30 Apr 1945
  • The Western Allies captured Finnmark, Norway. ww2dbase [TH]
  • Soviets and US First Army linked up near Ellenburg, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
  • British Second Army freed 20,000 prisoners of war from Sandbostel, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
  • American B-24 bombers sank Japanese transport Kunikawa Maru at Borneo. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Ira Eaker was named deputy commander of the Army Air Forces and chief of the Air Staff. ww2dbase [Ira Eaker | CPC]
Arctic Ocean
  • The frigate, HMS Goodall, became the last ship to be sunk in the war against Germany when she was torpedoed by submarine U-286 in the Barents Sea with heavy loss of life returning from escorting a Russian convoy. ww2dbase [Barents Sea | AC]
Burma
  • Anglo-Indian forces gained a beachhead on the west bank of the Pegu River at Pegu, Burma. ww2dbase [Battle of Rangoon | Pegu | CPC]
China Czechoslovakia
  • German police chief Obergruppenführer Karl Hermann Frank announced over radio that any attempt to rise up by the citizens of Prague in the puppet state of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia would be wiped out violently. ww2dbase [Karl Hermann Frank | Prague Strategic Offensive | Prague | CPC]
Germany
  • William Joyce's "Germany Calling" radio program ceased broadcasting as British Army troops closed in on the radio station facilities in Hamburg, Germany. ww2dbase [William Joyce | Hamburg | CPC]
  • The recently married Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in Berlin, Germany. Their bodies were burned near the Chancellery bunker. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Reich Chancellery | Battle of Berlin | Berlin | CPC]
  • In the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, Zhukov launched an assault, refusing to permit an armistice, demanding only unconditional surrender. Soviet infantrymen, just 800 metres from the Reichstag, were attacked from the rear by SS diehards in the Kroll Opera House; the building was taken after several hours of bitter hand-to-hand fighting. ww2dbase [Reichstag Building and Kroll Opera House | Battle of Berlin | Berlin | TH, AC]
  • US troops captured München, Germany. 50 kilometers to the northeast, at Moosburg, US Third Army freed over 100,000 prisoners of war. ww2dbase [Southern Germany Campaign | München-Oberbayern | TH, CPC]
  • Eva Hitler committed suicide in the Führerbunker in Berlin, Germany by ingesting cyanide. ww2dbase [Eva Braun | Berlin | CPC]
  • Ferdinand Schörner was made the Commander-in-Chief of the German Army. ww2dbase [Ferdinand Schörner | CPC]
  • Walter Schreiber was captured by Soviet forces in Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Walter Schreiber | Berlin | CPC]
Guam
  • USS Ray departed Apra Harbor, Guam, Mariana Islands for her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Ray | Apra Harbor | CPC]
Hawaii Italy Japan
  • Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Yokosuka, Japan for her 24th voyage with the Japanese Navy. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]
Netherlands
  • Commissioner of the German occupation in the Netherlands, Arthur Seyß-Inquart, officially agreed that Allied aircraft delivering food and other supplies to Dutch civilians would not be harassed by German defensive fire. ww2dbase [Operations Manna, Chowhound, and Faust | Arthur Seyß-Inquart | CPC]
Pacific Ocean
  • USS Trepang sank Miho Maru in the Yellow Sea. ww2dbase [Trepang | Yellow Sea | CPC]
  • USS Springer was depth charged by a Japanese destroyer while attempting to attack Japanese shipping in the Yellow Sea; she would survive the attack with minor damage; 4 torpedoes were expended in her attempt to fire back at the destroyer. ww2dbase [Springer | Yellow Sea | CPC]
Taiwan
  • US 22nd Bombardment Group aircraft dropped 142 250-pound bombs on Japanese Navy Oil Refinery No. 6 (USAAF referred to this facility as the "Toshien Oil Refinery") at Toshien District, Takao (now Zuoying District, Kaohsiung), Taiwan. A direct hit was scored on the eastern-most oil tank, and the resulting black smoke rose to the altitude of 5,000 feet. ww2dbase [Takao Guard District | Takao | CPC]
United Kingdom United States
  • George Brett retired from the US Army. ww2dbase [George Brett | CPC]
US Pacific Islands Photo(s) dated 30 Apr 1945
A Marine of the US 1st Marines Division pointed his Thompson submachine gun at a Japanese sniper, Okinawa, Japan, Apr-Jun 1945Engineers of the Australian 2/13 field company resting aboard a landing craft after a failed attempt to reach coastal wire defenses off Lingkas, Tarakan, Borneo, 30 Apr 1945British personnel dismantling the experimental nuclear pile at Haigerloch near Stuttgart, Germany, Apr 1945United States Army map of Borneo showing Japanese troop dispositions as of 30 Apr 1945.
See all photos dated 30 Apr 1945

30 Apr 1945 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Share this article with your friends:

 Facebook
 Reddit
 Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds

Search WW2DB
Famous WW2 Quote
"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time."

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


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!