1945 January


January 1st
In 1945, Last major German air raid is made against Allied airfields.
January 2nd
In 1945, Allied air raid on Neurenberg.
In 1945, Germans counterattack to relieve Budapest.
January 3rd
In 1945, Allies land on west coast of Burma.
In 1945, United States First Army begins counteroffensive against northern flank of Ardennes salient.
January 5th
In 1945, Allied forces in Italy begin regrouping for spring offensive.
January 7th
In 1945, Lord Haw-Haw reports total German victory at Ardennen.
January 9th
In 1945, American soldiers led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur invaded Luzon in the Philippines during World Wa r II. As he vowed, MacArthur returns!
January 12th
In 1945, German troops in Belgium retreated in the Battle of the Bulge.
In 1945, Russians launch large-scale winter offensive in Poland (extend it to East Prussia Jan. 14).
In 1945, aircraft from U.S. Task Force 38 sank about 40 Japanese ships off Indochina in The Battle of South China Sea.
In 1945, during World War II, Soviet forces be gan a huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe.
January 16th
In 1945, World War II Battle of the Bulge began as German forces launched a surprise counterattack against Allied forces in Belgium.
January 17th
In 1945, Russians capture Warsaw.
In 1945, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
In 1945, Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsa w from Nazi forces during World War II. The same day, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews, disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
January 20th
In 1945, French First Army begins offensive in Alsace-Lorraine against Colmar pocket.
January 21st
In 1945, British troops land on Ramree, near the coast of Burma.
January 22nd
In 1945, Heavy US air raid on Okinawa.
January 25th
In 1945, German Alsace-Lorraine offensive ends with unsuccessful attack near Haguenau.
In 1945, first Lt. Audie Murphy earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for ordering his men to retreat, jumping into a blazing tank destroyer, holding off the Germans singlehandedly with a machine gun an d ordering an artillery strike on his own position. They only awarded seven categories of medals for heroism in WWII and he earned five of them.
January 27th
In 1945, during World War II, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.
January 28th
In 1945, during World War II, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
In 1945, Russians complete conquest of Lithuania and envelopment of Konigsberg.
January 30th
In 1945, 7,700 persons died in world's largest marine disaster when the Nazi passenger ship Wilhelm Gustoff carrying Germans fleeing Poland was torpedoed in the Baltic by a Soviet submarine.
January 31st
In 1945, US 4th In fantry division occupies Elcherrath.
In 1945, during World War II, Private Eddie Slovik became the only American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion. He was shot by an American firing squad in France.

1945 February


February 1st
In 1945, 1,000 American bombers raid Berlin.
February 2nd
In 1945, during World War II, President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill departed Malta for the summit in Yalta with Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
In 1945, United States First Army begins advance to seize Roer River dams.
February 3rd
In 1945, Almost 1000 Flying Fortresses drop 3000 ton bombs on Berlin.
In 1945, Yalta Conference agreed that Russia would enter WWII against Japan.
February 4th
In 1945, Allied forces in Italy begin limited operations in preparation for spring offensive.
In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.
February 5th
In 1945, U.S. troops under General Douglas MacArthur e ntered Manilla in the Philippines in World War II.
February 6th
In 1945, 8th Air Force bombs Magdeburg/Chemnitz.
In 1945, Russian Red Army crosses the river Oder.
February 7th
In 1945, US 76th/5th Infantry divisions begin crossing Sauer.
February 8th
In 1945, Canadian First Army begins Operation Veritable to clear area between Maas and Rhine rivers (with subsidiary Operation Blockbuster, successfully completed March 10).
February 9th
In 1945, French First Army completes reduction of Colmar pocket.
February 10th
In 1945, United States First Army seizes main Roer dam but finds that Germans have destroyed outlet controls.
February 11th
In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II.
February 12th
In 1945, Varkiza agreement ends civil war in Greece.
February 13th
In 1945, Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden.
In 1945, Allied planes stage a massive bombing raid on Dresden, Germany. The ensuing fire storm destroys the German artistic and cultural capital, killing over 35,000 people, 1600 acres destroyed.
In 1945, Russians overrun last German position in Budapest.
In 1945, Soviet forces captured Budapest, Hungary. The 49-day battle killed more than 50,000 German troops.
In 1945, Fire-bombing of Dresden begins; 135,000 die; c 50,000 die.
February 14th
In 1945, 8th Air Force bombs Dresden.
February 16th
In 1945, Russians surround Breslau.
In 1945, Venezuela declares war on nazi-Germany.
In 1945, more than 2,000 Ameri can troops arriving by air and sea dropped onto the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.
February 19th
In 1945, 900 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in 2 days.
In 1945, during World War II, some 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on the Western Pacific island of Japanese-held Iwo Jima, where they encountered ferocious resistance from Japanese forces. The Americans took control of the strategically im portant island after a month-long battle. AP photographer Joe Rosenthal shot the most memorable image of WWII: five Marines and a Navy medical corpsman raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima.
February 21st
In 1945, US 10th Armour division overthrows Orscholz line.
February 23rd
In 1945, Operation Grenade: Gen Simpsons ninth Army attacks Ruhr.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, and raised the American flag. A larger flag was then brought in to replace the fi rst; the second flag-raising was captured in the famous picture taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.
In 1945, United States Ninth Army attacks across Roer River (Operation Grenade) toward Rhine.
February 24th
In 1945, Egypt & Syria declares war on nazi-Germany.
In 1945, U.S. servicemen liberated the Philipine capital, Manila, from the control of the Japanese empire in World War II.

1945 March


March 1st
In 1945, British 43rd Division under Gen Essame occupies Xanten.
In 1945, US infantry regiment captures Monchengladbach.
March 2nd
In 1945, 8th Air Force bombs Dresden.
In 1945, toward the clos e of World War II, units of the U.S. 9th Army reached the Rhine River opposite Dusseldorf, Germany.
March 4th
In 1945, Finland declares war on nazi-Germany.
March 5th
In 1945, Allies bombs The Hague, Netherlands.
In 1945, US seventh Army Corps captures Cologne.
March 6th
In 1945, Operation Grenade is successfully completed.
March 7th
In 1945, Cologne taken by allied armies.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. forces crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, using the damaged but still usable Ludendorff Bridge.
In 1945, United States First Army completes capture of Cologne; its 9th Armored Division seizes Rhine bridge at Remagen intact.
March 8th
In 1945, Phyllis M. Daley becomes the first black nurse to be sworn in as an ensign in the U.S. Navy.
March 9th
In 1945, 334 US B-29 Superfortresses attack Tokyo with 70,000 fire bomb.
In 1945, Japanese proclaim the "independence" of Indo-China.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. B-29 bombers launched incendiary bomb attacks on Japan, causing widespread devastation; in Tokyo, at least 120,000 people died.
March 10th
In 1945, Germany blows-up Wessel Bridge on Rhine.
In 1945, Japan declares Vietnam Independence.
In 1945, Pattons third Army makes contact with Hodges first Army.
In 1945, Tokyo in fire after night time B-29 bombing.
In 1945, the first major employment of napalm is carried out by American B-29's on Tokyo.
March 11th
In 1945, 1,000 allied bombers harass Essen , 4,662 ton bombs.
March 15th
In 1945, United States Third and Seventh armies launch coordinated offensive (Operation Undertone) to clear Saar-Palatinate triangle (successfully completed March 25).
March 16th
In 1945, during World War II, the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean was declared secured by the Allies.
In 1945, Russians begin offensive against Vienna.
March 17th
In 1945, Allied ships bomb North-Sumatra.
March 18th
In 1945, US Task Force 58 attacks targets on Kiushu.
March 19th
In 1945, British 36th division conquers Mogok (ruby mine).
In 1945, US Task Force 58 attacks ships near Kobe/Kure.
In 1945, about 800 people were killed as Kamikaze planes attacked the U.S.S. carrier Franklin ("Big Ben") off the shores of Japan, detonating bombs and ammunition stored on board. (Heavily damaged, "The Ship That Wouldn't Sink" makes the 12,000- mile trip home to Brooklyn.).
In 1945, Adolf Hitler issued his so-called "Nero Decree," ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands.
March 21st
In 1945, first Japanese morning bomber attacks on Okinawa.
In 1945, during World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.
March 22nd
In 1945, United States Third Army makes assault crossing of Rhine at Oppenheim.
In 1945, US third Army attacks Nierstein on the Rhine.
March 23rd
In 1945, British Second Army crosses Rhine (Operation Plunder) in Rees-Wesel area.
In 1945, in the largest single operation in the Pacific war, 1,500 Navy ships, with Britis h support, begin bombarding Okinawa in preparation for the U.S. invasion 9 days later.
March 24th
In 1945, 600 transports and 1300 gliders stretching for over 300 miles carry the First Allied Airborne Army, comprised of 40,000 British and American paratroopers (17th Airborne Div.), across the Rhine near Wesel, Germany in Operation Varsity, the largest one-day airborne drop in history.
In 1945, Gen Eisenhower, Montgomery & Bradley discuss advance in Germany.
In 1945, Operation Varsity: British, US & Canadian aircraft land on the Rhine.
In 1945, United States Ninth Army attacks across Rhine in Dinslaken area; United States Third Army begins similar attack (completed March 25) at Boppard.
In 1945, US reaches Kerama Retto, South coast of Okinawa.
March 26th
In 1945, Generals Eisenhower/Bradley/Patton attack at Remagen the Rhine.
In 1945, Japanese resistance ends on Iwo Jima.
In 1945, Kamikazes attack US battle fleet near Kerama Retto.
In 1945, United States Seventh Army crosses Rhine near Worms.
In 1945, US seventh Army strikes Worms on the Rhine.
March 27th
In 1945, Iwo Jima occupied, after 22,0 00 Japanese & 6,000 US killed.
In 1945, US 20th Army corps captures Wiesbaden.
In 1945, the last German V-2 rocket is fired, less than 2 months before Germany surrenders.
In 1945, during World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had been broken.
March 30th
In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II.
March 31st
In 1945, French First Army crosses Rhine near Speyer and Germersheim.
In 1945, U.S. forces begin landings on the Pacific island of Okinawa.

1945 April


April 1st
In 1945, U.S. forces launched the invasion on the Pacific island of Okinawa during World War II. What followed was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific conflict, claiming the lives of more than 12,000 Americans and over 110,000 Japanese soldiers before U.S. forces secured the island in June.
In 1945, United States Ninth and First armies establish contact at Lippstadt, isolating Ruhr area.
April 4th
In 1945, U.S. troops on Okinawa encountered the first significant resistance from Japanese forces.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany.
April 6th
In 1945, during World War II, the Japanese warship Yamato and nine other vessels sailed on a suicide mission to attack the U.S. fleet off Okinawa; the fleet was intercepted the next day.
April 7th
In 1945, Russians enter Vienna.
In 1945, Task Force 58 sinks Jap large battleship Jamamoto (on suicide mission).
In 1945, first & last assault of German Rammkommando on US bombers.
In 1945, during World War II, American planes intercepted a Japanese fleet that was headed for Okinawa on a suicide mission; the superbattleship Yamato and four destroyers were sunk.
April 8th
In 1945, Nazi occupiers executed, Nazi general Christiansen flees Netherlands.
April 9th
In 1945, British Eighth Army opens major offensive in Italy.
In 1945, Russians storm bypassed Konigsberg fortress.
April 10th
In 1945, U.S. troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, Germany.
In 1945, the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald was liberated by the U.S. 80th D ivision.
April 11th
In 1945, U.S. troops reach the Elbe River in central Europe.
In 1945, US captures Tsugen Shima.
In 1945, US soldiers liberate Nazi concentration camp "Buchenwald".
In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in eastern Germany.
April 12th
In 1945, Allies liberate Buch enwald and Belsen concentration camps
In 1945, Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp in Westerbork, Neth.
In 1945, Roosevelt dies; Harry S. Truman sworn in.
In 1945, United States Ninth Army establishes bridgehead on east bank of Elbe.
April 13th
In 1945, Allies occupy Wien (Vienna).
In 1945, Assen frees Neth from Nazis.
In 1945, Russians secure Vienna.
In 1945, United States Ninth Army seizes second Elbe bridgehead.
April 14th
In 1945, American planes firebombed Tokyo and damaged the Japanese Imperial Palace.
In 1945, Americans lose one Elbe bridgehead; United States Fifth Army joins in Italian offensive.
April 15th
In 1945, during World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany.
April 16th
In 1945, Russians begin heavy offensive against Berlin.
In 1945, U.S. troops reached Nuremberg, Germany, during the World War II.
In 1945, in his first speech to Congress, President Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his predecessor, President Roosevelt.
April 17th
In 1945, United States Seventh Army attacks Nurnberg.
April 18th
In 1945, Clandestine Radio 1212, after broadcast ing pro-nazi propoganda for months used their influence to trap 350,000 German army group B troops.
In 1945, famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, was killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa.
In 1945, Organized German resistance in Ruhr collapses.
In 1945, United States Third Army patrols enter Czechoslovakia.
April 19th
In 1945, US aircraft carrier Franklin heavy damaged in Japanese air raid.
In 1945, US offensive against Shuri-barrier on Okinawa.
April 20th
In 1945, United States Seventh Army completes capture of Nurnberg.
In 1945, US forces conquer Motobu peninsula on Okinawa.
In 1945, during World War II, the U.S. Seventh Army and allied forces captured the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
April 21st
In 1945, Organized German resistance ends in Harz Mountains.
In 1945, Red Army enters outskirts of Berlin.
April 23rd
In 1945, Concentration camp Flossenburg freed.
In 1945, Russians fight way into Berlin.
In 1945, United States Fifth Army begins assault crossing of Po River.
In 1945, US troops in Italy cross river Po.
April 25th
In 1945, Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java.
In 1945, British troops reach Grebbelinie.
In 1945, Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany's final transmission.
In 1945, Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany.
In 1945, Red army completely surrounding Berlin.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up near Torgau, Germany, on the Elbe River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany's defenses.
In 1945, United States First Army patrol makes contact with Russians near Torgau.
April 26th
In 1945, British complete capture of Bremen.
In 1945, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.
April 27th
In 1945, Italian partisans take Mussolini prisoner.
In 1945, Russians and Americans link at Elbe.
April 28th
In 1945, British commands attack Elbe & occupies Lauenburg.
In 1945, US fifth army reaches Swiss border.
In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.
April 29th
In 1945, Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun.
In 1945, American soldiers liberated the Nazi concentratio n camp in Dachau, Germany, where tens of thousands of people had perished. That same day, in a Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and, designated Admiral Karl Doenitz his successor.
In 1945, British Second Army begins advance from Elbe River to Baltic.
In 1945, German Southwest Army Group in Italy surrenders unconditionally.
In 1945, Japanese army evacuates Rangoon.
In 1945, United States Fifth Army enters Milan.
April 30th
In 1945, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker, master race supremacist Adolf Hitler committed suicide alo ng with his wife of one day, Eva Braun. One week later, Germany surrendered unconditionally, ending Hitler's Third Reich.
In 1945, United States Seventh Army occupies Munich.

1945 May


May 1st
In 1945, a day after Adolf Hitler committed suicide, it was announced that Admiral Karl Doenitz had succeeded Hitler as leader of the Third Reich.
In 1945, Radio Budapest, Hungary re-enters shortwave broadcasting after WW II.
May 2nd
In 1945, British liberate Rangoon, Burma.
In 1945, British Second Army reaches Baltic, capturing Lubeck and Wismar.
In 1945, Fighting ends in Italy.
In 1945, New Zealand troops occupy Trieste.
In 1945, Russians mop up Berlin.
In 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin, and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Ita ly and parts of Austria.
May 3rd
In 1945, Cap Arcona: Several days before World War II ended in Europe, the German passenger ship carrying about 6,000, of which an estimated 5,000 were concentration camp prisoners, was sunk by British aircraft. An estimated 5,000 persons were killed, most of th em prisoners who were about to gain their freedom.
In 1945, Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.
In 1945, Japanese forces on Okinawa launched their only major counter-offensive, but failed to break the American lines.
May 4th
In 1945, during World War II, German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany agreed to surrender.
In 1945, Germans surrender forces in the Netherlands, northwestern Germany, and Denmark (effective May 5).
In 1945, patrols of United States Fifth and Seventh armies meet near Brenner Pass.
May 5th
In 1945, German Army Group G surrenders in Bavaria to United States Sixth Army Group.
In 1945, in the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing Elsie Mitchell, the pregnant wife of a minister, and five children who were on a picnic.
In 1945, United States Third Army begins offensive into Czechoslovakia.
May 6th
In 1945, United States Third Army takes Plzen, Czechoslovakia.
May 7th
In 1945, German High Command surrenders all forces unconditionally at Reims.
In 1945, Russians finally capture Breslau.
May 8th
In 1945, Keitel's formal surrender in Berlin - VE Day.
In 1945, President Truman announced in a radio address that World War II had ended in Europe. V-E Day: Germany signed an unconditional surrender.
= President Truman announced on radio at 9 am the official end of the war and proclaimed Sunday, May 13, a day of prayer.
In 1945, Victory in Europe Day was celebrated by crowds in Picadilly Square, London, and Times Square, New York City.
In 1945, Rejocing at end of war in Europe.
May 9th
In 1945, The Soviet Union celebrated Victory Day on May 9.
In 1945, Czechoslovakia liberated from Nazi occupation (Natl Day).
In 1945, European hostilities end officially at 12:01 am
May 11th
In 1945, US marines co nquer Awatsha Draw Okinawa.
May 13th
In 1945, US troops conquer Dakeshi Okinawa.
May 14th
In 1945, Kamikaze-Zero strikes US aircraft carrier Enterprise.
In 1945, US offensive on Okinawa, Sugar Loaf conquered.
May 21st
In 1945, German war criminal Heinrich Himmler captured.
May 22nd
In 1945, sixth Marine division reaches suburbs of Naha Okinawa.
May 23rd
In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide while imprisoned in Luneburg, Germany.
May 26th
In 1945, US B-29s firebombed Tokyo.
May 29th
In 1945, US first Marine division conquerors Shuri-castle Okinawa.

1945 June


June 4th
In 1945, the sixth Marine division occupied the Orokoe Peninsula Okinawa.
June 5th
In 1945, The U.S., Russia, England and France agree to split occupied Germany into Eastern and Western halves.
June 9th
In 1945, -10] Australian troops lands in Brunei Bay North-Borneo.
June 18th
In 1945, William Joyce, known as "Lord Haw-Haw," was charged in London with high treason for his English-language wartime broadcasts on German radio. (He was hanged the following January.).
June 21st
In 1945, The Battle of Okinawa ended when Japanese Major Gen. Isamu Cho and Lt. Gen Misuru Ushijima killed themselves as American troops closed in on their command post at Mabuni. More than 80,000 Japanese, 80,000 civilian Okinawans and 12,000 Americ ans died during the battle.
June 22nd
In 1945, the World War II battle for Okinawa officially ended, with 12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese killed in the 81-day campaign.
June 23rd
In 1945, Last organized Japanese defiance broken (Tarakan).
June 26th
In 1945, the charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco. The text of the charter was in five languages: Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
June 28th
In 1945, US troops liberate Philippines.

1945 July


July 1st
In 1945, U.S., British, and French troops move into Berlin.
July 11th
In 1945, the U.S. Army used napalm on Japanese forces on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
July 14th
In 1945, Italy declares war on Japan.
In 1945, the battleship "U.S.S. South Dakota," the Navy's most decorated ship of World War II, becomes the first ship to bombard Japan (Kamaishi).
July 15th
In 1945, Italy declared war on its for mer partner, Japan.
In 1945, Muroran, a steel centre in Japan was shelled by the US Third Fleet in the closing stages of World War II.
July 16th
In 1945, the United States exploded its first experimental atomic bomb, in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico.
July 17th
In 1945, President Harry S. Truman, Soviet Premier Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II.
July 19th
In 1945, the "U.S.S. Cod" saves 51 sailors from the Dutch submarine O-19, (the only international submarine-to-submarine rescue).
July 25th
In 1945, Allied leaders meeting in Potsdam during World War II called on Japan to surrender unconditionally or face "prompt and utter destruction."
July 26th
In 1945, The Potsdam Conference closes as the U.S. and Great Britain, in association with China, sign the Potsdam Declaration deman ding the unconditional surrender of Japan. Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union was also in attendance at the conference, but his nation did not declare war on Japan until August eighth.
In 1945, The USS Indianapolis arrived at Tinian Island in the Marianas with the atomic bomb.
July 28th
In 1945, a B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the fog shrouded Empire State Building in New York City. Over a doz en people are killed.
July 29th
In 1945, near Leyte Gulf: The heavy cruiser Indianapolis was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. Of the crew of 1,199 men, only 316 survived. Several days earlier, the Indianapolis had delivered a lead cylinder containing uranium (U-235) and the firing mechanism for the first atomic bomb to Tinian Island. Had the ship been sunk earlier while delivering its special cargo, WW II would have ended differently.
July 30th
In 1945, a few minutes after midnight, the cruiser USS Indianapolis, which had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Only 316 out of 1,196 men survived the sinking and shark-infested waters.

1945 August


August 1st
In 1945, Japanese city Tojama destroyed by B-29's.
August 2nd
In 1945, President Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and the new British prime minister, Clement Attlee, concluded the Allied conference at Potsdam.
August 5th
In 1945, Atom Bomb dropped on Hiroshima (Aug 6th in Japan).
August 6th
In 1945, the United States B-29 Super Fortress called the "Enola Gay" dropped a ten-foot long atomic bomb code named "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare and wiping out four square miles. A second A-bomb was dropped in Nagaski three days later. (****)
August 8th
In 1945, the Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.
August 9th
In 1945, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb, the "Fat Man", on Japan, destroying part of the city of Nagasaki. An estimated 74,000 people died from the blast or its after-effects. (****)
August 10th
In 1945, on the day after the second atomic bombing, Japan announced its willingness to surrender to the Allies, provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged.
August 11th
In 1945, the Allies responded to Japan's offer to surrender provided Emperor Hirohito retained his sovereignty; the Allies said they would determine the Emperor's future status.
August 14th
In 1945, it was V.J. Day in Japan when President Truman announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, thus ending the fighting in World War II; that announcement set off celebrations across the nation; the official ratification o f surrender occurred on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay took place on September 2.
August 15th
In 1945, it was proclaimed V-J Day by the Allies, a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally. In a recorded radio message, Emperor Hirohito called upon the Japanese people to "bear the unbearable" and lay down their arms. In the U nited States, V-J Day coincided with the end of rationing of gasoline, fiel oil and canned goods.
In 1945, Riot in San Francisco celebrating end of World War II.
In 1945, South Korea liberated from Japanese rule.
August 22nd
In 1945, the Vietnam conflict began just a few days after the Japenese surrendered, Communist guerilla leader Ho Chi Minh led a successful coup; in response, the French parachuted into Vietnam to fight the coup.
August 25th
In 1945, Baptist missionary and Army intelligence agent, Captain John Birch, was executed as a spy by Chinese Communists. The John Birch Society claims that he was the first American casualty in the global war against Communism.
August 26th
In 1945, Japanese envoys boarded the U.S. battleship Missouri to receive surrender instructions at the end of WW II.
August 27th
In 1945, American troops began landing in Japan following the surrender of the Japanese government at the end of WW II.
August 29th
In 1945, British liberate Hong Kong from Japan.
In 1945, General MacArthur is named Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in Japan.
In 1945, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur left Manila for Japan to accept the Japanese surrender.
August 30th
In 1945, Hong Kong liberated from Japan.
In 1945, the U.S. Marines sailed into Tokyo Bay, and General Douglas MacArthur became the first foreign conqueror to step onto Japanese soil in more than 2,000 years, and set up Allied occu pation headquarters. This was the beginning of the American occupation of Japan at the end of WWII.

1945 September


September 1st
In 1945, Americans received word of Japan's formal surrender that ended World War II. (Because of the time difference, it was Sept. 2 in Tokyo Bay, where the ceremony took place.).
September 2nd
In 1945, V-J Day: Tokyo time, Japan formally surrendered to the United States in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri. Japan signed the peace treaty, thus World War II was officially over, six yea rs and one day after it began. (****)
September 3rd
In 1945, Japanese forces in the Philippines surrender to Allies.
September 4th
In 1945, US regains possession of Wake Island from Japan.
September 5th
In 1945, Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was arrested in Yokohama, Japan. Convic ted of treason because she was still a U.S. citizen, D'Aquino served six years in prison; she was pardoned in 1977 by President Ford.
September 8th
In 1945, US invades Japanese-held Korea.
September 9th
In 1945, Japanese in S Korea, Taiwan, China, Indochina surrender to Allies.
In 1945, U.S. troops land in South Korea, as Soviet forces begin to occupy the northern half of the country. The 38th paralle l officially begins to serve as the boundary between the two new nations.
September 16th
In 1945, Barometric pressure at 856 mb (25.55") off Okinawa (record low).
September 21st
In 1945, President Truman approves recommendation by Secretary of War Henry Stimson to designate the war as "World War II".

1945 October


October 15th
In 1945, the former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, was executed.
October 17th
In 1945, Colonel Juan Peron staged a coup in Buenos Aires, becoming the absolute ruler (dictator) of Argentina. He remained in power for 11 years before being overthrown.
October 24th
In 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect following Soviet ratification. It was announced by U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes.

1945 November


November 8th
In 1945, Riverboat sinks off Hong Kong; kills 1,550.
November 20th
In 1945, 24 Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.
November 23rd
In 1945, most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.

1945 December


December 14th
In 1945, Josef Kramer, known as "the beast of Belsen," and 10 others were hanged in Hamelin for crimes committed at the Belsen and Auschwitz Nazi concentration camps.
------- 1946 -------
September 30th
In 1946, an international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, found 22 top Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes, 11 of which were sentenced to death.
October 15th
In 1946, Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.
October 16th
In 1946, beginning at 1:14 a.m., 10 of the 12 Nazi leaders, sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials, are hanged.
December 31st
In 1946, President Truman officially proclaimed the end of World War II. 


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ARMED FORCES PEAK STRENGTHS AND BATTLE DEATHS OF THE
PRINCIPAL ALLIED POWERS 

Nation                  Peak strength         Battle deaths
Australia                  680,000               23,365
Belgium                    650,000                7,760
Canada                     780,000               37,476
China                    5,000,000            2,200,000(1)
Denmark                     25,000                3,006(2)
France                   5,000,000              210,671
Greece                     414,000               73,700(2)
India                    2,150,000               24,338
Netherlands                410,000                6,238
New Zealand                157,000               10,033
Norway                      45,000                1,000
Poland                   1,000,000              320,000 
USSR                    19,500,000           11,500,000 
Union of South Africa      140,000                6,840
United Kingdom           5,120,000              244,723
United States           12,300,000              292,131
Yugoslavia                 500,000              410,000(2)

(1) Casualties beginning with the Japanese invasion in 1937.(2) Most of these 
casualties were suffered in guerrilla warfare that followed German occupation 
of the country. In the case of Denmark they include more than 1,200 merchant 
sailors in the service of the Allied powers.

ARMED FORCES PEAK STRENGTHS AND BATTLE DEATHS OF THE AXIS POWERS

Nation           Peak strength      Battle deaths
Bulgaria            450,000             10,000(1)
Finland             250,000             82,000
Germany          10,200,000          3,500,000
Hungary             350,000            140,000
Italy             3,750,000             77,494(2)
Japan             6,095,000	         1,219,000
Romania             600,000            300,000(1)

(1) A limited number of these casualties occurred after the country
joined the Allies.(2) Of these, 17,494 were killed after Italy
became a cobelligerent with the Allies.

Russian Repatriation

over 2 million Russians from Europe and the U.S. were sent back to Russia

2 kinds of repatriates:

  1. civilians - 1.3m
    • had surrendered to Ger. against Stalin's orders
  2. military groups - .7m
    • .5m joined German army to overthrow Stalin - were traiters, e.g. Gen. Vlasov's "Russian Liberation Army" for Hitler
    • many of 5m Cossacks in South Russia were used by Germans ag. Tito
    • 50,000 Cossacks in south Austria - returned to Stalin by British
    • Croatian pro-fascist "Ustasha" (anti-communist Pavelic) vs. Tito - Croats killed 600,000 Serbs & Jews at Jasenovac death camp - killed with axes & clubs, bodies into Sava River to float by Serbian capital of Belgrade - 200,000 Croats killed at Bleiburg by Tito's Serbs
    • Belarus Brigade (1982 book Belarus Secret by John Loftus) - pro-Hitler Byelorussians who helped Hitler since 1941 - killed 250,000 Jews then switched to help Allies in 1944 on Western front - many recruited by U.S. mil intell - smuggled into U.S. - settled in South River, N.J. - became "freedom fighters" (Stalin did same - planted agents in flow of refugees to West - "Operation Omaha" dossiers compiled on possible agents)
    • Yalta definition of Soviet citizen excluded pre-1939 emigres - not repatriated
    • but Brit repatriated all Cossacks, incl old emigre Gen. Pannwitz & 18,000
    • Brit searched Drau Valley for fleeing Cossacks - 20,000 deported
    • most died in 10-yr labor camps, revealed in Solzhenitsin's '74 Gulag Archipelago
    • Med. commander Harold Alexander sought to help and coop w/ USSR
U.S. repatriated Russians from U.S. until suspended by Ike Oct. 1945

Dec. 20 compromise - only Soviet citizens who actively collab'd w/ Germans to be repatriated, not civilian refugees

May 1947 - last repatriations from Europe

The Last Secret by Nicholas Bethell 1974 and Victims of Yalta by Brit-born Nikolai Tolstoy, relative of Leo, in 1978

March 6, 1982 - Yalta Victims Memorial fountain dedicated in London on Thurloe Square opposite the Victoria and Albert Museum

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