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April 1945

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The following events occurred in April 1945:

April 1, 1945 (Sunday)

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April 2, 1945 (Monday)

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April 3, 1945 (Tuesday)

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April 4, 1945 (Wednesday)

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April 5, 1945 (Thursday)

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April 6, 1945 (Friday)

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April 7, 1945 (Saturday)

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  • Operation Ten-Go: The Japanese battleship Yamato and nine other warships launched a suicide attack on Allied forces engaged in the Battle of Okinawa. Yamato was bombed, torpedoed and sunk by U.S. Navy aircraft south of Kyushu with the loss of 2,055 of 2,332 crew. Five other Japanese warships were sunk by American aircraft.
  • The Allies began Operation Amherst, a Free French and British Special Air Service attack with the goal of capturing Dutch canals, bridges and airfields intact.
  • Germany sent out 120 student pilots to face 1,000 American bomber planes in a suicide operation with the objective of ramming their planes into the U.S. aircraft and then parachuting to safety. Only a few of the pilots managed to hit the bombers and three-quarters of the Luftwaffe pilots were shot down. It was the Sonderkommando Elbe group's first and last mission.[6]
  • Kantarō Suzuki replaced Kuniaki Koiso as Prime Minister of Japan.
  • German submarine U-1195 was depth charged and sunk southeast of the Isle of Wight by British destroyer Watchman.
  • Born: Werner Schroeter, film director, in Georgenthal, Germany (d. 2010)
  • Died: Elizabeth Bibesco, 48, English writer and socialite (pneumonia); Seiichi Itō, 54, Japanese admiral (killed in the sinking of the Yamato)

April 8, 1945 (Sunday)

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April 9, 1945 (Monday)

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April 10, 1945 (Tuesday)

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April 11, 1945 (Wednesday)

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  • Operation Opossum ended successfully with the rescue of the Sultan of Ternate and his family.
  • Allied commando unit Z Special Unit launched Operation Copper with the objective of capturing a Japanese officer for interrogation and discovering the location of two naval guns of Muschu Island, New Guinea. Eight commandos were landed but only one survived.
  • Chile declared war on Japan.[11]
  • Born: Christian Quadflieg, television actor and director, in Växjö, Sweden (d. 2023)
  • Died: Alfred Meyer, 53, German Nazi official, (suicide)

April 12, 1945 (Thursday)

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April 13, 1945 (Friday)

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April 14, 1945 (Saturday)

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April 15, 1945 (Sunday)

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April 16, 1945 (Monday)

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  • The Battle of Berlin began, opening with the Red Army launching the Battle of the Oder–Neisse and the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
  • Canadian forces took Harlingen and occupied Leeuwarden and Groningen in the Netherlands.
  • The German transport ship Goya was sunk in the Baltic Sea by Soviet submarine L-3 with the loss of over 6,000 lives.
  • German submarines U-78, U-880 and U-1274 were lost to enemy action.
  • Oflag IV-C, a prisoner-of-war camp in Colditz Castle, was captured by soldiers of the U.S. 1st Army.
  • Death marches from Flossenbürg concentration camp began.
  • Harry S. Truman addressed Congress for the first time as president, in a speech broadcast over the major networks. "With great humility I call upon all Americans to help me keep our nation united in defense of those ideals which have been so eloquently proclaimed by Franklin Roosevelt," Truman said. "I want in turn to assure my fellow Americans and all of those who love peace and liberty throughout the world that I will support and defend those ideals with all my strength and all my heart. That is my duty and I shall not shirk it. So that there can be no possible misunderstanding, both Germany and Japan can be certain, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that America will continue the fight for freedom until no vestige of resistance remains!"[20]
  • American destroyer USS Pringle was sunk by a kamikaze attack off Okinawa.
  • Died: Ernst Bergmann, 53, German philosopher and proponent of Nazism (suicide)

April 17, 1945 (Tuesday)

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April 18, 1945 (Wednesday)

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April 19, 1945 (Thursday)

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April 20, 1945 (Friday)

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  • Soviet artillery began shelling Berlin at 11 a.m. on Hitler's 56th birthday.[1] Hitler left his underground Führerbunker to decorate a group of Hitler Youth soldiers on his last trip to the surface. Preparations were made to evacuate him and his staff to Obersalzberg to make a final stand in the Bavarian mountains, but Hitler refused to leave. Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler departed the bunker for the last time.[29]
  • The Seventh United States Army captured Nuremberg and pushed south.[29]
  • Operation Herring began, with American aircraft dropping Italian paratroopers over Northern Italy.
  • Mussolini gave the last interview of his life to one of his few remaining loyal followers, the fascist newspaper director Gian Gaetano Cabella. Mussolini declared that "Italy will rise again ... For me, however, it is over."[30]
  • The comedy-fantasy film The Horn Blows at Midnight starring Jack Benny was released.
  • "Morotai Mutiny" began: members of the Australian First Tactical Air Force based on the island of Morotai in the Dutch East Indies tendered their resignations to protest their belief that they were being assigned to missions of no military importance and in which they were not specialists; a subsequent inquiry effectively vindicated them.[31]
  • Born: Gregory Olsen, entrepreneur, engineer and scientist, in Brooklyn, New York
  • Died: Karl Holz, 49, German Nazi Gauleiter (found dead in a barricaded police bunker in Nuremberg; unknown whether suicide or injury sustained in firefight); Willy Liebel, 47, lord mayor of Nuremberg also died there by suicide; Herbert Lange, 35, German SS officer and commandant of Chełmno extermination camp (killed in action during the Battle of Berlin)

April 21, 1945 (Saturday)

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April 22, 1945 (Sunday)

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April 23, 1945 (Monday)

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  • The Race to Berlin saw Soviets approaching first
  • German radio broadcast a report that Adolf Hitler was in the "main fighting line" in Berlin and would "remain there despite all rumors." Allied circles doubted the report and suspected (incorrectly) that Hitler was in Bavaria organizing a last stand.[39]
  • Hermann Göring sent the so-called Göring telegram, a message asking for permission to assume leadership of the Third Reich. Interpreting the telegram as an act of treason, Hitler relieved Göring of his official titles and ordered his arrest.[35]
  • The main Flossenbürg concentration camp was liberated by the 90th Infantry Division, 358th and 359th Regiments (United States Army).[40]
  • Action of 23 April 1945: In one of the rare actions of the Pacific War to involve a German submarine, U-183 was sunk off the southern coast of Borneo by American submarine Besugo.
  • Antiship Bat missiles were used for the first time in combat when Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateers of the U.S. Navy launched two of them at Japanese vessels in Balikpapan Harbor in Borneo.
  • The 101 arrestees in the Freeman Field Mutiny were released.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court decided Cramer v. United States, deciding five-to-four to overturn the conviction of Anthony Cramer, a German-born naturalized citizen, for treason.
  • The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) was founded in the United Kingdom when the Institution of Industrial Safety Officers (IISO) was formed as a division of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). The Institution gained its charitable status in 1962 and would continue to operate as a not-for-profit organisation.

April 24, 1945 (Tuesday)

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April 25, 1945 (Wednesday)

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  • Elbe Day: Soviet and American troops met at the Elbe River near Torgau in Germany.
  • The East Prussian Offensive and the Samland Offensive ended in Soviet victory.
  • The Red Army consolidated its investment of Berlin[44] and cut the telephone lines to the Führerbunker.
  • General Robert Ritter von Greim was taken on a risky flight from Munich to Berlin by Hanna Reitsch for a meeting with Hitler. During the flight Greim was injured by enemy fire that struck the cockpit. Hitler promoted Greim to field marshal (making him the last German officer ever to achieve that rank) and gave him command of the Luftwaffe. Greim was then flown back out of Berlin with the only airworthy plane left in the city.[36]
  • Via telephone hookup, President Truman addressed the delegates at the opening session of the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO) in San Francisco. "You members of this Conference are to be the architects of the better world," Truman said. "In your hands rests our future. By your labors at this Conference, we shall know if suffering humanity is to achieve a just and lasting peace. Let us labor to achieve a peace which is really worthy of their great sacrifice. We must make certain, by your work here, that another war will be impossible."[45]
  • The final Luftwaffe air victories of World War II were recorded when five Allied bombers were shot down over Aussig in the modern-day Czech Republic.
  • Born: Stu Cook, bass guitarist (Creedence Clearwater Revival), in Oakland, California; Björn Ulvaeus, musician and member of ABBA, in Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Died: Miotero Geninetti, 40, Italian partisan (shot);[46] Walter Gross, 40, German physician and Nazi politician (suicide)

April 26, 1945 (Thursday)

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April 27, 1945 (Friday)

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  • While attempting to flee to Switzerland, Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were captured by partisans. The next day, both were summarily executed near Lake Como along with twelve other leading fascists. The bodies of Mussolini, Petacci and others were then brought to the Piazzale Loreto in Milan and hung upside down on public display at a gas station.[50]
  • The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front captured Potsdam directly adjacent to the city of Berlin.[38]
  • The Battle of Davao began.
  • The U.S. Fifth Army reached Genoa, although most of the city was already in the hands of resistance fighters.[1][38]
  • The Western Allies rejected Himmler's proposal to surrender all German forces in the west, interpreting the offer as an attempt to split their alliance with the Soviets.[35]
  • The Red Army captured the Berlin airports of Tempelhof and Gatow, preventing the capital from receiving any further supplies by air.[51]
  • U.S. troops liberated Kaufering concentration camp and found thousands of corpses.[38]
  • The provisional government of Austria headed by Karl Renner asserted its independence from Germany.[38]
  • Born: August Wilson, playwright, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2005)
  • Died: Hans Schleif, 43, German architect and member of the SS (suicide)

April 28, 1945 (Saturday)

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April 29, 1945 (Sunday)

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April 30, 1945 (Monday)

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "1945". MusicAndHistory.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  2. ^ "War Diary for Sunday, 1 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "War Diary for Tuesday, 3 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  4. ^ "U.S.S.R. Denunciation of Pact with Japan". ibiblio. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  5. ^ Iriye, Akira (1981). Power and Culture: The Japanese-American War, 1841–1945. Harvard University Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-674-03897-4.
  6. ^ a b "Timeline of the Air War, 1939–1945". PBS. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  7. ^ Mercer, Derrik, ed. (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 620. ISBN 978-0-582-03919-3.
  8. ^ a b c Boyne, Walter J. (2007). Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of the U.S. Air Force, 1947–2007. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 461. ISBN 978-1-4299-0180-2.
  9. ^ "The 84th Infantry Division". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  10. ^ Thomson, Rick. "The Last Mission of RAF Lancaster KB-834 of RAF 434 Squadron". Bomber Command Museum of Canada. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  11. ^ Doody, Richard. "A Timeline of Diplomatic Ruptures, Unannounced Invasions, Declarations of War, Armistices and Surrenders". The World at War. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  12. ^ Grazulis, Thomas P. (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes, 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. p. 919. ISBN 1-879362-03-1.
  13. ^ "Top Ten Deadliest Oklahoma Tornadoes (1882-Present)". National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  14. ^ a b "War Diary for Saturday, 14 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  15. ^ a b Paterson, Lawrence (2009). Black Flag: The Surrender of Germany's U-Boat Forces on Land and at Sea. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1-84832-037-6.
  16. ^ "Nation Bids Roosevelt Farewell". Brooklyn Eagle. April 15, 1945. pp. 1–2.
  17. ^ "Liberation of Bergen-Belsen". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  18. ^ "War Diary for Sunday, 15 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  19. ^ Trohan, Walter (April 16, 1945). "F.D.R. Buried at Hyde Park". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
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  21. ^ "Winston Churchill Pays Tribute to Franklin D. Roosevelt". World War II Today. Retrieved March 28, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Pete Gray 1945 Batting Gamelogs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  23. ^ Vu Ngu Chieu (February 1986). "The Other Side of the 1945 Vietnamese Revolution: The Empire of Viet-Nam". Journal of Asian Studies. 45 (2).
  24. ^ a b "War Diary for Wednesday, 18 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  25. ^ a b Moseley, Ray (2004). Mussolini: The Last 600 Days of Il Duce. Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 372. ISBN 978-1-58979-095-7.
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  27. ^ "Richard Dimbleby describes Belsen". BBC Archive. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  28. ^ "Boston Marathon Yearly Synopses (1897–2013)". John Hancock Financial. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  29. ^ a b "War Diary for Friday, 20 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  30. ^ "The Final Interview". Leonardo.it. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  31. ^ Alexander, Kristen (2004-09-01). ""Cleaning the Augean stables": the Morotai Mutiny?". Sabretache. Military Historical Society of Australia.
  32. ^ a b Trevor-Roper, Hugh (2012). The Last Days of Hitler (ebook) (Seventh ed.). Pan Books. ISBN 978-0-330-47027-8.
  33. ^ Masur, Norbert (1993). My Meeting with Heinrich Himmler, April 20/21 1945. Translated by Henry Karger. pp. 1–14. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  34. ^ Jones, Bill (1989). The Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler (Television documentary). BBC. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  35. ^ a b c d O'Neill, Robert; Hart, Russell; Hart, Stephen (2010). World War II: Northwest Europe 1944–1945. Rosen Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4358-9129-6.
  36. ^ a b c d Davidson, Edward; Manning, Dale (1999). Chronology of World War Two. London: Cassell & Co. pp. 245–246. ISBN 0-304-35309-4.
  37. ^ "War Diary for Sunday, 22 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  38. ^ a b c d e "War Diary for Friday, 27 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  39. ^ "Hitler Leading Berlin Defense". Madera Tribune. Madera, California. April 23, 1945. p. 1.
  40. ^ "Flossenbürg". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  41. ^ Ziemke, Earl F. (1969). Battle for Berlin: End of the Third Reich. Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II, Battle Book #6. Ballantine Books.
  42. ^ "CENTRAL EUROPE CAMPAIGN (March 22 - May 11, 1945) - The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion and the Dachau Subcamps, March 9 – May 11, 1945". goforbroke.org. Go For Broke National Education Center. February 2015. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2019. In fact, the brutal death marches south had already begun on April 24. Jewish prisoners from the outer Dachau camps were marched to Dachau, and then 70 miles south.
  43. ^ "Britain's Budget". Daily Advertiser. Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. April 26, 1945. p. 1.
  44. ^ Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945. Viking-Penguin. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
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  46. ^ Gallo, Gino (2016). Rivalta e la Resistenza [Rivalry and the Resistance] (in Italian).
  47. ^ "Petain in France". The Guardian. April 27, 1945. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  48. ^ Leonard, Thomas M. (1977). Day By Day: The Forties. New York: Facts On File, Inc. p. 490. ISBN 0-87196-375-2.
  49. ^ Woszczerowicz, Zuzanna (2022). "Recenzja: Zbigniew Kopociński, Krzysztof Kopociński, Horka – łużycka Golgota służby zdrowia 2. Armii Wojska Polskiego". Zeszyty Łużyckie (in Polish). 57: 257. doi:10.32798/zl.954. ISSN 0867-6364.
  50. ^ a b c "War Diary for Saturday, 28 April 1945". Stone & Stone Books. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  51. ^ Heiber, Helmut; Glantz, David M., eds. (2002). Hitler and His Generals: Military Conferences 1942–1945. Enigma Books. p. 726. ISBN 978-1-929631-28-5.
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  53. ^ "This Day in Hockey History". Hooked on Hockey Magazine. 30 April 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2016.