การบุกรุก D-Day: มกราคม 1944 ถึง กรกฎาคม 1944

เมื่อวันที่ 27 มกราคม ค.ศ. 1944 เมืองเลนินกราดที่ถูกปิดล้อมในสหภาพโซเวียต ซึ่งมีผู้เสียชีวิตประมาณหนึ่งล้านคนจากความอดอยาก โรคภัยไข้เจ็บ และกระสุนปืนอย่างต่อเนื่อง ในที่สุดก็ได้รับการปลดปล่อยอย่างเต็มที่จากการล้อมรอบหลังจากผ่านไปเกือบ 900 วัน นี่เป็นเพียงหนึ่งในชัยชนะเล็กๆ น้อยๆ ที่นำไปสู่การบุกรุก D-Day และการสิ้นสุดของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง

มันคือจุดจบของมหากาพย์แห่งความทุกข์ทรมานที่คนเฒ่าถูกสังเวยเพื่อช่วยเด็กตามหลักการของลัทธิสหภาพโซเวียตที่ว่า "คนที่ไม่ทำงานไม่กิน" ชีวิตในยามสงคราม เลนินกราดเป็นตัวแทนของแนวคิด "สงครามเบ็ดเสร็จ" ที่รุนแรงที่สุด พลเมืองทุกคนเป็นเหยื่อที่อาจเกิดขึ้น ทุกคนมีหน้าที่ปกป้องเมืองอย่างเต็มที่ “เราทุกคนต่างอยู่ในแดนประหาร” พยาบาลคนหนึ่งบอกกับไดอารี่ของเธอ “เราแค่ไม่รู้ว่าใครคือรายต่อไป”

ปี ค.ศ. 1944 ได้เห็นทุกประเทศที่ต่อสู้ดิ้นรนอย่างเต็มที่ หลังจากสามถึงสี่ปีของการทำสงคราม ประชากรเริ่มชินกับการปันส่วนอย่างไม่หยุดยั้ง การจำกัดการเดินทาง การปิดป้องกันทางอากาศ และชั่วโมงการทำงานที่ยาวนานในทุ่งนาและโรงงาน ในยุโรป ประมาณสองในสามของผลิตภัณฑ์ประจำชาติของประเทศต่างๆ ถูกเบี่ยงเบนไปสู่สงคราม นาซีเยอรมนีและสหภาพโซเวียตระหว่างพวกเขาระดมกำลังชายและหญิงประมาณ 46 ล้านคนในกองทัพ นี่เป็นระดับของความพยายามที่ประชากรเพียงไม่กี่คนสามารถรักษาไว้ได้นาน

แกลเลอรี่ภาพสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง

สงครามทั้งหมดทำให้ผู้หญิง ต้องมีส่วนร่วม ซึ่งคิดเป็นร้อยละ 35 ของแรงงานอังกฤษและอเมริกัน และมากกว่าร้อยละ 50 ในนาซีเยอรมนีและสหภาพโซเวียต เฉพาะในสหรัฐอเมริกาซึ่งภูมิคุ้มกันทางภูมิศาสตร์ทำให้ประชากรเป็นอิสระจากข้อจำกัดที่ยุ่งยากมากขึ้นเท่านั้น สงครามทำให้เกิดความเจริญทางเศรษฐกิจ เศรษฐกิจอเมริกันเพียงอย่างเดียวสามารถซื้ออาวุธขนาดใหญ่ได้ในขณะที่รักษามาตรฐานการครองชีพที่เหมาะสม

ในช่วงหกเดือนแรกของปี ค.ศ. 1944 อัตราการเคลื่อนตัวบนบกต่อฝ่ายอักษะช้าลง ทั้งสองฝ่ายทราบดีว่าเมื่อถึงจุดหนึ่งยุโรปจะถูกรุกรานจากตะวันตก และหากการโจมตีครั้งนี้สำเร็จ อาจรับรองความพ่ายแพ้ของนาซีเยอรมนีและพันธมิตรยุโรป แต่ในขณะที่การเตรียมการเดินหน้าบุกฝรั่งเศส กองกำลังฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตรได้ต่อสู้ในแนวรบด้านอื่นๆ เป็นเวลานานและขมขื่น

ในอิตาลี ความสงสัยของชาวเยอรมันรอบๆ อาราม Monte Cassino อันเก่าแก่ ซึ่งตั้งตระหง่านอยู่บนภูเขาสูง ได้พิสูจน์ให้เห็นถึงอุปสรรคอันมั่นคง เมื่อวันที่ 22 มกราคม กองกำลังเฉพาะกิจของฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตรได้ลงจอดที่ Anzio ซึ่งอยู่ไกลออกไปตามชายฝั่งไปยังกรุงโรม ด้วยความหวังว่าจะสามารถตีขนาบกับแนวรบเยอรมันได้ แต่หัวหาดนั้นถูกกักไว้ และอีกห้าเดือนหน้าก็ชะงัก เฉพาะในวันที่ 18 พฤษภาคมเท่านั้นที่ได้ทำการจู่โจมอย่างดุเดือดโดยหน่วยโปแลนด์ต่อสู้กับฝ่ายพันธมิตรเพื่อยึด Monte Cassino ชัยชนะครั้งนี้ทำลายแนวรับของเยอรมัน เมื่อวันที่ 4 มิถุนายน กองกำลังอเมริกันเข้าสู่กรุงโรม กองทัพเยอรมันถอยทัพไปทางเหนือสู่ตำแหน่งป้องกันใหม่ แนวกอทิก จากปิซาถึงริมินี

ในสหภาพโซเวียต โมเมนตัมที่ทำได้หลังจากยุทธการเคิร์สต์ (ฤดูร้อนปี 1943) ชะลอตัวลง แต่ในฤดูหนาวปี 1943-44 โซเวียตบุกเข้าไปในยูเครนเพื่อต่อต้านการตอบโต้ที่โดดเดี่ยวจากกองทัพเยอรมัน หลังจากหกเดือน กองกำลังของสหภาพโซเวียตได้ไปถึงพรมแดนของโรมาเนียและฮังการี แหลมไครเมียถูกเคลียร์ และในวันที่ 9 พฤษภาคม ชาวเยอรมันก็ยอมจำนนเซวาสโทพอล ไกลออกไปทางเหนือ กองทัพแดงไปถึงขอบรัฐบอลติกและพร้อมสำหรับการโจมตีโปแลนด์

ในมหาสมุทรแปซิฟิกตอนกลาง การรณรงค์เที่ยวเกาะของชาวอเมริกันทำให้พวกเขาเข้าควบคุมหมู่เกาะกิลเบิร์ตและหมู่เกาะมาร์แชลล์ภายในเดือนกุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2487 ยิ่งกว่านั้น การยกพลขึ้นบกตามแนวชายฝั่งทางเหนือของนิวกินีได้แยกฐานที่มั่นของญี่ปุ่นออกจากที่มั่นและทำให้ฟิลิปปินส์อยู่ในระยะที่โดดเด่น ฐานทัพเรือของญี่ปุ่นที่ Truk ในหมู่เกาะแคโรไลน์ถูกทำให้เป็นกลางโดย กำลังทางอากาศของ อเมริกา ที่เหนือกว่า และการรุกคืบของหมู่เกาะมาเรียนาในเดือนมิถุนายนได้ทำลายอำนาจทางอากาศทางบกของญี่ปุ่นที่นั่น

เมื่อนาวิกโยธินสหรัฐฯลงจอดบนเกาะไซปันของมาเรียนาเมื่อวันที่ 15 มิถุนายน กองเรือญี่ปุ่นเข้าแทรกแซงในที่สุด พลเรือเอก โอซาวะ จิซาบุโระเป็นผู้นำสายการบิน 9 ลำและเครื่องบิน 450 ลำเทียบกับสายการบินอเมริกัน 15 ลำและเครื่องบินมากกว่า 900 ลำ การต่อสู้ของทะเลฟิลิปปินส์เกิดขึ้นตั้งแต่วันที่ 19 ถึง 20 มิถุนายน ในตอนท้ายของมัน ญี่ปุ่นได้สูญเสียเครื่องบินส่วนใหญ่ของพวกเขาและถอนตัวออกไป กองทหารญี่ปุ่นที่แข็งแกร่ง 30,000 นายที่ไซปันต่อสู้จนตาย และเมื่อต้นเดือนกรกฎาคม เกาะนี้ก็ตกไปอยู่ในมือของชาวอเมริกัน จากชาวมาเรียนา เป็นไปได้ที่จะเริ่ม ทิ้งระเบิดทางไกลของบ้านเกิดของญี่ปุ่นด้วย B-29 Superfortress ใหม่

ตลอดหลายเดือนมานี้ ยุทธศาสตร์ตะวันตกของฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตรถูกครอบงำด้วยการเตรียมพร้อมสำหรับปฏิบัติการโอเวอร์ลอร์ด การรุกรานฝรั่งเศสตะวันตกเฉียงเหนือโดยกองกำลังเครือจักรภพอเมริกันและอังกฤษรวมกัน การวางแผนและการบริหารเพียงอย่างเดียวดึงดูดผู้คนได้ 300,000 คน การโจมตีด้วยอาวุธแบบผสมผสานบนแนวชายฝั่งที่ได้รับการปกป้องอย่างแน่นหนาเป็นปฏิบัติการที่เต็มไปด้วยความเสี่ยง การหยุดชะงักที่ Anzio และค่าใช้จ่ายในการจู่โจมในมหาสมุทรแปซิฟิกต่อกองทหารรักษาการณ์ขนาดเล็ก แต่มีความมุ่งมั่นทำให้ชัดเจนว่าการโจมตีทางด้านหน้าในยุโรปภาคพื้นทวีปทั่วแนวป้องกันของกำแพงแอตแลนติกจะเป็นองค์กรที่มีราคาแพงและไม่แน่นอน

ผู้โจมตีมีข้อได้เปรียบที่ชัดเจน สหราชอาณาจักรและสหรัฐอเมริกามีอำนาจทางเรืออย่างท่วมท้น และหลังจากชัยชนะในมหาสมุทรแอตแลนติกในปี 2486 พวกเขาสามารถรักษาการขนส่งทางทะเลได้โดยไม่มีปัญหามากนัก ฝ่ายพันธมิตรยังได้บรรลุความเหนือกว่าทางอากาศเหนือยุโรปตะวันตกในเดือนกุมภาพันธ์และมีนาคม 2486 ในระหว่างการบุกรุก เครื่องบิน 12,000 ลำจะสนับสนุนกองกำลังพันธมิตรต่อเครื่องบินเยอรมันที่ใช้งานได้เพียง 170 ลำเท่านั้น ฝ่ายพันธมิตรสามารถเลือกสถานที่และเวลาของการบุกรุกได้ตราบเท่าที่สามารถปกปิดจากศัตรูได้

ความสำเร็จที่ยิ่งใหญ่ที่สุดของฝ่ายพันธมิตรในการเข้าใกล้ Overlord คือการบิดเบือนข้อมูล การใช้สายลับสองหน่วยอย่างกว้างขวาง การอำพรางอย่างระมัดระวัง และความลับที่เข้มงวดที่สุดทำให้ชาวเยอรมันไม่สามารถคาดเดาจุดบุกรุกหรือวันที่แน่นอนได้ ผู้บัญชาการกำแพงแอตแลนติกของเยอรมัน จอมพลเออร์วิน รอมเมิล เชื่อเหมือนผู้บังคับบัญชาระดับสูงส่วนใหญ่ที่ฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตรจะใช้เส้นทางสั้นๆ ข้ามช่องแคบอังกฤษไปยังปาสเดอกาเล กองกำลังเยอรมันจำนวนจำกัดถูกกักขังอยู่ในนอร์มังดี ประเทศฝรั่งเศส แต่มีการสันนิษฐานเสมอว่าการโจมตีจะมีเล่ห์เหลี่ยม

นายพลสหรัฐ ดไวท์ ดี. ไอเซนฮาวร์ จะเป็นผู้ตัดสินวันสุดท้าย เขาได้รับแต่งตั้งให้เป็นผู้บัญชาการสูงสุดของกองกำลังพันธมิตรเนื่องจากทักษะอันยอดเยี่ยมของเขาในฐานะผู้จัดและนักการทูต คุณสมบัติที่เขาต้องการอย่างเต็มที่ในการรวมทีมบัญชาการของเขาไว้ด้วยกัน ดังนั้นนายพลมาร์แชลจึงสามารถสำรองไว้ได้ในกรณีที่การบุกรุกล้มเหลวและต้องติดตั้งคนที่สอง ฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตรได้แต่งตั้งนายพล Bernard Montgomery ซึ่งเคยเอาชนะ Rommel ไปแล้วครั้งหนึ่ง เป็นผู้บัญชาการกองกำลังภาคพื้นดิน

ปลายเดือนพฤษภาคม แผนการรบสุดท้ายได้รับการอนุมัติ กองกำลังพันธมิตรจะโจมตีในนอร์มังดีตามชายหาดที่เลือกไว้ห้าแห่ง เมื่อสร้างเสร็จแล้ว บริดจ์เฮดจะถูกรวมเข้าด้วยกันแล้วใช้เป็น Launchpad สำหรับการฝ่าวงล้อม ฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตรจะยกแนวรบของเยอรมันในฝรั่งเศสและผลักกลับไปสู่แม่น้ำไรน์

The date for the invasion was fixed as early May, but postponed to June when more landing craft would be available. The weather in early June was so severe that German commanders relaxed. Rommel went back to Nazi Germany for his wife's birthday. Eisenhower set D-Day -- military shorthand for the first day of any major operation -- for June 5. But with no improvement in the weather by June 4, Eisenhower was faced with a difficult choice. At 9:45 p.m. on the 4th, he gathered his commanders to order the invasion for June 6. Though heavy rain continued outside, there was better meteorological news. Eisenhower said quietly, "OK, let's go," launching the largest seaborne invasion in history.

Twenty-seven hundred ships moved to position, and in the early hours of June 6 they approached the French coast. By the time German forces were alerted, the invasion was upon them. A colossal naval barrage and around-the-clock bombing reduced resistance on all but one beach, Omaha. There, U.S. forces faced stiff opposition from defenders who were dug in on high cliffs and had by chance avoided the worst of the bombardment. The American army did not have a foothold on Omaha until the evening. On the other beaches, rapid progress was made and a bridgehead a few miles wide and deep was carved out in the first hours. Within days, more than 300,000 soldiers and 54,000 vehicles went ashore, using prefabricated harbors known as "Mulberries" that had been towed in sections across the Channel.

Throughout June, the Allies made slow progress. U.S. forces cleared the Cotentin Peninsula further west, but the city of Caen -- which was to be the hinge of the whole operation -- remained in German hands. Relations between Eisenhower and Montgomery worsened. Historians to this day have argued that the British were too cautious in the face of fierce German resistance. Britain's chief concern was to avoid defeat at all costs. Most of the Anglo-American troops lacked battle experience, and the invasion was a steep learning curve. At no point in June could ultimate victory be taken for granted.

On July 1, Rommel began an assault on the British line with five panzer divisions, provoking the fiercest fighting of the campaign so far. American attempts to accelerate the breakout southward (code-named Operation Cobra) were slowed by the rapid redeployment of German armor.

The situation was made more awkward for the Western Allies by the rapid success of the Red Army in the East. Stalin had promised a renewed summer campaign to coincide with Overlord. The operation, code-named Bagration, was undertaken against the largest concentration of German forces in the East, Army Group Center. Bagration also was meticulously prepared, veiled in secrecy, and covered by a deception operation as successful as that in the West. Soviet Union forces moved into concealed positions, while partisan attacks disabled German communications and Soviet Union aircraft pounded German positions.

On June 22, the full-scale operation was launched with devastating success. Within a week, Soviet Union forces broke through the German defensive line, captured tens of thousands of German soldiers, and advanced at a rate of up to 25 miles per day. Farther south, the Ukrainian campaign began again with assaults toward Lvov. Here, too, German defense crumbled. While the Western Allies were facing 15 German divisions, the Red Army engaged 228 German divisions across a 500-mile front.

Farther east, Japan launched a wide offensive across large tracts of central China. This was one of the last major offensives by the Axis powers, and it came at a time when Japanese fortunes in the central Pacific were waning. On April 18, the Japanese army began Operation Ichi-Go to destroy air bases that could be used by American aircraft to attack the Japanese mainland. The operation was also designed to open a continuous overland route (road and rail) between Manchuria and Singapore to facilitate the importation of strategic resources from Japanese conquests in the Southeast without interdiction from American submarines and aircraft.

เมื่อวันที่ 27 พฤษภาคม ชาวญี่ปุ่นได้เริ่มปฏิบัติการแยกต่างหากเพื่อยึดพื้นที่ของแม่น้ำแยงซีตอนกลาง หลังการต่อสู้หกเดือน ดินแดนที่ญี่ปุ่นยึดครองก็ถูกรวมเป็นหนึ่งกลุ่ม การรณรงค์ครั้งนี้ทำให้เกิดความแตกแยกมากขึ้นระหว่างเจียง ไคเช็คและชาวอเมริกัน โดยนายพลโจเซฟ สติลเวลล์เป็นตัวแทนในประเทศจีน ด้วยการสูญเสียฐานทัพอากาศ ทำให้ชาวอเมริกันสามารถประสบความสำเร็จได้อีกเพียงเล็กน้อย สติลเวลล์ถูกเรียกคืนจากคำยืนกรานของเชียง และโรงละครจีนยังคงเป็นการแข่งขันระหว่างกองกำลังชาตินิยม คอมมิวนิสต์ และญี่ปุ่นเกี่ยวกับอนาคตของเอเชียตะวันออก

ในส่วนถัดไป รับไทม์ไลน์โดยละเอียดของเหตุการณ์สงครามโลกครั้งที่ 2 รายวันตั้งแต่วันที่ 1-10 มกราคม 1944

สำหรับไทม์ไลน์และข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมเกี่ยวกับเหตุการณ์สงครามโลกครั้งที่ 2 โปรดดูที่:

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ศึกใหญ่

การบุกรุก D-Day เป็นจุดเปลี่ยนในสงครามและเป็นจุดสูงสุดของความพยายามก่อนหน้านี้ทั้งหมด เรียนรู้เกี่ยวกับการสู้รบที่สำคัญอื่น ๆ ของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง:

• การต่อสู้ของนูน
• การล่มสลายของฝรั่งเศสและการรบแห่งบริเตน
• เจแปน บอมบ์ เพิร์ล ฮาร์เบอร์
• Blitzkrieg

สารบัญ

1. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 1 มกราคม 2487-10 มกราคม 2487
2. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 11 มกราคม 2487 ถึง 27 มกราคม 2487
3. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 29 มกราคม 2487-5 กุมภาพันธ์ 2487
4. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 7 กุมภาพันธ์ 2487 ถึง 15-20 กุมภาพันธ์ 2487
5. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 16-17 กุมภาพันธ์ 2487 - 22 กุมภาพันธ์ 2487
6. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 23 กุมภาพันธ์ 2487-6 มีนาคม 2487
7. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 7 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2487 ถึง 20 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2487
8. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 24 มีนาคม 2487-1 เมษายน 2487
9. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 2 เมษายน 2487-13 เมษายน 2487
10. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 13 เมษายน 2487-25 เมษายน 2487
11. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 27 เมษายน 2487-4 พฤษภาคม 2487
12. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 5 พฤษภาคม 2487-13 พฤษภาคม 2487
13. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 13 พฤษภาคม 2487-29 พฤษภาคม 2487
14. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 29 พฤษภาคม 2487-5 มิถุนายน 2487
15. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 6 มิถุนายน 2487-13 มิถุนายน 2487
16. เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 14 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2487 ถึง 29 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2487

เมื่อต้นปี ค.ศ. 1944 สหรัฐอเมริกาได้เตรียมพร้อมสำหรับการรุกรานฝรั่งเศสโดยส่งเจ้าหน้าที่และอาวุธทางอากาศ ไปยังประเทศ ไทม์ไลน์ด้านล่างสรุปเหตุการณ์นี้และเหตุการณ์สำคัญอื่นๆ ในช่วงต้นเดือนมกราคม 1944

เส้นเวลาของสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง: 1 มกราคม - 10 มกราคม

1 มกราคม: American Louis Jordan และ Tympany Five ของเขาขึ้นอันดับ 1 ในชาร์ต Billboard R&B ด้วยเพลง "Ration Blues"

3 มกราคม :ทหารเยอรมันหลายพันนายเสียชีวิต และคนอื่นๆ ถูกจับ ขณะที่กองทัพแดงบุกโปแลนด์ที่ยึดครองโดยนาซี และส่งกองทัพของฮิตเลอร์เข้าสู่การล่าถอย

4 มกราคม:สหรัฐฯ เริ่มปฏิบัติการหลังแนวรบของฝ่ายอักษะ โดยส่งมอบอาวุธและเสบียงให้กับพรรคพวกที่ต่อต้านนาซีในฝรั่งเศส อิตาลี และกลุ่มประเทศต่ำ

7 มกราคม:เพื่อเตรียมพร้อมสำหรับการรุกรานฝรั่งเศส เครื่องบินของฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตรได้ส่งเจ้าหน้าที่ทางอากาศเข้ามายังประเทศที่ถูกยึดครอง เพื่อช่วยฝึกพลพรรคของพวกเขาในยุทธวิธีกองโจรเพื่อสนับสนุนกองทหารประจำการ

8 มกราคม:เคานต์ชาโน รัฐมนตรีต่างประเทศ เอกอัครราชทูต และบุตรเขยของมุสโสลินีซึ่งดำรงตำแหน่งเพียงครั้งเดียวของมุสโสลินี เผชิญกับศาลสำหรับบทบาทของเขาในการลงคะแนนให้ขับไล่อิล ดูเซ ภรรยาของเขาจะหลบหนีไปสวิตเซอร์แลนด์ในวันรุ่งขึ้น แต่เคาท์เตอร์จะตายก่อนการยิงในวันที่ 11 มกราคม

9 มกราคม: Winston Churchill พบกับ Charles de Gaulle ผู้นำฝรั่งเศสอิสระเพื่อหารือเกี่ยวกับบทบาทของ Free French จะเล่นในการรุกรานฝรั่งเศสของฝ่ายสัมพันธมิตร

ฝ่ายพันธมิตรโจมตี Cervaro และ Monte Trocchio ประเทศอิตาลีในความพยายามที่จะทำลายแนวป้องกันที่เรียกว่า German Winter Line

พลเรือนยี่สิบสองคนถูกสังหารในเมืองลียง ประเทศฝรั่งเศส เพื่อเป็นการแก้แค้นสำหรับการลอบสังหารทหารเยอรมันสองคนโดยสมาชิกของกองกำลังต่อต้านฝรั่งเศส

10 มกราคม:น่านน้ำนอกพม่าถูกขุดโดยกองทัพอากาศ การดำเนินการนี้จะทำให้การขนส่งสินค้าของญี่ปุ่นในพื้นที่หยุดสมบูรณ์ แม้จะชั่วคราวก็ตาม

หัวข้อข่าวสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง

พาดหัวข่าวด้านล่างสรุปข่าวและเหตุการณ์ที่เกี่ยวข้องกับสงครามตั้งแต่ต้นปี 1944 รวมถึงรายละเอียดของการต่อสู้ระหว่างชาวออสเตรเลียและญี่ปุ่นในนิวกินี

การครองราชย์ของนายกรัฐมนตรีโทโจ ฮิเดกิของญี่ปุ่นนั้นมีอายุสั้น:นายกรัฐมนตรีญี่ปุ่น โทโจ ฮิเดกิ ทบทวนกองทหารของกองทัพไทยในเดือนมกราคม ค.ศ. 1944 ความไม่ลงรอยกันภายในกองบัญชาการสูงสุดของญี่ปุ่นเกี่ยวกับการดำเนินการของสงครามกระตุ้นให้โทโจตั้งชื่อตัวเองเป็นหัวหน้าเสนาธิการกองทัพบกในเดือนกุมภาพันธ์ . การเคลื่อนไหวที่ไม่เคยเกิดขึ้นมาก่อนนี้นำนายกรัฐมนตรีไปสู่จุดสูงสุดของอำนาจของเขา อย่างไรก็ตาม รัชกาลของพระองค์มีอายุสั้น ภัยพิบัติตามมาด้วยหายนะในสนามรบ สิ้นสุดในกลางปี ​​1944 ด้วยการล่มสลายของไซปัน โทโจและคณะรัฐมนตรีทั้งคณะถูกละทิ้งโดยผู้สนับสนุนทางการเมืองของเขา จึงลาออกเมื่อวันที่ 18 กรกฎาคม พ.ศ. 2487 ซึ่งครั้งหนึ่งเคยเป็นบุรุษ ผู้ทรงอิทธิพลที่สุด ในเอเชีย โทโจก็แยกตัวออกไป

Australians succeed in New Guinea against Japanese troops: From 1942 until about January 1944, Australian troops shouldered the brunt of the ground combat against the Japanese in New Guinea. In late 1943, the Australians drove the Japanese from Lae and Salamaua and then from the Huon Peninsula and the Ramu Valley. Defeated and starving, the Japanese 18th Army was sent into full retreat toward Wewak. About 35,000 Japanese died while the Australians lost fewer than 1,300.

Japan uses Koreans as forced laborers: Koreans were only one of many nationalities tapped as slave labor by the Japanese Empire. Some were sent to work in Japanese factories and mines. Others were used as forced labor on engineering projects, as so-called "comfort women " in army brothels, and as soldiers with the Japanese military. As many as five million Koreans are thought to have been taken as forced workers. How many died from 1939 to 1946 will never be known, but the estimates run as high as one million.

Japanese soldier's skull is a "souvenir" from New Guinea: In May 1944, Life magazine featured this photo of Phoenix war worker Natalie Nickerson. She is writing a thank you note to her Navy boyfriend for sending her a Japanese soldier's skull as a war souvenir. Her "big, handsome Navy lieutenant" had collected the skull while fighting in New Guinea. He and 13 friends autographed the skull and inscribed it, "This is a good Jap -- a dead one picked up on the New Guinea Beach." Natalie named the skull "Tojo" after Japanese prime minister Tojo Hideki.

Some French collaborate with Nazis: Even before the German invasion of France, part of the French population longed for a Fascist government similar to Franco's regime in Spain. Such people actually welcomed France's surrender to Nazi Germany in June 1940. During 1940-45, when France was ruled by the Germans and the pro-Nazi Vichy government, a low-level civil war was fought between the French Resistance and Nazi collaborators.

Continue following World War II events from January 1944 by consulting the timeline and headlines in the next section of this article.

For more timelines and information on World War II events, see:

The Allies began bold attacks on Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and on German positions in Italy in January 1944. Read the following World War II timeline to discover more wartime events in early 1944.

World War II Timeline: January 11-January 27

January 11: Operation Pointblank, a direct Allied attack on the Luftwaffe, kicks off with a series of bombing raids against German aeronautic facilities.

January 14: The Allies bomb the Axis-aligned Bulgarian capital of Sofia.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt warns Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek that the United States will withhold lend-lease assistance if the Chinese do not send additional troops to the front. Chiang will reply by demanding a $1 billion loan in exchange for continued collaboration.

January 17: The British government denies an unfounded accusation in the Soviet media that it is negotiating peace with the Nazis.

Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower taps General Omar Bradley to lead the U.S. First Army .

January 22: The Allies mount a massive surprise attack on German positions in south-central Italy, landing a 37,000-man force on the coast at Anzio.

January 24: Following Adolf Hitler's orders to hold it to the death, German forces harden their positions along the Gustav Line.

January 26: In a report detailing their "investigation" of the Katyn massacre, Soviet authorities issue a denial and blame the Germans. However, Katyn will prove to be one atrocity not attributable to the Nazis.

January 27: After 872 days, the siege of Leningrad finally ends. Close to a million Soviets died, mostly from starvation and bombings.

Winston Churchill directs the British bomber command to prioritize the support of partisan guerrillas in occupied Europe, along with the destruction of the Axis war machine.

The U.S. government publishes a report detailing the horrors of the Bataan death march.

World War II Headlines

The Manhattan Project dominated World War II history in early 1944. For details, see the headlines below.

U.S. brigadier general Leslie Groves leads the Manhattan Project: U.S. brigadier general Leslie Groves named the Manhattan Project and was a driving force behind the creation of the first atomic bomb . He chose the sites for research and materials production and put physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in charge of the scientific laboratory. Groves was intelligent and highly organized, and although his arrogance offended some scientists, he worked well with Oppenheimer. Groves maintained high security at the Los Alamos, New Mexico, facility, having mail censored, long-distance calls monitored, travel restricted to within 100 miles, and contact with those on the outside limited.

American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer directs Los Alamos team assigned to the Manhattan Project: The presence of brilliant American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer attracted scientists from all over the world to the remote New Mexican desert to work on the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer directed the scientific team headquartered at Los Alamos. Although he suffered from periods of depression, he personally helped resolve or control conflicts that inevitably rose among the diverse international group. He, like most Los Alamos scientists, was dedicated to ending war for all time. After atomic bombs were used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer was appalled at the civilian deaths. Following the war, as chief advisor of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, he lobbied for the international control of atomic energy.

In January and February 1944, the United States attacked Frankfurt, Nazi Germany, and a Japanese island. Learn more about these and other operations in the next section.

For more timelines and information on World War II events, see:

The Manhattan Project

was America's effort to build the first atomic bombs. Ironically, nuclear fission was discovered in Nazi Germany in 1938. At the outbreak of war, Nazi Germany was the only nation with a military office dedicated to future applications of nuclear energy . However, American physicists recognized that fission's accompanying energy release had military potential.

Leó Szilárd, who fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and worked at Columbia University in New York City, conceived the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction. With Enrico Fermi, an Italian also at Columbia, he developed the first nuclear reactor in 1939. Albert Einstein, the world's most famous scientist, shared Szilárd's concern about German nuclear research, and on August 2, 1939, Einstein sent President Roosevelt a letter warning about the danger of a German atomic bomb. Consequently, Roosevelt established a committee of scientists to determine the feasibility of an American nuclear weapon.

Initial work proceeded at a leisurely pace. After Pearl Harbor, however, Roosevelt gave this project top priority. Eventually, $2 billion would be spent turning theory into reality. Roosevelt assigned the task to the Army Corps of Engineers. From September 1942, the project's commanding officer was Brigadier General Leslie Groves, whose practical know-how and determination were crucial.

Research had hitherto concentrated on achieving fission with the scarce uranium isotope U-235. But Ernest Lawrence made the significant discovery in 1942 that the more abundant U-238 could be converted into plutonium, which could also be made to undergo fission.

The name "Manhattan Project" derived from the Manhattan Engineer District, which initially managed the weapon's development. The project's facilities eventually spread across the country. There were four major locations: the basement of the University of Chicago's football stadium, where, with their reactor pile, Fermi and Arthur Compton produced the first uranium chain reaction; Hanford, Washington, where plutonium-producing reactors and chemical-separation plants operated; Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where a gaseous diffusion plant separated uranium-235 from uranium-238; and Los Alamos, New Mexico, where physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer headed a laboratory dedicated to designing and constructing atomic bombs. Although the 125,000 people involved in the project knew it was vital war work, very few knew its purpose.

Britain, where neutrons had been discovered, was allowed to share the research. It was in Britain that refugee scientists discovered the critical knowledge that not nearly as much fissionable material was needed as originally thought. Barred from this knowledge, the Soviet Union turned to espionage for information.

After Roosevelt's death, Truman was told of the atomic bomb. With German defeat imminent, he sought advice on how to use it against Japan. Truman, General Marshall, and Secretary of War Henry Stimson came to agree on a plan under which one atomic bomb would be dropped on a city to shock Japan into surrender. If that did not do it, a second one would be dropped to give the impression that the U.S. had a large supply. If Japan did not surrender, all bombs becoming available thereafter would be saved for use in support of the invasion of Kyushu (Operation Olympic), scheduled for November 1, 1945.

The first atomic weapon test took place on July 16, 1945, at Alamogordo, New Mexico. Staggeringly successful, it produced a blast equalling 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT. On July 24, Truman ordered preparations for use against Japan. The two bombs consequently dropped in August were products of the project. The first used uranium 235; the second, plutonium.

The United States' first attack on Japanese soil occurred in early 1944. This event and others from January and February 1944 are highlighted in the following World War II timeline.

World War II Timeline: January 29-February 5

January 29: More than 700 civilians die when U.S. bombers attack Frankfurt, Germany, with about 800 bombers.

The Luftwaffe takes another hit in a disastrous raid on Britain, losing 57 airplanes .

The U.S. begins an air campaign over the Marshall Islands to soften Japanese defenses prior to a ground-based assault.

January 30: The U.S. Army suffers a tremendous loss when an offensive against the Italian town of Cisterna turns into an ambush. Nearly two battalions of U.S. Army Rangers lose their lives.

February 1: Relaxed rationing rules in Britain allow for the return of pockets, pleats, buttons, and collars to men's suits.

February 2: The Americans obtain authorization to use Soviet air bases to rest and refuel during shuttle sorties.

One hundred Polish civilians are murdered by the Nazis in reprisal for the partisan killing of Franz Kutschera, the SS chief in charge of the Warsaw district.

February 3: The Wehrmacht is forced to divert valuable resources to rescue some 60,000 Eighth Army troops caught in a snare by the advancing Red Army within Soviet territory.

The U.S. Navy attacks Japanese soil for the first time, blasting the northern Japanese island of Paramushiro with ship-based artillery.

February 4: The United States loses nearly 150 troops while capturing the Marshall island of Kwajalein. The defeated Japanese fare far worse, losing nearly 5,000 soldiers.

February 5: Michel Hollard, the French Resistance leader who warned the British about Germany's V-bomb capabilities -- enabling the Allies to destroy some related facilities -- is captured by the Nazi Gestapo. He will survive the war.

World War II Headlines

News from the early months of 1944 include the Allied invasion of Italy and the development of the atomic bomb. See the headlines and image below for more information.

Los Alamos scientific community isolated for security reasons: In 1943 hundreds of families moved to the highly secret Los Alamos National Laboratory community in New Mexico, where the first atomic bomb was built. Isolated on primitive roads, fenced with barbed wire, and patrolled by mounted guards, the community was shut off from the outside world. Even so, young Princeton scientist Richard Feynman demonstrated security weaknesses by repeatedly sneaking out through holes in the fence and then walking back in through the gate to draw guards' attention to the flaws. Workers lived in simple housing, although those higher in the scientific hierarchy had proportionately better homes. Los Alamos residents worked hard and relaxed at movies , restaurants, and parties within the compound.

Italian groups resist German occupation: After Italy's government surrendered to the Allies on September 8, 1943, a sprawling and spontaneous Italian resistance movement sprang up against German occupation. It consisted of a loose and sometimes quarrelsome network of Catholics, Jews, Communists, and other groups. Resistance took many forms, including strikes, noncooperation of Italian soldiers in the Wehrmacht, and partisan warfare. These Italians, pictured in Sicily, aided South African troops in locating German snipers. During 1944, resistance groups exasperated the Germans by establishing several provisional governments in northern Italy.

Allies' Operation Shingle designed to destroy German defenses: The Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 resulted in a stalemate as the Germans successfully defended the Gustav Line across Italy. The Allies launched Operation Shingle (so-called because it was expected to peel away German defenses like roof shingles) on January 22, 1944. Allied troops, such as the ones seen here, landed behind the Gustav Line a mere 35 miles from Rome. But the landing was not followed by an adequate Allied offensive, and the Battle of Anzio turned into a bitter four-month siege that was eerily reminiscent of World War I's paralyzing trench warfare.

Stern American propaganda designed to encourage war funding: After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, propaganda messages on the radio and on posters encouraged Americans to conserve particular materials and help fund the war. This poster of children about to be covered with the shadow of a swastika was typical of wartime propaganda. It attempted to convince everyone that the Axis threat was real and that the only way to stop it was through the purchase of war bonds.

German field marshal Albert Kesselring designs strategy in Italy: The military shrewdness of German field marshal Albert Kesselring, seen here at Anzio in February 1944, proved the bane of Allied hopes for an easy conquest of Italy. It was he who engineered the Gustav Line, a seemingly impassable barrier that thwarted an Allied advance upon Rome. Initially surprised by the January 1944 Allied landings of Operation Shingle, Kesselring quickly observed the inadequacy of the Allied offensive, then deftly mobilized German troops to pin down the invaders on the Anzio beachhead. Kesselring, who was especially adept at finding defensive advantages in Italy's landscape and weather, also ordered the killing of Italian civilians.

In the next weeks of World War II, the heaviest bomb up to that point would be dropped, and the most intense air raid staged. Continue to the next section for a timeline of events for the first half of February 1944.

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In February 1944, World War II witnessed the heaviest bomb dropped thus far -- and the most intense bombing raid. Summaries of these and other war highlights appear in the timeline that follows.

World War II Timeline: February 7-February 20

February 7: The first U-boat outfitted with a Schnorkel, which allows delivery of outside air to the submerged ship, becomes operational.

February 8: The RAF drops the heaviest bomb of the war thus far, six tons, on the Gnome-et-Rhoneaircraft engine manufacturing facility in Limoges, France.

February 9: Dr. George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, questions the necessity of bombing raids against German targets in a speech before the House of Lords. His concerns are rebuffed.

February 10: The Allies are told that Hungary might offer its unconditional surrender, provided that the Soviet Union is not represented at the ceremony.

February 10-11: Nazi Germany's prized battleship Tirpitz once again survives an attempt on its life, this time by the Soviet Union air force.

February 12: Wary of men in his own inner circle who would like to see him dead, Hitler merges the SD (political foreign intelligence organization) and the Abwehr (German military intelligence organization).

February 15: The historic monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy is bombed by the Allies in an effort to root the Germans from their strategically superior hilltop post. Though the monastery is destroyed, the Germans tenaciously hold the hill.

February 15-16: In the most intense raid to date, more than 800 Allied bombers rain destruction on Berlin.

February 15-20: New Zealand takes Green Island in the eastern Solomons, winning an important forward air base.

World War II Headlines

Check out the stories and image below for more World War II news from early 1944, including a U.S. carrier attack on Truk Island and details on "Merrill's Marauders."

U.S. bombards Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands: GIs of the Seventh ("Hourglass") Division manhandle a gun forward during fighting on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. A model amphibious operation, the landing on February 1 was preceded by a naval , air , and artillery bombardment so intense that "the entire island looked as if it had been picked up to 20,000 feet and then dropped," said a witness. Initial U.S. casualties were light, but resistance stiffened on the third day. The island, with its valuable anchorage and airfield, was secured the following day. GI casualties included 142 killed and 854 wounded. Japanese casualties included 4,938 killed and 206 captured.

American "Merrill's Marauders" Special Forces unit formed to operate in Burma: In late 1943, 2,900 American servicemen responded to a presidential call for volunteers for hazardous duty. They formed a Special Forces unit (partly modeled on Orde Wingate's British "Chindits") to operate behind Japanese lines in Burma. "Merrill's Marauders" -- named after their leader, Brigadier General Frank Merrill -- began disrupting Japanese communications and supply lines in February 1944. In five major engagements and many skirmishes, they defeated veteran Japanese soldiers, who greatly outnumbered them. The highly successful Marauders lost 700 men. Nearly that many, including Merrill, had to be hospitalized.

Raids devastate Japanese at Truk Island: Japanese "Jill" torpedo bomber attacks through a hail of anti-aircraft fire during a U.S. carrier attack on Truk Island. As the principal Japanese fleet base in the Pacific, Truk was subjected to repeated U.S. carrier raids. One of the most devastating took place on February 17 and 18, 1944, in conjunction with the Marshall Islands operation. The attack destroyed 250 to 275 enemy aircraft and sank nearly 40 ships of various types. The raids so devastated enemy capabilities at Truk that Admiral Nimitz abandoned plans to invade the island with five U.S. divisions. The once potent enemy bastion was simply bypassed.

Raids devastate Japanese at Truk Island: Japanese "Jill" torpedo bomber attacks through a hail of anti-aircraft fire during a U.S. carrier attack on Truk Island. As the principal Japanese fleet base in the Pacific, Truk was subjected to repeated U.S. carrier raids. One of the most devastating took place on February 17 and 18, 1944, in conjunction with the Marshall Islands operation. The attack destroyed 250 to 275 enemy aircraft and sank nearly 40 ships of various types. The raids so devastated enemy capabilities at Truk that Admiral Nimitz abandoned plans to invade the island with five U.S. divisions. The once potent enemy bastion was simply bypassed.

Get daily World War II highlights of the second half of February 1944 in the next section of this article.

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Enigma, Colossus, and Ultra

Before the war, the Wehrmacht had adopted an electromechanical encryption machine called "Enigma" for its strategic radio communications, and the Germans assumed that the Enigma system was entirely secure. Using material sold by a German to French intelligence, the Poles had broken the Enigma system and had shared their knowledge with the British and French in the summer of 1939.

This meant that the Allied code-breakers already understood the operating system, which comprised a battery -powered keyboard with changeable internal settings. When the letter keys typed by the operator struck the machine's internal rotors, these revolved automatically to choose and apply substitute letters at random. Originally, the Enigma had three rotors, but a more secure four-rotor version was introduced for U-boats in 1942. However, without the relevant key, breaking the coded intercepts still depended upon thousands of hours of manual message analysis and mathematical calculations by the cryptanalysts.

In 1940 the top-secret SIGINT center at Bletchley Park, England, already possessed an early-type electromechanical computer that enabled much coded material to be read from the outset, albeit with varying success and often lengthy delays. Then, in December 1943, the Colossus 1 electronic computer became operational at Bletchley. It was followed in June 1944 by Colossus 2 -- the world's first programmable electronic digital computer. It had a limited capacity memory and a photoelectronic tape reading capability.

Eventually, numerous computers were used at Bletchley, together with several other code-breaking machines and more than 8,000 cryptanalysts. The vital intelligence gleaned from the Enigma intercepts was code-named "Ultra." Unknown to Hitler, the British successfully learned of his plans in North Africa through Enigma. They also learned the areas of Normandy where the Germans were likely to mount counterattacks after the D-Day invasion.

American and Soviet Union advances against Nazi Germany are among the notable World War II events of February 1944. Daily highlights are included in the following World War II timeline.

World War II Timeline: February 16-February 22

February 16-17: Japan's Imperial Navy is forced to withdraw from Truk, its main base in the central Pacific, when Truk is subjected to a highly destructive assault by American carrier aircraft .

February 17: The Red Army accepts the surrender of nearly 20,000 German Eighth Army troops, who are among those trapped earlier in the month. However, most of the Germans, some 55,000, go down fighting.

The Americans capture another forward base in the Marshall Islands with the occupation of Bikini Atoll. The atoll will become famous in later years as the site of the first hydrogen bomb test.

February 18: Seventy members of the French Resistance, sitting on death row in Amiens Prison in Nazi-occupied France, escape when Allied bombs damage the walls of their cells.

February 20: A ferry laden with tanks of heavy water en route to German atomic research facilities is sunk by a Norwegian saboteur in the very deep waters of Lake Tinnsjö.

February 20-25: During "Big Week," the American Air Force in Britain forces the Germans to send up their fighters to protect their aircraft factories against a massive assault by bombers . The escorting Mustang fighters decimate German fighter strength.

February 22: Greek partisans sabotage a track used by German troop trains. As a result, a train plunges into a ravine, leading to the deaths of some 400 German soldiers.

Japanese prime minister General Tojo takes over as chief of the Japanese Army General Staff.

World War II Headlines

The headlines and images below provide more information about World War II's 1944 events, including Soviet advances and the American seizure of Eniwetok.

Nazi General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist defies Hitler with retreat in Russia: After participating in the invasions of Poland in 1939, France in 1940, and Yugoslavia in 1941, General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist led his tanks across the Russian border on June 22, 1941. By September, he had played critical roles in astounding military successes, including the capture of much of the Ukraine. He was promoted to field marshal in 1943. But even Kleist's considerable prowess faltered before inexorable Soviet Union offensives. Never one of Hitler's yes-men, Kleist in 1944 defied the Führer's orders by retreating across the Ukrainian territory he had earlier conquered. In March, Hitler permanently relieved him of command.

Soviet Union advances turn the tide against Nazi Germany: A grim picture of a slain soldier, mashed by military vehicles like roadkill, hints at the savagery of the fighting on the Eastern Front. By early 1944, the Soviet Union had turned the tide against the Germans. On January 4, Axis forces were routed westward across the prewar Polish border. A month later, Soviet Union troops had advanced 100 miles into Poland. In the Ukraine, the port city of Odessa fell to the Soviets on April 10, and the Germans lost Sevastopol on May 9.

Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring's excesses are fodder for cartoonists: By 1944 Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, discredited by his Luftwaffe's failures, was showing the ill effects of his devotion to sensual pleasures. His bloated girth, outlandish costumes, and erratic behavior made him a popular subject for cartoonists . (Even Germans referred to him as "Der Dicke," meaning the "Fat One.") One caricature of a grossly fat Göring with a skull-like face was signed "Kukryniksy." The best known of Soviet cartoon signatures, Kukryniksy was actually a collective name used by collaborating artists Mikhail Kupriyanov, Porfiry Krylov, and Nikolai Sokolov.

U.S. fights on Bougainville island: American soldiers advance with a Sherman tank during the fighting on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. After the initial landings on November 1, 1943, construction of an airstrip at Cape Torokina began immediately. Two other airfields were soon constructed to support the air campaign against Japanese-held Rabaul. U.S. Army troops under Major General Oscar Griswold relieved the Third Marine Division in December to expand the beachhead, protect the perimeter, and tend to the logistics of the newly established base. Army troops saw limited fighting until March 9, 1944, when the Japanese attacked in force. The GIs smashed the enemy assault, and the valuable airfields were never again threatened.

Americans seize Japan's Eniwetok atoll:Marines of the 22nd Regiment stay low during combat on Japanese-held Eniwetok. The U.S. seized the atoll on February 17-23, 1944, almost as an afterthought to the landings on Roi-Namur and Kwajalein. Those operations had gone so well that Admiral Chester Nimitz decided to capitalize on his good fortune and seize Eniwetok more than two months ahead of schedule. The atoll would serve as a base for future operations against Japanese-held Truk and the Caroline Islands. The 22nd Marines and the 106th Infantry quickly overcame the 3,500 Japanese defenders on Eniwetok and adjacent islands. Fewer than 350 Americans were killed in action.

For more information about World War II events leading up to D-Day, move to the the next section of this article.

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Isolated Garrisons

Once the Japanese advance had been halted, Allied strategy was predicated on counteroffensives advancing eastward through the mid-Pacific and northward from Australia, leaving bypassed Japanese garrisons to wither on the vine. As a consequence, hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops held territory by 1944 that had neither offensive nor defensive value. Allied sea and air superiority meant that supplies could not reach them without great difficulty (often by submarines), and their redundant garrisons could not be switched to other fronts.

Even before this, Japanese forces in the Pacific faced severe shortages, largely because of rivalry within the Japanese system. For example, in the Dutch East Indies the army had trucks without tires , while on neighboring islands the navy had tires without trucks. Neither would swap. Japanese soldiers simply took food from local people. On New Britain, tens of thousands of civilian residents died, their gardens ransacked by starving soldiers.

At war's end, Allied forces gradually accepted the surrender of large garrisons, including 38,000 on Truk, 100,000 at Rabaul, and 40,000 in the Halmaheras. In the Solomons (where the first American counteroffensive had begun in mid-1942), more than 12,000 men remained, isolated and helpless. Japan's flawed strategy effectively neutered a half-million combatants.

Among the events of March 1944 was the U.S. bombing of Berlin, in which the U.S. lost a record number of planes . Summaries of World War II events in February and March 1944 are included in this timeline.

World War II Timeline: February 23-March 6

February 23: The Seventh Indian Division of the British 14th Army scores Britain's first military victory over the Japanese, at Sinzweya, Burma.

The Marianas see action for the first time during the war, as the Allies launch a series of air attacks against the Japanese on the islands of Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

February 29: Ukrainian Red Army general Nikolai Vatutin is mortally wounded in an attack by Ukrainian nationalists who are fighting for a Ukraine independent of the Soviet Union.

American infantrymen invade the strategically important Admiralty Islands, north of New Guinea.

March 1: Nazi Germany announces that it has detained and enslaved some five million foreign nationals to fulfill the Reich's war-related labor needs.

March 2: More than 400 Italian civilians die on a cargo train when it stalls in a tunnel and asphyxiates them with fumes. The freight cars had become the only means of transportation in a country where all available resources are being devoted to the war effort.

Turkey pays for its stubborn neutrality with the loss of American lend-lease assistance.

March 3: The Allies reveal that the U.S., Britain, and Soviet Union will share equally in the war spoils of the Italian navy.

As many as six million workers in northern Italy strike in protest of deportations of Italians to German slave labor camps.

March 4: The Japanese authorities order schoolchildren as young as 12 to mobilize for the war effort.

March 6: Berlin is bombed by a U.S. force of nearly 700 bombers , but the Americans suffer the loss of 69 planes, a one-day record.

Chinese and American tank forces engage the remnants of a Japanese marine division at Burma's Tanai River.

World War II Headlines

Headlining war news in 1944 were the Allied attacks on Italy and Japan, and the presence of a Hitler relative in the U.S. military . Read the following timeline for more news from this period.

Adolf Hitler's nephew, William Patrick Hitler, sworn into U.S. Navy: Unknown to most Americans but watched very carefully by the FBI , William Patrick Hitler, the nephew of Adolf Hitler, lived with his mother in New York City during the war. He was the son of Hitler's half-brother, Alois, and Alois's Irish-born wife. William and his mother traveled to America for a lecture tour, and they stayed voluntarily there at the start of the war. His attempt to enter the American military in 1942 was stonewalled, but he eventually was sworn in to the Navy in March 1944.

Allies execute dual assaults in Italy: The Allied landing at Anzio and the initial Allied assault on the Italian town of Cassino both took place in January 1944. Allied leadership hoped that the Anzio landing would bypass the Germans' formidable Gustav Line and divert and weaken German defenses at Cassino, the key position on the line. The strategy failed, and fighting dragged on in both places. But in May, the Allies finally broke through both at Anzio and Cassino. Bombing raids left Cassino in ruins.

British Indian nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose, INA fight against the British: Indian nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose became commander-in-chief of the Indian National Army (INA). The INA allied itself with the Japanese during the war. A former president of the Indian National Congress, Bose rejected Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent resistance to British colonial rule, declaring, "Give me blood and I shall give you freedom!" His 85,000-man INA fought alongside the Japanese in the defeats at Kohima and Imphal. They surrendered following the capitulation of Japan. Though official records claim Bose died in a plane crash in 1945, his actual fate remains uncertain.

British major general Orde Wingate known for eccentricities: Eccentric British major general Orde Wingate wore an alarm clock on his wrist and snacked on raw onions . He first demonstrated a flair for unconventional warfare while fighting Arab insurgents in Palestine. In 1941 he led a guerrilla unit against the Italians in Ethiopia, where his 1,700-man force eventually accepted the surrender of 20,000 enemy soldiers. In 1943 and 1944, he led a long-range penetration brigade, the famed "Chindits," against the Japanese in Burma. Wingate was killed in a plane crash on March 24, 1944.

Japanese war veterans stigmatized In Japan: The popular Japanese rhetoric celebrating heroic death on the battlefield left wounded veterans in an uncomfortable situation when they returned home maimed but alive. An effort was made by the Military Protection Association, part of the Ministry of Welfare, to portray the war-wounded as hakui yûshi (heroes in white). Their presence was encouraged at patriotic rallies and other public events. Still, the unstated feeling that they had somehow failed to meet their obligation to seize victory or die was deeply ingrained and difficult to overcome.

War, earthquake contribute to bleak outlook in Japan: Osaka, Japan, suffered from the effects of Allied attacks and an earthquake. Despite a media brimming with upbeat "victory news," it was becoming clear by 1944 that the war was not going well for Japan. Shortages of food and clothing led to price controls and rationing, while defeats such as the loss of Saipan could not be concealed. Patriotic slogans -- "Deny one's self and serve the nation" -- proliferated in an effort to stiffen Japanese resolve. Despite their skepticism about the news, the general population was prepared to fight to the end.

Find out how World War II progressed through March 1944 in the next section of this article. A detailed timeline of events and headlines of major news stories are included.

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Notable events of March 1944 include the deaths of thousands at Nazi Germany's Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. For more on World War II history from this period, follow the timeline below.

World War II Timeline: March 7-March 20

March 7: The British House of Commons debates whether popular singers, singing about the hardships of war on the BBC, damage morale on the front.

The gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau claim more than 3,800 Jewish deportees from the Theresienstadt Ghetto.

March 11: In the first of what will be many trials of French "collaborators" (French men and women who aided and abetted the Nazis), Vichy interior minister Pierre Pucheu receives a guilty verdict and a death sentence.

March 12: Czechoslovakia's government-in-exile sends a message to Czech citizens back home to revolt against the occupying Nazis.

Britain suspends travel between England and Ireland two days after Ireland denies an Allied request to close down Axis consular offices that effectively serve as espionage operations for Axis nations.

March 14: In Nazi Germany, Wernher von Braun (a future NASA star) is detained temporarily for spending time and money on projects that have little to do with the imperialist aims of the Reich.

March 15: Responding to Hungary's recent flirtation with the Allies, German troops stage along the border, forewarning an invasion.

March 16: Oswald John Job, at age 59, becomes the oldest person to be executed under the terms of Britain's 1940 Treachery Act. Job had passed secrets to the Nazis in letters using invisible ink.

March 18: The RAF drops 3,000 tons of bombs on Frankfurt, Nazi Germany. A separate raid four days later will claim more than 1,000 civilian lives.

March 20: Nazi Germany occupies Hungary two days after Hitler gave his troops the order to march.

World War II Headlines

The following headlines include information on the Allies' success in Burma and the importance of ships to the war effort. Read about these and other newsworthy items from 1944.

Allies ultimately prevail in Burma campaign: The fate of the China-Burma-India region was determined by the British 14th Army's successful Burma campaign (supported by U.S.-led Chinese Nationalist forces) from mid-1944, following its victories at Imphal and Kohima. The experienced and battle-hardened Japanese had initially enjoyed some successes against the British and Indian forces from 1942 to early 1944. However, Japan's overextended logistic support system finally frustrated its strategic plans. Mandalay was occupied by the Allies in March, and Rangoon fell in May. The Japanese forces in Burma eventually surrendered on August 28, 1945.

Allies advance in India, Burma: Alarmed by the buildup in Allied strength in late 1943, the Japanese launched an offensive against Imphal and Kohima in northeastern India in order to cut the railway that supplied "The Hump" airlift to China. After hard fighting, the Japanese conceded defeat by early July and retreated, having suffered 55,000 casualties. It was the largest Japanese defeat up to that time. Elsewhere, Chinese divisions commanded by General Joseph Stilwell were on the attack in the Ledo area of Burma, and in mid-April 1944 Chinese divisions mounted an attack on the Yunnan front. Hard-pressed, the Japanese retreated. By the time monsoon season arrived in 1944, the Allies were poised to recapture Burma.

French Resistance commits act of sabotage: A train car sits atop the remains of an engine in Saône-et-Loire, France. Such acts of sabotage by the French Resistance were among the most effective tactics against German occupation. From January to September 1943, the number of attacks on railroads leaped from 130 each month to 530, greatly reducing German mobility in France. French factories used for German military production were also frequent targets. In addition to committing acts of violence and sabotage, the French Resistance also supplied intelligence to the Allied powers -- information that proved especially crucial on D-Day.

Soviet Union forces storm into Belorussia: Launched on June 22, 1944, Operation Bagration pitted 1.7 million Red Army troops against 800,000 Germans of Army Group Center in Belorussia. Enjoying overwhelming superiority in men and guns -- including 24,000 artillery pieces -- the Soviet Union forces were unstoppable. Minsk fell on July 3. In two months of fighting, the Red Army liberated most of Belorussia and drove into Poland. German Army Group Center was annihilated, with 300,000 dead, 250,000 wounded, and 120,000 captured. Soviet Union losses totaled 68,000 killed or missing and 110,000 wounded.

Liberty ships carry military cargo during the war: Liberty ships were the workhorses of the war, carrying valuable military cargo to Allied forces across the Atlantic and Pacific. Eighteen shipyards across the U.S. built 2,751 Liberty ships during the war. While generally dependable, many Liberty ships suffered from structural defects, such as cracks in the decks and hulls. Nineteen split in half and sank during the war.

Henry Kaiser, father of American shipbuilding, cranks out ships for the war effort: Known as the father of modern American shipbuilding, Henry Kaiser owned seven shipyards during the war. Using an assembly-line process, his yards could build a Liberty ship in five days, although most took two to three weeks. Kaiser began producing ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission in the 1930s. He expanded his production facilities with orders from England following the start of the war. In all, his shipyards built 1,490 vessels for the war effort.

Both the Japanese and the British Royal Air Force suffered significant losses in March 1944. Read about these and other World War II events in the next section.

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The British suffered a significant loss of bombers during one raid in March 1944. The World War II timeline below summarizes important events that occurred during late March and early April 1944.

World War II Timeline: March 24-April 1

March 24: The Chindits, a British special army force comprised of Indian nationals, are left rudderless after their leader, Major General Orde Wingate, dies in a plane crash over Burma.

The Nazis murder 336 Italian civilians to avenge a partisan attack that claimed the lives of 33 members of the SS who were marching through a narrow street in Rome.

March 25: Seventy-six Allied pilots escape from the German POW camp Stalag Luft III, outside of Berlin, via an expertly engineered underground tunnel.

March 26: Only one sailor survives to tell the story of the sinking of the Tullibee, a U.S. Navy submarine whose own torpedo struck the ship after following a circular trajectory after being fired.

March 27: The Nazi SS carries out a mass murder of the Jewish children of Kovno, Lithuania. No child younger than 13 is spared.

March 29: What will eventually become a massive flow of aid to war-torn Europe begins with a relative trickle when Washington allocates $1.35 billion to aid European refugees.

March 30-April 2: The Japanese suffer major equipment and supply losses when U.S. Navy ships bombard Japanese positions in the Caroline Islands.

March 31: In the worst RAF losses of the war, 95 bombers are lost in one night in an unsuccessful raid of Nuremberg, Nazi Germany.

Admiral Koga, commander of the Japanese Imperial Navy in succession to Yamamoto, is presumed dead after his plane disappears over the Philippines.

April 1: Neutral Switzerland loses 50 civilians in an accidental USAAF raid over Schaffhausen.

World War II Headlines

The following headlines provide more information about World War II-related news from 1944, including the fight for Monte Cassino.

Britain's Entertainments National Service Association(ENSA) provides needed entertainment to troops: The British Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was similar to the American United Service Organizations (USO). ENSA musicians, actors, comedians, and singers performed in hotels, factories, theaters, and at war-effort work sites. ENSA performers also toured war fronts around the world. The organization presented more than 2.5 million shows to some 300 million British and Allied troops and civilian war workers. Although some British citizens liked to poke fun at the performances, ENSA entertainments were popular with their audiences.

The U.S. Office of Price Administration controls prices of consumable goods during the war: Created in August 1941, the U.S. Office of Price Administration (OPA) was a governmental agency that controlled the prices and use of consumable goods. The agency had the power to place price ceilings on retail items. The OPA also oversaw the rationing of many frequently used items to ensure there were enough resources for the military . Rationed consumables included rubber products (such as tires), gasoline, sugar, shoes, and meat. When the war was over, rationing ended and price controls gradually disappeared. The OPA closed in 1947.

U.S. West Coast braces for possible attack: Half of all American military aircraft were produced in California. The oil industry thrived there, and millions of tons of cargo and munitions were shipped from West Coast ports. Citizens and military leaders constantly expected Japanese attacks. West Coast harbors were mined and guarded with mobile anti-aircraft guns , radar , and searchlights. Sound detectors remained on guard in 1944 (even with radar in use), with military personnel still listening for enemy airplanes.

Next, learn more World War II history, including what happened in the first half of April 1944.

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The Fight for Monte Cassino

In four battles from January to May, American, French, New Zealander, Indian, and Polish troops battled for Monastery Hill, held mainly by German paratroops. The monastery, dating from the 6th century, was both a priceless treasure and a serious military obstacle, although the Germans did not at first actually occupy the monastery itself.

British and New Zealand commanders urged that the monastery be bombed. Though Clark disagreed, British commander Harold Alexander insisted. In mid-February, bombers destroyed the monastery. Cardinal Maglione later described the monastery's destruction as "gross stupidity" -- on military as much as cultural grounds.

The attack killed hundreds of civilians, but no Germans. Moreover, it allowed the German paratroops to occupy the ruins as an even stronger fortress. They held the area against successive and costly attacks by Indian and New Zealander divisions in March.

Pressure mounted on the Allies to regain momentum in Italy. On May 11, Operation Diadem opened, backed by massive air support. It involved a coordinated offensive by Allied forces against the Gustav Line and out of the Anzio bridgehead.

The Poles, who had evaded German and Russian occupation to form Wladyslaw Anders's II Polish Corps, attacked on May 17 and at last took Monastery Hill. At the same time, Alphonse Juin's French Expeditionary Corps outflanked the Gustav Line in terrible mountain fighting in the neighboring Arunci Mountains. General Clark entered Rome on June 4, having fought what he called "the most grueling, the most harrowing, and in one respect the most tragic" battle of the Italian campaign. However, he unwisely allowed major German forces to escape to fight the Allies in northern Italy.

Allied actions in April 1944 included the destruction of Nazi Gestapo headquarters and a massive bombing campaign in Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Nazi Germany. More notable events from this time appear in the following timeline.

World War II Timeline: April 2-April 13

April 2: Nazis murder 86 French civilians in reprisal for partisan aggression.

Soviet Union troops invade Romania, with a plan to recapture the oil-rich nation for the Allies.

April 3: With the Nazi Germans in control of Hungary, the Allies revoke their promise to spare the country and attack German positions in the capital of Budapest.

April 4: General Charles de Gaulle assumes leadership of the Free French army.

April 5: Allied aircraft again attack the Axis-controlled oil production and transport facilities of Ploesti, Romania.

April 6: In Britain, the dramatic increase in the number of wage -earning citizens leads the government to introduce pay-as-you-earn taxation, whereby an employer deducts a set amount from an employee's paycheck per pay period.

April 7: The Soviet Union declines a renewed Japanese offer to negotiate a separate peace between the Nazis and the Russians.

April 10: The Red Army reclaims Odessa, an important Soviet port on the Black Sea, from the retreating German army.

April 11: The RAF destroys the Gestapo's headquarters in The Hague, including files on individual Dutch nationals scheduled to be deported to the Nazi camps.

World War II Headlines

The battle for control of Italy continued in 1944. Read about this and other World War II headlines below.

The fight for Italy continues: The Allies' success in North Africa enabled them to invade Sicily in July 1943 and Italy in September. But despite an Italian armistice on September 8, the Germans continued to fight on determinedly. Due to the impending Allied invasion of Northern Europe, the Italian campaign was consistently accorded a lower priority by the Allies, and consequently was often under-resourced. The strategic failure of the landing at Anzio exemplified this and other Allied deficiencies. Meanwhile, the German defense of Cassino was particularly tenacious. Nevertheless, the Allies advanced relentlessly northward, smashing through the Gustav Line and the Gothic Line. The Germans surrendered in Italy on May 2, 1945.

American infantryman Ira Eaker plans bombing offensive: American Ira Eaker, an infantryman during World War I, began training as a pilot in 1918. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1929 for helping set a world flight endurance record. In 1942 he was named commander of the Eighth U.S. Army Air Force based in Britain, where he led the first U.S. bomber raid on Europe. A proponent of daylight precision bombing, he helped persuade Winston Churchill to launch the Combined Bomber Offensive (also known as the Eaker Plan), in which the Americans focused on daylight bombing and the Royal Air Force conducted night bombing. He was named commander-in-chief of the Allied Air Force in the Mediterranean in late 1943.

Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) aids the war effort: Although WAAFs did not fly planes (unlike their civilian female counterparts in the Air Transport Auxiliary), their duties centered around such vital matters as weather, radar , codes, reconnaissance, and intelligence. Beginning in 1944, many WAAFs served beyond the home front, including in Europe after the invasion of Normandy.

Pope Pius XII is hailed and criticized for wartime actions: In 1943, Time magazine praised Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church for "fighting totalitarianism more knowingly, devoutly, and authoritatively, and for a longer time, than any other organized power." However, even during his life, Pius's wartime policies were controversial. Despite his muted denunciations of Nazi aggression and racial theories, the Vatican under his leadership remained officially neutral throughout the war. Pius also stirred criticism for not denouncing the Nazis' atrocities against the Jews. Members of the Church hierarchy, however, hid Jews in monasteries, convents, and the Vatican itself, saving thousands of Jewish lives.

Romans hail American liberators: Shortly before the June 4, 1944, liberation of Rome, the city had endured a week of Allied bombings that killed some 5,000 civilians. Even so, crowds of Romans grateful for an end to the Nazi occupation joyfully greeted the soldiers of U.S. general Mark Clark's Fifth Army, showering them with flowers. In his fireside chat of June 5, President Roosevelt reminded his listeners that Ancient Rome had once ruled the known world. "That, too, is significant," he said, "for the United Nations are determined that in the future no one city and no one race will be able to control the whole of the world."

Continue following World War II's history with the 1944 timeline and headlines presented in the next section of this article.

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The Allied air raid over Normandy, France, is just one event summarized in the following chronological timeline of World War II events for the second half of April 1944.

World War II Timeline: April 13-April 25

April 13: A massive Allied bombing raid hits German targets in Hungary and Yugoslavia, as well as in Nazi Germany proper.

April 13: The Allies confront Sweden, which -- despite increasing pressure from the international community -- continues to supply the Nazis with ball bearings for their equipment and weapons.

Less than two months before the planned Allied invasion of France, American and British warplanes soften German defenses on the Normandy coast.

April 14: The Nazis deport the first trainload of Greek Jews from Athens. They are destined for the Auschwitz-Birkenau gas chambers.

At a Bombay port, nearly 1,000 people die, 20 ships are lost, and tens of thousands of tons of supplies are destroyed in a massive series of explosions that are triggered when a TNT-laden ship catches fire .

April 17: The Japanese initiate a major offensive, code-named Ichi-Go, against American and Chinese positions in China's Honan Province.

April 18-19: Nearly 1,400 French civilians die in Allied air raids over the province of Normandy.

April 19: The U.S. House of Representatives approves a one-year extension of the Lend-Lease Act.

April 20: The Allies are finally able to convince "neutral" Turkey to stop supplying the Axis with chrome for weapons and transport production.

April 24: The U.S. Department of War concludes that only through a ground invasion of the Japanese homeland will the Allies succeed in winning the war in the Pacific Theater.

April 25: U.S. general George Patton creates a buzz when he implies that the Allies have plans for world domination.

World War II Headlines

The American capture of a German submarine and the fall of Crimean city of Sevastopol to the Soviet Union are among the notable news stories of 1944. Summaries of these and other major World War II events follow.

Americans capture German submarine U-505: Launched and commissioned in 1941, the German submarine U-505 sank eight ships and survived more damage than any other German submarine during World War II. On June 4, 1944, depth charges from the USS Chatelain forced U-505's crew to abandon ship, after which the sub was boarded and saved from sinking by U.S. sailors (pictured). Valuable documents and codebooks were taken from the submarine, which was then towed to the United States. This was the first enemy ship captured by the U.S. since 1815.

Nazi Germans patrol the bluff at Pas de Calais, France: A German tank patrols the beaches of Pas de Calais in the spring of 1944. The Germans had every reason to believe that the main impending Allied invasion would arrive in Pas de Calais -- and not farther west in Normandy, as the Allies actually intended. After all, Pas de Calais was close to England and had excellent landing beaches. The Allies added to Nazi Germany's misapprehension through a number of ruses, including the creation of a phantom army group that was stationed directly across the channel from Calais and was led by U.S. general George Patton.

Nazi politician Fritz Sauckel heads forced labor program in Nazi Germany: In March 1942, Hitler put Nazi politician Fritz Sauckel in charge of acquiring manpower for the war effort. Sauckel pursued his duties with extraordinary cruelty, forcing war prisoners and citizens of occupied Eastern territories into brutal slave labor. In a memo, Sauckel ordered, "All the men must be fed, sheltered and treated in such a way as to exploit them to the highest possible extent at the lowest conceivable degree of expenditure." Sauckel's policies brought some five million workers to Nazi Germany, only about 200,000 of them voluntarily. After the war, he was convicted of crimes against humanity and hanged.

The Nazis represent Terzin as a "model camp" to visitors: The 18th century fortress of Terezin (Theresienstadt in German), Czechoslovakia, became a Nazi "model camp." To deceive Red Cross inspectors and other international visitors, Theresienstadt -- which included a theater, café, and park -- was filled with Jewish scholars, musicians, and artists who were encouraged to give public performances and exhibits. On Adolf Hitler's orders, actor Kurt Gerron directed a propaganda film, TheFürhrerGives the Jews aCity, praising Theresienstadt. Of the 144,000 Jews sent there, about 33,000 died of starvation and epidemic diseases, and another 88,000 were deported to extermination camps.

City of Sevastopol falls to the Soviet Union: On April 8, 1944, the Soviet Union launched a major offensive (500,000 troops) against the German 17th Army, which had been isolated in the Crimea since November. Outnumbered two to one and with their backs to the Black Sea, the Germans attempted to make a stand at Sevastopol. However, after being shattered by massive artillery barrages and relentless infantry attacks, the city fell on May 9. Of the 230,000 Axis troops originally trapped on the peninsula, about 150,000 escaped by sea. The rest were killed or captured.

British air chief marshal Sir Arthur Tedder uses bombers to clear way for troops: British air chief marshal Sir Arthur Tedder was appointed Eisenhower's deputy supreme commander for the invasion of Normandy. Tedder successfully carried out the Allies' "Transportation Plan," which involved bombing French railways to slow down Axis reinforcements during the Allied landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944. His tactic of using bombers to clear the way for advancing troops ("Tedder's Carpet") also proved effective at Normandy and elsewhere. In May 1945, he signed Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender on Eisenhower's behalf.

Follow the progression of World War II through late April and early May 1944 by continuing the next section of this article.

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The World War II timeline below summarizes key events of late April and early May leading to D-Day, including a D-Day "practice run."

World War II Timeline: April 27-May 4

April 27: In the run-up to D-Day, British authorities ban all travel outside the country in an effort to put a stop to intelligence leaks about the invasion.

April 29: Disaster strikes a D-Day practice run when German naval forces attack an American training exercise, killing more than 600 troops.

Some 120 Japanese planes are destroyed as the Allies return to the key Japanese base of Truk to inflict further damage.

April 30: The first prefabricated, $2,200 home goes on display in London, in advance of Churchill's plan to use hundreds of thousands of these structures to house those left homeless by the war.

May 1944: The Soviet Union prevails in the Battle of the Crimea. The area is emptied of German and Romanian forces, tens of thousands of whom have been killed.

This month, for the first time since 1940, no British civilians will die in Axis air raids.

Japanese shipping is severely curtailed following Allied mining of the waters off Thailand and Burma.

May 2: Schoolteacher and crossword puzzle creator Leonard Dawe attracts the attention of the Allies when one of his puzzles, published in the London Daily Telegraph, contains the word Utah. Subsequent puzzles will include the words Omaha and Overlord, leading Allied security to suspect Dawe is leaking intelligence about the D-Day invasion. He is not doing so.

May 3: Spain's Fascist government under General Francisco Franco agrees to curtail supply shipments to Nazi Germany in exchange for an increase in oil shipments from the Allies.

May 4: The United States suspends the rationing program for most types and cuts of meat.

World War II Headlines

The headlines below summarize D-Day preparations, the D-Day invasion, and other major events of World War II in 1944.

British military argues about area bombing: Along with Arthur "Bomber" Harris, RAF chief of the air staff Sir Charles Portal was a vigorous advocate of area bombing -- destroying civilian populations instead of military targets. But Portal's thinking changed, putting him increasingly at odds with Harris. Over Harris's strong objections, Portal sided with Eisenhower's commitment to the "Transportation Plan" of bombing French railroads instead of German cities in preparation for D-Day. Portal grew increasingly skeptical of area bombing's military effectiveness, but was unable to restrain Harris from bombing city after city late in the war.

U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower greets troops before D-Day: On June 5, 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower wrote a short note. "If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt," he wrote, "it is mine alone." Success was not guaranteed, and Eisenhower probably composed this message in advance of D-Day for fear that the proper words would not come to him if the invasion failed. "Ike" visited the men of the 101st Airborne as they prepared for their drop. He asked their names and where they were from. Not long after, he watched as the planes carried his airborne troops into the night.

General Omar Bradley's men storm Omaha, Utah beaches in Normandy, France: Due to his success in corps command during campaigns in North Africa and Sicily, General Omar Bradley was chosen by General Eisenhower as the First U.S. Army commander for the invasion of France. Eisenhower decided that Bradley's First Army, with its three corps, would land on the Omaha and Utah beaches in the first wave of the invasion of Normandy. Bradley watched the assaults from the USS Augusta. The landing at Utah met with relatively little opposition. Omaha, however, was heavily defended by German forces. After securing a beachhead on Omaha beach, Bradley's Operation Cobra, begun on July 25, 1944, tore a hole in German defenses.

Aerial reconnaissance assesses enemy defenses:Photography provided essential intelligence to all belligerents. The RAF rapidly developed strategic reconnaissance (with fast, high-altitude, unarmed aircraft) and tactical reconnaissance (with low-flying armed fighters). Their photographs were interpreted with stereoscopic techniques, producing a 3-D image from two overlapping prints. By 1942 Allied aircraft could produce 1:10,000 scale photographs from 30,000 feet. The USAAF initially employed specially equipped bombers (such as the one pictured) for long-range reconnaissance, but it soon switched to adapted fighters. Aerial photography proved invaluable for assessing enemy defenses (notably for Operation Overlord), interfering with the production and use of the V-weapons, and planning strategic bombing.

The five beaches of Normandy are given code names: Sword and Gold were code names for the beaches attacked by the British Second Army. Americans landed on Utah and Omaha. British troops landing at Sword met with very little resistance, sustaining 600 casualties. The Canadians attempting to land on Juno met with greater resistance, suffering about 50 percent casualties in the first hour. But once over the sea wall, they faced less opposition. The British who attacked Gold faced some resistance, which decreased as they moved inland. Americans landing at Utah faced the least resistance, suffering only 200 casualties on D-Day. Omaha proved the toughest, as the terrain was best suited for defense. By the time the Americans advanced off the beach, they had left about 3,000 casualties behind.

Breaking through the Nazi Atlantic Wall proves perilous: To defend against an Allied invasion from Britain, the Germans constructed the Atlantic Wall -- fortifications along the western coast of Europe. Obstructions were placed under water to tear holes in landing craft, and mines were seeded under the sand. Antitank barriers and walls of barbed wire were strategically placed along the beaches. The Omaha beach was raked by machine guns in pillboxes with overlapping fields of fire . Soldiers who made it to the barbed wire used Bangalore torpedoes -- 50-foot-long pipes (pictured) filled with 85 pounds of TNT -- to blow holes through the wire wall.

Allies encounter strong resistance after landing at Utah beach: Allies met with the stiffest resistance on Juno and Omaha beaches. U.S. colonel George Taylor of the First Infantry Division tried to motivate his shell-shocked and fatigued men to advance off Omaha. "Two kinds of people are staying on this beach," he said, "the dead and those who are going to die." Once beyond the obstructions, troops advanced up the slopes to destroy pillboxes, from which machine gun and artillery fire rained down.

In the next section, we'll provide a chronological timeline of World War II events for the first half of May 1944, as well as relevant headlines from the period.

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D-Day

Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of mainland Europe and the establishment of the second front long advocated by Stalin to relieve pressure on the Russians in the East, was the greatest amphibious landing operation in history. The invasion at Normandy, France, represented the culmination and fruition of an Allied planning process that had lasted more than two years.

The deception measures taken to maintain Overlord's secrecy were almost as extensive as the main operation itself. The seaborne operation -- Operation Neptune -- was preceded by a large-scale airborne assault during the night of June 5-6 into the inland areas beyond and on the flanks of the landing beaches. This assault was carried out by 20,000 paratroopers and glider-borne infantry of the U.S. 82nd and 101st airborne divisions, and the British Sixth Airborne Division, flying in 1,087 transport aircraft and gliders.

With Allied airborne forces already in place (despite many paratroopers having landed far from their intended objectives during the night), the main seaborne landings began at 6:30 a.m. on . They were preceded by heavy air bombing and more than two hours of naval bombardment. Some 1,200 warships, 4,200 landing ships and landing craft, and 1,200 merchant ships were engaged off Normandy. Together they transported 185,000 men and 20,000 vehicles in the initial assault lift.

By last light on , from Varreville in the west to Ouistreham in the east, the U.S. First Army (under General Bradley) and British Second Army (General Dempsey), which together comprised General Montgomery's 21st Army Group, had gained a foothold at the five main landing beaches. These beaches were code-named "Utah" (U.S.), "Omaha" (U.S.), "Juno" (Canada), "Gold" (Britain), and "Sword" (Britain). At Omaha, however, this foothold proved somewhat tenuous for the first 24 hours.

On the Anglo-Canadian beaches, the "Funnies" of the British 79th Armored Division were used to particularly good effect. These were specialized armored vehicles specifically designed to breach the beach obstacles and defenses, and provide armored support on the beaches as soon as possible after landing. However, the U.S. commanders had declined to use these vehicles on their beaches.

Once safely ashore, the five U.S., British, and Canadian divisions -- together with various independent brigades, U.S. Rangers, British Commandos, Free French, and other specialist units -- quickly set about consolidating and exploiting the bridgeheads. Meanwhile, Hitler and the German high command believed that the main invasion was still to come at the Pas de Calais, with Normandy merely a diversion. The resultant uncertainty and delay in deploying the reserve panzer divisions held in readiness for this very task meant that by dawn on June 7 the only chance the Germans had possessed to repel the invasion was lost irretrievably. Hitler's "Atlantic Wall" had been breached.

About 4,500 Allied troops died on , 1,000 of whom were killed on "Bloody Omaha." The Allies were at last ashore in mainland Western Europe in strength, and the principal strategic aspiration of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin had been realized. As a huge fleet of cargo- and troop-carrying vessels plied steadily from ports in England to the newly established beachheads and artificial "Mulberry" harbors, Allied strength in Normandy increased with each week that passed, and was soon unstoppable.

The Allies' preparations for D-Day continued throughout May 1944. The timeline below includes summaries of major World War II events during this crucial time.

World War II Timeline: May 5-May 13

May 5: Ailing Indian Congress Party leader Mohandas Gandhi leaves prison nearly two years after his incarceration for impeding Britain's war effort.

May 6: Nazi Germany orders an additional 1,800 laborers from France to help staff the Mittelbau-Dora slave labor camp near Nordhausen, Germany. The workers are needed to step up production of the V-2 bombs that will terrorize Britain for much of the year.

May 8: Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower confirms June 5 as the date for Operation Overlord, the invasion of France.

May 9:Luftwaffe installations on French soil are pounded by Allied aircraft in an attempt to render them harmless prior to D-Day.

On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Union recaptures the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol.

May 10: President Roosevelt appoints James Forrestal secretary of the Navy following the death of Forrestal's predecessor, W. Franklin Knox.

May 12: The Allies engage in heated battles with German troops across much of Italy, and manage to make steady gains.

The Allies warn secondary Axis powers Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria that they will suffer if they continue to stand with Nazi Germany.

A Free French tribunal finds Vichy Admiral Edmond Darian guilty of collaborating with the Nazis and sentences him to life imprisonment.

A joint U.S.-RAF aerial assault over Nazi Germany inflicts heavy damage on the Luftwaffe while wreaking havoc on several synthetic-oil production facilities.

May 13: The Allies finally break through the German Gustav Line, the western segment of the Winter Line, and begin their march northward through Italy.

World War II Headlines

American advances in Europe, the dissemination of news of the Normandy invasion, and more World War II events are illustrated in the following headlines from 1944.

Allies break out from the Normandy beaches: The Allied seaborne and airborne landings in Normandy by General Montgomery's 21st Army Group on June 6, 1944, were the culmination of years of operational and logistic joint planning and preparation. Although the U.S. Fifth Corps landing on Omaha Beach at first encountered severe difficulties, Anglo-Canadian-U.S. success on the other four beaches -- Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword -- was generally remarkable. Nevertheless, several first-day objectives -- notably Caen -- were subsequently secured only after weeks of hard fighting in the densely wooded countryside of northern France. The delayed Allied breakout meant that many German troops escaped encirclement in the Falaise Pocket.

News of the invasion of France is released: At about 3:30 a.m. Eastern time in the U.S. on June 6, 1944, the following news was released: "Allied naval forces . . . began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France." This landing had been much anticipated in the Allied and Axis nations. Most Americans were anxious for news. President Roosevelt emphasized in a news conference that the invasion did not mean the fighting was almost over. "You don't just walk to Berlin," he said, "and the sooner this country realizes that, the better." The Japanese ambassador in Berlin notified Tokyo that German headquarters told him there would be no counterattack in Normandy because the German army still awaited (erroneously) the invasion of "the main body, which the Allies [have] not yet landed."

Hedgerows impede Allies' progress in Cherbourg, France: "Too many hedges," an Allied unit reported. "Must go forward slowly . . . take one hedgerow at a time and clean it up." Bocage is French for mixed woodland and pasture separated by thick, high hedgerows. Cherbourg Peninsula's terrain proved excellent for defense, undermining America's advantage in air support, armor, and artillery. The hedgerows did not stop a tank, but the machine's underbelly -- the weakest part of a tank's armor -- was exposed to enemy antitank and bazooka fire as it reached the top of a hedgerow. Units from the U.S. First Army needed 17 days to travel seven miles toward Saint-Lô.

British forces seize Bayeux, France: A British soldier fires a Bren gun over debris in Bayeux, France. Notice that censors have obscured his shoulder patch so his unit could not be identified. A member of the British 50th Division, he landed on Gold beach. The 50th came closer than any other Allied unit to its June 6 objective, as Bayeux was captured by the British the day after the landing. This soldier is using a Bren Gun -- a light machine gun popular in the British Army during World War II. It used magazine- instead of belt-fed ammunition like other machine guns. One of the gun's benefits was that it fired the same ammunition as the standard British rifle, the bolt-action Lee Enfield.

Americans break through the German line at Saint-Lô, France: In mid-June 1944, the Germans' defense stiffened in the hedgerows of Normandy. The British advance stalled at Caen, which was defended by much of Nazi Germany's armor. However, the Germans had few tanks in the American sector at Saint-L'99, allowing U.S. forces to breach the German line there in early August. U.S. general George Patton's newly formed Third Army threatened to encircle the German force still deployed across Normandy. Hitler called for a retreat from Normandy on August 16, leaving 50,000 dead and about 200,000 captured.

American troops made advances in operations in Italy and New Guinea in the latter part of May 1944. Read more about these World War II operations in the next section.

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Key World War II events of the latter part of May 1944 include Allied captures in Italy and New Guinea. Read about these events and others in the following timeline.

World War II Timeline: May 13-May 29

May 13: Klaus Dönitz, son of the German Kriegsmarine commander, dies when the Allies sink the ship he is on.

May 15: The Nazis begin the process of deporting Hungarian Jews to labor and death camps with the assistance of the local Hungarian police. Ultimately, close to 440,000 will be deported, with about two-thirds ending their journey in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

May 18: After four months of bloody battle and at a cost of some 20,000 lives, the Allies finally capture the ruined hilltop of the Monte Cassino monastery in Italy.

May 19: About 50 of the Allied POWs who escaped Stalag Luft III via an underground tunnel are executed after almost all who escaped were recaptured. About 20 are returned to the camp to serve as a warning to other inmates.

May 21: The Americans capture Wakde Island, off the north coast of Dutch New Guinea, two days after their initial landing. The conquest gives them an important forward base for their planned invasion of western New Guinea.

May 22: The North Atlantic island nation of Iceland declares itself independent of Denmark.

May 25: Josip Broz Tito, leader of the Communist Yugoslavian partisans, narrowly evades capture in a surprise German raid on his headquarters.

May 26: Nearly 5,500 French civilians die in Allied air raids over the southern part of the country.

May 29:Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring admits that his fleet has yielded the skies over Europe to the Allies, telling Hitler "not a single Luftwaffeaircraft dares show itself."

World War II Headlines

The headlines below contain news of 1944's important wartime events, including the D-Day invasion and the treatment of American prisoners of war.

Allied invasion of Normandy, France, deemed a resounding success: The Allies' successful invasion and subsequent landing of supplies surpassed everyone's expectations. Once the beaches were under Allied control, two prefabricated harbors, made of six miles of flexible steel roadway, were towed from England and constructed at Omaha and Gold beaches. By the end of June, approximately 850,000 troops, 150,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had crossed the English Channel. Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated that Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, was "the most difficult and complicated operation ever to take place."

Nazis massacre French residents at Oradour-sur-Glane, France: On June 10, 1944, a Waffen-SS battalion led by Adolf Diekmann surrounded the Vichy French town of Oradour-sur-Glane, where French informants had reported that the Maquis (resistance) was holding a German official for execution. The Nazis herded the town's men into barns and the women and children into a church. They then killed these local residents by arson and machine gun fire. After slaughtering 642 people, the Nazis burnt the entire town. The German official supposedly held there was never located.

Nazis deployed remote-controlled tanks to destroy targets: German "Goliaths" -- small, remote-controlled tanks -- were loaded with TNT and designed to destroy such targets as bunkers, fortified positions, and full-scale tanks. Deployed in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 and at the beaches of Anzio and Normandy, these devices were ingenious but not especially effective. They were controlled by lengths of three-wire electric cable, which a daring enemy soldier could simply cut with a shovel. Still, an unmolested Goliath could travel at a speed equal to a brisk walk, and the operator could detonate the charge at will.

In the next section of this article, get a detailed chronological timeline of World War II operations from late May to early June 1944.

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American POWs in German Hands

The first Americans to fall into German hands were airmen shot down during bombing raids of German war plants beginning in July 1942. It wasn't until the North African campaign in the early months of 1943 that large numbers of American infantry were captured. By the end of the war, more than 95,000 Americans had been imprisoned by Germans.

Before being shipped to their permanent POW camps, captured troops were sent to Dulags -- temporary camps where prisoners were interrogated and processed. Rank and arm of service determined the type of camp a prisoner was sent to. Officers were transported to Oflags, enlisted men to Stalags, and airmen to Stalag Lufts. While the mortality rate in German camps was far less than in those run by Japanese -- four percent versus 40 percent -- many prisoners faced long hours of forced labor and became victims of disease and malnutrition.

One American survivor, George J. Davis, recalled the condition of a fellow prisoner after liberation: "U.S. Army doctors diagnosed Cress as suffering from seriously infected ulcerated lice sores, scabies, yellow jaundice, dysentery, and acute malnutrition. A prisoner could become a victim of each or all these diseases/sicknesses in only three months of captivity...."

Former prisoner Philip Miller wrote, "There was no freedom, no girls, insufficient food, poor clothing, poor quarters, no pay, dirt, loneliness, and endless monotony." While some spent their time scheming to escape, "inertia kept most prisoners securely impounded," wrote author Lewis Carlson.

In early June 1944, the French Resistance was alerted to the upcoming D-Day invasion. This and other key World War II events of May and June 1944 are highlighted in the chronological timeline that follows.

World War II Timeline: May 29-June 5

May 29: Tanks clash in the Pacific Theater for the first time when U.S. forces attempt to evict the Japanese from their strategically important airfield on the island of Biak.

The USS Block Island, a Bogue Class escort carrier, becomes the only American carrier to go down in the Atlantic when it is torpedoed by U-549 in waters northeast of the Canary Islands.

May 30: The Nazis order all Germans to kill downed Allied airmen on sight.

June 1: The French Resistance is given its marching orders and alerted to the timing of the D-Day invasion when the BBC broadcasts Verlaine's poem "Chanson d'Automne."

The Ultra code-breakers at Britain's Bletchley Park press "Colossus" -- a speedy, fully electronic Enigma deciphering machine -- into service.

June 2: As the Allies approach Rome, appeals come in from all quarters to spare the ancient city the destruction wrought on much of the rest of Europe.

June 4: The Allies march on Rome, one day after Hitler orders his armies withdrawn. Though sporadic fighting occurs in the outskirts, the city center is spared.

A forecast of high winds and excessive cloud cover forces the postponement of D-Day by one day, to June 6.

The U.S. Navy captures U-505, an intact U-boat , off the coast of Africa.

June 5: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel leaves his post on the coast of France to travel to Nazi Germany to celebrate his wife's birthday. He will spend most of D-Day speeding back to the Normandy front.

Allied paratroopers land in France late in the evening as a prelude to the D-Day invasion.

World War II Headlines

The headlines below describe Nazi rocket ingenuity, the U.S. Marines ' experience in the Mariana Islands, and other World War II news from 1944.

Germans launch "buzz bomb" rockets at London: On June 13, 1944, Nazi Germany launched the V-1 flying bomb at London for the first time. The "buzz bomb" was an unmanned, pulse-jet aircraft developed in Peenemünde, a town on a small German peninsula in the Baltic Sea. German scientists, under the direction of Wernher von Braun (later the father of the U.S. space program), also developed the V-2 ballistic missile , a pilotless aircraft that traveled at four times the speed of sound, making it invulnerable to antiaircraft and fighter fire. RAF bombers attacked Peenemünde on August 17-18, 1943, destroying much of the missile development site. However, production of these weapons continued there and at other locations.

Nazis produce the Fritz-X rocket, the first successful radio-guided missile: Before and during World War II, the Germans researched rocket and missile technology. Even before German V-1 pilotless "buzz bombs" and V-2 ballistic missiles struck London and other cities in 1944-45, underground factories worked to complete a V-3 gun designed to fire long-range warheads. The Germans' "Fritz-X" missile (pictured) was the first successful radio -guided bomb. Fritz-X missiles sank the Italian battleship Roma and the British cruiser Spartan, and damaged other Allied warships.

Communication is key to U.S. victory on Saipan: A Marine works a field telephone switchboard at a temporary command post on Mount Tapochau in the center of Saipan. Even command posts were unsafe on Mount Tapochau in the center of Saipan; 19 battalion commanders were killed or wounded. Tapochau, the island's highest point (1,554 feet), was a crucial objective from which Japanese observers had initially called down artillery fire on the beaches. Its capture by the Second Marine Division on June 25 without loss was a turning point. Despite a lack of radio batteries and occasional cut telephone lines, efficient American communications on Saipan contributed enormously to the complex invasion's eventual success.

U.S. Marines land on Mariana Island, Saipan: Invading the Mariana Islands, from which U.S. bombers could bomb Japan, was an immense logistical challenge. Some 535 combat ships and auxiliaries transported 127,571 troops to islands more than a thousand miles from the nearest U.S. base, Eniwetok. The Marianas were 3,500 miles from the troops' departure point, Pearl Harbor. Early on June 15, 1944, after Admiral Turner gave the go-ahead to the landing force, vessels such as landing craft carried Marines to the key Mariana island, Saipan. More than 600 amphibious craft debarked two divisions on eight beaches on a four-mile front with no serious collisions. Some 8,000 Marines were landed in the first 20 minutes. Once the troops were ashore, they met fierce resistance.

U.S. troops face troublesome obstacles in Saipan: Saipan's terrain was much more diverse than the small, low-lying atolls of the Marines' and Army's recent campaigns. Mountains, tangled vegetation, cane fields, ravines, and caves all presented obstacles. The enemy usually proved difficult to locate, and fighting everywhere was at close quarters. Grenades proved invaluable, and so did satchel charges and flamethrowers . U.S. naval dominance had prevented the Japanese from receiving the reinforcements and supplies needed to strengthen their defenses before the invasion. But the 30,000 Japanese defenders fought with characteristic determination for land that they considered strategically vital home territory.

To learn more about World War II history in 1944, read on. Another detailed timeline and news headlines for June 1944 follow.

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Learn about the Allied invasion of France -- the D-Day invasion -- and other major June 1944 events by following the World War II timeline below.

World War II Timeline: June 6-June 13

June 6: In an awesome show of military force, the Allies land on the coast of France. By the end of the day, German positions in Normandy will be bombarded with more than 175,000 troops, 600 warships, and nearly 10,000 bombers and other warplanes . By the end of the month, nearly a million Allies will be on French soil.

While the European Theater is heavily engaged on the beaches of Normandy, Allied Pacific Theater commanders set the date for a similar invasion of Japan for October 1 of the following year.

June 7: German troops detain King Leopold III of Belgium and transport him to Nazi Germany.

June 8: The beaten and depleted Wehrmacht retreats from coastal positions in eastern Italy.

June 9: For the first time, the Allies launch bombing missions on German positions from recaptured airfields on the French mainland.

June 10: The village of Oradour-sur-Glâne is destroyed, and 642 men , women , and children are slaughtered, by members of the Waffen-SS who are searching for a missing gold shipment and Major Helmut Kämpfe, kidnapped by French partisans.

Americans on the Normandy beaches code-named "Utah" and "Omaha" join forces and move inland.

June 11: The U.S. Navy deals a harsh blow to the Japanese, destroying more than 200 of their air fleet in an attack on bases in the Marianas.

June 12: Six days after the initial D-Day invasion, the Allies have cemented a solid offensive line along the Normandy beaches.

June 13: Hitler unleashes his long-promised "secret weapon" against England. Over the next 80 days, V-1 rocket bombs will kill 5,500 civilians and cause widespread destruction.

World War II Headlines

The headlines below shed light on additional newsworthy events of 1944, including news from the Pacific theater.

Japanese soldiers in Saipan choose death over surrender: In a World War II photo , the corpse of one of the 23,811 Japanese known to have died on Saipan leans back on a tree as if asleep. How he died is unknown, but he evaded the fate of thousands sealed in caves or charred beyond recognition. Perhaps he died in a night raid or a banzai charge. The last charge, on July 7, cost more than 3,000 Japanese lives. Perhaps this soldier in the photo committed suicide rather than surrender. Only 736 of the 30,000 defenders, includuing 438 Koreans, allowed themselves to be captured. As the garrison commander, General Saito, concluded before committing hara-kiri, "Whether we attack, or whether we stay where we are, there is only death."

U.S. Marines seek spiritual strength during Saipan campaign: During the initial landings on Saipan, Marines listened as chaplains gave them a prayer and blessing over the ships' loudspeakers. Of 71,034 officers and men committed to the invasion of the island, casualties amounted to 14,111, or about 20 percent. Nearly four times as many Marines became casualties on Saipan as on Tarawa. Navy chaplains, who supported the Marine Corps, moved between units from dawn till dusk, providing up to 14 services a day. They also performed burial services.

Americans try to spare civilians while attacking in Saipan: American forces on Saipan were ordered to avoid civilian casualties when attacking enemy-held caves. Most American troops showed good will towards civilians, even amid a quintessentially brutal battle. Civilians showed fear when encountering American servicemen, whom the island's Japanese commander called "American devils." Propaganda that civilians would be tortured and killed prevented many from leaving their caves. Hundreds followed the lead of Japanese troops and committed suicide, most famously by leaping off cliffs at Marpi Point.

In the next section, find out what happened during the remainder of June 1944. Notable World War II events of the period are chronicled in a timeline.

For more timelines and information on World War II events, see:

War Without Quarter

The fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II was unparalleled in its savagery. It was a no-quarter war with each side fervently dedicated to the total annihilation of the other. Fear, hatred, racism on both sides, and a mutual ignorance of each other's culture and society all contributed to a war without mercy.

For Americans, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, enraged the nation and roused an almost genocidal determination to exact revenge on the "treacherous Japs." Playing upon racist feelings, propagandists depicted the Japanese as subhumans, cruel and mindless tools of the emperor, "yellow monkeys" intent on world domination, and a rabid vermin that must be exterminated if civilization was to survive. Widespread reports of Japanese brutality in China even before the U.S. entered the war only reinforced these views.

Taught that surrender was a disgrace and that it was an honor to die for the emperor, Japanese soldiers would fight to the death under the most hopeless circumstances. They would booby-trap their own dead and wounded, feign surrender and then open fire, or execute prisoners out of hand -- sometimes after torture. Westerners were viewed as barbarians, their concepts of mercy and surrender symptomatic of a weak and effete society undeserving of respectful treatment.

Japanese stubbornness in battle also led to a "kill or be killed" mind-set among Allied soldiers. Expecting no quarter themselves, U.S. combat troops gave none. Few prisoners were taken even when the opportunity arose. Both sides shot pilots in parachutes and machine-gunned the survivors of sinking ships. Some U.S. troops became so hardened, they collected gold teeth from enemy corpses and mounted skulls on jeeps. One soldier even sent President Roosevelt a letter opener carved from a Japanese thigh bone (a gift that FDR declined). Admiral Bull Halsey declared that by war's end the Japanese language would be spoken only in hell.

World War II events following the invasion of Normandy included the Allied bombing of Cherbourg, France, and a heavy blow to the Japanese in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The timeline that follows summarizes these and other events of the latter part of June 1944.

World War II Timeline: June 14-June 29

June 14: Free French leader General Charles de Gaulle returns to France some four years after the Nazi occupation sent him into exile.

June 15: Operating out of Chinese bases, American B-29 long-range bombers attack the Japanese island of Kyushu, damaging a steel plant that is a key supplier for the imperial war effort.

June 19-20: The U.S. Navy deals a heavy blow to the Japanese, and their naval air fleet in particular, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. U.S. losses are relatively small, while the incapacitated Japanese fleet is forced to retreat to Okinawa.

June 22: The Allies bomb the French city of Cherbourg after a warning, delivered a day prior to the occupying German force, is met with silence.

President Roosevelt signs the GI Bill of Rights, a wide-ranging veterans benefits package that will become the catalyst for the "American dream" ideal of the 1950s.

Keeping an eye on the postwar prize, the Soviets establish a puppet Communist government in Chelm, Poland. The new body is called the Polish Committee of National Liberation.

June 27: The U.S. Army occupies the French city of Cherbourg two days after naval bombardments and street fighting began to engulf the city.

June 28: Philippe Henriot, the Vichy minister of information who was known as "the French Goebbels," is murdered in his bed by members of the French Resistance.

June 29: In a meeting with his top commanders at Berchtesgaden, Hitler refuses to listen to their bleak reports on the state of the war. They leave enthused by his comments.

World War II Headlines

Making the news in June 1944 were the Battle of the Philippines, the American GI Bill, and more. Read summaries of these noteworthy events below.

Americans cripple Japanese carrier forces during the Battle of the Philippine Sea: U.S. airman Ronald "Rip" Gift celebrates his survival following a night landing on the USS Monterey during the two-day Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19-20, 1944). The "Get the carriers" exhortation on the ready room blackboard reflects the emphasis placed on aircraft carriers as priority targets. By mid-1944, U.S. carrier task forces were prowling the seas, striking enemy targets at will. By contrast, the Japanese navy was steadily weakening. Losses of Japanese carriers, aircraft, and pilots during the Battle of the Philippine Sea were the final blows to Japanese hopes for naval dominance.

Congress passes the GI Bill: in June 1944, the U.S. Congress passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, more popularly known as the GI Bill of Rights. The House of Representatives had attempted to scale down the bill's provisions, but after much negotiation, the House finally passed it almost intact. The act was signed into law by President Roosevelt on June 22. Two of its major provisions were low-interest home loans and educational benefits. The home loans, utilized by 2.4 million returning veterans, would help to develop America's suburban landscape and personal wealth. The educational provision would give colleges the financial boost to expand programs and enrollment. By 1951, 2.3 million GIs would attend colleges and universities of their choice, 3.5 million would receive educational training, and 3.4 million would take part in on-the-job training.

British children traumatized by bombing raids over London: British youngsters were traumatized by bombing raids, separation from their families, and the deaths of parents. Some children were killed or wounded. "We sat there listening to German planes coming over the shelter on their way to London and we then had to stay there until they came back," Margaret Hoffman later wrote about the 1944 air strikes.

This article's timelines, headlines, and photos detail the World War II events of January 1944-June 1944, providing a comprehensive overview of preparations for -- and the execution of -- the seminal D-Day invasion.

For more timelines and information on World War II events, see:

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:John S. D. Eisenhower, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Richard Overy Ph.D., David J. A. Stone, Wim Coleman, Martin F. Graham, James H. Hallas, Mark Johnston Ph.D., Christy Nadalin M.A., Pat Perrin, Peter Stanley Ph.D.

Battle of the Philippine Sea

Thrown on the defensive in the Pacific by 1944, the Japanese navy pinned its hopes on a decisive fleet engagement to revive Japan's fading fortunes. Planners hoped to fight this decisive battle around the Palaus Islands and the Western Carolines, but the U.S. landings on Saipan on June 15 dictated otherwise. Combined Fleet commander Admiral Toyoda Soemu ordered the First Mobile Fleet to the Marianas.

Led by Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo, the Japanese force was built around nine carriers. They would face 15 U.S. carriers, but Ozawa expected land-based aircraft from Guam and other island bases to reduce those odds before the naval engagement began. In fact, unbeknownst to Ozawa, U.S. carrier planes were neutralizing these land-based forces even as his fleet steamed into battle.

Believing erroneous Japanese claims that the U.S. fleet had already suffered serious losses from land-based air forces, Ozawa launched his carrier attack on June 19. More than 450 aircraft went after the U.S. Fifth Fleet, only to run into a buzz saw. Because the Japanese pilots were inexperienced, U.S. Grumman Hellcat fighters and massed antiaircraft fire wreaked havoc on the enemy. The Japanese lost 330 planes in the lopsided five-hour exchange, derisively dubbed the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" by American pilots. Also lost were the carriers Taiho and Shokaku, sunk by American submarines Albacore and Cavalla. The U.S. task force lost a total of 31 planes to all causes.

Left with about 100 aircraft, Ozawa withdrew. The next afternoon, operating at the far extent of their range, U.S. aircraft shot down 65 more Japanese planes, sank the carrier Hiyo and two oilers, and damaged two carriers and a battleship. About 80 U.S. planes were lost on the return when they ran out of gas and ditched or crashed, but more than half of the crew members were rescued.

The cost the Japanese 476 planes and about 450 pilots. The Japanese carrier air arm never recovered from this mortal blow.