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World War II Database

18 Apr 1945
  • Ernie Pyle was killed on Ie Shima off Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Ernie Pyle | CPC]
  • Over 300,000 encircled German troops in the Ruhr region of western Germany surrendered. US First Army entered Düsseldorf. ww2dbase [Fall of the Ruhr | TH]
  • US Ninth Army captured Magdeburg, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
  • British Second Army captured Lüneburg and Ãœlzen, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
  • The Western Allies reported that German prisoners taken since the Normandy invasion had reached two million, with the exact count at 2,055,575. ww2dbase [AC]
  • 2nd Byelorussian Front broke the Oder defensive line between Schwedt and Stettin, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
  • As some German troops surrendered Helgoland to the Allies peacefully, SS men shot some of them for the traitorous act. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Soviet 1st Byelorussian Front finally penetrated the Seelow Heights defensive lines at Berlin, Germany. Joseph Goebbels burned files in his office as Soviet troops approached. ww2dbase [Battle of Berlin | TH]
  • USS Rock bombarded a Japanese radio station at Batan, Batanes Islands, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Rock | CPC]
  • USS Cabrilla attacked a Japanese convoy off northern Japan with six torpedoes, one of which damaged a transport. ww2dbase [Cabrilla | CPC]
  • USS Parche attacked a Japanese transport east of Kamaichi, Japan; all 3 torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Parche | CPC]
  • USS Seahorse was damaged by two Japanese patrol vessels off Japan; she fired one torpedo in return, but it missed. She set sail for Guam, Mariana Islands for repairs. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]
  • RAF Bomber Command abandoned a plan to use modified Lancaster bombers for in-flight fueling when Tiger Force was deployed to Okinawa, Japan for long-range missions against the Japanese home islands, preferring to wait until the new Avro Lincoln aircraft fitted with saddle tanks can became available. ww2dbase [AC]
Australia Germany Italy Japan
  • With escort carrier USS Sargent Bay's rotation with the replenishment group completed, she shifted back to close air support at Okinawa.n ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Okinawa | CPC]
Netherlands
  • Canadian tanks reached the shores of the Ijsselmeer lake, effectively cutting off the 120,000 strong German 25th Army in Holland. ww2dbase [AC]
Taiwan Photo(s) dated 18 Apr 1945
Map depicting Allied campaign in the Ruhr, Elbe, and Mulde regions, 5-18 Apr 1945Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Billy Simms inspecting the wing guns of a fighter aircraft aboard USS Anzio, 18 Apr 1945A British soldier looked on while SS Guards were forced to load bodies of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp victims onto a truck, Germany, 17-18 Apr 1945Journalist Ernie Pyle shortly after being killed on Iejima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, 18 Apr 1945
See all photos dated 18 Apr 1945

18 Apr 1945 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Famous WW2 Quote
"All that silly talk about the advance of science and such leaves me cold. Give me peace and a retarded science."

Thomas Dodd, late 1945


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