CBI - China: Day 12 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1933 — , September 29
Germany: Nazis prohibit Jews from owning land.
1936 — , September 29
Spain: Day 75 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1937 — , September 29
Spain: Day 440 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 85 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 48 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
Day 29 of 70 of the Battle of Taiyuan.
1938 — , September 29
Germany; A two-day meeting is held in Munich with Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier, to discuss German demands to annex the Sudetenland, areas of Czechoslovakia mainly inhabited by German speaking people. The Czech government is not invited.
Spain: Day 805 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 450 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 111 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.
1939 — , September 29
ETO: After Poland sets up a government-in-exile in England, what remains in Poland formally surrenders and their country is divided up between Germany and the USSR.
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Two days after this surrender ceremony, Poland formally surrenders to Germany
Technically, Poland never surrendered in World War II, they were defeated and occupied by German and Soviet forces by 6th of October 1939. As defeat looked imminent, the Polish government set up a government-in-exile in England where they continued the fight against Germany.
Polish rifles collected by German troops in Warsaw
Thousands of Polish forces fled to Romania, France and England where they defended France during the German invasion. After France surrendered, remaining Polish forces fled to England.
Polish forces took part in many battles including D-Day, Operation MARKET GARDEN, Monte Cassino, as well as battles in Africa. Later, Polish captives from the soviet invasion were let free to fight alongside the soviets from the east and also took part in the invasion of Berlin. Polish forces were fighting everywhere during the entire war.
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Poland: Day 29 of 36 of Germany's Invasion of Poland.
Poland: Day 13 of 20 of the USSR's Invasion of Poland.
UK: British Naval Intelligence circulates the "Trout Memo," so called in comparing the deception of an enemy in wartime to fly fishing. In it Ian Fleming has written a number of schemes to deceive the Germans. Number 28 is an idea to plant misleading papers on a corpse that would be found by the enemy.
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Lt Commander Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming would go on to become world famous as the creator of James Bond 007. During the war he was attached to British Naval Intelligence and never worked for either MI5 or MI6.
The Trout Memo was issued under the name of Admiral John Godfrey, Britain's director of naval intelligence, but is said to have had the hallmarks of having been written by his personal assistant, Ian Fleming.
The memo read, in part: "The Trout Fisher casts patiently all day. He frequently changes his venue and his lures. If he has frightened a fish he may 'give the water a rest for half-an-hour,' but his main endeavour, viz. to attract fish by something he sends out from his boat, is incessant." The memo goes on to describe numerous ways that the enemy, like trout, may be fooled or lured in.
Recommendation number 28 in the Trout Memo was titled: "A Suggestion (not a very nice one)" and continued: "The following suggestion is used in a book by Basil Thomson: a corpse dressed as an airman, with dispatches in his pockets, could be dropped on the coast, supposedly from a parachute that has failed. I understand there is no difficulty in obtaining corpses at the Naval Hospital, but, of course, it would have to be a fresh one."
Although the idea for Operation MINCEMEAT, the scheme to convince the Germans that the Allies would attack Greece rather than Italy in 1943, was developed by Charles Cholmondoley in October 1942, Trout Memo number 28 is similar enough to give credit to it and in turn to Ian Fleming.
Operation MINCEMEAT will become, perhaps, history's greatest act of wartime deception, accomplished by persuading the Germans that they had, by accident, intercepted "top secret" documents giving details of Allied war plans. The documents were attached to a corpse and deliberately left to wash up on a beach in Spain where German agents copied the documents and passed them on, ultimately to Hitler himself.
CBI - China: Day 815 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 17 of 26 of the 1st Battle of Changsha.
1940 — , September 29
ETO - UK: Day 24 of 258 of the Blitz.
ETO - UK: Day 82 of 114 of the Battle of Britain.
MTO: A British convoy sets sail for Malta hoping to provoke the Italian fleet into action. The Italian fleet puts out to sea, only to return prematurely without seeing action.
East Africa: Day 112 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,181 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 320 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi, China. Results in a Chinese victory.
Day 41 of 42 of the Hundred Regiments Offensive.
1941 — , September 29
USA: Olympic star Louis Zamperini is enlisted in the Regular US Army and sent to Camp Roberts, California, for NCO Basic Training School.
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Louis Zamperini
Zamperini had first enlisted in the US Army Air Force on 18 Mar 41 with aim of becoming a P-38 pilot, but was "washed out" of Allen Hancock School of Aeronautics in California and enlisted in the Regular US Army for Bombardier training. He was sent to Officer Candidate School and Bombardier School in Midland TX and on 13 Aug 42 graduated top 15 in and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.
Through October 1942 he was stationed in Washington state and was eventually assigned to Crew #8 (pilot Russell Allen Phillips), 372nd Bomb Squadron, 307th Bomb Group, 7th Air Force. Flying out of Kahoka Air Base on Oahu's north shore Zamperini earned his classification of Master Bombardier. Zamperini and Phillips quickly developed a strong friendship, little knowing what was in store for them.
Their sixth bombing mission from the Pacific island of Funafuti was on 20 Apr 43 against the Japanese-held phosphate-producing island of Nauru, which provided Japan with raw materials for explosives. Flying the D model B-24 Liberator they had named SUPER MAN, they were attacked by Japanese Zero fighter planes, seriously wounding several crewmen, one who would die. Leaking hydraulic fluid, the shredded B-24 only narrowly avoided disaster during an emergency landing back at the island of Funafuti. Zamperini and his crewmates later learned that their plane had been riddled with nearly 600 holes from enemy gunfire and shrapnel.
With SUPER MAN no longer flight-worthy, and a number of the crew injured and one dead, the healthy crew members were transferred to Hawaii to await reassignment.
Notes:
The AF, BG, BS and Crew names and numbers
There's a lot of information out there about Louis Zamperini. Unfortunately, a lot of it is misleading, contradictory or simply wrong.
At the outbreak of war in the Pacific, the 7th Air Force, based in Hawaii, was it. From that, other Air Forces were created, moved and/or disbanded as needed, such as the 10th Air Force in the China-Burma-India Theater, the 11th Air Force in Alaska and the 13th Air Force in island groups such as the Gilberts or Marianas.
It was not at all uncommon for a crew, squadron or group to be detached from one Air Force and attached to another, only to be reattached back or transferred to another. This makes it especially hard to follow the trail of a particular crew through its assignments and designations.
A common misconception is that crews were assigned to a particular aircraft, which is not at all true. Crews were assigned to a squadron and flew whatever plane was available for that day. Whenever possible, a Squadron Commander would try to keep a particular crew in the same plane, but really only for the sake of morale. A crew would take better care of a plane they felt they "owned."
Most Commanders would allow a crew to give their bomber a name and even to have nose art painted on it, again for the sake of morale. Crews were often disheartened when "their" plane was heavily damaged or lost when flown that day by another crew.
Crew names and numbers themselves were determined by each bomb group Commander and could easily be changed when a crew was transferred. Crew #13 could find itself changed to Smith Crew 717 after being transferred.
Everyone entering the Army Air Corps wanted to be a pilot. To "wash out" of pilot training rarely meant that the man failed or didn't have what it takes. When additional bombardiers, navigators or radio operators were needed, the order would come from above to merely "wash out" so many to fill those spots.
Louis Zamperini found himself in the 7th AF, then in the 13th AF and then back again in the 7th. The Phillips crew was initially Crew #8, but was never the Superman Crew, though that was the nickname they gave their first B-24.
Dates related to Louis Zamperini...
07 Aug 36: Zamperini invited to meet Hitler at the Berlin Olympics
29 Sep 41: Zamperini enlists in the US Army
27 May 43: B-24 GREEN HORNET goes down in the Pacific, 3 survive
04 Jun 43: All of the crew of 10 are presumed dead
Russian Front - Finland: Day 100 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 26 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 93 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 91 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front: Day 100 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the overall invasion of the USSR.
Russian Front - North: Day 22 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - South: Day 53 of 70 of the Siege of Odessa, Ukraine. SS Einsatzgruppen in the Ukraine massacre between 50,000 and 96,000 Ukrainians at Babi Yar, about 30 miles outside of Kiev.
Russian Front - South: Day 4 of 12 of the Battle of the Sea of Azov (north of Black Sea). An advance into the Crimea by German Army Group South is stopped by the Soviets.
MTO - Libya: Day 173 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
East Africa: Day 477 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,546 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 24 of 33 of the 2nd Battle of Changsha.
1942 — , September 29
Russian Front - North: Day 387 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 148 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 62 of 64 of the 1st Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 94 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 38 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodiest battle in human history. German 6th Army steps up their offense yet continue to struggle desperately to take the city.
MTO - Greece: US B-24s attack harbor installations at Suda Bay.
MTO - Egypt: US P-40s sweep over the battle area near El Alamein.
East Africa: Day 148 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - China: Day 1,911 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 115 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 223 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 71 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 54 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , September 29
Russian Front - North: Day 752 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 513 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 - North: Day 4 of 15 of the USSR Kremenchug Offensive into Estonia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 54 of 57 of the 2nd Battle of Smolensk, Russia. A Soviet victory as the Axis will be completely cleared from the Moscow region.
Russian Front - Center: Day 44 of 48 of the Battle of Bryansk, Russia. German troops continue evacuating the Bryansk area.
Russian Front - South: Day 37 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR.
MTO - Italy: Allies take Pompeii, between Salerno and Naples. US 5th Army begins an attack on Avellino. The RAF, US 9th and 12th Air Forces provide the air cover for the Allied ground troops.
CBI - China: Day 2,276 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 11 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. This will become an Allied victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 8 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. This will result in an Allied victory.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 46 of 56 of the Battle of Vella Lavella. The Allies will win this one.
1944 — , September 29
ETO - France: Day 60 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - Belgium: Day 28 of 62 of the liberation of Belgium.
ETO - France: Day 15 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk. The Canadians take Cape Gris Nez, southwest of Calais, France, and grant a 24-hour truce for Germans to evacuate civilians.
ETO - Germany: Day 11 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit targets in western Germany.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 15 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 16 of 41 of the Battle of Riga, Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 16 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 16 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
MTO - Italy: US 12th Air Force fighters cut rail lines south of Milan.
CBI - Burma: Day 182 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive in Burma.
CBI - China: Day 2,642 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 166 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 290 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain, New Guinea.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 161 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 15 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 13 of 36 of the Battle of Angaur.
Day-By-Day listings for September 29 were last modified on Thursday, March 22, 2018
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