September 10th 1939 - After seven nights of British flights dropping leaflets on Germany, the operation stops due to public criticism that Britain only dropped paper while Germany dropped bombs on Poland. 1939 - An article in the New York Times newspaper refers to the conflict in Poland as the "Second World War". 1939 - (1310 hours) In Ottawa, Canada, the Governor-General of Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir, announces that Parliament has declared war on Germany, as of the start of the day. 1939 - The US extends its embargo on arms shipments to Canada. 1939 - (evening) German destroyer Oeresund hits a German mine south of Trelleborg, Sweden, and sinks. (This is the first warship loss of the war.) 1941 - (0210 hours) Convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic is attacked by German submarines. U-432 torpedoes and sinks SS Winterswijk. Seven more merchant ships are torpedoed by the end of the day. 1941 - A proposal to send two Canadian battalions to Hong Kong reaches British prime minister Winston Churchill's desk for approval. He accepts the recommendation. 1942 - A Japanese floatplane flies two missions dropping incendiary bombs on U.S. forests in the state of Oregon - the only bombing of the continental U.S. during the war. Newspapers in the U.S. voluntarily withhold this information. 1943 - American forces expand their bridgehead at Salerno, landing most of the 45th Division. 1943 - German troops occupied Rome and took over the protection of Vatican City. 1944 - German air forces attack the Tri Duby airfield in Slovakia in several waves. At the end, only four Slovak aircraft remain operational. 1944 - Canadian engineers complete a bridge over the Gent Canal in Belgium, allowing tanks to cross. 1944 - British General Bernard Montgomery and US General Dwight Eisenhower meet in Brussels, Belgium. Eisenhower agrees to an airborne operation with Arnhem as the first objective. 1944 - Operation Comet, a one-division airborne assault toward Arnhem, becomes Operation Market Garden, involving three airborne divisions. 1944 - (2129 hours) A third German V-2 rocket hits England, landing at North Fambridge near Maldon, in Essex, about 40 miles east of London. There is no damage or casualites.
10-9-1945 Vidkun Quisling, the ‘puppet Premier’ of Norway, is sentenced to death for Nazi collaboration.
September 11th September 11th 1939 - France notifies the League of Nations that it is at war with Germany, as of 1700 hours September 3. 1939 - The British Ministry of Information announces the British Government would not conclude peace with a German Government headed by Adolf Hitler. 1939 - President Juan Arosema of Panama proclaims the neutrality of Panama. 1940 - Adolf Hitler postpones invasion of Great Britain to September 24. 1942 - In the St. Lawrence River, near Cap Chat, Quebec, Canada, submarine U-517 torpedoes and sinks Royal Canadian Navy corvette Charlottetown. Ten die. 1942 - 479 British aircraft attack Düsseldorf. 20,000 are made homeless. 1943 - The Italian Navy surrenders its warships to the Allies at Malta. 1944 - Allied forces on land cross into Germany. 1944 - The Royal Highland Regiment of Canada (Black Watch) of the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade captures the town or Spycker in northern France.
September 12th 1939 In Poland, the Polish army west of the Vistula River is trapped in Kutno and Radom pockets, and capital Warsaw is almost completely surrounded. The Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, begins offering a course on the "second world war". The Soviet Government reports three German war planes in Polish colors shot down over Minsk region of Russia, with German crewmen. The official German News Bureau in East Silesia issues a special report saying that "Removal of the Polish Jewish population from the European domain would ... bring a solution of the Jewish question in Europe nearer.".
September 12, 1943 - Former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was rescued by German paratroopers on orders from Adolf Hitler. Mussolini was being held prisoner by Italian authorities following the collapse of his Fascist regime.
12th September 1939 On the Western Front... French forces have now advanced about 5 miles (8 km) into Germany on a 15-mile (24 km) frontage in the Saarland region. The French claim that the action has forced the Germans to withdraw 6 divisions from Poland, although British observers express doubts. The advance places the front within half a mile of the Siegfried Line and a frontal assault on this defensive system is considered to be out of the question. General Gamelin calls an end to the Saar offensive. In Poland... Some of List's troops are fighting near Lvov while others are moving north from their bridgeheads over the San. The Polish army around Poznan, the one that was to have marched on Berlin, unexpectedly turns about and attempts to take the German 8th Army in the flank. This is the start of the violent battle of the Bzura River. Polish troops push the German forces 12 miles south of Kutno and recapture Lowicz. Gdynia is evacuated by the Poles. Luftwaffe planes bomb Krzemieniec (Kremenets) in eastern Poland, a declared open village where the diplomatic community from Warsaw has sought refuge. In Bucharest... The German Foreign Minister, von Ribbentrop, demands that the Romanians not give asylum to Polish officials crossing the border and threatens military action in case of noncompliance. In France... The Anglo-French Supreme War Council meets for the first time at Abbeville. Meanwhile, a Czech army-in-exile is formed. In Britain... The home office opens an inquiry into blackout rules. In the North Atlantic... The US Navy begins regular neutrality patrols along the entire length of the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean. 1940: In Vichy France... Five schoolboys discover 10,000-year-old wall paintings of animals and hunters in Lascaux Cave (Dordogne). Over Germany... British RAF Bomber Command aircraft raid the Hamm marshalling yards for the 60th time during the night (September 12-13). In Occupied Poland... In Warsaw, a walled ghetto is to be constructed for the estimated 500,000 Jewish inhabitants of the city. 1941 On the Eastern Front... North of Kiev, the city of Chernigov, on the Desna River is evacuated in the face of the advancing German 2nd Army. The first snowfall of the year is reported on the Eastern Front. In Norway... the Norwegian Government under the pro-German leadership of Quisling bans the Boys Scouts and other youth clubs. Boys are required to join youth sections of the Nasjonal Samling Party. In North Africa... the relief operations begin for Tobruk. Approximately 6300 soldiers, from Scobie's 70th British Division, and supplies for them are transported into the city. 6000 of the Australian garrison are taken out. 1942 In the Solomon Islands... On Guadalcanal, major attacks by the Japanese units, from General Kawaguchi's 35th brigade, begin. Fighting is heavy especially around the aptly named "Bloody Ridge". Reinforcements of aircraft are flown to the Americans from the USS Wasp. In the Atlantic... German U-boat U-156 sinks the passenger liner Laconia, just south of the equator, off the coast of Africa. The passengers, service men's wives and children and Italian prisoners of war are aided by the U-boat captain, Hartenstein, who surfaces and then radios in plain language to Allied authorities for help for them. Despite this conduct, an American plane attacks the U-boat. From Berlin... In response to the attack by the American plane, Admiral Doenitz orders that no U-boat commander may again attempt the rescue of civilians survivors. He also orders rescue boats from Dakar for the rest of the survivors of the Laconia. Of note, the "Laconia Order" forms one of the indictments against Admiral Doenitz at Nuremberg after the war. On the Eastern Front... At Stalingrad, the German encirclement of Stalingrad continues. Soviet perimeter is now only about 30 miles long. From Moscow... Stalin appoints General Chiuikov to command of the 62nd Army which will soon be completely besieged in Stalingrad. 1943 In Italy... On the Salerno beachhead, German forces mount their first major counterattack. Forces of the British 5th Corps are pushed out of Battipaglia, again. To the north of the beachhead, Allied forces holding the Molina Pass are under pressure from the German "Hermann Goring" Panzer Division. To the south, the British 8th Army captures Crotone and continues to make progress. Meanwhile, in a daring raid by a German parachute detachment led by Otto Skorzeny, Mussolini is freed from Gran Sasso in the Abruzzi Mountains and flown to Germany. On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces near Bryansk renew their attack. In the Donets basin Soviet forces capture Stary Kermenchik. In the Caucasus, the Germans begin evacuating the 17th Army from the Kuban Peninsula. In New Guinea... Troops of the Australian 5th Division capture Salamaua. To the north, the Japanese forces at Lae are being isolated. 1944 On the Western Front... The German garrison of Le Harve, about 12,000 men, surrenders under pressure of attacks by British 1st Corps (part of Canadian 1st Army, British 21st Army Group). Forces of US 1st Army (part of US 12th Army Group) reach the German border between Aachen and Trier. In the Mediterranean... The German garrison on Mytilene, in the Aegean Sea, is evacuated. In Liberated Italy... The Greek government in exile arrives in Caserta in the south, from Cairo, in order to be closer to Greece in anticipation of returning. In Moscow... The Romanian government signs the armistice with the Allies. The terms include reparations to the Soviet Union of $300,000,000 as well as cession of territory to the USSR. In the Philippines... Three groups of US Task Force 38, with 12 carriers, conduct air strikes on Japanese positions on the Visayas or central Philippine islands. In Canada... The Octagon Conference continues. Churchill and Roosevelt and their staffs meet in Quebec to discuss strategy.
September 12, 1946 Court martial convicts Henry de Man to 20 years, in Brussels 1944 Noorbeek and Mheer freed 1944 U.S. Army troops entered Germany for 1st time 1943 Free French lands on Corsica 1943 Waffen-SS (Skorzeny) frees Mussolini at Gran Sasso 1943 German paratroopers, on orders of Adolf Hitler, seize former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini who was being held prisoner by the government 1942 Battle of Edson's Ridge begins at Guadalcanal 1942 Free-Poland and Belgium asks pope to condemn nazi-war crimes 1941 1st German ship in WW II captured by U.S. ship (Busko) 1940 49 die and 200 injured when Hercules Powder Co plant explodes (NJ) 1940 Italian troops enter Egypt 1938 Adolph Hitler demands self-determination for Sudeten Germans in Czech
Monday September 17th: 1944 British Premier Winston Churchill travels to U.S. 1944 Dutch begin railroad strike against German occupiers 1944 Operation Market Garden: British airborne division lands Arnhem Neth 1943 Load of "ammunition in transit" explodes at Norfolk Naval Air Station 1943 Red Army recaptures Brjansk 1940 Hitler begins invasion of England (operation Seelowe) 1940 Nazis deprive Jews of possessions 1939 German U-29 sinks British aircraft carrier Courageous, 519 die 1939 Poland's president Moscicki and PM Slawoj-Skladkowski flee to Romania 1939 Russia invades Eastern Poland, takes 217,000 Poles prisoner 1939 Soviet Union invades Poland during WW II
September 18th 1944 British submarine Tradewind torpedoes Junyo Maru: 5,600 killed 1944 Eindhoven free (Lightly Day) 1944 U.S. 266th division occupiers Brest Bretagne 1943 Hitler orders deportation of Danish Jews (unsuccessful) 1940 19 German aircrafts shot down above England 1940 Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani 1939 Polish government of Moscicki flees to Romania
17-9-1944 The British airborne invasion of Arnhem, Eindhoven and Njimegen in the Netherlands begins as part of ‘Operation Market Garden’. 17-9-1944 Blackout regulations are lifted in Britain to allow lights on buses, trains and at railway stations for the first time in five years.
September 21 September 21 1939 In Bucharest... The Romanian Prime Minister, Armand Calinescu, is murdered by members of the Iron Guard, a fascist organization. Assassins blocked the path of his car with a wooden cart and fired pistol shots into him and his bodyguards. The assailants then forcibly enter a radio station and broadcast that "the death sentence on Calinescu has been executed." They are later overpowered and shot to death at the location of their murder of the prime minister. A large crowd is present. Their bodies are left to lie there for the next 24 hours. The assassination is in apparent retaliation for the tolerant, even sympathetic, attitude of the Romanian government toward Poland, exemplified by the acceptance of Polish military and civilian refugees. In Poland... German forces intensify the artillery bombardment of key points in Warsaw. In Occupied Poland... Nazi occupation authorities initiate "The Heydrich Plan" which involves the deportation of 600,000 Jews from Danzig and western Poland to central Poland to be concentrated in urban ghettoes. In Luxemburg... Radio Luxemburg closes down. In London... The British government publishes its Blue Book of prewar diplomatic documents. In Washington... President Roosevelt addresses a special joint session of Congress and urges the repeal of the Neutrality Act provisions embargoing arms sales to belligerent countries. "Our acts must be guided by one single hard-headed thought -- keeping America out of this war," the president said. Allowing arms to be sold on a cash-and-carry basis would be "better calculated than any other means to keep us out of war." In the United States... Newspapers allege that senior Nazis, including Goebbels and Hess, have foreign investments worth over $12 million 1940 Over Britain... As the night attacks on London continue, the government officially allows the subway stations to be used as air-raid shelters. This has been happening for some time. In Australia... The election results are declared. Menzies remains prime minister. Labor is the largest party in both the House and the Senate but has no overall majority. Also, it is announced that the 9th Australian Division will be raised. 1941 On the Eastern Front... Near Leningrad, the German Luftwaffe begins repeated attacks on the Soviet Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt harbor. From Britain... The British Mosquito bomber makes its first operational reconnaissance flight. 1942 From Stockholm... In the Swedish national elections, pro-Nazi candidates fair badly. 1943 On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces capture Demidov, north of Smolensk. Forces of the Soviet Central Front take Chernigov and Sinelnikovo. Soviet forces also take Dnepropetrovsk, further east. In Italy... The US 5th Army reorients to the left as the British 8th Army moves to east side of the front. German forces are withdrawing all along the front with the exception of the passes leading to Naples. In the Mediterranean... Several transports engaged in the evacuation of the German garrison on the island of Corsica are sunk by Allied air and submarine attacks. In Occupied Greece... At Cephalonia, the Italian "Acqui" Division resists German forces seeking to disarm it. In the Solomon Islands... American forces on Arundel discover that the Japanese forces have been evacuated. 1944 On the Eastern Front... The Polish 1st Army is forced to withdraw from its bridgeheads in Warsaw. On the Western Front... Operation Market Garden continues. The British 30th Corps attacks northward from Nijmegen but makes limited progress due to German counterattacks and the exposed terrain. In Arnhem, forces of the British 1st Airborne Division are forced out of the town but remain north of the Rhine. A Polish Parachute Brigade is dropped two miles south of the British position, on the opposite side of the river. In Italy... Elements of British 8th Army reach Rimini. Canadian and Greek forces capture the town. In the Philippines... US Task Force 38 conducts air strikes on Japanese targets on Luzon, particularly Manila and Manila Bay. Twelve American carriers are involved. In Occupied Denmark... The general strike protesting recent deportations by German authorities comes to an end.
See the Mosquito that was made with wood here:http://ww2chat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146 Read all about this most versatile of aircraft at A Short History of the DH98 Mosquito. http://www.flexi.net.au/~bfillery/mossie01.htm Mosquito. The timber terror. Light, fast, deadly. Photo-recon, bomber, fighter-bomber, night-fighter, intruder, trainer, pathfinder, target marking, torpedo-bomber, U-boat killer, day ranger, mine layer, and target tug.
22 Sept 1939 In Poland... Rapidly advancing Soviet troops capture Lvov and Bialystok. In Brest-Litovsk Soviet and German forces conduct a joint victory parade. Meanwhile, Colonel General von Fritsch, former German Army Commander in Chief and an outspoken opponent of the Nazis government, is killed by a Polish sniper outside Warsaw. Hitler visits the front, observing the shelling of the Warsaw suburb of Praga. In Sussex... The second meeting of the Allied Supreme War Council takes place. Although the meeting is supposed to be secret, a large crowd gathers outside the building in which the Allied leaders meet. British Prime Minister Chamberlain, with Lord Halifax, the foreign secretary, and Lord Chatfield, the minister for coordination of defense meet French Primier Daladier, with General Gamelin, the Commander in Chief on the Western Front, Admiral Darlan, the Chief of the French Naval Staff, and M Dautry. A communique issued later states that the Allied leaders discussed supplies of munitions and In Britain... Gasoline is rationed. Meanwhile, a report by the Metropolitan Police Commission in London indicates that road accidents have tripled in the three weeks since the blackout began. Also, courts are packed with cases of blackout violations. 1940 In French Indochina... The Japanese enter Indochina after concluding a long period of negotiation with the Vichy government. The Japanese aim is to prevent aid reaching the Chinese through Indochina. There are to be 6000 troops stationed in the country and they are to have transit rights. In Helsinki... Finland agrees to allow transit rights to German troops en route to north Norway in return for arms supplies. 1942 In Berlin... Reichsfuhrer SS Himmler orders that "experiments on warming through body heat" must be conducted In Occupied Poland... Most of the Jews in Opoczno were forcibly taken by cattle car from Opoczno to their deaths in Treblinka. From Washington... The Communications Branch of the OSS is formed by General Donovan. 1943 n the Occupied Norway... The German battleship Tirpitz, in Altenfiord, is attacked by a force of British midget submarines. Two of the six midget submarines succeed in attaching charges to the ship. Repairs to the battleship will take until March 1944 to complete. On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces capture Anapa in the Kuban Peninsula (the Caucasus). North of Dnepropetrovsk, Soviet forces take Novomoskovosk. Heavy fighting is reported at Poltava as German forces begin to a withdrawal. In Italy... The British 8th Army is reinforced by the 78th Division and the 8th Indian Division. The reinforcements land at Bari and Brindisi. The US 5th Army is preparing to advance. The British 10th Corps is to clear a route to Naples and US 6th Corps will initially move toward Benevento. In New Guinea... The Australian 20th Brigade lands at Katika, north of Finschafen. The landing is supported by a naval bombardment (Admiral Barbey is in command) and cover is provided by an air group. In Occupied Greece... At Cephalonia, the Italian "Acqui" Division surrenders to German forces seeking to disarm it. About 1500 Italians have died in the fighting and another 5000 are killed now and the remainder are sent to labor camps. On the Eastern Front... Elements of the Soviet Leningrad Front (Govorov) capture Tallin, capital of Estonia, in the Baltics. In Romania, Soviet forces reach Arad. 1944 On the Western Front... Operation Market Garden continues. The Polish paratroops, later joined by British 43rd Division (part of British 30th Corps), attempt reach the Rhine in order to make contact with elements of the British 1st Airborne Division to trapped on the north bank. Other elements of British 30th Corps, advancing toward Arnhem, meet heavy resistance by German forces. Elst, 5 miles north of Nijmegen, is captured. Meanwhile, the Canadian 3rd Division (an element of 1st Canadian Army) captures Boulogne. In the Palau Islands... On Peleliu, US 3rd Amphibious Corps (Geiger) deploys a regiment of US 81st Infantry Division to replace depleted elements of the US 1st Marine Division. The marines have suffered heavy casualties in attacks on Mount Umurbrogol. In the Philippines... US Task Force 38 conducts air strikes on Japanese targets on Luzon, particularly Manila and Manila Bay. Twelve American carriers are involved.
October 3rd 1942 : Germany conducts first successful V-2 rocket test On this day in 1942, German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun's brainchild, the V-2 missile, is fired successfully from Peenemunde, as island off Germany's Baltic coast. It traveled 118 miles. It proved extraordinarily deadly in the war and was the precursor to the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) of the postwar era. German scientists, led by von Braun, had been working on the development of these long-range missiles since the 1930s. Three trial launches had already failed; the fourth in the series, known as A-4, finally saw the V-2, a 12-ton rocket capable of carrying a one-ton warhead, successfully launched. The V-2 was unique in several ways. First, it was virtually impossible to intercept. Upon launching, the missile rises six miles vertically; it then proceeds on an arced course, cutting off its own fuel according to the range desired. The missile then tips over and falls on its target-at a speed of almost 4,000 mph. It hits with such force that the missile burrows itself into the ground several feet before exploding. It had the potential of flying a distance of 200 miles, and the launch pads were portable, making them impossible to detect before firing. The first launches as part of an offensive did not occur until September 6, 1944 when two missiles were fired at Paris. On September 8, two more were fired at England, which would be followed by more than 1,100 more during the next six months. More than 2,700 Brits died because of the rocket attacks. After the war, both the United States and the Soviet Union captured samples of the rockets for reproduction--they also captured the scientists responsible for their creation.
October 3rd 1944 RAF bombs West Kapelse 1943 British 8th army lands at Termoli, East Italy 1943 Operations begin at PETA Java, defending (Japanese) fatherland 1942 Franklin D. Roosevelt forms Office of Economic Stabilization 1942 Launch of 1st A-4/V-2 rocket to altitude of 53 miles (85 km) 1941 Adolf Hitler says Russia is "broken" and would "never rise again" 1941 All elderly Jewish men of Kerenchug Ukraine, are killed by SS 1941 Nazi's blow up 6 synagoges in Paris 1940 France Vichy government proclaims end to Jewish status 1940 U.S. forms parachute troops
October 30th October 30th 1940 - British destroyers Harvester and Highlander sink German submarine U32. 1940 - British Bomber Command is given its first directive sanctioning area-bombing. 1941 - A German submarine torpedoes American fleet oiler Salinas off the American east coast. The ship is able to limp to a port. 1944 - 110 British bombers attack German gun and troop positions on Walcheren island. 1944 - (evening) 905 British bombers attack Cologne, Germany. 1945 - In Crete, the court at Heraklion sentences one woman to death, one woman to life in prison, lighter penalties on another man and woman, and acquits another man, all on charges of collaboration and responsibility for deaths of 35 Cretans. Following announcement of the sentences, 2000 storm the building, killing all five.
On this day in WW2 October 31st October 31st From: http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/today/1030.htm 1940 - British destroyers Harvester and Highlander sink German submarine U32. 1940 - British Bomber Command is given its first directive sanctioning area-bombing. 1941 - A German submarine torpedoes American fleet oiler Salinas off the American east coast. The ship is able to limp to a port. 1944 - 110 British bombers attack German gun and troop positions on Walcheren island. 1944 - (evening) 905 British bombers attack Cologne, Germany 1945 - In Crete, the court at Heraklion sentences one woman to death, one woman to life in prison, lighter penalties on another man and woman, and acquits another man, all on charges of collaboration and responsibility for deaths of 35 Cretans. Following announcement of the sentences, 2000 storm the building, killing all five.2000 - Grenada issues 14 postage stamps marking the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.2000 - Grenada / Carriacou & Petit Martinique issues 18 postage stamps marking the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
On this day December 26th December 26th. Battle of Bastogne-US Gen Patton's 4th Pantzers repulse Germans Budapest surrounded by soviet army British sink German battle cruiser Scharnhorst Ordered to sail to the Barents Sea and destroy the allied convoy JW-55B bound for the Soviet port of Murmansk, the German battle-cruiser Scharnhorst encounters a protective force of the British Home Fleet consisting of the cruisers HMS Belfast, Duke of York, Jamaica and Norfolk. After a fierce action, Scharnhorst is sunk, with only 36 of her crew of 1,839 surviving. Earl Claus von Stauffenberg vain with bomb to Hitlers headquarters Winston Churchill becomes 1st British Prime Minister to address a joint meeting of Congress, warning that Axis would "stop at nothing"
