January 11
Politics, Italy
Count Galeazzo Ciano, the former Italian foreign secretary and Mussolini's son-in-law, is executed by firing squad in Verona. His 'crime' was to have voted with other fascists to oust Mussolini in July 1943. Ciano and his wife had been lured to Bavaria in August 1943 following a report that their children were in danger. Having been promised safe passage to Spain, they were handed over to Italy's puppet fascist government.

Algerian troops of Genereal Alphonse Juin's
French Expeditionary Corps in action at
Monte Cassino Italy, in the middle of January

January 12-14
Italy, Cassino
At Cassino, General Alphonse Juin's colonial troops of the French Expeditionary Corps cross the Rapido River on the Fifth Army's northern sector. Although they fail to take Monte Santa Croce, their success fills the headquarters of the Fifth Army with renewed optimism.

January 14-27
Eastern Front, LENINGRAD
The Soviet Second Shock Army attacks from the Oranienbaum bridgehead, and the Fifty-ninth Army attacks toward Novgorod, in an attempt to break the German blockade of the city. The next day the Forty-second Army attacks from the Pulkovo Heights. On the 19th, the three armies link up near Krasnoe, and two days later German forces in the Petergof and Streina area are wiped out. Fighting continues as the Germans try to stop the Red Army onslaught, but on the 27th a salute of 324 guns announces the end of the German blockade of Leningrad. Some 830,000 civilians have died during the long siege.

January 17
Italy, Gustav Line
The Allied attempt to break through the Gustav Line - a Frontal assault combined with a seaborne hook to the German rear at Anzio - begins. The British X Corps attacks across the Garigliano River and strikes northwest toward the Aurunci Mountains and the Liri Valley. In response, the German commander, General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, transfers two armored divisions to counter this new threat.

January 20
Italy, Gustav Line
As part of the Allied attack on the Gustav Line, the US II Corps attempts to cross the Rapido River to clear a path for the US 1st Armored Division. The German defenses are strong and the Americans suffer heavy losses.

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