Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)
February 26, 1945: In northern Europe, on the western front, Operation Blockbuster (a ’restart of Operation veritable, which had slowed due to german defenses) begins with Canadian 1st Army attacking around Calcar, Udem, and Xanten.
US 9th Army captures Bruck, Golkrath, Matzerath, Tenholt, Kueckhoven, Bellinghoven, Wockerath, Erkelenz, Terheeg, Hauthausen, Mennekrath, Hasselsweiler, Gevelsdorf, Guesten, Speil, Ameln, Titz, Kalrath, Oberembt, Kirch, and Troisdorf. US 1st Army attacking around Steinstrass, Elsdorf, Wuellenrath, Berrendorf, Buir, Blatzheim, Manheim, Morschenich, Golzheim, Girbelsrath, Eschweiler, Stockheim, Frauwullesheim, Soller, Udingen, Leversbach, Rath, Boich, and Jakobwuellesheim. Patton’s US 3rd Army pushes across the Pruem River.
On the Western Front... There are renewed attacks, by British and Canadian elements of British 21st Army Group, near Udem and Calcar. The US 1st and 9th Army units are moving rapidly from their bridgeheads over the Our River.
Over Germany, 1,066 US 8th Air Force bombers drop about 3000 tons of bombs on Berlin; some 500,000 incendiaries are among the bombs - the targets are 3 railway stations. A total of 15 bombers and 7 escort fighters are lost. During the night, 38 RAF Mosquito bombers attack Berlin, guided by the light of the fires started during the day. US 8th Air Force also attacks targets of opportunity with 69 bombers and RAF Bomber Command sends 149 aircraft to attack Dortmund during the day and 38 aircraft to attack Nuremberg overnight.
On the eastern front, the Germans begin evacuations of wounded and refugees from Kolberg and other ports along the Baltic coast. These operations continue until the ports are captured during March. Soviet forces launch attacks into East Pomerania. Near Stettin, Soviet forces continue hold the positions despite German counter-attacks. The 19th Army of Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front continues attacking toward Neustettin and the Baltic coast in an effort to cut off German 2nd Army.
In Italy, US 12th Air Force aircraft attack targets across northern Italy and provide direct support to US 5th Army operations.
Pictured: Montgomery visiting Canadian troops in the Kleve-Goch sector, Germany, February 26, 1945; left to right: Vokes, Crerar, Montgomery, Horrocks, Simonds, Spry, Mathews
A knocked out Tiger tank in Elsdorf, Germany, February 26, 1945
A column of vehicles from the 3rd Armored's engineering battalion arrives in Duren, Germany, on February 26, 1945. Note the M36 Tank Destroyer from the 703rd TD Bn at left, to provide protection.
On Iwo Jima, US V Amphibious Corps continues assaulting Japanese positions, slowly driving them backwards.
US Fifth Marine Division riflemen waited while a fellow Marine burned out a Japanese-held cave with flame thrower, Iwo Jima, February 26, 1945
Private Wilson D. Watson single-handedly kills 90 Japanese soldiers, enabling his platoon to advance and earning him the name "One-Man Regiment”. His actions earn him the Medal Of Honor, here is his citation:
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Automatic Rifleman serving with the Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 and 27 February 1945. With his squad abruptly halted by intense fire from enemy fortifications in the high rocky ridges and crags commanding the line of advance, Private Watson boldly rushed one pillbox and fired into the embrasure with his weapon, keeping the enemy pinned down single-handedly until he was in a position to hurl in a grenade and then running to the rear of the emplacement to destroy the retreating Japanese and enable his platoon to take its objective. Again pinned down at the foot of a small hill, he dauntlessly scaled the jagged incline under fierce mortar and machine-gun barrages and with his assistant automatic rifleman charged the crest of the hill, firing from his hip. Fighting furiously against Japanese troops attacking with grenades and knee-mortars from the reverse slope, he stood fearlessly erect in his exposed position to cover the hostile entrenchments and held the hill under savage fire for fifteen minutes, killing sixty Japanese before his ammunition was exhausted and his platoon was able to join him. His courageous initiative and valiant fighting spirit against devastating odds were directly responsible for the continued advance of his platoon and his inspiring leadership throughout this bitterly fought action reflects the highest credit upon Private Watson and the United States Naval Service.”
After the war, Wilson "Doug" Watson returned to the US and lived to the age of 72.
Private First Class Douglas T. Jacobson earns the Medal Of Honor by destroying a total of sixteen enemy positions and annihilating approximately seventy-five Japanese, contributing essentially to the success of his division's operations. Here is his Medal Of Honor citation:
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the Third Battalion, Twenty-Third Marines, Fourth Marine Division, in combat against enemy Japanese forces during the seizure of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands, February 26, 1945. Promptly destroying a stubborn 20-mm. antiaircraft gun and its crew after assuming the duties of a bazooka man who had been killed, Private First Class Jacobson waged a relentless battle as his unit fought desperately toward the summit of Hill 382 in an effort to penetrate the heart of Japanese cross-island defenses. Employing his weapon with ready accuracy when his platoon was halted by overwhelming enemy fire on February 26, he first destroyed two hostile machine-gun positions, then attacked a large blockhouse, completely neutralizing the fortification before dispatching the five-man crew of a pillbox and exploding the installation with a terrific demolitions blast. Moving steadily forward, he wiped out an earth-covered rifle emplacement and, confronted by a cluster of similar emplacements which constituted the perimeter of enemy defenses in his assigned sector, fearlessly advanced, quickly reduced all six positions to a shambles, killed ten of the enemy and enabled our forces to occupy the strong point. Determined to widen the breach thus forced, he volunteered his services to an adjacent assault company, neutralized a pillbox holding up its advance, opened fire on a Japanese tank pouring a steady stream of bullets on one of our supporting tanks and smashed the enemy tank's gun turret in a brief but furious action culminating in a single-handed assault against still another blockhouse and the subsequent neutralization of its firepower. By his dauntless skill and valor, Private First Class Jacobson destroyed a total of sixteen enemy positions and annihilated approximately seventy-five Japanese, thereby contributing essentially to the success of his division's operations against the fanatically defended outpost of the Japanese Empire. His gallant conduct in the face of tremendous odds enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
Douglas T. Jacobson would also return to the US after the war, he lived to be 74 years old. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia.
