29 Oct 1878
- Alexander von Falkenhausen was born.
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29 Oct 1879
- Franz von Papen was born.
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29 Oct 1897
- Joseph Goebbels was born.
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29 Oct 1914
- After sundown, as German troops continued to advance in Belgium, eight flood gates of the Noordervaart Canal were opened by the Allies.
29 Oct 1920
- S-30 was commissioned into service.
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29 Oct 1921
- Bill Mauldin was born.
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29 Oct 1936
- Soviet tanks and aircraft appeared in the front-line for the first time in the Spanish Civil War. Meanwhile, German and Italian bombers began a series of raids on Madrid, Spain in the hope of destroying civilian resistance.
» In-depth article - In Germany, Josef Wagner, the Gauleiter of Silesia, was appointed Price Commissar to ensure that inflation did not undermine the Four Year Plan announced by Hitler in Sep 1936.
29 Oct 1937
- A 12-foot-wide Chinese flag was raised atop the Sihang Warehouse in Shanghai, China, which was a great morale booster for the defenders fortified inside the building. Meanwhile, western officials in the international zone in Shanghai appealed to Chiang Kaishek to order the defenders in the Sihang Warehouse to withdraw, while negotiating for a short ceasefire agreement from the Japanese so that the withdraw would be conducted in peace.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 29 Oct 1937
29 Oct 1938
- Czechoslovakia and Hungary agreed to allow Germany and Italy arbitrate their territorial dispute.
» In-depth article
29 Oct 1939
- The first German aircraft to be shot down in Britain, a He 111 bomber, crashed near Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom. The kill was claimed by No. 602 and No. 603 Squadrons RAF. Two members of the crew of four survived the crash and were captured.
» In-depth article - Soviet troops began occupying bases in Latvia while preparing for war with Finland.
» In-depth article - The Netherlands was briefly dropped as a target of invasion by the Germans.
» In-depth article
29 Oct 1940
- The first British troops arrived at Suda Bay, Crete in Greece; meanwhile, a fleet of 4 battleships, 2 carriers, and 19 destroyers departed from the British naval base at Alexandria, Egypt for Crete. To the north, the Italian invasion advanced slowly.
» In-depth article - The RAF conducted the 25th raid on Berlin.
» In-depth article - Conscription, as allowed by the Selective Training and Service Act, began; it was the first military draft during peacetime in US history.
- The full mobilization of the Italian Blackshirt units began.
- German bombers conducted several raids in southern England, United Kingdom all day, escorted by Bf 109 fighters, damaging areas of London and Portsmouth. At dusk, German Ju 88 aircraft, acting as dive bombers, attacked airfields in East Anglia, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire. Italian BR20M bombers bombed Ramsgate in formation. During the day, the Germans lost 22 Bf 109 fighters, 3 Bf 110 fighters, and 2 Do 17 bombers; the British lost 7 fighters with 2 pilots killed; the Italians lost 5 bombers. Overnight, London, Birmingham, and Coventry were bombed.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-31 sank the drifting wreck of British ship Matina, which was damaged by U-28 on 26 Oct and had already been abandoned, at 2200 hours.
- German submarine U-29 made made rendezvous with German armed merchant cruiser Widder, which was returning from her merchant raiding mission for repairs, in the Bay of Biscay west of France.
- Werner Mölders claimed his 54th victory.
» In-depth article
29 Oct 1941
- Kampfgruppe Eberbach of German 4th Panzer Division reached Tula, Russia, which was about 110 kilometers south of Moscow. The group dug in near Tula to organize an offensive in the next day.
» In-depth article - German forces pushed Soviet units back to Sevastopol in southern Ukraine.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-106 torpedoed and damaged American tanker Salinas off Iceland.
- 15,000 Jews were massacred in Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania. Their remains were buried in mass graves at the Ninth Fort.
» In-depth article - General Walter Kuntze was named the commanding officer of the German 12th Army.
- The Atlantic Amphibious Force, consisted of both US Army and US Marine Corps units and commanded by Major General Holland M. Smith, was redesignated Amphibious Force of the US Navy Atlantic Fleet.
- Winston Churchill visited the Harrow School in London, England, United Kingdom, which he attended in his younger days. In a speech there, he gave the advice "Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
» In-depth article - British minesweeping trawler HMS Flotta ran aground off the east coast of Scotland, United Kingdom and became damaged.
- Aleksandr Vasilevsky was slightly wounded by a German bomb while working at his office in Moscow, Russia.
» In-depth article - USS Astoria arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article
29 Oct 1942
- 16,000 Ukrainian Jews of Pinsk Ghetto were massacred, two days after Himmler ordered the liquidation of this ghetto.
- Britain advised Italy that Italy would continue to be bombed by the RAF until they stepped out of the war.
- German troops were now only 50 miles from the oil fields in Grozny as they captured Nalchik in southern Russia.
» In-depth article - USS Grenadier deployed naval mines in the Tonkin Gulf.
- Leading British religious and political figures held a public meeting to voice their outrage at the Nazi German treatment of Jews. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent a message to the meeting, denouncing the German "vile crimes".
» In-depth article - Walter Krupinski was awarded the Knight's Cross medal.
» In-depth article - USS Copahee arrived at San Diego, California, United States and began an overhaul.
» In-depth article - Repair ship Akashi performed repair work for destroyer Teruzuki at Truk, Caroline Islands. She also began the repair work for cruiser Chikuma.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - Submarine Cisco was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, United States.
» In-depth article - USS Skipjack attacked a Japanese oiler off the Palau Islands; all three torpedoes missed.
» In-depth article
29 Oct 1943
- Spanish volunteers from the recently disbanded German 250th Infantry Division began to arrive in Spain.
- Colonel General Hans-Valentin Hube replaced Eberhard von Mackensen as the commander of the German 1.Panzerarmee.
- Lieutenant General Shinpachi Kondo was named the chief of staff of the Taiwan Army.
- Merrill's Marauders, or officially US Army 5307th Composite Unit (provisional), began to arrive in Bombay, India; the unit was being transferred to the Allied South East Asia Command.
- Photos dated 29 Oct 1943
29 Oct 1944
- German V-2 rocket hit the Beckton Gas Works in London, England, United Kingdom.
- The Köln, Germany archive noted that, overnight, British bombers dropped about 4,000 high explosive bombs and 200,000 incendiary bombs on the city.
» In-depth article - Allied troops captured Breda, the Netherlands.
» In-depth article - Dr. Graeme Warrack, a RAMC Colonel with 1st Airborne Division, who had been in hiding after the last Arnhem casualties in the Netherlands were transferred from hospital to POW camps, escaped and eventually, with the help of the Dutch Resistance, made his way back into the Allied lines.
- Captain and Surgeon Shunroku Kagiyama became the commanding officer of hospital ship Hikawa Maru.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - Operation Obviate: 39 British Lancaster bombers attacked German battleship Tirpitz, scoring one near miss 15 meters to port.
» In-depth article - USS Ticonderoga arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands and joined Task Force 38 of Task Group 38.3.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 29 Oct 1944
29 Oct 1945
- Trial against Japanese General Yamashita began in Manila, Philippine Islands.
» In-depth article - S-18 was decommissioned from service.
» In-depth article - S-40 was decommissioned from service.
» In-depth article - Ellet was decommissioned from service.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 29 Oct 1945
29 Oct 1946
- Submarine Pollack was struck from the US Naval Register.
» In-depth article
29 Oct 1950
- Gustaf V passed away.
» In-depth article
29 Oct 1969
- Sholto Douglas passed away at Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, United Kingdom.
» 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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