Table of Data Points

Between 24,000 and 40,000 people are killed when Allied bombers drop more than 3,900 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on Dresden, the Baroque capital of Saxony, Germany.

The British & Canadian assault on the most heavily fortified section of the Siegfried Line. The operation was complicated when German defenders blew the Ruhr dams, flooding the area downstream and severely limiting offensive operations.

Wilhelm Gustloff sunk after being hit by three torpedoes fired by the Soviet submarine S-13. Over 9000 lives were lost when the ship went down in icy Baltic waters, the worst maritime disaster in history.

The Soviet 1st Ukrainian front captures Gleiwitz.

The evacuation of troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia, and the Polish Corridor. Hundreds of merchant vessels and Germany's largest remaining naval vessels would transport hundreds of thousands of evacuees and soldiers across the Baltic.