Diary April 18, 1945

German prisoners columns
Huge German prisoners columns are returned, American combat troops proceed.
Diary for Wednesday, April 18, 1945:

Western Front

370,000-strong Army Group B. surrenders in Ruhr ‘Pocket’; Field Marshal Model commits suicide.
Royal Engineers begin constructing Bailey Bridge over the Rhine, near Rees. Canadians reach Zuider Zee. Patton crosses Czech border.

Air War

Germany: RAF drop 5,000 t. bombs on Heligoland.
Oberst Steinhoff (176 victories) suffers hideous burns when his Me 262 crashes near Munich; he recovers to become C-in-C of post-war West German Luftwaffe.

Okinawa

Ernie Pyle, Pulitzer Prize­winning war correspondent, killed on Ie Shima; aged 45.

Italy

British 8th Army capture Argenta, key to the ‘Argenta Gap‘.

Oval@3x 2

Don’t miss the daily posts about WW1&WW2!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top