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• Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, the leader of the Dambusters raid in 1943, was killed when his aircraft crashed near Steenbergen, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [AC]
• The Belgian Parliament met for the first time since May 1940. ww2dbase [TH]
• In the Netherlands, British airborne troopers defended against heavy German attacks in Arnhem while other troops captured Veldhoven. ww2dbase [Operation Market Garden | TH]
• While flying a Dakota aircraft on a supply run for British troops at Arnhem, the Netherlands, Flight Lieutenant David Lord flew several runs over the drop zone despite the starboard wing being hit and became aflame. Having dropped all supplies, he ordered his crew to bail out while he made no attempt to jump, remaining in the pilot's seat to keep the aircraft steady. The aircraft eventually exploded in mid-war. Lord was later awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross medal. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Submarine Macabi was launched, sponsored by the wife of Rear Admiral Arthur S. Carpender. ww2dbase [Macabi | CPC]
• Destroyer Yuzuki broke off from Convoy HI-75 and sailed for Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | CPC]
• Ioshima was sunk off Japan by USS Shad. ww2dbase [Ninghai | CPC]

• Emden began laying mines in the Skagerrak. ww2dbase [Emden | Skagerrak | CPC]

• USS Cero departed Darwin, Australia for her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Cero | Darwin, Northern Territory | CPC]

• Elements of US 68th Composite Wing arrived at Baishiyi Airfield near Chongqing, China, establishing it as a command and control base. ww2dbase [Baishiyi Airfield | Baishiyi | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell personally handed Chiang Kaishek a message from Franklin Roosevelt which noted that Stilwell was to be given unrestricted powers in China. ww2dbase [Chiang Kaishek | Joseph Stilwell | Chongqing | CPC]

• While transiting the Makassar Strait, submarine USS Growler noted in her war diary that the sub “crossed the Equator. Davey Jones, Neptunus Rex and his Royal Party boarded the ship through No. 2 Torpedo Tube and duly initiated 38 Pollywogs into the Ancient Order of the Deep. No casualties.” ww2dbase [Growler | Line Crossing Ceremony | Makassar Strait | DS]

• The Allied Control Commission arrived in Helsinki demanding to see the plans for the internment of Germans in Finland, which Carl Mannerheim knew did not exist. ww2dbase [Helsinki | AC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched an incendiary bombing raid against the ordnance stores at Unna, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Unna | DS]

• Garland and two other British destroyers jointly sank German submarine U-407 off Santorini, Greece. ww2dbase [Garland | CPC]

• Kamoi arrived at Talampulan, Palawan, Philippine Islands at 1845 hours. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Talampulan, Palawan | CPC]

• A Finnish delegate signed a temporary peace treaty with the Soviet Union in Moscow, Russia. ww2dbase [Finland Switched Sides | Moscow | CPC]

• Indian 4th Division reached the outskirts of the city of San Marino. ww2dbase [Gothic Line Offensive | TH, CPC]

• No. 486 Squadron RNZAF was transferred out of RAF Newchurch in southern England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [RAF Newchurch | Newchurch, England | CPC]
• Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk of the Polish government-in-exile sent a message to Franklin Roosevelt, Carl Spaatz, Anthony Eden, and others requesting a repeat of the 18 Sep airdrop operation to supply resistance fighters in Warsaw, Poland. Despite the fact that the Home Army fighters received less than half of the crates dropped, they were desperately short on supplies. ww2dbase [Warsaw Uprising | London, England | CPC]

• Winston Churchill departed Hyde Park, New York, United States for nearby New York City, where he was to begin his journey back to Britain. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | Hyde Park, New York | CPC]

19 Sep 1944 Interactive Map