10 September 1939

AUSTRIA: Theodore Habicht demands restoration of Austrian National-Socialist party, whose aim is the union of Austria with Germany.

GERMANY: Dr. Josef Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda, launches a public propaganda campaign against Czechoslovakia based on the Czechoslovak-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact of May 1935. The Germans accuse the Czechs of harboring Sovie and providing airfields to the Soviet Air Force. Despite Czech protests, the Germans expand the propaganda program and denounce the Czechoslovak government. The Czechoslovak government expands its armament program and begins the construction of strong fortifications along the German border.

GERMANY: Hitler gives permission for the Luftwaffe to extend its reconnaissance flights across the Franco-German border.

Oberst Rommel, as chief of Hitler's bodyguard, requests of the Organization TODT, a study for a suitable venue on the western frontier of France and Germany to build a heavily fortified FHQu (Führer Headquarters), by which Hitler might direct an invasion of France and the Low Countries. After a number of suggestions to places on the border Münster-Eifel region and the Rhine Valley, which Albert Speer, as Hitler's architectural confidante reviewed for the Führer, the decision was a made to capitalize upon the pre-existing structures based in and around Schloss Ziegenberg near Bad Neuheim.

The new FHQu. would henceforth be christened in official paperwork as “ADLERHORST.” I will allow Franz W. Zeidler’s description to fill in the rest of the details:

“Schloss Ziegenberg was situated on a mountainside a few hundred metres above the confluence of the Rivers Usa and Forbach and about ten kilometres east of Bad Nauheim in Hesse. In 1939 it was sorrounded by agricultural land. Five kilometres to the north lay Schloss Kransberg, which had a cafeteria very popular with day-trippers before the war. The nearby grass airfields at Merzhausen and Kirchgons were earmarked for use by the Luftwaffe: to enemy air-reconnaissance they resembled simple meadows and were ideal for FHQu.’s Fieseler Storch courier aircraft. At both Ziegenberg and Kransberg, bunkers and signal installations could be excavated into the mountainside. A valley a mile or so north-west of Ziegenberg and known today as Wiesental appeared to offer a good location for Hitler’s accommodation bunkers. Schloss Ziegenberg, including the farmland, was he property of he von Schaffer-Bernstein family but had been confiscated in September 1939 under the ‘Schutzbereich’ law of 11 October, 1935. The owners of the Kransberg estate, the Homburg family von Scheidlein, were dispossessed with effect from 1 October 1939 and compensated in the sum of 269,400 Reichsmark.

The project lasted from September 1939 until August 1940, OT organizing three shifts around the clock to ge the underground workings completed. the original workforce of 2000 rose to a maximum of 4500 in December of 1939 and then declined gradually to 1000 by June 1940. It was accommodated mainly in camps of wooden barracks, although a few workers were provided lodgings in private rooms and halls. Private busses were laid on to transport workers to and from the sites. OT built the four subterranean work and accommodation bunkers, two air-raid shelters and three air-raid cellars at Ziegenberg/Kransberg and bored 300 metres of running galleries with a combined floor surface of 900 square metres. Spoil amounted to 72,000 cubic metres. A total of 38,000 cubic square metres of bunker floor space was split down into living and work space (55 percent), corridors, gas traps, and galleries, side rooms, and air-raid cellars. In all 4,600 squre metres of masonry was used in blending the bunkers, while the landfill amounted to 9,000 cubic metres.”

Warsaw: Many fires are started by the bombardment including one at the Transfiguration Hospital with several hundred wounded inside.

The Polish army attacks the Germans along the river Bzura near Poznan and Poles still hold out at the Hel Peninsula. In the south near Kutno the German 30th Infantry Division suffered heavy losses when its overextended left flank and wide front were attacked by several Polish divisions.

General Halder noted in his diary though that "SS artillery of the Armd. Corps herded Jews into a church and massacred them."

CANADA: Ottawa: W.L. Mackenzie King announces that Canada is now at war with Germany. Canada makes her own declaration of war for the first time. King notes that there are currently 4,500 soldiers in the Canadian Army (+60,000 reserves); 4,500 in the RCAF; 1,800 in the RCN
As Canada declares war on Germany. United States neutrality laws extend to Canada.

The Globe and Mail (newspaper) that day had the large headline, CANADA DECLARES WAR!

Proclamation Issued Following Solid Vote In Parliament
Dominion Committed To Stand With Britain Against Hitler
A secondary story was headed,

London, Sept 10 - With the declaration of a state of war on Germany by Canada
today, the British Empire, with its 13,909,780 square miles, and its
population of almost 600,000,000 is now, with the single exception of Eire, lined up in war against Germany. The greatest Empire the world has ever known has completed the roll call....

Washington, Sept. 10 - President Roosevelt applied the United States
Neutrality Law to Canada today, and therefore placed an embargo upon shipments of arms and munitions to the Dominion of Canada...

The Royal Canadian Air Force is comprised of 20 squadrons, 12 of them Auxiliary (reserve) units; five of the reserve squadrons are not equipped with any aircraft and the other seven have biplane trainers. The RCAF has 20 types of aircraft totalling 270 machines; over half, 146, are training and transport types and only 124 could be classified as operational types. The only first-line aircraft are 19 Hurricane Mk. I fighters and nine Battle Mk. I day bombers; the other 242 aircraft are obsolete.
The first mission by the RCAF is carried out by No. 5 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. A Supermarine Stranraer biplane seaplane, serial number 908, is dispatched on a reconnaissance patrol of the approaches to Halifax; five vessels are sighted but no enemy activity is seen.

UNITED STATES: An article in THE NEW YORK TIMES refers to the conflict in Poland as the "Second World War."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US freighter SS Hybert is stopped by a German U-boat. After 2-hours, she is released but the captain is warned not to use his radio for 24 hours.

Norwegian Sea off Obrestad: The submarine HMS Oxley (Oxley Class submarine) is mistaken for a U-boat and torpedoed by the submarine HMS Triton, the first British Royal Navy loss of the war. The submarines had been in regular contact when HMS Triton spotted an unidentified submarine. Believing it might be HMS Oxley, Triton flashed recognition signals. No reply came and after several challenges Triton fired two torpedoes that sunk Oxley. Triton found Oxley's captain, and two other survivors. A Board of Enquiry found that Oxley had made a navigational error and drifted off station into the adjacent patrol area of HMS Triton. Despite being surfaced and using signal lamps to flash a challenge and then following up with a rifle grenade, Oxley made no reply before Triton fired two torpedoes, the reply being described as indeterminable flashing. Two survivors picked up by Triton were found to be the Commander and an AB from Oxley. was some way out of position and that Triton had acted correctly. (Jack McKillop and Alex Gordon)(108)

Daylight operations included lone armed reconnaissance flights, convoy attacks off East Anglia, bombing of coastal towns including Great Yarmouth and Hastings and raids on West Malling and Woolwich.

In the late afternoon a build-up is reported over France and about 300 aircraft began crossing between Dover and the North Foreland at 16:55, six were reported to be four-engined bombers with strong fighter escort. They swung west to stream across south London, about 30 entering the IAZ and a small diversion heading towards Salisbury. Opposing them were 24 RAF fighter squadrons.

The weather is generally cloudy with some rain. During the day, small scale attacks on Portsmouth, Tangmere, Poling and West Malling. Only isolated aircraft appeared in the London area also scattered raids along the South Coast and over Kent. Reconnaissance flights over Convoys. In the East, there is one early morning reconnaissance of Humber and Digby and out over Yarmouth. Two reconnaissances of convoys off Norfolk and Lincolnshire, of which one crossed the coast near Mablethorpe. Two raids, of which one identified as a Ju 88 along Norfolk Coast, Yarmouth to Harwich, and a further raid reported to have attacked Yarmouth. Cloud conditions prevented fighter contact. At 1550 hours, one aircraft flew West, North of Thames Estuary, crossed London from North to South and then out over Sheppey. In the South, there is one early raid penetrated inland near Tangmere. Fighters failed to intercept. Two raids just inland near Hastings and Shoreham during the morning. At 1230 hours one Dornier crossed the coast near Hastings, penetrated to Central London, and flew out East near Clacton. At 1715 hours six small raids coming in between Beachy Head and Dungeness approached London area. Fighters intercepted and two enemy aircraft are destroyed and one probable. The remainder flew out by the same route to Dieppe, France, area. Between 1740-1835 hours, there are small raids via Poole to Middle Wallop where track faded.

During the night, there are main attacks against London with some lesser raids on Merseyside and South Wales. Between 1700-1800 hours some raids originating from Cherbourg, France, appeared to attack Poling, Tangmere and Portsmouth, but only two penetrated inland to any extent. Luftwaffe activity commenced with an attack of about 12 raids, coming from Cherbourg via St Catherine's Point and Selsey to Hampshire, some of which penetrated to London area. This wave is all dispersed by 2200 hours. A further wave of six raids came from the Somme, France, area crossing the coast between Dungeness and Beachy Head, over Kent and Sussex up to London area. There is a lull in hostile activity between 2200 and 2230 hours, at which time raids again came in between Selsey and Dungeness. Between 2100 and 0100 hours, it is estimated that 80 raids crossed the South Coast. German raids gradually ceased to come in over the South Coast, but by 0100 hours a stream of about 30 raids started to come in from the Dutch Islands up the Thames Estuary into the London area, thence out over the South Coast. By 0430 the last of these raids left the cost by the North Foreland and the whole country is then clear. In the West several raids entered between the Needles and Portland, proceeding to South Wales, Western Midlands and Liverpool. One raid reached Liverpool area flying East from the Irish Sea and a further raid came in near Whitby and flew West as far as Kendal, then out East over Hartlepool. Minelaying is suspected in the Mersey, South of the Isle of Man, Harwich, Portsmouth area and Thames Estuary.

Today, RAF Fighter Command claims 2-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; the RAF lost one Spitfire but the pilot is safe.

The British War Cabinet instructs RAF bombers over Germany not to return home with their bombs if they failed to locate their original targets. Instead, they were to drop their bombs "anywhere" if unable to reach their targets. This order was given in light of the destruction and terror inflicted on Londoners during the last two nights by a succession of Luftwaffe bombing raids.

GERMANY:
Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:
The British air raids on Berlin and Hamburg should be played up, magnifying all the details as much as possible, in such a way as to further validate our retaliatory measures in the eyes of the world. Furthermore material from the last few months should be exploited more than it has been so far, to make plain the justification of our measures.

ALBANIA: During the next 10 days, the Italians will increase their forces in Albania by 40,000 men in preparation for their invasion of Greece.

NORTH AFRICA:
RAF Hurricanes Mk Is of "A" Flight, No. 274 Squadron (the first to operate in Africa) based at Amiyra, score their first victories when two Italian SM 79 Sparvieros (Sparrowhawks) are destroyed.

Yesterday Tomorrow

September 10th, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Stubborn laid down.

FRANCE: Paris: The collaborationist newspaper, L'Oeuvre describes the burgeoning black market for food. "Nothing has been settled about how to feed Paris. .... indispensable vegetables are swept off the board and only the minority who can pay through the nose enjoy them. People of average means are .. deprived, ...and have not the wherewithal to take the time to go and eat in Normandy or Brittany. Potatoes are .. unfindable. But the Black Market manages to infiltrate enormous quantities for restaurants or customers willing to pay 8 or 9 francs a kilo."

GERMANY: U-525 laid down.

NORWAY: Oslo: Guards with Tommy guns are patrolling the streets of Oslo tonight after a savage crackdown by Josef Terboven. Hitler's commissioner for Norway. Two trade union leaders have been executed after a summary court martial and four others have been sent to gaol.

An 8pm to 5am curfew is in force. Dance halls are closed and the sale of alcohol is forbidden. Newspaper editors have been sacked and all meetings, indoors and outdoors have been banned. Terboven declared martial law after reports that the Norwegian unions were calling a general strike in opposition to the Nazi regime. Terboven accused "communist elements" in the unions of "disturbing the industrial peace in a criminal manner."

The underground anti-Nazi newspaper Fri Ragbevegelse has called on the people to remain calm, but to fight "with all secret means for their rights."

U.S.S.R.: General Heinz Guderian, Commanding Second Panzer Army, attacks south, and east of Kiev. The First Panzer Group begins the breakout of their bridgehead over the Dniepr River around Kremenchug. Both Army Groups Centre and South are aimed at Kiev. Generalleutnant Walter Model’s 3 Pz. Div. (XXIV Pz.K) captures Romny 30 miles to the south. (Jeff Chrisman)

The Luftwaffe raids Leningrad hitting the cities dairy and starting dozens of fires. Two hundred citizens are killed in the night’s raid.

Soviet submarines SC-407 and SC-408 commissioned.

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Cowichan and Wasaga arrived Halifax from builder Esquimalt, British Columbia.
Patrol boat HMCS Nenamook launched Victoria, British Columbia. Corvette HMCS Charlottetown launched.

In Edmonton Alberta , the provincial government orders all schools closed due to the epidemics of infantile paralysis (poliomyelitis) and encephalitis.

U.S.A.: Charlie Chaplin was accused today of using the cinema to "poison the minds of the American people to go to war". Senator Bennett Champ Clark, a leading isolationist, told a Senate sub-committee investigating propaganda charges against Hollywood that United Artists was dominated by Chaplin and Alexander Korda, two British subjects, who were using it to make pro-war propaganda. United Artists made The Great Dictator.

Chaplin, he said, had made his fortune in America, but never thought well enough of it to become a US citizen. He claimed that British propaganda had dragged America into the last war.

The hull of the second USS Satterlee (DD-626) is laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-501 (KptLt Hugo Förster CO) is sunk at 2330 hours in the Straits of Denmark south of Angmagsalik, Greenland, in position 62.50N, 37.50W, by depth charges and ramming from the RCN corvettes HMCS Chambly (Cdr. James Douglas "Chummy" Prentice RCN Commanding Officer) and HMCS Moosejaw (Lt. Frederick Ernest Grubb RCN, CO).

The Canadian ships had been proceeding to the assistance of escort of convoy SC-42 when they made an ASDIC contact and Chambly immediately depth charged. After the first depth charge run U-501 surfaced right next to HMCS Moose Jaw during her turn. The commander of U-501 leaped about 9 feet (2.7 meters) from his boat and onto the bridge of the corvette without even getting his feet wet! Fearing another boarding attempt the corvette opened the range and, as the U-boat passed her bows, rammed the U-boat and then straddled her with gunfire preventing the German crew from manning their deck armament and causing enough damage to cause her to start sinking.

A boarding party from Chambly, led by Lt Edward Theodore Simmons, then boarded the U-boat and once inside found the lighting system and instrumentation wrecked and heard the tell tale sound of rushing water, all of the boarding party except one were able to clear U-501 before she sank. Stoker William Irvin Brown of Chambly and 11 members of U-501's crew were lost as she sank. Of the sub crew, 37 of the 48 men aboard survived.

Retired Commodore Jan Drent's translation of 1999 statement by two former U-501 crewmembers: "The truth concerning the loss of U-501..." based on a statement by Fritz Weinrich, Chief Mechanican, 1st Class, U-501 "...I was then ordered by the engineer officer to use a ready-use hammer to smash the torpedo firing calculator in the conning tower. He went to the radio room and started wrecking its equipment....I went up to the bridge and observed Chambly's boat. It came alongside and the heavily-armed Canadian boat's crew climbed on boat...One of the boat's crew secured the bow line to U-501's rail. It later turned out that this was Stoker W.I. Brown... "...I observed all...from the bridge...Three Canadians, armed with pistols, started to climb up. I was about to clear the bridge when I was blocked. I was ordered to go down into the boat, but was unwilling to comply. I could now see that U-501 was sinking fairly quickly. I could also observe that Stoker Brown had dived under the surface to let go the bow line...He succeeded. Using all the facial gestures at my command and excuses I attempted to argue with the orders to go back down into the boat given by the leader of the prize crew, Lieut. Simmons. Among other expressions, I said: "No good, boat alles kaput!" Lieut. Simmons did not react to my protests and, using a dawn pistol, was forcing me to go down. (N.B. Simmons' renacted all this in the NFB film/video, "Corvette Port Arthur") When I went to pull a flashlight out of my blouse pocket this immediately triggered the order: "Hands Up!!" I was frisked thoroughly by the three Canadians....A sea coming from astern washed into the bridge before I could descend into the boat. Everyone on the bridge was lifted by the wave...The boat then sank by the stern...The Canadians now attempted to swim towards the boat...The Canadian W.I. Brown was swimming alongside me in the water and was also trying to reach the boat. He was about two or three meters away from me. He had secured a bicycle inner tube around his upper body as a life jacket. Suddenly there was a gurgling sound and he sank below the surface." "As is customary among seafarers, our treatment in Chambly was fair and comradely... "All other versions in general circulation about the sinking of U-501 are not in accordance with what actually happened and therefore incorrect and fabrications! U-501 was not sunk by depth charges, gunfire, or by being rammed. There was also no internal explosion. The Canadians were never inside U-501. The Canadian rating W.I. Brown did not go down with the boat but drowned in the sea...In my judgement he became hypothermic because of his light clothing"

U-111 sank SS Marken.
U-432 sank SS Muneric, SS Winterswijk and SS Stargard in Convoy SC-42
U-652 damaged SS Baron Pentland and SS Tahchee in Convoy SC-42
U-81 sank SS Sally Maersk in Convoy SC-42
U-82 sank SS Empire Hudson in Convoy SC-42
U-85 sank SS Thistleglen in Convoy SC-42.

Top of Page

Yesterday Tomorrow

Home

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Churchill announces firm measures including the use of troops, to curb the "revolutionary" activities of the Congress Party in India.

NETHERLANDS: Individual RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb Haamstede and Venlo Airfields.

GERMANY: During the night of 10/11 September RAF Bomber Command dispatches 479 aircraft, 242 Wellingtons, 89 Lancasters, 59 Halifaxes, 47 Stirlings, 28 Hampdens and 14 Whitleys, to bomb Düsseldorf; 365 bomb the target with the loss of 33 aircraft, 20 Wellingtons, five Lancasters, four Stirlings, three Halifaxes and a Hampden, 7.1 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders successfully marked the target, using 'Pink Pansies' in converted 4,000 pound (1 814 kilogram) bomb casings for the first time. All parts of Düsseldorf except the north of the city are hit as well as the neighbouring town of Neuss. Thirty nine industrial firms in Düsseldorf and 13 in Neuss are damaged so much that all production ceased for various periods. Eight public buildings are destroyed and 67 damaged. 911 houses are destroyed and 1,506 seriously and 8,340 lightly damaged. One hundred thirty two people are killed, 120 in Düsseldorf and 12 in Neuss; 116 further people are still classed as missing two days later and 19,427 people are bombed out. Individual aircraft bomb Gladbeck and Krefeld as targets if opportunity.

U.S.S.R.: Novorossisk is captured by units of the V.A.K. (9 Inf. Div., 73 Inf. Div., 125 Inf. Div.) (Jeff Chrisman)

MADAGASCAR: Allied troops have begun an advance to occupy all of this Vichy-French colony. Last May the Allies occupied the port of Diego Suarez, to forestall its use by Japan's navy. Now the Allies claim that Japanese submarines have been using Madagascar as a fuelling base - an accusation which Vichy denies. Vichy Governor General Annet after five months of talks fails to win guarantees of non-cooperation with the Japanese. The British 29th Infantry Brigade has landed at Majunga, on the west coast, followed by the 22nd East African Brigade. They are pushing on to the capital, Tananarive, while the 7th South African Brigade advances from Diego Suarez.

The Australian destroyer HMAS Napier (G 97) enters the port of Morandava on the west coast and lands 50 commandoes. The Vichy French defenders fire a few rounds and then surrender.

The Free French are promised that the administration of the colony will be turned over to them once operation is completed.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, some Australian troops move north on the track

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A second airstrip, Fighter One, becomes operational on Guadalcanal. Fighter One is a grassy field that will be used by USN and USMC F4F Wildcats and USAAF P-400 Airacobras.
In the air, the IJN dispatches 27 "Bettys" (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) and 15 "Zekes" (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) to bomb Guadalcanal. They are met by 5 USMC F4F Wildcats which shoot down 5 "Bettys" with the loss of a Wildcat. The Americans now have only 12 serviceable fighters on Guadalcanal.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutians: Weather, photo reconnaissance, and patrol missions are flown by the US 11th Air Force during the morning over Nazan Bay, Tanaga, Adak and Amchitka Islands; poor weather is encountered at Kiska, Attu, and Agattu Islands.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Weather, photo reconnaissance, and patrol missions are flown by the USAAF 11th Air Force during the morning over Nazan Bay of Atka Island; and Tanaga, Adak and Amchitka Islands; poor weather is encountered at Agattu Island and Japanese-held Kiska, and Attu Islands.

U.S.A.: The German submarine U-69 lays 12 mines at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Baruch Commission, tasked with investigating the availability of rubber, warns of military and civilian collapse due to a shortage of rubber in the U.S. As a result, the government mandates gasoline rationing in the U.S. to limit the amount of driving thus saving rubber required for tires.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy ON-127 (U.K. to North America), consisting of 32 merchant ships escorted by the Canadian destroyers HMCS St. Croix (I 81, ex USS McCook (DD-252)] and HMCS Ottawa (H 60). three Canadian corvettes, HMCS Amherst (K 148), Arvida (K 113) and Sherbrooke (K 152) and the British corvette HMS Celandine (K 75), are tracked by the 12 U-boats of wolfpack Vorwarts. Over the next 4 days, 12 freighters and 1 destroyer are sunk with a lost of one U-Boat.

At 1435 hours GMT, a 4,241 ton Belgian freighter, SS Elisabeth van Belgie, and a 6,313 ton Norwegian tanker, SS Sveve, are struck by torpedoes fired by U-96 and sink. At about 2300 hours GMT, a 8,029 ton British tanker, SS Empire Oil, is hit by torpedoes fired by U-659 and sinks. U-659 was damaged by depth charges and was forced to return to base.
U-96 also damages SS FJ Wolfe in Convoy ON-127.

The US freighter SS American Leader is sunk by the German auxiliary cruiser Michel (HSK-9) about 815 natuical miles (1,287 km) west of the Cape of Good Hope. 47 of the 58 men aboard survive and are taken aboard the German vessel and are turned over the Japanese in Singapore; 14 of the men die in Japanese prison camps.

UNITED KINGDOM: Light cruiser HMS Royalist commissioned.
Destroyer HMS Vigilant commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: The Russians land at Mariupol on the Sea of Azov capturing the area. Other unts head across the Desna River in the vicinity of Novgorod Severski.

In the Donets sector the Russians capture Volnovakha and Chaplino. A major engagement begins at Novorossiysk on the Black Sea after landings.

Most of the German reserves concentrate in the British sector and local counterattacks recapture positions lost that morning.

Other German forces retreat north. They intend to form a defensive line across Italy.

Germans begin to evacuate the garrisons from Sardinia. They will move first to Corsica and then to Italy. There will be some losses to shipping and harassment from small French units that land on Corsica. By the end of September this troop movement will be complete.

Although now firmly established at Salerno, the Allies do not have enough room between the coast and the Germans to allow use of the ports at Salerno and Vietri. The U.S. 36th Infantry Division,sets about capturing high ground from Ogliastro to Albanella. Meanwhile, the British 10 Corps pushes on at Battipaglia to capture Montecorvino airfield while 46 Division is to clear Salerno and the corridors through the Sorrento peninsula. However, at first light the Germans strike first, driving 56 Division out of Battipaglia but Montecorvino airfield is captured by 3 Coldstream Guards and 2/6th Queen's Regiment, 169 Brigade and Faiano falls without a fight.

On 10 Corps' left, 46 Division troops end the day in a stalemate with German forces at Cava di Tirreni. At the Gulf's southern end, the U.S. 45th Infantry Division gets ashore virtually unmolested to support the 36th Infantry Division - most defenders having been moved to the north against 10 Corps. General Clark believes he will soon advance on Naples.

The British Eighth Army reaches the Catanzaro 'neck' after an advance of about 100 miles (161 km). General Montgomery wishes to pause here but is reluctantly persuaded to push forward to relieve pressure on the landings at Salerno. 1 Airborne Division's patrols from Taranto reach Monopoli on the Adriatic Coast and find it clear of Germans, but at Castellanata 10 Parachute Battalion has a sharp engagement in which the Divisional commander, Major-General G. F. Hopkinson, is mortally wounded. 5 Corps troops are now being shipped into Taranto from where they are intended eventually to come under Montgomery's command.

US Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb a satellite airfield at Foggia. US Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command medium bombers hit railroad and road junctions and road net in the Castelnuovo-Pescopagano-Cassino-Capua-Formia areas; B-17 Flying Fortresses attack the Ariano intersection and highway bridge (and bridges and roads in the area), bridges near Botena and over the Tiber River southwest of Rome, and roads, buildings, and railroad facilities at Isernia; XII Air Support Command and RAF airplanes of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force blast heavy road movement north from Lauria and cover beachheads in the Salerno area as the British Eighth Army increases pressure on its front in an effort to prevent the Germans from concentrating against the US Fifth Army's Salerno beachhead. During the night of 10/11 September, B-25 Mitchells hit communications centers at Corleto, Perticara, Auletta and Saptri.

During the night of 10/11 September, 49 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the highway junction at Formia and USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit communications centers at Corleto, Perticara, Auletta and Saptri.

Rome: German reaction to the Italian surrender was predictably swift. Within hours of Eisenhower's announcement of the Italian surrender, General von Vietinghoff, the commander of the Tenth Army, today moved paratroopers and a Panzer division to occupy Rome.

Five Italian divisions stationed around Rome appeared ready to defend the city, but capitulated quickly as the German commanders put Operation ACHSE (Axis) into force. Ironically, the Americans had been preparing a division-strong airborne landing in the city - but cancelled the operation when Marshal Badoglio protested.

Minelayer HMS Abdiel which is bringing in supplies and a holding force after the announcement of the Italian armistice, is sunk in the port of Taranto by German GS type magnetic mines laid the previous evening by MFP478 and S54 and S61. There are 48 casualties amongst the crew plus 120 soldiers. (Alex Gordon)(108)

MALTA: "Be pleased to inform Their Lordships that the Italian Fleet lies at anchor under the guns of the Fortress of Malta." With these words Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, signalled to the admiralty the total surrender of the Italian navy. Flying black flags of surrender and escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, units of the Italian fleet are anchored off Valetta's Grand Harbour. More ships are heading for Gibraltar and other Allied ports, removing the naval threat in the Mediterranean.

EGYPT: Major General Ralph Royce takes command of U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East (USAFIME) replacing Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton who is departing for England to reconstitute the USAAF Ninth Air Force.

BURMA: US Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells again bomb Gokteik Viaduct; the approaches are battered but the viaduct remains usable.

SINGAPORE: The Italian submarine Reginaldo Giuliani is taken over by the Germans.

Other Italian submarines COMMANDANTE ALFREDO CAPPELLINI (I-503) and LUIGI TORELLI (I-504) are seized by the Japanese before being given to the Germans as UIT24 and UIT25 respectively. (Henry Sirotin)

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 7th Division relieves the U.S. 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment at Nadzab and begins a drive eastward toward Lae. The Japanese at Lae are thus threatened from both the east and west. The Australians begin a general advance into Salamaua and by evening, Japanese defenses south of the Francisco River have collapsed.

The Australian 7 Division, having been flown to Nadzab in US Fifth Air Force C-47 Skytrains, begins a push east toward Lae.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Stettler launched Montreal, Province of Quebec.
Minesweeper HMCS St Boniface commissioned.
Corvette Matapedia arrived Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for emergency repairs.
Minesweeper HMCS St Boniface following her transit to Halifax and workups, she was assigned to EG W-5, later, W-4 of the Western Escort Force, both times as the Senior Officer's flagship.

U.S.A.: The First and Fourth Air Forces are relieved from their assignments to the US Army's Eastern and Western defence Commands respectively and hereafter serve primarily as training organizations for fighter units.

UNITED KINGDOM: Montgomery's proposal for an airborne attack across Holland, to become known as Market-Garden, is accepted by Eisenhower. It is based on the assumption that only light German forces hold the area.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 4 missions. Numbers in parenthesis indicate the aircraft attacking the target:

- Mission 619: 1,144 bombers and 570 fighters, in 3 forces, attack targets in the Stuttgart, Germany area; 7 bombers are lost mostly to flak along with 5 fighters.
(1) B-24s hit secondary targets, the marshalling yards at Ulm (247) and Heilbronn (100); 2 others bomb targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 153 P-38 Lightnings and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost.
(2) B-17s bomb a tank factory at Nurnberg (173), Giebelstadt Airfield (112) and an aircraft components plant at Furth (60); 8 others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 221 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s and they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 38-0-44 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost.
(3) B-17s attack a motor vehicle factory at Gaggenau (140), a jet-propulsion units plant at Zuffenhausen (116) and an engine factory at Sindelfingen (73); 19 others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 135 P-51s; they claim 1-1-0 aircraft in the air and 29-0-1 on the ground.

- Mission 620: A B-17 flies a mission to trial the GB-4 radio/visual control bomb against Duren, Germany

- Mission 621: 3 B-17s fly a radar and photo reconnaissance mission over Germany; leaflets are also dropped.

- 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.

- 121 P-47s strafe airfields and ground and rail traffic in a sweep over the Cologne, Frankfurt/Main, and Kassel areas; they claim 10-0-21 aircraft on the ground; 8 P-47s are lost.

Advance HQ, US Ninth Air Force, assigns rail lines approaching the River Rhine from the west, north of Karlsruhe, to be attacked by IX and XIX Tactical Air Command fighters in the first of a series of orders setting up rail interdiction programs to cut lines west and east of the River Rhine in September and early October; changes and additions to targets appear on 12 and 14 September when a list of all lines to be cut is published.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 10/11 September, one of two RAF Bomber Command Lancasters lays mines off Texel Island.

FRANCE: In northern France, the British I Corps, after a very strong aerial bombardment during which almost 5,000 tons (4 636 tonnes) of bombs are dropped, and after naval softening of defenses by the British battleship HMS Warspite (03) and the monitor HMS Erebus (I 02), launches an all-out assault on Le Havre at 1745 hours with two divisions penetrating the German defenses.

U.S. Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Commanding General 12th Army Group, orders the U.S. First Army to break through the West Wall and secure crossings over the Rhine River in the vicinity of Koblenz, Bonn and Cologne; U.S. Third Army is to secure crossings of the Rhine at Mannheim. This offensive is scheduled to open on 14 September.

In northern France, the U.S. VIII Corps closes up to Brest proper and finishes clearing the Le Conquest Peninsula. The XIX Corps advancing northeastward with little difficulty, finds Fort Eben Emael undefended. The U.S. 90th Infantry Division takes Aumetz, Hayange and Algrange. The 5th Infantry Division begins crossing the Moselle River between Noveant and Arnaville about 0200 hours under a smoke screen taking the Germans by surprise.

Advance HQ, USAAF Ninth Air Force, assigns rail lines approaching the Rhine River from the west, north of Karlsruhe, to be attacked by IX and XIX Tactical Air Command fighters in the first of a series of orders setting up rail interdiction programs to cut lines west and east of the Rhine River in September and early October; changes and additions to targets appear on 12 and 14 September when a list of all lines to be cut is published.

In northern France, about 340 B-26s and A-20 Havocs hit strongpoints and ammunition stores in the Foret de Haye, Custines rail bridge, and a road bridge over the Mosel River; escorting fighters provide general air cover in the Metz-Nancy area, and support US Third Army ground forces in stemming a counterattack there; 800+ C-47s complete supply and evacuation missions; the southern invading forces and those of the Normandy invasion meet. The XV Corps makes contact with the French II Corps that landed in southern France.

In the air in southern France, 54 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack Bron supply depot at Lyon. Fighters and fighter-bombers of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force’s XII Tactical Air Command attack communications in the Belfort and Dijon areas, cutting railroads and hitting several trains.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 992 aircraft, 521 Lancasters, 426 Halifaxes and 45 Mosquitos to attack eight different German strong points around Le Havre; 961 aircraft bomb targets. Each target is separately marked by the Pathfinders and then accurately bombed. No aircraft lost.

During the night of 10/11 September, 25 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24s and C-47 Skytrains fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

Conferring with his commanders in Brussels, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief Supreme Headquarter Allied Expeditionary Force, decides to defer operations to open the port of Antwerp until after Operation MARKET-GARDEN to secure a Rhine bridgehead.

In the British XXX Corps area, the Germans disposed along the Albert Canal continue to offer stiff opposition to Allied forces holding bridgeheads across it.

The U.S. 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) crosses the Meuse River at Liege and drives north. Meanwhile the 28th Infantry Division overruns Bastogne, Longvilly, Wiltz, Selange and Arlon.

LUXEMBOURG: Units of the US 1st Army enter and liberate Luxembourg City when Combat Command A of the U.S. 5th Armored Division, takes the city of Luxembourg with ease and probes eastward toward German; Combat Command R drives to within 8 miles (13 kilometers) of the German border.

During the night of 10/11 September, 41 of 47 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Berlin without loss; one Mosquito bombs Lubeck.

AUSTRIA: The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 344 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators to bomb four targets in the Vienna area: 134 bomb the industrial area; 82 hit an oil refinery; 79 bomb the Schwechat synthetic oil refinery; and 50 attack the Ostmark Ordnance Depot. Seventeen aircraft are lost.

ITALY: The US 5th Army renews attacks toward the Futa and Il Giogo Passes north of Florence.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the 6th Armored Infantry Battalion takes Villa Basilica and the II Corps opens a drive toward the Gothic Line at 0530 hours with two divisions abreast. The British XIII Corps attacks toward the Gothic Line with three divisions with their main effort on the left in support of the U.S. II Corps.

The US Twelfth Air Force flies tactical missions in ITALY and southern FRANCE. In Italy, B-25s and B-26s continue the campaign against railroad bridges in the Po Valley and execute 4 attacks against supply and ammunition dumps; fighter-bombers hit dumps and communications as the ground assault on the Gothic Line commences during the early morning. In France, XII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers blast communications in the Belfort and Dijon areas, cutting railroads and hitting several trains.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 80 B-24 Liberators to bomb the port area at Trieste.

BLACK SEA: Three German submarines, U-19, U-20 and U-23, are scuttled by their crews in the off the coast of Turkey in position 41.16N, 31.26E.

BURMA: Troop carrier and cargo hauls continue on a large scale to numerous points in the CBI; 24 US Tenth Air Force B-24s haul fuel to Kunming, China.

About 140 US Fourteenth Air Force P-40s and P-51 Mustangs on armed reconnaissance over eastern Burma, south-western China, and inland south=eastern China attack a huge number of targets of opportunity including troops, aircraft, river shipping, trucks, runways, bridges, and supply areas.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: US Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan hit Iwo Jima and strike shipping near Iwo Jima. Eniwetok Atoll-based B-24s bomb Truk Island.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: CELEBES ISLAND: US Far East Air Force B-24s pound airfields at Langoan and Mapanget and hit Tomohon and the waterfront area of Menado. On Halmahera Island, Lolobata and Hate Tabako Airfields are bombed and areas along Wasile Bay strafed. B-25s, A-20s, and P-38s hit airfields and oil storage at Namlea on Buru Island, and Amahai and Boela on Ceram Island while B-24s hit Laha Airfield, Celebes Island.

In Dutch Borneo, a USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberator of 868th Bombardment Squadron, based in Sansapor, strafes the Balikpapan refineries and oil storage at Lutong. In British Sarawak, small refineries and a large oil storage facility (ten 50,000 barrel tanks) at Lutong in British Sarawak are also hit. (Robert McFaul)

NEW GUINEA: A-20s and fighters hit airfields at Samate, Sagan, Nabire, Urarom, Manokwari, Moemi, and Ransiki.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 continue their attacks against Japanese installations on Mindanao in the Philippine Islands.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Sunfish (SS-281) sinks a Japanese merchant tanker east of Quelpart (now Cheju) Island south of (South) Korea. Other Japanese ship loses include an army tanker sunk by mine (laid by British submarine HMS Porpoise on 8 July 1944) in the Strait of Malacca between Sumatra and Malaya; and a merchant tanker sunk by mine off Woosung, China.

In the Palau Islands, carrier-based aircraft of the USN Task Group 38.4 (TG 38.4) begin preinvasion air strikes against Japanese airfields and defenses on Peleliu and Angaur. During the night, radar-equipped B-24s of the US Thirteenth Air Force also attack targets on the two islands.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Kirkland Lake arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: The Fairchild C–82 Packet, the first US airplane designed in World War II to carry cargo exclusively, makes its first flight at Hagerstown, Maryland. The C-82 is the predecessor of the C-119 Flying Boxcar.

The top songs on the pop music charts are "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Swinging on a Star" by Bing Crosby, "I'll Walk Alone" by Dinah Shore and "A Soldier's Last Letter" by Ernest Tubb.

NORWAY: Vidkun Quisling is sentenced to death (Verdict in Norwegian) for collaborating with the Germans during the occupation. During a visit to Adolf Hitler in Berlin in the winter of 1939-40, Quisling, the leader of the national socialist Nasjonal Samling Party, had pointed out how valuable it would be for Germany to occupy Norway. Immediately after the invasion, on the morning of 9 April 1940, he proclaimed himself the new head of the government and ordered the Norwegian armed forces to stop battling the Germans but he was ignored. Realizing that Quisling did not serve their purposes, the Germans chose to base their administration of the country on a certain degree of give-and-take with the existing civilian authorities.

Eventually, the Nasjonal Samling Party was declared the only legal party and Quisling was installed as Norwegian Prime Minister in 1942 and throughout the war he collaborated with the Germans. He was executed on 24 October 1945.

U.S.A.: General Jonathan M. Wainwright is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman. The citation reads, "Distinguished himself by intrepid and determined leadership against greatly superior enemy forces.

At the repeated risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in his position, he frequented the firing line of his troops where his presence provided the example and incentive that helped make the gallant efforts of these men possible. The final stand on beleaguered Corregidor, for which he was in an important measure personally responsible, commanded the admiration of the Nation's allies. It reflected the high morale of American arms in the face of overwhelming odds. His courage and resolution were a vitally needed inspiration to the then sorely pressed freedom-loving peoples of the world."

The 45,000 ton aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVB-41) is commissioned at Newport News, Virginia. (William L. Howard)

Destroyer USS Agerholm laid down.
Submarine USS Diodon launched.
Aircraft carrier USS Midway commissioned.