June 17th, 1944 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: Germany's long-threatened pilot-less planes or flying bombs are now falling thick and fast on London and south-east England. They first arrived four days ago, but a full-scale attack was only announced yesterday by Herbert Morrison, who claimed that damage was "relatively small". No so: it is now becoming severe. According to figures issued at 6am today, 18 people have died and 166 have been injured in flying-bomb explosions since the first six casualties in Bethnal Green, in London, on 13 June. Yesterday 73 fell on Greater London, and today 24 people died in a single blast in a London pub.
The new weapon, today christened "V1" (V for Vergeltungswaffe - Reprisal Weapon) by Hitler, is a low-flying bomb launched from the Pas-de-Calais, fitted with stubby wings and a primitive pulse jet engine which is programmed to cut out over London. The V1 then nosedives silently to earth in 15 seconds with its warhead of nearly a ton of explosive. The damage can cover a quarter of a mile in radius, mainly by blast. Windows are shattered, and debris lacerates anyone upright in the vicinity. Many are buried alive. The most demoralizing factor is the moment when the engine cuts out. People stare in silence and then fling themselves flat to wait for the explosion. The V1s are being called "doodlebugs" or "buzz bombs" for the drone of their engines.
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions against targets in France, primarily airfields; two B-17 Flying Fortresses are lost; fighters fly 1,027 sorties during the day and destroy 15 locomotives, train cars, trucks and other vehicles.
Mission 418: 232 of 332 bombers attack targets in FRANCE:
1. Of 174 B-17s, 52 hit Monchy-Breton Airfield, 31 hit a railroad bridge at Noyen, 18 hit Chateaudun Airfield and 18 hit Villiers/L'Eveque Airfield; two B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 43 P-38 Lightnings, 39 P-47 Thunderbolts and 90 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-51 is lost.
2. Of 158 B-24s, 28 hit Laval Airfield, 26 hit Guyancourt/Caudron Airfield, 18 hit Le Mans/Arnage Airfield, 17 hit Bretigny Airfield, 12 hit Brunnelles, one hit Melun Airfield, one hits Dreux, one hits St Valery and one hits a target of opportunity; escort is provided by 87 P-47s and 170 P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-0 on the ground.99 P-38s fly fighter-bomber missions against railroad bridges at Corbie and Peronne; four P-38s are lost.
Mission 419: Of 312 B-24s dispatched, 80 hit Angers Airfield, 75 hit Laval Airfield, 55 hit Tours Airfield, 38 hit Essay airstrip, 25 hit Lonray airstrip and one hits LeMans; one B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 122 P-47s and 148 P-51s; a P-51 is lost. 49 P-38s and 39 P-47s, escorted by 47 P-38s, make fighter-bomber attacks on Corbie-Peronne railroad bridges; two P-38s are lost.
Mission 420: Nine B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 265 B-26 Marauders to attack fuel dumps, a bridge and a railway line south of the battle area; 1,300+ fighters fly escort and top cover, and strafe and bomb troop concentrations, military vehicles, bridges, gun emplacements, tanks and other tactical targets.
FRANCE: Rommel, Rundstedt and Hitler meet at Soissons in the underground bunker built for the Führer in 1940, when he talked of invading Britain. Hitler was pale and haggard; hunched on a stool, he fiddled with his glasses as Rommel said that the struggle was hopeless against Allied superiority in the air, at sea and on land. At least, Rommel argued, they should pull back out of range of the Allies' devastating naval guns. The Führer would have none of it. He blamed the two field marshals for the success of the Allied landings, and dismissed Rommel's complaints that fuel shortages and enemy fighter-bomber attacks ruled out a major German offensive.They talked from 9am to 4pm, with a lunch of rice and vegetables, which Hitler wolfed down with an array of pills. The Führer promised that the V-1's will force Britain out of the war. There were "masses of jet fighters" on the way to drive the enemy out of the sky. At this point, Hitler was interrupted by Allied planes passing overhead. And then, shortly after von Rundstedt and Rommel departed, Hitler was shaken by a huge explosion. One of his own V1s had misfired and hit the bunker roof.
The US 9th Division reaches the west coast of Normandy.
GERMANY:
FINLAND: In the Karelian Isthmus the Finnish troops start their withdrawal to the third line of defence, VKT-line. Their mission is to delay the enemy on their way, in order to gain time to transfer troops from the other parts of the Fenno-Soviet front. The 4th Division (Maj. Gen. Aleksanteri Autti) and 3rd Brigade have already arrived and are attached to Lt. Gen. Taavetti Laatikainen's IV Corps, and the 17th Division (Maj. Gen. Alonzo Sundman) and 20th Brigade (Col. Armas Kemppi) are just disembarking from trains near Viipuri. From Maaselkä Ishmus Maj. Gen. Einar Wihma's 6th Division starts its transfer to Karelia.
However, the aggressively advancing Red Army is not complying with the plans. The Finnish units, lacking the weapons to fight the heavy Soviet tanks, occasionally panic. On the southernmost part of the front, the 10th Division, which was already battered on the first days of the Soviet offensive, and the Cavalry Brigade experience great difficulties, and the enemy breaks through their defences. Finnish 10th Division and Cavalry Brigade receive new commanders. Col. Kai Savonjousi [Col. Kai Savonjousi was the first student of the Military Academy (established in 1919) to receive a divisional command. Another example of a succesful commander who made his career in summer 1944 was commander of the 2nd Division Maj. Gen. Armas-Eino Martola. He became a corps commander in July, and retired a lieutenant general after the war. He war promoted to General of Infantry in retirement in 1982] (one of the resourceful and successful commanders who rose to the occasion) replaces Maj. Gen. Jussi Sihvo as commander of the 10th Division, and Col. Urho Tähtinen replaces Maj. Gen. Lars Melander as commander of the Cavalry Brigade, which at the same time is subordinated to Col. Savonjousi's 10th Division. He managed to infuse the battered units under his command with new spirit, and only few days later it was Col. Savonjousi's men who repelled the first Soviet attempts to advance west after the capture of Viipuri. They start a disorganized retreat, and units of the Armoured Division are sent to reinforce them. On the left flank of the IV Corps the 3rd Brigade and 4th Division are fighting in Summa, the famous battlefield of the Winter War.
One veteran later remembered the impression made by Col. Savonjousi. At the time he was a private in the Infantry Regiment 1 of the 10th Division, a unit that had been in the center of the Soviet assault on the first days of the offensive, and suffered greatly in the retreat accross the Isthmus. Col. Savonjousi arrived to inspect the unit during the days when battles after the loss of Viipuri raged. After walking past the assembled men, he held a speech. As reported by the veteran 38 years later: "From here on we won't retreat, he said, because we can't. On the next line there are our mothers, sisters, children and parents, whole open heart of Finland. Here we die. I have come here to die. We are through with running, my good men. Now it's again time to be a Finnish defender of [one's] country. If someone tries to run, I will myself be there holding him, that's my lot." It impressed the men. "It was no militarist speaking, but a soldier and sensible realist, a sober man, who had been given a mission." After the war Savonjousi had a succesful career, rising to the rank of lieutenant general (a very high rank in a peace-time army where there's only one four-star officer in active service at a time).
To the north, on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga Lt. Gen. Hjalmar Siilasvuo's III Corps has so far been spared the full fury of the Soviet offensive. Now it also starts to withdraw towards the VKT-line. Its 18th Division (Maj. Gen. Paavo Paalu) has been transferred to act as reserve near Viipuri, and it had received Maj. Gen. Armas-Eino Martola's distinguished 2nd Division, which had just repelled three days of Soviet attacks in Siiranmäki. Unlike its neighbour, the III Corps's withdrawal largely goes as planned, though the 2nd Division has to fight fierce delaying actions on its way.
Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey's Stukas and Fw 190's start arriving at the Immola airfield in southern Finland. The unit has been formed out of units in Lapland and Baltic region, and consists of 32 Stukas and 30 Fw 190 fighter-bombers.
ITALY: The French 9th Colonial Division lands on the island of Elba.
KURILE ISLANDS: 12 B-25s fly three air missions for a Naval Task Force on withdrawal, following the shelling of Kurabu Cape installations on Paramushiru Island.
MARIANAS ISLANDS: After heavy preliminary bombardment by the US Navy yesterday, the US V Amphibious Corps (Marines) has stormed ashore on the Japanese-held island.
With an armada of 535 fighting ships and transports carrying 127,000 US soldiers and marines, the Marianas operation is the biggest amphibious assault of the Pacific War. Coming within two weeks of the Normandy invasion, it highlights the enormous combat resources now available to the Allies.
The marines headed for the beaches of Saipan at 7am on 15 June. They went ashore in a four-mile long phalanx of 600 amphibious craft. Facing them were 32,000 Japanese troops, but by tonight the beach-head was secure and the US forces are consolidating their position. Japanese leaders realize that defeat here is inevitable, but pride compels them to carry on to the bitter end.
Today, the 165th mounted three attacks and reached the edge of the airfield by dusk while the 105th Infantry Regiment and the 27th Infantry Division headquarters came ashore.
IJN aircraft mount several attacks against U.S. shipping in the Marianas:
At about 1750 hours local, five torpedo bombers, Nakajima B5N Navy Type 97
Carrier Attack Bombers, Allied Code Name "Kate," and one night
fighter, a Nakajima J1N1-S Navy Type 2 Gekko, Allied Code Name
"Irving," from Truk attack landing craft east of Saipan. One infantry
landing craft (LCI) is sunk while three "Kates" are shot down by AA
fire.
Between 1850 and 1912 hours local, 17 Kugisho D4Y Navy Carrier Bombers Suisei, Allied Code Name "Judy," 31 Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters, Allied Code Name "Zeke," and two P1YN Navy Bombers, based on Yap, attack Task Force 52 escort aircraft carriers The carriers scramble 46 FM Wildcats but give them the wrong vector taking them out of the action. AA fire from the ships down several D4Ys and both P1Ys. The escort aircraft carrier USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) is struck by a bomb that penetrates the after elevator and explodes in midair above the hanger deck, killing 14 and wounding 23. Fire breaks out and the fire main is ruptured, flooding several compartments aft. In just under an hour, the damage was brought under control, but the ship is listing 3 degrees to port and settles 6-feet (1.8 m) by the stern.
After controlling the fires, the ship sets sail for Pearl Harbor and battle damage repairs.
Japanese air attacks against U.S. naval ships supporting the invasion of the Marianas Islands commence today. At about 1750 hours, five Nakajima B6N Navy Carrier Attack Bomber Tenzans, Allied Code Name "Jill," and one Nakajima J1N1-S Navy Night Fighter Gekko, Allied Code Name "Irving," based on Truk Atoll attack landing craft east of Saipan; one LCI is destroyed and three B6Ns are shot down. At about 1830 hours, 17 Yokosuka D4Y Navy Carrier Bomber Suiseis, Allied Code Name "Dot," 31 Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters, Allied Code Name "Zeke," and two Yokosuka P1Y Navy Bomber Gingas, Allied Code Name "Frances," based on Yap, damage an LST and then begin an attack on the escort aircraft carriers of Task Force 52 between 1850 and 1912 hours. The carriers launch 46 Eastern Aircraft FM Wildcats but they are given an incorrect vector and miss the Japanese aircraft.
Gunners on the ships shoot down several "Dots" and both "Frances'" but a bomb seriously damages USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70), At 2115 hours, a US submarine reports that a large force of Japanese ships is headed east toward the Marianas.
The USAAF's Thirteenth Air Force dispatches 41 B-24s to bomb Truk Atoll, hitting targets on Eten and Dublon Islands.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Allied CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 53, United States Marines supported by elements of an Army Infantry division have improved their positions on Saipan Island, and are driving forward toward Aslito airdrome.
Harassment of our beachheads by enemy mortar fire has been considerably reduced.
On the night of June 14 (West Longitude Date) enemy torpedo planes launched an attack against our carrier force, but were repulsed without damage to our ships. Our heavy surface units bombarded Guam Island on June 15.
Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Matsuwa, Paramushiru and Shimushiru on June 14. Five enemy aircraft were airborne near Matsuwa but only one attempted to attack our force, and did no damage. Fourteen enemy fighters appeared over Paramushiru and several made attacks causing damage to one of our planes. One enemy fighter was probably shot down and an enemy medium bomber was damaged. Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four also bombed Paramushiru and Shimushu on June 14. Fifteen enemy fighters attacked our force, causing minor damage to several of our aircraft.
Shimushiru was again attacked by Eleventh Army Air Force Liberators on June 15.
Army, Navy and Marine aircraft of Central Pacific Air Forces bombed objectives in the Marshall Islands and Eastern Caroline Islands on June 13 and 15 (West Longitude Date.)
CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 54, JUNE 17, 1944
United States Marines and Army troops advancing east across the southern portion of Saipan Island, made gains averaging 1500 yards during the night of June 15-16 and on June 16 (West Longitude Date).
The area now held by our forces extends from a point just south of Garapan for a distance of approximately five and one half miles to Agingan and extends inland two miles at the point of deepest penetration. Our forces have captured Hinashisu due east of Lake Susupe.
Our positions were under sustained enemy fire during the night of June 15-16, and before dawn on June 16 the enemy launched a determined counter-attack. This attack, which was broken up, cost the enemy heavily in lives and destroyed more than 25 enemy tanks.
Early in the morning of June 16 our troops launched the offensive which resulted in general advances. Some of our forward echelons penetrated the Naval air base at Aslito Airdrome but were later withdrawn under severe enemy fire.
During the action on June 16 our aircraft bombed and strafed enemy positions, and during the night of June 15-16 enemy strong points were shelled by our ships.
On June 15 one of our destroyer transports encountered five enemy coastal cargo ships and sank them. Twenty-nine survivors were rescued and made prisoners of war.
CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 448, As the South Pacific has become relatively quiet, Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., U. S. Navy, has been relieved of command of the South Pacific Area and the South Pacific Force. He will henceforth command the Third Fleet which will operate in the Pacific Ocean in the same way that the Fifth Fleet is operating under command of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN. (Denis Peck)
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Cobourg arrived Halifax from builder Midland Ontario.
Patrol vessel HMCS Grizzly paid off.
Corvette HMCS Belleville launched Kingston, Ontario.
U-737 set up an automatic weather station on Bear Island.
U.S.A.:
Destroyer escort USS Robert F Keller commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS French launched.
ICELAND declares full independence and became a republic.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-423 (Type VIIC) is sunk northeast of the Faroes, in position 63.06N, 02.05E, by depth charges from a Norwegian Catalina aircraft (Sqdn. 333/D). 53 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)
Two crewmembers of U-853 were killed in an attack by aircraft from USS Croatan.