August 28th, 1945 (TUESDAY)
GERMANY: Nuremburg: The Nazis Party's "jovial brute", Hermann Göring , heads the first list of 24 German war criminals. Hess, once Hitler's deputy, who has been a prisoner in Britain sice May 1941, is next in line, followed by Martin Bormann, Hitler's last deputy, who vanished from the Berlin bunker and has not been seen since. The many civilians indicted include Baron Konstantin on Neurath, Hitler's first foreign minister; Gustav Krupp von Bohlen, the industrialist; Franz von Papen, Hitler's vice-chancellor in 1933-34, and Hjalmar Schacht, the financial wizard who fell out with Hitler after serving as a minister.
BURMA: Japanese forces in Rangoon sign a formal surrender.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: In Vietnam, the Viet Minh form a provisional government of
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh as president, Vo Nguyen Giap,
as interior minister and Pham Van Dong, as finance minister.
In Laos, Prime Minister Prince Phetsarath wires
provincial governors notifying them of the Japanese surrender. The Prince
further declares that the proclamation of independence is unaffected and that
the governors should resist any attempts at foreign intervention in their
administration. The French Resident Superieur is released from prison but
Phetsarath refuses to recognize his authority.
CHINA: Communist leader Mao Tse-Tung arrives in Chunking to confer with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek in a futile effort to avert civil war.
JAPAN: The occupation of Japan officially begins as an advance party arrives in the Home Islands. When the news of the Japanese proposal for surrender came on 15 August, the USAAF's 68th Army Airways Communications System (AACS) Group, 7th AACS Wing, received orders to fly into Atsugi Airfield near Tokyo and set up the communications equipment necessary to guide in the first contingent of occupation troops. AACS's mission was to provide navigational aids, point-to-point communications with Okinawa, air-to-ground communications for planes in flight, weather data, and air traffic control. Colonel Gordon Blake quickly assembled a special unit of 5 hand-picked men. Colonel Blake and his AACS men, part of a 150 man task force, flew from Okinawa to Atsugi with 24 C-47 aircraft laden with equipment. In order to carry as much equipment as possible, the load was lightened by carrying only enough fuel to reach Atsugi. Although the Japanese had surrendered unconditionally, Blake and his communicators still did not know whether some might still be hostile. The sight of hundreds of Japanese Navy guards lined up along the airfield was not encouraging to the occupants of the first aircraft to land, but they were met by a group of courteous, English-speaking Japanese military personnel. The first C-47 to land was piloted by Col. Edward Imparato. Col. Charles Trench is the first man off the aircraft.
The navy guards were in their honor. The AACS-men lost no time in getting operations into full swing, and by 29 August, the Atsugi control tower was completed. The first planes to arrive on 30 August were 5 additional C-47s carrying components to set up the first airborne radio station in USAAF history. Within a few hours, the first C-54 Skymaster aircraft of the official occupation forces landed at Atsugi and by mid-afternoon Blake's AACS crews had directed 340+ takeoffs and landings at the rate of 1 every 2 minutes. On 30 August, Atsugi was the busiest airport in the world.
USN underwater demolition teams (UDT) land to check prospective Tokyo Bay landing beaches and ensure that fortification are neutralized.
Minesweepers begin clearing mines from Tokyo Bay.
Destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy joined Royal Navy and United States Navy ships in Tokyo Bay to receive the main Japanese surrender on 2 September.
In the air, the 386th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), based on Okinawa, flies its last combat mission, a photo reconnaissance mission, with the Consolidated B-32 Dominator.
CANADA: Bangor-class
minesweepers HMCS Brockville, Noranda (transfered
to RCMP as MacLeod, Irvine) and Melville paid off.
Corvettes HMCS Sudbury and Shediac paid
off Esquimalt, British Columbia.
Tropicalization refit for HMCS Sea Cliff
cancelled Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
U.S.A.: Major league baseball commissioner Branch Rickey and future baseball great Jackie Robinson meet and discuss the difficulties Robinson, a black athlete, will face in major league baseball. Robinson had signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers calling for a salary of US$600 a month (US$5,714 in year 2000 dollars) plus a US$3,500 signing bonus (US$33,333 in year 2000 dollars) to play for Montreal of the Triple A International League.