Allied forces in Pacific have launched Operation Iceberg: amphibious invasion of island of Okinawa, with ~287,000 US troops assaulting the Japanese defenders under cover of massive naval bombardment.

10,000s of US Marines are wading ashore on Okinawa, in the largest amphibious assault of Pacific war - until planned Allied invasion of Japan:

Red Army begins to move on Berlin, with assault on the fortified Seelow Heights east of city; 41,600 artillery pieces & rocket batteries open up in one of the largest bombardments ever.

It's Adolf Hitler's 56th birthday; the Red Army, now just 15 miles from Hitler in his bunker, launch an artillery bombardment on central Berlin.

In German city of Nuremberg, newly captured by Allied troops, US Army engineers blow up a colossal swastika on the Zeppelinfeld where Nazi party rallies once marched: youtube.com/watch?v=FTodK2…

6.00AM Red Army in Berlin have launched an assault on the Reich Chancellery, hoping to capture Hitler's bunker before Soviet holiday on 1st May.

A shot echoes through Berlin's Führerbunker. Adolf Hitler is dead. The war continues.

Adolf & Eva's corpses are carried to garden of the Reich Chancellery, wrapped in a blanket. Soaked in gasoline, they're set alight with burning rags.

Fierce German resistance continues in pockets across Berlin, including in the Reichstag building. Yesterday, Red Army troops managed to fight their way to the roof & fly a Soviet banner, but Axis counter-attack has pushed them back to lower floors.

After three days of brutal room-to-room combat in Berlin's Reichstag, Red Army troops hoist the Soviet Union's flag over the heart of the conquered German capital.

Russian Corporal Mariya Shalneva directs Red Army traffic through the ruined streets of Berlin, standing in front of Soviet sign celebrating 1 May.

Extraordinary battle at Castle Itter, Austria, currently being used as a prison for high-profile French detainees. Facing an attack by fanatical Waffen-SS force, German soldiers of the Wehrmacht ally with American troops to defend the castle against Nazis.

Allied governments proclaim "VE Day": Victory in Europe. After 5 years & 8 months of war against Nazi Germany, the UK, USSR, USA & other Allies of the United Nations are victorious.

Soviet victory celebrations are mixed with grief. War against Nazis has been devastating. About 70% of men born in USSR in 1923 are now dead.

US General Staff have approved plan for Operation Downfall: the invasion of Japan, beginning in November of this year. Over a million Allied casualties are expected.

To defend Home Islands, Japanese government has created the Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps, conscripting all men aged 15-60 & all women aged 17-40: 28 million people, to act as a last-ditch reserve to oppose Allied invasion.

425 American scientists & military from the Manhattan Project are in New Mexico to see test of the "Gadget", a complex plutonium bomb. They're unsure if it will work or how powerful it might be.

Oppenheimer's brother Frank is among those in the control bunker, 10,000 yards away from Ground Zero & buried beneath earth & concrete. He hears Robert Oppenheimer's first words after viewing the Trinity test: "Well, I guess it worked."

Trinity atomic bomb test has obliterated the metal tower, leaving a radioactive crater of green glass. Resulting "trinitite" is made of New Mexico desert sands fused by nuclear fire.

American bombers have carried out the largest air raid on Japan ever: 800 B-29 planes are dropping 6000 tons of incendiary bombs on multiple cities, killing 80,000 Japanese people.