January 1944
(Britain)
The appointment of American General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) as Supreme Allied Commander of Europe preceded his arrival in London to take up his post. Arriving on the 16th January 1944 the Allied leaders named him as head of Operation Overlord, and confirmed his promotion on the 24th December 1943, Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of Europe in Normandy, the forthcoming D-Day landings in June 1944.
The Battle of Berlin began in November 1943 and ended in March 1944. Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur (Bomber) Harris, believed with the aid of American bombers it would cost “Germany the war”. As a typical RAF night attack, on the 20th/21st January 1944, Berlin was attacked by 495 Lancaster, 22 Halifax and ten Mosquito bombers. Low cloud the following day prevented any assessment of the damage suffered. The RAF lost 22 Halifax and 13 Lancaster bombers to anti-aircraft guns and night fighter attacks. The Germans were victorious during the Battle of Berlin as the RAF was unable to inflict a decisive defeat over Germany in Berlin. This was no different to the Nazi Blitz on London in 1940.
(Eastern Front)
The two and half year Siege of Leningrad in the Soviet Union ended on the 27th January 1944, when the Soviets had pushed the German Wehrmacht back 36-62 miles (60-100 km). Following Operation Barbarossa when Germany attacked the Soviet Union the siege began on the 8th September 1941, after the German Wehrmacht took control of the last road to the city. During the course of the siege the S.U. lost 500,000 military personnel killed, captured or missing. Leningrad also lost one and a half million civilian dead. The German casualties were in the region of 580.000. Prior to the withdrawal the Wehrmacht destroyed many historical palaces of the Tsar and a large collection of valuable art collections were sent back to Germany. At a later date, when asked why they didn’t occupy Leningrad, the German reply was they would have had to feed the occupants.
(Italy)
Count Gian Galeazzo Ciano was the son-in-law of Italian Duce Benito Mussolini. He was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Foreign Minister from 1936 to 1943. He was seen as the most probable successor to Mussolini as head of government when the time came. Ciano was executed by firing squad for treason on the 11th January 1944. Alongside him were four others who had voted for Mussolini to be removed from power. When Mussolini founded the National Fascist Party (NFP) and his subsequent “March on Rome” in 1922 he emerged as Prime Minister of Italy. Ciano and his father were with Mussolini. In April 1930 he married Mussolini’s daughter and she bore him three children. Shortly after the marriage Ciano and family left for Shanghai to serve as Italian consul. Upon his return to Italy in 1935 he volunteered for action during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935/36. When he returned from the war as a “hero” in 1936 he was appointed Foreign Minister by his father-in-law. Italy declared war on Britain and France in January 1940 and joined forces with the Axis Power regime of Nazi Germany. Following a series of defeats suffered by the Axis Powers during the war Ciano began to push for Italy’s exit from the war. As a result he was dismissed as Foreign Minister. Being a member of the Grand Council of Fascism he was one of those responsible for the dismissal and arrest of Mussolini. Ciano attempted to flee to Germany but was arrested and handed over to Italy’s new regime, the Italian Social Republic. Mussolini, under German pressure, ordered the death of Ciano and the subsequent trial resulted in in his execution on the 11th January 1944. The five treason prisoners were tied to chairs and were to be shot in the back. However, at the last minute Ciano managed to turn his chair to face the firing squad before saying “Long live Italy”.
When Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, the Germans were the sole defenders of Italy. The Winter Line was south of Rome and ran north from Cassino and where the terrain allowed it, terminated on the west coast. The western half of the Winter Line which formed part of the Gustav Line-Monte Cassino extended from the east coast to the Lira and Rapido valleys and central mountain spine of Italy. The Germans were located behind this valley-strewn and peaks/ridges line and especially around the historic hilltop abbey which dominated the nearby town of Cassino. German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, commander in Italy, ordered his troops not to include the abbey in their defensive line and informed the Vatican and the Allies in December 1943. As a protected historic zone the area was unoccupied although they did man some slopes below the abbey’s walls. The Allies were aware of the strong defences around Monte Casino as they advanced toward Cassino from the toe of Italy; they were repeatedly bombarded by artillery located on these slopes. The Allied leaders incorrectly assumed the Germans were using the abbey as an observation post. On the eastern side of Italy the Germans were in the process of reinforcing the Winter Line. The battle began on the 17th January 1944, the Allied objective was to break through the Winter Line and begin to advance on Rome. British General Harold Alexander, overall commander of the U.S. and British armies, launched an attack on the Gustav Line west of Cassino. General Oliver Leese, commander of the British X Corps, replaced Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery when he returned to Britain for his role in the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944. The X Corps forced a crossing on the Garigliano River, which ran from Cassino to the west coast, as part of the first assault. Unfortunately the X Corps did not have any extra troops available to overwhelm the Germans and waited for the central attack. Fierce fighting between the Allies and the German defenders saw the attack being repulsed. Kesselring was aware that if Cassino was taken the Allies would be able to advance on Rome. German reinforcements arrived from Rome on the 20th January 1944. The central attack was launched by the U.S. 36th Division which began on the 20th January 1944. This attack was hindered by strong German defences, bad weather and un-cleared mines/booby traps previously set by the Germans. The Battle of Monte Cassino was to continue into February 1944.
Anzio is to the northwest of Monte Cassino on the west coast of Italy. The Battle of Anzio began on the 22nd January 1944 and ended on the 5th June 1944 with the capture of Rome from the Germans. The Allied plan was to assault the beaches at Anzio and to by-pass Monte Cassino, thereby trapping the Germans between the two armies. The Anzio beach-head is in a basin and comprises reclaimed marshland surrounded by mountains. The landings began on the 22nd January 1944. The campaign was launched in a hurry, so no proper training had been possible and insufficient landing craft was another problem for the Allies. The majority of the available landing craft were allocated for the invasion of Normandy later in the year. In what landing craft were available the initial landings were virtually unopposed, with the exception of some strafing runs by the Luftwaffe. By midnight 36,000 American troops and 3,200 vehicles were on the beach. The landings came as a surprise to the Germans and the American troops should have swiftly advanced inland and supported the battle for Cassino. A misunderstanding between Clark and his second-in-command Major General John Lucas did not achieve that element of surprise. Clark, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, wanted to continue with the attack. Lucas, commander of the U.S. VI Corps, preferred to take time to entrench his positon against any counterattack. The proposed support for Monte Cassino was therefore not forthcoming. With the element of surprise gone, Germany’s Kesselring moved every unit, who were available, into a defensive ring around the beach-head. The mountainous terrain favoured the defenders and as a consequence the Germans were in a position to see every movement of the Americans. 40,000 German troops had arrived by the 24th June 1944 bringing the total to 71,500. Further arrivals of the U.S. 45th Infantry Division and the U.S. 1st Army Division landed on the beach-head by the 29th June1944. This brought the American attack force up to 60,000 troops, 508 guns and 208 tanks. The Battle of Anzio was to continue into February 1944.
As part of the supporting naval attacking forces the British destroyer HMS Janus (F53) was sunk off the beach-head of Anzio on the 23rd January 1944. There is some confusion whether Janus was sunk by a conventional torpedo or a guided bomb dropped by a German bomber. Whatever the device was, she sank within twenty minutes of being hit and only about 80 of her 240 crew were rescued. It is recorded that Janus had fired over 500 salvoes of 4.7“ shells in support of the Allied troops.
(Pacific)
Cape Gloucester is located on the far north-west coast of the island of New Britain, which is part of the Territory of Papua New Guinea. The area around Rabaul was the main Japanese supply depot and was located on the north-east corner of the same island. The Battle of Cape Gloucester began on the 26th December 1943 when American Marines attacked the Cape from east to west in a two-pronged formation. The battle ended on the 16th January 1944 when American Marines defeated the Japanese defenders of two Japanese airstrips. By the end of December 1943, the Japanese held airstrips at Cape Gloucester. These were over-run by the Marines. The marines began to extend their airport perimeter south toward Borgan Bay on the 2nd January 1944 and met with organised Japanese resistance. Fierce fighting continued through the jungle until the 16th January 1944 when the marines captured Hill 660. 0rganised Japanese resistance ended when Japanese commander Major-General Iwao Matsuda had withdrawn from Cape Gloucester. He was accompanied by approximately 1,000 troops evacuating the battle area and heading for the supply depot at Rabaul. During the Battle of Cape Gloucester, the U.S. lost 310 marines killed and 1,083 wounded and the Japanese losses were 2,000 killed.
The Andaman Islands are part of the Union Territory of India and located east of Burma. When the Japanese left the islands at the end of December 1943 there were unconfirmed rumours that 750 civilians had been murdered. The Japanese had occupied the islands since early 1942 and after leaving authority was handed over to the Provisional Government of Free India. However, the Japanese still remained in control as the leader of the government Subhas Chandra Bhose was pro-Japanese. 44 Indians, the majority of whom were part of the Indian Independence League, were accused of spying and shot in what became known as the Homfreganj Massacre on 30th January 1944.
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The Bay Museum & Research Facility 