Air Operations, Carolines

• During the night, 868th Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack airfields and Japanese defenses in the Palau Islands.
• During the night, 868th Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack airfields and Japanese defenses in the Palau Islands.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 10th Air Force B-25s attack a Japanese Army headquarters at Manwing.

• 5 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping in the South China Sea.
• 24 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and about 50 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in east-central China.
• 17 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s transport fuel from India to Kunming.

Air Operations, East Indies

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Mapanget airfield on Celebes.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Galela airfield on Halmahera.
• More than 100 V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Boela and Haroekoe airfields on Ceram, the Liang airfield on Amboina, and the Namlea airfield on Boeroe.

Air Operations, Europe

US and British bombers batter cities along the Rhine form Düsseldorf and München-Gladbach to Mannheim-Ludwigshafen.

• 272 aircraft including 230 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Le Havre, but because of poor visibility the Master Bomber orders the raid to be abandoned before any of the planes drop their bombs.
• There are no losses.

• 1 Hudson is on a Resistance operation and there are 2 Wellington RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• 113 Lancasters and 24 Mosquitos of Nos. 5 and 8 Groups carry out a devastating raid on the center of Münchengladbach.
• No aircraft are lost.

• 39 Mosquitos are sent to Brunswick and 6 to Steenwijk, and there are 30 Mosquito patrols and 22 RCM sorties.
• Thee are no losses.

Air Operations, Japan

• Of 6 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s dispatched on an anti-shipping mission around Paramushiro Island, 4 return to base without locating targets, 1 lands at Petropavlovsk in the Soviet Union (where it and its crew are interned), and 1 ditches after colliding with the mast of a ship.
• During the night, 3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack Kashiwabara.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• A 421st Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near Japen Island at 0310 hours.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfield at Babo.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the airfields at Manokwari, Moemi, and Ransiki.
• During the night, 10 Japanese bombers attack Owi and Biak islands. Anti-aircraft fire downs 2 of the raiders, but 3 men are killed and 12 are wounded by bombs.

Air Operations, Philippines

• US carrier aircraft from Task Group 38.1, Task Group 38.2, and Task Group 38.3 attack targets on Mindanao in support of the upcoming invasion of the Palau Islands.
• A VF-15 F6F downs 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers near Del Monte at 0700 hours.
• VF-18 F6F downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber near the airfield at Davao at 0710 hours.
• VF-15 and VF-8 F6Fs down 2 Ki-57 'Topsy' transports over northern Mindano between 0715 and 0730 hours.
• A VF-15 F6F downs a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber at sea at 0910 hours.
• A VF-21 F6F downs a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter at sea at 0946 hours.
• A VF-15 F6F downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane at sea at 1445 hours.

Eastern Front

It is announced by Moscow radio that Russian troops have ceased operations in Bulgaria. The Allies prepare peace terms.

The Germans concentrate forces in Hungary for a counterattack against the 2nd Ukraine Front.

The attacks by the 38th Army in the Dukla Pass make reasonable progress despite determined German resistance. A penetration is maked near Krosno but 1st Panzer Army counterattacks to seal the gap.

France, Politics

Gen de Gaulle appoints a new Cabinet. The principal change is the appointment of Georges Bidault as Foreign Minister.

Italy

The British V Corps and Canadian I Corps step up their attacks on the Coriano and Gemmano hills. In Val d'Ossola and Val Cannobina, held by the partisans, a provisional government is set up.

Philippines

(3 days beginning the 8th?) Over the next 2 days, 3 groups, 12 carriers in all, from TF 38 attack Japanese industrial, naval and aviation targets around Mindanao. Airfields at Del Monte, Valencia, Cagayan, Buayan and Davao are targeted; and, and on the first day of the attack, 60 Japanese aircraft are destroyed. There is little Japanese resistance.

Western Front

Units of the American XIX Corps cross the borders of Belgium and Holland in the area of Maastricht. In Belgium the Canadians take Bruges while in southern France Beaune, Le Creusot and Autun all fall to the French II Corps.

Images from September 9, 1944

Men of US Army 2nd Infantry Division advancing into Brest, France under German machine gun fire, 9 September 1944 (US Army photo)

Advancing into Brest

M5A1 Light Tank in Verviers, Belgium, 9 September 1944

M8 75mm Howitzers, Troop 'E' 113th Cav Rcn Sq near Heurs-Le-Reman, Belgium, 9 September 1944

An M20 of the 3rd Armored Division in Ensival (Verviers), 9 september 1944

Ernest Hemingway was an interesting participant in 4ID’s drive across Europe in WWII. Here he is shown with COL “Buck” Lanham, CO of 22nd Infantry Regiment of 4ID during the fight in the Siegfried Line, September 1944

Ernest Hemingway with 4th Infantry Division

Soldiers of 60th Infantry Regiment advance into a Belgian town under the protection of a heavy tank. September 9, 1944. (National Archives 111-SC-193903)

Using a Tank for Protection

M2 half-track towing 76mm ZIS-3 gun, Sofia, Bulgaria, 9 September 1944. On that date, a Bulgarian coup replaced the pro-German government with a pro-Soviet Union one

M2 Half-track Towing 76mm ZIS-3 Gun

Sofia, Bulgaria, 9 September 1944

In the evening, the battalion (1st Bn, 2nd Arm Div) moved to an area near Neerveld, south of Herck de Staad, Holland, 9 September 1944. Outposts and patrols were maintained, but no enemy contact was established. The battalion remained in this bivouac until the 14th of September, when it moved to an area just southwest of the Albert Canal in the vicinity of Maastricht.

Near Neerveld, Holland

Infantry of the Toronto Scottish Regiment in their Universal Carrier waiting to move forward near Nieuwpoort, Belgium, 9 September 1944.

Infantry of the Toronto Scottish Regiment

Two Canadian soldiers standing in front of signs, Dieppe, France, 9 September 1944.

Canadian Soldiers in Dieppe

German soldiers fighting the Polish resistance at Theater Square in Warsaw, September 1944

Germans Fighting the Polish Resistance