May 18, 1944 - Thursday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS Daly: 

USS Daly (DD-519) -New Guinea 

May 15th:  Underway at 3 PM for the rest of the day.  Temperatures 80s-90s, light winds.  Left Seeadler Harbor about 2 PM to meet cruiser task forces for next mission,

May 16th: Underway all day.  Temperatures 80s, light winds.  At noon, north of Hollandia en route to Wakde area.  Radar calibration in the morning.

May 17th: Underway all day.  Temperatures 80s, light winds.  Shelling in support of invasion force at Wakde early morning.  Patrol rest of morning and then released to return to Humboldt Bay, New Guinea.   Reached Hollandia (Jayapura) in the evening and anchored.

May 18th: Anchored in the morning, then underway.  Temperatures 80s-90s, light breezes.

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The Wakde invasion was the next jump across the north side of New Guinea.  Landings were successful, and the airfield at Wakde would be operational by the 21st.

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In the Central Pacific, the focus was now mostly on gathering forces for the invasion of the Mariana Islands, with Guam, Saipan and Tinian being the main island targets.  This operation was slated to begin in mid-June.

US Navy operations continue in the Marshall Islands against atolls where Japanese troops remain.

Fighting continues in Italy at Anzio and at Monte Cassino. The fourth and final assault in the Monte Cassino area was underway.  In the next few weeks, Rome would be captured, but an opportunity was lost to cut off and surround a large German force.

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More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 482-484. 
• New Guinea and the Marianas, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 96-102, 157-169.
• War at the End of the World, James P. Duffy, pp, 311-317.
  
• Events of May, 1944
  
• Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives, USS Daly, DD-519, May 1944

NEXT POST:  MAY 22ND

 

May 18, 1864 - Wednesday - 160 years ago today

Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Howard's Corps - Newton's Division - Wagner's Brigade

Howard's corps was engaged in several sharp fights during this time as the army made its way further south in pursuit of the retreating Confederate army.  On the 17th there was a hard fight before the rebels withdrew further south.  By the 18th, all three wings of the Union army were converging on Kingston, GA.  

Union advances had come quickly so far in the campaign; however, as the Union's supply lines got longer, and the Confederates' shorter, further advancement would slow dramatically.

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Virginia Campaign

At Spotsylvania, there is only a little fighting and a stalemate; by the 18th, Grant has decided to once again move to his left to try to flank Lee's army on the right.

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XXXVIII, Chapter L, Part IV, Correspondence, pp. 189-248.
  
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. pp. 160-161.
• The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1II, Red River to Appomattox, Shelby Foote, pp. 334-338.
• Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Retreat With Honor, pp. 302-305.
  
• Decision In The West, The Atlanta Campaign of 1864, Albert Castel, pp, 169-200.
• Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, pp. 557-561.
• Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, pp. 503-505.
  
• Events: 1864
  

NEXT POST:  MAY 22ND