13 August 1939

August 13th, 1939 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: On holiday in Scotland, Neville Chamberlain complains of his poor luck at fishing.

GERMANY: Ciano returns to Rome disgusted at the attitudes of Ribbentrop and Hitler.
"They have betrayed us and lied to us. Now they are dragging us into an adventure which we do not want and which may compromise the regime and the country as a whole." (Ciano)

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13 August 1940

Yesterday Tomorrow

August 13th, 1940 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Battle of Britain: 'Adlertag' [Eagle Day]. The Luftwaffe launches Adlertag too early as the weather is dull and cloudy and postponement orders do not reach all units.

A Do17P was shot down at 06:20 off Kent by Sq. Ldr. A.G. Malan partnered by Flg. Off. J.C. Mungo Park (74 Sqn.)

As early as 05:30 radar stations identified two forces, about 60 aircraft, assembling over France, so 11 Group ordered two squadrons, Nos. 64 and 111, to protect damaged Hawkinge and Manston, assuming the enemy would, logically, hit them again.

Hurricanes from North Weald took station over a Thames convoy, while others watched over Tangmere.

Another 100 Luftwaffe aircraft were detected off Dieppe and soon about 40 more off Cherbourg before a smaller group was found by radar near the Channel Islands.

In total about 120 fighters were sent up to face about 300 attackers.

Escort for the first wave of 80 Luftlotte 2 Do17Zs had been cancelled successfully but the bombers, fitted with different radio crystals pressed on to England. The thick cloud served to hide them until they split, one group to Eastchurch Coastal Command airfield, a smaller group to Sheerness dockyard. They were then intercepted by 74 and 151 Squadron. Hurricane L1750, the first cannon-armed Hurricane, flown by Flt. Lt. R. Smith scored a certain success, 111 Sqn then joined in and forced KG 2 to jettison its load. 100 bombs were dropped on Eastchurch killing 16 men, injuring 48 and destroying one Spitfire of 266 Sqn. The station was fully operational by evening. Five Do 17s were shot down.

Later in the afternoon two groups of Ju88s attacked Farnborough and Odiham but were forced to abandon the operation.

The major attack came around 16:00 with 40 Ju88s on course for Southampton and Middle Wallop; to their west were 30 Ju87s of II/StG 2, with 50 more Ju87s escorted by JG27. Forward support was provided by Bf109s of JG53 which swept between the Isle of Wight and Lyme Bay until they ran low on fuel.

At least 23 bombs fell on Southampton docks killing 5 and injuring 25. But when the Stuka's of II/StG 2 arrived at Portland their escort, short of fuel, left for home allowing the Spitfires of 609 Squadron to destroy six of them, the day being noted as the 'glorious 13th' in the Squadron's records. Another attack on Middle Wallop strayed and attacked Andover instead.

Later in the day 40 Ju87s of LG 1 devastated Detling, killing 67 and destroying 22 aircraft. The station was functional the next day.

Night: He-111s of Kgr 100 equipped with the X-Gerat navigational system attack the Spitfire factory at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.

KG 54 attacks the aerodromes at Odiham and RAE Farnborough, but the formations are broken up by RAF fighters. Large-scale Luftwaffe attacks follow during the afternoon, with the loss of 45 aircraft.

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - Fiat works at Turin and Caproni aircraft factory at Milan.
10 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Turin. Two returned early, eight bombed primary. One damaged by fighter and ditched in Channel on return with two killed.
51 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Turin. One damaged by Flak and returned early, nine bombed primary.
58 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Milan. Three returned early, four bombed primary, three bombed alternative targets.

The London Evening News reported:
One of the greatest aerial battles ever to take place, happened this afternoon off the southeast and southern coasts. However, well informed experts doubt that the present raids represent the beginning of a blitzkrieg against England, and instead believe their true purpose is to reconnoitre the strength of the RAF before the Germans mount even more vigorous air attacks.

RAF Headquarters announced:
On Sunday night to early Monday morning, the "industrial squadrons" of the RAF chiefly attacked petroleum installations in Germany. The raids on each target were carried out by several squadrons at defined intervals, beginning shortly before midnight; the return flight did not start until 3:00 A.M.
Also reported was unknown German aircraft dropping a miscellany of objects at various places in the English Midlands and the Lowlands of Scotland. The objects included a parachutes, wireless transmitters, small quantities of high explosive, maps, photographs, lists of addresses of prominent people and instructions to imaginary agents defining their role when the invaders came.

An experimental British radar, using the cavity magnetron which was developed only six months earlier, tracks a man on a bicycle for the first time -- though his radar cross-section is enhanced by the tin lid from a box of biscuits. (Cris Wetton)

Minesweeping trawler HMS Elizabeth Angela is bombed and sunk in the English Channel.

Corvette HMS Columbine is launched.

FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: In a move aimed against the Freemasons, all secret societies are banned.

GERMANY: The Luftwaffe makes 1,485 sorties to mark Adlertag [Eagle Day] - the start of full scale bombing of England.
Berlin: The German News Bureau reported:
Aerial dogfights are continuing over the southern coast of England. More and more fresh formations of German bombers and dive bombers are flying against the English coast. The German bomber wings, which make their approach in compact formations at a fairly high altitude, are almost
invariably escorted by Me109 and Me110 fighters. So far it has not once been observed that a German bomber formation was forced by the English to turn around before reaching its target. It has struck our attention that the fighting spirit of the English fighter pilots - especially the Spitfire pilots - has fallen off markedly since yesterday. According to reports received so far, 38 British aircraft were destroyed in aerial combat today (Tuesday) and 15 were destroyed on the ground.

Corvette HMS Columbine launched.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Mahone laid down.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt confers with Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, and Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles concerning the transfer of destroyers to Britain. Consequently, Roosevelt informs British Prime Minister Churchill (in telegram sent from Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles to Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, Sr.) that among other items previously sought "it may be possible to furnish to the British Government... at least 50 destroyers..." Roosevelt states, though, that such aid could only be given provided that "the American People and the Congress frankly recognized in return...the national defence and security of the United States would be enhanced." The President thus insists that (1) should British waters be rendered untenable the British Fleet would be sent to other parts of the Empire (and neither turned over to the Germans nor sunk) and (2) that the British government would grant authorization to use Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and British Guiana as naval and air bases, and to acquire land there through 99-year leases to establish those bases.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-60 sank SS Nils Gorthon in Convoy HX-62.

13 August 1941

UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeping trawler HMS Rysa commissioned. (DS)

FRANCE: Paris: At the porte Saint-Denis and the porte Saint-Martin, fighting breaks out between demonstrators and the French and German police. Those arrested are communists.

GERMANY: A Wellington bomber carrying prototype "Gee" navigation equipment is lost after a raid on Hamburg.

U.S.S.R.: The German 11th Army of Heeresgruppe SŸd captures Cherson on the Black Sea, the gateway to the Crimea.

NORTH AFRICA: Beginning last night 6,000 Polish troops replace 5,000 Australians at Tobruk. These troop movements will continue through the 18th. They are being made at the request of the Australian government.

CHINA: After seven days of heavy Japanese bombing, the city of Chungking is devastated.

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Llewellyn and Lloyd George ordered.

U.S.A.: In baseball, Larry MacPhail, General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, stages a fashion show before a Ladies Day crowd at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Such promotions, as well as the Dodgers pennant race, will push the home gate to over one million fans.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt confers with Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, and Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles concerning the transfer of destroyers to Britain. Consequently, Roosevelt informs British Prime Minister Churchill (in telegram sent from Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles to Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, Sr.) that among other items previously sought "it may be possible to furnish to the British Government... at least 50 destroyers..." Roosevelt states, though, that such aid could only be given provided that "the American People and the Congress frankly recognized in return...the national defense and security of the United States would be enhanced." The President thus insists that (1) should British waters be rendered untenable the British Fleet would be sent to other parts of the Empire (and neither turned over to the Germans nor sunk) and (2) that the British government would grant authorization to use Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and British Guiana as naval and air bases, and to acquire land there through 99-year leases to establish those bases.

13 August 1942

August 13th, 1942 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Convoy SC-94 arrived in Liverpool after losing eleven merchant ships totalling 53,412 tons. The material lost amounted to 31,250 tons of general cargo, 6,900 tons of grain, 4,000 tons of US Army stores, 4,000 tons of lumber, 4,000 tons of steel, 3,200 tons of pulp, 3,000 tons of food, 2,500 tons of iron ore, 2,000 tons of ammunition, plus a large amount of military transport vehicles carried as deck cargo. Sixty-one merchant sailors were lost.

GERMANY: U-428 laid down.
U-635 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Stalingrad: Fierce fighting is raging in the approaches to Stalingrad. The German Sixth Army, led by General Friedrich Paulus, has forced the Soviet Sixty-Second Army out of the large bend in the Don some 50 miles from the city, but the Russian's stubborn resistance has so far prevented the Germans from crossing the river. Paulus is also being held up at Kletskaya. It seems he is short of men and is waiting for Hoth's 4th Panzer Army from its abortive sortie to the south. Meanwhile, the defences of Stalingrad grow stronger every day.

(Sergey Anisimov)(69)Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. MS "TSch-39" (ex-"Petrozavodsk") - mined at Demantstein strand.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Whilst escorting the Pedestal convoy through the Skerki channel, cruiser HMS MANCHESTER (Captain Drew) is attacked by German torpedo boats S30 and S 36, and Italian torpedo boats MAS 554 and MAS 557. Before dawn they sink British merchantman SS Wairangi and damage SS Rochester Castle (which will eventually reach Malta although she is damaged further by Luftwaffe Ju 87s and Ju 88s). MANCHESTER is struck by a torpedo fired by either Italian Ms16 or Ms22 just before dawn, 4 miles N of Kelibia at 36 50N 11 10E. 120 Non-essential crewmembers are taken off by destroyer HMS Pathfinder and attempts are made to get the damaged ship moving again.

Later, however, rather than face more air attacks which the ship would be incapable of resisting, it is decided to scuttle her. There were 132 casualties, but 568 survive to be taken interned by the French. (Churchill did not approve of this scuttling!) (Alex Gordon)(108) Seven merchants are also lost.

The U.S. freighter Almeria Lykes is torpedoed and abandoned, in position 36°40'N, 11°35'E; the ship remains afloat, but is sunk by scuttling charge after daybreak and the crew is rescued by the RN destroyer HMS Somali rescues all hands. The U.S. freighter SS Santa Elisa is torpedoed in the same attack, approximately 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Cape Bon, in position 36°48'N, 11°23'E, and is abandoned when her cargo of aviation gasoline catches fire; the 96 survivors are rescued by the destroyer HMS Penn. The three surviving British transports and the one tanker will reach Malta later this day; a fourth transport will reach the island tomorrow.

Luftwaffe aircraft attack convoy MKS 21 off the coast of Algeria, strafing and holing US freighters SS Jonathan Elmer, in position 36°07'N, 03°07'E, and SS Anne Bradstreet, in position 36°19'N, 02°18'E. US freighter Francis W. Pettygrove is torpedoed at 36°08'N, 02°14'E; partially abandoned, the survivors that clear the ship are taken on board RN minesweeper HMS Hythe. The rest of the crew and Armed Guard remain on board to prepare the ship for tow.

ALGERIA: An Air France Loiré et Olivier H 246-1 seaplane, msn 403, registered F-AREJ, is damaged by RAF Hurricanes and sinks on landing at Algiers; the 4 aboard the aircraft are killed.

JAPAN: US planes bomb Formosa.

NEW GUINEA: A Japanese Army detachment (the 14th and 15th Naval Construction Units) landed last night at Buna. These constitute about 3,000 Japanese, Korean and Formosans, also supplies and equipment. (Michael Alexander)

A Japanese convoy, headed toward Basabua near Gona, New Guinea, with 3,000 construction troops, is attacked first by USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Allied Air Forces 76 mi (122 km) NE of Gona, followed by B-26 Marauders 20-25 mi (32-40 km) north of Gona and another B-17 attack as the convoy approaches landing position.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USS John Penn had just finished unloading a cargo of 155-mm ammunition off Lunga Point, Guadalcanal. At 2120 she came under attack by enemy torpedo planes. Three minutes later, when the transport took one of the planes under fire, it burst into flames and crashed into her mainmast. About that same instant a torpedo hit from another plane hit the ship. Although vigorous efforts were made to save her, John Penn went down stern first at 2150.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, the US 11th Air Force dispatches 1 B-24 Liberator to fly photo reconnaissance over Kiska Island.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Sarnia commissioned.
Water barge HMC HC 189 and wooden derrick scow HMC BD 6 ordered .

U.S.A.: The classic motion picture "Bambi" premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. This animated Walt Disney film, based on the Felix Salten novel, is directed by David Hand; Sterling Holloway is the voice of a flower in an uncredited role. The plot is about a young deer growing up in the woods and how the phases of its life parallel the cycle of seasons in the forest. The film is nominated for three Academy Awards.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-171 sank SS RM Parker Jr.
U-600 sank SS Delmundo (Master Henry Peter Smith) and Everelza in Convoy TAW-12.
U-658 sank SS Medea in Convoy WAT-13.
U-752 sank SS Cripple Creek. .

Three U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines off the U.S. coast.

1. U-171 sinks an armed tanker, the SS RM Parker Jr., by torpedo and shells in the Gulf of Mexico in position 28.37N, 90.48W while the ship is en route to Port Arthur, Texas.

2. Later in the day, an unarmed freighter is sunk in the Atlantic in position 4.55N, 18.30W.

3. U-600 sinks an armed freighter in convoy TAW-12 in the Windward Passage in position 19.55N, 73.49W. The survivors are rescued by RN destroyer HMS Churchill [ex USN destroyer Herndon (DD-198).] (Jack McKillop & Henry P. Smith (55 pg. 25)

13 August 1943

August 13th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigates HMS Kingsmill, HMS Lawford, Lawson and Louis launched.

EUROPE: The Allies bomb Rome's railyards and, flying over Hungary to make their first raid on Austria, factories at Wiener Neustadt.

GERMANY: U-287 launched.

AUSTRIA: 61 US Ninth Air Force B-24s based in North Africa, hit an aircraft factory at Wiener-Neustadt in the first Ninth Air Force raid on Austria.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Army captures Bolshaya and Danilovka in their advance on Kharkov. A new offensive begins in the Smolensk area and Spas-Demensk, west of Kirov falls.

The headquarters of the German 2 Pz. Armee is pulled out and transferred because the one army headquarters is sufficient for the reduced frontage. (Jeff Chrisman)

Baltic Fleet and Ladoga Flotilla: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Submarine loss. "S-9" - by depth charges of surface ships, close to Bolshoi Tuters Is.

ITALY: 125 XII Bomber Command B-17s bomb the Lorenzo marshalling yard dropping 264 tons of bombs. This is followed by 66

B-25 Mitchells and 102 B-26 Marauders attacking the Littoria marshalling yard.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Luftwaffe aircraft attack convoy MKS 21 off the coast of Algeria, strafing and holing U.S. freighters SS Jonathan Elmer, in position 36°07'N, 03°07'E, and SS Anne Bradstreet, in position 36°19'N, 02°18'E. U.S. freighter Francis W. Pettygrove is torpedoed at 36°08'N, 02°14'E; partially abandoned, the survivors that clear the ship are taken on board RN minesweeper HMS Hythe. The rest of the crew and Armed Guard remain on board to prepare the ship for tow.

FRENCH MOROCCO: Pierre Pucheu, the former Vichy minister of the interior, is arrested.

INDIA: Auchinleck proposes abandoning all offensive operations in Burma in order to concentrate on supplying China by air.

BORNEO: The US 5th AF raids the oilfields at Balikpapan from bases in Australia with a force of 380 aircraft.
9 US Fifth Air Force B-24 based in Australia bomb the oil centre at Balikpapan, Borneo during a late night raid; the round trip covers 1,200 miles (1,920 km); the B-24s are airborne for 17-hours.

"The most sensational of the early raids carried out by the 380th Bombardment Group (Heavy), in view of the planes and techniques available at that time, occurred today, against strategic Balikpapan on the island of Borneo. At 1730, eleven B-24's carrying 69 x 500-pound bombs took off from Darwin and headed out across the Timor Sea in cloudy and turbulent weather. One aircraft was forced to turn back and another failed to find the target, but between midnight and 0145, nine planes hovered over the oil refineries, tanks, and harbour installations, dropped their bombs from between 5,000 and 8,500 feet, and claimed forty-eight 'hits.' As the last plane turned for the long flight back to the base, two refinery areas and one medium-sized vessel were afire and seven large oil-tanks were exploding. In just under seventeen hours from the take-off, eight of the nine aircraft had returned. The ninth, short of fuel, had crash-landed, but all crew members were safe."

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On New Georgia Island 4 P-40s of the US Thirteenth Air Force, become the first Allied aircraft to land on the reconstructed Munda Airfield; after refuelling, they are sent on a sweep of the Kolombangara Island coast; 9 B-17s, with fighter cover, bomb a Kape Harbor depot; and 2 others on armoured reconnaissance bomb Vila on Kolombangara Island. On Santa Isabel Island, 12 B-25s bomb supply areas in the Rekata Bay area; 2 B-24s on armoured reconnaissance hit Suavanau Point, 8 bomb the airfield on Ballale Island, and 13 bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island.

USS John Penn (APA-51) had just finished unloading a cargo of 155-mm. ammunition off Lunga Point, Guadalcanal. At 2120 she came under attack by enemy torpedo planes. Three minutes later, when the transport took one of the planes under fire, it burst into flames and crashed into her mainmast. About that same instant a torpedo hit from another plane hit the ship. Although vigorous efforts were made to save her, John Penn went down stern first at 2150.

CANADA: British and US military leaders meet in Quebec joined by Roosevelt and Churchill. Discussion concerns General Morgan's plans for Overlord, future operations in Italy, and the Pacific. Churchill accepts a US General to command the invasion of France. Admiral Mountbatten is selected to lead a new Southeast Asia Command. This conference will continue through August 24th.

Mr. and Mrs. Churchill are staying in the great citadel overlooking the St. Lawrence river. As well as the British chiefs of staff, the prime minister has taken along his daughter Mary, a subaltern in an anti-aircraft unit, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the leader of the recent "Dambusters" raid on the Ruhr dams, and Brigadier Orde Wingate, the leader of the Chindits in Burma.

On arrival at Halifax en-route for Quebec, Mr. Churchill made the reception party sing "The Maple Leaf Forever" - the Canadian national anthem.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, 7 US Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells from Adak Island bomb targets at Main Camp and North Head on Kiska and Little Kiska Islands. A B-24 flies a special reconnaissance mission. From Amchitka Island B-24s, B-25s, A-24 Dauntlesses, and P-38 Lightnings fly 8 more bombing missions against Kiska Island pounding the Camp area, gun emplacements, buildings, shipping, and airstrip revetments.

73d Squadron flies its last mission in order to prepare to return to the US on 26 August.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Du Barry Was a Lady" is released. This comedy, directed by Roy Del Ruth, stars Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, Zero Mostel, Donald Meek, Tommy Dorsey and Lana Turner in a bit part; Hugh Beaumont, Ava Gardner, Dick Haymes and Jo Stafford appear in uncredited roles. The plot has nightclub hat check man Skelton in love with singer Ball who is looking for a man with money but she changes her mind when he wins the Irish Sweepstakes. After swallowing a knockout drug, he dreams that he is Louis XVI and she is Madame DuBarry. Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra are featured with Buddy Rich on drums and The Pied Pipers, Dick Haymes and Jo Stafford.

13 August 1944

August 13th, 1944 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 4 missions.

- Mission 548: 1,264 bombers and 131 fighters are dispatched in 2 forces to make visual attacks in support of ground forces on coastal batteries and transportation choke points between Le Havre and Paris; 12 bombers are lost.
(1) 634 B-17s hit battle area targets, 69 hit Le Manoir Bridge and 54 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost.
(2) 347 B-24s hit battle area targets, 69 hit Ile de Cezembre and 34 hit St Malo; 5 B-24s are lost.
The 2 forces above are escorted by 131 P-51 Mustangs.

- Mission 549: 1 APHRODITE B-17 with 2,000-pounds (907 kg) of bombs is launched against Le Havre; B-17, P-38 Lightning and Mosquito support aircraft assist; the target is missed and the Mosquito is destroyed by the exploding bombs.

- Mission 550: 2 B-17s fly a Micro H test mission to La Chenaie rail junction.

- Mission 551: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Belgium during the night.

- 36 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

- 844 P-38s, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against transportation targets in the Seine River area; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 4 P-47s and 9 P-51s are lost.

The shuttle-bombing mission flown by US Eighth Air Force from UK-USSR-Italy-UK is completed; of the 72 B-17s taking off from Fifteenth Air Force bases in Italy, 3 have various problems; the others bomb Francazal Airfield, Toulouse, France and then proceed to the UK; 62 P-51 Mustangs (part of the shuttle-mission force) and 43 from the UK provide escort; no aircraft are lost; 70 B-17s and 58 P-51s land in the UK; 5 B-17s and 6 P-51s, either left in Italy or returning there during this mission, subsequently return to the UK. The Eighth Air Force also flies two missions:

- Mission 545: 577 bombers and 436 fighters, in 2 forces, are dispatched to make visual attacks on the Metz marshalling yard and airfield in central and eastern France; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost (number in parenthesis are the number of bombers attacking the target). (1) 276 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Mourmelon (75), Laon/Athies (63), Laon/Couvron (61) and Juvincourt (52); 3 B-24s are lost. (2) 301 B-17s are dispatched to hit airfields at Chaumont (72), Buc (67), La Perthe (58) and Etampes/Mondesir (12);and 69 hit the Metz marshalling yard. The 2 forces above are escorted by 386 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost.

- Mission 546: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

- 486 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s attack transportation targets in the Paris and Brussels areas; they claim 18-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-38s, 5 P-47s and 7 P-51s are lost.

- 220 P-47s and P-51s attack transportation targets in northeastern France; 2 P-51s are lost.

FRANCE: Paris: Parisians attending the Sunday race meetings catch the sound of distant gunfire. The Americans are rumoured to be about to arrive. Partly camouflaged German convoys return from the front. Exhausted soldiers are seen resting or camping in squares and parks.

Argentan is cleared by the US XV Corps. Bradley orders a halt, rather push north to join the Canadians and thereby seal the "Falaise pocket". The US XII and XX Corps advance on Orleans and Chartres from the area of Le Mans.

Around 575 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs with fighter escort bomb fuel storage at Les Buissons, points along highways around Lisieux and southeast to Rugles with the aim of containing the enemy in the Falaise pocket, railroad targets at Peronne, Doullens, and Corbeil-Essonnes; fighters cover ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance in the Alencon, Le Mans, Domfront, and Chartres areas; about 125 C-47 Skytrains fly ferry and evacuation missions; during the night of 13/14 August, 28 B-26s bomb the Foret de Halouze ammunition dump and bivouac area.

US Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack the Oissel rail bridge, Corbeil-Essonnes refuelling siding, and numerous points along highways in the Argentan area with the aim of bottling up enemy troops; fighters fly ground forces cover and armed reconnaissance over wide areas of western and northern France, also escort IX Bomber Command aircraft.

U-547 (Type IXC/40) is damaged by mines in the Gironde near Pauillac 13 Aug 1944 and taken out of service at Stettin, 31 Dec 1944. (Alex Gordon)

ITALY: Almost 500 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack gun positions around Genoa, Italy and Toulon, and Sete, France, and strike at bridges at Pont-Saint-Esprit, Avignon, Orange, and Crest, France; 31 P-38s dive-bomb Montelimar Airfield; other fighters fly 180+ sorties in support of the bombers; and 28 bombers hit military installations at Pec, Yugoslavia.

US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches almost 550 fighter-escorted B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in France and Italy; the B-17s bomb gun positions in the Savona, Italy area; B-24s attack gun positions in the Genoa, Italy and the Marseille, Toulon, and Sete areas of France; 100+ P-51s strafe radar installations and other coast-watching facilities along the southern French coast; these strikes are preparatory to Operation DRAGOON, the invasion of southern France.

The 8th Indian Division enters north Florence to help the Italian resistance to extend its hold on the city.

INDIAN OCEAN: U-198 is sunk near the Seychelles, in position 03.35S, 52.49E, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Findhorn and the Indian sloop HMIS Godavari. All hands, 66 men, are lost.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Kurile Islands, of 3 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s departing Shemya Island, Aleutian Islands during the night of 12/13 August, 1 aborts while the other 2 bomb the Kashiwabara staging area on Paramushiru Island; later 6 B-25s fly a shipping sweep east of the northern Kuriles during which a fighter is downed.

In the Kurile Islands, 4 B-24s and 2 F-7A Liberators of the US Eleventh Air Force over Paramushiru and Shimushu Islands, hit targets which include shipping in Higashi Banjo Strait and buildings and runway on Suribachi; enemy fighters give battle; the B-24s score 3 kills and 13 probables and damaged; 6 more B-25s fly an uneventful shipping sweep and take photos over Shimushiru Island.

US Seventh Air Force B-24s based on Saipan Island hit shipping, a seaplane base, and the airfield on Chichi Jima Island, Bonin Islands.

USS Flier hit a mine in the Balabac Strait, 13 men escaped the boat but only 8 managed to reach shore 15 hours later at Mantangula Island. Redfin (SS-272) then rescued them with the assistance of friendly locals on 30 August.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Stone Town arrived Halifax from builder in Montreal.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D Roosevelt concludes his inspection of naval facilities in the Pacific and departs Puget Sound, Washington for Washington, DC.

Heavy cruiser USS Fall River launched.
Submarine USS Loggerhead launched.
Destroyer minelayer USS Tolman launched. Post-war Tolman served for many years as a target hulk at Nanoose Bay BC until eventually being expended as a target off Point Mugu CA.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-270 is sunk at 0010 hours local in the Bay of Biscay west of La Rochelle, in position 46.19N, 02.56W, by depth charges from an RAAF Sunderland Mk III of No. 461 Squadron based at Pembroke Dock, Wales. All 71 crewmen on the U-boat survived.

U-862 sank SS Radbury.

U-981 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay at La Rochelle, in position 45.41N, 01.25W, by an air-laid mine (field "Cinnamon") and depth charges from an RAF Halifax Mk II of No. 502 Squadron based at St David's, Pembrokeshire. 40 of the 52 U-boat crewmen survive.

13 August 1945

August 13th, 1945 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Andrew laid down.

LUXEMBOURG: Hermann Göring is off drugs for the first time in years, but still takes breakfast in bed. Von Ribbentrop relaxes as his room-mate Frank, the "butcher" of Poland, reads aloud from the Bible. Like others of the top 24 Nazis held under guard at the Palace Hotel, Mondorf les Bains, Frank is a high suicide risk. He was admitted with multiple, self-inflicted knife wounds. Soon all will go on trial at Nuremberg, exchanging a sun terrace for the more forensic light of a war crimes tribunal. Hess pleads that he is a case of amnesia.

GERMANY: Berlin: French troops take up garrison duties in the British and US zones in the west of the city.

MONGOLIA: Ulan Bator: Mongolia declares war on Japan.

JAPAN: The Cabinet Secretary Sakomizu and Lord Kido among others, have been branded as "false advisors" to the Emperor. Placards and posters over the country have sprung up urging that they and others of the "peace faction" be killed on sight.

Lt. Gen. Okido, commander of the Kempeitai (Military Police), appears in the PMs office demanding to see Suzuki. After finding out he is not there he tells Cabinet Secretary Sakomizu that "If Japan surrenders the army will rise. This is certain. Has the PM confidence that he can suppress the revolt?"

The Japanese Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, meets at 8:45 this morning. The SCDW is know as the Big 6 of the Japanese Cabinet. PM, FM, War Minister, Navy Minister, Army CofS, Navy CofS. The meeting is interrupted by a call from Hirohito for both Chief of Staffs. Hirohito asks for their offensive plans during peace negotiations. They agree to refrain from offensive measures. After the SCDW meeting resumes, it accomplishes nothing. FM Togo leaves to report to the Emperor. He instructs the FM to do his best to settle the matter.

Junior Japanese Army officers meet in small groups during the day. They are determined to take over the government and continue the war. The full cabinet meets at 3:00 pm. Anami leaves to call Lt. Gen. Yoshizumi and tells him that the cabinet is coming around to the army's way of thinking. It is not.

At 4:00 pm a Japanese IGHQ communiqué is released: "The Imperial Army and Navy having hereby received the gracious Imperial Command to protect the national polity [Emperor System] and to defend the Imperial Land, the entire armed forces will single-heartedly commence a general offensive against the Allied enemy forces." The War Minister and Army Chief of Staff immediately order the distribution of this message stopped. They know nothing about it.

By 7:00 pm the cabinet meeting has decided nothing. The PM, desiring to follow the Imperial will announces that he will report to the Emperor and again ask His Majesty to give his gracious decision. This in effect puts the military on notice that any coup must happen before another Imperial Conference.

- US Far East Air Force B-24s and B-25s from Okinawa pound shipping in the waters off Korea and Kyushu Island and in the Inland Sea claiming several vessels sunk and damaged; P-47s over Keijo encounter 20 Japanese aircraft and claim at least 16 shot down.

- RN and USN carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 38 attack Japanese airfields in the Tokyo area and claim 250 aircraft destroyed on the ground.

A USAAF OA-10A Catalina rescues a TBM Avenger crewman from the inner reaches of Tokyo Bay midway between Yokohama and Kizarazu, marking the first time that a U.S. plane has accomplished a rescue in those waters. The crewman was assigned to Torpedo Squadron Eighty Seven (VT-87) in the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14).

In total 1600 US aircraft bomb Tokyo tonight.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-373 is sunk by the USS Spikefish in the Eastern Sea off China. (Mike Yared)(144 and 145)

CANADA: HMC ML 115 paid off.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The US Eleventh Air Force in the Aleutians dispatches its last combat mission when 6 B-24s radar-bomb the Kashiwahara Staging Area on Paramushiru Island with incendiaries, leaving huge columns of smoke. PB4Y-2 Privateers of the USN's Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Two (VPB-122) based on Shemya Island, bomb Kakumabetsu and strafe Torishima Retto on Paramushiru Island.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Sirago is commissioned.

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