IndochinaHo Chi Minh proclaims the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi. [  ]
JapanA little after 8:00am, on board the battleship Missouri at anchor in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and the Chief of Staff Gen Yoshijiro Umezo, representing the Japanese government and armed forces, sign the instrument of capitulation in the presence of Gen MacArthur. Then MacArthur too, in the name of the Allies, signs the document, which has been prepared in duplicate, with copies in Japanese and English. At MacArthur's wish, the ceremony is attended by the American Gen Wainwright, the hero of Bataan, and the British Gen Percival, defeated at Singapore, both of whom have just been freed from prisoner-of-war camps. |
The document is countersigned by Adm Chester W. Nimitz for the United States, Adm Sir Bruce Fraser for Great Britain, Gen Sir Thomas Blamey for Australia, Gen Hsu Yung-chang for China, Gen Kuzma N. Derevyanko for the USSR, Adm Conrad E. L. Helfrich for the Netherlands, Gen Jacques Leclerc for France, Col M. Moore-Cosgrave for Canada and Air-Marshal Leonard Isitt for New Zealand. So ends the greatest conflict in history. It has lasted 5 years and cost the lives of 55 million people. 3 million more are missing. The material damage cannot be calculated. The legacy of devastated lands, starving refugees, broken homes, and the wholly new political framework emerging from the rubble of Europe and Asia, must now be faced. [] |
Occupied JapanIn Operation BLACKLIST the US 6th and 8th Armies begin landing. [ |   ]PacificTruk in the Caroline Islands, Pagan and Rota in the Marianas and the Palau Islands surrender. [ | ]United States, Home FrontV-J-Day celebrations take place. [ | ] |
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PhilippinesThe Japanese forces of Gen Tomoyuki Yamashita surrender. [] |
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Diplomatic RelationsThe Allies inform Spain that they intend to re-establish the international zone of Tangier. [ | ]
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Occupied SingaporeBritish-Indian forces return to Singapore. [] |
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United States, Home FrontThe State Department alleges that the Japanese Government ignored 19 US protests against atrocities committed against American troops. [ | ] |
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Diplomatic RelationsThe unconditional surrender of strong Japanese forces in the southwest Pacific is signed aboard the British carrier Glory off Rabaul. [ | ]
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Occupied GermanyEisenhower lifts the Press censorship. [ | ] |
United States, Home FrontVice-Adm John S. McCain, ex-commander of the US Navy's TF 58, dies of a heart attack at age 61. [ | ] |
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Occupied GermanyAn Allied Victory Parade is held in Berlin. [ | ] |
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Occupied JapanThe US 1st Cavalry Division enters Tokyo. Gen Tojo attempts suicide to avoid arrest and trial for war crimes. He will be hanged in 1948. [ | ] |
Occupied KoreaAmericans land at Inchon in response to the Soviet occupation of North Korea. [] |
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Occupied JapanMacArthur orders the dissolution of the Imperial GHQ and imposes censorship. [ | ] |
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Occupied JapanFormer Prime Minister Hideki Tojo attempts suicide in an attempt to escape arrest on war crimes charge. [ | ] |
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Occupied JapanField Marshal Hajime Sugiyama, C-in-C of the Japanese Home Army, commits suicide. [ | ] |
SingaporeJapanese forces in southeast Asia surrender at Singapore. [] |
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BurmaJapanese forces surrender at Rangoon. C-in-C Hyotaro Kimura surrenders October 24, 1945. [] |
New GuineaLt-Gen Hataso Adachi of the Japanese 18th Army surrenders on Wom airfield, near Wewak. [] |
Occupied GermanyThe British military authorities publish a Gestapo 'deathlist' of 2,300 British and Allied notables, ranging from Churchill and the Chief Rabbi to Jacob Epstein, Noel Coward and leaders of the French, Polish and Czech governments-in-exile. [ | ] |
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Dutch East IndiesThe Japanese garrison at Celebes surrenders at Menado. [ | ] |
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Tuesday, September 18thUnited States, Home FrontHenry L. Stimson resigns as Secretary for War. He is succeeded by R. B. Patterson. [ | ] |
Wednesday, September 19thOccupied IndochinaBritish and French forces suppress Vietnamese nationalist insurgents at Saigon. Britain, Home Front'Lord Haw-Haw' is sentenced to death at the Old Bailey, London. [ | ] |
Thursday, September 20thPacificBritish and US warships arrive at Shanghai. [] |
Thursday, September 27thOccupied JapanEmperor Hirohito visits Gen MacArthur in Tokyo. [] |
Friday, September 28thOccupied GermanyPatton ridicules the 'de-nazification' program in Bavaria. [] |
Saturday, September 29thArgentina500,000 people demonstrate against Juan Perón in Buenos Aires. []Dutch East IndiesBritish troops land in Java to combat rebellious nationalists. [] |
Britain, Home FrontThere is a rail disaster at Bourne End, Hemel Hempstead. 44 people are killed and 88 injured. [] |
China, Home FrontUS Marines land at Tientsin. [] |
| [ August 1945] |
