Chronology of World War II

January 1944

Saturday, January 8

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Fighter Command B-25s and A-20s attack Japanese Army ground positions near Arawe and fighters strafe a sawmill in the Cape Gloucester area.

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Air Operations, CBI

BURMA

20 311th Fighter Group A-36s and P-51s attack a bridge near Hopin and numerous rail targets at Tigyaingza.

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Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Kendari (Celebes) and nearby targets.

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Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Evening Ops:

10 Mosquitos are sent to Frankfurt, 8 to Solingen, 3 to Aachen and 2 to Dortmund.

2 Mosquitos are lost.

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Air Operations, Marshalls

15 VII Bomber Command B-24s pass through Hawkins Field, Betio to attack the Jaluit, Maloelap, and Wotje atolls. 2 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack shipping and gun emplacements in the Jaluit Atoll.

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Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and B-26s attack Bogadjim and the Bogadjim road, Madang, and Uligan Harbor.

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Air Operations, Solomons

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Kahili. 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Japanese Army ground troops on small islands near Bougainville.
US surface warships bombard Japanese bases, including bypassed airbases, in the Shortland Islands.

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Battle of the Atlantic

Sunderland 'U' of No 10 Squadron RAAF sights a U-boat and begins an attack as the U-boat opens fire on the aircraft. The depth charges are not released on the first run, but six are released on the second run straddling the stern. U-426 lists to starboard and appears to sink by the stern.

U-426

Class	Type VIIC
CO	Kapitänleutnant Christian Reich
Location	Atlantic, NW of the Cape Ortegal
Cause	Air attack
Casualties	51
Survivors	None

U-757

Class	Type VIIC
CO	Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Deetz
Location	Atlantic, SW of the Cape Clear
Cause	Depth charge
Casualties	49
Survivors	None

During the passage of Convoy OS-64 U-757 is detected close to the outer screen. The U-boat endures eight attacks by the British frigate Bayntun, the Canadian corvettes Camrose, Snowberry and Edmundston before sinking.

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Britain, Command

ACM Sir Sholto Douglas is appointed C-in-C Coastal Command.

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CBI

The 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) is released from South East Asia Command (SEAC) control and transferred to Gen Stilwell's Northern Combat Area Command. Stilwell appoints Brig-Gen Frank D. Merrill as 5307th commander.

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Eastern Front

The Soviets retake Kirovgrad, another important road and rail junction, south of the great bend of the Dniepr. Further north the German Army Group Center launches a counteroffensive in the Zhlobin area, northwest of Gomel, on the Dniepr.

SOUTHERN SECTOR

After heavy fighting Kirovograd falls to the 5th Guards Tank Army, a reserve unit of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

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Italy

The 139th Bde of the 46th Div, British X Corps, takes Monte Cedro without meeting any resistance. In the Tyrrhenian sector, where the American II Corps is engaged, a task force surrounds and takes Height 1109.

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Italy, Politics

Over the next 4 days Mussolini's Italian Socialist Republic puts the 19 members of the Fascist Grand Council who overthrow him on trial at Verona. Only 6 of them are actually in custody, including Count Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law. Several are convicted in their absence.

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Solomons

An American task force of cruisers and destroyers commanded by Rear-Adm Walden L. Ainsworth shells Japanese coastal installations at Faisi and Poporan and in the Shortlands.

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United States, Planning

The operations division of the US War Dept asks for the Allies to maintain the initiative in Burma and China and for US Air Force effectives in this theater to be increased. Strengthening of the Far Eastern sector would help the American offensive by drawing off Japanese forces.

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United States, Preparations

The first flight of the Lockheed XP-80 Shooting Star jet fighter takes place at Muroc Dry Lake. 5,000 are ordered, but none become operational before V-J Day.

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