Wednesday, August 16, 1944. Closing the Falaise Pocket.

American armor rolls into the town of Dreux, France, as the Americans continue their rapid advance for Paris. The smoke of battle hangs low and the road is strewn with wrecked German armor. 16 August, 1944.

US forces entered Chartres.  US forces also advanced towards Argentan and Alençon, in pursuit of the German forces fleeing the Falaise pocket.  Falaise itself was liberated by the Canadians.   Montgomery attempted to close the  Falaise pocket with an attack from Trun, which Bradley believes to be too late.  Polish troops in the British 1st Corps crossed over the Dives.

Pfc. Ciro B. Iadavaio, Brooklyn, N.Y., and T/4 Ira W. Myer, Louisville, Kentucky, of the crew of the hospital ship "Marigold" getting their first printed news of the invasion on the southern coast of France as nurses from the 93rd Evacuation Hospital load aboard to be taken to the new invasion front. 16 August, 1944. Naples, Italy.

The French 2nd Corps landed in southern France.

Walter Model replaced Günther von Kluge as Oberbefehlshaber West.

The Wehrmacht launched Operation Doppelkopf as a counteroffensive in the East.

The Red Army reached Ossow outside of Moscow, but had to withdraw under a German counterattack.

The Battle of Studzianki ended in a victory for Polish and Soviet forces.

The Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou ( 桂柳會戰) commenced between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Nationalist Chinese.

The US froze Argentine gold assets in the US due to failure to cooperate against the Axis.

Cheyenne experienced record railroad traffic due to war transportation of troops. (Wyoming State Historical Society calendar).

Last edition:

August 15, 1944. Operation Dragoon. The added invasion of France

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Port Cros, boats and ships, Canadian Army, Commandos, France, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Operation Dragoon, Operation Overlord, U.S. Navy, Women, World War Two