April 9th, 1945 (MONDAY)
GERMANY: Königsberg Fortress surrenders to the Soviets. The siege has lasted 59 days. The fighting cost the Germans 42,000 men dead and 27,000 captured. A quarter of the city's population, 25,000 civilians, also died in the fighting because Hitler refused to allow their evacuation. General Otto Lasch, his situation hopeless, finally surrendered to prevent more bloodshed. Hitler is furious and has ordered him to be shot, but he is already a prisoner.
The US 9th Army takes the Krupp factories in Essen.
RAF attack on Kiel. Kriegsmarine cruisers ADMIRAL SCHEER is damaged beyond repair, Hipper and Emden are also heavily damaged.
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, former head of the Abwehr [military intelligence], General Hans Oster, another ex-Abwehr officer, and Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian, are hanged at Flossenburg for treason.
The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 935: 1,252 bombers and 846 fighters are dispatched to visually attack underground oil storage, an ammunition plant and 10 jet airfields; they claim 85-1-60 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers and 5 fighters are lost:
- 76 B-17s bomb a munitions plant at Wolfratshausen while 107 hit Oberpfaffenhofen Airfield and 139 attack Furstenfeldbruck Airfield.
Escorting are 137 P-51s; they claim 4-0-10 aircraft on the ground.
- 89 B-17s attack an oil depot and 66 attack an airfield at Neuburg while 128 bomb Schleissheim Airfield; 3 B-17s are lost. The escort is 193 P-51s; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft in the air and 70-0-37 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost.
- 212 B-17s bomb Riem Airfield at Munich; 10 others hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Ingolstadt; 3 B-17s are lost. 149 P-51s escort; they claim 6-0-4 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost.
- 109 B-24s bomb Lechfeld Airfield, 96 attack Memmingen Airfield, 88 hit Leipheim Airfield, 62 bomb Landsberg Airfield and 33 hit Landsberg East landing ground; 1 B-24 is lost. 193 P-51s escort claiming 4-0-5 aircraft on the ground.
During the night of 9/10 April, the Eighth Air Force flies Mission 937:
14 B-24s bomb Stade Airfield using PFF methods; 5 Mosquito's escort the bombers.
700+ Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders and B-26 Marauders strike marshalling yards at Jena and Saalfeld, oil targets at Bad Berka and Dedenhausen, ordnance depots at Naumburg and Amberg-Kummersbruck, and several targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, attack several airfields and a fuel storage facility, fly area patrols and armed
reconnaissance, and support the III Corps along the Lenne River, the 3d Armored Division east of the Weser River toward Nordhausen, the VIII Corps in the Arnstadt area and the XII and XX Corps in the Thuringer Forest and around Erfurt.
150+ Fifteenth Air Force P-38s bomb and strafe railroad bridges at Rattenberg, Seefeld, and Telfs, Austria and Rosenheim, and to the south near the Austro-German border, and also hit rail lines in the Munich-Rosenheim.
WESTERN EUROPE: During the night of 9/10 April, 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France during Eighth Air Force Mission 936.
ITALY: The British 8th Army under General McCreery begins a spring offensive. They advance towards Ferrana and Bologna.
The US 5th Army begins minor ops towards Modena.
Sepoy Ali Haidar (b.1913), 13th Frontier Force Rifles, overcame two strongpoint's to enable his company to establish a bridgehead. (Victoria Cross)
Sepoy Namdeo Jadhao (b.1921), 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, carried two men through a minefield, the silenced three machine-guns, allowing a bridgehead to be secured. (Victoria Cross)
Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s on intruder missions during the night of 8/9 April, bomb bridges, vehicles, and targets of opportunity in the Po River Valley and northeastern Italy; during the day B-25s and XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers [in conjunction with RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers and Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force heavy bombers] blast gun positions, troop concentrations, enemy HQ, and strongpoint's in the Lugo-Imola area in support of a British Eighth Army offensive; other XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers hit communications in northern Italy (including the Brenner line) and methane plant and ammunition and fuel dumps in the west central Po Valley. 825 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s in close coordination with the British Eighth Army, pound gun positions and other forward military targets southeast of Bologna, in the area immediately west and southwest of Lugo; 88 P-51s provide target cover. 90+ P-51s escort supply (to northern Italy) and transport missions and support tactical aircraft attacking positions in the Imola area; other airplanes continue reconnaissance operations.
JAPAN: During the night of 9/10 April, the XXI Bomber Command flies Mission 62: 16 B-29 Superfortresses mine Shimonoseki Strait between Kyushu and Honshu Islands without loss.
Okinawa: A destroyer and an attack cargo ship are damaged by Japanese assault demolition boats while kamikazes sink an LCT and damage a destroyer. Shore batteries damage a high-speed transport and an LST while an infantry landing craft is damaged by Japanese aircraft.
Destroyers USS Mertz (DD-691) and USS Monssen (DD-798) sink Japanese submarine HIJMS RO 56, 45 miles (72 km) east of Okinawa.
BONIN ISLANDS: 16 VII Fighter Command P-51s from Iwo Jima Island bomb and strafe military installations at Chichi Jima Island during the early morning.
PACIFIC OCEAN: 17 Guam-based Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb the Marcus Island airfield and defensive installations in the North Pacific.
USN submarines sink 3 Japanese ships.
- USS Parche (SS-384) sinks a minesweeper as she is escorting transport (ex-armed merchant cruiser) northeast of Sendai, Honshu, Japan.
- USS Spadefish (SS-411) damages a merchant cargo ship off the west coast of Korea,. The cargo ship attempts to run aground to facilitate salvage, but sinks before she can accomplish her goal.
- USS Tirante (SS-420) attacks convoy TAMO-53 in Yellow Sea, sinking an army tanker and damages a coast defence vessel.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 22 Seventh Air Force B-24s from Angaur Island, Palau Islands, hit a troop concentration at Kabacan on Mindanao.
Far East Air Forces A-20s and fighter bombers support ground forces on Luzon in the Balete Pass, Baguio, and Solvec Cove areas and at several points in south-western Luzon Island, and attack Japanese forces in the Legaspi area. B-24s and fighter-bombers support ground forces in central Cebu Island and on Negros Island.
The U.S. Army's 163d Regimental Combat Team lands on Jolo Island (6.00N, 121.10E) in the Sulu Archipelago. The invasion is supported by three USN destroyers and aircraft of Marine Aircraft Groups Twelve and Thirty Two (MAG-12 and MAG-32) based on Mindanao. The Japanese defenders withdraw into the hills in the centre of the island.
BURMA: 70+ Tenth Air Force P-38s and P-47s attack troops, supplies, gun positions, and general targets of opportunity along and behind the central Burma battleline around Mong Pawn, Wan Htum, Pang po, Kyawkku, Mong Hko, Hanhwe-Mu, Laihka, and other points; transports complete 415 sorties to forward areas.
CHINA: 9 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the docks at Canton and Kowloon in Hong Kong and attack targets of opportunity at Bakli Bay on Hainan Island; 8 B-25s bomb Sinyang railroad yards and nearby targets of opportunity; 13 other B-25s knock out a bridge north of Hsuchang and hit various targets around Laohokow, Sichuan, Sinyang, Likuanchiao, Lichen, and along the Han River; and 19 P-51s hit targets of opportunity in or near Neihsiang, Laohokow, and Sichuan.
Several Far East Air Forces B-24s on armed reconnaissance missions hit coastal targets.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 2 Fourteenth Air Force P-38s attack trucks in the Dien Bien Phu area.
Several Far East Air Forces B-24s on armed reconnaissance missions hit coastal targets.