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| TIMELINE 1945
Jan. 9 - On Jan. 9th American forces landed at Lingayen Gulf, marking the beginning of the conquest of Luzon. American troops finally gained control of Manilla, after heavy fighting, between Feb. 5th and the 23rd. The Americans seized control of most of the Philippine Islands, with the exception of Palawan, by July 5th. Jan. 11 - The leftist opposition in Greece ended their rebellion against the Greek government. The 6 week Civil War ended in $200 million in damage in Athens alone and 2,00 British casualties. Jan. 12 ~ Mar. 30 - The Red Army launched a general offensive in Poland, beginning on Jan. 20th. The Soviets captured Warsaw on Jan. 17th - Lodz, Tarnow, and Cracow on the 19th of Jan. They forced the Germans to abandon the Vistula Defense Line. The Red Army reached the Oder River on Jan. 23rd. By Feb. 20th, Soviet armored divisions were within 30 miles of Berlin, leading an Army of 215 Divisions. The Soviets captured Danzig and Kuestrin by the end of March and prepared for the final battle against the German capital. Jan. 20 - After a dogged defense of Budapest, the Provisional Hungarian government, under Gen. Miklos, concluded an armistice with the United Nations. Hungarian forces then supported the war against Germany. Jan. 28 - The first Allied truck convoy, carrying supplies to the Nationalist Chinese, resumed operations over the Ledo Road (renamed the Stilwell Road) across Burma. The Allies could against supply the Chinese from bases in India. Jan. 30 ~ Feb. 3 - President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill meet on the island of Malta to plan the final campaign against the Germans with the Combined Chiefs of Staff. Both leaders agreed on the undesirability of the Red Army advancing into central Europe.
The Yalta Conference Feb. 7 ~ Feb. 11 - The Yalta Conference, sometimes known as the Crimea Conference, and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, was the war time meeting from Feb. 4 - 11, 1945, between the heads of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. The delegations were headed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. The conference was held in Yalta, a resort town on the Crimean peninsula in the Soviet Union. According to Anthony Beever (a British historian), all rooms were bugged by the NKVD. (state security police) Major Points of the Conference:
Yalta was the last great conference before the end of the war, and the last trip for Franklin Roosevelt abroad. To observers he appeared already ill and exhausted. Arguably, his most important goal was to ensure the Soviet Union's participation in the United Nations, which he achieved at the price of granting veto power to each permanent member of the Security Council, a condition that weakened the United Nations. Another of his objectives was to bring the Soviet Union into the fight against Japan, as the effectiveness of the Atom bomb had yet to be proven. The Red Army had already seized most of Eastern Europe, so Stalin essentially got everything he wanted. Especially in Poland, a manipulable government, territorial concessions, and a significant sphere of influence as a "buffer zone". In this process, the freedom of small nations was somewhat expendable and sacrificed for the "sake of stability", which would mean that Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia would continue to be occupied by the Soviet Union. Feb. 8 ~ May 3 - British and Canadian Forces opened a general offensive against the Netherlands on Feb. 8th, southeast of Nijmegen, while American forces crossed the German frontier at ten points. The U.S. 3rd Army crossed the Saar River on Feb. 22, and the Saar-Pfalz region was cleared of German troops by March 25th. American forces drove east, entering the Rhur Valley on Feb.23rd and captured Trier and Cologne. U.S. troops reached the Rhine on March 2nd and the U.S. 1st Army crossed the river at Remagen on Mar. 7th, before the Germans had a chance to destroy the bridge. With a bridgehead in Germany proper, the Allies crossed the Rhein by water and air between Rees and Wesel. As a result, the German defense system on the east bank of the Rhein collapsed. Allied forces drove across Germany and enveloped the Rhur between Mar. 24th and April 18th. On Mar. 27th the Allies seizes Manheim and Frankfurt-am-Main. German defenses in the west collapsed and and the U.S. 9th Army reached the Oder River on April 11th. The Americans captured Nuremberg on April 21st, and Munich on April 29th, while British forces gained Bremen on April 26th and Hamburg May 3rd. Feb. 12 - The Polish government in-exile protested against Soviet arrests, deportations, and transfer of the Polish population across Poland.
Battle of Iwo Jima Feb. 19 ~ March 17 - he Battle of Iwo Jima was fought between the U.S. and Imperial Japan. As a result of the battle, the U.S. gained control of the island of Iwo Jima, and the airfields located there. The battle is famous for the raising of the U.S. flag by American troops during the battle. The soldiers in the picture are - front row - left to right - Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, Harlon Block. In the rear are - Michael Strank and Rene Gagnon. Only three men would live to survive the war, John Bradley, Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon. Japan suffered a heavy loss in this battle. About 21,000 Japanese troops were entrenched on the island, and only 200 survived. The fighting was intense and the American troops captured the highest point, Mount Suribachi, while losing 6,821 men. The U.S. was gaining ground in the Pacific Theater, and the victory at Iwo Jima was another step closer to Japan. Iwo Jima is one of the Volcano Islands, part of the Ogasawara Islands, a group of islands about 670 miles south of Tokyo, 700 miles north of Guam, and nearly half way between Tokyo and Saipan. Iwo Jima, translated into English mean "Sulphur Island", named for the sulphur deposits all over the island. Altogether, Iwo Jima occupies 7 and a 1/2 square miles. At 02:00 battleship guns signaled the commencement of D-Day. Soon 100 bombers attacked the island, followed by another volley from naval guns. At 08:30 the first of the eventual 30,000 Marines of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions, under V Amphibious Corps, landed on Iwo Jima and the battle for the island began. The Marines faced heavy fire from Mount Saribachi at the south end of the island, and fought over inhospitable terrian - rough volcanic ash which made walking impossible, as well as digging foxholes. Nevertheless, by that evening the mountain was surrounded, 30,000 Marines had landed, with another 40,000 to follow. The climb up Mount Saribachi was fought by the yard. Gunfire was ineffective against the Japanese, but flame throwers and grenades cleared the bunkers. On Feb. 23rd, the summit was reached. Although a smaller U.S. flag had been planted, it was taken down so a larger flag could be raised for ceremonial purposes. It was there when Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the famous photograph "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" of the U.S. flag being planted on the mountain's summit. With the landing area secured, more troops and heavy equipment came ashore and the invasion proceeded north to capture the airfields and the remainder of the island. With their customary bravery, most Japanese soldiers fought to the death. Of the over 21,800 Japanese troops on the island, only 200 survived. The Allied forces suffered 26,000 casualties, and 7,000 deaths. Over a quarter of the Medals of Honor awarded to Marines in WWII were given for conduct in the invasion of Iwo Jima, 27 medals in total. The usefulness of the island as an air base was justified even before the battle was over. This happened when the Dinah Might, a B-29 bomber, reported it was low on fuel and requested an emergency landing. Despite enemy fire the plane landed unharmed, where it was serviced, refueled and took off. The island of Iwo Jima was considered "secure" on March 26, 1945.
Battle of Okinawa The battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault during the Pacific Campaign of WWII. It was also the largest land-air-sea battle in history, running from April 1st to June 21st. Neither side expected it to be the last major battle of the war, although it was. The Americans had been planning Operation Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese main islands. Once the U.S. dropped the atom bomb, Operation Downfall wasn't needed.. The battle at Okinawa has been referred to as the "Typhoon of Steel" in English, and "tetsu no ami" by Okinawans meaning, "Rain of Steel". Okinawa had a large indigenous civilian population, and the civilian losses in the battle were at least 150,000. The American losses were over 72,000 casualties, of whom 18,900 were killed or missing, over twice the number killed at Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal combined! Several thousand soldiers who died indirectly...from wounds and other causes at a later date....were not included in these numbers. About a 1/3 of the civilian population on the island were killed in the spring of 1945. There were 100,000 Japanese soldiers killed in the battle with 7,000 captured. Some of the Japanese soldiers committed seppuku (a form of Japanese suicide by disembowelment) or blew themselves up with grenades. Some of the civilians, convinced of the Japanese propaganda that Americans were barbarians who committed horrible atrocities, killed themselves and their families to avoid capture.
April 4 - Ohrdruf camp was a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, and was the first camp to be liberated by U.S. troops. Created in Nov. 1944 near the town of Gotha, Germany. In late March the prisoner population was 11,700. In early April the SS evacuated the camp and sent the prisoners on a forced death march to Buchenwald. When the soldiers of the 10th Armored Division entered the camp they saw piles of dead bodies, some covered with lime, others partially incinerated on pyres. The ghastly nature of their discovery led General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, to visit the camp on April 12, with Generals Omar Bradley and George Patton. After his visit, Eisenhower cabled General George C. Marshall, the Head of the Joint Chief's of Staff in Washington DC. This is what he said: "The most interested, yet horrible sight that I encountered during the trip was a visit to German internment camp near Gotha. The things I saw beggar description. While I was touring the camp I encountered 3 men who had been inmates and by one ruse or another had made their escape. I interviewed them through and interpreter. The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, they were piled up 20 or 30 naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said he'd be sick if he did so. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to 'propaganda'." April 5 - The Soviet government denounced its 5 year Non-Aggression Pact with the Japanese Empire. Under the terms of the agreement, which was set to end on April 13, 1946, either nation could denounce the treaty one year before its expiration. April 10 - U.S. Forces began to liberate Buchenwald concentration camp near the town of Weimar, Germany, a few days after Nazi's began evacuating the camp. On the day of liberation, and underground prisoner resistance organization seized control of Buchenwald to prevent atrocities by the retreating camp guards. American forces liberated over 20,000 prisoners.
President Franklin Roosevelt Dies April 12 - The President had been at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga for 2 weeks. On the morning of April 12th he was busy signing documents and studying state papers. A painter was sketching him for a portrait. Suddenly he slumped in his chair. He'd suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. At 3:35 pm President Franklin D. Roosevelt was dead. Three people were in the room with the President when he died.
Mrs. Roosevelt and their daughter, Mrs. Anna Boettiger, were in Washington DC. His four sons were on duty with the armed forces. In the Little White House, but not in the room with the President, were his cousins, Miss Margaret Suckly and Miss Laura Delano. Also in the house was his private secretary, Grace Tulley, and White House Secretary, William D. Hassett. News of President Roosevelt's death came from Secretary William D. Hassett. He called in 3 associated press reporters who had accompanied the President to Warm Springs, GA., and said, "It is my sad duty to inform you that the President died at 3:35 pm of a cerebral hemorrhage." Simultaneously the news was telephoned to the White House in Washington, DC. The news of the President's death was announced to the country and the world by Stephen T. Early, his secretary and confidant since 1933. Vice-President Harry S. Truman was at work in his office when the news came. He received a call at about 5:25 pm, a few minutes later secret servicemen came and whisked him away to the White House in an automobile. Truman's Vice-Presidential staff stood around in his offices in the Senate building, their faces pale and stunned by the unexpected news which lifted the Missouri farm boy into the highest office in the land. Harry S. Truman was administered the Oath of Office in the cabinet room of the White House by Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone 2 and 1/2 hours after the death of Franklin Roosevelt. Surrounded by Roosevelt's cabinet, high government officials, Army and Navy officers, and Democratic and Republican leaders, he became the Chief Executive 82 days after his inauguration as Vice-President on Jan.20, 1945. News of the President's death produced shock and disbelief. Officials in Washington immediately wondered what effect the tragedy would have on the many domestic and international projects the President was guiding. The wave of emotion that swept over the world was like that of when Abe Lincoln had died. Everyone felt that our nation had lost a great leader. People had come to love the man who had met the Depression so bravely, who had carried through a broader and deeper set of reforms than any President before him. He had so ably led America in its greatest war effort, as well as playing a principal part in starting the United Nations. President Roosevelt was the man who gave untold worlds of hope not only to those crippled from polio, but to the nation and the world. Funeral services for the President were held in the East room of the White House. The President was then buried in the garden of his Hyde Park home. The home is now listed as a national historic site. The Little White House with its farm in Warm Springs is now owned by the state of Georgia. The estate on Campobello Island was made an international park in 1964.
April 13 ~ May 2 - The Battle of Berlin was one of the final battles of the European Theater in WWII. The massive Soviet Red Army attacked Berlin from the East. The Red Army had been just outside the city on April 1st, building up their forces for what they knew would be a heavily contested battle. The Western Allies had planned to drop paratroops to take Berlin, but had decided against it. Eisenhower saw no need to suffer casualties for a city that would be in the Soviet sphere of influence once the war was over. Hitler, who never thought Berliners supported him the way he thought they should, decided to remain in the city. Some think he stayed to punish the city for their lack of support of Nazism, but more likely there was no where else for him to go. The Battle of Berlin would be the deciding conflict between Communism and Nazism. The offensive began with thousands of artillery rockets called "Stalin Organs", for their hideous shrieking noise, opening a huge barrage for days. On April 16th the First and Second Belorussian Fronts and the First Ukrainian Front, which boxed in Berlin from the North, West, and South, attacked. By April 24th, the 3 army groups had completed the encirclement of the city. The next day the Fifth Guard Tank Army linked with the U.S. 1st Army at Torgau, Germany on the Elbe River. On April 20th, Hitler ordered the 12th Army facing the Americans and the 9th Army to break into Berlin and relieve the siege. Neither unit was able to get through. Berlin's fate was sealed, but the resistance continued. Fighting was heavy, with house-to-house and hand-to-hand combat. The Soviets lost 305,000 soldiers while the Germans lost as many as 350,000, including civilians. On April 30th Adolf Hitler married his long time mistress, Eva Braun. (known to the fighting men as the "Angel of Darkness") The wedding and reception afterwards were held in the Fuhrerbunker 50 feet below the surface of the Chancellery buildings. On May 2nd Germany surrendered as Russian soldiers ransacked the city, raping over 100,000 German women, and looting anything of value. The Battle of Berlin was over, and with it went the Third Reich. The Third Reich, touted by Hitler as surviving for a thousand years, was gone. It has lasted for 12 years, at the cost of 40 million people. The German surrender was signed May 7th in Rheims, France. April 15 - Approximately 40,000 prisoners at Bergen-Belsen were freed by the British, who reported, "Both inside and outside the huts was a carpet of dead bodies, human excretion, rags and filth." April 20 ~ May 4 - Allied forces penetrated the German Winter Line in northern Italy, routing the Axis forces, and seizing the Po Valley. Allied forces captured Turin, Bologna, Verona, Milan on April 26th, Venice on April 29th, Trieste on May 2nd, and linked up with American forces at the Brenner Pass on May 4th. April 25 ~ June 26 - Delegates of 50 nations met in San Francisco to complete the Charter of the United Nations Organization. Tensions emerged between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over the veto process in the Security Council. The Soviet representatives interpreted the Yalta agreement to allow a permanent member to use its veto power to forbid the Security Council from even discussing an issue. To break the deadlock, President Truman requested that Stalin intercede. The Soviet leader agreed that the veto should not be used to prevent discussion. Based on this compromise, U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinious submitted a preliminary draft to the Conference on June 22nd, which called for the creation of several new organizations: a General Assembly, as the major policy-making organ. An 11 member Security Council, to supervise military and political problems. An 18 member Economic and Social Council, to address economic and social conflicts. An International Court of Justice, made up of 15 justices, set up in The Hague, for the application of international disputes. A Trusteeship Council, made up of state administering trusteeships, including the permanent members of the Security Council and members elected by the General Assembly for 3 year terms. A General Secretariat, directed by a Secretary General, would handle the administrative work of the United Nations Organization. The participating nations unanimously approved the Charter on June 25th and signed the document the next day. April 25 - While attempting to escape to Switzerland, Premier Benito Mussolini was captured by Italian anti-Fascist forces and was summarily executed in Dongo, on Lake Como. Mussolini's execution marked the end of the Fascist Republican Party, which had maintained ties with Germany during the war.
April 29 - Thousands of ragged skeletons, in the yard, in the trees, waving little rags, climbing over each other, hysterical, out of control. This is what faced the U.S. 7th Army when they liberated Dachau Concentration Camp. By the time the Americans had gotten there only a few guards remained. The rest of the German upper ranks had fled to blend in with the civilian population. One of the German guards came forward, dressed in his finest regalia, wearing all his military decorations. He saluted and said "Heil Hitler". An American officer looked around at the mounds of rotting corpses, at thousands of prisoners shrouded in their own filth. He hesitated for a brief moment, then spat in the Nazi's face, snapping "Schweinehund", (meaning: pigdog, a German insult), before ordering him to be taken away. Some of the Nazi's were summarily shot along with the guard dogs. Two of the most notorious prison guards had been stripped naked before the Americans arrived to prevent them from escaping unnoticed. A communique from General Eisenhower's headquarters read: "Our forces liberated and mopped up the infamous concentration camp at Dachau. Approximately 32,000 prisoners were liberated, 300 SS camp guards were quickly neutralized." April 30 - The 14th British Imperial Army, under the command of Lord Mountbatten, with the support of American and Chinese forces, completed the destruction of the Japanese 15th, 28th and 33rd Armies. The British captured Rangoon on May 3rd. This offensive allowed the British to regain northern Burma and threaten French Indo-China.
Hitler Commits Suicide May 1 - Hitler had lunch at 1 pm that day, surrounded by his secretaries and his dietitian. Hitler was composed, giving no hint that death was imminent. Some time after the meal was over, the secretaries were told that Hitler wished to bid them farewell. They were joined by Martin Bormann, Joseph & Magda Goebbels, General Burgdorf, General Krebs, and others from the inner circle of the bunker community. Looking more stooped than ever, Hitler, wearing his ever present uniform jacket and black pants, appeared alongside Eva Braun Hitler, who was wearing a blue dress with white trimmings. He held out his hand to each of the people in the bunker, muttered a few words to each person as he passed down the line. A few minutes later, without further formalities, the couple retired to his study. It was shortly before 3:30 pm. For the next few minutes Goebbels, Bormann, and the remaining members of the bunker community waited. The only noise was the drone of the diesel ventilator. After a few moments Goebbels and Bormann entered the study. In the cramped study, Hitler and Braun sat alongside each other on the sofa. A strong odor of almonds (the distinctive smell of prussic acid) permeated the air. Hitler's head drooped lifelessly, blood dripping from a bullet to the temple, his 7.65 mm Walther pistol lying on the floor by his feet. As per Hitler's instructions, the couple was taken outside, their bodies wrapped in burlap, drenched in gasoline, and set afire. Hitler's Last Will As I did not consider that I could take responsibility, during the years of struggle, of contracting a marriage, I have now decided, before the closing of my earthly career, to take as my wife the girl who, after many years of faithful friendship, entered, of her own free will, the practically besieged town in order to share her destiny with me. At her own desire she goes as my wife with me into death. It will compensate us for what we both lost through my work in the service of my people. What I possess belongs - in so far as it has any value - to the Party. Should this no longer exist, to the State; should the State also be destroyed, no further decision of mine is necessary. My pictures, in the collections which I have bought in the course of the years, have never been collected for private purposes, but only for the extension of a gallery in my home town of Linz on Donau. It is my sincere wish that this bequest may be duly executed. I nominate as my Executor my most faithful Party Comrad, Martin Bormann. He is given full legal authority to make all decisions. He is permitted to take out everything that has a sentimental value or is necessary for the maintenance of a modest simple life, for my brothers and sisters, also above all for the mother of my wife and my faithful co-workers who are known to him, principally my old Secretaries Frau Winter etc. who have for many years aided me with their work. I myself and my wife - in order to escape the disgrace of deposition or capitulation - choose death. It is our wish to be burnt immediately on the spot where I have carried out the greatest part of my work in the course of 12 years' service to my people. Signed in Berlin, April 29th, 1945, 4 am. A. Hitler Witnessed by: Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, Colonel Nicholaus von Below -So ends the life of a miserable human being- May 2 - Theresienstadt Liberated. Control of Theresienstadt was transferred from the Germans to the Red Cross. Five days later, the town of Terezin was liberated by Soviet troops. May 4 - Surrender of German forces in Netherlands With the collapse of defenses across Germany, Wehrmacht forces in northwestern Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark surrender to the Allies.
V-E Day!! May 7 - Unconditional Surrender of Germany The German government, under Admiral Karl Doenitz, accepted the Allied surrender terms unconditionally. Field Marshal Jodl, leading a group of German military leaders, signed the instrument of unconditional surrender in Reims, France.
May 8 - President Harry Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill proclaimed the end of the war in Europe V-E Day marked the Victory in Europe. May 8 - Hermann Goring Captured. As Germany collapsed, Hermann Goring, at the Obersalzberg, attempted to succeed Hitler. Goring was arrested by troops from Himmler's SS. On May 7th, Goring now 52 years old, surrendered to the Commander fo the American 36th Infantry Division. Three days later he was taken to the 7th Army Headquarters, where he met General Spaatz, Commander of the U.S. strategic air forces, who interviewed him over a bottle of whiskey. Goring was taken across Germany to Mondorf, in Luxembourg, and confined there for 3 months, along with 50 other prominent National Socialists. Goring and his luggage were searched. His toiletry bag contained 3 brass capsules, containing glass vials of hydrocyanotic acid. He underwent a medical examination, which revealed his drunken addiction. On August 12th, Goring was transported to Nuremberg. On November 20, 1945, the trial of the major war criminals began. The chief American prosecuting attorney, Justice Robert H. Jackson, opened the prosecution's case by accusing the Germans of killing 5.7 million Jews. As the prosecutions case wore on, Goring struck up a friendship with Lt. Jack G. Wheelis, a hard-drinking, 6' 2" Texan. The American officer carried letters to Goring's family, and retrieved other valuables from the locked baggage room. In exchange for this, Wheelis received choice gifts from the Reichsmarschall. On August 31, 1946, Goring accepted blanket responsibility for the charges against Hitler and the Third Reich. He was sentenced to death October 1, 1946. However, one small capsule containing poison remained hidden in his luggage. The capsule was smuggled into Goring's room by Lt. Wheelis, where Goring swallowed it and died. May 23 - Heinrich Himmler Commits Suicide Unwanted by his former colleagues, and hunted by the Allies, Himmler wandered for several days around Flensburg near the Danish border. Attempting to avoid arrest, Himmler disguised himself as a member of the Gendarmerie (military police) in the hope that he could return to Bavaria. He equipped himself with a full set of false documents, but someone whose papers were wholly in order was so unusual that it aroused the suspicions of a British Army unit in Bremen, Germany and he was arrested May 22nd. In captivity he was soon recognized. Himmler was scheduled to stand trial with other German leaders as a major war criminal at Nuremberg, but committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule before interrogation could begin. July 10 - The Allies mounted an air and naval attack on the Japanese Home Islands. Over 1,000 U.S. carrier planes attacked Tokyo on July 10th. The U.S. Fleet shelled Honshu and Hokkaido on July 14th and 15th. The Royal Navy launched carrier raids on Japanese centers on July 17th, and U.S. and British fliers sank the remainder of the Japanese fleet in Tokyo Bay on July 19th.
July 16 - In Alamogordo, New Mexico, the Trinity Test, the first test of an atomic bomb, using 6 kilograms of plutonium, succeeded in detonating, unleashing an explosion equivalent to that of 20 kilotons of TNT. The test proved the feasibility of the weapon and the U.S. Government took steps to deliver atomic weapons to the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific. Just 1 day before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, launching the U.S. into WWII, President Roosevelt made the fateful decision to spend $2 billion dollars towards the Manhattan Project, an effort to make the 1st nuclear weapon. The Army assembled a team of the greatest scientific minds of the age. They were charged with developing an A-bomb before the Germans did. The scientific team consisted of the following scientists: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feyneman, with help from Albert Einstein. The project also recruited a doctor, Stanford Warren, who was sidelined by secrecy rules and forced to sit by as project workers and civilians near project sites were treated to occasional lethal doses of radiation. In many cases, victims were never told the cause of their illness. In July of 1945 the Manhattan Project had developed a prototype bomb, and the first test detonation took place. Or so the government claimed. In July the previous year, the Port Chicago Military base near San Francisco had been destroyed in a massive explosion. The government claimed the boat had been loaded with TNT before it exploded. However, the boat completely vaporized in the blast. More than 300 people were killed, and most of the base had been reduced to dust and slag. Even the nearby town sustained damage from the blast, and hundreds of civilians were injured. Before the Trinity Test, no one really knew what to expect. In fact some of the scientists felt that the bomb might spark a chain reaction and ignite the atmosphere, instantly killing every living being on Earth. Oppenheimer, watching the blast said, "I have become death, destroyer of worlds." Dr. Kenneth Bainbridge, director of the test, upon seeing the explosion, stated it less eloquently, "Now we are all sons-of-bitches."
Potsdam Conference July 17 - President Harry Truman, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee, (Prime Minister Attlee replaced Churchill during the conference as a result of the British general elections), and Premier Josef Stalin met in Berlin to confer on plans of the post-war end. The first issue of business was the announcement of declaration of "unconditional surrender" by the Japanese on July 26th. The 3 leaders agreed to establish a Council of Foreign Ministers, which would represent the U.S., Britain, China, France and the USSR, to continue the process of drafting peace settlements. Regarding Germany, the 3 leaders agreed to the following at Potsdam.
The Allies agreed to a number of economic restrictions, drafted by the conference for Germany, which included:
The process of enforcing these economic restrictions would be worked out later. The delegates made provision for the trial of war criminals, which became the International Military Tribunal. The Allies also agreed that the Germans must compensate the United Nations for their loss and suffering and, in principal, the disposal of the German navy and merchant marine. The Soviets abandoned their demand for $20 billion in reparations from Germany in exchange for a reparations schedule based on a percentage of the working capital equipment in the Western zone and materials in the Eastern zone. The Allies also set up plans for the mandatory transfer of 6.5 million Germans from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland to Germany. Finally, the 3 leaders called for the rapid completion of peace treaties with Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Italy and Romania. July 26 - The American, British and Chinese governments demanded that the Japanese government accept surrender terms unconditionally. The Japanese government rejected the ultimatum July 29th. July 28 - It was too late for the pilot of a U.S. B-25 bomber with 3 men aboard, when he saw the Empire State Building looming out of the fog before him. He plunged his plane into the 78th floor of the building at 300 miles per hour, wrecking havoc and destruction. The major part of the plane penetrated the 78th floor, sending an engine hurdling down the elevator, everyone aboard the plane were killed.
The Day The Sun Rose Twice August 68 - Sunrise had already come at 8:15 am on Aug. 6th, 1945, but the fireball overhead was so blinding that in Hiroshima it became known as the day the sun rose twice. This was the day that the United States dropped its first nuclear bomb, known as "Litte Boy", on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. A single atom bomb dropped from the Enola Gay, that unleashed the "Rain of Ruin" President Truman had promised Japan if they did not surrender. An estimated 1/3 of the city's 350,000 residents were killed instantly. Many thousands more would die from the radioactive poison in the coming years. The bomb turned glass to liquid, buildings to dust, and people to mere shadows etched on the ruins. The bomb destroyed 4 square miles of homes and factories. The log written by the Enola Gay pilot contained one sentence, "My God, what have we done?" The bomb was dropped from a B-29 superfortress known as the Enola Gay. The plane's crew said they saw a column of smoke rising and intense fires springing up. The President said the atomic bomb heralded the "Harnessing of the basic power of the universe." President Truman went on to warn the Japanese that the Allies would completely destroy their capacity to make war. The Potdamn declaration issued 10 days prior, that called for the unconditional surrender of Japan, was a last chance for the country to avoid utter destruction, the President said. "If they do not accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on Earth. Behind this air attack will follow by sea and air forces in such number and power as they have not yet seen, but with fighting skill of which they are already aware." The British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, successor to Churchill, read a statement prepared by Churchill to the MPs in the Commons. It said the atomic project had such great potential the government felt it was right to persue the research and to pool information with atomic scientists in America. As Britain was considered within easy reach of Germany and its bombers, the decision was made to set up the bomb-making plants in the U.S. The statement continued, "By God's mercy, Britain and American science outpaced all German efforts. These were on a considerable scale, but far behind. The possession of these powers by the Germans at any time might have altered the result of the war." He ended, "We must indeed pray that these awful agencies will be made to conduct peace among the nations and that instead of wreaking measureless havoc upon the entire globe they beomce a perennial fountain of world prosperity." August 8 - The Soviet government officially declared war on the Empire of Japan and Red Army units swept into Manchuria. The Japanese had seriously depleated their forces in Manchukuo in an attempt to bolster their defenses againt U.S. and British offensives in other parts of the empire.
August 9 - On the morning of Aug. 9, 1945 the crew of the American B-29 Superfortress Block's Car, flown by Major Charles Sweeney and carrying the nuclear bomb code named "Fat Man", found their primary target, Kokura, to be obscured by clouds. After three runs over the city and running low on fuel, they headed for their second target, Nagasaki. At about 7:50 am Japanese time, an air raid alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the "all clear" signal was given at 8:30 am. When only 2 B-29 Superfortresses were spotted at 10:53 am the Japanese apparently assumed that the planes were on reconnaissance and no further alarm was given. A few minutes later at 11:00 am, the observation B-29 (The Great Artiste flown by Capt. Frederick Bock) dropped instruments attached to three parachutes. At 11:02 a last minute break in the clouds over Nagasaki allowed the Block's Car bombadier to visually sight the target as ordered. The "Fat Man" weapon was dropped over the city's industrial valley. It exploded 1,540 feet above the ground haflway between its two main targets. About 40,000 of Nagasaki's 240,000 residents were killed instantly. It is believed as many as 80,000 people died, including those who died from radiation poisoning in the following months.
V-J Day!! August 10 - In response to the 2nd atom bomb attack on Nagasaki, the Japanese government, under Premier Suzuki, offered to surrender on the condition that Emperor Hirohito retain his thrown. August 14 - After receiving Allied confirmation that Emperor Hirohito could retain his thrown, the Japanese government announced that they had accepted the Allies surrender terms. August 15 - President Harry Truman announced the end of the Pacific War with Victory over Japan (V-J) Day. At noon on Japanese standard time, Emperor Hirohito's announcement of Japan's acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration was broadcast to the Japanese people via radio. Earlier the same day, the Japanese government advised the Allies of the surrender by sending a cable to U.S. President Harry S.Truman via the Swiss diplomatic mission in Washington, DC. Since Japan was the last Axis power to surrender and V-J Day followed V-E Day by thee months, V-J Day marked the end of the World War II. August 15 - The High Court of Justice found Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain guilty of plotting against the French Republic and of intelligence with the enemy. The Court sentenced the former Vichy France leader to death. His sentence was later commuted to life in prisonment. August 28 ~ Sept. 2 - American Occupation forces landed in the Japanese Home Islands, beginning on Aug. 28th, in accordance with the Japanese surrender terms. The U.S. Forces occupied strategic Japanese centers and supervised the surrender and disarmament of Japanese military, naval, and air forces. The surrender process proceeded swiftly.
Formal Japanese Surrender! Sept. 2 - On the morning of Spetember 2, 1945, 2 weeks after accepting the Allies terms, the Japanese formally surrendered. The signing ceremony took 23 minutes to complete, and was held aboard the battleship USS Missouri, anchored with other American and British ships in Tokyo Bay. Symbolically, the deck of the Missouri furnished two American flags. One had flown over the White House on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. The other had flown the mast of Commadore Perry's ship when he had sailed into that same harbor nearly a century before to urge the opening of Japan's ports to foreign trade. The instrument was signed by the Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu "By command and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government" And then General Yoshijiro Umezu "By command and on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters" at 9:04 am. Afterwards, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of the Southwest Pacific and Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, also signed. He was followed by Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States, Hsu Yung-Ch`ang for the Republic of China, Bruce Fraser for the United Kingdom, Kuzma Derevyanko for the Soviet Union, Thomas Blamey for Australia, Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave for Canada, General Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque for France, C.E.L. Helfrich for the Netherlands, and Leonard M. Isitt for New Zealand. The document, prepared by the U.S. War Department, set out in 8 short paragraphs the complete capitulation of Japan. The opening words: "We, acting by command of and in behalf of the Emeror of Japan." signified the importance attached to the Emperor's role by the Americans who drafted the document. The short second paragraph went straight to the heart of the matter: "We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and all of Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under Japanese control wherever situated." The document demanded that Japan "carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration and free all Allied prisoners of war." A U.S. Army of Occupation would rule the Japanese Home Islands, but Emperor Hirohito would remain the head of state and Japanese political and police officials maintained their positions. The Americans progressivley disbanded the high command and military organizations. U.S. forces occupied island possessions in the Pacific. Korea was placed under American and Soviet occupation, pending the establishment of a democratic Korean government. The Japanese ceded the Kurile Islands to the Soviet Union. Outer Mongolia became part of the Soviet sphere of influence and the Russians shared the facilities and supervision with Lushun and the Manchurian railways of China. The Chinese regained sovereignty over Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, as well as the Islands of Taiwan and Hainan. The British regained control of Hong Kong. Sept. 6 - Colonel Bernard Theilen brought the document and the imperial rescript to Washington, and on the following day presented them to President Truman in a formal White House ceremony. The documents were then exhibited at the National Archives.
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