The battles of 1944
At the same time as final preparations for D-Day were being made, the Italian Campaign was halted at the major German defensive ‘Gustav Line’. The ensuing assaults of the Battle of Monte Cassino were the bloodiest of the Italian Campaign in which a multi-country Allied force distinguished themselves. The final breakthrough of 18th May enabled the advance north to liberate Rome on 5th June 1944.
While battle raged across Europe, on the other side of the world Japanese forces invaded India and pushed back the British 14th Army. Outnumbered British and Indian forces withstood weeks of siege and brutal fighting, frequently hand-to-hand, at the Battles of Kohima and Imphal. The defeat of Japanese forces in June (Kohima) and July (Imphal) was a turning point in the war in the east and the springboard for the later Allied liberation of Burma. The 14th Army was a true multinational force, with the majority of its troops from pre-partition India.
In September Operation Market Garden was a daring attempt to secure key bridges in German-occupied Netherlands in a bid to shorten the war. Some 35,000 paratroopers and glider-borne soldiers landed behind enemy lines to capture towns and key bridges, and were to be supported by a ground force of another 50,000. The courage and tenacity of Market Garden’s troops has made this one of the most famous battles of the war.
The Canadian-led Battle of the Scheldt also involved Royal Marines and Scottish Division units in a bitter campaign to open a vital, secure passage to the port of Antwerp, the second largest European port. Victory was achieved in October at high cost, but it meant the Allies could open the sea lanes into The Netherlands and Belgium for vital supplies and help fuel the continent’s final liberation.
Each of these battles was a significant turning point in the war, and each was hard-fought and at a significant cost in casualties. Eight decades later we remember the service and sacrifice of the generation that opened the road to freedom.
