Park Street Church, Boston, MA (Photo: Sarah Sundin, July 2014)
80 Years Ago—April 9, 1944: Japanese surround 155,000 British & Indian troops in Imphal, India.
On Easter, churches around the nation donate $600,000 to the new War Relief Fund, started by Park Street Church in Boston, MA; in 1950, the organization will become World Relief.
Maj. Richard Bong in his P-38 (US Air Force photo 53021 AC)
80 Years Ago—April 8, 1944: Over New Guinea, Capt. Dick Bong of the US Fifth Air Force surpasses Eddie Rickenbacker’s 26 victories in WWI to become the top US ace.
New song in Top Ten: “Long Ago and Far Away” from the movie Cover Girl.
“Selection” of Hungarian Jews on the ramp at Auschwitz-II-Birkenau in German-occupied Poland, May/June 1944 (public domain via Yad Vashem)
80 Years Ago—April 7, 1944: Slovak Jews Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escape from Auschwitz; they will write a detailed report that will be published in Geneva on May 17 and will lead Hungary to halt deportations in July 1944.
At besieged Kohima in India, Japanese troops seize the city’s water supply.
Garrison Hill at Kohima, India, 1944 (Imperial War Museum: IND 3698)
80 Years Ago—April 6, 1944: Japanese besiege 3500 British & Indian troops in Kohima, India.
United Kingdom expands PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax system to all taxpayers.
Movie premiere of Cover Girl, starring Gene Kelly & Rita Hayworth; Oscar winner for orchestration for Carmen Dragon (of Antioch, CA).
Stella Romana oil refinery at Ploesti, Romania after US 15th Air Force bombing, 1944 (USAF photo)
80 Years Ago—April 5, 1944: US Strategic Air Forces (in England and Italy) begins campaign against German oil production: US Fifteenth Air Force sends 334 bombers to oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania.
Recruiting poster for the Free French Forces, 1944, stating “Honor and Country. France Speaks to You.” (Imperial War Museum: Art.IWM PST 3104)
80 Years Ago—April 4, 1944: Gen. Charles de Gaulle is named head of Free French military forces, replacing Gen. Henri Giraud.
Fleet Air Arm attack on the German battleship Tirpitz at Alta Fjord, Norway, 3 April 1944 (Imperial War Museum: A 22633)
80 Years Ago—April 3, 1944: In Alta Fjord, Norway, British carrier aircraft damage German battleship Tirpitz (438 killed).
In Smith v. Allwright, US Supreme Court declares all-white primaries in the South are unconstitutional.
US Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber (US Air Force photo)
80 Years Ago—April 2, 1944: Soviet troops enter Romania.
First US B-29 Superfortress bomber arrives at Kharagpur, India, near Calcutta.
Armed revolt erupts in El Salvador, led by intellectuals, business leaders, and disaffected military, which will be put down with martial law, brutally enforced; 300 killed.
Adm. Sir Bertram Ramsay, Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Forces, at his London Headquarters at Norfolk House, 1944 (Imperial War Museum: A 23443)
80 Years Ago—April 1, 1944: Countdown to D-day: Adm. Sir Bertram Ramsay (Allied Naval Commander, Expeditionary Force) takes operational control of US naval forces for D-day.
Allied Combined Bomber Offensive officially ends as Allies achieve air superiority over Europe.
US Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy begins operations to evacuate partisans, women, and children from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia.
B-17s of the US 3rd Bombardment Division over Europe, WWII (USAF photo)
Adm. Mineichi Koga, 1940s (public domain via Wikipedia)
80 Years Ago—Mar. 31, 1944: Vice Adm. Mineichi Koga, Commander-in-Chief of Japanese Combined Fleet, is killed in a plane crash on Mindanao in the Philippines.
“Another masterful installment in Sundin’s roster of WWII novels.”—Booklist starred review for Embers in the London Sky