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• 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]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Berlin | DS]

• 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), USS Enterprise, USS Intrepid, USS Langley (Independence-class), USS Flint, USS San Diego, and USS St. Louis 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 and Enterprise were struck by single bombs that resulted in minimal casualties and minimal damage. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Intrepid | San Diego | Enterprise | Langley (Independence-class) | Battle of Iwo Jima | Yorktown (Essex-class) | DS]
• US aircraft dropped propaganda leaflets over Nagasaki, Japan for the first time. ww2dbase [Nagasaki | CPC]
• Patrol Boat No. 102 arrived at Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan at 1630 hours. ww2dbase [Stewart | Sasebo, 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]
• After replenishment and upkeep in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, escort carrier USS Steamer Bay participated in rehearsals for the Okinawa invasion conducted in Leyte Gulf. ww2dbase [Steamer Bay | Leyte Gulf | DS]
• Destroyer USS Saufley departed the Zamboanga area escorting a convoy of supply ships bound for Mindoro, Philippines. ww2dbase [Saufley | Zamboanga, Mindanao | DS]

• 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 [Vergeltungswaffe 2 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | CPC]

• Pope Pius XII denounced Nazi German racist policies. ww2dbase [Pius XII | CPC]

18 Mar 1945 Interactive Map