Yesterday           Tomorrow

1935   (SUNDAY)

 

ETHIOPIA: Government officials sign a general mobilization order. According to the Italians, this was the latest and complete expression of the warlike and aggressive spirit in Ethiopia issued as a direct and immediate threat to the Italian troops.

     The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College still uses this mobilization order as an exapmle of simplicity.

     "Everyone will now be mobilized. Boys old enough to carry a spear will report to Addis Abba. Married men will take their wives to carry food and cook. Those with out a wife will take any woman with out a husband. Women with small babies need not go. Those blind or those who can not walk or carry a spear are exempted. Anyone found at home after receipt of this order will be hanged.  Haile Selassie I   Emperor of Ethiopia (Bill Howard)

 

LITHUANIA: Despite changes in Memel electoral law designed to increase Lithuanian representation, the elections resulted in the return of 24 Germans to the Memel directorate and only five Lithuanians.

 

1938   (THURSDAY)

 

GERMANY: German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, Italian Premier Benito Mussolini and Foreign Minister Nobile Ciano, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and French Premier Edouard Daladier meet in Munich to negotiate a settlement to the Sudeten Crisis (the Czechoslovak government is not represented). Chancellor Hitler receives all that he demanded: the Czechoslovak government will evacuate German areas between 1 and 10 October, under conditions arranged by an international commission, which would also determine the plebiscite areas (the plebiscites are never held). The British and French governments promise to guarantee the new frontiers against unprovoked aggression. After the Polish and Hungarian minority questions are settled, the German and Italian governments pledge to provide Czechoslovakia with frontier guarantees. The Western statesmen, returning from Munich, receive great public ovations as hopes for peace are strong across Europe. The partition of Czechoslovakia, which consists of the incorporation of another 3.5 million Germans and 10,000 square miles (25 900 square kilometers) of Czech territory into the Reich, is a clear step towards a world war. The Czechoslovaks are abandoned by their allies in the Little Entente and the French, despite numerous assurances that their treaty obligations will be respected. The Anglo-French decision leads to recrimination as a major defeat for the democratic powers. Only the Soviet government appears prepared to assist the Czechoslovaks, but neither the British or French governments are willing to risk war with Germany. German rearmament, especially in air power, threatens to overwhelm the unprepared British and French military forces and the Western powers prove ready to make concessions to the Germans at Munich. As a result of Chancellor Hitler's diplomatic victory, the Little Entente disappears as an actor in European diplomacy. The surviving state of Czechoslovakia falls under German domination, as well as Hungary and the other Danubian states. The Czechoslovak alliances with the French and Soviets are worthless and the Franco-Soviet alliance lacks credibility. As a result of the Munich agreement, Germany emerges as the strongest power in Europe and the clear hegemony in the Danubian region.

 

POLAND: Taking advantage of the Sudeten Crisis, the Polish government submits an ultimatum to the Czechoslovak government demanding the annexation of Teschen. The region has been in dispute between the two countries since the Czechoslovaks seized the region during the Russo-Polish War of 1920.

September 29th, 1939 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

A national census is taken to obtain information on rationing and mobilisation.

London: Chamberlain dismisses the German "peace offensive". This follows a series of private contacts leading from Hitler and Göring  to Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, a British diplomat in Oslo, and the ever present Birger Dahlerus. Chamberlain states in the Commons today that Britain and France went to war to stop Nazi aggression and nothing had changed that position. This is taken as reference to a conversation between Dahlerus and Ogilvie Forbes, a counsellor at the British legation in Oslo. Dahlerus claimed that Hitler and Göring  had suggested Queen Wilhelmina should issue a call for peace, which could be followed by a secret Anglo-German armistice meeting in Holland. At such a meeting Hitler would guarantee the security of Britain, France and the Low countries.

But Chamberlain said that Hitler's promises were worthless. He is equally dismissive of the Molotov-Ribbentrop call for the liquidation of the war and the promise of "consultations on necessary measures" if the Nazi peace effort failed.

Army: This morning a series of trains bears 3 Division, commanded by Major-General Bernard Montgomery, to Southampton. Embarkation begins at 10.30 a.m., and just before midnight the fleet sails.

RAF: Heligoland Bight patrol attacks two German destroyers. Second formation of five shot down in battle with German fighters. Two German fighters destroyed. Five out of 11 Hampdens lost. No damage to the destroyers.

London: The Great exodus from the capital continues, with institutions, businesses and civil servants moving to country houses, spa hotels and large schools all over "safe" areas.

Much of the BBC has been moved to the west country: the drama department to Wood Norton, a country house near Evesham, the variety department to Bristol. The bank's central clearing house is at Trentham Park, Stoke-on-Trent; the Prudential has gone to Torquay; sections of the admiralty to Bath; the war office to Droitwich and air ministry to Worcester's former workhouse. Some 3,000 stately country houses are now hospitals, stately homes such as Blenheim and Longleat are housing public schools and the Great Western Railway has moved to it's Reading waiting room.

British warships continue to stop neutral shipping in the North Atlantic. During the next 2-weeks, 63 ships are stopped; 20 of them are detained in the U.K. for inspection of their cargo.

Destroyers HMS Hurricane and Harvester launched.

NORTH SEA: U-10 attacked in the North Sea a group of four British destroyers, but the single torpedo fired missed its target.

POLAND: The remaining Polish government in Warsaw capitulates.

U.S.S.R.:

Moscow: At 5.00 am after much haggling interrupted by a state banquet in the Kremlin and a visit to the Bolshoi to see Swan Lake, Russia and Germany sign a ten-year assistance and trade agreement, giving Russia important naval bases on the Baltic. Molotov and von Ribbentrop are the signatories. It is officially called 'The German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty'. The public clauses settle their boundaries in the "former Polish state" and "assure the people living there a peaceful life in keeping with their national character." The secret clauses allow Russia a free hand in the Baltic states, while Germany gets the whole of Warsaw and the province of Lublin.

Germany annexes the Free City of Danzig and Posen [32,000 square miles (82 900 square kilometers) between East Prussia and Silesia]. The Germans also established the Government General, composed of 39,000 square miles (101 000 square kilometers) of territory, which comes under German protection. As a result of this agreement, Germany gained 22 million new citizens and 72,866 square miles (189 000 square kilometers) of territory. The Soviets occupy 77,620 square miles (201 000 square kilometers) of eastern Poland, with a population of 13 million people. In addition, Lithuania and Slovakia receive small cessions of Polish territory.

FRENCH MOROCCO: The US freighter SS Executive which was detained by French officials at Casablance 2 days ago, is released however she must proceed to Bizerte, Tunisia.

 

U.S.A.:

New York: Fritz Kuhn, a naturalized American citizen and the Fuehrer of the German-American Bund (Deutsch-Amerikanischer Volksbund), is jailed in New York City for misappropriation of Bund funds; he is released on US$50,000 (US$617,000 in year 2000 dollars) bail. He was subsequently tried and convicted of grand larceny, stripped of his citizenship and spent the war in a detention camp. In 1945, he was deported to Germany where he was tried and sentenced to ten years in prison for his prewar Nazi activities. He died in Munich in 1951.

While berthed at San Pedro, California, the engineering plant of the US battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) is sabotaged. Between 1700 hours local today and 0900 the next morning, one or more sailors (1) opened the reserve lube oil tanks in the port and starboard engine rooms and let oil drain into the bilges under the center engine room, (2) loosened nuts, bolts, threading taps, a valve and coil, and (3) placed pieces of steel wool in the spring bearing housings for three or the four propeller shafts. These bearings supported the shafts as they ran through the long shaft alleys and could have caused significant damage if the shafts were turning but since the ship was at anchor and the engines were not started, there was no damage. The oil was recovered, the steel wool was removed, bolts and nuts tightened and there was no damage to the ship. Shore leave was cancelled the next morning and an investigation was begun by the Navy. The FBI was also called in. Two sailors were suspects but nothing was ever proved against them. After an investigation, the FBI issued a 200-page report; a letter from a Naval District officer was also attached and the writer stated that this was probably an attempt to delay the ship rather than damage it and someone probably had a grudge against one of the Engineering officers and wanted him to look bad and get a poor rating.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-7 sank SS Takstaas.

     The French submarine Poncelet captures the German merchant ship Chemnitz, the first German ship captured in the war. It will sail under French flag as Saint Bertrand until June 18, 1940 when it is captured by the British in Bermuda, and later handed to a Free French crew. (Louis Capdeboscq)

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29 September 1940

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September 29th, 1940 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - oil plants at Magdeburg and Hanover.

58 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Magdeburg. Nine got off, four bombed primary with good results, one bombed an alternative, five failed to bomb.

77 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Magdeburg and Hanover. One returned early, remainder bombed primaries or alternatives. One returned on one engine from Amsterdam.

RAF Fighter Command: Some activity, reduced in south-east and East Anglia. Liverpool is bombed in daylight from the west, but raid intercepted. At night the usual targets of London and Merseyside are visited by the Luftwaffe.

The weather is fine at the start and end of the day, cloudy in-between. During the day, apart from a sweep by Luftwaffe fighters through Kent westwards, and as far as Reading by one element, the day's activities consisted of reconnaissances, attacks on shipping and some inland flights. In the East, reconnaissances were made throughout the day off East Anglia, and in one instance to Duxford, and between 1300 and 1700 hours one convoy was attacked and two inspected by enemy aircraft. Bombs are reported to have been dropped at Felixstowe. At dusk a German aircraft with British markings is reported to have been minelaying near Farne Islands and to have fired at a Naval Unit with a torpedo. In the morning in the South East, extensive reconnaissances took place off-shore in the East Kent and Thames Estuary areas. One Do 215 flew inland at Ramsgate to Maidstone and Northolt and was shot down at Taplow. At 1610 hours three formations of 50, 20 and 20 Luftwaffe

  aircraft crossed the Coast West of Dungeness at 10 minute intervals, while a further 12 aircraft went inland at Dover. The first raid flew westwards of the London area before wheeling South. A split however, flew towards Central London. The remainder penetrated only some 25 miles (40 kilometers) inland. All the German aircraft appeared to be fighters flying at a great height. Between 1700 and 1800 hours reconnaissances by single aircraft were made in Kent, in one case Eastchurch and Detling being visited. In the South and West at 0910 hours one aircraft crossed the Coast at Lyme Bay and flew through Somerset to Wiltshire. At about 1127 hours one convoy was attacked in the Portsmouth area, and at 1135 hours a "Help" message was received from another off the North Wales Coast. RAF Fighters failed to intercept. Between 1800 and 1900 hours three small raids of nine plus, three plus and three plus aircraft were plotted in St George's Channel, and intercepted.

     During the night of 29/30 September, the Luftwaffe again bombs London and Merseyside. At 1930 hours the first Luftwaffe raids were plotted approaching the Coast at Shoreham from the direction of Dieppe, France. From 2000 hours onwards, a steady stream of raids crossed the Coast between Portsmouth and Beachy Head, the majority having London as their objective. A few, however, coming in over Portsmouth, flew North-west to the Middle Wallop area. Between 2100 and 0200 hours, raids of one or one plus aircraft crossed the Coast between Poole and Start Point and flew to the South Wales area, some continuing North to Liverpool. A number of raids crossed the Coast at points between Clacton and the Wash. A few of these approached London from the North-east, whilst the others were active over East Anglia and the Midlands. Raids were also plotted off Kinnairds Head, in the Aberdeen area and in the Firth of Forth. At 0250 hours it was noticed that there was a definite tendency with the London raids to fly home Eastwards along the Estuary. After 0200 hours activity was almost entirely confined to the South Eastern Counties and the London area. At 0230 hours, raids were approaching London both from the South and from the East. Activity continued until 0305 hours when the last raids were plotted leaving this Country.

     RAF Fighter Command claimed 3-3-2 Luftwaffe aircraft while antiaircraft batteries claimed 2-0-0. The RAF lost five aircraft with three pilots killed or missing.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 5; RAF, 5.

London: Britain has served notice on Japan that it intends to re-open the Burma Road to China when the current three-month agreement expires on 17 October. The move, announced the Churchill, is the first direct result of the Japan-Axis pact. Mr. Churchill told the House of Commons that Britain had originally agreed to ban the transit of war materials from Burma to China while the two sides tried to reach a settlement. Japan had not taken the opportunity and had signed a ten-year pact with the Axis. To cheers from the House the Prime Minister said that in the circumstances Britain could not see its way to renewing the agreement.

Airborne units of the Free French army are created. (Stuart Millis)

 

LUXEMBOURG: The Grand Duchy is incorporated into the German Reich on the grounds that it "derives from the German race."

EGYPT: The third echelon of 2 New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) arrives in Egypt.

MADAGASCAR: Madagascar rejected British ultimatum that it repudiate Vichy French Government.

AUSTRALIA: In Forest Hill, Wagga, New South Wales, two Anson Mk. Is of 2 Service Flying Training School are flying at near 1,000 feet (305 meters) in the Brocklesbury area. N4876 (piloted by L. Fuller, observer I. Sinclair) and L9162 (J. Hewson, observer L. Fraser) lost sight of each other. The first aircraft descended onto the other. The lower aircraft's turret became lodged in the wing root of N4876, and much of L9162's cabin was crushed. Both port engines were making strange noises. The occupants of the lower aircraft bailed out, Hewson being obstructed by the damage and slightly injured. In the upper aircraft, Fuller decided a forced landing was possible, and ordered his observer out. Southwest of Brocklesbury he brought the two aircraft down, locked together. He was uninjured. N4876 was surprisingly undamaged and continued in use after repairs, but L9162 was only fit to continue as an instructional airframe. (Daniel Ross)

MIDWAY ISLAND: The Midway Detachment of the USMC's Third defence Battalion arrives on Midway Island to begin construction of defensive positions.

U.S.A.: The 30-minute radio show "Double or Nothing" debuts on the Mutual Network on Sundays at 1800 hours Eastern Time. This quiz show, sponsored by Feenamint, is hosted by Walter Compton. Each time a contestant answers a question correctly, their winnings would double -- from $20 to $40 to the big payoff of $80. If they gave an incorrect answer, they were gone! The show remained on the air until January 1954.

CANADA: USS Mackenzie (DD-175), commissioned as HMCS Annapolis (I-04), and USS Williams (DD-108), commissioned as HMCS St Clair (I-65), part of the destroyers-for-bases deal. (Ron Babuka)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: An unknown enemy submarine fired two torpedoes at U-31. The boat escaped by the narrowest of margins.

U-32 sank SS Bassa.

 

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September 29th, 1941 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Mr Churchill today told British MP's about an historic meeting which began yesterday in Moscow between the USSR, Britain and the USA. He told them that although Allied aid to Russia as only now been formally agreed, many desperately needed supplies have already been dispatched. Russia's relative inaccessibility, hemmed in on all sides by enemies or freezing weather, is a major obstacle.

Destroyer HMS Norman commissioned.

Corvette HMS Montbretia commissioned.

Destroyer HMCS Haida laid down Vickers-Armstrong Ltd. Newcastle-on-Tyne.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler orders that Leningrad be wiped off the face of the earth and its population exterminated.

RAF bombers raid Stettin and Hamburg overnight.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Prime Minister General Alois Elias of Bohemia and Moravia is arrested. This comes two days after the appointment of Heydrich as German Governor. He is tasked with wiping out all opposition to the Nazi occupation. Martial law was declared yesterday and hundreds of Czechs have been rounded up, including, today, the puppet premier Elias. He has been sentenced to death.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler orders that Leningrad be wiped off the face of the earth and its population exterminated.

RAF bombers raid Stettin and Hamburg overnight.

U.S.S.R.: The attacks by Heeresgruppe Süd (von Rundstedt) to force an entry into the Crimea are halted.

Soviet submarine SC-319 disappeared and never located. All crew lost.

Ukraine: In the outskirts of Kiev, four strike squads sent by Henrich Himmler begin killing 33,771 Jews in the Babi Yar ravine north of the city. Jews were marched in small groups to the ravine, ordered to strip naked and then were machine-gunned. The massacre is completed tomorrow and the bodies, living and dead, are covered over with dirt and rock.

     Babi Yar is a picturesque ravine situated in the Syrets suburb of the city of Kiev. It is about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) long, over fifty meters (164 feet) deep and separated from the residential area by the local Jewish cemetery and a civilian prison. Soon after the German takeover a series of horrific explosions rocked the city demolishing a number of buildings that housed the German administration and the army hierarchy. On 26 September, the military governor, Major General Friedrich Georg Eberhardt, decides that in retaliation for the atrocity all the Jews in Kiev are to be put to death. Today, the SS Einsatzgruppe C (SS Special Commando C), with the help of the Ukrainian police, herd the whole Jewish population of Kiev and the surrounding area into the ravine and systematically began to slaughter the entire 33,771 people. The killings take two whole days and nights the victims being machine-gunned and their bodies hurled into the ravine. A layer of sand then covers the corpses before the next batch of naked victims are brought in. In the months that follow, thousands of Gypsies and Russian POWs are slaughtered here. In August 1943, as the Soviet Army begins its march westwards the decision is taken to erase all evidence of the mass killings, in fact to efface it from history. Soviet prisoners and 327 men from the nearby slave camp at Syretsk begin the task of digging up the bodies and cremating them. The remains are then burned in pyres, built on slab gravestones taken from the Jewish cemetery, each pyre containing around 2,000 corpses. This gruesome task ended on 19 September1943. Only 14 of the 327 slave laborers survive by escaping from Babi Yar. Later, the SS brings in excavators and bulldozers and the ravine is again filled in. In early October, Moscow informs the outside world of the discovery of the mass graves. The West, mistrustful of the Russians, dismisses the news as “products of the Slavic imagination.” During the 778 days of the German occupation of Kiev, many thousands of Russian POWs, Ukrainians, Gypsies and other nationalities, are murdered at Babi Yar. Of a total population of around 900,000, only 180,000 are living in Kiev at the end of the German occupation. Nobody is ever brought to trial specifically for this atrocity. In 1976, a 15 meter (49 foot) high memorial is unveiled on the site to commemorate the Soviet POWs who were killed there. However, no reference is made to the Jews or number of Jewish dead.


Moscow, United States and British missions confer to determine Russian defence needs.

CHINA: Relief troops arrive at Changsha, forcing the Japanese to retreat.

JAPAN: The government urges a meeting with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the fourth time stating, “if nothing came of the proposal for a meeting between the chiefs of our two Governments it might be difficult for (Foreign Minister) Prince Konoye to retain his position and that Prince Konoye then would be likely to be succeeded by a less moderate leader."

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 50 P-40E’s are received at Nichols Field. (Marc Small)  

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS:    In Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, the Japanese consulate sends the following message to Tokyo: "The following codes will be used hereafter to designate the location of vessels:
1. Repair dock in Navy Yard: KS.
2. Navy dock in the Navy Yard (The Ten Ten Pier): KT.
3. Moorings in the vicinity of Ford Island: FV.
4. Alongside in Ford Island: FG. (East and west sides will be differentiated by A and B respectively." 

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Mahone commissioned.

Corvettes HMCS Sherbrooke, Chicoutimi, Matapedia and Napanee departed Sydney, Nova Scotia for Convoy SC-47 to Iceland. Convoy SC-47 arrived safely in Liverpool on 20 Oct 41. The early corvettes did not have adequate endurance to complete the trip across the Atlantic and had to divert to Iceland for fuel and stores before returning with a westbound convoy. This necessitated a complicated system of meeting and hand over points between the groups conducting the escort. It also required more escort groups that, as a consequence, were smaller in number. The smaller escort groups resulted in a weak defensive screen that the U-boats were able to exploit successfully. Successful convoys of this period were accomplished by evasive routing that was possible due to intelligence successes. When convoys were intercepted by U-boats, heavy losses resulted.

U.S.A.: A crowd estimated at one million jams downtown Brooklyn, New York, to cheer the Brooklyn Dodgers,  the National League baseball pennant winners, in a parade.

Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, chief of staff to General Walter Kreuger, Commander Third Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is promoted to brigadier general (temporary).

ICELAND: Convoy PQ-1, the first convoy from Iceland to Northern Russia, leaves Hvalfjord for Archangel, U.S.S.R., with ten merchant ships, escorted by a British heavy cruiser, a destroyer, two minesweepers and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary oiler.. There are no German attacks on this convoy and it will reach Archangel on 11 October. Convoy QP-1 leaves Archangel headed for Scapa Flow.

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29 September 1942

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September 29th, 1942 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:  US pilots who had been members of the 3 RAF Eagle Squadrons (Numbers 71, 121 and 133 Squadrons) are taken over by the US Eighth Air Force's VIII Fighter Command and organized into the 4th Fighter Group as the 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons; the group HQ and all squadrons move from Bushey Hall to Debden with Spitfires.

Petworth, Sussex: A lone German raider dived out of the cloud this morning and dropped its bombs from near-rooftop height on a council school, which was completely demolished with 85 boys inside it. Thirty-one children are dead, with two of their teachers. Parents in this town of 2,500 inhabitants in south-east England came running to the school and began digging in the wreckage with their bare hands. Rescuers dug out 28 boys alive but injured.

Light cruiser HMS Bellona launched.

GERMANY: Berlin: Hitler orders five "flak towers" to be built in Germany to boost defences against Allied air attacks.

U-750 laid down.

During the night of 29/30 September, RAF Bomber Command Lancasters on minelaying missions in the Baltic Sea: six lay mines off Sassnitz and two lay mines off Swinemünde. One aircraft was lost.

DENMARK: During the night of 29/30 September, three RAF Bomber Command Lancasters laid mines off the Bornholm Islands.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Prague: The Germans, pursuing their blood revenge against the Czech people for the assassination of Heydrich have now condemned 252 people to death for supporting or sheltering Heydrich's assassins. All the relatives of Josef Valcik and Jan Kubis, two of the assassins, have been rounded up from all parts of Czechoslovakia and taken to Mauthausen concentration camp. All the Novak family, including the 14-year-old daughter, Jindriska, are to die; Kubis was sheltered by the Novaks after the attack on Heydrich.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s hit harbor installations at Suda Bay, Crete. P-40s fly an offensive sweep over the battle area, and carry out an interception mission against Luftwaffe Ju 87s over the frontline near El Alamein, Egypt.

 

MADAGASCAR: Continuing south from Tananarive, British forces occupy Fianarantsoa. Two companies of the Pretoria Regiment and a few armoured cars from Diego Suarez land on the southwest coast at Tulear in order to secure the port, airfield, and seaplane base site for patrolling the Mozambique Channel and to supplement East African troops operating out of Tananarive..

JAPAN: Tokyo: Richard Sorge, the Soviet spy, is sentenced to death.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Australians begin offensive patrols pushing toward Nauro.

US Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb AA positions at Buna and Salamaua Airfield; and a single A-20 Havoc bombs the Menari area. 

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The troop strength of the Guadalcanal garrison is now 19,261 and 3,260 troops are on Tulagi.

During the afternoon, 26 IJN A6M "Zeke" fighters are intercepted over Guadalcanal by 14 USN F4F Wildcats; 3 A6Ms are shot down with the loss of 1 F4F.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A morning armed reconnaissance mission is flown by US Eleventh Air Force LB-30 Liberator over Semichi and Attu Islands; it strafes a ship at Attu Island; and 3 B-24 Liberators bomb and strafe sea transport, scoring no hits.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS North Bay laid down.
Minesweeper HMCS Middlesex laid down Port Arthur, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The Boeing XB-29 makes it first flight.

For the second time this month, an IJN Yokosuka E14Y Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane, Allied Code Name "Glen," launched from the submarine HIJMS I-25 off the west coast, drops four 76 kg (167.5 pound) incendiary bombs on a forest in the Grassy Knob area east of Port Orford, Oregon. Later today smoke is reported in the area and Forestry fire personnel in two teams are sent to investigate. The fires are mostly smouldering due to damp fog. They will be contained and put out over the next few days. Bomb fragments and scattered pieces of phosphorus are turned over to the FBI. This is the last time that the US is bombed during World War II.

Although the US Army and National Guard tried to keep a lid on this enemy activity, there were several newspaper reports about it by the Associated Press, and a Grants Pass and Seattle newspapers. (Phil Jacobsen and Jack McKillop)(223)

Minesweeper USS Sway launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

An aircraft attacked U-118 at 0925 in the North Atlantic and caused slight damage to the boat.

U-513 damaged SS Ocean Vagabond in Convoy HX-209.

U-125 sank SS Baron Ogilvy.

U-332 sank SS Registan.

U-610 sank SS Lifland in Convoy SC-101.

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29 September 1943

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September 29th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS Trollope laid down.

Frigate HMS Deane launched.

Escort carrier SS Empire Mackendrick launched.

Minesweeper HMS Plucky launched.

Destroyer HMS Wizard launched.

Frigates HMS Bligh and Chelmer commissioned.

FRANCE: Paris: PPF member Dr. Jolicoeur, secrétaire fédéral of the Marne is killed.

GERMANY: During the night of 29/30 September, RAF Bomber Command sent 352 aircraft, 213 Lancasters, 130 Halifaxes and nine Mosquitos, to bomb Bochum; 316 bombed the target with the loss of nine aircraft, five Halifaxes and four Lancasters, 2.6 per cent of the force. The Oboe-assisted Pathfinder plan worked perfectly and led to accurate and concentrated bombing. A second mission of 11 Mosquitos bombed. Lancasters also laid mines in the Baltic Sea: six laid mines off Danzig and four laid mines off Pillau.

POLAND: During the night of 29/30 September, three RAF Bomber Command Lancasters laid mines in the Baltic Sea off Gdynia.



U.S.S.R.: Kremenchug and Rudnya fall to the Soviets. The Red Army takes control of the Smolensk to Vitebsk railway, in the north-west, and occupies Kremenchug in the south, the last German strong point on the eastern bank of the Dnieper Rive, and continue to close in on Kiev to the northwest.

ITALY: The attack against Avellino by the US Fifth Army, 3rd Div begins during the night. The US X Corps advance passes Pompeii.

British General Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief 15th Army Group, issues instructions for future operations, to be conducted in two phases: (1) capture of Naples and airfields to the north and Foggia airfields, while advancing to a general line Sessa Aurunca-Venafro-Isernia-Castropignano-Biferno River-Termoli; (2) advance to a general line Civitavecchia-Terni-Visso-San Benedetto del Tronto. The U.S. Fifth Army directs the VI Corps, upon capture of Avellino, to shift to the left along a general line Avellino-Montemarano-Teora. British X Corps units seize the bridge at Scafati. This is the only bridge now standing across the Sarno River. Reconnaissance units are pursuing retreating Germans. In the VI Corps area, U.S. 3d Infantry Division units converge on Avellino and open an attack on it during the night of 29/30 September.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bomb bridges at or near Piana, Castelvenere, Amorosi, and Cancello Amone; P-38 Lightnings bomb Ausonia defile and a bridge near San Apollinare; US and RAF tactical aircraft hit the town of San Giorgio del Sannio and roads in the area S of Benevento.

     During the night of 29/30 September, 44 RAF aircraft of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb a highway junction at Formia.

General Eisenhower and Marshal Badoglio sign the full armistice agreement on HMS Nelson at MALTA.
But why HMS Nelson. In the words of A.B. Cunningham:

"The British and American Governments were anxious that the full terms of surrender should be signed by Badoglio with some ceremony. I suggested that one of the battleships of Force "H" at Malta should be the scene of the signing, and Eisenhower asked me to make the arrangements. My first inclination was to hoist my flag in my old ship, the RODNEY; but on second thoughts I decided that the NELSON, Admiral Willis's flagship should be the place of meeting". (Peter Beeston)

CHINA: Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, commander of the U.S. China-Burma-India Theater, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, commander of the Northern Area Combat Command and deputy commander of the South-East Asia Command, issues “A Program for China,” in which he recommends that 60 Chinese Nationalist divisions be re-formed.

BURMA: 9 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s based in China bomb Myitkyina and Sadon during routine ferry trips over the Hump.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Australian troops encounter strong resistance around the town of Finschhafen while the 2/2nd Independent Company ambushes the Japanese near Kesawai in the Ramu River Valley inflicting heavy casualties.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Choiseul Island, P-40s, P-38s, and P-39Airacobras join USMC fighters in supporting a strike by USN SBD Dauntlesses on a barge depot at Kakasa; other P-40s strafe and set afire a barge off Sambi Point.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: US Fifth Air Force B-24s on armed reconnaissance attack scattered shipping in the Netherlands East Indies and Solomon and Bismarck Seas.

U.S.A.: Houghton Mifflin Company publishes the first unabridged version of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's 1925 book "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle) to be released in the U.S. In July 1933, Houghton Mifflin stated that it would issue an abridged edition of the book removing some of the more anti-Semitic and militaristic statements and this book was finally published in 1937. The publication of this version caused Alan Cranston, who was an American reporter for United Press International in Germany and later a U.S. Senator from California, to publish his own abridged and annotated translation, which he believed to more truly reflect the contents of the book. In 1939 Cranston was sued by Hitler's publisher for copyright infringement and a Connecticut judge ruled in Hitler's favor; the publication of Cranston's version had to be stopped after about 500,000 copies had been sold.

Minesweeper USS Indicative laid down.

Submarine USS Jallao laid down.

Frigate USS Grand Forks laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Henry R Kenyon laid down.

Frigate USS Everett launched.

Destroyer USS Lewis Hancock commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Poole, Reybold and Peterson commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-532 sank SS Banffshire.

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29 September 1944

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September 29th, 1944 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 654: 5 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets on the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

FRANCE: The Canadian 3rd Division begins to make significant progress in its attacks at Calais. An armistice for the withdrawal of civilians interrupts the battle at Calais.

Normandy: Canadian infantrymen capture the enormous German battery at Cap Griz-Nez. The German coastal artillery batteries near Calais are captured by Canadian troops. For the first time in four years the citizens of Dover and its environs are free from the harassing shellfire from these long-range guns.

     In the U.S. Third Army area, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Commanding General Third Army, approves a plan for XX Corps to attack Fort Driant again, beginning on 3 October.

BELGIUM: Cpl John William Harper (b.1915), York and Lancaster Regt., died when, ignoring heavy fire, he led his men over 300 yards of open ground. (Victoria Cross)

During the day, 72 RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes fly petrol (gasoline) from the U.K. to Melsbroek Airfield in Brussels.

THE NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, German swimmers damage bridges at Nijmegen with submarine charges, but the bridges are soon repaired. XII Corps reaches line of the Hertogenbosch-Oss railroad southwest of Nijmegen.

GERMANY: Over four hundred USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s hit marshalling yards and rail sidings at Prum, Euskirchen, and Bingen, dragon's teeth antitank defenses near Webenheim, and marshalling yards, rail sidings, warehouses and barracks at Julich and Bitburg; 1,500+ fighters escort the bombers, hit railroads, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over wide areas of the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, eastern France, and in western Germany as far east as Frankfurt/Main.

     During the night of 29/30 September, 39 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bombed Karlsruhe and nine Lancasters laid mines in the Heligoland Bight in the south-east corner of the North Sea and four laid mines in the Kattegat, a bay of the North Sea bounded by Denmark and Sweden..

U-2529 laid down.

U-1307 and U-3009 launched.

U-2511 commissioned.

BALTIC SEA: During a transfer U-989 was damaged by a mine.

ESTONIA: The Russian Eighth Army lands units on Muhu Island in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Estonia.  German forces withdraw to the island of Saaremaa to the west of Muhu..

ITALY: Two SS regiments, under SS Major Walter Reder, start a reprisal operation against partisans in the Bologna province.

About 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Bologna is the massif of Monte Sole, part of the Apennine range. Around this area are dozens of small villages and towns, Marzabotto, Sperticano, Cerpiano, San Martino, Creda and Casaglia to name but a few. When Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943, Fascist and German troops continued their harassment of these poor mountain people. Forming themselves into small partisan groups, augmented by deserters from the Italian and German armies (ex Soviet POWs) their strength grew to around 1,200 men. Calling themselves the Stella Rossa (Red Star) they confined their activities to sniping, derailing freight trains and the occasional ambush. In their efforts to subdue the Stella Rossa, the German SS often raided small villages and shot hostages. This only increased the determination of the partisans to commit more attacks on the enemy and for the Germans to shoot more hostages. As the British and Americans fought their way north, the SS formed up for a mass attack on Monte Sole. At dawn today, the SS attacked. At Creda, the SS surrounded a barn where a group of partisans were hiding. All the men, women and children of Creda, were assembled in the barn and after their valuables and money is confiscated they are machine-gunned, grenades and incendiary bombs are thrown in and the group, about 90, are left to burn. This scene is repeated at every tiny village and farmlet as the SS units continue their march. Soon, hundreds of fires could be seen on and around Monte Sole, each one a funeral pyre. During the three days of the rastrellamento (29 September to 1 October) a total of around 1,830 men, women and children, are brutally murdered by the SS and 420 houses burned. When the SS murder squads move on, the killing continues as relatives of the victims, searching for the bodies of their loved ones, stepped on the deadly mines laid by the SS. Their commander, one-armed SS Major Walter Reder, an Austrian national, is later arrested by the Americans in Salzburg and handed over to the British who in turn pass him over to the Italians. In 1951, in an Italian military court in Bologna, Walter Reder is sentenced to strict life imprisonment in the military prison at Gaeta. He is released in 1985 and dies six years later in 1991.

     In the U.S. Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, elements of Regimental Combat Team 6, Brazilian Expeditionary Force, take Stazzema; In the U.S. II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division repels a counterattack on the left at Montefredente and on the right reaches Fornelli. In the British XIII Corps area, the Germans withdraw from Mont di Castelnuovo.

     The British Eighth Army is hampered all along line by heavy rains and flooding. V Corps advances on its right flank during the night of 29/30 September, taking Savignano and Castelvecchio ridge without opposition, as Germans make limited withdrawal. Patrols cross the Fiumicino River.

US Twelfth Air Force A-20s and medium bombers are again grounded by weather; fighter-bombers, hampered by weather, fly 52 sorties in the afternoon, cutting rail lines leading south from Milan.

FINLAND: The Russian 8th Army lands units on Muhu Island in the Baltic. German forces withdraw to the island of Saaremaa.

LATVIA: German General der Infanterie Wegener L AK is killed at Wolmar. (138)(Russ Folsom)

CHINA: A strong Chinese labor force begins work on a trail between Myitkyina, Burma, and Kunming via Tengchung and is assisted by small group of U.S. engineers.

     Eighteen USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators haul fuel from India to Yungning, Liuchow, and Kunming.

     Eleven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Mangshih, 24 bomb Tien Ho and White Cloud Airfields at Canton, and 15 hit targets of opportunity around Chuanhsien, Taochuan and Taohsien; about 100 P-51 Mustangs, P-40s, and P-38 Lightnings again attack various targets of opportunity throughout the vast expanses of China south of the Yangtze River, hitting road, rail, and river targets, troops, and town areas.

BURMA: Eleven USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25s attack and damage the main bridge, knock out the bypass bridge and silence adjoining AA positions on the Burma Road near Uambkai.

JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, 2 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s bomb Kataoka Naval Base on Shimushu Island and Kokutan Cape on Paramushiru Island.

PELELIU: Fighting continues.

BONIN ISLANDS: Two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan Iwo Jima.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll.

CENTRAL PACIFIC: 3 US Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan bomb Marcus Island in the north Pacific. P-47 Thunderbolts bomb and strafe gun positions on Pagan Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: At Sindangan Bay, Mindanao Island in the Philippines, the submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) takes aboard 81 Allied POWs who survived the sinking of the Japanese prison ship SS Shinyo Maru by the submarine USS Paddle (SS-263) on 7 September. The transport had been carrying 750 PoWs.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and RAAF aircraft, continue to attack Utarom (Kaimana) Aerodrome.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Kendari Airfield on Celebes Island is bombed by US Far East Air Force B-24s. B-25s hit both Namlea Airfields on Buru Island while B-24s blast Liang on Ambon Island and Haroekoe Airfield on Haroekoe Island. In New Guinea, A-20s and RAAF aircraft, continue to pound Urarom Airfield; other A-20s bomb Faan Airfield.

PALAU ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island, the 7th Marine Regiment takes responsibility for completing the reduction of the Umurbrogol Pocket, releasing the Army’s 3d Battalion of the 321st Infantry Regiment which then starts north along the route previously taken by the 1st Battalion clearing bypassed resistance as it moves. Other elements of 321st Infantry relieve the 5th Marine Regiment on Ngesebus and Kongauru Islands. The 5th Marines continue to clear Amiangal Mountain. On Angaur Island, the Army’s 322d Infantry Regiment clears the floor of Lake Salome bowl and forces the Japanese to the northwest rim and northwest tip of the island. .

CANADA: Defence Minister James Layton Ralston flies to Europe to check reports of Canadian infantry shortages.

Frigate HMCS Strathadam commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Stellarton commissioned.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Tall in the Saddle" is released. Directed by Edwin L. Marin, this western stars John Wayne, Ella Raines, Ward Bond, Gabby Hayes and Paul Fix.

Washington: The Dumbarton Oaks conference of Allied foreign ministers agrees on a programme for post-war security, including the establishment of the United Nations Organization. The Soviet representative withdraws from the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in Washington, D.C., and the second part of the Conference begins with China participating.

     President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares that Nazi-Fascist influence is growing in Argentina and that the Argentine government has failed to fulfil its obligations under the inter-American agreements. As a result, the U.S. government refuses to allow American ships to call at Argentinean ports.

Baseball, the final series of the year begins. In the American League, the St. Louis Browns trail the Detroit Tigers by one game; the Browns have 4 games with the New York Yankees, who are three games out of first place. With rainouts the night before, all contenders play doubleheaders. The Browns are last in the American League in attendance, and only 6,172 fans watch St. Louis sweep the doubleheader from the Yankees. Jack Kramer wins the opener 4-1, and Nels Potter wins a 1-0 shutout over the Yankees' pitcher Hank Borowy, even though St. Louis batters get but 2 hits. In Detroit, the Tigers split 2 games with the Washington Senators, beating Johnny Niggeling 5-2 in the opener but losing to Mickey Haefner 9-2 in the nightcap.

Escort carrier USS Salerno Bay launched.

MEXICO: The Mexican government agrees to pay US$24 million (US$ 250 million in 2003 dollars) with three percent interest for the U.S. oil company property the Mexicans had expropriated in 1938. This agreement marked the conclusion of the tensions between the U.S. and Mexican governments over Mexico's petroleum policies.


ATLANTIC OCEAN: Whilst on her first patrol the German submarine U-863 is sunk in the South Atlantic east- southeast of Recife, Brazile, in position 10.45S, 25.30W, by depth charges from 2 USN PB4Y-1s of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Seven (VB-107) based at Natal, Brazil. All 69 sailors on the U-boat are lost.

U-310 sank SS Edward H Crockett and SS Samsuva in Convoy RA-60.

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29 September 1945

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September 29th, 1945 (SATURDAY)

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The battleship USS Missouri departs Pearl Harbor en-route to New York.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Stribling commissioned.

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