World War II in real time

Day 2085 of World War II, May 26th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

The Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) is transferred from Rheims to Frankfurt-am-Main.

The Berlin Philharmonic gave its first performance since the end of the European war in the Titania Palace Theatre.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Benner (DD-807) off Boston, Massachusetts (USA), on 26 May 1945. Note the mast with the SP radar aft, replacing the forward torpedo tubes. The aft torpedo tubes were replaced by a 40 mm quadruple mount. Both were added to counter Japanese "kamikaze" suicide planes. Destroyers fitted with the SP radar were designated as radar picket destroyers ("DDR") in 1949. SP was replaced by SPS-8A in the 1950s



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Dyess (DD-880) off Orange, Texas (USA), on 26 May 1945. Note that she lacks the torpedo tubes because she was fitted as a radar picket destroyer



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 12 B-25s and 6 P-51s damage 2 bridges N of Hankow; 4 B-25s hit railroad targets around Lohochai and between Kinkiang and Kioshan; 3 B-25s attack truck convoys in the Siangtan and Paoching areas and along the Paoching-Hengyang-Changsha highway; 80+ fighter-bombers over several areas in S and E China continue to harass Japanese movements, attacking troops and positions and hitting rail and road traffic; the Japanese complete their withdrawal from Yungning, severing the land connection with French Indochina; the Chinese retake Nanning.

BURMA

Allied forces occupy Bassein, 90 miles west of Rangoon.

GUAM

(Seventh Air Force): 10 Guam Island-based B-24s bomb the airfield on Marcus Island in the N Pacific. 16 P-47s from Saipan Island strafe airfields on Moen Island, the seaplane base on Dublon Island, and several targets of opportunity, all in Truk Atoll.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 184: During the night of 26/27 May, 29 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Straits and the waters off Fukuoka, Karatsu, and Fushiki, Japan. Mines sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 172 at entrance to Fushiki harbor, Honshu, 36°48'N, 137°05'E, and merchant cargo ships Mogi Maru south of Hime Jima, 33°43'N, 131°38'E, Shiokubi Maru off Motoyamazakiand 9 Kaishin Maru at 34°00'N, 130°50'E, and No.6 Miyakawa Maru 3.5 kilometers south of Hesaki, 33°55'N, 131°02'E, and damage Japanese gunboat Hirota Maru, 34°18'N, 133°32'E, transport Akeshima Maru near Moji, 34°47'N, 131°35'E, and transport Inari Maru off Motoyamamisaki, and army cargo ships Ginzan Maru off Takenoko signal station and Igasa Maru 2.2 kilometers south of Hesaki, and merchant cargo ships Kunugi Maru outside Kobe harbor, 34°39'N, 135°11'E, Shozan Maru off Tokuyama, Shimonoseki Strait, 33°57'N, 131°46'E, and Mitsukisan Maru at 33°52'N, 131°02'E.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

B-25s and P-38s sweep the W part of Formosa causing extensive damage to a variety of communications and industrial targets.

JAPAN

Some 464 American B-29 Superfortress bombers fire-bombed Tokyo with about 4000 tons of incendiares. Parts of the imperial palace were damaged as was the nearby business district of Marunouchi, which was the targeted area. A total of 26 of the Marianas-based bombers were lost.

Photo: "Tokyo burns under B-29 firebomb assault." May 26, 1945



BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit Tarakan, Beaufort, Weston, Tenom, Trusan Haji, Sandakan, and Jesselton.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

A-20s and fighter-bombers pound numerous Luzon Island targets, particularly in the Balete Pass area and B-24s bomb Tuguegarao and Echague. Fighter-bombers support ground forces on Cebu.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, American bombers and artillery attack Japanese troops withdrawing from the Shuri Line.

Photo: Soldiers of the 77th Inf. Div. walk past mud-clogged tanks parked by the side of the road on Okinawa. 26 May, 1945



Photo: The caption on this photograph reads "Camped on "Sugar Loaf"-During one of the many rainy spells on Okinawa, the First Battalion, Fourth Marines command post was established on Sugar Loaf Hill," 26 May 1945



Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage high speed minesweeper Forrest (DMS-24), 26°00'N, 128°00'E, and submarine chaser PC-1603, 26°25'N, 127°53'E.

PACIFIC

Submarine Billfish (SS-286) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship No.7 Kotobuki Maru off Nagasaki, Japan, 33°19'N, 129°31'E.

Japanese guardboat Kaishin Maru is damaged by stranding at north end of Paramushiro Island Kurils.

Day 2087 of World War II, May 28th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Broadcaster William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") was arrested by the British in Flensburg, Germany.

Photo: Fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster William Joyce, known as Lord Haw Haw, lies in an ambulance after his arrest by British officers at Flensburg, Germany, on 28 May 1945. He was shot during the arrest



Photo: German soldiers marching back to Germany, under the watchful eyes of a Canadian Armoured Car unit, 28 May 1945



Netherlands

Queen Wilhelmina returns.

Photo: Sergeant E.J. Savage of the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (R.C.A.), guarding surrendering German soldiers, Sneek, Netherlands, 28 May 1945



Syria

Fighting breaks out between French troops and Syrians.

Italy

Photo: Air Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, KCB, OBE, MC, DFC, LLD, Commander in Chief of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean and Middle East with Air Vice Marshal R M Foster, Air Officer Commanding, Desert Air Force, and (right) Brigadier General Thomas D'Arcy of the USAAF, watching squadrons during the Fly Past, 28 May 1945



United Kingdom

The British Royal Navy announces the end of the convoy system for shipping operating in the Atlantic, Arctic and Indian Oceans.

United States

Admiral Halsey, commanding US 3rd Fleet, takes command of American naval forces operating against targets in Japan; US Task Force 58 is assigned to US 3rd Fleet, becoming TF38.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Benner (DD-807) underway in Massachusetts Bay on 28 May 1945. She is outfitted for radar picket service, with torpedo tubes replaced by a tripod mainmast ahead of her after smokestack



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Herbert J. Thomas (DD-833) off Boston, Massachusetts (USA), on 28 May 1945. Note the mast with the SP radar aft, replacing the forward torpedo tubes. The aft torpedo tubes were replaced by a 40 mm quadruple mount. Both were added to counter Japanese "kamikaze" suicide planes



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 19 B-25s, along with 8 fighter- bombers, hit railroad, road, and river traffic around Vinh, Quang Tri, Dap Cau, and Song Chu, French Indochina, knock out a bridge at Hwayuan and demolish a tunnel opening near Wuchang, China. In China, 16 P-51s cause heavy damage and casualties blasting a bridge and military installations near Wuchang; 27 P-51s hit bridges, troops, storage, trucks, trains, rivercraft, and other targets in the Yoyang area; 65 other fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity at several locations throughout S and E China; 15 photo reconnaissance aircraft continue to maintain good coverage of enemy movements; the detachment of the 25th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, operating from Poseh with P-51s, returns to base at Yunnani.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Fighters from Iwo Jima hit Kasumigaura and its airfield with 6 planes claimed destroyed and 40+ damaged and P-47s fly heckler strikes against Kyushu during the night of 28/29 May. Mines previously laid by B-29 Superfortresses sink a Japanese transport and damage a coast defense vessel, two freighters and a fishing boat in Japanese waters.

MIDWAY

Photo: A U.S. Navy submarine leaves Midway Atoll on a war patrol in May 1945. Note other submarines at the docks, 28 May 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: In French Indochina, B-24s again bomb the railroad yards E of Saigon at Phan Rang and Muong Man. In Formosa, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack industrial targets of opportunity at Shoka, Taichu, Ujitsu, Byoritsu, and other locations. Unit moves: HQ 374th Troop Carrier Group from Biak Island, New Guinea to Nielson Field, Luzon; 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command (attached to 85th Fighter Wing), based at Tacloban, Leyte Island with P-38s, P-61s and P-70s, sends a detachment to operate from Sanga Sanga (another detachment is operating from Zamboanga).

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighters hit gun positions and other targets at Balikpapan and P-38s dive-bomb Keningau and Jesselton Airfields.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack Pateng, the Ipo Dam area, Tuguegarao and Ugae airstrips, Anuling, the Baguio area, guns and defenses in the Balete Pass area, and support ground forces at several points.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

Off Okinawa, kamikazes sink destroyer Drexler (DD-741), 27°06'N, 127°38'E, and damage attack transport Sandoval (APA-194), 26°15'N, 127°51'E, and large support landing craft LCS(L)-119. A suicider crashes and damages U.S. freighter Mary A. Livermore in Buckner Bay, 26°12'N, 127°46'E; the 27 Armed Guards and 75 Construction Battalion sailors on board contribute men to firefighting efforts (four Armed Guard sailors, as well as seven merchant seamen, die in the explosion and fires). Another kamikaze crashes and damages U.S. freighter Brown Victory off Ie Shima; two of the 27 Armed Guards are killed instantly, and 18 injured (one merchant sailor and an Armed Guard sailor die of their wounds later). Still another suicider crashes U.S. freighter Josiah Snelling off Okinawa; Armed Guard gunfire manages to deflect the Japanese plane from its suicidal course toward the amidships deckhouse and into a less vulnerable part, saving the ship from worse damage. There are no fatalities on board.

PACIFIC

Submarines Blueback (SS-326) and Lamprey (SS-372) battle Japanese submarine chaser Ch.1 in a surface gunnery action off Japara, N.E.I., 06°28'S, 110°37'E, and damage the enemy escort vessel.

Submarine Ray (SS-271) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Biko Maru northwest of Changshan, 38°21'N, 123°58'E.

Commander, Kodiak Sector, Alaskan Sea Frontier, dispatches four PBYs (three from FAW 1 and one from NAS Kodiak) to Fairbanks, via Anchorage, Alaska, to provide assistance in evacuating citizens threatened by rising Yukon River floodwaters (see 31 May).

USAAF B-29-laid mines sink Japanese transport Akitsu Maru south of Kure, and damage Coast Defense Vessel No.29 off Kyushu, 33°07'N, 129°44'E, merchant cargo ships Mishimasan Maru three kilometers off Tateishikzaki and Annette Fritzen Go at 33°53'N, 130°05'E; and fishing boat No.3 Genei Maru outside Sasebo Bay.

Day 2089 of World War II, May 30th 1945

Norway

Representatives of the Norwegian government in exile return to Oslo.

Netherlands

Photo: Dutch submarine HNLMS Tijgerhaai ( ex- HMS Tarn ) at Rotterdam, 30 may 1945



Syria

General Bernard Paget, who was in charge of the British Ninth Army reminds the French they fell under his command. De Gaulle had thought this ended with the war over in Europe but would actually terminate once the Pacific War had ended. Paget had a large force in the region at his disposal and threatened that he would be forced to intervene from the Transjordan if the violence did not stop. Churchill agreed but needed the backing of the United States and the Soviet Union in which to send British troops against the French.

At the same time, the French Army of the Levant in the region had been severely weakened – nearly 70 percent of all officers and 40 percent of Syrian soldiers in the French army had deserted their posts and taken up arms with the Syrian rebels. In Hama two French aircraft were downed, while the commander of a French unit was ambushed and killed. In Hauran French troops were rounded up and disarmed – their weapons distributed to young men hoping to march towards Damascus to help the central government. The French then called in for reinforcements and were now using their air force to drop bombs on suspected areas of resistance. At the same time the Syrian Prime Minister Faris al-Khoury was at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, presenting Syria's claim for independence and also ordered the fighting to stop. They were both backed by President Harry Truman, who declared "those French ought to be taken out and castrated."

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy attack transport USS Samuel Chase (APA-26) off San Francisco, California (USA), on 30 May 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Robert K. Huntington (DD-781) off the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington (USA), 30 May 1945



Canada

Edmonton Journal, 30 May 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

In Chunking, Chiang Kai-shek gave up his title as president of the Nationalist Yuan but remains president of China. Song Ziwen (Dr. T. V. Soong) succeeds Chiang.

(Fourteenth Air Force): 7 B-25s pound railroad yards at Sinsiang and knock out a bridge at Sincheng; 28 fighter-bombers attack bridges, enemy positions, trucks, railroad targets, barracks, and general targets of opportunity around Anyang, Liuchow, Chingmen, Chungmow, Linfen, Huluehchen, Kweilin, Hsinganhsien, Leiyang, and Yenkoupu.

BURMA

The remainder of General Seiei Yamamoto's troops in Burma was effectively wiped out.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): The 90th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, moves from Moran to Dudhkundi, India with P-47s.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

B-24s and fighters hit several targets in Borneo, concentrating on Tawau personnel and supply area and the airstrip at Ranau

GUAM

(Seventh Air Force): 10 Guam Island-based B-24s hit the airfield on Marcus Island in the N Pacific.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): 14 P-47s strafe barges at Truk Atoll; 28 P-47s from Ie Shima hit shipping and a lighthouse at Amami-O-Shima, Japan and Okino Erabu, Ryukus Islands. The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron and 393d Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), 509th Composite Group, arrive at North Field from the US with C-47s, C-54s and B-29s respectively.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Negros, organized Japanese resistance ends. On Luzon, a regiment of the US 37th Division begins moving northward from Santa Fe through the Cagayan valley.

A-20s hit Cagayan Valley targets. USMC - PBJ bomb enemy installations at the Kibawe Trail near Davao.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, the US 6th Marine Division (part of US 3rd Amphibious Corps) encounters Japanese rearguards near Hill 46. Japanese forces pull out of Shuri.

Photo: The caption on this photograph reads "Naha Finals-Perched on the rim of a gaping hole in the wall of a theatre in the Ryukyu capital, a Marine rifleman views the result of the American bombardment of Naha. Structure skeletons are all that remain of the city with a pre-invasion population of 66,000 people," 30 May 1945



Planes (VC 82) from escort carrier Anzio (CVE-57) sink Japanese submarine I 361, 400 miles southeast of Okinawa, 22°22'N, 134°09'E.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: On Formosa, 100+ B-24s pound Takao while fighters sweep the coastal areas and B-25s concentrate on the Shinei area..

PACIFIC

Submarine Blenny (SS-324) sinks Japanese cargo ship Hokoku Maru 40 miles southwest of Bandjermasin, 04°09'S, 114°16'E.

Submarine Croaker (SS-246), despite proximity of escorting auxiliary submarine chaser Kenkai Maru, sinks No.154 Shuttle Boat and No.146 Shuttle Boat at 04°50'S, 113°10'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) sink Japanese transport Hakuun Maru off Hakata, Japan, 33°36'N, 130°25'E, and merchant cargo ships Fujitama Maru off Wadanomisaki light, 34°30'N, 135°11'E, Kasumi Maru .8 kilometers off Mijizaki, and No.14 Takasago Maru northwest of Tadotsu, 35°15'N, 133°44'E, and damage army cargo ships Hyuga Maru 3.6 kilometerssouth-southeast of Genka Jima and Shinno Maru at mouth of Tsuruga Bay.

Day 2091 of World War II, June 1st 1945

YouTube (Japan vows to fight to the end)



Allied occupied Germany

Naval Advanced Base, Bremerhaven, Germany, is established.

Soviet occupied Germany

The Soviet appointed mayor of Berlin warns that 50 Nazis will be killed for every attack made on the occupying forces.

Allied occupied Austria

British troops begin the forcible repatriation of some 40,000 members of the Cossack Corps, many of whom are accompanied by their families, to Judenborg in the Soviet occupation zone. The mainly Russian soldiers of the Cossack Corps, led by General Timophey Domanoc, served with the German armed forces on the Eastern Front and surrendered to the British at the end of the war. In order to complete the transfer without incident, British officers are have been told to continue the pretence that the Russians will be allowed to settle in the west. A pitched battle takes place and about 700 Cossacks are shot, trampled or commit suicide, fearing their fate in Soviet hands. British soldiers are told that the repatriations are being carried out under the terms of the Yalta agreement but there are reports of distress in the ranks over the action. The event becomes known as the "Peggetz Masscre."

Syria

British General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget ordered his force to invade Syria from Transjordan, with troops and tanks of the 31st Indian Armoured Division. They struck towards Damascus with 'D' Squadron of the Kings Dragoon Guards having rolled into Beirut, from which they cut the communications of Oliva-Roget. Paget ordered Oliva-Roget to tell his men to cease fire, but the latter said that he would not take orders from the British even though Paget was his superior officer and Commander of Middle East Command. Paget then advanced towards Damascus. Oliva-Roget realised he was heavily outnumbered, and ordered his men back to their base near the coast. He was angry that the British had arrived only after he had "restored order". He told a Syrian journalist, "You are replacing the easygoing French with the brutal British."

Photo: British tanks in the streets of Damascus, 1 June 1945



The British then had to mop up any of the French who had still not returned to their barracks much to the cheers of the people of Damascus. The damage to the city was considerable; the Syrian parliament building was a smouldering shell, a large area of the town had been destroyed by fire and the streets were pitted with shell holes.

Trinidad

(Fifteenth Air Force): During early Jun, HQ 465th Bombardment Group and 780th, 781st, 782d and 783d Bombardment Squadrons begin a movement from Pantanella Airfield, Italy to Waller Field, Trinidad, BWI with B-24s.

Pacific War

Map of the Pacific as of 1 June 1945



CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-25s bomb the Sinsiang railroad yards while 4 B-25s and 4 P-47s damage a bridge N of Linmingkuan; 18 P-51s hit river shipping, warehouses and other targets in the Yoyang area; 20 other fighter-bombers knock out a bridge near Szeshui, pound river shipping near Yoyang, and attack various targets in the Huluehchen area; during Jun, the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF (attached to 23d Fighter Group), moves from Chengkung to Laohwangping with P-40s and P-51s.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): Unit moves in India: HQ 1st Combat Cargo Group from Hathazari to Myitkyina, Burma; 1st and 2d Troop Carrier Squadrons, 443d Troop Carrier Group, from Warazup and Shingbwiyang, Burma respectively to Dinjan with C-47s; 2d and 3d Combat Cargo Squadrons, 1st Combat Cargo Group, from Hathazari to Bhamo and Myitkyina, Burma respectively with C-47s; 9th, 436th and 492d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), from Pandaveswar to Tezpur with B-24s; 317th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando), 2d Air Commando Group, from Kalaikunda to Ledo with C-47s.

BURMA

The British 12th Army becomes operational.

JAPAN

 TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): Mission 187: 458 B-29s attack Osaka, Japan and 16 others hit targets of opportunity; 148 P-51s of the VII Fighter Command, enroute to the escort rendezvous with the B-29s, encounter a severe weather front; flying behind in excessive turbulence, many of the fighters collide and 27 are lost; 27 others manage to find the B-29s and escort them over the target; the B-29s claim 16 Japanese fighters and the P-51s claim 1-0-0; 10 B-29s are lost.

Photo: A B-29 over Osaka on 1 June 1945



Photo: Boeing B-29A-45-BN Superfortress 44-61784 6 Bombardment Group G 24 BS - Incendiary Journey, 1 June 1945



Photo: Ha-204 immediately after her launch at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal in Sasebo, Japan, on 1 June 1945



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: In Formosa, B-24s pound Takao while fighter aircraft sweep the coastline. The 67th and 69th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 433d Troop Carrier Group, move from Tanauan, Leyte Island to Clark Field, Luzon with C-47s. Unit moves during Jun 45: HQ 54th Troop Carrier Wing and 85th Fighter Wing from Leyte Island to Clark Field and Ft William McKinley, Luzon respectively.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s and P-38s hit Tarakan troop concentrations while B-24s, B-25s, and P-38s hit Kota Belud, Victoria, Jesselton, Langkon, and Labuan Island.

RAAF Liberator bombers over Balikpapan. Oil facilities they have bombed are burning beneath the, 1 June 1945



PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, the US 37th Division (US 1st Corps) advances rapidly in the Cagayan valley. Japanese resistance is reduced to rearguard actions. On Mindanao, American forces are engaged north of Davao.

Photo: 260-pound fragmentation bombs stored in a revetment area near Clark Feld, Manila, Luzon, Philippine islands. As indicated by the sign, these bombs are too powerful to be used in low level bombing. 1 June 1945



B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers continue to hit targets in the Cagayan Valley, at Pingkian, Kayapa, Gattaran, Cumao, Bone, and in the Ipo area; many of the missions are ground support strikes.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, after the fall of Shuri, General Mushijima orders the Japanese troops to withdraw southward, towards the Oroku peninsula and the hills of Yaeju, Yuza and Mezado in the extreme south of the island. There are reports of discontent among the Japanese troops, something previously unheard of in the Imperial Army. Elements of the US 1st Marine Division cross the Koruba river, south of Naha. The forces of the US 24th Corps pursue the retreating Japanese while elements mop up around Shuri.

Photo: Cemetery Ridge," Okinawa, 1 June 1945



In the Ryukyu Islands 12 P-47s from Ie Shima fly strafing and rocket attacks against Kikaiga, Tokuno, and Amami Gunto, Japan.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): A four plane shipping strike is called off due to weather.

PACIFIC

Naval Air Facility, Peleliu Island Palau Islands, is established.

Naval Air Base, Tarawa, is disestablished.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) sink Japanese army cargo ship Seishu Maru off Shodo Jima, and merchant cargo ships Abukamagawa Maru 34°34'N, 134°14'E, and No.7 Kenkon Maru and Meitei Maru off Shimonoseki, 34°58'N, 130°56'E, merchant tanker Yoko Maru, 34°30'N, 135°15'E, merchant cargo ship Myosei Maru in Shimonoseki Strait, 33°58'N, 131°03'E; and damage merchant cargo ship Kishun Maru north by east of Mojizaki light, Goko Maru northwest of Wakamatsu, 33°58'N, 130°41'E, Unten Maru west of Seto, Inland Sea, and Shinano Maru outside Fushiki harbor, and cargo vessel Shinju Maru 35°42'N, 136°04'E, and No.1 ToyoMaru at entrance of Shimonoseki Strait, 33°57'N, 130°40'E.

Submarine chaser PC-1599 is damaged by grounding off Okinawa, 26°25'N, 127°43'E.

British submarine HMS Tiptoe sinks Japanese cargo ship Tobi Maru off Matasiri Island 04°40'S, 115°32'E.

Day 2093 of World War II, June 3rd 1945

Allied occupied Germany

Captured maps of German minefields are distributed to all Allied governments, in Europe, by SHAEF. These maps are from the collection of approximately 4 tons of such maps captured by US 7th Army in Bavaria.

Soviet occupied Germany

Photo: Ruins of the Reichstag in Berlin, 3 June 1945



Photo: A German civilian looks at a large poster portrait of Stalin on the Unter-den-Linden in Berlin, 3 June 1945



Syria

French troops left Damascus for billets outside the city. British General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget with the 31st Indian Armoured Division in control of Damascus imposed a curfew on all French citizens. French soldiers are kept in their barracks and are not allowed to fire their weapons except in self-defence under the watchful eyes of British guns. French ships are to stay out of gun range out to sea and not to move in unless told to. French aircraft are grounded with British troops guarding the airfields. British and Indian troops and tanks then spread all over Syria as there were still small mopping up operations to be done.

France

The US began preparing for the transit of 200,000 US troops from Europe to the Pacific via Marseille, France.

United Kingdom

Photo: Last patrol. The war may have been over, but until all the U-boats at sea had been accounted for Allied shipping had to be protected, and convoy escorts continued in the weeks following the end of hostilities. Finally, in the later afternoon of 3 June 1945, Wing Commander J. Barrett and crew of No 201 Squadron set off from Castle Archdale in Sunderland V 'Z-Zebra' on Coastal Command's last convoy patrol. An official photographer recorded the event. Here the 14-man crew board their aircraft



Photo: Last patrol. The war may have been over, but until all the U-boats at sea had been accounted for Allied shipping had to be protected, and convoy escorts continued in the weeks following the end of hostilities. Finally, in the later afternoon of 3 June 1945, Wing Commander J. Barrett and crew of No 201 Squadron set off from Castle Archdale in Sunderland 'Z for Zebra' on Coastal Command's last convoy patrol. An official photographer recorded the event. Here, Sunderland 'Z for Zebra' makes contact with a convoy



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 5 B-25s and 25 P-51s blast the warehouse area and river traffic at Liuchow; 2 B-25s bomb the Sinyang- Lohochai railroad; a single B-24, escorted by 2 P-51s, damages a bridge N of Shihkiachwang; 4 P-51s damage a bridge E of Kiehsiu and strafe a train and lumber carts N of Linfen; bad weather curtails other scheduled fighter-bomber missions.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): HQ 3d Combat Cargo Group moves from Dinjan, India to Myitkyina, Burma while it's 9th and 10th Combat Cargo Squadron move from Warazup, Burma and Dinjan to Myitkyina with C-47s.

TINIAN

(Twentieth Air Force): P-47s on a heckler patrol strafe targets of opportunity on Amami-O-Shima Island, Japan.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

P-51s hit coastal cargo vessels over the SE China coast.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

B-24s attack Kota Waringin and Muara Island while B-24s bomb Batavia, Java.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, the US 37th Division overcomes weak Japanese resistance to advance about 6 miles north of Santa Fe.

B-24s and fighters hit resistance areas on Negros Island.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, Japanese forces are isolated in the Oroku and Chinen peninsula.

Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage cargo ship Allegan (AK-225), 26°00'N, 128°00'E, and large infantry landing craft LCI(L) 90.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): On Shimushu Island, 1 B-24 flying a radar ferret mission to Kataoka is followed by 8 others, radar- bombing and photographing scattered targets in the naval base area; 7 B-25s take off for an attack but 4 are turned back by weather and the others low- level bomb a Masugawa River Cannery.

PACIFIC

Submarine Blueback (SS-326) sinks unnamed Japanese merchant fishing boat, 05°39'S, 106°47'E.

Submarine Segundo (SS-398) sinks Japanese merchantman No.94 Anto Maru off Jinsen, Korea, 36°41'N, 125°23'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Bomber Command) sink Japanese naval vessel No.15 Hakutetsu Maru in Inland Sea, army cargo ship Taiei Maru, 3.7 kilometers off Motoyama light, 38°56'N, 137°05'N, merchant cargo ships Osara Maru off Motoyama Bay, Konei Maru outside Karatsu harbor, 33°33'N, 129°58'E, and Momo Maru at 34°35'N, 134°15'E, and damage minelayer Tokiwa two kilometers off Bakuchizaki, and merchant cargo ship Erimo Maru off Hime Jima light, 33°47'N, 131°14'E.

Japanese ship No.6 Tankai Maru is sunk by aircraft, Hitakata, Ibaraki prefecture.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Anri Maru is damaged by aircraft, 34°57'N, 129°13'E.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Anjo Maru is damaged by aircraft off Pusan, Korea.

Destroyer Porter (DD-800), operating with TF 92, is damaged in collision with U.S. Army cable ship Silverado, the latter being convoyed by escort vessel PCE-893, off Kuluk Bay, Adak, Alaska, in "extremely poor" visibility conditions.

Day 2095 of World War II, June 5th 1945

Soviet occupied Germany

The Allied Control Commission meets for the first time in Berlin. The country is to be divided into four occupation zones and Berlin is to be divided into four occupation sectors. Eisenhower, Montgomery, Zhukov and de Lattre de Tassigny meet in a riverside club which is the Soviet delegation headquarters. They sign a document, containing 15 articles, in which the four powers reaffirm the complete defeat of Germany and assume authority over all aspects of life in the country. The frontiers of Germany are identified as those which existed on December 31, 1937.

Photo: The British Army Film and Photographic Unit 1941 - 1947 Lance Corporal J War of the Army Film and Photographic Unit takes a souvenir snapshot of AFPU drivers at British Army Headquarters in Berlin, 6 June 1945. The drivers are (left to right): Driver Austin, Driver A Stocking, Driver J Bell, Driver R Castle



Field Marshal Montgomery and General Eisenhower were awarded the Order of Victory, the Soviet Union's highest award.

United Kingdom

Prime Minister Churchill rejects the accusation by French President de Gaulle that the British incited civil war in Syria.

United States

Photo: Launch of the U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Francovich (APD-116) at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts (USA), on 5 June 1945



Photo: U.S. Navy Balao-class submarine USS Archerfish (SS-311) near San Francisco on 5 June 1945



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): 32 B-25s and 8 P-51s bomb the city of Nanyang, Burma, hit railroad yards at Anyang, and damage a bridge approach at Chuanhsien, China, and bomb ferries at Ninh Binh and Dap Cau, French Indochina. 40+ fighters bomb and strafe rail, river, and road traffic and general targets of opportunity throughout S and E China.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): The 12th Combat Cargo Squadron, 3d Combat Cargo Group, moves from Ledo, India to Myitkyina, Burma with C-47s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-24s pound Taito, Formosa.

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s bomb Melak, Asa, and Kuching Airfield and Tarakan and Labuan Islands, while B-25s and fighters concentrate on Tuaran, Mensalung, and Kudat.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon, the US 37th Division (US 1st Corps) occupy Aritao and advance northward from the town.

On Luzon Island, B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Cagayan Valley targets while other fighter-bombers support ground actions in Cervantes, Balete Pass, and Ipo battle zones and hit forces E of Manila.

VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, Japanese forces on the Oroku peninsula strongly resist the US 6th Marine Division which nonetheless captures most of the airfield. In the south the forces of the US 24th Corps near the last Japanese defensive line, running from Yuza in the west to Guschichan on the east coast and based on the three hills, Yaeju, Yuza and Mezado.

Typhoon off Okinawa damages battleships Indiana (BB-58), Massachusetts (BB-59), Alabama (BB-60), and Missouri (BB-63); carriers Hornet (CV-12) and Bennington (CV-20), small carriers Belleau Wood (CVL-24) and San Jacinto (CVL-30), escort carriers Windham Bay (CVE-92), Salamaua (CVE-96), Bougainville (CVE-100), and Attu (CVE-102), heavy cruisers Baltimore (CA-68), Quincy (CA-71), and Pittsburgh (CA-72), light cruisers Detroit (CL-8), San Juan (CL-54), Duluth (CL-87), and Atlanta (CL-104), destroyers Schroeder (DD-501), John Rodgers (DD-574), McKee (DD-575), Dashiell (DD-659), Stockham (DD-683), De Haven (DD-727), Maddox (DD-731), Blue (DD-744), Brush (DD-745), Taussig (DD-746), and Samuel N. Moore (DD-747), destroyer escorts Donaldson (DE-44), Conklin (DE-439), and Hilbert (DE-742), oilers Lackawanna (AO-40) and Millicoma (AO-73), and ammunition ship Shasta (AE-6).

Photo: USS Indiana (BB-58) taking water over the bow, while steaming through a typhoon in the Okinawa area, circa 5 June 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) en route to Guam for temporary repairs, shortly after she lost her bow in a typhoon on 5 June 1945. Note that the wartime censor has removed the radar antennas only on the forward Mk 34 and Mk 37 gun directors



Photo: Crews from the U.S. Navy repair ship USS Ajax (AR-6) repair the forward flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CV-20) at Leyte. On 5 June 1945, the carrier was damaged by Typhoon "Connie" off Okinawa and retired to Leyte, Philippines, for repairs, arriving on 12 June. Her repairs completed, Bennington left Leyte on 1 July. The heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) is visible in the background



Photo: The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Attu (CVE-102) underway in the western Pacific, after passing through a typhoon on the morning of 5 June 1945. Note the upended airplanes on her deck, including at least three General Motors TBM Avengers



Photo: Wrecked aircraft on deck of the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Attu (CVE-102) after passing through a typhoon on the morning of 5 June 1945



Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CV-20) showing her collapsed flight deck, which was damaged by Typhoon Connie on 5 June 1945. USS Hornet (CV-12), which was in Task Group 38.1 with Bennington, received a similar damage to her flight deck



Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage battleship Mississippi (BB-41), 26°09'N, 127°35'E, and heavy cruiser Louisville (CA-28), 26°07'N, 127°52'E.

Destroyer Dyson (DD-572) is damaged when she is accidentally rammed by destroyer escort Abercrombie (DE-343) at Kerama Retto, Okinawa, 26°09'N, 127°49'E. Tank landing ship LST-540 is damaged by operational casualty off Okinawa.

PACIFIC

Destroyer escort French (DE-367), on antisubmarine screening duties off Peleliu, bombards Malakal and Arakabesan Islands, Palaus.

Minesweeper Scuffle (AM-298) is damaged by grounding in Brunei Bay, 08°01'N, 117°13'E.

Gasoline tanker Sheepscot (AOG-24) is damaged by grounding off Iwo Jima, 24°46'N, 141°18'E.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 230 is sunk in collision with army transport Azusa Maru one mile south of Sop-To light, Korea, 34°00'N, 127°18'E. Azusa Maru is damaged in the collision.

Japanese guardboat No.13 Kintoku Maru is sunk by U.S. aircraft off Fujinamiohama, Japan.

Mines sink Japanese cargo ship No.5 Yawata Maru off Tsunemi, Moji; and merchant cargo ship Taisho Maru two kilometers off Mutsure Island 33°54'N, 130°54'E, and damage destroyer Yoizuki 5.8 kilometers northwest of Hime Jima light, escort destroyer Shii in Bungo Straits, army cargo ship Toyo Maru near Aohama, merchant cargo ship Annette Fritzen Go off Asa Jima, Fusan, 33°56'N, 131°03'E, and cargo vessel Toyo Maru off Shimonoseki, 33°57'N, 131°02'E.

Japanese fast transport T.9 is damaged by aircraft, north of Chichi Jima.

Japanese army cargo ship Taiko Maru is damaged by marine casualty off Kannonzaki.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.2 Nansei Maru is damaged by marine casualty, near Moji.

Day 2097 of World War II, June 7th 1945

Allied occupied Germany

All German citizens in the zone occupied by the western Allies are order to watch films of Belsen and Buchenwald -- former Nazi concentration camps.

Norway

King Haakon returns to a warm reception.

Photo: The Norwegian Royal Family waving to welcoming crowds from HMS NORFOLK at Oslo, 7 June 1945



United States

Joseph Stalin instructed the Soviet delegation at San Francisco to drop its request for a Big Five veto over discussion of international disputes.[10]

United Kingdom

King George VI visited the Channel Islands to pay tribute to their resolve under German occupation.

Winston Churchill refused a demand from the House of Commons to reveal all that was discussed at the Yalta Conference, but said that there were no secret agreements.

Pacific War

CHINA

In Kwangsi province, 3 Chinese armies prepare to launch an offensive to liberate the Hong Kong - Canton area. In Hunan province, the Chinese follow up the retreating Japanese as far as Paoching, which was the starting position of the Japanese spring offensive.

Map: The Chihchiang campaign - 8 April-7 June 1945



(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 B-25s and 4 P-47s damage a bridge near Anyang, bomb buildings N of Changsha and the airstrip at Paoching, and hit targets of opportunity during a road and river sweep from Siangtan to Yoyang; 45 fighters bomb or strafe numerous targets including troops, river traffic, town areas, and supplies in S and E China and knock out bridges at Singtai and Chihsien.

INDIA-BURMA

(Tenth Air Force): Unit moves in India: HQ 7th Bombardment Group from Pandaveswar to Tezpur; and 81st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 12th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Fenny to Madhaiganj Airfield with B-25s.

PALAU

(Seventh Air Force): 24 B-24s from Angaur Airfield, bomb the boat repair basin on Aurapushekaru Island. HQ 41st BG (Medium) and the 396th and 820th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Wheeler Field to Okinawa with B-25s.

JAPAN

(Twentieth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 189: 409 B-29s, escorted by 138 VII Fighter Command P-51s, drop incendiary and high explosive bombs on Osaka, hitting the east-central section of the city which contains industrial and transportation targets and the Osaka Army Arsenal (largest in Japan); despite being forced to bomb by radar because of heavy undercast, the B-29s burn out over 2 square miles of the city, destroying 55,000+ buildings; 9 other B-29s hit alternate targets; the P-51s claim 2-0-1 Japanese aircraft; 2 B-29s and 1 P-51 are lost. Mission 190: During the night of 7/8 Jun, 26 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters around Fukuoka and Karatsu, Japan. 20 P-47s from Ie Shima hit targets of opportunity (radio station, warehouses, freighter, and motor launches) on Kyushu and claim 5 aircraft downed.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED BRITISH BORNEO

Off Brunei Bay, the USN's Task Group 74.3, consisting of three U.S. light cruisers and six destroyers, and an Australian light cruiser and destroyer, provides fire support for minesweepers and underwater demolition teams (UDTs).

BORNEO CAMPAIGN (1945)

In Borneo, B-24s pound Brooketon and Muara Island; B-25s and fighter-bombers hit Kudat, Ft Brook, Belait, Jesselton, and Keningau.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1945)

On Luzon forces from US 1st Corps take Bambang and move northeast toward the Cagayan Valley. Other units are moving around the coast from the northwest to the north of the island.

A-20s and fighter-bombers hit personnel and defensive positions near Infanta, at Mount Mapatad, in the Marikina area, and in other areas in the Ipo sector; in the N fighter-bombers pound numerous Cagayan Valley targets and support ground forces N of Baguio and E of Manila.

Carrier Randolph (CV-15) is damaged when accidentally crashed by stunting USAAF P-38 fighter, Leyte, P.I.

Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Randolph (CV-15) at anchor in the western Pacific, June 1945



VOLCANO AND RYUKYU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

On Okinawa, in the Oroku peninsula, Japanese forces hold attacks by the US 6th Marine Division while the US 1st Marine Division advances southward and isolates the peninsula defenders. The US 24th Corps is engaged in artillery bombardments.

Photo: An alert gun crew mans the lethal turret of this halftrack, on guard against Jap air attacks on Yontan airfield, Okinawa. Cluster of weapons includes a 37-mm gun (longbarrel) and two .50 calibre machine guns. Men of the 834th Antiaircraft Artillery, are L to R., Front Pvt Russell Middendorf, Butler, Pa. : Pfc. Forest E. Wilson, Greenville, Ohio; rear: Pfc Joe Marzano, Easton, Pa.; T/5 David Poli, Pittston, Pa.; Cpl Robert W. Sporer, Bradford, Pa.; Pfc. Anthony A. Sapato, Philadelphia, Pa.; and T/5 Donald M. Smith, South Bend, Ind. 7 June, 1945



Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage escort carrier Natoma Bay (CVE-62), 24°46'N, 126°37'E, and destroyer Anthony (DD-515), 27°07'N, 127°38'E; operational casualties account for damage to medium landing ship LSM-270, landing craft flotilla flagship LC(FF)-988 and tank landing craft LCT-1054; tank landing ship LST-540 is damaged by grounding, 26°21'N, 127°45'E; destroyer Beale (DD-471) is damaged in collision with gasoline tanker Yahara (AOG-37) at Kerama Retto, 26°10'N, 127°20'E.

PACIFIC

Submarine Shad (SS-235) sinks Japanese army transport Azusa Maru and tanker No.22 Nanshin Maru, 50 miles southwest of Yoso-do, Korea, 33°55'N, 126°50'E.

Submarine Tench (SS-417) sinks Japanese guardboat Hanshin Maru in Sea of Japan, 42°41'N, 143°53'E.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.43 Hino Maru is sunk by aircraft off Hiradojima, Miyanoura.

Mines sink Japanese auxiliary minelayer Hakun Maru near Hong Kong, merchant cargo ship No.2 Yubari Maru west of the mouth of Kammon Strait, and damage merchant cargo ship Taigen Maru outside Fushiki harbor.