WE REMEMBER SEPT 11th

September 11th, 1939
UNITED KINGDOM: 
No. 10 Sqn. RAAF receives its first Sunderland flying boat.
U.S. freighter SS Black Eagle is detained by British authorities at the
Downs, the roadstead in the English channel off the coast of Kent. (Jack
McKillop)

FRANCE: The first meeting of the Anglo-French Supreme War Council is held
today. 
Four British army divisions, 158000 men with 25,000 vehicles, have crossed
the Channel to France without a hitch. The operation, carried out in great
secrecy, brought men from all parts of Britain to ports in the south of
England, where transports waited. An escort of destroyers picked them up as
they set sail. 
Once ashore in France the men were taken to temporary barracks before being
deployed at the front alongside their French allies. 
The British soldier of today carries a great deal of extra equipment unknown
to the men of 1914. regular issue includes gas cape and two pouches each
containing 60 rounds of ammunition. When wearing full marching gear, the
infantryman carries a large pack on his back holding a greatcoat, a cardigan
and a few personal belongings. In all, the equipment, with uniform, steel
helmet and ankle-boots, comes to 70 pounds. But the British Expeditionary
Force is still seriously short of equipment. A secret report by the British
Chiefs of Staff reveals that of the 352 anti-aircraft guns assigned to the
BE only 152 have been delivered. The British Advanced Air Striking Force
requires a minimum of 48 light anti-aircraft guns, none have so far
appeared. 

Off the coast of France, U.S. merchant tanker SS R.G. Stewart is stopped by
shot fired across her bow by German submarine U-38 about 253 miles (407 km)
west of Ushant, France. Soon thereafter, U-38 shells, torpedoes and sinks
British motor tanker Inverliffey; SS R.G. Stewart rescues the tanker's crew
and later transfers them to U.S. freighter SS City of Joliet for
transportation to Antwerp, Belgium. (Jack McKillop)

GERMANY: Berlin: Germany responds to a threatened British naval blockade by
announcing a counter-blockade.
Cipher (B-dienst) experts crack the British merchant ship code, identifying
convoy meeting points.
 
POLAND: Army Group South destroys a Polish force it has encircled at Radom,
consisting of the remnants of 5 divisions and a cavalry brigade; 60,000
prisoners are taken.

INDIA: Plans for federation are postponed indefinitely.

U.S.A.: The USAAC's 21st Reconnaissance Squadron (Long Range) which
transferred to Miami Municipal Airport, Florida, from Langley Field,
Virginia, on 9 September with B-18 Bolos, is placed under the operational
control of the USN's Commander Atlantic Squadron for duty in connection with
the Neutrality Patrol.
Instructions to the Neutrality Patrol are modified to include covering the
approaches to the Gulf of Mexico through the Yucatan Channel and the Straits
of Florida. (Jack McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-30 sank SS Blairlogie.
U-38 sank SS Inverliffey.
U-48 sank SS Firby. (Dave Shirlaw)
German armoured ship Admiral Graf Spee provisions from tanker Altmark;
security measure of launching the warship's Arado AR 196 seaplane pays
dividends, as British heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland is spotted closing the
area. Admiral Graf Spee and her consort alter course and are thus not
sighted. (Jack McKillop)
 

September 11th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command operations: 
4 Group (Whitley): 
10 Sqn. (P4941). Rear gunner bailed out over Germany on night operations.
Flt Lt D.G. Tomlinson and rest of crew returned safely. 51 Sqn. One aircraft
damaged by Flak.
Bombing - shipyards and fuel stocks at Bremen - industrial targets at
Berlin.
10 Sqn. Seven aircraft to Bremen. All bombed. One tail-gunner 'lost' over
target.
51 Sqn. Four aircraft to Berlin. All bombed primary, one damaged by Flak.
Four aircraft to Bremen. All bombed.
78 Sqn. Five aircraft to Berlin. One returned early, two bombed primary, two
bombed alternatives. 

Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command operations: Four airfields attacked. Daylight raids on
London, Southampton, Portsmouth. At night London and Merseyside are raided.
In daylight small-scale attacks are made on Portsmouth, Tangmere, Poling and
Weymouth.  
Port Victoria on the Isle of Grain is attacked in mid-afternoon when about
300 aircraft headed for London, most of them fighters, and only 36 proceeded
to bomb the capital. A public shelter was hit in Lewisham High Street where
100 casualties resulted, and 50 people were buried by rubble when Deptford
Central Hall was hit.  
Meanwhile eight Bf110s dive-bombed the Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft works at
Eastleigh, Southampton killing 28 and injuring 70 when a shelter was hit.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 25; RAF, 29.
London: Dr. Arthur Douglas Merriman (1892-1972), a government scientist,
with help from his boss, removed most of the explosive from a bomb in Regent
Street, so that it caused little damage when it went off. (George Cross)
Westminster: Churchill tells the Commons that he expects Germany will try to
invade in the next week.

London: The Lord Mayor opens the Air Raid Relief Fund.


GERMANY: Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:
The British attack on Berlin on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning should be
denounced by the press with blazing indignation as an attack on our national
symbols. However, in the interests of good preparation, the press should as
a general principle wait until the morning papers to bring out a summarising
view, unless the individual newspapers have already done satisfactory
groundwork of their own account, without the need of a previous press
conference. 
The Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels,
tells the Czechs that they had better get used to German occupation in a
blunt speech. (Jack McKillop) 

ROMANIA: Adolf Hitler sends German army and air force reinforcements to
Romania to protect precious oil reserves and to prepare an Eastern European
base of operations for further assaults against the Soviet Union. (Jack
McKillop)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Three Vichy French cruisers with accompanying destroyers
pass through the Straits of Gibraltar en-route to Dakar. All but one of the
cruisers arrive at Dakar just as Operation 'Menace' is about to get
underway. Admiral Sir Dudley North, Flag Officer, North Atlantic, at
Gibraltar, is held responsible for allowing their passage. He is relieved of
his command.

U.S.A.: The first demonstration of remote computing occurs. George Stibitz,
a scientist at Bell Telephone Laboratories, had developed a digital
calculator using dry cell batteries, metal strips from a tobacco can, and
flashlight bulbs. The binary adding machine, called the Model I Complex
Calculator, was used at Bell Labs for the next nine years. Stibitz
demonstrated the machine to the American Mathematical Association at
Dartmouth College in Hannover, New Hampshire. He asked mathematicians to
propose problems, which he transmitted to the computer in New York City via
a teleprinter. The answers returned over the telephone line hookup within a
minute. The presentation is believed to have been the first-ever
demonstration of remote computing. (Jack McKillop)
Al Jolson returns to Broadway after a 9-year absence in the play "Hold On To
Your Hats" at the Shubert Theatre. The songs that night included "Swanee,"
"April Showers," "You Made Me Love You," "Sonny Boy" and "My Mammy." (Jack
McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-28 sank SS Maas and damaged SS Harpenden in Convoy OA-210.
U-99 sank SS Albionic. (Dave Shirlaw)

September 11th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: No. 56 Squadron at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, becomes the
first RAF squadron to receive the Hawker Typhoon Mk. IA. (Jack McKillop)

FRANCE: Paris: The newspaper La Semaine states "We are not used to such a
tempo of events in Paris," the reference is to the return from holidays in
Nice of such stars as Maurice Chevalier, Vivienne Romance, Cécile Sorel,
Tino Rossi and René Lefèvre. 

U.S.S.R.: The government warns Bulgaria against allowing its territory to be
used as a basis of attack by Germany and Italy. (Jack McKillop)
Soviet Submarine USSR P-1: End service: Sank during transport task on mine
fields Uminda or Korbetta. All hands lost (53 men). (Dave Shirlaw)

JAPAN: A United Press dispatch from Tokyo gives the following information:
"Emperor Hirohito today took direct command of Japanese Army Headquarters
and moved to assure close Army collaboration with Premier Fumimaro Konoye's
Government, which appeared to be trying to keep Japan out of war even if
that meant drifting away from her Axis ties." (Jack McKillop)
Emperor Hirohito assumes personal command of the Japanese Army, a move
misread by American intelligence analysts as indicating a personal
commitment to peace by the Japanese sovereign. (Marc Small)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: George advises MacArthur that the total end
strength of the FEAF ought to be 27 pursuit squadrons, eighteen light or
medium bomber squadrons, and thirty heavy bomber squadrons. (Marc Small)

U.S.A.: In a broadcast to the nation at 9pm tonight, President Roosevelt
issues the "Shoot on Sight" order to naval forces in the Atlantic in regard
to German U-Boats. This action is partly in response to the Greer "incident"
of September 4. It is, in fact, more or less what is going on at the
present. He describes the attack last week on the Greer as "piracy, legally
and morally." He said that the outposts the USA has established in Iceland,
Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland would protect Atlantic shipping of all
nations. He stressed that the US Navy only provides "invincible protection"
if Britain's Royal Navy survived.
The president emphasized the difficulty of defending ships from torpedoes
fired from submarines; "When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do
wait until he has struck before you crush him, ...., these Nazi submarines
and raiders are the rattlesnakes of the Atlantic - they are a menace to the
free pathways of the high seas." 
Stark advises Hart that Washington had declined to endorse Allied
mobilization plans proposed by the British for joint operations in the event
of war. Hart ordered to defer plans to move the Asiatic Fleet to Dutch or
British ports when hostilities began. Hart ordered to ensure his fleet
operations were "co-ordinated" with British and Dutch operations. 
Washington: Ground breaking ceremonies for the Pentagon building take place.
(Jack McKillop)
President Roosevelt submitted report on lend-lease $7,000,000,000
appropriation to Congress. (Dave Shirlaw)
Des Moines: Famed aviator Lindbergh makes a speech against further US
involvement in the war.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-207 is sunk in the Straits of Denmark
southeast of Angmassalik, Greenland, in position 63.59N, 34.48W, by depth
charges from the RN destroyers HMS Leamington and HMS Veteran. All 41 hands
on the U-boat are lost. (Jack McKillop) 
USS Twiggs (DD-127) was commissioned as HMS Leamington (G-19) on 23 Oct.
1940, part of the destroyers-for-bases deal. (Ron Babuka)
U-105 sank SS Montana.
U-202 sank SS Scania in Convoy SC-42.
U-207 sank SS Berury and SS Stonepool in Convoy SC-42.
U-432 sank SS Garm in Convoy SC-42.
U-433 sank SS Bestum in Convoy SC-42.
U-82 sank SS Bulysses, SS Empire Crossbill, SS Gypsum Queen and damaged SS
Scania in Convoy SC-42. (Dave Shirlaw)

September 11th, 1942
GERMANY: The commander of U-203 (Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg) died in a unique
incident on 11 Sept. He allowed his crew to swim in the sea and when he was
about to dive from the tower the boat moved and he hit the saddle tank being
badly wounded. He died the next day. 
(Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: Stalingrad: The ruined city of Stalingrad is tonight in immediate
danger of falling to the Germans. German 6th Army commander General
Friedrich Paulus has fought off Zhukov's hastily-prepared counter-attack and
is working his way towards the heart of the city against stubborn
resistance. Russians guns, safe on the eastern bank of the Volga, are
pounding the Germans, whose latest communique says that the "fortified belt
of steel" around Stalingrad has to be taken "piece by piece" from the
Russians, "who resist fiercely and desperately to the end."
Paulus is summoned to "Werewolf" to explain to Adolf Hitler why 6th Army
hasn't taken Stalingrad. Paulus tells Hitler that an attack will go in with
11 divisions, three of them panzer, on 13 September. The Russians have only
three infantry divisions, parts of four others, and two tanks brigades
against him. Stalingrad should crack, he says and Hitler is pleased.  (Jack
McKillop)
Finnish s/s Hera and s/s Jussi H sunk in Gulf of Bothnia by sub. S 13. (Dave
Shirlaw)

LIBYA: New Zealand raiders of the Long Range Desert Group attack the Italian
air base at Barce and destroy 23 Italian aircraft on the ground.  (Jack
McKillop)

BURMA: RAF bombers attack Japanese positions in Prome, Mandalay and Rangoon.

SOLOMON ISLANDS, GUADALCANAL: Colonel Oka, in command of Japanese forces
west of the Lunga perimeter, issues his attack plan for the attack on the
west side of the Perimeter. This morning he reached the naval ground forces
under Capt. Monzen near the mouth of the Matanikau River. He also has the
3rd Btn 4th Regiment which was landed last night. Accompanying them was
Colonel Matsumoto, advance man for Japanese Army HQ.
General A.A. Vandegrift, Colonel Edson and Colonel Gerald Thomas know the
Japanese will attack soon. 
Edson picks a ridge one mile south of Henderson Field. The 1st Marine Raider
Btn. dig in. 
General Kawaguchi issued his attack plan on the 7th which calls for his
forces to split into three groups. One would attack the east side of the
Perimeter, the other two would surprise the Marines by attacking from the
south. This main attack would cross a ridge, known to the Japanese as "The
Centipede". This ridge will become known to history as "Edsons" or "Bloody"
ridge. The forces are almost in place for battle tomorrow night.
12 USMC F4F Wildcats intercept 26 IJN G4M "Betty" bombers and 8 A6M "Zeke"
fighters at about 1200 hours. The Marines shoot down 6 G4Ms and 1 A6M but
loose 1 F4F. In the afternoon, 24 F4Fs of the USN's Fighting Squadron Five
(VF-5), which is part of the Saratoga Air Group, land at Henderson Field to
augment the defenses.
In what becomes a standard scene in a number of Hollywood submarine movies,
Pharmacist's Mate First Class Wheeler B. Lipes performs an appendectomy on
Seaman First Class Darrell D. Rector, 19, on board the submarine USS
Seadragon (SS-194) while she was en route from Australia to French
Indochina. He is assisted by R. Franz P. Hoskins (d. 2001) who acts as an
anaesthesiologist, without training when he administered three pints of
ether in the operation. (William L. Howard)

NEW GUINEA: An Australian force surrounded four days previously fights its
way out of the Japanese encirclement. But the Australians are forced to pull
back again, and the Japanese 18th Army is only 32 miles (51 kilometres) from
Post Moresby.  (Jack McKillop)
     In the air, USAAF 5th Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders hit
Efogi and Menari in the Owen Stanley Range and Buna Airfield; B-17 Flying
Fortresses, along with RAAF Hudsons, attack 2 IJN destroyers 20 miles (32
km) east of Normanby Island; a B-17 scores a direct hit on the stern of the
destroyer HIJMS Yayoi, which later sinks.  (Jack McKillop)

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Saury (SS-189) sinks a Japanese aircraft
transport approximately 30 miles (48 kilometres) off the west coast of the
Celebes, in central Makassar Strait, Netherlands East Indies.  (Jack
McKillop)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutians: US 11th Air Force weather, photo, and patrol
aircraft draws AA fire over Chichagof Harbor, Attu Island and also covers
Tanaga, Amchitka, and Semichi Islands.

CANADA: With so many young men involved in the war effort, there was a
critical shortage of labor across the country and the government announces
that all women, single and married, born between 1918 and 1922, are required
to register with the Unemployment Insurance Commission. The Calgary,
Alberta, manager of the Commission explains that the women would not
necessarily be given employment immediately, but that their experience and
skills would be classified in case they were required for necessary war
work.
Across the Canadian prairies, hundreds of people, including teachers,
bankers, lawyers, clergymen and schoolchildren, volunteer to assist with
bringing in the harvest. In Drumheller, Alberta, as in towns all across the
prairies, the local Board of Trade organized busses and cars to take the
volunteers to farms where they worked with local farmers to harvest the
grain and build granaries to store it. (Jack McKillop)
Whilst escorting convoy QS.33 which had lost 5 merchantmen, Flower class
corvette HMCS Charlottetown is torpedoed and sunk by U-517 in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence at 49 12N 66 48W. Charlottetown was returning to Gaspe, Quebec.
(Alex Gordon)(108) 

U.S.A.: President Roosevelt presented the Norwegian Navy with a new
submarine chaser. "It is today the privilege of the people of the United
State's, through the mechanism of the Lend-Lease Law, to assist this gallant
navy in carrying out its present heavy duties". 

CARIBBEAN SEA: Canadian merchantman SS Cornwallis (5,458 GRT) damaged in the
Caribbean Sea in position 13.05N, 059.36W by torpedoes from U-514.  

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-96 sank SS De Laes.
U-218 damaged SS Fjordaas in Convoy ON-127.
U-404 damaged SS Marit II in Convoy ON-127.
U-584 sank SS Empire Oil in Convoy ON-127. (Dave Shirlaw)

September 11th, 1943 
FRANCE: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 56
against 2 locations without loss. (1) 19 B-26Bs bomb the shipyard at Le
Trait at 1704 hours, when the primary target is obscured by clouds and (2)
32 B-26Bs attack Beaumont le Roger Airfield at 1756 hours.

U.S.S.R.: German officers imprisoned in a PoW camp at Lunyovo set up the
anti-Nazi League of German Officers.

ITALY: The fighting at Salerno becomes more chaotic and piecemeal. Typical
is the fight on the British 56 Division's front, where 167 Brigade and 201
Guards Brigade are subjected to sudden sharp attacks by infiltrating German
units at the 'Tobacco Factory' between Battipaglia and Bellizzi. These
attacks are beaten off, but neither British nor German troops are really
sure of the situation. In 46 Division's sector, the fighting is also scrappy
and disjointed. 139 Brigade is able to gradually relieve the Commando forces
at Vietri sul Mare and on the left the US Rangers are reinforced and
continue to hold their positions. A three-pronged push in the US VI Corps'
sector by the 36th and 45th Infantry Divisions is held up in the left and
center as troops of the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division filter into the
fighting on the plain.  (Jack McKillop)

     In southern Italy, British 1 Airborne Division enters Bari and then
Brindisi. General Bernard Montgomery, Commanding General Eighth Army, pushes
forward units of the British 5 Division towards Castrovillari and Belvedere
and the Canadian 1 Division towards Crotone. General Harold Alexander's
Chief-of-Staff, Major General Alexander Richardson, arrives at Montgomery's
headquarters to explain the crisis at Salerno and to offer men and equipment
to threaten the South flank of the Germans facing Fifth Army.  (Jack
McKillop)

     Shortly after 0000 hours local, German E-boats attack the USN destroyer
USS Rowan (DD-405) in the Gulf of Salerno. Rowan pursued and fired on the
enemy, then, as her quarry pulled away, ceased firing and changed course to
rejoin the convoy she was escorting back to Oran, French Morocco. Within 5
minutes a new contact was made, range less than 3,000 yards (2.7
kilometres). Again she changed course, to avoid torpedoes and bring her guns
into position. As the range decreased to 2,000 yards (1.8 kilometres), Rowan
was hit by a torpedo. She sank in less than a minute, taking 202 of her 273
officers and men with her.  (Jack McKillop)

     Off the coast of Salerno in the morning, the USN light cruiser USS
Savannah (CL-42) is struck by a remote controlled Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-1
(Fritz X) glide bomb launched by a Do-217K-2 of III/KG 100. It pierces
through the armored turret roof of the Number 3 Gun Turret, passes through
three decks into the lower handling room where it explodes causing a gaping
hole in the bottom, and tears open a seam in the ship's port side. For
30-minutes, secondary explosions in the gun room hamper firefighting
efforts; 197 crewmen are killed and 15 seriously wounded. The ship arrives
at Malta on 12 September and then departed for the U.S. in December. (Jack
McKillop)

     In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command sends
B-17s to bomb the Benevento marshalling yard and bridge and highway junction
nearby; B-25s and B-26s hit highways and junctions at Castelnuovo, Ariano,
Mignano, and Isernia; P-40s fly an uneventful sweep over southern Sardinia;
and USAAF and RAF aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force
continue to provide beachhead cover in the Salerno area, hit road
communications throughout the day, and attack road and rail bridges,
junctions, airfield, and town areas at Saptri, Corleto, Perticara, Auletta,
and Gioia del Colle.       (Jack McKillop)

YUGOSLAVIA: The partisans occupy Split.

CHINA: 10 US Fourteenth Air Force B-25s and 11 P-40s attack the Hankow docks
and Wuchang cotton mills.

NEW GUINEA: The Australian attack against the Japanese at Salamaua  takes
the airfield and the Australians enter the town itself as the Japanese pull
out. 
The advance on Salamaua was held up for two weeks while the Australian 7th
and 9th Divisions completed preparations for converging attacks on Lae by
land and sea.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink two Japanese ships: (1) USS Harder
(SS-257) sinks a transport south of Mikura Island, located off Honshu,
Japan; and (2) USS Narwhal (SS-167) sinks a transport (hit earlier by dud
torpedoes) five miles northwest of Nauru Island.  (Jack McKillop)

KURILE ISLANDS: the US Eleventh Air Force dispatches 12 B-25 Mitchells and 8
B-24 Liberators to attack Paramushiru Island for the third and last time
this year. 6 B-24s bomb the Kashiwabara staging area; shipping is bombed and
strafed in Kashiwabara harbor and Paramushiru Straits; 1 freighter and 1
large transport are sunk while 1 transport and 2 cargo ships are damaged; 2
other cargo vessels sustain possible hits; targets hit on land include 2
buildings and an AA battery on Shimushu Island. Of 40 fighters giving
battle, 13 are shot down and 3 more are probables. 2 B-24s force-land in the
USSR, one with a mechanical defect, the other after being hit; 1 B-24 is
downed by AA fire; losses are 7 B-25s and 2 B-24s in this most disastrous
day for the Eleventh Air Force.
It will be another 5 months before it is able to strike at the Kuriles
again.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 18 US Thirteenth Air Force B-25s pound the area west of
Vila airfield on Kolombangara Island and west of Disappointment Cove on New
Georgia Island. The airfield is hit again in the evening by 3 B-24s. 25
B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb Kahili airfield on Bougainville Island;
B-24s and fighters claim 7 aircraft shot down. P-40s and P-39Airacobras
support SBD Dauntlesses in striking gun positions at Hamberi on New Georgia
Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: US Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Makassar on Celebes Island
and in New Guinea, Australian forces cross the Francisco River to Salamaua
airfield as Japanese forces draw toward Lae.

Off the U.S.A. coast, the German submarine U-107 lays mines off Charleston,
South Carolina.
U-107  damaged oiler USS Rapidan in Convoy NG-385. (Dave Shirlaw)

September 11th, 1944
UNITED KINGDOM: In England, the US Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions: Two
missions are flown. Numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombers
attacking a target.
- Mission 623: 1,131 bombers and 440 fighters, in 3 forces, are dispatched
to hit synthetic oil plants and refineries in Germany; they encounter an
estimated 525 Luftwaffe fighters; 40 bombers and 17 fighters are lost; the
USAAF claim 115-7-23 aircraft in the air and 42-0-43 on the ground. 
(1) B-17s bomb oil refineries at Bohlen (75), Chemnitz (75), Brux (39) and
Ruhland (22); the Chemnitz force is an Operation FRANTIC force that along
with 64 P-51 Mustangs, continues on and lands in the USSR; targets of
opportunity are a tire plant at Fulda (66), a marshalling yard at Fulda (40)
and 16 others; they claim 12-16-1 aircraft; 16 B-17s are lost; escort is
provided by 252 P-51s; they claim 57-2-12 aircraft in the air and 26-0-25 on
the ground; 4 P-51s are lost. 
(2) B-17s attack oil refineries at Merseburg (111) and Lutzkendorf (96);
targets of opportunity hit are Eisennach (71), Labejum (12), Rossla (6) and
25 others; they claim 1-1-2 aircraft; 13 B-17s are lost; escort is provided
by 247 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s; they claim 13-0-1 aircraft in the air
and 4-0-2 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. 
(3) B-24s hit an engine factory at Hannover (88), oil refineries at Misburg
(87) and Magdeburg (33) and an ordinance depot at Magdeburg (27); targets of
opportunity hit are Magdeburg (70), Stendal (45), Diepholz (9) and 3 others;
they claim 4-8-1 aircraft; 10 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 164 P-38
Lightnings and P-51s; they claim 45-5-10 aircraft in the air and 12-0-16 on
the ground; 10 P-51s are lost.
- Mission 625: 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France and Germany during the night.
- 38 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

NORWAY: The Royal Navy midget submarine X-24 carried out a successful attack
on a floating dock at Bergen, Norway. This was the second attack on the
harbour by X-24 - she had survived a previous operation on 14 April 1944,
when she had sunk a large merchantman and put the coaling wharf out of use
for the rest of the war. Once again towed to the area by the submarine HMS
Sceptre, X-24 laid two mines under the dock, which broke it in two and
damaged two ships moored alongside. X-24 is preserved at the Royal Navy
Submarine Museum, Gosport, the only remaining X-boat. (Dave Shirlaw)

FRANCE: The British I Corps attacks Le Havre after a RAF raid. 
US 1st Army units take Malmedy. 
Dijon is liberated in the south of France.
Orleans: Nearly 20,000 Germans surrender to the 83rd US Infantry Division.

LUXEMBOURG: The U.S. First Army under Major General Courtney Hodges enters
Luxembourg City and the  liberation of the Grand Duchy from German
occupation is completed. Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Jett is placed in charge
of maintaining order and restoration of public services.  (Jack McKillop)

In northern FRANCE and GERMANY, the US Ninth Air Force continues tactical
support of ground forces. 358 B-26s and A-20 Havocs, escorted by fighters,
in support of the US Third Army, hit gun positions and strongpoints in the
Metz area; in GERMANY, fighters fly armed reconnaissance over the Lissendorf
and Duren areas, and support Third Army ground forces in the Metz area;
armored reconnaissance elements of this Army cross into Germany, the first
Allied unit to do so; fighters also support ground forces in the Brest,
France area.

GERMANY: Trier: American forces resuming their advance in the central sector
today crossed the Germany/Luxemburg border north of Trier and began probing
the Siegfried Line defences. In the north, other American forces crossed the
Dutch border at Maastricht and are poised for a thrust on Aachen.
The British Second Army has broken out of its Albert Canal bridgehead, and
advance units are moving into the Netherlands. A British spokesman said that
during the operation more Germans were killed and more enemy equipment
destroyed than in any one day since the Normandy landings began.

The roads into Germany are now packed with trucks, motor cars, and even
bicycles, carrying soldiers and civilians fleeing the countries they have
occupied for four years. These refugees are flooding into the Rhineland with
atrocity stories, creating alarm and despondency among local people.

The US 5th Army continues to advance in ITALY. Pistoia is liberated by South
African units of the British XIII Corps. In Italy, the US Twelfth Air Force
continues tactical operations. B-26s hit defensive positions as US Fifth
Army elements push through northern Italian mountain passes toward Gothic
Line defenses; B-25s bomb railroad bridges at Vigevano and Canneto
sull'Oglio and supply areas; fighter-bombers and fighters attack roads,
railroads, guns, supply areas, bridges, and other targets at Vernio, and in
the Alessandria, Turin, Piacenza, and Milan areas.
The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy limits operations to supply mission by
54 B-24s to southern France due to bad weather.

FINLAND: The Finns and the Germans start secret negotiations about the
German withdrawal from northern Finland at Rovaniemi. The Soviet-imposed
deadline for the German withdrawal is only four days away, and it is evident
the Germans are unable to leave Finland in time. However, both armies are
willing to avoid bloodshed, and agreement is reached. Germans would retreat
according to a prearranged plan, destroying roads and bridges, while Finns
would advance slowly to areas already abandoned by Germans. The slow rate of
Finnish advance could be excused by the German policy of scorched earth.
While the negotiations are going on, the Swedish government has already
agreed to receive the Finnish civilian population wishing to leave the
German occupied areas. (Mikko Härmeinen)

BURMA 23 US Tenth Air Force B-24s fly fuel to Kunming, China; numerous other
transport flights throughout the CBI continue.

CHINA: 12 US Fourteenth Air Force P-40s blast trucks along Burma Road and
around Lungling; 59 P-40s and P-51s hit river shipping, railroad targets,
troop concentrations, supply dumps, and other targets of opportunity in the
Canton-Tungting Lake area.

KURILE ISLANDS: 4 US Eleventh Air Force B-25s on a shipping search sink a
small craft off Shimushu Island; 2 other B-25s fly a search mission for a
B-25 (which force-landed in USSR on 9 September but is still reported as
missing).

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Saipan-based B-24s of the USAAF Seventh Air Force bomb Iwo
Jima and damage a Japanese cargo vessel; difficulties encountered in
attempting to tow the damaged craft result in her being scuttled.  (Jack
McKillop)

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: US Far East Air Force B-24s hit airfields at Galela and
Miti on Halmahera Island. B-25s bomb Kairatoe Airfield and village on
Celebes Island and Boela Airfield on Ceram Island while P-38s hit airfields
at Namlea on Buru Island and Amahai and oil tanks at Boela, Ceram Island.
A-20s and B-25s hit Kaoe Airfield on Halmahera Island and scattered targets
of opportunity. In New Guinea, A-20s strike Otawiri, Sagan, Nabire, and
Urarom Airfields while fighter-bombers hit airfields and AA guns at
Manokwari and Ransiki.

PALAU ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Group 38.4 continue
preinvasion attacks on airfields and Japanese installations; they also sink
a Japanese cargo ship 2 miles (3,2 kilometres) off the coast. During the
night, USAAF Thirteenth Air Force radar-equipped B-24s attack the airfields
and defensive positions.  (Jack McKillop)

MARIANA ISLANDS: The USN destroyer USS Ellet (DD-398) bombards supply dumps
on Aguijan Island.  (Jack McKillop)

PACIFIC OCEAN: US submarines sink the Japanese transports RAKUYO MARU and
KACHIDOKI MARU killing 1,274 Allied PoWs en-route from Singapore to Formosa.
USN submarines also sink four other Japanese ships: (1) USS Albacore
(SS-218) sinks an auxiliary submarine chaser off Kyushu, Japan; (2) USS
Finback (SS-230) sinks an army cargo ship and a merchant cargo ship north of
Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands; and (3) USS Pargo (SS-264) sinks an auxiliary
netlayer in the Java Sea, Netherlands East Indies.  (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: The Octagon Conference at Quebec begins hosted by Canadian prime
minister William Lyon Mackenzie King at the Chateau Frontenac. Churchill and
Roosevelt with their staffs meet to discuss overall strategy of the war. The
plans for continued attacks in Italy and Northern Europe are not changed.
British attacks in Burma are approved. British Fleet participation in the
Pacific is approved for the final campaigns against the Japanese. This
conference will last until the 16th. (Dave Shirlaw)

September 11th, 1945
UNITED KINGDOM: RN Wildcat aircraft #JV404 from HMS Premier lost flying
accident. Pilot killed. (Dave Shirlaw)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US 86th Infantry Division arrive for
occupation duty. (Drew Philip Halévy)

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Timor: The coastal steamer BOMBO participates in
the reoccupation of Koepang by Australian forces.

U.S.A.: The USN begins Operation MAGIC CARPET, the transportation of
American service personnel from Pacific locations back to the U.S. (Jack
McKillop)
The top songs on the pop music charts are "Till the End of Time" and "If I
Loved You" by Perry Como, "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" by Johnny
Mercer and "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often" by Tex Ritter. (Jack
McKillop)