1 Oct 1912
- Howard Whalen was born.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1918
- Australian horsemen of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade entered Damascus in the Ottoman Empire, capturing 12,000 prisoners and scores of guns and machine guns.
1 Oct 1919
- Evelyn Sharp was born in Melstone, Montana, United States.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1920
- Vice Admiral Naoe Nakano succeeded Vice Admiral Tatsuo Matsumura as the commanding officer of the Ryojun Military Port (previously known as Port Arthur; now Lushunkou, Liaoning Province, China), Kwantung Leased Territory in northeastern China.
1 Oct 1921
- Georg von Bismarck was transferred to the German 3rd Cavalry Regiment.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1925
- Werner Mölders joined the Catholic youth organisation Bund Neudeutschland.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1926
- Hugo Sperrle was promoted to the rank of Major.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1929
- Erwin Rommel became an instructor at the Infantry School in Dresden, Germany.
» In-depth article - Werner von Blomberg was promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1931
- Wilhelm Keitel was promoted to the rank of Oberst.
» In-depth article - Walther von Brauchitsch was promoted to the rank of Generalmajor.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1932
- Oswald Mosley found the British Union of Fascists.
- Werner von Braun, a precocious young Prussian student, was appointed to the German Army Ordnance Department's ballistics section under Captain Walther R. Dornberger, an artillery specialist.
- Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was promoted to the rank of Oberst.
» In-depth article - Wolfgang Falck returned to the German Army from his secret fight pilot training in Russia. His comrades in his regiment were not told of the details of his training.
» In-depth article - The keel of the future pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was laid down.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1933
- SS official Theodor Eicke expanded the punishment directives at Dachau Concentration Camp; these directives were later applied to all camps until the end of the European War.
» In-depth article - Erwin Rommel was made the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment at Goslar, Germany.
» In-depth article - Walther von Brauchitsch was promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1934
- Georg von Bismarck became the commanding officer of a motorized reconnissance unit.
» In-depth article - Adolf Galland was commissioned Leutnant, and was posted to Fighter Instructor JFS (fighter pilots school), Schleissheim, Germany.
» In-depth article - Wolfgang Falck was promoted to the rank of Leutnant and was retired from the German Army for transfer to the secret German air force.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1935
- As a reaction to criticism from the German justice department on the increasing number of "unnatural deaths" in concentration camps, the Gestapo released behavior guidelines for the guards during this month.
» In-depth article - Hugo Sperrle was promoted to the rank of Generalmajor.
» In-depth article - Fregattenkapitän Otto Backenköhler took command of cruiser Köln.
» In-depth article - The keel of submarine Pollack was laid down.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1936
- At Burgos, Spain, Francisco Franco was publicly proclaimed as the Head of State and the Generalísimo of the military.
» In-depth article - The Spanish Republican Government approved the statute giving autonomy to the Basque Provinces.
- The US 1st Marine Brigade began a three-month amphibious and field landing exercise in and near Potomac, Maryland, United States.
1 Oct 1937
- Erwin Rommel was promoted to the rank of Oberst.
» In-depth article - Largo Caballero was removed from the leadership of the UGT (Union General de Trabajadores, or "Socialist Trades Union") in Spain.
- Kapitän zur See Theodor Burchardi took command of cruiser Köln.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 1 Oct 1937
1 Oct 1938
- Following the German annexation of Sudetenland, efforts began to arrest Sudetenland residents who opposed the Nazi government.
- Erwin Rommel became the commander of Hitler's headquarters during his tour of Sudetenland, recently annexed from Czechoslovakia.
» In-depth article - Do 18 flying boat "Pampero" was lost in the Atlantic Ocean; the entire crew of 5 was missing and was never found.
» In-depth article - The 16th Squadron of the Chinese 6th Bomber Air Group was converted to become a fighter squadron, flying Hawk 75 fighters. It was to be based out of Zhiqiang, Hunan, China.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Meeting Minutes of International Commission on Sudetenland, 1 Oct 1938
» In-depth article - Photos dated 1 Oct 1938
1 Oct 1939
- German euthanasia program began on the ill and feeble.
- British men between the ages of 20-22 became eligible for conscription.
- Georg von Bismarck was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.
» In-depth article - Adolf Galland was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class medal and was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann.
» In-depth article - Galeazzo Ciano met with Adolf Hitler in Berlin, Germany.
» In-depth article - Rawalpindi was commissioned into British Royal Navy service.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1940
- During this month, 1,140 tons of Belgium Congo uranium were shipped to Staten Island in the United States for safekeeping.
- Small raids of 20 to 70 aircraft each attacked RAF airfields in England, United Kingdom; London was not targeted during the day. The Germans lost 4 fighters and the British lost 5 fighters with 4 pilots killed. London was bombed overnight.
» In-depth article - Italian submarine Maggiore Baracca sank Greek ship Aghios Nicolaos 400 miles west of Porto, Portugal. German submarine U-38 sank British ship Highland Patriot 300 miles west of Ireland at 0647 hours; 3 crew were killed, 136 crew and 33 passengers were rescued by sloop HMS Wellington. German submarine U-32 sank Dutch ship Haulerwijk 400 miles west of Ireland; 4 were killed and 27 survived.
» In-depth article - British troops reinforced the garrison on Malta.
- US Navy and US Marine Corps began the Special Landing Operation No. 2 in the Caribbean Sea.
- Luftwaffe ace Erich Hartmann began basic training with Friegerausbildungsregiment 10 at Neukuhren, near Königsberg in East Prussia, Germany. Hartmann would achieve 352 "kills" during the war before being sentenced, as a war criminal, to 50 years forced labour by the Soviets.
- Hermann Göring officially awarded Wolfgang Falck the Knight Cross medal, but it would be not be presented to Falck until 7 Oct 1940.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1941
- The British House of Commons voted for the third £1,000,000,000 war credit of year.
- German government reports published this month noted that 2,139,553 foreign workers were employed, about half of which, 1,007,561, were Polish.
- The protocol produced at the end of the US-UK-USSR aid conference determined immediate and long-term deliveries to the Soviet Union, with the agreement subject to annual review.
- The Italian "M" battalions were established.
- King George VI of the United Kingdom granted the name Royal New Zealand Navy to the New Zealand ships fighting within the British Royal Navy.
» In-depth article - The British RAF reported internally on Hugh Dowding's (forced) retirement. When Prime Minister Winston Churchill learned of it, he was extremely displeased, and demanded the RAF to find a new position for Dowding. Dowding had originally conceded to political pressure and was preparing his retirement, but ultimately yielded to Churchill's wish and accepted whatever new position the RAF would give him.
» In-depth article - Operations began at Majdanek Concentration Camp near Lublin, Poland.
» In-depth article - Finnish troops reached Petrozavodsk, the capital of Soviet Republic of Karelia, further cutting off Leningrad in northern Russia.
» In-depth article - Wilhelm Keitel ordered that, in regards to the hostages the German military had been holding and executing in retaliation of partisan attacks, choice of victims would be important, as well-known victims would have greater effect in keeping the occupied peoples in line.
» In-depth article - HMS Edinburgh departed Malta.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 1 Oct 1941
1 Oct 1942
- The British Royal Corp of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was established.
- The United States Marine Corps disbanded the Amphibious Training Staff, Fleet Marine Force in San Diego, California, United States; its personnel were reassigned to the headquarters of the Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet. On the same day, Major General Holland Smith relieved Major General Clayton Vogel as the commanding officer of the Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet with the title of Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, San Diego area. Vogel was transferred to the newly established I Marine Amphibious Corps as its commanding officer.
» In-depth article - Hans-Joachim Marseille was buried at the Heroes Cemetery in Derna, Libya. Albert Kesselring and Eduard Neumann each delivered an eulogy.
» In-depth article - Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was named the commanding officer of the 1st Group of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 wing.
» In-depth article - Waller was commissioned into service.
» In-depth article - USS Scorpion was commissioned into service, Lieutenant Commander William Wylie in command.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 1 Oct 1942
1 Oct 1943
- Italian resistance in Naples, Italy rose up and took control of the city nine days ahead of the arrival of Allied troops.
» In-depth article - 220 Danish Jews were arrested by the Gestapo.
- The US Navy Pacific Fleet deployed its first submarine wolfpack.
- The Chinese-American Composite Wing of the USAAF 14th Air Force, officially established on 31 Jul 1943, was activated into service.
- American submarine USS Halibut tested a torpedo equipped with newly designed contact exploder.
» In-depth article - U-52 was decommissioned from service.
» In-depth article - USS Pompon attacked a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all 4 torpedoes missed.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 1 Oct 1943
1 Oct 1944
- After a 4-day fight, the US Fifth Army captured Monte Battaglia, Italy, a part of the Gothic Line defenses.
» In-depth article - Red Army units crossed the Danube River into Yugoslavia.
- Unbeknownst to the Germans, a Hungarian delegation arrived in Moscow, Russia to discuss an armistice with the Soviet Union.
- Finnish troops attacked German troops in Tornio, Finland.
- The US coastal minesweeper YMS-385 was mined and sunk in the Zowariau Channel, Ulithi, Caroline Islands.
- Joseph Stilwell's diary entry for this date noted that he felt he was about to be ousted by Franklin Roosevelt.
» In-depth article - The German garrison at Calais, France capitulated. The 3rd Canadian Division had suffered just 300 casualties in the siege of the town but had captured 7,500 Germans bringing their toll of prisoners taken in clearing the Channel ports to almost 30,000. Wreckage to the dock facilities were however extensive and the port would not be available for shipping until Nov 1944.
» In-depth article - U-530 was assigned to the 33. Unterseebootflottille (33th Submarine Flotilla).
» In-depth article - Cruiser Köln conducted convoy operation between Norway and Denmark over the following two months.
» In-depth article - USS Trepang attacked a Japanese convoy, sinking freighter Takunan Maru.
» In-depth article - USS Cabrilla attacked a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, sinking two transports with 4 of 10 torpedoes fired.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No. 49: Korean Comfort Women
» In-depth article - Photos dated 1 Oct 1944
1 Oct 1945
- The airline company TWA became the first commercial organization to operate a Constellation aircraft.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1946
- End of the major war crimes trial in Nuremberg, Germany; 12 were given death sentences, 4 were given prison sentences, and 3 were acquitted.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1949
- Chinese communists declared victory in the Chinese civil war, renaming Beiping ("Northern Peace") to Beijing ("Northern Capital") to serve as their capital city; the Republic of China government withdrew to the island of Taiwan, where it still remains.
1 Oct 1950
- Mikhail Rodionov passed away in Leningrad, Russia.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1966
- Zhao Chengshou passed away in Beijing, China.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1970
- USS Bugara was decommissioned from service and struck from the US Naval Register.
» In-depth article - USS Sea Robin was decommissioned from service and was struck from the US Naval Register.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1973
- USS Tirante was decommissioned from service for the second and final time at Key West, Florida, United States and was removed from the Naval Vessel Register.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1979
- The Panama Canal Zone was returned by the United States to the Republic of Panama.
1 Oct 1990
- Curtis LeMay passed away.
» In-depth article
1 Oct 1993
- Yekaterina Budanova was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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