United States
Tag
(524)1944
January
February
- 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.
March
April
- 30
- Preparations for D-DayBy late April 1944 southern England was a vast camp. The Allies massed troops, landing craft and artificial harbours and fooled the Germans with a ghost army.
- The second raid on TrukOn 29–30 April 1944 Mitscher's carriers struck Truk again and warships shelled Satawan and Ponape. The Japanese base in the Carolines ceased to count.
May
- 18
- 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.
- The end of the fighting in the Admiralty IslandsOn 18 May 1944 General Krueger declared the Admiralty Islands operation over. Japanese stragglers still hid in the jungle; Seeadler Harbour became a fleet base.
June
- 04
- Key eventThe Allies in RomeOn 4 June 1944 the US Fifth Army entered Rome, which the Germans had left without fighting in the city – the first Axis capital taken by the Allies.
- 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.
- 19
- Key eventThe Battle of the Philippine SeaOn 19–20 June 1944 the US Task Force 58 shattered Ozawa's carrier air groups west of the Marianas. Japan lost three carriers and several hundred aircraft.
- The Channel stormThe storm of 19–22 June 1944 wrecked the American Mulberry A artificial harbour off Omaha and almost halted the unloading of supplies in Normandy for days.
July
- 10
- The Battle of the Driniumor RiverOn the night of 10–11 July 1944 the starving Japanese 18th Army struck across the Driniumor at the Americans near Aitape, New Guinea, and broke their line.
- B-29 raids from ChinaOn the night of 7–8 July 1944 B-29s from airfields near Chengdu bombed Kyushu again. Tokyo was not a target – B-29s first appeared over it in November 1944.
- 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.
August
- 10
- The end of the fighting on GuamOn 10 August 1944 the Americans declared organised resistance on Guam at an end. The next day General Obata died in the Mataguac caves.
- The raid on PalembangOn the night of 10–11 August 1944 B-29s from Ceylon attacked the Pladjoe refinery at Palembang and mined the Musi River. The refinery suffered little damage.
September
- 03
- The liberation of BrusselsOn the evening of 3 September 1944 tanks of the British Guards Armoured Division drove into Brussels. The Americans had entered Belgium the day before.
- The liberation of LyonOn 3 September 1944 the 1st Free French Division, Americans and the FFI entered Lyon. The Germans had left the day before, blowing the Rhône and Saône bridges.
- 10
- The liberation of LuxembourgOn 10 September 1944 the US 5th Armored Division entered Luxembourg City. The Germans left without a fight, and Prince Felix returned with the Americans.
- The armies meet near DijonOn 10–12 September 1944 the forces from Provence linked up in Burgundy with Patton's Third Army. The Allied front now ran from the Channel to Switzerland.
- 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 liberation of NancyOn 15 September 1944 Patton's Third Army entered Nancy. Fighting went on along the Moselle, and from 18 September a tank battle raged at Arracourt.
October
- 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
- Key eventThe Battle of Leyte Gulf beginsThe Battle of Leyte Gulf began on 23–24 October 1944. US submarines sank two of Kurita's heavy cruisers, and Halsey's aircraft sank the battleship Musashi.
- 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.
- 23
- The capture of MetzOn 22 November 1944 organised German resistance ended in Metz, which the Third Army had entered on 18–19 November. Some forts held out until 13 December.
- Key eventThe liberation of StrasbourgOn 23 November 1944 General Leclerc's French 2nd Armoured Division burst into Strasbourg. A flag flew over the cathedral – the Oath of Kufra was fulfilled.
December
- 15
- The landing on MindoroOn 15 December 1944 the Americans landed unopposed near San Jose on Mindoro. Airfields on the island were to cover the coming invasion of Luzon.
- The disappearance of Glenn MillerOn 15 December 1944 a plane carrying Major Glenn Miller from England to Paris vanished over the Channel. No wreck was found; the cause is still disputed.
- 17
- The Malmedy massacreOn 17 December 1944, at the Baugnez crossroads near Malmedy, men of Kampfgruppe Peiper shot dozens of American prisoners – 84 of them died.
- Typhoon CobraOn 18 December 1944 Typhoon Cobra struck Halsey’s Third Fleet in the Philippine Sea. Three destroyers capsized and 790 sailors were killed.
- 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.
- The sinking of the LeopoldvilleOn 24 December 1944 U-486 torpedoed the Belgian troopship Leopoldville off Cherbourg. 763 soldiers of the US 66th Infantry Division were killed.
- 26
- Key eventThe relief of BastogneOn 26 December 1944 tanks of Patton’s 4th Armored Division broke through to encircled Bastogne, opening a narrow corridor to the 101st Airborne Division.
- The race riot at AganaOn the night of 25/26 December 1944 on Guam white Marines fired on the camp of a black depot company. Three days of clashes ended in arrests and courts martial.