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• » 17 Aug 1944

• USS Sargent Bay joined US Navy 3rd Fleet at Pearl Harbor. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | CPC]
• USS Croaker sank two Japanese oilers with 2 of 6 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Croaker | CPC]
• Walter Model was appointed the commanding officer of the German Army Group B (Heeresgruppe B), replacing Günther von Kluge. ww2dbase [Walter Model | CPC]
• Remnants of Vichy government fled for Germany as French Resistance began taking Parisian strongpoints. Pétain and his staff were interned by Hitler, while Laval's government resigned. ww2dbase [TH]
• Canadian troops captured Falaise, France, and the German troops in the region began to be threatened with being surrounded. Montgomery ordered troops to move to seal the pocket. Meanwhile, US forces captured Chartres, Orleans, and Chateaudun. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 2 | TH]
• British 14th Brigade, 3rd West African Brigade, and elements of the British 36th Infantry Division received orders to withdraw from northern Burma. ww2dbase [Operation Thursday | CPC]

• USS Nicholas arrived at Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Manus, Admiralty Islands | DS]

• USS Marblehead bombarded Axis positions near Saint-Raphaël, France. ww2dbase [Invasion of Southern France | Marblehead | Saint-Raphaël, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | CPC]

• Soviet troops reached the East Prussian border. ww2dbase [Operation Bagration | Ostpreußen | TH]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Third commanding officer, Capt Erl CB Gould USNR assumed command of station. Sixteen aircraft (Model F6F), 33 officers and 24 men of Night Fighting Squadron 103 (VF(N)-103) arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• The Allied Balkan Air Force suspended most supply flights to Warsaw, Poland, allowing only crews of No. 1586 (Polish Special Duties) Flight RAF to embark on such missions. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Saufley and the convoy she was screening departed Eniwetok, Marshall Islands bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. ww2dbase [Saufley | Eniwetok | DS]

• USS Bluefish and USS Puffer sank a Japanese oiler off of Mindoro, Philippine Islands; USS Bluefish hit her with 1 of 1 torpedo fired. ww2dbase [Bluefish | South China Sea | CPC]

• After sundown, 1 aircraft of No. 1586 (Polish Special Duties) Flight RAF successfully dropped supplies in the Kabacki Forest near Warsaw, Poland; the other 3 aircraft launched for the same mission could not deliver their cargo for various reasons. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | Warsaw | CPC]

• Ion Antonescu signed an armistice with the anti-German opposition in Romania; this was viewed as an act of betrayal by the Germans. ww2dbase [Ion Antonescu | CPC]

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

• Nicholas Winton was promoted to the brevet rank of pilot officer. ww2dbase [Nicholas Winton | CPC]
• Anti-aircraft gunners using proximity fuzed shells at Folkestone, Kent, England, United Kingdom brought down 27 flying bombs during the day, all landing in the sea close to the beaches. The batteries at nearby Hythe accounted for a further 16, also due in large part to the proximity fuzes. As usual the number of bombs being launched meant that some got through to the London area. One bomb landed only yards from where one exploded four days earlier killing another 3 residents. The worst incident was at Rotherhithe Street in Bermondsey where 17 were killed and more than 60 injured. Later in the afternoon 16 residents of Mossbury Road in Lavender Hill south London were killed. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | VT Radio Proximity | London, England | HM]

• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) arrived at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Washington, United States and began a two-month overhaul. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Yorktown (Essex-class) | Puget Sound, Washington | DS]

• Submarine USS Growler and her wolfpack departed Midway Atoll bound for the waters around Formosa (Taiwan). ww2dbase [Growler | Midway | DS]

17 Aug 1944 Interactive Map