The Great Depression began in 1929, eleven years after the end of WWI. At the conclusion of WWI veterans came home to flourishing economy. As their future seemed much brighter than their past, veterans of WWI supported a bill in 1924 which would postpone delivery of their much deserved wartime bonus pay until 1945. The pay was then to be issued with interest. There seemed to be no reason to defeat the bill, until 5 years later. As the stock market came crashing down fear built up. The Depression waged a war of its own and many people became homeless. They lived in camps on the edge of towns. These camps were known as “Hoovervilles”. Many of these homeless were veterans and their families.
Towards the end of 1931, infrequent rallies, and even riots, began to occur throughout the nation. Frustration and fear permeated the country. WWI Veterans began to see their wartime bonus pay as the only way to keep their families from starving to death. Representative John Wright Patman, of Texas, penned a bill calling for the early release of the bonus pay. In May of 1932 300 Veterans, organized by Walter W. Walters, set out from Oregon to Washington DC to lobby for the bill. Many Veterans joined them as they traveled. They called themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force.
Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur was concerned that the group was a communist attempt to undermine the government. In actuality, it was merely hungry veterans, many of them accompanied by their families.
As these were military families order was easily maintained. Walters organized them in camps. He also organized a military police force of 300 men, to keep peace within his “ranks” and to keep the communists out.
In order to keep peace in his district, chief of police Pelham D. Glassford, a WWI veteran himself, offered the group four abandoned buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue. The buildings would only be available until October, however, as they were scheduled for demolition. Despite the use of the building the growing number of veterans, approximately 22,000, needed more space. “Hoovervilles” were set up throughout the city including on Washington Mall. Homes were built out of tin cans or crates; many decorated with American flags.
The residents of Washington were sympathetic to the Veterans; baker’s, meat distributors and others, donated food for the Bonus Army, as they were know. The area’s doctor’s and dentist’s provided care for all.
The House of Representatives passed Patman’s veteran’s bill on June 15, 1932. However, the bill was defeated in the Senate on June 17. The Veterans did not riot. They simply sang “America the Beautiful” on the Capitol steps and returned to their “homes” even more determined to stay until the help they felt they deserved was delivered.
President Herbert Hoover was uncomfortable with the attention the veterans were drawing to his administration and city officials worried about riots. Glassford was ordered to evict the veterans by July 28. Glassford persuaded some veterans to leave the city but he would not use force against the national heroes. Thus, the President ordered General Douglas MacArthur to clear the area, immediately. MacArthur gathered cavalry, infantry, a machine gun squadron, and tanks and proceeded up Pennsylvania Avenue. MacArthur was joined by Maj. Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton Jr. The cavalry advanced with swords drawn. The militia destroyed the make shift homes of the veterans, often with fire. The veterans were driven across the bridge to the opposite side of the Anacostia River, where another encampment was destroyed by fire. No one was certain how that fire started.
The Veterans bill was finally passed in 1936. The bill required an override of a Presidential veto. This time the President was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Bernard Montgomery was an outstanding British field marshal in WWII. He was known for being a thorough and cautious strategist. This often tested the patience of other Allied commanders; however, his successes earned him tremendous respect from troops and other commanders alike.
Bernard Montgomery was born on November 17, 1887, in London, England, the son of a clergyman. He attended St. Paul’s School in London, and then the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. He graduated from the Academy in 1908. Upon graduation Montgomery received a commission in the infantry. He served in France and Belgium in WWI, where he was injured twice. By the completion of WWI, Montgomery had reached the rank of Major General.
Early in World War II, Major General Montgomery led a division in France, and, subsequently, he commanded the southeastern section of England awaiting a German invasion. In August of 1942, the British army had been suffering great losses at the hands of the Germans in Egypt. At this time Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed Major General Montgomery to command the British Eighth Army in North Africa. There Montgomery defeated German field marshal Erwin Rommel at the Battle of El-Alamein in October 1942. In this act, he became the first General to defeat the Germans; a significant accomplishment and a turning point in Rommel’s career. Montgomery was knighted for his actions and promoted to full General . Throughout the rest of 1942 and through May of 1943, General Montgomery and the Eighth Army continued to relentlessly attack the Germans in North Africa. In May 1943, the Germans surrendered to the British in North Africa at Tunisia.
Working under United States General Dwight D Eisenhower, General Montgomery played a major role in the Allies invasion of Sicily in 1943. The invasion was successful and Montgomery continued to lead the Eighth Army methodically up the east coast of Italy.
Montgomery was called home to lead the Allied armies into France in 1944. On June 6, 1944, again under Untied States General Eisenhower, Montgomery headed the ground forces in the initial stages of the invasion of Normandy. Beginning August 1, 1944 the now field marshal Montgomery led his troops victoriously across northern France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and into northern Germany. The Allied forces had successfully worked together to defeat the Nazi’s.
Known as the “Desert Fox”, and respected by allies and enemies alike, Erwin Rommel was a prominent German field Marshal in WWII. He was born Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel on Nov. 15, 1891, in Heidenheim, Germany. In 1910, Rommel joined the German Army as an officer cadet in the 124th Infantry Regiment. Two years later he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. In WWI Rommel fought on the French, Romanian, and Italian fronts. Known for his courage and leadership, he was regarded as a hero and military strategist. After the First World War, Rommel taught in the Dresden Infantry School and Potsdam War Academy. While there he wrote and published his book Infanterie greift an, a textbook on military tactics. The book was published in 1937.
By 1938, Rommel had been promoted to Colonel and was placed as commander of the officers’ school in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna. This occurred after the annexation of Austria to Germany.
At the beginning of WWII Rommel was placed in command of the troops guarding Hitler’s headquarters. He assumed command of the 7th Panzer Division, in February of 1940. Although he had never commanded a tank division before, he quickly realized the offensive potential. In May of 1940 he proved his prowess in his raid on France’s Channel coast. In February of 1941 Rommel was placed in charge of the troops sent to help the Italian army in Libya. Here in the deserts of North Africa he earned his nickname “Desert Fox”. In the African theatre, Rommel became known for brazen surprise attacks on the enemy. Hitler was so impressed by Rommel’s successes that he promoted Rommel to Field Marshall. (more…)