1941 – Parade magazine called it “…the Army’s most intriguing new gadget…a tiny truck which can do practically everything.” During World War I, the U.S. Army began looking for a fast, lightweight all-terrain vehicle, but the search did not grow urgent until early 1940. At this time, the Axis powers had begun to score victories in Europe and Northern Africa, intensifying the Allies’ need for an all-terrain vehicle. The U.S. Army issued a challenge to automotive companies, requesting a working prototype, fit to army specifications, in just 49 days. Willy’s Truck Company was the first to successfully answer the Army’s call, and the new little truck was christened “the Jeep.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower said that America could not have won World War II without it. Parade was so enthusiastic about the Jeep, that, on this day, it devoted three full pages to a feature on the vehicle. 1941 – The Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo plane made its first flight. 1941 – President Roosevelt forbids the export of oil and aviation fuel from the United States except to Britain, the British Commonwealth countries and countries of the Western Hemisphere. This decision is aimed at Japan. Roosevelt’s decision confirms steps taken recently when Japanese assets were frozen (on July 26th). 1941 – As a consequence of the American restrictions on oil exports, Japan is left with only limited stocks of oil. The position is such that Japan must either change her foreign policy very radically or decide to go to war and try to secure access to oil from the East Indies. 1942 – Ensign Henry C. White, while flying a J4F Widgeon plane, sank U-166 as it approaches the Mississippi River, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard. In the summer of 1942, German submarines put saboteurs ashore on American beaches. 1943 – Race-related rioting erupted in New York City’s Harlem section. The start of the event was the arrest of Private Robert Bandy, a 26-year-old black soldier He was charged with attacking a white policeman who was arresting a black woman in a Harlem hotel . Rumors soon spread that police officers had killed a black soldier who was trying to protect his mother. This caused a momentous outburst of rioting destroying much of Harlem. The statistics of the riot vary depending on the source, but around 500 persons were injured, five dead, 400-500 arrested, and property damage estimated at 500,000 to a million dollars. 1943 – Operation Tidal Wave: The American Eighth Air Force began staging a series of heavy bomber air raids against the oil fields and refineries around Ploesti. These fields furnished about 80% of the Nazis’ petroleum requirements and were a key military target. Of the 177 B-24 Liberator bombers, 50 are lost. 1943 – A Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The destruction is so massive other American PT boats in the area assume the crew is dead. Two crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including Lt. John F. Kennedy. Japanese aircraft had been on a PT boat hunt in the Solomon Islands, bombing the PT base at Rendova Island. It was essential to the Japanese that several of their destroyers make it to the southern tip of Kolombangara Island to get war supplies to forces there. But the torpedo capacity of the American PTs was a potential threat. Despite the base bombing at Rendova, PTs set out to intercept those Japanese destroyers. In the midst of battle, Japan’s Amaqiri hit PT-109, leaving 11 crewmen floundering in the Pacific. After five hours of clinging to debris from the decimated PT boat, the crew made it to a coral island. Kennedy decided to swim out to sea again, hoping to flag down a passing American boat. None came. Kennedy began to swim back to shore, but strong currents, and his chronic back condition, made his return difficult. Upon reaching the island again, he fell ill. After he recovered, the PT-109 crew swam to a larger island, what they believed was Nauru Island, but was in fact Cross Island. They met up with two natives from the island, who agreed to take a message south. Kennedy carved the distress message into a coconut shell: “Nauru Is. Native knows posit. He can pilot. 11 alive need small boat.” The message reached Lieutenant Arthur Evans, who was watching the coast of Gomu Island, located next to an island occupied by the Japanese. Kennedy and his crew were paddled to Gomu. A PT boat then took them back to Rendova. Kennedy was ultimately awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, for gallantry in action. The coconut shell used to deliver his message found a place in history-and in the Oval Office. PT-109, a film dramatizing this story, starring Clift Robertson as Kennedy, opened in 1963. 1944 – The US 3rd Army (General Patton) becomes operational on the right flank and is tasked with clearing Brittany. American forces are now organized under US 12th Army Group (Bradley) and include US 1st Army (Hodges) as well as 3rd Army. 1944 – After nine days of fighting in a battle termed “the perfect amphibious operation of World War II,” MajGen Harry Schmidt, commander of V Amphibious Corps, declared the island of Tinian secured. The combination of surprise, heavy preassault bombardment, and effective logistical support was responsible for Tinian’s recapture with a much lower casualty rate (344 killed and 1550 wounded) than had been experienced in previous landings. 1945 – Allied mines, dropped by air, bring Japanese shipping on the Yangtze river to a halt. The Japanese have lost 36 ships (with 11 others damaged, for a total loss of 35,000 tons) as a result of Allied aerial mines. 1945 – On Bougainville, Allied troops seal off Japanese forces at Buin, on the southern tip of the island. 1945 – The American aircraft carrier Cabot attacks Japanese positions on Wake Island.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:49:48 +0000