Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops and a fuel dump at Panghai.
• 40 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s sweep roads behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 23 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces near Hsipaw.
• 4 P-38s attack artillery positions near Mogok.

• 32 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail yards at Shihkiachwang.
• A 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 and 2 P-51s attack a train near Shihkiachwang.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-25s attack the Jesselton and Tarakan airfields on Borneo.
• 347th Fighter Group P-38s down 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near Balikpapan, Borneo, at 1115 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• There is a raid on Nuremburg by 231 Lancasters of No. 1 Group and 46 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group. A local report states that the southern and southwestern districts are hit as well as the ruins of the Altstadt which was destroyed in a previous raid. A serious fire is started in the Steinbuhl district. The main railway station is also on fire and the city's gasworks are so badly damaged that they do not resume production before the end of the war. This is the last heavy Bomber Command raid on Nuremberg.
• 24 Lancasters, all from No 1 Group, are lost. Most of these losses are due to German night fighters, which found the bomber stream on its way to the target.
• 225 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack Würzburg. This is another dramatic and devastating blow by No. 5 Group. 1,127 tons of bombs are dropped with great accuracy in 17 minutes. According to a post-war survey, the old cathedral city with its famous historic buildings suffered 89 per cent of its built-up area destroyed. Würzburg contains little industry and this is an area attack.
• 6 Lancasters are lost.

• 56 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 24 to Hanau, and 6 each to Brunswick and Osnabrück, 12 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters lay mines in the Kattegat and off Heligoland, and there are 40 Mosquito patrols and 32 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

In the first large attacks since March 3—a break caused by almost continuous bad weather—86 V Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields at Heito, the naval base at Okayama, and the town area at Taihoku.

Air Operations, Japan

During the night, 306 of 330 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack Kobe with incendiary bombs from 5,000 to 9,500 feet. 3 of the B-29s attack other targets. 3 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Pacific

Kobe is bombed by 307 B-29s, resulting in 15,000 casualties.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Talisay airfield on Negros and the Carolina airfield on Cebu, and other targets on Cebu.
• B-24s and V Bomber Command A-20s attack Baguio.
• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Batangas area.
• Fighter-bombers attack Caballo Island and motor vehicles and supplies at Patapat.
• As the pre-invasion bombardment of Panay begins, US Army artillery spotter planes are flown to an airstrip built on the island by American and Filipino guerrillas.

Diplomatic Relations

The British Foreign Office confirms there has been German peace feelers through its legation in Stockholm.

Eastern Front

The 3rd Ukraine Front goes over to the offensive in the Székesfehérvár area, in Hungary, against the German Army Group South. The final objective is Vienna.

The Soviet forces in Hungary have regrouped following the German advance in the Lake Balaton area and now begin an offensive agains the northern flank of the recently won German salient. The 3rd Hungarian Army takes the brunt of the first assaults and is soon in great difficulty.

The Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front (536,000 troops) opens the Vienna Offensive, with the 4th and 9th Guards Armies attacking the weakened German 6th Army west of Lake Balaton. Nevertheless, the Soviets find enemy resistance is initially strong.

During a day of intense fighting the remaining civilians are evacuated from Kolberg. To the south elements of the 4th Tank Army cross teh Niesse River.

Tolbukhin's 3rd Ukrainian Front, with 536,700 men, begin the Vienna Offensive Operation. The 4th and 9th Guards pound the 6th Army between Szekesfehervar and Mor. Already fully committed south of Lake Velencei, Wohler has nothing left with which to meet this attack. Only the desperation of the German defense prevents an immediate breakthrough, a hard day of fighting gaining the Soviet forces just 2 miles.

Iwo Jima

Japanese resistance on Iwo Jima breaks down as US Marine forces push their way to Kitano Point, the northernmost tip of the island. A small pocket of disorganized Japanese defenders remains in the northeast, but is easily contained. The central airfield comes into operation.

Pacific

The Japanese coast defense vessel No. 69 is sunk by US Army aircraft in the South China Sea.

Philippines

Part of the US 41st Div lands on Basilan Island. Here, as on other small islands, the pattern will be for the US forces to subdue the Japanese in the first few days' fighting and then mostly to withdraw, leaving the mopping up to Filipino guerrillas.

Fighting continues along the Shimbu Line southeast of Manila and in the I Corps sector to the north, especially on the Villa Verde track.

Western Front

Units of the VII Corps, US 1st Army, further extend the bridgehead over the Rhine at Remagen; the 78th Div cuts the autobahn between Cologne and Frankfurt.

In the VIII Corps sector, US 3rd Army, the 87th Div launches the offensive for the crossing of the Moselle, sending 2 regiments over the river in the area between Willingen and Kolber. The units of the XII and XX Corps also cross the Moselle. Tanks of the US 4th Arm Div advance 32 miles to the Nahe River and capture 2 bridges south of Bad Kreuznach. All resistance south of the Moselle collapses.

In the US 7th Army sector Operation UNDERTONE goes on with the 3 corps trying to break through the Siegfried Line.

Images from March 16, 1945

Dagupan POW camp near Dagupan in the Philippines, 16 March 1945

Dagupan POW Camp

Struck by two bombs from a higher Liberator, Sqn Ldr L.Ñ. Saxby and crew in KK320/V of No 37 Squadron had a miraculous escape. One bomb struck the port inner engine and sheared off the propeller and the second went through the fuselage just behind the flight deck, narrowly missing the top-turret gunner. Despite the damage, Saxby managed to regain control and fly the aircraft the near-300 miles back to home station at Tortorella. The target was Monfalcone port and the date 16 March 1945

Bomb-damaged Liberator

Private W. G. Lourie examines a German Jagdpanther which was put out of commission by the first shot from an Ordnance Quick-Fire 17-pounder gun of the 6th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, in the Reichswald; Germany, 16 March 1945. (Photo by Ken Bell)

Examining a German Jagdpanther

Bombs hit Liberator B Mk VI KK320 V-Victor of No 37 Squadron during raid on the Monfalcone Italy 16 March 1945

Bombs hit Liberator B Mk VI KK320 V-Victor

M16 MGMC with M45 Quadmount, Remagen, Ludendorff Bridge, March 1945

M16 MGMC with M45 Quadmount

Nuremburg bomb damage

Nuremburg Bomb Damage

Propeller/fuselage hit from above by bombs. S/L Saxby's B-24 KK320, above Monfalcone, 16 March 1945

Liberator Bomb Damage

Tiger I (trophy number 205) in the same collection site. This Tiger was one of two Tigers lost near Felso Major, 16 March 1945.

One of Two Tigers Lost near Felso Major