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• Captain Juji Kakumu became the new commanding officer of hospital ship Hikawa Maru. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• 1,500 prisoners arrived at Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria from Auschwitz Concentration Camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• Hitler not only authorized Model to withdraw to the Panther Line, but authorized a breakout from the Korsun pocket in Ukraine. ww2dbase [TH]
• Despite being seriously wounded by cannon fire from a German night fighter (his foot had been almost shot off), Australian Flight Sergeant Geoffrey C. C. Smith of 156 Pathfinder Squadron RAF, the rear-gunner of Lancaster bomber GT-0 (ND444), refused to leave his position until the aircraft had safely recrossed the coast. For his stubborn heroism, Smith would be awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for staying at his post to protect the bomber and its crew from further attack. ww2dbase [AC]
• Katori was assigned to the General Escort Command. ww2dbase [Katori | CPC]

• New Zealand troops landed on Nissan Island, Green Islands, Australian New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Nissan, Green Islands | CPC]
• A Japanese G4M bomber attempted to transfer six prisoners of war (including Gregory Boyington) from Rabaul in New Britain to Truk in the Caroline Islands, but the flight resulted in an emergency landing on another New Britain airfield as an Allied air raid was detected. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]
• USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis covered the New Zealand landings on Green Island 140 miles east of Rabaul. ww2dbase [Walden Ainsworth | New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Honolulu | St. Louis | Solomon Sea | DS]

• Anglo-Indian troops recaptured a hill they lost on the previous night at Sinzweya, Burma, suffering heavy casualties in the process. ww2dbase [Second Battle of Arakan | Sinzweya, Arakan | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for tanker Hoyo Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• 891 RAF aircraft (561 Lancaster, 314 Halifax, and 16 Mosquito) attacked Berlin, Germany, dropping over 2,500 tons of bombs in what was the heaviest raid to date. The industrial Siemensstadt area was damaged. 26 Lancaster and 17 Halifax bombers were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Part of Photographic Squadron 4 (VD-4) arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii bound for Midway and her ninth war patrol. ww2dbase [Silversides | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• 142 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, 47 B-25 Mitchell bombers, and 40 B-26 Marauder bombers dropped 1,150 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the historic Benedictine monastery atop Monte Cassino, Italy. The aerial bombing was augmented by artillery shelling as well. In the evening, a company of 1st Battalion of British Royal Sussex Regiment of Indian 4th Division attacked neraby Point 593, but failed to capture the position. ww2dbase [Battle of Monte Cassino | Cassino, Lazio | TH, CPC]

• The keel of landing ship No. 153 was laid down by Hitachi Zosen. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• Kamoi departed Kota Bharu, British Malaya, under tow by Seiha Maru. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Kota Bharu, Kelantan | CPC]

• USS Snook sank Japanese cargo ship Hoshi Maru Number 2 in the East China Sea, hitting with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Snook | East China Sea | CPC]
• Submarine USS Tinosa attacked a convoy of four ships east of Leyte Gulf in the Philippine Sea and sank Odatsuki Maru and Chojo Maru. ww2dbase [Tinosa | Philippine Sea | DS]

15 Feb 1944 Interactive Map