June 1945
(Europe)
At the Yalta Conference in February 1945 Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union discussed the occupation of post war Germany. However, the French were not involved in the Yalta Conference. On the 5th June 1945 the Allies, which now included France, agreed to occupy and administer four separate areas of Germany. Britain occupied northern Germany, the United States occupied the south, France occupied the extreme south-west and the Soviet Union occupied eastern Germany.
Berlin, as the nation’s capital, although in the Soviet sector, was also divided into four zones, as per the rest of the country (microcosm of Germany). The occupation ensured that the Nazi Party was sought out and brought to justice, it also ensured any Nazi type organisation would not be in a position to begin hostilities again. This coupled with the fact that roughly 80% of German infrastructure was in need of repair or reconstruction.
—
Ameland and Schiermonnikoog are two Dutch islands in the Waddell Sea. The Germans surrendered on the 3rd and 11th June 1945 respectively. The latter was last part of Europe liberated by Allied troops after the Germans surrendered.
One of the major challenges facing the British government was the demobilisation of the British Armed Forces back into civilian life. Prior to the end of the European War plans had been implemented for the demobilisation of the armed forces. Age and time spent in uniform determined when most servicemen and servicewomen were released from the armed forces. Priority was given to men aged fifty or more and married women. A small number of so-called “Key workers”, whose occupational skills were vital for postwar reconstruction, were also released ahead of their allotted time. Each serviceman or woman being demobilised passed through a special demobilisation centre. Demobilisation for the British Armed Forces fighting the Japanese in the Pacific did not begin until after VJ-Day in August 1945. Demobilised servicemen received a one-off grant payment and the promise for the right to return to their old jobs. They also received a set of civilian clothing which included the so-called “Demob Suit”. The demobilisation process was slow because of the numbers involved, with approximately 4.3 million men and women returning to “civvy street” by 1947. Returning to civilian life servicemen and women found conditions to be extremely bad. In the six years of war the home front had endured bombardment and blockades resulting in shortages of many basic essentials. One of the biggest challenges, after many years apart, was that husbands and wives had to adjust to living together again.
(Pacific
The first stage of the Borneo Campaign was the capture of Tarakan Island on the 15th June 1945. An amphibious landing on south-west Tarakan on the 1st May 1945 was launched by Australian troops and a small Netherlands East Indies contingent. Opposing the attack the Japanese defence of the island consisted of approximately 2,200 men from the Imperial Japanese Army and Japanese Imperial Navy. Prior to the Japanese occupation in January 1941, Tarakan formed part of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). Tarakan supplied the Japanese with oil from the island’s two oil fields. During the course of 1942 Allied bombing destroyed the oil production and storage facilities. The Allies main aim for attacking Tarakan was to capture and develop the airfields, and ultimately restore the oil fields. Tarakan’s heavily forested hills needed to be cleared before the Allies could secure the island and protect the airfields. Approximately 1,700 Japanese defenders were dug into positions protected by minefields and booby traps. Australian tanks offered little support to the infantry assault owing to the thick jungle, swamps and steep hills. They did, however, provide supporting fire but air cover and artillery provided the majority of the supporting fire. On the 12th May 1945 Australian troops were slowly advancing when they were held up by three well positioned machine gun posts. Australian corporal John Mackey led his men to attack one machine gun post. He took out the post with a grenade. Moving on to a second post he killed two members of the gun crew when he was killed by machine gun fire. For this brave action he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. On the 16th May 1945 Australian troops had reached the eastern coast of the contingent island. The same day the NEI had captured the remainder of the southern end of the island meeting very little resistance. The Japanese garrison was gradually destroyed and the island was declared secure on the 21st June 1945. It took the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) engineers eight weeks to restore the damaged airfields to a usable state while the infantry was fighting the Japanese in the hills. The airfields were finally opened on the 28th June 1945. Serious damage to Tarakan’s oilfields delayed production, but on the 27th June 1945 the first oil pump was restored. Tarakan’s oilfields did not become fully operational until after the end of the war.
The island of Borneo, before the Second World War, was divided between British Borneo in the north and Dutch Borneo in the south. Both countries were in Borneo to assist in developing the oilfields. The Japanese invaded and occupied the island in late1941/early 1942. The Battle of North Borneo began on the 10th June 1945 when Australian troops were involved in a series of amphibious landings around Brunei Bay. Initially Japanese opposition was light, but by the time Brunei was captured on the 15th June 1945 Japanese resistance had been reinforced. Both sides suffered heavy casualties in the resulting battle. The Borneo Campaign ended in August 1945.
On the 15th June 1945, Japan’s second largest city of Osaka was bombed for the fourth time in the month. 300,000 houses were destroyed when 444 B-29’s bombed 2.9 sq. miles (4.9 km2) of the city. On this raid the city suffered the heaviest destruction. Further bombing raids on Osaka continued until the end of the war in August 1945.
The island of Okinawa was invaded by the United States Army and United States Marine Corps on the 1st April 1945. The 82-day battle ended on the 21st June 1945 when the last remnants of the retreating Japanese resistance ceased on Southern Okinawa. On the 22nd June 1945, to mark the end of organised resistance on Okinawa, a flag raising ceremony was held. The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle in the Pacific, and most probably the bloodiest. The Japanese suffered casualties of over 100,000 in total including many military suicides. The Allies suffered approximately 80,000 casualties in total. The civilian population of Okinawa, who were still in residence during the fighting, suffered 40,000 to 150,000 casualties. Actual casualty figures cannot be confirmed.
(Other Theatres)
In California, USA, representatives of 50 countries signed the United Nations Charter (UNC) on the 26th June 1945. The concept of the UNC was to unite the countries into providing the same effort against the common enemy, in peacetime as they did during the war years, to prevent another conflict. Plans had been evolving since 1943. After the Yalta Conference in February1945 all proposals were agreed for world peace protection. At the Yalta Conference were Churchill (UK), Roosevelt (USA) and Stalin (USSR). Invitations were sent out to all the countries involved on the 5th March 1945. Poland was in the process of forming a new government and signed later and in doing so became the 51st member of the United Nations. As Roosevelt had died before the UNC was signed, his replacement President Harry Trueman endorsed America’s willingness to sign.
——————————————————–
.
.
The Bay Museum & Research Facility 