A Riot in Birmingham and the Death of David Lloyd George: A Timeline from December 1901

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Japanese and Thai troops in Burma advanced south from Moulmein. By 19 January 1942 they had captured all the territory between Thailand and the Adaman Sea. The Japanese advance north and west from Rangoon was slow against heavy British and Indian resistance. They captured Pathein on 5 February 1942 and Henzada (now Hinthada) on 9 February. (1) The battle of Prome (modern Pyay) on 18 February was a British and Indian victory. (2) The allies launched a counter-offensive and advanced south. Rangoon was recaptured on 2 March and by 6 March 1942 all of Burma north of the River Salween was free of Japanese troops. The allies continued their advance south and by 16 March 1942 all of Burma was liberated from Japanese and Thai occupation.

(1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathein, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinthada.

(2) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyay.

 

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Russian troops continued to advance slowly south and west in Mamchuria, against heavy Japanese opposition. They captured Harbin on 24 March 1942, Mukden on 6 June, and Port Arthur on 9 July 1942,

American forces landed on the south coast of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines on 3 August 1942, and advanced steadily north against determined Japanese defence. Manila was liberated on 4 October 1942, and the north coast of Luzon reached six days later.

In Vietnam, French troops advanced north. They took Hanoi on 30 March 1942, and reached the border with China on 6 April.

From 5 to 9 November 1942, the Prime Minister of the UK, John Clynes; the President of the USA, Robert Taft; the Prime Ministers of Australia, France, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Russia, and the Chinese leader, Chang-Kai-Shek, met for a conference in New Delhi, from 5 to 9 November. They discussed the terms of Japanese surrender. They agreed that Japanese must give up all its overseas possessions, including Korea and Taiwan, and withdraw completely from China. Emperor Hirohito would be allowed to stay on the throne, provided he renounced his divine status and become a constitutional monarch. The Allies would not occupy Japan. These terms were put to the Japanese government, in the hope that it would accept them.

 

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Also in the allied terms of Japanese surrender was that Japan would cede South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to Russia,

The Japanese cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, Hideki Tojo, who was also Minister of the Army, met on 10 November 1942 and discussed the allied surrender terms. (1) Twelve ministers voted to reject them, and four ministers to accept them. The followimg ministers voted to reject: Tojo; Minister of Home Affairs, Michio Yuzawa; Minister of the Navy, Shigetano Shamada; Minister of Justice, Iwamura Michiyo; Minister of Commerce and Industry, Nobusa Kishi; Minister of Health, Chikahiko Koizumi; Minister of Communications and Minister of Railways, Terashima Ken; Ministers of State, Kisaburo Ando, Kazuo Aoki. and Teiichi Suzuki; Chief Cabinet Secretary, Nishi Hoshino; Director General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, Moriyami Eliichi.

The following ministers voted to accept the surrender terms: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Masayuki Taji: Minister of Finance, Kinori Kaya; Minister of Education, Kuniko Hashida; Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Hiriya Ino.

(1) For Tojo cabinet see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tojo_Cabinet

 

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The Allied advance against Japan resumed with the rejection of their surrender terms. American troops landed on Okinawa on 9 December 1942, and advanced steadily north east, taking the Ryukyu Islands against intense Japanese resistance. Anerican troops landed on the south west corner of Kyushu on 15 January 1943, and advanced slowly east, north and south against strong Japanse opposition. American and British planes bombed Toyko, Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka, Yokohama and other Japanese cities,

Russian troops had reached the southern tip of Sakhalin by 7 December 1942. They landed on the northern tip of Hakkaido two days later, and advanced south against formidable Japanese resistance. Russian planes bombed Sapporo and other cities on Hokkaido.

 

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Northern Sumatra, Java and Dutch Timor were not conquered by Japan in February and March 1942. They were the bases for the liberation of the rest of the Dutch East Indies, and the British Protectorates of North Borneo, Brunei, and Sarawak by Australian, British, Dutch, and New Zealand forces in the summer of 1942. By 6 September, they had all been freed from Japanese occupation.

Chinese troops counterattacked and advanced east. They captured Shanghai from Japanese control on 27 October 1942.