7 Sep in WW2 History | World War II Database

7 Sep 1917

The future Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, VC, the highly decorated WW2 pilot and later founder of the Cheshire Homes for the disabled, was born at Chester, England, United Kingdom.

7 Sep 1924

Hawaii

Daniel Inouye was born in Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii.
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7 Sep 1930

Prince Baudouin (later King Baudouin I) of Belgium was born at Stuyvenberg on the outskirts of Brussels, Belgium.

7 Sep 1934

Germany

Franz von Papen arrived at Nürnberg, Germany for the 4th Nazi Party rally.
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Photo(s) dated 7 Sep 1934

Hitler Youth members at a Nazi Party rally, Nürnberg, Germany, 5-10 Sep 1934

7 Sep 1935

Photo(s) dated 7 Sep 1935

Blomberg, Fritsch, and Hitler at a military maneuver at Celle, Germany, 7 Sep 1935

7 Sep 1936

The first autonomous Basque Government, led by Jose Antonio Aguirre, was formed in Spain.
Pierre Barjot was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander.
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7 Sep 1938

United Kingdom

The newspaper Times of London published an editorial suggesting that Czechoslovakia had much to gain in terms of achieving ethnic homogeneity should it allowed Sudetenland to secede. Once again, leader of the Sudeten Nazi Party Konrad Henlein announced that he would cut off communications with the Czechoslovakian government.
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Photo(s) dated 7 Sep 1938

Adolf Hitler speaking at the Nürnberg Opera House during a party rally, Nürnberg, Germany, 7 Sep 1938

7 Sep 1939

French Army entered Saarland, but made no move on the Westwall.
BBC began broadcasts in Polish.
King George VI of the United Kingdom provided approval to the National Registration Bill, which gave control of labor to the government as well as requiring identity cards for citizens.
Adolf Hitler ordered Erich Rader to hold back German Navy from attacking British and French vessels.
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China

General Yoshijiro Umezu succeeded General Kenkichi Ueda as the Governor-General of Kwantung Leased Territory in northeastern China.
Yoshijiro Umezu succeeded Kenkichi Ueda as the commanding officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army in northeastern China. Jo Iimura was named Umezu's chief of staff.

Korea

Lieutenant General Yakutaira Kato was named the chief of staff of the Japanese Chosen Army in occupied Korea.

Poland

German troops captured Kraków, Poland.
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Photo(s) dated 7 Sep 1939

German soldiers at the Westerplatte, Danzig, 7 Sep 1939

7 Sep 1940

German submarine U-47 sank British ship Neptunian (killing all 36), British ship José de Larrinaga (killing all 40), and Norwegian ship Gro (killing 11; 21 survived) 300 miles northwest of Ireland between 0400 and 0533 hours.
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Douglas Bader shot down two German Bf 110 heavy fighters; his Hurricane fighters was heavily damaged in a subsequent encounter by a Bf 109 fighter, but was able to return to base despite the damage.
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United Kingdom

Ignoring the RAF airfields, German bombers instead attacked London, England, United Kingdom as the new Operation Loge commenced; Göring rode his personal train Asia to Pas-de-Calais, France in a freshly made uniform to personally oversee the first night of the operation. At 1600 hours, 300 bombers and 200 Bf 110 fighter-bombers escorted by 600 Bf 109 fighters. British fighters expected the attacking force to split up to attack airfields, thus were unprepared when they flew straight for East End, London. By the time the British fighters arrived, the bombers had already unloaded their bombs. However, as the Bf 109 fighters had already left due to low fuel levels, German bombers became easy prey. During the day, 53 German bombers were shot down, as was 21 Bf 109 fighters; the British lost 27 fighters. Overnight, German bombers continued to attack East End, which saw 490 killed and 1,200 wounded on this day. This would mark the first of 57 consecutive nights of German bombings on the British capital.
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Photo(s) dated 7 Sep 1940

German He 111 bomber over Surrey Docks, London, England, United Kingdom at 1700 hours on 7 Sep 1940

7 Sep 1941

The German 6.Armee broke through near Konotop, Ukraine.
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The autonomous Volga German Republic was formally abolished; all German males were formed into construction brigades working as forced labourers wherever the regime directed them in conditions littler different from the Gulag camps.
German motor torpedo boats S.48, S.49, S.50, S.52, and S.107 attacked an Allie convoy off the coast of Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, sinking British ship Duncarron (9 killed) and Norwegian ship Eikhaug (15 killed, 4 survived).
British submarine HMS Thunderbolt attacked an Axis convoy and sank Italian ship Sirena 50 miles west of Benghazi, Libya.
British cruisers HMS Nigeria and HMS Aurora attacked a German convoy in Hammerfjord in northern Norway at 0130 hours, sinking German gunnery ship Bremse; HMS Nigeria was damaged in the bow and was sent back to Britain for repairs. Elsewhere, British Albacore aircraft from HMS Victorious searched for German shipping off Tromsø, Norway.

Russia

HMS Argus delivered Hurricane fighters of No. 81 Squadron RAF and No. 134 Squadron RAF to Vaenga near Murmansk, Russia.
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United States

Sara Roosevelt, mother of the US President, passed away at Hyde Park, New York, United States shortly before 1200 hours.
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7 Sep 1942

The German 6.Armee units began advancing through Stalingrad, Russia to the Volga shores.
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Franklin Roosevelt asked the United States Congress for the power to control prices of various goods in the civilian market, adding that, if not given the authority by the lawmakers by 1 Oct 1942, he would do so anyway.
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German submarine U-517 attacked Allied convoy QS-33 at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, Canada at 2300 hours, sinking Greek ship Mount Pindus (2 were killed, 35 survived), Greek ship Mount Taygetus (2 were killed, 26 survived), and Canadian collier Oakton (3 were killed, 17 survived). 40 miles south of Iceland, U-617 sank Faroese trawler Tor II; 18 were killed, 3 survived.
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Australian Papua

Troops of 3rd Battalion of Japanese 144th Regiment, supported by 6 mountain guns, attacked Australian positions at Efogi along the Kokoda Track in Australian Papua, causing heavy casualties among the Australian 2/27th Battalion; after sundown, 2nd Battalion of the same regiment infiltrated into the jungle in an attempt to flank the Australians. Under the cover of darkness, a Japanese cruiser and a destroyer bombarded Australian positions at Gili Gili on the coast of Milne Bay.
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China

Joseph Stilwell arrived in Chongqing, China; later on the same day he met with Song Meiling.
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Egypt

Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down two P-40 fighters over El Alamein, Egypt.
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Taiwan

The Takao Prisoners of War Camp near Takao (now Kaohsiung), Taiwan was opened.
USS Growler sank Japanese freighter Kashino Taika Maru 25 miles northwest of Keelung, Taiwan.
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7 Sep 1943

Japanese Navy Captain Takeji Ono relieved Rear Admiral Chiaki Matsuda as the commanding officer of battleship Yamato; Matsuda was reassigned to the Imperial General Staff.
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» Tabular Record of Movement
German 17.Armee began evacuating the Kuban bridgehead in southern Russia, while other non-Army organizations began removing their rear echelon units.
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RAF aircraft bombed V-1 rocket launch sites on the French coast.
USS Puffer departed Fremantle, Australia for her first war patrol in the Makassar Strait-Celebes Sea area in the Dutch East Indies.
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Italy

British and Canadian troops engaged with troops of German Krüger Battle Group in southwestern Italy.
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Photo(s) dated 7 Sep 1943

Three Japanese Type A-class midget submarines wrecked by demolition charges, at a former Japanese base on Kiska Island, Aleutian Islands, 7 Sep 1943, photo 1 of 2

7 Sep 1944

British 11th Armoured Division crossed the Albert Canal in Belgium.
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US Third Army crossed Moselle River.
Hans Speidel was arrested.

China

Chiang Kaishek met with Joseph Stilwell, Patrick Hurley, and Donald Nelson in Chongqing, China.
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Czechoslovakia

A Soviet military mission was established under Major Ivan Skripka in Slovakia to aid the Slovak National Uprising.
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Dutch East Indies

USS Flying Fish reported a new Japanese airfield at Celebes, Dutch East Indies and reported this discovery.
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France

The first two German V-2 rockets were fired against the Allies by German 444 and 485 Mobile Artillery Detachments at 1030 and 1140 hours, respectively. They both targeted Paris, France, but both crashed immediately after launch.

Pacific Ocean

USS Alabama escorted US carriers as carrier aircraft attacked Japanese positions in the Caroline Islands.
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USS Barbero attacked a Japanese trawler east of the Philippine Islands; the torpedo missed.
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South Africa