Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- More than 20 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, horses, motor vehicles, and buildings at 4 locations.
- 10 fighter-bombers attack the airfield at Aungban.
- 4 P-47s support Allied ground troops.
- 3 14th Air Force B-25s attack a bridge at Hawng Luk.
- 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the Arakan region at 1050 hours.
- 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack stores at Kengtung.
- 31 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity around Wanting.
- 16 P-51s attack targets of opportunity at 3 locations.
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]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
- 158 Lancasters of No. 3 Group hit the railway yards at Saarbrücken. The bombing appears to be accurate, though with some overshooting.
- 1 Lancaster crashes in France.
- 1 Hudson is on a Resistance operation.
- 274 aircraft including 242 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Saarbrücken. Bomber Command assesses this raid, on the railway yards, as being extremely accurate and effective.
- 1 Halifax crashes in France.
- 218 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the oil plant at Politz, near Stettin. This raid had been planned as a blind-bombing attack but, because the weather conditions are better than forecast, low-level marking is carried out and very accurate bombing follows. Bomber Command, on the basis of photographic reconnaissance, states that the oil plant was 'reduced to a shambles'.
- 2 Lancasters are lost.
- 10 Lancasters lay mines off Swinemünde, and there are 22 Mosquito patrols and 19 RCM sorties.
- 1 Mosquito of No. 100 Group is lost.
GERMANY:
- 909 8th Air Force heavy bombers attack seven bridges spanning the Rhine River and several marshalling yards.
- 8 heavy bombers and 1 of 294 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.
GERMANY:
- 9th Air Division bombers attack road and rail bridges at three locations.
| ]Air Operations, Formosa
During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack Heito with 500-pound bombs and incendiary clusters.
[ | ]Air Operations, Philippines
- Task Group 77.4 TBMs and FMs support US 6th Army ground forces in the Lingayen Gulf area.
- FEAF B-24s attack the Batangas airfield on Luzon, a barracks and stores at Tarlac, and troops at 4 locations on Luzon.
- V Bomber Command A-20s attack the airfields at Calingatan and Lucena, the town area at Batangas, and rail and highway targets.
- V Fighter Command P-47s attack motor vehicles and parked airplanes between Tarlac and Laguna de Bay.
- 5th Air Force aircraft mount numerous small attacks throughout the Philippines.
- In what turn out to be the last effective kamikaze missions against the US 7th Fleet in the Philippines, 1 US Navy transport and an LST departing the Lingayan Gulf area are damaged in separate attacks. And at 0858 hours, the escort carrier USS Salamaua becomes the final victim of kamikaze strikes in the Philippines. She loses one engine along with 15 men killed and 88 wounded, and must depart the area for Leyte.
- A VC-80 FM downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over Luzon at 0800 hours.
- A VOC-1 FM downs a Ki-57 'Topsy' transport plane over Luzon at 1715 hours.
- A VC-90 FM downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber over Luzon at 1715 hours.
- A 58th Fighter Group P-47 downs a Ki-45 'Nick' near the Balaria airfield on Luzon at 1805 hours.
| ]Air Operations, Volcano Islands
14 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Iwo Jima.
[ | ]Burma
In the Arakan sector the British XV Corps extends and strengthens the bridgehead at Myebon, with a landing by the 25th Indian Div.
[ | ]Eastern Front
The 1st Ukraine Front and 2nd Belorussian Front mount heavy and brilliantly executed attacks to continue their advance. The 47th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front surrounds Warsaw.
EAST PRUSSIAThe Soviet 3rd Belorussian Front (2nd Guards, 5th, 11th Guards, 20th, 31st and 39th Armies) opens its offensive and runs into strong enemy resistance around Kattenau.
POLANDThe 1st Ukrainian Front's 59th Army is nearing Krakow, although German resistance is stiffening. After defeating a counterattack by the XXIV Panzer Corps at Chmielnik in a bruising battle, the 4th Tank Army continues to advance.
The XLVIII Panzer Corps is shattered by assaults by the 3rd Guards Tank, 5th Guards and 52nd Armies.[MORE]
[ | ]
Philippines
On Luzon Gen Walter Krueger takes over direct command of the US 6th Army. Troops of the XIV Corps ocupy Guagua, while naval forces occupy an area on the coast off which a flying-boat base is to be installed. The I Corps occupies Damortis without firing a shot, but there is fighting inland only a few miles away.
The escort carrier Salamaua (CVE-96) is badly damaged in a kamikaze attack. These are now becoming rare, however, because most of the kamikaze aircraft have been lost and the rest withdrawn.
[ | ]Western Front
In the British 2nd Army sector, the XXX Corps finishes its task in the Ardennes when the 51st Div reaches the Ourthe River south of Laroche. The VI Corps, US 1st Army, heads steadily for Houffalize. In the region between Stavelot and Malmédy the XVIII Airborne Corps launches a new offensive with the 106th Div on the right ant the 30th on the left. The 2 American formations reach Hénumont and Hédomont. In the US 3rd Army sector advance patrols of the 87th Div, VIII Corps, reacht the Ourthe River. Units of the 11th Arm Div reach the Houffalize-St Hebert road near Bastogne, and St Hubert is surrounded. On the right flank of the corps units of the 101st Airborne Div capture Foy, on the Bastogne-Houffalize road.
The US XXI Corps under Gen Frank W. Milburn goes into the line on the left flank of the 7th Army.
In the southern sector of the front fighting continues around Strasbourg, where the 3rd Algerian Div of infantry holds off the repeated German attacks.
[ | ]Images from January 13, 1945
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