21 Sep 1942
  • RAF bombers conducted a raid on München, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | TH]
  • The inter-Allies information committee estimated that the Germans had thus far executed 207,373 people in occupied Europe. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • US Navy torpedoes began to be equipped with a new depth control device; the predecessor device was found to be running the torpedoes 10 feet too deep. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • USS Trout sank Japanese auxiliary net layer Koei Maru 55 miles south of Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Trout | CPC]
  • German submarine U-606 approached Allied convoy QP-14 between Greenland and Jan Mayen Island, Norway at 1114 hours but was driven off by a Norwegian-piloted British Catalina aircraft; U-606 fought back and shot down the aircraft. To the east, convoy PQ-18 arrived at Arkhangelsk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
  • German submarine U-175 sank Yugoslavian ship Predsednik Kopajtic 20 miles off British Guyana at 0640 hours; 3 were killed, 25 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
  • British submarine HMS Unruffled sank Italian auxiliary minesweeper Aquila with the deck gun and and Vichy French merchant Liberia with torpedoes 8 miles off Mehedia, Tunisia at 0105 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • Alpino Bagnolini sighted an aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 1304 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]
  • Comandante Cappellini sighted a small warship in the Atlantic Ocean at 1223 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. At 1501 hours, she sighted another warship, and again submerged. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]
Australia Australian Papua Burma
  • British forces began their first land counter-offensive against the Japanese in the Arakan region of Burma. ww2dbase [Arakan | AC]
Caroline Islands
  • Tenryu embarked 56 Type 3 Model 1 naval mines as cargo while at Truk, Caroline Islands; these mines were mine for Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Truk | CPC]
China
  • Joseph Stilwell had dinner with the Chiang household and shared photographs of the Chinese troop training at Ramgarh, India. In Stilwell's diary entry for the day, he noted that he was able to converse with Chiang Kaishek entirely in Chinese for the first time without the help of Song Meiling who usually helped in the role of translator. ww2dbase [Song Meiling | Joseph Stilwell | Chiang Kaishek | Chongqing | CPC]
Danzig
  • German training submarine U-446 struck a mine and sank in the Gulf of Danzig, Germany. ww2dbase [CPC]
France Pacific Ocean
  • USS Grouper sank Japanese merchant ship Tone Maru 85 miles east of Shanghai, China. ww2dbase [Grouper | East China Sea | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • British rescue tug HMS St. Olaves ran around off Duncansby Head, Scotland, United Kingdom and was declared a total loss. ww2dbase [Scotland | CPC]
  • Garland completed her permanent repairs at Troon, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Garland | Troon, Scotland | CPC]
United States
  • The keel of the future US Navy submarine Corvina was laid down at the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, United States. ww2dbase [Electric Boat Company | Corvina | Groton, Connecticut | CPC]
  • B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber took its first flight from Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, United States. ww2dbase [B-29 Superfortress | Seattle, Washington | CPC]
  • US Navy Admiral William Purnell, after speaking with OSS chief William Donovan, made Milton Miles the head of OSS operations in China. Miles, however, was not informed of this. ww2dbase [Milton Miles | CPC]

21 Sep 1942 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Famous WW2 Quote
"I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."

General Douglas MacArthur at Leyte, 17 Oct 1944


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