WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO MAY 1944
Find out what all happened January to May 1944

World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Vought F4U Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Mitsubishi A6M Zero. (3. January 1944)

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy killed 26 people and causes thousands to flee their homes. (18. March 1944)

World War II: The Allies begin a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line. (11. May 1944)

Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front. (10. March 1944)

World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino – Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino. (18. May 1944)

World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units. (29. January 1944)

World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins. (4. January 1944)

World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. (31. January 1944)

Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the Soviet Union are established. (13. April 1944)

World War II: Soviet forces liberate Leningrad, effectively ending a three-year Nazi siege, known as the Siege of Leningrad. (18. January 1944)

World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III. (24. March 1944)

World War II: Soviet Army planes attack Tallinn, Estonia. (9. March 1944)

Allied bombing raid on Nuremberg. Along the English eastern coast 795 aircraft are despatched, including 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos. The bombers meet resistance at the coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands from German fighters. In total, 95 bombers are lost, making it the largest RAF Bomber Command loss of World War II. (30. March 1944)

Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen. (1. April 1944)

Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government. (18. May 1944)

Florence Li Tim-Oi is ordained in China, becoming the first woman Anglican priest. (25. January 1944)

World War II: American troops land on Majuro. (30. January 1944)

World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island. (20. February 1944)

World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle. (7. February 1944)

In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio is destroyed in an air-raid. (29. January 1944)