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)
Japanese ships burning at Rabaul, Feb 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 19, 1944: The major Japanese air & naval base at Rabaul is officially neutralized by Allied forces as the last Japanese planes are moved to Truk.
Mosquito aircraft of RNZAF bombing prison (center left) at Amiens, France, 18 February 1944 (United Kingdom government photo)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 18, 1944: RAF launches Operation Jericho as Mosquitos & Typhoons bomb the German prison in Amiens holding members of the French resistance; of 717 prisoners, 102 are killed and 258 escape.
Peak of German counterattack at Anzio, as they come within six miles of the sea by noon, but are turned back by artillery and infantry by the end of the day.
Hitler dissolves the Abwehr, German military intelligence, after evidence of infiltration by Allied agents and resistance members; functions taken over by Reich Main Security Office (RSHA).
US Marines landing on Eniwetok, 17 February 1944 (US Marine Corps Photo: 75460)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 17, 1944: US Army & Marines land on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Soviets close Korsun pocket and take 18,000 German POWs; 28,000 Germans break out of the pocket, but thousands drown crossing a swollen river.
US Navy carriers strike Japanese base at Truk in the Pacific, sinking 37 ships, shooting down 121 Japanese fighter planes (the highest one-day total in the Pacific war to date), and destroying 150 Japanese planes on the ground.
US Navy SBD Dauntless bombers of Bombing Squadron 16 (VB-16) off USS Lexington over Param Island, Truk Atoll, 17-18 February 1944 (US National Museum of Naval Aviation: NNAM.1996.253.688)
Ruins of Abbey of Monte Cassino, 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Feb. 16, 1944: New Zealanders launch assault on Monte Cassino after previous day’s bombing, but fail to take it.
Germans launch “Fischfang” offensive at Anzio; the first use of German Panther tanks in the west fails in the mud.
Movie premiere of Passage to Marseille, starring Humphrey Bogart & Claude Rains.
“Another masterful installment in Sundin’s roster of WWII novels.”—Booklist starred review for Embers in the London Sky