Operation Spring Awakening was launched by the Germans. It would be their last major offensive. An Eastern Front offensive, oil reserves were the target.
King Michael of Romania installed Petru Groza as Prime Minister of Romania due to Soviet pressure.
The Soviets began to arrest or kill anyone associated with the Polish Government In Exile or the Polish Home Army.
The famous tank battle in Cologne between a German Panther and a M26 named Eagle 7 took place. It's one of the best known American v. German tank battles of World War Two, and ironically took place in a large urban environment.
The battle was, unusually, completely filmed.
The crew of Eagle 7, after the battle.
"The crew of an M26 Pershing tank, nicknamed "Eagle 7," of the 3rd Armored Division pose for a photo after their famous victorious tank duel against a German Panther tank in Cologne, Germany, March 1945. Commander - Sgt. Robert M. Earley of Fountain, Minn Gunner - Cpl. Clarence E. Smoyer of Lehighton, Pa Loader - Pvt. John S. Deriggi of Scranton, Pa Driver - T/5 William D. McVey of Jackson, Mich Assistant Driver - Pvt. Homer L. Davis of Morehead, Ky.
The Chinese 1st Army took Lashio, Burma.
"The crew of the Ninth U.S. Army Sherman tank who escaped injury though their vehicle was hit by four German 88 shells in action during the capture of Hottorf, near Erkelenz, Germany. L to R: Tec 5 John Helbo, driver, South Plainfield, N.J.; Tec 5 William B. Paff, cannoneer, Morrisville, Pa.; Sgt. Matteo Fortino, tank commander, Bronx, New York; Pfc. Leo V. Digangi, gunner, Jackson Heights, Long Island, N.Y.; and Pfc. Steve Raguseo, assistant driver. 6 March, 1945."
Signal Corps Photo. This appears to be a M26 with its turret pointing to the rear for travel. The M26 was just coming into service at this time.
Iran declared war on Japan.
Franklin Roosevelt reported on the Yalta Conference. He was unable to stand.
The Wehrmacht launched an offensive around Lauban.
The Ninth Army took Mönchengladbach.
"Infantrymen of the U.S. Third Army move through war-torn city of Prum, Germany, of which little is left but blasted buildings and debris-littered streets. 1 March, 1945. 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division."
"After the town of Disternich, Germany, fell to units of the 9th Armored Division, civilians are gathered to be interrogated by military authorities. 1 March, 1945. Company A, 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, 9th Armored Division." This is an interesting photograph for a variety of reasons, one of which simply is to note what's occurring, the interrogation of civilians in the Westphalian town of Disternich. Note the peasant like appearance of the German civilians. Peasantry is probably exactly what they are. Note also the medic. This was for an interrogation, but there must have been a concern that the civilians would be sick or injured. The soldier on the right with the M1 Garand provides us with a really good example of Maine Hunting Shoes in use by the U.S. Army. Note also his armored division shoulder patch.
"Children of parents left destitute in wake of German retreat from Manheim, Germany, receive milk after civilians were able to round up food for themselves. Scene in sector held by 3rd Armored Division of 1st U.S. Army. 1 March, 1945. Photographer: W. B. Allen, 165th Signal Photo Co." Note that the boy in the foreground is wearing a classic German mutze with some sort of cap device.
Michael Strank, one of the Marines photographed raising the flag on Iwo Jima, lost his life in the battle.
He was born in Czechoslovakia to a Rusyn family, and had immigrated to the US as a child with his family.
"HoM2/C Charles R. Roth, USCG, leads hymn singing and gives brief talk to his shipmates aboard a Coast Guard-manner LST the day before landing on Iwo Jima. Photographed February 18, 1945."
Pre landing bombardments continued at Iwo Jima.
Iwo Jima, February 18, 1945.
Operation Solstice ended in a German defeat.
American forces breached the Siegfried Line north of Echternach.
The USS Gamble was damaged beyond repair off of Iwo Jima.
General Ivan Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, dies from wounds received outside Konigsberg at age 37.
General Dmitry Mikhaylovich Karbyshev was tortured to death along with other Soviet POWs by being doused with water and left out in a freezing night.
"Maj. Charity E. Adams and Capt. Abbie N. Campbell inspect the first contingent of African American members of the Women's Army Corps assigned to overseas service. England, February 15, 1945."
The Germans launched Operation Solstice with the goal of relieving Küstrin.
The Mostar Operation ended in victory for Yugoslav partisans.
Elmer Charles Bigelow performed the actions that resulted in his winning a Medal of Honor. His citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving on board the U.S.S. Fletcher during action against enemy Japanese forces off Corregidor Island in the Philippines, February 14, 1945. Standing topside when an enemy shell struck the Fletcher, BIGELOW, acting instantly as the deadly projectile exploded into fragments which penetrated the No. 1 gun magazine and set fire to several powder cases, picked up a pair of fire extinguishers and rushed below in a resolute attempt to quell the raging flames. Refusing to waste the precious time required to don rescue-breathing apparatus, he plunged through the blinding smoke billowing out of the magazine hatch and dropped into the blazing compartment. Despite the acrid, burning powder smoke which seared his lungs with every agonizing breath, he worked rapidly and with instinctive sureness and succeeded in quickly extinguishing the fires and in cooling the cases and bulkheads, thereby preventing further damage to the stricken ship. Although he succumbed to his injuries on the following day, BIGELOW, by his dauntless valor, unfaltering skill and prompt action in the critical emergency, had averted a magazine explosion which undoubtedly would have left his ship wallowing at the mercy of the furiously pounding Japanese guns on Corregidor, and his heroic spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.
Helmut Möckel may, or may not have, died in a car crash. He was the head of the Hitler Youth. There have been persistent rumors his death was faked and that he escaped to Spain.
The Battle of Hürtgen Forest ended in German defensive victory.
The Germans opened the Schwammenauel Dam to slow Allied advances
The Japanese executed Anacleto Díaz, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in the Philippines. He was 66 years old.
"Infantrymen carrying rations on their shoulders to the front lines. Notice GI pulling on a horse cart loaded with rations. Luzon, P.I. 10 February, 1945.
While the siege of Manila had only just begun, MacArthur announced that the city had been taken.
Yugoslav Partisans, who were well equipped and a (communist) army in their own right, launched the Mostar operation.
SS general Wilhelm Mohnke was put in command of government district, the Zitadelle, of Berlin.
Gee, what a nifty promotion. . .
He survived the war, surprisingly, and was imprisoned by the Soviets until 1955. After his release he became a dealer is small trucks and trailers, and died at age 90 in 2001.
35th Division infantrymen in Unterbruch, Germany. February 6, 1945
"Members of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division, march into Butgenbach, Belgium. 25 January, 1945. 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Photographer: Pfc. Fred Linden, 165th Signal Photo Co."
While other dates are also used, this is generally regarded as the end of the Battle of the Bulge. The 3d Army was across the Clerf and advancing.
German advances in the Ardennes had been completely eliminated by this date.
The US sustained, 19,000 kia, 47,500 wia and 23,000 mia. The British suffered 200 killed and 1200 other casualties. The Germans sustained 100,000 total losses.
Volksturm in East Prussia, January 20, 1945. By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R98401 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5368820
The Red Army reached the Baltic north of Elbing, cutting off Army Group North. The greatest mass evacuation in human history begins with the Germans removing 1.5M to 2M people from the region with 40 large passenger ships and other vessels.
Hitler relieved General Reinhart and appointed General Rendulic to what was renamed Army Group North.
The Germans blue up the Wolf's Lair.
This is a good place to interject a couple of things, which I was pondering on how to interject.
Starting with the evacuation of East Prussia, it was a monumental human tragedy. One the Germans brought on themselves, but tragic nonetheless. The character of the fighting at this point began to radically change as the Germans fought on their own ground. That was in due in part to the character of the Red Army's troops, which we will get to below. German troops of all types fought tooth and nail at this point, and not simply because they were servants of a monstrous dictatorship that didn't care if they lived or died. They were fighting to give time to their families to get out of the way of the Red Army.
The Red Army was an armed mob and quite frankly crap. That's a really controversial opinion, but its hte case. The Imperial Russian Army had been crap, the Red Army was also crap, and the current Russian Army is crap. It was tactically bereft of the most part and simply relied upon having a lot of men to get killed, and it didn't care if they lived or died.
That can be said about the Germans as well, but the Soviets had a lot more troops to get killed.
A very early edition of the excellent podcast We Have Ways addresses this (I think its Episode 13, Our Russian Allies). In truth, the myth that has come down of the Soviets doing more to win the war than the Western Allies is simply wrong. The difference between the two is that the Western Allies used technology and intelligence and didn't spend the lives of its mean. Most in uniform in the Western armies weren't even combat troops. Most in the Red Army were cannon fodder. As that episode explains, had the feared post war war between the West and the USSR actually broke out, the Western Allies would have defeated the Soviet Union.
One of the characteristics of the troops of the Red Army mob was that by this point it was a murderous band of rapist. There's no two ways about. They raped thousands of women, and often killed them immediately thereafter, leaving their ravished bodies by the side of the road. The modern Russian Army has never really gotten over this, and remains criminal in its behavior.
This leaves us with an awkward situation in regard to the late war fighting. There was really nothing admiral about the Red Army at all, save for a few exceptional leaders and a few exceptional pieces of equipment. As much as people hate to admit it, but for Western support during the war, the Soviets would have brokered a peace with the Germans in 1943.
It can, perhaps, be said that the Soviet's soldier capacity for enduring horrific conditions was admirable, although in no small part that helped turn them into a mob. Most of the men in the Red Army had grown up in deprivation and brutality and were therefore somewhat acclimated to suffering making them unique as combatants. The Soviet failure to control their men once past the borders of the Soviet Union, however, is unforgivable. Often missed, they weren't just mass rapist in Germany, but also at least in Hungary.
The other difficult portion of this is that late war German resistance to the Soviets was at this point such that its almost hard not to regard it as heroic. A person doesn't however, as the Germans had brought this disaster upon themselves and acted like monsters inside the USSR. At this point in many places they fought to the death for the German people, but upon reflection if they'd fought the onset of fascism in the 1930s none of this would have ever occurred.
The British land on Chedube Island south of Ramree in Burma.
The 37th Infantry Division occupies a large portion of Clark Field in the Philippines.
Grand Rapids Michigan became the first city in the United States to fluoridate their water.
Trump nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a wackadoodle, has suggested that Donald Trump will push to remove fluoride from drinking water. Nuts have always thought fluoride was bad, even though its revolutionary effect on dental health is well demonstrated. Trump tends to support whatever floats through his head, so we'll see.
M-25 light tank in operation, probably in Belgium, January 14, 1945.
Hitler granted von Rundstedt permission to carry out a drastic retreat in the Ardennes.
The Americans won the Battle of Foy.
The US 8th Air Force resumed strategic operations after a month-long pause caused by the Battle of the Bulge. Their missions encounter heavy German fighter resistance in spite of German losses over the past month.
German POWs in the Ardennes, January 14, 1945.
The Red Army engaged in offensive action nearly everywhere on the Eastern Front, save for Hungary where the Germans were still attempting to relieve Budapest.
The Battle of Ramree Island began off Burma.
The British Second Army began Operation Blackcock with the goal of clearing the Germans from the Dutch towns of Roermond and Sittard and the German town of Heinsberg.
The Twin Star Rocket entered service with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It was the only new streamlined train permitted to enter service in the US during World War Two.
African American actress Vonettta McGee was born in San Francisco. She had beat Hodgkins Lymphoma at age 17 and went on to university to seek a career in the law, before switching to acting, in which she had a wide variety of roles, including appearing in The Eiger Sanction. She died in 2010 of cancer at age 65.
The Red Army commenced the Sandomierz–Silesian Offensive and the Vistula–Oder Offensive.
German troops were outnumbered at least 4 to 1 in all classes of equipment.
"A civilian casually picks his way through the rubble - all that remains of the Belgian town of La Roche, entered earlier in the day by Allied troops. 12 January, 1945."
"Double trouble for the Germans comes in the form of twin bazookas mounted on a .50 caliber machine gun mount, which can be completely traversed. Although only two men are shown in the jeep, a third is present to load the projectiles while the unit is in actual operation. L-R: T/5 Louis Gergye, Youngstown, Ohio, and Pvt. William R. Jump, Owenton, Ky. 12 January, 1945. I & R Platoon, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division." This must be a field modification. I've never seen another example of this.
The British 18th Indian Division took bridgeheads over the Irrawaddy. Commandos were landed near Myebon on the mainland between Akyab and Ramree.
Aircraft of the U.S Navy sank 40 Japanese ships in Cam Ranh Bay and most of the ships in a convoy from Qui Nho'n, including the carrier Kashii.
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