September 19th, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: The government announces Home Rule for India soon.
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 was 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 was "In death as in life, I defy the Jews who caused this last war,
and I defy the powers of darkness they represent." He was executed on
3 January 1946 and buried in an unmarked grave in the grounds of the prison.
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 were trained in espionage, radio communications, sabotage and general military subjects. From 1941-45, these people were utilized by the Soviets as agents in Manchuria. In the spring of 1945, in addition to normal political training, they were briefed on Korea and Korean politics."
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).
U.S.A.: Three Boeing B-29 Superfortresses 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.
The top songs on the pop charts are: "Till the End of Time" by Perry Como; "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" by Johnny Mercer from the Judy Garland movie "The Harvey Girls"; "If I Loved You" by Perry Como from the Broadway musical "Carousel"; and "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often" by Tex Ritter.
Destroyer USS Fetchteler launched.