Today in World War II History—June 1, 1944: Countdown to D-day: BBC sends first coded message to warn French resistance of the coming invasion. US Fifth Army opens final offensive for Rome.
The coded message was taken from lines of Chanson d'automne and the Germans were aware of its meaning, but failed to respond to it.
The poem:
Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l'automne
Blessent mon cœur
D'une langueur
Monotone.
Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l'heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure;
Et je m'en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m'emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.
The British took Frosinone in Italy. They also dropped 60 men of the 2nd Parachute Brigade behind German lines in the Abruzzo region in order to interdict supply lines, which met with an oversized German response.
Allied advances caused Kesselring to order a withdrawal from Rome to defensive positions north of the city.
Adolf Hitler dissolved the Abwehr and transferred its functions to the Reich Security Main Office. This placed its duties under Heinrich Himmler.
German forces that were on the attack near Jassy were pushed back by counterattacks of the Red Army, which regained ground recently lost.
A German convoy bound to Crete from Greece was attacked from the air, losing several ships.
On Biak US forces began to gain ground with armored support, while around the Aitape beachhead US forces continued to fall back under heavy attack.
The USS Herring was sunk by Japanese coastal batteries on Matua Island, in the Kuril's.
Two U.S. Navy K-class blimps completed the first transatlantic crossing by non-rigid airframe, flying from the US to Morocco in 80 hours.
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