Operation Dragoon was the name for the Allied wounded, a vast difference from the landings. invasion of Southern that took place on 15 August Due to Allied , the Germans withdrew to the north 1944. Originally, the invasion was planned to coincide with through the Rhone valley, to establish a stable defense line 1676 King Philip ’ s War ends. , better known as the “D-Day” invasion near , France. Allied units were able to overtake the of Normandy. However, the Allies lacked enough landing Germans and partially block their route. The battle led to a craft to conduct both invasions simultaneously. After the 1786 Shays Rebellion begins. stalemate with both sides struggling to achieve any decisive Operation Overlord landings were successfully carried out, advances. Eventually, the Allied pressure became too much on 6 June 1944, the final date for Operation Dragoon was and the Germans ordered a complete withdrawal from 1814 Washington D.C. is burned. finally set. The intent for this invasion was to secure vital . The fighting ultimately came to a stop at ports on the Mediterranean coast while also increasing the mountains, where the Germans were finally able 1941 The Atlantic Charter is issued. pressure on the already stretched German Army. This to establish a stable defense line. After link-up with Allied invasion would also involve a large number of Free French units from Operation Overlord, the Allied forces were in Soldiers and sought to mobilize, in large numbers, the 1943 The Allies complete the liberation of Sicily. need of reorganizing and, facing stiffened German . The initial Allied landing forces resistance, the offensive was halted on 14 September and numbered 151,000 Soldiers which was almost identical in The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and merged with the combined offensive in France. 1945 N a g a s a k i . scale to the Normandy invasion. However, its total invasion force would grow to over 570,000 Allied Soldiers. The The surrender of Japanese forces ends World 1945 French Resistance that was mobilized would number an W a r I I . additional 75,000.

1961 The Berlin Wall begins construction. Over 1,300 bombers flown from Italy opened the assault at 0600. Bombing was nearly continuous until 0730, when and launched spotting aircraft and 1964 The Gulf of Tonkin incident occurs. began firing on specific targets detected by aerial surveillance. Naval gunfire ceased as the 1990 The Iraqi Army invaded Kuwait. headed ashore at 0800. The relatively steep beach gradients with small tidal range discouraged Axis placement of underwater obstacles, but landing beaches had been defensively mined. LCIs leading the first wave of landing craft fired rockets to explode land mines on the beaches to be used by following troops. The landings were The Rock Island Arsenal celebrated its 157th Birthday on 11 July overwhelmingly successful with only light German 2019. When Congress established the Arsenal in 1862, it was resistance. The main threat to Allied troops were the mines part of a plan that included the construction of three arsenals in placed along the beaches. The Allied casualties at the total. The other two arsenals were located in Indianapolis, landings were very light, with only 95 killed and 385 US troops landing during Operation Dragoon Indiana and Columbus, Ohio. The original site of the Arsenal at Rock Island was situated near the lower end of the island. When BVT BG Rodman assumed command of the installation, he moved the core of the island to the center where it is today. Liberation of The 10th of marks the official date that U.S. Meanwhile, the counterattacks against the American Forces considered the island of Guam liberated,. The final had exhausted the Japanese. By the start of victory is known as the Second . The island August, they were running out of food and ammunition, and had been a possession of the U.S. since the Spanish- they had only a handful of left. Thick jungle and heavy American War in 1898. The Japanese captured Guam on 10 rains delayed the Allied advance, along with desperate final . Due to its size and suitability for supporting counter-attacks by the Japanese, but by 10 August, large land based bombers. The island served as a strategic organized Japanese resistance had ended, and Guam was In what year was the Aeronautical of the Army established? step in the U.S. plan for a larger bombing operation of the declared secure. Even then. it was estimated that Japanese home island mainly . approximately 7,500 Japanese soldiers were still at large on What was the largest caliber (mm) explosive shell ever produced by the ? The island posed a formidable defensive site with reefs the island. Mop up continued for months. ringing the island making amphibious landings difficult. To Who was the first known European explorer to navigate the upper Mississippi River Valley? counter this the Allied plan called for a heavy preliminary bombardment, first by carrier aircraft and USAAF bombers Answers for July 2019’s Trivia: based in the to the east, then, once air superiority was gained, close bombardment by battleships, In what year was Army Materiel Command (AMC) stood up? cruisers, and . On 21 July, U.S. Forces began their 1962 attack with Army and Marine landing sites on the island. By Which Rock Island Arsenal building originally housed the nightfall, the of the and Soldiers museum? of the 77th Infantry Division had established beachheads Building 102 that extended about 6,600 feet into the island. Japanese When was the only time in history that the Rock Island Arsenal counterattacks were made throughout the first few days of produced or ammunition? the battle, mostly at , using infiltration tactics. The Japanese penetrated the American defenses several times but were driven back with heavy losses of men and equipment. By 28 July the Marine and Army beaches were connected and Allied attention could be focused on liberating the remaining portions of the island. Marines place the U.S. flag on Guam during the initial assault. Answers to trivia and more are available on the ASC History Office’s SharePoint page.

THE ASC HISTORY NEWSLETTER Volume 9, Issue 11 August 2019

Kevin Braafladt, Historian, [email protected] ; Mark Struve, Assistant Historian, [email protected]