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• Weather data for 1 Jan 1944

• Light carrier Hosho was assigned to Training Force of the 5th Force. ww2dbase [Main Article | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
• USS Puffer sank Japanese freighter Ryuyo Maru and damaged another ship south of the Philippine Islands; she expended 7 torpedoes and observed 4 hits. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• USS Ray sank Japanese converted gunboat Okuyo Maru in the mouth of Ambon Bay, Java, Dutch East Indies, hitting her with 3 of 6 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• USS Pintado was commissioned into service, Lieutenant Commander Bernard A. Clarey in command. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Petr Novikov passed away. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• General Mark Clark became the commander of US Fifth and Seventh Armies. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
• Soviet forces closed to within 30 miles of the old Polish frontier. ww2dbase [AC]
• Robert Saundby was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• The Japanese Navy 11th Air Fleet was reorganized to contain two air flotillas, one air group, one seaplane tender, and two destroyers. The 13th Air Fleet was assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet with two air flotillas and one air group. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was named the commanding officer of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• George Giffard was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Léon Degrelle was promoted to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Hartwig von Ludwiger was promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• 15 B-24 bombers escorted by 68 fighters attacked Rabaul, New Britain. The Americans lost 1 B-24 bomber in combat, and another on landing after the mission was over; additionally, two returned bombers were noted as heavily damaged. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• 40 Japanese aircraft arrived at Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Aircraft from carriers USS Monterey and USS Bunker Hill attacked Japanese positions at Kavieng, New Ireland, destroying 7 Japanese aircraft. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• 500th Bomb Squadron (flying B-25 aircraft) of USAAF 345th Bomb Group was transferred from Port Moresby to Dobodura Airfield, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Naka departed Truk, Caroline Islands and took damaged transport Kiyozumi Maru in tow southwest of Truk. ww2dbase [Main Article | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]

• Tran Trong Kim departed Saigon, Cochinchina, French Indochina for Singapore. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Syria gained independence from France. ww2dbase [CPC]

• 421 RAF Lancaster bombers attacked Berlin, Germany; 28 aircraft were lost. 15 Mosquito aircraft attacked Hamburg in diversion. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Alexandros Sakellariou's retirement date was later changed to this date on 4 Sep 1946. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: More of 76th Construction Battalion (76th SeaBees) arrived. More of 72nd Construction Battalion (72nd SeaBees) arrived. Five officers and 240 men of the 56th Construction Battalion (56th SeaBees) departed. ww2dbase [Main Article | DS]

• The Brigata Marina naval infantry unit of the pro-Allied government in southern Italy was renamed "San Marco". ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS Finback sank a Japanese tanker in the East China Sea, hitting her with 5 of 6 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Allied convoy RA-55A arrived at Loch Ewe, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Just three years after its creation the short lived Reconnaissance Corps was officially absorbed into the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army. ww2dbase [AC]
• Colonel Donald Blakeslee took control of USAAF 4th Fighter Group at RAF Debden in North Essex, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Dwight Eisenhower arrived in Washington DC, United States where he and his wife would take a brief break from the war. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

1 Jan 1944 Interactive Map