F19 TALE OF WARin 1940s

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THE FIRST YEAR 1939

 he storm which had been brewing over Europe broke on September 1, 1939, when German troops crossed their eastern frontier and invaded Polish soil

 

GERMAN DEMANDS

 The free city of Danzig was to be given to the Reich; Gdynia to remain Polish; the fate of the Polish corridor to be decided within twelve months by a plebiscite under international supervision; only those resident in the region before January 1, 1915, were to be permitted to vote (this would automatically insure a plurality in favor of Germany); until the plebiscite both Germany and Poland were to have free access to certain roads in the Corridor; if the Corridor voted for Poland, Germany was to have a corridor across it to East Prussia; if the region fell to Germany, there was to be an exchange of populations; complaints of the minorities were to be submitted to an international commission

 

 When the Polish ambassador attempted that day to relay the plan to Warsaw he found that communications had been cut. The German government broadcast the proposals, and when no answer was received from Warsaw, the first German blitzkrieg went into action. Great Britain and France, true to the terms of their alliance with Poland, declared war on Germany, and the holocaust of the world was under way. 

 

 

RUSSIAN-FINNISH WAR

 On November 28, after a brief wrangle during which Russian demands that Finland cede certain territory in the Karelian Isthmus were denied, diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken. The United States government offered to mediate the dispute, but by November 30, Russia's land, air and sea forces had gone into action. For the first two months of the struggle, the Finns put up a magnificent fight. The Mannerheim Line in Karelia proved stronger than the Soviet had anticipated, while in the north Finnish ski troops deployed in a type of guerrilla warfare that kept the Russian army constantly off balance. But, gradually the Russians brought to bear the weight of its vast resources of manpower and armament. The small Finnish air force was gradually eliminated, and Russian bombers were able to pound at will the Mannerheim fortifications. Finland finally gave up and signed a treaty of peace at Moscow on March 12, 1940

 

 December 26, 1943

  WAC sergeant and two of her colleagues take over a jeep. The corps, entirely a volunteer organization, functions for the purpose of replacing men who can then be assigned to combat duty. Women are entitled to same rank and pay as men. The WAC's became a force of 90,000

 

 

 

 The price she paid was the secession of the Karelian Isthmus, including the eastern island on the Gulf of Finland, the City of Viipuri and the region around Lake Ladoga; parts of the communes of Kuusamo and Salla; the western section of the Rybachi peninsula on the Arctic Sea; a lease to Russia for 30 years of the Hango Peninsula

 

 

 

The Athenia torpedoed
September 3, 1939

 

 

 

 

 German advance in Poland
September, 1939

 GERMAN ARTILLERY MOVES UP

 To economize their stocks of gasoline the Germans used thousands of horse-drawn vehicles to follow up the advance of their mechanized units during the Polish campaign. Here a German gun team, crossing a river by one of the few intact bridges, seems to be finding the Polish road churned up by their own tanks and armored cars, difficult to negotiate.

 

 

 Poland fights back
September, 1939

 End of an epic defense—Fort Westerplatte strikes its colors after bombardment
September 7, 1939

 

 

 British expeditionary force lands in France again
September 12, 1939 

 

 

 he plans for the transportation of men and material to France had been drawn up by the French and British General Staffs long before the war clouds broke, so that when war was declared it only remained to put them into operation. With great speed—and even greater secrecy—men, guns, tanks and all the equipment and supplies necessary to maintain an army in the field, were shipped across the Channel, and it was not until September 12, by which time most of the material had safely arrived, that the British public were let into the secret. The second picture shows troops and guns being disembarked at a French port. Above is seen Viscount Gort, V.C., who was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British armies in France, under supreme command of General Maurice Gustave Gamelin

 

 The Royal Navy's first big loss—torpedoing of the Courageous
September 17, 1939

 

 Aircraft Carrier Courageous was struck amidships by a torpedo from a German submarine while on patrol duty on September 17 and sank within a very short time. Orders to abandon ship were given five minutes after she was struck, but her commander, Captain Mackeig-Jones (in circle) remained on the bridge to the end and went down with his ship. The picture shows the "Courageous" heeling over shortly before her death plunge; her crew can be clearly seen scrambling down the side into the water. The Courageous had a full complement of 1,126 officers and men, of whom 515 lost their lives

 

  Warsaw's resistance
September 24-27, 1939

 

 Masses of mechanized forces, hundreds of bombing planes, working together in close co-operation, were the primary reason for German successes in Poland. Yet, despite the Poles' enormous inferiority in both these arms, it was a month before the Germans forced the capital to surrender. These two pictures illustrate the final phase of Warsaw's resistance. Above, German artillery, powerfully supported by tanks, is seen battering its way through the streets on the outskirts of the city. Below, infantry are advancing along a street, blocked by trolley cars, under cover of tanks

 

 Surrender of Warsaw
September 27, 1939

Polish garrison leaves the devastated city
September 30, 1939

 

..Berlin's Tribute to a daring feat
October 14, 1939

 

 

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AIR AID FROM AMERICA

The repeal of America's Neutrality Law enabled the Allies to order aircraft from American firms, and on the very day that the Bill was signed orders amounting to approximately $220,000,000 for planes and equipment were confirmed. Above, reconnaissance bombers from the Lockheed Company's California factory receiving final touches. Below, a Navy dive bomber is being towed across the border into Canada, as is required by American neutrality regulations, for shipment to Great Britain

 

 

 American arms released to the Allies
October 27, 1939

 American planes for Britain
November, 1939

 

 

 

SEPTEMBER-FEBRUARY

In the early morning of September 3, 1943, the long awaited Allied Invasion of the European continent began. From bases in recently won Sicily, British and Canadian forces crossed the Strait of Messina and landed in the Calabria province of Italy. A beachhead was established with relative ease from which two columns progressed, one northwards up the west coast, and the other northeast across the Italian boot. On the same day, although the announcement was withheld until September 8 when it became effective, a secret armistice was signed by the Badoglio government and the Allies. This document called for the capitulation of all the Italian armies and left the defense of the peninsula entirely in German hands

PACIFIC OFFENSIVE

 In the Fall of 1943, American and Australian strength began to register in the South Pacific. Although the Japanese still maintained the remnants of a force on Guadalcanal, it was being liquidated as rapidly as slow-moving jungle warfare permitted. On New Guinea, General MacArthur's legions, having long since removed the threat to Port Moresby, began their attack on the key points on the northeast coast. Salamaua, one of the more important Japanese bases, was taken on September 14, and Lae, of equal strategic value, fell on September 18. Another Japanese stronghold, Finschhafen, fell October 3

 he plan of battle was to neutralize the Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain Island. While the operations on the New Guinea coast provided one arm of this pincer movement, the other demanded a northward progress in the Solomon Islands. Kolombangara Island fell to the Americans on October 11, and, on November 2, Bougainville was taken by Marines in a sharp engagement preceded by a naval battle in which the Japanese lost five warships.

 During this period, American air strength gradually achieved the superiority that had been sadly lacking in the first phases of the Pacific campaign. MacArthur's big, land-based bombers were constantly lashing out at key Japanese points. The largest force of fighter-escorted bombers thus far to operate in the Pacific area raided Rabaul on October 14. The result was the incredible score of 177 Japanese planes destroyed, 123 ships and harbor craft sunk, at the cost of only 5 American planes. A naval task force, with considerable carrier strength, attacked Rabaul on November 5 with equally favorable results. When it steamed homeward, the American fleet left behind it two heavy Japanese cruisers on the ocean bottom, 5 badly damaged, and several other warships of a lighter caliber in doubtful condition

 

 

RUSSIAN PROGRESS

As the fifth year of the war opened, the Russians were occupied with the monumental task of freeing home soil of the Nazi armies. While the German line in the north held, the last four months of 1943 brought big gains for Stalin's forces in both the central and southern sectors. On September 15, the Germans were forced to evacuate the stronghold of Bryansk, and, on September 26, the Russians rolled into Smolensk. Both of these key cities had been in German possession since 1941, and the comparative ease with which their re-capture was effected gave rise to the belief that German power had reached and passed its peak. 

STALEMATE IN ITALY

The Allied forces opened in mid-October an offensive calculated to bring the Italian campaign to an end. Heavy artillery fire and air-bombing were opened up all along the Volturno River line. Ground was slowly and painfully gained until Cassino was reached on January 12, and here the Americans and British were stopped in their tracks. At the end of February Cassino was still holding out

 The Allies move into Europe
September 3, 1943

 

 

 Invasion of Italy opens the fifth year
September 3, 1943

 

 

 

MESSINA STRAIT CROSSED

In the early dawn of September 3, 1943, the fourth anniversary of Great Britain's declaration of war against Germany, British troops under the command of General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery crossed the narrow strait separating Sicily from Italy and landed in Calabria, pushing north to San Giovanni and to Palmi. On the same day the signing of a secret military armistice between the Badoglio government and the Allies, effective September 8, was announced. While the landings were going on planes from bases in Africa bombed the railroad yards at Bolzano, Trento and Bologna. At Bolzano the bridge carrying trains to Brenner Pass was smashed by explosives. The men of Montgomery proceeded to push east along the bottom of the "toe" as American and British shore batteries in Sicily and the guns of Royal Navy units covered a continuous movement of reinforcements and supplies across the narrow strait. For several days prior to the actual invasion the guns of H.M.S. Rodney and Nelson had shelled Nazi defense posts along the Calabrian shore and the invaders did not encounter much difficulty as the initial landings were made. In this picture, fog curtains the activities of the British Eighth Army as they reached the Italian mainland. A landing craft unloads men and material for the start of what was to be the crusade to rescue The Eternal City from her Germanic conquerors and also restore the Italian way of life to the suffering inhabitants of Italy who had been kept under the heel by their own leaders and the German hordes. 

 

 The Fifth Army heads for the Salerno beachhead
September 9, 1943

 

 

 VICTORY FOR MacARTHUR 

 Early in September General MacArthur sprang an unpleasant surprise upon the Japanese in New Guinea by suddenly surrounding their main bases at Salamaua and Lae, with the aid of an amphibious expedition and of paratroopers. The Japanese had been building up these bases for nearly twenty months, presumably in preparation for an attack on Australia. General MacArthur's trick worked. On September 14 the Japanese got out of Salamaua and huddled together in Lae. On the 18th it was announced that American and Australian troops had captured Lae. Twenty thousand enemy soldiers were believed to have been in the two towns originally. How many were left alive in the end, no one knows. But the survivors, who made off into the jungle, had little chance of escape, for the Allied troops thought of that eventuality and laid traps for them. The Japanese skittered out of Salamaua in something of a hurry, leaving behind weapons and large stores of supplies. Ragged American and Australian troops, some of whom had fought their way across the mountains and through the jungle, suddenly found themselves walking down the palm-lined street of what once was a pleasant little town, but now was mostly wreckage. A stock of Japanese naval uniforms, fresh and neatly pressed, had survived intact, so the Americans promptly changed out of their tatters into the enemy's finery. This official U.S. Navy photograph, taken after the occupation of Lae, affords a striking demonstration of the power and accuracy of Allied aerial bombardment. A long file of Allied troops passes shattered planes and installations testifying to the "hell on earth" the enemy went through before they were vanquished

 

 

 A GREAT PORT FALLS

 Led by British tanks the Fifth Army entered this southern port on the morning of October 1 to find the harbor full of sunken ships and the city devastated as shown in this picture where row on row of wrecked buildings line the battered railroad tracks and adjacent roadway.

 

 

 thorough and merciless pounding of Wake Island, once a U.S. stronghold in the Pacific, is clearly revealed during the return appearance of U.S. forces on October 5 and 6, 1943. Silhouetted against the clouds, a Douglas Dauntless dive-bomber from a navy plane carrier task force is poised to begin its plunge on the smoking outpost, releasing another 1,000 lb. bomb to add to the destruction on the Japanese-occupied island which had been held by the foe since December 24, 1941. The raid upon Wake was particularly harassing to the Japanese. Ever since they had wrested it away from the United States Marines, after a sixteen-day fight, the enemy had been strengthening the island as an airplane base. 

 Another Mediterranean base in Allied hands
October 5, 1943

 

 

SUCCESSES IN NEW GUINEA

By early October the Japanese were in full retreat up the Ramu Valley in the north of New Guinea. Allied control of the air bases in this area constituted a further threat to Japanese sea communications with the important base of Rabaul, which was being continually harassed by the Allies from the air. First, troops supervised by military engineers harnessing a river along which a new road is being built; second, a bridge is being built in the South Pacific while a machine gunner keeps watch for Japanese patrols and snipers
 
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 The seizure of Mono Island in the Treasury group, Central Solomons, on October 27, was typical of the amphibious campaigns which were moving the Allies step by step toward their final goal. Backed by long planning, the Mono victory was small in size, big in import, a demonstration that when Japanese forces are small and ill-prepared, the Allies could move with the same terrorizing speed as the Japanese once did. The landing was made in daylight after a terrific bombardment by United States destroyers. Within fourteen hours the Allied forces—Americans and New Zealanders—had killed or captured the majority of the 200 to 300 Japanese. When the action ended the Rising Sun had slid back again in the long ebb toward Tokio. In this picture, New Zealanders, forming the second wave, come in as fog begins to veil the shores of Mono. The LCP's are run far up on the rocky shore as the men hasten to get supplies debarked. Meanwhile parachutists descended on nearby Choiseul. Both islands are on the southern flank of the much larger Bougainville, which was the last stronghold left to the enemy in the Solomons

 The Battle of Tarawa
November 20, 1943

 

 

 

FACIFIC ISLANDS WON 

 the morning of November 20, moved the mightiest naval force ever assembled in the Pacific. In that force were battleships which had been torn apart by the Japanese bombs in the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor two years ago; now the battleships were better than ever, for they not only had been repaired, but modernized as well. In the armada were more aircraft carriers than ever had sailed together on any sea, most of them built since Pearl Harbor. The fleet was a symbol of reborn American naval power. From landing ships men poured out onto the beaches of three of the Gilbert Atolls—men of the 2nd Marine Division, veterans of Guadalcanal and men of New York's old Fighting 69th of World War I fame, now seeing service in this war for the first time as members of the 27th Division. Some 4,000 Japanese were guarding the three islands—Tarawa, Makin and Abemama—but within four days Admiral Nimitz was able to announce that the Gilbert Islands had been conquered. Most of the enemy defenders had been killed; a few remained to be hunted down. American losses on Tarawa, where the Marines landed were heavy. Of two battalions—2,000 to 3,000 men —only a few hundred escaped death or injury. The rapidity of the victory was almost startling. It took American troops three weeks to conquer half as many Japanese on Attu in the Aleutians. In this picture direct hits by the 5-inch guns of the destroyer force off Tarawa set off the oil dumps on the Japanese-held island, causing this heavy cloud of black smoke. In the foreground Marines take cover amid wrecked Japanese equipment

 

 

 

 

 

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