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• Sergio Osmeña was born. ww2dbase [Sergio Osmeña | CPC]

• Chikahiko Koizumi was born in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Chikahiko Koizumi | Fukui | CPC]

• Paul Mauser patented the bolt-action design he would later use for the Gewehr 98 rifles. ww2dbase [Gewehr 98 | CPC]

• Masafumi Arima rolled in the Japanese Naval Academy in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Masafumi Arima | Etajima, Hiroshima | CPC]

9 Sep 1912 Interactive Map

• Hubert Lanz was severely wounded in combat. ww2dbase [Hubert Lanz | CPC]

• Upon receiving word that the French 6th Army was on the offensive near Paris, France, British troops reversed from their retreat to join the offensive. German forces began to fall back, and the Allied pursuit would be slow. ww2dbase [AC]

• Joseph Stilwell ended a period of leave in the United States. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• Philippe Leclerc was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant. ww2dbase [Philippe Leclerc | CPC]

• Hiroshi Nemoto was attached to the Army Ministry in Tokyo, Japan and was placed in charge with China affairs. ww2dbase [Hiroshi Nemoto | Tokyo | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler reviewed a SA formation at the 4th Nazi Party rally in Nürnberg, Germany; in light of the recent purge of the SA, the SS placed a very heavy guard around Hitler's reviewing stand, but the parade would be uneventful. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Nürnberg, Franken | CPC]

9 Sep 1934 Interactive Map

• At the annual party rally Hitler announced a four year plan for economic and military revival under the supervision of Hermann Göring. Hjalmar Schlat, the Reich Minister of Economics, insultingly was not notified of the plan until it was publicly announced. ww2dbase [Hermann Göring | AC]

• The Non-Intervention Committee met for the first time in London, England, United Kingdom. It was created to prevent personnel and matériel reaching the warring parties of the Spanish Civil War. ww2dbase [The Spanish Civil War | London, England | AC]

• Xinjiang provincial troops captured Yarkand, Xinjiang, China with Soviet air support. ww2dbase [Xinjiang Wars | Yarkand, Xinjiang | CPC]

• The 9,100-ton light cruiser, HMS Glasgow, built at Scotts (Greenock, Scotland, United Kingdom), was commissioned with Captain Francis N. Attwood in command. ww2dbase [Glasgow | Greenock, Scotland | AC]

• HMS Mohawk (L31) was commissioned into service with Commander R. F. Jolly in command. ww2dbase [AC]

• The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was established as the women's voluntary branch of the British Army. ww2dbase [AC]

• Franklin Roosevelt announced that the United States would remain neutral on the topic of German pressures on Czechoslovakia. ww2dbase [Munich Conference and the Annexation of Sudetenland | CPC]

• British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) began landing in France. ww2dbase [TH]

• German Gestapo ordered all misbehaving Polish citizens to be arrested and placed in Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Dachau Concentration Camp | Dachau, München-Oberbayern | CPC]

• Battle of the Bzura, also known as Battle of Kutno to the Germans, began; it was to become the largest battle in the Poland campaign. Elsewhere, German forces captured Łódź and Radom. South of Radom, Stuka dive-bombers of Colonel Gunter Schwarzkopff's St.G.77 finished off the great Polish attempt to cross the Vistula River, crushing the last pockets of resistance in conjunction with tanks; "Wherever they went", reported one Stuka pilot after the action, "we came across throngs of Polish troops, against which our 110-lb fragmentation bombs were deadly. After that we went almost down to the deck firing our machine guns. The confusion was indescribable." At Warsaw, German attempts to enter the city were repulsed. ww2dbase [Invasion of Poland | Kutno, Łódź | TH, AC]

• In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed the German ambassador that Soviet forces would be ready to attack Poland within a few days. ww2dbase [Invasion of Poland | Vyacheslav Molotov | Moscow | CPC]

• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's cabinet planned for a 3-year war. ww2dbase [Neville Chamberlain | London, England | CPC]
• Two Wellington bombers from No. 99 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, United Kingdom recorded the first operational mission to Germany when they undertook a "Nickel" (leaflet dropping) sortie over Hannover. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Mildenhall, England | AC]

• US President Franklin Roosevelt began recalling military servicemen who were on retired lists. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• The Vultee Model 48 Vanguard aircraft took its first flight. ww2dbase [P-66 Vanguard | Downey, California | CPC]

9 Sep 1939 Interactive Map

• All political parties in Norway were dissolved except for Quisling's Nasjonal Samling Party, which was installed as the pro-Nazi Norwegian government. ww2dbase [TH]
• The US Navy awarded contracts for the construction of 210 new ships, including 12 aircraft carriers and 7 battleships. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Italian Army Marshal Rudolfo Graziani ordered his troops in Libya to march toward British positions, with troops of the Italian 10th Army under General Mario Berti as spearhead; the Italian goal was to capture the Suez Canal. Italian aircraft bombed British defensive positions while British aircraft flew sorties against Italian supply dumps and troop concentrations. ww2dbase [Invasion of Egypt | CPC]
• Greek collier Antonios Chandris, abandoned by her crew as forced by German armed merchant cruiser Widder, was sunk by demolition charges at dawn. Lifeboats containing 22 of her crew of 29 would be rescued by Portuguese freighter Serpa Pinto on 8 Oct 1940. ww2dbase [Widder | CPC]
• German submarine U-47 sank Greek ship Possidon of Allied convoy SC-2 70 miles north of Ireland at 0024 hours; 17 were killed. ww2dbase [U-47 | CPC]
• German submarine U-28 sank British ship Mardinian of Allied convoy SC-2 70 miles north of Ireland at 0447 hours; 6 were killed and 22 survived. Italian submarine Comandante Faà di Bruno damaged British tanker Auris 750 miles west of Gibraltar. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• British Skua aircraft of 801 Squadron took off from Royal Naval Air Station Hatston, Orkney, Scotland to attack German shipping off Bergen, Norway; 1 of the Skua was lost during the attack, with two airmen killed. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis sank British tanker Athelking (without any cargo) 1,200 miles east of Madagascar; 6 were killed and 40 were captured. ww2dbase [Atlantis | CPC]
• Walther von Brauchitsch issued a plan for the future military occupation of Britain which, among other things, called for the rounding up of males between the age of 17 and 35 to be sent to continental Europe as forced laborers and the systematic looting of British goods; this type of harsh treatment was not even implemented in German-occupied Poland at this time. ww2dbase [Walther von Brauchitsch | CPC]
• Douglas Bader shot down a German Do 17 aircraft and damaged the rudder of a He 111 aircraft using his propeller. ww2dbase [Douglas Bader | CPC]
• Hans-Joachim Marseille was awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | CPC]

• At Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the first eight of many American submarines were transferred to the British Royal Navy. ww2dbase [Halifax, Nova Scotia | CPC]

• French intelligence reported a possible invasion of Dakar in West Africa by General de Gaulle's forces, supported by the British. In response, French cruisers Georges Leygues, Montcalm, and Gloire, plus three destroyers, were ordered to sail from Toulon, France to reinforce Dakar. ww2dbase [British Attacks on the French Fleet | Toulon Military Port | Toulon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | CPC]
• Montcalm departed Toulon, France. ww2dbase [Toulon Military Port | Montcalm | Toulon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain. ww2dbase [TH]

• Aircraft from HMS Illustrious and HMS Eagle attacked Italian airfields on the island of Rhodes, Greece; Eagle lost 4 aircraft in this attack. ww2dbase [Eagle | Rhodes | CPC]

• German long-range guns shelled Dover, England. ww2dbase [Dover, England | TH]
• A large German raid crossed the English Channel at 1700 hours and flew toward London, England, United Kingdom in two pincers. Unexpectedly, a British "Big Wing" formation came to intercept, shooting down 29 bombers and 21 Bf 109 fighters and prevented most of the German bombers from reaching London. The British lost 20 fighters (6 pilots killed) in the battle. Overnight, London was heavily bombed. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | London, England | CPC]

9 Sep 1940 Interactive Map

• Dutch submarine O.24 sank Italian ship Italo Balbo 2 miles east of Corsica, France. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British carrier HMS Ark Royal launched 14 Hurricane fighters to reinforce Malta. ww2dbase [Ark Royal | CPC]
• German submarine U-81 sank British ship Empire Springbuck 50 miles east of Greenland at 0655 hours, killing all 42 on board. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German cruiser Admiral Scheer was ordered to sail from Oslo, Norway for Swinemünde, Germany (now Swinoujscie, Poland). ww2dbase [Admiral Scheer | CPC]
• General Nicolae Ciuperca was replaced by Lieutenant General Iosif Iacobici as the commanding officer of the Romanian 4th Army. ww2dbase [Siege of Odessa | CPC]
• The Iranian Government accepted the Soviet and British terms, which included the closure of Axis legations and the surrender of German nationals. ww2dbase [Campaigns in the Middle East | AC]

• Vojtech Tuka, with the guidance of German SS-Hauptstrumführer Dieter Wisliceny, enacted the Ordinance Judenkodex which required Slovakian Jews to wear the yellow Stars of David, annulled all debts owed to Jews, confiscated Jewish property, and deported all Jews from the capital Bratislava. ww2dbase [Vojtech Tuka | CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team in US Territory of Hawaii noticed carrier Akagi was using new call signs in her radio communications. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Akagi | Honolulu, Oahu | Detailed Timetable | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down a Hurricane fighter over the Bay of Sollum in the morning, his 15th kill. In the afternoon, on another mission, he shot down another Hurricane fighter, the 16th kill, while escorting Stuka dive bombers toward Bardia, Libya. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Rabaul. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Field Marshal Wilhelm List was sacked, and Adolf Hitler took over command of Armeegruppe A which had been meeting heavy resistance in the Caucasus in southern Russia. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | TH]
• Mutsu was assigned to the Guadalcanal Operation Force based at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Mutsu | CPC]
• Montpelier was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Montpelier | CPC]
• German intelligence reported in error that the Soviet Union had used up all reserves. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-584 made contact with Allied convoy ON-127 in the middle of the North Atlantic and relayed the finding to 11 fellow wolfpack mates. At 1516 hours, U-755 sank US Navy weather ship USS Muskeget 590 miles northeast of St. John's, Newfoundland; all 121 aboard were killed. At 1528 hours, U-66 sank Swedish ship Peiping 875 miles north of Antigua island; 3 were killed, 31 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• British RAF torpedo bombers sank Italian hospital ship Arno 85 miles northeast of Tobruk, Libya. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The escort force of Allied convoy PQ-18 was joined by Rear Admiral Robert Burnett's force including escort carrier HMS Avenger and several small warships. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• Australian troops fell back 2 miles from Efogi to Menari on the Kokoda Track in Australian Papua while US aircraft from Port Moresby area airfields momentarily paused the Japnaese advance. At Port Moresby, Australian 25th Infantry Brigade arrived from Australia. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Menari | CPC]

• Soviet aircraft destroyed two Italian torpedo boats in the Black Sea off Yalta, Ukraine. ww2dbase [CPC]

• In the Caroline Islands, the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet transferred main units at Truk atoll to a new anchorage south of Summer (Dublon) Island. ww2dbase [Truk | CPC]
• Repair ship Akashi began repairing destroyer Shirakumo at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• Two British, one Australian, and three Dutch prisoners of Oflag IV-C prisoners of war camp at Colditz Castle in Germany made their escape, five disguised as Polish workers and the sixth as the German guard. Four of them would eventually be captured, but Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Hedley Fowler and Royal Dutch Navy Lieutenant Damiaem van Doorninck would make it to Switzerland. ww2dbase [Colditz Castle | Colditz, Sachsen | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw and cutter USCGC Taney departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii bound for San Francisco, California escorting 13 ships. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Shaw | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Burning of bodies in open-air pits began at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Additionally, a decision was made to dig up 107,000 already-buried bodies and burn them in pits; this decision was made to prevent the large number of bodies contaminating ground water. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• The Lookout Air Raid: After some time waiting submerged off Oregon, United States, Japanese submarine I-25 launched her E14Y aircraft, flown by Pilot Chief Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita and crewman Petty Officer Shoji Okuda, shortly after dawn. The aircraft was spotted by the Americans as it crossed the coast. It dropped two incendiary bombs in a forest near Brookings, Oregon at 0600 hours; this attack was the only aerial bombing against the United States during WW2. En route back to the submarine, the aircraft spotted two merchant ships. After recovering Fujita and Okuda, I-25 attempted to give chase to the two merchant ships, but US aircraft would force I-25 to abandon the attack and submerge. ww2dbase [Nobuo Fujita | Brookings, Oregon | TH, CPC]
• USS Whale completed her training which took place between San Francisco and San Diego in California, United States. ww2dbase [Whale | California | CPC]
• USS Permit began a scheduled overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, United States. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Permit | Vallejo, California | CPC]

9 Sep 1942 Interactive Map

• Tirpitz arrived at Kåfjord, Norway. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• The British Ventura bombers flew their last bombing mission; they would soon be replaced by Mosquito aircraft. This last mission was flown by crews of the No. 21 Squadron RAF. ww2dbase [Ventura | CPC]
• The US submarine Grayling was missing, presumed rammed and sunk by a Japanese vessel, whilst on patrol off Manila, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Grayling | AC]

• USS Bluefish departed Brisbane, Australia for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Bluefish | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• Hubert Lanz was given command of XXII Gebirgskorps in Greece. ww2dbase [Hubert Lanz | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: More of Air Group 5 on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) stood out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii bound for the west coast of the United States. ww2dbase [J. J. Clark | Yorktown (Essex-class) | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• US B-26 Marauder bomber attacked Scanzano Jonico, Italy, 50 kilometers southwest of Taranto. At Taranto, four British cruisers disembarked troops of British 1st Airborne Division, taking the port city with Italian cooperation; the British troops began marching inland after sundown. To the west, the main Allied assault on Italy, Operation Avalanche, began with the landing of two British divisions and one American division at Salerno; the British troops pushed 8 to 11 kilometers inland, which the Americans held on to a precarious beachhead. To the north, German troops disarmed their former Italian allies and classified them as prisoners of war while a new Fascist Anti-Badoglio government was formed. Italian leaders King Vittorio Emanuele III, the queen, Pietro Badoglio, Vittorio Ambrosio, and others fled Rome eastward, then turned south toward Brindisi. ww2dbase [Operation Avalanche | TH, CPC]
• Small scale clashes took place between Italian civilians and policemen and German troops. ww2dbase [Naples Uprising | Naples, Campania | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Yokosuka, Japan for her 15th voyage with the Japanese Navy. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]
• USS Harder sank cargo ship Koyo Maru off Japan, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes. ww2dbase [Harder | CPC]
• Nachi arrived at Paramushiro (Paramushir), Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]

• Naka arrived at Taroa, Maloelap Atoll, Marshall Islands and disembarked troops. ww2dbase [Naka | Maloelap | CPC]

• USS Permit damaged a Japanese transport between Kwajalein Atoll and Wotje Atoll, Marshall Islands, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired. A Japanese aircraft spotted USS Permit and attacked with depth charges; USS Permit escaped unscathed. ww2dbase [Permit | CPC]

• 5,006 Jews from the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia arrived at the newly created Familienlager-Theresienstadt family camp in sector BIIb of Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp in Poland. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• John Basilone participated in a bond tour event in Newark, New Jersey, United States. ww2dbase [John Basilone | Newark, New Jersey | CPC]

9 Sep 1943 Interactive Map

• General de Gaulle created a provisional government which included Communards. ww2dbase [Charles de Gaulle | TH]

• The Bulgarian Fatherland Front successfully overthrew the government and declared war on Germany. ww2dbase [Bulgaria Switched Sides | CPC]

• Robert von Greim was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht radio report. ww2dbase [Robert von Greim | CPC]

• USS Rock departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Rock | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Vice Admiral Takazumi Oka was named the commanding officer of Chinkai Guard District in southern Korea. ww2dbase [Chinkai Guard District | Chinkai, Gyeongsangnam | CPC]

• USS Wasp's aircraft attacked Japanese positions on Mindanao, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | CPC]

9 Sep 1944 Interactive Map

• Americans began Operation Magic Carpet, the repatriation of servicemen, from the Pacific theater. Over the next six months, 369 warships would take 1.3 million men back to the United States. ww2dbase [AC]

• At 0900 hours, the main Japanese surrender ceremony in China took place at the auditorium of the Central Military Academy in Nanjing, China. General Yasuji Okamura, Commander-in-Chief of Japanese Army's China Expeditionary Army, represented Japan, while General He Yingqin represented China. In pursuit of Chiang Kaishek's wishes to treat the Japanese with benevolence, the Chinese had wanted the ceremony to be taken place at a round table so that the Japanese representatives would be viewed as peers, but the American liaisons sent to Nanjing succeeded in preventing such a friendly gesture. General He was said to have apologized to Okamura, an old acquaintance at the Japanese Army Academy in the 1910s, for subjecting him to such an embarrassing arrangement forced by the Americans. As a part of the surrender agreement, Japanese troops in China were to remain in power to maintain order, to care for prisoners of war, and to guard important locations against Chinese Communists. ww2dbase [Japan's Surrender | He Yingqin | Nanjing | CPC]
• Leaders of various ethnic Mongolian groups in the Inner Mongolia area of China sent a letter to Choibalsan, expressing wishes for Inner Mongolia to be merged with Outer Mongolia. They asked Choibalsan to relay this wish to Joseph Stalin. ww2dbase [Suiyuan | CPC]
• USS Nashville, as flagship for RAdm C. Turner Joy's Task Force 73, arrived on station at Shanghai, China to start 2 months of Yangtze River Patrols. ww2dbase [Nashville | Huangpu River, Shanghai | DS]

• The main body of Chinese forces entered northern French Indochina under the command of General Lu Han in order to disarm the Chinese. A number of reports noted some emaciated Chinese officers and men engaging in the plunder of civilian property. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Lao Issara Army, with Viet Minh support, prevented French forces from entering Savannakhet, Laos. ww2dbase [Savannakhet, Laos | CPC]

• Georgy Zhukov ordered his troops to stop committing crimes against the German civilian population; this order would be countermanded by Joseph Stalin on 20 Sep 1945 as the order was perceived to have failed to improve discipline. ww2dbase [Georgy Zhukov | CPC]

• USS New Mexico arrived at Nakagusuku Bay, Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [New Mexico | Nakagusuku Bay, Okinawa | CPC]

• Americans Vice Admiral Thomas Kinkaid and Lieutenant General John Hodge accepted the surrender of all Japanese forces in Korea in the General Government Building in Seoul, Korea. Unaware of previous Japanese-Korean agreements on the transfer of power, Hodge ordered the Japanese occupation administration to remain in place, triggering anger among Koreans. Realizing the mistake made in his ignorance, Hodge quickly rescinded his order. However, he refused to recognize any of the political organizations vying for power in Korea, solely relying on his own military administration to make decisions despite of his staff's less than perfect understanding of the political situation. ww2dbase [Japan's Surrender | Keijo General Government Building | Seoul | CPC]

• USS Brill arrived at Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Brill | Olongapo, Zambales | CPC]

• Kamoi departed Miri, Sarawak at 0722 hours with a convoy escorted by destroyer Satsuki, submarine chaser CH-28, submarine chaser CH-30, and submarine chaser CH-33; Kamoi arrived in Brunei at 1900 hours. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Miri | CPC]

• The Maruyama Temporary Prisoners of War Camp in Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan was closed. ww2dbase [Taihoku | CPC]

9 Sep 1945 Interactive Map

• USS Boarfish departed California, United States for a tour in the western Pacific. ww2dbase [Boarfish | California | CPC]

• The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was declared in Pyongyang with Kim Il-sung as its first president. The new communist state only had control over the northern half of Korea but claimed sovereignty over the entire peninsula. ww2dbase [Pyongyang, South Pyongan | CPC]

• Captain Andrew McBurney Jackson, Jr. was named the commanding officer of USS Ticonderoga. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | CPC]

• New Jersey was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [New Jersey | CPC]