CBI - China: Day 3 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1936 — , September 20
Spain: Day 66 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1937 — , September 20
Spain: Day 431 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 76 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 39 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
Day 20 of 70 of the Battle of Taiyuan.
1938 — , September 20
Spain: Day 796 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 441 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 102 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.
1939 — , September 20
Poland: Day 20 of 36 of Germany's Invasion of Poland. German troops in eastern Poland withdraw to the line agreed upon in the German-Soviet treaty.
Poland: Day 4 of 20 of the USSR's Invasion of Poland. Soviet Army occupies all former Russian territory. Polish troops at Grodno manage to kill 800 Red Army soldiers and destroy ten tanks while defending the city.
CBI - China: Day 806 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 8 of 26 of the 1st Battle of Changsha.
1940 — , September 20
ETO - UK: Day 15 of 258 of the Blitz.
ETO - UK: Day 73 of 114 of the Battle of Britain. RAF continues attacks on German invasion fleet in French and Belgian Channel ports.
East Africa: Day 103 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,172 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 311 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
Day 32 of 42 of the Hundred Regiments Offensive.
1941 — , September 20
Russian Front - Finland: Day 91 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 17 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 84 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 82 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front: Day 91 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the overall invasion of the USSR.
Russian Front - North: Day 13 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - South: Day 44 of 70 of the Siege of Odessa, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 29 of 35 of the 1st Battle of Kiev, Ukraine.
MTO - Libya: Day 164 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
East Africa: Day 468 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,537 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 15 of 33 of the 2nd Battle of Changsha.
1942 — , September 20
Russian Front - North: Day 378 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 139 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 53 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 85 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 29 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodiest battle in human history. General Paulus of German 6th Army says he needs reinforcements in order to assault Stalingrad. However, Hitler remains determined to capture Stalingrad without any reorganizing.
East Africa: Day 139 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - China: Day 1,902 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 106 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 214 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 62 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 45 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , September 20
Russian Front - North: Day 743 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 504 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 45 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 35 of 48 of the Battle of Bryansk, Russia. German troops continue evacuating Bryansk.
Russian Front - South: Day 28 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR. German Army Group South begins its withdrawal to the Melitopol-Zaporozhe line.
MTO - Italy: British 8th Army occupies Bari while the US 7th Army starts up into the mountains north of Salerno. 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 2,267 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 2 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. Will become an Allied victory.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 37 of 56 of the Battle of Vella Lavella. The Allies will win this one.
1944 — , September 20
ETO - Netherlands: Day 4 of 9 of Operation MARKET GARDEN. The British Guards Armored Division links up with paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division at Nijmegen, Netherlands, in a joint attack and capture the bridge over the Waal River intact. But it will all be for naught.
Spotlight...
153rd Field Regiment Royal Artillery, crossing the Waal Bridge, Nijmegen 1944
Operation MARKET GARDEN was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time.
The plan of action consisted of two operations...
Market: airborne forces of the First Allied Airborne Army to seize bridges under tactical command of I Airborne Corps
and
Garden: ground forces of the Second Army to move north spearheaded by XXX Corps.
London was suffering badly from V-1 and V-2 attacks launched from the Netherlands, and Churchill was desperate that something be done. Allied generals were asked for plans to eliminate the threat and the only thing offered was what Field Marshal Montgomery had originally proposed for the D-Day invasion, which was quickly modified into Operation MARKET GARDEN.
Montgomery's goal was to force an entry into Germany over the Lower Rhine. He wanted to circumvent the northern end of the Siegfried Line and this required the operation to seize the bridges across the Meuse River and two arms of the Rhine as well as several smaller canals and tributaries. Crossing the Lower Rhine would allow the Allies to encircle Germany's industrial heartland in the Ruhr from the north. It made large-scale use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and allow a rapid advance by armored units into Northern Germany.
It was a grandiose plan that ended after nine days in a costly defeat.
Operation MARKET GARDEN has remained a controversial battle for several reasons. Perhaps it was just a good plan that was poorly executed. Or perhaps it was more a matter of timing. The Germans, under Field Marshal Walther Model, were in the process of withdrawing from much of the area. Had the Allies waited just a few more days before launching the operation, it could well have turned out differently.
Several bridges between Eindhoven and Nijmegen were captured at the beginning of the operation but the advance of the ground forces of XXX Corps was delayed by the demolition of a bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal, an extremely overstretched supply line at Son.
Regardless, the failure of Market Garden ended Allied expectations of finishing the war by Christmas 1944.
ETO - France: Day 51 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - Belgium: Day 19 of 62 of the liberation of Belgium.
ETO - France: Day 6 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 2 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO: US 8th Air Force: P-38s, P-47s and P-51s are dispatched to support the First Allied Airborne Army in the Arnhem and Nijmegen areas of the Netherlands.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 6 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 4 of 10 of the Battle of Porkuni, Estonia.
Russian Front - North: Day 7 of 41 of the Battle of Riga, Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 7 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 7 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
MTO - Italy: British tanks attempt to break through the Gothic Line, are defeated by the Germans.
MTO - Italy: US 12th Air Force flies missions to support US 5th Army's advance in Italy.
MTO - Hungary: US 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack targets near Hatvan, Gyor, and Budapest. Others bomb the Malacky airfield and the Bratislava oil district in Czechoslovakia.
CBI - Burma: Day 173 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive in Burma.
CBI - China: Day 2,633 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 157 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 281 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 152 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 6 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 4 of 36 of the Battle of Angaur.
Day-By-Day listings for September 20 were last modified on Friday, January 22, 2016
Spotlight...
