Łukasz
Author
(1129)1944
January
February
- 14
- The Mereküla landingOn 14 February 1944 Soviet naval infantry landed at Mereküla behind the Narva front, and a rifle regiment crossed Lake Peipus. Both operations were crushed.
- SHAEF and the Overlord planOn 12 February 1944 the Allied chiefs of staff gave Eisenhower his directive for invading Europe; on 13–14 February his headquarters, SHAEF, was set up.
- 16
- Operation FischfangOn 16 February 1944 the German Fourteenth Army struck down the Albano road at the Anzio beachhead. After five days the Allies held and the attack collapsed.
- Finnish peace feelersOn 16 February 1944 Juho Kusti Paasikivi met Alexandra Kollontai in Stockholm to learn the Soviet peace terms. No armistice was signed at that stage.
- 18
- The sinking of HMS PenelopeOn 18 February 1944 U-410 torpedoed the cruiser Penelope west of Naples as she returned to Anzio. 417 men were killed and 206 survived.
- Key eventOperation Hailstone – the raid on TrukOn 17–18 February 1944 Mitscher's carriers wrecked the Truk base, sinking dozens of ships and destroying over 250 aircraft. Truk was then bypassed.
- 26
- Key eventBig WeekFrom 20 to 25 February 1944 US and RAF bombers struck the German aircraft industry. The Luftwaffe lost hundreds of fighters and pilots it could not replace.
- The raids on HelsinkiOn the night of 26/27 February 1944 Soviet aircraft bombed Helsinki for the third time that month. Air defences and decoy fires saved most of the city.
March
- 15
- The third battle of Monte CassinoOn 15 March 1944 bombers flattened the town of Cassino and the New Zealand Corps attacked. Until 23 March German paratroopers held the ruins and the abbey.
- The capture of ManusOn 15 March 1944 US cavalry landed on Manus. Lorengau fell on 18 March, and Seeadler Harbour became one of the largest fleet bases in the Pacific.
- 19
- Key eventThe Germans occupy HungaryOn 19 March 1944 the Wehrmacht occupied Hungary in Operation Margarethe. Horthy remained regent, but real power passed to Veesenmayer and the SS.
- Yugoslav partisans near TriesteIn spring 1944 Slovene partisans fought on the Karst near Trieste, but an attack on the city on 19 March 1944 is unconfirmed; the Germans held it until 1945.
April
- 21
- The second Badoglio governmentIn April 1944 Badoglio resigned and formed a government of national unity in Salerno with the anti-fascist parties, including Togliatti's Communists.
- The raid on La ChapelleOn the night of 20–21 April 1944 the RAF bombed the La Chapelle rail yards in northern Paris. Some 640–670 civilians died – the deadliest raid on Paris.
May
- 18
- Key eventThe capture of Monte CassinoOn 18 May 1944 a patrol of the 12th Podolian Uhlans entered the ruins of the abbey, abandoned by the Germans overnight. The battle of Monte Cassino was over.
- The Myitkyina airfieldOn 17 May 1944 Merrill's Marauders and the Chinese 150th Regiment seized the airfield at Myitkyina by surprise. The town held out for almost three more months.
June
- 04
- The invasion postponedOn 4 June 1944 a stormy forecast led Eisenhower to postpone the Normandy invasion by a day. The convoys turned back; the final decision came on 5 June.
- The capture of U-505On 4 June 1944 a US carrier group led by USS Guadalcanal forced U-505 to surface off Africa. A boarding party seized the boat, its Enigma and codes.
- 22
- Key eventOperation Bagration beginsOn 22 June 1944, the third anniversary of Germany's attack on the USSR, four Soviet fronts opened an offensive in Belarus against Army Group Centre.
- The end of the siege of ImphalOn 22 June 1944 the British 2nd Division from Kohima and the 5th Indian Division from Imphal met at Milestone 109. The siege of Imphal was over.
July
- 03
- The Battle of the HedgerowsOn 3 July 1944 the US First Army attacked through the Normandy hedgerows towards La Haye-du-Puits and Saint-Lô. Every kilometre cost hundreds of casualties.
- The capture of SienaOn 3 July 1944 soldiers of the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division of the French Expeditionary Corps entered Siena, which the Germans had abandoned overnight.
- 24
- The landing on TinianOn 24 July 1944 US Marines landed on the narrow beaches of northern Tinian, having deceived the defenders with a feint landing off Tinian Town.
- Key eventOperation CobraOn 24 July 1944 bombs from Operation Cobra's first raid fell on Americans near Saint-Lô. On 25 July First Army attacked; on 28 July it took Coutances.
- Key eventThe liberation of MajdanekDuring the fighting for Lublin, Soviet soldiers entered the abandoned camp at Majdanek. Its gas chambers and crematorium were left almost intact.
August
- 06
- Black Sunday in KrakówOn 6 August 1944 the Germans carried out the largest round-up of the occupation in Kraków. Some 6,000–8,000 men were held as hostages in Płaszów camp.
- The Baligród massacreOn 6 August 1944 the UPA unit of “Burlaka” raided Baligród in the Bieszczady and murdered dozens of Polish men. The victims' memorial lists 42 names.
September
- 04
- The ceasefire between Finland and the USSROn 4 September 1944 the Finns ceased fire along the whole front. The Red Army fired on until 5 September, and a Finnish delegation set off for Moscow.
- The end of Operation OutwardOn 4 September 1944 the last Operation Outward balloons were launched from England. In two and a half years the British had sent 99,142 balloons over Europe.
- 05
- The Uprising after the fall of the Old TownIn early September 1944 Warsaw fought on after losing the Old Town. Powiśle fell on 5–6 September, and in starving Śródmieście talk of surrender began.
- The Benelux Customs ConventionOn 5 September 1944 in London the exiled governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed a customs convention that gave rise to Benelux.
- 08
- The liberation of OstendOn 8 September 1944 Canadian armoured cars entered Ostend, abandoned by the Germans without a fight. On 9 September Canadian infantry occupied the town.
- Key eventThe first V-2 rocketsOn 8 September 1944 Germany first used V-2 rockets in combat. The first fell near Paris; that evening two struck England, killing three people in Chiswick.
- 15
- Key eventThe landing on PeleliuOn 15 September 1944 the US 1st Marine Division landed on Peleliu in Palau. The fight against defenders hidden in caves lasted two and a half months.
- The Lapland War beginsOn 15 September 1944 the deadline for German troops to leave Finland expired and the Kriegsmarine attacked Suursaari. Former allies turned on each other.
- 17
- The fighting in San MarinoOn 17–20 September 1944 the 4th Indian Division drove the Germans out of neutral San Marino. On 21 September the republic reportedly declared war on Germany.
- The Dutch railway strikeIn September 1944, at the call of the government in London, some 30,000 Dutch railwaymen walked out. A German food blockade paved the way for the Hunger Winter.
- 21
- The capture of RiminiOn 21 September 1944 a Greek mountain brigade and Canadians of the Eighth Army entered ruined Rimini. The Gothic Line on the Adriatic broke, but the rains came.
- Prince Charles becomes Regent of BelgiumOn 21 September 1944 Prince Charles, brother of Leopold III, deported by the Germans, was sworn in as Regent of Belgium. The royal dispute had only begun.
October
- 02
- The attack on AachenOn 2 October 1944 the US XIX Corps attacked the West Wall on the Wurm north of Aachen, opening the manoeuvre to encircle the city.
- The Allies in Crete and the PeloponneseIn autumn 1944 the British entered Patras and Corinth, while the Germans on Crete fell back around Chania, where they held out until May 1945.
- 12
- The raids on FormosaOn 12–16 October 1944 Halsey's carriers crushed Japanese air power over Formosa. Tokyo announced 11 carriers sunk – in reality, not one.
- XXIII Corps in EuropeIn the autumn of 1944 the headquarters of the US XXIII Corps, formed in January 1944, reached Europe. It never saw battle – in 1945 it occupied the Rhineland.
- 23
- The recognition of de Gaulle's governmentOn 23 October 1944 the USA, Britain, the USSR and Canada formally recognised de Gaulle's administration as the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
- B-29s in the MarianasIn autumn 1944 B-29 bombers arrived on Saipan to raid Japan. The first landed on 12 October; the first raid on Tokyo came on 24 November. Tinian opened in 1945.
November
- 05
- The raid on SingaporeOn 5 November 1944 B-29s from India bombed the Singapore naval base, disabling its great dry dock for three months – the first of a series of raids.
- Kamikaze attack the carriersOn 5 November 1944 a kamikaze hit Lexington off Luzon. On 25 November suicide aircraft struck Intrepid, Essex, Cabot and Hancock.
December
- 24
- The counter-offensive in the ArdennesOn 24 December 1944 Collins’s VII Corps resolved to strike the German 2nd Panzer Division at Celles. Patton had been driving on Bastogne since 22 December.
- V-1s over ManchesterOn Christmas Eve 1944 Heinkels over the North Sea launched 45 V-1s at Manchester. More than 40 people were killed, most of them in Oldham.