8 Nov 1944
- For the first time, Hitler did not appear at the celebration of the Beer Hall Putsch anniversary; instead, he had Himmler read his speech for him. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | TH]
- At 1419 hours, German radio revealed the on-going V-2 rocket campaign against Britain to the world for the first time. The message was picked up by the BBC in Britain shortly after. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | CPC]
- 25,000 Jews were forced to walk over 100 miles in rain and snow from Budapest, Hungary to the Austrian border, followed by a second forced march of 50,000 persons, ending at Mauthausen Concentration Camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
- US 83rd Infantry Division became part of the Third Army of the US 12th Army Group. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Allied troops captured Veere and Koudekerke in the Netherlands. ww2dbase [Battle of the Scheldt Estuary | CPC]
- The first Operation Gen mission featuring special attack Kaiten submarines was launched from Otsujima in Tokuyama Bay in southwestern Honshu, Japan. This mission was launched more than a month behind schedule. Submarines I-36, I-37, and I-47 eached carried four Kaiten submarines for this mission. ww2dbase [Kaiten-class | CPC]
- Louis Mountbatten freed William Slim the responsibility in the Arakan region of Burma so he could focus on northern Burma. Additionally, Slim was also given the Indian 25th Division and the West African 2nd Division. ww2dbase [William Slim | CPC]
- Viktor Abakumov and Lavrentiy Tsanava reported to Lavrentiy Beria that 1,200 Polish Home Army and other partisan troops were captured in Poland by this date. 1,030 of them were sent to the NKVD-run Ostashkov Special Camp in Tver Oblast, Russia by a special train on the previous day. ww2dbase [Viktor Abakumov | CPC]
- Destroyers USS Nicholas and USS Taylor departed Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands bound for Ulithi in the Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]
- Cruisers USS St. Louis and Pasadena arrived at Ulithi Lagoon in the Caroline Islands. St. Louis reported to the Seventh Fleet and Pasadena joined the Fast Carrier Task Force. ww2dbase [Pasadena | St. Louis | DS]
- German Luftwaffe ace Major Walter Nowotny claimed his 258th victory as he shot down a B-24 Liberator bomber over Hesepe near Osnabrück, Germany. Moments later, his Me 262 jet fighter was hit by a US P-51 fighter, possibly the one piloted by 1st Lieutenant Richard Stevens. Nowotny's final words were reported to be "my god, I'm burning!" His subsequent crash and explosion was witnessed by his commanding officer Adolf Galland and other officers, who immediately rushed to the crash site; they failed to find Nowotny's remains, only able to locate broken pieces of the pilot's Knight's Cross medal. ww2dbase [Hesepe, Weser-Ems | AC, CPC]
- Adolf Galland monitored the progress of the operation "Big Blow" from the radio shack at Achmer Airfield, Germany. ww2dbase [Adolf Galland | Bramsche, Weser-Ems | CPC]
- US pilot 1st Lieutenant Warren Corwin, flying a P-51 fighter, shot down the Me 262 A-1a jet fighter flown by Oberleutnant Franz Schall; Schall survived the engagement by bailing out. Corwin's fellow pilot 1st Lieutenant James Kenney also shot down a Me 262 fighter, while 1st Lieutenant Ernest Fiebelkorn, Jr. and 1st Lieutenant Edward Haydon shared the credit for yet another Me 262 victory. ww2dbase [CPC]
- The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the synthetic oil facilities at Merseburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Merseburg | DS]
- Oliver Leese arrived in Delhi, India. ww2dbase [Oliver Leese | Delhi | CPC]
- Kamoi departed Ise Bay, Japan at 0619 hours, arriving at Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan at 1639 hours. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Ise Bay | CPC]
- USS Gunnel sank Japanese motor torpedo boat Sagi in the South China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Gunnel | South China Sea | CPC]
- USS Barbero sank Japanese tanker Shimotsu Maru in the South China Sea, hitting her with 3 of 11 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Barbero | South China Sea | CPC]
- The US submarine Growler was lost, presumed sunk by Japanese escort vessels, whilst attacking a Japanese convoy west of the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Growler | AC]
- The second largest cinema in England, the Gaumont State Theatre in Holloway, north London, England, United Kingdom, was hit by a V-1 flying bomb. The cinema's frontage and restaurant were blown out, only the main walls and part of the foyer were left undamaged. However, the most serious incident of the day was at Rochester, North Kent, in which a V-1 flying bomb impacted at at 2045 hours on the junction of Grafton Avenue and Gerrard's Avenue, killing 8 and seriously wounding 17. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 1 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | HM]
8 Nov 1944 Interactive Map
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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