Chronology of World War II

Copyright © 1998-2024 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: ken@kpolsson.com
All rights reserved. Permission is granted to create web links
to this site, not to copy these pages to other web sites.
URL: http://kpolsson.com/ww2hist/

References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2023 December 20.


1970

January 17
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Warsaw. [343.293]
April 3
  • Hungary issues two postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of liberation. [341.658]
April 4
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Hungary. [343.584]
April 21
  • Netherlands issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of liberation. [342.998]
May 5
  • Czechoslovakia issues two postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of liberation from German control. [340.651]
  • The German Democratic Republic issues three postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of liberation from fascism. [341.186]
May 8
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the entry of French troops in Berlin. [340.1128]
  • Norway issues two postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of liberation from German occupation. [342.1270]
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia. [343.581]
  • The USSR issues six postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of victory in the war. [343.584]
May 9
  • Guernsey issues three postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of liberation. [341.319]
  • Jersey issues four postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of liberation. [341.333]
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the victory over Germany. [343.294]
  • Romania issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the victory over Germany. [343.449]
June 27
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps. [340.1068]
(month unknown)
  • The Netherlands issues a silver 10-gulden coin marking the 25th anniversary of liberation from German occupation. [788.67]

    vvv advertisement vvv

    ^^^ advertisement ^^^
  • Norway issues a 25-kroner silver coin marking the 25th anniversary of liberation from German occupation. [788.67]
September 3
  • Grenada issues six postage stamps marking the 25th anniversary of the end of the war. [341.409]
September 25
  • Poland issues three postage stamps depicting the Polish Navy during World War II. [343.294]

1971

June 17
  • The USA formally ends its military occupation of the Ryukyu Islands, returning the archipelago to Japan. [843.9]
June 21
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of the defence of Libau against Germany. [343.587]
September 27
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon issues three postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of rallying the Free French forces. [751.822]
October 14
  • Poland issues three postage stamps depicting the Polish Air Force in 1939 fighting. [343.295]

1972

  • German former Colonel General Fritz Halder dies, age 88. [691.206]
  • In Bolivia, Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld identifies Klaus Altmann as former Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie. (Barbie will return to France in 1983 to stand trial for war crimes.) [419.3]

1973

February 1
  • The USSR issues six postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of victory over Germany at Stalingrad. [343.592]
March 14
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of victory in the Battle of Kursk. [343.592]
April 9
  • Philippines issues two postage stamps depicting a Philippine aviator fighting Japanese planes for the liberation of the Philippines. [751.251]
October 27
  • France issues a postage stamp honoring Pierre Bougoin and Philippe Kieffer, heroes of Free French forces during the war. [340.1071]

1974

January 16
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of victory near Leningrad. [343.594]
February 23
  • German Dr. Hans Gisevius dies in West Germany. [691.205]
May 9
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 29th anniversary of the victory over Fascism. [343.298]
May 25
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary liberation, depicting General Marie-Pierre Koenig. [340.1072]
June 8
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of American landings in Normandy. [340.1072]
June 15
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of liberation. [340.1129]
(month unknown)
  • The secret of British Ultra decoding of German Enigma message encoding is revealed for the first time in Frederick Winterbotham's book The Ultra Secret. [538.16] [588.33] [704.31]
August 20
  • Romania issues two postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of liberation. [343.455]
August 23
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Romania. [343.596]
November 14
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Estonia. [343.596]
November 23
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of liberation, depicting the Order of the French Resistance medal. [340.1059]
December 13
  • The Falkland Islands issues four postage stamps marking the 35th anniversary of the Battle of the River Plate (the sinking of the German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee). [340.969] [560.144]

1975

January 17
  • Liberia issues four postage stamps depicting British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and World War II scenes. [728.455]
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Warsaw. [343.299]
January 27
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. [343.299]
March 14
  • The USSR issues two postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of of the liberation of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. [343.597]
April 22
  • The USSR issues seven postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of victory in World War II. [343.598]
April 23
  • Italy issues three postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of the resistance movement. [341.1044]
April 25
  • The USSR issues two postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of victory in World War II. [343.598]
April 29
  • Netherlands issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of liberation. [342.999]
May 6
  • The German Democratic Republic issues five postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of liberation from fascism. [341.193]
May 8
  • Brazil issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of victory in Europe, and honoring veterans of the war. [306.869]
May 9
  • Czechoslovakia issues two postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of liberation from German control. [340.656]
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of the end of the war. [343.300]
(month unknown)
  • The Lincoln Mint in Illinois introduces a series of 48 silver and gold-plated ingots, honoring America's role in the Allied victory in World War II. [105.37]
August 28
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of North Korean liberation from Japanese occupation. [343.599]
September 27
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 30th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps. [340.1074]

1976

May 24
  • The Solomon Islands issues four postage stamps depicting World War II themes. [282.4]
(month unknown)
  • Joachim Peiper is killed when his house is firebombed, following a French newspaper article. [277.311]
July 6
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp honoring Ljudmilla Mikhajlovna Pavlichenko, heroine of the war. [343.601]

1977

January 19
  • US President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri (Tokyo Rose), convicted in 1949 of treason, as witness testimony included lies under threat by the FBI and occupation police. [633.43]
September
  • The United States Federal Immigration and Naturalization Services establishes a special litigation unit, headed by Martin Mendelsohn, to pursue Nazi war criminals. [82.18]

1978

November 11
  • France issues a postage stamp depicting a monument to Polish veterans of the war. [340.1078]

1979

  • The US Justice Department establishes a list of persons not allowed to enter the country. Persons on the list are suspected of engaging in persecution on behalf od the Nazi government and allies. [430.A13]
August 20
  • Romania issues two postage stamps marking the 35th anniversary of liberation. [343.460]
September 1
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of Polish postal workers' resistance to Nazi invaders in Danzig. [343.305]

1980

April 25
  • Netherlands issues two postage stamps marking the 35th anniversary of liberation from German occupation, depicting British bombers dropping food, and Anne Frank. [728.1177]
  • The USSR issues three postage stamps marking the 35th anniversary of victory in World War II. [343.610]
May 6
  • Czechoslovakia issues two postage stamps marking the 35th anniversary of liberation from German control. [340.661]
May 9
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 35th anniversary of the victory over Fascism. [343.306]
October 5
  • Japanese businessman Ryoichi Sasakawa offers to trade salvage rights to the sunken Russian cruiser Admiral Nakhimov to the Soviet Union in exchange for the return to Japan of the Kurile island chain the southern half of Sakhalin. The ship was sunk in 1905 by a Japanese torpedo. The Soviet chargé d'affaires demands the Japanese Government acknowledge Soviet ownership of the ship and contents. [603.A15]
November 10
  • France issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's appeal to the French people. [340.1081]

1981

December 7
  • Fiji issues four postage stamps depicting World War II aircraft. [340.995]

1982

February 25
  • Luxembourg issues an 8-franc postage stamp depicting the National Monument of the Resistance and Deportation during World War II. [728.557]
April 9
  • Philippines issues three postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of the surrender of Bataan to the Japanese. [343.226]
September 22
  • The USSR issues five postage stamps depicting World War II warships. [343.617]
November 8
  • Greece issues eight postage stamps depicting the national resistance movement, 1941-44. [341.383]

1983

February 5
  • Klaus Barbie, former Gestapo officer, arrives in Lyons, France, after being expelled from Bolivia for having obtained citizenship under false pretenses. Barbie is charged with crimes against humanity, murder, torture, arbitrary arrests and jailings. [419.3]
February 23
  • US immigration judge Gordon Sacks orders Feodor Fedorenko deported to the Soviet Union, his birthplace. Fedorenko had served as a guard in a Nazi death camp in Treblinka, Poland, between 1942 and 1945. [428.A15]
February 24
  • A US Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians releases a 467-page report, saying relocation and internment of 120,000 Japanese-American citizens was a "grave injustice". The report criticizes Congress, the Supreme Court, the press, and wartime president Roosevelt. [428.A1]
April 19
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. [343.309]
(month unknown)
  • One turret of three 14-inch guns from the USS Arizona battleship is found in Pearl Harbor. (It was previously believed that all main turrets had been salvaged in the 1940s.) [351]

1984

January 25
  • The USSR issues five postage stamps depicting World War II tanks. [343.621]
May 8
  • France issues two postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of liberation. [340.1086]
May 18
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino. [343.310]
July 3
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Byelorussia. [343.622]
August 1
  • Poland issues four postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising. [343.310]
August 23
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Romania. [343.622]
September 1
  • Poland issues two postage stamps marking the 45th anniversary of the invasion of Poland. [343.310]
September 10
  • Luzembourg issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. [342.452]
October 8
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine. [343.623]
November 7
  • New Zealand issues a postage stamp depicting participation in North Africa fighting in 1942. [342.1121]

1985

March 28
  • Hungary issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of liberation. [341.676]
April 4
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Hungary. [343.624]
April 20
  • The USSR issues six postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of victory over Fascism. [343.624]
April 29
  • The Grenadines of St. Vincent: Bequia issues eight postage stamps depicting World War II warships. [343.811]
April 30
  • Bulgaria issues four postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. [306.1009]
May 5
  • Czechoslovakia issues two postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of liberation from German control. [340.666]
  • Netherlands issues four postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of liberation. [342.1002]
May 7
  • The German Democratic Republic issues five postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of liberation. [341.207]
May 8
  • France issues two postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of liberation. [340.1087]
  • Luxembourg issues four postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. [728.559]
May 9
  • Guernsey issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. [341.323]
  • Malagasy issues three postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. [728.624]
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of liberation from German occupation. [343.311]
  • Romania issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the war. [343.466]
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the Allied victory over Germany and Japan. [343.624]
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia. [343.624]
May 29
  • Tuvalu issues four postage stamps depicting World War II aircraft. [282.657]
May 30
  • Saint Lucia issues four postage stamps depicting World War II aircraft. [343.722]
June 14
  • Philippines issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Bessang Pass. [343.229]
July 17
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the Potsdam Conference. [343.625]
September 1
  • Poland issues two postage stamps marking the 46th anniversary of the German invasion. [343.311]
September 3
  • The People's Republic of China issues two postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. [340.324]
October
  • Malagasy issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. [728.624]
October 25
  • The Republic of China issues two postage stamps marking the 40th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in World War II. [340.262]

1986

September 1
  • Poland issues a postage stamp marking the 47th anniversary of the German invasion. [343.312]

1987

March 12
  • Canadian government announces it would begin tracking down and persecuting war criminals in Canada from World War II. [804.14]
  • Marshall Islands issues three postage stamps depicting planes in the Battle of the Marshalls, 1944. [728.787]
August 17
  • Rudolf Hess dies at age 93 in Spandau Prison, appears to be suicide by self-asphyxiation. Hess joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and ultimately became the deputy Führer. Hess flew alone to England in a small plane in 1941 during World War II. [562.33] [762.21] [763] [803.18]
September 1
  • Poland issues three postage stamps marking the 48th anniversary of the German invasion. [343.314]
November
  • In Córdoba province of Argentina, Josef Schwammberger is arrested. He was a concentration camp commandant in Poland in 1943 and 1944, and is accused of responsibility for 5000 deaths and ordering deportation of thousands more to death at Auschwitz. [686.14]

1988

April 6
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 40th anniversary of the Soviet-Finnish peace treaty. [343.632]
September 1
  • Poland issues three postage stamps marking the 49th anniversary of the German invasion. [343.314]
September 22
  • Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney apologizes for unjust internment of 22,000 Japanese Canadians during World War II, and announces a compensation package worth about CDN$300 million in payments. [705.320]

1989

April 5
  • The USSR issues a postage stamp marking World War II Victory Day. [343.634]
May 18
  • Poland issues three postage stamps marking the 45th anniversary of the Battles of Monte Cassino, Falaise, and Arnhem. [343.315]
May 24
  • In Nice, France, French police arrest Paul Touvier. He was charged in 1973 with crimes against humanity in connection with deportation of Jews from France to German death camps, and persecution of Resistance leaders. Touvier was head of intelligence for a pro-Nazi militia in Lyons during the war. [626.1]
June 8
  • A group aboard the Star Hercules ship finds the final resting place of the German battleship Bismarck, 15,617 feet down in the North Atlantic ocean, 600 miles west of Brest, France. [112.625] [623.A5]
June 30
  • In Tallinn, Estonia, a conference opens devoted to legal reassessment of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1940. The conference is attended by representatives of Byelorussia, East and West Germany, Finland, Lithuania, latvia, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. [396.10]
(month unknown)
  • The book Der Eisbrecher: Hitler in Stalins Kalkül is published in Stuttgart, Germany, authored by Viktor Rezun. Rezun claims Josef Stalin intended to attack Germany on July 6, 1941, to liberate Europe and commence a revolutionary war. [135.12]
August 18
  • The Soviet Government acknowledges for the first time since the end of the war that they and Germany secretly and illegally divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence before the start of the war. [627.1]
August 22
  • A commission of the Lithuanian Parliament declares that Moscow's annexation of the country in 1940 was invalid, achieved by way of secret agreements between Stalin and Hitler. [628.1]
August 23
  • Hundreds of thousands of citizens of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania publicly demonstrate on the 50th anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, demanding restoration of independent status. [629.1]
September 1
  • Marshall Islands issues a postage stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Poland. [342.660]
  • Poland issues four postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of the German invasion. [343.315]
October 13
  • Marshall Islands issues a postage stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the HMS Royal Oak. [342.660]
November 10
  • Canada issues four postage stamps depicting Canada's contribution to World War II in 1939. [340.83]
November 30
  • Marshall Islands issues a postage stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Finland. [342.660]
December 8
  • The Falklands Islands issues four stamps to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of the River Plate. Stamps depict British Commodore Harwood and ship HMS Ajax, and German Captain Hans Langsdorff and Admiral Graf Spee. [340.972] [450.144]
December 13
  • Marshall Islands issues four postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the River Plate. [342.660]

End of 1970-1989. Next: 1990.

vvv advertisement vvv

^^^ advertisement ^^^

1918-1935 1936-1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946
1947-1959 1960-1969 1970-1989 1990-1992 1993-1994 1995-1999 2000-end


A list of references to all source material is available.


Last updated: 2023 December 20.
Copyright © 1998-2024 Ken Polsson (email: ken@kpolsson.com).
URL: http://kpolsson.com/ww2hist/
Link to Ken P's home page.

vvv advertisement vvv

^^^ advertisement ^^^
History Timelines Postage Stamps Today in History
PCs Video Games Timeline Today
Amiga World Silly This Day
Apple Space Coins Sports
Commodore 64 Impacts Corvettes Disney
Processors Sports Cruise Ships USA
Corvettes Gambling Disney Music
World War II Weather Errors PC and Game
Sweden Earthquakes Novelties TV and Movies
A&W USA Births Finder Anniversaries
A&W Canada Deaths
Postage Stamps Dow Jones Coins Chevrolet Corvettes
Walt Disney Co. Television Timeline: Canada Timeline
Disneyland Cruise Ships Timeline: USA Racing Success
Walt Disney World Oak Island Timeline: World On Stamps
Disney Cruise Line Killing JFK Novelties Pop Culture
Canada coins On Stamps
USA coins Other
World coins Mug Shots(A&W)
Stuff For Sale

Privacy Policy

kpolsson.com does not collect or share personal information. I have better things to do. There are links to advertiser sites that are beyond my control, from which I may receive a placement fee or a sale commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.