References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2023 December 20.

1945

June 1

• The American Interim Committee recommends using the atomic bomb on Japan without warning. [346.19]
• In Greece, a court sentences General George Tsolakoglou to death for signing a truce with Germany. [518.132]

June 4

• The war against German submarines is officially over, and ships' lights are turned on again for the first time in six years. The convoy system of escorting merchant ships is disbanded. [27.23]

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. [145.38] [166.355] [379.4]

June 7

• The King of Norway returns home to Oslo from London, England. [162.340] [404.264] [476.3]

June 10

• Soviet Premier Josef Stalin gives permission for political parties to re-form in the Soviet-controlled zone of Germany. [145.53]

June 13

• American Military Government in Venezia Giulia is established, at the northern end of Adriatic Sea, claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia. [809.154]

June 14

• German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop is arrested by British in Hamburg. [806.37]

June 15

• The wartime Coalition Government in England is ended. [345.7]

June

• A temporary agreement is reached between Allies and Jugoslav forces regarding occupation of the Trieste area of Italy. The agreement is later called the Duino Agreement. [30.231]
• The USSR issues three postage stamps marking the 3rd anniversary of victory over Germans before Moscow. [343.524]

June 18

• US President Harry Truman meets with top military advisors. They recommend an invasion of Kyushu before November, with 766,000 American troops, with a decisive campaign on Honshu in 1946. Estimated American casualties in the first thirty days of Kyushu are 31,000 (later revised to 132,000). [346.19]

June 22

• Okinawa is declared captured by the Allies. [239.8]

June 23

• Six American CG-4A gliders and one CG-13 glider land at Camalaniugan Airstrip in Luzon, Philippines. [25.22]

June 25

• Japanese General Headquarters announces the end of the Okinawa campaign. 1885 aircraft were lost. [53.20]

June 29

• 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. [802.59]
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(month unknown)

• American General Dwight Eisenhower calls Soviet Georgi Zhukov "the man to whom the United Nations owes a greater debt" than any other military figure. [227]

July 2

• The Okinawa campaign is declared over. Total US casualties are 80,000 (dead, wounded, missing, non-combat sickness). Total Japanese military casualties are 120,000. An estimated 150,000 Okinawan residents were killed. [239.8] [511.4] [514.8] [522.2010] [713.65]

July 4

• An Anglo-American agreement is signed, to use an atomic bomb on Japan. [166.365]

July 5

• American General MacArthur announces the liberation of the Philippines. [166.355]
• Great Britain and the US recognize the Provisional Government of National Unity as the government of Poland. [529.2017]

July 11

• The United States issues a postage stamp depicting Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. [306.23]

July 12

• The Japanese government orders the Japanese ambassador in Moscow to approach the Russian government for mediation to end the war. [522.2010]

July 14

• Netherlands issues a postage stamp commemorating the liberation of the country. [342.995]

July 16

• Royal Canadian Navy cruiser Uganda joins an attack on the main Japanese island of Honshu. [27.23]
• The United States successfully tests the first plutonium atomic bomb, at the Alamo-gordo airbase in New Mexico. [166.353,363] [766.42] [802.65]
• USS Indianapolis departs from San Francisco, headed for Tinian island in the Marianas, carrying components for the first atomic bomb to be detonated in combat. [766.44]

July 17

• The British Pacific Fleet joins the US Third Fleet in attacks on Japan. [522.1989]
• 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. [145.49] [166.353] [407.21] [529.2017] [802.4]

July 18

• Brazil issues five postage stamps honoring the Brazilian Expeditionary Force and US 5th Army fight against Axis forces in Italy. [306.864]

July 21

• The Japanese ambassador in Moscow makes a formal request for Soviet mediation to end the war. [522.2010]

July 25

• US President Harry Truman gives final approval to use an atomic bomb against Japan. In the first ten days of August, a bomb is to target Hiroshima, Kokura, or Nigata, subject to weather. [346.22]

July 26

• USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian island in the Marianas, and unloads atomic bomb components to be used against Japan. [766.44] [843.42]
• 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". [174.161] [346.22]

July 28

• Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki rejects the Potsdam ultimatum, saying Japan will fight for a successful conclusion to the war. [166.365] [346.23]
• Three US C-54 cargo planes arrive at Tinian island in the Marianas, with critical target insert components of the atomic bomb to be used against Japan. [766.44]

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.) [843.42]

July 31

• The complete Little Boy atomic bomb is fully assembled on Tinian island and declared ready for combat. Due to an approaching typhoon, the planned August 2 attack on Hiroshima is postponed. [766.44]

August 2

• The Potsdam Agreement is signed. Nuremberg is agreed to be the site of war crimes trial. [80.329] [346.20] [806.84]

August 4

• August 6 is set as the date for dropping the first atomic bomb weapon in war, against Hiroshima, Japan. Little Boy is loaded into B-29 Superfortress No. 82. [766.44]
• In Canada, the Prime Minister tells the House of Commons that no act of subversion or sabotage had been found before or during the war by the Japanese Canadians. However, disloyal Japanese Canadians would be deported to Japan, and no further Japanese immigration would be allowed. Also, a set quota of dispersed Japanese Canadians would be allowed to return to the west coast of British Columbia. [7.308,326]

August 5

• (1600 hours) B-29 Superfortress No. 82, carrying an atomic bomb for use on Japan, is renamed Enola Gay, after the pilot's mother. [766.44]

August 6

• (0245 hours) The B-29 plane Enola Gay takes off from Tinian island in the Marianas islands, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, carrying an uranium atomic bomb. [166.366] [441.206] [766.44]
• (0815 hours) One of three American planes flying over Hiroshima, Japan, drops three parachutes carrying blast-recording equipment. American Colonel Paul Tibbets and the crew of the Enola Gay flying at 31,600 feet altitude, drop a 4400 kg 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 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.) [26.41] [166.321,360] [222.81] [346.23] [441.206] [766.44]
• (0816 hours) Quote by Enola Gay co-pilot Captain Robert Lewis over Hiroshima, Japan: "My God, what have we done?". [166.366]

August 8

• Emperor Hirohito informs the Japanese prime minister that the war must be ended as soon as possible, on the basis of the Potsdam Declaration. [26.41]
• The Soviet Union declares war on Japan. [26.41] [174.162] [346.24] [405.523] [824.4]

August 9

• The Soviet Red Army advances into Manchuria and Outer Mongolia. [166.321,366] [406.225]
• (early hours) In Japan, the Supreme War Council meets, with Emperor Hirohito present. The cabinet and high command are evenly split on the issue of whether to surrender or continue fighting. Emperor Hirohito Mikado is asked to decide; he recommends acceptance of the Allied terms for surrender. [346.24] [362.7]
• (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.) [1.34] [26.41] [166.360,366] [346.24]
• Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve, a fighter pilot on the British Royal Navy HMCS Formidable aircraft carrier, leads an air assault on Japanese warships. His plane catches fire, but he continues dropping bombs, sinking destroyer Amakusa in Onagawa Bay, Honshu. He is killed in action, and is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. [26.41] [27.23,77] [458.23] [542.29] [551.36] [731.34]
• (afternoon) Canadian pilot Lieutenant Gerald Anderson is killed when his plane crashes into stern of carrier HMS Formidable while trying to land. (He is the last Canadian killed during the war.) [542.29] [551.36]

August 10

• The Japanese government requests peace with the United States, but insists on retaining the Emperor. [1.34] [346.24] [406.225]
• Royal Canadian Navy cruiser HMCS Uganda returns to Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. Earlier, the crew voted 556 to 344 to not volunteer for duty in the Pacific, after Prime Minister William King said Canadians would serve in the Pacific only voluntarily. [551.37]

August 11

• The United States' reply to Japan: the Emperor must be subject to the Supreme Commander, and the form of government in Japan would be established by the free will of the people. [346.24] [406.226]
• The London Daily Telegraph reports that Britain prepared for an atomic bomb attack by Germany in August 1944. [802.61]

August 12

• Soviet troops enter northern Korea. [522.1989]

August 13

• US President Harry Truman authorizes a 1000-plane raid on Tokyo, Japan. [346.24]

August 14

• The Japanese Supreme Council meets, with Emperor Hirohito present. They are evenly divided over issue of accepting unconditional surrender, or seeking a guarantee of the survival of the monarchy. Emperor Hirohito recommends accepting unconditional surrender. [346.24] [362.7]
• American B-29 bombers attack Tokyo. [26.41]
• (late afternoon) The US receives the Japanese acceptance of unconditional surrender. [1.34] [5.162] [239.8] [346.24] [406.226]
• (evening) US President Harry Truman announces the end of the Second World War. [346.25]

August 15

• (about 1200 hours) Emperor Hirohito addresses the public of Japan, announces the surrender of Japan. [26.42] [174.162] [222.90] [362.8] [377.11] (August 14 [25.23])
• (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. [823.40]

August

• Romania issues twelve postage stamps marking the 1st anniversary the armistice with Russia. [343.493]
• The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the victory of Allied Nations in Europe. [343.525]

August 16

• The Regent of Siam proclaims the declaration of war of January 1942 to be null and void. [505.4]

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. [504.5] (August 16 [520.8])

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". [802.61]

August 20

• Soviet forces complete their conquest of Manchuria. [26.42]

August 24

• Quote by captured Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer, commander of 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Jugend": "As I sit here now, Germany in five years or less will be Communist. Russia will always have both time and the necessary resources to do what she likes when she likes.". [230.59]

August 26

• American troops begin arriving in Japan. [26.41]

August 29

• A list of 24 defendants to stand trial for war crimes at Nuremberg is published. [806.93]

August 31

• American General Douglas MacArthur signs the document listing the terms of Japan's surrender, on the American battleship Missouri, in Tokyo Bay. [53.12]

September 1

• Bulgaria issues two postage stamps marking the victory of Allied Nations in Europe. [306.964]
• Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 5th anniversary of the Polish army's last stand at Westerplatte, Danzig. [343.333]

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. [26.41] [53.13] [116.79] [221.73] [239.8] [362.8,19] [522.2010] [577.6]
• 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. [448.40] [477.10] [528.2048]
• Total deaths in various countries: 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. [528.2048]
• During the war, the Royal Canadian Navy sunk 33 enemy submarines, with the loss of 22 ships. The Canadian merchant navy lost 30 ships and 1064 men. [617.47]
• Japanese merchant shipping losses during the year: 1.56 million tons. [518.1916]

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.) [51.227] [557.9]

September 6

• (1500 hours) In Prague, the Czech People's Court condemns Dr. Josef Pfitzner to death. He was German deputy lord mayor of Prague. [518.132]
• (1830 hours) In Prague, Czechoslovakia, a public hanging is held for Dr. Josef Pfitzner, former German deputy lord mayor. [518.132]

September 7

• Bulgaria issues seven postage stamps marking the first anniversary of liberation. [306.964]
• Shanghai, China, is liberated from Japanese occupation. [16.25]

September 9

• Lucie Rommel issues a statement saying that Erwin Rommel "had no part whatever in the preparations for, or the execution of, the July 20th plot" to kill Adolf Hitler. [691.12]

September

• Japanese Emperor Hirohito meets with American General Douglas MacArthur, saying he is responsible for all political and military decisions of the war. [362.8]
• The Canadian government announces it is ready to ship 10,000 Japanese Canadians to Japan as soon as possible. [7.328]
• The Canadian government releases information about the role Japanese Canadians played in the war in the Far East. It states that they played a vital role. [7.295]

September 17

• In Norway, a court sentences Vidkun Quisling to death. [162.340]

September 28

• The United States issues a postage stamp depicting American troops passing the Arch de Triumph in Paris, France. [306.23]

September 30

• The Canadian 1st Parachute Battalion is officially disbanded. [99.37]

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. [516.6] [806.133]

October 9

• In France, Pierre Laval is sentenced to death. [806.189]

October 13

• France issues a postage stamp depicting the destruction of Oradour, June 1944. [340.1123]

October 15

• Pierre Laval is executed (shot) in the courtyard of Fresnes prison, in France. [389.12]

October 18

• The first formal session of the International Military Tribunal for War Crimes is held. The trial date is set for November 20. Indictments are read and published. [806.120]

October 19

• Defendants of war crimes accusations in Nuremberg jail are served with indictments. [806.121]

October 24

• In Akershus, Norway, Vidkun Quisling is executed. [162.340] [812.40]

October 25

• In Taiwan, Admiral Ando Rikichi formally hands over power to Chinese military governor Ch'en I. [493.4]
• Dr. Robert Ley hangs himself in prison cell in Nuremberg. Ley was head of the Nazi Labor Front. [528.2055] [806.133]

October 28

• Greece issues two postage stamps marking the 5th anniversary of the "No" vote to Italy's ultimatum of October 28, 1940. [341.367]

October 30

• In Crete, the court at Heraklion sentences one woman to death, one woman to life in prison, lighter penalties on another man and woman, and acquits another man, all on charges of collaboration and responsibility for deaths of 35 Cretans. Following announcement of the sentences, 2000 storm the building, killing all five. [518.132]

November 3

• In Budapest, a People's Court sentences former Premier Laszlo Bardossy to be hanged for collaboration with Germany. [505.6]

November 5

• France issues five postage stamps depicting the ruins of Dunkirk, Rouen, Caen, and Saint Malo. [340.1123]

November 20

• The International Military Tribunal for war crimes opens at Nuremberg, with 22 defendants. (The trial lasts 218 days.) [166.353] [528.2056] [806.146] (November 19 [373.512])

November

• (late in month) Canadian government Minister of Labour announces that Japanese Canadians who declared before September 2 that they would leave Canada can withdraw their declaration. [7.329]

December 1

• In Aversa, Italy, German General Anton Dostler is executed by US Army firing squad, for ordering executions of 15 US soldiers in March 1944 for sabotage missions behind lines. This is the first German staff officer execution of the war. [774.30] [845.22]

December 5

• In ths US, the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service of the Federal Communications Commission ceases operation. Since 1941, it recorded over 3.5 million words. [511.30]

December 7

• Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita is found guilty of failing to provide effective control over occupation forces in the Philippines, resulting in the deaths of 25,000 Filipinos. He is sentenced to death by hanging. [577.12] [656.4] [806.204]

December 12

• At the International Military Tribunal, British prosecutors begin presenting their case. [806.176]

December

• The last British military detachment leaves Norway. [404.253]
• German Major General Kurt Meyer, of the 12th SS Division, goes on trial for the murder of Canadian prisoners in June 1944. [28.474]

December 17

• Canadian Prime Minister William King passes three orders-in-council providing for the deportation of five classes of Japanese Canadians. [7.330]

December 19

• Russians discover a body buried in an armored shelter in a garden near the Chancellery. A dentist identifies the body as being Adolf Hitler. [505.7]

December 21

• Details of German war reparations among 18 Allies are made public in Paris, France. [520.12]

December 27

• In Canada, a lawyer on behalf of Japanese Canadians convinces the Minister of Justice to halt the deportation of 900 Japanese Canadians. The matter is referred to the Supreme Court of Canada. [7.330]

December 28

• A Canadian military court in Aurich, Germany, finds German Major-General Kurt Meyer responsible for the murder of 18 Canadian prisoners of war, though not guilty of giving the order. The sentence is execution by firing squad. [28.474] [101.18] [520.11] (December 27 [230.74])

December 31

• The last American troops leave Iran. [504.17]
• The government of France officially recognizes the government of Yugoslavia [504.4]
• Allied Headquarters in Japan orders the suspension of teaching Japanese history, geography, and morals in Japanese schools, pending re-writes of textbooks. [504.1]
• In the US Congressional Pearl Harbor Investigating Committee, Admiral Harold Stark, former Chief of Naval Operations, testifies that eleven specific warnings of possible Japanese hostile action were sent from Washington to Pacific Naval Command during October to December 1941. [504.1]

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