March 28th, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)
GERMANY: The US III Corps takes
Marburg.
891 Eighth Air Force B-17s, escorted by 345 P-51s, bomb targets in Berlin and
Hannover while 215 Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26s and B-26s bomb two oil-storage
depots and other targets.
General Eisenhower radios to Stalin in regard to future plans regarding a push south, leaving Berlin. He orders the Allied forces not to advance beyond the Elbe, thus leaving Berlin to the Soviets. As recently as last autumn Churchill and Roosevelt were contemplating a thrust to get to the city before the Russians. But western forces are still some 200 miles short, while the Russians are less than 50 miles away. Eisenhower says that he is not prepared to risk the lives of his men for the pursuit of political advantage over an ally.
The critics of the supreme commander's decision argue that the British, Canadians and Americans are meeting almost no resistance and could easily be first to Berlin, while the Russians are up against the fanatical SS units ready to fight to the last. Churchill, who has just returned from a visit to the Allied forces in Germany, is filled with foreboding. He believes that Stalin will exploit the political advantage to be gained by raising the Red Flag over the Führer's capital. The British prime minister intends to appeal to Eisenhower to change his mind. "We should shake hands with the Russians as far to the east as possible," he says.
Berlin: Hitler forces Guderian, his chief of the army general staff, to take six weeks' sick leave after a series of disagreements.
POLAND: Gydnia falls to the Soviets.
BURMA: Over 30 Tenth Air Force
fighters attack the Japanese battle lines.
The Japanese effort to take Maiktila
fails.
Members of the Burmese National Army fighting with the
Japanese rise up and kill their commanding officers.
CHINA: Almost 170 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s and
fighters attack river traffic, airfields and other targets. During the night of
28/29 March, ten XX Bomber Command B-29s mine the mouth of the Hwangpoo River
and the south channel of the Yangtze River at Shanghai.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Fifth Air Force B-24s and B-25s attack port facilities at Hanoi and Haiphong and coastal targets. During the night of 28/29 March, 17 XX Bomber Command B-29s mine waters at Saigon and Camranh Bay.
MALAYA: During the night of 28/29 March, 32 XX Bomber Command B-29s mine waters in the Singapore area.
The US submarine Trigger (SS-237), commanded by David R. Connole, is lost. Probable cause of loss is attributed by ASW and a/c in East China Sea All hands are lost. (Joe Sauder)
NETHERLANDS East Indies: B-24s of the RAAF No. 25 Squadron stage through Corunna Downs to hit Japanese shipping in the Lombok Strait. (Mike Mitchell)
BONIN ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force P-51s attack
Chichi Jima and five B-24s hit the island during the night.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force A-20s,
B-24s and B-25s attack targets on Mindanao, Luzon, Cebu and Negros. Army ground
units capture Lahug and Opon Airdromes on Cebu.
RYUKYU ISLANDS: Aircraft of Task Force 58 and Task Group 52.1 continue attacking preinvasion targets on Okinawa. The Royal Navy's Task Force 57 retires to refuel.
TRUK ATOLL: Ten Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb Truk.