Today in
World War II History

US Douglas C-47 transport plane taking off near Man Wing, Burma (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 7, 1944: In Second Arakan Campaign in Burma, RAF & US Tenth Air Force begin air supply to isolated West African troops.

Former First Lady Lou Henry Hoover dies of a heart attack, age 69.

Lt. Gen. James Doolittle and Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay at a US Eighth Air Force airfield in Britain, 1944 (USAF photo)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 6, 1944: Soviets cross the Polish border near Olevsk.

Maj. Gen. James Doolittle assumes command of the US Eighth Air Force in England.

US Navy Task Force 58 is established under Rear Adm. Marc Mitscher; with 6 carriers, 6 light carriers & 700 aircraft, it’s the largest fleet in the world at the time.

B-17G Flying Fortress Shoo Shoo Baby of the 91st Bomb Group (USAF Museum)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 5, 1944: The 91^st Bombardment Group becomes the first bomber group in the US Eighth Air Force in England to complete 100 missions.

Gregorio Diamare and the ecclesiastical authorities of Monte Cassino abbey giving German Luftwaffe troops permission to remove artwork to Germany, 4 Jan 1944 (German Federal Archive: Bild 101I-729-0005-25)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 4, 1944: Church authorities at the Abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy give the Luftwaffe permission to remove artwork to Germany.

Mussolini’s Fascist government in northern Italy seizes Jewish assets and forbids Jews from owning land or stock.

Future Nobel Laureate Ralph Bunche becomes the first African-American officer in the US State Department, appointed to a post in the Near East and African Section.

Maj. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington (center) with Marine Attack Squadron VMF 214 (Black Sheep Squadron) on Turtle Bay Fighter Strip, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 11 September 1943 (US Navy photo 80-G-54302)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 3, 1944: Top US Marine ace, Maj. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington (28 victories), is shot down in his F4U by a Japanese Zero near Rabaul, but he survives the war as a POW.

US LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) at Saidor, New Guinea 2 January 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 2, 1944: US Sixth Army lands at Saidor, New Guinea, finds little opposition, takes harbor and airfield, cutting off 12,000 troops of Japanese 18^th Army.

Countdown to D-day: Gen. Bernard Montgomery arrives in England to take command of Allied 21 Army Group for D-day.

In the Solomon Islands, US launches an offensive on New Britain from Cape Gloucester.

Senior staff of the US 7th Marines on Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 10 Jan 1944. (US Marine Corps photo)

US Marine Corps recruiting poster, WWII

80 Years Ago—Jan. 1, 1944: Gen. Alexander Vandegrift replaces Gen. Thomas Holcomb as commandant of the US Marine Corps.

US penny production switches from steel to an alloy of copper and brass from salvaged shell casings.

Poster for the US Victory Book Campaign 1942-43

80 Years Ago—Dec. 31, 1943: US Marines secure crucial airfield at Cape Gloucester, New Britain in the Solomons.

The US Victory Book Campaign closes due to inefficiency of the program and to the publication of the Armed Services Editions books; had collected 17 million books and distributed 11 million. Read more “Books in World War II.”

Fletcher-class destroyer USS Cassin Young is commissioned at San Pedro, CA (currently a museum ship in Boston). [See pictures of the USS Cassin Young in my three-part blog series: Destroyer Tour]

Forward 5-inch gun on the USS Cassin Young, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston – and Sarah Sundin. July 2014

An Indian infantry section of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment about to go on patrol on the Arakan front in Burma, 1944 (Imperial War Museum: IND 2917)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 30, 1943: British & Indian forces launch Second Arakan Campaign toward Akyab, Burma.

In Andaman Islands, Subhas Chandra Bose declares an independent India, collaborating with the Japanese.

Gen. Sir Henry Maitland Wilson (Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean) and Gen. Sir Oliver Leese (Commander, British Eighth Army), Italy, 30 April 1944 (Imperial War Museum: 4905-03 TR 1761)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 29, 1943: Lt.-Gen. Sir Oliver Leese replaces Gen. Bernard Montgomery over British Eighth Army in Italy; Montgomery will lead Allied ground forces (21 Army Group) for Operation Overlord (D-day).