January 14th, 1944 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: General Frederick Morgan, the officer heading the D-Day planning team writes:
"I am convinced that it is of the greatest importance that there should be French troops among the first units to enter Paris. The bigger these units are the better." (Henry Sirotin)
Minesweeper HMS Recruit commissioned.
FRANCE: Saboteurs derail the Pau to Toulouse express train, killing 25 people.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 183: 356 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 156 B-24 Liberators bomb 20 of 21 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area. The bombers are escorted by 98 P-38 Lightnings, 504 P-47 Thunderbolts and 43 Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; they claim 14-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft with the loss of three USAAF fighters. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1): Audincthun (18-0), Belmesnil (21-0), Bertreville St. Oven (21-0), Bois Rempre (21-0), Bonnieres (24-0), Croisette (18-0), Ecalles sur Buchy (24-1), Embry/Bois de Pottier (23-0), Fruges/Bois de Coupelle (21-0), Gorenflos (18-0), Grand Parc (24-0), Le Meillard (34-2), Le Petit bois Robert (17-0), Linghem (54-0), Mont Rosert (7-0), Moyenneville (25-0), Quoeux (28-0), St. Pierre des Jonquieries (29-0), Vacquerie-Le Boucq (16-0) and Yvrench Bois Carre (24-0). In addition, nine aircraft bomb Poix Airfield. .
During the night of 14/15 January, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 184: four B-17s drop 840,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Cambrai and St. Omer without loss. Thirty two aircraft of RAF Bomber Command also drop leaflets over the country.
During the night of 14/15 January, RAF Bomber Command sends 82 aircraft, 59 Stirlings, 13 Halifaxes and ten Mosquitos, to attack V-weapon sites: 31 each bomb Bristillerie and La Glacerie, 30 hit Ailly-Le-Haut-Clocher and 14 attack Bonnetot-sur-Dieppe. Eight other aircraft lay mines off Brest.
NETHERLANDS: During the night of 14/15 January, 15 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.
GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 185: two B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to Wesel, Germany for a night test of Oboe Mk II; one aircraft aborts and the other drops 4,000 pounds (1 814 kilograms) of high explosive bombs on the target without loss.
During the night of 14/15 January, RAF Bomber Command sends 496 Lancasters and two Halifaxes on the first major raid to Brunswick of the war; 472 bomb the city with the loss of 38 Lancasters, 7.6 per cent of the force. The German running commentary is heard following the progress of the bomber force from a position only 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the English coast and many German fighters enter the bomber stream soon after the German frontier is crossed near Bremen. The German fighters score steadily until the Dutch coast is crossed on the return flight. Eleven of the lost aircraft are Pathfinders. Brunswick is smaller than Bomber Command's usual targets and this raid is not a success. The city report describes this only as a "light" raid, with bombs in the south of the city which had only ten houses destroyed and 14 people killed. Most of the attack fell either in the countryside or in Wolfenbüttel and other small towns and villages well to the south of Brunswick. I n other raids, Mosquitoes are dispatched to three cities: eleven bomb Magdeburg, five attack Berlin and one hits Koblenz.
U.S.S.R.: The Red Army takes Mozyr and Kalinkovichi, near Gomel, and renews attacks around Novgorod to relieve Leningrad.
BULGARIA: Sofia is to be evacuated after two heavy Allied air raids.
ITALY: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells strike the Pontecorvo bridge and A-20 Havocs offer close support to U.S. Fifth Army forces in the Monte Trocchio area. P-40s attack the Loreto tank repair shops; P-40s and A-36 Apaches hit defenses in the San Giuseppe, Sant' Elia Fiumerapido. and Monte Trocchio areas; and A-36 Apaches also attack road and buildings east of Minturno, the town of Isola del Liri, and the harbor at Anzio.
YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Mostar; 139 bomb the airfield and 49 bomb the city. Three aircraft are lost from the group bombing the city. P-38 Lightnings provide escort throughout the missions, and P-47 Thunderbolts join the B-17 Flying Fortresses at the target and cover the flight back to base.
CHINA: Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a coastal sweep from Pakhoi to Haiphong, French Indochina, bomb a group of buildings on Weichow Island while two B-24 Liberators sink a cargo ship and damage another ship near Saint John Island.
NEW GUINEA: Over 50 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and P-40s hit the Alexishafen and Erima area in Northeast New Guinea.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, the 3d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, drives to the top of Hill 660, the final objective of the ADC Group.
On New Britain Island, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Cape Busching, B-25 Mitchells attack targets of opportunity along the north coast, and A-20 Havocs strike villages along the south coast. Thirty six USN SBD Dauntlesses and TBF Avengers escorted by more than 70 Allied fighters support a strike against shipping in Simpson Harbor at Rabaul. Nine merchant ships and two destroyers are hit. Eight Allied fighters and an SBD and a TBF are lost. The Japanese lose 29 "Zekes" (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) to USMC F4U Corsair and USN F6F Hellcat pilots; SBD and TBF crews shoot down four "Zekes."
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Twelve USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, staging through Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, bomb three islands in Kwajalein Atoll. Three B-25 Mitchells from Makin Island, Gilbert Islands fly a mission against shipping at Wotje Atoll; two of the B-25s attack two small vessels, sinking a guardboat and damaging the other; the other B-25 bombs a runway and building on the southern part of Wotje Atoll.
PACIFIC: Submarine U.S.S. Crevalle (SS-291), on her second patrol, lays mines off Kega Point, east of Saigon, French Indochina on the night of 14-15 January. The field is laid in position 10°33'N, 108°01'E.
Submarine U.S.S. Scamp (SS-277), embarked on her sixth patrol, attacks a convoy several hundred miles south of Woleai Atoll. In a daytime periscope attack, Scamp fires 6 torpedoes with two hits sinking XAO Nippon Maru (9974T) in position 05°02'N, 140°50'E.
Several hours later, U.S.S. Guardfish (SS-217), on her seventh patrol, sets upon the same convoy and sinks XAO Kenyo Maru (10,024T) in position 05°22'N, 141°27'E after a twilight periscope attack. Five of six torpedoes obliterate the naval tanker.
U.S.S. Albacore (SS-218), nearby, on her eighth patrol, sinks DD Sazanami (2090T) in position 05°15'N, 141°15'E, near Woleai Atoll.
Submarine Seawolf (SS-197), on her twelfth patrol, attacks a Japanese convoy approximately 300 miles northeast of Okinawa in a night surface radar attack. Two of three torpedoes hit home, sinking XAO Yamazuru Maru (3651T) in position 28°30'N, 133°40'E.
Submarine U.S.S. Swordfish (SS-193), on her tenth patrol, attacks a Japanese convoy in the waters south of Honshu. In a night periscope attack, Swordfish fires four fish, of which, two hit and sink XAP Yamakuni Maru (6925T) near Hachijo Jima in position 33°16'N, 139°30'E. (Chris Sauder)
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Just before dawn, 12 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit Au and Cape Gazelle and Buka Island. P-39 Airacobras join USN SBD Dauntlesses in bombing Wakunai, Bougainville Island.
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS New Liskeard launched Port Arthur, Ontario.
Frigate HMCS (ex-HMS) Loch Alvie launched.
U.S.A.: Nisei (people born in the U.S. of parents who emigrated from Japan) eligibility for the draft is restored. The reaction to this announcement in the camps would be mixed.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a message to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek sent today, asks that the Yunnan forces be committed in Burma in conjunction with operations from India; and he hints that if they are not, lend-lease to China may be curtailed.
Destroyer escorts USS Abercrombie and Halloran launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The 700 ton British rescue tug HMS Adherent (W 108) founders in the North Atlantic.