History Content for the Future

World War Two Day by Day

On the night of 16/17 March 1945, the USAAF`s XXI Bomber Command continues its firebombing campaign against Japan by hitting the city of Kobe.

Continuing on the heels of the raids on Tokyo and Osaka, which we covered in our 9 and 13 March posts, XXI Bomber Command launches a raid targetting Kobe, Japan`s largest port and sixth-largest city with a population of around 1 million.

Just before midnight, 331 B-29 Superfortresses of the 73rd, 313th, and 314th Bombardment Wings arrive over the city. In response, 280 Japanese night fighters take off from several airfields near the city. Of these, 96 locate and attack the U.S. bombers. Between them and ground anti-aircraft fire, three B-29s go down.

Nevertheless, the bombers release their payloads in a slightly different pattern than during the previous two raids. Rather than bombing in a specific pattern, they carpet bomb several major urban and transportation areas of the city.

Kobe`s poor water supply and, by this point, familiar mainly wooden construction leads to a firestorm quickly spreading through the city. It destroys some 7.8 square km (3 square mi) of the city`s urban area, almost 21%, leaving approximately 650,000 people homeless. 8,841 perish in the flames.

Sergeant Algy S. Augunus and Second Lieutenant Robert E. Copeland downed during the raid, will be captured by the Japanese military. In the following weeks, they will be sentenced by the Japanese to death for the bombing of Osaka and Kobe and executed by firing squad.

Picture: Incendiary bombs are dropped over the city of Kobe, Japan from American B-29 Superfortresses, as the landing piers and buildings of the city are burning below, 4 Jun 1945
Source: U.S. Air Force
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On 15 March 1945, Private First Class Silvestre Santana Herrera, Company E, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division, singlehandedly captures a German strongpoint near Mertzwiller, France, then provides covering fire while his squad eliminates a second despite suffering grave injuries.

Herrera (born in Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico, on 17 July 1917) was given to the care of his uncle in El Paso, Texas after his parents died of the Spanish flu. He lived much of his youth in El Paso with his uncle and then his wife Ramona and their three children before moving to Phoenix, Arizona.

He was drafted into the Texas National Guard, 36th Division after the U.S. entered the war, and it was only then that he learned the truth about his uncle and that he wasn`t even a U.S. citizen. Despite his uncle`s insistence that the U.S. Government couldn`t even draft him and that he didn`t have to serve, he still decided to do so, stating that he would rather go and fight than have someone else die in his place.

Today, as Perrera`s unit advances near Mertzville, they encounter several German machine gun positions. For his actions, PFC Herrera will be awarded the Medal of Honor on 23 August 1945. His citation will read:
˝He advanced with a platoon along a wooded road until stopped by heavy enemy machinegun fire. As the rest of the unit took cover, he made a 1-man frontal assault on a strongpoint and captured 8 enemy soldiers. When the platoon resumed its advance and was subjected to fire from a second emplacement beyond an extensive minefield, Pvt. Herrera again moved forward, disregarding the danger of exploding mines, to attack the position. He stepped on a mine and had both feet severed but, despite intense pain and unchecked loss of blood, he pinned down the enemy with accurate rifle fire while a friendly squad captured the enemy gun by skirting the minefield and rushing in from the flank.˝

In 1946, Herrera will also be awarded Order of Military Merit (First Class) by the Mexican Government. He will be granted U.S. citizenship shortly afterwards.

Picture: Infantrymen of the 7th Inf. Regt. prepare to rush a house. Guiderkirch, France. 15 March, 1945.
Source: Signal Corps Archives
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On the night of 13/14 March 1945, USAAF B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers carry out a low-altitude incendiary bombing raid on Osaka, Japan.

As Japan`s second-largest city with a pre-war population of just over 3.2 million, Osaka has been on the target list for strategic bombing ever since the possibility of hitting the Japanese Home Islands emerged for the USAAF.

The city`s abundance of heavy and light industrial plants and the need for a large number of workers to operate the large port, Japan`s third largest, make Osaka a prime target for the USAAF XXI Bomber Commands` new tactics of nighttime low-altitude incendiary area bombing. With the scale of destruction that resulted from the firebombing attack on Tokyo three days ago, which we covered in our 9 March post, becoming ever more apparent, the attack on Osaka was authorized to attempt to achieve the same effect.

Throughout the late afternoon, B-29s take off from the Mariana Island airfields operated by Major General Curtis LeMay`s XXI Bomber Command. The first to make their way toward the Japanese Home Islands are 43 B-29s of the 314th Bombardment Wing from Guam. Following closely behind them are 107 from the 313th Bombardment Wing based on Tinian Island. Finally, 124 B-29s of the 878th Bombardment Squadron take off from Saipan.

The first B-29s arrive over Osaka at 2357 hours today at an altitude of only 2,000 m (6,600 ft). For over three hours, until 0325 hours, the three waves of bombers drop 1,733 tons of mostly incendiary bombs on the Minato, Naniwa, Kita, and Nishi wards of the city.

The bombs ignite thousands of fires among this urban area`s light, wood-built homes. High winds quickly turn these into a massive firestorm that consumes 21 km squared (8.1 square miles) of the city, and 3,987 of its inhabitants. Another 678 will go missing or will not be identifiable in the aftermath.

All the B-29s return to base. The only two aircraft lost are the result of take-off accidents.

Picture: Section of Osaka, Japan levelled by fire-bomb attacks
Source: Library of Congress LC-USZ62-104726
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On 12 March 1945, a group of Japanese internees of the Santa Fe Internment Camp in New Mexico incite a minor riot.

The Santa Fe Internment Camp (SFIC) was established in February 1942 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and guarded by U.S. Border Patrol agents.

By 30 June 1943, the camp contained 1,894 Issei (first-generation Japanese immigrants ineligible for U.S. citizenship). Since then, over 4,000 Japanese internees have passed through the camp, with relations between them, the administrators and guards remaining generally peaceful.

However, tensions have recently risen with the arrival of 366 men identified as “pro-Japan agitators” relocated to the SFIC from the WRA Segregation Camp at Tule Lake, California.

These men, who have renounced their U.S. citizenship, have organized themselves into two groups, the Sokuji Kikoku Hoshi-Dan (the Organization to Return Immediately to the Homeland to Serve) and the Hikoku Seinen-Dan (the Organization to Serve Our Mother Country) and have been staging protests each morning. They display their loyalty to Japan by wearing sweatshirts with the Rising Sun emblem.

However, on 10 March, the situation escalated further when guards searched their barracks and confiscated around a dozen shirts bearing the Rising Sun, spurring more protests. In response, the camp commander ordered three men leading the protests to be transferred to the camp at Fort Stanton and posted more guards at the SFIC.

Today, as the guards lead the three protest leaders out of the camp, around 300 of the `troublemakers` gather around the administration centre.

After giving five orders to disperse, 16 border patrol agents attack the protesters with batons and tear-gas grenades, while some of the internees threw rocks at the agents.

In a 10-minute confrontation, four of the internees are severely injured, requiring hospitalization.

Another 14 internees will be transferred to Fort Stanton due to their involvement in the incident, while the other `agitators` will be separated from the rest of the camp`s population.

Picture: Hokoku Seinen Dan gather to give proper send-off to members sent to Santa Fe Internment Camp, Tule Lake, March 4, 1945.
Source: AP
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In the early afternoon of 11 March 1945, over one thousand RAF heavy bombers effectively knock out Essen`s industrial production and transportation infrastructure.

Continuing on the heels of the recent all-out bombing against German industrial and transportation infrastructure during the two-day Operation Clarion, which we covered in our 22 February post, the RAF has increased the number of daylight bombing raids it is carrying out.

Essen has been hit with a tonnage second only to Berlin so far in the war, in no small part, because its industrial district houses the massive Krupp steelworks.

At 1138 hours today, 1,079 RAF aircraft take off from RAF Craft and head toward the Ruhr region.

The 12.9 km (8 mi) long and 8 km (5 mi) wide bomber stream includes 750 Lancaster and 293 Halifax heavy bombers and 36 de Havilland Mosquitos acting as pathfinders and fighter-bombers. Some 200 Spitfires and P-51 Mustangs escort the bombers.

The bombers arrive over Essen at around 1520 hours, flying at altitudes between 5,200 m (17,000 ft) and 6,700 m (22,000 ft). Despite the heavy cloud cover, the H2S ground scanning radar allows them to target the city`s industrial district and railyard accurately based on the sky markers dropped by the pathfinders.

In total, the bombers drop 4,661 tons of bombs. Most of the planes drop either the general use `Plumduff/Cookie` bombload (1 x 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) impact-fused High-Capacity bomb called ˝blockbuster˝ or ˝Cookie˝; 3 x 450 kg (1,000 lb) high explosive bombs, and 6 small canister bombs (SBCs) with 1,416 incendiary bomblets) or the `Plumduff Plus` bombload intended for heavy industrial targets ( 1 x Cookie and up to 6 x 230 kg (500 lb) delay-fused bombs).

The Krupp steelworks factory suffers severe damage. Essen, after years of heavy bombing and this raid especially, ceases to be a significant industrial or transportation centre.

Only three RAF bombers fail to return to base.

Picture: Locomotive shop of the Krupps AG works at Essen, Germany, seriously damaged in 1943, and further wrecked in the daylight raid of 11 March 1945
Source: IWM CL 2557
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During the early hours of 10 March 1945, Private First Class Thomas E. Atkins, Company A, 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, together with two companions, repels Japanese attacks on a position on the Villa Verde Trail, Luzon for four hours.

For his action, PFC Atkins will be awarded the Medal of Honor on 12 October 1945. His citation will read:
˝With 2 companions he occupied a position on a ridge outside the perimeter defense established by the 1st Platoon on a high hill. At about 3 a.m., 2 companies of Japanese attacked with rifle and machinegun fire, grenades, TNT charges, and land mines, severely wounding Pfc. Tom Atkins and killing his 2 companions. Despite the intense hostile fire and pain from his deep wound, he held his ground and returned heavy fire. After the attack was repulsed, he remained in his precarious position to repel any subsequent assaults instead of returning to the American lines for medical treatment. An enemy machinegun, set up within 20 yards of his foxhole, vainly attempted to drive him off or silence his gun. The Japanese repeatedly made fierce attacks, but for 4 hours, Pfc. Tom Atkins determinedly remained in his fox hole, bearing the brunt of each assault and maintaining steady and accurate fire until each charge was repulsed. At 7 a.m., 13 enemy dead lay in front of his position; he had fired 400 rounds, all he and his 2 dead companions possessed, and had used 3 rifles until each had jammed too badly for further operation. He withdrew during a lull to secure a rifle and more ammunition, and was persuaded to remain for medical treatment. While waiting, he saw a Japanese within the perimeter and, seizing a nearby rifle, killed him. A few minutes later, while lying on a litter, he discovered an enemy group moving up behind the platoon`s lines. Despite his severe wound, he sat up, delivered heavy rifle fire against the group and forced them to withdraw.˝

Picture: Pfc. Waymen N. Ramply and Cpl. Perry Rowe, cal. .30 heavy machine gunners of the 127th Inf. Regt., 32nd Infantry Division, supporting other elements of their Regt. on the Villa Verde Trail
Source: Signal Corps Archives
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On 5 March 1945, Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Gurkha Rifles, British Indian Army, singlehandedly eliminates five Japanese fortified positions near Tamandu, Burma in hand-to-hand combat.

For his actions, he will be awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation will read:
˝On 5 March 1945 at Snowdon-East, near Tamandu, Burma, Gurung and his unit were approaching Snowdon-East. His section became pinned down by enemy fire including machine guns and mortars. An enemy sniper in a tree was inflicting casualties on the section, "Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung, being unable to fire from the lying position, stood up fully exposed to the heavy fire and calmly killed the enemy sniper with his rifle...".
The section advanced to within 20 yards of the objective, and again it came under fire. Without waiting for orders, Gurung dashed out alone to attack the first enemy fox-hole. "Throwing two grenades, he killed the two occupants and without any hesitation rushed on to the next enemy fox-hole and killed the Japanese in it with his bayonet".

"During his single-handed attacks on these four enemy fox-holes, Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung was subjected to almost continuous and point-blank Light Machine Gun fire from a bunker on the North tip of the objective." Knowing that the bunker would hold up both his own platoon and another, "for the fifth time [he] went forward alone in the face of heavy enemy fire to knock out this position. He doubled forward and leapt on to the roof of the bunker from where, his hand grenades being finished, he flung two No. 77 smoke grenades into the bunker slit." Gurung killed two Japanese soldiers who ran out of the bunker with his Kukri, and then crawled into the cramped bunker and killed the remaining Japanese soldier by "beat[ing] the gunner`s brains out with a rock".
Gurung ordered a Bren gunner and two riflemen to take up positions in the bunker. "The enemy counter-attack followed soon after, but under Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung`s command the small party inside the bunker repelled it with heavy loss to the enemy.˝

Picture: Men of the 6th Gurkha Rifles at Singu on the Irrawaddy bridgehead
Source: IWM SE 1934
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On 4 March 1945, B-24 Liberator heavy bombers from the USAAF 8th Air Force`s 2nd Air Division accidentally bomb the Swiss cities of Zürich and Basel.

We covered on 1 April last year when 22 USAAF B-24s from the 8th AF`s 392nd Bombardment Group accidentally bombed Schaffhausen in Switzerland, causing quite a stir and resulting in an official, albeit reluctant, apology from General Carl A. “Tooey” Spaatz. In October, the U.S. Government paid Switzerland $4 million in restitution.

Around 0300 hours today, 2nd Air Division commanders brief the 2nd, 20th, and 96th Combat Wings on their targets in southern Germany, with the 14th Wing assigned the Aschaffenburg tank depot near Frankfurt am Main.

As part of the 14th Wing, Lt. William R. Sincock and his dead reckoning navigator, Lt. Theodore Q. Balides, lead the high right squadron of the 392nd BG in B-24 No. 385.

But the Gee-H radio navigation system and H2X ground scanning radar on Sincock`s aircraft fail. While Sincock and his crew land and transfer to B-24 No. 577, all the air wings struggle to form up, with assembly points over continental Europe raised multiple times from 5.4 km (18,000 ft) altitude to 7 km (20,000 ft) because of a very tall cloud layer.

By the time Sincock`s squadron reaches the assembly point, much of the 2nd Air Division is scattered. He first tries to follow the 44th BG to Stuttgart, but after failing to bomb the city using the H2X, Balides plots a withdrawal course.

With navigation errors from before stacked up and new ones arising, as well as orders to bomb targets of opportunity, they get an H2X fix on what they think is Freiburg. Sincock`s squadron unknowingly drops their payload on Zürich and heads home. Almost simultaneously, other bombers hit Basel.

Luckily, the casualties are light, with only five killed in Zürich.

Sincock and Balides will be court-martialed as negligent under the 96th Article of War in the first-ever criminal case against U.S. soldiers for friendly fire. They will be acquitted, but Sincock will not be allowed to lead a squadron again.

Picture: Swiss Army officers standing over debris in Oberstrass, Zurich, on 4 March 1945
Source: ETH Library Zurich
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On 3 March 1945, a former Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) unit rounds up and murders over a hundred Ukrainian civilians in the village of Pawłokoma in southeastern Poland.

The history of relations between the Poles and Ukrainians had certainly seen its fair share in the late 1910s and early 1920s; as the tides of war have been sweeping over the area for the past six years, various armed forces have used this to terrorize civilians.

Much of this has centred on the region of Volhynia, from where the Soviets deported many Poles after occupying the region in 1939. Then, the Germans, assisted by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army or UPA (Українська повстанська армія, УПА), murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews in Volhynia.

More recently, UPA forces have been reportedly attacking, murdering, or kidnapping Polish villages in the area.

For the past few months, however, a unit under the command of Second Lieutenant Józef Biss has been hiding out in the forests in Volhynia to avoid persecution by the NKVD. Biss and his unit were disarmed by the Red Army in July last year and attempted to rejoin the AK during the Warsaw Uprising but were stopped and forced to go into hiding under threat of arrest by the Red Army.

Today, Biss and his troops enter Pawłokoma, located 40 km (25 mi) west of Przemyśl, and begin rounding up Ukrainian villagers. Likely attempting to exact revenge for reported UPA actions against Poles, they force upwards of 150 civilians, mostly Greek Catholic (Uniate) Ukrainians, into the village church and execute them.

Sadly, it appears as if this war is becoming increasingly deadly as its end draws near. On the other side of the world today, the Battle of Manila comes to its brutal conclusion, with the city devastated, some 100,000 civilians dead, and thousands of others wounded, sick, and traumatized. If you want to learn more about how the U.S. forces brought the Battle of Manila to a close and more about the human, or rather inhumane, aspects of the fighting there, check out Indy and Spartacus` latest videos on our YouTube channel.

Picture: Ukrainians murdered by elements of the Polish National Armed Forces
Source: Getty Images via Wikimedia Commons
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On 2 March 1945, Naik (Corporal) Fazal Din, 7th Battalion of 10th Baluch Regiment, British Indian Army, singlehandedly eliminates several Japanese soldiers with a sword wrestled from one of the Japanese officers, despite being mortally wounded.

For his actions, Naik Fazal Din will be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross on 24 May 1945. His citation will read:
˝In Burma, on 2nd March, 1945, Naik Fazal Din was commanding a section during a Company attack on a Japanese bunkered position. During this attack, the section found itself in an area flanked by three bunkers on one side and a house and one bunker on the other side... Naik Fazal Din`s section was accompanied by a tank but, at the time of entering the area, it had gone on ahead. On reaching the area, the section was held up by Light Machine Gun fire and grenades from the bunkers. Unhesitatingly Naik Fazal Din personally attacked the nearest bunker with grenades and silenced it. He then led his section under heavy fire against the other bunkers. Suddenly six Japanese, led by two officers wielding swords, rushed from the house. The Bren gunner shot one officer and a Japanese other rank but by then had expended the magazine of the gun. He was almost simultaneously attacked by the second Japanese officer who killed him with his sword. Naik Fazal Din went to the Bren gunner`s assistance immediately but, in doing so, was run through the chest by the officer, the sword point appearing through his back. On the Japanese officer withdrawing his sword, Naik Fazal Din, despite his terrible wound, tore the sword from the officer and killed him with it. He then attacked a Japanese other rank and also killed him. He then went to the assistance of a sepoy of his section who was struggling with another Japanese and killed the latter with the sword. Then, waving the sword, he continued to encourage his men. He staggered to Platoon Headquarters, about 25 yards away, to make a report and collapsed. He died soon after reaching the Regimental Aid Post.˝

Picture: 6/7th Rajputana Rifles advance behind Sherman tanks during the assault on Meiktila, 23 February 1945
Source: IWM SE 3095
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On 1 March 1945, U.S. President Roosevelt addresses a joint session of Congress on the results of the Yalta Conference, revealing his health issues by appearing in a wheelchair for the first time in front of Congress.

Roosevelt opens by explaining his inability to walk:
˝I hope that you will pardon me for this unusual posture of sitting down during the presentation of what I want to say, but I know that you will realize that it makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry about ten pounds of steel around on the bottom of my legs; and also because of the fact that I have just completed a fourteen-thousand-mile trip.
First of all, I want to say, it is good to be home.˝

After a lengthy description of the talks held at the conference, he moves on to the plans made for the future and issues that may continue to linger:
˝Of equal importance with the military arrangements at the Crimea Conference were the agreements reached with respect to a general international organization for lasting world peace. The foundations were laid at Dumbarton Oaks. There was one point, however, on which agreement was not reached at Dumbarton Oaks. It involved the procedure of voting in the Security Council... At the Crimea Conference, the Americans made a proposal on this subject which, after full discussion was, I am glad to say, unanimously adopted by the other two Nations.
It is not yet possible to announce the terms of that agreement publicly, but it will be in a very short time... A conference of all the United Nations of the world will meet in San Francisco on April 25, 1945.

...The decision with respect to the boundaries of Poland was, frankly, a compromise. I did not agree with all of it, by any means, but we did not go as far as Britain wanted, in certain areas; we did not go so far as Russia wanted, in certain areas; and we did not go so far as I wanted, in certain areas. It was a compromise... I am convinced that the agreement on Poland, under the circumstances, is the most hopeful agreement possible for a free, independent, and prosperous Polish state...˝

Picture: Roosevelt addresses Congress, March 1, 1945
Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
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On 28 February 1945, Maurice Petherick, a Conservative British MP, introduces a motion to oppose the Yalta Agreement in response to Churchill`s announcement yesterday.

After explaining the motion, Petherick criticizes various aspects of the agreement:
˝The Amendment contains a direct criticism of the policy of the Government, and the decisions which were arrived at, as a result of the Yalta Conference. It contains, therefore, a criticism of the Prime Minister as head of His Majesty`s Government...

...I certainly should not wish to repeat everything that I and others said in presenting the case on 15th December, but I would say that as a result of this Yalta Agreement, if it goes through, Poland is to lose nearly half her territory, a third of her population, 85 per cent. of her oil and natural gas, half her timber and peat, half her chemical industry, nearly half her grain, hemp and flax, and nearly 40 per cent. of her water power, potassium mines and phosphates and the ancient Lion City of Lvov which stood up for centuries against attacks from North and South and from the East.

I have heard it said that the Poles are a difficult people. Perhaps they are. So should we be, if half our country were to be given away to somebody else... But the Poles have not been conquered. They are still fighting. They are fighting with us and they are fighting in the underground movement.

I would like to say a little now about the question of Lublin Government, and the Provisional Government which is proposed at a result of Yalta. It is to be chosen, we understand, by three eminent men—a brace of Ambassadors and a Foreign Secretary... Would any country in the whole wide world accept such a Government? Surely one of the principles of the Atlantic Charter is the right of every people to choose its own form of Government... There are in part of the Yalta communiquè dealing with Poland, some sinister references to the suggestion or the fact that only anti-Nazis will be allowed to vote and take part in these elections. What does that mean?˝

The motion is defeated with 396 votes against and only 25 for.

Picture: MPs move to the Lords chamber
Source: Parliamentary Archives
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On 24 February 1945, Staff Sergeant Raymond H. Cooley, Company B, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, destroys multiple Japanese machine gun positions near Lubmoy, Luzon Island, and then uses his body to protect soldiers of his unit from a grenade.

For his actions today, SSGT Cooley will be awarded the Medal of Honor on 10 September 1945. His citation will read:
˝He was a platoon guide in an assault on a camouflaged entrenchment defended by machineguns, rifles, and mortars. When his men were pinned down by 2 enemy machineguns, he voluntarily advanced under heavy fire to within 20 yards of 1 of the guns and attacked it with a hand grenade. The enemy, however, threw the grenade back at him before it could explode. Arming a second grenade, he held it for several seconds of the safe period and then hurled it into the enemy position, where it exploded instantaneously, destroying the gun and crew. He then moved toward the remaining gun, throwing grenades into enemy foxholes as he advanced. Inspired by his actions, 1 squad of his platoon joined him. After he had armed another grenade and was preparing to throw it into the second machinegun position, 6 enemy soldiers rushed at him. Knowing he could not dispose of the armed grenade without injuring his comrades, because of the intermingling in close combat of the men of his platoon and the enemy in the melee which ensued, he deliberately covered the grenade with his body and was severely wounded as it exploded. By his heroic actions, S/Sgt. Cooley not only silenced a machinegun and so inspired his fellow soldiers that they pressed the attack and destroyed the remaining enemy emplacements, but also, in complete disregard of his own safety, accepted certain injury and possible loss of life to avoid wounding his comrades.˝

Picture: Patrol of the 3rd Bn., 161st RCT, 25th Inf. Div., goes up a creek bed in the Luzon mountains near Digdig. 12 March, 1945.
Source: Signal Corps Archives SC 270892
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On 22 February 1945, the USAAF and RAF launch Operation Clarion, a massive combined bombing offensive using all available aircraft against infrastructure across Nazi Germany.

Back in mid-September last year, then General, now General of the Army Henry `Hap` Arnold, floated the idea of launching a mass bombing raid with every available British and U.S. aircraft against military and rail infrastructure targets. However, the requirement of a day with perfectly clear weather prevented such a raid from being organized during the autumn and winter months.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) requested from Lt. Gen. Carl Spaatz, commander of U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, and RAF planners exactly such a raid in preparation for the upcoming spring offensive operations. Unlike the recent bombings of Berlin and Dresden, covered in our 3 and 13 February posts, the focus of this operation is infrastructure in smaller towns that have not been bombed before.

Today, with the weather forecast nearly perfect for Clarion, thousands of aircraft take off from airfields in England and Italy.

The RAF`s First and Second Tactical Air Commands sortie over 2,600 aircraft against targets mainly in the Ruhr region.

The 8th Air Force`s 1,372 B-17s and B-24s, escorted by 677 fighters, drop 3,900 tons of bombs on middle and north-central Germany. 774 bombers and 300 escorts from the 15th AF bomb targets across southwest Germany. The 9th AF does the same in the Giessen-Freiburg area. The IX and XXIX Tactical Air Commands` fighter bombers and fighters attack targets in western and northwestern Germany.

The USAAF and RAF claim the destruction of hundreds of locomotives, rail cars, bridges, and several dozen Luftwaffe aircraft, including four Me 262 fighter jets.

Allied losses are light, with only five bombers and 50 fighters shot down.

The good weather will continue tomorrow, and Clarion will be repeated.

In the coming weeks, a Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) report will, however, conclude that Operation Clarion didn`t seriously affect Germany’s capacity to resist.

Picture: B-17s from the 398th Bombardment Group
Source: U.S. Air Force
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On 17 February 1945, the Japanese Dōmei News Agency (Dōmei Tsūshinsha, lit. `Federated News Agency`) issues a report via radio broadcast that the Fu-Go balloon bombs have caused mass casualties and panic in the USA.

While the Fu-Go balloon bombs have continued to make their way onto U.S. soil, with almost 50 reports made so far in February, they have failed to cause any damage or inflict any casualties.

On the other hand, the media blackout on balloon bomb incidents requested of newspaper agencies and radio broadcasters by the U.S. Office of Censorship, which we covered in our 4 January post, appears to be doing exactly what it is supposed to. The Japanese government or Imperial Japanese Army and Navy commanders in charge of the Fu-Go project don`t even know if the balloons are even making it to the USA.

With the intensification of bombing raids on the Japanese mainland by USAAF heavy bombers, the Japanese government is surely feeling pressured to deliver some news of the military`s ability to retaliate to its people. But, the aforementioned lack of information on the success of the Fu-Go project, which was supposed to be at least partially a propaganda and morale-boosting tool, means that no good news can be delivered. Unless they lie about it, of course.

And that is precisely what the Dōmei News Agency does in today`s radio broadcast. The broadcast claims that 500 casualties have been inflicted in the United States and numerous fires had been started and announces that government authorities in the U.S. had found it necessary to issue general warnings against attacks by the Japanese balloons and thus agitated the people. It emphasizes that this has shattered the American feeling of security from attack by the Japanese. The broadcast ends with a warning to the U.S. that the balloons are merely a prelude to something bigger.

In any case, this is likely to be little consolation to the Japanese public against what is ramping up to be a devastating strategic bombing campaign by Major General Curtis LeMay`s XXI Bomber Command.

Picture: Fu-Go weapon lies deflated in an Oregon field, February 1945.
Source: National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
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