Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- Using a variety of bombing methods (Azon bombs and even dive-bombing), 40 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack numerous targets, including 30 bridges, along a 200-mile stretch of the Burma-Thailand railway.
- Nearly 40 10th Air Force P-47s and 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack troops, motor vehicles, stores, and other targets across the battle areas in central Burma.
- 2 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Bakli Bay.
- 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail lines between Sinyang and Siokan.
- 2 B-25s attack a bridge.
- More than 50 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in support of Chinese Army ground operations across southern and eastern China.
- 2 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail facilities at Hongay and shipping targets in the South China Sea.
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]Air Operations, East Indies
- XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Miri and Tabanio.
- Fleet Air Wing 10 PVs attack various targets on Borneo.
| ]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
- 110 Lancasters attack the railway yards at Bad Oldesloe.
- There are no losses.
- 30 Mosquitos and 7 Lancasters drop leaflets on 8 POW camps in which British prisoners-of-war are waiting to be liberated. Medical supplies are also dropped at the Neubrandenburg camp, north of Berlin.
- There are no losses.
- 40 Mosquitos are sent to Schleissheim airfield, 38 to Pasing airfield and 17 to Kiel, and there are 19 Mosquito patrols and 27 RCM sorties.
- 1 Mosquito on the Schleissheim raid crashes in Belgium.
GERMANY:
- 172 9th Air Division bombers attack an oil depot and the Landau Airdrome.
ITALY:
- 12th Air Force B-25s attack six Po River crossing points and the Brenner Pass rail line at Trento and Verona.
- XXII TAC P-47s attack road targets north of the Po River and around La Spezia and Parma.
- During the night, XXII TAC A-20s and A-26s attack German Army forces in the northern Po River valley, and night-fighters attack crossing points on the Adige and Po Rivers, as well as marshalling yards at Brescia and Verona, and three airfields.
ITALY:
- 15th Air Foroce B-17s and B-24s attack seven rail bridges on both sides of the Austro-Italian frontier, three road bridges in Italy, and a supply dump.
- 79 15th Air Force P-38s and P-51s attack targets of opportunity throughout the area north of the Po River.
| ]Air Operations, Formosa
- Weathered out of their primary targets, V Bomber Command B-24s attack Hokko and Tainan.
- 7 A-20s destroy a sugar refinery at Mizukami.
| ]Air Operations, Japan
- 101 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack an aircraft plant at Tachikawa with 474 tons of bombs.
- 21 B-29s attack various alternates and targets of opportunity.
- 5 B-29s are lost.
| ]Air Operations, Philippines
- V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
- 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
| ]Air Operations, Ryukyus
- US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support the US 10th Army on Okinawa.
- Task Unit 52.1.3 TBMs and F6Fs attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
| ]Battle of the Atlantic
The US destroyer escort Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) is sunk by a submarine torpedo from U-546 about 570 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland. The German submarine U-546 is in turn sunk in a combined operation by the US destroyer escorts Pillsbury (DE-133), Flaherty (DE-135), Chatelain (DE-149), Neunzer (DE-150), Hubbard (DE-211), Keith (DE-241), Janssen (DE-396) and Varian (DE-798)
| Class | Type IXC |
| CO | Kapitänleutnant Paul Heinz Just |
| Location | N Atlantic |
| Cause | Depth charge |
| Casualties | 25 |
| Survivors | 47 |
| ]Britain, Home Front
The Chancellery reveals the the total war expenditure up to March 31, 1945 is 27.4 billion pounds. The Double-Taxation Treaty with the US is also announced. It states business enterprises will not be taxed simultaneously in both Britain and the US.
[ | ]Burma
The Japanese are in retreat toward Moulmein and Toungoo.
[ | ]Diplomatic Relations
Stalin replies to the Truman-Churchill letter, complaining that the USSR has every right to install a friendly government in a country that is vatal to Soviet security. He points out that the USSR made no complaint when the pro-Western governments of Belgium and Greece were established.
[ | ]
Eastern Front
The Russian 3rd and 28th Armies, 1st Ukraine Front, coming up from the south, penetrate into Berlin and join the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front already fighting inside the city. Savage encounters are reported by the Germans south of Potsdam, southeast of Brandenburg, and on the perimeter east and west of Berlin.
On the lower Oder front, the 2nd Belorussian Front engages the 3rd Panzer Army, Vistula Army Group, extending its vas bridgehead between Schwedt and Stettin.
The German 9th Army and part of the 4th Panzer Army are almost surrounded south of Fürstenwalde.
GERMANYThere is heavy fighting throughout Berlin. At Potsdam the 4th Guards Tank Army is endeavoring to link up with the 47th Army. To the south of the city the 4th Panzer Army's counterattack has been halted by the Polish 2nd and 52nd Armies. A relief attack by the German 12th Army initially throws the Soviet 4th Guards Tank and 13th Armies off balance.[MORE]
[ | ]Italy
In the US 5th Army sector the 92nd Div is ordered to move toward Genoa and the IV Corps heads for Villafranca airport, south of Verona. Units of the 34th Div reach Reggio Emilia. La Spezia naval base is captured by 5th Army. The British XIII and V Corps, 8th Army, also succeed in establishing several bridgeheads over the Po, the first at Gaiaba and Stienta, the second west of Pontelagoscuro. Ferrara is taken. The Committee of National Liberation orders general insurrection in northern Italy. The retreating German columns are attacked by partisans who, on April 25, take control of Milan.
[ | ]Mediterranean
- UIT-1, the former Italian R-10 taken over by the Germans when Italy signed the Armistice, is scuttled near the East Mole at La Spezia.
- UIT-2 and UIT-3 were both taken over by the Germans on September 9, 1943. They were to be used as transport submarines between Europe and the Far East. They are scuttled as the Germans evacuate La Spezia and Genoa. [
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]Okinawa
The XXIV Corps advances all along the line except on the western flank, occupying the outer strip of the Shuri line, from which the Japanese have retired during the night. The 96th Div occupies the positions on Nishibaru Ridge not captured previously, with some other heights.
[ | ]Philippines
On Luzon fighting less than a mile from Baguio, where the Americans capture the cemetery.
The US 24th Div advances toward Digos in Davao Bay, on Mindanao Island.
[ | ]Western Front
The XXX Corps, British 2nd Army, launches its offensive against Bremen; the VIII Corps approaches the Elbe near Lauenburg. Dessau on the Elbe is taken by 1st Army.
Units of the US 7th Army press on rapidly toward the Danube; the VI Corps reaches and takes Ulm.
The French II Corps, 1st Army, continues its advance in the Black Forest and some of its units reach the Swiss frontier at Basel.
[ | ]Images from April 24, 1945
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