July 3

1916 WW1: David Lloyd George succeeds Lord Horatio Kitchener as British Secretary of War.

Lloyd George remained chancellor of the exchequer through the early years of World War One. In 1915 he was appointed minister of munitions in Asquith's wartime coalition government. In July 1916 he became secretary of state for war, but was increasingly critical of Asquith. In December 1916, with the support of the Conservative and Labour leaders, he replaced Asquith as prime minister. Lloyd George's achievements in the last two years of the war included persuading the Royal Navy to introduce the convoy system and the unification of the Allied military command under the French general Ferdinand Foch.

At the successful conclusion of the war, Lloyd George was Britain's chief delegate to the Paris Peace Conference that drafted the Versailles Treaty.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/george_david_lloyd.shtml

1916 WW1: A reconstituted Serbian army of about 118,000 men arrives by ship in the Balkans, and with additional reinforcements rises to more than 250,000.

1916 Volkishness: The Germanenorden's newsletter begins featuring a swastika superimposed on a cross on its cover. All future issues will carry this same symbol. Note: In late 19th and early 20th century Germany and Austria there were many flourishing esoteric orders which sought to establish a reborn Germanic identity and to reconnect the Volk with its repressed archetypes. One of the most significant of these Orders was founded in Germany in 1912; the Germanenorden, or German Order. From this sprang the Thule Gesellschaft, or Thule Society, whose driving force was Rudolf von Serbottendorff. (THP)

1916 WW1:Battle of the Somme.

On 3 July a reconnaissance patrol from the 18th (Eastern) Division ranged two miles into German territory without encountering an established defensive position. However, the opportunity was missed or the British lacked the resources to exploit it, and the Germans were able to fill the gap in time. Mametz Wood was still vacant on 3 July, but was reoccupied by the Germans the following day, and would not be captured until 10 July after two costly attempts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme

1917 Russian Revolution: By the summer of 1917, a social upheaval of vast proportions is sweeping over Russia. Peasants are expropriating land from the gentry. Peasant-soldiers flee the trenches so as not to be left out, and the government cannot stem the tide. New shortages consequently appear in the cities, causing scores of factories to close. Angry workers form their own factory committees, sequestering plants to keep them running and to gain new material benefits.

1926 July 3-4 The Second Party Rally of the NSDAP is held in Weimar, as The Hitler Youth is founded, and the Blutfahne flag is presented by Hitler to the SA.

The Blutfahne (Blood Banner or Blood Flag) was the flag of the 5th SA Sturme that was covered in the blood of the Nazi marchers (mainly of Andreas Bauriedl who fell on top of the flag) in the failed Munich Putsch of 9 Nov 1923. Heinrich Trambauer (who carried the flag during the Putsch) took the flag to a friend at Theatinerstrasse 30, where he took the flag from the staff, and left with it hidden inside his windjacket. Later, Karl Eggers asked Trambauer where the flag was, and was given it by Trambauer. Eggers then gave the flag to a man named Graef for safe keeping. Eggers later took the flag back, and possibly left it with a Viktoria Edrich living at Tuerkenstrasse 23. After Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison, Eggers gave the flag to him. It was then fitted to a new staff and finial, and just below the finial was a silver dedication sleeve which bore the names of three martyrs from the Putsch, who had been members of the 6th company: Bauriedl, Heckenberger and von Stransky. Hitler used the Blutfahne to consecrated new party colors by touching them with one hand while holding the Blutfahne with the other.
http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5067

1933 Church and Reich:Franz von Papen cables German foreign minister, Konstantin von Neurath, "In the discussions which I had with Pacelli, Archbishop Groeber, and Kaas this evening, it developed that with the conclusion of the Concordat, the dissolution of the Center Party is regarded here as certain and is approved."

1933 Holocaust: Statutory religious organizations throughout Germany are forbidden to employ Jews. (Edelheit)

1934 Reichrubberstampstag: The German Reichstag retroactively justifies Hitler's ruthless actions against the SA.

1934 Church and Reich: An order is issued forbidding the publication of the pastoral letter of June 7 by the press and even the diocesan gazettes on the grounds that the letter is likely to jeopardize public order and deprecate the authority of state and movement. The Gestapo confiscates all unsold copies, making the rest instant collectors' items. (THP)

1939 Ernst Heinkel demonstrates an 800-kph rocket plane to Hitler. Later in the year, the Heinkel 100 will capture the world speed record of 463.919 miles per hour.

1939 Telegram from the German Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office:

Molotov received me in the Kremlin, after I had announced my arrival three hours before. Correct translation was secured through Hilger. Molotov's translator failed to appear. I opened the discussion with the statement that on the basis of the talks in Berlin, particularly with the Reich Foreign Minister, I had the impression that we would welcome a normalization of relations with the Soviet Union. The State Secretary had very clearly acquainted Herr Astakhov with our position. Indicative of this position was the following: correct tone of the German press toward the Soviet Union, conclusion of non-aggression treaties with the Baltic countries and our desire for resumption of economic negotiations. Molotov listened attentively and stated that he received this communication with satisfaction.

I continued that, since the conversation of the State Secretary with Astakhov, we had waited for a Soviet statement as to what Molotov had meant in his conversation with me on May 20 by the words "creation of a political basis for the resumption of economic negotiations"; I would also have to point out to him that the attitude of the Soviet press in all questions concerning Germany still gave cause for serious criticism. Herr Astakhov had been told that Herr Molotov wanted to answer me personally. Among other things I had come in order to inquire whether he held anything to tell me.

In his answer Molotov did not go into the question as to the meaning of the concept "political basis," but he declared that the Soviet Government in accordance with the enunciations of its leaders desired good relations with all countries and therefore-provided there was reciprocity-would also welcome a normalization of relations with Germany. It was not the fault of the Soviet Government if these relations had become bad. He could not accept the criticism of the Soviet press, since he was not aware of any hostile attitude of the press toward Germany.

I replied that much could be said about these questions; that I had not, however, come to talk of the past, but of the future. Thereupon, Molotov asked how we visualized further developments and what changes had occurred lately in the relations between Germany and the Soviet Union. As to the non-aggression treaties, Germany had concluded them in the first place in her own interest, and they concerned only Germany and the countries participating, but not the Soviet Union. Furthermore, he would have to doubt the permanence of such treaties after the experiences which Poland had had.

I replied that our non-aggression treaties provided the Baltic countries with additional security, in which the Soviet Union was very much interested. Poland had herself provoked the termination of the treaty with us by behaving irresponsibly and joining a combination hostile to us, which was irreconcilable with friendly relations with us. To this Molotov stated that in his opinion the treaty concluded by Poland with England was a purely defensive instrument. I disagreed and pointed out that the word "defensive" in this connection was of only academic significance.

Then I returned to Molotov's question as to how we visualized further developments and said that, in my opinion, the main task in the future would be that both countries avoid everything that would lead to a further deterioration of relations and do everything that might result in their improvement. Germany had no ill intentions against the Soviet Union, and one of the proofs for that was the Berlin Treaty, which we had extended some time ago. Thereupon Molotov asked, "Are you convinced that the Berlin Treaty is really still in force and has not been abrogated by later treaties concluded by Germany?" I replied the following: "I know of no such treaties and have no reason to doubt the validity of the Berlin Treaty."

At the end I asked Molotov what he had to say to the question of the resumption of economic negotiations. Molotov replied that he knew the contents of the last conversation between Mikoyan and Hilger. He approved Mikoyan's (group missing) and suggested that we give Mikoyan the desired information. I sought to convince Molotov that it would not be in the interest of speeding up the economic negotiations if details were discussed between Mikoyan and Hilger or me, since we continuously had to request instructions from Berlin. Schnurre, on the other hand, had all the necessary authority, knowledge, and experience and would be able to conclude the negotiations quickly to mutual satisfaction. Thereupon Molotov indicated that cancellation of Schnurre's trip in February had annoyed the Soviet Union. They would leave it to Mikoyan, who had mastery of the subject matter, to ask for what he considered right. When we had given the information desired by Mikoyan, a trip by Schnurre to Moscow might perhaps prove useful. The conversation closed in friendly spirit and with my repeated request that Molotov influence the attitude of the Soviet press.

1940 WW2: A British task force, under Admiral Somerville, makes an attack on a large part of the French fleet at Oran, Algeria, to ensure that it will not fall into Axis hands. Unlike other French fleets, it had refused to submit to seizure by the British, after the fall of France. More than 1,000 French sailors are killed and the battleship Befragne is sunk. Many French saw this as a perfidious act that killed more French sailors in a single day than the Germans had killed since the war began; quite a comment on French fighting. (Note: This, combined with the fact that the Germans had discovered records from the Allied Supreme War Command in Paris indicating that the British air staff intended to use its newly developed long-range bombers to destroy the Ruhr industrial complex, home to 60% of German industry, finally convinced Hitler that Britain intended to stay in the war, no matter what.) (THP)

1940 Horia Sima agrees to participate in a new Romanian Government.

Horia Sima was a provincial high-school teacher, a devoted Legionnaire, regional chief of the Banat, and a friend of several conservative government officials. Even before Codreanu's death, Sima took Codreanu's anti-Semitism to a new level and his small underground movement began distributing flyers, beating up Jews, burning their shops and synagogues and eventually, killed a friend of Premier Armand Calinescu, the Minister of the Interior. Though Sima and Codreanu both attempted to stop the murder, it nevertheless took place, and produced harsh consequences.
http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/hist/jpetropoulos/ironguard/leaders.htm

1941 Holocaust: Latvian auxiliary police organized by Einsatzkommandos 1a and 2 plunder Jewish homes, and two other Latvian groups carry out pogroms, killing 400 Jews and destroying synagogues. (THP)

1941 Barbarossa: For the first time since the beginning of the German attack on the Soviet Union, Stalin speaks to the Russian people over the radio. Demanding utmost resistance 'in our patriotic war against German Fascism', he calls for a policy of scorched earth if the Red Army is forced to yield ground, and the formation of 'people's partisan' groups behind enemy lines, as well as the summary execution of all cowards and shirkers.

1942 WW2: In Egypt, due to exhaustion and lack of supplies, especially fuel for the armored divisions, German and Italian forces of the Afrikakorps suspend all offensive operations before El Alamein and begin constructing defensive positions.

1943 WW2: In the East, the opening of Unternehmen Zitadelle (Operation Citadel), the massive German counter-offensive to encircle and destroy the Soviet forces in the Orel-Belgorod salient near Kursk, is delayed by one day because of heavy Soviet air attacks against the German deployment areas.

1943 WW2: The RAF carries out a heavy night raid on Cologne, causing considerable damage and killing hundreds of civilians.

"Cologne," said the briefing officer at one station, "is one of the most heavily defended cities in Germany, and one of the most important. In and around Cologne, are more than five hundred heavy and light anti-aircraft guns, and about a hundred and fifty searchlights, which work in close co-ordination with the gunners. But with this very large force, the belief is that all ground defences will be saturated and overwhelmed. The same should apply to night-fighters. Your track will take you close to several night-fighter stations, but intruder aircraft from Fighter and Army Co-operation Commands and 2 Group will be attacking these stations before and during the raid. Even so, look out for night-fighters. Tail gunners, be careful what you fire at.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWcologne.htm

1944 The Secret Diary of Anti-Hitler Conspirator Ulrich von Hassel: [By Wolf Ulrich von Hassel] On July 3, 1944, my father wrote his last words in his diary. Munich was cut off from train connections by the air raids of those days. In spite of that, my father wanted to go to Berlin, one way or another, for an "action" was again pending. He succeeded in going north by taking detours."

1944 WW2: The US First Army opens a general offensive to break out of the hedgerow area of Normandy, France.

The terrain, in the area selected for the initial penetration of French soil, was generally level or gently sloping. However, it was broken up into a "crazy quilt" pattern of small fields separated by "hedgerows." These consisted of an earthen mound or wall, 8 to 10 feet in width and 4 to 6 feet in height, covered with a scrub undergrowth. Along the top of this wall grew rows of trees. Forming an important part of the obstacle thus created was the ditch which ran along one or both sides of the mound. The roads, narrow and winding, ran between these hedgerows, and offered the defenders many advantageous positions for ambuscades or surprise attacks on advancing foot-troops and armor. Observation was normally limited from one hedgerow to the next, although an occasional structure, such as the church tower in a village, would widen the horizon. These peculiarities of terrain led to the development of special operational techniques in the application of tactical principles.
http://www.lonesentry.com/normandy_lessons/index.html

1944 WW2: In the East, 28 divisions of Heeresgruppe Mitte (Model) are encircled or destroyed by the Soviet 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts in the Minsk area. The Soviets claim 400,000 German dead and 158,000 taken prisoner.

1945 WW2: US troops land at Balikpapan and take Sepinggan airfield on Borneo in the Pacific.

In due time a gun Matilda accompanied by a Frog approached one of the enemy positions littering Parramatta Ridge, that had been turned into a Japanese man-made citadel topped with a cunning trench system while underground was a vast intercommunicating honeycombed network of tunnels. The Matilda II’s blasted openings into the concrete bunker with its solid shot 2pdr gun and then the Matilda Frog fired jets of flame through the holes. Many tunnel entrances led into the hills and the bypassing of these tunnels would have left the rear open to attack, so CS Matilda tanks demolished the many entrances with 3inch howitzer shells to entrap the occupants then Frogs roared into the dark openings fierce jets of flame.
http://worldatwar.net/article/australiantank/borneo45.html

1979 Thirty-four years after the end of World War II, the West German government votes to continue prosecution of Nazi war criminals by removing the Statute of Limitations in respect of murder.

 

 





  

    

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