World War II in real time

[lordroel]

Day 2084 of World War II, May 25th 1945

YouTube (The Last Battles in Europe)



United States

The American armed forces Chiefs of Staff set November 1, 1945 as the start date for the invasion of Japan -- Operation Olympic.

United Kingdom

Churchill asks all Allied commands in Europe, that have received information from the Ultra project, to maintain its secrecy.

Netherlands

Photo: Arrival of the English envoy Sir Neville Bland on board an English destroyer, 25 May 1945



Photo: Sir Neville Bland stepping of a English destroyer, 25 May 1945



Pacific War

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): Unit moves: 83d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th Bombardment Group (Medium), ceases operating from Magwe, Burma with B-25s, and returns to base at Fenny, India; 427th Night Fighter Squadron, Tenth AF, moves from Myitkyina, Burma to Dinjan, India with P-61s (a detachment is operating from Kunming, China).

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 5 B-25s and 2 P-51s knock out a bridge N of Kioshan, damage another N of Changtuikuan, and pound railroad targets around Sinyang, Saiping, Sinantien, Hsuchang, and Chenghsien; 16 fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance hit various targets of opportunity in the Nanyang, Burma and Anyang, Hantan, Chenghsien, Kaifeng, Linfen, Shihkiachwang, Sinsiang, Miyanghsien, Tenghsien, Loning, Sichuan, and Hsuchang, China areas. The 322d Troop Carrier Squadron, Fourteenth AF, moves form Kunming to Loping, China with C-47s.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): By concurrence of Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA), the VII Fighter Command, with its subordinate units, is assigned to operational and administrative control of HQ Twentieth AF. 100 Iwo Jima based P-51s fly 73 effective strike sorties against Matsudo and Tokorozawa Airfields, Japan claiming 8-0-1 Japanese aircraft in the air and 10-0-40 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. Mission 183: During the night of 25/26 May, 464 B-29's pound the urban area of Tokyo immediately S of the Imperial Palace just N of that bombed on 23/24 May, including financial, commercial, and governmental districts as well as factories and homes; 6 others bomb targets of opportunity; they claim 19 Japanese fighters; 26 B-29s are lost on this mission, the highest single-day loss of B-29s in World War II.

JAPAN

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) sink Japanese cargo vessel Hikawa Maru at 33°58'N, 131°02'E, and merchant tanker No.3 Toyo Maru 3.2 kilometers off Hesaki, 33°55'N, 131°20'E. Mines also sink transport Tobi Maru northwest of Kyushu 33°58'N, 130°52'E, cargo ship Matsushima Maru two miles south of Matsuzaki Island and merchant cargo ships Shiragi Maru near Hesaki, and No.1 Nissan Maru off Mutsure, and damage destroyers Sakura seven kilometers off Hesaki Light and Tsubaki off Shimonoseki anchorage, Patrol Boat No.104 5.4 kilometers off Futaoi Light, army cargo ships Ginsei Maru and Ginzan Maru three kilometers off Mutsure Island merchant cargo ships No.3 Shinto Maru off Hesaki, and Iyo Maru east of the mouth of Kammon Channel, and merchant tanker No.4 Nanko Maru 6.5 kilometers off Hesaki.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon Island, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers fly numerous strikes and ground support missions. Fighter-bombers support ground force on Cebu.

Photo: Pfc R. Duffy; Pfc T. McDonald; Pfc A. Mullins; Pfc T. Kaskie; Pvt A. Rossetti; Capt H. W. Berberian; T/4 F. Grogorowich; Cpl D. Marcus; Cpl K. Cameron; Pfc J. Sullivan; Pfc E. Colby all of Boston, Mass, load the prepare to fire an 8 in gun. The Japs are located on a ridge about, 500 yds forward this position. 25 May, 1945



VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, the US 4th Marine Regiment eliminates the Japanese casemates and underground positions on Machishi Hill. The US 29th Regiment secures Naha.

Off Okinawa, kamikazes sink high speed transport Bates (APD-47), 26°41'N, 127°47'E, and medium landing ship LSM-135; and damage destroyers Guest (DD-472), 26°22'N, 127°44'E, and Stormes (DD-780), 27°06'N, 127°38'E; destroyer escort O'Neill (DE-188), 26°20'N, 127°43'E; high speed transports Barry (APD-29), 26°30'N, 127°00'E (see 21 and 22 June), and Roper (APD-20), 26°34'N, 127°36'E; high speed minesweeper Butler (DMS-29), 26°12'N, 127°50'E; and minesweeper Spectacle (AM-305), 26°40'N, 127°52'E. Friendly fire damages destroyer Cowell (DD-547), 26°41'N, 126°50'E. Japanese plane torpedoes U.S. freighter William B. Allison in Buckner Bay; six merchant sailors and a stevedore die in the explosion. The 34-man merchant complement, 28 Armed Guard sailors and 150 stevedores, however, unload the ship's cargo.[15]

Photo: The U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Bates (APD-47) burning off Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands (Japan), after a suicide attack by three Japanese planes, 25 May 1945. The first dropped a bomb, scoring a near miss which ruptured the starboard hull of the ship, and then crashed into the starboard side of the fantail. The second aircraft, almost simultaneously, made a suicide hit on the pilothouse. Shortly thereafter, the third aircraft made a bombing run scoring a near miss amidships, portside, rupturing the hull. At 1145hrs the commanding officer ordered Bates abandoned. Twenty-one of her crew were either dead or missing from the attacks. During the afternoon, the tug USS Cree (ATF-84) was able to get a line aboard and towed Bates to Ie Shima anchorage. At 1923hrs on 25 May 1945, the still burning Bates capsized and sank



ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile Islands, 2 B-24s fly a radar ferret mission over Matsuwa Island and bomb the Tagan Cape area; another B-24 flies armed weather reconnaissance.

PACIFIC

Submarine Blenny (SS-324) sinks Japanese gunboat Kairyu Maru, 06°04'S, 107°27'E.

Submarine Ray (SS-271) sinks Japanese schooner Tsuki Maru 35 miles east of Kaiyo Island 39°04'N, 123°06'E.

British submarine HMS Thorough sinks Japanese cargo ship Nittei Maru off west coast of Borneo, 06°45'S, 112°31'E.

British submarine HMS Trenchant sinks Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa 105 east of Mandalike Island 06°23'S, 110°55'E.

USAAF planes sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Amoy Maru off north coast of Tsushima, 34°46'N, 129°23'E.

Japanese merchant vessel Kokei Maru is sunk by aircraft off Pusan, Korea.

Japanese transport Kamishima Maru is damaged by stranding off north coast of Java, N.E.I., 06°25'S, 111°00'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2085 of World War II, May 26th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

The Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) is transferred from Rheims to Frankfurt-am-Main.

The Berlin Philharmonic gave its first performance since the end of the European war in the Titania Palace Theatre.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Benner (DD-807) off Boston, Massachusetts (USA), on 26 May 1945. Note the mast with the SP radar aft, replacing the forward torpedo tubes. The aft torpedo tubes were replaced by a 40 mm quadruple mount. Both were added to counter Japanese "kamikaze" suicide planes. Destroyers fitted with the SP radar were designated as radar picket destroyers ("DDR") in 1949. SP was replaced by SPS-8A in the 1950s



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Dyess (DD-880) off Orange, Texas (USA), on 26 May 1945. Note that she lacks the torpedo tubes because she was fitted as a radar picket destroyer



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-25s and 6 P-51s damage 2 bridges N of Hankow; 4 B-25s hit railroad targets around Lohochai and between Kinkiang and Kioshan; 3 B-25s attack truck convoys in the Siangtan and Paoching areas and along the Paoching-Hengyang-Changsha highway; 80+ fighter-bombers over several areas in S and E China continue to harass Japanese movements, attacking troops and positions and hitting rail and road traffic; the Japanese complete their withdrawal from Yungning, severing the land connection with French Indochina; the Chinese retake Nanning.

BURMA

Allied forces occupy Bassein, 90 miles west of Rangoon.

GUAM

(Seventh Air Force): 10 Guam Island-based B-24s bomb the airfield on Marcus Island in the N Pacific. 16 P-47s from Saipan Island strafe airfields on Moen Island, the seaplane base on Dublon Island, and several targets of opportunity, all in Truk Atoll.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 184: During the night of 26/27 May, 29 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Fukuoka, Karatsu, and Fushiki, Japan. Mines sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 172 at entrance to Fushiki harbor, Honshu, 36°48'N, 137°05'E, and merchant cargo ships Mogi Maru south of Hime Jima, 33°43'N, 131°38'E, Shiokubi Maru off Motoyamazakiand 9 Kaishin Maru at 34°00'N, 130°50'E, and No.6 Miyakawa Maru 3.5 kilometers south of Hesaki, 33°55'N, 131°02'E, and damage Japanese gunboat Hirota Maru, 34°18'N, 133°32'E, transport Akeshima Maru near Moji, 34°47'N, 131°35'E, and transport Inari Maru off Motoyamamisaki, and army cargo ships Ginzan Maru off Takenoko signal station and Igasa Maru 2.2 kilometers south of Hesaki, and merchant cargo ships Kunugi Maru outside Kobe harbor, 34°39'N, 135°11'E, Shozan Maru off Tokuyama, Shimonoseki Strait, 33°57'N, 131°46'E, and Mitsukisan Maru at 33°52'N, 131°02'E.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

B-25s and P-38s sweep the W part of Formosa causing extensive damage to a variety of communications and industrial targets.

JAPAN

Some 464 American B-29 Superfortress bombers fire-bombed Tokyo with about 4000 tons of incendiares. Parts of the imperial palace were damaged as was the nearby business district of Marunouchi, which was the targeted area. A total of 26 of the Marianas-based bombers were lost.

Photo: "Tokyo burns under B-29 firebomb assault." May 26, 1945



BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit Tarakan, Beaufort, Weston, Tenom, Trusan Haji, Sandakan, and Jesselton.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

A-20s and fighter-bombers pound numerous Luzon Island targets, particularly in the Balete Pass area and B-24s bomb Tuguegarao and Echague. Fighter-bombers support ground forces on Cebu.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, American bombers and artillery attack Japanese troops withdrawing from the Shuri Line.

Photo: Soldiers of the 77th Inf. Div. walk past mud-clogged tanks parked by the side of the road on Okinawa. 26 May, 1945



Photo: The caption on this photograph reads "Camped on "Sugar Loaf"-During one of the many rainy spells on Okinawa, the First Battalion, Fourth Marines command post was established on Sugar Loaf Hill," 26 May 1945



Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage high speed minesweeper Forrest (DMS-24), 26°00'N, 128°00'E, and submarine chaser PC-1603, 26°25'N, 127°53'E.

PACIFIC

Submarine Billfish (SS-286) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship No.7 Kotobuki Maru off Nagasaki, Japan, 33°19'N, 129°31'E.

Japanese guardboat Kaishin Maru is damaged by stranding at north end of Paramushiro Island Kurils.

[lordroel]

Day 2086 of World War II, May 27th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

US 101st Airborne Division Master Sergeant Charles Dickey discovered Heinrich Himmler's emergency cash in Himmler's family barn in Bayern (Bavaria) in southern Germany. It consisted of currencies of 26 nations worth a total of US$4,000,000.

Netherlands

Photo: Lance-Corporal J.G. Kallenberger searching a group of German prisoners en route back to Germany, Den Helder, Netherlands, 27 May 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

Chinese troops complete the occupation of Nanning, the capital of Kwangsi Province. This success cuts off the main Japanese supply route from French Indochina, Thailand, Malaya and Burma, leaving up to 200,000 Japanese troops stranded.

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 15 B-25s bomb a textile mill at Chenghsien, attack trains, railroad track and a bridge in the Lohochai area, and bomb railroad yards at Sinyang; 80+ fighter-bombers attack town areas, trucks, railroad targets, bridges, and general targets of opportunity at scattered S and E China locations.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): The 319th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Asansol, India to Warazup, Burma with C-47s.

BURMA

For the first time in history, an entire army is moved by air transport. American aircraft fly the Chinese 6th Army from Burma to China.

SAIPAN

(Seventh Air Force): 16 Saipan Island-based P-47s sweep Truk Atoll, strafing the airfield, aircraft, and radio tower and facilities on Moen Island, buildings at the Dublon Seaplane Base and on Udot Island, and small craft off Dublon and Fanamu Islands.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 185: During the night of 27/28 May, 9 B-29s drop mines in Shimonoseki Strait and in the Moji area; 1 B-29 is lost.

JAPAN

In the final mine-laying operation of Phase III of Operation STARVATION, eleven USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) mine Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Moji, Japan. USAAF B-29-laid mines sink cargo vessels Chizan Maru off Wadanomisaki light, 33°30'N, 130°30'E, and Kongo Maru in Shimonoseki Strait off Hakata, 33°41'N, 130°15'E, and merchant tanker Hojo Maru off south coast of Yoshimi Island and damage merchant cargo ship Kifune Maru 1.4 kilometers north of Niigata light.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-24s pound the railroad yards and rolling stock at Muong Man and Phan Rang, French Indochina. On Formosa, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack targets at Koshun, Shinei, Tairin, Ensui, Kohyo, and Kobi and attack numerous targets of opportunity at many other locations

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

Most of the island is secured by Australian forces. Japanese aircraft attack Australian positions on Tarakan. Total Australian casualties in the campaign are 436 killed and 1460 wounded.

In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack Tawau, Kudat, Langkon, and Sandakan, and hit targets on Tarakan.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

The US 25th Division, part of the US 1st Corps, takes Santa Fe on Luzon. There is still heavy fighting in several parts of Mindanao.

B-24s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Cagayan Valley targets while other fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Balete Pass, Baguio, and Ipo Dam sectors.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, American forces attacking southward, continue to encounter heavy Japanese resistance.

Off Okinawa, two kamikazes damage destroyer Braine (DD-630), 26°25'N, 128°30'E; kamikazes also damage destroyer Anthony (DD-515), 26°25'N, 128°30'E, high speed minesweeper Southard (DMS-10), 26°00'N, 127°00'E, high speed transports Loy (APD-56), 26°30'N, 127°30'E, and Rednour (APD-102), 26°29'N, 127°21'E, surveying ship Dutton (AGS-8), 26°15'N, 127°59'E, submarine chaser PCS-1396 and degaussing vessel YDG-10, 26°00'N, 128°00'E; destroyer escort Gilligan (DE-508) is damaged by dud torpedo fired by kaiten from Japanese submarine I 367, 26°47'N, 127°47'E; minesweeper Gayety (AM-239) is damaged by near-miss of bomb, 26°00'N, 128°00'E; large support landing craft LCS-52 is damaged by near-miss of kamikaze; fleet tug Pakana (ATF-108) is damaged by strafing, 26°22'N, 127°44'E.

USS Braine After Action Report, showing the positions of the USS Braine and Anthony during the Kamikaze attack, 27 May 1945



PACIFIC

Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., Commander Third Fleet, relieves Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commander Fifth Fleet, of operational control at Okinawa. TF 58 thus becomes TF 38.

Submarine Tench (SS-417) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Kinei Maru off Kushiro light, 42°54'N, 144°18'E.

Submarine Tigrone (SS-419) sinks Japanese guardboat No.3 Yawata Maru off Tori Jima, 29°24'N, 141°01'E.

Japanese auxiliary minesweeper No.3 Misago Maru is sunk by U.S. aircraft at entrance to Ise Wan, Japan, 34°37'N, 137°19'E.

Japanese naval vessel Shinho Maru is sunk by aircraft off Sosa, Chiba prefecture.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.2 Daito Maru is sunk by aircraft off Yosu.

[lordroel]

Day 2087 of World War II, May 28th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Broadcaster William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") was arrested by the British in Flensburg, Germany.

Photo: Fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster William Joyce, known as Lord Haw Haw, lies in an ambulance after his arrest by British officers at Flensburg, Germany, on 28 May 1945. He was shot during the arrest



Photo: German soldiers marching back to Germany, under the watchful eyes of a Canadian Armoured Car unit, 28 May 1945



Netherlands

Queen Wilhelmina returns.

Photo: Sergeant E.J. Savage of the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (R.C.A.), guarding surrendering German soldiers, Sneek, Netherlands, 28 May 1945



Syria

Fighting breaks out between French troops and Syrians.

Italy

Photo: Air Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, KCB, OBE, MC, DFC, LLD, Commander in Chief of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean and Middle East with Air Vice Marshal R M Foster, Air Officer Commanding, Desert Air Force, and (right) Brigadier General Thomas D'Arcy of the USAAF, watching squadrons during the Fly Past, 28 May 1945



United Kingdom

The British Royal Navy announces the end of the convoy system for shipping operating in the Atlantic, Arctic and Indian Oceans.

United States

Admiral Halsey, commanding US 3rd Fleet, takes command of American naval forces operating against targets in Japan; US Task Force 58 is assigned to US 3rd Fleet, becoming TF38.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Benner (DD-807) underway in Massachusetts Bay on 28 May 1945. She is outfitted for radar picket service, with torpedo tubes replaced by a tripod mainmast ahead of her after smokestack



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Herbert J. Thomas (DD-833) off Boston, Massachusetts (USA), on 28 May 1945. Note the mast with the SP radar aft, replacing the forward torpedo tubes. The aft torpedo tubes were replaced by a 40 mm quadruple mount. Both were added to counter Japanese "kamikaze" suicide planes



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 19 B-25s, along with 8 fighter- bombers, hit railroad, road, and river traffic around Vinh, Quang Tri, Dap Cau, and Song Chu, French Indochina, knock out a bridge at Hwayuan and demolish a tunnel opening near Wuchang, China. In China, 16 P-51s cause heavy damage and casualties blasting a bridge and military installations near Wuchang; 27 P-51s hit bridges, troops, storage, trucks, trains, rivercraft, and other targets in the Yoyang area; 65 other fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity at several locations throughout S and E China; 15 photo reconnaissance aircraft continue to maintain good coverage of enemy movements; the detachment of the 25th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, operating from Poseh with P-51s, returns to base at Yunnani.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Fighters from Iwo Jima hit Kasumigaura and its airfield with 6 planes claimed destroyed and 40+ damaged and P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu during the night of 28/29 May. Mines previously laid by B-29 Superfortresses sink a Japanese transport and damage a coast defense vessel, two freighters and a fishing boat in Japanese waters.

MIDWAY

Photo: A U.S. Navy submarine leaves Midway Atoll on a war patrol in May 1945. Note other submarines at the docks, 28 May 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: In French Indochina, B-24s again bomb the railroad yards E of Saigon at Phan Rang and Muong Man. In Formosa, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack industrial targets of opportunity at Shoka, Taichu, Ujitsu, Byoritsu, and other locations. Unit moves: HQ 374th Troop Carrier Group from Biak Island, New Guinea to Nielson Field, Luzon; 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command (attached to 85th Fighter Wing), based at Tacloban, Leyte Island with P-38s, P-61s and P-70s, sends a detachment to operate from Sanga Sanga (another detachment is operating from Zamboanga).

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighters hit gun positions and other targets at Balikpapan and P-38s dive-bomb Keningau and Jesselton Airfields.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack Pateng, the Ipo Dam area, Tuguegarao and Ugae airstrips, Anuling, the Baguio area, guns and defenses in the Balete Pass area, and support ground forces at several points.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

Off Okinawa, kamikazes sink destroyer Drexler (DD-741), 27°06'N, 127°38'E, and damage attack transport Sandoval (APA-194), 26°15'N, 127°51'E, and large support landing craft LCS(L)-119. A suicider crashes and damages U.S. freighter Mary A. Livermore in Buckner Bay, 26°12'N, 127°46'E; the 27 Armed Guards and 75 Construction Battalion sailors on board contribute men to firefighting efforts (four Armed Guard sailors, as well as seven merchant seamen, die in the explosion and fires). Another kamikaze crashes and damages U.S. freighter Brown Victory off Ie Shima; two of the 27 Armed Guards are killed instantly, and 18 injured (one merchant sailor and an Armed Guard sailor die of their wounds later). Still another suicider crashes U.S. freighter Josiah Snelling off Okinawa; Armed Guard gunfire manages to deflect the Japanese plane from its suicidal course toward the amidships deckhouse and into a less vulnerable part, saving the ship from worse damage. There are no fatalities on board.

PACIFIC

Submarines Blueback (SS-326) and Lamprey (SS-372) battle Japanese submarine chaser Ch.1 in a surface gunnery action off Japara, N.E.I., 06°28'S, 110°37'E, and damage the enemy escort vessel.

Submarine Ray (SS-271) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Biko Maru northwest of Changshan, 38°21'N, 123°58'E.

Commander, Kodiak Sector, Alaskan Sea Frontier, dispatches four PBYs (three from FAW 1 and one from NAS Kodiak) to Fairbanks, via Anchorage, Alaska, to provide assistance in evacuating citizens threatened by rising Yukon River floodwaters (see 31 May).

USAAF B-29-laid mines sink Japanese transport Akitsu Maru south of Kure, and damage Coast Defense Vessel No.29 off Kyushu, 33°07'N, 129°44'E, merchant cargo ships Mishimasan Maru three kilometers off Tateishikzaki and Annette Fritzen Go at 33°53'N, 130°05'E; and fishing boat No.3 Genei Maru outside Sasebo Bay.

[lordroel]

Day 2088 of World War II, May 29th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Photo: A sign erected by British Forces at the entrance to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Germany, 29 May 1945. The remains of the camp itself were about to be burnt to the ground by the British occupation forces. A similar sign in German was also erected



Belgium

Belgian socialists call on King Leopold III to abdicate. The former government in exile and some Belgians hold the king in low regard because of his independent policies before the war and his unilateral decision to surrender to the Germans in 1940, without consulting the British and French who were assisting in the defense of Belgium.

Norway

The Nobel prize winning author Knut Hamsun is arrested for collaborating with the Nazis during the occupation.

Soviet Union

Soviet 2nd Byelorussian Front was renamed Northern Group of Military Forces, or SGV. Konstantin Rokossovsky remained the commanding officer of the group.

Syria

On French General Paul Beynet's command, General Oliva-Roget ordered his troops to begin shelling Damascus, French troops stormed the Syrian parliament and tried to arrest the President Shukri al-Quwatli and the speaker Saadallah al-Jabiri but both managed to escape. The French burned, bombarded the building and then cut off Damascus's electricity. They also sealed off Syria's borders with Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. The French began shelling with artillery and mortars while colonial Senegalese troops were sent in, who committed acts of looting and wanton destruction. Meanwhile, Syrian representatives ask the British for assistance.

Having managed to escape via a British armoured car, President Shukri al-Quwatli sent an urgent request to Prime Minister Winston Churchill for British troops to intervene. Churchill, hoping to maintain favour with the Arabs, said he would do what he could, but his relationship with Charles de Gaulle was at a low ebb following his visit to Paris the previous year, in spite of his efforts to preserve French interests following the Yalta conference. In January Churchill told a colleague that he believed that de Gaulle was "a great danger to peace and for Great Britain. After five years of experience, I am convinced that he is the worst enemy of France in her troubles ... he is one of the greatest dangers to European peace. ... I am sure that in the long run no understanding will be reached with General de Gaulle".

Italy

Photo: The funeral of the partisans of the Asiago plateau were celebrated on May 29, 1945. The partisans parade with the coffins on their shoulders at Asiago.
The liberation of the Asiago plateau takes place between 27 and 29 April 1945. The partisans blocked access to the plateau to the retiring German columns. They free all the inhabited centers before the arrival of the Allies. At the first lights of the dawn of 28 the Germans leave Asiago. The Command of the Brigate Group "7 Communes" is installed at the hotel "Croce Bianca".

On May 4, 1945 an English patrol asked to be escorted to Lavarone by the partisans of the Seven Communes, disarming the Germans along the road, but in Vattaro they fall into a German ambush in which seven partisans die. Francesco Urbani "Pat" and Giulio Vescovi " Leo "remain injured but manage to save themselves, it is the last episode of liberation in the Vicenza area



United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Rhodes (DE-384) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 29 May 1945



Photo: USS Tautog (SS-199) underway at sea, 29 May 1945. Note the scoreboard painted on her conning tower, representing Japanese ships sunk by Tautog



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, a single B-24 damages a railroad bridge over the Huto River and 4 B-25s and 4 P-51s knock out a bridge S of Kuanshuishih. In French Indochina, 2 B-25s attack locomotives near Vinh and about 30 fighter-bombers attack communications and transportation targets around Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Quang Tri, Vinh and Yen, Chenghsien and Yoyang, China

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): The 88th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, moves from Moran to Dudhkundi, India with P-47s.

JAPAN

In Tokyo, Admiral Ozawa replaces Admiral Toyoda as commander of the Combined Fleet.

American B-29 Superfortress bombers drop incendiaries on Yokohama, burning 85 percent of the port area.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 186: 454 B-29s, escorted by 101 P-51s from the VII Fighter Command for the first time on a fire-bomb raid, bomb Yokohama with incendiaries and destroy the main business district (a third of the city's area) along the waterfront; the burned out area of Yokohama now amounts to almost 9 square miles; about 150 Japanese fighters attack the formations; the B-29s claim 6 fighters and the P-51s claim 26-9-23: 7 B-29s and 3 P-51s are lost. HQ 509th Composite Group arrives at North Field from the US.

GUAM

Photo: Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, during his visit aboard HMS King George V in Guam, 29 May 1945



Photo: FADM Chester Nimitz addressed the crew of HMS King George V to emphasize the vital role of the Royal Navy in winning the war in the Pacific. To further express U.S. appreciation of British efforts, Nimitz gave the crew an American ice cream machine, 29 May 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, 100+ B-24s bomb Kiirun and several other towns and B-25s, and fighter-bombers, hit the Tainan alcohol plant and targets of opportunity.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s hit airfields at Oelin, Tabanio, and Ft Brook.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon Island, B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s hit a variety of targets in the N while other fighter- bombers hit the C part of the island including the Cagayan Valley, Baguio, Balete, and Ipo areas.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

Off Okinawa, kamikazes crash destroyer Shubrick (DD-639), 26°38'N, 127°05'E, and high speed transport Tatum (APD-81), 26°40'N, 127°50'E; groundings account for damage to motor minesweeper YMS-81, 26°16'N, 127°52'E, and tank landing ship LST-844, 26°17'N, 127°51'E.

Photo: Men of Co. B, 184th Inf. Regt., inspect a Jap 75-mm gun they captured on Okinawa. 7th Infantry Division, 29 May 1945



Photo: The caption on this photograph reads "Battle Weary-Marines of a Sixth Division mortar crew snatch forty winks after a hard night of fighting for the capital city of Naha," 29 May 1945



Photo: US Flag raised over the Shuri Castle on Okinawa. Braving Japanese sniper fire, US Marine Lieutenant Colonel R.P. Ross, Jr. places on American flag on a parapet of Shuri castle on May 29, 1945. The castle is a former enemy stronghold in southern Okinawa in the Ryukyu (Loochoo chain), situated 375 miles from Japan



ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): 4 B-25s weather abort a shipping sweep along the E coasts of Paramushiru and Shimushu.

PACIFIC

Mine laid by USAAF B-29 (20th Air Force) sinks Japanese cargo vessel Umatsu Maru off Mutsure Jima, 34°00'N, 130°50'E, and damage army cargo ship No.6 Unyo Maru 3.6 miles off Hesaki light, 31°41'N, 129°45'E, and merchant cargo ship No.5 Nissen Maru off Mutsure Jima.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Etsunan Maru is sunk by RAF-laid mine at 10°30'N, 99°24'E; later that day, submarine Hawkbill (SS-366) torpedoes Kamiyama Maru as she picks up Etsunan Maru survivors, and forces the rescuing ship to take refuge at Cape Khokwang.

Submarine Sterlet (SS-392), despite proximity of escorting Coast Defense Ship No.65, sinks Japanese army cargo ships Kuretake Maru and Tenryo Maru, 46°46'N, 144°16'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2089 of World War II, May 30th 1945

Norway

Representatives of the Norwegian government in exile return to Oslo.

Netherlands

Photo: Dutch submarine HNLMS Tijgerhaai ( ex- HMS Tarn ) at Rotterdam, 30 may 1945



Syria

General Bernard Paget, who was in charge of the British Ninth Army reminds the French they fell under his command. De Gaulle had thought this ended with the war over in Europe but would actually terminate once the Pacific War had ended. Paget had a large force in the region at his disposal and threatened that he would be forced to intervene from the Transjordan if the violence did not stop. Churchill agreed but needed the backing of the United States and the Soviet Union in which to send British troops against the French.

At the same time, the French Army of the Levant in the region had been severely weakened – nearly 70 percent of all officers and 40 percent of Syrian soldiers in the French army had deserted their posts and taken up arms with the Syrian rebels. In Hama two French aircraft were downed, while the commander of a French unit was ambushed and killed. In Hauran French troops were rounded up and disarmed – their weapons distributed to young men hoping to march towards Damascus to help the central government. The French then called in for reinforcements and were now using their air force to drop bombs on suspected areas of resistance. At the same time the Syrian Prime Minister Faris al-Khoury was at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, presenting Syria's claim for independence and also ordered the fighting to stop. They were both backed by President Harry Truman, who declared "those French ought to be taken out and castrated."

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy attack transport USS Samuel Chase (APA-26) off San Francisco, California (USA), on 30 May 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Robert K. Huntington (DD-781) off the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington (USA), 30 May 1945



Canada

Edmonton Journal, 30 May 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

In Chunking, Chiang Kai-shek gave up his title as president of the Nationalist Yuan but remains president of China. Song Ziwen (Dr. T. V. Soong) succeeds Chiang.

(Fourteenth Air Force): 7 B-25s pound railroad yards at Sinsiang and knock out a bridge at Sincheng; 28 fighter-bombers attack bridges, enemy positions, trucks, railroad targets, barracks, and general targets of opportunity around Anyang, Liuchow, Chingmen, Chungmow, Linfen, Huluehchen, Kweilin, Hsinganhsien, Leiyang, and Yenkoupu.

BURMA

The remainder of General Seiei Yamamoto's troops in Burma was effectively wiped out.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): The 90th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, moves from Moran to Dudhkundi, India with P-47s.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

B-24s and fighters hit several targets in Borneo, concentrating on Tawau personnel and supply area and the airstrip at Ranau

GUAM

(Seventh Air Force): 10 Guam Island-based B-24s hit the airfield on Marcus Island in the N Pacific.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): 14 P-47s strafe barges at Truk Atoll; 28 P-47s from Ie Shima hit shipping and a lighthouse at Amami-O-Shima, Japan and Okino Erabu, Ryukus Islands. The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron and 393d Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), 509th Composite Group, arrive at North Field from the US with C-47s, C-54s and B-29s respectively.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Negros, organized Japanese resistance ends. On Luzon, a regiment of the US 37th Division begins moving northward from Santa Fe through the Cagayan valley.

A-20s hit Cagayan Valley targets. USMC - PBJ bomb enemy installations at the Kibawe Trail near Davao.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, the US 6th Marine Division (part of US 3rd Amphibious Corps) encounters Japanese rearguards near Hill 46. Japanese forces pull out of Shuri.

Photo: The caption on this photograph reads "Naha Finals-Perched on the rim of a gaping hole in the wall of a theatre in the Ryukyu capital, a Marine rifleman views the result of the American bombardment of Naha. Structure skeletons are all that remain of the city with a pre-invasion population of 66,000 people," 30 May 1945



Planes (VC 82) from escort carrier Anzio (CVE-57) sink Japanese submarine I 361, 400 miles southeast of Okinawa, 22°22'N, 134°09'E.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, 100+ B-24s pound Takao while fighters sweep the coastal areas and B-25s concentrate on the Shinei area..

PACIFIC

Submarine Blenny (SS-324) sinks Japanese cargo ship Hokoku Maru 40 miles southwest of Bandjermasin, 04°09'S, 114°16'E.

Submarine Croaker (SS-246), despite proximity of escorting auxiliary submarine chaser Kenkai Maru, sinks No.154 Shuttle Boat and No.146 Shuttle Boat at 04°50'S, 113°10'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) sink Japanese transport Hakuun Maru off Hakata, Japan, 33°36'N, 130°25'E, and merchant cargo ships Fujitama Maru off Wadanomisaki light, 34°30'N, 135°11'E, Kasumi Maru .8 kilometers off Mijizaki, and No.14 Takasago Maru northwest of Tadotsu, 35°15'N, 133°44'E, and damage army cargo ships Hyuga Maru 3.6 kilometerssouth-southeast of Genka Jima and Shinno Maru at mouth of Tsuruga Bay.

[lordroel]

Day 2090 of World War II, May 31st 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Odilo Globocnik, a key figure in the Nazi death camps, commits suicide when arrested by a British patrol.

Photo: Lieutenant General Guy Simonds inspecting II Canadian Corps in Meppen, Germany, 31 May 1945



Norway

Representatives of the Norwegian government in exile return to Oslo.

Syria

With news that the casualty toll had exceeded a thousand Syrians, Churchill sent de Gaulle a message saying, "In order to avoid a collision between British and French forces, we request you immediately order French troops to cease fire and withdraw to their barracks". This was ignored and the next day Churchill authorised Paget to invade without waiting for a response from the Americans.

Netherlands

Photo: Parade of the Prinses Irene Brigade in Amsterdam, 31 May 1945



Photo: Parade of the Prinses Irene Brigade in Amsterdam, 31 May 1945



Photo: Parade of the Prinses Irene Brigade in Amsterdam, 31 May 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 B-25s and 4 P-47s hit railroad tracks and cars in the Chenghsien and Kaifeng areas, knock out a bridge at Sinyang, damage a bridge at Lohochai, and strafe AA positions at both bridges; 30+ fighter-bombers damage 4 bridges, hit several railroad targets and rivercraft, attack trucks and troops, and strafe numerous targets of opportunity around Shihkiachwang, Changsha, Yoyang, Yenkoupu, Taohwaping, Changanyi, Chiuchiang, Liuchow, Tsinkong, and Pioching.

(Fifteen Air Force): 117 B-24 bombers attacked Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan between 1000 and 1300 hours nearly without stop, dropping about 3,800 bombs. US air crews reported minimal Japanese fighter defense. Taihoku General Government Building suffered a direct hit, rendering it unusable until after the war. The anti-aircraft position in present day Sanzhong District of New Taipei City, Taihoku General Government building, residence of the Assistant Governor-General, Taihoku Raiway Hotel, Army Headquarters building, Taihoku Imperial University, Taihoku Train Station, Bank of Taiwan, Taihoku High Court, Taihoku Park, Taihoku First Girls' High School, Longshan Temple (main building and left corridor were damaged, destroying many precious artifacts), Penglai Catholic Church (used by civilians as an air raid shelter; it was completely destroyed), Huashan Catholic Church, and many other military, government, and civilian structures were damaged or destroyed. About 3,000 were killed, tens of thousands were made homeless.

Chiang Kai-shek gave up his title as president of the Nationalist Yuan but remains president of China. Song Ziwen (Dr. T. V. Soong) succeeds Chiang.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): USAAF units, including the Tenth AF and US components of the Eastern Air Command (EAC), are withdrawn from the Southeast Asia Command (SEAC) and returned to the operational control of the AAF; EAC is inactivated, along with the Strategic AF and Combat Cargo Task Force. The detachment of the 156th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, operating from Magwe, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s, returns to base at Kalaikunda, India.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Negros, organized Japanese resistance ends. On Luzon, a regiment of the US 37th Division begins moving northward from Santa Fe through the Cagayan valley.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, the US 6th Marine Division (part of US 3rd Amphibious Corps) encounters Japanese rearguards near Hill 46. Japanese forces pull out of Shuri.

Photo: Members of a machine gun section moving along hill to new position. Okinawa. 31 May, 1945



Map: US 10th Army position,  May 14th to May 31st 1945



(Seventh Air Force): 8 P-47s from Ie Shima strafe buildings, barracks, and seaplane ramps at Amami-O-Shima, Japan.

PACIFIC

Four PBYs (three from FAW 1 and one from NAS Kodiak) dispatched to Fairbanks, via Anchorage, by Commander, Kodiak Sector, Alaskan Sea Frontier, return to Kodiak, their mission of providing assistance in evacuating citizenry threatened by rising Yukon River floodwaters having been completed.

Soviet merchantman Uzbekistan and U.S. freighter American Star are damaged in collision off Dutch Harbor, Alaska; big harbor tug YTB-191 provides assistance.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) sink Japanese cargo ship Man Maru off Hesaki light, and damage gunboat Kazan Maru off Genka Jima Light, 33°40'N, 129°57'E, army cargo ships No.2 Yoro Maru southeast of Hesaki and Peking Maru off Onna Jima, and merchant cargo ship Jindai Maru northwest of Mutsure Jima. USAAF B-29-laid mine damages transport Tensho Maru at 34°35'N, 135°15'E, but Tensho Maru sinks after being towed into Osaka harbor.

Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) at sea in the Central Pacific. On deck are aircraft of Night Carrier Air Group 91 (CVG(N)-91), 31 May 1945

[lordroel]

Day 2091 of World War II, June 1st 1945

YouTube (Japan vows to fight to the end)



Allied occupied Germany

Naval Advanced Base, Bremerhaven, Germany, is established.

Soviet occupied Germany

The Soviet appointed mayor of Berlin warns that 50 Nazis will be killed for every attack made on the occupying forces.

Allied occupied Austria

British troops begin the forcible repatriation of some 40,000 members of the Cossack Corps, many of whom are accompanied by their families, to Judenborg in the Soviet occupation zone. The mainly Russian soldiers of the Cossack Corps, led by General Timophey Domanoc, served with the German armed forces on the Eastern Front and surrendered to the British at the end of the war. In order to complete the transfer without incident, British officers are have been told to continue the pretence that the Russians will be allowed to settle in the west. A pitched battle takes place and about 700 Cossacks are shot, trampled or commit suicide, fearing their fate in Soviet hands. British soldiers are told that the repatriations are being carried out under the terms of the Yalta agreement but there are reports of distress in the ranks over the action. The event becomes known as the "Peggetz Masscre."

Syria

British General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget ordered his force to invade Syria from Transjordan, with troops and tanks of the 31st Indian Armoured Division. They struck towards Damascus with 'D' Squadron of the Kings Dragoon Guards having rolled into Beirut, from which they cut the communications of Oliva-Roget. Paget ordered Oliva-Roget to tell his men to cease fire, but the latter said that he would not take orders from the British even though Paget was his superior officer and Commander of Middle East Command. Paget then advanced towards Damascus. Oliva-Roget realised he was heavily outnumbered, and ordered his men back to their base near the coast. He was angry that the British had arrived only after he had "restored order". He told a Syrian journalist, "You are replacing the easygoing French with the brutal British."

Photo: British tanks in the streets of Damascus, 1 June 1945



The British then had to mop up any of the French who had still not returned to their barracks much to the cheers of the people of Damascus. The damage to the city was considerable; the Syrian parliament building was a smouldering shell, a large area of the town had been destroyed by fire and the streets were pitted with shell holes.

Trinidad

(Fifteenth Air Force): During early Jun, HQ 465th Bombardment Group and 780th, 781st, 782d and 783d Bombardment Squadrons begin a movement from Pantanella Airfield, Italy to Waller Field, Trinidad, BWI with B-24s.

Pacific War

Map of the Pacific as of 1 June 1945



CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-25s bomb the Sinsiang railroad yards while 4 B-25s and 4 P-47s damage a bridge N of Linmingkuan; 18 P-51s hit river shipping, warehouses and other targets in the Yoyang area; 20 other fighter-bombers knock out a bridge near Szeshui, pound river shipping near Yoyang, and attack various targets in the Huluehchen area; during Jun, the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF (attached to 23d Fighter Group), moves from Chengkung to Laohwangping with P-40s and P-51s.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): Unit moves in India: HQ 1st Combat Cargo Group from Hathazari to Myitkyina, Burma; 1st and 2d Troop Carrier Squadrons, 443d Troop Carrier Group, from Warazup and Shingbwiyang, Burma respectively to Dinjan with C-47s; 2d and 3d Combat Cargo Squadrons, 1st Combat Cargo Group, from Hathazari to Bhamo and Myitkyina, Burma respectively with C-47s; 9th, 436th and 492d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), from Pandaveswar to Tezpur with B-24s; 317th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, from Kalaikunda to Ledo with C-47s.

BURMA

The British 12th Army becomes operational.

JAPAN

 TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 187: 458 B-29s attack Osaka, Japan and 16 others hit targets of opportunity; 148 P-51s of the VII Fighter Command, enroute to the escort rendezvous with the B-29s, encounter a severe weather front; flying behind in excessive turbulence, many of the fighters collide and 27 are lost; 27 others manage to find the B-29s and escort them over the target; the B-29s claim 16 Japanese fighters and the P-51s claim 1-0-0; 10 B-29s are lost.

Photo: A B-29 over Osaka on 1 June 1945



Photo: Boeing B-29A-45-BN Superfortress 44-61784 6 Bombardment Group G 24 BS - Incendiary Journey, 1 June 1945



Photo: Ha-204 immediately after her launch at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal in Sasebo, Japan, on 1 June 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: In Formosa, B-24s pound Takao while fighter aircraft sweep the coastline. The 67th and 69th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 433d Troop Carrier Group, move from Tanauan, Leyte Island to Clark Field, Luzon with C-47s. Unit moves during Jun 45: HQ 54th Troop Carrier Wing and 85th Fighter Wing from Leyte Island to Clark Field and Ft William McKinley, Luzon respectively.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s and P-38s hit Tarakan troop concentrations while B-24s, B-25s, and P-38s hit Kota Belud, Victoria, Jesselton, Langkon, and Labuan Island.

RAAF Liberator bombers over Balikpapan. Oil facilities they have bombed are burning beneath the, 1 June 1945



PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, the US 37th Division (US 1st Corps) advances rapidly in the Cagayan valley. Japanese resistance is reduced to rearguard actions. On Mindanao, American forces are engaged north of Davao.

Photo: 260-pound fragmentation bombs stored in a revetment area near Clark Feld, Manila, Luzon, Philippine islands. As indicated by the sign, these bombs are too powerful to be used in low level bombing. 1 June 1945



B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers continue to hit targets in the Cagayan Valley, at Pingkian, Kayapa, Gattaran, Cumao, Bone, and in the Ipo area; many of the missions are ground support strikes.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, after the fall of Shuri, General Mushijima orders the Japanese troops to withdraw southward, towards the Oroku peninsula and the hills of Yaeju, Yuza and Mezado in the extreme south of the island. There are reports of discontent among the Japanese troops, something previously unheard of in the Imperial Army. Elements of the US 1st Marine Division cross the Koruba river, south of Naha. The forces of the US 24th Corps pursue the retreating Japanese while elements mop up around Shuri.

Photo: Cemetery Ridge," Okinawa, 1 June 1945



In the Ryukyu Islands 12 P-47s from Ie Shima fly strafing and rocket attacks against Kikaiga, Tokuno, and Amami Gunto, Japan.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): A four plane shipping strike is called off due to weather.

PACIFIC

Naval Air Facility, Peleliu Island Palau Islands, is established.

Naval Air Base, Tarawa, is disestablished.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) sink Japanese army cargo ship Seishu Maru off Shodo Jima, and merchant cargo ships Abukamagawa Maru 34°34'N, 134°14'E, and No.7 Kenkon Maru and Meitei Maru off Shimonoseki, 34°58'N, 130°56'E, merchant tanker Yoko Maru, 34°30'N, 135°15'E, merchant cargo ship Myosei Maru in Shimonoseki Strait, 33°58'N, 131°03'E; and damage merchant cargo ship Kishun Maru north by east of Mojizaki light, Goko Maru northwest of Wakamatsu, 33°58'N, 130°41'E, Unten Maru west of Seto, Inland Sea, and Shinano Maru outside Fushiki harbor, and cargo vessel Shinju Maru 35°42'N, 136°04'E, and No.1 ToyoMaru at entrance of Shimonoseki Strait, 33°57'N, 130°40'E.

Submarine chaser PC-1599 is damaged by grounding off Okinawa, 26°25'N, 127°43'E.

British submarine HMS Tiptoe sinks Japanese cargo ship Tobi Maru off Matasiri Island 04°40'S, 115°32'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2092 of World War II, June 2nd 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Photo: The German submarine U-3008 at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The two Type IX submarines with her are U-806 (far left) and U-155. The light cruiser Nürnberg is in the far left center, 2 June 1945



United States

In San Francisco, the Soviet delegation demanded a right of veto in the proposed United Nations Security Council.

France/British relations

Charles de Gaulle accused the British of meddling in French affairs. In response, the British accused the French of using Lend-Lease equipment to fight the Syrians and Lebanese in violation of the agreement with the United States.

Vatican

The Pope broadcasts his hopes that Germans will abandon Nazism and build a new foundation.

Netherlands

Photo: Visit from Princess Juliana; Juliana inspects the guard of honor on the Quick grounds, 2 June 1945



United States

Photo: View of rescue of crew of U.S. Coast Guard Grumman J2F-6 Duck that crashed off Coast Guard Air Station Salem, Massachusetts (USA), after experiencing a power failure, 2 June 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 2 B-25s blast fuel and ammunition dumps NE of Nanyang, Burma. In China, 20 fighter-bombers attack the airfield at Tsinan, railroad yards and targets of opportunity at Anyang and the warehouse area at Paoching, knock out a bridge S of Singtai, and hit trucks, tanks, and armored vehicles in the Liuchow area.

GUAM

(Seventh Air Force): 11 Guam-based B-24s attack the airfield area on Moen Island in Truk Atoll.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu Island, Japan during the night of 2/3 Jun.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, B-24s bomb Hozan and hit warehouses and dock facilities at Kiirun.

JAPAN

Carrier aircraft of Task Group 38.4 attack airfields in southern Kyushu, Japan. The aircraft carriers of TG 38.4 are:

- USS Independence (CVL-22) with Light Carrier Air Group Forty Six (CVLG-46)
- USS Shangri-La (CV-38 ) with Carrier Air Group Eighty Five (CVG-85)
- USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) with CVG-87
- USS Yorktown (CV-10) with CVG-9

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s hit Pontianak Airfield and Tarakan and Labuan Islands while B-25s and fighters attack Kudat, Sandakan, and Miri.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, the US 43rd Division (US 11th Corps) completes mopping up operations in the Ipoh area.

On Luzon Island, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers continue to hit the Cagayan Valley in force, support ground forces in the Balete Pass and Ipo sectors, and attack areas E of Manila and N of Baguio. Fighter-bombers hit areas near Mount Mandalagan on Negros Island and dug-in positions NW of Bogo on Cebu.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, mopping up continues as the US 6th Marine Division prepares to land two regiments on the Oroku peninsula.

PACIFIC

Submarine Tench (SS-417) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Mikamasan Maru southeast of Shiriyazaki, 41°22'N, 141°28'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) damage Japanese cargo ships Nissho Maru two kilometers north of Tateishisakiand 3 Yubari Maru west of the mouth of Kammon Strait, Kashima Maru at 33°58'N, 130°42'E, Katsura Maru between Yoshi Jima and Sanakai Jima, and No.1 Toyo Maru at entrance of Shimonoseki Strait, 33°48'N, 130°42'E.

Japanese cargo vessel Kojin Maru is sunk, cause unspecified, near Rabaul.

Army coastal cargo vessel FS 34 reports to District Coast Guard Officer, Ketchikan, Alaska, for temporary duty. FS 34 will operate out of Dutch Harbor under the Coast Guard for a four-month period, transporting construction materials, fuel, supplies and workers to expedite the building of direction finder stations on the islands of St. Paul, Unimak, and St. George.

[lordroel]

Day 2093 of World War II, June 3rd 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Captured maps of German minefields are distributed to all Allied governments, in Europe, by SHAEF. These maps are from the collection of approximately 4 tons of such maps captured by US 7th Army in Bavaria.

Soviet occupied Germany

Photo: Ruins of the Reichstag in Berlin, 3 June 1945



Photo: A German civilian looks at a large poster portrait of Stalin on the Unter-den-Linden in Berlin, 3 June 1945



Syria

French troops left Damascus for billets outside the city. British General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget with the 31st Indian Armoured Division in control of Damascus imposed a curfew on all French citizens. French soldiers are kept in their barracks and are not allowed to fire their weapons except in self-defence under the watchful eyes of British guns. French ships are to stay out of gun range out to sea and not to move in unless told to. French aircraft are grounded with British troops guarding the airfields. British and Indian troops and tanks then spread all over Syria as there were still small mopping up operations to be done.

France

The US began preparing for the transit of 200,000 US troops from Europe to the Pacific via Marseille, France.

United Kingdom

Photo: Last patrol. The war may have been over, but until all the U-boats at sea had been accounted for Allied shipping had to be protected, and convoy escorts continued in the weeks following the end of hostilities. Finally, in the later afternoon of 3 June 1945, Wing Commander J. Barrett and crew of No 201 Squadron set off from Castle Archdale in Sunderland V 'Z-Zebra' on Coastal Command's last convoy patrol. An official photographer recorded the event. Here the 14-man crew board their aircraft



Photo: Last patrol. The war may have been over, but until all the U-boats at sea had been accounted for Allied shipping had to be protected, and convoy escorts continued in the weeks following the end of hostilities. Finally, in the later afternoon of 3 June 1945, Wing Commander J. Barrett and crew of No 201 Squadron set off from Castle Archdale in Sunderland 'Z for Zebra' on Coastal Command's last convoy patrol. An official photographer recorded the event. Here, Sunderland 'Z for Zebra' makes contact with a convoy



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 B-25s and 25 P-51s blast the warehouse area and river traffic at Liuchow; 2 B-25s bomb the Sinyang- Lohochai railroad; a single B-24, escorted by 2 P-51s, damages a bridge N of Shihkiachwang; 4 P-51s damage a bridge E of Kiehsiu and strafe a train and lumber carts N of Linfen; bad weather curtails other scheduled fighter-bomber missions.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): HQ 3d Combat Cargo Group moves from Dinjan, India to Myitkyina, Burma while it's 9th and 10th Combat Cargo Squadron move from Warazup, Burma and Dinjan to Myitkyina with C-47s.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): P-47s on a heckler patrol strafe targets of opportunity on Amami-O-Shima Island, Japan.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

P-51s hit coastal cargo vessels over the SE China coast.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s attack Kota Waringin and Muara Island while B-24s bomb Batavia, Java.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, the US 37th Division overcomes weak Japanese resistance to advance about 6 miles north of Santa Fe.

B-24s and fighters hit resistance areas on Negros Island.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, Japanese forces are isolated in the Oroku and Chinen peninsula.

Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage cargo ship Allegan (AK-225), 26°00'N, 128°00'E, and large infantry landing craft LCI(L) 90.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): On Shimushu Island, 1 B-24 flying a radar ferret mission to Kataoka is followed by 8 others, radar- bombing and photographing scattered targets in the naval base area; 7 B-25s take off for an attack but 4 are turned back by weather and the others low- level bomb a Masugawa River Cannery.

PACIFIC

Submarine Blueback (SS-326) sinks unnamed Japanese merchant fishing boat, 05°39'S, 106°47'E.

Submarine Segundo (SS-398) sinks Japanese merchantman No.94 Anto Maru off Jinsen, Korea, 36°41'N, 125°23'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) sink Japanese naval vessel No.15 Hakutetsu Maru in Inland Sea, army cargo ship Taiei Maru, 3.7 kilometers off Motoyama light, 38°56'N, 137°05'N, merchant cargo ships Osara Maru off Motoyama Bay, Konei Maru outside Karatsu harbor, 33°33'N, 129°58'E, and Momo Maru at 34°35'N, 134°15'E, and damage minelayer Tokiwa two kilometers off Bakuchizaki, and merchant cargo ship Erimo Maru off Hime Jima light, 33°47'N, 131°14'E.

Japanese ship No.6 Tankai Maru is sunk by aircraft, Hitakata, Ibaraki prefecture.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Anri Maru is damaged by aircraft, 34°57'N, 129°13'E.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Anjo Maru is damaged by aircraft off Pusan, Korea.

Destroyer Porter (DD-800), operating with TF 92, is damaged in collision with U.S. Army cable ship Silverado, the latter being convoyed by escort vessel PCE-893, off Kuluk Bay, Adak, Alaska, in "extremely poor" visibility conditions.

[lordroel]

Day 2094 of World War II, June 4th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Paul Ferdonet -- the "Radio Traitor" of Stuttgart -- is arrested by French troops in Bavaria.

United Kingdom

Winston Churchill committed a political gaffe during the UK election campaign when he said during a broadcast that a Labour government would require "some form of Gestapo" to enforce its agenda.

Pacific War

Time Magazine, "US Bases In The Postwar Pacific", June 4th 1945



CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-25s heavily damage railroad yards and warehouses at Sinsiang; 10 B-25s and 4 P-51s in repeat attack on the yards cause numerous fires; 2 B-25s and 3 P-51s hit road and railroad targets of opportunity from Sinyang to Hsuchang; 17 fighters bomb or strafe bridges, railroad traffic, and other targets of opportunity around Chihsien, Linfen, Shihkiachwang, and Liuchow.

GUAM

(Seventh Air Force): 13 Guam Island-based B-24s hit the airfield and boat basin on Marcus Island in the N Pacific.

IWO JIMA

(Twentieth Air Force): 8 P-51s from Iwo Jima bomb the radio station on Chichi Jima and strafe the town of Okimura on Haha Jima during the return flight. P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu Island, Japan during the night of 4/5 Jun.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 188: 473 B-29s pound Kobe with incendiaries; 8 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 86 Japanese fighters; 11 B-29s are lost; the attack burns off over 4 square miles (10.4 square km) and damages over half of the city. Lost are B-29 "Indian Maid" Serial Number 42-24809 P-47s from Ie Shima patrol over Amami Gunto, Japan and strafe a lighthouse.

Photo: Incendiary bombs rain down over the city of Kobe, 4 June 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-24s bomb Taihoku, Formosa.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s bomb Balikpapan and Manggar and support ground forces on Tarakan and B-25s hit Manggar, Djembajan, and Kudat.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon Island, fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity in the Cagayan Valley and A-20s and fighter-bombers supporting ground forces strike defensive positions in Balete Pass, Aritao, Mount Imugan, Carulay, and Bambang.

Photo: Five-inch (12.7 cm) rockets being loaded under the wing of an Vought F4U Corsair of MAG-33. Just before take-offs, the safety pins are removed and the rockets are ready for charging. Okinawa, Japan, ca. June 1945. This looks more like a FFAR (Forward Firing Aircraft Rocket) than an HVAR (HIgh Velocity Aircraft Rocket). Versions of the FFAR had a 5 inch warhead attached to a 3.5 inch rocket, where the HVAR had a uniform 5 inch diameter, 4 June 1945



VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, two regiments of US 6th Marine Division make landings on the Oroku peninsula in an attempt to outflank Japanese defensive positions. However, many of the Japanese troops formerly in the Shuri Line have withdrawn to the Oroku peninsula. General Buckner, commanding US 10th Army, reduces the frontage of the US 3rd Amphibious Corps, which has suffered the greatest losses, and increases the frontage of the US 24th Corps.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile Islands, 8 B-25s abort a shipping strike at Kurabu Cape on Paramushiru Island due to weather; 11 B-24s, however, get through and radar-bomb Kataoka naval base on Shimushu.

PACIFIC

District patrol vessel YP-41 is damaged by operational casualty off Okinawa, 26°18'N, 127°52'E.

Submarine Billfish (SS-286) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Taiu Maru off Chinnampo, Korea, 38°32'N, 124°45'E.

Submarine Tench (SS-417) sinks Japanese transport Ryujin Maru off Hachinohe, 40°54'N, 141°29'E.

USAAF B-24s (13th Air Force) sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 112 and motor torpedo boat Gyoraitei No. 162 and damage auxiliary submarine chaser Kenkai Maru in Java Sea off Laut Island 05°00'S, 116°04'E.

Mines sink Japanese weather observation ship Hijun Maru 5.5 miles off Hesaki, 33°54'N, 131°06'E, and cargo ships Aichi Maru (location unspecified), Hinode Maru off Moji City; No.2 Shiwa Maru off Taishu Light; unidentified tugboat off south end of Motoyamazaki; merchant cargo ships Kifune Maru off Niigata and No.5 Yamabishi Maru at 33°44'N, 131°06'E; and damage transport Tsukushi Maru at 33°50'N, 131°19'E, and merchant cargo ship Sawa Maru two kilometers off Mutsure, 33°54'N, 130°54'E, and Chikushi Maru off Motoyama Bay.

Japanese tanker Hasu Maru is damaged by mine in Berhala Straits, between Sumatra and Lingga anchorage.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.5 Miyakawa Maru is sunk by marine casualty off Hirato Jima.

USAAF planes sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Shobu Maru at 34°20'N, 124°30'E.

Japanese cargo ship Banshu Maru is damaged by aircraft, 34°27'N, 129°35'E.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.1 Taikai Maru is damaged by aircraft, 31°18'N, 129°24'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2095 of World War II, June 5th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Allied Control Commission meets for the first time in Berlin. The country is to be divided into four occupation zones and Berlin is to be divided into four occupation sectors. Eisenhower, Montgomery, Zhukov and de Lattre de Tassigny meet in a riverside club which is the Soviet delegation headquarters. They sign a document, containing 15 articles, in which the four powers reaffirm the complete defeat of Germany and assume authority over all aspects of life in the country. The frontiers of Germany are identified as those which existed on December 31, 1937.

Photo: The British Army Film and Photographic Unit 1941 - 1947 Lance Corporal J War of the Army Film and Photographic Unit takes a souvenir snapshot of AFPU drivers at British Army Headquarters in Berlin, 6 June 1945. The drivers are (left to right): Driver Austin, Driver A Stocking, Driver J Bell, Driver R Castle



Field Marshal Montgomery and General Eisenhower were awarded the Order of Victory, the Soviet Union's highest award.

United Kingdom

Prime Minister Churchill rejects the accusation by French President de Gaulle that the British incited civil war in Syria.

United States

Photo: Launch of the U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Francovich (APD-116) at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts (USA), on 5 June 1945



Photo: U.S. Navy Balao-class submarine USS Archerfish (SS-311) near San Francisco on 5 June 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 32 B-25s and 8 P-51s bomb the city of Nanyang, Burma, hit railroad yards at Anyang, and damage a bridge approach at Chuanhsien, China, and bomb ferries at Ninh Binh and Dap Cau, French Indochina. 40+ fighters bomb and strafe rail, river, and road traffic and general targets of opportunity throughout S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): The 12th Combat Cargo Squadron, 3d Combat Cargo Group, moves from Ledo, India to Myitkyina, Burma with C-47s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-24s pound Taito, Formosa.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s bomb Melak, Asa, and Kuching Airfield and Tarakan and Labuan Islands, while B-25s and fighters concentrate on Tuaran, Mensalung, and Kudat.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, the US 37th Division (US 1st Corps) occupy Aritao and advance northward from the town.

On Luzon Island, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Cagayan Valley targets while other fighter-bombers support ground actions in Cervantes, Balete Pass, and Ipo battle zones and hit forces E of Manila.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, Japanese forces on the Oroku peninsula strongly resist the US 6th Marine Division which nonetheless captures most of the airfield. In the south the forces of the US 24th Corps near the last Japanese defensive line, running from Yuza in the west to Guschichan on the east coast and based on the three hills, Yaeju, Yuza and Mezado.

Typhoon off Okinawa damages battleships Indiana (BB-58), Massachusetts (BB-59), Alabama (BB-60), and Missouri (BB-63); carriers Hornet (CV-12) and Bennington (CV-20), small carriers Belleau Wood (CVL-24) and San Jacinto (CVL-30), escort carriers Windham Bay (CVE-92), Salamaua (CVE-96), Bougainville (CVE-100), and Attu (CVE-102), heavy cruisers Baltimore (CA-68), Quincy (CA-71), and Pittsburgh (CA-72), light cruisers Detroit (CL-8), San Juan (CL-54), Duluth (CL-87), and Atlanta (CL-104), destroyers Schroeder (DD-501), John Rodgers (DD-574), McKee (DD-575), Dashiell (DD-659), Stockham (DD-683), De Haven (DD-727), Maddox (DD-731), Blue (DD-744), Brush (DD-745), Taussig (DD-746), and Samuel N. Moore (DD-747), destroyer escorts Donaldson (DE-44), Conklin (DE-439), and Hilbert (DE-742), oilers Lackawanna (AO-40) and Millicoma (AO-73), and ammunition ship Shasta (AE-6).

Photo: USS Indiana (BB-58) taking water over the bow, while steaming through a typhoon in the Okinawa area, circa 5 June 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) en route to Guam for temporary repairs, shortly after she lost her bow in a typhoon on 5 June 1945. Note that the wartime censor has removed the radar antennas only on the forward Mk 34 and Mk 37 gun directors



Photo: Crews from the U.S. Navy repair ship USS Ajax (AR-6) repair the forward flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CV-20) at Leyte. On 5 June 1945, the carrier was damaged by Typhoon "Connie" off Okinawa and retired to Leyte, Philippines, for repairs, arriving on 12 June. Her repairs completed, Bennington left Leyte on 1 July. The heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) is visible in the background



Photo: The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Attu (CVE-102) underway in the western Pacific, after passing through a typhoon on the morning of 5 June 1945. Note the upended airplanes on her deck, including at least three General Motors TBM Avengers



Photo: Wrecked aircraft on deck of the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Attu (CVE-102) after passing through a typhoon on the morning of 5 June 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CV-20) showing her collapsed flight deck, which was damaged by Typhoon Connie on 5 June 1945. USS Hornet (CV-12), which was in Task Group 38.1 with Bennington, received a similar damage to her flight deck



Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage battleship Mississippi (BB-41), 26°09'N, 127°35'E, and heavy cruiser Louisville (CA-28), 26°07'N, 127°52'E.

Destroyer Dyson (DD-572) is damaged when she is accidentally rammed by destroyer escort Abercrombie (DE-343) at Kerama Retto, Okinawa, 26°09'N, 127°49'E. Tank landing ship LST-540 is damaged by operational casualty off Okinawa.

PACIFIC

Destroyer escort French (DE-367), on antisubmarine screening duties off Peleliu, bombards Malakal and Arakabesan Islands, Palaus.

Minesweeper Scuffle (AM-298) is damaged by grounding in Brunei Bay, 08°01'N, 117°13'E.

Gasoline tanker Sheepscot (AOG-24) is damaged by grounding off Iwo Jima, 24°46'N, 141°18'E.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 230 is sunk in collision with army transport Azusa Maru one mile south of Sop-To light, Korea, 34°00'N, 127°18'E. Azusa Maru is damaged in the collision.

Japanese guardboat No.13 Kintoku Maru is sunk by U.S. aircraft off Fujinamiohama, Japan.

Mines sink Japanese cargo ship No.5 Yawata Maru off Tsunemi, Moji; and merchant cargo ship Taisho Maru two kilometers off Mutsure Island 33°54'N, 130°54'E, and damage destroyer Yoizuki 5.8 kilometers northwest of Hime Jima light, escort destroyer Shii in Bungo Straits, army cargo ship Toyo Maru near Aohama, merchant cargo ship Annette Fritzen Go off Asa Jima, Fusan, 33°56'N, 131°03'E, and cargo vessel Toyo Maru off Shimonoseki, 33°57'N, 131°02'E.

Japanese fast transport T.9 is damaged by aircraft, north of Chichi Jima.

Japanese army cargo ship Taiko Maru is damaged by marine casualty off Kannonzaki.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.2 Nansei Maru is damaged by marine casualty, near Moji.

[lordroel]

Day 2096 of World War II, June 6th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

A Soviet spokesman from Georgy Zhukov's staff announced that Adolf Hitler's body had been found and identified in the Chancellery gardens

United Kingdom

It is announced that a total of 184,512 British and Canadian soldiers were casualties (killed or wounded) or missing between D-Day and VE-Day.

Czechoslovakia

Czech troops ordered to massacre 5 German youths in Postoloprty (Postelberg).

Brazil

The government of Brazil declares war on Japan.

United States

Photo: General McAuliffe unveiling the German Surrender Documents in the Rotunda of the National Archives, June 6, 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 11 B-25s and 9 P-51s bomb railroad yards N of Siaokan and damage bridges, strafe gun positions, and attack general targets of opportunity around Saiping and Hwayuan; 30+ fighters bomb or strafe bridges near Chihsien and Fengstun and hit troops, railroad targets, and targets of opportunity around Linfen, Laohokow, Changsha, Peking, and Kweilin, and Dap Cau and Thanh Hoa, French Indochina.

INDIA

British forces detain 4 agents landed on the Orissa coast by a Japanese submarine in March 1944. Two of the individuals are Bengalis and 2 are Punjabis.

JAPAN

The Japanese Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, meets to adopt a "Fundamental Policy" which includes "immediate preparations for a decisive battle on the homeland and will annihilate the attacking enemy forces at points where the attack will be decided". The SCDW is known as the Big 6 of the Japanese Cabinet. PM, FM, War Minister, Navy Minister, Army CofS, Navy CofS.

GUAM

(Seventh Air Force): 12 Guam Island-based B-24s hit oil storage buildings on Eten.

IWO JIMA

(Twentieth Air Force): 36 Ie Shima Island-based P-47s, sweeping the S part of Kyushu Island, Japan, hit numerous targets of opportunity with rockets and machinegun fire, and claim 9 aircraft downed; in the Ryukyu Islands, Ie Shima-based P-47s patrol over Amami Gunto Island, Japan, strafing a lighthouse and buildings.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

Bad weather cancels all missions against Formosan targets.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit Labuan Island supply areas, support troops on Tarakan, and bomb Kota Waringin and Pontianak Airfields, areas along the Belait River, around Brunei, and strike Miri, Jesselton, Kudat, and Beaufort.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

American forces advance without meeting significant resistance in the Cayagan valley, on Luzon, as well as on Minadanao.

A-20s and fighter-bombers blast bridges in Cagayan Valley and other fighter-bombers pound the Balete Pass area.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, elements of the US 6th Marine Division advance in the Oruka Peninsula following their landing. Naha airfield is secured. Elements of the US 96th Division (US 24th Corps) reach the lower slopes of Mount Yaeju and are halted by intensive Japanese fire.

Photo: An airstrike on the escarpment in Southern Okinawa where veterans of the 7th Inf. Div. are meeting heavy resistance as the Japs make their final defensive stand. 6 June, 1945



Off Okinawa, minesweepers Requisite (AM-109) and Spear (AM-322) are damaged in collision, 26°00'N, 127°00'E; light minelayers Harry F. Bauer (DM-26) and J. William Ditter (DM-31) are damaged by kamikazes, 26°14'N,128°01'E, and landing craft flotilla flagship LC(FF)-995 is damaged by operational casualty.

Photo: View of the Kamikaze-damage suffered by the U.S. Navy destroyer-minelayer USS J. William Ditter (DM-31). She was hit off Okinawa, Japan, on 6 June 1945



PACIFIC

Mines sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 195, Nanao Bay, Honshu, Japan, 37°10'N, 137°05'E; guardboat No.5 Yawata Maru off Tsurumi; merchant cargo ship Gassan Maru off Moji, 34°00'N, 130°50'E, destroyer Kaki off Kominase, 33°46'N, 130°24'E, escort destroyer Habuto 1.3 kilometers north of Kannonzaki light, and cargo ship No. 18 Tamon Maru off Hesaki light.

Japanese army cargo ship No.20 Hokko Maru is damaged by marine casualty off east coast of Aomori prefecture.

Auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 251 (ex-submarine chaser Ch 51) is damaged by aircraft, three miles off Akashima.

Photo: USS Hornet (Essex-class) with 24 feet of her flight deck collapsed over the bow after being damaged a day before in Typhoon Connie in the Philippine Sea. 120 knot winds and 60 foot seas caused the damage

[lordroel]

Day 2097 of World War II, June 7th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

All German citizens in the zone occupied by the western Allies are order to watch films of Belsen and Buchenwald -- former Nazi concentration camps.

Norway

King Haakon returns to a warm reception.

Photo: The Norwegian Royal Family waving to welcoming crowds from HMS NORFOLK at Oslo, 7 June 1945



United States

Joseph Stalin instructed the Soviet delegation at San Francisco to drop its request for a Big Five veto over discussion of international disputes.[10]

United Kingdom

King George VI visited the Channel Islands to pay tribute to their resolve under German occupation.

Winston Churchill refused a demand from the House of Commons to reveal all that was discussed at the Yalta Conference, but said that there were no secret agreements.

Pacific War

CHINA

In Kwangsi province, 3 Chinese armies prepare to launch an offensive to liberate the Hong Kong - Canton area. In Hunan province, the Chinese follow up the retreating Japanese as far as Paoching, which was the starting position of the Japanese spring offensive.

Map: The Chihchiang campaign - 8 April-7 June 1945



(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 B-25s and 4 P-47s damage a bridge near Anyang, bomb buildings N of Changsha and the airstrip at Paoching, and hit targets of opportunity during a road and river sweep from Siangtan to Yoyang; 45 fighters bomb or strafe numerous targets including troops, river traffic, town areas, and supplies in S and E China and knock out bridges at Singtai and Chihsien.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): Unit moves in India: HQ 7th Bombardment Group from Pandaveswar to Tezpur; and 81st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Fenny to Madhaiganj Airfield with B-25s.

PALAU

(Seventh Air Force): 24 B-24s from Angaur Airfield, bomb the boat repair basin on Aurapushekaru Island. HQ 41st BG (Medium) and the 396th and 820th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Wheeler Field to Okinawa with B-25s.

JAPAN

(Twentieth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 189: 409 B-29s, escorted by 138 VII Fighter Command P-51s, drop incendiary and high explosive bombs on Osaka, hitting the east-central section of the city which contains industrial and transportation targets and the Osaka Army Arsenal (largest in Japan); despite being forced to bomb by radar because of heavy undercast, the B-29s burn out over 2 square miles of the city, destroying 55,000+ buildings; 9 other B-29s hit alternate targets; the P-51s claim 2-0-1 Japanese aircraft; 2 B-29s and 1 P-51 are lost. Mission 190: During the night of 7/8 Jun, 26 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters around Fukuoka and Karatsu, Japan. 20 P-47s from Ie Shima hit targets of opportunity (radio station, warehouses, freighter, and motor launches) on Kyushu and claim 5 aircraft downed.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED BRITISH BORNEO

Off Brunei Bay, the USN's Task Group 74.3, consisting of three U.S. light cruisers and six destroyers, and an Australian light cruiser and destroyer, provides fire support for minesweepers and underwater demolition teams (UDTs).

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s pound Brooketon and Muara Island; B-25s and fighter-bombers hit Kudat, Ft Brook, Belait, Jesselton, and Keningau.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon forces from US 1st Corps take Bambang and move northeast toward the Cagayan Valley. Other units are moving around the coast from the northwest to the north of the island.

A-20s and fighter-bombers hit personnel and defensive positions near Infanta, at Mount Mapatad, in the Marikina area, and in other areas in the Ipo sector; in the N fighter-bombers pound numerous Cagayan Valley targets and support ground forces N of Baguio and E of Manila.

Carrier Randolph (CV-15) is damaged when accidentally crashed by stunting USAAF P-38 fighter, Leyte, P.I.

Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Randolph (CV-15) at anchor in the western Pacific, June 1945



VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, in the Oroku peninsula, Japanese forces hold attacks by the US 6th Marine Division while the US 1st Marine Division advances southward and isolates the peninsula defenders. The US 24th Corps is engaged in artillery bombardments.

Photo: An alert gun crew mans the lethal turret of this halftrack, on guard against Jap air attacks on Yontan airfield, Okinawa. Cluster of weapons includes a 37-mm gun (longbarrel) and two .50 calibre machine guns. Men of the 834th Antiaircraft Artillery, are L to R., Front Pvt Russell Middendorf, Butler, Pa. : Pfc. Forest E. Wilson, Greenville, Ohio; rear: Pfc Joe Marzano, Easton, Pa.; T/5 David Poli, Pittston, Pa.; Cpl Robert W. Sporer, Bradford, Pa.; Pfc. Anthony A. Sapato, Philadelphia, Pa.; and T/5 Donald M. Smith, South Bend, Ind. 7 June, 1945



Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage escort carrier Natoma Bay (CVE-62), 24°46'N, 126°37'E, and destroyer Anthony (DD-515), 27°07'N, 127°38'E; operational casualties account for damage to medium landing ship LSM-270, landing craft flotilla flagship LC(FF)-988 and tank landing craft LCT-1054; tank landing ship LST-540 is damaged by grounding, 26°21'N, 127°45'E; destroyer Beale (DD-471) is damaged in collision with gasoline tanker Yahara (AOG-37) at Kerama Retto, 26°10'N, 127°20'E.

PACIFIC

Submarine Shad (SS-235) sinks Japanese army transport Azusa Maru and tanker No.22 Nanshin Maru, 50 miles southwest of Yoso-do, Korea, 33°55'N, 126°50'E.

Submarine Tench (SS-417) sinks Japanese guardboat Hanshin Maru in Sea of Japan, 42°41'N, 143°53'E.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.43 Hino Maru is sunk by aircraft off Hiradojima, Miyanoura.

Mines sink Japanese auxiliary minelayer Hakun Maru near Hong Kong, merchant cargo ship No.2 Yubari Maru west of the mouth of Kammon Strait, and damage merchant cargo ship Taigen Maru outside Fushiki harbor.

[lordroel]

Day 2098 of World War II, June 8th 1945

YouTube (Operation Downfall: 2 Million Men to Invade Japan)



Allied occupied Germany

Photo: Demobilization of high-ranking German officers and officials at an internment camp, Esterwegen, 8 June 1945



Photo: “View of German officers after removal of their uniforms,”  Esterwegen, Germany, 8 June 1945



Belgium

Field Marshal Montgomery receives the freedom of the city of Antwerp.

United States

The Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, says at a press conference that British forces would carry the full weight of military responsibilities in Burma and noted the these forces had been reinforced since the end of the war in Europe.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Joseph Grew denied reports that Russia would be given Korea among other states in exchange for its entry into the Pacific war.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Gandy (DE-764) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 8 June 1945. The photo was taken by an aircraft from Naval Air Station New York (USA)



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Rinehart (DE-196) underway off New York City (USA), 8 June 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 15 P-51s and P-40s attack bridges near Hankow, N of Sinsiang, and SE of Tayung, knocking out the latter; 17 other fighters bomb and strafe river-craft, warehouses, trucks, airfield, town areas, and general targets of opportunity around Hwangkang, Ichang, Hengyang, Laohokow, and Tehsien.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): HQ 12th Bombardment Group (Medium) moves from Fenny to Pandaveswar and Madhaiganj Airfield, India respectively with B-25s.

IWO JIMA

(Twentieth Air Force): Very Long Range Mission 17: 104 Iwo Jima based fighters dispatched against Kagamigahara Airfield and Meiji in the Nagoya area, abort due to bad weather. The 548th Night Fighter Squadron, VII Fighter Command (attached to AAFPOA), moves from Iwo Jima to Ie Shima with P-61s.

GUAM

Photo: The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Makin Island (CVE-93) enters floating drydock ABSD-6 at Guam on 8 June 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: Bad weather cancels Formosa strikes.

JAPAN

There are reports that every able bodied man, woman and child is being given instructions in the fighting of tanks, paratroops and other invading forces.

TF 38 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) planes attack Kanoya Airfield, Kyushu, Japan.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED BRITISH BORNEO

TG 74.3 (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey) bombards Japanese positions in preparation for the landings at Brunei Bay, covering the reconnaissance parties ashore; bombardment is repeated on 9 June. During sweeping operations in Brunei Bay, minesweeper Salute (AM-294) is sunk by mine, 05°08'N, 115°05'E.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Albert T. Harris (DE-447) passing messages along a line to the tank landing ship USS LST-640, which had Australian troops of 2/43rd Infantry Battalion aboard en route to Labuan, Borneo, for their part in the "Oboe VI" operation. "Oboe VI" was the Australian seizure of Brunei Bay on the north-western corner of Japanese-occupied Borneo, 8 June 1945



BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945) - JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

In Borneo, Labuan Island Airfield is bombed by B-24s, while other B-24s and B-25s and P-38s attack gun positions at Balikpapan.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, patrols of the US 37th Division reach the Magat river. The US 145th Infantry Regiment (US 37th Division) takes Solano and advances as far as Bagabag, towards the Cagayan valley.

Bad weather limits operations on Luzon to fighter-bomber strikes against Cagayan Valley targets.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, in the north heavy fighting continues on the Oroku peninsula. In the south, the US 24th Corps prepares to attack Mount Yaeju.

ALASKA

Four Lockheed PV-2 Harpoons of Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Thirty Nine (VPB-139), based at Casco Field, Naval Air Station (NAS) Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, attack Shimushu Island, Kurile Islands; two aircraft attack Kataoka on the island.

HAWAII

Photo: The U.S. Navy Gato-class submarine USS Barb (SS-220) departs Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii (USA), on 8 June 1945 for her 12th war cruise



PACIFIC

British submarine HMS Trenchant torpedoes and sinks Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara 14 nautical miles west-southwest of Muntok, in northern entrance of Bangka Straits, 02°00'S, 104°56'E.

Submarine Cobia (SS-245) sinks Japanese transport Hakusa and tanker No.22 Nanshin Maru off southern French Indochina, 08°56'N, 105°37'E.

Japanese submarine tender Chogei is damaged by mine, 1.6 kilometers southwest of Bakuchizaki.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Ojima Maru is damaged by aircraft, between Ainoura and Tainosaki.

USAAF B-24s bomb Japanese shipping near Bandjermasin, sinking Shuttle Boat No.466 and damaging Shuttle Boat No. 423 near mouth of Barita River.