Air Operations, CBI

• 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s, 2 426th Night Fighter Squadron P-61s, and 13 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack various targets.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the port area at Hong Kong.

• 44 90th and 380th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack rail yards at Saigon.

Air Operations, East Indies

• Supplementing Royal Australian Air Force efforts, XIII Fighter Command P-38s support Australian Army ground forces in the Brunei Bay area and attack other targets on Borneo.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s provide on-call support for Australian Army ground forces in the Brunei Bay area.

Air Operations, Japan

• 4 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s attack 4 freighters and 2 barges in the Kurile Islands.
• 1 B-25 is downed by anti-aircraft fire.
• Task Unit 32.3 carrier aircraft attempt to attack targets on Kyushu after topping off their fuel tanks at Okinawa's Kadena Field. Finding their targets completely obscured by clouds, the strike aircraft attack alternate targets at Amami O Shima and return to the carriers following a refueling stop at Kadena.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 2 386th Bomb Squadron B-32 very heavy bombers attack Batan Island. The attack on Batan Island is the first use of the B-32 very heavy bomber, of which only a very small number will be deployed in the Pacific War, all with the 312th Light Bomb Group’s 386th Bomb Squadron.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack various targets and support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.

Britain, Home Front

Eisenhower receives the Order of Merit and the Freedom of City of London.

Europe

Yugoslav forces withdraw from Trieste after urging New Zealand and Indian troops to pull out of the disputed city.

Okinawa

The Japanese infantry (marines) cut off in the Oroku peninsula, hammered by incessant American fire, show signs of giving way. Some give themselves up and many commit suicide. In a night attack the 1st Marine Div captures the west end of Kunishi Ridge. In the XXIV Corps sector the 96th Div attacks Mount Yuza without success, but gains some positions in the Mount Yaeju sector.

Philippines

On Luzon the US 145th Inf overcomes Japanese resistance at Orioung Pass, occupies the town of Orioung and advances to some positions overlooking the town of Balite.

All resistance ends in the Visayan Islands. US dead in the campaign is 835 with 2,300 wounded. Japanese losses are estimated at 10,000.

Images from June 12, 1945

Labuan Island. 12 June 1945. Lt-Col Mervyn Roderick Jeanes, Commanding Officer 2/43 Infantry Battalion (3) greeting Rear-Adm R B Royal, US Navy (1) during and inspection of the battalion area. Identified PersonnelL are:- Lt-Gen Sir Leslie J Morshead, General Officer commanding I CORPS (2); Maj-Gen G F Wootten, GOC 9 DIVISION (4); Capt G D Combe, Adjutant, 2/43 Infantry Battalion.

Battalion Area Inspection

Members of the first contingent of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (C.W.A.C.) entering Hamm, Germany, 12 June 1945. (LAC)

Canadian Women’s Army Corps

Australian wounded are evacuated from the fighting during the Battle of Porton Plantation, 12 June 1945

Australian Wounded Are Evacuated

A Sherman from Company B, 775th Tank Battalion, works with 37th Infantry Division doughboys on 12 June 1945 in Luzon’s Cagayan valley, Philippines. The tankers proved they could work in rugged jungle terrain that nobody had ever imagined at the start of the war. (Signal Corps photo)

Sherman Tank in the Philippines