World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » Events
• » 8 May 1944

• Eisenhower set the date for the cross-Channel invasion at 5 Jun 1944. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | CPC]
• USS Rock arrived at Majuro, Marshall Islands, ending her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Rock | CPC]
• USAAF fighter ace Robert Johnson scored his 27th victory, exceeding the 26 victories achieved by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, making him the second-highest scoring American fighter pilot in Europe. ww2dbase [AC]
• Brigadier William Lentaigne, commander of the Chindit, flew to the front lines in Burma to meet with Michael Calvert, repeating the order to abandon the Broadway and White City sites of Operation Thursday in order to build a new forward base, Blackpool. ww2dbase [Operation Thursday | CPC]
• USS Nicholas departed Buna, New Guinea as part of an escort for a convoy of transport ships bound for the Russell Islands in the Solomon group. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 departed Bangka island, Celebes, Dutch East Indies at 0500 hours. At 1555 hours, she spotted a periscope and dropped 3 depth charges. ww2dbase [Stewart | Bangka, Celebes | CPC]

• Robert Johnson flew his final mission, shooting down a Bf 109G aircraft and a Fw 190 aircraft over Celle, Germany. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | Celle | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Berlin | DS]

• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides arrived in her patrol area off Guam, Mariana Islands and almost immediately detected a convoy of six or seven Japanese ships departing Apra Harbor. Silversides fired four Mark XVIII electric torpedoes (her first of the war) and scored one hit, with unobserved results due to depth charging counterattack. ww2dbase [Silversides | Mark XVIII | DS]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Two officers and 97 men of ARGUS-8 arrived on board. Two officers and 91 men of ARGUS-7 arrived on board. Parts of Air Group 11 arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• Submarine USS Thresher arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi ending her twelfth war patrol. Thresher's commanding officer, Commander Duncan MacMillan, was awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for his completion of Thresher's mission during her twelfth war patrol. ww2dbase [Thresher | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Nachi refueled from oiler Teiyo Maru in Kawauchi Bay, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Nachi | Kawauchi Bay, Aomori | CPC]

• USS Hoe attacked a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, damaging army tanker Akane Maru and freighter Sado with 2 of 6 torpedoes fired in the South China Sea west of Luzon Strait. ww2dbase [Hoe | South China Sea | CPC]

• Rudolf Höss returned to Auschwitz Concentration Camp to supervise Aktion Höss, the extermination of 430,000 Hugarian Jews. ww2dbase [Rudolf Höss | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Kamoi took on a cargo of canned goods at Singapore. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Singapore | CPC]

• USS Ticonderoga was commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States with Dixie Kiefer in command. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | Norfolk Navy Yard | Portsmouth, Virginia | DS]

8 May 1944 Interactive Map