This is a timeline of events that occurred during 1944 in World War II.
January 1st 15th
3: Major Gregory Pappy Boyington, the USMC fighter ace, was shot down after downing the last 3 of his 26 victories, and would spend the next 20 months in Japanese POW Camps.
4: The 1st Ukrainian Front of the Red Army enters Poland.
9: British forces take Maungdaw, Burma, a critical port for Allied supplies.
11: Count Ciano, the Italian Foreign Minister and Mussolini's son-in-law, is executed by Mussolini's revived Fascist government sympathizers.
12: The SS United Victory, the first Victory ship, is launched; this class of transport will prove to be crucial in hauling men and supplies across the oceans.
16: General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in London, returning from a week of rest and planning in Washington, D. C., and assumed command of the European Theater by General Orders No. 4. His new title was Commanding General, U.S. Forces, European Theater of Operations.
17: The first Battle of Monte Cassino begins when the British X Corps attacks along the Garigliano river at the western end of the German Gustav Line.
19: Red Army troops push westward toward the Baltic countries.: British Operation Outward accidentally claims lives in Sweden by knocking out lighting and causing a train crash.
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 Gari River but suffers heavy losses.
22: Allies begin Operation Shingle, the landing at Anzio, Italy, commanded by American Major General John P. Lucas. The Allies hope to break the stalemate in south Italy, but they are unable to break out of the beachhead and the line holds until late May. The minesweeper , commanded by Lt. H.C. Plummer, hit a mine and sank southeast of Anzio, Italy.
23: The British destroyer is sunk off Anzio.
24: The Allied forces have a major setback on the Gari River in Italy.
24: In German-occupied Belgium, the Social Pact, detailing plans for post-war social reform, is secretly signed.
27: The Siege of Leningrad ended after 872 days, as Soviet forces finally forced the Germans to withdraw. Some 2 million died, mostly of starvation and disease.
28: The Soviet Army completes encirclement of two German Army corps at the Korsun pocket, south of Kiev. Two-thirds of the Germans escape in the breakout next month with the loss of most heavy equipment.
30: The Japanese kill 44 suspected spies in the Homfreyganj massacre.: At Anzio, Italy the disastrous Battle of Cisterna took place, as MG John P. Lucas sent Darby's Rangers to begin the breakout from the beachhead. One of the four battalions in the action returned with only 6 of 767 men, the rest killed, wounded or captured.: The Brazzaville Conference begins in French Equatorial Africa. During the conference (which lasts until 8 February), the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) agrees to major reforms to the French colonial empire.: U.S. Navy shelling and carrier bombing began in the Marshall Islands, preliminary to invasions the following day.
31: Operation Flintlock began, as American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. United States troops also invade Majuro, Marshall Islands.
February 1st 15th
1: U.S. Marines mop up on Roi and Namur in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.
2: The Narva front near the east border of Estonia is formed between the Soviet and German forces.: Germans defeat American troops in the Battle of Cisterna near Anzio.
3: American planes bomb Eniwetok in the Marshalls, later to be a major B-29 base.
4: Kwajalein, the world's largest atoll and a major Japanese naval base, is secured.
5: The American Navy bombards the Kuril Islands, northernmost in the Japanese homelands.
7: In a radio interview, the last Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Uluots, as acting Head of State, supports mobilisation.
8: The plan for the invasion of France, Operation Overlord, is confirmed.
10: Winston Churchill urges Harold Alexander to order the Anzio generals to show more aggression.
11: In the battle of Korsun–Cherkassy, German forces sent to relieve the Korsun pocket in Ukraine are now only 10 miles away.
14: The Russian 374th Rifle Regiment forms a bridgehead on the western shore of Lake Peipus. The Mereküla Landing Operation of the special unit of the Soviet Baltic Sea Fleet in the rear of the Germans at the Narva front at Mereküla is resisted.: The underground organisation, the National Committee of the Republic of Estonia, is formed in Tallinn.: Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) headquarters are established in Britain by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
15: The second Battle of Monte Cassino begins with the destruction of the historic Benedictine monastery on Monte Cassino by Allied bombing. The Allies believed the grounds were used as an observation post by the Germans.: The Soviet bridgehead on the west coast of Lake Peipus is annihilated.: Soviet Leningrad Front initiates the Narva Offensive, February 15–28.
16: Germans launch a major counter-attack at Anzio, threatening the American beachhead.: Germans, with Panzer forces leading, fail to break out of the Korsun pocket.: Diplomats from the USSR and Finland meet to sign an armistice.
17: American Marines land on Eniwetok.
18: The light cruiser is torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Anzio with a loss of 415 crew.: American naval air raid takes place on the Truk islands, a major Japanese naval base, but they will be one of the bypassed fortresses of the Japanese outer defence ring.
19: Leipzig, Germany is bombed for two straight nights. This marks the beginning of a "Big Week" bombing campaign against German industrial cities by Allied bombers.
20: A colonial military garrison in Luluabourg in the Belgian Congo mutinies, killing three.
22: John P. Lucas is replaced as commander of the U.S. VI Corps by Major General Lucian Truscott at Anzio.
23: US Navy planes attack the Mariana Islands of Saipan, Guam and Tinian.
26: The "Big Week" bombing campaign comes to a successful conclusion; the American P-51 Mustang fighter with its long range proves invaluable in protecting American bombers over Germany.: Red Air Force continues to bomb Helsinki, as Finland continues peace talks.
27: sinks a Japanese merchant ship by torpedo.
28: Belgian industrialist Alexandre Galopin is assassinated in occupied Belgium by Flemish paramilitaries.
29: The Admiralty Islands are invaded by U.S. forces, marked by the Battle of Los Negros and Operation Brewer. The struggle for this important fleet anchorage will continue until May. Rabaul is now completely isolated.
March 1st 15th
1: The keels of and are laid down.: Anti-fascist strikes occur in northern Italy.: Leningrad Front initiate the Narva Offensive, March 1–4.: The Allies bomb the Vatican for the 2nd time
3: German forces around Anzio, having failed to drive the Allies from the beachhead, go over to a defensive posture.
4: Winston Churchill told the House of Commons the Allies intended to completely isolate Ireland to prevent military secrets from leaking to the Axis, hinting the border with Northern Ireland would soon be closed. 30 Royal Air Force planes were sent to attack Düsseldorf overnight.
6: Wingate's Chindits make several successful forays in Burma.: The Soviet Air Force bombs Narva, the city is destroyed. The Leningrad Front initiates the Narva Offensive, March 6–24.: The Allies receive intelligence that the Japanese may be about to attack Western Australia, causing them to greatly bolster defenses there. When no attack comes, forces return to their regular stations on the 20th.
7: Japanese begin an invasion attempt on India, starting a four-month battle around Imphal.
8: American forces are attacked by Japanese troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville; the battle will last five days.: A Red Army offensive on a wide front west of the Dnieper in Ukraine forces the Germans into a major retreat.
9: The Soviet Long Range Aviation carries out an air raid on Tallinn, Estonia. The military targets are almost untouched. Approx. 800 civilians die and 20,000 people are left without shelter.
10: The creation of the Political Committee of National Liberation in Greece.
13: On Bougainville, Japanese troops end their failed assault on American forces at Hill 700.
15: The third Battle of Monte Cassino begins. The small town of Cassino is destroyed by Allied bombers.: Americans take Manus Island in the Admiralty chain.: The National Council of the French Resistance approves the Resistance programme.
16: United States XI Corps arrives in Pacific Theater.
17: Heavy bombing of Vienna, Austria.
18: The Red Army approaches the Romanian border.
19: German forces occupy Hungary in Operation Margarethe.: Yugoslav partisans attack Trieste, on the border of Italy and Slovenia.
20: Red Army advances in Ukraine continue with great success.
21: Finland rejects Soviet peace terms.
22: Japanese forces cross the Indian border all along the Imphal front.: Frankfurt is bombed with heavy civilian losses.
24: The Fosse Ardeatine massacre in Rome, Italy. 335 Italians are killed, including 75 Jews and over 200 members of various groups in the Italian Resistance; this is a German response to a bomb blast that killed German troops.: Orde Wingate is killed in a plane crash.: Heavy bombings of German cities at various strategic locations last for 24 hours.
25: Soviet air force bombs the city of Tartu, Estonia.
26: On Narva front, Strachwitz Offensive destroys part of the Soviet bridgehead.
28: Japanese troops are in retreat in Burma.
30: RAF suffers grievous losses in a huge air raid on Nuremberg.
April 1st 15th
3: Allied bombers hit Budapest in Hungary, now occupied by the Germans, and Bucharest in Romania, ahead of the advancing Red Army.
4: General Charles de Gaulle takes command of all Free French forces.
5: US Air Force bombs Ploiești oil fields in Romania, with heavy losses.
6: The Japanese drive on the Plain of Imphal, supposedly halted, proves strong enough to surround British forces at Imphal and Kohima, in India.
8: The Red Army attacks in an attempt to retake all of the Crimea, the Germans retreat westward to Sevastopol.
10: Soviet forces enter Odessa, Ukraine.
11: Soviet forces take Kerch, beginning the reconquest of Crimea.
15: Heavy air raids on Ploiești oil fields (Romania) by both the RAF and the US Air Force.
16: Soviet forces take Yalta; most of Crimea has been liberated.
17: Japanese launch Operation Ichi-Go with over 600,000 men in central China. The objective is to conquer areas where American bombers are located. The first phase is the Battle of Central Henan.
21: The Badoglio government in Italy falls and he is quickly asked to form another.: An Allied air raid on Paris kills a large number of civilians.
22: Operations Reckless and Persecution: US troops land at Hollandia and Aitape in northern New Guinea to cut off Japanese forces in Wewak.
24: British troops force open the road from Imphal to Kohima in India.
25: LTG George Patton suffered yet another controversy setback, when giving a speech at the welcome Center in Knutsford, England. He opined that "the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union" were destined to rule the post-war world. A reporter's story the next day left out Soviet Union, and the Kremlin was offended; Patton was reprimanded by Eisenhower.
27: The Slapton Sands tragedy: hundreds of American soldiers and sailors are killed over two days in a training exercise in preparation for D-Day at Slapton in Devon.
30: Vast preparations for D-Day are going on all over southern England.: American navy air raids continue in the Caroline Islands, including Truk.
May 1st 15th
6: Heavy Allied bombings of the Continent in preparation for D-Day.
8: D-Day for Operation Overlord set for 5 June.