Soviet forces reach the Bulgarian border on September 1, 1944. Allied troops enter Belgium on September 2. The Finnish government announces that it is breaking off diplomatic relations with Germany.
The British enter Antwerp, Belgium, on September 4. The Soviet and Finnish governments implement a cease-fire; the Germans must leave Finland by September 15. The Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria on September 5. Canadian troops surround Calais, France, on September 6, trapping the German garrison. Liège, Belgium, falls to British troops, while the U.S. First Army pushes eastward through Belgium. The Soviets advance to the Yugoslav border.
U.S. 9th Air Force fighters on September 7 destroy an estimated 500 German vehicles along a 15-mile section of road in southern France. Germany’s armored forces have been shattered along the Western Front, German Army Group B has only about a hundred operational tanks remaining. Romania declares war on Axis-allied Hungary.
The first German V-2 rockets, launched from mobile bases in the Netherlands, land on London, Paris and Antwerp on September 8. The Red Army invades Bulgaria, which quickly arranges an armistice with the Soviet Union and declares war on Germany.
Luxembourg is liberated by U.S. troops on September 10. Meanwhile, the first Allied troops reach western Germany, at Aachen. The U.S. Third Army on September 11 reaches the German border at Trier, about 100 miles southeast of Aachen. The 1st French Division occupies Dijon, France. The German garrison at Le Havre, France, surrenders on September 12.
American naval forces begin a preliminary bombardment of Peleliu in the Palau Islands of the western Carolines on September 13. Romania signs an armistice with the Soviet Union and agrees to provide 12 divisions to fight the Germans.
U.S. troops take Aachen, the first large German city to fall to the Allies, on September 14. The Soviet “Baltic Offensive” begins: 900,000 men, 3,000 tanks and 2,600 aircraft against Army Group North which is forced to fall back to around Riga, Latvia.
In the Pacific, the U.S. First Marine Division lands on Peleliu, in the Palau Islands, on September 15. In the Dutch East Indies, U.S. Army troops invade Morotai Island.
The Germans launch a new “flying bomb” (V-1) campaign on September 16, launching the missiles from planes flying over Holland. In eastern Europe, the Red Army launches attacks toward Riga, Latvia, and Tallinn, Estonia. In the Balkans, the Red Army occupies Sofia, Bulgaria, then turns to block any German retreat from Greece.
In Europe on September 17, the Allies begin “Operation Market Garden,” a combined airborne and ground attack. The objective is for paratroops to capture and secure several bridges over the lower Rhine River so that Allied ground forces can gather at Arnhem, the Netherlands, and enter Germany’s heavily industrial Ruhr region.
Brest, France, a port on the English Channel, falls to the Allies on September 18. On September 19 the Soviet Union and Finland sign an armistice, ending their three-year-long war. The first of a series of fights between American and German troops begins in the Hürtgen Forest, on the border between Belgium and Germany.
In the Philippines, U.S. planes on September 20 conduct a bombing raid on Manila and surrounding areas, destroying 357 Japanese aircraft. The next day, September 21, U.S. planes hit Manila Bay, sinking 40 ships.
On September 22, the U.S. Third Army reaches the River Seine near Mantes-Gassicourt, France, 30 miles west of Paris. Emboldened by the Allies’ approach, the French Resistance in Paris begins an open rebellion against German occupation forces.
After nine days of vicious fighting, Allied troops on September 25 pull out of Arnhem, the Netherlands, marking the failure of “Operation Market Garden.” The Allies do not cross the Rhine as planned and suffer around 16,000 casualties, including over 6,000 Allied paratroopers captured. Strong German resistance, delays and failures to take some of the targeted bridges, and German successes in defending or destroying others doom the operation. Hopes for an early end to the war by Christmas 1944 are dashed. In the western Caroline Islands, on Peleliu, U.S. soldiers and marines, using tanks and flamethrowers, advance against strongly entrenched Japanese defenders.
The Germans begin to evacuate western Greece on September 27. Stalin and Tito agree on September 28 to have the Red Army enter Yugoslavia.
On September 30, the German garrison occupying the French port of Calais surrenders to besieging Canadian forces after 24 days of resistance.
Dedicated to the memory of his father, GM3 Walter Kohn, U.S. Navy Armed Guard, USNR, and all men and women who answered the country’s call. Phil Kohn can be contacted at ww2remembered@yahoo.com.
