| February 17
Pacific, Iwo Jima
Under the command of Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, the US 4th and 5th Marine Divisions land. Resistance is at first light, but then the attackers are hit by intense artillery and small-arms fire from the 21,000-man Japanese garrison. However, despite casualties, the Americans have 30,000 men on the island by the end of the day.
 US Marines head for the beaches of Iwo Jima and one of the bloodiest battles in their Pacific War
February 21
Western Front, Germany
The Canadian First Army takes Goch, which ends Operation Veritable, an offensive from the Nijmegen area between the Rhine and the Maas Rivers. Far East, Burma
General William Slim's British Fourteenth Army begins the reconquest of central Burma. Breaking out of the Irrawaddy bridgeheads, columns are directed to Mandalay, Burma's second city, and the important rail and road communications center at Meiktila. In northern Burma, the British 36th Division breaks through Japanese positions at Myitson after a vicious three-week battle. Japanese forces are now on the retreat in the area. prev | next |
