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WWII On This Day: January 25

What happened on January 25 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1945
Men of the 101st Airborne Division moving toward Bastogne on 19 December 1944 as Allied reserves enter the Ardennes battle.
101st Airborne Division on the road between Bastogne and Houffalize, 19 December 1944 · US Army Signal Corps SC 329953 · NARA · Public domain · Source
The Battle of the Bulge

The line is restored

By 25 January the U.S. Army campaign boundary closes with the German salient largely eliminated and the front returned approximately to its pre-offensive position. Some local fighting and adjustments continued beyond that date. The territorial result alone understates the strategic cost to Germany. The offensive had consumed trained infantry, armoured vehicles, fuel, transport and fighter aircrew while delaying rather than preventing the next Allied advance into Germany. The Allies also paid heavily and lost time. The distinction was replacement capacity. The United States and its coalition partners could refill formations…

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Soviet armour advancing across Poland, January 1945.
Soviet armour in Poland, January 1945 · RIA Novosti archive · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photograph pending verification
The Vistula–Oder Offensive

The main advance passes Poznań

Zhukov's principal mobile columns bypassed Poznań and continued west toward Küstrin. The fortress garrison remained as an Axis-held pocket behind the Soviet front and had to be reduced separately after the operational advance had passed.

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