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• USS Caiman arrived at Subic Bay, Zambales, Philippine Islands, ending her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Caiman | CPC]
• USS Segundo reconnoitered waters off the Kurile Islands, monitoring Soviet activity. ww2dbase [Segundo | CPC]

• The first public conference of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, which was held at the Naythuyain Theater on Kandawgyi Lake in Rangoon, Burma, came to a close. Aung San, who promised to unite the various anti-colonial groups in Burma, emerged the foremost leader of Burmese nationalists, especially as the communists broke away from the AFO. ww2dbase [Aung San | AC, CPC]

• Soviet SMERSH operatives convinced General Otozo Yamada to surrender at Xinjing (Changchun), China. ww2dbase [Manchurian Strategic Offensive | Otozo Yamada | CPC]
• Hiroshi Nemoto was named the commanding officer of the Japanese North China Area Army while still retaining his command over the Japanese Mongolian Garrison Army. ww2dbase [Hiroshi Nemoto | CPC]
• Demchugdongrub and his followers departed Kalgan, Chahar Province (now Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province), China for Beijing, China as Soviet-backed Outer Mongolian troops neared the city from the north and communist Chinese troops approached from the south, thus effectively ending the Japanese puppet state of Mengjiang. ww2dbase [Demchugdongrub | CPC]
• US forces entered Shanghai, China to prevent Chinese communists from occupying the city. Chinese Nationalist forces would finally arrive in Shanghai on 3 Sep 1945. ww2dbase [CPC]

• President Sukarno of the newly founded Republic of Indonesia announced the names of his cabinet ministers. Meanwhile, the Peta militia and Heiho volunteers, both of which pro-Japanese para-military war-time organizations, began to be disbanded. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Ho Chi Mihn, backed by Vo Nguyen Giap's 30,000-strong Chu Luc force, took over control of Hanoi, Vietnam, French Indochina. ww2dbase [AC]
• In Tonkin, French Indochina, tens of thousands of villagers in support of the Viet Minh marched from the countrysides into Hanoi. Amongst them was an armed unit of Viet Minh which dispersed the local police while Japanese forces refrained from interference. By 1100 hours, the crowd grew to about 200,000. Shortly after, the Viet Minh took over the Viceroy's Palace. A number of Japanese tanks approached with plans to maintain peace, but they departed after some negotiations. ww2dbase [CPC]

• A band of Chinese guerrilla fighters attacked a company of Japanese Army troops at Mui Wo, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. In retaliation, acting company commander Lieutenant Chozaburo Matsumoto ordered several civilians nearby to be tied to stakes and beaten. When company commander Lieutenant Yasuo Kishi returned to duty later that day, he ordered the arrest and beheading of village elders Tsang Sau and Lam Fook. Later in the evening, Matsumoto ordered further arrests. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Japanese troops were told by their government that surrendering under the terms of a ceasefire would not be considered a loss of honour under the Bushido code which demanded fighting to the death. As a result thousands began laying down their arms. Meanwhile, more than 100 Allied warships waited off the coast of Japan for the order to enter her ports. ww2dbase [Japan's Surrender | AC]

• Malayan nationalist leader and war time Japanese collaborator Ibrahim Yaacob and his family escaped British Malaya for Java, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [CPC]

• US Secretary of State James Byrnes declared that Thailand was "not an enemy but as a country to be liberated from the enemy", in response to Regent Pridi Phanomyong's declaration that Thailand's participation in WW2 was unconstitutional. ww2dbase [James Byrnes | CPC]

19 Aug 1945 Interactive Map