1945
January 26
Russian troops found less than 3,000 survivors when
they librated Auchwitz, a Polish death camp. The Germans had
moved many of the remaining prisoners inside Germany
February 4
U.S. troops invaded the Philippines after receiving
re-enforcements. A force led by General Douglas McArthur enter Manila.
February 13
The bombing of Dresden, German, by British aircraft
using phosphorus and high explosives created a firestorm killing about
135,000 Germans.
March 9
U.S. B-24 bombers attack Tokyo creating mass
fires that killed more than 120,000.
March 16
The month long battle on Iwo Jima came to an end after
the U.S. forces captured the 8
square mile island.
April 12
President Roosevelt dies after suffering a massive
cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63.
Vice-President Harry S. Truman
(1884-1972) is sworn in as President.
April 28
In Italy, Mussolini and 12 of his former Cabinet
officers are executed. German forces in
Italy will surrender
unconditionally on the 29th.April 30
Russian shells falling on Berlin, Hitler marries his
mistress Eva Braun in his bombproof
bunker. He then poisons her and kills
himself. The remains are never found.
May 7
Germany surrenders unconditionally to General
Eisenhower at Rheims, France, and to
the Soviets in Berlin. President
Truman pronounces the following day, May 8, V-E Day.
June 21
The Pacific Island of Okinawa is captured by the
Allies. Japan lost 160,000 men in fighting
on the island, more than
12,500 Americans died on Okinawa.
July 17
U.S. air attacks on Tokyo continue, after planes have
dropped leaflets threatening destruction from the air if the Japanese do
not agree to unconditional surrender.
July 30
Torpedoes sink the U.S.S. Indianapolis in the Indian
Ocean.
August 2
The Potsdam conference ends after more than two weeks
of deliberations about the outcome
of Germany .
August 6
U.S. B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, drop an
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The city is destroyed and approximate
100,000 people are killed. Another 100,000 die later from radiation
sickness and burns
August 9
Another bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan
August 14
President Truman declares August 14th will be V-J
(Victory of Japan) Day. Nearly 55
million people died in the World
War II. 25 million from Soviet Union, nearly 8 million in China and
more than 6 million in Poland.
August 19
Rationing of gasoline and fuel oil comes to an end in
the United States.
September 2
General Douglas McArthur accepts the formal,
unconditional surrender of Japan in a
ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in
Tokyo Bay.
November 23
Butter rationing comes to an end with sugar the only item
that continues to be rationed in
U.S.
December 15
A new election law is passed in Japan, handled by the
occupying Allied forces, which allows Japanese women voting rights.
December 27
The International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development is created. Of the more than 7 billion dollars
contributed by 21 countries, the U.S. gave more than 3 billion dollars to
the World Bank.
Many events took place in the following weeks and
months that effected this next date.
Troops were returned home. Ammunition and equipment was returned
home, destroyed and thrown into ocean. There were troops who
occupied Japan.
1946
December 31
President Harry S. Truman proclaimed, "Although a
state of war still exists, it is at this time possible to declare, that
hostilities have terminated." Congress
placed the date - December
31, 1946 - into law as the official end of the War II.
World War I (1918)
was to be the War that ended all Wars. We find out later that would
not be the case. Webb Jordan
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