The Second World War.

[Dr Cro]

313 sqdn at Peterhead and 310 Sqdn at Castletown near Thurso were 2 sqdn's which the operated Spitfire VI in 1943. 616 Sqdn which later became the first R.A.F. squardron to operate the Gloster Meteor also operated the Spitfire VI at Kings Cliffe in 1942.
For information on Luftwaffe losses in Scandinavia, I found a site called Nordic Aviation During WW2which may prove useful

http://www.rafandluftwaffe.info/

[Ennath]

August 14 – September 1, 1937
Spain Nationalist forces capture Santander, the last major Basque stronghold. The Republican “Army of the North” effectively ceases to exist.

August 14, 1940
Science and Technology Sir Henry Tizard leads a British scientific mission to the United States, carrying with him details of all of Britain’s most advanced thinking in several vital fields. There are ideas on jet engines, explosives, gun turrets, and, above all, a little device called the cavity magnetron. This valve is vital for the development of more advanced types of radar, including the versions used in proximity fuses later and the types working on centimetric wavelengths which will be vital in the U-Boat war. The US Official History will later describe this collection as the “most valuable cargo ever brought to our shores.”
Battle of Britain The weather is less good for flying and the Luftwaffe therefore confines itself to small-scale operations which include raids on Hastings and Southampton. About 500 sorties are flown by each side. The RAF loses 8 planes, the Germans 19.
Ireland IRA chief of staff Sean Russell dies of a perforated ulcer aboard a U-Boat on his way to instigate a coup in Dublin; he is buried at sea.
North Sea Two British destroyers encounter six German armed trawlers, sinking three.

August 14, 1941
Eastern Front The Soviets open a counteroffensive in the Karelian Isthmus. It makes few gains.
Britain, Home Front German spy Josef Jakobs becomes the last man executed in the Tower of London, shot by firing squad.

August 14-17, 1941
Eastern Front The Soviets evacuate their Black Sea naval base of Nikolayev. Eight destroyers cover the operation. Of the ships under construction in the port, 13 are far enough advanced to be towed away but one battleship and ten other vessels on the stocks have to be blown up. The Black Sea Fleet is very active in support of land operations whenever possible.

August 14, 1942
Eastern Front German 6th Army has almost completely cleared the Don elbow, but from their point of view, too many potential prisoners have escaped to the east because of the lack of mobile forces.

August 14, 1943
United States, Home Front New regulations for the draft come into force. There is a revised list of reserved occupations and, together with having dependents, this will now be the deciding factor in any deferment of call up.
Sicily American and British units converge on Randazzo and capture it. The Allies are now advancing rapidly in most sectors. The defenders are mostly demoralized Italians as the Germans are being withdrawn to the mainland.
Italy, Home Front Rome is declared an “Open City” to spare it further destruction from bombing.
Axis Diplomacy Bulgaria’s King Boris III visits Hitler and holds out against sending troops to Russia. He is also subjected to a lecture for Bulgaria’s refusal to deport its Jews.
Eastern Front There is fierce fighting for Karachev in the central sector.
Iran 170 German agents are arrested.
New Guinea American troops take Roosevelt Ridge, but the Japanese hold on over Dot Inlet.

August 14, 1944
Western Front The Canadian advance has reached to within 5 miles of the remnants of Falaise from the north. US XV Corps begins moving east from Argentan toward Dreux. In Brittany, all of St. Malo except the citadel has been cleared. The Belgian brigade enters the line, the first ground unit of that country to see action since 1940.
Eastern Front RAF aircraft begin dropping supplies to the Polish rebels in Warsaw.
Yugoslavia The royal government in exile signs a treaty with Tito recognizing the Partisans as the Yugoslav Army. Many Chetniks refuse to recognize this agreement.
Atomic Research Klaus Fuchs arrives at Los Alamos.

August 14, 1945
Japan At a government meeting Emperor Hirohito decides to end the wranglings of his politicians and breaks tradition by taking direct part in the proceedings, ordering that the war must end. He records a radio message to the Japanese people to be broadcast the following day, telling them to “bear the unbearable”. The word “surrender” is never actually used.
During the night, a group of hardline officers attempt a coup to seize the Emperor and destroy the recording. The commander of the army, General Ayanami, is torn between a desire to avoid a shameful peace and loyalty to the Emperor so he takes no action. The palace guards resist the coup and the rebels are defeated. Ayanami commits seppuku.
Manchuria The Soviets have penetrated up to 250 miles into Manchuria. Mukden is attacked. A full scale-assault begins on heavily-defended Mutanchiang.
France Petain is sentenced to death. The sentence is commuted to life in prison; he dies in 1950.
United States, Home Front The War Production Board removes all restrictions on the production of automobiles, beginning the conversion to a peacetime economy.

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by Ennath

Curious thing about the Ju-86. Originally it was not only a bomber, but a civilian airliner and utility plane. Among its users was South Africa, which pressed them into service with the outbreak of war. It was used for maritime recon and against the Italians in East Africa. Its designers cannot have been too thrilled at this.

The Germans were never happy when their planes were used against them. The Swiss flew Bf109s against the Luftwaffe when they violated Swiss airspace. Pissed off Goering to no end.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

The Germans were never happy when their planes were used against them. The Swiss flew Bf109s against the Luftwaffe when they violated Swiss airspace. Pissed off Goering to no end.

The Finns flew German types against Germany in the Lapland War in 1944-45, but their Bf109G2s were unable to fly in Lapland due to the short and very crude airstrips there. The only air-to-air combat happened during the Battle of Tornio, when two Brewster B239s intercepted a formation of Ju87 Stukas attacking Finland's amphibious landing forces in the bay there, and shot down two without loss. Dornier 217 and Junkers Ju88 bombers were part of the scanty air support available to Finnish troops in that campaign.

The Slovaks changed sides in August 1944 when their territory was about to be invaded by Soviet forces. They had a tiny air force equipped with worn and inferior BF109s discarded by the Luftwaffe; only 16 aircraft, all in doubtful repair. These, alongside a few Avia B534 biplane fighters, saw action against the Germans mainly in September-October 1944, flying from a place called Tri Duby which was hard for German ground forces to reach. They shot down a number of German and Hungarian aircraft before evacuating Tri Duby on 25th October 1944 when the Germans were about to arrive. Master Sergeant Cyprich shot down a Hungarian Ju52 transport plane on 3rd September 1944. operating an Avia B534; the last victory of a biplane fighter in WW2 and probably the last since then as well. The Hungarian crew survived partly because Cyprich abstained from a third attack once he had mortally damaged their plane in his second pass, and he permitted them to make a controlled crash-landing. Sergeant Frantisek Hanovec flying a Bf109G shot down a Ju88 on 27th October 1944, the last victory of the Slovak Air Force in WW2. But the First Czechoslovak Fighter Regiment (a Soviet Air Force unit) arrived in theatre on 17th September 1944 and most of the surviving Slovak pilots were co-opted by this unit. They had only recently been enemies of the USSR and this was an offer they could not refuse. In this unit, they flew Lavochkin La5s.

Hanovec was shot down in November 1944 and taken prisoner; he survived the war.

[Ennath]

August 15-29, 1929
Palestine Arab riots in Palestine in opposition to Jewish settlement kill over 50 people and lead to stricter British limits on Jewish immigration and land ownership. Neither the Jews nor the Arabs are satisfied with the new measures. The Jews respond to the lack of British protection during the riots by expanding the watch force known as the Haganah into an underground military force.

August 15, 1936
Spain Spanish Nationalist forces take Badajoz against disorganized resistance from leftist militia groups. Many prisoners are executed.

August 15, 1938
Germany, Politics The German Army begins large-scale “maneuvers” near the Czech border.

August 15, 1939
Allied Intelligence British code-breaking operations are relocated to Bletchley Park, an estate 40 miles from London. Its official designation is Station X.
Egypt British forces in Egypt are reinforced by the arrival of Indian troops at Suez.

August 15, 1940
Battle of Britain The Germans fly almost 1800 sorties, the greatest number they will achieve during the battle, and the RAF almost 1000. The attacks of Kesselring and Sperrle from northern France are joined by Stumpff’s forces from Norway, which send attacks against targets in northeast England. The distances to be flown here prevent any Bf109’s from giving cover and the Bf110’s which are sent to fill the escort role have to be fitted with extra fuel tanks in lieu of their rear gunners, further reducing their already limited combat capability. The Luftwaffe believes that because of earlier attacks Dowding will have been forced to pull all his few remaining fighters to the south and will have nothing left to meet this assault. In fact the Germans suffer heavily, losing 23 aircraft from a force of about 150 for no British loss and doing little damage with their bombs. The northern air group will play no further role in the battle. In the south, the day’s events are much less one-sided. In several engagements the RAF comes off worst but not in all. By the end of the day the overall score shows a British loss of 34 planes, all fighters, and the Germans 75 altogether. Several RAF airfields have been damaged but not yet seriously enough to prevent rapid repairs.
Göring takes two important and misguided decisions. He decides that because Fighter Command has been so reduced in strength it is a waste of effort to continue to attack radar stations. This seems to contradict his other decision that the escorting fighters must devote a considerable proportion of their strength to close escort for the bombers due to bomber casualties and declining morale among their crews. This drastically reduces the fighters’ effectiveness and increases the number needed to escort each raid. It is strongly resented by the fighter pilots.
Battle of the Atlantic The Germans declare a blockade of the British Isles.
Greece The old cruiser Helle is torpedoed and sunk. Italy is strongly suspected.

August 15-16, 1940
East Africa The British pull out of their positions around Tug Argan Pass in British Somaliland after a notable defense. They are now, however, in danger of being cut off by forces advancing from the east.

August 15, 1941
Eastern Front The Finns renew the offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. Soviet counterattacks around Odessa fail. The Rumanians are in action along the city’s outer defenses.
War Crimes The yellow Star of David badge is now compulsory for the remaining Jews in Germany.
Allied Diplomacy The London Polish government signs a military cooperation agreement with the USSR.

August 15, 1942
Eastern Front There are further German gains in the Caucasus, especially around Georgievsk, which falls.
Guadalcanal The marines on Guadalcanal are busy repairing the airstrip and consolidating their perimeter around it. They receive a small consignment of supplies by sea.
The Japanese begin regular supply runs by destroyers down the center of the Solomons from Rabaul, known as “the Slot”. The Americans knickname these runs the “Tokyo Express”. They continue throughout the rest of the Guadalcanal campaign.

August 15, 1943
Sicily The British enter Taormina as the Allied advance continues. A further American amphibious operation on the north coast arrives after the Germans have pulled back.
Poland Jews in the Bialystok Ghetto resist the final liquidation. The revolt is over by the 20th.
Eastern Front On the Bryansk Front, Karachev falls to Popov’s troops after a fierce fight. There is bitter fighting around Kharkov.
Diplomatic Relations The Swedes halt German overflight of Swedish territory.
Aleutians A US naval task force lands 34,000 US and Canadian troops on Kiska, only to find it empty of Japanese.
New Guinea Japanese aircraft attack Tsili Tsili where the Allies now have an air base.
Solomons At dawn 6000 men of 25th Division begin landing on Vella Lavella on the south coast near Barakama. The landing is accomplished without difficulty and the Japanese are thin on the ground. US troops on New Georgia take Zieta.
Burma Work on the Ledo Road continues slowly, only about 3 miles a day.

August 15, 1944
Western Front British forces enter Tinchebray and other British and Canadian units are attacking along a line from here to east of Falaise. US forces to the south are attacking northeastward. In between, threatened with encirclement, are German 7th Army and units of 5th Panzer Army and Panzer Group Eberbach. These forces are now beginning a desperate and disorderly retreat to the east. The Mortain operation is completely abandoned. The roads are clogged with German traffic making an ideal target for Allied fighter bombers. Kluge himself is forced to shelter from air attack for much of the day while attempting to visit the front. His long absence from HQ increases Hitler’s suspicions that Kluge is attempting to defect.
The Paris police and Metro go on strike. They are joined by the postal service the following day.
Southern France Allied forces land in southern France between Toulon and Cannes. The landing forces are from General Patch’s US 7th Army. Truscott’s VI Corps provides the bulk of the initial force. The follow up force is General de Lattre’s French II Corps. French commando units also land in the first wave, disabling German artillery at Cap Negré, and there is also an airborne attack involving a composite parachute group of 5000 men dropping inland near Le Muy. Heavy air and naval gunfire prepares the way for the landings. The entire operation is under General Devers’ 6th Army Group. The German force in the south of France is General Weise’s 19th Army; this formation has only 7 poor quality infantry divisions and the somewhat better 11th Panzer Division to cover the whole of the south and southeast.
The largest group of special forces lands on the island of Levante. 3rd US Division lands in the Baie de Cavalaire, 45th Division lands in the Baie de Bugnon, and 36th Division covers the left. There is almost no resistance to the landings and only 183 casualties are recorded. A German patrol boat sinks the destroyer Somers.
The invasion of southern France has been a political defeat for Britain. Churchill had hoped to attack the Balkans to forestall the Soviets, but the Americans are focused on the shortest route to military victory and mistrustful of British postwar aims. They are of course supported by Stalin. Britain is by now very much the smallest of the “Big Three” and has no choice but to go along.
Europe, Air Operations A Me-262 scores the first jet victory, shooting down a B-17 over Germany.
Eastern Front The Germans in Warsaw push through a link to the besieged garrison in the Mostowski Palace. A room-to-room battle develops.
New Guinea The Japanese on Noemfoor again manage to break contact.
China The Japanese attack in Kwangsi and Kweichow to link their China holdings with Indochina.

August 15, 1945
Japan The Japanese people hear the voice of their ruler for the first time as the surrender recording is broadcast. Many Japanese cannot accept at first what has happened because tight control by the government has prevented civilians from knowing the full extent of Japan’s weakness. There are some suicides (including 600 officers, but only 22 of 1501 generals) but the order to surrender is largely accepted in the same spirit of obedience as the decision for war.
It has since been debated what the final cause was that made the Japanese decide to surrender. Examination of Japanese records and of the people concerned seems to indicate that it was a combination of the threat of atomic attack and fear of the Soviets.
Vice-Admiral Ugaki, head of Kamikaze operations, leads a last mission of 7 planes, but all are shot down.
Resistance continues on some of the Russian fronts.
Korea Soviet troops halt at the 38th Parallel, the agreed dividing line between their zone of occupation at that of the Americans.
Malaya The British operation to land in Malaya is at sea when news of Japan’s surrender arrives. Mountbatten wants to go ahead and land the troops anyway to receive the surrender of the local Japanese, but MacArthur wants no Japanese surrenders before the official one to him. The force returns to India. The few extra weeks before British troops arrive will provide time for local nationalist movements to consolidate their positions and for ethnic strife to flare.
World Affairs The world celebrates VJ (Victory over Japan) Day.

August 15, 1947
India Two new independent nations, India and Pakistan, are established as Dominions (both will later become republics). The British government has decided the timetable for independence should be speeded up from the original target of June 1948. This means that not all arrangements have been made in the best way. Perhaps 1 million die in the inter-ethnic violence which follows and about 12 million refugees cross the new border to reach the appropriate state for people of their religion. The two states set about incorporating the “princely states”.

August 15, 1948
Korea The Republic of Korea (South Korea or ROK) is proclaimed in the American occupation zone. US troops are withdrawn. Tensions build between the two Korean governments, each claiming to represent the entire country. The United States, seeking to reign in the ambitions of South Korean President Rhee, keeps the ROK army deprived of heavy equipment. In the north, the Soviets build up the army of Kim Il Sung, who is beginning to create the unique society of North Korea, a strange mixture of Communism, Legalism, Confucianism, and the worship of a god-king.
Border clashes, Communist infiltration across the border, and Communist-inspired disorders throughout South Korea intensify through the spring of 1950.

[haroldeye]

August 15 is the anniversary of the famous 1942 Malta convoy Op Pedestal.

Malta had been under siege for some time and supplies were running very short. All efforts to resupply the island had met with disaster and things were looking a bit sticky for the place. One great effort was planned and named Operation Pedestal. Success meant Malta would survive and failure probably meant the opposite.

After a fierce battle enough ships got through to ensure Maltas freedom. Perhaps the most famous being the tanker The SS Ohio. Ohio was torpedoed, struck by a Stuka it had shot down, bombed incessantly (once so badly it was blown clean out of the water) and had it's back broken.



The Royal Navy lashed the Ohio to two destroyers and she eventually made Valetta on the 15 August. I am old and experienced enough to know that there is no glory in war, but the arrival of this battered unbeaten ship into the Grand Harbour must be close.

[otiscleotus]

A nice article on Operation Pedestal with some cool pictures. The Axis had a plan in place and were prepared to attack and occupy Malta (a major impediment to supplying their forces in North Africa) but the not as brilliant as he's made out to be Rommel had it canceled so he could use the few resources that managed to get through to him in his futile attack on (aka the 1st battle of) El Alamein. Should've been more serious about your supply situation Desert Fox.

[Ennath]

August 16, 1928
Soviet Defenses Military service becomes compulsory.

August 16, 1935
Diplomatic Relations Britain and France, in an attempt to preserve peace, grant Italy wide economic concessions in Ethiopia. The Italians reject the offer.

August 16-September 3, 1936
Spain A Republican attempt to reconquer rebel-held Majorca fails after initial success.

August 16, 1940
Battle of Britain The Luftwaffe flies 1715 sorties and the RAF 776. In this fighting the Germans lose 45 planes and the British 21 in the air and a number on the ground. Among the targets attacked are several airfields and these are quite heavily damaged. Ventnor radar is put out of action for a week by one last raid; this enables the Germans to achieve surprise on several raids, though they never figure out why.
Hitler intervenes in the quarrel between his army and navy staffs as to whether the invasion of Britain should be on a broad front, as the army prefers, or the narrow front more suited to naval limitations. He orders them to reach a compromise. The army has previously talked of using 40 divisions in the first three days, but now considers using 13.
United States, Politics Roosevelt announces that there have been conversations with the UK on the acquisition of bases for Western Hemisphere defense. He does not disclose as yet that Britain wants some old US destroyers in return.

August 16-19, 1940
East Africa British forces embark at Berbera and evacuate from British Somaliland, making for Aden. Altogether nearly 5700 service personnel are taken off.
The British have suffered 260 casualties in the brief campaign and the Italians 2050. Churchill criticizes the performance of the British forces despite this balance. They are defended, however, by General Wavell, whose Middle East Command they are part of.

August 16, 1941
Eastern Front Stalin issues his Order #270, prohibiting surrender. “There are no prisoners, only traitors.” The order provided for anyone attempting to surrender to be shot on the spot and their families subject to reprisals. This attitude will affect the fate of returning prisoners after the war, many of whom will end up in the Gulag. He also orders the internment of any woman whose husband surrenders.

August 16, 1942
North Africa US forces see their first action in Africa as American bombers attack Axis positions at El Alamein. By this time, the RAF has established aerial dominance over Egypt.

August 16-17, 1942
Battle of the Atlantic U-507 sinks five ships off Bahia, Brazil. For the Brazilians this is the last straw. They prepare to join the war.

August 16-18, 1942
Mediterranean Another 32 Spitfires are flown in to Malta and three submarines deliver supplies.

August 16-September 2, 1942
Yugoslavia Operation Albia, an Italian anti-partisan offensive in Croatia, has mixed success.

August 16, 1943
Sicily The British attempt a small seaborne attack on the east coast, but it is too late to cut off any retreating Germans. In the evening, US forward patrols reach the outskirts of Messina.
Eastern Front The Soviets take Zhidra, northeast of Bryansk.
Greece In retaliation for partisan attacks, the Germans massacre 317 people in the village of Kommeno and raze the place to the ground.

August 16-23, 1943
New Guinea The Japanese airfields around Wewak are subjected to a series of attacks by planes of 5th Air Force from Australia. Many Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground for small loss to the attackers.
Poland A revolt in the Bialystok Ghetto is crushed.

August 16, 1944
Western Front Canadian II Corps enters the ruins of Falaise and a bitter battle develops. To the right, Polish 1st Armored Division moves west over the Dives. Chartres falls to US XX Corps.
Southern France French II Corps lands and passes through the US forces which are consolidating the beachheads. Most German forces in southwest France are in full retreat to the northeast. The resistance steps up attacks on German posts along the Swiss border.
France The collaborationist Radio Paris goes off the air.
Eastern Front Russian forces reach Ossow, only 7 miles northeast of Warsaw, but they are pushed back by a German counterattack.
Diplomatic Relations To punish Buenos Aires for its support of Germany, the US freezes Argentine gold assets in the United States.

August 16, 1945
Japan Prince Higashi-Kuni Norukiko forms a new government, with himself as both Prime Minister and War Minister. The Emperor issues a cease-fire to all Japanese troops.
Manchuria Pu Yi renounces his throne and announces the dissolution of his government. The ceremony takes place in exactly the same place where the first Manchu, Nurhachi, began his rise to power 350 years before. He is captured by the Red Army shortly thereafter. Mutanchiang falls.
Sakhalin Japanese counterattacks fail with heavy loss.
Korea Organized resistance in northern Korea ends.
War Crimes Seventeen captured American fliers in Japan are beheaded.
Diplomatic Relations A Polish-Soviet treaty fixes the new eastern frontier.
The Thai declaration of war against the US and Britain is declared null and void.
United States, Home Front Truman ends the wartime wage freeze.

August 16, 1946
India The Muslim League names this “Direct Action Day”. It is marked by riots and several thousand deaths in Calcutta.

[Ennath]

August 17, 1938
British Intelligence The head of the MI6 station house in Vienna is arrested and deported. The station has to be shut down.

August 17, 1940
North Africa Admiral Cunningham leads three battleships and several other vessels of the Mediterranean Fleet to bombard Italian positions at Bardia and Fort Capuzzo. Air attacks on the ships are beaten off.
Europe, Air Operations Bomber Command sends a raid against the armaments works at Leuna. Although at this stage of the war the RAF intends to hit only military targets it cannot achieve the necessary accuracy in night bombing.
Greece Following recently increased tension with Italy, the Greek armed forces are partially mobilized with a call-up in some districts.
Battle of Britain There are no major German attacks even though the weather is reasonably good. In response to pleas from Dowding the Air Ministry agrees to give Fighter Command some extra pilots from other RAF branches and to shorten the training period for new pilots even though this has obvious disadvantages.
Diplomatic Relations Ribbentrop orders the Italians to halt their anti-Greek campaign. Germany wants no distractions in the Balkans.

August 17, 1941
Diplomatic Relations The United States presents a formal warning to Japan along the lines agreed at Placentia Bay. The text of the note has been toned down somewhat from the draft originally agreed with the British and Dutch, so they do not present their notes in order not to be seen to disagree with the American line. No decision has yet been taken on the Japanese proposal of a meeting between Roosevelt and Konoye but on September 3, the Japanese will be told that it cannot take place. The Americans are worried that Konoye would not be able to make the Japanese military keep to any agreement that might be made.
Eastern Front The attacks of Army Group South reach the Dniepr at Dnepropetrovsk. Rumanian troops capture Odessa’s reservoirs. In the northern sector, Novgorod and Narva are taken.

August 18, 1941
Eastern Front Budenny, commanding the Soviet southern armies, begins to pull back as many of his troops as possible behind the line of the Dniepr. In the north, the Germans take Kingisepp on the Luga west of Narva. There is also heavy fighting in this sector near Novgorod. In the central sector there are fierce engagements near Gomel. The Germans establish a bridgehead over the Bug at Zaporozhye.
Germany, Home Front Police raids arrest over 300 “Swing Kids”. These young people express their opposition to Nazism by a devotion to jazz and swing, branded by the Nazis as degenerate Negro music. The arrests only further alienate those already inclined to opposition.
Britain, Home Front A National Fire Service is established.

August 17, 1942
Gilbert Islands US Marine raiders inflict light damage on a Japanese seaplane base at Makin Atoll, but at heavy cost in casualties.
Europe, Air Operations Rouen is the target for the first all American bombing raid in Europe.
Between now and the end of 1942, the US 8th Air Force will fly 1547 sorties and lose 32 aircraft. This is less than a 2% loss rate, but all the raids are short range and have British fighter escorts and none penetrate Germany. The buildup of 8th Air Force is badly delayed by the transfer of many aircraft to North Africa after Operation Torch in November. Thus there is no real test for the theories of American airmen that their planes can bomb by daylight unescorted and with great accuracy. It will emerge even in the first few operations that the much vaunted Norden bombsight, although excellent in good training conditions, is less impressive in the overcast skies of Europe.
Eastern Front The Germans capture Pyatigorsk and Yessentuki in the Caucasus, with their important power stations.

August 17, 1943
Solomons A small force of Japanese reinforcements reaches Vella Lavella and there is a small inconclusive action between American destroyers and the transport force. The Americans reinforce the troops on Vella Lavella. New landings are made on Baanga with two regiments; little progress is made against fierce resistance; big guns here have been shelling Munda airfield.
Sicily Patton’s troops enter Messina a few hours before the British. The campaign in Sicily is over. One disappointment for the Allies is the extent of the evacuation the Germans and Italians have managed. They have shipped 40,000 German troops and 62,000 Italians, with most of their equipment and supplies, across the Strait of Messina. The Germans have had about 10,000 casualties. The Allies have lost about 7000 killed and 15,000 wounded. More than 100,000 Italians have been captured. Although the campaign has been a political success in as much as Mussolini has been brought down, the escape of so many Germans makes a campaign in Italy a daunting prospect. Critics have suggested that the Allies could have made more imaginative use of their sea power, not only around the island but in attacks on the mainland. It has been suggested also that the Allies would have done better to follow up their success on Sicily with an immediate move to the mainland. Although this is a plausible idea, it does not take account of the wider strategic debate between the British and Americans. In fact, overall coordination between the Allied armies has been poor.
Allied Air Operations The Americans mount a large daylight raid on the ball-bearing manufacturing centers at Schweinfurt and Regensburg. Fifty one aircraft are lost, one fifth of the attacking force. Such losses are insupportable.

August 17-18, 1943
Europe, Air Operations During the night, the German rocket research and manufacturing establishment at Peenemunde is attacked by nearly 600 RAF bombers. 41 are lost, but important damage is done. Dr. Walter Thiel, head of the A-4 project, is killed. The setback to the rocket program has been estimated variously but is probably about two months. This raid provides a good example of the effectiveness of “window”; Mosquitoes dropping window cause about 200 German fighters to operate over Berlin.

August 17, 1944
Western Front The Canadians complete the capture of Falaise. The gap between the Canadians and US V Corps is now only a few miles. Elsewhere the American advance into the heart of France continues. Dreux, Chateaudun, and Orleans are taken. In Brittany, the last defenders of the St. Malo citadel surrender.
Hitler dismisses Kluge, replacing him with Model.
Southern France Allied troops liberate St. Raphael, St. Tropez, Frejus, and St. Maxime. There is little German resistance.
France German officials and collaborators begin fleeing Paris. The Vichy administration is ordered to remove to Belfort. Marshal Petain is “invited” by the Germans to leave for the east. Laval also leaves Paris.
Eastern Front Army Group North counterattacks all along its line to prevent the isolation of Riga. Farther south Soviet troops reach the border of East Prussia along the Sesupe River.
New Guinea The Americans begin a general advance from the Aitape beachhead. Japanese resistance is negligible. On Noemfoor, the last significant Japanese force is brought to battle after several days of maneuvering and largely destroyed.

August 17, 1945
East Indies Nationalists declare the Republic of Indonesia, free of Dutch rule. No Allied forces will arrive to take over from the Japanese for six weeks.
Japan An attempted mutiny by hard-liners at Atsugi Air Base finds little support and fails.
Sakhalin The Japanese commander of the frontier zone surrenders the remnants of his forces. The Soviets advance south.

[Ennath]

August 18, 1940
Battle of Britain The Germans make another big effort. Their targets are still mostly fighter airfields but not all the attacks are well organized. Biggin Hill escapes comparatively lightly but Kenley is so disrupted that part of the fighter force has to be withdrawn to another airfield. The Germans lose 71 aircraft to Fighter Command’s 34. These are the heaviest losses of any one day in the campaign. Owing to heavy losses the Stuka is withdrawn from attacks on inland targets.
North America The United States and Canada begin creating a “Permanent Joint Board on Defense”.

August 18, 1941
Eastern Front Budenny, commanding the Soviet southern armies, begins to pull back as many of his troops as possible behind the line of the Dniepr. In the north, the Germans take Kingisepp on the Luga west of Narva. There is also heavy fighting in this sector near Novgorod. In the central sector there are fierce engagements near Gomel. The Germans establish a bridgehead over the Bug at Zaporozhye.
Germany, Home Front Police raids arrest over 300 “Swing Kids”. These young people express their opposition to Nazism by a devotion to jazz and swing, branded by the Nazis as degenerate Negro music. The arrests only further alienate those already inclined to opposition.
Britain, Home Front A National Fire Service is established.

August 18, 1942
Eastern Front Because partisan activity has been so intense, Hitler issues a directive ordering harsh measures and giving more power to SS Special Units.
Guadalcanal The first Japanese reinforcements land on Guadalcanal. This detachment, about 1000 strong, immediately marches toward the American positions. At this stage, the Japanese believe that there are only about 3000 Americans on the island. There are in fact more than 10,000 and Henderson Field is now ready to receive aircraft.

August 18, 1943
Solomons The fighting on Baanga continues and the Americans are reinforced.

August 18, 1944
Western Front The FalaiseGap is closed by a junction of the Poles and Americans at Chambois. A considerable German force is still to the west. Advance patrols of US 3rd Army reach Versailles.
Rather than face a treason trial, Kluge commits suicide.
Posters appear throughout Paris proclaiming a general mobilization and calling for revolt.
Southern France US VI Corps moves toward Aix-en-Provence while French forces attack along the coast toward Toulon and Marseilles. There is also a US advance toward Gap.
Eastern Front Soviet troops advance on both sides of Lake Peipus. In Warsaw, both sides abandon the ruined Mostowski Palace.
The Pacific The submarine Rasher sinks the escort carrier Taiyo.
China Roosevelt announces that he is sending former war secretary Patrick Hurley to broker a truce between the Communists and Nationalists.

August 18, 1945
Manchuria Virtually the whole province has been overrun by Soviet forces. They are closing in on Mukden and Changchun. The last resistance in Hailar has been overcome.
Kuriles Soviet troops attack Shimushu, northernmost island in the chain. The Soviets have little experience in large amphibious assaults and none of the specialized American tactics. The operation is a shambles, with a number of ships hit by shore batteries and several landing craft sunk. The last kamikaze attack of the war hits a destroyer escort. Nevertheless, the Soviets establish a lodgment and repulse the inevitable counterattack. Other islands are occupied with little resistance.
Soviet Planning Vasilievsky asks Moscow for the go-ahead for the attack on Hokkaido, scheduled to begin the following day. There is no response.
India, Politics Subhas Chandra Bose, head of the Indian National Army, is fatally injured when his plane crashes off Formosa en route to Tokyo.