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1931   (SATURDAY)

MANCHURIA: Mukden and Changchun are bombed and occupied by the Japanese.

UNITED STATES: The motion picture "Monkey Business" is released. This comedy directed by Norman Z. McLeod stars Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zepo Marx, and has the four brothers stowing away on a passenger ship and being involuntarily pressed into service as toughs for a pair of feuding gangstersrately to evade the ship's crew. The American Film Institute ranks this film Number 73 on the list of the 100 Funniest American movies.

1934   (WEDNESDAY)

GERMANY: The Germans again claim equality of rights in the matter of armaments ". . . as a guarantee of peace and in order that we ourselves may be a real factor for peace in Europe." 

1938   (MONDAY)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The Czechs receive the Anglo-French partition proposals.

FRANCE: France has to support the British proposals for the partition of Czechoslovakia. Britain had refused to commit herself to definite support of France if she kept her pledge to defend Czechoslovakia, unless the integrity of France were directly menaced.

SWITZERLAND: The League of Nations Council invites Japan to sit with the League to settle their dispute with China.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviets give an unequivocal pledge of loyalty to the Czechs if French did help and the Soviets warned Poland not to attack Czechoslovakia.

September 19th, 1939 (TUESDAY)

The US freighter SS Black Hawk is detained by the British authorities; the US freighter SS Black Eagle, detained for the last week, is allowed to sail.

Corvette HMS Coropsis laid down.

Northern Ireland: Lord Craigavon, Prime Minister, explains that the National Register of persons in Northern Ireland is not for the purposes of conscription, but to 'compile statistics of the population and their occupations, to help members of families separated by evacuation to keep in touch with one another, to assist in the identification of war casualties among civilians, and to facilitate the settlement of claims to wartime allowances.' One Belfast resident returns his identity card on the ground that he was a citizen of Eire and had no right or claim to any other national identity. He adds that the war is a 'mere family quarrel between England and her Fatherland.' When informed that holding the identity card does not imply British citizenship or nationality, he raises no further objections.

FREE CITY OF DANZIG: Hitler swears that Danzig will be German forever and Germany will fight to the bitter end.

Hitler also states that they may "use a weapon which is not yet known and with which we ourselves cannot be attacked." British intelligence personnel begin searching files of the Secret Intelligence Service for clues to the identity of the secret weapon.

POLAND: The Russian and German armies link up at Brest-Litovsk. 

     The Polish naval base of Gdynia falls to German forces.

The Soviet invasion of Poland reaches the Hungarian border and to the north Vilna falls.

CANADA: The cabinet approves a program to construct 110 ships for the war effort. Two types of small warships are approved: Flower-class corvettes, and Bangor-class minesweepers.

Patrol vessel HMCS Signal acquired. 67ft overall, built 1927 by Prince Rupert Drydock Co, Ltd. owned by Jacob Kind Iverson, appraised @ $10,453.00, chartered $240.00, per month, returned to her owner May 1944, Later owned byPaul Pearson of Skidegate, British Columbia.

ICELAND: U-30 put a wounded man ashore in Reykjavík. [Maschinenobergefreiter Schmidt]

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September 19th, 1940 (THURSDAY)

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - marshalling yards at Mannheim.

78 Sqn. Eight aircraft. Five bombed primary, three bombed alternatives.

RAF Fighter Command: Little daylight activity. At night London and Merseyside are bombed and mines are laid in the Thames and Mersey Estuaries.

The weather is showery. During the day, Luftwaffe activity is on a much reduced scale. There are no major attacks, but a considerable number of single German aircraft reconnaissances are made over South East England, South Wales and the Liverpool area, and also over convoys. It has been noticed that raids often appeared to originate in the Liverpool area without having been previously plotted. Furthermore raids are sometimes lost some 60 miles (97 kilometers) North of Milford Haven. In the South and East at 0950 hours a raid crossed the coast at Beachy Head flew North over London to as far as the Sutton Bridge area and is shot down near Newmarket at 1050 hours. At 1045 hours one raid which flew to Harwich and North West inland is intercepted and shot down near a convoy off Orfordness. At 1442 hours a raid appeared 60 miles (97 kilometers) South of Tangmere crossed the coast there and went North to Kenley, Northolt and the Wittering area, thence to Peterborough. Fighters followed this Luftwaffe aircraft, which is a Ju 88 and which force landed intact at Oaklington, east of Peterborough, owing to engine trouble. Throughout the day many single reconnaissances are active in the Kent and Sussex areas, two of which are destroyed by our fighters (plus one probable). In the South West and West, two raids are plotted in the Liverpool area in the morning. At 1930 hours, two raids appeared in the Liverpool area and at that time ten German aircraft are off the coast of Wales approaching Liverpool. The tracks of these raids appeared to have been completely lost between South West and North Wales. At 2005 hours 13 raids, each of one single aircraft, came from the North West corner of the Cherbourg Peninsular and went inland from the Needles to Selsey Bill.

     During the night of 19/20 September, the Germans attack London and Merseyside. At 1956 hours London received the "red" warning as raids commenced to come from the mouth of the Scheldt. They are flying at about 20,000 feet (6 096 meters) straight up the Thames Estuary to the London area. At 2100 hours there are about six raids operating over London. A similar number of raids is in the Isle of Wight area, in Kent and in Wales, making a total of some 30 Luftwaffe aircraft inland with many more on their way. At 2130 hours German aircraft are still crossing the coast in fair numbers, but only in the sector between the Isle of Wight and Harwich. The Wales area is clearing and Luftwaffe aircraft are going South to Devon and Somerset and at 2200 hours the West Country is practically clear and German activity is confined to Kent, London and the Thames Estuary, off the Suffolk and possibly the Sussex Coasts. During the night considerable Luftwaffe activity occurred in the East Anglian area.

U.S.A.: The existence of the cavity magnetron is first revealed to the Americans by the British at a party Washington's Wardman Park Hotel, hosted by the millionaire and amateur scientist Alfred Loomis. (Cris Wetton)

The motion picture "The Westerner" premieres in Fort Worth, Texas. Directed by William Wyler, this westerner stars Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Forrest Tucker, Chill Wills and Dana Andrews. Prior to the premiere, an estimated 100,000 people watch a parade in the rain with actors Cooper, Brennan, Bob Hope, Edward Arnold and George Raft.

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September 19th, 1941 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The first Rhubarb (armed recce) by Curtiss Tomahawks of the RAF is flown today by No. 239 Squadron from Gatwick. (22)

Corvette FS Roselys (ex-HMS Sundew) commissioned.
Submarine HMS Spiteful laid down.

FRANCE: Paris: Due to the recent shootings of German soldiers, a curfew is imposed from nine at night to five in the morning. Restaurants, cafés, cinemas are shut at eight o'clock. Anyone in breach of the curfew will be held hostage.

U.S.S.R.: Kiev falls to the Germans after 40 days of fighting. German losses are estimated at 100,000 while Soviet losses are in excess of 500,000. Plus 665,000 Soviet soldiers taken prisoner, 884 tanks and 3,018 artillery pieces.
In a series of communiqués the Nazis boasted: "The attack on Kiev was begun in the course of encircling operations. After a bold thrust throught the strong fortifications on the banks of the Dnepr our troops have penetrated into the town. The Reich flag has been flying from the citadel since this morning." The communiqué's claim that the jaws of Guderian and von Kleist's pincer movement snapped shut at Lokhvitsa, 125 miles east of Kiev. "The ring has thus been closed round four Soviet armies. Their annihilation is now in progress."

Stalin's orders were "stand fast, hold out, and if need be die." When Marshal Budenny, the Soviet commander in the south, requested permission to retreat, Stalin sacked him.

General Kirponos, commanding in Kiev, eventually got Stalin's permission to withdraw, but it came too late. Kirponos has been killed in an ambush along with most of his 1,000 strong command column; the Red Army is facing its greatest disaster of this war.

Trapped in the open, the Russian infantrymen are fighting with their customary stubbornness as the German tanks hunt them down and Stukas blast their strongpoints. But they are running out of ammunition and food. The end cannot be long delayed. Kiev itself is a shattered shell of a once beautiful city, littered with the debris of war and stripped bare of anything of use to the invader. Power stations and waterworks have been put out of action, and thousands of timebombs have been left to complete the destruction. The executions of party officials and Jews, to "liquidate the Bolshevik menace", have already started in the city as the SS murder squads move in on the heels of the Panzers. 

Luftwaffe bombers attack Leningrad and kill more than 1,000 Russians.

YUGOSLAVIA: Marshal Josip Tito, leader of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and Draza Mihajlovic, leader of the Cetniks, quarrel after attempting to discuss resistance to the Germans. There continued attempts to resolve their differences will fail and fighting between their followers will start.

IRAN: Tehran: They are changing the guard today at the Peacock Palace. Soviet troops who have occupied the city for several days are leaving and British troops are replacing them, with much saluting. This is the first time that British and Russian troops have seen each other. The British troops are impressed by the Russian soldiers' armour. The Russian troops seem surprised by the British soldiers' short trousers.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Shawinigan commissioned.

U.S.A.: US Secretary of State Cordell Hull sends a note to the German Charge d'Affaires asking for $2,967,092 in reparations for the sinking of the US freighter SS Robin Moor. The unarmed freighter was sunk on 21 May 1941 about 700 miles (1,127 km) off the west coast of Africa. The ship had been stopped by the German submarine U-69 and is then sunk by gunfire and torpedo even though US flags were prominently painted on both sides of her hull. She is the first American merchant vessel sunk in the war. All 38-crewmen and 8-passengers make it into life boats and the U-boat captain provides rations; 35 of the 46 survivors are rescued on 3 June and the remaining 11 are rescued on 8 June. The German embassy acknowledges receipt of the note.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Canadian escort ship HMCS LEVIS is sunk by U-74 at 0115hrs, 120 miles East of Cape Farewell, Greenland, South of Iceland, 60-07N 38-37W. The initial explosion severed the forward portion of the ship, killing 17 crewmembers outright. LEVIS remained afloat for over 5 hours, in all 18 of the crew were killed. U-74 was VIIB type U-boat built by Bremer-Vulkan, Bremer-Vegesack, launched 31 Aug 40, commissioned 31 Oct 40, in service 19 months, with a record of sinking 5 ships, for a total 25,619 tons, plus 2 ships damaged a further 11,499 tons.U-74 was notable for having rescued 3 survivors from BISMARK. George Herzog, Otto Hontzch, and Herbert Mamthey, who had been fortunate to find an inflatable liferaft. Others found by U-74 in the water died from exposure.

In the Denmark Strait, the SS Baron Pentland, the 17th and last ship of Convoy SC-42 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, to the U.K.) is sunk about 563 nautical miles (1024 kilometers) west of Reykjavik, Iceland. This ship had been torpedoed on 9 September and is drifting, abandoned when sunk by U-372. Of the 64 ships in Convoy SC-42, 17 (26.5 percent) are sunk totalling 69,813 tons. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

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September 19th, 1942 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeper HMS Aries launched.
Escort carrier HMS Slinger launched.

FRANCE: Paris: In a further retaliatory measure, all places of entertainment are closed and non-German citizens are curfewed until midnight tonight.

GERMANY: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attempted the first daylight bombing raid on Berlin; two aircraft had to turn back with mechanical trouble, two aircraft bombed Hamburg and one aircraft bombed the Berlin area through thick cloud. The remaining Mosquito is lost, believed shot down by a German fighter.

     During the night of 19/20 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 118 aircraft, 72 Wellingtons, 41 Halifaxes and five Stirlings, to bomb Saarbrücken; 95 bombed the target with the loss of five aircraft, three Wellingtons and two Halifaxes lost, 4.2 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders had to mark two targets on this night and the Pathfinder crews allocated to this raid experienced difficulties with ground haze. Bombing is scattered to the west of the target. Saarbrücken reports on 13 houses destroyed, 27 seriously damaged and one man killed. A second force of 68 Lancasters and 21 Stirlings is sent to Munich; 84 bombed the target with the loss of five aircraft. Approximately 40 percent of the crews dropped bombs within 3 miles (4,8 kilometers) of the center of Munich but most of the bombs fell in the western, southern and eastern suburbs of the city. It has not been possible to obtain a report from Munich.

U-476 laid down.
U-274 and U-734 launched.

GREECE: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Pylos Bay area, Pylos Island and Khalones during the night of 19/20 September.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow erroneously reports the death of a top German general, Paul von Kleist, in the Ukraine.

CHINA: US China Air Task Force B-25 Mitchells strike Lungling; the raid is ineffective due to bad weather but results in the discovery of much Japanese activity which further reconnaissance reveals as part of a heavy movement of enemy and supplies along the Burma Road toward the Salween front.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kododa Track in Papua New Guinea, an Australian patrol attacks the Japanese post spotted yesterday and destroys it. The troops then set up an ambush and wait for the night.

US Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders strafe and bomb the airfield at Lae. B-17 Flying Fortresses attack cargo vessels near Umboi (Rooke) Island between New Guinea and New Britain Island and a whaling vessel is strafed by fighters off Goodenough Island.

NEW CALEDONIA: The Americal Division is reorganised into:

Mobile Command: including all combat troops (except 70th CA Regiment, Signal Corps units and Fighting French Forces)

Base command: including all service units (except Signal units)

Air Force Command: including all Army Air Forces units and units of other services assigned to Army Air Forces

Troops under direct control of CG Americal Division included: Division Headquarters Detachment, Headquarters Company, 51st Infantry Brigade, 39th MP Company, 70th Coast Artillery Regiment (AA), Signal Corps units and installations, and Fighting French Forces. (Yves J. Bellanger)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, establishes continuous defense lines and divides the Lunga area into ten sectors.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack cargo vessels in the Bismarck Sea near Umboi (Rooke) Island which lies between New Guinea and New Britain Island. In the Solomon Sea, USAAF Fifth Air Force fighters strafe a whaling vessel off Goodenough Island.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Brockville commissioned.

Minesweeper HMCS Winnipeg launched Port Arthur, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The Finnish Legation in Washington, D.C., issues a statement asserting that Finland "wants to cease fighting as soon as the threat to her existence has been averted and guarantees have been obtained for her lasting security." It is stated, however, that no Peace proposals have been made to Finland, nor any promise of the restitution of the territories belonging to her, nor any guarantee of lasting security.

The auxiliary aircraft carrier (ACV) USS Chenango (ACV-28, ex SS Esso New Orleans, ex AO-28) is commissioned. She is the tenth ACV in commission.  (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-156 sank SS Quebec City.

U-512 sank SS Monte Gorbea.
U-516 sank SS Wichita.
U-552 sank ASW trawler HMS Alouette.

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September 19th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Crowds greet Churchill on his return from over six weeks abroad.

FRANCE: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flies Missions 63 and 64 against 2 airfields. (1) 18 B-26Bs hit Nord Airfield at Lille at 1139 hours; clouds prevent the 2nd group for bombing. (2) 72 B-26's dispatched to Merville airfield are recalled due to weather.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops on the Smolensk front overrun Yartsevo and Dukhovshchina. The Germans are forced to retire toward the Dnieper River all along the lower front as Priluki, Piryatin, Lubni, Khorol, and Krasnograd fall to Soviet troops fighting east and southeast of Kiev.

YUGOSLAVIA: The British Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean has parachuted into Yugoslavia to join Tito as a military adviser. His arrival confirms Britain's recognition of Tito's partisan army as its only reliable ally against the Germans. British arms are to be supplied only to Tito's force The royalist Chetnik organization is disintegrating rapidly with the collapse of General Mihailovich's Italian allies. Widespread drunkenness is reported among officers, and mass defections among the men.

ITALY: Auletta and Potenza fall to the British 8th Army.

The US Fifth Army gains firm control of the Salerno plain. In the VI Corps area, the U.S. 45th Infantry Division occupies the high ground overlooking Eboli while the U.S. 36th Infantry Division takes Serre and Ponte Sele.

British Eighth Army Area: The advance northwards by Boforce resumed on the morning of 19 September. Progress was considerably slower than on the previous day; slowed by Teller mines along the route and small rearguard actions conducted by the retreating Germans.

Potenza was reached that same evening and the West Novas mounted a night assault across the river (Basento) against a spirited defence. The Calgarys advanced as far as they could until stopped by demolished buildings and mined roadways. Once the obstructions had been removed under cover of darkness, the advance continued into the town on the morning of the 20th. The Germans hastily retreated.

The capture of Potenza permitted a link up with elements of the British forces in Auletta 30km west of the Canadian positions. 

Simultaneous to the approach by Boforce on Potenza, two squadrons from 4 Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, assisting 1 Infantry Brigade made a dash for the sea along the line of the main route between Potenza and Taranto. This detachment made contact with and inflicted heavy casualties on an enemy force at Miglionico which lies approximately halfway between Potenza and Taranto. (Stuart Millis)

US Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers and planes of other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements [US and RAF] concentrate on attacking roads and vehicles in the Benevento-Montesarchio-Contursi-Potenza-Avellino areas, and a railway station at Castelnuovo.

German troops are expelled from Sardinia by Italian troops.

     During the night of 19/20 September, 39 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb a highway bridge at Benevento.

NEW GUINEA: The Australian 2/6th Independent Company takes Kaiapit in the Markham River Valley in Northeast New Guinea in lively fighting and repels repeated counterattacks. Kaiapit is 45 air-miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Nadzab. Kaiapit is needed for the airstrip that is to be constructed there once the Japanese have been driven from the area. Kaiapit became a base for the Australian 7th Division's advance up the Markham Valley.

     USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders attack Finschhafen, Northeast New Guinea, in preparation for Allied landings three days hence.

CENTRAL PACIFIC: 20 US Seventh Air Force B-24s, based on Funafuti Island in the Ellice Islands and Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands, bomb Tarawa Atoll and Abemama Island in the Gilbert Islands and obtain photo coverage of Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll. 1 B-24 is lost to interceptors.

GILBERT ISLANDS: USN carrier-based aircraft attack targets in Tarawa and Makin Atolls and then Task Force Fifteen (TF 15), consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) and the small aircraft carriers USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) and Princeton (CVL-23). In addition to attacking installations, photographic reconnaissance missions are flown over reefs, beaches and island defense. TF then retires to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii 

     Twenty USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb and photograph Tarawa and Abemama Atolls; one B-24 is lost.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25s and USN SBD Dauntlesses, covered by fighters, bomb Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island and a causeway, enemy positions, and ammunition dump at Disappointment Cove on New Georgia Island. Other B-25s bomb and strafe barge centers at Ringa Cove and Webster Coves on New Georgia Island.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells fly small strikes against Ambon Island in the Moluccas Islands, Selaroe Aerodrome on Selaroe Island in the Tanimbar Islands, and Penfui (Penfoei) Airfield on Dutch Timor.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb the airfield and surrounding area at Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Gabilan launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Trumpeter and Straub launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Blessman and Booth commissioned.

ATLANTIC: German submarine U-341 is sunk at 0430hrs southwest of Iceland, in position 58.34N, 25.30W, by depth charges from an RCAF Liberator Mk III, s/n 586, aircraft "A" of No 10 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Gander, Newfoundland, flown by Flight Lieutenant R.F. Fisher and crew. All hands, 50-men, on the U-boat are lost. The aircraft was returning to Gander from Iceland after escorting Prime Minister Winston Churchill in HMS Renown from the Quebec Conference. The U-boat, armed with Gnat acoustic torpedoes, is one of 19 boats in a picket line southwest of Iceland ready for two convoys from the U.K. to North America, slow Convoy ONS 18 and fast Convoy ON 202.

U-532 sank SS Fort Longueil.

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September 19th, 1944 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

USAAF EUROPE
  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 642: 796 B-17s, in 2 forces, are dispatched against marshalling yards in western Germany; weather prevents about half from bombing primary targets but most manage to bomb targets of opportunity; 7 bombers and 1 fighter are lost. 

1. B-17s hit targets of opportunity, i.e., marshalling yards at Koblenz (87), Dillenburg (39), Limburg (37) and Darmstadt (24); bridges at Limburg (35), Koblenz (25) and a bridge over the Rhine River at Koblenz (13); and Wiesbaden (38), Wetzlar (14), the railroad line at Koblenz (13) and Wiesbaden Airfield (12); 4 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 131 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft in the air; 1 P-47 is lost. 
2. B-17s bomb marshalling yards at Hamm (186) and Soest (32) and Dortmund/Unna depot (64); other targets hit are marshalling yards at Raesfeld (11), Wesel (9), Rheine (6) and Munster 
3. Dillenburg (11), Emmerich (7), Hamm (5), Osnaburck (2) and others (6); 3 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 109 P-47s and P-51s.

    - - 100 B-17s and 61 P-51s takeoff from bases in the USSR and bomb the marshalling yard at Szolnok, Hungary and continue to bases in Italy.
    - - 172 P-51s supporting the First Allied Airborne Army in the Netherlands engage 100+ fighters, claiming 23-4-14; 6 P-51s are lost

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS: In Germany, US Ninth Air Force B-26s hit marshalling yards in the Duren area to prevent reinforcements from reaching the Aachen area by rail; IX Tactical Air Command supports the US V Corps in repelling a counterattack at the Wallendorf bridgehead, supports Operation MARKET-GARDEN and flies armed reconnaissance in western Germany. XIX Tactical Air Command escorts A-20s and B-26s, flies cover both for MARKET-GARDEN and in the Brest and Nancy, France areas, and armed reconnaissance over Metz, Germany area.

Submarine HMS Vagabond launched.

NETHERLANDS: Operation Market-Garden: The British XXX Corps links up with the US 101st Airborne at Eindhoven. The British paratroops repeated attempts to reach the battalion at the Arnhem bridge fail.

The 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Brigade continues to hold out in the houses on the northern end of the Arnhem bridge. Disaster is closing in on Lieutenant Colonel Frost's battalion after 50 hours of fighting. While some men of the 1st Airborne Division's other battalions had been able to infiltrate the German lines surrounding his battalion, no battalions had broken through.

The Polish parachute drop had not materialized and XXX Corps had not appeared. Casualties filled the cellars of the houses from which the battalion was fighting. Many of them were in flames and some positions had been overrun. At 1900 two 60 ton Tiger tanks moved toward the bridge and began firing into the positions of the battalion. Frost wondered how long he could hold on.

At 0600 British engineers complete the Bailey bridge over the Wilhelmena Canal at Zon and at 0610 the Grenadier Group of the Guards Armoured moves across the bridge. The Grenadier Guards move off with the armoured cars of the Household Cavalry leading. The Household Cavalry easily outdistance the tanks and arrive at Grave shortly after 0800. Reconnaissance indicates that the road bridge at Neerbosch is unusable, but finds, with the help of the US Airborne troops that a second bridge at Heuman is available. The armoured car group arrives at Grave at 0830 where it halts because General Browning, commander the British Airborne Corps, wants to see the two battalion commanders at his CP five miles to the east to discuss a new plan of action. Consultations are held with General Gavin and a combined plan is made. The much slower tanks catch up at 1000. When they return the column moves north again. The 82nd Airborne has been unable to secure either the road or the railroad bridge over the River Waal at the northern end of Nijmegen. The Grenadier Group with the 2/505th of the 82nd under command is assigned the mission of moving through Nijmegan and seizing both the rail bridge and the road bridge.

By 1200 they move swiftly through the 101st Airborne sector of the Market-Garden corridor, enter the suburbs of Nijmegen, and link up with elements of the 82nd Airborne. To the north of the city the great bridge over the Waal, the last water obstacle before the Neder Rhine and Arnhem, is still in German hands. A force of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards and the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry is ordered to seize the bridge.

This force, more properly described as tanks of 3 Squadron, 2 Grenadier Guards, infantry from 2 Company 1 Grenadier Guards plus Companies E and F of 2nd Battalion 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment was detailed to capture the Post Office (from where Dutch Resistance had indicated the bridge demolition controls were located) and the road bridge.

The western force, detailed to capture the rail bridge had 5 tanks from 3 squadron, 2nd Grenadier Guards, one platoon of carrier borne infantry of the 1st Grenadiers plus D Company of 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment.

Both attacks went in at 1600. The western force was stopped 200 yards from the bridge and spent the night (of 19th September) essentially surrounded by German forces which they had pushed through, but the eastern force captured the Post Office which they found was not the demolitions centre as reported.

Major General James Gavin, commanding general of the 82nd, then proposed that a battalion of the 82nd make an assault crossing across the Waal in small boats to be provided by XXX Corps. Lieutenant General Frederick Browning, commanding the British Airborne Corps approved. The attack is scheduled for 1300 on the 20th and the call goes out for the boats. 

Once the crossing is made downstream from the bridges and the paratroopers have secured the northern end of the road bridge the British will attack from the southern end and cross the bridge. The attack is to be supported by artillery, tank fire and close air provided by RAF Typhoons. Securing the bridge will remove the last bridge obstacle south of Arnhem, 11 miles to the north.

The first bridge was reportedly captured by 1600 and the second fell at 1700.

However, according to Captain Neville, his force had crossed the rail bridge by late morning but only made contact with the American paratroopers when they arrived there later that afternoon. He had been unable to communicate with anyone on the south bank and therefore continued to fight towards the north end of the road bridge. (Stuart Millis)

Some 40 miles south in the sector of the 101st Airborne, the 502nd Parachute Infantry along with two battalions of the 327th Glider Infantry with the 321st Glider Field Artillery in direct support had, on the third day of a battle begun by one company of the 502nd, secured the village of Best two miles northwest of Zon. The howitzers of the 321st, which had landed earlier in the day were the first to reach the division in Holland. While the lead elements of XXX Corps were in Nijmegen units of the corps were still on the road in the sector of the 101st. German artillery had damaged vehicles on the road and these were now causing delays in the rear. In addition the Germans had attacked Zon and had been repulsed. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the corridor open. This afternoon Montgomery's 48 hours had elapsed. (Jay Stone)

Luftwaffe aircraft bomb Eindhoven killing 200. This causes much damage along the main supply route of XXX Corps. Streets are blocked which causes delays in getting equipment and supplies forward. This exacerbates the already difficult problem that XXX Corps has in supplying its forward elements along one narrow corridor that is sometimes under German attack.

82 Airborne. General Browning, commander of the British Airborne Corp warns General Gavin, of the 82nd, the "Nijmegan Bridge must be taken today. At the latest tomorrow." General Gavin is so hard-pressed to keep the road open and to maintain the security of his 120 square mile area, especially the landing zones that he is unable to get sufficient combat power to Nijmegan and so to secure the bridge. To accomplish this, the plan as stated above is devised.

101st Airborne. In his planning to secure a crossing over the Wilhelmena Canal General Taylor, commander of the 101st had given the mission of securing the bridge over the canal at Best four miles east of Zon. to the commander of the 502 Parachute Infantry. He assigned one company to the task. The bridge is blown but there are strong German forces in and around the town and they must be defeated since they are a threat to the road. What was a one company mission on the 17th now requires the commitment of two battalions of the 502nd, two battalions of the recently arrived 327th Glider Infantry Regiment a squadron of British tanks and British Artillery support. The attack went in and German resistance quickly collapsed. More than 1,000 prisoners were taken and 300 Germans killed.

Other elements of the division defeated German attacks at several points of the road and kept it open for XXX Corps units.

At 1400 the gliders carrying the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment and most of the Division Artillery land. Several gliders have not arrived due to poor visibility en route and enemy anti-aircraft fire.

Observers on the roof of the schoolhouse in Zon watch the gliders approach and land. It is obvious that in the two days since the initial landings the Germans have moved additional AA units into place on the route along which more airborne units would approach.

Several gliders and C-47 tugs are shot down as they make the approach.

At 1830 the division CP and the bridge at Zon are attacked by German tanks. Many rounds were fired at both targets from the south side of the canal. This was an attempt to cut the road and damage the bridge. The tanks were driven off by a combination of fire from anti-tank guns of the 325th Glider Infantry and bazooka fire from headquarters personnel.

1st Airborne Division. The buildup of German forces facing the 1st Airborne continues. At all places the British face infantry supported by tanks, assault guns, large and small calibre anti-aircraft guns in a ground fire mode, and various other armoured vehicles. The British must face this with PIATs and any 6 pounder or 17 pounder AT guns available and there are not many available. In addition, communications within the division is almost non-existent.

North of the DZ, LZ area the 4th Parachute Brigade attacks to seize the high ground and then advance on Arnhem from the north. The brigade takes heavy casualties and the attack is driven back. German forces advancing from the east attack the 1st Battalion The Border Regiment which is to the rear of the 4th Para Brigade. The brigade is now in danger of being cut off from the rest of the division and is ordered back. With a solid enemy line on the east and positions being established by him on the northern and western portions of the divisions zone the enemy is forming a box.. The division with its back to the river will face the enemy on three sides.

Attempts to break through to the bridge and relieve are unsuccessful. Late on the 18th the commanders of the 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment, 1 Para and 11 Para had devised a plan for their three battalions to attack towards the bridge at 0400 hours on the 19th. Because of a lack of communications commanders at brigade and division level do not know of this plan. In addition, the commander of 1 Para who was not with the other three commanders plans to attack toward the bridge in the morning. All of the four attacks are beaten back by the Germans with heavy British casualties.

At the bridge 2 Para and the other small units with it are being decimated. German tank and artillery fire is destroying the buildings in which they are located. White phosphorous shells from artillery fire has set some of the buildings on fire. In addition to the fire from the south, the battalion must now face tank fire from the north.

Some buildings on the northern approaches to the bridge are becoming rubble. Casualties mount and they are placed in the cellar where they receive minimal, if no treatment. Medical supplies, as well as ammunition are running low. At 1400 hours the 48 hours set as the time for XXX Corps units to arrive at the bridge has passed. These units are through Nijmegan but have not crossed the last bridge before Arnhem. (Jay Stone)

"At 1600 hours on the 19th [of September 1944], the Grenadier Group [Guards Armoured Division] with the 2nd Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry [of the 82nd Airborne Division] under command, moved off to carry out the first attack on the road and railway bridges [over the River Waal at Nijmegan]. But, as has already been recounted, the attack failed in the face of resolute defence by [SS-Haupstrumfuhrer Leo Herman] Reinhold's SS battle group and the Americans suffered 150 killed and 600 wounded.

Arnhem: Flt-Lt David Samuel Anthony Lord (b.1913) flew his crippled DC-3 to drop supplies which had failed to fall on his first run. He told his crew to bale out and died when the plane crashed in flames. (Victoria Cross)

Arnhem: Capt. Lionel Ernest Queripel (b.1920), Royal Sussex Regt., displayed great bravery in nine hours of bitter fighting. He stayed to cover his men's withdrawal and was never seen again. (Victoria Cross)

Nijmegen: Civilians shave the heads of women who associated with Nazis during the occupation.

     One hundred seventy two USAAF Eighth Air Force P-51 Mustangs supporting the First Allied Airborne Army engage 100+ German fighters, claiming 23-4-14; six P-51s are lost.

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 56 aircraft, 28 Lancasters, 27 Halifaxes and a Mosquito, to attack the Domburg coastal battery but are recalled. A Halifax crashes in England.

FRANCE : In the U.S. Ninth Army area, VIII Corps under General Middleton, successfully concludes the Brittany campaign as the 8th Infantry Division finishes clearing the Crozon Peninsula and captures German Major General der Fallschirmtruppe Hermann Bernhard Ramcke, fortress commander of Brest.  

     In the 6th Army Group area: Commanders conference is held at Lyon to plan for future operations. The French Army B is renamed the French 1st Army.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: In an attempt to ensure that the army obeys the Nazi Party, Hitler orders all commanders to take advice from Gauleiters.

In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the U.S. 2d Armored Division drives through Gangelt toward Geilenkirchen, forcing a salient between two German armies, but the Germans restore contact during counterattacks. Corps faces the West Wall and prepares to attack it tomorrow.

     During the night of 19/20 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 227 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos of Nos 1 and No 5 Groups to the twin towns of Mönchengladbach/Rheydt; 233 bombed the target with the loss of four Lancasters and a Mosquito lost. Bomber Command claimed severe damage to both towns, particularly to Mönchengladbach. The Master Bomber for this raid is Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, DSO, DFC flying a Mosquito from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England, where he is serving as Base Operations Officer. Gibson's instructions over the target are heard throughout the raid and gave no hint of trouble, but his aircraft crashed in flames, according to a Dutch eyewitness, before crossing the coast of Holland for the homeward flight over the North Sea. There are no German fighter claims for the Mosquito; it may have been damaged by flak over the target or on the return flight, or it may have developed engine trouble. It is possibly flying too low for the crew to escape by parachute. Gibson and his navigator, Squadron Leader JB Warwick, DFC are both killed and are buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at Steenbergen-en-Kruisland, 13 kilometers (8 miles) north of Bergen-op-Zoom. Theirs are the only graves of Allied servicemen in the cemetery.

U-328 commissioned,
U-2347 and U-3519 laid down.

DENMARK: A five-day strike begins in protest against German deportations.

HUNGARY: One hundred USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and 61 P-51 Mustangs takeoff from bases in the U.S.S.R. and 91 B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Szolnok and continue on to bases in Italy.

     During the night of 19/20 September, 85 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Szekesfehervor.

FINLAND: The peace treaty between Finland and Soviet Union is signed today at noon. The negotiations have been long and difficult, and what little hopes the Finnish negotiators had of modifying the conditions are bashed by the leader of Soviet delegation, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.

Finnish delegation, led by PM Hackzell had arrived Moscow already on 7 Sept, but they had to wait a week while the Soviets and British are negotiating what kind of conditions shall be presented (British actually manage to persuade the Soviets to halve the amount of reparations demanded). The first meeting is on 14 Sept, but there's further delay as PM Hackzell suffers brain hemorrhage and is paralysed; Foreign Minister Carl Enckell is sent to Moscow to replace Hackzell. On the evening of 18 Sept Molotov presents an ultimatum: Finns has to accept the Soviet demands by the noon of 19th, or the hostilities would be started again.

The main points of the treaty are:

- the territories lost in 1940 are again ceded to Soviet Union as is Petsamo in far north. The peninsula of Porkkala (uncomfortably near to Helsinki!) is leased to Soviet Union for 50 years as a naval base (Khrustsev gives it back in 1956)

- Finland pays  US $300 million as war reparations - that is in uninflated 1938 US dollars ("We have no intention of letting you to gain any benefit of the war." comments Molotov; the reparations are paid by 1952)

- Finland agrees to banish all German troops from the country

- Finland agrees to prosecute all war-criminals and those deemed guilty of initiating the war and allying Finland with Germany.

There's also many minor points, like freeing the political prisoners, disbanding all "hitlerite" organisations, limiting the size of the armed forces etc. A Soviet-dominated Allied Supervisory Committee is situated at Helsinki to ensure that Finland will comply with the treaty.

The so-called Autumn Manoeuvres, the orchestrated German withdrawal and Finnish advance in northern Finland, begin. The advance is arranged in such a way that Finns arrive always one day after Germans have left. This phase of the Lappland War will be short, however. The Soviets soon smell the rat and demand real action. Meanwhile the civilian population in the areas manned by Germans are being evacuated to Sweden.

ESTONIA: Troops of the Soviet Third Baltic Front overrun Valga, on the Estonian--Latvian border. Other Soviet forces are approaching Tallinn and Riga.

As the Soviet Army advances, the Germans are desperately trying to destroy the evidence of the mass torture and murder that they have inflicted on occupied countries. With the Red Army on the brink of liberating the Klooga concentration camp, the SS today slaughtered all but 85 of the 3,000 forced labourers. Half of them were Jewish, the rest Estonian political prisoners and Soviet PoWs. Strangely enough, no captured Germans, or even local people, will own up to knowing anything about the camps in their midst.

U.S.S.R.: Baltic Fleet, Ladoga Lake and Chudskoe Lake Flotillas: MS "T-379" - unknown case, on Tallin stead (later raised and used as a stationary TS) .  (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators based in Italy attack two railroad bridges: 48 bomb the bridge at Mitrovica and 48 bomb the bridge at Kraljevo while 70 P-38 Lightnings provide target area cover.

ITALY: In U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, two antiaircraft battalions reach Montrone on the coast and Pietrasanta, northeast of Montrone.

     In Br Eighth Army area, 10 Corps continues to battle the Rimini Line, meeting particularly stubborn opposition in the vicinity of Ceriano, but the 46th Division succeeds in breaching the line during night of 19/20 September at Torraccia after crossing the Ausa River at Serravalle. 

     Bad weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighter-bombers hit guns and defensive positions along the Gothic Line and attack roads and bridges in the Bologna area.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: German submarine U-407 is sunk south of Milos, in position 36.27N, 24.33E, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Troubridge and HMS Terpischore and the Polish destroyer Garland. 48 of the 53 men aboard the submarine survive.

NORWEGIAN SEA: German submarine U-867 is sunk northwest of Bergen, Norway in position 62.15N, 01.50E, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator of No 224 Squadron based at Milltown, Morayshire, Scotland. All 60 hands on the U-boat are lost.

BURMA: 18 US Tenth Air Force B-24s fly fuel to Liuchow and Chengkuing, China. C-47Skytrains transports fly 100+ sorties carrying men and supplies to several CBI locations.

CHINA: US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill send a message to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek advising him of the decisions made at the Quebec Conference. President Roosevelt also sends a personal letter via Stilwell, telling Chiang to stop vacillating and starting living by his promises; the letter is not very diplomatic and Chiang is furious.

    28 US Fourteenth Air Force B-25s bomb Lingling, Lengsbuitang, Chuanhsien, Sinning, and Shanhsien; 150+ P-40s and P-51Mustangs pound numerous targets of opportunity during armed reconnaissance flights from the Tungting Lake-central Yangtze River area to the South China Sea; and the fighter-bombers particularly concentrate on road transport in the Changsha area and supply dumps, buildings, and trucks near Sintsiang.

JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, 2 US Eleventh Air Force B-25s fly a shipping sweep over Tomari Cape; and 4 B-24s off to strike Kurabu Cape turn back due to weather and mechanical failures.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Mt Umurbrogol on Peleliu is the scene of heavy fighting and fierce resistance by the dugin Japanese to the advance of the Marines. Another island of the Palaus, Angaur is also the scene of fierce fighting.

On Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, the Japanese on the peaks of central ridge continues to hold up the 1st and 7th Marine Regiments; however, elements of 1st, advancing along East Road, push through Asias village. The 5th Marine Regiment secures the eastern arm of the island with little difficulty.

     On Angaur Island in the Palau Islands, the Army's 81st Infantry Division commits four battalions the main effort of clearing southern Angaur and splitting Japanese forces there. Little opposition is met as assault forces establish a line across southern Angaur from Garangaoi Cove eastward, but some resistance is bypassed on the southeastern coast.

BONIN ISLANDS: 29 US Seventh Air Force B-24s based on Saipan Island blast shipping at Chichi Jima Island. 24 P-47s bomb and strafe AA positions and storage areas on Pagan Island. 3 B-24s on snooper and armed reconnaissance missions bomb Iwo Jima and Marcus Islands.

EAST INDIES: On Morotai Island in the Halmahera Islands of the Netherlands East Indies, work is begun on a bomber airstrip, Wama Airfield at Gotalalamo. The existing fighter base, Pitoe Airfield, becomes known as Moratai or Pitu Airfield.

     Striking all principal targets in the northeastern Celebes Islands, Netherlands East Indies, US Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and P-38 Lightnings hit the Amoerang port area, Menado fuel tanks and shipping personnel areas and antiaircraft guns at Mapanget and Sidate, bivouac, supply areas, and lookout towers along Lembeh Strait, Langoan Airfield, and Kakas rest camp. On Halmahera Island during the night of 19/20 September, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and P-47 Thunderbolts strike Kaoe Aerodrome while B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and fighter-bombers, attack airfields at Amahai Airfeild on Amahai Island, Namlea Seaplane Base on Buroe Island, Liang (Laha, Ambon East) on Ambon Island, the town of Lautem on Dutch Timor Island, and several targets of opportunity.

No. 61 Airfield Construction Wing of the RAAF along with the wing headquarters and No. 14 Airfield Construction Squadron go ashore at Pitu Bay on Morotai. (Mike Alexander)

U.S.A.: The first production Consolidated B-32 is delivered. The first aircraft crashes today with a nosewheel collapse.

The first production Boeing F-13 photo reconnaissance version is delivered. (Mike Yared)(283)

Hyde Park, New York: Churchill left President Roosevelt's family home here today after a three-day conference at which they reached an important agreement about atomic energy. They flatly rejected suggestions by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr that atomic secrets should be made public and the bomb put under international control. They agreed on "full collaboration" between Britain and the US on atomic energy after the war - and they decided that the bomb might be dropped on Japan after a warning.

Top songs on the pop music charts are "I'll Walk Alone" by Dinah Shore; "Swinging on a Star" by Bing Crosby; "Time Waits for No One" by Helen Forrest; and "A Soldier's Last Letter" by Ernest Tubb.

Submarine USS Macabi launched.
Destroyer escort USS McClelland commissioned.

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September 19th, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The government announces Home Rule for India soon.

William Joyce, aka Lord Haw Haw, is sentenced to death in London. Although Joyce was born in the USA, brought up in Ireland and took German nationality on 26 September 1939, he was charged with treason from 3 September 1939 to 2 July 1940, the date his British passport expired. He scratched a swastika on the wall of his cell and when shown the films of the concentration camps, he blamed the deaths of the inmates on starvation and disease caused by Allied bombing of Germany. His last public message reported by the BBC was "In death as in life, I defy the Jews who caused this last war, and I defy the powers of darkness they represent."  He was executed on 3 January 1946 and buried in an unmarked grave in the grounds of the prison.

KOREA: Kim Il Sung and his second wife Kim Chong Suk return to Korea from Siberia. Kim and his guerrillas, numbering about 40 (and their families), arrive at Wonsan, compliments of the Soviet warship Pukachev. The US intelligence file on Kim Il Sung states - "Faced with the threat of extinction by the Japanese, a few hundred under the leadership of Kim Il Sung, long time Communist, made their way North and into the Soviet Maritime Province. After verifying their political and military backgrounds, the Soviets established these people in a training camp at Yashki Station, in the general area of Khabarovsk. Here and later at Rararash, near the junction of the USSR-Korea and Manchurian frontiers these Koreans were trained in espionage, radio communications, sabotage and general military subjects. From 1941-45, these people were utilized by the Soviets as agents in Manchuria. In the spring of 1945, in addition to normal political training, they were briefed on Korea and Korean politics."

AUSTRALIA: The Australian War Cabinet agrees to providing air, army and naval forces for the occupation of Japan. They will join forces from India, New Zealand and the U.K. in forming the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF).

U.S.A.: Three Boeing B-29 Superfortresses arrive in Chicago, Illinois, after flying nonstop from Hokkaido, Japan. One of the aircraft is commanded by Major General Curtis E. LeMay. After refueling in Chicago, the aircraft continue on to Washington, D.C.

     The top songs on the pop charts are: "Till the End of Time" by Perry Como; "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" by Johnny Mercer from the Judy Garland movie "The Harvey Girls"; "If I Loved You" by Perry Como from the Broadway musical "Carousel"; and "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often" by Tex Ritter.

Destroyer USS Fetchteler launched.

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