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• 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 | Karlsruhe, Baden | 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 [Karl-Otto Koch | Buchenwald Concentration Camp | Weimar | AC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Weiden, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Weiden | DS]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 31 arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | 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 | Comacchio, Emilia-Romagna | CPC]

• Americans established an advanced air base on Iwo Jima, Japan. ww2dbase [Battle of Iwo Jima | 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 | Hofu, Yamaguchi | CPC]
• USS Marcus Island disembarked US Navy squadron VC-87 and embarked squadron VCO-1 while operating off Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | Okinawa | CPC]
• Yukio Araki visited his home in Gunma Prefecture, Japan for the last time. ww2dbase [Yukio Araki | Gunma | CPC]
• SS Hobbs Victory was struck by Japanese special attack aircraft while at anchor between Kuba and Aka Islands near Okinawa, Japan. She steamed into the East China Sea as the ships in the anchorage dispersed. She was discovered by the Japanese and was struck by another special attack aircraft, destroying her port side boiler and rendering her dead in the water. ww2dbase [Tokko "Kamikaze" Special Attack Doctrine | Hobbs Victory | Okinawa Campaign | Okinawa | CPC]

• The third FR Fireball prototype aircraft was destroyed in a crash over Lindbergh Field, San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [FR Fireball | San Diego, California | CPC]
• USS S-43 arrived at San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [S-43 | San Diego, California | CPC]

5 Apr 1945 Interactive Map