Asia Pacific 1945: Bombing of Hiroshima

Although Japan was now isolated and starving, with its major cities laid waste by bombers, the Japanese government still refused to consider unconditional surrender. Anticipating enormous casualties if they invaded, the US attempted to shock the Japanese into surrender by using their secret weapon - the newly invented atomic bomb. On August 6, they dropped one such bomb on Hiroshima, killing as many as 80,000 people instantly.

Main Events

9 Apr–7 Jun 1945 Battle of West Hunan

Nationalist Chinese defeat Japanese in Battle of West Hunanin wikipedia

10 Jun 1945 Battle of North Borneo

Australian troops land at Bruneiin wikipedia

1 Jul 1945 Australian troops land at Balikpapan, Dutch Borneo

Australian troops land at Balikpapan, Dutch Borneoin wikipedia

26 Jul 1945 Potsdam Declaration

United States President Harry S. Truman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China Chiang Kai-shek issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference that the Allies were then attending in Potsdam, Allied-occupied Germany. This ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not agree to unconditional surrender, it would face “prompt and utter destruction."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