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• Italian troops of the 1st "23 March" Blackshirt Division captured Fort Capuzzo in Libya, which was captured by the British at the onset of the war. ww2dbase [Invasion of Egypt | TH]
• Three French ships carrying troops from North Africa to France hit mines west of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. Transports Ginette Le Borgne and Cassidaigne sank, and Cap Tourane was damaged. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German minesweeping trawler Hermann Krone hit a mine and sank off Hanstholm, Denmark. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Sergeant J. Hannah was awarded the Victoria Cross. An 18-year old wireless operator/gunner on a Hampden bomber of No. 83 Squadron RAF that was hit by intense flak during an attack on invasion barges at Antwerp, Belgium. The wireless operator's and rear gunner's stations were set ablaze by a direct hit on the aircraft's bomb-bay. After two of the crewmen had baled out and with two fuel tanks pierced, Sergeant Hannah single-handedly fought the fire for ten minutes, using a fire extinguisher and his own log book, while rounds of ammunition detonated all around him and the aluminium fuselage beneath his feet melted in the heat. Such unselfish dedication to duty allowed his pilot to bring the wrecked bomber safely home. ww2dbase [AC]
• HMS Cumberland joined escort for military convoy on passage to Dakar with HM Cruiser Cornwall. ww2dbase [Cumberland | Cornwall | DS]

• Comandante Cappellini stopped Yugoslavian freighter Rosina Topic in the Atlantic Ocean west of Lisbon, Portugal. After formal identification, the freighter was allowed to continue her journey. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• 13 Zero fighters escorted bombers on a mission to raid Chongqing, China; the Zero fighters downed 27 of the Chinese I-15 and I-16 Russian-made fighters. ww2dbase [A6M Zero | Chongqing | CPC]
• 27 Japanese G3M bombers, escorted by 13 A6M Zero fighters, attacked Chongqing, China; the Chinese scrambled nine I-16 and 25 I-15bis fighters. Three A6M fighters were damaged in this engagement, one of which was credited to Lieutenant Gao Youxin in an I-15bis fighter. ww2dbase [Gao Youxin | Chongqing | CPC]

• Alpino Bagnolini transited the Strait of Gibraltar. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | Strait of Gibraltar | CPC]

• Bad weather restricted the size of German raids, but still a continuous stream of single-bomber raids attacked London and surrounding RAF airfields in England, United Kingdom throughout the day; one of the bombs landed in front of the Buckingham Palace and another in the palace courtyard. Three of the German bombers were shot down during the day. Meanwhile, Royal Navy transferred battleships HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney to Rosyth and battleship HMS Revenge to Plymouth to deter a possible German landing through the next few days during tide conditions favoring landings. Overnight, German bombers attacked London and Cardiff. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]
• British passenger ship City of Benares departed Liverpool, southern England for Quebec and Montreal, Canada as the flagship of Allied convoy OB-213 commanded by Rear Admiral Mackinnon. She was carrying 90 British children being evacuated to Canada. ww2dbase [Liverpool, England | CPC]
• James Lacey pursued the He 111 bombers of German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing which had bombed the Buckingham Palace in London, England, United Kingdom and shot down one of them. After the attack, he had to bail out of his Hurricane fighter due to battle damage. ww2dbase [James Lacey | England | AC, CPC]
• HMS Rodney arrived at Rosyth, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Rodney | Rosyth, Scotland | CPC]
• Peter Roderick became the first baby to be born in an air-raid shelter at the height of a German air raid on London, England, United Kingdom. His sister, Doreen, then aged five, later recalled: "There was no midwife. My dad and gran delivered him with just a little torch." ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | London, England | AC]

• The P-44 Rocket project, a plan to convert the P-43 Lancer fighter design into a rocket-propelled aircraft, was scrapped. ww2dbase [P-43 Lancer | CPC]

13 Sep 1940 Interactive Map