WHAT YOU MUST KNOW

 🇦🇺WWII uncovered: Sir Hughie Edwards: the Most Decorated Australian of World War II Hughie Edwards, of Fremantle, Western Australia, joined the RAAF in 1935 before transfer to the RAF. He was appointed to command No. 105 Squadron in 1941. According to the Australian War Memorial: "On July 4, 1941 Edwards led 12 twin-engine bombers in a low-level attack on the heavily defended port of Bremen Germany.  The aircraft had to fly under high-tension wires, through a balloon barrage, and into intense fire. All his bombers were hit and four were shot down. "In 1943 Edwards became Commanding Officer of the bomber base at Binbrook, Lincolnshire, where No. 460 Squadron, RAAF, was based. "Edwards, the most highly decorated Australian of the war, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, the Order of the British Empire, the Distinguished Flying Cross and Coronation and Silver Jubilee Medals for Queen Elizabeth II.  His honours include the Knight Commander of ...

 On This Days 1943: Britt Was a Recipient of Medal of Honor For His Action in Italy. Maurice “Footsie” Britt was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in Italy on this day in 1943. Capt. Britt was born in Arkansas and briefly played football for the Detroit Lions before joining the U.S. Army.   He served with distinction in North Africa and Italy before being wounded and discharged in January, 1944.  He was the first American infantryman to receive all four major decorations for valor—The Bronze Star, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honor. He also received four Purple Hearts. His Medal of Honor citation reads:  “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.  Disdaining enemy hand grenades and close-range machine pistol, machinegun, and rifle, Lt. Britt inspired and led a handful of his men in repelling a bitter counterattack by approximately 100 Germans aga...

 🇬🇧 WWII uncovered: Victoria Cross Honouree Wing Commander Guy Gibson and Operation Chastise. On the night of 16-17 May 1943, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force on Operation Chastise, a bombing raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany.  According to the Imperial War Museum: "In late March 1943, a new squadron was formed to carry out the raid on the dams.  Initially codenamed Squadron X, 617 Squadron was led by 24-year old Wing Commander Guy Gibson and was made up of aircrew from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.  With one month to go before the raid, and with only Gibson knowing the full details of the operation, the squadron began intensive training in low-level night flying and navigation. "At 9:28 pm on 16 May, 133 aircrew in 19 Lancasters took off in three waves to bomb the dams.  Gibson was flying in the first wave and his aircraft was first to attack the Möhne at ...

 🇬🇧WWII uncovered: Honouring the Service of Charlotte 'Betty' Webb: Code Breaker of Bletchley Park and the Pacific Theater. Bletchley Park, a British government cryptological establishment in operation during World War II remained classified even after the end of the war.  The establishment was where Alan Turing and other agents of the Ultra intelligence project decoded the enemy’s secret messages, most notably those that had been encrypted with the German Enigma and Tunny Cipher machines. The world would not fully learn of the valuable efforts put forth by approximately 12,000 men and women until 1974 when Frederick William Winterbotham received permission to publish his memoir, "The Ultra Secret. At the age of 18 years old Charlotte 'Betty' Webb was serving with the Auxiliary Territorial Service when her extensive knowledge of the German language prompted interviewers to reassign her to Bletchley Park. "I didn't really think of myself as being one of t...

 🇬🇧 WWII uncovered: Major Robert Henry Cain Awarded the Victoria Cross for Valor at the Battle of Arnhem. Robert Henry Cain, born on 2 January 1909, grew up on the Isle of Man where he was educated at King William's College.  In April 1940 Cain was given an emergency commission into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers as a Second Lieutenant.  In 1942, he was seconded to 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment before being temporarily promoted to the rank of Major in April 1943.  On 19th September 1944 Major Cain was commanding a rifle company of the South Staffordshire Regiment during the Battle of Arnhem when he virtually single-handedly stopped the advance of numerous German tanks and artillery.  Even though he was seriously wounded, Cain never gave up.  ⭐Major Cain's Victoria Cross Citation reads as follows: War Office, 2nd November, 1944. The KING has been graciously pleased to approve awards of the VICTORIA CROSS to: Captain (temporary Major) Rober...

 On This Days July 18, 1943 - The Krasnodar Trial: The First Public War Crimes. The first public war crimes trial had taken place earlier in the liberated territories of the Soviet Union, in July 1943, in Krasnodar.  The defendants were not German criminals, but eleven local Soviet collaborators, who were members of the SS Special Detachment 10a” responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.  Among other crimes, the SS unit had murdered 7,000 Soviet people (mostly Jews) in poison gas vans in Krasnodar.  The defendants were represented by well-known Soviet attorneys, and hundreds of spectators attended the trial, including correspondents of the Soviet and international press, (among them Aleksei Tolstoi).  Eight of the defendants were sentenced to death by hanging three to long prison terms.  The verdict was greeted with applause by those present, and the newspaper Pravda commented: “This is the verdict of the Soviet people, the verdict of honest people...

 On 24 June 1944 two prisoners escaped from the #Auschwitz II-Birkenau: Mala Zimetbaum (camp no.  19880) born on January 26, 1918 in Brzesko, a female Polish Jew who was deported to the camp in a transport from the Malines camp in Belgium and the Polish political prisoner Edward Galiński (camp no.  531), born on October 15, 1923, who was brought to the camp in the first transport of Poles to Auschwitz on June 14, 1940. Edward Galiński and Mala Zimetbaum had a relative freedom of moving around the camp premises while performing their duties.  They met at the turn of 1943 and 1944 and fell in love.  Initially, Galiński had been planning the escape together with his friend Wiesław Kielar.  Dressed in the SS uniform, he was supposed to be escorting his mate to work.  They had even secretly obtained the uniform and a gun from the former ironworks Kommandoführer SS-Rottenführer Edward Lubusch.  However, having met Mala Zimetbaum he wanted her to escape ...

 🇬🇧 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 se...

 🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: Karl Malden of the US Army Air Forces: 8th Air Force. Born Mladen George Sekulovich on March 22, 1912 in Chicago Illinois - Karl Malden was raised in Gary Indiana.  Following his 1931 graduation from Emerson High School in Gary, Malden worked in steel mills for three years before leaving to pursue dramatic training at the Goodman Theater Dramatic School in Chicago.  He changed his name to Karl Malden when he was 22.  In 1937, Malden moved to New York City and began acting on Broadway. During his stage career, Malden appeared in Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams.  Malden made his film debut in 1940, playing a minor role in “They Knew What They Wanted. In 1942 Malden enlisted with the US Army Air Forces serving with the 8th Air Force.  During his service Sergeant Malden appeared in the US Army Air Forces play and film "Winged Victory" (1944). The film was a joint effort with 20th Century F...

 “Homosexuals Are Not Cowards”: Today is the birth anniversary of gay Dutch patriot Willem Arondeus, who was born August 22, 1894. Willem was a painter and writer, but when the Germans invaded Holland in 1940, he joined the resistance.   Because of his skill as an artist, he was able to provide Dutch Jews with fake identity cards. Unfortunately, fake cards could easily be checked.   So, on March 27, 1943, Willem's unit—which included other gays—bombed the Amsterdam registry building in an effort to destroy the official records.  The mission was only a partial success; only 15 percent of the records were destroyed. But that still amounted to 800,000 cards and thousands of lives saved.  Five days later the unit was betrayed and its members arrested. Willem had led the raid disguised in a German officer’s uniform.   To save the others, he tried to claim sole responsibility.  In vain.  A dozen of his fellow resistance fighters were sentenced to b...

 RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS:US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmond. Here is America's only soldier to ever receive Israel’s highest honor conferred on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.  77 years ago, facing the threat of immediate execution, he and his men displayed an act of courage and character that exemplifies what it means to take a stand against evil. US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, the “Golden Lions”, was captured by German forces at the onset of the Battle of the Bulge.  A native of Knoxville, TN, Edmonds was 25 years old. He had only been on the front line for five days when his unit was overrun. Edmonds' captors marched him east where he was transferred to Stalag IX-A, a camp for enlisted personnel just east of Bonn, Germany.  As the senior noncommissioned officer at the camp, Edmonds found himself responsible for 1,275 American POWs. On January 27, 1945, the Camp Com...

 The Terrible Story Of Mildred Harnack was beheaded on Hitler’s direct order.   Born in Milwaukee, she was 26 when she moved to Germany to pursue a PhD.  As an American grad student in Berlin, she saw Germany swiftly progress from democracy to fascist dictatorship.  She and her husband Arvid began holding secret meetings in their apartment.  She recruited working-class Germans into the resistance, helped Jews escape, plotted acts of sabotage, and collaborated in writing leaflets that denounced Hitler and called for revolution. "Mildred Harnack nicknamed their resistance group “the Circle.” The group was diverse: its members were Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, atheist.  They were factory workers and office workers, students and professors, journalists and artists. Over 40% were women. "The Gestapo arrested Mildred Harnack on Sept 7, 1942 and gave her group a name: the Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra).  Postwar testimonies and notes smuggled out of a Berlin w...

 OnThisDay, 19th July 1944, the German Nazi security authorities set about liquidating the Lublin Castle prison in Poland.  About 800 prisoners were taken to the German Nazi Majdanek concentration camp, where they were shot.  In an order of 20th July, the Commander of the Security Police and Security Service instructed:  In the event of a surprising development of the situation which will make it impossible to transport the prisoners, the prisoners are to be liquidated, with the shot dead to be disposed of according to the possibilities (burned, buildings blown up, etc.). On 22nd July 1944, the Gestapo carried out the last and largest execution of the Castle's prisoners.  On that day, at around 9.00 a.m., an armed group of Gestapo men headed by SS-Hauptsturmführer Hermann Worthoff arrived at the Castle and went to Ward 1, when they were ordered to open the cells from number 7 to 11.  They started shooting at the prisoners through the bars.  They were r...

 8 December 1941 | The first group of Jews were deported & murdered in mobile gas chambers in Kulmhof (Chełmno).  The first German extermination camp began its operation.   The first period lasted until 11 April 1943. The killing was done in mobile gas chambers – converted trucks, using exhaust gases.  The bodies of the victims were taken to Rzuchowski Forest, some 4 km away. They were buried in graves between 60 and 230 metres long.  The first Jewish victims were deported  from the local  ghettos in  Koło, Kowale Pańskie, Kłodawa, Izbica Kujawska.  In January 1942, the Sinti and Roma people from the Litzmannstadt ghetto were also deported,, followed by Jews from this ghetto. The second period lasted between the spring-summer of 1944 and 18 January 1945.  Extermination took place in Rzuchowski Forest, where huts had been built and the site adapted to receiving further transports of victims.  Between 23 June and 14 July 1944...

 A Jewish child is separated from his family as he is about to be sent to another concentration camp, 1942. Seen here is a child who is about to be sent to the Chełmno concentration camp.  Chełmno was a killing centre which was located in west central Poland.  It was used to execute Jews who were living in Poland, Luxembourg and Germany.  This child was sent there as part of the "Gehsperre Aktion", an event which saw Jews being transferred from the Lodz ghetto to other concentration camps. Once the Jews arrived at Chełmno, they were stripped and led through a cellar to a van.  Once they entered the van, they were told they were going to be transported to Germany to work as labourers.  Instead, the van was closed and sealed, and poisonous gas was pumped into it through a tube in the exhaust pipe.  The van would then transport the bodies to a forest nearby, where the bodies would be dumped in a mass grave. The van had a capacity of 50-70 people. At least...

The outstanding act of Capt Millett in 1950:last major American bayonet charge: On 5 December 1950 Capt Millett was flying as an observer in a Stinson L-5 Sentinel when Capt J.F.O. Davis DFC, 2 Sqn SAAF attached to 18 Fighter Bomber Wing, crash landed his F-51D Mustang in North Korea. The pilot of the L-5 landed on a road near the downed Mustang and Millett gave up his seat to Capt Davis. This was an outstanding act of bravery as the area was surrounded by enemy troops. When the pilot of the L-5 returned to the scene, no trace of Millett could be found. Just before dark the L-5 returned, found and picked Millet up. By February 7, 1951, Millett was serving in South Korea as a captain and commander of Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment. On that day, near Soam-Ni, he led his company in an assault on an enemy position atop Hill 180 near Anyang. When one platoon became pinned down by heavy fire, Millett took another platoon forward, joined the two groups, and l...

 German infantryman posing for a photograph in his uniform, ca. 1914. The following is excerpts of Danish-German soldier Hans Christian Brodersen's account of the Battle of Mons on August 23th or 24th, 1914, today 108 years ago, which he first published in 1933. Translated by myself:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "We stormed the English trench, where 'Tommy' engaged us with attached bayonets.  I suddenly found myself standing alone opposite 2 big and strong Englishmen, who looked to sell their lives as expensive as possible. Following a couple of powerful thrusts, I succeeded at knocking the rifle out of the hand on one of them, who ran off.  There were now 2 of us, and after the course of a few minutes our lungs were toiling as if it were a trumpet.  The sweat ran down our faces and into our eyes. The knowledge of he who surrendered was destined to die gave us strength we didn't previously knew we had. It was a terrible, bitter fight for that single life. He was lucky enough to stic...

On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact, stunning the world, given their diametrically opposed ideologies. But the dictators were, despite appearances, both playing to their own political needs. After Nazi Germany’s invasion of Czechoslovakia, Britain had to decide to what extent it would intervene should Hitler continue German expansion. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, at first indifferent to Hitler’s capture of the Sudetenland, the German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia, suddenly snapped to life when Poland became threatened. He made it plain that Britain would be obliged to come to the aid of Poland in the event of German invasion. But he wanted, and needed, an ally. The only power large enough to stop Hitler, and with a vested interest in doing so, was the Soviet Union. But Stalin was cool to Britain after its effort to create a political alliance with Britain and France against Germany had been rebuffed a year earlier. 9 Plus, Polan...

 On March 23, 1966, a fateful accident, known as the Palomares incident, occurred. A B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a refueling tanker in Spain, resulting in the loss of one of the nuclear weapons into the sea. In the aftermath, a U.S. Navy salvage team was called upon to recover the lost bomb. However, during the operation, a harrowing incident unfolded. A towing line suddenly snapped, propelling a heavy steel pipe towards the team. In a remarkable display of heroism, diver Carl Brashear fearlessly threw himself in front of his comrades, taking the blow to his leg. Miraculously, Brashear survived the incident, but faced an arduous journey ahead. Despite the loss of his leg, he remained determined to overcome the obstacles in his path. With unwavering resilience and determination, Brashear embarked on a remarkable journey to become recertified as a master diver, defying all odds. His unwavering spirit and dedication made him the first amputee di...

 The Terrible Story Of Raoul Wallenberg: Worn and weary, balding, with sad eyes, Raoul Wallenberg looked much older than his 31 years of age when in 1944 he was assigned the responsibility of saving Jews in Hungary.  The assignment came by way of the War Refugee Board, an American organization formed that same year with the goal of saving Jews from persecution by the Nazis. Raoul, who had some Jewish lineage but was not considered Jewish, was born in Sweden to a prominent family of bankers, diplomats, and politicians.  He was expected to follow in the footsteps of his family, but he decided to become an architect. He went to study architecture in America, at the University of Michigan.  During his time in college, Raoul worked odd jobs despite his family’s wealth, and hitchhiked across the US, Canada, and Mexico during holidays.  He continued hitchhiking even after getting robbed and thrown into a ditch by four men who offered him a lift.  In a letter to hi...

 🇬🇧 WWII uncovered: Pauline Gower Fahie: Founder of the Women's Section of the Air Transport Auxiliary. On 4 August 1930 Pauline Gower was the third woman in the world to obtain her commercial pilot's 'B' licence. According to the Imperial War Museum: "By 1938 Pauline Gower was a much respected figure in aviation circles, not only had she flown more than 2,000 hours and carried upward of 30,000 passengers, but had been given many honours, including an MBE and appointment to several commissions into air safety.  She was Commissioner of the Civil Air Guard, and was appointed to the board of the British Overseas Airways Corporation." "The first eight female pilots of the ATA were recruited in late 1939 by Commander Pauline Gower MBE, who had been given the task of organizing and training the womens' section of the ATA.  Eventually there were 166 women pilots who served in the ATA many of which hailed from overseas.  During the war, 15 of the female pil...

 🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of Staff Sergeant Millie Dunn Veasey of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Staff Sergeant Millie Dunn Veasey, of Raleigh North Carolina, served in the Women’s Air Corps as a member of the Army's 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion which deployed to both England and France.  According to the US Army, "Nicknamed 'Six Triple Eight', the Battalion's motto was "no mail, no morale".  In 1945 they sailed to the UK and were solely responsible for managing US Army post overseas, some of which had not been delivered in two years. "After returning home from Europe, Veasey attended the St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, graduating in 1953, thanks to the G.I. Bill.  She became very active in the Civil Rights movement, and was the first woman to serve as president of the Raleigh-Wake Chapter of the NAACP. Millie passed away on March 9, 2018 a little over a month after turning 100 years old.  She lies in ...

 🇬🇧 WWII uncovered: Amy Johnson: Record Holding Master Pilot Joins the Air Transport Auxiliary. Amy Johnson was no stranger to aviation prior to her commitment with the Air Transport Auxiliary in World War II.  A master pilot in her own right, Johnson held the record as the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.  In addition to this record-breaking flight Amy would go on set aviation records of flight from Britain to Moscow and Britain to Japan.  On 20 May 1940 Johnson joined the Air Transport Auxiliary and rose to the rank of First Officer. According to the Air Transport Auxiliary Museum and Archive, "Women came from all over the world to join ATA.  Twenty five nations were represented, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.  The largest contingent from Europe were 17 Poles, including three women who reached Britain after escaping via the Balkans after the defeat of France by Germany According to the Roy...

 The horrible execration Of Hamida Djandoubi - France’s last execution. Hamida Djandoubi was the last person to be guillotined in France, on the 10th of September 1977.  Djandoubi was aTunisian immigrant and was executed in Marseilles for the murder of his girlfriend, French citizen Élisabeth Bousquet, on the 3rd of July 1974. The previous year Élisabeth had filed a report to police accusing Djandoubi of trying to force her into prostitution.  Following his arrest and release on this charge, Djandoubi kidnapped Élisabeth and took her to his home where she was violently beaten in front of two other women whom he pimped out.  Élisabeth was then forcibly taken to the outskirts of Marseille where she was again brutally beaten and then strangled to death.  Djandoubi returned to his home and threatened the two women not to speak of what they had witnessed.  Élisabeth’s body was found in a shed on the 7th of July 1974. Djandoubi was eventually captured on followin...

Thomas Patrick Noonan Jr: He enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve in Brooklyn, New York on December 26, 1967, and was subsequently discharged to enlist in the Regular Marine Corps on January 31, 1968. Private Noonan completed recruit training with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina in April 1968, and was promoted to private first class on April 1, 1968. Transferred to the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, he underwent individual combat training with the 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Training Regiment. Ordered to the Republic of Vietnam in July 1968, he was assigned duty as mortar man with H&S Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. In August, he was reassigned to the 3rd Marine Division where he saw combat as a rifleman, M-79 Man with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He was promoted to Lance Corporal on January 1, 1969. Noonan was killed in action on February 5, 1969...

 22nd August 1945: Japanese troops at Mui Wo, Lantau Island, Hong Kong arrested and executed civilians Lam Tsah and Lam Kuan in retaliation of an attack on Japanese troops on 19 Aug 1945. Company commander Yasuo Kishi personally executed Lam Kuan. Between 1937 and 1945, Japanese military aggression spread across East Asia and the Pacific region like a hideous stain. Slaughter, looting, rape, and other forms of appalling brutality, accompanied the conquerors as each country fell victim to the Japanese war machine. Historians outside Japan estimate that at least five million captive foreign civilians and prisoners of war were brutally murdered by the Japanese military between 1937 and 1945.  To that figure, can be added hundreds of thousands of victims who were slowly murdered by starvation, disease, and beatings in Japanese prisoner of war and internment camps, and hundreds of thousands of women who were brutally raped by Japanese soldiers. The appalling rape figure includes tw...

 Richard Earl Bush: He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on September 22, 1942, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  He received his basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, and later was transferred to a replacement battalion at Camp Elliott, California, for further training as an armorer.  He served with the Marine Corps Raiders in the Pacific. While with the "Raiders" he was promoted to corporal.  On April 16, 1945, Corporal Bush, was serving in the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division as a rifle company squad leader when he led his men in a charge against an enemy stronghold during the final assault against Mount Yaetake in northern Okinawa.  During that action, he was seriously wounded and evacuated to a nearby medical aid area for treatment.  While at this position, an enemy grenade was hurled among the navy corpsmen and wounded Marines including himself.  He immediately took and placed t...