1932 — , January 29

• CBI - China: Day 134 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
• CBI - China: Day 4 of 10 of the Battle of Harbin, Manchuria.
• CBI - China: Day 2 of 41 of the 1st Battle of Shanghai.

1933 — , January 29

• CBI - China: Day 29 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.

1937 — , January 29

• Spain: Day 197 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.

1938 — , January 29

• Spain: Day 562 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
• CBI - China: Day 207 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 52 of 54 of the Battle of Nanking.
  • Day 48 of 50 of the Rape of Nanking.

1939 — , January 29

• Spain: Day 927 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
• CBI - China: Day 572 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.

1940 — , January 29

• Finland: Day 61 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War. The USSR reopens negotiations with Finland via Sweden indicating that it may withdraw its support for Otto Kuusinen's puppet government should the Finns come to terms. In central Finland, The Finnish 9th Division launches an attack with the aim of destroying the Soviet 54th Division around Kuhmo.
• CBI - China: Day 937 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 76 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
  • Day 2 of 67 of the Battle of Wuyuan.

1941 — , January 29

• USA: In Washington, the US and British military leaders begin secret staff talks regarding coordination of a common war policy against Germany.
• ETO - UK: Day 146 of 258 of the Blitz.
• MTO - Greece: Greek Premier General Metaxis dies at age 70 and M A Korizis takes over.
• MTO - North Africa: Day 52 of 63 of the UK's Operation COMPASS, their campaign in North Africa against the Italians in Egypt and Libya.
• East Africa: Day 234 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
• CBI - China: Day 1,303 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
• CBI - Thailand: Day 121 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).

1942 — , January 29

• Atlantic: Day 16 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
  • RAF Bomber Command mounts an attack to sink the TIRPITZ while she is at anchor in Trondheim, Norway. The raid is unsuccessful as the TIRPITZ survives unscathed.
• Russian Front - North: Day 144 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
• Russian Front - North: Day 21 of 29 of the Battle of Toropets, Russia. A failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
• Russian Front - North: Day 7 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 22 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 22 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
• Russian Front - South: Day 92 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. All German attacks against Sevastopol are stopped for the winter.
• MTO - Libya: German troops capture Benghazi along with a large quantity of supplies.
• CBI - Burma: Day 47 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma.
• CBI - China: Day 1,668 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • Day 37 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
• CBI - Malaya: Day 53 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. US 5th Air Force B-17s attack the Kuantan airfield.
• PTO - Borneo: Day 45 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 7 of 18 of the Battle of Rabaul, New Britain Island.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 53 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines.

1943 — , January 29

• Russian Front - South: Day 161 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Luftwaffe makes its last major effort to supply the surrounded forces at Stalingrad, dropping supplies from 124 planes. It is far too little, far too late.
  Spotlight...

  

  Germans loading supplies on to a plane

  German air supply missions failed. Appalling weather conditions, technical failures, heavy Soviet anti-aircraft fire and fighter interceptions led to the loss of 488 German aircraft. The Luftwaffe failed to achieve even the daily supply of 117 short tons that it had aircraft for. An average of 94 tons of supplies per day was delivered. The most successful day, 19 December, delivered only 289 tons of supplies in 154 flights.

  The supplies that did get through were often useless: one aircraft arrived with 22 tons of vodka and summer uniforms, another with supplies of black pepper and marjoram. Hitler's indecision on the purpose of Operation WINTER STORM (either to allow a breakout or to open a corridor) meant that large quantities of fuel that would have helped with a breakout were shipped when food and ammunition would have been more useful.

  Related WWII Store items...

  • Stalingrad
    DVD, Blu-ray
  • Enemy At The Gates
    DVD, Blu-ray
  • Stalingrad
    DVD from the History Channel
• Germany: Nazis order all Gypsies to be arrested and sent to extermination camps.
• Russian Front - North: Day 509 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
• Russian Front - North: Day 18 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 270 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 49 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 74 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. Advance units of the British 8th Army cross the Tunisian frontier from Libya. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support.
• CBI - Burma: Day 40 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
• CBI - China: Day 2,033 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
• PTO - Alaska: Day 237 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
• PTO - Malaya: Day 345 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 2 of 3 of the Battle of Wau. Japanese planes attack the Wau airfield.
• PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 176 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 1 of 2 of the Naval Battle of Rennell Island.

1944 — , January 29

• USA: The USS MISSOURI, the last battleship built by the US, is launched at Brooklyn Navy Yard. "Mighty Mo" will go on to receive 11 battle stars for service in WWII and will be the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which will end the war.
• ETO - UK: Day 9 of 130 of the Luftwaffe's Operation Steinbock, the last strategic air offensive on southern England that will be known as the Baby Blitz. London is bombed.
• ETO - Germany: Day 73 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). The RAF hits Berlin for the 14th time. Small raids are made on Duisburg and the Herbouville flying-bomb site by a total of 22 Mosquitos. No aircraft are lost
• ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit the industrial areas at Frankfurt and Ludwigshafen.
• ETO - France: US 9th Air Force B-26s bomb V-weapon sites along the west coast.
• Russian Front - North: Day 635 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 16 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 16 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 16 of 33 of the Battle of Luga, Russia. Taking this town west of Leningrad will open the door toward Estonia.
• Russian Front - South: Day 37 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
• Russian Front - South: Day 6 of 25 of the Battle of the Korsun Bulge in Ukraine.
• Russian Front - South: Day 3 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 13 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
• MTO - Italy: Day 8 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops
• CBI - Burma: Day 31 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
• CBI - Burma: US 10th Air Force B-24s bomb gasoline plants at Yenangyaung causing large fires.
• CBI - China: Day 2,398 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
• PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs various islands in the Marshalls during the day and night as the US invasion force approaches.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 133 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. 5th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 130 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. 5th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 46 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
• PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 90 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.

1945 — , January 29

• ETO - France: Day 182 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
• ETO - France: Day 137 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
• ETO - Germany: Day 133 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
• ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit industrial plants at Kassel and rail targets in central Germany.
• ETO: Day 10 of 66 of the Battle to the Rhine. The Allies capture of Oberhausen, 10 miles northeast of Duisberg. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
• Russian Front - Finland: Day 137 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 107 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 5 of 75 of the Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
• Russian Front - Center: Day 3 of 17 of the Battle of Rastenburg, East Prussia.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 4 of 63 of the Battle of the Heiligenbeil Pocket in East Prussia.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 18 of 23 of the Battle along the Vistula and Oder Rivers in central Poland and eastern Germany.
• Russian Front - Center: Day 16 of 21 of the Battle of Warsaw, Poland.
• Russian Front - South: Day 93 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
• MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
• CBI - Burma: Day 11 of 61 of the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay. The US 10th Air Force provides air support,
• CBI - Burma: Day 9 of 39 of the Battle of Ramree Island. The US 10th Air Force provides air support
• CBI - China: Day 2,764 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • US 14th Air Force fly sweeps throughout China.
• PTO - Indonesia: Day 6 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 and 20th Air Forces bomb Iwo Jima.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 399 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
• PTO - New Guinea: Day 283 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 102 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
• PTO - Philippines: Day 46 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.