Air Operations, CBI

• 46 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces at Namhkam, Si-U, and along the Irrawaddy River.
• 12 P-47s attack road targets of opportunity near Hsenwi, Kutkai, Lashio, and Namtu.
• fighter-bombers attack troops, dumps, and other targets at 9 locations.

• 16 14th Air Force P-40s and P-51s support Chinese Army ground forces in the Wanting area.
• 14 P-40s and P-51s attack rail facilities, trains, and motor vehicles around Sintsiang, Suchow, and Tsinan.
• 10 P-51s attack the ferry at Kunlong.

Air Operations, Europe

The Dutch factory which manufactures the liquid oxygen to fuel V-2 rockets is destroyed by Spitfires after its location has been traced by SOE agents.

• 1 Halifax flies an RCM sortie.

• 286 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3 and 8 Groups are sent to hit the benzol plant in the Bruckhausen district of Duisburg. The target is identified visually by moonlight and much damage is inflicted on it. Further bombing also hits the nearby Thyssen steelworks, either by misidentification or by a simple spread of the bombing. Duisburg's local report assumes that the steelworks are the primary target and states that 500 high explosive bombs fell on the Thyssen premises.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.
• 152 aircraft including 107 Halifaxes, 29 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 5 and 8 Groups are sent to Gelsenkirchen. This is a small area-bombing raid. The Bomber Command report states that 'moderate' damage is caused to residential and industrial areas.
• There are no losse.

• 48 Mosquitos are sent to Hannover and 6 to Dortmund, and there are 40 Mosquito patrols and 50 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 22nd Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, escorted by 49 8th and 49th Fighter group fighters, attack the airfield at Heito with more than a hundred 1,000-pound bombs.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack an aluminum plant at Takao.

Air Operations, Pacific

Corregidor is bombed by Allies aircraft.

Air Operations, Philippines

• Task Group 77.4 TBMs and FMs support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon and mount a pre-invasion attack against Corregidor Island in Manila Bay.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Fabrica airfield on Negros and a barracks and artillery positions on Manila Bay.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers mount numerous attacks against targets throughout Luzon and the central Philippines.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

In an effort aimed largely at photographing military installations, Task Force 38 carrier aircraft mount 682 effective combat sorties (including 47 photographic sorties) against targets on Okinawa, Ie Shima, the Sakashima Gunto, and Amami O Shima. 28 Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

• 20 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Iwo Jima.
• During the night, in the largest mission of its kind in several weeks, 8 VII Bomber Command B-24s conduct snooper raids against Iwo Jima.

Atlantic

German MTBs attack a convoy north of Dunkirk. The 8th MTB Flotilla penetrates into the Thames Estuary.

Burma

In the Arakan coast sector, the 3rd Commando Bde lands at Kangaw after a preliminary bombardment. The Japanese 54th Div reacts sharply, since the units stationed on the coast south of Kangaw are in danger of being cut off.

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 20th Indian Div occupies Monywa, the last river port on the Chindwin still in Japanese hands, after hard fighting, and takes Myinmu on the Irrawaddy. In the British IV Corps sector, further east, the 7th Indian Div takes Tilin. In the northern sector, Chinese and Americans continue mopping up the route of the Burma Road.

China

The Japanese, advancing from the south during the last 3 days, have captured several bridges and tunnels on the Canton-Hankow railway.

Eastern Front

In East Prussia the 3rd Belorussian Front captures Insterburg (Chernyakhovsk), west of Gumbinnen; the 2nd Belorussian Front advancing toward the Elbing and Danzig area takes Allenstein (Olsztyn) and Deutsch Eylau (Ilawa), south of Königsberg. Two million civilians flee westward.

In Poland, the 1st Belorussian Front is engaged at Bromberg (Bygoszcz) and occupies Gniezno, pushing on toward Poznan. The 1st Ukraine Front, part of which has now entered Upper Silesia, takes the towns of Kronstadt (Wolczyn) and Gross Strehlitz (Strzelce). The Germans defend this important mining and industrial area.

The Soviet 48th Army captures Allenstein; and the 5th Guards Tank, Deutsch Eylau.

The Soviet 3rd Shock Army encircles Bromberg as Gneizno falls to the 2nd Guards Tank Army. The lead units of the 5th Guards Army reach the Oder River, quickly establishing a bridgehead, and the 4th Tank Army crosses the river at Goeben. Also nearing the river is the Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps and the remnants of the XXIV Panzer Corps,which are conducting a fighting withdrawal.

The IV SS Panzer Corps is battling the 4th Guards Army as the German 6th Army captures Szekesfehervar.[MORE]

Italy

Headquarters, US 5th Army issues the first directives on the training program for the spring offensive.

Pacific

The aircraft of Vice-Adm John S. McCain's fast carrier squadron attack enemy shipping, airfields and other installations in the Ryukyu Islands.

Philippines

On Luzon fierce fighting between units of the US 43rd Div, I Corps, and Japanese in the area of Hill 355, near Carmen. The Americans call in artillery and tank support but are unable to capture the hill.

Western Front

The British XII Corps, 2nd Army, is still finding it very difficult to advance in the Roermond area, but some progress is reported as they take St Joose and other towns near Sittard.

The US 84th Div, with support from the 3rd Arm Div, US VII Corps, 1st Army, takes Gouvy and Beho, between Houffalize and St Vith. Meanwhile the weather has improved allowing the Allies to employ their aircraft again. The wreak havoc among the light vehicles and half-tracks of the retreating Germans as they queue up in long lines waiting their turn to cross the bridges over the Our River. The VIII Corps of the US 3rd Army crosses the Luxembourg frontier with the 11th Arm Div. In the same sector, the III and XII Corps continue to make progress; units of the 90th Div, III Corps, reach Rumlange and Sasse, while the 4th Div, XII Corps, captures positions along the west bank of the Our and seizes Walsdorf. In the French 1st Army sector, the II Corps, US 3rd Div and 5th Arm Div and 1st Moroccan Inf Div with support from the French 2nd Arm Div, begins to advance toward the Colmar pocket; the attack is carried out from the north in the region between Selestat and Ostheim, while the US 28th Div carries out raids from the west, and complements the offensive launched by the I Corps against the same objective from the south on January 20.

Images from January 22, 1945

Here is AA defense of the 410th BG, France, 22 January 1945

AA Defense of the 410th BG

Captured German Sdk. 251 halftrack used by L Company, 16th Infantry to bring supplies to the front near Schoppen, Belgium, 22 January 1945

Bringing Supplies to the Front

22 January 1945 Location: Bastogne, Belgium Description: A 90th Division ambulance, removing wounded to a medical base at Bastogne, Belgium, passes a German tank knocked out as the German salient was pushed back

A 90th Division Ambulance

Sherman tanks of 'B' Squadron, 19th Lancers moving into position in the hills around Arakan ready to shell Japanese positions, 22 January 1945

Sherman Tanks in the Hills around Arakan

737th Tank Battalion, M4A3E2 Sherman tank, with extra armour plating, Gralingen, Luxembourg, near the end of the Battle of the Bulge, 22 January 1945

M4A3E2 Sherman Tank of the 737th Tank Battalion

A Sherman tank of 'B' Squadron, 19th Lancers, getting into position to shell Japanese positions in the Arakan hills, 22 January 1945.

Sherman Tank Getting Into Position

A German pilot and the US troops of the 90th Infantry Division that shot him down near Halstoff, France, survey his Bf 109G, 22 January 1945.

A German Pilot and His Bf 109G

Freighter set afire by the strafing of Fighter Planes from Essex Class Carriers with a Fast Carrier Task Force. Locale is Naha Harbor, Okinawa in the Nansei Shoto group of islands. This is roughly half way between Formosa and the Japanese mainland. These photographs were made January 22, 1945. Photograph No. 2. The fire gains head-way amid-ships. Note unsuccessful attempt to launch life boat which dangles in vertical position.” 22 January 1945

Freighter Set Afire by the Strafing of Carrier Planes