May 7, 2015

Tomorrow, May 8, 2015, marks the 70^th anniversary of the announcement of Germany’s surrender during World War II (1939-1945). So momentous was that day in 1945 that United States President Harry Truman proclaimed May 8 as Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day.

Crowds of Londoners in high spirits on V-E Day after Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s speech, in Whitehall. Credit: © Popperfoto/Getty Images

The German surrender ended fighting in Europe, and it actually occurred the day before, on May 7, 1945. Adolf Hitler had committed suicide. Millions of people were dead worldwide. Soviet troops were in Berlin. Massive Allied armies had taken most of western Germany, and most German cities lay smoldering and in ruins. Germany had no choice but to surrender. Colonel General Alfred Jodl—the chief of staff of the German Armed Forces High Command—signed the surrender at 2:41 a.m. on May 7 in Reims, France. Expecting better treatment from the western Allies rather than the Soviet Union, Jodl surrendered to U.S. Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The German troops who surrendered to American, British, Canadian, French, or other western Allied troops did fare better than those captured by the Soviets, but it didn’t do Jodl much good. An avid Nazi and Hitler supporter, Jodl was executed for war crimes in 1946.

The end of the fight in Europe was a joyous occasion, people in the United Kingdom, the United States, and across the world took to the streets to celebrate. World War II still raged in the Pacific, however. The bloody fight for Okinawa dragged late into June 1945, and Allied warplanes continued to attack and bomb Japanese cities, culminating with the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. Fighting in the Pacific (and in World War II) ended on August 14, but the official Japanese surrender came on September 2—Victory over Japan Day, or V-J Day.

Some of the events in the United Kingdom commemorating tomorrow’s anniversary include a service in Whitehall at the Cenotaph in London—the Cenotaph is a monument honoring the dead of both world wars. At 3 p.m., the U.K. will observe two minutes of silence to mark the moment when British prime minister Winston Churchill broadcast his historic speech announcing the end of fighting in Europe. On Friday evening, a chain of more than 100 beacons will be lit across the U.K. In the United States, aircraft of World War II vintage will fly over the nation’s capital. Ordinarily, aircraft are not allowed to fly so closely over capital buildings, but tomorrow, 15 aircraft formations will fly over the Lincoln Memorial and the National World War II Memorial, and past the Washington Monument.

Other articles and links:

• National World War II Memorial (memorial website)

• Winston Churchill’s speech on V-E Day (The Churchill Centre)

June 6, 2014

Several thousand military veterans joined heads of state in Normandy, in northwestern France, today in a series of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the start of the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II (1939-1945). D-Day marked the beginning of the biggest amphibious invasion in military history. Some 160,000 troops, mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, crossed the English Channel on June 6, 1944, to attack German dictator Adolf Hitler’s Fortress Europe (the areas of Europe controlled by Nazi Germany). By the end of D-Day, the Allies had a foothold in France. Within 11 months, Nazi Germany had been defeated, ending World War II in Europe. The Allied success on D-Day came at a significant cost, however. More than 10,000 Allied soldiers, sailors, and aviators were killed, were wounded, or went missing.

Speaking at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, U.S. President Barack Obama said, “America’s claim–our commitment to liberty, to equality, to freedom, to the inherent dignity of every human being–that claim is written in blood on these beaches, and it will endure for eternity.” The cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach, one of the Allies’ five code-named landing sites in Normandy. United States forces also landed at Utah Beach. British forces landed at Gold and Sword beaches, while Canadian troops landed at Juno Beach. “What more powerful manifestation of America’s commitment to human freedom” could there be, asked President Obama, “than the sight of wave after wave of young men boarding those boats to liberate people they’d never met?”

Hitting the beach, Allied infantrymen swarmed ashore along the Normandy coast of northern France on D-Day—June 6, 1944. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. Hitler had boasted that German defenses along the coast could resist any attack. But he was wrong. (U.S. Coast Guard)

President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom were among world leaders and dignitaries who attended a luncheon hosted by French President Francois Hollande. Queen Elizabeth is the only living head of state who served in World War II. She worked as a mechanic and military truck driver. Russia (then the Soviet Union), which fought Hitler’s forces on the war’s eastern front, did not participate in the Normandy invasion. But the Soviet Union suffered more casualties than any other country in World War II–about 27 million troops and civilians killed and millions more wounded. Also at the luncheon were the monarchs of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway; the presidents or prime ministers of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland, and Slovakia; the grand duke of Luxembourg; and the governor-general of New Zealand.

Following the luncheon, world leaders, dignitaries, veterans, and spectators attended the main commemoration, held at Sword Beach. The ceremony included speeches, a re-creation of scenes from the invasion, a 21-gun salute, and a flyby of World War II aircraft. At dawn today, an international task force of ships sailing across the English Channel arrived at Normandy. The force was led by HMS Bulwar, the Royal Navy flagship.

Additional World Book articles:

• Battle of Normandy
• Sir Winston Churchill
• Dwight David Eisenhower
• Erwin Rommel

January 21, 2014

Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese military officer who refused to surrender with the rest of his country’s forces at the end of World War II (1939-1945), has died at the age of 91. Onoda was one of hundreds of soldiers in the Japanese Imperial Army who loyally remained at their posts in Asian jungles because they believed that Allied announcements that the war had ended were part of a plot to capture or kill them. After finally turning himself over to authorities in 1974, Onoda returned to Japan, where he received a hero’s welcome.

A military intelligence officer, Onoda was sent to the Philippine island of Lubang in December 1944. Several months before, American General Douglas MacArthur, who had been forced from the islands in 1942, returned in force. By then, Japanese commanders had evacuated many of their troops. But many thousands, including Onoda, were ordered to remain at their posts.  “It may take three years, it may take five years,” Onoda’s commanding officer told him, “but whatever happens, we’ll come back for you.” Like other Japanese soldiers, Onoda believed it was better to die rather than surrender. Onoda and three enlisted soldiers then set up a camp, from which to continue the war. They lived a perilous existence, relying on wild plants and stolen food, battling mosquitoes and tropical heat, and occasionally skirmishing with Philipine villagers.

In 1959, the Japanese government declared Onoda dead. (One of the other holdouts had surrendered in 1950; two were later killed by Filippino forces.) In 1974, Onoda was found by a Japanese student who had traveled to Lubang to search for him. Citing his orders to remain on his post, Onoda still refused to leave. Finally, the Japanese government dispatched a delegation to meet with Onoda. Included among them were his brother and his former commander, who officially relieved him of duty.

General of the U.S. Army Douglas MacArthur watches as General Yoshijiro Umezu of Japan signs that country's formal surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. For decades afterward, some Japanese soldiers in Pacific countries occupied by the Japanese refused to believe the war had ended. (UPI/Corbis-Bettmann)

Onoda was welcomed home by his aging parents as well as by large crowds who praised him for his devotion to duty. In an editorial, a leading Japanese newspaper commented, “To this soldier, duty took precedence over personal sediments. Onoda has shown us that there is much more in life than just material pursuits. There is the spiritual aspect, something we may have forgotten.” In an interview with ABC in 2010, Onoda said, “I became an officer and I received an order. If I could not carry it out, I would feel shame.”

After the celebrations, Onoda produced his memoirs, No Surrender: My Thirty-year War, and tried to resume his life. But he felt uncomfortable in a greatly changed Japan and soon moved to a Japanese colony in Brazil. In 1984, he returned to Japan, where he founded schools to teach survival skills to children. Afterward, he lived in both Japan and Brazil. In 1996, he traveled to Lubang at the invitation of the governor of Lubang. While the Philippine government had pardoned Onoda for crimes commited while he thought he was still at war, many Filipinos continued to harbor hatred of the Japanese for their widely perceived cruelty during the war. The Japanese were responsible for the deaths of at least 90,000 Filipino civilians during the war.

Dec. 7, 2011

Veterans and their families gathered at Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet by Japanese military forces in 1941. About 120 of the few remaining survivors of the attack attended the ceremonies. In announcing the attack to the country, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called December 7 “a date which will live in infamy.” The next day, Congress declared war on Japan, bringing the United States into World War II (1941-1945), which was already raging in Europe and parts of Asia. “Remember Pearl Harbor” became the rallying cry for the country.

The attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese bombers was a key event in U.S. history. Following the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. naval base, the United States declared war on Japan and formally entered World War II (1939-1945). AP/Wide World

The attack on Pearl Harbor began at about 7:55 a.m., as the first of two waves of Japanese warplanes began bombing the U.S. Fleet. The chief targets were 8 battleships among the 180 American vessels anchored in the harbor. The attack killed 2,388 people at Pearl Harbor and wounded about 2,000 others. It destroyed or damaged 21 U.S. ships–most of the nation’s Pacific fleet–and more than 300 planes. Many of the dead were aboard the U.S.S. Arizona, which remains where it sank. A memorial was constructed over the sunken battleship, which entombs lost members of the crew. The Japanese lost 29 aircraft in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack was a success for Japan. But bringing the United States into the war proved disastrous for the Japanese Empire and its citizens.

Additional World Book articles:

• Back in Time (United States, Government of the, 1942)
• Japanese American internment
• Miller, Dorie
• Nimitz, Chester William
• World War II (The war in Asia and the Pacific)
  
• Yamamoto, Isoroku