75 Years Ago—August 25, 1944: Free French troops liberate Paris; Tricolor flown from Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. US XVIII Airborne Corps activated over 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions under Maj. Gen. Matthew Ridgway; Maj. Gen. James Gavin replaces Ridgway over 82nd Airborne, the youngest American general to command a division in the war… Read more »
75 Years Ago—August 24, 1944: US Army’s “Red Ball Express” completes first truck shipment of supplies across France. US Third Army crosses the Seine south of Paris. In southern France, US Seventh Army takes Avignon and Cannes.
75 Years Ago—August 23, 1944: Romanians overthrow pro-German Prime Minister Marshal Ion Antonescu; King Michael I offers unconditional surrender of Romania to the USSR. Future baseball star Lt. Jackie Robinson is court-martialed for 7/6/44 incident when he refused to give up a bus seat; he will be acquitted.
75 Years Ago—August 22, 1944: French resistance controls all public buildings in Paris. US flight nurses arrive in southern France and begin air evacuation to Italy.
75 Years Ago—August 21, 1944: Dumbarton Oaks Conference begins in Washington, DC for Allies to discuss the establishment of the United Nations. French civilians launch an insurrection in Marseille against the Germans.
75 Years Ago—August 20, 1944: US secures Biak off New Guinea. Off Newfoundland, aircraft from escort carrier USS Bogue sink German U-boat U-1229, which is on a mission to land German spy Oskar Mantel in Maine; 18 are killed and Mantel is captured.
75 Years Ago—August 19, 1944: French resistance launches uprising in Paris and seizes Hôtel de Ville (city hall). In France, Canadian troops link with the US Third Army at Chambois, closing the Falaise Gap; 50,000 German prisoners will be taken, but 20-30,000 escape.
75 Years Ago—August 18, 1944: Submarine USS Rasher sinks Japanese aircraft carrier Taiyo off Luzon in the Philippines as well as a troop transport, a cargo ship, and an oiler. In southern France, US Task Force Butler under Brig. Gen. Frederic Butler strikes northwest, taking advantage of weak German resistance to make a rapid drive.
75 Years Ago—August 17, 1944: Germans begin retreat from southern France. Germans begin retreat from the Falaise pocket in Normandy; Canadians take Falaise. US Third Army takes St. Malo, Chartres, and Orléans in France. Vichy French government flees for Germany; Marshal Philippe Pétain and his staff will be interned by Hitler, while Prime Minister Pierre… Read more »
75 Years Ago—August 16, 1944: US Eighth Air Force suffers first attack by Luftwaffe jet fighters (Messerschmitt Me 163s), has first loss to a jet, and also destroys a German jet for first time. Organized Japanese resistance ends on the Burma-India border.
