Air Operations, Bismarcks

• AirSols SBDs, escorted by many AirSols fighters, attack Rabaul's Tobera airfield. 17 XIII Bomber Command B-24s, escorted by many AirSols fighters, attack the Vunakanau airfield at Rabaul.
• A 348th Fighter Group P-47 downs a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter near Cape Gloucester at 0900 hours. VF-17 F4Us down 3 A6M Zeros over the Rabaul area between 1030 and 1100 hours. VMF-215 F4Us down 8 Zeros and 'Tonys' in the Rabaul area at 1040 hours.

Air Operations, CBI

• 16 14th Air Force P-40s and 4 P-51s attack rail bridges at Kienchang and Puchi and warehouses at Teian.
• A lone 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25 sweeping the Yangtze River near Siangkow scores direct bomb hits on at least 3 river freighters and a tanker.

• 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a powerplant at Thanh Hoa and a barracks and radio station at Vinh.

Air Operations, East Indies

14 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Lautem, (Timor) and Amboina Island.

Air Operations, Europe

200 Soviet aircraft bomb Helsinki targetting the airfield.

• 17 Mosquitos are sent to Frankfurt, 8 to Elberfeld, 5 to Krefeld, 2 to Aachen and 1 to Mannheim, and there are 4 Serrate patrols.
• There are no losses.

The King and Queen at Bomber Command HQ

• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack a marshalling yard at Viterbo and support a withdrawal by US Army troops in the face of a massive German Army counteroffensive around Anzio.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack bridge approaches.
• XII Air Support Command A-20s attack Piedimonte and the railroad station and road junction at Campoleone.

• XII Air Support Command A-36s provide direct support for US Army ground forces and attack several rail targets.
• XII Air Support Command P-40s attack numerous tactical targets in the Anzio and Cassino battle areas.
• 12 Air Force fighter pilots down 20 Luftwaffe aircraft over central and northern Italy in at least seven separate engagements between 0810 and 2245 hours.

Air Operations, Marshalls

Task Group 58.4 carrier aircraft continue to pound targets in the Eniwetok Atoll. 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Maloelap and Wotje atolls. 15th Fighter Group P-40 fighter-bombers attack supply dumps in the Jaluit Atoll.

Atlantic

Over the next week the British submarine Taku sinks 3 ships in convoys off Stavanger.

Battle of the Atlantic

The first of the German Schnorkel submarines begin operating in the North Atlantic.

China

Another message from Pres Roosevelt to Chiang Kai-shek about the American loan to China. The General expects, in Chinese money, the sums required from the pay and maintenance of US military personnel in China for the next 3 months, plus another 500 million Chinese dollars for the construction of Cheng-tu airfields, west of Chungking, as a base for B-29 'Superfortresses'. The US 14th Air Force, under the command of Gen Claire Chennault, is operating from Liuchow, Kweilin, Lingling, Hengyang and Chihkiang airports, in southeast China, inflicting serious damage on Japanese maritime traffic and military installations in China and Formosa.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 3rd Ukraine Front reach the outskirts of Nikopol, an important center for manganese production. Hitler has agreed to allow the troops in the Korsun pocket to try and break out. Gen Wilhelm Stemmermann therefore pulls out of Gorodische and Yanovka to concentrate his forces.

Nikopol falls to the combined attacks of the 6th Army and 3rd Guards Army. Hollidt begins to abandon the Dniepr bend but remains in danger of isolation as the 8th Guards and 46th Armies penetrate his rear. Hitler agrees to a break out by Group Stemmerman from the Korsun pocket. With this authorization, Stemmerman quickens the pace of the withdrawal, Gorodische and Yanovka being given up to the Russians as the pocket contracts.

Italy

At Anzio, the German attacks against the British 1st Div are renewed. The objective is now Aprilia village and 'The Factory' nearby. During the night in the southern sector of the 'Gustav' Line, the British X Corps puts in a limited attack toward Monte Faito in a vain attempt to seize the mountains bahind Castelforte nad open the road to the Liri valley. The British 56th Div and the US 45th Div have now arrived at Anzio.

Marshalls

The US forces complete the mopping of the last pockets of Japanese resistance on the Kwajalein Atoll. Various small groups have been found and wiped out. The Japanese lose 11,612 soldiers during the 8-day battle in the Marshall Islands. The Americans prepare for the occupation of Eniwetok, the most westward atoll of the Marshalls, in the direction of the Caroline Islands.

Images from February 7, 1944

US Soldier Feeds Italian Children

Italian Refugees in Vallerotonda, Italy

German POWs Entering a Landing Ship, Tank

Used for Target Practice

US Tank in Italy

Mobile Control Tower-Signal Trailer

Lt-Gen Devers at an Advance Observation Post

Italian Refugees in Cassino

Giving Cigarettes to Italian Refugees

US Tank Moving toward an Assembly Point

American Hospital at Anzio

Personnel Contemplating the Bomb Damage to Hospital