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• » 15 Sep 1944

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Manila, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Operation Paravane: 21 British Lancaster bombers based in Yagodnik, Russia attacked German battleship Tirpitz, scoring two hits on the forecastle and putting her out of action. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• US First Army engaged the Siegfried Line/Westwall east of Aachen, Germany and captured Nancy, France. ww2dbase [TH]
• Allied troops captured Maastricht and Eysden, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [TH]
• Vice Admiral Eiji Goto was named the commanding officer of the Japanese Navy 12th Air Fleet. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet 6th Guard Tank Brigade, 33rd Guard Tank Brigade, and 63rd Guard Tank Brigade were assigned T-44 prototype medium tanks for training purposes. ww2dbase [T-44 | CPC]
• As part of Operation Frantic, 110 B-17s were dispatched from England to drop supplies to Warsaw resistance fighters and then proceed to bases in the USSR but a weather front was encountered over the North Sea and the bombers were recalled. Escort is provided by 149 P-51s and 2 P-51s collided in a cloud and were lost. ww2dbase [Operation Frantic | Warsaw Uprising | P-51 Mustang | B-17 Flying Fortress | DS]

• USS Hoe departed Fremantle, Australia for her sixth war patrol in the South China Sea. ww2dbase [Hoe | Fremantle, Australia | CPC]

• Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Steamer Bay returned to Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [Steamer Bay | Manus, Admiralty Islands | DS]
• Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay arrived at Manus, Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Manus, Admiralty Islands | DS]

• Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill signed a secret agreement, granting Joseph Stalin's demands for Sakhalin Island, Kurile Islands, and a portion of Korea in return for a Soviet declaration of war on Japan. ww2dbase [Octagon Conference | Quebec | CPC]

• The US Marines invaded Peleliu in the Palau islands believing that the island was only lightly defended. In fact, there were some 12,000 Japanese concealed on the island waiting to reveal their hand. In a week the Marines would suffer terrible casualties. The 1st Marines ended up at half their combat strength and, in the 5th and 7th Marines more than four out of every ten men sent ashore were either killed or wounded. For the record Peleliu measured just six miles long and two miles wide and was of questionable strategic value. ww2dbase [Palau Islands and Ulithi Islands Campaigns | Peleliu, Palau | AC]
• USS Marcus Island launched aircraft to provide cover for the Peleliu, Palau Islands invasion. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | Peleliu, Palau | CPC]
• USS Preston supported the invasion of Palau Islands. ww2dbase [Preston (Fletcher-class) | Palau | CPC]

• US Army troops landed on Morotai, Maluku Islands. ww2dbase [Battle of Morotai | Morotai, Maluku Islands | CPC]
• USS Wasp supported the Palau Islands invasion from the position 80 kilometers off Morotai, Maluku Islands. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Morotai, Maluku Islands | CPC]

• The firm Heinkel was given the contract to produce the simple, lightweight, and easy to operate jet fighters that the German Air Ministry requested seven days prior. ww2dbase [He 162 Volksjäger | CPC]

• Indian 4th Division drove out German 98th Division and captured Gemmano, Italy. To the north, British 56th Division captured Corce. ww2dbase [Gothic Line Offensive | Gemmano, Emilia-Romagna | CPC]

• Nachi received 2 twin-mount and 20 single-mount Type 96 25-millimeter anti-aircraft guns at Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan. ww2dbase [Kure Naval Arsenal | Nachi | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 111 was completed and was transferred to the Japanese Army. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• USS Miami operated off the Philippine Islands in indirect support of the Palau Islands campaign. ww2dbase [Miami | Philippine Sea | CPC]
• Escort carrier USS Petrof Bay launched her first strikes in support of the US Marine landings on Peleliu, Palau Islands. Petrof Bay and Composite Squadron 76 launched 112 strikes over 14 days in support of this operation. ww2dbase [Palau Islands and Ulithi Islands Campaigns | Petrof Bay | DS]

• Prisoners Edward Galinski and Mala Zimetbaum were executed at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in occupied Poland for their attempted escape from Auschwitz II–Birkenau in Jun 1944. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• The GUKR SMERSH completed a list of Japanese intelligence personnel and Russian émigré living in northeastern China for arrests when Soviet troops invaded the region. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Allied convoy JW-60 departed Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Liverpool, England | CPC]

• While at San Diego, escort carrier USS Coral Sea was renamed USS Anzio. ww2dbase [Anzio | San Diego, California | DS]
• USS Shangri-La was commissioned into service with Captain James D. Barner in command. She departed on her shakedown cruise to Trinidad later on the same date. ww2dbase [Shangri-La | CPC]

• Soviet 17th Air Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front began a six-day campaign attacking railroad bridges near NiÅ¡, Skopje, KruÅ¡evo and other towns in southern Yugoslavia of transportation importance to isolate German troops in southern Yugoslavia and nothern Greece. ww2dbase [Belgrade Strategic Offensive Operation | Serbia | CPC]

15 Sep 1944 Interactive Map