World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » Today in WW2 History

• Oderwerke Maschinenfabrik & Schiffsbauwerft AG reorganized its previous acquisitions in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) as Oderwerke AG, a new company focused on building small vessels. ww2dbase [Oderwerke AG | Stettin, Pommern | CPC]

28 Jan 1903 Interactive Map

• Rear Admiral Hisamori Taguchi was named the Chief of Staff of the Mako naval port at Pescadores islands, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

28 Jan 1916 Interactive Map

• The Russian Orthodox Church was formally separated from the state. Religious belief was still permitted by the regime provided it did not threaten public order or trespass into politics. ww2dbase [AC]

• The Council of People's Commissars (the Soviet governing body) formally declared the formation of the Red Army. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Francis Gabreski was born in Oil City, Pennsylvania, United States. ww2dbase [Francis Gabreski | Oil City, Pennsylvania | JR]

• Yasuji Kaneko was born in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Yasuji Kaneko | Urayasu, Chiba | CPC]

• USS Pennsylvania departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Pennsylvania | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

28 Jan 1923 Interactive Map

• Amy Johnson earned her pilot's certificate in England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Amy Johnson | England | CPC]

• HMS Hermes arrived in Nanjing, China with the British Minister to China, Sir Miles Lampson, aboard. ww2dbase [Hermes | Nanjing | CPC]

• USS R-5 transited the Panama Canal. ww2dbase [Panama Canal | R-5 | CPC]

28 Jan 1931 Interactive Map

• The First Battle of Shanghai began in China. ww2dbase [First Battle of Shanghai | Shanghai | CPC]
• Chinese General Ding Chao's troops captured Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China from collaborationist forces. ww2dbase [Battle of Harbin and Establishment of Manchukuo | Harbin, Songjiang | CPC]

• Émile Bertin was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Émile Bertin | CPC]

• Kamoi departed Yokosuka, Japan for a survey mission in the Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Franklin Roosevelt requested funding from the United States Congress to build a "Two-Ocean Navy". ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]

• German submarine U-34 torpedoed Greek merchant ships Eleni Stathatou 100 miles off of Brest, France at 0252 hours. With Eleni Stathatou keeping afloat, U-34 remained to observe. At 0421 hours, after observing that the Greek ship was now moving once again, U-34 fired her last torpedo and sank the ship, killing 12. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet artillery continued to bombard Poppius, Million, and other forts along the Finnish defensive Mannerheim Line on the Karelian Isthmus. Meanwhile, Finnish troops eliminate Soviet forces trapped in the Pieni-Kelivaara pocket on the north shore of Lake Lagoda, capturing 2 field guns, 2 anti-tank guns, 9 mortars, 9 machine guns, and 100 rifles. ww2dbase [The Winter War | CPC]
• Chinese troops captured Lucheng, Shanxi Province, China. ww2dbase [Winter Offensive | CPC]
• Japanese 26th Division attacked Wuyuan, Suiyuan Province, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Wuyuan | CPC]
• USS Helena departed Buenos Aires, Argentina. ww2dbase [Helena (St. Louis-class) | CPC]

• German submarine U-44 torpedoed and sank Greek coal carrier Flora off 20 miles off Portugal at 2000 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Italian artillery at Wadi Derna, Libya continued to pin down Australian 6th Division. ww2dbase [Operation Compass | CPC]
• Italian submarine Luigi Torelli sank British submarine Urla 250 miles west of Ireland; the entire crew of 42 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British corvette HMS Bluebell and destroyer HMS Westcott collided off Ireland; the former would be under repair until 4 Mar. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Upholder damaged German ship Duisberg off Cape Bon, Tunisia. Duisberg was towed to Tripoli, Libya for repairs. ww2dbase [CPC]

• British cruiser HMS Naiad spotted German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the Iceland-Faroes passage at 0649 hours. Fearing this might lead to the arrival of a stronger British fleet, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau turned to the north, attempting to enter the Atlantic Ocean via the Denmark Strait instead. ww2dbase [Operation Berlin | Gneisenau | Scharnhorst | CPC]

• B-10 medium bombers of the Thai 50th Bomber Squadron, escorted by 13 Hawk 75N fighters of the Thai 60th Fighter Squadron, bombed Sisophon, Cambodia, French Indochina. The effective date of the cease fire to be signed on 31 Jan 1941 would backdate to this date. ww2dbase [Franco-Thai War | Sisophon, Cambodia | CPC, AC]

• After gaining 60 miles, Timoshenko's offensive in Ukraine began to slow. ww2dbase [TH]
• Georgy Zhukov was promoted, with responsibility growing to include the Bryanksk, Kalinin, and West Fronts. ww2dbase [Georgy Zhukov | TH]
• Japanese troops occupied Rossel Island off southwestern New Guinea. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British fighter ace Robert Roland Stanford Tuck (27 kills) was shot down and was taken prisoner in Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
• Münster, Germany was bombed for the first time during the night of 28-29 Jan 1942 by mainforce aircraft of RAF Bomber Command. It would ultimately be bombed on six occasions, destroying 65% of the city. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | AC]
• Mortars and machine guns of the US 4th Marine Regiment were assigned to the 57th Philippine Scout Regiment at Longoskawayan Point, Bataan on Luzon, Philippine Islands, where the combined US-Filipino effort would soon wipe out the Japanese landing attempt. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]
• US B-17 bombers based on Java, Dutch East Indies bombed Japanese positions at Kendari, Celebes, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Celebes and Moluccas | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Thorn sank Italian tanker Ninuccia one mile off Cape Planka, Yugoslavia at 1121 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Indian troops destroyed port facilities at Benghazi, Libya as German forces approached. ww2dbase [Operation Crusader | CPC]
• Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht bulletin by the headquarters of the German Wehrmacht. ww2dbase [Egmont | CPC]
• Dispersed ships of Allied convoy QP-6 began to arrive in Allied waters. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• US 49th Pursuit Squadron, flying P-40 fighters, arrived in Australia by ship. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Four Australian Catalina aircraft from Port Moresby, British Territory of Papua attacked Rabaul, New Britain, causing little or no damage. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 1, Bismarck Islands | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Japanese troops landed at Pemangkat, Dutch Borneo. At Balikpapan, part of the assault force for Bandjermasin, the capital of Dutch Borneo, departed by transports. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Borneo | Pemangkat, Borneo | CPC]

• In Berlin, Germany, fighter ace Adolf Galland was awarded Diamonds to his Knight's Cross by Adolf Hitler for achieving 94 kills. ww2dbase [Adolf Galland | Berlin | AC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille arrived in Sicily, Italy. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Sicilia | CPC]

• Japanese troops outflanked and wiped out Indian 22nd Brigade at the village of Layang Layang, Perak, Malaya. Meanwhile, US B-17 bombers based on Java, Dutch East Indies bombed Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaya. After sundown, British gunboats HMS Dragonfly and HMS Scorpion evacuated British troops at Rengit, Johor, Malaya. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | CPC]

• Yugure received fuel from auxiliary tanker Kokuyo Maru in the Pacific Ocean. ww2dbase [Yugure | CPC]

• Chechen rebel leader Khasan Israilov formed the anti-Soviet organization Special Party of Caucasus Brothers. ww2dbase [Deportation of Caucasian, Altaic, and Turkish Peoples | Chechen-Ingush | CPC]

• RAF Bomber Command's No. 8 (Bomber) Group was disbanded. ww2dbase [AC]

• Phil Zampini became Robert Johnson's flight instructor at the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics in Sikeston, Missouri, United States. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | Sikeston, Missouri | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru departed Osaka, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
• Germany finally mobilized her work force for total war, requiring registration of men aged 16 to 65 and women aged 17 to 50. ww2dbase [TH]
• Filipp Golikov was awarded the Order of Suvorov. ww2dbase [Filipp Golikov | CPC]
• Aleksandr Vasilevsky was awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st Class. ww2dbase [Aleksandr Vasilevsky | CPC]
• Vasily Chuikov was awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st Class for the first time. ww2dbase [Vasily Chuikov | CPC]
• Hubert Lanz was promoted to the rank of General der Gebirgstruppe and was made the commanding officer of Armeeabteilung Lanz army detachment. ww2dbase [Hubert Lanz | CPC]

• USS Wahoo sighted Fais Island, Caroline Islands; she attempted to shell the Japanese phosphate refinery, but the appearance of a Japanese freighter forced her to abandon the attack. ww2dbase [Wahoo | Fais | CPC]

• As the German forces in Stalingrad, Russia were now divided into three pockets by Soviet attacks, Hermann Göring messaged Friedrich Paulus, noting that Paulus' stubborn defense, even if it led to self sacrifice, would go down in German history as one of the most heroic tales. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]
• Georgy Zhukov was awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st Class for the first time; this was the very first Order of Suvorov given out by the Soviet Union. 22 more Suvorov 1st Class medals were given out on this date after Zhukov's award. ww2dbase [Georgy Zhukov | CPC]

• The US Army announced a plan to form a special Nisei combat team from Americans of Japanese parentage. Within days they receive over 10,000 volunteers for only 2,500 places. ww2dbase [AC]

28 Jan 1943 Interactive Map

• In an effort to stop Spain from supplying Germany with war materials and to withdraw her troops from the Russian Front, the US and Britain announced an oil embargo. This embargo will last about 4 months until Franco finally gave in. ww2dbase [TH]
• Several German divisions were cut off and surrounded near Cherkassy, Ukraine. ww2dbase [TH]
• USS Pompon arrived at Darwin, Australia, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Pompon | CPC]
• USS Flying Fish ended her eighth war patrol. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | CPC]
• USS Seahorse began an 80-hour chase of a Japanese convoy off the Palau Islands. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]
• Kamoi was damaged by five torpedoes from USS Bowfin in the Makassar Strait at 2200 hours; she was beached to avoid sinking. ww2dbase [Kamoi | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Truk | CPC]

• 677 RAF aircraft (432 Lancaster, 241 Halifax, and 4 Mosquito) attacked Berlin, Germany; 46 aircraft were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | CPC]
• Canadian prisoner of war Lieutenant Bill Millar hid underneath a Germany truck at the Oflag IV-C camp at Colditz Castle in Germany during an air raid and was able to escape the camp later when the truck was driven out of the camp. His fate after the escape was unknown, however. ww2dbase [Colditz Castle | Colditz, Sachsen | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw stopped for one night in the Fongafale Anchorage at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) while on her way to the United States for repairs. ww2dbase [Shaw | Funafuti | DS]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Part of Task Group 19.18 departed. Part of ACORN-21 departed. Part of GROPAC-4 departed. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• USS Grayback departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her tenth war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Grayback | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring ordered a counterattack against the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy. ww2dbase [Battle of Anzio | Anzio, Lazio | CPC]

• Light carrier Ryuho exited the drydocks at Innoshima, Hiroshima, Japan and moved to Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Ryuho | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• The keel of landing ship No. 103 was laid down by Osaka Zosen. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• Polish AK resistance fighters planned an assassination of German SS commander Franz Kutschera in Warsaw, Poland, but the operation was called off when the target failed to appear as expected. ww2dbase [Operation Kutschera | Warsaw | JR]

• Allied convoy JW-56A arrived at Arkhangelsk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Arkhangelsk | CPC]

• Escort carrier USS Bogue arrived in Glasgow, Scotland at the King George V Dock. ww2dbase [Bogue | Glasgow, Scotland | DS]

• The US government released news of the Bataan Death March and Japanese atrocities committed in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

28 Jan 1944 Interactive Map

• Air Group 80 was transferred aboard USS Hancock. ww2dbase [Hancock | DS]
• Cruiser Köln departed for Wilhelmshaven, Germany for repairs. ww2dbase [Köln | CPC]
• Soviet troops captured Katowice, Poland. ww2dbase [Vistula-Oder Offensive | CPC]
• Submarine I-369 arrived at Minamitorishima (Marcus Island), Japan. ww2dbase [I-369 | CPC]
• Friedrich Christiansen stepped down as the commanding officer of the German 25th Army. ww2dbase [Friedrich Christiansen | CPC]
• USS Sennet departed the Bonin Islands area. ww2dbase [Sennet | CPC]

• Anglo-Indian troops captured Pauk, Burma. ww2dbase [Battle of Meiktila-Mandalay | Pauk | CPC]

• Captain Giles Elza Short was named the commanding officer of USS Ticonderoga. She then departed Ulithi, Caroline Islands for Puget Sound Navy Yard, Washington, United States via Pearl Harbor. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | Ulithi | DS]

• The Ardennes bulge was finally pushed back to its original lines, thus ending the Battle of the Bulge. ww2dbase [Battle of the Bulge | TH]
• Roza Shanina passed away in near the Richau estate three kilometers (1.9 miles) southeast of the village of Ilmsdorf, Ostpreußen (East Prussia), Germany (now Novobobruysk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia) from wound received in combat on the previous day. ww2dbase [Roza Shanina | Ilmsdorf, Ostpreußen | CPC]

• USS Brill departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Brill | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]
• USS New Mexico arrived in waters off Oahu, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [New Mexico | Oahu | CPC]

• USS Spadefish attacked a Japanese convoy in the southern Yellow Sea and sank Sanuki Maru. ww2dbase [Spadefish | Yellow Sea | CPC]
• USS Pompon attacked a Japanese convoy off Syo-kokuzan To in the Yellow Sea as a member of a wolfpack and observed the sinking of two Japanese ships by fellow submarine USS Spadefish. ww2dbase [Pompon | Yellow Sea | CPC]

• USAAF pilot Major Fredrick Austin Borsodi was killed when the tail of his YP-80A jet fighter disintegrated, causing the aircraft to crash at RAF Burtonwood near Warrington, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom. It was due to the failure of exhaust pipes in the tail section of the aircraft. ww2dbase [P-80 Shooting Star | Warrington, England | CPC]

• Captain Jurgen Wattenberg, a German prisoner of war at Camp Papago Park in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, was captured in Phoenix. ww2dbase [Camp Papago Park | Phoenix, Arizona | CPC]

28 Jan 1945 Interactive Map

28 Jan 1946 Interactive Map

• Former aircraft carrier Ranger was sold for scrapping. ww2dbase [Ranger | DS]

• USS Sterlet departed Japan. ww2dbase [Sterlet | CPC]

• Destroyer Cummings was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. ww2dbase [Cummings | CPC]

• Erich Mußfeldt was executed by hanging in Poland for crimes committed during his tenure at Majdanek and Auschwitz Concentration Camps. ww2dbase [Erich Mußfeldt | CPC]

• Arthur Liebehenschel, former Majdanek Concentration Camp commandant, was executed by hanging. ww2dbase [Nuremberg Trials and Other Trials Against Germany | Majdanek Concentration Camp | Lublin | CPC]

• Arthur Coningham departed Lisbon, Portugal. ww2dbase [Arthur Coningham | Lisbon | CPC]

• Carl G. E. Mannerheim passed away. ww2dbase [Carl G. E. Mannerheim | CPC]

• Sun Chu passed away in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. ww2dbase [Sun Chu | CPC]

• Maxime Weygand passed away. ww2dbase [Maxime Weygand | CPC]

• USS Wasp arrived at Boston Naval Shipyard, Massachusetts, United States for post-overhaul repairs. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Boston, Massachusetts | CPC]

• Frank Forde passed away. ww2dbase [Frank Forde | CPC]