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• George Giffard was born at Englefield Green, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [George Giffard | Englefield Green, England | CPC]

• Kurt Fricke was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. ww2dbase [Kurt Frike | CPC]

• In West Africa, the British captured Douala, the Cameroons principle port and wireless station, without a shot being fired. ww2dbase [AC]
• The first French bomber groupe was formed with Voisin biplanes. ww2dbase [AC]

• Chuichi Nagumo studied an advanced course at the mine warfare school. ww2dbase [Chuichi Nagumo | CPC]

• Joseph Stilwell went on leave in the United States. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• At the Battle of Canal du Nord in France, Lord Gort led his men to advance under heavy fire despite being wounded. He would later win the Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [John Vereker | CPC]

• Robert Greim achieved his 25th kill over France. ww2dbase [Robert von Greim | CPC]

• Eighteen Naval Aircraft Factory PT (Patrol Torpedo) aircraft were deployed by the US Navy in the first full-scale torpedo practice off the Virginia capes in eastern United States; three battleships manoeuvred in open water during the 25-minute exercise during which eight hits were scored. ww2dbase [AC]

• Kamoi departed Camden, New Jersey, United States. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Camden, New Jersey | CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort's son Joseph Rochefort, Jr. was born in California, United States. ww2dbase [Joseph Rochefort | California | CPC]

• Settsu received a new commanding officer. ww2dbase [Settsu | CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort arrived at Kobe, Japan via passenger ship President Adams. ww2dbase [Joseph Rochefort | Kobe, Hyogo | CPC]

• In response to the Japanese aggression during the Mukden Incident, Governor Zhang Jinghui of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China called for a conference with his lieutenants to plan a secession of the region from the Republic of China. ww2dbase [Zhang Jinghui | Harbin, Songjiang | CPC]

• A national synod at Wittenberg, Germany elected Ludwig Müller as Reich Bishop. Müller would formally accept his appointment by arriving at the same Schlosskirche where Luther had nailed his Ninety-Five to the door four centuries before. Müller was accompanied by church leaders wearing brown SA uniforms and a troop of soldiers in full marching order wearing a green bordered badge depicting the swastika and crucifix interlinked. ww2dbase [AC]

• Jules Marcel de Coppet was named the Governor-General of French West Africa. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Liu Cuigang, flying a Hawk III fighter, led a flight of six others to drop 110-pound bombs on Japanese tank concentrations reported near Luodian, Shanghai, China. Failing to find the tanks but seeing Japanese fighters, Liu ordered all bombs jettisoned in order to engage the fighters. Liu would claim one Japanese fighter shot down. ww2dbase [Liu Cuigang | Shanghai | CPC]
• Arthur Chin, flying a Hawk II fighter, damaged a Japanese G3M bomber over the Hankou-Guangdong Raiway in southern China. He ran out of fuel and made a crash landing near Shantou (Postal Map: Swatow), Guangdong, China. ww2dbase [Arthur Chin | Shantou, Guangdong | CPC]

• Franz Halder and other German Army officers set 29 Sep 1938 as the launch date of their revolt should Adolf Hitler lead Germany into a war over the Sudetenland crisis. ww2dbase [Franz Halder | CPC]

• Germany passed law to revoke licenses to practice law for all Jewish attorneys, effective 30 Nov 1938; thereafter Jewish attorneys could only act as "consultants" for other Jews on matters of law. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• In the early afternoon, Adolf Hitler moved several divisions to the German-Czechoslovakian border. In the late afternoon, he called for a military parade on the Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin, Germany to rouse a patriotic sentiment; Berlin citizens responded coolly, however. In the United Kingdom, British military mobilized for war, school children were evacuated from London, while trenches were dug in the city's parks. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain recommended Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš to accept a partial military occupation of Sudetenland by the Germans. In the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt called for an international conference in an attempt to maintain peace. The King of Sweden also attempted to calm Hitler down, sending him a message advising him that German's current strength was no match for the combined strength of the opposing powers. Even the chief of the German Navy Erich Raeder attempted to convince Hitler to not provoke war. Late in the day, Czechoslovakia finally received some foreign support when Yugoslavia and Romania declared that they would offer military assistance should Hungary use force against Czechoslovakia. ww2dbase [Munich Conference and the Annexation of Sudetenland | Berlin | CPC]

• RMS Queen Elizabeth was launched at Clydebank, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Queen Elizabeth | Clydebank, Scotland | CPC]

• Sir John Simon’s first war budget for Britain called for income tax to increase from 5 shillings and 6 pence per pound to 7 shillings and 6 pence per pound. ww2dbase [AC]
• Adolf Hitler ordered to his top military leaders to begin planning for a war in the west, with a target launch date of 12 Nov 1939. The generals would complain that the date was too soon. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | CPC]

• The Polish government in exile was established in Paris, France. ww2dbase [Paris | TH]

• Reinhard Heydrich was appointed the head of Reichssicherheitshauptamt. ww2dbase [Reinhard Heydrich | TH]
• Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany was temporarily closed until 18 Feb 1940 for use of training SS units; prisoners of Dachau were sent to Mauthausen Concentration Camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Dachau Concentration Camp | Dachau, München-Oberbayern | CPC]

• Warsaw, Poland fell to the Germans after two weeks of siege. Near Grabowiec, Soviets executed 150 Polish policemen. ww2dbase [Invasion of Poland | TH]
• Representatives of the German Gestapo organization and the Soviet NKVD organization met at Bugiem, Poland (now Brest, Belarus) to coordinate the suppression of Polish resistance efforts. ww2dbase [Gestapo-NKVD Conferences | Bugiem | CPC]

27 Sep 1939 Interactive Map

• Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact. ww2dbase [The Tripartite Pact | TH]
• 300 miles west of Ireland, German submarine U-31 sank Norwegian ship Vestvard at 1113 hours (1 killed, 30 survived in one lifeboat) and German submarine U-37 sank Egyptian ship Georges Mabro shortly before midnight (all aboard were killed). 500 miles west of Saint-Nazaire, France, German submarine U-46 dove suddenly due to mechanical failure, killing Oberbootsmaat Heinrich Schenk and Matrosenobergefreiter Wilhelm Reh; control was regained, and the commanding officer aborted the mission to return to Saint-Nazaire for repairs. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• Douglas Bader shot down a German Bf 109 aircraft. ww2dbase [Douglas Bader | CPC]

• British minesweeper HMS Halcyon hit a mine at the mouth of River Tees in the North Sea off northern England, United Kingdom and was heavily damaged. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
• The survivors of Norwegian ship Tancred, sunk by U-32 in the Atlantic Ocean on the previous day, were picked up by the Norwegian motor merchant Tricolor; they would be landed in New York, United States about a week later. ww2dbase [HM]

• Comandante Cappellini departed La Spezia, Italy at 0800 hours for exercises, returning at 1630 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | La Spezia, Liguria | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci transited the Strait of Gibraltar. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Strait of Gibraltar | CPC]

• At 0900 hours, 80 German bombers escorted by 100 fighters flew over Kent toward London, England, United Kingdom; most of the bombers were turned back near Maidstone and Tonbridge, but some got through and released their bombs over London. At 1120 hours, 25 bombers escorted by 45 Bf 110 fighters were intercepted before they reached their industrial targets in Bristol. Between 1200 and 1230 hours, 300 German aircraft, mostly fighters, conducted a sweep and engaged in dogfights near London; 20 bombers within this group were able to bomb London. By the end of the day, the Germans lost 21 bombers and 34 fighters while the British lost 27 fighters with 13 pilots killed. Overnight, London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Nottingham were bombed. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]
• James Lacey shot down a German Bf 109 fighter over Britain. ww2dbase [James Lacey | CPC]
• Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down his 6th kill, a British Hurricane fighter, over London, England, United Kingdom. In doing so, he abandoned his duty as wingman to flight leader Staffelkapitän Adolf Buhl, and Buhl would happen to be shot down in combat in this engagement. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | London, England | CPC]
• British newspaper The Daily Herald, on its front page story, reported that six evacuee children from the liner City of Benares, which had been torpedoed by Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Bleichrodt on 17 Sep 1940, had been rescued from a lifeboat in the mid-Atlantic. ww2dbase [AC]
• Georges Boris made a broadcast over the BBC from the United Kingdom to the French people, announcing that the Vichy regime in France was placed in charge of rationing across both occupied and unoccupied zones of France, thus villifying Vichy as a collaborationist regime which supported German occupiers at the cost of the suffering of the French people. Boris reminded the French people that, prior to German occupation, France was self-efficient in agriculture, thus the occupation and the collaborationists were to blame for the lack of food. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The United States announced that, with effect from 15 October 1940, they would be imposing an embargo on the export of iron and steel scrap to all nations except those in the western hemisphere and Great Britain. ww2dbase [AC]

27 Sep 1940 Interactive Map

• The first rains fell on Eastern Front of the European War; mud began to become an issue for the attacking German forces. ww2dbase [Operation Barbarossa | TH, CPC]
• German submarine U-66 sank Panamanian tanker I. C. White after sundown; 3 were killed, 34 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-201 attacked Allied convoy HG-73 600 miles north of the Azores islands, sinking two merchant ships and the anti-aircraft ship HMS Springbank; 32 were killed, 201 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• 14 Liberty Ships were launched in the United States; they were to be transferred to the United Kingdom via the Lend-Lease program. ww2dbase [Liberty-class | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Upright sank Italian submarine chaser Albatros between Sicily and mainland Italy. German submarine U-371 rescued 42 survivors. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British minelaying cruiser HMS Abdiel and destroyers HMS Kandahar, HMS Jaguar, and HMS Griffin departed Alexandria, Egypt after sundown with supplies for Tobruk, Libya. This would be the final Operation Supercharge supply run for the besieged city. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
• The Jager Report (issued on 1 Dec 1941) noted that 989 adult male, 1,636 adult female, and 821 children, all Jews, were killed in Eysisky, Lithuania for a total of 3,446 people. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• The Italian garrison at Wolchefit Pass in Abyssinia surrendered to British King's African Rifles regiment. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | CPC]

• Japanese troops in plain clothes infiltrated the north gate of the walled city of Changsha, Hunan Province, China, but failed to complete their sabotage mission. ww2dbase [Second Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]

• Emden provided naval gunfire support for ground troops fighting on the Sõrve Peninsula on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. Upon completion of her duties, she set sail for Gotenhafen (Gdynia), occupied Poland. ww2dbase [Emden | Saaremaa | CPC]

• Morosini arrived at Bordeaux, France at 1340 hours ending her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Morosini | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort warned US commanders at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii that the Japanese communication codes were being changed. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | Detailed Timetable | CPC]

• An Italian torpedo bomber hit British battleship HMS Nelson in the bow with a torpedo in the Mediterranean Sea between Sardinia, Italy and Tunisia; Nelson was escorting the Operation Halberd convoy for Malta. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

• HMS London arrived in Archangel, Russia with Lord Beaverbrook and Averell Harriman aboard. ww2dbase [London | Archangel | CPC]
• The Soviet GKO issued the Directive to Organize a Strategic Defense, which proved to be disastrous as it led to over 50 divisions of Soviet troops being trapped at Vyazma and Bryansk in Russia shortly after. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | CPC]

• 23,000 Jews were massacred at Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Kamenets-Podolsk | CPC]

27 Sep 1941 Interactive Map

• Japanese troops landed on Kuria, Gilbert Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell received orders to plan for an offensive into northern Burma to open the Ledo Road and Burma Road. ww2dbase [Burma Road and the Hump | Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• German auxiliary cruiser Stier and supply ship Tannenfels came across US liberty ship Stephen Hopkins off of Dutch Guiana. Exchanging gunfire at the distance of 2 miles starting at about 0900 hours, Stephen Hopkins sank about an hour later; only 15 men survived, and they drifted for a month before reaching the Brazilian coast. Stier, fatally damaged, was scuttled by her crew at 1140 hours; 2 men were lost. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | Stier | Stephen Hopkins | CPC]

• US Coast Guard Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro, in charge of twenty-four Higgins boats, was killed during a mission to rescue nearly five hundred US Marines beleaguered by Japanese forces at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. By placing his own boat as a shield to protect the evacuating Marines he undoubtedly saved many lives. For his devotion to duty he would later be granted a posthumous Medal of Honor by President Franklin Roosevelt. ww2dbase [Point Cruz, Guadalcanal | AC]

• USS Whale arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Whale | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• USS Nicholas arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Segund Channel, Espirtu Santo | DS]

• Lydia Litvyak shot down a German Ju 88A-4 bomber and shared the credit for downing the Bf 109G-2 fighter piloted by Horst Loose over Stalingrad, Russia while flying a Yak-1 fighter. ww2dbase [Lydia Litvyak | Stalingrad | CPC]
• German Luftwaffe unit III./KG 4 (flying He 111 bombers) flew its last bombing sortie over Stalingrad, Russia. The unit would soon be transported out of its base in Morozovsk, Russia for Germany to undergo glider towing training. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]

• The Taichu Prisoners of War Camp near Taichu (now Taichung), Taiwan was opened. ww2dbase [Taichu | CPC]

• USS Honolulu arrived in San Francisco Bay and entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo for overhaul. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Honolulu | Vallejo, California | DS]

27 Sep 1942 Interactive Map

• One of the Nazi officials in Rome demanded that the Jewish community pay one hundred pounds of gold within thirty-six hours or three hundred Jews would be taken prisoner. The Vatican would open its treasury to help the Jews reach the required amount. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• German troops started to withdraw all forces out of Ukraine to defensive positions on the west side of the Dnieper River. ww2dbase [TH]

• Hunter-Killer Task Group 21.14 centered around escort carrier USS Card and escorts arrived in Bermuda. ww2dbase [Card | Port Royal Bay | DS]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the port facilities at Emden, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Emden | DS]

• British 78th Infantry Division captured the major airfield complex near Foggia, Italy. ww2dbase [Operation Avalanche | Foggia Airfield Complex | Foggia, Puglia | CPC]
• German occupation administration arrested thousands of rioters in Naples, Italy; Italian resistance fighters took the opportunity to begin an armed uprising, capturing Castel Sant'Elmo by the end of the day. ww2dbase [Naples Uprising | Napoli, Campania | CPC]

• Light carrier Ryuho exited the drydocks at Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Kure Naval Arsenal | Ryuho | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• USS S-44 was attacked by a Japanese aircraft, suffering no damage. ww2dbase [S-44 | CPC]

• The last German-held port on the Black Sea, Temryuk, Russia, was captured by the Red Army. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | Temryuk, Krasnodar Krai | TH]

• USS Seahorse arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Seahorse | Midway | CPC]

27 Sep 1943 Interactive Map

• USS Flasher sank Japanese transport ship Ural Maru, killing about 2,000. ww2dbase [Flasher | CPC]
• German Armeegruppe E withdrew from western Greece. ww2dbase [TH]
• Allied troops captured Helmond and Oss in the Netherlands. ww2dbase [Battle of the Scheldt Estuary | CPC]
• Frederick Aikman returned to front line service. ww2dbase [Frederick Aikman | CPC]

• Four TDR-1 drones, controlled from TBM-1c aircraft, were launched against beached Japanese freighter used as antiaircraft emplacement off Kahili airstrip, Bougainville. Two drones hit the ship, one crashed just short (bomb did not explode) and one was lost enroute. ww2dbase [TDR | Kahili Airfield | Buin, Bougainville | CPC, DS]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Cologne, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Cologne | DS]

• USS Sunfish arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her eighth war patrol. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Unryu arrived at Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Unryu | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• James Johnson shot down a German Bf 109 fighter over Nijmegen, the Netherlands, scoring his final kill of the war. ww2dbase [James Johnson | Nijmegen | CPC]

• USS Whale was spotted by a Japanese patrol craft between Taiwan and Philippine Islands but was able to escape. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• Kamoi was hit by a torpedo from submarine USS Bonefish in the South China Sea at 0500 hours; she arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands for repairs in the evening. ww2dbase [Kamoi | South China Sea | CPC]

• 2,000 fighters of the Armia Krajowa surrendered in Warsaw, Poland. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | Warsaw | TH]

• Carl Spaatz authorized a plan for Operation Frantic 8, which called for 72 B-17 bombers, 64 P-51 fighters, and 2 Mosquito aircraft to drop supplies to Polish resistance fighters in Warsaw, Poland on 30 Sep 1944. The Soviets, whose bases were required for receiving the bombers after the operation, agreed only after Winston Churchill personally asserted pressure on Joseph Stalin. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | Operation Frantic | England | CPC]

• Battleship USS Wisconsin, with cruiser USS Pasadena, departed Delaware Bay, United States bound for the Panama Canal and the Pacific. ww2dbase [Wisconsin | Pasadena | Delaware Bay | DS]

• USS Tang departed Midway, where she stopped to refuel. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Tang | Midway | CPC]

27 Sep 1944 Interactive Map

• Emperor Showa made a formal visit to the US Embassy to meet General Douglas MacArthur. This was one of ten such visits the Japanese head of state would make. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | Tokyo | CPC]

• USS Ancon arrived at Apra Harbor, Guam. Later on the same day, she departed for Saipan, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Ancon | Apra | CPC]

• Allied repatriation ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Mille, Marshall Islands, embarked Japanese troops, and departed later in the same day. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Mille | CPC]

• Two Portuguese relief ships, Bartolomeu Dias and Zarco, arrived at East Timor, bringing in 2,223 troops (including 3 engineering companies) and a large quantity of food. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The last ship of 467 produced at CalShip, Council Bluffs Victory, was launched at Terminal Island, Los Angeles, California, 3 years almost to the minute after the yard's first ship was launched. ww2dbase [California Shipbuilding Corporation | Victory-class | Los Angeles, California | DS]

27 Sep 1945 Interactive Map

• The first of the two-seat Hurricane trainer aircraft to be transferred from Britain to Iran departed Langley Airfield in Berkshire, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Hurricane | Langley, England | CPC]

27 Sep 1946 Interactive Map

• Chiang Kaishek met with Yan Xishan, Zhang Qun, Wu Tiecheng, Bai Chongxi, Yu Youren, Ju Zheng, Gu Zhutong, Chen Lifu, and Gui Yongqing in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. ww2dbase [Chiang Kaishek | Bai Chongxi | Yan Xishan | Gu Zhutong | Chen Lifu | Guangzhou, Guangdong | CPC]

• Hans Fritzsche died in Köln, Germany. ww2dbase [Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen | CPC]

• Maximilian von Weichs passed away in Burg Rösberg, West Germany. ww2dbase [Maximilian von Weichs | CPC]

• Luo Yingde was made the Republic of China ambassador to South Korea. ww2dbase [Luo Yingde | CPC]

• James Doolittle passed away in Pebble Beach, California, United States. ww2dbase [James Doolittle | Pebble Beach, California | CPC]