22 September 1939

1935 (SUNDAY)

ITALY: The government rejects the League of Nations committee's plans for settlement of the Italo-Ethiopian dispute stating, "The Committee of Five has not taken into consideration the specific charges brought by the Italian Government against Ethiopia to the effect that the latter has not fulfilled the obligations which she assumed at the time of her joining the League. No whether Ethiopia is still worthy to belong to the League, when she has not fulfilled those obligations and has openly violated others."

1937 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED STATES: The government protests the bombing of Nanking, China, to Japan stating, ". . . any general bombing of an extensive area wherein there resides a large populace engaged in peaceful pursuits is unwarranted and contrary to principles of law and of humanity. Moreover, in the present instance the period allowed for withdrawal is inadequate, and, in view of the wide area aver which Japanese bombing operations have prevailed, there can be no assurance that even in areas to which American nationals and noncombatants might withdraw they would be secure . . . experience has shown that, when and where aerial bombing operations are engaged in, no amount of solicitude on the part of the authorities responsible therefor is effective toward insuring the safety of any persons or any property within the area of such operations . . . these operations almost invariably result in extensive destruction of noncombatant life and non-military, establishments."

1938 (THURSDAY)

CHINA: The Japanese government creates the United Council of China at Beijing as the first step to overthrowing Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Chinese government. Under the Japanese plan, China would become a Japanese protectorate as part of the "New Order" in the Far East.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The government of Czech Prime Minister Milan Hodza government resigns and General Jan Sirovy, a popular military leader, forms a new ministry and mobilizes the military.

GERMANY: British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returns to Germany to meet with Chancellor Adolf Hitler at Godesberg to discuss the Czechoslovak government's concessions. Chancellor Hitler issues a new set of demands which include the immediate surrender of predominantly German regions of Czechoslovakia without removal or destruction of military and economic materials and plebiscites, under Czechoslovak-German or international supervision, in areas with large German minorities by 25 November. Chamberlain considers these demands unacceptable and an unwarranted expansion of the original German demands.

JAPAN: The government refuses the League of Nations invitation to settle her dispute with China.

POLAND: Polish troops concentrated on Czechoslovakian frontier.

SPAIN: The International Brigades withdraw from Spain.

September 22nd, 1939 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Petrol rationing is introduced.

Members of the Allied Supreme War Council met today at a secret rendezvous in Hove, Sussex. They include Chamberlain with Lord Halifax and Lord Chatfield (the minister for co-ordination of defence) and Daladier with General Gamelin, Admiral Darlan and M Dautry. A communique issued afterwards said that the Allied leaders discussed supplies of munitions and reached "complete agreement" on plans for the future conduct of the war. Though the meeting was supposed to be secret a large crowd gathered outside the building and when Mr Chamberlain left he was loudly cheered. A woman broke through the police cordon and threw a bunch of flowers at him.

Road accidents after dark have trebled in the three weeks since the blackout was introduced, according to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. Figures have not been issued but there have been many fatalities and injuries because of the total lack of street lighting and the extinguishing of car headlights. Coroners have commented that motorists that hug the white lines in the middle of the road are bound to have accidents and have called for kerbs to be painted white. Magistrates courts have been packed with cases of blackout infringement by flashing torches and striking matches. Small fines are usual, but some offenders have turned aggressive when ordered to "put the light out!" [Yes Mr. Hodges!] A London chambermaid who attacked a policeman with a poker, saying "Who are you ordering about?" got six months hard labour from Clerkenwell court. A girl who flashed her torch in Policemen's faces, saying "It's better than bumping into people", was given a month by Wisbech magistrates. Pedestrians are injuring themselves by walking into lampposts and several have fallen into canals and drowned. They are now to be allowed to carry torches provided that these are obscured by two thicknesses of tissue paper and pointed downwards. People are being urged to "wear something white". "Pinpoint" street lighting is to be introduced at road junctions, and masks for car headlamps with louvred slots are being designed. Railway carriages, hitherto pitch black, are being fitted with dim blue bulbs. The only beneficiaries have been burglars and courting couples.

FRANCE: The US freighter SS Syros is detained.

GERMANY: Mystery surrounds the death of Baron Werner von Fritsch, the former army commander sacked by Hitler in 1938. The official statement says that he was hit by machine gun fire while visiting the regiment of which he is honorary colonel near Warsaw. But there were no other reports of fighting in that part of the front.

The submarine U-30 returns to Wilhelmshaven and her commanding officer advises Admiral Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, that he torpedoed and sank the British passenger ship RMS Athenia on 4 September.

POLAND: Russian troops take Bialystok and meet German troops east of the Bug and San rivers.

Warsaw: The pumping station is destroyed, the water mains now sundered in many places; the Poles are struggling to put out indendiary bombs with sand, but fire fighters on the rooftops are strafed by German aircraft.

Brest: After spending three days besieging the city to capture it five days ago, Guderian hands over the Citadel of Brest to the commander of the advancing Soviet Forces, (Brigadier General Krivochin), by the terms of demarcation and cease-fire agreed to by both Germany and the Soviet Union before the campaign began.

In his memoir, Guderian shows his disdain for diplomats and politicians alike, barely disguising his contempt for their ineptitude in such matters, saying : "It seems unlikely that any soldier was present when the agreement about demarcation was begin drawn up." (95)(Russ Folsom)

Polish forces fighting the invading Red Army surrender at Lvov (217,000 prisoners). The NKVD begins rounding up thousands of Polish officers and deporting them to the Soviet Union where they will be liquidated a year later in the forest of Katyn near Smolensk.

ROMANIA: Armand Calinescu, the prime minister was assassinated by members of the pro-Nazi Iron Guard who blocked the path of his car with a wooden cart and shot him and his bodyguards. The assassins then shot their way into the radio station and broadcast a proclamation claiming "the death sentence on Calinescu has been executed". They were then overpowered and taken to the place of the assassination where, watched by a great crowd, they were shot. The bodies will lie there for 24 hours.

Four hundred pro-Nazi Iron Guards are murdered by government death squads and their bodies left at the country's crossroads as a warning to others.

CANADA: The government sets up a censorship bureau under the War Measures Act; to examine all political speeches.

U.S.A.: Two motion pictures are released.
* The romantic drama "Intermezzo," directed by Gregory Ratoff, stars Leslie Howard, Ingrid Bergman (her first English speaking role) and Cecil Kellaway. The plot has a concert violinist (Howard) leaving his wife and running off with his daughter's piano teacher (Bergman). The film is nominated for two technical Academy Awards.
* The drama "The Light Ahead," directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring David Opatoshu. The plot involves two young but poor lovers in a small town in Russia in the 1880s who are helped by a wise old bookseller.

PANAMA: The Pan American Conference between representatives of the American republics (excluding Canada) begins. The conference ends on 3 October withe the announcement of the establishment of a "safety zone" around the Western Hemisphere in an attempt to isolate the Americas from the world war. The waters surrounding the Western Hemisphere for a distance of 300 miles (483 kilometers) from shore and as far north as Canada constituted "sea safety zones." No hostile actions is to take place in these zones by non-American belligerents. The delegates at the conference also adopted a General Declaration of Neutrality of the American republics.

22 September 1940

September 22nd, 1940 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - aluminium works at Lauta - industrial targets at Berlin.

10 Sqn. Four aircraft to Lauta. All bombed, causing fires.

58 Sqn. Five aircraft to Berlin. One returned early, three bombed primary, one bombed an alternative. two aircraft to Lauta, but failed to bomb due to weather.

77 Sqn. Three aircraft to Lauta. All bombed.

Battle of Britain:

Slight activity in daylight. At night raids on London and Merseyside.

During the night raids a parachute mine exploded at Ilford (London) demolishing a hundred houses, while in Poplar and Lambeth direct hits killed over 50 in shelters. The British Museums King Edward buildings were damaged and Mile End 'tubestation was closed by a direct hit.

The weather is mainly fine. During the day, Luftwaffe reconnaissances is active along the East, South and South West Coasts and attacked some isolated objectives. In the evening a strong formation, consisting mainly of fighters, made a sweep over Kent and the Estuary, some penetrating to the eastern boundary of Central London. Between 1750 and 1800 hours seven formations crossed the coast between Dungeness and North Foreland, flying North West. These is followed by others until about 200 German aircraft in all is over the country. Twenty RAF fighter squadrons is sent up, while others patrolled Hornchurch, North Weald, and Guildford. In the North and East reconnaissance aircraft is reported off North East Scotland in the Castletown area, 20 miles (32 kilometers) South of Scapa Flow, and East of Flamborough Head. In the afternoon the Royal Air Force Station at Waltham is attacked and suffered minor damage. In the South East at 0823 hours German aircraft attacked Weybridge and one of these is believed damaged. Later targets near Ramsgate and Rye is unsuccessfully attacked. Reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Hastings, Dungeness, Redhill and Tonbridge areas during the day. Attempts to intercept did not succeed. In the South and West Luftwaffe aircraft reconnoiter Thorney Island, Tangmere, Kenley, Middle Wallop, Spithead and districts in South Wales.

During the night, London and Merseyside is attacked. London Central received a RED warning at 2009 hours. A steady stream of German aircraft came from Holland and Le Havre, France. Those from Holland crossed the coast between Thames Orfordness and went to London from the North; those from Le Havre crossed the coast near Shoreham and went to London and then returned to the South. During the night raids a parachute mine exploded at Ilford (London) demolishing 100 houses, while in Poplar and Lambeth, direct hits killed over 50 in air raid shelters. The British Museum's King Edward buildings is damaged and The Mile End tube (subway) station is closed by a direct hit. Later hostile raids continued to come from the direction of the Belgian Coast and later still from the direction of Le Havre and Dieppe, France, entering between Beachy Head and Dungeness and covering South London, Biggin Hill and Kenley districts. On the whole, it would seem that the German activity is not quite so intense as of late. Just after dust East Anglia received a good deal of attention and some of the raiders flew down to the London area. Many Luftwaffe aircraft flew over the Bristol Channel and up over Wales to Liverpool which is given more notice than for some time past. Minelaying is suspected in the Estuary also off the northeast coast of Yorkshire, in the Tyne area, possibly off the Firth of Forth and off the entrance to Stranraer. Raiders also visited the Lancashire Coast, North of the Tyne and the Midlands near Derby and Sheffield, and two raids is plotted off the Scottish Coast South of Aberdeen. Four or five raids flew over two convoys North of the Tyne and it is reported that two aerial torpedoes is dropped.

RAF Fighter Command claim 2-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; the RAF did not lose any aircraft.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 1; RAF, 0.

GERMANY: Flight testing begins on the unpowered airframe of the Heinkel He 280 V1 twin turbojet fighter. The He 280 was towed aloft by a Heinkel He 111B bomber and cast off for gliding flight.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Osiris on patrol in the southern Adriatic attacks a convoy and sinks torpedo boat 'Palestro'.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Japanese troops cross the Chinese border seizing the Vietnamese outposts of Dong Dang and Lang Son from retreating French forces. As a result, The Vichy French government signs an agreement with the Japanese in Hanoi allowing them the use of airfields and also allowing them to base troops in northern part of the country.
Vietnamese communists establish a revolutionary government in the Bac Son border district with the approval of the Japanese but the Japanese withdraw following a diplomatic protest from Vichy and the French quickly resume control. Communist forces in Bac Son effect a retreat to the mountains but their comrades engaged in a similar uprising in Cochinchina’s Plain of Reeds area find themselves without refuge and are wiped out by the French.

URUGUAY: The government arrests eight Nazi leaders "for conspiracy against the State."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Beginning after midnight, German submarines continue their attacks on Convoy HX-72 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to the U.K.). In six hours, two boats, U-32 and U-100, sink three freighters and two tankers, totaling 30,306 tons; one freighter is damaged. During the attacks which began yesterday and lasted for about 27-hours, nine of the 40 ships in the convoy are sunk totaling 66,797 tons is sunk.

22 September 1941

September 22nd, 1941 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: King George of the Hellenes and the Greek government arrive in London from Egypt.

The government demands Finland end the war with the Soviet Union "to avoid being regarded as belligerent enemy."

GERMANY: The government tells Bulgaria to enter war or be occupied.

FINLAND: Norwegian Ambassador J. W. Michelet presents the Finnish Foreign Minister Rolf Witting a British note, stating that if Finland doesn't withdraw its forces behind the pre-1939 borders, His Majesty's Government is forced to consider Finland an enemy. Even if Finns comply, diplomatic relations won't be restored and blockade lifted as long as there are German troops in Finnish territory.

U.S.S.R.: Vinnitsa: A squad of SS-trained Ukrainian militia kills 28,000 Jews.

Soviet forces in the Ukraine begin a head long retreat to the east as they regroup after the defeat at Kiev. Counter attacks are canceled and the new line will be Kharkov-Rostov.

JAPAN: The Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Admiral TOYODA Soemu, hands a document to the U.S. Ambassador in Japan, Joseph Grew, listing the nine point terms of peace with China.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur "> MacArthur and Hart meet. MacArthur informs Hart he will ignore any plans which do not call for the full defence of the Philippines.

Stark informs Hart that he will receive 12 new Fleet submarines, an additional submarine tender, and 6 PT boats and outlines Army reinforcements being sent by the War Department.

U.S.A.: The United States removes the embargo on export of arms to Cuba.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-103 sinks SS Edward Blyden and SS Niceto de Larrinaga in Convoy SL-87.

22 September 1942

September 22nd, 1942 (TUESDAY)

NETHERLANDS: During the day, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets: four bomb a steel factory at Ijmuiden and two hit a gas works at Haarlem.

FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: The Nazi execution of 70 hostages in Bordeaux to avenge acts of sabotage is announced.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sent 18 Boston in low-level pairs to attack power stations: three bombed the power station at Mazingarbe, two each attacked Choques and Comines, and one each bombed Lille and Pont a Vendin. Two aircraft is lost.

U.S.S.R.: Stalingrad: What began as a Blitzkrieg has become urban warfare, as the Russians defend this city street by street, building by building. Alongside the regular Red Army now are workers' units, determined to make the Germans battle for every factory and exploiting to the full the defensive capabilities of their shattered home town. Today, units of the German 6th Army (von Paulus) and 4th Panzerarmee (Hoth) split the Soviet 62nd Army (Yeremenko) in two and capture nearly the entire southern part of the Stalingrad, including the huge grain elevator defended by Soviet marines.

EGYPT: In the coastal sector west of El Alamein, the Australian 26th Brigade relieves the 20th Brigade.

LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s bomb shipping in Bengasi, Libya harbor; direct hits are made on 1 large vessel while a smaller vessel and other targets receive lesser hits.

German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel hands over command of Panzerarmee Afrika to General Georg Stumme and proceeds to Germany on the 23rd. (Jack McKillop & Jeff Chrisman)

FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA (CHAD): French General Charles DeGaulle meets with General Jacques-Philippe LeClerc at Fort Lamy and gives orders to begin the march into Libya with the objective of seizing the Fezzan region for France and pressing on to Tripoli to join the British Eighth Army for a move into Tunisia.

MADAGASCAR: British East African troops close in on Tananarive, the island's capital. Vichy French troops offer little resistance.

NEW GUINEA: The Australian 2/25th Battalion moves forward on the Kokoda Track and does not encounter any Japanese. However, a patrol from the 3d Battalion loses 4 men west of Ioribaiwa.

US Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb and strafe occupied areas at Menari, Efogi, Nauro, Yodda, and Kokoda; P-40s strafe AA positions, huts, and barges at Buna and Salamaua and bomb and strafe Wairopi bridge, strafe buildings at Yodda, the airfield at Buna, and AA positions and other targets along the Buna-Kokoda trail; 1 B-25 bombs the north end of Buna Airfield and the coastal end of Sanananda track. B-17s bomb the airfield and shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island.

D’ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: The Australian 2/10th Battalion lands on Normanby Island located about 10 miles (16 km) from the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea, in the Solomon Sea. The 400 square miles (1 036 kilometers) island will be used by Allied warships during the war.

PORTUGUESE TIMOR: Reinforcements for Sparrow force in the shape of the 2/4th Independent company AIF leave Darwin, Australian, aboard the destroyer HMAS Voyager with 15 tons of supplies, including 7000 dollars worth of silver coins, and 450 troops. (William L. Howard)(188, 189, 190, 191)

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb the airfield and shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIANS: 9 US Eleventh Air Force B-24 and 1 LB-30 Liberators and 2 B-17 Flying Fortress, accompanied by 15 P-39Airacobras and 20 P-40s, abort a Kiska Island bombing mission due to weather; photo reconnaissance suggests that Chichagof Harbor, Attu Island is abandoned.

U.S.A.: The Combined Chiefs of Staff approve a plan drawn up in Washington by the U.S. Army’s Services of Supply, “The Plan for the Operation of Certain Iranian Communication Facilities between Persian Gulf Ports and Tehran by U.S. Army Forces." The plan gives the U.S. direct responsibility for moving supplies through Persian Corridor to the USSR.

22 September 1943

September 22nd, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

NETHERLANDS: Two RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

FRANCE: Manfredi, secrétaire corporatif in the Bouches-du-Rhône PPF is killed by the resistance.

USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 66 against 2 airfields: (1) 72 B-26s are dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais but abort due to bad weather, and (2) 70 of 72 B-26s hit Fauville Airfield at Evreux between 1612 and 1614 hours.

NORWAY: The Tirpitz, in Altenfiord, is attacked by British midget submarines. These two man subs have been towed behind conventional fleet submarines from Loch Cairnbawn in Scotland to a point 150 miles from Altenfjord. They are code named "X-craft" and are powered by engines from London buses. Their only weapons are two detachable charges with clockwork detonators, dropped below the target. They have a crew of four.

Six set out: two (X-8 and X-9) are lost in transit and one has to be scuttled, but three get through the mines and approach the target. Attacks on Tirpitz had been allocated to X5, X6 and X7, with X8 to make an attack on Lützow, and X9 and X10 to attack Scharnhorst . Since X8 and X9 were lost before reaching the Norwegian coast, the attacks intended to be made against Scharnhorst and Lützow were abandoned, and X10 reallocated to make an attack on Tirpitz.

Lt. Cameron in X-6 lost his periscope and attacked blind. He was sighted, but was too close to the TIRPITZ to be engaged by other than small-arms, and laid his charges before scuttling his boat. Lt. Place in X-7 was caught in nets, escaped, laid his charges under the ship, was caught in nets again, and then was blown free by the explosion, but X-7 was damaged and had to be abandoned. All of the X-6 crew were captured and brought aboard the Tirpitz, only the commander and one of the crew of X7 were able to abandon their craft (the other two men lacking sufficient oxygen for their (DSEA) escape equipment) and taken prisoner, where they had the rather unusual experience of being able to witness their success at first hand.

At 8.12 am, the 46,000-ton battleship is blown up. The blast lifts the ship several feet out of the water, disabling her three main engines and leaving her with a 15 degree list. Repair will disable Tirpitz until March, 1944.

Submarine X-10, commanded by an Australian, Lt. Hudspethm attacked after X-6 but was sunk with all hands. X-10 had suffered from a number of faults which made her close to unnavigable underwater. When the crew heard the others' charges explode, on the morning of 22 Sept., they decided to abandon their part in the operation and made a successful rendezvous six days later with towing submarine HMS Stubborn. However, it was then decided to scuttle X-10, rather than risk the lives of a passage crew to bring the craft back to the UK under tow.

The third midget submarine X5 was last seen in close proximity to the Tirpitz but its precise fate was not known, but (IIRC) recent underwater discoveries at Kaafjord (at the head of the Altenfjord) now suggest that it, too, may have been successful in reaching its target.
The 6 survivors of the operation remained POW's until the end of the war; both commanders were awarded the Victoria Cross. (Alex Gordon)

GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 99: 5 B-17s of the join the RAF in a night attack on Hannover at 2143-2209 hours; there are no losses or casualties.

During the night of 22/23 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 711 aircraft, 322 Lancasters, 226 Halifaxes, 137 Stirlings and 26 Wellingtons, on the first major raid to Hannover for 2 years; 658 bomb the city. This is the first of a series of four heavy raids on this target. Five USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses also took part in the raid, their first night raid on Germany. Twenty six aircraft, 12 Halifaxes, seven Lancasters, five Stirlings and two Wellingtons, is lost, 3.7 per cent of the force. Visibility in the target area is good but stronger winds than forecast caused the marking and the bombing to be concentrated between 2 and 5 miles (3,2 and 8,0 kilometers) south-southeast of the city center. Twenty one Lancasters and eight Mosquitos carried out a diversionary raid at Oldenburg, dropping much "Window" and many flares and target indicators to simulate the arrival of a larger force. The losses on the Hannover raid, lower than the recent average, may indicate that this tactic is partially successful. No aircraft is lost on the diversionary raid. Twelve Mosquitos flew a further diversion to Emden.

Rastenburg: Hitler rejects Goebbels's suggestion that he makes peace with either Churchill or Stalin, in order to avoid war on two fronts.

U.S.S.R.: There is fierce fighting at Poltava as the Germans begin to pull out, this is the last strongpoint east of the middle Dnieper River. Anapa in the Kuban and Novomoskovosk, north of Dnepropetrovsk, fall to the Soviet Army.

Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Submarine loss. "M-51" - due to onboard accident, in Ochamchir (Sept.25 raised and went into service) "M-113" decomissioned due to the heavy combat damages and later scrapped

GREECE: The US Ninth Air Force flies its final mission from North Africa. B-24s bomb Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes and Eleusis Airfield in Greece. The bomb groups of IX Bomber Command subsequently are transferred to the US Twelfth Air Force.

The Italian Acqui Division surrenders to the Germans, having lost 1,500 men.

New Zealand troops land on Leros in the Dodecanese Islands off eastern Greece. The Germans invade and recapture these islands by mid November.

ITALY: U.S. Fifth Army directs the British 10 Corps to seize Naples and U.S. VI Corps to secure the line Avellino-Teora; the VI Corps is to be prepared to continue to Benevento. In VI Corps area, the 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions overcome opposition barring their advance: the 3d occupies Acerno and the 45th Oliveto.
In the British Eighth Army area, the Indian 8th Division arrives from Africa. In 5 Corps area, a special force (elements of the 78th Division and of the 4th Armoured Brigade), under 78th Division command, lands at Bari, during the night of 22/23 September, to drive to Foggia.
In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s bomb roads, railroad, and bridges at or near San Martino Sannita, Grottaminarda, Amorosi, and Mignano; B-25s attack small vessels near Elba Island with 75mm cannon fire; tactical aircraft hit troop concentrations and gun positions near Serino and Santa Lucia di Serino, a road block at Nocera, town and roads at Fisciano, the town of Pagani, tanks and trucks between Acerno and Montella and in the Foggia area, vessels and docks at Manfredonia, the town of Camarella, and the landing ground at Capua.

During the night of 22/23 September, 46 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the railroad repair and maintenance facilities at Formia.

LIBYA: The USAAF Ninth Air Force’s HQ IX Fighter Command begins a movement from Tripoli to Middle Wallop, England where it will become a tactical fighter unit supporting Allied troops in Europe.

BURMA: US Tenth Air Force B-25s attack the Ye-u branch line railroad bridge over the Mu River between Ywataung and Monywa. Negligible damage is done to the target.

NEW GUINEA: After a preparatory naval bombardment by the USN's Task Force 76 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey), the 2/13th, 2/15th and 2/17th Battalions, 20th Brigade Group of the Australian 9th Division, land on Scarlet Beach at the mouth of the Song River, 6 miles (10 kilometres) north of Finschhafen, early in morning. The brigade establishes a beachhead with little difficulty and pushes south toward Finschhafen. The landing was opposed by 300-400 Japanese troops of the 80th and 238th Regiments; the Australians suffered 20 killed, 9 missing and 65 wounded.

On the Huon Peninsula, the Australian 22nd Battalion landed on Blue Beach near Hopoi on the southern coast. The battalions objective is to advance east and then north to Finschhafen. The rest of the 2/16th Battalion and HQ 21st Brigade are flown into Kaiapit and the battalion moves west and crosses the Maniang River. Captured Japanese documents reveal that the Japanese force destroyed by 2/6th Independent Company at Kaiapit on 20 September was not an isolated patrol but the vanguard of 3500 IJA troops.
In the air, the USAAF Fifth Air Force provides air support and intercepts enemy aircraft making ineffective attacks on the convoy. B-25s pound defenses in the Finschhafen area; almost 90 fighters battle Japanese aircraft attacking the convoy; 38 enemy aircraft are claimed shot down. A-20s and B-25s hit the Lae area.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Amboina Island in the Moluccas Islands.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24s and B-25s bomb the airfield on Gasmata Island off New Britain Island.

A US naval task force, under Admiral Barbey, lands the Australian 20th Brigade at Katka, New Guinea, just north of Finschhafen.

AUSTRALIA: General Headquarters Southwest Pacific Area issues orders for Operation DEXTERITY, the landing on Cape Gloucester, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago. The ALAMO Force (U.S. Sixth Army) is to make an airborne and amphibious assault on Cape Gloucester; neutralize Gasmata Island. and then take it in a shore-to-shore operation. D-Day, at first set for 20 November, is finally postponed to 26 December.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Admiral William F Halsey issues a warning order for invasion of the Northern Solomons and directs Rear Admiral Theodore S Wilkinson, who is to head landing forces, to make detailed plans. It is later decided to invade the Treasury Islands and the Empress Augusta Bay area of Bougainville.

U.S.A.: Singer Kate Smith completes a 13-hour War Bond radio appeal during which she collects US$39 million (US$386.14 million in year 2000 dollars) in bond pledges.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: While tracking Convoys ONS-18 and ON-202 bound from the U.K. to North America, German submarine U-229 is sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 54.36N, 36.25W, by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS Keppel (D 84). All hands on the U-boat, 50-men, are lost.

At 2155 hours GMT, whilst escorting convoy OB.202 frigate HMS Itchen (K 227) is torpedoed by a T5 acoustic torpedo from U-666 which causes her forward magazine to explode and the ship sinks almost immediately about 676 nautical miles northeast of St. John's, Newfoundland. At the time she was carrying 80 survivors from St Croix as well as her own ship’s company. There are 147 casualties, and only 3 survivors. Location: 53 25N 39 42W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

22 September 1944

September 22nd, 1944 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The last Operations FRANTIC missions ends as 84 B-17s and 51 P-51s return to the UK from Italy; the remaining aircraft return on 8 Oct.

108 B-24s fly fuel to France.

BELGIUM: In the Canadian First Army's 2 Corps area, the 3d Division receives the surrender of the 9,500 German troops of the Boulogne garrison. The 4th Armoured Division has cleared as far north as Leopold Canal and on right flank has reached the Schelde Estuary. With the capture of Terneuzen by Polish armor, the enemy is confined to "Breskens Pocket," the region north of the Leopold Canal and west of Savojaards Plaat.

NETHERLANDS: The British XXX Corps continue their advance towards Arnhem. They are now 11 miles N of Nijmegen at Elst, Holland. The heavy German resistance is bolstered by the marshy terrain which requires them to stay on the raised roadways where the Germans can spot them. They have also lost their room for manoeuvre.

In the British Second Army's I Airborne Corps area, the British 1st Airborne Division is still isolated and under heavy pressure north of the Neder Rijn near Arnhem. Air resupply is impossible because of weather conditions.

Elements of 30 Corps make contact with the Polish detachment at Driel and bring DUKWs loaded with ammunition and supplies for the 1st Airborne Division. The mud is too deep for the DUKWs, but groups of Poles succeed in crossing supplies on rafts during the night of 22/23 September.

The U.S. 82d Airborne Division clears the south bank of the Waal River 3 miles (4,8 kilometres) east of the highway bridge.

In the 30 Corps area, the 43d Division, taking over the attack toward Arnhem from the Guards Armoured Division, gets elements to Driel, but the main body is held up far to the south by determined opposition.

The Germans make a major counterattack against Veghel, the main effort coming through the village of Erp but other prongs coming from the southeast, northwest and north. Elements of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division supported by British tanks of the 44th Royal Tank Regiment (Sherman Fireflies) and a British Anti-Aircraft unit (most likely the 94th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery, which is part of the divisional troops in the Guards Armoured Division) with 3.7 inch guns engaged the German tanks and force the enemy back from Veghel, but the Germans cut the highway between there and Uden. 12 Corps is slowly improving their positions west of Eindhoven. 8 Corps, continuing toward Helmond, takes Weert. (Jack McKillop and Stuart and Russ Folsom and Jay Stone)(134 and 93)

In the air, 77 USAAF Eighth Air Force P-47s patrol the Arnhem area; 1 P-47 is lost.

FRANCE: General Dwight D Eisenhower, conferring with his top commanders at Versailles, gives top priority to the opening of the Schelde approaches to Antwerp, Belgium, since a deep-water port is needed in order to sustain the main Allied offensive of enveloping the Ruhr from the north. The offensive is to be conducted by 21 Army Group, assisted by the U.S. First Army. The boundary between 21 and 12th Army Groups is adjusted, effective 25 September, to extend northeast from Hasselt, the Netherlands, through Bree, Ween, Deurne, and Venray (all to 12th Army Group) to the Maas River at Maashees and along the river to the original boundary north of Maastricht. This boundary change gives XIX Corps of the U.S. First Army a corridor west of the Maas that contains more than 500 square miles (1295 square kilometres) and includes the extensive swampland of the Peel Marshes To secure this corridor, XIX Corps is to have two new divisions, the 29th Infantry Division from Brest and the 7th Armored Division from the Moselle River sector near Metz. Since supply requirements of the Ruhr offensive are to be met fully first, the U.S. Third Army is to limit its action to that permitted by the supply situation.
     In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the enemy evacuates Cheminot, since it has become an untenable pocket between XX and XII Corps. The 7th Armored Division prepares to attack across the Seille River on 23 September. The 2d Battalion of the 10th Infantry, 5th Infantry Division, withstands further enemy attacks against Pournoy-la-Chetive, this time from southeast of the town. In XII Corps area, elements of the 80th Infantry Division continue to fight in Bois de la Rumont. Combat Command, 6th Armored Division, circling west and south from Foret de Gremecey to take the enemy in the Amance area from the rear, clears strongly occupied Armaucourt. The 134th Infantry, 35th Infantry Division, attacks into the Bois de Faulx at noon; 137th Infantry pushes through rest of Foret de Champenoux, from which the enemy flees under air and artillery attack, abandoning the Amance plateau. The 6th Armored Division (-) assembles in Foret de Gremecey to clear this region and screen between the 80th Infantry and 4th Armored Divisions. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, halts German tank-infantry attack toward Moyenvic in the region west of Juvelize and inflicts heavy losses on the enemy. In the XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division progresses slowly on the left; the Germans make local attacks from Foret de Parroy toward Luneville; the 315th Infantry loses and recovers a portion of Luneville; the 313th Infantry, delayed by a counterattack at Moncel, cannot advance into Foret de Mondon; 4 companies of the 314^th Infantry ford the Meurthe River but, since they cannot advance without support from tanks and artillery, halt to await bridging. The French Armored Division crosses the Meurthe between Flin and Vathimenil, during the night of 22/23 September, and patrols through the southern part of Foret de Mondon to La Vezouse R at Benamenil but is driven back.
     In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 157th Infantry of the 45th Infantry Division maintains a bridgehead at Igney while the 179^th Infantry crosses the Moselle at Arches and clears Archettes; the 180th Infantry continues to clear Epinal, from which the enemy begins withdrawing. The 36th Infantry Division finishes clearing Eloyes and is attacking Remiremont.
     In the air, 108 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24s fly fuel to France while 68 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s fly a supply mission to southern France.

GERMANY: The U.S. First Army goes on the defensive along most of its line. XIX Corps postpones an offensive against West Wall indefinitely. In the VII Corps area, Combat Command of 3d Armored Division, under a smokescreen, withdraws both Task Force Lovelady and Task Force Mills from the Donnerberg area to Stolberg, where Task Force Hogan has cleared the enemy from the southern part of town; Combat Command B then goes on the defensive and makes contact with Combat Command A at Muensterbusch; the division comes to halt within 3 miles (4,8 kilometres) of its objective, Eschweiler. The Germans make all-out counterattack against 47th Infantry, 9th Division, at Schevenhuette but are driven back with extremely heavy losses; 60^th Infantry breaks off an attack for Huertgen village in order to send reinforcements to Schevenheutte; these are not required there but later attack to ease pressure on the single 6oth Infantry battalion the Huertgen Forest, where close, indecisive fighting rages for the next three days. V Corps remains on the defensive.
In the air, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 645: 661 bombers are dispatched to hit the Henschel armored vehicle and motor vehicle factories at Kassel bombing by pathfinder methods; 453 B-17s are dispatched; 410 hit the primary, 10 hit Wetzlar and 7 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 268 P-51s; 1 is lost.
Weather grounds USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers but fighters attack railroads, supply and ordnance depots, and strongpoints, and fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over the Cologne, Dusseldorf, Aachen, Koblenz, Trier, Bonn, Mannheim, and Strasbourg areas.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators based in Italy bombs six targets, five of them in Munich: in Munich, 108 bomb Riom Airfield; 100 bomb the industrial area; 82 bomb a marshalling yard; 50 bomb the BMW aircraft engine plant making engines for the Fw 190 fighter; and 25 bomb Oberweisenfeld Airfield. The sixth target is the West marshalling yard at Larissa which is attacked by 76 aircraft.

AUSTRIA: One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bomber bombs the airfield at Formia.

FINLAND: Lt-Gen Hjalmar Siilasvuo is nominated to take command of all the Finnish forces in Lapland and conduct the campaign against Germans in northern Finland. His plan is to strike behind the German back by invading Tornio, the northernmost point of the Gulf of Bothnia, by sea. (Sami Korhonen and Mikko Härmeinen)

The first Soviet members of the Allied Supervisory Committee arrive Helsinki, Finland. The mission of the Committee is to see that Finns comply with the terms of the Interim Peace Treaty concluded at Moscow three days earlier. A small British contingent arrives later.

Finland breaks diplomatic relations with Japan.

ESTONIA: Soviet forces capture the capital Tallinn. (John Nicholas)

Marshal Govorov's tanks, sliced through the German defences along the Gulf of Finland depriving the German Army Group North of one of its last means of escape by sea. General Schorner will now have to retreat south and west in order to escape the complete destruction of his badly-mauled group.

The capture of Tallinn's first-rate port facilities will also give the Russians a valuable base for operations against German Baltic fleet and the transports being used both to deliver supplies and to evacuate casualties. The Red Air Force sank three large transports in Tallinn harbour before it fell.

It seems that the sheer speed of Govorov's advance took the Germans by surprise. Covering 50 miles in a day, the tanks left the infantry to mop up pockets of the German rearguard, giving Schorner's men no time to organize a proper line of defence. The depth of the Red Army's advance is demonstrated by the capture of the railway junction of Tapa and the town of Paide; 47 miles south-east of Tallinn.

GREECE: The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 76 B-24s to bomb the marshalling yard at Larissa.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, the South African 6th Armoured Division is ordered forward in pursuit since the enemy appears to be withdrawing from positions above Pistoia. The II Corps virtually completes operations against the Gothic Line and is ready for the drive north to the Radicosa Pass and northeast to Imola. The 362d Infantry, 91st Infantry Division, completes the reduction of Futa Pass defenses; other elements of the 91st Infantry Division establish outposts across the Santerno River. On the left flank of the corps, enemy opposition to the 34th Infantry Division is weakening: the 135th Infantry takes Mt Citerna, northwest of Santa Lucia; the 168th Infantry seizes Hill 1134, east of Montepiano. The 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, screening the left flank, finds Vernio abandoned by the enemy. The 85th Infantry Division pushes toward Mt la Fine on the right to assist the 88th Infantry Division and toward Mt Canda on the left in support of the 91st Infantry Division's attack for Radicosa Pass. On the right flank of the corps, the 88th Infantry Division continues rapidly along the Santerno River valley, outdistancing the 85th Infantry Division, and the boundary is altered to give Mt. la Fine, except for western spur, to the 88th Infantry Division. In the British 13 Corps area, the Indian 8th Division completes the occupation Giogo di Villore without opposition.
In the British Eighth Army area, 5 Corps, with the Indian 4th Division on the left, the 46th Division in the center, and the 1st Armoured Division on the right, attacks across the Marecchia River, during the night of 22/23 September, and begins the struggle for ridges north of the river. The 56th Division withdraws from the line; its 168th Brigade ceases to exist as a fighting unit. In the Canadian I Corps area, the British 4th Division establishes a bridgehead across the Marecchia on the left flank of the corps, and the 5th Armoured Division prepares to attack through it. The New Zealand 2d Division takes command of the coastal sector, releasing the Canadian 1st Division and attached Greek 3d Mountain Brigade for a welcome rest.
In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force, operating north of the Italian battle area, sends medium bombers to bomb road and rail bridges, while fighter-bombers continue hitting roads, railroads, and transportation, and support ground forces.

During the night of 22/23 September, 60 RAF heavy bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the pontoon bridge at San Benedetto.

CHINA: 13 US Tenth Air Force B-24s fly fuel to Liuchow.

24 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s pound Hankow; 12 B-25s and 7 P-51s hit the Hengyang road junction and ferry; 7 B-25s bomb Kianghwa while 6 P-51s damage a nearby bridge; 5 B-25s hit Yungming; 44 P-40s and P-51s blast targets of opportunity along roads in the Changsha, Siangtaii, and Sintsiang areas. 50+ other P-40s and P-51s hit various targets of opportunity around Chuanhsien, Paoching, Lingling, Hankow, and Kiyang.

BURMA: Rangoon: Maj. Hugh Paul Seagrim (b.1909), 19th Hyderabad Regt., gave himself up to halt savage Japanese reprisals against Keren villagers who had sheltered his guerrilla party. He was executed today. (George Cross)

C-47 Skytrains fly 170+ sorties to various points in the CBI Theater.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Carrier-based aircraft from 12 aircraft carriers USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 continue to wreak havoc on Japanese shipping in the Philippines sinking eight ships and damaging two. .

Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Force 38 continue attacks in the Philippines. Eleven Japanese ships are sunk off Cebu and Luzon, and 92 damaged, as the raiders struck Subic Bay and Cavite naval yard. Japanese airfields near Manila and elsewhere on Luzon are attacked, damaging installations in the first US air raids on the Philippines since the fall of Corregidor. Planes from Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet, 145 miles east of Luzon, claimed 205 Japanese planes, 110 of them shot down and 95 destroyed on the ground at Nicholls and Clark Fields. Fifteen US planes were lost in the raids.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s again bomb Sidate and Mapanget on Celebes Island. B-24s and B-25s bomb Amahai on Ceram Island and Liang on Ambon Island and the airfield on Haroekoe Island.

NEW GUINEA: USAAF Far East Air Forces A-20s bomb Urarom Airfield while fighter-bombers hit Idorra, Windissi, Moemi, and Kaimana.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: PALAU ISLANDS: General Geiger orders one regiment from the 81st Infantry to Peleliu. He is attempting to offset some of the losses incurred by the Marines. A second regiment from this division will be committed before the battle is over. On Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, the US Army's 321st Infantry Regiment is landed and replaces the USMC's 1st Marine Regiment. The 323d Infantry Regiment is still fighting on Angaur.

The Japanese continue the effective defence of the central ridges and are bringing up reinforcements. The 1st Marine Division observation planes are operating from the airfield.
On Angaur, elements of the 322d Infantry again push into the bowl in the Lake Salome area from the south but retire at night.

On Ulithi Atoll, Regimental Combat Team 323, 81st Infantry Division, lands without opposition and begins securing the atoll.
In the air, 15 USAAF Seventh Air Force B-25s, flying out of Makin Island, bomb Nauru Island.

US forces on Ulithi atoll, abandoned by the Japanese last month, discover an immense lagoon, invaluable as a potential naval base.

MARIANA ISLANDS: The USAAF Seventh Air Force sends 24 P-47s to strafe Pagan Island and bomb Anatahan Island.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24s on a snooper mission and armed reconnaissance flight bomb Iwo Jima.

BONIN ISLANDS: The USAAF Seventh Air Force sends 15 Saipan Island-based B-24s to strike shipping at Chichi Jima Island.

NORTH PACIFIC: Three USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24s on a snooper mission and armed reconnaissance flight bomb Marcus Island.
15 B-25s, flying out of Makin Island, bomb Nauru Island.

22 September 1945

September 22nd, 1945 (SATURDAY)

GERMANY: U.S. General George S. Patton tells reporters that he does not see the need for "this denazification thing" and compares the controversy over Nazism to a "Democratic and Republican election fight." His impolitic press statements questioning the policy resulted in General Eisenhower's removing him as U.S. commander in Bavaria. He is transferred to the 15th Army Group, but in December 1945 he suffers a broken neck in a car accident and dies less than two weeks later.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: French forces occupy official buildings in Saigon.

U.S.A.: The second Beechcraft A-38 'Grizzly' is delivered to the USAAF with full armament. The aircraft was sent to Eglin Field, Valpariso, Florida where AAF pilots logged 38-hours on the aircraft.

1997 (MONDAY)

JAPAN: Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese Imperial Army straggler who lived in the jungles of Guam for 28 years after World War II ended, died at 1707 hours today of heart failure in Nagoya. He was 82. Yokoi lived in a tunnel-like, underground cave in a bamboo grove until 24 January 1972, when he is discovered near the Talofofo River by hunters. Yokoi, who had been a tailor's apprentice before being drafted in 1941, made clothing from the fibers of wild hibiscus plants and survived on a diet of coconuts, breadfruit, papayas, snails, eels and rats. "We Japanese soldiers are told to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive," Yokoi said in 1972. "The only thing that gave me the strength and will to survive is my faith in myself and that as a soldier of Japan, it is not a disgrace to continue on living," Yokoi said in 1986. No one in the history of humanity, except stragglers later discovered in Philippines, has equalled his record. Few have struggled with loneliness, fear, and self for as long as 28-years. (Gene Hanson)

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