14th March 1945
The U.S. Third Army crosses the Moselle, Southwest of Koblenz. RAF
Bomber Command make its first use of the 22,000lb 'Grand Slam'
bomb, wrecking the Bielefeld viaduct. The US 15th Air Force, taking off
from Italian airfields, launches a heavy raid (500 bombers) against
Regensburg, while the RAF attacks Wuppertal with 400 aircraft. German
counterattacks to recapture the oilfields near Lake Balaton come to an
end. The Red Army cuts all communications between K=F6nigsberg and the
German forces fighting in the Braunsberg pocket. U.S. troops begin
mopping up on Iwo Jima and launch heavy attacks in the North of the
island.
15th March 1945
Attacks by troops of the US First Army to expand the Remagen bridgehead
further, meet with little success. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front
begins an offensive in the Ratibor area of Upper Silesia. U.S. troops
report slow progress on Luzon in the Philippines.
16th March 1945
The US 8th Air Force launches a massive attack (675 bombers) against
the HQ complex of the OKH at Zossen 20 miles south of Berlin, but with
minimal effect. Two fresh Soviet armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front
counter attack the German offensive towards Budapest. The German Heavy
Cruisers Schlesien and Prinz Eugen give supporting fire forces of
Heeresgruppe Kurland in their defense of the Kurland pocket.
17th March 1945
The U.S. Third Army takes Koblenz. The Ludendorff bridge at Remagen,
seized by US troops on the 7th March, suddenly collapses, killing
dozens of US Army engineers working to reinforce it.
18th March 1945
The US Third Army captures Boppard on the Rhine. Kolberg falls to the
Polish 1st Army, of the 2nd Belorussian Front, although the Germans
manage to evacuate 80,000 refugees and wounded first.
19th March 1945
The U.S. Seventh Army take Worms, 60 miles to the Southeast of Koblenz.
Hitler orders the demolition of all German industrial, utility and
transport facilities in danger of falling into enemy hands; this order
(Verbrannte Erde Scorched Earth) is sabotaged by armaments minister
Speer and most local commanders. The US 8th Air Force carries out
another heavy attack (200 bombers and 700 fighters) against Berlin. The
USN hit Kure naval base in the Inland Sea, Southwest of Tokyo. The
Japanese evacuate Mandalay.
20th March 1945
The U.S. Seventh Army takes Saarbr=FCcken. German troops of Army Group
Weichsel evacuate their bridgehead across the Oder at Stettin. The
Russians capture Braunsberg, 40 miles South of K=F6nigsberg. The British
19th Indian Division completes the capture of Mandalay
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: THIS WEEK IN 1945.......60 YEARS AGO |
17 Mar 2005 04:21:27 PM |
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You forgot the fire bombing of Tokyo, more casualties, than Hiroshima!
LB
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| User: "=?iso-8859-1?B?nJ2fqaqxx7a3uLmZ?=" |
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| Title: Re: THIS WEEK IN 1945.......60 YEARS AGO |
17 Mar 2005 08:32:33 PM |
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The fire bombing of Tokyo was in the previous week on March 9th,
1945.....There was scant coverage in the newsmedia last week about this
historic event.
I would imagine that the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 &
Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945 will receive quite a lot more media
attention (hopefully)....
Anyways, here follows a timeline of the last 6 or so months of World
War II :
March 1, 1945 - A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese merchant ship loaded
with supplies for Allied POWs, resulting in a court martial for the
captain of the submarine, since the ship had been granted safe passage
by the U.S. Government.
March 2, 1945 - U.S. airborne troops recapture Corregidor in the
Philippines.
March 3, 1945 - U.S. And Filipino troops take Manila.
March 9/10 - Fifteen square miles of Tokyo erupts in flames after it is
fire bombed by 279 B-29s.
March 10, 1945 - U.S. Eighth Army invades Zamboanga Peninsula on
Mindanao in the Philippines.
March 20, 1945 - British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.
March 27, 1945 - B-29s lay mines in Japan's Shimonoseki Strait to
interrupt shipping.
April 1, 1945 - The final amphibious landing of the war occurs as the
U.S. Tenth Army invades Okinawa.
April 7, 1945 - B-29s fly their first fighter-escorted mission against
Japan with P-51 Mustangs based on Iwo Jima; U.S. Carrier-based fighters
sink the super battleship YAMATO and several escort vessels which
planned to attack U.S. Forces at Okinawa.
April 12, 1945 - President Roosevelt dies, succeeded by Harry S.
Truman.
May 8, 1945 - Victory in Europe Day.
May 20, 1945 - Japanese begin withdrawal from China.
May 25, 1945 - U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff approve Operation Olympic,
the invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1.
June 9, 1945 - Japanese Premier Suzuki announces Japan will fight to
the very end rather than accept unconditional surrender.
June 18, 1945 - Japanese resistance ends on Mindanao in the
Philippines.
June 22, 1945 - Japanese resistance ends on Okinawa as the U.S. Tenth
Army completes its capture.
June 28, 1945 - MacArthur's headquarters announces the end of all
Japanese resistance in the Philippines.
July 5, 1945 - Liberation of Philippines declared.
July 10, 1945 - 1,000 bomber raids against Japan begin.
July 14, 1945 - The first U.S. Naval bombardment of Japanese home
islands.
July 16, 1945 - First Atomic Bomb is successfully tested in the U.S.
July 26, 1945 - Components of the Atomic Bomb "Little Boy" are unloaded
at Tinian Island in the South Pacific.
July 29, 1945 - A Japanese submarine sinks the Cruiser INDIANAPOLIS
resulting in the loss of 881 crewmen. The ship sinks before a radio
message can be sent out leaving survivors adrift for two days.
August 6, 1945 - First Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima from a B-29
flown by Col. Paul Tibbets.
August 8, 1945 - U.S.S.R. declares war on Japan then invades Manchuria.
August 9, 1945 - Second Atomic Bomb is dropped on Nagasaki from a B-29
flown by Maj. Charles Sweeney -- Emperor Hirohito and Japanese Prime
Minister Suzuki then decide to seek an immediate peace with the Allies.
August 14, 1945 - Japanese accept unconditional surrender; Gen.
MacArthur is appointed to head the occupation forces in Japan.
August 16, 1945 - Gen. Wainwright, a POW since May 6, 1942, is released
from a POW camp in Manchuria.
August 27, 1945 - B-29s drop supplies to Allied POWs in China.
August 29, 1945 - The Soviets shoot down a B-29 dropping supplies to
POWs in Korea; U.S. Troops land near Tokyo to begin the occupation of
Japan.
August 30, 1945 - The British reoccupy Hong Kong.
September 2, 1945 - Formal Japanese surrender ceremony on board the
MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay as 1,000 carrier-based planes fly overhead;
President Truman declares VJ Day.
September 3, 1945 - The Japanese commander in the Philippines, Gen.
Yamashita, surrenders to Gen. Wainwright at Baguio.
September 4, 1945 - Japanese troops on Wake Island surrender.
September 5, 1945 - British land in Singapore.
September 8, 1945 - MacArthur enters Tokyo.
September 9, 1945 - Japanese in Korea surrender.
September 13, 1945 - Japanese in Burma surrender.
October 24, 1945 - United Nations is born.
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