King George VI, second from left, on the quarterdeck of HMS Renown with President Harry S. Truman, center, in 1945. Wikimedia Commons.
By Phil Kohn. Dedicated to the memory of his father, GM3 Walter Kohn, U.S. Navy Armed Guard, USNR, and all men and women who have answered the country’s call in time of need. Phil can be contacted at ww2remembered@yahoo.com.
Osaka, Japan, is bombed heavily on June 15, 1945. In the United Kingdom, King George VI dissolves Parliament in anticipation of the nation’s first general election since 1935. The election — scheduled for July 5 — has been called as a result of the Labour Party pulling out of the wartime coalition with (former) Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Conservative Party.
The Japanese on June 16 are in a general retreat in central China. On Okinawa, fighting still rages in the south of the island. British naval units bombard the large Japanese naval base at Truk, in the Caroline Islands. Off Okinawa, the destroyer USS Twiggs is sunk by a Japanese kamikaze attack with a loss of 152 lives. Nearby vessels rescue 188 survivors.
Reinforced American units on June 17 advance on the Kunishi Ridge area of Okinawa, which has been stubbornly defended by Japanese troops.
On Okinawa on June 18, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., commanding the U.S. Tenth Army, is killed by Japanese artillery while on an inspection visit to the front lines. (Buckner, the son of the Civil War Confederate general, is the highest-ranking U.S. officer to be killed by enemy fire during the war.) In the Philippines, Japanese resistance on Mindanao, for the most part ends. Gen. of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower arrives in Washington, D.C., to a hero’s welcome. In Asia, the U.S. Army Air Force starts fire-blitzing 58 smaller Japanese cities. In London, William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) is put on trial for treason, for broadcasting Nazi propaganda over the radio from Germany. In Moscow, 16 leaders of the Polish underground movement (kidnapped from Poland and interrogated and tortured by the NKVD) are put on trial for “illegal activities” against the Red Army. During the trial, observed by the foreign press and representatives of the U.K and the U.S., defense witnesses are declared “unreachable” and no evidence is presented, other than the charges. Twelve of the defendants are sentenced to prison terms ranging from four months to ten years; charges are dropped against the remaining four. Although the Polish government-in-exile in London protests the procedure, neither the U.K. nor the U.S. governments do so.
The United Kingdom begins demobilizing from wartime status on June 19. British Commonwealth forces invade Thailand from Burma. On Okinawa, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Claudius Easley is killed by Japanese machine-gun fire as he visits the front lines to check on the progress of his advancing troops. Easley is the second American general officer to be killed in two days on the island. Spain is barred from membership in the United Nations so long as the Franco regime remains in power. In New York City, an estimated four million people turn out to cheer the motorcade of Gen. of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Schiermonnikoog, one of the West Frisian Islands in the northern Netherlands, is the last piece of European territory to be liberated by the Allies, when the German commander there surrenders to Canadian forces on June 20. On Okinawa, Japanese resistance remains strong, but American soldiers and marines are capturing thousands of surrendering Japanese soldiers. The scale of surrenders — as opposed to suicides — is unprecedented for the Imperial Japanese Army. The Australian 26th Infantry Brigade ends Japanese resistance on Tarakan Island in northern Borneo, an important oil source. In Rome, seven Italian generals are indicted for treason.
Organized resistance on Okinawa ends on June 21 after 82 days of fighting, during which 98,654 Japanese have been killed and 6,922 captured. U.S. losses are 6,990 killed and 29,598 wounded. On Luzon, in the Philippines, the largest Japanese-held port is taken by the Allies. Elsewhere in the Philippines, the Allies secure the islands of Cebu and Negros. In Italy, Ferruccio Parri replaces Ivanoe Bonomi as prime minister. The government of Czechoslovakia orders that all property of collaborators with the Nazis be confiscated.
In Tokyo, Emperor Hirohito on June 22 summons the country’s leaders to the Imperial Palace and suggests they approach the Soviet Union — with which Japan is not at war — as an intermediary for arranging a negotiated peace. However, since the Japanese leaders are not prepared to accept an unconditional surrender, the peace-feeler suggestion amounts to nothing. On Borneo, Australian troops capture the province of Sarawak. U.S. Army Gen. Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell takes command of the U.S. Tenth Army on Okinawa, replacing Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., who has been killed in action. The Japanese commandant on Okinawa, Lt. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, along with eight of his staff, commits suicide in his headquarters.
In the U.S., the San Francisco Conference Coordination Committee on June 23 completes the text of the United Nations Charter. Representatives of the Big Four Powers (China, the U.K., the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.) agree to admit Poland to the UN.
A victory parade is held in Moscow’s Red Square on June 24, where over 200 captured Nazi banners and flags are unceremoniously dragged across the ground and thrown in a pile in front of Lenin’s tomb. The hours-long procession includes 40,000 Red Army troops and 1,850 military vehicles and other equipment. Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, riding the traditional white stallion of the conquering hero, takes the salute from the troops in the presence of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky, the parade commander. The event remains the largest and longest military parade ever held in Red Square, even though heavy rains cause other significant parts of the celebration to be called off ahead of time.
In Sarawak, Borneo, Australian troops complete the occupation of the Miri oilfields on June 25. The Allies announce the division of Austria into four Administrative Zones — American, British, French and Soviet.
Chinese forces capture the airfield at Liuchow, China, on June 26. In San Francisco, California, representatives of 50 countries sign the United Nations Charter.
On June 27, Edward Stettinius resigns as U.S. Secretary of State to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Thousands of Polish refugees flee westward from the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. The Japanese government takes control of all communications in the country in anticipation of an invasion. In Washington, D.C., the Federal Communications Commission allocates 13 television channels for the use of commercial broadcasts.
U.S. Gen. of the Army Douglas MacArthur announces on June 28 that, with the exception of needing to mop up some 23,000 isolated and trapped Japanese troops in various places, operations on Luzon, in the Philippines, are complete. Japanese casualty figures on Luzon are 205,535 killed and 9,050 captured; Allied losses are 37,870, including 8,300 killed. The U.S. Eighth Army is assigned mop-up duty, while the U.S. Sixth Army is to be reorganized for the invasion of Japan. In Poland, a Provisional Government of National Unity is set up by the Soviets. Though not recognized by the London-based Polish government-in-exile, the Provisional Government surprisingly also includes several members of the London-based group.
