On 16 September 1945, the British formally accepted the Japanese surrender in Hong Kong, bringing an official end to an enemy occupation that had lasted over three and a half years. While the people of Hong Kong were not freed of colonial rule (they remained a colony / dependent territory of the UK), the city once again flourished and quickly became a hub of international finance and trade.

On the 29th of August 1944 the 28th Infantry Division, a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, paraded under the Arc de Triomphe  and down the Champs Élysées within the newly liberated city of Paris. While Allied forces had allowed Free French troops to have the honor of entering Paris first and accepting the German surrender, the men of the 28th Infantry, bearing the distinctive “bloody bucket” keystone insignia, represented the bulk of those fighting in the ETO — men from outside of continental Europe fighting for the freedom of strangers. ​

On this day (05 August) in 1861 the US Army abolished flogging as a form of punishment for Soldiers guilty of breaches of military law or custom. Although often thought of as a primarily naval punishment, Congress had actually prohibited the Navy from flogging Sailors over ten years prior to the Army decision, spurred on in part by popular literary descriptions of the practice.

On this day in history (25 July 1940) the following order was given: Aggressively attack invaders; act on your own initiative; regard any surrender broadcast or announcement as enemy propaganda; resist to the end.
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These dire instructions came not from Stalin or the Japanese high command, but instead from General Henri Guisan and the Swiss government who understandably feared an imminent invasion from their belligerent Italian and German neighbors. This pronouncement was in addition to earlier instructions to fight to the last drop of blood and to the last cartridge.

On this day (13 July) in 1945, some communists did the only thing they are useful for – fight fascist assholes. Following their invasion of Yugoslavia, the Germans, Italians, Hungarians and Bulgarians (the aforementioned assholes) set up a predictably brutal occupation of the country.
 
This caused some unlikely fellows to join forces, at least for a time. First were the hardcore Yugoslavian nationalists known as the Chetniks, whose standard featured a skull-and-crossbones and whose membership was mainly composed of those royal to the monarchy. Their foil was the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and the Commander-in-Chief of their military forces Josip Tito. Together they launched what became known as the Uprising in Montenegro against occupying Italian troops. 

On this day in 1944 U.S. Soldiers and Marines encountered the largest Banzai attack of the Second World War. Approximately 4,000 able-bodied Japanese Soldiers, followed by their walking wounded, surged out of their positions and towards the American forces that were steadfastly working their way across the island of Saipan. With fixed bayonets and flags waving they sought to annihilate the American invaders in close combat.

On July 1st 1898, the United States Army successfully seized the San Juan Heights in what has become popularly known as “The Battle of San Juan Hill”. The battle itself was a bit of a mess tactically, but when the American forces finally surged up the hill they swept over the Spanish Forces and seized the last strategic terrain outside of the city of Santiago. 

On June 22 1940, the French signed an armistice with invading German forces that would officially end the Battle of France in the early morning hours of the 25th. Over the course of six weeks the invading Huns had battled French, Belgian and Commonwealth forces in a dynamic and fluid campaign.

On this day in 1967 (June 10th) the Israeli Army successfully seized the Golan Heights from Syrian forces and brought an end to the short but fierce Six Day War. The conflict saw the Israelis squared off against the militaries of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq and fighting another war for national survival less than 20 years after the founding of their country.

​On this day in 1941 German paratroopers (Fallschirmjägers) fulfilled what would become a traditional airborne task: airfield seizure. They also demonstrated what an absolute nightmare airborne operations can be, especially with the technique still in its infancy at the time.
 
First, with the good (well good for the Nazis… so bad?). After leaping into the sky above the island of Crete the day prior, German forces eventually captured one of their key objectives, Maleme Airfield. This allowed them to rapidly fly in reinforcements to support the paratroopers who had been fighting pretty much on their own. This success was due in large part to the absolute confusion by thousands of paratroopers descending at multiple points all over the island almost at once, and exacerbated by Allied communication issues.