Skip to content
WW2 Theatres Theatres of the Second World War
Home

World War II calendar

WWII On This Day: January 30

What happened on January 30 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1942
Burmese refugees fleeing along the Prome Road toward India, 31 January 1942.
James Jarche / British Ministry of Information, Imperial War Museums JAR 1240 · Public domain (UK Government)
The Fall of Burma

Moulmein falls and the 2nd Burma Brigade crosses the Salween

Japanese troops reached Moulmein on 30 January 1942, and the main body of the 55th Division captured the town on 31 January. The 2nd Burma Brigade, which had held it, withdrew across the Salween estuary the same day. The Salween now lay between the two armies. The 17th Indian Division held the Bilin River to the west, and the Burma command, with too few men to hold every river, relied on delaying the Japanese on each in turn, with the single bridge over the Sittang behind them. The next fighting…

Continue in The Fall of Burma →
1943
American infantry aboard a landing craft approaching Oran, Algeria, in November 1942 during Operation Torch.
Lt F. A. Hudson / Royal Navy / Imperial War Museums A 12661 · UK Government public domain
Operation Torch and the Tunisian Campaign

Axis pressure grows along the eastern dorsal

German units attacked sectors of the eastern dorsal in late January, looking for openings through the passes towards the Allied flank. American positions were spread between isolated hill strongpoints and the plains around Sidi Bou Zid. Axis armoured formations could gather for local attacks faster than Allied divisions could shift across mountain tracks. The strain on the U.S. II Corps position became increasingly apparent during the first days of February.

Continue in Operation Torch and the Tunisian Campaign →
1944
Polish and British flags raised over the shattered Monte Cassino monastery after Polish troops entered the ruins on 18 May 1944.
Polish official photographer / Imperial War Museums MH 1680 · UK Government public domain
Cassino and Anzio: The Road to Rome

The American attack toward Cisterna fails

VI Corps opened an attack toward Cisterna and Campoleone on 30 January. U.S. Rangers infiltrating toward Cisterna encountered concentrated German armour and infantry; much of the attacking Ranger force was surrounded and lost. The wider advance stalled in the face of reinforcements and prepared fire positions. The Allies retained the beachhead, but the attempt to reach the inland roads had failed.

Continue in Cassino and Anzio: The Road to Rome →
1945
Infantrymen of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division rest on a slope in the Hürtgen Forest on 18 November 1944.
U.S. Army Signal Corps / National Archives · 18 November 1944 · Public domain · Source
Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest

The approach operation begins

The 78th Division attacked to enlarge its holdings north and east of Monschau. The immediate purpose was flank protection, but the operation also created the position from which the Schwammenauel dam could be attacked. The 310th Infantry cleared thirty-two pillboxes around Konzen in three hours after a shortened artillery preparation caught defenders waiting under cover.

Continue in Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest →