In the days following the end of negotiations between Finnish diplomats and Joseph Stalin, the citizens of Finland began to relax just a bit. It was no secret that their army stood little chance…correct that…no chance against the military tsunami that the Soviets could unleash, and the Finns had initially prepared for the inevitable attack. But [...]
Archive for November, 2009
Soviet Avalanche has Finns Seeing Red
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1939, Carl Gustav Mannerheim, Helsinki, Joseph Stalin, Karelian Isthmus, Nikita Khrushchev, Petsamo, Winter War on November 30 | 1 Comment »
French Dip, Hold the Kraut
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Admiral Jean de Laborde, President Dwight Eisenhower, Toulon, Vichy France on November 27 | Leave a Comment »
The decision by Vichy French forces to lay down their arms in North Africa didn’t play well at the top of the German military. The announcement, coming on November 11, 1942, was immediately followed by the German occupation of Vichy France. Nazi forces rolled through Vichy (which comprised the southeast half of France) and arrived [...]
Pearl Harbor Fleet Goes Mountain-Climbing
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1941, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, Kido Butai, Kyushu, Mount Niitaka, Mount Yushan, Pearl Harbor on November 26 | Leave a Comment »
I hope you all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was very good. Our son, his wife, and their children came over, entertained us, and helped us eat enchiladas and all the trimmings. I drank too much soda and ate too much, but all in all, a great day. As the food settles, I’m going [...]
USS Liscome Bay: Makin’s Biggest Victim
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Gilbert Islands, I-175, Makin Atoll, St. Lo, Tarawa Atoll, USS Liscome Bay on November 24 | Leave a Comment »
Usually, when I cover a topic, the search for related artwork or photos is relatively easy. But when the subject is the USS Liscome Bay, such is not the case. There are very few photos available. And that’s because the life of Liscome Bay was short, and it was a life that ended quickly…and violently. [...]
Operation Uranus: The Noose is Set
Posted in Russia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Field Marshall Friedrich Paulus, Fortress Stalingrad, Hermann Goering, Marshal Georgy Zhukov, Operation Uranus, Stalingrad, Volga River, Wolfram von Richthofen on November 23 | Leave a Comment »
“Fortress Stalingrad” had a grandiose sound to it, but the title was deceiving. German General Friedrich Paulus knew that his 6th Army was in serious trouble. What a difference 5 days made! Back then he believed his Soviet enemies had their backs against the proverbial wall and that Stalingrad was nearly his. But a massive Soviet [...]
Heat From Las Vegas Fire Felt in the Midwest
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1980, Las Vegas, MGM Grand Hotel on November 21 | 3 Comments »
Most historical events are ones I’ve read about or seen on TV. And regardless of my level of familiarity with them, there’s still a certain sense of detachment that tags along. After all, I wasn’t Philadelphia when the Declaration was signed. I wasn’t at Marpi Point. I never met John Wayne, and I wasn’t in Johnstown when [...]
Operation Uranus: Turnabout in Stalingrad
Posted in Russia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Case Blue, Fall Blau, Field Marshall Friedrich Paulus, Marshal Georgy Zhukov, Operation Uranus, Stalingrad on November 19 | 2 Comments »
Case Blue, launched in late June of 1942, got off to a smashing start for both the Soviets and the German aggressors…sort of. The Red Army got smashed a lot, and the Wehrmacht did a lot of smashing. By mid-August, the Germans were knocking on the doors of Stalingrad, having reached the Volga River north [...]
British Launch Crusade: Salvation of Tobruk the Goal
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1941, Afrika Korps, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, General Claude Auchinleck, Libya, Operation Crusader, Seige, Tobruk on November 18 | Leave a Comment »
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel knew what full-scale assaults looked like, and this didn’t look like one. Having just returned to North Africa from Italy (where he had celebrated his 50th birthday), he was greeted with the news that a large contingent of tanks…British tanks…were gathering to the east. But Rommel had plans, and he didn’t [...]
General Washington Loses Fort Washington
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged 1776, Fort Lee, Fort Washington, General George Washington, New York, Thomas Paine on November 16 | 2 Comments »
By mid-November of 1776, the reality of their rebellion against the King George III was beginning to slap the Colonists in the face…hard. The excitement of July 2nd’s Declaration of Independence had, in the ensuing months, been replaced a new truth. A sobering, more immediate truth, stronger than the flush of breaking from the Crown. The [...]
Colonies Create First Confederacy
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged 1777, Articles of Confederation, Lee Resolution, Second Continental Congress on November 15 | Leave a Comment »
We’ll keep it brief this evening… Barely one week had gone by since the Second Continental Congress had passed the Lee Resolution, which declared the 13 Colonies to be independent from the British Crown, and there was a bustle of activity. Some members of the Congress had returned home, needing to sell the idea of independence [...]
F-15 Eagle Earns its Wings
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1974, Aircraft, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, Convair F-106 Delta Dagger, McDonnell-Douglas F-15 Eagle, President Gerald Ford on November 14 | Leave a Comment »
When any of us boards an airplane, I wonder if we ever give any real thought to how much work, design, and planning went into building and testing it. I’m not a big fan of flying by any means, so I usually hope that the plane I enter merely conquers gravity for the 90 minutes [...]
Operation Judgement Gives Japan Pearl of Wisdom
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Battle of Taranto, Fairley TSR Swordfish, HMS Illustrious, Italy, Operation Judgement, Taranto on November 11 | Leave a Comment »
The Battle of Taranto is one of the Second World War’s more obscure engagements. Maybe that’s because it happened at night, or because it lasted only a few hours. But as we’ll soon see, it was very important for a couple of reasons. Taranto itself might be familiar to readers of Today’s History Lesson, who [...]
Mount Hood Erupts!!
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, HMS Hood, Manus Island, Seeadler Harbor, USS Mount Hood on November 10 | Leave a Comment »
The mighty battle cruiser HMS Hood was felled in 1941 in spectacular (and catastrophic) fashion. Engaged in a fight with the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, her aft ammunition magazine was pierced by gunfire from the Bismarck. The Hood exploded in a conflagration that split her in two, sank her in minutes with nearly all hands, [...]
Finland Calls Soviet Bluff
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1939, Carl Gustav Mannerheim, Finland, Joseph Stalin, Karelian Isthmus, Lake Ladoga, Mannerheim Line, Nazi-Soviet Pact, Soviet Union on November 9 | Leave a Comment »
For nearly a month, direct negotiations had persisted. Back-and-forth communications?…more than 18 months. The Soviet Union had, since April of 1938, been interested in territory that belonged to Finland, its neighbor to the west. And Finland had (more or less) politely refused. The Nazi-Soviet Pact came and went. The combined German-Soviet removal of Poland from the [...]
The Great Gate of Kiev
Posted in Russia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Kiev, Operation Citadel on November 6 | 1 Comment »
When Operation Citadel was abandoned by Adolf Hitler in July of 1943, it left in its wake the scattered bit of destroyed aircraft, the hulks of thousands of tanks, the burned out remains of more artillery pieces, and the still, quiet corpses of even more Russian and German soldiers. While not marking the eastern-most advance of Germany’s territorial conquests [...]
British Begin Westward Push in North Africa
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Adolf Hitler, Afrika Korps, El Alamein, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel on November 5 | Leave a Comment »
The last two months had been particularly unkind to the Afrika Korps. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s gamble at Alma el Halfa had not paid off, and early advances merely gave way to a retreat that, ten days later, found them back where they started…with a smaller force. And that was the good news. Two weeks [...]
The Spruce Goose: 30 Seconds Over…Long Beach
Posted in Post-war history (1945-), tagged 1947, California, H-4 Hercules, Henry Kaiser, Howard Hughes, Long Beach, Spruce Goose on November 2 | Leave a Comment »
On November 2, 1947, the largest flying boat ever constructed lifted off on its maiden flight near Long Beach, California. Officially called the H-4 Hercules, it was built by billionaire aircraft designer (and noted eccentric) Howard Hughes, and it was immense. The contract for three prototypes, which was awarded to Hughes in 1942 with the help [...]
“…The Best of Blessings on this House…”
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1800, Alexander Hamilton, Executive Mansion, Federalist, President John Adams, White House on November 1 | 1 Comment »
“The immense house was still unfinished. It reeked of wet plaster and wet paint. Fires had to be kept blazing in every fireplace on the main floor to speed up the drying process. Only a twisting back stair had been built between floors. Closet doors were missing. There were no bells to ring for service. [...]
