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• In the wake of the German evacuation, Soviet forces captured Memel; the Soviets now occupied all of Lithuania. ww2dbase [TH]
• Despite of the needed coal and industry there, the Germans began evacuating the Upper Silesia region as Soviet troops approached; this included the city of Katowice, Poland. ww2dbase [Silesian Offensive and the Siege of Breslau | TH]
• Four groups of the US 20th Air Force, operating B-29 bombers, completed its move to India. On the same day, American B-29 bombers from India struck Saigon, French Indochina and Bangkok, Thailand with little result. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Kete completed lifeguard duty off Ryukyu Islands, Japan. ww2dbase [Kete | CPC]
• USS Pintado departed Brisbane, Australia for her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Pintado | CPC]
• In a report written by Heinz Guderian on this date, he referred to the Soviet forces as a "tidal wave". ww2dbase [Heinz Guderian | CPC]

• After sundown, HMS Diadem and HMS Mauritius engaged in combat with German destroyers in the North Sea; German destroyer Z31 was heavily damaged during the engagement, but would survive to return to port. ww2dbase [Mauritius | North Sea | CPC]
• As Allied convoy HX-332 was off Cardigan Bay in the Irish Sea it formed two columns to enter the St. George's Channel. Two ships manoeuvring into their columns were hit when U-825 (Oberleutnant zur See Gerhard Stoelker) fired a spread of torpedoes. The motor tanker Solør, a Norwegian 8,262-ton tanker with 11,000 tons of fuel oil and 16 gliders as deck cargo and the American Liberty ship Ruben Dario were both hit by a single torpedo. The torpedo that hit the Solør badly damaged her stern killing 4 of the crew and she started to take on water, the tanker was abandoned an hour later. The British rescue tug Zamalek picked up the survivors. The ship was beached at Oxwich Bay on the Welsh coast where half the oil was unloaded and the gliders saved. Solør broke in two and declared a total loss; most of the ship was removed for scrap. The Ruben Dario was hit on the starboard side at the No. 2 hold and destroyed the bulkhead causing flooding. The engines were secured and after emergency repairs the ship restarted at 9 knots, arriving the following day at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom where more repairs were carried out and she returned to service. Only one crew member was injured in the attack, he had been off watch and sitting on the No. 2 hatch which was blown off by the blast. The cargo of grain and gliders was not damaged. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | Irish Sea | HM]

• Allied X-Force under Daniel Sultan, moving north from Burma, made contact with Allied Y-Force under Sun Liren, moving south from China, in the Chinese-Burmese border region. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Chinese troops from southern China and Chinese troops from India linked up at Muse in northern Burma, signifying the successful end of the Salween Offensive. ww2dbase [Salween Offensive | Muse | CPC]

• Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay arrived at Ulithi in the Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Ulithi | DS]

• Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller was awarded Swords to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ww2dbase [Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller | CPC]
• With the Red Army just 20 kilometers away the Germans evacuated the 11,000 prisoners of war held at Stalag Luft III to commence a march in sub-zero temperatures to Spremburg, Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
• Roza Shanina was seriously wounded while shielding a wounded artillery officer. ww2dbase [Roza Shanina | Ostpreußen | CPC]

• USS Bailey arrived at Guam, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Bailey | Apra Harbor | DS]

• 62 American B-29 bombers based in the Mariana Islands struck Tokyo, Japan. Japanese fighters shot down 5 bombers, while 4 others received damage and had to ditch or crash land. B-29 gunner claimed 60 fighters shot down. ww2dbase [Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities | Tokyo | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 172 was launched. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• USS Bergall sank a Japanese patrol vessel in the South China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 1 torpedo. ww2dbase [Bergall | South China Sea | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw departed Leyte Gulf bound for Nasugbu, Luzon, Philippines. ww2dbase [Shaw | San Pedro Bay, Leyte | DS]

• Reconnaissance troops of the Soviet 100th Infantry Division discovered the prisoners' infirmary at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp at about 0900 hours. The remainder of the division arrived 30 minutes later. Soviet troops entered the main camp in the afternoon where they fought off the remaining German resistance at the cost of 231 lives. By this time, only 7,000 prisoners remained to be liberated in the entire Auschwitz system; the bulk of had been marched away previously. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• The Soviets sentenced German SD officer Alois Galfe to death for his role in the recruitment and training of Russian nationals to act as German spies. ww2dbase [CPC]

• German V-2 rocket hit the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in southeastern London, United Kingdom at 2230 hours, killing 6 and injuring 17, causing some damage to machines. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 2 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | CPC]

27 Jan 1945 Interactive Map