General Bernard Montgomery speaks to senior officers at St. Paul’s School about his vision for the upcoming D-Day landings.

Adolf Hitler & Benito Mussolini met for an Axis conference in Salzburg.  British & U.S. troops make contact at Wadi Akarit, South-Tunisia.  Lt. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg seriously wounded from allied air [ … ]

Coevorden, Netherlands freed from Nazis.  Giant Japanese battleship Yamato and nine other vessels sailed on a suicide mission to attack the U.S. fleet off Okinawa; the fleet was intercepted the next [ … ]

Jewish nursery at Izieu-Ain, France, overrun by Nazis.

British & U.S. Armies link up in Africa.  British offensive at Wadi Akarit, South Tunisia.  Lou Jansen, leader of illegal Dutch communist political party (CPN) arrested.

Almelo, Netherlands freed.  Kuniaki Koiso resigns as Prime Minister of Japan and is replaced by Kantaro Suzuki.  

Some 140 British Avro Lancaster heavy bombers attack the aircraft factory in Toulouse, France.  270 inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.  

Allies bomb Mortsel, Belgium resulting in the loss of life of 936 civilians.  Japanese troops capture Indin, Burma.  Chinese steward Poon Lim is found off the coast of Brazil after being adrift for 133 days.

U.S. troops on Okinawa encountered the first significant resistance from Japanese forces at the Machinato Line.  U.S. forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany. Hungary liberated from Nazi occupation [ … ]

British troops capture Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.   Charles De Gaulle forms new regime in exile with the communists.  Allied Bucharest bombings targeting railroads kills 5,000 people.  

Hengelo, Holland freed from Nazi control by Canadian Army.  Nazis begin evacuation of camp Buchenwald.   U.S. 1st army captures Hofgeismar, Germany.  

British dive bombers attack battle cruiser Tirpitz.  US Supreme Court (Smith v Allwright) rules that “white primaries” are unconstitutional.  

Japanese forces began their final assault on Bataan against American and Filipino troops who surrendered six days later; the capitulation was followed by the notorious Bataan Death March.  (Lt. General [ … ]

The 1st U.S. units reach east coast of Okinawa, Japan.  Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Brazil are established.  

Soviet Army marches into pro-German Romania. Italian Communist Party leader Palmiro Togliatti returns to Italy.  Dmitri Shostakovitch’s 8th Symphony premieres in NY.