Friday, November 10, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, November 10, 1943. Heroes and martyrs.
Friday, October 27, 2023
Friday, September 22, 2023
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.
Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.
Grumman F6Fs made their combat debut.
The fighter was a leap in Navy fighter technology, joining the Corsair as a new generation of flattop launched fighter aircraft. The plane would be responsible for approximately 2/3s of the Japanese aircraft shot down by the U.S. Navy during World War Two.
The carrier born first use was in a day-long raid on Marcus Island.
Radar equipped F6F's would remain in service until 1954, completing their service as night fighters.
On the same day, the 14th Air Force bombed Gia Lam, Co Bi, Ichang Airfiled, Stonecutters Island and the Yoyang rail yards. The 5th Air Force hit trages in Saint George Channel and the Dutch East Indes.
Monday, August 21, 2023
Monday, August 14, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, August 14, 1943. US Aviation Insignia Change Again.
U.S. aviation insignia changed again, albeit slightly.
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Sunday, August 6, 2023
Saturday, August 5, 2023
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, July 27, 1943. Storms.
Tuesday, July 27, 1943. Storms.
Major Joseph Duckworth, together with Lt. Ralph O'Hair, of the U.S. Army Air Force flew an AT-6 into the eye of a hurricane, becoming the first people to do so on purpose.
Duckworth was an advocate for training on instruments. He had been an Army Air Corps flyer, originally starting in 1927, and recalled to service during World War Two.
The hurricane bore the name The Surprise Hurricane due to weather censoring during World War Two, which the storm would end due to killing 19 people and causing $17,000,000 in damage.
Croatia became a republic, for a time, after Prince Aimone, the Duke of Astsoria, who had been made king of Croatia by Mussolini, resigned, deciding that desertion was the better part of valor.
The Fascist Grand Council and the Fascist Party were abolished.
Sarah Sundin notes, on her blog:
Today in World War II History—July 27, 1943: Flight nurse Lt. Ruth Gardiner (805th MAETS) is killed in a plane crash in Naknek, Alaska; the first US Army nurse to die in WWII.
She also notes the horrific Hamburg firestorm of the night of July 27, 1943, which resulted from the RAF's Operation Gomorrah bombing raid that evening.
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Some Gave All: The Crew of the B-17F, "The Casper Kid".
The Crew of the B-17F, "The Casper Kid".
This is a new memorial in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, dedicated to the crew of the "Casper Kid", a B-17F that went down in what would have been an incredibly remote lonely spot on February 25, 1943.
In recent years, there's been a dedicated effort in Central Wyoming to memorialize the crews who did in aviation accidents during the Second World War. This is the second such memorial I'm aware of (there may be more) which is dedicated to the crew of an airplane that was flying out of the Casper Air Base, which is now the Natrona County International Airport. Both accidents memorialized so far were winter accidents which resulted in the loss of an aircraft in remote country.
We don't tend to think of those lost in training accidents as war dead, but they were. And there are a lot of them.
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Sunday, July 18, 1943. Blimp attack.
Saturday, July 15, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Sunday, July 15, 2023. First service by Aeroflot.
Sunday, July 15, 2023. Harding drives a golden spike.
The most dangerous major airline in the world, Aeroflot, saw its birth when its predecessor, Dobrolet, began operations with a flight from Moscow to Nizhny.
Sunday, July 9, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Monday, July 9, 1923. Unsuccessful Dawn To Dusk flight.
Maugham was from Logan Utah and joined the Army as a pilot during World War One. His career would span through World War Two.
Friday, June 30, 2023
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Monday, June 28, 1943. The bombing of Cologne.
Monday, June 28, 1943. The bombing of Cologne.
Today in World War II History—June 28, 1943: Royal Air Force bombs Cologne, Germany, heavily damaging the cathedral and ending the Battle of the Ruhr—total of 872 British bombers have been lost.
Lex Anteinternet: Friday, June 28, 1923. Bert Cole, local pioneering aviator, killed.
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Lex Anteinternet: Friday, June 25, 1943. Murder in Ukraine, tragedy in Nova Scotia, race riot in UK.
Friday, June 25, 1943. Murder in Ukraine, tragedy in Nova Scotia, race riot in UK.
The Germans completed the eradication of the Jewish population of Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk) in Ukraine.
The "Battle of Bamber Bridge" occurred in the UK when white Military Police intervened in a pub which had stretched out drinking hours for black US troops and then attempted to cite one for improper uniform. Shots were ultimately fired and one of the soldiers was killed.
The Smith-Connoally Act was passed, which allowed the government to seize industries threated by strikes. It went into law over President Roosevelt's veto.
The men were undergoing training. A memorial service will be held for them today in Summerville.
Classified as a medium bomber, the Ventura is one of the numerous Allied warbirds that are now basically forgotten, in spite of having received widespread use. It was an adaptation of a civilian airliner.
Sarah Sundin notes, on her blog:
Today in World War II History—June 25, 1943: 80 Years Ago—June 25, 1943: Bob Hope begins his first major USO tour; he will spend 11 weeks touring England, North Africa, and Sicily.