Timeline - Hirohito's War
1930 | January, June, November |
1931 | September |
1932 | May, October |
1933 | January - March |
1934 | July - October |
1935 | January - September |
1936 | February - December |
1937 | June - December |
1938 | January - November |
1939 | March - December |
1940 | March - December |
1941 | March - November |
December | |
1942 | January |
February | |
March | |
April - June | |
July - September | |
October - December | |
1943 | January - March |
April - June | |
July - September | |
October - December | |
1944 | January - March |
April - June | |
July - September | |
October - December | |
1945 | January - March |
April - June | |
July - October |
PACIFIC WAR TIMELINE
APRIL 1945
1 April: Okinawa: US Army led by General Buckner invades Okinawa.
Germany: US troops encircle German Army on the Rhine.
5 April: Okinawa: Admiral Spruance has to move his flag from the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis to the battleship USS New Mexico after the Indianapolis is hit by a Kamikaze.
7 April: Okinawa: Japanese superbattleship sunk by Mitscher’s fast carrier group aircraft as it head towards Okinawa.
12 April: America: President Franklin Roosevelt dies. Vice-President Truman sworn into office.
Iwo Jima: 22nd Marines reach the northern tip of Okinawa.
26 April: Okinawa: Mount Shuri falls.
30 April: Burma: Amphibious landing by Lord Mountbatten takes Rangoon as General Slim’s 14th Army is hammering south 40 miles north of the city.
Berlin: Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin.
MAY 1945
2 May: Italy: German troops in Italy surrender.
7 May: Europe: Unconditional surrender of all German Armies.
17 May: Burma: General Leese attempts to sack General Slim with Mountbatten connivance but Leese himself is sent packing back to England and is replaced by Slim.
20 May: Japan: starts withdrawal of troops from China.
25 May: America: Operation Olympic approved in Washington for the invasion of Kyushu Island, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands.
31 May: America: Nuclear facility at Hanford (Washington) produces enough plutonium to enable critical mass experiments to start.
JUNE 1945
22 June: Okinawa: Formal Japanese resistance on Okinawa ends. Commanders General Ushijima and General Cho commit seppuku.