Today in
World War II History

B-24 Liberator of the 705th Bomb Squadron over Orly Airfield, Paris, May 14, 1944 (US National Archives: 62566AC)

80 Years Ago—May 1, 1944: Countdown to D-day: US Eighth Air Force flies first major pre-invasion bombing mission to marshaling yards and rail centers in the Pas de Calais and Normandy areas in preparation for D-day.

First Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference opens, with prime ministers of Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa in attendance.

Mackenzie King, Jan Smuts, Winston Churchill, Peter Fraser, and John Curtin at the first Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference, London, 1 May 1944 (Library and Archives Canada: C-068672)

Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands after US naval air attack, 30 April 1944 (US National Archives)

80 Years Ago—April 30, 1944: US Naval Task Force 58 strikes targets in the Caroline Islands.

American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) begins broadcasts from Britain to Europe.

Men of the 1st Battalion, US 19th Infantry, carrying supplies near Hollandia, New Guinea, April 1944 (US Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—April 29, 1944: French Resistance sabotages Dunlop factory at Montluçon.

Dutch resistance Groep 2000 steals 10,000 blank identity cards in the Hague.

US secures Hollandia area of New Guinea, cutting off 50,000 Japanese troops in the Wewak area.

USS LST-289 after being damaged by German torpedo boats off Slapton Sands on 28 April 1944 (US National Archives 80-G-283500)

80 Years Ago—April 28, 1944: During Exercise Tiger D-Day practice off Slapton Sands in England, German torpedo boats sink two American tank landing ships (LST-507 and LST-531) and damage USS LST-289; 749 are killed; US 4^th Infantry Division suffers greater losses in this disaster than on D-day.

Merrill’s Marauders (US guerillas) and Chinese troops under US Gen. Joseph Stilwell begin offensive toward Myitkyina, Burma.

Lt. Gen. Joseph Stilwell awarding a Silver Star to a Chinese soldier near Laban, northern Burma, 28 April 1944 (US Army photo)

US soldiers practicing for D-day at Slapton Sands, Lyme Bay, England, 27 April 1944 (Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-132795)

80 Years Ago—April 27, 1944: Countdown to D-day: in Exercise Tiger, a rehearsal for D-day, US 4^th Infantry Division begins landing at Slapton Sands in Dorset, England.

US Ninth Air Force in England flies its first mission with Douglas A-20 Havoc light bombers.

Federal troops seize Montgomery Ward plant after Sewell Avery refuses to sign with CIO as ordered by War Labor Board; Avery is carried out by soldiers.

US Ninth Air Force Douglas A-20 Havocs over France, WWII (USAF photo: 051118-F-1234P-071)

Southwick House, England, September 2017 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

80 Years Ago—April 26, 1944: Countdown to D-day: Allied Naval Command Expeditionary Force staff move to Battle Headquarters for D-day at Southwick House, Hampshire, England. To learn more about Southwick House and see pictures from my tour, please see “The Sea Before Us—Tour of Southwick House.”

Pre-invasion Bombing of Pointe du Hoc by US Ninth Air Force A-20 light bombers, spring 1944. (US Army Center for Military History)

80 Years Ago—April 25, 1944: Countdown to D-day: due to damage from a US Ninth Air Force raid, German gun crews at Pointe du Hoc move surviving guns 0.8 miles south of the battery site and place telegraph poles in original positions. Read more “The Land Beneath Us – Tour of Pointe du Hoc.”

A helicopter is used for combat air rescue for the first time—a Sikorsky YR-4B helicopter of the US 1^st Air Commando Group rescues four downed airmen in the Burma jungle, one at a time over two days.

Sikorsky YR-4B at NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, VA, 29 March 1945 (NASA Langley photo: EL-2003-00296)

Tadji Airstrip at Aitape, New Guinea, April 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—April 24, 1944: US secures Aitape, New Guinea, and opens Tadji Airstrip at Aitape.

US Seventh Air Force B-24s make first land-based air attack on Guam.

Map of the Allied air plan for the landings in Normandy, 6 June 1944 (From Saunders, Hilary St. George. Royal Air Force 1939-1945, Volume III: The Fight Is Won. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1954. Public domain via Hyperwar website).

80 Years Ago—April 23, 1944: Countdown to D-day: Air Plan for Operation Overlord is issued. Read more: “The Sky Above Us Tour – D-Day in the Air.”

US Sixth Army secures Hollandia, New Guinea.

US Signal Corps cameramen Carl Weinke and Ernest Marjoram at Hollandia, New Guinea, 22 Apr 1944 (US National Archives: 111-SC-189623)

80 Years Ago—April 22, 1944: US Sixth Army lands at Hollandia and Aitape, New Guinea with little opposition.

In the US, typewriters are removed from rationing. Read more: “Make It Do—Metal Shortages in World War II.” 

US poster, WWII