Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

• Employing VII Bomber Command B-24s as spotter aircraft, US Navy carrier aircraft and surface warships attack Chichi Jima, Haha Jima, and Iwo Jima.
• A total of 22 VII Bomber Command B-24s mount separate morning and afternoon attacks against Iwo Jima.
• 7 318th Fighter Group P-38s, guided by 2 VII Bomber Command B-24s, mount a separate strafing attack against Iwo Jima.
• US Navy PB4Ys photograph defenses on Iwo Jima.
• 2 318th Fighter Group P-38s down an A6M Zero near Iwo Jima at 0800 hours.

Air Operations, CBI

• 16 10th Air Force B-25s attack airfields at Aungban, Kunla, Laihka, and Mong Long.
• More than 70 10th Air Force P-47s attack troops, tanks, motor vehicles, and stores at 7 locations.
• 2 P-47s provide support for Allied ground troops near Namhkam.
• 5 14th Air Force B-25s attack 2 locations in Burma.
• 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity at 2 locations and fortified hills along the Salween River.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack selected buildings in Kengtung.
• 29 14th Air Force P-51s and P-40s attack airfields at Hankow and Wuchang.
• 23 P-51s and P-40s attack an airfield and other targets at Samah Bay, Hainan.
• P-38s and P-40s attack various targets of opportunity.
• 311th Fighter Group P-51s down 6 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near the airfield at Sinsiang at 1105 hours.
• 51st Fighter Group P-51s down 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter and 1 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-40s and P-51s down 5 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters and 2 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighters over the Hankow airfield at 1400 hours.
• 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s and 51st Fighter Group P-51s down 6 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters and 5 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighters over Samah Bay, Hainan, between 1450 and 1530 hours.

• 5 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Dara.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Miti airfield on Halmahera and targets in northeastern Celebes.
• B-25s attack Celebes.
• Various FEAF aircraft attack various targets throughout the region.

Air Operations, Europe

• The 8th Air Force sends 1,000 planes with 500 escorts to bomb and strafe rail targets across western Germany.
• The Luftwaffe launches Operation BODENPLATTE in support of the Ardennes offensive with 1,035 fighters and bombers attacking Allied airfields in Belgium and southern Holland. The Germans destroy 156 Allied aircraft but lose 277 of their own, losses the Luftwaffe cannot make good. It is the last major German air attack.

• 160 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attack the railway yards at Ludwigshafen.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

• 1 Hudson flies a Resistance operation.

• 664 aircraft including 340 Halifaxes, 310 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Hannover. This is the first large raid on Hannover since October 1943.
• 23 Halifaxes and 8 Lancasters are lost.
• 131 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack Houffalize, a bottleneck in the German supply system in the Ardennes. The target is bombed with great accuracy.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

• 66 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 8 to Neuss and 6 to Castrop-Rauxel, and there are 55 Mosquito patrols,and 58 RCM sorties.
• 4 Mosquitos are lost, 2 from the Berlin raid and 2 from No. 100 Group operations.

Air Operations, Philippines

• Kamikaze aircraft continue to attack advance elements of the US 7th Fleet Luzon invasion force, but nearly all the estimated 30 attackers are downed by US Navy aircraft based aboard escort carriers. Fighters based on Mindoro are held down by bad weather over their airfields.
• Between 1557 and 1840 hours, a US cruiser, an Australian cruiser, a US destroyer, a US destroyer-escort, and a large landing craft are damaged in a piecemeal attack by 16 kamikazes based at the Mabalacat airfield on Luzon. The escort carrier US Manila Bay is also damaged in this kamikaze attack, with losses of 22 killed and 56 injured.
• V Bomber Command B-25s mount heavy attacks against Japanese Army defenses in the Lingayan Gulf area.
• A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous airfields and other targets throughout the Philippines.
• Task Unit 77.4.1 TBMs and FMs sink 1 Japanese destroyer and severely damage another in an afternoon attack near Luzon.
• Escort-carrier FMs and F6Fs down 8 fighters and a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber during several morning engagements over the Sulu Sea and Luzon.
• FMs down 20 fighters over Luzon and a D3A 'Val' dive bomber and a B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber at sea during the afternoon.
• A 418th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomer at sea at 1900 hours.
• During the afternoon, a VC-21 FM helps sink a Japanese Navy midget submarine in the midst of a US transport force passing Negros on its way to Lingayan Gulf, Luzon.
• 16 TBMs and 19 FMs from Task Group 77.4 sink a Japanese destroyer-escort as it attempts to flee from Luzon to Formosa, but a second destroyer escapes.

Burma

Shwebo is taken by the British 2nd Div of Gen Montagu Stopford's XXXIII Corps, as the advance of the corps to the Irrawaddy continues.

Diplomatic Relations

The Soviets recognize the Lublin Committee as the Provisional Government of Poland. The USA and Britain announce that they continue to recognize the exile government in London.

Greece

The fighting between the British and the Greek Communists comes to an end in the Athens area. Gen Alexander and British political representatives arrive in Athens for talks with the Communist leaders and the Greek government.

Pacific

Rear-Adm A. E. Smith leads a force of cruisers and destroyers to shell Iwo Jima, Haha Jima and Chichi Jima. There is a simultaneous attack by Superfortress bombers from the 7th Air Force.

Rear-Adm John L. McCrea leads 3 cruisers and 9 destroyers to bombard Japanese installations on Suribachi Wan in the Kuriles.

Philippines

About 30 Japanese suicide aircraft, taking off from Luzon, attack the American invasion convoy off the island, damaging the escort carriers Manila Bay (CVE-61) and Savo Island (CVE-78), the heavy cruisers Louisville (CA-28) and Australia, the destroyers Helm (DD-388) and David W. Taylor (DD-551), the destroyer escort Stafford (DE-411), the seaplane tender Orca (AVP-49), the ocean tug Apache (ATF-67) and several smaller ships. Two destroyer escorts, the Edwin A. Howard (DE-346) and the Leland E. Thomas (DE-420), are damaged in a collision.

On Mindoro Island several places are occupied by Filipino guerillas commanded by American officers.

Western Front

The VII Corps, US 1st Army, advances toward Consy while the XVIII Corps moves toward Bergeval. In the 3rd Army sector units of the VIII and III Corps go on the defensive. Although there is still fierce fighting, it is clear that Bastogne is no longer in danger and that the crisis for the Americans in this sector has now passed.

In the Strasbourg sector, on the southern flank of the Allied line, the French 1st Army is relieving the units of the American 7th Army so that French troops can take over the defense of the city.

The XV Corps, 7th Army, reaches Frauenberg and Gros Réderchin, but on the right flank of VI Corps the German 553rd Volksgrenadieredivision establishes a bridgehead over the Rhine in the Gambsheim sector, between Kilstett and Drusenheim, about 12 miles north of Strasbourg. Task Force Linden, 5 battalions of the US 42nd Div, launches an immediate counterattack, but without success.

In the Ardennes there is less activity on the 3rd Army sector, but 1st Army maintains its attacks. There are German attacks just north of Strasbourg.

Images from January 5, 1945

Soviet T-34 tank with troops cross the highway Zhitomir-Berdichev, past a burning tank Pz.Kpfw. VI 'Tiger'. 1st Ukrainian Front, 5 January 1945

T-34 Tank with Support Troops

3-inch mortar team of 2nd Monmouthshire Regiment in action during the advance of 53rd (Welsh) Division towards Laroche in Belgium, 5 January 1945

3-inch Mortar Team

USS Pasadena (CL-65) en route to the Philippines, 5 January 1945. Photo taken from New Jersey (BB-62) by LCDR Charles F. Jacobs, USNR. (US Navy photo in NARA record group 80-G-470296)

USS Pasadena

HMAS Arunta was narrowly missed by a Kamikaze, 5 January 1945, en route to Lingayen landings. Photograph taken from USS Tulagi

HMAS Arunta in Kamikaze Attack

Date: 5 January 1945 Location: Baneux, Belgium Description: Even medium tank tracks fail to hold on icy streets in Baneux, Belgium, during attack on that city by American armored forces, 1st Bn, 33d Regt, 3rd Armd. Div.

Tanks on Icy Streets in Baneux, Belgium

Date: 5 January 1945 Location: Malempre, Belgium Description: Men of the 83d Inf. Div., US Army, hike through snow to join an armored force in an attack on the Nazis near Malempre, Belgium.

US Troops Hiking in the Snow

Lingayen Operation, the Philippines, January 1945. A Japanese plane makes a suicide attack on a Bagley class destroyer west of the Philippines on 5 January 1945. The ship is probably USS Helm (DD-388), which was slightly damaged by a kamikaze on that date. Note anti-aircraft shell bursts in the vicinity. Photographed by USS Steamer Bay (CVE-87). Official US Navy Photograph

Japanese Suicide Attack on US Destroyer

Removing a German 88mm anti-aircraft gun after capture by US troops, using an M4 High Speed Tractor (M4 HST), Battery C, 989th FA Bn, Belgium, 5 January 1945.

Captured German 88mm Anti-aircraft gun