September 29th, 1944 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 654: 5 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets on the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
FRANCE: The Canadian 3rd Division begins to make significant progress in its attacks at Calais. An armistice for the withdrawal of civilians interrupts the battle at Calais.
Normandy: Canadian infantrymen capture the enormous German battery at Cap Griz-Nez. The German coastal artillery batteries near Calais are captured by Canadian troops. For the first time in four years the citizens of Dover and its environs are free from the harassing shellfire from these long-range guns.
In the U.S. Third Army area, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Commanding General Third Army, approves a plan for XX Corps to attack Fort Driant again, beginning on 3 October.
BELGIUM: Cpl John William Harper (b.1915), York and Lancaster Regt., died when, ignoring heavy fire, he led his men over 300 yards of open ground. (Victoria Cross)
During the day, 72 RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes fly petrol (gasoline) from the U.K. to Melsbroek Airfield in Brussels.
THE NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, German swimmers damage bridges at Nijmegen with submarine charges, but the bridges are soon repaired. XII Corps reaches line of the Hertogenbosch-Oss railroad southwest of Nijmegen.
GERMANY: Over four hundred USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s hit marshalling yards and rail sidings at Prum, Euskirchen, and Bingen, dragon's teeth antitank defenses near Webenheim, and marshalling yards, rail sidings, warehouses and barracks at Julich and Bitburg; 1,500+ fighters escort the bombers, hit railroads, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over wide areas of the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, eastern France, and in western Germany as far east as Frankfurt/Main.
During the night of 29/30 September, 39 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bombed Karlsruhe and nine Lancasters laid mines in the Heligoland Bight in the south-east corner of the North Sea and four laid mines in the Kattegat, a bay of the North Sea bounded by Denmark and Sweden..
U-2529 laid down.
U-2511 commissioned.
BALTIC SEA: During a transfer U-989 was damaged by a mine.
ESTONIA: The Russian Eighth Army lands units on Muhu Island in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Estonia. German forces withdraw to the island of Saaremaa to the west of Muhu..
ITALY: Two SS regiments, under SS Major Walter Reder, start a reprisal operation against partisans in the Bologna province.
About 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Bologna is the massif of Monte Sole, part of the Apennine range. Around this area are dozens of small villages and towns, Marzabotto, Sperticano, Cerpiano, San Martino, Creda and Casaglia to name but a few. When Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943, Fascist and German troops continued their harassment of these poor mountain people. Forming themselves into small partisan groups, augmented by deserters from the Italian and German armies (ex Soviet POWs) their strength grew to around 1,200 men. Calling themselves the Stella Rossa (Red Star) they confined their activities to sniping, derailing freight trains and the occasional ambush. In their efforts to subdue the Stella Rossa, the German SS often raided small villages and shot hostages. This only increased the determination of the partisans to commit more attacks on the enemy and for the Germans to shoot more hostages. As the British and Americans fought their way north, the SS formed up for a mass attack on Monte Sole. At dawn today, the SS attacked. At Creda, the SS surrounded a barn where a group of partisans were hiding. All the men, women and children of Creda, were assembled in the barn and after their valuables and money is confiscated they are machine-gunned, grenades and incendiary bombs are thrown in and the group, about 90, are left to burn. This scene is repeated at every tiny village and farmlet as the SS units continue their march. Soon, hundreds of fires could be seen on and around Monte Sole, each one a funeral pyre. During the three days of the rastrellamento (29 September to 1 October) a total of around 1,830 men, women and children, are brutally murdered by the SS and 420 houses burned. When the SS murder squads move on, the killing continues as relatives of the victims, searching for the bodies of their loved ones, stepped on the deadly mines laid by the SS. Their commander, one-armed SS Major Walter Reder, an Austrian national, is later arrested by the Americans in Salzburg and handed over to the British who in turn pass him over to the Italians. In 1951, in an Italian military court in Bologna, Walter Reder is sentenced to strict life imprisonment in the military prison at Gaeta. He is released in 1985 and dies six years later in 1991.
In the U.S. Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, elements of Regimental Combat Team 6, Brazilian Expeditionary Force, take Stazzema; In the U.S. II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division repels a counterattack on the left at Montefredente and on the right reaches Fornelli. In the British XIII Corps area, the Germans withdraw from Mont di Castelnuovo.
The British Eighth Army is hampered all along line by heavy rains and flooding. V Corps advances on its right flank during the night of 29/30 September, taking Savignano and Castelvecchio ridge without opposition, as Germans make limited withdrawal. Patrols cross the Fiumicino River.
US Twelfth Air Force A-20s and medium bombers are again grounded by weather; fighter-bombers, hampered by weather, fly 52 sorties in the afternoon, cutting rail lines leading south from Milan.
FINLAND: The Russian 8th Army lands units on Muhu Island in the Baltic. German forces withdraw to the island of Saaremaa.
LATVIA: German General der Infanterie Wegener L AK is killed at Wolmar. (138)(Russ Folsom)
CHINA: A strong Chinese labor force begins work on a trail between Myitkyina, Burma, and Kunming via Tengchung and is assisted by small group of U.S. engineers.
Eighteen USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators haul fuel from India to Yungning, Liuchow, and Kunming.
Eleven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Mangshih, 24 bomb Tien Ho and White Cloud Airfields at Canton, and 15 hit targets of opportunity around Chuanhsien, Taochuan and Taohsien; about 100 P-51 Mustangs, P-40s, and P-38 Lightnings again attack various targets of opportunity throughout the vast expanses of China south of the Yangtze River, hitting road, rail, and river targets, troops, and town areas.
BURMA: Eleven USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25s attack and damage the main bridge, knock out the bypass bridge and silence adjoining AA positions on the Burma Road near Uambkai.
JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, 2 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s bomb Kataoka Naval Base on Shimushu Island and Kokutan Cape on Paramushiru Island.
PELELIU: Fighting continues.
BONIN ISLANDS: Two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan Iwo Jima.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll.
CENTRAL PACIFIC: 3 US Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan bomb Marcus Island in the north Pacific. P-47 Thunderbolts bomb and strafe gun positions on Pagan Island.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: At Sindangan Bay, Mindanao Island in the Philippines, the submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) takes aboard 81 Allied POWs who survived the sinking of the Japanese prison ship SS Shinyo Maru by the submarine USS Paddle (SS-263) on 7 September. The transport had been carrying 750 PoWs.
NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and RAAF aircraft, continue to attack Utarom (Kaimana) Aerodrome.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Kendari Airfield on Celebes Island is bombed by US Far East Air Force B-24s. B-25s hit both Namlea Airfields on Buru Island while B-24s blast Liang on Ambon Island and Haroekoe Airfield on Haroekoe Island. In New Guinea, A-20s and RAAF aircraft, continue to pound Urarom Airfield; other A-20s bomb Faan Airfield.
PALAU ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island, the 7th Marine Regiment takes responsibility for completing the reduction of the Umurbrogol Pocket, releasing the Army’s 3d Battalion of the 321st Infantry Regiment which then starts north along the route previously taken by the 1st Battalion clearing bypassed resistance as it moves. Other elements of 321st Infantry relieve the 5th Marine Regiment on Ngesebus and Kongauru Islands. The 5th Marines continue to clear Amiangal Mountain. On Angaur Island, the Army’s 322d Infantry Regiment clears the floor of Lake Salome bowl and forces the Japanese to the northwest rim and northwest tip of the island. .
CANADA: Defence Minister James Layton Ralston flies to Europe to check reports of Canadian infantry shortages.
Frigate HMCS Strathadam commissioned.
Corvette HMCS Stellarton commissioned.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "Tall in the Saddle" is released. Directed by Edwin L. Marin, this western stars John Wayne, Ella Raines, Ward Bond, Gabby Hayes and Paul Fix.
Washington: The Dumbarton Oaks conference of Allied foreign ministers agrees on a programme for post-war security, including the establishment of the United Nations Organization. The Soviet representative withdraws from the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in Washington, D.C., and the second part of the Conference begins with China participating.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares that Nazi-Fascist influence is growing in Argentina and that the Argentine government has failed to fulfil its obligations under the inter-American agreements. As a result, the U.S. government refuses to allow American ships to call at Argentinean ports.
Baseball, the final series of the year begins. In the American League, the St. Louis Browns trail the Detroit Tigers by one game; the Browns have 4 games with the New York Yankees, who are three games out of first place. With rainouts the night before, all contenders play doubleheaders. The Browns are last in the American League in attendance, and only 6,172 fans watch St. Louis sweep the doubleheader from the Yankees. Jack Kramer wins the opener 4-1, and Nels Potter wins a 1-0 shutout over the Yankees' pitcher Hank Borowy, even though St. Louis batters get but 2 hits. In Detroit, the Tigers split 2 games with the Washington Senators, beating Johnny Niggeling 5-2 in the opener but losing to Mickey Haefner 9-2 in the nightcap.
Escort carrier USS Salerno Bay launched.
MEXICO: The Mexican government agrees to pay US$24 million (US$ 250 million in 2003 dollars) with three percent interest for the U.S. oil company property the Mexicans had expropriated in 1938. This agreement marked the conclusion of the tensions between the U.S. and Mexican governments over Mexico's petroleum policies.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Whilst on her first patrol the German submarine U-863 is sunk in the South Atlantic east- southeast of Recife, Brazile, in position 10.45S, 25.30W, by depth charges from 2 USN PB4Y-1s of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Seven (VB-107) based at Natal, Brazil. All 69 sailors on the U-boat are lost.
U-310 sank SS Edward H Crockett and SS Samsuva in Convoy RA-60.