Air Operations, CBI

• Nearly 30 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops throughout the central Burma battle area.

• 23 308th Heavy Bomb Group attack stores at Yungcheng.
• More than 50 14th Air Force B-25s and more than 180 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack a wide array of targets in southern and eastern China.
• Among these attacks, the 3rd and 4th CACW Medium Bomb squadrons and the entire 5th CACW Fighter Group are committed to supporting Chinese Army ground troops in thwarting the drive by Japanese Army ground forces from Paoching against the 14th Air Force’s Chihchiang airfield.

• 347th Fighter Group P-38s down a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter and a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter near Saigon between noon and 1210 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Bingkalapa airfield on Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

A Luftwaffe Ar-234 reconnaissance jet makes the last German sortie over Britain.

30 of 50 German Me-262 jet fighters are shot down by US bombers and their P-51 escorts in the Berlin area. The attacking force of 1,232 B-17s and B-24s is able to beat off the largest jet effort of the war. Only 10 of the bombers are lost.

Daylight Ops:

• 230 aircraft including 134 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes and 6 Mosquitos attack the Engelsdorf and Mockau railway yards at Leipzig. The weather is clear and the bombing is accurate.
• 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster are lost.

• 307 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups are sent to Plauen. The bombing falls around the railway yards in the northern half of the town. The railways are hit and 365 acres, 51 per cent, of the town's built-up area are also destroyed.
• There are no losses.
• 76 Lancasters and 19 Mosquitos of Nos. 5 and 8 Groups attack the Wahren railway yards in Leipzig. The eastern half of the yards is destroyed.
• 7 Lancasters are lost.

• 77 Mosquitos are snet to Berlin, 21 to Chemnitz and 7 to Bayreuth, and there are 26 Mosquito patrols and 53 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Berlin raid and 1 RCM Halifax is also lost.

Air Operations, Formosa

After being weathered out of the airfield at Tainan, 23 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Koshun with 100-pound fragmentation clusters.

Air Operations, Japan

• US Navy aircraft and 7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the Kataoka naval base with napalm.
• 4 B-25s abort over the target while attacking a radar site at Minami Cape.
• 3 B-25s attack a cannery.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Cebu.
• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• Despite bad weather, US Navy carrier aircraft and US Marine Corps land-based aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa.
• TBMs and F6Fs from Task Unit 52.1.3 attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A VF-17 F6F downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber at 0630 hours.
• A VMF-112 F4U downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber over the Tokuna Shima airfield at 0700 hours.

Britain, Home Front

Churchill announces that total Commonwealth and Empire casualties thus far were 1,126,802 military and 34,161 merchant marine. In addition, British civilian casualtieswere 144,542.

Burma

Thazi, east of Meiktila, is captured by the British IV Corps. Indian and British troops take Pyawbwe, a key point on the Mandalay-Rangoon rail line.

Gen William Slim's 14th Army commences an offensive to capture Rangoon. It is a race against time to take the city before the monsoons begin in mid-May. He must also stop the Japanese forming a defensive line north of Rangoon and halting his advance.

Eastern Front

While the battle for Vienna rages, the 6th SS Panzer Army repulses strong attacks in the area of Wiener Neustadt and west of Baden. In the sector of the Army Group Center, the troops besieged in Breslau are still holding out against continuous attacks. The German communiqués admit that resistance has ended at Königsberg but deny that there has been a capitulation.

The 6th SS Panzer Army begins to pull out of Vienna city center while the remnants of the 6th Army and other units of the 6th SS fight on near Wiener Neustadt and Baden.

Italy

The 92nd Div, US 5th Army, enters Massa. The British 8th Army continues its offensive on the east flank of the Allied line. The attack in force in this sector takes Gen Traugott Herr's German 10th Army by surprise for they were expecting an offensive in the center and on the right of their line. British Royal Marines sweep around the Senio River lines using assault boats, threatening the German read defenses in Italy.

Okinawa

In the Motobu peninsula the 6th Marine Div begins a flanking maneuver to get behind the Yae-Take hills, which are strongly manned by the Japanese. On the Shuri line, in the south, the US 96th Div resumes its attacks against Kakazu Ridge and gains some positions, but is unable to drive the enemy out completely.

After the usual air and naval preparation, a battalion of the US 27th Div lands on Tsugen Island, east of Okinawa, and clears it.

US ships damaged in the day's action in the Okinawa area include the motor minesweeper YMS-96 in a collision, the submarine chaser SC-667 by grounding and the landing craft LST-449 by coastal gunfire.

Philippines

On Luzon the 158th Regimental Combat Group extends its area of control in the Legaspi sector, in the south and begins reconnaissance of the islands in the Gulf of Albay. In the I Corps sector, the US 37th Div occupies the area of Sablan-Salat, not far from Baguio. Units of the 25th Div proceed with their operations in the Mount Myoko area. The 128th Regt, 32nd Div, takes Salacsac Pass No. 2, so opening the way into the Cagayan valley. In the XI Corps sector, after the previous day's intensive bombardment. American infantry launch an assault on Mount Mataba, and some units succeed in reaching the top; but the Japanese keep up their resistance in this area for another week. Columns from the XIV Corps advancing southward, reach Lamon Bay, cutting off the Japanese left in the Bicol peninsula. The 1st Cav Div occupies Mauban and the 11th Airborne Div takes Atimonan, northwest of the Bicol peninsula.

Lt-Gen Sosaku Suzuki, commander of the 35th Army, is lost at sea during the withdrawal of Japanese forces from Cebu.

Western Front

On the northern flank of the front, units of the Canadian II Corps advance in the direction of Groningen and Oldenburg. In the British 2nd Army sector, while the XXX Corps pushes on toward Bremen, the XII Corps makes for Soltau and the VIII for Celle. The XIII Corps of the US 9th Army takes Hanover. In the XVI Corps sector, the cities reached include Gelsenkirchen, Bochum and Essen. Former Chancellor Fritz von Papen is captured by US troops in the Ruhr.

The XVIII Airborne Corps, US 1st Army, crosses the Sieg River in the Siegburg sector and advances into the German Ruhr pocket. The III Corps is also putting pressure against the sam objective, while the VII advances quickly toward Nordhausen. The divisions of the XX Corps, US 3rd Army, are approaching Erfurt.

In the US 7th Army sector, the XXI Corps advances north and northwest, toward Schweinfurt and along the east bank of the Main.

Images from April 10, 1945

Two New Zealand Infantrymen receive a glass of wine from one of the inhabitants of the village of Barbiano, Italy, 10 April 1945

A Glass of Wine

Italians from the village of Barbiano welcome NZ infantry.

Barbiano, Italy

NZ tank passing a knocked out German tank across the Senio River, 10 April 1945

Passing a Knocked Out German Tank

Allied B-17 of the 836th Squadron, 10 April 1945. Cannon shells from a German Me262 ripped into it's tail, perforating the vertical stabilizer & inboard right wing panel. Fire in No 3 engine, flames swept back to the tail. Peeled off shortly afterwards and dropped behind. Crew bailed out at RP, 7 miles West of Elbe River. Later right wing came off.

B-17 of the 836th Squadron

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment clears snipers from the town of Werlte, Germany, 10 April 1945

Clearing Snipers in Werlte

Infantry of the Black Watch of Canada (Royal Highland Regiment) crossing the river Regge south of Ommen, Netherlands, 10 April 1945

Crossing the River Regge

A Sexton 25pdr self-propelled gun crossing the River Senio over two Churchill Ark bridging tanks, 10 April 1945.

Crossing the River Senio

A Churchill tank of the North Irish Horse crossing the River Senio over two Churchill Ark bridging tanks, Italy, 10 April 1945.

Another Crossing of the River Senio