Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

• 24 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Iwo Jima.
• 12 B-24s attack Chichi Jima.
• During the night, 5 VII Bomber Command B-24s conduct snooper raids against Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima.

Air Operations, Carolines

4 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll while escorting photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack targets of opportunity and road traffic in the Loilem area.
• 56 10th Air Force P-47s attack troops, occupied towns, and supplies at 4 locations.
• 20 P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Mongmit and Myitson areas.
• 8 P-47s attack a ferry at Li-lu.
• 6 P-47s attack a bridge at Hay-ti.

• 15 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack various rail lines in the Yangtze River area.

Air Operations, Europe

Dresden, Magdeburg and Cottbus are attacked by 1,000 bombers of the 8th Air Force.

• 1 Halifax flies an RCM sortie.

• 37 Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes lay mines in the Oslo Fjord and in the Kattegat, and there are 6 Mosquito patrols and 2 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito crashes in France.

Air Operations, Formosa

12 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack 2 bridges spanning the Sobun River in southern Formosa.

Air Operations, Japan

• 33 of 117 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack an aircraft plant at Nagoya, 54 B-29s attack Hamamatsu, a target of last resort, and 16 B-29s attack various targets of opportunity and last resort.
• 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s, V Bomber Command A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack Corregidor.
• 348th Fighter Group P-47s strafe barges carrying Japanese Army ground troops from Manila to Bataan and Corregidor.
• B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack the Bataan Peninsula throughout the day.
• Fighter-bombers attack Caballo Island.
• Various aircraft attack the Echague and Tuguegarao airfields and Fort William McKinley on Luzon.

Air Operations, Western Pacific

• A VF-3 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea only 25 miles from Task Force 58.
• As the Iwo Jima invasion fleet and Task Force 58 move toward the objective, XXI Bomber Command B-29s and US Navy PB4Ys based in the Marianas scout ahead in order to clear the air of Japanese reconnaissance aircraft.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 20th Indian Div meets with increasingly stubborn resistance by the Japanese around the bridgehead over the Irrawaddy. In the British IV Corps sector, the 7th Indian Div extends its bridgeheads over the Irrawaddy, while some of its units take Pakokku, west of the river.

Eastern Front

The 2nd Belorussian Front consolidates its positions in northwest Poland, north of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz). In northern Silesia troops of the 1st Ukraine Front take Grüberg (Zielona Gora), southwest of Poznan, and penetrate into Brandenburg.

The Germans are still counterattacking in Hungary. The Russians announce that in Budapest they have found the bodies of 2 divisional generals who have committed suicide. They claim to have taken 9,000 prisoners at Schneidemühl (Pila).

Fighting flaires up again in East Prussia in the area of Frauenburg-Landsberg-Zintem (Frombork-Górowo-Ilaweckie). In northern Latvia the German 16th and 18th Armies repel Russian attacks, while making arrangements to evacuate their encircled forces.

In Ivan S. Konev's attacks west of the Oder, Breslau has now been surrounded.

The Soviet 49th and 65th Armies push back the German 4th Army 10 miles.

The Germans launch Operation SONNENWENDE, an attempt to destroy the spearheads of the 1st Belorussian Front in Pomerania. The attacking 11th SS Panzer Army is divided into 3 groups: Central Group - III SS Panzer Corps; Western Group - XXIX Panzer Corps; Eastern Group - Führer Grenadier Div, 163rd and 281st Infantry Divs. Only the III SS Panzer Corps makes any gains.[MORE]

Germany, Home Front

Martial law is proclaimed in Germany with the establishment of summary courts. Death sentences would be ordered for anyone found guilty of attempting to 'undermine German resolution of striking power.'

Pacific

The US submarine Swordfish (SS-193) is reported as presumed lost in the Pacific Ocean area.

Philippines

On Luzon fierce fighting continues in Manila. The US 38th Div, XI Corps, completes the liquidation of the Japanese forces in the Zigzag Pass area. One regiment of the division lands at Mariveles after a preparatory bombardment by a naval squadron under Rear-Adm Arthur D. Struble. The Japanese do not oppose the landing, but during the night launch a counterattack which is to be the last action in force by the Japanese on the west coast of the island.

Western Front

A new corps goes into action in the Canadian 1st Army's Operation VERITABLE, the Canadian II Corps, which takes up positions on the left of the British XXX Corps on the line, south to north, Grave-Groesbeek-Cleve-Emmerich. Until February 25 the new corps carries out limited attacks with the 3rd and 2nd Canadian Divs in the direction of Calcar, which is the first objective; after that the units are re-grouped for an attack on a huge scale.

Further south, the British XXX Corps' main thrusts are against the German positions that prevent it from reaching Goch, the second important objective.

There is action again on the US 7th Army front where the XV Corps begins limited attacks to straighten up and shorten the line.

Images from February 15, 1945

37th Infantry Division patrol members use the 'hat on a stick' trick to draw enemy fire in South Manila in the Philippines, 15 February 1945

Attempting To Draw Enemy Fire

16th Infantry soldiers prepare a ration breakdown point at Grosshau, Germany, 15 February 1945

Ration Breakdown Point

Two German POWs are guarded by a US soldier of the 44th Infantry Division after being captured near the German border. Wœlfling-lès-Sarreguemines, Moselle, Lorraine, France. 15 February 1945

US Soldier Guarding POWs

Dresden, 15 February 1945, following RAF and USAF raid. In a single day and night 35,000 people had been killed. The city’s railway links, pretext for the allied bombardment were relatively unscathed and trains were running through the city in a few days

Dresden Following the Raid

Dead Japanese soldier lies near front steps of Philippine General Hospital at Manila in the Philippines, 15 February 1945

Dead Japanese Soldier

Berlin, February 1945

Berlin, February 1945

A 16th Infantry half-track plows its way through a muddy road in the Hurtgen Forest, 15 February 1945

Half-track Moving in the Hurtgen Forest

Men of the Volkssturm battallions in Frankfurt occupying a defensive position on the Oder River with a MG, Germany, 15 February 1945

Machine Gun Position