Chronology of World War II

October 1944

Monday, October 2


Air Operations, Bonin Islands

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

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Air Operations, CBI

As part of an ongoing all-out supply and troop-lift effort throughout the CBI, USAAF transport aircraft complete more than 260 effective sorties, a 1-day record so far in the region.

BURMA
  • 8 10th Air Force P-47s attack road bridges north of Lashio.
  • 4 B-25s attack bridges in the Namhkai area.
  • 49 P-47s attack bridges and occupied towns in the Bhamo area.
  • More than 20 P-47s attack troops and rail targets in northern Burma.
  • 7 P-47s attack Kutkai.
CHINA
  • 16 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Samshui and the Tienho and White Cloud airfields at Canton.
  • 11 B-25s attack Pingnam.
  • More than 70 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets south of the Yangtze River and on into northern French Indochina.
  • 8 10th Air Force P-47s attack targets between Lungling and Loiwing.
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Air Operations, East Indies

  • FEAF B-24s attack Haroekoe in the Molucca Islands.
  • B-25s attack the Laha airfield on Ceram and barges and coastal villages in the Molucca Islands.
  • P-38s attack the Amahai and Kairatoe airfields on Ceram, and shipping in the Molucca Islands.
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Air Operations, Europe

Sqn-Ldr Joseph Berry, who has destroyed 60 V-1s in his Tempest fighter, is missing over Holland.

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:
Minor Ops:
  • 8 Hudsons are on Resistance operations, 71 Halifaxes are on fuel-carrying flights, and 3 Liberators and 2 Wellingtons are on signals investigation patrols.
    • There are no losses.
Evening Ops:
  • 34 Mosquitos are sent to Brunswick, 7 to Pforzheim and 4 each to Dortmund and Frankfurt, 1 aircraft is on a Resistance operation, and there are 39 Mosquito patrols and 3 RCM sorties.
    • There are no losses.
US 8th AIR FORCE
GERMANY:
  • 272 1st Bomb Division B-17s and 384 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack several industrial targets and an ordnance depot at Kassel and, because of bad weather and poor visibility, the city itself.
  • 110 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack the Ford motor-transport factory at Cologne.
  • 70 B-17s attack assorted targets of opportunity.
  • 266 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Hamm.
  • 30 B-24s attack targets of opportunity.
    • 2 B-17s, 2 B-24s, and 1 of 712 VIII Fighter Command escort fighters are lost
US 9th AIR FORCE
GERMANY:
  • 9th Bomb Division B-26s and A-20s mount three separate attacks against defensive positions at Herbach and two separate missions against industrial targets.
  • In the first known encounter between Allied fighters and a Luftwaffe Me-262 jet fighter, and Me-262 that has completely dominated a pair of 365th Fighter Group P-47 pilots in a chase and dogfight near Munster runs out of fuel and inadvertantly crashes before either P-47 can fire a shot.
USAAF
ITALY:
  • The 15th Air Force and 12th Air Force medium bombers are grounded by bad weather, and XII Fighter Command fighters are unable to mount tactical ground-support missions.
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Air Operations, New Guinea

  • V Fighter Command P-40s attack the airfields at Otawiri and Ransiki, and small vessels along the coast.
  • A 419th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near Sansapor at 0054 hours.
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Burma

In accordance with the decisions of the British War Cabinet, Adm Mountbatten orders that the offensive against Mandalay should be launched as quickly as possible, while the other planned operations are postponed and reduced. Mountbatten has maintained pressure on the Japanese 15th Army after its defeat in the Imphal offensive by ordering the campaign to continue during the monsoon season. Headquarters of the northern Burma sector is to guarantee the security of air communications between India and China and to re-establish land communications between the two countries.

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CBI

The battle of wills between Chiang Kai-shek and President Roosevelt over Gen Joseph Stilwell's role in China leads to a definite cooling in US-Chinese relations. Chiang Kai-shek rejects President Roosevelt's proposal to put Gen Stilwell in command of all Chinese ground forces. In rejecting the president's request Chiang has moved away from US strategic support.

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Eastern Front

In the area of Negotin, south of Turnu Severin, in Yugoslavia, the Russian 57th Army is engaged in a bitter battle with the German Serbia Group, part of Gen Maximilian von Weichs' Army Group F.

NORTHERN SECTOR

Elements of the Soviet 8th Army land on Dago Island.

The 3rd Panzer Army, having identified the build up of Soviet forces on the Memel axis, redeploys 2 panzer and 1 motorized division from Jelgava to Memel.

CENTRAL SECTOR

The last units of the Home Army surrender in Warsaw, bringing the bloody uprising to an end. In the fighting the Poles have lost 15,000 military and 200,000 civilian dead. The scale of atrocities committed by the SS is considerable. Calls by army generals during the fighting to curb thest excesses have been largely ignored, Kaminski only being brought to book after the battle was over. The fighting cost the Ostheer 10,000 killed, 7,000 missing and 9,000 wounded.

SOUTHERN SECTOR

The 57th Army isolates part of the German Serbia Group near Negotin.

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Italy

The American II And IV Corps of 5th Army are almost entirely held up at Monte Catarelto and Monte Galletto.

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Occupied Holland

The population of the Dutch islands in the Scheldt Estuary is warned that the Allies intend to bomb the dykes and create disastrous floods.

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Occupied Poland

The brave resistance of the patriot forces in Warsaw comes to an end. Gen Tadeo Bor, leader of the insurrection in Warsaw, signs the surrender of his decimated Polish Home Army to the Germans. At least 200,000 Poles have died in 2 months in this gallant, though ill-starred venture. The Poles insist the Russians purposely delayed their advance into Warsaw so the Germans could annihilate the anti-Communist Polish Army, which they did. The pro-Moscow Lublin government denounces the 'futile uprising which cost thousands of lives.' Much of the central part of Warsaw has already been destroyed and much more will be razed to the ground at Hitler's order.

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Pacific

  • The US submarine Aspro (SS-309) sinks the Japanese cargo ship Azuchisan Maru (6888t) in the South China Sea west of Luzon.
  • The US submarine Pomfret (SS-391) sinks the Japanese army transports Tsuyama Maru (6962t) and Makassar Maru (4026t) south of Formosa.
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Palau Islands

On Peleliu the US 321st Inf Regt mops up the Japanese pockets on Mount Amiangal. In the Mount Umurbrogol sector the 7th Marines are still held up by the Japanese forces determined to resist to the very last man.

On Angaur the 322nd Inf breaks off its attacks against the Japanese in the northwest of the island, in an area not more than a few hundred yards square, and begins the systematic shelling of the area.

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United States, Planning

Adm Ernest J. King assesses that, because of the continuation of the war in Europe, there will not be sufficient ground forces available in the Pacific theater for the invasion of the island of Formosa. Iwo Jima is considered to be a better target for operations in early 1945 because the island will allow US fighters to escort B-29s flying from Mariana Islands aifields to strike Japanese cities on the home islands. The capture of Okinawa will also support strategic air operations and cut Japanese air control of the Ryukyu Islands.

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Western Front

In the American XIX Corps sector, the 30th Div, after a violent air and artillery preparation, opens the attack on the West Wall, the Siegfried Line, between Aachen and Geilenkirchen, northwest of Aachen.

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Images from October 2, 1944

Wounded Members of the Polish Home Army


Wounded Members of the Polish Home Army

People of Wola District Leaving Warsaw


People of Wola District Leaving Warsaw

Civilian Population Evicted from Warsaw


Civilian Population Evicted from Warsaw

Central Caen in Normandy


Central Caen in Normandy

M4A1 Halftrack 81-mm Mortar Carrier


M4A1 Halftrack 81-mm Mortar Carrier

German Tank in Budapest


German Tank in Budapest

German Tiger Tank


German Tiger Tank

Royal Air Force Airmen Talking with Locals


Royal Air Force Airmen Talking with Locals

[October 1st - October 3rd]