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.

• 348 1st Air Division B-17s attack two oil-industry targets at Hamburg.
• 104 2nd Air Division B-24s attack an oil-industry target at Misburg.
• 61 2nd Air Division B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Lehrte.
• 76 2nd Air Division B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Bielefeld (secondary).
• 200 3rd Air Division B-17s attack the U-boat yards at Bremen.
• 134 3rd Air Division B-17s attack a rail bridge at Bremen.
• 70 3rd Air Division B-17s attack a rail bridge at Wesel.
• 50 heavy bombers attack various targets of opportunity.
• 2 heavy bombers and 11 of 514 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.

• Approximately 500 9th Air Division bomber sorties are mounted against marshalling yards, communications centers, rail bridges, town areas, and targets of opportunity.
• During the night, after A-26 and B-26 night pathfinders mark the target, 34 410th Light Bomb Group A-20s attack the marshalling yard at Hillesheim with good results.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack bridge approaches, rail bridges, and rail lines at five locations and an industrial area.
• XXII TAC P-47s attack airdromes, marshalling yards, rail bridges, and rail lines over a wide area.
• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s and A-26s attack marshalling yards at five locations and two airdromes.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack marshalling yards at Graz and Klagenfurt.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack a rail bridge at Ferrara and marshalling yards at Ferrar, Padua, Udine, and Verona.

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.

Baltic

U-3007 is destroyed in a USAAF bombing raid on Bremen.

U-3007

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.

English Channel

• While returning from the Channel, U-480 attacks Convoy BTC-78 and sinks the British ship Oriskany (1655y). The U-boat is then hunted by the ships of Escort Group 3. She is destroyed a few hours later by the British frigates Duckworth and Rowley.

U-480 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Hans Joachim Forster Location English Channel, SW of Land's End Cause Depth charge Casualties 48 Survivors None

U-927 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Jurgen Ebert Location English Channel, SE of Falmouth Cause Air attack Casualties 47 Survivors None

• Warwick 'K' of No 179 Squadron obtains a radar contact and illuminates the area with Leigh Light. The aircraft drop six depth charges in a perfect straddle. Returning to the spot oil and wreckage are seen on the surface, the demise of U-927.

• U-1208 is sunk in the English Channel southeast of the Isles of Scilly by depth charges from the British frigates Duckworth and Rowley with the loss of all hands.

U-1208

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.
• The US submarine Trepang (SS-412) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Uzuki Maru (875t) north-northeast of Mikisaki.
• The Japanese merchant cargo ship Yulin Maru (1893t) sinks after running aground near Qui Nohn, French Indochina.

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 Battle South of Udem

US Soldier On Guard

US Vehicles in Linnich

Berlin Bread Store

Bombed Out Berlin Apartment

Plight of Refugees

US Tanks Engages Targets

US Soldiers Enter Duren