World War II after 1944 Chronology

Gen. MacArthur is placed in command of all U.S. ground forces and Adm. Nimitz in command of all naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself.

Jan 03

British Premier Winston Churchill visits France.

Ref: 5

Jan 03

US aircraft carriers attack Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Jan 03

In Canada, the first of the conscripted soldiers leave Halifax for overseas duty.

Jan 03

Allies land on west coast of Burma, conquer Akyab.

Ref: 3

Jan 04

British occupy Akyab in Burma.

Jan 04

Allies bomb Brenner Pass in the Alps to prevent the retreat of German Troops.

Ref: 17

Jan 04

Germans execute resistance fighters in Amsterdam.

Ref: 5

Jan 04

US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after kamikaze attack.

Ref: 5

Jan 05

The first kamikaze's are launched.

Ref: 3

Jan 05

Surprise attack on Liese-Aktion-office on Marnix St, Amsterdam.

Ref: 5

Jan 06

Boeing B-29 bombers in the Pacific strike new blows on Tokyo and Nanking.

Ref: 2

Jan 07

Lord Haw-Haw reports total German victory at Ardennen.

Ref: 5

Jan 07

U.S. air ace Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. is killed in the Pacific.

Ref: 2

Jan 09

US soldiers led by General Douglas MacArthur invade Luzon, in the Philippines, 107 miles from Manila.

Ref: 5

Jan 11

Air raid against Japanese bases in Indochina by U.S. carrier-based planes.

Jan 12

German forces in Belgium retreat in Battle of the Bulge.

Ref: 5

Jan 12

US Task Force 38 destroys 41 Japanese ships in Battle of South China Sea.

Ref: 5

Jan 12

During World War Two, Soviet forces began a huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe.

Ref: 70

Jan 13

The Red Army opens an offensive in South Poland, crashing 25 miles through the German lines.

Ref: 2

Jan 14

Invasion of eastern Germany by Soviet troops.

Ref: 35

Jan 15

Red Army frees Crakow-Plaszow concentration camp.

Ref: 5

Jan 16

Dennis Donnini British rifleman (Victoria Cross), dies in battle at 19.

Ref: 5

Jan 16

Scottish 52nd land division/1st Commando brigade-assault at Heinsberg.

Ref: 5

Jan 17

Germans complete their withdrawal from the Ardennes.

Ref: 35

Jan 17

Auschwitz concentration camp begins evacuation.

Ref: 5

Jan 17

Liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops (end of Nazi occupation).

Ref: 5

Jan 17

Soviet and Polish forces liberate Warsaw during World War II.

Ref: 70

Jan 18

The German Army launches its second attempt to relieve the besieged city of Budapest from the advancing Red Army.

Ref: 2

Jan 18

Nazis evacuate 66,000 from Auschwitz.

Ref: 35

Jan 19

The Red Army captures Lodz, Krakow, and Tarnow.

Ref: 2

Jan 20

The Allies sign a truce with the Hungarians.

Ref: 2

Jan 21

British troops land on Ramree, near coast of Burma.

Ref: 5

Jan 22

Burma highway reopens.

Ref: 5

Jan 22

Heavy US air raid on Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Jan 24

A German attempt to relieve the besieged city of Budapest is finally halted by the Soviets.

Ref: 2

Jan 24

Scottish 52nd Lowland division occupies Heinsberg.

Ref: 5

Jan 25

Japanese occupiers of Batavia arrest Indo-European youths.

Ref: 5

Jan 25

West Africa 82nd division occupies Myohaung, Burma.

Ref: 5

Jan 25

Audie Murphy earns Metal of Honor in Holtzwihr, France by holding off advance of Germans.

Ref: 10

Jan 26

Soviet forces reach Auschwitz concentration camp.

Ref: 5

Jan 27

Nazi occupiers forbid food transport to West (The Netherlands).

Ref: 5

Jan 28

General "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell & truck convoy reopen Burma Road to China.

Ref: 5

Jan 28

Chiang Kai-shek renames the Ledo-Burma Road the Stilwell Road, in honor of General Joseph Stilwell.

Ref: 2

Jan 28

Dutch airplanes dump pamphlets on Java.

Ref: 5

Jan 28

Swedish ships bring food to starving Netherlands.

Ref: 5

Jan 30

Wilhelm Gustloff: cruise ship carrying German refugees and soldiers sunk by Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea. It is thought that as many as 10,000 people were aboard, of which only about 900 survived.

Ref: 85

Jan 30

The Allies launch a drive on the Siegfried line in Germany.

Ref: 2

Jan 31

US 4th Infantry division occupies Elcherrath.

Ref: 5

Feb 01

U.S. Rangers and Filipino guerrillas rescue 513 American survivors of the Bataan "death march".

Ref: 2

Feb 01

US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie.

Ref: 5

Feb 02

President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill departed Malta for the summit in Yalta with Soviet leader Josef Stalin. (XDG, p 4A, 2/02/2004)

Ref: 83

Feb 02

Some 1,200 Royal Air Force planes blast Wiesbaden and Karlsruhe.

Ref: 2

Feb 02

Escape attempt at Mauthausen concentration camp.

Ref: 5

Feb 03

The US Sixth Army attacks the Japanese in Manila, beginning a month-long battle.

Ref: 2

Feb 03

Almost 1000 Flying Fortresses drop 3000 ton bombs on Berlin.

Ref: 5

Feb 04

(through the 11th) President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.

Ref: 70

Feb 05

American and French troops destroy German forces in the Colmar Pocket in France.

Ref: 2

Feb 05

US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manilla.

Ref: 5

Feb 06

MacArthur reports the fall of Manila, and the liberation of 5,000 prisoners.

Ref: 2

Feb 06

Jan Bos Dutch resistance fighter, executed.

Ref: 5

Feb 06

Paul Bos Dutch resistance fighter, executed.

Ref: 5

Feb 06

8th Air Force bombs Magdeburg/Chemnitz.

Ref: 5

Feb 06

Russian Red Army crosses the river Oder.

Ref: 5

Feb 07

US 76th/5th Infantry divisions begin crossing Sauer.

Ref: 5

Feb 08

In Europe, the 1st Canadian Army, plus additional Allied formations, launches Operation Veritable, to clear the Reichswald Forest, break the Siegfried Line, clear the Hochwald Forest defences, and close up the Rhine river.

Feb 08

Allied air attack on Goch/Kleef/Kalkar/Reichswald.

Ref: 5

Feb 09

US soldiers led by General Douglas MacArthur invade Philippines.

Ref: 5

Feb 09

Germany destroys Ruhrdammen.

Ref: 5

Feb 09

WAAF-corporal flies along the tail of a Spitfire.

Ref: 5

Feb 09

George J L Maduro resistance fighter (Madurodam), dies in Dachau.

Ref: 5

Feb 09

Jan Bakker resistance fighter, executed at 26.

Ref: 5

Feb 10

B-29s hit the Tokyo area.

Ref: 2

Feb 11

President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War Two.

Ref: 5

Feb 12

Walraven [Wally] van Hall Dutch banker/resisted Nazis, executed at 39.

Ref: 5

Feb 12

... de Jong Dutch vicar/resistance fighter, executed.

Ref: 5

Feb 13

(and 14th) The Royal Air Force Bomber Command devastates the German city of Dresden by firestorm with night raids by 873 heavy bombers. The attacks are joined by 521 American heavy bombers flying daylight raids, killing 50,000.

Ref: 2

Feb 13

USSR captures Budapest, Hungary, after 49-day battle with Germany; 159,000 die.

Ref: 5

Feb 14

The siege of Budapest ends as the Soviets take the city. Only 785 German and Hungarian soldiers managed to escape.

Ref: 2

Feb 14

800 Allied aircraft firebomb the German city of Dresden. Smaller followup bombing raids last until April with a total death toll of between 35,000 to 130,000 civillians.

Ref: 2

Feb 16

In Athens, Greece, the National People's Liberation Army is defeated by government and British forces.

Feb 16

Venezuela declares war on Nazi-Germany.

Ref: 5

Feb 16

American paratroopers land on Corregidor, in a campaign to liberate the Philippines, complete conquest on March 3.

Ref: 2

Feb 17

Gen. MacArthur's troops land on Corregidor in the Philippines. Gen. MacArthur's troops land on Corregidor in the Philippines.

Ref: 2

Feb 19

The US 5th Fleet including 30,000 US Marines launch an invasion of Iwo Jima, a Japanese observation post for the B-29 raids. Over the next two months 6,281 marines are killed, and 21,865 are wounded in capturing the island from 20,000 defenders.

Ref: 17

Feb 19

900 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in 2 days.

Ref: 5

Feb 21

Allied forces break through the Siegfried Line in Europe.

Feb 21

Archbishop De Jong calls for help with war casualties.

Ref: 5

Feb 21

British Army captures Goch.

Ref: 5

Feb 21

US 10th Armour division overthrows Orscholz line.

Ref: 5

Feb 22

British troops take Ramree Island, Burma.

Ref: 5

Feb 22

Canadian 3rd Division occupies Moyland.

Ref: 5

Feb 23

US Marines raise flag on Iwo Jima on Mount Suribachi, famous photo & statue.

Ref: 5

Feb 23

Operation Grenade General Simpson's 9th Army crosses Ruhr.

Ref: 5

Feb 23

A fire bomb test raid on Tokyo with 172 planes burns one square mile, the most destructive raid on Japan to date.

Ref: 91

Feb 23

Canadian troops occupy Kalkar.

Ref: 4

Feb 23

2nd Dutch government of Gerbrandy forms in London.

Ref: 5

Feb 23

The Turkish National Assembly declares war on Germany.

Feb 23

Eisenhower opens a large offensive in the Rhineland.

Ref: 2

Feb 24

American soldiers liberated the Philippine capital of Manila from Japanese control during World War Two.

Ref: 4

Feb 24

U.S. forces liberate prisoners of war in the Los Ba�os Prison in the Philippines.

Ref: 2

Feb 24

Egypt & Syria declares war on Nazi-Germany.

Ref: 5

Feb 25

US aircraft carriers attack Tokyo.

Ref: 5

Feb 26

A midnight curfew on night clubs, bars and other places of entertainment was set to go into effect across the nation.

Ref: 6

Feb 26

In Europe, 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions and 4th Armoured Division begin attacking German defences in the Hochwald Forest and Balberger heights.

Feb 26

Syria declares war on Germany and Japan.

Ref: 2

Feb 26

Very heavy bombing on Berlin by 8th US Air Force.

Ref: 5

Feb 27

Battle of US 94 Infantry.

Ref: 5

Feb 28

U.S. tanks break the natural defense line west of the Rhine and cross the Erft River.

Ref: 2

Mar 01

A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese merchant ship loaded with supplies for Allied POWs, resulting in a court martial for the captain of the submarine, since the ship had been granted safe passage by the U.S. government.

Mar 01

British 43rd Division under General Essame occupies Xanten.

Ref: 5

Mar 01

Chinese 30th division occupies Hsenwi.

Ref: 5

Mar 01

FDR announces success of Yalta Conference.

Ref: 5

Mar 01

Fieldmarshal Kesselring succeeds von Rundstedt as commander.

Ref: 5

Mar 01

US infantry regiment captures M�nchengladbach.

Ref: 5

Mar 02

U.S. airborne troops recapture Corregidor in the Philippines.

Ref: 2

Mar 02

8th Air Force bombs Dresden.

Ref: 5

Mar 03

Finland declares war on the Axis.

Ref: 2

Mar 03

US troops complete the conquest of Corregidor, Philippines. They landed on Feb 16th.

Ref: 5

Mar 03

U.S. and Filipino troops take Manila.

Mar 03

Churchill visits Montgomery's headquarter.

Ref: 5

Mar 03

RAF bombing error hits The Hague killing 511.

Ref: 5

Mar 03

Roermond/Venlo Netherlands, freed.

Ref: 5

Mar 03

US 7th Army occupies last part of Westwall.

Ref: 5

Mar 04

German forces are cleared from the Hochwald Forest and Balberger heights.

Mar 04

Finland declares war on Nazi-Germany.

Ref: 5

Mar 05

Allies bombs The Hague, Netherlands.

Ref: 5

Mar 05

Generals Eisenhower, Patton & Patch meet in Luneville.

Ref: 5

Mar 05

US 7th Army Corps captures Cologne.

Ref: 5

Mar 06

Last German offensive of the war begins to defend oil fields in Hungary.

Ref: 36

Mar 06

Jan Thijssen Dutch resistance fighter, executed at Savage Farm.

Ref: 5

Mar 06

117 SD-prisoners executed at Savage Farm.

Ref: 5

Mar 06

Assassination attempt on H�here, SS Police f�hrer Rauter.

Ref: 5

Mar 06

Chinese 38th division occupies Lashio.

Ref: 5

Mar 06

Erich Honnecker & Erich Hanke flee Nazis.

Ref: 5

Mar 06

Cologne, Germany, falls to General Courtney Hodges' First Army.

Ref: 2

Mar 07

US 9th Armoured Division takes Cologne and crosses the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, using the damaged but still usable Ludendorff Bridge. (Ref. 6)

Ref: 36

Mar 08

First American prisoners of war held in Japanese camps were welcomed in San Francisco. Many of the men were survivors of the Bataan Death March.

Ref: 37

Mar 08

Phyllis Mae Daley recieves a commission in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. She will become the first African-American nurse to serve duty in World War II.

Ref: 2

Mar 08

53 Amsterdammers executed by Nazi occupiers.

Ref: 5

Mar 08

H J Jamin Dutch resistance fighter, dies in Buchenwald.

Ref: 5

Mar 08

Jan Beekes resistance fighter, executed at 26.

Ref: 5

Mar 09

334 US B-29 Superfortresses attack Tokyo with 120,000 fire bombs, setting 15 square miles to flames.

Ref: 5

Mar 09

Japanese proclaim the "independence" of Indo-China.

Ref: 5

Mar 10

U.S. Eighth Army invades Zamboanga Peninsula on Mindanao in the Philippines.

Ref: 5

Mar 10

German forces blow up bridges of the Wesel River and retreat to the east bank of the Rhine river.

Ref: 5

Mar 10

Japan declares Vietnam Independence.

Ref: 5

Mar 10

Patton's 3rd Army makes contact with Hodge's first Army.

Ref: 5

Mar 10

Tokyo in fire after night time B-29 bombing.

Ref: 5

Mar 11

1,000 allied bombers harass Essen, 4,662 ton bombs.

Ref: 5

Mar 12

30 Amsterdammers executed by Nazi occupiers.

Ref: 5

Mar 13

Queen Wilhelmina returns to Netherlands.

Ref: 5

Mar 13

Sicherheitsdienst arrest Dutch resistance fighter Henry Werkman.

Ref: 5

Mar 14

The RAF drops the heaviest bomb of the war, a 22,000 lb-er, on a railroad viaduct. The railway link Hannover-Hamm is severed; shock waves are felt hundreds of miles away.

Ref: 3

Mar 16

Iwo Jima is declared secure by U.S. forces although small pockets of Japanese resistance still exist.

Ref: 2

Mar 17

134 American and British gliders cross the Rhine River, landing in Wesel, Germany. This is the start of Operation Varsity.

Mar 17

Allied ships bomb North-Sumatra.

Ref: 5

Mar 18

1,250 US bombers attacks Berlin.

Ref: 5

Mar 18

US Task Force 58 attacks targets on Kiushu.

Ref: 5

Mar 19

About 800 men are killed in a kamikaze attak against the carrier Franklin. The Franklin was saved.

Ref: 5

Mar 19

In the Brandenburg Prison in Germany, General Fromm is shot. He was convicted of "cowardice" for his part in the bomb plot against Hitler in July 1944.

Ref: 5

Mar 19

Hitler issues his "Nero Decree"ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands.

Ref: 5

Mar 19

British 36th division conquers Mogok (ruby mine).

Ref: 5

Mar 19

US Task Force 58 attacks ships near Kobe/Kure.

Ref: 5

Mar 20

US 70th Infantry division/7th Armour division attack Saar.

Ref: 5

Mar 20

British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.

Mar 21

During World War Two, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.

Ref: 5

Mar 21

First Japanese flying bombs (ochas) attack Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Mar 21

Dutch Resistance fighter Hannie Schaft arrested by Nazi police.

Ref: 5

Mar 21

J Woortman Dutch resistance fighter, dies in Bergen-Belsen at 39.

Ref: 5

Mar 22

US 3rd Army crosses Rhine at Nierstein.

Ref: 5

Mar 22

J Postuma Dutch resistance fighter, dies.

Ref: 5

Mar 23

British 7th Black Watch crosses the Rhine.

Ref: 5

Mar 23

Largest operation in Pacific war, 1,500 US Navy ships bomb Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Mar 23

Premier Winston Churchill visits Montgomery's headquarter in Straelen.

Ref: 5

Mar 24

General Eisenhower, Montgomery & Bradley discuss advance in Germany.

Ref: 5

Mar 24

Largest one-day airborne drop, 600 transports & 1300 gliders.

Ref: 5

Mar 24

Operation Varsity: British, US & Canadian airborne landings East of Rhine.

Ref: 5

Mar 24

US minesweepers reach Kerama Retto, South coast of Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Mar 25

Allied forces begin an assault on the Rhine River, the last major line of German defence.

Mar 25

US first army breaks out bridgehead near Remagen.

Ref: 5

Mar 25

US 4th Armored division arrives at Hanau & Aschaffenburg.

Ref: 5

Mar 25

US Northern Tractor Flotilla departs Ulithi to Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Mar 26

US 7th Army crosses Rhine at Worms.

Ref: 2

Mar 26

Japanese resistance ends on Iwo Jima.

Ref: 2

Mar 26

Kamikazes attack US battle fleet near Kerama Retto.

Ref: 2

Mar 26

Generals Eisenhower/Bradley/Patton attack at Remagen the Rhine.

Ref: 5

Mar 26

British premier Churchill looks over at the Rhine (near Ginsberg).

Ref: 5

Mar 26

Isaack Stouten resistance fighter, shot to death at 29.

Ref: 5

Mar 27

The US 20th Army corps captures Wiesbaden.

Ref: 5

Mar 27

B-29s lay mines in Japan's Shimonoseki Strait to interrupt shipping.

Mar 27

British premier Churchill sails to eastern banks of Rhine.

Ref: 5

Mar 27

Iwo Jima occupied, after 22,000 Japanese & 6,000 US killed.

Ref: 5

Mar 27

During World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had been broken.

Ref: 70

Mar 28

Germany launches the last of the V-2 rockets against England.

Ref: 2

Mar 28

Last German V-1 (buzz bomb) attack on London.

Ref: 5

Mar 30

Soviet troops capture Danzig.

Ref: 36

Mar 30

289 anti-fascists are murdered by the Nazis in Rombergpark Dortmund.

Ref: 5

Mar 30

The Soviet Union invades Austria during World War Two.

Ref: 5

Mar 31

3rd Algerian division crosses the Rhine.

Ref: 5

Mar 31

US artillery lands on Keise Shima/begins firing on Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Mar 31

Maurice Rose first US General in Nazi Germany, killed in action at 45.

Ref: 5

Mar 31

Sicherheitsdienst murders 10 political prisoners in Zutphen.

Ref: 5

Apr 01

The final and largest amphibious landing of the war occurs as the U.S. Tenth Army invades Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 01

U.S. troops encircle Germans in the Ruhr.

Ref: 36

Apr 01

Canadian troop free Doetinchem, Enschede, Borculo & Eibergen.

Ref: 5

Apr 01

Ruhrgebied sealed off by US first & 9th army.

Ref: 5

Apr 02

First US units reach east coast of Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 03

Hengelo freed from Nazi control by Canadian army.

Ref: 5

Apr 03

Nazi's begin evacuation of camp Buchenwald.

Ref: 5

Apr 03

US first army conquers Hofgeismar.

Ref: 5

Apr 04

During World War II, U.S. forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany.

Ref: 35

Apr 04

Hungary liberated from Nazi occupation (Liberation Day).

Ref: 5

Apr 04

US tanks/infantry conquer Bielefeld.

Ref: 5

Apr 05

Kuniaki Koiso resigns as PM of Japan; replaced by Kantaro Suzuki.

Ref: 5

Apr 05

4th Canadian Armoured Division captures Almelo in northeast Holland.

Apr 05

Almelo Netherlands freed.

Ref: 5

Apr 06

3rd Canadian Division takes Zutphen in northeast Holland.

Apr 06

Coevorden freed from Nazi's.

Ref: 5

Apr 06

Japanese giant battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 06

Massive kamikaze-attack on US battle fleet near Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 06

US marines explore Tsugen Shima near Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 07

The Japanese battleship Yamato, the world's largest battleship, is sunk during the battle for Okinawa.

Ref: 2

Apr 07

American forces discover a mineshaft at Merkers loaded with gold and valuables from the Reichsbank. It is valued at US $241 million.

Apr 07

B29s fly their first fighter-escorted mission against Japan with P-51 Mustangs based on Iwo Jima; U.S. carrier-based fighters sink the super battleship YAMATO and several escort vessels which planned to attack U.S. forces at Okinawa.

Apr 07

American planes intercept a Japanese fleet headed for Okinawa on a suicide mission during World War II.

Ref: 70

Apr 07

First & last assault of German Rammkommando on US bombers.

Ref: 5

Apr 09

Liberty ship at Bari Italy carrying aerial bombs explodes, kills 360.

Ref: 5

Apr 09

The Red Army is repulsed at the Seelow Heights on the outskirts of Berlin.

Ref: 2

Apr 09

Battleship Admiral Scheer sinks British aircraft carrier.

Ref: 5

Apr 10

U.S. Armed forces liberated the prison camp at Buchenwald, Germany. It was estimated that nearly 57,000 prisoners (mostly Jews) perished in the gas chambers of Buchenwald during its eight-year existence as a Nazi concentration camp.

Ref: 5

Apr 10

In their second attempt to take the Seelow Heights, near Berlin, the Red Army launches numerous attacks against the defending Germans. The Soviets gain one mile at the cost of 3,000 men killed and 368 tanks destroyed.

Ref: 2

Apr 10

US troops land on Tsugen Shima Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 11

After two frustrating days of being repulsed and absorbing tremendous casualties, the Red Army finally takes the Seelow Heights north of Berlin.

Ref: 2

Apr 11

During World War Two, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

Ref: 5

Apr 11

SS burns & shoots 1,100 at Gardelegen.

Ref: 5

Apr 11

US captures Tsugen Shima.

Ref: 5

Apr 11

US troops conquers M�lheim, Oberhausen, Bochum, Unna, Essen.

Ref: 5

Apr 11

Kamiel van Baelen Flemish resistance fighter (in Dachau), dies at 29.

Ref: 5

Apr 12

Allies liberate the Belsen concentration camp.

Ref: 36

Apr 12

1st Canadian Corps begins an assault on Arnhem.

Apr 12

Canadian troops liberate Nazi concentration camp Westerbork, Netherlands.

Ref: 5

Apr 12

American troops enter Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany which killed 57,000 in 8 years.

Ref: 10

Apr 13

Vienna falls to Soviet troops.

Ref: 2

Apr 13

The last Boeing-built B-17 is delivered.

Apr 13

Canadian army liberates Teuge & Assen Netherlands from Nazi's.

Ref: 5

Apr 13

US marines conquer Minna Shima off Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 14

American B-29 bombers's damage the Imperial Palace during firebombing raid over Tokyo.

Ref: 2

Apr 14

Vienna falls to Soviet troops.

Ref: 2

Apr 14

Arnhem/Zwolle freed from Nazi's.

Ref: 5

Apr 14

US forces conquer Motobu peninsula on Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 14

US marines attack Yae Take on Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 15

Approximately 40,000 prisoners are freed at Bergen-Belsen by the British, who report "both inside and outside the huts was a carpet of dead bodies, human excreta, rags and filth."

Ref: 35

Apr 15

US troops occupy concentration camp Colditz.

Ref: 5

Apr 16

Soviet troops begin their final attack on Berlin; Americans enter Nuremberg.

Ref: 36

Apr 16

Near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, submarine U-190 sinks RCN minesweeper Esquimalt.

Apr 16

German troops in Groningen surrender.

Ref: 5

Apr 16

US troops land on He Shima Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 17

1st Canadian Corps takes Apeldoorn.

Apr 17

8th Air Force bombs Dresden.

Ref: 5

Apr 17

German occupiers flood Wieringermeer Netherlands.

Ref: 5

Apr 17

Mussolini flees from Sal� to Milan.

Ref: 5

Apr 17

US troops lands in Mindanao.

Ref: 5

Apr 18

German forces in the Ruhr surrender.

Ref: 36

Apr 18

Clandestine Radio 1212, after broadcasting pro-nazi propoganda for months used their influence to trap 350,000 German army group B troops.

Ref: 5

Apr 19

US aircraft carrier Franklin is heavily damaged in Japanese air raid.

Ref: 5

Apr 19

J P Heyboer resistance fighter, executed.

Ref: 5

Apr 20

US 7th Army & allies forces capture Nuremberg & Stuttgart in Germany.

Ref: 5

Apr 20

Allied bombers in Italy begin a three-day attack on the bridges over the rivers Adige and Brenta to cut off German lines of retreat on the peninsula.

Ref: 3

Apr 20

Soviet troops begin their attack on Berlin.

Ref: 2

Apr 20

German occupiers flood Beemster & Fencer.

Ref: 5

Apr 20

US forces conquer Motobu peninsula on Okinawa.

Ref: 5

Apr 21

Allied troops occupy German nuclear laboratory.

Ref: 5

Apr 21

US 7th Army occupies Neurenberg.

Ref: 5

Apr 21

Russian army arrives at outskirts of Berlin.

Ref: 5

Apr 21

John Poston, British Major/Montgomery's ADC, dies in battle at 25.

Ref: 5

Apr 22

Concentration Camp at Sachsenhausen liberated.

Ref: 5

Apr 23

Himmler meets with Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte in Loebeck, Germany. With Adolf Hitler in Berlin surrounded by Soviet forces, Himmler considers himself responsible for Germany's future. He asks Bernadotte to pass on an offer of surrender to General Eisenhower. The surrender would include armies on the Western Front, and armies in Norway and Denmark

Apr 23

Russians enter Berlin.

Ref: 35

Apr 23

Concentration camp Flossenburg liberated.

Ref: 5

Apr 23

US troops in Italy cross river Po.

Ref: 5

Apr 24

Anton de Kom Suriname resistance fighter, dies at 47.

Ref: 5

Apr 25

Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany.

Ref: 5

Apr 25

During World War II, United States and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, on the Elbe River, in central Europe, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany.

Ref: 70

Apr 25

Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany's final transmission.

Ref: 5

Apr 25

Allied air raid on Surabaja Java.

Ref: 5

Apr 25

British troops reach Grebbe line Netherlands.

Ref: 5

Apr 25

Red army completely surrounds Berlin.

Ref: 5

Apr 26

Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, leader of France's Vichy collaborationist regime during WWII, arrested for treason.

Ref: 5

Apr 27

US 5th army enters Genua.

Ref: 5

Apr 27

Italian partisans capture Mussolini prisoner.

Ref: 5

Apr 28

Benito Mussolini, 61, dictator of Fascist Italy, 1922-1945, is captured by partisans with his mistress, Claretta Petacci. Both are executed.

Ref: 36

Apr 28

The Grebbe Line is established in West Holland, with a truce arranged by Canadian forces, allowing food supplies to reach civilians.

Apr 28

Hitler dismisses Himmler, after learning that Himmler had offered to discuss peace terms with British prime minister Churchill.

Apr 28

Allies take Venice.

Apr 28

British commands attack Elbe & occupies Lauenburg.

Ref: 5

Apr 28

US 5th army reaches Swiss border.

Ref: 5

Apr 29

Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and designated Admiral Karl Doenitz his successor.

Ref: 35

Apr 29

The U.S. 7th Army liberates Dachau concentration camp

Ref: 35

Apr 29

Venice & Mestre are captured by the Allies. The German Army in Italy surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.

Ref: 2

Apr 29

First food drop by RAF above nazi-occupied Holland (operation Manna).

Ref: 5

Apr 29

Japanese army evacuates Rangoon.

Ref: 5

Apr 30

Concentration camp M�nchen-Allag freed.

Ref: 5

Apr 30

Lord Haw-Haw calls for crusade against the bolsheviks.

Ref: 5

Apr 30

Red Army occupies Demmin.

Ref: 5

Apr 30

Red Army opens attack on German Reichstag building in Berlin.

Ref: 5

Apr 30

Russian Army frees Ravensbr�ck concentration camp.

Ref: 5

Apr 30

US troops attack the Elbe.

Ref: 5

May 01

Soviet army reach Rostock.

Ref: 5

May 01

Admiral Karl Doenitz forms German government.

Ref: 5

May 01

Martin Bormann, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, escapes the Fuehrerbunker as the Red Army advances on Berlin.

Ref: 2

May 01

900 occupiers of Demmin Vorpommeren commit suicide.

Ref: 5

May 01

Australian & Dutch troops lands on Tarakan.

Ref: 5

May 02

Theresienstadt taken over by the Red Cross.

Ref: 35

May 02

Allies occupy Wismar.

Ref: 5

May 02

Yugoslav troops occupy Trieste.

Ref: 5

May 02

German forces in Italy surrender.

Ref: 5

May 02

Russian forces take Berlin after 12 days of fierce house-to-house fighting; General Weidling surrenders.

Ref: 2

May 03

US troops land at Santa Cruz, Philippines.

Ref: 17

May 03

Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.

Ref: 5

May 03

German ship "Cap Arcona" sinks in East Sea, 5,800 killed.

Ref: 5

May 03

Allies arrests German nuclear physicist Werner Heisenberg.

Ref: 5

May 03

First Polish armour brigade occupies Wilhelmshafen.

Ref: 5

May 03

British troop join in Rangoon.

Ref: 5

May 04

During World War Two, German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany agreed to surrender.

Ref: 70

May 05

Premier Gerbrandy on Radio Orange tells Dutch they are liberated.

Ref: 5

May 05

Holland and Denmark are liberated from Nazi control.

Ref: 2

May 05

Uprising against SS-occupying troops in Prague.

Ref: 5

May 05

General J Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands

Ref: 5

May 05

German General Johannes Blaskowitz surrenders the troops of the 25th German Army in Netherlands to Lieut.-General Charles Foulkes, GOC 1st Canadian Corps., in Wageningen. A cease fire declared on the Western Front.

May 05

In the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing the pregnant wife of a minister and five children.

Ref: 70

May 06

Axis Sally makes her last broadcast Ref

May 06

General J Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands.

Ref: 5

May 07

During World War Two, US forces crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, using the damaged but still usable Ludendorff Bridge.

Ref: 4

May 07

Nazi Colonel General Alfred Jodl, representing the German government, entered the headquarters of the Allied forces at Reims early this day. He was in a red school building in Reims, France for one purpose only ... signing the terms of unconditional surrender. Eisenhower�s Chief of Staff, Lt. General Walter B. Smith signed for the Allies.

Ref: 4

May 07

SS open fire on crowd in Amsterdam, killing 22.

Ref: 5

May 08

Canadian troops move into Amsterdam

Ref: 2

May 08

General Von Keitel surrenders to Marshal Zhukov near Berlin.

Ref: 2

May 08

Chinese counter attack at Tsjangte, supports by 14th air fleet

Ref: 2

May 08

President Harry S. Truman announced in a radio address that World War II had ended in Europe.

Ref: 70

May 09

Hermann G�ring is captured by members of the U.S. 7th Army.

Ref: 35

May 09

Victory celebration at Red Square.

Ref: 5

May 09

(midnight) Fighting in Europe officially ends.

Ref: 5

May 09

U.S. officials announced that the midnight entertainment curfew was being lifted immediately.

Ref: 70

May 09

Norwegian Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling arrested.

Ref: 5

May 09

Nazi propagandist Max Blokzijl arrested.

Ref: 5

May 09

Czechoslovakia liberated from Nazi occupation (National Day) by the Russians.

Ref: 5

May 10

Allies capture Rangoon from the Japanese.

Ref: 2

May 10

Russian troops occupy Prague.

Ref: 2

May 10

US offensive on Okinawa, Sugar Loaf conquered.

Ref: 5

May 11

US marines conquer Awatsha Draw Okinawa.

Ref: 5

May 13

US troops conquer Dakeshi Okinawa

Ref: 5

May 14

Kamikaze-Zero strikes US aircraft carrier Enterprise.

Ref: 5

May 14

US offensive on Okinawa, Sugar Loaf conquered.

Ref: 5

May 15

Major Courtney US medal of honor marine, dies in battle of Sugar Loaf.

Ref: 5

May 16

Violent battles around Sugar Loaf/Half Moon Okinawa.

Ref: 5

May 20

Japanese begin their withdrawal from China.

May 22

6th Marine division reaches suburbs of Naha Okinawa

Ref: 5

May 23

Winston Churchill resigns as British PM.

Ref: 5

May 23

German island of Helgoland in North Sea surrenders to British.

Ref: 5

May 23

British military police arrest Admiral Karl Doenitz.

Ref: 5

May 23

Lord Haw-Haw is arrested at Danish boundary.

Ref: 5

May 25

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff approve Operation Olympic, the invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1.

Ref: 91

May 25

464 B-29s raid Tokyo again, burning out nearly 16 square miles of the remaining city. Only a few thousand are killed, urban inhabitants have learned to flee fire bomb attacks quickly and escape the flames.

Ref: 91

May 26

US drop fire bombs on Tokyo.

Ref: 5

May 28

The Battle of the Atlantic ends, and ships switch on their running lights.

May 29

US first Marine division conquerors Shuri-castle Okinawa.

Ref: 5

May 30

Between January 1940 and May 1945, the Bureau investigated 19,299 alleged cases of sabotage. Sabotage in some form was found in 2,282 incidences, primarily acts of spite, carelessness, malicious mischief, and the like. During World War II, not a single act of enemy-directed sabotage was discovered in the United States.

Ref: 14

Jun 05

USA, UK, USSR, France declare supreme authority over Germany.

Ref: 5

Jun 09

Japanese Premier Kantaro Suzuki declares that Japan will fight to the last rather than accept unconditional surrender.

Ref: 2

Jun 10

The Australians invade Borneo.

Jun 14

Burma is liberated by the British.

Ref: 2

Jun 18

William Joyce, known as "Lord Haw-Haw" is charged in London with high treason for his English language wartime broadcasts on German radio. He was hanged the following January. (XDG, p 4A, 6/18/2000)

Ref: 83

Jun 18

Organized Japanese resistance ends on the island of Mindanao.

Ref: 2

Jun 18

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower received a tumultuous welcome in Washington, where he addressed a joint session of Congress.

Ref: 70

Jun 21

During World War II, American soldiers on Okinawa found the body of the Japanese commander, Lt. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, who had committed suicide.

Ref: 64

Jun 21

Japanese forces on Okinawa surrender to US during WW II.

Ref: 5

Jun 22

The World War II battle for Okinawa ended; 12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed in the 81-day campaign.

Ref: 70

Jun 23

Six US CG-4A and one CG-13 glider land at Camalaniugan Airstrip in Luzon, Philippines.

Jun 28

General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters announces the end of all Japanese resistance in the Philippines.

Ref: 2

Jul 01

U.S., British, and French troops move into Berlin.

Ref: 36

Jul 03

US troops land at Balikpapan and take Sepinggan airfield on Borneo in the Pacific.

Ref: 2

Jul 05

General Douglas MacArthur declares that the Philippine Islands are liberated. WWII

Ref: 10

Jul 06

B-29 Superfortress bombers attack Honshu, Japan, using new fire-bombing techniques.

Ref: 2

Jul 06

Operation Overcast begins in Europe--moving Austrian and German scientists and their equipment to the United States.

Ref: 2

Jul 10

US carrier-based aircraft begin airstrikes against Japan in preparation for invasion.

Ref: 2

Jul 11

Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo cables Ambassador Naotake Sato in Moscow advising him to explore using the USSR as an intermediary in surrender negotiations.

Ref: 91

Jul 14

American battleships and cruisers bombard the Japanese home islands for the first time.

Ref: 2

Jul 16

The Potsdam Conference begins

Ref: 36

Jul 16

With total secrecy, the U.S.S. Indianapolis left San Francisco with two atomic bombs. Its destination was the island of Tinian. On its secret trip it set a new speed record between the Farallones and Hawaii of 74 1/2 hours.

Ref: 37

Jul 17

President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II.

Ref: 70

Jul 23

French Marshal Henri Petain, who had headed the Vichy government during World War II, went on trial, charged with treason.

Ref: 70

Jul 26

Truman issues the Potsdam Declaration, requiring unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces.

Ref: 91

Jul 28

The Japanese government rejects the Potsdam surrender demand.

Ref: 91

Jul 29

After delivering parts of the first atomic bomb to the island of Tinian, the U.S.S. Indianapolis is sunk by a Japanese submarine resulting in the loss of 881 lives. The survivors are adrift for two days before help arrives.

Ref: 2

Jul 30

The U.S.S. Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine after delivering the atomic bombs at Guam. The ship went down 450 miles off th Leyte coast. 883 crew members lost their lives in the war's worst naval disaster.

Ref: 37

Aug 02

President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee concluded the Potsdam conference.

Ref: 70

Aug 03

Chinese troops under American General Joseph Stilwell take the town of Myitkyina from the Japanese.

Ref: 2

Aug 06

More than 200,000 civilians died from the explosion and/or radiation when an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay piloted by Paul Tibbets, dropped an atomic bomb over the center of Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first time an atomic bomb had been dropped over a populated place; and the first time a nuclear weapon had been used in warfare.

Ref: 62

Aug 06

In Canada, McNaughton submits his resignation as Minister of Defence.

Aug 06

Col. V.R. Miller, head of the crack Nisei regiment protested discrimination against veteran members of his outfit whose applications for membership in the VFW were rejected. His protest letter was printed in the Stars and Stripes.

Ref: 37

Aug 07

In the absence of an immediate surrender, a crash effort begins to print and distribute millions of leaflets to major Japanese cities warning of future atomic attacks. The date for dropping Fat Man is moved up to August 10, then to August 9, to avoid a projected 5 days of bad weather. This requires skipping many check out procedures during assembly.

Ref: 91

Aug 08

Emperor Hirohito informs the Japanese prime minister that the war must be ended as soon as possible, on the basis of the Potsdam Declaration.

Aug 08

Organized Japanese resistance ends on the island of Mindanao.

Ref: 2

Aug 08

At Foreign Minister Togo's request Ambassador Sato tries to persuade the Soviets to mediate surrender negotiations. Molotov cancel's the meeting, then announces that the Soviet Union is at war with Japan effective the next day.

Ref: 91

Aug 08

Leaflet dropping, and warnings to Japan by Radio Saipan begin (Nagasaki does not receive warning leaflets until August 10).

Ref: 91

Aug 08

The Soviet Union declares war on Japan. The Red Army advances into Manchuria.

Ref: 36

Aug 09

The B-29 was known as "Bock's Car" drops a plutonium base bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki killing 70,000 people. Nagasaki was the secondary target. Kokura, the primary target, was shrouded in smog at the time.

Ref: 2

Aug 09

Lieutenant Hampton Gray, RCNVR, a fighter pilot of the HMCS Formidable, leads an air assault on Japanese warships. His plane catches fire, but he continues dropping bombs, sinking a destroyer. He is killed in action.

Aug 10

Japan announces willingness to surrender to Allies provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged

Ref: 5

Aug 10

Japanese civilian and military leaders are still unable to agree on accepting the Potsdam Decree's surrender terms. Emperor Hirohito instead breaks the tradition of imperial non-intervention in government and orders that surrender be accepted, provided that the Emperor be allowed to retain his position.

Ref: 91

Aug 11

Truman and Sec. of State Byrnes reply with an amended form of the Potsdam Decree that acknowledges the Emperor, but still uses to guarantee his position.

Ref: 91

Aug 11

Strategic Air Forces Carl Spaatz halts area fire bombing.

Ref: 91

Aug 11

Allies refuse Japan's surrender offer to retain Emperor Hirohito.

Ref: 5

Aug 13

Truman orders area fire bombing resumed.

Ref: 91

Aug 13

Gen. Henry Arnold, US Army Air Force, launches the largest raid on Japan of the war with over 1000 B-29s and other aircraft, carrying 6000 tons of bombs.

Ref: 91

Aug 14

American B-29 bombers attack Tokyo.

Ref: 62

Aug 14

Following leaflet bombing of Tokyo with surrender terms, Hirohito orders that an Imperial Edict accepting surrender be issued. 2:49 p.m. (1:49 a.m. Washington time), Japanese news agency announces surrender.

Ref: 91

Aug 14

Gen. MacArthur is appointed to head the occupation forces in Japan.

Ref: 62

Aug 14

CBS radio began the series, "Columbia Presents Corwin". Orson Welles did a special reading about the fall of Japan, titled, "Fourteen August".

Ref: 4

Aug 14

This is the day that U.S. President Harry S Truman announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allies [WWII]. Thousands thronged into the streets throughout the United States to celebrate V-J Day. A million people flock to Times Square, New York to see news flash: Japan Surrenders. The official ratification of the surrender didn�t take place until September 2, in Tokyo Bay aboard the "USS Missouri".

Ref: 70

Aug 15

Emperor Hirohito announces the Japanese surrender on national radio, urging the Japanese people to "endure the unendurable."

Aug 15

Riots break out in San Francisco celebrating end of World War II.

Ref: 62

Aug 15

Gasoline and fuel oil rationing ends in the United States.

Ref: 2

Aug 15

South Korea liberated from Japanese rule.

Ref: 5

Aug 16

Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright, who was taken prisoner by the Japanese on Corregidor on May 6, 1942, is released from a POW camp in Manchuria by U.S. troops.

Ref: 2

Aug 20

Soviet forces complete their conquest of Manchuria.

Aug 21

President Truman ends the Lend-Lease program that had shipped some $50 billion in aid to U.S. allies during World War II. (XDG, p 4A, 8/21/2000)

Ref: 83

Aug 21

In Canada, Prime Minister King accepts McNaughton's resignation as Minister of Defence.

Aug 22

Soviet troops land at Port Arthur and Dairen on the Kwantung Peninsula in China.

Ref: 2

Aug 24

The last Cadillac-built M-24 tank was produced on this day, ending the company�s World War II effort.

Aug 27

B-29 Superfortress bombers begin to drop supplies into Allied prisoner of war camps in China.

Ref: 2

Aug 27

American troops began landing in Japan following the surrender of the Japanese government in World War II.

Ref: 70

Aug 29

The Soviets shoot down a B29 dropping supplies to POWs in Korea; U.S. troops land near Tokyo to begin the occupation of Japan.

Aug 29

General MacArthur is named Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in Japan.

Aug 29

U.S. airborne troops are landed in transport planes at Atsugi airfield, southwest of Tokyo, beginning the occupation of Japan.

Ref: 2

Aug 30

After Japan announces its unconditional surrender in World War II, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur lands in Tokyo to inaugurate the Allied occupation of the country. (XDG, p 4A, 8/30/2000)

Ref: 83

Aug 30

Hong Kong is liberated from Japan.

Ref: 5

Sep 02

US President Harry S Truman proclaimed this day as Victory-over-Japan Day (V-J Day or Victory Day). It was so named because the official ratification of the Japanese surrender to the Allies was made aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on this day (Far Eastern Time). The informal agreement of surrender had been made on August 14.

Ref: 4

Sep 03

General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Japanese commander of the Philippines, surrenders to Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright at Baguio.

Ref: 2

Sep 04

The American flag is raised on Wake Island after surrender ceremonies there.

Ref: 2

Sep 05

British land in Singapore.

Sep 05

Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose," was arrested in Yokohama. (D'Aquino served six years in prison; she was pardoned in 1977 by President Ford.)

Ref: 70

Sep 07

The Japanese surrender in Shanghai.

Sep 08

MacArthur enters Tokyo.

Sep 08

US invades Japanese-held Korea.

Ref: 5

Sep 09

Japanese forces in Korea, Taiwan, China and Indochina surrender to the Allies.

Ref: 5

Sep 13

The Japanese surrender in Burma.

Sep 13

Iran demands the withdrawal of Allied forces.

Ref: 2

Sep 16

Japan surrenders Hong Kong to Britain.

Ref: 2

Sep 22

President Truman accepts U.S. Secretary of War Stimson's recommendation to designate the war World War II.

Ref: 2

Sep 30

The US ends its year-round observation of daylight saving as part of the war effort Ref.

Oct 12

Private First Class Desmond T. Ross, of Lynchburg, Virginia, is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman, the first conscientious objector in American history to receive the honor. When called on by his country to fight in World War II, Ross, a dedicated pacifist, registered as a conscientious objector. Eventually sent to the Pacific theater of war as a medical corpsman, Ross voluntarily put his life in the utmost peril during the bloody battle for Okinawa, saving dozens of lives well beyond the call of duty.

Oct 25

Japanese surrender Taiwan to Gen Chiang Kai-shek.

Ref: 5

Oct 30

The U.S. government announces the end of shoe rationing.

Ref: 5

Nov 08

The passage of the Revenue Act of 1945 rolls back the heavy taxes which had been implemented to help finance the war.

Ref: 3

Nov 16

Eighty-eight German scientists, holding Nazi secrets, arrive in the United States.

Ref: 2

Nov 20

Twenty-four Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.

Ref: 70

Nov 23

Most US wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.

Ref: 70

Nov 27

C.A.R.E. (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) was founded this day, as 22 American organizations formed a cooperative to rush lifesaving CARE packages to survivors of World War II.

Ref: 4

Dec 06

The United States extends a $3 billion loan to Great Britain to help compensate for the termination of the Lend-Lease agreement.

Ref: 2

Dec 17

Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King passes three orders-in-council providing for the deportation of five classes of Japanese Canadians.

Dec 20

The Office of Price Administration announced the end of tire rationing, effective January 1st, 1946.

Ref: 6

Dec 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.

1946

Jan 01

Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god.

Ref: 5

Jan 03

Great Britain, Canada, and the United States make public disclosures about their chemical and biological warfare efforts during the war.

Jan 24

In Canada, Prime Minister Mackenzie King repeals the Japanese repatriation orders-in-council. Japanese Canadians in Canada would no longer be subject to deportation; the Supreme Court of Canada hears the case of the government's policy of deporting Japanese Canadians.

Feb 19

In Canada, a surplus Landing Ship loaded with $2 million worth of liquid mustard gas is intentionally sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, off Nova Scotia. The gas had been acquired from the United States in 1942.

Feb 20

The Supreme Court of Canada rules that part of the government's orders-in-council on deporting Japanese Canadians is invalid, but parts of the orders were made under the War Measures Act, making them legal.

Mar 11

Former Auschwitz Kommandant H�ss, posing as a farm worker, is arrested by the British. He testifies at Nuremberg, then is later tried in Warsaw, found guilty and hanged at Auschwitz, April 16, 1947, near Crematory I. "History will mark me as the greatest mass murderer of all time," H�ss writes while in prison, along with his memoirs about Auschwitz.

Ref: 35

Mar 30

The Allies seize 1,000 Nazis attempting to revive the Nazi party in Frankfurt.

Ref: 2

Apr 28

The Allies indict Tojo on 55 counts of war crimes

Ref: 2

May 03

International military tribunal in Tokyo begins

Ref: 5

Dec 02

The United States and Great Britain merge their German occupation zones.

Ref: 2

Dec 09

23 former SS doctors and scientists go on trial before a U.S. Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Sixteen are found guilty, with 7 being hanged.

Ref: 35

Dec 31

President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War Two.

Ref: 70

1947

Jan 10

Greek steamer "Himara" strikes a wartime mine in Saronic Gulf south of Athens with loss of 392 of 637 aboard.

Ref: 5

Feb 05

The Soviet Union and Great Britain reject terms for an American trusteeship over Japanese Pacific Isles.

Ref: 2

Feb 10

WWII peace treaties signed.

Ref: 5

Feb 24

Franz von Papen is sentenced to eight years in a labor camp for war crimes.

Ref: 2

May 07

General MacArthur approves Japanese constitution.

Ref: 5

Jun 01

The OPA, which issued WW II rationing coupons, disbands.

Ref: 5

Jun 05

Secretary of State George C. Marshall gave a speech at Harvard University in which he outlined an aid program for Europe that came to be known as the Marshall Plan.

Ref: 5

Jun 11

The government announced the end of household and institutional sugar rationing, to take effect the next day.

Ref: 5

Jul 17

Raoul Wallenberg, humanitarian, dies. He is credited with rescuing at least 100,000 Jews from certain death ... 65,000 of them from the Budapest ghetto.

Ref: 68

Sep 15

Twenty one former SS Einsatz leaders go on trial before a U.S. Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Fourteen are sentenced to death, with only 4 (the group commanders) actually being executed. The other death sentences are commuted.

Ref: 35

Oct 10

US Patent Office issued a patent on the Norden Bombsight applied for 17 years earlier.

Ref: 50

Dec 23

President Harry S Truman grants a pardon to 1,523 who had evaded the World War II draft.

Ref: 2

1948

Mar 31

Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe.

Ref: 5

May 04

The Hague Court of Justice convicts Hans Rauter (SS) to the death.

Ref: 5

Nov 12

Former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War Two Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

Ref: 5

Dec 20

U.S. Supreme Court announces that it has no jurisdiction to hear the appeals of Japanese war criminals sentenced by the International Military Tribunal.

Ref: 2

1949

Jan 25

Axis Sally, who broadcasted Nazi propaganda to U.S. troops in Europe, stands trial in the United States for war crimes.

Ref: 2

Mar 08

The trial of Mildred Gillars (Axis Sally) ends. She will be acquitted of 7 of 8 counts of treason and sentenced to 10 - 30 years in prison. Ref

Mar 10

Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred E. Gillars, also known as "Axis Sally," was convicted in Washington DC of treason. (She served 12 years in prison.)

Ref: 70

Mar 15

Almost four years after the end of World War II, clothes rationing in Great Britain ends.

Ref: 2

Apr 14

International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg's last judgment.

Ref: 5

1950

Feb 01

USSR demands condemnation of Emperor Hirohito for war crimes.

Ref: 5

1951

Jul 09

President Truman asked Congress to formally end the state of war between the United States and Germany.

Ref: 70

Jul 09

Formal end of WWII by Britain and France.

Ref: 10

Sep 04

The first coast-to-coast telecast using coaxial cable was seen by viewers from New York City to San Francisco, CA. What did they see? U.S. President Harry S Truman giving a speech to the nation from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco.

Ref: 4

Sep 08

A peace treaty with Japan was signed by 48 nations in San Francisco.

Ref: 70

Oct 09

U.S. and Germany formally end WWII.

Ref: 10

Oct 19

President Truman signed an act formally ending the state of war with Germany.

Ref: 70

1952

Mar 20

US Senate's final ratification of peace treaty restoring sovereignty to Japan.

Ref: 5

Apr 15

President Harry Truman signs the official Japanese peace treaty.

Ref: 2

Apr 28

War with Japan officially ended as a treaty that had been signed by the United States and 47 other nations took effect; Japan assumes full sovereignity.

Ref: 70

Jun 16

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl is published in the United States.

Ref: 2

1953

Jan 27

Netherlands ends Marshall aid.

Ref: 5

1954

Jul 03

Food rationing ends in Great Britain almost nine years after the end of World War II.

Ref: 2

Nov 10

Iwo Jima Memorial (servicemen raising US flag) dedicated in Arlington.

Ref: 5

1955

Jan 25

USSR officially ends its state of war with the German Federal Republic.

Ref: 18

Oct 03

Soviet battleship "Novorossiisk" strikes WW II mine in Baltic Sea.

Ref: 5

1956

Feb 01

Hague Daily Newspaper reveals war crimes of Hague mayor Schokking.

Ref: 5

1958

Nov 27

USSR abrogates Allied war-time agreements on control of Germany.

Ref: 5

1959

May 20

Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship.

Ref: 5

1960

Jun 15

Argentina complains to UN about Israeli illicit transfer of Eichman.

Ref: 5

1961

Jun 10

Mildred Gillars (Axis Sally) is released from the Federal Women's Reformatory in Alderson WV. Ref

Aug 14

(since April 11th) Eichmann on trial in Jerusalem for crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Found guilty and hanged at Ramleh on May 31, 1962. A fellow Nazi reported Eichmann once said "he would leap laughing into the grave because the feeling that he had five million people on his conscience would be for him a source of extraordinary satisfaction."

Ref: 35

1965

Mar 25

West German Bondsdag extends war crimes retribution.

Ref: 5

1971

Jan 26

Dutch 2nd Chamber accept law against limitation of war crimes.

Ref: 5

Jun 17

The United States and Japan signed a treaty under which the U-S would return control of the island of Okinawa.

Ref: 6

1972

Jan 24

After twenty-eight years of hiding in the jungles of Guam, local farmers discover Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant who was unaware that World War II had ended.

Ref: 3

Feb 24

Hanoi negotiators walks out of the peace talks in Paris to protest U.S. air raids on North Vietnam.

Ref: 2

May 15

Ryukyu Island & Daito Island returned to Japan after 27 years of US control.

Ref: 5

1974

Mar 09

Last Japanese soldier, a guerrilla operating in Philippines, surrenders, 29 years after World War II ended.

Ref: 5

1977

Jan 19

Iva Toguri D'Aquino, an American citizen of Japanese descent who made Japanese propaganda broadcasts to U.S. troops during World War II, is pardoned from her treason charge by U.S. President Gerald R. Ford on his last day in office.

Ref: 3

1978

Oct 23

China and Japan exchanged treaty ratification documents in Tokyo, formally ending four decades of hostility.

Ref: 70

1979

Jul 03

Thirty-four years after the end of World War II, the West German government voted to continue prosecution of Nazi war criminals by removing the statute of limitations on murder.

Ref: 5

1983

Feb 24

A congressional commission released a report condemning the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a "grave injustice."

Ref: 70

Apr 22

Stern mag announces major historical find-discovery of 60 volume personal diaries written by Adolph Hitler (turned out to be a hoax).

Ref: 5

1985

Mar 04

War veterans returned to the "Bridge over the River Kwai".

Ref: 5

Apr 25

West German Parliament ruled it illegal to deny the holocaust.

Ref: 5

1987

Jul 27

John Demjanjuk, accused Nazi "Ivan the Terrible" testifies in Israel

Ref: 5

1988

Feb 29

A Nazi document is discovered that implicates participation of Austrian president and former U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim in WWII deportations.

Ref: 2

Jun 06

George Bush makes campaign promise to support reparations for WW II Japanese-American internees (promise broken, May 1989).

Ref: 5

Aug 04

Congress votes $20,000 to each Japanese-American interned in WW II.

Ref: 5

Aug 10

President Reagan signed a measure providing $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.

Ref: 70

Sep 22

The government of Canada apologized for the World War II internment of Japanese-Canadians and promised compensation.

Ref: 70

Dec 19

Unexploded WWII bomb found in Frankfurt, Germany-5,000 evacuated.

Ref: 5

1989

Jun 09

The wreck of the German battleship Bismarck is discovered at a depth of 4,700 meters.

1990

Apr 12

1st meeting of East German democratically elected parliment, acknowledges responsibilty for Nazi holocaust & asks for forgiveness.

Ref: 5

Apr 13

The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, a massacre the Soviets had previously blamed on the Nazis.

Ref: 70

Apr 13

The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, a massacre the Soviets had previously blamed on the Nazis.

Ref: 70

Sep 12

Representatives of the World War II allies and West and East Germany sign a treaty in Moscow giving international sanction to German unity. (XDG, p 4A, 9/12/2000)

Ref: 83

1992

Jan 13

Japan apologizes for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War Two.

Ref: 6

1993

Apr 22

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington DC to honor the victims of Nazi extermination.

Ref: 70

Apr 23

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

Ref: 70

Jul 29

The Israeli Supreme Court acquitted retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk of being Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible," and threw out his death sentence.

Ref: 70

1994

Jun 06

US President Bill Clinton and other dignitaries from around the world visit Normandy, France. Many D-Day veterans join them to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Operation Overlord and to pay respect to the thousands who died there in World War II.

Ref: 4

1996

Sep 02

At a military cemetery on a hill high above Honolulu, President Clinton marked the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two, saying it taught Americans that "the blessings of freedom are never easy or free."

Ref: 6

1997

Jan 23

The Swiss government, three banks and some businesses agreed to set up a private sector humanitarian fund for Nazi Holocaust victims and their heirs. Reportedly, the neutral Swiss profited from millions of dollars worth of gold deposited some fifty years earlier by victims of the Holocaust. It seems that the gold was also used to make deals with the Nazis.

Ref: 4

Feb 05

3 Swiss banks create $70 million Holocaust fund.

Ref: 5

May 31

Rosie Will Monroe, WWII icon (Rosie the Riveter), dies at 76

Ref: 5

1998

Jun 19

Switzerland's three largest banks offered $600M to settle claims they'd stolen assets of Holocaust victims. Outraged Jewish leaders called the offer insultingly low. (XDG, p 4A, 6/19/2003)

Ref: 83

Aug 12

Swiss banks agree to pay $1.25 billion to settle lawsuits filed by Holocaust survivors and their heirs. The banks had kept millions of dollars deposited by Holocaust victims and their relatives before and during World War II.

Ref: 4

1999

Dec 14

U.S. and German negotiators agreed to establish a fund of $5.2 billion for Nazi-era slave and forced laborers. The breakthrough in the months-long negotiations came after the German government raised its offer to $2.6 billion, equaling the amount already pledged by industry to compensate those forced to work for Hitler's war machine.

Ref: 4

2000

Apr 11

A British judge branded historian David Irving an anti-Semite racist and an apologist for Adolf Hitler, ruling that an American scholar was justified in calling him a Holocaust denier.

Ref: 6

Jun 21

Some 55 years after World War II ended, 22 Asian-American veterans received the Medal of Honor for bravery on the battlefield during a White House ceremony.

Ref: 64

Jul 17

German and U.S. officials and lawyers signed a historic deal on Monday to compensate hundreds of thousands of Nazi slaves and forced laborers from a 10 billion marks ($4.8 billion) fund. (CNN, 7/17/2000)

Ref: 9

Jul 26

A federal judge in NY approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than a half million plaintiffs who alleged the banks had hoarded money deposited by Holocaust victims.

Ref: 70

Aug 28

Nestle of Switzerland agrees to contribute $14.6 million to atone for profits made from Nazi slaves.

Ref: 10

World War II after 1944 Chronology

Last Update: October 27th, 2005 © 2000-2005 Kenneth Fussichen

Last Update: October 27th, 2005
© 2000-2005 Kenneth Fussichen