World War II in real time

[lordroel]

Day 2143 of World War II, July 24th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam Conference continues. Churchill, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin. President Truman informs Stalin that a new and powerful weapon is now available for use against Japan but does not elaborate on the kind of weapon. He also authorizes the use of atomic bombs on Japan. Stalin is believed to be aware of the atomic bomb project, through the Soviet espionage network in the United States.

Photo: Marshal Zymirski, Polish Army officer, leaving the Cecilienhof Palace during the Potsdam Conference in Germany, 24 July 1945



France

In Paris, Paul Reynaud and Edouard Daladier, former premiers of France, and Albert Lebrun, the former president, testify against Marshal Petain at his trial for treason.

Pacific War

CHINA

(AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: In China, 8 B-25s and 6 P-51s pound truck convoys in the Hengyang area, hit river shipping near Pakonghow, and damage a bridge and storage area and knock out AA positions at Puchi and 15 P-51s blast the Changsha area, destroying an estimated 28 warehouses and 8 fuel storage buildings. 80+ P-51s, P-38s, and P-47s over French Indochina and S and E China continue to disrupt the Japanese withdrawal, pounding dozens of targets of opportunity at numerous locations.

Photo: P-51C Mustang of the 311th Fighter Group escorting C-47 Skytrain transports over a terraced landscape in China, July 24 1945



In China, 100+ Fifth AF B-24s fly their first strike from Okinawa, bombing the Chiang Wan Airfield N of Shanghai; Seventh AF B-25s from Okinawa hit Wusung and Lunghua Airfields in the Shanghai area while A-26s and B-25s attack the Tachang and Tinghai Airfields; and fighter-bombers hit shipping and targets of opportunity throughout the general area attacked by the bombers. Other B-25s hit Itu Aba Island, China.

JAPAN

Aircraft from TF 38 launch two-day attack on the Inland Sea area, Japan, striking Kure Naval Base and airfields at Nagoya, Osaka, and Miho. TF 38 planes sink battleship-carrier Hyuga in Hiro Bay, Kure, 34°10'N, 132°33'E; heavy cruiser Tone, 34°14'N, 132°27'E (she is pushed aground to facilitate salvage) and training ship (ex-coast defense ship) Iwate off Eta Jima, 34°14'N, 132°30'E; target ship (ex-battleship) Settsu at Kure; guardboat Kaiwa Maru north of Himejima, Kyushu; and damage carrier Ryuho and battleship-carrier Ise at Kure; battleship Haruna and light cruiser Oyodo off Eta Jima; heavy cruiser Aoba at Kure Navy Yard; escort destroyer Hagi and fast transport T.19 at Kure; torpedo cruiser Kitakami and destroyers Yoizuki and Hari, near Kure; escort destroyer Kaba, Osaka; escort destroyer Tsubaki near Okayama, 34°38'N, 133°50'E; Coast Defense Vessel No.190, Tanabe harbor; Coast Defense Vessel No.4, Toba; transport (ex-seaplane carrier) Kiyokawa Maru, beached at Shida, Shimonoseki Straits. Carrier Amagi is hit by only one rocket off Kurahashi Jima, Kure, 34°11'N, 132°30'E, but its passage close by the commanding officer so unnerves the captain that he unhesitatingly orders the ship abandoned.

Photo: A Japanese ship under attack by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft at Kure, Japan, 1000 hrs. The photo was taken by an aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10). The ship appears to be the heavy cruiser Tone, which was sunk off Etajima island, 24 July 1945



Photo: Japanese cruiser Tone under air attack near Kure on 24 July 1945. Photo by USS SHANGRI-LA (CV-38). Note anti-aircraft positions ashore



Photo: Japanese battleship HYUGA rests on the bottom near Kure after being sunk by 3rd fleet planes on 24 July 1945



Photo: Sunk off Kure in October 1945. She had been sunk by air attacks the previous 24 July. Photo by USS SIBONEY (CVE-112)



Japanese escort carrier Kaiyo is damaged by planes from British carriers HMS Formidable, HMS Indefatigable, and HMS Victorious. Kaiyo's travails, however, do not end there. She is damaged by USAAF mine (laid by a 20th Air Force B-29) off Beppu; destroyer Yukaze takes the wounded warship in tow.

Photo: The Japanese escort carrier Shimane Maru under attack by Grumman Avenger aircraft of 1834 Naval Air Squadron operating from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (R38), 24 July 1945, Shido Wan, Japan, (1030 hours)



Photo: Takamatsu Airfield, on Shikoku Island across the inland sea from Kobe, being blasted by bombs from naval aircraft of the carriers HMS Formidable, Victorious, and Implacable, of the British Pacific Fleet Task Force, 24 July 1945



Aircraft [service unspecified] sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Ito Maru off Kominase light; Inari Maru, Moji harbor; Komyo Maru off Okinoshima light; No.2 Ise Maru off Mihogasaki; Kinokawa Maru, off Yoshiura; merchant tankers No.9 Kinyu Maru off Tsurushima; Sabang Maru, Okurokami Island; Kanatsu Maru, Awashima anchorage; merchant tug Mutsurejima Maru off Kagaji, Oita prefecture; merchant vessels [types unspecified] Sugamada Maru, Jinzai harbor, and Sen Maru off Hakodate.

Aircraft [service unspecified] sink/damage Japanese merchant cargo ships Kagetsu Maru off Uwajima, and Shokai Maru outside Shimotsu harbor.

Aircraft [service unspecified] damage Japanese merchant cargo ship Kurogane Maru, Kobe, Japan; and merchant tanker Gyokuei Maru, by aircraft, 33°55'N, 131°45'E.

Guardboats No.3 Seisho Maru and Taiko Maru are sunk by U.S. aircraft at Kobe, Japan.

Auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 98 is sunk by aircraft, Moji, Japan.

Japanese transport No.11 Kaishin Maru is sunk by aircraft, 33°31'N, 129°47'E.

TG 35.3 (Rear Admiral J. Cary Jones, Jr.) consisting of four light cruisers (from TG 38.3) and six destroyers (from TG 38.4) conducts high-speed anti-shipping sweep across Kii Suido. Destroyer Colahan (DD-658) fires upon only surface contact, which proves to be submarine Toro (SS-422), on lifeguard station south of Shikoku. Fortyunately, Toro is not damaged in this case of mistaken identity.

(Twentieth Air Force): 7 missions (625 B-29s) are flown against targets in the Nagoya and Osaka areas; 1 B-29 is lost. Mission 284: 82 B-29s attack the Sumitomo Light Metals Industries propeller factory at Osaka; most of the machine tools had been removed but the facility is completely wrecked; 4 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 285: 81 B-29s hit the Kawanishi Aircraft Plant at Takarazuka destroying 77% of the plant; 3 others hit alternate targets.
Mission 286: 153 B-29s hit the Osaka Arsenal and Kuwana; the arsenal sustains additional damage amounting to 10% of the original roof area; 9 others hit alternate targets;
Mission 287: 66 B-29s attack the Aichi aircraft plant at Eitoku; the plant sustains its heaviest damage of the war; 5 others hit alternate targets.
Missions 288 and 289: 113 B-29s hit the urban are of the city of Tsu; 2 others hit alternate targets.
Mission 290: 77 B-29s attack the Nakajima plant at Handa destroying the principal assembly buildings; 1 B-29 hit an alternate target. 91 P-51s, operating out of Iwo Jima, hit airfields and other tactical targets at Hamamatsu, Suruga Bay, and other points in the Nagoya area.
Tonight the BBs will bombard Kushimoto and Shionomisaki.
In Japan, carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Force 38 attack the Kure Naval Base and airfields in on Honshu. The aircraft sink the battleship-carrier HIJMS Hyuga, the heavy cruiser HIMJS Tone, which is pushed aground to permit salvaging, and three other ships; they also damage 15 other ships including battleships, cruisers and destroyers. The raids are unopposed.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED BRITISH MALAYA

British naval and air units begin three days of attacks on Japanese troop positions and transportation targets on the west coast.

Whilst engaged in preparatory clearing operations for the forthcoming landings in Malaya (Operation Zipper) minesweeper HMS Squirrel is mined and has to be scuttled by gunfire. There are 7 casualties. Location: off Phuket Island in the Gulf of Thailand.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

Fifth AF fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Infanta and Leyban areas of Luzon.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, Thirteenth AF B-25s pound Jesselton Airfield and B-24s hit Oelin and Tabanio Airfields.

PACIFIC

Escort carrier Vella Gulf (CVE-111), as TU 19.6.1, carries out air strikes on Pagan, one of the two remaining bases in the Marianas. She carries out strikes against Rota (the other) two days later.

Destroyer escort Underhill (DE-682), damaged by kaitens from Japanese submarine I 53 off Luzon, 19°20'N, 126°42'E, is scuttled by submarine chasers PC-803 and PC-804, and escort patrol vessel PCE-872.

Submarine Chub (SS-329) sinks Japanese tug (ex-Dutch Ginah), 07°46'S, 114°24'E.

Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa.3 is sunk by aircraft , Surabaya, Java, N.E.I.

Mines sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Koichi Maru, Wonsan harbor, Korea, and Himekawa Maru, four kilometers off Himejima; and damage auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 226, off Moji; and merchant tanker Tatsukusu Maru, Hagi.

Japanese merchant tanker No.6 Nanki Maru is damaged by marine casualty, 38°18'N, 141°25'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2144 of World War II, July 25th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam conference recesses for the British delegation to leave for the announcement of the election results. Churchill, Eden and Atlee fly home.

Photo: L to R: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Harry S. Truman, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin in the garden of Cecilienhof Palace before meeting for the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany, 25 July 1945



United States

The War Dept. issued orders to General Spaatz, Commanding General of the US Army Strategic Air Forces, readying the 509th for action.

General Thomas Handy's order to General Carl Spaatz ordering the dropping of the atomic bombs



France

Philippe Pétain caused an uproar when he spoke for the first time during his trial, claiming that he was deaf and had not heard a thing that had been said in court up to that time. Many in the courtroom did not believe him, pointing out that he had frequently appeared to be listening attentively and fidgeted the most when serious charges were being made against him.

Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 10 B-25s and 3 P-38s knock out bridges at Tho Linh and Quang Tri, French Indochina and damage a barge and a river steamer in the Wuchou, China area. 30 P-51s and P-38s attack river, road, and rail traffic, railroad yards, and other targets in the areas of Duc Tho, Bac Ninh, Vinh, and Hanoi, French Indochina, and Kukong, Samshui, Wuchou, and the West River, China. The 71st Liaison Squadron, Fourteen AF [attached to XIV AF Tactical Air Command (Provisional)], arrives at Kunming, China from Piardoba, India with UC-64s, L-1s, L-4s and L-5s.

B-25s bomb Itu Aba Island, China.

JAPAN

Aircraft from the US 3rd Fleet attack Kure naval base and the airfields at Nagoya, Osaka and Miho for a second day. The battleships Hyuga, Ise, and Haruna, the escort carrier Kaiyo and the heavy cruisers Aoba and Iwate are all sunk. There is not noticeable Japanese resistance to the strikes.

TF 38 air strikes on targets of opportunity in Inland Sea area continue. TF 38 planes sink Japanese guardboats No.10 Dairi Maru and No.2 Kompira Maru off Moji, and No.10 Fukuei Maru in Bungo Suido, 33°00'N, 132°10'E; army tanker Kaisoku Maru, off Hiro; merchant cargo ship Daio Maru at 35°06'N, 129°40'E; merchant tankers No.6 Ryuei Maru off eastern part of Okurokami Island; and No.6 Kinyu Maru off east coast of Anishima; and damage heavy cruiser Aoba, Kure, 34°13'N, 132°31'E; Coast Defense Vessel No.4, Toba, and merchant cargo ships No.6 Tokai Maru and No.5 Shokai Maru off Shimane peninsula; Meiho Maru, Agenosho; and merchant tanker Tenwa Maru, Kanoya.

TG 35.3 (Rear Admiral J. Cary Jones, Jr.) of four light cruisers (from TG 38.3) and six destroyers (from TG 38.4) bombards Kushimoto Seaplane Base, airfield near Shiono Misaki, Honshu, and adjacent facilities.

B-24s bomb Kikaiga-shima, Amami Islands, N Ryukyu Islands and the town of Tsuiki.

Thirty USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) mine the waters off Chongjin and Pusan, Korea, and Fushiki, Nanao, Ohama and Tsuruga, Japan. Mines laid by B-29s sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Hoshi Maru at mouth of Maizuru Bay, 34°35'N, 135°21'E and Eian Maru off Tottori, Honshu, 35°33'N, 133°14'E.

Submarine Barb (SS-220) bombards lumber mill and sampan-building yard at Shibetoro, destroying 35 sampans under construction.

BURMA

Japanese forces pull out of Taunggyi in the Shan states.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED BRITISH MALAYA

British naval units continue attacks on Japanese positions and transportation targets on the west coast.

B-24s bomb Pontianak and Kuching Airfields while B-25s and fighters attack a dispersal area in the Jesselton Airfield area.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Mindanao, all organized Japanese resistance comes to an end in the Sarangani Bay area. American mopping up operations begin.

B-24s pound enemy troops on Negros Island.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force]: Unit moves from Luzon: HQ 38th BG (Medium) and 71st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) from Lingayen Airfield to Okinawa with B-25s; HQ 345th BG (Medium) from Clark Field, to Ie Shima.

PACIFIC

British submarine HMS Stubborn sinks Makassar-bound Japanese Patrol Boat No.2 (ex-destroyer Nadakaze) in Java Sea, 07°06'S, 115°42'E.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Azuna Maru is damaged, agent unspecified, Hakata Bay.

[lordroel]

Day 2145 of World War II, July 26th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam Declaration is issued by the United States, Britain, and China in a radio broadcast demanding the immediate and unconditional surrender of Japan. They released the declaration announcing the terms for Japan's surrender, with the warning as an ultimatum: "We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives. We shall brook no delay." For Japan, the terms of the declaration specified:

Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender Issued, at Potsdam, July 26, 1945



Allied occupied Germany

Photo: President Harry S. Truman is greeted at the Frankfort, Germany airport by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. He has just stepped down from the U. S. Army Air Force plane. There are two unidentified officers standing to either side. During the interlude in the Potsdam Conference when Prime Minister Churchill and Clement Attlee returned to London for British election returns, President Truman flew to Frankfort to inspect U. S. troops, 26 July 1945



Photo: Distance view of President Truman inspecting the Honor Guard of the 84th Infantry Division at Heppenheim, Germany. President Truman is on a break during the Potsdam Conference, 26 July 1945



Photo: Tanks and men of the 3rd Armored Division, 23rd Corps, Seventh Army, line a highway as President Harry S. Truman passes by in his sedan during his visit to inspect troops at Neuisenburg, Germany. President Truman has just left the Potsdam Conference for a quick tour of the American occupied area, 26 July 1945



Photo: President Truman's car passes tanks of the 3rd armored division near Frankfort, Germany. President Truman is in Frankfort to inspect troops during a break in the Potsdam Conference, 26 July 1945



United Kingdom

The election results are announced. Attlee, leading the Labour Party (winning 394 seats in the House of Commons), becomes Prime Minister of a majority government. Churchill and the ruling Conservative Party (winning 188 seats) are defeated. The Liberal Party wins 14 seats; the National Liberal Party wins 13 seats; the Ulster Unionist Party wins 9 seats; the Communist Party wins 2 seats and others win a total of 20 seats.

Map: Communist: 2 seats Common Wealth: 2 seats Labour: (Red) 393 seats ILP: 3 seats IL: 2 seats Liberal: 12 seats LN: 11 seats IL: 2 seats IP: 1 seat Independent: 8 seats National/National Independent: 4 seats Nationalist: 2 seats Conservative: (Blue) 197 seats IC: 1 seat



United States

Five C-54 transport planes leave Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque with: the Little Boy U-235 target (its final component), the Fat Man plutonium core, and its initiator.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Young (DD-580) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 26 July 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 B-25s and 4 P-51s bomb the railroad yards at Lohochai and hit a storage area and animal transport in the Pinking area. 100+ P-51s, P-38s, and P-61s pound enemy movement and withdrawal in French Indochina and S and E China, hitting supplies, troops, river, road, and rail traffic, coastal shipping, railroad yards, bridges, town areas and other targets at numerous locations. The 427th Night Fighter Squadron, Tenth AF, based at Dinjan, India with P-61s, sends a detachment to operate from Nanning, China.

B-25s bomb Itu Aba Island, China.

JAPAN

B-25s on a shipping search attack a convoy at Tsutsu Bay, Japan sinking 3 small cargo vessels, a freighter, and a few small craft. B-24s on snooper strikes attack several targets, including various targets in the Ryukyu Islands, airfields at Tinghai, China and at Nakazu, Japan, and docks at Pusan, Korea.

Twentieth Air Force: During the night of 26/27 Jul, 350 B-29s fly 3 incendiary missions against secondary cities; 1 B-29 is lost:

Mission 293: 127 B-29s attack the Matsuyama urban area destroying 1.22 sq mi, 73% of the total city area.

Mission 294: 97 B-29s hit the Tokuyama urban area destroying 0.47 sq mi, 37% of the city area; 1 other hit's an alternate target.

Mission 295: 124 B-29s attack the Omuta urban area destroying 2.05 sq mi, 38% of the city area; 1 other hit's an alternate target; 1 B-29 is lost.

Aircraft [service unspecified] sink Japanese merchant tanker Seria Maru near Aioi; merchant cargo ship Mishima Maru near Hizen, Oshima; and merchant fishing vessel No.40 Misago Maru off Uketo.

Japanese target ship (ex-battleship) Settsu is damaged by marine casualty, Eta Jima harbor.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED BRITISH MALAYA

British naval and air units end attacks on Japanese positions and transportation targets on the west coast.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

Photo: The Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Sussex struck by a kamikaze near the Dutch East Indies on 26 July 1945. This Mitsubishi Ki-51 "Sonia" (out of two in the attack) failed to penetrate the ship's 4.5" belt armor, leaving only a distinct imprint on the hull



INDIAN OCEAN

British minesweeper HMS Vestal (J 215) suffers severe damage after being struck by a Japanese Kamikaze aircraft off Puket, Thailand, and has to be sunk by destroyer HMS Racehorse (H 11). There are 20 casualties. Vestal is the only RN warship to be sunk after being damaged by a Kamikaze aircraft.

MARIANNA ISLANDS

The USS Indianapolis dropped anchor off Tinian and unloaded a 15 foot wood crate which contained the firing mechanism for the "Little Boy" bomb. A bucket which contained the first slug of uranium 235 was also on board. Each was brought to the bomb assembly hut. (The second piece of uranium was carried from Oak Ridge to Tinian by Lt. Del Genio aboard a B-29) (2 other B-29's carried two more pieces for the "Fat Man" plutonium bomb.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

FEAF: Unit moves from Luzon: HQ 43d BG and 64th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) from Clark Field to Ie Shima with B-24s; ground echelon of 36th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Group, begins a movement from Clark Field to Okinawa (air echelon at Clark Field until Sep 45).

Fighter-bombers and B-25s over Luzon (where the 13 AF now provides ground support) aid ground forces in the Mankayan area and near Tuguegarao. B-24s plaster Japanese positions on ground support strikes over Negros Island.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s hit Tabanio, Trombol, Sengkawang, and Oelin Airfields.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

(Eleventh Air Force): 7 B-24s successfully hit the Kataoka Naval Base on Shimushu with incendiaries, leaving smoke columns 5,000 ft (1,524 m) high; there is no airborne opposition and AA fire is moderate and inaccurate. Another B-24 flies a radar-ferret mission over the N Kurile Islands.

PACIFIC

Destroyer Lowry (DD-770) is damaged by on-board tetrachlorethane (chemical) explosion, Philippine Sea, 19°30'N, 128°00'E.

U.S. aircraft sink Japanese auxiliary minesweepers No.18 Hinode Maru and Rikuzen Maru off Haeju-Won, Korea, 37°58'N, 126°40'E, and 37°58'N, 125°40'E, respectively.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Annette Fritzen Go is damaged by mine, off Pusan, Korea.

Cargo ship Spica (AK-16) and U.S. freighters Jonathan Harrington and Enos A. Mills depart Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for Point Barrow, transporting men and supplies for Navy Petroleum Reserve 4.

Photo: The U.S. light aircraft carrier USS Cabot (CVL-28) underway at sea, 26 July 1945. On deck are aircraft of Carrier Air Group 32 (CVG-32). Cabot had departed Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii (USA), on 24 July as part of Task Force 12.3

[lordroel]

Day 2146 of World War II, July 27th 1945

YouTube (Allies Issue Potsdam Declaration)



Allied occupied Germany

Photo: Secretary of War Henry Stimson shakes hands with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as they say good-bye at Mr. Stimson prepares to leave Frankfurt, Germany. The Secretary of War has been in Germany to attend the Potsdam Conference, 27 July 1945



Soviet occupied Germany

Photo: Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold with his staff posing outdoors during the Potsdam Conference in Germany, 27 July 1945



Photo: President Harry S. Truman (fourth from left) is presented with a bound volume of the German edition of the Stars and Stripes by Staff Sgt. Paul Elliott, Managing Editor of the publication. Also with the President are Col. Jack C. Redding, Army Public Relations Officer, Captain Max Gillstrap, and Private E. S. Leiser, staff members of Stars and Stripes. They are in President Truman's office in the "Little White House," residence of the President during the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany, 27 July 1945



United Kingdom

The British joint chiefs of staff have their last conference with Churchill. Meanwhile Clement Atlee, at 62 years of age, begins his tenure at No. 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister. Atlee, leader of the Labour Party, has been the deputy prime minister and is the only person, other than Churchill, to have served in the war cabinet throughout.

Ernest Bevin became the new UK Foreign Affairs Secretary.

Newspaper: Daily Mirror edition, 27 July 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

The first Chinese forces enter Kweilin. Fighting for the possession of the town continues until the end of the month. Other Chinese forces capture Tanchuk airfield.

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 13 B-25s, some with P-51 support, hit a supply movement in the Siang Chiang Valley, bomb railroad yards at Siaokan and Sinyang, and hit coastal shipping in the Do Son, French Indochina area. 50+ P-51s and P-38s concentrate on attacking river shipping at numerous points of French Indochina and S and E China also hitting road and rail traffic, coastal vessels, storage areas, and bridges.

JAPAN

Twenty-five USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) mine Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Niigata, Miyazu, Maizuru and Senzaki, Japan. Mines laid by USAAF B-29s sink Japanese army cargo ship Unten Maru off Suo Nada, 33°56'N, 131°11'E ; merchant cargo ships Meiko Maru off Kokushi, Yamaguchi prefecture, 34°10'N, 130°55'E, and No.55 Banshu Maru, Odo Strait, Shimonoseki; and damage merchant cargo ships Jinstugawa Maru off Fushiki and Tatsumaki Maru off Wakamatsu signal station.

FEAF: 60+ Fifth and Seventh AF B-24s pound a marshalling yard at Kagoshima, Kyushu and 50 escorting P-51s attack numerous nearby targets of opportunity; 150+ P-47s over Kyushu hit communications and industrial targets, including a tunnel S of Kurino, bridges at Okasa, Hitosuse-gawa, and Matsubase, and factories and a power plant at Yatsushiro.

British and American carriers conduct extensive air strikes. During the night (July 27-28)

US B-29 bombers drop some 600,000 leaflets over 11 Japanese cities which warn inhabitants that the cities are on the target list for bombing raids.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

Photo: The U.S. Navy amphibious force command ship USS Teton (AGC-14) in Subic Bay, Philippines, on 27 July 1945. USS Catskill (LSV-1) is partially visible in the far right background



BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s of the Thirteenth AF hit airstrip N of Pontianak, Borneo.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force]: The 500th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 345th BG (Medium), moves from Clark Field, Luzon to Ie Shima with B-25s.

PACIFIC

Cargo ship Ganymede (AK-104) is damaged in collision with Army barge BKP 42 (346th Harbor Craft Company), P.I., 11°11'N, 125°05'E.

U.S. freighter John A. Rawlins is damaged by Japanese aerial torpedo in Naha harbor, Okinawa; in addition to the 39-man merchant crew, 28 Armed Guards and 191 Construction Battalion men are on board at this time. Of those men, only three are injured; the ship, however, will ultimately be written off as a total loss.

U.S. freighter Pratt Victory is torpedoed by Japanese plane south of Ie Shima; the blast sinks tank landing craft LCT-1050 that lies moored alongside discharging cargo. There are no fatalities among the 27-man Armed Guard on board Pratt Victory, which offloads the remainder of her cargo without further incident.

Submarine Pargo (SS-264) is damaged by depth charges and aerial bombs off northern Celebes, 01°35'N, 125°20'E, but remains on patrol.

Submarine Pogy (SS-266) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Chikuzen Maru southwest of Kyogasaki, about 90 miles north of Tottori, Honshu, 37°00'N, 134°02'E.

British submarine HMS Tudor sinks Japanese fishing vessel at 06°15'S, 108°08'E.

USAAF planes (5th Air Force) sink Japanese landing ship T.176 off southern Kyushu, 31°00'N, 130°33'E.

Japanese transport Doshi Maru is sunk by aircraft off Nishitomari.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.40 Giso Maru, is sunk by aircraft off Urajiri.

Aircraft sink/damage Japanese merchant cargo ships Rokuzan Maru off southeast coast of Korea, and Yushin Maru, 35°35'N, 129°33'E.

Aircraft damage Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.11 Shonan Maru inside Chefoo harbor, China; and damage merchant tanker No.2 Seiko Maru off Osaka.

[lordroel]

Day 2147 of World War II, July 28th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam conference resumes. The new British prime minister, Atlee, and foreign secretary, Bevin, arrive in Potsdam to resume the conference with American and Soviet leaders.

United States

The United States Senate ratifies the United Nations Charter by 89 votes to 2.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Evans (DD-552) showing her battle damage upon arrival at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 28 July 1945. Evans had been hit by four kamikaze suicide planes off Okinawa on the night of 10-11 May 1945. After emergency repairs at Kerama Retto, Evans was towed to San Francisco



Photo: The U.S. Navy gasoline tanker USS Klickitat (AOG-64) underway at sea on 28 July 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy battle damage repair ship USS Helios (ARB-12) underway near Baltimore, Maryland (USA), on 28 July 1945, after completion of conversion to a battle damage repair ship 



1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash: A B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City during a heavy fog, resulting in fourteen deaths.

Photo: Photo of a B-25 bomber that crashed into the Empire State Building at the 78th floor, 28 July 1945



United Kingdom

Double-page spread in the Illustrated London News for 28 July 1945 displays what was left of the Japanese Navy






Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 B-25s and 4 P-51s attack a supply movement through the Siang Chiang Valley, hit a freighter and 2 smaller vessels off Shuitang, and pound troops near Kian. About 90 P-51s, P-47s, and P-61s disrupt the Japanese movement throughout S and E China and in French Indochina; the fighter-bombers concentrate on river transport.

BURMA

The Japanese 28th Army attempts to withdraw across the Sittang River. It suffers over 13,000 killed and drowned in the attempt.

JAPAN

Premier Suzuki holds a press conference in which he says that the government of Japan will "take no notice" of the Potsdam Declaration. While it is possible that the wording he used was intended to mean "make no comment on for the moment," it is clear that the Japanese government does not intend to surrender immediately and unconditionally, which is the implicit expectation of the Allied declaration.

(Twentieth Air Force): During the night of 28/29 Jul, 554 B-29s fly 6 incendiary raids on secondary cities and 1 bombing raid without loss.
Mission 297: 76 B-29s attack the Tsu urban area destroying 0.84 sq mi, 57% of the city area.
Mission 298: 61 B-29s hit the Aomori urban area destroying 1.06 sq mi, 64% of the city area; 3 others hit alternate targets.
Mission 299: 122 B-29s attack the Ichinomiya urban area destroying 0.99 sq mi, 75% of the city area; 2 others attack alternate areas.
Mission 300: 93 B-29s hit the Uji-Yamada urban area destroying 0.36 sq mi, 39% of the city area; 1 other hits an alternate target.
Mission 301: 90 B-29s attack the Ogaki urban area destroying 0.48 sq mi, 40% of the city area. Mission 302: 29 B-29s hit the Uwajima urban area destroying 0.53 sq mi, 52% of the city area.
Mission 303: 76 B-29s bomb the Shimotsu Oil Refinery; 75% of the tank capacity, 90% gasometer capacity and 69% of the roof area destroyed or damaged; 1 other B-29s hits an alternate target. 140+ P-51s, based on Iwo Jima, hit 9 objectives (airfields and military targets) in a wide area around Tokyo and attack a destroyer escort along the Chiba Peninsula, leaving it burning.

FEAF: In Japan, 137 Ie Shima-based P-47s rocket and strafe airfields, oil stores, railroad yards, warehouses, industry, gun positions, and other targets on Kyushu at or near Kanoya, Metatsubara, Tachiarai, Kurume, Saga, and Junicho; 21 more P-47s attack shipping at Yatsushiro and A-26s and B-25s pound airfields at Kanoya; P-51s and B-25s, sweeping over the Inland Sea, destroy 2 small cargo vessels and a patrol boat and 70+ B-24s bomb shipping at Kure, claiming direct hits on a battleship and an aircraft carrier.

Aircraft from TF 38 of the Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) strike Inland Sea area, between Nagoya, and Northern Kyushu; principally targeting the Kure Naval Base. TF 38 planes sink battleship Haruna off Eta Jima, eight miles northwest of Kure, 34°15'N, 132°29'E; battleship-carrier Ise, five miles northwest of Kure, 34°12'N, 132°31'E; training ship ex-coast defense vessel Izumo off Eta Jima, 34°14'N, 132°30'E; heavy cruiser Aoba, Kure Navy Yard, 34°13'N, 132°31'E, light cruiser Oyodo, 34°13'N, 132°25'E; submarine I 404, Kure; escort destroyer Nashi, Mitajirizaki, Kure, 34°14'N, 132°30'E; guardboat No.5 Fukuju Maru at Kujukurihama, Chiba prefecture; guardboats No.2 Fukusei Maru and No.2 Inari Maru, Kobe; submarine depot ship Komahashi, victualling stores ship Kosho Maru, and auxiliary minesweeper No.18 Banshu Maru, Owase; guardboat No.2 Han'ei Maru, Aomori; naval auxiliary Koryu Maru, Innoshima dockyard; in addition to merchant cargo ships Kinzan Maru four miles east of Ogashima, and Kiyotada Maru in Ube harbor; merchant cargo ships No.11 Kyowa Maru in Kobe harbor and No.3 Mikage Maru off Otaru; and merchant tankers No.4 Kinyu Maru 34°48'N, 134°28'E; and No.6 Kinyu Maru at 34°23'N, 134°50'E. British carrier planes (TF 37) sink Coast Defense Vessel No.4 in Ise Bay, 3443'N, 13643'E Yokosuka; Coast Defense Vessel No.30 off Yura. TF 38 planes also damage carrier Katsuragi and training carrier Hosho, Kure; torpedo cruiser (ex-light cruiser) Kitakami in Hiroshima Bay; submarine I 205 (repaired after damage inflicted by TF 58 aircraft on 19 March) in drydock, Kure; destroyer Asagao west of Bisan-Seto; Coast Defense Vessel No.45 and submarine chaser Ch 14 near Yokosuka; escort destroyer Habushi and Coast Defense Vessel No.44, Sasebo; Coast Defense Vessel No.190 in Yura Straits; guardboats No.2 Kainan Maru and No.2 Inari Maru, Kobe harbor; motor torpedo boat Gyoraitei No.823, Yokosuka; and auxiliary minesweepers No.10 Showa Maru and No.1 Kyojin Maru off Owase, Japan, as well as merchant passenger ship Tenzan Maru, 35°42'N, 132°42'E; merchant cargo ships No.8 Shinto Maru, 35°06'N, 129°45'E, and Nagasaki Maru off south side of Osagi Jima; merchant tankers No.18 Nissho Maru and No.2 Seiko Maru, Osaka; and Shingi Maru, Kobe; merchant cargo ship Taigen Maru, in dock at Innoshima.

Photo: The Japanese battleship Ise under attack by U.S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CV-19) at the Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan, on 28 July 1945



Photo: The Japanese battleship Haruna under intense attack by U.S. Navy carrier-based aircraft, near Kure, Japan, on 28 July 1945. She sustained eight bomb hits from Task Force 38's aircraft and sank at her moorings at 16:15 hrs



Photo: U.S. Navy carrier aircraft attack the Japanese battleship Haruna at her moorings near Kure, Japan, 28 July 1945



Photo: Vertical aerial photograph of Japanese cruiser Aoba and nearby buildings and terrain at Nabe, near the Kure Navy Yard, Japan. Taken from a USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) plane during air attacks on 28 July 1945. Smoke is coming from under Aoba's bridge, to starboard, where she had been hit by a carrier plane's bomb. Large hole in her stern is from direct hits made by USAAF B-24 bombers



Photo: Aerial photograph showing a burning Japanese battleship Ise, west of the Ondo-no-seto, Kure, Japan, 28 July 1945



Photo: U.S. Navy carrier aircraft attack the Japanese naval base at Kure, Hiroshima, Japan, on 28 July 1945



Photo: U.S. Navy planes from Task Force 38 (TF 38) attack the Japanese aircraft carrier Katsuragi (upper left) at Kure, Japan, on 28 July 1945. In the center is the carrier Amagi, burned out as a result of raids four days before. The photo was taken by a plane from the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61)



Photo: The Japanese light cruiser Ōyodo is bombed by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft on 28 July 1945 near Kure, Japan. On 24 July, U.S. Task Force 38 launched a massive attack to destroy any and all remaining units of the Japanese Navy. Ōyodo was strafed and hit by five 110 kg bombs, two of which hit near her catapult and punched holes in her deck. Two more hit amidships near the engine rooms and the last struck forward of the bridge and started a fire that could not be extinguished for two days. Four days later, a day-long attack was launched by the U.S. carrier fleet. Ōyodo was near-missed by bombs in the morning and the shock waves from their detonations ruptured her hull plating abreast of the forward engine room and No. 5 boiler room that flooded those two compartments. The asymmetric weight of the water on the starboard side caused her to capsized to starboard in shallow water about 25 minutes later



The four escort carriers in TF 32 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf) providing cover for the ongoing minesweeping operations in the East China Sea (Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp) launch planes to conduct strikes on shipping off the mouth of the Yangtze River. No targets, however, are found.

RYUKYU ISLANDS

Destroyer Callaghan (DD-792) is sunk by kamikaze, on radar picket station approximately 50 miles southwest of Okinawa, 25°43'N, 126°55'E; she is the last Allied vessel to be lost to that weapon. Destroyer Prichett (DD-561) is damaged by near-miss of suicide plane, 25°43'N, 126°56'E, as she assists the mortally damaged Callaghan. Reflecting the depth of desperation reached by the Japanese kamikaze forces, Callaghan's assailant is a bomb-carrying WILLOW (primary training biplane)!

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s in support of ground forces hit enemy positions in the Mankayan-Kiangan area and in the Marikina area. Other P-38s hit troop concentrations on Jolo and B-24s support ground forces on Negros.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force]: Units moving from Luzon to Ie Shima: 82d and 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 71st Reconnaissance Group, from Lingayen Airfield with F-6s; 499th and 501st Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 345th BG (Medium), from Clark Field with B-25s.

PACIFIC

Submarine Hardhead (SS-365) damages Japanese No.165 Shuttle Boat, 09°09'S, 115°25'E.

Submarine Sennet (SS-408), attacking Japanese convoy off western Honshu, sinks merchant cargo ships Hagikawa Maru, eight miles west of Noshiro harbor, 40°17'N, 139°50'E, and No.15 Unkai Maru and Hakuei Maru off Sakata, 39°49'N, 139°47'E.

Japanese auxiliary minesweeper No.1 Keijin Maru sinks after running aground off Owase, Japan, 34°05'N, 136°14'E.

Japanese army cargo ship Hitora Maru is damaged by marine casualty, Innoshima Dockyard.

Japanese transport Teiritsu Maru, damaged by mine sown by USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force); she is run aground .2 kilometers southwest of Bakuchizaki, 35°32'N, 135°20'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2148 of World War II, July 29th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam Conference resumes. Atlee, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin.

Photo: The "Big Three" pose with their principal advisors, at Potsdam, Germany. The three heads of government are (seated, left to right):

British Prime Minister Clement Attlee;

U.S. President Harry S. Truman;

Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin.

Standing behind them are (left to right):

Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, Truman's Chief of Staff;

British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin;

U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes;

Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.



Photo: Closer view of round conference table from above, taken at the Potsdam Conference during newly elected British Prime Minister Clement Attlee's first appearance at the conference. President Truman can be seen on the right side of the photograph; Soviet Prime Minister Josef Stalin is at the top. Clement Attlee has his back to the camera, 29 July 1945



United States

Henry Ford issued a statement that "the nation and the world are on the threshold of a prosperity and standard of living that never before were considered possible."

United Kingdom

The British 8th Army is disbanded.

Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25s and 2 P-51s hit shipping off Luichow Peninsula near Cape Kami, barracks at Chingmen, and cannon-strafe trucks at Kuanshuishih and oil storage at Yingtak. About 100 P-51s, P-38s, and P-61s attack a variety of targets over a vast area from Haiphong to Peking continuing the steady campaign against enemy movement and withdrawal.

JAPAN

Three battleships, four heavy cruisers, and ten destroyers of TU 34.8.1 (Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth) begins bombardment of shops, aircraft factory, and other facilities at Hamamatsu, Honshu. British battleship HMS King George V and three destroyers operates independently but joins in the bombardment. Carrier Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) supplies precautionary night combat air patrols and spotter aircraft.

FEAF: P-47s from Ie Shima and B-24s, B-25s, and A-26s from Okinawa pound targets in the Japanese Home Islands; 70+ B-24s pound shipping at Kure, 41 B-24s hit a factory and storage area NW of Aburatsu, shipping and engine works in Nagasaki and vicinity, and the towns of Nobeoka, Kyushu and Oita; B-25s hit Kagoshima, Kyushu, Kibana, a bridge, barracks and other buildings at Miyazaki, warehouses, a lighthouse, and navigation light at Tozaki-hana, and bomb Tokuno Shima; A-26s pound the naval base and engine works at Nagasaki; numerous P-47s hit the harbor at Kure, shipping and seaplane station at Ibusuki, railroad station, docks, and town area of Makurazaki, Chiran Airfield and Izumi Airfields, and shipping at Kagoshima Bay. P-51s hit numerous targets of opportunity on the S coast of Korea and on the S part of Kyushu, where shipping, railroads, and Omura, Kyushu and Sashiki factories are also attacked.

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 304: During the night of 29/30 Jul, 24 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and the waters at Fukuoka, Karatsu, and Najin; 2 others mine alternate targets.

RYUKYU ISLANDS

Off Okinawa, Japanese Kamikaze planes damage an American destroyer and a fast transport.

GUAM

General Spaatz arrived on Guam and brought an order from General Groves authorizing the dropping of the first Atom Bomb on one of four targets, Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, or Nagasaki sometime after August 3rd.

TINIAN

The five C-54 transports transporting the Little Boy U-235 target (its final component), the Fat Man plutonium core, and its initiator arrive at Tinian. All components for Little Boy are now on site, but no Fat Man bomb assemblies have yet arrived.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

B-24s hit Sidate Airfield and warehouses at Watampone on Celebes Island. Other B-24s bomb resistance pocket S of Fabrica.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s hit Japanese positions near San Mariano and W of Kiangan, troop concentrations in the Marikina watershed, and ridge emplacements in the Bantayan area; several buildings are destroyed at Pasco Point.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force] Unit moves: 17th Reconnaissance Squadron (Bombardment), 71st Reconnaissance Group, from Lingayen Airfield to Ie Shima with B-25s (detachment remains at Lingayen Airfield until Sep 45); 868th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Thirteenth AF from Leyte to Okinawa with B-24s (the 868th uses airborne radar for low-level attacks at night and for pathfinder operations).

PACIFIC

Twenty-six USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) mine Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Najin, Korea, and Fukuoka, Japan. Merchant cargo ship Tatsukashi Maru, damaged by mine, is beached off Pusan, Korea.

Heavy cruiser Indianapolis (CA-35) is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 58 northeast of Leyte, 12°02'N, 134°48'E.

Destroyer Cassin Young (DD-793) and high speed transport Horace A. Bass (APD-124) are damaged by suicide planes off Okinawa, 26°08'N, 127°58'E and 26°17'N, 127°34'E, respectively.

USAAF P-47s (7th Air Force) on sweep for targets of opportunity in the Nagasaki, Japan, area, sink auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 207, 32°00'N, 130°00'E.

USAAF B-25s (5th Air Force) damage Japanese escort carrier Kaiyo in Hiji harbor, Beppu Wan, 33°20'N, 131°32'E.

Aircraft sink Japanese army cargo ship No.18 Ono Maru and merchant cargo ship Tangetsu Maru off Ulsan, Korea, and merchant passenger ship Tenzan Maru, 35°40'N, 132°39'E.

USAAF B-25s and P-51s on antishipping sweep off southeast coast of Korea sink Japanese army cargo ship Hokusei Maru off Kuryungpo; merchant cargo ship Seishin Maru, 35°32'N, 127°30'E; tanker Yushin Maru, and cargo vessel Shoryu Maru, 35°32'N, 127°30'E.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.12 Reisui Maru is sunk/damaged by aircraft, 34°59'N, 128°59'E.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Kokyu Maru is damaged by aircraft near Pusan, Korea.

USAAF A-26s damage Japanese merchant tanker No.5 Yamamizu Maru off Nagasaki.

Marine casualties sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Sumioyoshi Maru outside Kamaishi harbor, and damage merchant cargo ships Miesan Maru near Shira Jima, and No.2 Mitsu Maru south of Cape Wakamiya, Iki Island and also result in the loss of guardboats Asahi Maru east of Pusan, Korea, and No.6 Kaiyo Maru off Cape Wakamiya, Korean Strait.

[lordroel]

Day 2149 of World War II, July 30th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam Conference continues. Atlee, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin.

Photo: Foreign secretaries attend a meeting at the Cecilienhof Palace during the Potsdam Conference. British foreign Minister Ernest Bevin is in foreground; Secretary of State James Byrnes is at right; Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov is on the left, upper side of table, 30 July 1945



United States

In spite of the Japanese rejection of the Potsdam ultimatum, General of the Army George C Marshall, Chief of Staff, US Army, directs General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces in the Pacific, Lieutenant General Albert C Wedemeyer, Commanding General, US Forces in the China Theater, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific, to proceed with plans for a surrender.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Kenneth D. Bailey (DD-713) upon delivery at the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey (USA), on 30 July 1945. She was commissioned the next day



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 2 B-25s bomb supply convoys moving through the Siang Chiang Valley of China. 40+ P-51s, P-38s, and P-61s hit various targets in S and E China, and in French Indochina, chiefly river transport, but also troop concentrations, railroad traffic, and many targets of opportunity; target areas include Nanyang, Suchow, Hankow, Sinyang, Anking, Anyang, Lohochai, Kukong, Takhing, Koyiu, Samshui, Pingsiang, Kian, Yungcheng, Yingtak, and Wuchou, China.

JAPAN

Food shortages lead the government to call on the civilian population of Japan to collect 2.5 million bushels of acorns to be converted into eating material. The average Japanese is presently surviving on a daily intake of about 1680 calories, or 78 percent of what is considered the minimum necessary to survive.

US Navy Task Unit 34.8.1 consisting of 3 battleships, 4 heavy cruisers and 10 destroyers complete the bombardment of targets at Hamamatsu on Honshu. The Royal Navy battleship HMS King George V and 3 destroyers also participate in this operation.

Aircraft from TF 38 (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) bomb airfields and industrial targets in central Honshu, and fly sweeps against Japanese shipping in Maizuru Bay. TF 38 planes sink escort vessel Okinawa six miles north-northwest of Maizuru, 35°30'N, 135°21'E; submarine chaser Ch 26 in Korea Strait, 34°47'N, 128°27'E; minelayer Toshima off Maizuru; auxiliary submarine chasers Keisho Maru and Chikuzen Maru, and guardboat No.12 Kogyo Maru at Imaura; auxiliary submarine chasers No.2 Nippon Maru in Usami Bay and No.53 Banshu Maru off Obama; guardboat No.10 Sumiyoshi Maru eight miles north of Kohi Jima; merchant cargo ships Kashi Maru (off Tsuruga, 35°30'N, 135°21'E) and Taruyasu Maru off Maizuru; merchant ship Kamogawa Maru off Ullung Island 35°20'N, 130°30'E; and damage escort destroyer Takane near Maizuru; submarine depot ship Chogei, submarines I 153 and I 202, and Coast Defense Vessel No.2 and minelayer Tatsumiya Maru off Maizuru; Coast Defense Vessel No.27 in Korea Strait, 34°47'N, 128°27'E; auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 182 off Ito; guardboat No.18 Sumiyoshi Maru, damaged by TF 38 aircraft, is run aground north of Kohi Jima. TF 38 planes also damage merchant cargo ship Shotai Maru and merchant vessel Fukuan Maru off Maizuru. British carrier planes from TF 37 complete the destruction of transport Teiritsu Maru, aground off Maizuru, 35°92'N, 135°20'E.

Photo: U.S. Navy carrier aircraft of Carrier Air Group 86 (CVG-86) flew over the Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan, on 30 July 1945. CVG-86 was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-18)



FEAF: 60+ B-25s and A-26s bomb Omura Airfield and 4 of the planes hit airfield at Izumi; P-47s support the strike and also hit numerous nearby targets of opportunity; B-25s, failing to find targets on a shipping sweep over Korean waters, bomb shipping, a railroad, and a warehouse in the Sendai area and covering P-51s also hit nearby targets of opportunity; 80+ P-47s bomb Sendai, leaving much of the town in flames; P-51s on photo reconnaissance of S Kyushu destroy trains and small craft; and nearly 80 P-47s attack the Miyazaki, Karasehara, and Tomitaka areas, firing warehouses and damaging barracks, hangars, towers, and other buildings, and blast buildings and construction on and near Shibushi Airfield.

TINIAN

The nuclear components (target, projectile, and 4 initiators) are inserted into bomb unit number L11.

IWO JIMA

(Twentieth Air Force): Iwo Jima based P-51s attack airfields, railroads, and other tactical targets throughout the Kobe-Osaka area.

EAST CHINA SEA

Task force (Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp) completes minesweeping operations in the East China Sea; his ships sweep approximately 7,300 square miles and destroy 404 mines without casualty.

NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

The Japanese 18th Army makes a last stand at the village of Numbogua. General Adachi, commanding the army, orders his troops "to die in honorable defeat."

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s support ground forces E of Ilagan, near Kiangan, and E of Manila in the Infanta sector.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s bomb Kota Waringin Airfield in Borneo.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

(Eleventh Air Force): 8 B-24s on way to the Kurile islands are soon recalled because of weather disturbances.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force]: HQ 91st Reconnaissance Wing moves from Clark Field, Luzon to Okinawa.

CENTRAL PACIFIC

During the night the USS Indianapolis will be torpedoed by I-58. The loss will not be discovered until she is 3 days late. Many of the 316 survivors that are rescued will not be found for several more days.

The US heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-58 northeast of Leyte at 12.02N, 134.48E. After delivering parts of the atomic bomb to Tinian, USS Indianapolis was dispatched to Guam where she disembarked men and reported for onward routine to Leyte. From there she was to report to Vice Admiral Jesse B Oldendorf for further duty off Okinawa. Departing Guam 28 July, USS Indianapolis proceeded by a direct route unescorted. Early in the morning, 0015 hours, 2 heavy explosions occurred against her starboard side forward, and she capsized and sank in 12 minutes. The ship had been hit by two torpedoes. The seas had been moderate; the visibility, good, USS Indianapolis had been steaming at 17 knots.

When the ship did not reach Leyte on the 31 July, as scheduled, no report was made that she was overdue. This omission was due to a misunderstanding of the Movement Report System.

Thus it was not until 1025 hours on 2 August that the survivors were sighted, mostly held afloat by life jackets, although there were a few rafts which had been cut loose before the ship went down. They were sighted by a plane on routine patrol; the pilot immediately dropped a life raft and a radio transmitter. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once, and the surrounding waters were thoroughly searched for survivors.

PACIFIC

Submarine Sennet (SS-408) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Yuzan Maru near Mutsuta Mizaki, western Hokkaido, 42°36'N, 139°49'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) sink destroyer Hatsushimo inside Miyazu Bay, 12 miles west-northwest of Maizuru, Japan, 35°33'N, 135°12'E; and passenger/cargo vessel Shokei Maru at 42°36'N, 139°48'E, and damage destroyer Yukikaze near Miyazu.

Aircraft sink Japanese army cargo ship Gessan Maru off Ulsan, Korea; merchant passenger ship Shokei Maru in Miyazu Bay; merchant cargo ships No.2 Shozan Maru off Ulgi, and Koshin Maru off Pang-O-Jin; and merchant cargo ship Shinko Maru off Choshi; and damage merchant cargo ships Choko Maru off Himo; Shoko Maru, Wakasa Bay; and No.5 Kenkon Maru at 35°44'N, 124°57'E; merchant tug Hokusan Maru, Pusan, Korea; and merchant cargo ship Nissho Maru off Tsuruga.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Matsuura Maru is damaged by marine casualty, beached, at mouth of Yujin harbor.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.15 Yamabishi Maru is lost to marine casualty, Wakasa Bay.

[lordroel]

Day 2150 of World War II, July 31st 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam Conference continues. Atlee, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin.

Allied occupied Austria

Pierre Laval, former premier of Vichy France, surrenders to the American forces upon landing in Linz. He is handed over to the French authorities. Laval was flown there from Spain, where he had been granted political asylum, onboard the personal plane of General Franco. In part, his surrender is motivated by a desire to defend his role in the Vichy government. However, the British ambassador in Madrid, Sir Victor Mallet, had spoken to Franco about Laval prior to his departure from Spain.

United States

US Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, sends President Truman a memorandum on how to persuade Japan to surrender. As part of a package of measures which also includes conventional bombing, invasion and diplomacy, he takes for granted that America will use the atomic bombs now under production.

Photo: The U.S. Navy internal combustion engine repair ship USS Hooper Island (ARG-17) at anchor on 31 July 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) underway off Orange, Texas (USA), 31 July 1945



Canada

British Field Marshal Alexander is appointed Governor General.

Pacific War

CHINA

(AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: 3 B-25s continue to bomb supply convoys moving through the Siang Chiang Valley. 52 P-51s and P-61s over S and E China attack rivercraft, trucks, railroad traffic, coastal shipping, ammunition dumps, and other targets at several locations including areas around Yanglowtung, Changsha, Siangyin, Hengyang, Hankow, Paoching, Nanyang, Nanking, Kulo, Hoihow, and Yoyang. The flight of the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF, operating from Kunming, China with F-5s, moves to Nanning (squadron is based at Chanyi).

JAPANESE OCCUPIED SINGAPORE

British midget submarines XE 1 (towed to the area by submarine HMS Spark) and XE 3 (towed by HMS Stygian) penetrate into Singapore Harbor to attack Japanese heavy cruisers Myoko and Takao, respectively.

JAPAN

The Japanese are warned by the Americans that eight cities will be leveled it the government refuses to surrender.

In Japan, 80+ B-24s pound the Kagoshima railroad yards and several other targets in the general area including the Sasebo naval base, Yaki-shima, and Nagasaki; A-26s and B-25s bomb Kanoya and Miyazaki Airfields and nearby targets, the Sasebo naval base, Marushima, warehouses at Nagasaki, and a factory and power plant on Koyagi Island; P-51s attack flak positions at Moji, blast shipping at Iki Island and off the NW and W coast of Kyushu, hit an island WSW of Sasebo, bomb railroad targets and warehouses in the Izumi area, and in general attack the railroad and road net and other communications targets throughout Kyushu and P-61s continue harassing missions during the night. P-51s over the Ryukyu Islands bomb airstrips on Miyako Island, and bomb a town in the Koniya area.

In Japan, the USN's Task Force 38 and RN's Task Group 37.2 cease flying operations and retire from an oncoming typhoon.

Destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 25, conducting anti-shipping sweep in Suguru Gulf, bombard railroad yards and industrial area of Shimuzu, Japan.

Map: A map showing locations in the Japanese home islands mined by the United States 20th Air Force up to 31 July 1945



TINIAN

The assembly of Little Boy is completed. It is ready for use the next day.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s support ground action, hitting forces in the Cagayan Valley and Cervantes and Infanta sectors. B-24s pound the area S of Fabrica on Negros Island.

CENTRAL PACIFIC

[US Army Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF)] Twentieth Air Force: HQ 301st Fighter Wing arrives on Ie Shima from the US.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force]: Unit moves: HQ Fifth AF from Clark Field to Okinawa; HQ 6th Reconnaissance Group from Clark Field to Okinawa.

PACIFIC

PB4Ys (FAW 1) operating from Yontan Field, Okinawa, destroy a span of the Seisen River bridge, severing the main north-south double track railroad line in Korea.

Destroyer Bancroft (DD-598) is damaged in collision with miscellaneous auxiliary Carondelet (IX-136) off Luzon, 14°50'N, 120°15'E.

Submarine Thornback (SS-418) damages Japanese submarine chaser Ch 42 five miles off Osaki, Japan, 38°53'N, 141°35'E.

Japanese heavy cruiser Takao is damaged by charges placed by British midget submarines XE 3 and XE 1 the night before, at Singapore (see 30 July).[24]

Mines sink Japanese guardboat No.5 Teru Maru off Wonsan, Korea; and naval auxiliary No.5 Matsumae Maru off Pusan, Korea.

Auxiliary submarine chaser No.9 Kamoi Maru is damaged by grounding, Ukushima.

Japanese naval vessels sunk during July 1945 (exact date unspecified): guardboats No.51 Tama Maru, by U.S. aircraft, at mouth of Yangtze River; No.3 Kaigyo Maru, by mine, east of the mouth of Kammon Strait; and No.5 Shinshu Maru, by U.S. aircraft, off Japan [exact location unspecified]; auxiliary minesweeper No.2 Keijin Maru, by aircraft, four kilometers north of Shiriya.

Japanese merchant vessels damaged during July 1945 (exact date unspecified): cargo ships Shojun Maru, agent unknown, near Masan, Korea; Imazugawa Maru, by aircraft, location unspecified; No.8 Hino Maru, agent unknown, at northern entrance of Kammon Strait; and No.1 Shinyo Maru, agent and location of loss/damage unspecified; tanker No.11 Yoshitomo Maru, agent and location of loss/damage unspecified.

[lordroel]

Day 2151 of World War II, August 1st 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam Conference continues. Atlee, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin.

Photo: Enjoying a brief respite during the last day of the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany are, L to R: British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, President Harry S. Truman, and Soviet Prime Minister Josef Stalin. They are seated in the garden of Cecilienhof Palace, 1 August 1945



United Kingdom

Britain's new parliament assembled for the first time to elect a new Speaker of the House of Commons. As Winston Churchill entered the House for the first time as an ex-prime minister, he was greeted by cheers and singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", to which the Laborites responded by singing "The Red Flag". When Douglas Clifton Brown was re-elected Speaker he said he was not quite sure whether he was becoming chairman of the House of Commons or director of a musical show.

France

Pierre Laval is returned to the city, charged with treason and placed under armed guard, in Fresnes prison, to protect him from the French public.

United States

Photo: Two U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers (B-29A-45-BN s/n 44-61722 in the foreground) in flight over Laredo Army Air Field, Laredo, Texas (USA), on Army Air Forces Day, 1 August 1945. Note the four fighters barely visible in front of the second B-29



Pacific War

Map of the Pacific as of 1 August 1945



CHINA

Allied mines, dropped by air, bring Japanese shipping on the Yangtze river to a halt. The Japanese have lost 36 ships (with 11 others damaged, for a total loss of 35,000 tons) as a result of Allied aerial mines.

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, bad weather severely curtails operations; P-61s effectively sweep rivers in the Wuchou, Canton, and Tsingyun areas, sinking several large junks and sampans. Unit moves in China: the 26th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, from Kunming to Nanning with P-51s; 322d Troop Carrier Squadron, Fourteenth AF, from Loping to Liangshan with C-47s. Unit moves in China during Aug 45: HQ 23d Fighter Group and 74th and 75th Fighter Squadrons from Luliang to Liuchow with P-51s (the detachment of the 74th operating from Tushan also moves to Liuchow); 528th, 529th and 530th Fighter Squadrons, 311th Fighter Group from Shwangliu and Pungchacheng respectively to Hsian with P-51s.

(Tenth Air Force): Major General Albert F Hegenberger becomes Commanding General Tenth AF and HQ Tenth AF moves from Piardoba, India to Kunming, China (HQ at Kunming was officially opened on 23 Jul). The scheduled role of the Tenth AF in China is almost identical with its completed Burma mission: to act as the tactical AF giving direct support and providing air supply to Chinese ground forces operating S of the 27th parallel N.

BURMA

Photo: 5.5-inch guns of 63rd Medium Battery firing on Satthinagyon, 1 August 1945



Photo: 4.2-inch mortars of 33rd Anti-tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, in the Sittang Bend area, 1 August 1945



Photo: General Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief India, inspecting troops, 1 August 1945



Photo: British troops in the Sittang Bend area, 1 August 1945



JAPAN

(Twentieth Air Force): During the night of 1/2 Aug, 801 of 836 B-29s dispatched carry out 1 mining, 5 firebomb and 1 bombing raids on Japan; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 305: 37 B-29s drop mines in Shimonoseki Strait, in Nakaumi Lagoon, at Hamada, Sakai, Yonago, Najin, and Seishin; 5 others mine alternate targets.
Mission 306: 169 B-29s attack the Hachioji urban area destroying 1.12 sq mi, 80% of the city; 3 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 307: 173 B-29s hit the Toyama urban area, a center of aluminum, ballbearing and special steel production, destroying 1.87 sq mi, 99.5% of the city; 1 other hits an alternate target.
Mission 308: 125 B-29s attack the Nagaoka urban area destroying 1.33 sq mi, 65.5% of the city; 5 others hit alternate targets.
Mission 309: 160 B-29s hit the Mito urban area destroying 1.7 sq mi, 65% of the city; 1 other hits a target of opportunity.
Mission 310: 120 B-29s bomb the Mitsubishi Oil Company at Kawasaki but could only add slightly to the damage previously inflicted; 2 other hit targets of opportunity. 30+ Iwo Jima based P-51s hit airfields and other targets in the Osaka-Nagoya area; bad weather prevents numerous other fighters from reaching targets.

FEAF: In Japan, about 50 B-24s bomb targets in the Nagasaki dock and harbor area; B-25s and fighter-bombers in the Nagasaki area hit docks, railroad yards, and shipping; other B-24s bomb Koniya Airfield and hit Kakeroma Island; 80+ P-47s hit railroad bridges and other railroad targets at Sendai and P-47s fly their first combat mission from Iwo Jima, joining VII Fighter Command P-51s in a sweep over S Honshu Island; and rolling stock and airfields are attacked in the Okazaki, Itami, and Nagoya areas.

RYUKYU ISLANDS

TG 95.2 (Rear Admiral Francis S. Low), a fast striking group consisting of large cruisers Alaska (CB-1) and Guam (CB-2), four light cruisers and nine destroyers, departs Okinawa and proceeds into the East China Sea to conduct anti-shipping sweeps off Shanghai, China.

TG 95.3 (Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf), consisting of three battleships, a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, three escort carriers, six destroyers and three destroyers escorts, accompanies TG 95.2 to furnish covering support.

GUAM

Photo: Aerial view of North Field, Guam, on 1 August 1945. Visible are United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortress of the 29th Bombardment Group, 1 August 1945



TINIAN

Colonel Paul Tibbets drafts the top secret order for the first atomic bombing attack in history. It only took him a few minutes to write it. The order was sealed and sent by special courier to General Curtis LeMay’s headquarters in Guam. Tibbets then selected which of his crews would fly with him on the mission. A total of seven B-29’s would be used in the mission. One would be located at Iwo Jima to serve as a stand-by aircraft. Three aircraft would fly ahead of the plane carrying the atomic bomb to assess the weather of the three target cities. This information would then be relayed back to the atomic bomb carrier. The remaining two B-29’s will accompany the atomic bomb carrier as observation aircraft.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED WAKE ISLAND

On Wake Island, the USN's Task Group 12.3 consisting of the light aircraft carrier USS Cabot with Light Carrier Air Group Thirty Two, the battleship USS Pennsylvania and a destroyer screen, bombs and bombards the island. This is the 7th attack on the island by the USN.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

B-24s bomb shipyards at Pontianak, Borneo and other B-24s hit barracks and AA guns along Makassar Strait, Celebes Island. P-38s strafe locomotives in the Soerabaja, Java area.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED FRENCH INDOCHINA

In French Indochina, B-24s bomb the Tourane marshalling yard while escorting P-51s strafe boxcars at Quang Nam

SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Bougainville, Allied troops seal off Japanese forces at Buin, on the southern tip of the island.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Manila, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz meet and agree on a line of demarcation to separate aerial operations undertaken by their forces. Except for B-29s and their escorts, the Far East Air Forces will operate west of 135W longitude and all Pacific-fleet controlled units will operate east of 135W longitude. Longitude 135W is slightly west of Kobe and Osaka on Honshu Island.

On Luzon Island, P-38s support ground forces ENE and SE of Mankayan and, along with US Marine Corps (USMC) aircraft, pound enemy positions and concentrations in the Upian area.

WESTERN PACIFIC

Far East Air Force (FEAF):. Unit moves during Aug 45: HQ V Bomber Command and HQ V Fighter Command from Clark Field, Luzon to Okinawa; HQ 71st Reconnaissance Group from Binmaley, Luzon to Ie Shima; 22d Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, from Finschhafen to Nielson Field, Luzon with C-47s; the detachment of the 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, operating from Sanga Sanga with P-61s, returns to base at Tacloban, Leyte. HQ AAF: During Aug 45, the 4th Reconnaissance Squadron (Long Range, Photographic), 311th Reconnaissance Wing (attached to 6th Reconnaissance Group), based at Tacloban, Leyte Island with F-7s, sends the detachment operating from Clark Field, Luzon to operate from Okinawa (squadron is mapping areas of the SW and W Pacific).

PACIFIC

Japanese merchant tanker Chokai Maru is damaged by marine casualty, 34°38'N, 134°56'E.

British submarines HMS Thorough and HMS Taciturn attack Japanese shipping in Bulelong Roads; while Taciturn engages shore batteries, Thorough sinks cargo vessels Hino Maru and Shoei Maru and shells warehouses.

Submarine chaser PC-784 collides with Army tug LT 666 in a dense fog off entrance to Amchitka, Alaska, harbor; both vessels suffer damage but there are no injuries to either crew.

[lordroel]

Day 2152 of World War II, August 2nd 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Photo: Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters awaiting disposal at Flensburg airfield in Germany, 2 August 1945



Photo: Cattle grazing amongst Junkers Ju 88 bombers awaiting disposal at Flensburg airfield in Germany, 2 August 1945



Soviet occupied Germany

The Potsdam conference ends. Attlee, Truman and Stalin agree to limit German industrial growth and transfer a significant amount of eastern German territory to the USSR and Poland (in return for land annexed by the Soviet Union). Allied reparations are to be paid for by German assets and major war criminals are to be brought to trial soon. German cartels, as well as war industries, are to be broken up. Going some way to accepting the controversial proposal of the US Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr., the Big Three propose that the German economy should "give primary emphasis to agriculture" and "domestic industries." In addition, Stalin confirms that the Soviet Union will join the war against Japan while also mentioning Japanese efforts to have the USSR mediate peace talks with the Americans and British.

YouTube (Potsdam Conference Ends - 1945)



United Kingdom

King George VI met with President Harry Truman on board HMS Renown in Plymouth Sound. The US President had flown from Germany to an airport in Devon, England, United Kingdom, and had toured the city of Plymouth.

Photo: President Harry S. Truman and King George VI of England on the quarterdeck of the HMS Renown where the President had lunch with the King. President Truman is preparing to leave England on the USS Augusta after attending the Potsdam Conference in Germany. The USS Augusta can be seen in the background, August 2, 1945



Photo: View of the HMS Renown, the ship that carried King George VI of England to his shipboard meeting with President Harry S. Truman after President Truman completed attending the Potsdam Conference in Germany. It is in waters near Plymouth, England, 2 August 1945



Photo: British King George VI pays a visit to President Harry S. Truman aboard the USS Augusta, in waters off Plymouth, England. President Truman is preparing to return to the United States after attending thek Potsdam Conference in Germany, 2 August 1945



Photo: King George VI of England inspects the crew of the USS Augusta as he visits the ship to see President Truman before the President's departure for the United States after attending the Potsdam Conference, 2 August 1945



Netherlands

Photo: Arrival of Princess Juliana and the princesses at Teuge airport, August 2, 1945



United States

Daily News, 2 August 1945 edition



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 B-25s, escorted by 2 P-47s, knock out a bridge at Sinyang and severely damage a bridge at Lohochai; 7 B-25s bomb the town of Sinning, and hit several truck convoys between Siangtan and Changsha and in the Siang Chiang Valley; 31 P-51s also bomb the town of Sinning; 40+ P-47s and P-51s knock out at least 3 bridges and damage others and attack shipping, fuel dumps, gun positions, trucks, railroad yards and general targets of opportunity around Sichuang, Shangkao, Yoyang, Hankow, Mingkiang, Sincheng, Yutze, Houmachen, Yuncheng, Anyang, and Kaoyi.

JAPAN

During the night (August 1-2), 820 US B-29 Superfortress bombers drop a record total of 6632 tons of bombs on five Japanese cities including Hachioji, Nagaoka, Mito, Toyama and the petroleum center of Kawasaki. Most of Toyama is obliterated. Also, Americans claim to have sunk 26 ships in the raids.

MALAYA

Submarine Bugara (SS-331) operating against Japanese coastal shipping off the Malay peninsula, sinks schooner with gunfire and takes on board crew. One lifeboat, however, sinks and fouls the submarine's port screw, damaging it, 06°40'N, 101°51'E. Later, Bugara happens across Malay pirates attacking Chinese-manned Japanese schooner en route to Singapore, 06°21'N, 102°15'E. The brigands flee upon Bugara's approach. After taking off the Chinese crew (who are grateful for the submarine's timely arrival, the Malayan cutthroats having already killed two crewmen) and sinking the schooner, Bugara then pursues the pirates and destroys them. Later, Bugara's divers, working in the dark, repair the screw damaged earlier in the day.

MARIANA

(Twentieth Air Force): Lieutenant General Nathan F Twining relieves Lieutenant General Curtis Emerson LeMay as Commanding General Twentieth AF; LeMay is assigned to USASTAF as Chief of Staff.

TINIAN

Fat Man bomb cases F-31 and F-32 arrive on Tinian, carried by 509th B-29’s Luke the Spook and Laggin’ Dragon. Fat Man assembly begins. Bombing date is set for August 11.

GUAM

Tibbets and his bombardier, Thomas Ferebee, arrive in Guam to meet with General LeMay to complete the remaining details of the mission order. The first order of business is to find out which target city was preferred by LeMay. LeMay’s answer was “Paul, the primary’s Hiroshima.” Tibbets provided an immediate response: “I’ve always preferred it as the target.” After some discussion on whether to fly into the wind or downwind for safety and bombing accuracy reasons, the conversation ends with a unanimous agreement to fly into the wind. The last order of business is for Ferebee to select his aiming point. Without hesitation, Ferebee places his index finger on the T-shaped Aioi Bridge located in the center of Hiroshima. LeMay nodded his head and Tibbets agreed, stating, “It’s the most perfect aiming AP [aim point] I’ve seen in this whole damn war.”

PHILIPPINES

Divers from USS Chanticleer discovered the wreck of destroyer Yuzuki under 70 feet of water near Cebu, Philippine Islands. Inspection operations by divers would last until 4 Aug 1945 to recover decoding machines in the radio shack.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

(Eleventh Air Force): On Shimushu, 5 B-24s visually bomb Kataoka Naval Base and 1 radar-bombs Kokutan Zaki and returns to base (600 miles or 966 km) on 3 engines.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force]: Bad weather cancels all FEAF missions from Okinawa. Thirteenth AF P-38s support ground forces on N Luzon, hitting pockets of resistance W of Kiangan and blasting enemy occupied caves on a ridge NW of Bontoe.

PACIFIC

Destroyers Conner (DD-582) and Charrette (DD-581) intercept and search Japanese hospital ship Tachibana Maru, which is found to be carrying arms and ammunition in boxes marked with red crosses; the destroyers place prize crew of 80 marines and sailors on board. Tachibana Maru is then taken to Morotai for examination.

While on routine patrol, the crew of a PV-1 Ventura of the USN's Patrol Bombing Squadron VPB-152 based on Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, sights an oil slick with 30 men in the water. Further observation reveals another group of 150 men. These are the survivors of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis that was sunk by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-58 on 30 July. The crew drops their life raft and six life jackets to the men in the water and radios for assistance. PBY Catalinas and surface ships commence search missions until 8 August; they pick up 316 survivors.

Army tender TP 122 grounds off East Cape, Amchitka, near Irakin Point; rescue tug ATR-32 is sent to the scene to assist.

USAAF mines sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Santo Maru off Niigata, Japan, 37°57'N, 139°04'E, and damage minesweeper W.17 south of Chinhae, Korea, 36°06'N, 128°40'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2153 of World War II, August 3rd 1945

YouTube (Mokusatsu!)



Soviet occupied Czechoslovakia

All Germans and Hungarians in Czechoslovakia were deprived of citizenship.

France

The battle cruiser Strasbourg is refloated at Toulon. It was scuttled in 1942.

United States

An American communique announces that US B-29 Superfortress bombers dropping mines over Japan have now sealed off all of the main ports, leaving the country totally blockaded. In a report by the US 20th Air Force, it is noted that every harbor of consequence in Japan and all those in Korea have been mined and it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of tons of shipping have been sunk or damaged since the mining program began in March.

Photo: A new production PBM-5 Mariner patrol bomber makes a jet-assisted take off from the Martin facility at Middle River, Maryland, on 3 August 1945



United Kingdom

The Atlee government announces the appointment of 19 new ministers, including Aneurin Bevan as Minister of Health and Emmanuel Shinwell as Minister of Fuel and Power.

Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 16 B-25s pound various railroad targets in E China; 50+ fighter-bombers attack bridges, railroad yards, storage areas, enemy troops, river and rail traffic, and various other targets as the campaign to disrupt the Japanese retreat from S and E China continues in spite of considerable bad weather

BURMA

Organized Japanese resistance comes to an end as the Allies win the "Battle of the Breakthrough." Of 10,000 Japanese troops defending the Pegu Yoma range, 8300 are estimated to be dead.

JAPAN

The J7W Shinden fighter took its first flight.

Photo: A prototype of J7W Shinden



IWO JIMA

(Twentieth Air Force): Fighters from Iwo Jima fly nearly 100 effective sorties throughout the Tokyo area, hitting airfields, rail installations, and trains.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

B-24s bomb airstrips at Tanamon and Sidate on Celebes Island and bomb the seaplane base on Kangean Island in the Java Sea

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

P-38s and B-25s support ground forces in N Luzon, hitting buildings in the Apunan area and Japanese positions at various locations including ridges SW of Kiangan and W of Banaue.

PACIFIC

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) sink Japanese merchant cargo ships No.3 Kamikage Maru outside Najin harbor and Tairetsu Maru in Kobe harbor, 34°39'N, 135°12'E; and transport Aga Maru off Takatakao Light; and damage army ship Osho Maru off Tsuruga, 35°40'N, 136°04'E; and merchant cargo ships Kokuyo Maru east of Hesaki and Shotai Maru in Fushiki harbor.

Cargo ship Taii Maru is damaged, agent unspecified, 5.6 kilometers off Karasu Jima.

British submarines HMS Trump and HMS Tiptoe attack Japanese Batavia-to-Singapore convoy escorted by Patrol Boat No. 109, sinking army cargo vessel Tencho Maru, 05°07'S, 106°05'E.

Navy Petroleum Reserve 4 Expedition, formed around cargo ship Spica (AK-16) and U.S. freighters Jonathan Harrington and Enos A. Mills, anchors off Icy Cape, Alaska. There it will remain until ice conditions improve at Point Barrow, its ultimate destination.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Chew (DD-106) underway at sea in the eastern Pacific area, 3 August 1945. Note the late World War II configuration of this old destroyer: the aftermost of her original four smokestacks was removed, with the remaining three shortened; retention of midships torpedo tubes and original four 4/50 guns, with one gun still mounted on her main deck aft; and K-Gun depth charge throwers in place of her after torpedo tubes. Chew's paint scheme is somewhat reminiscent of the 1941 vintage Camouflage Measure 1, with dark paint except on her smokestack tops and (apparently) her upper upper foremast



Photo: A British Royal Navy T-class destroyer steams next to the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-18) in August 1945. The destroyer's pennant number (D4?) is obscured by fuel oil. Five T-class destroyers and the carrier HMS Indefatigable (R10) were part of Task Group 38.3 in August 1945: HMS Teazer (D45), HMS Tenacious (D46), HMS Termagant (D47), HMS Terpsichore (D48), and HMS Troubridge (D49). The two funnel rings identify the ships as part of the 24th destroyer flotilla (all T-class destroyers). As the vertical stripe identifies the division leader in the flotilla (the second senior commander), the destroyer is most probably HMS Terpsichore (D48). In the distance are a long-hull Essex-class carrier, probably USS Randolph (CV-15, flagship RAdm Gerald F. Bogan), and the battleship USS North Carolina (BB-55), 3 August 1945

[lordroel]

Day 2154 of World War II, August 4th 1945

Soviet Union

The Soviets gifted a plaque to the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow that was secretly bugged with The Thing, one of the earliest covert listening devices ever invented. It would hang in the Spaso House for seven years until its secret was discovered.

United States

The area of command under General MacArthur is extended to include the Ryukyu Islands, south of Kyushu.

Netherlands

Photo: Clearing landmines at Hoek van Holland, 4 August 1945



Photo: A group of former German officers with a Dutch officer, 4 August 1945



Photo: German prisoners of war with a Dutch officer (right), 4 August 1945



Photo: After work, the German prisoners of war return to their barracks, 4 August 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, bad weather hampers operations however, 4 B-25s damage the Sincheng railroad bridge, 4 B-25s and 2 P-51s bomb Pailochi Airfield and hit trucks in the area, and 7 P-51s damage 12 locomotives between Taiyuan and Tsinan, destroy or damage several trucks near Shihkiachwang, and bomb a bridge near Chihsien. The detachment of the 490th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st BG (Medium), operating from Hsian, China with B-25s, returns to base at Hanchung.

BURMA

British troops in the Lower Sittang area clear the Japanese from the Pegu-Martaban railway at Abya, northeast of Pegu.

RYUKYU ISLANDS

(Tenth Air Force): The 127th, 155th and 156th Liaison Squadrons (Commando), US Army Forces, Pacific, begin a movement from Kalaikunda, India to Okinawa.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED SINGAPORE

Japanese guards execute seven captured American airmen.

P-38s on a sweep over Singapore, Malaysia claim 2 Japanese planes downed.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

American bombers attack Japanese positions at Surabaya on Java.

TINIAN

General Curtis LeMay officially confirms that the mission will take place on August 6. After seeing numerous B-29 crashes during take-off, Navy Capt. Parsons, head of the Los Alamos Scientific Team, suggests arming the bomb in flight, inserting the explosive charge during the early stage of the mission while flying at low level.

8/4/45; 3:00 PM [local]- Shortly after evening mess, the seven crews that would participate in the mission were gathered for a pre-flight briefing, which included discussions on routes, altitudes, radio frequencies and weather reports. Radio call was changed from VICTOR to DIMPLES. The first leg would be flown at 5,000 feet in order for Parsons to arm the bomb in flight.

CAROLINE ISLANDS

I-14 arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands at 1730 hours and disembarked her two M6A1 aircraft.

JAPAN

American aircraft drop leaflets warning of air attacks on 12 more cities.

B-25s over Kyushu, Japan hit an industrial area near Takanabe, bombing warehouses, factories, a railroad bridge, and marshalling yard.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-25s and P-38s support ground forces on Luzon, hitting Japanese forces near Santa Ines, in the Butitio area, and near Mount Obudan. B-24s support the ground action S of Fabrica on Negros Island. B-24s bomb Miti Airfield.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force]: The 20th Reconnaissance Squadron (Long Range, Photographic-RCM), 6th Reconnaissance Group, moves from Clark Field, Luzon to Okinawa with F-7s; the ground echelon of the 36th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Group, arrives on Okinawa from Clark Field (air echelon at Clark Field until Sep 45).

PACIFIC

Japanese merchant tanker Koshin Maru is sunk by mine in Osaka harbor, 34°37'N, 135°18'E. Mines also damage army cargo ship Tensho Maru outside Najin harbor, and merchant tanker No.4 Nanko Maru near Hesaki harbor light.

Navy PBMs sink Japanese vessel No.1 Hanshin Maru off China coast, 32°57'N, 117°26'E.

[lordroel]

Day 2155 of World War II, August 5th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

The missing items from the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Regalia collection were found hidden under a school in Nürnberg, Germany.

France

Paul Ferdonet -- the "Radio Traitor" of Stuttgart -- is executed.

Pacific War

CHINA

The Chinese 13th Army captures the town of Tanchuk. The Chinese 58th Division liberates Hsinning (Changchun).

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 20 P-51s knock out a bridge NW of Anyang and damage another NE of Kiehsiu, attack railroad targets during sweeps from Taiyuan to Suchow and Tehsien to Pengpu, and strafe rivercraft between Ichang and Lokehang.

JAPAN

(Twentieth Air Force): During the night of 5/6 Aug, 612 B-29s fly 1 mining, 1 bombing and 4 incendiary raids against Japan; 2 B-29s are lost. Mission 311: 27 B-29s mine the waters of the Sakai, Yonago, Nakaumi Lagoon, Miyazu, Maizuru, Tsuruga, Obama, Najin and Geijitsu areas; 1 other B-29 mines an alternate target.
Mission 312: 63 B-29s attack the Saga urban area destroying 0.02 sq,1.5% of the city; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 313: 92 B-29s hit the Maebashi urban area destroying 1 sq mi, 42.5% of the city; 4 others hit alternate targets.
Mission 314: 250 B-29s attack the Nishinomiya-Mikage urban area destroying 2.8 sq mi,29.6% of the city; 3 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 315: 106 B-29s bomb the Ube Coal Liquefaction Co. facility at Ube destroying 100% of the refining units and destroying or damaging 80% of other structures; 2 others hit alternate targets.
Mission 316: 64 B-29s attack the Imabari urban area destroying 0.73 sq mi, 76% of the city area. HQ
VII Fighter Command is officially assigned to HQ Twentieth AF. 100+ P-51s strike airfields and military installations in large area around Tokyo, scoring especially effective hits at Katori Airfield.

FEAF: In Japan, 330+ B-24s, B-25s, A-26s, P-47s, and P-51s pound Tarumizu town, the industrial area on Kyushu and many targets of opportunity on Kyushu and in the Ryukyu Islands.

RYUKYU ISLANDS

(Eighth Air Force): HQ 333d BG (Very Heavy) and 435th, 460th and 507th Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy) arrive at Kadena, Okinawa from the US with B-29s.

TINIAN

Little Boy, which is a uranium type bomb, is 12 feet long, is 28 inches in diameter, weighs 9,000 pounds, and was painted a dull gun metal gray is taken by trailer from the ordnance hut and placed in the loading pit.

Photo: Atomic Bomb, Little Boy, covered with canvas and being transported, 5 August 1945



8/5/45; 3:00 PM - Little Boy is loaded into the Enola Gay. Parsons soon arrives and began practicing arming the bomb using the Double Plug system. He emerged two hours later confidant he could arm the bomb in flight.

Photo: Atomic bomb, Little Boy, on trailer cradle being hoisted into bomb bay of Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, 5 August 1945



Photo: View of the loading of the "Little Boy" nuclear bomb into the Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" on Tinian, Mariana Island, 5 August 1945



8/5/45; 11:00 PM; The briefing for the three crews that would actually fly the 13 hour trip to the target began. Although the film of the Alamagordo (Trinity) test was not available, Parsons, who had seen the test, told the group about the bomb. The word "atom" or "atomic" was never mentioned. The Enola Gay would drop the bomb and immediately bank 155 degrees to the right. Sweeney, in The Great Artiste, would drop the 3 instruments at the same moment and immediately bank 155 degrees to the left. Marquardt, in the photo and observation plane, would fly slightly behind the others and thus would be out of immediate danger.

11:55 PM - The final pre-flight briefing was held.

Photo:  509th Composite Group aircraft immediately before their bombing mission of Hiroshima. Left to right: Big Stink, The Great Artiste, and Enola Gay, 5 August 1945



At about 0210 hours, seven American aircraft take off for Japan:

- "Enola Gay", piloted by Col. Tibbets carries the "Little Boy" uranium bomb.
- "The Great Artiste", piloted by Maj. Charles Sweeney, is assigned to drop the three instruments used to measure the blast effects of the bomb.
- "Necessary Evil"), flown by Capt. George Marquardt, carries the scientific observers.
- "Top Secret", flown by Capt. Chuck Knight, acts as a standby aircraft and flew to Iwo Jima in the event of mechanical problems with the Enola Gay.
- "Straight Flush" will act as a weather plane and fly ahead to primary target of Hiroshima.
- "Jabbitt III" will act as a weather plane and fly ahead to the secondary target of Kokura.
- "Full House" will act as a weather plane and fly ahead to the alternate target of Nagasaki.

Strike order for the Hiroshima bombing, as posted on Tinian Island



JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

B-24s bomb supply and personnel areas and AA positions in the Makassar area. B-24s bomb Miti.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED FRENCH INDOCHINA (VIETNAM)

Premier Tran Trong Kim returns from Hanoi after negotiating with the Japanese Governor-General for reversion of Cochinchina to Vietnamese imperial rule. In Hue, however, he faces a cabinet revolt over his handling of the matter and concerns that the country faces more pressing issues, like popular unrest and the threat of resumed famine. Within two days, all ministers have resigned. When Premier Kim proves unable to form a new cabinet, this technically leaves the old one in caretaker mode. Although the machinery of government continues to function, imperial leadership is disrupted at a critical moment.

NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

Photo: A Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing PB2B-1 Catalina (PA-K) from 6 (Flying Boat) Squadron landing at Tol Anchorage, New Britain, on 5 August 1945. The PB2B-1 was a licence-built Consolidated PBY



PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

P-38s support ground forces on Luzon, hitting Japanese concentrations ENE of Naguilian, near Mount Data, and at other points. B-24s pound Japanese positions S of Fabrica.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The 80th Fighter Squadron, 8th FG, moves from San Jose, Mindoro to Ie Shima with P-38s.

PACIFIC

Destroyer escort Earl V. Johnson (DE-702) is damaged by explosion [near-miss of kaiten fired by submarine I 53, Philippine Sea, 20°17'N, 128°07'E.

Destroyer Bristol (DD-857) is damaged in collision with oiler Ashtabula (AO-51) off Iwo Jima, 29°00'N, 142°00'E.

Submarine Aspro (SS-309) rescues USAAF P-51 pilot deep in Sagami Wan, covered by PB4Ys that splash 4 of 12 Japanese planes that try to interfere with the extraction.

Submarine Billfish (SS-286), attacking Japanese convoy in the Yellow Sea, sinks merchant cargo ship Kori Maru off the Kwantung Peninsula, 38°51'N, 121°59'E.

Submarine Pogy (SS-266) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Kotohirasan Maru in the Japan Sea about 30 miles west of Akita, Honshu, 39°52'N, 138°52'E.

Mines damage Japanese fast transport T.20 four miles off Koiwai Jima, Japan, and damage merchant cargo ship Nissho Maru in vicinity of Nanao and Oguchi, and merchant tanker No.32 Yoshitomo Maru, 5.5 kilometers off Genkai Jima.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Iki Maru is damaged by aircraft off Hamada Island.

RAAF Liberator sinks Japanese ship No.15 Eigyo Maru off western Flores Island.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.25 Hino Maru sinks after running aground in Bungo Suido off Hinomisaki Light.

War Dairy: Excerpt from the war diary of the U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Cecil J. Doyle (DE-368) of 1 to 5 August 1945, describing the rescue of survivors of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35). Indianapolis had been torpedoed and sunk on 30 July 1945 at 12°2′N, 134°48′E

[lordroel]

Day 2156 of World War II, August 6th 1945

United States

YouTube (President Truman Announces Bombing of Hiroshima)

Speaking from the ship USS Augusta, President Truman announced that the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945.



Major Richard I. Bong, the top-scoring American fighter ace of World War II (with 40 victories), dies while fight testing an experimental jet fighter at age 24.

VIII Fighter Command: Unit movements from England to the US: HQ 13th and HQ 20th Bombardment Wings from Horham and Snetterton Heath; HQ 385th BG and 548th, 549th, 550th and 551st Bombardment Squadrons from Great Ashfield with B-17s; HQ 388th BG (Heavy) and 560th, 561st, 562d and 563d Bombardment Squadrons from Knettishall with B-17s; HQ 452d BG from Deopham Green; HQ 493d BG and 860th, 861st, 862d and 863d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) from Debach with B-17s; 334th, 335th, 336th and 412th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 95th BG (Heavy), from Horham with B-17s; 406th and 857th Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy), 492d BG (Very Heavy), from Harrington and Alconbury respectively; the 568th, 569th, 570th and 571st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 390th BG (Heavy), from Framlingham with B-17s.

Photo: The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Bremerton (CA-130) underway off Portland, Maine (USA), on 6 August 1945



Canada

William Mackenzie King, the leader of the Liberal Party and nominally the prime minister, is finally reelected to Parliament in a by-election.

Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 P-51s and P-47s damage 10 locomotives between Tehsien and Suchow and 5 around Anyang, Kaifeng, and Loyang, and lightly damage bridges N of Chihsien and S of Houmachen.

GUAM

On Guam, British Admiral Fraser, commanding the British Pacific Fleet, invests American Admiral Nimitz with the Order of Bath.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED SINGAPORE

P-38 fighter attacked Singapore, 2 were shot down by their defense.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED WAKE ISLAND

Carrier Intrepid (CV-11)'s air group bombs Japanese installations on Wake Island as the ship is en route from Pearl Harbor to join TF 38 in the western Pacific.

RYUKYU ISLANDS

Okinawa-based aircraft pound targets on Kyushu, Japan; 150+ P-47s and A-26s fight bad weather to hit the primary, Miyakonojo; 170+ B-24s, B-25s, and P-47s hit Kagoshima as a secondary target; and 60+ B-25s and P-51s attack shipping and ground targets of opportunity in the Tsushima Strait area and in the N Ryukyu Islands. P-51s operating in the area between Kyushu and Korea bomb an airfield and strafe numerous targets of opportunity on Saishu Island and P-47s bomb Anjo on Tanega Island. Other aircraft, operating individually or in pairs, hit various targets of opportunity on the S Korea coast, in the Inland Sea, S Honshu, W Shikoku Island, throughout the N Ryukyu Islandss, and in the Shanghai, China area.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s pound resistance pockets on Negros Island in the Philippine Islands.

JAPAN (BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA)

[Times are in Tinian time unless otherwise noted. The time in Hiroshima is one hour behind Tinian.]

0000: Colonel Paul Tibbets gives a final briefing at one end of the crew lounge to the crews of Special Bombing Mission No. 13, consisting of the seven B-29’s. The target of choice remains Hiroshima. Tibbets is pilot, Robert Lewis is co-pilot of the weapon plane, the Enola Gay. The two observation planes (The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil) would be carrying cameras and scientific equipment and accompany the Enola Gay.

0015: Tibbets summons Chaplain William Downey, who invites the crews to bow their heads. Downey then reads a prayer that he composed specifically for this occasion.

“Almighty Father, Who wilt hear the prayer of them that love thee, we pay thee to be with those who brave the heights of Thy heaven and who carry the battle to our enemies. Guard and protect them, we pray thee, as they fly their appointed rounds. May they, as well as we, know Thy strength and power, and armed with Thy might may they bring this war to a rapid end. We pray Thee that the end of the war may come soon, and that once more we may know peace on earth. May the men who fly this night be kept safe in Thy care, and may they be returned safely to us. We shall go forward trusting in Thee, knowing that we are in Thy care now and forever. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

0112: Trucks pick up the crews of the two observation planes that will accompany the Enola Gay.

0115: A truck picks up the crew of the Enola Gay. Tibbets and Parsons sit in the front with the driver. In the back of truck are Dutch Van Kirk, Thomas Ferebee, Robert Lewis, Jacob Beser, Morris Jeppson, Bob Caron, Robert Shumard, Joseph Stiborik, and Richard Nelson. The crew wears pale green combat overalls. The only identification they have are the dog tags around their necks. Jacob Beser’s dog tag is stamped “H” for “Hebrew.”

0137: The three weather planes, Straight Flush, Jabit III, and Full House, take off, each one independently assigned to assess weather conditions over Hiroshima, Kokura, and Nagasaki.

0151: Big Stink takes off to assume its stand-by role as the strike spare plane at Iwo Jima.

0220: The final Enola Gay crew photo is taken. Tibbets turns to his crew and says, “Okay, let’s go to work.”

0227: Enola Gay’s engines are started.

0235: Enola Gay arrives at her takeoff position on the runway.

0245: Enola Gay begins takeoff roll. Colonel Paul Tibbets says to co-pilot Robert Lewis, “Let’s go.” He pushes all of the throttles forward. The overloaded Enola Gay lifts slowly into the night sky, using all of the more than two miles of runway.

0247: The Great Artiste takes off.

0249: Necessary Evil takes off.

0255: Ten minutes after takeoff, Dutch Van Kirk writes his initial entry in the navigator’s log.

0300: Capt. William “Deak” Parsons taps Tibbets on the shoulder, indicating that they were going to start arming Little Boy. Parsons and Morris Jeppson, the Electronic Test Officer, climb into the bomb bay.

0310: Parsons inserts the gunpowder and the detonator into Little Boy.

0320: Parsons and Jeppson complete inserting the charge into Little Boy, and climb out of the bomb bay.

0420: Van Kirk provides an estimated time of arrival over Iwo Jima of 5:52am.

0600: The B-29s rendezvous over Iwo Jima, climb to 9,300 feet, and set their course for Japan.

0715: Jeppson removes Little Boy’s safety devices and inserts the arming devices (changing from green plugs to red plugs).

0730: Tibbets announces to the crew: “We are carrying the world’s first atomic bomb.” He pressurizes the Enola Gay and begins an ascent to 32,700 feet. The crew puts on their parachutes and flak suits.

0809: The weather planes fly over the possible target cities. In Hiroshima, an air raid alert is communicated.

0824: The pilot of the Straight Flush weather plane sends Tibbets a coded message that states: “Cloud cover less than 3/10ths at all altitudes. Advice: bomb primary.” Tibbets turns on the intercom and announces, “It’s Hiroshima.” Tibbets then asks Richard Nelson to send a one word message to William L. Uanna, squadron security chief on Iwo Jima: “Primary.”

0831: The weather planes depart their locations. In Hiroshima, the all-clear is sounded.

0850: Flying at 31,000 ft, Enola Gay crosses Shikoku due east of Hiroshima. Bombing conditions are good, the aim point is easily visible, and no opposition is encountered.

0905: Van Kirk announces, “Ten minutes to the AP.” The Enola Gay is at an altitude of 31,060 feet with an air speed of 200 miles an hour when the City of Hiroshima first comes into view. It is high tide in the Sea of Japan, so the seven branches of the Ota River are completely full and still. Male students are on their way to work at the munitions factory. Schoolgirls are already demolishing more buildings to create additional fire lanes.

0912: Control of the Enola Gay is handed over to the bombardier, Thomas Ferebee, as the bomb run begins. A Radio Hiroshima operator reports that three planes have been spotted.

0914: Tibbets tells his crew, “On glasses.”

0914:17 (0814:17 Hiroshima time): Ferebee’s aiming point, the T-shaped Aioi Bridge, is in clear range. The 60-second sequence to automatic release of the bomb is engaged with the Norden bombsight. Luis Alvarez, one of the Manhattan Project’s senior scientists aboard The Great Artiste, releases two pressure gauges on parachutes in order to determine the bomb’s yield. People on the ground, looking at the single bomber six miles above, observe the small object as it floats down.

0915:15 (8:15:15 Hiroshima time): The bomb bay doors snap open, and Little Boy drops clear of its restraining hook. Ferebee announces, “Bomb away.” The nose of the Enola Gay rises ten feet as the 9,700 pound Little Boy bomb is released at 31,060 feet. Tibbets immediately pulls the Enola Gay into a sharp 155 degree turn to the right. Ferebee watches the bomb wobble before it picks up speed and falls away.

On the ground, a second air raid alert is called for. For an additional 44.4 seconds, the Enola Gay continues to flies north as the bomb drops toward its aiming point. When the designated detonation altitude is reached, Little Boy explodes over the city of Hiroshima.

At the time of the detonation, the Enola Gay is already eleven and a half miles away. Tibbets, with his back to the explosion, observes a silver blue flash and experiences a strange feeling in his mouth, the same feeling as if he touched the lead and silver fillings in his mouth with a fork.

Bob Caron, the tail gunner of the Enola Gay, is the only crew member facing Hiroshima at the time of detonation. He sees a shimmer in the atmosphere coming towards the plane. Not understanding what is happening, Caron remains quiet. Soon after, the first of the three consecutive shockwaves strike the Enola Gay and the fuselage creaks and groans with the sound of crinkling aluminum foil.

0916:02 (8:16:02 AM Hiroshima time): After falling nearly six miles in forty-three seconds, Little Boy explodes 1,968 feet above the Dr. Shima’s Clinic, 550 feet away from the aiming point of the Aioi Bridge. Nuclear fission begins in 0.15 microseconds with a single neutron, initiating a supercritical chain reaction that increases the temperature to several million degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the surface of the sun at the time the bomb casing blows apart. The yield is 12.5-18 Kt (best estimate is 15 Kt).

It is the peak of the morning rush hour in Hiroshima. Above the city, the fireball is rapidly expanding.

.1 seconds: The fireball has expanded to one hundred feet in diameter combined with a temperature of 500,000°F. Neutrons and gamma rays reach the ground. The ionizing radiation is responsible for causing the majority of the radiological damage to all exposed humans, animals and other biological organisms.

.15 seconds: The superheated air above the ground glows. A woman sitting on steps on the bank of the Ota river, a half a mile away from ground zero, instantly vaporizes.

0.2-0.3 seconds: Intense infrared energy is released and instantly burns exposed skin for miles in every direction. Building roofing tiles fuse together. A bronze Buddha statue melts, and even granite stones. Roof tiles fuse together, wooden telephone poles carbonize and become charcoal-like. The soft internal organs (viscera) of humans and animals are evaporated. The blast wave propagates outward at two miles per second or 7,200 miles per hour.

1.0 second and beyond: The fireball reaches its maximum size, approximately 900 feet in diameter. The blast wave slows to approximately the speed of sound (768 miles per hour). The temperature at ground level directly beneath the blast (hypocenter) is at 7,000° F. The mushroom cloud begins to form.

The blast wave spreads fire outward in all directions at 984 miles per hour and tears and scorches the clothing off every person in its path. The blast wave hits the mountains surrounding Hiroshima and rebounds back. Approximately 60,000 out of the city’s 90,000 buildings are demolished by the intense wind and firestorm.

Approximately 525 feet southwest from the hypocenter, the copper cladding covering the dome of the Industrial Products Display Hall is gone, exposing the skeleton-like girder structure of the dome. However, most of the brick and stonework of the building remains in place.

The ground within the hypocenter cools to 5,400°F. The mushroom cloud reaches a height of approximately 2,500 feet. Shards of glass from shattered windows are imbedded everywhere, even in concrete walls. The fireball begins to dim but still retains a luminosity equivalent to ten times that of the sun at a distance of 5.5 miles.

Photo: At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column, 6 August 1945



Nuclear shadows appear for the first time as a result of the extreme thermal radiation. These shadows are outlines of humans and objects that blocked the thermal radiation. Examples are the woman who was sitting on the stairs near the bank of the Ota River. Only the shadow of where she sat remains in the concrete. The shadow of a man pulling a cart across the street is all that remains in the asphalt. The shadow of a steel valve wheel appears on a concrete wall directly behind it because the thermal radiation was blocked by the outline of the wheel.

Russell Gackenbach, the navigator aboard Necessary Evil, at a distance of 15 miles from the atomic blast, is illuminated by light so bright that, even with his protective goggles on, he could have read the fine print of his pocket Bible.

On the ground, the firestorm continues to rage within an area which had now grown to over a mile wide. A gruesome, raging red and purple mass begins to rise in the sky. The mushroom column sucks superheated air, which sets fire to everything combustible. Bob Caron likens the sight to “a peep into Hell.”

Photo: For decades this image was commonly misidentified as the mushroom cloud of the Little Boy bomb that formed around 8:15 AM local time. However due to its greater height and the wholly different time of day, it is a pyrocumulus cloud that occurs frequently over firestorms



A coded message drafted by Parsons is sent to General Thomas Farrell at Tinian. It stated: “Clear cut, successful in all aspects. Visible effects greater than Alamogordo. Conditions normal in airplane following delivery. Proceeding to base.”

Enola Gay circles Hiroshima a total of three times beginning at 29,200 feet and climbing towards 30,000 feet before heading for home. It was 368 miles from Hiroshima before Caron reported that the mushroom cloud was no longer visible.

0930 (0830 Hiroshima time): The Kure Navy Depot sends a message to Tokyo that a bomb has been dropped on Hiroshima.

Photo: Hiroshima atom bomb cloud, believed to have been taken about 30 minutes after detonation of about 10km (6 miles) east of the hypocentre, 6 August 1945



1055 (0955 Hiroshima time): The US intercepts a message from the Japanese 12th Air Division reporting “a violent, large special-type bomb, giving the appearance of magnesium.”

1100 (1000 Hiroshima time): A message from Hiroshima to the Army Ministry references information about a new American bomb and reports that “this must be it.”

1458: Enola Gay lands in Tinian Island at the North Field. The first atomic bombing mission has lasted a total of twelve hours and thirteen minutes.

Photo: General Spaatz and other dignitaries await the return of the Enola Gay and her crew from mission to Hiroshima, 6 August 1945



Photo: Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" landing after the atomic bombing mission on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945



Photo: Enola Gay after strike at Hiroshima, entering hard-stand, 6 August 1945



1500 (1400 Tokyo time): The Domei News Agency telegram in Tokyo reports an attack on Hiroshima, but not the magnitude of the destruction.

Evening: A senior Japanese government administrator reports enormous destruction in Hiroshima.

WESTERN PACIFIC

[Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Unit moves: HQ 3d BG and 89th and 90th Bombardment Squadrons from San Jose, Mindoro Island to Okinawa with A-26s; HQ 8th FG and 36th Fighter Squadron from San Jose, Mindoro Island to Ie Shima with P-38s; ground echelon of 26th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Group, from Lingayen Airfield to Okinawa (air echelon remains at Clark Field, Luzon with F-5s).

Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-18) at sea in the Western Pacific on 6 August 1945. Note the scoreboard painted on the carrier's island. On deck are various aircraft of Carrier Air Group 86 (CVG-86)



PACIFIC

TG 95.3 planes, from escort carriers Lunga Point (CVE-94), Makin Island (CVE-93) and Cape Gloucester (CVE-109) (Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf) strike enemy shipping in Tinghai Harbor, China.

TF 58 planes damage Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.37 and small minelayer/netlayer Kyosai east of Nojimazaki, 34°52'N, 139°58'E.

Submarine Bugara (SS-331) comes across British submarine HMS Sleuth and four Japanese junks. Bugara, in display of Anglo-American cooperation, assists the British boat by sinking two of the enemy craft by gunfire, 06°51'N, 101°44'E.

Submarine Bullhead (SS-332) is sunk, probably by Japanese Army aircraft (73d Chutai), off Bali, Java Sea, 08°20'S, 115°42'E.

USAAF B-25s and P-51s (Far East Air Force) attack Japanese shipping in Tsushima Strait, sinking merchant cargo ships No.7 Shintai Maru and Kowa Maru five miles east of Tsuno Jima, 34°26'N, 129°16'E.

USAAF mines sink Japanese merchant cargo ships No.2 Chokai Maru off Fushiki Light, 38°49'N, 137°04'E, Isojima Maru in south channel of Kammon Strait, 33°56'N, 130°56'E, and No.2 Kozan Maru at 33°53'N, 132°00'E.

Japanese auxiliary minelayer Kinjo Maru and auxiliary netlayer Kosei Maru, are damaged by aircraft, near Kujukuruhama.

[lordroel]

Day 2157 of World War II, August 7th 1945

Yugoslavia

Josip Broz Tito refused to permit Peter II to return to Yugoslavia.

United Kingdom

The secret of radio direction finding (RDF), now called radar, is made public.

United States

Newspaper: San Francisco Chronicle August 7, 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy motor torpedo boat tender USS Alecto (AGP-14) underway in Chesapeake Bay off the Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland (USA), 7 August 1945, just after completion of her conversion. The second (starboard) "A" frame hoist is clearly visible. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 5L




Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS McCaffery (DD-860) in the outer harbor of San Pedro, California (USA), on 7 August 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): Unit moves in China: HQ Fourteenth AF from Kunming to Paishiyi; 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, based at Chengkung with P-51s, sends a detachment to operate at Pakhoi.

BURMA

British troops encounter determined resistance from Japanese forces in the flooded area between Myitkyo and the old Sittang River channel.

JAPAN

A message to Vice Chief of the Imperial Army General Staff Torashiro Kawabe reports: “The whole city of Hiroshima was destroyed instantly by a single bomb.” Kawabe writes in his diary that he was “shocked tremendously,” but that the Imperial Army must continue to resist.

Photo:  smouldering ruins of Hiroshima, 7 August 1945



Close advisor Koichi Kido meets with Emperor Hirohito to discuss the Hiroshima bombing.

Japanese radio condemns the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and denounces the United States, as the first country to employ the new weapon, as "the destroyer of mankind and as public enemy number one of social justice." Meanwhile, the first flight of the Nakajima Kikka (Orange Blossom) jet bomber takes place. The plane is based on the German Me262.

(Twentieth Air Force:) 154 B-29s fly a bombing mission during the day and 30 B-29s fly a mining mission during the night of 7/8 Aug; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 317: 124 B-29s, escorted by VII Fighter Command fighters, bomb the naval arsenal at Toyokawa. 1 B-29 is lost. After escorting the B-29s on their bombing mission, P-51s attack railroad targets and shipping in and near Magarimatsu, Chofu, Atsugi, and Sagami.
Mission 318: During the night of 7/8 Aug, 29 B-29s, escorted by FEAF P-47s, drop mines in Shimonoseki Strait, at Miyazu, Maizuru, Tsuruga, Obama and at Najin; 1 other mines an alternate target.

FEAF: In Japan, P-47s cover the Twentieth AF B-29 strike against Kyushu targets; B-24s and A-26s over Kyushu pound Tsuiki Airfield and other B-24s start fires at Omura; B-25s hit bridges and other targets at Matsubase and Kawajiri and bomb a convoy off Pusan, Korea; other B-25s hit Chiran Airfield and Izumi Airfields. fighter-bombers attack and considerably damage communications and transportation facilities throughout Kyushu.

GUAM

The decision to drop the second bomb is made on Guam. The date for dropping Fat Man is moved up to August 10, then to August 9, to avoid a projected 5 days of bad weather. This requires skipping many check out procedures during assembly.

RYUKYU ISLANDS

[Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The 8th and 13th Bombardment Squadrons, 3d BG, move from San Jose, Mindoro to Okinawa with A-26s.

FORMOSA

B-24s bomb Takao Airfield on Formosa.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

In the Philippines, organized Japanese resistance ends on the island of Mindanao.

On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s support ground forces near Ambuclao, Kiangan, Batangan, Aparri, Mankayan, Bontoc, and Tabayoc and the Palugloko Mountains. In the Netherlands East Indies, B-24s bomb an area E of Bandjermasin,

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

Photo: Labuan, North Borneo. Mosquito aircraft of No. 1 Squadron RAAF now operating against Japanese targets in Borneo are kept at concert pitch by the ground crews who are as proud of their aircraft as the men who fly them. Shown a Mosquito aircraft undergoing a thorough overhaul in readiness for exacting missions ahead, August 7, 1945



ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

(Eleventh Air Force): 5 B-24s bomb Kataoka Airfield on Shimushu Island; AA fire damages 2 B-24s.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, officers from the headquarters of the US 1st Army meet in readiness for the coming invasion of Japan.

In the Philippines, organized Japanese resistance ends on the island of Mindanao.

On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s support ground forces near Ambuclao, Kiangan, Batangan, Aparri, Mankayan, Bontoc, and Tabayoc and the Palugloko Mountains. In the Netherlands East Indies, B-24s bomb an area E of Bandjermasin,

PACIFIC

Submarine Pargo (SS-264), attacking Japanese convoy off northeastern Korea, sinking merchant cargo ship Rashin Maru, 41°15'N, 131°19'E.
Thirty USAAF B-29s mine Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Maizuru and Sakai, Japan, and Najin, Korea.

USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) on shakedown flight bomb Japanese installations at Truk, sinking auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 66, 07°23'N, 151°53'E.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Rumoe Maru is sunk by aircraft near My Tho, French Indochina.

USAAF B-25s (5th Air Force) attack Japanese convoy off Fusan, Korea, sinking Coast Defense Vessel No.39 at 35°06'N, 129°03'E, and merchant tankers No.7 Kinyu Maru and No.9 Nanki Maru near Koje-Do, 34°55'N, 128°44'E.

Japanese army cargo ship Kibitsu Maru is sunk by mine 250 meters east of Hiraiso, 34°37'N, 135°03'E.

Japanese merchant ship Keizan Maru is damaged by aircraft 13 miles south-southwest of Hime Jima light. Japanese merchant cargo ships Daigen Maru and Chiyotama Maru are damaged when they collide four miles south of Funagawa pier.