April 20, 1945: On the western front, elements from British 2nd Army are attacking around Bremen. US 9th Army continues preparing positions along the Elbe River and eliminating bypassed pockets in the rear while US 1st Army attacks Bitterfeld and Dessau and eliminates organized resistance in the Harz Mountains pocket. Elements of Patton’s US 3rd Army attack toward Regensburg while other troops discover the German weapons and munitions storage at Grafenwohr. Further south, US 7th Army captures Nuremberg and pushes southward. Instructed to sacrifice everything for speed the French 5th Armored Division and Spahi reconnaissance regiment enthusiastically overcame the fanatical resistance from German SS units to enter the western suburbs of Stuttgart, Germany. The tanks move so fast that it will not be until the following day that their supporting infantry (Moroccan and Algerian Tiralleurs) are able to catch up - but they had beaten the Americans to the southwest German city.
Between 13,500 and 15,000 prisoners are transferred from Buchenwald and Gross-Rosen sub-camps to the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in occupied Czechoslovakia over the following 20 days.
In Berlin, Hitler celebrates his 56th (and last) birthday in his bunker in Berlin with Goering, Himmler, Goebbels, Speer, Ribbentrop, Bormann, and other top military leaders. Preparations are made to evacuate Hitler and his staff from the bunker to Obersalzberg for a last stand in the Alpine Redoubt, but Hitler refuses to leave the bunker. Goering and Himmler depart Hitler's bunker for the last time. Doenitz rejects a Japanese invitation to transfer remaining German warships to Asia and continue warfare against the Allies.
Over Nazi Germany, US 8th Air Force attacks targets around Berlin with 755 bombers while US 15th Air Force fighters attack transportation targets. RAF Bomber Command sends 100 aircraft to attack Regensburg during the day, 76 aircraft to attack Berlin overnight (in what will be the RAF’s last mission against the German capital), and 36 aircraft to attack Schleissheim airfield overnight.
On the eastern from, in northern Germany, forces of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front join in the advance from the Oder River line, on a 30-mile frontage south-west of Stettin, opening an offensive against the German 3rd Panzer Army. To the south, German resistance on the Oder and Neisse river lines has been eliminated. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front capture Protzel and Bernau and begins heaping artillery fire on the eastern suburbs of Berlin. Units of 1st Ukrainian Fronts cross over the Spree River, capturing Barut and Juterbog and continuing attacking toward Berlin.
Joseph Stalin orders the Soviet Stavka to influence troops to be more humane toward the civilians of conquered German territories in order to ease the future occupation.
In Italy, US 5th Army breaks through the German defensive lines and reaches the Po River Valley north of Bologna, Italy. British 8th Army advances toward Bologna and crosses the Idice River. US 12th Air Force aircraft support US 5th Army operations and attack targets throughout northern Italy, while US 15th Air Force attacks targets throughout northern Italy with more than 700 bombers.
Pictured: A Bren gunner watches for enemy movement on the banks of the Elbe River, at Hoopte near Winsen, April 20, 1945.; US soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division walk through a devastated Nuremberg, April 20, 1945.; An American soldier observed the destruction of an industrial town near Nuremberg, Germany, April 20, 1945.; An oil tank explosion at Deggendorf harbor, Germany after an aerial bombardment by A-20 Havoc aircraft of US 426th Bomb Group, April 20, 1945.; Soviet BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers firing on Berlin, Germany, April 1945.
Between 13,500 and 15,000 prisoners are transferred from Buchenwald and Gross-Rosen sub-camps to the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in occupied Czechoslovakia over the following 20 days.
In Berlin, Hitler celebrates his 56th (and last) birthday in his bunker in Berlin with Goering, Himmler, Goebbels, Speer, Ribbentrop, Bormann, and other top military leaders. Preparations are made to evacuate Hitler and his staff from the bunker to Obersalzberg for a last stand in the Alpine Redoubt, but Hitler refuses to leave the bunker. Goering and Himmler depart Hitler's bunker for the last time. Doenitz rejects a Japanese invitation to transfer remaining German warships to Asia and continue warfare against the Allies.
Over Nazi Germany, US 8th Air Force attacks targets around Berlin with 755 bombers while US 15th Air Force fighters attack transportation targets. RAF Bomber Command sends 100 aircraft to attack Regensburg during the day, 76 aircraft to attack Berlin overnight (in what will be the RAF’s last mission against the German capital), and 36 aircraft to attack Schleissheim airfield overnight.
On the eastern from, in northern Germany, forces of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front join in the advance from the Oder River line, on a 30-mile frontage south-west of Stettin, opening an offensive against the German 3rd Panzer Army. To the south, German resistance on the Oder and Neisse river lines has been eliminated. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front capture Protzel and Bernau and begins heaping artillery fire on the eastern suburbs of Berlin. Units of 1st Ukrainian Fronts cross over the Spree River, capturing Barut and Juterbog and continuing attacking toward Berlin.
Joseph Stalin orders the Soviet Stavka to influence troops to be more humane toward the civilians of conquered German territories in order to ease the future occupation.
In Italy, US 5th Army breaks through the German defensive lines and reaches the Po River Valley north of Bologna, Italy. British 8th Army advances toward Bologna and crosses the Idice River. US 12th Air Force aircraft support US 5th Army operations and attack targets throughout northern Italy, while US 15th Air Force attacks targets throughout northern Italy with more than 700 bombers.
Pictured: A Bren gunner watches for enemy movement on the banks of the Elbe River, at Hoopte near Winsen, April 20, 1945.; US soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division walk through a devastated Nuremberg, April 20, 1945.; An American soldier observed the destruction of an industrial town near Nuremberg, Germany, April 20, 1945.; An oil tank explosion at Deggendorf harbor, Germany after an aerial bombardment by A-20 Havoc aircraft of US 426th Bomb Group, April 20, 1945.; Soviet BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers firing on Berlin, Germany, April 1945.
