Air Operations, Bismarcks
Air Operations, CBIBURMA
Air Operations, Marshalls
Air Operations, New Guinea
BurmaFrom Taro units of the Chinese 22nd Div try to penetrate into the Hukawng valley. [ | ]ChinaPres Roosevelt tells Chiang Kai-shek that, while the question of a loan to China is still under discussion, from the beginning of March the United States will limit its monthly supply of aid to a value of 25 million dollars. [ | ]Diplomatic RelationsLiberia declares war on Germany and Japan. Argentina breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany and Japan following the discovery of a vast Axis spy network in the country. [ | ]Eastern FrontFighting in the northern sector continues from the Gulf of Finland to Lake Ilmen. In the Ukraine the battle of Korsun-Shevchenkosky also rages. NORTHERN SECTORThe 18th Army is pressed back upon Tosno and Lyuban by the 8th and 54th Armies. SOUTHERN SECTORThe 27th, 40th and 6th Tank Armies push in the direction of Zvenigorodka, striving to link up with the 5th Guards Tank Army as it advances upon Shpola. The 6th Tank Army has been committed from reserve to strengthen the northern prong of the pincer. [ | ]ItalyOn the 'Gustav' Line the 3rd Algerian Div, after taking Belvedere Hill, pushes on westwards and seizes Monte Abate. During the night the US 3rd Div launches another attack towards the Rapido River, and this time some units succeed and at last manages to establish a small bridgehead over the river a little north of Cassino. [ | ]Marshall IslandsUS B-25 bombers, escorted by fighters for the first time, carry out a raid on Maloelap and destroy a number of Japanese aircraft. [ | ]New BritainMore than 200 American fighters and bombers make a particularly heavy attack on Rabaul. Military installations are destroyed and many Japanese planes are shot down and the base is gradually becoming worthless. Since the beginning of the air offensive the US air force is reckoned to have brought down or destroyed on the ground a total of 863 enemy aircraft. At this point the second phase of the battle begins the destruction of Rabaul in conditions of complete impunity. For the Japanese base, from the point of view of the air offensive, has ceased to pose any threat to MacArthur's forces in the Solomons and New Guinea. The US lose PT-110 after a collision with PT-114 off New Britain. [ | ]New GuineaElements of the Japanese 18th Army, attempting to by-pass the beachhead at Saidor and reach Madang, come under heavy bombardment from US warships. Troops of the Australian 18th Brigade capture the Kankiryo Saddle, an important Japanese position crossing the western tip of the mountainous Finisterre range. This puts the Australians only 20 miles from the coast. [ | ]Pacific
Soviet Union, Home FrontThe Soviet forensic medical commission on the Katyn Massacre publishes its report. It blames the Germans. [ | ]United States, PlanningGen Claire Chennault, head of the US Air Force in China, submits to Pres Roosevelt a major plan for air action. First, to gain air supremacy in China, then an offensive against enemy maritime traffic; next attacks against major industrial targets in Japan; finally, offensives against enemy military installations in China, Formosa and Hainan. [ | ]Images from January 26, 1944
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[January 25th - January 27th] |