World War 2 timeline
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Partisan Units Liberate Jasenovac Concentration Camp from the Ustaše
In April 1945, as Partisan units approached the camp, the Ustaše camp supervisors attempted to erase traces of the atrocities by working the death... Read more
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Ravensbrück Concentration Camp is Liberated by Soviet Troops
Camp authorities initiated a second round of killings at such “euthanasia” killing centers later in 1942, continuing until 1944. During this phase,... Read more
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Vienna Offensive
On April 2, 1945, Vienna Radio denied that the Austrian capital has been declared an open city. On the same day, Soviet troops approached Vienna... Read more
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Operation Ten-Go
Operation Ten-Go (天號作戰 (Kyūjitai) or 天号作戦 (Shinjitai), Ten-gō Sakusen?) was the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater of World... Read more
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Westerbok Concentration Camp is Liberated by the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division
The Westerbork camp had a "double life." While most inmates stayed in the camp for only short periods of time before being deported, there was also... Read more
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Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp is Liberated by British Forces
On April 15, 1945, British forces liberated Bergen-Belsen. The British found around sixty thousand prisoners in the camp, most of them seriously... Read more
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Edward R. Murrow Reports From the Liberation of Buchenwald
I asked to see one of the barracks. It happened to be occupied by Czechoslovaks. When I entered, men crowded around, tried to lift me to their... Read more
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Battle of the Oder-Neisse Begins as Soviets Approach Berlin
The Battle of the Oder-Neisse is the German name for the initial (operational) phase of one of the last two strategic offensives conducted by the... Read more
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U.S. Marines Clear Motubu Penninsula after Heavy Fighting
The main landing was made by XXIV Corps and III Amphibious Corps on the Hagushi beaches on the western coast of Okinawa on L-Day, April 1, which... Read more
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Allied Forces Clear the Ruhr Pocket
The first step in realizing Eisenhower's plan was the eradication of the Ruhr Pocket. Even before the encirclement had been completed, the Germans... Read more
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Soviet Forces Begin Shelling of Berlin
The amount of equipment deployed for the Berlin operation was so huge I simply cannot describe it and I was there......... Read more
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Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is Liberated by the Red Army and the Polish 2nd Infantry Division of Ludowe Wojsko Polskie
Soviet forces liberated the Sachsenhausen camp itself on April 22, 1945. They found only about 3,000 ill and weak prisoners in the camp.... Read more