September 22nd, 1944 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The last Operations FRANTIC missions ends as 84 B-17s and 51 P-51s return to the UK from Italy; the remaining aircraft return on 8 Oct.
108 B-24s fly fuel to France.
BELGIUM: In the Canadian First Army's 2 Corps area, the 3d Division receives the surrender of the 9,500 German troops of the Boulogne garrison. The 4th Armoured Division has cleared as far north as Leopold Canal and on right flank has reached the Schelde Estuary. With the capture of Terneuzen by Polish armor, the enemy is confined to "Breskens Pocket," the region north of the Leopold Canal and west of Savojaards Plaat.
NETHERLANDS: The British XXX Corps continue their advance towards Arnhem. They are now 11 miles N of Nijmegen at Elst, Holland. The heavy German resistance is bolstered by the marshy terrain which requires them to stay on the raised roadways where the Germans can spot them. They have also lost their room for manoeuvre.
In the British Second Army's I Airborne Corps area, the British 1st Airborne Division is still isolated and under heavy pressure north of the Neder Rijn near Arnhem. Air resupply is impossible because of weather conditions.
Elements of 30 Corps make contact with the Polish detachment at Driel and bring DUKWs loaded with ammunition and supplies for the 1st Airborne Division. The mud is too deep for the DUKWs, but groups of Poles succeed in crossing supplies on rafts during the night of 22/23 September.
The U.S. 82d Airborne Division clears the south bank of the Waal River 3 miles (4,8 kilometres) east of the highway bridge.
In the 30 Corps area, the 43d Division, taking over the attack toward Arnhem from the Guards Armoured Division, gets elements to Driel, but the main body is held up far to the south by determined opposition.
The Germans make a major counterattack against Veghel, the main effort coming through the village of Erp but other prongs coming from the southeast, northwest and north. Elements of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division supported by British tanks of the 44th Royal Tank Regiment (Sherman Fireflies) and a British Anti-Aircraft unit (most likely the 94th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery, which is part of the divisional troops in the Guards Armoured Division) with 3.7 inch guns engaged the German tanks and force the enemy back from Veghel, but the Germans cut the highway between there and Uden. 12 Corps is slowly improving their positions west of Eindhoven. 8 Corps, continuing toward Helmond, takes Weert. (Jack McKillop and Stuart and Russ Folsom and Jay Stone)(134 and 93)
In the air, 77 USAAF Eighth Air Force P-47s patrol the Arnhem area; 1 P-47
is lost.
FRANCE:
General Dwight D Eisenhower, conferring with his top commanders at Versailles,
gives top priority to the opening of the Schelde approaches to Antwerp, Belgium,
since a deep-water port is needed in order to sustain the main Allied offensive
of enveloping the Ruhr from the north. The offensive is to be conducted by 21
Army Group, assisted by the U.S. First Army. The boundary between 21 and 12th
Army Groups is adjusted, effective 25 September, to extend northeast from
Hasselt, the Netherlands, through Bree, Ween, Deurne, and Venray (all to 12th
Army Group) to the Maas River at Maashees and along the river to the original
boundary north of Maastricht. This boundary change gives XIX Corps of the U.S.
First Army a corridor west of the Maas that contains more than 500 square miles
(1295 square kilometres) and includes the extensive swampland of the Peel
Marshes To secure this corridor, XIX Corps is to have two new divisions, the
29th Infantry Division from Brest and the 7th Armored Division from the Moselle
River sector near Metz. Since supply requirements of the Ruhr offensive are to
be met fully first, the U.S. Third Army is to limit its action to that permitted
by the supply situation.
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the enemy evacuates Cheminot, since
it has become an untenable pocket between XX and XII Corps. The 7th Armored
Division prepares to attack across the Seille River on 23 September. The 2d
Battalion of the 10th Infantry, 5th Infantry Division, withstands further enemy
attacks against Pournoy-la-Chetive, this time from southeast of the town. In XII
Corps area, elements of the 80th Infantry Division continue to fight in Bois de
la Rumont. Combat Command, 6th Armored Division, circling west and south from
Foret de Gremecey to take the enemy in the Amance area from the rear, clears
strongly occupied Armaucourt. The 134th Infantry, 35th Infantry Division,
attacks into the Bois de Faulx at noon; 137th Infantry pushes through rest of
Foret de Champenoux, from which the enemy flees under air and artillery attack,
abandoning the Amance plateau. The 6th Armored Division (-) assembles in Foret
de Gremecey to clear this region and screen between the 80th Infantry and 4th
Armored Divisions. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, halts German
tank-infantry attack toward Moyenvic in the region west of Juvelize and inflicts
heavy losses on the enemy. In the XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division
progresses slowly on the left; the Germans make local attacks from Foret de
Parroy toward Luneville; the 315th Infantry loses and recovers a portion of
Luneville; the 313th Infantry, delayed by a counterattack at Moncel, cannot
advance into Foret de Mondon; 4 companies of the 314th Infantry ford
the Meurthe River but, since they cannot advance without support from tanks and
artillery, halt to await bridging. The French Armored Division crosses the
Meurthe between Flin and Vathimenil, during the night of 22/23 September, and
patrols through the southern part of Foret de Mondon to La Vezouse R at
Benamenil but is driven back.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 157th Infantry of the 45th
Infantry Division maintains a bridgehead at Igney while the 179th
Infantry crosses the Moselle at Arches and clears Archettes; the 180th Infantry
continues to clear Epinal, from which the enemy begins withdrawing. The 36th
Infantry Division finishes clearing Eloyes and is attacking Remiremont.
In the air, 108 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24s fly fuel to France while 68
Fifteenth Air Force B-24s fly a supply mission to southern France.
GERMANY:
The U.S. First Army goes on the defensive along most of its line. XIX Corps
postpones an offensive against West Wall indefinitely. In the VII Corps area,
Combat Command of 3d Armored Division, under a smokescreen, withdraws both Task
Force Lovelady and Task Force Mills from the Donnerberg area to Stolberg, where
Task Force Hogan has cleared the enemy from the southern part of town; Combat
Command B then goes on the defensive and makes contact with Combat Command A at
Muensterbusch; the division comes to halt within 3 miles (4,8 kilometres) of its
objective, Eschweiler. The Germans make all-out counterattack against 47th
Infantry, 9th Division, at Schevenhuette but are driven back with extremely
heavy losses; 60th Infantry breaks off an attack for Huertgen village
in order to send reinforcements to Schevenheutte; these are not required there
but later attack to ease pressure on the single 6oth Infantry battalion the
Huertgen Forest, where close, indecisive fighting rages for the next three days.
V Corps remains on the defensive.
In the air, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 645: 661 bombers are
dispatched to hit the Henschel armored vehicle and motor vehicle factories at
Kassel bombing by pathfinder methods; 453 B-17s are dispatched; 410 hit the
primary, 10 hit Wetzlar and 7 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost.
Escort is provided by 268 P-51s; 1 is lost.
Weather grounds USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers but fighters attack
railroads, supply and ordnance depots, and strongpoints, and fly sweeps and
armed reconnaissance over the Cologne, Dusseldorf, Aachen, Koblenz, Trier, Bonn,
Mannheim, and Strasbourg areas.
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators based in Italy bombs six targets, five of them in Munich: in Munich, 108 bomb Riom Airfield; 100 bomb the industrial area; 82 bomb a marshalling yard; 50 bomb the BMW aircraft engine plant making engines for the Fw 190 fighter; and 25 bomb Oberweisenfeld Airfield. The sixth target is the West marshalling yard at Larissa which is attacked by 76 aircraft.
AUSTRIA: One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bomber bombs the airfield at Formia.
FINLAND: Lt-Gen Hjalmar Siilasvuo is nominated to take command of all the Finnish forces in Lapland and conduct the campaign against Germans in northern Finland. His plan is to strike behind the German back by invading Tornio, the northernmost point of the Gulf of Bothnia, by sea. (Sami Korhonen and Mikko Härmeinen)
The first Soviet members of the Allied Supervisory Committee arrive Helsinki, Finland. The mission of the Committee is to see that Finns comply with the terms of the Interim Peace Treaty concluded at Moscow three days earlier. A small British contingent arrives later.
Finland breaks diplomatic relations with Japan.
ESTONIA:
Soviet forces capture the capital Tallinn. (John Nicholas)
Marshal Govorov's tanks, sliced through the German defences along the Gulf of
Finland depriving the German Army Group North of one of its last means of escape
by sea. General Schorner will now have to retreat south and west in order to
escape the complete destruction of his badly-mauled group.
The capture of Tallinn's first-rate port facilities will also give the Russians a valuable base for operations against German Baltic fleet and the transports being used both to deliver supplies and to evacuate casualties. The Red Air Force sank three large transports in Tallinn harbour before it fell.
It seems that the sheer speed of Govorov's advance took the Germans by surprise. Covering 50 miles in a day, the tanks left the infantry to mop up pockets of the German rearguard, giving Schorner's men no time to organize a proper line of defence. The depth of the Red Army's advance is demonstrated by the capture of the railway junction of Tapa and the town of Paide; 47 miles south-east of Tallinn.
GREECE: The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 76 B-24s to bomb the marshalling yard at Larissa.
ITALY:
In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, the South African 6th Armoured Division
is ordered forward in pursuit since the enemy appears to be withdrawing from
positions above Pistoia. The II Corps virtually completes operations against the
Gothic Line and is ready for the drive north to the Radicosa Pass and northeast
to Imola. The 362d Infantry, 91st Infantry Division, completes the reduction of
Futa Pass defenses; other elements of the 91st Infantry Division establish
outposts across the Santerno River. On the left flank of the corps, enemy
opposition to the 34th Infantry Division is weakening: the 135th Infantry takes
Mt Citerna, northwest of Santa Lucia; the 168th Infantry seizes Hill 1134, east
of Montepiano. The 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, screening the left
flank, finds Vernio abandoned by the enemy. The 85th Infantry Division pushes
toward Mt la Fine on the right to assist the 88th Infantry Division and toward
Mt Canda on the left in support of the 91st Infantry Division's attack for
Radicosa Pass. On the right flank of the corps, the 88th Infantry Division
continues rapidly along the Santerno River valley, outdistancing the 85th
Infantry Division, and the boundary is altered to give Mt. la Fine, except for
western spur, to the 88th Infantry Division. In the British 13 Corps area, the
Indian 8th Division completes the occupation Giogo di Villore without
opposition.
In the British Eighth Army area, 5 Corps, with the Indian 4th Division on
the left, the 46th Division in the center, and the 1st Armoured Division on the
right, attacks across the Marecchia River, during the night of 22/23 September,
and begins the struggle for ridges north of the river. The 56th Division
withdraws from the line; its 168th Brigade ceases to exist as a fighting unit.
In the Canadian I Corps area, the British 4th Division establishes a bridgehead
across the Marecchia on the left flank of the corps, and the 5th Armoured
Division prepares to attack through it. The New Zealand 2d Division takes
command of the coastal sector, releasing the Canadian 1st Division and attached
Greek 3d Mountain Brigade for a welcome rest.
In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force, operating north of the Italian
battle area, sends medium bombers to bomb road and rail bridges, while
fighter-bombers continue hitting roads, railroads, and transportation, and
support ground forces.
During the night of 22/23 September, 60 RAF heavy bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the pontoon bridge at San Benedetto.
CHINA: 13 US Tenth Air Force B-24s fly fuel to Liuchow.
24 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s pound Hankow; 12 B-25s and 7 P-51s hit the Hengyang road junction and ferry; 7 B-25s bomb Kianghwa while 6 P-51s damage a nearby bridge; 5 B-25s hit Yungming; 44 P-40s and P-51s blast targets of opportunity along roads in the Changsha, Siangtaii, and Sintsiang areas. 50+ other P-40s and P-51s hit various targets of opportunity around Chuanhsien, Paoching, Lingling, Hankow, and Kiyang.
BURMA: Rangoon: Maj. Hugh Paul Seagrim (b.1909), 19th Hyderabad Regt., gave himself up to halt savage Japanese reprisals against Keren villagers who had sheltered his guerrilla party. He was executed today. (George Cross)
C-47 Skytrains fly 170+ sorties to various points in the CBI Theater.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Carrier-based aircraft from 12 aircraft carriers USN's Task Groups 38.1, 38.2 and 38.3 continue to wreak havoc on Japanese shipping in the Philippines sinking eight ships and damaging two. .
Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Force 38 continue attacks in the Philippines. Eleven Japanese ships are sunk off Cebu and Luzon, and 92 damaged, as the raiders struck Subic Bay and Cavite naval yard. Japanese airfields near Manila and elsewhere on Luzon are attacked, damaging installations in the first US air raids on the Philippines since the fall of Corregidor. Planes from Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet, 145 miles east of Luzon, claimed 205 Japanese planes, 110 of them shot down and 95 destroyed on the ground at Nicholls and Clark Fields. Fifteen US planes were lost in the raids.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s again bomb Sidate and Mapanget on Celebes Island. B-24s and B-25s bomb Amahai on Ceram Island and Liang on Ambon Island and the airfield on Haroekoe Island.
NEW GUINEA:
USAAF Far East Air Forces A-20s bomb Urarom Airfield while fighter-bombers hit
Idorra, Windissi, Moemi, and Kaimana.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: PALAU ISLANDS: General Geiger orders one regiment from the 81st Infantry to Peleliu. He is attempting to offset some of the losses incurred by the Marines. A second regiment from this division will be committed before the battle is over. On Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, the US Army's 321st Infantry Regiment is landed and replaces the USMC's 1st Marine Regiment. The 323d Infantry Regiment is still fighting on Angaur.
The Japanese continue the effective
defence of the central ridges and are bringing up reinforcements. The 1st Marine
Division observation planes are operating from the airfield.
On Angaur, elements of the 322d Infantry again push into the bowl in the
Lake Salome area from the south but retire at night.
On Ulithi Atoll, Regimental Combat Team
323, 81st Infantry Division, lands without opposition and begins securing the
atoll.
In the air, 15 USAAF Seventh Air Force B-25s, flying out of Makin Island,
bomb Nauru Island.
US forces on Ulithi atoll, abandoned by the Japanese last month, discover an immense lagoon,
invaluable as a potential naval base.
MARIANA ISLANDS: The USAAF Seventh Air Force sends 24 P-47s to strafe Pagan Island and bomb Anatahan Island.
VOLCANO
ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24s on a snooper mission and armed
reconnaissance flight bomb Iwo Jima.
BONIN ISLANDS: The USAAF Seventh Air Force sends 15 Saipan Island-based B-24s to strike shipping at Chichi Jima Island.
NORTH PACIFIC:
Three USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24s on a snooper mission and armed
reconnaissance flight bomb Marcus Island.
15 B-25s, flying out of Makin Island, bomb Nauru
Island.