Chronology of World War II

March 1945

Tuesday, March 13th


Air Operations, CBI

BURMA
  • 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops, artillery positions, and supplies in and around the Japanese Army battle lines.
  • 26 10th Air Force P-47s sweep roads across central Burma.
  • 16 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces in the Namhsan area.
  • 4 P-47s support British Army troops while several other P-47s attack bridges.
CHINA
  • 7 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea.
  • 13 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack stores at Chingchenchiang and a bridge at Lang Son, French Indochina.
  • 22 38th and 42nd Medium Bomb group B-25s sink a cargo ship, a Japanese Navy frigate, and sampans while sweeping the sea lanes between Swatow and Hainan Island.
  • V Fighter Command P-51s attack the Samah airfield at Hainan.
  • 348th Fighter Group P-51s down 2 Ki-84 'Frank' fighters over the Hainan's Samah airfield at 1110 hours.
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Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:
  • 354 aircraft including 319 Halifaxes, 24 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Wuppertal and Barmen. This attack also tales place over a cloud-covered target and the bombs fall slightly east of the area intended, covering the eastern half of the Barmen district and extending into Schwelm.
    • There are no losses.
  • Bomber Command had now dispatched 2,541 sorties by daylight to Ruhr targets in a 3-day period. Approximately 10,650 tons of bombs had been dropped through cloud with sufficient accuracy to cripple 2 cities and 1 town. The bomber losses were only 5 aircraft, a casualty rate of 0.2 per cent. These results show the great power now wielded by Bomber Command, its technical efficiency and the weakness of the German defenses.
  • 38 Lancasters of No. 5 Group that are sent to bomb the Arnsberg and Bielefeld viaducts encounter bad weather. 1 aircraft bombs at Arnsberg and 2 further aircraft bomb alternative targets.
    • There are no losses.
Evening Ops:
  • 195 Lancasters and 32 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups attack benzol plants at Herne and Gelsenkirchen. The Gelsenkirchen attack is successful, but not the Herne raid.
    • 1 Lancaster is lost on the Gelsenkirchen raid.
Minor Ops:
  • 50 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 6 to Erfurt, and there are 37 Mosquito patrols and 58 RCM sorties.
    • 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid crashes in Belgium and 1 RCM Halifax crashes in France.
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Air Operations, Formosa

Despite bad weather that causes most V Bomber Command B-24s assigned to divert from two power plants and attack secondary targets and targets of opportunity, 16 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s are able to attack one of the power plants through cloud cover owing to the use of radar. Other V Bomber Command B-24s assigned to attack the naval base and fuel stores at Mako harbor in the Pescadore Islands are able to do so with good results.

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Air Operations, Japan

  • During the night, 274 of 301 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack Osaka with incendiary bombs from 5,000 to 9,600 feet. 5 of the B-29s attack other targets.
    • 2 B-29s are lost.
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Air Operations, Philippines

  • XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Lago and Sarangani Bay.
  • 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at Angaur attack stores at Sarangani Bay.
  • B-25s support US 8th Army ground forces near Zamboanga.
  • B-25s and A-20s support US 6th Army ground forces in the Cagayan Valley.
  • Late in the day, 2 Japanese aircraft strafe Moret Field on Mindanao and drop one bomb, but this is the only air attack the base will endure.
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Burma

The British capture Maymyo, cutting the rail communications of the Japanese garrison in Mandalay.

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Eastern Front

EAST PRUSSIA

The 3rd Belorussian Front launches an offensive against the German 4th Army holed up in Heiligenbeil, Königsberg ans Samland.

GERMANY

The Polish 1st Army begins the destruction of the garrison of Kolberg.

CENTRAL SECTOR

The 3rd Belorussian begins a new offensive aimed at destroying the remnants of the 4th Army holed up around Heiligenbeil, Konigsberg and Samland. Marshal Vasilevsky has massed 7 armies to defeat the Germans and opens his attack with overwhelming arty and air strikes. The initial attack hits the Konigsberg corridor and the Heiligenbeil pocket.

In Pomerania heavy fighting breaks out at Kolberg as the 1st Polish Army begins to reduce the garrison.

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Iwo Jima

The Americans go ahead with the liquidation of the Japanese positions on their left flank. Flamethrowers, bulldozers and tanks are continually in action, as well as field artillery. US troops seal up 115 caves with the Japanese defenders still inside. Naval guns and aircraft cannot intervene because the two sides are at such close quarters.

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Pacific

The Japanese coast defense vessel No. 66 is sunk by US Army aircraft in the South China Sea.

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Philippines

On Luzon the US XIV Corps drives off further Japanese counterattacks in the area east of Manila.

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United States, Politics

Congress votes 354 to 28 to extend the Lend-Lease act for one more year, but with the restriction it not be used for 'postwar relief, rehabilitation or reconstruction.'

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Western Front

On the north flank of the Remagen bridgehead the 78th Div is unable to advance against the firm opposition of the German 7th Army. In the center the 9th Div, having taken Hargarten, moves on in the region between Kalenborn, Notscheid and Hargarten, while on the southern flank the 99th Div reinforces its positions and succeeds in repulsing a number of counterattacks. The divisions of the XII Corps, US 3rd Army, complete their preparations for their attack against the Moselle.

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Images from March 13, 1945

SC Photo 264065 of MG Oscar Groswold, CG, XIV Corps; MG Edwin Patrick, CG, 6th Infantry Division; and MG Charles P. Hall, CG, XI Corps; east of Manila, 13 March 1945

Commanding Generals in Manila


Commanding Generals in Manila

The destruction by bombing of the Propaganda Ministry in central Berlin, 13 March 1945

Destruction of the Propaganda Ministry


destruction by bombing of the Propaganda Ministry

80th Division M4 Sherman tanks fitted with the T34 60-tube 4.5 inch Rocket Launcher (Calliope), on a road in Germany, 13 March 1945. Driver of the lead tank is identified as T/5 Stanley Nortavage

Rocket Launcher on a Sherman


Rocket Launcher on a Sherman

A assault boat loaded with infantrymen moves across the Saar River in the practice crossing near Grossbliederstoff, France. 3rd Bn, 276th Infantry, 70th Division, 13 March 1945. (Photo: National Archives)

Crossing the Saar River


Crossing the Saar River

US Army crossing the Rhine River on pontoon supported treadway bridge at Worms, March, 1945

Crossing the Rhine River at Worms


Crossing the Rhine River at Worms

Landing Signal Officer Ensign R. J. Grant guiding in a F6F Hellcat fighter aboard USS Enterprise, 13 March 1945

Guiding in a F6F Hellcat Fighter Aboard


guiding in a F6F Hellcat fighter aboard

A 9th Infantry Division MP stands guard along the Rhine at Erpel, Germany on 13 March 1945.

Standing Guard along the Rhine at Erpel


stands guard along the Rhine at Erpel

108th Engineers carve a new road 10 miles south of Baguio on 13 March 1945

Carving a New Road near Baguio


carve a new road 10 miles south of Baguio

[March 12th - March 14th]