70 Years Ago Today: Wednesday, January 17, 1945 ** Selected Highlights ** European Theater 8th Air Force Mission 798 – 700 bombers and 362 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on oil refineries at Hamburg and Harburg and Gee-H and H2X attacks on rail targets. During the night, the RAF dispatches 72 Mosquitos to Magdeburg, eight to the Ruthen oil-storage depot and three each to Cologne, Frankfurt, Koblenz and Mannheim. European Theater, Western Europe In the British Second Army’s XII Corps area, some elements of the 7th Armored Division advance northeast from Dieteren and seize Echt, while others move south and take Susteren. In the US First Army’s VII Corps area, the 3rd Armored Division mops up and improves its positions near Cherain and Sterpigny. The 331st Infantry, of the 83rd Division, starts to clear the high ground southwest of Courtil. In the XVIII Corps (Airborne) area, the 75th Division seizes Petit Thier, Vielsalm, and neighboring villages. In the V Corps area, the 1st Division, making a main effort on the right, fights to clear a defile south of Ondenval. The 23rd Infantry attacks toward the high ground north and northwest of Iveldingen. In the US Third Army’s VIII Corps area, Bourcy and Hardigny fall to the 101st Airborne Division. In the III Corps area, the 6th Armored Division meets heavy resistance near the Bourcy–Longvilly road. The 90th Division resists enemy efforts to regain Oberwampach and clears the wooded area south of the railroad tracks. In the US Seventh Army’s VI Corps area, the 1st Battalion, of the 315th Infantry, attached to the 14th Armored Division, attacks toward Rittershoffen, where Combat Command A is still engaged, but cannot reach the town. Combat Command R withstands enemy pressure in Hatten. The Germans continue to be aggressive in the 232nd Infantry’s sector of the 79th Division front, occupying Roeschwoog, Dengolsheim, Stattmatten, and part of Sessenheim, but a counterattack clears Sessenheim. The 12th Armored Division makes little headway against the Gambsheim bridgehead, as Combat Command B is again held up at the river, southeast of Rohrweiler, and Combat Command A gains a precarious foothold in Herrlisheim, with the 17th Armored Infantry Battalion, but the 43rd Tank Battalion is cut off outside the town and wiped out. Eastern Europe The First White Russian Front overruns Warsaw, capital of Poland. Mediterranean Theater, Italian Campaign 12th Air Force medium bombers, taking advantage of improved weather conditions, attack six rail targets on the Brenner rail line, blocking the line at Calliano, cutting tracks at Ora, and destroying a section of the bridge at Sacile. India – Burma Theater (India) 20th Air Force (XX Bomber Command) Mission 29 – 92 B-29s, from Chengtu, China, are sent to bomb the airfield at Shinchiku, Formosa. One B-29 is lost. China Theater The 14th Air Force dispatches 12 B-25s to bomb the town area, river shipping, and trucks at Ishan, while three B-25s and eight P-40s pound sampans and storage areas west of Hengshan, and two more B-25s hit an oil dump and other targets of opportunity in the Hsiang River Valley and blasts a troop compound at Chaling, all in China. India – Burma Theater (Burma) In Burma, four B-25s, from the 10th Air Force, demolish two bypass bridges at Ho-hko, while eight others pound the village of Mansam. 20 P-47s support ground forces along the Irrawaddy River, hitting targets at Konkha, Onbaing, and Wabyudaung. Transports fly 489 sorties to forward bases and frontline areas. In Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area in Burma, the US 5332nd Brigade clears Japanese outpost from Namhkam village, within three miles of the Burma Road, and begins to clear the ridge, which this village surmounts. Southwest Pacific Area (Battle of Luzon) Far East Air Force (FEAF) B-24s bomb railroad yards at Legaspi, while B-25s hit roads and railways east of Manila, destroying many railroad cars and troop-laden trucks. Other B-24s pound the Daliao area, on Mindanao Island, and the Talisay Airfield, on Negros Island. In the I Corps area, the 6th Division begins a push on the Cabaruan Hills, with the 20th Infantry, and on Urdaneta, with the 1st Infantry. The 25th Division attacks in the center of I Corps, with the 27th Infantry on the right and the 161st Infantry on the left. The 103rd Infantry, of the 43rd Division, takes Pozorrubio, from which most Japanese have withdrawn. The 158th Infantry takes the ridge about 1,000 yards northeast of Damortis. Central Pacific Area The 7th Air Force sends 14 B-24s, from Saipan Island, to pound airfields on Iwo Jima Island. During the night, the 7th Air Force dispatches two B-24s, from Guam and Saipan, on individual harassment strikes against Iwo Jima.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 12:28:44 +0000