February 1944

February

• 01

  • Assassination of Franz KutscheraOn 1 February 1944 soldiers of the Home Army's Kedyw unit "Pegaz" shot Franz Kutschera, the SS and Police Leader of the Warsaw District, in Aleje Ujazdowskie.
• 02

  • The front at NarvaOn 2 February 1944 Soviet troops crossed the Narva and seized bridgeheads. A front formed on Estonia's border between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipus.
• 04

  • The capture of Kwajalein AtollBy 4 February 1944 the Americans had taken Roi-Namur and Kwajalein Island in the heart of the Marshalls; the whole atoll was declared secure a few days later.
• 05

  • The bombardment of the Kuril IslandsOn 4 February 1944 Rear Admiral Baker's cruisers and destroyers shelled Japanese Paramushir in the Kurils; on 5 February bombers from the Aleutians followed.
• 07

  • Jüri Uluots calls for mobilisationOn 7 February 1944 Estonia's last constitutional premier, Jüri Uluots, backed the German mobilisation on the radio, hoping Estonians could defend their country.
• 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.
  • The National Committee of the Estonian RepublicOn 14 February 1944 representatives of Estonia's pre-war parties set up an underground committee in Tallinn to rebuild the state once the Germans withdrew.
  • 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.
• 15

  • Key eventThe destruction of the Abbey of Monte CassinoOn 15 February 1944 Allied bombers destroyed the Benedictine abbey on Monte Cassino. Civilians died, the Germans took over the ruins, and the attack failed.
  • The offensive at NarvaOn 15 February 1944 the 2nd Shock Army launched a general assault on the German defences at Narva. By late February it had failed to cut the road to Tallinn.
• 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.
  • The breakout from the Korsun pocketOn the night of 16/17 February 1944 the German corps trapped at Korsun broke out of the pocket. About two-thirds of the men escaped; their equipment was lost.
  • 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.
• 17

  • The landing on EniwetokOn 17 February 1944 the Americans began Operation Catchpole – the landing on Eniwetok, at the western end of the Marshall Islands, taken in a week of fighting.
• 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.
• 20

  • The Luluabourg mutinyOn 20 February 1944 the Force Publique garrison at Luluabourg in the Belgian Congo mutinied. Unrest spread to Kamina and Jadotville and was met with repression.
• 22

  • Truscott replaces LucasOn 22 February 1944 General Clark relieved John Lucas of command of VI Corps at Anzio. Command passed to Major General Lucian Truscott of the 3rd Division.
• 23

  • The first raid on the MarianasOn 23 February 1944 aircraft from six of Mitscher's carriers attacked Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Guam, destroying Japanese aircraft and photographing the islands.
• 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.
• 27

  • The American submarine war in early 1944On 27 February 1944 USS Cod sank the Japanese ship Taisoku Maru off Halmahera – one of more than 50 vessels sunk in February by American submarines.
• 28

  • The assassination of Alexandre GalopinIn Brussels, Robert Verbelen's Flemish collaborators shot Alexandre Galopin, head of the Société Générale and Belgium's informal “economic government”.
• 29

  • Key eventThe landing on Los NegrosOn 29 February 1944 a thousand US cavalrymen landed on Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands. MacArthur came ashore and ordered the airstrip held at any cost.