Today in
World War II History

German troops at Westerplatte, Poland, 7 September 1939 (public domain via WW2 Database)

80 Years Ago—September 7, 1939: Britain sends out the first North Atlantic convoys from England.

Germans take Polish naval base of Westerplatte.

US fighters strafing German motor transport in France, 1944 (US Army Air Force photo)

75 Years Ago—Sept. 7, 1944: US Ninth Air Force destroys five hundred German vehicles retreating in southern France.

Chinese secure Sung Shan region of Burma.

US Army V-2 cutaway drawing showing engine, fuel cells, guidance units and warhead, 1 August 1945 (US Air Force photo)

80 Years Ago—September 6, 1939: German troops take Kraków, Poland.

Britain institutes convoys for shipping between the Firth of Forth and the Thames Estuary.

75 Years Ago—Sept. 6, 1944: Germany launches first V-2 in combat, toward the Paris suburbs; the V-2 is the world’s first true rocket. (Read more: “The Moon Landings—The World War II Connection”)

Britain announces relaxation of blackout regulations; lifted to dim-out with blackout only when the air raid alarm is sounded.

Douglas A-26C of the US 386th Bomb Group, Boxted, England, September 1944 (USAF photo)

80 Years Ago—September 5, 1939: President Roosevelt declares US neutrality and upholds ban on export of weapons.

US Navy establishes the Neutrality Patrol to monitor military operations in the western hemisphere and declares a Neutrality Zone 300 miles off the US East Coast.

Patch of the US Ninth Army, WWII

75 Years Ago—Sept. 5, 1944: US Ninth Army is activated in France under Lt. Gen. William Simpson and enters combat.

With Soviet troops on the Bulgarian border, the USSR declares war on Bulgaria, and Bulgaria breaks relations with Germany.

First use of Douglas A-26 Invader light bomber by US Ninth Air Force in England.

Recruiting poster for Royal Air Force Bomber Command, WWII

80 Years Ago—September 4, 1939: French and German troops skirmish on Maginot Line.

First mission by RAF Bomber Command—10 of 16 Blenheims bomb German naval ships at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, but 5 bombers are lost.

Ocean liner RMS Queen Mary arrives in New York, having departed England on September 30, carrying 2552 passengers, including Bob Hope. (Read more about the wartime history of the Queen Mary and see photos from my tour: “The Sky Above Us—Tour of the Queen Mary”)

Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA, June 2017 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

75 Years Ago—Sept. 4, 1944: British liberate Antwerp, Belgium but fail to capture Scheldt Estuary, the crucial approach to the port.

King George VI of the United Kingdom delivering his radio address announcing Britain’s entry into the war with Germany, Buckingham Palace, London, Sept 3, 1939 (United Kingdom National Archives)

SS Athenia in Montreal harbor, 1933 (Library and Archives Canada)

80 Years Ago—September 3, 1939: Great Britain, France, Australia, and India declare war on Germany.

Winston Churchill becomes First Lord of the Admiralty, his WWI post.

In North Atlantic, German submarine U-30 sinks British liner Athenia (112 killed, including 69 women, 16 children, and 28 Americans).

75 Years Ago—Sept. 3, 1944: Nazis deport Anne Frank and her family on the last transport from Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Free French troops take Lyon, France.

British troops take Brussels, Belgium.

The crew of a British Cromwell Mk IV tank of 2nd Welsh Guards on the drive into Brussels, 3 September 1944. (Imperial War Museum)

British poster, WWII

80 Years Ago—September 2, 1939: Britain & France issue joint ultimatum that Germany must withdraw from Poland within 12 hours.

Britain passes National Service Act, instituting draft for men 19-41 years old.

Songs in Top Ten include “Moon Love,” “Over the Rainbow,” “Sunrise Serenade,” and “Beer Barrel Polka.”

Crew of USS Finback pulling downed airman Lieutenant (jg) George Bush from the water off Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands, 2 Sep 1944 (Photo: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum)

75 Years Ago—Sept. 2, 1944: Finland breaks diplomatic ties with Germany and accepts Soviet peace terms.

US Fifth Army secures Pisa, Italy.

Lt. (jg) George H.W. Bush’s torpedo bomber is shot down over Chi Chi Jima, he bails out and is rescued by sub USS Finback; his 2 crewmen are killed.

German troops removing the Polish emblem from the wall of a post office in Danzig, 1 Sep 1939 (German Federal Archive, Bild 183-H27915, Photographer: Hans Sönnke)

Today is the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II. I will be adding “80 Years Ago” to my “75 Years Ago” posts. I hope you find them informative.

80 Years Ago—September 1, 1939: World War II begins when Germany invades Poland with 52 divisions, German Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers hit bridges over the Vistula, and German battleship Schleswig-Holstein bombards Polish naval base at Westerplatte.

George C. Marshall is named US Army Chief of Staff and is promoted to full general.

Map of the western front in Europe, 1 September 1944 (US Army)

75 Years Ago—Sept. 1, 1944: Patton’s US Third Army offensive temporarily slows due to gasoline shortage.

German Army Group F begins withdrawal from Greece.

Movie premiere of Arsenic and Old Lace, starring Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane.

75 Years Ago—August 31, 1944: US and Australian forces secure New Guinea, with 100,000 Japanese troops remaining isolated on New Guinea.

Soviets take Bucharest, Romania.

Stage Door Canteen opens at Piccadilly in London; Bing Crosby sings for the opening.

75 Years Ago—August 30, 1944: British Eighth Army launches main attack on Gothic Line in Italy, crossing the Foglia River.

French Provisional Government is established in Paris under Gen. Charles de Gaulle.

Soviets take Ploesti oil fields in Romania, depriving Germans of crucial source of oil.

75 Years Ago—August 29, 1944: Japanese launch drive south from Hengyang toward US Fourteenth Air Force bases at Liuchow and Kweilin.

US 28^th Infantry Division parades down the Champs Élysées in Paris, led by their commanding officer and hero of Omaha Beach, Gen. Norman Cota.

Armed Slovak resistance under Ján Golian rises against Germans and Slovak fascists, primarily in the mountains, lasts through October 28.