Japanese ships burning at Rabaul, Feb 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 19, 1944: The major Japanese air & naval base at Rabaul is officially neutralized by Allied forces as the last Japanese planes are moved to Truk.
Mosquito aircraft of RNZAF bombing prison (center left) at Amiens, France, 18 February 1944 (United Kingdom government photo)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 18, 1944: RAF launches Operation Jericho as Mosquitos & Typhoons bomb the German prison in Amiens holding members of the French resistance; of 717 prisoners, 102 are killed and 258 escape.
Peak of German counterattack at Anzio, as they come within six miles of the sea by noon, but are turned back by artillery and infantry by the end of the day.
Hitler dissolves the Abwehr, German military intelligence, after evidence of infiltration by Allied agents and resistance members; functions taken over by Reich Main Security Office (RSHA).
US Marines landing on Eniwetok, 17 February 1944 (US Marine Corps Photo: 75460)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 17, 1944: US Army & Marines land on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Soviets close Korsun pocket and take 18,000 German POWs; 28,000 Germans break out of the pocket, but thousands drown crossing a swollen river.
US Navy carriers strike Japanese base at Truk in the Pacific, sinking 37 ships, shooting down 121 Japanese fighter planes (the highest one-day total in the Pacific war to date), and destroying 150 Japanese planes on the ground.
US Navy SBD Dauntless bombers of Bombing Squadron 16 (VB-16) off USS Lexington over Param Island, Truk Atoll, 17-18 February 1944 (US National Museum of Naval Aviation: NNAM.1996.253.688)
Ruins of Abbey of Monte Cassino, 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 16, 1944: New Zealanders launch assault on Monte Cassino after previous day’s bombing, but fail to take it.
Germans launch “Fischfang” offensive at Anzio; the first use of German Panther tanks in the west fails in the mud.
Movie premiere of Passage to Marseille, starring Humphrey Bogart & Claude Rains.
Bombing of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, 15 Feb 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 15, 1944: Allied bombing destroys Abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy, 400 refugees killed. German troops occupy the abbey ruins that night.
In the South Pacific, New Zealanders occupy Green Islands, only 100 miles from crucial Japanese base at Rabaul.
WASP C-47 flight crew: Pilot Joanna Trebtoske (Jenks), left, and Copilot Marjorie Logan (Rolle) at Romulus Army Air Field, MI, 1943 (US Air Force photo 050407-F-1234P-015)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 14, 1944: WASP (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots) “Santiago Blue” uniform is authorized.
US Eighth Air Force B-17s bombing Berlin, 1944 (USAF photo)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 13, 1944: Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff issue Combined Bomber Offensive directive of targets for Allied bombers: 1) aircraft production and ball bearings, 2) “Crossbow” (V-weapon) targets, 3) Berlin and industrial targets when weather is bad.
US troops firing a bazooka near Cassino, Italy (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 12, 1944: Allies repel German counterattack at Anzio, but ground has been lost.
First Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy ends in Allied failure.
Adm. Wilhelm Canaris is dismissed as the head of the German Abwehr (military intelligence).
In the Indian Ocean, Japanese submarine I-27 sinks British transport Khedive Ismail—1297 killed, including 77 nurses & Wrens, the 3rd worst Allied shipping disaster and the worst loss of Allied female service personnel of the war. Destroyer HMS Petard then sinks I-27, making Petard the only ship to sink a German, an Italian, and a Japanese submarine in WWII.
Lt. Richard Peterson, Maj. Leonard “Kit” Carson, Maj. John England, and Lt. Clarence “Bud” Anderson, the highest scoring aces of the US 357th Fighter Group (Imperial War Museum, American Air Museum: UPL 6845)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 11, 1944: First mission of the US 357th Fighter Group in P-51 Mustangs from England—this group would produce the most aces (42) in the US Eighth Air Force, including Leonard “Kit” Carson, Clarence “Bud” Anderson, and Chuck Yeager.
Soviets take Shepetovka, rail center west of Kiev in Ukraine.
Troops of Indian 7th Division at the Ngakyeduak Pass near Sinzweya, Burma, 6 February 1944 (Imperial War Museum IND 2994)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 10, 1944: Japanese surround Indian 7th Division on the Arakan peninsula in Burma; Allies keep the 7th Division supplied through air drops.
Movie premiere of Lady in the Dark, starring Ginger Rogers & Ray Milland.
“Another masterful installment in Sundin’s roster of WWII novels.”—Booklist starred review for Embers in the London Sky