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WWII On This Day: February 21

What happened on February 21 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1944 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1944
Men of 2/7th Middlesex Regiment maintain a Vickers machine gun at Anzio on 21 February 1944; IWM NA 12114.
Men of 2/7th Middlesex Regiment maintain a Vickers machine gun at Anzio on 21 February 1944; IWM NA 12114. No. 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit / Imperial War Museums · UK Government public domain Source
Cassino and Anzio: The Road to Rome

Anzio defenders reorganise their fire positions

By 21 February the German main attack had spent much of its momentum, although shellfire continued across the bridgehead. British and American units repaired dugouts, restored communications and maintained weapons behind their forward line. A British Army photograph dated 21 February shows a Middlesex Regiment machine-gun team servicing a Vickers gun. It records the equipment maintenance required to keep an isolated infantry perimeter functioning.

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A P-51B Mustang of the U.S. Army Air Forces in flight in early 1944.
U.S. Army Air Forces, 342-FH-3A16458-53135AC / NARA, NAID 204889474 · Public domain in the United States
Big Week and Air Superiority

The second maximum effort runs into cloud

On 21 February the Eighth launched another mass effort, roughly 860 heavy bombers with nearly 680 fighters. Cloud obscured several primary targets and forced formations onto alternates and airfields. Weather complicated both sides' command problem. Bomber formations that lost visual reference or changed target could become harder to cover efficiently, while German controllers had to judge which streams represented the main threat and where to commit limited fighter groups. Sixteen Eighth Air Force heavy bombers and five fighters were lost. The second day demonstrated the operational design of Argument: repeated…

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1945
USS Saratoga (CV-3) burning off the Bonin Islands after kamikaze strikes on 21 February 1945.
USS Saratoga (CV-3) burning off the Bonin Islands after kamikaze strikes on 21 February 1945. U.S. Navy / Naval History and Heritage Command · public domain Source
Iwo Jima

Kamikaze aircraft hit the carriers off Iwo Jima

In the late afternoon and evening of 21 February about 50 Japanese aircraft attacked the ships off Iwo Jima in a raid that lasted about three hours. The escort carrier Bismarck Sea was sunk, the fleet carrier Saratoga was badly damaged, the escort carrier Lunga Point was hit but kept operating, and Keokuk and LST 477 were also damaged. It was the only kamikaze attack of the battle. Secondary accounts give 318 dead on Bismarck Sea and 123 killed and 192 wounded on Saratoga, with some variation between sources. Ashore…

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A Churchill tank and Valentine artillery observation tank in Goch on 21 February 1945.
A Churchill tank and Valentine artillery observation tank in Goch on 21 February 1945. Sgt Christie, No. 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit · IWM B 14779 · public domain UK Government work Source
The Rhineland Battles

Goch is cleared

British troops completed the clearance of Goch and the ground south of the Niers after days of fighting through anti-tank ditches, ruined streets and defended villages. The town had become a blocking position between the Reichswald battle and the next German defence line toward the Hochwald. With Goch and its approaches secured, First Canadian Army could reorganize for the next phase while German reserves remained committed in the northern corridor. Grenade was now only days away as the Roer continued to fall.

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