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1932   (MONDAY)

GERMANY: President Paul von Hindenburg again dissolves the national legislature.

1938   (MONDAY)

GERMANY: German Chancellor Adolf Hitler demands in a speech in Nuremberg that the Czechoslovak government must accord Sudeten Germans the right of self-determination. These demands result in widespread political disorder in Czechoslovakia and Prime Minister Milan Hodza’s government declares martial law in an attem on 13 September. Konrad Henlein, the leader of the Sudeten German Home Front, and other Sudeten German leaders escape across the border to Germany two days later. To defuse this dangerous situation, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, with the support of the French government, calls for a personal conference with Chancellor Hitler to find a compromise.

September 12th, 1939 (TUESDAY)

The US freighter SS Black Eagle is detained by the British at a port off the coast of Kent. She will be released on 19 September.

Destroyer HMS Jaguar commissioned.

FRANCE: Abbeville: The Anglo-French Supreme War council meets for the first time.

GERMANY: General Gamelin's forces, advancing in battalion strength have driven 5 miles into Germany on a 15 mile front in the Saarland. The French claim that their pressure has forced the Germans to transfer six divisions from Poland, a claim received with scepticism by British observers. The most likely explanation for German divisions moving to the West is the virtual collapse of Polish resistance. French talk of an offensive is also not being taken seriously. The advance into the Saar has brought the French to within half a mile of the Siegfried Line, and a frontal assault on such a formidable system of fortifications is judged to be out of the question.

POLAND: Polish troops push the Germans south of Kutno and recapture Lowicz.

The Polish attack over the Bzura fails. A task force of the German 1st Mountain Division under Colonel Ferdinand Schorner, reaches Lwow.

NEW ZEALAND: Enlistment for 2 New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2 NZEF) begins.

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September 12th, 1940 (THURSDAY)

Corvette HMS Heliotrope commissioned.

Battle of Britain: The weather is unsettled with rain in most districts. During the day, there is a marked increase in the number of hostile reconnaissances especially in the South-eastern and Southern areas, otherwise German activity is on a much reduced scale. In the East, one reconnaissance aircraft reported shipping off Spurn Head, while another over the Humber area is intercepted and damaged by No 151 Squadron. One Luftwaffe aircraft reconnoitered Harrogate, Manchester and Liverpool and attacked a target.
Blenheims of 2 Group and Battles of 1 Group attack invasion barges in Ostend harbour, sinking 80.

RAF Fighter Command: Slight enemy activity during the day. German barge concentrations are still growing. At night London, South Wales, the Midlands and Merseyside are raided.

Around Harrogate's Majestic Hotel HEs exploded injuring 15 people during an attack on an area where the Ministry of Aircraft Production has offices. Great Western Railway main line services to Reading are interrupted but another attack fails to hit the Northern Aluminium's Banbury factory. 

In late afternoon Tunbridge Wells is raided, incendiaries causing house fires and destroying the ambulance station. Seven high explosives fell at Hornchurch, damaging the emergency operations room and hitting nearby dwellings.

In the afternoon, an aircraft is reported off Yarmouth and in the Wash but attempts to intercept are unsuccessful. In the South East in the morning, several reconnaissances are plotted in the Estuary and over the Coast near Dover. Early in the afternoon, three aircraft crossed the Coast near Dover and reconnoitered South London aerodromes. From 1500 to 1700 hours, reconnaissance aircraft are reported in the Thames Estuary and six small raids approached South London from the Estuary, Beachy Head and Dungeness. Targets near Beckenham are attacked. In the South and West in the morning, there is a noticeable increase in the number of reconnaissance aircraft in the Channel between Start Point and Dungeness. One raid penetrated inland and attacked targets near Reading and Banbury and one Ju 88 which is returning from the Aldershot area, is intercepted and claimed as damaged by No 213 Squadron. A merchant ship is attacked S

At night London has a seven-hour raid with about 120 bombers operating, a FW200 attacked a ship off the Isle of Man and KG54 mounted a small raid on Rugby. Liverpool was bombed but little damage was caused, but more seriously a lone low-flying raider bombed North Station Blackpool killing a mother of two young boys.

Hostile raids which are mostly plotted as single aircraft, originated from the Channel Islands, and Cherbourg and Dieppe areas of France. Some raids crossed the Coast between Portland and Plymouth and penetrated to South Wales, West Midlands and Liverpool areas. Others crossed the Coast between Selsey Bill and Dungeness and flew up through Sussex and Kent to the London area. The greater number of raids left the French Coast between 2100 and 2200 hours, after which there is a gradual decrease in activity until about 0330 hours when raids ceased to approach this Country. All raids had finally withdrawn by 0415 hours. A series of raids flying from Dieppe, France, to London appeared for the most part to use identical tracks and several are plotted as turning at Whitehall whence they flew back on reciprocal tracks. One German aircraft is reported shot down by antiaircraft guns in North London, another Luftwaffe casualty is claimed by the Balloon Barrage at Newport (Monmouthshire) and a third German aircraft is reported to have been badly damaged by antiaircraft guns in the West Country and is last seen flying very low over the sea.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 4; RAF, 0.

London: Sapper George Cameron Wylie (b. 1908), Royal Engineers located and removed a bomb from deep under the pavement in front of St Paul's Cathedral; his superior, Lt Robert Davies (1900-75) drove the bomb away and defused it. (George Cross for both men)

IRISH SEA: A Luftwaffe FW200 attacked a ship off the Isle of Man.

FRANCE: Four teenagers follow their dog when it disappears down a hole near Montignac, France, and discover 17,000-year-old drawings now known as the Lascaux Cave Paintings. The 15,000- to 17,000-year-old paintings, consisting mostly of animal representations, are among the finest examples of art from the Upper Palaeolithic period. The Lascaux grotto consists of a main cavern 66 feet (20.12 meters) wide  and 16 feet (4.87 meters) high. The walls of the cavern are decorated with some 600 painted and drawn animals and symbols and nearly 1,500 engravings. The pictures depict in excellent detail numerous types of animals, including horses, red deer, stags, bovines, felines, and what appear to be mythical creatures. There is only one human figure depicted in the cave: a bird-headed man. Archaeologists believe that the cave was used over a long period of time as a center for hunting and religious rites.

GERMANY: U-153 and U-407 laid down.

FINLAND: Helsinki: Finland signs an agreement giving German troops transit rights to Norway.

 

EGYPT: Italian forces begin an offensive into Egypt.

JAPAN: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew warns Secretary of State Hull that Japan might interpret the drastic U.S. embargo on oil as "sanctions" and retaliate.

CANADA: Canada's cabinet introduces Order In Council P.C. 4751, giving Canadian authorities power to imprison disobedient foreign seamen from non-Canadian ships in Canadian ports.

Corvette HMS Bittersweet launched Lauzon, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: An explosion at the Hercules Powder Co. in Kenvil, New Jersey, kills 49 and injures 200.

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September 12th, 1941 (FRIDAY)

FRANCE: Paris: The Germans shoot 12 of the Jewish hostages taken on 8 September.

GREENLAND: The USCG gunboats USCGC Northland (WPG-49) and USCGC North Star (WPG-59) seize the Norwegian trawler Buskoe in MacKenzie Bay. The crew of the Buskoe is attempting to establish and service German weather stations in Greenland. This the first capture of a belligerent ship by the U.S. in WWII.

******************* Consider:
from http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n6/northland.htm

Northland sighted the German-controlled Norwegian sealer Buskoe 12 September and sent a boarding party to investigate. Buskoe was taken to Mackenzie Bay, on the Greenland coast, where she became the first American naval capture of the period of emergency that preceded U.S. entry into the war. It was believed that she had been sending weather reports and information on Allied shipping to the Germans. Her capture also led to the discovery of a German radio station about five hundred miles up the Greenland coast from Mackenzie Bay. A night raiding party from Northland captured three Nazis at Peter Bregt, with equipment and code, as well as German plans for other radio stations in the far north.

U.S.A.: Stimson protests to cabinet Roosevelt’s gift to the USSR of 5 B-17's as these were needed for the Philippines.  Roosevelt apologizes but the gift stands. (Marc Small)  

The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) authorises the creation of the USNs first photo interpretation (PI) school. (William L. Howard)

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September 12th, 1942 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Army Air Forces activates the 4th Fighter Group at Bushey Hall, England and the three "Eagle" squadrons and their aircraft, Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vs, are transferred to the USAAF becoming the 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons respectively. The pilots who have served in these Eagle Squadrons are allowed to wear their  RAF pilot wings above their right breast pocket of the blouse.

U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower officially announces assumption of command as Commander-in-Chief Allied Expeditionary Force for Operation TORCH (the Allied invasion of northwest Africa), and Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) is activated in London.

Woodley, Berkshire: The Miles Messenger (M. 38) light liaison and communication duties aircraft makes its maiden flight. (22)

Destroyer HMS Eggesford launched.
Submarine HMS Truculent launched.

FRANCE: Ten British Commandoes raid Port-en-Bessin in Normandy and kill seven Germans. The gunfire alerts the garrison which attacks and kills nine of the commandoes; one, Private Hayes, swims along the coast and aided by a French family, escapes to Spain. However, the Spanish police arrest Hayes and send him back to France where he is interrogated by the Gestapo. Acting under the notorious "Kugel" Order, signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, that orders execution for all captured British commandos, Hayes is executed by the Gestapo. 

POLAND: Warsaw: The gassing of 2,196 Jews at Treblinka today marks the end of a week of deportations in which about 70,000 Jews have been decanted from the ever-shrinking ghetto here. Since the Nazis started their plan to eliminate the ghetto in July, nearly 255,000 people have been deported to their deaths.

The latest Aktion, which the Jews grimly nicknamed the kesl [Yiddish for cauldron], started on 5 September when all ghetto dwellers were ordered to report to a new assembly point in Mila Street. Roped off and guarded by armed police, who report shooting 2,648 attempted escapees this week, the Jews have been shipped off to Treblinka at the rate of 10,000 a day. Only around 70,000 remain out of a population of 350,000. There are no families; those who remain are mainly single men in their twenties and thirties, temporarily exempted from death only in order to boost the war effort as labourers in the ghetto's German-owned factories.

Life in the ghetto is worse than ever. Those with the all-important work permits sleep in their workplaces; those without them exist as scavengers on the run, sheltering in burnt-out apartment blocks. Ukrainian militiamen roam the area shooting Jews dead at random. Corpses line the street.

U.S.S.R.: The perimeter held by the Soviet Army at Stalingrad is closed to 30 miles (48 kilometres). Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov is appointed to command the Soviet 62nd Army at Stalingrad and immediately orders close-quarter fighting to prevent the Germans from using their Ju 87 Stuka divebombers. Chuikov tells his 55,000 haggard men, "We shall hold the city or die here."

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track orders are issued to the Australian troops that Ioribaiwa is to be held until relief arrives. The Japanese attack late in the day but the Australians hold their ground.  (William L. Howard) 

     USAAF 5th Air Force P-400 Airacobras, B-26 Maruaders, A-20 Havocs, and B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Buna Airfield and strafe barges at Buna town, Northeast New Guinea.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A B-17 strafes a vessel in Bismarck Sea south of Kavieng, New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago. 

D’ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: USAAF 5th Air Force P-40s strafe Gadaibai on Goodenough Island which is off the eastern extremity of Papua New Guinea.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The U.S. 7th Marine Regiment and elements of the 5th Marine Defense Battalion arrive at Espiritu Santo Island.

PORTUGUESE TIMOR: The Bathurst class corvette HMAS Kalgoorlie (J 192) departs Darwin, Northern Territory, makes a trip to Timor with 14 soldiers and 15 tons of supplies for the "Sparrow Force"; during this trip Kalgoolie's captain made the observation that he had never before seen troops who looked so hungry, and that no sooner had the unloading begun when the soldiers broke open boxes of food and opened cans with bayonets and knifes and ate the contents there and then. The “Sparrow Force” consists of the 2/2 Independent Company Australian Imperial Force, and survivors from the 2/40th Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 8th Division Australian Imperial Force, who did not surrender to the Japanese, plus local East Timorese guerillas. (William L. Howard)(188, 189, 190, 191)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Bundaberg commissioned.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The IJN sends 42 G4M "Betty" bombers and an unknown number of A6M "Zeke" fighters to attack Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The Japanese are intercepted by 11 USMC and 21USNF4F Wildcats; the Americans shoot down 14 G4Ms and an A6M at the cost of 1 F4F. During the night, IJN surface ships shell Guadalcanal killing 3 Marine SBD Dauntless pilots. 

VF 5, the fighter unit from Saratoga that arrived on Guadalcanal yesterday, flew it's first mission from Henderson Field today. Also arriving yesterday was Admiral Turner. He has discussed Admiral Ghormley's pessimistic view of the situation. He also wants to bring the 7th Marines to Guadalcanal. He proposes sprinkling them in small groups around the island. General Vandegrift opposes this plan. Admiral Turner visits with war correspondents and is quoted: "...marines will be on the island for a long time and things will get worse before they get better."

At 2130 hours, bombardment of the perimeter begins, IJN light cruiser Sendai, and destroyers Shikinami, Fubuki and Suzukaze are offshore. Then an attack against the ridge begins. Col Edson has a combined 840 men between his Raider Battalion and the attached Marine Parachute Battalion. General Kawaguchi has 3 battalions, with 2,506 men, attacking. But the jungle has slowed the arrival of 2 battalions, his attack is very disjointed. The also get bogged down between the ridge and the Lunga River. Finally about 1 hour before daybreak the Japanese commanders begin to gain control of their units. They regroup to attack the next night.

Japan assaults US positions around Bloody Ridge.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A US 11th Air Force weather and patrol reconnaissance aircraft finds overcast at Kiska Island but takes photos over Tanaga, Kanaga, and Attu Islands. The runway at Adak Island is completed.

CANADA: Frigate USS Natchez launched Montreal, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Destroyers USS Champlin and Kendrick commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyer HMCS Ottawa attacked by U-92. U-92, a type VIIC U-boat built at Flender-Werke, Lubeck. laid down 4 Oct 41, commissioned 3 Mar 42, on her first war patrol at the time. U-92 went on to complete 9 patrols and compiled a record of 2 ships sunk for a total of 17,612 tons and 1 ship damaged for a further 9,348 tons. U-92 was heavily damaged 4 Oct 44 in Bergen, Norway, by bombs from RAF aircraft, of number 6 and number 8 Air groups. U-92 was paid off 12 Oct 1944 and scrapped during 1944/45.

U-211 damaged SS Empire Moonbeam and SS Hektoria in Convoy ON-127.
U-404 damaged SS Daghil in Convoy ON-127.
U-512 sank SS Patrick J. Hurley.
U-515 sank SS Stanvac Melbourne and damaged SS Woensdrecht.
U-608 sank SS Empire Moonbeam and Hektoria in Convoy ON-127.
U-68 sank SS Trevilley.

BRAZIL naval forces are placed under the operational control of the USN. 

ARCTIC OCEAN: Convoy PQ 18 left Hvalfjord, Iceland, en route to Archangel, U.S.S.R., on 8 September. The convoy consists of 40 merchant ships escorted by the escort aircraft carrier HMS Avenger [D 14, ex SS Rio Hudson, ex U.S. Navy (USN) BAVG-2], the light cruiser HMS Scylla (98), 20 destroyers, two submarines, four corvettes, three minesweepers and four trawlers. The covering force of the heavy cruisers HMS London (69), Norfolk (78) and Suffolk (55) with the battleships HMS Anson (79) and Duke of York (17) on stand by close by. The convoy is sighted today. While tracking the convoy, German submarine U-88 is sunk about 241 nautical miles (446 kilometers) southwest of Longyearbyen, Sptizbergan Island, Norway in position 75.40N, 20.32E, by the British destroyer HMS Faulknor (H62). All 46 aboard are lost.

SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: The 19,695 ton former Cunard White Star passenger liner SS Laconia is sailing to England. Aboard are 136 crewmen, 80 civilians, military material and personnel (268 men) and approximately 1,800 Italian prisoners of war with 160 Polish soldiers on guard. At 2207 hours, the ship is torpedoed by the German submarine U-156 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein) and sinks at 2323 hours in position 05.05S, 11.38W. Shortly after the ship sank, the crew of the surfaced U-156 hears Italian voices in the sea and in the lifeboats. The captain begins a rescue operation and sends a radio message in the clear asking for assistance from any vessel in the area. Hartenstein states that "if any ship will assist the ship-wrecked 'Laconia'-crew, I will not attack providing I am not being attacked by ship or air forces."
   During the next three days, U-156 rescues 400 survivors with 200 on the deck of the sub and 200 in lifeboats. On 15 September, U-506 arrives at 1130 hours followed by U-507 and the Italian submarine Cappellini a few hours later. The subs head for Africa towing the lifeboats behind them. The following day, 16 September, a USAAF B-24 Liberator based on Ascension Island flies over the scene and the pilot notifies his headquarters. Even though the submarines are flying the Red Cross flag, the pilot is ordered to attack them which he does at 1232 hours. The submarines cut the lines to the lifeboats and submerge leaving hundred of people who were on the decks now in the water. Shortly thereafter, French warships arrive from Dakar and pick up about 1,500 survivors.
   As a result of the attack by the B-24, Admiral Dönitz orders that no U-boats are to take part in rescue operations and they are to leave any survivors in the water.

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September 12th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

GERMANY: Rastenburg: German Gauleiters are appointed for South Tyrol and Venetia, and Speer takes over control of the Italian arms industry.

U.S.S.R.: Stary Kermenchik, in the Donets basin, is liberated by Russian units.

ITALY:

Hand-picked paratroopers crash-landed by glider on an Italian mountainside today and snatched Mussolini to freedom. In a brilliant operation involving a hair-raising take-off down a rocky slope in a tiny aircraft, Il Duce was delivered safely to an airfield at Pratica di Mare. Tonight he was flown to Vienna en route to Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia.

Hitler's order for the rescue of the former dictator was given to SS-SturmbannFührer Otto Skorzeny. He first had to locate Mussolini, whom the Italians had moved about since his arrest and fall of the 25th of July, to avoid a rescue attempt. Mussolini had been held under guard in a seaside boarding house and later in a villa on a Sardinian island. News of Italy's surrender, including the condition that he would be handed over to the Allies, was kept from him. 

Two weeks ago il Duce was moved to the Albergo di Campo Imperatore hotel, 7,000 feet up the Gran Sasso mountain in the Apennines, where he was guarded by carabinieri. The hotel is about 93 miles east-northeast of Rome at an altitude of 6,652 feet. The Italian Military Intelligence (SIM) attempting to hide the former leader from the German Intelligence agents. The only access was by cable car. An intercepted radio message gave Skorzeny the answer to his quest. But how was he to reach the hotel, normally only accessible by cable car? During a reconnaissance flight, Skorzeny saw a small lawn just behind the hotel and this was the spot on which he decided to land. A paratroop drop was out because of the altitude leaving only gliders to get the German troops into the hotel. At Practica di Mare Aerodrome Skorzeny, his Luftwaffe paratroopers from Fallsirmjager-Lehr-Battalion under the command of Major Mors and fifty SS men belonging to Skorzeny's unit, prepared for the operation which included occupying the railway terminal to prevent reinforcement by Italian troops. The raiding force were equipped with amongst other things explosives, laughing gas and forged British bank notes. The twelve DFS 230C-1 gliders, capable of carrying eight fully equipped soldiers, begin lifting off at 1230 hours local and shortly after, four of the twelve dropped out on the way for various reasons with the lead two disappearing. The "small lawn" Skorzeny had seen on his flight was in fact a small piece of very steep ground with a sheer drop at the end meaning that the gliders would have to crash land near the hotel. All gliders landed but one crash landed and injured all on board; Skorzeny's glider stopped short only a few yards from the hotel doors. He raced up to the hotel doors and kicked them in and preceded to put an Italian radio operator and his radio out of action. He made contact with Mussolini and declared "Duce, I have come to rescue you!" In four minutes the Italian dictator was outside the hotel and boarding a Fiesler Fi 156 Storch light aircraft ready to fly back to the aerodrome. Although the Fi 156 had only two seats, Skorzeny insisted that he wanted to fly back to base with Mussolini. This made the plane overloaded and 12 men held the plane on his place as the pilot ran up the engine. Finally he raised his arm and the men let go of the plane, the plane speeded ahead, almost hitting a large rock, and finally disappeared over the edge. The plane landed in Rome and Mussolini and Skorzeny were flown to Vienna. The propaganda value of this mission was immense and Skorzeny and his SS men were featured in most of the media broadcasts. The truth is that the entire Gran Sasso mission was planned by Luftwaffe General Student and the Fallschirmjäger Lehr Battalion under the command of Major Mors. Only two gliders contained Skorzeny and his men from the Jagdverbande with the rest from the Fallschirmjäger Lehr Battalion. Skorzeny was responsible for Mussolini's safety and his delivery to Hitler but the mission itself was in overall command of the paratroops. Not surprisingly, they were somewhat annoyed when Skorzeny and the SS received all the kudos. Gen. Student even had the Luftwaffe make a film showing the paratroops version of events. 

The US Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command sends B-17s to bomb the Mignano road defiles, the Benevento road bridge, and the Frosinone airfield; medium bombers hit Ariano (and trucks and road nearby), Isernia, and Castelnuovo and Formia road junctions; US and RAF aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force attack motor transport movement, roads, and bridges in the Potenza-Auletta areas, maintain cover over the US Fifth Army in the Salerno invasion area (where the enemy launches a fierce effort to reduce the beachhead), and during the night of 12/13 September fly intruder missions over 6 airfields between Rome and Pizzo, finding little activity. 

     During the night of 12/13 September, 65 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Castelnouva.

British Eighth Army forces on the toe of Italy capture Crotone and push north, and on the Taranto front occupy territory up to north of Castelaneta. Fighting at Salerno is marked by the effective use of the Hermann Göring Panzer Division.      

In the Salerno beachhead, the Germans begin their first major counterattack late in the day which drives the British out of Battipaglia once more. The British unit in the Molina Pass is under heavy pressure from the Hermann Göring Panzer Division.

The airfield in the Paestum region is completed.

The U.S. 179th Infantry Regiment occupies Persano.

Capri: The Allies take the island without firing a single shot.

GREECE: 23 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s hit Kalathos and 12 others bomb Maritsa airfields on Rhodes.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The German submarine U-617 runs aground under British aerial attack by RAF Hudsons of No 48 and No 233 Squadrons and FAA Swordfish Mk IIs of No 833 and No. 886 Squadrons, all four based at Gibraltar, in the Mediterranean near Melilla, in position 35.38N, 03.27W. The wreck was destroyed by gunfire from the RN corvette HMS Hyacinth (K 84) and the RAN minesweeper HMAS Woollongong (J 172). All 49 crewmen on the U-boat survive.

INDIA: USAAF Air Transport Command establishes a new air route to China via the Himalayas, known as the "Hump". (Ron Babuka)

CHINA: 8 US Fourteenth Air Force P-38s bomb shipping in the Hong Kong area, 4 hit Yangtze River traffic at Chiuchiang, and 4 P-40s strafe barracks and destroy a locomotive west of Shihhweiyao. 

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 9th and 7th Divisions push toward Lae from the east and west. Australian artillery continues pounding Lae and Malahang Airfield located 2 miles (3 kilometers) east of Lae.

     The advance guard of the IJA 178th Battalion leaves their base at Saipa Village to prepare for an attack on Nadzab, Northeast New Guinea. The main body of the battalion will follow on 17 September.

US Fifth Air Force B-17s and B-24s pound Lae as the Japanese begin a withdrawal in the face of the Australian 9 and 7 Divisions moving in from east and west; the Australian 5 Division occupies Salamaua and surrounding area; the first Allied airplane lands at Salamaua airfield; and B-25s strafe between Saidor and Langemak Bay.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack barges near Cape Gloucester and A-20 Havocs bomb a radio station at Gasmata.

U.S.A.: Destroyer minelayer USS Lindsey laid down.
Destroyer USS Cassin Young launched.
Destroyer escort USS Hemminger launched.
Submarine USS Perch launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Bates and Loy commissioned.

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September 12th, 1944 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 2 missions. Numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombers attacking a target.

- Mission 626: For the second day, 888 bombers and 662 fighters, in 3 forces, are dispatched on a major assault on the German oil industry; they are intercepted by 400-450 Luftwaffe fighters; USAAF claims 81-16-20 aircraft in the air; 35 bombers and 12 fighters are lost. 
(1) B-17s bomb oil refineries at Brux (79) and Ruhland (59); targets of opportunity are Lauta (48), Plauen (30), Etterwinden (12), Karlsbad (11), Kitzingen (11) and others (21); PFF methods are used for all targets; they claim 14-9-7 aircraft; 19 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 238 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 29-2-4 aircraft in the air and 21-0-16 on the ground; 10 P-51s are lost. 
(2) B-17s bombing visually attack Magdeburg/Rothensee (144), Magdeburg/Friedrichstadt (73) and Bohlen (35); targets of opportunity are Fulda (46), Molbis (11) and other (8); they claim 13-5-5 aircraft; 12 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 236 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 25-0-4 aircraft in the air and 5-0-15 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.
 (3) B-24s hit Hemmingstedt (66), Kiel (58) and Misburg (34); targets of opportunity are Laharte (38), marshalling yard at Northeim (12), Hannover (11), Hemmingstedt (3) and other (3); PFF is used for bombing; 4 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 105 P-38 Lightnings, P-47s and P-51s without loss.

- Mission 627: 7 B-17s drop leaflet in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.

- 36 B-24s and C-47s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

NETHERLANDS: Five RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attack Havelte Airfield at  Steenwijk.

FRANCE: The French 2nd Armoured Division of the US Third Army links up with the French II Corps at Chatillon-sur-Seine, creating a solid Allied line between the Channel and the Swiss frontier. 

12,000 Germans surrender at Le Havre to the British I Corps.

Units of the U.S. Third Army eliminates all resistance west of the Moselle River in the Thionville area and clears Thionville west of the river except for an approach to the main bridge there. The Germans destroy the bridge. At 1200 hours engineers finish bridging the Moselle, thus permitting tanks and tank destroyers of the U.S. 7th Armored Division to cross into the bridgehead. A regiment of the 80th Infantry Division attacks across the Moselle in the Dieulouard area early in the morning and finds the east bank lightly held; another regiment follows just before noon and weapons and vehicles start across later in the day.

     In southern France, elements of the French 2d Corps reach the outskirts of Langres.

 400+ C-47 Skytrains of the First Allied Airborne Army's IX Troop Carrier Command complete supply and evacuation missions. 

The USAAF Ninth Air Force flies tactical missions attacking fortifications around Nancy while fighters continue ground support in the French/German border area.

     In southern France, the 54 B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy fly a supply mission.       

The "Dallas Lady" a B-24 of the USAAF flying from Algiers, flies over the Southern French Alps to deliver arms to the French resistance. She flies too low and crashes on the rocks of the Ubaquet, between the pass of the Colle Rousse and the peak of the Corne-de-bouc, north-east of Turin at an altitude of 1950 m. The pilot Major, Eart A. Desjardins, and his ten companions are all killed. (Michel Hartinger )

BELGIUM: German forces fall back behind the Escaut Canal.

The Polish 1st Armoured Division pushes forward to Lokeren and St Nicholas while the 4th Armoured Division clears the Bruges area and reaches the Leopold Canal. The U.S. 2d Armored Division reconnaissance battalion clears the bridge site along the north bank of the Albert Canal and the bridge is completed there at midnight. Combat Command A of the 2d Armored Division begins crossing the bridge immediately.

     The USAAF Ninth Air Force flies tactical missions with B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs hitting Westwall fortifications and the Sankt Wendel station, where an armored division and important technicians are to entrain.

     The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force sends nearly 330 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators supported by P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs to bomb three targets: 263 B-17s bomb Lechfeld Airfield at Munich; 91 B-24s bomb the Allach engine works producing engines for the FW 190 at Munich; and 78 B-24s bomb the Wasserburg jet aircraft factory.

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 412 aircraft, 315 Halifaxes, 75 Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos, to attack three synthetic oil plants:141 hit the Buer plant at Gelsenkirchen, 120 hit the Krupp Treibstoff plant at Wanne-Eikel, and 110 hit the Hoesch plant at Dortmund. The Dortmund raid is particularly successful, but smoke-screens prevented observation of results at the other targets. Seven aircraft are lost. In a second raid, 119 Halifaxes and five Pathfinder Lancasters carried out the first raid by RAF heavies on Münster since June 1943; 121 aircraft bombed the target. Two Halifaxes are lost. Many fires are seen but smoke prevented an accurate assessment of the bombing results. A brief report from Münster describes a “sea of fire” in the southern part of the town which could not be entered for several hours and tells of water mains destroyed by high-explosive bombs so that “the firemen could only stand helpless in front of the flames.” The railway station in the heart of the city is one of the targets.

     During the night of 12/13 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 378 Lancasters and nine Mosquitos on the last major RAF raid of the war against Frankfurt-am-Main; 366 bomb the city. Seventeen Lancasters are lost, 4.5 per cent of the Lancaster force. The local report says that the raid occurred when many of the city's firemen and rescue workers are away working in Darmstadt. The bombing caused severe destruction in the western districts of the city, which contained many industrial premises. Property damage is extensive. A troop train is hit at the West Station. A second target is Stuttgart with 204 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos dispatched; 211 bomb the target with the loss of four Lancasters. The attack is a success and local reports state that a firestorm occurred. A third target is Berlin with 29 Mosquitos bombing.

U-2331 commissioned.

U-993 - One man from the boat died of jaundice in the North Atlantic. [Matrosenobergfreiter Wilhelm Lucksnat].
U-3517 and U-3518 laid down.
 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The USAAF Eighth Air Force based in England bombs three targets: 78 bomb the synthetic oil refinery at Brux; 11 bomb the industrial area at Karlsbad; and two bomb targets of opportunity.

HUNGARY: The Germans and Hungarians begin a counter-offensive toward Arad and Temesvar.

NORWAY: Twelve RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes are dispatched to mine Oslo harbor; only one aircraft lays mines and it is lost; the other eleven are recalled.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: The armistice treaty between Romania and the Allies here today stipulates that the Romanians must pay the Soviet Union £75 million for damage caused in Russia by the Romanian army. Another key clause stipulates that the Soviet Union will keep Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina according to the terms of the 1940 treaty under which they were ceded to the Soviet Union. In recompense Romanian will get back that portion of Transylvania which Hitler gave to Hungary under the 1940 Vienna Award. The terms, signed by the newly-promoted Marshal Malinovsky, also commit Romania to "wage war against Germany and Hungary."

ITALY:      The South African 6th Armoured Division continues to gain ground as the Germans fall back to prepared positions of the Gothic Line.

US Twelfth Air Force B-26s blast defended positions in the central battle sector of the Gothic Line; B-25s pound Po River railroad bridges and attack guns and strongpoints in the battle zone as the enemy falls back to prepared Gothic Line defenses and the rapid Allied advance halts; fighter-bombers strike at guns, troop concentrations, strongpoints, and flak positions in the Genoa and Milan areas.

The exiled Greek government moves from Cairo, Egypt to Caerta.

GREECE: German troops evacuate Rhodes and other Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean.

CHINA: Twenty five USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators haul fuel from India to Kunming. 

     Twenty two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack Kaochishih and Tunghsiangchiao and the Kiyang area; 14 B-25s attack the town area and bridges in and around Sungpai; ten B-25s and six P-40s attack Lungling; and 27 P-40s and P-51 Mustangs attack targets across a wide area of east central China.

BURMA: USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Katha area; eight P-47 Thunderbolts conduct a sweep along the Irrawaddy River from Bhamo to Katha; three P-47s strafe building in Katha; and 16 P-47s attack Loiwing Airfield and targets of opportunity along the Burma Road from Lungling, China, to Wanling and Namhkam.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 attack Japanese installations on Cebu. The aircraft also attack shipping and sink 20 vessels.

Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 attack Japanese installations on Cebu. The aircraft also attack shipping and sink 20 vessels. 
     Ensign Thomas C. Tillar, USNR, a pilot from USS Hornet (CV-12), in TG 38.1, is rescued by Filipinos after his F6F Hellcat ditches off Apit Island, off the southwestern coast of Leyte. Before Tillar is recovered by SOC Seagull from heavy cruiser USS Wichita  (CA-45), he learns from his rescuers that the size of the Japanese garrison on Leyte is negligible. That fact, when combined with the lack of aerial opposition encountered and the few airfields that exist on Leyte and Samar, prompts Admiral Halsey, Commander Third Fleet, to recommend that the planned attack on Yap Island in the Carolines be abandoned and that the date of the landings on Leyte be advanced from 20 December to 20 October 1944. 

KURILE ISLANDS: 6 US Eleventh Air Force bombers fly a negative shipping sweep over Shimushu Island; 3 more attack Suribachi Airfield and offshore shipping targets; 1 B-24 flies negative reconnaissance. 

EAST INDIES: In Portugese Timor, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Lautem. In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Force B-24s bomb Manado, Mapenget and Sidate Airfields on Celebes Island. B-24 Liberators bomb Djailolo and Kaoe Airdromes on Halmahera Island, and USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb radar facilities on Morotai Island. P-38 Lightnings dive-bomb Namlea Airfield on Buroe Island while P-47 Thunderbolts hit Boela Airdrome on Ceram Island.

NEW GUINEA: A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit airfields, AA guns, and other targets at Babo, Mongosah, Manokwari, Sagan, Moemi, and Samate.

PALAU ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft of Task Group 38.4 plus escort aircraft carriers, begin the final pre-invasion attacks on Peleliu Island. 

The escort aircraft carriers involved are:

Task Group 30.7, the Antisubmarine Warfare Group

USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75) with Composite Squadron Fourteen (VC-14)

Task Group 30.8, the At Sea Logistics Service Group:

USS Barnes (CVE-20), an aircraft transport

USS Nassau (CVE-16), an aircraft transport

USS Nehenta Bay (CVE-74) with VC-11

USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) with VC-77

USS Sargent Bay (CVE-83) with VC-79

USS Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86), an aircraft transport

USS Steamer Bay (CVE-87), an aircraft transport

Task Group 32.7.1, the Covering Force

USS Kadashan Bay (CVE-76) with VC-20

USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) with VC-21

USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79) with VC-75

USS Savo Island (CVE-78) with VC-27.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink seven Japanese ships: USS Pampinito (SS-383) sinks a merchant passenger/cargo ship (ex-U.S. passenger liner SS President Harrison) and a tanker north of Luzon, Philippine Islands. Returning to the scene 3 days later, Pampinito will find and rescue 73 Australian and British POWs. The convoy had been transporting over 2000 POWs from the Philippines to Japan. Other US submarines are dispatched to pick up survivors. Many POWs were picked up by the Japanese and continued to Japan. Now part of the National Maritime Museum, she is on display at San Francisco, USA, since 1982.
     Other submarine victories include (1) USS Growler (SS-215) sinks the destroyer HIJMS Shikinami 240 miles (386 kilometres) south of Hong Kong and an escort vessel 250 miles (402 kilometres) east of Hainan Island: (2) USS Pipefish (SS-388) sinks an auxiliary vessel off Shiono Misaki, Japan; and (3) USS Sealion (SS-315) sinks a transport and a merchant passenger/cargo ship in the South China Sea, east of Hainan Island. 

High speed transport USS Noa sunk in collision with destroyer USS Fullam off Palau.
 

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Brantford completed refit Sydney, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Minesweepers USS Rebel and Prime commissioned.
Escort carrier USS Cape Gloucester launched.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-316 was commissioned at New York with LTJG J. B. Funk, Jr., USCGR, as first commanding officer. LT M.S. Hanson, Jr., USCG succeeded him on 7 November 1944. She departed New York in October 1944 for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-351 was commissioned at the J. K. Welding Company, Yonkers, NY with LTJG Frederick Sturges, III, USCGR, as commanding officer. She departed New York on 12 October 1944, for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war at Hollandia and elsewhere.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-518 damaged SS George Ade.

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September 12th, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)

FRENCH INDOCHINA: French troops land to occupy the country.

SINGAPORE: In Singapore, IJA General ITAGAKI Seishiro, Commander in Chief 7th Area Army and Governor of Johor State, Malaya, surrenders all Japanese forces in Southeast Asia and the Netherlands East Indies to British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command. Approximately 585,000 Japanese troops surrendered in this agreement. 

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS Micmac commissioned.

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