The WW2 Letters of Private Melvin W. Johnson - WW2 Timeline: 1944

The WW2 Letters of Private Melvin W. Johnson

January

4
The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
14
The Soviet troops start the offensive at Leningrad and Novgorod.
15
The 27th Polish Home Army Infantry Division recreated, marking the start of Operation Tempest by the Polish Home Army.
17
British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River.
Meat Rationing ends in Australia.
18
Siege of Leningrad ends.
20
The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
The U.S. Army 36th Infantry Division, in Italy, attempts to cross the Rapido River.
22
Allies begin Operation Shingle, the assault on Anzio, Italy. The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division stand their ground at Anzio against violent assaults for 4 months.
30
The Battle of Cisterna takes place.
United States troops invade Majuro, Marshall Islands.
American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.

February

3
United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
7
In Anzio, Italian forces launch a counteroffensive.
8
The plan for the invasion of France, Operation Overlord, is confirmed.
17-22
Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
28-29
The Admiralty Islands are invaded by U.S. forces in the Battle of Los Negros and Operation Brewer.

March

8
American forces are attacked by Japanese troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
13
On Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.
17
German forces in Rîbnita kill almost 400 prisoners, Soviet citizens and anti-fascist Romanians.
18
German forces occupy Hungary.
18
German forces occupy Hungary.
20
RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade's bomber is hit over Germany and he has to bail out without a parachute from the height of over 4000 meters. Tree branches interrupt his fall and he lands safely on deep snow.
30
Soviets occupy Danzig.

April

14
Odessa is liberated by Soviet forces.
24
British troops force open the road from Imphal to Kohima in India.

May

8
D-Day for Operation Overlord set for June 5.
9
The German Army evacuates Sevastopol.
18
Battle of Monte Cassino ends with an Allied victory; Polish troops hoist their red and white flag on the ruins of Monte Cassino.

June

2
The provisional French government is established.
4
Operation Overlord postponed 24 hours due to high seas.
American, English and French troops enter Rome.
5
Rome falls to the Allies. It is the first capital of an Axis nation to fall.
More than 1000 British bombers drop 5000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
6
Battle of Normandy begins. Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
7
Bayeux liberated by British troops.
9
Stalin launches an offensive against Finland with the intent of defeating Finland before pushing for Berlin.
13
Germany launches a V1 Flying Bomb attack on England.
15
The United States invades Saipan.
17
Free French troops land on Elba. Iceland is declared a republic.
17
Free French troops land on Elba. Iceland is declared a republic.
18
Elba declared liberated.
22
Operation Bagration: General attack by Soviet forces to clear the German forces from Belarus which resulted in the destruction of the German Army Group Centre, possibly the greatest defeat of the Wehrmacht during WWII.
Burma Campaign: The Battle of Kohima ends in a British victory.
25
The Battle of Tali-Ihantala between Finnish and Soviet troops begins. Largest battle ever to be fought in the Nordic countries.
26
Cherbourg liberated by American troops.

July

3
Minsk is liberated by Soviet forces.
9
Caen is liberated by the Allies.
19
The entire Government of Japan resigns, Emperor Hirohito asks General Kuniaka Koiso to form a new government.
20
The July 20 Plot is carried out by Col. Claus von Stauffenberg in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler.
24
Majdanek Concentration Camp is liberated by Soviet forces.

August

1
Warsaw Uprising by the Polish Home Army commences.
4
Florence liberated by the Allies.
10
Guam liberated by American troops.
15
Operation Dragoon begins with the amphibious Allied landings in southern France.
19
French Resistance begins uprising in Paris.
20-29
The Jassy-Kishinev Operation commences. The offensive resulted in the encirclement and complete decimation of defending German forces, allowing the Soviet Army to resume its strategic advance further into Eastern Europe. It also forced Romania to switch allegiance from the Axis powers to the Soviet Union.
25
Paris is liberated; De Gaulle and Free French parade triumphantly down the Champs-Élysées.
29
The Slovak National Uprising breaks out.

September

2
Allied troops enter Belgium.
3
Brussels liberated by British Second Army while Lyon is liberated by French and American troops.
4
Antwerp liberated by British 11th Armoured Division.
6
Ghent and Liège liberated by British troops.
8
Ostend liberated by Canadian troops; Russians invade Bulgaria.
9
De Gaulle forms provisional government in France, and Bulgaria makes peace with the USSR then declares war on Germany.
10
Luxembourg liberated by U.S. First Army.
11
First Allied troops enter Germany.
17
Operation Market Garden, the attempted liberation of Arnhem, begins.
18-29
The Battle of Arracourt starts, a clash of U.S. and German armored forces near the town of Arracourt, Lorraine, France.
19
Nancy liberated by U.S. First Army.
Armistice is signed between the Soviet Union and Finland.
25
British troops pull out of Arnhem with failure of Operation Market Garden. Over 6,000 paratroopers are captured.
30
German garrison in Calais surrenders to Canadian troops.

October

1
Soviet troops enter Yugoslavia.
2
The Battle of the Scheldt begins. By September, 1944, it had become urgent for the Allies to clear both banks of the Scheldt estuary in order to open the port of Antwerp to Allied shipping, thus easing logistical burdens in their supply lines stretching hundreds of miles from Normandy eastward to the Siegfried Line. After five weeks of difficult fighting, the First Canadian Army, bolstered by attached troops from several other countries, was successful in winning the Scheldt after numerous amphibious assaults, crossing of canals, and fighting over open ground. Both land and water were mined, and the Germans defended their retreating line with artillery and snipers. The Allies finally cleared the port areas on November 8, but at a cost of 12,873 Allied casualties (killed, wounded, or missing), half of them Canadians.
4
German troops withdrawn from Greece; Allied troops enter Greece.
5
Canadian troops cross the border into the Netherlands.
6
Soviet and Czechoslovak troops enter North-eastern Slovakia.
The Battle of Debrecen began as German and Soviet forces advance against each other in eastern Hungary.
14
Athens liberated by Allies.
20
Allies invade Philippines.
The Red Army and Yugoslav partisans under the command of Josip Broz Tito liberate Belgrade.
21
Aachen occupied by U.S. First Army; it is the first major German city to be captured.
23
Battle of Leyte Gulf begins. Largest sea battle in history.

November

4
Remaining Axis forces in Greece surrender.
24
Strasbourg liberated by French troops.
29
Albania liberated by Allies.

December

15
The Battle of the Bulge begins as German forces attempt a breakthrough in the Ardennes region.
29
Soviets launch the Battle of Budapest against German and allied Hungarian forces in and around the Hungarian capital city.