Today in World War II History—September 5, 1942

Jungled ridges at the gap in the Owen Stanley Mountains, New Guinea, November 1943 (US Army Center of Military History)
80 Years Ago—Sept. 5, 1942: Japanese reach Owen Stanley Gap in drive toward Port Moresby, New Guinea.
RAF raid to Bremen, Germany, destroys Kunsthalle Bremen and the original painting Washington Crossing the Delaware by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze (two later versions remain in the US).
New song in Top Ten: “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.”

Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze (public domain via Metropolitan Museum of Art: 97.34)