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1937   (WEDNESDAY)

GERMANY: The German government sends a note to the Belgian government, promising that as long as the Belgians abstain from military action against Germany, the German government will guarantee the inviolability and integrity of Belgium. The Belgian government considers this note a victory for their policy of neutrality.

1938   (THURSDAY)

HUNGARY: Hungary mobilizes stating that ". . . the counter-proposals which were handed to us this morning concerning our new frontiers differ so greatly from our views that the gap between the standpoints of the two delegations regarding the new settlement is so wide that we are convinced there can be no hope of bridging it by these negotiations."

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declares to the House of Commons that "The Munich Agreement does not permit us to diminish our efforts towards the realization of our military program."

October 13th, 1939 (FRIDAY)

The German submarine U-47 scores a major propaganda victory when she penetrates the defences of the RN fleet base at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, shortly before midnight, surfaces and attacks. German aerial reconnaissance has revealed a gap in the Scapa Flow defences. The entrance to Kirk Sound is only half blocked by cables and wires, leaving a 50-foot gap, quite big enough for a U-boat. Lieutenant Commander Gunther Prien in U-47 is dispatched to strike before the defences are finished. He spends the whole of the 13th on the seabed, and sufaces at 1900 hours local. There is no moon but the aurora borealis provides enough light for the Germans. There is a strong current against them so the U-boat has to stay on the surface as they sail into the harbour. She fires off three torpedoes, only one of which exploded when it hit an anchor chain, and U-47 remained undisturbed on the surface of the Fleet anchorage to reload its torpedoes. The second salvo fired about an hour after the first sank the aircraft repair vessel HMS PEGASUS and the battleship HMS ROYAL OAK with 833 crew lost. Royal Oak blows up, rolls over and begins to sink, foundering in 18 minutes. Only 375 crewmen survive.

This penetration of the RN Home Fleet base gave Germany a major propaganda victory, and the Home Fleet was temporarily relocated to Loch Ewe on the west coast of Scotland until Scapa's defences were improved. On his return to base, Cmdr. Prien and his entire crew were taken to Berlin, and fêted after Hitler personally presented Günther Prien with the award of the Knight's Cross.

At Scapa Flow, HMS Royal Oak and her 833 dead remain a war grave and a memorial of this incident. (Alex Gordon)

U.S. freighters SS Iberville and SS Oakman are detained by British authorities.

     First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill argues in the British Cabinet for the mining of Norwegian coastal waters to interfere with German iron ore traffic.

FRANCE: 3 Div. BEF takes up defensive positions, priority is given to anti-tank obstacles and emplacements, with minefields being laid to 'shepherd enemy tanks into areas covered by AT weapons', and all 'positions, defences, Observation Posts, etc. will be examined from the enemy point of view.'

GERMANY: Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, Commander-In-Chief of the German Navy, mentions to Chancellor Adolf Hitler for the first time, the idea of invading Norway. "The C.-in-C., Navy, points out how important it would be for submarine warfare to obtain bases on the Norwegian coast, e.g. Trondheim, with the help of Russian pressure. The Führer will consider this matter." (Report of the C.-in-C., Navy, to the Führer, 10 October 1939)

POLAND: Warsaw: Diplomats of neutral nations fear that the Germans are committing the most appalling, degrading cruelties against Polish Jewry. In one incident on the Day of Atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, several thousand were imprisoned in the synagogue at Bydgoszcz and, refused permission to use the lavatories, were forced to use their prayer shawls to clean up the resulting mess.

Hundreds are shot every day with casual brutality, but there are signs that the Gestapo's campaign of terror is becoming more organised. Jews, even farmers, are being herded into ghettos in the cities and allowed no contact with the rest of the city. They are thus under the complete control of the Gestapo and there must be fears for their ultimate fate.

AUSTRALIA: In order to maintain a Militia force of 75,000, the Cabinet authorizes compulsory training for home service effective 1 January 1940.

     Major General Thomas A. Blamey is promoted to Lieutenant General and assumes command of the Australian 6th Division, Australian Imperial Force.

     The Australian light cruiser HMAS Hobart (D 63, ex HMS Apollo) sets sail from Sydney, New South Wales, for Singapore, Malaysia.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt rejects a plea by Adolf Hitler for mediation between Britain, France and Germany. 

Harry James and his Orchestra record "On a Little Street in Singapore" for Columbia Records. A 23-year-old singer named Frank Sinatra is the featured vocalist on what was his seventh recording.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-40 under Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant commander) Wolfgang Barten is sunk by a mine in the Strait of Dover, in position 50.41,6N, 00.15,1E.
She sinks in 140 feet of water. 39 crew die but 9 crew survive by self escaping with Drager gear from the forward hatch, no surface rescue is at hand and only 3 survive 9 hours in the water.

After damaging a 4,803 ton British freighter in dispersed Convoy OB-17 (Liverpool to North America) with her deck gun, German submarine U-42 is sunk about 329 nautical miles west-southwest of Cork, County Cork, Éire, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Imogen (D 44) and HMS Ilex (D 61); 20 of the 46 crewmen survive. (Mark Horan)

U-48 sank SS Heronspool and SS Louisiane in Convoy OB-17.

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October 13th, 1940 (SUNDAY)

Battle of Britain:

There is early fog clearing to blue skies and clouds later in the day. During the day, German bombing activity is on a smaller scale than usual, only a few incidents taking place in Kent and Sussex, from which damage is negligible and casualties slight. Scattered bombing in the Southern and Eastern Boroughs of London result in some damage to railway property, and a fire at a gas works which blazed furiously for an hour before being extinguished. After dark, and until an early hour on 14 October, bombs are being dropped in most districts of the Capital, causing much damage of a minor character; major incidents are confined to the destruction of a small factory at Wandsworth. In Stoke Newington, London, a basement shelter under a flat (apartment) building is hit by a heavy high explosive bomb at 2130 hours. The building collapses and buries about 250 people who are sheltering underneath; 154 people are killed. Activity in the North of England is more pronounced during the night, and bombs fall in Middlesborough, Hull, Huddersfield, Grantham, Liverpool and Manchester, where property suffers damage and some casualties occur, but industrial production does not appear to have been affected. Rural districts in the Southern half of England are also visited during the period of darkness, but only minor damage is reported. RAF Fighter Command claims 2-4-0 aircraft while antiaircraft batteries claim 0-1-0. The RAF loses two aircraft but both pilots are safe.

NORTH SEA: Four Tribal-class destroyers sink two ships in a German convoy of four  ships and two escorts. The destroyers were COSSACK (F 03), ASHANTI (F 51), MAORI (F 24) and SIKH (F 82). The action took place off Egersund. (Ric Pelvin)

GERMANY:

Ribbentrop writes to Stalin, trying to ease his fears about the German 'occupation' of Romania. England, he explains, is responsible for the war, which anyway has been won by Germany. The German moves against Russia in Finland and Romania as well as the Tripartite Pact are explained as really a boon to Russia. In the meantime British diplomats and secret agents are trying to stir up trouble between Germany and Russia. To frustrate them ,why not send Molotov to Berlin, Ribbentrop asked Stalin, so that the Fuhrer could "explain personally his views regarding the future moulding of relations between our two countries"?

Ribbentrop gave a hint what those views were:- 'nothing less than dividing up the world between the four totalitarian powers.

It appears to be the mission of the Four Powers [he said] - the Soviet Union, Italy, Japan and Germany - to adopt a long-range policy ... by delimitation of their interests on a world-wide basis.'

JAPAN: Foreign Minister MATSUOKA Yosuke invites ting, "The new world order envisaged by the three powers, is one in which economic barriers will be broken down and the natural geographic divisions of the earth established in complementary fashion which will make for the prosperity of all peoples. . . . We three nations, Japan, Germany, and Italy, will be very glad to welcome other powers into our alliance, whether it be the U.S. or any other nation, should they desire, to join in the spirit of the new order."

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-103 sank SS Nora.

U-37 sank SS Stangrant in Convoy HX-77.

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October 13th, 1941 (MONDAY)

LUXEMBOURG: ltestenrat der Juden (Jewish Council) reports 750 Jews remaining in the country.

GERMANY: RAF bombers make their first large-scale night raid on Nürnberg.

Hitler comments on the US economy:

America can be paid only in gold. A commerce based on the exchange of products is not possible with America, for America suffers from a surplus of raw materials and a plethora of manufactured goods. This gold which the Americans receive in exchange for the labor they supply, they hide it away in their strong-rooms - and they imagine the world will yield to this policy born in the smoky brain of a Jewish thinker! The result is their 13 million unemployed. (207)

U-733 laid down.

U-705 launched.

U.S.S.R.: Vyazma is captured by the Germans essentially ending Soviet resistance of the nearby pocket. 

The German First Panzer Group, advancing along the north coast of the Sea of Azoz, reaches the Mius River opposite Taganrog.

German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte capture Kalinin, 100 miles (160.9 km) west of Moscow.

JAPAN: The Foreign Ministry sends a message to the embassy in Washington. Part of the message states that "The situation at home is fast approaching a crisis and it is becoming absolutely essential that the two leaders meet if any adjustment of Japanese-U. S. relations is to be accomplished. I cannot go into details now, but please bear this fact in mind."

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Kamsack and minesweeper HMCS Georgian arrived Halifax from builders Montreal and Toronto respectively.

U.S.A.: Secretary of State Hull spoke on behalf of arming American-flag ships engaged in foreign trade

stating, "It is our right to arm our vessels for purposes of defense. That cannot be questioned . . . since section 6 of the Neutrality, Act was adopted, entirely new conditions have developed. . . . The new conditions have been produced by the Hitler movement of world invasion. Hitler is endeavoring to conquer the European and African and other continents, and he therefore is desperately seeking to control the high seas. To this end he has projected his forces far out into the Atlantic with a policy of submarine lawlessness and terror. This broad movement of conquest, world-wide in its objectives, places squarely before the United States the urgent and most important question of self-defense. . . . The intent of these attacks is to intimidate this country into weakening or abandoning the legitimate defenses of the hemisphere by retreating from the seas. . .

 . The problem is to set up as swiftly as possible the most effective means of self-defense. The principle is that the first duty of an independent nation is to safeguard its own security. . . ."

     The USN Bureau of Aeronautics directed that all fleet aircraft be painted non-specular light gray except for surfaces seen above which are to be blue-gray. In late December, this color scheme is extended to shore-based airplanes except trainers. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw)

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October 13th, 1942 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HNLMS Zwaardvis (ex-HMS Talent) laid down at Clydebank.

Sloop HMS Kite launched.

GERMANY: During the night of 13/14 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 288 aircraft, 100 Wellingtons, 82 Lancasters, 78 Halifaxes and 28 Stirlings, to bomb Kiel; 246 aircraft bomb the target. Eight aircraft, five Wellingtons and one each of the other types are lost. A decoy fire site is operating and at least half of the bombing are drawn away into open countryside, but the rest of the attack falls on Kiel and its immediate surroundings. Casualties are 41 killed and 101 injured.

 U-773 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: One Corps of the German 4th Panzer Army reach the Volga River in the southern part of Stalingrad. The Soviets continue to hold areas to the north in strength.

BALTIC STATES: The German authorities declare all Jewish property confiscated.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s fly a fighter sweep, patrol, and interception missions west of El Alamein, Egypt; fighters claim 2 Bf 109s destroyed and 1 damaged.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Rear Admiral Richmond Turner, Commander of Amphibious Force, South Pacific Force, brings reinforcements to Guadalcanal. 210 men of the First Marine Aircraft Wing and 85 Marine replacements join 2,850 men of the Army's 164th Infantry Regiment in the transports USS McCawley (AP-10, ex SS Santa Barbara) and USS Zeilin (AP-9, ex SS President Jackson).  The Marines are no longer alone on Guadalcanal.

Unloading despite air attacks, the vessels embark the 1st Raider Battalion and sail for New Caledonia. Troop strength is thus brought up to 23,088 men, excluding forces on Tulagi. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, divides the Lunga perimeter into regimental sectors, massing the greatest strength on the west. At 1202 hours local, as the Army reinforcements are being put ashore, 27 "Betty" bombers (, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) escorted by 18 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters), all based on Rabaul on New Britain Island, attack Henderson Field. The runway is cratered and 5,000 U.S. gallons (18,927 liters) of aviation fuel is destroyed. Forty two Navy and Marine F4F Wildcats and 13 USAAF P-39and P-400 Airacobras take off but only one bomber and a fighter are destroyed; one F4F is lost but the pilot is recovered.

At 1350 hours local, a second attack by 18 "Betty" bombers and 18 "Zeke" fighters occurs while the Cactus Air Fighters are being refuelled. The Henderson Field runway is further damaged.

A Japanese convoy of six transports and 8 destroyers is spotted, 200 miles (321.9 km) north of Guadalcanal, by the afternoon search of the Cactus Air Force. Under the direct command of Admiral Takama Tamotsu, Commander of Destroyer Squadron 4, 4,500 new soldiers, a battery of both 10cm and 15cm artillery, the 1st Independent Tank  Company, and various supplies are headed for Japanese positions on Guadalcanal.

Six B-17s bomb Buka Island and Tonolai on Bougainville Island.

About 1830 hours local, the first shell from a Japanese 15cm howitzer, unloaded from the HIJMS Chitose, lands on Henderson Field. "Pistol Pete" is finally in battle.

Also heading down the Slot towards Guadalcanal tonight is Admiral Kurita with the battleships HIJMS Kongo and HIJMS Haruna on a bombardment mission. They carry special Type 3 shells designed for antiaircraft use, but equally deadly for bombardment use. For tonight spotting is assisted by a naval gunnery officer atop Mount Austen and another leading a group of spotter and illumination aircraft.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 15 Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses again bomb Rabaul, New Britain Island, concentrating on Vunakanau and Lakunai Airfields.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Australian troops on the Kokoda Track make no progress in advancing northward. One section of 2/25th Battalion finds evidence of Japanese cannibalism of dead Australian soldiers.

In Papua, New Guinea, a USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 bombs Buna.

NEW HEBRIDES: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-7 launches a "Glen" reconnaissance aircraft (Kugisho E14Y, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) to reconnoiter American installations on Espiritu Santo Island.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Edmunston, Quesnel, Timmins, Dundas and New Westminster arrived Halifax from Esquimalt.

U.S.A.: Marine Photo Squadron VMD-154 departs San Diego bound for operations out of Espiritu Santo in the Solomons.

Destroyers USS Philip and Renshaw launched.

Minesweeper USS Broadbill commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-221 sank SS Ashworth, Fagersten and Senta in Convoy SC-104.

U-159 sank SS Empire Nomad.

1 man was killed and 3 wounded on U-453 in an accident during handling the machine gun. [Matrosengefreiter Horst Saupe + on 13th Oct., Steuermannsgefreiter Helmut Lorenz died 2 months later].

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October 13th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS Bentley commissioned.

GERMANY: Lee "Shorty" Gordon becomes the first American prisoner-of-war to successfully from a German camp. He escapes from Stalag VIIA on a bicycle yelling the only German he knew, "Heil, Hitler". Gordon, from southern California, was serving as a ball turret gunner with the USAAF's 305th Bomb Group when his B-17 was shot down over Wilhelmshaven on February 26, 1943. He survived the parachute landing, but was quickly captured by German troops. After two failed escape attempts, Gordon tried again, trading identification tags with an Australian POW to gain access to the outdoor work area of the Moosburg camp where he bribed guards with coffee and cigarettes and hid in a bathroom stall until dark. He then hopped a fence when a guard's back was turned and walked out of the camp, Doyle said.

Gordon rode freight trains to France, where he made contact with a Resistance group that helped him reunite with the Allied forces. He told the story of walking into a French cafe in "Escape From a Living Hell," a 2000 History Channel documentary: "The waitress walked up to me. I looked at her and I said, 'I'm an American.'" More than a year later, on Feb. 27, 1944, Gordon arrived in England. (Kim Curtis, Associated Press)

During the night of 13/14 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Mosquitos to bomb Cologne and four to bomb Duisburg without loss.

U.S.S.R.: General Feodor Tolbukhin's army fights its way into Melitopol in the Ukraine, a way station on the Moscow-to-Crimea railroad. Tolbukhin's attack threatens to cut off the German-Romanian 17th Army in the Crimea and ignites a fierce 10-day battle.

SPAIN: Madrid: Less than five weeks ago, Italy was Hitler's ally. Today it is his enemy. The Italian ambassador here handed Italy's declaration of war to his German counterpart for transmission to Berlin. The declaration, signed by Italy's new leader, Marshal Badoglio, does not make Italy one of the Allies as such. With war crimes charges pending against some Fascist leaders and generals, Italy officially becomes no more than a "co-belligerent". However, Badoglio has called on all Italian soldiers to "fight against the Germans to the last man." In a letter to General Eisenhower, Badoglio said: "By this act, all ties with the dreadful past are broken, and my government will be proud to be able to march with you on to the inevitable victory."

There is debate as to whether Italian forces will be used against the Germans in Italy. However, they are fighting with the British in the Aegean and serve to garrison Sardinia and Corsica. One tricky problem remains to be resolved: the thousands of Italian PoWs in Allied hands.

ITALY declares war on Germany. Italy, at this point, has little to offer militarily, but what Italy lacked in military armament, she made up with in hatred for the Germans and the Fascist/Nazi ideology. It would still be a difficult battle, Germany has 22 divisions and Mussolini has six Italian Socialist Republic (RSI) divisions that liberated Italy and the partisans would be up against.

Six American and British divisions of Mark Clark's Fifth Army attack German defenses along the Volturno River, 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Naples. The U. S. 3rd, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions establish three bridgeheads on the north side of the Volturno. They had been bitterly resisted by three German divisions. Engineers play an important part since the Germans have destroyed the bridges while making a planned withdrawal. The attack had begun yesterday, but rain, mud and the swollen river provided sterling assistance to the Germans who had retreated to the river following the Allied capture of Naples on 1 October. The rainy season began a month earlier than usual, slowing the Allied advance and giving the Germans more time to prepare their defences here and further north along the rivers Liri and Rapido.

The British X, on the western flank of the army, makes their main effort with the 46th Infantry Division at Cancello while the 7th Armoured Division, in the center, and the 56th Division, on the right, make diversionary attacks at Grazzanise and Capua, respectively. The 46th Division establishes a bridgehead in the coastal sector, and the 7th Armoured Division gains a toehold on the northern bank, but the 56th Division is unable to cross at Capua. The U.S. VI Corps, to the right of the British X Corps, crosses the river on a two division front. On the left, the 3d Infantry Division crosses east of Capua with the 34th Infantry Division to its right. The 3d Infantry Division seizes Mt. Ma1ulo, Mt. Caruso, and Piana di Caiazzo. The 34th Infantry Division gains a bridgehead from Piana di Caiazzo to the junction of the Calore and Volturno Rivers. On the right flank of the VI Corps, the 45th Infantry Division is clearing Mt. Acero area with the 179th and 180th Infantry Regiments.

     In the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps area, the 5th Division, advancing along Route 87, reaches Casacalenda.

XII Bomber Command B-25s and B-26 Marauders bomb the town of Alife, a road junction at Sessa Aurunca, and airfield at Tirana; 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 km) front during the night of 12/13 October. Fighters and fighter-bombers hit troop and tank concentrations, trains, trucks, and communications the lines in the forward areas, especially around Ortona, Giulianova, and Campobasso. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force light bombers join in the attacks, hitting road junctions in the Vairano, Carinola, Dragoni, Vasto, Terracina, and Minturno areas.

     During the night of 13/14 October, 46 bombers of the RAF's No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the railroad bridge at Civitavecchia.

YUGOSLAVIA: Zeneca: Yugoslav partisans struck at the German industrial empire here today, wrecking several of the huge Krupp factories including the biggest steel works in the country. The partisans claim to have destroyed 27 railway engines and 150 wagons. Street fighting is also reported in Zeneca and other towns. German reinforcements are said to be rushing to the district. A partisan communiqué  revealed that the Italian Venezia division - which, a few days ago, had been fighting against the partisans - had come over to the Yugoslav side.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The USN destroyer USS Bristol (DD-453) is struck by a G7s T5 Zaunköning (Gnat) electric torpedo fired by the German submarine U-371. The torpedo hits on the port side at the forward engine room at 0425 hours Greenwich Mean Time, while the destroyer is escorting a small convoy to Oran, Algeria. The ship breaks in two and has to be abandoned; the stern sinks after eight and the bow after twelve minutes about 74 nautical miles (137 kilometers) west-northwest of Bone, Algeria, in position 37.19N, 06.19E. Fifty two of her crew are lost while the survivors are rescued by the USN destroyers USS Trippe (DD 403) and Wainwright (DD 419).

BURMA: Japanese fighters appear in strength over Sumprabum to attack over-the-Hump flights. The enemy evades US patrols and shoots down 3 transports. A fighter-bomber offensive against airfields in Burma from which fighters might operate against Hump transports opens with an attack by Tenth Air Force P-40s on Myitkyina.

CHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a sea sweep off southeastern China hit shipping in Amoy harbor and sink an auxiliary submarine chaser.

GILBERT ISLANDS: Photographic coverage of Makin Atoll is obtained in preparation for the invasion next month.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese cargo ship.

USS Barbel sinks a destroyer at 29-38 N, 127-27 E at about 0600.

USS Begall sinks an attack transport at 11-53 N, 109-17 E (Japanese give location as 11-53 N, 109-17 E) at about 0900.

USS Permit sinks a patrol vessel at 07-15 N, 151-45 E at about 1500. (Skip Guidry and Jack McKillop)

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 100+ Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25s are sent against Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago; bad weather forces the bombers to turn back, but 40+ B-24s hit targets including Hoskins, Lindenhafen, Cape Gloucester and Gasmata Island off the south coast of New Britain Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 11 Eleventh Air Force P-40s unsuccessfully intercept 8 Japanese medium bombers attacking Massacre Bay and the nearby airfield on Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Thetford Mines launched Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Garland laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-402 is sunk in position 48.56N, 29.41W, by a Mark 24 Acoustic Torpedo (FIDO) from TBF Avenger and F4F Wildcat aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11). All hands in the submarine, 50 men, are lost. The submarine is on the surface sailing towards a rendevous with a milch cow when forced to dive by the pilot of an F4F-4 Wildcat and it is sunk by the pilot of a TBF-1 Avenger who drops a 500-pound (227 kilogram) bomb near the sub.

Avenger aircraft from escort carrier Card dropped a Fido on U-603, but the U-boat was not damaged.

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October 13th, 1944 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Destroyer HMS Zebra commissioned.

Minesweeper HMS Cheerful commissioned.

BELGIUM: The first of 1,600 German V-2 rockets explodes in Antwerp at 0945 hours local killing 32 people. During the next five months, V-2s will kill or wound 4,000 Allied servicemen and civilians near Antwerp but inflict little damage on the seaport's facilities.

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, the 3d Division attacks from Overloon toward Venray, 3 miles (4,8 kilometers) distant, against strong German opposition.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army area, XX Corps' plan for a stronger assault on Maizières-lès-Metz is abandoned as a result of Third Army order freezing all artillery ammunition above 3-inch (76.2 millimeter).

     In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division, working eastward from Fort de Parroy, takes Emberménil.

GERMANY: The US 1st Division enters Aachen from the east. A street fight for the city begins.

Aachen: American artillery and infantry today battered their way into the industrial suburbs of Aachen, Germany's most westerly city. Infantry preceded by fighter bombers acting as airborne artillery were opposed by 150 Luftwaffe fighters, of which a dozen were shot down, and by suicidal counter-attacks on the ground against a high ridge east of the city held by the Americans. At dusk, patrols probing into the debris found only fires, rubble and bodies until they came to the city centre, where fighting flared afresh.

Aachen saw the enthronement of 37 German emperors; now it occupies a key position on the Siegfried Line. Flames rising from it can be seen 40 miles away in Cologne. As the first major German centre to be invaded, it will not be surrendered without a bitter battle.

In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division, having turned over positions west of the Wurm River at Kerkrade to 1104th Combat Engineer Group, takes over the attack to close the Aachen gap: reinforced by tanks from 2d Armored Division, the 116th begins frontal assaults against Wuerselen on a narrow front that invites concentrated German fire; little progress is made during this and the next two days. In the VII Corps area, the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division begins an all-out assault on Aachen: while the 2d Battalion fights from house to house within the city, the 3d Battalion pushes to the base of Observatory Hill, one of three heights commanding the city from the north, the others being Salvator Hill and the Lousberg. Aachen saw the enthronement of 37 German emperors; now it occupies a key position on the Siegfried Line. Flames rising from it can be seen 40 miles (64 kilometers) away in Cologne. In the Huertgen Forest, the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, gains its objective, Road Junction 471; the 39th Infantry Regiment seals off German penetration and begins a drive to recover lost ground. (Andy Etherington and Jack McKillop)

     The I.G. Farben South synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer is attacked by 267 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers; 15 aircraft are lost.

     During the night of 13/14 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 57 Mosquitos to Cologne (55 bomb) and four to Stuttgart (three bomb) without loss. A report from Cologne shows that bombs are scattered across the city, causing mostly minor damage.

U-2342 and U-2519 launched.

U-2533 laid down.

WESTERN EUROPE: 9th Bombardment Division A-20 Havocs and B-26s hit bridges at Saarlouis, France, Roermond and Venlo, the Netherlands, and Euskirchen and Mayen, Germany, plus several targets of opportunity. 

Escorting fighters also fly armed reconnaissance over the areas of Metz, France, and extensively over western Germany, attacking railroads and other targets, and support the US First, Third, and Seventh Armies.  

AUSTRIA: The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs three targets in Vienna: 89 bomb the North marshalling yard, 89 bomb the Florisdorf oil refinery and 41 bomb the OMW vehicle factory with the loss of 26 aircraft. Fifteen aircraft also hit the Main marshalling yard at Graz and one hits the Parndorf Airfield.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Three targets are attacked by USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers: nine hit the Hranice marshalling yard, five bomb the Val Mezirici marshalling yard and two attack the Bohumin oil refinery.

HUNGARY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack eight targets: 145 bomb the Banhida marshalling yard, 57 hit the Szekesfehervar marshalling yard, ten attack the Varpolata marshalling yard, six hit the Papa marshalling yard and one bombs the Papa airfield, six bomb the Mor marshalling yard, two bomb the Maribor marshalling yard and eight attack seven individual targets.

     During the night of 13/14 October, 72 bombers of RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the Szekesfehervor marshalling yard with the loss of two aircraft.

LATVIA: Soviet troops of Second and Third Baltic Fronts overrun Riga, capital of Latvia and important naval base on the Gulf of Riga. This success, coupled with a recent drive to the Baltic in the Memel area of Lithuania, has trapped a large German force in western Latvia. The Soviet offensive on the Baltic front is soon suspended.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Stalin promises Churchill that the USSR will declare war on Japan once Germany has been defeated.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the 12th Motorized Brigade of the South African 6th Armoured Division renews the attack on Mt. Stanco early in morning after artillery preparation and, assisted by a diversionary thrust to the east of Grizzana, captures their objective; Combat Command B, on the left flank, takes Bombiana, on Highway 64. In the II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division partially outflanks the Germans on the Monterumici hill mass from the east. The Germans hold on the Livergnano area is beginning to weaken under blows of the 91st Infantry Division and artillery and aerial bombardment. The 361st Infantry Regiment of the 91st Infantry Division gains Hill 603, above Livergnano, and the village of Casalino, northwest of Livergnano. The 337th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, at last takes Hill 578 and reduces opposition on the Monterenzio hill mass. A battalion of the 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, crosses the Sillaro River west of Hill 339, during the night of 13/14 October, and drives northward through a weak spot in the German defenses; the 351st Infantry Regiment thrusts toward Mt. Spadura from Gesso ridge until stopped by counterattack. In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division begins an attack on Mt. la Pieve.

     In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division takes Sorrivoli but is held up near Mt. delle Vacche. The 46th Division seizes Carpineta, during the night of 13/14 October. In the Canadian I Corps area, some elements of the New Zealand 2d Division are held up by a strongpoint at St. Angelo, but others patrol to the Rigossa River.

Weather cancels all Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations except for attacks on 4 targets (bridges and supply dumps) in the battle area south of Bologna; fighter-bombers support US Fifth Army operations more successfully in the area, hitting gun emplacements, troop concentrations, supply dumps, bridges, and vehicles.

GREECE: A major British and Greek force lands advance units at Piraeus.

Troops of the British 9th Commando and Squadron B of the Greek Sacred Regiment land at Piracus and secure Kalamata Airfield in preparation for the main landing on 15 October. The rest of the 4th Parachute Battalion and a Royal Engineer force are dropped at Megara; after securing the airfield these forces move overland to Athens and Kalamata without opposition. The USAAF 51st Troop Carrier Wing, Twelfth Air Force, participates in British occupation of southern Greece (Operation MANNA) during the period 13-18 October, taking in personnel and equipment.

     Six aircraft of RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop leaflets over Greece during the night of 13/14 October.

BURMA: 38 Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts strike Okkyin, Yebyangale, and Theinlon, and hit troops in the Myothit area; 8 P-47s support ground forces in the Mohnyin area, 12 attack and considerably damage Wanling bridge and 4 hit targets of opportunity in the area. Transports fly 280+ sorties hauling troops and supplies to CBI terminals.

CHINA: Major General Patrick Hurley, U.S. Presidential Representative to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, recommends to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that U.S. General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General U.S. China-Burma-India Theater, Chief-of-Staff to Chiang Kai Shek, Deputy Allied Supreme Commander of the South East Asia Command (SEAC), and Commanding General of the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC), be relieved and that another U.S. officer be named to command the Chinese Army.

138 Fourteenth Air Force P-40s and P-51 Mustangs on numerous armed reconnaissance missions throughout southern China and into western Burma attack troop areas, rivercraft, town areas, bridges, trucks, and other targets of opportunity; 71 of the fighter-bombers hit targets in the Kweiping area while the others attack targets around Chuanhsien, Litou, Shepchung, Tengyun, Lungfukwan, Kingshan, Mangshih, and Chefang.

JAPAN: 4 Eleventh Air Force B-25s bomb Kurabu Airfield and bomb and strafe buildings on Tomari Cape on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands, scoring hits on canneries, warehouses, and barracks; later, 4 B-24s photograph and bomb targets at Kashiwabara.

WESTERN PACIFIC: Aircraft from the USN's Task Force 38 attack targets on Formosa for the second day in a row. Opposition is very light and 947 sorties are flown. At twilight, Task Group 38.4 is attacked by 4 low-flying "Betty" bombers (, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) carrying torpedoes; one is shot down by an F6F Hellcat pilot, 2 are shot down by ship AA fire but the fourth crashes the aircraft carrier USS Franklin's (CV-13) deck abaft the island structure, slides across the deck and into the water on her starboard beam. USS Franklin is damaged but remains on station. In another attack, the heavy cruiser USS Canberra (CA-70) is struck below her armor belt at the engineering spaces by an aerial torpedo which blows a huge, jagged hole in her side and killed 23 of her crew instantly. Before damage control could isolate the compartments, some 4,500 tons of water rushed in to flood her after fireroom and both engine rooms, which brought the cruiser to a stop. The ship is taken in tow and retires to Ulithi.

Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan bomb Yap Island, Caroline Islands.

A USN submarine sinks a Japanese merchant tanker off Nha Trang, French Indo China.

USS Barbel sinks a destroyer at 29-38 N, 127-27 E at about 0600.

USS Begall sinks an attack transport at 11-53 N, 109-17 E (Japanese give location as 11-53 N, 109-17 E) at about 0900.

USS Permit sinks a patrol vessel at 07-15 N, 151-45 E at about 1500. (Skip Guidry)

NAURU ISLAND: B-24s from the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll and Gilbert Islands-based B-25s bomb Nauru Island. 

CAROLINE ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island, Palau Islands,, Regimental Combat Team 321 is alerted to relieve the marines at Umurbrogol Pocket, where some progress is being made against the west side. On Angaur Island, the 322d Infantry Regiment begins a final push to eliminate Japanese pocket on the north of the island.

     USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan bomb Yap Island Islands while B-24s from the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll.

NEW GUINEA: The U. S. 7th Fleet and troop transports carrying the 7th, 24th and 96th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions sail from Hollandia, New Guinea, and the nearby Admiralty Islands. Their destination is Leyte in the central Philippines. General Headquarters issues instructions for the capture of an air base in San Jose area of Mindoro Island, from which further operations against the Philippines will be supported and small shore-to-shore operations will be conducted to deceive the Japanese on Luzon. For this task, the U.S. Sixth Army forms the Western Visayan Task Force under Brigadier General William C. Dunckel during early November. The force eventually consists primarily of Regimental Combat Team 19 of the 24th Infantry Division and the 503d Parachute Regimental Combat Team, a separate unit. The 21st Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division, less the 3d Battalion, is allocated as the reserve force; the 3d Battalion is to conduct deceptive operations.

Far East Air Forces B-25s bomb Menado on Celebes Island and the surrounding area. P-38 Lightnings hit AA positions, enemy concentrations, and other targets in the northeastern Celebes and Halmahera Islands. A-20s and fighter-bombers attack Boela on Ceram Island, oil installations and airfields at Amahai on Ceram Island, Kairatoe on Celebes Island, and Namlea on Buru Island.

A RN submarine sinks 2 Japanese merchant coasters Kosei Maru and Hansei Maru in Gulf of Boni, south of Celebes.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Thornback commissioned.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-271 was commissioned at New York. Her first commanding officer was Lt. Pettus Kaufman, USCGR. He was succeeded 26 April 1945 by LTJG N. S. Hobart, USCGR. She departed New York on 2 November 1944 for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war. She was decommissioned 27 September 1945.

The top songs on the pop music charts are: "Till the End of Time" and "If I Loved You�" by Perry Como, "Along the Navajo Trail" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters and "ou Two Timed Me One Time Too Often" by Tex Ritter.

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October 13th, 1945 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Blackpool, Lancashire: The last Vickers Wellington is delivered at Squire's Gate. (22)

MALAYSIA: The evacuation of all former British and Commonwealth POWs to Singapore is completed. A total of 7,801 men, 5,319 of them Australian, are evacuated.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Capilano completed tropicalization refit, Shelburne , Nova Scotia.

Minesweepers HMCS Port Hope, Westmount, Ganaonque and Nipigon paid off Sydney, Nova Scotia and laid up Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Oriskany launched.

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