Air Operations, CBI

• 11 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops and motor vehicles near Laihka.
• 3 B-25s attack a bridge at Laihka.
• 39 10th Air Force P-47s attack troops, motor vehicles, and supplies between Laihka and Namlan.
• 29 P-47s sweep roads behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 20 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces around Mansam.

• 3 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• 1 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 and 4 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack a rail line near Tungyangchen.
• 4 P-51s attack targets of opportunity near Chihsien.
• FEAF B-25s attack several coastal targets during an anti-shipping sweep.

• 19 51st Fighter Group P-51s and 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack a Japanese Army barracks at Vinh Yen.

Air Operations, Europe

• 169 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out G-H attacks through cloud on oil plants at Datteln and Hattingen (near Bochum). Both attacks appear to be accurate, but no results are seen.
• 1 Lancaster is lost on the Hattingen raid.
• 32 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No. 5 Group, with 4 Oboe Mosquitos of No. 8 Group, are sent to hit the Bielefeld and Arnsberg viaducts. 28 Lancasters drop Tallboy bombs and the No. 617 Squadron Lancaster of Squadron Leader C. C. Calder drops the first 22,000lb 'Grand Slam' bomb at Bielefeld. The Arnsberg viaduct, No. 9 Squadron's target, is later found to be undamaged, but more than 100 yards of the Bielefeld viaduct collapses through the 'earthquake effect' of the Grand Slam and 'Tallboys' of No. 617 Squadron. This damage will prevent movement from the Ruhr to Remagen.
• There are no losses.

The viaduct at Bielefeld stands despite many attacks by Bomber Command to bring it down. This was fianlly achieved on this day when No 617 Squadon and its Lancasters equipped with 12,000lb Tallboy and 22,000lb Grand Slam deep penetration bombs attacked.

Bielefeld Viaduct

The scene after about 100 yards of the viaduct had collapsed due to the 'earthquake' effect of the huge bombs.

Bielefeld Viaduct

• 244 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the Wintershall synthetic oil refinery at Lützkendorf. Photographic reconnaissance shows that 'moderate damage' is caused.
• 18 Lancasters are lost.
• 230 aircraft including 121 Lancasters, 98 Halifaxes and 11 Mosquitos of Nos. 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Zweibrücken. This attack is directed on to the town area to block the passage through it of German troops and stores to the nearby front line. The raid takes place in good visibility and is very effective. The local report shows that every public building and inn and 80 per cent of the houses in the town are destroyed or damaged. Most of the civilian population had been evacuated. Those remaining take shelter in 2 large caves in the north and south of the town or in the normal basement shelters of their houses.
• There are no losses.
• 161 aircraft including 127 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups, on the same task as the Zweibrücken raid, proceed to Homburg. No local report is available, but it is believed that this attack is equally successful.
• 2 Halifaxes are lost.

• 75 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, and 6 each to Bremen and Brunswick, and there are 27 Mosquito patrols and 52 RCM sorties.
• No. 100 Group loses 2 Mosquitos and 1 Fortress.
• The last Stirling operation of Bomber Command is flown on this night when Stirling LJ516, from No. 199 Squadron at North Creake, flies a Mandrel screen operation. Squadron Leader J. J. M. Button, the Australian pilot, and his crew land safely.
• A total of 372 Luftwaffe planes attacked the Rhine River bridges during the past week. Allied antiaircraft shoot down 80.

Air Operations, Formosa

V Bomber Command B-24s and 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the naval base and fuel stores at Mako in the Pescadore Islands.

Air Operations, Pacific

US bombers raid Osaka, inflicting 13,000 casualties.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Konel area.
• 23 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack supply installations at Sarangani Bay.
• B-24s and B-25s attack port facilities at Isabella and anti-aircraft batteries and occupied villages in the Zamboanga area.
• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets on Luzon.
• A-20s attack Pandanan Island in the Panay area.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

VII Fighter Command P-51s undertake a ground-support mission—the last of the Iwo Jima campaign—in behalf of V Marine Amphibious Corps troops. 7th Air Force B-24s and VII Fighter Command P-51s and P-61s will continue to attack targets in the bypassed Bonin Islands.

Burma

The 19th Indian Div, British XXXIII Corps, takes most of the city of Mandalay, apart from a few enemy strongholds including Fort Dufferin, which is heavily bombarded by Allied artillery and aircraft. Maymo, to the east of Mandalay, falls to the 20th Indian Div.

Eastern Front

The Soviets capture Zvolen in western Czechoslovakia.

The 6th SS Panzer Army renews its offensive against the Soviet 27th Army but makes no headway.

Heavy fighting rages at Kolberg. The Poles demand the surrender of the town but the garrison comander, Gen Fullreide, refuses. He is aided in his defense by 2 naval destroyers lying offshore.

Fighting at Atldamm intensifies as the 47th Army renews its attacks. The 3rd Panzer Army has steadily strengthened its positions over the previous few days and withholds the Soviet attack.

The 6th SS Panzer Army launches a last ditch effort to break through the positions of the 27th Army. 200 panzers, with arty and infantry support, surge forward but become embroiled in bitter fighting. To the north the 2nd Ukrainian Front captures Zvolen.

Germany, Home Front

Adolf Eichmann declares he could go to his grave happy knowing he had helped kill six million Jews.

Iwo Jima

At 9:30 the Americans consider that the capture of the island is complete, and hoist their flag. But in the north a number of pockets of resistance have still to be eliminated.

Philippines

On Luzon the biggest engagements take place north of Antipolo, east of Manila, where the Americans advancing against the Shimbu line find themselves facing a series of strong Japanese defensive positions.

The Americans attack Japanese positions on Mount Capisan, on Mindanao, while fighting continues southeast of San Roque.

Western Front

While the Germans continue their air attacks aimed at destroying the Remagen bridge and the pontoon bridges erected by the American sappers in this sector held by units of the III Corps, US 1st Army, the VII Corps reorganizes its formations in readiness for the attack east of the Rhine. On the northern flank of the Remagen bridgehead, the 78th Div, III Corps, reaches its objectives near Ägidienberg, Rottibz and Kalenborn.

In the US 3rd Army sector, the 87th Div, VIII Corps, is moved into the Koblenz-Lehmen sector. Meanwhile, in the early hours of the morning, the XII Corps begins to advance from the Moselle to the Rhine, and on the southern flank of the army units of the XX Corps take Heddert, the 94th Div, Weiskirchen, the 80th Div, Nieder Felle and Fell, the 65th Div.

The American 7th Army completes its preparations for the offensive against the Siegfried Line; in the XXI Corps sector, the 101st Cavalry Group and 70th Div penetrate into Germany and patrol the south bank of the Saar River.

Images from March 14, 1945

Bomb Damage To Köln (Cologne), Germany, 14 March 1945

Bomb Damage To Köln

A 26 foot long 22,000-lb MC high explosive deep-penetration bomb (Bomber Command executive codeword ‘Grand Slam’) is manoeuvred onto a trolley by crane in the bomb dump at Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, for an evening raid by No. 617 Squadron RAF on the railway bridge at Nienburg, Germany. 20 aircraft took part in the raid and the target was destroyed

A 26 Foot Long 22,000-lb Bomb

Men of the Jewish Brigade ride on a Churchill tank in the Mezzano-Alfonsine sector, 14 March 1945

Men of the Jewish Brigade

A 617 Sqn Lancaster dropping a Grand Slam bomb on the Arnsberg viaduct, March 1945.

A Lancaster Dropping a Grand Slam Bomb

Tugs under construction, 14 March 1945, Cochrane and Sons Ltd's Ouse Shipbuilding Yard, Selby.

Tugs under construction

Vertical photographic-reconnaissance aerial of the twin railway viaducts at Schildesche, Bielefeld, after the successful daylight attack by 15 Avro Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF on 14 March 1945. Five arches of the viaducts have collapsed as a result of the detonation of 22,000-lb ‘Grand Slam’ and 12,000-lb ‘Tallboy’ deep penetration bombs in the target area. Craters from previous attempts to demolish the structure can be seen covering the floor of the Johannisbach Valley.

Recon Photo of the Railway Viaducts at Schildesche, Bielefeld

Infantrymen of Company I, 275th Infantry Regiment, 70th Division, US Seventh Army, run across an open area in the French-German border town of Stiring-Wendel, near Saarbrucken. 14 March 1945. Photo: National Archive

US Soldiers near French-German Border

Flag raising at US Headquarters on Iwo Jima after Nimitz’s proclamation of victory, 14 Mar 1945. (US Naval History and Heritage Command)

Flag Raising at US Headquarters on Iwo Jima