Air Operations, Carolines
Air Operations, CBIBURMA
Air Operations, East Indies
Air Operations, EuropeRAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
Air Operations, Japan
Air Operations, Philippines
Air Operations, Ryukyus
Battle of the AtlanticOver the next 3 days, in the Arctic, the last convoy battle of World War II is fought around the convoy RA-66. This has 24 ships with an escort of two escort carriers, one cruiser, 9 destroyers and 13 other ships a very lavish force when compared with any Arctic convoy in 1942, for example. There are 14 U-Boats involved in attacks. U-427 miraculously survives prolonged attacks with 678 depth charges. Not one merchant ship is sunk but one escort, the frigate Goodall, is hit and sinks and two U-boats are sunk. [ | ]BurmaIn the Irrawaddy Valley Allanmyo falls to the advances of the 20th Indian Div of the XXXIII Corps. The remaining Japanese forces in this area are becoming very disorganized by the British attacks. In the Sittang Valley, the British IV Corps sector, the 17th Indian Div has now taken over the lead, and after capturing Nyaunglebim is attacking near Payagyi. [ | ]ChinaThe Chinese reinforce the defenses of Chihchiang and Ankiang with over 15,000 men of the new 6th Army. [ | ]Eastern FrontThe 2nd Belorussian Front advances rapidly along the Baltic coast toward Stralsund, taking Anklam and penetrating into Mecklenburg. In Czechoslovakia the 2nd Ukraine Front gains ground east of Brno and south of Olmütz. Southeast of Brno, the Russians capture Austerlitz, while the 4th Ukraine Front presses on relentlessly northwest of Moravska-Ostrava. In Berlin the situation reaches its climax. Fierce fighting rages around the Reichstag and the Chancellery, along the Potsdamer Strasse and in the Belle Alliance Platz. South of Cottbus, the Germans hold Russian pressure in the area between Bautzen and Meissen. In Berlin the Soviets make gains in the Moabit district and in the Wilmersdorf area. North of the capital Red Army units contiue their advance capturing Anklam and other towns. In the southern sectors of the front Soviet pressure in Austria and Czechoslovakia continues. GERMANYThe Soviet 3rd Shock Army captures the Moltke Bridge. Around the Reichstag, the German LVI Panzer Corps is almost out of ammunition. Hitler orders the troops to fight to the last man and bullet. The Führer dictates his last political testament, in which he states: 'I die with a joyful heart in the awareness of the immeasurable deeds and achievements of our soldiers at the front, of our women at home, and achievements of our peasants and workers, and the contribution, unique in history, of our youth, which bears my name.' The German 12th Army launches a desperate attack at Belzig against the Soviet 4th Guards Tank Army, which recaptures Potsdam and allows the survivors of the Halbe Pocket to escape west. The 3rd Panzer Army is in full retreat west. MORAVIAGerman defenses in the country are now beginning to fall apart as the Soviet 38th and 1st Guards Armies continue to advance.[MORE] [ | ]Germany, Home FrontHitler, now confined to the Führerbunker behind the Reichs Chancellery, orders Col-Gen Ritter von Greim to leave Berlin and arrest Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, for his attempts to seek peace with the Allies. Von Greim had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe on the 23rd following Hermann Göring's attempt to negotiate with the Allies on his behalf. Hitler marries Eva Braun and publishes his 'Political Testament', in which he blames international Jewry for the outbreak of the war. Hitler orders that the war must be carried on from the 'Alpine Fortress' in the south of Germany, and appoints Grand Adm Karl Dönitz his successor as Head of State and describing how Germany has failed him in the struggle against Bolshevism. [ | ]ItalyThe surrender of the German forces in Italy is signed at Caserta in the south. The German representatives present here because of a secret negotiation between the head of the OSS mission in Switzerland, Allan Dulles, and the SS Gen Karl Wolff. These talks have been going on since much earlier in the year, but because of their clandestine nature the German representatives at Caserta cannot guarantee that the surrender will be ratified by Gen Heinrich von Vietinghoff. Col Victor von Schweinitz and his adjutant, Maj Max Wenner, representing Gen von Vietinghoff, Commander of the German Army Group C in Italy, sign the document for the unconditional surrender of all German troops in Italy with effect from 1:00p.m. GMT on Wednesday, May 2, 1945. Besides British and American officers, the Russian Gen Kislenko is also present at the signing of the surrender. About 1 million German troops in northern Italy and Austria surrender. However, the Allied advance goes on in north Italy; units of the American IV Corps reach Milan, which has already been liberated by the partisans, while the British V Corps reaches Venice and the New Zealand 2nd Div, British XIII Corps, advancing toward Trieste, reaches the Piave. [ | ]OkinawaIn the center of the American positions, the 77th Div begins gradually to take over from the 96th Div, weakened by the severe fighting on the Maeda Escarpment. Violent Japanese counterattacks and attempts to infiltrate are held by the Americans in the central sector. The 383rd Inf captures a salient from which it is possible to bring down artillery fire on the center of Shuri, the site of the headquarters of the 32nd Army under Gen Mitsuru Ushijima. On Kochi Ridge, the 7th Div is pinned down by deadly Japanese fire and suffers heavy losses. The kamikaze attacks on American ships off Okinawa continue; today's victims are the destroyers Hazlewood (DD-531) and Haggard (DD-555) and the light minelayers Shannon (DM-25) and Harry F. Bauer (DM-26). The US Navy hospital ship Comfort is hit by a Japanese kamikaze. [ | ]PacificThe Japanese submarine I-44 is sunk by aircraft (VC-92) from the US escort carrier Tulagi (CVE-72) in the Philippine Sea. [ | ]PhilippinesGen Rapp Brush's 185th Regt lands near Padan Point with support from a destroyer force led by Adm Arthur D. Struble. There is little Japanese resistance. [ | ]Western FrontThe VIII Corps, British 2nd Army, crosses the Elbe near Lauenburgh to begin the army's last action, the Baltic its objective. Lauenburg is captured trapping German forces in Denmark. The advance of the US 3rd Army in the Danube sector continues. The concentration camp at Dachau is liberated along with 30,000 surviving inmates by troops of US 3rd Army. Units of all corps reach the Isar River. The XV Corps, US 7th Army, begins the assault on Munich and captures some suburbs of the city. [ | ]Images from April 29, 1945
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[April 28th - April 30th] |