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Events on Saturday 12 August 1944 2
1915 – 1944Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (1915-1944)Died 12 August 1944, aged 29US Navy pilot and eldest son of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., who had been groomed for a political career. He was killed when his explosive-laden drone aircraft blew up over Suffolk during Operation Aphrodite. His death shifted the family's political ambitions onto his brother John.
1944Falaise PocketGerman forces trapped in NormandyAllied armies encircled the German Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army near Falaise. Tens of thousands of German soldiers were killed or captured before the gap was closed. The defeat ended the Battle of Normandy and opened the route to the Seine.