World Aviation in 1944 - Part 1

Part 2

1 January
United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe is activated.

6 January
Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz assumes command of the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe and Major Generaa James H. Doolittle takes command of the 8th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in the United Kingdom.

18 January
United States Navy (USN) Consolidated Catalinas, equipped with Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) equipment, begin to patrol the Straits of Gibraltar. This action is intended to prevent German submarines from entering the Mediterranean.

22 January
During Ango-American landings at Anzio, 50,000 troops are put ashore with massive air support and without opposition.

4 February
The Japanese launch a new offensive in Burma, with a plan to capture the port of Chittagong and then the Allied bases of Imphal and Dimapur in Assam, and then to invade India.

15 February
222 allied bombers attack the monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy. The Germans had not occupied the monastery buildings but immediately after the raid they turn the ruins into a bastion. Successive attempts to take the monastery fail and it is not until 18 May that Polish forces succeed in occupying the heights.

17 February
Twelve radar equipped United States Navy (USN) Grumman TBF1C Avengers, from the USS Enterprise, attack Truk by night. This is the first night bombing attack launched by an American aircraft carrier.

29 February
5th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) aircraft support landings in the Admiralty Islands.

5 March
Brigadier General Orde Wingate's special force lands at 'Broadway' in North Burma, in a night glider (sailplane) operation.

6 March
During the first United States Army Air Force (USAAF) attack on Berlin, 69 of the 660 heavy bombers deployed are lost and 11 escort fighters are shot down.

25 March
The 15th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) makes the first operational use of the VB1 Azon bomb, a general purpose bomb with a pair of radio controlled rudders in the tail.

15 April
Prior to the Allied Invasion of Northern France, a programme of air attacks on all forms of enemy transport is given priority.

1 May
A major allied offensive against the rail transportation system in Europe begins.

10 May
A major engineering task to construct bomber and fighter airfields in China, the Chengtu Project, is completed. The project used over 400,000 Chinese coolies, often using the most primitive of equipment, to finish the task.

1 June
A United States Navy (USN) airship crosses from South Weymouth in Massachusetts to Port Lyautey in Morocco via the Azores, to complete the first Atlantic crossing by a non-rigid airship. .

3 June
A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju290A transport lands in Greenland to evacuate 26 men of the Bassgeiger weather station who have been based there for 10 months.

6 June
The Allied invasion of Normandy begins. The amphibious landings, which are the largest in history, are preceded by airdrops. The whole operation is supported by massive air operations, with the allied air forces flying 14,674 sorties in the 24 hours up to midnight on the 6 June.

7 June
The first allied airstrip in Normandy at Asnelles north east of Bayeux, is completed and becomes operational.

10 June
Allied aircraft begin to operate from airstrips in the Normandy beachhead.

11 June
United States Navy (USN) Task Force 58, comprising seven heavy and eight light carriers, is assembled and begins the opening phase of the Mariana Island campaign.

13 June
The first German V1 to be launched against British targets falls at Swanscombe near Gravesend and a few minutes later, another drops at Cuckfield in Essex.

15 June
With massive air support from Task Force 58 carrier aircraft, United States forces begin landings on Saipan in the Mariana Islands.

Part 2