lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 25, 2024 2:45:45 GMT
Day 2054 of World War II, April 25th 1945Eastern FrontSoviet forces complete the encirclement of Berlin near Ketzin. Zhukov's tanks, sweeping across the northern suburbs, have cut all the roads leading to the west and yesterday linked up with Konev's drive from the south at Ketzin. Inside the city, government buildings in the Wilhelmstraße are under point-blank fire from field guns. Tegel is captured by elements of the 47th Army and Reinickendorf by the 12th Guards Tank Corps. A relief attack by the 3rd Panzer Corps from the area of Eberswalde, 50 miles northeast of Berlin fails. Pillam in East Prussia falls to the Russians. Since early in the year, about 140,000 wounded and 40,000 refugees have been evacuated to the west from Pillau. A few German troops continue to hold out at the tip of the Samland Peninsula. Map: Map of the Battle of Berlin, phase of 16-25 April 1945Lapland WarThe last German troops leave Finnish territory around Kilpisjärvi, in far north-western Finland. Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, April 25th 1945Elements of US 1st Army link up with the Soviet forces at Torgau on the Elbe River. Map: Special Map Showing Contact Between Gen. Hodges' First U.S. Army and Gen. Jadov's Firth U.S.S.R. Army 25 April 1945YouTube (East meets West: Soviet and American soldiers meet near the Elbe River in Torgau)US 3rd Army crosses the Danube near Regensburg and assault the city. Photo: Infantry of the King's Own Scottish Borderers engage the Germans with rifle and Bren gun fire in a street in Bremen, 25 April 1945Photo: "Crews of U.S. light tanks stand by awaiting call to clean out scattered Nazi machine gun nests in Coburg, Germany," 25 April 1945Photo: Loyd carriers towing 6-pdr anti-tank guns of 3rd Division moving into Bremen, 25 April 1945Photo: Former slave workers in Bremen welcome the arrival of British Churchill tanks, 25 April 1945Photo: Sherman tanks and infantry enter Bremen, 25 April 1945Photo: A Sherman tank of 7th Royal Tank Regiment advances cautiously down a street in Bremen, 25 April 1945Air War over Europe The US 8th Air Force makes its last bombing mission from England when 554 B-17s and B-24s attack airfields and rail targets in Czechoslovakia and southeastern Germany. Mission 968: 589 bombers and 486 fighters fly the final heavy bomber mission against an industrial target, airfields and rail targets in SE Germany and Czechoslovakia; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft (including an Ar 234 jet); 6 bombers and 1 fighter are lost: 1. 307 B-17s are sent to hit the airfield (78) and Skokda armament works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia; 6 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 180 damaged; 8 airmen are WIA and 42 MIA. Escorting are 188 of 206 P-51s. 2. 282 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Salzburg (109), Bad Reichenhall (56) and Hallein (57) and electrical transformers at Traunstein (56); 20 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA. The escort is 203 of 216 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air. 3. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a sweep of the Prague-Linz area claiming 0-1-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost. 4. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a screening mission. 5. 4 P-51s escort 2 OA-10s on an air-sea-rescue mission. 6. 22 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany and Czechoslovakia. 7. 88 of 98 P-51s escort RAF bombers. Mission 969: During the night of 25/26 Apr, 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. 12 B-24s and 1 A-26 are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway; 7 aircraft complete the mission. (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 296 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s strike Erding Airfield and Freilassing ordnance depot; fighters fly airfield cover and escort missions, and operate in conjunction with the US XII Corps as it pushes along the N bank of the Danube River SE of Passau and support the XX Corps on the Danube at Regensburg and surrounding areas. 375 RAF Lancaster and Mosquito bombers drop six-ton bombs on Hitler's home at Berchtesgaden. Escorted by 98 Mustangs of the US Eighth Army Air Force and 13 Mustang squadrons of RAF Fighter Command, the bombers flew low, taking cover from the anti-aircraft fire behind mountains, until they were almost over the target, and then dropped their bombs. The Times reported on the attack that twelve 1,000-lb bombs, fused for deep penetration, were used against the Berghof chalet, and large numbers of 4,000-lb and 1,000-lb bombs were dropped on the SS barracks. After the second run, and with two Lancasters missing, the anti-aircraft batteries had been silenced. When it was all over, most of the buildings on the Obersalzburg were smoking ruins. Most of the squadrons taking part in the raids on this day were flying their last operations of the war. Photo: Vertical aerial photograph taken during the daylight raid on Adolf Hitler's chalet complex and the SS guard barracks at Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden, Germany, by 359 Avro Lancasters and 16 De Havilland Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 5 and 8 Groups. The SS barracks are at upper left, partly obscured by smoke from the attack. Hitler's chalet, the Berghof, is at lower centre, and the Pension Platterhof and Hitler's guest house are on the right. The bombing was reported to be accurate and effective, 25 April 1945The fighter groups including the 78th fly their last combat missions. Tonight an oil target at Vallo is the subject of the last raid by RAF Lancasters of the war. 107 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the oil refinery in Tonsberg in Southern Norway in the last raid flown by heavy bombers. The attack was accurately carried out and the target was severely damaged. A Lancaster of No 463 Squadron came down in Sweden, the last of more than 3,300 Lancasters lost in the war; Flying Officer A Cox and his all-British crew all survived and were interned in Sweden until the end of the war - only a few days away. HQ 97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Light) from Marchais to Arrancy, France; HQ 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 597th, 598th and 599th Bombardment Squadrons from Peronne, France to Venlo, the Netherlands with B-26s; 33d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Gutersloh to Brunswick, Germany with F-5s; 492d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, from Kassel to Illesheim, Germany with P-47s. (Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 467 B-17s and B-24s bomb the main marshalling yard station, and sidings, N and S main marshalling yards and freight yard at Linz, the major Austrian traffic center along the railline running N to Prague, Czechoslovakia, plus the Wels marshalling yard (an alternate) and several targets of opportunity. 119 P-38s and P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over N Italy, a few strafing road traffic. The P-38s dive-bomb road and rail bridges and raillines. P-38s and P-51s fly almost 300 sorties in escort of the heavy bombers, P-38 reconnaissance flights, and MATAF B-26 raids. Wangerooge: 482 RAF aircraft - 308 Halifaxes, 158 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 5 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. The raid was intended to knock out the coastal batteries on this Frisian island which controlled the approaches to the ports of Bremen and Wilhelmshaven. No doubt the experience of Antwerp, when guns on the approaches had prevented the port being used for several weeks, prompted this raid. The weather was clear and bombing was accurate until smoke and dust obscured the target area. The areas around the batteries were pitted with craters but the concreted gun positions were 'hardly damaged'; they were all capable of firing within a few hours. Part of the bombing hit a camp for forced workers and the holiday resort and many buildings were destroyed, including several hotels and guest houses, the Catholic church and two children's holiday homes, although these do not appear to have been occupied at the time of the bombing. 6 of the 7 bombers lost were involved in collisions - 2 Halifaxes of 7No 6 Squadron, 2 Lancasters of No 431 Squadron and 2 Halifaxes of Nos 408 and 426 Squadrons (both from Leeming airfield). There was only 1 survivor, from one of the No 76 Squadron aircraft. 28 Canadian and 13 British airmen were killed in the collisions. The seventh aircraft lost was a Halifax of No 347 (Free French) Squadron, whose crew were all killed. 82 RAF Mosquitos to Pasing airfield and 18 to Kiel, 9 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 14 Lancasters minelaying in Oslo Fjord (the last minelaying operation of the war), 12 Mosquitos of No 8 Group dropping leaflets over prisoner-of-war camps. Photo: The German cruiser Lützow, damaged by British bombers, in the Kaiserfahrt canal (today Kanał Piastowski) in western Pomerania, Germany (today Poland), on 25 April 1945Italian campaign German resistance begins to collapse as Mantua, Parma and Verona fall to the Allies. Just 40 miles away, Mussolini flees to Como. Uprisings in Milan and Genoa are aided by Partisans. (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, all combat operations are aimed at plugging retreat routes and disrupting transport in the N Po Valley and points to the N; medium bombers hit the Adige River crossing at Cavarzere and marshalling yard at Gorizia, and attack 5 bridges and fills on the Brenner line in Austria and N Italy, damaging 2 of the targets; fighters and fighter-bombers harass the retreating forces in the N Po Valley; during the night of 24/25 Apr, A-20s and A-26s and night fighters attack the crossings of the Adige and Po Rivers and the Canale Bianco, and strike airfields at Villafranca di Verona, Udine, and Bergamo, and marshalling yards at Brescia and Verona. Battle of the Atlantic Destroyers HMS 'Iroquois', 'Haida' and 'Huron' arrive Kola Inlet with Convoy JW-66. 'U-326' sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of Brest in position 48.12N, 05.42W by a homing torpedo from a USN VPB-103 Sqn Liberator. 43 dead (all hands lost). German submarine U-1107 is sunk by naval land-based aircraft (VPB 103) in English Channel, 48°12'N, 05°42'W. United States Representatives from 46 nations met in San Francisco, California, United States for the United Nations Conference on International Organization. US Secretary of War Stimson and General Leslie Groves arrive at the White House. They are here to brief President Truman on the Manhattan Project -- "S1" as Stimson preferred to call it. Stimson meets alone with Truman at first. A memo of several pages, was given to Truman. Finished by Stimson that morning, it begins: "Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb of which could destroy a whole city." The memo acknowledges the shared development, by the US and Great Britain, of this "most terrible weapon". General Groves then joins them with a memo of 25 pages on the status of the Manhattan Project. After President Truman reads this, Stimson and Groves answer his questions. Stimson asked for an authorization to establish an advisory committee to "advise" the President regarding the implications and decisions of "this new force". The request is approved. This is Truman's first briefing of specific activities at Hanford, Washington and other locations within the US. Truman had first become aware of the huge government activity during 1943 as Chairman of the "Truman Committee". At that time, after assurances by Col. Stimson, he kept the committee away from any serious investigations of the Manhattan Project. Pacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 2 B-24s bomb the railroad yards at Hongay, French Indochina. In China, 4 B-25s and 4 P-47s damage a bridge and knock out an AA position N of Anyang; 50+ P-47s and P-51s hit river, road, and rail targets, troops, horses, and buildings in areas around Loning, Hsihhsiassuchi, Linfen, Kuanshuishih, Saiping, Yungcheng, Sichuan, and Tsingsinghsien. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 16 P-38s attack truck parks, fuel dumps, and supply areas at Hopong and Hotang; 20 other P-38s hit troops at Wan Kinglong and at other points in the C Burma battle area; transports complete 445 sorties to forward areas, landing or dropping 624 tons of supplies. The 165th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Sinthe, Burma to Asansol, India with UC-64s and L-5s. BURMA In the Irrawaddy Valley, mopping up operations continue. Salin is captured by British forces. The British 33rd Corps advance is closing on Allanmyo. The British 5th Indian Division, in the Sittang Valley, continues to advance rapidly and captures of Perwegen. Japanese forces around Rangoon and in other parts of southern Burma are beginning to withdraw through Pegu to the east in order to withdraw into Thailand. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb the harbor at Saigon, French Indochina, Balete Pass bridges and the airfields at Boeloedowang on Celebes Island and Basco. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) On Luzon, B-25s, A-20s, and fighters concentrate on Cagayan Valley bridges and support ground forces around Balete Pass, Baguio, and Solvee Cove; other FEAF support missions continue on S Luzon from Ipo Dam to New Bosoboso, E of Santa Maria, NE of Siniloan, Anuling, Monte Banahao, near Legaspi, and S of Camalig, and in the Monte Mandalagan-Monte Silay area. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 343, APRIL 25, 1945 A general advance was made by troops of the Twenty‑Fourth Army Corps on Okinawa on April 24 (East Longitude Date) resulting in the capture of Kakazu Town in the center and an important strong point at Hill 178 on the left flank. Our ground forces were supported by heavy Naval gunfire and low level attacks by aircraft of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing. Enemy defenses at Tanabaru were in process of being reduced as Army troops continued to advance on April 25. Marines of the Third Amphibious Corps continued to patrol northern areas of the island on April 24 and 25. As of 0600 on April 25, United States soldiers and Marines on Okinawa and surrounding islands had killed 21,269 of the enemy and had taken 399 prisoners of war. A total of 115,279 civilians have come under jurisdiction of U. S. Military Government authorities. At the end of April 22, 889 soldiers of the Twenty‑Fourth Army Corps and 257 Marines of the Third Amphibious Corps had been killed in action on Okinawa. A total of 4,879 officers and men of the Twenty‑Fourth Army Corps were wounded and 289 were missing. The Third Amphibious Corps suffered 1,103 wounded and had 7 missing. Carrier aircraft of the U. S. Pacific Fleet attacked airfield installations on islands of the Sakishima group on April 24. Search planes of Fleet Air Wing One destroyed a small cargo ship, sank six fishing craft, sank a whaling vessel and damaged a small cargo ship in the water east of Kyushu on April 24. On April 24 and 25, Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing attacked targets in the Palau and Marine bombers and fighters struck runways and other installations on Yap in the Western Carolines. The following are enemy killed and taken prisoner during mopping up operations on Iwo Island and islands of the Marianas and Palaus during the week of April 15 to April 21 inclusive Iwo: Killed, 360 ; prisoners of war, 246. Saipan: Killed, 4 ; prisoners of war, 7. Tinian: Prisoners of war, 38. Guam Killed, 38; prisoners of war, 21. Peleliu: Killed, 6. PACIFIC Carrier-based aircraft bomb enemy installations on Okino Daito Jima, Ryukyus. Off Okinawa, escort carrier Steamer Bay (CVE-87) and destroyer Hale (DD-642) are damaged in collision, 24°48'N, 131°58'E. High speed transport Horace A. Bass (APD-124) sinks Japanese submarine RO 109, 280 miles south-southeast of Okinawa, 21°58'N, 129°35'E. Submarine Cod (SS-224) sinks Japanese minesweeper W.41 north of Keelung, Formosa, 26°10'N, 121°30'E. USAAF B-24s bomb Japanese shipping at Saigon, French Indochina, sinking transport Kaiko Maru. USAAF B-24s on anti-shipping sweep of Makassar Strait sink Japanese Shuttle Boat No.302 off Salinguigan Island 02°19'S, 117°14'E. Japanese cargo vessel Sano Maru is damaged by mine in Yangtze River near Nanking.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 26, 2024 7:35:45 GMT
Day 2055 of World War II, April 26th 1945Eastern FrontRussian tanks have crossed the Spree and reached the Jannowitz Bridge station within a few hundred yards of the Imperial Castle at the start of the Unter den Linden. General Wenck embarks on the last German offensive to relieve Berlin, but only manages to reach Ferch on the 27th April, before the offensive grinds to a halt. The remnants of 9.Armee (Busse) are cut off and surrounded in the Halbe pocket, 30 miles southwest of Frankfurt am der Oder. There is, however, a surge of optimism in Hitler's bunker as General Wenck has launched his relief attack from the west and has made good progress towards the capital. On the Russian side, there is dismay at Konev's HQ because Stalin has divided Berlin between his armies and drawn the boundary so that Konev's rival, Zhukov gets the plum prize, the Reichstag. Soviet artillery fire made the first direct hits on the Chancellery buildings and grounds directly above the Führerbunker. Other Soviet units take the port of Stettin on the Baltic coast and Brno in Czechoslovakia. Lapland WarPhoto: The small Finnish flag raised first on the Three-Country Cairn, 26 April 1945Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, April 26th 1945The British 2nd Army completes the capture of Bremen. Photo: A Sherman tank and infantry advance into a heavily-bombed area of Bremen, 26 April 1945Photo: Churchill tanks and a Kangaroo personnel carrier in Bremen, 26 April 1945Photo: Lorry-mounted 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns in action against German positions in Bremen , 26 April 1945Photo: German prisoners are marched into captivity while British infantry march on into Bremen, 26 April 1945Photo: German prisoners, led by senior naval officers, are marched into captivity in Bremen, 26 April 1945. In the background is a huge reinforced concrete air-raid shelter, 26 April 1945Photo: Soldiers of 52nd (Lowland) Division patrol the Europa dock area of Bremen, 26 April 1945US 3rd Army units take Regensburg while other elements enter Austria. In the south, the French 1st Army reaches Lake Constance. Photo: American and Soviet generals pose on the banks of the Elbe River near Torgau, Germany, where the two Allies linked up for the first time. Pictured from left to right are Brig. Gen. Charles G. Helmick (Commander of V Corps Artillery), Maj. Gen. Clarence R. Huebner (CG V Corps, First U.S. Army), Lt. Gen. Gleb Baklanov (Commanding General Soviet 34th Rifle Corps), and Maj. Gen. Vladimir Rusakov (Commanding General Soviet 58th Guards Rifle Division), 26 April 1945Air War over Europe (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 125 bombers hit Plattling Airfield; fighters escort the bombers, fly airfield cover, carry out armed reconnaissance in Germany and Czechoslovakia, drop leaflets, and cooperate with the US XII Corps as its forces cross into Austria SE of Passau, and the XX Corps as it begins a full-scale assault across the Danube River at Regensburg; fighters claim 19 combat victories. Operation Exodus: Bomber Command Lancasters now started flying to Brussels, and later to other airfields, to collect British prisoners of war recently liberated from their camps. 469 flights were made by aircraft of Nos 1, 5, 6 and 8 Groups before the war ended and approximately 75,000 men were brought back to England by the fastest possible means (unlike the end of the First World War when some British ex-prisoners were still not home by Christmas, although the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 ). There were no accidents during that part of Operation Exodus which was carried out before the war ended. 31 RAF Mosquitos to Husum, 28 each to Eggebek and Grossenbrode and 12 to Neumünster (all airfields in Schleswig-Holstein), 12 Mosquitos to Kiel, 4 Mosquito Intruders on patrols. No aircraft lost. HQ IX Tactical Air Command from Lahn Airfield, Marburg to Weimar; 160th and 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Gutersloh to Brunswick with F-6s; 162d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), from Wiesbaden to Furth with F-6s. Italian campaign The US 5th Army moves towards the Brenner Pass and west towards Milan. Photo: National Liberation Committee (CLN) fighters in Milan on 26 April 1945The British 8th Army moves northeast towards Venice and Trieste. Photo: Troops of "G" Co., 2nd Bn., 10th Mtn. Div., march down street in newly-liberated Verona. 26 April, 1945Photo: Tanks of the 13th Armd. Bn., 1st Armd. Div., attached to the 10th Mtn. Div., passes down street in Verona, Italy. 26 April, 1945The US 15th Air Force conducts it last bombing mission when B-24s diverted from the original targets in northern Italy attack marshalling yards at four locations in southern Austria. 107 B-24s bomb a motor transport depot at Tarvisio, Italy, and marshalling yards at Sachsenburg, Lienz, Spittal an der Drau, and Klagenfurt, Austria (all targets of opportunity); 117 B-17s and 196 B-24s, also dispatched against targets in N Italy, abort due to bad weather; 155 fighters provide escort; 75 P-38s and 102 P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over N Italy; of these, 12 P-38s and 48 P-51s strafe targets of opportunity; all of the P-38s dive-bomb rail lines and road bridges; 16 other P-38s dive-bomb the NW part of Alesso, Italy; reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort and supply escort missions by P-38s and P-51s continue as usual. (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 25/26 Apr, XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft hit marshalling yards, airfields, motor transport, and other communications targets, mainly in the N Po Valley; medium bombers complete 1 of 4 missions dispatched (clouds obscures 3 targets), hitting the Chioggia bridge and knocking out a span; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers attack enemy movement throughout the afternoon, destroying 150+ motor transport. GermanyAfter Hermann Göring was suspended of his duties as the Luftwaffe commander-in-chief on 23 April 1945, Reitsch flew the German Luftwaffe Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim to Berlin, so that Greim could be appointed the new commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe by Hitler personally. Although a telegram could have accomplished this, Hitler had insisted Greim appear in person to receive his commission. But now, due to his wounded foot, Greim would be bedridden for three days in the bunker. Hanna Reitsch attempted to convince Magda Goebbels at the Führerbunker in Berlin, Germany to let her take the Goebbels children to safety, but Goebbels refused to yield. In the evening, Adolf Hitler gave Reitsch a vial of poison before sending her on a mission out of Berlin, in case of her capture by the Soviets. Obergruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, Eva Braun's Brother-in-law, deserted his station in the Chancellery bunkers in Berlin, Germany but was found hiding at his home in the Charlottenburg district by SS-Obersturmbannführer Peter Högl and arrested. After interrogation by the Gestapo in which he reveals Heinrich Himmler's treachery he was taken out into the Chancellery gardens and shot. FranceMarshal Petain is arrested when he crosses into France from Switzerland. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) approaches New York City (USA), while en route to the New York Naval Shipyard for repairs, 26 April 1945. Note the extensive damage to her aft flight deck, received when she was hit by a Japanese air attack off the coast of Japan on 19 March 1945Photo: USS Franklin (CV-13) approaches New York City, while en route to the New York Navy Yard for repairs, 26 April 1945. Note the extensive damage to her after flight deck, received when she was hit by a Japanese air attack off the coast of Japan on 19 March 1945. Photographed by Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New JerseyPacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 2 B-24s bomb docks at Hongay, French Indochina. In China, 10 B-25s and 4 P-47s knock out bridges near Wuchang and N of Taiku and damage a bridge near Kaifeng; 80+ fighter-bombers blast troops, horses, road and rail transport, tanks, gun positions, and targets of opportunity at numerous places in S and E China as the campaign against the occupying Japanese intensifies. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 30 P-38s and P-47s attack troop concentrations E of Wan Sing, at Naungtaw, and in the vicinity of Loilem; transports land or drop 553 tons of supplies at forward bases and frontline areas. BURMA Armor of the British 14th Army capture Toungoo in the drive south from Meiktila to Rangoon. Photo: CMP 3-ton trucks make their way across a temporary bridge over a 'chaung' on the approach to Rangoon, 26 April 1945JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES B-24s hit Miri Airfield and B-25s and fighters hit targets on Tarakan. GUAM Seventh Air Force: 13 B-24s from Guam bomb Eten. VII Fighter Command: Mission 6: An unknown number of P-51s escort B-29s to Japan. (Twentieth Air Force): Missions 97 to 107: 195 B-29s (some escorted by fighters of the VII Fighter Command) bomb airfields at Usa, Oita, Saeki, Tomitaka, Imabari, Nittagahara, Miyazaki, Kanoya, Kokubu, and Miyakonojo, Japan; 41 other B-29s hit targets of opportunity. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [Far East Air Force]: B-24s bomb Shanghai, China. On Formosa, B-25s hit the Heito sugar refinery and nearby targets of opportunitys and P-38s on a sweep also hit several targets of opportunity. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) There is a further American landing on Negros, this time by units of the Americal Division in the southwest of the island. The troops advance well inland before encountering Japanese resistance. Photo: Pfc. Adolph Fox, Co. D., 130th Inf., from Detroit, Mich., firing at sniper positions from top of Monastery Hill, overlooking Baguio city, Luzon, P.I, 26 April 1945B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers continue to fly numerous sorties in support of ground forces on N and S Luzon. B-24s join USMC aircraft in pounding Cebu targets. Unit moves: 12th Fighter Squadron, 18th FG, based at San Jose with P-38s, begins operating from Palawan; 421st Night Fighter Squadron, V Fighter Command, from San Marcelino to Clark Field with P-38s and P-61s. VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN On Okinawa, the US 24th Corps attacks the along the Japanese held Maeda Escarpment (Shuri Line). American armor reaches the reverse slope. Destroyer Hutchins (DD-476) is damaged by depth charge, off Okinawa, 26°14'N, 127°49'E. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 344, APRIL 26, 1945 On April 26 (East Longitude Date), the troops of the Twenty‑Fourth Army Corps moved forward and secured positions on the high ground East of Urasoe Mura. Battleships and cruisers of the U. S. Pacific Fleet continued to give close gunfire support to the troops. A number of batteries, emplacements, structures and caves were destroyed by ships' guns. Aircraft from carriers and planes of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing attacked enemy installations in the Southern sector of the Island. During the early hours of April 26, a few enemy aircraft approached our forces in the area around Okinawa and one was shot down. Carrier aircraft of the U. S. Pacific Fleet continued neutralizing attacks on airfield installations in the Sakishima Group on April 25. Search Aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One strafed and sank a number of fishing craft, a small picket boat and a torpedo boat and damaged a number of other small craft in the waters east of Kyushu on April 26. Helldiver bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing struck the airfield on Yap on April 26. On the same date, fighters of the same Wing bombed targets in the Palaus. On the previous day dive bombers of the same Wing continued neutralizing raids on the Marshalls. Search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed fuel and ammunition storage areas on Wake Island on April 25. PACIFIC Submarine Perch (SS-313) is damaged by depth charges off North Borneo, 05°32'N, 116°07'E, but remains on patrol. British submarines HMS Solent and HMS Sleuth sink Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa.3 in Java Sea west of Kalambau Island 04°50'S, 115°40'E. Mines sink Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Mejima Maru off Futaoi light, 34°04'N, 130°47'E; and merchant cargo ships Sanko Maru in Chochiku channel. Japanese guardboat No.6 Chozan Maru is sunk by aircraft east of Kammon Strait, off Shimonoseki, Japan. Japanese merchant cargo vessel Heiyu Maru is damaged by aircraft, 34°41'N, 128°54'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 27, 2024 15:07:27 GMT
Day 2056 of World War II, April 27th 1945YouTube (The Battle of Berlin)Eastern FrontIn Berlin, the Soviet forces have captured the Templehof airfield and are making progress in Spandau, Grunewald and other areas. To the north of the capital, troops of 2nd Belorussian Front begin to advance rapidly, taking Prenzlau and Angermunde. The Russian 13th Army reaches Wittenberge on the Elbe River. The German 9th Army tries to reach Berlin from the southeast and begins a counterattack at Zossen. The German 20th Army does the same southeast of Belzig. Lapland War The last German forces leave Finland around Kilpisjärvi, the northwestern most tip of Finland. In this last day, two Finnish soldiers die, one is wounded and one goes missing in skirmishes with German patrols. During the seven-month war against Germany, Finns lose 774 KIA, 262 MIA and 2904 WIA. The German losses are estimated roughly equal. Photo: Finnish soldiers raise the war flag at the three-country cairn between Norway, Sweden, and Finland, the end of World War II in Finland, 27 April 1945Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, April 27th 1945A momentous announcement, revealing that Allied troops advancing from the west have linked up with the Russians on the river Elbe, was released simultaneously in London, Moscow and Washington this evening. The official version of the meeting places it at Torgau yesterday afternoon, when news cameramen were present to show American and Russian troops shaking hands on a wrecked railway bridge, and the commander of the US 69th Infantry Division, General F. E. Reinhardt, clasping hands with an unidentified Russian general of the 58th Guards Division. In fact the first meeting had occurred on 25 April, when a US patrol, led by Lt. Albert Kotzebue of the US 69th, spotted a solitary Soviet cavalryman near the village of Stehla. A few hours later, Lt. William Robinson met other Soviet soldiers at Torgau. In a radio message to his command post Kotzebue reported: "Mission accomplished. Making arrangements for meeting between commanding officers." The message ended with two significant words: "No casualties." - a reflection of western fears that a meeting with the Russians might lead to clashes. Photo: Doughboys, tanks and other vehicles of the 86th Division, U.S. Third Army, push through the ruined town of Ingolstadt, Germany. 27 April, 1945Photo: Lt-Gen Brian Horrocks, GOC 30 Corps (standing, second from right), studies maps with officers in a Universal carrier at the Europa Docks in Bremen, 27 April 1945Photo: Tired infantrymen of the 99th Infantry Division, 3rd U.S. Army, rest in a covered area with their assault boats. Neustadt, Germany, 27 April, 1945Air War over Europe (Ninth Air Force): Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division. In Germany, fighters fly sweeps, airfield cover, and armed reconnaissance, and attack airfields; other fighters fly air cover for the US XII Corps as the 11th Armored Division reaches the Czech border N of Bischofsreuth and other elements move further into Austria toward Linz, and support the XX Corps as it receives the surrender of Regensburg and expands its Danube River bridgehead; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Kitzingen to Gmund with L-5s. Italian campaignForces of US 5th Army liberate Genoa, which is already substantially controlled by Italian partisan forces. Photo: American soldiers being greeted by civilians in Genoa. 27 April, 1945Photo: 92nd Div. troops riding down street in newly-liberated Genoa pass PWs going to the rear. 27 April, 1945Photo: Genoa, Italy. In this newly liberated city the 92nd Division troops enter the Galleria Guiseppe [sic] Garibaldi," 27 April 1945Battle of the Atlantic Frigate HMS 'Redmill' is attacked by 'U-1105' (Oberleutnant zur See Hans Joachim Schwarz) and loses her stern and propellers, but is able to be towed to Londonderry where she is paid off and not repaired. Location: Irish Sea 25 miles NW of Blacksod Bay at 54 23N 10 36W. There are 22 casualties. GermanyThe western Allies reply to the peace proposals Himmler offered earlier in the month with a total refusal and a reminder of the established demand for unconditional surrender. Hitler's optimism evaporated today. Wenck has been stopped 15 miles short of Berlin and a breakout attempt by General Busse's trapped Ninth Army has been foiled while the Russians inexorably occupy Berlin, house by house, street by street, looting and raping as they go. Tonight the garrison is penned into a corridor three miles wide and ten miles long running east/west across the city. The SS rules there by way of instant execution. Hitler announces, "On the occasion of my death Ferdinand Schorner will take command of the German Army. In Hitler's last public appearance he decorated the Hitler Youth member Alfred Zeck from Goldenau with the Iron Cross. Zeck was only twelve years old becoming the youngest recipient of the prestigious medal. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Vogelgesang (DD-862) off Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York (USA), on 27 April 1945Photo: The U.S. Navy attack cargo ship USS Sidonia (AKA-42) underway in Narragansett Bay (USA) during builders sea trials, 27 April 1945Pacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 B-25s and 70+ fighter bombers attack bridges, positions, villages and town areas, gun emplacements, and river, road, and rail traffic at many points in S and E China chiefly around Fantung. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 37 P-38s and P-47s hit troop concentrations in the Wan Pong and Nawng Leng areas; 12 other fighter bombers sweep roads S of the bomb line; transports complete 408 sorties throughout the day, landing or dropping 618 tons of supplies at forward bases and frontline areas; the 166th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Meiktila to Toungoo with UC-64s and L-5s. GUAM (Seventh Air Force): 11 Guam Island-based B-24s bomb Woleai. (Twentieth Air Force): Missions 108 to 113: 109 B-29s strike airfields at Izumi, Miyazaki, Kokubu, Miyakonojo, Kanoya, and Kushira on Kyushu Island, Japan; 3 B-29s hit targets of opportunity; 2 bombers are lost. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [Far East Air Force]: The 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command (attached to 85th Fighter Wing), based at Tacloban, Leyte Island with P-38s, P-61s and P-70s, sends a detachment to operate from Zamboanga, Mindanao Island. JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES A squadron of 3 cruisers and 6 destroyers, commanded by Admiral Berkey, make a preparatory bombardment of targets in the Tarakan area in the northeast of the island of Borneo. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) Baguio on Luzon in the Philippines is taken by US forces. On Luzon Island, B-25s attack Japanese installations at Cabatuan, La-lo, and Garit Norte; A-20s hit towns throughout the area; in S Luzon, fighter-bombers and A-20s hit targets E of Manila, in the Legaspi area, and at other scattered points. Photo: U.S. troops of the 746th Engineer Aviation Battalion resurface Lehug Airstrip on Cebu Island, Philippines, 27 April 1945VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage destroyer Ralph Talbot (DD-390), 26°00'N, 128°00'E; destroyer escort England (DE-635), 26°40'N, 127°40'E; and high speed transport Rathburne (APD-25), 26°26'N, 127°36'E; heavy cruiser Wichita (CA-45) is damaged by shore battery, 26°14'N, 127°50'E; destroyer William D. Porter (DD-579) is damaged by friendly fire, 26°21'N, 127°43'E. A kamikaze also crashes U.S. freighter Canada Victory killing one merchant officer and two of the 27-man Armed Guard; Canada Victory sinks, the survivors swimming to nearby attack transport Lauderdale (APA-179). ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): On Shimushu, 6 B-24s drop fragmentation bombs on the Kataoka naval base, 1 B-24 hits Minami Cape, and another flies a radar-ferret mission. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 345, APRIL 27, 1945 Troops of the Twenty‑Fourth Army Corps in the southern sector of Okinawa made a general advance during the afternoon of April 26 (East Longitude Date). By 1800 on that day, elements of the Twenty‑Seventh Infantry Division had reached the vicinity of the Machinato Airfield near the West Coast after by passing enemy strong points in Nakama Village. In the central and eastern segments of the lines local gains were made against enemy mortar and machine gun fire. The ground troops were supported by Naval gunfire, carrier aircraft and planes of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing. The attack was resumed on the morning of April 27. Marines of the Third Amphibious Corps continued to patrol northern Okinawa on April 26 and 27. A few enemy aircraft appeared over our forces during the early morning of April 27. Three were shot down by one of our minesweepers. Attacks by carrier aircraft of the U. S. Pacific Fleet on the Sakishima Group continued on April 26. Mitchells of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing attacked harbor installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the night of April 26. Fighters and torpedo planes of the same wing bombed bivouac areas in the Palaus on April 27 and fighters attacked targets on Yap. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA PRESS RELEASE NO. 87, APRIL 27, 1945 In the Okinawa campaign the enemy has attempted the use of rocket-propelled suicide bombs against our forces. These weapons, which are similar to a small single‑seat airplane, carry a pilot and are generally launched from the underside of the fuselage of a bomber. They have a wingspan of about sixteen feet, a length of more than 19 feet, and a tail plane of about eight feet. Constructed of light metals and wood, these bombs carry a heavy warhead of explosives. They are capable of high speed which reduces their qualities of maneuverability to a low point. The enemy has used them in limited numbers in the Okinawa operation up to this date, offering little opportunity for observation of their powers or effects. U. S. forces have designated these missiles by the term "baka bomb". "Baka" Is Japanese meaning "stupid," "foolish," or "silly." PACIFIC Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.31 Yusen Maru is sunk by aircraft off Amami-Oshima. USAAF mine (laid on 27 March) sinks Japanese cargo vessel Kaiho Maru at western entrance of Shimonoseki Strait, 34°00'N, 130°50'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 28, 2024 6:22:33 GMT
Day 2057 of World War II, April 28th 1945Soviet forces of 3rd Ukrainian Front capture Sopron in western Hungary, to the south of Vienna, in a continuing advance. The 2nd Ukrainian Front, to the north, also continues to advance. On the Oder River, German resistance at Glogau is eliminated by elements of 1st Ukrainian Front. In the battle of Berlin, the Red Army reaches the Anhalt Station. They are within a mile of Hitler's Bunker in the east and south. The German garrison is running out of ammunition and food. General Weidling, the capital's commandant, estimates that the bullets will run out in another two days. The defence may not last that long as the Russians drive ever closer to the Reichstag. They are infiltrating through the subways and sewers, often storming the defences from below. Now not much more than the area round the Tiergarten remains in German hands. Photo: Tanks of the First Guards Tank Army prepare to attack the Berlin Tiergarten, 28 April 1945Photo: Soviet tanks T-34/85 of the 7th Guards tank corps in action into Berlin, 28 April 1945Photo: T-34 tank from the 7th Guards Tank Corps and captured Volkssturm militiamen on the streets of Berlin, 28 April 1945Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, April 28th 1945The US 7th Army captures Augsburg in its advance south toward Austria. Other Allied units are crossing the Elbe River in the north and others are advancing on Munich in the south. Photo: Sherman tanks of the 1st Coldstream Guards, fitted with 60lb Typhoon aircraft rockets on the turret sides, 28 April 1945Photo: Knocked-out Cromwell tanks of the 2nd Welsh Guards, Guards Armoured Division, 28 April 1945
The Canadian First Army (Crerar) captures Emden and Wilhelmshaven. Photo: Personnel of the Royal Canadian Engineers (R.C.E.), 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, pushing a storm boat into the Ems River south of Emden, Germany, 28 April 1945Photo: A soldier of the 7th Cameronians is dwarfed by half-completed U-boats in the docks at Bremen, 28 April 1945Western Front (1945) - Liberation of the NetherlandsIn the Netherlands, Operation Duck begins, with the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division beginning an assault on the town of Leer. Air War over Europe(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents all Ninth AF combat operations. Unit moves in Germany: HQ 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron from Ober Olm to Furth with F-6s; 493d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, from Kassel to Illesheim with P-47s. Italian campaignMussolini was hanged by Italian partisans along with his mistress Clara Petacci and a dozen of his cabinet members. British Eighth Army captured Venice and US Fifth Army captured Brescia. German Colonel General Heinrich von Vietinghoff dispatched a messenger from Bolzano, Italy toward the Allies lines seeking a ceasefire. Photo: British Eighth Army Troops Crossing the River Po, Beyond Ferrara, Italy, vehicles of the 21st Tank Brigade passing through a wrecked village at the approach to the pontoon Bailey bridge over the River Po, 28 April 1945Photo: British Eighth Army Troops Crossing the River Po, Beyond Ferrara, Italy, British Eighth Army traffic crossing the first pontoon Bailey bridge, constructed by the Royal Engineers, over the River Po. The remains of the previous bridge are seen alongside, 28 April 1945Photo: British Eighth Army Troops Crossing the River Po, Beyond Ferrara, Italy, British Eighth Army traffic crossing the first pontoon Bailey bridge, constructed by the Royal Engineers, over the River Po. In the foreground men of the Royal Artillery are constructing a searchlight to facilitate night time use of the bridge, 28 April 1945The body of Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, dictator of Italy until his downfall in 1943, hangs upside-down over an ESSO garage forecourt in Milan. The body of his mistress, Clara Petacci, hangs next to it. Both bodies have been mutilated. Earlier today, a woman fired five revolver shots - "for my five dead sons" into the Duce's body. Others spat at their former leader. With his SS escort, Mussolini was heading towards the Alps where he believed that he could continue the war in the mountains with 3,000 fanatical Fascist followers. In fact, only 12 turned up at a rendezvous. They then drove through dangerous, partisan-held territory.The partisans caught up with Petacci and Mussolini, dressed in a German uniform, at Dongo, on Lake Como. After interrogation, a communist partisan, Walter Audisio, lined them up at the gate of the Villa Belmonte in Mezzegra. First, he shot Petacci, who clung to her lover. Then Mussolini opened his coat wide and asked to be shot in the chest. The machine-gun rang out and the Duce slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. Audisio moved closer, and fired the final shot into his heart. (US Twelfth Air Force): Weather severely curtails operations. In Italy, XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers, flying 100+ sorties, hit enemy movement in the battle area at several points from S of Piacenza to NW of Milan; medium bombers are grounded. German occupied Netherlands In Holland an unofficial truce commenced, allowing British and Canadian convoys through the German lines unmolested to deliver food, fuel and vital supplies to the starving Dutch civilian population. GermanyHitler receives word via Göbbels' Propaganda Ministry that the BBC was reporting SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler's attempted peace negotiations, Hitler orders his immediate arrest and execution and has his liaison officer, Hermann Fegelein, shot dead. United StatesPhoto: View of wrecked flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) arrived off New York City for repairs on 28 April 1945. Note the wreckage of her burned out after flight deck. Manhattan Island, the East River, and Brooklyn are in the backgroundPhoto: View on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carier USS Franklin (CV-13), looking forward, while the carrier was in New York Harbor (USA), circa 28 April 1945. She had just returned from the Pacific for repair of battle damage received off Japan on 19 March 1945. Note the damage to her flight deck, the large U.S. ensign flying from her island, and the Manhattan skyline in the backgroundPhoto: View of wrecked flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13), looking aft from the island, as the ship steamed up the East River to the New York Navy Yard for repairs on 28 April 1945. The Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline are in the backgroundPhoto: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) steams past the light cruiser USS Marblehead (CL-12), in New York Harbor (USA), circa 28 April 1945, after her arrival from the Pacific for battle damage repairs. Note the cruiser's Measure 22 camouflagePacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 B-25s bomb Paoching Airfield and the Shaho railroad yards, knock out a bridge near Kaifeng, and damage a bridge W of Showyang; about 80 fighter-bombers attack troops, airfields, storage facilities, railroad targets, rivercraft, trucks, and enemy positions in S and E China, again concentrating on the Fantung area; a B-24 claims a freighter sunk in the S China Sea. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 P-38s attack a cavalry regiment and supplies in the Namhok area; 6 others hit a bivouac area near Pawngleng; 22 P-47s are detailed to strike at troops, artillery positions, trucks, elephants, and carts along and behind the enemy lines in C Burma; despite bad weather most of the fighter-bombers complete their missions; transports make 441 flights to forward areas, landing or dropping 610 tons of supplies. The 82d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th BG (Medium), ceases operating from Meiktila, Burma and returns to base at Fenny, India with B-25s. GUAM Seventh Air Force: 12 B-24s from Guam hit Param during the early morning hours; 12 more attack Param during the afternoon. 20 P-47s from Saipan sweep Truk, strafing small vessels and airfields on Param and Moen. (Twentieth Air Force): Missions 114 to 119: 119 B-29s hit airfields at Kushira, Kanoya, Miyakonojo, Kokubu, Miyazaki, and Izumi on Kyushu Island, Japan; 4 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim a total of 14 Japanese fighters; 5 B-29s are lost. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA B-24s bomb Toshien, Formosa and several secondary targets. B-25s sink about 20,000 tons of merchant shipping in Saigon, French Indochina harbor. The 36th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, moves from Biak Island, New Guinea to Clark Field, Luzon with F-5s. JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES The preparatory bombardment of targets in the Tarakan area in the northeast of the island of Borneo continues. In Borneo, B-24s hit Kuching while B-25s and P-38s hit Tarakan and targets of opportunity along the Sarawak coast. B-24s over the Celebes bomb Masamba, Malimpoeng, and Mandai Airfields. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) On N Luzon Island, B-25s hit targets in the Itogon area; A-20s attack Itogon mines and start fires among huts at Fabrica; fighter-bombers attack Balete Pass, Cagayan Valley, Tuguegarao, Trinidad, and Cervantes; on S Luzon A-20s and fighter-bombers support ground forces at various points including the Batangas sector and hit targets around Norzagaray, Ipo Dam, Montalban, New Bosoboso, and along the San Andres trail. VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN On Okinawa, fighting along the Shuri Line continues. American forces employ tanks, flame-throwers and artillery in an effort to destroy Japanese defensive positions. Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage destroyers Wadsworth (DD-516), 26°47'N, 126°38'E; Daly (DD-519), 27°12'N, 128°16'E; Twiggs (DD-591), 27°12'N, 128°16'E; and Bennion (DD-662), 27°26'N, 127°51'E; high speed minesweeper Butler (DMS-29), 26°00'N, 127°00'E; hospital ship Comfort (AH-6), 25°30'N, 127°40'E; and transport fitted for the evacuation of wounded Pinkney (APH-2), 26°00'N, 127°00'E. Destroyer Lang (DD-399) is damaged in collision with oiler Brazos (AO-4), 26°11'N, 127°20'E. Japanese assault demolition boat causes extensive damage to U.S. freighter Bozeman Victory; six men among the 59-man merchant crew, 13 stevedores and the 27-man Armed Guard suffer injuries. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 346, APRIL 28, 1945 Troops of the Twenty‑Fourth Army Corps moved slowly forward in the Southern sector of Okinawa on April 27 (East Longitude Date) destroying pillboxes, caves and strong points. Heavy artillery was employed to break up troop concentrations in the enemy's rear areas and planes of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing joined with carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet to give close support to the troops. Naval gunfire continued to be effective in destroying enemy fortified positions. During the night of April 27‑28, two groups of enemy aircraft attacked U. S. shipping off Okinawa beaches causing some damage and sinking one auxiliary surface unit. Twenty‑five enemy aircraft were shot down and two were probably destroyed. Enemy small craft activity increased during the night and a number of small boats were destroyed by our forces. On April 28, combat air patrols from fast carriers shot down 32 enemy planes in the areas around Okinawa, Kikai and Yaku Islands in the Ryukyus. Search Aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One sank three small cargo ships, forced another to beach and damaged several other small ships in the area around Kyushu on April 28. Aircraft from escort carriers of the Pacific Fleet continued to bomb and strafe airfields on islands of the Sakishimas on April 27. Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed installations at Truk in the central Carolines on April 26. A search Privateer of Fleet Air Wing One sank a small ship and several fishing boats in Truk Harbor on April 28. PACIFIC Motor minesweeper YMS-329 is damaged by mine off Tarakan, Borneo, 03°14'N, 117°42'E. Submarine Sennet (SS-408) sinks Japanese cable layer Hatsushima off Kii Suido, south-southeast of Mikizaki, 33°55'N, 136°18'E. Submarine Springer (SS-414) sinks Japanese submarine chaser Ch 17 west of Kyushu, 32°25'N, 128°46'E, as the latter is escorting landing ship T.146; later that day, submarine Trepang (SS-412) sinks T.146 off Osezaki, Japan, 32°24'N, 128°40'E. British submarine HMS Tradewind attacks Japanese convoy off coast of Malaya, sinking merchant tanker Takasago Maru 53 miles from Kota Bharu, 06°48'N, 101°36'E. USAAF B-25s and P-38s (Far East Air Force) bomb Japanese shipping at Saigon, sinking tanker No.8 Takasago Maru, 10°49'N, 106°41'E, and motor sailships No.10 Shingi Maru and 9 Nittai Maru and 1 Kashima Maru, Shuttle Boat No.51, Shuttle Boat No.57 and Shuttle Boat No. 74. Japanese escort vessel Uku and Patrol Vessel No.102 [ex-U.S. destroyer Stewart (DD-224)] are damaged by aircraft, 34°52'N, 124°23'E. USAAF mine sinks Japanese cargo vessel Gakujo Maru at western entrance of Shimonoseki Strait, 34°00'N, 130°50'E. Photo: The U.S. Navy battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) at sea in the Pacific, 28 April 1945, as seen from the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11)
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 29, 2024 2:46:16 GMT
Day 2058 of World War II, April 29th 1945Eastern FrontIn the battle of Berlin, the Red Army has now captured most of the city except for the area around the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichskanzlei and the Reichstag which is still fiercely defended by isolated units of the Waffen-SS. There is little left now for the defenders of Berlin to die for. They are being split up into small groups which fall back to fight from the Flak towers and large air-raid shelters. Guns are set up in railway yards, squares and parks to hold off the advancing tanks. It appears that a last stand will be made in the Tiergarten, but more and more men are risking the SS execution squads and surrendering. North of the capital, Red Army units capture Anklam and other towns. In the south, Soviet pressure in Austria and Czechoslovakia continues. Photo: Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns on the streets of Berlin, 29 April 1945Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, April 29th 1945The British 2nd Army captured Lauenburg, just south of Hamburg, in Germany, thus trapping all German forces in Denmark and securing the Baltic Ports. When Soviet forces arrived at Lubeck and Wismar not long afterwards they found British and Canadian paratroopers waiting for them. Bernard Montgomery had thereby, not only denied Joseph Stalin the opportunity to seize Denmark, but had also kept the Soviet Navy locked within the Baltic Sea. Photo: Sherman DD tanks with lowered flotation screens in Lauenburg, 29 April 1945Photo: German prisoners file past 6-pdr anti-tank guns and carriers of 15th (Scottish) Division near the Elbe, 29 April 1945Photo: Buffaloe armoured vehicles on the banks of the Elbe, 29 April 1945Photo: Carriers and infantry of the 2nd Gordon Highlanders move up to cross the Elbe, 29 April 1945The French First Army (de Tassigny) captures Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. South of the Danube River, US 3rd Army units reach the River Isar. 30,000 surviving inmates of Dachau are liberated by troops of the US 3rd Army. The advance continues toward Munich. Photo: This German twin-engined, jet propelled fighter plane was abandoned by Luftwaffe troops in hanger of German airfield captured by 111 Corps, 3rd U.S. Army, at Manching, Germany, 29 April, 1945
Western Front (1945) - Liberation of FranceThe last parts of French soil, on the Alpine front, still held by Germans are liberated by French forces. Western Front (1945) - Liberation of the NetherlandsLancasters of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups start to drop food supplies for the civilian population. Eighteen aircraft of No 153 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, began dropping food parcels from a height of 400 feet to the starving Dutch civilians. In the winter of 44/45, the 'Hunger Winter' as the Dutch call it, northern Holland and the heavily populated cities in Western Holland was still under German occupation. Around 18,000 of the elder, sick and young had died through sickness and lack of sufficient food. Churchill had written on April 10th, 'I fear we may soon be in the presence of a great tragedy'. The first food drop (284 bags) was over Ypenburg, near the Hague, subsequent drops were on the Dundigt Racecourse. Before the food-drop operation began an agreement was reached whereby German anti-aircraft units would not fire on low flying aircraft dropping food. This was agreed to by the then Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands, Artur Seyss-Inquart, who was later found guilty of participating in the deportation of Jews. (He was hanged at Nuremberg on October 16, 1946) Over the next ten days the squadron flew 111 sorties, dropping 7,029 tons of the much needed food. Pathfinder Mosquitos 'marked' the dropping zones. 2,835 Lancaster and 124 Mosquito flights were made before the Germans surrendered at the end of the war and allowed ships and road transport to enter the area. Bomber Command delivered 6,672 tons of food during Operation Manna. The operation continues for ten days, delivering 7,000 tons of food. US Army Air Force joins in, with Operation Chowhound, delivering 4000+ tons of food supplies. Photo: Ground crew loading supplies into the bomb bay of an Avro Lancaster of No. 514 Squadron RAF at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, during Operation 'Manna', the dropping of food to the starving Dutch population. Operation Manna: the air movement of food and supplies to the Dutch populace. Ground crew prepare to load sacks of food into the bomb-bay of an Avro Lancaster of No. 514 Squadron RAF at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, 29 April 1945Air War over Europe(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 971: 8 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. HQ 64th Fighter Wing moves from Edenkoben to Schwabisch-Hall, Germany. (US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels operations by the 9th Bombardment Division. Fighters fly patrols and airfield cover, hit special targets, fly armed reconnaissance over E Germany and W Czechoslovakia, and cooperate with the XII Corps moving SE between the Danube River and the Czech border N of Linz, Austria, and with the XX Corps as some of its units establish bridgeheads and begin crossing the Isar River in the Plattling-Landau an der Isar-Landshut-Passau, Germany areas. Unit moves: HQ 48th Fighter Group and 494th Fighter Squadron from Kassel to Illesheim, Germany with P-47s; HQ 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) from Clastres, France to Beek, the Netherlands. Italian campaignBritish Eighth and US Fifth Armies linked up near Padua, Italy, which had just been liberated by Italian partisans who surrounded the 5,000-strong German garrison. Photo: A Churchill tank of 21st Tank Brigade comes ashore after crossing the River Adige, watched by the inhabitants of the village of Cabiance, 29 April 1945Photo: A Sherman artillery observation tank drives off a raft after crossing the River Adige, 29 April 1945The unofficial surrender of German forces in Italy is signed at Caserta. The German representatives are present here because of a secret negotiation between the head of the OSS mission in Switzerland, Allan Dulles, and SS General Wolff. YouTube (1 Million German Soldiers Surrender at Caserta (1945)These talks have been going on since much earlier in the year, but because of their clandestine nature, the German representatives at Caserta cannot guarantee that the surrender will be ratified by Vietinghoff, commanding German forces in Italy. Instrument of Local Surrender of German and other forces under the command or control of the German Commander-in-Chief SouthwestGerman 148th Division, Italian 4th Alpine Division "Monte Rosa", Italian 3rd Marine Division "San Marco", and German 29th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division (Italian troops) surrendered to Brazilian General Mascarenhas de Moraes near Parma, Italy. Photo: German General Otto Freter Pico, Commander of the 148th Infantry Division, and General Mario Carloni surrendering to the Brazilian FEB after the battle of Fornovo di Taro, 29 April 1945(US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather again prevents bomber operations. 8 P-51s and P-38s complete weather and photo reconnaissance missions. 39 P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over NE Italy; 5 of the fighters bomb and 4 strafe various targets of opportunity, claiming 4 motor transports destroyed and a reconnaissance car and 2 parked aircraft damaged. (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather again restricts operations; the medium bombers are grounded; fighters and fighter-bombers attack retreating forces and communications throughout NE Italy including Thiene Airfield and claim 350+ motor transport destroyed; enemy forces in Italy, commanded by General Heinrich von Vietinghoff surrender unconditionally at Caserta, effective 2 May; HQ 57th Fighter Group and 64th, 65th and 66th Fighter Squadrons move from Grosseto to Villafranca di Verona, with P-47s. Arctic naval operations14 German U-boats attack convoy RA-66 which consists of 24 ships with an escort including 2 escort carriers, 1 cruiser, 9 destroyers and 13 other ships. Whilst engaged on an A/S sweep off Kola prior to the departure of convoy RA.66, frigate HMS 'Goodall' is torpedoed and magazine explodes blowing away the forward part of the ship. Beyond salvage, she is abandoned and scuttled. Location: entrance to Kola Inlet at 69 25N 33 38E. 'Goodall' is the last British warship to be sunk by submarine attack. Battle of the Atlantic'U-1017' sunk in the North Atlantic NW of Ireland, in position 56.04N, 11.06W, by depth charges from an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator. 34 dead, unknown number of survivors. GermanyHitler marries his mistress, Eva Braun, and prepares his Political Testament, appointing Admiral Donitz as his successor and describing how Germany has failed him in the struggle against Bolshevism. Soviet occupied Austria The Red Army sets up a provisional government in Vienna. Pacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 3 B-25s and 4 P-47s blast targets at the Taiyuan railroad yards; about 50 fighter-bombers, operating in forces of 1 to 4 aircraft, blast numerous targets of opportunity in S and E China, hitting especially the Fantung area. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 5 P-47s attack Laihka Airfield; 6 others strafe troops and horses at Tadamo; transports fly 427 sorties to forward areas, landing or dropping 537 tons of supplies. Unit moves: 81st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th BG (Medium), ceases operating from Meiktila, Burma with B-25s and returns to base at Fenny, India; 317th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, based at Kalaikunda, India with C-47s, sends a detachment to operate from Akyab, Burma. BURMA In the Irrawaddy Valley, Allanmyo falls to the advances of British 33rd Corps. The remaining Japanese units in this area are losing cohesion as a result of the British attacks. In the Sittang Valley, the British 17th Indian Division captures Nyaunglebim and continues attacking near Payagyi. JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES In Borneo, B-24s pound Kuching Airfield while B-25s bomb Tarakan. Other B-24s hit Langoan, Mandai Airfield, and Mapanget Airfields. SAIPAN VII Fighter Command: 20 Saipan Island-based P-47s sweep Truk Atoll, strafing airfields, defenses, and gun positions on Moen and Param and hit Param and Falas with rockets. Seventh Air Force: 24 Guam-based B-24s subsequently attack the same airfields as the fighters above. 20 B-24s, operating in 2 forces, pound air installations on Marcus Island in the N Pacific. (Twentieth Air Force): Missions 120 to 125: 111 B-29s strike airfields on Kyushu Island, Japan, i.e., Miyazaki, Miyakonojo, Kokubu, 2 at Kanoya, and Kushira Airfields; they claim nearly 30 Japanese aircraft shot down; 2 B-29s are lost. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA P-38s sweep French Indochina and strafe Thu Dau Mot Airfield. The 318th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 3d Air Commando Group, moves from Mangaldan to Laoag with C-47s. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) The US 185th Regiment (General Brush) lands near Padan Point with naval support by a destroyer force commanded by Admiral Struble. There is little Japanese resistance. In support of ground forces on Luzon Island, fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations, supply areas, pillboxes, gun positions, vehicles, and other targets mainly in the Balete Pass, Baguio, and Echague areas and A-20s hit the New Bosoboso area, where fighters also support ground forces concentrating in the Ipo Dam area. VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage destroyers Hazelwood (DD-531), 27°02'N, 129°59'E, and Haggard (DD-555), 27°01'N, 129°40'E; and light minelayers Shannon (DM-25), 26°00'N, 127°00'E, and Harry F. Bauer (DM-26), 26°47'N, 128°42'E. Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Haggard (DD-555) is assisted by the light cruiser USS San Diego (CL-53), after being hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa on 29 April 1945. Haggard did not sink but was not reparied and was scrapped after the warALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 12 B-25s attempting to bomb targets in the Kurile Islands abort due to a weather front. 6 B-24s radar-bomb Kataoka naval base on Shimushu. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 347, APRIL 29, 1945 A Navy Hospital Ship, USS Comfort, was attacked and heavily damaged by a Japanese aircraft about 50 miles south of Okinawa at 2058 local time on April 28 (East Longitude Date). The crashed Japanese plane which made the suicide attack is still on the Comfort. The vessel which was engaged in evacuating wounded from Okinawa suffered 29 killed, 33 seriously wounded, and 100 missing, including patients, passengers, and crew. At the time of the attack she was operating under full hospital procedure, was clearly marked and was fully lighted. She is now proceeding to port under her own power. Elements of the Twenty Seventh Infantry Division captured the northern half of Machinato Airfield on Okinawa on April 28 as a general advance was made in the southern sector of the island. The Seventh Infantry Division secured the high ground near Kochi Village and was continuing to move southward. Corsair fighters of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing and planes from the carriers of the Pacific Fleet bombed and strafed ahead of the advancing troops. The attack was supported by heavy artillery and by the guns of heavy units of the fleet. A series of attacks involving a total of about 200 enemy aircraft were made on our forces in the Okinawa area during the afternoon of April 28 and the night of April 28‑29. Combat air patrols from escort and fast carriers of the U. S. Pacific Fleet and from the Second Marine Aircraft Wing prevented any enemy planes from penetrating to our main forces during daylight. Attacks after nightfall and continuing until 0215 on April 29 caused some damage to light units of the fleet. A total of 104 enemy aircraft were destroyed by ships' guns and carrier and land‑based aircraft. Carrier aircraft strafed targets on Kume Island west of Okinawa on April 28. From the beginning of operations against Okinawa and surrounding islands through April 27, the Tenth Army lost 1,527 soldiers and 320 Marines killed in action. A total of 7,826 soldiers and 1,322 Marines were wounded and 413 soldiers and five Marines were missing. Navy search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One attacked a convoy west of Kyushu on April 27 scoring four hits with medium bombs on cargo ships. Aircraft of the same wing attacked shipping in Shimonoseki Strait with bombs and torpedoes during the night of April 28‑29. During daylight on April 29, Fleet Air Wing One planes destroyed a small cargo ship, damaged seven others, and set a picket ship afire in attacks made in the waters around Kyushu, Honshu, and the Ryukyus. Army Mustangs of the Seventh Fighter Command strafed small craft, radio installations, and other targets in the area of the Bonins on April 29. Corsair fighters and Avenger torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus through moderate antiaircraft fire on targets April 28 and 29. Army Liberators and Thunderbolt fighters of the Strategic Air Force bombed and strafed airfields and installations at Truk in the Carolines on April 28 and 29. On April 29 Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing One hit the same target setting a drydock afire and sinking a ship in the harbor. PACIFIC Motor minesweeper YMS-51 is damaged by mine off Tarakan, Borneo, 03°18'N, 117°33'E. Japanese carrier attack planes (KATEs) flying from Truk attack Naval Base, Manus, Admiralty Islands, torpedoing the advance base section docks ABSD-2 and ABSD-4 in the belief that the shapes they perceive in the nocturnal strike are aircraft carriers. TBM (VC 92) from escort carrier Tulagi (CVE-72) sinks Japanese submarine I 44, 220 miles southeast of Okinawa, 24°15'N, 131°16'E. Submarine Besugo (SS-321) sinks Japanese guardboat Otome Maru southeast of Borneo, 05°45'S, 107°30'E. Submarine Bream (SS-243) sinks German minesweeper depot ship Quito off Tanjong Puting, Borneo, N.E.I., 04°11'S, 111°17'E.[13] Submarine Cero (SS-225) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Taishu Maru off Kamaishi, Japan, 39°15'N, 141°58'E. USAAF B-24s on anti-shipping sweep of Makassar Strait sink Japanese cargo vessel No.5 Hirata Maru in Pamukan Bay, 02°30'S, 116°25'E. Japanese passenger ferry No.2 Kuroshio (ex-landing ship T.149) is damaged by mine during passage from Singapore to Batavia; transport (ex-seaplane carrier) Kumikawa Maru is damaged by mine laid by RAAF Catalina off Balikpapan, Borneo. Merchant cargo ship No.1 Aioi Maru is sunk by mine three miles off Tsunemi.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 30, 2024 2:47:10 GMT
Day 2059 of World War II, April 30th 1945YouTube (The Death of Adolf Hitler)Eastern FrontIn Berlin, Soviet forces reach the Reichstag from the north and with artillery support at 06:00 they launched an attack but because of German entrenchments and support from 12.8 cm FlaK 40 guns 2 km (1.2 mi) away on the roof of the Zoo flak tower, close by Berlin Zoo, it was not until that evening that the Soviets were able to enter the building. The Reichstag had not been in use since it had burned in February 1933 and its interior resembled a rubble heap more than a government building. The German troops inside were heavily entrenched and fierce room-to-room fighting ensued. At that point there was still a large contingent of German soldiers in the basement who launched counter-attacks against the Red Army. YouTube (The Battle of the Reichstag 1945)Photo: IS-2 tanks of the Second Army Guards tanks in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, 29 April 1945Photo: 2rd Guards Tank Army in the Berlin operation, 30 April 1945
To the north, troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front advance toward Straslund, Waren and Wittenberge. In Czechoslovakia, Mor Ostrava is occupied after a lengthy battle. German forces continue to hold a part of Maravia and most of Bohemia. Slovakia has been completely overrun by Soviet forces. Troops of the Second White Russian Front capture Greifswald, Treptow, Neustrelitz, Fuerstenberg, Gransee, Lassen, Wolgast, Rheinsberg, Hanshagen, Zuessow, Guetzkow, Jarmen, Bartow, Burow, Sarow, Wolde, Penzlin, Menz, Gros-Woltersdorf, Dolgow. Soviet troops liberate Ravensbruck concentration camp. The defenders of Breslau, decimated by relentless Soviet attacks, are still holding out. Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, April 30th 1945Forces of French 1st Army enter Austria near Lake Constance, in the south, while units of British 2nd Army, in the north, advance toward the Baltic coast. The US Seventh Army enters Munich. Photo: Infantrymen move across open field toward burning town, one of the little strong points on road to Munich, softened up for the infantrymen by mortar fire, 30 April 1945
Photo: The German civilian on the left of the road walks into the city with three infantrymen, giving directions and what information he can, 30 April 1945Photo: Infantrymen file along the electric railway line as they enter the outskirts of Munich, Germany. 30 April, 1945Photo: Infantrymen of the 3rd Div., first American troops to enter the city of Munich, move along tall france below large sign board as their T.D. support moves up the street, 30 April, 1945Photo: Infantry of 3rd Div., first American troops in the city of Munich, move through damaged Munich railroad yards in search of Germans hiding in dugouts, 30 April 1945The United States Army, Fourteenth Armored Division liberated 110,000 Allied prisoners of war at Stalag VIIA at Moosburg. Western Front (1945) - Liberation of FranceAmerican, French, and Canadian forces make an amphibious assault on Ile d'Oleron on the French Atlantic coast. By evening, they capture St. Trojan. Western Front (1945) - Liberation of the NetherlandsCanadian forces clear most of Leer, Netherlands, from German forces. Commissioner of the German occupation in the Netherlands, Arthur Seyß-Inquart, officially agreed that Allied aircraft delivering food and other supplies to Dutch civilians would not be harassed by German defensive fire. Air War over Europe US Strategic Air Forces in Europe and the British Air Ministry declare an end to strategic bombing in Europe. The policy is declared to have come up to every expectation, wrecking oil plants, aircraft factories, and railway systems. (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 972: 6 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France. (US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels 9th Bombardment Division and XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) operations. In Germany, the IX Tactical Air Command flies airfield cover, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance; the XIX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance, and cooperates with the XII Corps moving SE between the Danube River and the Czech border N of Linz, Austria and with the XX Corps crossing the Isar River at several points in the Landau an der Isar-Landshut area. Unit moves in Germany: HQ 354th Fighter Group and 356th Fighter Squadron from Ober Olm to Ansbach with P-47s; HQ 362d Fighter Group and 379th Fighter Squadron from Frankfurt to Furth with P-47s; HQ 405th Fighter Group from Ophoven, Belgium to Kitzingen; 31st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) from Ober Olm to Furth with F-5s. Arctic naval operations German U-boats continue to attack convoy RA-66. Italian campaign American 5th Army's 442nd Infantry Regiment enters Turin, Italy. Allies capture Gargnano, Cittadella, Bassano, Friolo, Treviso, Chioggia, and Alessandria. Photo: Tank destroyer of the 1st Platoon, Co. A., 701st Tank Destroyers, pointing towards Riva, across Lake Garda. 30 April, 1945Photo: Sherman tanks and other vehicles in the Piazzale Roma in Venice, one Sherman is adorned with a Union Flag, 30 April 1945Venezia Piazza San Marco 1945 British Troops on Jeeps, 30 April 1945In Milan, Italy, partisans execute former chief of staff for the Italian Army Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, following a quick trial. (US Fifteenth Air Force): For the fourth consecutive day bad weather cancels bomber operations; P-38s fly reconnaissance, escorted by P-51s. Other P-51s and P-38s escort supply-dropping missions to N Italy and Yugoslavia. (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 29/30 Apr, A-20s and A-26s hit motor transport near Lake Como and roads in the Trento, San Michele all'Adige, and Bolzano areas; bad weather grounds the medium bombers; fighter-bombers fly armed reconnaissance over N Italy, blasting guns, vehicles, and other targets of opportunity; the 12th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) moves from Peretola Airfield, Florence to Villafranca with F-5s. GermanyIn Berlin, Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide in their rooms in Hitler's bunker at 1530 hours. Their bodies are carried outside and cremated with gasoline. Map: Situation of World War II in Europe at the time of Hitler's death. The white areas were controlled by Nazi forces, the pink areas were controlled by the Allies, and the red areas indicate recent Allied advances, 30 April 1945William Joyce's "Germany Calling" radio program ceased broadcasting as British Army troops closed in on the radio station facilities in Hamburg, Germany. German occupied CzechoslovakiaGerman police chief Obergruppenführer Karl Hermann Frank announced over radio that any attempt to rise up by the citizens of Prague in the puppet state of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia would be wiped out violently. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy gunnery training ship USS Wyoming (AG-17) underway in the Atlantic on 30 April 1945. Note the target drone catapult on the sternPhoto: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Swenning (DE-394) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 30 April 1945. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D modified. The photo was taken from the escort carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9)Photo: The U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Joseph M. Auman (APD-117) off Orange, Texas (USA), on 30 April 1945, five days after commissioning. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 5LPacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-25s and 9 P-47s hit railroad yards at Taiyuan; 50+ P-47s, P-51s, and P-40s attack troops, defensive positions, bridges, rail targets, and scattered targets of opportunity in S and E China, concentrating around Laohokow, Hsihhsiassuchi, and Loning. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, bad weather cancels scheduled combat strikes; air supply operations to forward areas continue on a steady basis. SAIPAN VII Fighter Command: In a thorough strafing and rocket strike on several islands of Truk Atoll, 20 P-47s from Saipan Island attack the seaplane base, several small vessels, the airfield, barracks, radio station, and numerous other targets. Long range mission 7: 104 P-51s escort B-29s to hit the Tachikawa air depot claiming 0-1-0 Japanese aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost. HQ 318th FG and the 19th, 73d and 333d Fighter Squadrons move from Saipan to Ie Shima with P-38s. Seventh Air Force: 24 B-24s from Guam pound the airfields on Moen and Param. 22 B-24s, operating in 2 waves about 3 hours apart, bomb air installations on Marcus in the N Pacific. (Twentieth Air Force): Seven missions are flown. Mission 126: 69 B-29s hit the Tachikawa air depot; 25 others hit targets of opportunity. The escort is 104 P-51s. Missions 127 to 132: 56 B-29s hit airfields at Kokubu, Oita, Tomitaka, Saeki, and 2 at Kanoya and the city of Hamamatsu; 2 other B-29s hit targets of opportunity; the B-29s claim 10 aircraft downed. GALAPAGOS ISLANDS Photo: Photo of U.S. Army airbase located on the island of Baltra (Seymour) in the Galapagos Islands. Note the only B-15 bomber ever built parked on the runway, 30 April 1945SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, B-24s hit the Toshien fuel storage and bomb Tainan, Takao, and Okayama Airfields while B-25s hit Taito; escorting P-38s attack numerous targets of opportunity; and P-51s bomb Okayama Airfield. The 157th and 160th Liaison Squadrons (Commando), 3d Air Commando Group, move from Calasio to Mabalacat, Luzon with UC-64s and L-5s (the 160th has a detachment operating from Mindoro Island). Photo: Toshien bombardment, 30 April 1945ULITHI Photo: The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Block Island (CVE-106) at anchor on 30 April 1945, most probably at Ulithi. On 17 April, Block Island had left Hawaii and steamed toward Okinawa, via Ulithi. Flight operations commenced immediately upon her arrival on 3 May and lasted until 16 June 1945 when she departed for LeyteJAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES In Borneo, P-38s hit Tarakan and B-24s bomb Manggar Airfield. Other B-24s bomb Malimpoeng Airfield on Celebes Island. A small American landing force goes ashore on the island of Sadan. Map: Enemy [Japanese] Dispositions on Borneo, 30 April 1945PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) Numerous missions are flown over Luzon and Negros Islands by B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers in support of the ground forces. B-24s attack the Davao area on Mindanao. Photo: U.S. landing craft mechanized carries troops of Company I, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division up the Mindanao river for the assault on Fort Pikit, 30 April 1945VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN On Okinawa, Japanese counterattacks and infiltration attempts along the Shuri Line area are defeated. There is heavy fighting in the Maeda and Kochi Ridge positions. The US 1st Marine and 77th Divisions replace the US 27th and 96th Divisions in the line. Off Okinawa, Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage destroyer Bennion (DD-662), 27°26'N, 127°51'E, and minelayer Terror (CM-5), 26°10'N, 127°18'E. One suicide plane damages U.S. freighter S. Hall Young in Nago Bay; there are no fatalities among the crew, passengers, and 12-man Armed Guard. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 348, APRIL 30, 1945 Machinato Airfield on Okinawa was captured by troops of the Twenty-Seventh Infantry Division on April 29 (East Longitude Date). Behind aerial bombing, Naval gunfire and heavy artillery preparation, troops of the Ninety Sixth Infantry Division in the center were advancing southward over hill terrain. Seventh Division infantrymen were driving toward the ridges southeast of Kochi Village. On April 29, several groups of enemy aircraft attacked our forces in the area of Okinawa. A total of 29 planes were shot down by our fighters and by ship and shore antiaircraft fire. In addition combat air patrols of the Fast Carrier Task Forces shot down 21 planes near our surface units on April 29 and four more on April 30. Carrier aircraft from the Pacific Fleet attacked landing craft, a coastal ship, fuel dumps, barracks and airfield installations on Tokuno, Amami and Kikai Islands, in the Ryukyus on April 29 and 30. Five enemy aircraft were burned on the ground. Search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One bombed two small cargo ships in the Ryukyus Area on April 29 leaving one in sinking condition and another burning badly. On the same date, planes of the same Wing set three small cargo ships afire in the East China Sea. Search planes of Fleet Air Wing One on April 30 destroyed a small cargo ship and damaged dry dock installations, a coastal vessel, a patrol craft and a number of small craft in the area of Kyushu. Aircraft of the same Wing sank three small cargo ships near Kozu Island south of Tokyo and a number of fishing craft off the south coast of Honshu. On the same date search Aircraft of the same Wing sank a number of small craft in Truk Harbor in the Carolines and destroyed six barges at Woleai. Buildings, gun emplacements and radar Installations on Minami Cape, Shimushu in the Northern Kuriles, were attacked with rockets and machine gun fire by Search Aircraft of Fleet Air Wing Four on April 29. Helldiver bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing made neutralizing raids on enemy bases in the Marshalls on April 29. Aircraft of the same Wing attacked targets in the Palaus on the following day. PACIFIC Destroyer escorts Thomas (DE-102), Bostwick (DE-103), Coffman (DE-191, and frigate Natchez (PF-2) sink German submarine U-548, off Virginia, 36°34'N, 74°00'W. PBY (VP 63) sinks German submarine U-1055 west of France, 48°00'N, 06°30'W. Destroyer Jenkins (DD-447) is damaged by mine off Tarakan, Borneo, 03°12'N, 117°37'E. Submarine Trepang (SS-412), despite proximity of three escorting coast defense ships, attacks Japanese convoy MOSI-05, sinking transport Miho Maru in Yellow Sea, 34°27'N, 123°48'E. Japanese army tanker Yuno Maru is sunk by mine [laid by submarine Guitarro (SS-363) on 20 April 1945 or Dutch submarine O-19 on 13 April 1945] off east coast of Sumatra, 01°00'S, 104°30'E. Japanese auxiliary minelayer Nuwashima is damaged by aircraft southeast of Dainyu-Jima, Saeki. Japanese merchant cargo ship No.18 Yamabishi Maru is damaged by mine, off Wakamatsu light. USAAF B-24s (13th Air Force) sink Japanese transport (ex-seaplane carrier) Kunikawa Maru (previously damaged by Australian mine) in Balikpapan Bay, 01°15'S, 116°50'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on May 1, 2024 2:49:23 GMT
Day 2060 of World War II, May 1st 1945Eastern FrontIn the battle of Berlin, the remaining pockets of German resistance in the center of the city are crumbling. German General Hans Krebs head of the OKH after Guderian's dismissal on March 26th met with Vasily Chuikov, head of the Soviet 8th Guards Army, to attempt to negotiate a ceasefire. Krebs also gave Chuikov news of a certain event that had transpired some 12 hours earlier in the Führerbunker – contained in a document signed by Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann. Krebs is informed that surrender must be unconditional. German-Soviet truce talks are ended when a German sniper injures Russian Major Belovsoff. Soviet forces retaliate with a intense shell barrage. Photo: Soviet tank with bedspring near the Brandenburg Gate at Berlin, 1 may 1945YouTube (May 1, 1945 - News Bulletin Announces Soviet Entry into Berlin)Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, May 1st 1945In the north, the British continue their moves toward Lubeck and Hamburg. The US 1st and 9th Armies are firmly established along the line of the Elbe and Mulde rivers. They have been forbidden to advance farther into the zone designated for Soviet occupation. The US 7th Army continues advancing into Austria. Photo: German comes in to advancing Yank riflemen with hands raised in surrender. 1 May, 1945Photo: tank opens fire on the enemy positions in the mountains. Infantrymen hug the ground along the fence. 1 May, 1945Photo: (409th Task Force photo series) Here, machine gun mounted on jeep, chatters away at enemy positions on the mountains. Man at left with glasses directs fire. 1 May, 1945
Photo: while one man peppers away with his M1, machine gun sprays the mountain side with lead. 1 May, 1945Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt is captured by US troops. US 7th Army captures German Field Marshal General Wilhelm Rutter von Leeb and German Field Marshal General Wilhelm List. Western Front (1945) - Liberation of the NetherlandsCanadian forces capture Delfzijl, Netherlands. Air War over Europe (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 973: 396 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies in the Hague (237) and Rotterdam (155), the Netherlands; a total of 777.1 tons of food are dropped. Mission 974: During the night of 1/2 May, 4 of 5 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany. Photo: B 17 dropping food parcels on Schiphol, operation, 1 May 1945(US Ninth Air Force): 9 A-26s bomb an ammunition plant at Stod, Czechoslovakia. The IX Tactical Air Command escorts the bombers, flies airfield cover, and patrols the Leipzig-Schwarzenberg, Germany area. The XIX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance over E Germany, W Czechoslovakia, and Austria, dive-bombs Berchtesgaden, and operates with the US XII Corps which is advancing SE between the Danube River and the Czech border and N into Czechoslovakia N of Passau, Germany, and with the XX Corps whose advance elements speed toward the Inn River at Wasserburg, Germany; the 353d and 355th Fighter Squadrons, 354th Fighter Group, move from Ober Olm to Ansbach, Germany with P-47s. Italian campaign General Vietinghoff, commanding German Army Group C, agrees to the surrender terms signed at Caserta. Yugoslavian partisans occupy Trieste. Photo: Partisans on their way to Trieste, 1 May 1945Photo: Tanks of the Yugoslav 4th Army driving to Trieste, 1 May 1945Photo: units of the Yugoslav 4th Army in Trieste, 1 May 1945(US Fifteenth Air Force): Despite bad weather 27 B-17s bomb the main station and marshalling yard at Salzburg, Austria; this is the final Fifteenth AF bombing mission of the war; P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions. (US Twelfth Air Force): During the night of 30 Apr/1 May A-20s and A-26s bomb targets of opportunity in N Italy; bad weather during the day cancels medium bomber operations; fighter-bombers destroy numerous motor and horse-drawn vehicles in NE Italy; US Fifth Army forces approach the Brenner Pass on the Austro-Italian border, while British Eighth Army elements make contact with Yugoslav troops of Marshal Tito near Monfalcone; the flight of the 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), operating from Pisa with F-5s returns to base at Peretola Airfield, Florence. Battle of the MediterraneanGreek Commandos with co-operation of British Navy and Air Force make four simultaneous raids on the west coast of Rhodes Island in the Dodecanese Islands in Aegean Sea. German and Italian casualties are estimated at 89, with just three British troops wounded. German occupied DenmarkGerman forces begin abandoning Denmark. GermanyHamburg radio announces that Hitler is dead and that Donitz is the second Fuhrer of the Reich. Donitz himself broadcasts, announcing that "it is my duty to save the German people from destruction by Bolshevists." He orders utmost resistance on all fronts, especially in the East where tens of thousands of German civilians are still trying to escape from the stampeding Red Army. YouTube (Karl Dönitz Speech to the German People - 1 May 1945 - English subtitles available)In Berlin, Joseph Goebbels carried out his sole official act as Chancellor of Germany, dictating a letter to the Soviet commander in Berlin advising of Hitler's death and requesting a ceasefire. When the latter was refused, he and his wife Magda killed their six children and committed suicide themselves. PortugalThe Portuguese Government orders flags at half-staff and two days of mourning for Adolf Hitler. Pacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): During May the Japanese decide to give up their Greater E Asia Corridor and withdraw from S China; the Fourteenth AF further concentrates its attacks on rail and road movements and river shipping and thus plays a major role in critically reducing the enemy's mobility and supply lines. In China, 2 B-25s and 16 P-51s knock out bridges near Taiku and Kiehsiu and hit AA positions and locomotives near the bridges, blast gun emplacements in the Loning area, and hit several locomotives, near Shihkiachwang. Lieutenant General Albert C Wedemeyer, Commanding General US Forces China Theater, selects Lieutenant General George E Stratemeyer to command HQ AAF China Theater, with both HQ Tenth and Fourteenth AFs under his command. During May, the detachment of the 449th Fighter Squadron, 51st FG, operating from Posek, China with P-38s, returns to base at Chengkung. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): Unit moves: 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, from Myitkyina, Burma to Piardoba, India with F-5s; the detachment of the 317th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Akyab Airfield with C-47s, to base at Kalaikunda, India. BURMA British attacks in the Sittang Valley approach Pegu. Monsoon rains begin in southern Burma, slowing further progress toward Rangoon by land. In anticipation of this eventuality, an amphibious operation to capture Rangoon is initiated with parachute landings at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River, on the east bank. Photo: The Advance on Rangoon March - May 1945: Gurkha paratroops check their equipment before being dropped on a series of strategic points around Rangoon, 1 May 1945SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, B-25s hit the Heito sugar refinery and the town of Kagi. GUAM (Seventh Air Force): 16 Guam based B-24s bomb the airfield on Marcus in the N Pacific while 10 hit air installations on Param; during the night 9 more, flying individual snooper strikes, hit airfields on Param and Moen. VII Fighter Command: The 6th Night Fighter Squadron, VII Fighter Command, departs Kagman Field, Saipan Island, Mariana Islands for Kipapa, Hawaii with P-61s. BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945) General Whitehead and 18,000 troops of the 26th Australian Brigade land on Borneo. On Borneo, B-24s support Australian landings on Tarakan Island and bomb Tawau and B-25s attack Jesselton, Tarakan, Sandakan, and Kudat, concentrating on airfields. Photo: The second wave of the 2/48th Infantry Battalion leaving HMAS Manoora, 1 May 1945Photo: Australian troops wading ashore at Tarakan Island, Borneo, with beach obstacles and LSTs in background, P-Day. USS LST 993, left center, the pipes in the foreground are part of these left by oilfield workers, 1 May 1945Photo: Australian troops wading ashore at Tarakan Island, Borneo, with beach obstacles and LSTs in background, 1 May 1945PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) The Mexican Expeditionary Air Force arrived in the Philippine Islands. FEAF continues to support ground forces on Luzon and Negros Islands. HQ 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group moves from Leyte Island to Clark Field, Luzon. Unit moves during May: HQ 309th Bombardment Wing from San Marcelino to Lingayen Airfield; 7th Combat Cargo Squadron, 2d Combat Cargo Group from Biak to Dulag; the detachment of the 160th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 3d Air Commando Group, ceases operating from Mindoro with UC-64s and L-5s and returns to base at Mabalacat, Luzon. U.S. freighter Henry L. Abbott is damaged by mine, Manila Bay, 14°35'N, 120°58'E. Two of the merchant crew die in the explosion; there are no casualties among the 27-man Armed Guard. VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN Map: Map of the Battle of Okinawa as of 1 May 1945ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 1 B-24 flies a weather reconnaissance mission over the Kurile Islands. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 349, MAY 1, 1945 Troops of the Seventh Infantry Division continued to advance in the eastern sector of the lines on Okinawa on April 30 (East Longitude Date). By mid‑afternoon advance elements of the division had entered the village of Kuhazu. Local gains were made along the remainder of the front. The attack of the infantry was supported by heavy naval gunfire, heavy artillery and carrier and land‑based aircraft. A few enemy planes were In the area of Okinawa on April 30. One medium sized ship was damaged. Aircraft from escort carriers attacked air installations in the Sakishima group on April 30. Reports of the strike on these islands by escort carrier planes on April 29 reveal that ammunition dumps were exploded, radio facilities and barracks were hit and several planes were destroyed on the ground. Search planes of Fleet Air Wing One bombed and strafed radio installations on Kuro and Kuchino Islands in the northern Ryukyus on April 30. An enemy plane was destroyed on the ground at Kuchino. On the following day aircraft of this wing sank a cargo ship and damaged another in the East China Sea; sank a small cargo ship off the southern coast of Shikoku; and destroyed a small cargo ship at Miyake Island, south of Tokyo. On April 30, Army Mustangs of the Seventh Fighter Command, escorted heavy bombers of the Twenty‑First Bomber Command over Tokyo, probably shot down one enemy plane and strafed three picket boats off the coast leaving them afire and dead in the water. Iwo based Mustangs on May 1, bombed and strafed military installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins. Mitchells of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing damaged a large cargo ship with rockets north of the Bonins on April 30. Corsair and Hellcat fighters end Avenger torpedo planes of this wing bombed enemy islands in the Palaus on May 1. Army Thunderbolt fighters of the Seventh Air Force shot down a four engine seaplane over Truk in the Carolines on April 30 and swept the seaplane base and harbor with rocket fire sinking one small craft and damaging two others. Army Liberators of the same force followed the attack with heavy bombing of the airfields on Moen and Param Islands. Marcus Island was bombed by Seventh Air Force Liberators on the same date. Eleventh Army Air Force Liberators bombed Kataoka naval base on Shimushu on April 30. On the same date, installations on Kokutan Cape on the same island, were attacked by search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four. PACIFIC Submarine Bowfin (SS-287) sinks Japanese gunboat Chowa Maru southeast of Erimosaki, Hokkaido, Japan, 41°02'N, 144°36'E. Submarine Sennet (SS-408) damages Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.50 off Wakayama, 3358'N, 136°17'E. PBMs (VPB 11 and FAW-1) sink Japanese cargo vessel Kyugkoku Maru off Mokpo, Korea, 34°35'N, 126°00'E; USN land-based planes on anti-shipping sweeps over Yellow Sea also sink merchant cargo ships Miyatama Maru and Komadori Maru off Mokpo, 34°11'N, 126°35'E. Land-based USN aircraft are also most likely responsible for damage inflicted on merchant vessel Taruyasu Maru in the Chochiku Channel the same day. Japanese merchant tanker No.2 Iyasaka Maru is sunk by aircraft off Singapore. Japanese merchant ship Richo Go is sunk by mine off Woosung, China.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on May 2, 2024 2:47:47 GMT
Day 2061 of World War II, May 2nd 1945Eastern FrontSoviet forces complete the capture of Berlin, when Soviet units in the north and south of Berlin link up on the Charlottenburg Chaussee. German forces surrender to Marshal Zhukov, who immediately despatches troops to search for the bodies of Hitler and Goebbels. Map: The final battle in the center of Berlin
The German surrender is made by General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling, CO of LVI Panzer Korps, and last "Kampf-kommandant" of Berlin. He unconditionally surrenders all German forces in the 'Reichshauptstadt' of Germany to the forces of the Soviet Red Army. With over 130,000 men surrendering in Berlin, General Weidling was taken, together with Mohnke, Gunsche, and other survivors, to the airfield at Strausberg, about 35 km east of the city, where the Russians had established a special holding camp for VIP prisoners Photo: Raising a flag over the Reichstag, 2 May 1945Stalin announces the fall of Berlin in his Order of the Day No. 359": TROOPS of the lst Byelorussian Front commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov, with the support of troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Koniev, after stiff street-fighting, have completed the rout of the Berlin German troop grouping and, to-day, May 2, completely captured the capital of Germany, Berlin-centre of German imperialism and hotbed of German aggression.
The Berlin garrison which defended the city, with the Chief of the Defence of Berlin, Artillery General Weidling, and his staff at the head, to-day at 3 p.m. ceased resistance, laid down their arms and surrendered.
By 9 p.m. on May 2 our troops had taken prisoner more than 70,330 German officers and men in Berlin.
In the fighting for the capture of Berlin distinction was won by troops commanded by Army-Gen. Sokolovsky, Col.-Gen. Kuznetsov, Col.-Gen. Chuikov, Col.-Gen. Berzarin, Lieut.-Gen. Luchinsky, Lieut.-Gen. Perkhorovich, Lieut.-Gen. Lukyanchenko, Col.-Gen. Cherevichenko, Lieut.-Gen. Kazankin, Lieut.-Gen. Glazunov, Lieut.-Gen. Ryzhev, Lieut.-Gen. Zherebin, Lieut.-Gen. Rosly, Lieut.Gen. Tereshkov, Lieut.-Gen. Andreyev, Maj.-Gen. Bukshtynovich, Maj.-Gen. Belyavsky, Maj.-Gen. Kushchev, Maj.-Gen. Barinov, Maj.-Gen. Perevertkin, Maj.-Gen. Rogachevsky, Maj.-Gen. Batitsky, Maj.-Gen. Shvarev, Maj.-Gen. Firsov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Khetagurov, Maj.-Gen. Shatilov, Maj.-Gen. Shafarenko, Maj.-Gen. Smirnov, Maj.-Gen. Kozin, Maj.-Gen. Karapetyan, Maj.-Gen. Krasilnikov, Maj.-Gen. Shugayev, Maj.-Gen. Zalezyuk, Maj.-Gen. Stankevsky, Maj.-Gen. Pankov, Maj.-Gen. Glebov, Maj.-Gen. Bakanov, Maj.-Gen. Duka, Maj.-Gen. Seryugin, Maj.-Gen. Gasparyan, Maj.-Gen. Sokolov, Maj.-Gen. Dorofeyev, Maj.-Gen. Syzranov, Maj.Gen. Galai, Maj.-Gen. Shkrylev, Maj.-Gen. Safaryan, Maj.-Gen. Vydrigan, Maj.-Gen. Bevzyuk, Maj.-Gen. Myshkin, Maj.-Gen. Korchikov, Maj.-Gen. Turchinsky, Maj.-Gen. Vekhin, Col. Antonov, Col. Ivanov, Col. Gervasiyev, Col. Solovyev, Col. Shishkov, Maj.-Gen. Foinishenko, Col. Smolin, Col. Vorobyev, Col. Marchenko, Col. Negoda, Col. Assafov, Col. Shatskov and Col. Rybalko; Tankmen commanded by Col.-Gen. of Tank Troops Bogdanov, Col.-Gen. of Tank Troops Katukov, Col.-Gen. Rybalko, Col.-Gen. Lelyushenko, Col.-Gen. of Tank Troops Novikov, Lieut.-Gen. of Tank Troops Orel, Lieut.-Gen. Radzievsky, Lieut.-Gen. of Tank Troops Krivoshein, Lieut.- Gen. of Tank Troops Sukhov, Lieut.-Gen. of Tank Troops Belov, Lieut.-Gen. Shaun, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Bakhmetyev, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Upman, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Saminov, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Stogny, Maj.-Gen. Dremov, Lieut.-Gen. of Tank Troops Kirichenko, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Yushchuk, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Mitrofanov, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Vainrub, Maj.-Gen. of Tank Troops Anisimov, Col. Nikolayev and Col. Babadzhanyan; Artillerymen commanded by Col.-Gen. of Artillery Kazakov, Col.-Gen. of Artillery Varentsov, Lieut.-Gen. of Artillery Shamshin, Lieut.-Gen. of Artillery Pozharsky, Lieut.-Gen. of Artillery Ignatov, Lieut.-Gen. of Artillery Romanovich, Lieut.-Gen. of Artillery Kozhukhov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Morozov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Kossenko, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Plaskov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Frolov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Likhachev, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Snegurov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Lebedevsky, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Koznov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Bryukhanov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Shlepin, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Bogdan, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Seredin, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Kamensky, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Polosukhin, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Petropavlovsky, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Nikolsky, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Mentyukov, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Dobrinsky, Maj.-Gen. of Artillery Krasnokutsky, Col. Fantalov, Col. Shrike, Col. Korchagin, Col. Overchenko and Col. Lyubimov; Ships and units of the Red Banner Dnieper Flotilla commanded by Rear-Admiral Grigoryev and Captain of the First Rank Lyalko; Airmen commanded by Chief Marshal of Aviation Novikov, Chief Marshal of Aviation Golovanov, Col.-Gen. of Aviation Rudenko, Col.-Gen. of Aviation Krasovsky, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Savitsky, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Beletsky, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Tupikov, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Loginov, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Shchetchikov, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Nestertsev, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Ryazanov, Lieut.-Gen. of Aviation Utin, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Tokarev, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Krupsky, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Korevatsky, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Skok, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Sidnev, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Dzusov, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Slyusarev, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Babaluyev, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Arkhangelsky, Col. Nikishin, Col. Stalin, Col. Pokryshkin, Maj.-Gen. of Aviation Komarov and Col. Alexandrovich; Sappers commanded by Col.-Gen. of Engineering Troops Proshlyakov, Col.-Gen. of Engineering Troops Galitsky, Maj.-Gen. of Engineering Troops Marin, Maj.-Gen. of Engineering Troops Tkachenko, Maj.-Gen. of Engineering Troops Furs, Maj.-Gen. of Engineering Troops Kharchevin, Maj.-Gen. of Engineering Troops Zhirov, Col. Belsky, Col. Kamenchuk and Col. Poluektov; Signallers commanded by Lieut.-Gen. of Signals Troops Maximenko, Lieut.-Gen. of Signals Troops Bulychev, Maj.-Gen. of Signals Troops Akimov, Col. Cherkasov, Col. Falin, Col. Smoky, Col. Zakharov, Col. Plotkin, Col. Borissov, Col. Ostrenko, Lieut.-Col. of State Security Vakish and Lieut.-Col. of State Security Grib.
To commemorate the victory, the units and formations which particularly distinguished themselves in the fighting for the capture of Berlin will be recommended for conferment of the name “Berlin” and award of Orders.
To-day, May 2, at 23.30 hours (Moscow time), in honour of the historic event of the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops, the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, in the name of the Motherland, will salute with 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns the gallant troops of the 1st Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts.
For excellent military operations I express my thanks to the troops of the 1st Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts which took part in the fighting for the capture of Berlin.
Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the fighting for the freedom and independence of our Motherland!
Death to the German invaders!
J. Stalin
Supreme Commander-in-Chief
Marshal of the Soviet Union
MoscowBreslau learns of the surrender of Berlin, and General Herman Niehoff asks Army Group Center that he be allowed to surrender the city. His request is denied. North of Berlin, Soviet units have taken Rostock and many other towns. The only large German forces which remain in contact with the Soviet armies are those isolated in Latvia and those in Austria and Czechoslovakia. Map: Drive to the Baltic (1945)Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, May 2nd 1945The British 2nd Army captures Lübeck and Wismar. US and Soviet troops meet near Barow and Abbendorf. Units Canadian 1st Army capture Oldenburg. American units continue their advances in Austria and Bavaria. The defenders of Innsbruck begin to sue for peace. The French I Corps reaches Gotzis and Obersdorf. Photo: A Comet tank of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, during the advance towards Lubeck, Germany, 2 May 1945Photo: Infantry of 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment, supported by Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade, clear a pocket of resistance south of Lubeck in Germany, 2 May 1945Photo: Stuart tanks of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, drive along an autobahn towards Lubeck, 2 May 1945A large group of German rocket engineers surrender to American forces. US 7th Army in Germany captures Field Marshal General Karl von Rundstedt, former commander in the West. The American 13th Armored Division peacefully enters Braunau, in former Austria, birthplace of Adolf Hitler. A German delegation met with British Field Marshal Montgomery on Luneberg Heath, outside Hamburg, Germany, offering the surrender of all their forces in northwestern Germany - A total of more than one million men. Western Front (1945) - Liberation of the NetherlandsThe final German defenders of the Dutch port of Delfzijl surrender. At 0730 hours, the first of many Canadian and British trucks crossed German defensive lines in the Netherlands without being harassed to deliver food to Dutch civilians. On the same day, 400 US B-17 bombers dropped crates of K-rations over Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Photo: Description: Food transports from Wageningen to the West of the Netherlands shortly before the capitulation. A truck is being loaded, 2 May 1945Photo: Food transports from Wageningen to the western Netherlands shortly before the capitulation (49th British Division of the 1st Canadian Army). A transport on the way to Rhenen, May 2, 1945Photo: German soldiers guarding food dump established in forward area, talking to one of the Dutch drivers who is to distribute the food in a Canadian truck, 2 May 1945Air War over Europe 16 RAF Mosquito Mk XVIs of No. 608 Squadron, No. 8 Group join Halifaxes of No.100 Group (Nos. 177 and 199 Squadrons) to make the last Bomber Command raid of the Second World War, an attack on Kiel. There had been no offensive operations by Bomber Command since 26/27 April and most squadrons thought that their war in Europe was over, but it was feared that the Germans were assembling ships at Kiel to transport troops to Norway in order to carry on the war there. A last raid by No 8 Group Mosquitos was thus organized, with a large supporting effort being provided. 16 Mosquito bombers of No 8 Group and 37 Mosquitos of No 100 Group were first dispatched to attack airfields in the Kiel area. A Mosquito of No 169 Squadron, No 100 Group, was lost while carrying out a low-level napalm attack on Jagel airfield; its crew - Flying Officer R Catterall, DFC, and Flight Sergeant DJ Beadle - were killed. 126 Mosquitos of No 8 Group then attacked Kiel in 2 raids, 1 hour apart. The target area was almost completely cloud-covered but H2S and Oboe were used. Large fires on the ground were seen through the cloud. No Mosquitos were lost on these raids. Towards morning, a large column of military vehicles departed in the direction of Flensburg on the Danish frontier. Meanwhile, there had been a final small tragedy for Bomber Command. 89 RCM aircraft of No 100 Group had been sent to support the Mosquito bomber force and 2 Halifaxes from No 199 Squadron, each with 8 men on board, were lost. The Halifaxes had been part of the Mandrel screen and were also carrying 4,500lb bombs and large quantities of Window. The 2 aircraft crashed at Meimersdorf, just south of Kiel, and it is probable that they collided while on their bomb runs. They were the last Bomber Command aircraft to be lost in the war. There were only 3 survivors. 13 airmen, 12 from the United Kingdom and one from the Irish Republic, mostly second-tour men, died. RCAF, RAF, and Norwegian 'Mosquito' fighter-bomber a/c from RCAF 404 Sqn, RAF 143, 235, and 248 Sqns and Norwegian 333 (RAF) Sqn, attacked and sank 'U-2359' in the Kattegat, in position 57.29N, 011.24E. There were no survivors from her crew of 12. RAF Mitchell light bombers of 2nd T.A.F. make their last mission of the war when 47 aircraft of Nos. 98, 108, 226, 320 and 342 Squadrons bomb railway marshalling yards at Itzehoe. (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 975: 401 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies in the Netherlands at Schipol (250) and Alkmaar (20) Airfields, Vogelenznag (40), Hilversum (20), Utrecht (59) and targets of opportunity (4); 4 B-17s are damaged by 20mm fire which ceases as soon as a green flare is fired; a total of 767.1 tons of food are dropped. Mission 976: 8 B-17s, escorted by 9 P-51s, drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during daylight hours. (US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels 9th Bombardment Division operations. In Germany, fighters fly airfield cover, defensive- freelance patrols, a sweep over the Dessau area, and patrol the Straubing- Ingolstadt area and the US Third Army front in Austria and Czechoslovakia; unit moves: HQ 394th BG (Medium) from Niergnies Airfield, Cambrai, France to Venlo, the Netherlands; 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group) from Erlangen to Regensburg with L-5s; 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), from Gmund to Augsburg; 377th and 378th FS, 362d FG, and 425th Night Fighter Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command, from Frankfurt to Furth with P-47s and P-61s respectively. Italian campaign At noon the German surrender becomes effective. The long, difficult and controversial campaign in Italy is over. Map: Allied Spring Offensive: Italy 1945Allied forces reach Trieste, Milan and Turin during the course of the day, while others are advancing north toward Brenner Pass where they will link up with US 7th Army forces from the north. Photo: 1st Armored Division tanks in Milan, 2 May 1945New Zealand 2nd Division of the British 8th Army accepts the surrender of the German garrison in the port of Trieste, Yugoslavia. Photo: New Zealand 20th Armoured Regiment tanks and soldiers on the road to Trieste, Italy, during World War 2. Major Caldwell is sitting on the front tank's hatch, 2 May 1945(US Twelfth Air Force): Bad weather continues; medium bombers are grounded while the XXII Tactical Air Command flies an uneventful armed reconnaissance in NE Italy. Battle of the Atlantic Minesweeping trawler HMS 'Ebor Wyke' was torpedoed and sunk by 'U-979' off Hrafneyri Light, seven miles north of Skagi, Iceland. The only survivor was Coxswain John Milnes. GermanyKarl Dönitz appoints Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk as Foreign Minister, replacing Joachim von Ribbentrop. IrelandIrish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera expresses condolences to the German Legation for Adolf Hitler's death. SpainFrench Pierre Laval arrives at Barcelona airport, agreeing to be interned and dealt with by Allied Governments. United Kingdom The British Government announces that the air raid warning system has been discontinued. It was heard 1224 times during the war. British government announced that London, England, United Kingdom was now a "Go Home" area, ending the nearly six-year evacuation. In a report to the House of Commons the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced the unconditional surrender of the German land, sea and air forces, commanded by Colonel-General Heinrich von Wietinghof-Scheel, Commander-in Chief South-West Command and Commander-in Chief of Army Group C. The instrument of surrender signed at the Allied Forces Headquarters at Caserta on Sunday afternoon, 29 Apr 1945, by two German plenipotentiaries and Lieutenant-General W. D. Morgan, Chief of Staff at Allied Forces Headquarters would see the surrender of all German forces in Northern Italy to the Isonzo River, in the North-East, and the Austrian provinces of Salzburg, Vorarlberg, anf the Tyrol plus portions of Carinthia and Styria, Hostilities would end at 12 o'clock GMT on Wednesday, 2 May 1945. Uruguay Over two days, residents of Montevideo, Uruguay celebrate the fall of Berlin, Germany. The celebrations turn to rioting and looting; 58 are injured, and thousands of dollars worth of property are damaged. United StatesNewspaper: A headline in the U.S. Army newspaper Stars and Stripes announcing Hitler's death, 2 May 1945Pacific War CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 5 B-24s mine areas of the Yangtze River; 20+ B-25s and about 130 fighter-bombers attack communications targets and supply lines and hit a large variety of targets of opportunity throughout S and E China as the air campaign accelerates with the aim of disrupting the imminent withdrawal of the Japanese and the abandonment of their Greater E Asia Corridor. BURMA British forces launch Operation Dracula, the amphibious assault on Rangoon. YouTube (Rangoon (1945)British 26th Indian Division provides the landing force while Admiral Martin commands the 4 escort carriers and other naval units supporting the operation. There is no Japanese resistance. British TF63 (Admiral Walker) with the battleships Queen Elizabeth and Richelieu and 2 escort carriers as well as cruisers and destroyers conduct covering operations in which Port Blair and Car Nicobar are bombed and shelled. Meanwhile, to the north of the landings, the British 4th Corps complete the capture Pegu. Photo: Landing craft carrying troops of the Indian 15th Corps proceed up the Rangoon River, 2 May 1945Photo: Unloading a landing craft of troops and vehicles of the 15th Indian Corps at Elephant Point, south of Rangoon at the beginning of operation 'Dracula', 2 May 1945Photo: Men of the 15th Indian Corps land near Elephant Point south of Rangoon at the beginning of operation 'Dracula', 2 May 1945Photo: Men of the 15th Indian Corps help to bring ashore a 25-pdr field gun from a landing craft at Elephant Point, south of Rangoon at the beginning of operation 'Dracula', 2 May 1945GUAM Seventh Air Force: 12 B-24s from Guam pound the airfield on Param while 21, flying in 2 forces, hit airfields and gun positions on Marcus in the N Pacific. During the night of 2/3 May, 9 more B-24s make individual harassment bombings on Param, Moe, and Tol Island. VII Fighter Command: 12 Iwo Jima based P-51s strike a radio station on Chichi Jima. BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945) B-25s continue support for Australian troops on Tarakan and, in conjunction with US Navy aircraft bomb Kudat Airfield. Off Tarakan, Borneo, Japanese shore batteries sink motor minesweeper YMS-481 and damage YMS-364, 03°27'N, 117°32'E, and YMS-334, 03°26'N, 117°40'E. YMS-363 is damaged by mine, 03°26'N, 117°32'E. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) The US 14th Corps units advancing west along the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon link up, near Naga, with units from the Legaspi area that have moved east. On this part of the island, Japanese forces have now been scattered. B-24s and P-51s pound troops near Ipo Dam while B-25s, A-20s, and fighters hit Cagayan Valley targets; FEAF strikes in support of ground forces continue on Luzon and on Cebu. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 594, MAY 2, 1945 Far Eastern Waters. 1. U. S. submarines have reported the sinking of 21 enemy vessels, including two combatant ships‑a destroyer and an escort vessel‑in operations against the enemy in these waters, as follows: 1 destroyer 1 escort vessel 1 destroyer transport 2 medium cargo transports 2 small cargo vessels 12 medium cargo vessels 1 large tanker 1 medium tanker 2. These actions have not been announced in any pervious Navy Department communiqué. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 350, MAY 2, 1945 The Seventh Infantry Division which captured Kuhazu Village during the late afternoon of April 30 continued to advance southward on Okinawa on May 1 (East Longitude Dates). No substantial change was made in other sectors of the lines where our troops were under enemy artillery, mortar and small arms fire. On May 2, ships' guns destroyed a number of enemy emplacements, strong points, and boat pens and carrier and land based aircraft bombed enemy defenses. The Infantry resumed the attack during the hours of darkness on the morning of May 2 and elements of the Seventh Division moved 1,400 yards forward to the vicinity of Gaja Hill, approximately one mile north of the town of Yonabaru. Tanks and flame throwers were being employed to develop this salient. The Seventy‑Seventh Infantry Division and the First Marine Division launched an attack in the center and on the right flank and were moving forward during the morning of May 2. Targets on Kume Island, west of Okinawa and in the Sakishima Group In the Southern Ryukyus, were attacked by aircraft of the U. S. Pacific Fleet on May 2. Search Aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One sank a medium transport south of Korea on May 1. On the following day, planes of this Wing sank two small cargo ships off the coast of Central Honshu and one oft the coast of Kyushu. Two small cargo ships were damaged near Honshu and a number of fishing and small craft were struck off Kyushu on the same date. Army Mustangs of the Seventh Fighter Command bombed and strafed radio installations and other targets in the Bonins on May 2. Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed Param Airfield at Truk and the airstrip and air facilities at Marcus Island on May 1 and 2. Corsair and Hellcat fighters and Avenger torpedo planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus and on Yap in the Western Carolines on May 2. Neutralizing attacks were made on enemy bases in the Marshalls by Search Planes of Fleet Air Wing Two on May 1. PACIFIC Submarine Raton (SS-270) attacks Japanese convoy SE-3, sinking merchant cargo ship Toryu Maru southeast of the Shantung Peninsula, 37°24'N, 123°50'E. Submarine Springer (SS-414) sinks Japanese escort vessel Oga in Yellow Sea, 33°56'N, 122°49'E (see 3-4 May). Japanese merchant ship Daian Maru is sunk by aircraft off Woosung, China.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on May 3, 2024 6:17:11 GMT
Day 2062 of World War II, May 3rd 1945Eastern FrontSoviet forces have now reached the Elbe west of Berlin and made contact with US 1st and 9th Armies and in the north with the British 2nd Army. Fighting in Berlin ends. YouTube (May 3rd 1945, footage of Berlin after the surrender)Photo: A Lend-Lease M4A2 (76) W Sherman in Soviet service in the 64th Guards Tank Regiment, 8th Guards Mechanized Corps. The tank and its crew is at Grabow, Germany, linking up with the 82nd Airborne Division. This photograph was taken by an US Army Signal Corps personnel imbedded with the 82nd Airborne Division, May 3 1945Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, May 3rd 1945British Field Marshal Bernhard Montgomery tells German General of the Army, Admiral Hans von Friedeburg and three others to surrender unconditionally all German forces in Holland, Friesen, Frisian Islands, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark, and all other islands. They take the message back to Field Marshal Ernst Busch. Friedeburg informs Montgomery of the German wish to discuss surrender of all German armed forces. Photo: Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery with the German delegates outside his headquarters at 21st Army Group, 3 May 1945Photo: Field Marshal Montgomery receives German Admiral Von Friedeburg and other members of the surrender delegation at 21st Army Group Headquarters near Lüneburg, 3 May 1945YouTube (May 3, 1945 - News Report on the Surrender of German Troops in Lauenburg)In northern Germany, the British 12th Corps (Dempsey) occupies Hamburg, the last significant objective of British offensive operations. The British 6th Airborne and the US 7th Armoured Division captured the north German town of Wismar. The actual capture was carried out by men of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. US forces are advancing swiftly on Salzburg and Linz while British troops pursue the Germans up the Kiel Canal. Photo: Cromwell tanks of 7th Armoured Division in Hamburg, 3 May 1945Photo: Sherman Firefly of 7th Armoured Division in Hamburg (Großer Burstah corner to Rödingsmarkt with Hindenburghaus in the background), 3 May 1945Photo: Universal carriers of 1/5th Queen's Regiment, 7th Armoured Division in Hamburg, 3 May 1945Photo: A Cromwell tank of ‘A’ Squadron, 1st RTR, 7th Armoured Division, in position by the Elbe Bridge in Hamburg, 3 May 1945Photo: A Cromwell VI CS with 95mm howitzer of 11th Armoured Division on the quayside at Travemunde on the Baltic, 3 May 1945Air War over EuropeP-47 unit moves in Germany: 314th, 315th and 316th Fighter Squadrons, 324th Fighter Group, from Luneville, France to Stuttgart; 406th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, from Eschborn Airfield, Frankfurt to Furth. (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 977: 399 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies in the Netherlands at Schipol (251) and Alkmaar (20) Airfields, Vogelenzang (42), Hilversum (21), Utrecht (58) and a target of opportunity (3) in the Netherlands; a total of 739.1 tons of food are dropped. Mission 978: 14 B-17s, escorted by 43 of 47 P-51s, drop leaflets in Germany during the day. (US Ninth Air Force): 132 A-26s (on the final 9th Bombardment Division raid) bomb the Stod, Czechoslovakia ammunition plant. The IX Tactical Air Command escorts the A-26s and C-47s and flies airfield cover; the XIX Tactical Air Command patrols the US Third Army front, flies armed reconnaissance over Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia in the frontline areas and around Kiel and Lubeck, Germany, and escorts the A-26s; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) escorts C-47s, flies sweeps, and hits shipping in the Kiel- Lubeck area. Unit moves: HQ 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) from Havrincourt, France to Venlo, the Netherlands; HQ 362d Fighter Group from Furth to Illesheim, Germany. Battle of the Mediterranean US troops meet US 5th Army from Italy at Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy. (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather again restricts operations to reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions by 20 P-38s and escort of Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) a B-25 leaflet dropping mission in N Italy. (US Twelfth Air Force): To assure that the enemy implements the surrender terms in Italy and to observe road activity, fighters fly reconnaissance missions over N Italy and SW Austria; medium bombers drop leaflets in several areas where enemy troops might be unaware of the surrender. The 121st Liaison Squadron, Twelfth AF (attached to Fifth Army), moves from Florence to Verona, Italy with L-4s and L-5s. Battle of the Atlantic'U-1210' sunk near Eckernförde, in position 54.28N, 09.54E, by USAAF bombs. 1 dead, unknown number of survivors. 'U-2521' sunk in the Flensburg Fjord, in position 54.49N, 09.50E by rockets from RAF 184 Sqn Typhoons. 44 dead, unknown number of survivors. 'U-3032' sunk east of Frederica, in position 54.26,5N, 11.32,2E, by rockets from RAF 184 Sqn Typhoons. 36 dead and 24 survivors. 'U-2524' RAF 236 and 254 Sqn Beaufighters attacked the boat killing 1 man and damaging the boat. The boat was scuttled later that day. The LI refused to leave the boat and perished with it. During an attack from a Beaufighter aircraft on a rocket penetrated into the control room of 'U-2503' killing the commander and 12 of his men. She was scuttled the next day. GermanyAdmiral Dönitz moves his seat of government to Flensburg. Karl Dönitz signs an edict written by Albert Speer, prohibiting the destruction of any facilities. BrazilBrazilian War Minister Eurico Dutra announce the Brazilian Expeditionary Force will return home from Italy immediately. PortugalPortuguese Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar sent a Foreign Ministry official to the German Embassy offering his condolences over the death of Adolf Hitler. Meanwhile, the Portuguese government declared two days of mourning for the recently deceased German leader. United StatesAt the United Nations Conference on International Organization, in San Francisco four committees began work on a United Nations charter. Photo: The U.S. Navy submarine USS Barb (SS-220) in San Francisco Bay, near the Mare Island Navy Yard, California (USA), 3 May 1945Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Lofberg (DD-759) off San Francisco, California (USA), on 3 May 1945Pacific WarCHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 9 B-25s and 6 fighter- bombers attack truck convoys in the Hsiang River Valley and near Paoching, Changsha, and Hengyang, and pound railroad targets of opportunity and bridges in the Taiku, Singtai, and Linfen areas; 90+ fighter-bombers attack troops, town areas, ammunition dumps, river shipping and other targets of opportunity over wide areas of S and E China. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): With the fall of Rangoon, Burma on this date (Indian 26 Division elements occupy the city), the war against the Japanese in Burma is successfully concluded; pockets of resistance remain W of the Irrawaddy River and between that river and the Mandalay-Pegu, Thailand railway however, during May AAF operations are reduced drastically due to the lack of suitable air targets and because of the onset of bad weather preceding the monsoon. The Tenth AF is withdrawn from combat and moved back to India (see 15 May 45); 1 squadron of P-38s remains in Burma to patrol the roads leading into China. Unit moves: 88th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, from Myitkyina, Burma to Moran, India with P-47s; the detachment of the 156th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Myitche with UC-64s and L-5s, to Magwe, Burma; the 317th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, based at Kalaikunda, India with C-47s, sends a detachment to operate from Comilla, India. BURMA Map: Allied Third Burma Campaign April- 3 May 1945Rangoon is captured by British 26th Indian Division without encountering any Japanese resistance. To the north, on the Irrawaddy River, Prome is taken by British 33rd Corps. Photo: Infantry and Sherman tanks under fire near a village during the advance south from Meiktila to Rangoon, 3 May 1945Photo: Indian troops of the 20th Division search for Japanese at the badly damaged station in Prome, 3 May 1945Photo: A 3-inch mortar crew in action as the 20th Division prepares to advance on Prome, 3 May 1945Photo: Lee tanks advance along one of the few good roads which follows the Irrawaddy River, during the advance of 20th Division to Prome, 3 May 1945GUAM Seventh Air Force: 10 Guam Island-based B-24s bomb airfields and targets of opportunity on several islands of Truk Atoll; during the night of 3/4 May, 8 more separately strike Param, Eten, and Moen and Truk airfields. (Twentieth Air Force): 7 missions are flown. Missions 127 to 132: 59 B-29s bomb airfields at Tachiarai, Miyazaki, Miyakonojo, Kokubu and 2 at Kanoya; 5 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 10 Japanese fighters; 1 B-29 is lost. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [Far East Air Force ]: Saigon, French Indochina is bombed by B-24s, which greatly damage a boatyard and oil storage areas. The 63d Troop Carrier Squadron, 403d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Biak to Dulag with C-47s. BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945) In Borneo, B-25s continue support of ground forces on Tarakan and, with B-24s, carry out small raids against numerous targets on Borneo and Celebes, Manggar Airfield is heavily hit by B-24s and P-38s and USN airplanes hit warehouses in the Brunei Bay area. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) American naval forces commanded by Admiral Noble land 1000 troops near Santa Cruz in the Gulf of Davao, on Mindanao. Davao City is taken by US 24th Division units. B-24s and P-51s pound the Ipo area while A-20s and fighters support ground forces. Davao City is taken by the US 27th Division. U.S. freighter Edmund F. Dickens is damaged by mine, Manila Bay; there are no casualties among the merchant crew or the 27-man Armed Guard. VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN On Okinawa, Japanese forces launch a counteroffensive from positions in the south, during the night (May 3-4), but fail to break through the American lines. Japanese artillery batteries, that have remained silent until now to avoid American retaliation, support the assaults. The 163d Liaison Squadron, AAFPOA (attached to Tenth Army), arrives on Okinawa Island from Saipan Island with UC-64s and L-5s. Off Okinawa, kamikazes sink destroyer Little (DD-803), 26°24'N, 126°15'E and medium landing ship LSM-195, and damage destroyer Bache (DD-470) and high speed minesweeper Macomb (DMS-23), 26°01'N, 126°53'E; light minelayer Aaron Ward (DM-34), 26°24'N, 126°15'E, and large support landing craft LCS-25. Cargo ship Carina (AK-74) is damaged by assault demolition boat, 26°13'N, 127°50'E; infantry landing craft LCI-768 by operational casualty. Battleship New Mexico (BB-40) 40-millimeter mount accidentally fires upon and damages nearby War Department-chartered U.S. freighter Sea Flasher, injuring 47 men and killing seven troops of those men being transported on board. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 351, MAY 3, 1945 The Tenth Army resumed the attack in Southern Okinawa on May 3, (East Longitude Date), meeting artillery, mortar and small arms fire from the enemy's fortified line. The First Marine Division made a limited advance in its zone of action while other sectors remained stable. The attack was supported by ships' guns and aircraft. In the early evening hours of May 3, four small groups of enemy aircraft attacked our shipping off the coast of Okinawa inflicting some damage on our forces and sinking two light units. Seventeen enemy aircraft were destroyed. Planes from escort carriers of the U. S. Pacific Fleet continued neutralizing attacks on airfields and air installations in the Sakishima group on May 2. As of May 2, according to the most recent reports available, 1,131 officers and men of the U. S. Pacific Fleet had been killed in action in the Okinawa operation and associated operations against Japan. A total of 2,816 were wounded and 1,604 were missing. All figures are preliminary and incomplete. Search Privateers of Fleet Air Wing One destroyed three twin‑engine planes on the ground, damaged locomotive and set numerous fires in a low level attack on Kanoya Airfield, Kyushu, during the early evening of May 3. Planes of the same wing probably sank a small cargo ship off the coast of Central Honshu on the same date. Planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus and strafed installations on Sonsoral Island, southwest of the Palaus on May 3. On the same date dive-bombers of this wing struck the airstrip at Yap. Neutralizing attacks were carried out on enemy bases in the Marshalls by Marine aircraft on the previous day. A search Privateer of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed barracks and shops on Wake Island on May 2. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA PRESS RELEASE NO. 89, MAY 3, 1945 Among the ships of the British Pacific Fleet which engaged in operations against the islands of the Sakishima Group during the period March 26 to April 20 were the following fleet aircraft carriers: HMS Indomitable HMS Indefatigable HMS Victorious PACIFIC Phase II of Operation STARVATION commences: in the first of two operations aimed at blockading Japan's industrial centers, 97 USAAF B-29s sow mines in the Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Kobe, Osaka and Suo Nada. Submarine Lagarto (SS-371) is sunk by Japanese minelayer Hatsutaka in Gulf of Siam, 07°55'N, 102°00'E. Submarine Springer (SS-414) sinks Japanese Coast Defense Ship No.25 in Yellow Sea, 34°56'N, 122°49'E, as that ship proceeds to the scene of the sinking of escort vessel Oga, sunk by Springer the previous day.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on May 4, 2024 13:24:52 GMT
Day 2063 of World War II, May 4th 1945YouTube (Allied Victory in Berlin, Italy, and Burma)Eastern Front Soviet troops liberate all of Slovakia. In Breslau, German General Herman Niehoff requests a cease fire with the Russians. General Gluzdovsky accepts. German forces conduct rearguard actions, in northern Germany, in Czechoslovakia and Austria, as the bulk of the German forces attempt to disengage and reach the Anglo-American lines, rather than be taken by the Russians. In the East, fierce fighting continues in Moravia, the Vistula delta and in Kurland. German Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, Commanding Army Group South (Russia), is killed in an air-raid. Western Front (1945) - Western Allied invasion of GermanyMap: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, May 4th 1945Donitz sends envoys to the headquarters of Field Marshal Montgomery, at Luneburg Heath, and they sign an agreement, at 1820 hrs, for the surrender of German forces in Holland, Denmark and northern Germany. German act of surrender, 4 May 1945The Germans also agree to the Allied demand that German submarines should be surrendered rather than scuttled -- in the German naval tradition. The surrender becomes effective on May 5th. Photo: Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery signing the Instrument of Surrender of German forces in North-West Europe at Luneberg Heath, 4 May 1945Photo: Field Marshal Montgomery adds his signature to the document of surrender signed by the German delegation at 21st Army Group HQ at Luneburg Heath, 4 May 1945YouTube (Germans Surrender To Montgomery (1945)YouTube (Montgomery dictates the terms)German delegates of the 24th Army request surrender terms of the French. General Harry Crerar of the Canadian 1st Army orders all planned assaults called off, as a German surrender is considered imminent. The British Second Army occupies Kiel. Photo: Former Royal Netherlands Navy submarine O 26 (1941-1945) in the Arsenal Harbor in Kiel, Germany. Details: The boat never served in the Royal Netherlands Navy. In German service as UD 4, 4 May 1945 Photo: Sherman tanks of the Royal Scots Greys, 4th Armoured Brigade surrounded by abandoned German transport in Wismar, 4 May 1945Photo: A Stuart tank of the Royal Scots Greys, 4th Armoured Brigade in Wismar, 4 May 1945Photo: Incomplete German U-boats abandoned at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg, 4 May 1945Troops of the US First Army prepare to march into Czechoslovakia. Units of the US 3rd Army complete the crossing of the river Inn, and Innsbruck finally surrenders. Photo: A tank of the 11th Armored Division, 3rd U.S. Army, covers advancing infantrymen who close in on burning buildings in Neufelden, Austria. 4 May, 1945Photo: A 3rd U.S. Army armored convoy lines the streets of Simbach, Germany, waiting to cross the bridge over the Inn River into Braunau, Austria, birthplace of Hitler. 4 May, 1945Salzburg is taken by US forces, who then move on towards Berchtesgaden. Photo: M24 Chaffee moves on the outskirts of Salzburg. 4 May 1945
Photo: 3rd Inf. Div. troops gather in German P.W.s on main street of Salzburg, 4 May 1945Photo: Civilians and liberated prisoners of war gathering around members of the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, in Salzburg, Austria, 4 May 1945Photo: Infantrymen on tanks in city square of Berchtesgaden looking at large painting on wall of building in in the square in memory of World War I, 4 May 1945Western Front (1945) - Liberation of DenmarkBritish forces land on Jutland, Denmark. Soviet forces begin attacking Danish islands of Moen, Laaland, and Falster. Nine ships carrying Germans escaping toward Denmark and Norway are sunk in the Baltic. 100 other ships are damaged. Air War over Europe (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 978: 1 B-17s and 8 B-24s are dispatched on a leaflet mission during the night of 4/5 May; 7 aircraft drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. (US Ninth Air Force): No bomber operations. In Germany, the IX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance, the XIX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance and operates in concert with the XII Corps assault on Linz, Austria, and with the XX Corps which crosses the Inn River and pushes E and SE; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) sweeps the Dessau and Wittenberg areas and attacks shipping in the Kiel and Flensburg areas; German forces in the Netherlands, NW Germany and Denmark surrender. Unit moves: 377th, 378th and 379th Fighter Squadrons, 362d Fighter Group, from Furth to Illesheim, Germany with P-47s; 556th, 557th, 558th and 559th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 387th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Clastres, France to Beek, the Netherlands with B-26s. Battle of the Atlantic 'U-2511' Korvkpt. Adalbert Schnee, the former very successful commander of 'U-201' and then two years one of closest staff members of Dönitz, received the ceasefire orders. A few hours later 'U-2511' made a contact with cruiser HMS 'Norfolk' among some other British warships. The boat approached to within 500 meters of the British warship without any sonar contact from the enemy destroyers. Schnee had here the possibility for an absolute deadly attack against the cruiser, but then he left the scene without attacking and headed back to base. 'U-711' sunk in the Arctic near Harstad, Norway, in position 68.43,717N, 16.34,600E, by depth charges from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft of escort carriers HMS 'Searcher', 'Trumpeter' and 'Queen'. 40 dead and 12 survivors. 'U-2338' sunk ENE of Frederica, position 55.34N, 09.49E, by RAF 236 and 254 Sqn Beaufighters. 12 dead and 1 survivor. 'U-155' shot down an RAF 126 Sqn Mustang. ItalyPhoto: Maj. Russell Martin, West Peabody, Mass., of the 10th Mt. Div., conferring with German Capt. concerning the surrender of his troops in Roverto, Italy, 4 May, 1945Photo: View of the exterior of the 9th New Zealand Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Trieste, Italy. New Zealand sentries on guard. Photographed by George Kaye on the 4th of May 1945(US Fifteenth Air Force): No offensive operations; activity is limited to reconnaissance missions (with escort), escort of MATAF leaflet drops in N Italy, and escort of C-47s on supply dropping missions to Yugoslavia. HQ 332d Fighter Group and the 100th and 301st Fighter Squadrons move from Ramitelli Airfield to Cattolica, Italy with P-51s. (US Twelfth Air Force): The XXII Tactical Air Command continues flying visual reconnaissance during the night and day in N Italy; the US 85th Infantry Division reaches the Austrian border near San Candido and pushes on to the Brenner Pass at Vipiteno without opposition. Photo: Infantry ride on Sherman tanks of 6th Armoured Division as they head towards the Austrian border, 4 May 1945German occupied Norway Operation Judgement (ii), an attack by 44 aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm on the U-Boat base at Kilbotn, near the Norwegian town of Harstad. This was the last major offensive action carried out by the Royal Navy Home Fleet against German targets during the Second World War. The attack was to be carried out by the escort carriers HMS Queen, Trumpeter and Searcher, escorted by two cruisers and 7 destroyers. Wildcats carrying 250lb bombs would attack the heavily armed flak ships defending the anchorage, with others providing top cover. Avengers loaded with four 500lb bombs would then focus on the depot ship Black Watch (formerly a North Sea passenger ship) and the support vessel Senja. The attack, which lasted just seven minutes (17:00-17:07) succeeded in hitting both target vessels, which caught fire and subsequently sank. The submarine U-711 was caught moored between Black Watch and Senja and later also succumbed to the damage it had sustained. 150 Germans were killed or wounded; there were no civilian casualties, though an errant bomb damaged some buildings in Kilbotn village. An 882 Squadron Wildcat was hit almost immediately by flak at the start of the attack and ditched, its pilot ‘Hughie’ Morrison being rescued by Norwegian fishermen but dying soon afterwards. An 846 Squadron Avenger was also lost, with all the crew being killed. Their bodies were recovered by locals, who buried them in the churchyard at Sørvik. Photo: Operation Judgement. The main targets of the attack, the depot ship Black Watch and U-711 are hidden behind water columns and smoke, 4 May 1945YugoslaviaPartisan forces enter Fiume, in Dalmatia, and threaten Pola. Pacific War CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 12 B-25s and 180+ fighter-bombers, mostly operating in flights of 2 to 4 aircraft, attack town areas, storage, troops, horses, trucks, river shipping, airfields, and many other targets of opportunity scattered over the vast expanse of S and E China. INDIA-BURMA (Tenth Air Force): Unit moves in Burma: 83d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th BG (Medium), based at Fenny, India with B-25s, begins operating from Magwe, Burma; 164th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, from Sinthe to Magwe with UC-64s and L-5s. BURMA The advance of the British 15th Corps, northward from Rangoon, and the British 4th and 33rd Corps, southward, threatens to cut of the Japanese 28th Army (General Sakurai) from the rest of the Japanese forces. The Irrawaddy river separates the Japanese forces. TINIAN (Twentieth Air Force): The 792d, 793d and 794th Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy), 468th BG (Very Heavy), begin a movement from Kharagpur to Tinian Island with B-29s. (Twentieth Air Force): Missions 140 to 143: 47 B-29s attack airfields at Oita, Omura, Saeki, and Matsuyama on Kyushu and Shikoku Islands, Japan; 2 others attack targets of opportunity; 1 B-29 is lost. GUAM (Seventh Air Force): 22 B-24s from Angaur Airfield bomb AA positions on Koror. 11 B-24s from Guam Island hit the airfield on Marcus Island in the N Pacific. Fleet Air Wing 18 (Rear Admiral Marshall R. Greer) is established at Guam for operations in the forward areas. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [Far East Air Force]: B-24s heavily damage oil installations at Saigon, French Indochina. HQ 18th FG and 12th and 70th Fighter Squadrons move from San Jose to Zamboang with P-38s. BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945) On Borneo, B-25s and P-38s support ground forces on Tarakan and B-24s hit Sandakan and Kota Baru and on Celebes Island, bomb Mandai Airfield and Masamba Airfield. PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945) On Luzon, the US 25th Division, part of US 1st Corps, capture Mount Haruna, west of the Balete Pass. Northwest of Manila, elements of the US 11th Corps attack toward Guagua but are forced back by Japanese defenses. On Mindanao, the US 24th Division mops up in around Davao while elements of the US 31st Division patrol north of Zibawe. Elements of the US 41st Division reach Parang, north of Cotabato while other forces land north of Digos, near Santa Cruz. On Negros, the Americal Division attempts to reopen its supply lines, which have been cut by the Japanese forces, in the eastern part of the island. B-25s bomb the Tuguegarao area on Luzon Island while other B-25s, A-20s, and fighter- bombers, in spite of bad weather, support ground forces in N and S Luzon and on Negros Island. P-38s pound Itu Aba Island, China. VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN On Okinawa, the Japanese 32nd Army counterattacks. Artillery that was formerly concealed is used to support infantry charges. The US 7th and 77th Divisions hold the assaults. Meanwhile, the US 1st Marine Division attacks Machinato airfield and suffers heavy losses. Photo: British warships bombard Japanese island of miyako, 4 May 1945Japanese planes attack Yontan airfield, Okinawa, and U.S. and British ships supporting Okinawa operation. Kamikazes sink destroyers Luce (DD-522), 26°35'N,127°10'E, and Morrison (DD-560), 27°10'N, 127°58'E, and medium landing craft LSM-190 and LSM-194; and damage light cruiser Birmingham (CL-62), 26°19'N, 127°43'E; escort carrier Sangamon (CVE-26), 26°01'N, 237°26'E [destroyer Hudson (DD-475) collides with Sangamon as the destroyer lies alongside, 26°01'N, 127°26'E]; destroyers Ingraham (DD-694), 27°10'N, 127°58'E; Cowell (DD-547), 26°11'N, 126°35'E; and Lowry (DD-770), 27°12'N, 128°17'E; light minelayer Gwin (DM-33), 26°13'N, 126°22'E; high speed minesweeper Hopkins (DMS-13), 26°32'N, 126°58'E; motor minesweeper YMS-331, 26°32'N, 126°58'E; British carrier HMS Formidable [carrier HMS Indomitable is also crashed by a suicider, but her armored deck deflects the attacker into the sea]. In addition, light minelayer Shea (DM-30) is damaged by a Baka, 27°26'N, 126°59'E; minesweeper Gayety (AM-239) is damaged by near-misses of kamikaze and Baka, 26°32'N, 126°58'E; motor minesweeper YMS-327 is damaged by kamikaze and by friendly fire, 26°32'N, 126°58'E; motor minesweeper YMS-311 is damaged by friendly fire, 26°00'N, 128°00'E; motor gunboat PGM-17 is damaged by grounding, 26°42'N, 128°01'E; large support landing craft LCS-31 and LCS-57 are damaged by air attack. Coordinated with the air strike, a minor Japanese counterlanding is attempted and repulsed. Photo: The aircraft carrier HMS Formidable (R67) on fire after being struck by a Kamikaze off Sakishima Gunto. Formidable was hit at 1130 hrs, the kamikaze making a massive dent about 3 m long, 0.6 m wide and deep in the armoured flight deck. A large steel splinter speared down through the hangar deck and the centre boiler-room, where it ruptured a steam line, and came to rest in a fuel tank, starting a major fire in the aircraft park. Eight crew members were killed and forty-seven were wounded. One Vought Corsair and ten Grumman Avengers were destroyed, 4 May 1945Photo: "Minutes after the kamikaze attack on HMS Formidable engineers were filling the hole on the flight deck with quick drying cement and repairing the after barrier making her fully operational once more", 4 May 1945
Photo: An HMS Formidable repair party chat following a Kamikaze attack off Okinawa. Formidable resumed normal flight operations within 5 hours, 4 May 1945
Photo: USS Carina (AK-74) anchored after a Japanese suicide boat attack at Okinawa, 4 May 1945Photo: Bombardment by H.M.C.S. UGANDA of Sukuma Airfield on Miyako Jima, 4 May 1945ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Brigadier General Isaiah Davies replaces Major General Davenport Johnson as Commanding General Eleventh AF on an interim basis. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 595, MAY 4, 1945 1. The submarine USS Swordfish is overdue from patrol and presumed lost. Next of kin of officers and crew have been informed. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPOA COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 352, MAY 4, 1945 During the night of May 3‑4 (East Longitude Dates) about 600 Japanese soldiers using landing craft attempted to attack behind our lines at three points along the West Coast and at one point on the East Coast of Okinawa. By daylight the landing effort on the East Coast had been repulsed and enemy groups on the West Coast were pocketed and being destroyed. During early morning darkness a number of enemy aircraft attacked Yontan Airstrip, causing some damage. In the same period, ships offshore destroyed 15 suicide boats one of which caused minor damage to a light surface unit. There was virtually no change in the position of the lines of the Tenth Army in Southern Okinawa on May 4. Between the hours of 0745 and 0915, on May 4, a substantial number of enemy aircraft attacked our forces afloat in the area of Okinawa, sinking five surface units and damaging a number of others. Preliminary reports indicate that 54 enemy planes were shot down over our forces by ships' guns and combat air patrols. One of our destroyers shot down a Baka bomb during the attack. Aircraft from fast carrier task forces of the U. S. Pacific Fleet sweeping the Islands of the Northern Ryukyus shot down one plane, destroyed one and damaged 19 others on the ground at Tokuno, Kikai and Tanega Islands on May 3. On the following day, aircraft from fast carriers shot 96 aircraft out of the air over Okinawa and the Amami Group. Search Aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One shot down two enemy planes and damaged two others on May 4. Escort carrier aircraft of the U. S. Pacific Fleet continued neutralizing raids on airfields in the Sakishima Group on May 3. Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed air and harbor Installations at Truk on May 3, leaving a small cargo ship burning and another listing after being hit by bombs. A single Navy search Plane exploded an ammunition dump at Truk on the following day. On May 4, Seventh Army Air Force planes bombed runways and dispersal areas on Marcus Island. Planes of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus and Marshalls on May 4. Mopping up operations on Two Island and the Islands of the Marianas continued during April 22 and 28 inclusive. A total of 108 of the enemy were killed and 156 were taken prisoner. PACIFIC Submarine Cero (SS-225) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Shinpen Maru off Yamada Bay, 39°28'N, 142°04'E. Submarine Trepang (SS-412) sinks Japanese minesweeper W.20 in Yellow Sea 140 nautical miles southeast of Mokpo, Korea, 34°16'N, 123°37'E, as W.20 proceeds to the scene of the sinking of escort vessel Oga, sunk by Springer (SS-414) on 2 May 1945 (see 2 and 3 May). USN land-based planes sink Japanese merchant tankers Koan Maru and No.15 Takasago Maru off Pusan, Korea, 34°40'N, 127°30'E. Navy PBMs damage cargo vessel Harukawa Maru while she is en route from Jinsen to Moji, 34°50'N, 128°30'E. Japanese tanker No.2 Yaei Maru is sunk by USAAF B-29 (20th Bomber Command)-laid mine off Singapore, 02°00'S, 105°00'E; stores ship Hayasaki is damaged by mine [laid by submarine Guitarro (SS-363) on 20 April 1945] while en route from Batavia to Singapore, 01°00'S, 104°30'E. USAAF B-24 (13th Air Force) attacks Japanese shippingoff Cape Camau, French Indochina, sinking auxiliary netlayer Tokachi Maru, 08°36'N, 104°43'E. Tank landing craft LCT-1358 sinks after running aground off California coast.
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