World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 26 Aug 1944

• Hitler ordered his troops to withdraw from Greece. ww2dbase [TH]
• French troops captured Tarascon and Avignon, France. ww2dbase [Invasion of Southern France | TH]
• USS Becuna crossed the International Date Line, sailing westward. ww2dbase [Becuna | CPC]

• Whilst engaged escorting RAF Marauder bombers on a mission Flight Officer Ted Topham (91 Squadron), flying his Spitfire LFIX fighter, sighted a V-1 flying bomb heading across the English Channel which he chased and brought down into the sea. This was his 10th kill and would be the squadron's 186th and final V-1 flying bomb brought down. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 1 | V-Weapons Campaign | English Channel | HM]

• The Bulgarian Fatherland Front began an armed rebellion against the Bulgarian government; it declared Bulgaria to be neutral in the Axis war against the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [Bulgaria Switched Sides | TH, CPC]

• A German air raid on Paris, France destroyed several residential neighborhoods. To the east, Allied troops crossed the Seine River. ww2dbase [Liberation of Paris | Paris | TH]
• Dwight Eisenhower traveled to Omar Bradley's headquarters in France and invited him to visit the recently captured Paris, France with him on the following day. ww2dbase [Dwight Eisenhower | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen, Germany in the Ruhr Valley. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Gelsenkirchen | DS]

• Light carrier Ryuho arrived at Hashirajima, Japan and was transferred from Carrier Division 1 to Carrier Division 4 within the 3rd Fleet. ww2dbase [Ryuho | Hashirajima, Yamaguchi | CPC]

• Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay departed Eniwetok, Marshall Islands as part of a logistics replenishment group consisting of twelve fleet oilers and escorts. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Eniwetok | DS]
• Lieutenant Commander John C. Nichols took command of submarine USS Saury at Majuro, Marshall Islands as Saury was undergoing a refit alongside submarine tender USS Sperry. ww2dbase [Saury | Majuro | DS]

• Two aircraft of No. 1586 (Polish Special Duties) Flight RAF were lost while attempting to drop supplies for resistance fighters in Warsaw, Poland. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | Warsaw | CPC]

• German forces led by Lieutenant General Reiner Stahel attacked Bucharest, Romania. ww2dbase [Jassy-Kishinev Offensive and Romania's Surrender | Bucharest | CPC]

• Kamoi departed Singapore for a trial run, returning later on the same day. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Singapore | CPC]

• The US 17th Airborne Division arrived in Britain where it was placed under XVIII Airborne Corps. The Division however would not be sent to France until late in Dec 1944. ww2dbase [AC]

• USS Sterlet arrived at Midway, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Sterlet | Midway | CPC]

26 Aug 1944 Interactive Map