WORLD OF ALL

 On this day in 1942, a Georgia newspaper reports on a new military effort: Dogs for Defense. Did you know that some Americans offered their family pets to help during World War II? “Great progress is being made in preparing a dog corps in America that will be second to none,” an Atlanta Constitution journalist described. “It is estimated that one trained dog can release from three to six men who would otherwise be needed for guard duty.” Dogs for Defense was founded by poodle breeder Alene Erlanger in January 1942, soon after the attack at Pearl Harbor. “Other countries have used dogs in their Armies for years and ours has not,” she said. “We’ve got to do it. Just think what dogs can do guarding forts, munition plants, and other such places.”  Those who supported Dogs for Defense were dog lovers who knew the strengths of our canine friends: They included “breeders, trainers, professional and amateur; kennel club members, show and field trial judges, handlers, veterinarians, e...

 The terrible Battle of the Sambre. The Second Battle of the Sambre (4 November 1918) (which included the Second Battle of Guise, and the Battle of Thiérache was part of the final European Allied offensives of World War I. By November 1918, German resistance was falling away. Unprecedented numbers of prisoners were taken in the Battle of the Selle, and a new attack was quickly prepared. The French First Army and the British First, Third, and Fourth Armies were tasked with advancing from south of the Condé Canal along a 30-mile front toward Maubeuge-Mons, threatening Namur. Together with the American forces breaking out of the forests of Argonne, this would, if successful, disrupt the German efforts to reform a shortened defensive line along the Meuse. At dawn on 4 November, 17 British and 11 French divisions headed the attack. The Tank Corps, its resources badly stretched, could provide only 37 tanks for support. The first barrier to the northern attack was the 60–70-foot wide Samb...

 Dutch Mounted Field Artillery with a 7cm Field Cannon on their way during an inundation during the mobilization, November 1939. A bit of History The Dutch Water Line was a series of water-based defences conceived in the early 17th century.  Combined with natural bodies of water, the Water Line could be used to transform the ‘Holland’ Provinces almost into an island. Early in the Eighty Years' War of Independence against Spain (1568-1648), the Dutch realized that flooding low-lying areas formed an excellent defence against enemy troops.  Sluices were constructed in dikes and forts and fortified towns were created at strategic points along the line with guns covering especially the dikes that traversed the water line. The water level in the flooded areas was carefully maintained at a level deep enough to make an advance on foot precarious and shallow enough to rule out effective use of boats (other than the flat bottomed gun barges used by the Dutch defenders).  In wi...

The great story of Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev.  This photo is of the same man 4 years apart after his WW2 experience. He fought for the Soviet Union after the Germans invaded just after he graduated from Kyiv university and was captured, spending 2 years in the “Khorol pit” prisoner camp before escaping and going straight back to the front line and fighting all the way to Germany.   His bravery is undeniable and many young men, even today with our concept of younger generations being soft would still easily be propagandised to fight and die for queen and country against people that without massive states playing power politics would never have a problem with each other.  This brings us to the Ukraine today. After years of western involvement in Eastern Europe ringing Russia with allies armed with “defensive” anti ballistic missile installations that can be used for incoming missile defence or instantly be loaded with nuclear tipped tomahawk cruise missiles, the MK41 missi...

 German Corporal posing for a photograph in his uniform and equipment, February 1915. The following is excerpts of 22-year-old Danish-German soldier Hemming Skov's account of his participation in the Battle of Tannenberg on August 30, 1914, today 109 years ago.  The day prior, he had been billeted in the town or Ortelsburg - Szczytno. Translated by myself: "The following morning, after we had entered the streets, the bullets began hissing; the Russians lay right outside of town, and in the space of a few minutes, the German rifles began thundering outwards from all the upper windows of the houses.  But soon, the Russian artillery began bombarding the town, thereby making August 30 an unforgettable day. The shells initially came one by one, but eventually it turned into an incessant whistling and hissing.  During this shelling, which lasted from morning till afternoon, and during which Ortelsburg was left in ruins, I was in the town at all times.  And in the mids...

 The terrible story of the General who never lost.  Nearly all soldiers and veterans have heard, at least sometime during their military career, the old maxim "Train Hard, Fight Easy". But very few of us know where it comes from and who was, apparently, the first to coin this so very true military motto. To my surprise I learnt just the other day, while sniffing around the Napoleonic Wars, that he was a Russian.  A Russian general, who during a long and brilliant military career right up to his ripe old age of seventy years fought 63 major battles and never lost one... His stature and fame was such that the brutal communist dictator Joseph Stalin, desperately trying to rally his oppressed Russian subjects to save his skin against the Germans, fell back on this legendary monarchist military leader to raise Russian patriotism and willingness to sacrifice. Even though Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Italy, Prince of S...

 🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of First Lieutenant June Wandrey Mann of the US Army Nurse Corps. June Wandrey, born in Wautoma Wisconsin on June 25, 1920, studied nursing at the Kahler School of Nursing, an affiliate of the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota. Later she attended the University of Chicago and Shrivenham American University in England, and ultimately, received a Bachelors of Science from the University of Wisconsin.  During World War II June would go on to use her nursing skills as a member of the US Army Nurse Corps serving in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany - earning eight battle stars.  Toward the end of the combat, June was instrumental in the rehabilitation of numerous Prisoners of War in both the Allach and the Dachau camps.  On October 3, 1948 June married Dr. Kingsley Mann. The couple had three children. June would go on to pen her memoir "Bedpan Commando," an account of her service during World War II as a First Lieutena...

 🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: 11th Airborne Division Raises First Flag Over Japan. 78 years ago today our 11th Airborne Division Angels raised the first American flag over Japan at the Atsugi Airfield on August 30, 1945 during our historic landings there! "After MG Joseph Swing’s staff set up the first Allied CP in Japan at 0730 in Clifton’s selected hangar (with one table and one chair), William 'Bill' F. Rudolph of the 511th Airborne Signals Company stood by his orders to guard the ultra-secret SIGABA code machine as Swing established contact with MacArthur’s HQ in Manila.  Ten minutes later a photographer for Life told Rudolph to come help raise the American flag, perhaps hoping to capture a Joe Rosenthal-esque photo. Knowing he had to guard the SIGABA machine, Rudolph declined.  Instead, the first American flag on Japan’s homeland was raised atop the building by William’s 511th Signals buddies LT Edward Jacobs and PFC Rex Pack with Alfred 'Al' Cottone’s help (Pack was ...

 🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Corporal Aristotelis Savalas From the US Army to The Dirty Dozen. The 1967 film "The Dirty Dozen" sported an All Star cast of World War II veterans. One of the most popular films of its time, "The Dirty Dozen" still holds as one of the most successful war films ever made. The cast included: Lee Marvin, Robert Webber and Robert Ryan (US Marine Corps); Telly Savalas and George Kennedy (US Army); Charles Bronson (US Army Air Forces); Ernest Borgnine (US Navy) and Clint Walker (US Merchant Marine) as major players.  Please take a moment to learn a little more about US Army veteran Telly Savalas who portrayed Private Archer Maggott. According to Together We Served: "Telly joined the Army in 1941. He was a member of Company C, 12th Medical Training Battalion, 4th Medical Training Regiment at Camp Pickett, Virginia.  Although Telly received a Purple Heart for his service in World War II, little is known about his time with the armed forces.  Telly...

 🇬🇧 WWII uncovered: British 1st Airborne Division in the Netherlands: The House at Stationsweg 8. British 1st Airborne Division outside the house they defended at Stationsweg 8 in Oosterbeek Netherlands.  The photo was taken by the occupant of the house, Mrs. Kremer-Kingma, in September of 1944. The house at Stationsweg 8 was taken by British troops and served as part of the British defense line.  The Kremer-Kingma family spent seven days with the troops at the Eastern border of the perimeter. Pictured: Captain S. G. Caims, holding Mrs Kremer's guest book, and Sergeant Louis Hagen, both of the Glider Pilot Regiment, Sergeant S. Binnick, unknown soldier, Frankie McCausland, James 'Jimmy' Cameron and Corpral John Peter Rodley of the 21st Independent Parachute Company.  Kneeling are: Sergeant Ben Swallow (left) and Private R. Jeffreys, also of the 21st Independent. According to the Liberation Route Website: "For seven days, the Stationsweg in Oosterbeek served as the ...

 🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Colonel Bud Anderson the Last Living Triple Ace Fighter Pilot of World War II. Please join us in honoring these service of World War II Fighter Pilot Colonel Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson the last living Triple Ace fighter pilot of World War II. According to Anderson's biography website To Fly and Fight: "During WW II Bud served two combat tours escorting heavy bombers over Europe in the P-51 Mustang.  He flew 116 combat missions (480 hrs) and destroyed 16 and 1/4 enemy aircraft in aerial combat and another one on the ground. Bud flew in the 357th Fighter Group “Yoxford Boys” and was the highest scoring Ace in the 363rd Fighter Squadron." Anderson served from 1942 to 1972. Some of his decorations include: two Legions of Merit, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, 16 Air Medals and the Bronze Star.  After retiring from active duty, Anderson worked at the F-15 test facility at Edwards Air Force Base, California. - Travis Air Force Base On 2 Decembe...

 🇳🇿WWII uncovered: New Zealand Flight Lieutenant Maurice Mayston: 485 NZ Spitfire Squadron: Veteran of D-Day. "We went out in the first light, before the dawn. We were lucky; although there was other cloud the east still had this glow, and we could see down below the darkness of the land and the shiny surface of the sea, and the light was getting better every minute of course, and then dawn broke, and we saw this immense armada of ships in the semi-darkness.  It was awesome, and there were the hundreds and hundreds of landing craft, loaded up with men heading towards the beaches, all in nice neat lines and order. It was awesome, there's no other word really.  And something that we'd been looking for, and here it was happening" - Maurice Mayston interview by Alison Parr. Ministry for Culture and Heritage D-Day Oral History project. New Zealand spitfire pilot, Flight Lieutenant Maurice Mayston (pictured left) and R.H. Le Tourret back from a fighter sweep over France i...

 🇦🇺WWII uncovered: Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury Honoured with the Victoria Cross for Valor During the Battle of Isurava. According to the Australian War Memorial: "Melbourne-born Bruce Steel Kingsbury worked in New South Wales and Victoria before enlisting in May 1940.  Embarking with the 2/14th Battalion from Sydney, he served in Palestine and Egypt and took part in the invasion of Syria. He returned to Australia with the battalion in March 1942." "In August the 2/14th moved to Port Moresby, hoping to halt the Japanese on the Kokoda Trail.  Kingsbury's platoon had been holding a position for two days against continual enemy attacks and severe losses when he made the heroic assault that cost him his life.  On August 29, through his own initiative, Bruce charged with a Bren gun, shooting from the hip against intense enemy fire, causing many casualties. Alone, he continued to sweep the enemy until he fell, hit by a sniper." ⭐ Private Kingsbury's Victoria Cr...

 British soldier having a leak in front of a Mark I tank sunk in the Scarpe marshes, August 29, 1918. This photograph, colourised by @colourbyrjm, was taken today 105 years ago near Fampoux during the Second Battle of the Scarpe river, a phase in the Second Battle of the Somme (1918), as part of the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. This particular tank, a male Mark I tank with the serial number 716, was in action on April 23, 1917 during the First Battle of the Scarpe, as part of the Battle of Arras. Seeing heavy combat in the Fampoux-Reaux area, the tank got stuck in the marshes and was afterwards struck by German armour-piercing machine-gun rounds, forcing the tank crew to abandon the machine. Over a year later, when this photograph was taken, and even with the area having been shortly conquered by the Germans during their Spring Offensive, the tank was still stuck in the same swampy position. don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments section below 

 🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: Maurice Britt: The First Person in American History to Earn All of the Army’s Top Awards, including the Medal of Honor, While Fighting in a Single War.  An outstanding title for a legendary hero. Maurice Lee Britt, of Arkansas, was a standout student and athlete.  The former University of Arkansas All-American wide receiver went on to play professional football with the Detroit Lions.  According to the National Football League: "Britt who received an Army Reserve commission as a Second Lieutenant through the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps when he graduated from college, was called to active duty before the Lions' season had ended." "Less than a year after he left the Lions, Britt began his career in battle as a platoon leader in Casablanca as part of the landings in French North Africa.  Just weeks after Casablanca was secured, Britt's regiment served as the personal bodyguards for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime...

 German Generals Erich Ludendorff, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Falkenhayn during the First World War. Today 107 years ago, on August 29, 1916, German Chief-of-Staff Erich von Falkenhayn was dismissed from his command and replaced by Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff as 'Chief of the German Great General Staff' and 'First Quatermaster-General'. For simplicity sake, I will refer to these titles as Chief-of-Staff from now on. General Erich von Falkenhayn, already Minister of War, was appointed Chief-of-Staff on September 14, 1914, following his predecessor Generel Helmuth von Moltke's nervous breakdown due to the German defeat in the First Battle of the Marne. Chief-of-Staff Falkenhayn believed the war would be won on the Western Front and thus prioritized it over the Eastern Front.  This belief was in direct contrast to General Paul von Hindenburg, German Commander in the East, who firmly believed Russia could be defeated by a single, massive, an...

the terrible story of how the royal navy attempt to sink the German battleship Tirpitz at its anchorage in kaafjord, Norway. On 24 August 1944, Royal Navy Home Fleet aircraft carriers launch Operation Goodwood III, another attempt to sink the German battleship Tirpitz at its anchorage in Kaafjord, Norway. Even though the RN Home Fleet's carrier strikes during Operation Tungsten, which we covered in our 3 April post, killed almost a third of Tirpitz's crew, the ship remained a threat in the eyes of the British Admiralty. The departure of Operation Tungsten's experienced aircrew, poor weather, improved German air defenses, and additional smokescreen generators covering Tirpitz led to a series of operations being canceled or aborted between late April and mid-July. Operations were paused as Home Fleet ships were assigned to protect the Arctic convoys. But the intelligence that Tirpitz was out for sea trials with her destroyer escorts in Altafjord on 31 July and 1 August caused...

 German soldier with a Romanian civilian dwarf at his farm at Felsővisó (Vișeu de Sus) on the Romanian Front, 1917.  Today 107 years ago, on August 27, 1916, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary and invaded them in the Battle of Transylvania. Romania had drafted plans for a potential invasion of Austria-Hungary since 1913 which would now be executed. It called for the Romanian 2nd Army to invade Transylvania in the center of the front, with Budapest as the final objective, knocking out Austria-Hungary of the war as well.  The 2nd Army would be supported on its left flank by the 1st Army and on its right flank by the 4th "North" Army. The three Romanian armies totalled 350,000 troops and would be up against just 4 depleted Austro-Hungarian Divisions of the A-H 1st Army guarding the Hungarian border in Transylvania. On August 27, 1916, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary, as the Romanian Armies invaded Transylvania.  The Romanian forces immediately advanced, onl...

 Masses of German prisoners captured by British forces in the Battle of Amiens, August 27, 1918. This photograph was taken today 105 years ago. How many soldiers do you think are pictured? Leave your answer in the comments ⬇️ Some 30,000 - 75,000 German prisoners were taken in the Battle of Amiens, from August 8 - 12, 1918. Many of these surrendered upon sight of Allied troops, and German Chief-of-Staff Erich Ludendorff famously called August 8, 1918 "the Black Day of the German Army", for the plummeting morale of the German troops following the Allied breakthrough at Amiens. In total during the Hundred Days Offensive, a mind-boggling 386,000 German soldiers were taken prisoner from July 18 - November 11, 1918 during the Allied advance on the Western Front, which led to victory. That is over 1/3 of the total ~900,000 German soldiers who fell into captivity during the entire First World War... dn't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

 🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: In Memoriam: WWII Naval Aviator Bob Barker. Please take a moment to join us in honoring the life and service of US Naval Aviator Ensign Robert William Barker. Bob joined the United States Navy Reserve in 1943 during World War II to train as a fighter pilot.  His naval training began at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, just outside of Kansas City, Missouri.  "His first taste of flying came at the next training base, which was in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State University.  At this location he had Civilian Flight Instructors and he learn to fly and solo at age 19 in a Taylorcraft Plane." "After learning to fly a Taylorcraft at Iowa State University, He was transferred the University of Georgia and what the navy called preflight school." "He was transferred again to learn to fly F4U Corsairs in Goose Isle, Michigan and logged a few hours in the seat but the war coming to end.  As Bob once said " I was a naval aviator, a fighter pil...

 🇫🇷WWII uncovered: A Salute to Commando Kieffer: Honouring the Service of Count Guy de Montlaur. "As the gray dawn spread over the coast of Normandy on June 6, 1944, revealing the legions of Allied ships staged to begin the D-Day invasion, a 25-year-old French aristocrat-turned-commando named Count Guy de Montlaur was told his squad would be one of the very first to splash onto the beach. Their mission was to take a seaside casino that held a German stronghold.' 'The young count, his green beret pulled low over one eye, replied to his commander that attacking the casino “would be a pleasure. I have lost several fortunes in that place.” 'By the end of the battle, only 40 of the 177 French Kieffer Commandos who landed on the beach were still standing. Commando Kieffer was the common name given to the 1st Battalion Marine Commando Fusiliers. Montlaur survived and eventually became a hero of the French liberation" - Excerpt from NY Times article, June, 2019 'In ...

 Italian officers enjoying themselves up in a tree by a river, March 1917. Today 107 years ago, on August 28, 1916, Italy declared war on Germany, after being at war with Austria-Hungary for over a year. Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23, 1915, and thus entered the First World War on the side of the Triple Entente - France, Britain and Russia. Although the main enemy of their Allies was Germany, Italy did not initially declare war on them, presumably in an attempt to avoid German troops being deployed in their masses on the Italian Front. However, German troops had been present on the Italian Front ever since Italy's declaration of war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915.  The German Alpenkorps, specialized in mountain warfare, had been deployed in the Dolomites, although not participating in any offensive operations. Although the German Alpenkorps was withdrawn from the Italian Front in October 1915, German vessals were still operating in the Mediterranean Sea, targe...

 🇳🇿WWII uncovered: Honouring the Heroes We Lost: Porokoru Patapu Pohe of the Royal New Zealand Air Force: Hero of the Great Escape. Porokoru Patapu "John" Pohe was one of the first Māori pilots in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. John spent two years in the Army Reserves as part of the Manawatu Mountain Rifles Regiment before joining the Air Force.  In September 1940 he began training at the Ground Training School in Levin and  completed his training - graduating from the Woodbourne Air Force Base in Blenheim, New Zealand in January of 1941. He would then go to Canada to be trained in night flying and navigation. On 24 August 1941 John was posted to No. 51 Squadron RAF and flew 22 bombing operations and was promoted to Flight Sergeant in October of the same year. According to the National Air and Space Museum: "Pohe requested a return to an operational combat squadron. In August 1943, he began training on one of Bomber Command’s newest 4-engine bombers, the Handley-Pag...

 New Zealand soldiers posing for a photograph with a captured German Tank Gewehr, August 25, 1918. The German "Mauser Tankgewehr M1918", usually just called the T-Gewehr (Tank Rifle), was the first ever designated anti-tank rifle in the history of warfare, and the only one used in the First World War. By June 1917, the British were deploying the Mark IV tanks on the battlefield, and the Germans discovered their standard armour-piercing bullets were no longer effective at putting them out of action. Not even their MG-08 machine-guns could pierce the British tanks and hand-grenades and artillery were too unreliable to stop a tank advancing directly towards a German trench. Following the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, in which the British really demonstrated the potential of their tanks to break the trench stalemate, the Germans began development of a new rifle designated for anti-tank purposes. By January 1918, the Tankgewehr M1918 had been developed, manufactured by Mause...

 terrible story of German soldiers executing Belgian civilians, August 1914. Today 109 years ago, on August 25, 1914, the German Army began ravaging the Belgian city of Leuven, including its renowned university library. On August 23, 1914, the Germans had carried out a particularly severe massacre in the Belgian town of Dinant, executing some 674 Belgian civilians by order of the local German commander. On August 25, the Belgian Army delivered a sudden counter-attack, forcing the Germans to fall back to the city of Leuven.  The retreat was disorganized and in the confusion which followed, the Germans claimed they had been assaulted by Belgian civilian free shooters from rooftops, which was illegal in war as per the 1907 Hague Convention. At 8 PM, on August 25, 1914, a shooting reportedly broke out in the streets of Leuven between Belgian free shooters and German soldiers.  In order to set an example, the Germans began breaking into civilian homes and ravaged Leuven over t...