12 October 1939

1938 (WEDNESDAY)

CHINA: The Japanese launch a major Fall Offensive in southern China, wrestling control of several major cities from the Chinese. The Japanese land forces at Bias Bay, near Hong Kong taking advantage of the Czechoslovak-German Crisis in Europe.

October 12th, 1939 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain warns Germany to choose between definite guarantees for permanent European security and "war to the utmost of our strength" stating, "Peace conditions cannot be acceptable which begin by condoning aggression. . . . Past experience has shown that no reliance can be placed upon the promises of the present German Government. . . . Only when world confidence is restored will it be possible to find--as we would wish to do with the aid of all who show good will--solutions of those questions which disturb the world; which stand in the way of disarmament, retard the restoration of trade, and prevent the improvement of the well-being of the peoples. There is thus a primary condition to be satisfied. Only the German Government can fulfill it. If they will not, there can as yet be no new or better world order of the kind for which all nations yearn."

British seizure of U.S. mail continues. Authorities at the contraband control station at Weymouth remove 94 sacks addressed to Rotterdam, 81 to Antwerp and 184 to Germany, from U.S. freighter SS Black Tern, which was detained yesterday; authorities at the Downs remove 77 sacks of parcel post, 33 sacks of registered mail, and 156 sacks of regular mail addressed to the Netherlands, in addition to 65 sacks of mail addressed to Belgium, 4 to Luxembourg, 3 to Danzig, and 259 to Germany, from Dutch motorship MS Zaandam.

GERMANY: SS-Hauptsturmführer Adolf Eichmann">Eichmann (Captain), head of Section IV B4 of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA), which is charged with assembling Europe's Jews under German control, begins deporting Jews from Austria and Czechoslovakia into Poland. (Perry Stewart)

POLAND: Krakow: Hitler appoints the Nazi Lawyer Hans Frank to head the new administration for German-occupied Poland, now renamed the "General Government".

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Russia presents its official demands for an exchange of territory.
They are proposing that Finland should give over territory in the Karelian Isthmus, the islands at the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and lease a base at Hanko peninsula in Finland's southern coast. The Soviets are ready to give in exchange a swathe of territory in northern Karelia. Finns resisted because the territory in the Isthmus would include the southern part of the main defensive line (that would later be known as the 'Mannerheim Line'), because the Hanko base would be uncomfortably near Helsinki, and because the territory in Karelia the Soviets are offering is strategically and economically worthless undeveloped land. But the most important reason is that the Finns are afraid that the Soviet proposals are just the first step in an attempt to annex Finland. The Finnish negotiators have the powers to discuss giving over the islands in the Gulf of Finland and considerably smaller concessions in the Isthmus, but absolutely no base at Hanko. The popular opinion in Finland firmly opposes any concessions. All this happens while Estonia and other Baltic states have already submitted under Soviet pressure and Soviet units are arriving at the agreed bases in Estonia.

CANADA: Tug HMCS Murray Stewart commissioned as examination vessel Saint John, New Brunswick. Built by Port Arthur Shipbuilding, Port Arthur, Ontario, 109x26x16ft, single screw, steam triple-expansion 156 NHP, 10kts, Purchased 1922 by Dept, of Transport, to RCN 1939-46, Post WW.II, sold 1946, renamed David Richard in 1951, at Port Arthur, renamed 1979 Georgian Queen. Pendant (Z19)(A)>(J19).

UNITED STATES: The U.S. Army Air Corps places an order for 270 Fairchild Model M62A primary trainers to be designated PT-19s. A total of 7,741 aircraft are built including 4,889 PT-19s built by Aeronca, Fairchild and St. Louis Aircraft; 1,125 PT-23s with a different engine built by Aeronca; Fairchild; Fleet Aviation of Ft. Erie, Ontario; Howard and St. Louis; and 1,727 PT-26s with a cockpit hood built by Fairchild and Fleet Aviation. The Royal Canadian Air Force receives 1,565 of these aircraft under Lend-Lease designating them Cornells.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: RN warships operating on the Northern Patrol continue to stop neutral merchantman; between this date and 26 October, 112 vessels are stopped, of which 23 are detained at Kirkwall for the inspection of their cargoes.

U-37 sank SS Aris.

U-48 sank SS Emile Miguet in Convoy KJ-2.

12 October 1940

October 12th, 1940 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Battle of Britain: Biggin Hill and Kenley are attacked in daylight.

There is widespread mist and fog during the day, clearing later. During the daylight period, German forces, again composed largely of fighter aircraft carrying bombs, stage several attacks on the South-eastern corner of England and bombs are dropped in Kent, Sussex, Surrey and the Isle of Wight, damage being slight except in Hastings where two attacks are made. At 1010 hours, four houses and five warehouses are damaged, and at 1350 hours when a major fire is started at the Gas Works and seven houses are wrecked. Some of the Luftwaffe aircraft penetrate to London, where incidents, none of any great importance, occur in Mayfair, Woolwich and Deptford, and in the Dockside area. After dark, Greater London is attacked intermittently from 1920 hours to 2300 hours, and damage, which is not heavy, is mainly confined to the Railway system. In Trafalgar Square, a high explosive bomb falls at 2045 hours near King Charles' Statue and penetrates to the Hall at the bottom of the escalator at the Trafalgar Square Tube (Subway) Station, where it explodes, killing seven people and injuring 30. A heavy attack on the Coventry area develops between 2037 hours and 2150 hours, and several serious fires are started; many other scattered localitibed during the night, but the scale of the attack is light and no material damage is caused in these districts. The new explosive incendiary bombs claim a victim when a man is pouring sand over a specimen which is burning. The bomb then explodes and the man is killed. RAF Fighter Command claims 10-11-7 Luftwaffe aircraft and antiaircraft batteries claim another 1-0-0. The RAF loses ten aircraft with four pilots lost.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 11; RAF, 10.

London: The National Gallery was hit by a bomb today, but Myra Hess carried on her Gallery concerts as she has been doing for the past year. Against the bare walls of the central galleries (the pictures are safe in a Welsh slate quarry), lunch-time chamber-music concerts are given to 1,500 people, who pay a shilling a head to hear pianists like Solomon and Denis Mathews as well as Myra Hess's Bach and Beethoven. Much of the music - like the bomb damage is German.

Corvette HMS Arbutus commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Mendip commissioned.

GERMANY: Hitler postpones the invasion of England until - if then thought advisable - April 1941.

U-70 launched.

U-98 commissioned.

ROMANIA: A German military mission is set up in Bucarest for the purpose of aiding in the training of the Romanian Army.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A British convoy with four merchant vessels left Alexandria, Egypt, for Malta on 8 October. This convoy is escorted by the light cruisers HMS Calcutta (D 82) and, Coventry (D 43) and four destroyers. Cover is provided by the Mediterranean Fleet with the battleships HMS Warspite (03), Valiant (02), Malaya (01) and Ramillies (07); the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious (87) and Eagle (94); the heavy cruiser HMS York (90); the light cruisers HMS Gloucester (62), Liverpool (11), Ajax (22), Orion (85) and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney (D48; and 16 destroyers. The convoy is not spotted and arrives safe at Malta on 11 October. The only damage sustained is to the destroyer HMS Imperial (D 09) that is mined off Malta and is out of action for over six months.

While on the return trip the Mediterranean Fleet is sighted by an Italian aircraft and the Italian Navy tries to intercept them in the Ionian Sea. During the night of 11/12 October the 1st Italian Torpedo Boat Flotilla with Airone, Alcione and Ariel attack the light cruiser HMS Ajax. The attack fails and Ajax sinks Airone and Ariel while Alcione escapes. A little while later the Italian 11th Destroyer Flotilla, with Artigliere, Aviere, Camicia Nera and Geniere arrive on the scene. They are surprised by gunfire from HMS Ajax. Artigliere (640-ton) is heavily damaged and Aviere is lightly damaged. Camicia Nere tries to tow Artigliere away but she is sighted by an RAF Sunderland aircraft that homes in three Swordfish aircraft from HMS Illustrious. However the torpedoes they fire don't hit the Italian ships. Later the British heavy cruiser HMS York arrives on the scene. Camicia Nera quickly slips the towing line and sped off. After her crew has left the ship Artiglire is sunk by York with torpedoes. Radio signals are transmitted on Italian frequencies giving the position of survivors, and a Sunderland flying boat guided an Italian hospital ship to the scene. The carriers later launch strikes against Leros in the Dodecanese.

FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA: In Douala, Cameroon, Brigadier General Charles DeGaulle, leader of the Free French forces, issues orders for the liquidation of the Vichy enclave in Gabon and departs for meeting with Felix Eboue, the Governor of Chad, and Marchand at Fort Lamy, Chad, and a tour of Free French posts on the Libyan border. The trip nearly ends in disaster when the DeGaulle’s plane makes a forced landing in the middle of a swamp.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur"> MacArthur drafts memorandum to Quezon detailing America’s refusal to commit to a defence plan for the Commonwealth and emphasizing that the Philippines could only remain independent if shielded by guarantees of US military support. The memorandum highlights the failure by both the War and Navy Departments to develop a specific plan, be this withdrawal or reinforcement, for the Islands, and warns Quezon that “strategic abandonment” by the US was a possibility. (Marc Small)

U.S.A.: Dayton, Ohio: President Roosevelt rejects appeasement, and promises to defend America and its seas against aggression.

"We of the Americas still consider that this defense of these oceans of the Western Hemisphere against acts of aggression is the first factor in the defense and protection of our own territorial integrity. We reaffirm that policy, lest there be any doubt of our intention to maintain it. . . .We are building a total defense on land and sea and in the air, sufficient to repel total attack from any part. of the world. . . .The core of our defense is the faith we have in the institutions we defend. The Americas will not be scared or threatened into the ways the dictators want us to follow. . . .The people of the United States, the people of all the Americas, reject the doctrine of appeasement. They recognize it for what it is–a major weapon of the aggressor nations. . That is why we arm. Because, I repeat, this nation wants to keep war away from these two continents. Because we all of us are determined to do everything possible to maintain peace on this hemisphere. Because great strength of arms is the practical way of fulfilling our hopes for peace and for staying out of this war or any other war. Because we are determined to muster all our strength so that we may remain free."

Cowboy actor Tom Mix, 60, dies of a broken neck after his car overturns in Florence, Arizona.

Tom Mix, the best known cowboy actor, is killed in a car accident in Florence, Arizona. While driving at about 80 mph (128.7 km/h), he lost control of the car after hitting a dirt detour and is instantly killed. Mix appeared in over 300 motion pictures between 1909 and 1935 and was one of the highest-paid actor in silent films during the 1920s making US$7,500 (US$73,529 in year 2000 dollars) per week.

While operating off the coast of Virginia, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) launches 24 USAAC P-40s from the 8th Pursuit Group (Fighter) and nine O-47As from the 2d Observation Squadron to gather data on comparative take-off runs of naval and army aircraft. This is the first time that Army aircraft have flown off a USN carrier.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-101 sank SS Saint Malô in Convoy HX-77. Canadian merchantman was ex-French registered freighter (5,779 GRT), which had been requisitioned for Canada. Of her crew of 44, 28 men were lost. ST MALO had been part of convoy HX77, which had left Halifax on 30 Sep 40 with 39 ships. She was laden with 7,274 tons of general cargo. The convoy arrived in Liverpool on 15 Oct 40 having lost six merchant ships.

U-48 sank SS Davanger in Convoy HX-77.

U-59 sank SS Pacific Ranger in Convoy HX-77.

12 October 1941

October 12th, 1941 (SUNDAY)

GERMANY: During the night of 12/13 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 373 aircraft (a new highest total) to three targets, 152 to Nuremberg, 99 to Bremen and 90 to Hüls, while 32 others are on minor operations such as minelaying. The Nuremberg raid highlights the problems of navigating by dead reckoning with a changeable wind as bombs are reported from Stuttgart, 95 miles (153 kilometers) west of the target and Lauingen 65 miles (105 kilometers) away. The crews sent to the other main targets are only marginally more successful.

U.S.S.R.: On the northern flank of the German Army Group Center, the 1st Panzer Division takes Rhzev and moves on to the outskirts of the vital communications hub of Kalinn. On the southern flank, Kaluga (less than 100 miles southwest of Moscow falls to German forces. The worsening weather has caused problems with the advance, but has not been able to stop it. Today the Russians evacuate Bryansk, and civilians start to be evacuated from Moscow.

Over 440,000 Moscow citizens, mostly women, children and old men, are mobilized to build defenses in and around Moscow. In four days they would dig 60 miles (97 kilometers) of anti-tank ditches, 5,000 miles (8 047 kilometers) of troop trenches and lay 177 miles (285 kilometers) of barbed wire.

Remnants of the Soviet forces still encircled at Viazma continue to attack east in a feeble attempts to escape the German encirclement.

The first large convoy from England reaches the Soviet port of Archangel, bringing 20 heavy tanks and 193 aircraft to the beleaguered Soviets.

LIBYA: A series of relief efforts for Tobruk begin today. During the next 14 days over 7000 troops of the British 70th Infantry Division will be transferred in and almost 8000 Australians will be pulled out. The British lose minelayer Latona and damage to one destroyer.

U.S.A.: THE NEW YORK TIMES lists two commercial TV stations in New York City, WNBT (now WNBC-TV) on channel 1 and WCBW (now WCBS-TV) on channel 2.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-75 sank HMS LCT-2 and LCT-7.

U-83 sank SS Corte Real.

12 October 1942

October 12th, 1942 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Frigates HMS Deveron and Teviot launched.

Destroyer HMS Grenville launched.

Submarines HMS Ultor and Simoon launched.

Frigate HMS Test commissioned.

GERMANY: During the night of 12/13 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 59 Lancasters to bomb Wismar. They encounter bad weather conditions but 51 claim to have started a large fire at the target. Two aircraft are lost and one bombs Lubeck.

U-290 and U-680 laid down.

POLAND: Deportations from Upper Silesia commence. Fifteen thousand Jews are transported to various murder sites.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine "Sch-302"of the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas is mined and then finished by aviation North to Bolshoi Tuters Is. (Sergey Anisimov) (69)

Soviet submarine SC-308 sunk by depth charges by Finnish patrol boats VMV 13 and VMV 15 Tiiskeri.

EGYPT: Bomber Command, US Army, Middle East Air Force, is organized at Cairo with Colonel Patrick W Timberlake as Commanding Officer; this step comes about as part of a move to preserve the Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold-Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal-Admiral John H Towers, USN, agreement that US combat units in theaters of British strategic responsibility are to be organized in homogeneous "American formations" and under strategic control only" of a British Commander-in-Chief.

LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses hit shipping in Tobruk harbor.

CHINA: Lieutenant General Stilwell, Commanding General, U.S. Army China-Burma-India Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek requests that a second 30 Chinese divisions be equipped.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, two Australian battalions converge on Templeton's Crossing on the Kododa Track. In the afternoon, one of the battalions encounters the Japanese between Myola and Templeton's Crossing but makes little progress.

Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs attack the village of Isivita and targets on the trail near Wairopi; and B-25 Mitchells bomb Buna, Wairopi bridge, and targets along the Buna-Kokoda trail.

AUSTRALIA: Russia and Australia established diplomatic relations.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Late yesterday evening a US Naval Task Force, under Admiral Scott headed north for Ironbottom Sound. Their intent is to intercept a run by the "Tokyo Express". They will miss the reinforcement run and intercept a bombardment run.

Admiral Goto on Aoba, with Furutaka and Kinugasa and destroyers Fubuki and Hatsusuyuki has been assigned the first of the major bombardment missions in October.

Scott from cruiser San Francisco leads Boise, Salt Lake City and Helena with destroyers Ferenholt, Duncan Laffey Buchanan and McCalla.

Due to a planned reversal of course to his patrol route, Admiral Scott crosses the "T" on Admiral Goto in the naval action that has become known as The Battle of Cape Esperance. The Japanese ships, with bombardment shells handy, are not suspecting the US force. Destroyer Duncan is sunk and 3 of the four US cruisers are damaged. Cruiser Furutaka, destroyers Fubui and hatsusuyuki are sunk from direct action in the battle. Destroyer Natsugumo is sunk by the Cactus Airforce the next day.

The Battle of Cape Esperance shows the Japanese spotting the US force without the aid of radar before the radar return of the US force is believed. The complacency of the Japanese Admiral squanders this advantage. Due to the success in this battle, Scott's single column tactics will be followed in future battles, without corresponding success.

The reinforcement convoy of seaplane carriers Nisshin and Chitose with 6 destroyers unloads supplies and 280 reinforcements on Guadalcanal. Included in the equipment unloaded are 4 150mm howitzers. These will become known to the Marines as "Pistol Pete".

Sixteen SBD Dauntlesses escorted by 16 F4F Wildcats and 8 P-39Airacobras take off from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal at 0515 hours, in search of the Japanese ships that resupplied the island last night. SBD pilots follow oil slicks and locate four IJN destroyers north of the Russell Islands and a Scouting Squadron Seventy One (VS-71) SBD pilot scores a near miss on destroyer HIJMS Natsugumo which later sinks.

At 0800 hours, 14 USMC F4Fs plus 6 SBDs and 6 TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) attack the ships. The F4Fs strafe 2 IJN destroyers, the SBDs score 3 near misses on the ship and finally, a TBF torpedoes the destroyer HIJMS Murakumo which is later scuttled by destroyer HIJMS Shirayuki.

The USN destroyers USS Gwin (DD-433), USS Nicholas (DD-450), and USS Sterett (DD-407) shell Japanese artillery positions on Guadalcanal.

The first four boats of the USN's Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two (MTBRon 2) arrive at Government Wharf on Tulagi Island today. PTs 38, 46, 48 and 60 had arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia on 19 September and had been towed to Espirtu Santo Island. They were then towed from Espirtu Santo to a point 300 miles (482.8 km) from Tulagi by two fast minesweepers and then sailed on their own power. The second 4-boat division of the squadron will arrive on 25 October.

The US Army 164th Regiment lands on Guadalcanal.

Five Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb Japanese installations on Buka Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutian Islands: 2 Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators abort bombing of Kiska Island due to overcast and instead fly shipping search west of Attu Island.

CANADA: Russia's first Minister to Canada, Fyodor Guseff, arrived in Ottawa.

U.S.A.: Dinah Shore's record of "Maybe" makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. This is the first of her records to make the charts and it stays there for 2 weeks and rises to Number 17.

In Washington during a radio "fireside chat," President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that 18- and 19-year-olds will be drafted into the military services.

In Washington, Attorney General Francis Biddle says 600,000 first-generation Italian-Americans, including some who have lived in the United States for decades, no longer will be classified as enemy aliens.

Destroyers USS Braine and John Hood laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-597 is sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 56.50N, 28.05W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator, aircraft "H" of No. 120 Squadron based at Reykjavik, Iceland. All hands on the U-boat, 49 men, are lost.

U-514 sank SS Steel Scientist.

U-706 sank SS Stornest in Convoy ONS-136.

12 October 1943

October 12th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: MAC ship Empire MacCallum launched.

GERMANY: U-1103 and U-1199 launched.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: SKR-14 (ex-RT-86 "Indiga") - wrecked on rocks in Kara Sea(Sergey Anisimov)(69)

PORTUGAL: Lisbon: The BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC swung firmly in favour of the Allies tonight when Dr. Salazar, the Portuguese leader, revealed that British land, sea and air forces have arrived in the Azores. The islands, strategically placed in mid-Atlantic, will be used for the aerial protection of merchant shipping plying between the United States and Britain.

The move comes after weeks of secret talks between Britain and Portugal. Though the two countries have a treaty relationship that dates from the 14th century, Dr. Salazar, in close co-operation with Franco's Spain, has remained cautiously neutral between the Allied and Axis powers. The Azores pact reflects the growing certainty among neutrals that Hitler will eventually lose the war.

The US, though not a signatory to the pact, will use the islands for joint military operations with Britain. Air cover by RAF Catalina and Wellington aircraft based in Britain and Newfoundland left a gap - which will now be closed - of several hundred miles in mid-Atlantic, where the U-boats assembled to prey on Allied shipping.

The German consulate in the Azores is being closed and all German citizens are being evacuated. On the Portuguese mainland diplomatic links will continue.

ITALY: Tonight the US 5th Army begins the attack on the Volturno line. Due to weather, inadequate roads and German demolitions the Allied advance is limited to major roads until spring.

In the Mediterranean, XII Bomber Command operations are cancelled by weather. In Italy, the XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements operate on a reduced scale, hitting road junctions at Vasto and Fossacesia, Aquino Airfield, motor transport on the Itri-Pico road and on a road north of Rome in the Bolsena and Capranica areas, roads near Tarquinia, rail facilities at Cisterna di Latina, trains between Pescara and Benedello, and guns and troops near Cercemaggiore.

During the night of 12/13 October, the XII Air Support Command, supplemented by RAF Desert Air Force fighters, supports the US Fifth Army, which during the assault crossing of the Volturno River on a 40-mile (64 kilometer) front.

BURMA: 5 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the warehouse area and railroad yards at Myitkyina.

NEW BRITAIN: Rabaul is the target of the US 5th Air Force and receives 350 tons of bombs.

The Fifth Air Force and RAAF open an aerial campaign to neutralize or cripple the four Japanese airfields and naval base at Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, in support of the upcoming invasion of Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands. The first mission today is flown by 349 aircraft, 87 B-24s, 114 B-25s, 125 P-38s, 12 RAAF Beaufighters and 11 weather and reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft attack the airfields, the town, the harbour and ships in the harbour and sink 2 transports, 2 cargo lighters and a guard boat and damage 3 destroyers, 3 submarines, a special service ship, an oiler and 2 auxiliary sailing vessels. 50+ Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground; 4 B-24s and a B-25 are lost.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: B-25s fly small strikes against targets on Timor Island and other areas of the Netherlands East Indies. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, two Japanese battalions attack an Australian battalion at a position designated "John's Knoll" in the Ramu Valley south of Madang. The Japanese attack four times during the day but do not budge the Australians.

SOLOMON ISLANDS:2 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s skip-bomb 2 small vessels in Matchin Bay on Bougainville Island.

NEW CALEDONIA: Admiral William F. Halsey, Commander South Pacific Area and Commander Third Fleet, issues a basic plan for invasion of the Solomon Islands.

WESTERN PACIFIC: Submarine USS HALIBUT torpedoes and sinks the Japanese cargo ship EHIME MARU (4,500 tons), a medium freighter. (Mike Yared and the Honolulu Star)

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Matapedia departed Dartmouth, Nova Scotia under tow for repairs at Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Eight German mines are neutralized by Canadian minesweepers operating in the approaches to St. John's.

U.S.A.: The Blue Network Inc. (former NBC Blue Network) is purchased by Edward Noble, of Lifesavers fame or about $8 million. He bought the rights to the name American Broadcasting Company in 1945 from George Storer.

Submarine USS Pipefish launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Sellstrom, Mills and Harveson commissioned.

CARIBBEAN SEA: USS Dorado (SS-248) was probably sunk in error by US aircraft.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11) break up another German U-boat refuelling rendezvous when they attack U-488 about 600 miles (965.6 km) north of Flores Island, Azores and damage U-731. This is the second attack on submarines refuelling; the first was on 4 October.

An Avenger aircraft (VC-9) from escort carrier USS Card attacked U-378 with a Fido homing torpedo but the boat managed to outmanoeuvre it.

U-967 lost a man overboard on 12 October in the North Atlantic. [Mechnikergfreiter Hans Brackert].

12 October 1944

October 12th, 1944 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions:

* Mission 674: 552 bombers and 514 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; they claim 18-3-1 aircraft; 3 bombers and 5 fighters are lost:

- Weather prevents the 290 B-24s dispatched to hit the primaries at Vechta, Achmer, Rheine and Varrelbusch; PFF means were used to hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Osnabruck (267); 5 others hit Diepholz Airfield, a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 210 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-1-0 aircraft in the air.

- 262 B-17s are dispatched to aviation industries at Bremen (267) bombing visually; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost.

Escort is provided by 273 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 17-2-1 aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost. Five of the Luftwaffe aircraft, Bf 109s, are shot down by 1st Lieutenant Charles "Chuck" Yeager near Assen, the Netherlands, at about 1100 hours. In 1947, Yeager is the first pilot to crack the sound barrier in the Bell X-1.

* Mission 675: 8 aircraft are dispatched to drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night; 2 B-24s are lost.

Frigate HMCS Chebogue refloated and towed to reserve at Port Talbot.

WESTERN EUROPE: The Ninth Air Force sends almost 250 B-26s and A-20s to bomb Camp-de-Bitche, France, military camp; rail bridges at Grevenbroich and Ahrweiler, Germany; city areas of Langerwehe and Aldenhoven, Germany, and Venraij, the Netherlands; and various targets of opportunity. Escorting fighters also fly armed reconnaissance and rail cutting in the Dusseldorf and Aachen, Germany, and Belfort, France, areas, and support the VIII, XII, XV, and XX Corps in eastern France and western Germany.

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, the 3d Division attacks southward against the Peel Marshes salient, clearing Overloon. The U.S. 7th Armored Division provides a diversionary demonstration along the Deurne-Venray road.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 86 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos to attack the Fort Frederick Hendrik gun battery near Breskens; 92 aircraft attack the target and destroy two of the four gun positions. No aircraft are lost.

During the night of 12/13 October, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 675: eight B-24 Liberators are dispatched to drop leaflets over the country; two aircraft are lost.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the last elements of the 5th Infantry Division withdraw from Fort Driant, during the night of 12/13 October.

GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division with an objective of taking Wuerselen and closing the Aachen gap, is prevented from doing this by series of German counterattacks aimed at widening the Aachen corridor and forcing the corps back to the line Bardenberg-Euchen. The Germans are thrown back at Birk, southeast of Bardenberg, and at the northern Wuerselen with the aid of aircraft and artillery, but new panzer units are identified, indicating a major reinforcement of the region. Corps regroups to meet this threat. In the VII Corps area, in preparation for main assault on Aachen, the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, clears the factory district between Aachen and Haaren. Air and artillery bombardment of Aachen continues. In the Huertgen Forest, a German counterattack severs the main supply route of the 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, on the east-west trail leading into Germeter.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 111 Halifaxes and 26 Lancasters to attack the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil plant at Wanne-Eickel; 130 bomb the target. A direct hit on a storage tank early in the raid produces dense cloud and smoke which hinder later bombing. A German report says that the refinery itself is not seriously damaged but that the GAVEG chemical factory is destroyed; it is possible that the bombers are aiming at the wrong target.

During the night of 12/13 October, RAF Bomber Command sends Mosquitos to bomb seven targets: 46 hit Hamburg, five attack a chemical plant at Wiesbaden, four each bomb Koblenz and the Lohausen airfield at Dusseldorf, two hit Schweinfurt, and one each bomb Dusseldorf and, Essen.

U-2513 commissioned.

U-3025 laid down.

ITALY: In the U.S Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, Task Force 92 pushes to the crest of Mt. Cauala but is again forced to retire. Efforts to take Mt. Cauala are suspended for the next few days. In the II Corps area, the 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, extends eastward as it continues, in conjunction with Combat Command A of the 1st Armored Division, to attack the Monterumici hill mass. The 91st Infantry Division gets additional elements up the Livergnano escarpment but is unable to clear it. A battalion of the 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, attacks north on the crest of Mt. delle Formiche; the Germans defend Hill 578 against attacks of the 337th Infantry Regiment. The 88th Infantry Division continues to attack Mt. delle Tombe and clears the Gesso ridge.

The British Eighth Army is ordered to release the Indian 4th Division and the Greek 3d Mountain Brigade for service outside Italy. In the V Corps area, corps presses from the Rubicone River toward the Savio and Cesena Rivers. The Indian 10th Division advances its left flank to Mt. de Erta, east of the Savio River; elements crossing the Rubicone River to the north are held up in Sorrivoli. Attacking across the Rubicone River on right flank of the corps, the 46th Division takes Casale.

Twelfth Air Force medium bombers, supporting the US Fifth Army, attack communications, supply dumps, and bivouac and barracks areas south of Bologna; fighter-bombers and XII Fighter Command fighters, mainly in support of the US Fifth Army, blast supply dumps, gun positions, troop concentrations, and communications in the high country south of Bologna while the RAF Desert Air Force gives similar support to the British Eighth Army in the Rimini area.

Six hundred ninety eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, with fighter support, bomb ammunition and fuel dumps and depots, bivouac area, barracks, vehicle repair shop, munitions factory and targets of opportunity in the Bologna area (Operation PANCAKE) supporting the U.S. Fifth Army offensive in that sector; four aircraft are lost. One other aircraft bombs an airfield as a target of opportunity.

During the night of 12/13 October, 62 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit the marshalling yard at Bronzolo.

HUNGARY: Troops of Soviet Second Ukrainian Front take Oradea in Transylvania and continue the battle for Debrecen.

One hundred sixty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs strafe the mainline railroad and Danube River traffic in the Vienna, Austria-Gyor, Hungary-Budapest, Hungary, areas and strafe Seregelyes Airfield, Hungary, disrupting traffic and destroying many Axis airplanes.

YUGOSLAVIA: A joint force of Tito's partisans and Russian soldiers captures Subotica, cutting the Belgrade to Budapest railway line.

GREECE: Athens is declared an open city by the retreating Germans as British paratroopers take Athens airport. The declaration preserves the city and its monuments from the devastation of combat. Meanwhile, the Germans evacuate Piraeus southwest of Athens and British troops land on Corfu, an island in the Ionian Islands off the coast of Albania and Greece. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

Advance detachment of British 4th Parachute Battalion and Royal Engineers is dropped in Megara area to secure and repair airfield. Piraeus and Kalamata are found to be clear of the Germans.

ALBANIA: A British commando force from Land Forces, Adriatic, lands in the Sarande area of southern Albania.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Around 700 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter support, bomb ammunition and fuel dumps and depots, bivouac area, barracks, vehicle repair shop, munitions factory and targets of opportunity in the Bologna, Italy, area (Operation PANCAKE) supporting the US Fifth Army offensive in that sector. 160 P-51s strafe the mainline railroad and Danube River traffic in the Vienna, Austria-Gyor, Hungary-Budapest, Hungary, areas and strafe Seregelyes Airfield, Hungary, disrupting traffic and destroying many enemy airplanes.

Destroyer HMS Loyal (G 15) runs over an acoustic mine in the Tyrrhenian Sea and suffers immense shock damage. All machinery and armament on board is affected by the blast and she is paid paid off until finally being broken up in 1948. (Alex Gordon)(108)

BURMA: 18 Tenth Air Force P-47s bomb railroad targets in the Naba-Mawlu rail corridor damaging a bridge approach, and strike troops and stores near Nayakaung; 12 other P-47s hit various targets at Pintha and Nyaunggon; and 4 B-25s knock out a bridge just north of Lashio and 3 others knock out a bridge at Kawlin and damage tracks near the Man Pwe bridge.

CHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s and 12 P-40s attack the Chefang storage area and a bridge and general targets of opportunity in the Mangshih area; 40+ P-40s and P-51 Mustangs on armed reconnaissance covering wide areas of southern China and extending into western Burma attack troop concentrations, river traffic, storage areas, and buildings in areas around Taochuan, Kweiping, Hsinganhsien, Yuncheng, Tanchuk, and Hsenwi.

JAPAN: Eleventh Air Force B-24s attack the airfield and shipping targets in the Matsuwa Island-Onnekotan Island area in the Kurile Islands.

NEW GUINEA: From his headquarters at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific, issues orders for the invasion of Luzon, Philippine Islands, to be undertaken by the U.S. Sixth Army’s I Corps (6th and 43d Infantry Divisions, reinforced) and XIV Corps (37th and 40th Infantry Divisions, reinforced). The 25th Infantry and 11th Airborne Divisions, Regimental Combat Team 158, the 6th Ranger Battalion, and the 13th Armored Group constitute the reserve and follow-up forces. Various service units are assigned as army and corps troops.

In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers hit Manokwari and Utarom Airfields and A-20 Havocs bomb pillboxes in the Sarmi area.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, Lieutenant General Roy Geiger opens the III Amphibious Corps Command Post ashore and declares the assault and occupation phase at an end. The 1st Marine Division is now responsible only for the Umurbrogol Pocket. The Army’s 321st Infantry Regiment takes responsibility for the eastern arm of the island and begins relieving Marine units. Island Garrison Force takes over the region south of the Umurbrogol Pocket. Fighting continues it will be declared completely occupied on September 30 by Admiral Fort.

EAST CHINA SEA: US naval TF 38 begins a series of attacks on FORMOSA. Between today and the 14th 2,350 sorties will be flown. US losses are 71 aircraft, damage to the carrier Franklin cruiser Houston and cruiser HMAS Canberra which was torpedoed.( This happened on the 13th, local time.)

Task Force 38 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) launches 1,000+ aircraft from 17 aircraft carriers against Japanese shipping, airfields, and industrial plants on Formosa, regarded as the strongest and best-developed base south of the homeland proper, and on northern Luzon, Philippine Islands. The aircraft fly 1,378 sorties today and they sink 4 transports, a cargo ship, 4 IJA cargo ships, 5 merchant cargo ships and 8 merchant tankers and damage several other ships. Opposition is unexpectedly strong and 48USNaircraft are lost. USN fighters destroy 211 Japanese aircraft, mostly fighters, between 0700 and 1442 hours. Late in the day, based on reports from inexperienced pilots, the Japanese order hundreds of carrier aircraft to reinforce Formosa to fight an all-out battle.

Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan bomb AA positions on Marcus Island in the North Pacific, and the airfield area on Pagan Island in the Marianas. P-47s hit the Pagan Island Airfield area with bombs and rockets and B-24s from Kwajalein Atoll bomb Wake Island during the night of 12/13 October.

In the Mariana Islands, the first Twentieth Air Force B-29, JOLTIN' JOSIE, THE PACIFIC PIONEER, arrives on Saipan, piloted by Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell, Jr, Commanding General XXI Bomber Command, for whom temporary HQ are set up on the island.

JOLTIN' JOSIE was a B-29-40-BW, USAAF s/n 42-24614, msn 4275, assigned to the 498th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy), XXI Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force and coded T Square 5. She was lost on the night of 1/2 April 1945 on XXI Bomber Command Mission 51 against the Tokyo industrial area.

Two USN and a RN submarine sink a Japanese transport, destroyer and cargo ship. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

BONIN ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan bomb the harbor and shipping at Chichi Jima and shipping south of Haha Jima.

EAST INDIES: Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Ambesia, Langoan, Mapanget, and Sidate Airfields on Celebes Island. B-25s, A-20s, and P-47s again attack airfields at Liang and Laha on Ambon Island, Namlea on Buru Island, Kairatoe on Celebes Island and Haroekoe on Haroekoe Island, and the town of Boela on Ceram Island. P-38s hit numerous targets of opportunity on Halmahera Island. In New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Manokwari and Urarom and A-20s bomb pillboxes in the Sarmi area.

U.S.A.: The "Columbus Day Riot" occurs in New York City as 25,000 swooning teenagers, mostly young girls, stop traffic in Times Square in front of the Paramount Theatre where Frank Sinatra is making his first appearance since December 1942. The bobbysoxers block the streets, screaming and swooning for Frankie driving the police crazy.

The motion picture "Mrs. Parkington" premieres in New York City today. Based on the Louis Bromfield novel, this drama is directed by Tay Garnett and stars Greer Garson, Walter Pidegeon, Edward Arnold, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kelloway, Peter Lawford, Dan Duryea, Hugh Marlowe and Hans Conried with Donna Reed appearing in an uncredited role. This soap opera has hotel maid Garson marrying rich Pidgeon and moving to New York City where she recounts the rise and fall of the family fortunes in flashbacks. The film is nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Actress (Garson) and Best Supporting Actress (Moorehead).

Destroyer USS Putnam commissioned.

The top songs on the pop record charts today are: "I'll Walk Alone" by Dinah Shore; "Is You is or is You Ain't My Baby" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters; "Together" by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes; and "Smoke on the Water" by Red Foley.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: During a Schnorchel failure the crew of U-483 suffered a CO2 poisoning where 1 man died. [Funkmaat Gustav Hoffmann].

12 October 1945

October 12th, 1945 (FRIDAY)

ITALY: On the orders of a US Military Court in Rome today, former Wehrmacht Generaloberst Anton Dostler is executed for the illegal shooting of 15 American PoWs at La Spezia on the 24th March, 1944.

The two officers and 13 enlisted men had disembarked from USN vessels about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of LaSpezia. This is 250 miles (402 kilometers) behind the German lines. Their mission is to destroy the railroad tunnel on the mainline between La Spezia and Genoa. The entire group is captured that morning by Italian fascist and German troops. After interrogation, General Dostler, commander of the LXXV Corps, ordered that the prisoners be shot. Several attempts are made by local Army and Navy officers to have the execution stayed but General Dostler would not relent and the 15 men are executed early in the morning of 26 March.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: A joint Anglo-French force launches a campaign to pacify the area around Saigon.

FS-163 was lost in a typhoon.

UNITED STATES: Private First Class Desmond T. Doss of Lynchburg, Virginia, is presented the Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman on Okinawa, the first conscientious objector in American history to receive the nation's highest military award. When called on by his country to fight in World War II, Doss, a dedicated pacifist, registered as a conscientious objector. Eventually sent to the Pacific theater of war as a medical corpsman, Doss voluntarily put his life in the utmost peril during the bloody battle for Okinawa, saving dozens of lives well beyond the call of duty.

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