Today in World War II History—June 14, 1944
75 Years Ago—June 14, 1944: US and Chinese troops attack besieged Japanese forces in Myitkyina, Burma.
Australia begins meat rationing (2 pounds per week).
75 Years Ago—June 14, 1944: US and Chinese troops attack besieged Japanese forces in Myitkyina, Burma.
Australia begins meat rationing (2 pounds per week).
75 Years Ago—June 13, 1944: Germans launch first V-1 buzz bomb at London; 7000 will be launched by Aug. 24, killing almost 5000.
At Villers-Bocage in Normandy, one German Tiger tank destroys 25 British tanks.
75 Years Ago—June 12, 1944: Allies consolidate all five landing beaches in Normandy, a 50-mile front, as US forces from Omaha and Utah Beaches link near Carentan.
US Fifth War Loan starts, launched with a broadcast from President Franklin Roosevelt in his final Fireside Chat. (Read more: “World War II War Bonds”)
Big Bend National Park is established in Texas.
75 Years Ago—June 11, 1944: US Fast Carrier Attack Force (TF 58) begins bombing the Mariana Islands in preparation for invasion.
Battleship USS Missouri is commissioned at Brooklyn, NY, the last battleship in the US Navy, currently a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. (See photos from my tour of the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor)
75 Years Ago—June 10, 1944: German SS troops massacre 642 civilians in Oradour-sur-Glane, France; only 10 survive.
First US nurses and female American Red Cross workers land in Normandy, with the 128th Evacuation Hospital.
US flight nurses fly first medical air evacuation missions from France to England. (Read more about flight nurses: “Medical Air Evacuation in World War II – The Flight Nurse”)
US Eighth Army is activated at Memphis, TN under Lt. Gen. Robert Eichelberger (will serve in the Pacific).
At age 15, Joe Nuxhall with the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in Major League Baseball.
75 Years Ago—June 9, 1944: Allies deliberately sink 53 old ships off Normandy to serve as breakwaters.
RAF flies from French airfields for the first time since 1940.
Soviets launch an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus to take land lost to Finland in 1941.
75 Years Ago—June 8, 1944: In Normandy, British and US forces link near Port-en-Bessin.
The US 2nd Ranger Battalion at Pointe du Hoc is relieved by forces from Omaha Beach, having held the point since climbing the cliffs on D-day.
RAF first uses the 12,000-lb “Tallboy” bomb, destroying a train tunnel in Saumur, France on the only north-south rail line in the Loire Valley, impeding German reinforcement of Normandy.
On the Adriatic coast of Italy, the British advance after finding the Germans have retreated.
75 Years Ago—June 7, 1944: In Normandy, Allies have secured all five beachheads.
Emergency landing fields are constructed in Normandy at St. Laurent-sur-Mer and Asnelles.
Off Normandy, Allies begin construction of artificial “Mulberry” harbors to allow more supplies to be delivered.
Movie premiere of Days of Glory, starring Gregory Peck in his debut.
75 Years Ago—June 6, 1944: D-day—156,000 Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy in the biggest amphibious operation in history.
On D-day, over 5000 Allied ships and vessels, manned by 195,000 naval personnel, transport troops and cargo, bombard enemy positions, and protect the fleet. (Read more: D-Day at Sea)
Over 11,000 Allied aircraft fly on D-day—bombing, strafing, patrolling, and dropping paratroopers. (Read more: D-Day in the Air)
75 Years Ago—June 5, 1944: Countdown to D-day: at 4:15 am, a more favorable weather report leads Gen. Dwight Eisenhower to order the invasion of Normandy to proceed for June 6: “Okay, let’s go.”
At night, RAF Bomber Command flies 1200 sorties, hitting ten gun batteries in Normandy before dawn on D-day.
US Fifth Army secures Rome; Gen. Mark Clark gives victory speech on Capitoline Hill, and Pope Pius XII addresses GIs in St. Peter’s Square.
First combat mission is flown with B-29 Superfortresses: US 20th Bomber Command sends 98 B-29s from India to bomb Japanese-held Bangkok.
“Another masterful installment in Sundin’s roster of WWII novels.”—Booklist starred review for Embers in the London Sky