World war II chronology - October 1944

2 October 1944	The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division begins an advance north of Antwerp, Belgium, to close the eastern end of the South Beveland isthmus. British bombers drop leaflets on Walcheren island, warning of imminent flooding from breaching walls.
3 October 1944	The Warsaw uprising is completely destroyed. In two months of fighting, an estimated 200,000 Poles wre killed, ninety percent of them civilian. Estimated property losses are seventy percent of national wealth. German V-2 rocket launches against London are resumed. Over 250 British bombers bomb the dyke at Westkerpelle on Walcheren island. A large gap is created, flooding the inner area.
4 October 1944	In the mid-Atlantic, German submarine U-1227 hits Canadian frigate Chebogue with an acoustic torpedo. (The ship survives, but does not re-enter active service.)
5 October 1944	British Bomber Command makes a daytime air raid on Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Results are poor due to heavy cloud cover. 555 British bombers attack the town and railways at Saarbrüken, Germany.
6 October 1944	The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division begins Operation Switchback, an attack on the Scheldt's southern shore, crossing the Leopold Canal in Belgium. The crossing is a diversion to the main amphibious crossing to take place at the Breskens Pocket. British Bomber Command makes a daytime air raid on oil targets at Sterkrade and Scholven/Buer, Germany, causing heavy damage. Soviet and Czechoslovakian forces make their way through Dukla pass into Slovakia. 523 British and Canadian bombers attack Dortmund, Germany, inflicting great devastation. 293 Canadian planes take part in this mission, the greatest number of any night of the war.
7 October 1944	British bombers attack rail facilities of Kleve and Emmerich in Germany. British bombers create more openings in the dykes around Walcheren Island, near Flushing and Veere. British bombers attack and breach the dam at Kembs, Germany.
8 October 1944	Off La Havre, France, Canadian minesweeper Mulgrave hits a mine and is severely damaged. British bombers attack the Urft dam on the River Roer, Germany, but do not breach it.
9 October 1944	From Biervliet, Holland, Canadian 9th Infantry Brigade makes amphibious landings on the Scheldt Pocket, part of Operation Switchback. In Moscow, Russia, representatives of Great Britian and the Soviet Union meet over twelve days to discuss Balkan spheres of influence, Poland, and the Soviet entry into the war against Japan. 435 British bombers attack Bochum, Germany.
11 October 1944	The 1st Canadian Infantry Division returns to active duty in Italy. British bombers attack the Urft dam on the River Roer, Germany, but do not breach it. The 5th Canadian Armoured Division in Italy is put into reserve. British bombers create more openings in the dykes around Walcheren Island. German Colonel Baron Alexis von Roenne is executed by Nazi authorities for treason. He was the head of German intelligence, and had convinced Adolf Hitler that the Allied landing would be in the Pas de Calais. The Canadian Highland Light Infantry reaches the village of Biervliet, Holland. German forces had vacated the town, heading south.
12 October 1944	The Canadian 8th Brigade crosses the Scheldt, landing south-east of Hoofdplaat, then advances south to create a land route for a supply line. Adolf Hitler orders that London be the sole British target of V-2 rockets.   The Canadian North Novas take Hoofdplatt, after two days fighting with heavy casualties.
14 October 1944	In the St. Lawrence seaway off Pointe-des-Monts, Quebec, Canada, German submarine U-1223 torpedoes Canadian frigate HMCS Magog. (The ship survives, but does not re-enter active service.) British forces liberate Athens, Greece. German General Erwin Rommel is given the choice of a People's Court trial, or taking poison. He chooses poison. 100 American B-17 and B024 bombers attack in and around Cologne, Germany. About 1000 British bombers attack Duisburg, Germany. 14 bombers are shot down. About 1000 British bombers attack Duisburg, Germany, inflicting heavy damage. Seven bombers are shot down. 240 British bombers attack Brunswick, Germany, obliterating the centre of the city.
15 October 1944	128 British bombers attack Bonn, Germany, destroying much of the town centre. German battleship Tirpitz leaves Kaafjord, Norway, heading for a final resting place near Tromsö.   In France, the government dissolves the Patriotic Militia.
16 October 1944	The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division takes Woensdrecht at the entrance to South Beveland. In the North Atlantic off the Faeroe Islands, Canadian frigates Annan and Loch Achanalt sink German submarine U-1006.
18 October 1944	German forces in Slovakia begin a counter-offensive against the Slovak insurgency. British Bomber Command makes an air raid on Bonn, Germany, using radar and G-H to aid in targeting, inflicting heavy damage. Canadian Defence Minister James Ralston returns to Canada after touring Canadian forces in Europe. He urges the prime minister to impose conscription to help supply properly trained replacement soldiers on the battlefield. Ralston reports that a further 16,000 trained infantry are required.
20 October 1944	Belgrade falls to joint Yugoslav-Soviet forces. American General Douglas MacArthur and 200,000 troops begin amphibious landings on Leyte in the central Philippines. Operation Suitcase begins, as Canadian 4th Armored Division advances to take Esschen, 12 km east of Bergen-op-Zoom on the Dutch-Belgium border. (This is the only time an American division serves under Canadian command during the war.) The Japanese navy organizes the first Kamikaze units in the Philippines. The Japanese army organizes a Kamikaze unit on the Japanese mainland. At a farm near Ijzendijke, Netherlands, an explosion occurs at a British-Canadian camp of tanks and trucks, likely from 3 tons of liquid nitroglycerine. 41 soldiers are killed, over 50 wounded. Ten armored vehicles are destroyed.
21 October 1944	Four German Panther tanks and two self-propelled guns strike at Canadian Seaforths, but are ambushed by Canadian tank-hunting team.
22 October 1944	Canadian 1st Corps establishes a bridgehead over the Savio River. Private Ernest Smith single-handedly destroys a German counterattack using an anti-tank gun and a machine-gun, and carries his wounded partner back for medical attention. (He is later awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts.) The German 444 and 485 Mobile Artillery Detachments (with V-2 rockets) moves from Germany back to The Hague.
23 October 1944	Great Britain, the US, and the USSR recognize the "Algiers Committee" with leader Charles de Gaulle as Provisional Government of the French Republic. Units of the Canadian 1st Army begin an assault to capture the railway dike to Beveland peninsula of Belgium. 1055 British bombers attack Essen, Germany. 1163 buildings are destroyed, 820 are killed.
24 October 1944	Canadian forces launch Operation Vitality I, an attack on the Beveland Canal. Allied forces seal off the South Beveland isthmus near the port of Antwerp, Belgium.
25 October 1944	Japanese Kamikaze aircraft attack aircraft carriers in an American task force near Siargao, off  Leyte. A Japanese kamikaze airplane crashes into the US aircraft carrier St. Lo, sinking it. British Bomber Command launches 771 aircraft against Essen, Germany. 607 buildings are destroyed, 662 are killed. On the Icelandic coast, a Canadian destroyer is grounded and abandoned. Canadian forces launch Operation Vitality II, an amphibious crossing of the Scheldt. German forces retreat from the Beveland Canal to Walcheren Island.   12,700 Germans surrender in the Breskens Pocket.
26 October 1944	The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends, as the Japanese fleet withdraws. The Japanese lost 34 ships, including four carriers, three battleships, and forty cruisers. (This is the greatest battle in the history of modern naval warfare to date.) 711 British bombers attack Essen, Germany. A German V-2 rocket lands at Palmers Green Station in north London. No one is killed, but injuries are 15 serious, 38 minor.
27 October 1944	Slovak insurgents evacuate Banská Bystrica.
28 October 1944	277 British bombers attack German gun and troop positions on Walcheren island. 733 British bombers attack Cologne, Germany. 2239 blocks of housing and 15 industrial works are totally destroyed.
29 October 1944	358 British bombers attack German gun and troop positions on Walcheren island. British Lancaster bombers from Scotland attack German battleship Tirpitz, doing little extra damage.
30 October 1944	Japanese suicide plane crashes through the flight deck of USS Franklin in the Leyte Gulf, Phillipines. 56 dead, 30 wounded, worst US aircraft carrier fire to date. 110 British bombers attack German gun and troop positions on Walcheren island. (In total, 14 air raids were made, over 2000 sorties, dropping over 9000 tons of bombs.)  905 British bombers attack Cologne, Germany.   The Belgian government issues a decree incorporating some resistance units, dissolving others.
31 October 1944	Canadian forces begin amphibious crossings and attacks on Walcheren Island. The 9th Brigade of the Canadian 3rd Division enters Knock-sur-Mer. Allied forces take the peninsula of South Beveland, Belgium. 493 British bombers attack Cologne, Germany. The last German forces are removed from the Greek mainland.