April 14th, 1945 (SATURDAY)
FRANCE: A series of French attacks on remaining German positions begins today and will last for 6 days. The area is in the south-west at Royan, in the Gironde estuary. The French battleship Lorraine provides bombardment support for these attacks.
The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 948: 1,167 bombers are dispatched without escort to visually attack enemy pockets on the Gironde estuary; 2 B-24s are lost; other Allied Air Forces and French naval units attack similar targets; the air attacks precede a ground assault by a French detachment of the Sixth Army Group on the defence pockets which deny the Allies use of port facilities in the Bordeaux area:
- 480 B-17s hit 15 strongpoint's and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/Royan, Pointe Coubre and Pointe Grave areas without loss.
- 315 B-24s hit 12 strongpoints and flak batteries in the same area as Force 1 above; 2 B-24s are lost.
- 338 B-17s attack 4 strongpoints and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/Royan area without loss.
NETHERLANDS: A French Canadian Soldier attacks and liberates ALONE the city of Zwolle in the Netherlands. The soldier is Private Léo Major, DCM & Bar. He was a scout and a sniper. (Jocelyn Major Proud Son of Léo Major, DCM & Bar)
GERMANY: Himmler orders that no prisoners at Dachau concentration camp "shall be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy alive."
"A handover is out of the question. The camp must be evacuated immediately. No prisoner must be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy alive," says a handwritten note, apparently referring to Dachau concentration camp. It is signed by Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler and dated April 14, 1945.
Central GERMANY: With Patton's Third Army thrusting through the Thuringian Forest to Dresden and Leipzig, the gap between the Americans and the Russians is closing rapidly and Germany is being sliced in two. There are fears that Hitler may attempt a last-ditch defence in the southern redoubt based on Berchtesgaden. French and American troops are closing on the Danube before crossing into Bavaria. In the north, the British are moving on Bremen, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven to forestall any attempt to mount a defence of the ports.
Relentless Allied air attacks on Germany are wiping out the Luftwaffe on the tarmac and the Kriegsmarine in harbour. Figures show that 1,738 enemy aircraft were destroyed in a week's attacks on 59 airfields. A total of 332 were shot down in air combat. Many German planes are limited by a lack of fuel.
18 Ninth Air Force B-26s fly a leaflet mission in the Ruhr area; fighters fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored Division southwest of the Elbe/Mulde River junction near Dessau, the 9th Armored Division in the Borna and Lobstadt area, XX Corps elements which continue to arrive at the Zwickauer Mulde River, the VIII Corps along the Weisse Elster River south of Gera, XII Corps elements in the Bayreuth area, the 2d and 5th Armored Divisions along the Elbe River in the Barby-Magdeburg and Tangermunde areas.
29 Fifteenth Air Force P-38s bomb and strafe railroad targets in the Munich and Regensburg-Linz, Austria areas.
AUSTRIA: Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the Klagenfurt marshalling yard as a target of opportunity.
The Taifun Express, rocket and missile train arrives at Linz. (Sandy Bybee)
ITALY: During the night of 13/14 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26 Invaders continue to hit communications in the Po Valley; bad weather over the northern part of the Brenner line prevents medium bomber attacks but the B-25s, escorted by 54 Thirteenth Air Force P-51s, hit alternates on the southern part of the line at Salorno, San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and Chiusaforte, bomb gun emplacements southeast of La Spezia in support of the US Fifth Army, and hit 5 defensive positions along the British Eighth Army front in the Argenta area; fighter-bombers concentrate on supporting Fifth Army forces southwest of Bologna.
318 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit ammunition factories at Avigliana, Spilimbergo, Malcontenta, and Palmanova, and a motor transport depot at Osoppo; 158 fighters provide escort.
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: The scene is now set for the Red Army's assault on Berlin. The victorious marshals, Zhukov, Konev and Rokossovky, are drawn up in overwhelming strength, ready to attack. Zhukov and Konev dislike one another, and there is keen rivalry between them for the honour of taking the German capital. Elsewhere, the Russians are slackening their advance. East Prussia is now harmless. Vienna has fallen. Graz is threatened. But it seems as if the Russians are holding their breath in readiness for the last 40-mile march on Berlin. It will be a desperate affair.
JAPAN: On Okinawa, the 4th and 29th Marines launched a coordinated attack on the Motobu Peninsula inland in an easterly direction and west and southwest from the centre of the peninsula, respectively. (Richard Gaines)
Kamikazes damage battleship USS New York (BB-34) and destroyers USS Sigsbee (DD-502), USS Dashiell (DD-659), and USS Hunt (DD-674).
Carrier-based F6F Hellcats, FM Wildcats and F4U Corsairs shoot down 45 Japanese aircraft near the ships of Task Force 58.
The aircraft carrier HMS Formidable joins the RN's Task Force 57 replacing HMS Illustrious which is ordered to retire for an overhaul.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese vessels sunk at sea:
- Submarine USS Gabilan (SS-252) attacks a Surabaya-to-Makassar convoy, sinking a cargo vessel and an auxiliary submarine chaser.
- Submarine USS Tirante (SS-420) attacks Japanese convoy MOSI-02 in the approaches to the Yellow Sea, sinking a transport, an escort vessel, and a coast defence vessel west of Quelpart Island. For his skill and daring in carrying out this surface attack through mined and shoal-obstructed waters, Lieutenant Commander George L. Street III, Tirante's captain, will receive the Medal of Honor.
- An aircraft sinks an auxiliary submarine chaser off French Indochina.
- An aircraft sinks a merchant cargo ship near Rima Island.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 24 Seventh Air Force B-24s based on Angaur Island, Palau Islands, bomb supply and personnel areas at Tigatto.
Far East Air Forces B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers fly numerous strikes in support of ground forces and against airfields, gun positions, defences, and troop concentrations throughout Luzon, Cebu, Negros, and Mindanao Islands.
SBDs from Marine Aircraft Group 24 flew the last Marine aviation mission on Luzon, in support of the 37th Army Division. (Richard Gaines)
JAPAN: Tokyo: Not a building is left standing in ten square miles of Tokyo after a four-hour fire-bomb raid last night by 327 USAAF B-29s. Where yesterday there were wooden homes, workshops and munitions factories, there is only smoking rubble in which thousands are feared to have died. The imperial palace was also damaged. The fire-storm started as 2,139 tons of incendiaries filled with jellied petrol set buildings burning so fiercely that all air was consumed, creating strong winds that spread the fire further - until there was nothing left to burn.
BURMA: 41 Tenth Air Force P-47s and P-38s attack troops, supplies, and fuel dumps at Tawnghkam Nawng-hkam, Mong Kung, Loi-makhkawn, and Nawngkaw; 8 P-38s damage bridges at Kong pau and Kyawngteng; 446 transport flights are flown to forward areas.
CHINA: 24 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s, supported by 12 P-51s, bomb Loyang and knock out a bridge over the Yellow River; 30+ B-25s and 130+ fighter-bombers attack bridges (knocking out at least 6), river, road, and rail traffic, troops, storage areas, town areas, and general targets of opportunity over the vast expanse of southern and eastern China.
Far East Air Forces B-25s sweep the Canton-Hong Kong waterways, hitting shipping and other targets.
FORMOSA: Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb four airfields.