Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack 3 bridges, troops, and stores between Hay-ti and Nampawng.
• More than 60 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, supplies, and targets of opportunity at 7 locations.
• 26 fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces at Mabein and Si-U.

• 27 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 45 14th Air Force P-40s and P-51s attack Hankow.
• 7 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack targets in and near Kengtung.
• 42 P-47s attack airfields at Hankow and Wuchou.
• 21 P-40s and P-51s attack targets of opportunity around Wanting.
• 8 P-51s attack Yangtze River traffic near Anking.
• 5 P-51s attack buildings and motor vehicles at Shanhsien.
• Nearly 20 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s unable to reach their target in Formosa attack a number of alternate targets and targets of opportunity in mainland China, including Hengyang.
• A 23rd Fighter Group P-51 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter in an engagement near Hukow at 1000 hours.
• 81st Fighter Group P-47s, and 3rd CACW, 23rd, and 51st Fighter group P-51s down 16 Japanese fighters over and near Hankow in ongoing engagements between 1135 and about 1400 hours.

Air Operations, Carolines

• 43 VII Bomber Command B-24s, escorted by 9 318th Fighter Group P-38s, attack airfields in the Truk Atoll.
• 318th Fighter Group P-38s down 3 A6M Zeros over the Truk Atoll at 1100 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

FEAF B-25s attack the Goeroea area.

Air Operations, Europe

The 8th Air Force resumes large-scale strategic operations after a month-long interval, caused by the 'Battle of the Bulge'. 600 B-17s and B-24s attack oil targets in Germany, meeting heavy fighter opposition.

• 134 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attack the railway yards at Saarbrücken in clear visibility and without a loss.

• 573 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 5. 6 and 8 Groups carry out 2 attacks, 3 hours apart, on the synthetic oil plant at Leuna. The attacks cause severe damage throughout the plant. Albert Speer, in his post-war interrogations, stated that this was one of a group of most damaging raids on the synthetic oil industry carried out during this period.
• 10 Lancasters are lost.

• 151 aircraft including 136 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos and 3 Lancasters of Nos. 6 and 8 Groups attack the railway yards at Grevenbroich. The raid is successful and there are no losses.
• 100 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos and 3 Lancasters of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups attempt to bomb a Luftwaffe fuel-storage depot at Dülmen, near Münster, but most of the bombing falls in open country south and southeast of the target. Only slight damage is caused to the fuel dump.
• 1 Halifax is lost.

• Support and 126 training aircraft make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 83 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 9 to Mannheim, 21 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters lay mines off Oslo and in the Kattegat, and there are 54 Mosquito patrols and 58 RCM sorties.
• 1 Lancaster from the diversionary sweep and 1 Mosquito of No. 100 Group are lost. 3 Mosquitos from the Berlin raid crash in Belgium and 1 RCM Liberator crashes in Holland. A further 7 aircraft from the sweep and 5 Mosquitos from the Berlin raid crash in England because of bad weather.

• 847 8th Air Force heavy bombers attack oil-industry targets and highway bridges.
• 7 B-17s and 8 of 645 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.
• In the best one-day tally of World War II, USAAF fighter pilots down a record 174 Luftwaffe fighters over Germany and the Netherlands between 1010 and 1610 hours. The 357th Fighter Group's score of 56 victories is the highest tally by a single USAAF unit on a single mission.

• More than 290 9th Air Division bombers attack German Army ground forces in the shrinking Ardennes (Bulge) salient and nearby areas of Germany.

• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s attack crossing points in the Po River valley.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 54 of 82 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched from Chengtu attacks the airfield at Kagi, and 1 B-29 attacks an arsenal at Heito. Several B-29s also attack the Taichu airfield as an alternate target.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack the airfield at Okayama.

Air Operations, Japan

• 40 of 73 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched attack an aircraft plant at Nagoya through a heavy undercast while 23 of the B-29s attack alternates and targets of opportunity.
• 5 B-29s lost.

Air Operations, Marianas

A VMF-225 F4U downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber 40 miles from Guam at noon.

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 troops at Cabanatuan.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and V Fighter Command P-51s attack the Aparri airfield on Luzon.
• A-20s attack parked airplanes at Clark Field, Luzon.
• B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack a broad range of targets on Luzon, including airfields, supplies, motor vehicles, and at least one bridge.
• 3rd Air Commando Group P-51s down a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber and a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane at sea between 1110 and 1120 hours.
• A 58th Fighter Group P-47 downs a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter over Luzon at 1215 hours.
• 2 VC-88 FMs down a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber near Luzon at 1745 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

12 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Iwo Jima.

Atlantic

6 German MTB flotillas operate in the estuaries of the Scheldt, the Thames and the Humber.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US freighter Martin Van Buren (7176t), in Nova Scotia-bound Convoy BX-141, is torpedoed by U-1232 losing 3 of the 27-man Armed Guard in the explosion. Despite salvage efforts, the ship subsequently drifts ashore and is written off as a total loss.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Div establishes a bridgehead over the Irrawaddy at Thabeikkyin, arousing a violent response from the Japanese, who send substantial reinforcements to the area. The Japanese envisage a threat to Mandalay.

Eastern Front

Berlin announces that the Russians of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front under Ivan Chernyakhovsky have gone on the offensive in the area of Schlossberg (Pillkallen), near the northeast of East Prussia.

In Poland, the 1st Belorussian Front attacks with 7 armies from the area of Magnuszew in the direction of Poznan and from the Pulawy bridgehead over the Vistula in the directoin of Radom and Lodz. The right flank of the Front converges on Warsaw from the south. Meanwhile the 1st Ukraine Front, which went on the offensive on Jan 12, advances rapidly toward Kielce, an important railway junction. Konev's forces cut the rail line to Krakow south of Kielce. Altogether Zhukov and Konev have a total of 163 divisions with 32,143 guns, 6460 tanks and SP guns and 4,772 aircraft. The Germans are outnumbered 5 to 1 and their 1,100 tanks are virtually immobilized by fuel shorthages.

In Hungary, bitter fighting continues in Budapest, while the German forces continue the regular withdrawal of their forces from Yugoslavia. In eastern Czechoslovakia Russian troops take Lucenec.

The 3rd Panzer Army's 5th Panzer Div retakes Kattenau. The 2nd Belorussian Front (2nd Shock, 3rd, 5th Guards Tank, 48th, 49th, 50th, 65th and 70th Armies) attacks from the Narew River, spearheaded by the 2nd Shock, 3rd and 48th Armies. But falling snow negates Soviet air superiority.

The 1st Belorussian (Polish 1st, 1st Guards Tank, 3rd Shock, 5th Shock, 8th Guards, 33rd, 47th and 69th Armies) and 2nd Belorussian Fronts launch attacks from the Pulawy and Magnuszew bridgeheads. The Soviets achieve immediate success: the 5th Shock, 8th Guards and 69th Armies defeat a counterattack by the 19th and 25th Panzer Divs (LVI Panzer Corps) and then sweep around Warsaw. From Pulawy the Soviet 3rd, 5th Shock and 8th Guards Armies shatter the VIII and LVI Panzer Corps. The 1st Ukrainian Front has ripped open the German line at Baranow, allowing the 3rd Guards and 13th Armies to advance unimpeded. Hitler is forced to deploy the Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps from Army Group Center to Army Group A.

The Soviet 27th Army captures Lunenec in Slovakia, but lacks additional forces for exploitation purposes.[MORE]

Greece

A cease-fire is agreed between the British and the Communist ELAS organization. ELAS agrees to release all hostages it has taken except for those accused of collaboration.

Pacific

The Japanese minelayer Yurishima is sunk by the US submarine Cobia (SS-245) off Sumatra.

Philippines

On Luzon the XIV Corps advances up to the Agno River and crosses it, occupying Bautista. In the I Corps sector, the US 43rd Div is held up by intensive Japanese fire as it advances on Rosario.

V-Weapons

The last V-1 launched from Heinkel He-111s lands in Yorkshire. Barely 1 in 10 of the weapons delivered like this have got close to a chosen target. Most have been brought down by AA fire of have crashed prematurely.

Western Front

The VII Corps, US 1st Army, continues its advance; the 84th Div reaches its final objective when it takes Nadrin, Filly, Petite-Mormont and Grande-Mormont, coming in sight of the advance patrols of the 3rd Army, while the 2nd Div and 3rd Arm Div capture, respectively, Wilbrin, Wilogue and Dinez, and Mont-le-Ban and Baclain. The 106th Div, XVIII Airborne Corps, takes Hénumont and pushes on south.

In the US 3rd Army sector, the 17th Airborne Div, VIII Corps, takes Bastogne, while east of Bastogne the 101st Airborne Div mounts an offensive toward the area between Noville, Rachamps and Bourcy. Further south, where the XX Corps is operating, the 94th Div puts in a series of attacks to improve the defensive positions of the American forces in the triangle at the confluence of the Saar with the Moselle south of Wasserbillig, one of the fortified positions on the Siegfried Line.

Images from January 14, 1945

Oil plant at Leuna

Sniper on Patrol in Winter Camouflage

Whitewashed Sherman in Pursuit of Panzers

M32B1 ARV of 6th Armored Division

Parts of the German 5th Army

Waiting for Litter Bearers

771st Tank Battalion

Co. D 1st Bn 158 RCT GIs Fire on Sniper

On The Way To The Front