• Virtual VJ Day 75

    15 August 2020

Welcome to the Virtual VJ Day commemoration to mark the 75th anniversary.

World War Two – Far East – Major Events

  • 27 Sep 40 – Japan formally enters a ‘tripartite’ pact with Germany and Italy forming the Axis
  • 7 Dec 41 – Japan attacks the US Fleet at Pearl Harbour sinking and damaging 14 warships
  • 10 Dec 41 – Japanese aircraft sink the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battle cruiser HMS Repulse in South China Sea
  • 8 Dec 41 – Japan invades Hong Kong
  • 8 Dec 41 – Japan invades Malaya (Malaysia)
  • 8 Dec 41 – Japan commences the invasion of many of the Pacific island states
  • 11 Dec 42 – Germany declares war on the USA
  • 31 Jan 42 – Allied (Indian, British and Australian) forces in Malaya defeated by the Japanese after fierce fighting
  • 8 Feb 42 – Japan invades Burma (Myanmar)
  • 15 Feb 42 – Allied garrison in Singapore surrenders to the Japanese
  • 6 May 42 – US and Filipino forces on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines finally surrender to the Japanese
  • 4 Jun 42 – Four Japanese aircraft carriers sunk by US navy in the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the war in the Pacific
  • 7 Aug 42 – US Marines begin first land battles again Japanese at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
  • 15 Aug 43 – US Navy and Marines commence the retaking of pacific islands from Japanese forces in the ‘island hopping’ campaign
  • 15 Sep 43 – British and Australian prisoners of war forced to work on the notorious Burma Railway
  • Throughout 1943 – Fighting continues in Burma between Allied ‘Chindits’ and Japanese forces
  • 7 Mar 44 – Japanese begin offensive in Burma aimed at invading India and attack Imphal and Kohima on the Indian border but after fierce and protracted fighting suffer a defeat by British 14th Army (The Forgotten Army), under Lt General Bill Slim.
  • 19 Jun 44 – Japanese carrier fleet defeated by US Navy in Battle of the Philippine Sea
  • 3 May 45 – Allied forces retake Rangoon heralding the defeat of Japanese forces in Burma by the 14th Army
  • 22 Jun 45 – After fierce fighting US Marines finally capture Japanese island of Okinawa
  • 5 Jul 45 – US Marines finally liberate the Philippines from the Japanese
  • 6 Aug 45 – US Airforce drops atomic weapon on Japanese city of Hiroshima causing massive civilian casualties
  • 9 Aug 45 – US Airforce drop second atomic bomb on Japanese city of Nagasaki
  • 14 Aug 45 – Japanese Emperor Hirohito orders the nation to surrender
  • 15 Aug 45 – Japan surrenders to the Allies
  • 2 Sep 45 – Formal surrender document signed by the Japanese signifying the end of WW2
  • 12 Sep 45 – Unconditional surrender of all Japanese forces in SE Asia taken by Lord Mountbatten in Singapore