18 Mar 1945



- 2nd Lieutenant Guy Cary of US 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron shot down a He 162 jet fighter, but positive identification on the victim was not made; some thought it might had been a Me 262 jet fighter. ww2dbase [CPC]
- USS Bailey arrived at Leyte Gulf and went alongside tender USS Whitney for installation of new equipment. ww2dbase [Bailey | DS]
- In Burma, Lieutenant Karamjeet Singh Judge directed the destruction of ten enemy bunkers at a heavily defended cotton mill at Myingyan. Guiding a tank to another bunker for some reason he asked the commander to hold fire while he checked it out. He entered the bunker but was shot. The 21-year-old Punjabi was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [AC]
- Indian 5th Division captured Myingyan, Burma. In the area, Anglo-Indian troops attempted to cross the moat of Fort Dufferin in Mandalay, Burma in failure, suffering heavy casualties. ww2dbase [Battle of Meiktila-Mandalay | Mandalay | CPC]
- US Third Army captured Boppard, Germany. ww2dbase [Advance to the Rhine | Boppard, Moselland | TH]
- Soviet 1st Polish Army captured Kolberg, Germany (now Kolobrzeg, Poland) while other Soviet units approached Gdynia and Danzig. ww2dbase [East Pomeranian Offensive | Kolberg, Pommern | TH]
- Albert Speer, sensing Adolf Hitler's wish to potentially order the destruction of Germany to prevent Allied capture, attempted to persuade Hitler not to destroy the future of Germany. ww2dbase [Albert Speer | CPC]
- US Army 65th Infantry Regiment, consisted of Puerto Ricans, arrived at Mannheim, Germany for occupation duties. ww2dbase [Mannheim, Baden | CPC]
- Z43 completed the shelling Soviet positions near Kolberg, Germany (now Kołobrzeg, Poland) as German forces completed the city's evacuation. ww2dbase [Z43 | East Pomeranian Offensive | Kolberg, Pommern | CPC]
- General Mark Clark established the goal of the Allied offensive in Italy in spring 1945 to be 'to destroy the maximum number of enemy forces south of the Po [River], force crossings of the Po and capture Verona'. ww2dbase [Operation Grapeshot and Operation Roast | CPC]
- USS Yorktown (Essex-class) arrived in the operating area off Japan and began launching strikes on airfields on Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku. The task group came under air attack almost as soon as operations began. Yorktown was struck by a single bomb that killed 5 but otherwise caused minimal damage. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Battle of Iwo Jima | DS]
- US aircraft dropped propaganda leaflets over Nagasaki, Japan for the first time. ww2dbase [Nagasaki | CPC]
- USS Franklin arrived in position south of Japan and launched F4U Corsair fighters of US Marine Corps squadron VMF-214 against the targets in Kagoshima Prefecture. USMC pilot John Stodd was shot down over Izumi Airfield and was captured. The US airmen destroyed many Japanese aircraft on the ground at Izumi. ww2dbase [Franklin | Izumi, Kagoshima | CPC]
- USS Tunny detected a Japanese convoy but she failed to gain favorable attack positions. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]
- USS Missouri escorted carriers while the aircraft aircraft struck Japan. ww2dbase [Missouri | CPC]
- USS Springer sank Japanese Transport No. 18 in the East China Sea, hitting her with 3 of 8 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Springer | East China Sea | CPC]
- USS S-43 was fired upon by an Allied merchant ship during poor weather, but did not suffer any damage. ww2dbase [S-43 | CPC]
- Filipino guerrillas welcomed the invading American troops on Panay, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 2 | Panay | CPC]
- US B-24 aircraft, A-20 aircraft, and fighters based in the Philippine Islands attacked Koshun Airfield, Takao Prefecture, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Koshun Airfield | Koshun, Takao | CPC]
- German V-2 rocket hit the Speaker's Corner at the edge of Hyde Park in London, England, United Kingdom at 0930 hours, killing 3 and seriously injuring 9. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | London, England | CPC]
- Pope Pius XII denounced Nazi German racist policies. ww2dbase [Pius XII | CPC]




18 Mar 1945 Interactive Map
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends: Stay updated with WW2DB: |
Change View
Desktop ViewSearch WW2DB & Partner Sites
News
- » Looted Painting "Madonna with Child" Returned to Poland (2 Jun 2023)
- » Wreck of USS Mannert L. Abele Found (29 May 2023)
- » Wreck of Montevideo Maru Found (25 Apr 2023)
- » Detonation of a WW2-Era Naval Mine (21 Mar 2023)
- » Accidental Detonation of a WW2-Era Bomb in Great Yarmouth (10 Feb 2023)
- » See all news
Random Photograph
Current Site Statistics
- » 1,131 biographies
- » 336 events
- » 41,805 timeline entries
- » 1,210 ships
- » 347 aircraft models
- » 206 vehicle models
- » 370 weapon models
- » 123 historical documents
- » 249 facilities
- » 469 book reviews
- » 28,992 photos
- » 401 maps
Famous WW2 Quote
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."Winston Churchill