Air Operations, CBI

• FEAF B-25s attack Itu Aba Island.

• 10 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 3 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack bridges at Quang Tri and Tho Linh, and river traffic at Wuchou, China.
• 30 51st Fighter Group P-38s and P-51s attack river and rail targets at Bac Ninh, Duc Tho, Hanoi, Vinh, and areas of southern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Kuching and Pontianak airfields on Borneo.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Jesselton airfield on Borneo.

Air Operations, Japan

• During the morning, US Navy carrier aircraft from Task Force 38 and Royal Navy carrier aircraft from Task Group 37.2 continue to mount punishing strikes against targets in and around the Inland Sea.
• FEAF B-24s attack Kikai Shima and the town area at Tsuiki.
• US carrier-based F6Fs and F4Us down a D4Y 'Jill' dive bomber, a Ki-21 'Sally' medium bomber, a utility airplane, and 11 fighters over airfields on Honshu between 0610 and 0645 hours.
• A VF-16 F6F downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane at sea at 0830 hours. a VBF-6 F4U downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane over Task Force 38 at 1822 hours.
• A VF(N)-91 F6F downs a K5Y 'Willow' trainer at sea at 1823 hours.
• A VF(N)-91 F6F downs a B7A 'Grace' torpedo bomber at sea at 1850 hours.
• Carrier strikes planned for the afternoon are canceled in the face of bad weather. Nevertheless, in only a day and a half, the carrier aircraft have sunk or severely damaged most of the remaining ships of the Combined Fleet: 3 aircraft carriers, a battleship-carrier, a battleship, 3 heavy cruisers, 2 obsolete cruisers, 5 destroyers, and many lighter combat vessels.
• During the night 75 315th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack oil-industry targets at Kawasaki.504th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines off several port cities.
• 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Korea

During the night 504th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines off Pusan and Seishin.

Air Operations, Philippines

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack troops on Negros.

Burma

Japanese forces pull out of Taunggyi in the Shan states of Burma.

Diplomatic Relations

There is a recess in the conference for the next 4 days when the British delegation leave for their election results. Attlee is the new prime minister and Bevin the foreign secretary.

Radio Tokyo indicates Japan would accept peace terms but not unconditional surrender.

Pacific

• For the second day in a row, aircraft of the US 3rd Fleet attack Kure naval base and the airfields at Nagoya, Osaka and Miho. The battleships Hyuga, Ise and Haruna, the escort carrier Kaiyo and the heavy cruisers Aoba and Iwate are sunk. These air and naval attacks are taking place against a country on the verge of collapse, which no longer offers any resistance.
• The cruisers Pasadena (CA-24), Springfield (CL-66), Wilkes-Barre (CL-103) and Astoria (CL-90) bombard air bases in southern Honshu.

Philippines

On Mindanao all organized Japanese resistance ceases in the Sarangani Bay sector. Mopping up begins, but is not completed until August 11.

Images from July 25, 1945

HMS Formidable being oiled at sea from a tanker. A destroyer is also being oiled from the tanker at the same time. Chance-Vought Corsair aircraft can be seen on Formidable's flight deck.

HMS Formidable Being Oiled At Sea

The pipes and drums of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's), which accompanied the Canadian Berlin Battalion, on parade before the Column of Victory, 25 July 1945.

The Canadian Berlin Battalion

On 25 July 1945, a Navy PBY landed near a mine field to pick up Lt. Brock who had been shot down by the Japanese. Lt. Brock had been operating off the US Carrier Lexington (CV 16). A PBY, operated by Air Force Captain Harry Morgan, landed in the minefield and to pick up Lt. Brock but Captain Morgan sustained major damage to his PBY. A B-17 Flying Fortress operating as a member of the Air-Sea Rescue Group then dropped a rescue boat to Lt Brock and the crew of the PBY. USS Peto was dispatched to the area to rescue the me

Navy PBY Lands near a Mine Field

Ballikapapan, Borneo. July 1945. Australian soldiers firing 25 pounders on Japanese positions

Firing 25-pounders on Japanese Positions