Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack bridges at 2 locations.
• More than 100 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, motor vehicles, supplies, and targets of opportunity across Japanese-occupied Burma.
• More than 30 fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces around Mongmit, Myitson, and Nabu.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• 25 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack rail facilities at Sinyang, the rail line at Pinghan, and targets of opportunity around Chiuchiang, Hsuchang, Lohochai, and Nanking.
• A 51st Fighter Group P-51 downs a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter near Fukow at 1050 hours.

Air Operations, Carolines

35 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack supply dumps and Japanese Army ground troops on Borneo.
• FEAF B-24s attack the airfield at Labuan.

Air Operations, Europe

• 160 Lancasters of No. 3 Group return to Wesel to carry out a G-H attack through cloud.
• There are no losses.

• 32 Mosquitos are sent to Mannheim, 6 each to Berlin and Bremen, and 3 on 'siren tours' of various towns in central Germany, 21 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lay mines in the German Bight, and there are 18 Mosquito patrols and 34 RCM sorties.
• 2 mine-laying Lancasters are lost.

Air Operations, Formosa

• In the heaviest strikes so far in the Formosa air interdiction campaign, 22nd, 43rd, 90th, and 380th Heavy Bomb group B-24s and V Fighter Command P-38s attack the airfields at Okayama, Takao, and Toshien.
• 15 B-24s attack stores of toxic gas at Hozan.
• 24 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s mount a low-level attack against warehouses and barracks at Koshun.
• Fighter-bombers attack communications targets and targets of opportunity throughout the island.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• In a maneuver described as a “rolling air barrage,” 48 V Bomber Command B-25s and 60 V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support a US Army infantry regiment’s final attack on the Bataan Peninsula.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

• Due to bad weather, Task Group 52.2 is able to mount only 28 effective sorties against beach defenses on Iwo Jima, and Task Force 58 arrives from Japanese waters too late in the day to mount attacks. Also, 36 VII Bomber Command B-24s are recalled to their base. Nevertheless, carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.4 are able to attack Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands.
• At 2130 hours, in the only incident of its kind during the pre-invasion bombardment phase, several Japanese Navy bombers attack and damage a US Navy troop transport, a minesweeper, and a salvage tug. 2 men are killed and 31 are wounded aboard the transport, 5 men are killed and 9 are wounded aboard the minesweeper, and 42 men are killed and 29 are wounded aboard the tug.
• In Task Force 58’s only fighter action of the day, a VF-30 F6F downs a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter at sea 50 miles from Task Force 58 at 1120 hours.

Bonin Islands

While most of TF 58 is replenishing, one group of 4 carriers commanded by Adm Arthur W. Radford attacks Haha Jima and Chichi Jima.

Burma

Fighting continues near the British 36th Div's bridgehead across the Shweli River. Japanese pressure is still strong.

Eastern Front

In Yugoslavia, the troops of Army Group E are compelled to withdraw 3 miles from Mostar.

In the area between Lake Velencei and Lake Balaton, in Hungary, 3 German infantry divisions, supported by 2 SS Panzer divisions, attack the positions of the 3rd Ukraine Front near the Danube. In the central sector, the Russians continue to strengthen their positions on the Oder. The Germans claim that the Russian troops encircling Poznan are suffering heavy losses.

Marshal Ivan D. Chernyakhovsky, commander of 3rd Belorussian Front, dies of wounds received some days before in a battle outside Königsberg. He was 39. He was one of the youngest and best general in the Red Army Troops under his command fought at Kursk, captured Minsk, Vilna, and Kaunas, and battled their way into East Prussia. In his honor, the name of the town of Insterburg is changed to Chernyakhovsk. 2 days later, command of the Front is given to Alexandr Vasilevsky.

The 11th SS Panzer Army has been halted at Stargard. On the Bobr River the Grossdeutschland and XXIV Panzer Corps continue to fight the Soviet 3rd Guards Tank, 4th Tank and 52nd Armies.

The I SS Panzer Corps pushes the 7th Guards Army back across the Hron River.[MORE]

Italy

There are new attacks by IV Corps of 5th Army in the area of the front just west of the Bologna-Pistoia road.

Kuriles

An American cruiser and destroyer force shells Kuraba Zaki again.

Pacific

Two US ships in the Iwo Jima area are damaged by Japanese bombers: the light minelayer Gamble (DM-15) and the high-speed transport Blessman (APD-48).

Philippines

On Luzon there is still fighting in Manila, and the occupation of the Bataan peninsula goes ahead.

Western Front

The British XXX Corps, Canadian 1st Army, begins the offensive against the town of Goch with 3 divisions, the 15th from the north, the 51st from the northwest and the 43rd from the east.

In the US 3rd Army sector the VIII Corps resumes the offensive, attacking southward toward the XII Corps across the defenses of the Siegfried Line, in the area of Prüm. Meanwhile the XII Corps opens an offensive toward the Prüm, while units of the 26th Div, XX Corps, further consolidate the positions in the Saarlautern bridgehead, repulsing a series of counterattacks by Gen Brandenberger's German 7th Army.

Images from February 18, 1945

'Acorn Inn', a self-propelled 75mm gun M3 half-track of 27th Lancers, north-west of Mezzano, 18 February 1945.

Self-propelled 75mm Gun

749th Tank Battalion M4A3E8 Sherman on top of the remains of a bridge that collapsed under its weight, 18 February 1945, following the capture of Grossbliederstroff on the Saar.

M4A3E8 Sherman Tank

British Gunners manning a Bofors anti-aircraft gun, Russi, Italy, 18 February 1945. The target sights elevated with the barrel!

British Gunners Manning a Bofors Anti-aircraft Gun

British M4 Sherman Near Goch and Calcar, 18 February 1945

British M4 Sherman Tank

A 37th Division mortar squad fires on Japanese in Intramuros from an apartment rooftop in Manila, 18 February 1945

A 37th Division Mortar Squad in Action

A sailor preacher leads hymn singing aboard a Coast Guard manned LST, 18 February 1945

A Sailor Preacher Leads Hymn Singing

East African troops of the 14th Army in Burma have fought their way down the Gangaw Valley, captured Tilin, and then advanced southward to capture Seikpyu on the west bank of the Irrawaddy just below Pagan. Seikpyu was taken during the week ending 18 February. Picture is one of a series taken with the East Africans in a forward area and along the supply lines to the rear. Picture shows:- A scene on the road to Kalemyo - Askari with a Jeep.

A Scene on the Road to Kalemyo

The 86th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, sleeping in an Appennine snowbank on February 18, 1945. (Photo courtesy U.S. Army Center of Military History)

Sleeping in an Appennine Snowbank