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.

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.

Burma

In the north, the XXVI Bde, British 36th Div, 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

The 92nd Div, IV Corps, US 5th Army, opens limited operations in the coastal area of the front.

In the British 8th Army sector the Italian Friuli combat group under Gen Arturo Scattini goes into the line, replacing the Polish Kresowa Div, 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.

Philippines

On Luzon the US 1st Cav Div continues the mopping up of the eastern suburbs of Manila, while the 37th Div reinforces the bridgehead south of the Pasig River. Still in the XIV Corps area, the US 40th Div takes a large part of McSevney Point and repels a series of Japanese counterattacks. The I Corps succeeds in taking Lupao.

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.

Images from February 8, 1945

British infantry advance through the Reichswald during Operation VERITABLE, 8 February 1945

British Infantry Advance

Achilles 17-pdr tank destroyer at the start of the Reichswald offensive, 8 February 1945

Achilles 17-pdr Tank Destroyer

Infantry and armour in action at the start of Operation VERITABLE, 8 February 1945.

Action During VERITABLE

Sherman tanks assemble for the start of Operation VERITABLE, 8 February 1945.

Sherman tanks assemble

A Churchill tank ploughs along a muddy, heavily rutted forest track in the Reichswald during Operation VERITABLE, 8 February 1945.

Churchill Tank

Vickers machine gun of 8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, 51st (Highland) Division, supporting an attack by 154th Brigade, 8 February 1945

Vickers Machine Gun

Infantrymen of the Régiment de Maisonneuve in a trench near Nijmegen, Netherlands, 8 February 1945

Soldiers near Nijmegen

Vickers machine gun of 8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, 51st (Highland) Division

Vickers Machine Gun