 |
| 05/01/1945 |
Australian troops land at Saposa to
engage Japanese forces at Waitavolo. |
| 09/01/1945 |
U.S. troops land at Lingayen Gulf
on Luzon. 100,000 men are ashore in a single day, which is
the largest Pacific operation so far. |
| 11/01/1945 |
U.S. troops establish a firm hold
on the Luzon beachhead. |
| 15/01/1945 |
U.S. troops now hold 45 miles of the
Lingayen Gulf coast. |
| 19/01/1945 |
USAAF B29 bombers destroy the Kawasaki
aircraft works near Kobe, in Japan. |
| 24/01/1945 |
U.S. troops capture Clark
Field, the main Japanese airbase on Luzon. |
| |
 |
| 01/02/1945 |
U.S. troops land unopposed
to the Southwest of Manila. |
| 05/02/1945 |
MacArthur orders a containment in
the northern Philippines, as the main effort is directed to
the capture of Manila. The Australians land on the Japanese
stronghold of New Britain, East of New Guinea. |
| 13/02/1945 |
U.S. troops capture the last Japanese
naval base and airfield on Luzon. |
| 15/02/1945 |
Japanese forces are now trapped in
the Manila rectangle, which is just 5,000yds by 2,000yds. |
| 16/02/1945 |
U.S. forces begin the intensive bombardment
of Iwo Jima, 600 miles South of Japan. U.S. paratroops land
on Corregidor Island, a Japanese stronghold in Manila Bay. |
| 17/02/1945 |
U.S. troops capture the whole of the
Bataan Peninsula, which commands Manila Bay in Philippines. |
| 19/02/1945 |
After a heavy bombardment, 30,000
US Marines land on Iwo Jima, but suffer 2,420 casualties on
the first day. |
| 23/02/1945 |
US paratroops spring 2,146 detainees
from a Japanese camp South of Manila in surprise attack, during
which 243 Japanese are killed for loss of just two U.S. killed
and two injured. U.S. Marines storm Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima
and raise the U.S. flag. |
| 24/02/1945 |
U.S. Marines capture a second airfield
on Iwo Jima. |
| 26/02/1945 |
U.S. Marines land on Verde Island,
to the Southeast of Manila. |
| 28/02/1945 |
U.S. Marines take Motoyama on Iwo
Jima after a bloody battle. Corregidor is reported as clear
of Japanese troops. |
| |
 |
| 01/03/1945 |
The fighting ends in Manila. |
| 09/03/1945 |
In an attempt to break
the Japanese morale and wear away resistance to surrender,
the USAAF begins the firebombing of Japans major city's with
a raid by 334 B-29 Superfortress bombers on Tokyo, saturating
the city's crowded downtown residential district. 16 and a
half acres of Tokyo are burnt out and 100,000 people killed
in a single night. The attacks by the USAAF continue against
Tokyo for 10 days, before switching to Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe. |
| 14/03/1945 |
U.S. troops begin mopping up on Iwo
Jima and launch heavy attacks in the North of the island. |
| 15/03/1945 |
U.S. troops report slow progress on
Luzon in the Philippines. |
| 24/03/1945 |
U.S. Marines seize islands off coast
of Okinawa in Pacific. |
| 26/03/1945 |
The last organised Japanese troops
on Iwo Jima make a suicide attack. Total U.S. killed on Iwo
Jima is 6,891, with more than 20,000 Japanese being killed
and only 216 captured. |
| |
 |
| 01/04/1945 |
The U.S. Tenth Army, with
1,457 ships in support, invades Okinawa which is 325 miles
from Japan. 60,000 troops land unopposed and establish an 8-mile
bridgehead. |
| 03/04/1945 |
MacArthur is appointed as C-in-C of
land forces in the Pacific. |
| 05/04/1945 |
A U.S. military government is established
on Okinawa. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov summons Japanese
Ambassador Sato to inform him of the Soviet Union’s intention
to renounce the 1941 neutrality pact between the two countries,
thus signaling the failure of Japan’s increasingly strenuous
efforts to ensure ongoing Soviet neutrality as the war’s
tide turned against Japan. |
| 07/04/1945 |
The first land-based U.S. fighters
from Iwo Jima overfly Japan. |
| 16/04/1945 |
U.S. landings begin on Le Island and
three airfields are taken. |
| 19/04/1945 |
U.S. troops encounter very stiff resistance
by the Japanese at ‘Bloody Ridge’ on Ie Island. |
| 21/04/1945 |
U.S. troops take ‘Bloody Ridge’ on
Okinawa. |
| 22/04/1945 |
The U.S. campaign in the central Philippines
officially ends with the capture of Cebu Island. |
| 30/04/1945 |
The Mexican Air Force's 201 Squadron
arrives at Manila. In operations from 4 June, 1945 to the end
of the war, the 201 flies 96 combat missions, mostly in support
of ground troops. The 201 will be the only Mexican unit to
see overseas combat in the country's history. |
| |
 |
| 01/05/1945 |
The Australians land on Tarakan Island
off Borneo. |
| 11/05/1945 |
In a new offensive, the U.S. Tenth
Army reaches the suburbs of Naha, the capital of Okinawa. Wewak
is captured by the 6th Australian Division. |
| 12/05/1945 |
Very heavy fighting continues on Okinawa,
with 125 Japanese aircraft being reported as shot down. |
| 13/05/1945 |
U.S. troops capture Del Monte air
base on Mindanao. The Australians clear the Wewak peninsula
in New Guinea. |
| 14/05/1945 |
USAAF B29's firebomb Nagoya, the heaviest
raid on the Japanese homeland so far, with 3,500 tons of bombs
being dropped, which destroys the Mitsubishi works. |
| 15/05/1945 |
The U.S. Tenth Army is now within
2,000 yds of Naha docks. |
| 16/05/1945 |
Heavy fighting continues on Okinawa,
as the U.S. 77th Division takes ‘Chocolate Drop Hill’. |
| 21/05/1945 |
The Japanese begin the evacuation
of Shuri, on Okinawa. Their losses so far are estimated at
48,000 killed out of a garrison of 85,000. |
| 22/05/1945 |
Sugar Loaf Hill’ on Okinawa
is finally taken by U.S. troops after changing hands 11 times
in the last few days. |
| 23/05/1945 |
The heaviest air raid so far on the
Japanese homeland, see USAAF bombers drop 4,500 tons of incendiaries
on Tokyo. 21% of the city is now burnt out, but the firebombing
continues for next four days. |
| 24/05/1945 |
Japanese paratroops drop on the US
airbases on both Okinawa and Ie. |
| 25/05/1945 |
The U.S. Joint Chiefs complete the
plan for Operation 'Olympic', which sets the date to invade
the Japanese mainland as no later that the 1st November 1945. |
| 27/05/1945 |
The U.S. Sixth Army takes Santa Fe
on Luzon. |
| 30/05/1945 |
A White Paper on full employment is
tabled to the Australian Parliament. |
| 31/05/1945 |
Osaka is totally burnt
out by U.S. incendiaries. |
| |
 |
| 01/06/1945 |
U.S. troops make new landings
on Okinawa as forces from the East and West coasts link up
South of Shuri. |
| 04/06/1945 |
U.S. troops land on the Oriko peninsula
of Okinawa. |
| 06/06/1945 |
Naha airbase on Okinawa is now being
used to hit Japan. |
| 09/06/1945 |
The Japanese on the Oroku peninsula
are reported as trapped. Tokyo radio says that 4.93m Japanese
have been displaced by the bombing in the last three months. |
| 10/06/1945 |
The Australian 9th Division makes
two landings in Brunei Bay, Borneo. |
| 13/06/1945 |
U.S. and Australian troops enter Brunei,
in Borneo. |
| 18/06/1945 |
The USAAF begins the fireblitzing
of 58 smaller Japanese cities. |
| 19/06/1945 |
The Australians are now in control
of both sides of the Brunei Bay entrance. |
| 20/06/1945 |
Australians troops land at Lutong
on Sarawak and gain 25 miles to the Seria oilfields. |
| 21/06/1945 |
Organised resistance on Okinawa ends
after 82 days of the bloodiest fighting in the Pacific, during
which 98,654 Japanese have been killed and 6,922 captured.
U.S. loses were 6,990 killed and 29,598 wounded. |
| 27/06/1945 |
The U.S. Sixth Army reaches Aparri,
effectively ending the campaign on Luzon. |
| 28/06/1945 |
The Japanese casualty figures on Luzon
are 113,593 killed and U.S. loses are just 3,793. |
| |
 |
| 01/07/1945 |
The Australian 7th Division
lands at Balikpapan on South East coast of Borneo after a 15-day
bombardment. |
| 05/07/1945 |
MacArthur announces the liberation
of the whole of the Philippines, although sporadic fighting
continues until after the Japanese surrender. U.S. losses total
11,921 dead and 42,970 injured or captured. The Australian
Prime Minister, John Curtin, dies. |
| 12/07/1945 |
Further allied landings are reported
on Borneo. The Australians capture Maradi in the west of the
island. |
| 13/07/1945 |
Chifley is elected leader of Labour
Party and becomes Prime Minister of Australia. |
| 15/07/1945 |
The Australians take Prince Alexander
Range in Borneo after an eight-week struggle. |
| 25/07/1945 |
A Proclamation to the Japanese people
is issued by UK, U.S and China from Potsdam, which warns of
devastation from the ‘final blows’ and calls for
Japans unconditional surrender. |
| 30/07/1945 |
The Japanese reject the Potsdam ultimatum,
so the Joint Chiefs order the plans for Japanese surrender
to be drawn up. |
| |
 |
| 06/08/1945 |
U.S. B-29 "Enola
Gay" drops a 3 metre long atomic bomb "Little Boy" on
Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the
first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare and wiping out 10
square kms. The U.S. First Army arrives on Luzon to prepare
for final assault on Japan. |
| 09/08/1945 |
U.S. B-29 "Bocks Car" drops
atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan. Two-thirds
of the city of 250,000 inhabitants is destroyed and 113,000
people die. |
| 13/08/1945 |
Surrender documents are sent to MacArthur
in Philippines. |
| 14/08/1945 |
The Japanese Cabinet decide at a morning
meeting in Imperial Palace to surrender to allies. An 8.10
pm reply to the allied ultimatum is handed to the Swiss Foreign
Minister by the Japanese Minister in Berne. Truman calls a
Press Conference at midnight to announce the 'Unconditional
Surrender' of Japan. USAAF B29's launch the last air raid of
the war against Kumagaya. |
| 15/08/1945 |
The Japanese Government resigns and
the war minister commits suicide. MacArthur becomes the Supreme
Commander for Allied Powers in the Pacific. |
| 19/08/1945 |
16 Japanese surrender envoys arrive
on Ie and are taken to Manila for a 5 and a half hour discussion
with MacArthur and his staff. Japanese troops on Java receive
the cease-fire order. |
| 20/08/1945 |
Further negotiations in Manila. The
Japanese leave at 1pm. MacArthur says that U.S. troops will
land on the Japanese mainland within 10 days of signing the
surrender. |
| 21/08/1945 |
The Japanese announce that the first
U.S. landings will be on the 26th August. A non-fraternisation
rule with the Japanese is to be enforced by the U.S. |
| 22/08/1945 |
MacArthur says the surrender will
be signed in the Tokyo area on the 31st August. |
| 23/08/1945 |
The Japanese official casualty figures
from air raids including A-bombs are 260,000 killed, 412,000
injured, 9.2 million homeless, along with 44 cities being completely
wiped out. |
| 24/08/1945 |
The Japanese news agency says that
all Japanese troops are to be out of the U.S. landing area
by tomorrow. |
| 25/08/1945 |
Tokyo radio reports large numbers
of people committing Hari-kiri in front of the Imperial Palace. |
| 29/08/1945 |
U.S. Marines and troops of 11th Airborne
Division land in Tokyo Bay. |
| 30/08/1945 |
U.S. occupation of Japan begins,
11th Airborne Division lands at Atsugi airfield and 4th Marine
Regiment lands at Kurihama naval base at Yokosuka and report ‘obsequious
bows and smiles’ from soldiers and civilians. |
| 31/08/1945 |
As U.S. troops release POW's, many
reports of systematic degradation are heard. Tokyo is reported
as 85% bomb damaged, although this is not as bad as Berlin.
Japanese garrison at Marcus Island surrenders to the Americans. |
| |
 |
| 02/09/1945 |
The formal Japanese surrender
takes place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. |
| 04/09/1945 |
Emperor Hirohito asks his people to
co-operate in setting up a peaceful state. |
| 06/09/1945 |
Japanese forces in Southwest Pacific
surrender aboard HMS Glory. |
| 08/09/1945 |
The first American troops enter Tokyo
itself. |
| 11/09/1945 |
Forty prominent Japanese are arrested
for war crimes. Tojo, who ordered the raid on Pearl Harbour
attempts suicide. |
| 12/09/1945 |
Mountbatten accepts the surrender
of all Japanese troops in Southeast Asia. |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| 28/11/1945 |
The official Hiroshima
and Nagasaki casualty figures are announced as between 110,000
and 165,00 dead. |
| |
 |
| 02/12/1945 |
59 Japanese are arrested on suspicion
of war crimes. |
| 15/12/1945 |
MacArthur orders the end
of Shinto as official religion of Japan. |
