16 October 1939

1931 (FRIDAY)

SWITZERLAND: To address the crisis in Manchuria, the League of Nations attempts to end the hostilities and invites the U.S. to send a representative to sit on the League Council. The Hoover administration accepts the invitation and appoints Prentiss B. Gilbert to participate in discussions related to U.S. obligations under the Kellogg-Briand Pact. This Pact between the U.S. and other countries provided for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy and is signed at Paris on 27 August 1928

1933 (MONDAY)

ROMANIA: Stephen Tatarescu and others establish the pro-Nazi Christian-Fascist Party in Bucharest.

1934 (TUESDAY)

CHINA: The embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as Ch'ang Cheng--the "Long March"--the retreat lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles (9 656 kilometers). Civil war in China between the Nationalists and the Communists broke out in 1927. In 1931, Communist leader Mao Zedong was elected chairman of the newly established Soviet Republic of China, based in Kiangsi province in the southwest. Between 1930 and 1934, the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek launched a series of five encirclement campaigns against the Soviet Republic. Under the leadership of Mao, the Communists employed guerrilla tactics to resist successfully the first four campaigns, but in the fifth, Chiang raised 700,000 troops and built fortifications around the Communist positions. Hundreds of thousands of peasants were killed or died of starvation in the siege, and Mao is removed as chairman by the Communi

st Central Committee. The new Communist leadership employs more conventional warfare tactics, and its Red Army is decimated. With defeat imminent, the Communists decide to break out of the encirclement at its weakest points. The Long March begins at 1700 hours today. Secrecy and rear-guard actions confuse the Nationalists, and it is several weeks before they realize that the main body of the Red Army has fled. The retreating force initially consists of 86,000 troops, 15,000 personnel, and 35 women. Weapons and supplies are borne on men's backs or in horse-drawn carts, and the line of marchers stretches for 50 miles (80 kilometers). The Communists generally march at night, and when the Nationalists are not near, a long column of torches can be seen snaking over valleys and hills into the distance.

1937 (SATURDAY)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The police violently suppress a meeting of the Sudete German Party at Teplitz. The leader of the Sudete National Socialist Party, Konrad Henlein, protests against the government's brutal attack and demands complete autonomy for the 3.5 million Germans in Czechoslovakia.

HUNGARY: Several fascist organizations unite to form the Hungarian National Socialist Party, under the leadership of Ferenc Szalasi. This new political party strongly supports the Hungarian regent, Admiral Nicolas Horthy, and calls for his candidacy to the throne. Admiral Horthy rejected these efforts.

PALESTINE: Haj Amin el Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the most influential leader in the Arab Revolt, takes refuge in a mosque when the British government cracks down on the leaders of the Arab High Commission. The mufti escapes capture and flees to Syria, where he sets up headquarters to maintain the insurgency. As a result, the more radical members gain control over the movement and expand the fighting.

October 16th, 1939

UNITED KINGDOM: Ju88s of the 1st Group of the Luftwaffe's 30th Bomber Wing under Captain Pohle, bomb ships in the Firth of Forth and slightly damage cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Edinburgh and destroyer HMS Mohawk. 60 naval, 2 civilian casualties in Rosyth; 3 naval ships slightly damaged. Estimated 12 attacking aircraft. RAF Spitfires of 602 and 603 squadrons (the Glasgow and Edinburgh Auxiliary Air Force squadrons) shoot down two aircraft. One Ju88 falls to flak.

HMS Mohawk was providing escort for a North Sea convoy. Two bombs fell to starboard (abreast of the bridge) and to port (abreast of the torpedo tubes). The bombs exploded on the surface of the sea well before most men had time to reach their action stations. Machine gun bullets and jagged metal splinters decimated the mooring party on the focsle, slashed through the bridge, the wheelhouse, the director and the communications system. The personnel manning the machine guns, the search light position and after control position were mowed down by the projectiles. Fifteen men were killed and thirty injured, mostly experienced executive officers. On the bridge, Commander Jolly suffered a mortal stomach wound. While denying the comfort of medical attention, and in great pain and suffering, he commanded the ship for 35 miles until she was safely in port. After being taken to hospital at South Queensferry, West Lothian, Scotland, he died several hours later. For his gallantry, the Captain was awarded the George Cross posthumously. The ship was patched up at Rosyth then made his way to the Hawthorn Leslie Yard on the Tyne River for permanent repairs and a refit.

RAF: 102 Sqn. K8943 (Whitley) Overshot Aston Down on delivery flight U/S.

Homefront: Women across the country are taking up their knitting needles in accordance with instructions from the admiralty. basic specifications for every shape of garment from the sea-boot stocking to the Balaclava helmet have been issued and unending supplies are needed. A firm of wool experts is currently advising the admiralty on the production of detailed patterns, but in the meantime British knitters of all ages are urged to get clicking.

U.S. freighter SS Gateway City is detained by British authorities while U.S. freighter SS Black Heron, detained by the British at Weymouth, England, since 7 October, is released.

The Admiralty requests that the five Australian destroyers being sent to Singapore, Malaysia, be sent to the Mediterranean Sea.

AMC HMS Ascania commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Havelock launched.

GERMANY:
Warships are ordered to torpedo allied merchant shipping without warning.

The German News Bureau (DNB) announced: "German radio, which hitherto has concluded its new service by playing the "March of the Germans in Poland," has made a change. After the daily news report, it will play the poet Hermann Lon's song, "We ride against England."

Saarbrucken: The German army pushes French troops back to the Maginot Line.

U-205, U-206, U-207, U-208, U-209, U-210, U-211, U-212, U-375, U-376, U-377, U-378, U-379, U-380, U-381, U-382, U-405, U-406, U-407, U-408, U-435, U-436, U-437, U-438, U-559, U-560, U-561, U-562 ordered.

CANADA: Five British warships arrive in Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying about UK£10 million in gold (US$39.55 million in 1939 dollars or US$555.7 million in 2005 dollars) from Britain and other Allied nations, for safekeeping during the war.

In Ottawa, Ontario, the Government orders the Canadian 1st Division to the U.K.

U.S.A.: The 15-minute soap opera "The Right to Happiness" debuts on the NBC Blue Network weekdays at 1015 hours Eastern sponsored by Procter and Gamble. This radio drama turned out to be one of the longest-running radio shows of its kind remaining on the air until November 1960. The plot involved Carolyn Allen, daughter of a magazine editor, whose search for a "God-given right to happiness" leads her through four husbands, a prison sentence, and hours of anguish at the hands of her rebellious son Skip.

MEXICO: The German tanker SS Emmy Friedrich, whose cargo includes refrigerants needed for the magazine cooling systems in armoured ship Admiral Graf Spee, then on a raiding foray into the Atlantic, departs Tampico. The USN Neutrality Patrol assets, including the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) and heavy cruiser USS San Francisco (CA-38), are mobilized to locate and trail the ship if the need arises.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-19 laid a field of 9 mines; this field was responsible for the loss of three ships some days later.

16 October 1940

UNITED KINGDOM:

Battle of Britain: With the autumn weather, accident casualties on both sides from now on often exceed combat casualties.

There is widespread fog in Germany and France during the day which keeps all but the most capable Luftwaffe pilots on the ground. Those that do fly attack Kent and the western part of England. RAF fighters fly 275 sorties and down 7 Luftwaffe aircraft; the RAF loses 1.

It is a wet and misty night over England and only about 200 aircraft bomb Britain. RAF bombers returning from a raid on Italy encountered difficulties and 8 Whitleys and a Czech-crewed Wellington crashed.

After nightfall, attacks on Central London are not of the same intensity of late probably due to adverse weather conditions; however, bombing is reported over a widespread area in the suburbs together with attacks in South Wales, Perth and Birmingham. It is reported that the bombs which fell on the Great Western Railway Goods Depot at Lambeth are of extremely light material with a very high penetrating power. According to pitting of walls and buildings, fragments appear to spread low over the ground as well as up into the air. They appear to be a combination of very high explosives and incendiary bombs of a small type.

Despite official denials, rumours persist that the Germans attempted an invasion in the late summer and perished disastrously. Large numbers of dead Germans are believed to have been washed ashore on the south coast between the Isle of Wight (where the "invasion" was aimed) and Cornwall. One story is that the corpses were charred, because the sea was set on fire.

A further theory is that the Germans held an ill-fated rehearsal of the invasion and that the barges were sunk in storms. No-one has seen the bodies, but that is explained by the authorities concealing them. In fact, any bodies washed up are of German airmen shot down.

Minesweeper HMS Dundalk is mined during routine minesweeping operations off Harwich at 52 03N 01 48E. She is taken in tow, but founders on the 17^{th at} 51 57N 01 27E. (Alex Gordon))(108)

Corvette HNLMS Friso ex-HMS Carnation commissioned.

FRANCE: Dunkirk is bombarded by ships of the Royal Navy.

GERMANY: During the night of 16/17 October, RAF Bomber Command Blenheim Mk. IVs attack the German naval base at Kiel. RAF 2 Group tries a new tactic with one crew from each of three squadrons (114, 139 and 218) being given a free hand attacking any target in Germany or occupied territory under cloud cover.

U-458 laid down.

U-145 commissioned.

NORWAY: Aircraft of the Royal Navy bomb oil tanks at Tromsø .

POLAND: Warsaw: The Jewish ghetto is formally established by decree.

EGYPT: Cairo: Eden cables Churchill asking that Wavell be sent another battalion of Infantry tanks with a Brigade Recovery Section, to keep them serviceable, in the event of a planned British offensive.

ETHIOPIA: The Regia Aeronautica executed a particularly impressive counter air mission. In the early morning hours a single Vickers Vincent attacked the Italian airfield at Tessenei in Ethiopia. The offending aircraft was in turn followed home to its base at Gedaref in the Sudan by a single CA. 133. After making an unsuccessful attack run the CA. 133 returned to Tessenei and reported the location of the British airfield. A follow up attack by nine CR.42s of 412 Squadron led by a single SM.79 destroyed eight of 47 Squadron's Wellesleys and two Vincents while also damaging an ammunition dump. Participating in the attack was the Regia Aeronautical leading East African ace, Capt. Mario Visintini. (Mike Yared)(284)

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The Japanese and authorities in the Dutch East Indies begin four days of discussions regarding oil supplies. It is agreed to supply 40% of production to the Japanese for the next six months. Attempts are made by the British to block this agreement.

CANADA: The fifth group of ten USN ships involved in the destroyers-for-bases agreement with Britain--USS Twiggs (DD-127), USS Philip (DD-76), USS Evans (DD-78), USS Wickes (DD-75), USS McCalla (DD-253), USS Rodgers (DD-170), USS Conner (DD-72), USS Conway (DD-70), USS Stockton (DD-73) and USS Yarnall (DD-143)--arrive at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Corvettes HMCS Trail and Chicoutimi launched.

Destroyer HMCS Saguenay departed Halifax for UK to join EG 10, Greenock.

U.S.A.: 16 million men register for the draft under the Selective Training and Service Act passed by the Congress.

In an effort to undermine the Japanese war economy, the Roosevelt administration had placed a ban on the exportation of scrap iron and steel from the U.S. to countries outside the Western Hemisphere (with the exception of exports to Britain), on 26 September. The ban becomes effective today.

Destroyer USS Hambleton laid down.

Corvette USS Tenacity ex-HMS Candytuft.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-48 (Lt-Cdr Bleichrodt) operating in the area to the North-West of Rockall Bank, establishes contact with a homeward bound convoy (SC7, homeward bound from Sydney, Nova Scotia) Five further U-boats in the area are directed towards the convoy. They were U-46, U-99, U-100, U-101 and U-123.

U-48 attacks but is pursued and attacked with depth charges.

The Canadian Great Lakes Carrier bulk cargo ship Trevisa (1,813 GRT) was sunk in the North Atlantic in position 57.28N, 020.30W, by U-124, KptLt. Georg-Wilhelm Schulz, Knight's Cross, CO. Seven men were lost from her 21 crewmembers.

During battle against convoy OB- 228, U-93 was attacked three times - in the early morning by three escorts with 19 depth charges, the second time at 1015 hrs by an escort with 7 depth charges, and the third and last time in the evening by a Sunderland aircraft with a bomb. The boat suffered no damage at all.

16 October 1941

October 16th, 1941 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS Chiddingfold commissioned.

FRANCE: Marshal Petain orders the arrest of Daladier, Reynaud, Mandel and Blum, former Prime Ministers of France, together with General Gamelin. They are charged with the French defeat. All three are captured and tried in February 1942. The powerful defense put up by the three so greatly discomfited the Vichy authorities and so irritated the Germans that in April the hearings are suspended indefinitely and the three are handed over to the Germans and held until the end of the war.

GERMANY:

U-638 laid down.

U-600 launched.

U-160, U-592, U-703 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Over half a million men, women and children complete building new defences around the city - 5,000 miles of trenches, 60 miles of anti-tank ditches and 177 miles of barbed wire.

Molotov has told the foreign embassies that they are to be evacuated to Kuybishev. The streets are full of charred paper as secret documents are burnt. Party members are tearing up their cards. Pictures of Stalin are being taken down.

There is panic in the air as rumours spread that German tanks are in the suburbs. There is no transport; the buses and taxis have been commandeered to take troops to the front. Some officials and policemen, fearful of what will happen to them if the Germans arrive, are fleeing the city, and looters are taking advantage of their departure. General Zhukov, recalled from Leningrad, is working feverishly to organize a new line of defence. He has ordered the setting up of artillery and anti-tank strongpoint to ambush the German Panzers on their approach routes.

Reinforcements are being rushed to Moscow from other sector. Workers battalions, armed by Moscow's own factories, are taking their places in the front line. In the midst of all this feverish activity, the Associated Press correspondent has been asked to write a story on Lenin's tomb. He had time to send one message - "Tomb closed" - before he joined the exodus to Kuybishev.

The Romanian and Germans who have been besieging the Black Sea port of Odessa since August finally marched into the city only to find it empty and burning.

Its defenders had sailed for Sevastopol during the night in a secret evacuation involving 30 ships and 35,000 men. The rearguard was taken on board at 4am. The last man to leave was Captain Makarenko, the commander of the port.

Most of the garrison and party officials had already been evacuated, along with several thousand prisoners. All the material that had to be left behind was burnt. The big guns of the 95th Rifle Division were dumped into the harbour.

The Romanians, after suffering 98,000 casualties in the siege, are making the most of the Soviet withdrawal: "Troops of our Fourth Army marched into Odessa this afternoon. The last nests of resistance are being cleared up in street fighting. The population greeted German and Romanian forces with enthusiasm." In fact the Romanian dictator, Ion Antonescu, is so angry at the Russian escape that he has sacked the army's commander. (Michael F. Yaklich)

SPAIN: U-204 entered the Spanish harbour of Cadiz to take on supplies from the German tanker Thalia.

JAPAN: Prime Minister Konoye Fumimaro resigns, following Roosevelt's refusal to grant him a summit meeting and division in the Japanese cabinet over negotiation with the USA. General Tojo Heidiki (Japanese order) will tomorrow be appointed Prime Minister, War Minister and Home Affairs Minister. In Prince Konoye's cabinet he had been War Minister. Although the decision to go to war has not been finally taken, these changes show the rise of those wishing to go to war. (Tim Lanzendörfer)

U.S.A.: The Chief of Naval Operations sends the following message to the fleet commanders: "The resignation of the Japanese Cabinet has created a grave situation X If a new Cabinet is formed it will probably be strongly nationalistic and anti American X If the Konoye Cabinet remains the effect will be that it will operate under a new mandate which will not include rapprochement with the US X In either case hostilities between Japan and Russia are a strong possibility X Since the US and Britain are held responsible by Japan for her present desperate situation there is also a possibility that Japan may attack these two powers X In view of these possibilities you will take due precautions including such preparatory deployments as will not disclose strategic intention nor constitute provocative actions against Japan X Second and third addressees (in the Pacific) inform appropriate Army and Naval district authorities X Acknowledge XX (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

Stimson asks State Department to arrange with Australians for use of airfields in New Guinea, New Britain, and Australia itself.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The battle to protect convoy SC 48 continues. German submarines U-502 and U-568 re-establish contact before retiring upon arrival of the USN's Task Unit 4.1.4 (Captain Hewlett Thebaud). Destroyer USS Livermore (DD-429) sweeps ahead of the convoy, and depth-charges U-553; destroyer USS Kearny (DD-432), sweeping astern, drops charges to discourage tracking submarines. Later, U-502 and U-568, augmented by U-432, U-553, and U-558 renew attack upon SC 48. The U-boats commence a determined assault on SC 48 during the night of 16-17 October. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

Flower class corvette HMS Gladiolus disappears. Early the following morning a very loud explosion is heard behind the convoy, which may have, been Gladiolus following an attack by U-568, but there is no conclusive evidence of this loss, or any survivors. Possible location Atlantic, 67N 25W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-568 sank SS Empire Heron in Convoy SC-48.

16 October 1942

October 16th, 1942 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Minesweeper HMS Circe commissioned.

Trawler HMS Ironbound commissioned and loaned to RCN.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the Stork diesel engine factory at Hengelo without loss.

During the night of 16/17 October, four RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands; one aircraft is lost.

FRANCE: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches six (A-20) Bostons to attack Le Havre but they are turned back by bad weather.

During the night of 16/17 October, 23 Wellingtons and 11 Stirlings of RAF Bomber Command 16/17 October are dispatched to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: five each lay mines off La Pallice, Lorient and St. Nazaire, four each off the Gironde Estuary and Nantes, and three off St. Jean de Luz. Three aircraft are lost.

GERMANY: U-340 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine "Sch-308" of the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas is sunk by a U-boat, at Sedra-Kvarken strait. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s bomb shipping in Bengasi harbour but other B-17s and B-24s dispatched to attack Tobruk and Bengasi are forced to abort by bad weather.

INDIA: A cyclone kills 40,000 people in Bengal, mainly affecting the area south of Calcutta and badly disrupting supplies to the Burma front.

THAILAND: US submarines mine the approaches to Bangkok. One of these is theUSNsubmarine USS Thresher (SS-200) achieves the first U.S. Navy submarine mine plant of World War II.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USS Hornet aircraft strike Japanese positions at Rekata Bay on Santa Isabella, north of Guadalcanal and on Guadalcanal itself.

During the night, a Japanese surface force (Rear Admiral Omori Sentaro), with heavy cruisers HIJMS Maya and HIJMS Myoko, and light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu and seven destroyers (Rear Admiral Tanaka Raizo), shells Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.

During the day, Seabees patch up Henderson Field runways enough for use by fighters. USMC SBD Dauntlesses and P-39and P-400 Airacobras fly 7 ground-attack missions against the Japanese invasion force landing at the Kokumbona-Doma Reef area just 8 miles (12.8 km) away however, the enemy continues to bombard Henderson Field by air strike and artillery and to land troops. Assisting in these attacks are aircraft from Task Force TF 17, formed around the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) (Rear Admiral George D. Murray), which strike Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, and the seaplane base at Rekata Bay, Santa Isabel Island. USS Hornet is spotted by an IJN search plane late in the morning and 9 "Val" dive bombers (Aichi D3A, Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers) are dispatched from Rabaul, New Britain Island, to attack but they cannot find the carrier.

The seaplane tender (destroyer) USS McFarland (AVD-14) and two other ships make an emergency run to Guadalcanal to deliver aviation fuel. While unloading cargo and embarking wounded personnel in Lunga Roads, McFarland is attacked by the 9 "Val" dive bombers that could not find the Hornet.

While the first seven scored no hits, the eighth hits a gasoline barge in tow alongside the tender's starboard quarter setting 40,000 U.S. gallons (151,416.5 liters) afire. The blazing barge is cut loose as the ninth plane made its run. At least one bomb hits McFarland's stern, knocking out her rudder and steering engine. Her crew managed to splash one plane, but 5 men are killed, 6 are missing and 12 are critically wounded. As the Japanese aircraft pull out, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Harold W. Bauer, who is leading 26 Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twelve (VMF-212) F4F Wildcats to Guadalcanal from Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands, arrives and single-handedly attacks them and shoots down 4 of the "Vals." Bauer had downed 4 "Zeke" fighters on 3 October and he is awarded the Medal of Honor for these two missions. USS McFarland is towed to Florida Island, where she moored to the beach in the upper channel (later called McFarland Channel) of Tulagi harbor.

By the end of the day, there are 66 operational aircraft on Guadalcanal.

During the day, Fifth Air Force B-17s attack targets in the Solomon Islands, including the airfield at Buin on Bougainville Island, and shipping off Moila Point and the Shortland Islands. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: On the Kododa Track in Papua New Guinea, the Japanese abandon Templeton's Crossing but the Australians locate them a little further north. US Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-25s hit the village of Pawaia, trails in the Kokoda area, the Buna-Kokoda trail, and villages at the mouth and along the Mambare River in New Guinea; and B-25s also bomb the Mubo-Salamaua trail.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: B-17s bomb an airfield at Rabaul, New Britain Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force dispatches a B-17 Flying Fortress, 6 B-26 Marauders, and 4 P-38 Lightnings to bomb Kiska Island. Based on a PBY report, the B-26s attack 2 IJN destroyers at low level and sink one and severely damage the other. One B-26 is shot down.

U.S.A.: In the arena of US public opinion, an article in The New York Times newspaper on 16 October states, "The shadows of a great conflict lie heavily over the Solomons-all that can be perceived is the magnitude of the stakes at issue. ... Guadalcanal. The name will not die out of the memories of the generation. It will endure in honor." US Navy Secretary Knox responds to a question of holding Guadalcanal: "I certainly hope so and expect so ... I will not make any predictions, but every man will give good account of himself. What I am trying to say is that there is a good stiff fight going on. Everybody hopes we can hold on."

Terrytoons releases the cartoon "The Mouse of Tomorrow" starring Mighty Mouse. This is Mighty Mouse's first appearance.

The British motion picture "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" is released in the U.S. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, this war film about an RAF bomber crew shot down in the Netherlands stars Eric Portman, Bernard Miles and Peter Ustinov as a Dutch priest.

The plot has the crew of an RAF Wellington "B" for Bertie going down in the Netherlands while returning from a bombing mission in Germany and, with the aid of the Dutch underground, attempting to return to England. The film is nominated for 2 technical Academy Awards.

Submarine USS Jack launched.

Destroyers USS Bullard and Kidd laid down.

CUBA: Cuba and Russia establish diplomatic relations.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy SC-104 has fought its way through a fierce running battle with a wolfpack from the Wotan U-boat group, despite howling south-west winds and heavy seas which hampered the escort. In total only eight of the convoy's 47 merchant ships have been sunk.

The U-boat pack spotted the convoy on 12 October, and in the next two nights it sank seven vessels, even though the Germans had great difficulty in getting sighting signals in the atmospheric disturbance created by the gales. On 13 October U-221 homed in on the main convoy and sank three ships in 40 minutes. On 14 October she sank two more. And in the small hours of today three other U-boats sank one ship each.

The escort group, according to Commander S. Heathcote, "pounced like terriers" on every sign of a U-boat. The rolling of the ships in the raging seas reduced the accuracy of the RDF and Asdic soundings, but repeated depth-charge attacks forced some U-boats to the surface, and an RAF Liberator sank U-661 yesterday. Last night Lt-Cdr John Waterhouse in the destroyer HMS VISCOUNT managed to ram and sink U-619, but the violence of the collision severely damaged the VISCOUNT, which has had to pull out of the escort. A third U-boat, U-353, was destroyed today by the senior officer's ship HMS FAME, at 53.54N, 29.30W, using aerial depth charges; two crew get to and spring the after hatch, 1 survives 28 hours until rescue as PoW. There are another 5 survivors but 39 die. (Mark Horan)

U-160 sank SS Castle Harbor and damaged SS Winona in Convoy TRIN-19.

16 October 1943

October 16th, 1943 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Headquarters, 9th AF, is formally reactivated at Sunninghill Park, England, following its transfer from Egypt. Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton resumes his duties as commanding general. IX Bomber Command is reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Samuel E. Anderson. IX Fighter command is reactivated under the temporary command of Lt. Col. Ray J. Stecker. IX Air Support Command is reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry J. Miller. A new IX Troop Carrier command is activated under the command of Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Giles. All four B-26 groups are transferred to the 9th AF from the 3d Medium Bombardment Wing when it was disbanded. IX Troop Command assumes control of all 8th AF troop carrier units. (Skip Guidry)

The four B-26 groups transferred are:

322d Bombardment Group (Medium) [449th, 450th, 451st and 452d Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

323d Bombardment Group (Medium) [453d, 454th, 455th and 456th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

387th Bombardment Group (Medium) [556th, 557th, 558th and 559th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

388th Bombardment Group (Medium) [560th, 561st, 562d and 563d Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

The IX Troop Carrier Command is activated at Cottesmore with Brigadier General Benjamin F Giles as Commanding General; the 315th Troop Carrier Group (34th and 43d Troop Carrier Squadrons with C-47s) is transferred from the Eighth Air Force; and the 434th Troop Carrier Group and its 71st, 72d, 73d and 74th Troop Carrier Squadrons that arrived on 9 Oct are also assigned. The IX Air Service Command is re-formed under Major General Henry J Miller.

Frigates HMS Tortola and Waldegrave laid down.

Frigate HMS Spragge launched.

Frigate HMS Fitzroy commissioned.

FRANCE: During the night of 16/17 October, eight RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over northern France without loss.

GERMANY: During the night of 16/17 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches nine Mosquitos to Dortmund; all bomb the target without loss. One of the Mosquitos is carrying out a G-H trial but its equipment fails and it has to bomb by dead reckoning.

U-319 launched.

U-396 commissioned.

ITALY: German forces, in Italy, facing the US 5th Army finish their fighting retreat to the Barbara Line as scheduled by Kesselring.

Chief of the Rome SIPO office, SS-Obstbf., Herbert Kappler, organises an 'Aktion' against the Jewish community. 1,259 Italian Jews are arrested. (Russel Folsom)

At 0530 hours, a 44- man SS unit under the command of SS Captain Theodor Dannecker, rounds up 1,259 Jews in Rome. Many of these are baptized Christians and following a protest from Pope Pius X11 some 218 are released. The other 1,041 are put on a train to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland, and at war's end only 15 survive to return home to the Holy City. Others, around 4,238, are in hiding in hundreds of monasteries, convents, private homes and church institutions in and around Rome. To protect other Jews from the same fate, the Vatican opens its doors and gave shelter to 477 men, women and children.

USAAF XII Bomber Command B-25 Mitchells bomb the marshalling yard and rail lines, railroad tunnel, highway underpass, warehouses, industrial buildings, and gas works in or near Bologna; XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements provide close support to the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies; fighters and light and medium bombers hit communications centers of Venafro, Vairano, Sparanise, Latina, Alife, and the town of Pietravairano; roads, railroads, and junctions in the areas southeast of Rome to the bomb line, between Vasto and Pescara, and at Mondragone; gun positions, trucks, and military concentrations near Vinchiaturo, Boiano, and Termoli; landing ground of Cisterna di Latina; and several other targets in the area between Rome and Ancona.

U.S.S.R.: The Germans defeat Russian tanks and infantry trying to break out of a Dnieper bridgehead south of Kiev.

In the southern Ukraine, a group of Red armies led by General Ivan Konev crosses the Dnieper, bursts through German defenses and pushes toward Krivoi Rog, a steelmaking center.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Twelfth Air Force P-38s bomb a vessel in Leukas Channel off the west coast of Greece.

EGYPT: The 4th and 5th New Zealand Brigades begin a movement from Port Tewfik to Italy.

GULF OF OMAN: Doug Tidy flying in Bisley (aka a Blenheim V) O for Orange (serial BA 437, call sign LFBO) of 244 Squadron RAF from Sharjah sinks U-Boat U-533 in position 25.28N, 56.50E, by depth charges. 2 of 53 crew get to and spring after hatch while sinking to bottom, blow to surface, without gear, 1 survives 28 hours until rescue (the one with the red beard). (Doug Tidy and Jack McKillop)

CHINA: British Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command (SEAC), arrives in Chungking.

BURMA: Tenth Air Force fighter patrols are increased from 4 to 8 aircraft with little effect on enemy marauders over the Hump. Three A-36 Apaches fail to return from a mission over Sumprabum.

NEW GUINEA: A Japanese counter attack against Allied positions around Finschhafen today. Lasting 3 days, the Australian troops successfully defend their positions.

The Australian 9th Division uses captured documents to smash a Japanese attack near Finschafen, New Guinea.

60+ Fifth Air Force B-25s attack the Alexishafen area, hit coastal targets between Reiss Point and Sio, and bomb the airfield at Wewak, New Guinea.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The U.S. 3d Marine Division, having trained at Guadalcanal for operations against Bougainville, conducts rehearsals in the New Hebrides, concluding them on 20 October.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: A-20s bomb and strafe Gasmata Island off New Britain Island. A lone B-24 sinks an IJA auxiliary submarine chaser between Hoskins and Rabaul on New Britain Island. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 8 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Kara Airfield on Bougainville Island while 6 B-25s hit the airfield on Ballale Island.

CANADA: Gate vessels HMC GV 20, GV 22 and 2 other unknown numbers ordered.

Frigate HMCS Ste Therese launched.

Corvette HMCS Brandon completed forecastle extension refit Grimsby UK.

U.S.A.: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, accepting the plan presented by General Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, to divide Twelfth Air Force in Italy into two forces, propose to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in North Africa, that the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force be formed from XII Bomber Command. The Twelfth Air Force will become a tactical unit supporting ground units in Italy while the Fifteenth Air Force will be a strategic air force with the primary mission of increasing the weight of Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany.

The report titled " Examination of Japanese Equipment. 37mm Anti-Tank Ammunition, 3-in. A. A. Ammunition, 75mm Howitzer Ammunition, 50mm Mortar Projectile, 50mm Mortar Grenade. was published. It is Rept. no. 57and was prepared by the NAVAL PROVING GROUND DAHLGREN VA Report Date : 24 MAR 1943. It has 46 pages. (Bill Howard)

Perry Como's record of "Goodbye, Sue" makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. This is his first single to make the charts and it stays there for 1 week reaching Number 20.

The USN accepts its first helicopter, a USAAF Sikorsky YR-4B-SI Hoverfly at Bridgeport, Connecticut. The USN receives three and designates them XH, Nova Scotia.-1s.

Escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay launched.

Frigate USS Annapolis launched.

Destroyer escort USS Gunason launched.

Submarine USS Picuda commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Trumpeter commissioned.

Destroyer USS Marshall commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U.S.-built destroyer escorts transferred under Lend-Lease to Great Britain (HMS Byard, HMS Bentinck, HMS Berry, HMS Drury, and HMS Bazely) enter combat for the first time as escorts for convoy O, Nova Scotia. 20. Byard will sink U-841 on 17 October. The British classify the ships as "frigates."

German U-boats have a bad day when they attack two Allied convoys in the North Atlantic. Eight U-boats are sunk or damaged by RAF patrol planes and RN warships while the Germans sink only one merchant ship. The three boats sunk are:

- U-470 sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 58.20N, 29.20W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft "C" of No. 59 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland, and Liberator and Liberator Mk. III, aircraft "E" of No. 120 Squadron based at Reykjavik, Iceland. Two of the 48 crewmen on the U-boat survive.

- U-844 is sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 58.30N, 27.16W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft "S" of No. 59 Squadron and a Liberator, aircraft "L" of No. 86 Squadron; both squadrons are based at based at Ballykelly, Ireland. All 53 hands on the submarine are lost.

- U-964 is sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 57.27N, 27.17W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator, aircraft "Y" of No. 86 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland. Three of the 50 U-boat crewmen survive.

U-448 shot down RCAF Sunderland aircraft, Squadron 422/S near Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-20. U-448 and U-281 were both involved in the attack and the former was so damaged she had to abort her patrol. One man is killed and two wounded. [Oberbootsmaat Fritz Döhler]

U-844 shot down RAF Liberator aircraft, Squadron 59/S near Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-20. The aircraft was damaged and had to ditch near HMS Pink. U-844 was lost in this attack.

Two men were lost overboard in the North Atlantic from U-220. [Bootsmaat Georg Koerner, Matrosenobergefreiter Gerhard Lange]. Thus only 54 men were on board when the boat was sunk 12 days later.

U-231 pulled from the water five men from the just-sunk U-964. One of them, the commander ObltzS Hummerjohann, was already dead, and a second survivor died some minutes after his rescue, so only three men of U-964 survived.

16 October 1944

October 16th, 1944 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Private Salter of the Pioneer Corps is the first British soldier to be demobilized, and given a regulation "demob suit".

The US Army Eighth Air Force flies Mission 680: 2 B-17s and 7 B-24s are dispatched on a night leaflet mission to France, the Netherlands and Germany.

All US Army Ninth Air Force operations are cancelled due to bad weather.

U-1006 (Type VIIC41) is sunk southwest of Faroes, at position 60.59N, 04.49W, by depth charges from the Canadian frigate HMCS Annan (K404) A/LCdr. Charles Patrick Balfry, RCNR, CO, and HMCS Loch Achanalt, a Loch-class frigate, LCdr. Richard W. Hart, RCNVR, CO. 6 dead, 44 survivors. Annan gained a sonar contact and attacked with depth charges. The contact was subsequently assessed as a whale and Annan rejoined her escort group. However, in fact it had been U-1006, which was badly damaged and forced to surface. Loch Achanalt subsequently detected U-1006 on radar, whereupon she and Annan were sent back to investigate. U-1006 fired a T-5 acoustic-homing torpedo, which was decoyed by Annan's CAAT gear and exploded harmlessly. A gun duel ensued during which eight of Annan's crew were wounded. Annan attacked with depth charges on a shallow setting, which finally sank U-1006. (Alex Gordon)

BELGIUM: British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, commander of the 21st Army Group, halts offensive operations except those to speed opening of Antwerp, Belgium, port.

NETHERLANDS: Sgt. George Harold Eardley (b.1912), King's Shropshire Light Infantry, wiped out three machine-gun posts, allowing the capture of a key position. (Victoria Cross)

The Canadian drive to clear the Netherlandss' Scheldt river near Antwerp is slowly overcoming German units north and south of the waterway.

In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, Zuid Beveland Isthmus is virtually sealed off with the capture of Woensdrecht by the Canadian 2d Division. Canadian The 3d Division continues to reduce the Breskens Pocket south of the Schelde River. The pocket is about half its original size.

In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, the 3d Division reaches the outskirts of Venray. Combat Command B, U.S. 7th Armored Division, establishes a bridgehead across the canal on the Deurne-Venray road.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 45th and 36 Infantry Divisions, against firm opposition, close in on Bruyres, a column from the south pushing through Laval.

In the French First Army's II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division and the French1st Armored Division begin an attack to pierce German’s winter line in the Vosges mountain range, pressing toward heights east of the Moselotte River against violent opposition.

During the night of 16/17 October, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 680: two B-17 Flying Fortresses and seven B-24 Liberators drop leaflets over the country without loss.

GERMANY: Fighting continues in Aachen while the US XIX and VIII Corps, in the shape of the 1st and 30th Infantry Divisions, link up to the east and complete the encirclement of the city.

The Soviet Army of the Third White Russian Front enters German territory for the first time near Goldap in East Prussia. Thousands of German civilians in the area flee in panic.

This is the Goldap-Gumbinned Operation by General Ivan Chernyiakovsky.

The US VI Corps fights near Bruyeres on the Moselle meeting heavy resistance.

In the U.S. First Army area, the army closes the ring about Aachen as patrols of XIX and VII Corps establish contact on Ravels Hill at 1615 hours. In the XIX Corps area, the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division continues to batter Wuerselen, the 30th Infantry Division attacks southward astride the Wurm River with the 119th Infantry Regiment; a patrol makes contact with a patrol of the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, VII Corps. In the VII Corps area, the Germans react promptly and vigorously to the closing of Aachen gap, attempting to overrun a roadblock on the Aachen-Wuerselen highway, during the night of 16/17 October. The 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, stabilizes positions in the Eilendorf area. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacks four targets: 32 bomb the Main marshalling yard and 18 hit a railroad bridge at Salzburg and 18 attack the industrial area and a railroad bridge at Liezen.

U-2520 launched.

U-2340, U-3506 commissioned.

USAAF MEDITERRANEAN THEATRE OF OPERATIONS, Nova Scotia.: Maj. George T. Buck, Jr., CO of the 309th FS/31st FG, USAAF, achieves ace status with a score of six confirmed kills when he downs three Bf 109s during withdrawal escort from Brux, Czechoslovakia. (Skip Guidry)

AUSTRIA: Nearly 600 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb targets in Austria and Czechoslovakia; in Austria, they bomb a tank factory, tank assembly plant, and aero engine works at Steyr, benzol plant and ordnance depot at Linz, plus alternate targets and targets of opportunity, including Graz, the Neudorf aircraft engine factory, Trieben, Linz, Graz, Villach, Salzburg, Klagenfurt, and Sankt Veit an der Glan; in Czechoslovakia, they hit the Brux synthetic oil refinery, and armament works in Plzen. 20+ P-51s and P-38s fly photo and weather reconnaissance missions and sea patrol; 29 P-38s escort Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force C-47s (transporting airborne troops) to Greece and back to Italy.

Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations are cancelled by bad weather; A-20s and fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations, bridges, gun positions, road, rail lines, and vehicles in the battle area, particularly in the Monte Belmonte vicinity.

NORWAY: Junkers Ju-52/3m, msn 640608, registered D-ADQV and named "Hermann Stache" by the German airline Lufthansa, crashes into a mountain in poor weather conditions at Telemark. The 12 passengers and three crew aboard are killed.

FINLAND: Finnish troops reach the ruins of Rovaniemi which had been destroyed by the Germans on 10 October.

HUNGARY: Budapest: The Hungarian government is arrested and sent to Germany.

One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber hits marshalling yard at Hereny.

YUGOSLAVIA: Russian forces capture Nis after the Germans had evacuated. Russian, Bulgarian and Yugoslav units are cooperating in this area.

RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group sends 69 bombers to attack the marshalling yard at Zagrab.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the 6th South African Armoured Division, in conjunction with the II Corps to right, renews their northward attack between the Reno and Setta Rivers. II Corps begins the final phase of attack toward Bologna, making the main effort in center; the left flank is still held up below the Monterumici hill mass. The 34th Infantry Division attacks with two regiments abreast:on the left, the 133d Infantry Regiment drives through the 91st Infantry Division on a narrow front toward Mt. Belmonte, target for artillery and aerial bombardment. Searchlights provide illumination for night action. At this time the use of artificial moonlight is still in the experimental stage. The 85th Infantry Division's 339th Infantry Regiment attacks toward a ridge above Monterenzio, taking Hill 622. 88th Infantry Division drives toward the Mt. Cuccoli-Mt. Grande ridge on the right flank of corps: the 349th Infantry Regiemnt takes Mt. delle Tombe and reaches St. Clemente.

In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division completes relief of U.S. forces on Gesso ridge.

In the British Eighth Army area, the V Corps clears Mt. Romano and Mt. Reale, during the night of 16/17 October. Elements of the 20th Brigade, Indian 10th Divsion, establish a small bridgehead across the Savio River near its confluence with the Borello River on the south flank of the corps. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division advances quickly toward Cesena, elements crossing Pisciatello River. Orders are issued for a concerted attack on Cesena by the Canadian I and British V Corps. The New Zealand 2d Division takes Bulgarno without opposition.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations are cancelled by bad weather while A-20 Havocs and fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations, bridges, gun positions, road, rail lines, and vehicles in the battle area, particularly in the Monte Belmonte vicinity.

Eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit transportation targets of opportunity.

BURMA: 11 Tenth Air Force P-47s attack 2 railroad bridges in the Naba-Mawlu area, damaging approaches to both targets; 5 other P-47s hit Japanese forces in the northwestern part of Madangyang; 12 B-25s, supported by an escort of 8 P-47s, bomb the airfield at Shwebo. Transports fly 300+ sorties in the CBI.

CHINA: The Fourteenth Air Force sends 28 B-24s, 8 B-25s, 26 P-51s, and 21 P-40s to attack shipping and the Kowloon Dock area of Hong Kong; 15 cargo vessels are damaged or sunk; 3 other P-51s hit the Wuchou area; 36 P-40s, P-51s, and P-38s hit village and town areas, bridges, and troop concentrations in the Kweiping, Tanebuk, Hsinganbsien, Tingka, and Chefang areas.

FORMOSA: The XX Bomber Command flies Mission 11. 43 B-29s, out of Chengtu, China, bomb the Okayama aircraft plant aircraft plant and Heito Airfield; 20+ other B-29s bomb alternate or chance targets at Takao, Taichu Airfield and Toshien harbor on Formosa, and Swatow and Sintien harbors, Hengyang, and several airfields in China.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Preliminary air attacks begin today against Leyte. These preparations for the invasion will continue over the next 3 days.

EAST INDIES: Far East Air Forces P-38s attack the harbor, shipping, airfield and trucks on Cagayan Islands, Philippine Islands. B-24s blast the Makassar area on Celebes Island. B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers again bomb the Boeroe Island-Ceram Island airfields and the towns of Boela on Ceram Island and Amboina on Ambon Island and hit shipping in Binnen Bay in the Moluccas Islands.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Timoeka and Mongosah and Sagan Airfields; Langgoer Airfield is pounded by A-20s.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 0600 hours: USS Tilefish (SS-307) sinks a cargo ship at 48-07 N, 153-04E near Matsuwa Jima. Also at 0600 hours: USS Tilefish (SS-307) sinks a picket boat at 48-07 N, 153 04 E. near Matsuwa Jima. (Skip Guidry)

WESTERN PACIFIC: Japanese torpedo planes attack Task Group 30.3 (Rear Admiral Laurance T. DuBose) and again damage light cruiser USS Houston (CL-81).

Japanese reconnaissance pilots tell the Imperial General Staff that the great victory over Task Force 38 two days ago was an illusion. They report that Halsey's fleet still has 13 carriers, seven battleships and 10 cruisers. It actually has 17 carriers.

In support of the upcoming invasion of Leyte and to cover the damagedUSNships in tow to Ulithi, Task Group 38.4 launches air strikes against Luzon in the Philippines. The aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) is attacked by three enemy planes, one of which scores with a bomb that hit the after outboard corner of the deck edge elevator, killing 3 and wounding 22.

15 Seventh Air Force P-47s and a B-24 from Saipan attack Pagan Island in the Marianas.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, Regimental Combat Team 321 of the 81st Infantry Division, takes responsibility for completing the reduction of the Umurbrogol Pocket and is relieving marines there. Fresh forces, a battalion of the 323d Infantry Regiment, from Ulithi are assisting the 321st Infantry Regiment. At Ngulu Atoll, elements of the 81st Infantry Divsion begins clearing the atoll, which lies between Yap and the Palaus.

Fourteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Marshall Islands hit Truk Atoll.

GREENLAND: The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Eastwind (WAG-279), supported by sistership USCGC Southwind (WAG-280), captures German weather ship Externsteine off Cape Borgen, Shannon Island, on the east coast of Greenland. Eastwind's crew unofficially christens the captured auxiliary "Eastbreeze." Both icebreakers, however, are damaged by pack ice.

CANADA: In Ottawa, Ontario, Lieutenant General Henry Crerar, General Officer Commanding First Canadian Army in the Netherlands, is promoted to the rank of General; he is the first Canadian to hold that rank in the field.

Corvette HMCS Timmins completed forecastle extension refit Sydney, Nova Scotia.

HMC ML 129 commissioned.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Ministry of Fear" is released today. This film-noir spy drama based on the novel by Graham Greene, is directed by Fritz Lang and stars Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds and Dan Duryea. The plot has Milland being released in WWII England after spending two years in a mental institution. On his way to London, he encounters a spy ring and is framed in a complicated espionage plot.

Lloyd C. Douglas' novel "The Robe" is published today. In 1953, the film of the same name, starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons, is released. The film is nominated for 5 Academy Awards and wins 2.

Top pop songs in the U.S. today include "I'll Walk Alone" by Dinah Shore; "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby)" by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters; "Together" by Dick Haymes And Helen Forrest; and "Smoke on the Water" by Red Foley.

Destroyer escort USS Cecil J Doyle commissioned.

16 October 1945

October 16th, 1945 (TUESDAY)

CANADA: Quebec City: The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations is founded with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity, and to better the condition of rural populations.

Corvette HMCS Sorel sold for scrap.

Minesweepers HMCS Blairmore and Milltown paid off Sydney, Nova Scotia. and laid up Sorel, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: The USAAF 78th Fighter Group establishes its headquarters at Camp Kilmer, Piscataway, New Jersey.

Escort carrier USS Point Cruz commissioned.

Destroyer USS Lang decommissioned.

1946 (WEDNESDAY)

GERMANY: Of the 22 defendants before the International Military Tribunal at the first Nurnberg trial, 12 were sentenced to death by hanging. They were: Hermann Göring, von Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frick, Frank, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Martin Bormann who is the only defendant tried (and convicted) in absentia. Since Gøring took poison, and Bormann (unbeknown at the time is already dead) there were just the 10 hangings in the early morning of 16 October 1946. Three others: Fritsche, von Papen and Schacht were acquitted. Rudolph Hess, Funk and Raeder were sentenced to imprisonment for life; Schirach and Speer to 20 years; von Neurath to 15 years, and Admiral Dønitz to ten years imprisonment. Robert Ley committed suicide in his cell at Nurnberg on 25 October 1945, so is not counted amongst the defendants. (Alex Gordon)

Hans Frank "The Butcher of Poland" is hanged. His last recorded words are: "I hope God shows mercy on me." Frank is not part of the ten executed as related earlier. (Russ Folsom)

UNITED STATES: With World War II quickly receding into memory, President Harry S. Truman sees fit to wean the nation from the austere economic diet that the government had devised to fight wartime inflation. In a move that pleases millions of Americans, Truman lifts price controls on meat today.

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