in-C of the Communist army, warns the Allies that the Communists expect a share in the Japanese surrender and post-war settlement.

A three US Marine team parachutes into Northern China to link up with American PoWs. (168)

MANCHUKUO: P-63s of the Soviet 17 IAP claim one "I-97". (Mike Yared)

KOREA: 19 IAP Yak-9s claim 1 of 2 J2M Raiden 'Jack' Fighters near Nanam in the north of the country. (Mike Yared)

JAPAN: Major Hatanaka, Lt. Col. Shiizaki and Col. Ida arrive at the HQ of the Imperial Guards Division to enlist General Mori in the coup. There they gather Major Koga and Ishihara who have the written order to be signed by General Mori which will put the coup in motion. They wait on the General.

After midnight they barge in. When asked to lead the coup, Mori refuses without orders from his superior. They continue to cajole him to join them. They are joined by Captain Uehara. Mori refuses again and Uehara draws his sword. Col. Shiraishi, the General's aide is killed. Major Hatanaka draws his pistol and shoots General Mori.

It is now 2:00 am and the coup leaders proceed to the palace. There they obtain the cooperation of the guards on duty. The palace is sealed from the outside, telephone lines are cut. The rebels also take the Broadcasting House across the street from the Palace. The imperial chamberlains are alerted. They remove the recordings from storage and take them to a out of the way air raid shelter.

Troops ransack the palace looking for the recordings and Privy Seal Kido and others. Other rebels fan out over the city to kill the PM and FM and others of the "peace faction".

War Minister Anami commits ceremonial suicide. He does this because he has failed the Emperor by failing to win the war; failing to follow the Emperor's wish for peace; failing to control his officers; failing to live up to the expectations of the Junior officers and because the rebels have assassinated General Mori.

The coup comes to the attention of General Tanaka, General Mori's commander. At 4:00 am he proceeds to the palace. One unit at a time he seizes control of the situation. He confronts the leaders of the coup and advises them to commit ceremonial suicide for disobeying the wishes of the Emperor.

The Emperor is told of the coup at 7:00 am and then General Tanaka pays his respects. Radio Tokyo goes back on the air at 7:21 and announces that the Emperor will broadcast a rescript at Noon. General Tanaka finishes at the palace and takes the recordings to Radio Tokyo.

The Emperor broadcast his rescript at noon.

"Despite the best that has been done by everyone, the gallant fighting of the military and naval forces .... and the devoted service of our 100,000,000 people, the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage ... Moreover the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking toll of many innocent lives.

"Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in the ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization."

103 carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Force 38 are launched at 0415 hours local and attack airfields in the Tokyo area. They encounter heavy aerial opposition and shoot down 32 Japanese aircraft. A second strike is cancelled while it is en route to objectives; pilots jettison their ordnance and return to their carriers. The last aircraft shot down by the USN in World War II occurs at 1400 hours when an F6F-5 Hellcat pilot of Fighting Squadron Thirty One (VF-31) in the light aircraft carrier USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) shoots down a "Judy" carrier bomber (Kugisho D4Y Navy Carrier Bomber Suisei) at sea.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: All offensive action against Japan by Allied forces ends. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur is notified that he is Supreme Commander for Allied powers. MacArthur tries to communicate with Tokyo using the War Department signal facilities, but when he receives no reply, he turns to the USAAF's Army Airways Communications System (AACS). The AACS Manila station (call sign WXXU), tapped out MacArthur's instructions to the Japanese using a frequency over which AACS had been broadcasting uncoded weather information; the message reads:

From Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers

To The Japanese Emperor, the Japanese Imperial Government, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters

Message Number Z-500

I have been designated as the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (the United States, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and empowered to arrange directly with the Japanese authorities for the cessation of hostilities at the earliest practicable date. It is desired that a radio station in the Tokyo area be officially designated for continuous use in handling radio communications between this headquarters and your headquarters. Your reply to this message should give the call signs, frequencies and station designation. It is desired that the radio communication with my headquarters in Manila be handled in English text. Pending designation by you of a station in the Tokyo area for use as above indicated, station JUM on frequency 13705 kilocycles will be used for this purpose and Manila will reply on 15965 kilocycles. Upon receipt of this message, acknowledge.

Signed MacArthur.

Within less than 2 hours, the Tokyo reply came back. This was the first direct communication between the Allies and Japan.

(Having spent 3 years in the USAF's Airways and Air Communications Service (AACS), the successor of the Army Airways Communications System, I'm kind of proud of the above. - JEM)

AUSTRALIA: People had just got to work when the news was announced. They flooded out onto the streets of the cities, and the dancing and fireworks continued all night.

19 Squadron RAAF is formed from ex-KLM operated Dakotas that have been unofficially called NEI-Transport Section, Brisbane (NEI-TSB) and NEI-Transport Section, Melbourne (NEI-TSM) until then. (Daniel Ross)

CANADA: RCN 803 Sqn re-equipped with 12 Griffon-powered Seafire XV a/c at RNAS Asvroat.

U.S.A.: In New York Mayor La Guardia broadcast in a voice choked with emotion: "The day is not complete for he who brought it about is not with us. I know that 130 million Americans are giving thanks tonight for Franklin Delano Roosevelt." Outside tons of ticker tape were scattered and crowds danced to the sound of taxi horns and ships' sirens. Outside St. Patrick's Cathedral, hundreds knelt on the pavements.

In Washington, where the news broke at 7pm yesterday, the crowds outside the White House chanted "We want Truman". The president appeared on the portico saying: "This is the day we've been waiting for since Pearl Harbor." A two-day holiday was proclaimed for all federal employees.

The rationing of petrol (gasoline) and canned goods is abolished.

The top pop songs on this date are
(1) "Dream" by The Pied Pipers;
(2) "I Wish I Knew" by Dick Haymes;
(3) "If I Loved You" by Perry Como'; and
(4) "Oklahoma Hills" by Jack Guthrie.

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