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• USS Tang sank Japanese transport Tsukushi Maru, hitting her with two of three torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Tang | CPC]
• US troops from the north and French troops from the south met near Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [Invasion of Southern France | TH]
• A B-24 bomber crashed into a school at Freckleton, Lancashire in northwestern England, United Kingdom, killing 57, 35 of whom were children. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Vasily Chuikov was awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st Class for the second time. ww2dbase [Vasily Chuikov | CPC]
• USS Nicholas departed Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands bound for Hollandia, New Guinea. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• USS Hoe arrved at Fremantle, Australia, ending her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [Hoe | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]

• Zang Xilan, flying a P-40N fighter, led nine other P-40N fighters from Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China to escort three B-25 bombers of 1st Bombardment Group of Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional) to attack a bridge near Kaifeng, Henan Province, China. En route, he shot down two Ki-44 fighters and damaged another, but damage sustained on his own aircraft forced him to crash land in Hua County, Henan. ww2dbase [Zang Xilan | Kaifeng, Henan | CPC]

• Ferdinand Catlos failed to secure Soviet backing for his plan to overthrow the pro-German Slovak government. ww2dbase [Ferdinand Catlos | CPC]
• Charles McGee shot down a Fw 190 over Czechoslovakia. ww2dbase [Charles McGee | CPC]

• In Paris, France, the Drancy Concentration Camp, a transit camp for French Jews used during German occupation, was liberated by Allied troops. ww2dbase [Drancy Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Paris | CPC]
• Allied troops reached the Seine River near Paris, France. Adolf Hitler ordered all bridges in the Paris area to be destroyed, even those viewed as cultural treasures; Hans Speidel would refuse to carry out this order. ww2dbase [Liberation of Paris | Paris | CPC]

• USS Baya departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. Initially ordered to patrol between the Philippine Islands and the Palau Islands, her patrol area was later shifted to the South China Sea. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Baya | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS Becuna departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Becuna | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS Hawkbill departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Hawkbill | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Submarine USS Saury completed her tenth war patrol at Majuro, Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [Saury | Majuro | DS]

• USS Haddo detected a Japanese convoy north of Dasol Bay on the west coast of Luzon, Philippines and fired 5 torpedoes at about 0700 hours, sinking destroyer Asakaze which was under tow by tanker Niyo Maru. Escort ship Type D No. 22 and Patrol Boat No. 102 were dispatched from Manila to search for USS Haddo; en route, Patrol Boat No. 102 experienced problems with her No. 4 boiler, which was repaired while underway. ww2dbase [Stewart | Haddo | CPC]

• Aircraft of No. 1586 (Polish Special Duties) Flight RAF dropped supplies to resistance fighters in the Kampinos Forest near Warsaw, Poland. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | Warsaw | CPC]

• In Bucharest, Romania, King Mihai I removed Marshal Ion Antonescu from power and began to publicly engage the Soviet Union diplomatically. To the northeast, Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front and 3rd Ukrainian Front encircled German 6th Army. ww2dbase [Jassy-Kishinev Offensive and Romania's Surrender | CPC]

• Fifty-one V-1 flying bombs were brought down by anti-aircraft fire using proximity fuzes over the coast at Folkestone, Kent, southeastern England, United Kingdom; all but two crashed into the sea. The railway line out of Folkestone was damaged by another bomb shot down by a fighter of 315 Squadron (Polish) RAF. Thirteen more were brought down by the anti-aircraft batteries at Lydd, Kent, one of which exploded and scattered propaganda leaflets over the town. One V-1 flying bomb that made it to South London was brought down when it hit barrage balloon cables at Skeet Hill House, Orpington. A V-1 flying bomb hit Oakleigh Road in Brunswick Park, East Barnet, north of the river Thames, killing 33 as houses and shops collapsed with the blast. Another fell nearby in the centre of the football pitch which had been emptied. Yet another that made it through the defences badly damaged the village church near the perimeter of RAF Stradishall in Suffolk, shortly after it had been crowded with a harvest thanksgiving service. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 1 | VT Radio Proximity | V-Weapons Campaign | Orpington, England | CPC]
• A US B-24 Liberator bomber crashed into the village of Freckleton in Lancashire County, England, United Kingdom at about 1047 hours, destroying the Holy Trinity Church of England School (6 adults and 38 children were killed), three houses (2 were killed), and the Sad Sack Snack Bar (7 American servicemen, 4 British servicemen, and 3 civilians were killed). All 3 members of crew aboard the B-24 bomber were killed. ww2dbase [Freckleton, England | CPC]
• At 0801 hours a V-1 flying bomb exploded at Oakleigh Road, Brunswick Park, East Barnet, London, England, United Kingdom, killing 33 and injuring a further 212 people. The bomb impacted on the Standard Telephone and Cable factory. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 1 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | HM]

• Franklin Roosevelt rejected Chiang Kaishek's counteroffer of 23 Jul 1944 regarding the American wish for Chiang to include communists in the war against Japan. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Washington | CPC]
• Escort carrier USS Card detached her escorts to proceed to New York and disembarked Composite Squadron VC-12 to fly to Norfolk Naval Air Station. Card arrived at Norfolk Naval Operating base, Norfolk, Virginia. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Card | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]
• Tambor-class submarine USS Tautog arrived at the submarine repair basin at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company, San Francisco, California for a major overhaul. ww2dbase [Tautog | Bethlehem San Francisco Shipyard | San Francisco, California | DS]

23 Aug 1944 Interactive Map