Today in World War II History—March 6, 1945

Navy Ensign Jane Kendeigh, the first flight nurse to arrive on Iwo Jima. (US Marine Corps photo)
75 Years Ago—March 6, 1945: US First Army takes Cologne (Köln), Germany; in retreat, Germans destroy the Hohenzollern Bridge.
Germans launch offensive to retake Hungarian oil fields—will have partial, temporary success.
Dutch resistance ambushes a truck at Woeste Hoeve, injuring Hanns Rauter, head of the Dutch SS.
Medical evacuation flights begin from Iwo Jima, but come under artillery fire; for first time ever, a flight nurse (Ens. Jane Kendeigh, Navy Nurse Corps) flies into an active battlefield.

Demolished Hohenzollern Bridge at Cologne, Germany, March 1945 (US Army Center of Military History)