Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

12 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Iwo Jima and 5 B-24s attack Chichi Jima.

Air Operations, CBI

• 16 10th Air Force fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces advancing along the Irrawaddy River.
• 8 fighter-bombers attack a supply dump at Kutkai and an ammunition dump at Namhkai.
• fighter-bombers attack various other targets in northern Burma.

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack targets of opportunity near Hengshan.
• 2 B-25s attack troops at Anjen and Chaling.
• 1 B-25 attacks a small freighter in the East China Sea.
• 32 14th Air Force P-51s attack airfields in the Shanghai area.
• More that 200 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern China and northern French Indochina.
• 23rd Fighter Group and 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-51s down 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over Shanghai bryween 1210 and 1230 hours.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge and rail cars near Hanoi.

Air Operations, Formosa

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

Air Operations, Japan

4 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the Kataoka area.

Air Operations, Philippines

• Task Group 77.4 TBMs and FMs support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Fabrica airfield on Negros.
• 22nd Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Japanese Army field fortifications and stores at Bamban, Luzon.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack rail lines on Luzon.
• A-20s attack a rail bridge and artillery positions.
• A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Aparri, Laoag and Tubang airfields on Luzon.
• A planned strike by 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s against Tarlac is aborted in the face of bad weather.
• An 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron F-6 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over San Nicholas at 0935 hours.
• 2 VF-20 F6Fs down a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane 12 miles from Task Group 38.2 at 0950 hours.
• A VF-81 F6F downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance near West Babuyan Island at 1355 hours.

Air Operations, Western Pacific

• VMF-124 and VMF-213 F4Us based aboard the USS Essex down 6 Ki-49 'Helen' bombers and 2 Ki-21 'Sally' bombers in the South China Sea near Task Group 38.3 between 1700 and 1755 hours.
• VF-4 F6Fs down 2 G3M 'Nell' bombers 20 miles from Task Group 38.3 at 1730 hours.
• A VF-7 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber over the South China Sea at 1815 hours.
• Most or all of the downed aircraft are evacuating key aviation personnel from Luzon to Formosa.

Burma

The Chinese 9th Div, on the Salween front, occupies Wanting, which the Japanese have evacuated, while elements of the Chinese 38th Div make contact with the Yunnan Force near Mu-se.

The first small US convoy reaches Kunming, China, over the Burma Road and a hastily repaired branch route. It took 16 days to drive from Myitkyina in Burma.

Eastern Front

The 3rd Belorussian Front and the 2nd begin to penetrate into East Prussia with the support of the 1st Baltic Front under Bagramian. The 43rd Army of this last Front occupies Tilsit, in the north. The 2nd Belorussian Front, advancing north from Poland, reaches the Tannenberg area with some of its units.

The 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukraine Front continue their advance into Poland, the first making for Prussia and the second for Silesia. In the Carpathian sector the 4th Ukraine Front takes Nowy Sacz in Poland and Bardejov, Presov and Kosice in Czechoslovakia. In Hungary, the Germans offer stiff resistance to the Russians as they try to reach the Danube from the area of Székesfehérvar, southwest of Budapest. The Soviets now control the Pest half of the town.[MORE]

Hungary, Politics

The Hungarian Provisional Government concludes an armistice with the USSR, the USA and the UK. The Hungarians agree to pay $300 million in reparations and to join the war against Germany.

Philippines

On Luzon in the US XIV Corps sector a regiment of the 40th Inf Div comes within 4 miles of Tarlac, while other units of the 37th Div occupy Victoria, evacuated by the Japanese. The US I Corps makes very slow progress in the mountainous country north of the beachhead. The 43rd Div takes Mount Alava.

United States, Politics

President Roosevelt is inaugurated for a fourth term. Vice President Truman is also sworn in. In his speech Roosevelt promises to continue to work for the Allied victory and for the establishment of peace and security for the postwar world.

Western Front

While the German salient in the Ardennes is by now reduced to a minimum and the German armies are preparing to retire to their original positions, in Alsace Gen Alexander Patch's 7th Army has completed its withdrawal, digging in in new positions along the line of the Rothbach-Rau-Moder Rivers. The battle has cost the Americans 15,600 men, the Germans 25,000.

Gen Patton's 3rd Army is advancing on every front, crossing the line Hardigny-Bourcy and the village of Tavigny with the VIII Corps, reaching Chifontaine and Allerborn with the units of the III Corps; the 4th Div, XII Corps, takes the angle formed by the confluence of the Sauer and Our Rivers, and the 5th the villages of Kippenhof and Brandenburg. On their right flank, the 95th Div, XX Corps, halts German counterattacks in the Saarlautern bridgehead.

Gen Jean de Lattre's French 1st Army begins an offensive in the Vosges area near Colmar, attacking from the south with 2 Moroccan divisions, the 4th Motorized and 2nd Inf, of Gen Emile Béthouart's I Corps, supported by tanks of the 1st Arm Div, along the Cernay-Ensisheim axis. Bad weather hinders the French advance and the defense by the German 19th Army is strong. They finally reach their objective, Ensisheim, on Feb 1. Gen Joseph de Monsabert's French II Corps prepares to support the I Corps' offensive from the north with 4 divisions, including the US 28th Div.

Images from January 20, 1945

1st Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, supported by Crocodile flame-throwers, attack the village of St Joost, Netherlands, 20 January 1945

Attack in the Village of St Joost

Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, addressing men of the 2nd Division near Sadaung, Burma, 20 January 1945

Mountbatten Addressing 2nd Division

Churchill tanks laden with infantry of the 9th Durham Light Infantry pass a knocked out German PAK 40 7.5cm anti-tank gun as they enter Schilberg, 20 January 1945. Note that an Allied 75mm AP round has neatly perforated the gun's armoured shield. This may well have been responsible for the dead German soldier lying by his gun

9th Durhamn Light Infantry on Churchill Tanks

Churchill tanks and troops of the 9th Durham Light Infantry in Schilberg, 20 January 1945

Churchill Tanks and 9th Durham Light Infantry Troops

20 January 1945. Self-propelled German PP knocked out in heavy fighting with Yank 3rd Armored Division near town of Cherain, Belgium

Knocked Out Self-propelled German PP

January 1945. Soviet tanks move into Prussia

Soviet Tanks Move into Prussia

An ambulance near Waimes lets 7th Armored Division pass, 20 january 1945

An Ambulance near Waimes

Private Gordon Atwell of the 42nd Battaltion checks over the mechanism of his Vickers gun, at Mawaraka, 20 January 1945

Checking His Vickers Gun