CBI - China: Day 133 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
CBI - China: Day 3 of 10 of the Battle of Harbin, Manchuria.
CBI - China: Day 1 of 41 of the 1st Battle of Shanghai. Japanese troops attack Shanghai destroying Chapei and driving out the Chinese 19th Route Army.
1933 — , January 28
CBI - China: Day 28 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1937 — , January 28
Spain: Day 196 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , January 28
Spain: Day 561 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 206 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 51 of 54 of the Battle of Nanking.
Day 47 of 50 of the Rape of Nanking.
1939 — , January 28
Spain: Day 926 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 571 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , January 28
Finland: Day 60 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War.
CBI - China: Day 936 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 75 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
Day 1 of 67 of the Battle of Wuyuan.
1941 — , January 28
ETO - UK: Day 145 of 258 of the Blitz.
MTO - North Africa: Day 51 of 63 of the UK's Operation COMPASS, their campaign in North Africa against the Italians in Egypt and Libya.
East Africa: Day 233 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,302 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Thailand: Day 120 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , January 28
USA: The 8th Air Force is activated at Savannah, Georgia. More than 200,000 Americans will be stationed throughout the UK as members of the "Mighty Eighth."
Spotlight...
A B-24 Liberator dropping its bombs
The Eighth Bomber Command (re-designated 8th Air Force in February 1944) was activated as part of the United States Army Air Forces January 28, 1942, at Hunter Field in Savannah, Georgia. During World War II, the 8th AF became the greatest air armada in history, conducting aerial bombardment missions against Nazi-occupied Europe.
At its peak, the 8th Air Force could dispatch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and 1,000 fighters on a single mission. For these reasons, the 8th Air Force became known as the "Mighty Eighth."
The Mighty Eighth compiled an impressive record in the war. This achievement, however, carried a high price. The 8th AF suffered one-half of the US Army Air Forces' casualties in World War II (47,000-plus casualties with more than 26,000 deaths).
After the war in Europe, in July 1945, the 8th AF headquarters moved to Okinawa, where it trained new bomber groups for combat against Japan. The Japanese, however, surrendered before the 8th AF saw action in the Pacific Theater.
Atlantic: Day 15 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
Russian Front - North: Day 143 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 20 of 29 of the Battle of Toropets, Russia. A failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 6 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 21 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia. The Soviet offensive in the Ukraine slows down after a 60-mile thrust.
Russian Front - Center: Day 21 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 91 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. All German attacks against Sevastopol are stopped for the winter.
CBI - Burma: Day 46 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma.
CBI - China: Day 1,667 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 36 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
CBI - Malaya: Day 52 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. US 5th Air Force B-17s attack airfields at Kendari on Celebes Island and Kuala Lumpur, Malaya.
PTO - Borneo: Day 44 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 6 of 18 of the Battle of Rabaul, New Britain Island. Japanese will drive out the few Australian defenders.
PTO - Philippines: Day 52 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines.
1943 — , January 28
Germany: The whole of the German workforce is mobilized for total war. All men age 16-65 and women age 17-50 are ordered to register for military service.
Spotlight...
Volkssturm marches past Goebbels in Berlin, 1945
The Volkssturm, literally "folk assault", but more figuratively "people's army" or "national militia," was formed in the final months of the Nazi regime. The 28 Jan 43 mobilization of the German workforce into military service would take another two years to sink to that level of desperation.
Total war is best described as a war in which a belligerent engages in the complete mobilization of all available resources and population. In the mid-19th century, total war was identified by scholars as a separate class of warfare, where there is less differentiation between combatants and civilians than in other conflicts, and sometimes no such differentiation at all, as nearly every human resource, civilians and soldiers alike, can be considered to be part of the belligerent effort.
Germany started the war under the assumption that their swift Blitzkrieg would result in a very short war. Officially, it did not accept that it was in a total war until Joseph Goebbels' speech of 18 Feb 43. Women had previously not been conscripted into the armed forces nor allowed to work in factories. The Nazi party had adhered to the policy that a woman's place was in the home, and did not change this even as its opponents began moving women into important roles in production.
The commitment to the doctrine of the short war was a continuing handicap for the Germans; neither plans nor state of mind were adjusted to the idea of a long war until the failure of Operation BARBAROSSA.
After the US entered the war, Franklin D Roosevelt declared at the Casablanca conference to the other Allies and the press that unconditional surrender was the objective of the war against the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. Prior to that declaration, the individual regimes of the Axis Powers might have been able to negotiate an armistice similar to that at the end of WWI once they perceived that the war for them was lost. But with negotiation of any kind not available as an option, Germany saw little choice but to mobilize each and every citizen to fight to the death, or at least to the death of the Nazi regime.
Russian Front - North: Day 508 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 17 of 19 of USSR's Operation ISKRA (Operation SPARK) on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, north of Leningrad. This Soviet victory will help ease the siege at Leningrad a little bit more.
Russian Front - North: Day 269 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 160 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
Russian Front - South: Day 48 of 69 of the USSR's Operation LITTLE SATURN. A successful drive into the Northern Caucasus and the Donets Basin pushing the Axis troops out.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 73 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 39 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,032 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 236 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - Malaya: Day 344 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 1 of 3 of the Battle of Wau. Japanese troops attack the US and Australians at this post.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 175 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1944 — , January 28
ETO - Spain: US and UK place a total oil embargo on Spain for supplying Germany with war materials, which causes Spanish life to virtually grind to a standstill.
[+] show related dates
Dates related to oil in World War II...
03 Mar 38: Oil is discovered in large quantities in Saudi Arabia
26 Sep 40: FDR imposes an embargo on the export of aviation fuel
01 Aug 41: US announces oil embargo against all aggressor nations
12 Jan 42: Dutch POWs executed for destruction of oil installations
25 Mar 42: Standard Oil pleads "no contest" over synthetic rubber
01 May 42: PLUTO pipeline under English Channel is tested
15 May 42: Gasoline rationing goes into effect in the eastern US
28 Jan 44: US, UK place oil embargo on Spain for supplying Germany
05 Mar 44: Gen Spaatz issues "Oil Plan" to bomb Germany's fuel
05 May 44: Spain stops exporting Tungsten to Germany for US oil
12 May 44: US 8th AF begins bombing oil production in Germany
12 Aug 44: PLUTO pipeline is laid across English Channel
16 Aug 45: Gasoline and fuel oil rationing comes to an end
WWII Store items related to oil...
The Great Oil Conspiracy: How the US Government Hid the Nazi Discovery of Abiotic Oil from the American People
Oil & War: How the Deadly Struggle for Fuel in WWII Meant Victory or Defeat
ETO - Germany: Day 72 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). 432 Lancasters, 241 Halifaxes and four Mosquitos (677 aircraft) attack Berlin in what RAF records will state to be the most concentrated attack of this period.
ETO - France: US 8th Air Force B-24s bomb the Bonnieres V-weapon site.
Russian Front - North: Day 634 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket. USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - North: Day 15 of 48 of the Battle toward the Narva River, Estonia. This drive helped lift the Leningrad siege and goes on to liberate Narva.
Russian Front - North: Day 15 of 17 of the Battle of Krasnoye Selo-Ropsha, Russia (Operation JANUARY THUNDER). This victory will push the German line west of Leningrad back far enough so the Russians can reopen the Moscow-Leningrad railroad.
Russian Front - North: Day 15 of 33 of the Battle of Luga, Russia. Taking this town west of Leningrad will open the door toward Estonia.
Russian Front - South: Day 36 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine. The Soviet Army encircles several German divisions in the area of Cherkassy.
Russian Front - South: Day 5 of 25 of the Battle of the Korsun Bulge in Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 2 of 16 of the Battles of Rovno and Lutsk, Ukraine. This Soviet victory will increase the gap in the German line from 70 to 110 miles wide.
MTO - Italy: Day 12 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
MTO - Italy: Day 7 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops
CBI - Burma: Day 30 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - China: Day 2,397 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs various islands in the Marshalls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 132 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 129 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 45 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 89 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , January 28
USA: Last of the 25 German POWs from the "Great Papago Escape" is recaptured in Phoenix.
[+] show related dates
Dates related to POW escapes...
31 Mar 41: British private becomes first to escape German POW camp
25 Jun 41: French POW attempts to escape Colditz dressed as woman
02 Jul 41: French POW escapes Colditz, scaling outer wall
ETO - France: Day 181 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 136 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 132 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force heavy bombers hit marshalling yards, bridges and benzol plants.
ETO: Day 9 of 66 of the Battle to the Rhine. The Ardennes salient is finally eradicated. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 136 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - Center: Day 106 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 99 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia. The Soviets enter Memel and now control all of Lithuania.
Russian Front - Center: Day 4 of 75 of the Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Russian Front - Center: Day 2 of 17 of the Battle of Rastenburg, East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 3 of 63 of the Battle of the Heiligenbeil Pocket in East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 17 of 23 of the Battle along the Vistula and Oder Rivers in central Poland and eastern Germany.
Russian Front - Center: Day 15 of 21 of the Battle of Warsaw, Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 92 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI: After three years, the first Allied convoy from India reaches China, going through the newly reopened Burma Road.
CBI - Burma: Day 10 of 61 of the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay. The US 10th Air Force provides air support,
CBI - Burma: Day 8 of 39 of the Battle of Ramree Island. The US 10th Air Force provides air support
CBI - China: Day 2,763 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force attacks railway and river traffic throughout China.
PTO - Indonesia: Day 5 of 6 of British Operation MERIDIAN. The Royal Navy's carrier planes destroy the Japanese oil refinery near Palembang, on Sumatra Island.
PTO - Japan: US 7th Force bombs Iwo Jima during the day and again at night.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 398 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 282 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Philippines: Day 101 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 45 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
Day-By-Day listings for January 28 were last modified on Friday, February 23, 2018
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