Air Operations, Europe

Both RAF Bomber Command and the US 8th Air Force step up their efforts each dropping more than 73,000 tons of bombs. Among the RAF targets are Mannheim, Kassel, Essen and Dortmund. The raid on Dortmund on the 12th sees 4,850 tons of bombs dropped - the heaviest attack on any target during the war. In an attack on the Bielfeld viaduct on the 15th the largest bomb dropped during the war is used for the first time, the 22,000-pound Grand Slam. The 8th Air Force is able to send 1,500 heavy bombers out on any one day and among its targets are Chemnitz, Osnabruck and Swinemünde.

The German communications system and the synthetic oil industry are attacked by both British and American forces. Tactical targets are also hit by the heavy bombers. 9th Air Force flies 55,000 missions and drops 33,000 tons of bombs in its support tasks. RAF tactical support forces fly 30,000 missions. The Mediterranean Air Forces also contribute to the Allied effort.

Air Operations, Far East

This month there is a notable change in the American tactics for their attacks on targets in Japan. Gen Curtis LeMay, commanding the bomber forces based in the Marianas, has become dissatisfied with both the weight and accuracy of attack achieved in precision bombing from B-29's at high altitude. The very high winds met at around 30,000 feet, which has been the operational altitude until now, mean that bomb accuracy is very difficult and attaining this altitude overstrains the aircraft and restricts the bomb load.

Air Operations, CBI

• Nearly 100 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army ground troops and many other targets in areas immediately behind Japanese battle lines.
• 27 P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Mogok area.
• 16 P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Lashio area.
• 14 P-47s attack a bypass bridge at Na-lang.

• 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 22 14th Air Force P-51s attack Ishan.
• 9 P-51s attack targets of opportunity at Chinchenchiang.
• 4 P-51s attack road targets between Chinchenchiang and Hwaiyang.
• 21 V Bomber Command B-25s sweeping the sea lanes between Hong Kong and Swatow sink a cargo ship.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Labuan, Manggar, and Tarakan airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• 478 aircraft including 372 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes and 16 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Mannheim in Bomber Command's last large-scale raid on the city. This is a general attack on the city area. Skymarking is used because of the complete cloud cover. No details of the results are available.
• 3 Lancasters are lost.
• 151 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attack an oil plant at Kamen through cloud.

• 55 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 40 to Erfurt and 3 on nuisance raids over northern Germany, and there are 13 Mosquito patrols and 32 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 44 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Takao.
• B-24s attack an aluminium plant at Takao, the airfield at Tainan, and a satellite airfield.
• V Fighter Command P-51s attack Keishu.

Air Operations, Philippines

• Following a pre-invasion bombardment by 13th Air Force aircraft and US warships, a US 8th Army infantry battalion lands on Lubang Island in the southern Philippines.
• 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 347th Fighter Group P-38s mount the first in a series of pre-invasion missions against the Zamboanga region of Mindanao.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Zettlefield airfield on Jolo.
• 5th Air Force aircraft attack targets on Negros and Panay islands.
• V Fighter Command fighters mount napalm attacks against Japanese Army ground troops near Fort Stotsenburg and near Corregidor.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• Task Force 58 aircraft and 5th Fleet surface warships bombard several targets on a number of islands, especially Okinawa.
• V Fighter Command P-51s attack numerous targets of opportunity throughout the Ryukyus.
• A VF-30 F6F downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane at sea at 1007.
• 2 VF-80 F6Fs down a G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea at 1520 hours.
• VF-80 F6Fs down 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers at sea at 1555 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

• Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs provide support for US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.
• VMR-952 R5Ds air-drop ammunition, spare parts, blood, and even some mail to US Marine Corps ground troops on Iwo Jima.

Burma

The British 14th Army begins the assault on Meiktila, attacking through the northern suburbs of the town against a tenacious defense from Maj-Gen Tomekichi Kasuya's garrison. The Japanese have converted the town into a heavy defensive outpost.

Diplomatic Relations

Turkey declares war on Germany and Japan. Saudi Arabia declares war on Germany and Japan. Iran declares war on Japan.

Eastern Front

In Hungary the Germans still prepare for their counteroffensive. The Vistula Army Group contains the attacks of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts southeast and southwest of Pyritz, south of Stettin; the German 7th Panzer Division and 4th SS Panzergrenadiere Division suffer heavy losses. In Yugoslavia there is fighting in the Sarajevo area.

In Pomerania the northwest attacks of Zhukov's forces achieve a breakthrough north of Arnswalde and move on in Kolberg direction.

The 1st Guards Tank, 2nd Guards Tank, 3rd Shock, 47th and 61st Armies launch a fresh attack into Pomerania, hitting the junction of the German II and X SS Corps. The Soviet 3rd Guards Tank Army defeats a counterattack by the XXIV Panzer Corps near Lauban.

With the now customary arty and air support, 1st Belorussian Front launches its offensive into Pomerania. The 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies and 3rd Shock Army push north from Arnswalde, while the 47th Army attacks west of Pyritz and the 61st Army east of Stargard, The main assault hits the junction of the III and X SS Corps.

The XXIV Panzer Corps launches a strong counterattack near Lauban but after initially takint the 3rd Guards Tank Army by surprise, it is brought to a halt and suffers heavy losses. Over the next few days the 4th Tank Army pulls out of the combat line and moves to Oppeln to support 21st Army.

Iwo Jima

Turkey Crest, one of the three hills near Airfield No. 2 so fiercely contested by the Japanese, finally falls to the assaults of the Marines. The 3rd Division advances east of the village of Motoyama but is held up about half a mile beyond it by the Japanese. The Americans take part of Airfield No. 3 but are then held up by very strong Japanese resistance. The 4th Marine Div fights all day at the base of Height 382, where the enemy shows signs of giving way.

The US destroyers Terry (DD-513) and Colhoun (DD-801) are both damaged by coastal gunfire. The attack transport Berrien (APA-62) is damaged in a collision.

Okinawa

Part of the TF 58 carrier force attacks targets on Okinawa and shipping nearby. Two small Japanese warships are sunk.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10 10th Air Force B-25s attack bridges at 4 locations.
• 2 B-25s attack ferry facilities at Li-lu.
• More than 90 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• More than 20 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces near Mogok.

• 3 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• On the night of March 2–3, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s sweeping the sea lanes between Hong Kong and Swatow sink a tanker.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the port area at Sandakan and the Manggar and Sepinggang airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• 858 aircraft including 531 Lancasters, 303 Halifaxes and 24 Mosquitos raid Cologne in 2 waves. The first raid is carried out by 703 aircraft and the second by 155 Lancasters of No. 3 Group. In the second raid, however, only 15 aircraft bomb, because the G-H station in England is not working correctly. The main raid is highly destructive, with the Pathfinders marking in clear weather conditions. This is the last RAF raid on Cologne, which is captured by American troops 4 days later.
• 6 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes are lost and 1 Halifax crashes in Belgium.

• 69 training aircraft make a sweep, 67 Mosquitos are sent to Kassel and 3 to Berlin, 10 Halifaxes and Lancasters lay mines off Norway and 6 Mosquitos in the Kiel Canal, 21 aircraft are involved in Resistance operations, and there are 31 Mosquito patrols and 48 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.
• There are 2 RAF daylight raids on Cologne.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 28 90th and 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the airfield at Matsuyama.
• 35 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s strafe and sow 23-pound parachute bombs at the Toyohara airfield, and 36 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s do the same at the Taichu airfield.
• 312th Light Bomb Group A-20s in their first mission to Formosa fail to locate the Kagi airfield but attack the Shirakawa airfield instead.
• 345th Light Bomb group A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous other targets.

Air Operations, Malaya

50 of 64 40th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s dispatched attack the Singapore naval base with 107 tons of bombs. 5 of the B-29s attack targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, Philippines

• At 0200 hours, while 1 G4M 'Betty' bomber at high altitude diverts searchlight and anti-aircraft batteries guarding the Mingaladan airfield on Luzon, 2 (or 3) other G4M 'Bettys' attack the base from 300 feet with 12 500-pound bombs and 300 small anti-personnel bombs. 4 Marines are killed and 78 are wounded, 1 SBD is destroyed, and 1 SBD is damaged.

• 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 347th Fighter Group P-38s attack ground targets in the Zamboanga region of Mindanao.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs provide support for US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.

Baltic

U-3519 sinks after hitting a mine in the Baltic Sea off Warnemünde.

U-3519

Burma

The 20th Indian Division and British 2nd Division join up their bridgeheads west of Mandalay.

Eastern Front

The Vistula Army Group evacuates the bridgehad over the Oder in the Schwedt area, southwest of Stettin. Fighting flares up again in the whole of East Prussia, where the Russians want to wipe out the German 4th Army before it can be evacuated by sea.

The 1st Belorussian Front's offensive is lancing through the German lines, with the 1st Guards Tank Army approaching Kolberg, the 2nd Guards Tank nearing Stettin and the Polish 1st Army threatening the left flank of the X SS Corps.

The 1st Belorussian Front has ripped apart the 3rd Panzer Army defenses north of Arnswalde and has isolated the X SS Corps and Corps Group Tettau (Maj-Gen Hans von) around Dramberg. The 3rd Shock Army is thrusting to the northeast toward Belgard and northwest toward the Isle of Wollin, while the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies move upon Kolberg and Stettin respectively. To the east of Dramberg the 1st Polish Army envelops the left wing of the X SS Corps as it also pushes toward Belgard and Kolberg.

In Silesia the XXIV Panzer Corps continues its fruitless attacks near Lauban.

Italy

In the British 8th Army sector, the Italian Cremona combat group, V Corps, supported by partisians of the 28th Garibaldi Brigade, opens the offensive against Comacchio.

Iwo Jima

The 3rd Marine Division, in the center of the line, completes the capture of Airfield No. 3 under intensive Japanese artillery and machine-gun fire. In the area of the 'Mincer' the Americans take another important position, the one called the Amphitheater. It has been a tremendous struggle, conducted with flame-throwers and explosive charges. The Americans are now in control of two thirds of the island.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10 10th Air Force B-25s and more than 80 fighter-bombers attack troops and many other targets immediately behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 2 B-25s attack a bridge at Loi-leng.
• 24 P-47s and 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s support Chinese Army ground forces near Mansam.
• 16 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces near Mogok.
• 10 P-47s attack a bridge at Na-lang.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea.

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge and rail line at Kep.
• 12 51st Fighter Group P-51s attack targets of opportunity between Nam Dinh and Vinh.
• 2 P-51s attack a Japanese Army headquarters in Hanoi.
• A P-38 with the XIII Fighter Command’s 18th Fighter Group downs a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber near the airfield at Phanrang.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields in northern Borneo.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Ternate Island.

Air Operations, Europe

100 German night intruders attack more than 20 airfields from Northumberland to Oxon. 20 RAF bombers are destroyed for a loss of 6 intruders.

The Luftwaffe mount Operation GISELLA on this night, sending approximately 200 night fighters to follow the various bomber forces to England. This move takes the British defences partly by surprise and the Germans shoot down 20 bombers: 8 Halifaxes of No. 4 Group, 2 Lancasters of No. 5 Group, 3 Halifaxes, 1 Fortress and 1 Mosquito of No. 100 Group and 3 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes from the Heavy Conversion Units which have been taking part in the diversionary sweep. 3 of the German fighters crash through flying too low. The German fighter which crashes near Elvington airfield is the last Luftwaffe aircraft to crash on English soil during the war.

• 201 Halifaxes of No. 4 Group and 21 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group repeat the attack on Kamen. The synthetic oil refinery at Bergkamen is severely damaged in this accurate raid and no further production of oil takes place.
• No aircraft are lost over Germany.
• 212 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the Ladbergen aqueduct on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, breach it in 2 places and put it completely out of action. The gunners in the No. 619 Squadron Lancaster of Wing Commander S. G. Birch claim to have shot down a V-1 flying bomb near the target area. The V-1 was probably aimed at the port of Antwerp.
• 7 Lancasters are lost.

• 95 training aircraft make a diversionary sweep, 64 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 32 to Würzburg, 31 Lancasters lay mines in the Kattegat and in Oslo Fjord, 17 aircraft make Resistance flights, and there are 29 Mosquito patrols and 61 RCM sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Lancaster is lost.

Air Operations, Formosa

• Despite bad weather, 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Kiirun harbor with the aid of H2X radar guidance.
• 22nd Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Tainan airfield through a hole in the clouds.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Zettlefield airfield on Jolo and the San Roque airfield on Mindanao.
• 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Basco airfield on Batan after diverting from their weathered-in primary and secondary targets on Formosa.
• A-20s attack Caballo Island and Echauge.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

• Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs provide support for US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.
• A VMR-952 R5D transport carrying ammunition, blood products, and mail from Guam is the first multi-engine airplane to make use of the partially rehabilitated 3,000-foot Motoyama Airfield No. 1 on Iwo Jima. The R5D evacuates USMC casualties on the return flight.
• 2 VC-81 FMs down a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber at sea at 1215 hours.

Baltic

U-3036 is destroyed while being fitted out in a air raid on Bremen by B-17 bombers of the US 8th Air Force.

U-3036

Burma

Meiktila is completely occupied by Gen David Cowan's 17th Indian Division and the 255th Indian Tank Brugade of the IV Corps. They immediately dig in. The main route for supplies to the bulk of the Japanese forces in Burma is, therefore, cut and they will be compelled to turn away from the fighting farther north and try to clear their lines of communication. At the same time they must do something to hold of XXXIII Corps to the north.

Chinese troops capture Lashio to the northeast of Mandalay. Lashio includes the northernmost of a series of vital airfields stretching throughout central and southern Burma, and each one captured provides extra logistical capability fof the Allied advance.

Diplomatic Relations

Finland declares war against Germany with retrospective effect from September 15, 1944.

In the Act of Chapultepec 20 American states, meeting in Mexico City, pledge themselves to protect each other's territorial and political integrity.

Eastern Front

The right flank of the 3rd Panzer Army begins to abandon the Schwedt bridgehead as the 2nd Guards Tank, 61st and 47th Armies converge upon Stettin on the lower Oder. Heavy fighting rages around Lauban in Silesia.

Germany, Home Front

German 15-year-olds are ordered to frontline duty.

Italy

The IV Corps, US 5th Army, begins the second phase of its limited, local offensive against the hills northeast of Monte Torraccia and Monte Castello.

In the V Corps, British 8th Army, sector, the 56th Division takes a strong position on the east bank of the Senio near San Severo, and the Cremona group continues the battle for Comacchio.

Air Operations, CBI

• More than 100 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in proximity to Japanese Army battle lines across central Burma.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• During the night, 11 XX Bomber Command B-29s staging through the airfield at Luliang sow mines in Tai-hsing Narrows and at the confluence of the Yangtze and Whangpoo rivers.
• 1 B-29 sows mines in Tungting Lake.
• 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s sweeping the sea lanes between Hong Kong and Swatow sink a Japanese submarine chaser.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields in northern Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

For the first time in 7 months German bombers attack Britain.

Synthetic oil facilities in Hamburg and Gelsenkirchen are pounded by 2,000 Allied bombers.

• 128 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H attack through cloud on Wanne-Eickel. The results are unknown.

• 31 Mosquitos are sent to Berlina, 24 to Essen and 28 in small numbers to 5 ports in northern Germany, 12 Halifaxes lay mines off Heligoland, 16 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 6 Mosquito patrols.
• 2 Stirlings on Resistance flights are lost.

Air Operations, Japan

• 192 XXI Bomber Command B-29s are dispatched on a precision daylight bombing attack against an aircraft factory in Tokyo. Due to heavy cloud cover over the target, 159 of the B-29s attack the Tokyo city area and 18 B-29s attack various alternate targets. This is the final daylight precision bombing mission mounted by B-29s against the Japanese aircraft industry.
• 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Pacific

192 B-29 Superfortress bombers of the US XXI Bomber Command bomb the Musashino aircraft factor in Tokyo. This is the last 'precision bombing' by the Americans who now go over to carpet bombing.

The first damaged B-29 uses a landing field on Iwo Jima.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Likanan and Sasa airfields on Mindanao and Zamboanga City.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 347th Fighter Group P-38s attack targets throughout the Zamboanga area.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack numerous targets on Luzon.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

• Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs provide support for US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.
• VMR-952 R5Ds and 9th Troop Carrier Squadron C-46s air-drop more than 50 tons of supplies to V Marine Amphibious Force units on Iwo Jima.
• VC-84 TBMs spray Iwo Jima with DDT.
• A 9th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29 makes an emergency landing at Motoyama Airfield No. 1 on Iwo Jima, the first landing of its kind. This is precisely the purpose to which the bloody Iwo Jima invasion has been directed, saving B-29 crewmen who might otherwise have perished in battle-damaged airplanes.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-3508 is sunk at Wilhelmshaven during an attack by B-24s of the US 8th Air Force.

U-3508

Burma

In the British IV Corps sector, the 17th Indian Division occupies part of the town of Meiktila, a very important objective on account of its eight airfields. After three days of heavy fighting, 2,000 Japanese are dead. The Japanese 15th and 33rd Armies are now trapped at Mandalay.

Diplomatic Relations

Finland declares war on Germany although an unofficial state of hostilities has existed since September 1944.

Eastern Front

Bitter fighting continues at Breslau where the center of the city is shelled by Russian 400-mm guns.

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front force the Vistula Army Group to retire northeast of Stettin (Szczecin), and take Regenwalde (Resko). The X SS Corps suffers heavy losses. Further east the Russians take Rummelsburg (Miastko). In this sector the Germans even send the 600th Russian Division into the line, under the command of Gen Andrei A. Vlassov, who went over to the Germans after being taken prisoner.

In East Prussia the Russians also attack Königsberg from the north for the first time.

In Norway, the German 7th and 199th Mountain Divs attempt a retreat south through snowstorms.

The Soviet 1st Guards Army and Polish 1st Army have reached the Baltic; X SS Corps is being degraded at Dramberg and the Soviet 61st Army has captured Stargard. At Lauban, the XXIV Panzer Corps is still attacking the 3rd Guards Tank Army.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s and 46 P-47s attack troops, road traffic, supplies, and targets of opportunity in and around the Japanese Army battle lines.
• More than 50 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces around Mogok and Chinese Army ground forces in the Mansam area.

• More than 40 14th Air Force P-40s and P-51s attack road, river, and rail traffic, occupied towns, and targets of opportunity from the Yangtze River to northern French Indochina.
• V Bomber Command B-25s sink 1 ship and damage several others while sweeping the South China Sea.

• 36 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack bridges at 8 locations.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields in northern Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• 170 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carryd out a G-H attack on the Consolidation benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen. No results are seen.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 760 aircraft including 498 Lancasters, 256 Halifaxes and 6 Mosquitos are sent to Chemnits to continue Operation THUNDERCLAP. The operation starts badly when 9 aircraft of No. 6 Group crash near their bases soon after taking off in icy conditions. No. 426 Squadron, at Linton-on-Ouse, loses 3 out of their 14 Halifaxes taking part in the raid in this way, with only 1 man surviving. 1 of the Halifaxes crashedsin York, killing some civilians.
• 14 Lancasters and 8 Halifaxes are lost in the main operation.

• 248 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the synthetic oil refinery at Böhlen. The target area is covered by cloud, but some damage is caused to the refinery.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.

• 75 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 15 to Gelsenkirchen, and 36 in small numbers to 6 other targets, and there are 27 Mosquito patrols and 52 RCM sorties.
• 2 Mosquitos are lost on the Berlin raid, 1 Mosquito is lost on the small raid to Hallendorf and 2 RCM aircraft 1 Halifax and 1 Sterling, are believed to have been shot down over France by an American artillery unit.
• East Anglia in England is bombed by 12 Luftwaffe planes.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers sweep the island.
• A 475th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber over Takao.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-24s support US Army ground forces in the Antipolo area.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the San Roque airfield on Mindanao and the Zettlefield airfield on Jolo.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack Fort Drum and San Pablo, and support Filipino guerrilla forces near Lingayan Gulf.
• In one coordinated attack against Japanese Army ground forces on Luzon’s Mount Pinatubo, 12 348th Fighter Group P-47s and supporting artillery are credited with killing 574 Japanese soldiers.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

FEAF B-24s and fighter-bombers mount sweeps over the Ryukyus.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs provide support for US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.

Burma

In the British XV Corps sector, the 25th Indian Division advances along the coast from Arakan and takes Tamandu. In the XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Division advances at a fair pace toward Mandalay. Japanese conterattacks against IV Corps begin. The small town of Taungtha in retaken by the Japanese and 17th Indian Division is almost cut off in Meiktila. Air supply continues, however.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Dront capture Stargard (Stargard Szczecinski) and Naugard, the southeast bulwarks of the defense of Stettin. The Vistula Army Group announces that it has destroyed 1,800 Russian tanks to date, but has to admit that it has no more news of the German 2nd Army.

Fierce battles continue in East Prussia and in the northern tips of Latvia.

The Soviet 19th Army captures Koslin as the X SS Corps tries to break out to the west. The XXIV Panzer Corps recaptures Lauban and forces the 3rd Guards Tank Army back. Col Hans von Luck (25th Panzer Division) is witness to Red Army atrocities around Lauban: 'For all of us, a terribly depressing experience was to stay forever in our minds. In the villages we recovered, we ourselves saw for the first time how the Russians had rampaged in the past weeks. Never in my life shall I forget the sight of the maltreated, violated women who came to meet us, screaming or completely apathetic. Neither old women nor girls, who were still children, were spared; the houses were plundered, old men were shot.'[MORE]

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s and more than 60 fighter-bombers attack troops, dumps, road traffic, and other targets in and directly behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 31 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces around Mogok.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Chikhom.
• Nearly 50 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, stores, and road, rail, and river traffic across southern China.
• FEAF B-25s and V Fighter Command P-38s attack Hainan Island, especially the Samah airfield there.
• 49th Fighter Group P-38s based in the Philippines down 7 A6M Zeros over the Samah airfield on Hainan between 1307 and 1350 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 119 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H attack through cloud on the Wintershall oil refinery at Salzbergen.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 48 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group attack Wesel, which is believed to contain many German troops and vehicles. The target had been cloud-covered for several days. Oboe Mosquitos provide the marking.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 191 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the port of Sassnitz on the island of Rügen in the Baltic. Considerable damage is caused to the northern part of the town and 3 ships are sunk in the harbor.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 87 Lancasters of No. 3 Group and 51 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group continue the attack on Wesel with two separate raids.
• There are no losses.

• 42 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 15 Lancasters lay mines off Sassnitz, and there are 5 Mosquito patrols and 2 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Koshun area.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 98 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Antipolo, Luzon, with 240 tons of bombs.
• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the San Roque and Zamboanga areas of Mindanao.
• V Bomber Command B-24s and B-25s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support Filipino guerrillas on Luzon and attack Fort Drum, and Caballo Island.
• A 58th Fighter Group P-47 downs a reconnaissance aircraft near the Silay airfield on Negros at 1900 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs provide support for US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.

Burma

In their slow advance down the Burma Road units of the Chinese 1st Army reach and capture Lashio.

Eastern Front

The 2nd Belorussian Front finishes off the capture of Grudziadz, a key point in the German defensive system on the lower Vistula in Poland, and advances along the Polish Corridor toward Danzig. Enemy forces surrounded in the area of Köslin (Koszalin), in Pomerania, are also destroyed. The 1st Belorussian Front also advances in Pomerania, taking Belgard (Bialogard) and other towns that the Germans had determined to defend to the last.

In Hungary, the German Army Group South, having assembled considerable forces, Dietrich's 6th SS Panzer Army, 6th Army, Hungarian 3rd Army and 8th Cavalry Army, I SS Panzer Corps, 2nd Panzer Army, launches a powerful counteroffensive (Operation WALDTEUFEL)(FRÜHLINGSERWACHENBOR/SPRING AWAKENING) north and south of Lake Balaton against the armies of the 3rd Ukraine Front. Simultaneously, Army Group E attacks in the southeast on the Drava. The mass of the German forces strike east from Székesfehérvár, toward Pecs from Lake Balaton in the south and toward Tatabanya in the north. The mobile reserves of the 3rd Ukraine Front are quickly sent up to prearranged positions in the Lake Velencei and Sarviz Canal sector, in support of the 27th Army.

Grudzladz is captured by the Soviet 65th Army, and Belgard by the Soviet 3rd Shock and Polish 1st Armies.

The last German offensive of the war, Operation SPRING AWAKENING, begins. The German forces comprise the 6th SS Panzer Army (I and II SS Panzer Corps and III Panzer Corps), 6th Army (IV SS Panzer Corps and Hungarian VIII Corps) and 2nd Panzer Army (XLIV and LXVII Corps)

430,000 troops, 5,600 artillery pieces and 880 tanks and assault guns, supported by 850 fuel-starved aircraft. Facing this force is the 3rd Ukrainian Front's 4th Guards and 26th Armies in the frontline, and the 27th and 57th Armies in reserve south of Lake Balaton (the Bulgarian 1st and Yugoslav 3rd Armies are facing Army Group E on the northern bank of the Drava River). The Soviets have 407,000 troops, 7,000 artillery pieces, 400 tanks and assault guns and 960 aircraft. Im the Stavka reserve is the 9th Guards Army while the 2nd Ukrainian Front lies to the south.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s and 35 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in and directy behind the Japanese Army.
• 30 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces near Mogok.
• 18 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces near Mansam.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 9 14th Air Force P-40s attack rail targets near Kiaotow.
• More than 130 fighter-bombers attack rail, road, river, and other targets of opportunity across southern and eastern China.
• 51st and 3rd CACW Fighter group P-51s down 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter and 3 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighters over the airfield at Taichaiochan between 1455 and 1525 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 526 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups raid Dessau. This is another devastating raid on a new target in eastern Germany with the usual town center, residential, industrial and railway areas all being hit.
• 18 Lancasters are lost.
• 256 Halifaxes and 25 Lancasters of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attempt to attack the Deutsche Erdoel refinery at Hemmingstedt, near Heide, with little success.
• 4 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster are lost.
• 234 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group carry out an accurate attack on the oil refinery at Harburg. One local report states that a rubber factory was seriously damaged as well as the oil targets.
• 14 Lancasters are lost. No. 189 Squadron, from Fulbeck, loses 4 of its 16 Lancasters on the raid.

• 80 Mosquitos are sent to Berlina, 10 to Frankfurt, 9 to Münster and 5 to Hannover, 15 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters lay mines off Eckemforde and Flensburg, and there are 43 Mosquito patorls, and 56 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Berlin raid, and 2 Halifaxes and 1 Fortress of No. 100 Group are also lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 347th Fighter Group P-38s attack targets in the Zamboanga area.
• V Bomber Command B-24s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across the Luzon area.
• Many fighter-bombers support US 6th Army and Filipino guerrilla ground forces on Luzon.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

Task Group 52.2 TBMs and FMs mount their final missions in support of US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-1302 had been operating St George's Channel with some success having sunk the US freighter Soreldoc (1926t) and the British freighter Norfolk Coast on February 28. On March 2 she sinks the British ship King Edgar (4536t) and the Norwegian freighter Novasli (3204t). Escort groups begin looking for her. On the night of March 7 the Canadian frigate La Hulloise picks up a suspicious radar contact followed by an asdic contact which classified it as 'submarine'. Depth charge and Hedgehog attacks are made by La Hulloise and Canadian frigates Strathadam and Thetford Mines which resulted in the sinking of U-1302.

U-1302

Burma

In the north, a regiment of the Chinese 38th Division occupies Lashio, northeast of Mandalay and on the 'Burma Road'.

In the British IV Corps sector, the Japanese 7th Division launches a counter-offensive to recapture Meiktila, and succeed in cutting off much of the 17th Indian Division in Taungtha. The British threat to Mandalay, from Lashio in the northeast and Meiktila in the southwest, continues to grow. Lashio falls to the Chinese 37th Division.

Eastern Front

In Hungary and Yugoslavia, along the line Lake Velencei-Balaton-Drava, Operation WALDTEUFEL goes ahead. Army Group E crosses the Drava in the area of Donji Miholjac and Valpovo, inflicting heavy losses on the Bulgarian 1st Army and Yugoslav 3rd Army, and heading for Mohacs. South of Lake Balaton, the 2nd Panzer Army breaks through the lines of the Russian 57th Army, 3rd Ukraine Front, making for Nagybajom. Between Lake Balaton and Lake Velencei, the Russian 27th Army contains the advance of the 6th SS Panzer Army.

In Poland evacuations begin from around Danzig. These last until the middle of April.

The II SS Panzer Corps joins the attack, hitting the Soviet 26th Army north of Lake Balaton, although the Soviets manage to hold the panzers. The German 2nd Panzer Army and Army Group E join the offensive, the former making some gains against the 57th Army, but Army Group E is largely contained on the Drava.

The fighting north of Lake Balaton intensifies as leading elements of the II SS Panzer Corps attacks between the I SS to its south and III Panzer to the north. The 26th Army is hit by upwards of 170 panzers and assault guns but fights doggedly in the waterlogged ground, holding up the German spearheads long enough for Tolbukhin to reinforce the battered army with his remaining reserves. To the south the 2nd Panzer Army and Army Group E join the offensive, the 2nd Panzer managing to penetrate the 57th Army's forward positions after hard fighting. Along the Drava Army Group E also attack but only manage to establish small bridgeheads on the north bank in the face of determined resistance by the 1st Bulgarian and 3rd Yugoslav Armies near Donji Miholjac and Valprovo.

Italy

The Jewish brigade enters action crossing the Montone River in its first encounter.

Air Operations, CBI

• 40 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops and supplies in and directly behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 39 fighter-bombers sweep roads and attack artillery positions and targets of opportunity.
• 20 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces near Mogok.

• 34 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 21 14th Air Force P-51s attack Shihkiachwang.
• 3 B-24s attack a transport in the South China Sea.
• 16 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 6 P-40s attack bridges and rail targets in and around Chungmow, Hengshan, Lohochai, and Yehhsien.
• More than 140 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, Europe

A V-2 kills 110 and seriously injure 123 at Farringdon Market, London.

• 312 aircraft includin 241 Halifaxes, 62 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack Hamburg. The purpose of this raid is to hit the shipyards which are now assembling the new Type XXI U-boats, whose parts are prefabricated in many parts of inland Germany. Thanks to the Schnorkel breathing tube and a new type of battery-driven electric engine, the Type XXI could cruise under water for long periods and was capable of bursts of high speed. Its development in numbers would pose great problems for Allied convoy defense if the war lasts longer. The Hamburg area is found to be cloud-covered and the bombing is not expected to be accurate enough to cause much damage to the shipyards.
• 1 Halifax is lost.
• 262 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups carry out the first large raid on Kassel since October 1943. It ias also the last large RAF raid on this target. This target is also covered by cloud.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 39 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 33 to Hannover, 7 to Hagen, and 5 each to Bremen and Osnabrück, 23 Halifaxes and 14 Lancasters lay mines in the Elbe and Weser Rivers, 5 aircraft make Resistance flights, and there are 36 Mosquito patrols and 50 RCM sorties. The 5 Stirlings of No. 161 Squadron, which are carrying supplies to Resistance units at unrecorded destinations, but probably in Denmark and Norway, are the last Resistance operations flights of the war.
• 1 RCM Halifax is lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 347th Fighter Group P-38s attack targets in the Zamboanga area.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack road targets around Balete Pass.
• V Bomber Command A-20s support Filipino guerrilla forces in the San Fernando area.
• FEAF fighter-bombers attack numerous targets.
• A VMF-115 F4U patrolling over the Calarian airfield on Mindanao downs a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter at 0930 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

Guided by a VC-84 TBM, 15th Fighter Group P-51s mount their first mission in support of US V Marine Amphibious Corps ground forces on Iwo Jima.

Burma

The 2nd British and 20th Indian Divisions begin to break out of their bridgeheads over the Irrawaddy to the west of Mandalay.

Diplomatic Relations

Secret talks begin between Allen Dulles, OSS intelligence chief in Bern, and Karl Wolff, SS commander in northern Italy, on ending the war in Italy. Field Marshal Kesselring is willing to stop fighting if the forces under his command could be repatriated and fight with the Allies in Germany against Russia. Stalin, when he learns of the talks, accuses Britain and the US of duplicity.

Eastern Front

Fighting goes on south of Stettin and Danzig as well as in Silesia, while in Hungary and Yugoslavia the German 6th SS Panzer Army presses on from Székesfehérvár toward the Danube and along the Sarviz Canal, and the 2nd Panzer Army, south of Lake Balaton, advances on Nagybajom. The Germans have so far made penetrations of from 6 to 15 miles.

The German Army Group E engages the Bulgarian and Yugoslav forces across the Drava and contains the Yugoslav forces west of Sarajevo.

SPRING AWAKENING is faltering, with the II SS Panzer Corps being held by the 26th Army and the 2nd Panzer Army by the 57th Army.

Germany, Home Front

Hitler decrees: 'Anyone captured without being wounded or without having fought to the limit of his powers has forfeited his honor. He is expelled from the fellowship of decent and brave soldiers. His dependents will be held responsible.'

Italy

The 1st Armored Division, US II Corps, 5th Army, carries out limited attacks to reinforce the positions of the Corps' left flank, taking Carviano, northeast of Vergato.

Air Operations, CBI

• More than 80 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, artillery positions, motor vehicles, and horse-drawn carts directly behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 16 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces near Mansam.

• 31 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 12 311th Fighter Group P-51s attack the rail yard at Sinsiang and a bridge spanning the Yellow River.
• 15 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 2 P-40s attack bridges at 2 locations and rail targets and targets of opportunity at 4 locations.
• More than 50 fighter-bombers attack troops, artillery positions, transportation targets, bridges, and supplies across southern and eastern China.
• A 51st Fighter Group P-51 downs 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters in a mid-afternoon melee near the Ming Ku Gung airfield at Nanking.

Air Operations, Europe

•   159 Lancasters of No. 3 Group bomb the North and South plants of the Emscher Lippe benzol plant near Datteln. The target area is cloud-covered and G-H is used. The bombing appears to be accurate, but no results are seen.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 21 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group are sent to bomb the Bielefeld Viaduct, but the raid is abandoned because of low cloud.

• 92 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, and 16 on nuisance flights over Bremen, Hannover, Osnabrück and Wilhelmshaven, 21 Halifaxes lay mines in the Kattegat and off Oslo, and there are 12 Mosquito patrols and 29 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

V Bomber Command B-24s attack port facilities at Takao.

Air Operations, Pacific

334(279?) B-29 bombers from Guam, Saipan and Tinian drop incendiary bombs on Tokyo in a massive 3-hour raid. Over 1,650(1667t?) tons of incendiaries (napalm and oil bombs) are dropped on the city in a new form of attack designed specifically to take advantage of the wood and paper construction of many Japanese houses. 10 square miles, a fifth of the total area of the city, are razed to the ground. A casualty figure of 130,000 is reported with about 83,000 dead being confirmed, but some sources put the number as high as 200,000. A million are rendered homeless. It is the most damaging air attack of the war including the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is only the first of many such raids on Japanese cities.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 347th Fighter Group P-38s attack targets in the Zamboanga area.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack targets in the Ipo area.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack Basilan Island.
• B-25s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on the eastern side of Manila Bay.
• B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack the Aparri airfield and several occupied towns on Luzon.
• At 1050 hours, a XIII Bomber Command B-24 in the process of bombing Zamboanga is blown up in the air by a bomb from another B-24. 1 survivor is saved by a US Navy cruiser-launched OS2U.
• A 547th Night Fighter Squadron P-38 downs a reconnaissance airplane over the Tuguegarao airfield on Luzon at 1940 hours.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Division penetrates into the outskirts of Mandalay, where bitter fighting develops. Other XXXIII Corps units are advancing toward the city from the west. The fighting around Meiktila is still very fierce as the Japanese continue to bring troops from the Mandalay area in a desperate attempt to free their communications.

Eastern Front

In Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav 3rd Army launches a counterattack against the bridgehead established over the Drava by the German Army Group E. The counterattack is contained.

In the Vistula Army Group sector, the Russians storm through the defenses of Küstrin (Kostrzyn) and bitter house-to-house fighting develops. The 2nd Belorussian Front pushes on in the Danzig area.

The Soviet 2nd Shock Army captures Marienburg.

There are now more that 600 panzers committed against the Soviet 4th Guards and 26th Armies, but still the Germans can make little progress. To compound their problems, the Soviets are feeding the 6th Guards Tank and 27th Armies into the line as reinforcements. On the Drava, the Yugoslav 3rd Army goes over to the offensive against Army Group E.[MORE]

French Indochina

The Japanese fearing an American landing, deprive Adm Jean Decoux of all authority as Governor-General of the colony, and dismiss the whole French administration and establish the puppet 'Empire of Annam'. They start on a series of brutal acts which only serve to strengthen the resistance movement. It is in this atmosphere that the Vietminh is born.

Air Operations, CBI

• 49 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army supply lines, a bivouac, and a truck park.
• 46 P-47s and 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s sweep roads.
• 13 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces near Mogok.

• 32 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail yards at Tehsien and Tsanghsien.
• 10 B-24s and 4 14th Air Force P-40s attack Siangtan and nearby targets of opportunity.
• More than 60 fighter-bombers attack troops, artillery positions, airfields, and road, rail, and river traffic at Changsha, Hankow, Hengyang, Kiyang, Sinyang, Wuchang, Yiyang, and Yoyang.
• Thirty-two 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail yards at Tehsien and Tsanghsien; 10 B-24s and 4 14th Air Force P-40s attack Siangtan and nearby targets of opportunity; and more than 60 fighter-bombers attack troops, artillery emplacements, airfields, and road, rail, and river traffic at Changsha, Hankow, Hengyang, Kiyang, Sinyang, Wuchang, Yiyang, and Yoyang.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Jesselton and Kudat airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:

• 155 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H attack on the oil refinery at Scholven/Buer. Photographs taken later show this to have been a very accurate and effective raid.
• There are no losses.

• 60 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, and 4 each to Gotha, Jena and Weimar, and there are 10 Mosquito patrols and 35 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Japan

Before dawn, 279 of 325 XXI Bomber Command aircraft attack Tokyo urban areas with 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs from between 4,900 feet and 9,200 feet. This is the opening of a program of night fire raids to be directed against the Japanese civilian population. 20 other B-29s attack alternate targets. 15 square miles of the Tokyo city area is burned out and an estimated 83,000 Japanese are killed. 14 B-29s are lost. 5 of 7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s dispatched attack several targets in the Kurile Islands with the aid of radar.

Air Operations, Malaya

24 40th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s attack marshalling yards at Kuala Lumpur with 100 tons of bombs while 3 other B-29s attack other targets.

Air Operations, Pacific

In another fire raid on Tokyo, 170 B-29s destroy a square mile of the city and 27,970 buildings. Premier Koiso expresses sympathy to the Japanese people for their suffering at the hands of the 'most cruel and barbaric' Americans.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and FEAF B-25s attack several targets on the Zamboanga Peninsula.
• B-25s and A-20s support Filipino guerrilla forces.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Aparri airfield on Luzon and the Ipo area.
• 5th Air Force tactical aircraft support a US 6th Army attack against the Japanese Army’s Shimbu Line and numerous other targets on Luzon.

Burma

In the northern sector, units of the British 36th Division take Mongmit.

Diplomatic Relations

Roosevelt informs Spain she can expect no US aid while the Franco dictatorship continues.

Transylvania is restored to Romania by the Soviet Union.

Eastern Front

Air Operations, Bonin Islands

16 15th Fighter Group P-51s mount an attack against the Susaki airfield on Chichi Jima, their first offensive mission since arriving on Iwo Jima on March 6. Through the end of the war, VII Fighter Command fighter-bombers will fly 1,638 effective sorties to neutralize airfields and interdict shipping in the Bonins.

Air Operations, Carolines

24 Japanese amikaze aircraft based on Kyushu attack US Navy ships in the Ulithi anchorage. 22 of the attackers are downed by anti-aircraft fire, one intentionally crashes into a small island, and one crashes into the fleet carrier USS Randolph, which will be out of commission for a month.

Air Operations, CBI

• 14 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops, motor vehicles, and ammunition dumps at 4 locations.
• More than 30 10th Air Force P-47s sweep road nets behind the Japanese Army battle lines. 8 P-47s attack troops at Kyaukme.
• 4 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack a bridge at Mong Tong.

• 5 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea.
• 10 14th Air Force P-40s and P-51s attack locomotives and 3 occupied villages.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge and rail cars at Kep and near Don Met.

Air Operations, Europe

• 1,079 aircraft includin 750 Lancasters, 293 Halifaxes and 36 Mosquitos from all bomber groups bomb Essen. This is the largest number of aircraft sent to a target so far in the war. 4,661 tons of bombs are dropped on Oboe-directed skymarkers through complete cloud cover. The attack is accurate and this great blow virtually paralyzes Essen until the American troops enter the city some time later. All production stops at Krupp's Works. This is the last RAF raid on Essen, which had been attacked so many times, though often in the early years of the war with such disappointing and costly results. Most of the city is now in ruins. 7,000 people had died in air raids. The pre-war population of 648,000 had fallen to 310,000 by the end of April 1945. The rest had left for quieter places in Germany.
• 3 Lancasters are lost.

• 90 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, and 6 each to Brunswick, Hannover and Magdeburg, 22 Lancasters lay mines in the Kattegat and off Oslo, and there are 4 Mosquito patrols.
• 1,000 US bombers attack the U-boat yards in northwest Germany.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Mako.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack Takao.

Air Operations, Japan

During the night, 285 of 310 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack Nagoya with incendiary bombs from 5,100 to 8,500 feet. 6 B-29s attack other targets. 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Pacific

In Operation TAN GINGA fast 2-engined bombers carry out a night kamikaze raid on the Ulithi Atoll, the Pacific Fleet base. The carrier Randolph (CV-15) is damaged in the raid.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Aparri and support US Army ground forces at Wawa.
• XIII Bomber Command attack the San Roque airfield on Mindanao and targets in Zamboanga.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s support US Army ground forces near Zamboanga and US Navy PT-boats in several attacks in the southern Philippines.
• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US Army ground forces and attack dumps and many targets of opportunity on Luzon.
• A 421st Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber off northern Luzon at 0626 hours.
• A 348th Fighter Group P-51 downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber at 1105 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

US Army aircraft sink two German submarines, U-682 and U-2515, in the Hamburg, Germany area.

Britain, Home Front

70 Germans stage a mass escape from a PoW camp at Bridgend, Glamorgan in southern Wales. All will be recaptured by March 17.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Division carries on the battle for the capture of Mandalay, occupying a hill that overlooks the northeast part of the city.

Mongmit is captured by a converging attack by the two brigades of the British 36th Division which have moved south from Myitsos and the third brigade of the division which moves in from the west.

Diplomatic Relations

Emperor Bao Dai proclaims Vietnam's independence from the French, but the Japanese remain in firm control.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 2nd Front press from the south toward Danzig and Gdynia. Berlin announces slight penetrations inthe area of Küstrin (Kostrzyn). In Hungary, the Germans persist with their offensive, but their losses are getting heavier and heavier, and the Russian resistance is stiffening.

Fierce fighting rages around Kustrin as the 5th Shock Army and 8th Guards Army attempt to dislodge the isolated garrison. Gen Rendulic is appointed to command Army Group Kurland, Gen Weiss, Army Group North and Gen Manteuffel the 3rd Panzer Army. Von Saucken takes over the remains of the 2nd Army in East Prussia.

Air Operations, CBI

• 13 10th Air Force B-25s and 35 P-47s attack troops, anti-aircraft batteries, motor vehicles, and supplies in and right behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 66 P-47s attack transportation targets and a bridge in central Burma.
• 12 P-47s attack a bypass bridge.

• 6 14th Air Force P-51s attack road targets at Hwayuan and a bridge at Ha Coi, French Indochina.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s sink a Japanese Navy frigate off the China coast.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge at Song Rang.
• A three-month campaign by 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s against rail bridges in northern French Indochina is formally concluded primarily because of a lack of worthy remaining targets. Since December 11, 1944, the B-25s have undertaken 23 missions that have accounted for 21 major bridges destroyed and 17 major bridges damaged—at a cost of 4 B-25s lost, 31 B-25s damaged by anti-aircraft fire, 20 crewmen killed, and 12 crewmen wounded.
• 12 V Bomber Command B-25s sink a tanker and a cargo ship in Tourane Bay.

Air Operations, East Indies

44 XX Bomber Command B-29s attack oil stores at Samboe and Sebarok Island in Sumatra, and Bukum Island in Malaya.

Air Operations, Europe

• 1,108 aircraft including 748 Lancasters, 292 Halifaxes and 68 Mosquitos attack Dortmund. This is another new record to a single target, a record which will stand to the end of the war. Another record tonnage of bombs, 4,851, is dropped through cloud on to this unfortunate city. The RAF 'earthquake' bomb is dropped for the first time. The 10-ton weapon is used to knock out the Bielefeld viaduct. The only details available from Dortmund state that the attack fell mainly in the center and south of the city. A British team which investigated the effects of bombing in Dortmund after the war says that, 'The final raid … stopped production so effectively that it would have been many months before any substantial recovery could have occurred'.
• 2 Lancasters lost.

• 81 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, and 3 each to Halle, Magdeburg and Stendal, 16 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes lay mines in the Kattegat, and there are 2 RCM sorties.
• 3 mine-laying Lancasters are lost.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s and V Fighter Command P-38s attack Takao and Tainan.
• V Fighter Command P-51s attack Tainan and several power plants.

Air Operations, Japan

5 28th Composite Bomb Group b-24s attack targets in the Kurabu Cape airfield area.

Air Operations, Pacific

The US strategic bombing campaign against Japan continues. During the night the city of Osaka is wiped out by a raid of 274 US bombers.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack Ipo, Malabang and Mercedes.
• B-25s attack Japanese Army troops and supplies at 2 locations.
• A-20s and fighter-bombers attack numerous targets throughout Luzon.
• Fighter-bombers attack Caballo Island.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-260 is conducting operations in St George's Channel when she hits a mine. The captain keeps her afloat for two days before abandoning and scuttling the submarine inside Irish territorial waters.

U-260

Burma

Myotha, southwest of Mandalay, falls to the 20th Indian Division as they also mop up in the area.

Eastern Front

Stalin, in his 300th Order of the Day, announces that after violent fighting, the 1st Belorussian Front has taken Küstrin, one of the few bridgeheads on the east bank of the Oder left to the Germans and only about 50 miles from Berlin. Apart from that small area in the north near Stettin the Soviets now hold the whole of the Oder-Neisse line as far south as Görlitz. The reduction of the other bridgehead east of Stettin continues. The 2nd Belorussian Front continues to press on towards the Baltic, threatening Danzig and Gdynia. In the Polish Corridor they capture Tczew. In Hungary, the German thrust between Lake Venelcei and Lake Balaton is completely exhausted. There are signs of disaffection among the troops, even amoung the elite SS Panzer corps. Hitler is beside himself with anger, and orders that the division of his personal bodyguard be stripped of their distinctive privileges.

Operation SPRING AWAKENING peters out in the face of fuel shortages, Soviet resistance and water-logged terrain. However, Hitler orders a resumption of the attack.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops, artillery positions, and supplies in and around the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 26 10th Air Force P-47s sweep roads across central Burma.
• 16 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces in the Namhsan area.
• 4 P-47s support British Army troops while several other P-47s attack bridges.

• 7 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea.
• 13 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack stores at Chingchenchiang and a bridge at Lang Son, French Indochina.
• 22 38th and 42nd Medium Bomb group B-25s sink a cargo ship, a Japanese Navy frigate, and sampans while sweeping the sea lanes between Swatow and Hainan Island.
• V Fighter Command P-51s attack the Samah airfield at Hainan.
• 348th Fighter Group P-51s down 2 Ki-84 'Frank' fighters over the Hainan's Samah airfield at 1110 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 354 aircraft including 319 Halifaxes, 24 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Wuppertal and Barmen. This attack also tales place over a cloud-covered target and the bombs fall slightly east of the area intended, covering the eastern half of the Barmen district and extending into Schwelm.
• There are no losses.
• Bomber Command had now dispatched 2,541 sorties by daylight to Ruhr targets in a 3-day period. Approximately 10,650 tons of bombs had been dropped through cloud with sufficient accuracy to cripple 2 cities and 1 town. The bomber losses were only 5 aircraft, a casualty rate of 0.2 per cent. These results show the great power now wielded by Bomber Command, its technical efficiency and the weakness of the German defenses.
• 38 Lancasters of No. 5 Group that are sent to bomb the Arnsberg and Bielefeld viaducts encounter bad weather. 1 aircraft bombs at Arnsberg and 2 further aircraft bomb alternative targets.
• There are no losses.

• 195 Lancasters and 32 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups attack benzol plants at Herne and Gelsenkirchen. The Gelsenkirchen attack is successful, but not the Herne raid.
• 1 Lancaster is lost on the Gelsenkirchen raid.

• 50 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 6 to Erfurt, and there are 37 Mosquito patrols and 58 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid crashes in Belgium and 1 RCM Halifax crashes in France.

Air Operations, Formosa

Despite bad weather that causes most V Bomber Command B-24s assigned to divert from two power plants and attack secondary targets and targets of opportunity, 16 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s are able to attack one of the power plants through cloud cover owing to the use of radar. Other V Bomber Command B-24s assigned to attack the naval base and fuel stores at Mako harbor in the Pescadore Islands are able to do so with good results.

Air Operations, Japan

• During the night, 274 of 301 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack Osaka with incendiary bombs from 5,000 to 9,600 feet. 5 of the B-29s attack other targets.
• 2 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Lago and Sarangani Bay.
• 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at Angaur attack stores at Sarangani Bay.
• B-25s support US 8th Army ground forces near Zamboanga.
• B-25s and A-20s support US 6th Army ground forces in the Cagayan Valley.
• Late in the day, 2 Japanese aircraft strafe Moret Field on Mindanao and drop one bomb, but this is the only air attack the base will endure.

Burma

The British capture Maymyo, cutting the rail communications of the Japanese garrison in Mandalay.

Eastern Front

EAST PRUSSIA

The 3rd Belorussian Front launches an offensive against the German 4th Army holed up in Heiligenbeil, Königsberg ans Samland.

The Polish 1st Army begins the destruction of the garrison of Kolberg.

Air Operations, CBI

• 11 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops and motor vehicles near Laihka.
• 3 B-25s attack a bridge at Laihka.
• 39 10th Air Force P-47s attack troops, motor vehicles, and supplies between Laihka and Namlan.
• 29 P-47s sweep roads behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 20 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces around Mansam.

• 3 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• 1 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 and 4 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack a rail line near Tungyangchen.
• 4 P-51s attack targets of opportunity near Chihsien.
• FEAF B-25s attack several coastal targets during an anti-shipping sweep.

• 19 51st Fighter Group P-51s and 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack a Japanese Army barracks at Vinh Yen.

Air Operations, Europe

• 169 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out G-H attacks through cloud on oil plants at Datteln and Hattingen (near Bochum). Both attacks appear to be accurate, but no results are seen.
• 1 Lancaster is lost on the Hattingen raid.
• 32 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No. 5 Group, with 4 Oboe Mosquitos of No. 8 Group, are sent to hit the Bielefeld and Arnsberg viaducts. 28 Lancasters drop Tallboy bombs and the No. 617 Squadron Lancaster of Squadron Leader C. C. Calder drops the first 22,000lb 'Grand Slam' bomb at Bielefeld. The Arnsberg viaduct, No. 9 Squadron's target, is later found to be undamaged, but more than 100 yards of the Bielefeld viaduct collapses through the 'earthquake effect' of the Grand Slam and 'Tallboys' of No. 617 Squadron. This damage will prevent movement from the Ruhr to Remagen.
• There are no losses.

• 244 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the Wintershall synthetic oil refinery at Lützkendorf. Photographic reconnaissance shows that 'moderate damage' is caused.
• 18 Lancasters are lost.
• 230 aircraft including 121 Lancasters, 98 Halifaxes and 11 Mosquitos of Nos. 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Zweibrücken. This attack is directed on to the town area to block the passage through it of German troops and stores to the nearby front line. The raid takes place in good visibility and is very effective. The local report shows that every public building and inn and 80 per cent of the houses in the town are destroyed or damaged. Most of the civilian population had been evacuated. Those remaining take shelter in 2 large caves in the north and south of the town or in the normal basement shelters of their houses.
• There are no losses.
• 161 aircraft including 127 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups, on the same task as the Zweibrücken raid, proceed to Homburg. No local report is available, but it is believed that this attack is equally successful.
• 2 Halifaxes are lost.
Minor Ops:

• 75 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, and 6 each to Bremen and Brunswick, and there are 27 Mosquito patrols and 52 RCM sorties.
• No. 100 Group loses 2 Mosquitos and 1 Fortress.
• The last Stirling operation of Bomber Command is flown on this night when Stirling LJ516, from No. 199 Squadron at North Creake, flies a Mandrel screen operation. Squadron Leader J. J. M. Button, the Australian pilot, and his crew land safely.

• A total of 372 Luftwaffe planes attacked the Rhine River bridges during the past week. Allied antiaircraft shoot down 80.

Air Operations, Formosa

V Bomber Command B-24s and 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the naval base and fuel stores at Mako in the Pescadore Islands.

Air Operations, Pacific

US bombers raid Osaka, inflicting 13,000 casualties.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Konel area.
• 23 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack supply installations at Sarangani Bay.
• B-24s and B-25s attack port facilities at Isabella and anti-aircraft batteries and occupied villages in the Zamboanga area.
• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets on Luzon.
• A-20s attack Pandanan Island in the Panay area.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

VII Fighter Command P-51s undertake a ground-support mission—the last of the Iwo Jima campaign—in behalf of V Marine Amphibious Corps troops. 7th Air Force B-24s and VII Fighter Command P-51s and P-61s will continue to attack targets in the bypassed Bonin Islands.

Battle of the Atlantic

On March 10 U-714 sunk the Norwegian freighter Nordhav II (425t) in Convoy FS-56. The newly-commissioned South African frigate Natal is ordered to carry out a search. She acquires asdic contact which classifies as 'submarine'. A Squid attack is made after which a large amount of oil is seen on the surface. A second attack, more oil, but contact is loss. Ships of Escort Group 17 locate the U-boat on the bottom and depth-charge her to destruction.

U-714

Burma

The 19th Indian Division, British XXXIII Corps, takes most of the city of Mandalay, apart from a few enemy strongholds including Fort Dufferin, which is heavily bombarded by Allied artillery and aircraft. Maymo, to the east of Mandalay, falls to the 20th Indian Division.

Eastern Front

The Soviets capture Zvolen in western Czechoslovakia.

The 6th SS Panzer Army renews its offensive against the Soviet 27th Army but makes no headway.

Air Operations, CBI

• 32 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s sweep roads behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 30 10th Air Force P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces in the Namhsan area.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack targets near Pingsiang.
• 4 14th Air Force P-51s attack locomotives.
• 4 P-51s attack motor vehicles.
• 13 38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s severely damage a cargo ship and a Japanese destroyer while sweeping the sea lanes between Hong Kong and Swatow.
• A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter over the China coast at 1100 hours.
• 348th Fighter Group P-51s down a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighrter and a J2M 'Jack' fighter near the Kaitak airfield in Hong Kong between 1115 and 1130 hours.

• 20 2nd Air Commando P-51s Group attack the Don Maung airfield at Bangkok. 1st Air Commando and 2nd Air Commando Fighter squadron P-47s down a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber and 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the Dong Muang airfield at 1315 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

Wehrmacht GHQ at Zossen, south of Berlin, is pounded by the 8th Air Force.

• 188 aircraft including 150 Halifaxes, 24 Mosquitos and 14 Lancasters of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack oil plants at Bottrop and Castrop-Rauxel. Both raids are believed to have been successful.
• 1 Halifax of No. 4 Group is lost on the Bottrop raid.
• 16 Lancasters of Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons attack the viaduct at Arnsberg. Two aircraft of No. 617 Squadron each carry a Grand Slam. The 14 aircraft of No. 9 Squadron carried Tallboys. The viaduct is not cut.
• There are no losses.

• 134 Lancasters, 122 Halifaxes and 11 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to bomb Hagen. This area attack takes place in clear visibility and causes severe damage. The local report estimated that the bomber force was 800 aircraft strong! The main attack falls in the center and eastern districts. There are 1,439 fires, of which 124 are classified as large.
• 6 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes are lost.
• 257 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups attack the Deurag refinery at Misburg on the outskirts of Hannover. Visibility is good and some fires are started, but the main weight of the raid falls south of the target.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.

• 54 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 27 to Erfurt, 16 to Mannheim, and 6 each to Jena and Weimar, and there are 37 Mosquito patrols and 53 RCM sorties.
• 1 RCM Fortress is lost.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the naval base and fuel stores at Mako harbor in the Pescadore Islands.
• V Fighter Command P-47s dive-bomb a power plant at Takao.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack Lahug.
• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack troops near Sarangani Bay and troops and artillery positions near Zamboanga.
• B-24s, V Bomber Command A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-38s attack a Japanese Army headquarters near Baguio.
• A-20s and P-47s attack positions and gun positions near Batangas.
• P-47s attack a bridge at Minuli and troops in Balete Pass and near Fort Stotsenburg.

Baltic

U-367 sinks after hitting a mine in the Baltic Sea, off Danzig.

U-367

Burma

In the British IV Corps sector the 17th Indian Division, cut off at Meiktila, holds out against Japanese counterattacks. A brigade of the 5th Indian Division is air-lifted to the area and the other two brigades of the division advance in that direction from Jorhat.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops and a fuel dump at Panghai.
• 40 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s sweep roads behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 23 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces near Hsipaw.
• 4 P-38s attack artillery positions near Mogok.

• 32 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail yards at Shihkiachwang.
• A 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 and 2 P-51s attack a train near Shihkiachwang.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-25s attack the Jesselton and Tarakan airfields on Borneo.
• 347th Fighter Group P-38s down 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near Balikpapan, Borneo, at 1115 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• There is a raid on Nuremburg by 231 Lancasters of No. 1 Group and 46 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group. A local report states that the southern and southwestern districts are hit as well as the ruins of the Altstadt which was destroyed in a previous raid. A serious fire is started in the Steinbuhl district. The main railway station is also on fire and the city's gasworks are so badly damaged that they do not resume production before the end of the war. This is the last heavy Bomber Command raid on Nuremberg.
• 24 Lancasters, all from No 1 Group, are lost. Most of these losses are due to German night fighters, which found the bomber stream on its way to the target.
• 225 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack Würzburg. This is another dramatic and devastating blow by No. 5 Group. 1,127 tons of bombs are dropped with great accuracy in 17 minutes. According to a post-war survey, the old cathedral city with its famous historic buildings suffered 89 per cent of its built-up area destroyed. Würzburg contains little industry and this is an area attack.
• 6 Lancasters are lost.

• 56 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 24 to Hanau, and 6 each to Brunswick and Osnabrück, 12 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters lay mines in the Kattegat and off Heligoland, and there are 40 Mosquito patrols and 32 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

In the first large attacks since March 3—a break caused by almost continuous bad weather—86 V Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields at Heito, the naval base at Okayama, and the town area at Taihoku.

Air Operations, Japan

During the night, 306 of 330 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack Kobe with incendiary bombs from 5,000 to 9,500 feet. 3 of the B-29s attack other targets. 3 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Pacific

Kobe is bombed by 307 B-29s, resulting in 15,000 casualties.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Talisay airfield on Negros and the Carolina airfield on Cebu, and other targets on Cebu.
• B-24s and V Bomber Command A-20s attack Baguio.
• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Batangas area.
• Fighter-bombers attack Caballo Island and motor vehicles and supplies at Patapat.
• As the pre-invasion bombardment of Panay begins, US Army artillery spotter planes are flown to an airstrip built on the island by American and Filipino guerrillas.

Diplomatic Relations

The British Foreign Office confirms there has been German peace feelers through its legation in Stockholm.

Eastern Front

The 3rd Ukraine Front goes over to the offensive in the Székesfehérvár area, in Hungary, against the German Army Group South. The final objective is Vienna.

The Soviet forces in Hungary have regrouped following the German advance in the Lake Balaton area and now begin an offensive agains the northern flank of the recently won German salient. The 3rd Hungarian Army takes the brunt of the first assaults and is soon in great difficulty.

The Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front (536,000 troops) opens the Vienna Offensive, with the 4th and 9th Guards Armies attacking the weakened German 6th Army west of Lake Balaton. Nevertheless, the Soviets find enemy resistance is initially strong.

During a day of intense fighting the remaining civilians are evacuated from Kolberg. To the south elements of the 4th Tank Army cross teh Niesse River.

Air Operations, CBI

• 70 of 77 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched attack stores in Rangoon.
• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops and supplies near Nawlam.
• More than 40 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets immediately behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 33 P-47s sweep roads behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 16 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces near Mogok.

• A 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 and 12 14th Air Force P-51s attack locomotives in and around the Peking area.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s unable to attack their primary targets attack the White Cloud and Tienho airfields at Canton.

Air Operations, East Indies

307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack targets in northern Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• 167 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out G-H attacks through cloud on benzol plants at Dortmund and Hüls. Both raids appear to be accurate.
• There are no losses.

• 66 Lancasters and 29 Halifaxes from training units make a sweep over Northern France to draw up German fighters, 39 Mosquitos are sent to Nuremberg, 38 to Berlin and 2 each to Mannheim and Stuttgart, and there are 15 Mosquito patrols and 6 RCM sorties.
• 1 Intruder Mosquito of No. 100 Group is lost.

Air Operations, Formosa

Despite bad weather that forces them to high altitude, 70 radar-guided B-24s from all 4 V Bomber Command heavy bomber groups attack the Taichu, Tainan, and Toyohara airfields and the town area at Shinchiku with 500-pound bombs.

Air Operations, Japan

2 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s photograph and attack several targets in the Kurile Islands.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 5th and 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Tigbauan invasion beaches on Panay, Japanese Army ground troops on Mindanao, and the Alicante, Bacolod, Carolina, Fabrica, Malogo, Silay, and Talisay airfields on Negros. V Bomber Command B-24s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers complete more than 500 effective sorties over Luzon.
• Marine Air Group 12 F4Us mount their first missions of the Mindanao campaign in direct support of US 8th Army ground forces operating within sight of Moret Field on Mindanao. Guidance is provided by Marine air liaison parties operating with the infantry.

Burma

Fierce fighting continues in Mandalay, where the Japanese still hold some positions, and at Meiktila, where the British and Indians are defending themselves against Japanese counterattacks. The British 2nd Division takes Ava Fort, on the bend of the Irrawaddy south of Mandalay.

Units of the Chinese 6th Army take Hsipaw on the Burma Road, 50 miles southwest of Lashio. The Chinese 1st Army is still trying to advance along the road from Lashio to clear it of Japanese roadblocks.

Eastern Front

The Führer authorizes the evacuation of the Donij-Miholjac bridgehead over the Drava. The 3rd Ukraine Front, on the offensive in Hungary, makes progress between Lake Vencei and Lake Balaton.

The commitment of the Soviet 46th Army (100,000 troops) to the Vienna Offensive shatters the Hungary 3rd Army. The 6th SS Panzer Army is also struggling to hold off the 26th and 27th Armies. To the south, Army Group E abandons its bridgeheads on the Drava.[MORE]

English Channel

U-878 sinks the Canadian minesweeper Guysborough off Ushant with the loss of 51 of her crew. 37 survivors are rescued by the British frigates Inglis and Loring.

Iwo Jima

The last Japanese units still resisting are confined within an area about 200 to 500 yeards wide and 625 yards deep.

Pacific

• The US submarine Spot (SS-413) attacks a Japanese Keelung-to-Shimonoseki convoy and sinks the army cargo ship Nanking Maru (3305t) and damages the cargo ship Ikomasan Maru (3173t), which is beached off Matsu Island. Spot is damaged by naval gunire from the escorts off Formosa.

Air Operations, CBI

• 11 10th Air Force B-25s and 20 fighter-bombers attack troops and supplies in and behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 16 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s sweep roads.
• 12 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces near Hsipaw.
• 8 P-47s support British 14th Army ground forces near Mogok.
• A 1st Air Commando Group P-47 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near Rangoon's Hlegu airfield at 0655 hours.

• 6 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sweep the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s unable to attack their primary targets attack the White Cloud and Tienho airfields at Canton.

• 2 14th Air Force P-51s attack road traffic and troops in northern French Indochina.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Jesselton and Sepinggang airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

Massive air attacks are launched against Berlin and Frankfurt. 1,300 US bombers and 700 escorts drop 3,000 tons of bombs on Berlin despite heavy flak and numerous jet fighters. 25 bombers and 5 fighters are lost. Another 600 planes are damaged. More than 1,000 people are killed in Frankfurt Typhoons of the RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force attack the headquarters of Generals Johannes Blaskowitz and Friedrich Christiansen in Holland with bombs and rockets.

• 100 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out G-H attacks on oil plants at Hattingen and Langendreer. Both raids appear to be accurate.
• There are no losses.

• 324 aircraft including 259 Halifaxes, 45 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Witten. This is an area raid carried out in good visibility. 1,081 tons of bombs are dropped, destroying 129 acres, 62 per cent of the built-up area, according to the post-war British Bombing Survey Unit.
• 8 aircraft are lost including 6 Halifaxes, 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito.
• 277 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups bomb Hanau. This is another accurate area raid. Many industrial buildings and 2,240 houses are destroyed. The Altstadt is completely devastated and, says the report, all of the town's churches, hospitals, schools and historic buildings are badly hit.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• Support and 70 aircraft make a sweep over France, 30 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 24 to Kassel and 18 to Nuremberg, and there are 53 Mosquito patrols and 40 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Formosa

46 V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Tainan airfield, the Takao seaplane base, and an emergency airstrip at Koshun.

Air Operations, Japan

• Beginning at 0545 hours, Task Force 58 carrier aircraft open an interdiction campaign aimed at preventing Japanese ships and aircraft based on Kyushu and Shikoku from interfering with Operation ICEBERG, the upcoming invasion of Okinawa. An estimated 275 Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground at the 45 airfields attacked by the carrier aircraft this day.
• Between 0725 and 1300 hours, USS Enterprise, USS Intrepid, and USS Yorktown are slightly damaged by bomb or kamikaze near misses.
• US carrier-based F6Fs and F4Us down 97 Japanese aircraft over Kyushu and at sea between 0030 and 1640 hours, and US Marine Corps carrier-based F4Us down 27 Japanese fighters over the Kanoya East Airfield on Kyushu, Kagoshima Bay, the Miyazaki airfield, and the Tomitaka airfield during numerous missions between 0720 and 1630.
• During the night, 290 of 310 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack Nagoya with incendiary bombs from 4,500 to 9,000 feet.
• 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack Bacolod (Negros) and targets on Cebu; and B-24s, V Bomber Command A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets across southern Luzon.
• US 8th Army ground forces invade Panay at Tigbauan, where they are greeted on the beach by Filipino guerrillas. An air umbrella is provided by Marine Air Group 14 F4Us based at the Guinan airfield on Samar and V Bomber Command A-20s based on Mindoro, but there are no missions assigned by ground controllers, so the A-20s are diverted against airfields and other targets on Negros.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing SBDs mount their first missions of the Mindanao campaign in direct support of US 8th Army ground forces operating near Zamboanga City. Guidance is provided by Marine air liaison parties with the infantry.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-866 is sunk through the combined efforts of US destroyer escorts Menges (DE-320), Mosley (DE-321), Pride (DE-323) and Lowe (DE-325) in the northwest Atlantic area.

U-866

Burma

The British 2nd Division takes Ava on the bend of the Irrawaddy only a few miles south of Mandalay. The heavy fighting in Mandalay and round Meiktila continues.

Eastern Front

The 1st Belorussian Front captures the town and harbor of Kolberg (Kolobrzeg) in Pomerania, the last German strongpoint on the Baltic between the Polish Corridor and Stettin on the Pomeranian Bay. Other Soviet forces are closing in around Gdynia and Danzig to the east and making further inroads into the German positions in East Prussia.

Kolberg falls to the Polish 1st Army.

Air Operations, CBI

• 27 10th Air Force P-47s attack troops and supplies at 4 locations directly behind Japanese Army battle lines.
• 24 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces near Hsipaw.
• 12 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s sweep roads behind the battle areas.

• 5 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea.
• During the night 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack the White Cloud and Tienho airfields at Canton.

• 4 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack motor vehicles between Hoa Binh and Son La.

• 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail lines linking Bangkok with Singapore and Thailand with Malaya.
• 3 B-24s are downed by anti-aircraft fire.

Air Operations, Europe

• 79 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attack the Consolidation benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen. Smoke and dust from the bombing prevent observation of the results.
• There are no losses.
• 37 Lancasters of No. 5 Group attack the railway viaduct at Arnsberg and the bridge at Vlotho, near Minden. The attack at Arnsberg by No. 617 Squadron using 6 Grand Slams is successful and a 40-foot gap is blown in the viaduct. No. 9 Squadron's attack at Vlotho is not successful.

• 34 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Japan

• In support of the upcoming invasion of Okinawa, Task Force 58 aircraft attack Japanese Navy fleet units based around Kobe and Kure beginning at 0545. At least 16 Japanese ships are damaged. Among the ships severely damaged are the fleet carriers Amagi and Katsuragi, the light carrier Ryuho, which are all disabled in a single attack by 14 TBMs, 12 SB2Cs, and 19 rocket-equipped Marine and Navy F4Us from the USS Bunker Hill's Fleet Carrier Group 84. The heavy battleship Yamato is also damaged.
• A lone Japanese D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber is able to severely damage the fleet carrier USS Franklin at 0708 hours by setting armed aircraft on her deck afire with two bombs. By the time the fires are brought under control, 772 Marine and Navy personnel have been killed. The USS Wasp is also damaged by a bomb at 0710 with 302 men killed or wounded.
• US Navy carrier-based F6Fs and F4Us down 80 Japanese aircraft over Kyushu, Shikoku, southern Honshu and at sea between 0500 and 1730 hours. VMF-123 carrier-based F4Us down 10 Japanese aircraft north of Kure at 0645 hours. A VMF-221 F4U downs an A6M Zero at sea at 0825. In addition, an estimaged 225 aircraft are destroyed on the ground in various attacks against airfields on Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu.
• 8 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s attack canneries in the Kurile Islands.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command and 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack ammunition and supply dumps on Cebu in anticipation of an upcoming invasion.
• V Bomber Command B-24s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets in northern Luzon.

Baltic Sea

U-boats are withdrawn from the eastern Baltic.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Division follows up its attacks against Fort Dufferin in Mandalay, and a powerful air bombardment succeeds in opening a gap in its walls. Mogok is taken by the British 36th Div.

Eastern Front

There are renewed attacks by 3rd Belorussian Front against the German forces in East Prussia, especially in the area south of Königsberg. The drive lasts for a week until most of the German forces are eliminated or evacuated. About 38,000 are taken off by the many ships involved including many wounded and refugees.

Soviet troops have recaptured all Hungarian territories lost to the Germans since their counterattack was launched two weeks before.

The Soviet 2nd Guards and 47th Armies reach the Oder River at Altdamm, and in Silesia the 4th Tank and 59th Armies have linked up and encircled the Hermann Göring Panzer Corps near Oppeln, also shattering the southern flank of the 17th Army.

The Soviet 6th Guards Tank Army joins the Vienna Offensive, a move that endangers the 6th SS Panzer Army. Its commander, Sepp Dietrich, orders an immediate withdrawal.[MORE]

Germany, Home Front

Hitler orders a total scorched earth policy to be put into operation on all fronts. Industrial plants, buildings and food are to be completely destroyed. This is the so-called 'Nero Decree'. Albert Speer, who remains in charge of German industry, does his best to prevent this insane directive from being carried out. He is helped by many army leaders, especially Heinz Guderian, Chief of Staff of the Wehrmacht.

The government cancels all army leaves, orders the registration of all refugees, and commands civilians to inform the police of all army and Labor Corps deserters.

Germany, Strategy

Hitler issues the decree on Demolitions on Reich Territory in response to the Soviets and Western Allies entering the Reich. It states: 'It is a mistake to think that transport and communication facilities, industrial establishments and supply depots, which have not been destroyed, or have only been temporarily put out of action, can be used again for our own ends when the lost territory has been recovered. The enemy will leave us nothing but scorched earth when he withdraws, without paying the slightest regard to the population. I therefore order: all military transport and communication facitlities, industrial establishments and supply depots, as well as anything else of value within Reich territory, which could in any way be used by the enemy immediately or within the foreseeable future for the prosecution of the war, will be destroyed.' Albert Speer, Armaments Minister, is appalled and will secretly refuse to implement this directive.

[ | ]

Air Operations, CBI

• 20 10th Air Force P-47s sweep roads across central Burma.
• 16 P-47s attack supply dumps.
• A 1st Air Commando Group P-47 downs a light liaison plane near Bkhun Yuam.

• 22 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a convoy of 4 freighters and 4 escorts off Quemoy Island. 1 freighter and a Japanese destroyer are claimed as sunk and 2 freighters and 1 destroyer are damaged.
• 2 B-25s are downed by ships’ fire, and 2 others that are damaged fly inland and crash land.

• FEAF B-25s attack coastal shipping near Qui Nhon.
• 4 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack motor vehicles between Hoa Binh and Son La.

Air Operations, Europe

• 153 aircraft including 125 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos. 4 and No 6 Groups attempt to hit the railway yards at Recklinghausen, but cloud and a strong wind spoil the Pathfinder marking and the bombing is well scattered.
• There are no losses.
• 99 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attack the railway yards at Hamm and 14 Lancasters of No. 9 Squadron attack the railway bridge at Arnsberg. Bombs are seen to explode in the target area at both targets.
• There are no losses.

• 224 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack the synthetic oil plant near Böhlen. This accurate attack puts the plant out of action and it is still inactive when captured by American troops several weeks later.
• 9 Lancasters are lost.

• 166 Lancasters of Nos. 1, 6 and 8 Groups carry out an equally effective attack upon the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• Support and 70 training aircraft make a diversionary sweep over France, 12 Lancasters make a feint raid on Halle, 38 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 27 to Bremen and 16 to Kassel, 9 Lancasters minelaying off Heligoland, and there are 55 Mosquito patrols and 47 RCM sorties.
• 3 aircraft are lost: 1 Lancaster from the Halle raid and 1 Fortress and 1 Liberator RCM aircraft.

Air Operations, Formosa

22 V Bomber Command B-24s attack a barracks and the northern town area at Tainan.

Air Operations, Pacific

Nagoya is hit by B-29 incendiaries.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack troops and supplies on Cebu.
• V Bomber Command B-24s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets on Luzon.

Air Operations, Western Pacific

Task Force 58 slowly withdraws from the coast of Japan under intermittant air attack. At 1454 hours, a kamikaze that narrowly misses the USS Hancock crashes into a destroyer in the Task Group 58.2 formation. At 1626, the USS Enterprise is damaged by friendly anti-aircraft fire as Task Force 58.2 fights off an attack force of 18 G4M 'Betty' bombers and an estimated 30 other aircraft. A number of the 'Bettys' are carrying manned MXY7 Oka rocket-propelled bombs, seen here by the US carrier pilots for the first time.

• A VT(N)-90 TBM crew downs an unidentified airplane at sea at 0520 hours.
• A VBF-86 F4U downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane at sea at 1120 hours.
• A VF-47 F6F downs a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter near Task Force 58 at 1300 hours.
• VF-45 F6Fs down 2 B6N 'Jill' torpedo bombers 70 miles from Task Force 58 at 1440 hours.
• A VF-47 F6F downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber near Task Force 58 at 1630 hours.
• A VF-6 F6F downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter near Task Force 58 at 1635 hours.
• A VF-47 F6F downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane near Task Force 58 at 1640 hours.

Arctic

U-995 attacks Convoy JW-65 off Kola Inlet and torpedoes the US freighter Horace Bushnell (7176t) 24 miles east of Kilden Light. Heavy seas prevent the British destroyer Orwell from beaching the damaged ship, but she does rescue the survivors. Russian tugs later beach the freighter, but she is subsequently declared a total loss. U-968 torpedoes the freighter Thomas Donaldson (7210t) about 5 miles off Kilden Island. The British corvettes Bamborough Castle, Oxlip and Honeysuckle rescue the survivors. Attempts to tow the ship to safety fails and she sinks a half mile from Kilden Island.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-905 is sunk in an attack by Liberator 'B' or No 86 Squadron.

U-905

Britain, Home Front

The death of Lord Alfred Douglas, poet and much-maligned friend of Oscar Wilde is reported. He was 75.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 19th Indian Division takes the last major positions held by the Japanese in Mandalay. Mandalay is now totally under Allied control. This marks the consummation of Slim's victory over Gen Kimura's Burma Area Army, which now retreats toward Rangoon with losses up to a third of its strength.

In the northern sector the British 36th Division reaches Mogok and advances in the southeast toward Kyaukme.

Air Operations, CBI

• 13 10th Air Force B-25s and 18 P-47s attack troops and motor vehicles directly behind the Japanese Army battle lines.
• 34 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s sweep roads south of the battle areas.
• 34 P-47s support Chinese Army ground forces in the Hsipaw area.

• 6 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• 37 V Bomber Command B-24s escorted by V Fighter Command P-38s attack the Samah airfield at Hainan.
• 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack shipping near Nanao Island.

• 4 51st Fighter Group P-51s attack rail facilities at the Vinh airfield.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack a convoy composed of 7 merchant ships escorted by 8 to 10 Japanese fighters. While shooting down an estimated 4 fighters, the B-25s sink a tanker, a submarine chaser, and a repair ship.
• 1 B-25 is lost and 5 are damaged.

Air Operations, Europe

Mosquitoes destroy Gestapo Headquarters in Copenhagen. 35 are killed including 9 Danish prisoners. Bombs accidentally dropped on a nearby Catholic grade school kill 86 pupils and 17 teachers. The 8th Air Force attacks Me-262 bases in western Germany.

• 178 aircraft including 150 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups carry out an accurate attack upon the railway yards and the surrounding town area at Rheine.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 160 Lancasters of No. 3 Group attack the railway yards at Münster and a nearby railway viaduct. The only information available from Münster is that 17 people were killed.
• 3 Lancasters are lost.
• 133 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups attack the Deutsche Vacuum oil refinery at Bremen. This appears to be an accurate raid in clear weather conditions.
• There are no losses.
• 20 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron attack the Arbergen railway bridge just outside Bremen. 2 piers of the bridge are destroyed.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 151 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack Hamburg. The target for this raid is the Deutsche Erdölwerke refinery. The attack is accurate with 20 storage tanks being destroyed and putting the plant out of action until the end of the war.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.
• 131 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups carry out an accurate attack on the benzol plant at Bochum.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 142 Mosquitos are sent in 2 attacks to Berlin, with some aircraft making 2 trips, and 3 Mosquitos to Bremen, 7 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group lay mines in Jade Bay and the Weser River, and there are 56 Mosquito patrols and 26 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Berlin raid and 1 RCM Fortress is lost.

Air Operations, Pacific

• Japanese piloted bombs make their first known appearance of the war while futilely attempting to attack the US naval fast carrier task force whose planes were striking targets on Honshu and Kyushu.
• Japanese air attacks around Iwo Jima result in the sinking of the US carrier Bismarck Sea. Bombing and kamikaze raids start fires on the ship that rage out of control and force the crew to abandon the carrier.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets throughout Luzon.
• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Cebu City.
• V Bomber Command A-20s attack other targets on Cebu.

Air Operations, Western Pacific

Japanese fighters and bombers mount numerous small attacks against Task Force 58 in the area between the Ryukyu and Bonin islands. US Navy carrier-based F6Fs and F4Us down 54 Japanese aircraft at sea between 0336 and 1500 hours, and US Marine Corps carrier-based F4Us down a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber and a J1N 'Irving' fighter at sea between 1030 and 1045, and 2 J2M 'Jack' fighters at sea at 1420 hours.

Burma

Japanese resistance ceases in Mandalay. The British 2nd Division advances along the Ava-Mandalay road, and the 20th Indian Division puts pressure on Wundwin. The British 36th Division advancing down from northern Burma with the Chinese New 6th Army reaches Mandalay, and falls back under the British 14th Army jurisdiction.

China

The Japanese begin to advance against the air base at Laohokow (Guanghua) in the province of Hupeh, northwest of Wuhan.

Eastern Front

German Army Group E holds the attacks by Yugoslavs and Bulgarians against the Valpovo bridgehead across the Drava. The 3rd Ukraine Front takes the industrial district of Tatabanya, in Hungary, and occupies part of Székesfehérvár. The 1st Ukraine Front attacks in Silesia in the Ratibor-Grottkau (Raciborz-Grodkow) area and savage fighting still rages north and south of Breslau. The 2nd Belorussian Front maintains pressure on the Gdynia-Danzig sector.

The remnants of the German 3rd Panzer Army isolated on the east bank of the Oder River are liquidated near Altdamm: 40,000 killed and 12,000 captured.