Russian troops reach the border of Bulgaria.įollowing their dash from the hedges of Normandy, Brussels is liberated by the British 2nd Army commanded by general Sir Miles Dempsey.Īntwerp is liberated by the British 2nd Army. The Russians announce that the new Polish Committee of National Liberation is to be the new representative government of Poland. Isolated remnants of Japanese troops however, would continue to fight on until January, 1945. Japanese resistance on Tinian, Marianas Islands effectively ends. ‘The July Bomb Plot’ – an attempt by senior German Army officers to kill Hitler failed. In what some claim as the largest tank battle fought by the British Army, almost 5,000 casualties would be suffered and over 300 tanks lost or damaged. Operation Goodwood is launched by British and Canadian forces, with hundreds of tanks heading towards Caen. In the Battle of the Philippine Sea, hundreds of aircraft from the Japanese carrier fleet are destroyed by USAAF Hellcat fighters. US forces trap the German garrison at Cherbourg. It would go on to cause more than 22,000, mainly civilian, casualties. Also known as the Buzz Bomb, or Doodlebug, this jet powered flying bomb had been specifically designed for terror bombing of London. The first of Hitler’s secret super weapons, the V1, lands in Britain. Hitler orders Kesselring to withdraw from Rome.Īround 07.30 hours, advance units of the 5th US Army enters the city limits of Rome. Kesselring orders the German evacuation of Cassino.Īt 05.45 hours, 1,500 Allied artillery pieces commenced bombardment as US forces start their break-out from the beach at Anzio. The Allies start their effort to outflank the monastery at Cassino. The Crimea is cleared of German resistance and Sebastopol is retaken. The Russians launch their final attack on German forces in the Crimea. Russian troops move on to Romanian soil for the first time. Orde Wingate, head of the Burma based Chindits is killed along with nine others, when a USAAF Mitchell bomber crashes into the jungle covered hills of northeast India.

Japan starts Operation U-Go – an attempt to push the Allies back to India by destroying their bases at Imphal and Kohima, in Burmha and north east India.Īt the start of a new major offensive the Allies drop 1,250 tons of bombs on Cassino in Italy. The Leningrad-Moscow rail line re-opens effectively ending the siege of Leningrad. Important events of 1944, including Operation Market Garden and D-Day (pictured above).

Largest tank battle in world history