January 18th, 1945 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Winston Churchill today gave MPs his most confident and sparkling report of the whole war - now in its 65th month. He appealed for unity at home while the Allies use the overwhelming forces which are now poised to crush Nazi Germany. The prime minister warned the Germans that giving in now will be easier for them than enduring what the Allies have in store for them.
Minesweeper HMS Liberty commissioned.
NETHERLANDS: NETHERLANDS: Fusilier Dennis Donnini (b.1925), Royal Scots Fusiliers, despite a head wound, drove the Germans from a house, firing until he was killed soon after. (Victoria Cross)
GERMANY: Oberst Karl-Heinz Sieber, the commandant of Stalag IX-B Bad Orb, orders the segregation of American Jewish-PoWs from non-Jews.
After a brief protest and the beating of the U.S. Man of Confidence (_Vertrauensmann_, or MOC), Sergeant Johann "Hans" Kasten, the new POWs complied with the order. Except for those who hid their identity, most Jews were placed in a separate compound surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.
POLAND: Warsaw: The Soviet puppet government arrives from Lublin to take over the reins of government.
Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Germans order the inmates to evacuate the camp immediately for transport - on foot or by train - concentration camps in Germany.
CANADA:
Corvette HMCS Summerside completed repairs Halifax and departed for workups Bermuda.
U.S.A.:
Destroyer USS Hollister laid down.