This Day in WWII 2 June 1940 - 1944

[Donster]

Dodge Ad - June 1943

 

1940: 26,200 British and French troops are evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk today. Virtually all British soldiers have now been evacuated and so the remaining French troops have taken over the defense of the perimeter.

 

1941: US statement of policy respecting French possessions in the Western Hemisphere.

 

1941: Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass on the German-Italian border to discuss the progress of the war.

 

 *Irene Hervey

 

1941: Goring tells the Luftwaffe 'There is no unconquerable island'. The Ruhr industrial area bombed by RAF.

 

1941: Vichy publishes anti-Semitic legislation based on German laws. Jews banned from public office.

 

1941: A Greek government-in-exile is formed in Egypt.

 

 Irene Hervey

 

1942: The RAF' launches it's second 1,000 bomber raid (although only 956 took off) and hits Essen, but due to the haze over the city, the results were minimal and the RAF lost 31 aircraft. Nevertheless, Churchill was highly impressed and sanctioned further raids on this scale.

 

1942: The Germans begin a five day bombardment, using all the artillery at their disposal, including super heavy siege artillery, against Sevastopol in order to soften up the defenses ready for the main assault.

 

 Champion Spark Plugs Ad - June 1944

 

1943: The Red Air Force bombs Kiev and Roslavl, while the Luftwaffe bombs Kursk.

 

1943: Japanese forces are reported to be in full retreat on Yangtze.

 

 Irene Hervey

 

1944: U.S. troops are now only 20 miles from Rome.

 

1944: The Bulgarian government seeks terms of surrender from the western allies.

 

1944: The first shuttle raid, operation 'Frantic' is made by 130 B-17s of the US 15th Air Force based at Tripoli. The raid attacks rail yards at Debrecen in Hungary and then flies on to Soviet airfields at Poltava in the Ukraine.

 

 Irene Hervey

 

1944: Secret negotiations between the Romanian government of Marshal Antonescu and representatives of the Soviet Union begin in Stockholm, Sweden.

 

1944: The British 2nd Division begins its advance to relieve Imphal as the Japanese renew attacks on Bishenpur. The Chinese besiege Myitkyina, near the Chinese border in northern Burma.

 

 Irene Hervey

 

*Born Beulah Irene Herwick on July 11, 1909 in Venice, California, Irene Hervey began her acting career after being introduced to a casting agent from MGM. After a successful screen test, she was signed by the studio and made her screen debut in the 1933 film "The Stranger's Return", opposite Lionel Barrymore. Though signed by MGM, Hervey was loaned out by the studio and appeared in several films including United Artists' "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1934) and "With Words and Music", released by Grand National Films, Inc..

 

In 1936, Hervey left MGM and signed with Universal Pictures. While at Universal, Hervey appeared in "The League of Frightened Men" (1937) and "Destry Rides Again" (1939) with Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart.

 

In 1943, Hervey was seriously injured in a car accident and was forced to retire from acting for five years.

 

 Irene Hervey

 

Hervey returned to acting in 1948 with the film "Mickey", followed by "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid". By the early 1950s, she began appearing in the new medium of the era; television. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Hervey appeared in several television shows including "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (1 episode, 1959), "Peter Gunn" (1 episode, 1961), Perry Mason (3 episodes, 1958-1963), "Hawaiian Eye" (2 episodes, 1961-1962) and "The Twilight Zone" (1964). In 1965, she landed a regular role on "The Young Marrieds", followed by a stint on the short lived series "Honey West" as the titular character's Aunt Meg.

 

In 1969, Hervey was nominated for an Emmy Award for her appearance on "My Three Sons". After roles in "Cactus Flower" and the 1971 film "Play Misty for Me" with Clint Eastwood, Hervey retired from acting. She took a job working at a travel agency in Sherman Oaks, California and briefly returned to acting in 1978 with a role in "Charlie's Angels". In 1981, she made her last onscreen appearance in the television movie "Goliath Awaits".

 

As a teenager, Hervey married her first husband William Fenderson in 1929 and had a daughter, Gail, before divorcing. In 1936, she met and married actor Allan Jones. The couple had a son, singer Jack Jones (famous for singing the theme song for the TV Series "The Love Boat"), before divorcing in 1957.

Irene Hervey died on December 20, 1998 of heart failure in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, aged 89.

 

 Dodge Ad - June 1944

[Stans]

1 hour ago, Donster said:

Dodge Ad - June 1943

 

Dodge/Chrysler has sure fallen from that high place.  Since being sold to Fiat in 2014, the quality of Dodge/Chrysler has steadily declined.  At the time of the sale, Dodge/Chrysler also owned Jeep and its quality has also made a significant decline.

[mikew]

Define 'quality'.

 

I'd say that the production quality has increased across the board since auto production has gone global. Mechanical problems are much rarer these days...in my experience at least.

You could say 'Design' quality has deteriorated as there is little to differentiate one company's products from another since everybody use the same Catia design software and lowest-cost production line tooling/techniques.

 

They may do things differently in Detroit though. For all I know, the UAW may insist that each Dodge RAM must be hand whittled from a block of steel.

 

 

 

[Stans]

Of the big three U.S. car brands, Dodge/Chrysler has been getting the worst ratings from purchasers when it comes to reliability per Consumer Reports and J.D. Power's reliability ratings.  In the past year, Fiat has improved the quality of Chrysler/Dodge, but I think it is too early to tell just how much of an improvement has been made.