Air Operations, CBI

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and more than 70 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets associated with the Japanese Army withdrawal from southern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Limboeng and Mandai airfields on Celebes and an airstrip near Kuching.
• FEAF B-24s and US Marine Corp and Navy carrier-based aircraft support Australian Army ground forces around Balikpapan.
• A VMF-511 F4U operating from the USS Block Island downs an E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance plande near Balikpapan at 0600 hours.
• The headquarters of the Royal Australian Air Force’s 1st Tactical Air Force is established ashore at Balikpapan and assumes control for all air-support missions and aircraft.

Air Operations, Japan

• 36 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s, organized into 2 flights, attack the Chiran airfield on Kyushu.
• 35th Fighter Group P-51s based on Okinawa attack Japanese Navy floatplanes in Fukuoka Harbor. 35th Fighter Group P-51s down 3 A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter-bombers over Sasebo at 1315 hours.
• During the night, 116 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Takamatsu. 125 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Kochi. 106 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Himeji. 129 314th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Tokushima. 8 B-29s attack other targets. 26 505th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s sow mines in Shimonoseki Strait and off Funakawa and Maizuru.
• 3 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack several targets on Luzon.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

A VMF(N)-543 F6F night-fighter downs a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter just off Ie Shima at 0345 hours.

Dutch East Indies

The troops landed at Balikpapan take Sepinggan airfield and by the 5th have cleared most of the oil producing area in the immediate vicinity. The Australian 7th Div is now making good advances into Borneo's interior and along its coastline.

Occupied Germany

The first US occupation troops arrive in Berlin. A British contingent arrives on July 4.

Pacific

The US oiler Ashtabula (AO-51) is damaged in a collision in the Okinawa area.

Images from July 3, 1945

Private Aubrey Carl Kotz and Private W. Spence of 7 Platoon, A Company, Australian 2/10 Battalion during Battle of Balikpapan, Borneo, 3 Jul 1945 (Australian War Memorial)

Australians during the Battle of Balikpapan

3 July 1945, the entry of the Hunt Class destroyers Cattistock, Cottesmore, and Garth, the first British destroyers to enter Hamburg.

First British destroyers enter Hamburg

7th Australian Division Matilda Tank in Action at Balikpapan 1945, 3 July 1945

Matilda Tank in Action

Sergeant R S Baker of the Army Film & Photographic Unit (AFPU) looks at one of the giant chandeliers in the ruins of Hitler's Reich Chancellery in Berlin, 3 July 1945

Giant Chandelier in the Reich Chancellery