|
20 Jan |
Russian troops recapture
Novgorod. |
|
29 Jan |
The Leningrad-Moscow
rail line re-opens effectively ending the siege of
Leningrad. |
|
7 March |
Japan starts 'Operation
U-Go' - an attempt to push the Allies back to India
by destroying their bases at Imphal and Kohima, in
Burmha and north east India. |
|
15 March |
At the start of a new
major offensive the Allies drop 1,250 tons of bombs
on Cassino in Italy. |
 |
|
24 March |
Orde Wingate, head of
the Chindits, is killed in a plane crash. |
|
26 March |
Russian troops move on
to Rumanian soil for the first time. |
|
8
April |
The Russians launch
their final attack on German forces in the Crimea. |
|
9 May |
The Crimea is cleared of
German resistance and Sebastopol is retaken. |
|
11 May |
The Allies start their
effort to outflank the monastery at Cassino. |
|
17 May |
Kesselring orders the
German evacuation of Cassino. |
|
23 May |
US forces start to
break-out from the beach at Anzio. |
|
25 May |
The Americans start
their drive to Rome. |
|
|
3 June |
Hitler orders Kesselring
to withdraw from Rome. |
|
4 June |
Allied troops enter
Rome. |
|
6 June |
'D-Day. Allied forces
land in Normandy. Listen
now to General 'Ike' Eisenhower announcing the D-Day
invasion of France (right) |
|
13 June |
The first of Hitler's
secret super weapons, the V1, lands in Britain. |
|
18 June |
'US forces trap the
German garrison at Cherbourg. |
|
19 June |
'The Great Marianas
Turkey Shoot'. In the
Battle of the Philippine Sea, hundreds of aircraft
from the Japanese carrier fleet are destroyed by
USAAF Hellcat fighters. |
|
17 July |
The first Russian units
reach Poland. |
|
18 July |
'Operation Goodwood' is
launched by British and Canadian forces and
thousands of tanks head towards Caen. |
|
20 July |
'The July Bomb
Plot' - an attempt by senior German Army officers to
kill Hitler failed. |
|
27 July |
Lvov is liberated by the
Russian Army. |
|
1 Aug |
Japanese resistance on
Tinian, Marianas Islands effectively ends.
Isolated remnants of Japanese troops however, would
continue to fight on until January, 1945. |
|
10 Aug |
Japanese resistance in
Guam ends. |
|
15 Aug |
The Russians announce
that the new Polish Committee of National Liberation
is to be the new representative government of
Poland. |
|
25 Aug |
Paris is liberated by
the Allies. |
|
2 Sept |
Russian troops reach the
border of Bulgaria. |
|
3 Sept |
Brussels is liberated by
the British 2nd Army. |
|
4 Sept |
Antwerp is liberated by
the British 2nd Army. |
|
5 Sept |
Rundstedt is appointed
commander-in-chief of the German Army in the west
and is ordered by Hitler to attack the advancing
Allies.
Ghent is liberated by
the Allies. |
|
8 Sept |
The first deadly V2
rocket lands in Britain. |
|
10 Sept |
Eisenhower agrees to
Montgomery's plan for the Arnhem raid.
The plan is to end the war quickly by outflanking the
defences put up by the Germans along the Siegfried
Line |
|
17 Sept |
Start of 'Operation
Market Garden' - the attack on Arnhem. |
|
|
21 Sept |
British troops at Arnhem
bridge are overwhelmed by German SS Divisions.
Listen now to Stanley Maxted reporting live under
fire with the Airborne Division at Arnhem (right): |
|
22 Sept |
German troops in
Boulogne surrender. |
|
30 Sept |
German troops in Calais
surrender. |
|
12 Nov |
The 'Tirpitz', pride
of the German Navy, is sunk by British bombers. |
|
16 Dec |
The start of the Battle
of the Bulge. Hitler's last ditch attempt to split
the Allies in two in their drive towards Germany and
destroy their supply lines. |
|
26 Dec |
Hitler informed that
Antwerp cannot be retaken. |