Wild Rides – Seven of the Strangest Bomber Raids of WW2

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In 1946, Colonel Paul Tibbets stands in front of his B-29 'Enola Gay' in Roswell, New Mexico. ✈️

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81 years ago today, soldiers of the 8th Army debark LCI-447 on the west coast of Luzon. ⚓️🪖

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In January of 1945, Sgt. William Showers cleans the snow from the breech of his 57-MM AT gun in the woods near Courtil, Belgium. 🪖

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In January of 1945, medics with the 90th Infantry Division lift the body of a wounded American soldier to place him on a ski litter in Luxembourg. 🪖

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81 years ago today, American soldiers examine the wreckage of a Spitfire LF Mk. VIII ZX-F (JF805) from RAF 145 Squadron near Nettuno, Italy. ✈️

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On this day in 1945, U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts & Filipino guerrillas rescue 552 Allied prisoners from the Japanese POW camp at Cabanatuan.

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Today in 1862, the US Navy's first ironclad warship, the USS Monitor, is launched. Considered a hi-tech marvel at the time, conditions aboard were dark, stuffy & miserable. "Any man who would stay on an ironclad by choice is a candidate for an insane asylum," recalled one sailor.

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Today 1968, communist infiltrators launch surprise attacks across South Vietnam marking the start of the Tet Offensive. Although the Viet Cong and NVA suffer staggering losses in the two-month campaign, the scale and ferocity of the onslaught erodes American support for the war.

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On this day in 1793, Revolutionary France declares war on Great Britain ushering in 22 years of almost continuous conflict between the two powers.

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On this day in 1945, a U.S. Army private named Eddie Slovik is shot at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France for the crime of desertion. As many as 21,000 other GIs face courts martial for similar offences during WW2, but the 24-year-old Detroit native is the only one to be executed.

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Today in 1865, Congress passes the US Constitution's 13th Amendment which abolishes slavery nationwide. Thirty states will ratify it before year's end. Mississippi, one of a handful of states to reject the amendment in the months after the Civil War, won't ratify until 1995.

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On this day in 1865, Robert E. Lee is promoted to General-in-Chief of the collapsing Confederate States Army. Just 68 days later Lee will surrender the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the U.S. Civil War.

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On this day in 1944, 46,000 U.S. troops storm the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Japanese offer fierce resistance; of the 3,500 Imperial troops dug in there, only 51 survive after four days of savage fighting.

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Today in 1943, Friedrich Paulus, commander of the doomed German army at Stalingrad, surrenders to the Soviets. Moments earlier, he learns that Hitler has promoted him to field marshal. "One can't help feeling it's an invitation to suicide," he says. "I'll do him no such favour."

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Today in 1943, Stalingrad is back in Soviet hands as the last pockets of German resistance in the city are finally overwhelmed. The Axis suffered more than 800,000 casualties in five-months of fighting; Red Army losses are heavier: an est. 1 million killed, wounded or missing.

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A nurse administers a vaccine to an American serviceman in 1944.

“You got in line, took your shot, and that’s it. It was no big deal,” recalled one vet.

(Image source: U.S. Army Center for Military History)

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On this day in 1942, aircraft from the carriers Yorktown and Enterprise carry out raids on Japanese forces near the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Taking place just 56 days after Pearl Harbor, the action marks America's first sizeable offensive operation of WW2.

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In February of 1945, soldiers of the 8th Infantry Division pass a tank destroyer on the battle-scarred streets of Düren, Germany as they enter the heart of the city. 🪖

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