First wave of US Army troops landing on Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands, 29 Feb 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 29, 1944: US Army lands on Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands.
The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom
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.
Cartoon giving information on new rationing tokens, February 1944 (US government publication)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 27, 1944: Alamo Scouts (US Sixth Army) enter combat, conducting reconnaissance of Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands.
US issues plastic tokens to make change for ration stamps—blue for processed foods, red for meats and fats. Read more: “Make It Do—Rationing of Canned Goods in World War II.”
Poster for the US Navy Nurse Corps, WWII (US Naval History & Heritage Command)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 26, 1944: Japanese retreat from Sinzweya, Burma, ending “Battle of the Admin Box,” as British troops relieve trapped Indian troops.
US Navy nurses are given actual commissioned rank instead of relative rank. Read more about relative rank here: Army Nursing in World War II: Training and Rank.
Strike photo of Regensburg after 25 February 1944 raid by US Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces (US Air Force photo)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 25, 1944: First time US Eighth Air Force (based in England) and US Fifteenth Air Force (based in Italy) bomb the same target—Regensburg, Germany, in “Big Week” operations.
Merrill’s Marauders in Burma, 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 24, 1944: Merrill’s Marauders (US guerrillas) enter Burma to start raids in the Hukawng Valley.
Maj. Gen. Lucian Truscott, Dec. 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 23, 1944: Maj. Gen. Lucian Truscott assumes command of US VI Corps at Anzio.
First US Army blood bank in the Mediterranean Theater opens at Naples medical center.
American Red Cross poster encouraging blood donation, WWII
US Marines on Eniwetok, Feb 1944 (US Marine Corps photo: 72434)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 22, 1944: US secures Eniwetok Atoll and all Marshall Islands, the first time the Japanese lose prewar territory.
Gen. Mark Clark arrives at Anzio in Italy and removes Maj. Gen. John Lucas from command of US VI Corps.
Stalin announces that the Soviets have reclaimed three-quarters of the territory captured by the Germans.
A US Marine dirty after two days of fighting on Eniwetok, Feb 1944 (US National Archives: 26-G-3394)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 21, 1944: Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo removes Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama from position as Chief of Army General Staff and takes his place.
US secures Eniwetok Island in Eniwetok Atoll, and lands on and takes 7 other islands in the atoll.
Map of Allied bombing targets during Operation Argument “Big Week,” February 20-26, 1944 (Source: US Air Force)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 20, 1944: Allies launch Operation Argument (“Big Week”), a week-long aerial attack which devastates the German aircraft industry; RAF bombers fly 2300 sorties; US Eighth and Ninth Air Forces fly 3300 sorties from England; US Fifteenth Air Force flies 400 sorties from Italy.
Norwegian resistance fighters blow up ferry Hydro carrying the only German shipment of heavy water (for atomic bombs) on Lake Tinnsjø, Norway.
D/F Hydro railway ferry at Mæl, Norway, 1925 (public domain via Anders Beer Wilse/Norwegian Museum of Cultural History)
“Another masterful installment in Sundin’s roster of WWII novels.”—Booklist starred review for Embers in the London Sky