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• Fortress Posen (now Poznan, Poland) was captured by Soviet troops after a month-long siege. ww2dbase [TH]
• Fighting at the Intramuros district of Manila, Philippine Islands began. On the same day, the US 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, freed the captives of the Los Baños internment camp in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]
• 23 German Ju-88 bombers attacked an Allied convoy from Murmansk in northern Russia to Scotland, United Kingdom. American liberty ship Henry Bacon shot down three and damaged two, setting a liberty ship record, but was eventually hit by a torpedo and sank. 23 men, including the skipper Alfred Carini, were killed. She became the last Allied vessel to be sunk by the Germans. ww2dbase [AC]
• South African pilot Captain Edwin Swales with the 582 squadron of the RAF Bomber Command held steady his heavily damaged Lancaster bomber so that the crew could parachute out of the doomed bomber. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously, the last to receive this reward posthumously from the Bomber Command. ww2dbase [AC]
• USS Wake Island refueled east of Iwo Jima, Japan. ww2dbase [Wake Island | CPC]
• Troops of Soviet 6th Army entered southern districts of Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). ww2dbase [Silesian Offensive and the Siege of Breslau | CPC]
• Oberleutnant zur See Joachim Sauerbier was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Heinrich Miede. ww2dbase [U-56 | CPC]

• Chiang Kaishek unexpectedly withdrew all Chinese forces from Burma. ww2dbase [Chiang Kaishek | CPC]

• A raid of 379 British bombers attacked the German town of Pforzheim, killing 17,000 people and destroying 80% of the town's buildings. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Pforzheim, Baden | CPC]
• Ba 349 prototype aircraft conducted its first unmanned vertical launch with rocket power. ww2dbase [Ba 349 Natter | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against rail facilities at Plauen, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Plauen | DS]

• The Verona Philharmonic Theatre in Italy was bombed by Allied forces. ww2dbase [Verona, Veneto | CPC]

• US Marines and a Navy corpsman raised an American flag atop Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima, Japan. ww2dbase [Battle of Iwo Jima | Iwo Jima | CPC]
• USS Wasp's aircraft attacked targets in the Tokyo, Japan area. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Tokyo | CPC]
• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) departed the Bonin Islands to resume strikes on Japan proper. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Bonin Islands | DS]

• USS Hoe collided with USS Flounder underwater at the depth of 60 feet, incurring light damage. ww2dbase [Hoe | Flounder | CPC]

• Otoemon Hiroeda and Liu Wei-tian refused to carry out their orders to perform a suicide attack with Taiwanese soldiers under his command in Manila, Philippines. Hiroeda surrendered to the Americans, and ensured that his men were treated well. ww2dbase [Otoemon Hiroeda | Philippines Campaign, Phase 2 | Manila | CPC]

• Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan, effective 1 Mar 1945. ww2dbase [TH, AC]

• USS Permit arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. ww2dbase [Permit | Philadelphia Navy Yard | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | CPC]
• A nearly deflated Japanese Fu-Go Type A paper balloon grounded itself near Tremonton, Utah, United States. The ballast dropping equipment found with this balloon was damaged causing the self-destruct charges to fail. ww2dbase [Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | Fu-Go | Tremonton, Utah | DS]
• A paper Japanese Fu-Go balloon was seen drifting over Sonoma County, California. P-38 Lightning fighters were scrambled from the Santa Rosa Army Airfield and 1Lt Clinton Bergen shot down the balloon near Calistoga after it crossed the ridge. Balloon pieces were later recovered. ww2dbase [Fu-Go | Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | Calistoga, California | DS]
• USS St. Louis departed San Pedro, California bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [St. Louis | San Pedro, California | DS]

• Uruguay declared war against Germany and Japan. ww2dbase [CPC]

23 Feb 1945 Interactive Map