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World War II Chronology

1939

September
1. Germany invades Poland, starting war.
3. Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand declare war.
8. President Roosevelt issues Emergency Proclamation, authorizing expansion of Army and National Guard.
10. Canada declares war on Germany.
17. Soviet Union occupies east Poland.
27. Warsaw surrenders to Germans.
28. Germany and Soviet Union agree to partition Poland.
29. Estonia forced to accept Soviet military protection.
October
2. Pan American Conference sets up safety zone extending 300 miles from coasts of all American Republics.
5. Latvia forced to accept Soviet military protection.
10. Lithuania forced to accept Soviet military protection.
14. Soviet Union demands bases from Finland. U-boat sinks British battleship Royal Oak in Scapa Flow harbor.
19. Turkey signs mutual aid pact with France, Britain.
November
4. Roosevelt signs Neutrality Act, repealing arms embargo.
8. Hitler escapes bomb at Nazi rally.
30. Soviet Union invades Finland in undeclared war.
December
2. Soviet Union captures Petsamo, Finnish nickel port.
10. Soviet Union attacks Finnish Mannerheim Line.
14-Jan. 7. Finns defeat Soviets at Salla and Suomussalmi.
17. German crew scuttles Admiral Graf Spee after three British cruisers force it into harbor at Montevideo, Uruguay. First Canadian troops land in England.

1940

February
12. First Australian troops land in Egypt.
March
2. Soviets crack Mannerheim Line, seize Vyborg (Viipuri).
12. Finland signs peace treaty with Soviet Union.
April
9. Germany occupies Denmark, invades Norway.
14. First of 12,000 Allied troops land in Namsos, Norway.
May
1-3. Allies evacuate all Norway but Narvik. King Haakon escapes to London.
10. British troops land in Iceland. Germany invades Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg. Churchill succeeds Chamberlain as British prime minister.
11. Nazi paratroops seize "impregnable" Eben Emael fortress.
14. The Netherlands government surrenders. Queen Wilhelmina of Netherlands escapes to London. Dutch casualties, about 10,000. Rotterdam bombed. Nazis take Sedan, opening the battle of the Meuse.
17. Germans take Louvain and Brussels.
19. Gen. Gamelin succeeded by Gen. Weygand as Allied commander in chief.
20. British begin retreat through Belgian ports.
21. Germans reach French coast at Abbeville.
28. King Leopold surrenders Belgium's army of 500,000.
29-June 4. British Expeditionary Force plus thousands of French troops evacuated from Dunkirk.
June
5. Battle of France begins at the Somme.
9. Norway surrenders, British withdraw from Narvik.
10. Italy declares war on France and Britain.
14. Germans enter Paris. Spain occupies Tangier.
16. Marshal Petain succeeds Paul Reynaud as French premier.
17. Petain asks Germany for armistice terms for France.
22. France signs armistice with Germany.
24. France signs armistice with Italy.
27. Romania cedes Bessarabia, northern Bucovina to Soviet Union.
July
3. British attack French fleet at Oran, Algeria.
11. Petain becomes dictator of France.
August
3. Lithuania annexed as Soviet republic by Soviet Union.
5. Latvia annexed as Soviet republic by Soviet Union.
6. Estonia annexed as Soviet republic by Soviet Union.
8. Germany launches all-out air blitz on England.
9. Britain recalls troops from Shanghai and North China.
19. Italy occupies British Somaliland.
21. Romania cedes southern Dobruja to Bulgaria.
22. United States, Canada name joint defense board.
25. British planes first bomb Berlin.
30. Romania cedes northern Transylvania to Hungary.
September
3. United States trades Britain 50 destroyers for Atlantic bases.
12. Italy begins invasion of Egypt.
16. Roosevelt signs Burke-Wadsworth Compulsory Military Service Act. First increment of National Guard called to active duty.
22. France grants Indochina bases to Japan.
25. Germany installs Vidkun Quisling as Norwegian premier.
26. United States limits scrap iron and steel exports to Western Hemisphere and Britain only.
27. Japan joins Rome-Berlin Axis.
October
6. Germany abandons large-scale daylight raids on England; turns to night bombing.
10. Germany occupies Romania.
16. United States men register in first peacetime draft.
27. De Gaulle establishes Free French government.
28. Italy invades Greece.
29. Selection of American draftees begins.
November
11-12. British planes cripple Italian fleet at Taranto.
20. Hungary joins Axis.
23. Romania joins Axis.
December
6. Greeks rout Italians from Porto Edda, Albania.
9. British strike back at Italians in Egypt.

1941

January
20. British attack Italians in Eritrea.
February
5. British drive Italians from the Sudan.
March
1. German-occupied Bulgaria joins Axis.
7. British win Italian Somaliland.
11. Roosevelt signs Lend-Lease Act. French Indochina cedes territory to Thailand.
25. Yugoslavia joins Axis.
28. British sink 5 Italian warships off Cape Matapan.
30. United States seizes Axis ships in American ports.
April
3. British yield Bengasi, Libya, to Axis attack.
6. Germany attacks Yugoslavia, Greece. British take Addis Ababa, Ethiopian capital.
9. United States takes Greenland under protection.
12. British lose Bardia, Libya.
17. Yugoslav army surrenders.
18. Britain occupies Iraq.
27. Germans occupy Athens.
30. British forces leave Greece.
May
10. Hess flies to Scotland, interned by British.
16. Iceland ends Union with Denmark.
19. British complete liberation of Ethiopia.
20. German paratroops invade Crete.
21. U-boat sinks American freighter Robin Moor in Atlantic.
24. German Bismarck sinks British Hood.
27. British fleet and air units sink Bismarck.
June
1. British evacuate Crete.
8. British and Free French invade Syria.
14. United States freezes German and Italian assets in America.
22. Germany invades Soviet Union. Italy declares war on Soviet Union.
26. Finland enters war against Soviet Union.
July
7. United States occupies Iceland, as requested July 1 by the government of Iceland.
14. British occupy Syria; Vichy French sign armistice.
21. French give military control of Indochina to Japan.
25. United States and Britain freeze Japanese assets.
August
1. United States bans gasoline export to Japan.
6. Germans capture Smolensk, Soviet Union.
14. Roosevelt, Churchill announce Atlantic Charter.
25. Britain, Soviet Union occupy Iran to prevent Nazi coup.
September
11. Roosevelt orders Navy to fire on Axis raiders in American defense zones.
19. Germans enter Kiev, Soviet Union.
29. United States pledges materiel to Soviet Union.
October
9. Turkey signs trade treaty with Germany.
11. United States Navy announces capture of German radio station in Greenland.
16. Germans take Odessa.
18. Tojo appointed premier of Japan.
19. Moscow declares state of siege.
24. Khar'kov falls to Germans.
31. U-boats sink United States destroyer Reuben James off Iceland.
November
17. Neutrality Act amended to arm American merchant ships.
20. Japanese envoys submit "last proposals" to United States.
22. Germans take Rostov, Soviet Union.
26. United States proposes economic cooperation to Japan.
29. Soviets recapture Rostov, take offensive in Ukraine.
December
6. Roosevelt appeals to Hirohito to intervene for peace.
7. Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and Midway. Canada declares war on Japan. On same day (Dec. 8, Far Eastern time), Japanese strike at Wake, Guam, Philippines, British Malaya, Hong Kong; invade Thailand. Netherlands Indies declares war on Japan.
8. United States, Britain declare war on Japan.
9. China declares war on Japan, Germany, Italy. Thailand surrenders to Japan.
10. Japanese planes sink British ships off Malaya. Japanese land on Luzon in the Philippines.
11. United States declares war on Germany, Italy. Germany, Italy declare war on United States. Japanese occupy Guam.
12. Japanese invade Burma from Thailand.
16. Japanese invade Borneo.
19. Hitler takes personal command of German army.
22. Churchill discusses united war effort with Roosevelt.
23. Wake Island surrenders to Japanese.
25. Hong Kong falls to Japanese.
1942
January
1. Twenty-six nations sign United Nations Pact.
2. Japanese enter Manila, occupy Cavite naval base.
10. Japanese invade Netherlands Indies at Tarakan.
13. United States creates War Production Board.
21. Rommel's Afrika Korps advances into Cyrenaica.
23. Japanese capture Rabaul on New Britain; invade New Ireland and the Solomons.
23-24. United States warships attack Japanese forces in Makassar Strait.
26. First A.E.F. since 1918 lands in Ireland.
28. Inter-American conference at Rio de Janeiro affirms solidarity.
29. Afrika Korps takes Bengasi, Libya, after 200-mile drive. Iran signs cooperation pact with Soviet Union, Britain.
31. Siege of Singapore begins. British evacuate Moulmein, Burma.
February
1. United States Navy raids Gilbert and Marshall islands.
14. Japanese occupy ports in southern Borneo, invade Sumatra.
15. Singapore falls to Japanese.
19. Japanese invade Bali in East Indies. Japanese planes bomb Port Darwin, Australia.
24. United States naval task force bombards Wake Island.
27-Mar. 1. Japanese overwhelm Allied naval forces in battle of Java Sea.
28. Japanese land in northern Java.
March
4. United States Navy raids Marcus Island.
8. Japanese invade New Guinea, landing at Salamaua and Lae.
9. Rangoon, capital of Burma, falls.
12. American troops land in New Caledonia.
17. MacArthur reaches Australia from Philippines; assumes command ofUnited Nations' forces in Southwest Pacific.
23. Japan occupies Andaman Islands in Bay of Bengal.
28. British Commandos raid U-boat base at St.-Nazaire.
April
9. Bataan peninsula falls after 98-day siege.
11. India refuses dominion status; asks immediate liberty.
18. Doolittle leads B-25 bombers from Hornet to raid Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya.
22. British Commandos raid Boulogne.
29. Japanese capture Lashio on Burma Road.
May
1. Mandalay falls to Japanese.
4-8. United States Navy defeats Japanese invasion fleet in battle of Coral Sea.
6. Corregidor falls.
8. Nazis open spring offensive in Crimea.
12. Soviet Union counterattacks on Khar'kov front.
14. WAAC law creates Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
15. Japanese gain virtually undisputed possession of Burma.
22. Mexico declares war on Axis.
24. Soviets evacuate Kerch' Peninsula in East Crimea.
30. British send 1,000-bomber flight to destroy Cologne.
June
3. Japanese bomb Dutch Harbor.
3-6. United States Navy defeats Japanese, battle of Midway.
4-6. Japanese invade Aleutian Islands.
10. Nazis announce razing of Lidice in reprisal for assassination of Heydrich, German governor of Czechoslovakia.
21. Nazis take Tobruk. Japanese submarine shells Seaside, on Oregon coast.
25. Germans penetrate Egypt. Eisenhower lands in London.
27. FBI completes capture of 8 Nazi saboteurs landed by U-boat.
July
1. British 8th Army stems Rommel's drive at El Alamein. Sevastopol' falls to Germans after 25-day siege.
4. First American fliers raid Europe.
21-22. Japanese land at Gona, Buna in New Guinea.
27. Soviets evacuate Rostov as Nazis drive toward Caucasus.
30. United States Navy establishes the WAVES.
August
7. United States Marines land on Guadalcanal, Tulagi.
9. Japanese naval force sinks 1 Australian and 3 American cruisers at battle of Savo Island.
17. United States Marines raid Makin Island.
19. British-Canadian Commandos, American Rangers raid Dieppe.
22. Brazil declares war on Axis.
24. Nazis advance on Stalingrad.
26. American bombers raid Lashio in Burma.
30. Germany annexes Luxembourg.
September
11. Nazis take naval base at Novorossiysk on Black Sea.
14. United States bombers make first major raid on Kiska.
28. Allies drive Japanese back in New Guinea.
October
11-12. Japanese lose 4 ships at battle of Cape Esperance.
13. United States Army troops join Marines on Guadalcanal.
23. British open assault against Afrika Korps at El Alamein.
November
6. Rommel's Afrika Korps retreats.
8. American forces invade North Africa.
11. Hitler occupies "unoccupied" France.
13-15. American Navy defeats Japanese off Guadalcanal.
14. Allied troops enter Tunisia.
27. French scuttle fleet at Toulon to prevent Axis seizure.
December
1. Darlan assumes authority over French North Africa. United States rations gasoline nationally.
9. Allies take Gona on northern coast of Papua, New Guinea.
14. Americans, Australians take Buna village, New Guinea.
16. British, under Wavell, begin invasion of Burma.

1943

January
1. Soviets recapture Velikiye Luki.
6. United States makes first daylight raid on Rabaul.
18. Soviet army partially lifts siege of Leningrad.
22. Papuan campaign completed.
23. British take Tripoli; Rommel in retreat.
26. Casablanca conference announces demand for unconditional surrender.
February
2. Soviets defeat Nazis at Stalingrad.
6. Creation of United States North African theater under command of Eisenhower announced.
8. United States forces completely occupy Guadalcanal.
14. Soviet army recaptures Rostov.
16. Soviets recapture Khar'kov.
21. Allies evacuate Kasserine Pass in Tunisia.
25. Allies recapture Kasserine Pass.
March
2-4. Allies bomb Japanese convoy in Bismarck Sea.
10. Fourteenth Air Force set up in China under Chennault.
14. Germans recapture Khar'kov.
28. British break German Mareth Line in Tunisia.
April
7. British and American forces join in Tunisia.
May
7. Announce American troops occupy Adak, Amchitka. Allies capture Tunis and Bizerte.
11. American forces invade Attu in Aleutian Islands.
12. German resistance ends in North Africa.
30. Americans conquer Attu.
June
3. De Gaulle forms French Committee of National Liberation.
11. Allies take Pantelleria.
17-18. American planes from Funafuti bomb Tarawa.
30. Allies land on Rendova in New Georgia group.
July
2-3. Americans land on New Georgia.
6. United States Navy victorious in Kula Gulf.
9-10. Allies invade Sicily.
25. Mussolini succeeded by Badoglio.
29. Eisenhower broadcasts peace offer to Italy.
August
1. United States planes bomb Ploesti oil fields.
5. British enter Catania in Sicily. Americans take Munda on New Georgia Island.
15. Americans-Canadians land on deserted Kiska.
17. Americans take Messina to end Sicily campaign. American bombers make first shuttle raid from England over Germany and on to North Africa.
19. Allied air raid smashes Foggia, German air base in Italy.
25. Japanese evacuate New Georgia.
September
3. Allies invade southern Italy, receive Italian surrender effective 5 days later.
4. American Marines invade Nanumea in Ellice group.
4-16. Allied forces encircle and recapture Lae-Salamaua area in New Guinea.
8. Soviets take Stalino in Donets basin.
9. British take Taranto naval base at tip of southern Italy. American 5th Army invades Italy at Salerno.
10. Germans seize Rome, assure "protection" of Vatican.
16. British 8th Army joins American 5th Army at Salerno. Soviets capture naval base at Novorossiysk.
22. Australian troops land north of Finschhafen, New Guinea.
25. Nazis evacuate Smolensk.
27. Allies capture Foggia air base.
October
1. Allies take Naples; Germans retreat north to Volturno River.
2. MacArthur's forces capture Finschhafen after 10-day campaign.
12. Portugal opens Azores bases to the Allies.
13. Italy declares war on Germany.
18. Allies force Nazis from Volturno line.
November
1. United States Marines invade Bougainville.
6. Soviet army liberates Kiev in midst of winter offensive.
21. United States forces invade Gilbert Islands, Marines landing on Tarawa and Infantry on Makin.
22. Roosevelt, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek open Cairo talks.
24. Americans conquer Tarawa and other key Gilbert Islands.
28. Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin open Tehran conference; agree on final plans to defeat Germany.
December
15. American soldiers land at Arawe, New Britain.
26. Marines land at Cape Gloucester, New Britain.

1944

January
4. Soviets cross 1939 Polish border.
12. Allies begin attack on Cassino.
19. Soviets cut German lines in north around Leningrad.
20. Allies attack along Rapido River in Italy.
22. Allies land at Anzio; withdraw to left bank of Rapido River.
27. Allies cross Rapido.
February
1. United States forces land on Kwajalein.
5. Americans complete capture of Kwajalein.
15. American planes bomb Ponape, 400 miles east of Truk.
17-18. United States Navy task force bombs and shells Truk.
22. Americans complete capture of Eniwetok in Marshall Islands. Soviets capture Krivoy Rog.
29. MacArthur's forces invade Admiralty Islands.
March
5. Allied paratroops land behind enemy lines in Burma.
7. First United States troops fight in Asia; help Chinese seize Walawbum in Burma. Japanese invade India on Manipur plain near Imphal.
20. Germans begin military occupation of Hungary. MacArthur's forces take Admiralty Islands.
30-31. United States Naval force raids Palau Islands.
April
3. American forces occupy Bikini and other Marshall atolls.
10. Soviets take port of Odessa on Black Sea.
22. Americans invade Hollandia in north New Guinea.
May
9. Soviets recapture Sevastopol' after 24-day siege.
11. Allies break through German line south of Cassino.
17. Merrill's Marauders take Myitkyina airfield, Burma.
17-19. United States troops occupy Wakde Islands area, New Guinea.
18. Allies capture Cassino.
June
4. American 5th Army enters Rome.
5. King Victor Emmanuel of Italy transfers royal power to his son, Humbert.
6. Allies invade France at Normandy coast.
13. Germans launch robot bombs on southern England.
15. United States Marines invade Saipan in the Marianas.
16. China-based B-29s raid southern Japan.
19-20. American naval planes rout Japanese fleet in battle of the Philippine Sea.
25. Americans enter Cherbourg; entire Cherbourg peninsula captured July 1.
28. Japanese take Hengyang airfield, American air base, China. United States forces end organized resistance on island of Biak northwest of New Guinea.
July
2. United States forces invade Noemfoor, Netherlands New Guinea.
3. Soviets win Minsk.
9. Japanese resistance on Saipan broken. British-Canadian forces capture Caen.
18. American forces capture St. Lo, Normandy. Hirohito ousts Tojo.
19. Americans enter Livorno.
20. Hitler injured by bomb in assassination attempt.
21. American Marines invade Guam.
23. Americans enter Pisa.
24. United States Marines land on Tinian. Soviets take Lublin, Polish rail center.
30. Allies land at Cape Sansapor, Netherlands New Guinea.
31. Americans take Avranches to complete Normandy breakthrough.
August
1. Japanese resistance ceases on Tinian.
2. Turkey severs relations with Germany.
3. Americans, Chinese take north Burma base of Myitkyina.
4. Soviets penetrate to outskirts of Warsaw. Patton's troops take Rennes, chief city of Brittany.
10. Organized resistance on Guam ceases.
15. Allied armies invade southern France from the sea.
17. General Patton's forces take Chartres. Americans-Canadians converge on Falaise "pocket" (closing it August 20, ending battle of Normandy). British announce retreat of Japanese from frontier of India.
19. People of Paris and Underground attack German army.
20. American advance patrols enter Versailles.
21. French troops take Toulon; Dumbarton Oaks Conference opens in Washington, D.C.
22. Germans leave Florence, retire to Gothic Line.
23. King Michael orders Romanian army to cease fire.
24. French troops enter Paris.
25. Americans march into Paris. Finland asks Soviet Union for armistice.
28. Soviets enter Transylvania region of Hungary. Americans enter Soissons.
29-31. Americans enter Reims, Nice, Verdun.
31. Soviets enter Bucharest; drive Germans from Ploesti oil fields.
September
2. Hodges' 1st Army crosses into Belgium.
3. British take Brussels.
4. Finland ends war on Soviet Union. Allies take Antwerp.
5. Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria.
6. Soviets reach Yugoslav border at Turnu Severin.
8. Soviets cross Danube River, enter Bulgaria. Allies take Liege.
9. Soviet Union grants armistice to Bulgaria.
11. Roosevelt, Churchill begin Quebec Conference. American 1st Army crosses German border east of Aachen. Allies penetrate The Netherlands. United States 7th and 3rd Army patrols meet west of Dijon.
12. Le Havre surrenders.
15. Marines invade Peleliu in the Palaus; land on Morotai Island; Americans breach Siegfried Line east of Aachen.
17. Nazis rocket Allied airborne landings at Arnheim.
18. Brest surrenders.
19. Finland signs armistice with Soviet Union.
20. Allies capture Nijmegen bridge.
22. Soviets capture Tallinn, capital and naval base of Estonia.
23. British airborne troops invade Greece. United States forces take Ulithi in Carolines without opposition.
26. Airborne Allies surrender in Arnheim trap.
27. Allies announce landings in Albania.
28. Soviets enter Czechoslovakia.
October
11. Americans enter Aachen suburbs. City falls October 21. Germans declare Athens an open city.
16. Partisans, Soviet forces enter Belgrade; capture it October 20.
20. Americans begin Philippine campaign; invade Leyte.
23. United States, Britain, Soviet Union recognize de Gaulle Government.
23-26. American Navy defeats Japanese in Leyte Gulf.
November
1. Liberation of Greece completed.
3. Chinese troops in final assault capture Lungling on Burma Road.
5. Allies bomb Singapore.
7. Americans evacuate Liuchow, last major 14th Air Force base in China.
22. American 3rd Army takes Metz.
24. B-29s bomb Tokyo in first raid since 1942.
26. First Allied ships unloaded at Antwerp.
December
15. United States forces invade Mindoro in Philippines.
16. Germans counterattack at Ardennes Forest to begin "battle of the Bulge."
20. United States 101st Airborne Division trapped at Bastogne.
26. MacArthur announces end of resistance on Leyte. Soviets penetrate Budapest suburbs.
27. Americans take offensive in battle of the Bulge.

1945

January
9. Americans invade Luzon at Lingayen Gulf.
16. American 1st and 3rd Armies meet at Hauffalize, Belgium, after separation by enemy bulge since December 16.
17. Soviets take Warsaw.
19. Soviets capture Cracow and Lodz.
20. Hungary signs armistice with Allies.
28. Ledo-Burma road opened to convoys to China.
February
4. Americans enter Manila.
4-11. Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin confer at Yalta.
10. Americans take Roer dam at Schwammenauel after Nazis opened sluices.
13. German garrison at Budapest surrenders to Soviets.
15. Americans land on Bataan. Land on Corregidor next day.
19. United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.
21-Mar. 8. Twenty American republics meet in Mexico City; hold Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace.
23. Turkey declares war on Germany, Japan. Japanese resistance in Manila ends.
24. Egypt declares war on Germany, Japan.
March
3. Act of Chapultepec signed in Mexico City. Finland declares war on Germany in an act dated March 1.
7. American 1st Army seizes Cologne; crosses Rhine at Remagen bridge.
14. Soviets cross Oder River north of Frankfurt an der Oder.
16. Marines complete conquest of Iwo Jima.
18. American 3rd Army takes Rhine city of Coblenz.
21. British take Mandalay.
22-23. Allied troops cross Rhine.
27. Argentina declares war on Germany, Japan. Soviets penetrate Danzig.
April
1. United States Army, Marines land on Okinawa.
5. Soviet Union cancels 1941 neutrality pact with Japan.
8-13. Soviets capture Vienna.
12. President Roosevelt dies.
16. Americans enter Nuremberg. Enter Leipzig next day.
18. Americans cross Czech border.
21. Soviets enter Berlin. Allies take Bologna, Italy.
24. United States refuses Himmler's offer to surrender.
25. San Francisco Conference to form United Nations opens. American, Soviet patrols meet near Torgau.
26. British 2nd Army captures Bremen. Soviets take Stettin on the Baltic.
28. Italian partisans execute Mussolini.
29. Germans in northern Italy, southern Austria, surrender, but announcement withheld until May 2.
May
1. Hitler reported dead; Doenitz proclaims himself Fuehrer.
2. Berlin surrenders.
3. Hamburg surrenders to British. Rangoon falls to British.
4. Nazis surrender Denmark, Netherlands, all northern Germany to Montgomery.
5. Large German force surrenders to United States Sixth Army Group.
7. Germans surrender unconditionally at Reims.
8. Surrender of Germany ratified in Berlin.
23. Heinrich Himmler, German Gestapo chief, commits suicide.
June
21. Americans complete conquest of Okinawa.
26. Fifty nations sign charter of United Nations at San Francisco.
28. MacArthur announces liberation of Luzon.
July
5. United States, Britain recognize provisional Warsaw government. MacArthur announces complete liberation of Philippines.
14. Navy bombards Honshu and Hokkaido.
16. United States Army explodes experimental atomic bomb on New Mexico desert.
17-Aug. 2. Truman, Churchill (later Attlee), Stalin meet at Potsdam; agree to decentralize Germany.
August
2. Japan hit by largest B-29 attack, made by 800 Superfortresses.
6. American plane drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
8. Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
9. Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
10. Japan sues for peace.
15. Japan accepts Allied surrender terms.
27. American occupation force enters Japan.
September
2. Japan surrenders formally aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.