Air Operations, CBI
CHINA- More than 70 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack various targets.
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]Air Operations, East Indies
- Supplementing Royal Australian Air Force efforts, FEAF B-24s attack defensive positions at Sepinggang and troops at Balikpapan and near Manggar and Miri.
- 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s support Australian Army ground forces on Labuan Island.
| ]Air Operations, Formosa
- V Bomber Command B-24s attack port facilities at Kiirun.
- V Fighter Command P-51s attack the airfields at Taien and Toyohara.
- P-38s attack Kari.
| ]Air Operations, Japan
US Navy PB4Ys and 6 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack targets in the Kurile Islands.
[ | ]Air Operations, Philippines
V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers 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.
- Upon the death in action of the US 10th Army commander, Gen Simon B. Buckner, the III Marine Amphipious Corps commander, Lt-Gen Roy S. Geiger, is elevated to replace him. Geiger is thus the first (and still the only) aviator ever to command an American field army in battle.
| ]Air Operations, Pacific
US bombers begin a series of violent raids against 23 major Japanese towns, all with populations between 100,000 and 350,000.
[ | ]Dutch East Indies
Australian units reach Tutong in Brunei.
[ | ]Japan, Home Front
On instructions from Emperor Hirohito, Prime Minister Suzuki tells the Japanese Supreme Council of Emperor Hirohito's intention to seek peace with the Allies as soon as possible.
[ | ]Occupied Germany
Col-Gen Nikolai Berzarin, outspoken Soviet military commander in Berlin, is killed in a traffic accident. He was 40.
[ | ]Okinawa
The remains of the Japanese 32nd Army are still putting up a determined resistance to the attacks of the US III Amphibious Corps and XXIV Corps. Gen Simon B. Buckner is killed by an enemy shell while inspecting the lines of the 8th Marines. He is replaced as commander of the US 10th Army by Gen Roy S. Geiger, Commander of the 2nd Marine Division.
The US seaplane tender Yakutat (AVP-32) is damaged in a collision in the Okinawa area.
[ | ]Pacific
- The US motor minesweeper YMS-90 is damaged by a mine in the Balikpapan area of Borneo and later sunk by US forces.
- The US submarine Apogon (SS-308) attacks a Japanese convoy southwest of Paramushiro, Kurils, and sinks the transport Hakuai Maru (2614t) and the guardboat No.2 Kusonoki Maru.
- The US submarine Bonefish (SS-223) sinks the Japanese cargo ship Konzan Maru (5488t) off the west coast of Honshu. Bonefish, however, is later sunk by escort destroyer Okinawa, Coast Defense Vessel No.63, Coast Defense Vessel No.75, Coast Defense Vessel No.158, and Coast Defense Vessel No.207 in the Sea of Japan. Bonefish is reported overdue and presumed lost on July 30, 1945.
- The Japanese auxiliary sailing vessel No.58 Sakura Maru is sunk by the US submarine Bullhead (SS-332) in Sunda Strait off Merak.
- The US submarine Dentuda (SS-335) sinks the Japanese guardboats Reiko Maru and Heiwa Maru in the East China Sea.
- The Japanese ship Wakae Maru is sunk by the US submarine Tinosa (SS-283) off Goseong, Korea.
- Mines sink the Japanese transport Shintai Maru west of Noto-Hanto, auxiliary submarine chaser CHA-107 southwest of Mojizaki light and merchant cargo ships Nissho Maru (1276t) off Moji and Bizan Maru (3420t) off northern Honshu.
| ]Philippines
On Luzon units of the US 37th Division, with an armored column, continue their advance in the Cagayan valley, taking Ilagan airfield and crossing the Ilagan River.
On Mindanao the Japanese cease all organized resistane. For some time their 35th Army has been fored to live on roots and the bark of trees. However, small units continue to resist for some time.
[ | ]United States, Home Front
Eisenhower addresses a joint meeting of the US Congress as he begins a series of victory celebrations in his honor.
[ | ]United States, Planning
President Harry S. Truman approves Operation OLYMPIC, the invasion of Kyushu. It involves three army and three marine divisions that will land near Kagoshima Bay. Three more army division will land at Miyazaki on Kyushu's east coast. Truman delays authorizing CORONET and asks the JCS and the service secretaries for their views on whether the Soviet Union's assistance is still necessary to defeat Japan. Gen Marshall believes that a Soviet declaration of war may be enough to force the Japanese to surrender. All recomment that the president seek a way to modify the unconditional surrender terms for Japan so that Emperor Hirohito, the national leader, can stay in power. Truman also hears from his political advisers that the war must be ended soon before the British and the Soviets become too deeply involved in the postwar planning in the Pacific.
[ | ]War Crimes
In London William 'Lord Haw Haw' Joyce goes on trial. He will be found guilty of broadcasting war propaganda from Germany and will be executed.
[ | ]Images from June 18, 1945
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