This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[kengarth]

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet General Eremenko's Independent Maritime Army has taken Yalta in the Crimea. This is the last port apart from Sevastopol through which the Germans can escape the Crimea. Sevastopol's airfield at Kacha has also been captured and, as fighting rages across the old battlefields of Balaklava and Inkerman, the position of Germany's 17th Army looks hopeless. A terrible toll is being taken of the Germans as they try to escape. A German correspondent describes how "bombers, dive-bombers and fighters in endless procession are raining their bombs on our ships and riddling them with cannon fire." Sevastopol harbour is choked with sunken ships and the bodies of drowned men.
....In the Ukraine, Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's troops cross the Dniester at Tiraspol. The 3rd Ukrainian Front establishes several bridgeheads over the Dniester River. German forces launch immediate counterattacks that fail to dislodge the Soviet troops.
....432 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit targets in Romania and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb the industrial area at Belgrade, Yugoslavia and an aircraft plant at Brasov, Romania; B-24s hit marshalling yards at Brasov and Turnu Severin, Romania; 90+ fighters fly escort while 50+ others, failing to rendezvous with the bombers, strafe trains on the Craiova line east of Turnu Severin. The Belgrade Zemun airdrome was bombed by Allied forces for the 3rd day in a row. The bombing was carried out by the 414th Bomb Squadron stationed at Amendola, Italy.

MEDITERRANEAN: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb approaches to Ficulle and Todi railway bridges; A-20 Havocs hit fuel supplies; P-40s, P-47 Thunderbolts and A-36 Apaches hit the Capranica viaduct, town of Zagarolo, railway at Spigno Monferrato, marshalling yard at Orte-Terni, tunnel at Capranica and tracks, vehicles, railway cars, ammunition dump, bridge, and targets of opportunity at various points in central Italy.
....German submarine 'U-407' attacks convoy UGS 37 about 17 miles off Derna, Libya, torpedoing US freighters 'Meyer London' and 'Thomas G. Masaryk'; the latter, out of control at one point, nearly rams 'Meyer London'. There are no casualties on board either ship (including the 27-man Armed Guard in each freighter).

French-manned British corvette HMS 'La Malouine'

rescues 'Meyer London's' crew; another escort vessel rescues the other ship's complement. British rescue tug HMS 'Captive' later tows 'Thomas G. Masaryk' and beaches her in Maneloa Bay, Libya, where the damaged ship is subsequently written off as a total loss. 'Meyer London' sinks.

WESTERN FRONT: The armed U.S. tanker SS 'Pan Pennsylvania', in United Kingdom-bound convoy CU 1, is torpedoed by German submarine 'U-550' 150 miles (241 km) east of Ambrose Light, New York. Later, destroyer escort USS 'Gandy' (DE-764) is damaged when she intentionally rams 'U-550' off Nantucket Shoals, and teams with destroyer escorts USS 'Peterson' (DE-152) and USS 'Joyce' (DE-317) to sink the U-boat. Twelve of the 56-man U-boat crew survive. During the action, shells from the destroyer escorts set afire 'Pan Pennsylvania's' abandoned wreck.

USA: The U.S. Navy's last battleship, USS 'Wisconsin' (BB-64), is commissioned at the US Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

GERMANY: The Operations Staff of the Luftwaffe completed a top secret report, titled 'The Operational Possiblities of Mistletoe'. The paper discussed the effects of a new weapon to use against the Allies. Plain and simple, the project took a fighter plane and piggy-backed it on the back of a bomb-laddened bomber - most often a Bf 109 on top of a Ju 88. The Ju 88 was filled with explosives or had the crew cabin removed and an impact bomb installed. Flown together to a target, the fighter pilot aimed the whole contraption at the target then released the bomber and zoomed away. Using an auto-pilot, the bomber flew into the target, exploding and hopefully destroying the object. Tested since 1943 with promising results, the combination awas finally judges ready for operations. The report suggested that out of the 3 targets chosen for the first Mistletoe operation - Gibraltar, Leningrad or Scapa Flow - only one was feasable; the Royal Navy at Scapa Flow. The report read, "In the target area, the very strongest of defenses may be expected. Exactly how strong is not known, for our radio monitoring service is not effective north of the Wash. Department Ic (Intelligence) estimates that on the airfields between the Firth of Forth and the north of Scotland, there are 160 to 200 aircraft of the types Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito and Beaufighter. In addition there is a belt of radar stations giving gap-free cover out to the sea..." The nearest airfield which the bombers were to use was Grove in Central Denmark, about 480 miles from Scape Flow. Suggestions on the operation were made along with an order of 15 Mistletoe combinations to be ready by mid June. The first unit to recieve the planes was 2./KG 101, led by Hptm. Horst Rudat.

La Malouine was commissioned into the RN in 1940, and never had a French sailor on board.

 

[uhhuh35]

On this day in WWII, my grandfather, Lt. Donald L. Bone and his crew went down during a mission over Pilzn Skoda Works, Czechoslovakia. Amazingly, a picture exists of him and his crew in front of the actual B-24 he piloted on that mission. He is in the center of the back row and is positively identified by two of his daughters, my mother Merle Ann and my aunt Mary.

Here is the MACR for that day. His co-pilot, Lt. Rollin Batham was taken prisoner and spent the rest of the war in a Nazi POW camp. The rest of the crew made it back to their base in Italy 8 days later.

My Grandfather was assigned to the 15th AF, 455th Bomb Group, 741st Squadron based at San Giovanni Italy. My avatar is the 741st squadron logo, "The Vulgar Vultures". I researched the 455th BG's history at the National Archives in College Park Maryland and as far as I can tell he flew 39 missions with various crew and aircraft. On one mission over Germany his co-pilot was George McGovern! On a few missions his aircraft was tasked with being the photo ship so I have reproductions of the actual "bombs away" pics from from his bomber. Also the various Fighter squadrons that escorted him on missions included the 332nd FG "Tuskeegee Airmen".

Here is the B-24 he trained with while stateside. That would be my grandmother Elizabeth on the side. She hated the fact that she was immortalized on the side of a bomber in all her natural glory and stayed angry at my grandfather for many years afterward. We never found out what "Miss-I-Hope" meant though as no one bothered to ask grandpa about it. He never flew that tail number on any recorded mission either. He did say this though:
"We called the B-24 the Flying Prostitute because it had no visible means of support!".

My Grandmother, in her youth, played piano at silent movie theaters and later was in an episode of the TV show "Queen For A Day". She passed way in 1984.
My Grandfathers real father was killed in WWI and was adopted by another WWI vet who was a Navy Medic and won the Silver Star at the battle of Belleau Wood (But that's another story)
My Grandfather passed away in 1987 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Here is his barely legible grave marker.

"Donald L. Bone. Capt. USAF. 1917-1987".

In 1979 (when I was 15) I went to visit him at his home in Pennsylvania for two weeks and during that time I got to fly in the back seat of a Piper Cherokee while he got his Pilots License renewed. It was windy as hell and I was getting tossed around pretty good but I'll never forget seeing my Grandfather and the Check Pilot in the front seat chatting and just as calm as can be!

 

[Linda]

GERMANY:
8th AF: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 650: 1,192 bombers and 678 fighters, in three forces, are dispatched to hit industrial and transportation targets in western Germany using Pathfinder Force (PFF) methods for all targets; 28 bombers and two fighters are lost.
(3) Two hundred forty eight B-24s attack the Henschel aircraft plant at Kassel; 35 also hit Gottingen; they claim 5-3-0 aircraft; 26 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 207 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 25-0-6
aircraft in the air and 5-0-1 on the ground; two P-51s are lost.

Wow. Your source really missed the boat here. The Kassel Mission is the worst loss for a single group (only one group lost these 28 bombers) from an airfield in history. And the Mustang group in the ensuing dogfight broke the record, temporarily, for the highest wins in a day in the same battle.

 

[Bertus Kerssies]

13 December 1941

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army launches a counter-offensive from the Kalinin area toward besieged Leningrad. German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte evacuate Tula.

NORTH AFRICA: XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, opens an attack on the German's Gazala line and meet firm resistance. Both sides suffer heavy losses.

MEDITERRANEAN: On 11 December, the British destroyers HMS 'Legion' (G 74), Maori F 24) and 'Sikh' (F 82) and the Dutch destroyer 'Isaac Sweers' leaves Gibraltar for the Eastern Mediterranean. During the night, they receive a radio message from a patrolling RAF Wellington about two Italian light cruiser steaming southwards. These ships are carrying a cargo of fuel for German forces in North The destroyers steam at 30 knots through the Skerki-channel and spot several light flashes and vague silhouettes near Cape Bon, Tunisia, at about 0200 hours. The flotilla rounds the Cape and sights the two approaching Italian light cruisers R.N. 'Alberto da Barbiano' and 'Alberico di Giussano'. HMS 'Sikh' is leading the group, then HMS 'Legion', HMS 'Maori' and finally HNMS 'Isaac Sweers'. Two of the four fire torpedoes; topredoes from HMS 'Sikh' strike the first cruiser, which is also hit by one torpedo of and gunfire from HMS Legion and another torpedo from HMS 'Maori'. The cruiser is ablaze and quickly starts to sink. The second cruiser opens fire but misses and is then sunk by one torpedo from HMS 'Legion' and the concentrated gunfire by all destroyers. HNMS 'Isaac Sweers' then encounters the Italian torpedo boat 'Cigno', which is attacked by gunfire and missed with four torpedoes. The destroyer reports also the sinking of an Italian motor torpedo boat, but this is not confirmed by the Italian Admiralty. The Allied destroyers arrive at Malta on 13 December.

In the Ionian Sea, the Italians begin a major convoy to Benghazi, Libya, using their main fleet, with battleships, as escort. Two of the transports are sunk today by the British submarine HMS/M 'Upright' (N 89) about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) east-southeast of the Italian naval base at Taranto, Italy, in position 40.10N, 18.00E.

While returning from a plane ferry mission the British Aircraft Carrier HMS 'Ark Royal' was was hit by one torpedo from the German submarine 'U-81'. Progressive flooding choked the boiler uptakes; since she had no diesel backups, all power was lost, including power to the pumps. HMS 'Legion' was ordered to take aboard 1487 officers and crew to transport to Gibraltar. After several hours, already listing heavily while under tow towards Gibraltar, the carrier capsized to starboard and sank on 14 November 1941.[1] Only one crewman was lost during the evacuation of the ship. (posted by DerAdler ist Gelandet)

Ark Royal was sunk on 13th of november, not 13th of december!

 

[fubar57]

I have it sunk on November 14th
HMS Ark Royal, British aircraft carrier, WW2

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I got 14 November as well...

 

[Bertus Kerssies]

I have it sunk on November 14th
HMS Ark Royal, British aircraft carrier, WW2

You are right! Ark Royal was torpedoed on November 13th and sank on November 14th. But definitely not on December 13th

 

[Elmas]

omissis
MEDITERRANEAN: American 5th Army's 442nd Infantry Regiment enters Turin, Italy. Allies capture Gargnano, Cittadella, Bassano, Friolo, Treviso, Chioggia, and Alessandria.

In Milan, Italy, partisans execute former chief of staff for the Italian Army Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, following a quick trial.
omissis

Maresciallo d'Italia Rodolfo Graziani died 11th January 1955 in his bed.

An interesting 3d this one, even not always accurate.