April 29th, 1945(SUNDAY)
GERMANY: Berlin: In the last hours before his suicide, Hitler proclaimed his faith that the Nazi creed will arise again from the ashes of Germany's defeat. "I die with a happy heart," he says in his last testament, in the certainty that through the sacrifices of his soldiers and himself there "will spring up ... the seed of a radiant rebirth of the National Socialist movement and thus of a truly united nation."
The Führer dictated his message to posterity during the night, soon after his wedding to Eva Braun. In it he says that "international Jewry" must bear "sole responsibility" for the war. Neither he nor "anybody else in Germany" wanted war, but "I left no one in doubt that this time not only would millions ... meet their death ... but this time the real culprits would have to pay for their guilt even though by more humane means than war."
He sees betrayal on all sides: in the army, the air force, even in the SS. And now Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, two men who had been at his side since the early days of the party, had betrayed him be seeking to end the war.
He concludes by asking that his personal possessions be passed to his sister, Paula, "for maintaining a petty bourgeois standard of living."
Hitler says goodbye to his medical staff. In the words of nurse Erna Fliegel:
``He came out of the side room, shook everyone's hand, and said a few friendly words. And that was it. " (Associated Press)
There is little left now for the defenders of Berlin to die for. They are being split up into small groups which fall back to fight from the Flak towers and large air-raid shelters. Guns are set up in railway yards, squares and parks to hold off the advancing tanks. It appears that a last stand will be made in the Tiergarten, but more and more men, realizing that defeat is inevitable, are risking the SS execution squads and surrendering.
Berlin: General Weidling's diary (90)
courtesy of Russ Folsom:
Catastrophe was inevitable if the Fuhrer did not reverse
his decision to defend Berlin to the last man, and if he sacrificed all who were
still alive and fighting in this town for the sake of a crazy idea. We racked
our brains as to how we could avert fate. Surely the Fuhrer must realize that
even the bravest soldier cannot fight without ammunition. The struggle was
devoid of point or sense. The German soldier could see no way out of this
situation. With a heavy heart I set out for the next situation briefing.
I once more mentioned the possibility of a breakout, and drew attention to the general situation. Like a man fully resigned to his fate, the Fuhrer answered me and pointed to his map. The position of our troops had been sketched in from reports on the foreign radio, because our HQs were no longer reporting them.
Since his orders were not being carried out, it was pointless to expect anything - for example, any help from VII Panzer Division (4), which according to its orders should have been approaching from the Nauen area.
The completely broken man got up from his chair with a great effort, with the purpose of allowing me to leave. But I urged him to take a decision as to what was to be done when all the ammunition was used up, which would be the evening of the next day at the latest. After a brief discussion with General Krebs, the Fuhrer replied that in that case the only thing to do would be to break out of Berlin in small groups, since he still refused to surrender Berlin.
30,000 surviving inmates of Dachau are liberated by troops of the US 3rd
Army. The advance continues toward Munich.
Dachau: Enraged GIs who liberated Dachau death camp today killed many SS guards
crossing their paths, including at least 30 who had surrendered. At Webling,
about five miles away, 43 SS men were killed, one an officer whose head was
smashed open with an entrenching tool. The GIs, men of the 157th and 222nd
Infantry Regiments, found mounds of bodies outside a crematorium, and lying
inside and alongside rail cattle trucks. Local civilians were busy looting,
accompanied by their children. An arrogant commander attempted a formal military
hand-over. The GIs screamed "Kill 'em!" and opened fire. Twelve died
before a colonel intervened.
Dachau: Those liberated today included Lt-Cdr Patrick Albert O'Leary
(real name Albert Marie Edmond Guerisse) (1911-89), a Belgian, who ran a PoW
escape network in France before his betrayal in 1943. Silent under torture, he
was sent to Dachau.
AUSTRIA: The Red Army sets up a provisional government in Vienna.
ITALY: The surrender of German forces in Italy is signed at Caserta.After three weeks of tense negotiations, the German garrison in Italy surrendered unconditionally. More than one million men - 22 German divisions in Italy and Austria - are preparing to lay down their arms and march into prison camps. A vast are of former Axis territory is now in Allied hands.
Negotiations began in great secrecy. The Germans had lost most of their heavy guns and tanks when they were trapped south of the Po. Fleeing survivors - including generals - had been forced to swim to safety as Allied tanks raced across the valley. Bologna had fallen and partisans had taken control of Milan and Turin. The German position was hopeless.
It was an SS general, Karl Wolff, who made the first overtures, using Cardinal Schuster of Milan as intermediary. The surrender document was signed at Allied headquarters here today. In a proclamation, General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, the German commander, told his soldiers: "Hitherto you have obeyed your Führer. Today you must obey your orders."
Venice is liberated by the 8th Army.
BURMA: The XXXIII Corps takes Allanmyo in the Irrawaddy
Valley. The series
of British attacks has caused a great deal of disorganization among
Japanese forces in this area.
The British 17th Indian Division has captured Nyaunglebim and continuing
toward Payagyi, in the Sittang Valley.
OKINAWA: Kamikazes damage the destroyers USS Hazelwood (DD-531) and USS Haggard (DD-555) and the light minelayers USS Shannon (DM-25) and USS Harry F. Baurer (DM-26).
CANADA: Earthquake hits Puget Sound area, centred near North Bend.
U.S.A.:
Heavy cruiser USS Bremerton commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy RA-66 of 24 ships, becomes involved in the last convoy battle of the
war. There are no transports sunk, only one damaged. But two U-boats are
lost. This battle will continue through the 2nd of May.
U-286 Type VIIC Sank the first time 17th March 1944 in the Baltic Sea east of Rgen after collision with U-1013. 26 survivors. Raised and repaired and returned to duty.
On 18 July 1944 a Norwegian Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 333/K) attacked the boat, causing damages and killing 1 man and wounding 7 more. The boat reached Kristiansand, Norway on the same day.
Finally sunk today in the Barents Sea north of Murmansk, Russia, in position 69.29N, 33.37E, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Loch Insh, Anguilla and Cotton. 51 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)
U-427 attacked destroyer HMCS Haida but missed upon departure of Convoy RA-66 from Kola Inlet. Also in escort were sister ships HMCS Iroquois and Huron.
U-307 sunk in the Barents Sea near Murmansk, Russia, in position 69.24N, 33.44E, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Loch Insh. 37 dead and 14 survivors.
Whilst
engaged on an A/S sweep off Kola prior to the departure of convoy RA.66, frigate
HMS Goodall is torpedoed and magazine explodes blowing away the forward part of
the ship. Beyond salvage, she is abandoned and scuttled. Location: entrance to
Kola Inlet at 69 25N 33 38E. Goodall is the last British warship to be sunk by
submarine attack. (Alex Gordon)(108)
U-1017 sunk in the North Atlantic NW of Ireland, in position 56.04N, 11.06W, by depth charges from an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator. 34 dead, unknown number of survivors.
(4) The 7th Panzer Division, as a battered remnant of Heeresgruppe Nord, was evacuated from Danzig shortly before it's fall to the Red Army in April 1945. It was evacuated without any vehicles or equipment to speak of, and was in the process of re-organization during the time it was purported to have taken part in the defence of Berlin. It's presence at Nauen in the late April 1945 time-frame, and in any recognizable combat-ready state, was by any standard, wishful thinking on the part of Hitler.