World War Two

'On 4 June...' - is how today's post would've started.

But, as most of you've read in yesterday's post, the Day-by-Day series has ended.

So a personal farewell is in order too. And on my 27th birthday of all days!

Hi, I'm Tarik, and those who follow us on YouTube probably know, I've been the researcher, writer, and manager of the WWII Day-by-Day series for the better part of three years now.

I took over in October 2022 (October 1943 in the war), and what started as a contribution to a legacy became, in time, my own. Since early 2024, I’ve written nearly every script for TimeGhost’s YouTube Shorts videos, too. However, none of this would have been possible without the incredible work laid down by the previous writers who worked on the Day-by-Day series, whose efforts since 2018 had built something truly remarkable. To them - Sietse Kenter, James Newman, and Francis van Berkel - thank you.

This project has been more than just content - it’s been a conversation with the past. Turning my passion for history into daily work changed how I see the Second World War - its immense scale, contradictions, far-reaching consequences, and the way millions of small stories shape the larger whole. These posts became a habitual dive into empathizing with the people behind the history.

And while I’m proud to close this chapter, I do so with genuine gratitude for the thousands who've read, liked, commented, and made the journey meaningful.

I’m not disappearing, of course. Professionally, I’ll continue to pursue my writing career outside TimeGhost, in the history niche and other topics.

More immediately, though, I’m pursuing content creation about another lifelong passion: motorcycles. So far, it has mostly been funny little videos on social media when time allows. But in the coming weeks, I will begin building a platform on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, where I'll blend deep dives into bikes and gear, storytelling, and rider-focused reviews. So, if any of you are into bikes, consider dropping me a follow on socials or subscribing by searching up ˝Vela Rides˝.

To those who walked this path with me through war and memory - thank you. It’s been an honour.

2 months ago | [YT] | 13,566

World War Two

On 31 December 1946, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs Proclamation 2714, declaring the cessation of hostilities of World War II.

Not followed by thunderous applause or the roar of a gun salute, but with the sound of a pen scribble on paper, World War II is over. President Truman's signature underlines a declaration the bloodiest chapter in human history:

˝With God's help this nation and our allies, through sacrifice and devotion, courage and perseverance, wrung final and unconditional surrender from our enemies. Thereafter, we, together with the other United Nations, set about building a world in which justice shall replace force. With spirit, through faith, with a determination that there shall be no more wars of aggression calculated to enslave the peoples of the world and destroy their civilization, and with the guidance of Almighty Providence great gains have been made in translating military victory into permanent peace. Although a state of war still exists, it is at this time possible to declare, and I find it to be in the public interest to declare, that hostilities have terminated.

Now, THEREFORE, I, HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the cessation of hostilities of World War II, effective twelve o'clock noon, December 31, 1946.˝

The guns may have been silent for over a year now, but the cries of millions of widows and orphans, the screams of millions who were maimed, and the silent sobs and prayers of everyone permanently traumatized will echo for eternity. So will the memories of those who have fallen.

For almost seven years, we have done our best to amplify those echoes, to keep the memories alive - day-by-day, one post at a time. From sacrifices and tragedies to moments of relief and victories, we have covered the stories, from personal tales of sacrifice to monumental acts of entire nations.

But with this concludes our daily coverage of the war. Thank you for walking this path down history with us - we couldn't have done it without you, our followers on Instagram and YouTube and, of course, the TimeGhost Army.

Goodnight and Goodbye!

Picture: Truman Signing Document
Source: Getty Images

2 months ago | [YT] | 6,752

World War Two

On 31 May 1946, the British Government announces four more years of peacetime conscription.

The Ministry of Labour and National Service today confirms that the United Kingdom will extend compulsory military service for young men until mid-1950, marking a significant commitment to maintaining armed forces strength in the uncertain postwar world. The decision, revealed in the House of Commons yesterday and publicly detailed this morning, ensures the continuation of conscription beyond wartime necessity, albeit under a phased and gradually reduced scheme.

Beginning in 1947, all 18-year-old men will be required to serve for two years in the armed forces. From January 1948 onward, however, the period of service will decrease with each intake. Those conscripted in February 1948 will serve one year and eleven months, with further reductions every two months until the final intake of 1948 serves just eighteen months. Over the next two years, the call-up is expected to bring 190,000 young men annually into the services.

Though framed as an interim measure, the extension has far-reaching implications. The Government has yet to determine whether National Service will become a permanent fixture of British life. Still, today’s announcement underscores the urgency of ensuring manpower amid Britain’s global commitments.

The scheme seeks to balance national needs with individual rights. Young men conscripted under the plan will have their pre-service civilian jobs guaranteed upon return, although questions remain about gratuity payments and demobilisation leave. Meanwhile, the policy on women’s service has been clarified: all future recruitment of women into the armed forces will proceed strictly on a voluntary basis, forming a regular feature of postwar military life.

By contrast, the wartime armed forces are nearing full demobilisation. All men currently serving will be released according to the existing age-and-service scheme, with the last of these men expected to return to civilian life by the end of 1948.

Picture: Review of troops, Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd, Wales, Friday 12th April 1946.
Source: Getty Images

2 months ago | [YT] | 4,469

World War Two

On 30 May 1946, Otto Grotewohl outlines the mission of the new Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

Speaking over Radio Moscow, Otto Grotewohl, co-chair of the newly formed Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), addresses the German people and sets out the party’s immediate political goals. His speech comes just weeks after the controversial merger between the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party - an alliance encouraged and facilitated by Soviet occupation authorities in their zone of postwar Germany.

The SED now claims leadership of the anti-Fascist political front, and Grotewohl was clear about what this leadership entails. Central to his speech is the party’s support for a referendum in Saxony, scheduled for 30 June, to decide the fate of factories previously owned by Nazi war criminals. These facilities, already expropriated by the Soviets and placed under German control, are now to be repurposed to serve the needs of the people.

The SED frames this campaign not merely as restitution but as the foundation for democratic self-determination. According to Grotewohl, some smaller factories will be sold to local tradesmen, with the proceeds used to support air raid victims, widows, and orphans.

He also previews upcoming local elections in September, the first real test of the SED’s popular support. Local administrators, he says, will report on reconstruction efforts and offer the public a chance to judge the work of the past year. Many of these officials have taken over gutted municipal structures, inheriting chaos and ruins from both war damage and sabotage by fleeing Nazis. Yet Grotewohl insists that the rebuilding efforts prove the capabilities of the anti-Fascist coalition under SED leadership.

Moving forward, the party’s strategy will focus particularly on women and youth, groups central to postwar society. With a striking demographic imbalance in Germany - around 170 women for every 100 men - the political role of women, Grotewohl stresses, is essential.


Picture: Chairman of the SED Wilhelm Pieck in the Lustgarten, Berlin, East Germany, with vice-chairman Grotewohl
Source: Getty Images

3 months ago | [YT] | 2,465

World War Two

On 29 May 1946, U.S. military authorities execute Martin Gottfried Weiss, former commandant of the Dachau and Majdanek concentration camps.

Weiss' is closely associated with Dachau, where he served as commandant from September 1942 until the end of October 1943, overseeing an ever-growing network of brutal subcamps and mass killings. Briefly, between November 1943 and May 1944, he also commanded the Majdanek camp in occupied Poland, one of the few Nazi camps that functioned as both a labour and extermination centre.

Throughout his tenure, Weiss was noted not just for administrative efficiency but for enabling and encouraging cruelty as a means of control. At Dachau, he was responsible for implementing deadly medical experiments, establishing rigid punitive regimes, and authorising executions. At Majdanek, his leadership coincided with systematic mass killings.

Weiss arrived in Dachau in May last year, supposedly to take over as commandant again, before fleeing to Munich, where he was arrested on 29 April 1945 by Corporal Henry Senger of the U.S. Army 292nd Field Artillery Observation Battalion.

His trial focused on the crimes committed at Dachau, including acts of torture, starvation, forced labour, unlawful executions, and medical atrocities. Witness testimony revealed the scale of inhumanity, implicating Weiss directly in policies that led to thousands of deaths.

On 13 December last year, the tribunal found Weiss guilty of 'violating the laws and usages of war', sentencing him to death by hanging alongside 35 others.

That sentence is carried out today at Landsberg Prison. Just before he is hanged, Weiss shouts ˝I am dying for Germany!˝.

Picture: Martin Gottfried Weiss takes the stand in the Dachau trial.
Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

3 months ago | [YT] | 2,425

World War Two

On 28 May 1946, France signs an with the United States, securing vital postwar loans in exchange for economic concessions.

Léon Blum, representing the French government, and U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes finalise an agreement that wipes France's debts for loans from the First World War and 1939-1940 while also granting a $650 million loan to help stabilise the shattered French economy. In return, the United States gains sweeping access to French markets - most controversially, to the French film industry.

The agreement comes at a critical moment. France’s economy remains paralysed by wartime damage, widespread inflation, and a collapsing franc. Imports of food, fuel, and machinery are desperately needed. With little hard currency and few international lenders willing to assist, the French government turns to Washington.

But the terms are steep. French protections on domestic industries, especially cinema, must be rolled back to allow a flood of American films. To many, this feels less like economic aid and more like cultural annexation. French filmmakers and intellectuals immediately denounce the agreement, warning that national cinema risks being drowned by Hollywood’s dominance.

Yet the choice is clear: accept the agreement and gain precious time to recover, or risk deeper economic collapse. The communists rail against growing U.S. influence, and Gaullists grumble at the perceived surrender of sovereignty, but France has little bargaining power left.

For the Americans, the agreement is both economic and strategic. By offering support with strings attached, Washington reinforces its influence in a key Western ally and ensures France remains tied to the emerging postwar order centred on U.S. leadership.

The Blum-Byrnes Agreement signals the start of a new phase in Franco-American relations - one defined not by liberation or war, but by loans, trade, and an uneasy balance between recovery and dependence.

Picture: Byrnes flanked by (from left) U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Fred M. Vinson, French ambassador to the US Henri Bonnet and representative of the French government Leon Blum, signs the agreement, May 28, 1946.
Source: Getty Images

3 months ago | [YT] | 2,507

World War Two

On 27 May 1946, the French colonial administration in Indochina proclaims the creation of a separate Montagnard administration in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

The new administrative zone - formally named the “Montagnard Country of South Indochina” (Pays Montagnard du Sud-Indochinois) - is carved out from the highland provinces of Darlac, Kontum, Pleiku, and parts of Lâm Đồng. Its formation comes as France attempts to re-establish its colonial grip over Indochina.

The Montagnards - a diverse group of indigenous highland peoples including the Jarai, Ede, Bahnar, and others - have long lived apart from the lowland Vietnamese majority. Historically marginalised by both French colonial authorities and Vietnamese rulers, many Montagnard communities retained their own languages, social structures, and animist or Christian religious traditions.

Today’s move is framed by the French as an act of protection for the highlanders. Officials claim the new administration will preserve the culture, land, and autonomy of the Montagnard peoples while granting them greater representation within the colonial structure. In reality, however, the decision is a calculated political manoeuvre aimed at weakening the influence of the Viet Minh, who has been gaining support across Indochina - including among some Montagnard groups. By creating a separate Montagnard entity under direct French oversight, the colonial government hopes to prevent the unification of the highlands with the rest of Vietnam under anti-colonial leadership.

The timing of the announcement is also critical. Just weeks ago, the French and the Viet Minh provisionally agreed to a framework for negotiations under the 6 March Accords, recognising Vietnam as a “free state” within the French Union. However, tensions remain high, and military confrontations continue in the south. The establishment of a Montagnard administration appears designed to send a message: that France will not allow Vietnamese nationalists to claim the highlands unchallenged.

Picture: General Leclerc, General Giap, and the French commissioner for Indochina, Jean Sainteny, holding talks about Indochina's independence.
Source: Getty Images

3 months ago | [YT] | 2,846

World War Two

On 26 May 1946, Czechoslovak voters head to the polls in the country’s first free parliamentary elections since the end of Nazi occupation and deliver a resounding victory to the Communist Party.

Today’s election marks a key turning point in the Third Czechoslovak Republic, which was established following the liberation last year. Since then, a ˝National Front˝ of four main parties - the Communists, Social Democrats, National Socialists, and the People’s Party - has governed through the Interim National Assembly under the leadership of President Edvard Beneš and Prime Minister Zdeněk Fierlinger.

But as the National Front agreement allows for only four parties and excludes former collaborators, fascists, and prewar conservatives, competition within the coalition has been intense. The Communists, led by Klement Gottwald, have steadily expanded their influence - particularly in local committees and trade unions - while receiving overt support from the Soviet Union, which now borders Czechoslovakia to the east.

Today’s vote sees an extraordinary turnout of 93.9%, reflecting the intense political engagement of a population eager to shape the republic’s future. When the results are tallied, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia emerges as the clear winner, capturing 31.2% of the vote nationwide. In the Czech lands, they claim over 40%, cementing their position as the most powerful political force in Bohemia and Moravia. The second-largest bloc, the Czechoslovak National Socialists, trail with 18.4%, followed by the People’s Party and the Social Democrats.

Under the terms of the National Front, all four parties will continue to govern jointly. However, as the leading vote-getter, the Communists now hold a plurality in the new 300-seat Constituent National Assembly and are entitled to form the next government. Klement Gottwald, a former Comintern agent and party secretary since 1929, is expected to become prime minister in the coming days.

For now, the result is accepted peacefully by the public and rival parties alike.

Picture: A National Front poster during the May 1946 elections.
Source: Czech National Archives

3 months ago | [YT] | 2,641

World War Two

On 25 May 1946, the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan declares its full independence from British oversight, with Emir Abdullah bin Hussein as King.

Transjordan’s path to statehood began in the aftermath of the First World War and the Arab Revolt, during which Emir Abdullah’s family - descendants of the Prophet Muhammad and leaders of the Hashemite dynasty—had allied with the British against Ottoman forces. As a reward, the British supported Hashemite claims in parts of the former Ottoman Arab provinces. In 1921, the Emirate of Transjordan was established under British supervision as part of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, with Abdullah serving as Emir but with ultimate authority retained by the British High Commissioner.

While Transjordan was nominally autonomous, it remained under British military and financial influence for over two decades. The country’s internal governance was largely stable under Abdullah, who maintained close ties with London while balancing tribal and nationalist pressures within his territory.

This arrangement began to change as the Second World War drew to a close, and as we reported in our 22 March post, resulted in the Treaty of London between Britain and Transjordan, granting the emirate full sovereignty in exchange for continued military and diplomatic cooperation.

That agreement laid the legal foundation for today’s ceremony. Meeting in Amman, the Transjordanian parliament proclaims the independence of the state and recognises Abdullah as King - elevating his status from Emir to monarch. British troops will remain under separate agreements, but the British High Commissioner is now formally withdrawn, and Transjordan will conduct its own foreign policy and defence.

Transjordan’s independence marks the first successful transition of a League of Nations mandate into a fully sovereign Arab state. With nationalist movements gaining strength across the region - from Syria to Egypt to Palestine - today’s event may well serve as a precedent for other territories seeking to end colonial administration.

Picture: King Abdullah on Jordan Independence day, 25 May 1946
Source: Jordanian archives

3 months ago | [YT] | 3,263

World War Two

On 24 May 1946, a sensational claim from Capitol Hill shocks the American public as members of the House Appropriations Committee reveal the existence of a secret germ weapon—reportedly more deadly than the atomic bomb—that could wipe out an entire city or destroy vast agricultural regions in a single blow.

The remarks emerge in the aftermath of a closed-door briefing on the Navy’s $4.6 billion appropriation bill, during which Congressmen were given guarded insight into the United States’ emerging biological weapons programme. According to one committee member speaking to the press today, the U.S. military has developed several such weapons, including an aerosol-delivered agent capable of killing “all forms of life in a large city” by dispersing contagious germs from high-altitude aircraft.

The idea of such a weapon, capable of silently annihilating a city without an explosion, captures immediate public attention and anxiety. Yet behind the dramatic language, the actual state of America’s biological warfare capabilities is far more limited.

At this point, the U.S. biological weapons program—initiated in earnest in 1942—is still in its infancy. Though progress was made during the war, most of it was experimental and heavily classified. Research was conducted primarily at Camp Detrick in Maryland, where scientists have been working on diseases such as anthrax, botulism, and tularemia, as well as anti-crop agents designed to disrupt food supplies. But no biological weapon was used in combat by the U.S. during World War II, and the technical challenges of large-scale deployment, especially delivery and containment, remain unresolved.

The congressional remarks likely exaggerate the operational readiness of such weapons. While it is true that spray systems and bomblets were tested, and that the U.S. has begun developing anti-personnel and anti-crop biological agents, these remain largely confined to laboratory and controlled field trials. Moreover, the moral and strategic implications of deploying such weapons are a source of internal debate within both scientific and military circles.

Picture: Class III cabinets at Camp Detrick
Source: U.S. Army

3 months ago | [YT] | 3,379