Air Operations, CBI

• 14 10th Air Force B-25s and 44 P-47s attack troops, stores, and road targets of opportunity across central Burma.
• 26 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces near Hsipaw.

• More than 25 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and more than 150 14th Air Force fighter-bombers, organized in 1-to-8-plane flights attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.
• In the 530th Fighter Squadron’s second airfield interdiction mission to Nanking in two days, the P-51 pilots become embroiled in a melee with 22 Japanese fighters while strafing. 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter and 1 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter are downed in the dogfights.
• Under pressure from Japanese Army ground forces, 14th Air Force personnel destroy the airfield at Laohokow and withdraw from the area. As it turns out, Laohokow is the last 14th Air Force base to fall to the Japanese in the war. For the moment, however, Japanese ground forces continue their drive toward the 14th Air Forces airfields at Sian and Ankang. Chinese Army ground forces resisting the advance are assisted by 312th Fighter Wing units (81st Fighter Group, 311th Fighter Group, and 426th Night Fighter Squadron) north of the Yellow River and the CACW (1st and 2nd CACW Medium Bomb squadrons and 3d CACW Fighter Group) south of the Yellow River.

Air Operations, Europe

8th Air Force B-24s bomb the underground oil stores at Hamburg.

• The Bomber Command operations on this day are directed to towns on the main reinforcement routes into the Rhine battle area. Heavy attacks are made on the railway routes through these towns and on the surrounding built-up areas.
•   Hannover is attacked by 267 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 6 and 8 Groups. The bombing is observed to fall in the target area.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 175 aircraft including 151 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups raid Münster. Few results are seen by the bombers because the target area rapidly becomes smoke-covered. Münster reports a large number of bombs, but only 2 people are killed.
• 3 Halifaxes are lost.
• 132 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups are sent to bomb Osnabrück. Osnabrück reports extensive property damage throughout the town.
• There are no losses.

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 1 Lancaster drops leaflets over The Hague.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 18 312th Light Bomb Group A-20s attack an alcohol plant at Kyoshito.
• A 35th Fighter Group P-51 downs an A6M Zero off Formosa at 1900 hours.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s heckle Kiirun while 19 radar-guided V Bomber Command B-24s attack port facilities at Takao.

Air Operations, Pacific

• 5th Air Force Liberators destroy a hydro-electric power station on Formosa.
• The first kamikaze attack is carried out on US warships near Okinawa.

Air Operations, Philippines

• Nearly 70 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Cebu City.
• 23 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack ammo and supply dumps on Cebu.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Legaspi.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack Pandanan Island.
• B-25s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack various targets on Luzon.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• Task Force 58 and Task Group 52.1 carrier aircraft attack numerous pre-invasion targets on Okinawa.
• Task Group 52.1 aircraft mount pre-invasion strikes against the Kerama Islands.
• VC-92 FMs down 2 P1Y 'Galaxy' bombers and 1 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter over the southern Ryukyus at 1823 hours.
• One FM and its pilot are lost in an operational accident.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

6th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crews down 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers and probably down a third near Iwo Jima at about 2100 hours.

Air Operations, Western Pacific

A VF-17 F6F downs an E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance plane near southern Kyushu at 0743 hours.

China

The US 14th Air Force abandons Laohokow airfield after destroying the installations. But this is the last airfield that the Americans have to abandon. The continuing Japanese thrusts, toward Sian and Ankang, are halted by Chinese forces a short way from their objectives.

Eastern Front

In East Prussia the 3rd Belorussian Front takes Heiligenbeil while the 2nd Front capture Oliva near Danzig. The 2nd Ukraine Front joins in the advance of the 3rd Ukraine Front toward the Austrian frontier, advancing 30 miles and capturing Esztergom, desperately defended by the Germans, and also Tata and Tatabanya.

In Czechoslovakia the 53rd and 7th Guards Armies, with the Rumanian 1st Army, begin to advance along the left bank of the Danube toward Bratislava, taking Loslaw. The Russian 40th Army and Rumanian 4th Army have meanwhile liquidated the German bridgehead over the Hron River.

Heiligenbeil falls to the 3rd Belorussian Front, although the Germans continue to fight on a strip of land on the coast.

The 2nd Ukrainian Front launches its 7th Guards, 40th, 53rd and Romanian 1st and 4th Armies at the Hron River defenses, pushing the German 8th Army back as it establishes a bridgehead.[MORE]

Japan, Home Front

The Imperial GHQ initiates Operation TENGO for the defense of Okinawa and Kyushu. Vice-Adm Matome Ugaki commands the kamikaze force '5th Air Fleet'.

Okinawa

In the Okinawa area Japanese suicide aircraft damage the US destroyer Kimberley (DD-521), the destroyer escort Sederstrom (DE-31), the light mine-laying vessel Robert H. Smith (DM-23) and the high-speed transport ships Gilmer (APD-11) and Knudsen (APD-101).

Philippines

On Luzon the US 1st Cav Div moves on from Santo Tomas toward Tanauan; a column from the division occupies Los Baños. The 25th Div advancing toward Mount Myoko meets with powerful Japanese resistance.

Ryukyu Islands

The 17 escort carriers of Adm Calvin T. Durgin's TF 52 begin attacks on the same targets as the fleet carriers, both supplementing their efforts and giving them opportunities to refuel. There is a bombardment of the small island of Kerama Retto just to the west of Okinawa itself.

Western Front

The town of Wesel is liberated by the British XII Corps, 2nd Army. The various crossings of 21st Army Group are consolidated into one bridgehead 30 miles wide.

In the US 9th Army sector the XVI Corps maintains pressure on the east bank of the Rhine during the night and the early hours of the morning. The offensive of the VII and III Corps, 1st Army, continues in the area roughly between Cologne and Remagen.

The VIII Corps, US 3rd Army, opens an offensive across the Rhine at midnight, sending the 87th Div over to the east bank in the area of Braubach and Boppard. To the south Darmstadt is taken by XII Corps units who crossed at Nierstein. The 6th Arm Div, XII Corps, after crossing the Rhine opposite Oppenheim, heads for the Main River and Frankfurt; units of the 4th Arm Div reach Aschaffenburg and Hanau. All organized resistance west of the Rhine ends.

Images from March 25, 1945

British paratroops in Hamminkeln during the Allied airborne landings east of the Rhine, 25 March 1945.

British Paratroops in Hamminkeln

British airborne troops with a 6-pdr anti-tank gun in Hamminkeln, Germany, 25 March 1945.

British Troops with a 6-pdr Anti-tank Gun

DUKW amphibious vehicles ferrying supplies across the Rhine, 25 March 1945.

DUKWs Ferrying Supplies

British triple 20mm anti-aircraft mounting on the banks of the Rhine, 25 March 1945

British Triple 20mm Anti-aircraft Guns

Gliders in a field outside Hamminkeln during airborne landings east of the Rhine, 25 March 1945

Gliders Outside Hamminkeln

A pair of German tank destroyer Jagdpanzers IV/70 (A), captured by the U.S. 1st Army in the vicinity of Oberpleis, (east of Bonn) Germany. March 25, 1945

Captured German Tank Destroyers

Large group of German prisoners of war sitting together in a compound after being captured by the Western Allies, March 25, 1945

Large Group of German POWs

Winston Churchill on the east bank of the Rhine River after crossing, south of Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, March 25, 1945

Churchill on the East Bank of the Rhine

A Japanese tank wedged between banks of solid earth was very difficult for US Marines to see or attack from the front, Iwo Jima, Mar 25, 1945

A Japanese Tank Wedged Between Earth Banks