Bad weather restricted flying on both sides; only 1 German aircraft (Ju 88 bomber on reconnaissance mission shot down near the Isle of Wight, with entire crew captured) and 3 British Hurricane fighters (became lost in fog while on patrol) destroyed during the day.
Weather over Great Britain: The day opened to many fog covered areas and a mist layer remained for most of the morning period. During the afternoon visibility had increased lengthy sunny periods, but the heavy cloud rolled in late in the afternoon and many areas especially in the south experienced periods of rain.
Again, just like the day previous turned out to be a relatively quiet day and was far from the usual ‘business as normal’ that had been experienced during the latter part of August into early September. In general things had quietened down considerably and one would possibly have feelings that the worst was over. Gone was the waves upon waves of bombers and fighter escorts that had previously crossed the Channel with monotonous regularity. The daytime activities had now slowed down to just the occasional bomber formation being detected and over the last few days the Luftwaffe had tried out the new tactic of mass Bf 109s. But these hardly created any impression or panic and combat losses on both sides were fairly even, and considerably low.
The residents of the major cities and towns such as London, Merseyside and the ports along the north-eastern coast were now once again settling down to the task of cleaning up after the previous night’s bombings that continued. After that they went about their business of enjoying themselves as best they could. The war was just another phase in their lives and they had settled down to accept the fact that the bombers would be over again that night, and the night after. They would make the usual trek down the garden or along the road to an air raid shelter and this would be their abode until daylight broke the following morning. Most of the tasks of the government departments carried on as per usual, the fire brigade, the rescue and demolition squads, hospitals, all these where now busier than they were before as is appeared that the war was taking a different turn. Gone are the consistent daytime raids where raids only came when the fighters could not stop the few that managed to get through. Now the days were quieter, but the nights were becoming increasingly busier.
“Didn’t know where to start; got me tin hat and gas mask to look okay and show that I knew something of what was wanted. Somehow got onto stuffing a corpse, an old woman, on a door, very heavy with three other people taking it out of first aid post round to back of hospital towards the garage where nurse (or sister) had said; on the way met “Eddie” young porter who said he was “in charge” of the mortuary. He said, fill up the mortuary before the garage, so slowly onward to mortuary. I very tired suggested a rest, gratefully accepted, one of the men said we should dump her anywhere, as she was beyond help, go and help the wounded. Nobody replied tho’ I agreed with him mentally but thought it better to go up to mortuary — not to leave old girl in th’ open. Then Eddie thought of barrow, got it, and we put her on it. Eddie and I took her up mortuary; fetched out a metal “marble slab” on wheels rolled her off door and ono it, she being covered by a thick red curtain bloodstained; took her into mortuary where already four or five corpses in similar bloody condition. Took back barrow to first aid post, dumped it near door, and looked for more work.”
- Voluntary first aid orderly writing to Mass Observation in September 1940.
The first air activity of the day was during the late morning when a formation of Bf 109s managed to get through and fly high over London. Sources state that two squadrons were dispatched to intercept, but there appears not to be any record of action and the Luftwaffe database does not show if any of the fighters were shot down in the area.
A lone Ju 88 on a photo or weather reconnaissance mission was detected over the Channel south of the Isle of Wight and 234 Squadron from Middle Wallop sent one flight to intercept. The Junkers was shot down and made a belly landing in the sea. All the crew managed to get out of the sinking aircraft and were captured by British authorities.
Another small number of enemy aircraft got through and according to the station records book at Fowlmere, they came under attack at 1530hrs. One Spitfire was destroyed and a number were damaged. There was no damage to any buildings or to the airfield. There is a possibility that the attack on Fowlmere, was by the Bf 109s that were detected earlier over London, but this cannot be said for any certainty.
The afternoon was again peaceful, much to the delight of the aircrews, although one station commander stated to one of his squadron leaders “….that if things remain this quiet, you sure you won’t get bored!!” But during the evening, as usual, things started to change. Wave upon wave of Heinkels, Junkers and Dorniers threw everything at London. The city had many heavy nights of bombing, but this was by far the heaviest. By midnight, it looked as if there was a sunset over London, the night sky was that red.
The Luftwaffe sends heavy raids against London, and by some accounts, this is the heaviest attack to date. Fires start at the Royal Arsenal Timber Field which spread, causing a major conflagration. This results in the loss of 100 residences lost and another 100 damaged. Direct hits on two air raid shelters kill dozens of people and injure more, while the supposedly safe Tube system suffers a direct hit at Mile End. The British Museum takes a hit, but the treasures have been secreted to underground storage. The fires are very difficult to put out and serve as a beacon for more waves of bombers.
Fighter Command sent up a number of Defiant and Blenheim night fighters, but with Britain night fighting ability still in its infancy, and about a dozen ‘nighties’ up against an estimated 125 bombers, their task was almost an impossibility. After forty five minutes they returned to their bases.
The Luftwaffe is trying a new tactic of sending its own night fighters over England to engage RAF ones. Tonight, they shoot down a Whitley from RAF No. 58 Squadron, their first victory.
Just for the record, the weather conditions in the north were considerably different to those in the south. This is shown by three Hurricanes of 85 Squadron who were at Church Fenton who crashed in bad weather conditions. All three were on a routine patrol off the coast when bad visibility caused them trouble in locating base. All three had extinguished their fuel and had to make forced landings well short of Church Fenton aerodrome. F/L G.Allard made his forced landing at Clitheroe, P/O J.E. Marshall forced landed at Burnley while P/O J.A. Hemingway made his force landing outside the town of Burnley.
RAF Casualties:
There were no casualties on either side on this day.
Overnight, London received a heavy bombing from German bombers.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 6 Blenheims on an uneventful daylight sea sweep.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 95 Blenheims, Hampdens and Wellingtons overnight to Channel ports; all bombed. Also sent are 9 Whitleys to an aluminium factory at Lauta, near Dresden, a repeated target until the last months of the war. A raid on Berlin causes minimal damage. There were no losses on any of these operations.
With the Italians digging in at Sidi Barrani, the RAF and Royal Navy take turns raining destruction on them. The Italians are moving their camps further inland to avoid the daily bombardments, today by British destroyers HMS Jervis, Janus, Juno and Mohawk on the airfield at Sidi Barrani.
The Italians respond by raiding Mersa Matruh 80 miles ahead of their own lines.
At Malta, at 11:30 the Italians send five SM 79 bombers escorted by four CR 42 fighters to bomb Luga Airfield. While the airfield receives minimal damage, the poor aim of the bombers completely devastates the village of Luga. One civilian boy is killed. Several unexploded bombs in the village cause further problems but are quickly found to be inactive (they have safety pins in place). At Kalafrana Airfield, a French Latecoere plan leaves to drop leaflets over Bizerta and Tunis in Tunisia.
Italian aircraft raid Cyprus for the first time.
The unpowered airframe of the Heinkel He 280 twin turbojet fighter is taken aloft, towed by a Heinkel He 111B, for gliding tests. The He 280 V1 is sort of a follow-up to the Heinkel He 178 that flew in August 1939 (this project originally had the designation He-180). The Luftwaffe is not particularly interested, having other jet planes in development so Ernst Heinkel, with designer Robert Lusser, has been pursuing the project on his own. The HeS 8 engines, however, are nowhere near ready yet. Among the innovations of the Heinkel He 280 is the first compressed-air powered ejection seat.
France tentatively agreed to meet increased Japanese demands for Indochina.
The Petain-Laval government acknowledged today that incidents are occurring in “practically all of French Africa” as a result of the anti-Vichy movement led from London by Gen. Charles de Gaulle. Africa is “boiling,” a spokesman said. The De Gaulle “propaganda,” the spokesman declared, is most intense in Morocco, Syria (in the near east), Dahomey and French-mandated Togoland.
Germany acquired troop and material transfer rights from Finland between northern Norway and ports of the Gulf of Bothnia. The Germans agree to supply the Finns with arms.
Moscow radio reported that RAF bombing had largely destroyed the German invasion fleet along the English Channel.
Four Egyptian cabinet ministers from the Saadist Party resigned in protest against the government’s failure to declare war on Italy.
The German Armistice Control Commission sends a delegation to Dakar in French West Africa. The visit is timely, as the Royal Navy is about to pay a visit as well in Operation MENACE.
In continued attacks on HX.72, German submarines U-32 and U-100 made successful attacks. U-32 damaged British steamer Collegian (7886grt) at 320 miles west of Malin Head. Sloop HMS Lowestoft was sent to assist steamer Collegian. Sloop Lowestoft was reinforced by corvette HMS Heartsease and later by destroyers HMS Skate and HMS Shikari.
U-100, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke, sank British steamer Empire Airman (6586grt) in 54-00N, 18-00W. At 0022 hours the Empire Airman (Master John Brown Raine) in station #91 of convoy HX.72 was damaged by one torpedo from U-100 about 340 miles west of Bloody Foreland. The ship was taken in tow but sank on 23 September in 55°11N/15°07W. The master, 31 crew members and one gunner were lost. Four crew members were picked up by HMS La Malouine (K 46) (LtCdr R.W. Keymer, RN) and landed at Greenock. The 6,586-ton Empire Airman was carrying iron ore and was headed for Cardiff, Wales.
U-100 then badly damaged British steamer Scholar (3940grt) in 55-11N, 17-58W. At 0050 hours the Scholar (Master William Robert Mackenzie) in convoy HX.72 was hit by a stern torpedo from U-100 about 340 miles west of Bloody Foreland. The ship was hit near the bridge, caught fire and developed a sharp list. She was taken in tow the next day by HMS Marauder (W 98) (Lt W.J. Hammond, RNR) in 55°10N/17°49W. On 24 September, the tow was abandoned and the wreck scuttled by HMS Skate (H 39) (Lt F.P. Baker, DSC, RN) in 54°38N/16°40W. The master, 43 crew members and one gunner were picked up by the destroyer and landed at Londonderry. The 3,940-ton Scholar was carrying cotton, steel, arsenic, wood pulp, and lumber and was headed for Manchester, England.
U-100 also sank British tanker Frederick S. Fales (10,525grt) in 55-30N, 13-40W. At 0152 hours the Frederick S. Fales (Master Frank Ramsay) in convoy HX.72 was hit on the port side aft by two torpedoes from U-100 and sank by the stern within 5 minutes about 340 miles west of Bloody Foreland. The master 19 crew members and one gunner were lost, most of them died when the sinking ship capsized to starboard and hit a lifeboat lying alongside. 28 crew members were picked up after about 12 hours by HMS La Malouine (K 46) (LtCdr R.W. Keymer, RN) and landed at Belfast on 25 September. The 10,525-ton Frederick S. Fales was carrying Admiralty fuel oil and was headed for Clyde, United Kingdom.
U-100 next sank Norwegian steamer Simla (6031grt) in 55-11N, 17-58W. At 0214 hours the Simla (Master Hans von Krogh) in convoy HX.72 was hit on the starboard side forward of the bridge by one torpedo from U-100 and sank quickly about 600 miles west of Inishtrahull. Although the crew was alerted due to the other attacks on the convoy, they had no time to launch the lifeboats and were forced to jump overboard. The master and four crew members were lost. The survivors were picked up after 45 minutes by HMS Heartsease (K 15) (LtCdr E.J.R. North, RNR). The 6,031-ton Simla was carrying scrap metal and steel and was headed for Methil, Scotland.
U-31, commanded by Wilfried Prellberg, sank Faroes trawler Union Jack (81grt) one hundred miles northwest, north of Butt of Lewis, in 59-50N, 7-40W. At 1755 hours the Union Jack (Skipper Viggo Dam) was stopped with machine-gun fire by U-31 about 100 miles northwest by north of Butt of Lewis, Hebrides. The crew immediately abandoned ship in a small rowboat. Only a few rounds of the about 25 rounds fired from the deck gun hit the vessel, but she sank by the bow after 10 minutes. The Germans did not question the crew and just left the area. The survivors had no food or water in the rowboat but nevertheless managed to reach the Flannan Isles after 36 hours. From there they were taken by HMS Grosmont Castle (FY 671) to Stornoway, arriving on 25 September.
At 0609 hours the Collegian, a straggler from convoy HX.72, was missed by a torpedo from U-32, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans Jenisch, about 320 miles west of Malin Head. At 0740 hours, the U-boat surfaced and opened fire with the deck gun from a distance of 6500 meters. The Germans scored three hits, but had to break off the attack due to accurate return fire from the vessel. HMS Lowestoft (L 59) (Cdr A.M. Knapp, RN) and HMS Heartsease (K 15) (LtCdr E.J.R. North, RNR) escorted the Collegian to Belfast, arriving on 23 September. The ship was repaired and returned to service in November 1940. The 7,886-ton Collegian was carrying general cargo, including cotton, steel, and lumber and was bound for Belfast, Ireland.
HX.72 now is in ruins, scattered all across the North Atlantic. In total, it has lost 11 ships of 72,727 tons. Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke sinks a phenomenal seven ships in the convoy, while Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer in U-99 sinks three. They achieve their successes by infiltrating the convoy and attacking from within. Credit ultimately belongs to Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien, who spotted and reported the convoy but could not attack himself because he was out of torpedoes. The rest of the 30 ships make it to port.
The Royal Navy launched 11 Swordfish torpedo bombers and 6 Skua fighters/dive bombers from carrier HMS Furious at 0300 hours to attack German positions at Trondheim, Norway. Rough waters due to bad weather forced HMS Furious to turn back for Scotland ahead of schedule. When the aircraft returned, 1 Swordfish aircraft ran out of fuel while looking for HMS Furious (3 killed), 3 Swordfish aircraft crash landed in Norway (9 captured), and 1 Swordfish and 1 Skua aircraft cash landed in Sweden (5 interned).
Destroyers HMS Intrepid, HMS Icarus, and HMS Impulsive of the 20th Flotilla departed Immingham on the 22nd to lay mines in Operation P R off Oost Gat on the Dutch coast near Borkum. This operation was screened by destroyers HMS Veteran, HMS Venomous, and HMS Wild Swan, which patrolled off Dogger Bank. Destroyer Veteran sank German auxiliary minesweeper M.1604 (trawler Oesterreich: 474grt) forty miles west of the Hook of Holland. The operation was suspended while German motor torpedo boats attacked Patrol sloops HMS Mallard and HMS Sheldrake which were also screening the operation. The minelaying was successfully completed during the night of 23/24 September.
Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cairo departed Scapa Flow at 1200 to give cover to convoy OA.218 from Buchan Ness to Duncansby Head.
Destroyer HMS Versatile departed Scapa Flow at 2000 to search for a Swordfish from Hatston down in the sea west of Fair Isle Channel. The search was unsuccessful and the destroyer arrived back at Scapa Flow at 1030/23rd. Lt F. C. Saunders DSC, Probationary Temporary S/Lt (A) D. J. T. Marais RNVR, and Naval Airman G. H. Gaynon of 821 Squadron were were lost when their Swordfish of 812 Squadron ditched on anti-submarine patrol in 60-08N, 3-23W.
Destroyer HMS Eglington and monitor HMS Erebus departed Scapa Flow after working up. Monitor HMS Erebus proceeded to Sheerness and HMS Eglington to Harwich.
Destroyer HMS Vivacious was damaged by the near explosion of a mine at Rosyth.
Dutch tanker Barendrecht (9385grt) was damaged by German bombing at Long Reach, River Thames.
German destroyers Steinbrinck and Jacobi departed Wilhelmshaven for Brest, where they arrived on the 23rd.
Destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Janus, HMS Juno, and HMS Mohawk, which departed Alexandria on the 21st for Mersa Matruh, bombarded the airfield at Sidi Barrani early on the 22nd. After the attack, the destroyers returned to Alexandria.
Submarine HMS Truant sank Italian steamer Provvidenza (8459grt) 3.5 miles 150° from Punta Imperatore off Ischina.
Submarine HMS Osiris, which departed Malta on patrol on the 9th, sank Italian destroyer Palestro in the southern Adriatic off Durazzo in 41-16N, 18-36E.
Light cruiser HMS Delhi arrived at Freetown at 1700. After refueling, she sailed at 2225 to rejoin heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall escorting the French light cruiser and tanker.
Light cruiser HMS Ceres arrived at Durban from Mombasa.
Norwegian steamer Tirrana (7230grt), which was captured by German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis on 10 June, was sunk by Submarine HMS Tuna near the mouth of the Gironde River, ten miles south of Bordeaux. One hundred and eighty seven were killed on the loss of the Norwegian steamer. Among these were three crew from the steamer Tallyrand, eighteen crew, eleven passengers, and one DBS from steamer Kemmendine, and some crew from steamer Scientist.
Convoy OA.218 departed Methil escorted by sloop HMS Weston and corvette HMS Primrose. Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cairo provided support for this convoy. The corvette was detached on the 26th and the sloop on the 28th.
Convoy FN.288 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers HMS Vivacious, HMS Wallace, and HMS Woolston. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 24th.
Roosevelt Administration leaders, hopeful that congress will adjourn next Saturday, said today that a caucus of house Democrats on Wednesday should provide a test of Democratic sentiment in that chamber on the question of ending the session. The caucus will decide whether to select a majority leader at this time to succeed Sam Rayburn, who was elevated to the speakership after the death of William B. Bankhead. Administration men have indicated that they would like to postpone action on the leadership at least until after the November election.
Congressional leaders said tonight that they had the program for sine die adjournment by next Saturday night under control, although a threat of delay has been made unless the leadership agrees to Senate consideration of the controversial Logan-Walter bill, approved several months ago by the House. Senators Burke of Nebraska and King of Utah, both of whom were defeated in recent primaries, said they would press for consideration of the Logan-Walter measure, which subjects rules and regulations of quasi-judicial Federal agencies to court review. Many Senators, they said, favored the legislation, particularly since it offers the only means of curbing the National Labor Relations Board. Amendments to the National Labor Relations Act, also approved by the House, appeared effectively pigeonholed in the Senate for the session, and for this reason, it was said, some Senators want action on the Logan-Walter bill.
There are only two “must” bills on the calendar before adjournment can come, leaders said. One is the $1,941,000,000 last deficiency appropriation carrying funds for a host of purposes, including the all-important one of paying the trainees who will be called under the Burke-Wadsworth Conscription Bill. The other is the Excess Profits Tax Bill, which is in conference. The Deficiency Bill will be ready for the House by midweek, and Senate leaders said it would receive speedy consideration in committee and on the floor.
The Excess Profits Tax Bill presents a more knotty problem because of the material differences in the versions as approved by the two branches. However, the two tax committee chairmen, Representative Doughton of North Carolina and Senator Harrison of Mississippi, predicted the conferees would be ready to report Wednesday or Thursday. Another item, a bulky measure recodifying the Immigration and Naturalization Laws of the United States, may be considered tomorrow by the Senate. It already has been approved by the House, which inserted a provision which would have the effect of taking away citizenship rights of Americans who have enlisted with the Canadian or British Armies.
Searchers who found the wreckage of an army plane in a southeast Georgia swamp late today expressed belief that Brigadier General Francis W. Honeycutt and his two companions had perished. The wreckage, partially buried in the mud, was sighted in Noyes cut on the Stailla River six miles east of Woodbine, Georgia, by a coast guard plane which tersely messaged: “We have sighted the wreckage in Noyes cut.”
Three-year-old Marc de Tristan Jr., kidnapped last Friday for $100,000 ransom, was rescued unharmed today, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced his abductor, a German alien, was in custody and had confessed. Two hunters found the little boy, scion of wealth and nobility, and his kidnapper in an isolated section of the Sierra Nevada mountain county, nearly 200 miles from where he had been abducted.
The Army will call more than 4,000 Red Cross nurses to active duty before July, 1941, Miss Mary Beard, national director of the American Red Cross Nursing Service, announced today.
Ben Musick a.k.a. Bill Morris of Dallas Texas, widely rumored to be associated in some tangential fashion with the moonshine business, wins the time trials at the Big Car Races at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. Attendance “In excess of 12,000.” He does one lap at the half-mile track in 26.63 and later wins the 15-lap Sweepstakes Race in a time of 7:14.
Major League Baseball:
At Brooklyn, the 2nd-place Dodgers sweep a pair from the last-place Phillies, winning 6–3 and 8–6. In between games, there is a 3–inning oldtimers match between the Robins and Dodger players of the 1930s. Included on the Robins side are fan favorite Zach Wheat, Tim Jordan, Otto Miller, Rube Marquard, Sherry Smith and Hy Myers. The Dodgers are represented by Fresco Thompson, Joe Stripp, Del Bissonette, Rube Bressler, Val Picinich, Waite Hoyt, and Dazzy Vance among others. Also on hand is turn of the century Brooklyn player Bill Dahlen. The 30’s youngsters whip the oldtime Robins, 6–3.
At Chicago, the Cards sweep two, winning the opener 8–1 behind Mort Cooper. Dizzy Dean is the loser, knocked out of the game in a five-run fourth inning. Max Lanier takes the nitecap, 2–1, over Larry French.
The Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer’s wildness marred his comeback campaign today and the Pirates won the nightcap of a double-header, 8–1, after the champion Reds had taken the opener, 2–1. Jim Turner 2–hits the Pirates in the opener. With a 4–3 win on the 26th, the Reds will set a Major League record this year with 41 one-run victories.
The Boston Bees and New York Giants split a doubleheader. The Bees score a run off Carl Hubbell in the bottom of the ninth to win the first game, 4–3. Then Bob Carpenter gets his first major league win as the Giants take the nightcap, 7–3.
Bob Feller comes through again for Cleveland, whipping the Tigers, 10–5, before 56,771 fans in Detroit. Detroit gets a homer from Greenberg, his 40th, but Feller matches that with his 2nd of the year, and Hal Trosky, Roy Weatherly, Ben Chapman, and Ken Keltner also go deep for the Tribe. Detroit’s lead is cut to a single game.
Outhit but not outscored, the Yankees kept themselves in the red-hot American League pennant race by overpowering Robert Moses (Lefty) Grove and the Red Sox for a 6-3 victory before 27,518 fans at Yankee Stadium today. George Selkirk hit a pair of homers to lead the Yankee attack.
The White Sox drubbed the Browns, 10–0, in the final American League game in St. Louis this season. The veteran Ted Lyons held the Browns to six scattered hits while the Sox racked up sixteen.
Effective pitching by Sid Hudson and Ken Chase and home runs by Gee Walker and Jimmy Bloodworth gave the Senators both ends of a double-header with the Athletics today, 5–4 and 5–3, before a crowd of 8.586.
Philadelphia Phillies 2, Brooklyn Dodgers 10
Philadelphia Phillies 2, Brooklyn Dodgers 5
New York Giants 3, Boston Bees 4
New York Giants 7, Boston Bees 3
St. Louis Cardinals 8, Chicago Cubs 1
St. Louis Cardinals 2, Chicago Cubs 1
Cleveland Indians 10, Detroit Tigers 5
Boston Red Sox 3, New York Yankees 6
Washington Senators 5, Philadelphia Athletics 4
Washington Senators 5, Philadelphia Athletics 2
Cincinnati Reds 2, Pittsburgh Pirates 1
Cincinnati Reds 1, Pittsburgh Pirates 8
Chicago White Sox 10, St. Louis Browns 0
With the arrest last night of the last of eight Nazi leaders in Uruguay indicted Friday and charged with conspiring against Uruguay’s sovereignty, South America’s smallest republic is preparing to bring Germany’s Nazi party to trial before world public opinion.
French Indo-Chinese and Japanese troops clashed in a “brief but fierce” battle last night on the Chinese border because of a “misunderstanding,” a dispatch from Haiphong said today. French troops immediately engaged the Japanese when the latter crossed the border at Dongdang, but an envoy, from Hanoi arrived later to inform the French forces that an agreement had been reached between France and Japan. Japanese forces began to move into French Indo-China after the Vichy French government negotiated an agreement with the Japanese government to turn over three airfields and other concessions to the Japanese. The Japanese army then crossed the border and advanced into China 120 miles from Hanoi.
Japanese troops burst into French Indochina from China. French Indochinese Colonial troops and Foreign Legionnaires offer resistance but are forced to retreat. The Japanese appeal to local Vietnamese communist partisans to rise up against the French, and the communists set up local governments which the French will later suppress. Taking the longest view, this is the first act of the later Vietnam War.
A 50-year-old itinerant Vietnamese who has spent most of his life abroad serving in the Comintern and working as a sort of community organizer, Nguyễn Ái Quốc, is in China as an adviser to the Chinese Communist armed forces. Sometime around this date in 1940 — nobody knows exactly when — Quốc begins regularly using the name “Hồ Chí Minh.” This is a Vietnamese name combining a common Vietnamese surname (Hồ, 胡) with a given name meaning “He Who has been enlightened” (from Sino-Vietnamese 志 明: Chí meaning ‘will’ (or spirit) and Minh meaning “bright”). He keeps a close eye on developments in his homeland.
Charles de Gaulle expresses support for former French Indochina Governor Admiral Decoux, who he sees as his representative in Asia.
Japan and Vichy France concluded a pact at Hanoi ceding airfields and agreeing to transit rights and the stationing of Japanese troops in northern Indochina.
Australian troop convoy US 5 departed Fremantle with Dutch liners Christiaan Huygens (16,287grt), Indrapoera (10,825grt), Nieuw Holland (11,066grt), and Slamat (11,636grt). 4262 troops were carried in this convoy. The convoy was escorted by heavy cruiser HMAS Australia from 22 September to 2 October. The convoy departed Colombo on 1 October. Heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire relieved the Australian heavy cruiser on 2 October and remained with the convoy until 8 October. On 8 October, the convoy was joined by light cruiser HMAS Hobart, anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle, destroyers HMS Kandahar and HMAS Voyager, and sloop HMS Flamingo. Convoy US 5 arrived at Suez on 12 October.
New Caledonia ascended to Free French rule after Australian light cruiser HMAS Adelaide arrived at Noumea on the 19th. The only Vichy ship there was sloop Dumont D’ Urville which escaped to Saigon, departing Noumea on the 25th. The light cruiser patrolled in the area until 5 October. Light cruiser Adelaide arrived at Sydney on 8 October.
Born:
Anna Karina [Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer], Danish-French actress (“A Woman is a Woman”, “Alphaville”), director, and writer (d. 2019) in Solbjerg, Denmark.
Li Zhensheng, Chinese photographer during the Cultural Revolution, in Dalian, China (d. 2020).
Edward Boguslawski, Polish composer, in Chorzów, Poland (d. 2003).
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Convolvulus (K 45) is launched by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd. (Bristol, U.K.); completed by Richardson, Westgarth & Clark.
The Royal Navy Fairmile B class motor launch HMS ML 112 is commissioned.
History Diaries 