At 11:50 today, 19 August, 1944, Company C, 1st Battalion of the 313th Regiment (including Paul Farnum) reached the Seine River. Shortly afterward they engaged in a firefight with enemy troops entrenched across the river. Meanwhile an officer and two enlisted men from Company A of the Engineers became the […]
History
144 posts
The 79th Division was ordered to the north to take defensive positions on high ground south-west of Mantes-Gassicourt. The Division motorized and moved at 13:30, reaching the vicinity of Poudreauville about 22:00.
Yesterday, the 313th Regiment completed their move across the Eure. The 313th remained in the area today, 17 August, 1944, on patrol to secure the area from scattered German forces reported in the area. In a rare occurrence, the Luftwaffe strafed the 313th but did not inflict significant losses.
At 10:00 today, 15 August, 1944, the 313th Regiment and the rest of the 79th Division advanced to Nogent-le-roi – only 30 miles from Paris. Meanwhile, the German counterattack at Mortain has failed and the German remnants are trying to escape through the narrowing gap remaining between Falaise and Argentan. […]
Today 12 August, 1944, the 313th Regiment (and the rest of the 79th Division) assembled in area of La-Mele-sur-Sarthe to assist in blocking the escape of German soldiers to the east.
The march continues encountering little resistance, and by evening they had reached Rouillon. There they were ordered to assembly position in the vicinity of Les Tertres. Encountered cheering as they passed though towns. At Loue, as advanced units struggled to establish a bridgehead, a small band of patriotic Frenchmen braved […]
Today, 8 August, 1944, the 313th was ordered to advance to Le Mans. They started at 0800, preceded by the 106th Cav. and the Division’s Reconnaissance troops. At first, resistance delayed progress for about 2 hours. Just before dark, the 1st Battalion moved into position near Mariel-en-Champagne. During the night […]
Today 7 August, 1944, the attack resumed, information gathered during the night verified the enemy had retreated and blown the bridges, crossed the Mayenne River and cleared Laval.
Today, 6 August, 1944, the 313th led the assault on Laval with the intention of capturing a bridgehead across the Mayenne River. They encountered strong opposition including artillery and mortar fire into the night.
I’ve been busy in the wake of Q-Track’s FLARE testing, so it’s about time to flush my queue of collected links. Without further ado, here are some links that may not merit a full post by themselves, but are still worth attention: A must read piece on America’s Ruling Class […]
The western end of German lines in Normandy have collapsed. Allied armor columns have broken into Brittany. The 79th and 90th Divisions control a narrow passage barely 15 miles wide at Avranches at the base of the Cotentin peninsula. Paul Farnum and the rest of the 313th Regiment were motorized […]
By the 1920’s direction finding was well-advanced, and DF techniques began to see everyday use in both marine and aerial navigation. [1] The Figure shows a DF array from around 1930 deployed at Croyden Aerodrome in the UK [2]. Another good example of a sophisticated and relatively simple to use […]
The 313th Regiment moved to the area of Nicolle yesterday 28 July, 1944, then was ordered to follow the 6th armored toward Avranches. The bridges have been blown by retreating German troops. This is slowing the advance. Meanwhile the Germans lines have broken. Harassed by superior Allied airpower and unable […]
At 19:45 today, 26 July 1944, the 313th Regiment was alerted to prepare to move across the Ay River tomorrow, following the 314th. Operation Cobra is achieving deep penetrations behind German lines. Soon the 313th and the rest of the 79th Division will be advancing to maintain pressure on the […]
Apple has been justly criticized for not responding promptly to the iPhone’s antenna problems, and for problems in the way they handled the crisis. But with so many piling on Apple for their iPhone antenna problems, I’d like to reiterate and expand on what I said Monday: The antenna design […]
With the battle for Normandy threatening to become static warfare reminiscent of the First World War, the Allies have decided on a bold plan to break the stalemate. Called Operation COBRA, the plan (shown below) envisions an intense aerial bombardment on German positions, an infantry breakthrough to secure the breach, […]
Under optimal conditions during daylight hours, direction finding (DF) accuracy could be as good as one to two degrees (300m at 10km range). [[1]] At night, however, the ionosphere reflects distant signals from over the horizon. The resulting “skywave” signals have a mix of vertical and horizontal polarization components that […]
For the past two days, the 313th Regiment has advanced quickly following the German retreat. By early morning, today, 15 July, 1944, the 313th was patrolling as far south as the Ay River. Later this morning, the 313th was relieved by the 315th and went into Division reserve. The U.S. […]
In 1902, a reporter asked Guglielmo Marconi about the vulnerability of wireless signals to interception. Marconi reassured the journalist, “It isn’t possible without a special installation and without guessing the frequency.” [[1]] The First World War demonstrated the magnitude of Marconi’s error. The Russian Army began the war sending signals […]
A couple of weeks ago, a team from Q-Track Corporation traveled to Cave Mountain Cave, south of Huntsville, AL (near Guntersville Dam), to conduct underground radio frequency propagation testing. The results of the testing will be presented elsewhere – this post will describe Cave Mountain Cave. The Huntsville Grotto of […]
John Herman Randall described Aristotle’s scientific investigation as “the passionate search for passionless truth.” Many histories of science fail to capture the passion for discovery that motivates most scientists in their work. Lucy Jago’s The Northern Lights: the true story of the man who unlocked the secrets of the aurora […]
At 06:30 the 313th Regiment continued attack to the south, passing through the 315th and reaching the vicinity of Angoville. Patrolling was initiated and continued until 7:15 a.m. on the 13th when the attack continued. The night of the 12th, elements of the 1st Battalion, including Company C occupied the […]
Today, 9 July, 1944, the 315th Regiment relieved the 313th Regiment. The 313th and moved to assembly area near la Gosselinerie. Replacement troops received training in hedgerow fighting, and the troops prepared to continue the attack.
Like Nick Patrick, I too assumed that American and English pronunciation became distinct after the Revolution as American English diverged from British English. It turns out, however, to have been the other way around. Contemporary American English is far closer to the common tongue we and the Brits shared at […]