September 15th, 1944 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: EUROPEAN OPERATIONS
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 632: As part of Operation FRANTIC, 110 B-17s are dispatched to drop supplies to Warsaw patriots and then proceed to bases in the USSR; a weather front is encountered over the North Sea and the bombers are recalled. Escort is provided by 149 P-51 Mustangs; 2 P-51s collide in a cloud and are lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS: In northern France, bad weather prevents US Ninth Air Force bomber operations; the US IX Tactical Air Command supports US First Army troops and in Germany, flies armed reconnaissance around Cologne and from Trier to the Rhine River area; the US XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US Third Army and flies armed reconnaissance in the Nancy-Strasbourg area. HQ XII Tactical Air Command, based in southern France, remains assigned to the US Twelfth Air Force but is put under operational control of the Ninth Air Force.
Liverpool: Over a thousand British PoWs return from Germany on the liner ARUNDEL CASTLE.
FRANCE: Marshal Petain and others of the Vichy government are ordered to be arrested by François de Methon, the justice minister, on charges of collaboration.
In northern France, the U.S. 2d and 29th Infantry Divisions continue to make slow progress at Brest. Units of the Task Force Sebree move into Nancy from Toul without opposition.
In northern France, bad weather prevents US AAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations; the US IX Tactical Air Command supports US First Army troops and in Germany, flies armed reconnaissance around Cologne and from Trier to the Rhine River area; the USAAF XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US Third Army and flies armed reconnaissance in the Nancy-Strasbourg area. HQ XII Tactical Air Command, based in southern France, remains assigned to the USAAF Twelfth Air Force but is put under operational control of the Ninth Air Force.
In southern France, the 6th Army Group becomes operational at 0001 hours local and assumes control of the Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) forces that are in France. At the same time, operational control of the 6th Army Group passes AFHQ to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, a move previous agreed upon between American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief Supreme Headquarter Allied Expeditionary Force, and British General Henry Wilson, Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean. French Army B acquires autonomy and is on a par with the U.S. Seventh Army. French Army B regroups during the next few days for a drive eastward.
In southern France, 53 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly a supply mission from Italy.
BELGIUM: The Canadian 4th Armoured Division establishes a bridgehead across Canal de Derivation near Balgerhoek.
NETHERLANDS: In preparation for Market-Garden, the British 2nd Army crosses the
Meuse-Escaut canal. The US 1st Army takes Eisden and Maastrich. The US 3rd Army takes Nancy and Epinal. The US 7th Army and the French 1st Army, from
the south of France, come under General Eisenhower's command today.
GERMANY: American troops enter Germany for the first time as elements of the U.S. VII and V Corps reach the southwestern frontier.
The U.S. 1st Infantry Division almost encircles Aachen. The U.S. 3d Armored Division heads east toward Eschweiler battling the second defense belt of the West Wall, called the Schill Line. Task Force Lovelady of the 3d Armored Division cross the Vicht River upon completion of a bridge and with little difficulty achieves complete breakthrough of West Wall fortifications driving through Mausbach toward Eschweiler.
During the night of 15/16 September, RAF Bomber Command sent 490 aircraft, 310 Lancasters, 173 Halifaxes and seven Mosquitos, to Kiel; 465 bomb the target. Four Halifaxes and two Lancasters are lost. The evidence of returning crews and of photographs caused Bomber Command to record this as “a highly concentrated raid” with “the old town and modern shopping center devastated.” Other targets are also bombed: 24 of 27 Mosquitos bombed Berlin with the loss of one aircraft; 7 of 9 Mosquitos bombed Lübeck; and 7 of 8 Mosquitos bombed the marshalling yard at Rheine. Minelaying missions included 13 aircraft mining Kiel Harbor, nine mining off Pillau, nine mining the Fehmarn Channel, six mining the Elbe River and five mining the Kattegat.
U-2337 launched.
POLAND: The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 632: As part of Operation FRANTIC, 110 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to drop supplies to Warsaw patriots and then proceed to bases in the U.S.S.R.; a weather front is encountered over the North Sea and the bombers are recalled. Escort is provided by 149 P-51 Mustangs; two P-51s collide in a cloud and are lost.
During the night of 15/16 September, nine RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Gdynia.
NORWAY: 28 British Lancaster heavy bombers attack Tirpitz, in Altafjord. Flying from Russia they use 12,000 lb armour-piercing "Tallboy" bombs. Smoke screens effectively screen the German battleship, which is still disabled when one direct hit goes straight through the forecastle, peeling back the deck like the lid of a sardine tin. The two RAF squadrons arrived in Yagodnik, north Russia, two days ago.
Thirty eight Lancasters and a weather reconnaissance Mosquito of RAF Bomber Command had set out on 11 September to fly to Northern Russia in preparation for this raid on the German 45,000 ton battleship Tirpitz, which is at anchor in Kaa Fjord in Northern Norway. One aircraft returned to the U.K. and six crash-landed in Russia but their crew members are not seriously hurt. Only 27 Lancasters and a further Lancaster with a cameraman on board are available for the raid on the Tirpitz, which eventually took place today. Twenty aircraft are loaded with the 12,000 pound (5 443 kilogram) Tallboy bomb and six (or seven, the records are not clear) carried several 'Johnny Walker' mines, of 400-500 pound (181-227 kilogram) weight developed for attacking capital ships moored in shallow water. The attack caught the Tirpitz by surprise and her smoke-screens are late in starting. One Tallboy hit the Tirpitz near the bow and caused considerable damage. The shock caused by the explosion of this bomb, or possibly from other bombs which are near misses, also damaged the battleship's engines. The Germans decided that repairs to make Tirpitz fully seaworthy are not practicable and she is later moved to an anchorage further south in Norway, but only for use as a semi-static heavy artillery battery. These results of the raid are not known in the U.K. at the time and further raids against Tirpitz would take place. None of the Lancasters are shot down on the raid and all returned safely to the airfield in Russia but one aircraft crashed in Norway while returning to the U.K. two days later with 11 men on board.
During the night of 15/16 September, six RAF Bomber Command aircraft laid mines in Kaa Fjord.
FINLAND: This day is the deadline by when all Germans should have evacuated Finland. Southern Finland has been evacuated in time, but in Finnish Lappland (where Germans had manned the frontline since 1941) it has been evident all the time that the Germans could not and would not leave in time. That is why Finns and Germans have secretly agreed to orchestrate the German withdrawal so that there would be no fighting. Despite the agreement, this day sees the first bloodletting between the former "Waffenbröderen". In northern town of Oulu a three-man German patrol is killed after refusing to surrender.
In eastern Gulf of Finland a major battle is fought when Germans launch Operation Tanne Ost, capture of the island of Suursaari (today Gogland or Sur-Sari in Russian possession). After midnight some 2000 men invade the island. Germans expect to gain the island without a fight but the Finnish defenders, led by Lt. Col. Miettinen, refuse to surrender and fight back. After dawn it's clear the German situation is hopeless. They are pinned down on the beach by the Finnish defenders and are strafed by Russian fighters who have also driven away the German ships giving fire support to the operation. In the end Germans surrender. They have lost 153 killed and 1231 POW's (who are later handed over to the Russians).
For Finnish political leadership this action is heaven-sent. The peace negotiations are going on at Moscow, and now there's proof that Finns are seriously fighting Germans. It is hoped (vainly) that this would help the negotiators to get a little better deal. The politicians are unaware of the deal struck in north with Germans, and the soldiers of course hope that the Russians wouldn't find out either.
U.S.S.R.: Kronstadt: Captured U-boat U-250 is towed into dry dock here. After sinking this boat on July 30 the Russians discovered that they had a German U-boat captain alive and a sunken U-boat in shallow waters. Russian divers soon discovered that the boat lay at only 27 meter depth with only a slight listing of 14 degrees to the right and a large hole over the top of the diesel room. Two large air tanks, 200 tons each, were transported to the area and the Russians worked behind a smoke-curtain to raise the boat.
The Germans and the Finns did what they could to prevent the boat with the new secret T5 (Zaunkönig) acoustic-torpedo falling into Soviet hands. Finnish coastal artillery and German torpedo boats made frequent attacks on the salvage site but to no avail.
Today former Commander Kptlt. Schmidt had to go first into the now dry boat, as the Russian believed some explosive charges might still be on the boat. The 6 survivors then spent some years in Russian captivity. (Alex Gordon)(117)
GREECE: The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs four targets in Greece. One hundred nine B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Kalamaki Airfield in Athens while 51 bomb the German U-boat base at Salamis; 113 B-24 Liberators bomb Tatoi Airfield and 54 bomb Eleusis Airfield, both in Athens. P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs fly escort, target cover, and sweep target areas; the attacks are aimed at hampering the withdrawal of German forces from the area.
ITALY:
MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS (US Air Forces)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 276
B-17s and B-24s to bomb
Tatoi, Eleusis, and Kalamaki Airfields and Salamis submarine base in Greece;
P-38 Lightnings and P-51s
fly escort, target cover, and sweep target areas; the attacks are aimed at
hampering the withdrawal of enemy forces from the area. 53
B-24s fly a supply mission to southern France and 24
B-24s begin evacuating aircrews formerly imprisoned in Bulgaria from Cairo,
Egypt to Bari, Italy.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS: All US Twelfth Air Force medium bomber missions are cancelled or aborted due to weather; fighter-bombers, though restricted by weather, carry out armed reconnaissance against enemy communications and defensive positions in the Milan-Genoa-Modena-Pistoia areas, as Allied forces (joined on this date by elements of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force) attempt to penetrate enemy strongholds in the northern Apennines.
The British 8th Army crosses the Marano River. The U.S. IV Corps occupies Viareggion. The 6th Regimental Combat Team, Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF), under command of Brigadier General Euclydes da Costa, enters the line. These are the first Brazilians to fight on European soil and the first echelon of the Brazilian 1st Infantry Division to arrive, the rest of the division is coming later. The British 1st Division completes the capture of Poggio Prefetto. The British Eighth Army drives quickly toward the Rimini Line while the British 46th Division takes Montescudo.
EGYPT: Twenty four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force 24 B-24 Liberators begin evacuating aircrews formerly imprisoned in Bulgaria from Cairo to Bari, Italy.
PACIFIC OCEAN: The two great American military drives across the Pacific Ocean converged today as General MacArthur's forces, moving north from New Guinea, invade Morotain the Dutch East Indies. At the same time Admiral Nimitz lands the US 1st Marine Division in an assault on five beach-heads on Peleliu Island in the Palau group, 430 miles north-east of Morotai. Both islands are within striking distance of the Philippines.
The landing at Morotai is virtually unopposed, but the situation is different on Peleliu. The Japanese garrison is a regiment from the 14th Division under Col. Nakagawa. Naval forces that have been bombarding, under Admiral Oldendorg, remain in support.
The American plan is for a landing on the western beaches three regiments abreast. 1st Marines are to assault the beaches on the left, which are designated White 1 and White 2, and push through the enemy toward the northwestern peninsula of the island.
In the centre, the 5th Marines are to land on Orange beaches 1 and 2 and drive across to the island's eastern shore. They will be responsible for securing the island's airfield before moving to seize the northeastern part of the island.
Three days of naval gunfire had preceded the Marine's landing, but it proves inadequate against the type of Japanese defenses created on the island. The resistance on the beaches is moderate. The Marines faced enfilading fire from bunkers and from the high ground above the beaches. Fierce fighting begins as the Marines move inland. The Japanese have taken advantage of the rugged, ridged terrain around Umurbrogol Mountain (unreported by American reconnaissance units) to construct a series of interlocking underground shelters and well-concealed concrete bunkers based on a complex of caves. The Japanese fight tenaciously to prevent the Marines from securing a beachhead. At the end of the day the beachhead is only a few hundred yards wide. (Paul and Jean Beach)
During the assault Lewis Kenneth Bausell, a corporal in the US Marine Corps, risks his life charging a Japanese pillbox and firing his automatic into the aperture. (MOH)
Ironically, while Morotai is considered strategically important, the seizure of Peleliu is now regarded by many senior officers as no longer necessary.
The USN submarine USS
Guavina (SS-362) sinks a Japanese fast transport Pagubas, southern Mindanao,
Philippine Islands.
The USN submarines USS Pampanito (SS-383) and USS Sealion (SS-315) rescue
73 British and 54 Australian POWs who were aboard the Japanese freighter Rakuyo
Maru sunk by the USS Sealion on 12 September. The freighter was carrying 1,300
POWs when she was torpedoed.
Japanese submarine RO.42 is sunk by the USS Sea
Devil (SS-400) east of Japan. (Mike Yared)(144
and 145)
WESTERN PACIFIC: CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palaus
Islands, the U.S.1st Marine Division (Reinforced) lands on Peleliu Island at
about 0830 hours local after a preparatory bombardment by naval vessels and
aircraft. (Operation STALEMATE II). The Japanese garrison is a regiment from the
14th Division under Colonel NAKAGAWA. U.S. naval forces under Rear Admiral Jesse
Oldendorf, commander, Cruiser Division Four (CruDiv 4), that have been
bombarding the island, remain in support. The resistance on the beaches is
moderate but fierce fighting begins as the Marines move inland. At the end of
the day the beachhead perimeter measures 2,800 yard (2 560 meters) from north to
south but is only 400 to 700 yards (366 to 640 meters) deep, except for a
salient in the center. As a diversion for the Peleliu landings, a feint landing
is made on Babelthuap Island.
The US Army's 81st Division concurrently attacks the island of Angaur, next to Peleliu. (228)
VOLCANO ISLANDS: A lone US Seventh Air Force B-24 on a snooper mission bombs Iwo Jima Island; all other B-24 missions abort.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USN Task
Force 77 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey) lands the U.S. Army's 41st Infantry
Division (Reinforced) (Major General John C. Persons, USA) on Morotai Island, in
Operation TRADE WIND; supported by two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and
ten destroyers (TG 77.2) (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey) and aircraft from six
escort carriers (Task Group 77.1) (Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague), screened by
eight destroyer escorts. Japanese resistance is negligible and Pitoe Aerodrome
is quickly captured. Airfield facilities built on Morotai will be used in
operations to support missions against Japanese positions in the Philippines.
Forces push inland about 2,000 yards (1 829 meters) to D-Day objectives.
The USN submarine USS Stingray (SS-186) lands men and stores on Majoe
Island, in the Molucca Sea.
In the air, USAAF Far East Air Forces A-20s, B-24s and P-47s bomb Kaoe,
Lolobata and Hate Tabako on Halmahera Island. B-24s sink two small Makassar-bound
Japanese cargo vessels off Mongole Island. RAAF Beaufighters and USAAF A-20s
bomb Japanese shipping off southeast coast of Ceram, sinking two fishing
vessels.
NEW GUINEA: Far East Air Forces P-39s bomb Manokwari Airfield and the town area.
U.S.A.: The Joint Chiefs of Staff decide to invade central rather than the southern Philippines and advance the target date for the invasion of Leyte from 20 December to 20 October. Projected operations against Yap Island in the Caroline Islands, Talaud Island in the Netherlands East Indies and Mindanao Island in the Philippines are canceled.
The aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CV-38) is commissioned at Portsmouth, Virginia. The USN now has 16 aircraft carriers (CVs) in commission.
Two USN commissioned escort aircraft carriers are renamed so that their present names can be used on for Midway Class large aircraft carriers. The two are: USS Coral Sea (CVE-57) which is renamed USS Anzio and USS Midway (CVE-63) which is renamed USS St. Lo.
Minesweeper USS Nimble
commissioned.
Destroyer USS McKean laid down Seattle, Washington state.
Minesweepers USS Sprig and Toucan launched.