- May 2
- Allies occupy Wismar, Germany. [1]
- (1200 hours Greenwich mean time) The unconditional surrender of about one million men of the German army in Italy goes into effect. German command radio calls on remaining troops to surrender. [10]
- (1500 hours Moscow time) Berlin, Germany, capitulates. Capturing the city are the First White Russian and the First Ukranian armies. In twelve days of defence of the city, 343,000 Germans were killed. [10]
- (1630 hours) New Zealand 2nd Division of the British 8th Army accepts the surrender of the German garrison in the port of Trieste, Yugoslavia. [10]
- May 3
- First Polish armour brigade occupies Wilhelmshafen. [1]
- Allies arrest German nuclear physicist Werner Heisenberg. [1]
- British troops join in attack on Rangoon, Burma. [1]
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- British bombers attack and sink German Hamburg South America Line ship Cap Arcona (27,600 tons) in the East Sea, with the loss of about 5000 people of 6000 on board. [1] [260.102]
- May 4
- (1825 hours) Near Hamburg, the unconditional surrender of one million troops in German land, sea, and air forces in Holland, Denmark, and northern Germany facing the Canadian 1st Army and British 2nd Army is arranged. German General of the Army and Commander in Chief of the Navy Admiral von Friedeberg, Rear Admiral Wagner, General Paulik, Major Friedeberg sign the surrender terms for Germany. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery signs on behalf of Dwight Eisenhower. [10]
- Soviet troops liberate all of Slovakia. [10]
- German leader Karl Dönitz orders all submarine commanders to cease hostilities and return to home bases. [10]
- May 5
- Denmark liberated from German control. [1]
- Mauthausen Concentration camp is liberated. [1]
- Premier Gerbrandy on Radio Orange tells Dutch they are liberated. [1]
- Uprising against German SS-occupying troops in Prague, Czechoslovakia. [1]
- In Wageningen, Netherlands, German General Johannes Blaskowitz surrenders the troops of the 25th German Army in Netherlands to Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, commander of 1st Canadian Corps. [10]
- (1430 hours) German Army Group G of 200-400,000 men surrenders to General Jacob Devers and the US 6th Army Group. Lieutenant General Foertsch signs for Germany. The official cease-fire and surrender is to take effect at noon May 6. [10]
- May 6
- General J Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands. [1]
- Dr. Hans Thomsen, German Minister to Sweden, signs capitulation of about 350,000 German troops in Oslo, Norway. [10]
- May 7
- (0241 hours French time) At Rheims, France, German armed forces sign unconditional surrender, effective from 0001 hours on May 9. Signing for Germany is Chief of Staff of German Army Colonel General Gustaf Jodl. Signing for the Supreme Allied Commander is Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Walter Smith. Signing for France is General François Sevez. Signing for the Soviet Union is General Ivan Susloparoff. [10]
- The Soviet Union's Extraordinary State Commission reports that the German concentration camp of Oswiecim in Poland had systematically killed over four million citizens of the Soviet Union, Poland, France, Belguim, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and others. This is the greatest incidence of mass murder in recorded history. [10]
- Princess Irene Brigade moves into the Hague, Netherlands. [1]
- Pulitzer prize awarded to John Hersey (Bell for Adano). [1]
- German SS open fire on crowd in Amsterdam, Netherlands, killing 22. [1]
- May 8
- Canadian troops move into Amsterdam, Netherlands. [1]
- Chinese counter-attack at Tsjangte, supports by US 14th air fleet. [1]
- US Secretary of Treasury announces the US cost of the war so far is US$275 billion. [10]
- General Von Keitel surrenders to Marshal Zhukov near Berlin, Germany. [1]
- (0900 hours US Eastern War Time) In Washington, D.C., US President Harry Truman officially announces the unconditional surrender of Germany. He then calls on Japan to surrender unconditionally, or face "utter destruction". [10] [129]
- (1500 hours London time) In London, England, Prime Minister Winston Churchill formally proclaims an end to war in Europe. [10]
- May 9
- (0001 hours French time) The Second World War in Europe officially ends. [10]
- (0015 hours Central European Time) In Karlshorst, Berlin, Germany, a second signing of the military surrender of Germany is held. Surrender is signed by Field Marshal General Wilhelm Keitel, General Admiral Hans Georg von Friedeburg, General Hans Juergen Stumpff, commanders in chief of the German Army, Navy, and Air Force, respectively. Signing on behalf of the Soviet Commander in Chief of the Red Army is General Marshal Zhukov. Signing on behalf of General Eisenhower is Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder. [10]
- (0400 hours) Soviet forces capture Prague, Czechoslovakia. [10]
- Czechoslovakia is liberated from German occupation. [1]
- Jersey liberated from Germans. [1]
- Nazi propagandist Max Blokzijl is arrested. [1]
- Norwegian Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling is arrested. [1]
- The Soviet Union celebrates VE Day. In 1418 days of military operations, 20-26 million Soviets were killed, with another 40 million wounded, leaving 25 million homeless. On the German-Russian front, 10 million German troops were killed or wounded. Destruction to the Soviet Union: 70,000 villages, 1700 cities and towns, 84,000 schools, 40,000 hospitals, 43,000 libraries, 32,000 factories, 400 museums, 40,000 miles of railway, and 45 million horses, cattle, and pigs. [10]
- May 10
- Allies capture Rangoon from the Japanese. [1]
- A fleet of 334 American B-29 bombers are sent from the Marianas to destroy the Shitamachi district of Tokyo, Japan. About 100,000 are killed and 1 million left homeless. Most deadly single air raid in history. [1545.86]
- May 11
- US marines conquer Awatsha Draw, Okinawa, Japan. [1]
- May 13
- US troops conquer Dakeshi, Okinawa, Japan. [1]
- May 14
- Kamikaze-Zero strikes US aircraft carrier Enterprise. [1]
- US offensive on Okinawa; Sugar Loaf conquered. [1]
- May 16
- Violent battles around Sugar Loaf/Half Moon Okinawa, Japan. [1]
- May 17
- Two US P-47 Thunderbolts bomb Kiushu, Japan. [1]
- May 21
- German war criminal Heinrich Himmler is captured. [1]
- May 22
- US 6th Marine division reaches suburbs of Naha, Okinawa, Japan. [1]
- NSB-Führer Rost van Tonningen attempts and fails at suicide. [1]
- May 23
- British military police arrest Admiral Karl Dönitz. [1]
- German island of Helgoland in North Sea surrenders to British. [1]
- German SS chief Heinrich Himmler bites a cyanide capsule during examination by a British army doctor and dies. [10] [861.88] [1674.27]
- Lord Haw-Haw arrested at Danish boundary. [1]
- May 25
- Arther C Clark proposes relay satellites in geosynchronous orbit. [1]
- May 26
- American bomber planes drop fire bombs on Tokyo, Japan. [1]
- May 29
- US 1st Marine Division conquors Shuri-castle Okinawa, Japan. [1]
- June 5
- The European Advisory Committee announces the unconditional political capitulation of Germany. Control of the country is divided into four occupation zones, controlled by the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. [10]
- June 7
- The King of Norway returns home to Oslo from London, England. [10]
- June 13
- American Military Government in Venezia Giulia is established, at the northern end of Adriatic Sea, claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia. [969.154]
- June 15
- The wartime Coalition Government in England is ended. [10]
- June 18
- William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) British radio traitor, charged with treason. [1]
- June 22
- Okinawa, Japan, is declared captured by the Allies. [10]
- June 26
- United Nations Charter signed by 50 nations in San Francisco, California, USA. [1] [614.23]
- June 28
- Polish Provisional Government of National Unity set up by Soviets. [1]
- June 29
- Ruthenia, formerly in Czechoslovakia, becomes part of Ukrainian SSR. [1]
- The Washington Post reports RAF officers found colossal airfield near Oslo, Norway, with 40 7000-mile range Heinkel bombers, which had been in preparation for bombing New York. [861.59]
- July 2
- The Okinawa campaign is declared over. Total US casualties are 80,000 (dead, wounded, missing, non-combat sickness). Total Japanese casualties are 120,000. [10]
- July 5
- British election for Prime Minister; Clement Attlee defeats Winston Churchill. [159.32]
- American General Douglas MacArthur announces the liberation of the Philippines. [10]
- July 6
- Nicaragua becomes first nation to formally accept United Nations Charter. [1]
- July 16
- The United States successfully tests the first plutonium atomic bomb, at the Alamo-gordo airbase in New Mexico. [10] [861.65] [1426.47]
- July 17
- American President Harry Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meet at Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam near Berlin, Germany, beginning a 17-day conference. Partway through the conference, Chruchill is replaced by the newly elected British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Peace terms are drafted, and discussions are held on Germany, Poland, and Japan. Stalin tells Truman that he believes Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide, but probably escaped. [10] [861.4]
- July 26
- At the Potsdam conference, a final ultimatum is presented to Japan: unconditional surrender or "complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and ... devastation of the Japanese homeland". [10]
- Winston Churchill resigns as Britain's Prime Minister. [1]
- USS Indianapolis delivers key components of the two nuclear bombs to be dropped on Japan, to Tinian on the Northern Marianas Islands. [1838.42]
- July 28
- US Army bomber crashes into 79th floor of Empire State Building, 14 die. [1]
- US Senate ratifies United Nations charter 89-2. [1]
- July 30
- Just after midnight, Japanese submarine I-58 strikes USS Indianapolis with two torpedoes, sinking the ship in 12 minutes. (After several days floating in the ocean until rescued, only 316 of the crew of 1195 survived.) [1838.42]
- August 6
- American Colonel Paul Tibbets and the crew of the Enola Gay, flying at 31,600 feet altitude, drop a 4400kg uranium-based atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, set to detonate at 1850 feet above the city. The blast has the impact of a 500-mph wind, leveling almost everything within a two-mile radius, destroying 70,000 buildings, sixty percent of the city. 70,000 people are killed, and 80,000 wounded. The atomic bomb becomes the largest man-made explosion in history, and largest single killer in history. (By the end of the year, a further 60,000 have died from burns, wounds, and radiation sickness.) [10]
- August 8
- US President Harry Truman signs United Nations Charter. [1]
- The Soviet Union declares war on Japan. [10]
- USSR establishes a communist government in North Korea. [1]
- August 9
- (1102 hours) An American plane drops a plutonium-atomic bomb over the Urakami suburb of Nagasaki, Japan, off-target by three miles. Estimated dead are 38-70,000. (Preferred targets were Kokura and Nigata, which were passed over due to poor weather conditions.) [10]
- August 10
- The Japanese government requests peace with the United States, but insists on retaining the Emperor. [10]
- August 11
- The London Daily Telegraph reports that Britain prepared for an atomic bomb attack by Germany in August 1944. [861.61]
- Allies refuse Japan's surrender offer to retain Emperor Hirohito. [1]
- August 14
- (evening) US President Harry Truman announces the end of the Second World War. [10]
- August 15
- South Korea is liberated from Japanese rule. [1]
- (about 1130 hours) The New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Gambia fires last shots of the war, as it raises the cease fire signal. A Japanese suicide bomber flies in low, followed by an allied fighter plane attacking it; the Japanese plane falls to the sea about 200 yards from the ship. [1068.40]
- August 17
- Poland and Russia sign a treaty establishing the Russian-Polish border, basicly the Curzon Line established after the First World War, with a few deviations in Poland's favor. [10]
- Sukarno declares Indonesian independence from Netherlands, with himself as President. [1] [967.616] [1153.1032]
- August 19
- US military intelligence report "Investigations, Research, Developments and Practical Use of the German Atomic Bomb" reports on German pilot Hans Zinsser over northern Germany in early October 1944, 12-15km from an atomic bomb test station, observed "strong, bright illumination of the whole atmosphere, lasting about 2 seconds", followed by "a cloud shaped like a mushroom with the turbulent billowing sections... over the spot where the explosion took place". [861.61]
- August 21
- US President Harry Truman ends Lend-Lease program. [1]
- August 25
- Jewish immigrants are permitted to leave Mauritius for Palestine. [1]
- August 27
- US troops land in Japan after Japanese surrender. [1]
- August 30
- Hong Kong liberated from Japan. [1]
- September 2
- Japan signs official surrender, accepted by General Douglas MacArthur on the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, off Yokohama. Allied nations participating in the ceremony are USA, China, Great Britain, Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands, New Zealand. This is the first time in recorded history for Japan to host a successful military invasion from a foreign power. [10]
- During World War II fighting, about 30-50 million people were killed, half civilian. This is 2-3 times the deaths of World War I. Total cost of the war to all countries: US$1.6 trillion, compared to US$300 billion for World War I. [10]
- Total deaths in various countries due to World War II: Soviet Union 20 million, Poland 4.32 million, Germany 4.2 million, China 2.2 million, Yugoslavia 1.7 million, Japan 1.219 million, France 600,000, Romania 460,000, Hungary 420,000, Italy 410,000, USA 406,000, Great Britain 388,000, Czechoslovakia 365,000, Austria 334,000, Netherlands 210,000, Greece 160,000, Belgium 88,000. [10]
- Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independent from France. [1]
- September 3
- Japanese forces in the Philippines surrender to Allies. [1]
- September 4
- US regains possession of Wake Island from Japan. [1]
- September 5
- (2030 hours) Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, Canada, leaves the embassy with 109 top secret documents, seeking political asylum rather than return to the Soviet Union. (After several days, he is given protective custody, and tells his story to William Stephenson, head of British secret service operations in North America. The documents detail Soviet espionage in Canada and the United States, including atomic bomb secrets, and possible preparations for war with the United States. His evidence leads to the arrest of 12 Soviet spies, and the start of the "Cold War" between East and West.) [10]
- September 7
- Shanghai, China, is liberated from Japanese occupation. [10]
- September 8
- US invades Japanese-held Korea. [1]
- September 9
- Japanese in South Korea, Taiwan, China, Indochina surrender to Allies. [1]
- September 16
- Barometric pressure at 856mb (25.55 inches) off Okinawa, Japan (record low). [1]
- September 17
- In Norway, a court sentences Vidkun Quisling to death for collaborating with Germans. [10]
- September 19
- Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) sentenced to death in London, England. [1]
- September 20
- German rocket engineers begin work in US. [1]
- October 3
- World Federation of Trade Unions formed; CIO a member. [1]
- October 5
- Dr. Leonardo Conti, former chief of health in Germany, hangs himself in Nuremberg jail. He had authorized a variety of experiments involving killing humans to study the effects of bacteria and poisons. [10]
- October 8
- US President Harry Truman announces atomic bomb secret shared with Britain and Canada. [1]
- October 11
- Chinese civil war begins, Chiang Kai-Shek versus Mao Tse-Tung. [1]
- October 15
- Pierre Laval is executed (shot) in the courtyard of Fresnes prison, in France. [10]
- October 16
- United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization comes into existence. [1]
- October 17
- Juan Perón becomes dictator of Argentina. [1]
- October 21
- Women in France are allowed to vote for the first time. [1] [5]
- October 24
- United Nations Charter becomes effective. [1]
- In Akershus, Norway, Vidkun Quisling is executed. [10]
- October 25
- Japanese surrender Taiwan to General Chiang Kai-shek. [1]
- October 29
- First ball-point pen goes on sale in USA, at Gumbel's of New York, for US$12.50. Nearly 10,000 are sold on the first day. [1] [55.22]
- November 10
- General Enver Hoxha becomes leader of Albania. [1]
- November 17
- New world air speed record 606mph (975kph) set by HJ Wilson of Royal Air Force. [1]
- November 20
- The first war crimes trial opens at Nuremberg, with 22 defendants. (The trial lasts 218 days.) [10]
- November 27
- General George C Marshall named special US envoy to China. [1]
- November 29
- Monarchy abolished as Yugoslavia proclaims its republic. [1]
- December 4
- US Senate approves US participation in United Nations. [1]
- December 5
- Five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers with 14 crew from Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida disappear over the Atlantic Ocean, in what becomes known as The Bermuda Triangle. A search and rescue Mariner aircraft with a 13-man crew also disappears. [1] [129]
- Special Council of Annulment affirms death sentence of Max Blokzijl. [1]
- December 7
- Microwave oven patented. [1]
- December 10
- Preston Tucker reveals plan to produce the Torpedo, a new 150 MPH car. [1]
- December 12
- Special Court of justice convicts NSB-leader Mussert to death. [1]
- December 13
- Robert van Genechten, Dutch Nazi (NSB), commits suicide. [1]
- December 14
- Josef Kramer known as the "Beast of Belsen", and ten others hanged for crimes committed at the Belsen and Oswiecim German concentration camps. [1]
- December 16
- Fumimaro Konu, Japanese prince/Prime Minister (1937-39, 1940-41), commits harakiri. [1]
- December 18
- Uruguay joins the United Nations. [1]
- December 19
- Austrian Republic re-establishes. [1]
- Russians discover a body buried in an armored shelter in a garden near the Chancellery. A dentist identifies the body as being Adolf Hitler. [10]
- December 22
- Utrecht: Catholic People's party (KVP) established. [1]
- December 23
- Pope Pius XII encyclical Orientals omnes, about Rutheense church. [1]
- December 25
- The Change Franc Pacifique is created to allow a united monetary circulation in the French territories of the Pacific. [324.24]
- December 27
- International Monetary Fund established - World Bank founded. [1]
- December 31
- Ratification of United Nations Charter completed. [1]
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