The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division of the British Territorial Army was formed in September 1939 during the Second World War. Initially raised in Staffordshire, the division began as a second-line duplicate of the 55th (West Lancashire) Motor Division. It was tasked with anti-invasion and guard duties until late June 1944, when it was assigned to the Second Army and transferred to France to take part in the Battle of Normandy. On 8 July, the division helped capture Caen during Operation Charnwood; a week later, it assaulted the town of Noyers in Operation Pomegranate. In late July, when the German frontline was crumbling, the division captured a bridgehead over the River Orne and fended off counter-attacks to maintain its hold. Its final combat was a protracted battle to capture the town of Thury-Harcourt. Historians have praised the effort of the division in these battles, during which it suffered several thousand casualties.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/59th_%28Staffordshire%29_Infantry_Division

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1818:

Four days after the Court of King's Bench upheld an English murder suspect's right to a trial by battle in Ashford v Thornton, the plaintiff declined to fight, allowing the defendant to go free. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashford_v_Thornton

1841:

Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue, described as the first modern work of detective fiction, was published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murders_in_the_Rue_Morgue

1942:

World War II: German and Italian forces began a large-scale counter-insurgency operation in occupied Yugoslavia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Trio

1968:

South African Airways Flight 228 crashed shortly after take- off from Windhoek in South West Africa, resulting in 123 deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways_Flight_228

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

capitalist roader: (China, Maoism, chiefly historical, derogatory) One (especially a Chinese Communist Party official) who bows to pressure from bourgeois forces and attempts to pull the Cultural Revolution in a capitalist direction. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/capitalist_roader

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I'm always dreaming, even when I'm awake; it is never finished.   --The Last Unicorn https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn_%28film%29