Air Operations, CBI

• 72 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Myitson area.
• 37 P-47s and 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack troops, occupied villages, ammunition dumps, and supplies at 8 locations.

• 19 14th Air Force P-51s attack bridges at Changsha and Shihtangchung.
• 4 fighters attack the airfield at Tsinan and rail targets.
• A 426th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a Ki-48 'Lily' bomber near the airfield at Laohokow before dawn.
• 530th Fighter Squadron P-51s down a Ki-27 'Nate' fighter and a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over the Tsinan airfield between 1220 and 1250 hours.
• A 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40 downs a Ki-57 'Topsy' transport plane near Changsha at an undisclosed time.

Air Operations, Carolines

30 B-29s from the 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing’s 6th Very Heavy Bomb Group attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• 15 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron drop Tallboys on the U-boat pens at Ijmuiden without a loss.

• 1 RCM sortie is flown.

• 475 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 5 and 8 Groups are sent to attack Politz. The attack takes place in 2 waves, the first being marked and carried out entirely by the No. 5 Group method and the second being marked by the Pathfinders of No. 8 Group. The weather conditions are clear and the bombing of both waves is extremely accurate. Severe damage is caused to the important synthetic oil plant here. It produces no further oil during the war. Speer mentioned this raid, in his post-war interrogations, as being another big setback to Germany's war effort.
• 12 Lancasters are lost, l of them coming down in Sweden.
• 228 aircraft including 200 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos and 8 Lancasters of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Wanne-Eickel. This raid is not a success. The local report says that the bombing was scattered, with only light damage to the oil refinery.
• 2 Halifaxes crash in France.
• 151 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attacked the Hohenbudberg railway yards at Krefeld, but photographic reconnaissance is unable to detect any new damage.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

• 47 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 9 to Neubrandenburg in a 'spoof' for the Politz raid, and 4 to Nuremburg, 10 Lancasters of No. 5 Group lay mines off Swinemünde, and there are 42 Mosquito patrols and 47 RCM sorties.
• 1 RCM Halifax is lost.

• In the 8th Air Force's only offensive action of the day, 98 VIII Fighter Comman P-51s based on the Continent mount a sweep against rail lines.

• More that 320 9th Air Division bombers attack three defended areas, a marshalling yard, a road junction, and targets of opportunity.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack bridges at three locations.
• XXII TAC P-47s attack an oil dump and a rail bridge.
• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s and A-26s attack communications targets throughout the Po River valley.

• More than 500 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Graz and communications targets in and around Vienna.

• 11 15th Air Force heavy bombers drop supplies to partisan units in northern Italy.

Air Operations, Formosa

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

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack Mariveles.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Legaspi airfield on Luzon and shipping off eastern Luzon.
• A 3rd Air Commando Group P-51 downs a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber near Luzon at noon.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

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

CBI

In the NCAC area, the 26th Brigade, British 36th Division, establishes a bridgehead over the Shweli River near Myitson and defends it against Japanese counterattacks.

Diplomatic Relations

Paraguay declares war on Germany and Japan.

Eastern Front

The 3rd Ukraine Front restores the position southwest of Budapest in the Lake Velencei area.

The Vistula Army Group contains Russian forces pushing out from the bridgeheads over the Oder.

In East Prussia the German forces have now been virtually split into three groups: the defenders of Königsberg, some forces trapped on the peninsula to the west of the town, and those to the south, the largest group, holding out around Keiligenbeil and inland.

The 1st Ukrainian Front launches the Lower Silesian Offensive from the Oder north and south of Breslau. At first the infantry and armor find it heavy going due to a thaw. The German 17th Army defends well but, eventually, the 54th Army breaks through at Steinau.

The 1st Ukrainian Front completes a hurried redeployment and attacks from the Oder bridgeheads north and south of Breslau. Heavy arty fire hits the 17th Army followed by armored and infantrry assaults. However, the thaw makes the going difficult for the Soviet assault teams, as did ferocious German resistance. Even so, a breakthrough is achieved near Steinau by the 52nd Army.

Italy

In the IV Corps area, the 92nd Division, while continuing its fruitless struggle for heights on either side of the Serchio, giving ground under counterattack in the region east of the river, begins a limited attack in the coastal sector with the 3rd Battalion of the 366th Infantry (organized as TF 1) on the left, 370th Infantry in the center, and the 371st Infantry on the right. Advance is slowed by opposition and numerous mines but TF 1 crosses the Cinquale Canal and turns inland while the 370th Infantry gains about a mile and the 371st advances about 800 yards.

The Italian Friuli combat group under Gen Arturo Scattini goes into the line, replacing the Polish Kresowa Division, deployed on the Senio River opposite Riolo dei Bagni.

Kurile Islands

Ventura aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm make a rocket attack against radio and lighthouse installations at Kokutan Zaki, at the northern tip of Shimushu.

Pacific

The US submarine Pampanito (SS-383) attacks a Japanese convoy in the Gulf of Siam and sinks the gunboat Eifuku Maru (3520t) off Cape Camau, French Indochina.

Philippines

In the XIV Corps area, while the 1st Cavalry Division forces are clearing the eastern suburbs of Manila, the 37th Division expands and strengthens its bridgehead south of the Pasig, crossing the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 129th Infantry into it. On the right flank of the corps, the 40th Division's 185th Infantry continues its attack toward Snake Hill North. The 160th Infantry gains most of McSevney Point and holds positions against a series of counterattacks. The 108th Infantry attacks westward from Top of the World toward a series of hills about 1,500-2,000 yards distant, numbered 5, 3, 4, and 6, from north to south, and takes Hill 5.

The I Corps, with the capture of Lupao by the 35th Infantry of the 25th Division, finishes clearing the central plain. On the Villa Verde Trail, the 2nd Battalion of the 127th Infantry, 32nd Division, pauses to consolidate and patrol.

In the XI Corps area, the 38th Division continues its 2-pronged attack against Zigzag Pass but is still stubbornly opposed. The 149th Infantry is running into strong opposition.

The 511th and 188th Regiments of the 11th Airborne Division make slow progress against Nichols Field and gain contact near the southwestern corner.

Western Front

The Canadian 1st Army under Gen Henry Crerar launches the operations for the capture of the region between the Maas and Rhine(or Waal?) Rivers, Operation VERITABLE. The attack starts at 10:30a.m. after an intensive air and artillery preparation: taking part are the 4 divisions of the British XXX Corps, Canadian 3rd Div and British 15th, 43rd and 51st, moving simultaneously along the line Nijmegen-Mook, overrunning the weak resistance of the German 1st Parachute Army and reaching during the day Kranburg, the Reichswald area, Zyfflich and Zandpol. This offensive, part of the more general plan against Germany, has the particular aim of attracting substantial German forces to the northern sector, thus making the tasks of the 12th and 6th Army Groups in the center and the south easier.

In the US 1st Army sector the 78th Div, V Corps, continues its attack on Schmidt, which still holds out.

Further south, in the region in which the US 3rd Army is engaged, the 87th and 8th Divs, VIII Corps, reach Olzheim and Ober Mehlen, while the 90th Div continues its attacks to break through the fortification of the Siegfried Line. The 6th Arm Div succeeds in widening and reinforcing the bridgehead over the Our. III Corps(?).

In the French 1st Army sector, the US XXI Corps completes its local offensive when the 2nd Arm Div reaches Fessenheim and joins up with the French 1st Arm Div, I Corps. The 1st Div then moves south along the Rhine toward Chalampé, taking Blodelsheim.[WE]

Images from February 8, 1945

British Infantry Advance

Achilles 17-pdr Tank Destroyer

Action During VERITABLE

Sherman Tanks Assemble

Churchill Tank

Vickers Machine Gun

Soldiers near Nijmegen

Vickers Machine Gun