In China… Captain John Birch of the US Army is shot dead in a scuffle with Chinese Communist soldiers. The liberation of China is becoming a race between the rival Nationalist and Communist forces. Troops of the Kuomintang, commanded by Generalisimo Chiang Kai-shek, enter Shanghai and Nanking, the prewar capital. The Japanese surrender at Nanking was accepted with Communist troops only 3 miles from the city. Communist forces are reported to be marching towards both cities. In Shanghai, the Communists claim workers are occupying factories and preparing to welcome the Communist forces. In the south, Communist forces are reported to be advancing in Canton and nearing Hong Kong. In the north they are closing in on Tientsin.

In Tokyo… There are reports of large numbers of people “committing hara-kiri before the Imperial Palace.”

In the Philippines… General Yamashita informs the commander of the US 32nd Division that he has ordered all Japanese troops in the Philippines to lay down their arms.

In the United States… Vice-Admiral Willis A. “Ching” Lee Jr. Dies of a heart attack at age 56.

In Occupied Germany… British forces in western Europe are redesignated the “British Army of the Rhine” (BOAR).