March 1945
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The following events occurred in March 1945:


March 1 Events Pre-1600 * 509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia. * 293 – Emperor Diocleti ...
, 1945 (Thursday)

*U.S.President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
reported to Congress on the Yalta Conference. He acknowledged his paralytic illness in public when he opened his speech by saying, "I hope that you will pardon me for this unusual posture of sitting down during the presentation of what I want to say, but I know that you will realize that it makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry about ten pounds of steel around on the bottom of my legs." *
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
declared war on
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
retroactive to the previous day. *The German XXIV (24th) Panzer Corp launched a counteroffensive on the Eastern Front around Lauban. *The
Ninth United States Army The Ninth Army was a field army of the United States Army, most recently garrisoned at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy. It was the United States Army Service Component Command of United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM). Activated just ...
captured
Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...
. *The horror-drama film ''
The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is an 1890 philosophical fiction and Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American period ...
'' starring
Albert Lewin Albert Lewin (September 23, 1894 – May 9, 1968) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Personal life Lewin was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He earned a master's degree at Harvard University ...
,
George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous charac ...
and
Hurd Hatfield William Rukard Hurd Hatfield (December 7, 1917 – December 26, 1998) was an American actor. He was known for playing characters of handsome, narcissistic young men, most notably Dorian Gray in the film ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' (1945). Ea ...
premiered in New York City. *Born:
Dirk Benedict Dirk Benedict (born Dirk Niewoehner; March 1, 1945) is an American actor and author. He is best known for playing the characters Lieutenant Starbuck in the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' film and television series and Templeton "Face" Peck ...
, actor, in
Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...


March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost ...
, 1945 (Friday)

*The U.S. Ninth Army captured
Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...
while the Third Army took
Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
. *U.S. ships and warplanes bombarded the Ryuku Islands for 48 hours. *German submarine '' U-3519'' struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea. *Died:
Emily Carr Emily Carr (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist who was inspired by the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia. She also was a vivid writer and chronicler of life in her sur ...
, 73, Canadian painter and writer


March 3 Events Pre-1600 * 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan. * 1575 ...
, 1945 (Saturday)

*The Battle of Manila ended in Allied victory. *The Germans began Operation Gisela, an aerial intruder operation. *
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
declared war on Germany retroactive to September 15, 1944. *In the
Pawłokoma massacre The Pawłokoma massacre was a massacre on 3 March 1945 of Ukraine, Ukrainians by Polish people, Polish forces in the village of Pawłokoma west of Przemyśl. The Polish post Home Army (Home Army, AK) unit was commanded by Lt. Józef Biss an ...
, a few hundred Ukrainians were murdered by Poles in the village of Pawłokoma in what was believed to be an act of retaliation for an earlier alleged murder of Poles by the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist partisan formation founded by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the S ...
. *Died:
Aleksandra Samusenko Aleksandra Grigoryevna Samusenko (, , ''Oleksandra Hryhorivna Samusenko''; 1922 – 3 March 1945) was a Soviet T-34 tank commander and a liaison officer during World War II. She was the only female tanker in the 1st Guards Tank Army. Samusenko w ...
, 22 or 23, Soviet tank commander (crushed under a tank in the dark)


March 4 Events Pre-1600 * AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth). * 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. * 581 – Yang Jian declares himself Emperor ...
, 1945 (Sunday)

* Operation Gisela ended in German failure. *The Battle of Kolberg began for the city of
Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...
in German Pomerania. *
Bombings of Switzerland in World War II During World War II, the neutral country of Switzerland underwent initially sporadic bombing and aerial combat events that became more frequent during the later stages of the war. Switzerland was adjacent to and at times almost completely surrou ...
: Allied aircraft accidentally bombed
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
and
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
. *German submarine '' U-3508'' was bombed and sunk at
Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
in an Allied air raid. *Born: **
Dieter Meier Dieter Meier (born 4 March 1945) is a Swiss musician, conceptual artist and entrepreneur. He is the frontman of the electronic music group Yello, which was co-founded (with ex-member Carlos Perón) by music producer Boris Blank (musician), Boris ...
, musician and conceptual artist, in
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
**
Tommy Svensson Leif Tommy Svensson (born 4 March 1945) is a Swedish former football manager and player. He is best known for playing for Östers IF and the Sweden men's national football team. He won the Guldbollen in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 199 ...
, footballer and manager, in
Växjö Växjö () is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 71,282 inhabitants (2020) out of a Municipalities of Sweden, municipal population of 97,349 (2024). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial ce ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
**
Gary Williams Gary Bruce Williams (born March 4, 1945) is an American university administrator and former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, the Ohio State University, Boston College, and American University. ...
, college basketball coach, in
Collingswood, New Jersey Collingswood is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located east of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough ...
*Died: **
Lucille La Verne Lucille La Verne Mitchum (November 7, 1872 – March 4, 1945) was an American actress known for her appearances in early sound films, as well as for her triumphs on the American stage. She is most widely remembered as the voice of the first Disney ...
, 72, American actress **
Mark Sandrich Mark Sandrich (born Mark Rex Goldstein; October 26, 1900 – March 4, 1945) was an American film director, writer, and producer. Early life Sandrich was born in New York City on October 26, 1900 into a Jewish family. His sister was Ruth Har ...
, 44, American filmmaker


March 5 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. * 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Easte ...
, 1945 (Monday)

*The
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
began calling up 15- and 16-year old boys. *Advance elements of the U.S. First Army entered
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
. *The 19th Army of the Soviet
2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. I ...
captured
Köslin Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...
. *The 1945 Resko Przymorskie Dornier Do 24 crash in Kępa, Pomeranian Voivodeship. *Died:
Rupert Downes Major General Rupert Major Downes, (10 February 1885 – 5 March 1945) was an Australian soldier, surgeon and historian. The son of British Army officer Major Francis Downes, Downes joined the Army as a trumpeter while he was still at schoo ...
, 60, and
George Alan Vasey Major General George Alan Vasey, (29 March 1895 – 5 March 1945) was an Australian Army officer. He rose to the rank of major general during the Second World War, before being killed in a plane crash near Cairns in 1945. A professional soldi ...
, 49, Australian generals (plane crash near
Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
); Albert Richards, 25, British war artist (jeep drove over a landmine)


March 6 Events Pre-1600 * 12 BCE – The Roman emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor. * 845 – The 42 Martyrs of Amorium are killed after refusing to convert to Islam. * 1204 &ndas ...
, 1945 (Tuesday)

*German forces on the Eastern Front launched
Operation Spring Awakening Operation Spring Awakening () was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation. It took place in Western Hungary ...
, the last major German offensive of the war. *At Soviet insistence, King
Michael of Romania Michael I ( ; 25 October 1921 – 5 December 2017) was the last King of Romania, reigning from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and again from 6 September 1940 until his forced abdication on 30 December 1947. Shortly after Michael's birth, his f ...
installed
Petru Groza Petru Groza (7 December 1884 – 7 January 1958) was a Romanian politician, best known as the first Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister of the Romanian Communist Party, Communist Party-dominated government under Soviet Union, Soviet Sovie ...
as
Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania (), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania (), is the head of the Government of Romania, Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled ''President of the Council of Ministers'' (), when ...
. *Soviet authorities began to arrest or kill anyone associated with the Polish
Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
or the
Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...
in London. *The Chinese 1st Army captured
Lashio Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest city and the capital of northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hi ...
, Burma. *Died: Harry O'Neill, 27, American baseball player and one of only two major leaguers killed in action during WWII (shot by a sniper on Iwo Jima)


March 7 Events Pre-1600 * 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius. * 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cobl ...
, 1945 (Wednesday)

*The
Battle of Remagen The Battle of Remagen was an 18-day battle during the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II. It lasted from the 7th to the 25th of March 1945 when American forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine intact. They wer ...
began in
Remagen Remagen () is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West Germany, West German seat of government. It i ...
, Germany. *
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
declared war on Japan. *German submarine '' U-1302'' was depth charged and sunk in
St. George's Channel St George's Channel (, ) is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It separates Wexford on the southeastern corner of Ireland from St Davids in on the southwestern tip of Wales. Origin of nam ...
by the Canadian frigates '' Strathadam'' and ''
Thetford Mines Thetford Mines (; Canada 2021 Census population 26,072) is a city in south-central Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality. The city is located in the Appalachian Mountains, 187 km east-northeast of Mo ...
''. *Born: Arthur Lee, drummer, pianist and singer (
Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
), in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
(d. 2006)


March 8 Events Pre-1600 * 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem '' Shahnameh''. * 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León. * 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between ...
, 1945 (Thursday)

*Canadian forces took
Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the ...
, Germany. *A German force from the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
carried out the overnight
Granville Raid The Granville raid occurred on the night of 8–9 March 1945 when a German raiding force from the Channel Islands landed in France and brought back supplies, Allied prisoners and former German prisoners of war to their base.Morison, Samuel Eliot ...
, landing in France and bringing supplies back to base. * Operation Sunrise: Waffen-SS General
Karl Wolff Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (13 May 1900 – 16 July 1984) was a senior German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer who served as Chief of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) and an SS liaison to Adolf Hitler during World War II. He ende ...
secretly met American OSS head
Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles ( ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an American lawyer who was the first civilian director of central intelligence (DCI), and its longest serving director. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the ea ...
in
Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...
to open the first concrete discussions of a surrender of German forces in northern Italy. *Born: Jim Chapman, business leader and congressman, in Washington, D.C.;
Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. ( ; born March 8, 1945) is an American musician and actor. He was the drummer and one of two primary vocalists for the pop rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and reunions until 2021), and a co-star of the TV series ''T ...
, actor, musician and member of
The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...
, in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California;
Anselm Kiefer Anselm Kiefer (born 8 March 1945) is a German painter and sculptor. He studied with Peter Dreher and Horst Antes at the end of the 1960s. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The poems of Paul Celan h ...
, painter and sculptor, in
Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the States of Germany, federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar ''Districts of Germany, Kreis''. It ...
, Germany *Died:
Frederick Bligh Bond Frederick Bligh Bond (30 June 1864 – 8 March 1945), was an English architect, illustrator, archaeologist, Parapsychology, psychical researcher and member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Early life Bligh Bond was the son of the Rev. Fre ...
, 80, English architect, illustrator, archaeologist and psychical researcher


March 9 Events Pre-1600 *141 BC – Liu Che, Posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. *1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the Annals of Quedlinburg, annals of the mo ...
, 1945 (Friday)

*U.S. warplanes began a 48-hour
firebombing of Tokyo The was a series of air raids on Japan by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), primarily launched during the closing campaigns of the Pacific Theatre of World War II in 1944–1945, prior to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ...
that destroyed almost 16 square miles in and around the city and killed between 80,000 and 130,000 civilians. *Units of the U.S. First Army captured
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
and
Godesburg 300px, Godesburg castle in Germany. The Godesburg is a castle in Bad Godesberg, a formerly independent part of Bonn, Germany. Built in the early 13th century on the Godesberg, a hill of volcanic origin, it was largely destroyed following a sieg ...
. *The Japanese ''coup d'état'' in French Indochina occurred. *Italian Fascist soldiers carried out the
Salussola massacre The Massacre of Salussola consists in the execution, preceded by torture, of 20 Italian Partisans, committed in retaliation by Italian Fascist soldiers on March 9, 1945, in the town of Salussola (Italy). The facts In late February 1945, t ...
, executing 20 Italian Partisans. *
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
sent a priest to
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
to make a proposal to a Vatican envoy that Italy and Germany join with the Allies to defeat Soviet communism. The proposal was not treated seriously. *U.S. Congress passed the
McCarran–Ferguson Act The McCarran–Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1011-1015, is a United States federal law that exempts the business of insurance from most federal regulation, including federal antitrust laws to a limited extent. The 79th Congress passed the McCarran ...
, exempting the business of insurance from most federal regulation. *Born:
Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein (born Karin Witkiewicz; 9 March 1945) is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf (now Gniewków, Poland). She achieved success with songs such as "Theater (song), Theater" and "Es war einmal ein Jäger". She was married to , w ...
, singer, in Girlachsdorf, Germany (now
Gniewków Gniewków is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dobromierz, within Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately north of Dobromierz, north-west of Świdnica, and west of the region ...
, Poland);
Dennis Rader Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945), better known as the BTK Strangler or simply BTK, is an American serial killer and rapist who murdered at least ten people in Wichita, Kansas, Wichita and Park City, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. Although ...
, serial killer, in
Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 United S ...


March 10 Events Pre-1600 * 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end. * 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes ...
, 1945 (Saturday)

*The
Battle of Wide Bay A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...
was fought, resulting in Allied victory when Australian troops landed at Wide Bay, Papua New Guinea with the objective of isolating Japanese forces to the
Gazelle Peninsula The Gazelle Peninsula is a large peninsula in northeastern East New Britain, Papua New Guinea located on the island of New Britain within the Bismarck Archipelago, situated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The Rabaul caldera is located on t ...
. *The last German forces west of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
withdrew. *German submarine '' U-275'' struck a mine and sank off
Newhaven, East Sussex Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes (district), Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford, East Sussex, Seaford ...
. *German submarine '' U-681'' was depth charged and sunk west of the
Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...
by a
Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...
aircraft of the U.S. Navy. *Died:
Émile Lemonnier Émile René Lemonnier (November 27, 1893 – March 12, 1945) was a French Army general who served during World War I and World War II. Stationed in French Indochina in 1945, he was beheaded by the Japanese during their March coup d'état. Ear ...
, 51, French general (executed by the Japanese)


March 11 Events Pre-1600 * 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the veneration of icons in the Orthodox churches in the Byzantine Empire. * 1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last Bishop of Prague (3 March 13 ...
, 1945 (Sunday)

*The
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
sent 1,079 aircraft to bomb
Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
and effectively destroyed the city with 4,700 tons of bombs. *The Battle of Kiauneliškis began between Lithuanian partisans and Soviet forces. *The British 36th Division in Burma captured Mongmit. *
Albert Kesselring Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German military officer and convicted war crime, war criminal who served in the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. In a career which spanned both world wars, Kesselring reached the ra ...
replaced
Gerd von Rundstedt Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (12 December 1875 – 24 February 1953) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) in the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'' (Army) of Nazi Germany and OB West, ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (Commande ...
as ''
Oberbefehlshaber West ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (German language, German: initialism, initials ''OB West'') (German: "Commander-in-Chief
n the N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
West") was the overall commander of the ''Westheer'', the German armed forces on the Western Front (WWII), Western Front dur ...
''. *
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
paid his final visit to the front when he traveled to
Bad Freienwalde Bad Freienwalde is a spa town in the Märkisch-Oderland district in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. Geography The town is situated on the Alte Oder, an old branch of the Oder River at the northwestern rim of the Oderbruch basin and the st ...
on the
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
. In a meeting at the
Schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...
Freienwalde with 9th Army commander
Theodor Busse Ernst Hermann August Theodor Busse (15 December 1897 – 21 October 1986) was a German officer during World War I and World War II. Early life and career Busse, a native of Frankfurt (Oder), joined the Imperial German Army as an officer cadet ...
, Hitler implored his officers to hold back the Russians long enough until his new weapons were ready, but he did not disclose what the new weapon was. *German submarine '' U-682'' was destroyed at
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
in an American air raid. *Born:
Dock Ellis Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. (March 11, 1945 – December 19, 2008) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates team ...
, baseball player, in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California (d. 2008)


March 12 Events Pre-1600 * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. * 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of th ...
, 1945 (Monday)

*The Soviet
1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (, ''Pervyy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian"), known without a numeral as the Belorussian Front between October 1943 and February 1944, was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, bein ...
took Küstrin. * Santa Fe riot: Four internees at a Japanese internment camp near
Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...
were seriously wounded after a scuffle broke out between internees and Border Patrol agents guarding the facility that resulted in the use of tear gas and batons. *Benito Mussolini escaped injury when an Allied fighter plane strafed his convoy of cars near
Lake Garda Lake Garda (, , or , ; ; ) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, between Brescia and Milan to the west, and Verona and Venice to the east. The lake cuts into the edge of the Eastern Alps, Italian Alp ...
. *German submarine '' U-260'' struck a mine and was scuttled south of Ireland. *Died:
Friedrich Fromm Friedrich Wilhelm Waldemar Fromm (8 October 1888 – 12 March 1945) was a German Army officer. In World War II, Fromm was Commander in Chief of the Replacement Army (''Ersatzheer''), in charge of training and personnel replacement for combat div ...
, 56, German army officer (executed by the Nazis by firing squad for failing to act against the 20 July bomb plot)


March 13 Events Pre-1600 * 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander. * 624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Mu ...
, 1945 (Tuesday)

*The Battle of Kiauneliškis ended with the destruction of the Lithuanian partisan bunkers. * *Born:
Anatoly Fomenko Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko (; born 13 March 1945 in Stalino, USSR) is a Soviet and Russian professor of Mathematics at Moscow State University. He is well-known as a topologist and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a painter and il ...
, mathematician, in Stalino, USSR, Ukrainian SSR * * * *


March 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland. * 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the H ...
, 1945 (Wednesday)

*The Soviet
2nd Ukrainian Front The 2nd Ukrainian Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War. History On October 20, 1943, the Steppe Front was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In mid-May 1944 Malinovsky took over the 2nd Ukrainian Front. During t ...
took
Zvolen Zvolen (; ; ) is a city in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers. It is famous for several historical and cultural attractions. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the ...
. *German submarine '' U-714'' was depth charged and sunk off
Eyemouth Eyemouth is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name ...
,
Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...
by South African frigate ''
Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
'' and British destroyer '' Wivern''. *German submarine '' U-1021'' struck a mine and sank in the
Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
.


March 15 Events Pre-1600 * 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years truce. * 44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman R ...
, 1945 (Thursday)

*The Red Army launched the Upper Silesian Offensive. *
Operation Spring Awakening Operation Spring Awakening () was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation. It took place in Western Hungary ...
ended in German failure. *
Juan José Arévalo Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 – 8 October 1990) was a Guatemalan statesman and professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising again ...
became 24th
President of Guatemala The president of Guatemala (), officially titled President of the Republic of Guatemala (), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a single four-year term. The position of President was created in 1839. Selectio ...
. *
EC Comics E.C. Publications, Inc., (doing business as EC Comics) is an American comic book publisher. It specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, nota ...
published its first comic book, the concluding half of a biography of Jesus called ''Picture Stories from the Bible''. The first issue of the series had been published by
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
.


March 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York. * 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burnt to death after the Fall of Montségur. * 1355 – Amidst the Red Turban Rebellions, Han Lin'er, ...
, 1945 (Friday)

*German submarine '' U-367'' struck a mine and sank northeast of Danzig. *President Roosevelt said at a news conference that as a matter of decency, Americans would have to tighten their belts so food could be shipped to war-ravaged countries to keep people from starving. *The Air Technical Services Command of the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
signed a contract with
Bell Aircraft The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, a builder of several types of fighter aircraft for World War II but most famous for the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft, and for the development and production of many i ...
for the construction of three experimental aircraft to explore
transonic Transonic (or transsonic) flow is air flowing around an object at a speed that generates regions of both subsonic and Supersonic speed, supersonic airflow around that object. The exact range of speeds depends on the object's critical Mach numb ...
research issues, ultimately designated the
Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces– U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by B ...
. *Died:
Börries von Münchhausen Börries Albrecht Conon August Heinrich Freiherr von Münchhausen (20 March 1874 – 16 March 1945) was a German poet and Nazi activist. Biography He was born in Hildesheim, the eldest child of Kammerherr Börries von Münchhausen and his ...
, 70, German poet and Nazi activist (suicide by overdose of sleeping pills)


March 17 Events Pre-1600 * 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. * 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of ...
, 1945 (Saturday)

* Firebombing of Kobe destroys 21% of Kobe's urban area with 8,841 residents killed. *The
Ludendorff Bridge The Ludendorff Bridge, also known as the Bridge at Remagen, was a bridge across the river Rhine in Germany which was captured by United States Army forces in early March 1945 during the Battle of Remagen, in the closing weeks of World War I ...
over the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
at
Remagen Remagen () is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West Germany, West German seat of government. It i ...
collapsed and killed 25 American engineers, although the First U.S. Army had already constructed other crossings. *The ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
'' completed the evacuation of 75,000 civilians and soldiers from the Kolberg pocket overnight. *Born:
Elis Regina Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 1982), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of Bossa nova, Música popular brasileira, MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and ...
, singer, in
Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
, Brazil (d. 1982)


March 18 Events Pre-1600 * 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10. * 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ar ...
, 1945 (Sunday)

*An air battle was fought in the skies over Berlin when 1,329 Allied bombers and 700 long-range fighters were met by the Luftwaffe using the new Me 262s and air-to-air rockets. The U.S.
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...
lost six
Mustangs The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...
and 13 bombers while the Luftwaffe only lost two planes in return despite being outnumbered 32 to 1. However, the Allies still dropped 3,000 tons of bombs in the heaviest daylight raid on Berlin of the war. *The Battle of Kolberg ended in Soviet and Polish victory. *The Battle of the Ligurian Sea was fought between British and German naval forces in the
Gulf of Genoa The Gulf of Genoa (''Golfo di Genova'') is the northernmost part of the Ligurian Sea. This Italian gulf is about wide from the city of Imperia in the west to La Spezia in the east. The largest city on its coast is Genoa, which has an importan ...
. The Germans lost two torpedo boats and had a destroyer damaged while the British took light damage to one destroyer in return. *The
Battle of the Visayas 250px, Map of U.S. operations in Southern Philippines, 1945 250px, Japanese troops surrender to the 40th Division, September 1945 The Battle of Visayas ( Filipino: ''Labanan sa Visayas;'' Visayan languages: ''Gubat sa Kabisay-an'') was fought ...
began in the Philippines. *All schools and universities in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
were closed and everyone over the age of six was ordered to do war work. *German submarine '' U-866'' was depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by American destroyer escorts. *Two days of
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
concluded in
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. The
Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...
lost 35 seats but maintained a one-seat plurality over the new
Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League (, SKDL; , DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. It was founded in 1944 as the anti-communist laws in Finland were repealed due ...
.


March 19 Events Pre-1600 * 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire. * 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen en ...
, 1945 (Monday)

*The aircraft carrier USS ''Franklin'' was bombed and heavily damaged off the Japanese mainland by Japanese aircraft, killing more than 800 crew. *Hitler issued the Nero Decree, ordering the destruction of German infrastructure to prevent their use by Allied forces.
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
and the army chiefs strongly resisted this and conspired to delay the order's implementation. *All remaining U-boats in the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
were withdrawn and transferred to the west. *The
Battle of Bacsil Ridge The Battle of Bacsil Ridge began on 19 March 1945. It was one of the continued main battles of the 1944–1945 Philippines Campaign of the Second World War between the Filipino soldiers under the 121st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth ...
was fought between Japanese and Filipino forces, resulting in Filipino victory. *In Burma, the 19th Indian Division captured
Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...
while the British 36th Division took
Mogok Mogok (, ; Shan language, Shan: , ) is a town of around 90,000 people in the Thabeikkyin District of Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located north of Mandalay and north-east of Shwebo, Sagaing, Shwebo. History Mogok is believed to be founded in ...
. *The Soviet Union notified Turkey that their non-aggression pact signed in 1925 would not be renewed after it expired in November. Turkey responded by rejecting Soviet demands for territorial concessions and a revision of the
Montreux Convention The (Montreux) Convention regarding the Regime of the Straits, often known simply as the Montreux Convention, is an international agreement governing the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits in Turkey. Signed on 20 July 1936 at the Montreux Palac ...
.


March 20 Events Pre-1600 *1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. *1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish n ...
, 1945 (Tuesday)

*The U.S. Seventh United States Army, Seventh Army captured Saarbrücken. *Hitler made his final public appearance, awarding medals to Hitler Youth soldiers. *The Arnsberg Forest massacre begins. *Australian forces carried out Operation Platypus, in which troops from Z Special Unit were inserted into the Balikpapan area of Borneo to gather information and organize locals for resistance against the Japanese. *France signed an economic pact with Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. *Gotthard Heinrici replaced Heinrich Himmler as commander of Army Group Vistula. *Born: Jay Ingram, author and broadcaster, in Canada; Bobby Jameson, singer and songwriter, in Geneva, Illinois (d. 2015); Pat Riley, basketball player, coach and executive, in Rome, New York *Died: Lord Alfred Douglas, 74, English author, poet and translator


March 21, 1945 (Wednesday)

*The Japanese deployed the first Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka suicide aircraft, slung under 16 Mitsubishi G4M, Betty bombers that were part of a group sent to attack the American fleet off Okinawa Island, Okinawa. The flight was a disaster for the Japanese when the group was intercepted by American fighters a full from the American task force, and all the bombers were shot down. American pilots noted that the Bettys were flying unusually slow and carrying an unusual payload, but the significance of this was not realized at the time. *The Battle of West Henan–North Hubei began as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War. *British aircraft executed Operation Carthage, an air raid on Copenhagen, Denmark. The Danish headquarters of the Gestapo was destroyed but a nearby boarding school was also hit and the raid caused a total of 125 civilian deaths. *The Allies executed Operation Bowler, an air attack on Venice harbour.


March 22, 1945 (Thursday)

*The Western Allied invasion of Germany began. *The Arab League was established. *The romantic comedy film ''Without Love (film), Without Love'' starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Lucille Ball premiered in New York. *The stage musical ''The Firebrand of Florence'' with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Edwin Justus Mayer and Gershwin premiered at the Neil Simon Theatre, Alvin Theatre on Broadway. *Died: Eliyahu Bet-Zuri, 23, and Eliyahu Hakim, 20, members of the Lehi (group), Lehi Jewish paramilitary group (executed for the 1944 assassination of Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, Lord Moyne); Enrico Caviglia, 82, Italian Army officer; John Hessin Clarke, 87, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1916 to 1922


March 23, 1945 (Friday)

*
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
approved a formal withdrawal across the Rhine, but by that time all German forces who were going to make it back had already gone. *At night the Western Allies began Operation Plunder, the crossing of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
. *The last Arnsberg Forest massacre, Massacre in Arnsberg Forest ends. *U.S. and Filipino troops captured San Fernando, La Union, San Fernando on Luzon. *The 20th Infantry Division (India), Indian 20th Infantry Division took Wundwin, Burma. *Born: Franco Battiato, Italian singer and songwriter, in Ionia (Italy) (d. 2021). *Died: Élisabeth de Rothschild, 43, member by marriage of the Rothschild family (died in Ravensbrück concentration camp)


March 24, 1945 (Saturday)

*As part of Operation Plunder, American, British and Canadian troops carried out Operation Varsity, an airborne drop around Wesel, Germany. *It was reported from Cairo that archaeologists had located the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt), Heliopolis. *''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine revised its system for tabulating a chart of the leading songs in the United States with the creation of a new composite chart called the ''Honor Roll of Hits'', combining best-selling retail records, records most played on the air and the most played jukebox records. "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" by Johnny Mercer was the first #1 of this new chart, which would exist until being supplanted by the creation of the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 in 1958.


March 25, 1945 (Sunday)

*The
Battle of Remagen The Battle of Remagen was an 18-day battle during the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II. It lasted from the 7th to the 25th of March 1945 when American forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine intact. They wer ...
ended in Allied victory. *The Red Army began the Bratislava–Brno Offensive in Slovakia. *Winston Churchill, accompanied by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, briefly crossed the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
near Wesel in an Allied landing craft, symbolizing the crossing of the top British leader over the traditional frontier of Germany that no foreign army had crossed since the age of Napoleon. The excursion, which ventured as far as a bridge still under enemy fire, was quite dangerous and General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eisenhower later noted that if he had been there he never would have allowed Churchill to cross the river at that time. *Died: Franz Oppenhoff, 42, German lawyer and Mayor of the city of Aachen (assassinated on the order of Heinrich Himmler); William H. Rupertus, 55, American major general and author of the Rifleman's Creed (heart attack)


March 26, 1945 (Monday)

*The Battle of Iwo Jima ended in American victory. Japanese general Tadamichi Kuribayashi is believed to have died on or around this date, probably killed in action. *The Battle for Cebu City began in the Philippines. *American destroyer USS Halligan (DD-584), USS ''Halligan'' was lost to a mine off Okinawa. The ship was abandoned and ran aground on Tokashiki, Okinawa, Tokashiki the following day. *German submarine ''German submarine U-399, U-399'' was depth charged and sunk off Land's End by British frigate ''HMS Duckworth (K351), Duckworth''. *The U.S. Supreme Court decided ''United States v. Willow River Power Co.'' *Born: Mikhail Voronin, gymnast, in Moscow, USSR (d. 2004) *Died: David Lloyd George, 82, British Liberal politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922; Tadamichi Kuribayashi, 53, Japanese general (believed to have been killed in action on this date on Iwo Jima although his body was never identified); Boris Shaposhnikov, 62, Soviet military commander


March 27, 1945 (Tuesday)

*The Germans fired their last V-2 rockets from their only remaining launch site in the Netherlands. Almost 200 civilians in England and Belgium were killed in this final attack. *Argentina declared war on Germany and Japan. *German submarine ''German submarine U-722, U-722'' was depth charged and sunk west of Scotland by British frigates. *Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, Oklahoma A&M defeated New York University, NYU 49-45 in the championship game of the 1945 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament played at Madison Square Garden (1925), Madison Square Garden in New York City. *Died: Karl Bülowius, 55, German military officer (committed suicide in a POW camp); Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil, 78 or 79, Turkish author, poet and playwright


March 28, 1945 (Wednesday)

*The Soviet 3rd Belorussian Front captured the medieval castle of Balga and completed the destruction of the German 4th Army (Wehrmacht), 4th Army except for those who had managed to evacuate. *The U.S. 80th Division (United States), 80th Infantry Division captured Wiesbaden. *The Battle of Slater's Knoll began between Australian and Japanese forces on Bougainville Island. *Hitler sacked Heinz Guderian as Chief of the Oberkommando des Heeres, OKH General Staff, the last battlefield commander from the early days of the war still active. Guderian was replaced with Hans Krebs (Wehrmacht general), Hans Krebs. *The American submarine ''USS Trigger (SS-237), Trigger'' was sunk by Japanese vessels in the East China Sea. *Born: Rodrigo Duterte, 16th President of the Philippines, in Maasin, Southern Leyte.


March 29, 1945 (Thursday)

*The battle of the Heiligenbeil Pocket ended in Soviet victory. *The Deutsch Schützen massacre occurred when approximately 60 Jewish forced laborers were killed in Deutsch Schützen-Eisenberg, Austria. *Born: Walt Frazier, basketball player, in Atlanta, Georgia; Willem Ruis, game show presenter, in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1986) *Died: Ferenc Csik, 31, Hungarian swimmer (killed in Sopron during an Allied air raid)


March 30, 1945 (Friday)

*The Battle of Lijevče Field began near Banja Luka between Croatian and Chetnik forces. *The 2nd Shock Army of the
2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. I ...
captured Danzig. *Born: Eric Clapton, rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, in Ripley, Surrey, England; Ron Garvin, professional wrestler, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada *Died: Élise Rivet, 55, Algerian-born nun (killed in Ravensbrück concentration camp); Maurice Rose, 45, U.S. Army general (killed in action near Paderborn, Germany)


March 31, 1945 (Saturday)

*The Upper Silesian Offensive ended in Soviet victory. *Japanese submarine ''Japanese submarine I-8, I-8'' was sunk off Okinawa by American destroyers ''USS Morrison (DD-560), Morrison'' and ''USS Stockton (DD-646), Stockton''. *"My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" by Les Brown (bandleader), Les Brown topped the ''Billboard'' singles charts. *Born: Gabe Kaplan, comedian, actor and professional poker player, in Brooklyn, New York *Died: Harriet Boyd Hawes, 73, American archaeologist; Hans Fischer, 63, German organic chemist and Nobel laureate; Torgny Segerstedt, 68, Swedish scholar and newspaper editor


References

{{Events by month links March 1945, March by year, 1945 Months in the 1940s, *1945-03 Anne and Margot Frank were given this date of death but their official death dates are unknown.