January 3
Gen. MacArthur and Adm. Nimitz given new commands
In preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and mainland Japan, Gen. Douglas MacArthur is placed in command of all U.S. ground forces and Adm. Chester Nimitz is placed…
A Year In History: 1945
Also Within This Year in History:
1945
Contents of Year 1945
January 5
Kamikaze pilots get first major order
On January 5, 1945, Japanese pilots received the first order to become kamikaze, meaning “divine wind” in Japanese. The suicidal blitz of the kamikazes revealed Japan’s desperation in the final…
January 9
United States invades Luzon in Philippines
Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the American 6th Army land on the Lingayen Gulf of Luzon, another step in the capture of the Philippine Islands from the Japanese. The Japanese controlled…
January 16
Hitler descends into his bunker
Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker, where he remains for 105 days until he died by suicide. Hitler retired to his bunker after deciding to remain in Berlin for…
January 17
Soviets capture Warsaw
Soviet troops liberate the Polish capital from German occupation. Warsaw was a battleground since the opening day of fighting in the European theater. Germany declared war by launching an air…
January 20
FDR inaugurated to fourth term
On January 20, 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only president to be elected to three terms in office, is inaugurated to his fourth—and final—term. At the height of the Great…
January 26
Decorated U.S. soldier Audie Murphy is wounded
The most decorated man of the war, American Lt. Audie Murphy, is wounded in France. Born the son of Texas sharecroppers on June 20, 1925, Murphy served three years of…
January 27
Auschwitz is liberated
On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland, freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps—and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there.…
January 31
The execution of Pvt. Slovik
Pvt. Eddie Slovik becomes the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion—and the only one who suffered such a fate during World War II. Pvt.…
February 4
Yalta Conference foreshadows the Cold War
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet to discuss the Allied war effort against Germany and Japan and to try and settle some…
February 11
Yalta Conference ends
On February 11, 1945, a week of intensive bargaining by the leaders of the three major Allied powers ends in Yalta, a Soviet resort town on the Black Sea. It…
February 13
Firebombing of Dresden
On the evening of February 13, 1945, a series of Allied firebombing raids begins against the German city of Dresden, reducing the “Florence of the Elbe” to rubble and flames,…
February 19
U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima
Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines’ invasion of Iwo Jima, is launched. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded by Japanese artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime…
February 23
U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima
February 23, 1945: During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment of the 5th Division take the crest of…
February 26
U.S. troops recapture Philippine island of Corregidor
On February 26, an ammunition dump on the Philippine island of Corregidor is blown up by a remnant of the Japanese garrison, causing more American casualties on the eve of…
March 3
Finland declares war on Germany
Finland, under increasing pressure from both the United States and the Soviet Union, finally declares war on its former partner, Germany. After the German invasion of Poland, the USSR, wanting…
March 6
Dutch Resistance ambushes SS officer
Members of the Dutch Resistance who were attempting to hijack a truck in Apeldoorn, Holland, ambush Lt. Gen. Hanns Rauter, an SS officer. During the following week, the German SS…
March 9
Firebombing of Tokyo
On the night of March 9, 1945, U.S. warplanes launch a new bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next…
March 10
The Firebombing of Tokyo continues
On March 10, 1945, 300 American bombers continue to drop almost 2,000 tons of incendiaries on Tokyo, Japan, in a mission that launched the previous day. The attack destroyed large…
March 12
General Fromm executed for plot against Hitler
On this day, the commander of the German Home Army, Gen. Friedrich Fromm, is shot by a firing squad for his part in the July plot to assassinate the Fuhrer.…
