Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack the airfield at Hsumhsai.
• 17 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces near Namhkam and along the Irrawaddy River.
• 6 P-47s attack a bypass bridge.
• fighter-bombers attack troops and supplies at 11 locations.

• 12 14th Air Force P-51s attack rail targets near Tungchen and between Loyang and Kaifeng.

Air Operations, East Indies

Following a sweep by Royal Navy carrier-borne Seafires, Corsairs, and Hellcats that results in the downing of 14 Japanese aircraft and the destruction of many others on the ground at nearby airfields, Royal Navy Firefly fighter-bombers and Avenger light bombers from the British Pacific Fleet attack a major refinery at Palembang, Sumatra.

Air Operations, Formosa

During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s mount snooper raids against the Takao airfield.

Air Operations, Japan

4 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s attack Torishima Island at low level, but 4 others abort because of mechanical problems.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Cavite naval base.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Corregidor and other targets in Manila Bay.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets throughout Luzon.
• Task Group 77.4 TBMs and FMs support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• A 475th Fighter Group P-38 downs an A6M Zero over Mindanao at 1810 hours.
• A 421st Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs an A6M Zero over Leyte at 2040 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

• 33 VII Bomber Command B-24s and 20 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Iwo Jima. Also, 6 B-24s serve as spotter aircraft for US Navy surface warships that also bombard Iwo Jima.
• During the night, 10 VII Bomber Command B-24s conduct snooper raids against Iwo Jima.

China

The 14th Air Force has to abandon its Suichuan airfield because of Japanese advances nearby.

Negotiations between the Nationalists and the Communists, broken off on December 6, 1944 on account of Chiang Kai-shek's opposition, are resumed.

Eastern Front

The 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts push on in every sector of East Prussia toward Königsberg. The German 3rd Army is the formation that suffers the worst casualties.

In Upper Silesia, the 1st Ukraine Front captures the towns of Oppeln, on the Oder, and Gleiwitz; north of Breslau some units begin mopping up in Trachenberg (Zmigrod) and Rawicz. SS leader Himmler is appointed by Hitler to lead a new Army Group Vistula to oppose the main Soviet thrusts. Himmler has no experience or aptitude for operational command and his appointment is a further blow and insult to the German Army and General Staff.

The Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army captures Elbing, thus cutting off all or parts of the German 2nd, 3rd Panzer and 4th Armies - 400,000 troops. Hitler forbids any retreat west.

The Soviet 60th Army captures Gleiwits, and the 1st Guards Tank Army cuts off the German garrison in Posen.

The IV SS Panzer Corps' attack grinds to a halt 20 miles short of Budapest due to logistical problems and the resistance of the Soviet 4th Guards Army.[MORE]

Indian Ocean

For the next 6 days the British carriers make their last attacks before sailing for Australia on the way to join the main US carrier groups in the Pacific. Adm Sir Bernard Rawlings leads the 4 carriers in attacks on the oil refineries at Pladjoe north of Palembang, Sumatra on the 24th and against Soengi-Gerong on the 29th. Over 130 Japanese aircraft are shot down and 48 British aircraft lost. The battleship King George V and cruisers and destroyers escort the carriers.

Pacific

• A US task force of battleships, cruisers and destroyers, commanded by Rear-Adm Oscar Badger, bombards Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands.
• The US salvage vessel Extractor is accidentally sunk by a US submarine in the Philippine Sea.
• The Japanese destroyer Shigure is sunk by the US submarine Blackfin (SS-322) in the Gulf of Siam.

Philippines

On Luzon the troops of the US XIV Corps run into stiff Japanese resistance on a line of hills west of Bamban.

Calapan is taken by the US forces on Mindoro. Japanese resistance on the island has now been totally overcome except for a few stragglers.

Western Front

The British XII Corps, 2nd Army, continues to advance in the Roermond triangle and the 7th Arm Div takes Montfort. The 52nd Div occupies Haaren and the 43rd reaches Schleiden and Uetterath.

The 12th Army Group, US 1st and 3rd Armies, continue their offensive in the Ardennes sector for the elimination of the German salient; in the north, units of the 7th Arm Div, XVIII Airborne Corps, 1st Army, capture the area south and southeast of St Vith, while units of the V Corps continue the advance to the southwest toward the road between Büllingen and St Vith. In the US 7th Army sector, the German 1st Army drives the advance guards of the 45th Div, VI Corps, out of Sägmuhl.

On the right flank, the French 1st Army sector, the II Corps launches a new offensive to extend the bridgehead over the Ill River in Alsace.

Allied troops clearing mines laid by the retreating Germans report that many of the mines are no longer encased in steel but often in glass, wood or cardboard.

Images from January 24, 1945

American soldiers of the 289th Infantry Regiment march along the snow-covered road on their way to cut off the Saint Vith-Houffalize road in Belgium, 24 January 1945.

Soldiers on a Snow-covered Road

A patrol from No. 8 Platoon, 'C' Company, 2/3rd Gurkha Rifles advances cautiously through the snow, near Castel Bolognese, 23-24 January 1945

Advancing Cautiously through the Snow

Pvt. Nick S. Lammo of Cleveland, Ohio, a machine gunner, is prepared to defend a road block position near St. Vith, Belgium 24 January 1945. (NARA)

Defending a Road Block

Soldiers of Troop C, 87th Reconnaissance Patrol, 7th Armored Division, advance into the battle-scarred St. Vith, Belgium. 24 January 1945 (NARA)

Moving into St. Vith

The troops of the 10th Tank Corps 5th Guards Tank Army 2nd Belorussian Front occupy the city of Mühlhausen (now the Polish city Mlynary) the city was liberated from the Nazi troops January 24, 1945.

Soviet Troops Occupy Mühlhausen

Operation Meridian 1 - Attack on oil refineries at Pladjoe near Palembang, Sumatra 24 January 1945

Attack on Oil Refineries

B-24 Liberators over the Alps Austria, January 1945 451st Bomb Group

B-24 Liberators over the Alps