What happened today? Part two.

1942 - Vice Admiral Halsey named new commander of the South Pacific

On this day in 1942, Vice. Adm. William F. Halsey replaces Vice Adm. Robert L. Ghormley as commander, South Pacific.

The man nicknamed "Bull" by the press began his military career as a destroyer commander during World War I. Halsey was made a captain at the age of 53, earned his naval aviator's wings, and was promoted to vice admiral in 1940. But it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor that would mark out his future for him. Halsey's task force was one of the few functioning battle groups left after the destruction of so much of the American fleet, placing him in the position of making the unpredictable and aggressive strategic decisions for which he would become renowned.

In 1942, he led surprise attacks on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands and supported the American reinforcement of troops on Samoa. It was his task force (a temporary organization of a fleet for a specific operation) that carried the 16 B-25 bombers for Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Tokyo in April 1942. By this time, Halsey's reputation for being where the action was had made him arguably the most famous American admiral of the war. And so it is ironic that he missed two major Naval engagements: the Battle of the Coral Sea (his fleet was not strategically positioned to participate) and the Battle of Midway (a severe case of dermatitis put him out of commission).

But by October 1942, Halsey was back just in time to be appointed commander of South Pacific operations by Admiral Nimitz, who wanted Vice Admiral Ghormley replaced. (Ghormley had suffered several defeats militarily and severe cases of indecision and anxiety personally.) Brilliant work in the capture of the Solomon Islands and New Guineas led to Halsey's promotion to full admiral. His career continued to strike awe in his admirers and terror in his enemies, as he succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, and commanding U.S. forces in the operations that led to the capture of Okinawa and the surrender of the Japanese there.

 

One other thought Knight, perhaps there's confusion with Keitel's directive on 4th August, 1942, that paratroopers were to be turned over to the SD?

No.9

 

Thursday, October 19, 1939 www.onwar.com


From Berlin... OKH issues Fall Gelb (Operation Yellow) in response to Directive No. 6 issued by Hitler on October 9th. It provides for a holding action on the French border with the main attack being sent through central Belgium and some attention being devoted to the Dutch. Meanwhile, Hitler officially incorporates western Poland into the German Reich.

In Occupied Poland... The first Jewish ghetto is established in Lublin, the center of a Jewish "reserve" in eastern Poland.

In Ankara... An Ango-French-Turkish Treaty of Mutual Assistance is signed. Allied commanders General Maxime Weygand and General Archibald Wavell represent France and Britain respectively. The term of the treaty is 15 years. The Turks pledge to aid the Allies if the war reaches the Mediterranean, but not if such aid could bring Turkey into conflict with the Soviet Union. In return, Turkey receives control of the disputed Sanjak of Alexandretta from French Syria.

Sunday, October 19, 1941


In Moscow... Soviet leader Stalin announces his intention to remain in Moscow despite the threat from advancing German forces. Martial law is declared in the city and work ordered on three fixed defensive lines around it.

 

Friday, October 20, 1939

In Britain... The war office recommends that soldiers at the front read both Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto.



Monday, October 20, 1941 www.onwar.com


On the Eastern Front... Heavy fighting continues between Soviet and German forces in the area of Moscow around Mozhaysk and at Malayroslavets. In the south, German forces penetrate Stalino.

In Occupied France... The German commander in Nantes is shot by French resistance members. Fifty hostages are shot in reprisal.

Friday, October 20, 1944 www.onwar.com


In the Philippines... Elements of the US 6th Army (Krueger) land on the east coast of Leyte. The 1st Cavalry and 24th Infantry Divisions of the US 10th Corps (Sibert) come ashore to the south of Tacloban; the 96th and 7th Infantry Divisions of US 24th Corps (Hodge) land around Dulag. A total of 132,000 troops are landed during the day. Naval support is provided by the US 7th Fleet (Admiral Kinkaid). Additional naval support is provided the elements of the US 3rd Fleet (Admiral Halsey). Additional air support is provided by the US 5th Air Force. The defending Japanese 16th Division conducts a fighting withdrawal from the beachheads to prepared positions inland to await reinforcements. American forces capture Tacloban Airfield during the day but are unable to link the two beachheads. A few hours after the initial assault troops land, General MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacifc, comes ashore and makes a radio broadcast to the people of the Philippines, recalling his promise to return. During the night, Japanese forces launch unsuccessful counterattacks against the beachheads.

In Japan... A carrier fleet, including 1 large carrier, 1 small carrier, 2 seaplane carriers, and 2 hybrid carrier-battleships as well as small ships, sails for the Philippines as part of Operation Sho-go. This force, the Northern Force (Admiral Ozawa) is intended to draw off the main American naval forces operating around the Philippines, to the northeast. Meanwhile, the 2nd Striking Force (Admiral Shima) sets sail with 3 cruisers and 7 destroyers.

In North Borneo... Japanese naval forces assemble for a counterattack in the Philippines as part of Operation Sho-go.

On the Eastern Front... Belgrade is capture by a joint force of Soviet forces and Yugoslavian partisans. Partisan forces also take Dubrovnik on the Adriatic coast. In Hungary, Soviet forces capture Debrecen.

On the Western Front... The British 1st Corps (part of Canadian 1st Army) begins attacking northward from northeast of Antwerp. The US 19th Tactical Air Force breaches the dam at Dieuze, causing extensive flooding to the rear of German 1st Army, opposite US 3rd Army.

 

Monday, October 20, 1941

Japan starts preparing Pearl Harbor attack

 

MACARTHUR RETURNS:

After advancing island by island across the Pacific Ocean, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte, fulfilling his promise to return to the area he was forced to flee in 1942.

The son of an American Civil War hero, MacArthur served as chief U.S. military adviser to the Philippines before World War II. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, Japan launched its invasion of the Philippines. After struggling against great odds to save his adopted home from Japanese conquest, MacArthur was forced to abandon the Philippine island fortress of Corregidor under orders from President Franklin Roosevelt in March 1942. Left behind at Corregidor and on the Bataan Peninsula were 90,000 American and Filipino troops, who, lacking food, supplies, and support, would soon succumb to the Japanese offensive.

After leaving Corregidor, MacArthur and his family traveled by boat 560 miles to the Philippine island of Mindanao, braving mines, rough seas, and the Japanese navy. At the end of the hair-raising 35-hour journey, MacArthur told the boat commander, John D. Bulkeley, "You've taken me out of the jaws of death, and I won't forget it." On March 17, the general and his family boarded a B-17 Flying Fortress for northern Australia. He then took another aircraft and a long train ride down to Melbourne. During this journey, he was informed that there were far fewer Allied troops in Australia than he had hoped. Relief of his forces trapped in the Philippines would not be forthcoming. Deeply disappointed, he issued a statement to the press in which he promised his men and the people of the Philippines, "I shall return." The promise would become his mantra during the next two and a half years, and he would repeat it often in public appearances.

For his valiant defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and celebrated as "America's First Soldier." Put in command of Allied forces in the Southwestern Pacific, his first duty was conducting the defense of Australia. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Bataan fell in April, and the 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers captured there were forced to undertake a death march in which at least 7,000 perished. Then, in May, Corregidor surrendered, and 15,000 more Americans and Filipinos were captured. The Philippines were lost, and the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff had no immediate plans for their liberation.

After the U.S. victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, most Allied resources in the Pacific went to U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz, who as commander of the Pacific Fleet planned a more direct route to Japan than via the Philippines. Undaunted, MacArthur launched a major offensive in New Guinea, winning a string of victories with his limited forces. By September 1944, he was poised to launch an invasion of the Philippines, but he needed the support of Nimitz's Pacific Fleet. After a period of indecision about whether to invade the Philippines or Formosa, the Joint Chiefs put their support behind MacArthur's plan, which logistically could be carried out sooner than a Formosa invasion.

On October 20, 1944, a few hours after his troops landed, MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte. That day, he made a radio broadcast in which he declared, "People of the Philippines, I have returned!" In January 1945, his forces invaded the main Philippine island of Luzon. In February, Japanese forces at Bataan were cut off, and Corregidor was captured. Manila, the Philippine capital, fell in March, and in June MacArthur announced his offensive operations on Luzon to be at an end; although scattered Japanese resistance continued until the end of the war, in August. Only one-third of the men MacArthur left behind in March 1942 survived to see his return. "I'm a little late," he told them, "but we finally came."

--------------------------------------------------

1944 - U.S. forces land at Leyte Island in the Philippines

On this day in 1944, more than 100,000 American soldiers land on Leyte Island, in the Philippines, as preparation for the major invasion by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The ensuing battles of Leyte Island proved among the bloodiest of the war in the Pacific and signaled the beginning of the end for the Japanese.

The Japanese had held the Philippines since May 1942, when the awful defeat of American forces led to General MacArthur's departure and General Wainwright's capture. MacArthur was back, as he promised, but his invasion of Luzon required a softening up of the enemy. Thus, the amphibious landing of the American forces at Leyte and the concomitant goal of destroying the Japanese fleet in the gulf was undertaken.

The Japanese anticipated the American landing by launching Operation Sho-Go, an attempt to divert the U.S. 3rd Fleet north and away from the fighting on the island. The Japanese fleet assembled was the largest ocean task force assembled during the war, including seven battleships, 11 heavy cruisers, and 19 destroyers. American submarines and aircraft carriers met the Japanese fleet and the Battle of Leyte Gulf began on October 23.

Meanwhile on Leyte Island, the American troops took on the Japanese garrison, which was composed of 80,000 soldiers. It took 67 days to subdue the island, with extraordinary acts of physical bravery and courage demonstrated on both sides. Even after the Americans had taken control of the island, Japanese soldiers who had been hidden away continued to emerge and fight on, preferring to die than surrender. All told, the Japanese lost more than 55,000 soldiers during the two months of battle and approximately another 25,000 in mopping up operations in early 1945. The U.S. forces lost about 3,500-compared with the Japanese loss of 80,000 total.

The sea battle of Leyte Gulf was the same story. The loss of ships and sailors was horrendous for both sides. The sinking of the American carrier Princeton resulted in the drowning deaths of 500 men. When the Japanese battleship Musashi was destroyed by a massive American aerial attack, more than 1,000 sailors died, including the captain who stood on his bridge and literally went down with his ship. Three days of sea battle saw the destruction of 36 Japanese warships-compared with America's three. It also saw the introduction of the Japanese kamikaze-"divine wind"--suicide bombers. The St. Lo, an American aircraft carrier, was one of the first casualties, when one kamikaze pilot drove his plane straight into its flight deck.

More than 5,000 kamikaze pilots died in this gulf battle-taking down 34 ships. But when all was said and done, the Japanese had not been able to prevent the loss of their biggest and best warships, signaling the virtual end of the Japanese Imperial Fleet. The American victory on land and sea opened the door for General MacArthur's invasion and the recapture of the Philippines.

 

Saturday, October 21, 1939 www.onwar.com


In Paris... General Gamelin, the Allied Commander-in-Chief, says that he has no intention of attacking the Germans. He has issued orders that if the Germans attack in strength, the French should retreat behind the Maginot Line fortifications.

In the North Sea... RAF fighters shoot down 4 out of 9 He115 seaplanes attacking a British convoy. No casualties are suffered by the British aircraft, nor is any damage done to the convoy or escorts.

In the North Atlantic... The French Force de raide (including the world's fastest destroyers) escorts a large Atlantic convoy (until October 30th) and intercepts the German SS Sante Fe.

Monday, October 21, 1940

From Rome... The Italian Navy organizes a new command -- the Maritrafalba -- to escort convoys from Brindisi and Bari to Albania, in preparation for an invasion of Greece.

Tuesday, October 21, 1941


On the Eastern Front... Zhukov takes command of the Moscow garrison.

Wednesday, October 21, 1942 www.onwar.com


On the Eastern Front... At Stalingrad, vicious fighting again is concentrated in small areas. The Germans are attacking the Barricades Factory and a housing estate. The attacks will continue over the next two days. The Germans make some gains in the Red October Factory area.

In the Solomon Islands... On Guadalcanal, the Japanese forces, mainly 2nd Infantry Division, under General Maruyama now number 20,000. The plan for the attack on the main American position involves simultaneous attacks to be made northward in the area between the Lunga and Tenaru Rivers, while secondary attacks are made on the American western outposts along the Matanika River. The Japanese lack accurate intelligence concerning the numbers and dispositions of the American troops.

From Britain... The transports and escorts in support of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa, sail. Despite the presence of 21 German U-boats in the waters off Gibraltar and the Moroccan coast, the transports are only mentioned vaguely in dispatches to Italy and Germany.

Saturday, October 21, 1944


On the Western Front... Aachen is surrendered to American forces.

 

Tuesday, October 21, 1941

As a retaliaton for the murder of a German officer in Nantes, 50 French hostages get shot. Henceforth reprisals get worse.

[ 21. October 2003, 07:01 AM: Message edited by: KnightMove ]

 

1941 - Germans massacre men, women, and children in Yugoslavia

On this day in 1941, German soldiers go on a rampage, killing thousands of Yugoslavian civilians, including whole classes of schoolboys.
Despite attempts to maintain neutrality at the outbreak of World War II, Yugoslavia finally succumbed to signing a "friendship treaty" with Germany in late 1940, finally joining the Tripartite "Axis" Pact in March 1941. The masses of Yugoslavians protested this alliance, and shortly thereafter the regents who had been trying to hold a fragile confederacy of ethnic groups and regions together since the creation of Yugoslavia at the close of World War I fell to a coup, and the Serb army placed Prince Peter into power. The prince-now the king--rejected the alliance with Germany-and the Germans retaliated with the Luftwaffe bombing of Belgrade, killing about 17,000 people.

With Yugoslavian resistance collapsing, King Peter removed to London, setting up a government-in-exile. Hitler then began to carve up Yugoslavia into puppet states, primarily divided along ethnic lines, hoping to win the loyalty of some-such as the Croats-with the promise of a postwar independent state. (In fact, many Croats did fight alongside the Germans in its battle against the Soviet Union.) Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy all took bites out of Yugoslavia, as Serb resisters were regularly massacred. On October 21, in Kragujevac, 2,300 men and boys were murdered; Kraljevo saw 7,000 more killed by German troops, and in the region of Macva, 6,000 men, women, and children were murdered.
Serb partisans, fighting under the leadership of the socialist Josef "Tito" Brozovich, won support from Britain and aid from the USSR in their battle against the occupiers. "The people just do not recognize authority…they follow the Communist bandits blindly," complained one German official reporting back to Berlin.

 

Sunday, October 22, 1939 www.onwar.com


In Germany... The propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, calls Winston Churchill a liar in a radio broadcast.



In India... The Congress Party declines to support the British war effort and condemns British imperialism.



Tuesday, October 22, 1940


Over Britain... The shortest night raid since the beginning of "The Blitz" is recorded. A large department store is destroyed in the attack.

Wednesday, October 22, 1941


In Occupied France... The German commander at Bordeaux is shot by members of the French resistance. Hostages are taken and again shot by the Germans when no perpetrator is found.

Thursday, October 22, 1942


In the Solomon Islands... On Guadalcanal, the Japanese attack again over the Matanikau River with a strong force of tanks and infantry. They are thrown back with heavy losses due mainly to the effectiveness of the American artillery.

 

1942 - Allies confer secretly about Operation Torch

On this day in 1942, American Maj. Gen. Mark Clark meets in Algeria with French officials loyal to the Allied cause, as well as Resistance fighters, regarding the launch of Operation Torch, the first Allied amphibious landing of the war.

It was decided as early as Christmas 1941, at the Arcadia Conference in Washington, that an Allied offensive against Rommel and the German army in North Africa would be launched. The details were debated for months, as American government officials objected to an early British operation, nicknamed Gymnast, which was deemed costly and ineffective-and was scrapped. The American chiefs of staff were also anxious to engage the Germans in Europe-not Africa. An ultimatum was even proposed: Unless the British supported an Allied cross-Channel attack, that is, an invasion of France, the United States would turn its attention to the Pacific and maintain only a defensive posture toward Germany. President Roosevelt was unwilling to issue such an ultimatum-and the chiefs of staff were ordered to work out a compromise operation for North Africa.

Operation Torch was that compromise. A secret meeting in Algiers, which was also one of the intended landing targets, was planned by an American diplomat stationed in North Africa. General Clark and members of his staff flew to Gibraltar and were then taken to Algiers via British submarine. Meeting with French army officers and Resistance fighters, Clark laid out the plan for the American landing and opened the discussion for who would be entrusted with leading the French forces. Gen. Charles De Gaulle, so instrumental in the organization of Resistance forces, was ruled out, as he would prove antagonistic to those French soldiers and officers still loyal to Petain and Vichy France, but who might be encouraged to turn on their German masters when supported by a massive Allied operation. It was finally agreed that Gen. Henri Giraud would lead the African French, as he had support in both the Vichy and Free French camps.

The meeting was interrupted at one point by the arrival of French police loyal to the Vichy government. Clark and company had to hide out in a nearby wine cellar. The conference resumed the next day-and plans for bringing the "Torch" of freedom to French North Africa took final shape.

 

October 23, 1944

Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, opening engagement for Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Decisive battle in the pacific. Between October 23-26, the main force of Japanese fleet was destroyed.

http://www.odyssey.dircon.co.uk/leytegulf.htm

 

Wednesday, October 23, 1940 www.onwar.com


In Occupied France... Hitler meets General Franco at Hendaye in southern France. Hitler tries to persuade Franco to join the war and offers as bait the allocation of Gibraltar and territory in North Africa. Franco is uncertain about how to proceed and successfully muddles the issue, leaving Hitler no better informed as to what is Spanish policy but without causing offense

Friday, October 23, 1942


In North Africa... The Battle of El Alamein. The British go on the offensive. General Montgomery's attack begins before midnight.Montgomery's plan is to have the infantry of British 30th Corps push through the minefields and enemy infantry positions with British 10th Corps, with two armored divisions, to move through and hold off any counter attacks while the infantry clears and widens the gap.The final phase calls for the German armor to be engaged and destroyed in the open. The British have a numerical superiority in tanks of 2 to 1 in guns, tanks and men. They also dominate the air. The Germans and Italian units are short of supplies. They are so short of fuel that the armored group has been split into 2 groups to enable motorized units to reach battle sites. The German and Italian units have also been interspersed so that a consistent strength front is presented to the British. The attack begins falling on the German 164th Division and the Italian Trento Division, support by the Italian Littorio and German 15th Panzer Divisions. British diversionary attacks in the south keep the 21st Panzer in its position for the time being. British forces make progress but do not make their time table to push their armor through the minefield. General Stumme, commander in Rommel's medical absence dies of a heart attack while visiting the front lines. In the confusion following his death, German responses to the attack are slowed.

In Algeria... In preparation for Operation Torch, British General Clark lands in Algeria for discussion with French General Mast and Robert Murphy, an American diplomat. Murphy has been conducting the negotiations with the French leaders in Morocco and Algeria concerning the coming invasion. French Generals Mast and Bethourart, Chiefs of Staff at Algiers and Casablanca have given their support. However, support of the Allies is less prevalent with the more senior French officials and soldiers. It is nonexistent with the Navy, who have not forgiven the British for the bombings of French ships at Mers-el-Kebir and Dakar. The purpose of this particular meeting is to ensure the cooperation of General Mast with the allied effort and to gain his acceptance of French General Giraud as the French leader. Mast agrees.

Monday, October 23, 1944


In Berlin... The official German news agency reports that vast numbers of volunteers are joining the Volkssturm militia, including men older than the specified age group and boys younger than specified.

On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces now hold a 137 km frontage in East Prussia.

In Finland... Soviet forces clear the Petsamo region.

 

1941 - Soviets switch commanders in drive to halt Germans

On this day in 1941, chief of the Soviet general staff, Georgi K. Zhukov, assumes command of Red Army operations to stop the German advance into the heart of Russia.

Zhukov's military career began during World War I, when he served with the Imperial Russian Army. He then joined the Red Army in 1918, taking time off to study military science in both the Soviet Union and Germany. By the outbreak of World War II, Zhukov was commander of the Soviet forces stationed on the Manchurian border and led a counteroffensive that beat back the Japanese attack in 1939.

By the time of the German invasion of Russia, Zhukov had been promoted from chief of staff of the Soviet army during the "winter war" against Finland, to commander in chief of the western front. It was in this capacity that he now prepared to beat back the German invaders, first from Moscow, and then from central Russia altogether. He would eventually be promoted to general and become a key player in the planning or execution of virtually every major Soviet engagement until the end of the war. Ultimately, he would represent the USSR at Germany's formal surrender and take command of the Soviet occupation of Germany.

Stalin's wise choice in handing so much power and responsibility to this one man was regretted only after the war, when Zhukov's popularity threatened his own. Stalin "rewarded" the general with obscure positions that wasted his talent and kept him out of the spotlight. Zhukov was finally made minister of defense after Stalin's death in 1953 in Premier Leonid Brezhnev's new government. But as the military attempted to remove itself from the iron grip of internal Communist Party politics, Zhukov, who supported autonomy for the army, began to butt heads with the premier, who wanted to keep the Red Army under the Central Committee's collective thumb.

Ironically, when the Presidium, the "conservative" (in this case, Stalinist) legislative body that opposed certain "democratic" reforms proposed by Brezhnev, attempted to push the premier from power, it was Zhukov who flew Central Committee members to Moscow to tip the balance of power and keep Brezhnev's position secure. As a reward, Zhukov was made a full member of the Presidium, the first professional soldier ever to hold such an office (it also served to have a man who proved himself loyal on a body that was otherwise hostile). But Zhukov's renewed attempt to free the army from party control resulted in his dismissal by Brezhnev. Zhukov would once again be lost to public view-until Brezhnev's fall from power in 1964. Zhukov would eventually win the Order of Lenin medal (1966) and publish his autobiography (1969).

 

Tuesday, October 24, 1939 www.onwar.com


In Paris... The Polish gold reserves arrive, having traveled via Romania and Syria. The value of the gold is estimated at over £15,000,000.
In London... The Polish Consul-General announces that Poles in Britain will be mobilized for service in the Polish Army in France.

On the Western Front... A fairly sharp engagement takes place towards the southeastern border of the Forest of Warndt, where a German attack on a French outpost is driven back.

In Moscow... A Soviet-German trade agreement is signed. The USSR agrees to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder to Germany. Meanwhile, the Finnish delegation leaves to consult with their government on new proposals put forward by the Soviet government, concerning boundary revisions.

Thursday, October 24, 1940 www.onwar.com


Over Germany... During the night, RAF bombers attack Berlin and Hamburg. These are the first British raids to cause significant civilian casualties.

In Britain... The first of 2000 provincial buses appear on London routes.

Friday, October 24, 1941


On the Eastern Front... The Ukrainian city of Kharkov falls to a coordinated attack by the German 6th and 17th Armies of Army Group South

Tuesday, October 24, 1944


In the Philippines... On land, elements of US 1st Cavalry land on Samar. The fighting on Leyte continues. At sea, Japanese aircraft, based on Luzon, attack US Task Group 38.3 (Sherman), critically damaging the carrier Princeton. The Japanese Center Force (Kurita) is discovered by scout planes from US Task Group 38.2 and attacked throughout the day by all the carrier groups. The Japanese battleship Musashi is sunk and a cruiser is damaged and turns back. Center Force withdraws during the day. The Japanese Southern Force (Nishimura) is also sighted but American air strikes fail to cause significant damage. Admiral Oldendorf assembles a force in the Surigao Strait to block Southern Force. Meanwhile, Northern Force (Ozawa) locates TG38.2 and launches an air strike. The Japanese planes do not find the objective and land on Luzon. Late in the day, Admiral Halsey (commanding US 3rd Fleet) assembles his carriers and battleships to attack Northern Force, leaving Admiral Oldendorf to defend against Southern Force. During the night, Center Force reverses course.

 

1945 - The United Nations is born

On this day in 1945, the United Nations Charter, which was adopted and signed on June 26, 1945, is now effective and ready to be enforced.
The United Nations was born of perceived necessity, as a means of better arbitrating international conflict and negotiating peace than was provided for by the old League of Nations. The growing Second World War became the real impetus for the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union to begin formulating the original U.N. Declaration, signed by 26 nations in January 1942, as a formal act of opposition to Germany, Italy, and Japan, the Axis Powers.

The principles of the U.N. Charter were first formulated at the San Francisco Conference, which convened on April 25, 1945. It was presided over by President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, and attended by representatives of 50 nations, including 9 continental European states, 21 North, Central, and South American republics, 7 Middle Eastern states, 5 British Commonwealth nations, 2 Soviet republics (in addition to the USSR itself), 2 East Asian nations, and 3 African states. The conference laid out a structure for a new international organization that was to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, . . . to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, . . . to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom."

Two other important objectives described in the Charter were respecting the principles of equal rights and self-determination of all peoples (originally directed at smaller nations now vulnerable to being swallowed up by the Communist behemoths emerging from the war) and international cooperation in solving economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems around the world.

Now that the war was over, negotiating and maintaining the peace was the practical responsibility of the new U.N. Security Council, made up of the United States, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and China. Each would have veto power over the other. Winston Churchill called for the United Nations to employ its charter in the service of creating a new, united Europe-united in its opposition to communist expansion-East and West. Given the composition of the Security Council, this would prove easier said than done.

 

Saturday, October 27, 1940 www.onwar.com


In Rome... At 2100 hours the Italians tell the Germans of their decision to invade Greece.

Tuesday, October 27, 1942


On the Eastern Front... At Stalingrad, German advances continue in the ground between the Red October and Barricades Factories. From this area, they can bring the landing stages on the Volga under direct machine gun fire. The remaining Soviet controlled areas are now on average of 300 yards deep, however, these are strongly held and fortified.

In North Africa... The Battle of Alamein. While the British concentrate on regrouping their forces, what Rommel intends as a major counterattack is defeated by a small British force at Kidney Ridge. Other attacks farther north meet with no success.

In the Solomon Islands... At Guadalcanal, the Japanese halt the offensive. They have suffered 3500 casualties with entire units being destroyed. Both sides are exhaustive by the heavy day and night fighting, but the initiative has passed to the Americans.

Wednesday, October 27, 1943


In Italy... British 8th Army forces capture Montefalcone. A night attack expands the 78th Division bridgehead over the Trigno River. The main German defenses continue to hold.

On the Eastern Front... German forces launch limited counterattacks south of Nikopol on the Nogaysk Steppe in an attempt to prevent Soviet forces from cutting off the Crimea.

In the Solomon Islands... New Zealand troops land on the Treasury Islands. Soldiers of the 8th Brigade (General Row) meet no opposition on Stirling Island and only a few Japanese on Mono Island.

Friday, October 27, 1944


In the Philippines... On land, the US 7th Division (part of US 24th Corps) captures Buri Airfield. Meanwhile, the Tacloban airstrip, on Leyte, becomes operational and the US 9th Fighter Squadron flies the first mission by Philippines based American fighters since 1942. At sea, a group of 3 carriers commanded by Admiral Sherman attacks Japanese shipping around Luzon, sinking 2 destroyers. There are also air strikes on Luzon. The battleship USS California is damaged.


On the Western Front... In the Scheldt, forces of the Canadian 1st Army continue attacks on Beveland and inland. Bergen-op-Zoom is captured. Meanwhile, German forces counterattack the British 2nd Army to the right. Tilburg is captured by British forces.

From Berlin... Field Marshal von Richthofen, the former commander of the elite close support force Fliegerkorps 8 in France, the Balkans and the Soviet Union, and cousin of the "Red Baron" is forces to retire from the command of Luftflotte 2 in Italy, following brain surgery.

In Spain... The Spanish Army launches a campaign against Republican resistance forces located in the Pyrenees Mountains.

 

1940 - De Gaulle sets up the Empire Defense Council

On this day in 1940, French Gen. Charles de Gaulle, speaking for the Free French Forces from his temporary headquarter in equatorial Africa, calls all French men and women everywhere to join the struggle to preserve and defend free French territory and "to attack the enemy wherever it is possible, to mobilize all our military, economic, and moral resources…to make justice reign."

De Gaulle had a long history fighting Germans. He sustained multiple injuries fighting at Verdun in World War I. He escaped German POW camps five times, only to be recaptured each time. (At 6 feet, 4 inches tall, it was hard for de Gaulle to remain inconspicuous.)

At the beginning of World War II, de Gaulle was commander of a tank brigade. He was admired as a courageous leader and made a brigadier general in May 1940. After the German invasion of France, he became undersecretary of state for defense and war in the Reynaud government, but when Reynaud resigned, and Field Marshal Philippe Petain stepped in, a virtual puppet of the German occupiers, de Gaulle left for England. On June 18, de Gaulle took to the radio airwaves to make an appeal to his fellow French not to accept the armistice being sought by Petain, but to continue fighting under his command. "I am France!" he declared. Ten days later, Britain formally acknowledged de Gaulle as the leader of the "Free French Forces," which was at first little more than those French troops stationed in England, volunteers from Frenchmen already living in England, and units of the French navy.

Another Free French movement had begun in Africa, under the direction of Gen. Henri Giraud. De Gaulle eventually relocated to Africa after tension began to build between himself and the British. Initially, de Gaulle agreed to share power with Giraud in the organization and control of the exiled French forces-until Giraud resigned in 1943, unwilling to stand in de Gaulle's shadow or struggle against his deft political maneuvering.

Whatever disagreements the British had had with de Gaulle, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was pleased with the French general's appeal to his countrymen's patriotism and the creation of the Empire Defense Council, which would organize necessary resources for military operations. Churchill believed it would "have a great effect on the minds of Frenchmen on account of its scope and logic. It shows de Gaulle in a light very different from that of an ordinary man."

 

October 28, 1939

Heinrich Himmler orders each SS soldier to sire a child before leaving to the front.

Ironically, this is one of the few orders Himmler had to withdraw because of the strong opposition.

 

Saturday, October 28, 1939 www.onwar.com


In Britain... A German He111 bomber was shot down by RAF fighters east of Dalkeith in southeastern Scotland -- it is the first German airplane shot down over the British Isles. Tow of the 4-man crew survived. The aircraft is part of Luftflotte 2 which is based in the extreme north of Germany and is engaged in attacking shipping off the northern and eastern coasts of Scotland.
In France... The British Expeditionary Force is reported to have enough food to feed its nearly 200,000 troops for 46 days.

In Moscow... Molotov -- in a speech before the Supreme Soviet -- asserts the that USSR has a right and duty to adopt strong measures to insure security and publicly demands territorial concessions from Finland.

Monday, October 28, 1940


In Athens... An Italian ultimatum is presented to the Greeks during the night. It amounts to a declaration of war.

In the Balkans... At dawn, before the ultimatum expires, the Italian forces in Albania begin to cross the border into Greece. Patras is bombed. General Prasca leads eight of the 10 Italian divisions in Albania in the advance. They attack along three lines with the main effort being in the center from the Dhrina and Vijose valleys. General Papagos, the Greek Command in Chief, has not deployed his main force close to the border to avoid giving any provocation to the Italians. He hopes to use 8 divisions with the possibility of reinforcements being brought from the troops watching the Bulgarian border. The greatest obstacle to the Italians for the first two or three days is the very bad weather which grounds their air support. The Italians have chose a very unwise time of the year for their attack.

In Italy... Hitler and Mussolini meet at Florence. Hitler conceals his anger at not being kept informed of the Italian plans and says that German troops are available if it is necessary to keep the British out of Greece and away from the Romanian oil.

Wednesday, October 28, 1942


In North Africa... The Battle of Alamein. The Australian 9th Division makes progress toward the sea and continues to draw more German troops to oppose them, specifically the German 90th Light Division.

Thursday, October 28, 1943

In the United States... As a consequence of a number of unresolved disputes, a coal miners strike gains momentum. About 500,000 miners are on strike at this point.

Saturday, October 28, 1944


In Moscow... The USSR-Bulgaria armistice is signed. There are provisions for the integration of Bulgarian troops into the Soviet command system. This has already been established in practice.