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August 30th, 1939 (WEDNESDAY)

The last first class cricket games of the pre-war period get under way. Lancashire play Surrey at Old Trafford (home of Lancashire Cricket Club), because the Oval has already been designated as a potential prisoner of war camp (for expected German parachutists).

RMS Queen Mary sets sail from Southampton for New York City on its last commercial voyage. The ship will remain berthed at New York until the end of the year while it was decided what role the ship would play in the war.

FRANCE: With war on the horizon, the government evacuates 16,000 children from Paris.

GERMANY:
Ambassador Henderson is informed from Britain that Hitler's demand for the arrival of a Polish plenipotentiary that day is unreasonable.

Henderson and Ribbentrop meet again, and this time come close to blows: Ribbentrop 'gabbles' through Hitler's latest proposals and refuses to give Henderson a copy of the text.

A document setting out the German demands in 16 points is prepared. 
They include: the annexation of Danzig by Germany; a corridor across the Danzig Corridor; a plebiscite to be held in the Corridor area in 12 months time, and a later exchange of populations. The port of Gdynia was to be recognized as Polish, thus leaving Poland with access to the sea. It is not put to the Polish ambassador until 1 September, although they are broadcast over German radio on the evening of the 31st.

[Tomorrow the OKW will issue] Führer Directive #1 for the Conduct of the War.

(i) The Führer has concluded that all possibilities of peacefully resolving the crisis on Germany’s eastern frontier have been exhausted and the intolerable situation requires a forceful solution.

(ii) The attack on Poland is to be conducted in accordance with the prepared plan ‘Case White’, and is set to begin on 1st September1939.

(iii) In the West the responsibility for opening hostilities is to be left unmistakably in the hands of Britain and France. Assurances of neutrality to Switzerland and the Low Countries are to be strictly observed. 

(iv) If hostilities are opened in the west, Wehrmacht operations should be conducted with the goal of maintaining conditions for successfully concluding the war with Poland. The West Wall will be occupied, a direct Führer order is required for any offensive undertakings. The Kriegsmarine will operate against merchant shipping, with England as its focus, and will secure the Baltic Sea. 

The Luftwaffe’s primary role is to protect German targets from enemy air attack, although operations disrupting English deployments to Europe, maritime activity, and particularly opportunities against heavy Royal Navy units should be exploited. (Marc Roberts)

Hermann Göring is appointed Reich Council Chairman for National Defence. (Gene Hanson)

SWITZERLAND: Henri Guisan is elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly as General. The Swiss Army only elects a General when their neutrality is threatened and Guisan is only the fourth General in Swiss history.  (John Nicholas)

POLAND:
Beck tells Kennard that Polish mobilisation will resume at midnight.
By 4.30 p.m. all Polish towns are covered with posters summoning up all men
up to the age of 40 to report for enlistment.

Poland sends all 4 of their destroyers, and 1 submarine to the UK. Their other 4 submarines are sent to positions in the western Baltic. (Alex Gordon)

NEW ZEALAND: The Army mobilizes the Regular Force and Special Reserve and coastal defenses were manned.

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August 30th, 1940 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:
Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command: Very heavy bombing of airfields (Lympne, Biggin Hill twice, Detling). Vauxhall works at Luton. At night heavy bombing of Merseyside.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 36; RAF, 26.

German raiders target Biggin Hill in Kent and important industries in Luton; incendiaries are dropped on London.
Leading today's assault 100+ aircraft arrived in the Deal-Dungeness area at 07:36, Do 17s escorted by Bf110s of ZG 76 and heading for a convoy sailing from the Thames at Methil. Then at 10:30 the first element of phase one of the three part operation revealed itself as three Gruppen of Bf109s coming in over the Kent coast to pave the way for 40 He-111s, 30 Do 17s and another 90 fighters. 151 Squadron engaged the Heinkels, claiming three for the loss of two Hurricanes before 85 Squadron made head-on attacks, widely splitting the bomber formation. Two escorting Bf110s were then shot down, and another Hurricane lost. 

Scattered groups of bombers produced another confusing and dangerous situation, prompting Park to order part of 253 Squadron to guard Kenley, whose fighters were scrambled. 253 then found themselves attacking three formation each of nine Ju88s with 30 fighters providing top cover. Aided by 43 Squadron and newcomers of 222 Squadron they destroyed six enemy aircraft, but for the cost of ten RAF aircraft and five pilots.

The pressure was building and before the squadrons completed their turn-rounds Kesselring dispatched small groups of bombers protected by many fighters and crossing the Kent coast from 13:00 at around 15,000 feet at 20-minute intervals, and largely unplotted because power supplies to radar stations had been cut during morning raids. For over two hours the enemy roamed over south-east England. Five fighter squadrons responded, among them 222 Squadron, which was to operate three times during the day, have eight of its Spitfires put out of use, lose five, have a pilot killed and two injured. 

Twelve of 222 Squadron's Spitfires on patrol at 16,000 feet over Lympne sighted 15 escorted He-111s near Canterbury and as they attacked were set upon by the Messerschmitts. They claimed a Bf 110 damaged but Pilot Officer Asheton was forced to land on the obstructed Bekesbourne airfield, Sergeant Baxter had to put down at Eastchurch and Pilot Officer Carpenter baled out of P9378 near Rochford.

Early in the afternoon another squadron appeared. Since the start of the Battle 12 Group's Coltishall-based 242 Squadron, led by Sqn. Ldr. Douglas Bader, had been flying convoy patrols off the East Anglian coast and seen little fighting. Around midday 242 was ordered to Duxford, from where 14 Hurricanes set off to police the North Weald area, and led by Bader (P3061) they tackled raid X33, a diamond formation of KG 1s He 111s which had already braved 54 rounds of heavy AA fire, and shot down two. Before returning to Coltishall that evening 242 operated on two occasions.
By 16:00 a huge force of enemy aircraft, probably about 300, was crossing the Kent coast, some heading for distant inland targets. 13 squadrons were scrambled to deal with them. 19 Gruppen in total headed for Hawker's at Slough, the Hurricane and Spitfire repair centres at Oxford, for Luton and three vital airfields - North Weald, Kenley and Biggin Hill. One small formation, intercepted by only one squadron, managed to put Detling out of use for 15 hours. 

The biggest, potentially most damaging operation so far, had to be ferociously dealt with using as many aircraft as possible.

The first bombing incidents came at Lambeth. Soon after a group of fewer than ten Ju88s made low and fast for Sheppey, suddenly veered south, then delivered a devastating 15-ton blow on Biggin Hill smashing a hangar, the workshops, armoury, barrack blocks, MT Section, WAAF quarters, killing 39 and injuring 26. Too late, six Hurricanes of 79 Squadron arrived, chasing after the Ju88s and claiming two of them.
Around 16:10, 20 He-111s of II/KG 1 escorted by Bf110s flew across Southend and then North Weald bound for Luton's industrial area. Despite spirited efforts by Hurricanes of 1, 56, 242 and 501 Squadrons - Nos. 1 and 56 each destroying a Heinkel - the raiders reached Luton, where at 16:40 they carried out the five minutes of bombing during which 207 HEs fell, may on Vauxhall Motors factory. No public warning had sounded and horrific scenes followed the destruction of the factory's main internal stairway. Casualties totalled 59 killed and 141 injured. Over 60 bombs fell very wide of the target, 18 of them in Whipsnade Zoo.

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). 58 Sqn. Nine aircraft. One returned early, seven bombed primary, one bombed an alternative target.

British destroyer HMS Esk (H 15) was one of five minelayers, escorted by three destroyers, operating off the Dutch coast. Based on aerial reconnaissance, the minelayers were ordered to intercept a German force that was believed to be part of an invasion force. One destroyer struck a mine and was badly damaged. Esk went to her assistance and hit a mine and sank immediately about 80 nautical miles (149 kilometres) north-northwest of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in position 53.30N, 3.47E.   (Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)(108)

HUNGARY: Bucharest: Under pressure from Germany, Romania cedes 20,000 square miles of territory - half of Transylvania - to Hungary.
Hungary and Bulgaria have been trying to seize various portions of Romania. The Soviet Union has already accomplished this. A Balkan war threatens Germany. A conference is called at Vienna - The Arbitration of Vienna. Romania acquiesces to giving up Transylvania to Hungary and Bulgaria receives southern Dobruja.

AUSTRALIA: Convoy US-4 (Australia to the Middle East), consisting of four troopships, sails from Sydney, New South Wales, for the Middle East. The heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra escorts the convoy as far as Colombo, Ceylon. 

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Dunvegan laid down Sorel, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Boom Town" is released. Directed by Jack Conway, this romantic adventure drama, based on the story "A Lady Comes to Burkburnett" by James Edward Grant, stars Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudett Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan and Chill Wills. The plot has Gable and Tracy going West to get rich in the oil fields. Colbert also goes West to marry Tracy but marries Gable and then the fun starts. The film is nominated for two Academy Awards.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-32 sank SS Chelsea, SS Mill Hill and SS Norne in Convoy HX-66A.
U-59 damaged SS Anadara and SS San Gabriel.

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August 30th, 1941 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Sloop HMS Cygnet laid down. Sloop HMS Ibis commissioned.

GERMANY: U-305 laid down.
U-253 launched.
U-136, U-213 and U-435 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: German forces take Mga, cutting the last railroad link between Leningrad and the rest of the USSR.

SERBIA: General Milan Nedic is made head of a Nazi puppet government.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur      "> MacArthur advises Marshall that the Philippines would be defensible by April, 1942, but admits that the Philippine Army is currently not adequately trained, especially at battalion level and above. (Marc Small)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Ballarat commissioned.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Quinte commissioned.
Corvette HMCS Sorel arrived Halifax from builder Sorel Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Dive Bomber" is released today. Directed by Michael Curtiz and written by Lieutenant Commander Frank "Spig" Wead USN (Retired), this Technicolor drama of Navy pilots stars Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Alexis Smith, Regis Toomey and Craig Stevens: Gig Young appears in uncredited roles. The plot has Flynn and Bellamy appearing as Flight Surgeons attempting to solve the problem of blackouts at high altitudes but the real stars are the 1941 Navy colourful aircraft. The film is photographed at Eglin Field, Florida, North Field at NAS San Diego and Naval Station San Diego, California and in the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise (CV-6) and USS Saratoga (CV-3). The film is nominated for one Academy Award. 

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August 30th, 1942 (SUNDAY)

FRANCE: Paris: The Reich plenipotentiary for the allocation of Labour, Fritz Sauckel, decrees that all men and women in German occupied lands are liable for forced labour.

LUXEMBOURG: Luxembourg is incorporated into the German Reich as the district of Gau Mosselleland. Gustav Simon, the German appointed civil administrator of Luxembourg, orders the call up of Luxembourgers in the classes of 1920-1924 resulting in a General Strike in Wiltz and Ettelbruck. The strike quickly spreads across the Duchy and Simon declares Martial Law. Industrial workers return to work under threat of execution, 25 leaders are executed, and high school students participating in the strike are deported to Germany for a year. 

GERMANY: British PoW officers at OFLAG VIB pull off OPERATION OLYMPIA today, otherwise known as the "Warburg Wire Job". 53 PoWs set up noisy diversions around the camp while 41 others rush the wires with homebuilt ladders and escape. Thirty PoWs make it over the wire, and of those 17 get away from the immediate area. In all three make it home. Most of those recaptured are RAF are so are sent to the Luftwaffe PoW system. (Marc James Small)

U-547 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: Over 800 German troops are killed and 13 tanks destroyed by the 154th (naval) Brigade under the command of Colonel A. I. Malchevskiy, on the Stalingrad front. (Russell Folsom) (215 Chap. 3)

Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Submarine "Sch-208" - mined and sunk, close to Zmeinii Is. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

EGYPT: At 2300 hours local, the Germans launch attacks along the whole El Alamein front using the German 21st Panzer Division, the 90th Light Africa Division, the 3d Reconnaissance Unit and two Italian armoured divisions. The main attack, aimed at Alexandria, is against the British XIII Corps on the south while conducting two unsuccessful diversionary thrusts against XXX Corps. 

 LIBYA: US Army Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb docks and jetties in Tobruk harbour. 

BURMA: Myitkyina, northernmost Japanese supply depot and airfield in Burma, from which fighters could hit Dinjan, India (terminus of the Assam-Burma Ferry), is bombed for the first time by 8 China-based B-25 Mitchells of the China Air Task Force.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, troops of the Australian 53d Battalion near Abuati are ordered to withdraw to Alola after being unable to get behind the Japanese troops. At 1500 hours local, the 39th Battalion is ordered to withdraw to Eora Creek, about 2 miles (3,2 kilometres) south of Alola. The officer commanding 39th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Key, was later captured by the Japanese, interrogated and murdered. In Milne Bay, Australian troops continue patrolling and find several Australian dead with their hands tied behind them, arms broken by gunshot wounds and bayoneted. Australian reinforcements dig in on Brigade Hill near Efogi village. (William L. Howard)

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Allied Air Forces attack shipping in Saint George's Channel between New Ireland and New Britain Islands.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 1400 hours local, 18 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) of the HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku air groups, temporarily land based at Rabaul on New Britain Island, attack Allied targets. The "Zekes" outmanoeuvre 8 Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty Three (VMF-223) F4F Wildcats and attack the high speed transport USS Colhoun (APD-2, ex DD-85) wrecking the ship's boats and the after davits and starting a diesel fire from the boat wreckage. The "Zekes" are then intercepted by USAAF P-400 Airacobras of the 67th Fighter Squadron, later joined by the VMF-223 Wildcats; the Americans shoot down 5 "Zekes" while losing 4 P-400s. Three F4Fs are written off when they land on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal leaving a total of 5 Wildcats to defend the island. After this action, the USAAF's P-400s are limited to medium-level interceptions and ground-attack missions. The evaluation of the P-400 by the Commander, Air South Pacific was, "No good at altitude and disheartening to the brave men who fly them." The 67th Fighter Squadron's historian put it this way: "We can't manoeuvre and dogfight with the Zero -- what good are we? Our enlisted men are risking their lives every day trying to get the planes patched up -- for what? We're just eating up food -- and there's not enough to go around anyway, and using up valuable gasoline -- and the gas supply is getting lower every day. Hell, we can't fight. When the Japs come we're told to 'go on reconnaissance.' What good are we?" The Japanese will give them the nickname of "Long Nosed Planes".

At 1517 hours, 18 "Betty" bombers (, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) make an unopposed attack on USS Calhoun scoring a succession of hits on the starboard side which brought down the foremast, blew two 20 mm guns and one 4-inch (101.6 mm) gun off the ship, and damage the engineering spaces. Two more direct hits kill all the men in the after deck house. Tank lighters from Guadalcanal rescued the crew, and Calhoun sinks at 09.24 S, 160.01 E with the loss of 51 men and 18 wounded. 

Despite the loss of the converted 4 stacker, the day is a success. The victory of the morning is another morale boost to the flyers of the Cactus AF and a late afternoon arrival of Col. Wallace and the balance of MAG 23 boosts the 5 remaining original compliment by 31 aircraft.

Shortly after 1500 hours, shortly before the "Betty" bomber attack, the first sizable aerial reinforcements arrive at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in the form of 19 F4F-4 Wildcats of VMF-224 and 12 SBD-3 Dauntlesses of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Thirty One (VMSB-231). 

At days end, the Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal consisted of 86 pilots and 64 aircraft (including 3 USAAF P-400s and 10 USN SBDs).

The carrier USS SARATOGA is damaged by a Japanese submarine.

Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 launches a "Glen" seaplane (Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) to reconnoitre Santa Cruz Island. 

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USN lands 4,500 US troops to occupy Kuluk Bay, Adak Island, amidst a terrific storm and they start building a runway; this airfield, later named Davis AAFld. Adak Island is located about 219 nautical miles (405 kilometres) east of Japanese-held Kiska Island.

     Five USAAF 11th Air Force B-24 Liberators photograph Kiska Island but do not bomb due to overcast, and then fly patrol and photo reconnaissance over Amchitka and Tanaga Islands. P-38 Lightnings fly patrol between Great Sitkin and Little Tanaga Islands.

AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, sends a message to Washington stating ".... as I have previously reported am not yet convinced of the efficiency of Australian units (at Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea and do not attempt to forecast results." (John Nicholas)

U.S.A.: In baseball, New York Giants'  manager and right fielder Mel Ott collects his 2,500th hit during a 5-5 tie in the second game of a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Chicago. Ott retires from playing after the 1947 season with 2,876 hits but continues managing the Giants through the 1948 season. 

Destroyers USS Cony and Converse launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-162 sinks SS Star of Oregon.
U-564 sinks SS Vardaas.
U-66 sinks SS Sir Huon and SS West Lashaway.  U-596 loses a man overboard [Fähnrich zur See Wolfgang Aldag].

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August 30th, 1943 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flies Mission 38: 33 B-26B Marauders bomb an ammunition dump at Foret d'Eperlecques near Saint-Omer, France at 1859 hours without loss. 

Frigate HMS Cooke commissioned.
Sloop HMS Magpie commissioned.
Submarine HMS Viking commissioned. Frigate HMS Loring launched
Destroyer HMS Whirlwind launched.

Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan arrives at Devonport for a refit.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Army scores up two more victories as it takes the Black Sea port of Taganrog and Yelnya, a road centre on central Russia's Desna river and moving to cut off the Germans in the Crimea. Since the defeat of German panzer divisions at Kursk, the Heer hasn't been able to halt the Soviet tanks that repeatedly have gouged huge holes in its defences. 

U-18 damaged Soviet patrol craft SKA-0132.

ITALY: The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW or High Command of the German Armed Forces) orders Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's forces to occupy Italy if the Badoglio government surrenders. 
    

During the day, 35 B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force bomb the airfield at Viterbo while B-25 Mitchells hit the Civitavecchia marshalling yard; B-26 Marauders, escorted by 44 P-38 Lightnings, bomb the Aversa marshalling yard. Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers attack marshalling yards at Marina di Cantanzaro and Paola, and gun emplacements and bivouac south of Reggio di Calabria; and A-36 Apaches bomb marshalling yards at Sapri and Lamezia.

     During the night of 30/31 August, 47 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group visually bomb the marshalling yard at Civitavecchia. 

SARDINIA: During the day, Northwest African Strategic Air Force P40s  strafe a radar station at Pula, Sardinia.

     During the night of 30/31 August, two RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group visually drop leaflets over Sardinia; one aircraft is lost. 

CHINA: Thirteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, some with P-40 support, attack Owchihkow and Shihshow, blasting fuel stores and several buildings; the P-40s strafe gun positions outside Shihshow; ten P-38 Lightnings and P-40s on armoured reconnaissance from Sinti to Yoyang to Sienning, strafe and bomb several targets of opportunity; three locomotives are exploded and another damaged, a water tank is knocked down, and several railroad stations are heavily damaged. Four other P-40s attack a convoy east of Hong Kong; a freighter is hit amidships, causing heavy damage; two other vessels are also effectively damaged.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators pound airstrips in the Wewak are, i.e., Dagua (But East) and But Airstrips (But West), and Tadji Airfield east of Aitape; and A-20 Havocs hit barges on the Bubui River. 

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Twenty four USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, along with 20 P-40s and P-39 Airacobras and 20+ USMC F4U Corsairs, pound Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island. Allied airplanes claim more than 30 Japanese shot down; six US aircraft are lost.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island,  Fifth Air Force B-26s bomb Cape Gloucester Airfield while B-25s sweep along the northwest coast, bombing and strafing barges and enemy-occupied villages.

MARCUS ISLAND: The USN attacks Marcus Island, located about 900 nautical miles (1 667 kilometres) west-northwest of Wake Island in position 24.06N, 151.21E,  for the second time. Task Force 15, built around the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9), Yorktown (CV-10) and Independence (CVL-22) launch nine strike groups in a day-long attack on Japanese installations, the first strikes by Essex and Independence Class carriers, and the first combat use of the Grumman F6F Hellcat. 

CANADA: HMCS Haida, a Tribal-class destroyer, was commissioned into service in the RCN, Cdr Harry "Harry" George DeWolf DSO, CO. “Happy Haida”, as she was known in the fleet, went on to a stellar career and, through the destruction of two German destroyers, a minesweeper, a submarine and 14 other ships, earned the title "The Fightingest Ship in the Royal Canadian Navy.“  Today, HAIDA is the sole surviving example of the Tribal-class in the world and is preserved at Ontario Place, Toronto. ‘Tribals’ served in every theatre of World War II and were engaged in many major actions. The original 16 class members in the Royal Navy were reduced to four (Ashanti, Eskimo, Nubian and Tartar) by 1943; most of which were lost to air attacks. In all, 27 Tribals were built: 16 for the Royal Navy, four for Canada in Britain (Athabaskan being sunk on 26 Apr 44), four for Canada in Halifax that did not see wartime service, and three in Australia.  The Tribals were designed as flotilla leaders in response to the Japanese Fubuki-class, or Special Type destroyers. Although heavy in gun armament, the Tribal's anti-aircraft capabilities were poor and their torpedo and depth charge armament was relatively light. After numerous changes in design, Admiralty opinion on the final product was not flattering: “We have only succeeded in building a weak light cruiser”. The heavy 4.7-inch twin low-angle mounting forward made them ‘wet’ ships and prone to weather damage in heavy seas. Several early members of the class developed serious structural cracks in their hull plating and framing that lead to all ships being reinforced in the area of the bridge. The design was not used as the basis for newer classes of British destroyers. When Admiral Nelles first saw the Tribal design he deliberately set his goal to acquire them as the premier warship for the RCN’s fleet. The standard British fleet destroyer that made up the bulk of the pre-war navy, known in the RCN as the River-class, was quite obviously obsolescent by the war’s start. Winston Churchill met with Mackenzie King and tried to dissuade him from building Tribals in Canadian shipyards, as they knew from pre-war surveys that such large and technically complex warships were beyond current national shipbuilding capabilities. Instead, he suggested going to the United States to investigate “the latest American designs”, which was the Benson-class destroyer. Although a staff comparison was undertaken, the British culture of the Canadian navy and the already evident preference of the CNS for the Tribal design made it inevitable that the American ship was found to be inferior in several categories. The analysis was obviously prejudiced by Nelle’s openly-stated desires as the Benson-class suffered from none of the Tribals’ weaknesses and was blessed with superior radar, sonar, fire control, and outstanding endurance. Although overshadowed by the later Fletcher-class, which did impress the Canadian delegation, the Bensons were probably the outstanding destroyer design of the interwar period.

Frigate HMCS Prince Rupert commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Forest Hill (ex-HMS Ceanothus) launched Port Glasgow, Scotland.

Corvette HMCS Humberstone (ex-HMS Norham Castle ex-HMS Totnes Castle) laid down Glasgow. Post WW.II, sold 1946, mercantile, renamed Taiwei (Chinese) 5 subsequent name changes, 1954 renamed South Ocean (Korean) broken up 1959, Hong Kong.

Minesweeper HMS Marmion (ex-HMCS Orangeville) laid down Port Arthur, Ontario.

U.S.A.: Destroyers USS Cooper and Taussig laid down.
Destroyer escort USS Daniel laid down. Minesweeper USS Bond commissioned.
Destroyer escorts USS Frost, Hurst, Huse and Lee Fox commissioned.

Submarines USS Bang and Pilotfish launched.
Destroyer USS Benham launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Bostwick and Haverfield launched.
Aircraft carrier USS Hornet launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-596 sinks SS Nagwa.

The German submarine U-634 is sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, in position 40.13N, 19.24W, by depth charges from the RN sloop HMS Stork and the corvette HMS Stonecrop. All hands on the U-boat, 47-men, are lost.

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August 30th, 1944 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions. (The number in parenthesis after a target name indicates the number of bombers attacking.)

- Mission 590: 107 B-17s and 108 B-24s bomb 8 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France; one wing uses GH and H2X methods; escort is provided by 16 P-51 Mustangs without loss.

- Mission 591: Later in the day, B-17s attack the U-boat base and shipyards at Kiel (282), and aircraft plant and other industry in the Bremen area (327); 4 others hit targets of opportunity; escort is provided by 258 P-51s without loss.

- Mission 592: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night. 

The prototype Short Seaford (MZ 269), a development of the Sunderland flying-boat makes its maiden flight today. (22) 

Corvette HMS Strathroy launched.

FRANCE: General de Gaulle's Provisional French Government is established in Paris.
Paris: The Free French General Pierre Koenig today took over from an American general as military governor of Paris at Les Invalides. The city had been under American military government since the US 4th Division entered the city along with General Leclerc's French troops on 25 August. General Koenig said he plans to put some of the French Forces of the Interior FFI Resistance fighters (FFI) into uniform. His priority, he added, is to restore law and order.

Veauvais falls to the British XXX Corps.

The Canadian 2nd Division captures Rouen after suffering heavy casualties. The British XII Corps advances 25 miles (40 kilometres) to Gournay. The U.S. XIX Corps drives rapidly northeast against light resistance reaching positions less than 10 miles (16 kilometres) from Beauvais while the VII Corps captures Laon. Elements of the U.S. Third Army continue their assault on Brest while other units drives east toward the Meuse River and towards Verdun.

In northern FRANCE, about 75 US Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s bomb a fuel dump near Arques-la-Bataille, Rouxmesnil-Bouteilles, and gun positions around Ile de Cezembre; weather grounds the fighters. 

In southern FRANCE and ITALY, weather grounds US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; A-20s hit targets of opportunity during the night of 29/30 August and fuel storage while fighter-bombers pound roads and railroads in the Po Valley in Italy and, on armed reconnaissance over the Rhone Valley in France, attack rail lines and motor and horse drawn vehicles, as US Seventh Army elements continue up the Rhone Valley toward Lyon.

GERMANY: SS General Kammler takes over responsibility for the A4 offensive, from General Heinemann's LXV Army Korps. (Alex Gordon)

Following a failed suicide attempt, General Karl-Heinrich von Stulpnagel, the military governor of France implicated in the 20 July plot, is hanged.

U-3004 commissioned.

POLAND: Lublin: The first war memorial of the conflict is unveiled, dedicated to the unknown Soviet soldier.

ITALY: Allied commander Harold Alexander plans a bluff to crack the Germans' Gothic Line and liberate northern Italy. Alexander begins with an attack on the eastern end of the Gothic Line. Next week, Americans will attack the western end in an apparent main assault. The British will then make a second attack in the east. Alexander's three-punch strategy will be a partial success. 
     The British 8th Army begins attacks on the Gothic Line.
     The 5th Canadian Armoured Division under Major General Bert Hoffmeister breaks through the Gothic Line south of Rimini on the Adriatic. 

Field Marshal Kesselring, a master of defensive strategy, has assured Hitler that the Gothic Line is impregnable. His boast is about to be put to the test: today the British V and Canadian I Corps, supported by air attacks on the minefields, crossed the Foglia river and, despite heavy casualties, began to attack the defensive position which the Germans believe to be equal to that of Cassino.

Houses have been razed, trees felled and vineyards bulldozed to create killing grounds for a great rash of concrete machine-gun nests, each carefully sited to protect its neighbour. Artillery posts have been blasted into the Apennine rock, and deep minefields planted from the Adriatic in the east to the distant Ligurian Sea.

The US Fifteenth Air Force in ITALY sends 100+ B-24s and B-17s to hit targets in Yugoslavia; the B-17s bomb railroad bridges at Novi Sad and Vranjeco; the B-24s attack bridges at Cuprija. Nearly 100 P-51s strafe airfields at Kecskemet, Hungary and Oradea, Romania.

ROMANIA : Ploesti falls to the Russians. Most of the Romanian oilfields are now in the hands of the Russians.
The Germans must now rely entirely on their much-bombed synthetic oil factories. Ploesti produces five million tons of crude oil a year, refined on the spot and sent to Germany by rail and by barges on the Danube. It has been the target for continual raids by the US Fifteenth Army Air Force flying from Italy. The bombers faced tough opposition, and many aircraft and their crews have been lost, but their attacks cut the refineries' output to two million tons, and RAF mining of the Danube prevented much of that from reaching Germany.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS

BURMA: TENTH AIR FORCE: Several P-47 Thunderbolts bomb and strafe the town of Man Sai.

CHINA: FOURTEENTH AIR FORCE: B-25 Mitchells attack Hengyang, Pailochi, and Hankow Airfields, roads in the Nanyo and Changsha areas, and boats between Changsha and Hengyang, and Kichun and Wuhsueh; in the Kweiyi and Sintsiang areas 33 P-40s claim 58 trucks destroyed, 175 damaged, and at least 100 Japanese killed; 10 P-51 Mustangs hit scattered targets of opportunity in the same areas; 21 P-40s hit barracks, trucks, and a bridge in the Siangsiang and Siangtan region; and 34 P-40s and P-51s attack a variety of targets, including railroad traffic and facilities, occupied areas, and trucks, at Yangtien, between Hengshan and Nanyo, northeast of Ichang, southwest of Hengshan, and near Hengyang.  

CAROLINE ISLANDS: A USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator on armed reconnaissance from the Mariana Islands bombs Yap Island  In the Palau Islands, Koror and Malakal Islands are bombed by USAAF Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators.

MARSHAL ISLANDS: US Seventh Air Force Kwajalein Atoll-based B-24s hit Mille Atoll.

PALAU ISLANDS: Koror and Malakal Islands are pounded by US Far East Air Force B-24s.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: US submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) lands 10-tons of supplies, 2 Filipino officers and 18 men in Dubut Bay in eastern Luzon.

CANADA: Premier Maurice Duplessis' Union Nationale Party returns to power in Quebec. 

Corvette HMCS Fergus launched Collingwood, Ontario.
Frigate HMCS Lauzon commissioned.
Corvette HMCS Parry Sound commissioned.

U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Muir commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Specter commissioned.
Submarine USS Threadfin commissioned.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-194 was commissioned at New Orleans. The first commanding officer was LTJG C. J. Hanks, USCGR. He was succeeded on 9 November 1945, by LT H. S. Squires, USCG. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area including Milne Bay, Segond Channel, Espiritu Santo, etc.

BRAZIL: A Panair do Brasil Lockheed Model 18-10 Lodestar, msn 18-2114, registered PP-PBI, crashes at Sao Paulo in fog killing all 16 aboard.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-548 - One man was missing after crash-diving. [Mechanikergefreiter (A) Walter Heise]
U-482 sank SS Jacksonville in Convoy CU-36.

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August 30th, 1945 (THURSDAY)

BURMA: Japanese forces based at Abya surrender to the Allies.

MALAYA: RAF 356 Squadron Liberator KL654 crashes while on a resupply mission over Negeri Sembilan in central Malaya. All the crew are killed. Part of the crews mission was to search for prisoners of war still held in camps in the jungle.

HONG KONG: A RN task force under Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt sails into Victoria Harbor, to accept the Japanese surrender and a landing party from the Canadian armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince Robert liberates surviving Allied POWs in the Crown Colony.

JAPAN: The occupation of Japan in force begins when the US Army's 11th Airborne Division, commanded by Major-General Joseph W. Swing along with Lieutenant-General Eichelberger and 500 paratroopers,  is flown to Atsugi Airfield and the USMC's 4th Marine Regiment lands at Kurihama Naval Base, Yokosuka. Lt-General Eichelberger is the 8th Army Commander, to which the 11th Airborne is attached. (Jack McKillop and Marc James Small)

After securing Atsugi Airfield, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur flies in and sets up a temporary Supreme Allied headquarters at Yokohama. 

Meanwhile, the USN light cruiser USS San Diego (CL-53) ties up at the Kurihama Naval Base. Aboard the cruiser are Rear Admirals Oscar C. Badger and Robert B. Carney to join Marine Brigadier General William T. Clement for the formal transfer of that important naval facility from Japanese to U.S. control.

The cruiser USS SAN JUAN starts to evacuate Allied PoWs.

An armada of Allied troop transports from Admiral William F. "Bull" Halseys 3d Fleet enter Tokyo Bay before dawn. The landing force consisted of US Marines and armed sailors from the 3d Fleet, men of the Fourth Marine Regiment and a British contingent.

William R. Miller, a private first class at the time, said his feeling was "one of hope for the best-that the Japanese would be receptive."

"We'd been trying to kill each other for several years," Miller said, and they had seen "all the kamikaze planes" at Okinawa and "the Japanese soldiers who had refused to surrender."

"We really didn't know what to expect," Miller recalled nearly 60 years after he went ashore in Japan as part of the 3d Fleet Marine Landing Force made up of men from the Marine detachments assigned to ADM Halsey's major warships.

George C. Plataz, then a sergeant, remembered, "We had just finished bombarding Japan. I didn't know what to expect.

"This would be new to us, being part of a landing force," Plataz added.

When they sailed into Tokyo Bay in 1945, Miller and Plataz were members of the Marine Detachment in the battleship USS Alabama (BB-60).

The force was designated Task Force Able, but also was called the 3d Fleet Marine Landing Force. It would consist of more than 5,300 men from the 4th Marines and supporting units, about 2,000 men from the Fleet's Marine detachments, 1,200 sailors from Fleet ships and 250 Royal Marines and 200 sailors from the British warships serving under ADM Halsey.

The 6thMarDiv commanding general, Major General Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., had selected the 4th Marines because
it bore the designation of the regiment that had been lost in the fall of the Philippines in 1942. The new 4th Marines was formed from remnants of the four Marine Raider battalions.

The landing force was commanded by Brigadier General William T. Clement, who was 6thMarDiv assistant division commander and had been with the old 4th Marines on Bataan until he was ordered to escape by submarine.

About 66 of Alabama's Marines became part of Company A, 1st Battalion in the 3d Fleet Marine Landing Force.
The detachment's commanding officer, Major Robert L.
Scott Jr., was assigned to the regimental staff as operations officer and took Sgt Plataz with him. Now under the command of First Lieutenant Wade P. Bettis, Alabama's leathernecks and their equipment were transferred at sea by high line to USS Garrard (APA-84). For 10 days in the crowded troopship, they received classes on their objective and duties and the Japanese language.

As it prepared to go ashore, the landing force received a message from ADM Halsey:

"In dealing with the Japanese, all hands will be guided by our rightful pride in the triumph of the forces of decency and our own self-respect. Our task is the enforcement of the terms to which Japan surrendered. The Japanese will be required to promptly and scrupulously obey orders incident to the enforcement of those terms.

"Use force if necessary to secure obedience," the message read. It cautioned, "The Japanese will therefore be regarded as still capable of the treachery which has heretofore characterized their policies and actions."

The allied landing forces were to secure the Yokosuka naval base and airfield, defensive gun position on Futtsu Saki peninsula across Tokyo Bay, the island forts in the bay entrance and the surviving Japanese warships, including the battleship Nagato.

Those actions were designed to remove any major threat to the massive allied naval force entering Tokyo Bay for the surrender ceremony.

Although Japanese officials had promised there would be no hostility, Halsey's warships were offshore ready to suppress any armed resistance with their big guns, and 1,000 Navy warplanes were armed and ready on aircraft carriers outside the bay, just in case.

The warships had steamed into Tokyo Bay on 29 Aug. and anchored off Yokosuka. That evening, for the first time since Pearl Harbor, the ships were illuminated at anchor, and movies were shown on the weather decks.
But lookouts remained posted, and the ships' radars continued to search for unknown aircraft.

The transports, designated Task Force 31 and commanded by Rear Admiral Oscar C. Badger, sailed into the bay the next morning and began the well-practiced drill of landing troops.

Troops from the Army's 11th Airborne Division were to land at Atsugi Air Base, north of Yokosuka, at the same time the naval forces went ashore. But retired Marine Lieutenant General Louis Metzger, who was chief of staff for Task Force Able, recalled in a 1995 Marine Corps Gazette article: "Under the weak pretense that the forts located both in and
flanking Tokyo Bay were still functioning (which they were not), Marine forces landed at 0550, thus beating the Army into Japan by several hours."

That early landing was by a battalion of the 4th Marines on Futtsu Saki. The two other battalions went ashore near the Yokosuka naval base and the adjoining airfield at 0930.

Metzger also recalled that the Japanese had been ordered to put a white flag on each fortification and gun position, "and we were impressed by the number and depth of the defenses. The hills overlooking Tokyo Bay were covered with white flags. An assault would have been costly indeed."

The 3d Fleet Marine Landing Force went ashore at the airfield, and the Navy Landing Force landed near the naval base at around 1000; the British troops occupied the island forts, and sailors from U.S. battleships secured the Japanese warships. 

Plataz said he landed with Maj Scott and the headquarters unit on the air station at a seaplane ramp leading up to two large hangars. When he saw Japanese soldiers coming to the hangars to lay down their weapons, Plataz said, "I realized the war was over."

Many of the soldiers were quite young, he recalled. 

"They seemed bewildered, scared or just pleased that their fighting days would never come. Some of the older soldiers were more defiant."

Miller went ashore at the air station also and recalled, "We were alert to the possibility that there could be resistance."

In an account written after the war, 1stLt Bettis said "Able" Go's landing area "looked deserted, and there was an ominous appearance as though the enemy was lurking in readiness to attack."

But there was no resistance, and at 1015 a U.S. flag that had flown over Saipan and Okinawa was raised over the naval base headquarters.

Bettis said his platoon took over an area that included a large warehouse, airplane repair shops, storage facilities and barracks recently occupied by Japanese troops.

"We secured our position and set up a perimeter defence, looked for any armed Japanese in the area and waited for further orders."

As night approached, Bettis posted sentries and allowed the rest of his Marines to go to sleep in the Japanese barracks. But, he recalled, "we were rather uneasy the first night because of the strange surroundings, the fact that the war was still going on and the many unknowns."

The landing force Marines maintained their positions on the airfield for several days, then began sending patrols into the nearby towns. 

Plataz said those forays "were considered friendly patrols since we were given food rations, Hershey bars, tropical chocolate, chewing gum and cigarettes to give to civilians. The children soon became the happy link between Marines and the older population."

During one of his trips into the towns, Plataz said an older woman and several small children approached him with an object wrapped in Japanese newspaper. Afraid it might be a bomb, he said he gestured for the woman to unwrap the package, which she did, revealing a glass case with two colorfully costumed Japanese dolls.

In exchange, he gave the woman two packs of cigarettes and gave chocolate bars to all the children, "who awarded me with their beaming smiles," he said.

A graphic artist before the war, Plataz was authorized to roam the area, making sketches or crude maps for Maj Scott.

On one of his trips, he discovered an elaborate underground complex with five levels of wood-paneled rooms. In a desk in one room he found photos showing a mock-up of Pearl Harbor that the Japanese had used to film a movie depicting the 7 Dec. 1941 attack.

Miller remembered how an elderly shopkeeper in a nearby town gave him a Japanese "meatball" flag and with gestures and crude English conveyed his feeling that "Americans have good heart."

After a few days ashore, Bettis took a detachment of Marines to secure a radio transmission station near the town of Kanazawa, about 15 miles away. 

When they arrived, they found a company of Japanese soldiers waiting, with their arms stacked. When the Marines dismounted from their trucks, the Japanese climbed on for a trip to the headquarters to be released from service.

"I had never seen a group of military personnel who were so short in stature, small in body and young in appearance," Bettis wrote. "I remember thinking at the time that the war had really taken a toll of the Japanese men because this company of Japanese ... was made up of teenage boys." 

The next day, Bettis and his platoon sergeant, Carl A. Bettis, went into Kanazawa and met an old man who greeted them in clear English: "Hello, Yankees. Can I help you?"

The man said he had operated an import-export business in Seattle for 30 years and had returned just before the war. He had become the mayor.

First Lt Bettis said the old man told him the war "was not the will of the Japanese people and blamed the warlords."

(Mike Yared)

CANADA: HMC ML 106 and ML 107 paid off.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "State Fair" is released. This musical romance directed by Walter Lang, stars Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter, Donald Meek, Frank McHugh, Percy Kilbride and Harry Morgan. The plot traces the adventures of the Frale farm family at the Iowa State Fair. The film features classic songs by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II including "Our State Fair," "It Might As Well Be Spring," and "It's A Grand Night For Singing."
     In Detroit, Michigan, a pale green Super Six coupe rolls off the Hudson Motor Car Companys assembly line, the first post-World War II car to be produced by the auto manufacturer. The Super Six boasted the first modern, high-compression L-head engine, though it garnered its name from the original Hudson-manufactured engine produced in 1916.
     In baseball, Stan Hack, Chicago Cubs third baseman, becomes the 82nd player to get 2,000-hits when he singles off Pittsburgh Pirates' pitcher Preacher Roe in the first inning in a game at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh. Hack retires after the 1947 season with 2,193 hits.

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