German forces escaped the Korsun Pocket but abandoned most of their heavy equipment, ending the Battle of Korsun-Cherkassy.
35,000 troops out of the original 56,000 escaped. General Stemmerman was killed in the breakout. Six German divisions were rendered combat ineffective.
While the bulk of the German forces escaped, their evacuation is not regarded as particularly triumphal, given that these formations were basically destroyed.
At Anzio the German counterattacks continued, with the Germans nearly breaking through the 45th Infantry Division. The HMS Penelope was damaged offshore by a torpedo attack. A British counterattack briefly takes Point 593, but the Germans retake it. On this day, therefore, the Germans nearly prevailed in pushing the Allies back into the sea.
Soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division preparing to leave Enubuj Island for another small island, February 17, 19.
US forces land on Eniwetok Atoll on islets near Engebi, commencing the Battle of Eniwetok.
The U.S. Navy launched a massive areal offensive against the Japanese at Truk Lagoon in Operation Hailstorm. Japanese losses would be massive.
Japanese shipping under air attack at Dublon Island, February 17, 1944.
U.S. destroyers bombarded the Japanese at Rabaul and Kavieng in a nighttime raid in what is known as the Battle of Karavia Bay.
Today in World War II History—February 3, 1944: 80 Years Ago—Feb. 3, 1944: In Italy, New Zealand Corps is formed under Lt.-Gen. Sir Bernard Freyberg, over New Zealand 2nd Division and Indian 4th Division.
Freyberg was born in the United Kingdom but raised in New Zealand. He was a championship swimmer when young, and was licensed as a dentist in New Zealand in 1911. He left New Zealand in 1914 to join the Villista's, and served as a Captain in those forces. He left the fighting in Mexico, however, in August of that year upon learning that World War One had broken out, taking time to win a swimming championship in Los Angeles, and having earned passage to the UK by boxing. He served first in a ground unit of the Royal Navy, and then transferred to the British Army. He remained in the British Army between the wars.
A controversial general outside of British circles, he's somewhat emblematic of the British Army of the period in that his nationality was pretty fluid, but always British. He was appointed Governor General of New Zealand after World War Two, and passed away in 1963.
German POW's, Anzio. February 3, 1944. Note the mixed uniforms, and also that some of these men are wearing camouflage smocks. German POWs at this stage of the war often look very bitter about having been captured.
The Germans sealed off the Anzio beachhead.
Eniwetok, February 3, 1944.
The U.S. prevailed at Kwajalein. Task Group 58 raided Eniwetok. US forces landed on Burton Island.
Soldier's of the 7th Infantry Division moving a light artillery piece on Kwajalein. Note the mid to late war characteristic baggy clothing of the US Army, with cargo pockets appearing.
75mm Pack howitzer on Kwajalein.
Bangalore torpedo team, 7th Infantry Division, Kwajalein. February 3, 1944.
The Red Army encircled the Germans at the Korsun Pocket, where Hitler, on the same day, ordered them not to retreat. Manstein organized an armored force with the goal of relieving the pocket.
Off of the Solomon's, the Japanese sank the U.S. Navy light cruiser Juneau, which took 687 men with it, including five brothers of the Irish Catholic Sullivan family of Iowa.
The Sullivans.
It's commonly asserted that after this the U.S. military would not allow siblings to serve together, but in fact many siblings were already serving together in combat in North Africa as members of Federalized National Guard units. Entire towns would end up loosing huge numbers of their male citizens in the combat actions to come. There was a policy change, which relieved a sole survivor from military service, but it did not come until 1943, and was partially due to the deaths of the Borgstrom brothers of Utah as well. Indeed, the Navy already had a policy precluding siblings from serving on the same vessel, but they did not actively enforce it.
A sister of the Sullivan brothers remained in Navy service. Indeed, their enlistment in the Navy, or in once case a reenlistment, was to avenge the death of her boyfriend, who died at Peal Harbor.
The Sullivan family was not informed of the death of their sons until 1943, at which time their father was informed of all of their deaths at one time. The Navy would commission a ship in their honor during the war, and oddly enough, one of the sons of the one of the men lost would later serve as a post-war officer aboard it. That ship has been decommissioned, but a second The Sullivans was commissioned to take its place.
The current The Sullivans.
The tragic story was also made into a patriotic movie during the war itself, which was released in 1944.
The Sullivan story was the inspiration for the film Saving Private Ryan, although it's obviously in a much different setting.
The Renunciation Act of 1944 made it possible for a US citizen to renounce their citizenship during time of war by applying to the US Attorney General. The hope was that interned Japanese Americans would do so, so that they could be deported to Japan.
It's doubtful that many would have ever exercised that option, but it should be noted that by this time of the war, the news was dealing with American advances in the Pacific nearly daily. Hard fighting was occurring, but the Japanese were losing and that was fairly obvious. Internees had full access to the news and to the extent that this tempted anyone, that surely would have reduced that desire.
Australian lumberjacks, February 3, 1944. New South Wales.
The Red Army commenced the Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive on the Leningrad Front.
Kingisepp was taken on the first day.
The French Forces of the Interior (FFI), uniting all French Resistance movements, was formed.
Clothing restrictions were lifted in the United Kingdom.
"The butcher of Warsaw", Austrian Nazi SS-Brigadeführer Franz Kutschera, age 39, was assassinated by the Polish Home Army. He was a figure in the repression of the region and was noted for his extreme harshness. The Poles had subjected him to a trial in absentia, and carried out the operation once his location in Poland was learned. 300 Poles were executed as a reprisal for his assassination.
He left behind a pregnant Norwegian girlfriend, Jane Lilian Gjertsdatter Steen, who was subsequently "posthumously married" to him, in a pagan ceremony. Posthumous marriages had been introduced by Hitler during the war to legitimize the offspring of German soldiers under these circumstances. She had been serving as a German Army nurse and remarried after the war and lived in Norway, in spite of the feelings of post-war Norwegians towards those who had sympathized with the Nazis. Their son, Sepp Kutschera, became a notable mountain climber.
She had several more children by her second, Norwegian, husband.
Sarah Sundin notes:
Today in World War II History—February 1, 1944: Allied leaders issue Neptune Initial Joint Plan for D-day, including a 5-division front. US Marines land on Roi & Namur in Kwajalein Atoll in Marshall Islands.
Japanese fuel dump burning on Eniwetok, February 1, 1944.
The Umikaze was sunk off of Truk by the USS Guardfish.
The Bolu–Gerede earthquake killed nearly 4,000 people in northern Turkey.
The entry above was obviously written while Enzi was still living. He died, after a bicycle accident, in 2021, shortly after his retirement.
Enzi was a really decent guy who liked to work behind the scene in Wyoming's politics. He was never flashy, he was highly intelligent, and he did not tend to be controversial. He frankly is one of the politicians who would not fit in well into today's' GOP.
Enzi's term as Senator may have ironically, in retrospect, have been extended by Liz Cheney, who assumed he was retiring earlier than he intended to, and therefore ran briefly against him in 2014. At least by appearances, when Cynthia Lummis ran to replace him, Cheney was still considering a Senatorial run in 2020 when Lummis announced, seemingly causing some animosity between them. Had Cheney announced first, she might well be our Senator now, as it would be less likely that she would have been defeated in 2020, and Tim Stubson would have been our Congressman going into that election.
The Battle of Kwajalein commenced with landings by the 4th Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division under the command of Marine Corps General Holland "Howlin Mad" Smith, an acknowledged expert on amphibious warfare that some have called the "father of amphibious warfare".
Smith went to Auburn University, graduating in 1901, but his goal was to become an Army officer. He was already a cavalry 1st Sergeant in the Alabama National Guard. Nonetheless, following his undergraduate degree, he went to law school and obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (JD's were not yet common) from the University of Alabama. He thereafter practiced law in Montgomery, Alabama for a year.
Apparently he had second thoughts about that and determined to revive his interest in joining the Army. He sought a commission, but none were available, so he instead obtained one from the Marine Corps, entering the Corps on March 20, 1905. He'd later claim not to have known of the existence of the Marine Corps until the Army recruiter told them they were not accepting applicants, and referred him to the Marine recruiter down the block, although that's almost certain false. The Marines were well known by 1905, and as he was seeking entry through a direct commission, an application process would have existed, rather than simply joining.
His first assignment as a Marine was in the Philippines. He first saw action in 1916 in the Dominican Republic. He was deployed to France in World War One in June 1917. He was awarded the Purple Heart for service in the Great War, for merit, something that was not done after World War One. During World War Two, he became instrumental in training both Marine and Army units in amphibious operations.
Smith, during World War Two, tended not to plan for disengagement of his forces once they were committed, something the Army regarded as foolhardy but which reflected the reality of amphibious operations. The "no plan for retreat" ethos, however, crept into the Marine Corps as a result, and was evidenced in it long after.
He retired in 1946, and lived until 1967, dying at age 84. His wife had already passed, but he was survived by a son, Rear Admiral John V. Smith, a 1934 Naval Academy graduate.
Sarah Sundin's entry on this event:
Today in World War II History—January 31, 1944: US Army and Marines land on Kwajalein & Majuro in the Marshall Islands, with the first use of the DUKW amphibious vehicle in the Pacific .
The Allies took Majuro in the Marshall's.
U.S. ships at Majuro.
The landing force had expected opposition, but the Japanese had withdrawn to Kwajalein and Eniwetok, leaving a single warrant officer as a caretaker in what must have been an anxiety filled roll. He was captured, and along with him, one of the largest anchorages in the Pacific.
The U-592 was sunk by three Royal Navy sloops. All hands were lost.
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