1942 - US Army Center Of Military History

[ 166 ] [ 28–30 JANUARY 1944 ]
28 January
BURMA—65th Regt, Ch 22d Div, crosses Ahawk
Stream.
ITALY—ACMF: In U.S. Fifth Army’s VI Corps
area, assault elements of Br 1st Div reach positions
11/2 miles N of the Factory, then halt to regroup for
assault on Campoleone. Br 10 Corps continues
struggle to expand Garigliano bridgehead. In II
Corps area, 1st Bn of 168th Inf, 34th Div, after
getting a few men to Hill 213, falls back to river.
By dawn, 3d Bn has small bridgehead across the
Rapido near Cairo. In FEC area, 3d Algerian Div
repels determined counterattacks between Belvedere
Hill and Le Propaia.
USSR—Red Army forces moving down Leningrad–Moscow
RR capture Lyuban and drive on
toward Chudovo.
ETO—Lt Gen Omar N. Bradley succeeds Lt
Gen George Grunert as commander of First U.S.
Army.
29 January
U.S.—In order to improve Calcutta–Assam
LOC, now in Br civilian hands, Gen Marshall suggests
to President Roosevelt that the LOC be placed
under Anglo-American military control and that
the President write Prime Minister Churchill on this
matter. President Roosevelt agrees and urges
Churchill to intervene personally.
NEW GUINEA—863d Aviation Engr Bn arrives
at Saidor.
MARSHALL Is.—As invasion forces approach the
Marshalls, carrier planes and naval vessels join in
final neutralization program, supplementing action
of land-based planes that has been in progress for
some time. Carrier aircraft of Adm Mitscher’s TF
58 thoroughly cover airfields and other targets on
Kwajalein Atoll; completely neutralize Taroa airfield
on Maloelap Atoll; make repeated attacks on
Wotje airfield. These strikes are followed by naval
bombardment by TF 58 warships. In addition, the
neutralization group (TG 50.15) bombards Wotje
and Maloelap. Land-based planes concentrate on
Roi-Namur and Kwajalein Islands in Kwajalein
Atoll and attack targets on Wotje, Maloelap, Jaluit,
and Mille Atolls.
CBI—5303d Hq, commanding service units
supporting the Chinese, becomes an “area command.”
In Burma, Gen Stilwell’s plan to block road leading
from Kamaing to enemy positions along the
Tanai goes astray as 1st Bn, 114th Regt, Ch 38th
Div, upon arriving at front, is ordered by div CG to
clear Japanese from river bank instead. 3d Bn of
114th Regt is withdrawn for rest.
YUGOSLAVIA—Allied base for coastal craft is
established at Vis, already the chief base for supplying
Tito’s forces.
ITALY—ACMF: In U.S. Fifth Army area, VI
Corps regroups in preparation for strong assault on
Campoleone and Cisterna, immediate objectives before
Colli Laziali. AA cruiser HMS Spartan and a
Liberty ship are sunk during heavy enemy air attack.
In Br 10 Corps area, 138th Brig, on right flank
of 46th Div, reaches M. Jugo. 56th Div makes unsuccessful
attack on Hill 413. In II Corps area, 168th
Inf of 34th Div is strongly reinf by tanks, arty, and
engineers as it renews attempts to take Hills 56 and
213 and saddle between them. Tanks, using alternate
route, cross the Rapido in force, permitting all 3 bns
of 168th Inf to advance rapidly to objectives, which
are overrun before dawn of 30th. In FEC area, 2d Bn
of 142d Inf arrives at Belvedere Hill.
USSR—With fall of Chudovo on Leningrad
front, Leningrad–Moscow rail line is cleared of
enemy. Germans announce their withdrawal from
Smela, in the Dnieper bend. Red Army launches
co-ordinated assault by troops of First and Second
Ukrainian Fronts against faces of salient held by
German 8th Army in the Ukraine.
GERMANY—In the largest U.S. air strike to date,
over 800 heavy bombers of Eighth Air Force attack
industrial center of Frankfurt am Main, using radar.
30 January
MARSHALL Is.—Carrier planes of TF 58 continue
neutralization of the Marshalls, attacking
Eniwetok Atoll, where 19 planes are destroyed on
the ground, in addition to targets on Kwajalein,
Wotje, and Maloelap Atolls. Immediate objectives
on Kwajalein Atoll—Roi-Namur and Kwajalein
Islands—are pounded during 400 sorties and subjected
to naval bombardment of surface vessels for
4 hours. Assault forces arrive at target after nightfall;
accompanying DD’s and cruisers turn aside en
route to objective in order to bombard Maloelap and
Wotje. Rear Adm Harry W. Hill’s Majuro Attack
Group (TG 51.2), consisting of reinforced 2d Bn
of 106th Inf, 27th Div, and VAC Rcn Co, begins
invasion of Majuro Atoll, which is to become an
advance naval base, night 30–31. Scouts of VAC
Rcn Tr makes unopposed landings on Calalin and
Dadap Islands in the atoll.
NEW BRITAIN—Cape Gloucester airfield is ready
for use.
CBI—GO 13, Hq USAF CBI, directs that XX
BC be under command of Gen Stilwell, on whose
behalf Gen Stratemeyer will exercise control. In
Burma, 65th Regt, Ch 22d Div, gains control of
Taro Plain; overruns Taro.