Völkischer Beobachter (February 23, 1945)
Horst Wessel lebt!
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Zwei Flugzeugträger versenkt
Tokio, 22. Februar – Zwei Flugzeugträger und ein Kriegsschiff unbekannten Typs versenkt, zwei weitere Kriegsschiffe unbekannten Typs schwer beschädigt und auf Grund gesetzt, lautet der Inhalt des vom Kaiserlichen Hauptquartier am Donnerstag herausgegebenen Kommuniqués, welches weiter meldet, dass diese Erfolge von starken Einheiten der japanischen Marinesonderfliegerwaffe am Nachmittag des 21. Februar in den Gewässern der Iwojima-Inseln gegen dort operierende alliierte Kriegsschiffe erzielt werden konnten.
Das Kommuniqué betont weiter, dass Einheiten der japanischen Luftwaffe am zweiten Tage einen schweren alliierten Kreuzer in der Mindanaosee auf den Philippinen versenken konnten.
Bombenhagel auf Corregidor
Bern, 22. Februar – Während die philippinische Hauptstadt Manila in wochenlangem Kampf immer mehr zerstört wird, versuchen die Amerikaner sich von Westen her die Einfahrt in die Bai von Manila zu erzwingen.
Die enge Durchfahrtsstraße wird aber von der stärksten befestigten Felseninsel Corregidor gesperrt, auf der sich auch die Amerikaner nach ihrer Vertreibung von der Bataan-Halbinsel noch längere Zeit halten konnten. Zur Niederringung Corregidors setzen die Amerikaner die ganze geballte Übermacht ihrer Flotten- und Luftstreitkräfte ein.
Nachdem die Flottenbasis Cavite von der Landseite herangegangen worden war, wird sie noch immer solange unbenutzbar bleiben, als Corregidor die Einfahrt sperrt. Ein Versuch der Amerikaner, mit schnellen Kampfeinheiten an der Insel vorbeizustoßen, wurde von der japanischen Festungsartillerie vereitelt. Daraufhin mussten sich auch die zur Landung angesetzten Truppentransporter wieder zurückziehen.
Führer HQ (February 23, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Unser Angriff gegen den Rest-Brückenkopf der Bolschewisten am Gran machte trotz zähen feindlichen Widerstandes weitere Fortschritte.
An der schlesischen Front zwischen Zobten und Lauban drängt der Feind scharf nach Süden. Westlich Zobten und beiderseits Goldberg konnte er örtliche Einbrüche erzwingen. Bei Lauban schlugen unsere Truppen starke feindliche Panzerangriffe zurück. Der Versuch der Sowjets, unsere Front an der Neiße nach Westen zu durchbrechen, scheiterte unter hohen blutigen Verlusten für den Feind. Vorübergehend westlich der Neiße verlorenes Gelände wurde in Gegenangriffen zurückgewonnen.
Mit besonderem Nachdruck setzte der Feind seine Angriffe im Abschnitt zwischen Könitz und der Weichsel bei Mewe fort. Trotz vereinzelter Einbrüche wahrten unsere Truppen in erbitterten Kämpfen den Zusammenhalt der Front.
Im Kampf um die Ostfestungen fesseln unsere tapferen Besatzungen starke feindliche Kräfte. In die Südfront von Breslau konnte der Gegner geringfügig eindringen. Im Kernwerk von Posen und im Südteil von Graudenz toben schwere Kämpfe.
In Ostpreußen verhinderten unsere Divisionen nördlich Mehlsack und im Raum von Zinten weiterhin alle Durchbruchsversuche der Sowjets.
Auch südlich Libau und südlich Tuckum zerschlugen unsere bewährten Kurlandverbände gestern zusammengefasste starke Angriffe der Bolschewisten, vernichteten zahlreiche feindliche Panzer und entrissen dem Gegner in schwungvollen Gegenstößen vorübergehend verlorenes Gelände.
Niederländische Freiwillige der Waffen-SS hoben in überraschendem Vorstoß in Mittelholland einen feindlichen Stützpunkt aus und brachten zahlreiche Gefangene der 49. englischen Infanteriedivision ein.
Im Kampfraum von Goch zwangen unsere Gegenangriffe den erneut mit zusammengefassten Kräften angreifenden Feind zu Boden.
Nach schwerstem Artilleriefeuer sind in den heutigen Morgenstunden die 9. und Teile der 1. amerikanischen Armee an der Rur auf breiter Front zu dem erwarteten Großangriff angetreten.
An den Flanken unseres zur Oure vorspringenden Stellungsbogens dauern die heftigen Orts- und Bunkerkämpfe südwestlich Prüm und östlich Vianden an. In einzelnen Abschnitten konnten die auf breiter Front angreifenden Amerikaner unsere Truppen zurückdrücken. In mehreren Stützpunkten leisten eigene Kampfgruppen gegen den von allen Seiten anstürmenden Feind erbitterten Widerstand.
Die Straßenkämpfe in Forbach dauern an. Auf den Spicherer Höhen und im Vorfeld des Westwalls östlich davon wird um einzelne Bunkergruppen gekämpft.
Schnellboote griffen in der Nacht zum 22. Februar vor der englischen Ostküste einen stark gesicherten feindlichen Geleitzug an und versenkten aus ihm sieben Schiffe mit zusammen 21.500 BRT. Vier weitere Dampfer mit 11.000 BRT wurden torpediert. Mit ihrem Sinken kann ebenfalls gerechnet werden. Während harter Artilleriegefechte wurden außerdem zwei Frachter mit 4.000 BRT beschädigt. Die eigenen Boote kehrten vollzählig in ihren Stützpunkt zurück.
In Mittelitalien blieb der Erfolg der amerikanischen Verbände, die erneut den ganzen Tag über unsere Bergstellungen nordwestlich Poretta angriffen, auf einige kleine Einbrüche beschränkt.
In heftigen Luftkämpfen wurden über dem westlichen Reichsgebiet achtzehn anglo-amerikanische Tiefflieger abgeschossen.
Feindliche Terrorflieger warfen am gestrigen Tag Bomben auf zahlreiche Orte in West- und Nordwestdeutschland sowie Südbayern, Tirol und Vorarlberg. Britische Bomber griffen in der vergangenen Nacht die Reichshauptstadt an. Luftverteidigungskräfte brachten hierbei weitere 38 anglo-amerikanische Flugzeuge zum Absturz.
Im Kampf um Lauban hat sich eine Kompanie des Grenadierersatz- und Ausbildungsbataillons 318 unter Führung von Leutnant Gielnig durch besondere Standhaftigkeit ausgezeichnet. Sie vernichtete in zwei Tagen acht feindliche Panzer durch Nahkampfwaffen, wobei der Kompanieführer trotz Armprothese allein vier sowjetische Panzer durch „Panzerfaust“ abschoss.
Bei dem im heutigen Wehrmachtbericht gemeldeten erfolgreichen Angriff auf den feindlichen Geleitzug vor der englischen Küste zeichnete sich eine unter der Führung von Kapitänleutnant Holzapfel stehende Schnellbootgruppe besonders aus.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (February 23, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
231100A February
TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR
(2) NAVY DEPARTMENT
TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(3) TAC HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) MAIN 12 ARMY GP
(5) AIR STAFF
(6) ANCXF
(7) EXFOR MAIN
(8) EXFOR REAR
(9) DEFENSOR, OTTAWA
(10) CANADIAN C/S, OTTAWA
(11) WAR OFFICE
(12) ADMIRALTY
(13) AIR MINISTRY
(14) UNITED KINGDOM BASE
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM ZONE
(18) SHAEF REAR
(19) SHAEF MAIN
(20) PRO, ROME
(21) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communiqué No. 321
UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces have entered Moyland, southeast of Kleve. Our troops astride the Goch-Uedem railway have maintained their positions against strong enemy reactions.
Strongpoints, mortar and gun positions south of Kalkar and in the areas of Weeze, Kevelaer and Sonsbeck, and rail lines between Emmerich and Wesel were struck at by fighter-bombers and rocket-firing fighters.
An attempt by a large enemy patrol to cross the Roer River in the area east of Schmidt was broken up by our artillery.
East of the intersection of the Belgian-Luxembourg-German border we have cleared Binscheid. We have captured Lichtenborn, two miles to the east, and northeast of the town we have made gains eastward to within three-quarters of a mile of the Prüm River. To the south and southwest, Arzfeld, Irrhausen, Daleiden, and Dasburg have been taken. Forty more enemy pillboxes were knocked out by our forces in the area northeast of Dasburg.
We have taken Vianden and thus cleared the enemy entirely from Luxembourg. In the area east of Vianden we have captured Geichlingen and Obergeckler where we met very stiff resistance from enemy forces which employed tanks. In the Mettendorf area, a small enemy counterattack was repulsed.
Our elements have now cleared the enemy from the Saar-Moselle triangle, have taken the towns of Fellerich and Tawern and occupied the part of Saarburg west of the Saar River. Our units have made two crossings of the Saar in the area south of Saarburg. Serrig on the east side of the river, has been entered, and house-to-house fighting is in progress. Our troops east of the river in the vicinity of Taben are encountering enemy small arms and mortar fire.
Our troops made steady progress against stubborn resistance toward clearing Forbach. The two-thirds of the town is in our hands. In the vicinity of Stiring-Wendel, we cut the main Forbach-Saarbrücken highway.
To the east, gains up to 1,000 yards were made north of Spichern. Woods in the area were cleared and we took heights which give us observation of Saarbrücken.
An enemy railway gun, estimated to be firing from a distance of 25 miles shelled Saverne.
The enemy’s communications system was under very heavy and widespread air attack throughout yesterday, during which some 8,000 sorties were flown.
Medium, light and fighter-bombers struck at marshalling yards, rail junctions and other communications targets in northern Holland and from north to south over western Germany.
Escorted heavy bombers attacked communications over a wide area of central Germany and in southern Germany, Austria and northern Italy. Targets included viaducts at Bielefeld and Altenbeken near Badeborn and Benzol plants at Schloven and Osterfeld in the Ruhr.
Last night, Berlin was bombed by light bombers.
During the day, 39 enemy aircraft were shot down and 24 others were destroyed on the ground. Eight of our heavy bombers, five medium bombers, 21 light bombers and 40 fighters are missing according to reports so far received.
COORDINATED WITH: G-2, G-3 to C/S
THIS MESSAGE MAY BE SENT IN CLEAR BY ANY MEANS
/s/
Precedence
“OP” - AGWAR
“P” - Others
ORIGINATING DIVISION
PRD, Communique Section
NAME AND RANK TYPED. TEL. NO.
D. R. JORDAN, Lt Col FA4655
AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
U.S. Navy Department (February 23, 1945)
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 273
The 28th Regiment of United States Marines was observed raising the United States Flag on the summit of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Island at 1035 today (East Longitude Date).
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CINCPOA Communiqué No. 274
The 28th Regiment of Marines on Iwo Island achieved the rim of Mount Suribachi on the Northern, Eastern and Western sides of the crater by 1200 today (East Longitude Date). Below on the steep slopes of the Volcano assault teams equipped with flamethrowers were still attacking numerous enemy strongpoints which had been bypassed. The drive which carried our forces to the summit was supported effectively by Marine artillery.
After a night in which their lines remained stable the troops in the northern sector made a frontal attack on enemy strongpoints and moved slowly toward the Central Iwo airfield. The enemy employing heavy artillery and mortar fire was offering stiff resistance.
By 1200 small gains had been made in the center of the lines south of the field.
Naval gunfire supported the troops throughout the night and morning. Heavy carrier aircraft attacks were made on enemy defenses during the morning. Meanwhile, carrier aircraft destroyed three planes and damaged three others on Chichi Jima in the Bonins.
Unloading continued on the beaches throughout the day. Several roads have now been constructed over the volcanic ash terraces and the movement of supplies to the front lines is improved.
Part of the northern beaches were subjected to mortar and sniper fire during the day.
During the night of February 22‑23, a group of enemy swimmers landed on the western coast of the island to attack in the rear of our lines. The Marines mopped them up after dawn.
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 275
The V Amphibious Corps attacking northward on Iwo Island made limited gains against elaborate enemy defenses by 1800 on February 23 (East Longitude Date). On the right flank the 4th Marine Division advanced a maximum of 300 yards. In the center elements of the 3rd Marine Division occupied the southern tip of the Central Iwo airfield. There was no appreciable change in the positions of the 5th Marine Division on the left flank. In all sectors the enemy is resisting our advance from concrete pillboxes, entrenchments and caves.
In the area of Mount Suribachi, mopping-up operations are being carried out against blockhouses, and pillboxes on the slopes of the volcano. Similar defenses have been reported inside the crater. A total of 717 enemy dead have been counted in the Suribachi sector.
Throughout the day, our troops continued to receive close support from carrier aircraft and naval gunfire. Mortar fire directed at our positions from Kangoku Rock, west of Iwo, was eliminated by one of our destroyers. Several landing craft at the Rock were also destroyed.
The unloading of supplies is continuing and their rate of movement across the beaches is considerably improved in spite of the surf created by the recent southeasterly weather. The enemy continued to bring the northern beaches under fire during the afternoon of February 23.
Carrier aircraft conducted an offensive sweep over Chichi Jima in the Bonins on February 23.
Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing accompanied by torpedo planes struck bivouac areas, destroyed a bridge and set a lumber yard afire in the Palaus on February 22. Fighter attacks were also carried out on Yap in the Western Carolines and on Sonsoral Island.
Army fighters strafed targets on Pagan in the Marianas on February 23.
Neutralizing attacks were made on enemy-held bases in the Marshalls by Navy search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing Two.
The Pittsburgh Press (February 23, 1945)
MARINES MOP UP IWO PEAK
Yanks seize summit of Mt. Suribachi
Casualties 5,372, 3 every 2 minutes
Why the going is tough on Iwo
The Navy reconnaissance photo of Iwo, taken at daringly low level, gives a good idea of the forbidding ground over which U.S. Marines are battling. Large areas of the terrain were heavily dotted with pillboxes, sniper pits, and mines. Enlarged section shows some of the Jap installations.
GUAM (UP) – U.S. Marines captured Mt. Suribachi, volcanic peak commanding the bloody island of Iwo, and edged northward today in a new frontal drive against the central airfield.
Assault teams with flamethrowers were hunting out Japs hidden in several bypassed strongpoints on the slopes of the volcano.
A Navy communiqué raised the casualties for the first 58 hours of the Battle of Iwo, the toughest in the history of the Marine Corps, to 5,372. It estimated the American dead at 644, the wounded at 4,168, and missing at 560. The majority of the missing probably were dead.
Jap swimmers wiped out
A group of Japs swam around the western end of the Marine line across Iwo under cover of darkness last night and landed in the American rear. The Marines mopped them up after dawn.
Marines of the 28th Regiment scored the biggest tactical victory of the invasion when they scaled 554-foot Mt. Suribachi, at the southern tip of Iwo, and swarmed over the northern, eastern and western sides of the crater at noon.
From the summit of Suribachi, the Marines looked down on the entire island. Guns were being rushed to the peak to turn the tables on the Japs who from its heights had been plastering the Marines since H-Hour.
Last Japs on Mt. Suribachi were being mopped up today by U.S. Marines who had seized the summit of that highest Iwo Island peak. Marine spearheads battling toward the central or No. 2 airfield on Iwo made small gains.
‘Small gains’ reported
A communiqué reported “small gains” in the renewed drive on Iwo’s central or No. 2 airfield. The Marines, storming the fortifications before it, chopped their way slowly northward. They were advancing through heavy artillery and mortar fire.
For the fourth straight night, U.S. warships off Iwo shelled Jap positions. By daylight, U.S. planes from carriers joined in the bombardment.
The ships ringing the island were also pouring in a steady flow of supplies and equipment for the three Marine divisions fighting the hardest battle of the war in the Pacific.
Roads constructed
Engineers and construction crews had constructed several roads over the treacherous volcanic ash terraces, and the movement of supplies to the fighting zones was improving.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz reviewed the situation on Iwo in his third communiqué of the day.
Three Americans fell dead or wounded every two minutes during the first 58 hours of battle on Iwo, Adm. Nimitz announced, but the Marines were killing two Japs for every American killed.
He said 1,222 Jap dead had been counted.
In the entire 76-hour battle on Tarawa, previously the bloodiest, 3,151 Marines were killed or wounded.
Some lose 25 percent
Front dispatches said 25 percent of one battalion in the first assault waves ashore on Iwo was killed or wounded in the first two hours after H-Hour. Twenty percent of a second battalion was felled.
The communiqué indicated that U.S. casualties had increased from 76 an hour for the first 48 hours of the invasion to 172 an hour – three a minute – during the next 10 hours, but it was more likely that a number of those reported in the late bulletin had actually been hit during the earlier
The 28th Marine Regiment reached the top of Mt. Suribachi 16 hours after surrounding the volcano. From its crest, the Americans for the first time can observe Jap movements around the central airfield atop a plateau.
Some Japs on peak
Many gun emplacements on Mt. Suribachi remained in Jap hands, however, and these will have to be stormed one by one. Tunnels and caves honeycomb the peak.
Jap troops counterattacked late yesterday against both flanks of the Marine spearhead pointed toward the central airdrome. Newly-landed artillery, backed up by the big guns of warships, appeared to have repulsed the assault from the left by 6 p.m., but no reports were available on the action on the right.
At last reports the Marines were still 200 yards from the airfield, though some units had bypassed its southern tip from the west.
Heavy rains also hampered the Marines.
A small group of Jap planes made a second attempt to attack U.S. warships off Iwo. But the raid was unsuccessful and fighters and anti-aircraft batteries shot down six planes.
In the first attempt at sunset Wednesday, some American fleet units were damaged, Adm. Nimitz said yesterday.
All sources agreed that the battle on Iwo was the toughest and bloodiest of the entire Pacific war. Vice Adm. John H. Hoover, commander of forward areas in the Central Pacific, said Saipan was “easy” by comparison.
Natural barriers
Besides being the heaviest fortified island yet encountered, Iwo possesses “tremendous natural barriers that also must be overcome,” he said in a broadcast on his return from the scene.
He said it might take two weeks “or even longer” to secure the island, depending on whether the Japs hole up to fight to the last or expend their forces in a suicidal banzai charge.
“Regardless of what tactics the Japs use,” he said, “we have the necessary manpower and equipment to insure an American victory.”
Once secured, Iwo immediately will be put into operation as an air base for attacks on Tokyo and other targets on the Jap homeland.
“You must remember that we can do in months what it takes the Japs years to accomplish.”
Beachhead imperiled
Adm. Hoover disclosed that the American beachhead on Iwo appeared doomed for a time on D-Day Monday. The Marines encountered little fire going ashore because the Japs thought the landing on the southeast beach was a feint, he said, but three hours later they swung mortars and howitzers into place.
Shells began knocking out U.S. tanks and causing casualties among the troops, he said.
He said:
It was a serious moment and for a while our invasion beach appeared doomed, but later that same day we discovered an area far to the south where we could penetrate to the southern airfield out of range of their heaviest gunfire.
YANKS DRIVING ON COLOGNE
Roer River line smashed
Allied tanks, infantry streaming eastward, Berlin acknowledges
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Yanks take stand south of Luzon
Move opens strait to U.S. shipping
MANILA, Philippines (UP) – U.S. forces strengthened their hold in the Philippines today, gaining control of strategic San Bernardino Strait with the seizure of Capul Island off Southeastern Luzon.
Occupation of the tiny but important island, lying midway between Luzon and Samar, opened the direct shipping lane from the United States to the great harbor in Manila Bay.
Veteran jungle fighters of the Americal Division, which fought on Guadalcanal and Bougainville, swarmed over Capul Island Wednesday against light opposition, a communiqué said.
Still battle in Manila
The island is at the western end of San Bernardino Strait, where the Jap Fleet units were routed by U.S. warships supporting the landings on Leyte last October.
U.S. forces engaged the Japs in Southern Manila in vicious battles that raged from building to building around the besieged Intramuros section.
At the same time, units of the 11th Airborne Division swept southward along the west coast of Laguna de Bay Lake, southeast of the capital, and surprised a Jap garrison of 500 men at Mabato Point.
Blast Jap barges
The enemy forces attempted to flee across the bay in barges but were caught off shore by a murderous crossfire of American artillery. A number of barges were sunk and the shattered remnants of the garrison returned to land farther south along the coast.
The swift advance carried the Americans seven miles along the coast of the lake, through the road junction of Alabang to Nuntinglupa.
In Manila, the heaviest fighting centered around the City Hall, the General Post Office, the Manila Hotel and university buildings.
Breaks into hotel
Elements of the 1st Cavalry Division, which now is attached to the 37th Infantry Division, broke into Manila Hotel Wednesday and seized the first floor of the building. Jap naval and marine personnel held the rest of the hotel.
Japs carrying demolitions, shotguns and spears attempted to infiltrate U.S. positions at the Army-Navy Club, but were routed with the loss of 137 men.
Heavy American guns continued pounding the ancient wall around the Intramuros sector. One shell set off a Jap ammunition dump at the northeast corner of the wall, causing a terrific blast which ripped a 30-foot hole in the masonry.
Blast Japs in mountains
Nearly 100 Liberator bombers joined the 40th Infantry Division troops in an assault on the Jap forces holding out in the Zambales Mountains behind Fort Stotsenburg and the Clark Field area.
Heavy bombers, fighters and patrol planes carried out extensive attacks on Formosa. Fighters destroyed 13 grounded enemy planes. Ten coastal vessels were destroyed or damaged.
Turkey enters war on Germans, Japs
LONDON, England (UP) – Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan today as a result of a note from the Big Three serving notice on nine “associated nations” to take such a step by March 1 or forfeit seats at the San Francisco conference.
The Ankara radio reported that the Turkish National Assembly had voted unanimous approval of the government decision to declare war after hearing of the Big Three decision reached at the Crimea conference.
The note, couched in clear-cut terms, told the associated nations that a declaration of war was essential to any voice in the peace conference.
As if in protest to the blunt tone of the ultimatum, the Turkish Parliament ostentatiously dated its declaration of war for March 1 – the deadline.
Bracketed with Turkey as the associated nations were Egypt, Iceland, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Egypt appeared to be about to follow Turkey in the declaration. Iceland has been without diplomatic relations with Germany since the occupation of Denmark in 1940.
All six of the Latin American nations listed with the Turks have declared war on Germany within the last two weeks.