June 7th, 1945 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Channel Islands: Captured German howitzers welcomed King George and Queen Elizabeth with a 21-gun salute when they arrived on the liberated island of Guernsey today. Thousands lined the streets and lanes to wave red, white and blue bunting and flowers as the royal couple toured the holiday islands. The king told the States of Jersey (the island's parliament): "After long suffering, I hope the island will regain its former glory."
Minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave paid off (constructive total loss) at Portsmouth. Broken up 1947 Rees, Llanelly.
GERMANY: All German citizens in the zone occupied by the western allies are ordered to watch films of Belsen and Buchenwald.
NORWAY: King Haakon returns aboard HMS Norfolk, to a warm reception.
The Norwegian government in exile also returns on RN ships, but are now regarded with disfavour for having spent the war years in relative comfort, away from the inconveniences of the occupation. (Alex Gordon)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: US I Corps take Bambang, Luzon.BORNEO: Off Brunei Bay, the USN's Task Group 74.3, consisting of three U.S. light cruisers and six destroyers, and an Australian light cruiser and destroyer, provides fire support for minesweepers and underwater demolition teams (UDTs).
JAPAN:
The USAAF's Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands flies two missions.
Mission 189: 409 B-29 Superfortresses, escorted by 138 VII Fighter Command P-51s, drop incendiary and high explosive bombs on Osaka, Japan, hitting the east-central section of the city which contains industrial and transportation targets and the Osaka Army Arsenal (largest in Japan); despite being forced to bomb by radar because of heavy undercast, the B-29s burn out over 2 square miles (5.2 square km) of the city, destroying 55,000+ buildings; nine other B-29s hit alternate targets; the P-51s claim 2-0-1 Japanese aircraft; two B-29s and one P-51 are lost.
Mission 190: During the night of 7/8 June, 26 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters around Fukuoka and Karatsu, Japan. This begins Phase IV of Operation STARVATION, the blockade by mines of northwestern Honshu and Kyushu Islands.
Kamikazes are again active off Okinawa.
The escort aircraft carrier USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) is struck by a Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter, Allied Code Name "Zeke," at 0635 hours. The aircraft came in over the stern, fired incendiary ammunition at the bridge and, on reaching the island structure, nosed over and crashed the flight deck. The engine, propeller and a bomb tore a hole in the flight deck, 12 by 20 feet (3.7 by 6.1 meters), while the explosion of the bomb damaged the deck of the foc'sle and the anchor windlass beyond repair and ignited a nearby fighter. One ship's officer was killed. A second "Zeke" was splashed by the ship's port batteries.
The destroyer USS Anthony (DD-515) suffers only slight damage as a kamikaze crashes nearby.
U.S.A.: The 19-minute documentary "To the Shores of Iwo Jima" is released in the U.S. The film depicts the landing and conquest of Iwo Jima including the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi. Two of the actual servicemen in the film are Ira Hayes and James H. Bradley who participated in the raising of the flag; Bradley's son wrote the bestselling book "Flags of Our Fathers."