Category: 1940s
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Massacre at Buchères. August 24, 1944.
Massacre at Buchères. August 24, 1944. With German forces withdrawing in France, and Paris on the cusp of liberation, the Nazis continue their brutal treatment of the civilian population. On August 24, 1944, the village of Buchères (10800) near Troyes was to experience a day of horror. The previous evening, FFI fighters set up a…
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The Liberation of Paris, Wednesday, August 23, 1944.
Day 5 – Liberation of Paris, Wednesday, 23 August 1944. Parisians listen with stupefaction as the BBC in London prematurely announces that the capital has been liberated by its own population. Heavy fighting is still taking place throughout the capital.
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The Freckleton Air Disaster. August 23, 1944.
Image: B-24 Classy Chassis II, pictured in March 1944 with its operational crew before being sent to Warton for refurbishment.
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Photographs from the Battle of the Falaise Pocket – August 1944
Image: American forces in Chambois, France, during the Battle of the Falaise Pocket. August 1944. Photographs from the Battle of the Falaise Pocket – August 1944 The Falaise Pocket or Battle of the Falaise Pocket occurred from August 12-21, 1944. It was the decisive engagement during the Battle of Normandy, during which a “pocket” was…
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FREE ARTICLE – Medal of Honor Action of Radio Operator Staff Sergeant Henry ‘Red’ Erwin. April 19, 1945.
Image: Staff Sergeant Henry E. Erwin. In the lead B-29 on a mission to Koriyama, north of Tokyo, he was tasked with releasing white phosphorus smoke bombs through a chute to assist with the assembly of 167 bombers from Guam and Tinian. There were initially no issues, but one phosphorous bomb exploded prematurely and ricocheted…
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The Largest POW Escape of World War II: The Cowra Breakout. August 5, 1944.
Image: Cowra POW Camp, 1 July 1944. Japanese POWs practising baseball near their quarters several weeks before the Cowra Breakout. The photograph was taken for the Allied Far Eastern Liaison Office, with the intention of using it in propaganda leaflets to be dropped over Japanese-held islands and Japan itself. More than 1,000 Japanese men were…
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Russian-born Princess Véra Obolensky Guillotined by the Nazis in Berlin. August 4, 1944.
On August 4, 1944, Russian-born Princess Véra Obolensky was guillotined by the Nazis at Ploetzensee prison in Berlin. She began working for the French Resistance in late 1940. Arrested in Paris in late 43, she was sentenced to death in Arras in May 1944 and then deported to Germany.
History Daily With Francis Chappell Black 