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WWII On This Day: April 5

What happened on April 5 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1942 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1942
A German tank commander in southern Soviet territory in June 1942, shortly before the opening of Case Blue.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-218-0528-30 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Case Blue and the Drive to the Caucasus

The phased offensive

Directive 41 made the southern wing the main effort for the 1942 campaign. Its first operational requirement was destruction of the Soviet forces west of the Don rather than an immediate dash by every mobile formation toward the oilfields. The intended sequence used Voronezh and the Don to secure the northern side of the offensive, then carried the main effort through the Don bend and toward Stalingrad while opening the southern route toward the Caucasus. Stalingrad therefore belonged to the original design as part of the Volga and flank problem.…

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1945
Men of the 95th Division, US Ninth Army, patrolling Soest after its capture, 7 April 1945.
Men of the 95th Division patrolling Soest, 7 April 1945 · US Army Signal Corps SC 336817 · NARA · Public domain · Source
The Ruhr Pocket

III Corps attacks north

First Army's III Corps opened its attack through the Sauerland. The 7th Armored Division and the infantry divisions beside it met defended ridges, villages, bridges and roadblocks in terrain that was mostly forested. The advance was slower than in the open country east of the pocket, but the defenders were pushed back roughly four to six miles a day during the first phase.

Continue in The Ruhr Pocket →