Air Operations, CBI

• 21 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack troops, tank, artillery positions, and bivouacs near Kongsam and Man Li.
• 5 427th Night Fighter Squadron P-61s attack supplies at Laihka.

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack targets of opportunity near Siangtan.
• 52 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Sandakan and Tarakan.

Air Operations, Europe

Oberst Johannes Steinhoff, with 176 victories, suffers hideous burns when his Me-262 crashes near Munich. He recovers to become C-in-C of the post-war West German Luftwaffe.

Daylight Ops:

• ;969 aircraft including 617 Lancasters, 332 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos of all groups attack the naval base at Heligoland, the airfield and the town on this small island. 5,000 tons of bombs are dropped. The bombing is accurate and the target areas are turned almost into crater-pitted moonscapes.
• 3 Halifaxes are lost.

• 114 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the railway yards in the Czechoslovak town of Komotau, now known as Chomutov. This is the last major raid in the long communications offensive to which No. 5 Group has made a particularly effective contribution. The raid is completely successful and all the aircraft involved return safely.

• 57 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 36 to Schleissheim airfield near Munich, and there are 33 Mosquito patrols and 35 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito of No. 141 Squadron is lost while carrying out a napalm attack on an airfield in northern Germany. This is a new form of weapon being used by the Mosquito squadrons of No. 100 Group.

• 118 3rd Air Division B-17s attack marshalling yards at kolin and Pilsen.
• 1 escort fighter is lost.

• 148 1st Air Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard and an electric-transformer station at Rosenheim.
• 65 1st Air Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard and an electric-transformer station at Traunstein.
• 61 1st Air Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Freising (secondary).
• 194 2nd Air Division B-24s attack rail targets at Passau.
• 174 3rd Air Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Straubing (secondary).
• 2 B-17s and 1 escort fighter are lost.

• Nearly 600 9th Air Division bombers attack an oil depot, two marshalling yards, and two rail junctions.
• 8th and 9th Air Force fighter pilots down 18 Luftwaffe aircraft over Germany between 0655 and 1330 hours.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack a bridge and two rail fills near the Brenner Pass and German Army troop concentrations near the US 5th Army and British 8th Army fronts.
• XXII TAC P-47s support the US 5th Army.
• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s and A-26s attack crossing points in the Po Rivr valley as well as light sources, vehicles, and eight bridges around Bologona, Mantua, Milan, and Turin.

• 473 15h Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack defensive positions and communications targets in and around Bologna.
• 78 15th Air Force P-38s dive-bomb a bridge.

• 87 15th Air Force P-38s attack two bridges near Kolbnitz, Austria.
• 15th Air Force P-51s attack communications targets around Augsburg, Germany; Linz, Austria; and Pilsen, Czechoslovakie.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields at Giran, Hobi, Soton, Tainan, and Toyohara.
• 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the airfield at Karenko.
• V Fighter Command P-38s attack road and rail targets.
• An 18th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber near the Toyohara airfield at 1300 hours.

Air Operations, Japan

112 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack the following airfields: Izumi on Honshu, Kanoya, Kokubu, Nittagahara, and Tachiarai on Kyushu. 13 B-29s attack other targets. 2 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack Piso Point.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 1st Marine Aircraft Wing SBDs and F4Us sweep highways and roads on Mindanao.
• FEAF A-20s and fighter-bombers attack numerous targets throughout the Philippines.
• 27 VMSB-243 SBDs and 18 VMSB-341 SBDs based at Mindanao's Moret Field attack Japanese Navy infantry positions on Jolo Island’s Mount Daho with 21 tons of bombs, but the Japanese hold firm in the face of a renewed US 8th Army ground offensive.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support the US 10th Army on Okinawa and Ie Shima.
• Task Unit 52.1.3 TBMs and F6Fs attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• VMF-311 F4Us down 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers at sea between 1845 and 1915 hours.
• A VF-33 F6F downs a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter over the airfield on Ishigaki Jima at 2245 hours.
• During the afternoon, carrier aircraft from Light Carrier Air Group 47 (USS Bataan) take part with 5 destroyers in sinking an Japanese fleet submarine.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The US freighter Cyrus H. McCormack (7181t), in Convoy HX-348, is torpedoed and sunk by U-1107 70 miles southwest of Brest, France. 2 Armed Guard sailors of the 12-man detachment and 4 of the 40-man crew are lost in the attack. Survivors are picked up by the British rescue ship Gothland.
• The US freighter Swiftscout (8300t) is torpedoed by U-548 about 145 miles northeast of Cape Henry, Virginia. Armed guard gunfire drives the attacker down, but a second torpedo sinks the ship. Only 1 of the crewmen is lost. Survivors are rescued by the steamship Chancellorsville.

Burma

The 5th Indian Div, British IV Corps, overcomes the resistance of the Japanese at Shwemyo and moves south toward Pyinmana.

Eastern Front

In the north, between Stettin and Schwedt, 5 armies of the 2nd Belorussian Front begin to put pressure on the Vistula Army Group, crossing the Oder on a wide front.

The 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukraine Front make significant progress, overrunning 2 German defense lines on a wide front. The 4th Panzer Army is cut in two by the 1st Ukraine Front in the area of Forst, east of Cottbus.

The German Army Group Center has to hold out against the heavy Russian pressure in Czechoslovakia also, in the area of Moravska-Ostrava and south of Brno, a town which has been declared a 'fortress' and will therefore be defended to the last man, even after it has been completely encircled by the enemy.

The German 9th Army has been shattered. The commitment of the LVI Panzer Corps cannot hole up the Soviet advance, and soon the 1st Guards Tank and 8th Guards Armies are powering toward Berlin. To the north the Soviet 3rd, 5th Shock and 47th Armies are also advancing. Meanwhile, Spremberg and Cottbus are encircled by the Soviet 5th Guards and 3rd Guards Armies, respectively.[MORE]

Italy

The 10th Mountain Div, US IV Corps, 5th Army, reaches the Sulmonte-San Chierlo area, taking some 3,000 prisoners from the German XIV Panzer Corps.

On the right of the Allied line the V Corps, British 8th Army, takes Argenta. The Italian Cremona Combat Group takes part in the action.

Okinawa

In the III Amphibious Corps sector, the Marines pursue the Japanese northward along the Itoma-Manna road, and then reduce the enemy pocket in the northern part of the island. In the south, in the XXIV Corps sector, some units occupy the inlet and village of Machinato, and a pontoon bridge is put up there enabling a number of companies to cross the inlet by night without being spotted by the enemy. There is furious fighting on the island of Ie Shima, where an American battalion manages to penetrate into the chief town, Ie, but has to withdraw to less exposed positions. The 306th Inf makes good progress northeast, along the coast.

Ernie Pyle, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent, is killed by a sniper on Ie Shima. He was 45. He had followed US soldiers in almost every theater of their opeations, and was deeply loved by the common US soldier.

US ships damaged in the day's action include the light cruiser Mobile (CL-63) by an explosion, the light minelayer Tolman (DM-28) by grounding and the landing craft LST-929 in a collision.

Pacific

• The Japanese submarine I-56 is sunk in the Okinawa area through the combined efforts of aircraft from the US light carrier Bataan (CVL-29) and the destroyers Heermann (DD-532), McCord (DD-534), Uhlmann (DD-687), Mertz (DD-691) and Collett (DD-730).
• The Japanese transport Teizui Maru (8426t) is sunk by mine near the western entrance of Shimonoseki Strait.

Philippines

On Luzon in the US XIV Corps area, the 11th Airborne Div resumes its attacks against Mount Macolod, gaining some ground.

The troops of the US X Corps, under Gen Sibert, extend their beachhead on Mindanao; the 24th Div begins a combined amphibious and land operation against Fort Pikit, a first step toward the important crossroads at Kabacan. Other forces cross the Mindanao River and take Tamontaca and Cotabato without difficulty. Some units reach and occupy Lomopog, 20 miles from Cotabato. On Negros the 40th Div, with strong air support, attacks various Japanese positions but has little success.

Western Front

On the north of the front the Canadian I Corps, 1st Army, reaches the Zuider Zee, which completes their mission.

While the XXX Corps, British 2nd Army, gets ready to launch the decisive attack against Bremen, Soltau and Ülzen are taken by units of the XII and VIII Corps.

In the Ruhr pocket, the XVIII Airborne Corps, US 1st Army, finishes off all organized German resistance and begins to mop up the scattered survivors. Field Marshal Walther Model commits suicide. During the whole of the operation around the Ruhr pocket the Allies have taken 325,000 prisoners, more than twice the number of enemy troops that they believed they had encircled. Much of Halle is captured by the units of the 3rd Div, US VII Corps, while in the V Corps sector the 2nd and 69th Divs launch a co-ordinated attack against Leipzig.

The XV Corps steps up its attacks agaisnt Nuremberg, at the same time the 42nd Div, XXI Corps, enters Fürth, just west of Nuremberg, closing all the ways out of the town.

Patton's troops cross the Czechoslovakian border after a whirlwind advance. The US 9th Army takes Magdeburg.

Images from April 18, 1945

British Troops Capture a Sniper

Surrendering German Civilians

Churchill Tanks in Uelzen

Traffic Jam in Italy

Watching Out for Snipers in Uelzen

The Ruins of Argenta

M4 Tank Burning in Leipzig

Capture of Leipzig