WE REMEMBER SEPT 14th

September 14th, 1939
UNITED KINGDOM: In the Atlantic HMS Ark Royal receives a distress call from
SS Fanad Head, which is 200 nautical miles (370km) away under pursuit from
the surfaced U-30 (267 pp 75-8). Ark Royal launches aircraft to aid the
merchant ship but is spotted by U-39, which launches two torpedoes. Lookouts
spotted the torpedo tracks and Ark Royal the U-boat U-39, unsuccessfully,
attacks the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, but is sunk northwest of
Ireland, in position 58.32N, 11.49W, by depth charges dropped by screening
destroyers HMS Faulkner, HMS Firedrake and HMS Foxhound; 44 crewmen are
captured. This is the first U-boat sinking of the war. The attack failed
because of a premature magnetic-pistol torpedo explosion. (Dave Shirlaw) 

U-30 shots down two FAA Blackburn Skua aircraft. (Dave Shirlaw)

From the "Diaries and Letters of Harold Nicholson [MP]": "...The Ministry of
Information...has been staffed by duds at the top and all the good people
are in the most subordinate positions.. John Gunther [American writer and
war correspondent] told me that he had asked one of the censors for the text
of our leaflet which we dropped over Germany. The request was refused on the
grounds of disclosing information that might be of use to the enemy. When
Gunther pointed out that 2 million had been dropped over Germany, the man
blinked and said, "Yes, something must be wrong there..."

FRANCE: The US freighter SS City of Joliet is detained by the French for
3-weeks.
 
POLAND: The Germans enter Gdynia, west of Danzig. 
Elements of the 10th Panzer Division, consisting of the Reconnaissance
Battalion and of Panzer Regt. 8, break through the line of fortified
positions outside and reach Brzesc (Brest-Litovsk) on the Bug River. The
defenders have withdrawn into the city's stout walled inner citadel and
blocked the entrance gate with an old tank.
Guderian orders the whole corps to advance with all speed on Brest in order
to exploit this surprise success. (95)(Russ Folsom) 
The two fortress cities of Warsaw and Modlin are surrounded and under air
and artillery bombardment. In Warsaw the Jewish quarter, Nalewski, has been
heavily bombed; water mains are ruptured by shellfire; food is scarce, some
700 horses, among them prize Polish thoroughbreds, are slaughtered daily for
meat: the shells come in two per minute. The Royal Castle is hit, the
electrical power plant wrecked, a fine dust of wind-blown rubble and smoke
pervades the city. A shell hits St. John's Cathedral during mass killing
many at prayer.

HUNGARY: Budapest: Hungary restrains from declaring its neutrality on the
grounds that it is not threatened by Hitler.

U.S.S.R.: Pravda launches an anti-Polish propaganda campaign.

CANADA: Canada, the last of the great Dominions to declare war, will become
the arsenal of the Allies, providing food, industries, convoy escorts and
air training facilities, according to the prime minister, Mr. Mackenzie
King. He said: "Canada's liberties came down from those men in England and
France who never hesitated to lay down their lives when their freedom was
threatened."
Mr. King will not bring in conscription, though, particularly not during an
election campaign. Like most Canadians he abhors the idea of Canadians being
fed into the Western Front as happened in W.W.I, and prefers the more
profitable role of supplier of raw materials rather than men.

U.S.A.: Igor Sikorsky makes the first tethered flight in his VS-300
helicopter at Stratford, Connecticut. (Jack McKillop)
Atlantic Squadron Neutrality Patrol ships deploy. The forces deployed
include 4 heavy cruisers, 17 destroyers, 5 patrol squadrons and supporting
vessels. These ships patrol from Argentia, Newfoundland in the north to the
Lesser Antilles in the south. Held in reserve are an aircraft carrier and 3
battleships. (Dave Shirlaw)
The motion picture "Honeymoon in Bali" is released. This romantic comedy,
directed by Edward H. Griffith, stars Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll,
Allan Jones, Akim Tamiroff and Helen Broderick; Monty Woolley appears in an
uncredited bit part. The plot has career woman Carroll, who is determined
not to marry, meeting MacMurray with the inevitable consequences. (Jack
McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The USN deploys the Atlantic Squadron Neutrality Patrol; the
forces deployed include 4 heavy cruisers, 17 destroyers, 5 patrol squadrons
and supporting vessels. These ships patrol from Argentia, Newfoundland in
the north to the Lesser Antilles in the south. Held in reserve are an
aircraft carrier and 3 battleships. (Jack McKillop)
U-28 sinks SS Vancouver City.
U-29 sinks SS British Influence.
U-30 sinks SS Fanad Head. (Dave Shirlaw)

September 14th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: Battle of Britain:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. 10 Sqn, Whitley P4966 ditched off Spurn Head.
Sqn Ldr K.F. Ferguson and Sgts C.S. Rogers, W. Fraser, E. Cummings and M.
Niman all rescued by HMS Kurd.
78 Sqn. N1478 missing from Antwerp, Plt Off C.S Robson and Sgts L.J. Furze,
R.M. Heyworth, J. Kelly and J.C. Grieg all killed. 
Bombing - invasion fleet at Antwerp.
10 Sqn. Ten aircraft. All bombed causing fires. One fighter seen, but did
not attack. One ditched, crew rescued.
51 Sqn. Twelve aircraft. One bombed due to severe weather and electrical
storms.
78 Sqn. Eight aircraft. None bombed, one FTR. 
The French coast is now so well lit up by burning barges that it has become
known as "Blackpool Front" to the RAF bomber pilots. 

RAF Fighter Command: During the day south London and radar stations are
attacked. At night London and south Wales are bombed.
The Luftwaffe broke through the London defences today and again set fire to
the docks. They are an easy target, a sprawling mass of warehouses packed
with combustibles, found easily by the Germans who simply flew up the
Thames.
The RAF response to the raid was weaker than usual, and the German pilots
thought that at last they detected signs of the promised collapse of Fighter
Command. 
Losses: Luftwaffe, 14; RAF, 14. 
The work of the London docks is transferred to the Clyde in Scotland.


FRANCE: The financial penalties imposed by Germany upon France for the
privilege of paying the costs for the army of occupation are far steeper
than reparations imposed on Germany after the Great War.
Under the armistice signed at Compiegne in June France must pay 20 million
Reichsmark a day, or RM7.3 billion a year, almost three times what Germany
had to pay under the Dawes plan of 1924 - one billion a year rising after
four years to 2.5 billion. 

GERMANY: Berlin: Hitler brings the invasion of Britain forward to 17
September on advice from Göring  that the Luftwaffe is close to success.
 
U.S.A.: The Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the first
peacetime draft (conscription) in U.S. history. (Jack McKillop) 
New United States naval policy called for a two-ocean navy. Destroyer USS
Eberle launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A US destroyer, part of Task Force 15, en route to Iceland,
spots a submarine emerging from the fog. The sub submerges and 3 destroyers
drop depth charges. (Jack McKillop) 

September 14th, 1941
GERMANY: Hitler's order of 1 September, that all Jews under German rule must
wear a yellow star of David, comes into effect.

FINLAND: Finnish Foreign Minister Vaino Tanner in a speech at Vaasa: 
"Although we happen to be brothers-in-arms of Germany, there is no
difference of opinion among us that our war concerns Finland alone. We have
no part in the World War, and we do not want to become involved in its
battles." (Russell Folsom)(219)

U.S.S.R.: Archangel: British forces are operating from Russian soil for the
first time since Lord Ironside's expedition to help the White Russians in
1919. In a changed world, the "Reds" are now Britain's allies against
Germans, so RAF pilots are flying Hurricanes from Vaenga. Two squadrons - 81
and 134 - began operations three days ago after arriving at Archangel on 7
September on the carrier HMS ARGUS. Their chief target is a force of Stuka
dive-bombers, the main German tool against Soviet defences, whether tanks or
cities. The RAF will not stay here for the rest of the war. It will teach
Soviet pilots to fly Hurricanes and hand them over.
Heeresgruppe Mitte completes the encirclement of two Soviet armies at Kiev.
General Georgii K. Zhukov is named Commander in Chief, Leningrad Front and
takes command of the defence of the city. He orders the harshest of
punishments for dereliction of duty and orders immediate counterattacks. His
actions, in large part, save the city from the Germans.  (Jack McKillop)
3 Pz. Div. (GL Walter Model) contacts 1st Panzer Army's 16 Pz. Div. (GL Hans
Hube) near Lubny, Ukraine. (Jeff Chrisman)

LIBYA: A poorly executed raid by Rommel, forces his 21st Panzer Division to
run out of fuel. The RAF commences bombing the exposed German units and
Rommel again places his German units out of fire and orders the Italians to
guard the flanks. Meanwhile, British naval forces fail in their attempt to
achieve a landing at Tobruk.  (Jack McKillop)

U.S.A.: Army General Headquarters (GHQ) manoeuvres commence in Louisiana.
The Army's neglect of aviation support for its ground troops during the
interwar period compels it to ask the Navy to provide planes to take part.
Five Navy squadrons [Bombing Squadron Two (VB-2), Fighting Squadrons Forty
One and Seventy Two (VF-41 and -72) and Scouting Squadrons Five and Forty
Two (VS-5 and -42)] and four Marine Corps squadrons [Marine Fighting
Squadron One Hundred Eleven (VMF-111), Marine Observation Squadron One
Hundred Fifty One (VMO-151), and Marine Scout Bombing Squadrons One Hundred
Thirty One and One Hundred Thirty Two (VMSB-131 and -132)] take part in the
large-scale war games.  (Jack McKillop)
 
ATLANTIC OCEAN:  As the USN's Task Force 15 (TF 15) proceeds toward Iceland,
destroyer USS Truxtun (DD-229) reports a submarine emerging from the fog 300
yards (274 meters) away, but low visibility and uncertainty as to the
position of USS MacLeish (DD-220), also in the screen of TF 15, prevents USS
Truxtun from opening fire. After the submarine submerges, USS Truxtun, USS
MacLeish and Sampson (DD-394) make depth charge attacks with no verifiable
result.  (Jack McKillop)
 

September 14th, 1942
UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF 31st Fighter Group is transferred to XII Fighter
Command, 12th Air Force. It will continue to operate under VIII Fighter
Command.
The Handley-Page Hampden makes its last operation with RAF Bomber Command
when No. 408 Squadron attack Wilhelmshaven. (22)

U.S.S.R.: Thunderous attacks by 200,000 Germans stagger the Soviets at
Stalingrad. In coordinated offensives, the German 6th and 4th Panzer Armies
storm into the heart of the wrecked city and nearly reach the main ferry
landing where Soviet reinforcements land after crossing the Volga River.
Realizing the Germans have nearly conquered the city, Lieutenant General
Vasily Chuikov, Commanding General 64th Army, calls for, and gets,
reinforcements. The first of them, the 13th Guards Rifles Division,
commanded by General Konstantine Rokossovsky, marches 25 miles down the east
bank, is brought across the Volga and immediately counterattacks up the
Mamai Kurgan . Several other divisions will bolster Stalingrad's defenses
during the next few days.  (Jack McKillop)

ARCTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-589 is sunk in the Arctic Ocean
southwest of Spitzbergen, in position 75.04N, 04.49E, by depth charges from
the British destroyer HMS Onslow, and depth charges from a Swordfish of No
825 Squadron in the escort carrier HMS Avenger. All hands, 44 men, on the
U-boat are lost. The day before she had rescued four Luftwaffe airmen in the
Arctic, they too were lost. (Jack McKillop and Alex Gordon)

NORWEGIAN SEA:  German torpedo planes continue attacks upon Archangel-bound
convoy PQ 18, sinking U.S. freighter SS Mary Luckenbach about 600 miles (966
kilometres) west of North Cape, Norway; she is lost with all hands (41
merchant seamen and a 24-man Armed Guard). The violent explosion of SS Mary
Luckenbach's ammunition cargo rains debris on nearby freighter SS Nathanael
Greene injuring 11 men (five of whom are transferred to British destroyer
HMS Onslaught for medical attention), but the merchantman makes port under
her own power. Concussion from the explosion also disables U.S. freighter SS
Wacosta, which is later torpedoed and sunk about 400 miles (644 kilometres)
northeast of Jan Mayen Island; she suffers no casualties. British light
cruiser HMS Scylla and minesweeper HMS Harrier rescue all hands: 38 merchant
sailors and the 11-man Armed Guard survive SS Wacosta's loss.  (Jack
McKillop)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s attack shipping at
Suda Bay, Crete, setting 1 vessel afire, while other B-24s hit Tobruk,
Libya; P-40s fly a sweep with the RAF over the frontlines. (Jack McKillop)

LIBYA: Tobruk: After a three-hour bombardment and heavy air raids, the
British last night launched a raid on this much-fought-over port - aiming to
do as much damage as possible to the port and Rommel's supply dumps. But
Operation Agreement, as it was called, was a disaster.
The intention was for 350 marines and 150 troops to land on the north and
south sides of the harbour respectively and seize coastal defences. The
captured defences would then cover a force of destroyers as they entered the
harbour, destroyed shipping and port facilities, and took off the marines
and soldiers.
A head-on assault by a small force in the face of blistering German
counter-fire was risky from the start. Of 21 coastal craft, 19 failed to get
troops ashore, and an assault craft with the first wave of marines failed to
return. Two destroyers and the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS COVENTRY were also
lost, and an MTB was captured; 579 Allied servicemen have been taken
prisoner.
     Whilst participating in a raid on Tobruk, and in company with HMS
Coventry and HMS Zulu, Tribal class destroyer HMS Sikh is illuminated by a
searchlight associated with a Luftwaffe 88mm. Flak battery and receives
heavy, well-directed fire. The gearing room, the turbine lubrication system
are destroyed and ready use 4,7 ammunition along side A turret is exploded,
as are the demolition charges set around Y turret. HMS Zulu attempts to tow
Sikh away but is herself hit and is ordered away. Sikh is scuttled at 0708
and the crew abandon the ship. There are 275 casualties. Location: off
Tobruk at (sic) 32 65N 24 00E. 
    Cruiser HMS Coventry is attacked by a force of Ju.87 aircraft and so
badly damaged that she has to be sunk by HMS Zulu off Tobruk at 32 48N 28
17E. 
    Tribal class destroyer HMS Zulu is attacked by a force of 6 Ju.87
and 12 Ju.88. A bomb enters the engine room and brings the ship to a stop.
Croome takes off all crew except for a towing party, whilst Hursley takes
her in tow. When it became clear that Zulu was sinking, the tow is cast off,
but before Croome can come alongside to take off the towing party, Zulu
rolls over and sinks East of Tobruk at 32 00N 28 56E. There are 40
casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108) 

EGYPT: Cairo: An ambitious scheme to hit three Libyan targets in a combined
operation has blown up in the face of its British planners. At Benghazi,
David Stirling's Special Air Service (SAS) found the enemy waiting and
ready, so withdrew under heavy fire, losing 18 Jeeps and 25 other vehicles.
At Tobruk the assault from sea and desert using infantry, Marine commandos
and the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a failure costing three big ships
and many lives. At Barce a New Zealand LRDG patrol blew up 24 enemy
aircraft, but few of these men are expected to survive the Luftwaffe manhunt
across the desert.

NEW GUINEA: The Japanese edge to within 32 miles (51 kilometres) of Port
Moresby but run into units of the Australian 7 Division at Imita Ridge on
the Kokoda Trail. It is the last advance the Japanese will make on the
island and the high water mark of their conquests. Henceforth, all their
moves will be retreats.  (Jack McKillop)

A single US 5th Air Force A-20 Havoc bombs ground forces and installations
at Myola. (Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 0515, Admiral Turner sails from Espiritu Santo, with the
7th Marines bound for Guadalcanal. 
At 1445 I-19 fires 6 torpedoes at the USS Wasp, sailing between New
Caledonia and Guadalcanal. 1 hits the Wasp, the others continue on. One hits
the battleship North Carolina and another the destroyer O'Brien. The Wasp is
scuttled at 2100 by three US torpedoes, the North Carolina will fight again.
The O'Brien will sink on October 19, 2800 miles toward home and a major
refit.
IJA troops attempting to retake Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are driven
back for the second day in a row. USAAF P-400 Airacobras attack the Japanese
troops retreating south of the Lunga Perimeter. At about 1300 hours, 28 G4M
"Betty" bombers escorted by an unknown number of A6M "Zekes" bomb Henderson
Field; Marine F4F Wildcat pilots shoot down 2 G4Ms and 2 A6Ms. (Jack
McKillop)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIANS: In the first combined heavy mission over
Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands, the US 11th Air Force dispatches 13
B-24 Liberators, 1 B-17 Flying Fortress, 14 P-38 Lightnings, and 14
P-39Airacobras to fly low-altitude and photo runs; the P-39s strafe and
damage 2 submarines in the harbor; the other aircraft bomb and strafe many
installations including AA guns and the submarine base; a single aircraft
also strafes Segula Island; enemy losses are 5 float planes shot down and 1
flying boat destroyed on the water; an ammunition ship is sunk and another
vessel slightly damaged; while a large cargo vessel and several small
barges  and vessels sustain hits; 2 P-38s are lost, colliding head-on while
after a fighter. (Jack McKillop)

U.S.A.: The 18-minute color documentary "The Battle of Midway" is released.
Directed, produced and filmed by John Ford, narration is provided by Donald
Crisp, Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell with James Roosevelt, the President's
son, appearing as an Army major. Ford was on Midway Island with a crew of
Navy photographers during the epic battle in June 1942. (Jack McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: After four days of attack by a wolfpack of 13 U-boats,
convoy ON-127 has lost 12 freighters and one Canadian destroyer; one U-boat
has been hit.
At 0005 hours, whilst escorting convoy ON.127, destroyer HMCS Ottawa is
torpedoed and sunk by U-91 (Kptlt. Heinz Hungershausen CO) in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence at 47 55N 43 27W. There are 112 casualties and 76 survivors.
Reports state the CO gave his lifebelt to a rating. Corvette HMCS Arvida
rescued survivors. U-91 was a VIIC type U-boat, built by Flender-Werke AG,
Lubeck-Siems, commissioned 28 Jan 41, in service 25 months, on 04 Sep 42
U-91 was a member of Wolfpack group, "Vorwarts", this Wolfpack sank 7 ships
in Convoy ON 127, and 3 ships in convoy RB 1. 6 ships sunk for a total of
36,952 tons, Fate sunk 25 Feb 44 in Northern Atlantic, in position 48.12N,
40.56W by HMS Affleck, Gore and Gould. Of the U-91 crew of 51, there were 15
survivors and 36 lost. 
U-408 sinks SS Atheltemplar in Convoy PQ-18
U-457 damaged SS Atheltemplar in Convoy PQ-18.
U-515 sinks SS Harborough. (Dave Shirlaw)

 

September 14th, 1943
UNITED KINGDOM: 

EUROPEAN TACTICAL OPERATIONS: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support
Command in England flies Mission 57: 108 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to
the Woenisdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands and Nord Airfield at Lille,
France; they are recalled due to weather. (Jack McKillop)

GERMANY: Recently rescued Benito Mussolini has an emotional reunion with
Adolf Hitler in the Fuhrer's East Prussian headquarters.  (Jack McKillop)

EASTERN FRONT: Rastenburg: Hitler orders his armies to withdraw to the
Panther Line, between Kiev and Vitebsk.
The Germans announce they are evacuating Bryansk. The Russians are still up
against a heavy rearguard action. Novorossiysk, in the Kuban, is also
heavily contested.

ITALY: At Salerno, the Germans attack the entire Allied front throughout the
daylight hours, searching for weaknesses. Their efforts are unsuccessful.  
Reinforcements also arrived: the British 7 Armoured Division begins landing
in the British 10 Corps sector, and the U.S. 180th Infantry Regiment, the
remaining regiment of the 45th Infantry Division, lands behind VI Corps to
become the Fifth Army reserve. 
During the night, C-47 Skytrains drop the 2,105 men of the 505th Regimental
Combat Team (505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 456th Parachute Field
Artillery and Company A, 307th Engineers) south of the Sele River to
strengthen the beachhead. 
By the evening, with more supplies ashore and reinforcements arriving, the
crisis had passed. Although the two night airborne drops into the Salerno
beachhead had been executed flawlessly, another airborne operation is less
successful. The 640 men of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment jump some
20 miles (32 kilometres) north of the British 10 Corps at Avellino during
the evening to disrupt German resupply and communications lines. The
paratroopers had been ordered to harass the Germans for about five days and
then either to infiltrate to the beachhead or to link up with advancing
forces. Of the 40 planes involved in the operation, only 15 dropped their
cargo within 4 miles (6 kilometres) of the drop zone; 23 planes scattered
paratroopers between 8 and 25 miles (13 and 40 kilometres) from the intended
target, and the drop site of the remaining two planes was unknown. Of the
640 men who jumped, 400 made it safely back to Allied hands several days
later after launching small raids in the German rear.  (Jack McKillop)
     In southern Italy, elements of the British Eighth Army enter Bari in
the east and Belvedere in the west.  (Jack McKillop) 
     In the air, Allied heavy bombers, diverted from attacks on strategic
targets in Germany, interdict German units and supplies flowing toward the
beachhead and struck German units in assembly areas and attack positions.
USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Pescara while RAF
heavy bombers, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, hit
Potenza. The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command sends B-17s, B-25
Mitchells, and B-26s to attack highways, road junctions and defiles,
bridges, town areas, railroads, marshalling yard, barracks, and numerous
targets of opportunity, including several gun positions, in or near
Avellino, Pompeii, Torre Annunziata, Auletta, Baronissi, San Severino Rota,
Battipaglia, and Eboli; USAAF and RAF fighter-bombers and light and medium
bombers of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force fly well over 500
sorties, mainly against bridges, and towns in the battle area or around
Battipaglia, Eboli, Potenza Torre Annunziata, Benevento, Auletta, and
Avellino.  (Jack McKillop)

 
FRENCH INDOCHINA: The US Fourteenth Air Force dispatches 15 B-24s to
Haiphong. The first flight aborts due to bad weather but the second flight
reaches the target area and bombs docks and shipping. (Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: US Fifth Air Force B-25s attack Lae and barges in Hansa Bay;
B-24s bomb Kendari on Celebes Island. (Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Allied airfields and other facilities on Guadalcanal, and
at Barakoma and Munda on New Georgia Island are attacked by Japanese
aircraft throughout the day. US Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, with fighter
escorts, bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island 3 times during the day.
30+ B-24s unload on dispersal and revetment areas and on runways, causing
considerable damage; 8 Japanese interceptors are claimed shot down. 3 B-25s
bomb Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island and 2 B-24s and 6 PV-1 Venturas
attack the Vila area. P-39s join USN fighters and dive bombers in attack on
Ballale Island Airfield. During the night, IJN aircraft mount 79 separate
attacks on Guadalcanal, New Georgia and Vella Lavella Islands. (Jack
McKillop)

September 14th, 1944
UNITED KINGDOM: EUROPE
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 632:
2 B-17 control aircraft and 2 B-17 CASTOR drones fly an APHRODITE mission to
the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt, Germany; the target is missed. 

TACTICAL OPERATIONS: C-47s of the First Allied Airborne Army's US IX Troop
Carrier Command continue large-scale supply and evacuation missions in
France. The US Ninth Air Force activates HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command
(Provisional) at Vermand, in anticipation of operating with the US Ninth
Army, shortly to join the Twelfth Army Group; Brigadier General Richard E
Nugent is Commanding General; about 140 B-26s and A-20s bomb gun
emplacements and strongpoints in the Brest area. In southern France, bad
weather limits US Twelfth Air Force fighters to a few sweeps.
Minesweeper HMS Serene commissioned. Destroyer HMS Barfleur commissioned.
Minesweeper HMS Chameleon commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

NORWAY: Bergen: One of Britain's most successful secret weapons - a midget
submarine able to penetrate the best defended waterways - has struck again.
This time the target was a big floating dock, blown up in Bergen harbour.
Lt. H. P. Westmacott skippered the four-man craft, X24, as it slipped
through 30 miles of islands offshore and a minefield and into a fjord to
sail at periscope depth to the harbour. After diving to 35 feet to avoid
collision with a merchant ship, Westmacott attached delayed-action charges
to the target and escaped. It is the second such raid on Bergen by
Westmacott in X24.

POLAND: Units of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front enter the Warsaw suburb of
Praga.

U.S.S.R.: The Finnish peace delegation has waited for a week at Moscow for
the negotiations to begin. Delay is caused by disagreements between the
Soviets and British over the terms of the interim Peace Treaty (the final
treaty will be the one concluded with the Soviet Union, UK and the Dominions
at Paris in 1947). Today the two allies finally reach an agreement, and the
Fenno-Soviet negotiations are to begin in evening. However, Prime Minister
Antti Hackzell, who is the chairman of the Finnish delegation, suffers brain
haemorrhage just hours before the first session is to start and is
paralysed. Minister of Defence Gen. Rudolf Walden acts as the head of the
delegation in the first session. Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Enckell
arrives two days later to replace Hackzell.
By this date all German troops have left Southern Finland. (Mikko Härmeinen)
The Soviets attack Army Group North with 130 Divisions. General Schorner
asks Hitler to let Estonia to go. This time Hitler allows a retreat. (Gene
Hanson)

ITALY:  The British 8th Army begins its continued advance, toward the Marano
River, after capturing the Gemmano Ridge.
US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack defensive positions in the east
and central parts of the Gothic Line as the enemy fiercely resists,
especially at Il Giogo Pass and on Monte Altuzzo; fighter-bombers continue
strikes against communications and movement in the Po Valley.
The sailing yacht EROS is torpedoed and sunk by US PT boats off Genoa. She
is ex-mercantile, originally built as a yacht for the Rothschild family.
1,019 tons built 1926 in England with some guns. She was seized by the
Germans at Toulon in 1942 and redesignated Kriegsmarine Uj.2216 in 1943.
[prior information courtesy of Henri Le Masson's The French Navy, Volume 2,
Macdonald and Co., 1969] (Greg Kelley)

BURMA: Japanese troops withdraw from the Manipur river line.

JAPAN: During the night of 13/14 September, 3 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s
strike Kurabu Cape shipping and airfield on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile

Islands.

PACIFIC
CENTRAL PACIFIC: US Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan Island bomb Iwo Jima
Island. B-24s on armed reconnaissance bomb Marcus Island; others from
Eniwetok Atoll bomb Truk Island while Gilbert Islands-based B-25s hit Ponape
Island.

SOUTH CHINA SEA:  The USN submarine USS Pargo (SS-264) lays mines near
Natuna Island.  (Jack McKillop)

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: USN Task Group 38.2 (TG 38.2, Rear Admiral Gerald F.
Bogan) attacks Japanese shipping and installations on and around Panay and
Negros Islands, supported by TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman). TG
38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain), en route to support the Morotai
landings, carries out strikes on Japanese installations on Mindanao; during
the course of these operations, SB2Cs Helldivers of Bombing Squadron Two (VB
2) sink a fast transport in Davao Gulf. Meanwhile, destroyers USS Farenholt
(DD-491), USS McCalla (DD-488), and USS Grayson (DD-435), detached from TG
38.1, bombard suspected Japanese radar installation on Cape San Augustin, at
the mouth of Davao Gulf.  (Jack McKillop)
 
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: 5620 Dutch, English, Australian and American POWs
and Javanese slave labourers are loaded aboard the Japanese cargo ship
"Junyo Maru" at Batavia on Java. The ship will be sunk by an RN submarine
four days later. (See 18 September) (Jack McKillop)
 
U.S.A.: The Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 made its initial landfall as a
Category 3 storm at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, shortly after 0900 hours.



September 14th, 1945
UNITED KINGDOM: A Halifax glider towing aircraft of RAF No. 644 Sqn crashes
on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, en-route to exercises in the Azores. All crew and
passengers are killed.

JAPAN: 250 Allied prisoners of war are taken by train to Nagasaki to await
ships home. 

AUSTRALIA: B-24 Liberator A72-313 of the RAAF crashes on take off from
Amberley airfield in the Northern territories. All crew are killed