Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

• 10 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Chichi Jima in the morning.
• 17 B-24s, escorted by P-38s, attack Iwo Jima during the afternoon.
• 318th Fighter Group P-38s down 4 G4M 'Betty' bombers and an A6M Zero near Iwo Jima at noon, and 2 A6M Zeros near Iwo Jima at 1430 hours.
• During the night, 9 VII Bomber Command B-24s conduct snooper raids against Iwo Jima.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 10th Air Force B-25s attack bridges at 2 locations.
• 76 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops and supplies at 10 locations.
• 15 P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Mongmit area, especially around Myitson.
• 17 P-47s attack bridges at 2 locations.

• The 14th Air Force’s 308th Heavy Bomb Group headquarters and 3 B-24 squadrons move from the airfield at Kunming to the Hsinching airfield, near Chengtu, in order to mount attacks against Japanese transportation targets and supply depots in the region. The group’s 373rd Heavy Bomb Squadron remains at Kunming, from which it will continue to attack shipping targets.

Air Operations, Europe

• 1 Halifax flies an RCM sortie.

• 82 Mosquitos are sent to Hannover and 11 to Essen, and there are 22 Mosquito patrols and 24 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• Unable to locate their primary target in the Netherlands, 140 1st Air Division B-17s attack an oil plant at Dulmen.

• Of the 164 8th Air Force B-17s dispatched against the U-boat base at Ijmuiden, only 9 are able to locate and attack the target.

• More thatn 320 9th Air Division bombers attack a rail bridge, communications centers at three locations, a vehicle depot, and targets of opportunity.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack two bridges.
• XXII TAC P-47s attack rail lines and a motor-vehicle park.
• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s and A-26s attack bridges in the Po River valley, light sources and signs of Movement throughout northern Italy, and German Army frontline defenses in the Apennine mountaines.

Air Operations, Formosa

• During a sweep of the island, a 3rd Air Commando Group P-51 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near Formosa at 1110 hours.
• 35th Fighter Group P-47s down a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane, an A6M Zero, and 7 unidentified biplanes over the Kobi and Taichu airfields between 1500 and 1540 hours.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack several airfields.

Air Operations, Japan

84 of 118 73rd and 313th Very Heavy Bomb wing B-29s dispatched attack an aircraft plant at Ota and 14 of the B-29s attack other targets. 11 of the 12 B-29s lost on the mission succumb to operational accidents and mechanical failures.

Air Operations, Pacific

• The Nakajima aircraft factory near Tokyo is destroyed in a huge raid by 84 US B-29 bombers.
• Iwo Jima and Okimura are bombed by US B-24 bombers.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s, V Bomber Command B-25s, and V Fighter Command P-38s and P-51s attack troops, artillery positions, motor vehicles, and occupied villages in support of US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• 24 B-24s, 72 A-20s, and 16 fighter-bombers attack troops and defenses in the southern Bataan Peninsula during the morning.
• 24 B-24s, 73 A-20s, and 27 fighter-bombers mount similar strikes through the afternoon.
• A 3rd Air Commando Group P-51 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane at 1340 hours.
• In the largest single mission of its kind during the Luzon Campaign, 81 SBDs from VMSB-142, VMSB-241, VMSB-243, VMSB-244, and VMSB-341 attack numerous Japanese Army dumps, anti-aircraft positions, and defended towns in support of the US 1st Cavalry Division. As a result of this day’s work, senior US Army ground commanders who have been reticent until now to request USMC precision air support strenuously vie to employ the up to this point under-utilized and now suddenly overworked SBD squadrons in behalf of their divisions and regiments.

Baltic Sea

The Soviet submarine S-13 sinks the German transport General von Steuben in the Baltic. Of the 3,000(6,000?) injured soldiers and civilian evacuees from East Prussia aborad, 300 survive. Soviet claims that among those lost were elite officers, SS men and Nazi Party officials cannot alter the fact that many refugees go down with the ship.

CBI

In the NCAC area, units of the British 36th Division take Myitson on the Shweli River. In the British IV Corps sector, the East African 28th Brigade takes Seikpyu.

Chinese forces link with the Mars Task Force. The Japanese have escaped, reorganizing near Lashio. Detachment 101 commanded by Col William R. Peers continues operations against the Japanese along the Burma Road. He has 1,500 Kachin guerillas and another 1,500 Karen, Chinese, Ghurka, and Shan volunteers.

Eastern Front

In East Prussia, the 3rd Belorussian Front captures the important road junction of Preussich-Eylau (Ilawa). The 2nd Belorussian Front takes the fortified port of Elbing. On the German Army Group Center's front, the 21st Panzer Div has to withdraw form Kürstrin (Kostrzyn). Arnswalde is surrounded, but rejects Russian surrender terms.

On the front of the Army Group South the 2nd Ukraine Front makes a big breakthrough in the Budapest sector. Fighting continues to rage in the city.

In Yugoslavia there is fighting west of Mostar.

The 3rd Belorussian Front attacks the German 4th Army near Heilsberg.

The 2nd Belorussian Front opens the East Pomeranian Offensive toward Neustettin.[MORE]

Japan, Home Front

A severe earthquake rocks Tokyo, followed almost immediately by a devastating raid by 90 B-29 bombers.

Philippines

US General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area, determines the operational areas for the US 6th and 8th Armies. The 6th Army is to have full responsibility for operations in Luzon, the 8th Army for all islands south of Luzon.

In the XIV Corps area, oppostion in the southern part of Manila is so stubborn and losses to the 37th Division are so great that it is decided to increase the volume of artillery fire. The 129th and 148th Regiments, 37th Division, reach the line Estero de Tonque-Estero de Paco. The 1st Cavalry Division regroups, committing the 112th Cavalry RCT along a line of communications to permit the 12th Cavalry to move into the Rosario Heights. The division expands its positions south of the Pasig and makes patrol contact with the 37th Division near Paco Station. In the center of the 40th Division's zone, the 160th Infantry finds that the Japanese have abandoned McSevney Pt and pushes on toward its final objective, Object Hill, gaining positions on Snake Hill West and Scattered Trees Ridge.

In the I Corps area, the 3rd Battalion of the 127th Infantry, 32nd Division, relieves the 2nd Battalion on the Villa Verde Trail.

As the 11th Airborne Division continues to clear enemy positions around Nichols Field it is transferred to the command of the XIV Corps, 6th Army, and directed to maintain pressure on the airfield and determine the location of enemy positions near the field at Cavite.

The X Corps takes command of tactical operations ofn Leyte and Samar, The 92nd Division (PA) is attached to the Americal Division to help mop up.

The XXIV Corps closes in the staging areas on the east coast of Leyte.

War Crimes

The US Navy announces increased cooperation with the US Army in the gathering of evidence for the prosecution of war criminals. The US War Crimes office was established in the autumn of 1944 under the supervision of Maj-Gen Myron C. Cramer, the Judge Advocate General of the Army.

Western Front

In the Cleve-Materborn sector a German counteroffensive holds up 3 divisions of the British XXX Corps, the 3rd, 43rd and 15th. During the night the 51st Div comes near to Hekkens, sending patrols across the Niers River (in spate?), north of the town of Gennep.

The divisions of the VIII Corps, US 3rd Army, advance in the Prüm sector, while those of the XII Corps continue to extend and strengthen the bridgeheads in the Wallendorf-Dillingen sector, the 80th Div, and the Weiterbach-Echternach sector in the Siegfried Line fortifications.

The Germans open the flood gates of the Schwammenauel Dam on the Roer(Rur?) River in an attempt to halt the advancing US forces.[WE]

Images from February 10, 1945

Universal Carriers in the Reichswald

Moving in the Reichswald

Injured Filipino Girl

Citizens of Manila Run for Safety

Task Group 58.3 Departs Ulithi

F4U-1D Corsair

Tracked Vehicles Find It Hard Going

Two T-34/76 Tanks