Today in
World War II History

US troops firing a bazooka near Cassino, Italy (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 12, 1944: Allies repel German counterattack at Anzio, but ground has been lost.

First Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy ends in Allied failure.

Adm. Wilhelm Canaris is dismissed as the head of the German Abwehr (military intelligence).

In the Indian Ocean, Japanese submarine I-27 sinks British transport Khedive Ismail—1297 killed, including 77 nurses & Wrens, the 3^rd worst Allied shipping disaster and the worst loss of Allied female service personnel of the war. Destroyer HMS Petard then sinks I-27, making Petard the only ship to sink a German, an Italian, and a Japanese submarine in WWII.

Lt. Richard Peterson, Maj. Leonard “Kit” Carson, Maj. John England, and Lt. Clarence “Bud” Anderson, the highest scoring aces of the US 357th Fighter Group (Imperial War Museum, American Air Museum: UPL 6845)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 11, 1944: First mission of the US 357th Fighter Group in P-51 Mustangs from England—this group would produce the most aces (42) in the US Eighth Air Force, including Leonard “Kit” Carson, Clarence “Bud” Anderson, and Chuck Yeager.

Soviets take Shepetovka, rail center west of Kiev in Ukraine.

Troops of Indian 7th Division at the Ngakyeduak Pass near Sinzweya, Burma, 6 February 1944 (Imperial War Museum IND 2994)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 10, 1944: Japanese surround Indian 7^th Division on the Arakan peninsula in Burma; Allies keep the 7^th Division supplied through air drops.

Movie premiere of Lady in the Dark, starring Ginger Rogers & Ray Milland.

Ruins of Aprilia, Italy, WWII (US National Archives)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 9, 1944: In counterattack at Anzio, Italy, Germans retake Aprilia (“the Factory”).

Soviet artillerymen firing at German fortifications, Nikopol, Jan 1944 (Photo: mil.ru Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 8, 1944: In counterattack at Anzio, Italy, Germans retake Carroceto and secure Buonriposo Ridge.

Soviets take important manganese center of Nikopol in Ukraine.

US 56th Evacuation Hospital after an air raid, 1944 (US Army Medical Department)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 7, 1944: US secures Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

At Anzio, Italy, US 95^th Evacuation Hospital is accidentally bombed when a German fighter pilot jettisons bombs under Allied fighter attack; 28 hospital personnel and patients killed, including 3 nurses and the first female American Red Cross worker to be killed in action in WWII; the German pilot is shot down and treated in the same hospital. Read more: “Courage under Fire – US Army Hospitals at Anzio.”

John Hersey’s best-selling novel A Bell for Adano is published; it will win the Pulitzer Prize.

P-47 Thunderbolt piloted by Capt. Raymond Walsh of the US 406th Fighter Group is silhouetted against the exploding ammunition truck he just strafed, France, 23 Jun 1944 (US National Archives)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 6, 1944: Soviets make major breakthrough in Ukraine and reach the Dnieper River near Nikopol.

US Eighth Air Force sends out its first fighter aircraft ground strafing mission.

Poster for the Captain America film serial, 1944 (Republic Pictures, public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 5, 1944: Germans deploy the first U-boat with a “Schnorchel” to increase time a submarine could stay submerged.

New songs in Top Ten: “Besame Mucho” and “Mairzy Doats.”

Movie premiere of first of 15-part Captain America serial, starring Dick Purcell & Lorna Gray.

Submarine USS U-3008 (former German sub U-3008) with snorkel raised, Key West, FL, 25 July 1947 (US Navy photo: 80-G-442938)

US Marine signalmen setting up a command post in the streets of Roi-Namur, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, 1 Feb 1944 (US National Archives)

Bronze star (US Army Institute of Heraldry)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 4, 1944: US secures Kwajalein and Majuro Islands in Kwajalein Atoll.

Japanese open offensive against Indian troops on the Arakan Peninsula in Burma.

US authorizes Bronze Star medal for meritorious or heroic achievement, less than the Silver Star, retroactive to 7 Dec 1941.

US Navy blimp K-29 makes the first carrier landing by a nonrigid airship, on escort carrier USS Altamaha off San Diego, CA.

K-29 of Airship Patrol Squadron ZP-31 lifts off from escort carrier USS Altamaha off the California coast, 24 Feb 1944 (US Navy photo: 80-G-220075)

Lt.-Gen. Sir Bernard Freyberg, WWII (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Feb. 3, 1944: In Italy, New Zealand Corps is formed under Lt.-Gen. Sir Bernard Freyberg, over New Zealand 2^nd Division and Indian 4^th Division.

Italian Fascists violate Vatican City sovereignty and arrest several Jews hiding there.