August 25, 1944: The Allies liberate Paris, the capital of France, ending the Nazi occupation after 4 years and 2 months. The City of Light sees its darkness come to an end.
The city had fallen on June 14, 1940. For 4 years, the French Resistance did whatever they could to disrupt the occupiers, giving the lie to the later idea that the French "easily surrendered." They had been overwhelmed, so they changed tactics. They lost a lot of people, but they took a lot of Nazi bastards with them.
From D-Day on June 6, Allied troops made their way from the English Channel coast eastward and southward, and arrived on the outskirts of Paris on August 19. Street fighting was fierce, but the Nazis were dealing with guys who fought on the streets of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago -- London, Montreal, Toronto, Sydney, Bombay (Mumbai), Johannesburg -- and so on. And now, those street fighters had jeeps, tanks and machine guns. The Nazis retreated, and surrendered on August 25. It had been 82 days since D-Day.
The people of Paris were in no condition to party on November 11, 1918. On August 25, 1944, they were more than ready. The wine flowed, and so did the kisses and more of French women to the Allied men. It had been 79 days since D-Day, and 1,533 days since the Nazis rolled in. Once again, the City of Light was a place of light, not darkness.
It was no longer a question of if the Nazis would lose World War II, but when.
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August 25, 1944 was a Friday. This was also the day that the Nazis gave their highest decoration to the war's most successful fighter pilot, Erich Hartmann. I have a separate entry for this event.
Hockey coach Jacques Demers and actor Anthony Heald were born that day. And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 4-2 in 11 innings at Griffith Stadium in Washington.
* The New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 10-2 at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan.
* A doubleheader was played at Shibe Park (later renamed Connie Mack Stadium) in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Athletics swept the Boston Red Sox, winning the 1st game 6-1, and the 2nd game 9-4.
* A doubleheader was played at Braves Field in Boston. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 1st game, 9-7. The Boston Braves won the 2nd game, 4-3.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 10-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 1-0 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.
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