April 6th, 1945 (FRIDAY)
GERMANY:
The Red Army launches its attack on Königsberg, East Prussia.
The Germans move 15,000 Jewish prisoners out of Buchenwald camp.
Rühr: Two American armies with Rühr industrial heartland in their grip have been rounding up some 20,000 prisoners daily. With the figure already touching 100,000, they reckon the final total will be well over 300,000 when the final pockets of resistance from Field Marshal Walter Model's Army Group B have been eliminated.
Simpson's US Ninth Army came down from the north to join up with Hodge's First at Lippstadt, east of the Rühr valley. In this area, Warburg was captured after German civilians armed with bazookas, put up token resistance to the First Army. The Ninth is now clearing up Hamm, a railway centre and industrial town on the northern edge of the Rühr and a regular RAF target over the years.
Some German units lodged in the many wooded areas in this region are apparently unaware of Allied movements. When fatigue parties came out to collect ammunition from a dump near Marburg they found Allied troops awaiting them.
Allied aircraft have dropped five million leaflets on the German forces trapped in the Rühr, giving news of the British, American and Canadian advances deep into the heart of the Third Reich.
At Hamelin, First Lieutenant Raymond O. Beaudoin, United States Army, Company F, 119th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division, led the 2d Platoon of Company F over flat, open terrain when the Germans went into action with machineguns and automatic weapons, laying down a devastating curtain of fire which pinned the Americans to the ground. By rotating men in firing positions he made it possible for his entire platoon to dig in, defying all the while the murderous enemy fire to encourage his men and to distribute ammunition. He then dug in himself at the most advanced position, where he kept up a steady fire, killing 6 hostile soldiers, and directing his men in inflicting heavy casualties on the numerically superior opposing force. Despite these defensive measures, however, the position of the platoon became more precarious, for the enemy had brought up strong reinforcements and was preparing a counterattack. Three men, sent back at intervals to obtain ammunition and reinforcements, were killed by sniper fire. To relieve his command from the desperate situation, 1st Lt. Beaudoin decided to make a l-man attack on the most damaging enemy sniper nest 90 yards to the right flank, and thereby divert attention from the runner who would attempt to pierce the enemy's barrier of bullets and secure help. Crawling over completely exposed ground, he relentlessly advanced, undeterred by 8 rounds of bazooka fire which threw mud and stones over him or by rifle fire which ripped his uniform. Ten yards from the enemy position he stood up and charged. At point-blank range he shot and killed 2 occupants of the nest; a third, who tried to bayonet him, he overpowered and killed with the butt of his carbine; and the fourth adversary was cut down by the platoon's rifle fire as he attempted to flee. He continued his attack by running toward a dugout, but there he was struck and killed by a burst from a machinegun. By his intrepidity, great fighting skill, and supreme devotion to his responsibility for the well-being of his platoon, 1st Lt. Beaudoin single-handedly accomplished a mission that enabled a messenger to secure help which saved the stricken unit and made possible the decisive defeat of the German forces. (MOH)
The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 930: 659 bombers are dispatched to hit rail targets in the Leipzig area using H2X radar; 4 B-17s and 1 P-51 are lost.
- 183 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Halle; 22 others hit Eisleben, a target of opportunity. Escorting are 201 P-47s and P-51s.
- 321 B-17s hit the main station and marshalling yard at Leipzig and 109 hit Gera; 11 others hit the marshalling yard at Halle; 4 B-17s are lost. The escort is 392 of 410 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost.
99 Ninth Air Force B-26s, A-20s and A-26 Invaders hit marshalling yards at Gottingen and Northeim and the city area of Herzberg, and drop leaflets over 3 city areas; fighters fly escort, alerts, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, and support the US VIII Corps in the Eisenach area, and the XX Corps east of the Werra River near Muhlhausen.
Deutsche Reichsbahn operates the Taifun Express, a special train of seventy tarpaulin covered cars (formerly used for V-2 parts) and twelve boxcars/passengers cars. The train is commanded by Luftwaffe 1st Lt. Dr. Klaus Schneufelen. The train transports all the machinery and raw materials needed to mass produce 700 Taifun unguided surface-air missiles from Camp Dora to Austria. The train departs Herzberg Station before noon today. It will skirt the western Harz Mountains via Osterode, Seesen and Goslar. (Sandy Bybee)
AUSTRIA: In a dramatic broadcast tonight, Vienna radio announced that the Russians had broken into the suburbs of the city. The broadcast was interrupted by the noise of heavy gunfire as Marshal Tolbukhin's men penetrated to within a mile of the city centre.
"At this very moment," said the announcer, "shells are howling over our heads, over the ancient tower of St. Stephen, the heavily-damaged Burgtheater and the castle of Schonbrunn. Our men are firing with all guns. Vienna Volkstürm formations have been deployed on a square. They are going into battle at any minute now to support the soldiers of the Wehrmacht fighting only a few kilometres away.
"We can see the bombs and shells crashing. The Russians are trying to enter the bulwark of the German south-east. The thunder of battle is enveloping the front-line city of Vienna." Then, after a short interlude of Viennese music, the announcer called for a "backs to the wall" defence of the city.
ITALY: Second Lieutenant Vernon Baker of the US Army showed outstanding courage and leadership in destroying German installations. Personally killing five Germans. MOH.
Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s on night intruder missions during the night of 5/6 April, bomb several bridges in the Po River Valley, scoring good results on 8 of the targets, also hitting an assembly area along the Po River; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers hit lines of communications, mainly in the Po Valley, and support US Fifth Army forces attacking toward Massa Lombarda; B-25s cancel missions against targets on the Brenner line due to weather, but hit 6 bridges in the central Po Valley and gun positions at La Spezia.
The Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 387 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, to bomb marshalling yard flak positions and an ordnance depot at Verona and a marshalling yard and small arms plant at Brescia; 179 other bombers sent against targets in northern Italy are recalled; 81 P-38s dispatched to bomb a bridge in Austria abort due to weather; 14 manage to attack bridges near the Austro-Italian border; 6 P-51s (of 54 airborne) strafe railroad targets in the Straubing-Plattling, Germany area; others fly reconnaissance missions.
BURMA: With improving weather conditions combat strikes by the Tenth Air Force in the central Burma battle area increase; 70+ fighter-bombers attack troop concentrations, artillery positions, tanks, trucks, fuel dumps, and general targets of opportunity along and immediately behind enemy lines; targets are located in several areas including Paklu, Nawnghkio, Loilem, Takaw, Mong Hko, Kongleng, Nawnghsan Pu, and Indaw; air supply sorties continue on a steady basis throughout the day.
CHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s hit targets of opportunity in the Bakli Bay area on Hainan Island and 8 P-51s blast railroad targets of opportunity, troops, horses, and boat landings in the Chenghsien area and along the Lung Hai railroad and Yellow River.
FORMOSA: Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb the town of Hokko.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 4 Fourteenth Air Force P-38s knock out a bridge in the Dien Bien Phu area.
CENTRAL PACIFIC: 11 Seventh Air Force B-24s from Guam bomb positions and the airfield on Marcus Island.
JAPAN: HIJMS Yamato sails from the Inland Sea on a Kamikaze mission to Okinawa. There is only enough fuel on board for a one way trip.
Those were the orders, but according to Russell Spurr in "A Glorious Way to
Die," the officers at the Imperial Navy's main fuel depot refused to
condemn YAMATO and her consorts in this way. They tapped a secret reserve,
hand-pumping the dregs from otherwise empty tanks, which were normally
irrecoverable. Thus the ships had much more than their allotted allowance of
oil, although of course they really didn't have a prayer in any case. (Keith
Allen)
The Japanese kamikaze onslaught against the US Navy begins off Okinawa. Kamikazes sink two destroyers (DDs) (one is scuttled after being hit by four kamikazes) and one landing ship tank (LST); and damage one light aircraft carrier (CVL), nine destroyers (DD), three destroyer escorts, three high-speed minesweepers (DMSs), five minesweepers (AMs), two motor minesweepers (YMSs) and one landing ship tank (LST).
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US forces have blasted their way ashore at the island of Okinawa, some 340 miles south of Kyushu. Okinawa is to provide a "springboard" for the invasion of Japan later this year. The landings began on 1 April along a ten-mile stretch of the south-west coast, with a mammoth invasion fleet in support. Within an hour 16,000 Americans were ashore, and by 10am the important Kadena and Yontan airfields were in US hands. The absence of any real opposition from the Japanese puzzled the Americans. It was like a peacetime army exercise.
The Okinawa invasion - Operation Iceberg - is the largest amphibious landing of the Pacific War. Expecting heavy opposition, the Americans assigned the Tenth Army, commanded by Lt-Gen Simon Buckner, comprising three Marine and five army divisions, to take Okinawa. The total force consists of 548,000 army, navy and Marine personnel with 320 combat and 1,140 auxiliary vessels. In support are task forces of the US Navy together with the British Pacific Fleet. To isolate Okinawa before the landing, US carrier aircraft pounded Japanese airfields in Kyushu. B-29s interrupted their fire-bombing of Japanese cities to join in these attacks. The Americans plan to build air bases on the 60 mile long island for the aerial bombardment of Japan. The island also has room to provide bases to support the coming invasion of Japan itself.
The Japanese have some 120,000 troops on Okinawa. They avoided the crippling effects of US air and naval fire-power by stationing only token forces on the beaches and establishing strong defensive positions inland where they can meet the Americans in battle beyond the range of naval gunfire. But desperate measures are planned elsewhere. Kamikaze attacks are under way, and have already damaged the US battleship WEST VIRGINIA and the British carrier INDOMITABLE.
On Okinawa the US XXIV Corps, after cutting the island in two, turned south on 3 April in a drive towards the formidable Shuri Line. At the same time III Amphibious Corps moved north, meeting ever-stiffer resistance. Today Japan made mass attacks on Allied naval forces, sinking six warships and heavily damaging the US fleet carrier HANCOCK. The Japanese used 335 kamikazes, as well as a large number of other aircraft in these attacks.
Eleventh Air Force bombers attacks targets in the KURILE ISLANDS: 8 B-24s attack and photograph Kurabu on Paramushiru Island, especially the airfield, while 8 B-25s hit radar installations in an all-out attack on Hayakegawa, Kotani Island, and Minami Cape, dropping napalm-filled incendiaries for the first time; buildings and shipping in northern part of Hayakegawa are hit especially hard; another B-25 flies weather reconnaissance.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: US Army Forces,
Pacific (AFPAC) is established at Manila under General of the Army Douglas
MacArthur">
MacArthur.
MacArthur and Nimitz
for the time being retain their responsibilities as commander of all Allied
forces in the Southwest Pacific and Pacific Ocean areas respectively.
But these commands are to be phased out in favour of a new arrangement.
MacArthur is named Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Forces, Pacific, and will
eventually assume command of all Army forces in the Pacific, with some minor
exceptions. Similarly, Nimitz, is his capacity as commander of the Pacific
Fleet, will eventually be given command of all naval forces in the Pacific,
including Seventh Fleet, which currently is under
MacArthur's theatre command.
The projected invasion of Japan will be conducted with this new structure.
(Keith Allen)
Far East Air Forces missions: On Luzon Island, ground support sorties continue in areas around Balete Pass, west of Ft Stotsenburg, north, northeast and south of Laguna de Bay, and around Legaspi and Far East Air Forces fighters hit Carabao Island and Infanta. On Cebu, B-24s bomb a town north of Cebu City while fighters support ground units. A-20s support ground forces on Negros Island and B-25s pound Bunawan on Mindanao. B-24s bomb Jolo Island, Philippine Island defences and ammunition and supply dumps.
Seventh Air Force missions: 23 B-24s from Angaur Island in the Palau Islands bomb barracks and a wharf at Bunawan on Mindanao.