21 August 1939

August 21st, 1939 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:
Chamberlain reaches London early in the morning, having travelled overnight from Scotland.
British Intelligence suggests that Field Marshal Hermann Göring , founder of the Gestapo and head of the Luftwaffe should come to London for discussions.

GERMANY:
Hitler receives a letter from Stalin announcing his willingness to receive Ribbentrop on August 23.

Pocket battleship Graf Spee leaves Wilhelmshaven for the South Atlantic. (Alex Gordon)

U.S.S.R.:
Drax and Doumenc decide to dispense with Polish permission and on the responsibility of their own governments allow Soviet forces to enter Poland. Marshal Voroshilov (knowing of Ribbentrop's impending arrival) postpones indefinitely any continuation of Anglo-French-Soviet talks.

Khalkin-Gol: 6th Tank and 8th Motorised Armour brigades envelope the Japanese flank and occupy the area in the rear of the Japanese forces active south of the Khailstyn-Gol River. Southern group infantry units drive a deep wedge into the Japanese main defensive zone, destroying his close-in tactical reserves and capturing several artillery positions. Red Air Force bombers make 256 sorties and drop 90 tons of bombs.

VATICAN CITY: The Pope appeals for world peace.

U.S.A.: Strong sends memo to Chief of Staff reminding him that a final decision on Philippine defenses needed to be made. No action was taken.

21 August 1940

August 21st, 1940 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:
Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command: Enemy operations mainly limited to fighter 'tip and run' raids.

Airfields in East Anglia, south and south-west attacked.

A Do17 of KG 3 penetrating Norfolk, is destroyed at Burnham Market by 611 Squadron using the new Spitfire IIs, before another three of the Squadrons Spitfire Is destroy two more Do 17s off Mablethorpe, Lincs.

242 Sqn, down a Do17 near Harlesdon soon after midday and 56 Sqn. claim another near Ipswich.

At RAF Watton in Lincolnshire a Do17Z completes half a circuit before dropping 20 bombs causing neither casualties nor damage. The line of craters is soon filled and the raider was shot down by fighters.

In Southwold three houses are wrecked and in Leicester five die and 13 are injured during the city's first air raid.

Bombing at St. Eval damaged six 236 Squadron Blenheims.

Convoy CE9 ran the Dover Straits under shell-fire and high-level bombing. Low-level raiders were driven off by intense AA fire and the difficulty of flying through the convoys' kite-barrage
Losses: Luftwaffe, 14; RAF 1.

GERMANY: U-133 laid down. U-141 commissioned.

ROMANIA: Bucharest: Bulgarian troops are tonight poised to enter Romanian territory after talks here ended with an agreement to revert to pre-1912 borders. Southern Dobruja, containing the two provinces of Durastor and Caliacra bordering the Black Sea, will be ceded to Bulgaria, and up to 100,000 Romanians moved to their diminishing homeland. Romania has already lost control of Bessarabia to Russia. And Romania's troubles are not over yet: Hungary is eyeing eagerly the province of Transylvania, in western Romania, and Germany would like access to Romanian oil.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Three Fleet Air Arm Swordfish deliver, arguably, the most interesting torpedo attack of the war. Having been informed of an Italian "depot ship" at An-el-Gazala, three Swordfish of HMS Eagle's 824 Squadron, FAA, temporarily based at Ma'aten Bagush, are transferred to Sidi Barrani, equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks and torpedoes. In the late-afternoon, the three crews [Capt. O. Patch, RM (p)/Mid. G. J. Woodley, RNVR(o), Lt. N. A. F. Cheeseman, RN(p)/Sub-Lt. F. Stovin-Bradford, RN(o), and Lt. J. W. G. Welham, RN(p)/PO(A) A. H. Marsh(TAG)] headed out on the 180 mile flight to the Gulf of Bomba, routing 30 miles out to sea so as to approach the target from seaward.

Approaching the target, they sighted the Italian Submarine Iride [the mother ship for Italian human torpedoes arriving to attack Alexandria] approaching on the surface. Heading straight for her, Captain Patch released his torpedo, which smacked Iride amidships, sinking her.

Having had no opportunity to attack themselves, the other two continued on the mission assigned. As they approached, they discovered the depot ship [Monte Gargano (1,976 GRT)] with a submarine and a destroyer tied up along side. Both torpedoes ran true into the pack, the resulting explosions "sinking whole bloody lot". Initially treated with distain when they reported sinking four ships with three torpedoes, the crews were quite exuberant when recon photos the next morning verified that all three in harbour had, in fact, sank, though apparently the destroyer and the submarine were only beached. (Mark Horan)

Submarine HMS Rorqual sank unknown 5000 ton Italian supply ship by torpedo.

MEXICO: Leon Trotsky dies from injuries sustained in an ice-pick attack yesterday.

21 August 1941

August 21st, 1941 (THURSDAY)

EIRE: An RAF Hurricane Mk. IIB, s/n Z5070, which was on a delivery flight, makes a forced landing at Athboy, County Meath. This aircraft is repaired by the Irish Army Air Corps and becomes their sixth fighter aircraft in service; the six consist of three Gloster Gladiator Mk. Is, a biplane with a top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h), and three Hurricanes, two Mk. IIBs and a Mk. X.

FRANCE: Paris: A German naval cadet by the name of Moser is shot in the Metro station of Barbès-Rochechouart by a young communist, Fabien who soon to assume the rank of colonel in the FTP.

Vichy arrests 5,000 Jews to be sent to Drancy concentration camp which opened yesterday.

GERMANY: Herman Bernhard Ramcke who flew out to Crete in May to replace the dead Gen. Meindl receives the Knight's Cross for his decision and subsequent leadership. As does Dr. Heinrich Neumann who took over command of I. Battalion Sturm Regiment. (Marc Rikmenspoel)

Adolf Hitler orders the investment, not capture, of Leningrad, and the transfer of several divisions from the North and Centre to capture the Crimea and the Donets basin, an industrial region vital to the Soviet war effort.

U-174 launched. U-376, U-455 and U-584 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Chudovo, NE of Novgorod falls to the Germans. This cuts the rail link between Leningrad and Moscow.

Finnish attacks capture Kexholm from the Soviets.

The Red Army retreats from Gomel after a long series of unsuccessful counterattacks against the Germans.
The Red Army blows up the Dnieper Dam to halt the German advance and as part of their "scorched-earth" policy.

FINLAND: In southern Karelia IV Corps (Lt. Gen. Lennart Oesch) starts its attack today, one day earlier than originally planned. The Corps consists of 12th ID (Col. Vihma), IR 25 and 8th ID (Col. Winell) with 4th ID (Col. Viljanen) in reserve. It is opposed by the three divisions of the Soviet 23rd Army (123rd, 43rd and 115th divs). The aim is to encircle and destroy the Soviet troops around Viipuri and western Karelian Isthmus.

The attack is originally planned for 22 Aug, but on the 21st it is found out that the Soviet troops are withdrawing along the whole front. The Finnish troops are ordered to immediately pursue the enemy.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Grandmere launched Montreal, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the U.S. Congress about the Atlantic Chargers. He say, "Finally, the declaration of principles at this time presents a goal which is worth while for our type of civilization to seek. It is so clear cut that it is difficult to oppose in any major particular without automatically admitting a willingness to accept compromise with Nazism; or to agree to a world peace which would give to Nazism domination over large numbers of conquered nations. Over a week ago I held several important conferences at sea with the British Prime Minister. Because of the factor of safety to British, Canadian, and American ships, and their personnel, no prior announcement of these meetings could properly be made."

The motion picture "The Little Foxes" is released today. Based on the play by Lillian Hellman, this drama is directed by William Wyler and stars Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright (in her film debut), Richard Carlson and Dan Duryea (his film debut). The plot describes the greed and corruption within a crumbling Southern family. Regina (Davis) needs money to invest in a business with her brothers but her husband Horace (Marshall) refuses. Regina's nephew Leo (Duryea) steals negotiable bonds from Horace's bank to give the brothers, and when Regina tries to blackmail them, Horace claims the money was a gift. Furious, Regina withholds Horace's medication knowing he will die without it and after he dies, she forces her brothers to give her two-thirds of their business. Her daughter Alexandra (Wright) learns what has happened and leaves her. The film is nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (Wyler), Best Actress (Davis) and Best Supporting Actress (Wright). It does not win any awards.

Submarine USS Gato launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The first Arctic convoy sets sail from Iceland to northern Russia.

21 August 1942

August 21st, 1942 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: At Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold's request, Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower gives Major General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General 8th Air Force, additional duties as Air Officer for the European Theatre of Operations US Army (ETOUSA) and head of the air section of its staff, thus assuring active participation by the US 8th Air Force in theatre planning.

In England, the US 8th Air Force flies Mission 4: 12 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to the bomb the shipyards at Rotterdam, the Netherlands but the mission is aborted due to an attack by 25 Bf 109s and Fw 190s; the bombers claim 2-5-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; lack of proper coordination with the USAAF Spitfire escorts is a major factor in the failure of the mission.

Light cruiser HMS Bermuda commissioned.

FRANCE: Marshal Petain congratulates the Germans on their defence of French soil during the Allied raid on Dieppe.

GERMANY: U-771, U-853 and 1061 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: German Army Group A has reached Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.
Advance units of Army Group B have crossed the Don River near Kletskaya.

German soldiers plant the swastika on top of Mount Elbruz, at 18,000 feet, the highest in the Caucasus.

Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Shipping loss: MS "TSch-405 "Vzrivatel"" - by field artillery, close to Eupatoria (later raised) (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: US Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) B-24s attack a convoy southwest of Crete, claiming 2 ships probably sunk; enemy fighters attack a straggling B-24 and force it to crash land at sea.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 2nd Btn 1st Marines from dug in positions on the west bank of Alligator Creek on Guadalcanal successfully stop a fanatic attack by 800 IJA soldiers of the 28th Regiment, known as the Ichiki Detachment after its CO, Colonel Ichiki Kiyoano. This battle becomes known to history as "The Battle of the Teneru River" due to the incorrect and incomplete maps used by the Marines.
The battle starts about 0030 with some initial firefights. At 0200, with a green flare, a headlong charge by Ichiki's 2nd Company begins, led by Col. Kiyoano wrapped in a Rising Sun flag. The Marines with rifles, machine guns and 37mm canister defeat this first attack. It ends with some Japanese actually reaching Marine foxholes and some hand to hand combat. Other attacks follow. Supported by the 75mm artillery of 3rd Btn 11th Marines, they all fail. This battle welcomes the first aircrew of what will become the Cactus Airforce that arrived yesterday. It also marks the first time American soldiers have decisively beaten an attack by the IJA. Jacob Vouza, a native coastwatcher, reaches US lines during the attack. He had been captured by the IJA earlier and after a severe beating and a slit throat left for dead. Vouza survives and is awarded the Silver Star by Vandegrift for his report and appointed Sgt Major in the USMC.

Later in the afternoon the 1st Btn joins 3rd Btn 1st Marines to sweep upmost of the remaining IJA soldiers.

USMC ground troops repulse the Japanese attack across the Ilu River; 700 of the 900 Japanese troops are killed. The Japanese send G4M "Betty" bombers and A6M "Zeke" fighters to attack Henderson Field. The Marines have been warned by coastwatchers and the incoming raid is met by F4F Wildcats of VMF-223. The "Zekes" block the Marines attempt to attack the bombers and the G4Ms bomb Henderson Field; 3 "Zekes" are shot down and 1 F4F and 1 SBD is destroyed.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutians: A US 11th Air Force B-24 Liberator trying to fly reconnaissance over Kiska Island aborts due to bad weather.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-506 sank SS City of Wellington.

21 August 1943

August 21st, 1943 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigates HMS Conn and Cotton launched.

Escort carrier HMS Ruler launched.

GERMANY: U-1226 launched.

DENMARK: Riots, strikes and sabotage paralyze Copenhagen and other Danish cities and towns. The Germans rush 40,000 troops from Norway to quell the disturbances.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet forces capture Zmiev, south of Kharkov.

Moscow: Andrei Gromyko is appointed Soviet ambassador to the US.

Field Marshal von Manstein warns Adolf Hitler that the Soviet Army's crunching offensives may overwhelm out-numbered German forces in the Ukraine. Wehrmacht intelligence has determined 287 Soviet divisions are battering 52 German divisions.

ITALY:

- US Ninth Air Force B-24's attack a railroad station, marshalling yard, and air depot at Cancello Arnone.

- US Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26 Marauders and B-17s bomb marshalling yards at Villa Literno and Aversa; the P-38 escort also attacks Aversa; NASAF aircraft claim 20+ enemy fighters shot down.

ALGERIA: Maj. André Gilbert Kempster (b.1916), Duke of Wellington's Regiment, threw himself on a grenade which had rolled into his trench, he died instantly.

NEW GUINEA: Komiatum, 6 miles SW of Salamaua, is captured by Australian troops.
USAAF 5th AF B-25s bomb But and Dagua Airfields on New Guinea.

AUSTRALIA: Election returns show that Premier Curtin's Labour Party is on top.

Menzies retained Kooyong, though the United Australia Party, led by WM Hughes, lost heavily. The Curtin Labour government increased its majority, winning 49 seats to 12 United Australia Party seats, 7 Country Party, 3 Country National Party, 1 Liberal Country Party, 1 Queensland Country Party, and 1 Independent seats in the House of Representatives. Labour won all 19 Senate seats contested. (Daniel Ross)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: During the Aleutian Campaign, 3 June 42 to 21 August 43, the US Eleventh Air Force destroyed 69 aircraft, sank 21 and damaged 29 ships, and lost 29 of its own aircraft.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "The 7th Victim" is released today. This horror film, directed by Mark Robson, stars Tom Conway and Kim Hunter. The plot has Mary Gibson (Hunter) going to New York City in search of her missing sister and finding a group of devil-worshippers.

Submarine USS Batfish commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Cooner and Bunch commissioned. Destroyer escorts USS Gary and Greenwood launched. Corvette HMCS Eyebright completed foc'sle extension refit Baltimore, Maryland.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-596 sank SS Lily, SS Namaz and SS Panikos.

The Allies, while building up for Overload (D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944) established a new troopship convoy route called UT. This was a fast and heavily escorted convoy route averaging 15 knots.

21 August 1944

August 21st, 1944 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarines HMS Tapir and Votary launched. Submarine Zeehond launched. Frigate HMS Loch Katrine launched.

Corvette HMCS Leaside commissioned, South Bank-on-Tees.

Corvette HMCS Alberni sunk while streaming south at fourteen knots in fair weather with a NNE wind of five knots but State Four seas for the rendezvous, sweeping by asdic eighty-degrees on either bow, radar operating. "Hands to Dinner" had just been piped. Four minutes later, with no asdic warning whatsoever, she was hit by a torpedo on her port side just aft of the engine room. In less than 10 seconds she was awash from the funnel aft, listing to port and sinking fast. In another twenty seconds she was gone, sinking stern first. Most of the off-watch hands were trapped in their mess decks, and only one stoker escaped from the engine and boiler rooms. Alberni was sunk by U-480 OLtsZ Hans-Joachim FÖRSTER CO, at 1141, 25 miles SE. of St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, 50-18N 00-51W. 59 crew members were lost (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)

FRANCE: A rapid advance across northern France begins by Allied units in pursuit of retreating German units.

Falaise: The "Falaise Pocket" was finally closed today two weeks after the Canadian First Army mounted Operation Totalize to cut off the otherwise encircled German forces. It has been a bloody battle, with Allied aircraft supporting the land forces with Typhoon and P-47 rocket-firing fighter-bombers, and to the end the Germans fought with almost fanatical determination.

Some 30,000 Germans managed to escape across the Seine after Hitler yesterday allowed Field Marshal Walter Model, who replaced von Kluge four days ago, to withdraw. Model has now told Hitler that the Seventh Army can no longer function as a fighting force. But 50,000 Germans have been captured along with considerable stocks of equipment. An estimated 10,000 Germans were killed. The way is now open for a speedy advance towards Paris.

The town of Falaise had fallen by 17 August after determined resistance by the 12th SS Panzer Division. But remnants of the German 5th Panzerarmee and Seventh Army remained in the pocket, with a narrow gap between Falaise and Argentan allowing them to escape. Today Canadian, British and Polish forces pressing in from the north linked up with the US First Army driving from Argentan to the south, with Allied aircraft strafing the Germans as they retreated over wreckage-strewn roads.

The US 3rd Army patrols reach Versailles.
The US VI Corps is advancing on Aix-en-Provence and French forces on their left are moving on Toulon and Marseilles in the south of France.
In southern France, US Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers and fighters again blast enemy communications lines and gun positions and motor transport and train cars.

Flower class corvette HMS Orchis is mined off Juno Beach, Normandy in Baie de la Seine at Courselles-sur-Mer. Her bows are blown off as far back as the gun, and she is beached as a constructive loss.

U-963 During a crash dive at night (0017hrs) in the Bay of Biscay a man was lost overboard. [Bootsmaat Hans Reiter].

GERMANY: U-3514 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet 3rd Baltic and Leningrad Fronts move forward on both sides of Lake Peipus. Sandomierz on the west bank of the Vistula River falls to the First Ukraine Front. (John Nicholas)
German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte retake Tukkum in Estonia, re-establishing contact with Heeresgruppe Nord (Schoerner).

At 20.45 hours, the British destroyer HMS Keppel got a contact on her starboard quarter, while escorting the convoy JW-59 in position 73.01N, 03.57E - Grid AB 5456, 220 miles south-west of Bear Island. Together with HMS Kite (U 87) and a Swordfish aircraft from the British escort carrier HMS Vindex the U-boat was attacked with hedgehogs and depth charges. They hunted the U-boat throughout the night with their foxers (Anti Gnat devices) streamed, but the hunt was fruitless. At 06.40 hours on 21 August, HMS Kite had slowed down to 6 knots to clear her foxers, which had become twisted around one another. At this vulnerable moment, U-344 (Kapitanleutnant Ulrich Pietsch) fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes at the sloop, misidentified as Dido-class light cruiser by Pietsch. The ship was struck by two torpedoes on the starboard side and heeled over to that side immediately. The stern broke off, floated for a few seconds, then sank. The bow remained afloat for a minute and then sank at a steep angle. At 07.30 hours, HMS Keppel stopped to pick up survivors, while the British sloops HMS Peacock and HMS Mermaid screened the rescue operation. There are 183 casualties. Only 14 of the about 60 survivors in the water could be rescued from the ice cold water, five of them died on board and were later buried at sea. (Dave Shirlaw and Alex Gordon)(108)

ITALY : The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 117 B-24s, escorted by P-51 Mustangs, to bomb Nish Airfield, Yugoslavia. 102 B-24s, with P-51 escort, hit Hajduboszormeny Airfield, Hungary which 46 other P-51s sweep, some making low-level strafings on parked aircraft.

HUNGARY: During the day, 102 B-24 Liberators of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb Boszormeny Airfield at Hajdu with the loss of two B-24s. During the night of 21/22 August, 70 RAF Liberators of No. 205 Group visually bomb Szony Airfield at Komoron with the loss of three aircraft.

YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, 117 B-24 Liberators of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb the airfield at Nis without loss.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-230 runs aground in the Toulon roadsteads, France, in position 43.07N, 06.00E. She is scuttled by her crew during the Allied invasion of southern France. All 50 crewmen survive.

JAPAN: Sixty-one Chengtu, China based B-29s assigned to the 40th BG attacked the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata on a daylight mission. Yawata, one of the B-29s primary targets flown from the forward air bases in China, was located on Kyushu Island near the Shimonoseki Strait at the north end of the island. The raid cost fourteen B-29s (one to AAA, four to Japanese fighters, one to ramming by a Japanese fighter, and one to aerial bombing from a Japanese aircraft above the bomber formation).

The crew of a 40th BG aircraft 42-24829 assigned to the 395th BS, "What Happened?" bailed out near Vladivostok. The pilot, Maj. Richard McGlinn, rescued forty-four days later, had nearly starved to death. The crew consisted of:
Aircraft cmdr/pilot, Maj. Richard M. McGlinn.
Co-pilot, 1st. Lt. Ernest E. Claude.
Flight engineer, 1st. Lt. Aiman W Conrath.
Bombardier, 1st Lt. Eugene C. Murphy.
Navigator, 2d. Lt. LyIe C. Turner.
Radar operator, SSgt. Melvin O. Webb.
CFC/gunner, SSgt. William T Stocks.
Tail gunner, SSgt. Charles H. Robson.
Right gunner, Sgt. John G. Beckley.
Left gunner, Sgt. Louis M. Mannatt.
Radio operator, Sgt. Otis Childs. (Mike Yared)(286)

PALAU ISLANDS: Radar-equipped B-24s of the US Thirteenth Air Force continue their nightly sorties against Japanese positions.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Quinte completed refit Pictou, Nova Scotia and attached to HMCS Cornwallis as training ship Digby, Nova Scotia. Corvette HMCS Asbestos departed Bermuda after workups for St John's and EG C-2

Frigate HMCS Runnymede arrived Halifax from Bermuda workups. Frigates HMCS Kirkland Lake and Loch Alvie commissioned.

U.S.A.: The Dumbarton Oaks Conference begins. This conference marks the beginning discussions about a post-war assembly that will become the United Nations. Stettinius for the US, Cadogan for Britain and Gromyko for the USSR are in attendance. The conference will last through the 29th.

The motion picture "When Strangers Marry" is released today. Directed by William Castle, this mystery stars Robert Mitchum, Kim Hunter, Dean Jagger and Rhonda Fleming. A naive small-town girl (Hunter) goes to New York City to meet her husband (Jagger) and learns he may be a murderer. Her ex-boyfriend (Mitchum) plays it cool in his first important role.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-192 was commissioned at New Orleans with LTJG C. J. Stevenson, USCGR, first commanding officer. He was succeeded on 29 November l944 by LTJG Charles W. Shannon, USCG. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. and

ARCTIC OCEAN: Whilst escorting convoy JW.59 (Loch Ewe, Scotland to Kola Fjord, U.S.S.R.), RN sloop HMS Kite (U 87) is torpedoed and sunk about 268 nautical miles (495 kilometres) west-southwest of Bjornoya (Bear Island), Norway, by U-344 (Kapitanleutnant Ulrich Pietsch) using a spread of FAT torpedoes which ran a wandering course with regular 180-degree turns. There are 183 casualties and just 9 survivors. Position is 73 01N, 03 57E.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-743 is listed as missing in the Arctic Ocean or the North ATLANTIC OCEAN with all hands, 50 men.

U-766 is stricken near La Pallice, in position 46.10N, 01.14W, when unable to put to sea and surrendered to France.

21 August 1945

August 21st, 1945 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Westminster: The government announces its intention to nationalize the Bank of England.

KURILE ISLANDS: 2 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s are prevented by cloud cover from taking photos of the Soviet occupation; 4 others abort a photo mission to Paramushiru and Shimushu Islands due to weather.

CHINA: Mukden: Against fast-crumbling resistance Soviet forces have occupied nearly all of Manchuria, ending 14 years of Japanese occupation. Kwantung Army troops are surrendering at the rate of 100,000 a day.

Despite agreeing a surrender two days ago the Red Army is pressing forward to seize territory before the cease-fire. Yesterday Soviet advance paratroops landed in Manchuria's four main cities. Soviet forces estimate that they are a say away from regaining Port Arthur, seized by Japan from Russia in 1905. The 12-day campaign has been a triumph for Marshal Vasilevsky's use of three armies at separate points on the 1,500 mile front. Although outmanned and outgunned, the Japanese had the defensive advantage of mountains ringing the Manchurian basin. But they had reckoned without the fast Soviet armoured advance through the Hingan passes with tanks supplied by air with fuel and ammunition.

Tokyo: JAPAN appeals to kamikaze pilots to cease operations.

CANADA: Tug HMCS Murray Stewart paid off.

U.S.A.: After delivering $50 billion of goods to the Allies, President Truman orders Lend-Lease aid to stop. This action stands in stark contrast to the earlier generosity of Lend-Lease or later the Marshall Plan.

Destroyer USS Ernest G Small commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Tercel commissioned.

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