ScanningWWII.com
WWII Day-By-Day
Selected: September 19
       Overview of WWII on September 19 by year...
Sidebar

1931 — , September 19

  • CBI - China: Day 2 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.

1934 — , September 19

  • USSR: The Soviet Union joins the League of Nations.

1936 — , September 19

  • Spain: Day 65 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.

1937 — , September 19

  • Spain: Day 430 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
  • CBI - China: Day 75 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 38 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
    • Day 19 of 70 of the Battle of Taiyuan.

1938 — , September 19

  • Spain: Day 795 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
  • CBI - China: Day 440 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 101 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.

1939 — , September 19

  • Poland: Day 19 of 36 of Germany's Invasion of Poland. The Battle of the Vistula Bend is over with the German Wehrmacht taking 170,000 prisoners.
  • Poland: Day 3 of 20 of the USSR's Invasion of Poland. Soviets establish camps for the 240,000 Polish POWs in Soviet custody of which 37,000 will be used as forced labor.
  • Eastern Front: Germans suppress a Czech rebellion.
  • CBI - China: Day 805 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 7 of 26 of the 1st Battle of Changsha.

1940 — , September 19

  • ETO - UK: Day 14 of 258 of the Blitz. Brighton also suffers badly.
  • ETO - UK: Day 72 of 114 of the Battle of Britain. RAF continues attacks on German invasion fleet in French and Belgian Channel ports.
  • East Africa: Day 102 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,171 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 310 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
    • Day 31 of 42 of the Hundred Regiments Offensive.

1941 — , September 19

  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 90 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 16 of 28 of Finland's reconquest of East Karelia in southern Finland. The Soviets continue withdrawing from Finland back to Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 83 of 142 of Operation SILVER FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign to capture the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic. The German troops continue withdrawing back into northern Finland.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 81 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
  • Russian Front: Day 90 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the overall invasion of the USSR.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 12 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 43 of 70 of the Siege of Odessa, Ukraine.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 28 of 35 of the 1st Battle of Kiev, Ukraine. German troops take the ruins of Kiev, along with a massive haul of 600,000 prisoners, 2,500 tanks and 1,000 guns.
  • MTO - Libya: Day 163 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
  • East Africa: Day 467 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,536 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 14 of 33 of the 2nd Battle of Changsha.

1942 — , September 19

  • Russian Front - North: Day 377 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 138 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 52 of 64 of the 1st Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia. Though it will end in a stalemate, it will keep German troops from going to Stalingrad.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 84 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 28 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodiest battle in human history.
  • MTO - Greece: US B-24s attack Pylos Bay, Khalones, and Pylos Island.
  • East Africa: Day 138 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,901 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • PTO - Alaska: Day 105 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
  • PTO - Malaya: Day 213 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 61 of 119 of the Battle of the Kokoda Track. The Australians continue pushing back the Japanese troops. This will become an Allied victory.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 44 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.

1943 — , September 19

  • ETO: British Air Ministry says that Hamburg now lies in absolute ruins and is "probably the most complete blotting out of a city that ever happened."
    Spotlight...

    Hamburg, Germany, in complete ruins

    As a large port and industrial center, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war. Close to Hamburg in Geesthacht was also the site of the world's oldest dynamite factory, constructed by Alfred Nobel.

    Hamburg was well defended. The city was ringed with anti-aircraft defenses and had some 1,700 shelters for its 230,000 citizens. Radar around Hamburg could pick up enemy bombers when they were 100 miles away.

    According to Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister for Propaganda, the bombing of Hamburg in July of 1943 was the first time that he thought Nazi Germany might have to call for peace.

    In January 1946, Major Cortez F Enloe, a surgeon in the USAAF who worked on the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS), said that the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki did not do as much fire damage as the extended airstrikes on Hamburg. He estimated more than 40,000 people had been killed in Hamburg.

    Civilian Casualties during WWII
    Great Britain60,000Germany3,810,000
    France360,000Austria80,000
    United StatesminimalItaly85,000
    USSR7,700,000Rumania465,000
    Belgium90,000Hungary280,000
    Holland190,000Bulgaria7,000
    NorwayminimalFinlandminimal
    Poland5,300,000Japan360,000
    Greece80,000
    Yugoslavia1,300,000
     Czechoslovakia330,000
    China10,000,000
    Total - Allies25,410,000Total - Axis5,087,000

    Related dates...

    Related WWII Store items...

  • ETO: US 8th Air Force: B-26s attack two airfields in France.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 742 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 503 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 44 of 57 of the 2nd Battle of Smolensk, Russia. Becomes a Soviet victory as the Axis are pushed completely away from the Moscow region.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 34 of 48 of the Battle of Bryansk, Russia. German troops continue evacuating Bryansk.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 27 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR.
  • MTO - Italy: US 5th Army control Salerno while the British 8th Army take Potenza and Auletta. The RAF, US 9th and 12th Air Forces provide the air cover.
  • MTO: Germans are reported to have been forced out of Sardinia by the Italian resistance.
  • CBI - China: Day 2,266 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 36 of 56 of the Battle of Vella Lavella. The Allies will win this one.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 1 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. It will become an Allied victory.

1944 — , September 19

  • ETO - France: Day 50 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
  • ETO - Belgium: Day 18 of 62 of the liberation of Belgium.
  • ETO - France: Day 5 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
  • ETO - Netherlands: Day 3 of 9 of Operation MARKET GARDEN. British advance within two miles of their airborne forces at Nijmegen. British paratroopers at Arnhem encounter heavy German resistance.
  • ETO - Germany: Day 1 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest aka the "meat grinder." This will become the longest battle on German ground during World War II and the longest single battle the US Army has ever fought. The Germans will fiercely defend the area because it serves as a staging area for the Ardennes Offensive (what will become the Battle of the Bulge) that is already in preparation.
  • ETO: US 8th Air Force: B-17s bomb targets in western Germany.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 5 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 3 of 10 of the Battle of Porkuni, Estonia.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 6 of 41 of the Battle of Riga, Latvia.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 6 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
  • MTO - Italy: British 8th Army occupies the Republic of San Marino.
  • ETO - Hungary: US 8th Air Force: Under Operation FRANTIC, B-17s leave Russia and bomb targets in Hungary, then continue on to US bases in Italy.
  • MTO - Yugoslavia: US 15th Air Force: B-24s attack railroad bridges at Kraljevo and Mitrovica.
  • CBI - Burma: Day 172 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive in Burma.
  • CBI - China: Day 2,632 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 156 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 280 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 151 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
  • PTO - Palau Islands: Day 5 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
  • PTO - Palau Islands: Day 3 of 36 of the Battle of Angaur.

1945 — , September 19

  • UK: Nazi radio propagandist William Joyce, nicknamed "Lord Haw Haw," is sentenced to be hanged for treason.

1949 — , September 19

  • USA: Chicago's Orchard Depot Airport is renamed O'Hare International Airport in honor of highly-decorated Lt Edward "Butch" O'Hare, America's first fighter Ace of the war. O'Hare went missing on 26 Nov 43.

Day-By-Day listings for September 19 were last modified on Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Scanning WWII is a project of the Arnett Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, Mesa, Arizona © 2005—2023