Posted on 04/01/2015 4:19:09 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
Major General H.W. Blakeley, USA, Ret., 32d Infantry Division World War II
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy
The News of the Week in Review
Blitzkrieg Strikes Germany from West and East (map) – 15
Fifteen News Questions – 16
“Mein Kampf-Volume 2” (cartoon) – 17
Eisenhower Drives toward Four Big Objectives (Middleton) – 18-19
“The Last Mile” (cartoon) – 19
The Net around Japan Draws Tighter (map) – 20
Attacks on Ryukyus Open New War Stage (Hailey) – 21
New Air Tactics Used in Reduction of Japan (by Robert Trumbull) – 22
Answers to Fifteen News Questions – 22
What Courses Remain for the Nazis Now? (by Hanson W. Baldwin) – 23-24
The Recession of the Black Tide (maps) – 24-25
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/3/01.htm
April 1st, 1945 (SUNDAY)
FRANCE: Paris: Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe are floodlit for the first time since the war broke out.
GERMANY: The US 1st and 9th Armies link at Lippstadt cutting off the Ruhr. 325,000 men of the German 15th and 5th Panzer Armies under Field Marshal Model are surrounded.
The LIII A.K. attack to breakout of the “Ruhr pocket” recaptures Medebach but can go no further. Hitler orders Field Marshall Walter Model, commander of Army Group B, to cease breakout attempts and to tie down as many enemy troops as possible through a vigorous defence. (Jeff Christman)
HUNGARY: The Red Army captures Sopron, near the Austrian frontier south-east of Vienna.
FINLAND: Finnish Air Force changes its national insignia from blue swastika to a white-blue-white roundel.
U.S.S.R.: The highest Soviet military command, Stavka, formulates the political goals of the strategic strikes of the coming summer: “to purge our country of fascist invaders and reach the Barents Sea - Black Sea line”.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN EUROPE: Almost 400 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s bomb the Maribor, Yugoslavia, railroad bridge, marshalling yards at Sankt Polten, Selzthal, Zeltweg, Graz, and Villach, Austria, the railroad bridge at Krieglach, Austria, and gun positions on the Adriatic coast near Venice, Italy; 82 P-38s bomb the Ybbs, Austria, railroad bridge while 52
P-51s strafe rail traffic in the Prague-Plzen, Czechoslovakia, area; other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort.
ITALY: During the night of 31 March/1 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26 Invaders on intruder missions over the Po Valley continue to attack road and railroad bridges, motor transport, loading points, and other targets; principal strikes are made at Po River bridges; fighters and fighter-bombers during the day strike rail bridges, dumps, rail lines, marshalling yards, trains, vehicles, gun positions, several buildings (including an ammunition plant and truck factory), and a variety of targets of opportunity in the Po Valley and northeastern Italy; B-25s hit railroad bridges at Calcinato, Crema, Mantua, Monselice, Colle Isarco, San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and Perea.
Cesena: In a small cinema here four days ago, the commander of the Eighth Army, Lt-Gen Richard McCreery, summoned all officers over the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His intention, he told them, was to destroy the Germans south of the river Po in what could be the last great battle of the gruelling Italian campaign. Soon the Germans will face a massive assault from armies which include Americans (many of Japanese origin), Britons, Brazilians, Italians, New Zealanders, Poles, Indians, Ghurkhas and a Jewish brigade. British commandos began their attack east of Lake Comacchio tonight.
BURMA: The Tenth Air Force dispatches 10 B-25s to attack roads and bridges behind enemy lines in central Burma; 478 transport flights are made throughout the day
The British 36 Division forces begin to push down the railroad from Mandalay to Rangoon.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 4 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s attack railroad targets at Ninh Binh and Minh Koi.
CHINA: 7 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the Ft Bayard storage area; 6 B-25s and 6 P-51s attack river shipping and warehouses in the Sienning-Puchi area; 5 B-25s hit warehouses and other buildings at Hsuchang while 3 damage a bridge at Changtuikuan; single B-25s bomb targets of opportunity around Sanshihlitun, Sichuan, Loning, and Suicheng; 23 P-51s pound airfields in the Shanghai area; 70+ other fighter-bombers attack river, road, and rail traffic, storage areas, troops, and general targets of opportunity throughout wide areas of occupied south and eastern China.
FORMOSA: Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-24s attack Giran Airfield while B-25s and P-47s sweep wide areas.
Off Formosa, the USN submarine USS Queenfish (SS-393) inadvertently sinks the Japanese relief ship SS Awa Maru (11,600-ton) in Formosa Straits. Awa Maru, a cartel ship, is carrying Red Cross supplies earmarked for distribution to Allied POWs in Singapore. Guaranteed safe conduct by the U.S. government, Awa Maru is properly marked and lighted, but Queenfish’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Loughlin, does not discern the markings in the foggy weather in which his boat encounters the enemy vessel. Loughlin is relieved of his command for the mistake, and is court-martialled. He is subsequently convicted of one of three charges, negligence in obeying orders. After the war, it will be confirmed that the Awa Maru was loaded with munitions and contraband. (Jack McKillop and Ron Babuka)
JAPAN: Operation Iceberg; the invasion of Okinawa begins. Admiral Turner with TF 51 consists of 1200 transport and landing ships, 450,000 Army and Marine soldiers. The III Amphibious and XXIV Corps of General Buckner’s 10th Army land in the Hangushi area on the SW side of Okinawa They land against no resistance. They secure a bridgehead of 3 miles by 9 miles by nightfall. Kadena and Yontan Airfields are captured.
US TF 58; British TF 57; and TF 54 (Heavy ships) are also involved. The BB USS West Virginia and CV HMS Indomitable, receive damage from Kamikaze raids.
The first successful mission of the ‘Ohka’ suicide plane takes place today when they damage the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), attack transports USS Hinsdale (APA-120) and USS Alpine (APA-92), and tank landing ship USS LST-884.
Shortly after the landings on the west coast, a feint landing is made on the southeast coast of the island by the US 2d Marine Division. (Benis M. Frank)
EAST CHINA SEA: A kamikaze attack kills 14 sailors on board British carrier HMS INDEFATIGABLE and damages the destroyer HMS ULSTER.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The U.S. Army’s 158th Regiment Combat Team lands near Legaspi, southern Luzon, under cover of naval gunfire and USAAF aircraft.
After the troops encounter only token opposition at the beaches, considerable opposition develops inland.
On Luzon Island, Far East Air Forces B-24s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit the Legaspi area in support of the landings above, targets north of Balete Pass, the Batangas area, and support troops over parts of southern and north-western Luzon. In the central Philippine Islands, B-25s and A-20s support ground forces near Cebu City on Cebu Island and on Negros Island.
BORNEO: Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Oelin Airfield.
interesting article on the inside that Mustangs were able to shoot down Messerschmit 262’s - jet airplanes
It is April. Hitler will not live to see May.
The war in Europe will be over in five weeks.
But many, many more soldiers and civilians will die in that short time.
It is not over, and the orgy of killing is not yet satiated.
I had done a lot of research about the Alpenfestung that the Germans were supposed to have built...
In the last six weeks of the war in Europe 10,566 Americans would be killed and wounded.
I would imagine the size of the paper—or at least the column inches devoted to news—will be huge over the coming weeks. Between the end in Europe and Okinawa, there is going to be a lot of news.
One of the problems with the early jet engines was slow response time to throttle changes. If the piston engine fighters could catch a ME-2623 from a height advantage while the jets was at cruise they had a fair shot at catching the jet.
One of the tactics that the Allies used to counter the Germans jet fighters was to call out over the radio “JETS”. The airfields that the jets operated from were mostly known, mainly because the jets required a long concrete runway. Upon hearing the call of “JETS” Allied fighters would head for those airfields and stand guard, so to speak. The German jets were very vulnerable when taking off and landing, again due to the slow response times of the engines.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
I wonder what happened to the twin newborns in the above story, Iwo Johnson and Jima Johnson? If they are still around they will have just turned 70.
The quality seems to have gone to pot suddenly on the [April 1, 1945], HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map.
Including a link anyway in case you or anyone still finds any use in it.
http://www.loc.gov/resource/g5701s.ict21301/
Civilians, Okinawa; Easter Mass, USS Cambria (APA-36), 4/1/1945
https://archive.org/details/NPC-11255
Refugee Story, Gross-Umstadt & Munster, Germany, 04/01/1945 - 04/05/1945
https://archive.org/details/ADC-3908
http://livingasapprentices.com/2013/11/11/communion-in-a-corral-bamburg-germany-easter-1945/
Communion in a Corral – Bamburg, Germany, Easter, 1945
MY JOURNEY
Last week I watched a moving episode of NCIS. One of the story lines on this episode saw Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the “Boss” of the unit, commandeered by his aging father to visit a dying WWII vet who had saved the father’s life during the war. The moving story becomes even more moving when it is revealed that the airman who saved the father was a German whose fighter plane bore a huge swastika.
The story brought not only tears but also the reminder of a story from my own life. My father, a young minister of a Reformed Church in America congregation in New Jersey, volunteered as a chaplain during WWII and served with the 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. As a chaplain, he was also medic’s assistant and was always at the battalion aid station usually within 800 yards of the forward infantry lines. On Dec. 17, 1944 he was captured by the Germans while caring for wounded soldiers. In March, 1945, the prisoners were liberated and began a long march to Allied lines. It was during the march that the incident occurred which the NCIS episode brought to my mind. It is recounted by a fellow soldier:
Rowland Koskamp was “every man’s preacher” He was the sort of person who gave courage and confidence to his friends and all others who came into contact with him. during our time as POW’s. He calmed the griper, supported the downer, let it be known that our present circumstance was only a temporary setback and that there is a caring God who is concerned and offers eternity to those who call upon him.
Easter Morning, April 1, 1945! We had been on our trek for about a week with early mornings on the road. Usually we were placed in barns where we would spend the night. Rowland had requested that Easter morning be spent at the same farm at which we had spent the night so that those who wished to attend a service could do so. . .
Those of us who wanted to attend a service were taken by the guards to a nearby corral. I was one of the last into the corral, and I was standing at the rear of the group. Just before Rowland’s first words, the German Colonel in charge of the group of about 300 prisoners entered the corral, closed the gate and stood next to me. Rowland’s message was first about the meaning of Easter, the historical event and its meaning to Christians. Then he delivered a powerful sermon on man’s inhumanity to others and the need for people to overcome petty human concerns and to serve God and one another. The Colonel, standing beside me, was in nearly constant movement as he almost imperceptibly twitched and dug his toes into the mud of the corral.
Always a very innovative and thoughtful man, Rowland had saved his bread ration for a few days and had somehow obtained a bottle of wine in the war-torn countryside. Then he led us in communion. He passed a part of a loaf of dark bread. Each broke off a piece and passed the bread along. The Colonel accepted the bread from me, broke off a piece and passed it along. When all had been served, we took the bread together. Then the bottle of wine was passed and each of us, including the Colonel, took a sip and passed the bottle along. To me it was an extremely meaningful time, especially as I shared the loaf and the wine with a man who was our enemy.
This deeply moving experience occurred on the last Sunday on earth for Rowland and the Colonel. They were both killed on the following Thursday.
Another soldier’s account of the deaths of the Colonel and my father reports that they occurred while 600 American planes were bombing the city of Nuremberg. At the end of the raid, the American pilots dumped their remaining bombs on a train station near the liberated POWs (who were running for cover) and blew up a railroad care loaded with munitions. This soldier reported seeing the German colonel standing at attention during the bombing. No trace of his body was found. Another American chaplain was sent to secure dog-tags from the bodies of the dead and came to one that read Rowland A. Koskamp. He says he quickly dropped the tag, reached for his shirt collar, saw his cross, and said a prayer for his wife and little daughter. My father was 29 when he died in service to his God and his country. I was 2.
Dr. Gregg Mast, currently President of New Brunswick Theological Seminary and a friend for years, wrote an article about my father in The Church Herald (April 2001), the former denominational magazine for the RCA. He said this:
Four days after Koskamp’s tragic death, in a camp named Flossenberg, less than fifty miles from where Koskamp was killed – a young German theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer was taken out and hanged for the opposition to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. An English officer who was with Bonhoeffer at Flossenburg later described his last service on Sunday, April 8. The words sound like an eerie echo of Koskamp’s last service, just a week before.
“Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little service of worship and spoke to us in a way that went to the heart of all of us. He found just the right words to express the spirit of our imprisonment. . . . He had hardly ended his last prayer when the door opened and two civilians entered. They said, ‘Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us.’ The next day he was hanged in Flossenburg.”
Two pastors. One American, the other German. One known and loved by his family, friends, and small congregation in Raritan, New Jersey. The other, already known by a world that had heard and heeded his courageous voice of prophetic sanity and ethical love. Two pastors, both tragically killed by their own countrymen in a war that has helped produce what Tom Brokaw called the “greatest generation.”
....The legacy of the men and women who served in armed conflict should be that those of us still here, especially those of us who are Christian, will find a way to love, forgive, and share life with those on the other side of our fences.
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