Downfall 1944

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Allies cross the Seine south of Paris



In a plan to bypass the fortified city of Paris, the allies attack to the south in a sector just north of Troyes.

The are was well defended, but the vastly superior allied forces attacked under an air umbrella and overwhelmed the defense. Exploiting armor then went behind Paris and attacked the German forces defending the River Seine sector between Paris and the English Channel in the rear. The German forces attacked from both the front and rear soon surrendered



Canadian exploiting forces attacked South East towards Metz and Strasbourg completely isolating the German frontline in central France as well as Paris, while American forces have cut off supply to German forces defending the port of Calais and Dieppe

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Milan falls to Allies



In a difficult battle in hilly terrain, the allies encircled and captured Milan.

A 3-4 lost in the battle.

In the Balkans, Albania is now under allied control.

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Major Red Army Offensive blasts hole in German defense, encircles large axis formation



A massed Red Army assault has punched a hole in the central area and exploiting forces moved south to isolate large areas of the German forces

A secondary assault in the South developed the previous breakthrough and forces were able to complete the encirclement

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Second Battle of Kharkov



With Red Air force support, Red Army armored divisions captured the key Ukrainian city of Kharkov, which has been in German hands since 1941

Russian losses were light in the offensive this season.

Huge numbers of German units are now isolated

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Marine Corp aviators attack Japanese airfield on Biak



the attack on the Biak airfield has cleared the way for a major operation into the Banda Sea area. Any Japanese naval operation will have to occur without land based air cover

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Makassar latest terrible battle in the East



Large invasion force assaulted the well defended island of Celebes at two points. The assault on Kendari went easily but the southern port town of makassar was a tough campaign that lasted several weeks against a determined opponent.

Japan loses 1-2, US loses 1-2 and two CVEs

An additional assault landed Australians on Kupang in Timor, and US troops took Biak.

Mopping Up operations in the Pacific cleared Japanese forces from the Ellice, Gilbert and Marshall islands. An unfortunate surprise occurred when a Japanese submarine torpedoed USS Alaska while she was providing shore bombardment to support the invasion of Eniwetok.

It is believed the submarine was used to supply the garrison on Eniwetok before stumbling across the American Heavy Cruiser

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Combined British American Operation takes Medan



Medan in Sumatra falls to a combined British and American force. The capture of this town opens up the possibilty of a more secure assault on Singapore

[joegrundman]

Fall 1944

Chinese Forces Repelled in Northern Burma!



Japanese win rare victory in Northern Burma as major Chinese assault repelled with heavy losses

Further South a British Armored division has reported that it has crossed the challenging mountains separating Burma from Thailand and has adopted a defensive position in the town of Sangkhlaburi.

Bad weather caused severe losses on the way to this objective.

[joegrundman]

Winter 1944

U-boats operating with reduced effectiveness from Bergen



The loss of the French Biscay ports has forces u-boat operations to sail from Bergen. With the increasing difficulty of operating on the surface, this has again brought the Uboat attacks to the Western approaches, and even within the Irish sea, not seen since the early stages of the war.

2 trransports sunk, 5 aborted, for 3 Uboat factors sunk

[joegrundman]

Winter 1944

Battle of the Bulge




With the Germans forced into retreat on almost all fronts, no one expected a German offensive. Almost no one, that is...

With their superior winter fighting skills obtained the hard way on the Eastern front, they launched a stinging attack in the wintery conditions of France.

Dreadful losses for the allies have occurred and Germany is once again struggling to cope with the influx of POWs, of the kind not seen for two years.

The US 48th Armored division would have been completely isolated were it not for a heroic stand by the Indian light armoured division which kept an avenue for the Americans to retreat into at great loss to themselves. Sadly the Candian 2nd armored division was cut off in the snowy Vosges mountains and surrendered.

Britain and the US lose in total 12 replacements, canadian 4o5 armored, british 2o5 armored

[joegrundman]

Winter 1944

Destruction of Army Group South



The long struggle for control of the Ukraine has ended with the destruction of Army Group South. Operation Bagration, the most recent Red Army offensive, finally succeeded in cutting off supply to the German forces of the Southern Sector. The beleaguered German forces resisted the Red Army for several weeks before ordering the surrender of his starving and freezing army group.

Some units managed to breakout to friendly lines in a desperate attack, but most failed. Those units that did break out have been reassembled in Rumania to make up a new front line.

The order has also been given for German forces to abandon Russia in the center and north, falling back as far as Leningrad in the north

[joegrundman]

Winter 1944
German industrial output struggling to cope


partly due to bombing, but mostly due to the huge amount of materiel losses and expenditure, German industrial capacity has failed to cope with meeting the demands of the war at this stage

Allied analysts believe that the luftwaffe is operating currently at about 50% the levels seen six months ago