Year 1945

Diary for Monday, April 9, 1945: Russian Front East Prussia: FALL OF KÖNIGSBERG after 59-day siege. Austria: Tolbukhin’s troops smash their way into center of Vienna. Western Front Americans occupy […]

Diary for Sunday, April 8, 1945: Western Front Americans enter Schweinfurt; French capture Pforzheim. Russian Front Colonel-General Schörner becomes the last Wehrmacht field marshal. Air War RAF Bomber Command sinks

Diary for Saturday, April 7, 1945: Sea War Pacific – BATTLE OF EAST CHINA SEA. Yamato (2,498 killed), cruiser Yahagi and 4 destroyers sunk by TF 58 (10 planes lost).

Diary for Friday, April 6, 1945: Sea War Pacific – Operation Kikusui (‘Floating Chrysanthemum’): first of 10 massed Kamikaze attacks on US invasion fleet off Okinawa (April 6-7 to June

Diary for Thursday, April 5, 1945: Western Front Allied forces cross river Weser. 18 US divisions begin clearance of Ruhr Pocket. Okinawa US forces, pushing south, encounter first line of

Diary for Wednesday, April 4, 1945: Russian Front Slovakia: Bratislava captured by Malinovsky. Western Front Allied forces at Kassel, Gotha, Karlsruhe and Aschaffenburg.

Diary for Tuesday, April 3, 1945: Russian Front Austria: Tolbukhin captures Wiener Neustadt. Okinawa US Artillery spotter planes begin operating from Kadena airfield. Air War Germany: RAF bombers attacking Nordhausen.

Diary for Monday, April 2, 1945: Western Front Montgomery’s forces capture Rheine Me 262 jet fighter-bomber base and Münster.

Diary for Sunday, April 1, 1945: Sea War Pacific: US 10th ARMY LANDS ON OKINAWA (Operation Glacier); captures Kadena and Yontan airfields­. Russian Front Russians take Sopron, southeast of Vienna.

Diary for Saturday, March 31, 1945: Western Front French start crossing the Rhine near Speyer. Russian Front Russians take Ratibor on Upper Oder. Sea War Merchant shipping losses in March

Diary for Friday, March 30, 1945: Russian Front Danzig stormed by Rokossovksy’s 2nd Belorussian Front. Tolbukhin enters Austria. Air War Germany: 345 bombers of 8th USAAF attacking Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg and

Diary for Thursday, March 29, 1940: Western Front Tanks of 21st Army Group break out of Wesel bridgehead. US 7th Army captures Mannheim and Heidelberg. Air War Britain: 2,419th (and

Diary for Wednesday, March 28, 1945: Russian Front Poland: Rokossovsky captures Gdynia. Hungary: Malinovsky takes Gyor. Guderian replaced by Krebs as COS after row with Hitler.

Diary for Tuesday, March 27, 1945: Western Front Americans reach Lim­burg. Russian Front Poland: Russians launch final attacks on Danzig and Gdynia. Sea War Baltic: 3 German E-boats attack 9

Diary for Monday, March 26, 1945: Sea War Pacific: British Pacific Fleet (TF 57) launches first of many air strikes against airfields on Sakishima Gunto Islands between Okinawa and Formosa.

Diary for Sunday, March 25, 1945: Western Front Montgomery’s 4 bridge­heads over the Rhine merge into 48­-km-wide salient. 3rd US Army captures Darmstadt and Hanau. Russian Front Hungary: Malinovsky breaks

Diary for Saturday, March 24, 1945: Russian Front Poland: Russians capture Zoppot, between Danzig and Gdynia. Hungary: Tolbukhin’s forces sweep forward to Szekesfehervar (Stuhlweissenburg), 58 km southwest of Buda­pest. Western

Diary for Friday, March 23, 1945: Western Front MONTGOMERY’S 21st ARMY GROUP CROSSES THE RHINE AT WESEL (Operation Plunder): attack takes place in bright moonlight under cover of dense smoke

Diary for Thursday, March 22, 1945: Western Front US 3rd Army crosses the Rhine, west of Mainz. Russian Front In Silesia, Konev‘s forces break through west and south of Oppeln.

Diary for Wednesday, March 21, 1945: Air War Europe: Mosquito bombers destroy Gestapo HQ in Copenhagen; bombs acci­dentally dropped on nearby school kill 86 pupils and 17 teachers. 8th USAAF