This day in the war in the Pacific 65 years ago.

[syscom3]

Nothing to note for this date

[vikingBerserker]

Wow, in the post for the 13th you can see the seeds being sown for future problems.

[syscom3]

Sept 15th 1945

BORNEO: In Jesselton, British North Borneo, Japanese Colonel IEMURA, commander of the 25th Mixed Regiment, surrenders to Brigadier Selwyn Porter, commander of the 24th Australian Brigade.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Laos, Prince Phetsarath issues a proclamation unifying the Kingdom of Louangphrabang with the four southern provinces of Laos, declaring Vientiane the capital and announcing a forthcoming meeting of a Congress of Peoples Representatives to decide the country’s social, economic and political direction

[syscom3]

Sept 16th 1945

INDONESIA: British Rear Admiral Patterson lands in Jakarta. He announces that the British mission is "to maintain law and order until the time that the lawful government of the Netherlands East Indies is once again functioning". The Dutch ask Patterson to have the leaders of the Republic arrested, but the British high command tells Patterson not to interfere in politics.

HONG KONG: The Japanese surrender to British forces.

[syscom3]

Sept 17th 1945

INDONESIA: Mass pro-Republic rallies in Jakarta.

[syscom3]

Sept 18th 1945

RNZAF: A group of Japanese aircraft that survived at Rabaul were painted in surrender markings and surrendered to New Zealand personnel. The group included: Ki-46 Dinah, A6M5 Zero 4043 and two other Zeros. Flown by Japanese crews, the aircraft took off from Vunakanau Airfield to Jacquinot Bay Airfield. After landing, the pilots saluted, made a report and were flown back to Rabaul aboard a RNZAF PBY Catalina.

JAPAN: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur moves his command headquarters to Tokyo from Yokohama.

[syscom3]

Sept 19th 1945

AUSTRALIA: The Australian War Cabinet agrees to providing air, army and naval forces for the occupation of Japan. They will join forces from India, New Zealand and the U.K. in forming the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF).

KOREA: Kim Il Sung and his second wife Kim Chong Suk return to Korea from Siberia. Kim and his guerrillas, numbering about 40 (and their families), arrive at Wonsan, compliments of the Soviet warship Pukachev. The US intelligence file on Kim Il Sung states - "Faced with the threat of extinction by the Japanese, a few hundred under the leadership of Kim Il Sung, long time Communist, made their way North and into the Soviet Maritime Province. After verifying their political and military backgrounds, the Soviets established these people in a training camp at Yashki Station, in the general area of Khabarovsk. Here and later at Rararash, near the junction of the USSR-Korea and Manchurian frontiers these Koreans are trained in espionage, radio communications, sabotage and general military subjects. From 1941-45, these people are utilized by the Soviets as agents in Manchuria. In the spring of 1945, in addition to normal political training, they are briefed on Korea and Korean politics."

UNITED KINGDOM: William Joyce, aka Lord Haw Haw, is sentenced to death in London. Although Joyce was born in the USA, brought up in Ireland and took German nationality on 26 September 1939, he is charged with treason from 3 September 1939 to 2 July 1940, the date his British passport expired. He scratched a swastika on the wall of his cell and when shown the films of the concentration camps, he blamed the deaths of the inmates on starvation and disease caused by Allied bombing of Germany. His last public message reported by the BBC is "In death as in life, I defy the Jews who caused this last war, and I defy the powers of darkness they represent." He is hanged on 3 January 1946 and buried in an unmarked grave in the grounds of the prison.
The new Labour government makes a proposal to begin negotiations on Indian autonomy based on the plan offered by Sir Stafford Cripps in 1942.

UNITED STATES: Three Twentieth Air Force Boeing B-29s arrive in Chicago, Illinois, after flying nonstop from Hokkaido, Japan. One of the aircraft is commanded by Major General Curtis E. LeMay. After refueling in Chicago, the aircraft continue on to Washington, D.C.

[syscom3]

Nothing to report

[Robersabel]

Lt. William D. Wells became an ace on that day in a P39 fighter with four (4) Japanese bombers shot down. He was awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry.

Interested in material confirming the above.

Robert

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) Search aircraft report nearly 250 Japanese airplanes at Rabaul on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago and other airfields jammed with aircraft. In air action in the Solomon Islands, about 120 Japanese aircraft converging on Allied vessels off Tulagi and Guadalcanal Islands in the Solomon Islands are met by more than 100 Allied fighters (USAAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, US Navy and US Marine Corps). The skies over Savo and Tulagi, and Cape Esperance and Koli Point on Guadalcanal Island are filled with dogfights and flak from ship and ground guns. The battle results in the largest single-day Allied aerial victory of the Solomon Islands campaign; 79 airplanes are claimed shot down by Allied fighters, and AA claims 17 more; 6 Allied fighters are lost. The Japanese succeed in damaging 3 ships (2 of which have to be beached) and cause considerable destruction on Guadalcanal. Lost is B-24D 42-40250.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) B-25's bomb Koepang and Oeikoesi on Timor and, along with A-20's, hit barges and shore targets at several points along the coasts of NE New Guinea and New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. On a single bomber photo recon over Buka and Bougainville is B-17E "Lucy" 41-2666 two crew members earned the medal of honor.