Today in World War II History—March 8, 1944
80 Years Ago—Mar. 8, 1944: Japanese launch offensive in Burma toward major British base at Imphal, India.
80 Years Ago—Mar. 8, 1944: Japanese launch offensive in Burma toward major British base at Imphal, India.
80 Years Ago—Mar. 7, 1944: Nazis make house-to-house calls to recruit women ages 17-45 for war work.
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.
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.
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.
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.
80 Years Ago—Mar. 2, 1944: Academy Awards ceremony is held:
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”
80 Years Ago—Feb. 29, 1944: US Army lands on Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands.
80 Years Ago—Feb. 28, 1944: German Gestapo raids the home of Corrie ten Boom in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and arrests 30 family members & friends, but 6 Jews in hiding are not discovered. All but Corrie, Betsie, and their father Casper are released; Casper dies 10 days later, and Betsie dies in Ravensbrück on December 16, 1944. Corrie ten Boom survives the war to write her moving account, The Hiding Place.
First Victory ship (larger and faster than Liberty Ships), the United Victory, is completed by Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation.
“Another masterful installment in Sundin’s roster of WWII novels.”—Booklist starred review for Embers in the London Sky