The U.S. freighter SS Scanstates is detained at Kirkwall, Orkneys, by British authorities.

AMC HMS Dunnottar Castle is commissioned.

NORTH SEA: U-23 is attacked by British submarine HMS Sturgeon with three torpedoes, but all miss.

FRANCE: The U.S. freighter SS Nashaba is detained at Le Havre by French authorities.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Russia refuses to consider Finnish counter-proposals for a land exchange on their borders.

The first round of Fenno-Soviet negotiations end at Moscow. After the Finnish negotiator Juho Paasikivi turned down the proposals for a mutual assistance pact, the Soviets contended themselves with insisting military bases and border changes. After receiving the concrete Soviet proposals Paasikivi and the military expert Col. Aladar Paasonen leave for Finland to receive further instructions.

GIBRALTAR: The U.S. freighter SS Exporter is detained by the British.

U.S.A.: Washington: Colonel Charles Lindbergh has caused deep anger both in Canada and in many circles in the United States by his radio broadcast last night in which he questioned the right of Canada to "draw this hemisphere into a European war because they prefer the Crown of England to American Independence".
Senator Key Pittman of Nevada, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, attacked Colonel Lindbergh's speech. The New York Herald Tribune called it "as fantastic in logic as it is bad in taste". Many Canadian leaders have already wired their fury to Washington, and Canadian ex-servicemen's groups have protested.
Lindbergh appeared to try to meet the charge that he is pro-German by calling for both Nazi and Communist influence in America to be "stamped out". he also said that British and French colonies in the Caribbean should be handed to the US to pay war debts.

     The Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is authorized to develop radio control equipment for use in remote controlled flight-testing of aircraft so that dives, pullouts, and other maneuvers could be performed near the aircraft’s designed strength without risking the life of a test pilot.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: After sinking two merchant ships, SS Bretagne and SS Lochavon, in fast convoy KJF-3 (Kingston, Jamaica to U.K.) totaling19,313 tons, German submarine U.45, under the command of Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Commander) Alexander Gelhaar, is sunk about 177 nautical miles (327 kilometers) west-southwest of Cork, County Cork, Éire, in position 50.58N, 12.57W. The sub is sunk by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Inglefield (D 02), Intrepid (D 10) and Ivanhoe (D 16) which were escorting the convoy; all 38 crewmen on the sub are lost.

U-48 sinks SS Sneaton.

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October 14th, 1940 (MONDAY)

The weather is occasional rain or drizzle spreading to the south-east. During the day, small numbers of German aircraft operating singly or in small groups, drop bombs in many scattered regions in Southern England. Apart from an attack on Luton, in which a Hat Factory is damaged, and some damage to residential property at Canterbury and Bournemouth, these raids have little effect, and the Luftwaffe does not penetrate to Central London. A full scale attack on London is launched after dark, and bombs are falling in most districts including the West End until an early hour on 15 October. Fires are caused by Oil Bombs, and the Railway system again suffers track damage by high explosive bombs; a factory is gutted and another damaged by fire and an electricity supply failure occurs at Ealing. Most of the damage, however, is of a minor character. Outside London, the attack is concentrated on Coventry, where damage is done to utility services, and many fires started; vital industrial plant, however, appears to have escaped serious damage. Elsewhere scattered bombing takes place in rural districts in South England, but no important targets are hit. RAF Fighter Command claims 0-0-3 mmand claims 0-0-3 aircraft; no RAF aircraft are lost.

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October 14th, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Syrtis is laid down.

Light cruiser HMS Trinidad is commissioned.

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler orders that the Soviet capital, Moscow, is to be surrounded and starved out rather than assaulted directly.

     During the night of 14/15 October, 80 RAF Bomber Command aircraft return to Nuremberg but again encounter very bad weather and only 14 aircraft claim to have hit the intended target.

U-292, U-293, U-294, U-295, U-296, U-297, U-317, U-318, U-319, U-320, U-321, U-322, U-995, U-997, U-998, U-999, U-1000, U-1001, U-1002, U-1003, U-1004, U-1005, U-1006, U-1063, U-1064, U-1065, U-1103, U-1104, U-1105, U-1106, U-1163, U-1164, U-1165, U-1166, U-1199, U-1200, U-1201, U-1202, U-1203, U-1204, U-1227, U-1228, U-1229, U-1230, U-1231, U-1232, U-1233, U-1234, U-1235 ordered

U-526 laid down

U-410 and U-659 launched.

U.S.S.R.: The German advance on Moscow reaches Kalinin and Tula on the Moscow front, with advance units just 60 miles from the capital. The Soviet defenses between Kalinin and Tula are very stubborn. Kramatorsk falls to the German forces in Russia.

Premier Joseph Stalin calls General Georgi Zhukov, Commander of the Central Front, and asks, "You are convinced we shall be able to hold Moscow? I am asking this with pain in my heart. Answer truthfully, as you are a Communist." Zhukov assured Stalin that the city would be held at all costs.

German troops capture Rshev, 100 miles (160.9 km) west of Moscow.

     Operation KARLSBAD begins in the area between Smolensk and Minsk. This would be the first of many operations by the Germans against partisans in Russia.

     The first substantial snow of the season falls at Leningrad. Temperatures in the Moscow area fall hover around freezing. Rain and the subsequent mud slow the German advance toward Moscow.

SPAIN: At 2230 hrs, U-564 reaches Cadiz and transfers an ill crewmember to the German tanker Thalia.

LIBYA: Italian torpedo boat Pleiadi is sunk off Tripoli by British bombers.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Arnold writes MacArthur that the heavy bombers assigned to USAFFE were to be used to control not only the sea lanes but to bomb Japan itself. Date of receipt in the Philippines unknown. (Marc James Small)

CANADA: The Cabinet decides on a complete freeze of wages and prices as of 1 December under the Wartime Prices and Trade Board.

Trawler HMS Baffin is laid down in Collingwood, Ontario.

Corvette HMCS Regina is launched at Sorel, Province of Quebec.

Minesweeper HMCS Thunder is commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-553 encounters convoy SC 48 and summons help.

Whilst on A/S patrol in the Straits of Gibraltar, Flower class corvette HMS Fleur de Lys is torpedoed and sunk by U-208 at 36 00N 06 30W. There are 3 survivors,  rescued by a Spanish steamer. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-204 sinks SS Guardakoa.

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October 14th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Sloops HMS Starling and Wild Goose are launched.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: German Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser) HK Komet (Raider B) attempts to pass down the Channel on the way out for a second cruise. A force of British escort destroyers and motor torpedo boats (MTBs) attack off Cherbourg, France, and in spite of a strong escort, she is torpedoed and sunk by MTB-236.

NETHERLANDS: Two of the five RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons dispatched lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.

GERMANY: U-318 is laid down.

U-951 and U-952 are launched.

U-530 is commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Submarine "Sch-213" sunk by surface ASW ships, in Portitski entrance of Dunai.

SC-302 is sunk by depth charges south of Porkkala by Tupolev SB-2 code SB-10 from 2/LeLv 6. (Sergey Anisimov and Mikko Härmeinen)(69)

Stalingrad: The Wehrmacht launched yet another massive assault on Stalingrad today, with three infantry divisions and two Panzer divisions deployed on a three-mile front. The sky has been full of German aircraft bombing and strafing almost constantly, over 3,000 sorties have been flown against these targets by von Richthofen's Luftlotte 7.

In the city the Germans' main objectives have been the Dzerzhinsky tractor factory, which fell today and the Barrikady gun factory. The ground outside these buildings is littered with German dead, caught by an artillery and katyusha barrage as they prepared to attack. Fighting is going on inside the battered, burning buildings. Workshops have become battlefields. The enemies are so close that they can hear each others' breathing. They crawl towards each other. Then in go the grenades. There is a rattle of gunfire, the deadly lick of a flame-thrower, screams of agony and another room is cleared.

The slaughter is terrible. Some divisions of the Russian 62nd Army have been wiped out. The 13th Guards exists in name only. Units formed from poorly-trained civilians have taken appalling casualties, but the survivors have become expert street fighters.

Units of the German Sixth Army advance in bitter fighting and surround the heavily defended Tractor Factory in the northern part of Stalingrad, following a series of devastating attacks (over 3,000 sorties) by bombers of the Luftwaffe’s Luftflotte 7.

Vinnitsa: Hitler orders the suspension of all activity on the eastern front except for Stalingrad and the Terek river in the Caucasus.

Soviet submarine SC-213 sunk by German subchaser Xanten near Hortizki Estuary. All hands lost.

Soviet submarine SC-302 reported missing with all hands lost. Believed damaged by mines and sunk by Finnish aircraft.

LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17s hit shipping at Tobruk, Libya, scoring 2 direct hits on a large vessel and demolishing a smaller ship moored alongside.

EGYPT: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s fly patrols, reconnaissance and interception missions between El Alamein and Burg el Arab.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack Lae. In Papua New Guinea, B-25s hit a bridge 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Port Moresby, and the area of the Wairopi bridge; on the Kokoda track, the Japanese offer fierce resistance to the Australian 7th Division's drive in the vicinity of Templeton Crossing and more cannibalized and mutilated bodies of Australian troops on found on the track; and the USAAF Fifth Air Force begins flying begins flying a coastal force, the U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment of the 32d Infantry Division and the Australian 2/6th Independent Company, to Wanigela.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink 3 IJA cargo ships and a transport.

   - In the East China Sea, USS Finback (SS-230), attacking a Japanese convoy, sinks a Japanese army transport about 10 nautical miles (19 kilometers) north of Tansui, on the northwest tip of Formosa, in position 25.20N, 121.25E.

   - USS Greenling (SS-213) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 101 nautical miles (187 kilometers) northeast of Sendai, Honshu, Japan, in position 39.33N, 142.15E.

   - In the Bismarck Sea, USS Sculpin (SS-191) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 53 nautical miles (99 kilometers) west-northwest of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, in position 03.51S, 151.21E.

   - USS Skipjack (SS-184) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 456 nautical miles (845 kilometers) west-southwest of Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, in position 05.35N, 144.25E.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 0130 hrs 'Louie the Louse' a Japanese observation plane wakes the US forces on Guadalcanal. The Japanese battleships Kongo and Haruna pass Savo Island and slow to 18 knots. Louie brackets Henderson Field with flares and at 29,500 yards Kongo fires her first salvo, Haruna soon follows. The other ships of the force, the light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu, and 7 destroyers, also bombard the island. The Japanese sailors topside are reminded of a fireworks display. This continues until 0256 hours. They fired 973 shells and were opposed by the 5" coast defence guns on Guadalcanal and 4 motor torpedo boats PT-60, PT-38, PT-46 and PT-48 (Lieutenant Commander Alan R. Montgomery) from Tulagi. Destroyer HIJMS Naganami turns back the motor torpedo boats. The attacks of the PTs were assumed by Admiral Kurita to be his screen detecting a submarine. 

The damage is widespread around Henderson Field and Fighter One and includes 48 of 90 planes and fuel stocks at the field, putting the facility temporarily out of action. The men of the Army's 164th Infantry Regiment have spent their first night on Guadalcanal wondering if this is like all nights there.

The Japanese have sent their battleships to bombard Henderson Field and destroy more than half the aircraft of the Cactus Air Force. This destruction will allow the successful resupply of their forces on Guadalcanal. They have a supply convoy coming down the slot. It will arrive this evening.

During the morning Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch sends 17 SBD at Espiritu Santo and 20 Wildcats to Henderson Field. He also organizes an airlift of fuel using C-47/R4D aircraft carrying 10 55 gallon drums each.

At about 1200 hours, 26 "Betty" bombers (Mitsubish G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) bomb Henderson Field causing heavy damage. At 1300 hours, 18 "Betty" bombers escorted by ten "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) attack and are met by 24 F4F Wildcats and P-39Airacobras; 9 bombers and 3 fighters are shot down with the loss of 2 Wildcats and a P-39.

The IJN resupply convoy consisting of 6 transports and 8 destroyer transports is sighted in the afternoon and 4 SBDs of Scouting Squadron Three (VS-3) and 3 P-400 Airacobras attack at 1445 hours but score no hit. 

At 1745 hours, 7 SBDs, 6 P-39s and P-400s, refueled from gasoline found in a damaged B-17, attack but again score no hits; a P--400 is shot down by AA fire and another crashes on landing. These attacks do not stop the convoy which reaches Guadalcanal at midnight along with another run of the Tokyo Express.

During the day, 12 SBDs of Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6) in USS Enterprise (CV-6) are dispatched to Guadalcanal for service with the Cactus Air Force from Fighter One airfield. Meanwhile, due to the low fuel supply, the B-17s that had been based at Guadalcanal are withdrawn to Espirtu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands.

On Vella Lavella Islands, Australian coastwatchers are landed on the coast of Vella Lavella Island by the USN submarine USS (SS-207). (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

USS Skipjack (SS-184) sinks an attack transport at 05-45 N, 144-25 E.

USS Sculpin (SS-191) sinks an oiler at 03-12 S, 149-50 E or 03-20 S, 150-03 E. (Skip Guidry)

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: Also during the day, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-7 shells Espiritu Santo. This follows the reconnaissance flight by the submarine-based aircraft yesterday.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force dispatches 9 B-24 Liberators, 6 B-26 Marauders, a B-17 Flying Fortress and 12 P-38 Lightnings to bomb and strafe Kiska Island installations and shipping; fire bombs are dropped on hangars and the Main Camp area where a large fire is started; 2 torpedo attacks on shipping in Gertrude Cove score no hits; the P-38s destroy 3 floatplanes on water; a P-38 is shot down.

U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Sheldrake is commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Candid is launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia, Canada and Newfoundland, the 2,200-ton steel hulled Newfoundland Railway Fleet SS Caribou is struck by a torpedo at 0330 hours local fired by the German submarine U-69. The ferry was en route from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, and escorted by the Canadian minesweeper HMCS Grandmère (J 258), is sailing in a zig-zag course. HMCS Grandmère is equipped with ASDIC (sonar) but not radar and she does not "see" U-69 which had surfaced to recharge her batteries. The sub crew spotted the two ships and fired one torpedo that strikes the ferry and she immediately starts sinking about 21 nautical miles (38 kilometers) southwest of Port aux Basques. There are 237 people aboard the ferry, 46 crewmen, 73 civilians and 118 military personnel; 136 people lost their lives.  In spite of this the Battle of St. Lawrence is rapidly ending after taking 700 lives, 23 ships.

After an attack on convoy SC-104, U-607 was attacked by the convoy escort HMS Viscount, and was so badly damaged by depth charges that she returned to base.

Following British landing craft were lost aboard the SS Southern Empress which was sunk by U-221 in Convoy SC-104 - HMS LCM-508, HMS LCM-509, HMS LCM-519, HMS LCM-522, HMS LCM-523, HMS LCM-532, HMS LCM-537, HMS LCM-547, HMS LCM-620 (each 52 tons) and HMS LCT-2006 (291 tons).

U-221 sank SS Susana in Convoy SC-104.

U-607 sank SS Nellie in Convoy SC-104.

U-618 sank SS Empire Mersey in Convoy SC-104.

U-661 sank SS Nikolina Matkovic in Convoy SC-104.

U-592 sinks SS Shchors.

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October 14th, 1943 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS Halstead launched.

Destroyer HMS Zest launched.

Frigate HMS Gore is commissioned.

NETHERLANDS: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's 55th Fighter Group, with P-38 Lightnings, and the 356th Fighter Group with P-47 Thunderbolts make their combat debut in a pair of fighter sweeps over the Frisian Islands. The 55th is the first P-38 unit to operate from the U.K. since all P-38 units were committed to Operation TORCH in 1942. It is also the first VIII Fighter Command unit to actually enter combat with P-38s. (Skip Guidry)

GERMANY: The US 8th Air Force sends 291 B-17s to raid Schweinfurt and the ball-bearing factories there They lose 60 aircraft. There is no appreciable reduction of supplies of ball-bearings to German industry.
This raid, on Schweinfurt, will be the last Allied daylight air raid deep within Germany until the arrival of the long range fighter escorts. 

Flying Fortresses of the US Eighth Army Air Force took the dangerous route to the city of Schweinfurt deep inside Germany today to bomb the ball-bearings factories vital to Hitler's war industries. The Fortresses crews claim to have damaged their targets heavily. One said: "When we left the factory was just a mass of smoke and flames. Our bombs were all concentrated right on the target."

However, the bombers have paid a heavy price for their success. Sixty out of 291 planes which set out - 228 bombed the target - have failed to return and many more are badly damaged, 559 airmen are  killed and 40 wounded. They were escorted part of the way by Thunderbolt fighters, but when the fighters turned back at the limit of their range, the bombers had to face swarms of German fighters and rely on their own guns and formation flying for protection; it was not enough, though the bomber crews claim to have shot down 288 German aircraft, postwar analysis shows the real figure to have been 27. 

The lesson is that the Fortresses cannot live in the air over Germany without fighters for protection. A ninth air force is therefore to be formed on 16 October to provide escort cover for bombing attacks and, in the longer term, a future invasion of Europe.

276 civilians died in Schweinfurt.

Official report: The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 115: 229 of 291 B-17s dispatched hit the city area and ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany, in 2 group; the first group bombs at 1439-1445 hours, the second group at 1451-1457 hours; they claim 186-27-89 Luftwaffe aircraft; 60 B-17s are lost, 7 damaged beyond repair and 138 damaged. The attack, which causes great damage and interference with production, results in German reorganization of the bearing industry. Fierce opposition of great numbers of fighters, many of them firing rockets, accounts for the 60 US aircraft shot down. As a result of these heavy losses, daylight bombing against strategic targets deep in Germany is temporarily discontinued. 

Only 29 of 60 B-24s are able to form up in poor weather; they abandoned their planned mission and fly a diversion towards Emden, Germany. (John Nicholas, Jack McKillop, Glen Steinberg and Gene Hanson)

Capt. Frank E. McCauley, 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieves ace status (5.5 kills) when he downs a Bf 110 near Aachen at 1345 hours.

The 55th FG, USAAF, (P-38) and 356th FG, USAAF, (P-47) make their combat debut in a pair of fighter sweeps over the Frisian Islands (Netherlands). The 55th is the first P-38 unit to operate from the UK since all P-38 units were committed to Operation TORCH in 1942. It is also the first 8th Fighter Command unit to actually enter combat with P-38s. (Skip Guidry)

U-1170 is launched.

U-768 is commissioned.

NORWAY: SPITZBERGEN: U-737 destroys a landing stage off Grummanntbyan with a demolition charge.

FINLAND: General der Artillerie Alfred Jodl arrives Finland to present the German view of the present military-political situation. He explains that the Italian surrender has no signifigance and that Germany will hold its positions around Leningrad.

U.S.S.R.: On the Dnieper River bend, Zaporozhye, the industrial center of the Ukraine, falls to the Red Army.  The railroad from the Crimea to Melitopol is cut by the Red Army.

USSR: Luftwaffe pilot Major Walter Nowotny shoots down his 250th Russian plane. Before war's end, four other German pilots will surpass Nowotny's score.

Sobibor: The 600 inmates of the extermination camp, mainly women working in the small tailors' workshop, have risen against the camp regime and staged an astonishing escape attempt.

The revolt was spearheaded by a group of White Russian Jewish partisans led by Aleksandr "Sacha" Pieczerski, a 34-year old Russian Jew who had served as a political commissar in the Red Army. The Jews were armed with a few guns and hand-grenades, stolen from the SS barracks, and a handful of knives and hatchets.

The mutiny started this afternoon during the routine inspection of the prisoners' huts. The rebels killed 11 guards, then shouted "Hurrah" to signal a mass breakout. In the chaos that followed, the guards shot 200 inmates dead. Others perished in the minefield that surrounds the camp; estimates of the number who escaped successfully vary from 100 to 300.

Pierczerski and his second-in-command, Leon Feldhandler, are thought to be among those who did escape to join the partisans. A small group of Dutch Jews is apparently trying to get home. In a camp where deportees stand only a one in 40 chance of avoiding immediate death in the gas chambers, today's breakout was a brave attempt to shorten the odds.

ITALY: The battle along the Volturno River continues.

The Fifth Army expands its bridgeheads across the Volturno River. The U.S. 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions have pushed 4 miles (6.4 km) beyond the river.

The unloading of supplies is transferred from Salerno to Naples.

     Lieutenant General Mark Clark, Commanding General US Fifth Army, alters the boundary between corps and changes the plan of attack. Since the British 56th Division, on the right flank of the British X Corps, is unable to cross the Volturno River at Capua, the boundary is moved east to permit it to use bridge within the Triflisco Gap, formerly in the US 3d Infantry Division zone. The 3d Infantry Division of the US VI Corps is to take over the mission of 34th Infantry Division and latter is to move to the right to make contact with the 45th Infantry Division. The US VI Corps is to advance astride the Volturno River to Venafro-Isernia area, clearing the upper Volturno Valley. The 3d and 34th Infantry Divisions are to make converging attacks toward Dragoni, but the 34th is forced to await improvement of its supply situation. Army bridgeheads across the Volturno River are being expanded.

     In the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division takes Campobasso.

XII Bomber Command B-25s hit Argos Airfield and B-17s bomb the Terni marshalling yard. Other B-17s and B-24s attack a bridge at Giulianova, the town area of Piano-Vomano and railroad and highway bridges north of Pescara and along the eastern coast of Italy. Weather hinders tactical aircraft operations, but the XII Air Support Command and RAF Desert Air Force hit trains and vehicles and fly patrols from north of the Volturno River to Formia and north of Pescara. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

     During the night of 14/15 October, 17 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the railway line at Orbetello.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS/M Trooper (N 91) sailed from Beirut on 26 September, 1943 for a patrol in the Aegean Sea off the Dodecanese Islands, including the Leros area. She fails is sunk by a German Q-ship off the island of Kos in the Greek Aegean.

CHINA: 4 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s attack shipping in the Amoy area, damaging 2 freighters, and also bombing Amoy Airfield.

NEW GUINEA: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Alexishafen in Papua New Guinea.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 60+ Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island.

EAST INDIES: Three USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells fly harassing strikes against Dili and Lautem on Dutch East Timor Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese planes attack six Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Eleven (MTBRon 11) PT boats off Choiseul Bay, Solomon Islands, damaging PT-183. The boats were based in Lambu Lambu Cove on the northeast coast of Vella Lavella Island.

     At 1700 hours in the East China Sea, the USN submarine USS Grayback (SS-208) sinks a Japanese fleet tanker about 84 nautical miles (155 kilometers) north of Naha, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, in position 27.35N, 127.30E. The sub eludes hunter-killer operations carried out by an aviation supply ship. (Skip Guidry)

1800 hours: USS Bonefish (SS-223) sinks a schooner at 00-10 N, 119-15 E. (Skip Guidry)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The New Zealand 8th Brigade Group of the 3d Division, begins rehearsal for the landings in the Treasury Islands on Florida Island. The rehearsals conclude on 17 October.

A single Thirteenth Air Force B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs 4 barges west of Taiof Island, leaving 1 sinking.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Atholl is commissioned.

U.S.A.:  The National Broadcasting Company sells one of its two networks today. NBC had consisted of the Red and Blue Networks with the Red Network producing roughly 75 percent of NBC's commercial programs. In an anti-monopoly move, the Federal Trade Commission, had mandated that companies would no longer be allowed to control more than one network and NBC was forced to sell one of its divisions. Naturally, it sold the weaker Blue Network to Edward J. Noble who had earned millions from the sale of "Lifesavers" candy. Noble named the new company the American Broadcasting Systems but this was changed within a year to the American Broadcasting Company, Inc. (ABC).

Submarine USS Segundo is laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS George M Campbell, John M Bermingham, Mason and Russell M Cox laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Day, Rudderow and Currier launched.

Aircraft carrier USS Franklin launched.

Escort carrier USS Natoma Bay commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Knave commissioned.

Heavy cruiser USS Canberra commissioned.

PUERTO RICO: The U.S. Coast Guard district patrol vessel USCGC EM Dow (WYP-353) runs aground off Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and is abandoned. A former fishing boat, the EM Dow was assigned to the USN’s Carribean Sea Frontier and was stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her crew abandoned ship in a gale off Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and were rescued by the Coast Guard submarine chaser USCGC Marion (WPC-145). All hands were saved. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-455 collides with U-631 and suffers heavy damage.

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October 14th, 1944 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions against targets in GERMANY:

* Mission 676: 211 bombers and 258 fighters make GH attacks on 2 targets in GERMANY: a fighter is lost:

- 90 B-17s hit a marshalling yard at Saarbrucken. Escort is provided by 105 P-51s.

- 117 B-24s hit Kaiserslautern. Escort is provided by 148 P-51s with the loss of 1.

* Mission 677: 1,040 bombers and 491 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on Cologne; 5 bombers are lost: 

- 326 B-17s bomb the Gereon marshalling yard and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 141 P-51s.

- 127 B-24s bomb the Gremberg marshalling yard and 121 bomb the Eifelter marshalling yard; 9 others hit Euskirchen; 3 B-24s are lost.

Escort is provided by 177 P-47s and P-51s without loss.

- 314 B-17s hit the secondary target, the Gereon marshalling yard; 1 other hits a target of opportunity. Escort is provided by 151 P-47s and P-51s without loss.

Minesweeper HMS Flying Fish is commissioned.

BELGIUM: In the Canadian II Corps area, the land approach to Breskens Pocket from the east is secured by the Canadian 3d Division at Isabella, on the tip of the Savojaards Plaat.

FRANCE: In the French First Army’s II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division finishes clearing Foret de Gehan and takes Cornimont, but by this time is so weakened that the offensive is broken off.

After downing two Bf 109s, near St. Dizier, at 1310 hours, Capt. Joseph L. Lang, 334 FS/4th FG, USAAF, is killed in aerial combat. He was an ace with 7.833 kills (Skip Guidry)

Bad weather grounds the Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s; fighters escort a leaflet mission, fly sweeps and rail cutting operations, armed reconnaissance over eastern France and western Germany, and support the US Third Army.

GERMANY: Ulm: At his home on the Danube near Ulm, Field Marshal Rommel receives two visitors, generals from Hitler's Staff. He is told of his suspected complicity in the events of July 20 and given two choices. A public trial or suicide with a state funeral and guarantee of immunity from persecution for his wife and family. Soon afterwards he went upstairs to his wife. When he came down he said to his son Manfred: "I have just had to tell your mother that I shall be dead in a quarter of an hour." 

Germany's most popular general has been linked to the July ploy against Hitler; the Fuhrer told him that if he took poison his family would not be arrested. His death is announced as being caused by the wounds suffered June 17th.

     In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division continues to make slow progress in Aachen and on Observatory Hill. The 9th Infantry Division commits elements of 47th Infantry Regiment to insure safety of Road Junction 471 in the Huertgen Forest.

1,013 RAF raiders drop 3,574 tons of bombs on Duisburg.

     During the day, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies two missions to Germany consisting of 1,251 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators and 749 fighter escorts. No Luftwaffe fighters were seen. This was part of Operation HURRICANE (see below). Two marshalling yards in Cologne were bombed, 642 aircraft hit the Gereon yard and 248 bombed the Eifeltor yard. Three other targets were: 118 aircraft hit the marshalling yard at Kaiserslautern, 90 bombed the marshalling yard at Saarbrucken and nine attacked the Euskirchen industrial area. Five bombers and one fighter are lost.

     During the day, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs two synthetic oil refineries: 102 aircraft bomb the I.G. Farben North refinery in Blechhammer and 81 bomb the Deschowitz refinery in Odertal.

     Yesterday, Sir Arthur Harris, Air Officer Commanding Bomber Command, received the directive for Operation HURRICANE: 'In order to demonstrate to the enemy in Germany generally the overwhelming superiority of the Allied Air Forces in this theatre ... the intention is to apply within the shortest practical period the maximum effort of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command and the VIII United States Bomber Command against objectives in the densely populated Ruhr.' Bomber Command had probably been forewarned of the directive because it was able to mount the first part of the operation soon after first light on 14 October. No heavy bombers had flown on operations for 48 hours and 1,013 aircraft, 519 Lancasters, 474 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos, were dispatched to Duisburg during the day with RAF fighters providing an escort. Nine hundred fifty seven bombers dropped 3,574 tons (3 242 metric tonnes) of high explosive and 820 tons (744 metric tonnes) of incendiaries on Duisburg; 14 aircraft are lost, 13 Lancasters and a Halifax; it is probable that the Lancasters provided the early waves of the raid and drew the attention of the German flak before the flak positions were overwhelmed by the bombing. (Andy Etherington)

     During the night of 14/15 October, RAF Bomber Command continues Operation HURRICANE by dispatching 1,005 aircraft, 498 Lancasters, 468 Halifaxes and 39 Mosquitos, to attack Duisburg again in two forces two hours apart; 941 aircraft dropped 4,040 tons (3 665 metric tonnes) of high explosive and 500 tons (454 metric tonnes) of incendiaries during the night. Five Lancasters and two Halifaxes are lost. Nearly 9,000 tons (8 165 metric tonnes) of bombs had thus fallen on Duisburg in less than 48 hours. Local reports are difficult to obtain. The Duisburg Stadtarchiv does not have the important Endbericht, the final report. Small comments are available: "Heavy casualties must be expected." "Very serious property damage. A large number of people buried." "Thyssen Mines III and IV: About eight days loss of production." "'Duisburg-Hamborn: All mines and coke ovens lay silent." A second targets hit tonight is Brunswick with 233 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos. The various diversions and fighter support operations laid on by Bomber Command were so successful that only one Lancaster was lost from this raid. Bomber Command had attempted to destroy Brunswick four times so far in 1944 and the RAF finally achieved that aim on this night, using their own marking methods. It was Brunswick's worst raid of the war and the old centre was completely destroyed. A local report says "the whole town, even the smaller districts, was particularly hard hit." It was estimated by the local officials that 1,000 bombers had carried out the raid. Other raids included 20 Mosquitos to Hamburg and 16 Mosquitos to Berlin, eight Mosquitos to a railroad factory in Mannheim and two to Lohausen Airfield in Dusseldorf.

U-2354 and U-3024 are laid down.

During an air raid on Libau 2 men from U-717 were killed and 3 more wounded. [Matrosenobergefreiter Walter Steube, Maschinenobergefreiter August Grodonk].

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: During the day, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs targets of opportunity: 31 bombers hit the marshalling yard at Bratislava and four aircraft attack miscellaneous targets; no aircraft are lost.

HUNGARY: During the day, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs 15 targets in the country: 57 bomb the marshalling yard at Nove Zamky, 29 bomb a railroad bridge at Komarom, ten bomb a marshalling yard at Celldomolk, eight bomb a target of opportunity at Borzavar, six bomb the city of Papa, two bomb the marshalling yard at Nagykaniza and nine bomb individual targets. No aircraft are lost.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, II Polish Corps takes command of the X Corps sector and troops on the left flank of army with orders to drive on Forli. V Corps continues to clear heights east of the Savio, the 46th Division seizing Mt. dei Pini, beyond Carpineta. In the Canadian I Corps area, the 1st Division takes the village of Bulgaria while elements of the New Zealand 2d Division clear St. Angelo, during the night of 14/15 October.

Bad weather cancels all Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations; 100+ fighters and fighter-bombers pound troop concentrations, gun positions, supplies, bridges, roads, and rail lines south of Bologna where hard fighting is taking place in the Monterumici, Livergnano, and Gesso ridge areas. 

The Fifteenth Air Force sends 317 B-17s and B-24s to bomb oil refineries at Blechhammer and Odertal, Germany, and several targets of opportunity including marshalling yards at Bratislava and Nove Zamky, Czechoslovakia, and in Hungary, Komarom and the Nove Zamky railroad bridges, Borzavar industrial area, and Ugod military garrison; escorting fighters strafe airfields, rail and road traffic and other targets of opportunity in the target areas; 52 B-24s bomb a railroad bridge and marshalling yard at Maribor, Yugoslavia; 54 P-51s on a strafing mission in the Balaton Lake area of Hungary attack airfields at Szekesfehervar and Seregelyes; 55 P-38s escort Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force C-47 Skytrains carrying airborne forces to Megara Airfield, Greece.

YUGOSLAVIA: Soviet and Yugoslavia forces are converging on the capital Belgrade, which is encircled.

     The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs three targets: in Maribor, 48 bombers attack a railroad bridge and six hit a marshalling yard, four bombers are lost. A single aircraft bombs the industrial area of Legrad.

GREECE: Athens is liberated by British and Greek forces landed earlier at the Pireaus. 
It was a sight that would have delighted Byron. Here, in the shadow of the Acropolis, was an English earl leading a small number of British troops and an ever-growing band of Greek partisans into the heart of this tortured city. Colonel Earl Jellicoe, a legend among Greek guerrillas, and his men have marched over 28 miles of demolished roads from the airfield at Megara which they captured a few days ago.

The main British occupation force, Operation Manna, landed in Megara today. An enormous fleet of RN and Greek cruisers and destroyers, under the command of Rear-Admiral J. M. Mansfield, is disembarking two British brigades. First, they face the major task of feeding this city. Tins of bully beef, given readily by British soldiers, are being traded for gold in the black market. Electricity and water supplies were blown up by the Germans before they left, and a call has gone out for engineers to rebuild them.

The second task for the British is to maintain law and order in a country facing the threat of civil war. Churchill fears that in the absence of a properly-constituted government, communists will step into the power vacuum left by the Germans. The communist "National Army of Liberation" (ELAS) and the nationalist EDES faction have been squaring up for a fight for years. Few walls in Athens are now without the red and blue propaganda of the opposing force.

More British landings on Corfu.

     Fifty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings escort Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force C-47 Skytrains/Dakotas carrying British airborne forces to Megara Airfield.

BURMA: Transport aircraft fly 200+ sorties, delivering men and supplies to various points in the CBI.

CHINA: 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), flies to eastern China, where the Chinese are preparing to take the offensive.

32 Fourteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack troops, town areas, and river traffic around Samshui, Mangshih, Kweiping, Hsinganhsien, Konghow and Tajungchiang.

JAPAN: 4 Eleventh Air Force B-25s bomb and strafe buildings at Otomae Bay, in the Kurile Islands.

FORMOSA: The US attack has destroyed 321 Japanese aircraft and 40 destroyers, for the loss of 71 US planes, two destroyers and a carrier.

The aircraft of Task Force 38 again attack Japanese installations on Formosa. The Japanese have reinforced the island with hundreds of aircraft drawn from the carrier fleet and these aircraft fly 419 sorties during the day. They attack the ships and damage three, one severely. The aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CV-19) is attacked by 2 aircraft; the first one drops a bomb off Hancock's port bow a few seconds before the carrier's guns splashed her into the sea but a bomb from the second aircraft penetrates a gun platform but exploded harmlessly in the water. The light cruiser USS Reno (CL-96) is struck by a torpedo bomber which explodes on the cruiser's main deck aft. Though Turret Six was partially incapacitated by the explosion, the turret captain succeeded in maintaining his fire against the attacking planes and ships. The most severely damaged is light cruiser USS Houston (CL-81) which is attacked by 4 aircraft; AA gunners shoot down 3 but the fourth aircraft manages to put a torpedo in her engine room, causing loss of power. The ship retires in tow to Ulithi. At this juncture, heavy air attacks on TF 38, together with enemy radio propaganda broadcasts that reflect a vast overestimation of the destruction wreaked by attacking Japanese aircraft, prompts Commander Third Fleet to withdraw TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) and TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) to the eastward to set upon any important Japanese fleet units that would attempt to finish off the "crippled remnants" of TF 38. The enemy, however, does not take the bait.

During the day, USN aircraft damage a coast minelayer and 2 auxiliary submarine chasers and shoot down 80+ IJN aircraft. 

The XX Bomber Command flies Mission 10 to Formosa: 103 Chengtu, China, based B-29 Superfortresses bomb the Okayama aircraft plant and adjacent airfield on Formosa; 12 more hit last-resort targets and targets of opportunity; this is the first Twentieth Air Force mission during which 100+ B-29s attack targets and the first of a series of missions against Formosa in conjunction with the US invasion of Leyte Island, Philippine Islands. Two B-29s are lost. 

P-47s on a sweep over Pagan Island in the Marianas bombing and strafing storage caves.

WAKE ISLAND: A USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 from the Marshall Islands bombs Wake Island during the night of 14/15 October. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

MARCUS ISLAND: Three USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance from Saipan Island, Mariana Islands, bomb Marcus Island. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles (1 422 kilometers) west-northwest of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.

EAST INDIES: Far East Air Forces B-24s again bomb oil refineries and associated industries in the Balikpapan, Borneo, area; others bomb Pombelaa mine on Celebes Island. A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers again hit Laha Airfield on Ambon Island and Haroekoe Airfield on Haroekoe Island.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Airstrikes from US TF 38 on Aparri Airfield on Luzon, PI. 

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: The U.S. III Amphibious Force, with elements of the Leyte, Philippine Island invasion force that have reached Manus Island from Hawaii aboard, sail for Leyte.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, Rear Admiral George Fort, Commander of the Western Attack Force, turns over control of all operations in the Palaus to Rear Admiral John Hoover, heading Forward Area Central Pacific (Task Force 57). On Peleliu Island, the 81st Infantry Division prepares to relieve the 1st Marine Division at the Umurbrogol Pocket while defending the eastern arm of the island, recalling 2d Battalion of the 321st Infantry Regiment from offshore islands. On Angaur Island, the attack and occupation phase is terminated by the III Amphibious Corps, although a pocket still remains at the northwestern tip of the island. The fighting continues on this island where Admiral Fort announced a complete occupation on September 30.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 3 USN and an RN submarine sink an IJA transport, a merchant cargo ship, 2 merchant tankers and a communications vessel.

      - In the Sulu Sea, USS Angler (SS-240) sinks a Japanese army transport about 37 nautical miles (68 kilometers) northwest of Culasi, Panay, Philippine Islands, in position 11.53N, 121.39E.

      - In the South China Sea, USS Bonefish (SS-223) sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship about 29 nautical miles (54 kilometers) west-northwest of Lingayen, Luzon, Philippine Islands, in position 16.12N, 119.45E.

      - USS Dace (SS-247) sinks two Japanese merchant tankers and damages a merchant ore carrier about 142 nautical miles (264 kilometers) west-southwest of Ponape Island, Caroline Islands, in position 06.05N, 115.55E.

      - British submarine HMS/M Sturdy (P 248) sinks a Japanese communications vessel in the Gulf of Boni, south of Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Lieutenant General Holland Smith, Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, designates Major General Harry Schmidt, Commanding General, Fifth Amphibious Corps, as Landing Force Commander (Commander Task Group 56.1) for the Iwo Jima operation and directs him to prepare plans.

CANADA:  In Ottawa, Ontario, Defence Minister James L. Ralston returns from Europe and makes a speech urging conscription (drafting) for service overseas.

While escorting convoy GONS-33, River class frigate HMCS Magog (K 673) is torpedoed by U-1223 (Oberleutnant zur See Albert Kneipe) in the mouth of the St.Lawrence River, 49.12N 67.19W. There are three killed. Although towed back to port with forty-feet of her stern blown off, she was never repaired. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U.S.A.: Two songs reach Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. The first is ")There'll Be A) Hot Time In The Town Of Berlin (When The Yanks Go Marching In)" by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. This song, which debuted on the charts on 23 September 1944, was charted for 14 weeks, was Number 1 for 6 weeks and was ranked Number 6 for the year 1944. Tied for first place was "I'll Walk Alone" by Dinah Shore. The song is from the motion picture "Follow The Boys" starring Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, Orson Welles, Dinah Shore, W.C. Fields, Jeanette MacDonald, The Andrew Sisters and Sophie Tucker. This song, which debuted on the charts on 12 August 1944, was charted for 24 weeks, was Number 1 for 4 weeks and was ranked Number 12 for the year 1944.

Submarine USS Lagarto is commissioned.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-527 was commissioned at Chicago with LT Gil K. Phares, USCGR, as commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific and Western Pacific areas. On 1 August 1945, she was moored at Tacloban, Leyte loading food and ordnance supplies for the Army Base at Agusun, Macjalar Bay, Mindanao for which she departed next day, arriving on the 3rd. Unloading, begun on the 4th, was completed on the 7th and she departed Macajalar Bay on the 9th returning to Tacloban on the 10th. On the 26th she began loading supplies for the Army Base at Cebir City, Cebu, for which she departed on the 28th, anchoring there on the 30th. Such a month's routine was typical of the activity of the FS vessels in this area.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-547 was commissioned at Los Angeles, CA with LT E. M. Harrison, USCGR as commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific and Western Pacific areas. On 11 April 1945, the FS-547 was sent from Manila to San Jose, Mindoro, being loaned out by USASOS for an indefinite period. Her duties were to deliver rations, fuel and equipment to units of the Philippine Army, formerly guerrillas, located at various ports in the Visayan area, to ports administered by the P.C.A.U #7, to transport Philippine Army troops from time to time and make any and all incidental trips which the 8th Army saw fit to set up. They ran one main monthly supply trip about the second week of each month that required about a week or ten days, to which three to five extra trips were added, all of shorter duration. The usual itinerary was from Margarin Bay (port of San Jose, Mindoro) to Romblon, Romblon Island, to Balanacan (Port of Boac, Marinduque, Island) to Calapan (Capital of Mindoro Province) to Lubang, Lubang Island and back to Mangarin Bay. Two to four days were spent at their base port, ordinarily to perform ship maintenance and repair as well as to procure ship's rations and supplies. She was decommissioned 27 October 1945.

GREENLAND: The U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers USCGC Eastwind (WAG-279) and Southwind (WAG-280) capture the German weather and supply vessel Externsteine 800 miles (1 482 kilometers) south of North Pole off Shannon after a brief fire-fight. There are no casualties. The Coast Guardsmen christened their prize-of-war "USS Eastbreeze" and placed a prize crew aboard consisting of 36 men. After sailing with the Greenland Patrol for three weeks, Eastbreeze sailed on to Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., where the USN renamed it as USS Callao (IX-205). The Externsteine/Eastbreeze/Callao is the only enemy surface vessel captured at sea by U.S. naval forces during the war. The Eastwind and Southwind had gone farther north and returned under their own power than any vessel ever before. Finally, this naval battle had taken place farther north than any previous battle, laurels enough for the Greenland Patrol.

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October 14th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Nationalists declare war on the Netherlands.

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