September 30th, 1941 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons saying, "It seems likely now that we shall bring in several million tons more than the import total which I mentioned in private to the House earlier in the year, which total was itself sufficient to keep us going. We are now within measurable distance of the immense flow of American new building, to which, together with our own construction, we look to carry us through and on progressively till the end of the war."
Submarine HMS Taurus laid down.
GERMANY: U-801 laid down.
U-205 suffered a blow when one of its men, Fähnrich zur See Fritz Säger, took his own life.
U.S.S.R.: Guderian's Second panzer Army has completed its move north to be the right wing of the German attack on Moscow, Operation Typhoon. The Kiev battle is complete, which is why Hitler moved it to the south. These units begin to advance from Glukhov toward Orel and Bryansk.
Kleist's 1st Panzer Army attacks east from the Dniepr at Dnepropetrovsk, and easily breaks through the Soviet defensive line. They are headed for Donetsk and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov.
Leningrad's defenders have stopped the Germans seven miles from the city, within sight of its church spires. Today General Zhukov arrives to take charge of the cities defences.
Kiev: Members of Einsatzgruppe C, led by Otto Rasch, are relaxing at the end of a particularly efficient piece of work. In two days they have murdered 33,771 Jews at Babi Yar, a ravine on the outskirts of the city.
Four days ago they put up posters asking Jews to report for resettlement. Rasch is proud to report that none of those who duly reported apparently realized that they were to die. The masses gathered at the prescribed place with their bundles of food and clothing. Divided into groups of 100, they were marched to the edge of the ravine.
The SS men varied their routine. First they machine-gunned the Jews and kicked them off the edge. Then they made them walk a plank and shot them in the neck. Children were simply thrown over.
The dead and half-dead piled up at the bottom, slowly moving as the living struggled to prevent themselves being suffocated by the growing weight of the dead. Moaning and sobbing rose up from the bleeding, bruised mound. When there was a break in the killing at the top of the ravine, the SS moved in at the bottom and used pistols to despatch those who still moved.
Miraculously, a handful of Jews escaped from Babi Yar. Among them was Dina Pronicheva, who pretended to be dead.
By the end of September, 1,360 Soviet heavy industrial plants had been moved from areas that are now occupied by the Germans to the Urals and points east. The Soviet Union is beginning its recovery from the summer onslaught.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The Italian submarine “Adua” is patrolling off Cartagena, Spain, where a large convoy is expected to be crossing. At 0350 hours, the submarine sights a large group of 11 destroyers. These destroyers are part of the British Force “H” which had escorted a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta. The sub fires four torpedoes at the British ships, the crew hears detonations and disengages to avoid the reaction of the destroyers. At 0525 hours, the sub sends a radio message which is picked up by the British and the destroyers use ASDIC (Sonar) to detect the sub. Two destroyers, HMS Gurkha (F 63) and HMS Legion (F 74) depth charge the sub sinking her at 1030 hours about 94 nautical miles (175 kilometers) east-southeast of Cartagena, Spain, in position 37.10N, 0.56E. There are no survivors. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw
TURKEY embargoes chrome exports to Germany.
CHINA: Japanese forces fight their way out of the encirclement at Changsha suffering serious losses in the retreat to Yoochow. Chinese estimates range up to 40,000 losses for the Japanese, a major victory for the Chinese.
CANADA: HMS Seaborn renamed
HMCS Sambro and became depot ship Halifax,
Nova Scotia for destroyers and auxiliaries. HMS Seaborn was formerly the US
yacht Seaborn and had been acquired by Northumberland Ferries Ltd. in 1939 and
renamed the Charles A. Dunning. But she was almost immediately taken over for
naval service and given her old name. On 7 December 1939 she was commissioned
HMS Seaborn, flagship of the Rear Admiral with the 3rd Battle Squadron. When the
3rd Battle Squadron was withdrawn to the United Kingdom she was renamed
HMCS Sambro, depot ship for destroyers and
auxiliaries. On 6 March 1943 she was renamed
HMCS Venture II, depot ship for fairmiles.
To avoid confusion, the schooner Venture was re-designated Harbour Craft 190 and
continued her duties as before. At the same time the depot ship dropped her
Roman suffix and became the third Canadian Venture. She remained
HMCS Venture until paid off on 14 January
1946. Sold for commercial purposes, she still existed in 1953 under the
Panamanian flag.
Minesweeper HMCS Burlington arrived
Halifax from builder Toronto, Ontario].
U.S.A.: US General Marshall directs MacArthur to arrange for the "regular use" of British and Imperial air fields at Port Darwin, Rabaul, Port Moresby, and Singapore, for the "emergency use" of fields in the Netherlands East Indies, and to ask the British to develop an additional air field in the northern part of Borneo.
Sayre writes to MacArthur "> MacArthur to complain of MacArthur’s lack of co-operation with the High Commission in civil defence.
WPD
develops plans for the stockpiling of ammunition and POL
throughout the South-West Pacific.
At the instigation of Arnold, Marshall offers MacArthur "> MacArthur the choice of MG Lewis Brereton, MG Jacob E Fickel, or BG Walther H Frank to head up the expanded FEAF.