Tuesday, August 29, 1944. Marching in Paris, crossing the Foglia, the Slovaks rebell.

15,000 U.S. troops of the 28th Infantry division marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris.

The Battle of Marseille ended in an Allied victory.

The British 8th Army crossed the Foglia.

The Slovak National Uprising began.

At the time, with Romania having changed sides, the Red Army actually in East Prussia, and Hungary attempting to get out of the war, it looked as if the collapse of Germany was eminent.

It should be noted that the Warsaw Uprising was still going on.

The Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive and Šiauliai Offensive all ended in Soviet victories.  The Red Army took the Black Sea port of Constanta and the Romanian city of Buzau.

The Soviets rejected the Bulgarian proclamation of neutrality.

The British government proclaimed the Polish Home Army was a de jure belligerent force.  The US also did.

Operation Goodwood, the Royal Navy effort to sink the Tirptiz, concluded as a failure.

Dumbarton Oaks concluded.

Last edition:

Monday, August 28, 1944. Hungarians reconsider.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, British Broadcasting Corporation, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Lithuania, Operation Dragoon, Operation Overlord, Personalities, Southeast Asia, The Holocaust

Thursday, August 24, 1944. Paris Reached.

US tank crossing the Seine, August 24, 1944.

The French 4th Armored Division entered Paris in the evening.

Germany closed theaters, cancelled holidays and cancelled military leave.

The First Canadian Army captured Bernay and crossed the Risle River at Nassandres.

The 51st SS-Brigade murdered 68 civilians of all ages in Buchères, France.

The 7th Army took Cannes.

The German Army Group South Ukraine line collapses with the switch in sides of Romania.

The USS Harder was sunk in Dasol Bay by the Japanese.

The U-354 and U-445 were sunk by the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy unsuccessfully tried again for the Tirpitz.

IBM's Harvard Mark I electro-mechanical computer was formally presented to Harvard University.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 23, 1944. The Act of 23 August.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Act of 23 August, Allied Powers, Battle for Paris, Battle of Numfoor, Eastern Front, French Resistance Movements, Italian partisans, Monarchy, Operation Dragoon, Romania, World War Two

Tuesday, August 22, 1944. End of the German Navy in the Baltic, Strikes on the Tirpitz, Advances in France.

Two GIs of the 2nd Infantry Division operate a .30 caliber light machine gun from under the cover of low-hanging trees. They are firing at a hedgerow across a clearing. Near Vire, France. 22 August, 1944.

The 7th Army captured Grenoble.

Destroyed German field kitchen, with more in background, near Falaise.

German POWs, Falaise.

The Royal Navy began carrier raids against the Tirpitz in Operation Goodwood.  The HMS Nabob was hit by torpedoes from a German submarine, but was able to continue with limited operations.  The U-344 was sunk in the Barents Sea by Fairey Swordfish aircraft of 825 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm.  The frigate Bickerton was scuttled after being damaged by a torpedo strike.

Strikes against the Tirpitz were ineffective.

The Kriegsmarine ordered the evacuation of Constanta, Romania, a Black Sea port.  Ships were authorized to be scuttled.

The 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Jassy, Romania, while the 3d Ukrainian Front drove northward, making 50 miles in two days.

The Japanese government introduced female labor conscription for women aged 12 to 40.

Last edition:

Monday, August 21, 1944. Dumbarton Oaks.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Marseille, Canadian Army, Dunbarton Oaks, Falaise Pocket, Operation Tractable, Polish Army, United Nations

Saturday, July 22, 1944. Changes in governments.

Resing tank crewman, Normandy.  July 22, 1944.

We start today with some items Sarah Sundin has already noted in her blog:

Today in World War II History—July 22, 1944

Gen. Kuniaki Koiso became the Prime Minister of Japan, and SS glider troops landed in the Vecors region to address a Maquis uprising.

Operation Goodwood concludes near Caen with limited results, and the US began initial support operations for Operation Cobra.

The Moscow controlled Polish Committee of National Liberation was established in Chelm.

The Red Army closed the Brody Pocket in Ukraine, capturing 17,000 German troops.  The Red Army also took Panevezys, Lithuania.

The Red Army overran the Majdanek concentration camp, the first concentration camp to be liberated by Allied forces.

The first all fighter aircraft shuttle mission occurred with July 22, 1944 Italian based U.S. P-38 Lightning's and P-51 Mustangs of Fifteenth Air Force attacking German airfields at Bacau and Zilistea, Romania and flying on to  Soviet territory.

The Germans began cancelling the construction of new U-boats as well as the repair of existing ones.

Arrests continued due to the July 20, plot.

The Poles took Castelfiorentino and Tavernelle, Italy.

The USS Bailey shelled positions on Tinian.

The US Army Air Force raided Japanese positions in Shanghai.

Bretton Woods concluded.

Last edition:

Friday, July 21, 1944. Landings on Guam.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1944 Election, boats and ships, Free French, French Army, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Guam, Harry S. Truman, July 20 Plot, Operation Dragoon, Royal Navy, World War Two

Tuesday, July 18, 1944. Tojo out.

British armor, July 18, 1944.

Hideki Tojo was removed premier of Japan and resigned as Chief of Staff of the Army.

Gen. Kuniaki Koiso and Adm. Yonai were chosen to form a new cabinet.  Gen. Umezu became the Army Chief of Staff.

The Red Army launched the Lublin-Brest Offensive.

The British launched Operation Goodwood to expand out from Caen, making costly advances.  The action has, as one of its goals, keeping German forces committed against the British so they do not redeploy against US forces.

The US 19th Corps occupied Saint-Lô.  

The Polish 2nd Corps took Ancona, Italy.

Abandoned German tanks, Italy.

The U-672 was sunk by the HMS Balfour.

Last edition:

Monday, July 17, 1944. The Port Chicago Disaster

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Nietjärvi, Battle of Saint-Lô, Battle of Vuosalmi, Disaster, Erwin Rommel, Personalities, Port Chicago Explosion, Prisoners of War, Racism, Second Battle of Odon, U.S. Navy, World War Two