Today in World War II History—December 17, 1939 & 1944
Admiral Graf Spee burning at Montevideo, 17 Dec 1939 (public domain via WW2 Database)
80 Years Ago—December 17, 1939: Damaged German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled in Montevideo, Uruguay as British ships wait offshore; the Graf Spee had sunk nine ships with no lives lost in those sinkings.
First Canadian troop convoy, TC-1, arrives in Britain, at the Clyde.
Joachim Peiper’s SS troops on the road to Malmédy, Belgium, 17 Dec 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—Dec. 17, 1944: In Belgium, German SS troops massacre 84 US POWs at Malmédy, 11 African-American soldiers at Wereth, plus another 200 US POWs and 100 Belgian civilians at various locations.
US War Department revokes West Coast exclusion order against Japanese-Americans, effective Jan. 2, 1945.
Ernest King, US Chief of Naval Operations, is promoted to fleet admiral.
