WW2 was a global conflict that raged from September 1939 to August 1945; almost six long years.
The change of seasons brought with it changes in the pace of the war. Spring generally meant new offensives, while winter could mean stalemate or a winter offensive - such as those made by the Russians on the eastern front, or the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardenne.
A Czech pilot is greeted by the sqn mascot as he ends another sortie during the Battle of Britain, Aug-Oct 1940
1 September 1939: WW2 begins at 04:00 when German battleship Schleswig-Holstein shells Westerplatte, near Danzig, Poland
2 September 1939: The first British convoy of the war sets sail from Gibraltar to Cape Town, South Africa
3 September 1939: 70 years ago today Britain & France declare war on Germany
4 September 1941: The first French SS volunteers, the Legion des Volontaires Francais leaves Paris bound for the Eastern Front
5 September 1942: German troops lay siege to the Black Sea naval port of Novorossiisk
6 September 1940: Heavy German air-raids lead to the invasion being expected within days, so Britain is put on high alert
7 September 1939: German tanks reach the outskirts of Warsaw but are thrown back by intense street fighting
8 September 1942: US Marines land at Taivu in Guadalcanal and attack the Japanese base
9 September 1939: US President Roosevelt announces on radio that he fervently hoped that the USA could stay out of the war
10 September 1944: The first Allied vehicle - a Jeep, crosses the border into Germany, near Aachen
11 September 1940: Churchill tells Parliament that he expects Germany to try to invade within a week
12 September 1942: Japanese troops assault positions around ‘Bloody Ridge’ in Guadalcanal
13 September 1940: Japanese ‘Zero’ fighter sees action for the first time over Chungking in China
14 September 1943: British troops capture Bari in Italy
15 September 1939: German troops reach northern outskirts of Warsaw. The siege resumes
16 September 1941: The first convoy to be escorted by the US Navy leaves Nova Scotia in Canada for Europe
17 September 1944: Operation Market Garden is launched as a plan to end the war by Christmas
- [Veteran's story] -
The Lommel river crossing': The 4th Welch tell of the first moments of Operation Market Garden
18 September 1942: Soviet marines fend off ten attacks on the grain elevator they are defending
19 September 1944: US forces liberate Eindhoven, Nederlands
20 September 1944: Dambusters leader Guy Gibson dies when his Mosquito aircraft crashes near Steenbergen in the Nederlands
21 September 1942: The Boeing KB-29 ‘Superfortress’ bomber makes its first flight
22 September 1944: German garrison at Boulogne surrenders to Canadian forces
- [Veteran's story] -
The 'Battle of Reusel Church': The 4th Welch tell of the vicious fighting at Reusel ( 3 stories)
23 September 1941: German troops in France are ordered to send their blankets to the Eastern Front
24 September 1940: German fighter ace Adolf Galland receives the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross
25 September 1940: US Intelligence reads the Japanese ‘Purple Code’ for the first time
26 September 1944: The last British and Polish troops trapped at Arnhem surrender to German forces
27 September 1941: The first batch of Liberty ships is launched in the USA
28 September 1942: Japanese reinforcements land on the north coast of Java.
29 September 1938: Britain and France agree to German demands over Czechoslovakia
30 September 1942: The ‘Lion of Afrika’, Luftwaffe Staffel JG27 ace, Hans Joachim Marsille is shot down and killed.
This month in WW2
Chonicle of the Second World War; Longman
On this day...
& other sources
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