Air Operations, Carolines
17 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.
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]Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- 14 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack bridges, a fuel dump, and supplies at 3 locations.
- 6 P-38s attack targets of opportunity directly behind Japanese Army battle lines.
- 12 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack railway repair shops at Taiyuan.
- 3 B-24s attack targets of opportunity at Bakli Bay.
- 8 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack road and rail traffic, bridges, and targets of opportunity near Anyang and Taiku.
- More than 100 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets across southern and eastern China and northern French Indochina.
- In the XIII Bomber Command’s first mission in the area, 8 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s staging through Palawan attack port facilities at Saigon despite dense cloud cover.
| ]Air Operations, East Indies
- FEAF B-24s attack Sandakan.
- 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Tarakan.
| ]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
- 49 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H raid on the Pasing railway yards in Munich. The bombing appears to be concentrated.
- There are no losses.
- 36 Lancasters of 9 and 617 Squadrons attack coastal battery positions at Heligoland with Tallboy bombs. All targets are hit and there are no losses.
Minor Ops:
- 79 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 35 to Wittstock airfield and 8 to Schleswig airfield, and there are 40 Mosquito patrols and 34 RCM sorties.
- There are no losses.
| ]Air Operations, Formosa
V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield at Tainan and Shinchiku.
[ | ]Air Operations, Japan
- V Bomber Command B-25s, escorted by V Fighter Command P-51s, attack Haimi.
- 106 VII Fighter Command P-51s based on Iwo Jima sweep the Atsugi and Yokohama areas.
- 15th and 21st Fighter group P-51s down 23 Japanese aircraft over the Atsugi airfield on Honshu, Yokohama, Tokyo Bay, and the Chofu airfield on Honshu between 1100 and 1155 hours.
| ]Air Operations, Pacific
US P-51 Mustang fighters attack Atsugi airfield around Tokyo, shooting down 23 Japanese aircraft and destroying of damaging 51 others.
[ | ]Air Operations, Philippines
- XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Japanese Army troops at Cagayan, Kabacan, and along the Davao River.
- 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 1st Marine Aircraft Wing SBDs and F4Us sweep highways and roads on Mindanao.
- FEAF B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack numerous targets on Luzon, Negros, and Cebu.
- 27 VMSB-236 SBDs and 18 VMSB-243 SBDs based at Mindanao's Moret Field attack Japanese Navy infantry positions on Jolo Island’s Mount Daho. A high percentage of the bombs are dropped with pinpoint accuracy, but the Japanese hold firm in the face of a renewed US 8th Army 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.
- Air attacks, artillery, and naval gunfire support a US 10th Army general offensive against the Japanese Army’s Shuri defense line on Okinawa. US carrier-based aircraft mount nearly 650 effective sorties in what will be the strongest single airstrike of the entire Okinawa campaign. Nevertheless, the bombardment has little effect upon Japanese troops holed up in caves and tunnels, and the US XXIV Corps 3-division ground attack fails.
- During the night several Japanese aircraft mount a light bombing attack against Kadena Field on Okinawa. 8 US servicemen are killed and 16 are wounded.
| ]Battle of the Atlantic
The German submarine U-879 is sunk by the US destroyer escorts Buckley (DE-51) and Reuben James (DE-153)in the North Atlantic area.
[ | ]Burma
In the Sittang Valley Pyinmana falls to the 5th Indian Div which now leads IV Corps' advance. Farther north between Meiktila and the Irrawaddy, XXXIII Corps completes the clearance of the Mount Popo area and takes Chauk also. Farther south along the Irrawaddy Magwe is taken by 20th Indian Div which has advanced southwest from Meiktila.
[ | ]Eastern Front
Moscow confirms that the great offensive against Berlin has begun. A number of bridgeheads over the Oder south of Stettin have been won by the 2nd Belorussian Front; the 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukraine Front are across the Neisse. Zhukov's forces are marching on Berlin from the bridgehead at Küstrin, and other forces have crossed the Neisse between Görlitz and Cottbus and are marching on Dresden. Northwest of Görlitz the Polish II Army, incorporated in Konev's 1st Ukraine Front, take Rothenburg. The 2nd Ukraine Front pushes on toward Moravska-Ostrava and, from the south, on Brno, while the 3rd Ukraine Front gains more ground south of Vienna. Bitter fighting continues in the area of Ratibor and Loslaw, and at Troppau and Breslau. The Germans announce that the Russians have crossed the Spree near Spremberg and admit the loss of Forst, east of Cottbus.
In East Prussia there is hard fighting and heavy artillery fire by the Russians in the area of Pillau (Baltijsk), and the Germans suffer severe losses. 16-year-olds are called up in Germany while 14-year-old boys and elderly men are mobilized in the Volkssturm, the People's Militia.[MORE]
[ | ]Italy
The headquarters of the US 5th Army issues the directives for the imminent Spring offensive toward the Po. The plan is for the 92nd Div to advance in the direction of La Spezia, the IV Corps toward the Panaro and then across the Po between Ostiglia and Borgoforte, and the II Corps in the direction of Bologna, crossing the Po between Ostiglia and Sermide.
[ | ]Mediterranean
(???)The carrier Aquila is sunk by Italian human torpedoes at Genoa.
[]Okinawa
At first light a barrage of steel and fire falls on the Japanese forward positions in the Shuri line. Then 3 divisions of the US XXIV Corps go into the assault, the 27th Div on the right and the 7th on the left, while the 96th exerts a lesser pressure on the center. The clear object is to break through the wings so as to outflank the center.
On Ie Shima, Japanese resistance is stiff around the town of Ie and the heights which become known as Bloody Ridge.
[ | ]Philippines
On Luzon in the Bicol peninsula, the 158th Regimental Combat Group attacks the Cituinan hills from 3 directions; the operation, with air and artillery support, goes on for a week. In the I Corps sector, the 37th Div takes a number of positions on the hills south and northwest of the crossing of the Irisan River, where a big bridge has been destroyed by the Japanese, who manage to hold on to some heights northeast of the river. The 33rd Div is engaged in fighting for Japanese cave positions in the Asin area. The 32nd Div advances in the Salacsac Pass area, while the 25th Div comes near to Kapintalan. On Mount Myoko, a powerful counterattack by the Japanese is repulsed by the 27th Inf. The 11th Airborne Div maintains its pressure on Mount Mataasna Bundoc, in the US XIV Corps sector. On Mount Macolod the Japanese are squeezed into a small pocket.
[ | ]Western Front
Bremen is attacked by the XXX Corps, British 2nd Army. The XII Corps, advancing swiftly north, cuts the autobahn between Bremen and Hamburg, while the VIII Corps reaches the Elbe in the Lauenburg sector.
The XIX Corps, US 9th Army, reinforces its positions on the Elbe. The XVI Corps is ordered to organize the occupation and military government of the territory occupied by the 9th Army west of the Weser River.
Units of the VII Corps, US 1st Army, complete the capture of Halle, and those of the V Corps that of Leipzig. The XV Corps, US 7th Army, continues the attack on Nuremberg.
In the French 1st Army sector, the II Corps pushes on toward Stuttgart, while the I Corps occupies the western part of the Black Forest, reaching the area of Biberach and Mahlberg.
[ | ]Images from April 19, 1945
Memorial Service for the Dead of Buchenwald |
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Sherman Tank Surrounded by Dutch Families |
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Sherman Tanks in Portomaggiore |
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German Civilians Loot a Train |
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British Troops Welcomed in Kampen |
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3rd Infantry Division Under Heavy Fire |
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Young POWs in Muenster |
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B-17G Fortresses of the 546th Bomb Squadron |
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