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From D-Day to V-Day

April 1945

April 16, 1945 - D-Day + 244

Forces from the First Canadian Army’s I Canadian Corps occupied Leeuwarden and Groningen.

The British Second Army’s British XXX Corps neared Bremen, and the British 3rd Infantry Division advanced to Brinkum, a village located very close to Bremen. The British 7th Armored Division under the British XII Corps, currently advancing to Soltau, sent part of its tanks out to Walrode. Meanwhile, the British 15th Infantry Division under the British VIII Corps continued to fight with the defenders in Uelzen.

Soldiers from the 84th and 102nd Infantry Divisions under the Ninth Army’s XIII Corps took over a sector along the Elbe that till now had been held by the 5th Armored Division. The “V for Victory” Division had to go out to secure roads which were needed for transporting supplies but were clogged with refugees. The 35th Infantry Division under the XIX Corps moved to the south and relieved the 30th Infantry Division from their positions; the Old Hickory Division went on to regroup. The 2nd Armored Division held positions around Magdeburg and along the Elbe, and together with the Old Hickory Division prepared to attack the city. The enemy carried out a strong counterattack against the 83rd Infantry Division, which was holding the bridgehead on the east bank of the Elbe near Barby, but was deflected by tanks from the 2nd Armored Division’s Combat Command R. In the course of the day, the 8th Armored Division was attached to the Corps.

Maneuvering at the vanguard of 13th Armored Division tank columns from the US First Army’s XVIII Corps, the 93rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron crossed the Wupper River at Opladen. Combat Command A broke through Langenfeld and Hilden and made its way into the zone east of Düsseldorf, while Combat Command B rode through Haan and Gruiten to Mettmann. The 97th Infantry Division also crossed the Wupper River and subsequently rapidly advanced behind the tank units to the Hilden – Solingen line. At the same time, the 78th Infantry Division finished mopping up its zone, and occupied Wuppertal and Elberfeld. The 8th Infantry Division advanced westward to the Velbert and Wülfrath area for now. In the sector of the III Corps, the enemy’s defense in the Ruhr Pocket collapsed and German soldiers started to surrender en masse. At 0630 hrs, Lt Col John C. Brown’s 40th Tank Battalion from the 7th Armored Division’s Combat Command R was stopped in its advance to the Lenne River by envoys from Major General Siegfried von Waldenburg’s 116th Panzer Division, which had decided to surrender. The 99th Infantry Division was also halted at Iserlohn at 0850 hrs by surrendering Germans. In the course of that day, the two divisions took nearly 20,000 enemy soldiers prisoner. Forces from the VII Corps were ordered to halt along the lines of the Elbe and Mulde Rivers, where they were to await Red Army units. The 3rd Armored Division also operated in the Mulda River area and secured its bridgehead. Combat Command R defeated the defense of Bernburg, mopped up Köthen, and advanced to Klepzig and Merzien. At the same moment, Combat Command A conquered Libbersdorf and continued toward Dessau, while Combat Command B held the bridgehead on the Mulda River near Törten. The 104th Infantry Division attacked the city of Halle, and units from the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions conquered additional land in the Harz Mountains. The 9th Armored Division’s Combat Command A under the US V Corps reached the Mulde River between Bennewitz and Grimma, while Combat Command R crossed the river in Colditz and started to mop up the city. For now, Combat Command B assembled near Wettewitz. Battalions from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 23rd and 38th Infantry Regiments advanced about six miles eastward. Advancing on Leipzig to the northeast, the 69th Infantry Division halted in Zwenkau.

The 6th Armored Division from the US Third Army’s XX Corps withdrew across the bridgehead on the Zwick-Mulde River to the rear for needed maintenance and rest. The 76th Infantry Division took over the armored division’s section of the front. The 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) under the VIII Corps broke through enemy positions, and took control of bridges over the Weisse-Elster River in Berg and Rissdorf. One section of the 89th Infantry Division advanced to the Pliesse River and launched an attack on Werdau, while the second section reached the river at Greiz. The 87th Infantry Division’s 346th Infantry Regiment occupied Zeulenroda, while Task Force Sundt crossed the Weisse-Elster River and headed towards Michelgrün. The division’s 347th Infantry Regiment occupied Plauen and later advanced to the A72 Autobahn, continuing east of the highway towards Ölsnitz. The 71st Infantry Division under the XII Corps finished occupying Bayreuth. Meanwhile, the 90th Infantry Division mopped up Hof and reinforced its current positions. At this point, the Czechoslovak border was within sight.

Units from the 3rd and 45th Infantry Divisions under the Seventh Army’s XV Corps continued to advance on Nuremberg. The 42nd Infantry Division under the XXI Corps crossed the Aisch River, occupied Neustadt and headed out in the direction of Fürth. Meanwhile, the 12th Armored Division headed towards Ansbach. Battalions from the 4th Infantry Division’s 12th and 22nd Infantry Regiments reached positions north and west of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The 10th Armored Division’s Combat Command A under the VI Corps advanced to Horsberg southeast of Pfedelbach, while Combat Command B advanced to Sülz during an attack on Schwäbisch Hall. Motorized units from the 63rd and 100th Infantry Divisions followed the tank columns.

The French First Army’s French II Corps conquered Calw, located on the Nagold River. The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division started to mop up the woods south of Pforzheim. The I Corps launched an attack against enemy defense positions in the Black Forest. Task Force Valluy advanced to Nonnenweier, and the DA Atl army group conquered Royan.

The war once again reared its ugly head in West Bohemia. In the night from April 16-17, 1945, over 200 Lancasters from Bomber Command RAF headed for the skies over Pilsen to put the classification yard there out of operation once and for all. Flares transformed the dark night in Pilsen to daylight, and the exploding bombs reduced the designated target to rubble. The assault was so massive, the bombs destroyed the train station beyond recognition. Although in one week Pilsen would experience an air raid that would be more massive than the one carried out by the RAF, the nighttime raid was the war’s most tragic in terms of the number of fatalities. Not only the train station was hit and destroyed, but also the neighboring working class neighborhood of Cikánka – which bombs cleared off the face of the earth. The nearby village of Doubravka on the outskirts of Pilsen also fared poorly.

In the course of the day, one of the largest US fighter operations took place in the skies over the Protectorate. The operation was targeted against a series of German airports around Prague. A rough fight broke out, with German flak and American aircraft guns playing the main roles. When the day came to a close and the skies over Prague grew quiet, the losses started to be counted. The news was not good for either side. The Germans did acknowledge the loss of about 150 of their single and multi-engine aircraft, but the raid over Bohemia was also a costly endeavor for the Eighth Air Force. The famous 4th Fighter Group bore the brunt of the damage, losing eight P-51s to anti-aircraft fire. Moreover, several airmen paid the ultimate price of war that day. Rapid and precise fire hit Capt. Leroy A. Carpenter’s Mustang from the 336th Fighter Squadron so badly, the pilot had no other option but to bail. Because he was at a low altitude, however, his parachute failed to open. Leroy hit the ground near the village of Chýnice hard, killing him instantly. Locals buried him at the cemetery in the village of Ořech, but his body was exhumed a year after the war ended.

On the same day, the aircraft flown by Capt Carl R. Alfred was also struck from the ranks of the 336th Squadron. Carl was shot down by the anti-aircraft defenses at the Kbely airport, and his airplane crashed near the village of Ohrobec. The pilot was still in the cabin. The P-51 D Mustang flown by 2/Lt Maurice W. Miller also went down on April 16. The pilot masterfully landed his plane on a field near Vinoř, but was taken prisoner immediately afterwards. The day ended similarly for 1/Lt William H. Ayer, whose Mustang crashed on a field near the village of Kyje after being hit by flak. William jumped out of the plane in time and his parachute brought him safely down to the ground. The massacre of American fighter aircraft was far from over, though. The Mustang piloted by 2/Lt Benjamin L. Griffin made an emergency landing near Chodov. The pilot got out of the cockpit and was taken in by a German patrol shortly afterwards. The last airplane the 336th Fighter Squadron lost on that tragic day of April 16, 1945, was Capt. Edward L. Gimbel’s P-51D. The aircraft came uncontrollably crashing to the ground amidst the houses in Hostivař. Edward jumped from his cockpit in time and was taken prisoner soon after landing.

The wild game of Russian roulette went on, and the attacks on targets located in the former Czechoslovakia took one down American after another. The Mustang flown by Lt Col Sidney S. Woods also did not return from the attack against the airports near Prague that day. The flying ace with seven victories credited to his name came down hard with his airplane. The crash looked more terrifying than it actually was, and Sidney luckily came out alive and survived the war. The Prague area was not the sole target of American fighter bombers that day – the other was the airport in Cheb. After the attack ended, the Americans from the 355th Fighter Group counted a total of 15 burning enemy aircraft at the Cheb airport.

The 78th Fighter Group also racked up success that day, destroying 135 enemy aircraft at five airports in the former Czechoslovakia. Lt Col John D. Landers, the head of the attack formation composed of aircraft from the 78th Fighter Group’s 83rd and 84th Fighter Squadrons, kept his description of the “hunt” over the airports around Prague short and to the point: “When we arrived over the enemy airport, we saw about 80 aircraft around the field. When we left the airport, we counted 80 funeral pyres.” The 78th Fighter Group also paid dearly for its success, though, losing the aircraft piloted by Capt Robert B. Holmes. The American pilot was first buried at the local cemetery, but his remains were later moved and placed alongside his brothers in arms at the American military cemetery in St Avold, France. Flak filled the skies not only in the area around Prague; fighters from the 78th Fighter Group also attacked a Luftwaffe air base in Marienbad (Mariánské Lázně). One Dornier 217 on the tarmac went up in flames after the Mustangs opened the assault, but precise fire from the anti-aircraft defense sent 2/Lt Fred R. Swauger’s plane to the ground in the area west of Chodová Planá in the district of Tachov. After descending to the ground, the pilot was apprehended by the Wehrmacht.

On that historical day of April 16, 1945, a battle formation of fighters from the 339th Fighter Group’s 503rd and 504th Fighter Squadrons was also in action over Central Bohemia. Over twenty Mustangs from the 503rd Squadron commanded by Capt Ray Reuter attacked five airbases, but the Americans were successful only in the Prague suburb of Kbely and in Marienbad (Mariánské Lázně). P-47 Thunderbolt “Jugs” the US Ninth Air Force also got involved in the foray. One Jug was lost in the Chodová Planá area in the district of Tachov. Pilot 2/Lt James B. Cutler was apprehended.

In the icy waters of the North Sea, the crew of a “Czechoslovak” Liberator from the No. 311 Squadron RAF spotted a German U-boat. F/Lt Protiva’s men immediately attacked with depth charges, but were unable to gain proof that the U-boat had been destroyed.