The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

February 15, 1113
Founding of the Knights Hospitaller

In 603, Pope Gregory I commissioned Abbot Probus of Ravenna, who was previously Gregory’s emissary at the Lombard court, to build a hospital in Jerusalem to treat and care for Christian pilgrims. In 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus’ hospital and added a library. About 200 years later, in 1005, the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital and 3000 other buildings in Jerusalem. In 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno were given permission by Caliph Ali az-Zahir to rebuild the hospital. This, built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist, took in Christian pilgrims traveling to visit the Christian holy sites. It was served by the Order of St. Benedict.

The monastic Hospitaller order was founded following the First Crusade by Gerard Thom, whose role as founder was confirmed by the papal bull Pie Postulatio Voluntatis issued by Pope Paschal II in 1113. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond. Under his successor, Raymond du Puy de Provence, the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Initially the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order soon extended to providing pilgrims with armed escort, which soon grew into a substantial force. Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became military without losing its charitable character.

Raymond du Puy, who succeeded Gerard as Master of the Hospital in 1118, organized a militia from the order’s members, dividing the order into 3 ranks: knights, men at arms, and chaplains. Raymond offered the service of his armed troops to Baldwin II of Jerusalem (r. 1118-31), and the order from this time participated in the crusades as a Military Order, particularly distinguishing itself in the Siege of Ascalon (1153, see posting).

The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land. It was still a religious order and had privileges granted by the Papacy; for example, the Order was exempt from all authority save that of the Pope, and it paid no tithes and was allowed its own religious buildings. Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185.

The statutes of Roger de Moulins (1187) deal only with the service of the sick; the first mention of military service is in the statutes of the 9th Grand Master, Fernando Afonso of Portugal (about 1200). In the latter a marked distinction is made between secular knights, externs to the order, who served only for a time, and the professed knights, attached to the order by a perpetual vow, and who alone enjoyed the same spiritual privileges as the other religious. The order now numbered 3 distinct classes of membership: the military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service. In 1248 Pope Innocent IV (r. 1243–1254) approved a standard military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their amour (which restricted their movements), they wore a red surcoat with a white cross emblazoned on it.

Rivalry with the Templars had more to do with competition for prestige and popularity but they sometimes differed in their strategies. Howarth describes how, in 1187, the Grand Master of the Hospital disagreed with the Templars on the wisdom of retreating before a superior force (led by Saladin). The Templars saw non-retreat as a sacred duty and insisted on engaging. Their Grand Master, Jacques de Mailly, was among the dead.

Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars and the Hospitallers. At the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers held 7 great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The 2 largest, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch, were the Krak des Chevaliers and Margat in Syria. The property of the Order was divided into priories, subdivided into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanderies.

As early as the late 12th century the order had begun to achieve recognition in England and Normandy. As a result, buildings such as the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham, near Dublin, and the Irish Prior was usually a key figure in Irish public life. The Knights also received the “land of Severin”, along with the nearby mountains, from Béla IV of Hungary in 1247. The Banate of Severin was a march, or border province, of Hungary between the Lower Danube and the Olt River, today part of Romania. However, the Hospitaller hold on the Banate was brief.

After the fall of Acre in 1291, the Knights sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. Finding themselves enmeshed in Cypriot politics, their Master, Guillaume de Villaret, created a plan of acquiring their own temporal domain, selecting Rhodes to be their new home, part of the Byzantine Empire. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on August 15, 1310, after 4 years of campaigning, the city of Rhodes surrendered to the knights. They also gained control of a number of neighboring islands and the Anatolian port of Halicarnassus and the island of Kastellorizo. Rhodes would remain the home of the Order until 1522.

[Ennath]

February 16, 1944
Raid on Truk

The Japanese occupied the Caroline Islands in 1914, and established Truk as a base as early as 1939. The lagoon was first built up to house the IJN’s 4th Fleet, its “South Seas Force”. After the outbreak of war with the United States, 4th Fleet was put under the command of the Combined Fleet, which continued to use Truk as a forward operating base into 1944. In addition to anchorages for warships, and port facilities for shipping between the home islands and the Southern Resources Area, 5 airstrips and a seaplane base were constructed at Truk, making it the only major Japanese airbase within range of the Marshall Islands.

Despite the impressions of US Navy leaders and the American public concerning Truk’s fortifications, the base was never significantly reinforced or protected against attack. In fact, the development of Truk only began in concert, and in hurried fashion, in late 1943, when airfields were extended, shore batteries were installed and other defensive measures taken against U.S. encroachment.

Because aircraft stationed at Truk could potentially interfere with the upcoming invasion of Eniwetok, and because Truk had recently served as a ferry point for the resupply of aircraft to Rabaul, Adm. Raymond Spruance ordered Vice Adm. Marc Mitscher’s Task Force 58 to carry out strikes against the atoll. Three of TF 58’s 4 carrier task groups (TGs) were committed to the strikes. Their total strength consisted of 5 fleet carriers and 4 light carriers, embarking more than 500 planes. Supporting the carriers was a large fleet of 7 battleships and numerous cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other support ships.

The Japanese understood the weakness of their position at Truk. The IJN had begun withdrawing fleet units from its anchorages as early as October 1943, sending the majority of the heavy vessels to Palau. A few light surface warships, merchant vessels, and transports were left behind. Vice Adm. Shigeru Fukudome noted post-war that these ships remained in Truk mainly because they had been so damaged that either they were not worth saving or could not get underway. The effective abandonment of Truk as a forward operating base accelerated in the first week of February 1944, following Japanese sightings of US Marine PB4Y Liberator reconnaissance aircraft sent out to reconnoiter the area.

A small group of Japanese aircraft struck first between 1300 and 1500 on February 16. With the exception of a bomb hit on the starboard bow of the battleship Iowa (which caused only light damage), the Japanese were fought off with relative ease by AA fire. A nighttime torpedo bomber attack damaged the carrier Intrepid, killing 11, and sending her to Pearl Harbor and San Francisco for repair for the next 4 months.

The 3 carrier TGs committed to the raid began launching their first fighter sweep 90 minutes before daybreak on the 17th. No Japanese air patrol was active. Japanese radar was not capable of detecting low-flying planes, a weakness probably known and exploited by Allied intelligence. 22nd and 26th Air Flotillas were enjoying shore leave after weeks on high alert following the Liberator sightings. Because of these factors, US aircraft achieved total surprise. Though there were more than 300 Japanese planes, only about half were operational. US Navy fighters, with advantages of speed, altitude and surprise, achieved a one-sided victory, shooting down 30 aircraft for the loss of 4. Only token aerial resistance was encountered for the rest of the morning; almost no Japanese aircraft were present by the afternoon.

Early on the 17th, torpedo bombers dropped fragmentation and incendiary bombs on runways at Eten Island as well as the seaplane base on Moen Island. Dozens of aircraft were damaged or destroyed, further blunting any possible response to the strikes. Subsequent joint attacks by dive bombers and torpedo bombers cratered runways and destroyed hangar facilities. Morning strikes were also launched against shipping targets in the lagoon.

Due to the lack of warning, many merchant ships were caught at anchor with only the islands’ AA guns for defense. Some vessels outside the lagoon already steaming towards Japan were attacked by submarines and sunk before they could make their escape. By the 2nd and 3rd anti-shipping strikes of the day, action reports listed the apparent enemy mission as “escape”. Those ships able to make for open sea steamed for the North Pass while weathering repeated aerial attacks. One particular group of warships (cruiser Katori, auxiliary cruiser Akagi Maru, destroyers Maikaze, Nowaki and minesweeper Shonan Maru) was given special attention by bombers. Multiple air groups attacked these ships, inflicting serious damage. The cruiser was reported as stopped dead in the water.

At this point reports reached Spruance concerning the group of warships fleeing through North Pass. The admiral put himself in tactical command of TG 50.9 (4 destroyers, 2 heavy cruisers and the battleships Iowa and New Jersey), which he personally led in a surface engagement against the previously damaged Japanese ships. Spruance was so adamant on engaging in ship-to-ship combat that Mitscher, ordered his air groups to stop attacking Katori and her companions. The battered Japanese ships did not stand much of a chance, though members of his staff saw Spruance's decision to engage in surface action when aircraft likely could have achieved similar results as needlessly reckless. Indeed, Maikaze managed to fire torpedoes at the New Jersey during the engagement. Fortunately for Spruance, the torpedoes missed, and the fight ended with predictably one–sided results. The Nowaki was the only Japanese ship from this group to escape.

Losses at Truk were severe. Some 17,000 tons of stored fuel were destroyed by the strikes. Shipping losses totaled almost 200,000 tons including precious resources in fleet oilers. This represents almost one tenth of total Japanese shipping losses between November 1, 1943 and June 30, 1944. Warship losses included 2 light cruisers, 4 destroyers and 2 sub chasers. Moreover, the isolation of this whole area by submarine and air attack began the effective severance of Japanese shipping lanes between empire waters and critical fuel supplies to the south. There could be no effective opposition from Truk for further American moves.

Truk, like so many other Japanese bases, was left to wither on the vine without hope of resupply or reinforcement. Army forces which had arrived at the atoll before the US attacks put increasing strain on available foodstuffs and medical supplies. Dwindling ammunition even limited the ability of shore batteries to fend off intermittent attacks by Allied forces, including experimental raids by B-29 Superfortresses and attacks by Allied carrier aircraft.

[Ennath]

567
End of the Gepids

The Gepids were the “most shadowy of all the major Germanic peoples of the migration period”, according to historian Malcolm Todd. Neither Tacitus nor Ptolemy mentioned them in their detailed lists of barbarians, suggesting that the Gepids emerged only in the 3rd century. The first sporadic references to them, in the late 3rd century, show that they lived north of the frontier of the Roman Empire in the region of modern Transylvania. The 6th-century Byzantine writer Procopius listed the Gepids among the Gothic nations.

According to Jordanes, the Gepids decided to leave “Gepedoius”, perhaps Sweden, during the reign of their legendary king, Fastida in the 3rd century. They moved to the south and defeated the Burgundians. They later fought the Goths. The Gepids' history in the 4th century is unknown, as no written source mentions them during this period. The silence of the Roman sources suggests that their homeland did not border on the Empire. On the basis of Jordanes’ reference to the “rugged mountains”, historians locate it near the Carpathians in the late 3rd century.

Jordanes writes that Thorismund, King of the Ostrogoths, who was subjected to the Huns, “won a great victory over” the Gepids, but fell in the battle in about 405. The account suggests that the Gepids were forced to accept the overlordship of the Ostrogoths, but the latter were representatives of the emerging Hunnic Empire. Gepid warriors fought along with the Huns during the next decades. Attila prized Ardaric, King of the Gepids, and Valamir, King of the Ostrogoths, “above all the other chieftains” subject to the Huns, in the 440s, according to Jordanes. The Gepids' participation in the Huns’ campaigns brought them much booty, contributing to the development of a rich Gepid aristocracy. After Attila’s death, the Gepids, along with the Rugians, defeated the Huns at the Nedao (454, see posting).

After the Battle of Nedao, the Hunnic Empire disintegrated and the Gepids became the dominant power in the eastern Carpathian Basin. According to Jordanes, the Gepids “by their own might won for themselves the territory of the Huns and ruled as victors over the extent of all Dacia, demanding of the Roman Empire nothing more than peace and an annual gift”. Emperor Marcian confirmed their status as allies and granted them an annual subsidy of 100 pounds of gold.

The Gepids joined a coalition formed by the Suebi, Scirii and other peoples against the Ostrogoths who had settled in Pannonia. However, the Ostrogoths routed the united forces of their enemies in the Battle of Bolia in 469. After the Ostrogoths left Pannonia in 473, the Gepids captured Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), a strategically important town on the road between Italy and Constantinople. Thraustila, King of the Gepids, tried to hinder the Ostrogoths from crossing the river Vuka during Theoderic the Great’s campaign against Italy, but the Ostrogoths routed his army and took Sirmium. In an attempt to take advantage of the death of Theoderic 526, the Gepids invaded the region of Sirmium in 528 or 530, but Vitiges defeated them.

The Gepids reached the zenith of their power after 537, settling in the rich area around Singidunum (Belgrade). For a short time, the city of Sirmium was the center of the Gepid State and the king Cunimund minted golden coins there.

In 548, Thurisund staged a coup, forcing the previous king’s son into exile. He immediately faced war with the Lombards, under their King Audoin, who was spurred on by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, in order to secure the land route to Italy. The Lombards were made formal allies of the Empire and the Gepids were repudiated. The allies marched against the Gepids, but the Lombards accepted a truce. The Byzantines defeated the Gepids’ Herul allies, but now found themselves alone.

When the truce expired in 552, Thurisind and Audoin again took the field, and this time the clash was unavoidable. Audoin had reached an agreement with Justinian by which the Byzantines promised to send him military support in exchange for the 5500 Lombards sent to help the Byzantine general Narses in the war in Italy. Thurisind was crushed in the decisive Battle of the Asfeld west of Sirmium. The battle was mentioned by Jordanes as one of the bloodiest ever fought in the region. The Gepids were never again able to play a formative role in the shaping of events.

The defeat could have meant the end of the kingdom and its conquest by the Lombards, but Justinian, wanting to maintain equilibrium in the region, imposed an “eternal peace” observed for ten years, surviving both Thurisind and Audoin. The Emperor also imposed some territorial concessions on Thurisind, obligating him to return Dacia Ripensis and the territory of Singidunum. Thurisund died in 560 and was succeeded by his son Cunimund. About the same time Audoin was succeeded as King of the Lombards by his son Alboin.

Open war with the Lombards began again in 565. Cunimund appealed to the new Byzantine emperor, Justin II, for help and promising Sirmium in return. Justin accepted, and the Gepids had a temporary advantage. In 566, Alboin concluded a treaty with the Pannonian Avars, to whom he promised the Gepids’ land. As it turned out, however, the Byzantines neglected to join the Gepids in their fight but kept Sirmium, and although the Avars did not show up either, the Lombards soundly defeated Cunimund’s forces in 567. According to the writings of Paul the Deacon, Alboin killed the defeated king and had his skull converted into a drinking cup.

The Byzantine Emperor intervened and took control of Sirmium, also giving refuge to Gepid leader Usdibad, although the rest of Gepidia was taken by the Avars. Gepid military strength was significantly reduced; many apparently joined the Lombards, while the rest took to Constantinople.

[Reclaimedwg]

Was watching a movie by the same title as this event:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge..._Light_Brigade

This made me so mad:

Britain's aristocratic military system where men became Officers and Generals not because they earned it in battle, but because they had the money and the nobility to buy their ranks!

Then after it was over, all the generals and top officers were fighting each other over who gave the order when the Lord Raglan was the one who dictated the orders to be written down by one of his officer and given to a message runner - but he acted like it wasn't him:

"That's not my handwriting!!"

For Generals and Officers, they did nothing but sat on a hill away from the battlefield and drank tea and complained about the heat and invited the ladies of nobility to come watch the battle as it was a theater show.

[Mal Hombre]

Originally Posted by Ennath

February 16, 1944
Raid on Truk

Losses at Truk were severe. Some 17,000 tons of stored fuel were destroyed by the strikes. Shipping losses totaled almost 200,000 tons including precious resources in fleet oilers. This represents almost one tenth of total Japanese shipping losses between November 1, 1943 and June 30, 1944. Warship losses included 2 light cruisers, 4 destroyers and 2 sub chasers. Moreover, the isolation of this whole area by submarine and air attack began the effective severance of Japanese shipping lanes between empire waters and critical fuel supplies to the south. There could be no effective opposition from Truk for further American moves.

The Lagoon has become a Mecca for divers

[Ennath]

February 17, 1461
2nd Battle of St Albans

The Battle of Wakefield (December 30, 1460, see posting) was a disaster for the Yorkists. Richard, Duke of York was killed during the battle. His son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, was killed attempting to escape across Wakefield Bridge. Salisbury was captured and executed at Pontefract on the day after the battle. Leadership of the main Yorkist families now passed to Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, Richard of York’s eldest son.

Soon after Wakefield, Queen Margaret joined the Lancastrian army and it began a rapid advance south towards London. It was rare for towns to be sacked during the Wars of the Roses, but the Lancastrians had the worse reputation for this, and on their march south they may have attacked Grantham and Stamford, both part of the Duke of York’s estate. Yorkist propaganda certainly painted them as northern savages come to destroy the south, and this would eventually cost the Lancastrians dear as they struggled to arrange a peaceful entry into London.

First they would have to deal with Warwick and the apparently sizable army that he had raised around London. John Whethamstede, Abbot of St. Albans, gives a figure of 25,000. This is probably an over-estimate, but Warwick had clearly managed to raise an impressive host. Perhaps for the first time a Yorkist army contained a sizable number of peers who weren’t direct members of either the York or Neville families. Warwick was accompanied by his brother John Neville, Lord Montague. John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, and John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk were both connected by marriage. William Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel made one of his rare appearances on the battlefield. Henry VI was also present with the army. In theory he was in command, but in reality he was a prisoner, too dangerous to be left unguarded in London.

On the Lancastrian side the list of peers was larger and more varied. Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, Henry Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury were present from the higher aristocracy along with Lords Roos, Grey of Codnor, Fitzhugh, Greystoke, Wells, Willoughby and Clifford. This may indicate that the Lancastrian army was larger than the Yorkist, but we don't know for certain.

Warwick left London on February 12, but only advanced as far as St. Albans, which he reached the following day. Over the next few days he remained here, although he did post some outposts further afield including one at Dunstable, 12 miles to the northwest. Some of Warwick’s men were deployed in the town while the vanguard, under Montagu was moved to Barnet Heath, just to the north of the town, early on the morning of the battle. It is reported that the Yorkist army spent the next days preparing defenses, setting up the guns of the Burgundian mercenaries. The focus of the defenses was northwards up the road towards Hitchin, the expected line of the Lancastrian approach.

Meanwhile, the Lancastrians were diverted from their expected route by news of a Yorkist rising in Dunstable, led by a local butcher and assisted by the Yorkist outpost, led by Sir Robert Poynings, one of the Duke of Norfolk’s men. On the 16th, instead of continuing south from Hitchin, the Lancastrian army turned west to Dunstable, where the butcher’s rising was suppressed with considerable violence and the town sacked. It is said that the butcher killed himself in remorse at the devastation he had brought on his town. The Lancastrians continued on their way towards St Albans, but now on Watling Street, approaching St Albans from the west and bypassing the Yorkist army deployed on the road to the north of St Albans.

At dawn on February 17, the Lancastrian vanguard, led by Sir Andrew Trollope and containing a force of 5000 experienced men, marched into St Albans from the west and south and began the attack on the Yorkist rearguard in the city. Heavy fighting started as the Lancastrians encountered the Yorkist archers in the area of the Market Place in the center of St Albans, particularly around the clock tower. The Lancastrians were forced back. Their next move was to follow a lane that brought them to the northern end of the town, near St. Peter's Church. Once again the Yorkists held their own.

The Lancastrians continued to move north, trying to find a way around the Yorkist line. This brought them into contact with the unprepared vanguard on Barnet Heath. Montagu’s entrenchments were built, over the previous days, to face an enemy advancing from the north. He was now being attacked in the rear and was forced to extemporize a defense in that direction. The cumbersome guns needed to be turned around, a difficult and time-consuming exercise, not easily done in the face of a fast-moving and unexpected assault. This stage would see the hardest fighting of the day. The Yorkist vanguard may have contained around 4-5000 men, and at first it fought well, but Montagu struggled to get any messages to Warwick, who in turn failed to get the main part of his army into the battle. Eventually the Yorkist vanguard broke and fled. Montagu was captured, and the pursuit lasted until nightfall. There were about 500 Lancastrian casualties, to about 2000 Yorkist.

The main Yorkist army had not taken any part in the fighting. That evening the morale of Warwick’s remaining men collapsed and his army fell apart. Warwick was able to escape with a few troops and fled west towards Edward, Earl of March. In the chaos of the collapse Henry VI was abandoned. When he was found by the Lancastrians he was only accompanied by Lord William Bonville and Sir Thomas Kyrill. Henry had promised that neither man would be harmed, but he held little or no power. Queen Margaret insisted that they be executed, and got Prince Edward to issue the orders. Montagu was more fortunate – Somerset’s brother was in Yorkist hands, and so Montagu was kept as a bargaining card.

In the aftermath of their victory, the Lancastrians advanced towards London, but they didn’t want to risk an assault on the city. Instead Queen Margaret entered into negotiations. A delegation of ladies led by the dowager duchesses of Bedford and Buckingham was sent to Queen Margaret to negotiate terms for the Lancastrian entry, but most Londoners did not want to take their chances with the northerners of the Lancastrian army.

On February 19, in an attempt to prove her good faith, Queen Margaret ordered her army back to Dunstable. That same day, news of St. Albans reached Edward, Earl of March, who had just defeated a second Lancastrian army at Mortimer's Cross (see posting). In response he led his army east. On February 22, he met Warwick in the Cotswolds and their combined armies continued towards London. On February 26, March and Warwick entered London to popular acclaim. Queen Margaret and the Lancastrians retreated north, where they prepared to make their stand.

Back in London the Yorkists finally ended their claim of loyalty to Henry VI. On March 1, George Neville, Bishop of Exeter, addressed a large crowd that responded by demanding that Edward take the throne. On the following day Edward made his formal claim. On March 3, a ‘great council’ of the surviving Yorkist lords agreed to support Edward’s claim, and on the 4th he took the Royal oath, wore the robes of state and began his reign as King Edward IV. His formal coronation had to wait until the Lancastrian threat had been eliminated, so within a few days Edward and his army were on the road, heading towards Towton and the decisive battle of the first phase of the Wars of the Roses (see posting).

[Reclaimedwg]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

The Lagoon has become a Mecca for divers

Hey!

I've dove on it!

Brand new Japanese tanks sitting upright on the bottom of the lagoon!

[bubbs999]

February 18th, 1943
Gestapo arrest "White Rose" resistance cell in Munich


The 'White Rose' was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in the Third Reich led by a group of students and a professor at the University of Munich. The group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi party regime. Their activities started in Munich on 27 June 1942, and ended with the arrest of the core group by the Gestapo on 18th February 1943. They, as well as other members and supporters of the group who carried on distributing the pamphlets, faced show trials by the Nazi People's Court (Volksgerichtshof), and many of them were sentenced to death or imprisonment.



After their experiences at the Eastern Front, having learned about mass murder in Poland and Russia, Hans Scholl and Alexander Schmorell felt compelled to take action. From end of June until mid of July 1942, they wrote the first four leaflets. They appealed to what they considered the German intelligentsia, believing that these people would be easily convinced by the same arguments that also motivated the authors themselves. These leaflets were left in telephone books in public phone booths, mailed to professors and students, and taken by courier to other universities for distribution. From 23 July to 30 October 1942, Graf, Scholl and Schmorell served again at the Russian front, and activities ceased until their return. In autumn 1942, Sophie Scholl discovered that her brother Hans was one of the authors of the pamphlets, and joined the group. Shortly after, Willi Graf, and by the end of December 1942, Kurt Huber became members of the White Rose.


On 3rd, 8th, and 15 February 1943, Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl, and Willi Graf used tin stencils to write slogans like "Down with Hitler" and "Freedom" on the walls of the university and other buildings in Munich.


On 18th February 1943, the Scholls brought a suitcase full of leaflets to the university main building. They hurriedly dropped stacks of copies in the empty corridors for students to find when they left the lecture rooms. Leaving before the lectures had ended, the Scholls noticed that there were some left-over copies in the suitcase and decided to distribute them. Sophie flung the last remaining leaflets from the top floor down into the atrium. This spontaneous action was observed by the university maintenance man, Jakob Schmid. Hans and Sophie Scholl were taken into Gestapo custody. A draft of a seventh pamphlet, written by Christoph Probst, was found in the possession of Hans Scholl at the time of his arrest by the Gestapo. While Sophie Scholl got rid of incriminating evidence before being taken into custody, Hans did try to destroy the draft of the last leaflet by tearing it apart and trying to swallow it. However, the Gestapo recovered enough of it and were able to match the handwriting with other writings from Probst. The Gestapo initially thought Sophie was innocent, however, after Hans had confessed, Sophie assumed full responsibility in an attempt to protect other members of the White Rose.
The Scholls and Probst were scheduled to stand trial before the Volksgerichtshof—the Nazi "People's Court" infamous for its unfair political trials, which more often than not ended with a death sentence—on 22nd February 1943. They were found guilty of treason& sentenced to death. The three were executed the same day by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison. All three were noted for the courage with which they faced their deaths, particularly Sophie, who remained firm despite intense interrogation. She said: "You know as well as we do that the war is lost. Why are you so cowardly that you won't admit it?". Immediately before Hans was executed, he cried out "Es lebe die Freiheit! – Long live freedom!", as the blade fell.


The story was made into a 2005 German Film Sophie Scholl – The Final Days

[Ennath]

February 18, 1637
Battle of the Lizard

In early 1636, the experienced Flemish admiral, Jacob Collaert, commander of the Armada of Flanders, the fleet of the Dunkirkers, was defeated by 5 warships of the Dutch blocking fleet under Captain Johan Evertsen. His galleon and another vessel were sunk after a prolonged engagement near Dieppe, and he was captured along with 200 of his men. After an exchange of prisoners he was freed, but died of an illness at Coruña shortly after. The Navarrese Miguel de Horna replaced him. Horna also proved to be a skillful commander, as he destroyed 3 major enemy convoys in less than 2 years.

Horna sailed from Dunkirk in command of a squadron of 5 galleons and 2 frigates to attack the Dutch fishing fleet and trade routes. After capturing a merchant ship while under fire from the coastal batteries of Calais, the Spanish squadron crossed the English Channel. A convoy of 28 Dutch and 16 English merchantmen, escorted by 6 Dutch warships, was sighted off Lizard Point, on the coast of Cornwall. The Spanish warships rapidly moved to attack, approaching the convoy under heavy fire from the escorting warships.

Soon after the convoy escort was engaged, the Dutch flagship was disabled by heavy fire from Horna’s flagship. A Spanish ship managed to board her and capture her flag, but the assault was ultimately repulsed. A second attempt from Horna’s ship, which lasted half an hour, also failed, but with the help of a 3rd Spanish ship under Cornelis Meyne, the Dutch flagship was finally captured. Although the merchants used their cannon to help the Dutch warships, 3 warships were sunk. The remaining 2 surrendered. The convoy dispersed and the merchantmen tried to escape individually, taking advantage of the smoke of battle and the darkness of night. However, 14 were captured and taken to Dunkirk with the 3 captured warships.

Horna returned to Dunkirk escorting 17 prizes fully loaded with ammunition and supplies. He avoided the Dutch lieutenant-admiral, Philips van Dorp, who had been sent to intercept with 20 warships. Dorp attempted to blockade the Spanish in the port, but Horna was able to continue his campaign without difficulties. In July, he ambushed 2 Dutch Bordeaux convoys, carrying off 12 prizes loaded with, amongst other items, 125 valuable cavalry horses. The convoy coming from Venice to Amsterdam was also captured, as well as 14 ships of the Dutch East India Company and 8 which carried gifts to Louis XIII of France. In a later exploit, on February 18, 1639, when he was attacked by a Dutch fleet of 17 ships, Horna managed to help a Spanish convoy escape, despite his numerical inferiority.

[bubbs999]

February 19th, 1945
US Marines launch invasion of Japanese island of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima (19th February – 26th March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the entire island, including the three Japanese-controlled airfields. The five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific theatre of operations during of World War II.

US Forces Japanese Forces
110,000 U.S. Marines, U.S. Soldiers, U.S. Navy corpsmen, Seabees, USAAF personnel, and others
500+ ships 20,530–21,060 troops
23 tanks, 69 anti-tank guns
438 artillery pieces, 33 naval guns
~300 anti-aircraft gunsUS Casualties / losses Japan
26,040 total casualties
6,821 killed / 19,217 wounded
1 escort carrier sunk
1 fleet carrier severely damaged
1 escort carrier lightly damaged 17,845–18,375 dead and missing
216 taken prisoner / 3,000 in hiding


Raising the Flag ......
The battle for Iwo Jima was made famous by the iconic photograph taken by Associated Press correspondent Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945, which depicts five United States Marines and a Navy corpsman raising a U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi. The flag raising was re-enacted in Republic Pictures 1949 movie Sands of Iwo Jima, starring John Wayne.

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) were later immortalised by the construction of the The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

_AP photo __________ Mt Suribachi today ___ 1949 movie poster _ USMC war memorial