Air Operations, CBIBURMA
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, EuropeRAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops: Minor Ops:
Minor Ops:
GERMANY:
ITALY:
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, Formosa
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, Philippines
![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, Volcano Islands14 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Iwo Jima. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Allied PlanningAlthough there are 71 Allied diviions available, most of them are seriously understrength. Noncombat units have been stripped to provide riflemen. In violation of army policy and tradition, black soldiers are asked to volunteer to serve in all-black units as infantrymen. Gen Eisenhower now examines future operations in three phases. Destroying German forces west of the Rhine is the first phase; seizing a bridgehead over the Rhine is the second phase; and destruction of German forces followed by an advance into central Germany is the third phase. The destruction of German forces will be accomplished by two axes of advance--one north of the Ruhr into the open space of the north German plain and the other attacking from Mainz through Frankfurt to Kassel. The goal is a double envelopment of the Ruhr. Eisenhower wants to push 35 divisions across the Rhine north of the Ruhr and get as many divisions as possible across in the south to draw German units away from the main effort in the north. SHAEF headquarters estimates that eight divisions will be available in March, including six airborne divisions and between five and eight French divisions. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Battle of the AtlanticU-2523 is bombed in an Allied air raid on the port of Hamburg.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() BurmaIn the north, the US 5332nd Bde and the Chinese 38th Div begin mopping up in the area along the Burma Road beyond Myitkyina. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() CBIThe Mars Task Force (the 5332nd Brigade Provisional) reaches the Burma Road with the intention of forcing the Japanese out of their defenses south of Wantung. The Chinese 50th and British 36th Divisions attack south toward Lashio and Mandalay to cut the Burma Road between the two cities. The Chinese 38th and 30th Divisions begin the attack toward the Burma Road to drive Japanese forces south. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Eastern FrontIn Poland, the Russians give the Polish 1st Army the honor of launching the final offensive and of being the first to enter Warsaw. The city is reduced to a pile of rubble. A few hundred people who have managed to live in shelters and cellars come out to welcome the liberators. After crushing the Warsaw uprising, the Germans deported the whole of the remaining population, about 600,000 people, to concentration camps. North of Warsaw, the 2nd Belorussian Front takes Ciechanow. To the north Konstantin Rokossovsky's troops take Modlin. In the south, advancing rapidly beyond Kielce, the 1st Ukraine Front overcomes German resistance on the Warta River and occupies Czestochowa. Following the loss of Warsaw Hitler relieves Gen Josef Harpe of the command of the Army Group A and replaces him with Gen Ferdinand Schörner. POLANDThe Red Army captures what is left of Warsaw as the 3rd Guards Tank and 5th Guards Armies near Krakow. Zawiercie falls to the 52nd Army, and Radomsko to the 3rd Guards Army. HUNGARYThe IV SS Panzer Corps deploys to attack the 4th Guards and 26th Armies between Lakes Balaton and Velencei.[MORE] [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Pacific
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() PhilippinesOn Luzon the Americans advance slowly in all directions around their beachhead. MacArthur asks Gen Walter Krueger for more speed. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Western FrontIn the course of Operation BLACKCOCK units of the 7th Arm Div, XII Corps, British 2nd Army, advance and capture Echt and Susteren. Units of the US 3rd Army captures Diekirch. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Images from January 17, 1945
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[January 16th - January 18th] |