10 October 1939

1931 (SATURDAY)

UNITED STATES: The government makes oral representations to Japan and China urging a pacific policy and utmost restraint in keeping with League of Nations resolution of 30 September. The resolution notes the Japanese intention of withdrawal of its troops as rapidly as possible and disclaimer of territorial designs in Manchuria. Concern is expressed over the bombing of Chinchow by the Japanese.

1933 (TUESDAY)

UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt invites the Soviets to negotiate toward the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between the two countries stating, "It is most regrettable that these great peoples, between whom a happy tradition of friendship existed for more than a century to their mutual advantage, should now be without a practical method of communicating directly with each other . . ."

1935 (THURSDAY)

GREECE: In a military coup, General George Kondylis ousts the new government, under Panyoti Tsaldaris, which had won the June 1935 national elections. General Kondylis induces the Greek parliament to vote in favor of a recall of King George II.

1936 (SATURDAY)

AUSTRIA: Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg disbands the right-wing Heimwehr (Home Defense Force) and transfers the members to the Fatherland Front militia. He expels the Heimwehr members of his cabinet, eliminating that organization as a political force.

1937 (SUNDAY)

CHINA: Japanese forces capture Shihchiachuang.

1938 (MONDAY)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Germany completes its annexation of the Sudetenland, the Czech borderlands inhabited by German-speaking people.

PALESTINE: The British army regains control of Bethlehem after Arab extremists seized control of the city in early October.

October 10th, 1939 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Recruitment into the Women's land Army is suspended after 25,000 have enrolled.

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, is pushing the British Cabinet to mine Norwegian coastal waters. The target would be the German iron ore ships.

No. 10 Sqn. RAAF fly their first operational sortie over the Atlantic.

The U.S. freighter SS Patrick Henry is detained by British authorities.

British authorities remove 293 sacks of American mail addressed to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and 10 to Antwerp, Belgium, from the U.S. freighter SS Black Gull that has been detained since 6 October. This is among the first instances of the British removing mail addressed to neutral countries and opening and censoring sealed letter mail sent from the United States. (83)

Destroyer HMS Cotswold is laid down.

Destroyer HMS Kandahar is commissioned.

FRANCE: The U.S. freighter SS Syros, detained by French authorities since 14 September, is released.

GERMANY: Admiral Raeder approaches Hitler with the possibility of invading Norway. Churchill, as First Lord of the British Admiralty, is pushing the British Cabinet to mine Norwegian coastal waters. The target would be the German iron ore ships.

The Norwegian freighter SS Brott, detained at Sivinemünde, Germany, since early October with a cargo of wood pulp/wood pulp products, is released by German authorities to proceed on her voyage to the United States.

POLAND: A German victory parade is held in Warsaw.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Russia signs the 15 year mutual assistance pact with Lithuania, completing its military presence in all three Baltic states.

In return Lithuania receives the historic city of Vilna (Vilnius), country's old capital which was seized by Poland in 1920.

CANADA: Patrol Vessel HMCS MacDonald is acquired from the RCMP.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German armoured ship Graf Spee stops and puts a prize crew on board the British freighter SS Huntsman (8196 BRT).

10 October 1940

October 10th, 1940 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Battle of Britain: Fighter-bombers appear in streams. RAF has great difficulty in intercepting.

The weather is showery with bright intervals with haze in the Thames Estuary and East Anglia. The Luftwaffe command shifts their tactics, focusing air raids on British cities. The Germans concentrate their air attacks on London and other urban areas in an attempt to break British morale. The end of the summer, however, meant shorter days, stormier weather, and improved British air defenses. Today, German bombing activity during daylight is confined to London and South-East England. Two main attacks are made, the first soon after dawn, when bombs are dropped in the eastern districts of London; and the second in the early afternoon, when Kent and Sussex Coastal towns are attacked. No vital targets are hit during these raids, and damage is almost entirely confined to house property. Between 1825 and 1844 hours a total of 18 artillery shells fired from France fell in Dover but damage is negligible and there are no casualties. The night attack on London opens up as soon as darkness falls, and appears to be more intense than of late. Few districts in Greater London escape bombing, but the reports received indicate that little real damage is done, beyond some further dislocation of railway communications and utility services. Bombs are also dropped during this period in many districts of Southern England, South Wales and in Tynemouth, but in no case is major damage caused. RAF Fighter Command claims 4-0-5 aircraft while antiaircraft batteries claim 1-0-0 aircraft. RAF loses five aircraft and three pilots.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 4; RAF, 4.

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: Operation Medium with the Royal Navy. 11 Blenheims bombing shipping and defending guns in the Bassins Charles X and Napoleon III at Cherbourg and spotting for the heavy guns of HMS Revenge. Wellingtons of 3 Group light the target area, the sea and the coastline. (A warning note was given. Shells from HMS Revenge would reach 5,000 feet during trajectory.)

Destroyer HMS Venetia mined in the Thames Estuary.

LUXEMBOURG: A German-run plebiscite shows that 97% of the population opposes Nazi occupation of the country. This experiment is not repeated elsewhere.

FRANCE: Cruisers HMS Newcastle and Emerald, with destroyers HMS Broke and HMS Wanderer of the 17th DF and the Polish destroyers ORP Garland and Burza act as a screen to the battleship HMS Revenge which bombarded Cherbourg.

GERMANY: U-66 is launched.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: British submarine HMS/M Triad (N 53) is sunk by gunfire from the Italian submarine R.Smg. Enrico Toti about 121 nautical miles (225 kilometers) east-southeast of Syracuse, Sicily, in position 36.16N, 17.37E. The sub is reported overdue on 20 October. There are no survivors. This is a surface engagement between two submarines, at very close quarter, so that the Italian bridge crew could hear the British bridge crew speaking English: and one of the Italian crew threw a boot at the British submarine. This is recorded as the only occasion of one submarine sinking another in a surface action, and Triad as the only British submarine to be sunk by an Italian submarine in WW II. (Alex Gordon)

CANADA:

Minesweeper HMCS Georgian laid down Toronto, Ontario.

Corvette HMCS Brandon laid down Lauzon, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: War Plans Division recommends withdrawal of all military forces west of the 180º meridian. This recommendation may have been made to force a reassessment of US policy to the Far East.

Richardson directed by Knox to aggressively patrol between Hawaii and the Philippines but protests that this was beyond the capacity of his Fleet.

Hart issues order that all dependents were to be sent back to U.S. (Marc Small)

The United States freezes Romanian credits because of German occupation.

The USN miscellaneous auxiliary USS Bear (AG-29) sails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the Antarctic.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-123 sank SS Graigwen in Convoy SC-6.

10 October 1941

October 10th, 1941 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Minelayer HMS Ariadne laid down.

Aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable commissioned.

GERMANY: U-199 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet General Georgii Zhukov arrives in Moscow from Leningrad where he is the Commander in Chief of the front. He will assume command of the defence of Moscow.

Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau, the C-in-C of the German Sixth Army today told his men:

"In the east, the soldier is not merely a fighter according to the rules of war, but also the bearer of an inexorable national idea and the Avenger of all bestialities inflicted upon the German people and its racial kin. Therefore the soldier must always have a full understanding for the necessity of a severe but just atonement on Jewish subhumanity."

Hitler likes the wording so much that he is going to have it issued as a model for other generals on the eastern front.

German Heeresgruppe Süd (GFM Gerd von Rundstedt) ends the battle of encirclement along the Sea of Azov and takes 100,000 prisoners. Despite the withdrawal, the Soviet 3rd and 50th Armies are once again surrounded in the Bryansk area. This time the encirclement would hold. The trapped soldiers would fight on for two more weeks, but in the end, only 30,000 of the 600,000 would escape.

The German Fourth Army, straddling the Minsk-Moscow highway, begins its advance on Moscow after a week of regrouping. All of Army Group Center is now moving in on Moscow. In Moscow, orders are given to prepare 1,119 factories, schools and public buildings for demolition before the Germans can capture them.

In the Ukraine, the Soviet 9th and 18th Armies fight their way out of the German encirclement and take up defensive positions around Stalino.

(Jack McKillop, Russ Folsom and Michael F. Yaklich)

MALAYA: No. 488 Squadron, RNZAF, arrives at RAF Kallang, Singapore, and is equipped with Brewster Buffalo Mk. Is to provide defense for the British colony.

CANADA:

Trawler HMS Magdalen laid down Midland, Ontario.

Minesweepers HMCS Ungava, Quinte and Clayoquot departed Esquimalt for Halifax.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" is released today. Directed by Edward Cline, this comedy stars W.C. Fields (in his last starring film) and Franklin Pangborn. The plot has Fields attempting to sell his life story to Hollywood and on his way there, he runs into numerous crazy situations that are hilarious.

Tank production in Detroit, Michigan, is hampered by an inter-union struggle as CIO members refuse to handle parts made by AFL workers.

The USN decrees that all fleet aircraft are painted flat light grey with all surfaces viewed from above to be painted flat blue grey.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-126 sank SS Nailsea Manor in Convoy OS-7.

U-331 damaged HM LCT-18.

U-331 was attacked by 3 fighter aircraft and one of its gunners died [Bootsmann Hans Gerstenich].

10 October 1942

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF 31st Fighter Group is taken off operational status and their Spitfires are to be shipped to Gibraltar.

Submarines HMS Spirit, Vivid and Voracious laid down.

Frigates HMS Dart and Trent launched.

Minesweeper HMS Mutine launched.

Submarine HMS Spark laid down.

Destroyer HMS Melbreak commissioned.

FRANCE: During the night of 10/11 October, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Biscay Bay ports: nine lay mines off Gironde, six off St. Nazaire, five off La Pallace and four each off Brest and Lorient.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 10/11 October, ten RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Island and five lay mines off Texel Island.

GERMANY: Eva-Marie Buch, a bookseller who also works for the Schutze-Boysen-Harnack resistance group (The Red Orchestra), is arrested today for passing messages to French slave workers in factories. She is sentenced to death by the People’s Court on 3 February and hanged in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin, on 5 August1943.

The Germans set the bread ration for Allied PoWs at 800 grams (or 28.21 ounces) per day while sick prisoners are entitled to 225 grams (or 7.9 ounces) of sugar per week and the beer ration stood at 3 to 5 litres per month. Furthermore, to assure the prisoners that they were receiving an adequate food supply "it was standard practice to publish a complete menu indicating the calories and rations, thus allowing the Men of Confidence ["Vertrauensmaenner" or Camp Representatives] and the Protecting Power delegates to compare the prisoners' menu to the official German rations. Most importantly as regards discipline, all collective disciplinary measures are prohibited by the Geneva Convention." (175, P.55) (Peter Kilduff)

U-1161 laid down.

U-341, U-422, U-735 launched

U-197 and U-386 commissioned.

BALTIC SEA: Soviet submarine Shtsh-308 mined in Gulf of Finland.

The submerged U-339 collided in the Baltic Sea with the cruiser Nürnberg.

U.S.S.R.: The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued a decree establishing a single command and abolishing political commissars in the army. The commissars have gained military experience and their former status has become superfluous. The decree is issued to free responsible military commanders from any hindrances in carrying out their duties and to add to their ranks.

Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: ML "Comintern" - flooded at Hop river opening as a breakwater (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A submarine duel occurred on this day in the Mediterranean. The British submarine P 247 fired two torpedoes at U-605, but missed. The U-boat replied with four torpedoes, but these also missed.

MALTA: The Axis commences a massive assault on Malta. Italian and German bombers hammer the island, flying between 200 and 270 sorties daily until 19 October. The Axis runs into considerable trouble, however, as Malta is now well-guarded by squadrons of Spitfire Mk Vs and Beaufighters, which are more than a match for the German Ju 88 and Italian SM 79 bombers. The RAF knows the attacks are coming from breaking the German Enigma messages allowing Spitfires to intercept the Germans over the sea sparing Malta a good deal of bombs.

LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s bomb shipping and the dock area at Bengasi, Libya, while B-25s hit landing grounds.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Australian troops are still not making progress against the Japanese on the Kokoda Track. The main body of the 2d Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, with supporting units, leaves Kalikodobu on foot for Jaure.

In the air, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit targets along the Buna-Kokoda trail and, with P-400 Airacobras, strike villages in the area of Asisi and Sanananda.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Pirie commissioned.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two U.S. submarines sink a Japanese merchant transport and a collier.

Submarine USS Tautog sinks a transport-cargo ship at 10-20 N, 108-43 E.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Twenty one USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Rabaul and nearby Lakunai Airfield on New Britain Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: In anticipation of a Japanese counteroffensive on Guadalcanal, the marines strengthen defense positions and patrol aggressively. Three battalions of the 1st and 7th Marine Regiments plus elements of the Special Weapons Company take responsibility for the east bank of the Matanikau River, where permanent positions are established at the river mouth.

USMC F4F Wildcat pilots shoot down 10 IJN floatplanes over New Georgia Sound and Rekata Bay at 0640 hours local.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force dispatches 10 B-24 Liberators, 7 B-17 Flying Fortresses, and 4 P-38 Lightnings to fly 4 missions to Kiska Island; the third mission (3 B-17s) does not make contact; the others bomb and strafe the Main Camp area, hit shipping in Trout Lagoon and off South Head, where gun positions and installations are also blasted; fires are started in the Main Camp and hangar areas.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Westmouth and Minesweeper HMCS Milltown arrived Halifax from builder Port Arthur, Ontario.

Minesweeper HMCS Kentville commissioned.

U.S.A.: The record of "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter orchestra is released today. The song, featured in the motion picture "Holiday Inn" starring Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds, remains on the best selling retail records chart for 15 week, 13 of them in first place, and goes on to become the Number 1-selling single of all time with over 30 million records sold.

The U.S. Senate approves the largest tax bill in history. Americans will pay US$8.5 billion (US$84.2 billion in year 2000 dollars) in corporate and income taxes during 1943.

Minesweepers USS Triumph and Logic laid down

Destroyer USS Stephen Potter laid down

Destroyer USS Aulick commissioned

Minesweeper USS Strive commissioned

Destroyers USS Bush and Spence launched.

Destroyer USS The Sullivans laid down.

Submarines USS Lapon and Balao launched.

Destroyer USS Mullany launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: After a refit in the U.K. British submarine HMS/M Unique (N 95) left Holy Loch, Scotland, on 7 October. She is ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay while en route from Britain to Gibraltar. She left her escorts off Lands End on the 9 October and is not heard from again. HMS/M Ursula (N 59) on patrol off the coast of Spain reports hearing the sounds of explosions like depth charges, but no Axis claims have been made for this loss, and it seems likely that she is the victim of a drifting mine or an accident. She is reported overdue on 24 October when she fails to arrive at Gibraltar. (Alex Gordon) (108)

The German submarine U-172 torpedoes the 23,456 ton British troop transport SS Orcades about 124 nautical miles (230 kilometers) north of Cape Town, South Africa, in position 31.51S, 18.30E. The U-boat has to fire five more torpedoes before the ship sinks. Of the 1,065 aboard the ship, 1,017 survive.

U-177 encountered a US battleship with a destroyer escort, but had no opportunity to attack the ship.

On board U-442, bad weather caused an accident in which one man was badly injured.

U-436 damaged SS Frontenac, Gurney E Newlin and sank HMS LCT-2281, SS Sourabaya in Convoy HX-212.

U-509 sank SS Pacific Star and SS Stentor in Convoy SL-125.

U-604 sank SS Anglo Mærsk (already torpedoed the previous day) in Convoy SL-125.

After an explosion during torpedo loading on U-67 one man was killed. [Matrosenobergefreiter Heinz Hartmann].

The same day 3 men were washed overboard from the U-706, 2 men died but the third was saved by U-463. [Leutnant zur See Erich Eichmann, see right, Matrosenobergefreiter Ralf Köhler].

U-117 laid some mines off Iceland, but no sinkings resulted from this field.

The Canadian Pacific Steamships Line passenger liner Duchess of Atholl (20,119 GRT), Captain Moores, Master, was sunk in the South Atlantic, 200 miles east of Ascension Island, in position 07.03S, 011.12W, by U-178, KptzS Hans Ibbeken, CO. Duchess of Atholl was carrying 529 passengers, 104 from the sinking of Princess Marguerite (sunk on 17 Aug) and 37 from SS Gazcon. Only four crewmembers were lost in the original explosion and all 821 survivors were able to abandon the ship into lifeboats as the ship sank slowly on an even keel. HMS Corinthian, an armed merchant cruiser, rescued the survivors the next morning after speeding to the scene upon hearing their distress signal.

10 October 1943

October 10th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 114: 236 B-17s hit the railroads and waterways in and around Munster, Germany at 1503-1518 hours plus targets of opportunity at Coesfeld, Germany and Enschede Airfield in the Netherlands; they claim 183-21-51 Luftwaffe aircraft; 30 B-17s are lost. 39 B-24s fly a diversion without loss or casualties. The B-17s are escorted by 216 P-47 Thunderbolts; they claim 19-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-47 is lost.

Frigate HMS Papua launched.

NETHERLANDS: As part of USAAF VIII Bomber Command Mission 114, 29 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the industrial area at Enschede.

GERMANY: Maj. David C. Schilling, 56th FG's operations officer, USAAF, achives aces status when he downs an Fw 190 near Altenberg, Germany at 1515 hours. Maj. Schilling ends the war with 22.5 kills.

1st Lt. Robert S. Johnson 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieves ace status by downing a Bf 110 and a Fw 190 near Munster, Germany at 1530 hours. He ends the war with 27 kills and was the second highest scoring US fighter ace in the ETO, sixth highest of all US fighter pilots.

Capt. Walter C. Beckham, 351th FS/353d FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downs an Me 210 and two Bf 110 near Munster, Germany between 1530 and 1550 hours. Beckham ends the war with 18 e/a destroyed. (Skip Guidry)

U.S.S.R.: Dobrush, east of Gomel, is liberated by Soviet forces.

ITALY: The Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and RAF's Desert Air Force concentrate on gun positions on both the US Fifth and British Eighth Army battlefronts; vehicles, railroads, and town areas also are hit; the attacks take place northeast of Capua, at Guglionesi, at Cassino and Mondragone, between Rome and Terracina, and around the Termoli-Isernia-Pescara areas.

The U. S. 45th "Thunderbird" Infantry Division edges close to German defenses along the Volturno River by taking Pontelandolfo, a mountain town 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Benevento. (John Nicolas and Jack McKillop)

Naples: A time bomb kills 12 in the cathedral just before ranking U.S. officers arrive for Mass. Partisans attack German forces in Trieste, a large port near the Italian-Yugoslav frontier. The partisans penetrate into several of the city's suburbs and ignite a fierce battle.

YUGOSLAVIA: Partisans attack German forces in Trieste, a large port near the Italian-Yugoslav frontier. The partisans penetrate into several of the city's suburbs and ignite a fierce battle.

GREECE: Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb 2 airfields at Athens, while B-24s hit Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes and Calato and Heraklion Airfields on Crete.

P-38s escort shipping off Rhodes, hit Antimachia Airfield in the Dodecanese Islands, and attack vessels in the harbors of Corfu, Greece, and Kotor, Yugoslavia, and off Tivat, Yugoslavia, and hit targets of opportunity in the Aegean Sea and along its eastern coastline.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Adolf Hitler's decision to fight for Rome dooms Churchill's plan to take the Dodecanese Islands in the eastern Mediterranean and open a supply route to Turkey and the Soviet Union. During a strategy conference, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his top commanders realize they don't have enough men and equipment for two Mediterranean campaigns; one in Italy, the other in the Dodecanese. Ike angers British Prime Minister Winston Churchill by refusing to send part of his forces to the islands.

Submarine HMS Trooper is not heard from after leaving Beirut for a patrol west of the Dodecanese on 26 September. She may have been mined, or the victim of an accident. There were no survivors, all 60 crew becoming casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-73 set an agent ashore on Cape Khanis in the Mediterranean.

BURMA: Seven Tenth Air Force B-24s pound the Meza railroad bridge destroying the 3 spans on the eastern end and dropping the end of a central span into the river.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Twenty Fourteenth Air Force 20 B-24s and 18 P-40s attack docks at Haiphong.

CHINA: 8 P-40s bomb a match factory and ammunition dump at Tengchung and 8 others hit a supply dump and targets of opportunity in the Lungling area.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 24 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, 50+ P-38s, P-40s, and P-39s, and 50+USNfighters and dive bombers attack Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island and surrounding areas, hitting runways, a fuel dump, supply area, buildings, and Malabita Hill gun positions. US airplanes claim 15 interceptors shot down and B-24 sink a Japanese army cargo ship 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) southwest of Buka passage.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force A-20s and RAAF aircraft again attack the Sattelberg area. During the night of 10/11 October, B-25s hit Saumlakki on Tanimbar Island in the Moluccas Islands.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two USN submarines sink an IJA cargo ship and a troopship while the submarine USS Kingfish (SS-234) lays mines off Cape Pepe, Makassar Strait, Celebes.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Chilliwack completed forecastle extension refit Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Baseball!

The motion picture "Lassie Come Home" is released. Directed by Fred M. Wilcox, this family drama from Eric Knight's novel stars Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Dame May Whitty, Edmund Gwenn, Nigel Bruce, Elsa Lanchester, Elizabeth Taylor, Arthur Shields and of course, the real star, Pal, who plays Lassie. The plot of this tearjerker is about a poor family forced to sell their beloved dog who then undertakes a long and dangerous journey to return to the family and their young son (McDowall). The film is nominated for a cinematography Academy Award.

Destroyer escorts USS Barber and Loeser commissioned.

Destroyer USS Barton launched.

Submarine USS Piranha launched.

PANAMA: The Atlantic entrance to PANAMA Canal mined by a German submarine. (Glenn Steinberg)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyer HS Miaoulis rescued the crew of the destroyer HMS Panther.

One man was lost from U-584 in the North Atlantic. (Thus only 52 men were onboard when the boat was sunk 3 weeks later, instead of 53 like in most sources).

10 October 1944

October 10th, 1944 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: HMS Nabob (ex-USS Edisto), an Attacker-class escort carrier (known in the USN as Bogue-class), Capt. Horatio Nelson Lay OBE RCN CO, was declared a Total Constructive Loss as the result of damage sustained from a torpedo fired by U-354, OLtzS Hans-Jurgen Sthamer, CO, 120 mile west-north-west of North Cape, in the Barents Sea, on 22 Aug 44. Postwar became SS Nabob.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army area's XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division captures Fossieux.

In the French First Army area, the II Corps expands the Moselotte bridgehead to Planois, on the east-west road to La Bresse. Hopes of a quick lateral thrust to secure that communications center are dashed when II Corps is asked to extend northward to the line Fougerolles-Remiremont-Le Tholy-Gerardmer, effective on 14 October, to relieve the southern flank units of U.S. Seventh Army. No further effort is made at this time to extend holdings along north bank of the Moselotte River.

GERMANY: The US 1st Army continues attacks near Aachen. The commander of the US 1st "Big Red One" Infantry Division sends an ultimatum to the German garrison of Aachen: "Surrender or retreat within 24 hours or the city will be blasted to bits."

In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, after further efforts to clear Bardenberg, a reserve battalion of the 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, withdraws at night to permit the shelling of the Germans there; the 120th Infantry Regiment seizes the Birk crossroads, which controls the road to Bardenberg, thus jeopardizing German forces at Bardenberg; the 3oth Infantry Division claims 20 German tanks during fighting yesterday and today. In the VII Corps area, so favorable do the prospects of closing the Aachen gap appear that 1st Infantry Division delivers an ultimatum calling for surrender of the city within 24 hours; the ultimatum states, "Surrender or retreat within 24 hours or the city will be blasted to bits." In the Huertgen Forest, the Germans overrun the two forward platoons of the 39th Infantry Regiment of 9th Infantry Division in the Wittscheidt area early in day; the 39th Infantry Regiment later recovers lost ground and takes Germeter without opposition; the 60th Infantry Regiment units re-enter the woods and seize a road junction almost 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) southwest of Richelskaul.

During the night of 10/11 October, RAF Bomber Command sends Mosquitos to hit six targets: 47 bomb Cologne, six bomb the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Pforzheim, five each bomb Duisburg and the M/Y at Aschaffenburg, two bomb Lohausen Airfield at Dusseldorf, and one bombs the city of Aschaffenburg .

U-2512 commissioned.

U-2353 laid down.

U-3010 launched.

POLAND: Eight hundred Gypsy children, including more than 100 boys between 9 and 14 years old, are gassed to death at Auschwitz. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

WESTERN EUROPE: Weather cancels daytime bomber and fighter operations by the Ninth Air Force. During the night of 10/11 October, the IX Air defence Command flies patrol over Belgium and western Germany.

NETHERLANDS: 1st Lt. Charles "Chuck" Yeager, 363d FS/357th FG, USAAF, downs five Bf 109s (bringing his total to 6.5) near Assen, Netherlands at about 1100 hours. Yeager ends the war with 11.5 kills. (Skip Guidry)

LITHUANIA: The Soviet First Baltic Front, under General Bagramyan, reaches the Baltic coast of Lithuania on the northern outskirts of Memel and at Palanga, cutting off German forces in the besieged Latvian capital of Riga and the Courland peninsula. Memel, the city which Hitler annexed in March 1939, is holding out as German reinforcements are being rushed northwards, but their aim is primarily defensive: to stop the Russians reaching East Prussia.

Tallinn, the Estonian capital, fell to the Russians on 22 September, just eight days after they opened their current offensive. With Riga apparently doomed and most of Lithuania now under Russian control, the Germans in Courland can only escape by sea. It is thought that as many as 33 divisions of the German Sixteenth and Eighteenth Armies of Army Group North under General Schorner have retreated into Courland with much of their heavy equipment.

BALTIC SEA: While the German navy still controls the Baltic with heavy ships like the ADMIRAL HIPPER, Schorner should be safe, but he is danger of becoming irrelevant as the Russians sweep on to East Prussia.

U-2331 (Type XXIII) Sank near Hela, at approximate position 54.00N, 18.00E, in an accident. 15 dead. Raised and towed to Gotenhafen, further details unknown. (Alex Gordon)

FINLAND: In retaliation for Finland's 'base and unhonourable acts', Generaloberst Lothar Rendulic has ordered that all state owned buildings at Rovaniemi, the largest city of Finnish Lappland, shall be destroyed. This results in almost complete destruction of the center of the city.

Even if the Germans caused widespread destruction in some parts of northern Finland, it has to be stressed that the civilian population (what was left of it after evacuations into Sweden) was spared. After the Finnish invasion of Tornio some hostages were taken, but they were not maltreated and were soon released.

HUNGARY: Budapest: One of the fiercest battles yet seen in this war is raging on the Hungarian plain around the ancient city of Debrecen where two Panzer divisions of Germany's Army Group South, under the command of General Johannes Friessner, have cut off three of Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's tank corps advancing from the Ukraine.

German Tiger and Panther tanks are locked in combat with Russian T34s equipped with 85mm guns in a swirling melee. The Germans supported by their Hungarian allies, are inflicting heavy casualties on the Russians who are supported by their new Romanian allies.

Despite his initial success, which has given Hitler new hop that his military fortunes have changed, Friessner knows that he will be unable to maintain his position once the full strength of Malinovsky's forces is brought to bear.

ITALY: The US II Corps continues the advance towards Bologna. The rugged terrain and weather assist the vigorous German defence.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division makes another futile attempt to take Mt. Stanco, getting almost to the crest before being driven back. The II Corps opens the third phase of an offensive toward Bologna. The 34th Infantry Division tries in vain to outflank the Monterumici hill mass. In the 91st Infantry Division zone, the 361st Infantry Regiment makes it's main effort against the Livergnano escarpment without appreciable gains. Efforts to relieve Company K in Livergnano fail; most of the company is captured by the Germans. The 2d Battalion of the 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division attacks lofty Mt. delle Formiche but, although strongly supported by air and artillery, is stopped short of the crest; The 337th, reinforced by the 1st Battalion of the 338th, makes some progress toward Hill 578 of Monterenzio hill mass. In the British XIII Corps area, the Indian 8th Division gains positions near top of Mt. Casalino.

In the British Eighth Army’s V Corps area, German opposition along the Fiumicino River collapses with the capture of Spaccato by the Indian 10th Division. The 46th Division takes Longiano and La Crocetta. The Canadian I Corps regroups for a drive across the Fiumicino River. Reconnaissance elements of the 1st Division cross at Savignano di Romagna without opposition; bridging is begun at the crossing site.

Almost 170 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack 4 marshalling yards at Treviso and Mestre and bridges at Susegana and San Dona di Piave plus rail lines in surrounding areas; about 90 fighters provide support in the Udine-Treviso area; 350+ other heavy bombers are forced to abort a mission because of weather.

Twelfth Air Force medium bombers are again grounded due to weather; fighter-bombers, though also hampered by weather, manage to closely support ground forces, particularly at Monte delle Formiche where US 85th Infantry Division elements are stopped short of the crest, and attack communications north of the battle area in the Northern Apennines. (Jack McKillop

During the night of 10/11 October, 33 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the East marshalling yard at Verona.

YUGOSLAVIA: In its advance toward Belgrade, the Red Army breaks through the German lines in Serbia when forces of the Soviet Third Ukrainian Front cut the Nis-Belgrade railroad at Velika Plana. .

GREECE: British and Greek forces capture Corinth.

BURMA: 28 Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts support ground forces near Pinhe, bomb the towns of Tawbon and Man Naung, and hit targets of opportunity in and near Momauk. Transport operations to various points in the CBI continue at the rate of 250+ sorties.

CHINA: 12 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s bomb and considerably damage the Kunlong ferry; 38 P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance attack a bridge and other targets of opportunity near Mangshih, hit troop areas around Tanchuk and Wuchou, river traffic near Dosing.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack locomotives and barges along the northern French Indochina coast.

JAPAN: 4 Eleventh Air Force B-24s abort a strike at Kashiwabara, Paramushiru Island, Kurile Islands, due to strong headwinds. It took the aircraft 5 hours to fly to the location they turn at and 1 hour and 50 minutes to fly back to Shemya Island, Aleutian Islands.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Japanese air units have been reinforced and they have about 400 aircraft in the islands, half of them are considered operational.

NEW GUINEA: 107 Far East Air Forces B-24s escorted by 11 P-38s and 16 P-47s strike the Pendasari oil refinery and an airfield in the Balikpapan area; this is the largest attack of the war on the oil refineries at Balikpapan and the lubricating oil refinery is projected to be out of action for one month. The B-24s and escorting P-47s and P-38s shoot down 18 IJA fighters; 4 B-24s and a P-38 are lost. downed. On Halmahera Island, P-38s and B-25s bomb Djailolo, Kaoe, and Hate Tabako Airfield and the Wasile town area and P-47s hit Liang Airfield on Ambon Island.

In Dutch New Guinea, A-20s hit the Sarmi area and A-20s and B-25s bomb Urarom Airfield. (Robert McFall and Jack McKillop)

PACIFIC OCEAN: US naval TF 38 begins a series of air strikes against Onami-Oshima, Okinawa and Sakashima. Their targets are Japanese aircraft and shipping.

Two USN and a Dutch Navy submarine sink an IJA transport, a merchant transport and a guardboat. The Dutch submarine HNMS Zwaardvisch sinks a Japanese coastal vessel by gunfire about 80 nautical miles (148 kilometers) north of Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East Indies, in position 05.57S, 112.29E.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, the 5th Marine Regiment makes limited progress against the Umurbrogol Pocket.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: 14 Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan bomb the airfield on Iwo Jima and shipping off the eastern shore.

MARIANA ISLANDS: Twenty four USAAF Seventh Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts attack buildings and storage caves on Pagan Island; later a B-24 bombs the radio station north of the airfield on Pagan Island. Pagan Island is an 18 square mile (46,6 square kilometer) island with active volcanoes in the northern Mariana Islands located about 286 nautical miles (530 kilometers) north-northeast of Guam. The Japanese occupied this German island in 1914 and fortified it and built an airfield on it. The radio station is used to warn Japan when a B-29 Superfortress mission is being flown.

NAURU ISLAND: Twelve USAAF Seventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells from Makin Island bomb runways and adjacent antiaircraft positions on Nauru Island. Nauru Island is a 21 square kilometer (8 square mile) island in the South Pacific Ocean, located about halfway between the Gilbert and Solomon Islands. The island is rich in phosphate deposits and was occupied by the Japanese on 25 August 1942.

WESTERN PACIFIC: The USN's Task Force 38 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) pounds Japanese shipping and installations on Okinawa and other islands in the Ryukyu Islands. This is the first occasion since the Marianas campaign in which all four carrier task groups operate together as one unit and during the day, TF 38 planes fly 1,396 sorties and destroy 4 cargo ships, a submarine tender, 2 midget submarines, 12 PT boats, numerous sampans, various ground installations and shoot down at least 26 aircraft.

The Navy loses 21 aircraft but all but 5 pilots and 4 aircrew are rescued.

One of the F6F Hellcat pilots who achieves ace status today is Lieutenant Bert D. Morris, Jr. of Fighting Squadron Fifteen (VF-15) who shoots down a "Tony" fighter (Kawasaki Ki-61, Army Type 3 Fighter, Hien); Morris appeared in 27 movies between 1936 and 1941 as Wayne Morris and he returned to acting after the war.

This is the beginning of the campaign to retake the Philippines as the vanguard of General MacArthur's Philippines invasion fleet sails from New Guinea and the nearby Admiralty Islands. TF 38 consists of 9 aircraft carriers and 8 light aircraft carriers as follows:

Task Group 38.1 (TG-38.1) with the aircraft carriers USS Hornet (CV-12) with Carrier Air Group Eleven (CVG-11) and USS Wasp (CV-18) with CVG-14;

and the light aircraft carriers USS Cowpens (CVL-25) with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Two (CVLG-22) and USS Monterey (CVL-26) with CVLG-28.

TG 38.2 with the aircraft carriers USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) with CVG-8, USS Hancock (CV-19) with CVG-7 and USS Intrepid (CV-11) with CVG-18; and the light aircraft carriers USS Cabot (CVL-28) with CVLG-29 and USS Independence (CVL-22) with Night Light Carrier Air Group Forty One [CVLG(N)-41].

TG 38.3 with the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9) with CVG-15 and USS Lexington (CV-16) with CVG-19; and the light aircraft carriers USS Langley (CVL-27) with CVLG-44 and USS Princeton (CVL-23) with CVLG-27.

TG 38.4 with the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise (CV-6) with CVG-20 and USS Franklin (CV-13) with CVG-13; and the light aircraft carriers USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) with CVLG-21 and USS Jacinto (CVL-30) with CVLG-51. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Fredericton completed refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

ASW target towing vessel assigned to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Heavy cruiser USS Pittsburgh commissioned.

Destroyer minelayer USS Adams commissioned.

Frigate USS Grand Rapids commissioned.

Destroyer USS Newman K Perry laid down.

10 October 1945

October 10th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

FRANCE: The Milice chief Joseph Darnand is executed.

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS St Laurent, frigate HMCS Wentworth and HMC ML 067 paid off Halifax and placed in reserve Bedford Basin.

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