Air Operations, CBI

• 12 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack troops and supplies at Mong Ngaw.
• 11 10th Air Force fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces advancing along the Irrawaddy River.
• 6 P-47s attack a bridge at Namhkai.
• Small formations of fighter-bombers attack a variety of targets in northern Burma.
• 14th Air Force B-25s and fighter-bombers attack Wan Pa-Hsa.
• 33rd Fighter Group P-38s down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near the airfield at Meiktila during the early afternoon.

• When rough seas oblige the cancellation of powerful planned strikes against Formosa air bases, Task Force 38 aircraft mount search-strike missions to Amoy, Hong, Kong, Swatow, and the Pescadore Islands in search of 2 Japanese battleship-carriers last seen in Camranh Bay. Beginning with the launch of night fighters at 0400 hours and a first-strike launch at 0730 hours, the various groups are able to attack shipping and sweep airfields and ground installations on Formosa and along the China coast from Amoy to within 50 miles of Hong Kong. Some aircraft are diverted by bad weather against targets in the Pescadore Islands and Prates Reef.
• Carrier aircraft sink a Japanese destroyer and a transport in Takao Harbor, Formosa and a destroyer in the Pescadore Islands. Also, 18 Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground. Operational accidents and heavy anti-aircraft fire over many of the targets result in the loss of 12 Task Force 38 aircraft.
• VF-11 F6Fs down 4 A6M Zeros and a trainer 50 miles east of Hong Kong at 0930 hours.
• VF-3 and VF-81 F6Fs down an A6M Zero, a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter, and a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter over Canton and the Tienho airfield there between 0940 and 0945 hours.
• A VF-80 F6F downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane at sea at 1040 hours.
• a VF-3 F6F pilot downs an E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance plande over Formosa at 1130 hours.
• A VF-11 F6F downs a B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber 50 miles from Task Group 38.2 at 1340 hours.
• VF-80 F6Fs down 4 A6M Zeros within 25 miles of Task Group 38.3 at 1730 hours.
• 18 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 20 14th Air Force P-40s and P-51s attack Hankow, shipping at Amoy, and targets of opportunity in the Hsiang and Siang-Chiang valleys and between Foochow and Hong Kong. More than 130 fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity, including many coastal targets, throughout southern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

FEAF B-24s attack the Jesselton airfield complex on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• 82 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attack a benzol plant at Recklinghausen. The bombing appear to be excellent.
• There are no losses.
• 63 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H raid through thick cloud on the Robert Muser benzol plant at Bochum. The results of the bombing are unknown.
• There are no losses.

• 1 Hudson is on a Resistance operation.

Air Operations, Formosa

During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack the Okayama airfield.

Air Operations, Marianas

A 318th Fighter Group P-47 downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane1 near Tinian at 1202 hours.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 5th Air Force aircraft cover an unopposed landing by US 8th Army units in the Camotes Islands. Task Group 77.4 TBMs and FMs support US 6th Army ground forces in the Lingayen Gulf area. FEAF B-24s, V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets on Luzon and Palawan and throughout the central Philippines.
• The USS Hoggatt Bay is damaged when a 100-pound bomb detonates aboard a VC-88 TBM that has just landed on her flight deck. Among the 10 dead is the VC-88 commanding officer, who was pilot of the TBM.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

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

Atlantic

The escort carrier Thane is torpedoed by U-482 off the Clyde.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Div establishes another bridgehead over the Irrawaddy at Kyaukmyaung. In the north, the Chinese 30th Div captures Namhkam, so gaining control of the lower Schweli valley. The first convoy to inaugurate the new Burma road, starting from Ledo, reaches Myitkyina, where it has to wait until the rest of the route is cleared of the enemy.

China

In southeast China the Japanese open an offensive to capture the American airfields at Suichuan, southeast of Changsha.

East China Sea

A squadron of fast aircraft carriers under the command of Vice-Adm John S. McCain attacks Japanese airfields and shipping in Formosa and off the Chinese coast from Hong Kong to Amoy. The weather is poor but some success is achieved. Two Japanese destroyers, Hatakaze and Tsuga, and the transport No. 14 are sunk.

Eastern Front

The 4th Ukraine Front under Ivan Petrov joins in the fighting in southern Poland, breaking into the Carpathians from the Sanok area, southwest of Krakaw. Kielce falls to the 1st Ukraine Front.

The 2nd Belorussian Front, supported by the 4th Air Army, has ripped apart the German 2nd Army on the Narew, incurring heavy casualties. To the south, the Soviet 8th Guards Army advances toward Radom, and the 1st Guards Army to Lodz and Posen. The Polish 1st and 47th Armies are enveloping Warsaw while, At Kielce, the XLII Corps is annihilated by the Soviet 3rd Guards and 13th Armies.[MORE]

Philippines

On Luzon the US XIV Corps continues to advance south from the beachhead and has now crossed the Agno River at several points about 15 miles inland. The I Corps is attacking north and east but cannot take its objective of Rosario.

On Mindoro the Americans withdraw the 503rd Parachute Regt from the island; up to now it has been giving help and support to the guerrilla operations. The 21st Inf, making for Calapan, runs into Japanese units which have been ordered to slow down the advance.

Some of the smaller islets in the archipelago, not manned by the Japanese, are occupied by the Americans.

An accidental explosion damages the US escort carrier Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75) in the Philippine Islands area.

Spain

An Italian naval squadron, interned in Port Mahon (Minorca) since September 8, 1943, leaves for Malta.

Western Front

In the British 2nd Army sector units of the 7th Arm Div, XII Corps, capture Bakenhoven, about a mile and a quarter northwest of Susteren, in advance of Operation BLACKCOCK, the elimination of the German salient between the Meuse and the Rur, going south from Roermond. The 2nd Arm Div, US VII Corps, 1st Army, having taken Achouffe, Mont and Tavernaux, sends forward patrols toward the Ourthe River and into Houffalize, which the forces of the German 5th Panzer Army have evacuated. In the XVIII Airborne Corps sector the 75th Div opens an offensive across the Salm, reaching Salmchâteau and Bech, while the 30th Div takes Beaumont, Francheville and Pont.

The units of the US 3rd Army also advance, but while the 11th Arm Div and the 101st Airborne Div, VIII Corps, push on without opposition, the 35th and 90th Divs, III Corps, run into violent resistance from the German LXXXV Corps.

The 6th Army Group headquarters sends the French 1st Army preliminary instructions for the offensive against the Colmar pocket.

Images from January 15, 1945

The destroyed city of Warsaw as the Germans leave, 15 January 1945.

Germans Leave the Destroyed City of Warsaw

Troops of I Company, 16th Regt, ride a tank into the attack on Schoppen, 15 January 1945

Riding into the Attack

Paratroopers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion preparing for a patrol. Bande, 15 January 1945.

Preparing for a Patrol

Units of 1st Ukranian Front on the march near town of Rozenberg, January 1945. Inter?sting picture of Ford G8T trucks.

Units of 1st Ukranian Front

Terror of the Kempeitai in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. January 1945. Kanchanaburi (Kanburi) is 50 km north of Nong Pladuk. POW line up for a meal in the POW camp (called Kanburi by the Australians). Many prisoners were brought here from Burma by the Japanese after the Burma-Thailand railway was completed. Note that most prisoners wear rubber clogs on their feet. Most clothing has been lost or worn out

POWs Line Up for a Meal

30th Division vehicles 1 1/2 miles from Malmedy, Belgium, January 15, 1945

30th Division Vehicles

US Army soldiers of the 3rd Armored Division run down the street while the Germans shell the town during the Battle of the Bulge, January 15, 1945

US Soldiers of the 3rd Armored Division

12th SS Panzer Division began the Ardennes offensive with circa 120 tanks, 40 are left, 10-15 January 1945

12th SS Panzer Division Tanks