Air Operations, Bismarcks

• AirSols TBFs and SBDs, escorted by many AirSols fighters, attack Rabaul's Vunakanau airfield. 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by many AirSols fighters, also attack the Vunakanau airfield. 21 XIII Bomber Command B-24s, escorted by many AirSols fighters, attack the Tobera airfield at Rabaul.
• VMF-212, VMF-217, and VMF-222 F4Us, and a VMTB-143 TBF crew down 11 A6M Zeros and Ki-61 'Tony' fighters in the Rabaul area between 0845 and 0910 hours. An 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-39 downs a bomber over the Willaumez Peninsula at 1100 hours. VF-17 F4Us down 2 Zeros over the Tobera airfield, Rabaul, at 1245 hours. and 347th Fighter Group P-38s down 10 Zeros over St. George’s Channel and the Tobera airfield at 1300 hours.
• Allied ground forces advancing from Arawe and Cape Gloucester link up, thus bringing to an end the ground campaign in western New Britain. For practical purposes, the air campaign also draws to a close, though occasional missions will still be flown to the area, mainly to restrict barge traffic and Japanese Army foot patrols between bypassed areas and bases.

Air Operations, CBI

• 3 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Akyab and Prome. 9 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack Chiradan and Godusara. 16 10th Air Force P-51s attack road targets and a barracks at Chishidu. 8 14th Air Force P-40s attack a supply depot and training facility at Wanling.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack shipping at sea near Hong Kong and Hainan Island. 8 51st Fighter Group P-51s and 4 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s strafe the airfield at Chiuchiang; 12 P-40s attack Yangtze River traffic between Puchi and Yoyang.
• 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 2 of 3 Ki-45 'Nick' fighters encountered near Kanchang during the afternoon. A 76th Fighter Squadron P-51 downs a Ki-48 'Lily' bomber over the airfield at Suichwan during the evening.

• 9 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack an arsenal in Bangkok and the Don Maung airfield there.

Air Operations, Europe

Russian bombers attempt to bomb the Tirpitz in Kaafiord, Norway. 15 aircraft start out on the raid, but only 4 find the battleship. A one-ton bomb scores a near miss, but the Tirpitz escapes major damage.

• 21 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 4 to Aachen, 2 Wellingtons make RCM flights, 21 Wellingtons lay mines off the Brittany and Biscay ports, and 26 aircraft are on Resistance operations.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marshalls

41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Maloelap and Wotje atolls.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• XIII Fighter Command P-39s attack Bonis and barges near the Green Islands and in Matchin Bay.
• A VMF(N)-531 PV crew downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber 45 miles from Torokina Field on Bougainville at 0354 hours.

Atlantic

The British tanker El Grillo is bombed and sunk by a FW-200 in Seidis Fjord, Iceland.

Burma

The Japanese occupy the Ngakyedauk Pass, thus cutting off the 7th Indian Div of the British XV Corps at Sinzweya. The 26th Indian Div of the 14th Army, sent to re-establish communications, liberates Taung Bazaar. But the 7th Indian Div is still cut off and now has to be supplied by air.

In the mountainous eastern part of upper Burma, on the border with China, the Japanese confine themselves to controlling the Salween River area, a possible route for the passage of any Chinese reinforcements from Yunnan.

Diplomatic Relations

Hungary's ambassador in Lisbon is instructed to inform the Western Allies that Budapest wishes to surrender unconditionally, but not to the Russians.

Eastern Front

Nikolai F. Vatutin's troops take Shepetovka.

Stemmerman has drawn his forces in tightly by reducing the pocket significantly. The bulk of his force masses to the south as thin rearguards cover the northern and easter faces. Shepetovka falls to the 60th Army after a protracted battle.

Italy

The pro-Allied Italian government is given administrative control over southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia.

Marshalls

US forces begin mopping up remaining resistance throughout the Marshall Islands. On this day, US Marines are landed on Arno Atoll.

New Guinea

The US 6th Army and their Australian allies complete Operation DEXTERITY, the capture of the western part of New Britain and the Huon peninsula in New Guinea. The Australian 5th Div advancing along the north coast from Sio link up with the Americans near Saidor. The occupation of the Huon Peninsula is now virtually complete.

Pacific

• The Japanese Combined Fleet abandons Truk as a major naval base and heads for Palau, near the Philippines.
• The Japanese destroyer Minekaze is sunk by the US submarine Pogy (SS-266) off Formosa.

Images from February 10, 1944

A Soldier with the 2/7th Middlesex Regiment Shares a Cup of Tea with an American Infantryman in the Anzio Bridgehead, 10 February 1944

A Group of American Soldiers and 2 Dispatch Riders of the New Zealand Division on the 5th Army Front in Southern Italy, 10 February 1944

An American military police officer on point duty and two Kiwi soldiers seen together on the 5th Army Front in southern Italy, 10 February 1944

American Military Police Officer on Point Duty

Internees of the Liverpool prisoner of war and internment camp working in the camp vegetable garden in front of the camp headquarters building 10 February 1944

Internees Working a Vegetable Garden

Erwin Rommel Reviews Troops of the Indische Legion; France, 10 February 1944

PBY-5s of Squadron VP-52, in Flight, 10 February 1944

Crash Landing of a P-38 Lightning

Fire crews attend to the wreckage of P-38 Lightning (CG-O, serial number 42-67667) at Duxford airfield on 10 February 1944. The aircraft crashed, according to the official caption, as the pilot Second Lieutenant Robert N Gore repeatedly ‘buzzed’ the field. The pilot survived but the aircraft had come down on top of a truck, the driver of which was killed. Gore was charged with involuntary manslaughter but acquitted in May 1944. He was, however, required to pay a $660 fine for damage to the aircraft.

Amphibious Tanks on Eniwetok on 10 February 1944