Year 1945

Diary for Monday, March 12, 1945: Russian Front Zhukov takes Küstrin on the river Oder. Rokossovsky captures Tczew and reaches Gulf of Danzig, south of Gdynia. Air War Germany: 1,107 […]

Diary for Sunday, March 11, 1945: Air War Germany: 1,055 RAF bombers dropping 4,700 t. bombs on rail targets at Essen; all produc­tion stops at Krupp’s Works. 1,000 US bombers

Diary for Saturday, March 10, 1945: Politics Roosevelt informs Spain she can expect no US aid while Franco dictatorship continues. Western Front Canadians eliminate the Wesel Pocket opposite Xanten. Kesselring

Diary for Friday, March 9, 1945: Air War Pacific: ‘MARCH FIRE BLITZ’ ON TOKYO. 279 low-flying B-29 Superfortresses drop 1,667 t. napalm and oil bombs on Tokyo (night March 9-10);

Diary for Thursday, March 8, 1945: Burma Indian tanks enter Mandalay. Western Front British 2nd Army captures Xanten: Allied armies now stand along the Rhine from Nijmegen to Koblenz. Air

Diary for Wednesday, March 7, 1945: Western Front LUDENDORFF BRIDGE CAPTURED INTACT. Bridge at Remagen over the Rhine near Bonn captured intact by US 1st Army, which immediately pours across.

Diary for Tuesday, March 6, 1945: Russian Front Poland: Rokossovsky captures encircled fortress of Grudziadz. Operation Früh­lingserwachen (‘Spring Awakening’): 6th SS Panzer Army attacks north of lake Balaton in attempt

Diary for Monday, March 5, 1945: Western Front Americans enter Cologne. Air War Germany: RAF daylight raid on Gelsenkirchen oil plant.

Diary for Sunday, March 4, 1945: Burma British 14th Army captures Meiktila, south of Mandalay. Western Front US tanks (1st US Army) reach the Rhine north of Cologne. Air War

Diary for Saturday, March 3, 1945: Western Front Canadians and Ameri­cans link up between Maas and Rhine. Philippines Japanese resistance in Manila ends. Air War Britain: 100 German night intruders

Diary for Friday, March 2, 1945: Air War Germany: 2 RAF daylight raids on Cologne. 406 USAAF bombers attacking again Dresden. Western Front 9th US Army takes Krefeld, Venlo and

Diary for Thursday, March 1, 1945: Western Front München-Gladbach captured by US 9th Army.

Diary for Wednesday, February 28, 1945: Western Front US 1st Army crosses river Erth, 10 km from Cologne. Politics Allied-occupied Iran declares war on Japan. Saudi Arabia declares war on

Diary for Tuesday, February 27, 1945: Russian Front Rokossovsky drives into Pomerania. Politics French-occupied Lebanon declares war on Germany and Japan.

Diary for Monday, February 26, 1945: Air War Germany: 8th USAAF carries out 3,000 t. raid with 1,112 bombers on Berlin; 1/2 Million incendiaries dropped. Main targets: 3 railway stations

Diary for Sunday, February 25, 1945: Western Front 1st and 9th US Armies break German defenses at river Roer west of Cologne, capturing Düren and Jülich.

Diary for Saturday, February 24, 1945: Philippines Americans crush desperate Japanese resistance in the Intramuros ­old walled quarter of Manila. Air War Germany: Colonel Ivan Kojedub, top­ scoring Russian (and

Diary for Friday, February 23, 1945: Pacific Iwo Jima: Marines take Mt Suribachi. Hoisting of US flag captured in classic photograph by Joe Rosenthal. Russian Front Poland – Siege of

Diary for Thursday, February 22, 1945: Air War Europe – OPERATION CLARION: 9,000 Allied bombers and fighters from bases in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Italy attack rail and road

Diary for Wednesday, February 21, 1945: Western Front US 3rd Army attacks Saar-Moselle ‘triangle’. Sea War Pacific: Escort carrier Bismarck Sea sunk by Kamikaze planes off Iwo Jima.