To commemorate a great D-Day - Fifth Army lands at Salerno - Sept 10, 1943
On 3 September the British Eighth Army crossed the Strait in pursuit and drove up the Calabrian Peninsula. Coordinated with the Eighth Army's attack, Allied landings at Salerno by the United States Fifth Army and at Taranto by the British 1 Airborne Division were made on 9 September. In the Salerno landings, strong American forces were fighting on the continent of Europe for the first time since 1918.
Sent to me by John McAuliffe, 87th Inf Div. Thanks John!
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RECOGNIZING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE -- (Extensions of Remarks - December 06, 2004)
[Page: E2151] GPO's PDF
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SPEECH OF
HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN
OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2004
* Mr. MCGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the veterans of the Battle of the Bulge on the occasion of its 60th Anniversary this month. On November 16, 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J. Res. 110, a resolution recognizing the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, and I was proud to vote in favor of H.J. Res. 110.
* Mr. Speaker, the Battle of the Bulge was a significant turning point of the Allied victory over the Axis powers in Northern Europe. At the time of the battle , from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945, the outcome of World War II was in question. But neither the harsh winter nor enemy fire could overcome the Allied determination to win the greatest battle of that war.
* Mr. Speaker, out of the 16 million veterans of World War II, roughly 4 million are with us and about 1,200 die each day. With each death, we lose a first hand account of the war and the opportunity to thank them for their service. That is why it is so important that the House, on this anniversary, acknowledge the sacrifice and service of the men of the Battle of the Bulge .
* Mr. Speaker, after 60 years, the veterans of the Battle of the Bulge are traveling to Belgium and Luxembourg this month to participate in 60th Anniversary events. They and their families will join with the people of Belgium and Luxembourg in somber remembrance of the battle . Both the King of the Belgians, Albert II, and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri, will participate in official events.
* Mr. Speaker, my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts is home to the Central Massachusetts Chapter of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge . The Worcester chapter has 155 members. Its objective is to honor the men who fought at the battle , to preserve historical data and sites, to foster international peace and goodwill, and to promote friendship and comradeship. The Worcester chapter has honored the 10 sons of Worcester who died during the battle by placing square markers throughout the city. Many members of the chapter are going to Europe this month for the remembrance services.
* Mr. Speaker, the Battle of the Bulge and World War II tore apart the continent of Europe. It pitted great civilizations against each other in an epic battle for control of Europe. But the Allied victory and the great sacrifice of the men of World War II have contributed to today's peace in Europe. Indeed, the United States, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and other nations involved in the Battle of the Bulge are allies today as members of NATO. Our countries have worked closely on solidarity, freedom, security, and the trans-Atlantic alliance. Today's European and American cooperation is due in large part to the veterans of the Battle of the Bulge .
* Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, I thank these veterans for their service, their courage, their sacrifice and their continuing efforts to foster international freedom and democracy.
John McAuliffe, 87th Inf Div, sent me this excerpt from a book. Here is his email to me this morning:
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From pages 395-397 of the non-fiction novel, “Private” by Lester Atwell, Second Battalion Medical Aid Station, 345th Infantry, 87th Division, Third Army: Written in 1955, published 1958 by Simon and Schuster: Received National Book Club award, 1982.
“Stutzhaus, or what we saw of it, might have been anywhere in the country, in any country: a dirt road bordered by trees, some fields, a few houses such as a child draws. An aid station had been set up. Phil and I left Preacher minding it and went down into a nearby field. The battalion had halted and Regimental Headquarters had also arrived in the town.
“It was the first time we had seen the litter bearers in several days, and, while talking to them, I was told that in the next town, Ordruf, just outside our sector, there was a large concentration camp with the remains of hundreds of starved dead and mangled bodies lying unburied in the yard: the gas chambers and crematoriums had been operating at full speed until the very last moment, but there had been no time for the S.S. to bury all the ghastly signs of their guilt.
“Some of our guys over there saw it. They were pukin’. They said it was awful! But they’re going to let everyone over to see it. If you wanna go, they say you ought to see it before they clean everything up.’
“The field in which we were standing was overgrown with knee-high dead, bleached weeds, and the sounds of men trampling on them made constant loud cracking signs. Nineteen-year-old Konrad Hausner, one of the regimental interpreters, a refugee who had been born in Germany and had spent his childhood there, came quickly through the straw-colored weeds with his superior officer, a man in charge of Military Government. Letting the officer go past, he stopped to shake hands and talk for a few minutes. He said ‘I’ve just come from Ordruf, from the concentration camp.’
‘I hear they’re going to let us all go over and see it.’
‘Don’t. Don’t go. Do yourself a favor-stay away! It’s the most horrible thing—worse than anything you ever heard of. Bodies all over the place—women, kids, men—all heaped together, half-burned. They must have been living skeletons. God, what bastards to do things like that! I tell you I’m sick! Take it from me, it’s all there. Nothing’s exaggerated, but don’t go.
“As it turned out, we were not permitted to go over, but toward evening Jimmy McDonough and his friend Horseface Fogarty returned to Stutzhaus. Fogarty was slack and expressionless; Jimmy McDonough looked awed. ‘You’re lucky you didn’t go,’ he said, passing me. ‘God it was awful. Honest, I’m sick.’
“We had our mess kits out, getting ready to line up, and someone asked if he were going to eat.
‘Eat?’ He put his hand on his stomach and turned his head away. ‘Listen, I don’t even wanna think about eatin’. He went on into the aid station to lie down as Fogarty had done. When we were going to sleep that night, he was still lying on his stomach, his head buried in his arms. They didn’t eat all the next day, but sat in the aid station, dazed and silent.
“About a week later, some rear elements of our division were present at Ordruf when the burgomaster led his townsfolk out to the concentration camp for a burial ceremony. By then the place had been considerably cleaned up. The starved and half-consumed bodies had been gathered together and placed in coffins, and there were even a few floral offerings. When the people saw what the camp was like and were led through the torture chambers and past the ovens, men and women screamed out and fainted; others were led away crying hysterically. All swore that during the past years they had no idea of what was going on in the camp just outside their town.
“And yet one heard other stories. One heard that it would be impossible not to know what was happening, that the greasy black smoke and the unmistakable odor of burning bodies could be detected for miles around such concentration camps, that villagers got up petitions to have the camps moved elsewhere.
Indeed, I live in the fine region of Flanders in Belgium, Europe.
Some of you will recognise this region from old stories from the first world war. Some others will have relatives who fought the German troops over here in the second world war. And maybe others will have had the chance to visit my country.
I kind of "accidently" stumbled upon this website.
In fact I was looking for information about some kind of tool we (a few friends and I) found in a ditch. But this will be dealth with in a specific topic where I will post a few pictures.
Marion seemed to be interested and I hope a lot more of you all.
For whatever it is worth, I hereby would like to let you all know that if you have any question, whatsoever, about Flanders, Belgium or a location in this region, I will do my upmost best to try and satisfy your wishes.
Many greetings to you all.
By the way, the picture in attachment shows me and my youngest son Gust, last winter. January 7th 2009, to be exact.
At least, if the picture made it to the forum, that is.
Germany begins the 900-day Siege of Leningrad by German forces during World War II, the siege led to the death of at least one million Russians from starvation and disease.
1942 U.S.A. Labor Day Weekend Holidays:-
American workers gave up their Labor day weekend holidays to keep the munitions factories working to help in the war effort. Nearly all the traditional Labor Day Parades have also been cancelled in respect for the thousands of loved ones fighting to protect their country. Most of the travel seen on Rail and busses have been troops who have a furlough to go home and see loved ones.
1943 Italy Surrenders
Following the deposing of Mussolini from power in July General Dwight Eisenhower publicly announces the surrender of Italy to the Allies.
1944 UK V2 Rocket
Germany launches the first V2 rocket on London, over the next six months Germany launched 1,400 at Britain ending in March 1945. At the end of world war II both the US and the Soviet Union tried to gain as many V2's and more importantly the scientists who had worked on them, there is a V2 on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington alongside a Saturn rocket. The V2 rocket is the base of the early space rockets and inter ballistic rockets with the three main components needed for a rocket, large liquid-fuel rocket engines, supersonic aerodynamics, and guidance and control systems developed for the V2.
