January 1st, 1945 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The quarrel over the future of Poland deepened yesterday when Winston Churchill made it plain that, until a full discussion has taken place between Britain, the USSR and the United States, he will not switch his allegiance from the London-based government in exile to the Russian-sponsored Lublin Committee. With the Russians in control of the liberated areas of Poland, however, there seems little that Mr. Churchill can do.

Repair ship HMS Deer Sound commissioned.

The USAAF">USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 775: five B-24 Liberators and three B-17 Flying Fortresses drop leaflet over Belgium and Germany during the night of 1st January without loss.

WESTERN EUROPE: Luftwaffe attacks many Allied airfields in Belgium, Holland and northern France. The Allied losses are large due to the surprise achieved, in spite of the lack of training for many German pilots. Meanwhile the Allied counterattack gathers force. List Member Roland P. Harper was there!

This was the Luftwaffe's Operation BODENPLATTE intended to destroy Allied tactical fighter and bomber aircraft close to the front lines. The few remaining experienced German pilots led the flights that all too often were composed of new, partly trained airmen. This operation had been scheduled for late December but bad weather forced cancellations. The weather cleared on 1 January and 700 to 800 Luftwaffe aircraft, mostly Focke Wulf Fw 190s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s, hit RAF Second Tactical Air Force and USAAF Ninth Air Force airfields in Belgium, France and the Netherlands between 0800 and 1000 hours. In some cases, surprise was complete; in others Allied aircraft were airborne and engaged the enemy. 

More often than not, the inexperience of the Luftwaffe pilots nullified the surprise of the attack.

452 Allied aircraft are destroyed or damaged beyond repair; Allied fighters shoot down 62 German aircraft and light anti-aircraft units shoot down 172 aircraft. Some of the Luftwaffe aircraft. Some of the Luftwaffe aircraft are shot down by their own anti-aircraft ground batteries who's officers are not warned of the planned assault. The USAAF's Ninth Air Force lost at least 30 aircraft on the ground while the RAF"> RAF's Second Tactical Air Forces lost 162 aircraft plus 62 damaged.

FRANCE: The Commanding General U.S. 66th Infantry Division takes over the 94th Infantry Division's mission of containing the Germans in the vicinity of Lorient and St Nazaire.

Alsace: In the 6th Army Group area, the Germans launch an offensive along a 50-mile front between Saarbrucken and Strasburg, designated Operation NORDWIND (North Wind), against the U.S. Seventh Army. The attack is carried out by General Hans von Obstfelder's First Army with the aim of exploiting weaknesses in the US 6th Army Group caused by the withdrawal of forces to the Ardennes. Strasburg, which was only liberated last November, is the city most at risk. In the XV Corps area, a two-pronged German thrust forces the 106th Cavalry Group (Mechanized), 44th Infantry Division, and 100th Infantry Division to give ground. The 44th Infantry Division bears the brunt of German's right flank drive, which penetrates positions northwest of Rimling. The 100th Infantry Division, caught between the two attack forces, withdraws its right flank, exposed by the withdrawal of Task Force Hudelson (VI Corps); German infiltrators are cleared from Rimling, on the left flank. Elements of Task Force Harris (63d Infantry Division) help check the Germans. Regimental Combat Team 145, 36th Infantry Division, moves up to plug the gap between the XV and VI Corps. In the VI Corps area, the Germans drive a salient into the left flank of the corps south of Bitche. Task Force Hudelson's thin line is pushed back on the left to the Lemberg-Mouterhouse area. The 5th Infantry Division contains the Germans along the line Philippsbourg-Neuhoffen-Obersteinbach and mops up infiltrators in Dambach. Reinforcements from Task Force Herren (70th Infantry Division) and the 79th Infantry Division are rushed to the 45th Infantry Division, whose boundary is moved west. Combat Command B, 14th Armoured Division, moves to guard the Vosges exits. The 79th Infantry Division's right flank is extended to include the Rhine sector from Schaffhouse to the Gambsheim area.

BELGIUM: A German A4 (V-2) rocket impacts in Antwerp, in Borgerhout, Groeningerplein. Forty five people are killed and 33 injured, and 21 houses destroyed.

The U.S. Third Army continues the Ardennes counteroffensive with the VIII and III Corps. In the VIII Corps area, the 87th Infantry Division takes Moircy and Jenneville. The 11th Armoured Division attacks with Combat Command A toward Hubermont, stopping east of Rechrival, and with Combat Command B, clears Chenogne and the woods to the north. Combat Command A, 9th Armoured Division, drives toward Senonchamps. The 101st Airborne Division, in the Bastogne area, gives fire support to the 11th Armoured Division on its left and the 6th Armoured Division (III Corps) on its right. The 4th Armoured Division holds a corridor into Bastogne and supports the 35th Infantry Division with fire. The 35th Infantry Division partially clears Lutrebois and reaches the crossroads southeast of Marvie, but makes no headway in the vicinity of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau and Harlange, Luxembourg. In the region east of Bastogne, the 6th Armoured Division takes Neffe, Bizery, and Mageret, but then loses Mageret.

LUXEMBOURG: In the U.S. Third Army's III Corps area, the 17th Airborne Division relieves the 28th Infantry Division in the Neufchateau area. III Corps contains the German salient southeast of Bastogne.

GERMANY: Flt-Sgt George Thompson (b.1920), RAFVR, was severely burnt helping two gunners in their blazing Lancaster. He died of his injuries on 23 January. (Victoria Cross)

During the night of 1/2 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 152 Lancasters and five Mosquitos to carry out an accurate attack on the Gravenhorst section of the Mittelland Canal; 152 aircraft bomb the target. Half a mile (805 meters) of banks are pitted with bomb craters and some parts are breached. No aircraft are lost. In a second raid, 141 of 146 aircraft successfully attack the marshalling yard at Vohwinkel with the loss of one Lancaster. In a third raid, 105 Halifaxes, 18 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos attempt to bomb the Minister Stein benzol plant at Dortmund; 117 bomb the target but the attack is scattered and the plant is not hit. No aircraft are lost. Mosquitos are also active: two "spoof" missions are flown with 26 aircraft bombing Hannover and 24 hitting Hanau; twelve attack 14 rail targets in western Germany with the loss of one aircraft and one each hit Bochum and Duisburg.

Stuka pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel is awarded the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak leaves, Swords and Diamonds to the Iron Cross. This is the highest single grade of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and was awarded only once during WWII. It was awarded to Hans Ulrich Rudel (Jan 1, 1945) in honour of his unrivalled heroism as a Luftwaffe Stuka pilot. Rudel was responsible for the destruction of 530 Soviet tanks, enough tanks for five complete Soviet Tank Corps! He also destroyed 150 anti-aircraft and anti-tank positions, 800 motor vehicles, the Soviet Battleship Marat, a Soviet Cruiser, a Soviet Destroyer, 70 Soviet landing craft, and numerous bridges and bunkers. He also heavily damaged another Soviet Battleship, the October Revolution. Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions, claimed 11 air victories in his Stuka, and was shot down 32 times. During the War, Stalin placed a 100,000 Rouble bounty on him for his capture payable dead or alive.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 774: 845 bombers and 725 fighters are dispatched to hit oil installations and rail bridges and junctions in western Germany visually and by PFF; they claim 23-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft including a jet fighter; eight bombers and two fighters are lost. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1):

 - Bridge: Andernach (25-0).

 - Marshalling yards: Rothenditmold at Kassel (309-2); Gottengen (30-0); Dillenburg (15-0); Hadamar, Limburg, Mosel at Koblenz and Wetzlar (12-0).

 - Oil refineries: Dollbergen (54-0) and Rothensee at Magdeburg (11-5).

 - Oil storage: Ehmen (24-0).

 - Rail bridges: Lutzel at Koblenz (57-0); Neuweid (55-0); Guls at Koblenz (30-1); Kronprinz Wilhelm at Engers (9-0) and Ludendorff at Remagen (6-0).

Fifty four other aircraft bomb targets of opportunity.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force dispatches 190 A-20 Havocs, A-26 Invaders and B-26 Marauders to hit rail bridges, communications centres, a road junction, a command post, and headquarters, all in Belgium and Germany. Fighters escort 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth Air Force bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance (claiming 39 air victories and numerous ground targets destroyed) and support the U.S. III, VII, and XII Corps between Saint-Hubert, Belgium and the Mosel River, Germany.

U-1199 sailed on her second and final patrol.

EASTERN FRONT: Some of the last school and training boats left the bases in the eastern Baltic Sea, such as Pillau and Königsberg, due to the approaching Red Army.

U-310 suffered damage when she struck the seabed in the Arctic Sea.

NETHERLANDS: Eighteen Kriegsmarine Seehund midget submarines leave the naval base at Ijmuiden, west of Amsterdam. It is their first sortie. One is blown up by a mine and later only two will return. High winds and rough seas are thought to account for most of those lost. The crews had not been trained for bad weather. (William L. Howard)

HUNGARY: Fighting continues within and around Budapest, where the Soviets are slowly eliminating the besieged German garrison.

POLAND: The Soviets set up a Soviet-dominated government (the Lublin Committee) meeting with little effective resistance.

ITALY: USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack bridges at Palazzuolo sull'Oglio, Parma, and Calcinato (the latter two targets are missed) and an ammunition dump at Parma. Fighter-bombers support ground forces south of Bologna, hit communications and numerous targets of opportunity to the north and completely destroy a fuel dump at Parma. During the night of 1/2 January, A-20 Havocs continue intruder missions over the Po Valley.

JAPAN: The New Year is beginning with US air attacks bringing the war ever closer to the Japanese homeland. As the outer ramparts of Japan's Asiatic empire crumble in the face of the Allied advances, Japan is losing all control of the air and sea. Desperate for a reprieve from the slide to defeat, the Japanese are now resorting to bizarre methods of warfare, including kamikaze air attacks and suicide submarines.

The Japanese have strengthened the homeland by withdrawing aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons from outlying regions. Whole Japanese armies in the South-west Pacific have been abandoned by Japan after Allied forces bypassed them and left them to "wither on the vine" under Allied air attack and naval blockade.

In South-east Asia air mastery over the Japanese has long been established, and the Allied air forces maintain relentless pressure on the retreating enemy in Burma. The US Fourteenth Army Air Force is active in China, Indochina and Burma. In the East China Sea, fast carriers of the US Third Fleet are currently hammering enemy airfields on Formosa, the Pescadores, the Ryukus and Luzon to frustrate the kamikaze planes waiting to pounce on MacArthur's invasion force approaching Lingayen Gulf.

The government in Tokyo was deeply shocked when the Americans invaded the Marianas last June, thus threatening a B-29 bombing campaign from only 1,500 miles away. That threat became reality when the Americans based two wings of B-29s there. On 24 November, 111 B-29s took off to subject Tokyo to its first mass air raid. More will follow.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Nineteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima; nine more, during snooper missions on the night of 1/2 January, hit the island at varying intervals.

CHINA: Three USAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Ft Bayard and 40 P-51 Mustangs and P-40s attack railroad targets, warehouses, industrial works, and gun positions from Yoyang to Puchi. Eight P-51s hit Suchow Airfield, claiming 25 aircraft destroyed while 47 other P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance hit troops, horses, town areas, and rail and road traffic at several locations especially at Liuchenghsien and between Siaokan and Hsuchang.

BURMA: Seventy one USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and P-38 Lightnings attack villages, general supply areas, fuel dumps, tanks and other vehicles, and troop concentrations at several locations including Man Hio, Bahe, Mongmit, Hatka, Namhpakka, Loi-hseng, Mong Yaw and in the Hsenwi area, four others hit targets of opportunity along the Irrawaddy River from Tanaung to Kyungyi. Four B-25 Mitchells harass communications lines during the night of 1/2 January.

EAST INDIES: On Halmahera Island, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators along with B-25 Mitchells hit the Djailolo, Wasile Bay bivouac areas, and Miti ammunition dump. B-25s also bomb airfields on Ceram Island. Airfields, shipyards, and other targets in the Borneo, Celebes and Lesser Sunda Islands also sustain light raids, by fighters and bombers, which also fly armed reconnaissance. Twelve RAAF (P-40) Kittyhawks bomb Galela No. 2 Airstrip on the west side of the Wasile Bay.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Operations to deceive the Japanese about Allied intentions against Luzon begin with limited action on Mindoro to clear the north-eastern part of the island. Subsequent deceptive measures conducted on southern Luzon are on a much smaller scale than anticipated and have little effect on the main operation.

On Mindoro Island, control of the Western Visayan Task Force passes from the U.S. Sixth to the U.S. Eighth Army. Company I, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, moving by water from San Jose, lands on the east coast at Bongabong without incident and marches northward toward Pinamalayan.

On Leyte Island, the U.S. Eighth Army mops up, a tedious business that lasts until 8 May 1945. The 77th Infantry Division of the XXIV Corps is ordered to relieve the 1st Cavalry and 32d and 24th Infantry Divisions of X Corps.

USAAF">USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers make low level attacks on Negros Island airfields; B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightning cover, bomb Clark Field on Luzon and others bomb the Sasa area on Mindanao Island. B-25 Mitchells bomb barracks at Laoag on Luzon. Fighter-bombers are active against targets in the Manila area on Luzon and also hit Silay on Negros.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Elements of the 321st Infantry Regiment, U.S. 81st Infantry Division, land on Fais Island., southeast of Ulithi Atoll, and begin a search of the island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: A Japanese Fu Go paper, including envelope, rigging, apparatus and two sand bags, is recovered 15 miles (24 kilometres) north of Marshall. It is believed that the balloon landed on 23 December 1944. Marshall is located about 210 miles (338 kilometres) southeast of Nome.

CANADA: Several fragments of a Japanese Fu Go balloon are recovered near Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan. Stony Rapids is located about 490 miles (789 kilometres) north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is unknown when this balloon landed. 

U.S.A.:

The French government officially joins in full partnership in the United Nations, three years after the French Committee on National Liberation agreed to participate in the international organization.

Top songs on the pop music charts are: "Don't Fence Me In" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters; "There Goes that Song Again" by Russ Morgan; "I'm Making Believe" by Ella Fitzgerald and The Ink Spots; and "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You" by Tex Ritter.

Destroyer USS Leary launched.

JAPAN: Japanese Emperor Hirohito disclaims his divinity in a New Year's message to the Japanese people. This represented a significant break with Japan's traditional past and reflected the impact of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur's reform efforts.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Corregidor Island, a lone American soldier on detail for the American Graves Registration is busy recording the makeshift graves of American soldiers. He is interrupted when approximately 20 Japanese soldiers approach him-literally waving a white flag. They had been living in an underground tunnel built during the war and learned that their country had already surrendered when one of them ventured out in search of water and found a newspaper announcing Japan's defeat.

U.S.A.: The U.S. Coast Guard, which had operated as a service under the U.S. Navy since 1 November 1941, was returned to the U .S. Treasury Department, pursuant to Executive Order 9666, dated 28 December 1945.

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