Chronology of World War II

August 1944

Wednesday, August 30

Air Operations, Carolines

5th and 307th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack Koror and Malakal islands.

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Air Operations, CBI

BURMA

Several 10th Air Force P-47s attack Man Sai.

CHINA

341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the airfields at Hankow, Hengyang, and Pailochi, and road and river traffic in east-central China.
33 14th Air Force P-40s attack troops and motor vehicles, and 10 P-51s attack targets of opportunity in the Kweiyi and Sintsiang areas.
34 P-51s and P-40s attack road and rail targets in east-central China.
21 P-40s attack a bridge, barracks, and motor vehicles in the Siangsiang and Siangtan areas.

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Air Operations, East Indies

In the Molucca Islands, V Bomber Command B-24s attack troops and stores at Wasile Bay.
B-25s mount a low-level attack against Kaoe.
V Fighter Command P-38s attack fuel tanks, barracks, and anti-aircraft batteries at the Boela airfield on Ceram.

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Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Evening Ops:
Minor Ops:

36 Mosquitos are sent to Frankfurt, 4 Halifaxes lay mines off La Pallice, and there are 6 Mosquito patrols and 6 RCM sorties.

There are no losses.

US 8th AIR FORCE
FRANCE:

Using GH and H2X radar guidance, 107 8th Air Force B-17s and 108 B-24s, escorted by only 16 VIII Fighter Command P-51s, conduct an early-morning attack against eight V-weapons sites in the Pas-de-Calais area.

GERMANY:

Using radar guidance, 282 8th Air Force B-17s attack the Kiel port area and U-boat base, and 327 B-17s attack the port area and an aircraft factory at Bremen.
Escort is provided by 258 VIII Fighter Command P-51s.

US 9th AIR FORCE

FRANCE

Although all 9th Air Force fighter-bombers and most bombers are grounded by bad weather, approximately 75 B-26s and A-20s are able to attack a fuel dump and several gun emplacements.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Fighter Command P-38s attack the airfields at Babo and Ransiki.
P-48s attack the airfield at Urarom and stores at Manokwari.
P-39s attack the Geelvink Bay area.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US tanker Jacksonville (10,448t), steaming in Convoy CU-36, is torpedoed by U-482 while en route to Loch Ewe, Scotland. The gasoline explodes giving little chance for those on board to escape. There are only 2 survivors, 1 of the 49-man crew and 1 of the 29-man Armed Guard. They are rescued by the US destroyer escort Poole (DE-151). The ship is scuttled by her escorting vessels.

Eastern Front

The Russians of 2nd Ukraine Front take Ploesti, the vital Rumanian oil center. Most of the Rumanian oilfields are now in Russian hands further increasing the shortages which have been imposed on the Germans by the American and British air offensive.

Bucharest is occupied by the 3rd Ukraine Front.

German troops are withdrawn from Bulgaria.

CENTRAL SECTOR

In Warsaw the Germans force the Poles to pull out of the Old Town. Some 1,500 men with 300 wounded retreat through the sewers to the city center and 800 go to Zoliborz.

SOUTHERN SECTOR

The vital oilfields at Ploesti fall to the Soviets. Hitler orders Friessner to establish defensive positions on a line from the Iron Gates to Brasov. This is absolutely unachievable. The newly raised 2nd Hungarian Army is allocated to Army Group South Ukraine but is an army in name only.

France, Politics

The Provisional Government of Gen de Gaulle is established in Paris and begins work.

Italy

The 8th Army begins it offensive against the 'Gothic' Line. The main attacks are by V Corps units with support from part of the Canadian I Corps as they cross the Foglia River. The Polish Corps is fighting on the coast at Pesaro.

Northern France

The 7th Arm Div of XX Corps is rapidly aproaching Verdun, while further south, on the road to Nancy, the XII Corps reaches the St Didier sector. The British XXX Corps takes Beauvais in its continuing and accelerating advance.

The US 5th Arm Div begins a drive toward Compiégne. Canadian and British forces under Lt-Gen Miles Dempsey are in control of the Seine west of Paris and begin moving north toward Gournay.

Occupied Poland

The Home Army in Warsaw is forced out of the Old Town, using the sewers to escape to the city center and Zoliborz.

Southern France

Units of the American 36th Div and the French II Corps advance in force toward Lyon, the first along the east road, the second along the west bank of the Rhône.