August 1944 Explained
The following events occurred in August 1944:
August 2, 1944 (Wednesday)
- The Germans launched 316 V-1 flying bombs at London, the highest single-day total yet. Over 100 reached the capital, hitting Tower Bridge and doing great damage to the armament factories on the outskirts.[2]
- The primary stage of the Lublin–Brest Offensive concluded with Soviet objectives met.
- Turkey broke off diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany.[3]
- The American destroyer escort Fiske was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-804.
- SS authorities in Auschwitz-Birkenau murdered the last residents (just under 3,000) of the so-called Gypsy family camp.[4]
- Born: Jim Capaldi, drummer, singer, songwriter and co-founder of the rock band Traffic, in Evesham, England (d. 2005)
- Died: Kakuji Kakuta, 53, Japanese admiral (probable suicide on Tinian)
August 3, 1944 (Thursday)
- German forces retreated from Florence after blowing up the city's medieval bridges overnight to effectively cut the city in two. Only the Ponte Vecchio was spared.[6]
- Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim became 6th President of Finland after Risto Ryti resigned.
- German submarine U-671 was sunk by British warships in the English Channel.
- The Japanese destroyer Matsu was shelled and sunk northwest of Chichijima by American warships.
- In Amsterdam, the family of Anne Frank was discovered, seized and deported by the Nazis.[7]
- Born:
- Jonas Falk, actor, in Örgryte, Sweden (d. 2010)
- Richard Belzer, stand-up comedian and actor, in Bridgeport, Connecticut (d. 2023)[8]
- William Frankfather, actor, in Kermit, Texas (d. 1998)
- Orhan Gencebay, musician, in Samsun, Turkey
- Died: Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, 23, Polish poet and Home Army soldier (killed in action)
August 5, 1944 (Saturday)
- The Cowra breakout occurred when over 1,100 Japanese prisoners of war attempted to escape from a POW camp near Cowra in New South Wales, Australia. Four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese were killed, but hundreds managed to escape although they would all be recaptured within ten days.
- The four-day Wola massacre began when German troops and collaborationist forces started systematically killing between 40,000 and 50,000 people in the Wola district of Warsaw during the Uprising.
- More than 300 Jewish refugees perished when the Turkish motor schooner Mefküre was sunk in the Black Sea by shellfire from the Soviet submarine Shch-215.
- "Swinging on a Star" by Bing Crosby went to #1 on the Billboard singles charts.
August 9, 1944 (Wednesday)
The Allies captured Florence.
The Waffen-SS and Black Brigades paramilitaries murdered about 560 civilians and refugees (including more than 100 children) in the Italian village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, burned their bodies, and left their houses semi-derelict.[12]
The world's first undersea oil pipeline was laid between England and France.
- The Osovets Offensive officially ended with the completion of Soviet objectives.
- Canadian and Polish troops began Operation Tractable, the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy.
- The Fort Lawton Riot began at Fort Lawton in Seattle. An Italian prisoner of war was killed during a violent conflict between American soldiers and Italian POWs.
- German submarine U-618 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by British ships and aircraft.
- In the Pacific, the Battle of Biak ended in Allied victory.
- During the Battle of the Falaise Pocket, the First Canadian Army captured the ruined town of Falaise itself.[18] [19]
- VIII Corps of the Third United States Army took Saint-Malo when the German-held fortress there surrendered after enduring two weeks of bombing and shelling.[20]
- Two Soviet infantry battalions under Georgy Gubkin and Pavel Yurgin reached part of the River Scheshule. Some of them were sent to raise the Red Flag on the other bank, with Sergeant Alexander Belov doing the actual raising; the Soviets had now crossed into East Prussia and thus Germany proper.[21]
- The Battle for Paris began. Resistance fighters in the capital became confident enough to begin making sniper attacks on nervous German troops.[23]
- Operation Bagration ended in a Soviet victory.
- The battle for Hill 262 began during the final stages of the Normandy Campaign.
- The American "wolfpack" submarine attack on Japanese convoy Hi-71 in the South China Sea continued for a second day. Troopship Teia Maru (formerly the French ocean liner Aramis) was torpedoed and sunk by Rasher and Redfish, the landing craft depot ship Tamatsu Maru was sunk by Spadefish with the loss of some 4,890 lives, and fleet oiler Hayasui was torpedoed and sunk by Bluefish.
- German submarines U-123 and U-466 were scuttled at Lorient and Toulon, respectively.
- A referendum was held in Australia asking whether the public approved of an alteration to the Constitution granting the federal government additional power to legislate on a wide variety of matters for a period of five years. 54% voted against the proposal.
- Private Nikolay Alekseevich Ignatiev (Russian: "Игнатьев Николай Алексеевич") was awarded the medal "For Courage" (За отвагу/Za Otvagu) for his actions on the last day of Operation Bagration
- Born: Bodil Malmsten, poet and novelist, in Bjärme, Sweden (d. 2016)
- Died: Günther von Kluge, 61, German field marshal (suicide); Henry Wood, 75, English conductor
King Michael I of Romania led a coup that overthrew the pro-Axis government of Ion Antonescu. Constantin Sănătescu became the new prime minister.
- The Battle of Audierne Bay was fought between German and Allied naval flotillas. The result was an Allied victory as eight German ships were sunk.
- Italian partisans captured Baceno, a mountain stronghold on the border with Switzerland.
- The Japanese destroyer Asakaze was torpedoed and sunk in Paluan Bay by the submarine USS Haddo.
- German submarine U-180 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay, either by a mine or a technical malfunction.
- Born: Saira Banu, Bollywood actress, in Mussoorie, British India
- Died: Abdülmecid II, 76, last Caliph of Islam from the Ottoman Dynasty; Nikolai Roslavets, 63, Ukrainian composer
- Germany enacted full mobilization. Theaters were closed, holidays were cancelled and military leave was halted.[28]
- Liberation of Paris
Forces of Free France were the first of the Allies to enter Paris, in the evening.
124 residents of the French commune of Maillé, Indre-et-Loire were massacred by the Germans in reprisals for activities by the French Resistance.
- The Red Ball Express truck convoy system began operation to supply Allied forces in France.
- French and American troops liberated Avignon without opposition.[31]
- The British Eighth Army in Italy began Operation Olive, an assault on the eastern end of the Gothic Line.[32]
- German submarines U-18 and U-24 were scuttled at Constanța while U-178 was scuttled at Bordeaux.
- U-667 struck a mine and sank in the Bay of Biscay.
- German destroyer Z24 was bombed and sunk by Allied aircraft off Le Verdon-sur-Mer.
- Japanese destroyer Yūnagi was torpedoed and sunk northeast of Cape Bojeador, Luzon by American submarine Picuda.
- German submarine U-1000 struck a naval mine off Pillau and was rendered unserviceable.
- British Commandos carried out Operation Rumford, an overnight raid on the French Île d'Yeu. When they got there they discovered the Germans had already withdrawn.
- Versailles is liberated by General Leclerc's troops.
Six American airmen were lynched and killed by townspeople of Rüsselsheim am Main.
Notes and References
- Book: 1989 . Mercer . Derrik . Chronicle of the 20th Century . London . Chronicle Communications Ltd. . 607 . 978-0-582-03919-3 .
- Book: Davidson . Edward . Manning . Dale . 1999 . Chronology of World War Two . London . Cassell & Co. . 206 . 0-304-35309-4 .
- Book: Weisband, Edward . 1973 . Turkish Foreign Policy, 1943–1945: Small State Diplomacy and Great Power Politics . Princeton University Press . 272 . 978-1-4008-7261-9 .
- Web site: Auschwitz: Chronology . . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: Was war am 3. August 1944 . chroniknet . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: The night the bridges came falling down . Pirro . Deirdre . February 8, 2007 . The Florentine . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: 1944 . MusicAndHistory . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: Richard Belzer Dead: The Actor and Comedian Was 78 . .
- Web site: Pacific Strategy Conference . Chen . C. Peter . World War II Database . March 1, 2016.
- Web site: 1944: Key Dates . . March 1, 2016.
- Web site: War Diary for Friday, 11 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .
- Book: Claudia. Buratti. Giovanni. Cipollini. Vite bruciate: La strage di Sant'Anna di Stazzema 1944–2005. Rome. 2006.
- Web site: War Diary for Sunday, 13 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .
- Book: Contemporary Fashion. St. James Press. 2002. 9781558623484. 228.
- Book: That's Bulgaria. Sedem Dni Podkrepa. 1994. 27.
- Web site: La libération de Chartres (Août 1944) . Chartres.fr . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: Chronology 1944 . 2002 . indiana.edu . March 1, 2016 . June 15, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130615123043/http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1944.htm . dead .
- Web site: War Diary for Thursday, 17 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016.
- Davidson and Manning, p. 208.
- Web site: A Shattered City - 'Festung St Malo' - Surrenders . World War II Today . March 1, 2016.
- World War Two. “Week 260 - Hitler Has a Bad Day - WW2 - August 19 - 1944.” YouTube, 19 Aug. 2023, https://youtube.com/watch?v=80kk1u4bJhU?&t=1374.
- Web site: 1944 . World War II Database . March 1, 2016 .
- Davidson and Manning, p. 209.
- Book: Argyle, Christopher . 1980 . Chronology of World War II . Exeter Books . 34 . 978-0-89673-071-7 . registration .
- Poland Alone, Jonathan Walker, page 241
- Web site: War Diary for Monday, 21 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: War Diary for Tuesday, 22 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: War Diary for Thursday, 24 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .
- Book: Bruge, Roger. 1994. 1944 – Le temps des Massacres: Les crimes de la Gestapo et de la 51e Brigade SS. Albin Michel. 2-226-06966-6.
- Web site: 25 August 1944 - Speech at the Hotel de Ville in Paris . Charles-de-Gaulle.com . March 1, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306153822/http://www.charles-de-gaulle.com/l-homme-du-verbe/speeches/25-august-1944-speech-at-the-hotel-de-ville-in-paris.html . 6 March 2016 . dead . dmy-all .
- Web site: The Gistory of Avignon . Avignon-et-Provence.com . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: Gothic Line Offensive . Chen . C. Peter . World War II Database . March 1, 2016 .
- Book: Yenne, Bill . 2004 . Operation Cobra and the Great Offensive: Sixty Days That Changed the Course of World War II . Pocket Books . 978-1-4516-0421-4 .
- Web site: War Diary for Sunday, 27 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: Conflict Timeline, August 25-September 3 1944 . OnWar.com . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: Chronomedia: 1944 . Terra Media . March 1, 2016 .
- Web site: War Diary for Wednesday, 30 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .
- Ent, Uzal W. "Ploesti." War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia. Ed. Richard C. Hall. ABC-CLIO, 2014. p. 231. .
- Web site: War Diary for Thursday, 31 August 1944 . Stone & Stone Second World War Books . March 1, 2016 .