World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » Today in WW2 History

• Raffaele de Courten was born in Milan, Lombardia, Italy. ww2dbase [Raffaele de Courten | Milan, Lombardia | CPC]

• Friedrich Paulus was born in Guxhagen, Germany. ww2dbase [Friedrich Paulus | Guxhagen | CPC]

• Volodymyr Kubijovyč was born. ww2dbase [Volodymyr Kubijovyč | CPC]

• Vice Admiral Tomomichi Onomoto was named the commanding officer of the Mako naval port at Pescadores islands, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

23 Sep 1903 Interactive Map

• Susan Travers was born. ww2dbase [Susan Travers | CPC]

• Franklin Roosevelt's son Elliott was born. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]

• Eleven German Zeppelin airships raided England, United Kingdom, with three heading for London. LZ 76 (L-33) was forced to land after being damaged by anti-aircraft fire, and LZ 74 (L-32) was attacked by Second Lieutenant F. Sowrey, causing it to burst into flames. ww2dbase [England | AC]

• Henry Arnold was promoted to the rank of captain. ww2dbase [Henry Arnold | CPC]

• George Brett stepped down as the Director of Military Aeronautics of the US Army in Washington DC, United States. ww2dbase [George Brett | Washington | CPC]

• Naoshi Kanno was born in a village near Edano (now Kakuda), Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Naoshi Kanno | Edano, Miyagi | CPC]

23 Sep 1921 Interactive Map

• Poland passed the Gdynia Seaport Construction Act. ww2dbase [Deutsche Werke Gotenhafen | Gdynia, Pomorskie | CPC]

23 Sep 1922 Interactive Map

• Philipp married Princess Mafalda of the House of Savoy, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, at the Castello di Racconigi in Italy. ww2dbase [Philipp | Racconigi, Piemonte | CPC]

23 Sep 1925 Interactive Map

• The first production example of GL-810 HY floatplanes took flight at Les Mureaux, France. ww2dbase [GL-812 HY | Les Mureaux, Île-de-France | CPC]

• HMS Hermes arrived at Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Hermes | Portsmouth, England | CPC]

• Chinese Lieutenant General Xi Qia began talks with the Japanese occupation representatives in Mukden, China. ww2dbase [Mukden Incident | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler made an announcement in Nürnberg, Germany stressing the importance of separating the functions of the Nazi SA organization and the German Army. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]

• Light carrier Hosho's flight was damaged in a typhoon while participating in the annual Combined Fleet Maneuver exercise. ww2dbase [Hosho | CPC]

• Chiang Kaishek officially announced a united front between Nationalist Party and Communist Party forces against Japan. ww2dbase [Chiang Kaishek | CPC]

• In the evening, Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler met again in Bad Godesberg, Germany. Hitler demanded Czechoslovakia to leave the Sudetenland area by 28 Sep 1938; Chamberlain expressed frustration that Hitler was now demanding more than what had originally been discussed; after some heated discussion, Hitler returned to the original demand of 1 Oct 1938. ww2dbase [Munich Conference and the Annexation of Sudetenland | CPC]

• Walter Grabmann claimed 3 kills in Spain, an I-15 fighter, an I-16 fighter, and a SB-2 bomber. ww2dbase [Walter Grabmann | CPC]

• In Hunan Province, China, Japanese Army 6th Division crossed the Sinchiang River at dawn, followed by a similar crossing by another division at 0620 hours at Yingtian (now Miluo). Also on the same day, naval vessels landed Japanese Navy Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force and Japanese Army 3rd Division east of the city of Changsha. Surrounded on three sides, Chinese troops fell back to prevent encirclement, opening the way to Changsha. ww2dbase [First Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]

• Émile Bertin embarked 57 tons of Polish gold at Syria-Lebanon. ww2dbase [Émile Bertin | CPC]

• German police began confiscating radios from Jews. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• The construction work for slip III at Deutsche Werke Kiel AG in Germany completed. ww2dbase [Deutsche Werke Kiel | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | AG]
• U-12 departed from Wilhelmshaven, Germany on her first and only war patrol. ww2dbase [U-12 | Wilhelmshaven, Weser-Ems | CPC]

• German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop expressed approval for the Soviet proposal on the partition of Poland. Meanwhile, at Krasnobrod, Poland, three squadrons of the Nowgrodek Cavalry Brigade attacked and surprised the German 8th Infantry Division which had entrenched on a hill. The German made a disorderly retreat to a nearby town, hotly pursued by the Polish cavalry. Despite heavy losses from machine-gun fire the Poles secured the town, capturing the German divisional headquarters including General Rudolf Koch-Erpach and about 100 other German soldiers. In addition forty Polish prisoners were freed. During the action Lieutenant Tadeusz Gerlecki, commanding the second squadron, defeated a German cavalry unit - one of the last battles in military history between opposing cavalry. ww2dbase [Invasion of Poland | CPC, AC]

• Joseph Stilwell ended a period of leave in the United States. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

23 Sep 1939 Interactive Map

• Japanese troops invaded Indochina despite French agreement to Japanese demands during negotiations on the previous day. ww2dbase [Indochina Campaign | TH]
• Operation Menace: General Charles de Gaulle arrived with 3,600 Free French troops at Dakar, French West Africa held by Vichy France; his forces were supported by 4,300 British troops and a powerful fleet. The Vichy French forces imprisoned the crew of two Free French aircraft that had landed at Dakar, and then fired upon a boat containing Free French personnel approaching to negotiate (wounding 2). At 1000 hours, British warships approached the harbor, and were also fired upon (killing 5). At 1130 hours, British ships fell back out of the range of shore batteries; at about the same time, Vichy French submarine Persee was sunk while attempting to torpedo the cruiser Dragon. In the afternoon, cruiser HMAS Australia attacked Vichy French destroyer L'Audacieux, forcing her to beach after 81 were killed. De Gualle's first attempt at a landing, at Rufisque Bay, was repulsed, and he began to show reluctance of killing fellow countrymen. Having heard of this sentiment, Winston Churchill urged de Gaulle to "[s]top at nothing". ww2dbase [British Attacks on the French Fleet | CPC]
• British submarine H-49 sank German ship Heimdal 7 miles northwest of Terschelling Island, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• King George VI of the United Kingdom instituted the George Cross award as the equivalent of the Victoria Cross for civilians. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS R-1 was recommissioned into service. ww2dbase [R-1 | CPC]
• Bantam delivered a prototype, officially named the "Pilot" but nicknamed the "Blitz Buggy", to the US Army vehicle test center at Camp Holabird, Maryland, United States for a requirement that would result in the Jeep. ww2dbase [Jeep | DS]
• HMS Cumberland provided naval gunfire support and hit by 9.4in shell from shore battery. Steam pipe fracture caused loss of electrical power and ship withdrawn from operation. (Note: 4in Magazine was flooded as a precaution.) ww2dbase [Cumberland | DS]

• The United Kingdom received 7 American destroyers at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [Halifax, Nova Scotia | CPC]

• The British RAF Bomber Command sent 129 bombers for a night raid against Berlin, Germany, causing minimal damage. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | TH]
• Werner Mölders was presented Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross medal by Adolf Hitler in Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Werner Mölders | Berlin | CPC]

• Two German raids approached London, England, United Kingdom at 0930 hours and 1730 hours, but few aircraft reached London, turned back by RAF fighters; the Germans lost 10 Bf 109 and 1 Bf 110 fighters, while the British lost 11 fighters. Overnight, German bombers attacked London and Liverpool. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]

23 Sep 1940 Interactive Map

• The German authorities in Paris, France issued a decree that stated that any French man concealing or assisting a British Airman would be shot, and any woman would be sent to a concentration camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Paris | AC]

• Soviet battleship Marat, already sunk in shallow water two days prior, was hit by two bombs from German Stuka dive bombers at Kronstadt near Leningrad, Russia, igniting the forward magazine. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | Kronstadt, Leningrad | CPC]
• German dive bombers attacked naval facilities at Leningrad, Russia, sinking submarines P-2 and M-74 and damaging cruisers Maksim Gorki and Kirov. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | Leningrad | CPC]
• The Leningrad-class destroyer leader Minsk was sunk by Stuka aircraft of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 in Kronstadt Harbour near Leningrad, Russia. She was later salvaged and recommissioned in Jun 1943. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | Kronstadt, Leningrad | AC]

• Armed resistance was met by the Germans during the liquidation of the Tutzin ghetto in western Ukraine. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US Marines began to move toward Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]
• In northern Germany, 83 British Lancaster bombers attacked Wismar (4 were lost), 28 Halifax bombers attacked Flensburg (5 were lost), and 24 Stirling bombers attacked Vegesack (1 was lost). ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
• East African 22nd Infantry Brigade captured Tananarive (now Antananarivo), Madagascar. ww2dbase [Madagascar Campaign | CPC]
• German submarine U-617 attacked Allied convoy SC-100 200 miles east of the southern tip of Greenland just after the start of the day, sinking British tanker Athelsultan at 0019 hours (51 were killed, 10 survived) and British merchant ship Tennessee at 0142 hours (15 were killed, 20 survived. At 0026 hours, U-211 sank US tanker Esso Williamsburg 500 miles south of Greenland; most of the 60 aboard were killed, and the few survivors never reached land. 580 miles southeast of Newfoundland, U-582 sank Norwegian merchant ship Vibran; all 48 aboard were killed. At 0615 hours, U-515 sank Norwegian ship Lindvangen off British Guyana; 15 were killed, 8 survived. At 1103 hours, U-515 struck again in the same area, damaging US ship Antinous. British aircraft attacked German submarine U-177 on the surface off the Faroe Islands at 1330 hours, causing no damage but killed one. At 2334 hours, U-125 sank British ship Bruyère 380 miles southwest of Freetown, British West Africa after an 8-hour pursuit; all 55 aboard survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Erwin Rommel departed North Africa for a six-week rest in Germany to recover from sinusitis, high blood pressure, and other ailments linked to the North African environment. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
• HMS Cumberland on passage to Greenock. ww2dbase [Cumberland | DS]

• Soviet submarine M-60 struck a mine and sank in the Black Sea off Odessa, Ukraine. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Shokaku arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Truk | CPC]

• USS Finback departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Finback | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Australian destroyer HMAS Voyager ran aground at Betano Bay, East Timor at 1830 hours as she attempted to disembark Australian 2/4th Independent Company. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Betano Bay | CPC]

• Soviet 284th Rifle Division arrived in Stalingrad, Russia and was ferried across the Volga River to join the front lines as German troops attacked the landing site. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | TH, CPC]
• Tiger I tanks saw combat for the first time, operated by German 502nd Tank Battalion near Leningrad, Russia. ww2dbase [PzKpfw VI Ausf. E 'Tiger I' | Leningrad | CPC]

• Leslie Groves was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. On the same day, he toured the future Oak Ridge site of the Manhattan Project in Tennessee, United States and expressed his satisfaction for this site being used for a future production site. ww2dbase [Clinton Engineer Works | Leslie Groves | Oak Ridge, Tennessee | CPC]
• USS Whale departed San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Whale | San Francisco, California | CPC]

23 Sep 1942 Interactive Map

• Red Army captured Poltava, Ukraine. ww2dbase [TH]
• Joseph Goebbels visited Adolf Hitler at Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany. The two had dinner together, during which Adolf Hitler shared his belief that Winston Churchill would not be willing to consider peace offers coming from Germany. ww2dbase [Joseph Goebbels | CPC]

• Two Norwegian vessels, the 5,096-ton merchant ship Skjelbred in ballast and the 2,642-ton ship Oregon Express were torpedoed by German submarine U-238 (Horst Hemp) south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland. U-238 had fired at the convoy ON 202 and claimed four ships sunk. The steering gear of the Skjelbred was put out of action and an attempt to set up an emergency rudder was halted when the escorting ship HMS Northern Foam ordered the crew to abandon her. The master, Torjus Emil Johnsen and 37 crew members with five gunners left the vessel, which was last seen in a sinking condition. The captain later stated that Skjelbred, being capable of 16-17 knots, should not have been placed in such a slow convoy. The Oregon Express also in ballast was hit on the starboard side in the engine room. The explosion killed one man on the bridge and two on watch below and blew others overboard. The survivors among the 41 crew members and four gunners on board tried to abandon ship in the only two lifeboats that remained intact, but one became filled with water and the other contained only a few men. The most survivors had to jump overboard when the ship broke in two and sank within three minutes. Both lifeboats fished others out of the water until 25 men were in the boats, while eleven rescued themselves on a raft that had floated free, including the injured master. ww2dbase [HM]

• 73 Canadian internees, 13 Latin American internees, and 24 American internees of Stanley Internment Camp were brought out of Hong Kong aboard passenger ship Teia Maru; they were to be transported to Goa, where an internee exchange with the Allies was to take place. ww2dbase [Stanley Prison and St Stephen's College | CPC]

• Indian 8th Infantry Division began to arrive at Taranto, Italy. ww2dbase [Operation Avalanche | Taranto, Puglia | CPC]
• Colonel Walter Schöll issued the complete evacuation of the coast near Naples, Italy within a day; the area had a population of over 200,000. ww2dbase [Naples Uprising | Naples, Campania | CPC]
• British Mediterranean Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral Andrew Cunningham and Italian Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Raffaele de Courten at Brindisi, Italy and struck the Gentlemen's Agreement, beginning a period of cooperation between the two navies. ww2dbase [Invasion of Sicily and Italy's Surrender | Raffaele de Courten | Brindisi, Puglia | CPC]

• USS Harder sank freighter Kowa Maru and tanker Daishin Maru off Nagoya Bay, Japan, hitting each with one torpedo; six torpedoes were expended in this attack. ww2dbase [Harder | CPC]

• The Vilna Ghetto in Lithuania was liquidated. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Vilnius | CPC]

• Shokaku departed Eniwetok, Marshall Islands for Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Eniwetok | CPC]

• Colonel Pyotr P. Timofeev was named the Soviet counterintelligence agency GUKR SMERSH's chief within the Steppe Front. ww2dbase [CPC]

• King George VI cabled Chiang Kaishek, informing the Chinese leader that Louis Mountbatten would soon be dispatched to Chinese to discuss an Anglo-American-Chinese joint offensive against Japanese forces in Burma. ww2dbase [George VI | London, England | CPC]
• Air Marshal Arthur Harris despatched a bomber raid to Berlin, Germany to test the effectiveness of the H2S navigation system over the city and to probe German defences before the first major operation was undertaken. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Arthur Harris | England | AC]

• USS Gar entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States for overhaul. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Gar | Vallejo, California | CPC]
• The keel of submarine Brill was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, United States. ww2dbase [Electric Boat Company | Brill | Groton, Connecticut | CPC]

23 Sep 1943 Interactive Map

• Canadian troops formed a bridgehead across the Escaut Canal in Belgium. ww2dbase [TH]
• Franklin Roosevelt denounced Republican Party attacks during a speech at the Teamster's Union dinner; the Republicans had accused Roosevelt of inappropriately using a US Navy destroyer to fetch his pet dog Fala, abusing his presidential powers. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• The tiny republic of San Marino in northern Italy declared war on Germany after its 300-man army was rounded up by a mere platoon of German soldiers. ww2dbase [AC]
• The Republic of China established the Order of Loyalty and Diligence. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Patrick Hurley asked Chiang Kaishek to accept communist assistance in the war against Japan; Chiang rejected the request. ww2dbase [Patrick Hurley | CPC]

• USS Ray departed Fremantle, Australia for her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Ray | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]

• Jewish prisoners of concentration camp in Kluga, Estonia were massacred. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Kluga | CPC]

• After a six-day siege, Canadian troops forced the German troops at Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, France to surrender. The Canadians suffered 634 casualties and captured 9,500 prisoners (many driven from their bunkers by driving flame down the ventilation shafts). ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 2 | Boulogne, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw departed Guam for Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [Shaw | Apra | DS]

• Soviet and Romanian forces entered Hungary just beyond Arad, Romania. Hungarian Baron Ede Atzel led a delegation across the Soviet front lines in an attempt to negotiate an armistice. ww2dbase [Budapest Strategic Offensive Operation | TH, CPC]

• Irako dropped anchor between Tangat Island and Lusong Island just off the southern coast of Busuanga, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Irako | Busuanga, Palawan | CPC]
• Kamoi refueled submarine chaser CH-30 and submarine chaser CH-33 at Coron Bay, Palawan, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Coron Bay, Palawan | CPC]

• Allied convoy JW-60 arrived at the Kola Inlet near Murmansk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]

• No. 56 Squadron RAF was transferred out of RAF Newchurch in southern England, United Kingdom; the field ceased operations upon No. 56 Squadron's exit. ww2dbase [RAF Newchurch | Newchurch, England | CPC]
• A V-1 flying bomb over flew the town of Newmarket, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom and crashed near Burwell in Cambridgeshire. The pilot, at the rank of flight officer, of the 501 Squadron had been chasing the bomb and had reached overtaking speed when the engine of his Tempest aircraft seized up. He had seconds to gain a little height and turn to the west to avoid the marshlands and bale out. He saw the aircraft crash into a barn and explode whilst he landed in a cherry tree outside the Leather Bottle Inn. It was there that he was rescued by a Royal Engineer Officer before being held in a Police Station for 2 hours awaiting proper identification. The fault in the Tempest aircraft was traced to an air lock when fuel tanks were switched over. ww2dbase [Tempest | V-Weapons Campaign | Burwell, England | HM]

• USS Charr was commissioned into service at 1030 hours at the US Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut, United States with Commander Francis Boyle in command. ww2dbase [Charr | New London, Connecticut | CPC]
• Joseph Rochefort was promoted to the rank of captain. His superior Joseph Redman sent him a three-word letter "Delivered with congratulations" for this occasion. ww2dbase [Joseph Rochefort | CPC]
• USS Boarfish was commissioned into service with Commander Royce L. Gross in command. ww2dbase [Boarfish | CPC]

• USS Croaker completed her refitting at Midway and began her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Croaker | Midway | CPC]

23 Sep 1944 Interactive Map

• In southern French Indochina, British Major General Douglas Gracey armed French prisoners of war in Cochinchina, French Indochina as recommended by French commissioner Jean Cédile; in the evening, these French troops, bent on revenge, stormed and captured the Saigon City Hall and other administrative buildings from the Viet Minh, killing many innocent civilians and burning down homes during the process, critically damaging public trust in the European administration which had already been waning. Meanwhile, in northern and central French Indochina, several leaders in civilian spheres sent a joint message to the Vatican, asking Pope Pius XII to support for Vietnamese independence. ww2dbase [Saigon, Cochinchina | CPC]
• Chinese forces entered Luang Prabang, Laos and disarmed French troops in the name of maintaining peace between the Lao and French peoples. ww2dbase [Luang Prabang, Laos | CPC]

• The leftist political party Democratic Alliance staged a large rally in Manila, Philippines, demanding reforms, release of Huk leader Luis Trauc, and justice against war time collaborators. ww2dbase [Manila | CPC]

• USS Whale arrived at the Tompkinsville area of Staten Island, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Whale | Staten Island, New York | CPC]

23 Sep 1945 Interactive Map

• USS Missouri entered New York Naval Shipyard in New York, United States for a scheduled overhaul. ww2dbase [Missouri | CPC]

• US President Harry S. Truman announced to the world that there was positive evidence that the Soviet Union had detonated an atomic bomb; this highlighted the fact that the US monopoly of nuclear weapons had ended and marked the beginning of East-West confrontation known as the Cold War. ww2dbase [Harry Truman | AC]

• General Mark Wayne Clark observed the USS Iowa bombardment of Wonsan, Korea from aboard the battleship. ww2dbase [Iowa | Wonsan, Kangwon | CPC]

23 Sep 1952 Interactive Map

• Santa Fe departed San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Macabi | San Francisco, California | CPC]

• Karl Burk passed away in Fritzlar, Hessen, Germany. ww2dbase [Karl Burk | Fritzlar, Hessen | CPC]

23 Sep 1970 Interactive Map

• USS Wasp departed Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, United States for exercise Lantcortex 1-72. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | North Kingstown, Rhode Island | CPC]

23 Sep 1983 Interactive Map

• Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, United States declared 30 Jan of each year the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. ww2dbase [Fred Korematsu | California | CPC]