Posted on 08/23/2015 5:19:19 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
* Hanson W. Baldwin never wrote the lead story during the during the actual war period. This is his first since the sinking of the Squalus in May 1939.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/7/23.htm
August 23rd, 1945 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: Parliament ratifies the United Nations Charter.
CEYLON: Colombo: A British fleet sets sail for Singapore to accept the Japanese surrender.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Demonstrations against return to French rule are staged in Vientiane, Laos, and other provincial towns under the auspices of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). The membership of the ICP in Laos is entirely Vietnamese.
KURILE ISLANDS: 4 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s fly a photo mission over Paramushiru and Shimushu Islands. During the day, Lieutenant General Fusaki Tsutsumi surrenders to the Soviets thus ending the battle for Shimushu Island.
Off Japan, U.S. Third Fleet carrier planes fly in massed formation over the fleet’s ships, as it awaits orders to move into Japanese ports. More than a 1,000 F4U Corsairs, F6F Hellcats, SB2C Helldivers and TBM Avengers participated in the flyover. The ships were operating within a few hours’ steaming time of the Japanese coast.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Planes from the USN’s Task Group 38.4 (TG 38.4) (Rear Admiral Arthur W. Radford) search for Japanese shipping between Hachijo Jima, a group of islands south of Honshu, Japan, and the Bonin Inlands. Such movement would have been contrary to surrender instructions, but the searching aircraft report no violations.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Manila: MacArthur releases 5,000 Filipinos interned for security reasons.
CANADA: Submarine HMS United arrived Digby, Nova Scotia for ASW training.
U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Leyte launched.
Tokyo puts atomic bombs killed and wounded at 190,000
(480,000 affected)
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml
http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/200708230009.html
http://hiroshimacommittee.org/Facts_NagasakiAndHiroshimaBombing.htm
An intersecting eye witness account. Can you spot what is wrong?
Three apparatuses attached to the parachute after the bomb exploded fell on the ground north of the target area
Lieutenant General Fusaki Tsutsumi surrenders to the Soviets thus ending the battle for Shimushu Island.
http://historum.com/war-military-history/54248-battle-shumshu-island-sakhalin-print.html
Battle continued for 4 days
Approximately 600 casualties of the Japanese military
Approximately 3,000 casualties of the Soviet Union forces
On Sakhalin, Soviet forces moving southwards from August 10 encountered the Japanese 88th Division along the line of fortifications near the border with the Soviet sector of the island. The defenders objective was to buy time for civilians to flee by ship to Hokkaido. Six thousand residents of Maoka (now Kholmsk) on the western coast had already been evacuated when the Soviet attack commenced before dawn on August 20. Soviet warships entered the harbor, firing on the town and the 18,000 refugees waiting to be evacuated. Civilians were machine-gunned as they ran towards the hills in an attempt to escape the Soviet troops pouring off the warships. Japanese records suggest that approximately 1,000 people were killed that morning. After reporting the happenings of the previous few hours, the final message from the last of nine young telephonists at the exchange at Maoka, 22 year-old Itoh Chie, ended with these poignant words.[11]
To everyone back in Naichi [Japanese mainland]. To our friends at the Wakkanai Exchange... Soviet soldiers have just entered the building here in the Maoka Exchange. This will probably be the last message from Karafuto [Sakhalin]. The nine of us have stayed at our posts right through to the end, and it wont be long before all nine of us will have departed for the next world.
The Soviet troops are coming closer. I can hear their footsteps getting nearer. Everyone in Wakkanai, sayonara, this is the end. To everyone in Naichi, sayonara, sayonara.
Off Japan, U.S. Third Fleet carrier planes fly in massed formation over the fleet’s ships, as it awaits orders to move into Japanese ports. More than a 1,000 F4U Corsairs, F6F Hellcats, SB2C Helldivers and TBM Avengers participated in the flyover. The ships were operating within a few hours’ steaming time of the Japanese coast.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/events/wwii-pac/japansur/js-8i.htm
I have to ask, will the planes be fully operational on Sept 2nd?
The Japanese were charged with clearing the harbor of mines. A ship will be sent out 20 miles to the fleet and guide them into the harbor.
Here is an interview the head of Japanese mine sweeping:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS/IJO/IJO-65.html
Do you mean, what apparatuses attached to the bomb would not have been vaporized after the bomb exploded? (Not to mention an eyewitness close enough to observe it.)
bookmark
Not to mention an eyewitness close enough to observe it.)
Hadn’t thought of that. I just found all the detail in the eye witness accounting interesting.
1) B29 turned off engines and glided.
2) observed the accuracy of 25,000 feet and plane was 8 miles away?
3) 3 sensors with parachutes were dropped by another plane
4) Fat Man didn’t have a parachute (at least not a traditional one)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man
until an arrangement dubbed a “California Parachute”, a cubical open-rear tail box outer surface with eight radial fins inside of it, four angled at 45° and four orthogonally to the line of fall holding the outer square-fin box to the bomb’s rear end, was approved.[19] In drop tests in early weeks, the Fat Man missed its target by an average of 1,857 feet (566 m), but this was halved by June as the bombardiers became more proficient with it.[20]
“In drop tests in early weeks, the Fat Man missed its target by an average of 1,857 feet (566 m) . . .”
With the shot spread one gets with an A-bomb, I expect they were able to live with a fair bit of inaccuracy.
http://marshallfoundation.org/library/digital-archive/memorandum-for-admiral-leahy1/
5-217 General George C. Marshall Memorandum for Admiral Leahy, August 23, 1945
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
August 23, 1945 [Washington, D.C.]
Secret
The following is a brief summary of our information of the situation in the Pacific:
PARAMACHIRO [Paramushiro]:2 Surrender has begun.
TOKYO: Arrangements for compliance with surrender terms are completed. Compliance continues throughout Japan.
MANCHURIA: Surrenders continue. According to last information 254,000 or 39% of total Japanese forces in the region exclusive of puppet troops,3 are in the hands of the Russians.
Japanese broadcast of 21 August reports Soviet attacks north of Kalgan and southwest of Jehol taking place.
The Soviets landed airborne forces in Dairen and Port Arthur on the 21st and began disarming Japanese garrisons on that date.
CHINA: Surrender terms delivered and negotiations are continuing. In general the Japanese have agreed to surrender to Central Government forces.
The 116th Division in the Paoching area had not received the Emperor’s rescript on the 16th.
On 21 August Wedemeyer stated Japanese had opened rifle and mortar fire on the 16th at Shanhsien. Another cable of same date states that groups of officers of two Japanese divisions in the area had met Chinese officers to arrange surrender negotiations, one meeting on 13 August and another scheduled for 16 August.
LUZON: The pocket in northern Luzon mountains will formally surrender 28 August according to plans made after the conference between Japanese and U. S. officers.
CELEBES: Japanese have stated they will surrender.
MILLE:4 Japanese have surrendered to U. S. Naval forces.
SAIGON: Emissaries have departed for Japan and have requested change in schedule due to weather delays.
BURMA-MALAYSIA: Minor hostilities continue but negotiations between Japanese emissaries and Mountbatten are under way.
A complication has arisen out of Mountbatten’s desire to continue with a planned landing at Penang5 on the 28th and from there sweep on down the Straits to Singapore. The British Chiefs of Staff have directed him to conform in all respects to General MacArthur’s orders.
Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.
Document Format: Typed memorandum.
1. This memorandum was also sent to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes.
2. One of the most northern of the Kurile Islands, Paramushiro was a Japanese naval and air base.
3. These were Chinese troops serving under Japanese command or authority.
4. One of the bypassed atolls in the eastern Marshall Islands, Mille (along with Wotje, Jaluit, and Maloelap) was a Japanese air base.
5. An island at the northern end of the Straits of Malacca, Penang was one of the Malay states.
Recommended Citation: ThePapers of George Catlett Marshall, ed.Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens(Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981- ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 5, “The Finest Soldier,” January 1, 1945-January 7, 1947 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), pp. 286-287.
- See more at: http://marshallfoundation.org/library/digital-archive/memorandum-for-admiral-leahy1/#sthash.lvjIgZVB.dpuf
http://cbi-theater-1.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-1/lantern/lantern082345.html
The China Lantern
August 23, 1945
Japs Say ‘Hotheads’ May Cause Trouble
MANILA, Aug. 22 - Allied fleet, air and ground occupation forces assembled today in preparation for Sunday’s initial landing on the Japanese mainland as the Tokyo radio frankly warned that Jap military “hotheads” may cause the trouble that Gen. Douglas MacArthur is fully prepared to meet.
Detailed plans for the occupation landing, the last major amphibious operation of World War II, were contained in 25 pages of instructions flown to Tokyo by Japanese surrender envoys after their conference with Gen. MacArthur’s staff chiefs.
A Japanese communique, first official announcement of decisions reached at Manila, revealed that airborne troops will land Sunday 20 miles southwest of Tokyo, to be followed by sea landings in the Yokosuka area Tuesday. Two Allied fleets will enter the outer waters off Tokyo when the occupation program starts.
Although Gen. MacArthur and other Allied leaders believe that the landings will go off without any serious trouble, all precautions are being taken to insure the safety of landing forces and guarantee the success of the operation.
(Associated Press said it was understood that planes carrying atomic bombs would shield the sea and air landings.)
Indication that those precautions may be necessary was given in a Tokyo radio broadcast beamed to the United States which warned that the surrender terms are resented by “a considerable portion of the military.”
“To disarm and disband, while the Allies disembark on the homeland, may be too much for some military officers to bear,” said the broadcast. “Some of the hotheaded among them may allow their emotions to get the better of their judgment and there is no telling what unfortunate incidents may occur which might endanger the present delicate situation.”
Although the broadcast said the greater part of the military are certain to obey the Emperor, “even if sporadic outbursts should occur,” it warned that a considerable portion of Japanese military forces remain intact, undefeated in the field and with morale unimpaired.
“There is a danger,” said Tokyo, “that in the stress of crisis of divergent opinions, clashes may result. Such a possibility is rendered all the more threatening by social unrest which is bound to occur when war industries are closed down and military forces demobilized.”
First occupation troops to land will be airborne, taking over the Atsugi airfield 20 miles southwest of Tokyo on Sunday, said the official Japanese communique. Two days later seaborne forces will come ashore near Yokosuka, one of Japan’s largest naval bases at the mouth of Tokyo Bay.
The Japanese Information Ministry, quoted by Domei, said Japanese Army and Navy forces would be “transferred immediately” from the landing area to prevent any outbreaks, while sufficient police will be stationed in occupation areas to maintain peace and order.
Two Allied fleets will enter Sagami Bay, the outer waters off Tokyo, while one fleet may enter Tokyo Bay if weather conditions permit.
Gen. MacArthur, in a statement made after the 16-man Japanese surrender mission flew homeward after two completely successful pre-occupation conferences, said:
“It is my earnest hope that, pending accomplishment of the instruments of surrender, armistice conditions may prevail on every front and that a bloodless surrender may be effectuated.”
The next steps after landing of an occupation force, it was indicated, will be the signing of the formal surrender document, probably in Tokyo; and delivering a formal post-surrender order by Gen. MacArthur to the Japanese Imperial staff to instruct its commanders at the fronts to surrender unconditionally to the Allied theater commanders concerned.
‘Tokyo Rose’ Back On Air
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 22 (AP) - “Tokyo Rose,” the flip little woman commentator on the Japanese radio, went back on the air after a week’s silence.
Some of her thorns were plucked and her tone a little jaded but she continued to be Tokyo Rose, the voice listened to by thousands of American soldiers who enjoyed her musical programs and kidded her propaganda.
In her first broadcast she stated that those who had listened to her before would be glad to know “that the same excellent popular music programs are on the air.”
Now her program is back. Its name has been changed from “Zero Hour” to “Pacific Hour.”
Her subtle propaganda has been switched in the direction of reducing animosity against Japan.
Wainwright Rescued From Nip PW Camp In Manchuria
CHUNGKING, Aug. 22 - Dramatically rescued from a Jap prison camp in Manchuria by American paratroopers, Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright was reported today winging to Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters in Manila, presumably to witness the formal surrender of the forces which held him captive for more than three years.
An American broadcaster from Guam said the famous general arrived in Chungking Monday en route to the Philippines capital.
Also freed by American “mercy” paratroopers were four members of Lt. Gen. James L. Doolittle’s first bombing mission over Tokyo, released from a prison camp at Peiping. The men, who were not identified pending notification of their nearest kin, had been held under murder charges for their part in the Hornet-based assault. Japan admitted in 1943 that several of their comrades on that first raid on Tokyo had been executed on similar charges.
Wainwright
The rescue of Gen. Wainwright and the Tokyo raiders was part of an Office of Strategic Services plan to provide medical and other aid to interned prisoners in advance of occupying Allied armies. The Japanese radio complained about the parachuting of these humanitarian teams into their prison camps and requested Gen. MacArthur “to prevent recurrence of such incidents.” Gen. A. C. Wedemeyer said he had received work from Mukden that all American personnel landing there probably would be interned until the Japanese had been given permission by the Russians to allow such landings.
The rescue of Gen. Wainwright was the first in a series of OSS mercy landings.
The tall hero of Corregidor was freed on Aug. 16, the day after Japan accepted Allied peace demands, when a daring Yank team of doctors and signal men dropped into the small special camp where the General and other Allied prisoners were corralled.
The rescue, first of a series made in Manchuria, China and Korea by six-man liberating teams, was staged at Hsan, about 100 miles outside of the historic Manchurian city of Mukden, where Gen. Wainwright was being held along with seven other Americans, 16 British and ten Dutch prisoners.
Japanese guards offered no resistance and the American soldiers, loaded with food and medical supplies, were greeted jubilantly by the prisoners. A radio message sent soon after the landing reported that “the overall condition of the prisoners is much better than expected.”
Lt. Gen. A. C. Wedemeyer, commander of U.S. forces in the China Theater, announced Gen. Wainwright’s release and estimated that another 20,000 prisoners of war and 15,000 civilian internees still are being held in camps within the China Theater, including Indo-China, Formosa, Korea and Manchuria.
Of that number, approximately ten percent, or about 3,500 are American, the theater commander said. Exclusive of Chinese, some 3,600 Allied troops are being held in the Mukden area including 1,300 Americans; 9,000 in Shanghai, 2,800 on Honkow Island, 6,000 in Hongkong, 2,700 in Peiping, 1,000 in Korea, 2,500 in Formosa and 5,600 in Indo-China, he said.
Leaflets dropped on the prison camps in the past month told prisoners and guards that the parachute landings would be made, but the American medics and signal men who dropped into the camps had no idea what kind of reception they would get. Contacts with the prison camps originally were made by Brig. Gen. George Olmstead of Des Moines, Iowa, the Air-Ground Aid Service and some clandestine organizations.
Team reports indicated, said Gen. Wedemeyer, that the Swiss representative had done a “fine job” in alleviating conditions at the prison camps.
August 23, 1945
1945 Universal Newsreel on Japanese Surrender
http://www.c-span.org/video/?321087-1/1945-universal-newsreel-japanese-surrender
One of the many reasons I detest the Soviets just as much as I detest the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese.
When I saw this awful story today, I quite naturally put it in its historical persective, vis a vis the history we’re reading about here today.
Seventy years later we’re still there....
Huge explosions at US army base in Japan as warehouse burns and emergency services rush to scene
August 23, 2015
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/huge-explosions-army-base-japan-6306696
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