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• George Patton urinated into the Rhine River. Upon completing his crossing over a pontoon bridge, he took some dirt on the far bank, emulating his favorite historical figure William the Conqueror. ww2dbase [George Patton | CPC]
• Operation Plunder landed over 16,000 British and American troops across the Rhine River region, allowing link ups with advancing British 21st Army Group's 4 bridgeheads. Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Ludwigshafen and Speyer, Germany. ww2dbase [Crossing the Rhine | TH]
• US 9th Army began to seal off the Ruhr region in Germany. ww2dbase [Ruhr Campaign | CPC]
• HMS Activity departed Sydney, Australia. ww2dbase [Activity | CPC]
• USS Missouri bombarded Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Missouri | CPC]
• Major General Matthew Ridgway, the commanding officer of US XVIII Airborne Corps, was wounded in the shoulder by fragments from a German grenade. ww2dbase [AC]
• USS Nicholas departed Subic Bay, Luzon bound for Cebu, Philippines. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• Lieutenant General Daniel Sultan's Sino-American force linked up with British troops at Kyaukme, Burma. ww2dbase [Kyaukme | CPC]

• USS Franklin arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Franklin | Ulithi | CPC]

• France issued a plan to form a post-war Indochinese federation consisted of Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchina, Cambodia, and Laos. It was to exist under France without a progression toward independence. ww2dbase [CPC]

• B-17 bombers attacked the Daimler-Benz tank factory in Berlin, Germany; the bombers were escorted by P-51 fighters flown by African-American pilots of 332nd Fighter Group from Ramitelli Airfield in Italy. About 30 Me 262 jet fighter of German Jagdgeschwader 7 wing rose to defend. The American fighter and bomber airmen together claimed 16 jets shot down, but actual German records showed that only 8 were lost in this action. ww2dbase [Berlin | CPC]
• Adolf Hitler's personal Ju 290A-5 transport aircraft was destroyed by Allied bombing at München (Munich), Germany. ww2dbase [Ju 290 | München, München-Oberbayern | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh split into two forces and bombed airfields at Vechta and Hesepe, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Vechta | DS]
• Roscoe Brown, Jr. shot down a German Me 262 jet fighter over Germany, becoming the first USAAF 15th Air Force pilot to shoot down a jet. ww2dbase [Roscoe Brown | CPC]

• USS Cod departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Cod | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Yokosuka, Japan and prepared to enter drydocks for repairs. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]
• USS Wisconsin bombarded Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Wisconsin | Okinawa | CPC]
• USS Preston arrived off Kerama Islands, Japan. ww2dbase [Preston (Fletcher-class) | Okinawa | CPC]
• The city government of Nagasaki, Japan restructured its wartime administration in an attempt to bolster preparations for emergency air defense, sacrificing the priority of waterworks and harbor portions of the government. ww2dbase [Nagasaki | CPC]

• USS Luce departed Philippine waters to escort ships which were sailing for Kelse Shima, Ryukyu Islands. ww2dbase [Luce | CPC]
• Cebu attack force, with USCGC Spencer as flagship and destroyer USS Shaw as screening vessel, departed Leyte Gulf for Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. ww2dbase [Shaw | Spencer | Philippines Campaign, Phase 2 | Leyte | DS]
• Destroyer USS Saufley arrived at Zamboanga, Mindanao where she became flagship of the Zamboanga invasion force. ww2dbase [Saufley | Zamboanga, Mindanao | DS]

• USS Monterey departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard after repairs. ww2dbase [Monterey | Puget Sound Navy Yard | Bremerton, Washington | DS]
• Escort carrier USS Bogue arrived at Norfolk, Virginia. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Bogue | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

• USS Sea Cat arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Sea Cat | Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

24 Mar 1945 Interactive Map