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.

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.

New Britain

Australian forces land on New Britain.

Philippines

On Luzon on the northern outskirts of Manila the Japanese withdraw on to the Pasig River, leaving 'scorched earth' in front of the American 37th and 1st Cav Divs. In the north, the Japanese repel attacks by the I Corps against Lupao and Muñoz. In the XI Corps sector, the 38th Div is engaged in fierce fighting in the Zigzag Pass area, and some units are forced to retire. The XI Corps has also completed its attack across the Bataan Peninsula.

The 511th Parachute Regt of the 11th Div, US 8th Army, reaches the Paranaque bridge, south of Manila.

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.

Images from February 5, 1945

Troops of Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front fighting in Budapest, Hungary, 5 Feb 1945

Soviets in Budapest

Wounded Japanese brought past Filipino crowds by 148th Infantry Regiment at Manila in the Philippines, 5 February 1945

Wounded Japanese in Manila

Sidewalk crowds greet troops of the 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Division as they enter Manila in the Philippines on 5 February 1945

Crowds Greet US Troops

8th Cavalry Regiment troops enter Manila in the Philippines on 5 February 1945

8th Cavalry Regiment Enters Manila

F4U-1D Corsair of VMF-511 launch from the escort carrier USS Block Island (CVE-106), 5 February 1945

Corsair Launch from USS Block Island

A light tank of the 12th Armored Division in Rouffach, 5 February 1945

12th Armored Division Tank in Rouffach

105mm howitzers bombard Japanese positions from grounds of Santo Tomas in Manila in the Philippines on 5 February 1945

Artillery Bombard Japanese Positions

Battery A, 209th AAA AW Battalion with AAA gun mounted on halftrack armored vehicle, at Manila in the Philippines, 5 February 1945

Antiaircraft Gun in Manila