The Germans fired their last V-2 rockets killing 200 civilians in England and Belgium.
The US captured Cebu City.
Argentina declared war on the Axis, after having been sympathetic to it for much of the war.
The Royal Navy sank the U-722.
Last edition:
The Battle of Iwo Jima officially ended in a U.S. victory following a final Japanese suicide attack. Japanese commander Tadamichi Kuribayashi is believed to have died on or around this date, probably killed in action. Some Japanese holdouts would fight on beyond this date.
.jpg)
The Battle for Cebu City began in the Philippines.
The USS Halligan was irreparably damaged by a mine off of Okinawa.
The U-399 was sunk off of Land's End by the HMS Duckworth.
Last edition:
Hitler approved withdrawing German forces across the Rhine, but the order came too late to avoid 50% of those troops already being lost on the opposite bank.
U.S. and Filipino troops captured San Fernando on Luzon.
The Indian 20th Infantry Division took Wundwin, Burma.
Last edition:
The Battle of the Visayas began in the Philippines, commencing with amphibious landings. The campaign would continue until the end of the war.
Japan closed its schools in Tokyo and ordered everyone over the age of six to report for war work.
The largest Allied bombing raid on Berlin during World War Two took place. 1,329 Allied bombers and 700 fighters were countered by the Luftwaffe using the new Me 262s and air-to-air rockets.
The U.S. Eighth Air Force lost six Mustangs and 13 bombers while the Luftwaffe only lost two planes. 3,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the city.
The US 3d Army took Bingen and Bad Kreuznach.
The Battle of Kolberg ended in Soviet and Red Polish victory.
The Battle of the Ligurian Sea was fought between British and German naval forces in the Gulf of Genoa.
The U-866 was sunk by the U.S. Navy.
Last edition:
The US abolished slavery on Guam.
US forces landed at Tagbilaran in the Philippines.
Last edition:
Franklin Roosevelt stated in a press conference that Americans would need to sacrifice so that food could be shipped to countries devastated by war.
The 41st Infantry Division landed on Basilan, Philippines
The U-367 hit a mine and sank northeast of Danzig.
Last edition:
The Second Philippine Commission was formed with McKinley appointed William H. Taft at its head. The commission was instructed by McKinley to work towards successful independence.
There's yet another lesson for claimed Chief Executive Trump, who has totally failed to grasp the thought behind President McKinley's tariff policies, which were to wipe out a government surplus by depressing trade. McKinley wasn't an imperialist and was attempting to bring a country to independence even while we were fighting its independence movement.
McKinley, it might be noted, was an intelligent man, not rich, who had served his country in wartime.
Last edition:
Saudi Arabia declared war on the Axis powers.
The Red Army too Neustettin.
The Third Army too Bitburg.
The US conducts landings at Puerto Princesa on Palawan.
John Harlan Willis performed the actions that resulted in his being conferred a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Platoon Corpsman serving with the 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, during operations against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 28 February 1945. Constantly imperiled by artillery and mortar fire from strong and mutually supporting pillboxes and caves studding Hill 362 in the enemy's cross-island defenses, Willis resolutely administered first aid to the many marines wounded during the furious close-in fighting until he himself was struck by shrapnel and was ordered back to the battle-aid station. Without waiting for official medical release, he quickly returned to his company and, during a savage hand-to-hand enemy counterattack, daringly advanced to the extreme frontlines under mortar and sniper fire to aid a marine lying wounded in a shellhole. Completely unmindful of his own danger as the Japanese intensified their attack, Willis calmly continued to administer blood plasma to his patient, promptly returning the first hostile grenade which landed in the shell-hole while he was working and hurling back 7 more in quick succession before the ninth exploded in his hand and instantly killed him. By his great personal valor in saving others at the sacrifice of his own life, he inspired his companions, although terrifically outnumbered, to launch a fiercely determined attack and repulse the enemy force. His exceptional fortitude and courage in the performance of duty reflect the highest credit upon Willis and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
Last edition:
Civil administration of the Philippines was handed over to President Sergio Osmeña.
Lebanon declared war on the Axis.
The U-327 and U-1018 were sunk by the Royal Navy.
Sgt. Ross F. Gray won a posthumous Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima. His citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Acting Platoon Sergeant serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines, Fourth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, February 21, 1945. Shrewdly gauging the tactical situation when his platoon was held up by a sudden barrage of hostile grenades while advancing toward the high ground northeast of Airfield Number One, Sergeant Gray promptly organized the withdrawal of his men from enemy grenade range, quickly moved forward alone to reconnoiter and discovered a heavily mined area extending along the front of a strong network of emplacements joined by covered communication trenches. Although assailed by furious gunfire, he cleared a path leading through the mine field to one of the fortifications then returned to the platoon position and, informing his leader of the serious situation, volunteered to initiate an attack while being covered by three fellow Marines. Alone and unarmed but carrying a twenty-four pound satchel charge, he crept up the Japanese emplacement, boldly hurled the short-fused explosive and sealed the entrance. Instantly taken under machine-gun fire from a second entrance to the same position, he unhesitatingly braved the increasingly vicious fusillades to crawl back for another charge, returned to his objective and blasted the second opening, thereby demolishing the position. Repeatedly covering the ground between the savagely defended enemy fortifications and his platoon area, he systematically approached, attacked and withdrew under blanketing fire to destroy a total of six Japanese positions, more than twenty-five of the enemy and a quantity of vital ordnance gear and ammunition. Stouthearted and indomitable, Sergeant Gray had single-handedly overcome a strong enemy garrison and had completely disarmed a large mine field before finally rejoining his unit and, by his great personal valor, daring tactics and tenacious perseverance in the face of extreme peril, had contributed materially to the fulfillment of his company's mission. His gallant conduct throughout enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Gunnery Sergeant William G. Walsh likewise won a Medal of Honor:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Leader of an Assault Platoon, serving with Company G, Third Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 27 February 1945. With the advance of his company toward Hill 362 disrupted by vicious machine-gun fire from a forward position which guarded the approaches to this key enemy stronghold, Gunnery Sergeant Walsh fearlessly charged at the head of his platoon against the Japanese entrenched on the ridge above him, utterly oblivious to the unrelenting fury of hostile automatic weapons and hand grenades employed with fanatic desperation to smash his daring assault. Thrown back by the enemy's savage resistance, he once again led his men in a seemingly impossible attack up the steep, rocky slope, boldly defiant of the annihilating streams of bullets which saturated the area, and despite his own casualty losses and the overwhelming advantage held by the Japanese in superior numbers and dominate position, gained the ridge's top only to be subjected to an intense barrage of hand grenades thrown by the remaining Japanese staging a suicidal last stand on the reverse slope. When one of the grenades fell in the midst of his surviving men, huddled together in a small trench, Gunnery Sergeant Walsh in a final valiant act of complete self-sacrifice, instantly threw himself upon the deadly bomb, absorbing with his own body the full and terrific force of the explosion. Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from injury and possible loss of life and enabled his company to seize and hold this vital enemy position. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
The British 21st Army Group took Udem and Calcar.
The Red Army entered Pomerania.
Last edition:
The Red Army's 1st Ukrainian Front and 1st Belorussian Front begin to threaten Berlin.
Nuremberg was bombed by the USAAF.
The US lands troops on Biri, Philippines.
Progress is slow on Iwo Jima.
Last edition:
The bombing of Dresden commenced. It would end on the 15th.
Dresden was an ardently Nazi city that was rail transport and communication center, and contained 110 factories and 50,000 workers. The raid was to have commenced as a daylight raid by the USAAF 8th Air Force but bad weather precluded it, so the RAF commenced operations first instead with a nighttime raid. Polish pilots servign in British supplied units had their sidearms removed due to outrage over the Yalta Agreement. Two raids were conducted that night. The USAAF hit the following day. A firestorm erupted during the raids leading to mass destruction,
Up to 25,000 civilians, a fraction of the casualties claimed by the German propogandists, lost their lives due to the raid.
The bombing became infamous, in part because of the grossly exaggerated casualty figure, but also because of the horrible nature of the destruction. In reality, the city was more of a military target than legend would have it, and if the destruction was horrific, which it was, it raises the question of the overall morality of the Allied bombing efforts, particularly as they evolved during the war.
The Germans surrendered Budapest to the Red Army.
The British 2nd Army completed clearing the Reichswald Forest.
The US Navy began operations in Manila Bay.
Corregidor was bombarded.
The 11th Airborne Division took Caviete.
Last edition:
The Treaty of Varkiza was signed in which Greek resistance agreed to disarm and relinquish control of all the territory it occupied in exchange for legal recognition, free elections, and the removal of Nazi collaborators from the armed forces and police, which seems reasonable enough.
Greek politics had been a mess for years, and would continue to be for many more years.
The Japanese executed Antonio Villa-Real, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in the Philippines.
Peru declared war on Germany and Japan.
A tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama killed 45 people.
Himmler appeared on the cover of Time magazine, in an illustration depicting him as a death's head.
Last edition:
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.
.jpg)
Last edition:
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.
The US 4th Corps took Gallicano, Italy.
More bombing raids occurred on Iwo Jima.
Last edition:
