16 Mar 1945
  • American bombers dropped 300 bombs on Vienna, Austria, many of which landed in the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, which was the world's oldest zoo. 2,000 animals out of 3,500 in the zoo were killed. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • 307 US B-29 bombers devastated a 3-square mile area in Kobe, Japan and caused 15,000 in casualties. ww2dbase [Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities | CPC]
  • 12 Lancaster bombers and 12 Halifax bombers conducted minelaying operations off Helgoland, Germany and in the Kattegat. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Heinrich Himmler, having abandoned his command with Army Group Vistula three days prior, checked himself into a sanatorium at Hohenlychen, Germany so that doctors there could treat his influenza. When Heinz Guderian came to visit him, he would request Guderian to carry his letter of resignation as commanding officer of Army Group Vistula to Adolf Hitler. ww2dbase [Heinrich Himmler | CPC]
  • US troops in landed on Basilan in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]
  • Rudolf Heß noted that 2 million Jews were gassed between Jun 1941 and late 1943. ww2dbase [Rudolf Heß | CPC]
  • Vasily Kuznetsov was made the commanding officer of 3rd Shock Army. ww2dbase [Vasily Kuznetsov | CPC]
Burma Caroline Islands
  • At Ulithi, Captain William T. Rassieur was relieved of command of escort carrier USS Sargent Bay in order to take an assignment on the staff of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest King in Washington D.C. Captain Richard M. Oliver assumed command.n ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Ulithi | CPC]
China
  • 32 B-24 bombers of the US 14th Air Force escorted by 10 P-51 fighters attacked railyards at Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. ww2dbase [Shijiazhuang, Hebei | CPC]
Germany Hungary Japan Pacific Ocean
  • USS Spot sank a Japanese cargo ship in the East China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 8 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Spot | East China Sea | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • German V-2 rocket hit at Albert Road in Leyton, London, England, United Kingdom at 0638 hours, killing 23 and seriously injuring 18. Another rocket hit Willesden near Hampstead, London at 0230 hours, damaging 200 houses. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 2 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | CPC]
United States Photo(s) dated 16 Mar 1945
This Japanese soldier played dead for almost two days half buried in a shell hole holding a live grenade. Promising no resistance, he was given a cigarette before being removed from the hole, Iwo Jima, Mar 16, 1945A North American P-51D Mustang of the Vll Fighter Command taking off from Saipan, Mariana Islands for the newly-captured airfield on Iwo Jima, Mar 16, 1945. Note the twin oversized VLR drop tanks.

16 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




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Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal


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