What Happened in 1945

Bob Marley Born

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and... Read more

Anglo-Canadian Forces Begin Operation Veritable (Battle of the Reichswald)

Operation Veritable was a Second World War pincer movement conducted by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group to clear and occupy the... Read more

American Forces Take Control of Pasig River

The battle for Manila was one of the only urban combat experiences for the US Army in the Pacific. General Robert Beitler, US Army 37th Division... Read more

Japanese Garrison on Provisor Island Falls to 37th Division

Administering a city requires not only looking out for the needs of the individual inhabitants, but also safeguarding city functions such as water... Read more

US Forces Complete Encirclement of Manila

After the American landing at Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945, the US Army sped toward Manila. The city became a battlefield from February 4 to... Read more

The British Royal Air Force Bombs The City Of Dresden

It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under... Read more

Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp is Liberated by Soviet Forces

At its peak activity in 1944, the Gross-Rosen complex had up to sixty subcamps located in eastern Germany and occupied Poland. In its final stage,... Read more

U.S. Marines Land on Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19 – March 26, 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a battle in which the United States fought for and captured Iwo... Read more

U.S. Marines Capture Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima

On February 19, 1945, as part of their island-hopping strategy to defeat Japan, the United States invaded Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was originally not a... Read more

Allied Forces Cross the Roer River through Operation Grenade

The U. S. Breakthrough Begins with the Crossing of the Roer: The Ninth Army's crossing of the Roer was a short, violent struggle against the... Read more

Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn are Divorced

In the spring of 1944 Hemingway finally decided to go to Europe to report the war, heading first to London where he wrote articles about the RAF... Read more

Anne Frank Dies of Typhus, Along with Her Sister, at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

Both sisters died of typhus in March 1945, just a few weeks before British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945. SS officials also... Read more

American and Filipino Forces Secure Control of Intramuros

On the afternoon of 3 March Lieutenant General Oscar W. Griswold, commander of 14th Corps, reported to Gen. Krueger of 6th Army that all resistance... Read more

American Forces Capture the Ludendorff Bridge and Cross the Rhine into Germany through Operation Lumberjack

The Ludendorff Bridge (in World War II, frequently called the Bridge at Remagen) was a railway bridge across the Rhine in Germany, connecting the... Read more

SS General Karl Wolff Offers Plan for Local Surrender of German Forces in Northern Italy During Secret Negotiations with Western Allies

During World War II, Operation Crossword or Operation Sunrise was a series of secret negotiations conducted in March 1945 in Switzerland between... Read more

"Children Of Paradise" Is Released

Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 film by French director Marcel Carné, made during the Nazi... Read more

Japanese Army Officials Intern French Indochina Authorities, Assume Control of French Asian Territory

During World War II, the French were defeated by the Germans in 1940. For French Indochina, this meant that the colonial authorities became Vichy... Read more

17th Academy Awards

The 17th Academy Awards marked the first time this awards ceremony was broadcast nationally on the ABC Radio network. Through the 1940’s, the... Read more

Collapse of the Ludendorff Bridge

Later on March 17, ten days after its capture, the bridge suddenly collapsed into the Rhine. Twenty-eight U.S. Army engineers were killed while... Read more

With Defeat Looming, Adolf Hitler Orders the Destruction of Remaining German Industry

By late 1944, the Red Army had driven the Germans back into Central Europe and the Western Allies were advancing into Germany. Hitler realized that... Read more

Operation Bowler

By early 1945 northern Italy's rail and road network had undergone severe damage, forcing the Germans to resort to shipping goods into Venice and... Read more

Allied Forces Cross the Rhine into Germany (Operation Plunder)

Commencing on the night of 23 March 1945 during World War II, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the Rhine river at Rees, Wesel, and south of... Read more

Operation Varsity

Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) was a joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more... Read more

U.S. Marines Secure Iwo Jima

Of the 22,786 Japanese soldiers entrenched on the island, 21,570 died either from fighting or by ritual suicide. Only 216 were captured during the... Read more

Oklahoma A&M Beats NYU in NCAA Men's Basketball Championship

The 1945 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of... Read more