ASIAN MAINLAND-1945

Asian Mainland!

03/01/1945 British troops take Akyab in western Burma, unopposed. 13/01/1945 The British make further gains in central Burma and are now only 30 miles from Mandalay. 14/01/1945 The British 19th Indian Division crosses the river Irrawaddy, to the North of Mandalay. 21/01/1945 British forces enter Monywa, 60 miles to the West of Mandalay. 22/01/1945 The land route from India to China through Burma is declared free of Japanese and now open to convoys. 28/01/1945 The first convoy for three years reaches China through Burma. 31/01/1945 U.S. planes sink the Japanese floating dock at Singapore. 12/02/1945 The British 20th Indian Division crosses the river Irrawaddy Southwest of Mandalay. 14/02/1945 The British Indian 4th Corps begins to cross Irrawaddy and strike into the Japanese rear. The first use of napalm is made in Burma. 21/02/1945 The British 2nd Division establishes another Irrawaddy bridgehead, while the British 36th Division breaks through at Myitson, in northern Burma. Meanwhile further British forces cross the Irrawaddy in central Burma. 28/02/1945 The British Indian 4th Corps take Meiktila airfield in central Burma after an eight-day push from the Irrawaddy. 03/03/1945 Japanese resistance ends in Meiktila. 06/03/1945 The new Chinese First Army takes Lashio in north-eastern Burma. 13/03/1945 A surprise armoured thrust by the British in central Burma, cuts off 3,000 Japanese in Mandalay. 19/03/1945 The Japanese evacuate Mandalay. 20/03/1945 The British 19th Indian Division completes the capture of Mandalay. 24/03/1945 Chinese forces link up on the Burma Road. 31/03/1945 British 26th Division reaches the Burma Road, which ends eight months of fighting. 13/04/1945 The Chinese launch a new offensive in Honan and Hupeh provinces of Central China. 14/04/1945 Yamethin falls to the British 4th Corps in the ‘Race for Rangoon’. 16/04/1945 The British take Taungup in Southwest Burma, thereby depriving the Japanese of their last coastal supply base. 18/04/1945 The British Fourteenth Army in central Burma captures the Chaulk oil centre on the Irrawaddy. 24/04/1945 The Japanese Burma Area Army C-in-C leaves Rangoon. The British Fourteenth Army takes Pyinmana in central Burma. 01/05/1945 Indian paratroops land to the South of Rangoon, as the Fourteenth Army captures Pegu. 03/05/1945 SEAC announces the liberation of Rangoon in Burma. 04/05/1945 SEAC announces that Rangoon was taken so quickly that the Japanese had no time to destroy the installations there. 10/05/1945 The Fourteenth Army moves South in central Burma and links up with troops from Arakan in the west, trapping all Japanese to the west of the river Irrawaddy. 27/05/1945 Chinese troops are now 25 miles North of Foochow and take Loyaun. 28/05/1945 The British Twelfth Army HQ is set up in Rangoon. 31/05/1945 Chiang Kai-Shek resigns the Chinese Premiership but remains as President and Generalissimo, with Dr. Soong succeeding him as premier. 11/06/1945 SEAC estimate that 108,240 Japanese have been killed in Burma since February 1944. 30/06/1945 The Chinese take Liuchow and capture towns on the Indo-Chinese border. 02/07/1945 The British capture secret documents concerning a planned breakout of Honda’s 33rd Army in Burma. 18/07/1945 Honda’s attempt to break out in Burma begins in earnest. 08/08/1945 The Russians declare war on Japan. 09/08/1945 Soviet Army massed at the Manchurian border sweeps into northern China and northern Korea overwhelming the Japanese defences. 13/08/1945 The Mongolian People’s Republic declares a Holy War against the Japanese. 14/08/1945 Chiang Kai-shek’s representatives sign a treaty of alliance with the Russians. 17/08/1945 Three of the Emperor’s family are dispatched to China to carry the news of cease-fire to Japanese troops still fighting there. 19/08/1945 The Japanese forces in South China surrender to the Chinese 1st Army in Canton. The Russian Far Eastern Army captures Harbin and Mukden in Manchuria. 21/08/1945 As the Red Army now hold much of Manchuria, the Japanese Kwantung Army surrenders formally to Major General Shelakor at Harbin. 23/08/1945 The Japanese in Burma say they are now ready to surrender having ‘clarified the position’. 25/08/1945 Chinese troops are reported to have entered the Republican capital of Nanking. 28/08/1945 The Japanese sign the surrender agreement in Rangoon. 29/08/1945 The Russians announce the capture of 513,000 prisoners in the Manchurian campaign. 30/08/1945 A Royal Naval force takes Hong Kong as marine's clash with Japanese suicide detachments. 21/09/1945 Ghandi, Nehru, and the all-India Congress Party demands that all Southeast Asia should be free of imperialist domination. 13/10/1945 French troops are fighting in Vietnam.