Berthe Mayer was born #OnThisDay in 1913. During the #SecondWorldWar she was a radio operator for #SOE, and provided Allied forces with intelligence about Vichy forces on #Madagascar.
Reinhard #Heydrich, one of the architects of the #holocaust, died #OnThisDay in 1942, from wounds inflicted by Czech SOE agents during an ambush some days earlier.
#OnThisDay in 1917, the Austro-Hungarian navy attacked the Otranto Barrage. Three cruisers, two destroyers, and three submarines took part in the largest attack on the anti-submarine barrier. Of the forty-seven drifters on the barrage, fourteen were sunk and another four damaged.
Some drifters fought back, including the Gowan Lee, whose captain won the Victoria Cross.
@CitizenWald@histodons@worldwarshistory It should take less than 5 seconds of introspection to realize what a fucked up and intentionally hateful, bigoted gesture this is. The fact that these protesters couldn't even muster that much effort speaks volumes about how rotten parts of this movement are.
#OnThisDay in 1942, British troops landed on the island of #Madagascar. The British assumed the French would pit up little resistance, but the subsequent campaign lasted almost exactly six months.
It was the first major Allied amphibious invasion of the #SecondWorldWar, with the first use of tank landing ships (LSTs), and the first use of tanks in an amphibious operation.