- Timeline of World War II (1944)
This is a timeline of events that occurred during 1944 in
World War II .January 1944
1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">:1: The keels of USS "Tarawa" and USS "Kearsarge" are laid down.:1: Anti-fascist strikes occur in northernItaly .:6: Wingate's Chindits make several successful forays in Burma.:6-7: The Soviet air force bombs Narva, the city is destroyed.:7: Japanese begin an invasion attempt on India, starting a four-month battle around Imphal.:8: American forces are attacked byJapan ese troops on Hill 700 in the Bougainville; the battle that will last five days.:8: A Red Army offensive on a wide front west of the Dnieper in the Ukraine forces the Germans into a major retreat.:9-19: The Soviet air force carries out air raids on Tallinn, approx. 800 people die.:12: The creation of thePolitical Committee of National Liberation inGreece .:13: On Bougainville,Japan ese troops end their failed assault on American forces at Hill 700.:15: The National Council of theFrench Resistance approves the Resistance programme.:15: The "third" Battle of Cassino begins with the small town of Cassino destroyed.:15: Americans take Manus Island in the Admiralty chain.:17: Heavy bombing of Vienna.:18: German forces occupyHungary . The Red Army approach Romanian border.:19: Yugoslav partisans attack Trieste, on the border of Italy and Croatia.:20: Red Army advances in the Ukraine continue with great success.:21: Finland rejects Soviet peace terms.:22: Japanese forces cross the Indian border all along the Imphal front.:22: Frankfurt is bombed with heavy civilian losses.:24: TheFosse Ardeatine massacre in Rome, Italy. 335 Italians are killed, including 75 Jews and over 200 members various groups in theItalian Resistance ; this is a German response to a bomb blast that killed German troops :24:Orde Wingate is killed in a plane crash.:24: Heavy bombings of German cities at various strategic locations last for 24 hours.:25-26: Soviet air force bombsTartu .:28: Japanese troops are in retreat in Burma.:30: RAF suffers grievous losses in a huge air raid on Nuremberg.April 1944
1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">:1:Eamon de Valera 's government is re-elected in Ireland.:2: The provisional French government is established.:3: Daily bombings of the Cherbourg peninsula and the Normandy area.:4: Operation Overlord is postponed 24 hours due to high seas.:4: American, English and French troops enterRome .:5:Rome falls to the Allies. It is the first capital of an Axis nation to fall. More than 1000 British bombers drop 5000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on theNormandy coast in preparation forD-Day .:5: The first Allied troops land in Normandy--paratroopers scattered from Caen southward. :6:Battle of Normandy begins. D-Day "Operation Overlord", commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches ofNormandy inFrance . The allied soldiers quickly break through theAtlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibiousmilitary operation in history.:7:Bayeux is liberated by British troops.:9: No agreement having been reached on their mutual borders,Stalin launches an offensive againstFinland with the intent of defeating Finland before pushing forBerlin .:10: 642 men, women and children are killed atOradour-sur-Glane (a town near Limoges)France in a German response to local Resistance activities.:10: 218 civilians are killed in theDistomo massacre in Greece.:11: American navy planes attack the Marianas, including Saipan, preparing for invasion.:13:Germany launches aV1 Flying Bomb attack onEngland , in Hitler's view a kind of revenge for the invasion. He believes in Germany's victory with this "secret weapon." The V-1 attacks will continue through June.:15: TheUnited States invadesSaipan .:17: Free French troops land onElba . :18: Elba is declared liberated.:18: Allies capture Assisi, Italy.:19: The Battle of the Philippine Sea. Known by America's navy pilots as "the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" in which numerous Japanese planes and pilots are destroyed and two Japanese carriers are sunk.:19: A severe Channel storm destroys one of the Allies'Mulberry harbour s in Normandy.:19: The Red Army prepares for "Operation Bagration," a huge offensive in Byelorussia (White Russia).:20: The British take Perugia, Italy.:20: Siege of Imphal is lifted after a three-month siege.:21: Allied offensive in Burma.:22: V-1's continue to hit England, especially London, sometimes with horrifying losses.:22:Operation Bagration : General attack bySoviet forces to clear the German forces fromBelarus This results in the destruction of the GermanArmy Group Centre , possibly the greatest defeat of the Wehrmacht during World War II.:22:Burma Campaign : TheBattle of Kohima ends in a British victory.:23: The National Committee of the Republic of Estonia makes a declaration “to the Estonian People”. The declaration was made public to the world press in Stockholm in July 1944 and in Tallinn on 1 August 1944.:25: TheBattle of Tali-Ihantala between Finnish and Soviet troops begins. Largest battle ever to be fought in theNordic countries .:26:Cherbourg is liberated by American troops.July 1944
1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">:1: Canadian troops capture Dieppe, France, scene of their humiliation in August, 1942.:2: Allied troops enter Belgium.:2: Finland agrees to an armistice with the Soviet Union and demands a withdrawal of German troops.:3:
Brussels liberated by British Second Army whileLyon is liberated by French and American troops.:5: Antwerp is liberated by British 11th Armoured Division.:5: The uprising in Warsaw continues; Red Army forces are available for relief and reinforcement, but are apparently unable to move without Stalin's order.:6: The "blackout" is diminished to a "dim-out) as threat of invasion and further bombing seems an unlikely possibility.:6:Ghent and Liège are liberated by British troops.:8:Ostend is liberated by Canadian troops. :8: Soviet Union invades Bulgaria.:9: The first V-2 rocket lands on London.:9: De Gaulle forms provisional government in France, and Bulgaria makes peace with the USSR then declares war on Germany.:10: Luxembourg is liberated by U.S. First Army.:10: Two Allied forces meet at Dijon, cutting France in half.:10: First Allied troops enter Germany, entering Aachen, a city on the border.:10: Dutch railway workers go on strike. The German response results in theDutch famine of 1944 .:13: American troops reach the Siegfried line, the West wall of Germany's defence system.:15: American Marines land on Peleliu in thePalau Islands ; a bloody battle of attrition continues for two and a half months.:16: The Red Army enters Sofia, Bulgaria and also opens a huge offensive in the Baltic states.:17:Operation Market Garden , the attempted liberation ofArnhem and turning of the German flank begins.:18: Brest, France, an important Channel port, falls to the Allies.:19:Nancy liberated by U.S. First Army; Armistice is signed between the Soviet Union and Finland.:21: British forces take Rimini, Italy.:21: The Second Dumbarton Oaks Conference begins: it will set guidelines for the United Nations.:22: The Red Army takes Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.:22: The Germans surrender at Boulogne.:23: Americans take Ulithi atoll in the Carolina Islands; it is a massive atoll that will later become an important naval base.:24: The Red Army is well into Poland at this time.:25: British troops pull out of Arnhem with failure of Operation Market Garden. Over 6,000 paratroopers are captured. Hopes of an early end to the war are abandoned.:26: There are signs of civil war in Greece as the Communist-controlled National Liberation Front and the British-backed government seem irreconcilable.:30: German garrison in
Calais surrenders to Canadian troops. At one time, Hitler thought it would be the focus of the cross-Channel invasion.October 1944
1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">1|#3d4a67} 1px; margin: 1px;">:3: The Dekemvriana ("December events") begin in the Greek capital, Athens, between members of the leftist National Liberation Front and government forces, backed by the British. The clashes are limited to Athens however, and the rest of the country remains relatively tranquil.:3: TheBritish Home Guard is stood down.:5: The Allies are now in control of Ravenna, Italy.:8: The softening up bombardment of Iwo Jima begins.:15: Americans and Filipinos land troops at Mindoro, the Philippines.:15: TheBattle of the Bulge begins as German forces attempt a breakthrough in the Ardennes region. The main object of Hitler's plan is the taking of Antwerp.:17: A typhoon hits the Third Fleet of Admiral Halsey; three destroyers capsize.:17: TheMalmedy massacre : SS troops execute 86 American prisoners in the Ardennes offensive. The SS troops are led by SS commander Jochen Peiper.:18:Bastogne , an important crossroads, is surrounded.:20: General McAuliff's famous message of "Nuts" is sent to German officers at Bastogne demanding surrender.:22: The battle for Bastogne is at its height, with Americans running low on ammunition.:23: The skies clear over the Ardennes, permitting Allied aircraft to begin their attacks on the German offensive, the one factor that Hitler feared in his planning.:24: The American counter-attack at the "Bulge" begins.:24: The Belgian transport ship S.S. Leopoldville is sunk off the coast of France. More than 800 lives, predominantly those of American servicemen, are lost.:26: The siege of Bastogne is broken, and with it the Ardennes offensive proves a failure.:28: Churchill and his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden are in Athens in an attempt to reconcile the warring factions. :29: Soviets launch theBattle of Budapest against German and Hungarian forces in and around the Hungarian capital city.:31: Hungary, now led by a Soviet-controlled government, declares war on Germany.ee also
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Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II External links
* [http://www.timelineforworldwar2.com Timeline For World War 2]
* [http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm Timeline of WWII]
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/ww2.htm Documents of World War II]
* [http://wwiiarchives.net/servlet/timeline.html World War II Timeline]
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