18^th August 1945

• Last American killed in air combat during the Second World War: US Army Photographer, Sgt Anthony James Marchione was fatally wounded when the B-32 he was flying in as part of a mission to monitor the Japanese ceasefire was hit by canon-fire by Japanese fighters. He died frm his injuries before the plane managed to land in Okinawa.
• Sukarno becomes first President of Indonesia.
• Soviet invasion of Kuril Islands begins along with the invasion of Karafuto on South Sakhalin Island, Soviet landings also begin in North Korea.