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• » 22 Mar 1945

• Takeichi Nishi passed away. ww2dbase [Takeichi Nishi | CPC]
• Soviet troops under General Konev crossed Oder River at Oppeln, Poland. ww2dbase [TH]
• British Corporal Reg Rattey won the Victoria Cross on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands by destroying three pillboxes which were decimating his platoon. ww2dbase [AC]
• Lieutenant Commander Masato Nakajima became the commanding officer of Submarine I-369. ww2dbase [I-369 | CPC]
• Soviet troops wiped out all German troops enveloped at Oppeln, Germany (now Opole, Poland). ww2dbase [Silesian Offensive and the Siege of Breslau | CPC]
• Richard O'Connor was Mentioned in Despatches. ww2dbase [Richard O'Connor | CPC]

• In Burma, British Royal Engineers Lieutenant Claud Raymond, 21 years old, was sent to cause a diversion ahead of the main force. He did just that, drawing heavy Japanese resistance during which he was badly wounded, first in the shoulder, then by shrapnel, and finally his wrist was shattered. Nevertheless, his mission was a success. He refused medical attention until all his wounded were treated but died from his wounds on the following day. Raymond was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [AC]
• Anglo-Indian troops eliminated all Japanese pockets of resistance in the Myingyan region in Burma. ww2dbase [Battle of Meiktila-Mandalay | Myingyan | CPC]

• USS Cassin Young departed Ulithi, Caroline Islands for Okinawa. ww2dbase [Cassin Young | Ulithi | CPC]
• USS Missouri arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Missouri | Ulithi | CPC]

• American war correspondent Clarence Beliel, commonly known by the name of Don Bell, was shot down over Xiamen Harbor, China while flying in a PB4Y2 Privateer aircraft. He and other survivors, including pilot Jim Evans, were helped by pirates under the control of Chang Yizhou, who was under the employment of Chinese Army intelligence chief General Dai Li, posing as civilian fishermen. The Americans later recuperated at US Navy's SACO Camp No. 6. ww2dbase [Xiamen, Fujian | CPC]

• The US 3rd Army crossed the Rhine River west of Mainz and near Oppenheim just before midnight; the Americans had beaten the British in crossing the river. Opposition was negligible and within 24 hours the entire US 5th Division had crossed the river. ww2dbase [Crossing the Rhine | Oppenheim, Hessen-Nassau | AC]
• Colonel-General Gotthard Heinrici was appointed commander of German Army Group Vistula with orders to hold the Soviets on the Oder and save Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
• Four aircraft from No. 617 Squadron RAF (one carrying a "Grand Slam" bomb) attacked and destroyed the Nienburg Bridge in Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Nienburg, Magdeburg-Anhalt | AC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against a military camp at Feldhausen, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Feldhausen | DS]

• Landing ship No. 122 was completed and was transferred to the Japanese Army. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 123 was completed and was transferred to the Japanese Army. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]
• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides arrived on station (one day late due to heavy seas while en route) in the western approaches to the Bungo Channel, Japan. ww2dbase [Silversides | Bungo Channel | DS]

• Destroyer USS Saufley departed Mangarin Bay, Mindoro escorting a convoy bound for Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines. ww2dbase [Saufley | Mangarin Bay, Mindoro | DS]

• A paper Japanese Fu-Go balloon was shot down by USAAF pilots in Bell P-63 Kingcobras flying from Walla Walla, Washington. The balloon was first tracked near Redwood, Oregon and followed to just beyond Reno, Nevada (with the aircraft needing some refueling along the way). The balloon was shot down in hills southeast of Reno and exploded on impact. Nevertheless, two in-tact incendiary bombs were recovered nearby. ww2dbase [Fu-Go | Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | Reno, Nevada | DS]

22 Mar 1945 Interactive Map