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1932   (WEDNESDAY)

SWITZERLAND: The German government, arguing that their country remains a subjected power, decides to withdraw from the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments in Geneva. The Germans demand equality of rights with the other countries participating in the negotiations.

1935   (SATURDAY)

ITALY: Italy rejects a League of Nations compromise on the Abyssiisis..

1937   (TUESDAY)

UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt forbids American Government owned ships to carry munitions to China and Japan. Although Roosevelt is loathe to invoke the Neutrality Act of 1937, because it would have worked against the Chinese, the administration did forbid the transportation of munitions to both China and Japan on U.S. government ships. President Roosevelt also warns private American shippers that they operate in the Far Eastern war zone at their own risk. The Japanese, with a considerably larger merchant fleet, benefit from this policy.

1938   (WEDNESDAY)

GERMANY: The rigid airship Graf Zepplin II, LZ 130, the largest airship ever built, makes its first flight. Because of the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, this airship is designed to use helium instead of hydrogen. LZ 130 makes several propaganda flights but never goes into commercial service, although it is used for radar and electronic work.

UNITED STATES: A U.S. Navy (USN) radio-controlled Curtiss N2C-2 Fledgling target drone engaged in a simulated dive-bombing attack against the miscellaneous auxiliary (ex battleship) USS Utah (AG-16, ex BB-31) in test firing of antiaircraft battery. The proponents of guided missile development view this as the first demonstration of the air to surface missile.

September 14th, 1939 (THURSDAY)

Ark Royal's aircraft reached Fanad Head, which was in the hands of a German boarding party.[20] The Skuas unsuccessfully attacked U-30: two crashed when caught by the blast of their own bombs.[20] The U-boat escaped after rescuing the boarding party and  the pilots of the downed aircraft (both observers had drowned), and torpedoing  the Fanad Head.[20]

Aircraft carrier HMS Victorious launched.

Destroyer HMS Kingston commissioned.

U-30 shots down two FAA Blackburn Skua aircraft.

From the "Diaries and Letters of Harold Nicholson [MP]": "...The Ministry of Information...has been staffed by duds at the top and all the good people are in the most subordinate positions.. John Gunther [American writer and war correspondent] told me that he had asked one of the censors for the text of our leaflet which we dropped over Germany. The request was refused on the grounds of disclosing information that might be of use to the enemy. When Gunther pointed out that 2 million had been dropped over Germany, the man blinked and said, "Yes, something must be wrong there..."

FRANCE: The US freighter SS City of Joliet is detained by the French for 3-weeks.

POLAND: The Germans enter Gdynia, west of Danzig. 

Elements of the 10th Panzer Division, consisting of the Reconnaissance Battalion and of Panzer Regt. 8, break through the line of fortified positions outside and reach Brzesc (Brest-Litovsk) on the Bug River. The defenders have withdrawn into the city's stout walled inner citadel and blocked the entrance gate with an old tank.
Guderian orders the whole corps to advance with all speed on Brest in order to exploit this surprise success. (95)(Russ Folsom) 

The two fortress cities of Warsaw and Modlin are surrounded and under air and artillery bombardment. In Warsaw the Jewish quarter, Nalewski, has been heavily bombed; water mains are ruptured by shellfire; food is scarce, some 700 horses, among them prize Polish thoroughbreds, are slaughtered daily for meat: the shells come in two per minute. The Royal Castle is hit, the electrical power plant wrecked, a fine dust of wind-blown rubble and smoke pervades the city. A shell hits St. John's Cathedral during mass killing many at prayer.

MAP

HUNGARY: Budapest: Hungary restrains from declaring its neutrality on the grounds that it is not threatened by Hitler.

U.S.S.R.: Pravda launches an anti-Polish propaganda campaign.

Submarine K-21 is launched.

CANADA: Canada, the last of the great Dominions to declare war, will become the arsenal of the Allies, providing food, industries, convoy escorts and air training facilities, according to the prime minister, Mr. Mackenzie King. He said: "Canada's liberties came down from those men in England and France who never hesitated to lay down their lives when their freedom was threatened."

Mr. King will not bring in conscription, though, particularly not during an election campaign. Like most Canadians he abhors the idea of Canadians being fed into the Western Front as happened in W.W.I, and prefers the more profitable role of supplier of raw materials rather than men.

U.S.A.: Igor Sikorsky makes the first tethered flight in his VS-300 helicopter at Stratford, Connecticut.

Atlantic Squadron Neutrality Patrol ships deploy. The forces deployed include 4 heavy cruisers, 17 destroyers, 5 patrol squadrons and supporting vessels. These ships patrol from Argentia, Newfoundland in the north to the Lesser Antilles in the south. Held in reserve are an aircraft carrier and 3 battleships.

Secretary of State Cordell Hull states that the United States has not abandoned any of its rights under international law.

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September 14th, 1940 (SATURDAY)

Bombing - invasion fleet at Antwerp.
10 Sqn. Ten aircraft. All bombed causing fires. One fighter seen, but did not attack. One ditched, crew rescued.
51 Sqn. Twelve aircraft. One bombed due to severe weather and electrical storms.
78 Sqn. Eight aircraft. None bombed, one FTR.

The French coast is now so well lit up by burning barges that it has become known as "Blackpool Front" to the RAF bomber pilots.

RAF Fighter Command: During the day south London and radar stations are attacked. At night London and south Wales are bombed.
The Luftwaffe broke through the London defences today and again set fire to the docks. They are an easy target, a sprawling mass of warehouses packed with combustibles, found easily by the Germans who simply flew up the Thames.
The RAF response to the raid was weaker than usual, and the German pilots thought that at last they detected signs of the promised collapse of Fighter Command.

The weather is mainly cloudy with bright patches and cloud in the Channel. In the early hours activity is limited to small patrols off Gris Nez, and one or two reconnaissance flights off the coast. At about midday, large raids approached the Kent coast and attacked Manston, Dover, Folkestone and Deal areas. These raids are intercepted and casualties inflicted. There is again a lull until 1600 hours, when a large number of small raids crossed the coast in the region of Weymouth and Lyme Bay and proceeded to the South Wales, Gloucester and Middle Wallop areas. Off the North and East Coasts, only two raids are plotted in this area during the day, one of which crossed inland in the vicinity of Whitby, but flew out to sea again and faded shortly afterwards. Two sections of fighters failed to intercept. Off the South East Coast at 1200 hours, five raids totalling some 300 aircraft approached the Kentish Coast between North Foreland and Dover, and it is reported that Dover and Folkestone are dive-bombed, and an attack is made on Manston Aerodrome. Eight balloons are shot down at Dover, and a Lightship is sunk off Folkestone. RAF fighters intercepted these raids and inflicted casualties. The Bofors Guns at Manston shot down two Me 110s. After these raids had retired a considerable number of plots are detected in the Channel, which appeared to be Luftwaffe aircraft engaged on salvage operations. It is reported that a German surface craft and two hospital planes escorted by fighters are seen in a position off the North Goodwins Light Vessel. Of other raids plotted in this area, one appeared to make a reconnaissance of Manston and another bombed the RAF Station at Pevensey. Other raids penetrated to Kenley and Maidstone areas. One of these raids is intercepted on its way back off Dungeness, but without conclusive results. In the South and West in the morning, reconnaissances are made of Portland and Weymouth and several between Cherbourg, France, and The Lizard. From 1600 hours, a large number of small raids of one to three aircraft came from the Cherbourg area and crossed the coast to South Wales, Gloucester and Middle Wallop areas.

     During the night of 14/15 September, there is very slight Luftwaffe activity, but a He 111, which appeared in North Wales, is subsequently shot down near Sealand by anti-aircraft fire. There are a few raids in Aberdeenshire and over convoys off Kinnaird's Head.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 14; RAF, 14.

The work of the London docks is transferred to the Clyde in Scotland.

Corvette HMS Honeysuckle commissioned. Destroyers HMS Matchless and Meteor laid down.

BELGIUM: During the night of 14/15 September, an oil dept near Antwerp is bombed by 43 Royal Air Force Wellingtons in an untypical concentration of aircraft against one target.

FRANCE: The financial penalties imposed by Germany upon France for the privilege of paying the costs for the army of occupation are far steeper than reparations imposed on Germany after the Great War.
Under the armistice signed at Compiegne in June France must pay 20 million Reichsmark a day, or RM7.3 billion a year, almost three times what Germany had to pay under the Dawes plan of 1924 - one billion a year rising after four years to 2.5 billion.

GERMANY: Berlin: Hitler brings the invasion of Britain forward to 17 September on advice from Göring  that the Luftwaffe is close to success.

U-96 commissioned. U-109, U-551 and U-552 launched.

 

ROMANIA: A formal understanding between the Romanian Legionary Movement and General Ion Antonescu is sanctioned by King Michael and a National Legionary State is proclaimed. Ion Antonescu becomes President; Horia Sima, Vice President and Commandant of the Legionary Movement and Prince Michael Sturdza, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Chilliwack and Matapedia launched in North Vancouver and Quebec City respectively.

ST. PIERRE: The Ex-Servicemen’s General Assembly of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the two French islands located about 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the coast of Newfoundland, announces its support for General Charles DeGaulle. The British Foreign Office sends note to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, urging the Canadian government to support the movement. Canadians decline to act and the islands Vichy governor dissolves the veterans league.

U.S.A.: The Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the first peacetime draft (conscription) in U.S. history.

New United States naval policy called for a two-ocean navy. Destroyer USS Eberle launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A US destroyer, part of Task Force 15, en route to Iceland, spots a submarine emerging from the fog. The sub submerges and 3 destroyers drop depth charges.

The only escort vessel escorting Convoy SC 3 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada to the U.K.), the British sloop HMS Dundee (L 84), is sunk by German submarine U-48 about 255 nautical miles (473 kilometers) west-northwest of Londonderry, County Derry, Northern Ireland, in position 56.45N, 14.14W at 2328 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

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September 14th, 1941 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The British Government invites the dominions to send a cabinet minister to Britain for discussions. The Australian representative, former Prime Minister Si Earl Page, is instructed to seek reinforcements for Singapore, Malaysia.

GERMANY: Hitler's order of 1 September, that all Jews under German rule must wear a yellow star of David, comes into effect.

FINLAND: Finnish Foreign Minister Vaino Tanner in a speech at Vaasa:

"Although we happen to be brothers-in-arms of Germany, there is no difference of opinion among us that our war concerns Finland alone. We have no part in the World War, and we do not want to become involved in its battles." (Russell Folsom)(219)

U.S.S.R.: Archangel: British forces are operating from Russian soil for the first time since Lord Ironside's expedition to help the White Russians in 1919. In a changed world, the "Reds" are now Britain's allies against Germans, so RAF pilots are flying Hurricanes from Vaenga. Two squadrons - 81 and 134 - began operations three days ago after arriving at Archangel on 7 September on the carrier HMS ARGUS. Their chief target is a force of Stuka dive-bombers, the main German tool against Soviet defences, whether tanks or cities. The RAF will not stay here for the rest of the war. It will teach Soviet pilots to fly Hurricanes and hand them over.

Heeresgruppe Mitte completes the encirclement of two Soviet armies at Kiev. General Georgii K. Zhukov is named Commander in Chief, Leningrad Front and takes command of the defence of the city. He orders the harshest of punishments for dereliction of duty and orders immediate counterattacks. His actions, in large part, save the city from the Germans. 

3 Pz. Div. (GL Walter Model) contacts 1st Panzer Army's 16 Pz. Div. (GL Hans Hube) near Lubny, Ukraine. (Jeff Chrisman)

LIBYA: A poorly executed raid by Rommel, forces his 21st Panzer Division to run out of fuel. The RAF commences bombing the exposed German units and Rommel again places his German units out of fire and orders the Italians to guard the flanks. Meanwhile, British naval forces fail in their attempt to achieve a landing at Tobruk. 

U.S.A.: Army General Headquarters (GHQ) manoeuvres commence in Louisiana. The Army's neglect of aviation support for its ground troops during the interwar period compels it to ask the Navy to provide planes to take part. Five Navy squadrons [Bombing Squadron Two (VB-2), Fighting Squadrons Forty One and Seventy Two (VF-41 and -72) and Scouting Squadrons Five and Forty Two (VS-5 and -42)] and four Marine Corps squadrons [Marine Fighting Squadron One Hundred Eleven (VMF-111), Marine Observation Squadron One Hundred Fifty One (VMO-151), and Marine Scout Bombing Squadrons One Hundred Thirty One and One Hundred Thirty Two (VMSB-131 and -132)] take part in the large-scale war games. 
 

ATLANTIC OCEAN:  As the USN's Task Force 15 (TF 15) proceeds toward Iceland, destroyer USS Truxtun (DD-229) reports a submarine emerging from the fog 300 yards (274 meters) away, but low visibility and uncertainty as to the position of USS MacLeish (DD-220), also in the screen of TF 15, prevents USS Truxtun from opening fire. After the submarine submerges, USS Truxtun, USS MacLeish and Sampson (DD-394) make depth charge attacks with no verifiable result. 

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September 14th, 1942 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF 31st Fighter Group is transferred to XII Fighter Command, 12th Air Force. It will continue to operate under VIII Fighter Command.

The Handley-Page Hampden makes its last operation with RAF Bomber Command when No. 408 Squadron attack Wilhelmshaven. (22)

Frigate HMS Inver laid down.
Destroyer HMS Wizard laid down.

FRANCE: To meet German demands for labor collaboration between Vichy France and Germany, the Vichy French government establishes compulsory labor for men between the ages of 18 and 65, and for unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 35.

GERMANY: During the day, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bombed ports in Northern Germany. Individual aircraft bombed Cuxhaven , Emden , Kiel, Lubeck and Wilhelmshaven without loss. Wilhelmshaven reports four bombs falling in the town centre, with an old folks' home and several houses hit and ten people injured. Kiel reports four bombs on a nearby village with no particular damage and no casualties.

     During the night of 14/15 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 220 aircraft of five types to Wilhelmshaven; 185 bomb the city. A Wellington is the only aircraft lost. The four aircraft of 408 (Canadian) Squadron on this raid represent the last operational effort by Hampdens with front-line squadrons. The Pathfinder marking is accurate and Wilhelmshaven reports its worst raid to date. Housing and city-centre type buildings are listed as being hit hardest. Seventy seven people are killed and more than 50 injured.

U-429 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: Thunderous attacks by 200,000 Germans stagger the Soviets at Stalingrad. In coordinated offensives, the German 6th and 4th Panzer Armies storm into the heart of the wrecked city and nearly reach the main ferry landing where Soviet reinforcements land after crossing the Volga River. Realizing the Germans have nearly conquered the city, Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov, Commanding General 64th Army, calls for, and gets, reinforcements. The first of them, the 13th Guards Rifles Division, commanded by General Konstantine Rokossovsky, marches 25 miles down the east bank, is brought across the Volga and immediately counterattacks up the Mamai Kurgan . Several other divisions will bolster Stalingrad's defenses during the next few days. 

ARCTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-589 is sunk in the Arctic Ocean southwest of Spitzbergen, in position 75.04N, 04.49E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Onslow, and depth charges from a Swordfish of No 825 Squadron in the escort carrier HMS Avenger. All hands, 44 men, on the U-boat are lost. The day before she had rescued four Luftwaffe airmen in the Arctic, they too were lost. (Jack McKillop and Alex Gordon)

NORWEGIAN SEA:  German torpedo planes continue attacks upon Archangel-bound convoy PQ 18 (Iceland to Archangel), sinking U.S. freighter SS Mary Luckenbach about 600 miles (966 kilometres) west of North Cape, Norway; she is lost with all hands (41 merchant seamen and a 24-man Armed Guard). The violent explosion of SS Mary Luckenbach's ammunition cargo rains debris on nearby freighter SS Nathanael Greene injuring 11 men (five of whom are transferred to British destroyer HMS Onslaught for medical attention), but the merchantman makes port under her own power. Concussion from the explosion also disables U.S. freighter SS Wacosta, which is later torpedoed and sunk about 400 miles (644 kilometres) northeast of Jan Mayen Island; she suffers no casualties. British light cruiser HMS Scylla and minesweeper HMS Harrier rescue all hands: 38 merchant sailors and the 11-man Armed Guard survive SS Wacosta's loss. 

German U-boat U-457 torpedoes a British Royal Fleet Auxiliary motor tanker early in the day and the ship is later sunk by torpedoed from U-408 about 127 nautical miles (235 kilometers) south-southeast of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen Island, in position 76.10N, 18E. Twelve of the 40 merchant ships (30-percent) that left Iceland on 8 September have been sunk. The escort aircraft carrier HMS Avenger (D 14, ex SS Rio Hudson, ex USN BAVG-2) is carrying 12 Sea Hurricanes Mk IIBs and three Swordfish Mk IIs. The Sea Hurricanes intercept the Luftwaffe aircraft attacking PQ 18  and shoot down five and damage 17 others.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s attack shipping at Suda Bay, Crete, setting 1 vessel afire, while other B-24s hit Tobruk, Libya; P-40s fly a sweep with the RAF over the frontlines.

LIBYA: Tobruk: After a three-hour bombardment and heavy air raids, the British last night launched a raid on this much-fought-over port - aiming to do as much damage as possible to the port and Rommel's supply dumps. But Operation Agreement, as it was called, was a disaster.

The intention was for 350 marines and 150 troops to land on the north and south sides of the harbour respectively and seize coastal defences. The captured defences would then cover a force of destroyers as they entered the harbour, destroyed shipping and port facilities, and took off the marines and soldiers.

A head-on assault by a small force in the face of blistering German counter-fire was risky from the start. Of 21 coastal craft, 19 failed to get troops ashore, and an assault craft with the first wave of marines failed to return. Two destroyers and the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS COVENTRY were also lost, and an MTB was captured; 579 Allied servicemen have been taken prisoner.

Whilst participating in a raid on Tobruk, and in company with HMS Coventry and HMS Zulu, Tribal class destroyer HMS Sikh is illuminated by a searchlight associated with a Luftwaffe 88mm. Flak battery and receives heavy, well-directed fire. The gearing room, the turbine lubrication system are destroyed and ready use 4,7 ammunition along side A turret is exploded, as are the demolition charges set around Y turret. HMS Zulu attempts to tow Sikh away but is herself hit and is ordered away. Sikh is scuttled at 0708 and the crew abandon the ship. There are 275 casualties. Location: off Tobruk at (sic) 32 65N 24 00E.

           Cruiser HMS Coventry is attacked by a force of Ju.87 aircraft and so badly damaged that she has to be sunk by HMS Zulu off Tobruk at 32 48N 28 17E.

           Tribal class destroyer HMS Zulu is attacked by a force of 6 Ju.87 and 12 Ju.88. A bomb enters the engine room and brings the ship to a stop. Croome takes off all crew except for a towing party, whilst Hursley takes her in tow. When it became clear that Zulu was sinking, the tow is cast off, but before Croome can come alongside to take off the towing party, Zulu rolls over and sinks East of Tobruk at 32 00N 28 56E. There are 40 casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)

     The Italian submarine Alabastro is sunk by a British Sunderland Mk. II, aircraft "R" of No. 202 Squadron based at Gibraltar, northwest of Algiers, Algeria. The sub is caught on the surface and the captain elects to fight it out with guns but the Sunderland, piloted by an Australian, drops a depth charge and Alabastro stops dead in the water and sinks after 30 minutes, leaving 40 survivors in the water.

EGYPT: Cairo: An ambitious scheme to hit three Libyan targets in a combined operation has blown up in the face of its British planners. At Benghazi, David Stirling's Special Air Service (SAS) found the enemy waiting and ready, so withdrew under heavy fire, losing 18 Jeeps and 25 other vehicles. At Tobruk the assault from sea and desert using infantry, Marine commandos and the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a failure costing three big ships and many lives. At Barce a New Zealand LRDG patrol blew up 24 enemy aircraft, but few of these men are expected to survive the Luftwaffe manhunt across the desert.

NEW GUINEA: The Japanese edge to within 32 miles (51 kilometres) of Port Moresby but run into units of the Australian 7 Division at Imita Ridge on the Kokoda Trail. It is the last advance the Japanese will make on the island and the high water mark of their conquests. Henceforth, all their moves will be retreats. 

A single US 5th Air Force A-20 Havoc bombs ground forces and installations at Myola.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 0515, Admiral Turner sails from Espiritu Santo, with the 7th Marines bound for Guadalcanal.

At 1445 I-19 fires 6 torpedoes at the USS Wasp, sailing between New Caledonia and Guadalcanal. 1 hits the Wasp, the others continue on. One hits the battleship North Carolina and another the destroyer O'Brien. The Wasp is scuttled at 2100 by three US torpedoes, the North Carolina will fight again. The O'Brien will sink on October 19, 2800 miles toward home and a major refit.

IJA troops attempting to retake Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are driven back for the second day in a row. USAAF P-400 Airacobras attack the Japanese troops retreating south of the Lunga Perimeter. At about 1300 hours, 28 G4M "Betty" bombers escorted by an unknown number of A6M "Zekes" bomb Henderson Field; Marine F4F Wildcat pilots shoot down 2 G4Ms and 2 A6Ms.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIANS: In the first combined heavy mission over Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands, the US 11th Air Force dispatches 13 B-24 Liberators, 1 B-17 Flying Fortress, 14 P-38 Lightnings, and 14 P-39Airacobras to fly low-altitude and photo runs; the P-39s strafe and damage 2 submarines in the harbor; the other aircraft bomb and strafe many installations including AA guns and the submarine base; a single aircraft also strafes Segula Island; enemy losses are 5 float planes shot down and 1 flying boat destroyed on the water; an ammunition ship is sunk and another vessel slightly damaged; while a large cargo vessel and several small barges  and vessels sustain hits; 2 P-38s are lost, colliding head-on while after a fighter.

CANADA: MFV HMCS Chamiss Bay acquired.

U.S.A.: The 18-minute color documentary "The Battle of Midway" is released. Directed, produced and filmed by John Ford, narration is provided by Donald Crisp, Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell with James Roosevelt, the President's son, appearing as an Army major. Ford was on Midway Island with a crew of Navy photographers during the epic battle in June 1942.

Corvette HMCS Halifax arrived New York for duty under USN Commander Eastern Frontier, New York - Guantanamo convoys, Sep 42 - Mar 43. Submarines USS Capelin and Crevalle laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: After four days of attack by a wolfpack of 13 U-boats, convoy ON-127 has lost 12 freighters and one Canadian destroyer; one U-boat has been hit.

At 0005 hours, whilst escorting convoy ON.127, destroyer HMCS Ottawa is torpedoed and sunk by U-91 (Kptlt. Heinz Hungershausen CO) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at 47 55N 43 27W. There are 112 casualties and 76 survivors. Reports state the CO gave his lifebelt to a rating. Corvette HMCS Arvida rescued survivors. U-91 was a VIIC type U-boat, built by Flender-Werke AG, Lubeck-Siems, commissioned 28 Jan 41, in service 25 months, on 04 Sep 42 U-91 was a member of Wolfpack group, "Vorwarts", this Wolfpack sank 7 ships in Convoy ON 127, and 3 ships in convoy RB 1. 6 ships sunk for a total of 36,952 tons, Fate sunk 25 Feb 44 in Northern Atlantic, in position 48.12N, 40.56W by HMS Affleck, Gore and Gould. Of the U-91 crew of 51, there were 15 survivors and 36 lost.

U-408 sinks SS Atheltemplar in Convoy PQ-18
U-457 damaged SS Atheltemplar in Convoy PQ-18.
U-515 sinks SS Harborough.

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September 14th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Submarine HM S/M Statesman launched. Frigate HMS Dominica launched.

EUROPEAN TACTICAL OPERATIONS: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flies Mission 57: 108 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Woenisdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands and Nord Airfield at Lille, France; they are recalled due to weather.

GERMANY: Recently rescued Benito Mussolini has an emotional reunion with Adolf Hitler in the Fuhrer's East Prussian headquarters. 

     During the night of 14/15 September, eight Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, set out with the new 12,000 pound (5 443 kilogram) bomb (not the 12,000 pound Tallboy “earthquake” bomb developed later) to attack the banks of the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Ladbergen. While the force is over the North Sea, however, a weather reconnaissance Mosquito reported that there is fog in the target area and the Lancasters are recalled. Mosquitos bombed three targets: three made a nuisance raid on Berlin with one aircraft lost and individual aircraft bombed Borkum Island and Emden.

U.S.S.R.: Rastenburg: Hitler orders his armies to withdraw to the Panther Line, between Kiev and Vitebsk.

The Germans announce they are evacuating Bryansk. The Russians are still up against a heavy rearguard action. Novorossiysk, in the Kuban, is also heavily contested.

GREECE: British forces occupy Leros Island in the Dodecanese Islands off the coast of Turkey.

ITALY: At Salerno, the Germans attack the entire Allied front throughout the daylight hours, searching for weaknesses. Their efforts are unsuccessful. 

Reinforcements also arrived: the British 7 Armoured Division begins landing in the British 10 Corps sector, and the U.S. 180th Infantry Regiment, the remaining regiment of the 45th Infantry Division, lands behind VI Corps to become the Fifth Army reserve.

During the night, C-47 Skytrains drop the 2,105 men of the 505th Regimental Combat Team (505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 456th Parachute Field Artillery and Company A, 307th Engineers) south of the Sele River to strengthen the beachhead.

By the evening, with more supplies ashore and reinforcements arriving, the crisis had passed. Although the two night airborne drops into the Salerno beachhead had been executed flawlessly, another airborne operation is less successful. The 640 men of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment jump some 20 miles (32 kilometres) north of the British 10 Corps at Avellino during the evening to disrupt German resupply and communications lines. The paratroopers had been ordered to harass the Germans for about five days and then either to infiltrate to the beachhead or to link up with advancing forces. Of the 40 planes involved in the operation, only 15 dropped their cargo within 4 miles (6 kilometres) of the drop zone; 23 planes scattered paratroopers between 8 and 25 miles (13 and 40 kilometres) from the intended target, and the drop site of the remaining two planes was unknown. Of the 640 men who jumped, 400 made it safely back to Allied hands several days later after launching small raids in the German rear. 
     In southern Italy, elements of the British Eighth Army enter Bari in the east and Belvedere in the west. 
     In the air, Allied heavy bombers, diverted from attacks on strategic targets in Germany, interdict German units and supplies flowing toward the beachhead and struck German units in assembly areas and attack positions. USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Pescara while RAF heavy bombers, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, hit Potenza. The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command sends B-17s, B-25 Mitchells, and B-26s to attack highways, road junctions and defiles, bridges, town areas, railroads, marshalling yard, barracks, and numerous targets of opportunity, including several gun positions, in or near Avellino, Pompeii, Torre Annunziata, Auletta, Baronissi, San Severino Rota, Battipaglia, and Eboli; USAAF and RAF fighter-bombers and light and medium bombers of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force fly well over 500 sorties, mainly against bridges, and towns in the battle area or around Battipaglia, Eboli, Potenza Torre Annunziata, Benevento, Auletta, and Avellino. 

IRAN: Iran signs the United Nations Declaration.

BURMA: Japanese troops withdraw from the Manipur River line.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: The US Fourteenth Air Force dispatches 15 B-24s to Haiphong. The first flight aborts due to bad weather but the second flight reaches the target area and bombs docks and shipping.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, one of the Japanese documents captured by Australian troops yesterday indicates that the Japanese have begun to evacuate Lae on 8 September, leaving only a strong rearguard. The evacuation saved 7,000 Japanese troops of the 41st and 51st Divisions. The Australian 25th Brigade continues east towards Lae. 

US Fifth Air Force B-25s attack Lae and barges in Hansa Bay.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Kendari on Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 8th Brigade Group of the New Zealand 3rd Division arrive on Guadalcanal from New Caledonia Island, having rehearsed en route (in the New Hebrides Islands) for the invasion of the Treasury Islands.

Allied airfields and other facilities on Guadalcanal, and at Barakoma and Munda on New Georgia Island are attacked by Japanese aircraft throughout the day. US Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, with fighter escorts, bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island 3 times during the day. 30+ B-24s unload on dispersal and revetment areas and on runways, causing considerable damage; 8 Japanese interceptors are claimed shot down. 3 B-25s bomb Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island and 2 B-24s and 6 PV-1 Venturas attack the Vila area. P-39s join USN fighters and dive bombers in attack on Ballale Island Airfield. During the night, IJN aircraft mount 79 separate attacks on Guadalcanal, New Georgia and Vella Lavella Islands.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS St Joseph launched Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Corvette HMCS Peterborough laid down.
Aircraft carrier HMCS Princeton laid down. Destroyer HMCS Sioux (ex-HMS Vixen) launched.

U.S.A.: Frigate USS Racine laid down. Submarine USS Burrfish commissioned. Frigates USS Groton and Albuquerque launched. Destroyer escort USS Willis launched.

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September 14th, 1944 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 632: 2 B-17 control aircraft and 2 B-17 CASTOR drones fly an APHRODITE mission to the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt, Germany; the target is missed. 

TACTICAL OPERATIONS: C-47s of the First Allied Airborne Army's US IX Troop Carrier Command continue large-scale supply and evacuation missions in France. 

Minesweeper HMS Serene commissioned. Destroyer HMS Barfleur commissioned. Minesweeper HMS Chameleon commissioned.

NETHERLANDS: The U.S. 30th Infantry Division reaches the Maas River and crosses the canal to Maastricht Island late in the day and finds the town undefended.

     During the day, 35 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos of RAF Bomber Command bombed “an ammunition dump” (possibly a suspected V-2 store) near The Hague at Wassenar. The bombing is considered to be accurate until smoke and dust covered the target.

FRANCE: British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Commander-in-Chief 21st Army Group, issues orders for the next phase of the offensive to begin on 17 September, calling for the British Second Army to secure crossing of the Rhine and Meuse Rivers in preparation for a major drive on the Ruhr and for the Canadian First Army to open the port of Antwerp and seize Boulogne and Calais. Offensive operations are virtually at a standstill while supplies are being brought forward and units regrouped.

     In northern France, the U.S. XII Corps completes the envelopment of Nancy. The French 2d Armoured Division makes contact with a patrol of the French 1st Armoured Division that advanced up from southern France.

     In northern France, the USAAF Ninth Air Force activates HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) at Vermand, in anticipation of operating with the U.S. Ninth Army, shortly to join the Twelfth Army Group; Brigadier General Richard E Nugent is Commanding General; about 140 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs bomb gun emplacements and strongpoints in the Brest area. C-47 Skytrains of the First Allied Airborne Army's IX Troop Carrier Command continue large-scale supply and evacuation missions in France. 

     In southern France, bad weather limits USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters to a few sweeps but 53 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly supples from Italy to France.

GERMANY: The U.S. 3d Armored Division thrusts to the Vicht River southwest of Stolberg and crosses and elements also reach a suburb of Aachen. The U.S. 4th Infantry Division penetrates the West Wall in the Schnee Eifel while the 28th Infantry Division begins major attacks in an effort to breach the Wall in its sector. The 5th Armored Division begins to cross the Sauer River into Germany at Wallendorf.

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 184 aircraft, 133 Halifaxes and 51 Lancasters, to Wilhelmshaven but recalled while still over the North Sea; no reason for this is given in Bomber Command records. All aircraft returned safely.

U-2513 and U-3008 launched.
U-2346 laid down.

NORWAY: Bergen: One of Britain's most successful secret weapons - a midget submarine able to penetrate the best defended waterways - has struck again. This time the target was a big floating dock, blown up in Bergen harbour. Lt. H. P. Westmacott skippered the four-man craft, X24, as it slipped through 30 miles of islands offshore and a minefield and into a fjord to sail at periscope depth to the harbour. After diving to 35 feet to avoid collision with a merchant ship, Westmacott attached delayed-action charges to the target and escaped. It is the second such raid on Bergen by Westmacott in X24.

POLAND: Units of the Soviet First Belorussian Front assisted by Polish forces enter the Warsaw suburb of Praga. But the Germans are preparing for a stand along the line of the Narew and Vistula Rivers.

FINLAND: By this date all German troops have left Southern Finland.

U.S.S.R.: The Finnish peace delegation has waited for a week at Moscow for the negotiations to begin. Delay is caused by disagreements between the Soviets and British over the terms of the interim Peace Treaty (the final treaty will be the one concluded with the Soviet Union, UK and the Dominions at Paris in 1947). Today the two allies finally reach an agreement, and the Fenno-Soviet negotiations are to begin in evening. However, Prime Minister Antti Hackzell, who is the chairman of the Finnish delegation, suffers brain haemorrhage just hours before the first session is to start and is paralysed. Minister of Defence Gen. Rudolf Walden acts as the head of the delegation in the first session. Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Enckell arrives two days later to replace Hackzell.

The Soviets attack Army Group North with 130 Divisions. General Schorner asks Hitler to let Estonia to go. This time Hitler allows a retreat. (Gene Hanson)

YUGOSLAVIA: A British detachment with 25-pounders (87.6 mm) lands on Peljesac Peninsula and shells Trpanj, the German withdrawal point.

GREECE: During the night of 14/15 September, RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack three airfields in the Athens area: 34 hit Kalamaki Airfield, 31 bomb Eleusis Airfield and 20 bomb Tatoi Airfield.

ITALY:  The Canadian First Division of the British 8th Army continues its advance, crossing the Marano River, after capturing the Gemmano Ridge.

The U.S. II Corps continues to hammer the Gothic Line defenses of Il Giogo Pass but is unable to break through. The Canadian 1st Division reaches the Marano River and begins crossing it after capturing the Gemmano Ridge.

US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack defensive positions in the east and central parts of the Gothic Line as the enemy fiercely resists, especially at Il Giogo Pass and on Monte Altuzzo; fighter-bombers continue strikes against communications and movement in the Po Valley.

The sailing yacht EROS is torpedoed and sunk by US PT boats off Genoa. She is ex-mercantile, originally built as a yacht for the Rothschild family. 1,019 tons built 1926 in England with some guns. She was seized by the Germans at Toulon in 1942 and redesignated Kriegsmarine Uj.2216 in 1943. [prior information courtesy of Henri Le Masson's The French Navy, Volume 2, Macdonald and Co., 1969] (Greg Kelley)

BURMA: Japanese troops withdraw from the Manipur river line.

On the Salween front, the Chinese complete the capture of Teng-chung which was entered on 4 August. Since Teng-chung is lost and the Chinese are vigorously resisting in Lung-ling, the Japanese decide to halt their counteroffensive on the Salween front.

JAPAN: During the night of 13/14 September, 3 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s strike Kurabu Cape shipping and airfield on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands.

MARCUS ISLAND: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance bomb Marcus Island. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles (1 422 kilometers) west-northwest of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb Truk Atoll and Gilbert Islands-based B-25 Mitchells hit Ponape Island. 

VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan Island, Mariana Islands, bomb Iwo Jima Island.

SOUTH CHINA SEA:  The USN submarine USS Pargo (SS-264) lays mines near Natuna Island. 

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: USN Task Group 38.2 (TG 38.2, Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) attacks Japanese shipping and installations on and around Panay and Negros Islands, supported by TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman). TG 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain), en route to support the Morotai landings, carries out strikes on Japanese installations on Mindanao; during the course of these operations, SB2Cs Helldivers of Bombing Squadron Two (VB 2) sink a fast transport in Davao Gulf. Meanwhile, destroyers USS Farenholt (DD-491), USS McCalla (DD-488), and USS Grayson (DD-435), detached from TG 38.1, bombard suspected Japanese radar installation on Cape San Augustin, at the mouth of Davao Gulf. 
 

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: 5620 Dutch, English, Australian and American POWs and Javanese slave labourers are loaded aboard the Japanese cargo ship "Junyo Maru" at Batavia on Java. The ship will be sunk by an RN submarine four days later. (See 18 September)

CANADA: At the OCTAGON Conference being held in Quebec City, Quebec, (1) representatives of Australia and New Zealand join in conference at and (2) the Combined Chiefs of Staff draw up a new directive for British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command, making his primary mission the recapture of Burma as quickly as possible. Operation DRACULA (plan for the capture of Rangoon, Burma in 1944) and that part of Operation CAPITAL (the attack across the Chindwin River to Mandalay, Burma) requiring an air and land route to China be opened and approved with a target date of 15 March 1945.

Frigate HMCS Waskesiu departed departed Londonderry with Convoy ONF-253.
Frigate HMCS Stettler attacked by U-802 Kptlt Helmut Schmoeckel CO.  U-802 was a type IXC/40, U-boat, built by Deutsche Schiff und Machinen Bau AG Seebeck Yard Bremen, commissioned 12 Jun 43, in service 23 months, with a record of sinking 1 ship on 14 Sep 44. Stettler together with other frigates were on a routine patrol of Gaspe Passage when they fell within torpedo range of U-802. Assuming a convoy following astern of the sweep, U-802 tried to slip through the screen. Asdic sounds surrounded it as the formation zigzagged around its base course in full view of Schmoeckel's periscope, "Suddenly a destroyer turns bows on at full speed, making black smoke". Incorrect though his assumption was, Schmoeckel could only conclude in that split second that HMCS Stettler had gained asdic contact and was commencing her attack. Pressed by the apparently threatening frigate slicing through an "absolutely smooth, leaden sea (at approximately) 20 knots" Schmoeckel hastily fired a T-5 acoustic Gnat at a range of 500 m.  An "explosion," in the words of the Canadian report, "believed to be a torpedo, occurred 40 yards astern of HMCS Stettler in the ship's wake." The crew of U-802 heard their torpedo explode, followed by "the sounds of sinking," and credited themselves with a kill. Lying under protective layers at a depth of 170 m eight minutes after their attack, they listened in safety to the counter-attacks as "destroyers" crossed overhead. U-802 rounded Cap de la Madeleine by late afternoon on 15 Sep, and let itself drift eastward with the prevailing set of the Gaspe stream.
 

U.S.A.: The Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 made its initial landfall as a Category 3 storm at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, shortly after 0900 hours. The barometric pressure at Cape Hatteras dropped to 947 millibars (27.97 inches of mercury or 94,71 kPa) with the highest winds clocked at 110 mph (177,0 km/h). From this point forward, the storm began to accelerate to the northeast to a speed in excess of 40 mph (64,4 km/h). By 1200 hours, the hurricane passes 75 miles (120,7 km) to the east of Norfolk, Virginia, and hurricane force winds swept over portions of extreme southeast Virginia. Winds peaked at 73 mph (117,5 km/h) in downtown Norfolk with gusts to 90 mph (144,8 km/h). At Cape Henry in Virginia Beach, Virginia, peak 1-minute winds reached 134 mph (215,7 km/h) with momentary gusts to 150 mph (241,4 km/h), the highest ever observed at any site during the hurricane. The lowest barometric pressure reported at Norfolk during the hurricane was 985.7 millibars (29.11 inches of mercury or 98,58 kPa). The high winds were the result of intensive convective activity which occurred in the western semi-circle of the storm. Over 4 inches (10,2 cm) of rain fell in a three and a half hour period from 1000 hours to 1330 hours. Fortunately for the area the hurricane passed at the time of low tide and tides only reached 6.0 feet (1,8 meters) above mean low tide with little or no flooding reported. The bulk of the damage was due to the hurricane force winds which brought down numerous trees in the area. At 1800 hours, the center of the hurricane was just offshore of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Winds there reached 82 mph (132 km/h) out of the north. Nearly all New Jersey shore communities suffered heavy damage to roofs and chimneys. Three hundred homes were destroyed on Long Beach Island alone and boardwalks in Atlantic City and on Seven Mile Beach, which contains Avalon and Stone Harbor, were literally washed away. Even inland, the storm brought heavy rains and tropical-storm force winds resulting in agricultural losses estimated at US$3.5 million (US$35.7 million in year 2002 dollars) in New Jersey alone. The hurricane made a second landfall on the eastern end of Long Island, New York and as the storm progressed northeastward, it passed to the north of Boston, Massachusetts, and then into the Gulf of Maine. The storm continued to accelerate rapidly to the east-northeast toward Nova Scotia, Canada, on 15 September. In Maine, the storm began as rain at 1600 hours. As the night progressed, the weather got gradually worse, and by 2400 hours, torrential rains were falling. At 0025 hours on the 15th, Civil defence authorities mobilized personnel and equipment to assist the emergency services. By 0230 hours, the winds had reached 50 mph (80,5 km/h) in the Auburn and Lewiston area. At 0400 hours, the center of the storm passed only 50 miles (80,5 km) from Portland and was headed northeast. By 0433 hours, the all clear was  sounded. A total of 390 people died in the storm; 340 of them were lost on ships at sea. The U.S. Coast Guard lost three vessels: (1) the patrol boats USCGC Bedloe (WPC-128, ex-USCGC Antietam) and USCGC Jackson (WPC-142)  foundered off Cape Hatteras during a hurricane. 26 crewmen are lost on former, 21 on the latter and (2) Lightship No. 73 on Vineyard Sound Station, Massachusetts, foundered during the hurricane; all 12 of her crew perish. 

     A USAAF A-20 Havoc is deliberately flown into the hurricane to collect scientific data. This is the first time that an aircraft is deliberately flown into a hurricane. 

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September 14th, 1945 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: A Halifax glider towing aircraft of RAF No. 644 Sqn crashes on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, en-route to exercises in the Azores. All crew and passengers are killed.

JAPAN: 250 Allied prisoners of war are taken by train to Nagasaki to await ships home. More...

AUSTRALIA: B-24 Liberator A72-313 of the RAAF crashes on take off from Amberley airfield in the Northern territories. All crew are killed.

CANADA: HMC ML 104 paid off.

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