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1930   (MONDAY) 

GERMANY: The Young Plan, the second renegotiation of Germany's World War I reparation payments, goes into effect. A new committee, chaired by the American Owen D. Young, met in Paris on February 11, 1929, to revise the Dawes Plan of 1924. Its report, accepted with minor changes, went into effect today. It reduced the amount due from Germany to 121 billion  Reichsmarks in 59 annuities, set up the Bank for International Settlements to hanJack McKillop)

September 1st, 1939 (FRIDAY)

Chamberlain addresses the house.

Young children from London and other urban areas are evacuated due to the fear from air attacks.

All BBC studios and transmitters are converted in the early hours to wartime conditions; this includes arranging two synchronised groups of radio transmitters to prevent radio direction finding, and creation of the "Home Service" on radio (at 0815 hours local). BBC Television Service, with continuity links from the Radio Exhibition at Olympia, closes at 1210 hours, ending unceremoniously with a Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Mickey’s Gala Première," in which the last words are a Greta Garbo caricature saying "Ah tink ah go home." (The order to close the service had not been received at Alexandra Palace at noon.) In the eight months of the year to date television transmitters have operated for an aggregate of 2,403 hours and had an audience of around 20,000-25,000 households. 

EIRE: The status of the Irish military is: 

1. The Irish Army consisted of 19,000 men out of an authorized strength of 37,560 men with every unit understrength. None of the eight infantry battalions were organized. The Army had TWO (2) "serviceable" tanks and 21 armoured cars, most dating from the 1920s.

 2. The air defence of Eire was entrusted to three Gloster Gladiator Mk I biplane fighters that most German aircraft could outrun. The first modern fighter aircraft "obtained" was an RAF Hawker Hurricane Mk I that crashed in Eire on September 29, 1940, was rebuilt, and entered service with the Irish Air Corps in July 1942. So for almost three years, Irish skies were defended by three biplanes.

 3. As far as antiaircraft was concerned, there was no radar in the country and the antiaircraft defence of the capital, Dublin, consisted of ten 3.7-inch (9,4 centimetre) guns, four 3-inch (7,62 centimetre) guns and a small number of 40 millimetre guns.

 4. The Irish Navy consists of two 70-foot (21,3 meter) motor torpedo boats.

FRANCE: The French government accepts Italian Premier Benito Mussolini's proposal for a peace conference. 

GERMANY:
5:40 a.m. Berlin radio broadcasts Hitler's proclamation to his army; the invasion of Poland has been launched 'in order to put an end to this lunacy'.

10 a.m. Hitler is driven through an abnormally silent Berlin to the Reichstag, from where he broadcasts the news to the world.

Hermann Göring is officially designated as Hitler's successor. (Gene Hanson)

On the western front Army Group C (Ritter von Leeb) holds the front between Basle and Aix-La-Chapelle with 34 divisions, plus 2/3 of the 22nd Airborne division. (Eddy Bauer and Michael Alexander)

     The Ambassadors of the British and French governments issue an ultimatum to the German government to pull out of Poland. 

     Chancellor Hitler names his successors,: Herman Göring, Commander of the Luftwaffe, and Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party.

     The government issues a decree forbidding listening to any foreign radio station, with the death penalty imposed for spreading false foreign radio news. 

MAP

POLAND: German tanks thundered across the Polish border at precisely 0445 hours today. Supported by Junkers JU87 ("Stuka") dive-bombers, which are being used as airborne artillery, they are making rapid progress in penetrating Poland's forward defences. The assault is fast and violent, with units racing ahead to envelop and destroy the Polish defenders.

Warsaw has been bombed. Heinkel 111 and Dornier 17 bombers are pounding Polish airfields and strategic targets while Bf109 fighters hunt down those Polish planes which have managed to get airborne. First reports speak of the German Army Group South striking north-east from Silesia while the Fourth Army is advancing from Pomerania to link up with the Third Army pushing south-west from East Prussia.

The pattern that is emerging is of the Germans using their traditional technique of the double pincer movement against the Polish forces which are largely concentrated near the frontier to protect the industrial areas. It seems that the Polish commander-in-chief, Marshal Smigly-Rydz, hopes to hold the line until Britain and France come to his rescue. The force of the attack mounted by General Walter von Brauchitsch must cast doubts upon the Poles ability to resist until their allies attack in the west.

The Jablunka Pass is forced against fierce resistance of Polish mountain troops. Army Group South units move as much as 15 miles on this first day.

Warsaw: 14.00 Colonel Beck formally breaks relations with Germany.

MAP

Three German Armeegruppen (Army Groups) begin the invasion of Poland at 0345 hours GMT, officially launching the world into what would be the most destructive and deadly war in all of history. Massive strikes by the Luftwaffe destroy vital communications and assembly areas, decimating the Polish air force on the ground. Panzer and motorized divisions make deep penetrations into the Polish defenses, using tactics soon to be known as the Blitzkrieg. Officially, the first shots of the war are fired from the 28 centimeter (11-inch) deck guns of the vintage World War I battleship Schleswig-Holstein. The ship had survived the ravages of WWI and entered service in the Kriegsmarine in 1935, serving initially as a cadet training ship. Under the guise of honoring the anniversary of the Battle of Tannenburg, the German battleship, complete with a hidden cargo of Marinesturmkompanie (Marine Assault) troops, was allowed by the Poles to anchor directly off the strategic island of W esterplatte, located at the mouth of the Vistula River in Danzig. At 0347 hours GMT, permission is given to the ship to open fire on the island, a strategic point on the Baltic Coast needed to support the troops advancing to the south. Shortly after 0347 hours GMT, the ship opens up its massive main guns, firing at near-point-blank range and zero elevation. Needless-to-say, the shells literally pound the small island, but although the ships guns devastate the target, they inflict minimal casualties on the Poles stationed within. When the Marinesturmkompanie hidden within the Battleship disembarks and launches its main assault on the island, it is repulsed after taking heavy casualties. Another assault is launched later in the morning, again by the Marinesturmkompanie, after more shelling from the Schleswig-Holstein, but this assault also ends in heavy German casualties.

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September 1st, 1940 (SUNDAY)

Battle of Britain: The weather is fair with cloudy patches during the morning, clearing during the afternoon. During the day, there is heavy damage to Fighter Command airfields following four major attacks. German activity is on a reduced scale compared with the previous day and fewer aircraft are employed, but three attacks of importance developed in the East Kent area. Aerodromes again appeared to be the objectives. In the North and East, reconnaissances by single aircraft are made between Humber and Lowestoft in the forenoon, and in the latter area five plottings are recorded. There are six other reconnaissances in the Harwich-Cromer zone. In the afternoon two reconnaissances are made and in one of these the position of a convoy off Yarmouth is reported. Thick cloud prevented further action. At 1040 hours interception is made of the reports transmitted by enemy aircraft over Derby. In the Southeast at 1050 hours, about 50 Luftwaffe aircraft crossed the coast near Dover and other raids followed. By 1100 hours about 100 German aircraft are over Kent and Thames Estuary. Some penetrated to Biggin Hill, Kenley, Gravesend, Hornchurch and North Weald Airfields. Two Balloons of the Dover Barrage are shot down. Fighter squadrons intercepted and shot down several Luftwaffe aircraft. At 1340 hours some 70 enemy aircraft crossed the Coast between Dover and Dungeness. A second wave of about 80 aircraft followed. Biggin Hill and Kenley Airfields are the objectives. Four squadrons from No 11 Group are sent to intercept; meanwhile No 12 Group provided one squadron from Duxford to patrol North Weald. At 1530 hours five raids totaling 70 aircraft again crossed the Coast between Dover and Dungeness. Of these abut 20 circled on the Coast line but others penetrated towards Maidstone and the Thames Estuary, and attacked Dunkirk. Further enemy casualties are inflicted. As in the previous raids hostile patrols are maintained in the Channel whilst the  German raids are in progress over England. In the Southwest, reconnaissance aircraft transmitted reports on British Naval Units South West of Lands End at 1050 hours. The position indicated is correct.

During the night, Liverpool is attacked again with smaller raids in the Midlands and South Wales. German activity is much reduced compared with that of the previous nights and the areas attacked are quite different. Only a small number of isolated raids went to the Industrial Midlands. Main raids are confined to three areas only, Kent, Bristol Channel and South Wales and Tyne/Tees. Many early raids are plotted over Kent and into the Thames Estuary. Attacks are reported on Detling Aerodrome, Dunkirk and Rye. This area is however, clear by midnight. A continuous flow passed to the Bristol Channel and South Wales, some aircraft believed to be on mine-laying. This area appeared to be the main target of the night. A few of these raids passed North as far as the Sealand area. Shortly after midnight a number of raids appeared off the Norfolk Coast and flew North West to the Tyne/Tees area. Mine-laying is suspected but several raids crossed inland before returning home in the direction of the Dutch Islands. Other mine-laying is suspected off the Humber, Thames Estuary and Dungeness to Poole. 

RAF fighters claim 25-10-24 Luftwaffe aircraft; the British lose 15 aircraft with six pilots killed or missing.

RAF Fighter Command: Tilbury, Chatham are bombed. 

South-east airfields attacked include Debden, Biggin Hill (severely damaged), Eastchurch and Detling.

 At night Bristol, South Wales, Midlands and Merseyside are bombed.

In the afternoon a clutch of very low flying Dorniers penetrated to Biggin Hill, delivering the third and most damaging bombing of the day when one scored a direct hit with a 250-kg HE on its Sector Operations Room whose reinforced concrete ceiling collapsed into the building where two WAAF's remained at their posts. Such devotion to duty won both Sergeant Helen Turner and Corporal Elspeth Henderson a Military Medal. A new, temporary, operations room was established in a village shop.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 14; RAF, 15.

Destroyer HMS Ivanhoe (D 16) working with the 20^th Destroyer Flotilla is scuttled in the North Sea off the Dutch Coast at 53 25N 03 48E after suffering mine damage. (Alex Gordon)(108)

GERMANY: Propaganda radio station NBBS "New British Broadcasting Station" declares that 'Dover is already practically German territory.'

U-131 laid down.

LITHUANIA: Kovno: The Japanese consul Sempo Sugihara, who has been issuing exit visas to Jews, is expelled.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA:
Reinforcements are sent to the Mediterranean Fleet right through until the end of the year. They are covered from Gibraltar by Admiral Somerville and Force H, and then met in the central basin by Admiral Cunningham. The opportunity is taken to run in supplies of men and material to Malta.
Early in September the new fleet carrier HMS Illustrious, with an armoured flight deck, battleship HMS Valiant and two cruisers are transferred in this way in Operation 'Hats'. On passage with them, aircraft from HMS Ark Royal attack Sardinian targets. HMS Illustrious, having joined with Eagle, sends aircraft against Rhodes. The Italian Fleet sorties during these operations, but fails to make contact. The arrival of HMS Illustrious allows Admiral Cunningham to go ahead with his plans to attack the Italian battlefleet at Taranto.

KENYA Buna falls to the Italians coming from Italian Somaliland.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Grunert advises Quezon that planning towards both civil defence and economic mobilization should commence immediately.

Grunert advises Marshall that the failure of the US government to adopt a consistent policy towards the Philippines was adversely affecting the morale of the populace.

US Navy announces it will no longer send dependents to the Far East. (Marc Small)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1720 hours GMT, the German submarine U-32 attacks the Dakar Task Force off Rockall about 243 nautical miles (450 kilometers) west-northwest of Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, U.K., in position 58.10N, 12.55W. The British light cruiser HMS Fiji (50) is damaged and she will be out of commission for six months. Her place is taken by the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Australia (H 84).

At 0055 hours local, German submarine U-101 torpedoes a Greek merchant freighter, the SS Efploia, which straggled from convoy OB-205. The wreck was scuttled by a British warship with gunfire at 55.43N/13.05W. 
 

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September 1st, 1941 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: A Consolidated Liberator Mk. I, RAF s/n AM915, operated by British Overseas Airways (BOAC), crashes into a hillside near Campbeltown, Argyll, England; all ten aboard are lost.

FRANCE: An Air France Bloch 220, msn 12, registered F-AQNL, crashes into a lake after an engine failed on takeoff at Bollemont. Only 2 of the 17 aboard survive.

GERMANY: Berlin: All Jews over the age of six are ordered to wear, from 19 September, a yellow star of David with the word Jude [Jew] written on it.

FINLAND: Yesterday Finnish troops encircled two Soviet divisions (43rd and 115th) in Porlammi - Ylä-Somme area south of Viipuri in the Karelian Isthmus. Today the Soviet units caught in the encirclement begin to surrender, although many men are able to break out, leaving their equipment behind. Finns capture a large amount of booty (including 306 artillery pieces, 246 mortars and 55 tanks) together with some 9000 POWs, among them commander of the 43rd Division, Major-General Kirpitshnikov. More than 7000 dead Red Army soldiers are buried in the field, but some 12 000 succeeded breaking out before the surrender.

LITHUANIA: Karl Jäger, commander of an SS Eisatzgruppe operating around Vilnius reports that day they killed "1,404 Jewish children, 1,763 Jews, 1,812 Jewesses, 109 mentally sick people, one German woman who was married to a Jew, and one Russian woman."

Jäger notes the essential help of local Lithuanians and says that 4,000 Jews were liquidated by pogroms and executions at the hands of Lithuanian partisans.

U.S.S.R.: German forces are now within artillery range of Leningrad. East of the city their advance nears the south edge of Lake Ladoga.

German forces recapture Mga. The important rail hub would be held for nearly three years. As General Heinz Guderian commander of the 2nd Panzer Army, launches his forces south to encircle Kiev, General Semen Timoshenko, commander of the Southwestern Front, begins a major counter attack at Gomel.

Vladivostok: A Japanese fishing trawler strikes a mine and sinks near the Soviet port of Vladivostok. Japan demands a guarantee of safety for their ships and reparations for the lost ship. The Russians tell Japan they would pay for nothing and they should stay clear of Soviet  ports.

Soviet submarine SC-135 commissioned.

CHINA: In Shanghai, the US Consul General, the Commander of the USN's Yangtze Patrol and the Commanding Officer of the 4th Marine Regiment, recommend that all US naval forces in China, i.e., river gunboats and US Marines, be withdrawn.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: First 12 Filipino infantry regiments are inducted into Federal service.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Kenogami and Orillia departed St. John's with Convoy SC-42.

U.S.A.:  President Franklin D. Roosevelt pledges every effort to defeat Germany stating "our fundamental rights-including the rights of labor-are threatened by Hitler's violent attempt to rule the world." 

Marshall assesses Hawaii as adequately defended and wishes all additional men and materiel sent to the Philippines.  

The First issue of Intelligence Bulletin is published. (Bill Howard)

First production order for 150 Northrop P-61 night fighters is placed.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US Navy forms a Denmark Strait patrol with units of the ATLANTIC Fleet with 2 heavy cruisers and four destroyers. US escorts are now allowed to convoy ships of any flag provided there is at least one ship with a US flag. 
The USN assumes responsibility for escorting convoys from a point off Argentia, Newfoundland to Iceland.

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September 1st, 1942 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Women in the services are not the only ones in uniform these days. Female civilian workers, from nurses to bus conductors and Land Girls, have regulation outfits too.

The London Passenger Transport Authority Board's women conductors are easily recognizable in their jaunty pale grey jackets and slacks with blue piping. Of the 19,000 transport conductors in the capital - on buses, trams and trolley-buses - 8,000 are now women working under the same conditions as their male colleagues. For the first six months on the road they earn no more than £4/13/- a week, a man's minimum wage. Thereafter they work up to the same maximum of £4/19/- weekly.

Women who have chosen to work on the land are provided with practical khaki corduroy breeches, green pullovers and smart little khaki felt hats. There are now some 40,000 in the Women's Land Army, working outdoors in all weathers and often living is isolated areas far from home. During their 48-hour week they drive tractors, bring in the harvest, milk the cows and care for the livestock. A minimum wage for a man doing such work is £3 a week, but for the women it is 18/- after they have paid for board and lodgings. A Cornish farmer recently admitted: "After the land girl is trained she is certainly worth more than we pay for her". The more traditionally female nursing service is crying out for volunteers. In the spring of this year a call went out for 5,000 new recruits. Women can start as student nurses at £40 a year with board and lodging, or join as nursing auxiliaries and receive £55 yearly.

Thought the wages seem low in comparison with the pay packets taken home by men in similar work, for the majority of women their wartime income is considerably larger than any pre-war earnings. But the satisfaction that many of them derive from their jobs comes as much from the company as the pay. Camaraderie with other working adults can make a welcome change from housework and childcare.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 231 aircraft of five types to bomb Saarbrücken. The Pathfinders illuminate and marked town which they believed to be Saarbr¸cken and the Main Force bombed accurately. A total of 205 aircraft claimed good bombing results. But the town bombed is Saarlouis, 13 miles (21 kilometers) to the northwest and situated in a similar bend of the River Saar. The small, non-industrial town of Saarlouis and the villages immediately surrounding are heavily damaged. The exact extent of this damage is not recorded but 52 civilians are killed. No bombs fell in Saarbr¸cken. Four bombers are lost.

U.S.S.R.: Heavy fighting in Stalingrad, where German units have reached the suburbs in some areas.

The Germans claim to have captured Kalach, 40 miles west of Stalingrad.

Units of 1.Panzerarmee (First Panzer Army under General Ewald von Kleist) form a bridgehead across the Terek river at Mozdok in the Caucasus. 

Troops from the Russian 11th Army land on the Taman Peninsula from Kerch.

(Sergey Anisimov)(69)Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. SKR "Purga" - by aviation, close to Osinovets Is., at Ladoga Lake (later raised)

Also on Lake Ladoga, Italian 12th Naval Flotilla MAS 529 is engaged by two Soviet gunboats, but manages to break contact. (Arturo Lorioli)

CRETE: U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators attack the harbor at Candia, scoring several direct hits on a vessel and hitting others.

EGYPT: Rommel's forces suffer from a lack of supplies.  One Panzer Division is out of fuel.  The 15th Panzer makes no progress.  The British 8th Armoured Division learns an expensive lesson with German anti-tank guns.
     In the air near El Alamein, Hauptmann Hans Joachim Marseilles, the finest marksman in the Luftwaffe, shoots down 17 RAF aircraft during three missions, the largest one-day total a fighter pilot will score during the war. He is awarded Germany's highest decoration, the Diamonds of the Knight's cross of the Iron Cross. 

US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators attack the harbor at Candia, Crete, scoring several direct hits on a vessel and hitting others. 2 squadrons of the 57th Fighter Group fly escort missions and sweeps with RAF. B-25 Mitchells, in conjunction with RAF light bombers, hit trucks and tanks in the battle area of Alam-el-Halfa, Egypt.

JAPAN: Japanese Foreign Minister TOGO Shigenori, taking the blame for Japan's failure to conclude a quick end to the war, resigns and Prime Minister General TOJO Hideki assumes the post of Foreign Minister. On the 17 September, TANI Masayuka is appointed Foreign Minister.
     The Japanese government creates the "Greater East Asia Ministry," to run its empire. Headed by AOKI Kazuo, the function of this ministry is to exploit the labor and resources of the conquered territories as much as possible. 

NEW GUINEA: On the Kododa Track in Papua New Guinea, the Japanese continue their assault on Australian troops but the Australians hold their ground. During the day, Australian troops in Milne Bay patrol forward up to a mile (1,6 kilometers) east of K.B. Mission.

USAAF P-40s of the Allied Air Forces hit an IJA HQ at Wagga Wagga on Milne Bay while P-400 Airacobras strafe Kokoda and Kokoda Pass in the Owen Stanley Range; and Australian ground forces continue a slow retreat over the range but make progress in Milne Bay offensive.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 6th Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) land on Guadalcanal to maintain Henderson Field.

     USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb and damage a Japanese flying boat support ship and a destroyer off Buka Island.

     Throughout September 1942, Americans on Guadalcanal lack adequate fighter strength, although carrier planes that can be spared are employed at Henderson Field. A trickle of supplies to the garrison increases only slightly.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutians, US forces complete the occupation of Adak Island.

CANADA: U-125 sank SS Ilorin.

Corvette HMCS Fennel completed foc'sle extension refit New York.

U.S.A.: USCG was no longer responsible for merchant marine training programs. This responsibility was assumed by the War Shipping Administration.

A federal judge in Sacramento, California, upholds the wartime detention of Japanese-Americans as well as Japanese nationals.

Establishment of Air Force, Pacific Fleet, VAdm Aubrey W. Fitch, USN.

Submarine USS Tunny commissioned.

Destroyer USS Earle commissioned.

United States Army opens an training facility outside of Casper, Wyoming, on the only really big flat piece or ground in the vicinity. The air base would be used as a training base for B-17 and B-24 crewmen.  Today, the original runways and many of the original hangers are still in existence, at what is now the Natrona  County International Airport. (Pat Holscher)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-756 is sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 57.41N, 31.30W, by the RCN corvette HMCS Morden. All 43-men on the U-boat are lost. 

U-756 was closing convoy SC 97 from astern to carry out a night surface attack when Morden detected her on radar. The corvette closed and attempted to ram but KptLt Harney outmanoeuvred her and submerged. Morden carried out 3 depth charge attacks that produced no evidence of a hit. It was only after the war that record reconstruction proved that U-756 had been destroyed.

The German submarine U-125 sinks an unescorted British merchant ship off Legu, Gold Coast in position 05N, 01W at 1106 hours local. Four of the 37 aboard survive. 

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September 1st, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The population of Britain is now more completely mobilized than that of any other country - far more so than Germany's. Ministry of labour figures show that there are 22,750,000 men and women in the services, Civil Defence or essential war work such as munitions and service industries. With another million doing voluntary war work, this accounts for over 70% of the 33 million people aged between 16 and 64. One million people over 65 are also in full-time employment.

Before the war, no expert would have believed this possible, said Ernest Bevin, the minister of labour. "Yet we have had to do it and we have done it." Ten million women up to the age of 45 have already been registered for war work. The recent decision to register those aged between 45 and 50 brought much criticism of Mr. Bevin in parliament and the press for "directing grandmothers"; 200 MPs signed a motion of protest. The minister pointed out that 1,500,000 women over 40 are already at work, and 500,000 of them are over 45.

He believes that older women do not resent the part they are being called on to play in the factories; nor do older men. "The average age of the Merseyside docker is nearly 51 and he is giving a remarkable turn-around of ships. I saw a man there the other day aged 83, wheeling three-hundredweight bags of Cuban sugar. I do no think I have been hard when these examples are borne in mind."

A third of the women serving in the forces and industry come from the "non-manual, non-industrial classes". Altogether there are 2,250,000 more people working in the munitions industry than in 1914-18. Around 100,000 women have joined the railways, and others are working as welders in the shipyards.

Frigates HMS Fitzroy and Seymour launched.

Submarine HMS Seneschal laid down.

GERMANY: U-317 is launched and U-1222 is commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops make good progress around Smolensk and Vyazma capturing Dorogobuzh, east of Smolensk, and south around Taganrog.

ITALY: Units of the British join aircraft and artillery in the bombardment of the Calabrian coast in preparation for Operation BAYTOWN, the British invasion of Italy.

USAAF P-40s bomb a zinc plant at Iglesias and strafe a factory north of Gonnesa while medium and light bombers hit Bova Marina, areas near Salina and Sant' Eufemia d'Aspromonte town area and bridge at Oliveto.    

During the night of 1/2 September, 38 RAF (B-24) Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group visually bomb the North

TUNISIA: All ADMINISTRATIVE functions of the Army Air Forces elements of the Northwest African Air Force are transferred to the appropriate US Twelfth Air Force organizations:

- HQ Northwest African Air Force (NAAF) to HQ Twelfth Air Force,

- Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) to XII Bomber Command,

- Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) to XII Air Support Command,

- Northwest African Coastal Air Force to XII Fighter Command,

- Northwest African Air Service Command (NAASC) to XII Air Force Services Command,

- Northwest African Air Force Troop Carrier Command to XII Troop Carrier Command (Provisional),

- NW African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing to Photo Reconnaissance Wing (Provisional), and

- Northwest African Training Command (NATC) to XII Training Command (Provisional).

OPERATIONAL control remains with the Northwest African Air Force. 

CHINA: Seven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and eight P-40s attack a Japanese destroyer and the dock area at Shihhweiyao; a P-40 and three P-38 Lightnings attack a barracks at Yangsin, shipping at Wuchang and Kutang and a train and antiaircraft guns near Puchi; six P-40s sink a small river tanker near Ichang and strafe Japanese cavalry at Ocheng; and three P-40s attack Swatow Airfield and the port area.

BURMA: USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb rail facilities at Mandalay.

BAKER ISLAND: The US Army's 804th Engineer Aviation Battalion lands on Baker Island to build an advance airfield to support the upcoming invasions in the Gilbert Islands. The landing is supported by the USN's Task Force 11 (Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee, Jr.), formed around small aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CVL 23) and USS Belleau Wood (CVL 24). The dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 1) in this operation pioneers the use of this type of ship in amphibious operations. Also involved were the PBY-5A Catalinas of USN Patrol Squadron Thirty Three (VP-33) based on Canton Island. The squadron conducted day searches toward the Gilberts covering the occupation of Baker Island.     

CORAL SEA: USN destroyer USS Wadsworth (DD-516) picks up an underwater sound contact and drops seven patterns of depth charges sinking Japanese submarine HIJMS I-20 off Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands, in position 15.38S, 166.57E. 

RYUKYU ISLANDS: USN submarine USS Pompano (SS-181) sinks a Japanese merchant vessel off Miyako Island. 

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Iboki Plantation and Rein Bay; five Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack the Cape Gloucester area; and 12 RAAF Beaufighters attack the island.

MARCUS ISLAND: Aircaft from the US carriers ESSEX, YORKTOWN and INDEPENDENCE, part of the new Fast Carrier Task Force, attack the island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Vella Lavella Island, a battalion of the U.S. 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, driving on the Kokolope Bay, reaches the Orete Cove area, about 14 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Barakoma.

NEW GUINEA: Air attacks on the Japanese at Lae are increased. Allied air operations are intensified in preparation for the offensive against Lae, Northeast New Guinea. The USAAF Fifth Air Force is concentrating on airfields, supply points and shipping in the New Guinea - Bismarck Archipelago area.

     Twenty USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and 40+ B-25 Mitchells bomb supply dumps in the Alexishafen-Madang area of Papua, New Guinea.

PHOENIX ISLANDS: From this date through 14 September, 8 US Seventh Air Force B-24s conduct daily sea-search operations from Canton Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutians, 2 US Eleventh Air Force P-40s attempting to intercept Japanese aircraft reported near Attu Island abort because of weather.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Trentonian launched.

U.S.A.: British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill arrives at the White House for a conclusion of his Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, talks with President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

     Technical Manual (TM) E 30-451, Handbook on German Military Forces, dated 1 September 1943, is issued. This is an update to the prior one. It is interesting to note that this is issued before U.S. and Allied troops have encountered many of the new German weapons. Not covered are such items as the MP 44, the Panzerfausts and many other items. (Bill Howard)

Washington: Averell Harriman is appointed US ambassador to the USSR.

Destroyer escort USS Wyman commissioned.

The USN assumes full responsibility for all airborne antisubmarine operations by US forces in the Atlantic and USAAF units are reassigned. 

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September 1st, 1944 (FRIDAY)

After a number of attacks, contact was lost at about 2300. Contact was regained at 0155 and further attacks by Saint John produced a secondary explosion and oil. Contact was lost but at 1400 the next afternoon an echo sounder trace located the U-boat on the bottom. Saint John delivered a final depth charge attack at 1407 that produced large amounts of wreckage that substantiated the destruction of U-247. U-247 was a type VIIC U-boat built by Germainiawerft, Kiel, launched 23 Sep 1943, commissioned 23 Oct 1943. On her second patrol at the time of her sinking. She had a record of one ship sunk on 5 Jul 44, the British fishing trawler 'Noreen Mary' which was sunk by gunfire about 20 miles west of Cape Wrath, Scotland, for a total of 207 tons.

All hands, 52-men, on the U-boat are lost. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)

Corvette HMS Hurst Castle (K-416) is torpedoed by U-482 (Kapitanleutnant Hartmut Graf von Matuschka) at 0822 hours local north of Troy Island off Donegal at 55 27N 08 12W, whilst escorting convoy CU-36. There are no casualties, 105 survivors are rescued by HMS Ambuscade. The corvette was escorting convoy CU-36 (Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)(108)

Sloop HMS Alacrity is launched.

The British Chiefs of Staff propose an airborne and amphibious assault on Rangoon, Burma, in 1944. This operation is coded Operation DRACULA

     HQ of the USAAF's IX Troop Carrier Command comes under administrative control of HQ US Strategic Air Forces in Europe and under operational control of HQ First Allied Airborne Army, to increase efficiency, especially for planning, training, and preparation of airborne operations. Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force now can deal directly with all elements of an airborne force through a single unified command instead of through various army groups and air forces, e.g., 12th and 21st Army Groups, USAAF Ninth Air Force, and RAF components.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions:

- Mission 595: 679 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 294 B-24s are dispatched to hit Ludwigshafen, Haguenan, Gustavsburg, Mainz and Hallach, Germany and Foret de Haguenan, France; high clouds are encountered over France and the mission is recalled; 1 B-17 bombs Hallach; escort is provided by 508 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs; 3 P-51s are lost. 

- Mission 597: 12 Azon-equipped B-24s hit the Ravenstein rail bridge, the Netherlands without loss; escort is provided by 15 P-51s.

- Mission 599: 3 B-17s fly a Micro H mission to attack a fuel dump in the Bois del la Haussiere, Belgium; escort is provided by 2 P-51s.

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

The VIII Fighter Command flies fighter-bomber missions:

- 265 P-47 Thunderbolts attack railroads in north and northeastern France; they claim 5-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-47s are lost.

- 33 P-47s attack targets in the Brussels, Belgium area without loss. 

HQ IX Troop Carrier Command comes under administrative control of HQ US Strategic Air Forces in Europe and under operational control of HQ First Allied Airborne Army, to increase efficiency, especially for planning, training, and preparation of airborne operations. Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force now can deal directly with all elements of an airborne force through a single unified command instead of through various army groups and air forces, i.e., 12th and 21st Army Groups, US Ninth Air Force, and RAF components.

FRANCE: The LVF is incorporated, along with all other Frenchmen in German units, into the larger French Waffen SS division.

     In northern France, the Canadian 2d Division liberates Dieppe and the port is reopened within a week. The U.S. 12th Army Group, commanded by Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, is transferred to the direct command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) from the command of British General Bernard Montgomery. Elements of the U.S. Third Armored Division advances quickly through Vervins to La Capelle. Meanwhile, the U.S. Third Army, commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, is practically immobilized by an acute shortage of fuel. An enforced lull allows the German to build up fortifications behind the West Wall. The U.S. VIII Corps continues preparations for renewing an all-out assault on Brest when ammunition is more plentiful. .

     In southern France, the French II Corps continues toward Lyon and captures Serriers and Firminy.

The serious German collapse has caused bitter debate among senior Allied Generals. Eisenhower favours a broad front strategy. Montgomery advocates a single thrust strategy. This debate will continue for several months. Also today Eisenhower assumes direct command of Allied forces in Europe and Montgomery is promoted to field marshal.

Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) starts operations at Granville.

In northern France, US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack fortifications in the Brest area which artillery fire had been unable to reduce; escorting fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance in northern and eastern France, and fly cover for 6 divisions in the Amiens, Saint-Quentin, Cambrai, Reims, and Verdun areas and the Brussels, Belgium area.

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 121 aircraft, 97 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos and nine Lancasters, to bomb two V2 rocket storage sites: 56 bomb La Pourchinte, 31 bomb the North site at Lumbres and 26 hit the South site at Lumbres without loss. Both raids are successful, the Lumbres attack particularly so. 

GERMANY: During the night of 1/ 2 September, 34 of 35 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos dispatched bomb the port at Bremen without loss. 

U-2329 commissioned.

HUNGARY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators visually bomb five targets: (1) 52 bomb the marshalling yard at Debrecen; (2) 51 bomb the marshalling yard at Szajol; (3) 31 bomb the railroad bridge at Szolnokl (4) 25 bomb the railroad bridge at Mezotur; and 11 bomb the marshalling yard at Berettyo Ujfalu. Two B-24s are lost.

FINLAND: This evening Finland receives an ultimatum from the Soviet Union, stating that Finland has to accept the Soviet terms for starting the peace negotiations (as stated on the 29th of August) by the 2nd of September, or the hostilities will go on. Parliament, originally set to decide on the matter on the 5th of September, is hurriedly called to convene at 6 pm. tomorrow.

ITALY: The U.S. Fifth Army begins pursuing the Germans across the Arno River. The British V and Canadian I Corps penetrate the main defenses of the Gothic Line on Mounts Gridolfo and Tomba di Pesaro, commanding the Foglia River valley.

During the night of 31 August/1 September, US Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit gun positions and targets of opportunity in the western Po Valley; weather grounds B-26s during the day but B-25s score excellent results against road and railroad bridges north and northeast of Venice; fighter-bomber and fighters bomb and strafe roads, troop concentrations, supply dumps, and German HQ in the battle area north of Florence, and fly armed reconnaissance from Ventimiglia along the coast to La Spezia. 

The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 480+ B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in Italy, Hungary and Yugoslavia; B-24s attack Boara Pisani, Italy;  51 P-51s successfully strafe Debreczen Airfield, Hungary; 16 B-17s evacuate interned US airmen from Romania; fighters support bombing and evacuation missions.

ROMANIA: German submarine U-23 enters Constanta harbor and fires three torpedoes at 0230 hours local; one torpedo hits the stern of the Romanian steamer SS Oituz causing the ship to sink. The ship was later refloated and declared a total loss. U-23 left her attack position at 0400 hours and laid a mine barrage in Constanta roads near Tuzla lighthouse. No vessels were reported lost on the barrage. 

GREECE: Because of Allied successes on other fronts, German Army Group F is forced to begin withdrawing from Greece and islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. The main withdrawal route, the rail line through Skoplje and Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is so effectively hit by heavy bombers of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force during the first half of September that an aerial withdrawal of German troops is begun from airfields in the Athens area. All three airfields are made unserviceable by USAAF attacks during the latter half of the month.

YUGOSLAVIA: Partisans join with the RAF and USAAF to launch Operation Ratweek, a seven-day attack on German communications.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers visually bomb five targets: (1) 56 B-24s bomb the railroad bridge at Mitrovica; (2) 56 bomb the railroad bridge at Mesgrada; (3) 55 bomb the railroad bridge at Kraljevo; (4) 55 B-17s bomb the airfield at Nis; and (5) 17 bomb the marshalling yard at Novi Sad.

BULGARIA: Prime Minister Bagrianov is replaced by Constantine Muraviev.

INDIAN OCEAN: German submarine U-859 sinks a British merchant freighter in position 14.10N, 61.04E. 

HONG KONG: 12 US Fourteenth Air Force B-25s bomb Kai Tek Airfield and a supply depot south of Canton.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese ship losses include a merchant a cargo ship sunk by aircraft in Celebes Sea in position 01.06N, 122.21E; and a merchant cargo ship sunk by a mine off Woosung, China. 

KURILE ISLANDS: A US Eleventh Air Force B-24 bombs Kashiwabara on Paramushiru Island during the night of 31 August/1 September; a B-25 bombs a shack on the southwestern coast of Paramushiru Island and sinks a nearby ship; and 5 other B-25s on this mission turn back due to overcast.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: A lone US Seventh Air Force B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Yap Island and Marshall Island-based B-24s bomb Truk Island.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USN Task Group 38.4 surface units, heavy cruiser USS New Orleans (CA-32), light cruiser USS Biloxi (CL-80) and 4 destroyers, bombard Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. The Japanese do not return fire. 
    USN submarine USS Pilotfish (SS-386) sinks a Japanese auxiliary vessel north-northwest of Chichi Jima, in position 30.32N, 140.55E. 

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) lands 10 tons of supplies, 5 Filipino officers and 18 enlisted men on the east coast of Luzon. The sub takes out 4 US enlisted men.

     Fifty five USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Likanan and Matina Airdromes on Mindanao.

NEW GUINEA: In preparation for the invasion of the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters moves to Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea.

U.S.A.: Selective Service announces that no men over 26 years old will be drafted during the rest of 1944. 

     Project Bumblebee (as it is later known) came into being as the USN's Bureau of Ordnance reports that a group of scientists from Section T of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) are investigating the practicability of developing a jet-propelled, guided, anti-aircraft weapon. Upon completion of the preliminary investigation, a developmental program is approved in December by the Chief of Naval Operations. In order to concentrate upon the guided missile phase of the anti-aircraft problem, the OSRD and Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, completed withdrawal, also in December, from the proximity fuze program which thus came completely under the Bureau of Ordnance. 

USS Steinaker is laid down.

Destroyer USS John R. Pierce is launched.

Submarine USS Devilfish is commissioned.

The top pop songs today are 
(1) "Amor" by Bing Crosby; 
(2) "I'll Be Seeing You" by Bing Crosby; 
(3) "Time Waits for No One" by Helen Forest; and 
(4) "Is You is or is You Ain't (Ma' Baby)" by Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five.

During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "Enemy Tactics in Chemical Warfare." (William L. Howard)

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-265 was commissioned at New York on 1 September 1944, with LT H. E. Dennis, USCGR, her first commanding officer. He was succeeded on 22 October 1944, by LTJG Richard E. Youngren, USCGR, who in turn was succeeded on 12 November 12, 1945, by LT Walter R. Young, USCGR. On 18 September 1944, she departed New York for Davisville, Rhode Island, from where she returned to New York on 11 October 1944. She later departed on 22 October 1944, for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war. On 5 April 1945, while on course, a floating horned mine was sighted dead ahead in position 05° 43' S, 147° 09' E drifting across a heavily travelled shipping lane through which an aircraft carrier had been seen to pass not more than half an hour before. The FS-265 manoeuvred into a position from which it was possible to explode the mine with machine gun fire. The damage to the FS-265 from the exploding mine was slight, consisting of a few jammed doors and locks, short circuits in the radio transmitter and a leak in the hydraulic rudder angle indicator. All of this damage was subsequently repaired.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-859 sinks SS Troilus.

Off Greenland, the US Coast Guard gunboat, USCGC Northland (WPG-49), locates the German weather ship Kehdingen off Great Kodeyey Island and gives chase. The crew of the weather ship scuttles it to avoid capture. 
Also in the area is the German U-boat U-703 which attempts to attack USCGC Northland but is blocked by ice.

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September 1st, 1945 (SATURDAY)

FINLAND: The United States re-establishes diplomatic relations with Helsinki with the establishment of the American Legation and Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.

HONG KONG: The Japanese commander is informed that he is to remove all his troops from Hong Kong island to Kowloon by 1600 hours. 4,000 Japanese are confined to the former British camp at Shamshuipo and in total 18,000 Japanese troops are disarmed and evacuated to the mainland without any trouble.

Rear Admiral Harcourt proclaims the establishment of a Military Government and becomes the Head of the Military Administration as well as Commander-in-Chief of the Colony. (Mike Yared)(208)

JAPAN: Two civilian internment camps are located in the Tokyo area and the captives are freed and transferred to the hospital ship USS Benevolence (AH-13).

USS Benevolence (AH-13) evacuates civilian internees from 2 internment camps near Tokyo.

CANADA: HMS Una arrived Halifax for ASW training.

Submarine HMS United arrived Bermuda for ASW training.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Isle of the Dead" is released. This horror movie, directed by Mark Robson, stars Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew and Jason Robards, Sr. The plot has a group of people quarantined on a Greek Island in 1912 and an old peasant woman believes that a young girl is a vampiric kind of demon. 

In baseball, Philadelphia Phillies' centre fielder Vince DiMaggio ties a major league record by hitting his fourth grand slam home run of the season. Traded to the Phillies by the Pittsburgh Pirates on 31 March 1945, DiMaggio finishes the season with a .257 batting average and 19 home runs for the last place Phillies.

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