Air Operations, Bonin Islands
Despite Japanese Army ground attacks against its base on Iwo Jima during the night, the VII Fighter Command’s newly arrived 21st Fighter Group, in P-51s, makes its combat debut in bombing and strafing missions against ground targets on Haha Jima.
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]Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- More than 80 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops and supplies along and directly behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
- 25 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack occupied towns and road, rail, and river traffic at numerous locations.
- 28 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack a bridge near Liuchow, an occupied town, and river traffic at several locations.
- During the night, a 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24 sinks a cargo ship off the Liuchow Peninsula.
- 28 51st Fighter Group fighter-bombers attack power facilities, trucks, trains, sampans, and other targets.
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]Air Operations, East Indies
42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s mount a light attack against Sandakan.
[ | ]Air Operations, Europe
A V-2 destroys a block of flats in Hughes Mansions, Stepney, killing 131 and seriously injuring 49. 9 and one-half hours later, the last V-2 to reach Britain lands at Orpington, Kent. The V-2s have killed 2,754 civilians and seriously injured 6,523 more. The last V-1 launched at the UK lands in Kent on the 29th. V-1s have killed 6,184 civilians and seriously injured 17,981. Hitler's 'terror weapon', however, has not succeeded in breaking the British spirit. A fact usually ignored in histories of the war is that German long-range coastal batteries opposite Dover killed 148 and seriously injured 255 people.
RAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
- 268 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos are sent to attack Paderborn where American troops are attempting to complete the encirclement of the Ruhr. The area is covered by cloud but the raid is still carried out with almost perfect accuracy and this old town is virtually destroyed in less than a quarter of an hour.
- There are no losses.
- 50 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out G-H raids on 2 benzol plants in the Hamm area. No results are seen, because of cloud, but dense black smoke rises through the cloud from both targets.
- There are no losses.
- 115 Lancasters of No. 5 Group attack an oil storage depot (95 aircraft) and a U-boat shelter (20 aircraft of No. 617 Squadron) at Farge on the Weser River north of Bremen. Both attacks appear to be successful. The results of the raid on the oil depot are not known, because this target is attacked with delayed-action bombs so that clouds of smoke would not obscure the target. The U-boat shelter is a particularly interesting target. It is a huge structure with a concrete roof 23 feet thick. It is almost ready for use when No. 617 Squadron attack it on this day and penetrate the roof with 2 Grand Slams which bring down thousands of tons of concrete rubble and render the shelter unusable.
- There are no losses in these attacks.
Minor Ops:
- 82 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 7 to Bremen, 4 to Erfurt and 3 each to Hannover and Magdeburg, 8 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group lay mines in the Elbe River, and there are 23 Mosquito patrols and 46 RCM sorties.
- 4 Mosquitos are lost, 3 from the Berlin raid and 1 from the minelaying operation.
| ]Air Operations, Formosa
38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Kinsui.
[ | ]Air Operations, Japan
- As part of the bombardment campaign leading to the upcoming Okinawa landings, more than 151 of 161 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack an aircraft factory at Omura and the Oita and Tachiarai airfields on Kyushu while 3 B-29s attack other targets.
- During the night 92 of 102 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched sow mines in Shimonoseki Strait and 2 B-29s mine other waters. This the first mission of a long-term night-mining campaign aimed at blockading Japanese shipping.
- 3 B-29s are lost.
| ]Air Operations, Pacific
B-29 Superfortresses based on Tinian begin a huge mining operation in Japanese waters, while the day and night bombing of the metropolitan Japanese islands is stepped up.
[ | ]Air Operations, Philippines
- 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack pre-invasion targets at Legaspi.
- XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields on Negros.
- 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack targets around Cebu City.
- V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets on Luzon.
- Fighter-bombers support US Army landings on Caballo Island.
| ]Air Operations, Ryukyus
- Task Force 58 and Task Group 52.1 carrier aircraft attack numerous pre-invasion targets on Okinawa, and Task Force 57 Royal Navy carrier aircraft attack airfields and support facilities in the Sakishima Islands.
- Because of earlier strikes by Task Force 58 against their bases in Japan, from which their organizations have not yet been able to recover, kamikaze aircraft are able to mount only light, uncoordinated attacks against the US invasion fleet in the Kerama Islands. However, a US destroyer is severely damaged in a kamikaze attack at dawn, and a US battleship, a cruiser, and a destroyer are struck and damaged by 3 of 7 D3A 'Val' dive bombers that attack a force of fire-support vessels during the evening.
- 2 VBF-6 F4Us down an A6M Zero 15 miles from Task Force 58 at 0353 hours.
- A VF-17 F6F downs an H8K 'Emily' flying boat at sea at 0416 hours.
- A VF-17 F6F downs a B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber at sea at 0600 hours.
- A VC-84 FM downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber over the Kerama Islands at 0615 hours.
- A VF-17 F6F downs a B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber 35 miles from Task Force 58 at 0655 hours.
- A VF-30 F6F downs a B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber 10 miles from Task Force 58 at 0715 hours.
- A VBF-83 F4U downs a twin-engine fighter at sea at 0759 hours.
- A VF-17 F6F downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane 50 miles from Task Force 58 at 0815 hours.
| ]Britain, Home Front
The last German V-2 rocket lands southeast of London at Orpington. The V-2 campaign has killed 2,855 British civilians and injured 6,268. As well as the 1,115 launched at British targets a further 2,050 were aimed at Antwerp, Brussels and Liège.
[ | ]Diplomatic Relations
Argentina declares war on Germany; this declaration brings the number of countries in the anti-German coalition to 53 out of the 70-odd sovereign countries including Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein and Vatican City, existing in the world today.
16 prominent anti-communist Poles including the deputy premier of the government-in-exile, are invited to a conference with Russian officials on political matters. When they arrive, all are arrested. The Poles are sent to Moscow and imprisoned, eliminating the last vestiges of anti-communist leadership remaining within Poland.
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Eastern Front
South of the Danube, the Russian 46th Army surrounds and routs huge German forces west of Esztergom. Other forces of the 2nd Ukraine Front advance toward the Raba River, where the enemy forces try to stem their advance.
The 2nd Belorussian Front penetrates into Danzig and Gdynia where house-to-house fighting begins. The 1st Ukraine Front captures the towns of Strehlen (Strzelin), south of Breslau, and Rybnik, east of Ratibor (Raciborz), while the 4th Ukraine Front, operating southeast of Ratibor, seizes Zary (Sorau) and Wodzislaw. In Hungary and Czechoslovakia the 2nd and 3rd Ukraine Fronts continue their attacks.
EAST PRUSSIAThe heartland of Prussian militarism is falling to the Red Army: the remnants of the 4th Army are annihilated, the Soviet 19th Army takes Gotenhafen, and the 2nd Shock and 19th Armies break into Danzig.
GERMANYA counterattack by a weakened German 9th Army to relieve Küstrin fails and incurs 8,000 casualties.[MORE]
[ | ]Pacific
The Japanese cable layer Odate is sunk by the US submarine Trigger (SS-237) in the East China Sea.
[ | ]Philippines
On Luzon in the US I Corps sector, units of the 32nd Div open the offensive for the capture of Salcsac Pass No. 2 on the Villa Verde track. The 25th Div takes Norton's Knob and holds it against violent night counterattacks.
The units which landed on Cebu break through the weak Japanese resistance and take Cebu City, and advance beyond the town. The Japanese dig in on the surrounding hills. As on the other islands the Japanese are beginning to withdraw to inland strongholds where they will be confined and worn down by Filipino guerrillas.
In Manila Bay an American force lands on Caballo Island, better known to the former defenders of the island as Fort Hughes. After struggling to penetrate the Japanese defenses until April 5, the US forces will pour thousands of gallons of a diesel/gasoline mixture into the fort and set it on fire. Even after this treatment the Japanese resistance is not entirely finished.
[ | ]Ryukyu Islands
The Americans proceed with the occupation of Kerama Retto and the neighborong islands in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa.
Japanese suicide pilots continue to attack American ships, damaging the aircraft carrier Essex (CV-9), the light minelayer Adams (DM-27) and the high-speed minesweeper Southard (DMS-10).
[ | ]V-Weapons
The V-2 rocket lands in England killing 131 people in Orpington, London.
[]Western Front
The 51st Div, British XXX Corps, 2nd Army, reaches the Ijssel River at Ijsselburg, while the XVIII Airborne Corps advances rapidly some 10 miles across the Wesel forest.
In the US 9th Army sector, the 79th Div of the XVI Corps advances very slowly from the south toward the Ruhr area, where a huge German pocket of resistance is being formed. The VIII Corps, US 3rd Army, further widens and strengthens its bridgehead across the Rhine, mainly in the sector facing Wiesbaden. Further south, where the XX Corps is operating, the 80th Div completes its preparations for the crossing of the Rhine and the Main in the Mainz sector.
The French 1st Army quickly regroups in readiness for an offensive across the Rhine in the area of Germersheim.
[ | ]Images from March 27, 1945
Allies Enter Frankfurt |
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Aftermath of a V-2 bombing at Hughes Mansions |
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Worms, Germany |
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US 8th Army Landing at Cebu |
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Crossing the Danube |
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Crossing the Rhine near Koblenz |
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US Troops Cross the Lahn |
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V-2 Damage at Kynaston Road |
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