Air Operations, CBI

• 60 10th Air Force P-47s and 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack troops and supplies at 7 locations.
• 35 P-47s support Allied ground forces at Hosi, Molo, and Myitson.
• 8 P-38s attack Mong Long.

• 14 14th Air Force P-40s and P-51s attack motor vehicles and locomotives at Lohochai, Hsiangcheng, and Pinghan.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Manggar and Sepinggang airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

The death of Capt Marcel Doret, the leader of the Free French Groupe de Chasse 'Doret' and a former test pilot is reported. He was 48.

• 1 Halifax flies an RCM sortie.

• 63 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 7 to Magdeburg and 6 to Würzburg, and there is 1 RCM sortie.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Berlin raid.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack bridges at three locations.
• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s attack road traffic and lights in the Po River valley.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack rail facilities at Salzburg and Villach.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack an oil-storage facility at Regensburg and rail facilities at Rosenheim and Straubing.

Air Operations, Formosa

During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron night B-24s attack several airfields.

Air Operations, Japan

5 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack Kataoka through heavy overcast.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 60 FEAF B-24s mount the heaviest attack to date against Corregidor.
• B-25s attack shipping off eastern Luzon.
• 5th Air Force aircraft support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

• 21 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Iwo Jima.
• During the night, 10 VII Bomber Command B-24s conduct snooper raids against Iwo Jima.

Eastern Front

In East Prussia, Elbing is still being attacked from all sides. In the central sector of the front, the Russians reach the Oder 30 miles from Berlin, pressing on north and south of the fortified city of Küstrin (Kostrzyn) and Frankfurt-am-Oder. German bulletins announce that the Russians have forced the crossing of the upper Oder below Breslau, north and south of Brieg. Russians attacks continue on the besieged town of Poznan.

At Posen the 8th Guards Army launches a strong attack upon the German garrison.

The Soviets begin a major attack against the German and Hungarian forces still resisting in Buda. Heavy fighting rages around Sashegy Hill and Nemetovolgy Cemetery. The Hill is isolated after bitter fighting, freeing the Soviets to push deeper into the German defenses.

Greece

The Greek Communist Party accepts the Greek government terms for an amnesty. The communists have to surrender their arms. The amnesty comes into force on February 12.

Italy

In the IV Corps area, the 92nd Division's 366th Infantry takes Calomini without difficulty but is held up by resistance on the slopes of Monte Faeto. Across the Serchio, the 365th Infantry drove beyond the village of Lama to the slopes of the Lama di Sotto rodge, commanding Castelnuovo, where it encounters violent opposition. Indecisive fighting on these heights astride the Serchio continues for the next few days.

New Britain

Australian forces land on New Britain.

Philippines

SWPA headquarters approves the plan to reopen Manila Bay, a mission that is assigned to the XI Corps. Air action against Corregidor is intensified.

Gen MacArthur orders the Japanese in northern Luzon contained while the main effort is directed against the Manila area.

In the XIV Corps area, additional elements of the 37th Division and 1st Cavalry Division move into Manila, where responsibility for clearing the northern part of the city is divided between the two divisions. Both push southward toward the Pasig River line, where Japanese demolitions cause huge fires.

In the I Corps area, the 20th Infantry of the 6th Division makes very little progress at Munoz as the 1st Infantry takes Rizal. Lupao remains under attack by the 35th Infantry of the 25th Division. The 32nd Division begins a drive up the Villa Verde Trail with the 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, which has been patrolling from Santa Maria, where the trail enters the mountains, since 31 January.

In the XI Corps area, the 38th Division continues the costly fighting for Zigzag Pass as the attached 34th RCT withdraws a little. The fresh 151st Infantry is ordered to relieve the 34th RCT and join in the assault on this position. The 149th Infantry, upon reaching Dinalupihan and making contact with a patrol of the XIV Corps, is placed under corps control and directed to advance westward along Route 7 toward the Zigzag in conjunction with eastward attacks.

The 511th Infantry of the 11th Airborne Division progresses slowly northward toward Manila, crossing the damaged Paranaque bridge and driving along Route 1.

South China Sea

The Japanese carrier/battleship Ise is damaged by a mine off Indochina.

Western Front

The VII Corps, US 1st Army, begins to move its divisions from Belgium toward the line of the Rur River.

At 3:00a.m. the American 78th Div, V Corps, 1st Army, opens the attack toward the Schwammenauel Dam on the Rur River.

In the US 7th Army sector, the VI Corps re-groups and continues to advance toward the Rhine, while the 79th Div is relieved by the 36th Div and 101st Airborne Div.

On the right of the line, the Colmar pocket is cut in two as units of the American XXI Corps link up with the French I Corps. The German units left on the west bank of the Ill - the bulk of the 19th Army has already been moved back over the Rhine by von Rundstedt, with Hitler's permission - offer almost no resistance and surrender one after the other on successive days. Meanwhile the Allied positions in the sector are reinforced: the XXI Corps along the Ill and Fecht Rivers, south and west of Colmar, while the French I Corps takes Ensisheim.[WE]

Images from February 5, 1945

Soviets in Budapest

Wounded Japanese in Manila

Crowds Greet US Troops

8th Cavalry Regiment Enters Manila

Corsair Launch from the Block Island

12th Armored Division Tank in Rouffach

Artillery Bombard Japanese Positions

Anti-aircraft Gun in Manila