April 26th, 1945 (THURSDAY)
GERMANY: British complete capture of Bremen.Galland is wounded and Obstlt.Heinz Ba(e)r took over command of the combined Luftwaffe unit of Jagdverband-44 and Erprobungskommando 162 which flies the Heinkel 162 Salamander jet fighter. (Russ Folsom)
Berlin: Russian tanks have crossed the Spree and reached the Jannowitz Bridge station within a few hundred yards of the Imperial Castle at the start of the Unter den Linden. There is, however, a surge of optimism in Hitler's bunker as General Wenck has launched his relief attack from the west and has made good progress towards the capital. On the Russian side, there is dismay at Konev's HQ because Stalin has divided Berlin between his armies and drawn the boundary so that Konev's rival, Zhukov gets the plum prize, the Reichstag.
Soviet artillery fire made the first direct hits on the Chancellery buildings and grounds directly above the Führerbunker. That evening, a small plane containing female test pilot Hanna Reitsch and Luftwaffe General Ritter von Greim landed in the street near the bunker following a daring flight in which Greim had been wounded in the foot by Soviet ground fire.
Once inside the Führerbunker the wounded Greim was informed by Hitler he was to be Göring's successor, promoted to Field-Marshal in command of the Luftwaffe.
Although a telegram could have accomplished this, Hitler had insisted Greim appear in person to receive his commission. But now, due to his wounded foot, Greim would be bedridden for three days in the bunker. (Gene Hanson)
SWITZERLAND: Vallorbe: With a soldier's bearing, Marshal Philippe Petain saluted the aide-de-camp of General Koenig, the Free French commander-in-chief. He then advanced towards Koenig with outstretched hand, Koenig refused to shake. It took the aged marshal a moment to realize that he was under arrest.
He was transferred to a second-class train which will arrive in Paris
early tomorrow. There the prosecutor in his case, Andre Mornet, said that
Petain's conduct deserved the death sentence "but he has reached an age
where considerations of humanity should prevail." He will later be tried
and convicted as a war criminal.
ITALY: The US 5th Army moves towards the Brenner Pass and west towards
Milan.
The British 8th Army moves northeast towards Venice and Trieste.
The US 15th Air Force conducts it last bombing mission when B-24s diverted
from the original targets in northern Italy attack marshalling yards at four locations in
southern Austria.
JAPAN: Off Okinawa, the destroyer USS
Hickox (DD-673) is damaged by Japanese aircraft.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES:
RAAF B-24
Liberators stage through
Corunna Downs to bomb Malang Airfield
near Surabaya. Weather is bad and one
Liberator is lost. The purpose
of the operation was to put this airfield out of
commission during the invasion of Tarakan. The operation was led by Squadron
Leader J. E. S. Dennett. The weather was bad over Java and over the alternate
target. Some Liberators bombed but results could not be observed.
The fifth aircraft in the mission (captained by Sqn-Ldr Wawn AFC) sent out
distress signals. He called for a bearing and said he was making for Truscott
airfield. Off Sumba, he radioed that he would have to land. He did
so successfully but Japanese soldiers arrived almost immediately and captured
all the crew. They were taken first to Sumbawa, then to Lombok and Bali. They
finally arrived in Batavia at the end of June 1945. They reported
brutal treatment, including beatings and torture, particularly on Sqn-Ldr Wawn.
They were released in Batavia at the end of the war. (Michael
Alexander Mitchell)