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• Soviet forces in the Manchuria region of northeastern China had advanced 200 miles in four days. Meanwhile, Soviet Pacific Fleet attacked northern Korea, seizing the Japanese naval base at Rashin and the port of Yuki. ww2dbase [Manchurian Strategic Offensive | AC]
• The Smyth Report, written by American physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth, with the history of the development of the atomic weapons, was released to the public. ww2dbase [Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | CPC]
• USS Tirante departed Guam, Mariana Islands for her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Tirante | CPC]
• The Ohka Model 22 variant design's second test flight was launched but canceled mid-flight due to an immature ignition of the jet engine. ww2dbase [MXY7 Ohka | CPC]

• An Allied air raid targeted Ba Maw's home in Burma in an attempt to assassinate him. Ba Maw and his colleague Thakin Nu, who was also present at the house, escaped unharmed. ww2dbase [U Nu | Ba Maw | CPC]
• In Burma, Aung San halted the process of integrating the troops of the Burmese National Army/Patriotic Burmese Forces into the regular Burmese Army, citing uncooperativeness and hostility shown against him by Reginald Dorman-Smith and William Slim. ww2dbase [Aung San | CPC]

• A Japanese Unit 516 chemical weapons research unit crew, supervised by Masaji Takahashi, disposed of several truck loads of mustard gas, lewisite, and other chemical weapons material into the Nen River in Qiqihar, Nenjiang Province, China. ww2dbase [Qiqihar, Nenjiang | CPC]
• He Yingqin arrived in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. ww2dbase [He Yingqin | Kunming, Yunnan | CPC]

• Emperor Showa ordered his government to surrender. ww2dbase [Japan's Surrender | Showa | Tokyo | CPC]

• USS Carbonero sank a junk with her deck gun in the Gulf of Siam-South China Sea area. ww2dbase [Carbonero | South China Sea | CPC]
• USS New Mexico arrived at Saipan, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [New Mexico | Saipan | CPC]

• In Moscow, Russia, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union W. Averell Harriman insisted that the results of the negotiations between China and the Soviet Union must be consistent with the Yalta Agreement. ww2dbase [Averell Harriman | Moscow | CPC]

• Kamikaze departed Singapore with troops aboard for the Anambas Islands, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Kamikaze | Singapore | CPC]

• US Far East Air Force B-24 bombers from the Philippine Islands attacked Kagi Airfield in Kagi (now Chiayi), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Kagi Airfield | Kagi, Tainan | CPC]
• US B-24 bombers from Okinawa, Japan attacked Matsuyama Airfield in Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Matsuyama Airfield | Taihoku | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw arrived in San Francisco, California and was re-routed to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for removal of two quad 40mm guns. ww2dbase [Shaw | San Francisco, California | DS]
• The US Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted General Order No. 1 to President Harry Truman for approval. It instructed Japanese forces to surrender to designated Allied commanders, to reveal all current military deployments, and to preserve military equipment for later disarmament. A minor detail in this order that would become more significant later was the instructions for Japanese forces in Korea surrender to US or Soviet commanders depending on whether the Japanese unit was based north or south of the 38th Parallel. ww2dbase [Japan's Surrender | CPC]

12 Aug 1945 Interactive Map