Friday, July 20, 1945. Mistakes were made.

Belgian Prime Minister Achille Van Acker asked King Leopold III to abdicate for his "grave and unpardonable mistakes."

This entire controversy, largely forgotten outside of Belgium, where it would simmer for years, is hard to grasp, but it started with the unpopular move of surrendering to Germany, which was not supported by the Belgian people.  He did not cooperate with the Nazis during the war and in fact was imprisoned during the war, but that did not suffice for people to forgive him.  Additionally, he remarried during the war, being a widower, which people also held against him, as the poster above alludes to.

Churchill, Truman and Stalin continued to confer on politics and strategy,

US troops landed and took Balut Island in the Philippines.

Air raids over Japan continued, with P-51s now joining the effort as fighter bombers.

"Temporary location of the Industrial Dept. At the U.S. Naval Repair Base. Okinawa. 20 July, 1945.

Photographer: McGill, 3241 Sig. Photo Dept. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive."

Last edition:

Thursday, July 19, 1945. Bretton Woods ratified.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Australian Navy, Bretton Woods, Burma, Diplomacy, Japan, U.S. Air Force

Wednesday, July 18, 1945. Explosions.

President Truman informed Prime Minister Churchill that the atomic bomb test had been successful in a stating: "Babies satisfactorily born." 

Not so coincidently, American interest in Soviet participation in the war against Japan was noticeably lessened.

A fire broke out on the jetty of the Bedford Magazine during the evening causing a chain reaction of fires, explosions, and concussions that continued for more than 24 hours.  Fifteen people were killed.

Captured German mines in Italy exploded destroying an American Red Cross club resulting in the death of 36 people.

Aircraft from the USS Wasp attacked Wake Island.

The U.S. Army Air Force, flying out of Okinawa, bombed Kiangwan airfield near Shanghai.

The Brazilian Expeditionary Force parades through Rio de Janeiro marking its return from Italy.

The Belgian senate voted to forbid the return of Leopold III.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 17, 1945. The Potsdam Conference begins.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Allies, Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin, Post WWII Occupation of Germany, Potsdam Conference, Royal Navy, United Kingdom, United States, USSR, Winston Churchill, World War Two

Tuesday, July 17, 1945. The Potsdam Conference begins.

Churchill, who was actually on his way out due to having lost the recent British election, Truman, who was brand new to the Oval Office, and Stalin.

The Potsdam Conference between Josef Stalin, Winston Churchill and Harry Truman commenced.

The immediate topic was the governance of postwar Germany.

The British participated in a carrier raid on Tokyo.

German Field Marshal Busch, the former commander of Army Group Center on the Eastern Front, died at the military hospital in Notts at age 60 due to a heart attack.

The King, Queen and Princess Elizabeth visited Ulster.

Last edition:

Monday, July 16, 1945. Trinity.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, British Army, Manhattan Project, Nuclear power, Post WWII Occupation of Germany, The relationship between men and women, Trinity, United States, Weapons, World War Two