Today in World War II History—Mar. 17, 1944

“Félix Éboué—Governor-General Fighting French Africa—Scholar, Statesman, Soldier” by Charles Alston for US Office of War Information, 1943 (US National Archives)

Ruins of Continental Hotel in Cassino, Italy, 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—Mar. 17, 1944: In Cassino, Italy, New Zealanders take western part of town, the train station, and assault German strongholds in hotels.
Félix Éboué, Governor-General of French Equatorial Africa, dies of a heart attack in Cairo, age 60; he was the first person of black African descent to be appointed to a high office in French colonies.