Timeline

02-01-1944: In connection with Operation Dexterity, units of the American 6th Army land on the northern coast of New Guinea near Saidor in order to cut off the Japanese rear from its main base in Madang.

03-01-1944: The R.A.F. launches a massive attack on Berlin at the cost of 27 Lancaster’s

04-01-1944: The Allies open the offensive against the Gustav line near Rome.

06-01-1944: The Soviets cross into Poland.

10-01-1944: The 3rd Ukrainian front commanded by General Rodion Y. Malinovski starts an offensive against Apostolovo which is suspended after six days due to fierce German opposition.

12-01-1944: Near Monte Cassino, the colonial forces of the French Expeditionary Corps commanded by General Alphonse Juin cross the river Rapido in the northern sector of 5th Army.

14-01-1944: Eisenhower arrives in London to take up his job as supreme commander of the Allied Forces. He changes the name C.O.S.S.A.C. to S.H.A.E.F. (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces).

15-01-1944: "Bunker drama" in Camp Vught. As punishment, for protesting against the treatment of a fellow prisoner, 74 women are locked up in one 9 square meter cell. The next morning it turns out that ten of them suffocated during the night.

17-01-1944: The Allies attempt to breach the Gustav line in a frontal attack and an amphibious landing at Anzio behind the German lines.

20-01-1944: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder is appointed deputy supreme commander of the Allied forces for Overlord.

22-01-1944: Units of the Allied 6th Corps commanded by General John Lucas land at Anzio. There is hardly any opposition and the road to Rome is wide open.

25-01-1944: The Tilburg stamp crack, one of the most successful raids of the Dutch resistance. 105,000 Rauter stamps are captured without firing a shot. The Germans do not retaliate.

26-01-1944: After a few days of battle, the Australian 18th Brigade captures the important Japanese position at Kankiryo Saddle.

30-01-1944: Operation Flintlock: the American conquest of the Marshall islands starts with a landing on the Majuro atoll.

01-02-1944: Some 40,000 American Marines and riflemen land on the islands of Roi and Namur.

07-02-1944: Both Kwajalein and the Majuro atoll fall in American hands.

08-02-1944: After an offensive lasting four days, Soviet troops capture Nikopol and drive the Germans back over 684 miles from the east bank of the Dnepr.

10-02-1944: French troops in German service are dropped in Morocco in order to prepare for a revolt.

11-02-1944: American general Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe.

11-02-1944: Admiral Wilhelm Canaris is fired as chief of the Abwehr. The SD and Abwehr are merged into an overarching secret service.

12-02-1944: The Japanese submarine I 27 sinks the British troop transport Khedive Ismail with two torpedoes, 1,297 people lose their lives and 214 are rescued.

16-02-1944: 12 hours after the bombing of Monte Cassino the New Zealand 2nd Division and the Indian 4thj Division launch their attack on the ruins of the convent where the Germans have entrenched themselves. Also known as the second battle for Monte Cassino.

17-02-1944 - 17-02-1944: The Japanese naval base on Truk in the Carolinas is destroyed by heavy Allied bombardments.

19-02-1944 - 19-02-1944: Massive Allied bombings of the German aviation industry in an attempt to break the power of the Luftwaffe.

22-02-1944: The 8th Air Force bombs Nijmegen by mistake. Some 600 lives are lost. Enschede is also bombed by mistake, here some 40 lives are lost. Arnhem also falls victim to misidentification and 60 lives are lost.

23-02-1944: The Allied offensive on the Marianas is launched.

26-02-1944: The Red Army captures Porkhov and redeploys along the front between Novorzjev and Pustosjka.

01-03-1944: The 16th Chindits Brigade crosses the river Chindwin while Chinese troops and Merrill’s Marauders commanded by General Joseph Stilwell advance on Myitkyina.

03-03-1944: The two major Greek resistance groups, E.A.M. and E.D.E.S. decide to join forces against the German oppressor.

06-03-1944: Massive American air strikes on Berlin: 658 bombers drop 2,000 tons of bombs on the city.

08-03-1944: Bombers of the U.S. 8th Air Force launch a massive precision attack on the VKF ball bearing factory at Erkner, southeast of Berlin.

11-03-1944: The Allies recapture Buthidaung in the Arakan mountain range in northern Burma and encircle and subsequently capture the Japanese fortress at Razabil.

15-03-1944: Start of a Japanese offensive towards Imphal and Kohima.

18-03-1944: During a raid on the city, the British drop 3,000 tons of bombs on the city.

19-03-1944: A counter attack by the Germans on Hill 193 fails and provides the Allies with a little more breathing space. A New Zealand armored attack on Monte Cassino ends in disaster.

24-03-1944: Major-general Orde Wingate, commander of the Chindits loses his life in an air crash.

28-03-1944: The Germans hastily retreat from the south bank of the river Bug. Nikolayev falls in the hands of the Red Army.

30-03-1944: Hitler is furious about the Russian victories in the Ukraine and sacks Feldmarschalls Von Manstein and Von Kleist for having ignored his Haltebefehl.

30-03-1944: The 16th Chindits Brigade, now commanded by Brigade general Bernhard Fergusson withdraws after a failed attack on the major Japanese supply depot at Indaw.

01-04-1944: Aircraft of H.M.S. Victorious and H.M.S. Furious attack the German battle cruiser Tirpitz in the Altenfjord in Norway. The Tirpitz is hit 14 times and is rendered inoperable for months.

04-04-1944: The first phase in the battle of Imphal is over. The Japanese failed to break the Allied defense.

06-04-1944: Japanese forces launch an attack on the fortified Chindits position in White City. The position is subsequently abandoned.

09-04-1944: The 3rd Ukrainian front reaches the outer suburbs of Odessa.

11-04-1944: Six RAF fighter-bombers of 613 Squadron are carrying out an attack on Vila Kleykamp in The Hague, where duplicates of all issued identity cards are kept (shadow archive). The building is destroyed, but less than half of the shadow archive is destroyed. There are also 59 civilian deaths.

12-04-1944: The Finnish government rejects the Soviet demand to end the war.

14-04-1944: 5,200 Jews from Athens arrive in Auschwitz.

17-04-1944: The last offensive by the Japanese in China begins with air strikes against American air force bases in eastern China.

22-04-1944: The Sikorsky R-4 helicopter is being deployed operationally for the first time by the US military in India.

02-05-1944: Spain suspends her deliveries of tungsten to Germany where after the American oil embargo against the country is lifted.

08-05-1944: Höss returns to Auschwitz to oversee the extermination of the Hungarian Jews.

09-05-1944: The 4th Ukrainian front liberates the port of Sevastopol. The German suffer a crushing defeat, losing some 100,000 men, killed or captured.

15-05-1944: Start of the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz.

19-05-1944: After the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III near Sagan in Silesia, 50 air force officers who have been captured again are executed by the Gestapo. Only three out of a total of 76 escaped prisoners reach Great Britain.

23-05-1944: Canadian units capture Ponte Corvo and breach the Adolf Hitler line.

25-05-1944: The German 10th Army withdraws to the Caesar line in Italy.

29-05-1944: On the island of Biak near Hollandia the first American tank battle in the war is waged against Japan. The Americans are victorious.

31-05-1944: In Roosendaal, the area around the railway station is hit by stray bombs during an attack by the 8th Air Force on the railway junction. 73 people are killed.

01-06-1944: The Belgian resistance organization, the Leger of België, is renamed the Geheim Leger (Secret Army). The task of this group is to destroy railways and other transport facilities after an Allied invasion.

03-06-1944: Hitler reluctantly permits Feldmarschall Albert Kesselring, the German commander in Italy, to evacuate Rome.

04-06-1944: Eisenhower gives the order to begin Operation Overlord on June 6.

05-06-1944: The B.B.C. informs the French resistance about the time of the invasion by sending a coded message: "Blesse mon coeur avec un douleur monotone".

06-06-1944: D-Day: the largest amphibious invasion in history has begun.

06-06-1944: British Airborne troops capture the Bénouville Bridge over the Canal at Caen, now known as Pegasus Bridge.

07-06-1944: A Canadian attack on Carpiquet airfield comes to a standstill due to German resistance.

08-06-1944: The Secret Army (see also 01-06-1944) is officially ordered to take action, including 95 railway bridges are blown up by them. They receive official congratulations from Dwight Eisenhower for their successful performance.

09-06-1944: The Soviet 21st and 23rd armies launch an offensive in Karelia to push the Finns back to the border of 1940 and force them to sue for peace.

10-06-1944: As a result of the continuing attacks on the SS-Panzerdivision das Reich by the resistance; the Germans take revenge on the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, 642 people are killed.

10-06-1944: The Dutch resistance fighter Gerrit Jan van der Veen, together with seven others, is executed by a German firing squad in the dunes of Overveen.

11-06-1944: A Canadian attack on the village of Le Mesnil Patry ends in complete failure as a result of a German counterattack. 37 Canadian tanks are eliminated.

12-06-1944: American troops manage to cross the river Elle after heavy fighting.

13-06-1944: SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittman, company commander of the Schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101 destroys at least nine tanks of the 4th County of London Yeomanry, 7th Armored Division in an engagement near and in the village of Villers-Bocage.

13-06-1944: The first V-1s come down near Swanscombe in Great Britain.

15-06-1944: The American northern Task Force arrives off Saipan. The U.S. 2nd and 4th Marines land on the west coast of the island.

18-06-1944: American troops reach the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula, encircling the German garrison in Cherbourg. Hitler has ordered the garrison, some 40,000 strong, to hold out to the last man.

19-06-1944: The Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku, participating in Operation A-Go, is sunk near the Marianas by the submarine USS Cavalla.

20-06-1944: Perugia is in British hands. The British 8th Army launches the attack on the Albert line, one in a belt of German key positions in northern Italy. The fighting is ferocious and the Germans do not cede ground easily.

22-06-1944: The German Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Joachim von Ribbentrop visits Helsinki in an attempt to strengthen the relations between Finland and Germany.

23-06-1944: The Red Army launches an offensive in Byelorussia. The first Baltic, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Byelorussian fronts (a total of 1,2 million men) attack the German divisions of Heeresgruppe Mitte.

27-06-1944: American troops liberate Cherbourg.

29-06-1944: The Japanese troop transport Toyama Maru carrying 6,000 Japanese soldiers is sunk by the submarine U.S.S. Sturgeon. 5,600 men lose their lives.

29-06-1944: The R.A.F. launches heavy air strikes (250 Lancasters) against the 2nd and 9th SS-Panzerdivision in Villers-Bocage near Caen.

30-06-1944: Until this day, some 2,000 V-1s have been fired at Great Britain, mostly on London.

02-07-1944: The British 13th Corps captures Foiano west of Lago di Trasimeno and with it, finally breach the Albert line.

04-07-1944: The Red Army starts clearing the Baltic states; the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts take on the job.

07-07-1944: 467 British bombers carried out a heavy bombing raid on the city of Caen in support of the ground offensive. There are 300 to 400 civilian deaths.

08-07-1944: Japan withdraws from Imphal.

11-07-1944: President Roosevelt announces he will try to run for a fourth term as president.

11-07-1944: The pocket around Minsk falls in Soviet hands. The Germans lose 70,000 dead and 35,000 taken prisoner. The German 4th Army no longer exists.

13-07-1944: Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital falls in Soviet hands.

17-07-1944: Units of the Soviet 1st Tank Army cross the river Bug into Poland.

19-07-1944: Guam in the Marianas is invaded by American troops.

21-07-1944: The Polish Committee for National Liberation is established in Lublin. Its seat is Lublin as well.

22-07-1944 - 22-07-1944: The Soviets liberate concentration camp Majdanek– where 360,000 people have been murdered – and concentration camp Lublin.

23-07-1944: Pisa is in American hands.

25-07-1944 - 25-07-1944: Operation Cobra: the Americans attempt to push through west of St. Lô.

28-07-1944: Soviet forces capture Brest-Litovsk.

01-08-1944: Beginning of the uprising of the Polish Armja Krajowa (National Army) in Warsaw.

01-08-1944: The Gypsy camp in Birkenau is closed; some 4,000 Gypsies are gassed.

01-08-1944: In Palestine in August, 200 Jews from Bergen Belsen and a few dozen from Vittel are exchanged for ethnic Germans.

02-08-1944: Turkey severs her economic and diplomatic ties with Germany.

04-08-1944: German offensive against the rebels in Warsaw.

04-08-1944: In Amsterdam, Anne Frank and her family are arrested by the Gestapo.

04-08-1944: The American submarine U.S.S. Ray sinks the Japanese transport vessel Koshu Maru carrying 1,513 Indonesian workers, war materials and 540 passengers. 273 passengers, 28 crew members and 1,239 workers lose their lives.

08-08-1944: The entire Marianas chain is in American hands.

08-08-1944: Eight persons suspected of involvement in the attack on Hitler (see 20-07-1944) are convicted by the People's Court and executed the same day in Plötzensee.

11-08-1944: Operation Haft, which started on July 8 and consisted of a reconnaissance mission of ten SAS members south of Mayenne, is coming to an end.

12-08-1944: The Soviet Union demands Bulgaria and Germany sever their ties.

14-08-1944: The French resistance is tipped off about the imminent landings in southern France, Operation Dragoon.

18-08-1944: Owing to a navigational error, a suburb of Maastricht is bombed by the 8th Air Force instead of the bridges on the River Meuse. 91 lives are lost.

20-08-1944: General de Gaulle sets foot on French soil in Cherbourg.

20-08-1944: The Allies encircle German troops in the Falaise pocket.

23-08-1944: Coup-d’état in Romania; the new leadership accepts the Soviet conditions for an armistice.

23-08-1944: Sammellager (transit camp) Drancy is liberated.

24-08-1944: Ernst Thalmann, leader of the KPD (German Communist Party) is murdered in Buchenwald.

25-08-1944: Romania declares war on Germany.

31-08-1944: The British 2nd Army enters Amiens while the Americans reach the banks of the Meuse. Bordeaux is also liberated.

01-09-1944: Arras, Dieppe, Rouen and Verdun are liberated by Allied soldiers.

01-09-1944: In Bulgaria, the Bagrjanov government resigns.

02-09-1944: Finland wants to end the war and sever her ties with Germany.

03-09-1944: The British reach Tournay; the Americans cross the border at Maubeuge and Hirson and drive through to Mons.

03-09-1944: The British cross the Belgian border near Lille; they push on to Brussels. The Americans liberate Mons.

04-09-1944: British armored forces move into Antwerp while other British troops cross the Meuse between Dinant and Namur.

04-09-1944: Antwerp is liberated.

05-09-1944: The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg sign the Benelux treaty.

05-09-1944: Gent is liberated.

06-09-1944: Hungary declares war on Romania.

06-09-1944: Hoey is liberated.

06-09-1944: 40 Dutch SOE agents transported from Rawitsch to Mauthausen, mostly arrested during the England Spiel, are tortured together with 7 British commandos and then shot.

07-09-1944: The Japanese capture Lingling in the Chinese province of Hunan.

07-09-1944: Canadian forces liberate Diksmuide in west Vlaanderen.

08-09-1944: The military administration on Java allows the use of the Indonesian national flag and the national anthem Indonesia Raja.

08-09-1944: The Canadians reach Brugge, the Poles reach Tielt, the British reach the Albert Canal, the Americans reach Liège and advance towards Maastricht. Beverlo is liberated.

09-09-1944: Revolt in Sophia. Formation of a government of the Fatherland Font headed by K. Georgijew.

09-09-1944: French troops liberate Beaune, Le Creusot and Autun.

10-09-1944: Reconnaissance units of 2/HCR (Household Cavalry Regiment) of the British XXX Corps discover an undamaged bridge across the Maas-Scheldt canal (Bocholt-Herentals) near Lommel in Belgium. In the evening, infantry and tanks of the Irish Guards commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Joe Vandeleur storm the bridge and capture it. The bridge is named Joe’s bridge and will be a spring board for Operation Market Garden.

10-09-1944: The American 10th and 5th divisions cross the Mosel between Noveant and Arnaville.

11-09-1944: Zeebrugge is liberated by the British, Eupen by the Americans.

11-09-1944: The neighborhood of the port of Breskens is severely damaged by stray bombs during a bombardment by the R.A.F. on the port and retreating units of 15. Armee. Some 200 lives are lost.

11-09-1944: The Americans capture large parts of the Maginot line.

11-09-1944 - 11-09-1944: Second Quebec conference. Roosevelt and Churchill discuss the future of Germany after the Morgenthau plan.

12-09-1944: The Japanese vessels Rakuyo Maru and Kachidoki Maru carrying mainly British and Australian prisoners-of-war are sunk by the American submarines U.S.S. Sealion II and U.S.S. Pampanito. 656 prisoners are rescued by the Japanese, American submarines later rescue another 152 people. 1,410 prisoners and an unknown number of Japanese soldiers and crew members lose their lives.

12-09-1944: Le Havre is in Allied hands.

13-09-1944: Thionville and La Rochelle are liberated.

13-09-1944 - 13-09-1944: Units of the American XIX Army Corps liberate Maastricht. The bridges on the Meuse have been blown by the Germans.

14-09-1944: The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic front launch an offensive intended to liberate the Baltic states.

14-09-1944: Nancy is surrounded by the Americans.

15-09-1944: The Americans land on the island of Morotai and the island of Peleliu in the Palau islands.

15-09-1944: Nancy is liberated by the Americans.

16-09-1944: Announcement by Rauter: he orders the police to arrest lazy Dutchmen between the ages 16 and 50 for employment in Germany.

17-09-1944: Towards 18:00 hours, the Dutch government calls a railway strike via B.B.C. radio: "De kinderen van Versteeg moeten onder de wol."(The Versteeg children must go to bed).

17-09-1944: The U.S. 82nd captures the bridges at Grave and Heumen.

17-09-1944: 2 Battalion of 1 Para of 1 AB reaches the northern end of the bridge in Arnhem and occupies it.

17-09-1944: In the vicinity of Hulst, Polish troops cross the Belgian border into the Netherlands.

18-09-1944: The British submarine H.M.S. Tradewind sinks the Japanese cargo vessel Junyo Maru near Padang. She carries some 2,300 Allied prisoners-of-war and 4,200 slave laborers. An estimated 5,600 lives are lost.

18-09-1944: Second drops and landings near Ede, Groesbeek and Son.

18-09-1944: The 82nd fails to reach the bridge at Nijmegen. A German counterattack at Groesbeek is repulsed.

18-09-1944: Heavy fighting near Best and Veghel. The 101st reaches Eindhoven and makes contact with XXX Corps.

18-09-1944: Eindhoven is liberated by the 101st.

18-09-1944: Liberation of the community Sittard-Geleen. From September 18 to mid January 1945, the front beyond Sittard bogs down and tens of thousands of inhabitants of Limburg are evacuated to Friesland in the north. In this period, Sittard is shelled for months on end; much damage is inflicted and many lives are lost.

19-09-1944: Finland and the Soviet Union sign the armistice.

19-09-1944: Heavy fighting on the bridge at Arnhem, west from Arnhem and near Oosterbeek. British para’s retreat to Oosterbeek.

19-09-1944: Heavy fighting in Nijmegen and around Groesbeek. The Waal bridges are still in German hands.

19-09-1944: Polish forces establish a bridgehead on the west bank of the canal between Gent and Terneuzen.

19-09-1944: The Mosquito of the well-known British RAF Wing Commander Guy Gibson crashes near Steenbergen in Brabant. He and Squadron Leader Jim Warwick are killed.

20-09-1944: Terneuzen is liberated by the Poles.

20-09-1944: After heavy fighting in Nijmegen and American para’s crossing the Waal, the U.S. 82nd and the Guards finally succeed in capturing the Waal bridges at Nijmegen.

20-09-1944: The Germans cause widespread destruction in Ijmuiden and Velsen.

21-09-1944: The Japanese transport Hofuku Maru, carrying 1,289 British and Dutch prisoners-of-war is sunk off Luzon by American aircraft. 1,047 lives are lost.

21-09-1944: The Polish brigade lands near Driel; the British para’s at the bridge surrender. Near Oosterbeek, the para’s are pushed back. Supply drops fail and the R.A.F. suffers heavy losses.

21-09-1944: Schijndel is liberated.

21-09-1944: The Americans cross the Moselle near Epinal.

22-09-1944: Round ups in factories in Hengelo. Some 1,200 are arrested and put to work in Zwolle.

22-09-1944: The fighting in Oosterbeek continues, the position of the para’s steadily gets worse.

22-09-1944: Weert is liberated.

23-09-1944: Elst is captured by the British after heavy fighting.

23-09-1944: The Japanese rulers of the Philippines declare war on Great Britain and the United States.

23-09-1944: The Americans cross the Moselle near Remiremont.

24-09-1944: Near Bemmel, the fighting goes on.

24-09-1944: The Republic of San Marino declares war on Germany.

25-09-1944: British capture the Westerbouwing but cannot hold it for long. Due to the untenable situation of the perimeter, commander Major-general Urquhart approves evacuation.

25-09-1944: Hitler orders the establishment of the Volkssturm, consisting of all able males between the ages of 16 and 60. Reichsleiter Bormann is put in charge.

25-09-1944: Bemmel is liberated by British troops.

26-09-1944: The Soviets capture Estonia.

26-09-1944: The British 8th Army crosses the Rubicon.

26-09-1944: The commanders of E.L.A.S and E.D.E.S. place their armies of resistance in command of the Greek national government.

27-09-1944: The American submarine U.S.S. Flasher sinks the Japanese transport Ural Mau. Out of the 2,350 aboard, 2,000 lose their lives.

29-09-1944: The massive German coastal battery at Cap Gris-Nez is captured by the Canadians.

30-09-1944: Calais is captured by the Canadians.

30-09-1944: At the end of the month, Stalin and Tito meet in Moscow for talks.

01-10-1944: The Canadian 2nd Division starts its advance from Antwerp between the Scheldt and the Antwerp canal towards Turnhout in the direction of South-Beveland.

02-10-1944: End of the uprising in Warsaw with the surrender of the Polish National Army commanded by Bor-Komorovski).

02-10-1944: The Dutch government appeals to the Swedish government to send food to the Netherlands.

03-10-1944: Radio Herrijzend Nederland (Rising Holland) begins its transmissions from one the Philips buildings in Eindhoven.

04-10-1944: British troops set foot on mainland Greece.

05-10-1944: The Essex Scottish cross the Dutch border near Putte in North-Brabant.

06-10-1944: In cooperation with the 1st Czechoslovakian Corps, Soviet units capture the Dukla Pass on the border of Hungary and Slovakia.

06-10-1944: Canadian troops launch Operation Switchback intended to capture western Zeeuws Vlaanderen and to establish a bridgehead on the Leopold canal near Eede.

07-10-1944: Revolt by inmates belonging to the Sonderkommando in Birkenau. They set crematorium IV on fire and try to escape.

07-10-1944: Third bombardment by R.A.F. Bomber Command of the dykes on Walcheren.

08-10-1944: Wide spread round ups in the villages of Horst, Sevenum, Broekhuizen, Grubbenvorst, Helden, Maasbree, Lottum, Panningen and Baarlo in Limburg.

09-10-1944: Secret Anglo-Soviet Balkan agreement on occasion of the second Moscow conference from October 9 to 20.

10-10-1944: Aircraft of the American 3rd Fleet attacks ships and air fields on and near Okinawa.

11-10-1944: Negotiations on an armistice between Hungary and the Soviet Union result in a temporary agreement.

11-10-1944: Pastoral letter by the Dutch episcopacy announcing the establishment of a Episcopal Relief Action for violence in war time.

11-10-1944: The Americans bomb Okinawa.

13-10-1944: Venlo is hit by stray bombs during an attack on the bridges on the Meuse. 40 lives are lost.

13-10-1944: Anglo-Soviet talks with Secretary Mikolajeczyk of the Polish government in exile about the future Polish government and the Polish borders.

14-10-1944: The Allies land on the Greek island of Corfu.

14-10-1944: Overloon is liberated.

14-10-1944: Canadian units that have crossed the Braakman on October 9 meet units which have established a bridgehead on the Leopold canal southwest of them.

15-10-1944: Pechenga (Petsamo) northwest of Murmansk near the Norwegian-Soviet border is captured.

16-10-1944: Woensdrecht is liberated. This means German troops on Zuid- and Noord Beveland and Walcheren are cut off from their main body.

17-10-1944: American troops land on islands in the Gulf of Leyte.

18-10-1944: Proclamation by the Führer to the German population, giving the order for the establishment of a Volkssturm consisting of boys and men between the ages of 16 and 60 in every German Gau. The same day, in a speech on occasion of an inspection of the first Volkssturm battalions in eastern Pomerania, he declares: " Sie werden hinter die Front den Feind angreifen wie Wölfe" (they will attack the enemy behind the front like wolves).

19-10-1944: Venray is liberated by the British 3rd Division.

19-10-1944: In the Westland, a round up is held.

20-10-1944: British troops move into Cesena in northern Italy.

21-10-1944: After heavy fighting since the beginning of October, the German commander in Aken, Oberst Gerhardt Wilck surrenders to the American commander Lieutenant-colonel John Cortez. Aken is the first major German city to surrender.

23-10-1944: In Amsterdam the Central Kitchen starts food distribution for the entire population.

23-10-1944: In Amsterdam, SD agent Oehlschläger is liquidated by the resistance.

24-10-1944: The Japanese vessel Arisan Maru carrying 1,800 American prisoners-of-war is sunk by submarine U.S.S. Snook. The escorting vessels rescue only Japanese. Out of the original 1,800 prisoners only eight survive.

24-10-1944: In the Apollolaan in Amsterdam, 29 hostages are executed in retaliation of the raid on SD agent Oehlschläger the day before.

24-10-1944: Beginning of Operation Vitality I by the Canadian 2nd Division against German troops on Zuid-Beveland. Units cross the narrow Kreekrakdam.

25-10-1944: Romania is totally liberated from the German oppressor.

25-10-1944: The northern region of Transsylvania in Hungary is in the hands of troops of the 2nd Ukrainian front.

25-10-1944: Operation Vitality II. amphibious landings on Zuid-Beveland west of the canal through Zuid-Beveland near Baarland are launched from Terneuzen. Oudelande is captured.

25-10-1944: First Kamikaze attack on an American warship in Leyte Gulf.

27-10-1944: Kruiningen and Ierseke on South-Beveland are liberated. Bergen op Zoom and Zundert are captured also.

27-10-1944: ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Tilburg are liberated by the Allies.

28-10-1944: The capture of the Carpatho-Ukraine by the 4th Ukrainian front is completed.

28-10-1944: In Sneek, a round up takes place.

28-10-1944: Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in southeast Asia, General Stillwell is relieved of his function and recalled to Washington.

29-10-1944: Breda, Goes, Retranchement and Cadzand are liberated.

30-10-1944: The gas chambers in Auschwitz are in use for the last time.

30-10-1944: The island of Tholen is liberated without any German opposition.

31-10-1944: Start of the Allied offensive against Walcheren at the Sloedam.

01-11-1944: With the capture of Sluis, the last Dutch town in the Scheldt pocket is liberated.

01-11-1944: The largest section of Vlissingen is liberated. Westkapelle is liberated.

01-11-1944: In November, the joint churches write a letter to Seyss-Inquart urging: "to abstain from actions which violate elementary human rights."

02-11-1944: North-Beveland is in Allied hands.

02-11-1944: Tito and Subasic, president of the Yugoslav government in exile, proclaim a united Yugoslav government.

02-11-1944: The British 14th Army recaptures Mawlu in Burma.

02-11-1944: During the offensive in the Hürtgen forest near Aken, the Americans suffer severe losses.

03-11-1944: Domburg is liberated.

04-11-1944: Steenbergen and Geertruidenberg are liberated.

05-11-1944: Brouwershaven and Arnemuiden are liberated.

06-11-1944: Canadian and British units reach the Hollands Diep.

08-11-1944: Patton launches a massive offensive in the Saar region.

08-11-1944 - 08-11-1944: 38,000 Romanian Jews are deported to the concentration camps Buchenwald and Ravensbrück.

10-11-1944 - 10-11-1944: Round ups in Schiedam and Rotterdam. 50,000 men are deported by ship, train or on foot to various defensive positions in the Netherlands and Germany.

11-11-1944 - 11-11-1944: Sixth session of the Central Advisory Council on Java. Discussion about the mobilization of the population in connection with Allied landings. Sukarno formulates the Puntja Dharma, the five duties of the people by Sukarno.

14-11-1944: Establishment of the Committee for the Liberation of the peoples of Russia in the fortress in Prague. General Wlassow is elected chairman. Manifest calls for opposition against Stalin. Wlassow tries to form a new RAO Army.

15-11-1944: The KP raids the office of the Nederlandse Bank in Almelo. The booty of 46 million guilders is retrieved for the most part.

18-11-1944: Units of the American 3rd Army cross the Franco-German border.

19-11-1944: The Partisans of Baarlo hand over more than thirty German prisoners of war to the advancing Allies.

20-11-1944: Prince Bernhard establishes his headquarters in Breda.

21-11-1944 - 21-11-1944: Round ups in The Hague.

23-11-1944: The American 7th Army commanded by General Patch captures Strasbourg.

24-11-1944: First raid by B-29s on Tokyo.

25-11-1944: General Sir Harold Alexander is promoted to Field Marshall and Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean. General Mark Clark is appointed Supreme Commander Allied Forces in Italy.

25-11-1944: Some ministers of the Gerbrandy cabinet go to Noord-Brabant as quartermasters, not without protest by General Kruls. They settle down in Oisterwijk and meet fierce opposition from General Kruls.

26-11-1944: The R.A.F. launches a dive bomb attack on two buildings of the SD on the Euterpestraat in Amsterdam. 30 private homes are hit and 69 lives lost of which only four SD agents.

27-11-1944: In the U.S., E. Stettinius succeeds Cordell Hull as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

29-11-1944: Albania is freed of the German oppressor.

30-11-1944: At the end of the month, the first Light Infantry Battalion (1-14 RI) is established, mainly recruited from the OD in Zeeuws Vlaanderen.

01-12-1944: In December, the province of Dalmatia is liberated by Yugoslav partisans and Montenegro is liberated with the help of Albanian partisans.

01-12-1944: Operation Haudegen is launched at the beginning of December 1944. A small German unit of eleven men is transported in a submarine to Nordaustlandet (Spitsbergen) to collect meteorological information there for the German armed forces.

02-12-1944: The American 3rd Army advances into Saarlautern.

03-12-1944: After a heavy Allied attack, the Germans are forced to retreat from Blerick across the Meuse to Venlo.

04-12-1944: The Germans blow the dykes of the Rhine; the Betuwe is flooded.

05-12-1944: The British occupy Ravenna.

06-12-1944: American units cross the Saar in various places.

06-12-1944: Round ups in Haarlem and neighboring villages.

07-12-1944: A new government in Romania headed by General Radescu.

10-12-1944: The American 6th Army captures Ormu.

11-12-1944: In the early morning, 12 members of the KP Noord-Drenthe, contrary to orders from London, attack the House of Detention in Assen. Within 14 minutes and without a single shot being fired, 31 resistance fighters are liberated.

14-12-1944: General ban on the use of electricity in North- and South-Holland.

16-12-1944: Von Rundstedt launches the Ardennes offensive, Wacht am Rhein in a desperate attempt to stop the Allied advance.

17-12-1944: Mass murder of 86 American prisoners-of-war near Malmédy.

18-12-1944: The Allies attempt to stabilize the front along the line Monschau – Butgenbach –Malmédy- Stavelot. The Germans keep pouring through the gap in the front line south of Butgenbach. Honsfeld and Büllingen in German hands. The Germans enter Stavelot. Heavy fighting near St. Vith. The Germans cut off the road between St. Vith and Vielsalm and advance towards Bastogne and Houffalize.

18-12-1944: The military rulers on Java appoint P.F. Dahler official leader of the Indo-European community.

19-12-1944: The American 99th Infantery Division, with the support of the 2nd Infantery Division, managed to repel all German attacks on the Elzenborn Ridge. The Germans therefore fail to break through in the northern sector of the Ardennes offensive.

20-12-1944: Continuing pressure on St. Vith. The Germans close in on Bastogne and occupy Waldbillig.

21-12-1944: The Americans stop the Germans at Hotton. Heavy fighting around Bastogne. The German cross the road between Houffalize and Neuf Château. Shortages of food and ammunition in Bastogne.

22-12-1944: The German breakthrough near Butgenbach and Monschaubos is halted. Very heavy German pressure near Trois Points. Bastogne is completely surrounded but General MacAuliffe refuses to surrender. No supply from the air due to bad weather. The 3rd Corps launches a relief offensive; driving up to Martelange and Burnon.

23-12-1944: St. Hubert is in German hands. Bastogne can be supplied by air. The 3rd Corps makes slow progress.

24-12-1944: Announcement: all men of the year classes 1905 – 1928 in the provinces of North and South-Holland are to report for labor. (Liese-Aktion).

25-12-1944: The German advance to Dinant is stopped near Celles. Bastogne remains in American hands.

26-12-1944: Churchill and Eden negotiate in Athens with representatives of the Greek government and Communist partisans.

27-12-1944: The Americans in Bastogne are relieved by 3rd Corps.

27-12-1944: The Council of Trustees decides on a principal rejection of the application for Ausweise in connection with the Liese-Aktion.

31-12-1944: The Germans start a second offensive, Unternehmen Nordwind. It is aimed against the front between Saarbrücken and Strasbourg. The operation is being conducted by the 1st Army under General Hans von Obstfelder. The Germans are trying to capitalize on the fact that the Americans have moved north en masse to save the Ardennes and the front here is now weakly defended.

31-12-1944: Commanders of the three armed resistance movements ask the government in London to instruct the Dutch population about the attitude towards the Liese-Aktion.