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Selected: August 25
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1936 — , August 25

  • Spain: Day 40 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.

1937 — , August 25

  • Spain: Day 405 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Nationalists capture Santander almost unopposed.
  • CBI - China: Day 50 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 13 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.

1938 — , August 25

  • Spain: Day 770 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
  • CBI - China: Day 415 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 76 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.

1939 — , August 25

  • ETO: The Polish-British Common Defense Pact against Germany is signed.
  • CBI - China: Day 780 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • CBI - Mongolia: Day 107 of 129 of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border dispute between the Soviet Union and Japan.

1940 — , August 25

  • Atlantic: German U-boats sink 5 more British ships from two convoys sailing near Hebrides, Scotland.
  • ETO - UK: Day 47 of 114 of the Battle of Britain. During the early evening the Luftwaffe bombs the RAF airfield at Warmwell and the harbor of Dover. Later, they bomb at South Wales, Bristol, Birmingham and other cities in the Midlands.
  • ETO - Germany: During the night and early this morning the RAF bombs Berlin in retaliation for the accidental bombing of London the night before.
  • East Africa: Day 77 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,146 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 285 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
    • Day 6 of 42 of the Hundred Regiments Offensive.

1941 — , August 25

  • USA: Richard "Dick" Winters enlists in the US Army. He will go on to command Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division and will be made famous in the 2001 HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers."
    Spotlight...

    Richard "Dick" Winters
    at Toccoa Training Camp, Georgia, 1942

    Winters parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, and fought across France, the Netherlands, Belgium and eventually into Germany. Later in the war, Winters rose to command the 2nd Battalion. Following the end of hostilities Winters was discharged from the army and returned to civilian life, working in New Jersey.

    In 1951, during the Korean War, Winters was recalled to the Army from the inactive list and briefly served as a regimental planning and training officer on staff at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Although issued orders for deployment, he was not sent to Korea. After his discharge he worked at a few different jobs before founding his own company and selling farming products.

    Winters was featured in a number of books and appeared and was portrayed in the 2001 HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. He was a regular guest lecturer at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He retired in 1997. He was the last surviving Easy Company commander.

    Anyone that watched Band of Brothers came to know, admire, respect and love Dick Winters through the interview segments of him throughout and the excellent portrayal of him by actor Damian Lewis.

    101st Airborne related dates...

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  • Atlantic: The British anti-submarine trawler HMS VASCAMA and a British Catalina airplane sink the German sub U-452 with depth charges in the North Sea.
  • Atlantic: Destroyer HMS WOLSEY accidentally rams and sinks the British minesweeper KOS XVI (with a Norwegian crew) 30 miles off Grimsby, England.
  • ETO - France: Pierre Laval is shot four times by student Paul Collete as he is watching French volunteers going off to fight with the Germans in Russia. Laval survives the assassination attempt but is seriously wounded particularly by the bullet that penetrated about an inch away from his heart.
  • ETO - East Prussia: Hitler and Mussolini meet at the top secret, high security Wolf' Lair for the ninth of their fourteen meetings. Mussolini sits in on battle strategy meetings.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 58 of 142 of Operation SILVER FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign to capture the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic. German sub U-752 sinks the Soviet minesweeping trawler T-898 in the Barents Sea 80 miles east of Cape Chernyi, northern Russia.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 56 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 65 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko.
  • Russian Front: Day 65 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the invasion of the USSR.
  • Russian Front - North: German Army Group North continues encircling Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 23 of the Battle of Dukhovshina, Russia.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 33 of 38 of the Battle of Gomel, Belarus. Panzers attack the Soviet troops near Gomel and Bryansk.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 3 of 35 of the 1st Battle of Kiev, Ukraine. Panzer units cross the Dnieper River in an attempt to link up units from both German Army Groups (Centre and South) and encircle Kiev.
  • Russian Front - South: German units from Army Groups South continue building up their forces around Stalingrad.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 18 of 70 of the Siege of Odessa, Ukraine.
  • MTO - Libya: Day 138 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
  • Middle East: Day 1 of 24 of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. The UK and USSR jointly attack the pro-German regime in Iran. While British troops cross the western border and the Soviets cross the north, the respective ambassadors in Tehran demand that Iran accept British and Soviet protection of their oil supplies. The British sink two small Iranian warships.
  • East Africa: Day 442 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,511 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.

1942 — , August 25

  • ETO - UK: The Duke of Kent, the younger brother of King George VI of the United Kingdom, is killed when his flying boat crashes near Wick.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 352 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 113 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 27 of 64 of the 1st Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 3 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodiest battle in human history. The Communist Party Committee of Stalingrad proclaims they are in a state of siege.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 59 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE. German troops capture Mozdok, Russia, 50 miles west of Grozny.
  • MTO - Greece: US B-25s bomb attack Axis shipping while B-24s attack at Corinth Canal.
  • East Africa: Day 113 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,876 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 103 of 124 of Japan's Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, launched to punish anyone suspected of aiding the Doolittle raiders in China. Roughly 250,000 Chinese will be killed.
  • PTO - Alaska: Day 80 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
  • PTO - Malaya: Day 188 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
  • PTO: Japanese troops capture Ocean and Nauru Islands.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 36 of 119 of the Battle of the Kokoda Track. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support. At the one end, the Battle of Milne Bay begins.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 1 of 14 of the Battle of Milne Bay. The Japanese land another 1,200 troops east of Rabi. US 5th Air Force P-40s destroy all the Japanese landing barges beached on Goodenough Island that were going to be used to send more men to Milne Bay.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 2 of 2 of the Naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons. US B-17s sink the Japanese destroyer MUTSUKI off Santa Isabel Island. US Navy fighters damage two more ships off Guadalcanal.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 19 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. US 5th Army Air Force provides air support. More Japanese reinforcements were able to come ashore during the night.

1943 — , August 25

  • ETO - France: US 8th Air Force B-26s bomb a power station at Rouen and an airfield in Tricqueville.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 717 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 478 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 48 of the Battle of Bryansk, Russia.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 19 of 57 of the 2nd Battle of Smolensk, Russia.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 2 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River in Russia.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 44 of 48 of the USSR's Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive.
  • MTO - Italy: The Allied Air Forces attack targets at Foggia.
  • CBI: British Lord Mountbatten becomes the Supreme Allied Commander in Southeast Asia Command.
  • CBI - China: Day 2,241 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • US 14th Air Force bombs the Kowloon Docks at Hong Kong.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 126 of 148 of the 2nd Battle of Lae-Salamaua. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support. The Japanese are pursued by US and Australian troops pursue the Japanese as they retreat to the Francisco River where it runs down to Bayern Bay.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 67 of 67 of the Battle of New Georgia. The Allies complete the occupation of New Georgia Island by capturing Bairoko Harbor.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 11 of 56 of the Battle of Vella Lavella. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.

1944 — , August 25

  • ETO - UK: Day 74 of 86 of the V-1 "Buzz Bomb" offensive on Britain.
  • ETO - France: Paris is liberated. The French 2nd Armoured Division enters Paris as the 5,000-strong German garrison surrenders. Shortly afterward, General Charles De Gaulle enters Paris and sets up his headquarters.
  • ETO - France: Day 25 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
  • ETO - France: Day 11 of 32 of Operation DRAGOON, the Allied invasion of southern France. Allied troops continue racing up the Rhone Valley.
  • ETO: US 8th Air Force bombs targets in Germany, France, Belgium and in the Netherlands.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Finland enters secret negotiations with the USSR to agree on a cease-fire and a possible truce.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 16 of 28 of the Battle of Tartu in southeastern Estonia. The Soviets capture Tartu.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 29 of 32 of the Battle of Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Russian Front: Day 10 of 12 of the German Operation DOPPELKOPF in Lithuania. This was mounted to restore the connection between German Army Groups North and Centre.
  • Russian Front - Center: Soviet troops keep pouring into Poland.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 6 of 10 of the Battle of Romania, 2nd Jassy Offensive. What began for Romania as a battle against the Soviets has turned into a battle against the Germans.
  • MTO: US 15th Air Force bombs targets in Czechoslovakia.
  • MTO - Italy: Allied troops continue pressing the German line holding the Po Valley. Allied Air Forces provide air support. The line breaks and the Germans fall back to the Gothic Line further up north across the Foglia river.
  • CBI - Burma: Day 147 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 10th and 14th Air Forces provide air support.
  • CBI - China: Day 2,607 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 131 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
  • PTO: The USS TANG sinks the Japanese tanker NANKO MARU NUMBER 8.
  • PTO - Caroline Islands: US planes hits targets on Pagan and Ponape Islands.
  • PTO - Dutch New Guinea: Day 55 of 61 of the Battle of Noemfoor. Although the island has been declared secured, bitter fighting from Japanese continues.
  • PTO - Mariana Islands: The US Navy continues bombarding the Japanese positions on the Aguijan Islands.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 255 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 126 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. 5th Air Force provides air support.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 73 of 80 of the Battle of Lone Tree Hill.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 47 of 47 of the Battle of Driniumor River. The Allies secure this section of the river.

1945 — , August 25

  • USA: Seven German U-boat crewmen are executed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for the murder of a fellow U-Boat crewman, Werner Drechsler, who they had judged to be a traitor.
  • China: Chinese troops enter the Republican capital of Nanking.
  • Japan: Tokyo radio reports say that large numbers of people are committing Hari-kiri in front of the Imperial Palace.
  • CBI - China: Day 2,972 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 17 of 25 of the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria.
Day-By-Day listings for August 25 were last modified on Sunday, January 31, 2016
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