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• The German garrison at Le Havre, France surrendered only after bitter fighting. ww2dbase [TH]
• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Captain Charles N. Day was made the commanding officer of USS Proteus, replacing Captain Robert Berry. ww2dbase [Proteus | CPC]
• German garrisons evacuated Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. ww2dbase [TH]
• USS Pollack arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her eleventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Pollack | CPC]
• The US coastal minesweeper YMS-409 foundered and sank off the east coast of the United States during a storm. ww2dbase [AC]
• Edward Brooks was relieved as the commanding officer of the US 2nd Armored Division and was placed in charge on a temporary basis over the US V Corps. ww2dbase [Edward Brooks | CPC]

• USS Hoel screened escort carriers whose planes flew pre-invasion bombardments of Peleliu in the Palau Islands. ww2dbase [Hoel | Peleliu, Palau Islands | DS]
• USS Portland and Cruiser Division 4 begin pre-invasion bombardment of Peleliu in the Palau Islands. Bombardments continued for 3 days until the US 1st Marine Division landed on the island. ww2dbase [Palau Islands and Ulithi Islands Campaigns | Portland | Peleliu | DS]
• USS Hoel screened escort carriers whose planes flew pre-invasion bombardments of Peleliu in the Palau Islands. ww2dbase [Palau Islands and Ulithi Islands Campaigns | Peleliu, Palau Islands | DS]
• USS Marcus Island launched aircraft against Japanese positions on Peleliu and Angaur in the Palau Islands. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | Palau | CPC]

• Two separate groups of the 5th Fighter Group of the Chinese-American Composite Wing engaged Japanese aircraft over Hunan Province, China. Several fighters on either side were lost. ww2dbase [Hunan | CPC]

• The filming of a propaganda motion picture at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in occupied Czechoslovakia ended. ww2dbase [Theresienstadt Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Terezín, Cechy | CPC]

• United States Army General Douglas MacArthur and an Army observation party arrived aboard the cruiser USS Nashville at Hollandia, New Guinea to observe the landings at Morotai three days later. ww2dbase [Battle of Morotai | Douglas MacArthur | Nashville | Hollandia, New Guinea | DS]

• Yolande Beekman was transferred out of her prison in Karlsruhe, Germany. ww2dbase [Yolande Beekman | Karlsruhe, Baden | CPC]
• Yolande Beekman arrived at Dauchau Concentration Camp in southern Germany. ww2dbase [Yolande Beekman | Dachau Concentration Camp | Dachau, München-Oberbayern | CPC]
• Carl Spaatz ordered large raids on German synthetic oil plants, dispatching 888 aircraft; the German Luftwaffe lost heavily in air battles. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | AC]

• In the Apennine Mountains, US 5th Army launched a major offensive against the German Gothic Line in Italy. To the east, Canadian 5th Armoured Division and British 1st Armoured Division attacked Coriano, Italy. ww2dbase [Gothic Line Offensive | CPC]

• USS Miami operated off the Philippine Islands in indirect support of the Palau Islands campaign. ww2dbase [Miami | Philippine Sea | CPC]
• Submarine USS Growler engaged two different Japanese convoys in the South China Sea expending a total of 23 torpedoes. Growler sunk 860-ton coastal defense vessel Hirato in the first attack (killing Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi, noted for commanding multiple amphibious operations earlier in the war) and the 1,950-ton Fubuki-class destroyer Shikinami in the second. ww2dbase [Growler | South China Sea | DS]
• USS Alabama escorted US carriers as carrier aircraft began attacking Japanese positions in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Alabama | CPC]

• USS Wasp's aircraft attacked Japanese positions in central Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | CPC]
• Kamoi arrived at Boayan, Palawan, Philippine Islands at 1840 hours. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Boayan, Palawan | CPC]

• Soviet Marshal Rodion Malinovsky signed an armistice agreement with his Romanian counterparts. ww2dbase [Jassy-Kishinev Offensive and Romania's Surrender | TH, AC]
• German and Hungarian troops launched an offensive towards Arad and Timisoara, Romania. ww2dbase [Budapest Strategic Offensive Operation | TH]

• Semyon Timoshenko was awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st Class for the second time. ww2dbase [Semyon Timoshenko | CPC]

• In Britain, airmen of the US 355th Fighter Group were briefed on missions to Warsaw, Poland. As landings in Soviet-controlled territory was possible, the airmen were instructed to carry no sidearms and to avoid engaging in political discussions with Soviet civilians and military personnel who they might come in contact with. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | CPC]
• One of the four German V-2 rockets launched on this date hit Chrysler vehicle works in Mortlake Road, Kew, southwestern London, England, United Kingdom. 8 were killed, 14 were wounded, and property damage was significant. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 2 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | CPC]

12 Sep 1944 Interactive Map