Air Operations, CBI

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 39 14th Air Force P-47s and P-51s attack various transportation targets.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack an arms factory in Canton.

Air Operations, Formosa

V Fighter Command P-51s attack targets near Takao and targets of opportunity on Hoko Island.

Air Operations, Japan

• Unimpeded by aerial opposition, hundreds of Task Force 38 carrier aircraft pummel Japanese air bases, shipping and transportation targets, and an array of other military targets on Hokkaido and northern Honshu. It is estimated that Japan’s maritime coal-carrying capacity is halved by this series of raids.
• 58 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Tomitaka and Usa airfields on Kyushu.
• 25 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack targets on Kikai, Tamega, and Yaku islands.
• VII Fighter Command fighter-bombers based on Iwo Jima attack airfields and tactical targets on Honshu.
• A 35th Fighter Group P-51 downs an N1K 'Rex' floatplane fighter near the Kumamoto airfield on Kyushu at 1300 hours.
• 21st Fighter Group P-51s down 4 fighters in the Nagoya area between 1330 and 1400 hours.
• During the night 59 315th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack an oil facility at Kudamatsu. 6th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines off Niigata and Naoetsu.

Air Operations, Korea

During the night 6th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines off Najin, Pusan, and Wonsan.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Bomber Command B-25s and V Fighter Command P-38s and P-51s support US 8th Army ground forces on Luzon.

Air Operations, Pacific

10 large Japanese cities are devastated by US bombers.

Diplomatic Relations

(when?) Italy declares war on Japan.

Dutch East Indies

Australian troops capture Mount Batochampar in Borneo which has been a key Japanese defense position.

Pacific

• Another 3 battleships head a bombardment of the iron and steel works at Muroran.
• US carrier-based aircraft sink the Japanese minesweeper No. 24 and the coast defense vessel No. 219 off northern Honshu, Japan.
• The US destroyer Flusser (DD-368) is damaged in a collision in the Balikpapan area of Borneo.
• The US light minelayer Thomas E. Fraser (DM-24) is damaged in a collision in the Okinawa area.

Images from July 15, 1945

'Gadget' atomic device being readied for Trinity Test, 15 July 1945.

Preparing for Atomic Test

Redesigned Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-220, 15 July 1945

Redesigned Landing Craft

Japanese wooden luggers under attack by 3rd fleet planes on 15 July 1945, in Hachinohe harbor, northern Honshu. Photographed from a USS Randolph (CV-15) plane.

Japanese Wooden Luggers Under Attack

Churchill steps off his plane in Berlin, 15 July 1945 for the Potsdam Conference.

Heading for the Potsdam Conference