September 25th, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeper HMS Prompt commissioned. (DS)
NETHERLANDS: Helmond and Deurne, east of Eindhoven, Holland, fall to the British 2nd Army.
British paratroops in Arnhem will begin evacuation across the
Rhine tonight by boat. 2400 will cross tonight. In the British Second Army's I
Airborne Corps area, it is decided to withdraw the bridgehead north of the Neder
Rijn in the Arnhem sector under cover of darkness, 25/26 September. Leaving the
wounded behind, the British 1st Airbourne Division starts crossing the river,
some by ferry and others swimming. The U.S. 101st Airborne and British 50th
Divisions partially envelop the enemy's roadblock near Koevering, and the
Germans abandon it after nightfall. 30 Corps clears Elst and Bemmel. 8 Corps
takes Helmond and Gemert, northeast of Eindhoven and makes patrol contact with
30 Corps in the St Antonis area.
In the U.S. First Army area, XIX Corps takes responsibility for the
corridor containing the Peel Marshes from the British, who by this time have
cleared it as far as the Nederweert-Wessem Canal except for triangular position
about Wessem. The Belgian 1st Brigade, although attached to British 8 Corps,
holds outposts south of the canal within a new zone of the corps. The U.S. 7th
Armored Division from the U.S. Third Army and the U.S. 29th Infantry Division
from Brest, France, are to be employed by the corps in clearing the new sector.
In the VII Corps area, elements of the 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division,
fighting in the forest on the southern flank of the corps, are by this time so
weakened that they are almost incapable of continuing the battle.
Arnhem: Maj. Robert Henry Cain (1909-74), Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, led his company with great valour when it was cut off (19-25 September). (Victoria Cross)
BELGIUM: During the day, 70 RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes started a series of flights to carry petrol (gasoline) in jerricans from England to airfields in Belgium, in order to alleviate the severe fuel shortage being experienced by Allied ground forces. The RAF would fly 435 such sorties during an eight-day period. Each Halifax carried about 165 jerricans, approximately 750 Imperial gallons (901 U.S. gallons or 3 410 liters) of petrol (gasoline), on each flight. The total amount of petrol (gasoline) lifted during the period is approximately 325,000 Imperial gallons (390,309 U.S. gallons or 1,5 million liters), about the same amount of fuel that the Halifaxes themselves consumed. No aircraft are lost during these operations.
FRANCE: In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the 3d Division, having moved up to Calais from Boulogne, begins an all-out assault after preparatory bombardment. Polish armour is moving from the east flank of 2 Corps to the east flank of the British I Corps.
In the U.S. Third Army area, General George S Patton lists the
priorities for limited attacks. In the XX Corps area, the 5th Infantry Division,
extending southward, completes relief of the 7th Armored Division and withdraws
to a new main line of resistance, pulling back its outpost line. Corny and
Pournoy-la-Chetive, secured at great cost, are abandoned in the retrograde
movement. The 83d Infantry Division, tasked with clearing rear guards from the
northern flank of the corps west of the Sauer and Moselle Rivers, reaches the
west bank of the Moselle River at Remich. Task Force Polk then moves south to
the Thionville area. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division is
relieving the 6th Armored Division (-) in the Foret de Gremecey sector. In
powerful counterattacks against the salient held by Combat Command A, 4th
Armored Division, a German Fifth Panzer Army column drives through Marsal and
Moyenvic to Vic-sur-Seille where contact is made with the German First Army.
The enemy also thrusts sharply at other points of Combat Command A's
perimeter and overruns Moncourt; Combat Command B turning over its positions
west of Chateau-Salins to the 35th Infantry Division, moves to the south of
Combat Command A, between Rechicourt and the canal.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division
completes clearing Epinal. The 36th Infantry Division is attacking toward
Bruyeres and Tendon and the 3d Infantry Division takes over St Ame area from
36th Infantry Division.
In the French 1st Army area, the 2d Corps opens a limited offensive with
the 1st Armored Division, whose third combat command has now joined it, and the
1st Infantry Division. Progress is limited because of firm opposition.
In the air, 176 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24s on a TRUCKIN' mission fly fuel
to France; 1 B-24 is lost. The USAAF Ninth Air Force’s IX Air defence Command
flies night patrols from Paris east to Luxembourg and the German border.
During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 872 aircraft, 430 Lancasters, 397 Halifaxes and 45 Mosquitos, to bomb German defensive positions at Calais but encountered low cloud. Only 303 aircraft are able to bomb, through breaks in the cloud. No aircraft lost.
GERMANY: Berlin: Allied Intelligence has a poor opinion of some of the new recruits appearing in the front line facing the Allies in the west - "policemen ... boys of 16 and men with duodenal ulcers have been taken prisoner recently". Hitler's new recruits are likely to be of yet poorer calibre. The formation of the new "home guard", the Volkssturm, was announced today. It will be organized by Nazi Gauleiters under the direction of Himmler and Bormann. Hitler's mistrust of his generals is such that he believes that the Nazi Party, rather than the military, will mount the final defence of Germany. The Volkssturm will be operational next month.
On paper, the Fuhrer still has ten million men in his armed forces, seven and half million of them in the army. Most are scattered across Europe, in the Baltic states, the Balkans, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and northern Italy, instead of coming to the defence of the Reich. Many of the regular formations assigned to home defence, and identified as divisions, are of no more than battalion strength.
In the air, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 647:
1,306 bombers and 622 fighters are dispatched to attack marshalling yards in
western Germany and the synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen bombed by the
Pathfinder Force; 5 bombers and 3 fighters are lost. (1) 400 B-17s, escorted by
200 P-51s, bomb the Opau oil plant and the marshalling yard at Ludwigshafen; 46
others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost; (2) 410 B-17s, escorted by
210 P-38 Lightnings and P-51s, bomb the Frankfurt industrial area (410) and 2
others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s and 2 fighters are lost; and (3) 257
B-24s, escorted by 157 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s, bomb the Mosel and Rhein
marshalling yards at Koblenz; 1 P-51 is lost.
Due to bad weather, no bomber missions are flown by the USAAF Ninth Air
Force but the fighters fly cover for U.S. First Army units in western Germany,
dive-bombs rail lines, and armed reconnaissance over the Trier-Koblenz-Aachen
area.
During the night of 25/26 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 48 Mosquitos to Mannheim and four to a chemical factory at Höchst, just west of Frankfurt; all aircraft bombed the targets.
U-2349, U-2528 and U-3522 laid down.
Crewmember of U-1221 committed suicide. Matrosengefreiter Emil-Heinz Motyl jumped overboard in the North Atlantic after a punishment for sleeping on the watch.
GREECE: 51 US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s, with P-51s and P-38s providing target cover and close escort, bomb Piraeus, Skaramanga, and Salamis harbors in Greece.
ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's
IV Corps area, Task Force 92, consisting of the 370th Infantry of the 92d
Infantry Division and Combat Command B of the 1st Armored Division, takes
command of the zone previously held by the 1st Armored Division.
Elements of the
South African 6th Armoured Division move to Mt. Casciaio, west of Mt. Coroncina,
and relieve the 34th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop of the task of screening the
left flank of II Corps.
In the II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division
progresses slowly toward Mt. Bastione on the left flank of the corps.
The 91st
Infantry Division takes Mt. Beni, below Mt. Oggioli, on the right but makes
little headway on the left under fire from Mt. Bastione.
The 338th Infantry,
85th Infantry Division, attempts to outflank the enemy on Mt. Canda by attacking
first toward Torre Poggioli to the northeast, but is unable to gain this
objective; the 3d Battalion, 339th Infantry, tries to assist the attack on Torre
Poggioli but is stopped by opposition from Montarello.
The boundary between the
85th and 88th Infantry Divisions is altered in preparation for a strong effort
by the 88th Infantry Division on 26 September to break through the last heights
before Imola.
The 337th Infantry, 85th Infantry Division, takes responsibility
for Mt. la Fine, releasing the 349th Infantry, 88th Infantry Division.
The
British 13 Corps battles for the heights commanding Palazzuolo, Marradi, and San
Benedetto. Several attempts by the 1st Division to take Mt. Gamberaldi fail. The
Indian 8th Division begins an attack on Mt. di Castelnuovo, where the enemy
resists strongly. The 6th Armoured Division, previously ordered to the Eighth
Army front, is directed to remain in place and contain enemy on right flank of
corps.
In the British Eighth Army's 5 Corps area, the Indian 4th Division is
delayed in crossing the Uso River on the left flank of corps by fire from
Cornacchiara on the far bank, but the enemy withdraws during the night of 25/26
September. The 46th Division expands its Uso bridgehead toward Canonica. The 1st
Armoured Division, after establishing a bridgehead across the Uso at San
Arcangelo and Highway 9, is relieved there by the 56th Division. In the Canadian
I Corps area, the 5th Armoured Division secures a bridgehead across the Uso
River.
In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers and A-20s cancel
operations due to bad weather; fighter-bombers hit barracks areas, railroads,
roads, and transportation in or near Bologna, Bozzolo, Parma, Castelfranco
Veneto, and Canneto sull'Oglio, and in the immediate battle areas as the US
Fifth Army meets strong opposition, especially in the vicinity of Mt Bastione,
and near Torre Poggioli, Mt Gamberaldi, and Mt Castelnuovo.
ESTONIA: Haapsalu, is captured by the Soviet Army.
YUGOSLAVIA: Partisan forces liberate Banja Luka.
U.S.S.R.: Three U-boats, U-711, U-739 and U-957 attacked and destroyed the Soviet radio station Sterlingova at Novaja Sjemla. Five men were captured.
EGYPT: A Pan-Arab conference opened in Alexandria with Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Trans-Jordan participating.
CHINA: Still furious about the letter he received from US President Franklin D Roosevelt on the 19th, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek refuses to give US General Joseph Stillwell, Chief of Staff to Chiang, operational control of the Chinese Nationalist Army.
In the air, USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24s again haul fuel to China, 15 landing at Kunming, 3 at Liuchow, and 1 at Yungning. Twelve USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25s blast the barracks area at Mangshih; 12 bomb Kweiyang, and 6 hit the town area and railroad yards at Hengyang; 11 B-24s pound Nanking; about 120 P-51 Mustangs and P-40s on armed reconnaissance over the vast expanses of China south of the Yangtze River attack a large variety of targets of opportunity at numerous locations including troops, buildings, and communications targets in the Paoching area and between Siangtan and Fulinpu.
BURMA: 13 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts attack the towns of Haungton, Myintha, and Mawlu. B-24s again haul fuel to China, 15 landing at Kunming, 3 at Liuchow, and 1 at Yungning and the Tenth Air Force flies 220+ other transport sorties to various CBI terminals.
PACIFIC: In the air in the North Pacific, USAAF Seventh Air Force Saipan-based B-24s Marcus Island During the night of 25/26 September, Kwajalein Atoll-based B-24s hit Wake Island.
VOLCANO ISLANDS: In the air, USAAF Seventh Air Force Saipan-based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The submarine USS Nautilus (SS-168) lands 25 tons of cargo, 20 drums of gasoline and 2 drums of oil on Cebu Island in the Philippines. As she begins to retire, the submarine grounds on Iuisan Shoal. Forced to lighten her load, her evacuees, mail, captured documents, and cargo are sent ashore. All secret materials is burned. Her reserve fuel tanks are blown dry, variable ballast is blown overboard and 6-inch (152 mm) ammunition jettisoned. With the blowing of her main ballast tanks she is finally able to get off the reef within 3 1/2 hours, despite the receding tide, and clear the area by dawn.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES:
On Morotai, Task Force TRADEWIND is dissolved. Major General Charles Hall, as
Commanding General XI Corps, is responsible for continuing base development.
In the air, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Kendari Airfield and B-25s
bomb Langoan Airfield on Celebes Island. A-20s fire storage areas and hit
personnel areas on the western shore of Kaoe Bay on Halmahera Island. Namlea
Airfield on Buru Island is again bombed by B-24s while P-38s attack Kairatoe
Airfield on Celebes Island and Boela Airfield on Ceram Island.
NEW GUINEA: In the air, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25s and A-20s bomb Sagan and Urarom Airfields while P-40s attack Kaimana.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: In
the air during the night of 25/26 September, USAAF Seventh Air Force Kwajalein
Atoll-based B-24s stage through Eniwetok Atoll on a strike at shipping at Truk
Island; failing to locate the primary targets the B-24s bomb Tol, Eten, Param,
and Moen Islands.
PALAU ISLANDS: On Peleliu, the
7th Marines continue to support attack of 321st Infantry, 81st Infantry
Division, and extends the left flank to release elements of 321st for the main
push. On the left, 321st Infantry patrols northward along the coast almost to
the fifth phase line against light resistance. The 5th Marines move forward to
join with the 321st Infantry in an attack to clear the northern part of the
island. The right flank elements of the 321st Infantry continue clearing the
lateral trail through the central ridge system, meeting strong opposition.
On Angaur Island, the 322d Infantry, whose efforts to push into the Lake Salome
bowl from the south have all ended in failure, attempts in vain to find a
suitable route of advance into the bowl from the north coast. Engineers then
begin construction of road for an attack from the east-northeast.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIANS: 2 US Eleventh Air Force B-25s fly a negative shipping sweep.
U.S.A.: Destroyers USS Hart, Metcalf, Shields and Wiley launched.
Destroyer escort USS McGinty commissioned.
Light cruiser USS Manchester laid down.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Beauharnois commissioned.
HMC ML 082 paid off.