Air Operations, CBI

• More than 30 10th Air Force P-47s and 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack targets across central Burma.

• 11 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail yards and warehouses at Kaifeng.
• 7 B-25s attack shipping in the South China Sea and Bakli Bay, and town areas at Liuchow and Tenghsien.
• 6 B-25s attack a bridge near Ningming.
• 4 B-25s and 6 P-51s attack a bridge, town areas, and shipping at Puchi.
• Nearly 140 Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack various targets across southern and eastern China.
• FEAF B-24s attack stores at Canton and port areas at Hong Kong.

• 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a fort at Bac Ninh.
• 24 51st Fighter Group P-51s and 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack 4 bridges and targets of opportunity in northern French Indochina.

Air Operations, Europe

• 34 Lancasters of No. 5 Group (Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons) set out to attack the warships Prinz Eugen and Lützow in Swinemünde harbur, but the raid is abandoned because of cloud over the target. All aircraft return safely.

• 377 Lancasters and 105 Halifaxes of Nos. 3, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to attack Kiel. This raid is directed against the port area, with the U-boat yards as the main objective. Bomber Command rates this effort as 'a poor attack' with scattered bombing.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

• 20 Halifaxes and 8 Mosquitos make a diversionary raid on Boizenburg, 87 Mosquitos are sent to Hamburg, 20 to Stralsund and 12 to Reisa, 82 Lancasters and 27 Halifaxes lay mines in Kiel Bay and the Kattegat, and there are 55 Mosquito patrols and 62 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito of No. 100 Group is lost.

Air Operations, Formosa

• Royal Navy carrier aircraft from Task Force 57 attack airfields.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfields at Tainan and Okayama.
• 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s sweep rail lines.

Air Operations, Japan

During the night 327 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack the Tokyo Arsenal with 2,120 tons of bombs. 7 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Pacific

327 B-29 Superfortress bombers carry out a massive raid on Tokyo dropping 2,139 tons of incendiaries, razing the northwest part of the city to the ground over an area of 7 square miles.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 23 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Kabacan.
• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Davao area.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s sweep highways and roads on Mindanao and targets in the Sulu Archipelago.
• FEAF B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers mount intense attacks throughout Luzon, Cebu, and Negros.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• The air and naval pre-invasion bombardment of Ie Shima is intensified.
• US Navy carrier-based F6Fs and F4Us down 9 Japanese light bombers at sea between 0925 and 1742 hours.

Burma

The 20th Indian Div, British XXXIII Corps, takes Taungdwingyi.

China

The Japanese open a large-scale offensive in Honan and Hupei provinces. They start with a drive against Chihchiang, putting in their main effort along the road leading from Paoching.

Diplomatic Relations

Chile declares war on Japan.

Eastern Front

Following a new breakthrough by the 3rd Ukraine Front west of Vienna, at 2p.m., after the most savage fighting, the city is in the hands of Fyodor Tolbukhin's and Rodion Malinovsky's troops. The 2nd Front now heads for St Pölten and threatens the Army Group Center from the south, attacking toward Brno, in Czechoslovakia.

The Battle of Vienna is over. In a month German forces in Hungary and Austria have lost 134,000 troops captured. The 3rd Ukrainian Front has lost 32,000 killed and 106,000 wounded in the same period.[MORE]

Italy

Headquarters of the US 5th Army again has to postpone the start of the offensive on account of persistent bad weather.

In the British 8th Army sector, the Polish II Corps extends its bridgehead over the Santerno River. New Zealand troops capture Massa Lombarda southwest of Lake Comacchio.

Okinawa

The units of 6th Marine Div not engaged on the Motobu Peninsula continue their advance up the west coast and reach the northwest tip of the island at Hedo Point.

In Japanese aircraft action only the destroyer escort Connolly (DE-306) is damaged.

Pacific

Seafire and Hellcat fighters of the British Pacific Fleet attack Shinchiku and Kiirun airfields on Formosa. 16 enemy planes are shot down, 1 is destroyed on the ground, and 5 others are badly damaged.

Philippines

In Manila Bay US forces land on Fort Drum, 'the Concrete Battleship', and begin to pour 5,000 gallons of oil fuel into the fortifications. This is then set on fire and burns for five days eliminating the Japanese garrison. On April 16 a landing on Fort Frank fints it abandoned. This completes the capture of the islands in Manila Bay.

Western Front

The Canadian I Corps, Canadian 1st Army, continues its attack on Arnhem.

In the British 2nd Army sector the XXX Corps is still advancing toward Bremen and the VIII Corps toward Ülzen.

Operations on the Elbe by the XIII and XIX Corps, US 9th Army, continue, while the XVI Corps captures the sector north of the Ruhr between Witten and Westhofen and completes the capture of Dortmund. The XVIII Airborne Corps pursues the enemy retiring from positions in the Ruhr pocket.

The XX Corps, US 3rd Army, throws more troops across the Weisse-Elster, while the VIII Corps continues mopping up on the west bank of the Saal. Jena is taken by 3rd Army units.

Units of the XV Corps, US 7th Army, enters Bamberg.

The full horror of the Germans crimes begins to become clear to the west, with the liberation of Belsen and Buchenwald by British and American forces respectively.

Images from April 13, 1945

De Punt, 13 April 1945. The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry is surprised with a delicious cup of milk

A Milk Surprise

Stuart VI light tanks pass half-tracks and other vehicles of 15th (Scottish) Division during the advance to the River Elbe, Germany, 13 April 1945.

The Advance to the Elbe River

Churchill tanks of the Scots Guards, 6th Guards Tank Brigade carrying men of the 10th Highland Light Infantry, 15th (Scottish) Division, negotiate a crater during the advance to the River Elbe, 13 April 1945

Churchill Tanks of the Scots Guards

Sherman tanks of the 1st Coldstream Guards, Guards Armoured Division, shooting at enemy positions in a wood during the advance in Germany, 13 April 1945.

Sherman Tanks of the 1st Coldstream Guards

Tanks of 11th Armored Division advance on the River Elbe, 13 April 1945

Tanks of 11th Armored Division

Churchill tanks of the Scots Guards, 6th Guards Tank Brigade carrying men of the 10th Highland Light Infantry, 15th (Scottish) Division, during the advance to the River Elbe, 13 April 1945

Churchill tanks of the Scots Guards

13 April 1945. Picking up the pieces after a kamikaze strike on Tennessee. The repair parties are inspecting the damage to the aft starboard side

Repairing the Tennessee

Gardelegen: concentration camp prisoners burnt alive, the scene discovered by soldiers of the 102nd Division

Concentration Camp Prisoners Burnt Alive