August 1944
(Britain)
The American Liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery was anchored in the Thames estuary in August 1944 while waiting the formation of a convoy to travel to Cherbourg in Normandy.The Richard Montgomery had arrived off Southend on the 27th July 1944 loaded with 6,127 tons of munitions. On the 20th August 1944 the ship dragged her anchor and ran aground near the Medway Approach Channel. As the tide receded the ship broke her back on a sandbank near the Isle of Sheppey. On the 23rd August 1944 removal of the cargo began. The ship’s hull cracked open the following day allowing several holds to flood. On the 25th September 1944, the unloading was abandoned after the ship broke into two separate parts. Currently, after 80 years of laying on the seabed, the ship is constantly under surveillance whilst approximately 1,400 tons of unexploded ordinance remains on board.
(France – Normandy)
Following the successful D-Day landings the ancient city of Bayeux was the first city to be liberated by British troops in June 1944. The Allies had liberated the city of Caen and the deep-water Port of Cherbourg by the end of July 1944. The Allies began their break-out by early August 1944 and reached the German defended town of Falaise. They formed the Falaise Pocket, which had completely surrounded the town,and by the 14th August 1944 they failed to close the pocket. The pocket was finally closed on the 21st August 1944, resulting in the destruction of most of the German defenders west of the River Seine. This opened up the way to Paris and the Franco-German border. With the Allies approaching Paris an uprising erupted in the city on the 19th August 1944. The key to the uprising was a resistance against Nazi control of the city, as called for by the French Resistance leaders. The Parisian people’s determination to free themselves of German control resulted in barricades being erected in the streets together with Resistance fighters facing the occupiers. With American General George S. Patton’s Third Army approaching Paris, German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler ordered the destruction of the city on the 22nd August 1944. Despite efforts to implement the order Paris was liberated on the 25th August 1944, when the German garrison commander surrendered to the French. On the same day, Charles de Gaule, President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, moved into the War Ministry and broadcast a speech to the nation. He claimed Paris had liberated itself with the help from French forces. He deliberately down-played the part the American troops had played and also dismissed the Vichy establishment as a false France. The following day, 26th August 1944, de Gaule and the Free French began their Victory Parade. They started at the Arc de Triumphe and marched along the Champs-Èlysées. With Paris liberated and the Allies having joined forces, the Germans fought fierce delaying tactics. By the 29th August 1944 the Germans had retreated to the River Seine, and withdrew over the river the next day, the 30th August 1944. On the afternoon of the same day the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division crossed the Seine and entered Rouen, to a jubilant welcome, and Operation Overlord had ended. The advance east toward the Franco-German border was about to begin.
(Southern France)
On the 15th August 1944 Operation Dragon began which was the code name for the Allied invasion of Provence in southern France. Originally Operation Dragon was planned to coincide with Operation Overlord in Normandy during June 1944. This operation was cancelled owing to lack of supplies for both operations. The Allies agreed that Operation Dragon should proceed in August 1944. The delay enabled the French Liberation Army to assemble and participate. The invasion was planned to secure the ports of Marseille and Toulon on the French Mediterranean coast and opening up another front. To achieve this the American and French forces landed on the beaches of the Cote d’Azur and encountered a weakened German defensive system. Many defenders had been relocated to other fronts and the replacements were third-rate soldiers kitted with obsolete equipment. The landings were very successful, with German resistance low. The German defenders of the beaches very quickly surrendered. The German defenders on the extreme southern coast of Vichy-France realised they could not halt the Allied advance. They were ordered to retreat to the French-Italian Alps. By the 28th August 1944 the Allies had surrounded Toulon and Marseille. The two ports were liberated after the defenders had surrendered.
(Germany)
The 20 July Plot, Operation Valkyrie, to assassinate Fuhrer Adolf Hitler failed. Four of the leaders of the conspiracy were immediately courts martialled and sentenced to death. The executions were carried out at 1.00 am on the 21st July 1.944. On the 7th August 1944 the first trial was conducted. The outcome was that 4,980 plotters and associates were found guilty and on Hitler’s order were “hanged like cattle” on the 8th August 1944.
(Italy)
With the liberation of Rome in early June 1944, the Allies began their advance toward northern Italy. On the 4th August 1944, Florence was liberated and by the 15th August 1944 the Allies were closing up on the “Gothic Line”. The “Gothic Line” was the last major German defensive line and ran from the west coast of Italy, north of Pisa, along the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic coast just south of Rimini. On the 25th August 1944 the “Gothic Line” was penetrated but there was no decisive break-through until later in the war.
(Eastern Front)
In Poland, the Warsaw Uprising was major Polish underground resistance operation to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. The uprising began on the 1st August 1944, its objective was to drive the Germans out of Warsaw. The uprising was an attempt to assist the Allies in defeating Germany. However, it was 63 days later in October 1944 the uprising ended with a German victory. In the meantime the German Waffen SS ordered that between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles be systematically murdered. The Wola massacre began on the 5th August 1944 in the neighbourhood of Warsaw in an attempt to stop the Warsaw Uprising. When the massacre ended on the 12th August 1944 the Germans had anticipated the massacre would crush the uprising but it only stiffened Polish resistance. The Red Army continued their advance through Poland towards Germany.
(Pacific)
In New South Wales, Australia, Cowra was the nearest town to No 12 Prisoner of War Camp. On the 5th August 1944, the Cowra Break-out occurred when 1,104 Japanese prisoners of war attempted to escape. It was the bloodiest and largest POW escape of the 2nd World War. Ten Australian soldiers were killed and 231 Japanese soldiers were either killed or committed suicide during the escape and subsequent manhunt. The remaining escaped prisoners were recaptured within ten days of the break-out.
In the Pacific the American war against Japan was gathering pace. On the 1st August 1944 U.S. Marines completed the capture of the Mariana Island of Tinian. On the 9th August 1944 General Douglas McArthur’s plan to invade the Philippines was chosen by President Franklin D Roosevelt over Admiral Chester Nimitz’s plan to invade Taiwan. All of the Mariana Islands were in American hands after the Second Battle of Guam ended on the 10th August 1944. Also on the 10th August 1944, 54 B-29 USAAF bombers attacked the Japanese refinery at Palembang in Dutch East Indies. The bombing was at night and with overcast conditions it was difficult to assess the damage. However, mines were dropped in the river connecting Palembang to the sea. It took the Japanese nearly a month to sweep the mines and open up maritime traffic which held up petroleum exports.
(Other Areas)
In the U.S. Capital, Washington, D.C., delegates assembled for an international conference for peace and security which was to become the United Nations. The Dumbarton Oaks Conference was held from the 21st August to the 7th October 1944. The conference was led by the “Four Policemen” – the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and China. The Dumbarton Oaks Conference recognised the need for an organisation to maintain post-war peace and security in the world. A tentative set of proposals were agreed by the delegates to meet these proposals on the 7th October 1944.
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The Bay Museum & Research Facility 