Australasia 1945: End of the Pacific War

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Political map of Australia, New Zealand & the Southwest Pacific on 06 Aug 1945 (The War in the Pacific: End of the Pacific War), showing the following events: Battle of the Philippine Sea; Philippines Campaign; V.E. Day; Battle of Balikpapan; Atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

By May 1945, Germany had been defeated and the War in Europe was over. Meanwhile in the Pacific, the Americans had pushed north and secured the Philippines, allowing the Australians to attack the Japanese in oil-rich Borneo. This still left much of East Asia under Japanese control, but in August the War came to an abrupt end when America dropped newly invented atom bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.

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Main Events

19–20 Jun 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea ▲

In Operation A-Go, the Imperial Japanese Navy confronted the US Fifth Fleet of Admiral Raymond Spruance in the Philippine Sea to the west of the Mariana Islands. The following clash—in which the fleets themselves did not come within 500 km of each other—was so one-sided, given the US superiority in both technology and training, that it was nicknamed ‘The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot’, with over 200 Japanese aircraft shot down that morning. By the end of the two-day battle, the Japanese had lost 3 fleet carriers and some 600 aircraft for US losses of 123 aircraft. in wikipedia

20 Oct 1944–15 Aug 1945 Philippines Campaign ▲

The US Sixth Army, led by General Douglas MacArthur and with naval and air support, lands on the eastern shore of Leyte, in the Japanese-occupied Philippines. From Leyte, the Americans advance on to Samar and Mindoro, invading the main island of Luzon in December 1944 and capturing Manila in March 1945 with Filipino support. However it is not until the end of the War that the last Japanese forces surrender. in wikipedia

8 May 1945 V.E. Day ▲

Following the German signing of the Act of Surrender on 7 May 1945 in Reims, France, and on 8 May in Berlin, Germany, a public holiday—Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day—was celebrated in Allied countries to mark the Allies’ formal acceptance of Germany’s surrender and the end of World War II in Europe. in wikipedia

1–21 Jul 1945 Battle of Balikpapan ▲

In Operation Oboe Two, the Australian 7th Division, supported by US air and naval forces, makes an amphibious landing at Klandasan, south of Balikpapan, on the Japanese-occupied island of Borneo in the Dutch East Indies. From here they proceed to occupy the area around Balikpapan Bay, with support from Dutch East Indies forces. in wikipedia

6 Aug 1945 Atomic bombing of Hiroshima ▲

After being briefed in Operations Order No. 35—the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan—the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay, piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets, departed from the US-occupied island of Tinian at 02:45 on 6 August 1945. Having reached Hiroshima, they released the Little Boy atomic bomb at 08:15 from a height of 9,400 m, making it to 18.5 km away before they felt the shock waves of the blast. The explosion and resultant firestorm killed some 70,000-80,000 people in the city, with another 70,000 injured and more later dying from the after-effects. in wikipedia

1940s 1945 Allies Asia-Pacific War August August 6 Australia Australian history Bali Japan maps New Zealand history Philippines World War II

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