15 January 1944

ITALY: The U.S. Fifth Army successfully concludes operations against the Winter Line with the capture by the U.S. II Corps of Mt. Trocchio; they are now confronted by the Gustav Line, which follows the Garigliano, Gari, and Rapido Rivers to Cassino and continues to the British Eighth Army boundary along the hills above Cassino. The British X Corps prepares for an assault across the lower Garigliano River. The 5th Division moves quietly forward, during the night of 15/16 January. The U.S. II Corps overruns Mt. Trocchio without a fight, the Germans having withdrawn their main forces across the Rapido River. The U.S. 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, takes this last height before the Rapido River while the 168th Infantry Regiment on the right and the 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division (which has relieved the 6th Armored Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, on Mt. Porchia), on the left keep pace. In the French Expeditionary Corps area, the Germans abandon Monte Santa Croce, the corps' objective.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack the Foligno railway junction; B-26 Marauders bomb bridges at Orvieto. RAF and USAAF P-40s hit the San Valentino station in a joint attack; A-36 Apaches and other P-40s, in support of U.S. Fifth Army forces, hit gun positions and strongpoints, especially at Picinisco and Atina; and P-40s on armed reconnaissance hit the railroad west of Frosinone station and strafe the Ceccano station and railway cars.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacks rail and bridge targets The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1):

- B-17s attack the following railroad bridges in the Florence area: Montaldo D'Castro (17-0), Orvietto (7-0) and Porto Civitanova (20-0).

- B-24 Liberators bomb the following marshalling yards: Arezzo (31-0), Certaldo (36-0), Civitevechia (10-0) and Prato (37-1).

During the night of 15/16 January, six RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the railroad at Rimini; one aircraft is lost.

U.S.S.R.: Troops of the Leningrad Front, having quietly concentrated west of Leningrad, open a powerful offensive for that city on the northern front. Other Red Army forces begin assault on Nvvgorod from the south.

GREECE: During the night of 15/16 January, 23 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Salonika.

ALGERIA: Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker, USAAF, assumes command of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) and Army Air Forces, Mediterranean Theater of Operations (AAFMTO), replacing Air Chief Marshal (USAAF General) Arthur Tedder, RAF, and Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz respectively, who along with Air Marshal (USAAF Lieutenant General) Sir Arthur Coningham, RAF, and numerous other American and British officers who have departed for the U.K. to prepare for the Normandy invasion.

INDIAN OCEAN: British submarine HMS Tally Ho, on her third patrol and cruising the waters around the Andaman Islands, fires six torpedoes at what is believed to be a motor vessel. One torpedo hits and sinks A-AK Ryuko Maru (2962T) south of Port Blair in position 10°50'N, 93°00'E. (Chris Sauder)

CHINA: Yenan: Japanese communists, dissidents and defecting PoWs are meeting here, the headquarters of the Chinese Communists, to form a Japanese People's Liberation League (JPLL). Draft proposals from Nosaka Sanzo, a leading Japanese communist, suggest a moderate democratic socialist line demanding a cessation of hostilities, the sacking of Japan's military elite, punishment of war criminals and free elections.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a sweep off the southeast coast sink a wooden vessel off Swatow and damage the lighthouse on Nampana Island. Two others shoot down a Japanese bomber north of Chikhom.

BURMA: In the Hukawng Valley, the 1st Battalion, 113th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, followed by the 3d Battalion, reaches Kaduja Ga; the 2nd Battalion is in reserve at Yupbang Ga.

Four USAAF Tenth Air Force P-40s and a B-25 Mitchell over northern Burma hit a train at Pinwe.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a sea sweep along the coast bomb the Hongay power plant and sink a gunboat in a nearby cove to the southwest; a coal grading building at Campha Port is also bombed.

The capture of Sio by the Australian 2/17th Battalion, 21st Brigade, 9th Division, represents the final destruction of the Japanese 20th Division in the protracted Huon Peninsula campaign of 1943-1944.

In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells bomb Uligan Harbor and P-40s, P-47 Thunderbolts, and B-25s hit the Madang, Alexishafen, Erima, and Bogadjim area.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine U.S.S. Thresher (SS-200), patrolling in the Luzon Strait during her eleventh patrol, bores in on a Japanese convoy. Thresher lets lose seven torpedoes in a night surface radar attack. Two of four torpedoes strike and sink A-AK Toho Maru (4092T), and all torpedoes in a salvo of three hit C-AO Tatsuno Maru (6960T) sinking her. These ships are sunk about 75 miles north of Luzon in position 19°45'N, 120°40'E.

Admiral Nimitz issues an order which states that: "Unity of command does not authorize the commander exercising it to control the administration and discipline of the forces of the Service to which he does not belong, nor to issue any instructions to such forces beyond those necessary for effective co-ordination." (Keith Allen)(141)

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The relief of the ADC Group (7th Marine Regiment reinforced by a battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment and supporting units) is begun. Japanese positions along the south coast of New Britain Island are attacked by USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and P-39 Airacobras.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Nine USAAF Seventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells from Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands flying at deck-level, bomb and strafe shipping and shore installations at Maloelap Atoll; two vessels are hit and the oil dump, hangars, other buildings, and runways are damaged; one B-25 crashes at sea after being hit by antiaircraft fire.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Twenty four USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, with 60 fighters escorting, attack East Cape while P-39 Airacobras attack barges and trucks at Chabai.

Tugs HMCS Listerville, Martinville, Neville, Bonnyville, Merrickville, Johnville, Plainville, Hartville, Innisville, Queensville, Kayville and Youville ordered.

HMC MTB 745 commissioned

Corvette HMCS Peterborough launched Kingston, Ontario.

Submarine HMS P-554 arrived Halifax, Nova Scotia for ASW training.

U.S.A.: The War Department abolishes the Central Defense Command and transfers its functions to the Eastern Defense Command.

Frigate USS Alexandria launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Charles J Kimmel, Connolly and Daniel A Joy launched.

Frigate USS Eugene commissioned.

Destroyer USS Prichett commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Francis M Robinson commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Drumheller completed forecastle extension refit New York City.

Submarine HMS L-27 arrived Philadelphia for refit.

The USAAF 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) is reactivated at Selfridge Field, Mt. Clemens, Michigan.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-377 Sunk in the North Atlantic, in approximate position 46N, 20W, by one of its circling torpedoes. 52 dead (all hands lost). Note that it has previously been recorded that U-377 was sunk 15 Jan, 1944 in the Atlantic by rockets and depth charges from aircraft of the US escort Carrier USS Santee.

The Canadian-owned, British-registered Victory-class freighter Fort St Nicholas (7,154 GRT), Captain Kenneth H. Pengelly, Master, was torpedoed and sunk by U-410, OLtzS. Horst-Arno Fenski, Knight's Cross, in the Gulf of Salerno, in position 40.34N, 014.37E. There was no loss of life from the 63 crewmembers and four passengers onboard.

Tristan da Cunha: A new "frigate" was commissioned today, unsinkable and immovable: HMS ATLANTIC ISLE is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic called Tristan da Cunha. Until the arrival of a Royal Navy landing party in 1942 to establish a wireless and meteorological station, its population of 200, descendants of British settlers forgotten generations ago, had never seen an aeroplane or a newspaper; their only contact with the 20th century was from the occasional passing whaler. They still amaze the seamen by speaking English like 18th century sailors.