By: This day in military history.. - Page 58

This day in military history.. - Page 58 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:33:01 +0000

[...] June 8th 1940: In Norway, the evacuation of British and French troops (24,000 men) from Narvik and Harstad is completed. The British aircraft carrier Glorious is sunk by the German heavy battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau SW of Narvik. King Haakon and the Norwegian government leave Troms? for England. 1941: British and Free French forces invade Lebanon and Syria against stiff resistance by Vichy French troops. source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html 1941: Australians attack Vichy French in Syria – 7th Division and Imperial forces attack Vichy French in Syria. 1942: Sydney and Newcastle shelled – In addition to launching the midget submarines that attacked Sydney Harbour and attacking shipping on Australia’s east coast Japanese submarines shelled Sydney and Newcastle, but with little effect.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp 1940: Montreal Quebec – RCAF’s No. 1 Fighter Squadron leaves for Britain. 1944: Caen France -Canadians move inland from Juno beach; Rommel orders Kurt Meyer’s 12th SS Panzer Grenadiers to attack the Canadian 7th Brigade at Putot-en-Basin (8 kms west of Caen). They cross the railway and outflank the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, destroying the three forward companies; the rest withdraw, leaving their wounded behind; the Canadian Scottish, Canscots and 1st Hussars then use an artillery barrage from the 12th and 13th field regiments to retake Putot, but Meyer counter-attacks with 22 Panther tanks, the Regina Rifles fight a night-long battle, and hold. During these fights, the SS murder several Canadian POWs, including six Winnipeg Rifles, and a Red Cross stretcher-bearer, who are ordered into a wood and shot in the temple; 13 more Canadians are executed within 100 yards of the Command post; the bodies of 7 more are found near-by, all shot in the head with small arms; finally, 40 Winnipegs and Cameron Highlanders are marched into a field, ordered to sit together with the wounded at their centre, and machine gunned; 5 escape. Atlantic – Flight Officer K. O. Moore, piloting a Canadian Liberator bomber, destroys two German U-Boats in 22 minutes. source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=08 1830 – Sloop-of-war Vincennes becomes first U.S. warship to circle the globe 1853 – Commodore Matthew Perry arrives at Uraga, Japan to begin negotiations for a treaty with Japan 1880 – Congress authorizes the Office of Judge Advocate General 1937 – Observation of total eclipse of the sun by U.S. Navy detachment commanded by CAPT J. F. Hellweg, USN, participating in the National Geographic Society – United States Navy Eclipse Expedition at Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands, Pacific Ocean. USS Avocet was assigned to this expediton. 1958 – Navy and Post Office deliver first official missile mail when USS Barbero (SS-317) fired Regulus II missile with 3000 letters 100 miles east of Jacksonville, FL to Mayport, FL. 1960 – Helicopters from USS Yorktown (CVS-10) rescue 54 crewmen of British SS Shunlee, grounded on Pratus Reef in South China Sea. 1962 – Medical team from Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD; Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, MD; and Naval Preventative Medicine Unit No. 2 Norfolk, VA sent to San Pedro Sula, Honduras to fight epidemic of infectious gastroenteritis. 1967 – USS Liberty (AGTR-5) attacked by Israeli forces in Mediterranean 1990 – CDR Rosemary Mariner becomes first Navy women to command fleet jet aircraft squadron. source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm 1862: The Army of the Potomac defeats Confederate forces at Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia. 1904: U.S. Marines land in Tangiers, Morocco, to protect U.S. citizens. 1995: U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O?Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines in Bosnia. source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0608.htm [...]

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By: This day in military history.. - Page 58