Military operations
Category
(1014)1945
January
- 01
- Operation Nordwind beginsOn New Year's Eve the Germans struck the overstretched US Seventh Army in northern Alsace. Operation Nordwind was their last great offensive in the west.
- Operation BodenplatteOn 1 January 1945 the Luftwaffe hit Allied airfields in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, destroying hundreds of aircraft but losing 300 and over 200 pilots.
- 02
- The B-29 raid on BangkokOn 2–3 January 1945 B-29s from India attacked the Rama VI Bridge in Bangkok – the only rail crossing of the Chao Phraya – and put it out of action for a time.
- Kamikaze on the road to LuzonFrom early January 1945 kamikaze struck the fleet bound for Lingayen Gulf. Ommaney Bay was sunk; New Mexico, California and HMAS Australia were hit.
- 05
- The Gambsheim bridgeheadOn 5 January 1945 the German 553rd Volksgrenadier Division crossed the Rhine at Gambsheim, north of Strasbourg, and formed a bridgehead on the left bank.
- The pursuit to the IrrawaddyIn early 1945 Japan's Fifteenth Army fell back behind the Irrawaddy; Slim's Fourteenth Army crossed the Chindwin and pursued it over the Shwebo plain.
- 31
- The bridgehead on the OderOn 31 January 1945 a forward detachment of the 5th Shock Army crossed the frozen Oder at Kienitz and seized a bridgehead some 70 km from Berlin.
- The landings at Zambales and NasugbuOn 29 January 1945 XI Corps landed unopposed in Zambales to seal off Bataan; on 31 January the 11th Airborne Division came ashore at Nasugbu, south of Manila.
February
- 03
- Key eventThe Battle of Manila beginsOn 3 February 1945 US cavalry drove into Manila and freed the internees at Santo Tomás. Japanese sailors held the city for a month, murdering civilians.
- The raid on Berlin of 3 February 1945Around a thousand American B-17s bombed central Berlin. German figures put the dead at nearly 2,900, among them the judge Roland Freisler.
- 13
- The end of the siege of BudapestOn 13 February 1945 the last units in Buda surrendered. Of 28,000 soldiers in the breakout of 11 February, only some 700 reached the German lines.
- Key eventThe bombing of DresdenOn the night of 13/14 February 1945 the RAF, and by day the USAAF, bombed Dresden. A firestorm destroyed the old city; up to 25,000 people were killed.
- The siege of Breslau beginsOn 13 February 1945 troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front closed the ring around Breslau (Wrocław). The siege of Festung Breslau lasted until 6 May.
- 16
- The landing on CorregidorOn 16 February 1945 US paratroopers dropped on Topside and infantry landed below Malinta Hill. The battle for the fortress lost in 1942 had begun.
- Carriers over TokyoOn 16–17 February 1945 aircraft from Mitscher’s carriers struck airfields and aircraft plants around Tokyo – the first carrier attack on Japan’s capital.
- 23
- The flag on SuribachiOn 23 February 1945 Marines raised the US flag on the summit of Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the second flag became a symbol of the war.
- The raid on Los BañosOn 23 February 1945 US paratroopers, amphibious tractors and Filipino guerrillas freed 2,147 internees from the Japanese camp at Los Baños.
- The end of the Battle of PoznańOn 23 February 1945 the Citadel, the last pocket of Festung Posen, surrendered. Its commandant Gonell took his own life; Mattern gave up what was left.
- The raid on PforzheimOn the evening of 23 February 1945 RAF bombers burned Pforzheim in 22 minutes. Some 17,600 died – proportionally the deadliest single raid on a Reich city.
March
- 03
- The end of the Battle of ManilaOn 3 March 1945 the Americans took the Finance Building, the last centre of resistance in Manila. A month of fighting cost the lives of some 100,000 civilians.
- The capture of MeiktilaOn 3 March 1945 the 17th Indian Division and 255th Tank Brigade took Meiktila, the Japanese supply hub in Burma. Fighting for it went on until late March.
- The bombing of BezuidenhoutOn 3 March 1945 RAF bombers sent to destroy V-2 sites in The Hague bombed the Bezuidenhout district by mistake. More than 500 civilians were killed.
- 16
- The end of Operation FrühlingserwachenOn 15 March 1945 the German offensive at Lake Balaton stalled, and on 16 March the Red Army set off for Vienna. The SS divisions barely escaped encirclement.
- The end of the fighting on Iwo JimaOn 16 March 1945 the Americans declared organised resistance on Iwo Jima over. The last Japanese attack was beaten off on 26 March; mopping up lasted months.
- 20
- The liberation of MandalayOn 20 March 1945 the 19th Indian Division took Fort Dufferin, the last point of Japanese resistance in Mandalay. The royal palace burned in the fighting.
- The capture of MainzOn 20 March 1945 infantry of Patton’s Third Army reached the hills above Mainz. The ruined city fell on 22 March as German defence west of the Rhine collapsed.
- 29
- The Red Army enters AustriaOn 29 March 1945 tanks of the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed Austria's old border at Klostermarienberg in Burgenland. The road to Vienna lay open.
- The capture of Frankfurt am MainOn 29 March 1945 Third Army troops completed the capture of ruined Frankfurt am Main. From their Rhine bridgeheads the Allies were driving deep into Germany.
April
- 01
- Key eventThe landing on OkinawaOn 1 April 1945 General Buckner's Tenth Army landed on Okinawa almost unopposed. The Japanese were waiting in fortifications in the south of the island.
- The capture of LegazpiOn 1 April 1945 the US 158th Infantry took the port and airfield of Legazpi on the Bicol Peninsula unopposed, opening the way to the San Bernardino Strait.
- 02
- The battle for ViennaOn 2 April 1945 the Red Army took Wiener Neustadt and advanced on Vienna. From 6 April fighting was already raging in the suburbs of the Austrian capital.
- The encirclement of the RuhrOn 1 April 1945 the US First and Ninth Armies met at Lippstadt. Model's Army Group B – 320,000–370,000 men – was trapped in the Ruhr Pocket.
- 09
- The capture of KönigsbergOn 9 April 1945 General Otto Lasch surrendered Königsberg after a four-day assault by the 3rd Belorussian Front. The East Prussian capital lay in ruins.
- The raid on KielOn the night of 9/10 April 1945, 591 RAF Lancasters bombed the port of Kiel. The Admiral Scheer capsized; the Admiral Hipper and Emden were badly damaged.
- 24
- The encirclement of BerlinOn 24 April 1945 Zhukov's and Konev's troops met south-east of Berlin, and on 25 April they closed the ring around the capital of the Reich.
- The end of the fighting in ItalyOn 21 April 1945 the Poles entered Bologna, and on 22–24 April the Allies crossed the Po. The German armies in Italy ceased to exist as a fighting force.
May
- 01
- Tito in TriesteOn 1 May 1945 the Yugoslav 4th Army and IX Corps entered Trieste, followed on 2 May by New Zealanders. Forty days of Yugoslav rule brought arrests and killings.
- The landing on TarakanOn 1 May 1945 the Australian 26th Brigade, with US and Dutch units, landed on Tarakan off Borneo. The fight for the oil island lasted until June.
- 02
- The flag over the ReichstagOn 2 May 1945 the German garrison of the Reichstag surrendered. The red banner had flown on the roof since 30 April; Khaldei's famous photograph was staged.
- Key eventThe surrender of BerlinOn 2 May 1945 General Helmuth Weidling surrendered Berlin to General Chuikov and ordered the garrison to lay down arms. Krebs's talks the day before had failed.
- 05
- The Prague uprisingPrague rose against the Germans on 5 May 1945. After four days on the barricades, on 8 May the Czechs agreed with General Toussaint on a German withdrawal.
- Kamikaze off Okinawa in MayOn 3–4 May 1945 the fifth Kikusui operation sank the destroyers Luce, Morrison and Little off Okinawa. On 11 May kamikaze hit the carrier Bunker Hill.
- 09
- The Red Army in PragueOn the morning of 9 May 1945 Konev's tanks entered Prague. By 11 May Army Group Centre had surrendered, while the Americans halted on a line near Plzeň.
- The liberation of the Channel IslandsOn 9 May 1945 the German garrison of Guernsey surrendered aboard the destroyer HMS Bulldog, followed by Jersey. Almost five years of occupation were over.
- The surrender on BornholmOn 9 May 1945 a Soviet landing party accepted the surrender of the German garrison of the Danish island of Bornholm, a day after air raids on Rønne and Nexø.
- 14
- The Nagoya raid of 14 MayOn 14 May 1945, 472 B-29s burned northern Nagoya and its castle by day. On 16/17 May the south burned; the two raids killed some 3,900 people.
- Fighting in the southern PhilippinesIn mid-May 1945 the US Eighth Army and Filipino guerrillas fought the Japanese on Mindanao, Negros and Cebu. The heaviest fighting was around Davao.
June
July
- 30
- Attacks on Kobe and NagoyaBy late July 1945 Kobe and Nagoya were attacked only by fighters and carrier aircraft – B-29s had already burned both cities in the spring.
- The sinking of the “Indianapolis”On 30 July 1945 the Japanese submarine I-58 sank the cruiser Indianapolis, which had delivered atomic bomb parts to Tinian. 316 of 1,195 men survived.