Air Operations, CBIBURMA
Air Operations, EuropeRAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
Minor Ops:
Air Operations, FormosaV Bomber Command B-24s attack port facilities at Takao. [ | ]Air Operations, Pacific334(279?) B-29 bombers from Guam, Saipan and Tinian drop incendiary bombs on Tokyo in a massive 3-hour raid. Over 1,650(1667t?) tons of incendiaries (napalm and oil bombs) are dropped on the city in a new form of attack designed specifically to take advantage of the wood and paper construction of many Japanese houses. 10 square miles, a fifth of the total area of the city, are razed to the ground. A casualty figure of 130,000 is reported with about 83,000 dead being confirmed, but some sources put the number as high as 200,000. A million are rendered homeless. It is the most damaging air attack of the war including the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is only the first of many such raids on Japanese cities. [ | ]Air Operations, Philippines
BurmaIn the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Div penetrates into the outskirts of Mandalay, where bitter fighting develops. Other XXXIII Corps units are advancing toward the city from the west. The fighting around Meiktila is still very fierce as the Japanese continue to bring troops from the Mandalay area in a desperate attempt to free their communications. [ | ]Eastern FrontIn Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav 3rd Army launches a counterattack against the bridgehead established over the Drava by the German Army Group E. The counterattack is contained. In the Vistula Army Group sector, the Russians storm through the defenses of Küstrin (Kostrzyn) and bitter house-to-house fighting develops. The 2nd Belorussian Front pushes on in the Danzig area. GERMANYThe Soviet 2nd Shock Army captures Marienburg. HUNGARYThere are now more that 600 panzers committed against the Soviet 4th Guards and 26th Armies, but still the Germans can make little progress. To compound their problems, the Soviets are feeding the 6th Guards Tank and 27th Armies into the line as reinforcements. On the Drava, the Yugoslav 3rd Army goes over to the offensive against Army Group E.[MORE] [ | ]French Indochina(10th?) The Japanese fearing an American landing, deprive Adm Jean Decoux of all authority as Governor-General of the colony, and dismiss the whole French administration and establish the puppet 'Empire of Annam'. They start on a series of brutal acts which only serve to strengthen the resistance movement. It is in this atmosphere that the Vietminh is born. [ | ]Iwo JimaDuring the night large numbers of Japanese with demolition charges tied to their belts thrown themselves against the American positions, achieving some penetration and putting the 4th Marine Div in some difficulty. The suicide attack, which Gen Tadamichi Kuribayashi had forbidden, is repulsed. In the morning the Americans count 784 enemy dead on the ground. The 3 Marine divisions continue their systematic attacks with flamethrowers and explosive charges against the Japanese caves and other strongpoints. Still held up on the right and in the center, they make good progress along the west coast of the island. [ | ]PhilippinesOn Luzon hard fighting continues on the Shimbu line, east of Manila, and in the central eatern part of the island. American aircraft and ships bombard Zamboanga area on the island of Mindanao, in readiness for a landing. American troops are withdrawn from Samar, where the liquidation of the remaining Japanese is left to the Filipino infantry. [ | ]Soviet Union, StrategyThe Stavka is already planning a counteroffensive in Hungary, using the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts to attack the 6th SS Panzer Army and Hungarian 3rd Army and capture Vienna. []Western FrontOn the northern flank of the Allied line, the Germans abandon their bridgehead in the area of Wesel and destroy the bridges over the river. In the Canadian 1st Army sector, the 4th Div, Canadian II Corps, takes Veen. While the German 15th Army abandons the west bank of the Rhine, Bonn is captured by the units of the US 1st Div, US 1st Army. Control of the bridgehead at Remagen is taken over by the 9th Div, III Corps. The Germans continue to send aircraft over to try to destroy the bridge. Meanwhile the 7th Arm Div has taken over the defense of the west bank of the Rhine between Bonn and Remagen. In the US 3rd Army sector, units of the VIII Corps have reached the Rhine at Andernach, while the 4th Arm Div, XII Corps, is ordered to establish a bridgehead at Treis. [ | ]Images from March 9, 1945
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[March 8th - March 10th] |