March 30th, 1945 (FRIDAY)
GERMANY: The German cruiser Köln is sunk by aircraft from the US 8th Air Force.
The US 1st Army advance north from Marburg and crosses the River Eder.
U.S. Army Major General Maurice Rose and two others rounded a bend in the road and ran into a German tank. The young German tank commander (excited), ordered the three men to surrender. Looking at General Rose's pistol, he excitedly began to bark out orders and pointing to the General's weapon. General Rose moved his right hand so that he could drop his weapon to the earth but then the German tank commander shot him in the head. The others escaped unharmed. (Stuart Kohn)
US aircraft bomb the three major ports of Bremen, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven.
U-429 (type VIIC) is sunk near Wilhelmshaven in 53.13N 08.40E by US bombs dropped during this raid.
U-430 (type VIIC) is sunk near Bremen in position 53.08N 08.46E by US bombs dropped during this raid. Only 1 of the U-Boat's crew is lost.
U-348 (type VIIC) is sunk near Hamburg in position 53.33N 09.57E by US bombs dropped during this daylight raid. 3 of the U-Boat's crew lose their lives.
U-1167 (type VIIC/41) is sunk near the Deutsche Werke yard in Hamburg due to damage from British bombs. Only 1 of the U-Boat crew is lost.
(Alex Gordon)
A surrendering Luftwaffe pilot delivers a Me-262A-1 fighter to allied forces when it lands at an American airbase. (Ron Babuka)
POLAND: The final German positions in Danzig are overrun by the Soviet Army, 10,000 German prisoners are taken along with 45 submarines in the harbour.
The Soviet army begins it's invasion of Eastern AUSTRIA.
(Michael Ballard) Marshal Tolbukhin has crossed the Austrian border in strength
about 50 miles south of Vienna. At the same time Marshal Rokossovsky, advancing
on Tolbukhin's right on a 130-mile front, has broken though the German lines to
threaten Bratislava. It was Tolbukhin's Third Ukrainian Front which absorbed
Hitler's Spring Awakening assault in Hungary and then, when the Germans
faltered, did not counter-attack but simply resumed its march on Austria.
Tolbukhin's advance has been accompanied by a sudden loss of morale among the Germans, even among the Waffen-SS troops of the 6th SS Panzer Army. The Wehrmacht is crumbling away.
HUNGARY: During their occupation the Nazis have forced thousands of Hungarian Jews, many times by torture, to deposit valuables and family heirlooms in Hungarian banks and other institutions. Many of the goods have been deposited on a train dubbed the Gold Train.
It contains 29 boxcars filled with personal heirlooms and valuables, including art, gold, jewellery, diamonds, silverware, fine china, porcelain and religious items. The train has left Hungary today bound for Austria. (Miami, PRN Newswire)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-965 (type VIIC) is sunk north of Scotland, in position 58.19N, 05.31W by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Rupert and HMS Conn. 51 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)