Air Operations, Carolines

5th and 307th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack several islands in the Palau Islands.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 10th Air Force B-25s attack two bridges and the town area at Katha.
• 8 10th Air Force P-51s attack Bilumyo.
• 5 P-47s attack Bhamo.
• 5 P-47s attack a bridge at Mainghka.

• 24 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, escorted by 45 14th Air Force fighters, attack rail yards at Yoyang.
• 15 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack airfields at Canton, Hankow, and Pailochi.
• 10 B-25s attack road traffic in east-central China.
• 19 P-40s attack stores and targets of opportunity at Tangyang.
• 17 P-40s attack buildings and motor vehicles between Changsha and Siangtan.
• 22 fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army troops, road traffic, and stores at or near Hengshan, Ichang, Isuho, Lungling, and Wuhu.
• In numerous engagements throughout the day, P-40s and P-51s of the 3rd CACW, 5th CACW, and 23rd Fighter groups, and the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron down 15 Japanese fighters.

Air Operations, East Indies

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack a barracks on Amboina.
• V Fighter Command P-38s attack the seaplane base at Halong, Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

• 402 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of Nos. 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Stettin. The raid is successful hitting parts of Stettin that had not been hit on previous raids.
• 23 Lancasters are lost.
• 189 Lancasters of No. 5 Group carry out one of the most successful No. 5 Group raids of the war on Königsberg at extreme range. Only 480 tons of bombs are carried because of the range of the target, but severe damage is caused around the 4 separate aiming points selected. This success is achieved despite a 20 minute delay in opening the attack because of the presence of low cloud. The bombing force waited patiently, using up precious fuel, until the marker aircraft found a break in the clouds and the Master Bomber, Wing Commander J. Woodroffe, probably No. 5 Group's most skilled Master Bomber, allows the attack to commence. Bomber Command estimates that 41 per cent of all the housing and 20 per cent of all the industry in Königsberg are destroyed.
• There is heavy fighter opposition over the target and 15 Lancasters, 7.9 per cent of the force, are lost.

• Support and 93 training aircraft make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 53 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, Hamburg and 4 other targets, 31 Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes lay mines off the Baltic ports, 8 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 49 Mosquito patrols and 35 RCM sorties.
• 2 OTU Wellingtons from the sweep and 1 mine-laying Lancaster are lost.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at Saipan attack Iwo Jima.

China

The Japanese 11th Div, re-grouping after the capture of Hengyang in southeast China, advances toward Kweilin and Liuchow, the sites of 2 of the US 14th Air Force's major airfields.

Eastern Front

The Russians of the 3rd Ukraine Front take the important Black Sea port of Constanta. Buzau, east of Ploesti, also falls. The German Army Group South Ukraine is ordered to hold the Carpathian Mountains and the Transylvanian Alps.

The 6th Army is exhausted and after a last effort to break through Group Meith is destroyed. More than 106,000 men have been captured and 150,000 killed during the fighting, wiping the 6th Army off the German order of battle. Army Group South Ukraine also loses 850 tanks, 3,500 arty pieces and 35,000 motor vehicles during the battle.

Constanta falls to the 57th Army and Buzau to the 46th Army as Soviet forces close upon Bucharest and Bulgaria. The Balkan offensive has cost the 2nd Ukrainian Front 7,000 killed and 32,000 wounded and the 3rd Ukrainian 5,800 killed and 21,000 wounded.

Adm Horthy removes the pro-German Szotaj government from power and appoints the pro-Soviet Lakatos regime. He does not go so far as the break off relations with German though.

Italy

The advance of 8th Army reaches the Foglia River, just north of Pesaro. The next obstacle is the German 'Gothic' Line which lies immediately to the north.

Northern France

The Allied advance continues apace. Gen Eisenhower's orders are to push northward. Units of the British XXX Corps leads the Allied columns in the northern sector, making for Amiens with the object of crossing the Somme. To the southeast, the US 3rd Arm Div crosses the Aisne River east of Soissons on the way to Laon. The American 5th Div, XX Corps, enters Rheims. Southeast of Rheims units of XII Corps, 3rd Army, take Chalons-sur-Marne.

In Brittany, resolute defense by the German troops still holds up the efforts of the American VIII Corps to take Brest.

Occupied Czechoslovakia

The Germans move to occupy the puppet state of Slovakia, sparking off a long-planned Slovak national uprising. The Slovaks hold central Slovakia throughout September but SS units force them to retire into the Low Tatra Mountains in October.

Since the summer Slovak partisans of the Czechoslovak Army in Slovakia (18,000 in number) have been engaged in guerilla activity against German targets, mainly in the central mountains. In response, the Germans move 48,000 troops into Slovakia, prompting the outbreak of the Slovak national uprising.

Occupied Hungary

(28?) Gen Géza Lakatos forms a collaborationist government.

Adm Horthy removes the pro-Nazi Szotaj government and replaces it with the pro-Soviet Lakatos regime.

Pacific

The Japanese minesweeper No. 28 is sunk by the US submarine Jack (SS-259) off the Celebes.

Poland, Resistance

The British and United States' governments declare that they recognize the Home Army (AK) as a responsible belligerent force and that it should be treated as such. The Germans officially reject this procedure. In Warsaw the fighting continues to be very fierce and brutal.

Southern France

While the American 3rd Div concentrates at Voiron, northwest of Grenoble, the 36th and 45th Divs continue their advance on Lyons.

War Crimes

The Russians and the Polish communists jointly announce that they have discovered evidence that the Germans have murdered around 1,500,000 people in the former Majdanek concentration camp. This is the first of a series of such dreadful discoveries.

Images from August 29, 1944

Jeeps and trailers of the US Army 28th Infantry Division moving down the Champs Elysees, passing through the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, France, 29 August 1944. Note photographer lying down between the columns.

US 28th Infantry Division on the Champs Elysees

American Troops Parading down the Champs-Elysées, 29 August 1944

A successful Luftwaffe Ofw. or Ofhr. pilot posing with the wreckage of a downed B-17 on 29 August 1944 (B-17G 42-32048) at the crash site in the vicinity of Krhov (Kreis Zlin)

Luftwaffe Pilot Posing with B-17 Wreckage

67th Evacuation Hospital near Gorron. 15-29 August 1944

US Signalmen Confiscating German Wire in Montelimar, France, 29 August 1944

British troops enjoy the attention of French girls after bringing a food convoy to Paris, 29 August 1944.

British Troops Enjoy the Attention of French Girls

Romanian citizens surround and greet the first Soviet soldiers to enter Bucharest, 29 August 1944

Romanians Greet Soviets

Barracudas from aircraft carrier Indefatigable to carry out another attack on Tirpitz (Operation "Goodwood IV), 29 August 1944

Barracudas from Aircraft Carrier Indefatigable

American troops of the 28th Infantry Division march down the Champs Elysees, Paris, in the `Victory' Parade. Poinsett, August 29, 1944. (National Archives 111-SC-193197)

28th Infantry Division March down the Champs Elysees

48th Highlanders Infantry of Canada advance during on the Gothic Line near River Foglia, 28-29 Aug 1944

Canadians Advance on the Gothic Line

During Paris liberation parade on August 29, 1944 a group of German snipers established themselves atop the Arc de Triomphe and opened fire with machine guns on the crowds below

German Snipers Fire on Parade

Snipers Fire on the Paris Liberation Parade, August 29, 1944

Taking Cover from Sniper Fire

Snipers Fire on the Paris Liberation Parade, August 29, 1944

Snipers Atop the Arc de Triomphe

Snipers Fire on the Paris Liberation Parade, August 29, 1944

Snipers Atop the Arc de Triomphe

Snipers Fire on the Paris Liberation Parade, August 29, 1944

Taking Cover from Snipers

Warsaw Uprising: German Tank in Old Town, 29 August 1944