April 13th, 1945 (FRIDAY)
GERMANY: The liberation of German camps at Belsen and Buchenwald reveal the horrors of these camps to the world.
Eisenhower turns down his third chance to capture Berlin, saying that it is just a political prize.
The US 83rd Infantry Division with several associated units, arrive at the west bank of the Elbe. The US Army XIXth Corps commander, Major General Raymond S. McLain order it to cross the Elbe and into territory assigned to the Red Army, and to prepare to advance east/northeast (in the direction toward Berlin).
Berlin: Officially Germany reacted to the news of President Roosevelt's death with a correct silence. The Nazi leaders, however, greeted it as a ray of light in what is now a desperate situation for them. "My Führer," Josef Göbbels told Hitler, "I congratulate you. Roosevelt is dead. It is written in the stars that the second half of April will be the turning point for us." The Nazis believe that Roosevelt's death will be the signal for the western allies and the Soviet Union to fall out. Some plan to hold out in redoubts in north and south Germany until this occurs. Other Germans fear that Roosevelt's death leaves them to the possibly less tender mercies of Churchill and Stalin.
Adolf Hitler proclaims from his underground bunker that deliverance was at hand from encroaching Russian troops--Berlin would remain German. A "mighty artillery is waiting to greet the enemy," proclaims Der Fuhrer.
The Nazi have forced Allied PoWs to march up to 500 miles across Europe on starvation rations, according to reports published today in British newspapers The reports allege that of 6,000 Russians, Britons and Americans who set out in January, only 533 are still alive.
The Russians came from camps in Poland and the British and Americans from Stalag VIIIA, near Breslau. In January both groups marched to Gorlitz, in Silesia. In February they set out again. Most of them died from starvation, exhaustion or dysentery, and a few from the random cruelty of the guards.
The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 945: The AAF claims 284-0-220 Luftwaffe aircraft. 212 B-17s, escorted by 256 P-51s, attack the marshalling yard at Neumunster visually; 2 B-17s are lost. The escort claims 137-0-83 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; 6 P-51s are lost. During this mission, 97 P-47s and P-51s fly a freelance mission in support of the bombers; they claim 147-0-137 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 and a P-51 are lost. During Mission 946 flown that night, 10 B-24s bomb the Beizenburg rail junction without loss.
Fighter-bombers of the Ninth Air Force's IX Tactical Air Command fly a special mission against the HQ of Field Marshall Walter Model's Army Group B at Haus Waldesruh in the Ruhr pocket; the air attack is followed by an artillery barrage; as a result the HQ is moved to Haan. IX Tactical Air Command pilots sight Soviet fighters in the air for the first time. Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division. Fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US XVIII Corps in the Huckeswagen and Hagen areas, the III Corps between the Ruhr and Honne Rivers, the 3d Armored Division on the Saale River in the Alsleben, Nelben and Friedeburg area, the XX Corps astride and between the Weisse Eister and Zwickauer Mulde Rivers north of Gera, the XVI Corps northwest of Hagen, the 2d Armored Division in the Elbenau-Grunwalde area, and the 5th Armored Division along the Elbe River in the Tangermunde area.
1st Lt. Shannon E. Estill, USAAF"> USAAF, is flying a P-38-J Lightning, when it is struck by Anti-Aircraft fire while attacking targets in eastern Germany. Another U.S. pilot reports seeing Estill's aircraft explode and crash. (William L. Howard) More...
AUSTRIA: Vienna falls to the Soviet Army. As agreed by the Allies in 1943, it appears that Austria will not be treated as a conquered nation. Moscow radio said tonight that because the people of Vienna and other parts of Austria had helped the Red Army fight the Germans they had "saved the honour of the Austrian nation."
ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-25s are restricted by weather to 1 mission, an attack on a road bridge at Mollinella; fighter bombers continue to hit communications and dumps in the Po Valley and guns in the La Spezia area; during the night of 12/13 April, A-20s and A-26 Invaders attack Po River crossings at San Benedetto Po, Ostiglia, Piacenza, and Casalmaggiore, bridges at San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and motor transport and targets of opportunity in the Milan area.
BURMA: 30+ Tenth Air Force P-47s and P-38s attack troops and supplies in the Hamn gai, Loi-hseng, and Wan Yin areas and sweep roads south of the bomb line in central Burma; air transport operations to the front areas total 450 sorties.
CHINA AND FRENCH INDOCHINA: 6 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s hit a fort at Bac Ninh. 11 B-25s bomb the railroad yards and warehouse area at Kaifeng and 6 knock out a bridge at Ningming; 7 B-25s hit shipping in the South China Sea and Bakli Bay on Hainan Island and the town areas of Tenghsien and Liuchow; 4 others, along with 5 P-51s, knock out a bridge and hit the town area and shipping at Puchi; 24 P-38s and P-51s knock out 3 bridges, damage another, and hit several targets of opportunity in northern French Indochina; about 140 fighter-bombers fly armed reconnaissance and strikes throughout southern and eastern China, hitting rail, road, and river traffic, town areas, troops, and general targets of opportunity.
Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb the Hong Kong waterfront (Taikoo Docks) and storage areas in Canton.
FORMOSA: RN aircraft from the RN's Task Force 57 again attack airfields. TF 57 then retires to refuel at sea and return to its station off the Sakishima Islands in the Ryukyu Islands.
Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb airfields at Tainan and Okayama while B-25s attack railroads.
JAPAN: XXI Bomber Command flies Mission 67 during the night of 13/14 April:
327 B-29 Superfortresses bomb the Tokyo arsenal area; 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-29s are lost.
MARIANA ISLANDS: 2 Seventh Air Force P-61 Black Widows based on Saipan bomb and strafe Pagan Island.
NORTH PACIFIC: 18 Guam-based Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb enemy positions on Marcus Island in the N Pacific.
OKINAWA: Off Okinawa, destroyer escort USS Connolly (DE-306) is damaged by kamikaze.
On the island, Technical Sergeant Beauford T. Anderson of the United States Army, 381st Infantry, 96th Infantry Division, single-handedly kills 25 Japanese during an attack on his companies' position. (MOH)(Drew Philip Halévy)
PACIFIC OCEAN: Six Japanese ships are sunk at sea:
- Submarine USS Parche (SS-384) sinks an auxiliary minesweeper and a guardboat off northern Honshu, Japan.
- RN submarine HMS Stygian sinks an auxiliary minesweeper off Bali in the East Indies.
- An auxiliary submarine chaser is sunk by aircraft northwest of Hainan Island, China.
- Mines laid by USAAF B-29 Superfortresses in Japanese waters sinks two cargo ships and damage a coast defence vessel.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Ft. Drum, a "concrete battleship" in Manila Bay is attacked with 5,000 gallons of fuel oil and burned out over the next 5 days.
23 Seventh Air Force B-24s from Angaur Island, Palau Islands, bomb personnel and storage areas at Kabacan on Mindanao Island.
The Far East Air Forces flies numerous sweeps are flown over the Cagayan Valley on Luzon and ground support missions are continued on Luzon, Cebu, and Negros Islands. On Mindanao Island, B-24s bomb the Davao area and B-25s hit various targets on Mindanao and in the Sulu Archipelago.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: On Attu Island, 27 Eleventh Air Force P-38s and P-40s scramble following radar reports of unidentified plots; later, they shoot down 9 of 11 Japanese paper bomb-balloons sighted over the western Aleutians.
CANADA: Beginning of intimidation campaign towards Japanese Canadians living in British Columbia to move to Eastern Canada or be deported to Japan.
CHILE: Santiago: CHILE declares war on Japan.