WE REMEMBER SEPT 13th

September 13th, 1939
UNITED KINGDOM: The Home Office opens an inquiry into black-out rules.
Navy suspends transfers to the Fleet Reserve after 20 years service and
retains men on active duty. 

FRANCE: 
Paris: The stained glass windows of Notre-Dame are removed for safety.
Edouard Daladier, the French Prime Minister, sends the president of the
republic, Albert Lebrun, the long awaited details of his war cabinet. The
prime minister will retain the portfolios of war and national defence and in
addition will take over foreign affairs. The former foreign minister,
Georges Bonnet, goes to the ministry of justice. There are two new
portfolios, those of Raoul Dautry as minister of armaments and Georges
Pernot as minister of blockade, each with responsibilities specifically
related to the war effort. Daladier has taken such trouble over putting his
team together because he is keen to have a war cabinet that will enable
France to put recent divisions behind it and fight the war in a spirit of
national unity. The task may prove difficult; several members of the new
cabinet were until recently convinced that France must at all costs stay out
of the war.

POLAND:
The 11th Polish Infantry Division near Przemysl had been reduced to barely
six battalions, each numbering not more than 300 men. 
"The German planes raided us at frequent intervals. There was no shelter
anywhere; nothing but the accursed plain. The soldiers rushed off the road
trying to take cover in the furrows..."
The 98th Gebirgs. Regiment under the command of Oberstleunant Ferdinand
Schorner capture Hill 374 and Zbolska Heights. (Gene Hanson)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-27 sank SS Davara.
U-29 sank SS Neptunia. (Dave Shirlaw)

September 13th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - invasion fleet at Calais
and Dunkirk.
58 Sqn. Nine aircraft to Dunkirk. All bombed, causing large fires.
77 Sqn. Nine aircraft to Calais and Dunkirk. All bombed with good results.
All forces of Bomber Command, day and night, attack invasion ports and
continue during the next fortnight. 

Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command: Small daylight raids on London, causing little damage.
At night London is raided. 
Buckingham Palace is again hit. At 11:10 building is straddled by a stick of
six bombs dropped by a low-flying aircraft. Two of these burst in the
Quadrangle, some eighty yards from the window behind which the King and
Queen were discussing the day's arrangements with the King's secretary, Sir
Alexander Hardinge. The blast showered them with broken glass.
Two other bombs fell in the forecourt. One wrecked the Royal Chapel and one
exploded harmlessly in the garden. 
Other raids include one on Belfast Loch and incendiaries are dropped on
Bangor, NI. 
Ten bombs dropped on Eastbourne's centre start large fires and cause 20
casualties. 
At West Ham (London) the Ravenshill School where homeless were being
accommodated is hit mid-morning and 50 casualties result.
The main eight-hour raid on London commences at 20:45. Although only five
night fighter sorties are flown, Flg Off M.J. Herrick in ZK-A of 25 Squadron
manages to bring down a He-111H 5J+BL of 3/KG 4 near North Weald.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 4; RAF, 1.
The battleships HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson at Rosyth in Scotland, and HMS
Revenge at Plymouth move to likely invasion sites. HMS Hood is at Rosyth. 
Luxury liner SS City of Benares leaves Liverpool with British children being
evacuated to Canada to escape World War II. The ship is torpedoed by U-boat
during the night about 600 miles out to sea; only 13 of the over 90 children
survive. (Dave Shirlaw)

NORTH AFRICA:
An Italian offensive starts at Sollum, on the border of Libya and Egypt.
After months of prodding by a Mussolini hungry for victory, Marshal
Graziani's army is making a ponderous advance in North Africa and has
finally crossed the barbed-wire fence that marks the Egyptian border with
Libya. Bells are being rung in Rome to celebrate the capture of Sollum, a
tiny settlement of mud huts.
Graziani has insisted on "digging in" at frequent points along the coastal
road, harassed continually by British defenders.      
The attack on British forces in Egypt was to coincide with Operation Sealion
(the invasion of England by Germany). When it became apparent to Benito
Mussolini that "Sealion" was postponed indefinitely, he orders Marshal
Graziani, Governor-General of Libya and Commander in Chief North Africa, to
launch an attack into Egypt by the seven divisions of his 10th Army. British
tanks and armored cars make bold attacks into Libya, forcing the Italians to
transfer troops from the 5th Army to the 10th and acquiring 2,500 motor
vehicles and gaining the delivery of 70 M-11 medium tanks from Italy. The
British retreat to buy time and receive reinforcements. After four days and
a 60 mile (97 kilometer) advance into Egypt, Graziani halts his attack due
to logistics. Graziani was now 80 miles (129 kilometres) west of the British
defenses in Mersa Matruh; to risk going any farther, Graziani said, would
risk being defeated until supplies were available. Mussolini, angered over
the sudden stop of the 10th Army, urges Graziani to continue 300 miles (483
kilometres) into the port of Alexandria. Graziani is appalled. Eventually
Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Chief of the Supreme General Staff, promises
1,000 tanks to Graziani but this promise is never kept. The recent military
operations in Ethiopia and Spain drained Italy of many needed supplies and
equipment and Graziani is forced to change his attack plan and he cannot
penetrate further than Sidi Barrani.  (Jack McKillop)

EAST AFRICA:
Italian troops from Ethiopia advance 20 miles into the British colony of
Kenya.

CHINA:
Pre-production Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model 11s,
assigned to the 12th Rengo Kokutai (12th Combined Naval Air Corps), are
flown in combat for the first time over Chungking, China. The Japanese
pilots destroy 99 Chinese aircraft for the loss of two A6M2s to ground
fire.  (Andy Etherington and Jack McKillop) 

September 13th, 1941
GERMANY: The food shortage is beginning to bite in the Third Reich. In a
report soon to be issued by the ministry for food and nutrition, Germans
will be urged to be more economical in the way that they eat potatoes.
"In every household in Germany, potatoes should now only be served in their
skins," it says. "It is most important that in canteens and restaurants,
potato peelers are not used."

BALTIC SEA: The Finnish 'armoured ship' ILMARINEN hits a mine and sinks
while on a deception manoeuvre to draw Russian attention from the invasions
of the islands of Hiidenmaa and Saarenmaa (two large islands off the western
coast of Estonia). They were to sail with other ships as conspicuously as
possible for a while and then turn back. 'Ilmarinen' sank just when they
were about to turn. 132 men are saved but 271 die, making it Finland's worse
maritime disaster. (Mikko Härmeinen) 

U.S.S.R.: German forces under Kleist and Guderian link near Lokhvitsa. This
cuts the pocket of 600,000 soviet soldiers east of Kiev. Chernigov on the
Desna is evacuated under German attacks.
The Russian, General Winter, arrives on the Eastern Front with the first
snowfall of the season being reported.

September 13th, 1942
UNITED KINGDOM: Salisbury, Wiltshire: Lt. William George Foster (b.1881),
Home Guard, threw himself onto a grenade which had rolled back into his
trench. He died instantly. (George Cross)

FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: The authorities have instituted a Service National du
Travail (STO) [National Work Service] which introduces compulsory labour for
all men aged between 18 and 50 and unmarried women between 21 and 35.

GERMANY: The most bombed city in Europe, Bremen in northern Germany, suffers
its 1,000th air raid.  (Jack McKillop)

NORWEGIAN SEA: German aerial and submarine attacks begin against convoy PQ
18, bound for Archangel, USSR, approximately 100 miles (161 kilometres)
southwest of Spitsbergen. U.S. freighter SS Oliver Ellsworth is torpedoed by
German submarine U-589 and abandoned; one Armed Guard sailor is killed in
the attack. Survivors (42 merchant seamen and 27 Armed Guard crewmen) are
rescued by merchantman SS Copeland and British armed trawler HMS St. Kenan;
the latter scuttles the crippled Oliver Ellsworth with gunfire. Later that
day, German planes attack, torpedoing freighter SS John Penn; three of the
40-man merchant crew are killed. British destroyer HMS Eskimo and
minesweeper HMS Harrier rescue the survivors, who include the 25-man Armed
Guard; SS John Penn is scuttled by escort vessels. Shortly thereafter,
freighter SS Oregonian is also torpedoed; escort vessels rescue 21 of the
40-man crew, in addition to 8 of the 14-man Armed Guard.  (Jack McKillop)
U-408 sank SS Oliver Ellsworth and SS Stalingrad in Convoy PQ-18.
U-589 rescued four Luftwaffe airmen in the Arctic. She did not have the
chance to bring them to shore as she was herself sunk the very next day.
(Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: The perimeter held by the Red Army at Stalingrad is closed to 30
miles. General Chuikov is appointed to command the Soviet 62nd Army at
Stalingrad.
Female Soviet fighter pilot Lidya Litvyak shoots down two German aircraft on
her third mission, including one piloted by a decorated German ace. (K. Jean
Cottam) 
Convoy QP-14 sailed from Archangel. (Dave Shirlaw)

NORTH AFRICA: The British Long Range Desert Group and the SAS Unit under
David Stirling attack airfields at Benghazi and Bare. Attempts at amphibious
landings at Tobruk are beaten off with heavy casualties. 

LIBYA: During the night of 13/14 September, US Army, Middle East Air Force
B-24s attack Tobruk and shipping in Benghazi harbor while B-25 Mitchells hit
landing grounds southeast of Matruh, Egypt. (Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Marine defenders defeat an IJA ground attack to seize
Henderson Field. During the day, aerial reinforcements arrive: (1) pilots
from USS Hornet (CV-8) ferry 18 F4F Wildcats to the island; and (2) in the
afternoon, 12 SBD Dauntlesses of the USN's Scouting Squadron Three (VS-3)
and 6 TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8), both assigned to the
USS Saratoga (CV-2), are flown to Henderson Field while the Saratoga returns
to Hawaii fro repairs. 4 of the 18 new F4Fs are lost in air battles during
the day.(Jack McKillop). 

Staff Officers from the IJA 17th Army at Rabaul scout Guadalcanal aboard
"Irving" recon aircraft. Despite interception by 28 Wildcat replacement
fighters from Henderson Field, they report the airstrip held by the
Japanese.

In late afternoon 12 SBDs of VS-3 from Saratoga arrive to join the Cactus
Airforce on Henderson Field. There have been a total of 60 new planes join
the Cactus AF during the last 3 days. 
Col. Oka again radios General Kawaguchi to ask for a delay in his attack
against the west flank of the Lunga Perimeter. The answer is No! Edson
regroups his units on the ridge after the fighting last night. He pulls back
200 yards to stronger positions that will be unfamiliar to the Japanese. His
line consists of small combat groups of approximately platoon strength at
100 yard intervals. He cannot man a continuous line. Col. Merrill B. Twining
visits the line and recommends immediate replacement of these troops.
Division Reserve, 2nd Bn, 5th Marines moves up, but not into place by
nightfall. At 1830 hours Kawaguchi attacks again.
At 2130 hours, bombardment of the perimeter begins, IJN light cruiser
Sendai, and destroyers Shikinami, Fubuki and Suzukaze are offshore. Then an
attack against the ridge begins. Col Edson has a combined 840 men between
his Raider Battalion and the attached Marine Parachute Battalion. General
Kawaguchi has 3 battalions, with 2,506 men, attacking. But the jungle has
slowed the arrival of 2 battalions, his attack is very disjointed. The also
get bogged down between the ridge and the Lunga River. Finally about 1 hour
before daybreak the Japanese commanders begin to gain control of their
units. They regroup to attack the next night.
By 2130 Marine artillery (75s) is dropping 200 yards in from of the line. 
By 2200 the 105s are also involved. Division Command Post (near Henderson
Field) is under sniper fire. Major Bailey brings forward a re-supply of
grenades and ammo at 0300. Reserves are fed into the line around 0400. 7th
Company, 4th Regiment IJA breaksthough a gap in the US lines and reaches the
fighter airstrip about 0530 and are stopped by HQ Co and Co. D.
Daylight brings the attacks to a near stop. Kawaguchi finds that 1 Bn did
not find the front line, but its CO and Exec are dead; Col Oka has not
attacked despite orders; the attack against the eastern perimeter did not
take place either. Col. Matsumoto, from the 17th Army, radios back to Rabaul
on the 14th that the major attack will occur tonight due to the heavy
jungle. The Battle of Edson's (Bloody) Ridge had already happened.

NEW GUINEA: US 5th Air Force B-26 Marauders pound the airfield at Lae while
B-17 Flying Fortresses unsuccessfully attack a cruiser southeast of Rabaul,
New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago. P-40s strafe buildings on
Goodenough Island. (Jack McKillop)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIANS: The US 11th Air Force dispatches an LB-30
Liberator and 2 P-38 Lightnings to fly a photo reconnaissance, antisubmarine
coverage and strafing mission over Kiska Island lakes and harbor; a tender
in the harbor is slightly damaged, 1 Japanese float fighter is downed; a
P-38 is hit by AA fire and fighters damage the LB-30. (Jack McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German U-Boat torpedoes destroyer HMCS Ottawa; BATTLE OF THE
ATLANTIC growing in intensity. 
A man from U-66 took his own life. [Matrose II (Masch.) Horst Keller]

U-506 sank SS Lima.
U-515 sank SS Ocean Vanguard and Nimba.
U-558 sank SS Empire Lugard, Suriname and damaged SS Vilja in Convoy TAG-5.
U-594 sank SS Stone Street in Convoy ON-127

(Dave Shirlaw)

September 13th, 1943
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force activates the 1st, 2d, and 3d
Bombardment Divisions at Brampton Grange, Horsham St Faith and Camp Blainey
respectively. They are formed from complements of VIII Bomber Command's 4
bombardment wings which are redesignated Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy)
effective this date; each bombardment division is organized into combat
bombardment wings. Commanding Officers of the Bombardment Divisions are
Major General Robert B Williams (1st), Brigadier General James P Hodges
(2d), and Major General Curtis E LeMay (3d).


U.S.S.R.: Stary Kermenchik, in the Donets basin, is liberated by Russian
units.

ITALY: At Salerno the Germans rapidly reinforced the battle area, and the
Allied situation continues to deteriorate. 
German General Heinrich von Vietinghoff launches a major counter-attack
against the Allied beachhead, albeit with divisions which were not yet fully
reconstituted after the fighting in Sicily. 

The Hermann Goering and 15th Panzer Grenadier Divisions attack the British
10 Corps, while elements of the 26th and 29th Panzer Grenadier and the 16th
Panzer Divisions drove against the U.S. VI Corps and the lightly defended
area along the Sele River. The Germans penetrate the American lines during
the afternoon, overrunning a battalion of the 36th Infantry Division and
threatening the rear of the Allied position. 
For a time, the situation is so precarious that Lieutenant General Mark
Clark, Commanding General U.S. Fifth Army, directs his staff to begin
planning to evacuate one of the two beachheads and land its forces on the
other. American resistance stiffens along the Calore River as artillery,
tank, and tank destroyer units hold their ground, pouring shot after shot
directly into the attacking Germans. By nightfall the German attacks falter,
and the Allies began to regroup. 
General Clark has recognized that his position is precarious. Seaborne
reinforcements from Sicily could not arrive in time, and British Eighth Army
advances were being slowed by heavily damaged roads and logistic problems.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Allied Expeditionary Force
Mediterranean, had earlier made the 82d Airborne Division available to Fifth
Army, and Clark requested its use. The airborne unit represented the only
force that could move to the area rapidly enough to make a difference.
During the night of 13-14 September, 80+ USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47
Skytrains drop 1,300 soldiers of the 504th PIR into the beachhead ; these
troops immediately move into defensive positions bolstering the 36th
Infantry Division.  (Jack McKillop)

Light cruiser HMS Uganda heavily damaged by a German radio-guided bomb
during the landings at Salerno.

     In southern Italy, the British Eighth Army continues to advance and
takes Cosenza.   (Jack McKillop)
     In the air, RAF heavy bombers, under the operational control of the
USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command, hit Potenza. B-17s of the USAAF
Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command bomb roads in the Torre del Greco
area, a highway at Sala Consilina, and a road junction, railway and bridge
at Atena Lucana; B-25s attack a viaduct, rail and road junctions, and rail
lines in the Pompeii-Castellammare di Stabia-Torre Annuziata areas; XII Air
Support Command A-36 Apaches destroy 25 to 30 vehicles near Potenza, and
fighters maintain convoy patrol; and USAAF and RAF light and medium bombers
of the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force hit town areas, road
junctions, and vehicles in the Auletta-Pompeii-Sala Consilina-San Severino
Rota areas.   (Jack McKillop)

GREECE: The Italian Acqui division resists a German attack in Keffalonia.

CHINA: Chungking: Chiang Kai-shek is elected chairman and president of  the
National Government of China.

NEW GUINEA: Units of the Australian 5th Division capture Salamaua. The
contracting forces are rear-guards. The main Japanese force having already
abandoned Lae and is trying to escape over the Saruwaged Range. 
On 8 September, Lt-Gen Nakano had issued orders for the withdrawal. On or
about 10 September, the main body of about 7,000 left in four groups. They
carried half rations for a 14 day journey. They had intended to withdraw
along a pre-prepared withdrawal route across the Huon Peninsula to Sio. Food
dumps were spaced along the route. 
However, at the Busu River the Japanese found that Australian commandos were
already in possession of the bridge across the swollen Busu River. These
commandos were the flank guard of the advancing 9th Division. The Japanese
lost three days while they built a new bridge across the Busu further up.
Then they had to follow a different route without any food. Many died of
starvation or disease in the ensuing weeks ... (Michael Mitchell)
Pressure at Lae continues as the Japanese perimeter contracts. US Fifth
Force B-24s escorted by P-38 Lightnings, bomb airfields and ammunition dumps
in the Wewak area while B-25s hit Lae. (Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: Pte. Richard Kelliher (1910-63), Australian Military Forces,
went out twice to put a machine-gun post out of action, then went out a
third time to rescue his wounded commander. (Victoria Cross)

AUSTRALIA: Three Japanese Dinah's of the 70th Independent Chutai, fly a
photo-reconnaissance mission escorted by 36 Zeros of the 220nd Kokutai.
Eight 
RAAF Spitfires intercept and three are shot down by the Zeros. The Japanese
lose one Zero. (Steve Alvin)(136)

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Snook (SS-279) sinks a 9,650 ton Japanese
army transport southeast of Shanghai, China. Although escorting destroyer
HIJMS Shiokaze claims her destruction, USS Snook survives the depth charge
attacks and escapes.  (Jack McKillop)

September 13th, 1944
UNITED KINGDOM: 
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions.
Numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of aircraft bombing the target.
- Mission 628: 1,015 bombers and 477 fighters,in 3 forces, attack oil and
industrial targets in southern Germany by visual means; 15 bombers and 8
fighters are lost. 
(1) B-17s bomb oil refineries at Stuttgart/Sindelfingen (109) and
Ludwigshafen (74); secondary targets hit are Darmstadt (95) and Wiesbaden
(8); targets of opportunity hit are Mainz (22), a marshalling yard near
Wiesbaden (12) and others (3); 4 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 73
P-47 Thunderbolts, they claim 6-0-2 aircraft on the ground.
(2) B-24s attack Schwabish Hall Airfield (65), a munitions dump at Ulm (65)
and Weissenhorn (45); a target of opportunity hit is Reichelsheim (1); 4
B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 99 P-38s and P-51 Mustangs; they claim
14-0-5 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost. 
(3) B-17s hit oil refineries at Merseburg (141) and Lutzkendorf (77);
targets of opportunity hit are Giessen (17), Eisenach (12), Altenburg (7),
Gera (7) and other (19); they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost; escort
is provided by 233 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 33-0-4 aircraft in the air; 6
P-51s are lost.
- Mission 629: B-24s are dispatched on an Azon mission to the oil refinery
at Hemminstedt (6); 5 hit the secondary target, ammunition dumps at Kropp.
Escort is provided by 15 P-51s without loss.
- Mission 631: 8 B-17s drop leaflets on the Netherlands, Belgium and
Germany.
- 73 B-17s, escorted by 63 P-51s, continuing the UK-USSR-Italy-UK
shuttle-bombing mission, take off from USSR bases, bomb steel and armament
works at Diosgyor, Hungary and proceed to US Fifteenth Air Force bases in
Italy.
- 40 P-51s fly a strafing mission south of Munich hitting an aircraft
dispersal area, airfield and marshalling yard; they claim 5-0-0 aircraft on
the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.

FRANCE: The US 3rd Army advances taking Neufchateau.
The German garrison, of 12,000, surrenders at Le Havre to the British I
Corps.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS: First Allied Airborne Army's IX Troop Carrier Command
C-47s fly numerous supply and evacuation missions. The US Ninth Air Force's
HQ XIX Tactical Air Command accompanies HQ US Third Army HQ to
ChaIons-sur-Marne; B-26s fly a leaflet mission to coastal northern France
and Belgium; fighters support ground forces in the Brest and Nancy-Metz
areas (air-ground coordination being especially effective between XIX
Tactical Air Command and French 2d Armored Division in defeating the enemy
move on Vittel), and in Germany, fly armed reconnaissance over the Cologne,
Aachen, Koblenz, Linz/Rhine, and Wahn areas; the XIX Tactical Air Command
inaugurates a rail cutting campaign.

EUROPEAN OPERATIONS:
GERMANY: 386 RAF bombers drop 400,000 incendiary devices.
Dachau: Asst. Section Officer Noor Inayat-Khan (b.1914), WAAF, was shot. She
had done highly risky work as an agent in France, and told the Nazis nothing
after her betrayal. (George Cross)
 
U.S.S.R.: The 2nd Belorussian Front takes Lomza on the Narew River. Belated
Russian supply drops to the Polish Home Army in Warsaw begin.

ROMANIA: The armistice between the Allies and Romania is signed.

ITALY: The British 8th Army has cleared the Coriano Ridge of German
positions.
For 24 hours it seemed that the Eighth Army was about to break through the
Gothic Line at the Germmano and Coriano ridges and pour through onto the
plains beyond. Then it came up against its old adversary: the weather. The
rivers are flooding. Tanks of the 1st Armoured Division stand impotently in
fields of mud at San Savino, while the British 4th Infantry Division has
come under heavy artillery and mortar fire, delaying its move up to the
start line. The delay has given the German chief, General von Vietinghoff,
time to move his infantry into place, closing the gate to the Allies.

MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: The US Fifteenth Air Force in ITALY dispatches 350+
fighter-escorted B-17s and B-24s to bomb targets in Czechoslovakia, Germany,
Italy, and Poland; B-17s hit Blechhamer North oil refinery; B-24s hit the
oil refinery at Odertal, Germany and, in Poland, the Auschwitz oil and
rubber works and the Cracow-Auschwitz area, and bomb the marshalling yard at
Vrutky, Czechoslovakia. 100+ B-24s attack the Avisio viaduct, and
Mezzocorona and Ora railroad bridges. 
TACTICAL OPERATIONS: In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s destroy a bridge
at Peschiera del Garda, cutting the Milan-Verona line; B-25s and B-26s bomb
guns and defensive positions north of Florence; fighter-bombers attack
railroads, rolling stock, and bridges in northern Italy, although a heavy
overcast hampers operations in the northwest.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task
Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 make unopposed attacks against Japanese faculties
in the central Philippines. Because of the lack of a reaction from the
enemy, Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. recommends that the invasion of the
Palau Islands be scrapped and the invasion of the Philippines be moved
forward.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: Far East Air Force B-24s and B-25s hit 4 airfields and
bomb villages on Morotai Island. In New Guinea, B-25s hit Langgoer Airfield
while A-20s and fighter-bombers hit 2 airfields on Efman Island; A-20s,
B-25s, and fighter-bombers hit Babo AA positions and airfields at Manokwari
and Ransiki.

PALAU ISLANDS: A USN task force under Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf,
comprised of five old battleships, [USS Maryland (BB-46), USS Mississippi
(BB-41), USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), USS Tennessee (BB-43) and USS West
Virginia (BB-48)], nine cruisers, and destroyers begins two days of
bombardment of Peleliu and Angaur Islands. Additional support is from four
Third Fleet escort aircraft carriers. Minesweeping begins to clear
approaches for the landing craft.
     While sweeping mines 750 yards (686 meters) off the southeast coast of
Angaur Island, a violent underwater explosion, starboard side amidships,
shakes the high speed minesweeper USS Perry (DMS-17). All steam to her main
engines is lost and the forward fireroom is demolished and flooded. Steam
and oil sprayed in all directions and the ship takes on a 30 degree list to
port. The list increases and, at 1420 hours, the commanding officer ordered
"abandon ship". With the aid of the destroyer USS Preble (DD-345) final
attempts to save the vessel are made, but, at 1515 hours, all remaining
personnel are ordered off. At 1605 hours, USS Perry capsizes. She brakes in
two at the point of damage and, at 1607 hours, sinks in 40 fathoms (240 feet
or 73 meters) of water.  (Jack McKillop)

Washington: Enrico Fermi loads the first uranium slug into a
plutonium-producing reactor.
 
September 13th, 1945
POLAND: Amon Göth is hanged at the place of his most egregious crimes on the
former KZ-Plaszow. (Russell Folsom)

SINGAPORE: Admiral Mountbatten receives the surrender of Japanese forces in
Southeast Asia.