Air Operations, Bonin Islands

A VF(N)-90 F6F downs a Ki-49 'Helen' bomber over Chichi Jima at 2055 hours.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s and 125 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets immediately behind Japanese Army battle lines.
• 8 P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Lashio area.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Manggar and Sepinggang airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

Col Ivan Kojedub, top scoring Russian fighter 'ace' with 62 victories, shoots down an Me-262 over Berlin.

• 340 aircraft including 290 Halifaxes, 26 Lancasters and 24 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Kamen. The target is a synthetic oil plant which is actually in Bergkamen, just north of Kamen. The target area is covered by cloud and the raid is based on Oboe and H₂S markers.
• 1 Halifax is lost.
• 166 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group are ordered to abandon a raid on the Dortmund-Ems Canal without bombing because of cloud which covers the target area.
• There are no losses.

• 74 training aircraft make a diversionary sweep over Northern France to draw German fighters into the air, 63 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 18 to Neuss and 3 on 'siren tours' of Dessau, Erfurt and Halle, 35 Lancasters lay mines in the Kattegat and off NOrwegian ports, and there are 23 Mosquito patrols and 37 RCM sorties.
• 5 RCM aircraft are lost: 4 Halifaxes and 1 Fortress. These aircraft were operating in association with the diversionary sweep of training aircraft and were probably victims of German fighters drawn up by that sweep. The 4 lost Halifaxes are all from No 462 (Australian) Squadron, based at Foulsham. They had been sent ahead of the diversionary force to drop Window, bombs and incendiaries in a 'spoof' raid on the Ruhr.

Air Operations, Formosa

• Weathered out of their assigned target, V Bomber Command B-24s attack the town area at Takao.
• 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s conducting an anti-shipping sweep over the South China Sea attack the Ryukyu-Sho seaplane base.
• An 18th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' near the Okayama airfield at 1145 hours.

Air Operations, Japan

4 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s attack Hayakegawa while conducting an anti-shipping sweep over the Kurile Islands.

Air Operations, Malaya

• 105 of 116 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched attack the Singapore port area with 220 tons of incendiary bombs.
• 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 28 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based on Angaur attack Ising.
• 5th Air Force aircraft support US 6th Army ground forces throughout Luzon.
• Fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on Corregidor.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs provide support for US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.

Battle of the Atlantic

US Army aircraft sink the German submarine U-3007 at Bremen, Germany.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the British 2nd Div begins to cross the Irrawaddy at Ngazun, west of Mandalay, and meets with immediate powerful resistance by the Japanese. In the IV Corps sector, the 17th Indian Div, advancing on Meiktila, captures the Japanese supply center of Taungtha.

Eastern Front

The 1st Baltic Front is incorporated in the 3rd Belorussian Front. Fighting continues everywhere. In Hungary, the 3rd Ukraine Front firmly repulses efforts to break through made in the last few days by the Germans in the sectors between Lake Balaton and Lake Velencei and near Esztergom.

The 2nd Belorussian Front attacks in eastern Pomerania. It has been reinforced with the 19th Army on its left wing. The German 11th SS Panzer Army is renamed 3rd Panzer Army.

Egypt

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Maher Pasha is assassinated. He had just read a royal decree declaring war on Germany and Japan.

Italy

US and Brazilian forces make limited advances breaking what had been a virtual stalemate.

Iwo Jima

Bitter fighting continues on Mount Suribachi and in the center of the island near Airport No. 2. On Mount Suribachi, however, Japanese resistance is nearing its end; American sappers have blown up all the caves and many of the Japanese commit suicide. But around Airport No. 2 the Japanese destroy many Sherman tanks with mines and well camouflaged anti-tank guns. Savage hand-to-hand fighting develops.

Storms and collisions cause serious damage to several American ships, including the heavy cruiser San Francisco (CA-38), the destroyer Colahan (DD-658), the destroyer Heywood L. Edwards (DD-663), the destroyer Bryant (DD-665), the destroyer Moale (DD-693), and the submarine chaser PC-578. The landing craft LST-792 is damaged by coastal gunfire.

Pacific

The Japanese submarine RO-49 is sunk by the US submarine Lagarto (SS-371) off Kyushu, Japan.

Philippines

On Luzon the Japanese cease to resist in Manila. The Americans now advance east of the city, meeting growing opposition. Montalban and San Isidro are captured by the 6th Div. Almost all the island of Corregidor, except for a strip of about 2 miles in the east, is firmly occupied by the Americans. Mopping up operations continue in the Zambales Mountains.

Western Front

The 53rd Div of the British XXX Corps, Canadian 1st Army, advances slowly from Goch toward the southeast in the direction of Weeze.

In the US 9th Army sector the XIII And XIX Corps continue their offensive as laid down in Operation GRENADE. The 84th Div reaches and takes Doveren, the 29th completes the occupation of Jülich and captures Stetternich, while the 30th enters Hambach and Niederzier in the early hours of the morning.

The VII Corps, US 1st Army, extends its bridgehead over the Rur River.

In the US 3rd Army sector the offensive is followed up by all 3 corps, the VIII, XII and XX: their divisions take Bellsheid, Ober, Leimbach, Neuerburg, Berscheid and Bauler and begin the crossing of the Prüm during the night.

Images from February 24, 1945

The Rhineland and the battle south of Udem, 24 February 1945

The Battle South of Udem

US Soldier guards destroyed Japanese artillery piece on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima on 24 February 1945

US Soldier On Guard

771st Tank Bn. M4A3 76mm Sherman tank alongside a WC52 Dodge Truck, Cargo, 3/4 ton, 4x4 (w/winch) in the town of Linnich, Germany, 24 February 1945

US Vehicles in Linnich

An improvised bread store in Berlin in February 1945

Berlin Bread Store

This woman at least had some possessions left to find in her bombed out Berlin apartment.

Bombed Out Berlin Apartment

In the flight of refugees from the east, tens of thousands of Germans were dying from cold and fatigue, a high proportion of them children.

Plight of Refugees

771st Tank Battalion engages targets in the town of Baal, Germany, 24 February 1945

US Tanks Engages Targets

American soldiers from the 8th Infantry Division enter Duren, Germany, 24 February 1945

US Soldiers Enter Duren