Table of Data Points

Two Japanese kamikazes hit the Bismarck Sea, first on the starboard side under the first 40 mm gun (aft) and then the aft elevator shaft. The sea water distribution system was destroyed along with any hope of damage control. The crew abandoned ship.

When swimmers from underwater demolition teams arrived, the big guns on the northern cliffs opened fire on covering gunboats, believing it was part of an invasion force. The guns were knocked out immediately. The single failure of fire discipline.

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.

Manila was the scene of the worst urban combat in the Pacific conflict and culminated in the total devastation of the city. The fall of the city ended almost three years of Japanese occupation in the Philippines.