![Canadian troops come ashore on Juno Beach, Normandy [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Wddayjuno-297x300.jpg)
Canadian troops come ashore on Juno Beach, Normandy [Public domain, wiki]
‘D-Day’—which is military slang for the starting day of any operation—has come to mean the D-Day, the greatest amphibious invasion in history. It will be celebrated this year throughout the world and, most poignantly, on the five beaches of Normandy which bear the code names of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
D-Day by Churchill biographer Martin Gilbert (Wiley, 2004) provides a fine overview of the entire event.
![Flight deck of the USS Yorktown during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942 [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wmidway.jpg)
Flight deck of the USS Yorktown during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942 [Public domain, wiki]
The Japanese First Naval Squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo of Pearl Harbour and bombing of Darwin fame, had sailed from its home base in Japan and was heading for Midway Island—located in the North Pacific Ocean, halfway between Asia and North America.
Nagumo’s squadron included: four aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu) and the battleship Kirishima. At the same time, the Japanese had sent an invasion force, including two battleships, towards Midway for the purpose of capturing the island (which was an American base). A third force, commanded by one of Japan’s top naval officers (and the mastermind behind the Pearl Harbour attack), Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was at sea and included three battleships—one of which was the Yamoto, the largest and most heavily armed (with 18inch guns) battleship in the world.
Responding to the threat, Admiral Chester Nimitz ordered his carriers to sea. Rear-Admiral R.A. Spruance’s Task Force 16 (which included aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS Hornet) and Rear-Admiral F.J. Fletcher’s Task Force 17 (which included the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown) left Pearl Harbour independently. The two task forces made a rendezvous about 300 miles north-east of Midway. They located Nagumo’s squadron two days later on 4 June.
![Aircraft readying for takeoff, flight deck of USS Hornet, morning of 4 June 1942 [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Whornet-e1400551309545-300x275.jpg)
Aircraft readying for takeoff, flight deck of USS Hornet, morning of 4 June 1942 [Public domain, wiki]
6 June: Yamamoto ordered the badly damaged Akagi to be sunk. The Hiru was attacked by planes from the Enterprise and sank. The carrier Soryu, already badly hit, sank with great loss of life. The Kaga, already damaged the day before, also sank. Nagumo had lost all four carriers.
7 June: The USS Yorktown, already damaged and steaming at reduced speed, was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine.
The Japanese failed to capture Midway and had lost four carriers (all of which had participated in the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941). Despite the defeat, the Battle of Midway was announced to the Japanese public as a stunning victory. Only the Emperor and the most senior officers of the navy were told the truth.
![Bomb damage in Cologne, photo taken June 1942 [Bundesarchiv, Bild 121-1334 / CC-BY-SA]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wcologne-219x300.jpg)
Bomb damage in Cologne, photo taken June 1942 [Bundesarchiv, Bild 121-1334 / CC-BY-SA]
The central point, for aiming purposes, was Cologne’s famous twin-spired cathedral (shown in the picture to the left). The cathedral was hit but survived the raid and was still standing when the war in Europe ended. Over 460 people were killed in the raid, almost entirely civilians, and more than 45,000 people were rendered homeless. Cologne had been chosen because the weather over Hamburg had been bad for several days. Hamburg’s time would come later.
![Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany ----- by Randall Hansen (Doubleday Canada, 2008) [Photograph by Edith-Mary Smith]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wfireand-fury-e1400346691930-195x300.jpg)
Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany —– by Randall Hansen (Doubleday Canada, 2008) [Photograph by Edith-Mary Smith]
The Cologne raid, and the even more devastating raids on Hamburg and on Dresden, and the Allied bombing campaign as a whole are described by Canadian historian Randall Hansen in his vivid and well-written book Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany 1942-45 (Doubleday Canada, 2008).
German prestige had already suffered a severe blow earlier that same week when two Czechoslovak patriots had attacked and fatally wounded Reinhard Heydrich, the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia & Moravia.
![US Marine 'Raiders' and their dogs, 1943 [Public domain]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wwardogs14-e1400471469523.jpg)
US Marine ‘Raiders’ and their dogs, 1943 [Public domain]
![Mexican air force captain, Radames Gaxiola Andrade, stands in front of his P-47D Thunderbolt with his maintenance team after he returned from a combat mission. Captain Andrade was assigned to the Mexican air force's Escuadron 201, which fought in the Pacific. [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wmexico.jpg)
Mexican air force captain, Radames Gaxiola Andrade, stands in front of his P-47D Thunderbolt with his maintenance team after he returned from a combat mission. Captain Andrade was assigned to the Mexican air force’s Escuadron 201, which fought in the Pacific. [Public domain, wiki]
In the early part of the twentieth century, Mexico had been blighted by a decade-long revolution, by further uprisings against the government, and by the Great Depression. As Europe, and then America, headed into war, Mexican public opinion favoured Germany and Italy. Mexicans were not inclined to support the USA. Many harboured a resentment that dated back to the loss of Texas and the vast areas of territory to the west.
Nonetheless, following the Pearl Harbour attack, Mexico quickly broke off relations with the Axis powers and persuade other Latin American countries to follow suit.
While the USA purchased Mexican oil and helped to build up the Mexican military and industry, a Mexican fighter squadron went to train in Texas. Escuadron 201 (201st Fighter Squadron) was commanded by Captain Radames Gaxiola Andrade.
Calling themselves the Aguilas Aztecas (the Aztec Eagles), Escuadron 201 fought in the Pacific and was engaged in operations against Japanese forces in the Philippines and in Formosa.
![David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/WBenGurion-212x300.jpg)
David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel [Public domain, wiki]
Over five hundred delegates attended, most notably, David Ben-Gurion, who was then the Chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive and would later become the first prime minister of Israel.
The delegates reaffirmed their support of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a letter written by the then British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, to Britain’s Jewish community leader Baron Rothschild, indicating the British Government’s support in ‘establishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people.’ The delegates at the Biltmore also emphasized the need for cooperation with their Arab neighbours.
![USS Lexington being abandoned during the Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 May 1942 [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wlexington2-e1399597056439.jpg)
USS Lexington being abandoned during the Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 May 1942 [Public domain, wiki]
The Japanese claimed victory. Although they inflicted greater losses on the American fleet, the Japanese were forced to abandon their invasion of Port Moresby in New Guinea.
The Japanese light carrier Shoho was sunk on 7 May. On the following day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shokaku was badly damaged and the Zuikaku suffered major losses in aircraft. The US fleet carrier USS Lexington (Lady Lex) was so badly damaged that the Americans abandoned her and sank her later that evening. The American carrier USS Yorktown was damaged, too.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first time that the USA opposed the Japanese with a comparably powerful force and it signaled that the Americans were moving beyond their uniquely defensive strategy. One result of the battle was that the Shokaku and Zuikaku were absent at the Battle of Midway in June, greatly increasing the chances of an American victory.
![Jeff Williams at the 'USS Lexington Museum on the Bay', Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. The Japanese 'rising sun' flag, high on the superstructure, marks the spot that a Kamikaze plane struck the aircraft carrier on 5 November 1944. [Photograph by Edith-Mary Smith]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Wlex3-225x300.jpg)
Jeff Williams at the ‘USS Lexington Museum on the Bay’, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. The Japanese ‘rising sun’ flag, high on the superstructure, marks the spot that a Kamikaze plane struck the aircraft carrier on 5 November 1944. [Photograph by Edith-Mary Smith]
The new USS Lexington—nicknamed the Blue Ghost, partly on account of her blue-grey paint and on her ability to ‘disappear’—would take part in many battles and survive the war.
She can be seen today, moored at the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas.
![All that remains of Saint Bartholomew's Church in Norwich after the Luftwaffe's 'Baedeker' raid of 27 April 1942 [Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 Unported Author: Northmetpit]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wnorwich3-300x276.jpg)
All that remains of Saint Bartholomew’s Church in Norwich after the Luftwaffe’s ‘Baedeker’ raid of 27 April 1942 [Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 Unported; Author: Northmetpit]
After an air raid by the RAF destroyed much of the ancient city centre of the German town of Lubeck on the night of 28/29 March 1942, Hitler vowed vengeance.
The result, known as the Baedeker Blitz, was a series of revenge raids against British cities whose historical, cultural or architectural value merited at least three stars in Baedeker’s guide to Great Britain.
![Baedeker's 1937 guide to Great Britain [Creative Commons Share Alike 2.5 Generic Author: User:Ww2censor]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wbaedeker-210x300.png)
Baedeker’s 1937 guide to Great Britain [Creative Commons Share Alike 2.5 Generic; Author: User:Ww2censor]
Bath and Exeter and, later, Canterbury were all hit in the Luftwaffe’s Baedeker raids. Over 1,600 civilians died with a like number being injured.
![Bomb damage along Kingsway in Valetta. Malta 1942 [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Wmalta-e1398286680329.jpg)
Bomb damage along Kingsway in Valletta, Malta 1942 [Public domain, wiki]
This week in the war, Malta was close to collapse and at risk of invasion.
In the latter half of April 1942, the German and Italian air forces raided Malta well over a hundred times with bomber strengths that were typically in the hundreds.
On 20 April 1942, forty-six Spitfires were flown into Malta from the aircraft carrier USS Wasp but their arrival had been noted by the enemy. Almost all were badly damaged or destroyed while still on the ground.
Hemmed in by mines and with supply convoys failing to get through, Malta’s days seemed numbered. Field-Marshal Kesselring considered the island no longer a threat to Axis operations. His forces could invade and capture Malta whenever they chose.
Italian admiral Vittorio Tur was made commander-in-chief for Operation C3 (as the operation to invade Malta was called) and German general Kurt Student of Crete fame would command the paratroop force. Mussolini was very much in favour of the idea but, in the end, Hitler refused to give the order.
In early May 1942, sixty Spitfires were flown in from the aircraft carriers USS Wasp and HMS Eagle thereby tipping the balance of the air war over Malta. The enemy suffered such grievous losses that daytime air raids—at least around the heavily defended dockyards—became largely a thing of the past. Nonetheless, the supply situation remained critical and, for the island to survive, convoys would need to fight their way through.
![B-25B Mitchell medium bombers on the flight deck of USS Hornet heading towards Japan, April 1942 [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Wdoolittle.jpg)
B-25B Mitchell medium bombers on the flight deck of USS Hornet heading towards Japan, April 1942 [Public domain, wiki]
This week in the war, the Japanese had seemed unstoppable. Most of the US Pacific battle fleet had been sunk at Pearl Harbour. The Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, and Burma, had fallen or were in the process of being overrun. Both India and Australia were threatened.
For the United States or Britain and her Commonwealth (or the Netherlands) to strike back seemed inconceivable. Yet on 18 April 1942, Lt Colonel Jimmy Doolittle led sixteen twin-engine B-25B Mitchell bombers from the flight deck of the carrier USS Hornet to bomb Tokyo and other cities in Japan. The idea had first been raised by Roosevelt, was fleshed out in US Navy headquarters, and planned and commanded by Doolittle himself. It was the first time that medium bombers had been launched on a mission from the deck of an aircraft carrier.
The USS Hornet and her escort made good their escape while, following their raid over Japan, the American bombers flew on towards China. Most made it, crashing landing in China (or in one case in Russia). The crew members of two planes were captured by the Japanese and some were executed or died from maltreatment.
![B-25 bomber, part of the Doolittle Raid exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio [Public domain, wiki]](https://secondbysecondworldwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Wdoolittle1-e1397844796359-279x300.jpg)
B-25 bomber, part of the Doolittle Raid exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio [Public domain, wiki]
Anyone visiting Dayton, Ohio, can visit the Doolittle display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
