August 29th, 1944 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeper HMS Golden Fleece commissioned.
Two British Overseas Airlines (BOAC) aircraft crash:
- In SWEDEN, Lockheed C-60A-5-LO, msn 18-2491, registered G-AGIH, crashes at Kinnekulle; 4 of 8 aboard survive.
- A de Havilland DH 98 FB Mk VI, registered G-AGKR, crashes in the NORTH SEA.
NORTH SEA: Lt (P) Robert Hampton "Hammy" Gray RCNVR, led a flight of F4U Corsair aircraft in a deadly low-level strafing attack against 3 Narvik-class destroyers. Although his aircraft took a direct hit and lost most of his rudder Gray flew back to his carrier HMS Formidable. Upon arrival orbiting the ship for 45 minutes rather the disrupt landing ops. He was recovered onboard safely. Once Operations Neptune and Overlord had established the Normandy beachheads, naval air power was re-tasked to other targets. Because the cross-channel logistical situation was still very tenuous, enemy offensive capability, such as their large Narvik-class destroyers, merited special attention. Although they were not sunk, the air attacks kept enemy surface naval units engaged elsewhere and denied them access to the area of primary concern. In this way, a sea denial operation in one region reinforced a sea control campaign in another area.
FRANCE: Soissons is liberated when the US VII Corps crosses the Aisne River. The US 3rd Army liberates Reims and Chalon-sur-Marne.
The 15,000 men of the U.S. 28th Infantry Division parade down the Champs Elysées in Paris at the request of Charles de Gaulle. Due to the extensive barricading of streets in the city, the parade serves the dual purpose of moving the 28th Division through Paris, and toward combat positions east of the city. For the first time in US military history, soldiers marched straight from a parade, into combat within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 5th Infantry Division captures Reims while the assault on Brest continues against unabated resistance. Bad weather allows only minimum bomber and fighter operations by the USAAF Ninth Air Force; B-26 Marauders attack a fuel dump while a few fighters fly sweeps over northwestern France; 100+ C-47 Skytrains complete supply and evacuation missions.
In southern France, organized German resistance at Loriol and Livron ends. In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters attack targets in the Rhone Valley. U.S. Marine Corps detachments from the heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31) and light cruiser USS Philadelphia (CL-41) accept the surrender of two German-held islands in Marseilles Harbor and disarm the garrisons.U.S. Marine Corps detachments from the heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31) and light cruiser USS Philadelphia (CL-41) accept the surrender of two German-held islands in Marseilles Harbor and disarm the garrisons.
In northern FRANCE, bad weather allows only minimum bomber and fighter operations by the US Ninth Air Force; B-26s attack 1 fuel dump while a few fighters fly sweeps over northwestern France; 100+ C-47 Skytrains complete supply and evacuation missions.
In EUROPE, bad weather restricts
US Eighth Air Force bomber operations. 104 P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts
attack transportation targets in France, Belgium and Germany; 2 airfields, 3
marshalling yards, rail lines at several points, and a large number of rail and
road vehicles are attacked; they claim 20-0-7 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-47s
are lost.
GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler
orders extra fortifications on the North Sea coast between Denmark and the
Netherlands.
U-2510 is commissioned. U-2342 is laid down.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Prague: Partisans fighting the Germans in Slovakia, the eastern part of pre-war Czechoslovakia, issued a general call to arms today and declared the formation of a free Czechoslovak republic. The uprising is centred on the town of Banska Bystrica, in the centre of Slovakia, and the partisans have won control of large areas of surrounding land. Hitler is reported to be furious and has ordered the Wehrmacht and the SS to crush the uprising.
FINLAND: This day the Soviet government replies to the Finnish offer to start the peace negotiations. Before the negotiations can begin, Finland has to immediately and publicly sever all relations with Germany and demand all German troops to be withdrawn from the country by 15 Sept. If the Germans fail to comply, Finns has to disarm them hand hand over to the Allies (Soviets). The next day Mannerheim decides to accept the Soviet conditions. The Parliament, whose agreement is needed to affirm the acceptance, is set to decide on the matter on 5 Sept.
EASTERN FRONT: The USSR announces that it cannot accept or recognize Bulgarian neutrality which was claimed on the 26th.
Russians and Polish Communists announce the finding of 1.5 million dead around the area of the Majdanek concentration camp.
The British and US governments recognize the Polish Home Army (AK) as a responsible belligerent. The Germans refuse to accept this and the fighting in Warsaw continues.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: During the day, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs four targets: (1) 178 aircraft bomb the tank factory at Ostrave Moravaska (126 using H2X radar) with the loss of 12 aircraft; (2) 26 bomb the marshalling yard at Ostrave Moravaska using H2X radar; (3) 26 bomb the industrial area at Ostrava Moravaska using H2X; and (4) 32 bomb the oil refinery at Bohumin (27 using H2X) with the loss of five aircraft.
HUNGARY: During the day, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bombs four targets: (1) 47 bomb the marshalling yard at Szeged and (2) 30 bomb the railroad bridge at Szeged; (3) 38 bomb the marshalling yard at Szolnok with the loss of one aircraft; and (4) and 26 bomb the marshalling yard at Czegleb.
ROMANIA: Soviet troops capture Constanta, the Black Sea port.
During the night of 29/30 August, five RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group mine the Danube River.
YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, 28 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers visually bomb the railroad bridge at Borovnica while six others bomb the marshalling yard at Subotica.
During the night of 29/30 August, seven RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group mine the Danube River.
ITALY: Medium bombers of the US Twelfth Air Force hit 4 bridges and a viaduct in northeastern Italy while A-20 Havocs hit a fuel station; fighter-bombers hit roads and bridges in northern Italy and support ground forces in the Arno River Valley; P-47s fly medium bomber escort and armed reconnaissance, claiming 100 vehicles destroyed. In southern France, fighters attack targets in the Rhone Valley.
The British 8th Army reaches the River Foglia. The British 6th Armoured Division reaches Consuma while the Canadian 1st and British 5th Corps thrust to the Foglia RIver, behind which the Germans are moving reinforcements
The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 550 B-17s and B-24s to strike targets in Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia; in Italy, communications targets in the Po Valley and railway bridges at Ferrara, Salzano, and Ferrara; in Czechoslovakia, oil refineries and communications targets in the Silesian Plain, including the Bohumin area, steel works and marshalling yard, Moravska-Ostrava marshalling yard, oil refineries and industrial area including, tank works, and marshalling yards; in the Hungarian Plain, marshalling yards at Szolnok and Szeged, and a railway bridge at Szeged; and in Yugoslavia, a railway bridge at Borovnica. P-38s bomb Latisana Bridge, Italy.
Major General Curtis Emerson LeMay becomes Commanding General US XX Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force, with HQ at Kharagpur, INDIA. LeMay assumes command after Brigadier General LaVerne G Saunders is seriously injured in a non-operational flying accident.
CHINA: The Japanese 11th Army, consisting of seven divisions, starts south down the railroad from Heng-Yang threatening USAAF Fourtheenth Air Force bases at Kweilin and Liuchow.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: A USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator flies an armed reconnaissance bombs to Yap Island. In the Palau Islands, USAAF Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Koror, and Malakal Islands, a seaplane base on Arakabesan Island, and supply area north of Ingesebus Airfield.
MARIANA ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based on Saipan bomb Pagan Island during the evening.
VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based in the Mariana Islands, bomb Iwo Jima during the eventing.
U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Willard Keith
launched.
Minesweeper USS Roselle launched.
Destroyer escort USS John L Williamson launched.
Destroyer USS Norris laid down.
Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-196 was commissioned at New Orleans. Her first commanding officer was LTJG F. B. Davis, USCGR. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. She was decommissioned 22 August 1945.