September 17th, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The British are being cajoled into eating more potatoes, one of the few staple food of which there is no shortage. The ministry of food has fixed their retail price at a penny a pound throughout the year.
Ministry advertisements featuring a cartoon character called "Potato Pete" suggest serving a pound per person per day. "Use potatoes in pastry," he recommends, even going so far as to recommend mashed potato sandwiches. The ministry also sings the praises of carrots and swedes in all guises.
Plans are now being made to apply "points" rationing to tinned foods, beginning in November. Each person will get 16 points to spend on what he or she chooses every four weeks.
GERMANY:
U-356,
U-595 and
U-596 launched.
U-405 and
U-656 commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: Some German successes mark the heavy fighting in the outskirts of Kiev, the capitol of Ukraine.
The withdrawal from the Kiev pocket is finally approved by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, but it is far too late. Colonel General Mikhail Kirponos, commander of the Southwestern Front, would share the fate of many of his soldiers when his column, attempting to withdraw is ambushed and he is cut down. In the end, only 15,000 would escape the encirclement. This is a grave blow to the Soviet Army.
YUGOSLAVIA: Belgrade: Following attacks on German soldiers in the city, indefinite martial law has been proclaimed by the Serbia puppet regime set up by the Nazis. The regime is planning a punitive expedition into the mountains to round up rebels.
At dawn today, a Royal Navy submarine landed a British agent, Colonel D T Hudson, on the Dalmatian coast for a rendezvous with Tito and the other resistance leader, Mihailovich. Hudson's orders are to find out which of the two is putting up the tougher fight against the Nazi occupation.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Convoy HG-73 sailed from Gibraltar.
CHINA: The Japanese 11th Corps, some 125,000 strong, launches attacks at Changsha in the Hunnan Providence, 350 miles (563 kilometers) east of Chungking.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Hart informs Navy Department that, when hostilities began, he would move his ships to southern Philippine waters. (Marc Small)
CANADA: The Federal government declares that strikes are illegal for the remainder of the war.
U.S.A.: The US Navy takes over responsibility for some of the Halifax-UK convoys and most of the Iceland traffic. Canadian naval forces are escorting as far as 22 degrees West where the British take over.
During the Louisiana maneuvers, the U.S. Army dropped paratroopers for the first time in a tactical exercise. Thirteen Douglas DC–3s acquired for the purpose dropped a parachute company.
The Government allocates US$100,000,000 (US$1.176 billion in
year 2000 dollars) to the Soviet Union for the purchase of war materials.
In baseball, 20-year-old Stan Musial makes his major league debut
for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Braves in Sportsman's Park, St.
Louis. Before 3,585 fans, "Stan the Man" goes 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.