Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Fighter Command P-39s attack targets of opportunity throughout New Britain.

Air Operations, CBI

• 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack bridges at Budalin and Songon, and a Japanese Army defensive area at Badana. 1 B-25 and 16 10th Air Force A-36s and P-51s attack a Japanese Army bivouac at Mogaung. 1 B-25 attacks a Japanese Army bivouac at Kumnyen. 4 P-51s attack rail cars near Myitkyina.
• 25 ATC C-46s on temporary assignment with the EAC Troop Carrier Command mount the first emergency aerial resupply mission on behalf of British 14th Army ground forces surrounded and beseigned in the Arakan region. Escort is provided by RAF 3rd Tactical Air Force fighters. Such missions will be mounted through the rest of the month.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron, led by its new commanding officer Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, attack the Gnome & Rhone aero-engineering factory at Limoges, France. This is a very important raid. No 617 Squadron had been experiencing difficulty in finding a useful role after the Dams Raid nearly 9 months earlier. Low-level precision raids on targets in Germany had been too costly. High-level precision bombing on small targets in France and Belgium had been unsatisfactory, despite marking by Oboe-equipped Mosquitos. For this attack, Cheshire is given official permission to attempt low-level marking of this target, which has many French civilian houses near by. The factory is undefended, except for 2 machine-guns, and Cheshire makes 3 low-level runs in bright moonlight to warn the French factory workers to escape. On his 4th run, he drops a load of 30lb incendiaries from between 50 and 100ft. Each of 11 other Lancasters then drop a 12,000lb bomb with great accuracy. 10 bombs hit the factory and the remaining one falls in the river nearby. The factory is severely damaged and production almost completely ceases. There are few if any casualties among the French people.
• No Lancasters are lost.

• 11 Mosquitos are sent to Brunswick and 8 to Elberfeld, there are 2 Serrate patrols, 39 aircraft are on Resistance operations and there are 19 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

• 110 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack V-weapons sites around Pas de Calais with 364 tons of bombs. Escort is provided by 89 9th Air Force P-47s operating under VIII Fighter Command control.

• 86 8th Air Force B-17s attack the briefed primary, a marshalling yard at Frankfurt am Main, but 107 B-17s divert to various targets of opportunity.
• 13 B-17s are lost
• Escort and support for the heavy bombers is provided by 553 USAAF fighters, whose pilots down 14 Luftwaffe fighters over Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany between 1030 and 1215 hours.
• 3 P-51s ant their pilots are lost

• In the IX Bomber Command's first two-mission day, more than 200 B-26s attack V-weapons sites and targets of opportunity in northwestern France during the morning, and more than 100 B-26s return to northwestern France to attack V-weapons sites and military installations.

• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack Cisterna di Latina.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack a rail bridge, warehouses, and a marshalling yard.
• XII Air Support Command A-20s attack Piedimonte.

• XII Air Support Command A-36s and P-40s attack numerous tactical and transportation targets.
• XII Air Support Command P-47s attack Atina.

• The 15th Air Force's 304th Heavy Bomb Wing takes part in its first combat operation of the war when 454th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Orvieto Airdrome.
• 47th Heavy Bomb Wing B-24s attack the Tarquinia and Viterbo Airdromes and a marshalling yard at Prato.
• 5th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack marshalling yards at Verona.

Air Operations, Marshalls

VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Maloelap and Mille atolls.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• Nearly 50 V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack targets in and around Alexishafen and Madang.
• During the night, V Bomber Command B-25s attack Toeal.

Battle of the Atlantic

During February 8-9 Walker's 2nd Support Group destroys three U-boats in the space of 15 hours. There were no survivors from any of the sinkings and no clues from the wreckage, it is not possible to tell in what order the U-boats were sunk.

U-762

Burma

Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi, the Japanese Supreme Commander in Burma, foreseeing the Allied offensive, prepares to attack in force against the Indian province of Assam.

CBI

General Headquarters in India report that a major Japanese offensive is very probable. Gen Joseph Stilwell directs planning for a campaign to capture the key transportation hub at Myitkyina, an essential part of the Japanese defense of Burma. Myitkyina's capture is essential as part of the American goal of opening a land supply route to China. He intends to use two Chinese divisions, the 38th and the 22nd, and the US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), also known as Merrill's Marauders, to attack through the Hukawng Valley. The Chinese divisions will fix Japanese forces with a frontal attack while the Marauders flank the enemy's defensive positions and force them to retreat to avoid being trapped. British unconventional war specialist Orde Wingate's deep penetration raiding force, known as the Chindits, will operate south of Myitkyina and act as a diversion.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 3rd Ukraine Front take Nikopol and wipe out a German bridgehead over the Dniepr, but most of the German defenders have managed to retreat. The area around Nikopol is important in the production of manganese.

The Germans trapoed in the Korsun Pocket refuse the surrender ultimatum and make unavailing efforts to link up with relief columns under von Manstein. The Luftwaffe drops supplies to the encircled troops.

Heavy fighting rages around the Korsun pocket as the Soviets probe for weaknesses in the line.

Italy

In the Anzio sector the German attacks on the Carroceto and Aprilia salients continue, opposed by the British 1st Div. In the southern sector of the 'Gustav' line the bridgehead established by units of the British X Corps north of the Garigliano River reaches its maximum depth with the 46th Div dug in on a huge area northeast of Castelforte. The US II Corps begins a powerful new attack to reach highway No. 6, the Via Casilina.

Pacific

The US submarine Snook (SS-279) attacks a Japanese convoy off the west coast of Kyushu and sinks the transport Lima Maru (6989t) about 30 miles southeast of Goto Archipelago.

Images from February 8, 1944

Italian refugees near Acquafondata

A 14-Year Old Girl is Receiving Medical Attention

Italian Refugees Being Evacuated in Acquafondata

Re-Installation of a Camouflage Net

B-24D-15-CF Liberator Named 'Dorothy'

French Anti-Aircraft Crew in Cerro Grosso

US Soldiers Practicing Morse Code

M4 Tank Stuck in the Mud