Air Operations, CBI

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 4 14th Air Force P-51s attack a bridge near Hsihhsiassuchi.
• 111 fighter-bombers, in flights of 2 to 4 aircraft, attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack warehouses at Dong Hoi.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Keningau and Kudat airfields on Borneo and Limboeng on Celebes.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack the Labuan airfield and the Ranau airfield on Borneo.

Air Operations, Formosa

• Weathered out of the Matsuyama airfield, 9 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Taihoku with the aid of radar, and other B-24s attack Kiirun, Koshun, and Taito.
• 23 22nd Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack port facilities and warehouses at Kiirun.
• 53 38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s attack the town area at Mato.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers mount numerous missions in support of US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Panay.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
• US Army artillery and 5th Air Force aircraft break up a major Japanes counterattack on Luzon before it can begin.
• US 6th Army ground forces open their final assault against the last major Japanese pocket of resistance in southern Luzon, an operation that will require nearly 700 V Fighter Command fighter-bomber ground-support sorties through May 18.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• VMF-224 F4Us down a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter and a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter northeast of Okinawa at 0845 hours.
• A VC-97 FM downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber at sea at 0906 hours.
• A VMF-224 F4U downs a B5N 'Kate' torpedo bomber southwest of Okinawa at 1915 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The German submarine U-853 is sunk by the US destroyer escort Atherton (DE-169) and the frigate Moberley (PF-63) near Cape Cod, Mass.
• The US destroyer escort Farquhar (DE-139) sinks the German submarine U-881 in the North Atlantic area.

Burma

The 76th Bde of the 26th Indian Div, XV Corps, advancing north from Rangoon, link with units from the 17th Indian Div, IV Corps, at Hlegu. As a result the Japanese 28th Army is cut off from the rest of the Japanese forces in Burma. Although many scattered Japanese forces remain in Burma west of the Sittang toward Thailand and in the southwest of the country, the campaign is virtually over. Mopping up operations will continue as far as the monsoon weather permits, but British attention will be directed more to preparations for the campaign in Malaya which is to be the next major move. This, of course, will never take place because of the Japanese surrender.

Diplomatic Relations

Portugal severs diplomatic relations with the Dönitz Government.

Dutch East Indies

The Japanese are forced to evacuate the town of Tarakan on the island of that name, near the northeast coast of Borneo.

Eastern Front

Fighting continues in Czechoslovakia, near Olmütz, in East Prussia, on the Frische Nehrung, and in Croatia against Tito's troops.

Breslau surrenders to the Soviet 6th Army, the 40,000-strong garrison having suffered, 30,000 killed.

The Soviets launch the Prague Offensive with the 1st Ukrainian, 2nd Ukrainian, 3rd Ukrainian and 4th Ukrainian Fronts

more than 2 million Soviet and Polish troops against Army Group Center. The 1st Ukrainian Front attacks the 4th Panzer and 17th Armies and is soon in the rear of the German 7th Army. The 4th Ukrainian Front shatters the 1st Panzer Army, and the 2nd Ukrainian Front cuts through the 8th Army.

The German XCVII Corps, part of Army Group E, surrenders to the Yugoslav 4th Army.[MORE]

European War Zone

Units of the US 3rd Army take Pilsen in Czechoslovakia but Patton is ordered, much to his disgust to halt his advance there and allow the Soviets to occupy the rest of the country as has been arranged. The fighting in Prague between the resistance and the German forces goes on.

Occupied Czechoslovakia

The SS-sponsored Russian army of PoWs under Gen Vlazov join in the fight against the (?)Germans for Prague. American tanks penetrate to the suburbs. The Soviets request the US 3rd Army to withdraw at this point, which it does, falling back 60 miles from Prague.

Okinawa

The 1st Marine Div, on the right of the American line, is held up by resolute resistance of the enemy on the heavily fortified Shuri line. One regiment of the 77th Div makes slight progress south of the Maeda Escarpment, in the center. The units of the 7th Div are gradually eliminating the Japanese units that infiltrated into the Tanabaru area. Japanese losses in their offensive are at least 5,000 killed.

Two US ships are damaged during the day, the battleship South Dakota by an accidental explosion and the floating drydock ARD-28 by a Japanese horizontal bomber.

Philippines

On Luzon in the US I Corps sector, the 25th Div continues operations toward Balete Pass; one of its regiments finally takes the Kembu plateau. In the XI Corps sector, the 43rd Div advances on Ipo. Aircraft and artillery prevent the Japanese from counterattacking.

On Mindanao, the US 24th and 31st Divs overrun the Japanese positions north of Davao, where the main body of the Japanese 35th Army under Gen Gyosaku Morozumi is concentrated.

Western Front

Pilsen, in Czechoslovakia, is reached by the 97th Div, V Corps, US 3rd Army. The XII Corps advances toward Prague.

Images from May 6, 1945

An up-armoured M4A3E8 Sherman of 'A' Company, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division in Horaždovice, Czechoslovakia, 6 May 1945

4th Armored Division Sherman in Horaždovice

Australian Army Pvt. C.E. Collins (center) of 'C' Company, 2/48th Australian Infantry Battalion, who was wounded in the arm by a grenade during an attack on Sykes Feature during the Battle of Tarakan (Operation Oboe One), speaks to Captain Johnston, also of 'C' Company. Pvt. Collins had killed two Japanese soldiers and wounded another from approximately six feet range during the attack. Tarakan island, Borneo, Dutch East Indies (now, Tarakan Island, North Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia). 6 May 1945. (Image taken by Robert Eric Donaldson)

Action on Tarakan Island

Australian, British and New Zealand former POWs waiting to board No 463 Squadron Lancasters at Juvincourt near Rheims, as part of the massive operation to fly POWs home, 6 May 1945

Flying Former POWs Home

Cheering survivors greet American troops of the 11th Armored Division of US 3rd Army as they enter the Mauthausen concentration camp a day after the actual liberation, 6 May 1945

Mauthausen Survivors Greet US Troops

Barricades in the streets of Prague, 6 May 1945

Barricades in Prague

Soviet troops escorting German officers to surrender negotiations, Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), May 6, 1945

Surrender Negotiations in Breslau

Italian partisans that had been fighting with the US 5th Army march surrendered German troops through Milan, May 6, 1945

Marching the German through Milan