August 1
Eastern Front, Poland
The Warsaw uprising begins. Under the command of Lieutenant General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, 38,000 soldiers of the Polish Home Army battle with about the same number of German troops stationed in and around the city. Although the two sides are equal in number, the Germans are superior in weapons and can also call on tank and air support. The uprising is designed to free the city from German control and give the Polish government-in-exile in London some influence over the fate of Poland when the Red Army enters the city.

Pacific, Marianas
The battle for the island of Tinian ends. The entire Japanese garrison of 9000 men has been wiped out.

August 2
Eastern Front, Poland
The left wing of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front establishes two bridgeheads across the Vistula River south of Warsaw.

August 3
Far East, Burma
The Japanese withdraw from Myitkyina following an 11-week blockade by Allied forces.

August 4
Politics, Finland
Marshal Karl von Mannerheim succeeds Rysto Ryti as president of the country. Mannerheim makes it clear to the Germans that he is not bound by Ryti's promises to them.

August 8
Politics, Germany
Eight German officers, including Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, are hanged at the Ploetzenzee prison in Berlin for their part in the July Bomb Plot against Hitler. They are hanged by piano wire, their last moments recorded on film for Adolf Hitler's amusement. All the condemned go to their deaths with dignity, despite their callous treatment.

August 10
Pacific, Marianas
Organized Japanese resistance on Guam ends, although it is 1960 before the last Japanese soldier on the island surrenders.

August 11
Western Front, France
Operation Totalize, the Canadian First Army's offensive toward Falaise, is called off after failing to meet its main objectives.

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