Every day I cover what happened on that day during World War II. I put what happened in context with the causes and outcomes of the war. Every day is a piece to the overall puzzle of the war. I like to tell stories of the little things that happened, that are hardly covered in my histories about World War II.
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Dohn Thornton Podcasts
Today In World Two - February 26 - Finns bring out tanks to stop latest Soviet attack on Viipuri; Francisco Franco makes a wise decision; the RAF finally destroys the Gneisenau; the Afrika Korps launches its final offensive; the Polish government-in-exile rejects Britain's meddling over post-war borders Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - February 25 - Soviets start a new offensive in Finland; Royal Navy sub sinks an Italian cruiser; Nigerians capture 400,000 tons of fuel; the Battle of Los Angeles; US Army reoccupies Kasserine Pass; the results of Big Week are in; the USAAF fire bombs Tokyo. Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 24 - Nordic countries declare neutrality is the key to freedom; Neville Chamberlain says he'd still be open to negotiations with Germany; HMS Dainty is sunk off of Tobruk; USS Enterprise attacks Wake Island; USAAF & RAF attack Schweinfurt ball bearings plant; Hitler makes final speech in Reichs Chancellery Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - February 23 - The Soviets capture 2 key islands in Viipuri Bay. The Dutch launch a massive strike protesting the German treatment of Jews; the US Marines raise the flag over Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima! Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 21 - The Soviets press closer and closer to Viipuri; the inventor of insulin dies in a tragic air crash; the US carrier, USS Bismarck Sea, was sunk by Japanese kamikazes. Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 20 - Soviets penetrate Finland's last defense line by as much as 1 KM; Admiral Scheer sinks two ships in Indian Ocean; the Battle of Java Sea begins; Butch O'Hare wins the Medal of Honor; Rommel tells Hitler the Atlantic Wall is ready; US Marines take airfield on Iwo Jima Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - February 19 - Soviets attack across frozen Lake Ladoga; Hitler moves up his timetable to invade Norway; Japanese bomb Darwin, Australia; Japanese evacuate their planes from Rabaul; US Marines invade Iwo Jima Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 18 - The Finns' 2nd defense line begins to collapse; Hitler agrees that invasion of France will go through the Ardennes Forest; Japanese capture Bali; Goebbels demands total war; Mosquito bombers bomb Amiens prison in France. Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 16 - The famed Desert Rats division is formed; the German freighter Altmark is captured and boarded; the first firefight between the Afrika Korps & the Brits takes place; German U-Boats start attacking shipping in the Caribbean Sea; the Japanese massacre 100,000 Chinese in Singapore; the US devastates True harbor; US p…
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Today In World Two - February 15 - Field Marshal Mannerheim orders withdrawal from Mannerheim Line; Admiral Hipper arrives in Brest after sinking 36,000 tons of allied shipping; Singapore surrenders; Germans launch last offensive on Eastern Front; US Sixth Army lands on Bataan, Philippines Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 14 - Finns withdraw from Mannerheim Line; Hitler meets with Yugoslavian PM; horrible Japanese massacre; Japanese penetrate Singapore's defenses; Rommel spanks green US troops at Kasserine Pass; SHAEF is established in England; world's first all jet fighter squadron is formed in Germany Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - February 13 - Finland desperately asks help from Sweden; The US Senate is useless; US Marines get F4U Corsair; Allies drop weapons to the French Resistance; Allies firebomb Dresden; Soviets take Budapest Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 12 -Soviets blow up key Finnish fort; Rommel arrives in Tripoli; RAF poops the bed trying to sink Scharnhorst; Soviets capture Rostov; Germans can't rescue troops in Korsun-Cherkassy pocket; Field Marshal Keitel is a war criminalEnjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 11 - Nazi Germany & the Soviet Union sign a major trade agreement; the Afrika Korps arrives in Tripoli; the Scharnhorst and Prince Eugen make a mad dash through the channel; Lydia Litvyak shoots down two German fighters; US launches failed counter attack at Anzio; the Yalta Conference ends with bad news for Eastern Eur…
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Today In World Two - February 10 - Soviets penetrate the Mannerheim Line at Munasuo Swamp; Churchill gives priority to Greece over North Africa; the first convoy of Afrika Korps troops head to Tripoli, Libya; British paratroopers attack an aqueduct in Italy; the Allies land in Saidor, New Guinea; the German attempt to break out of Budapest, Hungary…
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Today In World Two - February 9 -Soviets cause collapse of Mannerheim Line in Summa Sector; Allies capture El Agheila; FDR initiates Daylight Savings Time, heads DO NOT explode; British Chindits infiltrate Burma; Germans capture Aprilia at Anzio; Brits & Canucks pierce Siegfried Line Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 8 - Soviets demand an island from Finland; Brits reach El Agheila; Japanese invade Singapore; Americans destroy Japanese infiltration force on Bataan; Soviets capture Kursk; Allies clear out the Rhineland; Soviets invade lower Silesia Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 7 - Douglas Bader flies Spitfires; Brits take 25K Italian prisoners; Rommel's offensive reaches Gazala; Japanese evacuate Guadalcanal; RAF allows French women to escape bombing raid; Paraguay declares war on Germany & Japan Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - February 6 - Finns encircle an entire Soviet division; Australians capture Benghazi; Rommel summoned to Hitler's headquarters; Nazis legalize killing of women & children; Soviets reach the Dnieper river in Ukraine; MacArthur announces the capture of Manila and freedom of 5,000 Allied POWs. Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - February 5 - France & Britain plot to invade Norway & Sweden; First time a submarine is sunk by a Royal Navy destroyer; 7th Armoured Division cuts off retreating Italians in Libya; General Vandegrift gets Medal of Honor from FDR; USS Narwhal drops 45 tons of supplies to Filipino guerrillas; US civilians freed from Japanese capt…
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Today In World Two - February 4 - The Balkan Entente declares neutrality; the first Norwegians are sentenced to death; the Allies lose the Battle of Makassar Strait; Japanese massacre 130 Aussie POWs; Brits engineer a coup d'etat in Egypt; the British 8th army enters Tunisia; the British Pacific Fleet arrives in Australia. Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - February 3 - First German aircraft shot down over England; Rommel named commander of Afrika Korps; Japanese bomb Port Moresby; Eisenhower names Patton to plan invasion of Sicily; Von Rundstedt orders reprisals against civilians; Allies attempt to break out of Anzio; US troops fight Japanese in Manila. Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - February 2 -Soviets continue to pressure the Finns in Karelian; Indian troops capture Mehmet & Agordat in East Africa; General O'Connor receives permission to outflank retreating Italians; FDR issues order to inter Japanese-Americans; the Northern pocket in Stalingrad surrenders; Stalin gives Americans permission to use Soviet …
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Today In World Two - February 1 - The Soviets fire 300,000 shells at the Finns in Summa, Indian troops capture Metemma & Agordat in East Africa; US carriers strike Japanese at Gilbert Islands; Japanese troops besiege Singapore; Japanese been begin evacuation of Japanese troops at Guadalcanal; Field Marshal von Paulus surrenders in Stalingrad; US Ma…
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Today In World Two - January 31 - The Soviets gather an unstoppable force on the Mannerheim Line; Free French & British commandos lay siege to Kufra; 200,000 Soviet civilians died so far in Leningrad; USS Yorktown conducts strikes against Kwajalein; 11th Airborne comes ashore in the Philippines - Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - The first U-boat of the war is sunk by an aircraft; Japanese begin the Siege of Singapore; Japanese win the Battle of Rennel Island; Germans destroy a Ranger battalion at Anzio; daring US raid frees 500 American POWs; soviet sub sinks a German passenger ship; Albert Speer tells HItler the war is over. January 30 - Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - January 28 - Finns score a large bounty of weapons from the Soviets; RAF Ace Tuck receives the DSO; Adolf Garland gets 94 victories; British destroy convoy of Italian minesweepers; a POW escapes Colditz Castle; Kesselring counterrattacks at Anzio; US Sergeants defend their Jewish comrades. Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - January 27 - German U-boats sink 4 merchant vessels in one day; Allies turn an attack into a fiasco off of Dutch East Indies; 8th Air Force bombs Wilhelmshaven; Soviets relieve siege of Leningrad; General Lucas sits in Anzio with his thumb up his butt; Germans evacuate Luft Stalag III; Auschwitz is liberated by the Soviets. Enj…
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Today In World Two - January 26 - A Royal Navy passenger ship hits a mine and sinks; British troops take Derna, Libya; the first American troops arrive in the UK; Stalin announces his troops had killed 1.2 million Germans; Audie Murphy wins the Medal of Honor. Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - January 25 - U-Boats sink 4 ships in one day; Japanese slaughter 1,700 Chinese civilians; Japanese land on Lae, New Guinea; Soviets cut German pocket in two in Stalingrad; the Soviets encircle 60,000 Germans; Germans evacuate 2 million troops from East Prussia. Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - January 24 - Czechoslovakia forms a unit in French Army; Dutch destroy over 700 oil wells; British invade Italian Somaliland; British private wins the Victoria Cross Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - January 23 - British Intelligence missed capturing a master spy; Hungarian troops slaughter almost 3,000 Serbs & Jews; the British 8th Army captures Tripoli; Eisenhower approves Normandy invasion plan; a British medic wins the Victoria Cross; the Germany navy begins evacuating German troops and civilians from East Prussia. Enjo…
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Today In World Two - January 22 - The Finns announce the formation a Foreign Legion; MacArthur pulls back the Bataan defense line; Soviets evacuate civilians from Leningrad; Aussies & Yanks liberate Buna; Margaret Bourk-White flies a combat mission over Germany; 36,000 Allied troops land at Anzio; remnants of the German 4th Panzer Division flee to …
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Today In World Two - January 21 - The Soviets launch an unsuccessful attack agains Finnish troops; Japanese troops penetrated the main defense line in Bataan; the Soviets capture two cities and kill around 500,000 Germans; a German night fighting ace is shot down; the Chinese capture a city in Burma; the RAF begin using Lancaster heavy bombers to d…
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Today In World Two - January 20 - Churchill's speech about Finland sends mixed messages; Roosevelt is elected to his 3rd term; the evil Wannsee Conference takes place; a Typhoon ace scores a victory; the Luftwaffe makes its first daylight raid on London in two years; the Soviets liberate Novgorod; US troops liberate Luxembourg; Hungary is give an i…
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Today In World Two - January 19 - British destroyer is sunk by a magnetic mine; HMS Prince of Wales is commissioned; FDR approves the Manhattan Project; USS Ranger launches 72 USAAF fighters to North Africa; French Resistance blows up an important German factory; Hitler gets even more megalomaniacal. Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - January 17 - Polish cryptographers break Luftwaffe's codes; Soviets warn Germany to keep their dirty, rotten, stinking hands off of Bulgaria; the Brits capture 5,500 Axis prisoners; U-Boats continue to sink ships off the US East Coast; The Luftwaffe goes back to bombing London; the Battle of Monte Cassini begins; the Soviets fo…
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Today In World Two - January 17 - Polish cryptographers break Luftwaffe's codes; Soviets warn Germany to keep their dirty, rotten, stinking hands off of Bulgaria; the Brits capture 5,500 Axis prisoners; U-Boats continue to sink ships off the US East Coast; The Luftwaffe goes back to bombing London; the Battle of Monte Cassini begins; the Soviets fo…
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Today In World Two - January 16 - The American in the Philippines the last cavalry attack in US history; the Soviets capture another airfield supplying Stalingrad; an American B-17 makes a dramatic escape from German airspace; the Allies push the Germans back to pre-Battle of the Bulge lines; the Soviets move Raoul Wallenberg to Moscow. Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - January 15 - Brits killing more people with their blackout than the enemy; RAF raids Wilhelmshaven; the Second Happy Time continues for the German U-boats; Brits use crossword puzzles to recruit cryptographers; USAAF sinks Japanese ship with 1,000 Dutch POWs; Germans make large scale arrests of Danish Resistance members; US par…
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Today In World Two - January 14 - Poles help Brits decipher German Enigma code; a German surface raider captures an entire whaling fleet w/o a shot; Japanese advance into Burma; A U-boat sinks a tanker off of Long Island; Soviet troops capture Velikiye Luki; British forces clear out the Roar Triangle area in Germany . Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - January 13 - Belgium & Netherlands order partial mobilization; Hitler gets rebuffed by a Tsar; first ejector seat in air history is successfully used in Germany; Casablanca Conference takes place; Treasury Secretary Morgenthau excoriates the US State Department for not helping Jewish refugees; John Basilone reenlists; German ar…
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Today In World Two - January 12 - U-boat sinks 14,000 tons of fuel; Asshole US admiral forbids convoys and blackouts before German U-boat onslaught; German troops abandon Caucasus region; US 1st Marine Division arrives in Australia for some R&R; Churchill & de Gaulle meet; Task Force 38 sinks 44 ships in Indochina; Soviets launch final offensive wi…
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Today In World Two - January 11 - Finns pin down another Soviet division; Stuka's sink HMS Southampton; Dutch destroy 700 oil wells; Japanese troops enter Kuala Lumpur; FDR flies to Morocco; US carriers devastate Indochina; Brits capture a town near Bastogne Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - January 10 - German invasion plans fall into Belgian hands; German Stuka dive bombers almost sink British aircraft carrier; Brits are forced to retreat closer to Singapore; largest loss of life in US submarine history; Finns force Germans out of Northern Finland Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - January 9 - German minesweepers sink another British sub; an Italian sub battles repairs and killer sharks; Japanese attack American defenses on Bataan; Himmler orders the liquidation of Warsaw Ghetto; Tojo orders an idiotic offensive against India; US 6th Army invades Luzon; world's first Heimlich maneuver in China. Enjoy!…
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Today In World Two - January 8- British government introduces food rationing; Bombers from Malta damage an Italian battleship; the Japanese edge ever closer to Singapore; Germans suspend all convoys to Rommel; Soviet sniper, Rosa Shanina, goes back to the front. Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - January 8- British government introduces food rationing; Bombers from Malta damage an Italian battleship; the Japanese edge ever closer to Singapore; Germans suspend all convoys to Rommel; Soviet sniper, Rosa Shanina, goes back to the front. Enjoy!By Dohn Thornton
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Today In World Two - January 6 - Finnish ace shoots down 7 Soviet bombers in one day; Free French capture an Italian airfield; the combined Joint Chiefs Of Staff are formed; TF-58 is formed; the Red Army reaches the pre-war Polish border; Doolittle tells his subordinates to go after German fighters; Finland lifts ban on public dancing Enjoy…
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