Warsaw Ghetto destroyed
The Warsaw Ghetto is no more said SS Major General Stroop to Himmler. In this appauling act of barbarism and total humility against the Jewish people, their storm troopers ransacked, ravaged and killed many innocent Jews. Some 14,000 people were affected as many were hoarded onto trains to head for the death camps in Treblinka, Many of innocent people were lined up and shot against a wall for simply being Jewish. A huge crime against humanity!
Axis forces defeated in North Africa
General Alexander has today sent a message to Winston Churchill effectively saying that the Allies have won the war in Tunisia!
The German Commander, Gen Von Armin, in North Africa, has surrendered along with the Axis C-in-C General Messe.
The 11th Hussars even discovered 10,000 exhausted men from the highly feared Afrika Korps whilst more Hussars came across a similar number on the beaches awaiting rescue. Clearly the enemy had had enough and were well and truly beaten and battle weary. What followed was the formal surrender of Italian and German troops to General Montgomery, who is a happy man right now.
Junkers lands in Aberdeen
In a twist of fate, the demoralised crew of a Junkers Ju88R based at Kjevik, Norway, decided to switch sides and landed their plane at Dyce airport.
What was incredible about this bizarre happening was that on board the Junkers was a fully functional FuG 202 Lichtenstein air intercept radar unit. This gave the enemy an edge in the air when tackling RAF bombers at night. No doubt the British boffins were rubbing their hands with glee at this extraordinary gift.
Tunis and Bizerta falls to the Allies
Men of the Derbyshire Yeomanry were besieged by hundreds of locals as their tanks rolled into the streets of Tunis today. This was followed by the 11th Hussars just after 3pm when the order was given to drive into the city. The final assault on the Djebel hills overlooking the city was one of the largest bombardments ever witnessed in pure fire power supported by RAF bombers to clear the Germans out of the area. At the same time, the US II Corps began its campaign in Bizerta to the north. That afternoon the US 9th Infantry Corps drove into the town and was met by the surrendering French armies.
617 Squadron attack the Ruhr dams.
Following many months of trials, Barnes Wallis's bouncing bombs were partly triumphant in the greatest and most daring raid in the war in the air, so far. Nineteen Lancasters took off from RAF Scampton after weeks of pilots training to be able to skim along the waters of the Mohne and Eder dams, at almost tree height, and deliver a devastating bouncing bomb weighing 9,250 pounds, into the structure of these infamous dams. Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, each plane took up its bombing run and released a spinning ton of high explosives into the belly of the dams which supplied power to the heartland of the Ruhr's industry. This was no easy mission, and 53 crewmen were killed in the attempt. Lined by steep mountainous countryside, the mission involved split-second timing followed by the steepest of climbs to avoid the terrain whilst being shot at by the German's defences.
Donitz withdraws his submersibles.
In a surprising turn of events and heavy losses, U-boat Commanders have been told to withdraw from the North Atlantic. Recent successes by aircraft and the Royal Navy have meant that his numbers of U-boats losses are now causing alarm in the German Reich. Two recent losses against convoy HX-239 have brought this month's total losses to 33 down. And, just a few days ago, a pack of 33 U-boats attacked convoy SC-130 and didn't sink a single ship. Since the capture of an Enigma coding machine from a sinking submarine, Bletchley Park have managed to interpret the messages from this unique device thus giving the RAF and British Navy the edge in tracking these evil submariners in the depths below.
Allies pound the German Machine
719 bombers took to the skies today to blitz the industrial heartland of Germany. It was reported that 90 per cent of Wuppertal has been destroyed being the hub of the chemical industry. It is said that 3,500 local people were killed and almost 120, 000 homes were flattened. Payback indeed for the destruction of London and other British cities in the first few years of this war.
Praise was given to the Pathfinder airmen who fly ahead to pinpoint the targets for the main bomber forces. Thirty-three aircraft failed to return.
16 May 1943
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9 May 1943
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30 May 1943
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