Posts Categorized: Today WWII History

75 Years Ago—Feb. 9, 1944: In counterattack at Anzio, Italy, Germans retake Aprilia (“the Factory”).

75 Years Ago—Feb. 8, 1944: In counterattack at Anzio, Italy, Germans retake Carroceto and secure Buonriposo Ridge. Soviets take important manganese center of Nikopol in Ukraine.

75 Years Ago—Feb. 7, 1944: US secures Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. At Anzio, Italy, US 95th Evacuation Hospital is accidentally bombed when a German fighter pilot jettisons bombs under Allied fighter attack; 28 hospital personnel and patients are killed, including 3 nurses and the first female American Red Cross worker to be killed… Read more »

75 Years Ago—Feb. 6, 1944: Soviets make major breakthrough in Ukraine and reach the Dnieper River near Nikopol. US Eighth Air Force sends out its first fighter aircraft ground strafing mission.

75 Years Ago—Feb. 5, 1944: Germans deploy the first U-boat with a “Schnorchel” to increase time a submarine could stay submerged. Colossus Computer at Bletchley Park in England is first used to decode German messages. New songs in Top Ten: “Besame Mucho” and “Mairzy Doats.” Movie premiere of first of 15-part Captain America serial, the… Read more »

75 Years Ago—Feb. 4, 1944: US secures Kwajalein and Majuro Islands in Kwajalein Atoll. Japanese open offensive against Indian troops on Arakan, Burma. US authorizes Bronze Star medal for meritorious or heroic achievement, less than the Silver Star, retroactive to 7 Dec 1941. US Navy blimp K-29 makes the first carrier landing by a nonrigid… Read more »

75 Years Ago—Feb. 3, 1944: In Italy, New Zealand Corps is formed under Lt. Gen. Sir Bernard Freyberg over New Zealand 2nd Division and Indian 4th Division. Italian Fascists violate Vatican City sovereignty and arrest several Jews hiding there.

75 Years Ago—Feb. 2, 1944: Soviets enter German-occupied Estonia. In Italy, US II Corps enters outskirts of Cassino town and takes Italian barracks area at Montevilla.

75 Years Ago—Feb. 1, 1944: Countdown to D-Day: Allied leaders issue Neptune Initial Joint Plan for D-day, including a 5-division front. US Marines land on Roi & Namur in Kwajalein Atoll in Marshall Islands. Article by Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty published in Journal of Experimental Medicine identifies the “transforming factor” as deoxyribonucleic… Read more »

75 Years Ago—Jan. 31, 1944: US Army and Marines land on Kwajalein & Majuro in the Marshall Islands—the first use of the DUKW and of underwater demolition teams in the Pacific.