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• » 5 Apr 1945

• 18 US Divisions began to clear the Ruhr Pocket in Germany. ww2dbase [Fall of the Ruhr | TH]
• Soviet foreign minister Molotov informed the Japanese ambassador that the Soviet Union would not renew the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact when it would expire in 1946. ww2dbase [Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact | CPC]
• Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front cut the rail line from Linz to Vienna, occupied Austria. ww2dbase [Battle of Vienna | TH]
• On the fifth day of the Soviet artillery bombardmen on Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany, a break in the weather allowed Soviet aircraft to join in on the attack. By this point, German defenses could offer little opposition to enemy aircraft. ww2dbase [East Prussian Offensive | CPC]
• Allied troops captured Almelo, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS New Mexico became the flagship of Admiral Raymond Spruance of US Fifth Fleet. ww2dbase [New Mexico | CPC]

• French First Army captured Karlsruhe, Germany. ww2dbase [Southern Germany Campaign | TH]
• SS-Obersturmbannführer Karl-Otto Koch, the notorious, brutal and corrupt former Commandant of Buchenwald Concentration Camp was executed by firing squad at Buchenwald after a trial in which he was convicted of bringing himself and the SS into disrepute. ww2dbase [Buchenwald Concentration Camp | Karl-Otto Koch | AC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 31 arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | DS]

• Kamoi was heavily damaged by a B-24 bomber of USAAF Far East Air Force in Hong Kong harbor. ww2dbase [Kamoi | CPC]

• British 56th Infantry Division attacked German positions near Lake Comacchio in northern Italy. ww2dbase [Operation Grapeshot and Operation Roast | CPC]

• Americans established an advanced air base on Iwo Jima, Japan. ww2dbase [Battle of Iwo Jima | CPC]
• At 1359 hours, while at Mitajiri anchorage in Japan, battleship Yamato's commanding officer Captain Kosaku Ariga received the order to participate in a surface special attack on 7 Apr 1945. Ariga informed the crew at 1500 hours. At 1730 hours, 67 recently arrived cadets from the Naval Academy at Etajima were sent ashore. A farewell party was then held aboard Yamato, with a photographer taking portraits of officers. ww2dbase [Yamato | CPC]
• USS Marcus Island disembarked US Navy squadron VC-87 and embarked squadron VCO-1 while operating off Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | CPC]
• Yukio Araki visited his home in Gunma Prefecture, Japan for the last time. ww2dbase [Yukio Araki | CPC]

• The third FR Fireball prototype aircraft was destroyed in a crash over Lindbergh Field, San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [FR Fireball | CPC]

5 Apr 1945 Interactive Map