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• Canadian Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray won the last Victoria Cross of the war (posthumously) when his Corsair fighter-bomber was shot down in flames off the Japanese mainland during an attack on the destroyer, Amakusa, which he sank. ww2dbase [AC]
• USS Hawkbill arrived at Borneo, Dutch East Indies and destroyed the Japanese radio station at Tambelan. ww2dbase [Hawkbill | CPC]
• USS Sennet ended her fuorth war patrol. ww2dbase [Sennet | CPC]
• USS Chub sank a small Japanese vessel in the Java Sea with her deck gun. ww2dbase [Chub | CPC]
• Medical staff aboard USS Alabama visited destroyers USS Ault and USS Borie to provide medical assistance. ww2dbase [Alabama | CPC]

• At one minute after midnight, Soviet troops crossed the border into northeastern China, which was administered by the Japanese-sponsored puppet state of Manchukuo. ww2dbase [Manchurian Strategic Offensive | CPC]
• Du Yuming arrived at Chongqing, China to meet with Chiang Kaishek, planning for a campaign against General Long Yun of Yunnan Province, China. ww2dbase [Du Yuming | Chongqing | CPC]
• Emperor Kangde of the puppet nation of Manchukuo was advised that his capital would soon be relocated from Xinjing (Changchun), Jilin Province, China to Tonghua, Andong Province, China as a response to the Soviet invasion. ww2dbase [Puyi | Manchurian Strategic Offensive | Changchun, Jilin | CPC]
• Chinese Communist leadership toyed with the notion of moving the New Fourth Army into Shanghai, China ahead of the arrival of US or Nationalist Chinese troops, but the notion was quickly abandoned when it was realized that the New Fourth Army would be far too weak to embark on such a mission. ww2dbase [CPC]

• A small nationalist coup failed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. ww2dbase [Phnom Penh, Cambodia | CPC]
• Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, and Radjiman Wediodiningrat flew to Saigon, Cochinchina, French Indochina to meet with Field Marshal Terauchi Hisaichi. Sukarno was made the head of the Indonesian independence committee. ww2dbase [Hisaichi Terauchi | Saigon, Cochinchine | CPC]

• USS Sunfish arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• British (258 Avenger, Corsair, Hellcat, Firefly, and Seafire) and US carrier aircraft (USS Shangri-La, USS Yorktown, Air Group 87 from USS Ticonderoga) of Task Force 37 struck the Japanese home islands; the British aircraft alone expended more than 120 tons of bombs and cannon shells. Meanwhile, American battleships USS South Dakota, USS Indiana, and USS Massachusetts, plus their support ships, bombarded Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan; 850 16-inch shells from battleships, 1,440 8-inch shells from cruisers, and 2,500 5-inch shells from destroyers were fired. ww2dbase [Preparations for Invasion of Japan | Shangri-La | Ticonderoga | Yorktown (Essex-class) | DS]
• B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped the atomic bomb "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki, Japan, killing 40,000 to 75,000 immediately. B-29 bombers The Great Artiste and Big Stink flew on Bockscar’s wing. The Great Artiste carried scientific measuring equipment and Bing Stink carried photography equipment. ww2dbase [William Laurence | Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Nagasaki | CPC]

• USS Blenny reported sinking three small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. ww2dbase [Blenny | South China Sea | CPC]
• USS Whale made rendezvous with USS Blackfish in the Pacific Ocean and received 16 rescued aviators. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• USS Wasp was nearly hit by a Japanese special attack aircraft off Japan. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | CPC]

• On Mindanao in the Philippines, captured Japanese Army officer Minoru Wada flew with US Marine Mitchell bombers to guide them to the Japanese Army 100th Infantry Division headquarters. The complex was destroyed and the fighting on Mindanao ended. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 2 | Minoru Wada | DS]

• US B-24 bombers attacked Matsuyama Airfield in Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Matsuyama Airfield | Taihoku | CPC]

• USS Sargent Bay arrived at San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, United States for overhaul. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Los Angeles, California | CPC]
• USS Mingo completed her overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Mingo | Vallejo, California | CPC]

9 Aug 1945 Interactive Map