What Happened in April 1945

Events 1 - 100 of 114

• Apr 1 World War II: Canadian troops free the Dutch cities of Doetinchem, Enschede, Borculo and Eibergen
• Apr 1 World War II: The Ruhr Pocket of German forces are encircled by the US Ninth Army and US First Army, eventually leading to the capture of 317,000 German troops
• Apr 2 Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Brazil are established
• Apr 3 World War II: Dutch city of Hengelo freed from Nazi control by the Canadian Army
• Apr 4 The Holocaust: US forces liberate the Ohrdruf concentration camp in Germany, the first such camp to be liberated by the US Army
• Apr 4 World War II: Soviet forces liberate Hungary from German occupation, establishing their own communist satellite state. This was celebrated as Liberation Day until 1989.
• Apr 4 World War II: US Army occupies Bielefeld in north-eastern Germany
• Apr 5 World War II: Dutch city of Almelo is freed by the Second Canadian Corps
• Apr 6 Battle of Okinawa: Giant Japanese battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa with orders to beach herself and be destroyed defending the island
• Apr 6 The Holocaust: Nazis begin evacuating prisoners from Buchenwald concentration camp
• Apr 6 World War II: Dutch city of Coevorden freed from German occupation by Canadian forces
• Apr 7 Battle of Okinawa: Massive kamikaze attack of around 110 Japanese aircraft damages three US battleships off Okinawa island
• Apr 7 Battle of Okinawa: US planes intercept Japanese fleet heading for Okinawa on a suicide mission, super battleship Yamato and four destroyers are sunk
• Apr 7 Kuniaki Koiso resigns as Prime Minister of Japan after the US invasion of Okinawa; he is replaced by Kantaro Suzuki
• Apr 7 Sonderkommando Elbe, special Luftwaffe units designed to destroy Allied planes by ramming them mid-air, are sent on their first and only mission of World War II
• Apr 8 1945 NFL Draft: Charley Trippi from University of Georgia first pick by Chicago Cardinals
• Apr 8 Dutch Nazi occupiers executed, Nazi general Christiansen flees Netherlands
• Apr 9 Battleship Admiral Scheer sunk by RAF bombing in Kiel
• Apr 9 Liberty ship at Bari Italy carrying aerial bombs explodes, kills 360
• Apr 9 NFL requires players to wear long stockings
• Apr 9 World War II: The Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia, ends.
• Apr 10 Canadian troops conquer Deventer
• Apr 10 General Blaskowitz becomes nazi leader of "Fort Holland"
• Apr 10 German troops attack Ijsselbrug
• Apr 10 NFL's Boston Yanks & Brooklyn Tigers merge
• Apr 10 US troops land on Tsugen Shima Okinawa
• Apr 10 William Schuman & Antony Tudor's ballet premieres in NYC
• Apr 11 Allied troops liberate Basket-Compascuum

• Apr 11 SS burns & shoots 1,100 at Gardelegen
• Apr 11 US captures Tsugen Shima
• Apr 11 US troops conquers Mulheim, Oberhausen, Bochum, Unna, Essen
• Apr 12 Canadian troops liberate Nazi concentration camp Westerbork, Netherlands

• Apr 12 WWII: British Royal Navy captures German U-boat U-1024 in the Irish; it sinks while being towed the next day
• Apr 13 Canadian soldier Léo Major single-handedly liberates Dutch town of Zwolle by fooling Germans into thinking a raid had begun
• Apr 13 WWII: Canadian army liberates Teuge & Assen, Netherlands, from Nazis
• Apr 13 WWII: Russian Red Army occupies Vienna, Austria
• Apr 13 WWII: US Marines conquer Minna Shima off Okinawa, Japan
• Apr 14 American planes bomb Tokyo & damage the Imperial Palace
• Apr 14 US Marines attack Yae-Take, the tallest mountain on Okinawa's Motobu Peninsula
• Apr 14 World War II: US 7th Army & allies forces capture Nuremberg & Stuttgart in Germany

• Apr 15 British Army liberates Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen

• Apr 16 49th Boston Marathon won by John A Kelley in 2:30:40.2; his second event victory

• Apr 16 Battle of Okinawa: US troops land and seize the Ie Shima Airfield on Ie Shima island near Okinawa [1]
• Apr 16 US troops enter Nuremberg, Germany
• Apr 16 World War II: American troops liberate Colditz Castle, the high-security prisoner of war camp in Saxony, Germany [1]
• Apr 16 World War II: Dutch town of Arnhem, site of failed Operation Market Garden, is freed by British and Canadian forces
• Apr 16 World War II: German troops in Groningen, Netherlands surrender to Canadian and Dutch allied forces
• Apr 17 8th Air Force bombs Dresden

• Apr 17 German occupiers flood Wieringermeer, Netherlands
• Apr 17 US troops land in central Mindanao, Philippines during Battle of Mindanao
• Apr 18 1 armed outfielder, St Louis Brown Pete Gray, 1st game he goes 1 for 4
• Apr 18 Clandestine Radio 1212, after broadcasting pro-nazi propaganda for months used their influence to trap 350,000 German army group B troops
• Apr 18 Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Bolivia established
• Apr 18 Epe freed (by corporal G van Aken)
• Apr 19 Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Guatemala are established

• Apr 19 US aircraft carrier Franklin heavy damaged in Japanese air raid
• Apr 19 US offensive against Shuri-barrier on Okinawa
• Apr 20 Cleveland Browns organization formed by Arthur "Mickey" McBride
• Apr 20 Nazi German occupiers flood Beemster & Fencer
• Apr 20 Soviet artillery begins shelling Berlin
• Apr 20 US 7th army captured German city of Nuremberg
• Apr 20 US forces conquer Motobu peninsula on Okinawa
• Apr 21 Ivor Novello's "Perchance to Dream" premieres in London
• Apr 21 WWII: Allied forces conquer Ie Shima, Okinawa in 5 days; 5,000 die
• Apr 21 WWII: Allied troops occupy German nuclear laboratory in Haigerloch
• Apr 21 WWII: Soviet army arrives at outskirts of Berlin, Germany
• Apr 21 WWII: US 7th Army reaches Nuremberg, Germany

• Apr 22 Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany is liberated by the Polish Army

• Apr 22 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 for a 4-3 series win; Leafs lead series 3-0, but Wings recover to 3-3 to force a decider
• Apr 23 Concentration camp Flossenburg liberated
• Apr 23 US troops in Italy cross river Po
• Apr 24 Albert B "Happy" Chandler is named 2nd baseball commissioner

• Apr 25 "Elbe Day" - US and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on the Elbe River during the invasion of Germany in World War II
• Apr 25 45 countries convene UN Conference on Intl Organization in San Francisco
• Apr 25 Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java
• Apr 25 British troops reach the Grebbe Line, a forward defensive line in the Netherlands
• Apr 25 Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany's final transmission
• Apr 25 Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany
• Apr 25 Soviet forces complete their encirclement of Berlin, cutting off all access points west of the German capital

• Apr 26 World War II: Battle of Bautzen - last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht
• Apr 27 2nd Republic of Austria forms
• Apr 27 Italian partisans capture Benito Mussolini at Dongo (Lake Como)
• Apr 27 US 5th army enters Genoa
• Apr 27 World War II: The Völkischer Beobachter, the newspaper of the Nazi Party, ceases publication
• Apr 28 British commandos attack Elbe & occupy Lauenburg
• Apr 28 US 5th army reaches Swiss border

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• Apr 1 Ali Ahmed Aslam, Pakistani-Scottish restaurateur (credited with creation of Chicken Tikki Masala), born near Lahore, British Raj (now Pakistan) (d. 2022)
• Apr 1 Heather Young, American actress (Land of the Giants), born in Bremerton
• Apr 1 John Barbata, American drummer (Turtles - "Happy Together"; "Elenore"), born in Passiac, New Jersey
• Apr 1 Kenny Buttrey, American influential drummer, born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2004)
• Apr 2 Anne Waldman, American poet, born in Millville, New Jersey

• Apr 2 Reggie Smith, American baseball outfielder (7 x MLB All Star; World Series 1981; Gold Glove Award 1968; Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, LA Dodgers), born in Shreveport, Louisiana
• Apr 2 Richard Taruskin, American musicologist (Oxford History of Western Music), and educator, born in New York City (d. 2022) [1]
• Apr 2 Roger Bootle-Wilbraham, 7th Baron Skelmersdale, British politician
• Apr 3 Catherine Spaak, French actress (Libertine, Hotel, Circle of Love), born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France
• Apr 3 Wim Deetman, Dutch politician, Minister of Education, born in The Hague, Netherlands
• Apr 4 Bryan Andrews, New Zealand cricketer (NZ medium-pacer, toured Australia 1973-74), born in Christchurch, New Zealand
• Apr 4 Caroline McWilliams, American actress (Sally-Soap, Marcy-Benson), born in Seattle, Washington
• Apr 4 Walter Charles, American actor (Fletch Lives, Weeds), born in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
• Apr 5 Tommy Smith, English soccer defender (1 cap; Football League Div 1 1966, 73, 76, 77; FA Cup 1965, 74; European Cup 1977; Liverpool 467 games), born in Liverpool, Merseyside (d. 2019)
• Apr 6 Neal Boortz, American radio host (The Neal Boortz Show), born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
• Apr 6 Rodney Bickerstaffe, English trade unionist (National Union of Public Employees), born in London, England (d. 2015)
• Apr 7 Joël Robuchon, French chef, world record for Michelin stars (32), born in Poitiers, France (d. 2018)
• Apr 7 Martin Lewis, British newsreader
• Apr 7 Megas [Magnús Þór Jónsson], Icelandic rock singer-songwriter, born in Reykjavík, Iceland
• Apr 8 Derrick Walker, Scottish auto racing team owner (President of operations and competition of IndyCar), born in Leven, Scotland
• Apr 9 Gus Hardin [Carolyn Ann Blankenship], American country singer, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 1996)
• Apr 9 Steve Gadd, American jazz and rock session drummer (Paul Simon - "Late In The Evening"; "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"; Steely Dan - "Aja"'), born in Irondequoit, New York
• Apr 10 Vera Misevich, Ukrainian equestrian dressage (Olympic gold 1980), born in Ukraine (d. 1995)
• Apr 12 Doug Riley, Canadian jazz keyboard player (Dr. Music), and musical director (Famous People Players), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2007)
• Apr 12 Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organization, born in Seoul, South Korea (d. 2006)
• Apr 12 Willie Parnell, American singer (Archie Bell & the Drells - "Tighten Up"), born in Houston, Texas
• Apr 13 Bob Kalsu, American NFL football player, 1968 (Buffalo Bills), and US Army officer, born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 1970)
• Apr 13 Carlos Giménez, Argentine-Venezuelan stage director and arts promoter (co-founder of International Theater Festival of Caracas, 1971), born in Rosario, Argentina (d. 1993)
• Apr 13 Ed Caruthers Jr, American high jumper (Olympic silver 1968), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Apr 13 Lowell George, American rock vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist (Little Feat - "Willin'"; "Dixie Chicken"), born in Hollywood, California (d. 1979)
• Apr 13 Stacy Johnson, American singer (Ike and Tina Turner Revue; The Sharpees - "Tired of Being Alone"), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2017)
• Apr 13 Tony Dow, American actor (Leave it to Beaver - "Wally"), director, and sculptor, born in Hollywood, California (d. 2022)

• Apr 14 Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, 8th Prime Minister of Samoa, born in Lepa, Samoa
• Apr 15 Jos van Rey, Dutch businessman and politician (VVD), born in Roermond, Netherlands
• Apr 15 Ted Sizemore, American MLB infielder, 1969-80, Rookie of the Year (Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and 3 other teams), born in Gadsden, Alabama
• Apr 16 Stefan Grossman, American country blues singer (Yazoo Basin Boogie), born in New York City
• Apr 16 Tom Allen, American politician (Rep (D) Maine 1997-2009), born in Portland, Maine
• Apr 17 Vincent van der Burg, Dutch scientist, lawyer, and politician (CDA), born in Zeist, Netherlands
• Apr 18 Margaret Hassan, Irish aid worker in Iraq, born in Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland (d. 2004)
• Apr 18 Miguel Escobar, Colombian soccer defender (15 caps; Deportivo Pereira, Deportivo Cali), born in Buga, Colombia (d. 2023)
• Apr 19 Michael Stewart, American folk music producer, arranger, banjo player and guitarist (We Five - "You Were On My Mind"), born in Riverside County, California (d. 2002)
• Apr 19 Ram Rod [Laurence Shurtliff], American music executive and roadie (the Grateful Dead), born in Pendleton, Oregon (d. 2006)
• Apr 20 Jimmy Winston [Langwith], British rock organist (Small Faces, 1965), and actor (Doctor Who - Day of the Daleks), born in London, England
• Apr 20 Michael Brandon, American actor (Dempsey and Makepeace), born in Brooklyn, New York
• Apr 20 Steve Spurrier, American College Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Heisman Trophy 1966, Florida; NFL: SF 49ers) and coach (Florida, South Carolina; NFL: Washington Redskins), born in Miami Beach, Florida
• Apr 21 Diana Darvey [Rollof], British actress, singer and dancer (The Benny Hill Show), born in Cheadle, Cheshire, England (d. 2000)
• Apr 22 Alan Dukes, Irish Fine Gael politician, born in Drimnagh, Dublin, Ireland
• Apr 22 Donald E. Graham, American businessman (Graham Holdings Company, Facebook), born in Baltimore, Maryland
• Apr 22 Gielijn Escher, Dutch postage stamp artist, born in Oegstgeest, Netherlands
• Apr 22 Martin Quittenton, British rock and blues guitarist (Steamhammer), and songwriter ("Maggie May"; "You Wear It Well"), born in England (d. 2015)
• Apr 22 Robert Key, British Conservative Party politician (MP for Salisbury), born in Plymouth, Devon, England
• Apr 23 John Gwynne, English sports commentator and reporter (PDC darts tournaments Sky Sports), born in Shropshire, England (d. 2022)
• Apr 24 Doug Clifford, American rock drummer (Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Proud Mary"; "Bad Moon Rising"), born in Palo Alto, California
• Apr 24 Eugene O'Brien, American composer, born in Paterson, New Jersey
• Apr 24 Greg McMackin, American football coach (Oregon Institute of Technology 1986-89; University of Hawaii 2008-11), born in Springfield, Oregon (d. 2023)
• Apr 24 John Pasche, British graphic artist, album cover and concert poster designer (Rolling Stones' logo; Chrysalis Records, 1981-91), born in England
• Apr 24 Larry Tesler, American computer scientist (invented copy, cut, paste), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2020)
• Apr 24 Robert Knight, American pop singer ("Everlasting Love"), born in Franklin, Tennessee (d. 2017)

• Apr 25 Jean Purdy, British embryologist and nurse (pioneer in developing IVF), born in Cambridge, England (d. 1985)
• Apr 25 Michael Kogel, German musician, born in Berlin, Germany
• Apr 25 Stu Cook, American rock bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Proud Mary"; "Fortunate Son"), born in Oakland, California
• Apr 26 Chuck Blazer [Charles Gordon Blazer], American soccer administrator, born in New York City (d. 2017)
• Apr 26 Mike Finnigan, American session and touring rock, jazz, and blues Hammond B3 organ and keyboard player, and vocalist, born in Troy, Ohio
• Apr 26 Sylvain Simard, Canadian politician (Parti Québécois), born in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada

• Apr 28 Ajit Manohar Pai, Indian cricket fast bowler (1 Test, 2 wickets; Bombay), born in Mumbai, India
• Apr 28 John Wolters, American drummer (Dr. Hook -"When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman"), born in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey (d. 1997)
• Apr 29 Hugh Hopper, British progressive rock and jazz bassist (Soft Machine; Stomu Yamashta's East Wind; Carla Bley), born in Canterbury, England (d. 2009)
• Apr 29 Richard Warwick, English actor (Johnny Dangerously, Sebastine, If), born in Meopham, England (d. 1997)
• Apr 29 Tammi Terrell [Thomasina Montgomery], American singer ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - duet with Marvin Gaye), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1970)
• Apr 30 Annie Dillard, American writer (An American Childhood), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Apr 30 Claude van de Berge, Flemish writer (Graph Theory), born in Assenede, Belgium
• Apr 30 Michael J. Smith, American astronaut (51L-Challenger disaster), born in Beaufort, North Carolina (d. 1986)
• Apr 30 Mimi Fariña, American rocker (Reflections in a Crystal Wind), born in Palo Alto, California (d. 2001)
• Apr 30 Ray Miller, American baseball manager (Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles), born in Takoma Park, Maryland (d. 2021)

• Apr 3 Josef Weinheber, Austrian poet and writer (Vienna Verbatim), dies at 43
• Apr 5 Karl Otto Koch, German SS officer who was commandant at Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen and Majdanek concentration camps, is executed by the SS for corruption at 47
• Apr 6 Benjamin Marius Telders, Dutch lawyer who resisted German occupation in WWII, dies of typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at 42
• Apr 9 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor, theologist (Confessing Church) and anti-Nazi dissident, hung by the Nazi government at 39
• Apr 9 Georg Elser, German failed assassin of Adolf Hitler (Bürgerbräukeller Bombing), dies in Dachau concentration camp at 42
• Apr 9 Hans Oster, German major general, spy and "July 20th plot", hanged at 57
• Apr 9 Hans von Dohnanyi, "July 20th plotter", hanged
• Apr 9 Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral and head of Germany military intelligence, hanged by the Nazi regime for treason at 58
• Apr 10 Charles Nordhoff, English-born writer (b. 1887)
• Apr 10 Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch artist (The Blue Barge) and resistance fighter, executed by the Nazis at 63
• Apr 11 Frederick Lugard, British Colonial administrator, mercenary and explorer (Governor of Nigeria and Hong Kong), dies at 87
• Apr 11 Kamiel van Baelen, Flemish author and resistance fighter (Mensch op Weg), dies at 29

• Apr 13 Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher and educator (Essay on Man), dies at 70
• Apr 17 Hannie Schaft, Dutch communist resistance fighter known as the "Girl with red hair", executed at 24
• Apr 17 Ion Pillat, Romanian poet and senator (Umbra timpului), dies at 54
• Apr 17 Walter Model, German WWII field marshal and panzer commander (Battle of the Bulge), and WW1 junior officer (Second Battle of the Marne), commits suicide, after learning of his indictment for war crimes, at 54
• Apr 18 Ernie Pyle, American journalist and war correspondent during WW II (Pulitzer Prize, 1944), killed by enemy fire in the South Pacific during Battle of Okinawa at 44
• Apr 18 John Ambrose Fleming, English electrical engineer and physicist (right-hand and left-hand rules), dies at 95
• Apr 19 J P Heyboer, resistance fighter, executed
• Apr 21 John Poston, British major/Montgomery's ADC, dies in battle at 25
• Apr 22 Kathe Kollwitz, German print maker and sculptor (Bauernkrieg), dies at 77
• Apr 23 Albrecht Haushofer, German geographer, writer and member of the German Resistance to Nazism, shot by Nazi SS troopers at 42
• Apr 24 Anton de Kom, Surinamese resistance fighter, dies of tuberculosis in a Nazi concentration camp at 47
• Apr 24 Antoon Schweigmann, Dutch religious poet and resistance fighter, dies at 51
• Apr 24 Hubert Bath, British film composer and music director, dies at 61
• Apr 25 Huldreich Georg Früh, Swiss composer (Mein Traum), dies at 41
• Apr 26 Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general, dies at 71
• Apr 26 Sigmund Rascher, Nazi doctor, dies at 36

• Apr 28 Claretta Petacci, Italian mistress of Mussolini, executed at 33
• Apr 28 Hans Bloesch, Swiss author, dies at 67
• Apr 28 Roberto Farinacci, Italian fascist, dies at 52
• Apr 29 Matthias Kleinheisterkamp, German SS officer (b. 1893)

• Apr 30 Eva Braun, German mistress and wife of Hitler, commits suicide by cyanide tablet at 33