Today in
World War II History

Pandit Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi at All-India Congress Committee, August 8, 1942, when the “Quit India” resolution was adopted, calling for the immediate dissolution of British rule. (Public domain via Wikipedia)

75 Years Ago—6 May 1944: Off Cape Verdes, destroyer escort USS Buckley and TBMs & Wildcats from escort carrier USS Block Island sink German U-boat U-66; Buckley’s sailors use small arms, hand grenades, and coffee mugs in the battle.

In India, British release Gandhi from prison on medical grounds.

Kathleen Kennedy (daughter of US ambassador to Britain Joseph Kennedy) marries the Marquis of Hartington.

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen of 1888, used by Bertha Benz for the first long-distance road trip, 106 km by automobile. (Public domain via Wikipedia)

75 Years Ago—5 May 1944: Adm. Soemu Toyoda takes command of Japanese Navy Combined Fleet.

Bertha Benz, wife of Karl Benz and the first person to drive an automobile over 100 kilometers, dies in Ladenburg, Germany, age 95.

USS Comfort is commissioned, the first hospital ship staffed by both Army and Navy personnel.

Exercise Fabius, Slapton Sands, England, May 1944. US infantry descend into an LCVP during D-day invasion practice. (US Army Center of Military History)

75 Years Ago—4 May 1944: Countdown to D-day: In Exercise Fabius, a full-scale rehearsal for D-day, Allied troops who will land on Sword, Juno, Gold, and Omaha Beaches make landings on English beaches in the largest amphibious training exercise ever.

Movie premiere of Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Charles Boyer, and Angela Lansbury in her screen premiere.

St. Louis Browns baseball team drops segregation policy that restricted black fans to the bleachers.

US poster about meat rationing, WWII

75 Years Ago—3 May 1944: Movie premiere of Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald as Catholic priests.

US Office of Price Administration ends meat rationing, except for steak and choice beef (rationing is tightened again later). Read more: “Make It Do—Meat Rationing in World War II.”

Ted Williams being sworn in to the military, 22 May 1942 (US Marine Corps photo)

75 Years Ago—2 May 1944: Countdown to D-day: British teacher Leonard Dawe publishes crossword puzzle in Daily Telegraph using Operation Overlord code word “Utah”; over the next month his puzzles will also contain the words “Omaha,” “Mulberry,” “Overlord,” and “Neptune”—he’s placed under MI5 investigation but is cleared.

Baseball player Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) earns wings & commission as Marine Corps pilot.

B-24 Liberator of the 705th Bomb Squadron over Orly Airfield, Paris, May 14 1944 (US National Archives)

75 Years Ago—May 1, 1944: Countdown to D-day: US Eighth Air Force flies first major pre-invasion bombing mission to marshaling yards and rail centers in the Pas de Calais and Normandy areas in preparation for D-day.

First Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference opens, with prime ministers of Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa in attendance.

Mackenzie King, Jan Smuts, Winston Churchill, Peter Fraser, and John Curtin at the first Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference, London, 1 May 1944 (Library and Archives Canada)

To commemorate the coming 65th anniversary of D-Day, I will be starting something new on my blog. In addition to my usual weekly posts, every day I will make a short post entitled “Today in World War II History,” which will highlight events that happened 65 years ago. On September 1, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II, I will add entries from 70 years ago.

I hope you enjoy this!