CBI - China: Day 4 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1936 — , September 21
Spain: Day 67 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1937 — , September 21
Spain: Day 432 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 77 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 40 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
Day 21 of 70 of the Battle of Taiyuan.
1938 — , September 21
UK: Winston Churchill warns of the futility of appeasing Adolf Hitler during the Czechoslovak Crisis, saying that "the belief that security can be obtained by throwing a small state to the wolves is a fatal delusion."
Spotlight...
Winston Churchill flashing his trademark "V for Victory"
Churchill said that "the partition of Czechoslovakia under pressure from England and France amounts to the complete surrender of the Western Democracies to the Nazi threat of force."
During this Czechoslovak Crisis, Neville Chamberlain was still Prime Minister. Churchill, though outside of British government, was very outspoken against policies toward Hitler and constantly urged pro-active resolve against the looming Nazi threat.
Sir Winston Churchill was perhaps the most notable statesman in history. Among Churchill's quotable quotes...
"If Hitler invaded Hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons."
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of misery."
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."
Some quotes regarding Churchill...
"It is enough of a claim to historic greatness for a man to have saved his own country. Winston Churchill may have saved civilization."
- Thomas Sowell
"He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle."
- Edward R Murrow
Winston Churchill related dates...
01 Nov 36: "It's only fair. We had to have them in the last war."
21 Sep 38: Warns of futility of appeasing Adolf Hitler
03 Jun 39: Predicts war with Germany will come this year
20 Jan 40: Famous "feed the crocodile" line to neutral nations
10 May 40: Asked by King to replace Chamberlain as PM
13 May 40: Famous "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" speech
04 Jun 40: Gives his stern "never surrender" speech
14 Jul 40: "We may show mercy, We shall ask none" speech
20 Aug 40: "Never ... was so much owed by so many..."
23 Dec 40: "Because of one man" broadcast to Italians
20 Jul 41: Inaugurates the "V for Victory" campaign
CBI - China: Day 442 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 103 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.
1939 — , September 21
Poland: Day 21 of 36 of Germany's Invasion of Poland.
Poland: Day 5 of 20 of the USSR's Invasion of Poland. 60,000 Poles, all that remains of the Polish Southern Army, surrender at Zamosz and Tomaszov.
CBI - China: Day 807 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 9 of 26 of the 1st Battle of Changsha.
1940 — , September 21
ETO - UK: Day 16 of 258 of the Blitz.
ETO - UK: Day 74 of 114 of the Battle of Britain. Over the past 17 days, RAF has sunk 12.5% of 1,865 German transport vessels preparing for Germany's Operation SEA LION, the invasion of England.
East Africa: Day 104 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,173 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 312 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
Day 33 of 42 of the Hundred Regiments Offensive.
1941 — , September 21
Russian Front - Finland: Day 92 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 18 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 85 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 83 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front: Day 92 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the overall invasion of the USSR.
Russian Front - North: Day 14 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - South: Day 45 of 70 of the Siege of Odessa, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 30 of 35 of the 1st Battle of Kiev, Ukraine.
MTO - Libya: Day 165 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
East Africa: Day 469 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,538 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 16 of 33 of the 2nd Battle of Changsha.
1942 — , September 21
ETO - Germany: The RAF conducts night raids against Munich and the Saar valley.
Russian Front - North: Day 379 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 140 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 54 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 86 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 30 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodiest battle in human history.
East Africa: Day 140 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - Burma: British troops begin their first land counter-offensive against the Japanese at Arakan in western Burma.
CBI - China: Day 1,903 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 107 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 215 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 63 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 46 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , September 21
ETO: US 8th Air Force: B-26s attack an airfield in France.
Russian Front - North: Day 744 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 505 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 46 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 36 of 48 of the Battle of Bryansk, Russia. German troops continue evacuating Bryansk.
Russian Front - South: Day 29 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR. The Soviets cross the Dnieper at Dnepropetrovsk, thereby cutting the German Panther line.
MTO - Italy: The RAF, US 9th and 12th Air Forces provide the air cover for the Allied ground troops.
CBI - China: Day 2,268 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 3 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. Will become an Allied victory.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 38 of 56 of the Battle of Vella Lavella. The Allies will win this one.
1944 — , September 21
ETO - France: Day 52 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - Belgium: Day 20 of 62 of the liberation of Belgium.
ETO - France: Day 7 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Netherlands: Day 5 of 9 of Operation MARKET GARDEN. Polish paratroopers land between Arnhem and Nijmegen as the British at Arnhem are overwhelmed. US 85th Division takes Firenzwold.
ETO - Germany: Day 3 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO: US 8th Air Force B-24s and B-17s hit targets in western Germany.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 7 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 5 of 10 of the Battle of Porkuni, Estonia.
Russian Front - North: Day 8 of 41 of the Battle of Riga, Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 8 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 8 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
MTO: US 15th Air Force: B-17s and B-24s attack targets in Yugoslavia and Hungary. C-47s pick up downed airmen from a secret airstrip in Yugoslavia and bring them back to Italy.
MTO - Greece: British 8th Army's Greek Mountain Brigade take Rimini on the Adriatic coast. German forces of Army Group E evacuate the Peloponnes peninsula.
CBI - Burma: Day 174 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive in Burma.
CBI - China: Day 2,634 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 158 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 282 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 153 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 7 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 5 of 36 of the Battle of Angaur.
PTO - Philippines: US warplanes hit shipping near Manila sinking 40 Japanese ships while damaging 35 more and shooting down 357 enemy aircraft.
1945 — , September 21
USA: German POW Georg Gaertner escapes from a POW camp in Deming, New Mexico, to avoid being sent back home to his now-soviet-occupied home town in Germany. He goes to California and integrates into American society, even raises a family, and finally turns himself in forty years later.
Spotlight...
Georg Gaertner's photos on an FBI wanted poster
Georg Gaertner, a tall gawky 24-year old Afrika Korps sergeant, escaped from Camp Deming, New Mexico, on September 21, 1945. As a camp translator, Gaertner learned about Washington's decision to repatriate all POWs to their home towns; the trouble was that his home - Schweidnitz, in East Prussia - was now in Soviet hands. So, he boldly rolled out under the barbed wire fences and caught a distant freight train west for whatever destination Fate offered.
He landed in California and lived the next forty years under a variety of names as a dishwasher, lumberjack, migrant farm worker, ski instructor, and tennis pro.
In 1985, now going under the name Dennis Whiles, he decided for personal reasons to come forward. His entire intriguing story became a popular book entitled Hitler's Last Soldier in America.
Dates related to POW escapes...
31 Mar 41: British private becomes first to escape German POW camp
25 Jun 41: French POW attempts to escape Colditz dressed as woman
02 Jul 41: French POW escapes Colditz, scaling outer wall
Spotlight...
