Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix
The St. Croix remained in the Solomons area ferrying passengers and equipment between Guadalcanal the Florida Islands.
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The Battle of Iwo Jima began on and the island is nearly secured by March 15th, after weeks of heavy fighting . Iwo Jima would become an emergency landing site for bombers returning from attacks on the Japanese mainland.
Despite the capture of Manila, fighting would continue in the Philippines until July.
On the 9th, US air forces began a 2 day fire bombing of Tokyo, estimated to have killed between 80,000 and 130,000 people.
Allied advancement on both European fronts continues. Soviet troops are nearing the German border. In the west, Allies have begun capturing German towns and cities.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 633-641.
- The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 228-302.
- Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 65
- USS_Saint_Croix
- Events of March, 1945
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