Wednesday, August 22, 1945. Surrenders.

" Pfc. Elmer S. Pitlik, Air Sect., 139th F.A. Bn., lights a cigarette for one of the Japanese guards. 22 August, 1945. On a mountain top in the Sierre Madres, Northern Luzon, eight Japanese officers and five American officers met to discuss surrender arrangements. The American officers, accompanied by twenty enlisted men, made a two-hour march over difficult terrain to the area marked by a Jap flag on a bamboo pole. Ranking American officer was Maj. Richard F. Jaffers, Artillery Liaison Group, 38th Inf. Div. The ranking Jap officer was Lt. Col. Shizume Sushimi. Photographer: T/4 Reynolds."

The Japanese Kwantung Army surrenders to Soviet forces at Harbin.

The Japanese government announced that the People's Volunteer Corps was disbanded.

The Japanese garrison on Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands surrendered in the first instance of a a Japanese mass surrender.

"Romanian displaced persons on their way home. Most of them are Jews who have been imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Although tried and hungry, they make this 100 mile march to the Vienna station with little food or sleep. 22 August, 1945. Photographer: T/4 Carl Gulotta, 3131st Signal Service Co."

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 21, 1945. Lurching towards a peace, normalcy, abnormality. Lizabeth Scott on Look. Lend Lease Terminated. Big Japanese surrender in China. Japan bars fraternization but sets up brothels for Western troops. Romanian Royal Strike., tragic nuclear accident.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, China, Harry S. Truman, It was because of World War Two, Japan, Kamikaze, Lend Lease, Manhattan Project, Romania, Romanian Royal Strike, Sex, Socialism, United Kingdom, World War Two

Saturday, August 18, 1945. The last American KIA of World War Two. Anthony J. Marchione.

Sukarno became the first President of Indonesia.

A B-32, an obscure bomber that was a competitor of the B-29.

B-32 crewman Anthony J. Marchione became the last American to die in WWII when the B-32 he was flying in over Tokyo in a photography mission was attacked by Japanese fighter aircraft in spite of the Japanese surrender.  The attack on the two B-32s followed an attack the prior day on B-32s in the same locality, which the bombers were investigating.  Staff Sergeant Joseph Lacharite was severely wounded and would take years to recover from his injuries.

The plane he was on was named "Hobo Queen"

The Consolidated B-32 Dominator is an almost forgotten World War Two aircraft. A competitor with the B-29, it was produced as a fallback to the B-29, and plans to replace B-17s and B-24s with the Dominator were cancelled due to production delays.  118 were built.

Indian nationalist, who sided with the Japanese during the war, died at age 48 in an airplane crash in Formosa.

The Soviets invaded the Kuril Islands, which was certainly a questionable act given the Japanese having announced their surrender.  The resulting Battle of Shumshu was the last battle of the Second World War.

On the other hand, Japanese forces on the Asian mainland continued to resist Soviet advances there, albeit ineffectively.

The Japanese government was clearly having trouble getting some forces to stand down.

Last edition:

Friday, August 17, 1945. The long trip of the U-977.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Dutch East Indies, Dutch Empire, German Kriegsmarine, Hirohito, Indonesia, Indonesian National Revolution, It was because of World War Two, Nationalist Chinese Army, The written word, World War Two

Saturday, August 4, 1945. Tibbets briefs his crew.

Paul Tibbets briefed his crew on the upcoming bombing mission to Hiroshima, telling the crew that the bombs would be immensely powerful and "something new in the history of warfare".  No specifics were provided.

Tibbets had entered the Army in 1937 in order to become a pilot after dropping out of medical school.  He died in 2007 at age 92.

The U.S. Army Air Force continued to drop leaflets over Japan warning of the destruction of cities.

British troops in Lower Sittang cleared the Japanese from the Pegu-Martaban railay at Abya.

Japanese troops executed seven captured American airmen in Singapore.

The Soviet Union gifted the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow with a bugged plaque.

On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe by Johnny Mercer was number one on the music charts.

Last edition:

Friday, August 3, 1945. The end for Japan in Burma.

Labels: 1940s, 1942, 1945, Burma, China Burma India Theater, Czechoslovakia, Ethnicities, French Navy, World War Two

Wednesday, July 30, 1945. Eisenhower questions the bomb.

The Battle of the Visayas in the Philippines, where in fact the war was still going on, ended in Allied victory.  Fighting had been reduced to mopping up by this time.

The Japanese government asked civilians to harvest acorns for food.  The entire Japanese population was living at the starvation level by this point in time.

The Japanese 18th Army made a last stand at the village of Numbogua, New Guinea. General Adachi, ordered his troops "to die in honorable defeat."

General Marshall ordered General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz to coordinate plans in readiness for an early surrender by Japan.

Secretary of War Stimson informed Gen. Eisenhower of the intent to use the atomic bomb. Eisenhower questioned the wisdom of the act.

Occasionally I'll see different dates listed for an event.  Here we have such an example:

Today in World War II History—July 30, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—July 30, 1945: Heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis is sunk by Japanese sub I-58 off Leyte; only 316 of 1199 men will survive the shark-infested waters.

July 30, 1945: The Fate of the USS Indianapolis

Most sources do list today, not yesterday, for the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.  Not all, however.  I used a source that listed July 29, as the "last edition" item below shows.

Why the difference?

Well, I don't know off hand, but the nature of the sinking, which saw the ship traveling under radio silence and in secret may have something to do with it.  More likely, however, is the fact that sources using today's date put the time at 00:15.   

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 29, 1945. The sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The 509th Composite Group receives orders for Operation Silverplate. The last Medal of Honor of World War Two.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, boats and ships, British Army, Disaster, Fish, Henry Ford, Heroes, Imperial Japanese Navy, Luzon, Operation Silverplate, Predictions, Sharks, Tinian, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Weapons

Saturday, July 28, 1945. Taking no notice.

Japanese Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki gave a response to the Potsdam Declaration stating that Japan would "take no notice" of the Potsdam Declaration. 

A B-25 flying in heavy fog struck the Empire State Building.

B-29s bombed Aomori.

Japanese battleships Haruna and Ise and,the aircraft carrier Amagi, the old cruiser Izumo, the light cruiser Oyodo and a destroyer were sunk by aircraft.

The USS Callaghan was sunk by a Yokosuka K5Y kamikaze attack off Okinawa.

The Japanese 28th Army attempted to withdraw across the Sittang River in Burma, suffering over 13,000 killed and drowned in the attempt.

The Potsdam Conference resulmeds with the appearance of Prime Minister Attlee.

The Senate ratified the Charter of the United Nations.

Jim Davis, the creator of the Garfield comic strip,was born in Marion, Indiana.

Last edition:

Friday, July 27, 1945. Preparing the bomb.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Chinese Army, Imperial Japanese Army, Japan, Tinian, U.S. Air Force, United Kingdom, Weapons, Winston Churchill, World War Two

Friday, July 27, 1945. Preparing the bomb.

Little Boy was delivered to Tinian and preparation to drop it on Japan commenced.

Commencing on the night of July 27, B-29s dropped leaflets on eleven Japanese cities warning them that they were targeted for bombing.

The Chinese took Guilin.

Ernest Bevin became the British Foreign Affairs Secretary.

The World War Two British chiefs of staff had their final meeting with Churchill.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 26, 1945. Churchill out, Attlee in.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Allies, Clement Attlee, It was because of World War Two, Japan, Potsdam Conference, The written word, Winston Churchill, World War Two

Wednesday, July 25, 1945. Truman orders the atomic bomb used on Japan.

Truman ordered the bomb dropped on Japan.  The news was conveyed to the military to accomplish the act.

The Potsdam Conference took a recess so that the British delegation could return to the UK to hear the election results.

Marshall Pétain spoke at his trial for the first time, stating he was deaf and had not heard a thing that had been said in court up to that time.

American cruisers Pasadena, Springfield, Wilkes-Barre and Astoria bombarded Japanese air bases in southern Honshu. 

US aircraft attacked Kure naval base and the airfields at Nagoya, Osaka and Miho for a second day, sinking the battleships Hyuga, Ise, and Haruna, the escort carrier Kaiyo and the heavy cruisers Aoba and Iwate are all sunk. The Japanese put up no resistance.

The US declared that Mindanao was free of organized Japanese resistance.

The Japanese pulled out of Taunggyi in the Shan states, Burma.

British naval and air units continued attacks on Japanese positions and transportation targets on the west coast of Malaya.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 24, 1945. An unsurprised Stalin.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Aircraft, boats and ships, China, Espionage, Harry S. Truman, Japan, Joseph Stalin, Nuclear power, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Weapons

Sunday, July 22, 1945. Open to negotiations, but not threats.

Japanese forces attempting to breakout of the Pegu Hills suffered heavy casualties.

US Task Force 92 bombarded Paramushiro in the Kurile Islands.

Nine U.S. destroyers penetrated Tokyo Bay under the cover of a storm.

The Japanese government announced that it was open to peace negotiations, but not to threats.

Allied military police were allowed to cross into any zone in Berlin.

Adele Jergens was the pinup.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 21, 1945. Warnings to Japan.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Australian Army, Battle of Balikpapan, Radio, The Press, World War Two

Saturday, June 30, 1945. Mopping up.

"These five 96th Div. Texans are considered "aces" by their buddies in Co. I, 383rd Inf. Regt., an ace being anyone who has killed five or more Japs. From bottom to top: S/Sgt. Vernon Z. Wilkins, 101 Chicago St., Delhart; Pfc. Albert Welfel, El Campo; Pfc. Richard S. Groce, 318 Lafitte St., San Antonio; PFC Roy D Clepper, Florey; and Pfc. Russell Linnard, of Pharr, Texas. 30 June, 1945. Company I, 383rd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division."  I wonder what their lives were like after the war.

Today in World War II History—June 30, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 30, 1945: In the Philippines, Luzon is declared secure. Organized Japanese resistance ends on Mindanao in the Philippines.

Sarah Sundin's blog.

Indeed, some Japanese troops would hold out on the Philippines on an individual basis for decades. 

" Jap tankette knocked out in battle for Shuri. Tank is about 10 ft. by four and about five feet in height, and carries two men. Relative size is shown by Lt. M. A. Miller of 94 Parkway Rd., Bronxville, New York. 30 June, 1945. Photographer: Henderson, 3240th Signal Photo Det."  Tankettes were a British concept from between the wars, but had fallen out of favor almost everywhere before World War Two.  Japan, which existed in military isolation, kept them.

American forces on Okinawa completed a week of mop-up operations in which 8,975 Japanese were reported killed and 2,902 captured, showing how intense operations remained.

While not apparent to anyone yet, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps had effectively concluded the main part of their ground fighting in the war.  Ground combat, however, carried on for the British and Dominion armies, and the Chinese Army.

Former U.S. Army Air Force base Liuzhou, China, was recaptured by the Chinese.  They also took Chungchin on the Indochinese border.

The French the 5e REI, a Foreign Legion regiment which had been stationed in Indochina, was deactivated, having been decimated in their retreat into China.

Truman appointed James F. Byrnes to be Secretary of State.

Last edition:

Friday, June 29, 1945. Downfall.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Harry S. Truman, Japan, Operation Coronet, Operation Downfall, Operation Olympic

Thursday, June 28, 1945. Moving in new directions.

Stricken plane landing on aircraft carrier, June 28, 1945.

While 23,000 Japanese troops remained in the field, in isolated areas, MacArthur announced that operations on Luzon were complete.

They weren't, really.  The 8th Army and the Filipinos would remain to mop the remainder up.

The Soviet backed Provisional Government of National Unity in Poland, made up of  the PPR: 7 ministers, Socialist Party: 6 ministers, People's Party: 3 ministers, PSL: 3 ministers and  Democratic Party: 2 ministers, was formed.

The Polish Government in Exile did not recognize it, although several of its members were from the Government in Exile.

The last B-24 to be produced at Ford's Michigan Willow Run plant was completed.

Last edition:

Wednesday, June 27, 1945. Giving Japan a warning.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, boats and ships, Collaborators, Czechoslovakia, Imperial Japanese Navy, Japan, Kamikaze, Manhattan Project, Nuclear power, U.S. Navy, United Nations, United States, Weapons, World War Two

Friday, June 22, 1945. The Battle of Okinawa ends.

The Battle of Okinawa ended. It was the last major ground battle of World War Two.

Today in World War II History—June 22, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 22, 1945: Battle for Okinawa officially ends at a high cost—12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed, plus 42,000 civilians.

June 22, 1945: The Battle of Okinawa

Operation Ten-Go, the last major Japanese naval operation, concluded.

Gen. MacArthur announced that Gen. Joseph Stilwell would replace Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. as commander of the U.S. Tenth Army.

Emperor Hirohito directed his government to find a way to peace talks.

Japanese generals Isamu Chō, 50, and Mitsuru Ushijima, 57,  committed suicide on Okinawa.

The Japanese withdrew from Liuchow.

Last edition:

Thursday, June 21, 1945. Fall of Hill 89.

Labels: 1940, 1940s, 1945, Australian Army, boats and ships, Borneo, Kamikaze, Luzon, Okinawa, Operation Iceberg, Operation Ten-Go, Polish Home Army, USSR, World War Two

Tuesday, June 19, 1945. Eisenhower's parade.

The U.S. Army took IIigan in the Philippines.

343 Japanese troops surrendered on Okinawa.

"Pfc. Alden A. Fisher, Morganton, Ga., fires a bazooka. Pfc. William Miller, Oceanside, Long Island, is the loader. They are firing at a Japanese cave on Okinawa. 19 June, 1945. 77th Infantry Division Photographer: LaGrange."

Troops of the British Commonwealth brought the war back to Thailand, invading it from Burma.

King Leopold III of Belgium refused to abdicate.

The United Nations, meeting in San Francisco, denied Francoist Spain admission to the body.

Gen. Eisenhower received a ticker tape parade in New York City which 4,000,000 people turned out to view.

French politician Marcel Déat, in hiding in Italy, was sentenced to death in absentia for collaborating with the enemy.  He would not be captured and died in Italy in 1955.

Last edition:

Monday, June 18, 1945. The death of Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, boats and ships, British Army, China, Chinese National Army, Civil War, Collaborators, Japan, Mexican War, Okinawa, Personalities, Polish Home Army, USSR, World War Two

Monday, June 11, 1945. King gets another term. . . but it's a minority government.

A Canadian federal election was held in which the incumbent Liberal Party led by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was re-elected to its third consecutive mandate, but this time through a minority government.

It was likely a sign of things to come in the upcoming British election.

US forces captured the height east of Mount Yaeju on Okinawa but an accompanying Marine assault failed to capture Kunishi Ridge.

Japanese forces recaptured Ishan in Kwangsi Province.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided In re Summers, ruling 5-4 that the First and Fourteenth Amendment freedoms of a conscientious objector were not infringed when a state bar association declined to admit him to the practice of law, which seems obviously wrong.

The Soviets began the expulsion of Sudetenlanders from Czechoslovakia.

Last edition:

Sunday, June 10, 1945. Action in the Far East.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Australian Army, Australian Navy, Battle of Davao, Battle of Labuan. World War Two, Battle of North Borneo, Battle of Porton Plantation, boats and ships, Chinese Army, Japan, Okinawa, U.S. Navy, Weapons