Poster for US Navy Construction Battalions (Seabees), WWII
80 Years Ago—Mar. 10, 1944: Countdown to D-day: Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force issues Operation Overlord directive to ground, air, and naval forces for D-day.
National movie premiere of The Fighting Seabees starring John Wayne.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur decorates Lt. Marvin J. Henshaw with the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on Los Negros, 29 Feb 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 9, 1944: US Sixth Army secures Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands in the Pacific.
Chinese take Walawbum, Burma, opening Hukawng Valley for Ledo Road construction (will connect to Burma Road to supply China).
Allied construction of the Ledo Road in Burma (US Army Center of Military History)
Map of the Imphal and Kohima Campaign in Burma, 1944 (public domain via Mike Young, Wikipedia)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 8, 1944: Japanese launch offensive in Burma toward major British base at Imphal, India.
Nazi German poster, 1940s, stating “Mothers! Fight for your children!”
80 Years Ago—Mar. 7, 1944: Nazis make house-to-house calls to recruit women ages 17-45 for war work.
US Eighth Air Force B-17s bombing Berlin, 1944 (USAF photo)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 6, 1944: US Eighth Air Force loses 69 of 730 bombers in mission to Berlin—its costliest raid ever.
Countdown to D-day: US Navy’s Force U is established under Rear Adm. Don Moon for support off Utah Beach on D-day.
Lt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager of the 357th Fighter Group, with his P-51 Mustang “Glamorous Glen,” 17 October 1944 (Imperial War Museum, Roger Freeman Collection)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 5, 1944: Future test pilot Flight Officer Chuck Yeager of the US 357th Fighter Group is shot down in his P-51 over Gironde, France; he evades capture with help of French resistance.
In Second Chindit Raid, Wingate’s Special Force (British/Indian) and US Army engineers make airborne drops in Burma and build “Broadway” airstrip; C-47s double-tow gliders to Broadway airstrip but nearly all are damaged.
Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch, August 1945 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 4, 1944: Maj. Gen. Alexander Patch assumes command of US Seventh Army in Algiers, to prepare for landings in southern France.
US Eighth Air Force flies its first bombing mission to Berlin.
US VI Corps Headquarters in a wine cellar near Anzio, Italy, 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 3, 1944: Allies repel final German counterattack at Anzio; forces will remain at standstill for next two months in bad weather.
Former Belgian premier Paul-Émile Janson dies in Buchenwald concentration camp, age 71.
Theatrical release poster for the film Casablanca, 1942 (public domain via Warner Bros, via Wikipedia), Promotional photograph for the original Broadway production of Watch on the Rhine, starring Paul Lukas, May 1941 (public domain via Theatre Arts, Inc., via Wikipedia), Theatrical release poster for the 1943 film The Song of Bernadette (public domain via Twentieth-Century Fox, via Wikipedia)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 2, 1944: Academy Awards ceremony is held:
Advertisement about penicillin from Schenley Laboratories, 14 August 1944
80 Years Ago—Mar. 1, 1944: In Brooklyn, Pfizer opens first commercial plant for large-scale production of penicillin by submerged-culture method.
In the US, toothpaste buyers no longer have to turn in old tubes to buy new (required since 4 April 1942 due to tin shortage). Read more: “Make It Do—Metal Shortages in World War II”
“Another masterful installment in Sundin’s roster of WWII novels.”—Booklist starred review for Embers in the London Sky