- January 4
- Germans execute resistance fighters in Amsterdam, Netherlands. [1]
- US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after kamikaze attack. [1]
- Sixty-nine American B-29 bombers from the Marianas Islands attack Kobe, Japan, with incendiary bombs, destroying 2.5 million square feet of the city. [10]
- January 5
- Surprise attack on Liese-Aktion office on Marnix Street, Amsterdam. [1]
- January 7
- Lord Haw-Haw reports total German victory at Ardennen. [1]
- January 9
- US soldiers led by General Douglas MacArthur invade Philippines. [1]
- January 12
- German forces in Belgium retreat in Battle of the Bulge. [1]
- US Task Force 38 destroys 41 Japanese ships in Battle of South China Sea. [1]
- January 15
- Every Amsterdammer gets 3kg sugar beets. [1]
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- Red Army frees Crakow-Plaszow concentration camp. [1]
- January 16
- Scottish 52nd land division/1st Commando brigade-assault at Heinsberg. [1]
- US 1st and 3rd army meet at Houffalise. [1]
- End of the "Battle of the Bulge". The Battle of the Bulge was a last desperate attempt by German forces to break the Allied front in the west and turn the tide of World War II. [37]
- January 17
- Auschwitz concentration camp begins evacuation. [1]
- Soviet forces liberate Warsaw, Poland. [10]
- Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg leaves Budapest with his driver and three Russian officers for a pre-approved meeting with Soviet commanders in Debrecen, east of Budapest, to discuss his humanitarian work with Jews. (He is not ever seen again in the West. During his time in Europe, he saved about 20,000 Jews from German detainment.) [1] [7]
- January 20
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt sworn-in for an unprecedented fourth term as US President. [1]
- German forces in Hungary surrender to the Soviet army. [10]
- January 21
- British troops land on Ramree, near coast of Burma. [1]
- January 22
- Heavy US air raid on Okinawa, Japan. [1]
- January 23
- Dutch Premier Gerbrandy, exiled in London, offers his resignation. [1]
- Helmuth J Moltke, German politician ("July 20th Plot"), executed at age 37. [1]
- January 24
- Scottish 52nd Lowland division occupies Heinsberg. [1]
- January 25
- Grand Rapids, Michigan, becomes first US city to fluoridate its water. [1]
- Japanese occupiers of Batavia arrest Indo-European youths. [1]
- West Africa 82nd division occupies Myohaung, Burma. [1]
- January 27
- The Soviet Red Army liberates Auschwitz. [10]
- German occupiers forbid food transport to West (The Netherlands). [1]
- January 28
- Dutch airplanes dump pamphlets on Java. [1]
- General "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell and truck convoy reopen Burma Road to China. [1]
- American troops regain the front lines against the Germans held on December 16. Allied armies suffered about 83,000 casualties, and lost about 800 tanks. Germany lost over 100,000 men, 800 tanks, and 1000 aircraft. [10]
- Swedish ships bring food to starving Netherlands. [1]
- January 30
- German passenger ship Wilhelm Gustloff is struck by three Soviet torpedoes off Danzig. The ship quickly capsizes, with the loss of 5200-5400 of estimated 6100 on board. Worst sea loss ever. [1] [260.102]
- In Malta, British and American representatives meet over five days to discuss military strategy, Italy, China, and occupation zones in Germany. [10]
- January 31
- American Private Edward Donald Slovik, age 25, is executed by firing squad for desertion, the first such execution since the US Civil War. [1] [10]
- US 4th Infantry division occupies Elcherrath. [1]
- February 1
- US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie. [1]
- February 2
- Escape attempt at Mauthausen concentration camp. [1]
- Karl F Goerdeler, mayor (Leipzig)/"July 20th plot", hanged at age 60. [1]
- February 3
- About 1000 American B-17 bombers of the US 8th Air Force attack Berlin, Germany. A reported 25,000 civilians are killed. [10]
- February 4
- The Yalta Conference takes place, over eight days, to discuss post-war policies. Russia asks for an Allied air bombing of Berlin and Leipzig. [10]
- February 5
- British premier Winston Churchill arrives in Yalta, the Crimea. [1]
- US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manilla, Philippines. [1]
- February 6
- US 8th Air Force bombs Magdeburg/Chemnitz. [1]
- Russian Red Army crosses the river Oder. [1]
- February 7
- General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila, Philippines. [1]
- US 76th/5th Infantry divisions begin crossing Sauer. [1]
- February 8
- Allied air attack on Goch/Kleef/Kalkar/Reichswald. [1]
- February 9
- Germany destroys Ruhrdammen. [1]
- February 11
- First gas turbine propeller-driven airplane flight tested, in Downey, California. [1]
- At Yalta, representatives of Great Britain, the USA, and the Soviet Union sign a secret agreement on certain post-war issues. After victory over Japan, the Soviet Union is to receive the Kurile Islands, and southern Sakhalin and adjacent islands. All those who resided in Soviet territory on September 1, 1939, are required to return to the Soviet Union. [10] [997.401]
- February 12
- San Francisco, California, selected for site of United Nations Conference. [1]
- Walraven [Wally] van Hall, Dutch banker/resisted Germans, executed at age 39. [1]
- February 13
- British bombers attack Dresden, Germany. This is Operation Thunderclap, a directive of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to destroy German cities. About 800 Lancaster bombers bomb the centre of the town with 1600 tons of incendiaries and high explosives, starting a firestorm. Over 1680 acres are destroyed in the city centre, over 86,000 houses destroyed or damaged, 20,000 to 25,000 killed. (German propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels exaggerates the death toll to 200,000.) [10]
- USSR captures Budapest, after 49-day battle with Germany; 159,000 dead. [1] [1005.71]
- February 14
- Perú, Paraguay, Chile, and Ecuador join the United Nations. [1]
- February 16
- US forces land on Corregidor, in the Philippines. [1]
- Venezuela declares war on Germany. [1]
- February 19
- 900 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in two days. [1]
- Brotherhood Day is first celebrated. [1]
- 450 ships with 30,000 men of the US 4th and 5th Marine divisions begin landing on Iwo Jima to attack Japanese forces. [10] [129] [966.138]
- Wim Speelman, Dutch resistance fighter, executed at age 26. [1]
- By the end of the day, 30,000 U.S. Marines have established a solid beachhead in Iwo Jima. [129]
- February 21
- Archbishop De Jong calls for help with war casualties. [1]
- British Army captures Goch. [1]
- Allied forces break through the Siegfried Line in Europe. [10]
- US 10th Armour division overthrows Orscholz line. [1]
- The US 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team liberates Corregidor, Philippines. [10]
- February 22
- Arab League forms (Cairo, Egypt). [1]
- British troops take Ramree Island, Burma. [1]
- Canadian third Division occupies Moyland. [1]
- February 23
- Second Dutch government of Gerbrandy forms in London. [1]
- Canadian troops occupy Kalkar. [1]
- Operation Grenade: General Simpson's 9th Army crosses Ruhr. [1]
- During the Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines take the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island's highest peak and most strategic position, and raise the U.S. flag. Marine photographer Louis Lowery records the event. Several hours later, more Marines head up to the crest with a larger flag. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, records the raising of the second flag. [1] [129] [705.36] [966.139]
- February 24
- Ahmed Maher Pasha, Egypt's Prime Minister, assassinated in parliament. [1]
- Egypt and Syria declare war on Germany. [1]
- Manila freed from Japanese. [1]
- February 25
- US aircraft carriers attack Tokyo, Japan. [1]
- February 26
- Very heavy bombing on Berlin by 8th US Air Force. [1]
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