Eighty Years Ago This Week

  As part of his campaign for the Presidential election F. D.  Roosevelt drove 51 miles through New York hatless and coatless in an open limousine at the head of a large motorcade despite torrential rain.  He delivered a speech at the Ebbets Field baseball ground without leaving his car so as to conceal his need for a wheelchair. He was hoping to quieten widespread - and accurate - stories of his poor health The US landings on the Philippines triggered an immense Japanese response. Almost all the IJN's badly diminished assets was commited to a series of interlocking attacks on the US invasion force. The initial thrust caught the USN unprepared with two powerful fleet carrier groups detached from the main body. It was possible to recall one, albeit with a delay but the other  remained unavailable so the USN was deprived of 40% of its carrier strength. A light carrier USS Princeton was sent to the bottom by Japanese aircraft. The allies recognised General de Gaulle's ...

US forces landed on the Philippines near Leyte in the southern component of the overall Pacific strategy. The northern, island hopping  component was aimed more directly at the Japanese home islands and was of arguably greater strategic value. The invasion was led by General MacArthur, who had commanded in Manila when the Japanese had conquered the islands in 1942; he had famously promised that he would return and the landings made good on that promise. The Philippines President Osmena came ashore with him. He had hoped to land dry-shod and was furious when the beach master forced him to use a deep draught vessel so he had to wade the last yards to the beach. This translated to a look of grim determination on his face captured on the publicity photographs which were so powerful that he was reconciled to the inconvenience. The Regent of Hungary, Admiral Horthy, attempted to bring his country over to the allied side even though German forces had occupied Hungary in March  but ...

    Churchill visited Moscow for a summit conference. There he  signed the "naughty document" with Stalin setting out the control GB and USSR would each have over Balkan countries, which was contrived to emphasise Britain's indepen dent standing as member of the "big three." The US was excluded from this manifestly imperialistic scheme. Joint control over Hungary and Yugoslavia ultimately did not materialise as anticipated but the issue of Greece swiftly took concrete form. With Rumania and its oil fields now lost the Germans had little reason to continue their occupation of Greece and began to withdraw their troops. The Greek resistance movements did not need any assistance but Churchill was acutely aware of the need to prevent the Communist ELAS from taking over. British ground forces in brigade strength were despatched to occupy strategic locations. The days of the coalition government in Britain were drawing to a close. The Labour Party announced that it wou...

  The uprising in Warsaw by the Polish Home Army came to an end when German military pressure forced its commanders to accept terms. The failure of the Red Army to continue its advance towards the city allowed the Germans to concentrate their ground forces with heavy weapons on suppressing the Poles. The Germans conceded the status of prisoners of war to the fighters who surrendered which was largely respected. Stalin's goal of eliminating a large force under the control of the Polish government-in-exile had been achieved. The town of Calais and the associated positions at Cap Gris Nez fell to Canadian troops after little fighting. It had been declared a "fortress" but the garrison was demoralised and consisted of poor quality troops. The German long range artillery based there had inflicted some damage and, more important, prevented the use of the port of Boulogne. The port of Calais itself had been so badly damaged by Allied bombing and German demolitions that it was to...