Chronology of World War II

March 1945

Friday, March 2nd

Air Operations, CBI

BURMA

10 10th Air Force B-25s attack bridges at 4 locations.
2 B-25s attack ferry facilities at Li-lu.
More than 90 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
More than 20 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces near Mogok.

CHINA

3 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
On the night of March 2–3, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s sweeping the sea lanes between Hong Kong and Swatow sink a tanker.

[

]

Air Operations, East Indies

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

[

]

Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:

858 aircraft including 531 Lancasters, 303 Halifaxes and 24 Mosquitos raid Cologne in 2 waves. The first raid is carried out by 703 aircraft and the second by 155 Lancasters of No. 3 Group. In the second raid, however, only 15 aircraft bomb, because the G-H station in England is not working correctly. The main raid is highly destructive, with the Pathfinders marking in clear weather conditions. This is the last RAF raid on Cologne, which is captured by American troops 4 days later.

6 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes are lost and 1 Halifax crashes in Belgium.

Evening Ops:
Minor Ops:

69 training aircraft make a sweep, 67 Mosquitos are sent to Kassel and 3 to Berlin, 10 Halifaxes and Lancasters lay mines off Norway and 6 Mosquitos in the Kiel Canal, 21 aircraft are involved in Resistance operations, and there are 31 Mosquito patrols and 48 RCM sorties.

There are no losses.

There are 2 RAF daylight raids on Cologne.

US 8th AIR FORCE
GERMANY:

60 1st Air Division B-17s attack a synthetic-oil plant at Bohlen.
36 1st Air Division B-17s attack a gun battery at Bohlen.
36 1st Air Division B-17s attack an oil refinery at Rositz.
255 1st Air Division B-17s attack the city of Chemnitz (secondary).
257 2nd Air Division B-24s attack a tank factory at Magdeburg.
38 2nd Air Division B-24s attack a synthetic-oil plant at Magdeburg.
24 3rd Air Division B-17s attack a synthetic-oil plant at Ruhland.
406 3rd Air Division B-17s attack the city of Dresden (secondary).
55 heavy bombers attack various targets of opportunity.

14 heavy bombers and 13 of 713 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.

US 9th AIR FORCE
GERMANY:

9th Air Division bombers attack bridges at five location, two communications centers, several city and town areas, three depots, and targets of opportunity.
9th Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers mount more than 1,700 sorties, mostly in support of an offensive by the US 3rd Army.
8th and 9th Air Force fighter pilots down 71 Luftwaffe aircraft over Germany between 0450 and 1650 hours.

US 12th AIR FORCE
ITALY:

XXII TAC P-47s attack two sugar refineries, many dumps, gun emplacements, motor vehicles, buildings, and two airdromes.
During the night, XXII TAC A-20s and A-26s attack a marshalling yard, road traffic, and ammo supply points in the Po River valley.

US 15th AIR FORCE
AUSTRIA:

15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack marshalling yards at five locations.

ITALY:

15th Air force heavy bombers attack a marshalling yard at Brescia.

[

]

Air Operations, Formosa

28 90th and 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the airfield at Matsuyama.
35 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s strafe and sow 23-pound parachute bombs at the Toyohara airfield, and 36 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s do the same at the Taichu airfield.
312th Light Bomb Group A-20s in their first mission to Formosa fail to locate the Kagi airfield but attack the Shirakawa airfield instead.
345th Light Bomb group A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous other targets.

[

]

Air Operations, Malaya

50 of 64 40th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s dispatched attack the Singapore naval base with 107 tons of bombs. 5 of the B-29s attack targets of opportunity.

[

]

Air Operations, Philippines

At 0200 hours, while 1 G4M 'Betty' bomber at high altitude diverts searchlight and anti-aircraft batteries guarding the Mingaladan airfield on Luzon, 2 (or 3) other G4M 'Bettys' attack the base from 300 feet with 12 500-pound bombs and 300 small anti-personnel bombs. 4 Marines are killed and 78 are wounded, 1 SBD is destroyed, and 1 SBD is damaged.
494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 347th Fighter Group P-38s attack ground targets in the Zamboanga region of Mindanao.

[

]

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-3519 sinks after hitting a mine in the Baltic Sea off Warnemünde.

U-3519

Class	Type XXI
CO	Kapitänleutnant Richard von Harpe
Location	Baltic, off Warnemünde
Cause	Mine
Casualties	65
Survivors	None

[

]

Burma

The 20th Indian Div and British 2nd Div join up their bridgeheads west of Mandalay.

[

]

Eastern Front

The Vistula Army Group evacuates the bridgehad over the Oder in the Schwedt area, southwest of Stettin. Fighting flares up again in the whole of East Prussia, where the Russians want to wipe out the German 4th Army before it can be evacuated by sea.

GERMANY

The 1st Belorussian Front's offensive is lancing through the German lines, with the 1st Guards Tank Army approaching Kolberg, the 2nd Guards Tank nearing Stettin and the Polish 1st Army threatening the left flank of the X SS Corps.

CENTRAL SECTOR

The 1st Belorussian Front has ripped apart the 3rd Panzer Army defenses north of Arnswalde and has isolated the X SS Corps and Corps Group Tettau around Dramberg. The 3rd Shock Army is thrusting to the northeast toward Belgard and northwest toward the Isle of Wollin, while the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies move upon Kolberg and Stettin respectively. To the east of Dramberg the 1st Polish Army envelops the left wing of the X SS Corps as it also pushes toward Belgard and Kolberg.

In Silesia the XXIV Panzer Corps continues its fruitless attacks near Lauban.

[

]

Italy

In the British 8th Army sector, the Italian Cremona combat group, V Corps, supported by partisians of the 28th Garibaldi Bde, opens the offensive against Comacchio.

[

]

Iwo Jima

The 3rd Marine Div, in the center of the line, completes the capture of Airfield No. 3 under intensive Japanese artillery and machine-gun fire. In the area of the 'Mincer' the Americans take another important position, the one called the Amphitheater. It has been a tremendous struggle, conducted with flame-throwers and explosive charges. The Americans are now in control of two thirds of the island.

Several US vessels are damaged due to collisions in the day's operations including the attack cargo ship Stokes (AKA-68) and landing craft LST-224, LST-247 and LST-634. The landing craft LST-642 is damaged running aground.

[

]

Pacific

The US submarine Bowfin (SS-287) sinks the Japanese transport Chokai Maru (1285t) northeast of Miyake Jima.
The British submarine Terrapin attacks a Japanese Penang-to-Singapor convoy sinking the small cargo vessel Sanko Maru.
The Japanese transport Kasei Maru (2220t) is sunk by unknown causes off Shiogama, northeren Honshu.

Philippines

On Luzon, while the XIV Corps clears up the last Japanese resistance in Manila, the US I Corps advance north.

Mopping up of Corregidor is complete, and the island has been inspected by MacArthur. During the operations the Japanese have lost 4,700 dead and another 500 men have been buried alive in the caverns and tunnels. The Americans have lost 1,000 men killed, wounded and missing.

On Samar, American units reach the outskirts of Mauo.

Rumania

Under pressure from the Soviets King Michael of Rumania is forced to dismiss his government and on March 6 to appoint a new government dominated by the Rumanian Communist Party. This is the first token since Yalta that Stalin will not hold to his assurances about doing nothing to hinder the process of democracy in eastern Europe.

Ryukyu Islands

4 cruisers and 15 destroyers commanded by Adm Francis E. Whiting and drawn from TF 58 bombard Okino Daito Jima.

Western Front

The 53rd Div, British XXX Corps, Canadian 1st Army, captures Weeze and advances south toward Geldern.

From Venlo the 35th Div, XVI Corps, US 9th Army, moves quickly into German territory and reaches Sevelen after passing through Strälen and Nieukerk.

The Niers Canal is crossed by the 84th Div, XIII Corps, near Süchteln and Odt; the other 2 divisions of the corps, the 102nd and the 5th Arm, reach Krefeld and Ficheln. The 29th Div reaches its positions at München-Gladbach, and the 83rd completes the capture of Neuss and reaches the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf, but the retreating Germans have destroyed all the bridges over the rivers.

In the US 1st Army sector, the 99th Div, VII Corps, crosses the Erft in the neighborhood of Glesch, while further south the 3rd Arm Div and the 104th Div defend the bridgeheads east of the Erft. The III Corps continues its advance toward the Rhine; its divisions reach Erp, the Roth River at Friesheim, Mülheim and Wichterich, establishing a bridgehead in the neighborhood of Friesheim.

In the US 3rd Army sector, units of the 87th and 4th Divisions, VIII Corps, meet with strong resistance near Ormont, and east of Prüm. The XII Corps opens an offensive toward the Kyll River during the night, while the 5th Div tries to establish a bridgehead across the same river between Erdorf and Philippsheim. The 10th Arm Div, XX Corps, completes the capture of Trier, while the 94th Div continues to extend the bridgehead at Saarsburg, now some 6 miles deep.