World War II in real time

Day 2009 of World War II, March 12th 1945

Eastern Front

Kustrin falls to forces of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, after a bitter struggle. Apart from a small area in the north near Stettin, the Soviets now hold the whole of the Oder-Neisse river line as far south as Gorlitz. To the north, forces of 2nd Belorussian Front continue to push forward toward the Gulf of Danzig. In the Polish Corridor, they capture Tczew.

Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of Germany

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, March 12th 1945



There is heavy fighting in the Remagen bridgehead where elements of the German 7th Army are counterattacking.

Photo: View of destroyed buildings in Mayen, Germany, 12 March 1945. Two 3rd U.S. Army signalmen, Pfc. Patrick Sheery (New York, New York) and Pfc. Gerald [illegible] (Chicago, Illinois), are visible in the foreground



Photo: Two U.S. First Army, 78th Infantry Division soldiers patrol a deserted street in Honnef, Germany on the east bank of the Rhine River. 12 March, 1945



Air War over Europe

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 883: 1,355 bombers and 797 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany by PFF; they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 220 of 227 B-24s and 441 of 450 B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Swinemunde; 1 other hit the marshalling yard at Husum, a target of opportunity; all attacks are made with H2X radar; 1 B-17 is lost, 6 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 412 of 452 P-51s; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft in the air; 4 P-51s are lost (3 pilots MIA). 2. 154 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yards at Friedberg (75) and Wetzlar (74) using Gee-H; 2 airmen are WIA. 3. 298 B-17s are dispatched to attack the marshalling yards at Siegen (141) and Marburg (113); 24 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Frankfurt using Micro H; 4 B-17s are damaged. 4. 226 B-17s are sent to bomb the marshalling yards at Betzdorf (116) and Dillenburg (110) using Gee-H without loss. 5. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th forces above are escorted by 192 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 6. 97 of 108 P-51s fly a sweep to support the bombers without loss. 7. 10 P-51s escort 5 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 8. 23 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 884: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night and 4 of 10 B-24s fly a CARPETBAGGER mission.

(US Ninth Air Force): 9th Bombardment Division A-20s, A-26s and B-26s attack 8 marshalling yards, an ammunition-filling plant, city areas and targets of opportunity; the attacks on the marshalling yards are aimed at blocking troop movements by rail into the Ruhr and Remagen areas; fighters escort the bombers, bomb special targets, fly armed reconnaissance, cover the Remagen area, and support the US 9th Infantry Division in the Kalenborn and Hargarten areas and the XX Corps in the Saarburg bridgehead area. The 387th and 388th Fighter Squadrons, 365th Fighter Group, move from Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium to Aachen, Germany with P-47s; and the 412th Fighter Squadron, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Le Culot, Belgium to Venlo, the Netherlands with P-47s.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 790 B-24s and B-17s bomb the Floridsdorf oil refinery at Vienna and alternate targets, the marshalling yards at Graz, Zeltweg, and Wiener-Neustadt; 98 P-38s bomb the Knittelfeld railroad bridge (2 others hit nearby targets of opportunity) and strafe communications in the Wiener-Neustadt-Graz-Klagenfurt areas. 12 P-38s sweep the Zagreb, Yugoslavia area. Bad weather forces 60 P-51s sent against Austrian communications to abort; a supply mission to Yugoslavia and reconnaissance operations are successful.

1,108 RAF aircraft - 748 Lancasters, 292 Halifaxes, 68 Mosquitos attacked Dortmund. This was another new record to a single target, a record which would stand to the end of the war. 2 Lancasters lost. Another record tonnage of bombs - 4,851 - was dropped through cloud on to this unfortunate city. The only details available from Dortmund state that the attack fell mainly in the centre 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'.

81 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 3 each to Halle, Magdeburg and Stendal, 2 RCM sorties, 16 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes minelaying in the Kattegat. 3 Lancaster minelayers lost.

Italian campaign

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s hit 7 railroad bridges, cutting two, and fills--severely damaging one and a train--in the Brenner area and in NE Italy as far E as the Yugoslav border area; fighter- bombers blast communications in N Italy, making 36 rail cuts, 19 of them on the Brenner line; P-47s also bomb and severely damage a munitions factory NW of Zagreb, Yugoslavia; during the night of 11/12 Mar, A-20s on intruder missions hit Po River crossings, a sugar refinery, vehicles, and trains.

Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-25s knock out the Song Rang bridge in French Indochina; 6 P-51s hit road communications at Hwayuan, China and bomb a building at Ha Coi, French Indochina.

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 42: 44 of 49 B-29s hit oil storage facilities on Bukum , Malayan States, and Samboe and Sebarok s, Sumatra; 1 other B-29 bombs Arang Hill, Malayan States; they claim 0-0-1 Japanese aircraft; results are poor.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 13 B-25s and 35 P-47s hit troop concentrations, supplies, vehicles, and AA guns along the battlefront and behind enemy lines; 66 P-47s hit transportation targets and a bridge during several road sweeps in C Burma; 12 others damage a bypass bridge at Hay-ti. Transports complete 677 sorties delivering men and supplies to advanced bases and dropping supplies to frontline forces. The 164th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Shwebo to Ondaw, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s.

(Seventh Air Force): 16 P-51s bomb and strafe Okimura on Haha Jima. 13 B-24s fly daylight strike against Susaki Airfield; during the night of 12/13 Mar, 8 B-24s hit Susaki Airfield and Okimura. 24 B-24s from Angaur Airfield hit a Saragani Bay storage area on Mindanao.

BURMA

Myotha, southwest of Mandalay, falls to the British 20th Indian Division.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s hit Mercedes and Malabang on Mindanao. On Luzon , other B-24s bomb Japanese troops near Ipo, B-25s hit supply area at Bangued and troops at Pattao, A-20s and fighter-bombers fly ground forces support missions. fighter-bombers also bomb Calallo.

Photo: Patrol of the 3rd Bn., 161st RCT, 25th Inf. Div., goes up a creek bed in the Luzon mountains near Digdig. 12 March, 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa B-24s, with P-38 support bomb Takao and Tainan and P-51s also hit Tainan and bomb Jitsugetsu power plants. The 6th Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Biak to Tacloban, Leyte with C-47s; the 33d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22d BG (Heavy), moves from Guiuan Airfield to Clark Field with B-24s; the 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), moves from Sansapor to Puerto Princesa with B-25s (the 69th is operating from Morotai).

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 296, MARCH 12, 1945

The Fifth Marine Division continued its advance on Iwo Island on March 12 (East Longitude Date) and further reduced the area held by the enemy on the northern end of the island. Remnants of the enemy garrison in this sector continued to offer stiff resistance. Mopping up operations were in progress in the Third and Fourth Divisions zones of action, but one enemy pocket continued to hold out at 1800 on March 12. Naval gunfire and Army fighters supported the troops in the fighting on the northern end of the island.

Army fighters bombed and strafed targets on Chichi Jima in the Bonins through intense antiaircraft fire on the same date.

Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed installations at Suri­bachi on Paramushiru and Kataoka on Shimushu in the Northern Kuriles on March 11. Columns of smoke rising to 15,000 feet were observed after the attacks.

Army Thunderbolts strafed and bombed installations on Maug Island in the Marianas on the same date.

Two buildings were destroyed and fires were started on Babelthuap in the Palaus by Corsair Fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 11.

Neutralizing attacks on enemy held bases in the Marshalls were continued by Marine aircraft on the same date.

PACIFIC

Japanese guardboats No.1 Hinode Maru and Shosei Maru, are sunk by U.S. aircraft east of the Ryukyus, 26°54'N, 131°38'E.

Day 2011 of World War II, March 14th 1945

Eastern Front

Soviets forces capture Zvolen in western Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, in Hungary, German Army Group South (Wohler) commits its remaining reserves to battle. The force is based on the 6th Panzer Division and consists of a mixed grouping of 200 tanks and assault guns which engage the Soviet 27th Army (Trofimenko). In East Prussia, the Red Army cuts all communications between Königsberg and the German forces fighting in the Braunsberg pocket. German counterattacks to recapture the oilfields near Lake Balaton come to an end.

Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of Germany

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, March 14th 1945



The US 7th Army launches attacks in the area around Saarbrucken and Bitche in a joint effort with US 3rd Army to eliminate German forces from the area between the Saar, Moselle and Rhine rivers.

Photo: Mortar team of the 99th Infantry Division, U.S. First Army, prepares to fire 81mm mortar shell to halt advance of enemy patrol in woods between American-held Ariendorf, and Germany-held Honningen, 14 March 1945



Photo: Pvt. George W. Rodgers, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Cpl. Steve C. Lipinski, 84th Engineer Camouflage Battalion, attached to the 100th Division, Seventh U.S. Army, finish painting a M5-A1 tank, 14 March 1945



Photo: Black smoke pours from blazing tank loaded with ammunition, in background, which was set afire by German bombardment in Linz, Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine River, 14 March 1945



Air War over Europe

HQ 367th Fighter Group moves from St Dizier to Conflans, France. The 410th Fighter Squadron, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Le Culot, Belgium to Venlo, the Netherlands with P-47s.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 634 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escorts, hit the Szony and Almasfuzito oil refineries and marshalling yards at Komarom, Hungary; Nove Zamky, Czechoslovakia; Zagreb, Yugoslavia; and Wiener-Neustadt, Graz, and Knittelfeld, Austria. 90 P-38s dive-bomb bridges at Ptuj, Yugoslavia, 42 of them afterwards strafing rail traffic in Yugoslavia and Austria. 21 P-51s also strafe rail traffic in Austria. B-17s and B-24s drop supplies in N Italy and in Yugoslavia. F-5s continue reconnaissance missions, including a larger than usual number of photo reconnaissance flights (most of them heavily escorted) over Italy, Germany, Austria, and Yugoslavia.

169 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out G-H attacks through cloud on oil plants at Datteln and Hattingen (near Bochum). Both attacks appeared to be accurate but no results were seen. 1 Lancaster lost from the Hattingen raid.

32 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group, with 4 Oboe Mosquitos of No 8 Group, to attack the Bielefeld and Arnsberg viaducts. 28 Lancasters dropped Tallboy bombs and the No 617 Squadron Lancaster of Squadron Leader CC Calder dropped the first 22,000lb 'Grand Slam' bomb at Bielefeld. The Arnsberg viaduct, No 9 Squadron's target, was later found to be undamaged but more than 100 yards of the Bielefeld viaduct collapsed through the 'earthquake effect' of the Grand Slam and 'Tallboys' of No 617 Squadron. No aircraft lost.

244 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Wintershall synthetic-oil refinery at Lützkendorf. Photographic reconnaissance showed that 'moderate damage' was caused. 18 Lancasters were lost, 7.4 per cent of the Lancaster force.

230 RAF aircraft - 121 Lancasters, 98 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups to Zweibrücken. No aircraft lost. This attack was directed on to the town area to block the passage through it of German troops and stores to the nearby front line, The raid took place in good visibility and was very effective. The local report shows that every public building and inn and 80 per cent of the houses in the town were destroyed or damaged. Most of the civilian population had been evacuated; those remaining took shelter in 2 large caves in the north and south of the town or in the normal basement shelters of their houses.

161 RAF aircraft - 127 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups on the same task as the Zweibrücken raid proceeded to Homburg. No local report is available but it is believed that this attack was equally successful. 2 Halifaxes lost.

75 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 each to Bremen and Brunswick, 52 RCM sorties, 27 Mosquito patrols. No 100 Group lost 2 Mosquitos and 1 Fortress.

The last Stirling operation of Bomber Command was flown on this night when Stirling LJ516, from No 199 Squadron at North Creake, flew a Mandrel screen operation; Squadron Leader JJM Button, the Australian pilot, and his crew landed safely.

(US Eighth Air Force):: 3 missions are flown. Mission 886: 1,262 bombers and 804 fighters are dispatched to hit oil, rail and industrial targets in Germany; they claim 17-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; 3 B-17s and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 526 B-17s are sent to hit oil refineries at Nienhagen (58) and Misburg (56), the Gebruder munitions plant (75) and Maschnbau (61) and Eisenwerke (74) factories at Hannover and the Seelze marshalling yard (80); secondary targets hit are Osnabruck (29) and the marshalling yard at Hannover; attacks were made visually and with H2X radar; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 188 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 19 MIA. 192 of 204 P-51s escort; 2 are damaged. 2. 449 B-17s are dispatched to hit the bridges at Vlotho (72) and Bad Ostenhausen (114), the marshalling yard and road junction at Lohne (144) and industrial plants at Hildesheim (60); 39 hit Osnabruck, a secondary target; targets of opportunity are the marshalling yards at Hameln (12) and Wetzlar (1) and Diemonde (1); all but one target is bombed visually; 1 B-17 is lost and 56 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting are 182 of 194 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft. 3. 272 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yards at Holzwickede (31) and Gutersloh (126); 110 others hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Giessen; attacks are made visually and with H2X radar; 4 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 5 WIA. The escort is 185 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss. 5. 29 of 33 P-41s escort Ninth AF bombers. 6. 50 P-51s fly a sweep of the Stein-Huder-Kassel area claiming 11-0-0 aircraft without loss. 7. 82 P-51s fly a sweep over the Remagen bridgehead; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 8. 20 P-51s escort 33 F-5s and 3 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany and Czechoslovakia. 9. 26 of 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission claiming 1-0-0 aircraft. Mission 887: 9 B-17s use DISNEY rockets weapons on the Ijmuiden submarine pens without loss. Mission 888: 7 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Wiesbaden by PFF during the night without loss.

Photo: March 14, 1945. The 401st Bomb Group of the US Army Air Forces drop their bombs on the railroad marshalling yard and road junction at Lohne, Germany



(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 350+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit 3 airfields, 4 rail bridges, a junction, 5 towns, and 3 targets of opportunity as the interdiction operations continue; fighters escort the bombers, attack railroads and other special targets, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, cover the Remagen area, and support the US XII Corps as it begins a drive from the Mosel River to the Rhine River, and the XX Corps operations W of Trier and Saarburg.

Italian campaign

The 71st Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, moves from Sallsola Airfield to Lesina, Italy with P-38s.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s damage bridges at Casarsa della Delizia, Cittadella, Vipiteno, and Campo; fighters and fighter- bombers attack communications, ammunition and supply dumps, motor transport, trains, buildings, and other targets, escort medium bombers, and support ground forces, operating over much of N Italy from the Apennine battle area N and NE. A-20s hit river crossings and targets of opportunity in the Po Valley during the night of 13/14 Mar.

Photo: 'A' Company, 1st Battalion of the Jewish Brigade ride on a Churchill tank in the Mezzano-Alfonsine sector, 14 March 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

In China, 3 B-24s claim 1 cargo vessel sunk in the S China Sea; 1 B-25 and 4 fighter-bombers damage 12 track sections near Tungyangchen; and 4 P-51s hit railroad targets of opportunity near Chihsien. 19 P-51s and P-38s blast the barracks area at Vinh Yen, French Indochina.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20 P-47s fly close support for elements of the Chinese 50th Division in the Mansam area; 3 B-25s knock out a bridge at Laihka while 11 others bomb troop and a vehicle concentration nearby; 39 P-47s hit troop concentrations, supplies and vehicles at Laihka and Namlan while 29 others sweep roads S of the bomb line. 614 air supply sorties are flown to forward areas. The 165th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Asansol, India to Sinthe, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s and the 166th Liaison Squadron (Commando) moves from Sinthe to Asansol with the same aircraft.

BURMA

Maymo, to the east of Mandalay, is taken by the British 62nd Indian Brigade -- cutting the last rail line to Mandalay. Other units of the British 19th Indian Division are still engaged in Mandalay but most of the city has been capture in in a house-to-house fighting.

Photo: Troops of 26th Division board a landing craft from a Royal Navy destroyer before coming ashore at Letpan on the Arakan coast, 14 March 1945



GUAM

(Seventh Air Force):11 B-24s from Guam bomb Susaki Airfield while 23 from Angaur Airfield hit a Saragani Bay supply area on Mindanao . During the night of 14/15 Mar, 5 more B-24s flying individually hit Susaki Airfield. VII Fighter Command: 16 Iwo Jima based P-51s strafe and dive-bomb Susaki Airfield, the town of Okimura on Haha Jima, and several gun positions on Chichi Jima. The ground echelon of the 549th Night Fighter Squadron, VII Fighter Command, arrives on Iwo Jima from Hawaii (air echelon is operating from Saipan with P-61s).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-24s bomb the Mako, Formosa naval base. B-25s on an armed reconnaissance and shipping sweep along the China coast bomb the secondary targets when no ships are sighted. The 2d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22d BG (Heavy), moves from Guiuan Airfield to Clark Field with B-24s.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Mindanao, B-24s bomb the Konel area while B-25s and B-24s hit the village and AA positions near Zamboanga and dock area at Isabela. A-20s and numerous fighter-bombers (including some US Marine aircraft) hit installations and defensive positions throughout Luzon . A-20s over Palawan hit Pandanan.

Photo: Infantrymen of Company I, 20th Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division, advance up the side of a hill on the Kebayashi Line near Manila, Luzon, P.I, 14 March 1945



Photo: Infantrymen of I Co., 20th Inf., 6th Div., advance up the side of a hill on the Kebayashi Line near Manila, Luzon, P.I. 14 March, 1945



VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

At 9:30 a.m. Americans consider the capture of Iwo Jima complete.

PVs (VPB 151) begin operating from Iwo Jim's Motoyama Airfield No.1, thus bringing Japanese guardboats operating off the home islands within range of rocket-firing planes.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): Of 12 B-25s taking off to cover a naval task force on its way to Matsuwa in the Kurile s, 6 abort due to weather and failure to locate the task force; the others fly coverage sorties throughout the day.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 298, MARCH 14, 1945

Advances of 200 to 400 yards were made by the Fifth Marine Division on the northern end of Iwo Island on March 14 (East Longitude Date). From prepared positions the enemy continued to resist the pressure of our attacks and at nightfall the battle was continuing in this sector and in a small pocket in the Fourth Marine Division zone of action.

Because of the complex system of caves in which enemy casualties have been trapped and sealed and because of the difficult conditions on Iwo Island an exact count of enemy losses is not possible. Counted burials plus very careful estimates as to numbers sealed in caves gives 20,000 as a very close approximation of enemy killed at end of March 14. That number is less than the detailed estimates made by commanders of front line troops.

Our forces in the front lines have found "booby traps" set on the bodies of our dead.

The United States Flag was formally raised over Iwo Island at 0930 on March 14 although some resistance continues.

Planes of Navy, Army and Marine Corps are now operating from the island.

Iwo‑based Army fighters made bombing and strafing attacks on airfield installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 14.

On March 13, Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed Chichi Jima airfield.

Army Liberators of the Eleventh Air Force bombed airfield facilities at Kurabu Saki on southern Paramushiru in the Kuriles on the same date. The enemy sent up meager antiaircraft fire.

Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing destroyed a bridge, damaged two piers and set fuel dumps and motor facilities afire in the Palaus on March 14.

Mopping up operations in the Marianas and Palaus continued. During March 4 through March 10, 48 of the enemy were killed on Saipan, Tinian and Guam and 13 prisoners were taken on Saipan, Guam and Peleliu.

PACIFIC

Destroyer Cotten (DD-669) and Dortch (DD-670) sink Japanese guardboats Futa Maru and No.17 Kaiko Maru off the Bonins, 30°58'N, 144°54'E.

Submarine Bream (SS-243) sinks Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Keihin Maru, 05°41'S, 114°03'E.

Submarine Rock (SS-274) lands supplies on Lombok Island N.E.I.

Submarine Trepang (SS-412) sinks Japanese guardboat Kaiko Maru off Inubosaki, 35°40'N, 141°00'E.

British submarine HMS Spirit sinks Japanese auxiliary sailing vessel Ryuho Maru off Massalambo Island 05°34'S, 114°26'E.

USAAF B-24 on antishipping sweep off south China coast sinks Japanese army ship No.3 Taisei Maru, 03°35'N, 112°10'E.

USAAF B-29s (274 strong) pound Osaka; Japanese merchant cargo ships Shiraume Maru and Shirogane Maru are sunk in the fire bomb raid that lays waste to the heart of the city.

USAAF B-24s damage Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 235 off Mako, Pescadores.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Yatsushiro Maru is damaged by aircraft, south of Wenchow, China.

Attacks against Japanese convoy KAI-311 continue, and USAAF B-24s and B-25s sink small cargo vessel No.15 Gokoku Maru off south China coast.

USAAF B-24 sinks small Japanese cargo vessel No.3 Taisei Maru off Hong Kong.

Navy aircraft sink small Japanese cargo vessel No.1 Taiki Maru and damage guardboat No.1 Shinya Maru, 27°10', 132°09'E.

Coastal yacht Amethyst (AMc-3) is damaged in collision with U.S. merchantman Platte Park 150 miles northwest of San Francisco.

Day 2013 of World War II, March 16th 1945

YouTube (Smiling Albert Takes Command)



Eastern Front

The Soviet forces in Hungary, of 3rd Ukrainian Front, have regrouped following the German attacks, of Army Group South, around Lake Balaton and begin an offensive against the northern flank of the recently won German salient. The Hungarian 3rd Army takes the brunt of the first assaults and is soon in great difficulty.

General der Infanterie von Krosigk 16th Army is killed at Kanden in Courland.

Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of Germany

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, March 16th 1945



Allied forces make an attack along the Saar Basin.

US 7th Army takes Bitche as the Siegfried Line begins to break.

Photo: A jeepload of 94th Div., 3rd U.S. Army medics moves through the ruined streets of Hermeskeil, Germany. 16 March, 1945



Photo: "Mayen, Germany. Sgt. John Hylass, Brentwood, N.J., personal Military Policeman to guard Maj. Gen. Manston S. Eddy, CG of the XII Corps, U.S. Third Army, stands watch with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a jeep while General Eddy pays a visit to his Command Post in Mayen. In the background is the famous Castle of Mayen which dates back to the days of Charlemagne," 16 March, 1945



Photo: A halftrack of the 10th Armored Division, U.S. Third Army, parks near smoldering building in newly captured Kall, Germany. 16 March, 1945



Photo: 5th Infantry Division units of 3rd U.S. Army move up through town of Chorweiler, Germany. 16 March, 1945



Photo: Men of the 5th Inf. Div., U.S. Third Army, file through Nazi roadblock into the newly captured town of Corweiler, Germany. 16 March, 1945



Air War over Europe

HQ 365th Fighter Group moves from Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium to Aachen; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), moves from Duren to Euskirchen with L-5s; and the 392d Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from St Dizier to Conflans, France with P-47s.

Raid on Nuremburg by 231 RAF Lancasters of No 1 Group and 46 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of No 8 Group. 24 Lancasters, all from No 1 Group, lost, 8.7 per cent of the Lancaster force and 10.4 per cent of the No 1 Group aircraft involved. Most of these losses were due to German night fighters, which found the bomber stream on its way to the target. A local report states that the southern and south-western districts were hit as well as the ruins of the Altstadt which was destroyed in a previous raid. A serious fire was established in the Steinbuhl district. The main railway station was also on fire and the city's gasworks were so badly damaged that they did not resume production before the end of the war. This was the last heavy Bomber Command raid on Nuremberg.

225 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked Würzburg. 6 Lancasters lost. This was another dramatic and devastating blow by No 5 Group. 1,127 tons of bombs were 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 contained little industry and this was an area attack.

56 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 24 to Hanau and 6 each to Brunswick and Osnabrück, 32 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols, 12 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Heligoland. No aircraft lost.

Gerhard Friedrich, a night-fighter with thirty victories and a former transport pilot, is killed in action. Near Nurnberg Hptm. Martin "Tino" Becker, Gruppenkommandeur of IV./NJG 6 flying a Ju 88 G-6 "2Z+MF" destroys a RAF Lancaster for his fifty-eighth night victory. It will be his last victory of the war.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 280+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit the Landau barracks area and communications center, the Niederscheld town area and rail bridge, 6 other town areas, a marshalling yard, rail junction, crossroads, and also drop leaflets; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, armed reconnaissance, and cover the VIII, XII, and XX Corps in an assault across the Mosel River from W of Koblenz and N of Boppard, at one point, as far E as Bad Kreuznach, and as far S as Merzig.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 720+ B-24s and B-17s bomb the Korneuburg, Vienna/Floridsdorf, Schwechat, and Moosbierbaum, Austria oil refineries and marshalling yards at Sankt Veit an der Glan, Amstetten, and Graz, Austria and Varazdin and Pragersko, Yugoslavia; 52 P-51s strafe rail lines in the Vienna and Linz, Austria and Passau and Regensburg, Germany areas and the airfield at Mettenheim, Germany. B-17s and B-24s continue supply drops to N Italy and Yugoslavia while F-5s and P-38s fly extensive weather and photo reconnaissance missions; fighters fly 300+ sorties in escort of the bombers, supply runs, and reconnaissance operations.

Italian campaign

HQ 1st Fighter Group and the 27th and 94th Fighter Squadrons move from Salsola Airfield to Lesina, Italy with P-38s.

(US Twelfth Air Force): B-25s of the 57th Bombardment Wing, flying their farthest N penetration to date, bomb the Brixlegg, Austria railroad bridge. In Italy, B-25s also hit the Spilimbergo power plant, with excellent results, and lightly damage 3 bridges on the Brenner line, 1 in the C Po Valley, and 1 in NE Italy; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers continue to attack communications in the Po Valley and NE Italy, while A-20s bomb bridges and targets of opportunity on night intruder missions along the Po R and in the N Po Valley.

Battle of the Atlantic

At 0920, the 'Inger Toft' in Convoy RU-156 was torpedoed and sunk by 'U-722' 3 miles 270° from Neirst Point, Isle of Skye. The master and 29 crewmembers were picked up by armed trawler HMS 'Grenadier' and landed at Loch Ewe.

The Coast Guard-manned destroyer escorts USS 'Lowe', 'Menges',' Pride', and 'Mosely', which comprised Task Group 22.14, located the submerged German submarine 'U-866' off the coast of Sable Island and sank it with a loss of all hands.

Battle of the Baltic Sea

The German heavy vessels 'Schlesien' and 'Prinz Eugen' support the forces of Heeresgruppe Kurland in their defense against heavy Soviet attacks to break up the Kessel.

'U-367' sank in the Baltic Sea near Hela, in position 54.25N, 18.50E, after hitting a mine laid by the Soviet submarine L-21 three days earlier. 43 dead (all hands lost).

Photo: The U.S. Navy landing craft repair ship USS Minos (ARL-14) underway on 16 March 1945. She is painted in a as yet unidentified camouflage pattern, probably in greens. Minos was sent 31/5L through Jacksonville Shipyard, Florida (USA), on 6 February 1945 but the patterns seem to match a version of Design 8L for LCI(L)



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 32 B-24s, escorted by 10 P-51s, pound the N railroad yards at Shihkiachwang; 1 B-25 and 2 P-51s attack the railroad between Sinsiang and Shihkiachwang; the detachment of the 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st FG, operating from Laohokow with P-51s, returns to base at Chengkung (another detachment is operating from Poseh).

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 23 P-47s support forces of the Chinese 50th Division in the Hsipaw area; 4 P-38s, supporting the British 36 Division, bomb artillery positions NE of Mogok; 12 B-25s blast a fuel dump and troop concentration at Panghai; and 40 P-38s sweep roads S of the bomb line. Transport operations continue on a steady basis.

GUAM

Seventh Air Force: 13 Guam based B-24s bomb Susaki Airfield; during the night of 16/17 Mar, Susaki Airfield is hit again, by 5 B-24s flying individual harassment strikes. Iwo Jima is declared secure although fierce resistance continues on some parts of the island. VII Fighter Command: 16 Iwo Jima based P-51s dive-bomb and strafe radio and radar installations, gun positions, and a storage area on Chichi Jima. In Mar 45 HQ VII Fighter Command will be established on Iwo Jima from where some of its units escort B-29 missions.

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 43: 307 XXI Bomber Command B-29s, of 331 airborne, fire-raid Kobe in the heaviest attack to date, bombing from 5,000 to 9,500 feet during the predawn hours of 16/17 Mar; the attack lasts for 2 hours and 8 minutes; about 2.9 square miles, i.e., 20%, of the city's area is burned destroying about 500 industrial buildings and damaging 162; 65,951 homes are lost leaving 242,468 people homeless. Casualties are 2,669 dead or missing and 11,289 injured. The B-29 crews see 314 enemy aircraft which make a total of 93 individual attacks; the AAF claims 1-0-? Japanese aircraft; 3 B-29s are lost, none to the fighters.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, B-24s also hit the town of Taihoku, airfields at Heito, and the Okayama naval airbase. HQ 43d BG and the 65th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) move from Tacloban, Leyte to Clark Field, Luzon with B-24s; the 419th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, moves from Middelburg to Puerto Princesa, Palawan with P-61s.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

Transported in medium landing craft (LCM) and one submarine chaser (SC), and supported by gunfire from three destroyers, two LCI(R), three LCS(L) and 2 LCI(M), Army troops (a reinforced company) of the US 41st Division lands on Basilan Island. Here, as on other small islands, the US forces to subdue the Japanese garrison during the first few days of battle and then mostly to withdraw, leaving the mopping up to Filipino irregulars. Meanwhile, fighting continues on Luzon, with US 14th Corps engaged along the Japanese held Shimbu Line, southeast of Manila, while the US 1st Corps is engaged to the north on the Villa Verde track.

On Luzon, A-20s and B-24s continue pounding Japanese installations at Baguio; P-51s strike Patapat, hitting vehicles and supplies; fighters on patrol hit Caballo in Manila Bay; the Batangas area is again pounded by fighter-bombers and A-20s. B-24s hit Talisay and Carolina Airfields on Negros and bomb targets pinpointed by guerrillas on Cebu. B-25s bomb San Roque Airfield on Mindanao and attack Tarakan and Jesselton Airfields.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): Because of a navigational error, 2 B-24s on a photo mission to Matsuwa reach 130 miles S of the island, the deepest penetration of the Japanese Home s to date; the B-24s turn N, photograph Matsuwa and bomb Shimushiru with unobserved results.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 300, MARCH 16, 1945

The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat. The enemy was fully aware of the crushing attacks on his homeland which would be made possible by our capture of this island only 660 nautical miles distant, so he prepared what he thought was an impregnable defense. With certain knowledge of the cost of an objective which had to be taken, the Fleet Marine Force supported the ships of the Pacific Fleet and by Army and Navy aircraft fought the battle and won. By their victory the Third, Fourth and Fifth Marine Divi­sions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

Organized resistance on Iwo Island ceased at 1800 on March 16 (East Longitude Date) when elements of the Third and Fifth Marine Divisions drove through the enemy lines breaking them up and reached Kitano Point at the northern end of the island.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 301, MARCH 16, 1945

The Marines on Iwo are continuing to mop up remnants of the enemy garrison. The central Iwo airfield was placed in operation on March 16 (East Longitude Date).

Army aircraft of the Seventh Fighter Command bombed and strafed targets on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the same date.

On March 15, Army Liberators of the Seventh Air Force operating under the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed airfield installations on Chichi Jima.

Fighters and Torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing de­stroyed bridges and damaged piers and other installations in the Palaus on March 15. On the following day barges were destroyed and fires were started on and around Babelthuap and Arakabesan in the same group.

Radio, airfield and harbor installations on Yap in the Western Carolines were bombed by Marine Aircraft on March 15 and 16.

Neutralizing raids on enemy held bases in the Marshalls were carried out by planes of Fleet Air Wing Two and the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 15.

PACIFIC

Tank landing ship LST-928 is damaged, by grounding, off Iwo Jima, 24°46'N, 141°19'E.

Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.69 sinks while in tow, eight miles off Hong Kong, 22°00'N, 113°40'E, as the result of damage inflicted by USAAF B-24s (14th Air Force) on 8 March.

Japanese guardboat No.19 Gokoku Maru is sunk by U.S. aircraft, Kikaiga Jima, Japan.

Japanese merchant tanker No.1 Nanryu Maru is sunk by aircraft, 29°09'N, 122°01'E.

Day 2015 of World War II, March 18th 1945

Eastern Front

Troops of the Polish 1st Army, part of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, take Kolberg on the Pomeranian coast. Other Soviet forces are closing in around Gdynia and Danzig to the east and making further inroads into the German positions in East Prussia.

Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of Germany

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, March 18th 1945



Forces of US 3rd Army capture Bingen and Bad Kreuznach as the advance to the southwest continues. To the south, the progress of US 7th Army is beginning to accelerate, with most of its forward units having now crossed the German border.

Photo: Soldiers of the 97th Infantry Division in Cologne, Germany, March 18, 1945



Photo: Infantrymen of the 5th Division, U.S. Third Army, march on Wintersbach, Germany, to clear out the few remaining Nazis cut off from their main units. 18 March, 1945



Photo: 94th Division infantrymen, supporting 10th Armored Division of 3rd U.S. Army, move out of Hermeskeil, Germany. 18 March, 1945



Photo: Vehicles of the 5th Infantry Division, U.S. Third Army, move into the newly captured town. Simmern, Germany. 18 March, 1945



Air War over Europe

The 415th Night Fighter Squadron, 64th Fighter Wing, moves from Ochey to St Dizier, France with Beaufighters.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather limits operations to reconnaissance and supply missions, a fighter-bomber attack by P-38s on the Varazdin, Yugoslavia railroad bridge, after which many of the P-38s strafe railroad communications in the Zagreb, Varazdin and Maribor, Yugoslavia, and Villach, Austria areas, and a strafing mission against rail communications and airfields in the Graz and Wiener-Neustadt, Austria, Maribor, Yugoslavia, and Szombathely, Hungary areas.

100 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out G-H attacks on oil plants at Hattingen and Langendreer. Both raids appeared to be accurate. No aircraft lost.

324 RAF aircraft - 259 Halifaxes, 45 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to Witten. 8 aircraft - 6 Halifaxes, 1 Lancaster, 1 Mosquito - lost. This was an area raid carried out in good visibility. 1,081 tons of bombs were dropped, destroying 129 acres, 62 per cent of the built-up area (according to the post-war British Bombing Survey Unit).

277 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups bombed Hanau. 1 Lancaster lost. This was another accurate area raid. 0 industrial buildings and 2,240 houses were destroyed. The Altstadt was completely devastated and, says the report, all of the town's churches, hospitals, schools and historic buildings were badly hit.

Support and 70 aircraft on a sweep over France, 30 Mosquitos to Berlin, 24 to Kassel and 18 to Nuremberg, 40 RCM sorties, 53 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 894: 1,329 bombers and 733 fighters are dispatched to hit railway stations and tanks plants in the Berlin area; the attacks are made both visually and with H2X radar; the Luftwaffe makes it's most concentrated and successful attacks with Me 262s to date; the AAF claims 21-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 bombers (8 to flak) and 6 fighters are lost: 1. 421 of 450 B-17s hit the Schlesischer rail station in Berlin; 13 hit the secondary target, Zehdnuk; and 1 hits Vechta, a target of opportunity; they claim 6-0-0 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 8 damaged beyond repair and 268 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 18 WIA and 49 MIA. 179 of 199 P-51s escort; they claim 4-0-2 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 2. 495 of 530 B-17s hit the Nord rail station in Berlin; targets of opportunity are Ludwigslust (3) and other (3); they claim 1-1-1 aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost, 6 damaged beyond repair and 319 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 12 WIA and 79 MIA. Escorting are 219 of 238 P-51s; they claim 7-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 3. 347 B-24s are sent to hit the Tegel (225) and Henningsdorf (80) tank factories in Berlin; targets of opportunity are Oranienburg (9), Uelzen (9) and other (3); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 127 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 11 MIA. The escort is 254 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 4. 2 B-17s fly a scouting mission. 5. 27 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 6. 1 of 12 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 895: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 660+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit the marshalling yards at Wetzlar, Worms, Kreuztal, and Bad Durkheim, a communications center at Bad Durkheim, and 4 town areas with the aim of hampering enemy movement; fighters escort the bombers, attack assigned targets, fly patrols, and armed reconnaissance, and cooperate with the US III Corps at Remagen, with the XII Corps as it begins an assault towards the Mainz-Worms sector of the Rhine River, and with the XX Corps as it moves rapidly eastward through the Sankt Wendel area toward Kaiserslautern. HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Verviers, Belgium to Bruhl, Germany.

The jets of JG 7 for the first time use the new R4M air-to-air rocket in place of the expensive wire-guided Ruhrstahl X-4. Fifty-four of the jets receive 4 kg rockets while six aircraft from 9 Staffel are fitted with twenty-four shot armament. On missions against USAAF bombers it is reported that the rockets literally blow the bombers to pieces. But it is difficult to judge who should be credited with a kill so, kills on this day are made as group kills instead of individual scores. As a result thirteen kills are credited to JG 7 for a loss of three pilots and five jets. One of the pilots lost is Oblt Wegmenn who is hit by return fire from a B-17 over Glowen. Trying to reach his airfield at Parchim his engines fail on approach and he bales out at a height of 4000 meters. Oblt Wegmenn survives the jump but loses his leg later at hospital. He is replaced as Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 7 by Lt. Karl Schnorrer. Another pilot lost from JG 7 is Oblt. Hans-Peter Waldmann, Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 7. Taking off with a flight of four jets, the schwarm becomes lost in some cloud and Oblt Waldmann collides with Lt Hans-Dieter Weihs' aircraft. Both jets crash with Lt Weihs successfully baling out but Oblt. Waldmann is killed upon landing. While watching the rest of his Schwarm disintegrate, Obfw Schrey is attacked by P-51s and as he parachutes from his stricken jet is shot at again and killed. Lt. Weihs replaces Waldmann as Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 7.

Italian campaign

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 17/18 Mar, A-20s and A-26s continue intruder missions in the Po Valley, concentrating on Po River crossings; B-25s bomb the railroad bridges at Bozzolo, and Palazzuolo sull' Oglio, the railroad fill at Salorno, and the causeway at Mantua; fighters and fighter-bombers hit dumps and support ground forces S of Bologna, and attack communications targets over wide areas of the Po Valley; the most devastating raid of the day is flown against the Novara marshalling yard where 14 locomotives are destroyed.

Two ex-Italian torpedo boats and a destroyer minelaying off the Gulf of Genoa were engaged by destroyers "Meteor" and "Lookout". In the last Royal Navy destroyer action of the Mediterranean, torpedo boats "TA-24" and "TA-29" were sunk.

Battle of the Atlantic

'U-866' (type IXC/40) is sunk north-east of Boston, in position 43.18N, 61.08W, by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS 'Lowe', 'Menges', 'Pride' and 'Mosley'. 55 dead (all hands lost).

Germany

Albert Speer, the armaments minister, tells Hitler that the war is lost and economic collapse is nigh; Hitler insists that he retracts these comments.

In the Brandenburg Prison in Germany, General Erich Fromm is shot. He was convicted of cowardice for his part in the bomb plot against Adolf Hitler in July 1944.

Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 6 B-24s sweep the Gulf of Tonkin and S China Sea, claiming 1 freighter damaged. 2 P-51s over N French Indochina strafe trucks, troops, and horsecarts.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 P-47s support the Chinese ground forces near Hsipaw; 8 others support British 36 Division troops by dropping napalm NE of Mogok; 11 B-25s and 20 fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations and supplies immediately behind the battlefront and roads S of the bomb line are swept by 16 P-38s. Transports continue steady operations.

GUAM

Seventh Air Force: 14 B-24s from Guam pound Susaki Airfield and 1 other hits Haha Jima; during the night of 18/19 Mar, 5 more B-24s individually strike Susaki Airfield. The 392d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 30th BG (Heavy), moves from Saipan to Kipapa, Hawaii with B-24s. VII Fighter Command: 16 P-51s from Iwo Jima dive-bomb radar and radio installations and barges on Chichi Jima.

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 44: During the night of 18/19 Mar, 290 of 313 XXI Bomber Command B-29s continue the fire raids on Japanese cities, bombing Nagoya from 4,500 to 9,000 feet with incendiaries for the second time this month; an additional 3 square miles are destroyed; the Nagoya arsenal, Aichi engine plant and freight yards are damaged but the Mitsubishi plants escape with minor damage; this mission ends the March fire raids.

BURMA

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

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, Tainan Airfield, seaplane base at Takao, and emergency field at Koshun are also hit.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

There are American landings on Panay by 14,000 men of US 40th Infantry Division (General Brush) in the area near Iloilo. There is little initial opposition from the Japanese garrison.

Photo: Troops of the 185th Inf., 40th Div., take cover behind advancing tanks while moving up on Japanese positions on Panay Island, P.I. This is one of the shots salvaged from the camera of Lt. Robert Fields who was killed in action shortly after it was taken, 18 March 1945



B-24s, A-20s, and fighters support ground forces by hitting the Ipo area and various targets in Batangas Province. B-24s again bomb Bacolod, hit several targets on Cebu, and bomb Sepinggang and Jesselton Airfields.

The 419th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, based at Puerto Princesa, Palawan with P-61s, sends a detachment to operate from Zamboanga, Mindanao.

PV-1s (VPB 128), on the basis of reports from Filipino guerillas, bomb two Japanese midget submarines in Davao Gulf.

Tank landing ship LST-635 is damaged by grounding, P.I., 11°05'N, 125°05'E.

JAPAN

TF 58 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) planes bomb airfields on southern Kyushu and shipping, attacking convoy KATA-504, escorted by Coast Defense Vessel No.29 and submarine chaser Ch 58, damaging cargo vessel Kiyo Maru and sinking transport Kenyo Maru and tanker No.1 Nansei Maru, and Okinawa-bound auxiliary sailing vessels Kamo Maru and Tenjin Maru off Noma Misaki, 31°24'N, 130°07'E. Off Kyushu, Japanese planes bomb carriers Enterprise (CV-6), 30°50'N, 133°42'E, and Yorktown (CV-10), 30°40'N, 133°49'E, damaging both. Intrepid (CV-11) is crashed by kamikaze and hit by friendly fire, 30°47'N, 133°50'E.

Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) at sea during strikes against targets on Kyushu, Japan, 18 March 1945. The battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) is in the right distance



Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) and other ships of Task Group 58.4 steaming off Kyushu on 18 March 1945. The photo was taken from USS Intrepid (CV-11), USS Independence (CVL-22) is visible aft of Yorktown. On this date 16 carriers if Task Force 58 under the command of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher began launching strikes to neutralize Japanese air power prior to the Allied invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945. In five days of operation, U.S. naval aviators destroyed 482 enemy planes



ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): A weather sortie is flown.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 303, MARCH 18, 1945

On March 18 (East Longitude Date) a strong force of carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet attacked enemy aircraft bases and installations on the Island of Kyushu.

The Marines on Iwo mopped up isolated remnants of the former enemy garrison in the rugged terrain of the northern part of the island on March 18. Marine uniforms were again found on enemy soldiers, one of whom stopped one of our ambulances, shot and wounded the driver and escaped. Snipers continued to be active. Army fighters bombed and strafed barges and radio and radar facilities on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the same date.

Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima on March 16 and 17.

Without opposition, Liberators of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Shimushiru in the Kuriles on March 17. Fighters, dive bombers and torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed radio towers, airstrip and other targets on Yap in the Western Carolines on March 18.

On March 17 and 18, Marine Aircraft attacked buildings, bridges and other facilities on Babelthuap in the Palaus. One plane was lost in the attacks.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 743, MARCH 18, 1945

Reiterating that the battle for Iwo Jima was "the toughest and hardest fight in Marine Corps history," Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, USMC, Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, has returned to his Pearl Harbor headquarters with members of his staff.

The bloody conquest of Japan's Gibraltar of the Pacific further evidenced that the fighting will "get tougher" as we close in on the Nipponese empire, General Smith said.

PACIFIC

Submarine Balao (SS-285) sinks Japanese merchant trawler No.2 Daito Maru, 35°00'N, 123°51'E.

Submarine Springer (SS-414), attacking Japanese convoy, sinks fast transport T.18 and damages minesweeper W 17 near Mutsure Jima, Ryukyus, 26°38'N, 127°12'E.

Submarine Trigger (SS-237) sinks Japanese army cargo ship No.3 Tsukushi Maru northwest of Okinawa, 28°05'N, 126°44'E.

TF 58 planes sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.43 Yusen Maru 45 miles southwest of Satamisaki Light; planes from carrier Hornet (CV-12) sink merchant vessel No.1 Nansei Maru and damage Tokuho Maru and Asahi Maru in Yamakawa harbor.

Japanese landing ship T.137 is damaged by aircraft, Yaene, Hachijo Jima.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Taiju Maru is sunk by aircraft, off Hime Jima.

Japanese ship Koichi Maru is damaged by aircraft, Amachi harbor, Kochi-Ken.

Day 2017 of World War II, March 20th 1945

Eastern Front

Soviet forces around Stettin eliminate the German bridgehead over the Oder River, at Altdamm. In East Prussia, Braundsberg is captured.

General Heinrici, one of the best defensive tacticians in the German Army, is appointed to command Army Group Vistula in succession to Himmler. Heinrici is tasked with building up defenses along the Oder River in preparation for the expected Soviet offensive toward Berlin by 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov). The German army group has already lost a large part of its original force in the fighting in Pomerania.

Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of Germany

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, March 20th 1945



Troops of US 7th Army capture Saarbrucken as well as Zweibrucken a little to the east. Forces of US 3rd Army capture Ludwigshafen and Kaiserslautern. Farther north, the US 1st Army continues fighting to expand the Remagen bridgehead which is now almost 30 miles wide and 19 miles deep.

Photo: Infantrymen belonging to the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division moving through the town of Zweibrucken, Germany. 20 March, 1945



Photo: Infantrymen of 1st U.S. Army march past still-smouldering tank and roadblock in Beuel, Germany. 20 March, 1945



Photo: Two riflemen and a bazookaman pass smoke screen on a road to Zweibrucken. 20 March, 1945



Photo: Infantrymen of the 80th Division, U.S. Third Army, enter the town of Kaiserslautern, Germany, only a few hours after the tanks of the 10th Armored Division. 20 March, 1945



Air War over Europe

153 RAF aircraft - 125 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and No 6 Groups attempted to hit the railway yards at Recklinghausen but cloud and a strong wind spoiled the Pathfinder marking and the bombing was well scattered. No aircraft lost.

99 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Hamm and 14 Lancasters of No 9 Squadron attacked the railway bridge at Arnsberg. Bombs were seen to explode in the target area at both targets. No aircraft lost.

224 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the synthetic-oil plant near Böhlen. This accurate attack put the plant out of action and it was still inactive when captured by American troops several weeks later. 9 Lancasters lost.

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

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

(US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 898: 451 bombers and 355 fighters are dispatched to hit the shipyard and dock area at Hamburg and an oil refinery; they claim 14-3-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 bombers and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 13 of 152 B-17s hit the Blohm Voss U-boat yard at Hamburg; 133 others hit the secondary, the port area at Hamburg; bombing is visual; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft; 1 airman is KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 70 of 79 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft. 2. 149 of 162 B-17s hit the secondary target, the Hamburg port area, using H2X radar; 1 other hits the Nordholz Airfield, a target of opportunity; they claim 5-3-2 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 54 damaged; 27 airmen are MIA. The escort is 72 of 75 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft. 3. 114 of 129 B-24s attack the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt; 1 B-24 is lost and 9 damaged; 12 airmen are MIA. 75 P-51s escort; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft in the air and 1-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss. 5. 2 B-17s and 26 of 27 P-51s fly scouting missions. 6. 78 of 82 P-51s fly a strafing mission in the Bremen-Hannover area; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft in the air and 3-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 7. 17 P-51s escort 11 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 899: 1 B-17, escorted by 4 P-51s, bombs Oberursel at 1650 hours from 25,000 feet (7,620 m); this is the first operational test of Micro-H Mk II radar. Mission 900: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany and 2 A-26s fly CARPETBAGGER missions (1 A-26 is lost).

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 360+ A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb the Geisecke marshalling yard, Sythen ammunition-filling plant, the town of Gronau (including a rail bridge), and several casual targets in or near 9 other towns; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US III and VII Corps just E of the Rhine River between Bad Honningen and the Sieg River, and the XII and XX Corps as they push to the Rhine River at Worms and at a point N of Mannheim.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 760+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, hit the Korneuburg and Kagran oil refineries, the marshalling yards at Wels, Sankt Polten, Amstetten, Wiener-Neustadt, and Klagenfurt, and the tank works at Steyr. Routine supply, reconnaissance, and escort missions continue.

Twenty-two Me 262s from JG 7 take off to intercept USAAF bombers and their escorting fighters in the Hamburg area and destroy nine B-17s for the loss of four jets including Fw Buttner, the first jet experte of JG 7.

Italian campaign

The 885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 2641st Special Group, moves from Brindisi to Rosignano, Italy with B-17s and B-24s (the squadron transports supplies to partisans and drops leaflets).

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, XXII Tactical Air Command A-20s during the night of 19/20 Mar continue intruder missions into the Po Valley while fighters and fighter-bombers pound communications targets in the Valley during the day and severely damage fuel dumps near Mantua; medium bombers hit 4 bridges on the Brenner line and 2 others in NE Italy and hit other bridge approaches nearby. HQ 79th Fighter Group moves from Fano to Cesenatico, Italy.

Battle of the Atlantic

'U-683' listed as missing in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland or in the English Channel. 49 dead (all hands lost). Probably sunk 12 March, 1945 in the English Channel near Land's End, in position 49.52N, 05.52W, by depth charges from the British frigate MS 'Loch Ruthwen' and the sloop 'Wild Goose'.

Frigates HMCS 'Beacon Hill', 'Sussexvale', 'New Glasgow' and 'Ribble' sailed from Londonderry for training at Loch Alsh. After the group passed the Foyle buoy it, formed up, a mile apart and zigzagging independently, making about fourteen knots with CAT gear streamed. A periscope and schnorkel were visible on 'New Glasgow's' port bow, action stations were sounded and a shallow depth-charge pattern was ordered however, it was too late. The U-boat struck 'New Glasgow' just below the bridge. Subsequent searches by EG 26, C-4 and EG 25 failed to reveal 'U-1003'.

In the afternoon, 'U-968' attacked Convoy JW-65 and reported a destroyer and a Liberty sunk and another Liberty ship torpedoed. In fact, sloop HMS 'Lapwing' of the 7th Escort Group and Liberty ship 'Thomas Donaldson' were sunk. Whilst escorting convoy JW.65 on its approach to Kola Inlet, HMS 'Lapwing' was hit amidships at 1325 and sank 20 minutes later.

United Kingdom

Last hostile operations by enemy manned aircraft over Britain. Ten enemy aircraft which operated over Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and Essex, but little damage was reported.

Belgium

Photo: Field Marshal Montgomery acknowledges the cheers of Belgian civilians during a tour of 5th Division in and around Ghent, 20 March 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In French Indochina, 4 P-38s claim 11 trucks destroyed and 9 damaged between Son La and Hoa Binh.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): 20 P-47s sweep roads S of the bomb line in C Burma; 16 others hit supply dumps behind Japanese lines. Transports continue to supply forward areas.

BURMA

The British 19th Indian Division completes the capture of Mandalay. The Fort Dufferin position has been among the most stubbornly defended by Japanese forces.

Photo: The crew of a Lee tank pose with a captured Japanese flag during the advance south of Mandalay, 20 March 1945



Photo: Sherman tanks and other vehicles start the journey from Mandalay south to Rangoon, 20 March 1945



Photo: Sherman tanks and other vehicles start the journey from Mandalay south to Rangoon, 20 March 1945



Photo: A Sherman tank during the advance south of Mandalay, 20 March 1945



Photo: A Lee tank during the advance south from Mandalay, 20 March 1945



Photo: A soldier of 19th Division holds at Fort Dufferin in Mandalay, 20 March 1945



GUAM

Seventh Air Force: 12 Guam based B-24s bomb Susaki Airfield; during the night of 20/21 Mar, 4 other B-24s fly single strikes against the airfield. VII Fighter Command: The air echelon of the 549th Night Fighter Squadron, ceases operating from Saipan and moves to Iwo Jima with P-61s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-24s bomb the town of Tainan. B-25s on a shipping sweep sink 3 small vessels near Qui Nhon, French Indochina. The 72d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th BG (Heavy), moves from Morotai to Guiuan Airfield with B-24s; the detachments of the 75th and 390th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), operating from Morotai return to base at Sansapor with B-25s.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, B-24s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers fly numerous ground support missions and hit targets at Balete Pass, Bayombong, Tuguegarao, Antamok, San Fernando, Bontoc and along roads. B-24s pound the supply and personnel area E of Cebu City and N of Mambaling on Cebu, defensive positions NW of Talisay and AA guns to the N, and also bomb Talisay.

JAPAN

US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) is replenishing in preparation for operations around Okinawa. There are Japanese Kamikaze attacks that fail to achieve significant success. Admiral Spruance, command the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.

TF 92 (Captain John M. Worthington) (six destroyers) sorties from Attu to proceed to Paramushiro to bombard Japanese installations in the Suribachi Wan area. Heavy ice, however, will cause a cancellation of the operation.

Off Japan, carrier Enterprise (CV-6) is damaged by friendly fire, 30°01'N, 134°30'E, and destroyer Halsey Powell (DD-686) is crashed by kamikaze at 30°27'N, 134°28'E. TF 38 planes sink Japanese guardboat No.1 Kochi Maru east of Honshu.

Photo: An Imperial Japanese Navy Yokosuka D4Y3 Suisei bomber (Allied code name "Judy") passes near the light aircraft carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29) during an unsuccessful dive bombing run on Task Force 58, while the U.S. ships were operating off Japan on 20 March 1945. The Japanese plane was soon shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The photo was taken from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CV-19), visible in the foreground. Bataan is the ship in the center of the view



Photo: A Japanese Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (Allied reporting name "Judy") crashes close to the U.S. Navy light aircraft carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29) on 20 March 1945



UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 305, MARCH 20, 1945

After a day of destructive attacks on the enemy air force in Kyushu the Fast Carrier Task Force commanded by Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, moved northeast and on March 19 (East Longitude Date) attacked the prin­cipal units of the Japanese Fleet in its home bases in the Inland Sea. During these attacks crippling damage wag inflicted on the Japanese Fleet and many Japanese aircraft were destroyed.

A preliminary report from Admiral R. A. Spruance, Commander Fifth Fleet, who was present in tactical command of the Fleet forces engaged shows that the following damage was inflicted on the enemy during the two days fighting

Aircraft:

200 shot out of the air
275 destroyed on the ground
More than 100 damaged in the first day's attacks, and a large number damaged in the second day's attacks.

Ships sunk:

Six small freighters

Ships damaged:

One or two battleships
Two or three aircraft carriers
Two light aircraft carriers or escort carriers
Two escort carriers
One heavy cruiser
One light cruiser
Four destroyers
One submarine
One destroyer escort
Seven freighters

Ground installations:

A large number of installations including hangars, shops, arsenals and oil storage facilities were destroyed.

Our aircraft losses in combat were extremely light.

The enemy made many air attacks on our forces. None of our ships was lost. One of our ships was seriously damaged and is returning to port under her own power. A few others received minor damage but are fully operational.

Mopping up operations were continued by the Marines in Iwo on March 20.

On March 19, Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed the air­field on Chichi Jima in the Bonins causing explosions and large fires.

Navy search Mariners of Fleet Air Wing One bombed the town of Yap in the western Carolines on March 20.

Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing fighters continued attacks on enemy‑held bases in the Marshalls.

PACIFIC

Submarine Blenny (SS-324) attacks Japanese convoy HI-88I off coast of French Indochina, sinking merchant tankers No.21 Nanshin Maru and Hosen Maru, and fishing boat Yamakuni Maru about 40 miles south of Cam Ranh Bay, 11°18'N, 108°57'E (see 21 March).

Submarine Devilfish (SS-292) is damaged by suicide plane off Volcano Islands, 25°36'N, 137°30'E, and is forced to terminate her patrol.

Submarine Perch (SS-313) lands men on east coast of Borneo.

Japanese army ship No.1 Genzan Maru is sunk by aircraft off coast of French Indochina.

USAAF B-25s attack Japanese convoy, sinking store ships Heishin Maru and Fukusei Maru, and damaging torpedo boat Hatsukari off Tungshan, China, 23°42'N, 137°15'E.

Japanese Gyoraitei No.219 is damaged by aircraft, Toba, 30°06'N, 122°22'E.

Day 2019 of World War II, March 22nd 1945

Eastern Front

In Silesia, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front achieve a breakthrough in attacks over the Oder River to the south of Oppeln as well as extending an existing bridgehead to the north of the town. In the Polish Corridor, the Soviet forces continue fighting to reach the Baltic between Gdynia and Danzig.

Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of Germany

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, March 22nd 1945



The US 5th Division (an element of US 3rd Army) establishes a bridgehead over the Rhine River near Nierstein. Other US 3rd Army units are completing the mopping up west of the Rhine and preparing to make crossings of their own. In the north, British 21st Army Group (Montgomery) forces are also preparing to establish bridgeheads over the Rhine.

Photo: The Commander of the 21st Army Group, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery (left), the Commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham (centre) and the Commander of the British 2nd Army, Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey, talking after a conference held in a small German village attended by all Senior Officers of the 21st Army Group and 2nd Tactical Air Force. At the conference Field Marshal Montgomery gave the order for the 2nd Army to begin the assault crossing of the Rhine, 22 March 1945



Photo: Infantrymen of 26th Division, 3rd US Army, ride into action on a light tank. Just behind them a mortar crew has gone into action, near Neustadt, Germany. 22 March, 1945



Photo: Tanks of the 9th Armored Division, 1st U.S. Army, move through Leutesdorf, Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. With very little opposition, 22 March 1945



Air War over Europe

HQ 69th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron arrive at Nancy, France from the US with F-6s; HQ 474th Fighter Group moves from Florennes, Belgium to Strassfeld, Germany; the 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF [attached to 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Group (Provisional)], arrives at Maastricht, the Netherlands from the US with F-6s; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Buhl to Sarreguemines, France with L-5s.

227 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to Hildesheim. 4 Lancasters lost. The target was the railway yards; these were bombed but the surrounding built-up areas also suffered severely in what was virtually an area attack. This was the only major Bomber Command raid of the war on Hildesheim and the post-war British survey found that 263 acres, 70 per cent of the town, had been destroyed.

Attack on Dülmen by 130 RAF aircraft - 106 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. This was an area attack and the town was soon burning after a concentrated raid in clear weather conditions. No other details are available.

124 RAF aircraft - 100 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups bombed Dorsten. Dorsten was a rail and canal centre and also the location of a Luftwaffe fuel dump. All these targets were believed to have been hit but the town probably suffered as well. No aircraft were lost.

100 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the town of Bocholt, probably with the intention of cutting communications. The town was seen to be on fire. No aircraft lost.

102 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked bridges at Bremen (82 aircraft) and Nienburg (20 aircraft of No 617 Squadron). The bridge at Nienburg was destroyed; the bombing at the Bremen bridge appeared to be accurate but no results were seen. No aircraft lost.

Photo: "Nienburg RR Brigde," 22 March 1945



(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 906: Air attacks in preparation for the lower Rhine River crossing by Allied ground forces continue; 1,331 bombers and 662 fighters attack barracks and military encampments in the Ruhr and airfields in Germany visually; they claim 27-1-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 3 P-51s are lost: 1. 99 of 114 B-17s hit Ahlhorn Airfield; 13 others hit the marshalling yard at Oldenburg, a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost; 9 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 95 of 99 P-51s. 2. 457 B-17s are sent to hit military camps at Bottrop (36), Dorsten (74), Barningholten (111), Westerholt (116), Feldhausen N (74) and S (39); 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 111 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 8 WIA. The escort is 95 of 99 P-51s. 3. 297 B-17s are sent to hit military camps at Hinsbeck (67), Geresheim (73), Ratingen (75) and Mulheim (74); 114 B-17s are damaged and 3 airmen are WIA. 48 P-51s escort; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground. 4. 342 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Kitzingen (168), Giebelstadt (75) and Schwab Hall (82); 8 others hit Wurzburg, the secondary target; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA. The escort is 138 of 153 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft in the air and 13-0-7 on the ground. 5. 109 of 113 B-17s hit the Rhein Main Airfield at Frankfurt; 31 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 56 P-51s. 6. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 7. 19 of 22 P-51s escort 19 of 22 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany; they claim 11-1-3 aircraft in the air. 8. 2 B-17s and 31 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 9. 150 of 153 P-51s escort Fifteenth AF bombers from Italy. Mission 907: 9 of 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, nearly 800 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb 9 communications centers and a marshalling yard E of the Rhine River (plus 7 towns, flak positions, and a target of opportunity) as part of the interdiction program to impede the movement of supplies and troops; fighters escort the bombers, attack railroads and other assigned targets, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions SE of Honnef and along the Wied River, cooperate with the XII Corps as it begins crossing the Rhine River in the Mainz-Oppenheim areas and with the XX Corps which begins an attack on Ludwigshafen.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 680+ B-17s and B-24s (with Eighth and Fifteenth AF fighter escort) hit the Ruhland, Germany and Kralupy and Vltava, Czechoslovakia oil refineries (some bombers on the Ruhland raid bomb the Lauta aluminum works to the N), a railroad communications and ordnance depot, a marshalling yard, and 2 oil refineries at Vienna, Austria, marshalling yards at Graz, Wels, Zeltweg and Klagenfurt, Austria, and Neratovice, Czechoslovakia, and scattered targets of opportunity; reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions are also flown.

Italian campaign

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 21/22 Mar, A-20s and A-26s continue intruder raids concentrating on Po River crossings in the E Po Valley; during the day P-47s blast rail lines, trains and other communications targets, especially in the E Po Valley and areas to the N. In Austria, B-25s destroy a bridge at Brixlegg, severely damage the Steinach bridge, and hit bridge approaches at Muhlberg and the town of Matrei am Brenner. Weather prevents successful attacks on 2 targets in N Italy.

Photo: Infantry of 17 Platoon, 'H' Company, 2nd London Irish Rifles hurl hand grenades during an attack on a German strongpoint on the southern bank of the River Senio, 22 March 1945



Photo: A 2-inch mortar team of 2nd London Irish Rifles in action during an attack on a German strongpoint on the River Senio, 22 March 1945



Photo: Infantry of 17 Platoon, 'H' Company, 2nd London Irish Rifles move forward through barbed wire defences on their way to attack a German strongpoint on the southern bank of the River Senio, 22 March 1945



Battle of the Atlantic

German submarines attack Wales-bound convoy TBC 102 and Ghent, Belgium-bound convoy BTC 103. In the former, U-399 torpedoes and sinks U.S. freighter John R. Park, 49°56'N, 05°26'W (all hands are rescued by U.S. freighter American Press); in the latter, what is most likely U-1195 torpedoes and sinks freighter James Eagan Lane, 50°13'N, 04°14'W. British freighter Monkstone and rescue tug Flaunt rescue the survivors. A skeleton crew (including four Armed Guard sailors) reboard the freighter and rig the ship for towing. Tugs Flaunt and Atlas beach the ship at Whitesand Bay, but James Eagan Lane is ultimately written off as a total loss.

U.S. freighter Charles D. McIver sinks after striking a mine as she leaves Antwerp, Belgium, in convoy ATM 100, 31°22'35"N, 03°05'50"W. British motor minesweeper BYMS 2279 rescues one of the four boatloads of survivors; the other three boatloads, rescued by a motor torpedo boat, find safety on board tank landing ship LST-430. Charles D. McIver is later written off as a total loss; there are no casualties among the merchant crew or the 27-man Armed Guard.

Spain

Don Juan, the pretender to the Spanish crown, demands the resignation of Franco and the restoration of the monarchy.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy small seaplane tender USS Floyds Bay (AVP-40) underway off Houghton, Washington (USA), on 22 March 1945. Her camouflage is Measure 33, Design 1F



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Hill (DE-141) off New York City (USA) on 22 March 1945. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D. A few days later, she was repainted in Camouflage Measure 22 for service in the Pacific



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Herbert C. Jones (DE-137) underway off New York City (USA) on 22 March 1945. The "Liberty" ship S.S. Robert S. Lovett is behind her, at right



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 24 fighter-bombers and a single B-25 attack railroad traffic and railroad yards in and around Shihkiachwang, at Chukiatsi, and from Sinsiang to Chenghsien.

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 45: 76 of 78 B-29s, operating in 2 waves, blast storage dumps at Rangoon without loss.

Photo: 468th Bombardment Group Boeing B-29s attacking Rangoon Burma, 22 March 1945



INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 fighter-bombers support Chinese ground forces near Hsipaw; 12 B-25s and 41 fighter-bombers hit numerous targets along and immediately behind the enemy lines; troops, supplies, and communications are attacked and 2 bridges are knocked out; 547 air supply sorties are flown to forward areas; the 71st Liaison Squadron, Tenth Air Force [attached to 1st Liaison Group (Provisional)], moves from Katha to Myitkyina with L-1s, L-4s, L-5s and UC-64s.

GUAM

Seventh Air Force: 13 B-24s from Guam bomb Susaki Airfield. 20 B-24s from Angaur Airfield bomb Cebu. During the night of 22/23 Mar, 4 B-24s from Guam make individual raids on Susaki Airfield. VII Fighter Command: 16 Iwo Jima based P-51s bomb and strafe a weather station fuel storage, and radar installations on Chichi Jima.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

On Formosa, B-24s hit Tainan and Okayama Airfields, destroying several hangars, planes, and gun positions.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

Patrols land on Inampulugan Island in Guimaras Strait, and destroy a Japanese mine control station and eliminate the small garrison there.

Japanese aircraft attack American shipping in Lingayen Gulf. During the ensuing antiaircraft barrage, friendly fire damages U.S. freighter Ransom A. Moore; there are, however, no casualties among the merchant crew or the 27-man Armed Guard.

B-24s and A-20s (along with US Marine Corps aircraft) hit Cebu City, defenses at several locations on Cebu, and targets on Inampulugan nearby. On Luzon, B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighters continue to hit numerous objectives, chiefly Balete Pass, Tangadon, San Fernando, and the Batangas areas. The 64th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 43d BG (Heavy), moves from Tacloban, Leyte to Clark Field, Luzon with B-24s; the 69th and 100th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), cease operating from Morotai with B-25s and move to base at Puerto Princesa, Palawan; the 75th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d BG (Medium), moves from Sansapor to Puerto Princesa with B-25s; and the 868th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Thirteenth AF, moves from Noemfoor to Morotai with B-24s (the squadron uses airborne radar for low-level attacks at night and for pathfinder operations).

JAPAN

The carriers of US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) are attacked by Japanese Kamikaze aircraft that fail to achieve significant success. However, it is noted that many of the attacks are made by manned rocket bombs. Admiral Spruance, commanding the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.

PACIFIC

Tank landing ship LST-727 is damaged by grounding off Iwo Jima, 24°46'N, 141°19'E.

Submarine Perch (SS-313) sinks Japanese Communication Vessel No. 463 en route to Balikpapan, 01°03'S, 117°20'E.

Japanese submarine chaser Ch 23 is damaged by mine at mouth of Yangtze River.

Covered lighters YF-724 and YF-725 founder and sink in heavy weather 380 miles off the Farallones.

Day 2021 of World War II, March 24th 1945

Eastern Front

The Red Army is preparing with great deliberation for its last campaign, the attack on Berlin, in its long march to the west from the very gates of its own capital. Marshal Zhukov, having taken the fortress of Kustrin, the last obstacle on the road to Berlin, is now enlarging his bridgehead across the Oder to set the scene for the drama which is about to unfold. With six infantry divisions and two tank brigades he has reached the road junction at Golzow, just 33 miles from greater Berlin.

In the north, Marshal Rokossovsky is tightening his grip on Danzig and Konigsberg as the Germans continue their evacuation of East Prussia. It is General Schorner, rescued from command of the cut-off forces in Courland to take over Army Group A opposite Marshal Konev, who has felt the full weight of the Red Army. Konev has hit him hard near Oppeln in Silesia. Soviet forces capture Spolot on the Baltic coast between Gdynia and Danzig.

In Hungary Marshal Tolbukhin finished off Hitler's ill-fated Operation Spring Awakening and is about to resume his march on Vienna. Szekesfehervar falls to the attacks of troops of 2nd Ukrainian Front. Meanwhile, the front line of the Soviet offensive has already pushed farther to the west, taking Veszprem and Mor. The German and Hungarian forces of German Army Group South are retreating in disorder after sustaining heavy losses.

Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of Germany

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, March 24th 1945



Operation Varsity begins, as 134 American and British gliders cross the Rhine Rive rin support for the 9th US and 2th British Armies' crossing of the Rhine. An enormous air armada crossed the River Rhein near Wesel in Western Germany. The column, two-and-a-half hours long, consisted of more than 1,500 IX Troop Carrier Command airplanes and gliders. To their left were about 1,200 RAF airplanes and gliders, supported by 880 US and RAF fighters. Over 21,000 airborne infantry were dropped north-east of Wesel. They quickly overcame enemy resistance and linked up with the main force. Only on the extreme left wing, near Emmerich, is resistance really tough. "The enemy", say the Canadians, "are fighting like madmen." There are now three bridgeheads between Wesel in the north and Mainz in the south: Montgomery's, Patton's and the US First Army's at Remagen. General Montgomery extends the bridgehead to a depth of 5 miles. With 1,250,000 Britons, Canadians and Americans under him, Montgomery has more than 5,500 artillery pieces, anti-tanks guns and rockets. The US 9th Army, now part of Montgomery's 21st Army Group, begins to cross the Rhine south of the British and Canadians.

Photo: 5.5-inch guns firing in support of the Rhine crossing, 24 March 1945



Photo: 3-inch mortar of the 8th Royal Scots under enemy fire during the Rhine crossing, 24 March 1945



Montgomery's crossing of the Rhine was meticulously prepared and impatiently awaited. 100 miles to the south, Patton crossed the Rhine 24 hours ahead of Montgomery. He went across at Nierstein against light opposition and swept down on Darmstadt. The Canadian 51st Highland Div. of the British 2nd Army attacked German villages north of Reeserward. The Canadian 1st Black Watch brigade of the 51st Div. reaches the German town of Speldrop. Wesel had been reduced to rubble by Allied bombing and shelling, but the Germans clung on for the best part of 24 hours.

Photo: Men of the 15th Scottish Division leave their assault craft after crossing the Rhine and double up the east bank to their assembly point near Xanten, 24 March 1945



Photo: Men of the 1st Cheshire Regiment crossing the Rhine in Buffaloes at Wesel, 24 March 1945



Photo: A Sherman ARV (armoured recovery vehicle) and other specialised armour moving up to cross the Rhine, 24 March 1945



Photo: American soldiers cross the Rhine near Oppenheim with an M 36 over a ponton bridge erected on March 24, 1945



Air War over Europe

177 RAF aircraft - 155 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Sterkrade so successfully that, according to Bomber Command, there was 'complete destruction of a well packed marshalling yard'. No aircraft lost.

153 RAF Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups attacked Gladbeck situated on the northern edge of the Ruhr and not far from the new battle area. The target was 'devastated'. 1 Halifax lost.

173 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Harpenerweg plant at Dortmund and the Mathias Stinnes plant at Bottrop. 3 Lancasters were lost on the Dortmund raid.

67 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Nordheim and 2 which bombed both Berlin and Magdeburg on nuisance flights, 38 RCM sorties, 33 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 911: In conjunction with the allied ground forces assault across the lower Rhine River (Operation VARSITY) the Eighth flies bombing, supply, and armed reconnaissance missions; during the day, 1,749 bomber sorties and 1,375 fighter sorties are flown to attack airfields visually in W and NW Germany in the morning and afternoon and drop supplies to US and British troops at midday; they claim 54-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; 1. 175 of 179 B-17s bomb Vechta Airfield in the morning; 1 hits Rheine Airfield, a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA. 2. 527 B-17s are sent to hit Steenwijk (114), Zwischenahn (74), Varel (88), Varrelbusch (113) and Plantlunne (13) Airfields in the morning; targets of opportunity are Wittmundhafen Airfield (13) and other (2); 1 B-17 is lost and 2 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 9 MIA. 3. 294 B-17s are dispatched to hit Rheine (36), Hopsten (62), Vechtel at Furstenau (72), Achmer (73) and Hesepe (36) Airfields in the morning; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 100 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 28 MIA. 4. All 58 B-24s hit Nordhorn Airfield without loss. 5. The 4 forces above have 1,158 P-47s and P-51s flying area support; they claim 53-0-2 aircraft in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost (8 pilots MIA). 6. At midday, 240 B-24s are sent to drop supplies in the US (122) and British (118) assault areas flying at 300 to 400-feet (91 to 122 m); 14 B-24s are lost (mostly to small arms fire), 4 damaged beyond repair and 103 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA, 30 WIA and 116 MIA. 7. 182 B-24s are sent to hit Stormede (96) and Kirtorf (65) Airfields in the afternoon; 9 hit Ziegenhain Airfield, the secondary, and 11 hit the Treysa marshalling yard, a target of opportunity; 16 B-24s are damaged. 8. 114 B-17s are sent to hit Ziegenhain Airfield (104) in the afternoon; 6 others hit Siegen marshalling yard, the secondary; 2 B-17s are damaged. 9. 152 of 153 B-17s hit Enschede Airfield at Twente; 20 B-17s are damaged. 10. The 3 forces above are escorted by 95 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 11. 2 B-17s and 19 of 20 P-51s fly scouting missions; 1 P-51 is lost 12. 8 P-51s escort 4 Mosquitos that monitor operations for the bombers. 13. 17 P-51s escort 19 aircraft on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 912: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands during the night and 24 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions over Scandinavia.

(US Ninth Air Force): Almost 700 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s blast communications centers, rail bridges, flak positions, and numerous other targets in cooperation with the combined land-airborne assault across the Rhine River (Operation PLUNDER-VARSITY) by the British Second and US Ninth Armies and the US XVIII Corps of the First Allied Airborne Army; fighters attack with the bombers before the drop and carpet the landing zones with fragmentation bombs, immobilizing numerous flak batteries; fighters escort bombers and transports, cover the assaulting 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions, attack troop concentrations, flak positions, supply and ammunition dumps, airfields, defended villages, and road and rail traffic, and patrol the perimeter of the battle sector; fighters also support US First Army elements across the Rhine E of Remagen between Koblenz and the Sieg River as they prepare for the breakout assault, and the US Third Army's XII Corps as it strengthens its Rhine bridgehead E of Oppenheim and commits its armor to push through toward the Main River.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 660 B-24s and B-17s bomb a tank factory at Berlin and airfields at Munich and Neuburg an der Donau, Germany, plus the Budejovice, Czechoslovakia marshalling yard, and alternate targets and targets of opportunity including airfields at Plattling and Erding, Germany and Udine, Italy; P-38s and P-51s escort the missions against German targets and fly reconnaissance.

Italian campaign

A re-equipped and revitalized Allied army is braced for a major new campaign aimed at trapping the German army in the Po valley. Fears that Hitler is planning a fight to the death in a mountain redoubt have put pressure on Allied commanders to moce quickly. Field Marshal Alexander, supreme Allied commander, Mediterranean, is planning for the Eighth Army to attack westwards through the Argenta Gap, with the US Fifth Army attacking northwards, west of Bologna. Alexander hopes to achieve the critical element of surprise by simulating preparations for seaborne landings north of the Po.

Photo: Infantrymen of the new Jewish Brigade moving up to take positions in the line. 24 March, 1945



The Eighth Army's low morale of December has been improved by the arrival of new weapons including flame-throwing tanks and 400 Fantails, tracked amphibious troops carriers. The commanders have not been cheered by the loss of the Canadian Corps to north-west Europe; nor by the universal shortage of artillery ammunition which is restricting many batteries to five rounds daily for each gun.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s and A-26s pound marshalling yards, river crossings and other bridges, and a variety of other targets in the Po Valley and NE Italy where fighters and fighter-bombers during the day destroy or damage numerous rail lines and train cars; B-25s bomb bridges or bridge approaches at Piacenza, Chiari, Perea, Casarsa della Delizia and Palazzolo sull'Oglio, Italy and Muhlberg and Steinach, Austria.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Walke (DD-723) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 24 March 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy battle damage repair ship USS Sarpedon (ARB-7) underway near Baltimore, Maryland (USA), on 24 March 1945, after completion of conversion to a battle damage repair ship. Beginning with this ship, the 3"/50 gun was eliminated and the after 40 mm quad mount was moved to the extreme stern



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 34 B-24s, with an escort of 9 fighters, pound the Chenghsien locomotive park and Yellow River bridge; 30+ B-25s and 100+ fighter-bombers, operating in forces of 1 to 8 aircraft, attack tanks, trucks, locomotives, troop concentrations, storage areas, airstrips, bridges, gun positions, and general targets of opportunity throughout S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): 31 fighter-bombers and 9 B-25s operating over the battlefront and behind enemy lines in C Burma pound troop concentrations, supply areas, a truck park, and general targets of opportunity; 9 other fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity along roads S of the bomb line; 504 air supply sorties are flown, landing men and supplies at advanced bases and dropping supplies to frontline forces. Lost is B-24L 44-49607.

GUAM

Seventh Air Force: 9 B-24s from Guam bomb the torpedo storage area on Marcus in the N Pacific. 24 Angaur Airfield based B-24s bomb defensive positions and the town of Naga on Luzon . During the night of 24/25 Mar, 5 Guam -based B-24s hit the airfield and town of Okimura on Haha Jima. VII Fighter Command: 16 Iwo Jima based P-51s hit air, naval, and radar installations and targets of opportunity on Chichi Jima.

MARIANAS ISLANDS

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 45: 223 of 248 B-29s, from the Marianas, attack the Mitsubishi aircraft engine plant at Nagoya, Japan during the night of 24/25 Mar; 3 other B-29s hit alternate targets; 5 B-29s are lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, B-24s hit the harbor at Takao and power plant and alcohol factory E of Okayama.

BURMA

The Allied Chinese New 1st Army links up with the Chinese 50th Division near Hsipaw, bringing the campaign in northern Burma to an end.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s and A-20s pound Cebu City and defenses and installations on Cebu. On Luzon, B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and P-38s attack Balete Pass, Legaspi, the Batangas area, and scattered targets throughout Luzon. HQ 91st Photographic Wing (Reconnaissance) moves from Mindoro to Clark Field.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) conduct air raids on Okinawa. The island is also bombarded by 5 battleships and 11 destroyers under the command of Admiral Lee. Japanese submarines make unsuccessful attacks on the American ships. Meanwhile USAAF B-24 (possibly a USN PB4Y) attacks nine-ship Japanese Naha-to-Kagoshima convoy Kana-304 (probably rerouted into the East China Sea because of Allied air activity in the Ryukyus), sinking auxiliary minesweeper Seki Maru off Tokara Gunto, 29°12'N, 125°13'E. Planes from TG 58.1--carriers Bennington (CV-20) and Hornet (CV-12) and small carriers Belleau Wood (CVL-24) and San Jacinto (CVL-30)--complete the destruction of Kana-304, sinking torpedo boat Tomozuru, Coast Defense Vessel No. 68, auxiliary minesweepers Chitose Maru and No.16 Shonan Maru, army cargo ships Koshu Maru, and merchant cargo ships Soka Maru, Kaijo Maru and No.3 Tsukushi Maru about 200 miles northwest of Okinawa, 28°25'N, 124°32'E. The same day, TF 58 planes also sink army cargo ship Seizan Maru and merchantmen Sanko Maru at 29°15'N, 125°13'E, and Kobe Maru at 30°00'N, 126°30'E.

Photo: The Japanese torpedo boat Tomozuru sinking 220 km north-west of Okinawa on 24 March 1945. It was attacked by aircraft from the U.S. Navy Task Group 58.1



Photo: A Japanese ship explodes in the China Sea during an attack by U.S. Navy aircraft, 24 March 1945



Photo: The Japanese torpedo boat Tomozuru sinking 220 km north-west of Okinawa on 24 March 1945. It was attacked by aircraft from the U.S. Navy Task Group 58.1



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Hart (DD-594) underway in the Pacific Ocean on 24 March 1945, during the Okinawa operation



UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 308, MARCH 24, 1945

Following the destructive attacks on objectives in the Inland Sea on March 19 (East Longitude Date), fighting between the carrier‑based aircraft of the Fifth Fleet operating in Japanese home waters and the enemy air force based on Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu continued on March 20 and 21. Although complete details are not yet available reports show that large numbers of Japanese aircraft were shot down both by the fire of the Hellcat and Corsair fighters of the Fleet and by its antiaircraft guns. On the afternoon of March 21 approximately fifty enemy aircraft were shot down in one encounter with a loss of three of our fighters. During this fighting one of our destroyers was seriously damaged and one larger unit received minor damage.

On March 23 and 24, in bad weather, units of the U. S. Pacific Fleet struck objectives in the Ryukyus including aircraft, shipping, airdromes and installations in the Kerama‑Retto at Okinawa, at le Shima and at Minami Daito Shima. Carrier aircraft destroyed some enemy shipping and damaged numerous small craft. Fast battleships attacked coastal objectives with their heavy guns.

Mustangs of the Seventh Fighter Command based on Iwo attacked targets on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 24.

Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed and damaged the causeway between Koror and Babelthuap in the Palaus and set supply dumps afire elsewhere in these Islands on March 24.

During the week of March 11 through 17, garrison forces killed 51 of the enemy and took 16 prisoners on Saipan, Tinian and Guam in the Marianas and Peleliu in the Palaus.

On March 23, Navy Search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed Wake Island.

Neutralizing attacks on enemy‑held bases in the Marshalls were continued by Fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on March 23 and 24.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA PRESS RELEASE NO. 45, MARCH 24, 1945

The Commander in Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, regrets to announce the loss of the escort aircraft carrier, USS Bismarck Sea, due to enemy action. The commanding officer and most of the ship's company are survivors. Next of kin of those who lost their lives have been notified.

While supporting the assault on Iwo Island, the Bismarck Sea was dam­aged by enemy air attacks on the evening of 21 February (East Longitude Date) and fires were started aboard her. Subsequently the fires spread throughout the ship and, having made every effort to save her, the ship's com­pany was ordered to abandon her. She sank a short time later.

The Bismarck Sea, of the Casablanca Class, was built by the Kaiser Shipyards at Vancouver, Washington, and was commissioned in 1944. After a period of escort duty, she was assigned to the Seventh Fleet and supported the invasion of Lingayen, Luzon. She then joined the forces which participated in the Iwo operation.

Captain John Lockwood Pratt, USN, was commanding officer.

Published information on the Casablanca. Class

Displacement‑ About 4,000 tons.
Length ‑ About 500 feet.
Speed ‑ About 19 knots.
Aircraft ‑ About 20.

PACIFIC

USAAF B-24s (13th Air Force) sink Japanese cargo ship Koshin Maru off Boeton Island Celebes, 05°40'S, 122°49'E.