The Syrian Republic was recognized as independent.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 420+ aircraft attack on Berlin, Germany. Results poor cloud cover

The Pacific Campaign: The Allied Landing at Saidor began in Papua New Guinea during Operation Dexterity.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 380+ aircraft attack on Berlin, Germany. The Reich Chancellery in Berlin was hit

The Blitz: Opening night of Operation Steinbock night bombing raids on British cities. Also known as the baby blitz

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces captured Radovel northwest of Korosten and came within 18 miles of the pre-war Polish border.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces capture Olevsk, 10 miles from the pre-war Polish frontier.

German radio publicized a decree to mobilize school children for war purposes.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy day-time American air raid, 500+ aircraft attack on Kiel, Germany.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy day-time American air raid, 100+ aircraft attack on Dupnica, Bulgaria.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Large day-time British air raid, 80+ aircraft attack on Pas de Calais & Bristillerie, nr Cherbourg, France. Both attacks were effective

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take Bila Tserkva southwest of Kyiv.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take push the German Army Group South back beyond the pre-war Polish border at Sarny.

The Italian Campaign: American forces attack the southern end of the Gustav Line along a 10-mile front.

With Soviet forces crossing the Polish border, the Polish government-in-exile issued a declaration describing itself as "the only and legal steward and spokesman of the Polish Nation" and calling for the Soviet Union to respect the rights and interests of Poland. The statement also proposed the re-establishment of a liberated republic in Poland as quickly as possible as well as the negotiation of an agreement between the Polish government-in-exile and the Soviet Union that would permit the coordination of Polish resistance actions with the Red Army.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 350+ aircraft attack on Stettin, Germany. Target suffered serious damage

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces announced the capture of Berdychiv, Poland

Soviet forces crossed the pre-war Polish border and captured the town of Rokitno.

Britain and America announced that a jet-propelled aircraft would soon be in production.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy day-time American air raid, 420+ aircraft attack on Ludwigshafen, Germany. IG Farben plant hit

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take Klesov near Rivne, Poland

The Italian Campaign: American forces capture San Vittore del Lazio on the Bernhardt Line.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take Kirovohrad, Ukraine

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take The Soviets took Polonne & Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine

The Verona Trial ended with five death sentences. Tullio Cianetti was the only defendant spared from execution, in light of his having written a letter of apology to Mussolini. He was given a 30-year prison term instead.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take Lyudvipol, 12 miles inside the 1939 Polish border.

The Burma Campaign: British forces take Maungdaw in western Burma.

American President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the annual State of the Union Address to Congress, in which he proposed the Second Bill of Rights guaranteeing such things as housing, medical care and education.

The Soviet Union responded to the Polish declaration of January 5 with a statement through TASS. The Soviet government disputed Polish territorial claims and insisted that the Soviet-Polish border had been determined through "the plebiscite carried out in 1939 on a broad democratic basis". The statement also accused the Polish government-in-exile of being "incapable of establishing friendly relations with the Soviet Union and has also shown itself incapable of organizing active resistance against German invaders inside Poland. Moreover, by its erroneous policy, it has often played into the hands of German invaders."

The Moroccan Nationalist Movement released the Proclamation of Independence, a manifesto demanding full independence from France, Spain, and the international legislative body governing Tangier; national reunification; and a democratic constitution.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy day-time American air raid, 570+ aircraft attack on Brunswick, Germany.

British Prime Minster Winston Churchill & Free French leader Charles de Gaulle began a two-day conference in Marrakesh, Morocco centred on the cooperation of a French expeditionary force in the Allied invasion of Europe and the administration of France after the invasion.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take Sarny, Poland

The Italian Campaign: American forces capture Cervaro.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Heavy day-time American air raid, 570+ aircraft attack on various targets in France.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take Korets, Poland

The director of the United States Typhus Commission warned that Naples faced a serious threat "and the menace can be expected to extend to Southern Italy. No cases have yet been reported among the military forces, but the growing typhus rate is a potential menace to the Allied military effort."

The Polish government-in-exile reiterated its refusal to accept unilateral decisions made about Polish territory but said it was approaching the British & American governments to mediate "all outstanding questions, the settlement of which should lead to friendly and permanent co-operation between Poland and the Soviet Union. The Polish Government believes this to be desirable in the interest of the victory of the United Nations and harmonious relations in post-war Europe."

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Heavy day-time American air raid, 520+ aircraft attack on Pas de Calais, France.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Large day-time British air raid, 80+ aircraft attack on Ailly Bonneton & Bristillerie, nr Cherbourg, France.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 500+ aircraft attack on Brunswick, Germany. Poor results

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces began the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive (the first of Stalin's ten blows) and the Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive

The Italian Campaign: American forces capture Monte Trecchio

The San Juan earthquake devastated the province of San Juan in Argentina. Some 10,000 people were killed and one-third of the province's population was left homeless.

The Western Front: American General Dwight D. Eisenhower formally assumed the duties of the Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

The Soviet Union rejected Poland's proposal for negotiation over the Polish frontier.

A diplomatic incident occurred when The Soviet newspaper Pravda published a report claiming that representatives of Britain and Germany had met somewhere on the Iberian Peninsula to discuss making a separate peace. The British Foreign Office swiftly denied the rumour in an official message sent to the Soviet government.

The Italian Campaign: The Battle of Monte Cassino begins

The Italian Campaign: British forces cross the Garigliano river

Meat rationing was introduced in Australia.

The Italian Campaign: British forces cross the Garigliano River in force

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces break the Siege of Leningrad by opening a narrow corridor south of Lake Ladoga.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces repulse attack by German forces on Vitebsk, Belarus

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met with representatives of the Polish government-in-exile to break the diplomatic impasse with the Soviets. Churchill pressed the Poles to accept the Curzon Line as a basis for discussion, explaining that the Soviets' need for security as well as their enormous battlefield sacrifices to liberate Poland from the Germans entitled them to ask for revision of Polish frontiers. Churchill promised in return to challenge Moscow's demand for changes in the Polish government.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 770+ aircraft attack on Berlin, Germany. Results poor cloud cover

The Italian Campaign: The Battle of Rapido River begins

The Italian Campaign: Operation Shingle The Anzio landing force sailed from Naples.

Australia & New Zealand signed the Canberra Pact, a treaty of mutual defence.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Heavy day-time British air raid, 110+ aircraft attack on 6 sites in France.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Heavy day-time American air raid, 520+ aircraft attack on Pas de Calais, France.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 650+ aircraft attack on Magdeburg, Germany. Results poor. Heavier than usual losses on this raid

The Blitz: Operation Steinbock Heavy night-time German air raid, 270+ aircraft attack on London, England. Poor results

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces take Mga in Leningrad Oblast

The Japanese put down the Jesselton Revolt in Borneo.

The Italian Campaign: Operation Shingle The Battle of Anzio began with an Allied amphibious landing in the region of Anzio and Nettuno, to outflank German forces at the Winter Line and set up a drive on Rome.

The Italian Campaign: The Battle of Rapido River ended in a German defensive victory.

Damaged by Henschel Hs 293A radio-controlled rocket-powered glide bomb from German Do 217 Dornier aircraft off Anzio, during Operation Shingle, in the Tyrrhenian Sea. A bomb demolished the forward structure of the ship & distorted the hull. She was in company with the British warship Janus when attacked & was able to pick up the survivors from that ship 41.26N 12.38E 23/01/1944. The ship managed to reach Naples for temporary repair on 24/01/1944. Arrived for repair Gibraltar where new bow structure was fitted 05/02/1944

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Heavy day-time American air raid, 200+ aircraft attack on Pas de Calais, France.

The Italian Campaign: The British hospital ship St David, a Dunkirk veteran, is bombed & sunk off Anzio despite being well-marked and lit by laws of war. 96 perished of the 229 aboard.

In German-occupied Belgium, the Social Pact, detailing plans for post-war social reform, is secretly signed.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Heavy day-time American air raid, 180+ aircraft attack on Pas de Calais, France.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy day-time American air raid, 860+ aircraft attack on Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Poor results

The Eastern Front: The Battle of the Korsun–Cherkasy Pocket begins

Allied Bomber Offensive: Operation Crossbow, attack on V-Weapon sites: Large day-time British air raid, 80+ aircraft attack on Pas de Calais & Bristillerie, nr Cherbourg, France.

The Pacific Campaign: Australian forces in New Guinea captured Shaggy Ridge.

Argentina bowed to pressure from the United States and severed diplomatic relations with the Axis powers.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces capture Krasnogvardeisk near Leningrad. Two days later the city's pre 1923 name of Gatchina would be restored.

The Italian Campaign: American forces established a bridgehead over the Rapido.

Liberia declares war on Germany and Japan

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 510+ aircraft attack on Berlin, Germany. Serious damage to the target

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces lift the Siege of Leningrad after 2 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 5 days.

A British Government telegram to Premier Joseph Stalin warned that "the creation in Warsaw of another government other than that now recognized, as well as disturbances in Poland, would confront Great Britain and the United States with a problem, which would preclude agreement among the great powers."

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 680+ aircraft attack on Berlin, Germany. Serious damage to the target

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy day-time American air raid, 760+ aircraft attack on Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

The Eastern Front: Soviet forces captured Chudovo, Soviet Union

The Pacific Campaign: The Battle of the Green Islands began when American & New Zealand forces invaded the Green Islands between Bougainville and New Ireland.

Koniuchy massacre: A unit of Soviet partisans accompanied by Jewish partisans killed at least 38 civilians in the village of Koniuchy in Nazi-occupied Lithuania.

German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler made a radio address from his headquarters on the eleventh anniversary of the Nazis coming to power. He spent little time talking about the war situation and mostly spoke about Germany being Europe's only bulwark against communism.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy day-time American air raid, 700+ aircraft attack on Brunswick, Germany.

Allied Bomber Offensive: Heavy night-time British air raid, 530+ aircraft attack on Berlin, Germany. Serious damage to target. Joseph Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry hit

The Eastern Front: The Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive ended in Soviet victory.

The Eastern Front: The Soviets began the Nikopol–Kryvyi Rih Offensive.

The Italian Campaign: The Battle of Cisterna began as part of the larger Battle of Anzio.

The Italian Campaign: At Anzio, British forces broke through the Gustav Line and captured Monte Natal.

The Pacific Campaign: The Battle of Kwajalein began on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The Pacific Campaign: American forces occupied Majuro in the Marshall Islands.