Air Operations, Bismarcks

• In support of a US Army ground offensive, 18 V Bomber Command B-24s and 20 B-25s attack Japanese Army ground forces around Arawe with 136 1,000-pound bombs.
• Japanese Army ground forces around Cape Gloucester break contact with the US 1st Marine Division and begin withdrawing eastward.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 14 Air Force P-40s attack Pingkai and nearby targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, East Indies

Several 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Amboina Island.

Air Operations, Europe

B-17s attack the Messerschmitt factory at Klagenfurt, Austria.

• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack a marshalling yard and rail lines at Terni.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack a marshalling yard and bridge at Orte.
• XII Air Support Command A-20s attack Atina.
• XII Air Support Command A-36s attack rail lines, rail junctions, and several towns in and around the battle area.
• XII Air Support Command p-40s attack gun emplacements in and around Cassino and several other frontline towns.
• 33rd Fighter Group P-40s down 1 FW-190 in a morning clash over Anzio.
• 31st Fighter Group Spitfires down 3 Bf-109s and damage several others near Cassino at 1030 hours.

• 61 15th Air Force B-17s damage the Bf-109 components factory at Klagenfurt. 2 Bf-109s are and 2 more are probables by 14th Fighter Group P-38s at 1150 hours.
• 3 P-38s are lost.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack the landing ground at Osoppo.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack the Villaorba Airdrome.

Air Operations, Marshalls

• 25 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron A-24s, 16 46th Fighter Squadron P-39 fighter-bombers, and 45th Fighter Squadron P-40 fighter-bombers attack antiaircraft batteries and barracks in the Mille Atoll. 2 P-39s are lost.
• P-39s with the 15th Fighter Group�s 46th Fighter Squadron down 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers over the Mille Atoll at 0600 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 5th Air Force B-25s, A-20s, and P-40s attack Bogadjim, Erima, and Madang. V Fighter Command P-39s strafe the area between Bogadjim and Sio. V Bomber Command B-25s attack coastal targets.
• P-40s with the 8th Fighter Group�s 35th Fighter Squadron down a D3A 'Val' dive bomer and 17 Japanese fighters near Saidor at 1030 hours.

Allied Command

Gen Eisenhower formally assumes his duties as Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-544 is sunk by aircraft (VC-13) from the US escort carrier Guadalcanal (CVE-60) in the mid-Atlantic area.

U-544

Bougainville

The last elements of the 3rd Marine Division are replaced by the Americal Division, giving the army complete contorlof the defensive perimeter formed on the western side of the island. On the eastern side are still tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers, battered by American air power, but still capable of offensive action.

Burma

Units of the Chinese 38th Div cross the Sanip River, but are held up by an enemy strongpoint near the confluence of the Tanai and Tarung Rivers. The Chinese 112th Regt seizes Gum Ga and advances as far as Warang, where it halts.

China

Chiang Kai-shek, in reply to the recent message from Roosevelt, threatens to cut off supplies from the American forces in China and to turn them out of their quarters with effect from March 1, 1944 unless the United States grant China a credit of a thousand million dollars. This blackmail arouses violent criticism in Washington. Adm Mountbatten suggest that the Chinese army in India should be put under command of the British, but Gen Stilwell refuses the offer, preferring to retain operational control of such large units himself.

Eastern Front

The Soviets break through in their attacks just north of Velikiye Luki. While the chief thrust of the Russian offensive is in the north, south of Leningrad, in the central sector the Red Army deepens the Sarny salient beyond the pre-war Polish frontier.

The 42nd and 67th Armies are bogged down in heavy fighting in the GeErman trenches south of Leningrad.

The 3rd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts call off their attacks against Hollidt's 6th Army. The Soviets have suffered extremely heavy casualties because the 6th Army had constructed a string of strong defenses in the Dniepr elbow. The Stavka decides instead to reinforce and regroup both fronts prior to the next phase of the attack.

New Britain

Two companies of Japanese infantry attack to regain Hill 660, but are met with mortar and artillery fire. Over 110 Japanese are killed in the attack, and other infiltration-type attack are also repulsed. The Japanese retreat toward Talasea and Hoskins Plantation. The marines have accomplished the near-impossible--attacking and defeating an enemy in prepared positions in some of the most challenging terrain in the world and in atrocious weather conditions.

5th Air Force B-24s and B-25s attack Japanese positions near Arawe. The 2nd Battalion, 158th Infantry, supported by marine tanks, attack the Japanese positions on Arawe. The tanks bog down in the soft ground as the infantry advances. The Japanese are forced to retreat and the 158th returns to its own lines. Two of the tnaks have to be destroyed in place because they are so badly mired in the mud. American casualties in the attack are 20 killed and 40 wounded.

New Guinea

Australian forces take over the Finisterre range in the north of the Huon Peninsula.

Pacific

• The US submarine Blackfish (SS-221) attacks a Japanese convoy about 275 miles southwest of Truk and sinks the transport Kaika Maru (2087t).
• The US submarine Seahorse (SS-304) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Nikko Maru (734t) southeast of the Marianas.
• The US submarine Swordfish (SS-193) sinks the Japanese gunboat Delhi Maru (2182t) off Honshu.
• The US submarine Whale (SS-239) attacks a Japanese convoy about 400 miles southeast of Okinawa and sinks the army cargo ship Denmark Maru (5870t) and the transport Tarushima Maru (4865t).

Images from January 16, 1944

German Prisoners of War in Italy

Soldier Being Rescued in Italy

Placing Flowers on a Grave

Evacuating French Casualties

Soldiers in Bomb-damaged Town in Italy

Inspecting the Atlantic Wall